bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Architecture and Implementation of Dynamic Parallelism, Voltage and Frequency Scaling (PVFS) on CGRAs
Authors: Jafri Syed M. A. H. , Ozbag Ozan , Farahini Nasim , Paul Kolin , Hemani Ahmed , Plosila Juha , Tenhunen Hannu
Published: April 2015

In the era of platforms hosting multiple applications with arbitrary performance requirements, providing a worst-case platform-wide voltage/frequency operating point is neither optimal nor desirable. As a solution to this problem, designs commonly employ
dynamic voltage and frequency scaling
(DVFS). DVFS promises significant energy and power reductions by providing each application with the operating point (and hence the performance) tailored to its needs. To further enhance the optimization potential, recent works interleave dynamic parallelism with conventional DVFS. The induced parallelism results in performance gains that allow an application to lower its operating point even further (thereby saving energy and power consumption). However, the existing works employ costly dedicated hardware (for synchronization) and rely solely on greedy algorithms to make parallelism decisions. To efficiently integrate parallelism with DVFS, compared to state-of-the-art, we exploit the reconfiguration (to reduce DVFS synchronization overheads) and enhance the intelligence of the greedy algorithm (to make optimal parallelism decisions). Specifically, our solution relies on dynamically reconfigurable isolation cells and an autonomous parallelism, voltage, and frequency selection algorithm. The dynamically reconfigurable isolation cells reduce the area overheads of DVFS circuitry by configuring the existing resources to provide synchronization. The autonomous parallelism, voltage, and frequency selection algorithm ensures high power efficiency by combining parallelism with DVFS. It selects that parallelism, voltage, and frequency trio which consumes minimum power to meet the deadlines on available resources. Synthesis and simulation results using various applications/algorithms (WLAN, MPEG4, FFT, FIR, matrix multiplication) show that our solution promises significant reduction in area and power consumption (23% and 51% ) compared to state-of-the-art.
A Purposeful MOOC to Alleviate Insufficient CS Education in Finnish Schools
Authors: Kurhila Jaakko , Vihavainen Arto
Published: April 2015

The Finnish national school curriculum, effective from 2004, does not include any topics related to Computer Science (CS). To alleviate the problem that school students are not able to study CS-related topics, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki prepared a completely online course that is open to pupils and students in all schools in Finland. The course is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), as the attendance scales without an upper bound. Schools in Finland have offered the MOOC as an elective CS course for their students and granted formal school credits for completing (parts of) it. Since our MOOC is exactly the same programming course as our university-level CS1 course, we are able to use the MOOC also as a long-lasting entrance exam to the CS BSc and MSc degrees. After two spring semesters of operation, we have observed that there are school students dispersed around Finland who are ready and willing to take on a challenging programming course online, and bridging the MOOC to a full study right makes a strong incentive to keep working on the programming assignments, even without traditional teaching.
How to Implement Rigorous Computer Science Education in K-12 Schools? Some Answers and Many Questions
Authors: Hubwieser Peter , Armoni Michal , Giannakos Michail N.
Published: April 2015

Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science education in K-12 schools, we edited this second special issue of the ACM TOCE journal. Our intention was to collect a set of case studies from different countries that would describe all relevant aspects of specific implementations of Computer Science Education in K-12 schools. By this, we want to deliver well-founded arguments and rich material to the critical discussion about the state and the goals of K-12 computer science education, and also provide visions for the future of this research area. In this editorial, we explain our intention and report some details about the genesis of these special issues. Following, we give a short summary of the Darmstadt Model, which was suggested to serve as a structuring principle of the case studies. The next part of the editorial presents a short description of the five extended case studies from India, Korea, NRW/Germany, Finland, and USA that are selected to be included in this second issue. In order to give some perspectives for the future, we propose a set of open research questions of the field, partly derived from the Darmstadt Model, partly stimulated by a look on large-scale investigations like PISA.
Depth Error Elimination for RGB-D Cameras
Authors: Gao Yue , Yang You , Zhen Yi , Dai Qionghai
Published: April 2015

The rapid spreading of RGB-D cameras has led to wide applications of 3D videos in both academia and industry, such as 3D entertainment and 3D visual understanding. Under these circumstances, extensive research efforts have been dedicated to RGB-D camera--oriented topics. In these topics, quality promotion of depth videos with the temporal characteristic is emerging and important. Due to the limited exposure time of RGB-D cameras, object movement can easily lead to motion blurs in intensive images, which can further result in obvious artifacts (holes or fake boundaries) in the corresponding depth frames. With regard to this problem, we propose a depth error elimination method based on time series analysis to remove the artifacts in depth images. In this method, we first locate the regions with erroneous depths in intensive images by using motion blur detection based on a time series analysis model. This is based on the fact that the depth image is calculated by intensive color images that are captured synchronously by RGB-D cameras. Then, the artifacts, such as holes or fake boundaries, are fixed by a depth error elimination method. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, we conducted experiments on 250 images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can locate the error regions correctly and eliminate these artifacts effectively. The quality of depth video can be improved significantly by using the proposed method.
Selective Search
Authors: Kulkarni Anagha , Callan Jamie
Published: April 2015

The traditional search solution for large collections divides the collection into subsets (
shards
), and processes the query against all shards in parallel (
exhaustive search
). The search cost and the computational requirements of this approach are often prohibitively high for organizations with few computational resources. This article investigates and extends an alternative:
selective search
, an approach that partitions the dataset based on document similarity to obtain
topic-based shards
, and searches only a few shards that are estimated to contain relevant documents for the query. We propose shard creation techniques that are scalable, efficient, self-reliant, and create topic-based shards with low variance in size, and high density of relevant documents.

