bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Heat Transfer and Thermal Dose Using Magnetic Nanoparticles During HIFU Thermal Ablation—An In-Vitro Study
Authors: Ahmad Reza Dibaji Seyed , Al-Rjoub Marwan F. , Myers Matthew R. , Banerjee Rupak K.
Published: April 2014

Avoiding collateral damage to healthy tissues during the high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation of malignant tumors is one of the major challenges for effective thermal therapy. Such collateral damage can originate out of the need for using higher acoustic powers to treat deep seated or highly vascularized tumors. The objective of this study is to assess the utility of using magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) during HIFU procedures to locally enhance heating at low powers, thereby reducing the likelihood of collateral thermal damage and undesired destruction due to cavitation. Tissue phantoms with 0% (control), 1% and 3% mNPs concentrations by volume were fabricated. Each tissue phantom was embedded with four thermocouples (TCs) and sonicated using transducer acoustic powers of 5.15 W, 9.17 W, and 14.26 W. The temperature profiles during the heating and cooling periods were recorded for each embedded TC. The measured transient temperature profiles were used for thermal-dose calculations. The increase in the concentration of mNPs in the tissue phantoms, from 0% to 3%, resulted in the rise in the peak temperatures for all the TCs for each acoustic power. The thermal dose also increased with the rise in the concentration of mNPs in the tissue phantoms. For the highest applied acoustic power (14.26 W), the peak temperature at TC 1 (T1) in tissue phantoms with 1% and 3% mNPs concentrations increased (with respect to tissue phantom with 0% (control) mNPs concentration) by 1.59× and 2.09×, respectively. For an acoustic power of 14.26 W, the time required to achieve cellular necrosis as defined by a 240 equivalent min thermal dose was approximately 75 s in the absence of mNPs, 14 s for the 1% concentration, and 8 s for the 3% concentration. Magnetic nanoparticles have the potential to significantly reduce the time for HIFU thermal-ablation procedures. They can also decrease the likelihood of collateral damage by the propagating beam in HIFU procedures by reducing the intensity required to achieve cellular necrosis.
Direct Imaging of Intracellular Signaling Components That Regulate Bacterial Chemotaxis
Authors: Fukuoka Hajime , Sagawa Takashi , Inoue Yuichi , Takahashi Hiroto , Ishijima Akihiko
Published: April 2014

Imaging live cells reveals the number of CheY proteins needed to change the rotational direction of a bacterial flagellar motor.
Gut Immune Tolerance
Authors: Mueller Kristen L.
Published: April 2014

Myeloid cells, innate lymphoid cells, and the cytokines they secrete cooperate to maintain immune tolerance in the gut.
Reciprocal Aggression
Authors: Ferrarelli Leslie K.
Published: April 2014

Paracrine signaling between tumors and the vasculature forms a feed-forward loop promoting growth and chemoresistance in lymphoma.
High Proportion of Heteroresistance in
gyrA
and
gyrB
in Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates
Authors: Eilertson Brandon , Maruri Fernanda , Blackman Amondrea , Herrera Miguel , Samuels David C. , Sterling Timothy R.
Published: April 2014

Heteroresistance is the coexistence of populations with differing nucleotides at a drug resistance locus within a sample of organisms. Although Sanger sequencing is the gold standard for sequencing, it may be less sensitive than deep sequencing for detecting fluoroquinolone heteroresistance in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
. Twenty-seven fluoroquinolone monoresistant and 11 fluoroquinolone-susceptible
M. tuberculosis
isolates were analyzed by Sanger and Illumina deep sequencing. Individual sequencing reads were analyzed to detect heteroresistance in the
gyrA
and
gyrB
genes. Heteroresistance to fluoroquinolones was identified in 10/26 (38%) phenotypically fluoroquinolone-resistant samples and 0/11 (
P
= 0.02) fluoroquinolone-susceptible controls. One resistant sample was excluded because of contamination with the laboratory strain
M. tuberculosis
H37Rv. Sanger sequencing revealed resistance-conferring mutations in 15 isolates, while deep sequencing revealed mutations in 20 isolates. Isolates with fluoroquinolone resistance-conferring mutations by Sanger sequencing all had at least those same mutations identified by deep sequencing. By deep sequencing, 10 isolates had a single fixed (defined as >95% frequency) mutation, while 10 were heteroresistant, 5 of which had a single unfixed (defined as <95% frequency) mutation and 5 had multiple unfixed mutations. Illumina deep sequencing identified a higher proportion of fluoroquinolone-resistant
M. tuberculosis
isolates with heteroresistance than did Sanger sequencing. The heteroresistant isolates frequently demonstrated multiple mutations, but resistant isolates with fixed mutations each had only a single mutation.
Efficacy and Pharmacological Mechanism of Pronase-Enhanced Low-Dose Antibiotics for Helicobacter pylori Eradication
Authors: Liu Kai Y. , Du Fang C. , Fu Qiang , Zhang Wei J. , Sun Hong W. , Zhang Yi , Gan Le L. , Yue Zhi Y. , Zou Quan M. , Guo Gang
Published: April 2014

