bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice
Authors: Holgate Joan Y. , Garcia Hilary , Chatterjee Susmita , Bartlett Selena E.
Published: July 2017

Background

Factors leading to the harmful consumption of substances, like alcohol and sucrose, involve a complex interaction of genes and the environment. While we cannot control the genes we inherit, we can modify our environment. Understanding the role that social and environmental experiences play in alcohol and sucrose consumption is critical for developing preventative interventions and treatments for alcohol use disorders and obesity.

Methods

We used the drinking in the dark two‐bottle choice (2BC) model of ethanol and sucrose consumption to compare male C57BL/6 mice housed in the IntelliCage (an automated device capable of simultaneously measuring behaviors of up to 16 mice living in an enriched social environment) with mice housed in standard isolated and social environments.

Results

Consistent with previous publications on ethanol‐naïve and ‐experienced mice, social and environmental enrichment reduced ethanol preference. Isolated mice had the highest ethanol preference and IntelliCage mice the least, regardless of prior ethanol experience. In mice with no prior sucrose experience, the addition of social and environmental enrichment increased sucrose preference. However, moving isolated mice to enriched conditions did not affect sucrose preference in sucrose‐experienced mice.

Conclusions

The impact of social and environmental enrichment on ethanol consumption differs from sucrose consumption suggesting that interventions and treatments developed for alcohol use disorders may not be suitable for sucrose consumption disorders.
Severe obstructive sleep apnea: first screening with an implanted pacemaker
Authors: Giaccardi Marzia , Mascia Giuseppe , Giomi Andrea , Fratoni Lanfranco , Binazzi Barbara , Gigliotti Francesco , Nesti Martina , Milli Massimo
Published: July 2017

Key Clinical Message

Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a chronic condition associated with cardiovascular disease. In some pacemakers, an advanced algorithm using transthoracic impedance may be used to identify SAS. This algorithm may be also a useful tool for a long‐term monitoring helping physicians to optimize therapy, reducing risk factors, and improving therapeutic compliance.
Solar Photocatalytic Removal of Selenite, Selenate, and Selenocyanate Species
Authors: Labaran Bashir A. , Vohra Muhammad S.
Published: July 2017

Selenium release into aqueous environment because of increased anthropogenic activities and its adverse effects onto human and animal health have initiated stringent selenium drinking water and wastewater discharge regulations. Though typically selenite (SeO32−) and selenate (SeO42−) account for most selenium species in selenium contaminated water bodies however selenocyanate (SeCN−) is another dominant selenium form in specific industrial effluents including those from petroleum refineries, mining, and power plants using fossil fuels. The present study investigated the potential of solar photocatalytic degradation (SPCD) process employing titanium dioxide (TiO2) as photocatalyst and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a hole scavenging agent, for the removal of selenite, selenate, and selenocyanate species from aqueous phase. The experimental results indicated pH 4 to be the optimum for highest selenium removal. Furthermore, solar energized photocatalytic removal of selenite, selenate, and selenocyanate increased with an increase in both initial selenium and initial EDTA concentrations. Though selenite and selenate can be reduced directly to elemental selenium, selenocyanate is removed via a two steps process, i.e., SeCN‐complex destruction followed by stepwise oxidation to selenite/selenate and then reduction to elemental selenium. Furthermore modeling results for selenocyanate removal using the response surface methodology and Box‐Behnken design method are also presented. In general, solar photocatalysis is a promising technology that can successfully remove the aforementioned selenium species from aqueous phase with a careful adjustment of process variables.
Effects of climate warming on net primary productivity in China during 1961–2010
Authors: Gu Fengxue , Zhang Yuandong , Huang Mei , Tao Bo , Guo Rui , Yan Changrong
Published: July 2017

The response of ecosystems to different magnitudes of climate warming and corresponding precipitation changes during the last few decades may provide an important reference for predicting the magnitude and trajectory of net primary productivity (NPP) in the future. In this study, a process‐based ecosystem model, Carbon Exchange between Vegetation, Soil and Atmosphere (CEVSA), was used to investigate the response of NPP to warming at both national and subregional scales during 1961–2010. The results suggest that a 1.3°C increase in temperature stimulated the positive changing trend in NPP at national scale during the past 50 years. Regardless of the magnitude of temperature increase, warming enhanced the increase in NPP; however, the positive trend of NPP decreased when warming exceeded 2°C. The largest increase in NPP was found in regions where temperature increased by 1–2°C, and this rate of increase also contributed the most to the total increase in NPP in China's terrestrial ecosystems. Decreasing precipitation depressed the positive trend in NPP that was stimulated by warming. In northern China, warming depressed the increasing trend of NPP and warming that was accompanied by decreasing precipitation led to negative changing trends in NPP in large parts of northern China, especially when warming exceeded 2°C. However, warming stimulated the increase in NPP until warming was greater than 2°C, and decreased precipitation helped to increase the NPP in southern China.
CO2 utilization in the production of biomass and biocompounds by three different microalgae
Authors: Assunção Joana , Batista Ana Paula , Manoel João , da Silva Teresa Lopes , Marques Paula , Reis Alberto , Gouveia Luísa
Published: July 2017

