bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fuzzy association rule mining framework and its application to effective fuzzy associative classification
Authors: Kianmehr Keivan , Kaya Mehmet , ElSheikh Abdallah M. , Jida Jamal , Alhajj Reda
Published: June 2011

Classification is a technique widely and successfully used for prediction, which is one of the most attractive features of data mining. However, building the classifier is the most challenging part of the process, which proceeds into testing the classifier to check its effectiveness. This article introduces a classification framework that integrates fuzzy association rules into the learning process of machine learning techniques. The integrated framework involves three major components. First, we employ multiobjective optimization twice to decide on the fuzzy sets and then optimize their ranges to extract a set of interesting fuzzy association rules. Second, we use a special subset of the extracted fuzzy association rules, namely, fuzzy class association rules, for building a set of new feature vectors that measure the compatibility between the rules and the given data objects. Third, we train a classifier on the generated feature vectors to predict the class of unseen objects. Most of the earlier algorithms proposed for mining fuzzy association rules assume that the fuzzy sets are given. However, the fuzzy association rule mining component of the proposed framework uses an automated method for autonomous mining of both fuzzy sets and fuzzy association rules. For this purpose, first fuzzy sets are constructed by using a multiobjective genetic algorithm based clustering method for determining and optimizing the membership functions of the fuzzy sets. Then, a method is applied to extract interesting fuzzy association rules. Further, the proposed framework integrates a new layer to the learning process of the machine learning algorithm by constructing the compatibility rule‐based feature vectors; this satisfies the aim of better understandability. Once used by the learning algorithm, the compatibility feature vectors represent a rich source of discrimination knowledge that can substantially impact the prediction power of the final classifier. The experimental study and the reported results show the efficiency and effectiveness of our framework for benchmark datasets. In order to further demonstrate and evaluate the applicability of the proposed method to a variety of domains, it is utilized for the task of gene expression classification as well. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2011 1 477–495 DOI: 10.1002/widm.40

This article is categorized under:

Technologies > Association Rules

Technologies > Classification
Informatics and standards for nanomedicine technology
Authors: Thomas Dennis G. , Klaessig Fred , Harper Stacey L. , Fritts Martin , Hoover Mark D. , Gaheen Sharon , Stokes Todd H. , Reznik‐Zellen Rebecca , Freund Elaine T. , Klemm Juli D. , Paik David S. , Baker Nathan A.
Published: June 2011

There are several issues to be addressed concerning the management and effective use of information (or data), generated from nanotechnology studies in biomedical research and medicine. These data are large in volume, diverse in content, and are beset with gaps and ambiguities in the description and characterization of nanomaterials. In this work, we have reviewed three areas of nanomedicine informatics: information resources; taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and ontologies; and information standards. Informatics methods and standards in each of these areas are critical for enabling collaboration; data sharing; unambiguous representation and interpretation of data; semantic (meaningful) search and integration of data; and for ensuring data quality, reliability, and reproducibility. In particular, we have considered four types of information standards in this article, which are standard characterization protocols, common terminology standards, minimum information standards, and standard data communication (exchange) formats. Currently, because of gaps and ambiguities in the data, it is also difficult to apply computational methods and machine learning techniques to analyze, interpret, and recognize patterns in data that are high dimensional in nature, and also to relate variations in nanomaterial properties to variations in their chemical composition, synthesis, characterization protocols, and so on. Progress toward resolving the issues of information management in nanomedicine using informatics methods and standards discussed in this article will be essential to the rapidly growing field of nanomedicine informatics. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2011 3 511–532 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.152

This article is categorized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies

Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Regulatory and Policy Issues in Nanomedicine
The Structure of the “Third‐Generation” Tris(pyrazolyl)borate Caesium Salt p‐BrC6H4TpCs
Authors: Zagermann Johannes , Merz Klaus , Metzler‐Nolte Nils
Published: June 2011

Slow crystallisation at lowered temperature yielded crystals of the “third‐generation” tris(pyrazolyl)borate transfer agent p‐BrC6H4TpCs (Tp′Cs) 1 (triclinic; P$\bar{1}$; a = 8.540(4), b = 15.045(6), c = 15.879(7) Å; α = 65.853(8), β = 88.457(8), γ = 75.056(8)°; V = 1791.4(13) Å3; Z = 4). The central caesium ion in 1 interacts with three individual p‐BrC6H4Tp ligands in two different chelating fashions.In particular, κ1‐N‐coordination and η5‐π‐coordination of pyrazole moieties as well as η6‐π‐coordination of the p‐BrC6H4 substituent are observed. Further, comparable coordination of neighbouring caesium ions leads to the formation of polymeric structures connected by two bridging modes.
Structural and Infrared Spectroscopic Studies of Some Adducts of Divalent Metal Dihalides (MX2, M = Zn, Cd; X = CI, Br, I) with Variously Hindered Monodentate Nitrogen (Pyridine) Base Ligands (L = Pyridine, 2‐Methylpyridine, and Quinoline) of 1:2 Stoichiometry
Authors: Bowmaker Graham A. , Effendy  , Fariati  , Rahajoe Susanto I. , Skelton Brian W. , White Allan H.
Published: June 2011

