bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Small Doses of Fructose and Its Epimers on Glycemic Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Feeding Trials
Authors: Noronha Jarvis C. , Braunstein Catherine R. , Blanco Mejia Sonia , Khan Tauseef A. , Kendall Cyril W. C. , Wolever Thomas M. S. , Leiter Lawrence A. , Sievenpiper John L.
Published: November 2018

Objective: Contrary to the concerns that fructose may have adverse metabolic effects, an emerging literature has shown that small doses (≤10 g/meal) of fructose and its low-caloric epimers (allulose, tagatose, and sorbose) decrease the glycemic response to high glycemic index meals. Whether these acute reductions manifest as sustainable improvements in glycemic control is unclear. Our objective was to synthesize the evidence from controlled feeding trials that assessed the effect of small doses of fructose and its low-caloric epimers on glycemic control. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library through April 18, 2018. We included controlled feeding trials of ≥1 week that investigated the effect of small doses (≤50 g/day or ≤10% of total energy intake/day) of fructose and its low-caloric epimers on HbA1c, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin. Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Data were pooled using the generic inverse variance method and expressed as mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q statistic and quantified using the I2 statistic. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) assessed the certainty of the evidence. Results: We identified 14 trial comparisons (N = 337) of the effect of fructose in individuals with and without diabetes, 3 trial comparisons (N = 138) of the effect of allulose in individuals without diabetes, 3 trial comparisons (N = 376) of the effect of tagatose mainly in individuals with type 2 diabetes, and 0 trial comparisons of the effect of sorbose. Small doses of fructose and tagatose significantly reduced HbA1c (MD = −0.38% (95% CI: −0.64%, −0.13%); MD = −0.20% (95% CI: −0.34%, −0.06%)) and fasting glucose (MD = −0.13 mmol/L (95% CI: −0.24 mmol/L, −0.03 mmol/L)); MD = −0.30 mmol/L (95% CI: −0.57 mmol/L, −0.04 mmol/L)) without affecting fasting insulin (p > 0.05). Small doses of allulose did not have a significant effect on HbA1c and fasting insulin (p > 0.05), while the reduction in fasting glucose was of borderline significance (p = 0.05). The certainty of the evidence of the effect of small doses of fructose and allulose on HbA1c, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin was graded as low. The certainty of the evidence of the effect of tagatose on HbA1c, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin was graded as moderate. Conclusions: Our results indicate that small doses of fructose and tagatose may improve glycemic control over the long term. There is a need for long-term randomized controlled trials for all four sugars to improve our certainty in the estimates.
Large Scale Phenotyping Provides Insight into the Diversity of Vegetative and Reproductive Organs in a Wide Collection of Wild and Domesticated Peppers (Capsicum spp.)
Authors: Tripodi Pasquale , Greco Barbara
Published: November 2018

In the past years, the diversity of Capsicum has been mainly investigated through genetics and genomics approaches, fewer efforts have been made in the field of plant phenomics. Assessment of crop traits with high-throughput methodologies could enhance the knowledge of the plant phenome, giving at the same time a key contribution to the understanding of the function of many genes. In this study, a wide germplasm collection of 307 accessions retrieved from 48 world regions, and belonging to nine Capsicum species was characterized for 54 plant, leaf, flower and fruit traits. Conventional descriptors and semi-automated tools based on image analysis and colour coordinate detection were used. Significant differences were found among accessions, between species and between sweet and spicy cultivated types, revealing a large diversity. The results highlighted how the domestication process and the continued selection have increased the variability of fruit shape and colour. Hierarchical clustering based on conventional and fruit morphological descriptors reflected the separation of species on the basis of their phylogenetic relationships. These observations suggested that the flow between distinct gene pools could have contributed to determine the similarity of the species on the basis of morphological plant and fruit parameters. The approach used represents the first high-throughput phenotyping effort in Capsicum spp. aimed at broadening the knowledge of the diversity of domesticated and wild peppers. The data could help to select best the candidates for breeding and provide new insight into the understanding of the genetic base of the fruit shape of pepper.
A Novel Ziegler–Natta-Type Catalytic System—TiCl4/2,2′-Dimethoxy-1,1′-Binaphthalene/Et3Al2Cl3/Bu2Mg for Production of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene Nascent Reactor Powders, Suitable for Solvent-Free Processing
Authors: Serenko Olga A. , Buzin Mikhail I. , Tuskaev Vladislav A. , Gagieva Svetlana C. , Kolosov Nikolay A. , Kurmaev Dmitrii A. , Savel’eva Tatyana F. , Golubev Evgenii K. , Zubkevich Sergey V. , Vasil’ev Viktor G. , Nikiforova Galina G. , Korlyukov Alexander A. , Bulychev Boris M.
Published: November 2018

