bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
LEGO Dimensions meets Doctor Who: Transbranding and New Dimensions of Transmedia Storytelling?
Authors: Hills Matt
Published: February 2016

This article explores how the ‘toys-to-life’ videogame LEGO Dimensions (WarnerBros. Interactive Entertainment/Traveller’s Tales/The LEGO Group, 2015) mashes upmany different franchise storyworlds and brands. Specifically, I focus on how DoctorWho (BBC, 1963—), the British TV science fiction series, is licensed and transmediallyengaged with in Dimensions. I consider how the transbranding of LEGO Dimensionsappears to co-opt children’s “transgressive play” (Nørgård and Toft-Nielsen, 2014)by combining intellectual properties, but actually continues to operate according tologics of shared corporate ownership where many of the combined storyworlds areultimately owned by Time Warner (placing Dimensions in competition with Disney’sown ‘toys-to-life’ game). Considering what value might accrue to the brand of DoctorWho by participating in LEGO Dimensions, I identify this as a particular example of“What If?” transmedia (Mittell, 2015), arguing that LEGO Dimensions’ Doctor Whonevertheless fluctuates in terms of its brand (in)authenticity. The Starter Pack remainscloser to LEGO Games’/Traveller’s Tales’ established format, subordinating Who, whilstthe separate Level Pack engages more precisely with Doctor Who’s history, albeit stilldisplaying some notable divergences from the TV series (Booth, 2015). Although LEGODimensions challenges influential theories of transmedia storytelling (Jenkins, 2006;Aldred, 2014), its transbranding and child/adult targeting accord with established approachesto transmedia licensing (Santo 2015) and fan-consumer socialization (Kinder1991).
Narrativa transmedia: resignificando el consumo mediático
Authors: Abellan Hernandez Maria , De Miguel Zamora Marta
Published: February 2016

La presente presentación pretende dar una visión global de los temas abordados en el actual monográfico. Desde diferentes perspectivas y aproximaciones epistemoólogicas, los autores participantes en este número expanden con sus aportaciones el corpus teórico y práctico en torno a las nuevas formas narrativas transmedia.
De museos y procomún
Authors: Ruiz Torres David
Published: February 2016

Reseña de ¿De quién es ese Rembrandt? Anabel Fernández Moreno
Assessing the continuity of the blue ice climate record at Patriot Hills, Horseshoe Valley, West Antarctica
Authors: Winter Kate , Woodward John , Dunning Stuart A. , Turney Chris S. M. , Fogwill Christopher J. , Hein Andrew S. , Golledge Nicholas R. , Bingham Robert G. , Marrero Shasta M. , Sugden David E. , Ross Neil
Published: February 2016

We use high‐resolution ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) to assess the continuity of the Blue Ice Area (BIA) horizontal climate record at Patriot Hills, Horseshoe Valley, West Antarctica. The sequence contains three pronounced changes in deuterium isotopic values at ~18 cal ka, ~12 cal ka, and ~8 cal ka. GPR surveys along the climate sequence reveal continuous, conformable dipping isochrones, separated by two unconformities in the isochrone layers, which correlate with the two older deuterium shifts. We interpret these unconformities as discontinuities in the sequence, rather than direct measures of climate change. Ice sheet models and Internal Layer Continuity Index plots suggest that the unconformities represent periods of erosion occurring, as the former ice surface was scoured by katabatic winds in front of mountains at the head of Horseshoe Valley. This study demonstrates the importance of high‐resolution GPR surveys for investigating both paleoflow dynamics and interpreting BIA climate records.
What would happen to Superstorm Sandy under the influence of a substantially warmer Atlantic Ocean?
Authors: Lau William K. M. , Shi J. J. , Tao W. K. , Kim K. M.
Published: February 2016

Based on ensemble numerical simulations, we find that possible responses of Sandy‐like superstorms under the influence of a substantially warmer Atlantic Ocean bifurcate into two groups. In the first group, storms are similar to present‐day Sandy from genesis to extratropical transition, except they are much stronger, with peak Power Destructive Index (PDI) increased by 50–80%, heavy rain by 30–50%, and maximum storm size (MSS) approximately doubled. In the second group, storms amplify substantially over the interior of the Atlantic warm pool, with peak PDI increased by 100–160%, heavy rain by 70–180%, and MSS more than tripled compared to present‐day Superstorm Sandy. These storms when exiting the warm pool, recurve northeastward out to sea, subsequently interact with the developing midlatitude storm by mutual counterclockwise rotation around each other and eventually amplify into a severe Northeastern coastal storm, making landfall over the extreme northeastern regions from Maine to Nova Scotia.
High‐resolution auroral acceleration signatures within a highly dynamic onset arc
Authors: Motoba Tetsuo , Hirahara Masafumi
Published: February 2016