This study examined the efficacy and pharmacological mechanism of pronase-assisted low-dose antibiotics for eradication of
Helicobacter pylori
. Mongolian gerbils infected with
H. pylori
received 7-day treatment (omeprazole, different concentrations of pronase, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin), and the efficacy was assessed using the eradication rate and the colonization of
H. pylori
. In Mongolian gerbils orally administered pronase, the thickness of the gastric mucous layer (GML) was examined using immunohistochemical and alcian blue staining, and the concentrations of amoxicillin in gastric tissue and serum were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The eradication rates were 80.0% (12/15) in the high-pronase quadruple group (HPQG) and 86.7% (13/15) in the high-antibiotic group (HAG) (
P
= 1.000). The antibiotic dose in the HPQG was only 1/20 that in the HAG. Thirty minutes after oral treatment with pronase, the sticky protein of the GML was hydrolyzed, and the GML became thinner. Higher amoxicillin concentrations in both the gastric tissue and serum were observed in the pronase group than in the Am10 group. The concentration of amoxicillin in the Am10-plus-Pr108 group in gastric tissue was 3.8 times higher than in the Am10 group in 5 min. Together, these data suggest that pronase significantly reduced the dose of antibiotics used in
H. pylori
eradication. The pharmacological mechanism is likely pronase removal of the mucus layer, promoting chemical factor (i.e., gastric acid and pepsinogen) distribution and increasing the antibiotic concentrations in the deep GML, which acted on
H. pylori
collectively. Thus, pronase may enhance the level of antibiotics for eradication of
H. pylori
in the clinic.
The Tick Salivary Protein Sialostatin L2 Inhibits Caspase-1-Mediated Inflammation during Anaplasma phagocytophilum Infection
Authors: Chen Gang , Wang Xiaowei , Severo Maiara S. , Sakhon Olivia S. , Sohail Mohammad , Brown Lindsey J. , Sircar Mayukh , Snyder Greg A. , Sundberg Eric J. , Ulland Tyler K. , Olivier Alicia K. , Andersen John F. , Zhou Yi , Shi Guo-Ping , Sutterwala Fayyaz S. , Kotsyfakis Michail , Pedra Joao H. F.
Published: April 2014

Saliva from arthropod vectors facilitates blood feeding by altering host inflammation. Whether arthropod saliva counters inflammasome signaling, a protein scaffold that regulates the activity of caspase-1 and cleavage of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18 into mature molecules, remains elusive. In this study, we provide evidence that a tick salivary protein, sialostatin L2, inhibits inflammasome formation during pathogen infection. We show that sialostatin L2 targets caspase-1 activity during host stimulation with the rickettsial agent
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
.
A. phagocytophilum
causes macrophage activation and hemophagocytic syndrome features. The effect of sialostatin L2 in macrophages was not due to direct caspase-1 enzymatic inhibition, and it did not rely on nuclear factor κB or cathepsin L signaling. Reactive oxygen species from NADPH oxidase and the Loop2 domain of sialostatin L2 were important for the regulatory process. Altogether, our data expand the knowledge of immunoregulatory pathways of tick salivary proteins and unveil an important finding in inflammasome biology.
It isn't always caviar
Authors: Flammer Anikpeh Yvonne , Grimm Felix , Lindenblatt Nicole , Zinkernagel Annelies
Published: April 2014

A 47-year-old HIV-positive woman presented with fever and a painful swollen right forearm. Clinical presentation and MRI were suggestive for a necrotising fasciitis. Surgical exploration revealed small transparent cystic bodies resembling white caviar, which were identified by their typical morphological features as larval stages (cysticerci) ofTaenia crassiceps. Molecular methods, using sequence analysis of the small subunit rRNA gene, definitively confirmedT crassiceps. T crassiceps(Cestodea: Taeniidae) is a tapeworm found in the intestines of red foxes and dogs in the Northern Hemisphere. Human infections are rare and appear to depend on the host's immunocompetence. The eight published cases could not clarify the mode of infection but discuss ingestion of teniid eggs or penetration through a cutaneous wound. The optimal treatment remains unclear. We describe a detailed and successful treatment strategy including extensive surgical interventions, prolonged anthelmintic and antiretroviral treatment.
Prolapsed ureterocele, with calculi within, causing urinary retention in adult female
Authors: Sinha Rajan Kumar , Singh Smita , Kumar Prem
Published: April 2014

A case of a simple ureterocele, containing multiple calculi within, prolapsing through the urethra and presenting as a vulval mass in a woman aged 35 years with urinary retention. Following confirmation of diagnosis by plain X-ray and sonography, the calculi were extracted by incising the ureterocele, which was reduced in the bladder and later resected transurethrally.
Primary pulmonary cryptococcosis
Authors: Asadi Gharabaghi Mehrnaz , Allameh Seyyed Farshad
Published: April 2014

Here, we report a case of primary cryptococcal pneumonia in a 25-year-old woman who presented with several weeks’ history of cough, dyspnoea and night sweating. These symptoms started in the third trimester of her pregnancy. She was being treated for infertility and got pregnant with in vitro fertilisation. On chest imaging, there were bilateral air space consolidation and cavitary lesions. Fungal pulmonary infection was diagnosed after surgical lung biopsy. She received fluconazole 400 mg per day orally for 6 months and recovered completely.
Comparison of Becton Dickinson Vacutainer rapid serum tube with the serum separator tube for routine chemistry and immunoassay tests
Authors: Yan Ronald , Lou Amy , Watts Gail , Tarr Heather , Smith Hilary , Kinney Lois , Chen Yu
Published: April 2014

Aims

To shorten the clotting time and resolve the delayed clotting or no clotting on specimens from patients on anticoagulant therapy, Becton Dickinson (BD) recently developed the Vacutainer rapid serum tube (RST). The aim of this study was to systematically compare the new RST tube with the widely used serum separator tube (SST) for routine chemistry and immunoassay tests on 3 common analyser platforms.

