bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
La competencia mediática en la población mayor. Diagnóstico de la realidad española.
Authors: Ramírez García Antonia , González Fernández Natalia , Sedeño Valdellos Ana Maria
Published: October 2017

La competencia mediática en la población mayor española es un tema escasamente analizado en las investigaciones de los últimos años, aunque de creciente interés. El trabajo ofrece una revisión de estudios recientes sobre la población mayor y su relación con los medios de comunicación. Posteriormente, se define el concepto de competencia mediática y se trazan los objetivos de esta investigación: describir los niveles de competencia de la población mayor en la muestra analizada, y determinar cómo ciertas variables sociodemográficas influyen en los niveles de competencia mediática de este colectivo. Se concluye que los participantes de la muestra se distribuyen de forma equitativa entre los tres niveles competenciales mencionados. Algunas variables que están relacionadas con niveles superiores de competencia son el mayor grado de formación, el estado civil, los ingresos, el sexo y el nivel de formación audiovisual.
Gerardo Valencia Cano, obispo de los pobres
Authors: Echeverry-Pérez Antonio José , Bernal-Argote David Mauricio
Published: October 2017

La vida y obra de Gerardo Valencia Cano es bien reconocida en los lugares donde su figura delgada se hizo presente, es decir, Yarumal, Mitú y Buenaventura. A pesar de que su obra pastoral y misional fue prolífica en estas comunidades, son pocos los textos que exploran de manera profunda y reflexiva sus proyectos, así como su trabajo intelectual, literario, teológico y eclesial. Sin embargo, nuevas aproximaciones, diferentes perspectivas y un trabajo documental serio permiten evidenciar que la figura de monseñor Valencia Cano ofrece una multiplicidad de acercamientos y que su vida agitada como miembro de la Iglesia Católica del siglo XX supone intersticios todavía vírgenes para las ciencias sociales.
Joel e a esperança em um Deus universal e libertador frente à ambiguidade do monoteísmo
Authors: S. Rossi Luiz Alexandre , Neves Natalino das
Published: October 2017

O artigo tem por objetivo comparar os resultados entre as principais reformas políticoreligiosas em nome do monoteísmo em Israel com a mensagem de Joel. Descrever-se-á as reformas de Ezequias e Josias, e a reforma étnica de Esdras e Neemias. Na sequência, é apresentada a mensagem universalista e libertadora de Joel, com destaque para as perícopes de Joel 3,1-5 e 4,4-8, visando a comparação entre esta e aquelas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa essencialmente bibliográfica. O resultado evidencia que a instituição do monoteísmo foi ambígua, oscilando entre opressão e humanização. Enquanto as reformas monárquicas e de Esdras e Neemias serviram mais a objetivos políticos e de dominação, a mensagem de Joel contribuiu para ações mais inclusivas e libertadoras.
Re-discovering the Semantics of אמן in Qal
Authors: Rosales-Acosta Dempsey
Published: October 2017

This study presents a philological and semantic essay of the verb מן אָ in order to uncover the semantic Wortfeld of its qal conjugation. The most of philological and exegetic studies omit the analysis of this conjugation because they consider it insignificant and without any semantic value. Thus, they focus their studies on the nifal and hifil forms as the basic semantic platform that permeates all the grammatical forms of the shoresh אמן. This essay proposes a different opinion. The qal form is the primeval semantic substratum that permeates all the grammatical forms of the lexeme,אמן becoming the semantic platform upon which the meanings of the nifal and hifil conjugations are built.
La victimidad como “lugar teológico”. Apropiación teologal desde Ignacio Ellacuría
Authors: Santamaría Rodríguez Juan Esteban
Published: October 2017

El artículo identifica la “victimidad” como “lugar político” en el contexto del conflicto armado colombiano; y resalta la relevancia de dicha condición humana como “lugar teológico” y “lugar teologal” desde la propuesta de Ignacio Ellacuría. La importancia de la victimidad se comprende a partir del dinamismo intelectivo y sentiente como estructura humana de aprehensión, apropiación y transformación de la realidad por parte de las víctimas; también a partir de la significación del “lugar teológico” en su triple dimensión (lugar de la presencia histórica del Padre; mediación para la vivencia de la fe desde el seguimiento histórico de Jesús; y posibilidad para el “hacer teológico” en cuanto praxis teológica) y la implicación teologal para la fe cristiana y la praxis eclesial.
Discursos, instituciones y saber en el pensamiento de Michel Foucault
Authors: Conforti Rojas María Cristina
Published: October 2017

Este escrito reflexiona acerca del lugar del discurso en el saber y en particular en las instituciones, en el contexto de la enseñanza del filósofo francés Michel Foucault. La pregunta por el discurso conduce a nuestro autor a indagar sobre la relación de este con el saber y el poder. La imbricación de saber y poder pone en marcha una potente y múltiple tecnología de producción que se extiende a toda la sociedad y sus instituciones, pero de manera positiva. Ejemplo de los efectos positivos de la imbricación poder-saber lo encontramos en la institución escolar y en su particular redescubrimiento de las disciplinas. Recogemos, brevemente, humanistas de los siglos XVI y XVII como ejemplos de los efectos positivos de la idea de formación del hombre y de la mujer; así como el ejercitarse en tareas intelectuales en el estudio de las diferentes disciplinas escolares, indispensables para alcanzar el pensamiento crítico, efecto positivo, productivo del aprendizaje escolar.
Bio-inspired nanostructures for enhanced light management
Authors: Wang Honglei , Liang Yuchen , Cheng Samantha , Li Benjamin , Li Andrew , Du George , Hu Walter
Published: October 2017