A series of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylenes with viscosity-average molecular weights in the range of 1.6–5.6 × 106 have been prepared by using a novel Ziegler–Natta-type catalytic system—TiCl4/2,2′-dimethoxy-1,1′-binaphthalene/Et3Al2Cl3/Bu2Mg at different temperatures (Tpoly) in the range between 10 and 70 °C in toluene. The morphology of the nascent reactor powders has been studied by scanning electron microscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and the DSC melting behavior. Polymers are suitable for the modern processing methods—the solvent-free solid-state formation of super high-strength (tensile strength over 1.8–2.5 GPa) and high-modulus (elastic modulus up to 136 GPa) oriented film tapes. With decrease of Tpoly, the drawability of the reactor powders increased significantly.
Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Lignin/DES Carbon Quantum Dots as a Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Fe3+ Ions
Authors: Jiang Xueqin , Shi Yixin , Liu Xin , Wang Meng , Song Pingping , Xu Feng , Zhang Xueming
Published: November 2018

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) as a rising star of carbon nanomaterials have extensive applications due to their excellent characteristics. In this work, we introduce a simple and green method to prepare nitrogen-doped lignin carbon quantum dots (N-L-CQDs) by using alkali lignin carbon sources and deep eutectic solvent (DES) as solution and nitrogen source. The physiochemical characterization results suggested that N-L-CQDs with diameters ranging from 4 to 12 nm were successfully synthesized. The optical properties data indicated that the as-prepared N-L-CQDs with a quantum yield of 7.95% exhibited excellent optoelectronic properties, excitation-dependent and pH stability. After that, we have investigated the N-L-CQDs used as fluorescent probes to detect iron ions, which suggested that the as-prepared N-L-CQDs exhibited excellent sensitivity and selectivity for Fe3+ with a detection limit of 0.44 μM. Besides, cytotoxicity of N-L-CQDs was also evaluated by MTT assay. These results demonstrated that the as-prepared N-L-CQDs with excellent properties have potential applications in environment and biomedicine.
Direct Growth of a Polypyrrole Aerogel on Hollow CuS Hierarchical Microspheres Yields Particles with Excellent Electromagnetic Wave Properties
Authors: Zhang Zhi , Lv Xuliang , Cui Guangzhen , Sui Mingxu , Sun Xiaodong , Yu Songlin
Published: November 2018

A current hot topic in polymer science is the development of electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials with desired properties (i.e., proper impedance matching and strong attenuation capability), but it presents a considerable challenge. In this work, solvothermal, and self-assembled polymerization were employed for the controlled fabrication of a uniform polypyrrole (PPy) aerogel coated on hollow CuS hierarchical microspheres (CuS@PPy). The PPy coating thickness of the heterostructure could be tuned by varying the feeding weight ratios of CuS/pyrrole monomer. The electromagnetic wave absorption properties of the CuS@PPy composites were estimated to be in the frequency range 2–18 GHz. The as-prepared Sample B (fabricated by the addition of 35 mg CuS) showed a maximum reflection loss (RL) of −52.85 dB at a thickness of 2.5 mm. Moreover, an ultra-wide effective bandwidth (RL ≤ −10 dB) from 9.78 to 17.80 GHz (8.02 GHz) was achieved. Analysis of the electromagnetic properties demonstrated that the CuS@PPy had a remarkable enhancement compared to pure CuS platelet-based spheres and pure PPy, which can be attributed to the increased relatively complex permittivity and the promoted dielectric loss by the intense interfacial dielectric polarizations. We believe that the as-fabricated CuS@PPy can be a good reference for the fabrication of lightweight and optimal broadband absorbers.
High-Performance Biobased Unsaturated Polyester Nanocomposites with Very Low Loadings of Graphene
Authors: Liu Chengguo , Wang Cuina , Tang Jijun , Zhang Jing , Shang Qianqian , Hu Yun , Wang Hongxiao , Wu Qiong , Zhou Yonghong , Lei Wen , Liu Zengshe
Published: November 2018

Graphene-reinforced tung oil (TO)-based unsaturated polyester nanocomposites were prepared via in situ melt polycondensation intergrated with Diels–Alder addition. Functionalized graphene sheets derived from graphene oxide (GO) were then extracted from the obtained nanocomposites and carefully characterized. Furthermore, dispersion state of the graphene nanosheets in the cured polymer composites and ultimate properties of the resultant biobased nanocomposites were investigated. Mechanical and thermal properties of the TO-based unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) were greatly improved by the incorporation of GO. For example, at the optimal GO content (only 0.10 wt %), the obtained biobased nanocomposite showed tensile strength and modulus of 43.2 MPa and 2.62 GPa, and Tg of 105.2 °C, which were 159%, 191%, and 49.4% higher than those of the unreinforced UPR/TO resin, respectively. Compared to neat UPR, the biobased UPR nanocomposite with 0.1 wt % of GO even demonstrated superior comprehensive properties (comparable stiffness and Tg, while better toughness and thermal stability). Therefore, the developed biobased UPR nanocomposites are very promising to be applied in structural plastics.
A Critical Evaluation of Religious Education in Korea
Authors: Kim Chae Young
Published: November 2018

This essay will discuss the general orientation of Korean religious education and some of the problematic issues that are related to its position within the current Korean educational systems. It will focus especially on four critical aspects pertaining to religious education as found today in the Republic of Korea (we will not consider the situation of religious education in North Korea because it is so difficult to get accurate information). The first section will begin to identify the contemporary ‘communicational dilemma’ of religious education in Korea and its roots in the lack of a proper understanding of religious education from a non-confessional academic perspective. The second section will place the problem in the context of Korean religious demography as it pertains to the necessity of religious education and the conventional image of religious education within schools. The third section will enumerate a number of critical issues and analyze their impact on the direction of religious education policy since the establishment of the government’s equalization educational policy in 1969. The fourth section will critically examine a number of constitutional issues as they bear on the question of where compulsion exists in current religious education.
How Levinas Can (and Cannot) Help Us with Political Apology in the Context of Systemic Racism
Authors: Bahler Brock
Published: November 2018

