bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of Exercise on Patients with Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Systematic Review
Authors: Simatos Arsenault Nicholas , Vincent Pierre-Olivier , Yu Bai He Shen , Bastien Robin , Sweeney Aaron
Published: September 2016

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on improving physical outcomes in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Methods: The PubMed database was searched for articles published up to and including February 2015. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), case reports, and quasi-experimental and single-subject designs published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals that assessed the impact of physical exercise on patients with GBS were included; study quality was assessed using Sackett's rules of evidence. Data are presented qualitatively and quantitatively using numerical values and percentages. Results: Seven articles were included in the systematic review. One RCT showed that high-intensity relative to lower intensity exercise significantly reduced disability in patients with GBS, as measured with the FIM (p<0.005, r=0.71). Overall, various types of exercise programmes improve physical outcomes such as functional mobility, cardiopulmonary function, isokinetic muscle strength, and work rate and reduce fatigue in patients with GBS. Conclusion: Because of insufficient high-quality literature, making confident conclusions about the effects of exercise interventions on physical outcomes in patients with GBS is not possible. Future research should consider using higher quality study designs to confirm the results outlined in this article.
Washington State Short-Line Railroads: Case Study in Meeting 21st-Century Demands with 19th-Century Infrastructure
Authors: Sage Jeremy , Eustice J. Bradley , Casavant Ken , Herman Chris
Published: September 2016

Following the Staggers Act of 1980, the Class I railroads in Washington State abandoned nearly 2,000 mi of rail line, as similar events occurred throughout the country. This abandonment generated the opportunity for the creation of many short-line railroads on branch and light-density lines. Recognition of the degree of deferred maintenance throughout the country has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Many short lines have not been upgraded to meet the standards and conditions required for modern freight rail load limits (286,000 lb per car) and frequently rely on century-old rail lines. Through in-depth interviews of short-line operators and owners, this paper finds that more than 55% (740 mi) of all current short-line miles within Washington State are unable to handle 286,000-lb railcars efficiently, putting those operators and owners at an increasing economic disadvantage. Overcoming this deficiency and bringing the state’s short-line system to Class II operating status will require infrastructure investments in excess of $600 million. The annual need throughout the state exceeds the current funding capabilities of most lines through their own revenue streams and public support, even if considered over a 20-year planning horizon. To put the effects of deferred maintenance in perspective, three short-line case studies illustrate the private and public benefits of investment in the short-line railroad system to ensure that short lines remain viable operations.
Timetable Optimization for High-Speed Rail with Multiple Operating Periods: Solving Method Based on a Framework of Lagrangian Relaxation Decomposition
Authors: Zhou Wenliang , Yang Xia
Published: September 2016

By aiming to provide high-speed rail (HSR) passengers with travel convenience in the regularity of train operation, this research is devoted to optimizing a novel type of multiperiod train timetable in which trains operating with the same stop stations, speeds, and headways are classified into one period type. Moreover, trains with different period types have various operating periods on the HSR system. First, the authors propose an optimization model with the aim of minimizing the total travel times of all trains and then further reformulate the model on the basis of a weighted digraph. Through the period type–based decomposition to the reformulated model with Lagrangian relaxation, a solving algorithm that includes a multiflow shortest-path searching algorithm is designed for optimizing the multiperiod train timetable and obtaining a lower bound of the objective to evaluate its quality. Numerical examples illustrate that the solving algorithm has a good convergence and can obtain a satisfactory feasible solution with a small gap between the upper and lower bounds of the objective values.
Bigger and Different: Beginning to Understand the Role of High-Speed Rail in Developing China’s Future Supercities
Authors: Wu Qiyan , Perl Anthony , Sun Jingwei
Published: September 2016

The development of high-speed rail (HSR) is transforming the landscape of China by enabling new forms of urban and regional expansion. Some of these spatial and economic effects mirror past experience with HSR infrastructure in Japan and Western Europe. But the scale of China’s HSR infrastructure and its role in providing that country’s intercity mobility are sufficiently greater than previous HSR development that new spatial effects can be expected. This paper takes the first step in explaining this transformation by creating an analytical framework to differentiate three modes of spatial development that can be associated with distinct configurations of HSR operation in China. An initial assessment of these transportation development genres is offered, and an agenda for future research into the catalytic role of HSR in China’s development of supercities with more than 130 million people is presented.
Research into Integrity of Glazing for Passenger Rail Equipment
Authors: Gordon Jeffrey , Llana Patricia , Severson Kristine , Tyrell David
Published: September 2016