The biological surface has developed functional structures during long-term evolution, which inspires the development of biomimic materials for optical and optoelectronic applications. For example, the micropapillae and nanofolding structures of rose petals could enhance light absorption and color saturation. Here, the authors report a successful replication of rose hierarchical surface structures by simple and cost-effective processes. A variety of rose structured surfaces were investigated, which confirmed the diversity of functional surface architecture. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) negative replica was formed by casting PDMS solution on top of a rose petal followed by a temperature-assisted curing process. The hierarchical structure was further transferred into photoresist films by ultraviolet nanoimprint using the PDMS replica as molds. The imprinted photoresist films demonstrated uniform replications of rose microconvex cells with nanofolding details in the scale of a square centimeter. Super-hydrophobicity was demonstrated on both PDMS negative replica and photoresist positive replica. The incorporation of photoresist replica on the surface of photodetectors improved the responsivity by 35% to 42% due to enhanced light management effect. This bio-inspired transfer imprint process with PDMS provided a high-fidelity and cost-effective method to reproduce functional structures from biological surfaces. This study also demonstrated the potential of utilizing rose structures in photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications.
Complete Genome Sequence of
Porphyrobacter
sp. Strain CACIAM 03H1, a Proteobacterium Obtained from a Nonaxenic Culture of Microcystis aeruginosa
Authors: Castro Wendel de Oliveira , Lima Alex Ranieri Jerônimo , Moraes Pablo Henrique Gonçalves , Siqueira Andrei Santos , Aguiar Délia Cristina Figueira , Baraúna Anna Rafaella Ferreira , Martins Luisa Carício , Fuzii Hellen Thais , Couto Danielle Costa Carrara , Francês Regiane Silva Kawasaki , Silva de Lima Clayton Pereira , Vianez-Júnior João Lídio Silva Gonçalves , Nunes Márcio Roberto Teixeira , Dall’Agnol Leonardo Teixeira , Gonçalves Evonnildo Costa
Published: October 2017

Here, we present a complete genome sequence and annotation of
Porphyrobacter
sp. strain CACIAM 03H1, which was obtained from a nonaxenic culture of
Microcystis aeruginosa
, a cyanobacterium isolated from an Amazonian freshwater environment.
Draft Genome Sequences of Nine Livestock-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Sequence Type 5 Isolates from Humans with Long-Term Swine Contact
Authors: Hau Samantha J. , Bayles Darrell O. , Alt David P. , Davies Peter R. , Haan Jisun S. , Nicholson Tracy L.
Published: October 2017

Humans have been found to harbor livestock-associated methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(LA-MRSA) isolates. LA-MRSA isolates are considered adapted to colonizing livestock and less pathogenic in humans than their hospital- and community-acquired counterparts. Here, we present nine LA-MRSA sequence type 5 isolates from veterinarians with long-term swine contact.
The BvgAS Regulon of
Bordetella pertussis
Authors: Moon Kyung , Bonocora Richard P. , Kim David D. , Chen Qing , Wade Joseph T. , Stibitz Scott , Hinton Deborah M.
Published: October 2017

Nearly all virulence factors in
Bordetella pertussis
are activated by a master two-component system, BvgAS, composed of the sensor kinase BvgS and the response regulator BvgA. When BvgS is active, BvgA is phosphorylated (BvgA~P), and virulence-activated genes (
vag
s) are expressed [Bvg(+) mode]. When BvgS is inactive and BvgA is not phosphorylated, virulence-repressed genes (
vrg
s) are induced [Bvg(−) mode]. Here, we have used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to define the BvgAS-dependent regulon of
B. pertussis
Tohama I. Our analyses reveal more than 550 BvgA-regulated genes, of which 353 are newly identified. BvgA-activated genes include those encoding two-component systems (such as
kdpED
), multiple other transcriptional regulators, and the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor
brpL
, which is needed for type 3 secretion system (T3SS) expression, further establishing the importance of BvgA~P as an apex regulator of transcriptional networks promoting virulence. Using
in vitro
transcription, we demonstrate that the promoter for
brpL
is directly activated by BvgA~P. BvgA-FeBABE cleavage reactions identify BvgA~P binding sites centered at positions −41.5 and −63.5 in
bprL
. Most importantly, we show for the first time that genes for multiple and varied metabolic pathways are significantly upregulated in the
B. pertussis
Bvg(−) mode. These include genes for fatty acid and lipid metabolism, sugar and amino acid transporters, pyruvate dehydrogenase, phenylacetic acid degradation, and the glycolate/glyoxylate utilization pathway. Our results suggest that metabolic changes in the Bvg(−) mode may be participating in bacterial survival, transmission, and/or persistence and identify over 200 new
vrg
s that can be tested for function.