What is the structure of an apology? What is an apology supposed to achieve, and how do we know when it has achieved its purpose? These questions seem pretty straightforward when we are speaking of an apology as it is traditionally conceived, which considers an explicit action that I have performed toward another individual. But how does one apologize for one’s thrownness into systemic structures of inequality and violence—such as America’s long history of racism toward people of color? I call this here a “political apology,” which may take both national forms—such as Australia’s National “I’m Sorry Day”—or personal acts—such as when a white person might apologize to a friend who is a person of color for the persistence of anti-Black racism in America. This essay will consider Emmanuel Levinas’s work and how it relates to this notion of a political apology. In some respects, Levinas’s thought is profoundly constructive and useful; however, his ahistorical, asymmetrical account of intersubjectivity is inadequate to explain what an apology seeks to achieve on a substantial political level. For this, I believe we must articulate a Levinasian-inspired account of the self–other relation that more adequately takes into account both parties as well as the concrete situation in which the need for apology arises.
Change Detection in Hyperspectral Images Using Recurrent 3D Fully Convolutional Networks
Authors: Song Ahram , Choi Jaewan , Han Youkyung , Kim Yongil
Published: November 2018

Hyperspectral change detection (CD) can be effectively performed using deep-learning networks. Although these approaches require qualified training samples, it is difficult to obtain ground-truth data in the real world. Preserving spatial information during training is difficult due to structural limitations. To solve such problems, our study proposed a novel CD method for hyperspectral images (HSIs), including sample generation and a deep-learning network, called the recurrent three-dimensional (3D) fully convolutional network (Re3FCN), which merged the advantages of a 3D fully convolutional network (FCN) and a convolutional long short-term memory (ConvLSTM). Principal component analysis (PCA) and the spectral correlation angle (SCA) were used to generate training samples with high probabilities of being changed or unchanged. The strategy assisted in training fewer samples of representative feature expression. The Re3FCN was mainly comprised of spectral–spatial and temporal modules. Particularly, a spectral–spatial module with a 3D convolutional layer extracts the spectral–spatial features from the HSIs simultaneously, whilst a temporal module with ConvLSTM records and analyzes the multi-temporal HSI change information. The study first proposed a simple and effective method to generate samples for network training. This method can be applied effectively to cases with no training samples. Re3FCN can perform end-to-end detection for binary and multiple changes. Moreover, Re3FCN can receive multi-temporal HSIs directly as input without learning the characteristics of multiple changes. Finally, the network could extract joint spectral–spatial–temporal features and it preserved the spatial structure during the learning process through the fully convolutional structure. This study was the first to use a 3D FCN and a ConvLSTM for the remote-sensing CD. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed CD method, we performed binary and multi-class CD experiments. Results revealed that the Re3FCN outperformed the other conventional methods, such as change vector analysis, iteratively reweighted multivariate alteration detection, PCA-SCA, FCN, and the combination of 2D convolutional layers-fully connected LSTM.
Methodology for Participatory GIS Risk Mapping and Citizen Science for Solotvyno Salt Mines
Authors: Onencan Abby Muricho , Meesters Kenny , Van de Walle Bartel
Published: November 2018

The Horizon 2020 interim evaluation (2017) indicates a steep increase in citizen engagement in European Union Citizen Science (CS) projects, with less than 1% in budgetary terms and minimal influence. Research findings attribute weak CS influence to the restriction of citizen actions to data collection, with minimal or no engagement in co-design, co-creation, data analysis, and elucidation of results. We design a participatory GIS and CS methodology aimed at engaging the citizens in the entire Earth Observation (EO) project cycle. The methodology also seeks to address previous CS project challenges related to data quality, data interoperability, citizen-motivation, and participation. We draw the high-level requirements from the SENDAI framework of action and the three pillars of active citizen engagement, as enshrined in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and the Aarhus Convention. The primary input of the methodology is the Haklay (2018) approach for participatory mapping and CS, and the Reed (2009) stakeholder analysis framework. The proposed methodology comprises of three main parts: system analysis, stakeholder analysis, and a six-step methodology. We designed the six-step methodology using an iterative and flexible approach, to take account of unforeseen changes. Future research will focus on implementing the methodology and evaluating its effectiveness in the Solotvyno Saltmine case study in Ukraine.
Hybrid Camera Array-Based UAV Auto-Landing on Moving UGV in GPS-Denied Environment
Authors: Yang Tao , Ren Qiang , Zhang Fangbing , Xie Bolin , Ren Hailei , Li Jing , Zhang Yanning
Published: November 2018