This research into the integrity of glazing is spurred by recent accidents, including the commuter train derailment in Spuyten Duyvil, New York, on December 1, 2013. Four passengers were fatally injured in that accident. All four fatalities were attributed to ejection through window openings. Results of the accident investigation indicate that the rubber gaskets holding the window panes in place pulled out when the cars slid on their sides after leaving the track. The windows were pushed inside the cars and created openings that allowed occupants to be ejected. After its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a recommendation for more-effective passenger containment by glazing systems in derailments. In addition to functioning as windows, glazing systems are also expected to be impact resistant, to provide emergency egress and emergency access, to be fire resistant, and to provide occupant containment. Research activities include assessing the performance of current glazing systems in meeting all expectations, especially occupant containment, developing modifications for improving safety performance, and comparing the performance of conventional and modified glazing systems. The objective of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) research into the integrity of glazing is to describe comprehensively all the engineering requirements placed on glazing systems and to develop effective strategies for balancing all the safety demands. The integrity of glazing is one of many research topics on the crashworthiness of rail equipment and is conducted by FRA in coordination with other topics, such as the integrity of the side structures of passenger equipment and the protection of occupants.
Computable copies of ℓp
Authors: McNicholl Timothy H.
Published: September 2016

Suppose p is a computable real so that [Formula: see text]. It is shown that the halting set can compute a surjective linear isometry between any two computable copies of [Formula: see text]. It is also shown that this result is optimal in that when [Formula: see text] there are two computable copies of [Formula: see text] with the property that any oracle that computes a linear isometry of one onto the other must also compute the halting set. Thus, [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]-categorical and is computably categorical if and only if [Formula: see text]. It is also demonstrated that there is a computably categorical Banach space that is not a Hilbert space. These results hold in both the real and complex case.
Dimension, pseudorandomness and extraction of pseudorandomness
Authors: Agrawal Manindra , Chakraborty Diptarka , Das Debarati , Nandakumar Satyadev
Published: September 2016

In this paper we propose a quantification of ensemble of distributions on a set of strings, in terms of how close to pseudorandom a distribution is. The quantification is an adaptation of the theory of dimension of sets of infinite sequences introduced by Lutz. Adapting Hitchcock’s work, we also show that the logarithmic loss incurred by a predictor on an ensemble of distributions is quantitatively equivalent to the notion of dimension we define. Roughly, this captures the equivalence between pseudorandomness defined via indistinguishability and via unpredictability. Later we show some natural properties of our notion of dimension. We also do a comparative study among our proposed notion of dimension and two well known notions of computational analogue of entropy, namely HILL-type pseudo min-entropy and next-bit pseudo Shannon entropy.

Further, we apply our quantification to the following problem. If we know that the dimension of an ensemble of distributions on the set of n-length strings is [Formula: see text], can we extract out [Formula: see text] pseudorandom bits out of the distribution? We show that to construct such extractor, one needs at least [Formula: see text] bits of pure randomness. However, it is still open to do the same using [Formula: see text] random bits. We show that deterministic extraction is possible in a special case – analogous to the bit-fixing sources introduced by Chor et al., which we term nonpseudorandom bit-fixing source. We adapt the techniques of Gabizon, Raz and Shaltiel to construct a deterministic pseudorandom extractor for this source.

By the end, we make a little progress towards P vs. BPP problem by showing that existence of optimal stretching function that stretches [Formula: see text] input bits to produce n output bits such that output distribution has dimension [Formula: see text], implies [Formula: see text].
Coloring the rationals in reverse mathematics
Authors: Frittaion Emanuele , Patey Ludovic
Published: September 2016

Ramsey’s theorem for pairs asserts that every 2-coloring of the pairs of integers has an infinite monochromatic subset. In this paper, we study a strengthening of Ramsey’s theorem for pairs due to Erdős and Rado, which states that every 2-coloring of the pairs of rationals has either an infinite 0-homogeneous set or a 1-homogeneous set of order type η, where  η is the order type of the rationals. This theorem is a natural candidate to lie strictly between the arithmetic comprehension axiom and Ramsey’s theorem for pairs. This Erdős–Rado theorem, like the tree theorem for pairs, belongs to a family of Ramsey-type statements whose logical strength remains a challenge.
Design strategy of the practical flat ∞ coil
Authors: Hyuga Takahiro , Ishikawa Naoto , Saito Yoshifuru , Marinova Iliana , Ohuch Manabu , Kojima Takaharu
Published: September 2016

Previously we have succeeded in exploiting a new high sensibility eddy current testing (ECT) sensor called the infinite (∞) coil. Operating principle of this ∞ coil is that two adjacent coils constructing the north and south poles alternatively set a zero magnetic potential region and keep the same situation when eddy currents are flowing along the paths in parallel to the exciting coils. If the eddy currents could not flow the paths in parallel to the exciting coil on the test specimen, then a zero magnetic potential region between the two exciting coil moves toward the other position. This means that a sensing coil located at a mid position of two exciting coil is possible to detect the disturbed magnetic fields, i.e., the defect in the test specimen could be detected from the sensing coil signal. In the present paper, consideration of the practical flat/film ∞ coil design leads to an employment of the two rectangular shape exciting coils. Practical experiments and 3D FEM simulations verify the validity of our practical design policy of the flat/film ∞ coil.
Analysis and measurement of damping characteristics of linear generator
Authors: Adachi Takahito , Takahara Kenji
Published: September 2016

