bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CCDC102B confers risk of low vision and blindness in high myopia
Authors: Hosoda Yoshikatsu , Yoshikawa Munemitsu , Miyake Masahiro , Tabara Yasuharu , Shimada Noriaki , Zhao Wanting , Oishi Akio , Nakanishi Hideo , Hata Masayuki , Akagi Tadamichi , Ooto Sotaro , Nagaoka Natsuko , Fang Yuxin ,   Nagahama Study group, Kawaguchi Takahisa , Setoh Kazuya , Takahashi Yoshimitsu , Kosugi Shinji , Nakayama Takeo , Ohno-Matsui Kyoko , Cheng Ching-Yu , Saw Seang Mei , Yamada Ryo , Matsuda Fumihiko , Tsujikawa Akitaka , Yamashiro Kenji
Published: April 2018

The incidence of high myopia is increasing worldwide with myopic maculopathy, a complication of myopia, often progressing to blindness. Our two-stage genome-wide association study of myopic maculopathy identifies a susceptibility locus at rs11873439 in an intron of CCDC102B (P = 1.77 × 10−12 and Pcorr = 1.61 × 10−10). In contrast, this SNP is not significantly associated with myopia itself. The association between rs11873439 and myopic maculopathy is further confirmed in 2317 highly myopic patients (P = 2.40 × 10−6 and Pcorr = 1.72 × 10−4). CCDC102B is strongly expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium and choroids, where atrophic changes initially occur in myopic maculopathy. The development of myopic maculopathy thus likely exhibits a unique background apart from the development of myopia itself; elucidation of the roles of CCDC102B in myopic maculopathy development may thus provide insights into preventive methods for blindness in patients with high myopia.
WASP-mediated regulation of anti-inflammatory macrophages is IL-10 dependent and is critical for intestinal homeostasis
Authors: Biswas Amlan , Shouval Dror S. , Griffith Alexandra , Goettel Jeremy A. , Field Michael , Kang Yu Hui , Konnikova Liza , Janssen Erin , Redhu Naresh Singh , Thrasher Adrian J. , Chatila Talal , Kuchroo Vijay K. , Geha Raif S , Notarangelo Luigi D. , Pai Sung-Yun , Horwitz Bruce H. , Snapper Scott B.
Published: April 2018

Mutations in Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) cause autoimmune sequelae including colitis. Yet, how WASP mediates mucosal homeostasis is not fully understood. Here we show that WASP-mediated regulation of anti-inflammatory macrophages is critical for mucosal homeostasis and immune tolerance. The generation and function of anti-inflammatory macrophages are defective in both human and mice in the absence of WASP. Expression of WASP specifically in macrophages, but not in dendritic cells, is critical for regulation of colitis development. Importantly, transfer of WT anti-inflammatory macrophages prevents the development of colitis. DOCK8-deficient macrophages phenocopy the altered macrophage properties associated with WASP deficiency. Mechanistically, we show that both WASP and DOCK8 regulates macrophage function by modulating IL-10-dependent STAT3 phosphorylation. Overall, our study indicates that anti-inflammatory macrophage function and mucosal immune tolerance require both WASP and DOCK8, and that IL-10 signalling modulates a WASP-DOCK8 complex.
The southern ocean meridional overturning in the sea-ice sector is driven by freshwater fluxes
Authors: Pellichero Violaine , Sallée Jean-Baptiste , Chapman Christopher C. , Downes Stephanie M.
Published: April 2018

The oceans are traversed by a large-scale overturning circulation, essential for the climate system as it sets the rate at which the deep ocean interacts with the atmosphere. The main region where deep waters reach the surface is in the Southern Ocean, where they are transformed by interactions with the atmosphere and sea-ice. Here, we present an observation-based estimate of the rate of overturning sustained by surface buoyancy fluxes in the Southern Ocean sea-ice sector. In this region, the seasonal growth and melt of sea-ice dominate water-mass transformations. Both sea-ice freezing and melting act as a pump, removing freshwater from high latitudes and transporting it to lower latitudes, driving a large-scale circulation that upwells 27 ± 7 Sv of deep water to the surface. The upwelled water is then transformed into 22 ± 4 Sv of lighter water and 5 ± 5 Sv into denser layers that feed an upper and lower overturning cell, respectively.
A retinoic acid-dependent stroma-leukemia crosstalk promotes chronic lymphocytic leukemia progression
Authors: Farinello Diego , Wozińska Monika , Lenti Elisa , Genovese Luca , Bianchessi Silvia , Migliori Edoardo , Sacchetti Nicolò , di Lillo Alessia , Bertilaccio Maria Teresa Sabrina , de Lalla Claudia , Valsecchi Roberta , Gleave Sabrina Bascones , Lligé David , Scielzo Cristina , Mauri Laura , Ciampa Maria Grazia , Scarfò Lydia , Bernardi Rosa , Lazarevic Dejan , Gonzalez-Farre Blanca , Bongiovanni Lucia , Campo Elias , Cerutti Andrea , Ponzoni Maurilio , Pattini Linda , Caligaris-Cappio Federico , Ghia Paolo , Brendolan Andrea
Published: April 2018