The experimental results demonstrate that the effectiveness of selective search is on par with that of exhaustive search, and the corresponding search costs are substantially lower with the former. Also, the majority of the queries perform as well or better with selective search. An oracle experiment that uses optimal shard ranking for a query indicates that selective search can outperform the effectiveness of exhaustive search. Comparison with a query optimization technique shows higher improvements in efficiency with selective search. The overall best efficiency is achieved when the two techniques are combined in an optimized selective search approach.
Robots with a human touch
Authors: Mone Gregory
Published: April 2015

Empowering smart machines with tactile feedback could lead to tremendous new applications.
What are we doing when we teach computing in schools?
Authors: Fincher Sally
Published: April 2015

Research on the cognitive, educational, and policy dimensions of teaching computing is critical to achieving "computer literacy."
Designing for transitions to sustainable lifestyles
Authors: Clear Adrian K. , O'Neill Kirstie , Friday Adrian
Published: April 2015

In this forum we highlight innovative thought, design, and research in the area of interaction design and sustainability, illustrating the diversity of approaches across HCI communities. ---
Lisa Nathan and Samuel Mann, Editors
The Carolan guitar
Authors: Benford Steve , Hazzard Adrian , Xu Liming
Published: April 2015

We live in a world where everyday objects, digital services, and human beings are increasingly interconnected. This forum aims to offer and promote a rich discussion on the challenges of designing for a broader ecology of materials, artifacts, and practices. ---
Elisa Giaccardi, Editor
A vision for GPU-accelerated parallel computation on geo-spatial datasets
Authors: Prasad Sushil K. , McDermott Michael , Puri Satish , Shah Dhara , Aghajarian Danial , Shekhar Shashi , Zhou Xun
Published: April 2015

We summarize the need and present our vision for accelerating geo-spatial computations and analytics using a combination of shared and distributed memory parallel platforms, with general-purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) with 100s to 1000s of processing cores in a single chip forming a key architecture to parallelize over. A GPU can yield one-to-two orders of magnitude speedups and will become increasingly more affordable and energy efficient due to mass marketing for gaming. We also survey the current landscape of representative geo-spatial problems and their parallel, GPU-based solutions.
SampleLite
Authors: Kriara Lito , Marina Mahesh K.
Published: April 2015

We consider the link adaptation problem in 802.11n wireless LANs that involves adapting MIMO mode, channel bonding, modulation and coding scheme, and frame aggregation level with varying channel conditions. Through measurement-based analysis, we find that adapting all available 802.11n features results in higher goodput than adapting only a subset of features, thereby showing that holistic link adaptation is crucial to achieve best performance. We then design a novel hybrid link adaptation scheme termed SampleLite that adapts all 802.11n features while being efficient compared to sampling-based open-loop schemes and practical relative to closed loop schemes. SampleLite uses sender-side RSSI measurements to significantly lower the sampling overhead, by exploiting the monotonic relationship between best settings for each feature and the RSSI. Through analysis and experimentation in a testbed environment, we show that our proposed approach can reduce the sampling overhead by over 70% on average compared to the widely used Minstrel HT scheme. We also experimentally evaluate the goodput performance of SampleLite in a wide range of controlled and real-world interference scenarios. Our results show that SampleLite, while performing close to the ideal, delivers goodput that is 35-100% better than with existing schemes.
Cluster Based Multipath Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Sharma Suraj , Jena Sanjay Kumar
Published: April 2015

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of low power sensor nodes. Energy is the main constraint associated with the sensor nodes. In this paper, we propose a cluster based multipath routing protocol, which uses the clustering and multipath techniques to reduce energy consumption and increase the reliability. The basic idea is to reduce the load of the sensor node by giving more responsibility to the base station (sink). We have implemented and compared the protocol with existing protocols and found that it is more energy-efficient and reliable.
A Primer on IPv4 Scarcity
Authors: Richter Philipp , Allman Mark , Bush Randy , Paxson Vern
Published: April 2015

With the ongoing exhaustion of free address pools at the registries serving the global demand for IPv4 address space, scarcity has become reality. Networks in need of address space can no longer get more address allocations from their respective registries.