The purpose of this study is to analyse and to measure damping characteristics of a linear generator. The linear generator can convert any mechanical vibration to electric power. The damping characteristics of the linear generator change due to the changes of the connected resistance. Therefore, a linear generator can be used as a controllable damper. The viscous damping coefficients were calculated by a finite element method. The prototype linear generator was produced based on the simulation and its damping characteristics were measured. It was confirmed that the viscous damping coefficient was controlled by PWM signal. Furthermore, the charging characteristics were measured when it mover was driven by constant vibration of amplitude 30 [mm] and frequency 3 [Hz]. It was conceivable that the proposed linear generator can be used as a generator or a controllable damper as necessary.
Design of an image-based fuzzy controller for autonomous parking of four-wheeled mobile robots
Authors: Aye Yin Yin , Watanabe Keigo , Maeyama Shoichi , Nagai Isaku
Published: September 2016

This paper develops an automatic parking system for a car-like mobile robot using image-based control, where the robot equipped with a single camera detects a rectangular parking frame drawn on the floor. The desired target line to be followed by the robot is produced by using Hough transform from a captured image, together with thresholding and Canny edge detector. The fuzzy controller is designed with a reasoning mechanism composed of two inputs, which are the gradient and intercept of the target line, and one output that is the steering angle of the robot. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through some experimental results with an actual mobile robot.
Impedance characteristics analysis for high-sensitive position sensor
Authors: Yang Seung-Ho , Hirata Katsuhiro , Ota Tomohiro , Kawase Yoshihiro
Published: September 2016

In order to design a contactless position sensor using coil impedance, the sensitivity and the linearity of impedance characteristics against the displacement are required. It therefore is very important to clarify the factors which affect the performance of position sensor. In this paper, the effects of components (core, coil and shield case) of position sensor on the impedance sensitivity are calculated by means of the experimental design method and the results are reported.
Information flow analysis for a dynamically typed language with staged metaprogramming
Authors: Lester Martin , Ong Luke , Schäfer Max
Published: September 2016

Web applications written in JavaScript are regularly used for dealing with sensitive or personal data. Consequently, reasoning about their security properties has become an important problem, which is made very difficult by the highly dynamic nature of the language, particularly its support for runtime code generation via eval. In order to deal with this, we propose to investigate security analyses for languages with more principled forms of dynamic code generation.

To this end, we present a static information flow analysis for a dynamically typed functional language with prototype-based inheritance and staged metaprogramming. We prove its soundness, implement it and test it on various examples designed to show its relevance to proving security properties, such as noninterference, in JavaScript. To demonstrate the applicability of the analysis, we also present a general method for transforming a program using eval into one using staged metaprogramming.

To our knowledge, this is the first fully static information flow analysis for a language with staged metaprogramming, and the first formal soundness proof of a CFA-based information flow analysis for a functional programming language.
Direct integration of the inverse Radon equation for X-ray computed tomography
Authors: Libin E.E. , Chakhlov S.V. , Trinca D.
Published: September 2016

A new mathematical appoach using the inverse Radon equation for restoration of images in problems of linear two-dimensional x-ray tomography is formulated. In this approach, Fourier transformation is not used, and it gives the chance to create the practical computing algorithms having more reliable mathematical substantiation. Results of software implementation show that for especially for low number of projections, the described approach performs better than standard X-ray tomographic reconstruction algorithms.
Liver acquisition with acceleration volume acquisition gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance combined with T2 sequences in the diagnosis of local recurrence of rectal cancer
Authors: Cao Wuteng , Li Fangqian , Gong Jiaying , Liu Dechao , Deng Yanhong , Kang Liang , Zhou Zhiyang
Published: September 2016

To investigate the efficacy of liver acquisition with acceleration volume acquisition (LAVA) gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) sequences and to assess its added accuracy in diagnosing local recurrence (LR) of rectal cancer with conventional T2-weighted fast spin echo (FSE) sequences. Pelvic MRI, including T2-weighted FSE sequences, gadolinium-enhanced sequences of LAVA and T1-weighted FSE with fat suppression, was performed on 225 patients with postoperative rectal cancer. Two readers evaluated the presence of LR according to “T2” (T2 sequences only), “T2 + LAVA-Gad” (LAVA and T2 imaging), and “T2 + T1-fs-Gad” (T1 fat suppression-enhanced sequence with T2 images). To evaluate diagnostic efficiency, imaging quality with LAVA and T1-fs-Gad by subjective scores and the signal intensity (SI) ratio. In the result, the SI ratio of LAVA was significantly higher than that of T1-fs-Gad ( p = 0.0001). The diagnostic efficiency of “T2 + LAVA-Gad” was better than that of “T2 + T1-fs-Gad” ( p = 0.0016 for Reader 1, p = 0.0001 for Reader 2) and T2 imaging only ( p = 0.0001 for Reader 1; p = 0.0001 for Reader 2). Therefore, LAVA gadolinium-enhanced MR increases the accuracy of diagnosis of LR from rectal cancer and could replace conventional T1 gadolinium-enhanced sequences in the postoperative pelvic follow-up of rectal cancer.
Disparities found in perception of symptoms between patients and oncology team
Authors: Barton Mary Kay
Published: September 2016

Key Points

The prevalence and importance of pain and fatigue in patients with cancer continue to be underestimated by oncology physicians and nurses.