In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the non-hematopoietic stromal microenvironment plays a critical role in promoting tumor cell recruitment, activation, survival, and expansion. However, the nature of the stromal cells and molecular pathways involved remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that leukemic B lymphocytes induce the activation of retinoid acid synthesis and signaling in the microenvironment. Inhibition of RA-signaling in stromal cells causes deregulation of genes associated with adhesion, tissue organization and chemokine secretion including the B-cell chemokine CXCL13. Notably, reducing retinoic acid precursors from the diet or inhibiting RA-signaling through retinoid-antagonist therapy prolong survival by preventing dissemination of leukemia cells into lymphoid tissues. Furthermore, mouse and human leukemia cells could be distinguished from normal B-cells by their increased expression of Rarγ2 and RXRα, respectively. These findings establish a role for retinoids in murine CLL pathogenesis, and provide new therapeutic strategies to target the microenvironment and to control disease progression.
Gut microbiomes of wild great apes fluctuate seasonally in response to diet
Authors: Hicks Allison L. , Lee Kerry Jo , Couto-Rodriguez Mara , Patel Juber , Sinha Rohini , Guo Cheng , Olson Sarah H. , Seimon Anton , Seimon Tracie A. , Ondzie Alain U. , Karesh William B. , Reed Patricia , Cameron Kenneth N. , Lipkin W. Ian , Williams Brent L.
Published: April 2018

The microbiome is essential for extraction of energy and nutrition from plant-based diets and may have facilitated primate adaptation to new dietary niches in response to rapid environmental shifts. Here we use 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the microbiota of wild western lowland gorillas and sympatric central chimpanzees and demonstrate compositional divergence between the microbiotas of gorillas, chimpanzees, Old World monkeys, and modern humans. We show that gorilla and chimpanzee microbiomes fluctuate with seasonal rainfall patterns and frugivory. Metagenomic sequencing of gorilla microbiomes demonstrates distinctions in functional metabolic pathways, archaea, and dietary plants among enterotypes, suggesting that dietary seasonality dictates shifts in the microbiome and its capacity for microbial plant fiber digestion versus growth on mucus glycans. These data indicate that great ape microbiomes are malleable in response to dietary shifts, suggesting a role for microbiome plasticity in driving dietary flexibility, which may provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms by which diet has driven the evolution of human gut microbiomes.
Author Correction: Dimerization: a structural feature for the protection of hepatitis E virus capsid protein against trypsinization
Authors: Wei Wenjuan , Behloul Nouredine , Baha Sarra , Liu Zhenzhen , Aslam Mehwish Saba , Meng Jihong
Published: April 2018

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
Frequency-resolved Monte Carlo
Authors: López Carreño Juan Camilo , del Valle Elena , Laussy Fabrice P.
Published: April 2018

We adapt the Quantum Monte Carlo method to the cascaded formalism of quantum optics, allowing us to simulate the emission of photons of known energy. Statistical processing of the photon clicks thus collected agrees with the theory of frequency-resolved photon correlations, extending the range of applications based on correlations of photons of prescribed energy, in particular those of a photon-counting character. We apply the technique to autocorrelations of photon streams from a two-level system under coherent and incoherent pumping, including the Mollow triplet regime where we demonstrate the direct manifestation of leapfrog processes in producing an increased rate of two-photon emission events.
Membrane depolarization and aberrant lipid distributions in the neonatal rat brain following hypoxic-ischaemic insult
Authors: Luptakova Dominika , Baciak Ladislav , Pluhacek Tomas , Skriba Anton , Sediva Blanka , Havlicek Vladimir , Juranek Ivo
Published: April 2018

Neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic (HI) encephalopathy is among the most serious complications in neonatology. In the present study, we studied the immediate (0 hour), subacute (36 hours) and late (144 hours) responses of the neonatal brain to experimental HI insult in laboratory rats. At the striatal level, the mass spectrometry imaging revealed an aberrant plasma membrane distribution of Na+/K+ ions in the oedema-affected areas. The failure of the Na+/K+ gradients was also apparent in the magnetic resonance imaging measurements, demonstrating intracellular water accumulation during the acute phase of the HI insult. During the subacute phase, compared with the control brains, an incipient accumulation of an array of N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE) molecules was detected in the HI-affected brains, and both the cytotoxic and vasogenic types of oedema were detected. In the severely affected brain areas, abnormal distributions of the monosialogangliosides GM2 and GM3 were observed in two-thirds of the animals exposed to the insult. During the late stage, a partial restoration of the brain tissue was observed in most rats in both the in vivo and ex vivo studies. These specific molecular changes may be further utilized in neonatology practice in proposing and testing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of neonatal HI encephalopathy.
Facial bone fragmentation in blind cavefish arises through two unusual ossification processes
Authors: Powers Amanda K. , Kaplan Shane A. , Boggs Tyler E. , Gross Joshua B.
Published: April 2018

The precise mechanisms underlying cranial bone development, evolution and patterning remain incompletely characterised. This poses a challenge to understanding the etiologies of craniofacial malformations evolving in nature. Capitalising on natural variation, “evolutionary model systems” provide unique opportunities to identify underlying causes of aberrant phenotypes as a complement to studies in traditional systems. Mexican blind cavefish are a prime evolutionary model for cranial disorders since they frequently exhibit extreme alterations to the skull and lateral asymmetries. These aberrations occur in stark contrast to the normal cranial architectures of closely related surface-dwelling fish, providing a powerful comparative paradigm for understanding cranial bone formation. Using a longitudinal and in vivo analytical approach, we discovered two unusual ossification processes in cavefish that underlie the development of ‘fragmented’ and asymmetric cranial bones. The first mechanism involves the sporadic appearance of independent bony elements that fail to fuse together later in development. The second mechanism involves the “carving” of channels in the mature bone, a novel form of post-ossification remodeling. In the extreme cave environment, these novel mechanisms may have evolved to augment sensory input, and may indirectly result in a trade-off between sensory expansion and cranial bone development.
Validation of systems biology derived molecular markers of renal donor organ status associated with long term allograft function
Authors: Perco Paul , Heinzel Andreas , Leierer Johannes , Schneeberger Stefan , Bösmüller Claudia , Oberhuber Rupert , Wagner Silvia , Engler Franziska , Mayer Gert
Published: April 2018