In this work we frame the fundamentals of the IPv4 address exhaustion phenomena and connected issues. We elaborate on how the current ecosystem of IPv4 address space has evolved since the standardization of IPv4, leading to the rather complex and opaque scenario we face today. We outline the evolution in address space management as well as address space use patterns, identifying key factors of the scarcity issues. We characterize the possible solution space to overcome these issues and open the perspective of address blocks as virtual resources, which involves issues such as differentiation between address blocks, the need for resource certification, and issues arising when transferring address space between networks.
IL-15 concentrations in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue in lean and obese humans: local effects of IL-15 on adipose tissue lipolysis
Authors: Pierce Joseph R. , Maples Jill M. , Hickner Robert C.
Published: April 2015

Animal/cell investigations indicate that there is a decreased adipose tissue mass resulting from skeletal muscle (SkM) IL-15 secretion (e.g., SkM-blood-adipose tissue axis). IL-15 could regulate fat mass accumulation in obesity via lipolysis, although this has not been investigated in humans. Therefore, the purpose was to examine whether SkM and/or subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) IL-15 concentrations were correlated with SCAT lipolysis in lean and obese humans and determine whether IL-15 perfusion could induce lipolysis in human SCAT. Local SkM and abdominal SCAT IL-15 (microdialysis) and circulating IL-15 (blood) were sampled in lean (BMI: 23.1 ± 1.9 kg/m2; n = 10) and obese (BMI: 34.7 ± 3.5 kg/m2; n = 10) subjects at rest/during 1-h cycling exercise. Lipolysis (SCAT interstitial glycerol concentration) was compared against local/systemic IL-15. An additional probe in SCAT was perfused with IL-15 to assess direct lipolytic responses. SkM IL-15 was not different between lean and obese subjects ( P = 0.45), whereas SCAT IL-15 was higher in obese vs. lean subjects ( P = 0.02) and was correlated with SCAT lipolysis ( r = 0.45, P = 0.05). Exercise increased SCAT lipolysis in lean and obese ( P < 0.01), but exercise-induced SCAT lipolysis changes were not correlated with exercise-induced SCAT IL-15 changes. Microdialysis perfusion resulting in physiological IL-15 concentrations in the adipose tissue interstitium increased lipolysis in lean ( P = 0.04) but suppressed lipolysis in obese ( P < 0.01). Although we found no support for a human IL-15 SkM-blood-adipose tissue axis, IL-15 may be produced in/act on the abdominal SCAT depot. The extent to which this autocrine/paracrine IL-15 action regulates human body composition remains unknown.
(2+1)-Dimensional mKdV Hierarchy and Chirp Effect of Rossby Solitary Waves
Authors: Wang Chunlei , Zhang Yong , Yin Baoshu , Zhang Xiaoen
Published: April 2015

By constructing a kind of generalized Lie algebra, based on generalized Tu scheme, a new (2+1)-dimensional mKdV hierarchy is derived which popularizes the results of (1+1)-dimensional integrable system. Furthermore, the (2+1)-dimensional mKdV equation can be applied to describe the propagation of the Rossby solitary waves in the plane of ocean and atmosphere, which is different from the (1+1)-dimensional mKdV equation. By virtue of Riccati equation, some solutions of (2+1)-dimensional mKdV equation are obtained. With the help of solitary wave solutions, similar to the fiber soliton communication, the chirp effect of Rossby solitary waves is discussed and some conclusions are given.
Medication Adherence in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Effect of Patient Education, Health Literacy, and Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Authors: Joplin Samantha , van der Zwan Rick , Joshua Fredrick , Wong Peter K. K.
Published: April 2015

Background. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease affecting <1% of the population. Incompletely controlled RA results in fatigue, joint and soft tissue pain, progressive joint damage, reduced quality of life, and increased cardiovascular mortality. Despite an increasing range of disease modifying agents which halt disease progression, poor patient adherence with medication is a significant barrier to management.Objective. The goal of this review was to examine the effectiveness of measures to improve patient medication adherence.Methods. Studies addressing treatment adherence in patients with RA were identified by trawling PsycINFO, Medline, Cochrane, Pubmed, and ProQuest for studies published between January 2000 and October 2014. Articles were independently reviewed to identify relevant studies.Results. Current strategies were of limited efficacy in improving patient adherence with medications used to treat RA.Conclusion. Poor medication adherence is a complex issue. Low educational levels and limited health literacy are contributory factors. Psychological models may assist in explaining medication nonadherence. Increasing patient knowledge of their disease seems sensible. Existing educational interventions appear ineffective at improving medication adherence, probably due to an overemphasis on provision of biomedical information. A novel approach to patient education using musculoskeletal ultrasound is proposed.
Intergenerational Transmission of Education in India: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey
Authors: Borkotoky Kakoli , Unisa Sayeed , Gupta Ashish Kumar
Published: April 2015

The intergenerational transmission of education has been investigated extensively in social science research. The existing literature shows that none of the studies in India related the process of partner selection and differential fertility with the intergenerational transmission of education. Here, we examined the timing of marriage and childbearing along with the probability of partner selection, according to education of women and how these processes lead to heterogeneity in educational attainment of children. The educational attainment of children was estimated by fitting the estimated marriage probabilities and children ever born in the intergenerational transmission model. The results were replicated in different random samples to examine its validity. The study found that higher educated women marry late, have fewer children, and marry men with higher or equal education. Further, the results indicate that education of women is a more significant predictor than education of husband in reducing average number of children born to couples. The findings confirm that children attain higher education than their parents, and better educated mothers do not discriminate between their children to provide higher education. These findings reinforce the significance of government initiatives to provide incentives to families with higher educated girls to ensure better education of the next generation.
Factors in Mental Health Problems among Japanese Dialysis Patients Living in Heavily Damaged Prefectures Two Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake
Authors: Sugisawa Hidehiro , Sugisaki Hiroaki , Ohira Seiji , Shinoda Toshio , Shimizu Yumiko , Kumagai Tamaki
Published: April 2015