Single crystal X‐ray structure determinations are described for a number of adducts of 1:2 MX2:L stoichiometry, [M = divalent metal (Zn, Cd); X = halide (Cl, Br, I), L = (variously hindered) monodentate nitrogen (pyridine) base: py = pyridine, 2‐mpy = 2‐methylpyridine, quin = quinoline]: [(2‐mpy)2ZnX2] (X = Cl, Br) (isotypic, triclinic P$\bar{1}$, a ≈︁ 7.96, b ≈︁ 8.7, c ≈︁ 11.4 Å, α ≈︁ 86, β ≈︁ 79.3, γ ≈︁ 67°, Z = 2), [(2‐mpy)2ZnI2], [(quin)2ZnX2] (X = Br) (isotypic with the previously determined chloride, X = Cl, triclinic, P$\bar{1}$, a ≈︁ 8.7, b ≈︁ 9.6, c ≈︁ 11.1 Å, α ≈︁ 81, β ≈︁ 73, γ ≈︁ 72°, Z = 2); [(quin)2ZnI2]; [(2‐mpy)2CdX2], X = Br {isotypic with [(2‐mpy)2ZnX2], X = Cl, Br (above)}, X = I {isotypic with [(2‐mpy)2ZnI2] (above)}; [(quin)2CdI2]. A single molecule, with a four‐coordinate quasi‐tetrahedral metal atom, N2MX2, comprises the asymmetric unit of the structure in each of these. A one‐dimensional polymer is found for [(quin)2Cd(μ‐Cl)2](∞‖∞), similar to those recorded previously for CdX2:py (1:2) (X = Cl, Br, I), the cadmium atom here lying on a 2‐axis in tetragonal space group P$\bar{4}$21c, and the quin ligands coordinating trans in a six‐coordinate array about the cadmium, with successive cadmium atoms being linked by pairs of bridging chlorines. Adducts of MX2:L (1:1) stoichiometry, defined for M = Cd: [(2,4,6‐trimethylpyridine)Cd(μ‐I)2](∞‖∞) and [(quin)Cd(μ‐Br)2](∞‖∞), are both infinite one‐dimensional polymers …(μ‐X)2Cd(L)(μ‐X)2Cd(L)…, with five‐coordinate trigonal bipyramidal cadmium atoms, the nitrogen donors being equatorial in the coordination spheres. The far‐IR spectra of [L2MX2] (L = py, 2‐mpy, quin; M = Zn, Cd; X = Cl, Br, I) are assigned and discussed in relation to the structures of the complexes.
Organochromium(II) and Organonitridochromium(V) N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis and Structural Characterization
Authors: Wang Juanjuan , Tan Gengwen , An Dongli , Zhu Hongping , Yang Ying
Published: June 2011

The N‐heterocyclic carbene‐stabilized chromium(II) alkyl, aryl, and alkynyl complexes (IPM)2CrR2 [R = Me (2), Ph (3), C≡CPh (3); IPM = 1,3‐diisopropyl‐4,5‐dimethylimidazole‐2‐ylidene] were prepared by metathesis reactions of (IPM)2CrCl2 (1) with the corresponding organolithium reagents. Further reaction of 3 with an organic azide, 1‐azidoadamantane, yielded an organonitridochromium(V) compound (IPM)2Ph2Cr≡N (5). Compounds 2–5 are fully characterized by 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy, X‐ray crystallography as well as by elemental analysis. The structural analysis shows that the metal atom adopts a nearly square‐planar arrangement in the respective 2, 3, and 4 and a square‐pyramidal one in 5. The reaction of 3 with the organic azide to 5 appears a novel way to the organonitridochromium compound.
Hypervalent Organoselenium(II) Compounds with Organophosphorus Ligands. Crystal and Molecular Structure of [2‐(iPr2NCH2)C6H4]Se[S2PR′2] (R′ = Ph, OiPr)
Authors: Duhamel Elise , Pöllnitz Alpar , Stegarescu Adina , Silvestru Anca
Published: June 2011

Redistribution reactions between diorganodiselenides of type [2‐(R2NCH2)C6H4]2Se2 [R = Et, iPr] and bis(diorganophosphinothioyl disulfanes of type [R′2P(S)S]2 (R = Ph, OiPr) resulted in the hypervalent [2‐(R2NCH2)C6H4]SeSP(S)R′2 [R = Et, R′ = Ph (1), OiPr (2); R = iPr, R′ = Ph (3), OiPr (4)] species. All new compounds were characterized by solution multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 31P, 77Se) and the solid compounds 1, 3, and 4 also by FT‐IR spectroscopy. The crystal and molecular structures of 3 and 4 were determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. In both compounds the N(1) atom is intramolecularly coordinated to the selenium atom, resulting in T‐shaped coordination arrangements of type (C,N)SeS. The dithio organophosphorus ligands act monodentate in both complexes, which can be described as essentially monomeric species. Weak intermolecular S···H contacts could be considered in the crystal of 3, thus resulting in polymeric zig‐zag chains of R and S isomers, respectively.
An update on molecular genetics of Alkaptonuria (AKU)
Authors: Zatkova Andrea
Published: June 2011