On 16 March 2006, the Reimei spacecraft observed dynamic small‐scale vortex‐like structures along an east‐west elongated onset arc, subsequently followed by the auroral expansion. Within a few seconds when Reimei crossed over the arc, detailed comparisons of the simultaneous conjugate auroral imaging and particle observations with high resolution were made to reveal the fine‐scale acceleration processes acting within/around the flux tube of the bright auroral structures. In the surrounding dark region, Alfvénic accelerated electron fluxes—time‐dispersive, field‐aligned electron bursts spanning a broad range of energies—became most noticeable. The dominant contributor to the central bright region, on the other hand, was monoenergetic electron fluxes in 3–7 keV at larger pitch angles (>30°) rather than the Alfvénic electron fluxes. The Reimei observations suggest that the Alfvénic acceleration process operates in the vicinity of small‐scale auroral structures but plays a less significant role in powering the central bright emissions.
Contribution of the topside and bottomside ionosphere to the total electron content during two strong geomagnetic storms
Authors: Zhu Qingyu , Lei Jiuhou , Luan Xiaoli , Dou Xiankang
Published: February 2016

In this study, the ionospheric observations from ionosondes, GPS receivers, and incoherent scatter radars (ISR) at low and middle latitudes were used to investigate the contribution of the bottomside and topside ionosphere to the total electron content (TEC) during the September 2005 and December 2006 geomagnetic storms. It was found that the contribution of the bottomside TEC below F2 peak (BTEC) to the ionosonde ionospheric TEC (ionosonde ITEC), namely, BTEC/ITEC was almost constant during both quiet and storm times, while the ratio of BTEC to GPS TEC (i.e., BTEC/GPS‐TEC) underwent obvious diurnal variations at all stations. The BTEC/GPS‐TEC during the positive phase was similar to that during quiet time, regardless of the formation mechanisms of the observed positive phases. Moreover, our analysis revealed that the ISR calculated BTEC/ITEC during positive ionospheric phases was comparable to that during quiet time. This suggests that the positive phases in these two events mainly occurred around the F2 peak height. There were large differences between the calculated BTEC/ITEC from the ISR observations and BTEC/GPS‐TEC during the negative phase or at night when the plasmasphere possibly contributed significantly to the TEC in the relative sense. Although the absolute changes of the topside TEC were larger than the bottomside TEC at low and middle latitudes associated with the larger topside effective ionospheric thickness, unlike the October 2003 superstorms, the relative changes of the topside TEC to the quiet time reference in these two strong storms were not greater than the changes of the bottomside TEC and peak density NmF2.
MIDAS robust trend estimator for accurate GPS station velocities without step detection
Authors: Blewitt Geoffrey , Kreemer Corné , Hammond William C. , Gazeaux Julien
Published: February 2016

Automatic estimation of velocities from GPS coordinate time series is becoming required to cope with the exponentially increasing flood of available data, but problems detectable to the human eye are often overlooked. This motivates us to find an automatic and accurate estimator of trend that is resistant to common problems such as step discontinuities, outliers, seasonality, skewness, and heteroscedasticity. Developed here, Median Interannual Difference Adjusted for Skewness (MIDAS) is a variant of the Theil‐Sen median trend estimator, for which the ordinary version is the median of slopes vij = (xj–xi)/(tj–ti) computed between all data pairs i > j. For normally distributed data, Theil‐Sen and least squares trend estimates are statistically identical, but unlike least squares, Theil‐Sen is resistant to undetected data problems. To mitigate both seasonality and step discontinuities, MIDAS selects data pairs separated by 1 year. This condition is relaxed for time series with gaps so that all data are used. Slopes from data pairs spanning a step function produce one‐sided outliers that can bias the median. To reduce bias, MIDAS removes outliers and recomputes the median. MIDAS also computes a robust and realistic estimate of trend uncertainty. Statistical tests using GPS data in the rigid North American plate interior show ±0.23 mm/yr root‐mean‐square (RMS) accuracy in horizontal velocity. In blind tests using synthetic data, MIDAS velocities have an RMS accuracy of ±0.33 mm/yr horizontal, ±1.1 mm/yr up, with a 5th percentile range smaller than all 20 automatic estimators tested. Considering its general nature, MIDAS has the potential for broader application in the geosciences.
Wind‐wave‐induced velocity in ATI SAR ocean surface currents: First experimental evidence from an airborne campaign
Authors: Martin Adrien C. H. , Gommenginger Christine , Marquez Jose , Doody Sam , Navarro Victor , Buck Christopher
Published: February 2016

Conventional and along‐track interferometric (ATI) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) senses the motion of the ocean surface by measuring the Doppler shift of reflected signals. Measurements are affected by a Wind‐wave‐induced Artifact Surface Velocity (WASV) which was modeled theoretically in past studies and has been estimated empirically only once before with Envisat ASAR by Mouche et al. (2012). An airborne campaign in the tidally dominated Irish Sea served to evaluate this effect and the current retrieval capabilities of a dual‐beam SAR interferometer known as Wavemill. A comprehensive collection of Wavemill airborne data acquired in a star pattern over a well‐instrumented validation site made it possible for the first time to estimate the magnitude of the WASV, and its dependence on azimuth and incidence angle from data alone. In light wind (5.5 m/s) and moderate current (0.7 m/s) conditions, the wind‐wave‐induced contribution to the measured ocean surface motion reaches up to 1.6 m/s upwind, with a well‐defined second‐order harmonic dependence on direction to the wind. The magnitude of the WASV is found to be larger at lower incidence angles. The airborne WASV results show excellent consistency with the empirical WASV estimated from Envisat ASAR. These results confirm that SAR and ATI surface velocity estimates are strongly affected by WASV and that the WASV can be well characterized with knowledge of the wind knowledge and of the geometry. These airborne results provide the first independent validation of Mouche et al. (2012) and confirm that the empirical model they propose provides the means to correct airborne and spaceborne SAR and ATI SAR data for WASV to obtain accurate ocean surface current measurements. After removing the WASV, the airborne Wavemill‐retrieved currents show very good agreement against ADCP measurements with a root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) typically around 0.1 m/s in velocity and 10° in direction.
An Abel transform for deriving line‐of‐sight wind profiles from LEO‐LEO infrared laser occultation measurements
Authors: Syndergaard S. , Kirchengast G.
Published: February 2016

