http://www.hindawi.comThe latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation© 2012, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnume/2012/278678/The study goals were to (1) establish the variability in postprandial glucose control in healthy young people consuming a mixed meal and, then (2) determine the acute and residual impact of a single exercise bout on postprandial glucose control. In study 1, 18 people completed two similar mixed meal trials and an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT). There were strong test-retest correlations for the post-meal area under the curve (AUC) for glucose, insulin, and Cpeptide (r=0.73–0.83) and the Matsuda insulin sensitivity index (ISI, r=0.76), and between meal and IVGTT-derived ISI (r=0.83). In study 2, 11 untrained young adults completed 3 trials. One trial (No Ex) was completed after refraining from vigorous activity for ≥3 days. On the other 2 trials, a 45-min aerobic exercise bout was performed either 17-hours (Prior Day Ex) or 1-hour (Same Day Ex) before consuming the test meal. Compared to No Ex and Prior Day Ex, which did not differ from one another, there were lower AUCs on the Same Day Ex trial for glucose (6%), insulin (20%) and C-peptide (14%). Thus, a single moderate intensity exercise session can acutely improve glycemic control but the effect is modest and short-lived.Kevin R. Short, Lauren V. Pratt, and April M. TeagueCopyright © 2012 Kevin R. Short et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/2012/805683/Obesity is a serious health problem with an increased risk of several common diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Metabolomics is an emerging analytical technique for systemic determination of metabolite profiles, which is useful for understanding the biochemical changes in obesity or related diseases both in individual organs and at the organism level. Increasingly, this technology has been applied to the study of obesity, complementing transcriptomics and/or proteomics analyses. Indeed, the alterations of metabolites in biofluids/tissues are direct indicators of variations in physiology or pathology. In this paper, we will examine the obesity-related alterations in significant metabolites that have been identified by metabolomics as well as their metabolic pathway associations. Issues concerning the screening of biologically significant metabolites related to obesity will also be discussed.Baogang Xie, Michael J. Waters, and Horst Joachim SchirraCopyright © 2012 Baogang Xie et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ad/2012/969657/Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with varied clinical presentations and heterogeneous histopathological features. The underlying immunological abnormalities in MS lead to various neurological and autoimmune manifestations. There is strong evidence that MS is, at least in part, an immune-mediated disease. There is less evidence that MS is a classical autoimmune disease, even though many authors state this in the description of the disease. We show the evidence that both supports and refutes the autoimmune hypothesis. In addition, we present an alternate hypothesis based on virus infection to explain the pathogenesis of MS.Bharath Wootla, Makoto Eriguchi, and Moses RodriguezCopyright © 2012 Bharath Wootla et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ija/2012/769196/Rice is an important produced cereal in the world. We evaluated the effect of salt compositions including NaCl and Na2SO4 on suberin lamellae as a major barrier to radial ion and water movements in two rice genotypes representing contrasting salt tolerance levels under salinity stress. Two rice genotypes, Fajr as salt tolerant and Khazar as salt sensitive, were transplanted in sand culture under glasshouse condition. Rice seedlings were treated with five salt compositions including NaCl, Na2SO4, 1 : 1, 1 : 2, and 2 : 1 molar ratios for 40 days. It was proven that suberin lamellae in endodermis of root cell wall were thickened with Na2SO4 treatment. The results demonstrated that the number of passage cells was higher in Fajr genotype than that in Khazar genotype under saline condition. Calcium concentration in root tissue decreased as the SO42- concentration in root media increased. It can be concluded that Fajr genotype is able to keep some passage cells open to maintain Ca2+ uptake. The Ca2+/Na+ ratio in shoot tissue can be also a reliable index for the early recognition of salt stress in these rice genotypes.M. R. Momayezi, A. R. Zaharah, and M. M. HanafiCopyright © 2012 M. R. Momayezi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2012/649070/As glargine, an analog of human insulin, is increasingly used during pregnancy, a meta-analysis assessed its safety in this population. A systematic literature search identified studies of gestational or pregestational diabetes comparing use of insulin glargine with human NPH insulin, with at least 15 women in both arms. Data was extracted for maternal outcomes (weight at delivery, weight gain, 1st/3rd trimester HbA1c, severe hypoglycemia, gestation/new-onset hypertension, preeclampsia, and cesarean section) and neonatal outcomes (congenital malformations, gestational age at delivery, birth weight, macrosomia, LGA, 5 minute Apgar score >7, NICU admissions, respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal hypoglycemia, and hyperbilirubinemia). Relative risk ratios and weighted mean differences were determined using a random effect model. Eight studies of women using glargine (331) or NPH (371) were analyzed. No significant differences in the efficacy and safety-related outcomes were found between glargine and NPH use during pregnancy.Jacques Lepercq, Jay Lin, Gillian C. Hall, Edward Wang, Marie-Paule Dain, Matthew C. Riddle, and Philip D. HomeCopyright © 2012 Jacques Lepercq et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijic/2012/791219/We synthesized the Schiff base ligands H2L1–H2L4 and their La(III) complexes and characterized them by the analytical and spectroscopic methods. We investigated their electrochemical and antimicrobial activity properties. The electrochemical properties of the ligands H2L1–H2L4 and their La(III) complexes were studied at the different scan rates (100 and 200 mV), different pH ranges (pH=2–12), and in the different solvents. The electrooxidation of the Schiff base ligands involves a reversible transfer of two electrons and two protons in solutions of pH up to 5.5, in agreement with the one-step two-electron mechanism. In solutions of pH higher than 5.5, the process of electrooxidation reaction of the Schiff base ligands and their La(III) complexes follows an ECi mechanism. The antimicrobial activities of the ligands and their complexes were studied. The thermal properties of the metal complexes were studied under nitrogen atmosphere in the range of temperature 20–1000°C.Ali E. Şabik, Muharrem Karabörk, Gökhan Ceyhan, Mehmet Tümer, and Metin DığrakCopyright © 2012 Ali E. Şabik et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/crim/hematology/2012/624590/Excellent response rates and a good quality of life have been observed since the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment. Consequently, some challenges began to appear in CML women in child-bearing age wishing to become pregnant. Currently, many women around the world are in stable major/complete molecular response MMR/CMR (MMR: <0.1% BCR-ABL/ABL and CMR: undetectable BCR-ABL mRNA by RQ-PCR transcript levels on the international scale). The condition of stable MMR/CMR is linked to a long-term virtual absence of progression to the accelerated and blastic phase and to the possibility of stopping the TKI treatment with the maintenance of a condition of CMR in a proportion of cases. Imatinib teratogenic and prescribing information prohibits the use of it during pregnancy. We describe the case of a 36-year-old female patient with CML in chronic phase who stopped imatinib after 2 years in major molecular response (MMR) to plan a pregnancy. Molecular monitoring by RQ-PCR was performed quarterly. She achieved a safe pregnancy and delivery maintaining an optimal molecular response throughout the pregnancy. Isolated literature reports have been described, but no formal advice has been described at present time.Carolina Pavlovsky, Isabel Giere, and Germán Van ThilloCopyright © 2012 Carolina Pavlovsky et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ppar/2012/541204/Cinchonine (C19H22N2O) is a natural compound of Cinchona bark. Although cinchonine's antiplatelet effect has been reported in the previous study, antiobesity effect of cinchonine has never been studied. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether cinchonine reduces high-fat-diet- (HFD-) induced adipogenesis and inflammation in the epididymal fat tissues of mice and to explore the underlying mechanisms involved in these reductions. HFD-fed mice treated with 0.05% dietary cinchonine for 10 weeks had reduced body weight gain (−38%), visceral fat-pad weights (−26%), and plasma levels of triglyceride, free fatty acids, total cholesterol, and glucose compared with mice fed with the HFD. Moreover, cinchonine significantly reversed HFD-induced downregulations of WNT10b and galanin-mediated signaling molecules and key adipogenic genes in the epididymal adipose tissues of mice. Cinchonine also attenuated the HFD-induced upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting toll-like-receptor-2- (TLR2-) and TLR4-mediated signaling cascades in the adipose tissue of mice. Our findings suggest that dietary cinchonine with its effects on adipogenesis and inflammation may have a potential benefit in preventing obesity.Sung A. Jung, Miseon Choi, Sohee Kim, Rina Yu, and Taesun ParkCopyright © 2012 Sung A. Jung et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/518263/Reduced sleep has been found to be associated with increased risk of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality. Self-rated health (SRH) has been shown to be a predictor of CVD and mortality. However, study of the association between insufficient sleep and SRH is limited. We examined participants >18 years of age (n=377, 160) from a representative, cross-sectional survey (2008 BRFSS). Self-reported insufficient sleep in the previous 30 days was categorized into six groups. The outcome was poor SRH. We calculated odds ratios ((OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) of increasing categories of insufficient rest/sleep, taking zero days of insufficient sleep as the referent category. We found a positive association between increasing categories of insufficient sleep and poor SRH, independent of relevant covariates. In the multivariable-adjusted model, compared to 0 days insufficient sleep, the OR (95% CI) of poor SRH was 1.03 (0.97–1.10) for 1–6 days, 1.45 (1.34–1.57) for 7–13 days, 2.12 (1.97–2.27) for 14–20 days, 2.32 (2.09–2.58) for 21–29 days, and and 2.71 (2.53–2.90) for 30 days of insufficient sleep in the prior 30 days (P-trend <0.0001). In a nationally representative sample, increasing categories of insufficient sleep were associated with poor SRH.Sarah Dee Geiger, Charumathi Sabanayagam, and Anoop ShankarCopyright © 2012 Sarah Dee Geiger et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/2012/121360/Aim. We regard consultations as cocreated communicatively by the parties involved. In this paper on verbal communication in midwife-led consultations, we consequently focus on the actual conversation taking place between the midwife and the pregnant woman with diabetes, especially on those sequences where the pregnant woman initiated a topic of concern in the conversation. Methods. This paper was undertaken in four hospital outpatient clinics in Norway. Ten antenatal consultations between midwives and pregnant women were audiotaped, transcribed to text, and analyzed using theme-oriented discourse analysis. Two communicative patterns were revealed: an expert's frame and a shared experts' frame. Within each frame, different communicative variations are presented. The topics women initiated in the conversations were (i) delivery, time and mode; (ii) previous birth experience; (iii) labor pain; and (iv) breast feeding, diabetes management, and fetal weight. Conclusion. Different ways of communicating seem to create different opportunities for the parties to share each other's perspectives. Adequate responses and a listening attitude as well as an ambiguous way of talking seem to open up for the pregnant women's perspectives. Further studies are needed to investigate the obstacles to, and premises for, providing midwifery care in a specialist outpatient setting.Christina Furskog Risa, Febe Friberg, and Eva LidénCopyright © 2012 Christina Furskog Risa et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mpe/2012/934964/Steady viscous incompressible MHD laminar boundary layer slip flow of an electrically conducting nanofluid over a convectively heated permeable moving linearly stretching sheet has been investigated numerically. The effects of Brownian motion, thermophoresis, magnetic field, and heat generation/absorption are included in the nanofluid model. The similarity transformations for the governing equations are developed. The effects of the pertinent parameters, Lewis number, magnetic field, Brownian motion, heat generation, thermophoretic, momentum slip and Biot number on the flow field, temperature, skin friction factor, heat transfer rate, and nanoparticle, volume fraction rate are displayed in both graphical and tabular forms. Comparisons of analytical (for special cases) and numerical solutions with the existing results in the literature are made and is found a close agreement, that supports the validity of the present analysis and the accuracy of our numerical computations. Results for the reduced Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are provided in tabular and graphical forms for various values of the flow controlling parameters which govern the momentum, energy, and the nanoparticle volume fraction transport in the MHD boundary layer.Md. Jashim Uddin, W. A. Khan, and A. I. Md. IsmailCopyright © 2012 Md. Jashim Uddin et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijpep/2012/634769/The current version of the human immunome network consists of nearly 1400 interactions involving approximately 600 proteins. Intermolecular interactions mediated by proline-rich motifs (PRMs) are observed in many facets of the immune response. The proline-rich regions are known to preferentially adopt a polyproline type II helical conformation, an extended structure that facilitates transient intermolecular interactions such as signal transduction, antigen recognition, cell-cell communication and cytoskeletal organization. The propensity of both the side chain and the backbone carbonyls of the polyproline type II helix to participate in the interface interaction makes it an excellent recognition motif. An advantage of such distinct chemical features is that the interactions can be discriminatory even in the absence of high affinities. Indeed, the immune response is mediated by well-orchestrated low-affinity short-duration intermolecular interactions. The proline-rich regions are predominantly localized in the solvent-exposed regions such as the loops, intrinsically disordered regions, or between domains that constitute the intermolecular interface. Peptide mimics of the PRM have been suggested as potential antagonists of intermolecular interactions. In this paper, we discuss novel PRM-mediated interactions in the human immunome that potentially serve as attractive targets for immunomodulation and drug development for inflammatory and autoimmune pathologies.Mythily Srinivasan and A. Keith DunkerCopyright © 2012 Mythily Srinivasan and A. Keith Dunker. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijr/2012/381929/The performance of the interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) and tuberculin skin test (TST) was reviewed retrospectively in patients with psoriasis, inflammatory musculoskeletal diseases, or miscellaneous inflammatory conditions. The study was carried out over a 22-month period using 109 records of patients with psoriasis (n=21), musculoskeletal disease (n=74), or other inflammatory conditions (n=14). Forty-four (48%) of 109 patients were on immunosuppressive therapy and 38/109 (35%) on systemic glucocorticoid therapy. The agreement between the IGRAs was substantial (κ=0.71) whilst that between the IGRAs and TST was low (κ=0.32). Logistic regression models revealed that IGRAs associated with risk factors for latent tuberculosis infection better than TST. TST was influenced by age, BCG vaccination, sex, and glucocorticoid therapy. We found that IGRAs performed equally well with low level of indeterminate results (1-2%). IGRAs were superior to TST because the latter was influenced by BCG-vaccination status and immunosuppressive therapy.Esko Tavast, Tamara Tuuminen, Sari H. Pakkanen, Mari Eriksson, Anu Kantele, Asko Järvinen, Liana Pusa, Tarja Mälkönen, Ilkka Seppälä, Heikki Repo, and Marjatta Lerisalo-RepoCopyright © 2012 Esko Tavast et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jr/2012/103954/Two different visual servoing controls have been developed to govern a translating parallel manipulator with an eye-in-hand configuration, That is, a position-based and an image-based controller. The robot must be able to reach and grasp a target randomly positioned in the workspace; the control must be adaptive to compensate motions of the target in the 3D space. The trajectory planning strategy ensures the continuity of the velocity vector for both PBVS and IBVS controls, whereas a replanning event is needed. A comparison between the two approaches is given in terms of accuracy, fastness, and stability in relation to the robot peculiar characteristics.G. Palmieri, M. Palpacelli, M. Battistelli, and M. CallegariCopyright © 2012 G. Palmieri et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jps/2012/371025/The primary purpose of this paper is to prove a tightness of α-skew random walks. The tightness result implies, in particular, that the α-skew Brownian motion can be constructed as the scaling limit of such random walks. Our proof of tightness is based on a fourth-order moment method.Youngsoo SeolCopyright © 2012 Youngsoo Seol. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfsa/2012/454820/The logarithmic Bloch space Blog⁡ is the Banach space of analytic functions on the open unit disk 𝔻 whose elements f satisfy the condition ∥f∥=sup⁡z∈𝔻(1-|z|2)log⁡  (2/(1-|z|2))|f'(z)|<∞. In this work we characterize the bounded and the compact weighted composition operators from the Hardy space Hp (with 1≤p≤∞) into the logarithmic Bloch space. We also provide boundedness and compactness criteria for the weighted composition operator mapping Hp into the little logarithmic Bloch space defined as the subspace of Blog⁡ consisting of the functions f such that lim⁡|z|→1(1-|z|2)log⁡  (2/(1-|z|2))|f'(z)|=0.Flavia Colonna and Songxiao LiCopyright © 2012 Flavia Colonna and Songxiao Li. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ccrp/2012/539412/Liver cirrhosis (LC) can lead to a clinical state of liver failure, which can exacerbate through the course of the disease. New therapies aimed to control the diverse etiologies are now more effective, although the disease may result in advanced stages of liver failure, where liver transplantation (LT) remains the most effective treatment. The extended lifespan of these patients and the extended possibilities of liver support devices make their admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) more probable. In this paper the LC is approached from the point of view of the pathophysiological alterations present in LC patients previous to ICU admission, particularly cardiovascular, but also renal, coagulopathic, and encephalopathic. Infections and available liver detoxifications devices also deserve mentioning. We intend to contribute towards ICU physician readiness to the care for this particular type of patients, possibly in dedicated ICUs.Antonio Figueiredo, Francisco Romero-Bermejo, Rui Perdigoto, and Paulo MarcelinoCopyright © 2012 Antonio Figueiredo et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jece/2012/290390/Approximate minimum symbol error probability transceiver design of single user MIMO systems under the practical per-antenna power constraint is considered. The upper bound of a lower bound on the minimum distance between the symbol hypotheses is established. Necessary conditions and structures of the transmit covariance matrix for reaching the upper bound are discussed. Three numerical approaches (rank zero, rank one, and permutation) for obtaining the optimum precoder are proposed. When the upper bound is reached, the resulting design is optimum. When the upper bound is not reached, a numerical fix is used. The approach is very simple and can be of practical use.Enoch Lu and I.-Tai LuCopyright © 2012 Enoch Lu and I.-Tai Lu. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jc/2012/587987/Reduced and normal gravity combustion experiments were performed with fiber-supported methanol droplets with initial diameters in the 1 mm size range. Experiments were performed with air-diluent mixtures at about 0.101 MPa and 298 K, where carbon dioxide, helium, or xenon was separately used as the diluent gas. Results indicate that ambient gas transport properties play an important role in determining flammability and combustion behaviors including burning rates and radiant heat output histories of the droplets. Droplets would burn with significantly higher mole fractions of xenon than helium or carbon dioxide. In reduced gravity, droplets would burn steadily with a xenon mole fraction of 0.50 but would not burn steadily if helium or carbon dioxide mole fractions were 0.50. Comparison with previous experimental data shows that ignitability and combustion characteristics of droplets are influenced by the fuel type and also the gravitational level. Burning rates were about 40% to 70% higher in normal gravity than in reduced gravity. Methanol droplets also had burning rates that were typically larger than 1-propanol burning rates by about 20% in reduced gravity. In normal gravity, however, burning rate differences between the two fuels were significantly smaller.Benjamin Shaw and Jingbin WeiCopyright © 2012 Benjamin Shaw and Jingbin Wei. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/2012/672760/The development of the field of materials science, the ability to perform multidisciplinary scientific work, and the need for novel administration technologies that maximize therapeutic effects and minimize adverse reactions to readily available drugs have led to the development of delivery systems based on microencapsulation, which has taken one step closer to the target of personalized medicine. Drug delivery systems based on polymeric microparticles are generating a strong impact on preclinical and clinical drug development and have reached a broad development in different fields supporting a critical role in the near future of medical practice. This paper presents the foundations of polymeric microparticles based on their formulation, mechanisms of drug release and some of their innovative therapeutic strategies to board multiple diseases.C. Vilos and L. A. VelasquezCopyright © 2012 C. Vilos and L. A. Velasquez. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/282367/Mathematical form for two energy groups of three-dimensional homogeneous reactor kinetics equations and average one group of the precursor concentration of delayed neutrons is presented. This mathematical form is called “two energy groups of the point kinetics equations.” We rewrite two energy groups of the point kinetics equations in the matrix form. Generalization of the analytical exponential model (GAEM) is developed for solving two energy groups of the point kinetics equations. The GAEM is based on the eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenvectors of the coefficient matrix. The eigenvalues of the coefficient matrix are calculated numerically using visual FORTRAN code, based on Laguerre’s method, to calculate the roots of an algebraic equation with real coefficients. The eigenvectors of the coefficient matrix are calculated analytically. The results of the GAEM are compared with the traditional methods. These comparisons substantiate the accuracy of the results of the GAEM. In addition, the GAEM is faster than the traditional methods.Abdallah A. Nahla and Mohammed F. Al-GhamdiCopyright © 2012 Abdallah A. Nahla and Mohammed F. Al-Ghamdi. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/dte/2012/853781/Orthophthalaldehyde high level disinfectants are contraindicated for use with urological instruments such as cystoscopes due to anaphylaxis-like allergic reactions during surveillance of bladder cancer patients. Allergic reactions and mucosal injuries have also been reported following colonoscopy, laryngoscopy, and transesophageal echocardiography with devices disinfected using orthophthalaldehyde. Possibly these endoscopes were not adequately rinsed after disinfection by orthophthalaldehyde. We examined this possibility by means of a zone-of-inhibition test, and also a test to extract residues of orthophthalaldehyde with acetonitrile, from sections of endoscope insertion tube materials, to measure the presence of alkaline glutaraldehyde, or glutaraldehyde plus 20% w/w isopropanol, or ortho-phthalaldehyde that remained on the endoscope materials after exposure to these disinfectants followed by a series of rinses in water, or by aeration overnight. Zones of any size indicated the disinfectant had not been rinsed away from the endoscope material. There were no zones of inhibition surrounding endoscope materials soaked in glutaraldehyde or glutaraldehyde plus isopropanol after three serial water rinses according to manufacturers' rinsing directions. The endoscope material soaked in orthophthalaldehyde produced zones of inhibition even after fifteen serial rinses with water. Orthophthalaldehyde was extracted from the rinsed endoscope material by acetonitrile. These data, and other information, indicate that the high level disinfectant orthophthalaldehyde, also known as 1,2-benzene dialdehyde, cannot be rinsed away from flexible endoscope material with any practical number of rinses with water, or by drying overnight.Norman Miner, Valerie Harris, Natalie Lukomski, and Towanda EbronCopyright © 2012 Norman Miner et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmr/2012/238961/AL amyloidosis is caused by clonal plasma cells that produce immunoglobulin light chains which misfold and get deposited as amyloid fibrils. Therapy directed against the plasma cell clone leads to clinical benefit. Melphalan and corticosteroids have been the mainstay of treatment for a number of years and the recent availability of other effective agents (IMiDs and proteasome inhibitors) has increased treatment options. Autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) has been used in the treatment of AL amyloidosis for many years. It is associated with high rates of hematologic response and improvement in organ function. However, transplant carries considerable risks. Careful patient selection is important to minimize transplant related morbidity and mortality and ensure optimal patient outcomes. As newer more affective therapies become available the role and timing of ASCT in the overall treatment strategy of AL amyloidosis will need to be continually reassessed.Vivek RoyCopyright © 2012 Vivek Roy. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ace/2012/595238/This paper presents analyses of the seismic responses of two reinforced concrete buildings monitored for a period of more than two years. One of the structures was a three-storey reinforced concrete (RC) frame building with a shear core, while the other was a three-storey RC frame building without a core. Both buildings are part of the same large complex but are seismically separated from the rest of it. Statistical analysis of the relationships between maximum free field accelerations and responses at different points on the buildings was conducted and demonstrated strong correlation between those. System identification studies using recorded accelerations were undertaken and revealed that natural frequencies and damping ratios of the building structures vary during different earthquake excitations. This variation was statistically examined and relationships between identified natural frequencies and damping ratios, and the peak response acceleration at the roof level were developed. A general trend of decreasing modal frequencies and increasing damping ratios was observed with increased level of shaking and response. Moreover, the influence of soil structure interaction (SSI) on the modal characteristics was evaluated. SSI effects decreased the modal frequencies and increased some of the damping ratios.Faheem Butt and Piotr OmenzetterCopyright © 2012 Faheem Butt and Piotr Omenzetter. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcgt/2012/596953/Example-based mesh deformation techniques produce natural and realistic shapes by learning the space of deformations from examples. However, skeleton-based methods cannot manipulate a global mesh structure naturally, whereas the mesh-based approaches based on a translational control do not allow the user to edit a local mesh structure intuitively. This paper presents an example-driven mesh editing framework that achieves both global and local pose manipulations. The proposed system is built with a surface deformation method based on a two-step linear optimization technique and achieves direct manipulations of a model surface using translational and rotational controls. With the translational control, the user can create a model in natural poses easily. The rotational control can adjust the local pose intuitively by bending and twisting. We encode example deformations with a rotation-invariant mesh representation which handles large rotations in examples. To incorporate example deformations, we infer a pose from the handle translations/rotations and perform pose space interpolation, thereby avoiding involved nonlinear optimization. With the two-step linear approach combined with the proposed multiresolution deformation method, we can edit models at interactive rates without losing important deformation effects such as muscle bulging.Yusuke Yoshiyasu and Nobutoshi YamazakiCopyright © 2012 Yusuke Yoshiyasu and Nobutoshi Yamazaki. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/190107/Consumption of ponderosa pine needles causes late-term abortions in cattle and is a serious poisonous plant problem in foothill and mountain rangelands. Isocupressic acid (IA) is the component of pine needles responsible for the abortifacient effect, its abortifacient effect may be due to inhibition of steroidogenesis. To investigate the more detail molecular mechanism, we used MA-10 cell, which is wild used to investigate molecular mechanism of steroidogenesis, to characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying the actions of IA in more detail. In this report, we focus on the function of IA on important steroidogenic genes, including steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), cytochrome P450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage (P450scc), and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD). We found that IA does not affect enzyme activities of these genes but inhibits transcription of P450scc and translation of StAR and P450scc through attenuating cAMP-PKA signaling. Thus, steroid productions of cells were suppressed.Kuan-Hao Tsui, Jyun-Yuan Wang, Leang-Shin Wu, and Chih-Hsien ChiuCopyright © 2012 Kuan-Hao Tsui et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/468764/Background and Purpose. This study aimed to evaluate the wound healing activities of Aftamed and chlorine dioxide gels in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Experimental Approach. Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were chosen for this study, divided into 4 groups. Diabetes was induced. Two-centimeter-diameter full-thickness skin excision wounds were created. Animals were topically treated twice daily. Groups 1, the diabetic control group, were treated with 0.2 mL of sterile distilled water. Group 2 served as a reference standard were treated with 0.2 mL of Intrasite gel. Groups 3 and 4 were treated with 0.2 mL of Aftamed and 0.2 mL of chlorine dioxide gels respectively. Granulation tissue was excised on the 10th day and processed for histological and biochemical analysis. The glutathione peroxidase ,superoxide dismutase activities and the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined. Results. Aftamed-treated wounds exhibited significant increases in hydroxyproline, cellular proliferation, the number of blood vessels, and the level of collagen synthesis. Aftamed induced an increase in the free radical-scavenging enzyme activity and significantly reduced the lipid peroxidation levels in the wounds as measured by the reduction in the MDA level. Conclusions. This study showed that Aftamed gel is able to significantly accelerate the process of wound healing in diabetic rats.Fouad Al-Bayaty and Mahmood Ameen AbdullaCopyright © 2012 Fouad Al-Bayaty and Mahmood Ameen Abdulla. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aess/2012/906864/The production of biofuels from the low-input energy crops, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.), is a sustainable approach that can provide more usable energy and environmental benefits than food-based biofuels. Plant rhizosphere affects the microbial community structure due to variations in root exudation rates and residue chemistry. The objective of this investigation was to determine the profiles of microbial communities associated with rhizosphere and bulk soils of switchgrass or jatropha using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and length heterogeneity PCR (LH-PCR). Switchgrass soil contained a significantly (P<0.05) higher abundance of Gram-positive (i14:0, i15:0, a15:0), Gram-negative (16:1ω5c, 16:1ω7c, 18:1ω5c), and saturated (14:0, 15:0) PLFAs compared to jatropha soil, whereas jatropha had a higher abundance of fungal (18:2ω6, 9c), 18:1ω9c, 20:1ω9c, and 18:0 PLFAs compared to switchgrass soil. Irrespective of plant type, rhizosphere soil contained a significantly (P<0.05) higher abundance of saturated PLFAs (16:0, 18:0, 20:0), actinomycetes (10Me17:0), and fungal (18:2ω6, 9c) PLFAs compared to bulk soil; whereas bulk soil had higher abundance of saturated (14:0), Gram-negative (16:1ω9c, 16:1ω5c, 16:1ω7c), and 18:1ω9c PLFAs compared to rhizosphere soil. Multivariate principle component analysis of PLFAs and LH-PCR percent relative peak areas successfully differentiated the microbial communities of rhizosphere and bulk soils of switchgrass and jatropha.Doongar R. Chaudhary, Jyotisna Saxena, Nicola Lorenz, Linda K. Dick, and Richard P. DickCopyright © 2012 Doongar R. Chaudhary et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/srcm/2012/907179/Background. Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare tumor, and little information is available regarding its clinical features and appropriate treatments. Methods. A retrospective review of 26 consecutive ASPS patients (12 male, 14 female; mean age of 27 years) treated at our institution over 30 years (mean followup; 71 months) was performed. Results. The primary tumor developed in the lower extremity (12), trunk (8), and upper extremity (6), with an average size of 7.2 cm (range, 2–14 cm). The AJCC stage at presentation was IIA (7), III (3), and IV (16). Surgical excision was performed in 20 patients (R0 18, R1 plus radiotherapy 2) without local recurrence. Six patients (stage IIA 3/7, stage III 3/3) later developed metastases after an average period of 28.7 months. The median survival of the 26 patients was 90 months, with overall 5/10-year survival rates of 64%/48%. AJCC stage and tumor size were significant prognostic factors. Significant palliation and slowing of metastasis progression were achieved with gamma knife radiotherapy. Nine patients receiving chemotherapy showed no objective response. Conclusions. ASPS is indolent but has a high propensity for metastasis. Early diagnosis and complete excision of the small primary tumor are essential in the treatment of ASPS.Koichi Ogura, Yasuo Beppu, Hirokazu Chuman, Akihiko Yoshida, Noboru Yamamoto, Minako Sumi, Hirotaka Kawano, and Akira KawaiCopyright © 2012 Koichi Ogura et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijap/2012/798046/Here a compact wideband diversity antenna covering the PCS/UMTS/WiMAX bands with high isolation and low enveloped correlation coefficient (ECC) is proposed. To widen the bandwidth, the proposed antenna uses a structure with a gap-coupled feed and an inductively shorted line that has capacitive compensation between the radiator and the ground plane. Also, a suspended line with a parasitic element is used to enhance the isolation between the two antennas.Bunggil Yu, Chang Won Jung, Haechun Lee, Myun-Joo Park, Byeongkwan Kim, Hyunho Wi, Yonggyu Choi, Deokyun Kim, and Byungje LeeCopyright © 2012 Bunggil Yu et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdr/2012/925063/The way children portray emotions in their drawings of human and nonhuman topics is assumed to reflect their artistic, emotional, and cognitive development. This study was designed to investigate the development of expressive drawings during childhood and into adolescence, using a large age range (5–15 years) and sample size (N=480), so as to provide a precise and comprehensive view of age-related changes in children’s ability to produce expressive drawings. More specifically, we focused on children’s developing ability to use the techniques of literal and metaphorical expression, either alone or in combination. We also examined the effects of sex, topics (house, tree, or person), and the depicted emotion (happiness or sadness) on the use of each expressive technique. The main findings were that there is a developmental shift between childhood (5–10 years) and adolescence (11–15 years) in the use of expressive techniques, from simple (literal) to more complex forms of expression (metaphorical).Delphine Picard and Christophe GauthierCopyright © 2012 Delphine Picard and Christophe Gauthier. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijpr/2012/207532/I will review the major changes in the distribution of the metropolitan population of the United States (US), as revealed by the 2010 data recently released by the US Census. These data allow us to track recent changes and provide the basis for a discussion of longer-term trends identified in previous studies of US cities (Short 2006, 2007) and the city suburban nexus (Hanlon et al. 2010). In brief summary, the paper will show the continuing metropolitanization and suburbanization of the US population. A more nuanced picture will reveal evidence of stress in suburban areas and population resurgence in selected central city areas. Overall, the story is one of a profound revalorization and a major respatialization of the US metropolis.John Rennie ShortCopyright © 2012 John Rennie Short. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cmmm/2012/167021/Height gain after scoliosis correction is of a special interest for the patient and family. Ylikoski was the first to suggest a formula predicting height loss in untreated scoliotic patients. Stokes has recently suggested a new formula by using Cobb angle to determine height loss in idiopathic curves. We hypothesized that new additional variables to Cobb angle such as apical vertebral translation (AVT), number of instrumented segments (N), and disc heights may increase the accuracy of predicted height gain. According to our findings simple expression for height gain by simplified version of the formula is: SPΔH=0.0059X1θ1 + 2.3(1−(θ2/θ1))N, where θ1 is preoperative Cobb angle, X1 is preoperative AVT, θ2 is postoperative Cobb angle, and N is the number of instrumented vertebra. The purpose of this study is to analyze a new mathematical formula to predict height gain after scoliotic deformity correction.Ahmet Yilmaz Sarlak, Halil Atmaca, Resul Musaoglu, and Elsen Veli VelievCopyright © 2012 Ahmet Yılmaz Şarlak et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2012/417051/We investigate the growth of solutions of higher-order nonhomogeneous linear differential equations with meromorphic coefficients. We also discuss the relationship between small functions and solutions of such equations.Zhigang HuangCopyright © 2012 Zhigang Huang. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2012/248926/The aim of this paper was to confirm the efficacy of adrenocorticotropin depot (ACTH-depot) therapy in pregnancies with threatened miscarriage and preterm delivery through the desired stimulation of the adrenal glands controlled by the rest of organism. The activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis plays a key role in pregnancy. Such naturally stimulated endogenous corticosteroid hormones are free from unwanted side effects of their synthetics analogs. Low level of maternal blood ACTH and insufficient increase of induced by hypothalamic hormones oxytocinases (cystine-β-aminopeptidases) were indication to ACTH-depot therapy (0.5 mg/week) in our consecutive prospective studies. Contrary to antenatal use of synthetic corticosteroids, there are no temporal limits of this therapy, which has to be more often recommended into clinical prevention of fetal morbidity, treatment of premature delivery, and finally elimination of the newborn's mortality caused by the neuroendocrinological gestoses.Rudolf Klimek, Marek Klimek, Peter Gralek, and Dariusz JasiczekCopyright © 2012 Rudolf Klimek et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmc/2012/693903/Pharmaceutical compounds represent a rapidly emerging class of environmental contaminants. Such compounds were recently classified by the U.S. Geological Survey, including several antibiotics. An LC-MS/MS screening method for the top five antibiotics in drinking water was developed and validated using a Shimadzu LC-MS-IT-TOF. The separation was performed using a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column with a gradient elution. Sulfamethazine was exposed to conditions intended to mimic drinking water chlorination, and samples were collected and quenched with excess sodium sulfite. Kinetics of sulfamethazine degradation was followed as well as the formation of the major chlorinated byproduct (m/z 313). For the screening method, all five antibiotic peaks were baseline resolved within 5 minutes. Additionally, precision and accuracy of the screening method were less than 15%. Degradation of sulfamethazine upon exposure to drinking water chlorination occurred by first order kinetics with a half-life of 5.3×104 min (approximately 37 days) with measurements starting 5 minutes after chlorination. Likewise, the formation of the major chlorinated product occurred by first order kinetics with a rate constant of 2.0×10-2. The proposed identification of the chlorinated product was 4-amino-(5-chloro-4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)-benzenesulfonamide (C12H13N4O2SCl) using MSn spectra and databases searches of SciFinder and ChemSpider.Tyler C. Melton and Stacy D. BrownCopyright © 2012 Tyler C. Melton and Stacy D. Brown. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/edu/2012/807645/The aims of this study were to examine and compare the consistency of personal epistemology profiles among university students representing three academic disciplines. Student interview data (N = 87) were analyzed in order to reveal students' conceptions of knowledge, thinking, and reasoning. The individual answers were examined and rated on a scale from absolutist to evaluativist thinking. On the basis of the student answers, three personal epistemology profiles were identified from the data: (i) absolutist profiles; (ii) relativistic profiles; and (iii) evaluativist profiles consisting of the subgroups entitled “limited” and “sophisticated.” The categorization of personal epistemology profiles was compared with background variables such as age, major subject, and study phase. The results indicated that the personal epistemology profiles varied significantly among students on the basis of the background variables. Explanations for the consistent and inconsistent personal epistemology profiles are discussed in more detail.Minna Kaartinen-Koutaniemi and Sari Lindblom-YlänneCopyright © 2012 Minna Kaartinen-Koutaniemi and Sari Lindblom-Ylänne. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sprt/2012/839853/Oxidative stress has been implicated in neurodevelopmental theories of schizophrenia. Antioxidant Peroxysome Proliferator-Activated Receptors α (PPARα) agonist fenofibrate has neuroprotective properties and could reverse early preclinical infringements that could trigger the illness. We have evaluated the neuroprotective interest of fenofibrate in a neurodevelopmental rat model of schizophrenia. The oxidative lesion induced by Kainic Acid (KA) injection at postnatal day (PND) 7 has previously been reported to disrupt Prepulse Inhibition (PPI) at PND56 but not at PND35. In 4 groups of 15 male rats each, KN (KA-PND7 + normal postweaning food), KF (KA-PND7 + fenofibrate 0.2% food), ON (saline-PND7 + normal food), and OF (saline + fenofibrate food), PPI was recorded at PND35 and PND56. Three levels of prepulse were used: 73 dB, 76 dB, and 82 dB for a pulse at 120 dB. Four PPI scores were analyzed: PPI73, PPI76, PPI82, and mean PPI (PPIm). Two-way ANOVAs were used to evaluate the effects of both factors (KA + fenofibrate), and, in case of significant results, intergroup Student’s t-tests were performed. We notably found a significant difference (P<0.05) in PPIm between groups KN and KF at PND56, which supposes that fenofibrate could be worthy of interest for early neuroprotection in schizophrenia.Benjamin Rolland, Kevin Marche, Olivier Cottencin, and Régis BordetCopyright © 2012 Benjamin Rolland et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/art/2012/815823/HIV prevention efforts to date have not explored the potential for persons living with HIV to act as change agents for prevention behaviour in their social networks. Using egocentric social network analysis, this study examined the prevalence and social network correlates of prevention advocacy behaviours (discussing HIV in general; encouraging abstinence or condom use, HIV testing, and seeking HIV care) enacted by 39 HIV clients in Uganda. Participants engaged in each prevention advocacy behaviour with roughly 50–70% of the members in their network. The strongest determinant of engaging in prevention advocacy with more of one’s network members was having a greater proportion of network members who knew one’s HIV seropositive status, as this was associated with three of the four advocacy behaviours. These findings highlight the potential for PLHA to be key change agents for HIV prevention within their networks and the importance of HIV disclosure in facilitating prevention advocacy.Sarah Ssali, Glenn Wagner, Christopher Tumwine, Annette Nannungi, and Harold GreenCopyright © 2012 Sarah Ssali et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmms/2012/236352/We develop a model of dengue transmission with some vaccination programs for immigrants. We classify the host population into child and adult classes, in regards to age structure, and into susceptible, infected and recovered compartments, in regards to disease status. Since migration plays important role in disease transmission, we include immigration and emigration factors into the model which are distributed in each compartment. Meanwhile, the vector population is divided into susceptible, exposed, and infectious compartments. In the case when there is no incoming infected immigrant, we obtain the basic reproduction ratio as a threshold parameter for existence and stability of disease-free and endemic equilibria. Meanwhile, in the case when there are some incoming infected immigrants, we obtain only endemic equilibrium. This indicates that screening for the immigrants is important to ensure the effectiveness of the disease control.Hengki Tasman, Asep K. Supriatna, Nuning Nuraini, and Edy SoewonoCopyright © 2012 Hengki Tasman et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/503165/Pandemic infection or reemergence of Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) occurs in tropical and subtropical regions, being associated with hand-foot-and-mouth disease, herpangina, aseptic meningitis, brain stem encephalitis, pulmonary edema, and paralysis. However, effective therapeutic drugs against EV71 and CVA16 are rare. Kalanchoe gracilis (L.) DC is used for the treatment of injuries, pain, and inflammation. This study investigated antiviral effects of K. gracilis leaf extract on EV71 and CVA16 replications. HPLC analysis with a C-18 reverse phase column showed fingerprint profiles of K. gracilis leaf extract had 15 chromatographic peaks. UV/vis absorption spectra revealed peaks 5, 12, and 15 as ferulic acid, quercetin, and kaempferol, respectively. K. gracilis leaf extract showed little cytotoxicity, but exhibited concentration-dependent antiviral activities including cytopathic effect, plaque, and virus yield reductions. K. gracilis leaf extract was shown to be more potent in antiviral activity than ferulic acid, quercetin, and kaempferol, significantly inhibiting in vitro replication of EV71 (IC50=35.88 μg/mL) and CVA16 (IC50=42.91 μg/mL). Moreover, K. gracilis leaf extract is a safe antienteroviral agent with the inactivation of viral 2A protease and reduction of IL-6 and RANTES expressions.Ching-Ying Wang, Shun-Chueh Huang, Yongjun Zhang, Zhen-Rung Lai, Szu-Hao Kung, Yuan-Shiun Chang, and Cheng-Wen LinCopyright © 2012 Ching-Ying Wang et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/abi/2012/975783/The wide coverage and biological relevance of the Gene Ontology (GO), confirmed through its successful use in protein function prediction, have led to the growth in its popularity. In order to exploit the extent of biological knowledge that GO offers in describing genes or groups of genes, there is a need for an efficient, scalable similarity measure for GO terms and GO-annotated proteins. While several GO similarity measures exist, none adequately addresses all issues surrounding the design and usage of the ontology. We introduce a new metric for measuring the distance between two GO terms using the intrinsic topology of the GO-DAG, thus enabling the measurement of functional similarities between proteins based on their GO annotations. We assess the performance of this metric using a ROC analysis on human protein-protein interaction datasets and correlation coefficient analysis on the selected set of protein pairs from the CESSM online tool. This metric achieves good performance compared to the existing annotation-based GO measures. We used this new metric to assess functional similarity between orthologues, and show that it is effective at determining whether orthologues are annotated with similar functions and identifying cases where annotation is inconsistent between orthologues.Gaston K. Mazandu and Nicola J. MulderCopyright © 2012 Gaston K. Mazandu and Nicola J. Mulder. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijd/2012/935135/Purpose of the study. This study was to evaluate the use of buccal fat pad as an interpositioning material in surgical management of oral sub mucous fibrosis. Materials and methods. A series of 8 cases with proven oral sub mucous fibrosis, with mouth opening less than 20 mm, involving the buccal mucosa were treated surgically in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dental Surgery, Saveetha University, Chennai. Pedicled buccal fat pad was used as an interpositioning material to cover the raw areas in the oral cavity after incision and release of fibrous bands. Results. In 8 patients, the range of pre operative mouth opening was 3–18 mm (mean 14 mm). As the result of the successful surgical procedure, the size of the intra operative mouth opening was ranged from 25–38 mm (mean 33.25 mm). The patients were discharged 5–7 days after the operation. The range of the mouth opening at this time was 25–36 mm (mean 30.63 mm). The results were evaluated using student’s t test and found to be statistically significant. The pedicled grafts took up uneventfull.K. Saravanan and Vinod NarayananCopyright © 2012 K. Saravanan and Vinod Narayanan. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2012/768591/We introduce an algorithm for solving the split common fixed point problem for quasi-total asymptotically nonexpansive uniformly Lipschitzian mapping in Hilbert spaces. The results presented in this paper improve and extend some recent corresponding results.Jing Na, Lin Wang, and Zhaoli MaCopyright © 2012 Jing Na et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ddns/2012/734754/This paper investigates the guaranteed cost control of chaos problem in 4D Lorenz-Stenflo (LS) system via Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy method approach. Based on Lyapunov stability theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique, a state feedback controller is proposed to stabilize the 4D Lorenz-Stenflo chaotic system. An illustrative example is provided to verify the validity of the results developed in this paper.Yi-You Hou, Meei-Ling Hung, and Jui-Sheng LinCopyright © 2012 Yi-You Hou et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/480689/We present sharp upper and lower generalized logarithmic mean bounds for the geometric weighted mean of the geometric and harmonic means.Wei-Mao Qian and Bo-Yong LongCopyright © 2012 Wei-Mao Qian and Bo-Yong Long. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jt/2012/376246/Male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol (TCP) for 5 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 13 weeks. TCP was administered by gavage at doses of 0, 10, 25, 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg/day. Endpoints evaluated included clinical observations, body weights, liver weights, serum chemistry, blood TCP, gross pathology, and liver histopathology. There were no TCP exposure-related clinical signs of toxicity. Mean body weight decreased 12–22% compared to control in the 100 and 200 mg/kg/day groups. Serum ALT concentrations were increased in rats of the 200 mg/k/day. Liver weight increases were both dose- and exposure time-related and statistically significant at ≥25 mg/kg/day. Incidence and severity of centrilobular hepatocytic vacuolation, hepatocyte hypertrophy, and single cell hepatocytic necrosis were related to dose and exposure time. Following 13 weeks of exposure, bile duct hyperplasia and centrilobular and/or periportal fibrosis were observed in rats primarily of the highest TCP dose group. Blood TCP concentrations increased with dose and at 13 weeks ranged from 1.3 to 8.5 μg/mL (10 to 200 mg/kg/day). A NOAEL of 10 mg/kg/day was selected based on the statistically significant incidence of hepatocyte hypertrophy at doses ≥25 mg/kg/day.Darol E. Dodd, Linda J. Pluta, Mark A. Sochaski, Deborah A. Banas, and Russell S. ThomasCopyright © 2012 Darol E. Dodd et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/270104/This paper considers the existence of positive almost-periodic solutions for almost-periodic Lotka-Volterra cooperative system with time delay. By using Mawhin’s continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, sufficient conditions for the existence of positive almost-periodic solutions are obtained. An example and its simulation figure are given to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.Kaihong ZhaoCopyright © 2012 Kaihong Zhao. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ace/2012/357346/This paper presents the results of an experimental and computational investigation tailored to examine the response of glass fiber-reinforced-plastic-(GFRP-) reinforced glue-laminated curved beams and arches. The main objective was to ascertain the viability of GFRP as an effective reinforcement for enhancing the load carrying capacity and stiffness of such curved structures. The study included optimization of the length and thickness of the GFRP reinforcement. In doing so, first a parametric finite element study was conducted to evaluate the influence of unidirectional GFRP reinforcement applied onto the arch using eleven possible configurations and different thicknesses. Subsequently, an experimental investigation was conducted to verify the results established by the finite element method as well as the integrity of actual GFRP-reinforced glue-laminated curved structures. The results indicate that GFRP can be considered as an effective and economically viable solution for strengthening and stiffening glulam arches, without adding any appreciable weight to the structure.S. Alshurafa, H. Alhayek, and F. TaheriCopyright © 2012 S. Alshurafa et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/emi/2012/306859/Our multidisciplinary team developed a new set of discharge instructions for five common emergency department diagnoses using recommended tools for creating literacy-appropriate and patient-centered education materials. We found that the recommended tools for document creation were essential in constructing the new instructions. However, while the tools were necessary, they were not sufficient. This paper describes the insights gained and lessons learned in this document creation process.Danielle M. McCarthy, Kirsten G. Engel, Barbara A. Buckley, Victoria E. Forth, Michael J. Schmidt, James G. Adams, and David W. BakerCopyright © 2012 Danielle M. McCarthy et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ah/2012/170510/Previous studies have demonstrated impaired ventricular repolarization in patients with β-TM. However, the effect of iron overload with cardiac T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on cardiac repolarization remains unclear yet. We aimed to examine relationship between repolarization parameters and iron loading using cardiac T2* MRI in asymptomatic β-TM patients. Twenty-two β-TM patients and 22 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were enrolled to the study. From the 12-lead surface electrocardiography, regional and transmyocardial repolarization parameters were evaluated manually by two experienced cardiologists. All patients were also undergone MRI for cardiac T2* evaluation. Cardiac T2* score <20 msec was considered as iron overload status. Of the QT parameters, QT duration, corrected QT interval, and QT peak duration were significantly longer in the β-TM group compared to the healthy controls. Tp−Te and Tp−Te dispersions were also significantly prolonged in β-TM group compared to healthy controls. (Tp-Te)/QT was similar between groups. There was no correlation between repolarization parameters and cardiac T2* MRI values. In conclusion, although repolarization parameters were prolonged in asymptomatic β-TM patients compared with control, we could not find any relation between ECG findings and cardiac iron load.Mehmet Kayrak, Kadir Acar, Enes Elvin Gul, Orhan Özbek, Turyan Abdulhalikov, Osman Sonmez, and Hajrudin AlibaşiçCopyright © 2012 Mehmet Kayrak et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijs/2012/174697/A novel approach of rare earth elements (REE) determination in crude oil is suggested. Special application of countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is used as a sample pretreatment tool. An oil sample is continuously pumped through the rotating coil column (RCC) as a mobile phase, while an aqueous phase (nitric acid solution) is retained as a stationary phase. Two phases are kept well mixed and agitated, but there is no emulsion at the interface under the chosen conditions. Special features of CCC give an opportunity to vary the volume of oil samples to be analyzed from 10 mL to 1 L or more. Trace metals are preconcentrated into 10 mL