Alkaptonuria (AKU) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of homogentisate 1,2 dioxygenase (HGD) and characterized by homogentisic aciduria, ochronosis, and ochronotic arthritis. The defect is caused by mutations in the HGD gene, which maps to the human chromosome 3q21–q23. AKU shows a very low prevalence (1:100,000–250,000) in most ethnic groups, but there are countries such as Slovakia and the Dominican Republic in which the incidence of this disorder rises to as much as 1:19,000. In this work, we summarize the genetic aspects of AKU in general and the distribution of all known disease‐causing mutations reported so far. We focus on special features of AKU in Slovakia, which is one of the countries with an increased incidence of this rare metabolic disorder.
Presymptomatic Testing for Neurogenetic Diseases in Brazil: Assessing Who Seeks and Who Follows through with Testing
Authors: Rodrigues Caroline Santa Maria , de Oliveira Viviane Ziebell , Camargo Gabriela , Osório Claudio Maria da Silva , de Castilhos Raphael Machado , Saraiva‐Pereira Maria Luiza , Schuler‐Faccini Lavínia , Jardim Laura Bannach
Published: June 2011

Diagnostic tests are available to detect several mutations related to adult‐onset, autosomal dominant, neurodegenerative diseases. We aimed to describe our experience in a presymptomatic testing program run by the Brazilian Public Health System from 1999 to 2009. A total of 184 individuals were eligible for presymptomatic testing due to a risk for spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) ‐ SCA3 (80%), Huntington's disease (11.9%), familial amyloidotic neuropathy (4.3%), SCA1, SCA2, SCA6, or SCA7. Most were women (70%), married (54%), and had children prior to presymptomatic testing (67%). Their mean age at entrance was 34 (SD = 11 years). Educational level was above the average Brazilian standard. After receipt of genetic counseling, 100 individuals (54%) decided to undergo testing; of these, 51 were carriers. Since no individual returned for post‐test psychological evaluation, we conducted a subsequent survey, unrelated to test disclosures. We contacted 57 individuals of whom 31 agreed to participate (24 had been tested, 7 had not). Several ascertainment concerns relating to these numerous losses prevented us from generalizing our results from this second survey. We concluded that: decision‐making regarding presymptomatic testing seems to be genuinely autonomous, since after genetic counseling half the individuals who asked for presymptomatic testing decided in favor and half decided against it; general characteristics of Brazilians who sought presymptomatic testing were similar to many European samples studied previously; and individuals at risk for SCA3 may be at greater risk of depression. Although no clear‐cut reason emerged for rejection of follow‐up psychological sessions after presymptomatic testing, this finding suggests adjustments to our presymptomatic testing program are necessary.
Global supply chain design considerations: Mitigating product safety and security risks
Authors: Speier Cheri , Whipple Judith M. , Closs David J. , Voss M. Douglas
Published: June 2011

Supply chain disruptions pose an increasingly significant risk to supply chains. This research develops a framework to examine the threat of potential disruptions on supply chain processes and focuses on potential mitigation and supply chain design strategies that can be implemented to mitigate this risk. The framework was developed by integrating three theoretical perspectives—normal accident theory, high reliability theory, and situational crime prevention. The research uses a multi‐method approach to identify key safety and security initiatives (process management, information sharing, and supply chain partner and service provider relationship management) that can be implemented and the conditions under which each initiative is best suited. The research results illustrate that the depth and breadth of security initiatives depends on top management mindfulness, operational complexity, product risk, and coupling.
Quality risk in offshore manufacturing: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry
Authors: Gray John V. , Roth Aleda V. , Leiblein Michael J.
Published: June 2011

Does offshore production pose an added quality risk relative to domestic production? If so, what factors influence the quality risk? Progress addressing these deceptively simple questions has been hindered by the challenges associated with (1) difficulties in controlling for a wide range of factors that may potentially affect quality risk in offshore manufacturing and (2) the lack of available measures that are consistent across geographic regions. This paper contributes to the academic discourse by empirically assessing differences in quality risk across domestic and offshore plants in a setting that naturally controls for many confounding factors. Specifically, we employ a sample of 30 pairs of regulated drug manufacturing plants in the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico matched both by parent firm and by product standard industrial code (SIC). Using a plant‐level measure of quality risk that is measurement invariant, our findings indicate that Puerto Rican plants operate with a significantly higher quality risk than matching plants operated by the same firm located in the mainland U.S., on average. This finding persists above and beyond potentially important factors, such as geographic distance and the local population's general and industry‐specific skills. Thus, challenges related to the transfer and maintenance of the knowledge required to operate with a low quality risk across non‐geographic distance are left as the most plausible explanatory factors. Practically, our research highlights the need for manufacturing firms to carefully consider increased quality risk associated with the offshoring of production, particularly with regard to process‐sensitive products like drugs. From a policy standpoint, our study highlights the need for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue to intensify its inspection focus on international manufacturing.
Krankheitsbedingte Fehlzeiten in der deutschen Wirtschaft
Authors: Meyer Markus , Schröder Helmut
Published: June 2011