Methods

Blood from 45 people (24 women and 21 men, age 21–77 years) was collected using the SST and RST tubes in sequence. Sera from both tubes were separated and analysed simultaneously for 54, 50, and 10 chemistry and/or immunoassay tests on the Roche Modular, Abbott Architect, and Siemens Centaur analysers, respectively.

Results

The results from the RST tube were comparable with those from the SST tube on most analytes. Although the results for a few analytes showed statistically significant differences between the two tubes (p<0.05), the differences had no clinical significance for most assays. Only for parathyroid hormone on the Abbott Architect, the RST tube demonstrated clinical significant bias versus the SST tube (−15.3%, p<0.01).

Conclusions

The RST tube provides acceptable performance for routine chemistry and immunoassay tests.
Carotid stent infection: a rare but potentially fatal complication of carotid artery stenting
Authors: Son Seungnam , Choi Nack-Cheon , Choi Dae Seob , Cho Oh Hyun
Published: April 2014

Infections involving endovascular devices are rare and, to our knowledge, only three cases of infection with an inserted carotid stent have ever been reported. A 68-year-old man underwent carotid artery stenting (CAS) of the left proximal internal carotid artery. Two days after CAS the patient developed a high fever and investigation showed that the inserted carotid stent was infected. The infection could not be controlled despite adequate antibiotic therapy. Eventually a rupture of the carotid artery occurred and the patient underwent emergency resection of the left carotid bifurcation in addition to stent removal and reconstruction with a saphenous vein interposition graft. The patient recovered fully without any neurological sequelae.
Community composition and allometry of Leucothoe davisiae, Cornus sericea, and Chrysolepis sempervirens
Authors: Lutz James A. , Schwindt Kaitlyn A. , Furniss Tucker J. , Freund James A. , Swanson Mark E. , Hogan Katie I. , Kenagy Gillian E. , Larson Andrew J.
Published: April 2014

Leucothoe davisiae Torr. ex A. Gray (Ericaceae), Sierra laurel, is an endemic shrub of the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Mountains, and Warner Mountains. We compared the woody plant community and allometry of Leucothoe with one widespread wetland shrub, red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea L. (Cornaceae)), and one widespread upland shrub, bush chinquapin (Chrysolepis sempervirens (Kellogg) Hjelmq. (Fagaceae)), in an Abies concolor – Pinus lambertiana forest. We examined 2282 mapped shrub patches and 34 392 trees in the Yosemite Forest Dynamics Plot (25.6 ha), Yosemite National Park, California, USA. We dissected 40–41 stems of each shrub species and determined foliage, bark, wood, and total biomass as a function of stem diameter. Community compositions determined from plants within a 5 m buffer of Leucothoe were different from those reported for Leucothoe communities in the Siskiyou National Forest and the Central Klamath. Leucothoe allometry based on basal diameter was more variable (total biomass R2 = 0.64; P < 0.001) than that of Cornus (R2 = 0.93; P < 0.001) or Chrysolepis (R2 = 0.95; P < 0.001), reflecting greater canopy variation. Allometry based on diameter at 1.37 m along the main stem offered equivalent explanatory power for Cornus (R2 = 0.89; P < 0.001) and Chrysolepis (R2 = 0.84; P < 0.001), but Leucothoe rarely reached that stature. These allometric equations that we report can improve species-specific modeling of carbon dynamics, fuel loading, and fire behavior.
A hybrid propulsion system for a high-endurance UAV: configuration selection, aerodynamic study, and gas turbine bench tests
Authors: Capata R. , Marino L. , Sciubba E.
Published: April 2014

In recent years, renewed interest in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has led to a wide range of interesting applications in reconnaissance and surveillance. In these missions, the noise produced by propeller-driven UAVs is a major drawback, which can be partially solved by installing an electric motor to drive the propeller. While the evolution of high performance brushless motors makes electric propulsion particularly appealing, at least for small and medium UAVs, all electric propulsion systems developed to date are penalized by the limited range and endurance that can be provided by a reasonably sized battery pack. In this paper we propose a hybrid propulsion system based on a recently developed ultramicro gas–turbine (UMGT), which can be used to power an electric generator, providing a significant range and (or) mission time extension. The UMGT is undergoing operational testing in our laboratory, to identify the most suitable configuration and to improve performance: a new compact regenerative combustion chamber was developed and several tests are being carried out to reduce its weight and size so as to increase, all other things being equal, the vehicle payload. This paper aims to propose a high endurance UAV, by a preliminary configuration selection and aerodynamic study of its performance.
Canada's domestic regulatory framework for RPAS: A call for public deliberation
Authors: Gersher Shayna
Published: April 2014