This study examined the prevalence of mental health problems and related factors among dialysis patients living in prefectures that were heavily damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Research was conducted two years following the disaster, and data of 1500 residents of the prefectures were analyzed. This study examined disaster related stressors, gender, socioeconomic status, health problems prior the earthquake, and social support, all of which have been identified as aggravating/mitigating factors in previous research on disaster survivors. We also examined advanced awareness of emergency planning as a dialysis specific factor. Mental health problems after the disaster were categorized into three types: PTSD and depression comorbidity, PTSD only, and depression only. Results indicated that people with comorbidity, PTSD, and depression comprised 7.5%, 25.0%, and 2.9% of the sample, respectively. Not only disaster related stressors but also health problems prior to the disaster had an aggravating direct effect on comorbidity and PTSD. In addition, social support and advanced awareness of disaster planning had a mitigating effect on comorbidity. These results suggest that advanced awareness of disaster planning is a dialysis specific factor that could decrease the occurrence of comorbidity among dialysis patients following a disaster.
Mechanical, Thermal, and Microstructural Analysis of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites
Authors: Allison P. G. , Moser R. D. , Chandler M. Q. , Caminero-Rodriguez J. A. , Torres-Cancel K. , Rivera O. G. , Goodwin J. R. , Gore E. R. , Weiss C. A.
Published: April 2015

Structural biomaterials such as nacre, bone, and fish scales possess unique structures that have hierarchical spatial configurations, which provide excellent mechanical properties when compared to their individual constituents. These observations have been the motivation for designing and characterizing bioinspired materials with high strength, high stiffness, and corrosion‐resistant properties while at the same time being environmentally friendly. It has been demonstrated that polymer‐clay nanocomposites can simulate the behavior of nacreous biomaterials such as abalone shell. Mechanical, thermal, and microstructural analyses characterized solution‐cast polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposite properties over compositions ranging from the neat polymer to 25% volume fraction of MMT nanoclay. Uniaxial tensile experiments were performed at displacement rates of 1 mm/min and 50 mm/min. Strength values are similar to those shown by nacre and represent a homogeneous dispersion of the MMT in the polymer matrix. Strength‐to‐weight ratios are similar to many structural metals.
A RSSI-Based Distributed Weighted Search Localization Algorithm for WSNs
Authors: Yao Yingbiao , Han Qi , Xu Xiaorong , Jiang Nanlan
Published: April 2015

In order to solve the node localization problem in wireless sensor networks, we propose a novel distributed weighted search localization algorithm (WSLA) in this paper. The WSLA adopts a modified received signal strength indicator-based range model to estimate the distances between nodes, utilizes the results of a centroid localization algorithm as the search initial point, and employs a new weighted search method to compute the positions of nodes in a distributed and recursive manner. The key ideas of the WSLA include a node localization precision classification scheme, a processing scheme for special nodes, and weight-based searches. Compared with three state-of-art localization algorithms—namely, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), edge-based second-order cone programming + nonconvex sequential greedy (ESOCP + NCSG), and particle swarm optimization (PSO)—the simulation results show that localization performance of the WSLA is superior to that of MLE, ESOCP + NCSG, and PSO.
Taming Chaos by Linear Regulation with Bound Estimation
Authors: Wang Jiqiang , Chen Weijian
Published: April 2015

Chaos control has become an important area of research and consequently many approaches have been proposed to control chaos. This paper proposes a linear regulation method. Different from the existing approaches is that it can provide region of attraction while estimating the bounding behaviour of the norm of the states. The proposed method also possesses design flexibility and can be easily used to cater for special requirement such that control signal should be generated via single input, single state, static feedback and so forth. The applications to the Tigan system, the Genesio chaotic system, the novel chaotic system, and the Lorenz chaotic system justify the above claims.
The Effects of Natural Weathering on Color Stability of Impregnated and Varnished Wood Materials
Authors: Turkoglu Turkay , Baysal Ergun , Toker Hilmi
Published: April 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of natural weathering on color stability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestrisL.) and Oriental beech (Fagus orientalisL.) impregnated with some chemicals [tanalith-E (TN-E), adolit-KD5 (AD-KD5), and chromated copper arsenate (CCA)] and then varnished [synthetic varnish (SV) and polyurethane varnish (PV)]. While applying varnish increased lightness, impregnation decreased lightness of the wood specimens before natural weathering. Natural weathering caused greenish, bluish, and dark color tones of the wood surface. Total color change was increased with increasing exposure times in natural weathering. Untreated (control) wood specimens exhibited higher color changes than the other wood specimens in all the stages of natural weathering. The total color changes of untreated Oriental beech specimens were less than untreated Scots pine specimens. The color stability of impregnated and varnished wood specimens gave better results than untreated and solely varnished wood specimens after natural weathering. The best color stability was obtained from both Oriental beech and Scots pine wood impregnated with TN-E before PV coating.
Multiplex Analysis of Pro- or Anti-Inflammatory Serum Cytokines and Chemokines in relation to Gender and Age among Tanzanian Tuberculous Lymphadenitis Patients
Authors: Mustafa Tehmina , Brokstad Karl Albert , Mfinanga Sayoki G. , Wiker Harald G.
Published: April 2015