Donor organ quality affects long term outcome after renal transplantation. A variety of prognostic molecular markers is available, yet their validity often remains undetermined. A network-based molecular model reflecting donor kidney status based on transcriptomics data and molecular features reported in scientific literature to be associated with chronic allograft nephropathy was created. Significantly enriched biological processes were identified and representative markers were selected. An independent kidney pre-implantation transcriptomics dataset of 76 organs was used to predict estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) values twelve months after transplantation using available clinical data and marker expression values. The best-performing regression model solely based on the clinical parameters donor age, donor gender, and recipient gender explained 17% of variance in post-transplant eGFR values. The five molecular markers EGF, CD2BP2, RALBP1, SF3B1, and DDX19B representing key molecular processes of the constructed renal donor organ status molecular model in addition to the clinical parameters significantly improved model performance (p-value = 0.0007) explaining around 33% of the variability of eGFR values twelve months after transplantation. Collectively, molecular markers reflecting donor organ status significantly add to prediction of post-transplant renal function when added to the clinical parameters donor age and gender.
Higher order scaffoldin assembly in Ruminococcus flavefaciens cellulosome is coordinated by a discrete cohesin-dockerin interaction
Authors: Bule Pedro , Pires Virgínia M. R. , Alves Victor D. , Carvalho Ana Luísa , Prates José A. M. , Ferreira Luís M. A. , Smith Steven P. , Gilbert Harry J. , Noach Ilit , Bayer Edward A. , Najmudin Shabir , Fontes Carlos M. G. A.
Published: April 2018

Cellulosomes are highly sophisticated molecular nanomachines that participate in the deconstruction of complex polysaccharides, notably cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulosomal assembly is orchestrated by the interaction of enzyme-borne dockerin (Doc) modules to tandem cohesin (Coh) modules of a non-catalytic primary scaffoldin. In some cases, as exemplified by the cellulosome of the major cellulolytic ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens, primary scaffoldins bind to adaptor scaffoldins that further interact with the cell surface via anchoring scaffoldins, thereby increasing cellulosome complexity. Here we elucidate the structure of the unique Doc of R. flavefaciens FD-1 primary scaffoldin ScaA, bound to Coh 5 of the adaptor scaffoldin ScaB. The RfCohScaB5-DocScaA complex has an elliptical architecture similar to previously described complexes from a variety of ecological niches. ScaA Doc presents a single-binding mode, analogous to that described for the other two Coh-Doc specificities required for cellulosome assembly in R. flavefaciens. The exclusive reliance on a single-mode of Coh recognition contrasts with the majority of cellulosomes from other bacterial species described to date, where Docs contain two similar Coh-binding interfaces promoting a dual-binding mode. The discrete Coh-Doc interactions observed in ruminal cellulosomes suggest an adaptation to the exquisite properties of the rumen environment.
Author Correction: Alleviation of drought stress in pulse crops with ACC deaminase producing rhizobacteria isolated from acidic soil of Northeast India
Authors: Saikia Juthika , Sarma Rupak K. , Dhandia Rajashree , Yadav Archana , Bharali Rupjyoti , Gupta Vijai K. , Saikia Ratul
Published: April 2018

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.
Cost-effective rapid prototyping and assembly of poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic devices
Authors: Matellan Carlos , del Río Hernández Armando E.
Published: April 2018

The difficulty in translating conventional microfluidics from laboratory prototypes to commercial products has shifted research efforts towards thermoplastic materials for their higher translational potential and amenability to industrial manufacturing. Here, we present an accessible method to fabricate and assemble polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microfluidic devices in a “mask-less” and cost-effective manner that can be applied to manufacture a wide range of designs due to its versatility. Laser micromachining offers high flexibility in channel dimensions and morphology by controlling the laser properties, while our two-step surface treatment based on exposure to acetone vapour and low-temperature annealing enables improvement of the surface quality without deformation of the device. Finally, we demonstrate a capillarity-driven adhesive delivery bonding method that can produce an effective seal between PMMA devices and a variety of substrates, including glass, silicon and LiNbO3. We illustrate the potential of this technique with two microfluidic devices, an H-filter and a droplet generator. The technique proposed here offers a low entry barrier for the rapid prototyping of thermoplastic microfluidics, enabling iterative design for laboratories without access to conventional microfabrication equipment.
Species contributions to single biodiversity values under-estimate whole community contribution to a wider range of values to society
Authors: Hiron Matthew , Pärt Tomas , Siriwardena Gavin M. , Whittingham Mark J.
Published: April 2018