The atmospheric CO2 increase is considered the main cause of global warming. Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can help in CO2 mitigation and at the same time produce value‐added compounds. In this study, Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorella vulgaris, and Chlorella protothecoides were cultivated under 0.035 (air), 5 and 10% (v/v) of CO2 concentrations in air to evaluate the performance of the microalgae in terms of kinetic growth parameters, theoretical CO2 biofixation rate, and biomass composition. Among the microalgae studied, S. obliquus presented the highest values of specific growth rate (μ = 1.28 d−1), maximum productivities (Pmax = 0.28 g L−1d−1), and theoretical CO2 biofixation rates (0.56 g L−1d−1) at 10% CO2. The highest oil content was found at 5% CO2, and the fatty acid profile was not influenced by the concentration of CO2 in the inflow gas mixture and was in compliance with EN 14214, being suitable for biodiesel purposes. The impact of the CO2 on S. obliquus cells’ viability/cell membrane integrity evaluated by the in‐line flow cytometry is quite innovative and fast, and revealed that 86.4% of the cells were damaged/permeabilized in cultures without the addition of CO2.
Applications of additive manufacturing in dentistry: A review
Authors: Bhargav Aishwarya , Sanjairaj Vijayavenkatraman , Rosa Vinicius , Feng Lu Wen , Fuh YH Jerry
Published: July 2017

Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing has been hailed as the third industrial revolution as it has caused a paradigm shift in the way objects have been manufactured. Conventionally, converting a raw material to a fully finished and assembled, usable product comprises several steps which can be eliminated by using this process as functional products can be created directly from the raw material at a fraction of the time originally consumed. Thus, AM has found applications in several sectors including automotive, aerospace, printed electronics, and healthcare. AM is increasingly being used in the healthcare sector, given its potential to fabricate patient‐specific customized implants with required accuracy and precision. Implantable heart valves, rib cages, and bones are some of the examples where AM technologies are used. A vast variety of materials including ceramics, metals, polymers, and composites have been processed to fabricate intricate implants using 3D printing. The applications of AM in dentistry include maxillofacial implants, dentures, and other prosthetic aids. It may also be used in surgical training and planning, as anatomical models can be created at ease using AM. This article gives an overview of the AM process and reviews in detail the applications of 3D printing in dentistry. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 2058–2064, 2018.
Dust induced changes on the West African summer monsoon features
Authors: N'Datchoh E. T. , Diallo I. , Konaré A. , Silué S. , Ogunjobi K. O. , Diedhiou A. , Doumbia M.
Published: July 2017

Dust generation and transportation from North Africa are thought to modulate the West African Monsoon (WAM) features. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the Saharan Air Layer located above Atlantic Ocean (OSAL) and WAM features, including Monsoon flow, African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) over West Africa using the RegCM4 regional model at 30 km grid resolution. Two sets of experiments with and without dust load were performed between 2007 and 2013 over the simulation domain, encompassing the whole of West Africa and a large part of the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. An intercomparison of the two simulations shows that dust load into the atmosphere greatly influences both the wind and temperature structure at different levels, resulting in the observed changes in the main features of the WAM system during summer. These changes lead to a westward shift with a slight strengthening of AEJ core over tropical Atlantic and weakening of both TEJ and monsoon flux penetration over land. In addition, despite running the RegCM4 with prescribed sea surface temperature, a correlation has been found between Aerosol Optical Depths in OSAL and WAM dynamics suggesting a mechanistic link between dust and WAM well reproduced by RegCM4.
Psychostimulant effect of dopaminergic treatment and addictions in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Delpont Benoit , Lhommée Eugénie , Klinger Hélène , Schmitt Emmanuelle , Bichon Amélie , Fraix Valérie , Castrioto Anna , Quesada Jean‐Louis , Pélissier Pierre , Kistner Andrea , Carnicella Sébastien , Lüscher Christian , Broussolle Emmanuel , Pollak Pierre , Thobois Stéphane , Krack Paul
Published: July 2017

Background: Dopamine replacement therapy in PD has been associated with both behavioral addictions and dopamine addiction.

Objectives: To investigate potential association between l‐dopa induced neuropsychiatric fluctuations and addictions in PD.

Methods: A cohort of 102 patients with PD suffering from motor complications of l‐dopa treatment was prospectively analyzed. We evaluated dopamine addiction, behavioral addictions, and neuropsychiatric fluctuations using the Ardouin scale of behavior in PD.

Results: Patients with (n = 51) or without (n = 51) neuropsychiatric fluctuations did not differ in age, disease duration, medication, or UPDRS III motor score during on and off drug condition. Patients with neuropsychiatric fluctuations had a higher H & Y stage in off‐drug condition. A multivariate model showed that dopamine addiction (odds ratio: 8.9; P = 0.02) and behavioral addictions (odds ratio: 3.76; P = 0.033) were more frequent in the presence of neuropsychiatric fluctuations. Behavioral addictions and dopamine addiction were more frequent in the presence than in the absence of on‐drug euphoria (46% vs. 13.9%; P < 0.001 and 27% vs 6.2 %; P = 0.003), while conversely, no association emerged between dopamine or behavioral addictions and presence of off‐drug dysphoria. Patients with neuropsychiatric fluctuations had a poorer quality of life and a more frequent history of anxiety disorder.