With the rapid development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems, the autonomous landing of a UAV on a moving Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) has received extensive attention as a key technology. At present, this technology is confronted with such problems as operating in GPS-denied environments, a low accuracy of target location, the poor precision of the relative motion estimation, delayed control responses, slow processing speeds, and poor stability. To address these issues, we present a hybrid camera array-based autonomous landing UAV that can land on a moving UGV in a GPS-denied environment. We first built a UAV autonomous landing system with a hybrid camera array comprising a fisheye lens camera and a stereo camera. Then, we integrated a wide Field of View (FOV) and depth imaging for locating the UGV accurately. In addition, we employed a state estimation algorithm based on motion compensation for establishing the motion state of the ground moving UGV, including its actual motion direction and speed. Thereafter, according to the characteristics of the designed system, we derived a nonlinear controller based on the UGV motion state to ensure that the UGV and UAV maintain the same motion state, which allows autonomous landing. Finally, to evaluate the performance of the proposed system, we carried out a large number of simulations in AirSim and conducted real-world experiments. Through the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the experimental results, as well as the analysis of the time performance, we verified that the autonomous landing performance of the system in the GPS-denied environment is effective and robust.
Developing an Ensemble Precipitation Algorithm from Satellite Products and Its Topographical and Seasonal Evaluations Over Pakistan
Authors: Rahman Khalil Ur , Shang Songhao , Shahid Muhammad , Li Jiang
Published: November 2018

Accurate estimation of precipitation is critical for hydrological, meteorological, and climate models. This study evaluates the performance of satellite-based precipitation products (SPPs) including Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)-based Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA 3B43-v7), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely-Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Network (PERSIANN), and PERSIANN-CDR (Climate Data Record), over Pakistan based on Surface Precipitation Gauges (SPGs) at spatial and temporal scales. A novel ensemble precipitation (EP) algorithm is developed by selecting the two best SPPs using the Paired Sample t-test and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The SPPs and EP algorithm are evaluated over five climate zones (ranging from glacial Zone-A to hyper-arid Zone-E) based on six statistical metrics. The result indicated that IMERG outperformed all other SPPs, but still has considerable overestimation in the highly elevated zones (+20.93 mm/month in Zone-A) and relatively small underestimation in the arid zone (−2.85 mm/month in Zone-E). Based on the seasonal evaluation, IMERG and TMPA overestimated precipitation during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons while underestimating precipitation during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. However, the developed EP algorithm significantly reduced the errors both on spatial and temporal scales. The only limitation of the EP algorithm is relatively poor performance at high elevation as compared to low elevations.
A Noise-Resilient Online Learning Algorithm for Scene Classification
Authors: Jian Ling , Gao Fuhao , Ren Peng , Song Yunquan , Luo Shihua
Published: November 2018

The proliferation of remote sensing imagery motivates a surge of research interest in image processing such as feature extraction and scene recognition, etc. Among them, scene recognition (classification) is a typical learning task that focuses on exploiting annotated images to infer the category of an unlabeled image. Existing scene classification algorithms predominantly focus on static data and are designed to learn discriminant information from clean data. They, however, suffer from two major shortcomings, i.e., the noisy label may negatively affect the learning procedure and learning from scratch may lead to a huge computational burden. Thus, they are not able to handle large-scale remote sensing images, in terms of both recognition accuracy and computational cost. To address this problem, in the paper, we propose a noise-resilient online classification algorithm, which is scalable and robust to noisy labels. Specifically, ramp loss is employed as loss function to alleviate the negative affect of noisy labels, and we iteratively optimize the decision function in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space under the framework of Online Gradient Descent (OGD). Experiments on both synthetic and real-world data sets demonstrate that the proposed noise-resilient online classification algorithm is more robust and sparser than state-of-the-art online classification algorithms.
Retrieval of the Fine-Mode Aerosol Optical Depth over East China Using a Grouped Residual Error Sorting (GRES) Method from Multi-Angle and Polarized Satellite Data
Authors: Zhang Yang , Li Zhengqiang , Liu Zhihong , Zhang Juan , Qie Lili , Xie Yisong , Hou Weizhen , Wang Yongqian , Ye Zhixiang
Published: November 2018

The fine-mode aerosol optical depth (AODf) is an important parameter for the environment and climate change study, which mainly represents the anthropogenic aerosols component. The Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from a Lidar (PARASOL) instrument can detect polarized signal from multi-angle observation and the polarized signal mainly comes from the radiation contribution of the fine-mode aerosols, which provides an opportunity to obtain AODf directly. However, the currently operational algorithm of Laboratoire d’Optique Atmosphérique (LOA) has a poor AODf retrieval accuracy over East China on high aerosol loading days. This study focused on solving this issue and proposed a grouped residual error sorting (GRES) method to determine the optimal aerosol model in AODf retrieval using the traditional look-up table (LUT) approach and then the AODf retrieval accuracy over East China was improved. The comparisons between the GRES retrieved and the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) ground-based AODf at Beijing, Xianghe, Taihu and Hong_Kong_PolyU sites produced high correlation coefficients (r) of 0.900, 0.933, 0.957 and 0.968, respectively. The comparisons of the GRES retrieved AODf and PARASOL AODf product with those of the AERONET observations produced a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.054 versus 0.104 on high aerosol loading days (AERONET mean AODf at 865 nm = 0.283). An application using the GRES method for total AOD (AODt) retrieval also showed a good expandability for multi-angle aerosol retrieval of this method.
Using Landsat-8 Images for Quantifying Suspended Sediment Concentration in Red River (Northern Vietnam)
Authors: Pham Quang Vinh , Ha Nguyen Thi Thu , Pahlevan Nima , Oanh La Thi , Nguyen Thanh Binh , Nguyen Ngoc Thang
Published: November 2018