IMPORTANCE
Within the past 20 years, outbreaks of whooping cough, caused by
Bordetella pertussis
, have led to respiratory disease and infant mortalities, despite good vaccination coverage. This is due, at least in part, to the introduction of a less effective acellular vaccine in the 1990s. It is crucial, then, to understand the molecular basis of
B. pertussis
growth and infection. The two-component system BvgA (response regulator)/BvgS (histidine kinase) is the master regulator of
B. pertussis
virulence genes. We report here the first RNA-seq analysis of the BvgAS regulon in
B. pertussis
, revealing that more than 550 genes are regulated by BvgAS. We show that genes for multiple and varied metabolic pathways are highly regulated in the Bvg(−) mode (absence of BvgA phosphorylation). Our results suggest that metabolic changes in the Bvg(−) mode may be participating in bacterial survival, transmission, and/or persistence.
More than Enzymes That Make or Break Cyclic Di-GMP—Local Signaling in the Interactome of GGDEF/EAL Domain Proteins of
Escherichia coli
Authors: Sarenko Olga , Klauck Gisela , Wilke Franziska M. , Pfiffer Vanessa , Richter Anja M. , Herbst Susanne , Kaever Volkhard , Hengge Regine
Published: October 2017

The bacterial second messenger bis-(3′-5′)-cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) ubiquitously promotes bacterial biofilm formation. Intracellular pools of c-di-GMP seem to be dynamically negotiated by diguanylate cyclases (DGCs, with GGDEF domains) and specific phosphodiesterases (PDEs, with EAL or HD-GYP domains). Most bacterial species possess multiple DGCs and PDEs, often with surprisingly distinct and specific output functions. One explanation for such specificity is “local” c-di-GMP signaling, which is believed to involve direct interactions between specific DGC/PDE pairs and c-di-GMP-binding effector/target systems. Here we present a systematic analysis of direct protein interactions among all 29 GGDEF/EAL domain proteins of
Escherichia coli
. Since the effects of interactions depend on coexpression and stoichiometries, cellular levels of all GGDEF/EAL domain proteins were also quantified and found to vary dynamically along the growth cycle. Instead of detecting specific pairs of interacting DGCs and PDEs, we discovered a tightly interconnected protein network of a specific subset or “supermodule” of DGCs and PDEs with a coregulated core of five hyperconnected hub proteins. These include the DGC/PDE proteins representing the c-di-GMP switch that turns on biofilm matrix production in
E. coli
. Mutants lacking these core hub proteins show drastic biofilm-related phenotypes but no changes in cellular c-di-GMP levels. Overall, our results provide the basis for a novel model of local c-di-GMP signaling in which a single strongly expressed master PDE, PdeH, dynamically eradicates global effects of several DGCs by strongly draining the global c-di-GMP pool and thereby restricting these DGCs to serving as local c-di-GMP sources that activate specific colocalized effector/target systems.

IMPORTANCE
c-di-GMP signaling in bacteria is believed to occur via changes in cellular c-di-GMP levels controlled by antagonistic and potentially interacting pairs of diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) and c-di-GMP phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Our systematic analysis of protein-protein interaction patterns of all 29 GGDEF/EAL domain proteins of
E. coli
, together with our measurements of cellular c-di-GMP levels, challenges both aspects of this current concept. Knocking out distinct DGCs and PDEs has drastic effects on
E. coli
biofilm formation without changing the cellular c-di-GMP level. In addition, rather than generally coming in interacting DGC/PDE pairs, a subset of DGCs and PDEs operates as central interaction hubs in a larger "supermodule," with other DGCs and PDEs behaving as “lonely players” without contacts to other c-di-GMP-related enzymes. On the basis of these data, we propose a novel concept of “local” c-di-GMP signaling in bacteria with multiple enzymes that make or break the second messenger c-di-GMP.
GWAS on prolonged gestation (post-term birth): analysis of successive Finnish birth cohorts
Authors: Schierding William , Antony Jisha , Karhunen Ville , Vääräsmäki Marja , Franks Steve , Elliott Paul , Kajantie Eero , Sebert Sylvain , Blakemore Alex , Horsfield Julia A , Järvelin Marjo-Riitta , O’Sullivan Justin M , Cutfield Wayne S
Published: October 2017

Background

Gestation is a crucial timepoint in human development. Deviation from a term gestational age correlates with both acute and long-term adverse health effects for the child. Both being born preterm and post-term, that is, having short and long gestational ages, are heritable and influenced by the prenatal and perinatal environment. Despite the obvious heritable component, specific genetic influences underlying differences in gestational age are poorly understood.

Methods

We investigated the genetic architecture of gestational age in 9141 individuals, including 1167 born post-term, across two Northern Finland cohorts born in 1966 or 1986.

Results

Here we identify one globally significant intronic genetic variant within the ADAMTS13 gene that is associated with prolonged gestation (p=4.85×10−8). Additional variants that reached suggestive levels of significance were identified within introns at the ARGHAP42 and TKT genes, and in the upstream (5’) intergenic regions of the B3GALT5 and SSBP2 genes. The variants near the ADAMTS13, B3GALT5, SSBP2 and TKT loci are linked to alterations in gene expression levels (cis-eQTLs). Luciferase assays confirmed the allele specific enhancer activity for the BGALT5 and TKT loci.