Objectives. Tuberculous lymphadenitis is the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) with a female and paediatric preponderance, postulated to be due to differences in the immune response. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences in the serum cytokine levels of tuberculous lymphadenitis patients with respect to age and gender.Methods. A multiplex bead-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure IFN-γ, TNF-α, GM-CSF, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-15, and IL-17 levels in sera of patients(n= 86)and healthy controls(n=23).Results. Levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, GM-CSF, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-6 were higher in adult patients than in controls, while those of IL-12 were lower(P<0.05). Children had lower levels of TNF-α, GM-CSF, and IL-5 and higher levels of IL-2 compared with adult patients(P<0.05). The male adult patients had higher levels of IL-17 and lower levels of IL-12 compared with female adult patients(P<0.05).  Conclusion. There were significant differences in the levels of circulating cytokines with respect to gender and age. Children had generally lower levels of cytokines as compared to adults, which could make them more susceptible. Findings do not support that female preponderance is due to differences in immune response.
Some Results on Generalizedα,β-Derivations in∗-Prime Rings
Authors: Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar , Gölbaşi Öznur , Koç Emine
Published: April 2015

We extend some well known commutativity results concerning a nonzero square closed∗-Lie ideal and generalizedα,β-derivations of∗-prime rings.
Using Fuzzy Logic Techniques for Assertion‐Based Software Testing Metrics
Authors: Alakeel Ali M.
Published: April 2015

Software testing is a very labor intensive and costly task. Therefore, many software testing techniques to automate the process of software testing have been reported in the literature. Assertion‐Based automated software testing has been shown to be effective in detecting program faults as compared to traditional black‐box and white‐box software testing methods. However, the applicability of this approach in the presence of large numbers of assertions may be very costly. Therefore, software developers need assistance while making decision to apply Assertion‐Based testing in order for them to get the benefits of this approach at an acceptable level of costs. In this paper, we present an Assertion‐Based testing metrics technique that is based on fuzzy logic. The main goal of the proposed technique is to enhance the performance of Assertion‐Based software testing in the presence of large numbers of assertions. To evaluate the proposed technique, an experimental study was performed in which the proposed technique is applied on programs with assertions. The result of this experiment shows that the effectiveness and performance of Assertion‐Based software testing have improved when applying the proposed testing metrics technique.
Evaluation of Optical Low Coherence Reflectometry Parameters in Patients with Exfoliation Syndrome
Authors: Beyazyıldız Emrullah , Beyazyıldız Özlem , Günaydın Süleyman , Kan Emrah , Şimşek Mert , Yılmazbaş Pelin , Öztürk Faruk
Published: April 2015

Purpose. To evaluate optical low coherence reflectometry (OLCR) parameters in patients with exfoliation syndrome (EXS) undergoing cataract surgery.Methods. Forty-seven eyes of 47 patients with EXS (Group 1), and 55 eyes of 55 healthy subjects (Group 2) were included in the study. Anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), horizontal corneal length (HCL), and pupil diameter (PD) parameters were measured by OLCR (Lenstar LS 900, Haag-Streit) and compared between groups. Shapiro-Wilk test and Mann WhitneyUtests were used for statistical analyses.Results. The mean ACD, HCL, and PD values were significantly lower in EXS group than in healthy subjects (P= 0.01,P= 0.04, andP<0.001, resp.). The mean LT was significantly higher in EXS group than in healthy subjects (P= 0.007). There was no significant difference between groups in means of AXL and CCT.Conclusions. According to OLCR measures, eyes with EXS have shallower ACD, smaller PD, thicker LT, shorter HCL, and no significantly different CCT levels.
Fabrication of Al2O3‐Cu Nanocomposites Using Rotary Chemical Vapor Deposition and Spark Plasma Sintering
Authors: Zhang Jianfeng , Goto Takashi
Published: April 2015

A two‐step rotary chemical vapor deposition technique was developed to uniformly mix Cu nanoparticles with the γAl2O3 powders, and then the as‐obtained powders were consolidated to Al2O3‐Cu nanocomposites by spark plasma sintering. In the RCVD process, the metal‐organic precursor of copper dipivaloylmethanate (Cu(DPM)2) reacted with O2 and then was reduced by H2 in order to erase the contamination of carbon. At 1473 K, the relative density of Al2O3‐Cu increased with increasing CCu and the maximum value was 97.7% at CCu = 5.2 mass%. The maximum fracture toughness of Al2O3‐Cu was 4.1 MPa m1/2 at CCu = 3.8 mass%, and 1 MPa m1/2 higher than that of monolithic Al2O3, validating the beneficial effects of Cu nanoparticles.
Diabetes Mellitus, Cognitive Impairment, and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Authors: Seto S. W. , Yang G. Y. , Kiat H. , Bensoussan A. , Kwan Y. W. , Chang D.
Published: April 2015

