bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intrinsically active MEK variants are differentially regulated by proteinases and phosphatases
Authors: Ordan Merav , Pallara Chiara , Maik-Rachline Galia , Hanoch Tamar , Gervasio Francesco Luigi , Glaser Fabian , Fernandez-Recio Juan , Seger Rony
Published: August 2018

MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) 1/2 are central signaling proteins that serve as specificity determinants of the MAPK/ERK cascade. More than twenty activating mutations have been reported for MEK1/2, and many of them are known to cause diseases such as cancers, arteriovenous malformation and RASopathies. Changes in their intrinsic activity do not seem to correlate with the severity of the diseases. Here we studied four MEK1/2 mutations using biochemical and molecular dynamic methods. Although the studied mutants elevated the activating phosphorylation of MEK they had no effect on the stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Studying the regulatory mechanism that may explain this lack of effect, we found that one type of mutation affects MEK stability and two types of mutations demonstrate a reduced sensitivity to PP2A. Together, our results indicate that some MEK mutations exert their function not only by their elevated intrinsic activity, but also by modulation of regulatory elements such as protein stability or dephosphorylation.
Reduced post-operative DPP4 activity associated with worse patient outcome after cardiac surgery
Authors: Noels Heidi , Theelen Wendy , Sternkopf Marieke , Jankowski Vera , Moellmann Julia , Kraemer Sandra , Lehrke Michael , Marx Nikolaus , Martin Lukas , Marx Gernot , Jankowski Joachim , Goetzenich Andreas , Stoppe Christian
Published: August 2018

Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) triggers myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury contributing to organ dysfunction. Preclinical studies revealed that dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP4) inhibition is protective during myocardial infarction. Here, we assessed for the first time the relation of peri-operative DPP4-activity in serum of 46 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with patients’ post-operative organ dysfunction during intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Whereas a prior myocardial infarction significantly reduced pre-operative DDP4-activity, patients with preserved left ventricular function showed an intra-operative decrease of DPP4-activity. The latter correlated with aortic cross clamping time, indicative for the duration of surgery-induced myocardial ischemia. As underlying mechanism, mass-spectrometry revealed increased DPP4 oxidation by cardiac surgery, with DPP4 oxidation reducing DPP4-activityin vitro. Further, post-operative DPP4-activity was negatively correlated with the extent of post-operative organ injury as measured by SAPS II and SOFA scoring, circulating levels of creatinine and lactate, as well as patients’ stay on the ICU. In conclusion, cardiac surgery reduces DPP4-activity through oxidation, with low post-operative DPP4-activity being associated with organ dysfunction and worse outcome of patients during the post-operative ICU stay. This likely reflects the severity of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and may suggest potential beneficial effects of anti-oxidative treatments during cardiac surgery.
Understanding of MoS2/GaN Heterojunction Diode and its Photodetection Properties
Authors: Moun Monika , Kumar Mukesh , Garg Manjari , Pathak Ravi , Singh Rajendra
Published: August 2018

Fabrication of heterojunction between 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and gallium nitride (GaN) and its photodetection properties have been reported in the present work. Surface potential mapping at the MoS2/GaN heterojunction is done using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy to measure the conduction band offset. Current-voltage measurements show a diode like behavior of the heterojunction. The origin of diode like behavior is attributed to unique type II band alignment of the heterojunction. The photocurrent, photoresponsivity and detectivity of the heterojunction are found to be dependent on power density of the light. Photoresponse investigations reveal that the heterojunction is highly sensitive to 405 nm laser with very high responsivity up to 105 A/W. The heterojunction also shows very high detectivity of the order of 1014 Jones. Moreover, the device shows photoresponse in UV region also. These observations suggest that MoS2/GaN heterojunction can have great potential for photodetection applications.
The potency of the broad spectrum bacteriocin, bactofencin A, against staphylococci is highly dependent on primary structure, N-terminal charge and disulphide formation
Authors: O’ Connor Paula M. , O’ Shea Eileen F. , Cotter Paul D. , Hill Colin , Ross R. Paul
Published: August 2018

Bactofencin A is a novel class IId bacteriocin, produced by the intestinal isolate Lactobacillus salivarius DPC6502, which has potent activity against medically significant pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus. This bacteriocin is unusual in that it has a highly cationic N terminus and a single disulfide bond between Cys7 and Cys22, resulting in a large C terminal loop. In this study, a library of synthetic bactofencin A variants were screened against the mastitis isolate, S. aureus DPC5246, to identify key residues responsible for activity. It was apparent that substituting either cysteine of the disulfide bond with either serine or alanine significantly reduced the activity of the bacteriocin, confirming the importance of the C terminal loop. Substituting N terminal amino acids with alanine had no effect on activity, whereas sequential removal of the N terminal positively charged residues resulted in an increasingly inactive peptide. A complete (synthetic) alanine scanning analysis revealed that the residues between Val9 and Gly17 were most affected by substitution suggesting that this area has a major influence on the potency of the bacteriocin. Substituting residues in the loop region between Cys7 and Cys22 for D-amino acid equivalents had a more detrimental effect on activity than L-alanine substitutions. Specifically Y10A, N11A, P15A and T16A are active at 4, 16, 1 and 16 μM respectively while their D equivalents were inactive at 1000 μM, the highest concentration tested. Ultimately, this study identifies the critical features in the primary structure of the bacteriocin which gives it such potent activity against pathogenic staphylococci.
Charged giant unilamellar vesicles prepared by electroformation exhibit nanotubes and transbilayer lipid asymmetry
Authors: Steinkühler Jan , De Tillieux Philippe , Knorr Roland L. , Lipowsky Reinhard , Dimova Rumiana
Published: August 2018