Conclusions

Our findings provide the first evidence of a specific genetic influence associated with prolonged gestation. This study forms a foundation for a better understanding of the genetic and long-term health risks faced by induced and post-term individuals. The long-term risks for induced individuals who have a previously overlooked post-term potential may be a major issue for current health providers.
mtDNA copy number associated with age of onset in familial amyloid polyneuropathy
Authors: Santos Diana , Santos Maria João , Alves-Ferreira Miguel , Coelho Teresa , Sequeiros Jorge , Alonso Isabel , Oliveira Pedro , Sousa Alda , Lemos Carolina , Grazina Manuela
Published: October 2017

Background

Transthyretin-related familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP Val30Met) shows a wide variation in age-at-onset (AO) between generations and genders, as in Portuguese families, where women display a later onset and a larger anticipation (>10 years). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number was assessed to clarify whether it has a modifier effect on AO variability in Portuguese patients.

Methods

The mtDNA copy number of 262 samples (175 Val30Met TTR carriers and 87 controls (proven Val30Val)) was quantified by quantitative real-time PCR. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS V.23 software.

Results

This study shows that Val30Met TTR carriers have a significantly higher (p<0.001) mean mtDNA copy number than controls. Furthermore, the highest mtDNA copy number mean was observed in early-onset patients (AO <40 years). Importantly, early-onset offspring showed a significant increase (p=0.002) in the mtDNA copy number, when compared with their late AO parents.

Conclusions

The present findings suggest, for the first time, that mtDNA copy number may be associated with earlier events and may therefore be further explored as a potential biomarker for follow-up of TTR-FAP Val30Met carriers.
Nodulation and nitrogen accumulation in pulses vary with species, cultivars, growth stages, and environments
Authors: Hossain Zakir , Wang Xiaoyu , Hamel Chantal , Gan Yantai
Published: October 2017

Biological N2-fixation underpins the role of pulse crops in the development of sustainable cropping systems, but it is uncertain how nodulation and N accumulation may differ with pulse species, cultivars, and environments. This 3 yr field study investigated nodulation at the early and late flowering stages and seed and straw N uptake for chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), faba bean (Vicia faba L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.), and lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). At early flowering, all pulses except dry bean had more nodules in the wetter (2010) than drier year (2009). Faba bean had the most nodules followed by field pea and chickpea, while the nodulation varied with plant growth stages and environments. For both pea and lentil, more nodules were observed at early flowering, but higher nodule biomass was obtained at late flowering. Chickpea had higher nodule biomass at late than early flowering but number of nodules varied with year. Seed N uptake was highest in field pea, whereas straw N uptake was highest in faba bean. Our results suggest a possibility of improving pulse N2-fixation by targeting nodule numbers and nodule biomass, although the outcome of plant N uptake will vary with environments.
Research on three-phase traffic flow modeling based on interaction range
Authors: Zeng Jun-Wei , Yang Xu-Gang , Qian Yong-Sheng , Wei Xu-Ting
Published: October 2017

On the basis of the multiple velocity difference effect (MVDE) model and under short-range interaction, a new three-phase traffic flow model (S-MVDE) is proposed through careful consideration of the influence of the relationship between the speeds of the two adjacent cars on the running state of the rear car. The random slowing rule in the MVDE model is modified in order to emphasize the influence of vehicle interaction between two vehicles on the probability of vehicles’ deceleration. A single-lane model which without bottleneck structure under periodic boundary conditions is simulated, and it is proved that the traffic flow simulated by S-MVDE model will generate the synchronous flow of three-phase traffic theory. Under the open boundary, the model is expanded by adding an on-ramp, the congestion pattern caused by the bottleneck is simulated at different main road flow rates and on-ramp flow rates, which is compared with the traffic congestion pattern observed by Kerner et al. and it is found that the results are consistent with the congestion characteristics in the three-phase traffic flow theory.
Dynamics of coherence under Markovian and non-Markovian environments
Authors: Wang Zhong-Xiao , Ma Teng , Wang Shu-Hao , Wang Tie-Jun , Wang Chuan
Published: October 2017

The behavior of quantum coherence is studied under Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics for open quantum systems. For single qubit systems, we show that the coherence depending on the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix is the upper bound of the coherence depending on the relative entropy under both Markovian and non-Markovian processes. For two-qubit systems, in both Markovian and non-Markovian processes, quantum discord and coherence show less sensitivity to the initial state than quantum entanglement. We also find that the quantum discord has similar behaviors with coherence under both Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics.
Indium–gallium–zinc–oxide thin-film transistor with a planar split dual-gate structure
Authors: Liu Yu-Rong , Liu Jie , Song Jia-Qi , Lai Pui-To , Yao Ruo-He
Published: October 2017