Analyzing the trends in the spatial distribution of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in riverine surface water enables better understanding of the hydromorphological properties of its watersheds and the associated processes. Thus, it is critical to identify an appropriate method to quantify spatio-temporal variability in SSC. This study aims to estimate SSC in a highly turbid river, i.e., the Red River in Northern Vietnam, using Landsat 8 (L8) images. To do so, in situ radiometric data together with SSC at 60 sites along the river were measured on two different dates during the dry and wet seasons. Analyses of the in situ data indicated strong correlations between SSC and the band-ratio of green and red channels, i.e., r-squared = 0.75 and a root mean square error of ~0.3 mg/L. Using a subsample of in situ radiometric data (n = 30) collected near-concurrently with one L8 image, four different atmospheric correction methods were evaluated. Although none of the methods provided reasonable water-leaving reflectance spectra (ρw), it was found that the band-ratio of the green-red ratio is less sensitive to uncertainties in the atmospheric correction for mapping SSC compared to individual bands. Therefore, due to its ease of access, standard L8 land surface reflectance products available via U.S. Geological Survey web portals were utilized. With the empirical relationship derived, we produced Landsat-derived SSC distribution maps for a few images collected in wet and dry seasons within the 2013–2017 period. Analyses of image products suggest that (a) the Thao River is the most significant source amongst the three major tributaries (Lo, Da and Thao rivers) providing suspended load to the Red River, and (b) the suspended load in the rainy season is nearly twice larger than that in the dry season, and it correlates highly with the runoff (correlation coefficient = 0.85). Although it is demonstrated that the atmospheric correction in tropical areas over these sediment-rich waters present major challenges in the retrievals of water-leaving reflectance spectra, the study signifies the utility of band-ratio techniques for quantifying SSC in highly turbid river waters. With Sentinel-2A/B data products combined with those of Landsat-8, it would be possible to capture temporal variability in major river systems in the near future.
Time-resolved universal temperature measurements using NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ upconverting nanoparticles in an electrospray jet
Authors: Shrestha Kristina , Alaulamie Arwa A , Miandashti Ali Rafiei , Richardson Hugh H
Published: November 2018

Hexagonal upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) of NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ (ca. 300 nm) have been widely used to measure the temperature at the nanoscale using luminescence ratio thermometry. However, several factors limit their applications. For example, changes in the peak shape, mainly is the S-band emission, hinders their ability to be used as a universal temperature sensor. Herein, we introduce a universal calibration protocol for NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ upconverting nanoparticles that is robust to environmental changes and gives a precise temperature measurement. We used this new procedure to calculate the temperature profile inside a Taylor cone generated with an electrospray jet. Inside the Taylor cone the fluid velocity increases toward the tip of the cone. A constant acquisition length leads to a decrease in excitation and acquisition time. This decrease in excitation time causes a peak shape change that corrupts the temperature measurement if the entire peak shape is integrated in the calibration. Our universal calibration circumvents this problem and can be used for time-resolved applications. The temperature at the end of the Taylor cone increases due to the creation of a whispering gallery mode cavity with 980 nm excitation. We use time-resolved energy balance equations to support our optical temperature measurements inside the Taylor cone. We believe that the findings of this paper provide a foundation for time-resolved temperature measurements using NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ upconverting nanoparticles and can be used to understand temperature-dependent reactions such as protein unfolding inside microjet/microdroplets and microfluidic systems.
Protein–protein interactions in bacteria: a promising and challenging avenue towards the discovery of new antibiotics
Authors: Carro Laura
Published: November 2018

Antibiotics are potent pharmacological weapons against bacterial infections; however, the growing antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is compromising the efficacy of the currently available pharmacotherapies. Even though antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem, antibiotic development has failed to match the growth of resistant pathogens and hence, it is highly critical to discover new anti-infective drugs with novel mechanisms of action which will help reducing the burden of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) are involved in a myriad of vital cellular processes and have become an attractive target to treat diseases. Therefore, targeting PPI networks in bacteria may offer a new and unconventional point of intervention to develop novel anti-infective drugs which can combat the ever-increasing rate of multidrug-resistant bacteria. This review describes the progress achieved towards the discovery of molecules that disrupt PPI systems in bacteria for which inhibitors have been identified and whose targets could represent an alternative lead discovery strategy to obtain new anti-infective molecules.
Transgenerational Response to Heat Stress in the Form of Differential Expression of Noncoding RNA Fragments in Brassica rapa Plants
Authors: Byeon Boseon , Bilichak Andriy , Kovalchuk Igor
Published: November 2018

