An effective scalable SQL engine for NoSQL databases

NoSQL databases were initially devised to support a few concrete extreme scale applications. Since the specificity and scale of the target systems justified the investment of manually crafting application code their limited query and indexing capabilities were not a major im- pediment. However, with a considerable number of mature alternatives now available there is an increasing willingness to use NoSQL databases in a wider and more diverse spectrum of applications and, to most of them, hand-crafted query code is not an enticing trade-off. In this paper we address this shortcoming of current NoSQL databases with an effective approach for executing SQL queries while preserving their scalability and schema flexibility. We show how a full-fledged SQL engine can be integrated atop of HBase leading to an ANSI SQL compli- ant database. Under a standard TPC-C workload our prototype scales linearly with the number of nodes in the system and outperforms a NoSQL TPC-C implementation optimized for HBase.(undefined

Genotoxic potential of Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Anacardiaceae) stem extract in vivo

The intention was to evaluate the possible in vivo genotoxic potential in different cell-types, of a methanol extract obtained from the plant stem of Cotinus coggygria Scop., using the sex-linked recessive lethal (or SLRL) test and alkaline comet assay. The SLRL test, revealed the genotoxic effect of this extract in postmeiotic and premeiotic germ-cell lines. The comet assay was carried out on rat liver and bone marrow at 24 and 72 h after intraperitoneal administration. For genotoxic evaluation, three concentrations of the extract were tested, viz., 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg body weight (bw), based on the solubility limit of the extract in saline. Comet tail moment and total scores in the group treated with 500 mg/kg bw, 24 and 72 h after treatment, were not significantly different from the control group, whereas in the groups of animals, under the same conditions, but with 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw of the extract, scores were statistically so. A slight decrease in the comet score and tail moment observed in all the doses in the 72 h treatment, gave to understand that DNA damage induced by Cotinus coggygria extract decreased with time. The results of both tests revealed the genotoxic effect of Cotinus coggygria under our experimental conditions

Assessment of motor functioning in the preschool period

The assessment of motor functioning in young children has become increasingly important in recent years with the acknowledgement that motor impairment is linked with cognitive, language, social and emotional difficulties. However, there is no one gold standard assessment tool to investigate motor ability in children. The aim of the current paper was to discuss the issues related to the assessment of motor ability in young pre-school children and to provide guidelines on the best approach for motor assessment. The paper discusses the maturational changes in brain development at the preschool level in relation to motor ability. Other issues include sex differences in motor ability at this young age, and evidence for this in relation to sociological versus biological influences. From the previous literature it is unclear what needs to be assessed in relation to motor functioning. Should the focus be underlying motor processes or movement skill assessment? Several key assessment tools are discussed that produce a general measure of motor performance followed by a description of tools that assess specific skills, such as fine and gross motor, ball and graphomotor skills. The paper concludes with recommendations on the best approach in assessing motor function in pre-school children

Response of Soil-Associated Microbial Communities to Intrusion of Coal Mine-Derived Acid Mine Drainage

A system has been identified in which coal mine-derived acid mine drainage (AMD) flows as a 0.5-cm-deep sheet over the terrestrial surface. This flow regime enhances the activities of Fe­(II) oxidizing bacteria, which catalyze the oxidative precipitation of Fe from AMD. These activities give rise to Fe­(III) (hydr)­oxide-rich deposits (referred to as an iron mound) overlying formerly pristine soil. This iron mound has developed with no human intervention, indicating that microbiological activities associated with iron mounds may be exploited as an inexpensive and sustainable approach to remove Fe­(II) from AMD. To evaluate the changes in microbial activities and communities that occur when AMD infiltrates initially pristine soil, we incubated AMD-unimpacted soil with site AMD. Continuous exposure of soil to AMD induced progressively greater rates of Fe­(II) biooxidation. The development of Fe­(II) oxidizing activities was enhanced by inoculation of soil with microorganisms associated with mature iron mound sediment. Evaluation of pyrosequencing-derived 16S rRNA gene sequences recovered from incubations revealed the development of microbial community characteristics that were similar to those of the mature iron mound sediment. Our results indicate that upon mixing of AMD with pristine soil, microbial communities develop that mediate rapid oxidative precipitation of Fe from AMD

Androdioecy and Hermaphroditism in Five Species of Clam Shrimp (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata) from India and Thailand

Crustaceans in the order Spinicaudata display a broad range of reproductive strategies, ranging from pure hermaphroditism to pure dioecy (separate males and females), and intermediate combinations. One particularly interesting genus of these “clam shrimps” is Eulimnadia. Based on offspring sex ratios, it has been suggested that all members of the genus are androdioecious: populations consist of mixtures of males and hermaphrodites. However, only two of the ~40 species in this genus have been examined histologically to confirm the presence of ovotestes in the purported hermaphrodites of this group. Here, we report both sex ratio and histological evidence showing that populations of five additional Eulimnadia species from India and Thailand are indeed mixes of males and hermaphrodites (four species) or hermaphrodite only (one species). Sex ratios of adults and offspring from isolated hermaphrodites are in accordance with those previously reported for 15 Eulimnadia species, and histological assays of four of the five species show the presence of both testicular and ovarian tissue in these hermaphrodites. As has been previously reported, the testicular tissue in members of these Eulimnadia spp. is located in a small section at the distal end of the gonad. In addition, the sperm produced in these hermaphrodites forms distinct plaques of compacted chromatin. Overall, these data are consistent with a single origin of hermaphroditism in Eulimnadia, and support the notion that all members of the genus are either androdioecious or all-hermaphroditic