of stationary phase (acidic solutions) pumped out of the column so that analysis can be easily determined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) without additional sample preparation procedures. Optimal concentration of nitric acid in the stationary phase for preconcentration of REE from oil by CCC has been investigated. The combination of CCC with ICP-MS gives the possibility to develop a rapid, reliable, and accurate method of trace metal including rare earth elements (REE) determination in crude oils and oil products. Such method could be an alternative for unexpanded and expensive neutron-activation analysis (NAA).Alexander Soin, Tatiana Maryutina, Natalya Musina, and Andrey SoinCopyright © 2012 Alexander Soin et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/pc/2012/452795/Objective. To study the impact of the neutral endopeptidase (NEP)/neuropeptides (NPs) axis and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) as predictors of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods. 70 patients with early-stage PC were treated with RP and their tumor samples were evaluated for expression of NEP, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and NFκB (p65). Time to PSA recurrence was correlated with the examined parameters and combined with preoperative PSA level, Gleason score, pathological TNM (pT) stage, and surgical margin (SM) assessment. Results and Limitations. Membranous expression of NEP (P<0.001), cytoplasmic ET-1 (P=0.002), and cytoplasmic NFκB (P<0.001) were correlated with time to PSA relapse. NEP was associated with ET-1 (P<0.001) and NFκB (P<0.001). ET-1 was also correlated with NFκB (P<0.001). NEP expression (P=0.017), pT stage (P=0.013), and SMs (P=0.036) were independent predictors of time to PSA recurrence. Conclusions. There seems to be a clinical model of NEP/NPs and NFκB pathways interconnection, with their constituents following inverse patterns of expression in accordance with their biological roles and molecular interrelations.Panagiotis J. Vlachostergios, Foteini Karasavvidou, Grigorios Kakkas, George Moutzouris, Anna Patrikidou, Ioannis A. Voutsadakis, Danai D. Daliani, Elias Zintzaras, Michael D. Melekos, and Christos N. PapandreouCopyright © 2012 Panagiotis J. Vlachostergios et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/2012/186138/X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the NiFe thin films had a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. Post-annealing treatment increased the crystallinity of NiFe films over those at room temperature (RT), suggesting that NiFe crystallization yields FCC (111) texturing. Post-annealing treatments increase crystallinity over that obtained at RT. This paper focuses on the maximum alternative-current magnetic susceptibility (χac) value of NiFe thin films with resonance frequency (fres) at low frequencies from 10 Hz to 25000 Hz. These results demonstrate that the χac of NiFe thin films increased with post-annealing treatment and increasing thickness. The NiFe (111) texture suggests that the relationship between magneto-crystalline anisotropy and the maximum χac value with optimal resonance frequency (fres) increased spin sensitivity at optimal fres. The results obtained under the three conditions revealed that the maximum χac value and optimal fres of a 1000 Å-thick NiFe thin film are 3.45 Hz and 500 Hz, respectively, following postannealing at TA=250°C for 1 h. This suggests that a 1000 Å NiFe thin film post-annealed at TA=250°C is suitable for gauge sensor and transformer applications at low frequencies.Yuan-Tsung Chen, S. H. Lin, and Y. C. LinCopyright © 2012 Yuan-Tsung Chen et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/edu/2012/671383/LearnENT, an educational app for iOS, was developed to promote a standardized experience otolaryngology in head and neck surgery (OTOHNS) for University of Ottawa medical students. Its development was grounded in pedagogical theory including Laurillard’s design process, Honey and Mumford’s learning styles, and Nielsen’s theory of usability. This paper examines LearnENT's design and development processes as well as the role of mobile apps in medical education. Features of the LearnENT app as they apply to Constructivist learning are also highlighted.S. Kohlert, N. Scherer, S. Kherani, and L. McLeanCopyright © 2012 S. Kohlert et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/356851/Patterns of physical activity, body composition, and breastfeeding are closely related to health and are influenced by environmental, economic, and social factors. With the increase of sedentary lifestyle and overweight, many chronic diseases have also increased, including cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and the knowledge of its risk and protective factors is important to the adoption of primary prevention strategies. We aimed to investigate some risk and protective factors for breast cancer among women from Midwest Brazil. It is a case-control study of outpatient basis, carried out with 93 breast cancer cases and 186 controls. Socioeconomic, gynecological, anthropometric, and lifestyle variables were collected, and odds ratios (ORs) values were estimated (significance level, 5%; confidence interval (CI), 95%). Per capita income equal to or lower than 1/2 Brazilian minimum wage (OR=1.88; CI=1.06–3.29), residence in rural area (OR=4.93; CI=1.65–14.73), and presence of family history of breast cancer (OR=5.38; CI=1.46–19.93) are risk factors for breast cancer. In turn, physical activity (past 6 months) (OR=0.23; CI=0.10–0.55) and leisure physical activity at 20 years old (OR=0.13; CI=0.03–0.54) are protective factors for the disease in women who live in Midwest of Brazil.Lívia Emi Inumaru, Maíra Irineu Gomes Duarte Quintanilha, Érika Aparecida da Silveira, and Maria Margareth Veloso NavesCopyright © 2012 Lívia Emi Inumaru et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/540671/The objective of the study is to investigate the anti-snake venom activities of a local plant, Hibiscus aethiopicus L. The H. aethiopicus was dried and extracted with ethanol. Different assays were performed according to standard techniques, to evaluate the plant’s acute toxicity and its antivenom activities. The results of evaluating the systemic acute toxicity of the H. aethiopicus extract using “oral and intra-peritoneal” route were normal even at the highest dose (24 g/kg) tested. All guinea pigs (n=3) when treated with venoms E. c. sochureki (75 μg) alone induced acute skin haemorrhage. In contrast, all guinea pigs (n=18) treated with both venom and the plant extract at a concentration between 500 and 1000 mg/kg showed no signs of haemorrhage. Moreover, all guinea pigs (n=18) treated with venom and the plant extract below 400 mg/kg showed acute skin haemorrhage. All guinea pigs treated with venom E. c. sochureki (75 μg) alone induced acute skin haemorrhage after both 24 and 32 hours. In contrast, all guinea pigs treated with both venom and the plant extract (administered independently) at concentrations between 500 and 1000 mg/kg showed no signs of haemorrhage after 32 hours. However, after 24 hours all tested guinea pigs showed less inhibition (<60%) compared to that obtained after 32 hours. The outcome of this study reflects that the extract of H. aethiopicus plant may contain an endogenous inhibitor of venom induced local haemorrhage.S. S. Hasson, M. S. Al-Balushi, E. A. Said, O. Habbal, M. A. Idris, R. A. A. Mothana, T. A. Sallam, and A. A. Al-JabriCopyright © 2012 S. S. Hasson et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/2012/102036/Prognosis of breast cancer is primarily predicted by the histological grading of the tumor, where pathologists manually evaluate microscopic characteristics of the tissue. This labor intensive process suffers from intra- and inter-observer variations; thus, computer-aided systems that accomplish this assessment automatically are in high demand. We address this by developing an image analysis framework for the automated grading of breast cancer in in vitro three-dimensional breast epithelial acini through the characterization of acinar structure morphology. A set of statistically significant features for the characterization of acini morphology are exploited for the automated grading of six (MCF10 series) cell line cultures mimicking three grades of breast cancer along the metastatic cascade. In addition to capturing both expected and visually differentiable changes, we quantify subtle differences that pose a challenge to assess through microscopic inspection. Our method achieves 89.0% accuracy in grading the acinar structures as nonmalignant, noninvasive carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma grades. We further demonstrate that the proposed methodology can be successfully applied for the grading of in vivo tissue samples albeit with additional constraints. These results indicate that the proposed features can be used to describe the relationship between the acini morphology and cellular function along the metastatic cascade.Lindsey McKeen Polizzotti, Basak Oztan, Chris S. Bjornsson, Katherine R. Shubert, Bülent Yener, and George E. PlopperCopyright © 2012 Lindsey McKeen Polizzotti et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/arch/2012/873589/Many archaeal cell envelopes contain a protein coat or sheath composed of one or more surface exposed proteins. These surface layer (S-layer) proteins contribute structural integrity and protect the lipid membrane from environmental challenges. To explore the species diversity of these layers in the Methanosarcinaceae, the major S-layer protein in Methanosarcina barkeri strain Fusaro was identified using proteomics. The Mbar_A1758 gene product was present in multiple forms with apparent sizes of 130, 120, and 100 kDa, consistent with post-translational modifications including signal peptide excision and protein glycosylation. A protein with features related to the surface layer proteins found in Methanosarcina acetivorans C2A and Methanosarcina mazei Goel was identified in the M. barkeri genome. These data reveal a distinct conserved protein signature with features and implied cell surface architecture in the Methanosarcinaceae that is absent in other archaea. Paralogous gene expression patterns in two Methanosarcina species revealed abundant expression of a single S-layer paralog in each strain. Respective promoter elements were identified and shown to be conserved in mRNA coding and upstream untranslated regions. Prior M. acetivorans genome annotations assigned S-layer or surface layer associated roles of eighty genes: however, of 68 examined none was significantly expressed relative to the experimentally determined S-layer gene.Lars Rohlin, Deborah R. Leon, Unmi Kim, Joseph A. Loo, Rachel R. Ogorzalek Loo, and Robert P. GunsalusCopyright © 2012 Lars Rohlin et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/2012/874256/Karyomorphological information is one of the most important characters for cytotaxonomy. We described karyomorphology of 14 species of Parnassia in East Asia. They had commonly the resting chromosomes of the simple chromocenter type and the mitotic prophase chromosomes of the proximal type. The somatic chromosome number of 2n=14 was shown in three species, that of 2n=18 was shown in six species, that of 2n=18 or 36 was shown in two species, that of 2n=32 was shown in one species, that of 2n=36 or 36+1∼8 s was shown in one species, and that of 2n=18, 27, 36 or 45 was shown in one species. They were commonly monomodal (gradual) decrease in length from the largest to the smallest chromosomes. However, their absolute chromosome sizes were different from each other. Average chromosome sizes were recognized as three types small (1.21 μm), medium (1.7–2.36 μm), and large (3.1–3.75 μm). Parnassia palustris showed four cytotypes that could be likely cytogeographically correlated with habitats, polyploidy, and sizes of pollen grains.Tsuneo Funamoto and Katsuhiko KondoCopyright © 2012 Tsuneo Funamoto and Katsuhiko Kondo. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2012/137379/By means of the Galerkin method and by using a suitable version of the Brouwer fixed-point theorem, we establish the existence of at least one positive solution of a nonlocal elliptic N-dimensional system coupled with Dirichlet boundary conditions.Alberto Cabada and Francisco Julio S. A. CorrêaCopyright © 2012 Alberto Cabada and Francisco Julio S. A. Corrêa. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jamc/2012/305872/A simple and convenient method is described for voltammetric determination of carbidopa (CD), based on its electrochemical oxidation at a modified multiwall carbon nanotube paste electrode. Under optimized conditions, the proposed method exhibited acceptable analytical performances in terms of linearity (over the concentration range from 0.1 to 700.0 μM), detection limit (65.0 nM), and reproducibility (RSD=2.5%) for a solution containing CD. Also, square wave voltammetry (SWV) was used for simultaneous determination of CD, folic acid (FA), and tryptophan (TRP) at the modified electrode. To further validate its possible application, the method was used for the quantification of CD, FA, and TRP in urine samples.Sakineh Esfandiari Baghbamidi, Hadi Beitollahi, Hassan Karimi-Maleh, Somayeh Soltani-Nejad, Vahhab Soltani-Nejad, and Sara RoodsazCopyright © 2012 Sakineh Esfandiari Baghbamidi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/acisc/2012/670485/A new asymmetrical gate with application in target tracking is proposed. Proposed gate has asymmetric shape that has large probability of target detection in the gate and has more advantages compared with elliptical gate. The gate is defined as the region in which the tracked target is expected to exist and just observation vectors in the gate are used as target detection. An analytical method to compute optimal size of gate is proposed and recursive estimation of asymmetric parameters of gate are studied. Comparison between proposed gate and conventional elliptical gate showed the efficiency of the proposed method in maneuvering target tracking applications and simulation results showed the proficiency of the proposed method.Farzad HashemzadehCopyright © 2012 Farzad Hashemzadeh. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijdsn/2012/164641/Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) comprising of tiny, power-constrained nodes are gaining popularity due to their potential use in a wide range of applications, including monitoring of environmental attributes, intrusion detection, and various military and civilian environments. While the sensing objectives of these environments are unique and application dependent, a common performance criteria for wireless sensor networks is prolonging network lifetime while satisfying coverage and connectivity in the deployment region. In many real-world scenarios, reoccurring spatial patterns of occurrence could be identified in the sensed event information. This paper proposes a new routing algorithm schema based on event occurrence history to secure K-Coverage of event paths and maintain the maximum degree of coverage. In the proposed method the nodes located around event path try to save their battery power by not participating in data packet forwarding to neighbor nodes. The simulation results show that the proposed method improves network lifetime by shifting the routing responsibility from sensing nodes to communication nodes, while maximizing the degree of coverage in the main path of event occurrence. As a consequence, the lifetime of main path coverage is increased dramatically as compared to previous methods.Majid Rafigh and Maghsoud AbbaspourCopyright © 2012 Majid Rafigh and Maghsoud Abbaspour. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jc/2012/854393/A Dynamic model of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), based on chemical kinetics principles and artificial intelligence, is developed. The model can rapidly predict the combustion probability, thermochemistry properties, and exact timing of the Start of Combustion (SOC). A realization function is developed on the basis of the Sandia National Laboratory chemical kinetics model, and GRI3.0 methane chemical mechanism. The inlet conditions are optimized by Genetic Algorithm (GA), so that combustion initiates and SOC timing posits in the desired crank angle. The best SOC timing to achieve higher performance and efficiency in HCCI engines is between 5 and 15 degrees crank angle (CAD) after top dead center (TDC). To achieve this SOC timing, in the first case, the inlet temperature and equivalence ratio are optimized simultaneously and in the second case, compression ratio is optimized by GA. The model’s results are validated with previous works. The SOC timing can be predicted in less than 0.01 second and the CPU time savings are encouraging. This model can successfully be used for real engine control applications.AbdoulAhad Validi, Jyh-Yuan Chen, and Akbar GhafourianCopyright © 2012 AbdoulAhad Validi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/smr/2012/387638/The aim of this work is to show that classical Structural Health Monitoring ultrasonic sensors may provide some power harvesting capabilities from a wide variety of vibration sources. In other words, the authors developed an integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting sensor capable of operating a dual mode, that is, carrying out vibration power harvesting and Structural Health Monitoring. First, vibrations signals of an A380 aircraft recorded during different phases of flight are presented to show the need of a wideband piezoelectric energy harvester. Then, the voltage response of a piezoelectric power harvester bonded onto an aluminium cantilever plate and excited by an electromechanical shaker is measured. A finite element model of the energy harvester system is also presented. This model provides the voltage response of the harvester due to a mechanical excitation of the host structure and allows a better understanding of the energy harvesting process. In many cases, a good agreement with the experimental results is obtained. A power measurement also showed the ability of piezoelectric SHM sensors to harvest power over an extended frequency range present in spectra collected in aircrafts. This result could lead to numerous applications even though this kind of power harvester sensor has been initially designed to operate onboard aircrafts.Christophe Delebarre, Thomas Sainthuile, Sébastien Grondel, and Christophe PagetCopyright © 2012 Christophe Delebarre et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/au/2012/651061/Objective. A number of evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis and management of prostate cancer have been published. The aim of this study is to evaluate the adherence of Italian urologists to the guidelines concerning the preoperative imaging staging of prostate cancer. Methods. In October 2007 a multicentric observational perspective study called Multicentric Italian Report on Radical prostatectomy Outcome and Research (MIRROR) was started in 135 Italian urology centers. Recruitment was closed in December 2008 and 2,408 cases were collected. In this paper we have taken into consideration all examinations carried out for preoperative imaging staging, evaluating compliance with the recommendations in the American Urological Association (AUA) and European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines. Results. Five hundred sixty-seven (53.34%) patients were not managed according to the EAU guidelines concerning T-staging, 545 (51.27%) concerning N-staging and 757 (71.21%) concerning M-staging. According to AUA guidelines, we also analyzed patients with a Gleason grade of biopsy specimens of 7: 238 (57.35%) of these patients had undergone testing for T staging, 244 (57.35%) for N-staging and 322 (77.60%) for M-staging. Conclusions. The compliance of Italian urologists with the guidelines is low, leading to an inappropriate increase in cost of care and unnecessary anxiety for the patients.Alchiede Simonato, Virginia Varca, Mauro Gacci, Paolo Gontero, Ottavio De Cobelli, Massimo Maffezzini, Roberto Salvioni, Marco Carini, Andrea Decensi, Vincenzo Mirone, and Giorgio CarmignaniCopyright © 2012 Alchiede Simonato et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/smr/2012/530217/For shape morphing application, thermal activation coupling to a bimetallic strip effect can be a substitute for classical actuators, piezoelectrical or shape memory alloys. The controlled behaviour of composite material (CBCM) is a thermaly activated composite material. The thermal activation is made thanks to carbon yarns which are connected to a power supply. If the anisotropy of the structure is well organized, the desired deformation is reached when the temperature within the composite is rising. To obtain a CBCM morphing composite structure, it is necessary to design a specific structure. The aim of this work is to show that it is possible to adapt the CBCM principle in order to transform any kind of classical composite structure to an active structure. The first part of this work consists in presenting the experimental results for two examples of composite beams. The second part is about the active structure FEM modeling and the development of adapted tools for this particular design.Gildas L'Hostis, Karine Buet-Gautier, and Bernard DurandCopyright © 2012 Gildas L'Hostis et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/psi/2012/752749/Objectives. To describe trends and category of disabilities caused by Buruli ulcer disease. Design. This retrospective study was set up to quantify information on the disability trends caused by Buruli ulcer (BU) using data on patients attending BU and chronic ulcer clinics from 2004 to 2009, at Global Evangelical Mission Hospital, Apromase. Methods. Data was retrieved from the WHO BU1 form, case registry book, surgical theatre register, and BU patients' records book of the hospital. Disability was measured as the incapability of patients to perform one or more daily activities due to his/her state of BU disease before treatment. Results. A total of 336 positive BU cases comprising 181 males (53.9%) were recorded of which 113 (33.6%) cases of disabilities were identified. A mean age of 52.5 (±1.32) years was recorded. For the trend of disabilities, the year 2009 recorded the highest (N = 34, 31.0%). The lesions were mostly located at the lower limbs (N = 65, 57.5%) region of the patients. Lesions with diameter >15 cm were the major (59.3%) category of lesions. Conclusion. Trend of disability reveals proportional increase over the years from 2004 to 2009. Contracture at the knee and ankle joints was the commonest disability recorded.Pius Agbenorku, Anthony Edusei, Margaret Agbenorku, Thomas Diby, Esenam Nyador, Geoffrey Nyamuame, and Paul SaundersonCopyright © 2012 Pius Agbenorku et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/oximed/2012/890826/Doxorubicin (DOX) causes long-term cardiomyopathy that is dependent on oxidative stress and contractility disorders. Tirapazamine (TP), an experimental adjuvant drug, passes the same red-ox transformation as DOX. The aim of the study was to evaluate an effect of tirapazamine on oxidative stress, contractile protein level, and cardiomyocyte necrosis in rats administered doxorubicin. Rats were intraperitoneally injected six times once a week with tirapazamine in two doses, 5 (5TP) and 10 mg/kg (10TP), while doxorubicin was administered in dose 1.8 mg/kg (DOX). Subsequent two groups received both drugs simultaneously (5TP+DOX and 10TP+DOX). Tirapazamine reduced heart lipid peroxidation and normalised RyR2 protein level altered by doxorubicin. There were no significant changes in GSH/GSSG ratio, total glutathione, cTnI, AST, and SERCA2 level between DOX and TP+DOX groups. Cardiomyocyte necrosis was observed in groups 10TP and 10TP+DOX.Justyna Sliwinska, Jaroslaw Dudka, Agnieszka Korga, Franciszek Burdan, Wlodzimierz Matysiak, Barbara Jodlowska-Jedrych, Slawomir Mandziuk, and Katarzyna Dawidek-PietrykaCopyright © 2012 Justyna Sliwinska et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfsa/2012/343194/Let H(𝔻) be the space of analytic functions on 𝔻 and u∈H(𝔻). The boundedness and compactness of the multiplication operator Mu from F(p,q,s),(or  F0(p,q,s)) spaces to nth weighted-type spaces on the unit disk are investigated in this paper.Yongmin Liu and Yanyan YuCopyright © 2012 Yongmin Liu and Yanyan Yu. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijs/2012/472031/Recent studies on the mammalian and fungal metabolism of the mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN) have disclosed the formation of six regioisomers of monohydroxy-ZEN and its reductive metabolite zearalenol (ZEL). Hydroxylation occurs at the aromatic ring or at one of four positions of the aliphatic macrocycle. In addition, an aliphatic ZEN epoxide, its hydrolysis product, and other products were identified in fungal cultures. In this paper, we report the product ion spectra of the [M-H]− ions of 22 oxidative metabolites of ZEN and ZEL, obtained by LC-MS2 analysis using a linear ion trap mass spectrometer with negative electrospray ionization. The MS2 spectra exhibit qualitative and quantitative differences which allow a clear distinction of most metabolites. Moreover, GC-MS analysis of the trimethylsilylated metabolites yields electron impact mass spectra with numerous fragment ions which can be used as fingerprint to confirm the chemical structure derived by LC-MS2 analysis.Andreas A. Hildebrand, Erika Pfeiffer, Georg Damm, and Manfred MetzlerCopyright © 2012 Andreas A. Hildebrand et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijad/2012/786494/Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, and the pathological changes of senile plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in AD brains are well described. Clinically, a diagnosis remains a postmortem one, hampering both accurate and early diagnosis as well as research into potential new treatments. Visual deficits have long been noted in AD patients, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that histopathological changes already noted in the brain also occur in an extension of the brain; the retina. Due to the optically transparent nature of the eye, it is possible to image the retina at a cellular level noninvasively and thus potentially allow an earlier diagnosis as well as a way of monitoring progression and treatment effects. Transgenic animal models expressing amyloid precursor protein (APP) presenilin (PS) and tau mutations have been used successfully to recapitulate the pathological findings of AD in the brain. This paper will cover the ocular abnormalities that have been detected in these transgenic AD animal models.Miles Parnell, Li Guo, Mohamed Abdi, and M. Francesca CordeiroCopyright © 2012 Miles Parnell et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/dte/2012/753472/Obesity is an epidemic in our society, and rates continue to rise, along with comorbid conditions associated with obesity. Unfortunately, obesity remains refractory to behavioral and drug therapy but has shown response to bariatric surgery. Not only can long-term weight loss be achieved, but a majority of patients have also shown improvement of the comorbid conditions associated with obesity. A rise in the use of surgical therapy for management of obesity presents a challenge with an increased number of patients with problems after bariatric surgery. It is important to be familiar with symptoms following bariatric surgery, such as nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, dysphagia, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding and to utilize appropriate available tests for upper gastrointestinal tract pathology in the postoperative period.Miral Subhani, Kaleem Rizvon, and Paul MustacchiaCopyright © 2012 Miral Subhani et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cmmm/2012/574184/The main part of each white blood cell (WBC) is its nucleus which contains chromosomes. Although white blood cells (WBCs) with giant nuclei are the main symptom of leukemia, they are not sufficient to prove this disease and other symptoms must be investigated. For example another important symptom of leukemia is the existence of nucleolus in nucleus. The nucleus contains chromatin and a structure called the nucleolus. Chromatin is DNA in its active form while nucleolus is composed of protein and RNA, which are usually inactive. In this paper, to diagnose this symptom and in order to discriminate between nucleoli and chromatins, we employ curvelet transform, which is a multiresolution transform for detecting 2D singularities in images. For this reason, at first nuclei are extracted by means of K-means method, then curvelet transform is applied on extracted nuclei and the coefficients are modified, and finally reconstructed image is used to extract the candidate locations of chromatins and nucleoli. This method is applied on 100 microscopic images and succeeds with specificity of 80.2% and sensitivity of 84.3% to detect the nucleolus candidate zone. After nucleolus candidate zone detection, new features that can be used to classify atypical and blast cells such as gradient of saturation channel are extracted.Ramin Soltanzadeh, Hossein Rabbani, and Ardeshir TalebiCopyright © 2012 Ramin Soltanzadeh et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2012/971593/We present a numerical method to solve the linear Fredholm integro-differential equation in reproducing kernel space. A simple algorithm is given to obtain the approximate solutions of the equation. Through the comparison of approximate and true solution, we can find that the method can effectively solve the linear Fredholm integro-differential equation. At the same time the numerical solution of the equation is stable.Xueqin Lv and Yue GaoCopyright © 2012 Xueqin Lv and Yue Gao. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2012/298095/This paper investigates the mean-square exponential synchronization of stochastic complex networks with Markovian switching and time-varying delays by using the pinning control method. The switching parameters are modeled by a continuous-time, finite-state Markov chain, and the complex network is subject to noise perturbations, Markovian switching, and internal and outer time-varying delays. Sufficient conditions for mean-square exponential synchronization are obtained by using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, Itö’s formula, and the linear matrix inequality (LMI), and numerical examples are given to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical results.Jingyi Wang, Chen Xu, Jianwen Feng, Man Kam Kwong, and Francis AustinCopyright © 2012 Jingyi Wang et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcc/2012/840591/Synthesis of chitosan/ZnO nanoparticles was performed using different concentrations of ZnO at different temperatures. Nanoparticles of ZnO/chitosan were prepared in rod form with average length 60 nm and average width 5–15 nm. Thus, obtained nanoparticles of ZnO/chitosan were characterized using UV spectrophotometer, FTIR, TEM, X-ray, and SEM. Size and shape of chitosan/ZnO nanoparticles relied on conditions of their synthesis. Notably, chitosan/ZnO in rod form with average length of 60 nm and average width 5–15 nm could be achieved. Application of chitosan/ZnO nanoparticles to cotton fabric conferred on the latter antibacterial and UV protection properties. Cotton fabric was characterized using SEM, ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) rating, and antibacterial (gram-positive and gram-negative) characteristics. Finished cotton fabric exhibited good antibacterial properties against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The UV testes indicated a significant improvement in UV protection of finished cotton fabric which is increasing by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles of ZnO/chitosan.M. M. AbdElhadyCopyright © 2012 M. M. AbdElhady. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijeb/2012/746825/The origin of sex is becoming a vexatious issue for Evolutionary Biology. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed, based on the genetic effects of sex, on trophic effects or on the formation of cysts and syncytia. Our approach addresses the change in cell cycle duration which would cause cell fusion. Several results are obtained through graphical and mathematical analysis and computer simulations. (1) In poor environments, cell fusion would be an advantageous strategy, as fusion between cells of different size shortens the cycle of the smaller cell (relative to the asexual cycle), and the majority of mergers would occur between cells of different sizes. (2) The easiest-to-evolve regulation of cell proliferation (sexual/asexual) would be by modifying the checkpoints of the cell cycle. (3) A regulation of this kind would have required the existence of the G2 phase, and sex could thus be the cause of the appearance of this phase. Regarding cell cycle, (4) the exponential curve is the only cell growth curve that has no effect on the optimal cell size in unicellular species; (5) the existence of a plateau with no growth at the end of the cell cycle explains the circadian cell cycle observed in unicellular algae.J. M. Mancebo Quintana and S. Mancebo QuintanaCopyright © 2012 J. M. Mancebo Quintana and S. Mancebo Quintana. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/smr/2012/181645/The harvesting of electrical energy generated from the flutter phenomenon of a plate wing is studied using the quasi-steady aerodynamic theory and the finite element method. The example of supersonic flutter structure comes from sounding rockets’ wings. Electrical energy is harvested from supersonic flutter by using piezoelectric patches and switching devices. In order to evaluate the harvesting performance, we simulate flutter dynamics of the plate wing to which piezoelectric patches are attached. We demonstrate that our harvesting system can generate much more electrical energy from wing flutter than conventional harvesting systems can. This flutter utilization changes our perception to a useful one in various fruitful applications from a destructive phenomenon.Kanjuro Makihara and Shigeru ShimoseCopyright © 2012 Kanjuro Makihara and Shigeru Shimose. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/grp/2012/484591/The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a ciprofloxacin-based regimen for H. pylori eradication failures as an alternative to bismuth based quadruple therapy. Methods. Design: prospective single-center study. Patients in whom a first eradication trial with omeprazole/esomeprazole, clarithromycin plus amoxicillin or tinidazole/metronidazole had failed were included. H. pylori status: established by histology, rapide urease test and polymerase chain reaction. Intervention: esomeprazole 20 mg, ciprofloxacin 500 mg, and metronidazole 500 mg, administered together before breakfast and dinner for 10 days. Susceptibility testing was performed by the Epsilometer test. Ciprofloxacin resistance was defined as a MIC of ≥1 μg/mL. Eradication was established by a negative 13C-UBT and 4–6 weeks post-therapy. Efficacy and side effects were determined. Results. 34 patients were enrolled, 32 completed the study. Compliance was excellent (100%). Side effects were mild. Ciprofloxacin-based therapy cured 65% (22/34) of patients by intention to treat and 69% (22/32) per protocol analysis. The prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance was 8%. Conclusions. The effectiveness of ciprofloxacin-based therapy was greatly reduced despite the high prevalence of ciprofloxacin sensitive H. pylori strains. Bismuth based quadruple therapy still remain the best choice as a “rescue” regimen in our region.Maria Pina Dore, Vincenza Tadeu, Bianca Are, Ida Mura, Giuseppe Fanciulli, Giovannino Massarelli, and Andrea PianaCopyright © 2012 Maria Pina Dore et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/2012/135138/Graphene oxide-gold composites were prepared by one-step reaction in aqueous solution, where the gold nanoparticles were deposited on the graphene oxide during their synthesis process. Transmission electron morphology, X-ray diffraction, Roman spectra, and UV-Vis absorption spectra were used to characterize the obtained composites. Furthermore, based on the BET analysis results, it was found that the surface area of the composite film was obviously enhanced compared with the synthesized graphene oxide. Electrochemical measurements indicated that the modification of the composites on electrode could efficiently enhance the voltammetric response, suggesting the potential application for making electrochemical sensors.Min Song, Lulu Yu, and Yimin WuCopyright © 2012 Min Song et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cfg/2012/258284/Takifugu rubripes is teleost fish widely used in comparative genomics to understand the human system better due to its similarities both in number of genes and structure of genes. In this work we survey the fugu genome, and, using sensitive computational approaches, we identify the repertoire of putative protein kinases and classify them into groups and subfamilies. The fugu genome encodes 519 protein kinase-like sequences and this number of putative protein kinases is comparable closely to that of human. However, in spite of its similarities to human kinases at the group level, there are differences at the subfamily level as noted in the case of KIS and DYRK subfamilies which contribute to differences which are specific to the adaptation of the organism. Also, certain unique domain combination of galectin domain and YkA domain suggests alternate mechanisms for immune response and binding to lipoproteins. Lastly, an overall similarity with the MAPK pathway of humans suggests its importance to understand signaling mechanisms in humans. Overall the fugu serves as a good model organism to understand roles of human kinases as far as kinases such as LRRK and IRAK and their associated pathways are concerned.R. Rakshambikai, S. Yamunadevi, K. Anamika, N. Tyagi, and N. SrinivasanCopyright © 2012 R. Rakshambikai et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijp/2012/817825/The improved performance for hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon-germanium (μc-Si1−xGex:H, x~0.1) p-i-n single solar cells with hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) field-enhancement layers (FELs) is demonstrated for the first time. The fill factor (FF) and conversion efficiency (η) increase by about 19% and 28% when the thickness of the μc-Si FEL is increased from 0 to 200 nm, it is attributed to the longer hole life-time and enhanced electric field in the μc-Si0.9Ge0.1:H layer. Therefore, we can successfully manufacture high-performance μc-SiGe:H solar cells with the thickness of absorbers smaller than 1 μm by conducting FELs. Moreover, the simulation tool is used to simulate the current-voltage (J-V) curve, thus we can investigate the carrier transport in the absorber of μc-Si0.9Ge0.1:H solar cells with different EFLs.Shu-Hung Yu, Wei Lin, Yu-Hung Chen, and Chun-Yen ChangCopyright © 2012 Shu-Hung Yu et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijd/2012/973641/To verify the fracture resistance of premolars with mesioocclusodistal preparations restored by different resin composites and placement techniques. Sixty premolars were randomly divided into two groups based on type of composite resin: Filtek P60 or Nulite F, and then each group was separated into three subgroups: bulk, centripetal, and fiber insert according to the type of placement method (n=10). Single-bond adhesive system was used as composite bonding according to the manufacturer's instructions. Specimens were restored in Groups 1, 2, and 3 with Filtek P60 and in Groups 4, 5, and 6 with Nulite F. After being stored 24 hours at 37∘C, a 4 mm diameter steel sphere in a universal testing machine was applied on tooth buccal and lingual cusps at a cross-head speed of 5 mm/min until fracture occurred. Groups 3 and 6 showed higher fracture resistance than Groups 1, 2, 4, and 5. Among the placement techniques, the fiber insert method had a significant effect, but the type of composite was ineffective. The insertion technique in contrast to the type of material had a significant influence on the fracture resistance of premolar teeth.Horieh Moosavi, Mahsa Zeynali, and Zahra Hosseini PourCopyright © 2012 Horieh Moosavi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijrm/2012/853767/The present work concerns the turbulent flow inside a rotor-stator cavity with superimposed throughflow. The authors focused their analysis on a simple two-faced disk cavity, without shrouds, with interdisk-spacing sufficiently large so that the boundary layers developed on each disk are separated and the flow is turbulent. In such a system, the solid body rotation of the core predicted by Batchelor can develop. The evolution of the core-swirl ratio of the rotating fluid with an outward throughflow is studied by applying a classical experimental correlation, inserted in a one-dimensional (1D) in-house developed code. Results are compared to those predicted by CFD computations. Due to the discrepancies revealed, the authors provided a correction of the experimental correlation, based on CFD computation. Results thus obtained are finally in good agreement with CFD predictions.R. Da Soghe, B. Facchini, L. Innocenti, and M. MicioCopyright © 2012 R. Da Soghe et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/rerp/2012/853037/Sequenced physiologic muscle activations in the upper and lower extremity result in an integrated biomechanical task. This sequencing is known as the kinetic chain, and, in upper extremity dominant tasks, the energy development and output follows a proximal to distal sequencing. Impairment of one or more kinetic chain links can create dysfunctional biomechanical output leading to pain and/or injury. When deficits exist in the preceding links, they can negatively affect the shoulder. Rehabilitation of shoulder injuries should involve evaluation for and restoration of all kinetic chain deficits that may hinder kinetic chain function. Rehabilitation programs focused on eliminating kinetic chain deficits, and soreness should follow a proximal to distal rationale where lower extremity impairments are addressed in addition to the upper extremity impairments. A logical progression focusing on flexibility, strength, proprioception, and endurance with kinetic chain influence is recommended.Aaron Sciascia and Robin CromwellCopyright © 2012 Aaron Sciascia and Robin Cromwell. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/chrp/2012/838509/There have been many exciting new breakthroughs in understanding tumour biology. This has opened up the possibility of personalized treatment for people with certain tumours. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and K-ras are two such targets that can help classify tumours on a molecular basis and guide treatment decisions. However, there are still questions about how best to implement new molecular tests like these to characterize tumours in clinical practice. Potential obstacles include availability of good quality tissue specimens, access to the right test, and consensus about interpretation, funding, and availability. In this paper, we review these issues, by discussing these two examples in detail and suggest some actions for addressing potential barriers.Linda Mileshkin, Bhaumik Shah, and Michael MichaelCopyright © 2012 Linda Mileshkin et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/262136/Executive dysfunctions have been found to be related to repetitive/disinhibited behaviors and social deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This study aims to investigate the potential effect of a Shaolin-medicine-based dietary modification on improving executive functions and behavioral symptoms of ASD and exploring the possible underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Twenty-four children with ASD were randomly assigned into the experimental (receiving dietary modification for one month) and the control (no modification) groups. Each child was assessed on his/her executive functions, behavioral problems based on parental ratings, and event-related electroencephalography (EEG) activity during a response-monitoring task before and after the one month. The experimental group demonstrated significantly improved mental flexibility and inhibitory control after the diet modification, which continued to have a large effect size within the low-functioning subgroup. Such improvements coincided with positive evaluations by their parents on social communication abilities and flexible inhibitory control of daily behaviors and significantly enhanced event-related EEG activity at the rostral and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, the control group did not show any significant improvements. These positive outcomes of a one-month dietary modification on children with ASD have implicated its potential clinical applicability for patients with executive function deficits.Agnes S. Chan, Sophia L. Sze, Yvonne M. Y. Han, and Mei-chun CheungCopyright © 2012 Agnes S. Chan et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfr/2012/729614/Forest cover dynamics (defined as tree canopy cover change without regard to forest land use) within the Russian European North have been analyzed from 1990 to 2005 using a combination of results from two Landsat-based forest cover monitoring projects: 1990–2000 and 2000–2005. Results of the forest cover dynamics analysis highlighted several trends in forest cover change since the breakdown of the Soviet planned economy. While total logging area decreased from the 1990–2000 to the 2000–2005 interval, logging and other forms of anthropogenically-induced clearing increased within the Central and Western parts of the region. The most populated regions of European Russia featured the highest rates of net forest cover loss. Our results also revealed intensive gross forest cover loss due to forest felling close to the Russian-Finland border. The annual burned forest area almost doubled between the two time intervals. The 2000–2005 gross forest cover gain results suggest that tree encroachment on abandoned agriculture land is a wide-spread process over the region. The analysis demonstrates the value of regional-scale Landsat-based forest cover and change quantification. Our results supplemented official data by providing independently derived spatial information that could be used for assessing on-going trends and serve as a baseline for future forest cover monitoring.Peter Potapov, Svetlana Turubanova, Ilona Zhuravleva, Matthew Hansen, Alexey Yaroshenko, and Alexander ManishaCopyright © 2012 Peter Potapov et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jaa/2012/565404/2D, 13C, 14N, and 17O NMR and crystallographic data from the literature were critically evaluated in order to provide a coherent hydration model of amino acids and selected derivatives at different ionization states. 