A major task for decision makers is deciding how to consider monetary, cultural and conservation values of biodiversity explicitly when planning sustainable land use. Thus, there is a great need to understand just what “valuing” biodiversity or species really means, e.g. regarding how many and which species are important in providing ecosystem services or other values. Constructing ecosystem-level indices, however, requires weighting the relative contribution of species to the different values. Using farmland birds, we illustrate how species contribute to different biodiversity values, namely utilitarian (pest seed predation potential), cultural (species occurrence in poetry), conservational (declines and rarity) and inherent (all species equal) value. Major contributions to each value are often made by a subset of the community and different species are important for different values, leading to no correlations or, in some cases, negative correlations between species’ relative contributions to different values. Our results and methods using relative contributions of species to biodiversity values can aid decisions when weighing different values in policies and strategies for natural resource management. We conclude that acknowledging the importance of the range of biodiversity values that are apparent from different perspectives is critical if the full value of biodiversity to society is to be realised.
Cerium oxide nanoparticles with antioxidant capabilities and gadolinium integration for MRI contrast enhancement
Authors: Eriksson Peter , Tal Alexey A. , Skallberg Andreas , Brommesson Caroline , Hu Zhangjun , Boyd Robert D. , Olovsson Weine , Fairley Neal , Abrikosov Igor A. , Zhang Xuanjun , Uvdal Kajsa
Published: April 2018

The chelating gadolinium-complex is routinely used as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -contrast enhancer. However, several safety issues have recently been reported by FDA and PRAC. There is an urgent need for the next generation of safer MRI-contrast enhancers, with improved local contrast and targeting capabilities. Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs) are designed with fractions of up to 50% gadolinium to utilize the superior MRI-contrast properties of gadolinium. CeNPs are well-tolerated in vivo and have redox properties making them suitable for biomedical applications, for example scavenging purposes on the tissue- and cellular level and during tumor treatment to reduce in vivo inflammatory processes. Our near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) studies show that implementation of gadolinium changes the initial co-existence of oxidation states Ce3+ and Ce4+ of cerium, thereby affecting the scavenging properties of the nanoparticles. Based on ab initio electronic structure calculations, we describe the most prominent spectral features for the respective oxidation states. The as-prepared gadolinium-implemented CeNPs are 3–5 nm in size, have r1-relaxivities between 7–13 mM−1 s−1 and show clear antioxidative properties, all of which means they are promising theranostic agents for use in future biomedical applications.
Gene-based analysis of genes related to neurotrophic pathway suggests association of BDNF and VEGFA with antidepressant treatment-response in depressed patients
Authors: Kao Chung-Feng , Liu Yu-Li , Yu Younger W.-Y. , Yang Albert C. , Lin Eugene , Kuo Po-Hsiu , Tsai Shih-Jen
Published: April 2018

It is well established that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling pathway plays a key role in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and in therapeutic mechanisms of antidepressants. We aim to identify genetic vairiants related to MDD susceptibility and antidepressant therapeutic response by using gene-based association analysis with genes related to the neurotrophic pathway. The present study investigated the role of genetic variants in the 10 neurotrophic-related genes (BDNF, NGFR, NTRK2, MTOR, VEGFA, S100A10, SERPINE1, ARHGAP33, GSK3B, CREB1) in MDD susceptibility through a case-control (455 MDD patients and 2,998 healthy controls) study and in antidepressant efficacy (n = 455). Measures of antidepressant therapeutic efficacy were evaluated using the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Our single-marker and gene-based analyses with ten genes related to the neurotrophic pathway identified 6 polymorphisms that reached a significant level (p-value < 5.0 × 10−3) in both meta- and mega-analyses in antidepressant therapeutic response. One polymorphism was mapped to BDNF and 5 other polymorphisms were mapped to VEGFA. For case-control association study, we found that all of these reported polymorphisms and genes did not reach a suggestive level. The present study supported a role of BDNF and VEGFA variants in MDD therapeutic response.
Over 20% external quantum efficiency in red thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes using a reverse intersystem crossing activating host
Authors: Kim Ji Han , Lee Dong Ryun , Han Si Hyun , Lee Jun Yeob
Published: April 2018

Highly efficient red thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes were developed using a reverse intersystem crossing activating host derived from phenylcarbazole and pyridofuropyridine.
Plasma metabolic profiling analysis of neurotoxicity induced by oxaliplatin using metabonomics and multivariate data analysis
Authors: Xu Yanyan , Zhao Yiwei , Guo Xuejun , Li Yubo , Zhang Yanjun
Published: April 2018

Oxaliplatin is a third generation antitumor agent, which is often used in treating advanced colorectal cancer, but the use of oxaliplatin is limited by its side effects, especially peripheral nerve toxicity.
Alkene-alkyl interconversion: an experimental and computational study of the olefin insertion and β-hydride elimination processes
Authors: Azpeitia S. , Prieto U. , San Sebastián E. , Rodríguez-Diéguez A. , Garralda M. A. , Huertos M. A.
Published: April 2018

Six new silyl-thioether rhodium and iridium compounds have been used to study the transformation of alkene- into alkyl-complexes andvice versa.
A porous hierarchical micro/nano LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material for Li-ion batteries synthesized by a urea-assisted hydrothermal method
Authors: Wang Jiangfeng , Qin Xing , Guo Jianling , Zhou Mushang , Zong Bo , Wang Li , Liang Guangchuan
Published: April 2018