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are increasingly used as a versatile research tool to investigate membrane structure, morphology and phase state. In these studies, GUV preparation is typically enhanced by an externally applied electric field, a process called electroformation. We find that upon osmotic deflation, GUVs electroformed from charged and neutral lipids exhibit inward pointing lipid nanotubes, suggesting negative spontaneous curvature of the membrane. By quenching a fluorescent analog of the charged lipid, zeta potential measurements and experiments with the lipid marker annexin A5, we show that electroformed GUVs exhibit an asymmetric lipid distribution across the bilayer leaflets. The asymmetry is lost either after storing electroformed GUVs at room temperature for one day or by applying higher voltages and temperatures during electroformation. GUVs having the same lipid composition but grown via gel-assisted swelling do not show asymmetric lipid distribution. We discuss possible mechanisms for the generation and relaxation of lipid asymmetry, as well as implications for studies using electroformed vesicles. The observed effects allow to control the molecular assembly of lipid bilayer leaflets. Vesicle tubulation as reported here is an example of protein-free reshaping of membranes and is caused by compositional lipid asymmetry between leaflets.
The atypical cyclin CNTD2 promotes colon cancer cell proliferation and migration
Authors: Sánchez-Botet Abril , Gasa Laura , Quandt Eva , Hernández-Ortega Sara , Jiménez Javier , Mezquita Pau , Carrasco-García Miquel Àngel , Kron Stephen J. , Vidal August , Villanueva Alberto , Ribeiro Mariana P. C. , Clotet Josep
Published: August 2018

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, with 8–10% of these tumours presenting a BRAF (V600E) mutation. Cyclins are known oncogenes deregulated in many cancers, but the role of the new subfamily of atypical cyclins remains elusive. Here we have performed a systematic analysis of the protein expression levels of eight atypical cyclins in human CRC tumours and several cell lines, and found that CNTD2 is significantly upregulated in CRC tissue compared to the adjacent normal one. CNTD2 overexpression in CRC cell lines increases their proliferation capacity and migration, as well as spheroid formation capacity and anchorage-independent growth. Moreover, CNTD2 increases tumour growth in vivo on xenograft models of CRC with wild-type BRAF. Accordingly, CNTD2 downregulation significantly diminished the proliferation of wild-type BRAF CRC cells, suggesting that CNTD2 may represent a new prognostic factor and a promising drug target in the management of CRC.
Fat perception in the human frontal operculum, insular and somatosensory cortex
Authors: Wistehube Thomas , Rullmann Michael , Wiacek Claudia , Braun Peggy , Pleger Burkhard
Published: August 2018

Here, we combined magnetic resonance imaging with lesion-symptom mapping in patients with chronic brain lesions to investigate brain representations of sugar and fat perception. Patients and healthy controls rated chocolate milkshakes that only differed in sugar or fat content. As compared to controls, patients showed an impaired fat, but not sugar perception. Impairments in fat perception overlapped with the anterior insula and frontal operculum, together assumed to underpin gustatory processing. We also identified the mid-dorsal insula as well as the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex - regions previously assumed to integrate oral-sensory inputs. These findings suggest that fat perception involves a specific set of brain regions that were previously reported to underpin gustatory processing and oral-sensory integration processes.
Light-responsive bicyclic peptides
Authors: Jafari Mohammad R. , Yu Hongtao , Wickware Jessica M. , Lin Yu-Shan , Derda Ratmir
Published: August 2018

In this paper, we describe a method for the synthesis of light-responsive (LR) bicyclic macrocycles from linear peptides composed of 20 natural amino acids.
An up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow assay for point-of-collection detection of morphine and methamphetamine in saliva
Authors: Hu Qiushi , Wei Qiaozhen , Zhang Pingping , Li Shuang , Xue Lei , Yang Ruifu , Wang Chengbin , Zhou Lei
Published: August 2018

Rapid and quantitative detection of morphine and methamphetamine in saliva with high sensitivity and accuracy by an UPT-LFA.
A multiplex paper-based nanobiocatalytic system for simultaneous determination of glucose and uric acid in whole blood
Authors: Huang Jin , Zhu Xue-Li , Wang Yu-Min , Ge Jian-Hui , Liu Jin-Wen , Jiang Jian-Hui
Published: August 2018

In this work, a versatile point-of-care assay platform based on a microfluidic paper-based analytic device (μPAD) was developed for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets.
A strategy to facilitate the assembly of DNA and upconversion nanoparticles for biosensor construction
Authors: Han Yuping , Shen Lin , Li Zhen , Liu Zhihong
Published: August 2018

We coated upconversion nanoparticles with polydopamine as an effective and convenient strategy to assemble them with DNA and therefore construct a biosensor with DNA-templated silver nanoparticles as the LRET donor–acceptor pair for a proof-of-concept target detection.
Compositional inhomogeneity and tuneable thermal expansion in mixed-metal ZIF-8 analogues
Authors: Sapnik Adam F. , Geddes Harry S. , Reynolds Emily M. , Yeung Hamish H.-M. , Goodwin Andrew L.
Published: August 2018