We have developed a formula for the retrieval of the line‐of‐sight (l.o.s.) wind speed from future low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite‐to‐satellite infrared laser occultation measurements. The formula involves an Abelian integral transform akin to the Abel transform widely used for deriving refractive index from bending angle in Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation measurements. Besides the Abelian integral transform, the formula is derived from a truncated series expansion of the volume absorption coefficient as a function of frequency and includes a simple absorption‐line‐asymmetry correction term. A first‐order formulation (referred to as the standard formula) is complemented by higher‐order terms that can be used for high‐accuracy computations. Under the assumptions of spherical symmetry and perfect knowledge of spectroscopy, the residual l.o.s. wind error from using the standard formula rather than the high‐accuracy formula is assessed to be small compared to that anticipated from measurement errors in a real experiment. Applying the new formula just in standard form to future infrared laser transmission profiles would therefore enable the retrieval of l.o.s. stratospheric wind profiles with an accuracy limited mainly by measurement errors, residual spectroscopic errors, and deviations from spherical symmetry.
Estimating groundwater dynamics at a Colorado River floodplain site using historical hydrological data and climate information
Authors: Chen Jinsong , Hubbard Susan S. , Williams Kenneth H. , Ficklin Darren L.
Published: February 2016

Long‐term prediction of groundwater dynamics is important for assessing water resources and their impacts on biogeochemical cycling. However, estimating future groundwater dynamics is challenging due to the wide range of spatiotemporal scales in hydrological processes and uncertainty in future climate conditions. In this study, we develop a Bayesian model to combine small‐scale historical hydrological data with large‐scale climate information to estimate groundwater dynamics at a floodplain site in Rifle, Colorado. Although we have only a few years of groundwater elevation measurements, we have 47 years of streamflow data from a gaging station approximately 43 km upstream and long‐term climate prediction on the Upper Colorado River Basin. To estimate future daily groundwater dynamics, we first develop a time series model to downscale the monthly streamflow derived from climate information to daily streamflow, and then transform the daily streamflow to groundwater dynamics at the downstream floodplain site. We use Monte Carlo methods to estimate future groundwater dynamics at the site through sampling from the joint posterior probability distribution. The results suggest that although future groundwater levels are expected to be similar to the current levels, the timing of the high groundwater levels is predicted to occur about 1 month earlier. The developed framework is extendable to other sites to estimate future groundwater dynamics given disparate data sets and climate projections. Additionally, the obtained estimates are being used as input to a site‐specific watershed reactive transport models to predict how climate‐induced changes will influence future biogeochemical cycling relevant to a variety of ecosystem services.
Exogenously produced CO2doubles the CO2efflux from three north temperate lakes
Authors: Wilkinson Grace M. , Buelo Cal D. , Cole Jonathan J. , Pace Michael L.
Published: February 2016

It is well established that lakes are typically sources of CO2to the atmosphere. However, it remains unclear what portion of CO2efflux is from endogenously processed organic carbon or from exogenously produced CO2transported into lakes. We estimated high‐frequency CO2and O2efflux from three north temperate lakes in summer to determine the proportion of the total CO2efflux that was exogenously produced. Two of the lakes were amended with nutrients to experimentally enhance endogenous CO2uptake. In the unfertilized lake, 50% of CO2efflux was from exogenous sources and hydrology had a large influence on efflux. In the fertilized lakes, endogenous CO2efflux was negative (into the lake) yet exogenous CO2made the lakes net sources of CO2to the atmosphere. Shifts in hydrologic regimes and nutrient loading have the potential to change whether small lakes act primarily as reactors or vents in the watershed.
Strong turbulent mixing induced by internal bores interacting with internal tide‐driven vertically sheared flow
Authors: Masunaga Eiji , Fringer Oliver B. , Yamazaki Hidekatsu , Amakasu Kazuo
Published: February 2016

We observed the formation of an internal bore interacting with the vertically sheared flow generated during the previous phase of the internal tide, which resulted in strong turbulent mixing. The rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation reached on the order of 10−5 W kg−1 during the event. Numerical simulations reproduced the observed interaction of internal bores with the sheared flow and verified the hypothesized breaking and mixing mechanism. The numerical results indicated that the Iribarren number, or the ratio of the topographic slope to the internal wave slope, plays a major role in the mixing intensity and types of internal bores. It was found that waves with low Iribarren numbers lead to bores that interact with vertically sheared flows induced by the previous phase of the internal tide and are more likely to produce strong wave breaking and mixing.
An iterative two‐step sequential phase partition (ITSPP) method for batch process modeling and online monitoring
Authors: Qin Yan , Zhao Chunhui , Gao Furong
Published: February 2016

