bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lipoproteins and other Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in a Student Population
Authors: Pap Dragana , Čolak Emina , Majkić-Singh Nada , Grubor-Lajšić Gordana , Vicković Sanja 
Published: April 2013

Summary
Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in many populations, especially in developed countries. The aim of the study was to analyze the lipid status in a student population at increased risk for CVD in comparison with students who are not at increased risk for CVD.
Methods: This study included 238 students from the University of Novi Sad of both sexes (126 men and 112 women), with a mean age of 22.32±1.85 years. According to the body mass index (BMI) lower and higher than 25 kg/m2 and waist circumference (WC) of less and more than 94 cm (80 cm for females) the whole group of 238 students was divided into 2 subgroups: the group at increased risk for CVD (Group 1) and the group at lower risk for CVD (Group 2). Total cholesterol - TCH, triglycerides - TG, high density lipoprotein cholesterol - HDL-c, low density lipoprotein cholesterol - LDL-c, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol - VLDL-c concentrations were determined and the index of atherosclerosis (IA), established risk factors RF-TCH/HDL-c ratio and non-HDL-c/HDL-c ratio were mathematically calculated.
Results: The values of TCH, LDL-c, non-HDL-c, VLDL-c and TG were significantly higher in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (P<0.001). IA, non-HDL-c/HDL-c and RF-TCH/HDL-c ratio were also significantly higher (P<0.001), while HDL-c was significantly lower (p<0.01) in Group 1 compared to controls. These results were not influenced by gender in both groups of subjects.
Conclusions: The data suggest that increased anthropometric parameters are followed by increased lipoprotein status in the group of students at increased risk for CVD and screening of the lipid status is necessary in students, especially in those who are at increased risk for CVD.
TNF-α Mediated Secretory Component is Positively Regulated by PI3K/AKT/MTOR in CACO-2 Cells
Authors: Liu Dongyan , Wang Si , Jiang Teng , Ding Peng 
Published: April 2013

Summary
Background: Secretory component (SC) is the extracellular component of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) that functions as a receptor for externally secreted polymeric immunoglobulins such as secretory IgA. SC expression is regulated by a signaling pathway involving TNF-a.
Methods: Caco-2 cells were cotreated with TNF-a plus either Wortmannin, which inhibits PI3K, or Rapamycin, which inhibits mTOR. The expression of SC and pIgR mRNA were assessed by immunocytochemistry, Western blotting, and Quantitative real-time PCR.
Results: Wortmannin and Rapamycin decreased the fraction of cells expressing SC, as well as the total expression of SC protein and pIgR mRNA.
Conclusions: TNF-a regulation of SC expression is mediated through a PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in Caco-2 cells.
Antiepileptic Drugs Affect Protein, Lipid and DNA Oxidative Damage and Antioxidant Defense in Patients with Epilepsy
Authors: Ercegovac Marko , Jović Nebojša , Simić Tatjana , Beslać-Bumbaširević Ljiljana , Sokić Dragoslav , Savić-Radojević Ana , Matić Marija , Jovanović Dejana , Ristić Aleksandar , Đukić Tatjana , Šuvakov Sonja , Ćorić Vesna , MimiĆ-Oka Jasmina , Plješa-Ercegovac Marija 
Published: April 2013

Summary
Background: To get more insight into the effects of the most widely used antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on the prooxidant/ antioxidant balance in epilepsy, a comparative analysis of the byproducts of oxidative damage and antioxidant de fense mechanisms was performed in patients with epilepsy treated with lamotrigine, carbamazepine and valproic acid.
Methods: Byproducts of oxidative damage to proteins (reactive carbonyl derivatives, RCD and protein thiol groups, PSH), lipids (urinary isoprostanes, 8-epi-PGF2a) and DNA (urinary 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine, 8-OHdG), as well as the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were measured in 60 patients with newly diagnosed seizure (at illness onset and after 6 months of treatment with lamotrigine, carbamazepine or valproic acid) and in 20 healthy controls.
Results: In patients with epilepsy, RCD, urinary 8-epi-PGF2a and 8-OHdG, together with SOD and GPX activities were significantly increased, while P-SH were only slightly decreased. After 6 months of treatment with AEDs, a decrease was observed in RCD, urinary 8-epi-PGF2a and 8-OHdG to values slightly higher or similar to the control, while P-SH remained unchanged. A decrease was also observed in SOD and GPX activities, although they remained significantly in creased compared to controls.
Conclusions: The results of this study have shown that treatments with lamotrigine, carbamazepine and valproic acid affect the prooxidant/antioxidant balance in patients with epilepsy.