We study the structural and thermomechanical effects of cation substitution in the compositional family of metal–organic frameworks Zn1−xCdx(mIm)2 (HmIm = 2-methylimidazole).
Amphiphile self-assembly dynamics at the solution-solid interface reveal asymmetry in head/tail desorption
Authors: Castillo Henry D. , Espinosa-Duran John M. , Dobscha James R. , Ashley Daniel C. , Debnath Sibali , Hirsch Brandon E. , Schrecke Samantha R. , Baik Mu-Hyun , Ortoleva Peter J. , Raghavachari Krishnan , Flood Amar H. , Tait Steven L.
Published: August 2018

Asymmetric dynamics in fundamental adsorption and desorption steps drive self-assembly at solution/solid interface.
Diels–Alder reactions of “in situ” generated perfluorinated thioketones
Authors: Petrov Viacheslav , Marchione Alexander A. , Dooley Rebecca
Published: August 2018

A simple and general procedure for the preparation of Diels–Alder adducts of perfluorinated thioketones and various dienes is reported.
Doping-free circularly polarized electroluminescence of AIE-active chiral binaphthyl-based polymers
Authors: Yang Lan , Zhang Yu , Zhang Xueyan , Li Nengquan , Quan Yiwu , Cheng Yixiang
Published: August 2018

AIE-active chiral polymer enantiomers (S-/R-P) can emit green circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL) with gEL up to 0.024.
Design and synthesis of galactose-conjugated fluorinated and non-fluorinated proline oligomers: towards antifreeze molecules
Authors: Sumii Yuji , Hibino Hayata , Saidalimu Ibrayim , Kawahara Hidehisa , Shibata Norio
Published: August 2018

Galactose-conjugated fluorinated and non-fluorinated proline oligomers were synthesized and evaluated as antifreeze molecules.
Na4Ca(CO3)3: a novel carbonate analog of borate optical materials
Authors: Rashchenko Sergey V. , Shatskiy Anton F. , Arefiev Anton V. , Seryotkin Yurii V. , Litasov Konstantin D.
Published: August 2018

Carbonate optical materials currently attract a lot of interest as an unexplored alternative to borate ones.
Switching isotropic and anisotropic graphene growth in a solid source CVD system
Authors: Paudel Jaisi Balaram , Sharma Kamal P. , Sharma Subash , Mahyavanshi Rakesh D. , Kalita Golap , Tanemura Masaki
Published: August 2018

Controlling the flow rate of carrier gases tunes the mode of growth from anisotropic to isotropic along with enlarging the crystal size.
Pressure increases the ice-like order of water at hydrophobic interfaces
Authors: Hölzl Christoph , Horinek Dominik
Published: August 2018

Ice-like order of water at hydrophobic interfaces is quantified on different length scales based on molecular dynamics simulations.
Interband transitions in closed-shell vacancy containing graphene quantum dots complexed with heavy metals
Authors: Shtepliuk Ivan , Yakimova Rositsa
Published: August 2018

High-performance optical detection of toxic heavy metals by using graphene quantum dots (GQDs) requires a strong interaction between the metals and GQDs, which can be reached through artificial creation of vacancy-type defects in GQDs.
Solvation and hydrogen bonding aided efficient non-radiative deactivation of polar excited state of 5-aminoquinoline
Authors: Singh Avinash Kumar , Das Sharmistha , Karmakar Abhoy , Kumar Anuj , Datta Anindya
Published: August 2018

The mechanism of efficient fluorescence quenching of 5-aminoquinoline in alcoholic solvents.
Borophene's tryst with stability: exploring 2D hydrogen boride as an electrode for rechargeable batteries
Authors: Shukla Vivekanand , Araujo Rafael B. , Jena Naresh K. , Ahuja Rajeev
Published: August 2018

Hydrogenated borophene emerges as a potential 2D material for battery applications, as revealed from our computational results.
pH switch for OH-photoacidity in 5-amino-2-naphthol and 8-amino-2-naphthol
Authors: Groves Malcolm S. , Nelson Kacie J. , Nelson Ryan C. , Takematsu Kana
Published: August 2018

pH switch for OH-photoacidity in 5-amino-2-naphthol and 8-amino-2-naphthol Switching of the amino protonation state turns on and off the OH-photoacidity.
Sc5Pd4Si6– crystal structure and29Si/45Sc solid state MAS NMR spectroscopic investigations
Authors: Schubert Lea , Doerenkamp Carsten , Haverkamp Sandra , Heletta Lukas , Eckert Hellmut , Pöttgen Rainer
Published: August 2018

The silicide Sc5Pd4Si6was synthesized from the elements by arc-melting.
Selective cation and anion guest binding in host selenazamacrocycles
Authors: Patel Upali , Abbas Mohammed A. , McMillen Colin D. , Brumaghim Julia L.
Published: August 2018

Selenazamacrocycle hosts change guest binding affinity from cation to anion depending upon macrocycle oxidation/reduction.
Effect of sulfur doping on structural reversibility and cycling stability of a Li2MnSiO4 cathode material
Authors: Wu Xia , Zhao Shi-Xi , Yu Lü-Qiang , Yang Jin-Lin , Nan Ce-Wen
Published: August 2018