Operating at different manufacturing steps, multiphase modeling and analysis of the batch process are advantageous to improving monitoring performance and understanding manufacturing processes. Although many phase partition algorithms have been proposed, they have some disadvantages and cause problems: (1) time sequence disorder, which requires elaborate post‐treatments; (2) a lack of quantitative index to indicate transition patterns; and (3) tunable parameters that cannot be quantitatively determined. To effectively overcome these problems, an iterative two‐step sequential phase partition algorithm is proposed in the present work. In the first step, initial phase partition results are obtained by checking changes of the control limit of squared prediction error. Sequentially, the fast search and find of density peaks clustering algorithm is employed to adjust the degradation degree and update the phase partition results. These two steps are iteratively executed until a proper degradation degree is found for the first phase. Then, the remaining phases are processed one by one using the same procedure. Moreover, a statistical index is quantitatively defined based on density and distance analysis to judge whether a process has transitions, and when the transition regions begin and end. In this way, the phases and transition patterns are quantitatively determined without ambiguity from the perspective of monitoring performance. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a numerical example and a typical industrial case. Several typical phase partition algorithms are also employed for comprehensive comparisons with the proposed method. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2358–2373, 2016
Safety and efficacy of intrathecal rituximab in children with B cell lymphoid CD20+ malignancies: An international retrospective study
Authors: Ceppi Francesco , Weitzman Sheila , Woessmann Wilhelm , Davies Kimberly , Lassaletta Alvaro , Reismüller Bettina , Mellgren Karin , Uyttebroeck Anne , Maia Iris , Abdullah Shaker , Miakova Natasha , Glaser Darryl , Cohn Richard , Abla Oussama , Attarbaschi Andishe , Alexander Sarah
Published: February 2016

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in patients with mature B non‐Hodgkin lymphoma, post‐transplantation proliferative disorder and acute lymphoblastic leukemia confers a significantly inferior prognosis as compared to patients without CNS disease. Intrathecal (IT) or intraventricular administration of rituximab is an option for this group of patients. We report 25 children with CNS involvement of CD20+ B lymphoid malignancies who received in total 163 IT/intraventricular rituximab doses. The median number of doses received by each patient was 6, with a median dose of 25 mg. The most common adverse events were Grades 1 and 2 peripheral neuropathies in five patients (20%), allergy in two patients, and headache in two patients. These events were self‐limited, occurring in the 48 hours after treatment and resolving within 24 hr. Three patients presented with more severe though transient side effects, one with a Grade III neuropathy and two with seizure. Eighteen patients (72%) of those treated with IT/intraventricular rituximab, with or without other CNS directed treatment, achieved a CNS remission. This case series suggests that IT/intraventricular rituximab has therapeutic efficacy and relatively limited toxicity. Prospective trials of IT/intraventricular rituximab for patients with CNS involvement of CD20 + B lymphoid malignancies are warranted. Am. J. Hematol. 91:486–491, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Predictors and signatures of recovery from neglect in acute stroke
Authors: Umarova Roza M. , Nitschke Kai , Kaller Christoph P. , Klöppel Stefan , Beume Lena , Mader Irina , Martin Markus , Hennig Jürgen , Weiller Cornelius
Published: February 2016

Objective

Spatial neglect can either spontaneously resolve or persist after stroke; the latter is associated with a poorer outcome. We aimed to investigate the neural correlates and predictors of favorable versus poor recovery from neglect in acute stroke.

Methods

In addition to neuropsychological testing, we explored task‐related functional magnetic resonance imaging activation and functional connectivity in 34 patients with neglect and/or extinction. Patients were examined at 2 to 3 days (acute phase I) and 8 to 10 days (acute phase II), and some of them at 4 to 6 months (chronic phase) poststroke.

Results

Course of recovery was predicted by the strength of functional connectivity between the right parietal and left prefrontal and parietal regions, as early as acute phase I. During acute phase II, favorable recovery from neglect was associated with increased activation in the left prefrontal and right parietal regions, an effect not observed at any time point in patients with poor acute recovery. The extent of neglect amelioration correlated with activation gain in the right attention centers; stronger activation of their left functional homologues correlated with better spatial processing in the neglected hemispace during both of the acute examination phases.