Epigenetic regulations in the form of changes in differential expression of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are an essential mechanism of stress response in plants. Previously we showed that heat treatment in Brassica rapa L. results in the differential processing and accumulation of ncRNA fragments (ncRFs) stemming from transfer RNAs (tRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). In this work, we analyzed whether ncRFs are differentially expressed in the progeny of heat‐stressed plants. We found significant changes in the size of tRF reads and a significant decrease in the percentage of tRFs mapping to tRNA‐Ala, tRNA‐Arg, and tRNA‐Tyr and an increase in tRFs mapping to tRNA‐Asp. The enrichment analysis showed significant differences in processing of tRFs from tRNAAla(AGC), tRNAAla(UGC), tRNAArg(UGC), tRNAThr(UGU), tRNAPseudo(UCC), and tRNAVal(CAC) isoacceptors. Analysis of potential targets of tRFs showed that they regulate brassinosteroid metabolism, the proton pump ATPase activity, the antiporter activity, the mRNA decay activity as well as nucleosome positioning and the epigenetic regulation of transgenerational response. Gene ontology term analysis of potential targets demonstrated a significant enrichment in tRFs that potentially targeted a cellular component endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and in small nucleolar RNA fragments (snoRFs), the molecular function protein binding. To summarize, our work demonstrated that the progeny of heat‐stressed Brassica rapa plants exhibit changes in the expression of tRFs and snoRFs but not of small nuclear RNA fragments (snRFs) or ribosomal RNA fragments (rRFs) and these changes likely better prepare the progeny of stressed plants to future stress encounters.
A High‐Resolution Map of Wheat QYr.ucw‐1BL, an Adult Plant Stripe Rust Resistance Locus in the Same Chromosomal Region as Yr29
Authors: Cobo Nicolas , Wanjugi Humphrey , Lagudah Evans , Dubcovsky Jorge
Published: November 2018

The appearance of highly virulent and more aggressive races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) during the last two decades has led to stripe rust epidemics worldwide and to the rapid erosion of effective resistance genes. In this study, we mapped an adult‐plant resistance locus from the Argentinean wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Klein Chajá, which is effective against these new Pst races. By using wheat exome capture data and a large population of 2480 segregating plants (4960 gametes), we mapped QYr.ucw‐1BL within a 0.24‐cM region [332 kb in International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) RefSeq version 1.0] on chromosome arm 1BL. This region overlaps with current maps of the adult‐plant Pst resistance gene Yr29, which has remained effective for more than 60 yr. An allelism test failed to find recombination between QYr.ucw‐1BL and Yr29 and yielded similar resistance phenotypes for the two loci. These results, together with similar haplotypes in the candidate region, suggested that QYr.ucw‐1BL and Yr29 might represent the same gene. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of tightly linked but different genes because most of the 13 genes in the candidate region are annotated with functions associated with disease resistance. To evaluate their potential as QYr.ucw‐1BL/Yr29 candidate genes, we characterized their polymorphisms between resistant and susceptible haplotypes. Finally, we used these polymorphisms to develop high‐throughput markers to accelerate the deployment of these Pst resistance loci in wheat breeding programs.
ON APPROXIMATION OF ANALYTIC FUNCTIONS BY PERIODIC HURWITZ ZETA-FUNCTIONS
Authors: Siaučiūnas Darius , Franckevič Violeta , Laurinčikas Antanas
Published: November 2018

The periodic Hurwitz zeta-function ζ(s, α; a), s = σ +it, with parameter 0 < α ≤ 1 and periodic sequence of complex numbers a = {am } is defined, for σ > 1, by series sum from m=0 to ∞ am / (m+α)s, and can be continued moromorphically to the whole complex plane. It is known that the function ζ(s, α; a) with transcendental orrational α is universal, i.e., its shifts ζ(s + iτ, α; a) approximate all analytic functions defined in the strip D = { s ∈ C : 1/2 σ < 1. In the paper, it is proved that, for all 0 < α ≤ 1 and a, there exists a non-empty closed set Fα,a of analytic functions on D such that every function f ∈ Fα,a can be approximated by shifts ζ(s + iτ, α; a).
ON DISCRETE VALUE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN COMPOSITIONS
Authors: Garbaliauskienė Virginija , Karaliūnaitė Julija , Macaitienė Renata
Published: November 2018

In the paper, we obtain universality theorems and a lower estimate for the number of zeros for the composition F ζ (s, α; a, b) , where F is an operator in the space of analytic functions satisfying the Lipschitz type condition, and ζ (s, α; a, b) is a collection consisting of periodic and periodic Hurwitz zeta-functions.
A MAXIMUM PRINCIPLE FOR A FRACTIONAL BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM WITH CONVECTION TERM AND APPLICATIONS
Authors: Al-Refai Mohammed , Pal Kamal
Published: November 2018

We consider a fractional boundary value problem with Caputo-Fabrizio fractional derivative of order 1 < α < 2 We prove a maximum principle for a general linear fractional boundary value problem. The proof is based on an estimate of the fractional derivative at extreme points and under certain assumption on the boundary conditions. A prior norm estimate of solutions of the linear fractional boundary value problem and a uniqueness result of the nonlinear problem have been established. Several comparison principles are derived for the linear and nonlinear fractional problems.
Serendipitous X-Ray Sources in the Chandra HRC Field around Alpha Centauri
Authors: Ayres Thomas R.
Published: November 2018