Clinicians need to assess symptoms of fatigue and pain carefully at each encounter.

An increased awareness of patient‐reported outcomes and education for HCPs is needed to improve patients' QOL.
Sustainable and Inclusive Food Systems through the Lenses of a Complex System Thinking Approach—A Bibliometric Review
Authors: Monasterolo Irene , Pasqualino Roberto , Janetos Anthony , Jones Aled
Published: September 2016

The multidimensionality and complexity of assuring food security in a sustainable and inclusive way requires us to think in systems. Yet, sector specific models or agricultural productivity models are not able by construction to represent the non-linearity and time-dependent nature of the relations underpinning the agri-food system. Two alternative modelling approaches, i.e., System Dynamics (SD) and Agent Based Models (ABM), gained increasing attention in particular after the food commodities prices spikes in 2007 thanks to the conceptual and structural advantages that they provide to the study of food system complexity. In this paper, we develop a first, rigorous bibliometric analysis based on pattern recognition analysis reviewing the peer review journal publications focused on agri-food systems. Using the ISIWeb of Science dataset provided by Thomson Reuters, we apply citation/co-citation semantic metrics to analyse publications from 1970 to 2016 in the field of agricultural models divided in two categories that we define as: (i) agricultural complex systems modelling (ACSM) that includes SD and ABM modelling exercised; and (ii) agricultural modelling (AM) that includes traditional approaches to agri-food systems modelling rooted on the neoclassical approach (e.g., Computable General Equilibrium Models and Partial Equilibrium Models). The publications are identified by applying a filter of specific keywords to the search. We then compare how both approaches appear in the literature looking at the number of publications and citations by scientific journals, identifying key authors and journals, their frequency, the impact factor and citations, and looking at their trend through time. Results show the prevalence of AM approaches for the analysis of the agri-food sector on one side, and the smaller but growing contribution of the ACSM community and literature on the other. We conclude by remarking the need for more systematic analyses on the contribution of the two approaches to the analysis of the complex dynamics and behaviour of agri-food systems to inform evidence-based policies for sustainable and inclusive agriculture.
Bayesian Dependence Tests for Continuous, Binary and Mixed Continuous-Binary Variables
Authors: Benavoli Alessio , De Campos Cassio
Published: September 2016

Tests for dependence of continuous, discrete and mixed continuous-discrete variables are ubiquitous in science. The goal of this paper is to derive Bayesian alternatives to frequentist null hypothesis significance tests for dependence. In particular, we will present three Bayesian tests for dependence of binary, continuous and mixed variables. These tests are nonparametric and based on the Dirichlet Process, which allows us to use the same prior model for all of them. Therefore, the tests are “consistent” among each other, in the sense that the probabilities that variables are dependent computed with these tests are commensurable across the different types of variables being tested. By means of simulations with artificial data, we show the effectiveness of the new tests.
Assessment of Biogas Plant Firms by Application of Annual Accounts and Financial Data Analysis Approach
Authors: Iotti Mattia , Bonazzi Giuseppe
Published: September 2016

Firms operating biogas plants are often characterized by making significant investments in fixed assets financed by equity and, mainly, financial debt. These firms have experienced significant growth in Italy, partly as a result of public contributions. The objective of the research is to analyze the management of biogas plant firms by analyzing annual accounts as the main document of use to third parties for the evaluation of a firm’s management. The research, conducted on a sample of 22 firms using 110 year-data, has highlighted that economic and financial margins are different, though often statistically correlated. The research shows that profitability and cash generation in the biogas plant industry are high, even if the generation of cash flow is less than the return on equity, and there are firm cases of having difficulty in financial debt repayment, even in the presence of positive economic margins. The research also shows that return on equity greatly exceeds the performance of Italian government bonds and of the majority of industrial sectors; this result points to the significant increase in returns on equity capital in the industry, potentially damaging other sectors, and highlighting the risk of the distortive use of public resources.
Numerical Simulation of the Depressurization Process of a Natural Gas Hydrate Reservoir: An Attempt at Optimization of Field Operational Factors with Multiple Wells in a Real 3D Geological Model
Authors: Sun Zhixue , Xin Ying , Sun Qiang , Ma Ruolong , Zhang Jianguang , Lv Shuhuan , Cai Mingyu , Wang Haoxuan
Published: September 2016