An amorphous indium–gallium–zinc–oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) with a planar split dual gate (PSDG) structure has been proposed, fabricated and characterized. Experimental results indicate that the two independent gates can provide dynamical control of device characteristics such as threshold voltage, sub-threshold swing, off-state current and saturation current. The transconductance extracted from the output characteristics of the device increases from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] for a change of control gate voltage from −2 V to 2 V, and thus the device could be used in a variable-gain amplifier. A significant advantage of the PSDG structure is its flexibility in controlling the device performance according to the need of practical applications.
AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE FROM SHORT-TERM 12 LEAD ELECTROCARDIOGRAM SIGNALS BY USING WAVELET PACKET DECOMPOSITION AND COMMON SPATIAL PATTERN TECHNIQUES
Authors: OH SHU LIH , ADAM MUHAMMAD , TAN JEN HONG , HAGIWARA YUKI , SUDARSHAN VIDYA K. , KOH JOEL EN WEI , CHUA KUANG CHUA , CHUA KOK POO , TAN RU SAN , NG EDDIE Y. K.
Published: October 2017

The occlusion of the coronary arteries commonly known as coronary artery disease (CAD) restricts the normal blood circulation required to the heart muscles, thus results in an irreversible myocardial damage or death (myocardial infarction). Clinically, electrocardiogram (ECG) is performed as a primary diagnostic tool to capture these cardiac activities and detect the presence of CAD. However, the use of computer-aided techniques can reduce the visual burden and manual time required for the analysis of complex ECG signals in order to identify the CAD affected subjects from normal ones. Therefore, in this study, a novel computer-aided technique is proposed using 2[Formula: see text]s of 12 lead ECG signals for the identification of CAD affected patients. Each of the 2[Formula: see text]s 12 lead ECG signal beats (3791 normal and 12308 CAD ECG signal beats) are implemented with four levels of wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) to obtain various coefficients. Using the fourth-level coefficients obtained for each lead ECG signal beat, new 2[Formula: see text]s. ECG signal beats are reconstructed. Later, the reconstructed signals are split into two-fold data sets, in which one set is used for acquiring common spatial pattern (CSP) filter and the other for obtaining features vector (vice versa). The obtained features are one by one fed into k-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifier for automated classification. The proposed system yielded maximum average classification results of 99.65% accuracy, 99.64% sensitivity and 99.7% specificity using 10 features. Our proposed algorithm is highly efficient and can be used by the clinicians as an aiding system in their CAD diagnosis, thus, assisting in faster treatment and avoiding the progression of CAD condition.
STRUCTURAL BRAIN NETWORK ABNORMALITIES IN SUBJECTS WITH INTERNET ADDICTION
Authors: LEE MIN-HEE , MIN AREUM , HWANG YOON HO , KIM DONG YOUN , HAN BONG SOO , SEO HYUNG SUK
Published: October 2017

Although problematic overuse of internet has increased, psychopathological characteristics and neurobiological mechanisms for internet addiction (IA) remain poorly understood. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the impact of IA on the brain. The present study included 17 subjects with IA and 20 healthy subjects. We constructed the structural brain network from diffusion tensor imaging data and investigated alteration of structural connections in subjects with IA using the network analysis on the global and local levels. The subjects with IA showed increase of regional efficiency (RE) in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and decrease in right middle cingulate and middle temporal gyri ([Formula: see text]), whereas the global properties did not show significant changes. Young’s internet addiction test (IAT) scores and RE in left OFC showed positive correlation, and average time spent on internet per day was positively correlated with the RE in right OFC. This is the first study examining alterations of the structural brain connectivity in IA. We found that subjects with IA showed alterations of RE in some brain regions and RE was positively associated with the severity of IA and average time spent on internet per day. Therefore, RE may be a good property for IA assessment.
Abridging source code
Authors: Yuan Binhang , Murali Vijayaraghavan , Jermaine Christopher
Published: October 2017

In this paper, we consider the problem of source code abridgment, where the goal is to remove statements from a source code in order to display the source code in a small space, while at the same time leaving the ``important'' parts of the source code intact, so that an engineer can read the code and quickly understand purpose of the code. To this end, we develop an algorithm that looks at a number of examples, human-created source code abridgments, and learns how to remove lines from the code in order to mimic the human abridger. The learning algorithm takes into account syntactic features of the code, as well as semantic features such as control flow and data dependencies. Through a comprehensive user study, we show that the abridgments that our system produces can decrease the time that a user must look at code in order to understand its functionality, as well as increase the accuracy of the assessment, while displaying the code in a greatly reduced area.
GLORE: generalized loop redundancy elimination upon LER-notation
Authors: Ding Yufei , Shen Xipeng
Published: October 2017

This paper presents GLORE, a novel approach to enabling the detection and removal of large-scoped redundant computations in nested loops. GLORE works on LER-notation, a new representation of computations in both regular and irregular loops. Together with a set of novel algorithms, it makes GLORE able to systematically consider computation reordering at both the expression level and the loop level in a unified manner. GLORE shows an applicability much broader than prior methods have, and frequently lowers the computational complexities of some nested loops that are elusive to prior optimization techniques, producing significantly larger speedups.
Seam: provably safe local edits on graphs
Authors: Papadakis Manolis , Bernstein Gilbert Louis , Sharma Rahul , Aiken Alex , Hanrahan Pat
Published: October 2017