Einleitung

Die Analyseergebnisse von Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungen geben den Gesetzlichen Krankenkassen Hinweise darauf, wie es um die gesundheitliche Situation in den Betrieben bestellt ist. Darauf basierend können Vorschläge zur Verbesserung der Gesundheit entwickelt und deren Umsetzung unterstützt werden. Der Fehlzeiten-Report informiert seit 1999 jährlich umfassend über die allgemeine Krankenstandsentwicklung der deutschen Wirtschaft und berichtet insbesondere über die Fehlzeiten der 10 Millionen AOK-Mitglieder. Er gibt Bewertungen zu den Gründen, zeigt Muster von Fehlzeiten in Betrieben auf und gibt Antworten auf Fragen wie beispielsweise welche Bedeutung den psychischen Erkrankungen im Vergleich zu den anderen Krankheitsarten zukommt oder welche Berufsgruppen in welchen Branchen wegen welcher Erkankungen wie lange krankgeschrieben werden.
Increased Mauthner cell activity and escaping behaviour in seabream fed long-chain PUFA
Authors: Benítez-Santana Tibiábin , Juárez-Carrillo Eduardo , Beatriz Betancor Mónica , Torrecillas Silvia , José Caballero María , Soledad Izquierdo María
Published: June 2011

There is limited information on the specific effects of long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) on neuron development and functioning. Deficiency of those essential fatty acids impairs escape and avoidance behaviour in fish, where Mauthner cells (M-cells) play a particularly important role in initiating this response. Gilthead seabream larvae fed two different LCPUFA profiles were challenged with a sonorous stimulus. Feedingn-3 LCPUFA increased the content of these fatty acids in fish tissues and caused a higher number of larvae to react to the stimulus with a faster burst swimming speed response. This faster startle response in fish fedn-3 LCPUFA was also associated with an increased immune-positive neural response, particularly in M-cells, denoting a higher production of acetylcholine. The present study shows the first evidence of the effect ofn-3 LCPUFA on the functioning of particular neurons in fish, the M-cells and the behaviour response that they modulate to escape from a sound stimulus.
Analysis of the erosive effect of different dietary substances and medications
Authors: Lussi Adrian , Megert Brigitte , Peter Shellis Robert , Wang Xiaojie
Published: June 2011

Excessive consumption of acidic drinks and foods contributes to tooth erosion. The aims of the presentin vitrostudy were twofold: (1) to assess the erosive potential of different dietary substances and medications; (2) to determine the chemical properties with an impact on the erosive potential. We selected sixty agents: soft drinks, an energy drink, sports drinks, alcoholic drinks, juice, fruit, mineral water, yogurt, tea, coffee, salad dressing and medications. The erosive potential of the tested agents was quantified as the changes in surface hardness (ΔSH) of enamel specimens within the first 2 min (ΔSH2–0 = SH2 min − SHbaseline) and the second 2 min exposure (ΔSH4–2 = SH4 min − SH2 min). To characterise these agents, various chemical properties, e.g. pH, concentrations of Ca, Piand F, titratable acidity to pH 7·0 and buffering capacity at the original pH value (β), as well as degree of saturation (pK − pI) with respect to hydroxyapatite (HAP) and fluorapatite (FAP), were determined. Erosive challenge caused a statistically significant reduction in SH for all agents except for coffee, some medications and alcoholic drinks, and non-flavoured mineral waters, teas and yogurts (P < 0·01). By multiple linear regression analysis, 52 % of the variation in ΔSH after 2 min and 61 % after 4 min immersion were explained by pH, β and concentrations of F and Ca (P < 0·05). pH was the variable with the highest impact in multiple regression and bivariate correlation analyses. Furthermore, a high bivariate correlation was also obtained between (pK − pI)HAP, (pK − pI)FAPand ΔSH.
Failing to Stem the Tide: Lebanese Migration to French West Africa and the Competing Prerogatives of the Imperial State
Authors: Arsan Andrew Kerim
Published: June 2011

In the years before 1939, the functionaries of Afrique Occidentale Française, or AOF, as France's West African possessions were known, consistently failed to introduce effective legislative controls upon Eastern Mediterranean migration under their purview. This was not for lack of trying; from 1905 onwards, administrators both in the territorial government of Guinea and in the Government-General of the Federation in Dakar repeatedly attempted to close their gates to these interlopers of empire, most of them from present-day Lebanon, who first began to venture into West Africa in the last years of the nineteenth century. By the late 1930s, some six thousand citizens of the Mandatory states of Lebanon and Syria resided across AOF. Most worked as produce brokers, shopkeepers, and traders, buying up groundnuts, palm oil, or kola nuts from African producers, and supplying them in turn with consumer goods such as textiles and clothes, processed foodstuffs, alcohol, and matches. Despite their attempts to channel and stem this flow of men and women, AOF administrators proved unable to impose effective legislative checks upon their movements.
The Trans-Border Traffic of Afghan Modernism: Afghanistan and the Indian “Urdusphere”
Authors: Green Nile
Published: June 2011