Natural gas hydrates, crystalline solids whose gas molecules are so compressed that they are denser than a typical fluid hydrocarbon, have extensive applications in the areas of climate change and the energy crisis. The hydrate deposit located in the Shenhu Area on the continental slope of the South China Sea is regarded as the most promising target for gas hydrate exploration in China. Samples taken at drilling site SH2 have indicated a high abundance of methane hydrate reserves in clay sediments. In the last few decades, with its relatively low energy cost, the depressurization gas recovery method has been generally regarded as technically feasible and the most promising one. For the purpose of a better acquaintance with the feasible field operational factors and processes which control the production behavior of a real 3D geological CH4-hydrate deposit, it is urgent to figure out the effects of the parameters such as well type, well spacing, bottom hole pressure, and perforation intervals on methane recovery. One years’ numerical simulation results show that under the condition of 3000 kPa constant bottom hole pressure, 1000 m well spacing, perforation in higher intervals and with one horizontal well, the daily peak gas rate can reach 4325.02 m3 and the cumulative gas volume is 1.291 × 106 m3. What’s more, some new knowledge and its explanation of the curve tendency and evolution for the production process are provided. Technically, one factor at a time design (OFAT) and an orthogonal design were used in the simulation to investigate which factors dominate the productivity ability and which is the most sensitive one. The results indicated that the order of effects of the factors on gas yield was perforation interval > bottom hole pressure > well spacing.
Operation Cost Minimization of Droop-Controlled AC Microgrids Using Multiagent-Based Distributed Control
Authors: Li Chendan , Savaghebi Mehdi , Guerrero Josep , Coelho Ernane , Vasquez Juan
Published: September 2016

Recently, microgrids are attracting increasing research interest as promising technologies to integrate renewable energy resources into the distribution system. Although many works have been done on droop control applied to microgrids, they mainly focus on achieving proportional power sharing based on the power rating of the power converters. With various primary source for the distributed generator (DG), factors that are closely related to the operation cost, such as fuel cost of the generators and losses should be taken into account in order to improve the efficiency of the whole system. In this paper, a multiagent-based distributed method is proposed to minimize the operation cost in AC microgrids. In the microgrid, each DG is acting as an agent which regulates the power individually using a novel power regulation method based on frequency scheduling. An optimal power command is obtained through carefully designed consensus algorithm by using sparse communication links only among neighbouring agents. Experimental results for different cases verified that the proposed control strategy can effectively reduce the operation cost.
Smart City Services over a Future Internet Platform Based on Internet of Things and Cloud: The Smart Parking Case
Authors: Lanza Jorge , Sánchez Luis , Gutiérrez Verónica , Galache José , Santana Juan , Sotres Pablo , Muñoz Luis
Published: September 2016

Enhancing the effectiveness of city services and assisting on a more sustainable development of cities are two of the crucial drivers of the smart city concept. This paper portrays a field trial that leverages an internet of things (IoT) platform intended for bringing value to existing and future smart city infrastructures. The paper highlights how IoT creates the basis permitting integration of current vertical city services into an all-encompassing system, which opens new horizons for the progress of the effectiveness and sustainability of our cities. Additionally, the paper describes a field trial on provisioning of real time data about available parking places both indoor and outdoor. The trial has been carried out at Santander’s (Spain) downtown area. The trial takes advantage of both available open data sets as well as of a large-scale IoT infrastructure. The trial is a showcase on how added-value services can be created on top of the proposed architecture.
Full-Waveform Airborne Laser Scanning in Vegetation Studies—A Review of Point Cloud and Waveform Features for Tree Species Classification
Authors: Koenig Kristina , Höfle Bernhard
Published: September 2016

In recent years, small-footprint full-waveform airborne laser scanning has become readily available and established for vegetation studies in the fields of forestry, agriculture and urban studies. Independent of the field of application and the derived final product, each study uses features to classify a target object and to assess its characteristics (e.g., tree species). These laser scanning features describe an observable characteristic of the returned laser signal (e.g., signal amplitude) or a quantity of an object (e.g., height-width ratio of the tree crown). In particular, studies dealing with tree species classification apply a variety of such features as input. However, an extensive overview, categorization and comparison of features from full-waveform airborne laser scanning and how they relate to specific tree species are still missing. This review identifies frequently used full-waveform airborne laser scanning-based point cloud and waveform features for tree species classification and compares the applied features and their characteristics for specific tree species detection. Furthermore, limiting and influencing factors on feature characteristics and tree classification are discussed with respect to vegetation structure, data acquisition and processing.
Biodegradation of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether by Co-Metabolism with a Pseudomonas sp. Strain
Authors: Li Shanshan , Wang Shan , Yan Wei
Published: September 2016