As of October 2012, Transport Canada approved the first phase in Canada's evolving regulatory framework for remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), with three more phases to be put in place over the next four years. The focus of the first phase was only on small RPAS, but already several issues stand out as being particularly problematic, especially if they are carried through into the next phases of regulatory development: the extent of the private sector's influence; exclusion of some types of RPAS from regulation; and the extent of the collaboration between regulatory officials and the Canadian military. Over the next few years it will be imperative for civil society actors to take a more active role in ensuring that these remotely piloted technologies, which can be used to spy on and monitor citizens, are deployed and regulated in a manner consistent with the values of privacy, freedom, and democracy.
The Casimir effect with quantized charged scalar matter in background magnetic field
Authors: Sitenko Yu. A. , Yushchenko S. A.
Published: April 2014

We study the influence of a background uniform magnetic field and boundary conditions on the vacuum of a quantized charged massive scalar matter field confined between two parallel plates; the magnetic field is directed orthogonally to the plates. The admissible set of boundary conditions at the plates is determined by the requirement that the operator of one-particle energy squared be self-adjoint and positive-definite. We show that, in the case of a weak magnetic field and a small separation of the plates, the Casimir force is either attractive or repulsive, depending on the choice of a boundary condition. In the case of a strong magnetic field and a large separation of the plates, the Casimir force is repulsive, being independent of the choice of a boundary condition, as well as of the distance between the plates.
The 25th ACM International Conference on Hypertext and Social Media
Authors: Ferres Leo , Herder Eelco , de Almeida Virgilio , Parra Denis , Rossi Gustavo
Published: April 2014

Hypertext 2014 will be held in Santiago de Chile fro mSeptember 1 to 4. We briefly describe the main aspects of the conference and its venue.
Fiction as an Introduction to Computer Science Research
Authors: Goldsmith Judy , Mattei Nicholas
Published: April 2014

The undergraduate computer science curriculum is generally focused on skills and tools; most students are not exposed to much research in the field, and do not learn how to navigate the research literature. We describe how fiction reviews (and specifically science fiction) are used as a gateway to research reviews. Students learn a little about current or recent research on a topic that stirs their imagination, and learn how to search for, read critically, and compare technical papers on a topic related to their chosen science fiction book, movie, or TV show.
Beyond MTTDL
Authors: Elerath Jon G. , Schindler Jiri
Published: April 2014

We introduce a new closed-form equation for estimating the number of data-loss events for a redundant array of inexpensive disks in a RAID-6 configuration. The equation expresses operational failures, their restorations, latent (sector) defects, and disk media scrubbing by time-based distributions that can represent non-homogeneous Poisson processes. It uses two-parameter Weibull distributions that allows the distributions to take on many different shapes, modeling increasing, decreasing, or constant occurrence rates. This article focuses on the statistical basis of the equation. It also presents time-based distributions of the four processes based on an extensive analysis of field data collected over several years from 10,000s of commercially available systems with 100,000s of disk drives. Our results for RAID-6 groups of size 16 indicate that the closed-form expression yields much more accurate results compared to the MTTDL reliability equation and matching computationally-intensive Monte Carlo simulations.
Service-oriented product lines
Authors: Castelluccia Daniela , Boffoli Nicola
Published: April 2014

Software product line engineering and service-oriented architectures both enable organizations to capitalize on reuse of existing software assets and capabilities and improve competitive advantage in terms of development savings, product flexibility, time-to-market. Both approaches accommodate variation of assets, including services, by changing the software being reused or composing services according a new orchestration. Therefore, variability management in Service-oriented Product Lines (SoPL) is one of the main challenges today. In order to highlight the emerging evidence-based results from the research community, we apply the well-defined method of systematic mapping in order to populate a classification scheme for the SoPL field of interest. The analysis of results throws light on the current open issues. Moreover, different facets of the scheme can be combined to answer more specific research questions. The report reveals the need for more empirical research able to provide new metrics measuring efficiency and efficacy of the proposed models, new methods and tools supporting variability management in SoPL, especially during maintenance and verification and validation. The mapping study about SoPL opens further investigations by means of a complete systematic review to select and validate the most efficient solutions to variability management in SoPL.
Dynamic coupling metrics for object oriented software systems
Authors: Geetika Rani , Singh Paramvir
Published: April 2014

Coupling measures are considered important due to their inherent relationships with external software quality attributes. The ongoing research on object oriented software quality has been focusing on devising dynamic metrics for software quality assessment because of their ability to capture the runtime behavior of software. A number of dynamic coupling metrics have been proposed in recent times to measure software quality. This paper is an attempt to fill in the gap between existing work and researchers by providing them essential knowledge about the dynamic coupling metrics, methodologies and techniques proposed in this area. This paper presents a survey of existing research related to dynamic coupling metrics for object oriented software systems. Metrics have been categorized according to some of their major characteristics such as dynamic analysis techniques, validation of metrics, relation with static metrics etc. The capability of these metrics in quantifying external software quality attributes is also studied. The survey found that very few dynamic coupling metrics have been proposed and most of the proposed metrics lack empirical validation limiting their applicability in software quality assessment.
Reusability-based quality framework for software components
Authors: Thapar Simrandeep Singh , Singh Paramjeet , Rani Shaveta
Published: April 2014