Sulfur has been successfully employed into Li2MnSiO4 and results in a high initial discharge capacity and excellent cycling stability.
The updated Zn–Sb phase diagram. How to make pure Zn13Sb10(“Zn4Sb3”).
Authors: Lo Chun-Wan Timothy , Svitlyk Volodymyr , Chernyshov Dmitry , Mozharivskyj Yurij
Published: August 2018

The Zn–Sb system contains two well-known thermoelectric materials, Zn1−δSb and Zn13−δSb10(“Zn4Sb3”), and two other phases, Zn9−δSb7and Zn3−δSb2, stable only at high temperatures.
What is the best or most relevant global minimum for nanoclusters? Predicting, comparing and recycling cluster structures with WASP@N
Authors: Woodley Scott M. , Lazauskas Tomas , Illingworth Malcolm , Carter Adam C. , Sokol Alexey A.
Published: August 2018

Our WASP@N project is an open-access database of cluster structures with a web-assisted interface and toolkit for structure prediction.
Catalytic lignocellulose biorefining in n-butanol/water: a one-pot approach toward phenolics, polyols, and cellulose
Authors: Renders T. , Cooreman E. , Van den Bosch S. , Schutyser W. , Koelewijn S.-F. , Vangeel T. , Deneyer A. , Van den Bossche G. , Courtin C. M. , Sels B. F.
Published: August 2018

Lignocellulosic biomass is disassembled and depolymerised into three easily separable product streams, derived from lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose.
Vanillin-derived amines for bio-based thermosets
Authors: Mora Anne-Sophie , Tayouo Russell , Boutevin Bernard , David Ghislain , Caillol Sylvain
Published: August 2018

In the scope of fully bio-based materials development, access to bio-based aromatic amine monomers is one of the main industrial challenges over the coming years.
Characterization of arsenic in dried baby shrimp (Acetes sp.) using synchrotron-based X-ray spectrometry and LC coupled to ICP-MS/MS
Authors: Guimarães Diana , Roberts Austin A. , Tehrani Mina W. , Huang Rong , Smieska Louisa , Woll Arthur R. , Lin Shao , Parsons Patrick J.
Published: August 2018

Total arsenic content of dried baby shrimp was quantified using portable XRF and ICP-MS, and characterized further by SR-μXRF, with the major As species identified using μXANES, and confirmed by LC-ICP-MS/MS.
Confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy with a liquid metal jet source
Authors: Bauer Leona , Lindqvist Malcolm , Förste Frank , Lundström Ulf , Hansson Björn , Thiel Markus , Bjeoumikhova Semfira , Grötzsch Daniel , Malzer Wolfgang , Kanngießer Birgit , Mantouvalou Ioanna
Published: August 2018

To further widen the applicability of confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (CMXRF) a novel setup using a liquid metal jet source as excitation was build up and characterized.
Synthesis and characterization of a gold(i) bis(triazolylidene) complex featuring a large [(TpMe2)2K] anion
Authors: Priante-Flores Armando , Salazar-Pereda Verónica , Rheingold Arnold L. , Mendoza-Espinosa Daniel
Published: August 2018

We report the synthesis, charaterization and catalytic performance of a unique bis(triazolylidene) gold(i) complex featuring a large [(TpMe2)2K] anion.
Highly stable photoelectrochemical cells for hydrogen production using a SnO2–TiO2/quantum dot heterostructured photoanode
Authors: Basu Kaustubh , Zhang Hui , Zhao Haiguang , Bhattacharya Sayantan , Navarro-Pardo Fabiola , Datta Prasanta Kumar , Jin Lei , Sun Shuhui , Vetrone Fiorenzo , Rosei Federico
Published: August 2018

SnO2–TiO2 heterostructure photoanode sensitized by CdSe/CdS core/thick-shell “giant” QDs demonstrate an unprecedented stability of ∼96%.
Graphene-based dual-band independently tunable infrared absorber
Authors: Sun Peng , You Chenglong , Mahigir Amirreza , Liu Tongtong , Xia Feng , Kong Weijin , Veronis Georgios , Dowling Jonathan P. , Dong Lifeng , Yun Maojin
Published: August 2018

Absorption peaks can independently tune each resonant frequency by only changing the Fermi energy level of one.
Giant enhancement and facile tuning of photoluminescence in a soft anisotropic magneto-gel
Authors: Mohanan Vaisakh V. , Pradhan Balaram , Sridurai Vimala , Yelamaggad Channabasaveshwar V. , Achalkumar Ammathnadu S. , Nair Geetha G.
Published: August 2018

Enhancement of PL intensity (IPL) in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) gel with the addition of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs).
Flexible thermo-plasmonics: an opto-mechanical control of the heat generated at the nanoscale
Authors: Palermo Giovanna , Cataldi Ugo , Condello Antonio , Caputo Roberto , Bürgi Thomas , Umeton Cesare , De Luca Antonio
Published: August 2018

The opto-mechanical control of heat generated by laser-excited AuNPs is investigated.
Correction: Hierarchical self-assembly of colloidal magnetic particles into reconfigurable spherical structures
Authors: Morphew Daniel , Chakrabarti Dwaipayan
Published: August 2018

Correction for ‘Hierarchical self-assembly of colloidal magnetic particles into reconfigurable spherical structures’ by Daniel Morphew et al., Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 8343–8350.
The effect of molecular structure and fluorination on the properties of pyrene-benzothiadiazole-based conjugated polymers for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution
Authors: Cheng Chang , Wang Xunchang , Lin Yaoyao , He Luying , Jiang Jia-Xing , Xu Yunfeng , Wang Feng
Published: August 2018