For more than a decade, Alpha Centauri AB (G2 V+K1 V) has been observed by Chandra, in a long-term program to follow coronal (T ∼ 106 K) activity cycles of the two sunlike stars. Over 2008.4–2017.8, 19 HRC-I exposures were taken, each about 10 ks in duration, and spaced about six months apart. Beyond monitoring the AB X-ray luminosities, the HRC-I sequence represents a unique decadal record of the dozen, or so, serendipitous X-ray sources in the α Cen field, which is at low Galactic latitude and thus dominated by nearby stars. For the present study, the 10 brightest candidates were considered. Only a handful of these were persistent; most were variable, some highly so, flaring in a few epochs, weak or absent in the others. All 10 X-ray sources have Gaia objects within about 2″; mostly late-type dwarfs, but a few giants. However, two of the proposed optical counterparts have statistically significant offsets, and possible conflicts between the X-ray and optical properties. Another of the candidates brightened by a factor of 100 in X-rays during a single exposure, briefly attaining super-flare status. The Gaia counterpart is anomalously blue for its absolute G-magnitude and likely is a WD+dM pair. To the extent that the low Galactic latitude field is representative, the Chandra time-domain view emphasizes that the high-energy stellar sky is biased toward transient sources, so any snapshot survey surely will miss many of the most interesting objects.
Evidence for a Circumsolar Dust Ring Near Mercury’s Orbit
Authors: Stenborg Guillermo , Stauffer Johnathan R. , Howard Russell A.
Published: November 2018

To test a technique to be used on the white-light imager onboard the recently launched Parker Solar Probe mission, we performed a numerical differentiation of the brightness profiles along the photometric axis of the F-corona models that are derived from STEREO Ahead Sun Earth Connection Heliospheric Investigation observations recorded with the HI-1 instrument between 2007 December and 2014 March. We found a consistent pattern in the derivatives that can be observed from any S/C longitude between about 18° and 23° elongation with a maximum at about 21°. These findings indicate the presence of a circumsolar dust density enhancement that peaks at about 23° elongation. A straightforward integration of the excess signal in the derivative space indicates that the brightness increase over the background F-corona is on the order of 1.5%–2.5%, which implies an excess dust density of about 3%–5% at the center of the ring. This study has also revealed (1) a large-scale azimuthal modulation of the inner boundary of the pattern, which is in clear association with Mercury’s orbit; and (2) a localized modulation of the inner boundary that is attributable to the dust trail of Comet 2P/Encke, which occurs near ecliptic longitudes corresponding to the crossing of Encke’s and Mercury’s orbital paths. Moreover, evidence of dust near the S/C in two restricted ranges of ecliptic longitudes has also been revealed by this technique, which is attributable to the dust trails of (1) comet 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 3, and (2) 169P/NEAT.
Toward a Measurement of the Transverse Peculiar Velocity of Galaxy Pairs
Authors: Truebenbach Alexandra E. , Darling Jeremy
Published: November 2018

The transverse peculiar velocities caused by the mass distribution of large-scale structure (LSS) provide a test of the theoretical matter power spectrum and the cosmological parameters that contribute to its shape. Typically, the matter density distribution of the nearby universe is measured through redshift or line-of-sight peculiar velocity surveys. However, both methods require model-dependent distance measures to place the galaxies or to differentiate peculiar velocity from the Hubble expansion. In this paper, we use the correlated proper motions of galaxy pairs from the VLBA Extragalactic Proper Motion Catalog to place limits on the transverse peculiar velocity of galaxy pairs with comoving separations <1500 Mpc without a reliance on precise distance measurements. The relative proper motions of galaxy pairs across the line of sight can be directly translated into relative peculiar velocities because no proper motion will occur in a homogeneous expansion. We place a 3σ limit on the relative proper motion of pairs with comoving separations <100 Mpc of −17.4 μas yr

μas yr−1. We also confirm that large-separation objects (>200 Mpc) are consistent with pure Hubble expansion to within ∼5.3 μas yr−1 (1σ). Finally, we predict that Gaia end-of-mission proper motions will be able to significantly detect the mass distribution of LSS on length scales <25 Mpc. This future detection will allow a test of the shape of the theoretical mass power spectrum without a reliance on precise distance measurements.
A new Gymnopus species with rhizomorphs and its record as nesting material by birds (Tyrannidae) in the subtropical cloud forest from eastern Mexico
Authors: César Enrique , Bandala Victor M. , Montoya Leticia , Ramos Antero
Published: November 2018

A new species of Gymnopus is described on the basis of collections from the subtropical cloud forest of eastern Mexico. Macro- and micromorphological characters, in combination with ITS sequences obtained from fruit body tissues, were used for its taxonomic circumscription. Basidiomata of this species were found growing scattered on fallen twigs of Quercus and also developing abundant long, black, wiry rhizomorphs. The authors discovered that these latter are used as part of nesting material by Myonectesoleaginous (Tyrannidae) inhabiting the subtropical cloud forest studied. A macro- and microscopical description as well as a discussion and illustrations are provided. A new combination in Gymnopus is proposed for Marasmiuswestii, a synonym of Marasmiusbrevipes.
WebSite Canvas Model: propuesta de un modelo visual para la ideación estratégica de sitios web
Authors: Sanabre Carles , Pedraza-Jiménez Rafael , Codina Lluís
Published: November 2018