17O shielding variations, longitudinal relaxation times (T1) of 2D and 13C and line widths (Δν1/2) of 14N and 17O, may be interpreted with the hypothesis that the cationic form of amino acids is more hydrated by 1 to 3 molecules of water than the zwitterionic form. Similar behaviour was also observed for N-acetylated derivatives of amino acids. An exhaustive search in crystal structure databases demonstrates the importance of six-membered hydrogen-bonded conjugated rings of both oxygens of the α-carboxylate group with a molecule of water in the vicinity. This type of hydrogen bond mode is absent in the case of the carboxylic groups. Moreover, a considerable number of structures was identified with the propensity to form intramolecular hydrogen bond both in the carboxylic acid (NH⋯O=C) and in the carboxylate (NH⋯O−) ionization state. In the presence of bound molecules of water this interaction is significantly reduced in the case of the carboxylate group whereas it is statistically negligible in the carboxylic group.Charalampos G. Pappas, Andreas G. Tzakos, and Ioannis P. GerothanassisCopyright © 2012 Charalampos G. Pappas et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/696574/We study the numerical solutions to semi-infinite-domain two-point boundary value problems and initial value problems. A smooth, strictly monotonic transformation is used to map the semi-infinite domain x∈[0,∞) onto a half-open interval t∈[−1,1). The resulting finite-domain two-point boundary value problem is transcribed to a system of algebraic equations using Chebyshev-Gauss (CG) collocation, while the resulting initial value problem over a finite domain is transcribed to a system of algebraic equations using Chebyshev-Gauss-Radau (CGR) collocation. In numerical experiments, the tuning of the map ϕ:[−1,+1)→[0,+∞) and its effects on the quality of the discrete approximation are analyzed.Mohammad Maleki, Ishak Hashim, and Saeid AbbasbandyCopyright © 2012 Mohammad Maleki et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/2012/873090/The genus Capsicum provides antioxidant compounds, such as phenolics and carotenoids, into the diet. In Mexico, there is a wide diversity of species and varieties of chilli peppers, a fruit which has local cultural and gastronomic importance. In the present study, the relationship of the carotenoid and phenolic profiles with the RAPD fingerprint of three different commercial cultivars of chilli peppers of seven regions of Mexico was investigated. Through RAPD, the species of chilli were differentiated by means of different primers (OPE-18, MFG-17, MFG-18, C51, and C52). The genetic distance found with OPE 18 was in the order of 2.6. The observed differences were maintained when the chromatographic profile of carotenoids, and the molecular markers were analyzed, which suggest a close relationship between carotenoids and the genetic profile. While the chromatographic profile of phenols and the molecular markers were unable to differentiate between genotypes of chilli peppers. In addition, by using infrared spectroscopy and statistical PCA, differences explained by geographic origin were found. Thus, this method could be an alternative for identification of chilli species with respect to their geographic origin.Ivonne Guadalupe Troconis-Torres, Marlon Rojas-López, César Hernández-Rodríguez, Lourdes Villa-Tanaca, Ignacio Eduardo Maldonado-Mendoza, Lidia Dorantes-Álvarez, Darío Tellez-Medina, and María Eugenia Jaramillo-FloresCopyright © 2012 Ivonne Guadalupe Troconis-Torres et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jam/2012/681296/We perform the stability analysis and we study the chaotic behavior of dynamical systems, which depict the 3-particle Toda lattice truncations through the lens of the 0-1 test, proposed by Gottwald and Melbourne. We prove that the new test applies successfully and with good accuracy in most of the cases we investigated. We perform some comparisons of the well-known maximum Lyapunov characteristic number method with the 0-1 method, and we claim that 0-1 test can be subsidiary to the LCN method. The 0-1 test is a very efficient method for studying highly chaotic Hamiltonian systems of the kind we study in our paper and is particularly useful in characterizing the transition from regularity to chaos.Loukas Zachilas and Iacovos N. PsarianosCopyright © 2012 Loukas Zachilas and Iacovos N. Psarianos. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/708156/Previous studies of the gastroprotective activity of plants have highlighted the importance of the polyphenolic compound epicatechin (EC) in the treatment of gastric ulcers. This paper aimed to evaluate and characterize the gastroprotective mechanism of action of EC using male rats. The gastroprotective action of EC was analyzed in gastric ulcers induced by ethanol or indomethacin. The involvement of sulfhydryl (SH) groups, K+ATP channels, α2 adrenoceptors, gastric antisecretory activity, and the amount of mucus in the development of gastric ulcers were investigated. The lowest effective dose of EC providing gastroprotective effects was 50 mg/kg in the ethanol-induced gastric ulcers and 25 mg/kg in the indomethacin-induced gastric ulcers. The gastroprotection seen upon treatment with EC was significantly decreased in rats pretreated with a SH compound reagent or an α2-receptor antagonist, but not with a K+ATP channel blocker. Furthermore, oral treatment with EC increased mucus production and decreased H+ secretion. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated the involvement of superoxide dismutase (SOD), nitric oxide (NO), and heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) in the gastroprotection. These results demonstrate that EC provides gastroprotection through reinforcement of the mucus barrier and neutralization of gastric juice and this protection occurs through the involvement of SH compounds, α2-adrenoceptors, NO, SOD, and HSP-70.A. L. Rozza, C. A. Hiruma-Lima, A. Tanimoto, and C. H. PellizzonCopyright © 2012 A. L. Rozza et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2012/438912/The possible role of β-2 adrenergic receptors in modulation of inflammatory and nociceptive conditions suggests that the β-2 adrenergic receptor agonist, salbutamol, may have beneficial anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Therefore, in this study, we induced inflammatory and nociceptive responses with carrageenan-induced paw edema or cotton-pellet-induced granuloma models, both of which result in oxidative stress. We hypothesized that salbutamol would prevent inflammatory and nociceptive responses by stimulating β-2 adrenergic receptors and the prevention of generation of ROS during the acute inflammation process in rats. Both doses of salbutamol used in the study (1 and 2 mg/kg) effectively blocked the acute inflammation and inflammatory nociception induced by carrageenan. In the cotton-pellet-induced granuloma test, both doses of salbutamol also significantly decreased the weight of granuloma tissue on the cotton pellets when compared to the control. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of salbutamol were found to be comparable with those of indomethacin. Salbutamol decreased myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and lipid peroxidation (LPO) level and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and level of glutathione (GSH) during the acute phase of inflammation. In conclusion, salbutamol can decrease acute and chronic inflammation, possibly through the stimulation of β-2 adrenergic receptors. This anti-inflammatory effect may be of significance in asthma treatment, where inflammation also takes part in the etiopathology. This study reveals that salbutamol has significant antioxidative effects, which at least partially explain its anti-inflammatory capabilities. These findings presented here may also shed light on the roles of β-2 adrenergic receptors in inflammatory and hyperalgesic conditions.Hulya Uzkeser, Elif Cadirci, Zekai Halici, Fehmi Odabasoglu, Beyzagul Polat, Tugba Nurcan Yuksel, Seda Ozaltin, and Fadime AtalayCopyright © 2012 Hulya Uzkeser et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/2012/649353/Amniotic fluid (AF) was described as a potential source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for biomedicine purposes. Therefore, evaluation of alternative cryoprotectants and freezing protocols capable to maintain the viability and stemness of these cells after cooling is still needed. AF stem cells (AFSCs) were tested for different freezing methods and cryoprotectants. Cell viability, gene expression, surface markers, and plasticity were evaluated after thawing. AFSCs expressed undifferentiated genes Oct4 and Nanog; presented typical markers (CD29, CD44, CD90, and CD105) and were able to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages. All tested cryoprotectants preserved the features of AFSCs however, variations in cell viability were observed. In this concern, dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) showed the best results. The freezing protocols tested did not promote significant changes in the AFSCs viability. Time programmed and nonprogrammed freezing methods could be used for successful AFSCs cryopreservation for 6 months. Although tested cryoprotectants maintained undifferentiated gene expression, typical markers, and plasticity of AFSCs, only Me2SO and glycerol presented workable viability ratios.Felipe de Lara Janz, Adriana de Aguiar Debes, Rita de Cássia Cavaglieri, Sérgio Aloísio Duarte, Carolina Martinez Romão, Antonio Fernandes Morón, Marcelo Zugaib, and Sérgio Paulo BydlowskiCopyright © 2012 Felipe de Lara Janz et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mpe/2012/420309/Spatial variation of earthquake ground motion is an important phenomenon that cannot be ignored in the design and safety of strategic structures. However, almost all the procedures for the evaluation of variation assumed that the random field is homogeneous in space. It is obvious that reality does not fully conform to the assumption. How to investigate the inhomogeneous feature of ground motion in space is a challenge for researcher. A body-fitted grid-coordinates-based method is proposed to estimate and describe the local spatial variations for the earthquake ground motion; it need not to make the assumption that the random field of earthquake is homogeneous in space. An analysis of spatial variability of seismic motion in smart-1 array monitored in Lotung, Taiwan demonstrates this methodology.Yingmin Li, Zheqian Wu, and Huiguo ChenCopyright © 2012 Yingmin Li et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2012/398207/In this study we demonstrated that ΔCaecm33 double mutant showed reduced biofilm formation and causes less damage to gingival mucosa tissues. This was confirmed by the reduced level of necrotic cells and Bax/Bcl2 gene expression as apoptotic markers. In contrast, parental and Caecm33 mutant strains decreased basement membrane protein production (laminin 5 and type IV collagen). We thus propose that ECM33 gene/protein represents a novel target for the prevention and treatment of infections caused by Candida.Mahmoud Rouabhia, Abdelhabib Semlali, Jyotsna Chandra, Pranab Mukherjee, Witold Chmielewski, and Mahmoud A. GhannoumCopyright © 2012 Mahmoud Rouabhia et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2012/364684/Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized in part by the preferential loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Although the precise etiology of PD is unknown, accumulating evidence suggests that PD involves microglial activation that exerts neurotoxic effects through production of proinflammatory cytokines and increased oxidative and nitrosative stress. Thus, controlling microglial activation has been suggested as a therapeutic target for combating PD. Previously we demonstrated that pharmacological inhibition of a class of enzymes known as prolyl hydroxylases via 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate administration protected against MPTP-induced neurotoxicity, however the exact mechanisms involved were not elucidated. Here we show that this may be due to DHB’s ability to inhibit microglial activation. DHB significantly attenuated LPS-mediated induction of nitric oxide synthase and pro-inflammatory cytokines in murine BV2 microglial cells in vitro in conjunction with reduced ROS production and activation of NFκB and MAPK pathways possibly due to up-regulation of HO-1 levels. HO-1 inhibition partially abrogates LPS-mediated NFκB activity and subsequent NO induction. In vivo, DHB pre-treatment suppresses microglial activation elicited by MPTP treatment. Our results suggest that DHB’s neuroprotective properties could be due to its ability to dampen induction of microglial activation via induction of HO-1.Shankar J. Chinta, Subramanian Rajagopalan, Abirami Ganesan, and Julie K. AndersenCopyright © 2012 Shankar J. Chinta et al. All rights reserved.