The linear non-fluorinated polymer L-PyBT exhibited an impressive hydrogen evolution rate up to 83.7 μmol h−1 under visible light irradiation.
Anti-fatigue adhesive and tough hydrogels regulated by adenine and uracil
Authors: Liu Xin , Zhang Qin , Qiao Yanchao , Duan Lijie , Gao Guanghui
Published: August 2018

Anti-fatigue adhesive and tough hydrogels were successfully fabricated through introducing nucleobase pairs and chemical crosslinker into polyacrylamide hydrogels.
Carrier-doping as a tool to probe the electronic structure and multi-carrier recombination dynamics in heterostructured colloidal nanocrystals
Authors: Ding Tao , Liang Guijie , Wang Junhui , Wu Kaifeng
Published: August 2018

Carrier-doping enables a simple-yet-powerful tool for determination of the electronic structure and multi-carrier recombination dynamics of CdSe@CdS dot-in-rods.
Spin-reorientation-induced magnetodielectric coupling effects in two layered perovskite magnets
Authors: Huang Bo , Zhang Jian-Yu , Huang Rui-Kang , Chen Ming-Kun , Xue Wei , Zhang Wei-Xiong , Zeng Ming-Hua , Chen Xiao-Ming
Published: August 2018

Spin-reorientation-induced magnetodielectric effects were discovered in two layered perovskite magnets, (C6H5CH2CH2NH3)2[MCl4] (M = Mn2+ and Cu2+), via highly reproducible isothermal magnetodielectric measurements on single-crystal samples.
Surfactant controlled zwitterionic cellulose nanofibril dispersions
Authors: Calabrese Vincenzo , da Silva Marcelo A. , Schmitt Julien , Muñoz-Garcia Juan C. , Gabrielli Valeria , Scott Janet L. , Angulo Jesus , Khimyak Yaroslav Z. , Edler Karen J.
Published: August 2018

Aggregation in aqueous dispersions of zwitterionic cellulose nanofibrils can be controlled by addition of cationic and anionic surfactants.
Engineering the anchoring behavior of nematic liquid crystals on a solid surface by varying the density of liquid crystalline polymer brushes
Authors: Li Xiao , Yanagimachi Takuya , Bishop Camille , Smith Coleman , Dolejsi Moshe , Xie Helou , Kurihara Kazue , Nealey Paul F.
Published: August 2018

Using liquid crystalline polymer brushes to continuously control the anchoring transition of 5CB by simply varying the brush density.
PVP-capped CdS nanopopcorns with type-II homojunctions for highly efficient visible-light-driven organic pollutant degradation and hydrogen evolution
Authors: Zhao Na , Peng Jing , Liu Gang , Zhang Youwei , Lei Wanying , Yin Zhibin , Li Jiuqiang , Zhai Maolin
Published: August 2018

One-step gamma-ray radiation-derived type-II CdS homojunctions with optimal ZB–WZ phase junction distributions present enhanced photoactivity under visible-light illumination.
Poly(arylene alkylene)s with pendant N-spirocyclic quaternary ammonium cations for anion exchange membranes
Authors: Pham Thanh Huong , Olsson Joel S. , Jannasch Patric
Published: August 2018

The synthesis and studies of aromatic polymers tethered with azaspiro cations provide important insights towards the design of highly thermochemically stable hydroxide ion conducting fuel cell membranes.
Dew point temperature as an invariant replacement for relative humidity for advanced perovskite solar cell fabrication systems
Authors: Ko Yohan , Lee Chanyong , Kim Youbin , Kim Yechan , Yun Yong Ju , Jun Yongseok
Published: August 2018

We highlight dew point temperature as a universal parameter affecting the formation of organic–inorganic halide perovskite films.
Golgi integral membrane protein 4 manipulates cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle in human head and neck cancer
Authors: Bai Yunfei , Cui Xiaobo , Gao Dongxue , Wang Yaping , Wang Boqian , Wang Wei
Published: August 2018

The incidence of global head and neck cancer has increased markedly in the last 10 years, and its prognosis is poor, which seriously endangers people’s life and health. At present, there are few studies on its pathogenesis. Golgi integral membrane protein 4 (GOLIM4) is a major member of the Golgi apparatus transporter complex, and its role in tumor is unclear. The present study found that GOLIM4 was the key target protein downstream of stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), which can inhibit the proliferation of head and neck cancer cells FaDu (human pharyngeal squamous carcinoma cell) and Tca-8113 (human tongue squamous carcinoma cell) with knockdown of GOLIM4 by lentivirus. And the decreased expression of GOLIM4 induced cellular apoptosis. Further experiments revealed that FaDu cell cycle progression was changed after GOLIM4 silence, G1 phase arrest and the number of G2/M cells decreased significantly. It was also found that the cells in S-phase decreased markedly after GOLIM4 was knocked down compared with the control group by 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation experiment. In conclusion, we found that GOLIM4, as the target gene downstream of STIM1, inhibited the proliferation of head and neck cancer, promoted apoptosis, and regulated cell cycle progression, and GOLIM4 is a novel oncogene in head and neck cancer and might help in developing promising targetted therapies for head and neck cancer patients.
Modulated expression of the HIV-1 2LTR zinc finger efficiently interferes with the HIV integration process
Authors: Moonmuang Sutpirat , Saoin Somphot , Chupradit Koollawat , Sakkhachornphop Supachai , Israsena Nipan , Rungsiwiwut Ruttachuk , Tayapiwatana Chatchai
Published: August 2018