Conclusions: The psychostimulant effects of dopamine treatment during on‐drug euphoria, rather than avoidance of off‐drug dysphoria, appear to drive both behavioral addictions and abuse of medication. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Efficient Organic Solar Cells with Non‐Fullerene Acceptors
Authors: Li Shuixing , Liu Wenqing , Li Chang‐Zhi , Shi Minmin , Chen Hongzheng
Published: July 2017

Fullerene‐free OSCs employing n‐type small molecules or polymers as the acceptors have recently experienced a rapid rise with efficiencies exceeding 12%. Owing to the good optoelectronic and morphological tunabilities, non‐fullerene acceptors exhibit great potential for realizing high‐performance and practical OSCs. In this Review, recent exciting progress made in developing highly efficient non‐fullerene acceptors is summarized, mainly correlating factors like absorption, energy loss and morphology of new materials to their correspondent photovoltaic performance.
Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters Accelerate Hydrogen Evolution over MoS2 Nanosheets: The Dual Interfacial Effect
Authors: Zhao Shuo , Jin Renxi , Song Yongbo , Zhang Hui , House Stephen D. , Yang Judith C. , Jin Rongchao
Published: July 2017

Hydrogen generation via electrocatalytic water splitting holds great promise for future energy revolution. It is desirable to design abundant and efficient catalysts and achieve mechanistic understanding of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, this paper reports a strategy for improving HER performance of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) via introducing gold nanoclusters as a cocatalyst. Compared to plain MoS2 nanosheets, the Au25(SR)18/MoS2 nanocomposite exhibits enhanced HER activity with a small onset potential of −0.20 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) and a higher current density of 59.3 mA cm−2 at the potential of −0.4 V. In addition to the interfacial interaction between nanoclusters and MoS2, the interface between the Au25 core and the surface ligands (thiolate vs selenolate) is also discovered to distinctly affect the catalytic performance. This work highlights the promise of metal nanoclusters in boosting the HER performance via tailoring the interfacial electronic interactions between gold nanoclusters and MoS2 nanosheets, as well as the interface between metal core and surface ligands.
Facilitating Partnerships With Community- and Faith-Based Organizations for Disaster Preparedness and Response: Results of a National Survey of Public Health Departments
Authors: Adams Rachel M. , Prelip Michael L. , Glik Deborah C. , Donatello Ian , Eisenman David P.
Published: July 2017

Objective

We identify characteristics of local health departments, which enhance collaborations with community- and faith-based organizations (CFBOs) for emergency preparedness and response.

Methods

Online survey data were collected from a sample of 273 disaster preparedness coordinators working at local health departments across the United States between August and December 2011.

Results

Using multiple linear regression models, we found that perceptions of CFBO trust were associated with more successful partnership planning (β=0.63; P=0.02) and capacity building (β=0.61; P=0.01). Employee layoffs in the past 3 years (β=0.41; P=0.001) and urban location (β=0.41; P=0.005) were positively associated with higher ratings of resource sharing between health agencies and CFBOs. Having 1-3 full-time employees increased the ratings of success in communication and outreach activities compared with health departments having less than 1 full-time employee (β=0.33; P=0.05). Positive attitudes toward CFBOs also enhanced communication and outreach (β=0.16; P=0.03).

Conclusions

Staff-capacity factors are important for quick dissemination of information and resources needed to address emerging threats. Building the trust of CFBOs can help address large-scale disasters by improving the success of more involved activities that integrate the CFBO into emergency plans and operations of the health department and that better align with federal-funding performance measures. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:57–66)
Targets for high repetition rate laser facilities: needs, challenges and perspectives
Authors: Prencipe I. , Fuchs J. , Pascarelli S. , Schumacher D. W. , Stephens R. B. , Alexander N. B. , Briggs R. , Büscher M. , Cernaianu M. O. , Choukourov A. , De Marco M. , Erbe A. , Fassbender J. , Fiquet G. , Fitzsimmons P. , Gheorghiu C. , Hund J. , Huang L. G. , Harmand M. , Hartley N. J. , Irman A. , Kluge T. , Konopkova Z. , Kraft S. , Kraus D. , Leca V. , Margarone D. , Metzkes J. , Nagai K. , Nazarov W. , Lutoslawski P. , Papp D. , Passoni M. , Pelka A. , Perin J. P. , Schulz J. , Smid M. , Spindloe C. , Steinke S. , Torchio R. , Vass C. , Wiste T. , Zaffino R. , Zeil K. , Tschentscher T. , Schramm U. , Cowan T. E.
Published: July 2017

A number of laser facilities coming online all over the world promise the capability of high-power laser experiments with shot repetition rates between 1 and 10 Hz. Target availability and technical issues related to the interaction environment could become a bottleneck for the exploitation of such facilities. In this paper, we report on target needs for three different classes of experiments: dynamic compression physics, electron transport and isochoric heating, and laser-driven particle and radiation sources. We also review some of the most challenging issues in target fabrication and high repetition rate operation. Finally, we discuss current target supply strategies and future perspectives to establish a sustainable target provision infrastructure for advanced laser facilities.
A NOTE ON ΤΑ ΕΣΧΑΤΑ ΕΙΔΗ AT 644A23 IN ARISTOTLE'S PART. AN. 1.4
Authors: Katayama Errol G.
Published: July 2017