The U/TM ratio has a significant influence on the phase composition, particle morphology and size of the carbonate precursor, thus leading to different electrochemical properties of the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 material.
Ni–Mo–O nanorod-derived composite catalysts for efficient alkaline water-to-hydrogen conversion via urea electrolysis
Authors: Yu Zi-You , Lang Chao-Chao , Gao Min-Rui , Chen Yu , Fu Qi-Qi , Duan Yu , Yu Shu-Hong
Published: April 2018

Two Ni–Mo–O compounds show exceptional cathodic/anodic catalytic performance for urea electrolysis, suggesting a promising route to energy-saving H2 production.
A simple constrained machine learning model for predicting high-pressure-hydrogen-compressor materials
Authors: Hattrick-Simpers Jason R. , Choudhary Kamal , Corgnale Claudio
Published: April 2018

Here we present the results of using techno-economic analysis as constraints for machine learning guided studies of new metal hydride materials.
Reinforcement of polymeric nanoassemblies for ultra-high drug loadings, modulation of stiffness and release kinetics, and sustained therapeutic efficacy
Authors: Ekladious Iriny , Liu Rong , Varongchayakul Nitinun , Mejia Cruz Luis A. , Todd Daniel A. , Zhang Heng , Oberlies Nicholas H. , Padera Robert F. , Colson Yolonda L. , Grinstaff Mark W.
Published: April 2018

Beyond the MTD and LD50, use of novel ultra-high drug loaded nanoparticles.
A flexible pressure sensor based on rGO/polyaniline wrapped sponge with tunable sensitivity for human motion detection
Authors: Ge Gang , Cai Yichen , Dong Qiuchun , Zhang Yizhou , Shao Jinjun , Huang Wei , Dong Xiaochen
Published: April 2018

High-performance stretchable and wearable electronic skins (E-skins) with high sensitivity and a large sensing range are urgently required with the rapid development of the Internet of things and artificial intelligence.
Molecular engineering of logic gate types by module rearrangement in ‘Pourbaix Sensors’: the effect of excited-state electric fields
Authors: Spiteri Jake C. , Denisov Sergey A. , Jonusauskas Gediminas , Klejna Sylwia , Szaciłowski Konrad , McClenaghan Nathan D. , Magri David C.
Published: April 2018

Two types of fluorescent logic gates are accessed from different arrangements of the same module components: AND and PASS 0 logic gates.
Regioselective synthesis and biological evaluation ofN-substituted 2-aminoquinazolin-4-ones
Authors: Liao Zhen-Yuan , Yeh Wen-Hsiung , Liao Pen-Yuan , Liu Yu-Ting , Chen Ying-Cheng , Chen Yi-Hung , Hsieh Tsung-Han , Lin Chia-Chi , Lu Ming-Hsuan , Chen Yi-Song , Hsu Ming-Chih , Li Tsai-Kun , Chien Tun-Cheng
Published: April 2018

The reaction of methyl anthranilates withN-arylcyanamides can selectively form two different regioisomericN-substituted 2-aminoquinazolin-4-one derivatives.
A novel strategy for the manufacture of idelalisib: controlling the formation of an enantiomer
Authors: Mekala Nagaraju , Buddepu Srinivasa Rao , Dehury Sanjay K. , Moturu Krishna Murthy V. R. , Indukuri Sunil Kumar V. , Vasireddi Umamaheswara Rao , Parimi Atchuta R.
Published: April 2018

A novel and scalable synthesis of 5-fluoro-3-phenyl-2-[(1S)-1-(9H-purin-6-ylamino)propyl]-4(3H)-quinazolinone, idelalisib1, has been developed.
Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and photostability of Ag3PO4/Bi2WO6 heterostructures toward organic pollutant degradation and plasmonic Z-scheme mechanism
Authors: Ma Fengyan , Yang Qilin , Wang Zhengjun , Liu Yahong , Xin Jianjiao , Zhang Jingjing , Hao Yuting , Li Li
Published: April 2018

Novel Ag3PO4/Bi2WO6 heterostructured materials were synthesized by assembling Ag3PO4 irregular nanospheres on the surface of Bi2WO6 nanoflakes and showed superior visible-light photocatalytic activity owing to the good formation of heterostructures.
Novel azobenzene-based amphiphilic copolymers: synthesis, self-assembly behavior and multiple-stimuli-responsive properties
Authors: Xu Yiting , Cao Jie , Li Qi , Li Jilu , He Kaiwei , Shen Tong , Liu Xinyu , Yuan Conghui , Zeng Birong , Dai Lizong
Published: April 2018

Polymeric micelles encapsulating and releasing hydrophobic guest molecules.
Generation of micro- and nano-morphologies on a stainless steel surface irradiated with 257 nm femtosecond laser pulses
Authors: Fraggelakis Fotis , Mincuzzi Girolamo , Manek-Hönninger Inka , Lopez John , Kling Rainer
Published: April 2018

Ripples (150 nm period) and spikes (few microns size) were shown for the first time utilizing a 257 nm femtosecond laser.
Performance and mechanism of free nitrous acid on the solubilization of waste activated sludge
Authors: Wang Jinsong , Zhang Zhaoji , Ye Xin , Huang Fuyi , Chen Shaohua
Published: April 2018

The mechanism of sludge solubilization induced by free nitrous acid over a large concentration range was investigated using SIET and FCM.
Silver ions blocking crystallization of guanosine-based hydrogel for potential antimicrobial applications
Authors: Feng Hui , Du Yuqi , Tang Fan , Ji Ning , Zhao Xuefeng , Zhao Hang , Chen Qianming
Published: April 2018