Lentiviral vectors have emerged as the most efficient system to stably transfer and insert genes into cells. By adding a tetracycline (Tet)-inducible promoter, transgene expression delivered by a lentiviral vector can be expressed whenever needed and halted when necessary. Here we have constructed a doxycycline (Dox)-inducible lentiviral vector which efficiently introduces a designed zinc finger protein, 2-long terminal repeat zinc-finger protein (2LTRZFP), into hematopoietic cell lines and evaluated its expression in pluripotent stem cells. As a result this lentiviral inducible system can regulate 2LTRZFP expression in the SupT1 T-cell line and in pluripotent stem cells. Using this vector, no basal expression was detected in the T-cell line and its induction was achieved with low Dox concentrations. Remarkably, the intracellular regulatory expression of 2LTRZFP significantly inhibited HIV-1 integration and replication in HIV-inoculated SupT1 cells. This approach could provide a potential tool for gene therapy applications, which efficiently control and reduce the side effect of therapeutic genes expression.
Rate‐compatible QC‐LDPC codes based on PEXIT
Authors: Liu Yuan‐hua
Published: August 2018

An improved extension method based on protograph extrinsic information transfer (PEXIT) charts is proposed to design rate‐compatible quasi‐cyclic low‐density parity‐check (QC‐LDPC) codes with more flexible rates and better performance. The masking matrix of the highest‐rate code can first be constructed column by column to own the lowest decoding threshold. Then, an extension algorithm is proposed to obtain the masking matrices of lower‐rate codes with flexible rates. Finally, the base matrices with small amount of short cycles are designed and the parity‐check matrices of rate‐compatible QC‐LDPC codes are obtained through matrix extension. Simulations show that compared with the existing codes, the proposed codes have more flexible rates while achieving better performance.
Designing prefix code to save energy for wirelessly powered wireless sensor networks
Authors: Zhu Yi‐hua , Li Ertao , Chi Kaikai , Tian Xianzhong
Published: August 2018

In the Internet of Things, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are widely deployed. In recent years, wirelessly powered WSNs or battery‐free WSNs (BF‐WSNs), in which the nodes harvest energy from radio signals in the environment, have been emerging to support sustainable operation for WSNs. It is significant to design an energy‐efficient data delivery scheme for the BF‐WSNs. In this study, the authors propose the prefix code based scheme (PCBS) to save energy in data delivery by making use of the energy consumption disparity (ECD) between transmitting/receiving bit 0 and bit 1 in the existing non‐modulation baseband transmission or carrier‐modulation based passband transmission. The authors formulate an optimisation problem and use genetic algorithm to find its solution so that the energy‐efficient prefix codebook is obtained. The codebook dilutes the ECD by containing the energy‐consuming bit as few as possible, and the PCBS maps each m‐bit data block into a prefix codeword in the codebook to conduct energy‐efficient transmission at the transmitter and vice versa at the receiver. Both the experiments on wireless identification sensing platform and the simulations demonstrate that the proposed PCBS outperforms the existing schemes in terms of energy saving.
Improved dual‐mode compressive tracking integrating balanced colour and texture features
Authors: Sun Shuifa , Liu Shichao , Kang Shiwei , Xia Chong , Dan Zhiping , Lei Bangjun , Wu Yirong
Published: August 2018

Discriminative tracking methods can achieve state‐of‐the‐art performance by considering tracking as a classification problem tackled with both object and background information. As a high efficient discriminative tracker, compressive tracking (CT) has attracted much attention recently. However, it may easily fail when the object suffers from long‐term occlusions, and severe appearance and illumination changes. To address these issues, the authors develop a robust tracking framework based on CT by considering balanced feature representation as well as dual‐mode classifier construction. First, the original measurement matrix of CT works as a dominated texture feature extractor. To obtain a balanced feature representation, they propose to induce a complementary measurement matrix by considering both texture and colour features. Then, they develop two classifiers (dual mode) by using previous and current sample sets, respectively, and subsequently combine them into one ensemble classifier to track the target, which can help to avoid tracking failure suffering from severe appearance changes and long term occlusion. Moreover, they propose a classifier updating schema to prevent the inclusion of unsatisfied positive samples by predicting the occlusions with their ensemble classifier. The extensive experiments demonstrate the superior performance of their tracking framework under various situations.
Rolling bearing fault detection of electric motor using time domain and frequency domain features extraction and ANFIS
Authors: Helmi Hamed , Forouzantabar Ahmad
Published: August 2018

Demands for various products, higher qualities, reduction of costs and competitiveness, have resulted in the use of intelligent fault detection systems. Bearing fault diagnosis as a major component of the electric motors has had an essential role in the operation of production units’ reliability. In addition, vibration analysis is one of the most powerful tools in diagnostics. Advances in signal processing technology and electrical equipment have developed a machinery condition monitoring for defect detection. This study has used the extracted features of vibration signals and the adaptive neuro‐fuzzy interface system (ANFIS) network proposing a structure for fault detection and diagnosis of rolling bearings. Time‐domain and frequency‐domain statistical characteristics have been extracted fault information from vibration signals. Besides, the test data sets are presented to the ANFIS network. Simulation results indicated that the performance of the ANFIS network is acceptable. The results reveal that this method has more accuracy and better classification performance in comparison with other methods proposed in the literature.
Methodology to assess phasor measurement unit in the estimation of dynamic line rating
Authors: Alvarez David L. , da Silva F. Faria , Bak Claus Leth , Mombello Enrique E. , Rosero Javier A. , Ólason Daníel Leó
Published: August 2018

