bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Endothelial dysfunction is associated with activation of the type I interferon system and platelets in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Tydén Helena , Lood Christian , Gullstrand Birgitta , Nielsen Christoffer Tandrup , Heegaard Niels H H , Kahn Robin , Jönsen Andreas , Bengtsson Anders A 
Published: October 2017

ObjectivesEndothelial dysfunction may be connected to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Type I interferons (IFNs) are central in SLE pathogenesis and are suggested to induce both endothelial dysfunction and platelet activation. In this study, we investigated the interplay between endothelial dysfunction, platelets and type I IFN in SLE.MethodsWe enrolled 148 patients with SLE and 79 sex-matched and age-matched healthy controls (HCs). Type I IFN activity was assessed with a reporter cell assay and platelet activation by flow cytometry. Endothelial dysfunction was assessed using surrogate markers of endothelial activation, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and finger plethysmograph to determine Reactive Hyperaemia Index (RHI).ResultsIn patients with SLE, type I IFN activity was associated with endothelial activation, measured by high sVCAM-1 (OR 1.68, p<0.01) and elevated EMPs (OR 1.40, p=0.03). Patients with SLE with high type I IFN activity had lower RHI than HCs (OR 2.61, p=0.04), indicating endothelial dysfunction.Deposition of complement factors on platelets, a measure of platelet activation, was seen in patients with endothelial dysfunction. High levels of sVCAM-1 were associated with increased deposition of C4d (OR 4.57, p<0.01) and C1q (OR 4.10, p=0.04) on platelets. High levels of EMPs were associated with C4d deposition on platelets (OR 3.64, p=0.03).ConclusionsEndothelial dysfunction was associated with activation of platelets and the type I IFN system. We suggest that an interplay between the type I IFN system, injured endothelium and activated platelets may contribute to development of CVD in SLE.
Neutrophils drive alveolar macrophage IL-1β release during respiratory viral infection
Authors: Peiró Teresa , Patel Dhiren F , Akthar Samia , Gregory Lisa G , Pyle Chloe J , Harker James A , Birrell Mark A , Lloyd Clare M , Snelgrove Robert J 
Published: October 2017

BackgroundAlveolar macrophages are sentinels of the airways that must exhibit immune restraint to innocuous antigens but elicit a robust inflammatory response to pathogenic threats. How distinction between these dichotomous functions is controlled is poorly defined.Neutrophils are the first responders to infection, and we hypothesised that they may free alveolar macrophages from their hyporesponsive state, promoting their activation. Activation of the inflammasome and interleukin (IL)-1β release is a key early inflammatory event that must be tightly regulated. Thus, the role of neutrophils in defining inflammasome activation in the alveolar macrophage was assessed.MethodsMice were infected with the X31 strain of influenza virus and the role of neutrophils in alveolar macrophage activation established through administration of a neutrophil-depleting (1A8) antibody.ResultsInfluenza elicited a robust IL-1β release that correlated (r=0.6849; p<0.001) with neutrophil infiltrate and was ablated by neutrophil depletion. Alveolar macrophages were shown to be the prominent source of IL-1β during influenza infection, and virus triggered the expression of Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and pro-IL-1β in these cells. However, subsequent activation of the inflammasome complex and release of mature IL-1β from alveolar macrophages were critically dependent on the provision of a secondary signal, in the form of antimicrobial peptide mCRAMP, from infiltrating neutrophils.ConclusionsNeutrophils are critical for the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in alveolar macrophages during respiratory viral infection. Accordingly, we rationalise that neutrophils are recruited to the lung to confront a viable pathogenic threat and subsequently commit alveolar macrophages to a pro-inflammatory phenotype to combat infection.
Economic cost of tobacco-related cancers in Sri Lanka
Authors: Amarasinghe Hemantha , Ranaweera Sajeeva , Ranasinghe Thushara , Chandraratne Nadeeka , Kumara Dinesh Ruwan , Thavorncharoensap Montarat , Abeykoon Palitha , de Silva Amala 
Published: October 2017