Slow Rusting Resistance in Iranian Barley Cultivars to Puccinia Striiformis F. Sp. Hordei
Authors: Safavi Safar Ali , Ahari Assadollah Babai , Afshari Farzad , Arzanlou Mahdi 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Race-specific resistance of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to the yellow rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei, has been reported to be short-lived. Slow rusting resistance has been reported to last for a long time. Twenty Iranian barley cultivars along with resistant and susceptible controls were tested during the 2009-2010 and the 2010-2011 cropping seasons, in field plots at the Ardabil Agricultural Research Station (Iran). The cultivars were tested to identify slow rusting genotypes through epidemiological variables which included: final rust severity (FRS), apparent infection rate (r), relative area under the disease progress curve (rAUDPC), and coefficient of infection (CI). Moreover, differential sets were evaluated in order to determine effective and ineffective resistance genes to barley yellow rust. Results of the mean comparison of resistance parameters showed that cultivars Makouee, Dasht, Fasih, and Arass had low values of FRS, CI, r and rAUDPC compared with susceptible cultivars. The cultivars Walfajre, Abidar and Sahand which had moderate values of the different parameters, were marked as possessing a moderate level of slow rusting. The rest of the cultivars which had high values of different quantitative parameters, were grouped as having a low level of slow rusting or as susceptible. The correlation coefficient between different parameters of slow rusting was significantly high (r = 0.83-0.98). The virulence profile of the prevalent races revealed that rpsEm1, rpsEm2, rpsHF, Rps4, rpsVa1, rpsVa2, rpsAst were effective, and rps2, Rps1.b were ineffective resistance genes during the two year testing period.
A New Bacterial Disease on Bluberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum) Caused by Pseudomonas Spp.
Authors: Kałużna Monika , Puławska Joanna , Meszka Beata 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
In 2011, leaf spot disease was observed on the blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) cv. Nelson growing on a commercial field located in Central Poland. The disease symptoms could be seen as russet brown, irregular spots. The diameter of the spots was 0.3-0.5 cm, and the spots often coalesced. From these leaf spots, a fluorescent bacterium was repeatedly isolated in almost pure culture. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers Ps-for and Ps-rev, specific for Pseudomonas spp. confirmed that they belong to this genus. Based on LOPAT tests [levan production from sucrose (L), presence of oxidase (O), pectolytic activity on potato (P), the presence of arginine dihydrolase (A), hypersensitivity reaction on tobacco (T)], 6 isolates were classified to the LOPAT group Ib - group of Pseudomonas syringae subsp. savastanoi and Pseudomonas delphini, and one isolate to group Ia - P. syringae. All isolates caused a hypersensitivity reaction on tobacco plants, and symptoms similar to those under natural conditions, when young leaves of blueberry cv. Nelson were inoculated. Sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and rpoB genes showed the highest similarity of 6 studied strains to the species P. avellanae. Further taxonomic study is necessary to enable definitive classification of these isolates. It is the first time that a bacterial disease caused by the Pseudomonas spp. was observed in Poland.
The Biology And Ecology Of Brachycaudus Divaricatae Shaposhnikov (Hemiptera, Aphidoidea) On Prunus Cerasifera Ehrhart In Western Poland
Authors: Wilkaniec Barbara , Wilkaniec Agnieszka 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Brachycaudus divaricatae - was described by Shaposhnikov in the Middle East as a heteroecious aphid species migrating between Prunus divaricata and Melandrium album. The research conducted in Poland proved that this species can be described as holocyclic and monoecious. A significantly shortened development cycle with a summer-winter diapause characterizes this species in Poland. The aim of our studies was a detailed research of the species biology conducted to explain this phenomenon. Elements of the biology and ecology of the new fauna species Brachycaudus divaricatae Shap., were studied in Poland during the 2008-2010 time period. The term of spring hatching, number of generations per season, development length of particular generations, lifespan of specimen, and fecundity of particular generations were all defined. The three-year study proved that 6 to 8 aphid generations can develop on P. cerasifera in Poland. The emergence of sexuales (amphigonic females and males) of B. divaricatae occurred very early in the season: in mid-May, and the first eggs were laid in June.
Real-Time Parameter Estimation Study for Inertia Properties of Ground Vehicles
Authors: Kolansky Jeremy , Sandu Corina 
Published: April 2013

Vehicle parameters have a significant impact on handling, stability, and rollover propensity. This study demonstrates two methods that estimate the inertia values of a ground vehicle in real-time.
Through the use of the Generalized Polynomial Chaos (gPC) technique for propagating the uncertainties, the uncertain vehicle model outputs a probability density function for each of the variables. These probability density functions (PDFs) can be used to estimate the values of the parameters through several statistical methods. The method used here is the Maximum A-Posteriori (MAP) estimate. The MAP estimate maximizes the distribution of P(β | z) where β is the vector of the PDFs of the parameters and z is the measurable sensor comparison.