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder affecting a large number of people worldwide. Numerous studies have demonstrated that DM can cause damage to multiple systems, leading to complications such as heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular disorders. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that DM is closely associated with dementia and cognition dysfunction, with recent research focusing on the role of DM-mediated cerebrovascular damage in dementia. Despite the therapeutic benefits of antidiabetic agents for the treatment of DM-mediated cognitive dysfunction, most of these pharmaceutical agents are associated with various undesirable side-effects and their long-term benefits are therefore in doubt. Early evidence exists to support the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interventions, which tend to have minimal toxicity and side-effects. More importantly, these TCM interventions appear to offer significant effects in reducing DM-related complications beyond blood glucose control. However, more research is needed to further validate these claims and to explore their relevant mechanisms of action. The aims of this paper are (1) to provide an updated overview on the association between DM and cognitive dysfunction and (2) to review the scientific evidence underpinning the use of TCM interventions for the treatment and prevention of DM-induced cognitive dysfunction and dementia.
Enhanced Locomotor Activity Is Required to Exert Dietary Restriction-Dependent Increase of Stress Resistance inDrosophila
Authors: Ghimire Saurav , Kim Man Su
Published: April 2015

Dietary restriction (DR) is known to be one of the most effective interventions to increase stress resistance, yet the mechanisms remain elusive. One of the most obvious DR-induced changes in phenotype is an increase in locomotor activity. Although it is conceptually perceivable that nutritional scarcity should prompt enhanced foraging behavior to garner additional dietary resources, the significance of enhanced movement activity has not been associated with the DR-dependent increase of stress resistance. In this study, we confirmed that flies raised on DR exhibited enhanced locomotive activity and increased stress resistance. Excision of fly wings minimized the DR-induced increase in locomotive activity, which resulted in attenuation of the DR-dependent increase of stress resistance. The possibility that wing clipping counteracts the DR by coercing flies to have more intake was ruled out since it did not induce any weight gain. Rather it was found that elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that is enhanced by DR-induced upregulation of expression of antioxidant genes was significantly reduced by wing clipping. Collectively, our data suggests that DR increased stress resistance by increasing the locomotor activity, which upregulated expression of protective genes including, but not limited to, ROS scavenger system.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity of g‐C3N4/KTaO3 Composites under Visible Light Irradiation
Authors: Yong Zhiqing , Ren Jian , Hu Huilin , Li Peng , Ouyang Shuxin , Xu Hua , Wang Defa
Published: April 2015

Novel graphitic carbon nitride/KTaO3 (g‐C3N4/KTaO3) nanocomposite photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized via a facile and simple ultrasonic dispersion method. Compared to either g‐C3N4 or KTaO3, the composite photocatalysts show significantly increased photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The increased photocatalytic performance of the composite could be attributed to the enhanced photogenerated charge carrier separation capacity. Moreover, it is observed that ∙ is the main active species in the photocatalytic degradation of RhB using the g‐C3N4/KTaO3 composite photocatalysts.
Hydrolysis and Hydrazinolysis of Isatin-Based Ald- and Ketazines
Authors: Ibrahim Hany S. , Abdelhadi Soha R. , Abdel-Aziz Hatem A.
Published: April 2015

The hydrolysis of isatin aldazine4a–dafforded the unexpected 3,3′-(hydrazine-1,2-diylidene)bis(indolin-2-one) (5) and 1,2-di(arylidene)hydrazines6a–dthrough dual hydrolysis of4a–d. A mechanism to explain the formation of5and6a–dwas proposed. In addition, the hydrazinolysis of4a–dyielded 3-hydrazonoindolin-2-one (2) and 1,2-di(arylidene)hydrazines6a–dinstead of hydrazones17a–d, while hydrazinolysis of isatin ketazine5gave the expected 3-hydrazonoindolin-2-one (2). These results indicated the ability of the title compounds for unusual hydrolysis and hydrazinolysis reactions.
A Discrete-TimeGeo/G/1 Retrial Queue with Two Different Types of Vacations
Authors: Zhang Feng , Zhu Zhifeng
Published: April 2015

We analyze a discrete-timeGeo/G/1 retrial queue with two different types of vacations and general retrial times. Two different types of vacation policies are investigated in this model, one of which is nonexhaustive urgent vacation during serving and the other is normal exhaustive vacation. For this model, we give the steady-state analysis for the considered queueing system. Firstly, we obtain the generating functions of the number of customers in our model. Then, we obtain the closed-form expressions of some performance measures and also give a stochastic decomposition result for the system size. Moreover, the relationship between this discrete-time model and the corresponding continuous-time model is also investigated. Finally, some numerical results are provided to illustrate the effect of nonexhaustive urgent vacation on some performance characteristics of the system.
ZnO/ZnAl2O4Nanocomposite Films Studied by X-Ray Diffraction, FTIR, and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
Authors: Iaiche S. , Djelloul A.
Published: April 2015