IntroductionCancer has a high mortality rate and morbidity burden in Sri Lanka. This study estimated the economic cost of smoking and smokeless tobacco (ST) related to cancers in Sri Lanka in 2015.MethodsPrevalence-based cost of illness is calculated according to the guidelines of the WHO (2011). The direct costs are costs of curative care (costs of inward patients and outpatient care borne by the state and out of pocket expenditure by households) for tobacco-related cancers, weighted by the attributable fractions for these cancers. Indirect costs are lost earnings due to mortality and morbidity (absenteeism of both patient and carers resulting from seeking care and recuperation).Data were obtained from the Registrar General’s Department, National Cancer Registry, Department of Census and Statistics and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Household and systemic costs and relative risks were extracted from research studies. Oncologists (working in both public and private sectors), other clinical specialists, medical administrators and economists were consulted during the estimation and validation processes.ResultsThe total economic cost of tobacco-related cancers for Sri Lanka in 2015 was estimated to be US$121.2 million. The direct cost of smoking and ST-related cancers was US$42.1 million, which was 35% of the total cost, while the indirect cost was US$79.1 million, which was 65% of the total cost.ConclusionBurden of tobacco smoking and ST-related cancers as reflected in these economic costs is enormous: affecting the healthcare system and country’s economy. Policymakers should take note of this burden and address tobacco consumption control as a priority.
Coupling of fluid flow to permeability development in mid- to upper crustal environments: a tale of three pressures
Authors: Hobbs Bruce E. , Ord Alison 
Published: October 2017

Abstract
Orogenic gold systems are open, flow-controlled thermodynamic systems and generally occur in mid- to upper crustal environments where there is strong coupling between fluid flow and dilatant plastic deformation. This paper considers the principles involved in such coupling, with an emphasis on the elastic and plastic volume changes and their influence on the fluid, mechanical and thermodynamic pressures. Some misconceptions regarding the magnitudes of these three distinctly different pressures and their influences on fluid flow and chemical equilibrium are addressed, with examples at both the tens of metres scale and the crustal scale. We show that the mean stress is less than twice the lithostatic stress for Mohr–Coulomb materials with cohesion and the thermodynamic pressure only has meaning under isentropic conditions and hence is less than many previously published estimates based on high mean stresses. At the crustal scale, we also include the role of critical behaviour in influencing the geometry and magnitudes of fluid pressure gradients and fluid flow velocities in open, flow-controlled systems.
Designing a Query Language for RDF
Authors: Arenas Marcelo , Ugarte Martin 
Published: October 2017

When querying an Resource Description Framework (RDF) graph, a prominent feature is the possibility of extending the answer to a query with optional information. However, the definition of this feature in SPARQL—the standard RDF query language—has raised some important issues. Most notably, the use of this feature increases the complexity of the evaluation problem, and its closed-world semantics is in conflict with the underlying open-world semantics of RDF. Many approaches for fixing such problems have been proposed, the most prominent being the introduction of the semantic notion of weakly monotone SPARQL query. Weakly monotone SPARQL queries have shaped the class of queries that conform to the open-world semantics of RDF. Unfortunately, finding an effective way of restricting SPARQL to the fragment of weakly monotone queries has proven to be an elusive problem. In practice, the most widely adopted fragment for writing SPARQL queries is based on the syntactic notion of well designedness. This notion has proven to be a good approach for writing SPARQL queries, but its expressive power has yet to be fully understood.
The starting point of this article is to understand the relation between well-designed queries and the semantic notion of weak monotonicity. It is known that every well-designed SPARQL query is weakly monotone; as our first contribution we prove that the converse does not hold, even if an extension of this notion based on the use of disjunction is considered. Given this negative result, we embark on the task of defining syntactic fragments that are weakly monotone and have higher expressive power than the fragment of well-designed queries. To this end, we move to a more general scenario where infinite RDF graphs are also allowed, so interpolation techniques studied for first-order logic can be applied. With the use of these techniques, we are able to define a new operator for SPARQL that gives rise to a query language with the desired properties (over finite and infinite RDF graphs). It should be noticed that every query in this fragment is weakly monotone if we restrict the semantics to finite RDF graphs. Moreover, we use this result to provide a simple characterization of the class of monotone CONSTRUCT queries, that is, the class of SPARQL queries that produce RDF graphs as output. Finally, we pinpoint the complexity of the evaluation problem for the query languages identified in the article.
Synchronized-by-Default Concurrency for Shared-Memory Systems
Authors: Bättig Martin , Gross Thomas R. 
Published: October 2017

We explore a programming approach for concurrency that synchronizes all accesses to shared memory by default. Synchronization takes place by ensuring that all program code runs inside atomic sections even if the program code has external side effects. Threads are mapped to atomic sections that a programmer must explicitly split to increase concurrency.
A naive implementation of this approach incurs a large amount of overhead. We show how to reduce this overhead to make the approach suitable for realistic application programs on existing hardware. We present an implementation technique based on a special-purpose software transactional memory system. To reduce the overhead, the technique exploits properties of managed, object-oriented programming languages as well as intraprocedural static analyses and uses field-level granularity locking in combination with transactional I/O to provide good scaling properties.
We implemented the synchronized-by-default (SBD) approach for the Java language and evaluate its performance for six programs from the DaCapo benchmark suite. The evaluation shows that, compared to explicit synchronization, the SBD approach has an overhead between 0.4% and 102% depending on the benchmark and the number of threads, with a mean (geom.) of 23.9%.
KiWi
Authors: Basin Dmitry , Bortnikov Edward , Braginsky Anastasia , Golan-Gueta Guy , Hillel Eshcar , Keidar Idit , Sulamy Moshe 
Published: October 2017