Algorithms that create and mutate graph data structures are challenging to implement correctly. However, verifying even basic properties of low-level implementations, such as referential integrity and memory safety, remains non-trivial. Furthermore, any extension to such a data structure multiplies the complexity of its implementation, while compounding the challenges in reasoning about correctness. We take a language design approach to this problem. We propose Seam, a language for expressing local edits to graph-like data structures, based on a relational data model, and such that data integrity can be verified automatically. We present a verification method that leverages an SMT solver, and prove it sound and precise (complete modulo termination of the SMT solver). We evaluate the verification capabilities of Seam empirically, and demonstrate its applicability to a variety of examples, most notably a new class of verification tasks derived from geometric remeshing operations used in scientific simulation and computer graphics. We describe our prototype implementation of a Seam compiler that generates low-level code, which can then be integrated into larger applications. We evaluate our compiler on a sample application, and demonstrate competitive execution time, compared to hand-written implementations.
TiML: a functional language for practical complexity analysis with invariants
Authors: Wang Peng , Wang Di , Chlipala Adam
Published: October 2017

We present TiML (Timed ML), an ML-like functional language with time-complexity annotations in types. It uses indexed types to express sizes of data structures and upper bounds on running time of functions; and refinement kinds to constrain these indices, expressing data-structure invariants and pre/post-conditions. Indexed types are flexible enough that TiML avoids a built-in notion of ≴size,≵ and the programmer can choose to index user-defined datatypes in any way that helps her analysis. TiML's distinguishing characteristic is supporting highly automated time-bound verification applicable to data structures with nontrivial invariants. The programmer provides type annotations, and the typechecker generates verification conditions that are discharged by an SMT solver. Type and index inference are supported to lower annotation burden, and, furthermore, big-O complexity can be inferred from recurrences generated during typechecking by a recurrence solver based on heuristic pattern matching (e.g. using the Master Theorem to handle divide-and-conquer-like recurrences). We have evaluated TiML's usability by implementing a broad suite of case-study modules, demonstrating that TiML, though lacking full automation and theoretical completeness, is versatile enough to verify worst-case and/or amortized complexities for algorithms and data structures like classic list operations, merge sort, Dijkstra's shortest-path algorithm, red-black trees, Braun trees, functional queues, and dynamic tables with bounds like
m
n
log
n
. The learning curve and annotation burden are reasonable, as we argue with empirical results on our case studies. We formalized TiML's type-soundness proof in Coq.
A solver-aided language for test input generation
Authors: Ringer Talia , Grossman Dan , Schwartz-Narbonne Daniel , Tasiran Serdar
Published: October 2017

Developing a small but useful set of inputs for tests is challenging. We show that a domain-specific language backed by a constraint solver can help the programmer with this process. The solver can generate a set of test inputs and guarantee that each input is
different
from other inputs in a way that is useful for testing.

This paper presents Iorek: a tool that empowers the programmer with the ability to express to any SMT solver what it means for inputs to be different. The core of Iorek is a rich language for constraining the set of inputs, which includes a novel bounded enumeration mechanism that makes it easy to define and encode a flexible notion of difference over a recursive structure. We demonstrate the flexibility of this mechanism for generating strings.

We use Iorek to test real services and find that it is effective at finding bugs. We also build Iorek into a random testing tool and show that it increases coverage.
Alpaca: intermittent execution without checkpoints
Authors: Maeng Kiwan , Colin Alexei , Lucia Brandon
Published: October 2017

The emergence of energy harvesting devices creates the potential for batteryless sensing and computing devices. Such devices operate only intermittently, as energy is available, presenting a number of challenges for software developers. Programmers face a complex design space requiring reasoning about energy, memory consistency, and forward progress. This paper introduces Alpaca, a low-overhead programming model for intermittent computing on energy-harvesting devices. Alpaca programs are composed of a sequence of user-defined tasks. The Alpaca runtime preserves execution progress at the granularity of a task. The key insight in Alpaca is the privatization of data shared between tasks. Shared values written in a task are detected using idempotence analysis and copied into a buffer private to the task. At the end of the task, modified values from the private buffer are atomically committed to main memory, ensuring that data remain consistent despite power failures. Alpaca provides a familiar programming interface, a highly efficient runtime model, and places fewer restrictions on a target device's hardware architecture. We implemented a prototype of Alpaca as an extension to C with an LLVM compiler pass. We evaluated Alpaca, and directly compared to two systems from prior work. Alpaca eliminates checkpoints, which improves performance up to 15x, and avoids static multi-versioning, which improves memory consumption by up to 5.5x.
An auditing language for preventing correlated failures in the cloud
Authors: Zhai Ennan , Piskac Ruzica , Gu Ronghui , Lao Xun , Wang Xi
Published: October 2017