In October 1933, two motorcars drove out of Peshawar towards the Khyber Pass carrying a small delegation of Indian Muslims summoned to meet the Afghan ruler Nadir Shah in Kabul. While Nadir Shah had officially invited the travelers to discuss the expansion of the fledgling university founded a year earlier in Kabul, the Indians brought with them a wealth of experience of the wider world and a vision of the leading role within it of Muslim modernists freed of Western dominance. Small as it was, the delegation could hardly have been more distinguished: it comprised Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), the celebrated philosopher and poet; Sir Ross Mas‘ud (1889–1937), the former director of public instruction in Hyderabad and vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University; and Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi (1884–1953), the distinguished biographer and director of the Dar al-Musannifin academy at Azamgarh. The three were traveling to Kabul at the peak of their fame; they were not only famous in individual terms but also represented India's major Muslim movements and institutions of the previous and present generations. Ross Mas‘ud, grandson of the great Muslim modernist Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898), had fifteen years earlier been the impresario behind the foundation of Osmania University in the princely state of Hyderabad. A decade earlier, Sulayman Nadwi, the heir of the reformist principal of the North Indian Nadwat al-‘Ulama madrasa Shibli Nu‘mani (1857–1914), had been among the leading figures of the pan-Islamist, Khilafat struggle to save the Ottoman caliphate. And eighteen months earlier, Muhammad Iqbal had represented India's Muslims at the Round Table Conference in London that would shape India's route to independence.
The Acoustics of Muslim Striving: Loudspeaker Use in Ritual Practice in Pakistan
Authors: Khan Naveeda
Published: June 2011

The protagonist of Intizar Hussain's novelTazkira(1987) is a haplessmuhajir, or refugee, in Lahore, Pakistan in the period shortly after the 1947 Partition of India, which witnessed the pell-mell transfer of Hindus and Sikhs to India and Muslims to Pakistan. He writes that while others were busy seizing abandoned sites in which to live, he was unable to feel at home anywhere. To compound his sense of dislocation,bu amma, his elderly companion, complains bitterly that she misses the sound of theazan, the call to prayer, in the first house they rent in an outlying area of Lahore, as yet forested and relatively un-peopled.Bu ammarecollects how the call used to punctuate her days in herhaveli, or mansion, in a busy neighborhood back in India. Without it, her days stretch out ahead of her, running uneventfully one into the other. How is it possible, she wonders, that one could be in this place created for Muslims and not hear theazan? In their next house,bu ammaquickly realizes what it means to live in the shadow of a mosque. It was once abarkat(blessing), she grumbles, that has been turned into a curse by that satanic instrument (shaitani ala), the loudspeaker. The protagonist describesbu amma's efforts to shut out the sounds from the mosque that now invade her thoughts, shred her concentration, and make her efforts to say her prayers a daily battle. They eventually have to leave this house as well.
Homeland Insecurity: How Immigrant Muslims Naturalize America in Islam
Authors: Bilici Mucahit
Published: June 2011

There are approximately six million Muslims in the United States. They come from a great variety of backgrounds. Among the few things they have in common are Islam as a religion and their American experience. The latter produces some previously unencountered consequences, including the rise of English as the language of Muslimummah(community) and the reality of being a “minority” in a non-Muslim society. The American experience also raises questions of citizenship, identity, and integration.
The Post-Soviet Treasure Hunt: Time, Space, and Necropolitics in Siberian Buddhism
Authors: Bernstein Anya
Published: June 2011

In September 2002, Buddhist lamas of the Ivolginsk monastery in the post-Soviet Republic of Buryatia in southern Siberia accompanied by independent forensic experts performed an exhumation of the body of Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov, the last head lama from the time of the Russian empire, who died in 1927. The body of the lama, found in the lotus position, allegedly had not deteriorated, and soon rumors spread that the lama was alive and had returned to Buryatia, as he had promised he would. According to the stories told by senior monks, before his death Itigelov asked to have his body exhumed thirty years after. He was first exhumed in 1955 (a little short of thirty years) by his relatives and lamas, in secret for fear of being discovered by the Soviet authorities. As expected, the body was intact, so they reburied him. It was only after the final exhumation in 2002 that the lamas installed the body in a glass case in the Ivolginsk monastery, which very soon became an international and domestic sensation, with articles appearing inThe New York Times, and Russian politicians and oligarchs rubbing shoulders with droves of pilgrims and tourists to catch a glimpse of the lama.
Shrines and Sovereigns: Life, Death, and Religion in Rural Azerbaijan
Authors: Grant Bruce
Published: June 2011

Shrines fill the Eurasian land mass. They can be found from Turkey in the west to China in the east, from the Arctic Circle in the north to Afghanistan in the south. Between town and country, they can consist of full-scale architectural complexes, or they may compose no more than an open field, a pile of stones, a tree, or a small mausoleum. They have been at the centers and peripheries of almost every major religious tradition of the region: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Yet in the formerly socialist world, these places of pilgrimage have something even more in common: they were often cast as the last bastions of religious observance when churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues were sent crashing to the ground in rapid succession across the twentieth century.
Minding the Gap: Global Finance and Human Rights
Authors: Dowell-Jones Mary , Kinley David
Published: June 2011

The workings of global finance are like that part of the iceberg beneath the waterline – vast, unseen and, for many, unknown. The interaction of global finance with human rights is especially opaque. The globalization of each phenomenon has occurred very largely independently of the other. Even the recent surge in interest in the global economy and human rights has been heavily focused on the real economy and on what (non-banking) corporations do and how they behave. The particular dimension of interactions between finance and human rights has, by and large, been a blank space. In this article we seek to bridge the gap in understanding, perspective, and practice between the two fields by investigating actual and potential linkages in respect of four specific features of global finance – two financial products: bonds and derivatives; and two financial processes: risk management and procyclicality. These have been chosen as an illustrative sample of the complex and diverse ways in which the global financial system interacts with human rights. Although these products and processes played an important role in the recent global financial crisis, and although the interface between global finance and human rights is extensive, they have not so far featured on the human rights agenda or been the subject of detailed human rights critique. As such they provide an overview of the types of human rights issues in the financial sector that have so far been hidden from view. The paper therefore constructs an argument as to why the bridging of the gap is important and provides pointers as to how it can be done.
Food and beverage choices contributing to dietary guidelines adherence in the Lower Mississippi Delta
Authors: Thomson Jessica L , Onufrak Stephen J , Connell Carol L , Zoellner Jamie M , Tussing-Humphreys Lisa M , Bogle Margaret L , Yadrick Kathy
Published: June 2011

Objectives

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate diet quality among Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) residents using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005) and to identify the top five dietary sources contributing to HEI-2005 components. Demographic differences in HEI-2005 scores were also explored.