Modern big data processing platforms employ huge in-memory key-value (KV) maps. Their applications simultaneously drive high-rate data ingestion and large-scale analytics. These two scenarios expect KV-map implementations that scale well with both real-time updates and large atomic scans triggered by range queries.
We present KiWi, the first atomic KV-map to efficiently support simultaneous large scans and real-time access. The key to achieving this is treating scans as first class citizens,and organizing the data structure around them. KiWi provides wait-free scans, whereas its put operations are lightweight and lock-free. It optimizes memory management jointly with data structure access.We implement KiWi and compare it to state-of-the-art solutions. Compared to other KV-maps providing atomic scans, KiWi performs either long scans or concurrent puts an order of magnitude faster. Its scans are twice as fast as non-atomic ones implemented via iterators in the Java skiplist.
Optimizing the Four-Index Integral Transform Using Data Movement Lower Bounds Analysis
Authors: Rajbhandari Samyam , Rastello Fabrice , Kowalski Karol , Krishnamoorthy Sriram , Sadayappan P. 
Published: October 2017

The four-index integral transform is a fundamental and computationally demanding calculation used in many computational chemistry suites such as NWChem. It transforms a four-dimensional tensor from one basis to another. This transformation is most efficiently implemented as a sequence of four tensor contractions that each contract a four- dimensional tensor with a two-dimensional transformation matrix. Differing degrees of permutation symmetry in the intermediate and final tensors in the sequence of contractions cause intermediate tensors to be much larger than the final tensor and limit the number of electronic states in the modeled systems.
Loop fusion, in conjunction with tiling, can be very effective in reducing the total space requirement, as well as data movement. However, the large number of possible choices for loop fusion and tiling, and data/computation distribution across a parallel system, make it challenging to develop an optimized parallel implementation for the four-index integral transform. We develop a novel approach to address this problem, using lower bounds modeling of data movement complexity. We establish relationships between available aggregate physical memory in a parallel computer system and ineffective fusion configurations, enabling their pruning and consequent identification of effective choices and a characterization of optimality criteria. This work has resulted in the development of a significantly improved implementation of the four-index transform that enables higher performance and the ability to model larger electronic systems than the current implementation in the NWChem quantum chemistry software suite.
It's Time for a New Old Language
Authors: Steele Guy L. 
Published: October 2017

The most popular programming language in computer science has no compiler or interpreter. Its definition is not written down in any one place. It has changed a lot over the decades, and those changes have introduced ambiguities and inconsistencies. Today, dozens of variations are in use, and its complexity has reached the point where it needs to be re-explained, at least in part, every time it is used. Much effort has been spent in hand-translating between this language and other languages that do have compilers. The language is quite amenable to parallel computation, but this fact has gone unexploited.
In this talk we will summarize the history of the language, highlight the variations and some of the problems that have arisen, and propose specific solutions. We suggest that it is high time that this language be given a complete formal specification, and that compilers, IDEs, and proof-checkers be created to support it, so that all the best tools and techniques of our trade may be applied to it also.
POSTER
Authors: Ramalhete Pedro , Correia Andreia 
Published: October 2017

RCU is, among other things, a well known mechanism for memory reclamation that is meant to be used in languages without an automatic Garbage Collector, unfortunately, it requires operating system support, which is currently provided only in Linux. An alternative is to use Userspace RCU (URCU) which has two variants that can be deployed on other operating systems, named \emph{Memory Barrier} and \emph{Bullet Proof}.
We present a novel algorithm that implements the three core APIs of RCU: \texttt{rcu\_read\_lock()}, \texttt{rcu\_read\_unlock()}, and \texttt{synchronize\_rcu()}. Our algorithm uses one mutual exclusion lock and two reader-writer locks with \texttt{trylock()} capabilities, which means it does not need a language with a memory model or atomics API, and as such, it can be easily implemented in almost any language, regardless of the underlying CPU architecture, or operating system.
Personal History, Beyond Narrative: an Embodied Perspective
Authors: Køster Allan 
Published: October 2017