This paper presents a methodology to analyse the influence of both atmospheric variations in time and space and the error in synchrophasor measurements to estimate conductor temperature along an overhead line. In this methodology, expressions to compute the error propagation in the computing of temperature because of measurement errors and load variations are proposed. The analysis begins by computing overhead line's thermal and mechanical parameters using simulations of load and atmospheric conditions. Having computed these parameters, values of resistance, inductance and capacitance of the overhead line modelled by means of a equivalent circuit are estimated, with the purpose of quantifying the sensibility of electrical parameters to changes in conductor temperature. Additionally, this analysis allows the identification of the temperature in each span along OHLs. Subsequently, the average conductor temperature is estimated using simulations of synchrophasors through the relationship between resistivity and temperature. This estimated temperature is compared with the temperature computed using atmospheric conditions to obtain the maximum error. This error is contrasted with the acceptable error margins. Thus, during the planning stage, this methodology can be used to assess PMU as a method of computing conductor temperature.
Deep learning methods in transportation domain: a review
Authors: Nguyen Hoang , Kieu Le‐Minh , Wen Tao , Cai Chen
Published: August 2018

Recent years have seen a significant amount of transportation data collected from multiple sources including road sensors, probe, GPS, CCTV and incident reports. Similar to many other industries, transportation has entered the generation of big data. With a rich volume of traffic data, it is challenging to build reliable prediction models based on traditional shallow machine learning methods. Deep learning is a new state‐of‐the‐art machine learning approach which has been of great interest in both academic research and industrial applications. This study reviews recent studies of deep learning for popular topics in processing traffic data including transportation network representation, traffic flow forecasting, traffic signal control, automatic vehicle detection, traffic incident processing, travel demand prediction, autonomous driving and driver behaviours. In general, the use of deep learning systems in transportation is still limited and there are potential limitations for utilising this advanced approach to improve prediction models.
Accelerated adaptive super twisting sliding mode observer‐based drive shaft torque estimation for electric vehicle with automated manual transmission
Authors: Lin Cheng , Sun Shengxiong , Yi Jiang , Walker Paul , Zhang Nong
Published: August 2018

The suddenly released torque that accumulated in the elastic drive shaft will bring torsional vibration and jerking feel at the shifting moment. A novel sliding mode observer is proposed to estimate the torque in drive shaft for a motor‐transmission integrated powertrain system. Non‐linear external characteristics of a driving motor and non‐linear drag torque are considered in the electric powertrain system. In order to attenuate the chatting problem, the second‐order super twisting sliding mode algorithm with an adaptive gain is adopted. Furthermore, a term ‘system damping’ is introduced to accelerate the estimation error convergence. The proposed estimation algorithm is tested on test rig for typical operating conditions. The results show that the torque in drive shaft can be estimated satisfactorily and the tracking error converges to 0 in a short time.
Real‐time detection of end‐of‐queue shockwaves on freeways using probe vehicles with spacing equipment
Authors: Cao Peng , Fan Qiaochu , Liu Xiaobo
Published: August 2018

The identification of a traffic shockwave traditionally is conducted offline, which inhibits its implementation for active traffic management strategies. This study aims to develop an online approach to detect traffic shockwaves on freeways, particularly the end‐of‐queue shockwaves, using spacing‐based probe vehicles (SPVs) that can obtain the trajectories of its leading and/or following vehicles. The proposed framework consists of four stages: (i) local shockwave (LSW) position detection, (ii) LSW speed estimation, (iii) grouping of LSWs into a whole shockwave (WSW) and (iv) WSW speed estimation. In particular, two alternatives, namely the line connection‐based method and the Lighthill–Whitham–Richards model‐based method (LWRM), are proposed for stage 2, and other two alternatives, namely the simple averaging method and the hybrid method (HM), are proposed for stage 4. A set of next generation simulation data are utilised to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the combination of LWRM + HM outperforms among the four combined methods. A series of the analysis indicate that the proposed method is computationally efficient, accurate and more importantly, it is applicable to sensor data from SPVs with real‐world noise.
Low‐cost triboelectric sensor for speed measurement and weight estimation of vehicles
Authors: Yadav Deepshikha , Azad Puneet
Published: August 2018

This study presents and tests the accuracy of a low‐cost triboelectric sensor for speed measurement and weight estimation of passenger vehicles in motion. Polytetrafluoroethylene and aluminium films are employed as sensing elements for generating voltage pulses due to movement of vehicles in real time. A number of road tests by 880 and 1020 kg cars in the speed range from 10 to 60 kmph show that the sensor is effective for measuring speeds with more than 95% accuracy and 3% mean absolute percentage error. For weight estimation, it is found that the voltage signals obtained from sensor due to impact between the tires of the vehicles and sensor varies linearly with speed ensuring the reliability of the sensor. On road experimental results reveal that the weight can be predicted from voltage signals by maintaining a database of different class of vehicles. The results and the overall concept indicate that the triboelectric sensor and associated wireless setup is promising for smart traffic‐monitoring applications at a very low cost.
Support vector machine and back propagation neutral network approaches for trip mode prediction using mobile phone data
Authors: Zhou Zhuping , Yang Jiwei , Qi Yong , Cai Yifei
Published: August 2018