A partir del denominado Canvas Model, se propone un modelo para la ideación estratégica de sitios web. Consiste en una herramienta visual, que hemos denominado WebSite Canvas Model, que permite identificar los aspectos clave de la estrategia de un sitio web, representándolos de forma sintetizada en un lienzo o canvas. En este trabajo se describen los apartados que componen nuestra propuesta, y se testea su utilización mediante su aplicación a dos casos de uso reales. Se concluye que esta herramienta puede ofrecer a los responsables de la concepción de un sitio web un instrumento eficiente para identificar, debatir y consensuar las características que el sitio web debe tener para lograr sus objetivos. Igualmente, puede complementar otras herramientas de análisis heurístico de sitios web, siendo una herramienta útil tanto para profesionales como para académicos que utilicen sistemas heurísticos en sus estudios.
La misión en las bibliotecas nacionales europeas. Análisis y pertinencia
Authors: Pacios Ana R. , Pérez-Píriz María Pilar
Published: November 2018

El trabajo analiza la misión publicada de 28 bibliotecas nacionales europeas en sus sedes web. El objetivo es descubrir el grado de implantación y difusión de esta declaración que define la naturaleza esencial de una organización, así como los puntos de confluencia/divergencia entre ellas. La metodogía comprendió la búsqueda y exploración de la declaración de la misión en las sedes web de las 49 bibliotecas nacionales europeas, su análisis, atendiendo a criterios de ubicación y presencia de rasgos propuestos por expertos para su redacción y, por último, la valoración de los resultados. El análisis realizado denota un claro interés de las bibliotecas nacionales por difundir su misión que, en la mayoría de los casos, da respuesta a los aspectos más relevantes de su función, lo que no se traduce siempre en la pertinencia del contenido y forma en su redacción. La convergencia que más peso tiene en el conjunto de declaraciones tiene que ver con la salvaguarda del patrimonio, su conservación y preservación.
བྱིས་ པའི་ མནོལ་ སྐྲ་ ལེན་ པའི་ སྐོར་ གྱི་ ངོ་ སྤྲོད་ ཆེ་ ལོང་ ཙམ།
Authors: Noyontsang Lhamokyab
Published: November 2018

In Amdo (north-eastern Tibet), the ceremony called “the removal of the impure hair” refers to the first cutting of a child’s hair. It is performed when a child enters his/her third year (according to the Tibetan count, i.e. roughly two years in the Western count) and it aims at removing all impurity (drip [grib]) originating from the mother’s womb, an impurity which is said to have impregnated the child's hair. It also marks the collective celebration of the child's joining the ranks of humans and it is conceived as heralding a bright future for the child. This ceremony, its unfolding, participants, and symbolic dimensions, are described in detail in this ethnographic article, based upon the author's own lived experience and interviews.
« La bru Gemotsang s’est fait teindre en blond »
Authors: Robin Françoise
Published: November 2018

Cet article explore la manière dont une lecture attentive de la littérature tibétaine contemporaine permet de rendre compte des évolutions de la chevelure féminine et, partant, des bouleversements socio-économiques qui touchent les jeunes femmes tibétaines aujourd’hui. En examinant un poème, « La bru Gemotsang s’est fait teindre en blond » de Chen Metak (2012), on voit comment le thème apparemment anodin de la coloration des cheveux d’une jeune femme partie en ville provoque un effet de sidération sur les habitants d’un village. En miroir de ces évolutions telles qu’elles sont perçues par les écrivains hommes, quelques écrits d’intellectuelles tibétaines sont également convoqués, qui appellent à un questionnement des normes capillaires traditionnelles imposées aux femmes, les associant à des symboles invisibles mais puissants de subordination.
“The Body Hair that Grows on the Head”
Authors: Dondrup Donyol , Makley Charlene
Published: November 2018

In this chapter, we introduce readers to the Amdo Tibetan comedian, poet and performance artist Menla-kyap [sMan bla skyabs] through a translation of his 2009 autobiographical narrative, “Views on Hair and Hairstyles.” The Introduction section provides a broader context for Menla-kyap's life and times as well as a reading guide for this enigmatic piece. The translation is carefully annotated, yet attempts to stay as close as possible, formally and poetically, to the original text. Ultimately, we argue that the piece speaks not only to Menla-kyap's life but also to his critical views on all Tibetans' complex experiences of Chinese state rule since the 1960s.
Tras la pista de Europa: una aproximación a las narrativas posnacionales de Stefan Zweig y José Ortega y Gasset
Authors: Fontanals David
Published: November 2018

Las trayectorias vitales y artísticas de Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) y José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) orbitan parcialmente alrededor de los mismos temas, ideas y proyectos. Su vocación europeísta, su creencia en la figura del intelectual y, por encima de ambas, su compromiso como escritores, nos invitan a analizar e interpretar su legado de forma conjunta. Partiendo de estas premisas, en primer lugar, exploraremos cómo ambos pensadores construyen su persona pública a partir de la figura del intelectual. En segundo lugar, expondremos y analizaremos sus proyectos para Europa, entendida como solución ante la decadencia moral de Occidente, el nacionalismo, y los conflictos bélicos que la asolan en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Por último, realizaremos una lectura conjunta de sus respectivos legados desde nuestra actualidad, con el objetivo de valorar las posibilidades que nos ofrecen para la construcción de la Europa del futuro.