ZnO/ZnAl2O4nanocomposite films were synthesised by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) by extracting Al2O(SO4)2oxide with zinc chloride hydrate in deionised water. The sample was then subjected to heat treatment at 650°C and 700°C for 1 h, which led to the formation of the spinel oxide (ZnAl2O4) and wurtzite (ZnO) phases. Al2(SO4)3·18H2O salt was transformed into aluminum oxide sulfate Al2O(SO4)2, which is an intermediary decomposition product, by calcination at 795°C for 3 h. The structures of the synthesised ZnO/ZnAl2O4films were confirmed by XRD, FTIR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS spectra of the major Zn, Al, and O photoelectron lines and the major X-ray induced Zn LMM Auger lines for ZnO/ZnAl2O4are presented.
Rebamipide Improves Chronic Inflammation in the Lesser Curvature of the Corpus afterHelicobacter pyloriEradication: A Multicenter Study
Authors: Kamada Tomoari , Sato Motonori , Tokutomi Tadashi , Watanabe Tetsuo , Murao Takahisa , Matsumoto Hiroshi , Manabe Noriaki , Ito Masanori , Tanaka Shinji , Inoue Kazuhiko , Shiotani Akiko , Akiyama Takashi , Hata Jiro , Haruma Ken
Published: April 2015

Background and Aim. Although many epidemiologic studies have shown thatHelicobacter pylorieradication has prophylactic effects on gastric cancer, it does not completely eliminate the risk of gastric cancer. We aimed to investigate the changes in histological gastritis in patients receiving rebamipide treatment afterH. pylorieradication.Methods. 206 patients who had undergoneH. pylorieradication were evaluated. Of these, 169 patients who achieved successful eradication were randomly allocated to 2 groups: the rebamipide group (n= 82) and the untreated group (n= 87). The primary endpoints were histopathological findings according to the updated Sydney system at the start of the study and after 1 year.Results. Final assessment for histological gastritis was possible in 50 cases from the rebamipide group and 53 cases from the untreated group. The activity and atrophy improved in both the rebamipide and untreated groups, and no significant intergroup differences were observed. Chronic inflammation affecting the lesser curvature of the corpus was significantly improved in the rebamipide group compared to in the untreated group (1.12±0.08versus1.35±0.08;P= 0.043).Conclusions. Rebamipide treatment afterH. pylorieradication alleviated chronic inflammation in the lesser curvature of the corpus compared to that in the untreated group. This trial is registered withUMIN000002369.
Optimizing MPBSM Resource Allocation Based on Revenue Management: A China Mobile Sichuan Case
Authors: Chen Xu
Published: April 2015

The key to determining the network service level of telecom operators is resource allocation for mobile phone base station maintenance (MPBSM). Given intense market competition and higher consumer requirements for network service levels, an increasing proportion of resources have been allocated to MPBSM. Maintenance costs account for the rising fraction of direct costs, and the management of MPBSM resource allocation presents special challenges to telecom operators. China Mobile is the largest telecom operator in the world. Its subsidiary, China Mobile Sichuan, is the first in China to use revenue management in improving MPBSM resource allocation. On the basis of comprehensive revenue (including both economic revenue and social revenue), the subsidiary established a classification model of its base stations. The model scientifically classifies more than 25,000 base stations according to comprehensive revenue. China Mobile Sichuan also conducted differentiation allocation of MPBSM resources on the basis of the classification results. Furthermore, it optimized the assessment system of the telecom base stations to establish an assurance system for the use of MPBSM resources. After half-year implementation, the cell availability of both VIP base stations and total base stations significantly improved. The optimization also reduced economic losses to RMB 10.134 million, and enhanced customer satisfaction with network service by 3.2%.
Acupuncture for Frequent Migraine: A Randomized, Patient/Assessor Blinded, Controlled Trial with One-Year Follow-Up
Authors: Wang Yanyi , Xue Charlie Changli , Helme Robert , Da Costa Cliff , Zheng Zhen
Published: April 2015

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of manual acupuncture as a prophylaxis for frequent migraine.Methods. Fifty frequent migraineurs were randomly allocated to receive 16 sessions of either real acupuncture (RA = 26) or sham acupuncture (SA = 24) during 20 weeks. The primary outcomes were days with migraine over four weeks, duration, and intensity of migraine and the number of responders with more than 50% reduction of migraine days. The secondary outcomes were the relief medication, quality of migraine, quality of life, and pressure pain thresholds.Results. The two groups were comparable at baseline. At the end of the treatment, when compared with the SA group, the RA group reported significant less migraine days (RA: 5.2 ± 5.0; SA: 10.1 ± 7.1;P=0.008), less severe migraine (RA: 2.18 ± 1.05; SA: 2.93 ± 0.61;P=0.004), more responders (RA: 19 versus SA: 7), and increased pressure pain thresholds. No other group difference was found. Group differences were maintained at the end of the three-month follow-up, but not at the one-year follow-up. No severe adverse event was reported. Blinding was successful.Discussion. Manual acupuncture was an effective and safe treatment for short-term relief of frequent migraine in adults. Larger trials are warranted.
Broadband DOA Estimation Based on Nested Arrays
Authors: Shen Zhi-bo , Dong Chun-xi , Dong Yang-yang , Zhao Guo-qing , Huang Long
Published: April 2015