Interpretation

System excitability and early recruitment of contralesional functional homologues represented specific features of favorable recovery in acute stroke. In severe strokes leading to neglect, contralesional functional homologues support recovery by modulating the preserved ipsilesional network, and initial functional connectivity between them might predict recovery course and help to identify patients with potentially poor recovery requiring more intensive early rehabilitation. Ann Neurol 2016;79:673–686
Differentiating parts of Cinnamomum cassia using LC‐qTOF‐MS in conjunction with principal component analysis
Authors: Chen Pei‐Yi , Yu Jhe‐Wei , Lu Fen‐Ling , Lin Mei‐Chih , Cheng Hwei‐Fang
Published: February 2016

Cinnamon bark (Rou Gui in Chinese), cinnamon twig (Gui Zhi) and shaved cinnamon bark (Gui Sin) have been widely used as spices and in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. On‐going issues related to quality and authenticity necessitate the development of analytical methods capable of providing an objective evaluation of samples. In this study, chemical fingerprints of cinnamon bark, cinnamon twigs and shaved cinnamon bark were established using liquid chromatography quadruple time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA). From 125 samples of cinnamon, we identified the following eight compounds and their the detection ratios: coumarin, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl alcohol, cinnamic acid, 2‐hydroxycinnamaldehyde, 2‐hydroxycinnamic acid, 2‐methoxycinnamaldehyde and 4‐methoxycinnamaldehyde. Of these, 4‐methoxycinnamaldehyde presented the largest variations in detection ratio, making up 64.0, 97.4 and 50.0% in cinnamon bark, cinnamon twig, and shaved cinnamon bark, respectively. The quantities of cinnamyl alcohol, coumarin and cinnamaldehyde also varied between the three parts of the plant. Chemical fingerprints of the three cinnamon samples were established using principal component analysis, the results of which indicate that cinnamon bark and shaved cinnamon bark could be easily differentiated, despite a marked similarity in outward appearance. Cinnamon twig was also shown to depart from the other clusters. The proposed method provides a fast and efficient means of identifying cinnamon herbs for quality control purposes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A concise review of the bioanalytical methods for the quantitation of sitagliptin, an important dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP4) inhibitor, utilized for the characterization of the drug
Authors: Suresh P. S. , Srinivas Nuggehally R. , Mullangi Ramesh
Published: February 2016

Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP4) is an emerging therapeutic approach for treating type 2 diabetes and has revolutionized the concept of diabetes management. Sitagliptin is the first approved orally active, potent, selective and nonpeptidomimetic DPP4 inhibitor. Incidence of hypoglycemia and weight gain is negligible with sitagliptin treatment. It is used as monotherapy or in combination with other anti‐diabetic drugs to treat type 2 diabetes. There are numerous bioanalytical methods published for the analysis of sitagliptin in preclinical and clinical samples. This review focuses on the various HPLC and LC‐MS/MS methods that have been used to analyze sitagliptin in various biological matrices. A small section is devoted to the bioanalysis of other DPP4 inhibitors such as vildagliptin, saxagliptin and linagliptin. This review provides key information in a concise manner regarding sample processing options, chromatographic/detection conditions and validation parameters of the chosen methods for sitagliptin and other DPP4 inhibitors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Acute pancreatitis as a complication of childhood cancer treatment
Authors: Stefanović Milica , Jazbec Janez , Lindgren Fredrik , Bulajić Milutin , Löhr Matthias
Published: February 2016

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is now well recognized as a possible complication of childhood cancer treatment, interrupting the chemotherapy regimen, and requiring prolonged hospitalization, possibly with intensive care and surgical intervention, thereby compromising the effect of chemotherapy and the remission of the underlying malignant disease. This review summarizes the current literature and presents the various etiological factors for AP during chemotherapy as well as modern trends in the diagnosis and therapy of AP in children.
How do you write and present research well? 7—Cite to get cited
Authors: Patience Gregory S. , Patience Christian A. , Boffito Daria C. , Patience Paul A. , Bertrand François
Published: February 2016

We cite other researchers to recognize their contribution, educate, and establish the foundation of the research. References should balance recent breakthroughs with past contributions. Between 2011 and 2014, Nature published over 3200 articles and letters that referenced 113 000 papers. What is the average age of the references in these papers (the difference between the year Nature published the paper and the year the cited article was published)?[1]

4

6

10

12
Modelling, simulation, and experimental study of a simulated moving bed reactor for the synthesis of biodiesel
Authors: Mitra Ray Nillohit , Ray Ajay K.
Published: February 2016

Investigation of the reversible esterification reaction between oleic acid and methanol to produce methyl oleate (biodiesel) catalyzed by Amberlyst 15 ion‐exchange resin was carried out in a simulated moving bed reactor (SMBR). SMBR performance was described both experimentally and numerically using a mathematical model under various operating conditions. The model predicted the experimental outcome reasonably well. An improved yield (56 %) and purity (42 %) of biodiesel could be achieved in an SMBR compared to a fixed‐bed reactor (31 % yield and 22 % purity) by selecting appropriate operating conditions. The effects of various process parameters such as switching time as well as feed and eluent flow rate on SMBR behaviour were also investigated systematically.
Economic comparison of a continuous ABE fermentation with and without the integration of an in situ vacuum separation unit
Authors: Abdi Hindi Khalif , Alanazi Khalid F. , Rohani Aida Sharif , Mehrani Poupak , Thibault Jules
Published: February 2016