Is Aristotle committed, as a theoretical matter, to fixed species in biology? The answer seems to be a resounding no, if we were to infer his theoretical commitments from the actual practice found in his biological works. The answer, however, is far from clear, if we turn to the ‘philosophical discussion of biology’ found in Book 1 of Parts of Animals. In fact, I shall note that its context suggests that, contrary to some recent interpretations put forward, the phrase τὰ ἔσχατα εἴδη at 644a23 is best translated and understood as ‘infima species’, and that such a reading implies that Aristotle favours the methodology that reflects his theoretical commitment to fixed species (at least in Book 1 of Part. an.).
From the Commission to the Mission Model: Technology Czars and the Indian Middle Class
Authors: Abraham Itty
Published: July 2017

This article identifies a major transformation in India's approach to strategic technology development from an earlier Commission model, epitomized by atomic energy, that seeks the enhancement of sovereign power, to a Mission model, epitomized by telecommunications, directed toward the furthering of biopolitical power. It compares five strategic industries in India—atomic energy, space, electronics, biotechnology and telecommunications—and shows that no single factor is responsible for technological success or failure. Outcomes depend on the strength of political networks, the structure and maturity of the industry, the extent of bureaucratic resistance, and the technological strategy adopted. This finding contests the widely held perspective that success in strategic technology development is the product of the extraordinary efforts of a single individual, a technology “czar,” and explains the persistence of this narrative by highlighting the role of technoscience in mediating a highly ambivalent relation between the Indian middle class and the state.
Chemoattractant activity of tris-(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane for Brugia pahangi infective third-stage larvae
Authors: Mitsui Y. , Ureña-Tatis K.E. , Aoki Y.
Published: July 2017

Urocanic acid (UCA) is known as a major chemoattractant for Strongyloides stercoralis infective third-stage larvae (L3). Since Brugia pahangi is a skin-penetrating parasitic nematode similar to S. stercoralis, UCA was expected to be a chemoattractant for B. pahangi L3. Thus, the chemoattractant activity of UCA for B. pahangi L3 was assessed. The chemotactic responses of B. pahangi L3 to UCA or acetic acid (CH3COOH) dissolved in amine solutions were assessed using an agar-plate assay. A test solution of 200 mm UCA dissolved in aqueous 270 mm tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) significantly attracted B. pahangi L3 compared with deionized water (DW), while neither a solution of 200 mm UCA dissolved in aqueous 230 mm ammonia (NH3) nor 290 mm triethylamine (TEA) significantly attracted L3. Similarly, a test solution of 200 mm CH3COOH dissolved with 200 mm Tris significantly attracted L3, but neither a test solution of 200 mm CH3COOH plus 200 mm NH3 nor 200 mm TEA attracted L3. Furthermore, L3 were significantly attracted to 200 mm Tris alone, compared with DW, but avoided 200 mm NH3 and 200 mm TEA. Moreover, the chemoattractant activity of Tris for L3 was observed even at a low concentration of 25 mm, and it was observed in a mild alkaline condition but not in an acidic condition. The present study reveals that Tris is a potential chemoattractant for B. pahangi L3 while UCA is not. This finding will contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms of skin-penetrating infection of filarial L3.
Landed Traders, Trading Agriculturalists? Land in the Economy of the Italian Diaspora in the Greek East
Authors: Eberle Lisa Pilar , Le Quéré Enora
Published: July 2017

This paper revises current understandings of the rôle of land in the economy of the Italian diaspora in the Greek East in the second and first centuriesb.c., arguing that these Italians owned more land than has previously been assumed and that many of these Italian landowners practised a highly commercialized form of agriculture that focused on high-end products. This strategy shaped what empire meant both locally and in Italy and Rome, where the products they marketed fed into the ongoing consumer revolutions of the time. After discussing the evidence for the extent of Italian landholdings and examining their exploitation in three case studies, we conclude by reflecting on the long-term history of such landholdings in the provinces and the implications for our understanding of Roman imperialism more generally.
Germans are not aiming for a fossilized form of English: A response to Booth (2015)
Authors: Ankerstein Carrie
Published: July 2017

This is a response to John E. Booth's (2015) article, ‘The fossilization of non-current English pronunciation in German EFL teaching’, published in English Today. Booth makes a number of claims in his paper, but the focus here is on his main claim that German pronunciation of English is based on an archaic accent of British English.
Island extinctions: processes, patterns, and potential for ecosystem restoration
Authors: WOOD JAMIE R. , ALCOVER JOSEP A. , BLACKBURN TIM M. , BOVER PERE , DUNCAN RICHARD P. , HUME JULIAN P. , LOUYS JULIEN , MEIJER HANNEKE J.M. , RANDO JUAN C. , WILMSHURST JANET M.
Published: July 2017