Design

Diet quality was evaluated using HEI-2005. Demographic differences in HEI-2005 scores were investigated using multivariable regression models adjusting for multiple comparisons. The top five dietary sources contributing to HEI-2005 components were identified by estimating and ranking mean MyPyramid equivalents overall and by demographic characteristics.

Setting

Dietary data, based on a single 24 h recall, from the Foods of Our Delta Study 2000 (FOODS 2000) were used in the analyses.

Subjects

FOODS 2000 adult participants 18 years of age or older.

Results

Younger age was the largest determinant of low diet quality in the LMD with HEI-2005 total and seven component scores declining with decreasing age. Income was not a significant factor for HEI-2005 total or component scores. The top five dietary sources differed by all five of the demographic variables, particularly for total vegetables and energy from solid fats, alcoholic beverages and added sugars (SoFAAS). Soft drinks were the leading source of SoFAAS energy intake for all demographic groups.

Conclusions

The assessment of diet quality and identification of top dietary sources revealed the presence of demographic differences for selected HEI-2005 components. These findings allow identification of food patterns and culturally appropriate messaging and highlight the difficulties of treating this region as a homogeneous population.
Relating weight constraint and aggregate programs: Semantics and representation
Authors: LIU GUOHUA , YOU JIA-HUAI
Published: June 2011

Weight constraint and aggregate programs are among the most widely used logic programs with constraints. In this paper, we relate the semantics of these two classes of programs, namely, the stable model semantics for weight constraint programs and the answer set semantics based on conditional satisfaction for aggregate programs. Both classes of programs are instances of logic programs with constraints, and in particular, the answer set semantics for aggregate programs can be applied to weight constraint programs. We show that the two semantics are closely related. First, we show that for a broad class of weight constraint programs, called strongly satisfiable programs, the two semantics coincide. When they disagree, a stable model admitted by the stable model semantics may be circularly justified. We show that the gap between the two semantics can be closed by transforming a weight constraint program to a strongly satisfiable one so that no circular models may be generated under the current implementation of the stable model semantics. We further demonstrate the close relationship between the two semantics by formulating a transformation from weight constraint programs to logic programs with nested expressions, which preserves the answer set semantics. Our study on the semantics leads to an investigation of a methodological issue, namely, the possibility of compact representation of aggregate programs by weight constraint programs. We show that almost all standard aggregates can be encoded by weight constraints compactly. This makes it possible to compute the answer sets of aggregate programs using the answer set programming solvers for weight constraint programs. This approach is compared experimentally with the ones where aggregates are handled more explicitly, which show that the weight constraint encoding of aggregates enables a competitive approach to answer set computation for aggregate programs.
Tectonics of the Syros blueschists (Cyclades, Greece): From subduction to Aegean extension
Authors: Philippon Mélody , Brun Jean‐Pierre , Gueydan Frédéric
Published: June 2011

On Syros, high‐pressure metamorphism affects a lithological pile that is composed of, from base to top: (1) the Komito‐Vari granitic basement, (2) a margin sedimentary sequence that is predominantly made of marbles and schists (the Pyrgos and Kastri units), and (3) the Kambos metaophiolitic mélange. The tectonic history occurred in three main stages. During the first stage, in the mid‐Eocene, the Kambos oceanic unit was thrust southward on top of the sedimentary pile. Top‐to‐the‐south‐southwest ductile senses of shear are synchronous with prograde high‐pressure metamorphism and associated with this thrusting event. The second stage corresponds to a top‐to‐the‐northeast ductile shear that affects the whole metamorphic pile and is synchronous with the metamorphic retrogression from eclogite to greenschist facies. However, the Kambos oceanic unit remained partly undeformed, as shown by significant volumes containing undeformed lawsonite pseudomorphs. No major extensional detachment related to this exhumation event outcrops on the island. The localized semibrittle to brittle deformation of the third stage is associated with the postmetamorphic development of (1) a ramp‐flat extensional system at the island scale, whose southward minimum displacement is estimated at approximately 7 km, and (2) two sets of steeply dipping strike‐slip faults with a normal component, trending either east–west or around north–south, indicating that the mean stretching and shortening directions are trending NNE–SSW and ESE–WNW, respectively. This sequence of major tectonic events and their relationship to metamorphism are interpreted within the framework of the subduction of the Pindos Ocean and then of the Adria continental passive margin.
Role of model selection criteria in geostatistical inverse estimation of statistical data‐ and model‐parameters
Authors: Riva Monica , Panzeri Marco , Guadagnini Alberto , Neuman Shlomo P.
Published: June 2011