The development of renewable fuels has achieved enormous progress motivated by the rapid decline in petroleum resources and their oscillating price. After a wave of interest in bioethanol and biodiesel, biobutanol has been intensely investigated over the last decade and is considered a suitable renewable fuel. Biobutanol is most often produced through the Acetone‐Butanol‐Ethanol (ABE) bacterial fermentation process. This process is plagued, however, with high recovery costs because of the low final butanol concentration (∼0.01 g/g, 1 wt %) due to product inhibition on the microorganisms. To partly alleviate this problem and increase productivity, in situ butanol recovery techniques from the fermentation broth were proposed. These integrated methods increase the final concentration of butanol, and as a result improve the separation efficiency of the process. This paper compares the economic feasibility of a large‐scale continuous ABE fermentation process with and without integrating a vacuum separation unit. It is illustrated that based on the current market price of butanol, only the integrated fermentation process is economically feasible for discount rates up to ∼45 %. Adding an in situ butanol recovery technique made this process profitable compared to the conventional fermentation process analyzed under two different scenarios: constant fermenter volume and constant butanol production rate. The net present values (NPV) of the conventional process were found to be negative for both scenarios, whereas the integrated vacuum process had a NPV of US$ 87 000 000 at the end of 10 years of operation based on a discount rate of 10 %.
X‐ray fiber diffraction analysis shows dynamic changes in axial tubulin repeats in native microtubules depending on paclitaxel content, temperature and GTP‐hydrolysis
Authors: Kamimura Shinji , Fujita Yosuke , Wada Yuuko , Yagi Toshiki , Iwamoto Hiroyuki
Published: February 2016

Microtubules are key components of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells. The dynamics between assembled microtubules and free tubulin dimers in the cytoplasm is closely related to the active shape changes of microtubule networks. One of the most fundamental questions is the association of microtubule dynamics with the molecular conformation of tubulin within microtubules. To address this issue, we applied a new technique for the rapid shear‐flow alignment of biological filaments, enabling us to acquire the structural periodicity data of microtubules by X‐ray fiber diffraction under various physiological conditions. We classified microtubules into three main groups on the basis of distinct axial tubulin periodicities and mean microtubule diameters that varied depending on GTP hydrolysis and the content of paclitaxel, a microtubule stabilizer. Paclitaxel induced rapid changes in tubulin axial repeats in a cooperative manner. This is the first demonstration of dynamic changes of axial tubulin repeats within native microtubules without fixation. We also found extraordinary features of negative thermal expansion of axial tubulin repeats in both paclitaxel‐stabilized and GMPCPP‐containing microtubules. Our results suggest that even in assembled microtubules, both GTP‐ and GDP‐tubulin dimers can undergo dynamic conversion between at least two different states: short and long configurations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Rapid centriole assembly in Naegleria reveals conserved roles for both de novo and mentored assembly
Authors: Fritz‐Laylin Lillian K. , Levy Yaron Y. , Levitan Edward , Chen Sean , Cande W. Zacheus , Lai Elaine Y. , Fulton Chandler
Published: February 2016

Centrioles are eukaryotic organelles whose number and position are critical for cilia formation and mitosis. Many cell types assemble new centrioles next to existing ones (“templated” or mentored assembly). Under certain conditions, centrioles also form without pre‐existing centrioles (de novo). The synchronous differentiation of Naegleria amoebae to flagellates represents a unique opportunity to study centriole assembly, as nearly 100% of the population transitions from having no centrioles to having two within minutes. Here, we find that Naegleria forms its first centriole de novo, immediately followed by mentored assembly of the second. We also find both de novo and mentored assembly distributed among all major eukaryote lineages. We therefore propose that both modes are ancestral and have been conserved because they serve complementary roles, with de novo assembly as the default when no pre‐existing centriole is available, and mentored assembly allowing precise regulation of number, timing, and location of centriole assembly. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Noninvasive in situ study of pigments in artworks by means of VIS, IRFC image analysis, and X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry
Authors: Barbu Olimpia‐Hinamatsuri , Zahariade Anamaria
Published: February 2016

This article describes a preliminary method for pigment identification in paintings, based on the images obtained using digital microscopy with visible and infrared illumination and X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). About 240 standards of pigments were characterized using image processing and XRF analysis, building a specific database of reference images and spectra. The advantage of this method is that mixture of pigments could be discriminated and identified. An example of the application of this data analysis of pigments in fresco paintings is presented. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 41, 321–324, 2016
Purchase prediction using Tmall‐specific features
Authors: Zhao Yang , Yao Liang , Zhang Yin
Published: February 2016

Historical user activity, such as online shopping recommendations, content personalization, and advertising clicking rates, is a critical component of building user profiles to predict purchases and preferences. Alongside the rapid development of e‐commerce, purchase prediction has become an increasingly important consideration for a wide variety of retail platforms. This paper proposes a framework which combines machine learning methods with a threshold‐moving approach to predict sets of pairs (user id and brand id,) in terms of whether a certain brand is purchased by a specified user according to his or her historical activity records. Three specific feature groups are extracted: click features, purchase features, and collect‐and‐cart features using a dataset from Tmall, a Chinese business‐to‐consumer online retail platform. Next, seven user purchase prediction experiments with different combinations of the three feature groups are conducted, and the purchase prediction performance is observed. Results showed that a combination of all three feature groups, with 27 features in total, provided valuable purchase prediction contributions and performed favorably. Also, three feature groups are proved to be relative independent, and our prediction model identified the most important feature, from the collect‐and‐cart feature group. Detailed result analysis validated the effectiveness of both the extracted features and proposed machine learning methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A novel parallel deblocking filtering strategy for HEVC/H.265 based on GPU
Authors: Jiang Wenbin , Mei Hongyan , Lu Feng , Jin Hai , Yang Laurence T. , Luo Bin , Chi Ye
Published: February 2016