Extinctions have altered island ecosystems throughout the late Quaternary. Here, we review the main historic drivers of extinctions on islands, patterns in extinction chronologies between islands, and the potential for restoring ecosystems through reintroducing extirpated species. While some extinctions have been caused by climatic and environmental change, most have been caused by anthropogenic impacts. We propose a general model to describe patterns in these anthropogenic island extinctions. Hunting, habitat loss and the introduction of invasive predators accompanied prehistoric settlement and caused declines of endemic island species. Later settlement by European colonists brought further land development, a different suite of predators and new drivers, leading to more extinctions. Extinctions alter ecological networks, causing ripple effects for islands through the loss of ecosystem processes, functions and interactions between species. Reintroduction of extirpated species can help restore ecosystem function and processes, and can be guided by palaeoecology. However, reintroduction projects must also consider the cultural, social and economic needs of humans now inhabiting the islands and ensure resilience against future environmental and climate change.
Natural variation of macrophage activation as disease-relevant phenotype predictive of inflammation and cancer survival
Authors: Buscher Konrad , Ehinger Erik , Gupta Pritha , Pramod Akula Bala , Wolf Dennis , Tweet George , Pan Calvin , Mills Charles D. , Lusis Aldons J. , Ley Klaus
Published: July 2017

Although mouse models exist for many immune-based diseases, the clinical translation remains challenging. Most basic and translational studies utilize only a single inbred mouse strain. However, basal and diseased immune states in humans show vast inter-individual variability. Here, focusing on macrophage responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), we use the hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP) of 83 inbred strains as a surrogate for human natural immune variation. Since conventional bioinformatics fail to analyse a population spectrum, we highlight how gene signatures for LPS responsiveness can be derived based on an Interleukin-12β and arginase expression ratio. Compared to published signatures, these gene markers are more robust to identify susceptibility or resilience to several macrophage-related disorders in humans, including survival prediction across many tumours. This study highlights natural activation diversity as a disease-relevant dimension in macrophage biology, and suggests the HMDP as a viable tool to increase translatability of mouse data to clinical settings.
Selective production of arenes via direct lignin upgrading over a niobium-based catalyst
Authors: Shao Yi , Xia Qineng , Dong Lin , Liu Xiaohui , Han Xue , Parker Stewart F. , Cheng Yongqiang , Daemen Luke L. , Ramirez-Cuesta Anibal J. , Yang Sihai , Wang Yanqin
Published: July 2017

Lignin is the only large-volume renewable source of aromatic chemicals. Efficient depolymerization and deoxygenation of lignin while retaining the aromatic functionality are attractive but extremely challenging. Here we report the selective production of arenes via direct hydrodeoxygenation of organosolv lignin over a porous Ru/Nb2O5 catalyst that enabled the complete removal of the oxygen content from lignin. The conversion of birch lignin to monomer C7–C9 hydrocarbons is nearly quantitative based on its monomer content, with a total mass yield of 35.5 wt% and an exceptional arene selectivity of 71 wt%. Inelastic neutron scattering and DFT calculations confirm that the Nb2O5 support is catalytically unique compared with other traditional oxide supports, and the disassociation energy of Caromatic–OH bonds in phenolics is significantly reduced upon adsorption on Nb2O5, resulting in its distinct selectivity to arenes. This one-pot process provides a promising approach for improved lignin valorization with general applicability.
Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium in the Yellow River Estuary: Rates, Abundance, and Community Diversity
Authors: Bu Cuina , Wang Yu , Ge Chenghao , Ahmad Hafiz Adeel , Gao Baoyu , Ni Shou-Qing
Published: July 2017

Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) is an important nitrate reduction process in estuarine sediments. This study reports the first investigation of DNRA in the Yellow River Estuary located in Eastern Shandong, China. Saltwater intrusion could affect the physicochemical characteristics and change the microbial community structure of sediments. In this study, the activity, abundance and community diversity of DNRA bacteria were investigated during saltwater intrusion. The slurry incubation experiments combined with isotope-tracing techniques and qPCR results showed that DNRA rates and nrfA (the functional gene of DNRA bacteria) gene abundance varied over wide ranges across different sites. DNRA rates had a positive and significant correlation with sediment organic content and extractable NH4+, while DNRA rates were weakly correlated with nrfA gene abundance. In comparison, the activities and abundance of DNRA bacteria did not change with a trend along salinity gradient. Pyrosequencing analysis of nrfA gene indicated that delta-proteobacteria was the most abundant at all sites, while epsilon-proteobacteria was hardly found. This study reveals that variability in the activities and community structure of DNRA bacteria is largely driven by changes in environmental factors and provides new insights into the characteristics of DNRA communities in estuarine ecosystems.
Regulation of Sema3c and the Interaction between Cardiac Neural Crest and Second Heart Field during Outflow Tract Development
Authors: Kodo Kazuki , Shibata Shinsuke , Miyagawa-Tomita Sachiko , Ong Sang-Ging , Takahashi Hiroshi , Kume Tsutomu , Okano Hideyuki , Matsuoka Rumiko , Yamagishi Hiroyuki
Published: July 2017