Today's cloud services extensively rely on replication techniques to ensure availability and reliability. In complex datacenter network architectures, however, seemingly independent replica servers may inadvertently share deep dependencies (e.g., aggregation switches). Such unexpected common dependencies may potentially result in correlated failures across the entire replication deployments, invalidating the efforts. Although existing cloud management and diagnosis tools have been able to offer post-failure forensics, they, nevertheless, typically lead to quite prolonged failure recovery time in the cloud-scale systems. In this paper, we propose a novel language framework, named RepAudit, that manages to prevent correlated failure risks before service outages occur, by allowing cloud administrators to proactively audit the replication deployments of interest. In particular, RepAudit consists of three new components: 1) a declarative domain-specific language, RAL, for cloud administrators to write auditing programs expressing diverse auditing tasks; 2) a high-performance RAL auditing engine that generates the auditing results by accurately and efficiently analyzing the underlying structures of the target replication deployments; and 3) an RAL-code generator that can automatically produce complex RAL programs based on easily written specifications. Our evaluation result shows that RepAudit uses 80x less lines of code than state-of-the-art efforts in expressing the auditing task of determining the top-20 critical correlated-failure root causes. To the best of our knowledge, RepAudit is the first effort capable of simultaneously offering expressive, accurate and efficient correlated failure auditing to the cloud-scale replication systems.
IDE

al

: efficient and precise alias-aware dataflow analysis
Authors: Späth Johannes , Ali Karim , Bodden Eric
Published: October 2017

Program analyses frequently track objects throughout a program, which requires reasoning about aliases. Most dataflow analysis frameworks, however, delegate the task of handling aliases to the analysis clients, which causes a number of problems. For instance, custom-made extensions for alias analysis are complex and cannot easily be reused. On the other hand, due to the complex interfaces involved, off-the-shelf alias analyses are hard to integrate precisely into clients. Lastly, for precision many clients require strong updates, and alias abstractions supporting strong updates are often relatively inefficient.

In this paper, we present IDEal, an alias-aware extension to the framework for Interprocedural Distributive Environment (IDE) problems. IDEal relieves static-analysis authors completely of the burden of handling aliases by automatically resolving alias queries on-demand, both efficiently and precisely. IDEal supports a highly precise analysis using strong updates by resorting to an on-demand, flow-sensitive, and context-sensitive all-alias analysis. Yet, it achieves previously unseen efficiency by propagating aliases individually, creating highly reusable per-pointer summaries.

We empirically evaluate IDEal by comparing TSf, a state-of-the-art typestate analysis, to TSal, an IDEal-based typestate analysis. Our experiments show that the individual propagation of aliases within IDEal enables TSal to propagate 10.4x fewer dataflow facts and analyze 10.3x fewer methods when compared to TSf. On the DaCapo benchmark suite, TSal is able to efficiently compute precise results.
Detecting argument selection defects
Authors: Rice Andrew , Aftandilian Edward , Jaspan Ciera , Johnston Emily , Pradel Michael , Arroyo-Paredes Yulissa
Published: October 2017

Identifier names are often used by developers to convey additional information about the meaning of a program over and above the semantics of the programming language itself. We present an algorithm that uses this information to detect argument selection defects, in which the programmer has chosen the wrong argument to a method call in Java programs. We evaluate our algorithm at Google on 200 million lines of internal code and 10 million lines of predominantly open-source external code and find defects even in large, mature projects such as OpenJDK, ASM, and the MySQL JDBC. The precision and recall of the algorithm vary depending on a sensitivity threshold. Higher thresholds increase precision, giving a true positive rate of 85%, reporting 459 true positives and 78 false positives. Lower thresholds increase recall but lower the true positive rate, reporting 2,060 true positives and 1,207 false positives. We show that this is an order of magnitude improvement on previous approaches. By analyzing the defects found, we are able to quantify best practice advice for API design and show that the probability of an argument selection defect increases markedly when methods have more than five arguments.
In vivo beta and gamma subthreshold oscillations in rat mitral cells: origin and gating by respiratory dynamics
Authors: Fourcaud-Trocmé Nicolas , Briffaud Virginie , Thévenet Marc , Buonviso Nathalie , Amat Corine
Published: October 2017

In mammals, olfactory bulb (OB) dynamics are paced by slow and fast oscillatory rhythms at multiple levels: local field potential, spike discharge, and/or membrane potential oscillations. Interactions between these levels have been well studied for the slow rhythm linked to animal respiration. However, less is known regarding rhythms in the fast beta (10–35 Hz) and gamma (35–100 Hz) frequency ranges, particularly at the membrane potential level. Using a combination of intracellular and extracellular recordings in the OB of freely breathing rats, we show that beta and gamma subthreshold oscillations (STOs) coexist intracellularly and are related to extracellular local field potential (LFP) oscillations in the same frequency range. However, they are differentially affected by changes in cell excitability and by odor stimulation. This leads us to suggest that beta and gamma STOs may rely on distinct mechanisms: gamma STOs would mainly depend on mitral cell intrinsic resonance, while beta STOs could be mainly driven by synaptic activity. In a second study, we find that STO occurrence and timing are constrained by the influence of the slow respiratory rhythm on mitral and tufted cells. First, respiratory-driven excitation seems to favor gamma STOs, while respiratory-driven inhibition favors beta STOs. Second, the respiratory rhythm is needed at the subthreshold level to lock gamma and beta STOs in similar phases as their LFP counterparts and to favor the correlation between STO frequency and spike discharge. Overall, this study helps us to understand how the interaction between slow and fast rhythms at all levels of OB dynamics shapes its functional output.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY In the mammalian olfactory bulb of a freely breathing anesthetized rat, we show that both beta and gamma membrane potential fast oscillation ranges exist in the same mitral and tufted (M/T) cell. Importantly, our results suggest they have different origins and that their interaction with the slow subthreshold oscillation (respiratory rhythm) is a key mechanism to organize their dynamics, favoring their functional implication in olfactory bulb information processing.
Saccades and reaches curve away from the other effector’s target in simultaneous eye and hand movements
Authors: Nissens Tom , Fiehler Katja
Published: October 2017