The deblocking filter in high‐efficiency video coding (HEVC) has huge computational complexity because of its high content‐adaptive coding structure as well as high‐definition. Parallelization for it based on massively parallel architectures such as graphics processing unit becomes an urgent demand. However, a large number of conditional branches and data dependencies severely hinder its efficient parallelization. In this paper, a novel parallel optimization strategy based on graphics processing unit is presented for concurrent deblocking in HEVC/H.265 standard to improve the parallel performance. First, by reducing various conditional branches, a normalization mechanism for instruction stream based on feature vector is proposed, which improves the efficiency of boundary strength computation dramatically. The idea can also be applied to edge discrimination. Second, a parallel mechanism based on an adaptive post‐correction is presented to process vertical and horizontal edges filtering concurrently, which improves the processing speed obviously, while producing negligible quality loss. Experimental results show that the strategy presented outperforms the existing state‐of‐the‐art method with accelerating factor up to 32. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Network‐aware service composition in mobile environment
Authors: Ding Zhijun , Chen Yuchen , Pan MeiQin , Li Xiaolun , Wang Pengwei
Published: February 2016

In the mobile environment, users will use mobile devices to enjoy different services, such as surfing the Internet, shopping online, or paying bills. And the network latency will greatly affect the performance of services, which influences the users using experience at the same time. Many service selection methods have treated network latency as QoS, but they do not consider the issue of user's mobility that resulting inconstantly changing of latency when existing information transmission between the user and services in mobile environment. So it is meaningful to take it into consideration to select globally optimal service to solve the practical problem. In this paper, we consider the user's movement, estimate the network latency by Euclidean distance, and propose a service composition algorithm in mobile environment to provide the best service scheme with the basic idea of dynamic programming. Finally, we make experiments by changing different factors and obtain lower latency compared with the traditional method; reflecting service composition algorithm in mobile environment can better adapt to the user's mobility and uncertain times of interaction between the user and services. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Accelerating digital halftoning using the local exhaustive search on the GPU
Authors: Kouge Hiroaki , Honda Takumi , Fujita Toru , Ito Yasuaki , Nakano Koji , Bordim Jacir L.
Published: February 2016

Digital halftoning is an important process to convert a grayscale image into a binary image with black and white pixels. Local exhaustive search‐based halftoning is one of the halftoning methods that can generate high‐quality binary images. However, considering the computing time, it is not realistic for most applications. As a first contribution, this paper proposes a graphics processing unit (GPU) implementation for digital halftoning employing local exhaustive search to produce high‐quality binary images. Programming issues of the GPU architecture have been carefully assessed for implementing the proposed method. Experimental results show that the proposed GPU implementation on NVIDIA (Santa Clara, CA, USA) GeForce GTX TITAN X attains a speed‐up factor of up to 48 over a CPU implementation. Our second contribution is a GPU implementation for cluster‐dot halftoning tailored for local exhaustive search. This implementation attains a speed‐up factor of 92 over a sequential CPU implementation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
N‐H⋅⋅⋅O, O‐H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bonded supramolecular formation in the cocrystal of salicylic acid with N‐containing bases
Authors: Lee KyeongSill , Kim Kwang‐Joo , Ulrich Joachim
Published: February 2016

Cocrystals of salicylic acid (derived from reaction between aspirin and coformers) with 4,4′dipyridyl, nicotinamide, isonicotinamide, N,N′‐diacetylpiperazine and piperazine have been examined with intent to improve physicochemical properties of antipyretic agent. All of the resulting cocrystals, salicylic acid/4,4′dipyridyl (2:1), salicylic acid/nicotinamide (1:1), salicylic acid/isonicotinamide (1:1), salicylic acid/piperazine (1:0.5) and salicylic acid/ N,N′‐diacetylpiperazine (2:1) (derived from reaction between aspirin and piperazine) are obtained solution cooling/evaporation experiments. The structural analysis has shown that the well‐known COOH⋅⋅⋅N heterosynthon was considered the key element in the cocrystals design strategy. The carboxylic acid⋅⋅⋅pyridine hydrogen bond is an often used supramolecular synthon. The results from X‐ray Powder Diffraction, DSC, Raman and single‐crystal X‐ray analysis revealed the formation of cocrystal of salicylic acid with several coformers.
The transcriptomic basis of tissue‐ and nutrition‐dependent sexual dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus taurus
Authors: Ledón‐Rettig Cristina C. , Moczek Armin P.
Published: February 2016