Ag+ was introduced to block the crystallization of FGd forming long lifetime stability supramolecular hydrogel (>6 months), which displayed low toxicity for NOK-SI cell and good antibacterial activities.
Self-assembled orthoester cryptands: orthoester scope, post-functionalization, kinetic locking and tunable degradation kinetics
Authors: Löw Henrik , Mena-Osteritz Elena , von Delius Max
Published: April 2018

Self-assembled orthoester cryptands offer appealing properties for applications in ion sensing and transport, such as convenient post-functionalization and tunable biodegradation.
Influence of dielectric inhomogeneities on the structure of charged nanoparticles in neutral polymer solutions
Authors: Samanta Rituparna , Ganesan Venkat
Published: April 2018

Quantifying the influence of dielectric inhomogeneity on the structure of multiple-charged nanoparticles in uncharged polymer solutions.
Joint attribute chain prediction for zero‐shot learning
Authors: Qiao Lingfeng , Tuo Hongya , Wang Jiexin , Wang Chao , Jing Zhongliang
Published: April 2018

Zero‐shot learning (ZSL) aims to classify the objects without any training samples. Attributes are used to transfer knowledge from the training set to testing one in ZSL. Most ZSL methods based on Direct Attribute Prediction (DAP) assume that attributes are independent of each other. In this study, the authors explore the relationship between attributes and propose Joint Attribute Chain Prediction (JACP). Attribute chains are introduced to represent the relations. Conditional probabilities of attributes are estimated orderly along the chain to calculate the joint posteriors of the testing classes without independence assumptions. To reduce the estimation error, attribute relation clustering algorithm is presented to group the long chain into some unrelated small chains. When the max length of chains is one, JACP is essentially identical with DAP. Experiments on three data sets for zero‐shot problem demonstrate the classification accuracy and efficiency of the authors’ algorithm. The results show that mining attribute relations can greatly improve the performance of ZSL effectively.
Human pose estimation method based on single depth image
Authors: Wu Qingqiang , Xu Guanghua , Li Min , Chen Longting , Zhang Xin , Xie Jun
Published: April 2018

Many of current human pose estimation methods based on depth images require training stage. However, the training stage costs huge work on making samples. And many methods for human pose occlusion condition cannot work well. In this study, a novel approach to estimate human pose with a depth image called model‐based recursive matching (MRM) is introduced. A human skeleton model with customised parameters is created based on T‐pose to fit different body types. The authors use depth image and 3D point cloud corresponding to input. In contrast to previous work, the proposed method avoids training step and can give an accurate estimation in the case of the human occlusion condition. They demonstrate the method by comparing to the method Kinect offered by using random forest on 20 human poses. And the ground truth of coordinates of pose joint is made by the motion capture system. The result shows that the proposed method not only works well on the general human pose but also can deal with human occlusion better. And the authors’ method can be also applied to the disabled people and other creatures.
CNN with coarse‐to‐fine layer for hierarchical classification
Authors: Fu Ruigang , Li Biao , Gao Yinghui , Wang Ping
Published: April 2018

Most of the traditional convolution neural network (CNN)‐based classification models are flat classifiers, which have an underlying assumption that all classes are equally difficult to distinguish. However, visual separability between different object categories is highly uneven in the real world. Recently, hierarchical classification has been proven effective for CNNs, more and more attempts have been made to exploit category hierarchies in CNN models. In this study, the authors propose a novel hierarchical CNN architecture, called coarse‐to‐fine CNN. It is simple, with a proposed coarse‐to‐fine layer on the top of a generic CNN. The coarse‐to‐fine layer is inspired by the Bayesian equation, where the coarse prediction can affect the fine prediction directly. Arbitrary CNNs can perform the hierarchical classification by adding the proposed layer. The training of a coarse‐to‐fine CNN is end‐to‐end, it can be optimised by typical stochastic gradient descent. In the test phase, it outputs multiple hierarchical predictions simultaneously. Experimental results on the benchmark datasets MNIST, CIFAR‐10, and CIFAR‐100 show clear advantages over the compared baselines.
Deblurring retinal optical coherence tomography via a convolutional neural network with anisotropic and double convolution layer
Authors: Lian Jian , Hou Sujuan , Sui Xiaodan , Xu Fangzhou , Zheng Yuanjie
Published: April 2018

Various image pre‐processing tasks in optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems involve reversing degradation effects (e.g. deblurring). Current deblurring research mainly focuses on how to build suitable degradation models using deconvolution operators. However, model‐based solutions may not work well in many scenarios. To solve this problem, the authors propose a non‐model architecture, called a deep convolutional neural network, to address parameter‐free situations. The proposed solution employs a deep learning strategy to bridge the gap between traditional model‐based methods and neural network architectures. Experiments on retinal OCT images demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves superior performance compared with the state‐of‐the‐art model‐based OCT deblurring methods.
Design and torque capability of a ducted rotor brushless doubly fed reluctance machine
Authors: Rebeiro Ronald S. , Knight Andrew M.
Published: April 2018

This study discusses the design strategy and response analysis of the brushless doubly fed reluctance machine (BDFRM) with an aim of commercially feasible implementation with satisfactory performance. In this regard, basic operation theory is reviewed, and a control strategy is proposed to maximise the motor torque capability. A BDFRM design is proposed and simulated for investigation. Subsequently, a prototype machine is built and tested. Predicted simulation torque data is compared with the actual machine data to evaluate the design approach.
Power quality improvement using DSTATCOM with affine projection algorithm
Authors: Badoni Manoj , Singh Alka , Singh Bhim
Published: April 2018

A distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) is implemented at distribution level for overcoming several power quality problems commonly encountered today. Some of these problems considered here deal with issues of harmonics, unbalancing of loads, meeting reactive power demand of the load for improving power factor to unity and regulating the voltage. A new technique is proposed based on affine projection control algorithm and its design and implementation on a shunt compensator are discussed. The proposed control approach estimates the fundamental weight values of load currents. These weights are utilised to compute the magnitude and phase of reference grid currents and consequently gating pulses for three‐phase voltage source converter (VSC). The control approach is based on the convergence of the weighted values and is independent of the property of the input signal. This control approach has characteristic of updating weights on the basis of multiple, delayed input signal vectors. Fast convergence of active and reactive weighted values is added advantage of the proposed control approach with the above‐mentioned characteristics. A working prototype of the DSTATCOM is implemented using three‐phase VSC and digital signal processor (DSP) (dSPACE 1104). The affine projection control approach is developed in MATLAB/SIMULINK and verified on a prototype using DSP.
Adaptability of phase selectors based on phase‐to‐phase superimposed currents when confronting cross‐voltage faults in mixed‐voltage quadruple‐circuit line system
Authors: Zheng Tao , Zhang Jiaqin , Wu Qiong
Published: April 2018

For the mixed‐voltage quadruple‐circuit transmission lines on the same tower, its special construction form makes the cross‐voltage faults, i.e. multi‐circuit faults that occur between different voltage level systems, easy to occur. Although the phase selector based on phase‐to‐phase superimposed currents (PTPSC) shows excellent performance in the single transmission line, it cannot guarantee to identify faulted phases when confronting cross‐voltage faults. In this study, the adaptability of phase selectors based on PTPSC is analysed and a new method of phase selection is put forward. First, the PTPSC measured by the relay can be obtained on the basis of cross‐voltage short‐circuit calculation. Then, the influencing factors and possible selection results are comprehensively analysed, and the corresponding measure has been proposed. Finally, a fault model of mixed‐voltage quadruple‐circuit transmission lines is constructed in PSCAD and simulation results agree well with the theoretical analysis, verifying the validity of this method.
Subjectively correlated estimation of noise due to blurriness distortion based on auto‐regressive model using the Yule–Walker equations
Authors: Nakhaei Arash Ashtari , Helfroush Mohammad Sadegh , Danyali Habibollah , Ghanbari Mohammed
Published: April 2018

In this study, a block‐based estimation of noise due to blurriness distortion is proposed based on auto‐regressive (AR) modelling. In the proposed method; a de‐correlated, low‐energy version of the blurred image is auto regressively modelled. To this end, AR parameters are estimated using the Yule–Walker equations. As these equations include auto‐correlation function (ACF) coefficients, ACF estimation is also required. The Yule–Walker equations are solved making use of Durbin–Levinson algorithm. Finally, noise energy is mathematically defined and computed for each block. Since blurriness is a signal‐dependent image distortion, estimating and describing its characteristics via a noise like that of the AR model input, is significant. In fact, extracting features of such ‘noise’ can lead to the design and development of a new method of image quality metrics. Inspired by the ‘stem cells’ concept in medical science that is convertible to other cell types, the AR model input is called ‘stem noise’. To visualise contribution of the ‘Stem Noise’ in the reconstruction of blurriness image distortion, a map called stem noise energy map is created. It is shown that the characteristics of the estimated noise energy are well correlated with the human subjective scores.
Circular trace transform and its PCA‐based fusion features for image representation
Authors: Wang Yuling , Li Ming , Zhong Guoyun , Li Junhua , Lu Yuming
Published: April 2018

To improve the image representation efficiency of trace transform (TT) features to images with circular and arc‐shaped textures, the authors propose circular TT (CTT) to extract features. CTT consists of tracing an image with circles around which certain functionals of the image function are calculated. Quadruple CTT features can be generated through three successive functionals in the results of CTT, while different quadruple features can be obtained by choosing different combinations of successive functionals. These quadruple features can represent different texture properties and deeper intrinsic information of an image. By fusing CTT features and TT features based on PCA (FFCT_PCA), they construct a new complementary descriptor with much less dimension, further improving the representation performance for mixed texture images. Experimental results demonstrate that CTT has better performance than TT in recognising images with circular and arc‐shaped textures, and FFCT_PCA has the potential to outperform the state‐of‐the‐art feature extraction methods.
Entropy‐based variational Bayes learning framework for data clustering
Authors: Fan Wentao , Bouguila Nizar , Bourouis Sami , Laalaoui Yacine
Published: April 2018

A novel framework is developed for the modelling and clustering of proportional data (i.e. normalised histograms) based on the Beta‐Liouville mixture model. This framework is based on incremental model selection, by testing if a given component was truly Beta‐Liouville distributed. Specifically, the authors compare the theoretical maximum entropy of the given component with the estimated entropy obtained by the MeanNN estimator. If a significant difference was gained from this comparison, this component is considered as not well fitted and is then splitted into two new components with a proper initialisation. Our approach is tested through synthetic data sets and real‐world applications which involve human gesture recognition and vehicle tracking for traffic monitoring purposes, which demonstrate that the authors' approach is superior to comparable techniques.
Improved dynamic performance of dual active bridge dc–dc converters using MPC scheme
Authors: An Feng , Song Wensheng , Yang Kexin , Hou Nie , Ma Junpeng
Published: April 2018