Simultaneous eye and hand movements are highly coordinated and tightly coupled. This raises the question whether the selection of eye and hand targets relies on a shared attentional mechanism or separate attentional systems. Previous studies have revealed conflicting results by reporting evidence for both a shared as well as separate systems. Movement properties such as movement curvature can provide novel insights into this question as they provide a sensitive measure for attentional allocation during target selection. In the current study, participants performed simultaneous eye and hand movements to the same or different visual target locations. We show that both saccade and reaching movements curve away from the other effector’s target location when they are simultaneously performed to spatially distinct locations. We argue that there is a shared attentional mechanism involved in selecting eye and hand targets that may be found on the level of effector-independent priority maps.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Movement properties such as movement curvature have been widely neglected as important sources of information in investigating whether the attentional systems underlying target selection for eye and hand movements are separate or shared. We convincingly show that movement curvature is influenced by the other effector’s target location in simultaneous eye and hand movements to spatially distinct locations. Our results provide evidence for shared attentional systems involved in the selection of saccade and reach targets.
Multilocus Sequencing ofCorynebacterium pseudotuberculosisBiotype Ovis Strains
Authors: Sellyei Boglárka , Bányai Krisztián , Bartha Dániel , Hajtós István , Fodor László , Makrai László
Published: October 2017

ThirteenCorynebacterium pseudotuberculosisbiotype ovis strains isolated from clinical cases of caseous lymphadenitis in Hungary were characterised using multilocus sequencing and their phylogenetic comparison was carried out on the basis of four housekeeping genes (groEL1,infB,dnaK, andleuA). The in silico analysis of the 16 frequently studied housekeeping genes showed thatC. pseudotuberculosisstrains could be readily distinguished fromC. diphtheriaeandC. ulceransstrains; however, sequences of the same genes in the two biotypes of theC. pseudotuberculosiswere highly similar; the heterogeneity values were low. GenesdnaK,infB,groEL1, andleuA showed marked genetic variation withinC. pseudotuberculosis, and strains of the two biotypes of C. pseudotuberculosiscould be differentiated. Analysis of the individual genes showed a fairly conservative nature ofC. pseudotuberculosisbiotype ovis strains. The greatest genetic differentiation was seen in thednaKandinfBgenes and concatenations of these two genes were very useful in the genetic separation of the studied strains.
Influence of Roasting on Sensory, Antioxidant, Aromas, and Physicochemical Properties of Carob Pod Powder (Ceratonia siliquaL.)
Authors: Boublenza Ikram , Lazouni Hamadi Abderrahmane , Ghaffari Leila , Ruiz Karine , Fabiano-Tixier Anne-Sylvie , Chemat Farid
Published: October 2017

The main objective of this research was to compare physicochemical parameters, antioxidant activity, lipid composition, and sensory analysis of initial and roasted carob pod powder (Ceratonia siliquaL.) obtained at different roasting temperatures. The roasted products became darker and the average moisture content, water activity, oil content, and sweetness values decreased at higher temperatures. Total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity increased with increasing roasted temperature. Oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid were the main fatty acids present in carob oil. Results showed that the roasted carob pod powders are sweeter, have more caramel-like taste, and have more cacao-like aroma at lower roasting temperatures but have more astringent taste, coffee-like aroma, and roasted aroma at higher roasting temperatures.
Mode‐Based versus Activity‐Based Search for a Nonredundant Resolution of the Multimode Resource‐Constrained Project Scheduling Problem
Authors: Morillo Daniel , Barber Federico , Salido Miguel A.
Published: October 2017

This paper addresses an energy‐based extension of the Multimode Resource‐Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (MRCPSP) called MRCPSP‐ENERGY. This extension considers the energy consumption as an additional resource that leads to different execution modes (and durations) of the activities. Consequently, different schedules can be obtained. The objective is to maximize the efficiency of the project, which takes into account the minimization of both makespan and energy consumption. This is a well‐known NP‐hard problem, such that the application of metaheuristic techniques is necessary to address real‐size problems in a reasonable time. This paper shows that the Activity List representation, commonly used in metaheuristics, can lead to obtaining many redundant solutions, that is, solutions that have different representations but are in fact the same. This is a serious disadvantage for a search procedure. We propose a genetic algorithm (GA) for solving the MRCPSP‐ENERGY, trying to avoid redundant solutions by focusing the search on the execution modes, by using the Mode List representation. The proposed GA is evaluated on different instances of the PSPLIB‐ENERGY library and compared to the results obtained by both exact methods and approximate methods reported in the literature. This library is an extension of the well‐known PSPLIB library, which contains MRCPSP‐ENERGY test cases.