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is a crucial problem in electronic reconnaissance. A novel broadband DOA estimation method utilizing nested arrays is devised in this paper, which is capable of estimating the frequencies and DOAs of multiple narrowband signals in broadbands, even though they may have different carrier frequencies. The proposed method converts the DOA estimation of multiple signals with different frequencies into the spatial frequency estimation. Then, the DOAs and frequencies are pair matched by sparse recovery. It is possible to significantly increase the degrees of freedom (DOF) with the nested arrays and the number of sources can be more than that of sensor array. In addition, the method can achieve high estimation precision without the two-dimensional search process in frequency and angle domain. The validity of the proposed method is verified by theoretic analysis and simulation results.
A Vila Novo Paraíso/Roraima: A construção de um espaço na Amazônia Brasileira
Authors: Monteiro Elizangela Wanderlinde Quaresma , Laroque Luís Fernando da Silva
Published: April 2015

O trabalho aborda as alterações ocorridas no espaço Vila Novo Paraíso em Roraima, tendo como base a construção da Rodovia BR 174. O estudo  tem como objetivo analisar o processo de construção do espaço territorial e cultural na Vila Novo Paraíso a partir da construção da Rodovia BR 174, considerando principalmente os grupos sociais de maranhenses e rio-grandenses que chegaram ao atual estado de Roraima via rodovia BR 174.  A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa qualitativa no tratamento e análise de fontes bibliográficas, documentais, dados de entrevistas e dos diários de campo. Recorreu-se a conceitos como construção do espaço e paisagem, considerando a premissa que o espaço da Vila Novo Paraíso foi construído de acordo com as concepções culturais dos grupos sociais compostos por maranhenses e rio-grandenses que convivem na Vila em questão.
Em diversos pontos da rede: divisão territorial das operações de Contact Center no Brasil
Authors: Almeida Marina Castro
Published: April 2015

O artigo tem como objetivo analisar a apropriação do desenvolvimento geográfico desigual brasileiro pelas empresas de Contact Center. A constituição e expansão das operações brasileiras de teleatendimento estão atreladas às privatizações do setor de telecomunicações, com a aquisição das empresas estatais por grandes transnacionais, e a consequente terceirização dos serviços a partir do final da década de 1990. A análise da divisão territorial do trabalho das empresas Contact Center revela a presença de forças centrípetas, com a manutenção do controle nas principais metrópoles brasileiras, e centrífugas, com a dispersão das unidades de produção para os centros urbanos não metropolitanos e para a região Nordeste. O uso seletivo da densidade técnica e informacional do território brasileiro permite às empresas a incorporação lucrativa de áreas onde os recursos, principalmente, capital e trabalho, são desvalorizados.
Uma publicação sobre a geografia, o Brasil e o Mundo
Authors: Contel Fabio Betioli
Published: April 2015

Vem a público mais um número da GEOUSP, dando prosseguimento a um esforço editorial dos docentes do Departamento de Geografia da FFLCH-USP, esforço que completa 18 anos em 2015.
Modernização e complexidade do circuito superior nas economias urbanas de Londrina e Maringá-PR
Authors: Oliveira Edilson Luis , Fresca Tânia Maria
Published: April 2015

O circuito superior da economia urbana das cidades de Londrina e Maringá tem características regionais que ajudam a explicar sua forte centralidade e a polariza- ção que elas exercem em todo o norte do Paraná. Essas características regionais resultam da formação social dessas cidades, pautada pela presença da pequena produção mercantil e por ondas sucessivas de modernização que incidiram no norte do Paraná, modificando as formas de integração dessa região na divisão territorial do trabalho brasileira ao longo da segunda metade do século XX e no início do XXI.
Migrações complementares: sobreposições escalares entre os movimentos internos e internacionais nas conexões entre Brasil e Paraguai
Authors: Braga Fernando Gomes , Fazito Dimitri
Published: April 2015

Este artigo propõe uma metodologia para identificar e analisas sistemas migra- tórios complementares, envolvendo fluxos internos e internacionais na região da fronteira Brasil-Paraguai. Sua reaproximação bilateral a partir da segunda meta- de do século XX, materializada em projetos binacionais como a usina de Itaipu, motivou o aumento das migrações internacionais, em complemento aos fluxos internos que ocorriam na expansão da fronteira agrícola de ambos os países. De acordo com os dados do Censo 2000, o Paraguai foi o país que mais enviou migrantes para o Brasil na década de 1990, formando uma conexão migratória com impacto na organização territorial das duas nações. A partir da aplicação de indicadores locais de associação espacial (Lisa) e de métodos de análise de redes, verificou-se a hipótese de que exista um subsistema migratório interno no Brasil cuja estrutura espacial dá suporte a conexões entre as localidades concentrado- ras de migrantes internacionais oriundos do Paraguai.