An alternative method is the application of an adaptive filtering method. The Kalman Filter is an example of an adaptive filter. This method, when blended with the gPC theory is capable at each time step of updating the PDFs of the parameter distributions. These PDF’s have their median values shifted by the filter to approximate the actual values.
A Stochastic Solver of the Generalized Born Model
Authors: Harris Robert C. , Mackoy Travis , Fenley Marcia O. 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
A stochastic generalized Born (GB) solver is presented which
can give predictions of energies arbitrarily close to those that
would be given by exact effective GB radii, and, unlike analytical
GB solvers, these errors are Gaussian with estimates
that can be easily obtained from the algorithm. This method
was tested by computing the electrostatic solvation energies
(ΔGsolv
) and the electrostatic binding energies (ΔGbind
) of a
set of DNA-drug complexes, a set of protein-drug complexes,
a set of protein-protein complexes, and a set of RNA-peptide
complexes. Its predictions of ΔGsolv
agree with those of the
linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation, but it does not predict
ΔGbind
well, although these predictions of ΔGbind
may
be marginally better than those of traditional analytical GB
solvers. Apparently, the GB model itself must be improved
before accurate estimates of ΔGbind
can be obtained.
Numerical Study on Temporal Domain Discretizing for Hydrogeological Modeling Practices
Authors: Amine Boukhemacha Mohamed , Gogu Constantin Radu , Bica Ioan 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
One of the key operations in the construction of hydrogeological models is the transformation of continuous physical systems into discrete models while conserving the aimed model performance level and optimizing the available resources. Such operation is called discretization, and it has to be applied to both spatial and temporal domains in hydrogeology. The present paper deals with the temporal domain discretization. A literature review is given first, and then a parametric study (using 1D flow modeling) is conducted to assess the effects induced by boundary conditions (specified head or specified recharge rate), data temporal resolution and model simulation time step on hydrogeological flow model performances. It was found that the effect induced by the dynamic comportment of a recharge rate boundary condition type is more important than that due to a specified head. For the recharge rate, the time step must be smaller or equal to the data resolution when using Modflow. As for a specified head boundary condition type, it was recommended to take a time step satisfying Δt∞1/(K × Δh).
Fast Estimatio of the Non-Stationary Amplitude of a Harmonically Distorted Signal Using a Kalman Filter
Authors: Kovač Uroš , Košir Andrej 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
In this paper we introduce a self-tuning Kalman filter for fast time-domain amplitude estimation of noisy harmonic signals with non-stationary amplitude and harmonic distortion, which is the problem of a contactvoltage measurement to which we apply the proposed method. The research method is based on the self-tuning of the Kalman filter's dropping-off behavior. The optimal performance (in terms of accuracy and fast response) is achieved by detecting the jump of the amplitude based on statistical tests of the innovation vector of the Kalman filter and reacting to this jump by adjusting the values of the covariance matrix of the state vector. The method's optimal configuration of the parameters was chosen using a statistical power analysis. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms competing methods in terms of speed and accuracy of the jump detection and amplitude estimation.
Separation of Isochromatics and Isoclinics Phasemaps for the Photoelastic Technique with use Phase Shifting and a Large Number of High Precision Images
Authors: Almeida Magalhães Cristina , Smith Neto Perrin , Almeida Magalhães Júnior Pedro Américo , Sperb de Barcellos Clovis 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Digital photoelasticity is an important optical metrology follow-up for stress and strain analysis using full-field digital photographic images. Advances in digital image processing, data acquisition, procedures for pattern recognition and storage capacity enable the use of the computer-aided technique in automation and facilitate improvement of the digital photoelastic technique. The objective of this research is to find new equations for a novel phase-shifting method in digital photoelasticity. Some innovations are proposed. In terms of phaseshifting, only the analyzer is rotated, and the other equations are deduced by applying a new numerical technique instead of the usual algebraic techniques. This approach can be used to calculate a larger sequence of images. Each image represents a pattern and a measurement of the stresses present in the object. A decrease in the mean errors was obtained by increasing the number of observations. A reduction in the difference between the theoretical and experimental values of stresses was obtained by increasing the number of images in the equations for calculating phase. Every photographic image has errors and random noise, but the uncertainties due to these effects can be reduced with a larger number of observations. The proposed method with many images and high accuracy is a good alternative to the photoelastic techniques.