This study provides a methodology to identify travellers’ transportation modes by tracking the mobile phone data, which aims to obtain the accurate mode split rate for providing decision support in urban traffic planning. First, the effective mobile phone singling data and GPS data are collected from the communication operators and a mobile phone app, respectively. Considering the differences in velocity and acceleration of different trip modes, a trip mode characteristic description model is built based on wave characteristics and moving average method. Compared with the wave characteristics, the moving average method shows a better accuracy of 90%. Then training samples are drawn by two data selection methods including probability proportional to size sampling and equal amount sampling. Furthermore, the classifier method for mode choice prediction is developed by support vector machines (SVMs) and back propagation neutral network. Finally, the results of the case study show that using a 30‐point moving average training data set can improve the prediction accuracy largely, and the SVM method gets a better accuracy of 82%. The potential of using the mobile phone data to build a new mode choice prediction method in the field of transportation is shown.
Cooperative adaptive cruise control in mixed traffic with selective use of vehicle‐to‐vehicle communication
Authors: Zhang Linjun
Published: August 2018

Thisstudy is focused on the design of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) to regulate the longitudinal motion of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in mixed traffic that is composed of human‐driven vehicles and CAVs. Wireless vehicle‐to‐vehicle communication is exploited to monitor the motion of multiple broadcasting vehicles, and a strategy is designed to determine whether the received data of other vehicles are incorporated into CACC. A condition is derived for choosing control gains that ensure the internal stability of CAVs in the presence of time delays and switching connectivity topologies of information flow. Moreover, because the switching connectivity topologies may change the dynamics of the whole vehicle chain, the authors apply a data‐driven approach for online optimisation of control gains such that CACC adapts to the variations of connectivity topologies. The proposed selective CACC is validated through numerical simulations. To enhance the fidelity of simulations, they use the data collected through on‐road experiments to simulate the motion of human‐driven vehicles and apply the physics‐based vehicle dynamic model to simulate the motion of CAVs. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed selective CACC in improving vehicle safety and in mitigating perturbations in mixed traffic.
A new dynamically self-consistent version of the Besançon Galaxy model
Authors: Bienaymé O. , Leca J. , Robin A. C.
Published: August 2018

Context. Dynamically self-consistent galactic models are necessary for analysing and interpreting star counts, stellar density distributions, and stellar kinematics in order to understand the formation and the evolution of our Galaxy.

Aims. We modify and improve the dynamical self-consistency of the Besançon Galaxy model in the case of a stationary and axisymmetric gravitational potential.

Methods. Each stellar orbit is modelled by determining a Stäckel approximate integral of motion. Generalised Shu distribution functions (DFs) with three integrals of motion are used to model the stellar distribution functions.

Results. This new version of the Besançon model is compared with the previous axisymmetric BGM2014 version and we find that the two versions have similar densities for each stellar component. The dynamically self-consistency is improved and can be tested by recovering the forces and the potential through the Jeans equations applied to each stellar distribution function. Forces are recovered with an accuracy better than one per cent over most of the volume of the Galaxy.
Constraints on primordial black hole dark matter from Galactic center X-ray observations
Authors: Hektor Andi , Hütsi Gert , Raidal Martti
Published: August 2018

Context. Surprisingly high masses of the black holes inferred from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo gravitational wave measurements have lead to speculations that the observed mergers might be due to 𝒪(10) M⊙ primordial black holes (PBHs). Furthermore, it has been suggested that the whole amount of dark matter (DM) might be in that exotic form.

Aims. We investigate constraints on the PBH DM using NuSTAR Galactic center (GC) X-ray data.

Methods. We used a robust Monte Carlo approach in conjunction with a radiatively inefficient PBH accretion model with commonly accepted model parameters. Compared to previous studies we allowed for multiple forms of DM density profiles. Most importantly, our study includes treatment of the gas turbulence, which significantly modifies the relative velocity between PBHs and gas.

Results. We show that inclusion of the effects of gas turbulence and the uncertainties related to the DM density profile reduces significantly the gas accretion onto PBHs compared to the claimed values in previous papers. It is highly improbable to obtain accreting PBHs brighter than the NuSTAR point source limit using observationally determined gas velocities.

Conclusions. One can safely conclude that GC X-ray observations cannot rule out 𝒪(10) M⊙ PBH DM.
Antimicrobial coating on quality attributes of sausage during refrigerated storage
Authors: Naufalin R. , Wicaksono R. , Arsil P. , Salman M.F.
Published: August 2018

Edible coating based on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) environmentally friendly. Addition on Kecombrang (Nicolaia speciosa) extract used to be antimicrobial and antioxidants coating. CMC- based edible coating added with antimicrobial of kecombrang was used to reduce the oxidative and microbial degradation sausages stored at refrigerator at 10°C for 12 days. The cmc coating reduced malonaldehyde substances and peroxide value by 0.88 mg.kg and 92.29%, respectively, compared with the controls. The moisture barrier effect was significantly better for the CMC coating compared to the control. The CMC coating of sausages inhibits the growth of either the total plate counts of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Data show that cmc can effectively be used as a natural antioxidative and moisture barrier coating to extend the quality and shelf life of sausages.