Co-metabolic bioremediation is supposed to be an impressive and promising approach in the elimination technology of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), which was found to be a common pollutant worldwide in the ground or underground water in recent years. In this paper, bacterial strain DZ13 (which can co-metabolically degrade MTBE) was isolated and named as Pseudomonas sp. DZ13 based on the result of 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Strain DZ13 could grow on n-alkanes (C5-C8), accompanied with the co-metabolic degradation of MTBE. Diverse n-alkanes with different carbon number showed a significant influence on the degradation rate of MTBE and accumulation of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA). When Pseudomonas sp. DZ13 co-metabolically degraded MTBE with n-pentane as the growth substrate, a higher MTBE-degrading rate (Vmax = 38.1 nmol/min/mgprotein, Ks = 6.8 mmol/L) and lower TBA-accumulation was observed. In the continuous degradation experiment, the removal efficiency of MTBE by Pseudomonas sp. Strain DZ13 did not show an obvious decrease after five times of continuous addition.
Predicting Avian Influenza Co-Infection with H5N1 and H9N2 in Northern Egypt
Authors: Young Sean , Carrel Margaret , Malanson George , Ali Mohamed , Kayali Ghazi
Published: September 2016

Human outbreaks with avian influenza have been, so far, constrained by poor viral adaptation to non-avian hosts. This could be overcome via co-infection, whereby two strains share genetic material, allowing new hybrid strains to emerge. Identifying areas where co-infection is most likely can help target spaces for increased surveillance. Ecological niche modeling using remotely-sensed data can be used for this purpose. H5N1 and H9N2 influenza subtypes are endemic in Egyptian poultry. From 2006 to 2015, over 20,000 poultry and wild birds were tested at farms and live bird markets. Using ecological niche modeling we identified environmental, behavioral, and population characteristics of H5N1 and H9N2 niches within Egypt. Niches differed markedly by subtype. The subtype niches were combined to model co-infection potential with known occurrences used for validation. The distance to live bird markets was a strong predictor of co-infection. Using only single-subtype influenza outbreaks and publicly available ecological data, we identified areas of co-infection potential with high accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) 0.991).
Current Status of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Human Breast Cancer
Authors: Cerk Stefanie , Schwarzenbacher Daniela , Adiprasito Jan , Stotz Michael , Hutterer Georg , Gerger Armin , Ling Hui , Calin George , Pichler Martin
Published: September 2016

Breast cancer represents a major health burden in Europe and North America, as recently published data report breast cancer as the second leading cause of cancer related death in women worldwide. Breast cancer is regarded as a highly heterogeneous disease in terms of clinical course and biological behavior and can be divided into several molecular subtypes, with different prognosis and treatment responses. The discovery of numerous non-coding RNAs has dramatically changed our understanding of cell biology, especially the pathophysiology of cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein-coding transcripts >200 nucleotides in length. Several studies have demonstrated their role as key regulators of gene expression, cell biology and carcinogenesis. Deregulated expression levels of lncRNAs have been observed in various types of cancers including breast cancer. lncRNAs are involved in cancer initiation, progression, and metastases. In this review, we summarize the recent literature to highlight the current status of this class of long non-coding lncRNAs in breast cancer.
Drug, Herb, and Dietary Supplement Hepatotoxicity
Authors: Teschke Rolf , Andrade Raúl
Published: September 2016

The past decade has witnessed drugs, herbs, and dietary supplements share the common feature of potential liver injury in a few susceptible individuals.[...]
The Ultimaster Biodegradable-Polymer Sirolimus-Eluting Stent: An Updated Review of Clinical Evidence
Authors: Chisari Alberto , Pistritto Anna , Piccolo Raffaele , La Manna Alessio , Danzi Gian
Published: September 2016

The Ultimaster coronary stent system (Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) represents a new iteration in drug-eluting stent (DES) technology that has recently received the Conformité Européenne (CE) mark approval for clinical use. The Ultimaster is a thin-strut, cobalt chromium, biodegradable-polymer, sirolimus-eluting coronary stent. The high elasticity of the biodegradable-polymer (PDLLA-PCL) and the abluminal gradient coating technology are additional novel features of this coronary device. The Ultimaster DES has undergone extensive clinical evaluation in two studies: The CENTURY I and II trials. Results from these two landmark studies suggested an excellent efficacy and safety profile of the Ultimaster DES across several lesion and patient subsets, with similar clinical outcomes to contemporary, new-generation DES. The aim of this review is to summarize the rationale behind this novel DES technology and to provide an update of available evidence about the clinical performance of the Ultimaster DES.
Advancement of Compositional and Microstructural Design of Intermetallic γ-TiAl Based Alloys Determined by Atom Probe Tomography
Authors: Klein Thomas , Clemens Helmut , Mayer Svea
Published: September 2016