The cardiac neural crest cells (cNCCs) and the second heart field (SHF) play key roles in development of the cardiac outflow tract (OFT) for establishment of completely separated pulmonary and systemic circulations in vertebrates. A neurovascular guiding factor, Semaphorin 3c (Sema3c), is required for the development of the OFT, however, its regulation of the interaction between cNCCs and SHF remains to be determined. Here, we show that a Sema3c is a candidate that mediates interaction between cNCCs and the SHF during development of the OFT. Foxc1/c2 directly activates the transcription of Sema3c in the OFT, whereas, a hypomorph of Tbx1, a key SHF transcription factor, resulted in the ectopic expression of Sema3c in the pharyngeal arch region. Fgf8, a downstream secreted factor of Tbx1, inhibited the expression of Sema3c in cNCCs via activation of ERK1/2 signaling. Blocking of FGF8 caused ectopic expression of SEMA3C and a migration defect of cNCCs, resulting in abnormal chick pharyngeal arch development. These results suggest that proper spatio-temporal expression of Sema3c, regulated positively by Foxc1/c2 and negatively by the Tbx1-Fgf8 cascade, respectively, is essential for the interaction between cNCCs and the SHF that correctly navigates cNCCs towards the OFT, composed of SHF-derived cells.
Transitions between classes of neuronal excitability and bifurcations induced by autapse
Authors: Zhao Zhiguo , Gu Huaguang
Published: July 2017

Neuronal excitabilities behave as the basic and important dynamics related to the transitions between firing and resting states, and are characterized by distinct bifurcation types and spiking frequency responses. Switches between class I and II excitabilities induced by modulations outside the neuron (for example, modulation to M-type potassium current) have been one of the most concerning issues in both electrophysiology and nonlinear dynamics. In the present paper, we identified switches between 2 classes of excitability and firing frequency responses when an autapse, which widely exists in real nervous systems and plays important roles via self-feedback, is introduced into the Morris-Lecar (ML) model neuron. The transition from class I to class II excitability and from class II to class I spiking frequency responses were respectively induced by the inhibitory and excitatory autapse, which are characterized by changes of bifurcations, frequency responses, steady-state current-potential curves, and nullclines. Furthermore, we identified codimension-1 and -2 bifurcations and the characteristics of the current-potential curve that determine the transitions. Our results presented a comprehensive relationship between 2 classes of neuronal excitability/spiking characterized by different types of bifurcations, along with a novel possible function of autapse or self-feedback control on modulating neuronal excitability.
Modulatory effects of arginine, glutamine and branched-chain amino acids on heat shock proteins, immunity and antioxidant response in exercised rats
Authors: Moura Carolina Soares , Lollo Pablo Christiano Barboza , Morato Priscila Neder , Risso Eder Muller , Amaya-Farfan Jaime
Published: July 2017

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are endogenous proteins whose function is to maintain the cell's tolerance to insult, including intense exercise.
Rapid fabrication of bio-inspired nanostructure with hydrophobicity and antireflectivity on polystyrene surface replicating from cicada wings
Authors: Xie Heng , Huang Han-Xiong , Peng Yu-Jiang
Published: July 2017

Fine nanostructure present on the cicada wing is replicated on polystyrene surfaces, resulting in orderly and densely arranged nanopillars, thus achieving the properties of hydrophobicity and antireflectivity.
Question‐aware prediction with candidate answer recommendation for visual question answering
Authors: Kim B. , Kim J.
Published: July 2017

An approach for visual question answering is described. The proposed network solves an open‐ended problem with candidate answer recommendation, which is generated solely from the given question. Then, the score from the proposed question‐aware prediction module and the score from candidate answer recommendation module are combined to determine the final composite score. The proposed approach uses the bag‐of‐words framework to understand questions, instead of a complex and neural‐network‐based module; therefore, an additional dataset to pre‐train the language model is not required. Although the proposed approach does not achieve the state‐of‐the‐art performance overall, the approach performs the best for certain types of questions with a small amount of training data.
Half‐mode substrate integrated waveguide‐based leaky‐wave antenna loaded with meandered lines
Authors: Zhang Huan , Jiao Yong‐Chang , Zhao Gang , Zhang Chi
Published: July 2017

A novel meandered‐line‐loaded leaky‐wave antenna (LWA) is proposed. Two half‐mode substrate integrated waveguide‐based LWAs are placed face to face for obtaining high peak gains, and the meandered lines are introduced to acquire larger ratio of the beam scanning range to the operating frequency bandwidth. It is demonstrated that the operating frequency band can be narrowed by almost 1 GHz due to the meandered‐line structure under the condition that the scanning range keeps unchanged. The proposed LWA is fabricated and measured. Both simulated and measured results indicate that the designed antenna is a balanced LWA operating in frequency band 10.8–16 GHz (5.2 GHz centred at 13.4 GHz). Continuous beam scanning characteristic is observed from −60° to +34°, and comparisons are given out to validate the proposed design.
Anti‐jamming communication for body area network using chaotic frequency hopping
Authors: Gopalakrishnan Balamurugan , Bhagyaveni Marcharla Anjaneyulu
Published: July 2017