Component based software engineering (CBSE) is a pivotal approach to software development since it helps to give much aspired benefits like reusability, on-time delivery, high quality at low cost to software companies. Therefore, individual software components must be selected with care as these are crucial to the success of the CBSE approach. The selection of a highly reusable and high-quality component is still a herculean task since stakeholders with varying expectations are involved in the software engineering process. This paper presents a reusability based quality model, which is suited to the identification and evaluation of software components. Three major stakeholders are recognized, which are important in the selection of a software component as well as to the development of software. In the proposed model, only those quality properties are incorporated that are preferred by stakeholders and necessary to increase the reuse of software components.
Technical debt at the crossroads of research and practice
Authors: Falessi Davide , Kruchten Philippe , Nord Robert L. , Ozkaya Ipek
Published: April 2014

Increasingly, software developers and managers use the metaphor of technical debt to communicate key trade-offs related to release and quality issues. We report here on the Fifth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt, collocated with the Seventh International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2013). The workshop participants reiterated the usefulness of the metaphor, shared emerging practices used in software development organizations, and emphasized the need for more research and better means for sharing emerging practices and results.
Interview with Bebo White
Authors: Atzenbeck Claus
Published: April 2014

Bebo White is a Departmental Associate (Emeritus) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the U.S. national laboratory for high-energy physics and basic energy science at Stanford University. Working as a computational physicist, he first became involved with the emerging Web technology while on sabbatical at CERN in 1989.

Upon his return he was part of the team that established the first American Web site at SLAC (the fifth site in the world). Ever since, his academic research interests have evolved in parallel with Web technology. He is often considered to be the "first American Webmaster" and one of the founders of the discipline of Web Engineering.

In addition to his work at SLAC, he also holds faculty appointments at several other institutions, is involved with a number of major conferences series, and is a frequent conference speaker. He is the author (or co-author) of nine books, and over 100 papers and journal articles. His current research interests are Web Science, Social Media in Education, and Cloud Computing. However, given the opportunity, he will talk mercilessly about high-energy physics, jug band music and wine.

Additional information can be found at www.bebowhite.com
Upcoming SIGWEB supported conferences
Authors: Samuel Hamman
Published: April 2014

The Special Interest Group on Hypertext and the Web, SIGWEB was created in 1989 to support the community participating in the annual ACM Hypertext Conference. Now in its third decade, SIGWEB has grown considerably and now sponsors five annual conferences of different sizes and covering a wide range of topics. SIGWEB supports several specialized conferences, short courses, and workshops, as well as the Annual Hypertext Conference. SIGWEB sponsored conferences focus on timely topics in applied and computational hypertext and Web disciplines and provide a place for members and the entire applied Hypermedia and Web community to exchange ideas and to meet with and expand their network of colleagues. In this article, we provide a brief overview of SIGWEB sponsored conferences, in addition to events that are in cooperation with SIGWEB.
Cortical Mechanisms Underlying the Organization of Goal-Directed Actions and Mirror Neuron-Based Action Understanding
Authors: Rizzolatti Giacomo , Cattaneo Luigi , Fabbri-Destro Maddalena , Rozzi Stefano
Published: April 2014

Our understanding of the functions of motor system evolved remarkably in the last 20 years. This is the consequence not only of an increase in the amount of data on this system but especially of a paradigm shift in our conceptualization of it. Motor system is not considered anymore just a “producer” of movements, as it was in the past, but a system crucially involved in cognitive functions. In the present study we review the data on the cortical organization underlying goal-directed actions and action understanding. Our review is subdivided into two major parts. In the first part, we review the anatomical and functional organization of the premotor and parietal areas of monkeys and humans. We show that the parietal and frontal areas form circuits devoted to specific motor functions. We discuss, in particular, the visuo-motor transformation necessary for reaching and for grasping. In the second part we show how a specific neural mechanism, the mirror mechanism, is involved in understanding the action and intention of others. This mechanism is located in the same parieto-frontal circuits that mediate goal-directed actions. We conclude by indicating future directions for studies on the mirror mechanism and suggest some major topics for forthcoming research.
Therapy ofHelicobacter pylori: Present Medley and Future Prospective
Authors: Talebi Bezmin Abadi Amin
Published: April 2014

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance has warned clinicians to adopt new strategies for dealing with theH. pyloriinfection. The success of various therapeutic regimens has recently declined to unacceptable levels. To date, first line therapies (including concomitant therapy and hybrid therapy), second line therapies (including bismuth-containing quadruple therapy and levofloxacin-containing therapy), and third line therapy (culture-guided therapy) had been introduced. In the near future, treatment ofH. pyloriis entering into a completely new resistance era. In this setting, despite the recent progress, we may only be targeting the patients with problematicH. pylori. Local preference for antibiotic selection should be an inevitable article in each therapeutic regimen worldwide. Meanwhile, improving the patients’ compliance protocols and observed side effects in suggested therapeutic regimens should be considered cautiously. The new strategies in treatment should be adopted based upon local resistance patterns, which requires physician’s resistance about the recommended guidelines. Designing new therapeutic regimen, which contains most effective available antibiotics with less possible side effects and high patient compliance, represents a challenging task in treatment ofH. pyloriinfections.
Diagonally Implicit Symplectic Runge-Kutta Methods with High Algebraic and Dispersion Order
Authors: Cong Y. H. , Jiang C. X.
Published: April 2014