Advanced intermetallic alloys based on the γ-TiAl phase have become widely regarded as most promising candidates to replace heavier Ni-base superalloys as materials for high-temperature structural components, due to their facilitating properties of high creep and oxidation resistance in combination with a low density. Particularly, recently developed alloying concepts based on a β-solidification pathway, such as the so-called TNM alloy, which are already incorporated in aircraft engines, have emerged offering the advantage of being processible using near-conventional methods and the option to attain balanced mechanical properties via subsequent heat-treatment. Development trends for the improvement of alloying concepts, especially dealing with issues regarding alloying element distribution, nano-scale phase characterization, phase stability, and phase formation mechanisms demand the utilization of high-resolution techniques, mainly due to the multi-phase nature of advanced TiAl alloys. Atom probe tomography (APT) offers unique possibilities of characterizing chemical compositions with a high spatial resolution and has, therefore, been widely used in recent years with the aim of understanding the materials constitution and appearing basic phenomena on the atomic scale and applying these findings to alloy development. This review, thus, aims at summarizing scientific works regarding the application of atom probe tomography towards the understanding and further development of intermetallic TiAl alloys.
A Mathematical Model on the Resolution of Extrusion Bioprinting for the Development of New Bioinks
Authors: Suntornnond Ratima , Tan Edgar , An Jia , Chua Chee
Published: September 2016

Pneumatic extrusion-based bioprinting is a recent and interesting technology that is very useful for biomedical applications. However, many process parameters in the bioprinter need to be fully understood in order to print at an adequate resolution. In this paper, a simple yet accurate mathematical model to predict the printed width of a continuous hydrogel line is proposed, in which the resolution is expressed as a function of nozzle size, pressure, and printing speed. A thermo-responsive hydrogel, pluronic F127, is used to validate the model predictions. This model could provide a platform for future correlation studies on pneumatic extrusion-based bioprinting as well as for developing new bioink formulations.
Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers Reinforced by Tannic Acid/Fe+++ Complexes
Authors: Yang Weiqiao , Sousa Ana , Thomas-Gahring Audrey , Fan Xuetong , Jin Tony , Li Xihong , Tomasula Peggy , Liu LinShu
Published: September 2016

We report the successful preparation of reinforced electrospun nanofibers and fibrous mats of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via a simple and inexpensive method using stable tannic acid (TA) and ferric ion (Fe+++) assemblies formed by solution mixing and pH adjustment. Changes in solution pH change the number of TA galloyl groups attached to the Fe+++ from one (pH < 2) to two (3 < pH < 6) to three (pH < 7.4) and affect the interactions between PVA and TA. At pH ~ 5.5, the morphology and fiber diameter size (FDS) examined by SEM are determinant for the mechanical properties of the fibrous mats and depend on the PVA content. At an optimal 8 wt % concentration, PVA becomes fully entangled and forms uniform nanofibers with smaller FDS (p < 0.05) and improved mechanical properties when compared to mats of PVA alone and of PVA with TA (p < 0.05). Changes in solution pH lead to beads formation, more irregular FDS and poorer mechanical properties (p < 0.05). The Fe+++ inclusion does not alter the oxidation activity of TA (p > 0.05) suggesting the potential of TA-Fe+++ assemblies to reinforce polymer nanofibers with high functionality for use in diverse applications including food, biomedical and pharmaceutical.
Fabrication of Biomass-Derived Carbon Aerogels with High Adsorption of Oils and Organic Solvents: Effect of Hydrothermal and Post-Pyrolysis Processes
Authors: Yin Aishu , Xu Feng , Zhang Xueming
Published: September 2016

Biomass is the most plentiful and well-utilized renewable carbon resource on the earth. Direct conversion of biomass to carbon aerogel provides a promising approach to develop adsorbent materials. In the present work, the effect of presence of water during hydrothermal treatment and holding temperature during post-pyrolysis process have been investigated for the preparation of carbon aerogels (CAs) using eggplant as raw material. The results showed that the addition of water during hydrothermal treatment was advantageous for the preparation of CA samples with higher surface area and stronger hydrophobicity, resulting in superior adsorption capacities of CAs for both oil and organic solvents compared with that fabricated without the presence of water. The optimized carbon aerogel possessed higher specific surface of 249 m2·g−1 and exhibited excellent hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 133°. The adsorption capacities of carbon aerogel for oils and organic solvents could reach 35–45 times its own weight. In addition, the adsorbed oil and organic solvents could be recovered by distillation, and the regenerated carbon aerogels samples exhibited the stable performance and outstanding reusability. Therefore, the carbon aerogel has great potential in application of oil recovery and environmental protection.
Resonance Spectrum Characteristics of Effective Electromechanical Coupling Coefficient of High-Overtone Bulk Acoustic Resonator
Authors: Li Jian , Liu Mengwei , Wang Chenghao
Published: September 2016