AbstractNarrative theories currently dominate our understanding of how selfhood is constituted and concretely individuated throughout personal history. Despite this success, the narrative perspective has recently been exposed to a range of critiques. Whilst these critiques have been effective in pointing out the shortcomings of narrative theories of selfhood, they have been less willing and able to suggest alternative ways of understanding personal history. In this article, I assess the criticisms and argue that an adequate phenomenology of personal history must also go beyond narrative. Drawing on a distinction between history and narrative, I outline an account of historical becoming through a process of sedimentation and a rich notion of what I call historical selfhood on an embodied level. Five embodied existentials are suggested, sketching a preliminary understanding of how selves are concretely individuated on a pre-narrative level.
The Phenomenology of Anomalous World Experience in Schizophrenia: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Pienkos Elizabeth , Silverstein Steven , Sass Louis 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis current study is a pilot project designed to clarify changes in the lived world among people with diagnoses within the schizophrenia spectrum. The Examination of Anomalous World Experience (eawe) was used to interview ten participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (sz) and a comparison group of three participants with major depressive disorder (dep). Interviews were analyzed using the descriptive phenomenological method. This analysis revealed two complementary forms of experience unique toszparticipants: Destabilization, the experience that reality and the intersubjective world are less comprehensible, less stable, and generally less real; and Subjectivization, the dominance of one’s internal, subjective experiences in the perception or interpretation of the lived world. Persons with depressive disorders, by contrast, did not experience disruptions of the reality or independence of the world or any significant disruptions of appearance or meaning. These results are consistent with contemporary and classic phenomenological views on anomalous world experience in schizophrenia.
Reflexivity and Rapprochement: Explorations of a ‘Postsecular’ Public Theology
Authors: Graham Elaine 
Published: October 2017

Abstract
Accounts of secularization, decline and marginalization in relation to the public position of religion in western society have failed to account for the continued vitality and relevance of religion in the global public square. It is important, however, to challenge simplistic accounts and think of the new visibility of religion (not least in Europe) in terms of complexity and multi-dimensionality. This article will ask how public theology might contribute constructively to repairing our fractured body politic and promoting new models of citizenship and civic engagement around visions of the common good.
Toward an Operational Water Cycle Prediction System for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River
Authors: Durnford D. , Fortin V. , Smith G. C. , Archambault B. , Deacu D. , Dupont F. , Dyck S. , Martinez Y. , Klyszejko E. , MacKay M. , Liu L. , Pellerin P. , Pietroniro A. , Roy F. , Vu V. , Winter B. , Yu W. , Spence C. , Bruxer J. , Dickhout J. 
Published: October 2017

Abstract
In this time of a changing climate, it is important to know whether lake levels will rise, potentially causing flooding, or river flows will dry up during abnormally dry weather. The Great Lakes region is the largest freshwater lake system in the world. Moreover, agriculture, industry, commerce, and shipping are active in this densely populated region. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) recently implemented the Water Cycle Prediction System (WCPS) over the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River watershed (WCPS-GLS version 1.0) following a decade of research and development. WCPS, a network of linked models, simulates the complete water cycle, following water as it moves from the atmosphere to the surface, through the river network and into lakes, and back to the atmosphere. Information concerning the water cycle is passed between the models. WCPS is the first short-to-medium-range prediction system of the complete water cycle to be run on an operational basis anywhere. It currently produces two forecasts per day for the next three days. WCPS generally provides reliable results throughout the length of the forecast. The transmission of errors between the component models is reduced by data assimilation. Interactions between the environmental compartments are active. This ongoing intercommunication is valuable for extreme events such as rapid ice freeze-up and flooding or drought caused by abnormal amounts of precipitation. Products include precipitation; evaporation; lake water levels, temperatures, and currents; ice cover; and river flows. These products are of interest to a wide variety of governmental, commercial, and industrial groups, as well as the public.
The effect of voids on the quasi-static tensile properties of carbon fiber/polymer-laminated composites
Authors: Liu Haolong , Cui Haitao , Wen Weidong , Su Xuming , Kang Hongtae , Engler-Pinto Carlos 
Published: October 2017

Static longitudinal/transverse tensile tests for unidirectional carbon fiber/polymer (T300/924) laminates and laminates with lay-ups [Formula: see text] at various void levels were conducted, and degradations in stiffness/strength were observed with the presence of voids. The void levels were controlled by compression pressure during the compression molding process. The characterization of voids was achieved by digital microscopy image analysis; the density distributions of equivalent diameters and aspect ratios were analyzed with respect to compression pressure. For the purpose of quantifying the effect of voids on the static mechanical properties of composites, a stiffness prediction method based on the Mori-Tanaka method and void geometric statistical data have been used with the implementation of a finite element model of the representative volume element for unidirectional composites; the prediction results show good correlation with experimental data. Finally, a modified continuum damage model for laminated composites with the presence of voids was proposed, the model is capable of capturing the effect of voids; and gradual damage analysis for carbon fiber/polymer composite laminates at different void levels was conducted to evaluate the effect of voids on their tensile properties.