Dynamic performance is a key focus of power conversion systems for facing with input and output step‐change and disturbance cases. To improve dynamic characteristic of dual‐active‐bridge dc–dc converters, this study proposes a non‐linear model predictive control (MPC) scheme with phase‐shift ratio compensation to face with the following extreme conditions: start‐up or step change of load resistance, input voltage, and the desired output voltage. Furthermore, in view of the idea of direct current control, MPC scheme using fewer sensors is proposed, which greatly increases the flexibility of control system and reduce the cost. Compared to traditional voltage closed‐loop (TVCL) control and model‐based phase shift (MPS) control, the salient features of the proposed MPC can be summarised as excellent dynamic performance, weak parameter sensitiveness, in addition, it is also available and effective when the load current sensor is not used. Finally, three control schemes consisting of TVCL, MPS, and the proposed MPC scheme are compared and tested in a scale‐down experimental prototype. The above excellent performance of the proposed MPC scheme has been verified by experimental results.
PLL based on extended trigonometric function delayed signal cancellation under various adverse grid conditions
Authors: Chen Manlin , Peng Li , Wang Bowen , Kan Jingbo
Published: April 2018

Phase‐locked loop (PLL) plays an important role in the grid‐connected converters. PLL should have the ability of filtering the harmonics under the non‐ideal grid voltage. Recently, the signal cancellation technique is one of the advanced methods for filtering the harmonics. However, the existing signal cancellation techniques are not able to filter all harmonics by finite operators. This study proposes an extended trigonometric function delay signal cancellation (ETFDSC) to filter all harmonics completely under the adverse grid conditions. Furthermore, the proposed ETFDSC can be flexibly applied to eliminate the harmonic series fast under the various grid conditions. Consequently, a novel PLL based on the ETFDSC (ETFDSC‐PLL) is designed to track the grid phase very accurately and fast. It is noteworthy that the grid phase can be extremely fast detected by proposed ETFDSC‐PLL under some adverse grid conditions, especially under unbalanced conditions. Furthermore, the ETFDSC‐PLL is self‐adjustable to the fundamental frequency deviations, and the excellent filtering capability and fast dynamic response can be achieved, even under large frequency variations. Finally, the simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the filtering capability and transient performances of the proposed PLL.
Comparative analysis of three‐level dual active bridge DC–DC converter between reflux‐power‐optimised and current‐stress‐optimised phase shift control
Authors: Jin Li , Duan Shanxu
Published: April 2018

The reflux power and current stress of three‐level dual active bridge (3L‐DAB) become very large under the conventional phase shift (CPS) control, especially when the voltage conversion ratio is unequal to one or working with light load. To improve the performance, reflux‐power‐optimised (RPO) and current‐stress‐optimised (CSO) have been investigated in many literatures. However, the current stress variation with RPO control, the reflux power variation with CSO control, and the relations between the two optimal strategies have not been decided yet. Thus, a detailed comparative analysis is presented in this study. The operation principle of 3L‐DAB under CPS, RPO and CSO control strategies is briefly described. The reflux power and current stress comparison among the three strategies is performed within different ranges of transmission power and voltage conversion ratio. The RPO and CSO control strategies are approximately equivalent when the voltage conversion ratio is less than 1/4, and they can minimise the reflux power as well as the current stress in the whole power range. An experimental prototype was developed to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis.
Analysis of interacting and isolated quasars
Authors: Donoso L. , Alonso M. V. , García Lambas D. , Coldwell G. , Schmidt E. O. , Oio G. A.
Published: April 2018

Aims. The main goal of this study was to determine the effects on equivalent widths (EWs) of some spectral lines produced in the quasars by the presence of surrounding galaxies. To carry this out, a sample of 4663 quasars (QSOs) in the redshift range of 0.20 to 0.40 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7 was analyzed.

Methods. Three QSO sub-samples were defined, taking into account the projected separations and radial velocity differences with neighboring galaxies. In this way, we utilized two sub-samples of QSOs with strong and weak galaxy interactions, with projected separations smaller than 70 kpc, and between 70 and 140 kpc, respectively, and with radial velocity differences less than 5000 km s−1.

These sub-samples were compared with isolated QSOs defined as having greater projected separations and radial velocity differences to the galaxies.

Results. From a statistical study of the EWs of relevant spectral lines in the QSOs, we show an increment of the EWs of about 20% in the [OIII]λλ4959, 5007 lines and 7% in Hα
for QSOs with stronger galaxy interactions relative to the isolated QSOs. These increments were also observed restricting the sub-samples to velocity differences of 3000 km s−1. These results indicate that some line EWs of QSOs could be marginally influenced by the environment and that they are not affected by the emission of the host galaxy, which was estimated to be around 10% of the total emission. Furthermore, in order to gain a better understanding of the origin of the Hα emission line, we performed broad and narrow line decomposition in 100 QSOs in the restricted Sint sub-sample and also 100 randomly selected QSOs in the Iso sub-sample. When these QSOs were compared, the narrow component remained constant whereas the broad component was incremented. Our results, which reveal slight differences in EWs of some emission lines, suggest that galaxy interactions with QSOs may affect the QSO activity.