The healthcare industries research trends focus on patient reliable communication and security is a paramount requirement of healthcare applications. Jamming in wireless communication medium has become a major research issue due to the ease of blocking communication in wireless networks and throughput degradation. The most commonly used technique to overcome jamming is frequency hopping (FH). However, in traditional FH pre‐sharing of key for channel selection and a high‐throughput overhead is required. So to overcome this pre‐sharing of key and to increase the security chaotic frequency hopping (CFH) has been proposed. The design of chaos‐based hop selection is a new development that offers improved performance in transmission of information without pre‐shared key and also increases the security. The authors analysed the performance of proposed CFH system under different reactive jamming durations. The percentage of error reduction by the reactive jamming for jamming duration 0.01 and 0.05 s for FH and CFH is 55.03 and 84.24%, respectively. The obtained result shows that CFH is more secure and difficult to jam by the reactive jammer.
Potential of silicon carbide MOSFETs in the DC/DC converters for future HVDC offshore wind farms
Authors: Lagier Thomas , Ladoux Philippe , Dworakowski Piotr
Published: July 2017

High‐voltage direct current (HVDC) is more and more often implemented for long distance electrical energy transmission, especially for off‐shore wind farms. In this study, a full DC off‐shore wind farm, which requires a high‐power and high‐voltage DC/DC converter, is considered. In order to reduce the size of the converter, the trend is to increase operating frequency. Silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide–semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MOSFETs) are becoming industrially available and give scope for the realisation of high‐performance DC/DC converters based on modular architectures. This study presents a prospective analysis of the potential of such devices in HVDC power systems. Considering the characteristics of Si insulated‐gate bipolar transistor and SiC MOSFET power modules, two DC/DC converter topologies are compared in terms of losses and number of components. In conclusion, a study of the efficiency based on converter energy loss is presented.
QoS‐guaranteed energy and throughput joint optimisation in multi‐user multiple‐input multiple‐output systems
Authors: Pan Su , Chen Kun , Chen Yuqing , Zhou Weiwei
Published: July 2017

This study proposes a finely quality of service (QoS)‐guaranteed algorithm to jointly optimise the throughput and energy efficiency in MU‐multiple‐input multiple‐output systems. The latency requirements of real‐time services are guaranteed by user scheduling in the first stage. The energy efficiency and system throughput are jointly optimised while the required transmission rate is finely guaranteed in the second stage. Simulation results show that the algorithm can achieve a good balance between the energy efficiency and throughput, and is superior to the existing schemes in terms of QoS guarantee.
A new two‐stage decoding scheme with unreliable path search to lower the error‐floor for low‐density parity‐check codes
Authors: Yang Pilwoong , Jun Bohwan , No Jong‐Seon , Park Hosung
Published: July 2017

In this study, the authors propose a new two‐stage decoding scheme for low‐density parity‐check codes to lower the error‐floor, which consists of the conventional belief propagation (BP) decoding algorithm as the first‐stage decoding and the re‐decodings with manipulated log‐likelihood ratios (LLRs) of variable nodes as the second‐stage decoding. In the first‐stage decoding, an early stopping criterion is proposed for early detection of decoding failure and the candidate set of the variable nodes are determined, which can be partly included in the small trapping sets. In the second‐stage decoding, the scores of the variable nodes in the candidate set are computed by the proposed unreliable path search algorithm and the variable nodes are sorted in ascending order by their scores for the re‐decoding trials. Each re‐decoding trial is performed by BP decoding algorithm with manipulated LLR of a selected variable node in the candidate set one at a time with the second early stopping criterion. The parallel unreliable path search algorithm is also proposed for practical application of the proposed algorithm. Numerical results show that the proposed early stopping criteria and the proposed decoding algorithms for the second‐stage decoding can correct most of the unsuccessfully decoded codewords by the first‐stage decoding in the error‐floor region.
Secrecy analysis of amplify‐and‐forward relaying networks with zero forcing
Authors: Salem Abdelhamid , Ashour Hamdi Khairi
Published: July 2017

In this study, the ergodic secrecy capacity and the corresponding outage probability of two‐hop amplify‐and‐forward relaying system in the presence of a passive eavesdropper are analysed. In order to improve the security, in this study, zero‐forcing (ZF) scheme is implemented at different locations in the system. The effect of the ZF‐based scheme on the system security is considered for three different scenarios, based on where the ZF scheme is applied, namely, (i) ZF receivers at the relay and destination nodes, (ii) ZF precoders at the source and relay nodes, and (iii) ZF precoders/receivers at the relay nodes. For each scenario, explicit analytical expressions for the ergodic secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability are derived. Monte Carlo simulations are also provided to validate the analysis. Results show that increasing the number of source, relay and/or destination nodes can be favourable or unfavourable to the system security and the significance of this enhancement/degradation depends on the particular scenario deployed. In addition, the system security improves with increasing the source and/or relay power.
An analytical framework in LEO mobile satellite systems servicing batched Poisson traffic
Authors: Moscholios Ioannis D. , Vassilakis Vassilios G. , Sarigiannidis Panagiotis G. , Sagias Nikos C. , Logothetis Michael D.
Published: July 2017