We analyze theoretically the ability of model quality (sometimes termed information or discrimination) criteria such as the negative log likelihood NLL, Bayesian criteria BIC and KIC and information theoretic criteria AIC, AICc, and HIC to estimate (1) the parameter vector of the variogram of hydraulic log conductivity (Y = ln K), and (2) statistical parameters and proportional to head and log conductivity measurement error variances, respectively, in the context of geostatistical groundwater flow inversion. Our analysis extends the work of Hernandez et al. (2003, 2006) and Riva et al. (2009), who developed nonlinear stochastic inverse algorithms that allow conditioning estimates of steady state and transient hydraulic heads, fluxes and their associated uncertainty on information about conductivity and head data collected in a randomly heterogeneous confined aquifer. Their algorithms are based on recursive numerical approximations of exact nonlocal conditional equations describing the mean and (co)variance of groundwater flow. Log conductivity is parameterized geostatistically based on measured values at discrete locations and unknown values at discrete “pilot points.” Optionally, the maximum likelihood function on which the inverse estimation of Y at pilot points is based may include a regularization term reflecting prior information about Y. The relative weight assigned to this term and its components and , as well as are evaluated separately from other model parameters to avoid bias and instability. This evaluation is done on the basis of criteria such as NLL, KIC, BIC, HIC, AIC, and AICc. We demonstrate theoretically that, whereas all these six criteria make it possible to estimate , KIC alone allows one to estimate validly and (and thus ). We illustrate this discriminatory power of KIC numerically by using a differential evolution genetic search algorithm to minimize it in the context of a two‐dimensional steady state groundwater flow problem. We find that whereas , and the integral scale of Y can be estimated on the basis of a zero‐order mean flow equation, the sill of the Y‐variogram is estimated more accurately by a second‐order approximation of flow. This notwithstanding, KIC prefers the simpler zero‐order moment over the more complex second‐order version.
Community genomic analysis of an extremely acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing biofilm
Authors: Jones Daniel S , Albrecht Heidi L , Dawson Katherine S , Schaperdoth Irene , Freeman Katherine H , Pi Yundan , Pearson Ann , Macalady Jennifer L
Published: June 2011

Highly acidic (pH 0–1) biofilms, known as ‘snottites’, form on the walls and ceilings of hydrogen sulfide-rich caves. We investigated the population structure, physiology and biogeochemistry of these biofilms using metagenomics, rRNA methods and lipid geochemistry. Snottites from the Frasassi cave system (Italy) are dominated (>70% of cells) by Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, with smaller populations including an archaeon in the uncultivated ‘G-plasma’ clade of Thermoplasmatales (>15%) and a bacterium in the Acidimicrobiaceae family (>5%). Based on metagenomic evidence, the Acidithiobacillus population is autotrophic (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), carboxysomes) and oxidizes sulfur by the sulfide–quinone reductase and sox pathways. No reads matching nitrogen fixation genes were detected in the metagenome, whereas multiple matches to nitrogen assimilation functions are present, consistent with geochemical evidence, that fixed nitrogen is available in the snottite environment to support autotrophic growth. Evidence for adaptations to extreme acidity include Acidithiobacillus sequences for cation transporters and hopanoid synthesis, and direct measurements of hopanoid membrane lipids. Based on combined metagenomic, molecular and geochemical evidence, we suggest that Acidithiobacillus is the snottite architect and main primary producer, and that snottite morphology and distributions in the cave environment are directly related to the supply of C, N and energy substrates from the cave atmosphere.
De novo metagenomic assembly reveals abundant novel major lineage of Archaea in hypersaline microbial communities
Authors: Narasingarao Priya , Podell Sheila , Ugalde Juan A , Brochier-Armanet Céline , Emerson Joanne B , Brocks Jochen J , Heidelberg Karla B , Banfield Jillian F , Allen Eric E
Published: June 2011

This study describes reconstruction of two highly unusual archaeal genomes by de novo metagenomic assembly of multiple, deeply sequenced libraries from surface waters of Lake Tyrrell (LT), a hypersaline lake in NW Victoria, Australia. Lineage-specific probes were designed using the assembled genomes to visualize these novel archaea, which were highly abundant in the 0.1–0.8 μm size fraction of lake water samples. Gene content and inferred metabolic capabilities were highly dissimilar to all previously identified hypersaline microbial species. Distinctive characteristics included unique amino acid composition, absence of Gvp gas vesicle proteins, atypical archaeal metabolic pathways and unusually small cell size (approximately 0.6 μm diameter). Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that these organisms belong to a new major euryarchaeal lineage, distantly related to halophilic archaea of class Halobacteria. Consistent with these findings, we propose creation of a new archaeal class, provisionally named ‘Nanohaloarchaea’. In addition to their high abundance in LT surface waters, we report the prevalence of Nanohaloarchaea in other hypersaline environments worldwide. The simultaneous discovery and genome sequencing of a novel yet ubiquitous lineage of uncultivated microorganisms demonstrates that even historically well-characterized environments can reveal unexpected diversity when analyzed by metagenomics, and advances our understanding of the ecology of hypersaline environments and the evolutionary history of the archaea.
Impact of training sets on classification of high-throughput bacterial 16s rRNA gene surveys
Authors: Werner Jeffrey J , Koren Omry , Hugenholtz Philip , DeSantis Todd Z , Walters William A , Caporaso J Gregory , Angenent Largus T , Knight Rob , Ley Ruth E
Published: June 2011