The numerical integration of Hamiltonian systems with oscillating solutions is considered in this paper. A diagonally implicit symplectic nine-stages Runge-Kutta method with algebraic order 6 and dispersion order 8 is presented. Numerical experiments with some Hamiltonian oscillatory problems are presented to show the proposed method is as competitive as the existing same type Runge-Kutta methods.
Optimization of Culture Conditions (Sucrose, pH, and Photoperiod) forIn VitroRegeneration and Early Detection of Somaclonal Variation in Ginger Lime (Citrus assamensis)
Authors: Yaacob Jamilah Syafawati , Mahmad Noraini , Mat Taha Rosna , Mohamed Normadiha , Mad Yussof Anis Idayu , Saleh Azani
Published: April 2014

Various explants (stem, leaf, and root) ofCitrus assamensiswere cultured on MS media supplemented with various combinations and concentrations (0.5–2.0 mgL−1) of NAA and BAP. Optimum shoot and root regeneration were obtained from stem cultures supplemented with 1.5 mgL−1NAA and 2.0 mgL−1BAP, respectively. Explant type affects the success of tissue culture of this species, whereby stem explants were observed to be the most responsive. Addition of 30 gL−1sucrose and pH of 5.8 was most optimum forin vitroregeneration of this species. Photoperiod of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness was most optimum for shoot regeneration, but photoperiod of 24 hours of darkness was beneficial for production of callus. The morphology (macro and micro) and anatomy ofin vivoandin vitro/ex vitro Citrus assamensiswere also observed to elucidate any irregularities (or somaclonal variation) that may arise due to tissue culture protocols. Several minor micromorphological and anatomical differences were observed, possibly due to stress of tissue culture, butin vitroplantlets are expected to revert back to normal phenotype following full adaptation to the natural environment.
Engineered Tumor Cell Apoptosis Monitoring Method Based on Dynamic Laser Tweezers
Authors: Zhang Yuquan , Wu Xiaojing , Min Changjun , Zhu Siwei , Urbach H. Paul , Yuan Xiaocong
Published: April 2014

Monitoring the cells’ apoptosis progression could provide a valuable insight into the temporal events that initiate cell death as well as the potential for rescue of apoptotic cells. In this paper, we engineered a novel and robust method for monitoring apoptosis of tumor cells based on dynamic laser tweezers, using A549 and HeLa cell line as typical samples. The entire experiment can be completed in a few hours with small amount of fluid sample, presenting great advantages of celerity, microscaled measurement, and label-free explorations without perturbing experimental conditions in combination with other probes. Validity and stability of this method are verified experimentally in terms of physical parameters of the system. The proposed technique has great potential in improving cancer treatment by monitoring the objective efficacy of tumor cell killing.
Total Variation Based Perceptual Image Quality Assessment Modeling
Authors: Wu Yadong , Zhang Hongying , Duan Ran
Published: April 2014

Visual quality measure is one of the fundamental and important issues to numerous applications of image and video processing. In this paper, based on the assumption that human visual system is sensitive to image structures (edges) and image local luminance (light stimulation), we propose a new perceptual image quality assessment (PIQA) measure based on total variation (TV) model (TVPIQA) in spatial domain. The proposed measure compares TVs between a distorted image and its reference image to represent the loss of image structural information. Because of the good performance of TV model in describing edges, the proposed TVPIQA measure can illustrate image structure information very well. In addition, the energy of enclosed regions in a difference image between the reference image and its distorted image is used to measure the missing luminance information which is sensitive to human visual system. Finally, we validate the performance of TVPIQA measure with Cornell-A57, IVC, TID2008, and CSIQ databases and show that TVPIQA measure outperforms recent state-of-the-art image quality assessment measures.
Characterization of β-Glucosidase Produced by Aspergillus niger under Solid-State Fermentation and Partially Purified Using MANAE-Agarose
Authors: Baraldo Junior Anderson , Borges Diogo G. , Tardioli Paulo W. , Farinas Cristiane S.
Published: April 2014

β-Glucosidase (BGL) is a hydrolytic enzyme with specificity for a wide variety of glycoside substrates, being an enzyme with a large range of biotechnological applications. However, enzyme properties can be different depending both on the microorganism and the cultivation procedure employed. Therefore, in order to explore potential biocatalytical applications of novel enzymes, their characterization is essential. In this work, a BGL synthesized by a selected strain of Aspergillus niger cultivated under solid-state fermentation (SSF) was partially purified and fully characterized in terms of optimum pH, temperature, and thermostability. The single-step purification using MANAE-agarose in a chromatographic column yielded an enzyme solution with specific activity (17.1 IU/mg protein) adequate for the characterization procedures. Electrophoresis SDS-PAGE and size-exclusion chromatography analysis resulted in an estimated molecular mass of 60 kDa. Higher enzyme activities were found in the range between 40 and 65°C and between pH 4 and 5.5, indicating an interesting characteristic for application in the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass for biofuels production. Thermostability studies of purified BGL resulted in half-lives at 37°C of 56.3 h and at 50°C of 5.4 h. These results provide support for further studies of this enzyme towards revealing its potential biotechnological applications.
UWSNs: A Round-Based Clustering Scheme for Data Redundancy Resolve
Authors: Tran Khoa Thi-Minh , Oh Seung-Hyun
Published: April 2014

The underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) is a state-of-the-art approach to exploring potential information and resources in the aquatic environment. However, underwater communication has unique features, such as long propagation delay, low bandwidth capacity, high bit error rates, and mobility, memory, and battery limitations. In this paper, we propose a round-based clustering scheme that can overcome the UWSN's confines mainly by resolving the transmission of redundant data in the network—one of the significant factors that reduces network lifetime. Our proposed scheme works in rounds, with each round consisting of four main phases: initialization, cluster-head selection, clustering, and data aggregation. Suitable mechanisms are chosen to apply in each round. By dealing with most of the redundant data, our proposed clustering scheme better reduces network consumption, thus increasing network throughput. Moreover, the minimum percentage of received data at the sink/base station is guaranteed.
Share‐of‐Surplus Product Line Optimisation with Price Levels
Authors: Luo X. G. , Zhang Z. C. , Kwong C. K. , Tang J. F.
Published: April 2014

Kraus and Yano (2003) established the share‐of‐surplus product line optimisation model and developed a heuristic procedure for this nonlinear mixed‐integer optimisation model. In their model, price of a product is defined as a continuous decision variable. However, because product line optimisation is a planning process in the early stage of product development, pricing decisions usually are not very precise. In this research, a nonlinear integer programming share‐of‐surplus product line optimization model that allows the selection of candidate price levels for products is established. The model is further transformed into an equivalent linear mixed‐integer optimisation model by applying linearisation techniques. Experimental results in different market scenarios show that the computation time of the transformed model is much less than that of the original model.
A Variable Neighborhood MOEA/D for Multiobjective Test Task Scheduling Problem
Authors: Lu Hui , Zhu Zheng , Wang Xiaoteng , Yin Lijuan
Published: April 2014

Test task scheduling problem (TTSP) is a typical combinational optimization scheduling problem. This paper proposes a variable neighborhood MOEA/D (VNM) to solve the multiobjective TTSP. Two minimization objectives, the maximal completion time (makespan) and the mean workload, are considered together. In order to make solutions obtained more close to the real Pareto Front, variable neighborhood strategy is adopted. Variable neighborhood approach is proposed to render the crossover span reasonable. Additionally, because the search space of the TTSP is so large that many duplicate solutions and local optima will exist, the Starting Mutation is applied to prevent solutions from becoming trapped in local optima. It is proved that the solutions got by VNM can converge to the global optimum by using Markov Chain and Transition Matrix, respectively. The experiments of comparisons of VNM, MOEA/D, and CNSGA (chaotic nondominated sorting genetic algorithm) indicate that VNM performs better than the MOEA/D and the CNSGA in solving the TTSP. The results demonstrate that proposed algorithm VNM is an efficient approach to solve the multiobjective TTSP.
Dental Extraction Can Be Performed Safely in Patients on Aspirin Therapy: A Timely Reminder
Authors: Verma Gaurav
Published: April 2014

Cardiac patients on aspirin therapy may require extractions for their diseased teeth. It is a common practice among physicians and treating surgeons to stop aspirin prior to tooth extraction because of fear of bleeding complications. This practice often predisposes the patient to adverse thromboembolic events. This practice is based on theoretical risk of bleeding and on isolated case reports of excessive bleeding with aspirin therapy. The current consensus and recommendations are in favor of continuing aspirin therapy during simple tooth extraction as the bleeding complication incidence is very less and if it occurs can be controlled efficiently with local hemostasis measures.
Individual Subject Meta-Analysis of Parameters forGiardia duodenalisShedding in Animal Experimental Models
Authors: Adell A. D. , Miller W. A. , Harvey D. J. , Van Wormer E. , Wuertz S. , Conrad P. A.
Published: April 2014

Giardia duodenalisis a zoonotic protozoan parasite with public health importance worldwide. While articles about animal model infectivity have been published forG. duodenalis, the studies have used diverse protocols and parameters to evaluate the infectivity of this protozoan parasite. Hence, the objectives of this study were to (1) conduct a meta-analysis of published literature for cyst shedding and diarrhea outcomes in animal models and (2) develop recommendations to help standardize experimental dose response studies. Results showed that, for the outcome of cyst shedding in faeces, the covariates of infective stage (cyst versus trophozoite),Giardiadose, and the interactions between doses and infective stage, as well as dose and species of experimental host, were all significant (Pvalue ≤ 0.05). This study suggests inoculation of the experimental host with cysts rather than trophozoites and administration of higher doses ofGiardiawill most likely result in cyst shedding. Based on the results of this meta-analysis, the infective stage (cyst versus trophozoite), parasite dose, and the interactions between dose and infective stage, as well as dose and species of experimental host, should be considered when designing experimental dose response studies that will assist in the study of zoonotic neglected tropical diseases globally.
Photocatalytic Active Coatings for Lignin Degradation in a Continuous Packed Bed Reactor
Authors: Awungacha Lekelefac Colin , Hild Johannes , Czermak Peter , Herrenbauer Michael
Published: April 2014