The Role of Manufacturing Techniques in Enterprises Producing Heating Devices in the Context of Sustainable Development
Authors: Kluczek Aldona , Włosiński Władysław 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Manufacturing techniques are concerned with quality, cost, productivity and sustainability. With today‘s environmental awareness and the pressure of the sustainability requirements, existing manufacturing techniques of heating devices are evolving into the redesign manufacturing unit processes to increase overall sustainability. Also, these techniques need a measurement method to assess processes-related sustainability performance indicators. The purpose of this paper is to stress the role of manufacturing techniques: welding, cleaning and painting in the manufacture of heating appliances (solid fuel fired boilers used renewable energy sources) in terms of incorporating into the field the concept of sustainable development. It then focuses on the environmental, technical, economical and social impact of sustainable technologies and argues for the need to ensure that the concept is being applied to the manufacture of heating devices. In this paper, author tries to propose a unified, standard scientific factory-level methodology to evaluate the influence of manufacturing techniques on the sustainability of enterprises producing heating devices. The proposed methodology in the terms of the case study is a comprehensive answer to the question of to what extent the improvements in those techniques influence the sustainable development of the enterprises. An industrial case study demonstrates that the proposed improvements can effectively influence the sustainability of enterprise. The results of this assessment can be applied to broad industry sectors, and can lead to the accepted measures and practices.
The Implementation of The Balanced Critical Factor Index Methodology in the Strategy Redevelopment Process
Authors: Rymaszewska Anna , Koskinen Jari , Takala Josu , Zhao Shi , Chen Yang 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Strategic planning and development is a critical yet often overlooked issue in company’s operations. The planning of development as well as addressing the distribution of available resources should be done systematically rather than instinctively however, many companies still do not have any reliable method that would facilitate the decision making processes at their disposal. This article aims at presenting the innovative analytical method- Balanced Critical Factor Index (BCFI) for addressing the need for change in company’s operational strategy according to changes in available technology and knowledge. By examining a wide array of indexes, the presented method is expected to suggest the directions of development. The presented method also addresses the challenges of the complex process of decision-making. Moreover, the empirical evidence gathered in the studied case company serves as a source of important feedback regarding the further improvement of the BCFI method.
Sensitivity Analysis of Key Customers and Revenue-Oriented Admission Control and Scheduling Algorithm
Authors: Suchacka Grażyna , Borzemski Leszek 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
The paper deals with the problem of Quality of Web Service (QoWS) in e-commerce Web servers, i.e. in retail Web stores. It concerns the admission control and scheduling algorithm for a Web server system, which aims at preventing the system from overload to provide high QoWS level and ultimately, to increase Web site’s conversion rate, i.e. to turn more visitors into customers. The sensitivity of the algorithm to changes in its basic parameter values was analyzed by using a simulation-based approach. Special attention was paid to evaluation of the parameter impact on conventional and business-related system performance metrics.
Determination of the main characteristics of the small waterplane area twin hull ships at the initial stage of design
Authors: Bondarenko Oleksandr V. , Boiko Anzhela P. , Seropyan Iryna R. 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
The basic selecting peculiarities of the optimal project characteristics of the small waterplane area twin hull ships compared to conventional ships are considered. The description of the mathematical model and the ship operating model is given. The choice of the optimization method is justified.
A novel method for archiving multibeam sonar data with emphasis on efficient record size reduction and storage
Authors: Moszynski Marek , Chybicki Andrzej , Kulawiak Marcin , Lubniewski Zbigniew 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
Over the past few years considerable advances in sonar technology, spatial positioning capabilities and computer processing power have lead to significant improvements in mapping, imaging and technologies of seafloor exploration. Recently, modern multibeam echosounder systems (MBES) capable of recording backscatter data for the whole water column, not just for the seabed, have become available thus providing data allowing for visualization and analysis of objects other than the seabed such as single fish, fish schools or pollution. Unlike bathymetric sonars, which only capture the seafloor, multibeam systems produce very large amounts of data during surveys. Because of this, storing the data collected during hydrographic or scientific cruises becomes a crucial problem. In this context, the paper proposes a new approach for efficient reduction and storage of MBES records. The results of a sample implementation of the algorithm being tested on several different sets of MBES data are also discussed.
Accounting for Contiguous Multiword Expressions in Shallow Parsing
Authors: Constant Matthieu , Blanc Olivier , Watrin Patrick 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
In this paper, we focus on chunking including contiguous multiword expression recognition, namely super-chunking. In particular, we present different strategies to improve a superchunker based on Conditional Random Fields by combining it with a finite-state symbolic super-chunker driven by lexical and grammatical resources. We display a substantial gain of 7.6 points in terms of overall accuracy.
Significance of the Correlation in Turn-taking Dialogues
Authors: Singh Lourembam Surjit , Singh R.K. Brojen 
Published: April 2013

Abstract
This piece of work investigates the relation between characters in a play based on turntaking dialogues. As the dialogues are related to each other in the play, numbers of turn-taking are significant of the characters’ relationship and the utterances give indication about the information content of the interaction. In this Manipuri radio play, the sequence of turns taken by the characters convey different amount of information with different functions. Numbers of dialogues oscillate significantly with a period of 2 scenes during the play. The degree of oscillation present in turn-taking dialogues carries significant information functions. The nature of the relationship between the characters involved and the theme of the play may be characterised by calculations on turn-taking dialogues.