A high-overtone bulk acoustic resonator (HBAR) consisting of a piezoelectric film with two electrodes on a substrate exhibits a high quality factor (Q) and multi-mode resonance spectrum. By analyzing the influences of each layer’s material and structure (thickness) parameters on the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (Keff2), the resonance spectrum characteristics of Keff2 have been investigated systematically, and the optimal design of HBAR has been provided. Besides, a device, corresponding to one of the theoretical cases studied, is fabricated and evaluated. The experimental results are basically consistent with the theoretical results. Finally, the effects of Keff2 on the function of the crystal oscillators constructed with HBARs are proposed. The crystal oscillators can operate in more modes and have a larger frequency hopping bandwidth by using the HBARs with a larger Keff2·Q.
Operation of Droplet-Microfluidic Devices with a Lab Centrifuge
Authors: Ahmed Noorsher , Sukovich David , Abate Adam
Published: September 2016

Microfluidic devices are valuable for a variety of biotechnology applications, such as synthesizing biochemical libraries, screening enzymes, and analyzing single cells. However, normally, the devices are controlled using specialized pumps, which require expert knowledge to operate. Here, we demonstrate operation of poly(dimethylsiloxane) devices without pumps. We build a scaffold that holds the device and reagents to be infused in a format that can be inserted into a 50 mL falcon tube and spun in a common lab centrifuge. By controlling the device design and centrifuge spin speed, we infuse the reagents at controlled flow rates. We demonstrate the encapsulation and culture of clonal colonies of red and green Escherichia coli in droplets seeded from single cells.
Synthesis Approaches to (−)-Cytoxazone, a Novel Cytokine Modulator, and Related Structures
Authors: Miranda Izabel , Lopes Ítala , Diaz Marisa , Diaz Gaspar
Published: September 2016

(−)-Cytoxazone, originally isolated from cultures of a Streptomyces species has an oxazolidin-2-one 4,5-disubstituted ring. It is known that this natural product presents a cytokine modulator effect through the signaling pathway of Th2 cells (type 2 cytokines), which are involved in the process of growth and differentiation of cells. From this, the interest in the development of research aimed at the total synthesis of this molecule and its analogs has remained high, which can be confirmed by the large number of publications on the topic, more than 30 to date. This review focuses on the various creative methods for the synthesis of (−)-cytoxazone and its congeners. The assessment of the preparation of this oxazolidinone and related structures serves as a treatise on the efforts made in the synthesis of this important class of compound from its first total synthesis in 1999.
Molecular Encapsulation of Histamine H2-Receptor Antagonists by Cucurbit[7]Uril: An Experimental and Computational Study
Authors: Yin Hang , Wang Runmiao , Wan Jianbo , Zheng Ying , Ouyang Defang , Wang Ruibing
Published: September 2016

The histamine H2-receptor antagonists cimetidine, famotidine and nizatidine are individually encapsulated by macrocyclic cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), with binding affinities of 6.57 (±0.19) × 103 M−1, 1.30 (±0.27) × 104 M−1 and 1.05 (±0.33) × 105 M−1, respectively. These 1:1 host-guest inclusion complexes have been experimentally examined by 1H-NMR, UV-visible spectroscopic titrations (including Job plots), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), as well as theoretically by molecular dynamics (MD) computation. This study may provide important insights on the supramolecular formulation of H2-receptor antagonist drugs for potentially enhanced stability and controlled release based on different binding strengths of these host-guest complexes.
Structural Features of Alkaline Extracted Polysaccharide from the Seeds of Plantago asiatica L. and Its Rheological Properties
Authors: Yin Jun-Yi , Chen Hai-Hong , Lin Hui-Xia , Xie Ming-Yong , Nie Shao-Ping
Published: September 2016

Polysaccharide from the seeds of Plantago asiatica L. has many bioactivities, but few papers report on the structural and rheological characteristics of the alkaline extract. The alkaline extracted polysaccharide was prepared from seeds of P. asiatica L. and named herein as alkaline extracted polysaccharide from seeds of P. asiatica L. (PLAP). Its structural and rheological properties were characterized by monosaccharide composition, methylation, GC-MS and rheometry. PLAP, as an acidic arabinoxylan, was mainly composed of 1,2,4-linked Xylp and 1,3,4-linked Xylp residues. PLAP solution showed pseudoplastic behavior, and weak gelling properties at high concentration. Sodium and especially calcium ions played a significant role in increasing the apparent viscosity and gel strength.
Stereoselective Reduction of Imines with Trichlorosilane Using Solid-Supported Chiral Picolinamides
Authors: Fernandes Sílvia , Porta Riccardo , Barrulas Pedro , Puglisi Alessandra , Burke Anthony , Benaglia Maurizio
Published: September 2016

The stereoselective reduction of imines with trichlorosilane catalyzed by chiral Lewis bases is a well-established procedure for the synthesis of enantio-enriched amines. Five supported cinchona-based picolinamides have been prepared and their activity tested in a model reaction. The comparison of different supporting materials revealed that polystyrene gave better results than silica in terms of stereoselectivity. The applicability of the solid-supported catalyst of choice to the reduction of different imines was also demonstrated. Additionally, for the first time, a catalytic reactor containing a polymer-immobilized chiral picolinamide has been employed for the stereoselective reduction of imines with trichlorosilane under continuous flow conditions.