The synthesis of immobilized catalyst on porous glass support material via the sol-gel route is reported. TiO2-P25-SiO2+ Pt, TiO2-P25-SiO2, TiOSO4_30.6 wt%, and ZnO + TiO2-P25-SiO2catalysts were synthesized and a comparative study is done regarding morphology of coatings, degradation rates, reaction rates, dissolved carbon (DC), formation of peaks, and fluorescence of products formed from the photocatalytic degradation of lignin sulfonate obtained from a local paper plant. Through simultaneous reaction-extraction pathways applying dialysis filtration and highly porous polystyrene divinylbenzene adsorbent resin (HR-P) for solid phase extraction (SPE), an attempt has been made to isolate smaller molecules produced from photocatalytic degradation. Moreover relatively high lignin sulfonate (0.5 g/L) concentrations are used in the reactions. UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed a faster reduction in the concentration values for the aliphatic moiety compared to the aromatic moiety. Peaks were observed by both fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC suggesting the production of new substances and fluorophores.
Pleurotus eryngii Ameliorates Lipopolysaccharide‐Induced Lung Inflammation in Mice
Authors: Kawai Junya , Andoh Tsugunobu , Ouchi Kenji , Inatomi Satoshi
Published: April 2014

Pleurotus eryngii (P. eryngii) is consumed as a fresh cultivated mushroom worldwide and demonstrated to have multiple beneficial effects. We investigated the anti‐inflammatory effect of P. eryngii in mice with acute lung injury (ALI). Intranasal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (10 μg/site/mouse) induced marked lung inflammation (increase in the number of inflammatory cells, protein leakage, and production of nitric oxide in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) as well as histopathological damage in the lung, 6 h after treatment. Mice administered heat‐treated P. eryngii (0.3–1 g/kg, p.o. (HTPE)) 1 h before LPS challenge showed decreased pulmonary inflammation and ameliorated histopathological damage. These results suggest that HTPE has anti‐inflammatory effects against ALI. Thus, P. eryngii itself may also have anti‐inflammatory effects and could be a beneficial food for the prevention of ALI induced by bacterial infection.
Spectroscopic Characterization,In VitroCytotoxicity, and Antioxidant Activity of Mixed Ligand Palladium(II) Chloride Complexes Bearing Nucleobases
Authors: Tetteh Samuel , Dodoo David K. , Appiah-Opong Regina , Tuffour Isaac
Published: April 2014

Mixed-ligand palladium(II) chloride complexes bearing the nucleobases, adenine (Ad), cytosine (Cyt), and guanine (Gua), have been synthesized and characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometric methods, magnetic susceptibility, molar conductivity, elemental analysis, FTIR, and1H-NMR. The complexes were found to have the composition cis-[PdCl2(Gua)(Cyt)], cis-[PdCl2(Ad)(Cyt)], and cis-[PdCl2(Ad)(Gua)]. A four-coordinated square-planar geometry is proposed for these Pd(II) complexes based on magnetic evidence and electronic spectra. The complexes as well as the free nucleobase ligands were tested for theirin vitrocytotoxicity on human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60) and human histiocytic leukemia (U937) cell lines. cis-[PdCl2(Ad)(Gua)] showed IC50values of 11.29 ± 2.91 and 8.31 ± 1.44 μM against HL60 and U937, respectively, which was higher than that of the positive control (curcumin) against U937. The complexes also showed significant antioxidant activity when tested against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylradical (DPPH).
A Signal Based Triangular Structuring Element for Mathematical Morphological Analysis and Its Application in Rolling Element Bearing Fault Diagnosis
Authors: Chen Zhaowen , Gao Ning , Sun Wei , Chen Qiong , Yan Fengying , Zhang Xinyu , Iftikhar Maria , Liu Shiwei , Ren Zhongqi
Published: April 2014

Mathematical morphology (MM) is an efficient nonlinear signal processing tool. It can be adopted to extract fault information from bearing signal according to a structuring element (SE). Since the bearing signal features differ for every unique cause of failure, the SEs should be well tailored to extract the fault feature from a particular signal. In the following, a signal based triangular SE according to the statistics of the magnitude of a vibration signal is proposed, together with associated methodology, which processes the bearing signal by MM analysis based on proposed SE to get the morphology spectrum of a signal. A correlation analysis on morphology spectrum is then employed to obtain the final classification of bearing faults. The classification performance of the proposed method is evaluated by a set of bearing vibration signals with inner race, ball, and outer race faults, respectively. Results show that all faults can be detected clearly and correctly. Compared with a commonly used flat SE, the correlation analysis on morphology spectrum with proposed SE gives better performance at fault diagnosis of bearing, especially the identification of the location of outer race fault and the level of fault severity.