Sexual dimorphism accounts for a large fraction of intraspecific diversity. However, not all traits are equally sexually dimorphic; instead, individuals are mosaics of tissues that vary in their ability to exhibit dimorphism. Furthermore, the degree of a trait's sexual dimorphism is frequently environment‐dependent, with elaborate sexual dimorphism commonly being restricted to high nutritional conditions. Understanding the developmental basis and evolution of condition‐dependent sexual dimorphism can be critically informed by determining – across tissues and nutritional conditions – what sex‐biased genes are deployed and how they interact and translate into functional processes. Indeed, key theories concerning the evolution of condition‐dependent sexually dimorphic traits rest on assumptions regarding their developmental genetic underpinnings, yet, have largely gone unexamined by empirical studies. Here, we provide such evidence by investigating the transcriptomic basis of tissue‐ and nutrition‐dependent sexual dimorphism in the bull‐headed dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. Our findings suggest (1) that generating morphological sexual dimorphism requires sex‐biased gene expression in and developmental remodeling of both sexes, regardless of which sex exhibits externally visible trait exaggeration, (2) that although sexually dimorphic phenotypes are comprised of traits underlain by independent repertoires of sex‐biased gene expression, they act similarly at a functional level, and (3) that sexual dimorphism and condition‐dependence share common genetic underpinnings specifically in sexually‐selected traits.
Eggshell pigment composition covaries with phylogeny but not with life history or with nesting ecology traits of British passerines
Authors: Brulez Kaat , Mikšík Ivan , Cooney Christopher R. , Hauber Mark E. , Lovell Paul George , Maurer Golo , Portugal Steven J. , Russell Douglas , Reynolds Silas James , Cassey Phillip
Published: February 2016

No single hypothesis is likely to explain the diversity in eggshell coloration and patterning across birds, suggesting that eggshell appearance is most likely to have evolved to fulfill many nonexclusive functions. By controlling for nonindependent phylogenetic associations between related species, we describe this diversity using museum eggshells of 71 British breeding passerine species to examine how eggshell pigment composition and concentrations vary with phylogeny and with life‐history and nesting ecology traits. Across species, concentrations of biliverdin and protoporphyrin, the two main pigments found in eggshells, were strongly and positively correlated, and both pigments strongly covaried with phylogenetic relatedness. Controlling for phylogeny, cavity‐nesting species laid eggs with lower protoporphyrin concentrations in the shell, while higher biliverdin concentrations were associated with thicker eggshells for species of all nest types. Overall, these relationships between eggshell pigment concentrations and the biology of passerines are similar to those previously found in nonpasserine eggs, and imply that phylogenetic dependence must be considered across the class in further explanations of the functional significance of avian eggshell coloration.
Does intraspecific competition promote variation? A test via synthesis
Authors: Jones Andrew W. , Post David M.
Published: February 2016

Competitive diversification, that is, when increasing intraspecific competition promotes population niche expansion, is commonly invoked in evolutionary studies and currently plays a central role in how we conceptualize the process of adaptive diversification. Despite the frequency with which this idea is cited, the empirical evidence for the process is somewhat limited, and the findings of these studies have yet to be weighed objectively through synthesis. Here, we sought to fill this gap by reviewing the existing literature and collecting the data necessary to assess the evidence for competition as a diversifying force. Additionally, we sought to test a more recent hypothesis, which suggests that competition can act to both promote and inhibit dietary diversification depending on the degree to which a consumer depletes its resources. The surprising result of this synthesis was that increasing competition did not have a mean positive effect on population‐level diet breadth or the degree of individual specialization. Instead, we found that increasing intraspecific competition had a restricting effect on population‐level diet breadth in as many cases as it had a diversifying effect. This wide disparity in the effect of competition on consumer diet variation was negatively related to a metric for consumer resource depletion. Altogether, these findings call into question a long‐standing assumption of basic evolutionary models and lend some support to recent theoretical predictions. Specifically, these findings support the idea that competition is primarily diversifying for species with a small effect (per unit biomass) on their resources and that resource depletion limits the diversifying effect of competition for consumers with larger ecological effects.
Non‐glycosidic compounds can stimulate both human and mouse iNKT cells
Authors: Jukes John‐Paul , Gileadi Uzi , Ghadbane Hemza , Yu Ting‐Fong , Shepherd Dawn , Cox Liam R. , Besra Gurdyal S. , Cerundolo Vincenzo
Published: February 2016

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells recognize CD1d/glycolipid complexes and upon activation with synthetic agonists display immunostimulatory properties. We have previously described that the non‐glycosidic CD1d‐binding lipid, threitolceramide (ThrCer) activates murine and human iNKT cells. Here, we show that incorporating the headgroup of ThrCer into a conformationally more restricted 6‐ or 7‐membered ring results in significantly more potent non‐glycosidic analogs. In particular, ThrCer 6 was found to promote strong anti‐tumor responses and to induce a more prolonged stimulation of iNKT cells than does the canonical α‐galactosylceramide (α‐GalCer), achieving an enhanced T‐cell response at lower concentrations compared with α‐GalCer both in vitro, using human iNKT‐cell lines and in vivo, using C57BL/6 mice. Collectively, these studies describe novel non‐glycosidic ThrCer‐based analogs that have improved potency in iNKT‐cell activation compared with that of α‐GalCer, and are clinically relevant iNKT‐cell agonists.