The authors consider a low earth orbit (LEO) mobile satellite system (MSS) that accepts new and handover calls of multirate service‐classes. New calls arrive in the system as batches, following the batched Poisson process. A batch has a generally distributed number of calls. Each call is treated separately from the others and its acceptance is decided according to the availability of the requested number of channels. Handover calls follow also a batched Poisson process. All calls compete for the available channels under the complete sharing policy. By considering the LEO‐MSS as a multirate loss system with ‘satellite‐fixed’ cells, it can be analysed via a multi‐dimensional Markov chain, which yields to a product form solution (PFS) for the steady‐state distribution. Based on the PFS, they propose a recursive and yet efficient formula for the determination of the channel occupancy distribution, and consequently, for the calculation of various performance measures including call blocking and handover failure probabilities. The latter are much higher compared to the corresponding probabilities in the case of the classical (and less bursty) Poisson process. Simulation results verify the accuracy of the proposed formulas. Furthermore, they discuss the applicability of the proposed model in software‐defined LEO‐MSS.
Compressive channel estimation for universal filtered multi‐carrier system in high‐speed scenarios
Authors: Wang Rong , Cai Jingye , Yu Xiang , Duan Sirui
Published: July 2017

Due to the high mobility of communication, channel times can vary rapidly and system performance can be decreased. In this study, pseudo‐random noise is used as the guard interval and the training sequence in the time domain in order to estimate the channel‐based compressive sensing scheme. This scheme reduces the number of pilots in the frequency domain and improves spectrum efficiency. By adequately exploiting the sparse characteristics and temporal correlation of the wireless channel, a low complexity compressive channel estimation scheme is proposed. Firstly, the authors average the successive symbols of the channel impulse response in the coherence time to improve the accuracy of the coarse channel estimation. Secondly, a low complexity partial priori information CoSaMP (PPI‐CoSaMP) algorithm is proposed to accurately estimate the channel state information. Finally, based on the precise time delay, the accurate gains are estimated based on the least‐squares algorithm. The simulation results show that compared with the conventional algorithms, the number of observation points required by the PPI‐CoSaMP algorithm is reduced by at least 25%. Moreover, the proposed scheme is more robust at larger multipath channel delays. The complexity of the proposed scheme is reduced by 51.21% compared with the conventional CoSaMP algorithm.
STBD: a simple tri‐bit binary descriptor for point matching
Authors: Liu Hongmin , Li Lu , Wang Zhiheng , Huo Zhanqiang
Published: July 2017

This study investigates the problem of constructing binary descriptor and develops a novel binary descriptor called simple tri‐bit binary descriptor (STBD) based on a simple sampling pattern (SSP) and a tri‐value binarisation strategy (TBS). First, an SSP is proposed, in which sample points are divided into two groups according to the distance from the pattern centre and smoothed by different circular filters. Then, to make the descriptor adaptive to the matched images, a selection strategy which directly employs detected keypoints as training data is introduced to select 256 point pairs with low correlation from initial pairs. Finally, a modified TBS method is presented to properly refine intensity comparison results. Experiments show that the proposed STBD can perform well and is robust to various transformations, except for scale change.
Deep neural network with attention model for scene text recognition
Authors: Li Shuohao , Tang Min , Guo Qiang , Lei Jun , Zhang Jun
Published: July 2017

The authors present a deep neural network (DNN) with attention model for scene text recognition. The proposed model does not require any segmentation of the input text image. The framework is inspired by the attention model presented recently for speech recognition and image captioning. In the proposed framework, feature extraction, feature attention and sequence recognition are integrated in a jointly trainable network. Compared with previous approaches, the following contributions are mainly made. (i) The attention model is applied into DNN to recognise scene text, and it can effectively solve the sequence recognition problem caused by variable length labels. (ii) Rigorous experiments are performed across a number of challenging benchmarks, including IIIT5K, SVT, ICDAR2003 and ICDAR2013 datasets. Results in experiments show that the proposed model is comparable or better than the state‐of‐the‐art methods. (iii) This model only contains 6.5 million parameters. Compared with other DNN models for scene text recognition, this model has the least number of parameters so far.
Performance investigation of simplified PWM MPPT approach for direct PV‐fed switched reluctance motor in water pumping system
Authors: Koreboina Vijay Babu , Narasimharaju B. L. , Vinod Kumar D. M.
Published: July 2017

Variable speed drives (VSDs)‐based direct photovoltaic (PV) fed water pumping systems (WPS) are of increasing importance for the socio‐economic growth in remote areas. Due to the absence of windings and magnets on the rotor, switched reluctance motor (SRM) is emerging as a viable economic alternative in VSD systems. Thus, this study proposes and presents a simplified pulse width modulation‐based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for direct PV‐fed SRM‐WPS using modified lookup table (MLUT) approach. The proposed control technique offers lesser phase peak, near same phase rms, reduced torque ripple and noise, better efficiency and reduced DC‐link current ripple in contrast to single pulse mode technique. In addition, the proposed system does not require an intermediate converter and current sensors. Thus, results in reduced noise, reduced size and hence the cost of WPS. Further, it also provides a reduced memory size due to MLUT and an effective MPPT with the good dynamic response for a change in atmospheric conditions. The proposed system is modelled and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment and the prototype is built to validate experimentally using field programmable gate array controller. The performance analysis of the proposed system has been carried out and presented.