Taxonomic classification of the thousands–millions of 16S rRNA gene sequences generated in microbiome studies is often achieved using a naïve Bayesian classifier (for example, the Ribosomal Database Project II (RDP) classifier), due to favorable trade-offs among automation, speed and accuracy. The resulting classification depends on the reference sequences and taxonomic hierarchy used to train the model; although the influence of primer sets and classification algorithms have been explored in detail, the influence of training set has not been characterized. We compared classification results obtained using three different publicly available databases as training sets, applied to five different bacterial 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing data sets generated (from human body, mouse gut, python gut, soil and anaerobic digester samples). We observed numerous advantages to using the largest, most diverse training set available, that we constructed from the Greengenes (GG) bacterial/archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequence database and the latest GG taxonomy. Phylogenetic clusters of previously unclassified experimental sequences were identified with notable improvements (for example, 50% reduction in reads unclassified at the phylum level in mouse gut, soil and anaerobic digester samples), especially for phylotypes belonging to specific phyla (Tenericutes, Chloroflexi, Synergistetes and Candidate phyla TM6, TM7). Trimming the reference sequences to the primer region resulted in systematic improvements in classification depth, and greatest gains at higher confidence thresholds. Phylotypes unclassified at the genus level represented a greater proportion of the total community variation than classified operational taxonomic units in mouse gut and anaerobic digester samples, underscoring the need for greater diversity in existing reference databases.
High-throughput single-cell sequencing identifies photoheterotrophs and chemoautotrophs in freshwater bacterioplankton
Authors: Martinez-Garcia Manuel , Swan Brandon K , Poulton Nicole J , Gomez Monica Lluesma , Masland Dashiell , Sieracki Michael E , Stepanauskas Ramunas
Published: June 2011

Recent discoveries suggest that photoheterotrophs (rhodopsin-containing bacteria (RBs) and aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs)) and chemoautotrophs may be significant for marine and freshwater ecosystem productivity. However, their abundance and taxonomic identities remain largely unknown. We used a combination of single-cell and metagenomic DNA sequencing to study the predominant photoheterotrophs and chemoautotrophs inhabiting the euphotic zone of temperate, physicochemically diverse freshwater lakes. Multi-locus sequencing of 712 single amplified genomes, generated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and whole genome multiple displacement amplification, showed that most of the cosmopolitan freshwater clusters contain photoheterotrophs. These comprised at least 10–23% of bacterioplankton, and RBs were the dominant fraction. Our data demonstrate that Actinobacteria, including clusters acI, Luna and acSTL, are the predominant freshwater RBs. We significantly broaden the known taxonomic range of freshwater RBs, to include Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma- and Deltaproteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Sphingobacteria. By sequencing single cells, we found evidence for inter-phyla horizontal gene transfer and recombination of rhodopsin genes and identified specific taxonomic groups involved in these evolutionary processes. Our data suggest that members of the ubiquitous betaproteobacteria Polynucleobacter spp. are the dominant AAPs in temperate freshwater lakes. Furthermore, the RuBisCO (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) gene was found in several single cells of Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria, suggesting that chemoautotrophs may be more prevalent among aerobic bacterioplankton than previously thought. This study demonstrates the power of single-cell DNA sequencing addressing previously unresolved questions about the metabolic potential and evolutionary histories of uncultured microorganisms, which dominate most natural environments.
Orlistat 60 mg Reduces Visceral Adipose Tissue: A 24‐Week Randomized, Placebo‐Controlled, Multicenter Trial
Authors: Smith Steven R. , Stenlof Kaj S. , Greenway Frank L. , McHutchison John , Schwartz Susan M. , Dev Vidhu B. , Berk Evan S. , Kapikian Roxanne
Published: June 2011

It is well established that abdominal obesity or upper body fat distribution is associated with increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine if a 24 week weight loss program with orlistat 60 mg in overweight subjects would produce a greater change in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as measured by computed tomography (CT) scan, compared to placebo. The effects of orlistat 60 mg on changes in total fat mass (EchoMRI‐AH and BIA), ectopic fat (CT) and glycemic variables were assessed. One‐hundred thirty‐one subjects were randomized into a multicenter, double‐blind placebo controlled study in which 123 subjects received at least one post baseline efficacy measurement (intent‐to‐treat population). Both orlistat‐and placebo‐treated subjects significantly decreased their VAT at 24 weeks with a significantly greater loss of VAT by orlistat treated subjects (−15.7% vs. −9.4%, P < 0.05). In addition, orlistat‐treated subjects had significantly greater weight loss (−5.93 kg vs. −3.94 kg, P < 0.05), total fat mass loss (−4.65 kg vs. −3.01 kg, P < 0.05) and trended to a greater loss of intermuscular adipose tissue and content of liver fat compared with placebo‐treated subjects. This is the first study to demonstrate that orlistat 60 mg significantly reduces VAT in addition to total body fat compared to placebo treated subjects after a 24 week weight loss program. These results suggest that orlistat 60 mg may be an effective weight loss tool to reduce metabolic risk factors associated with abdominal obesity.