bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Forbush Decreases and Geomagnetic Storms During a Highly Disturbed Solar and Interplanetary Period, 4–10 September 2017
Authors: Badruddin B. , Aslam O. P. M. , Derouich M. , Asiri H. , Kudela K.
Published: February 2019

Features and peculiarities of the cosmic ray intensity (CRI) and the geomagnetic activity, along with several solar plasma and interplanetary magnetic field, during the period 4–10 September 2017 are studied. The period was characterized by strong solar activity: Several solar flares occurred; several halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were ejected in space. In the near‐Earth interplanetary space, the CMEs driving shock(s) and sheath(s) were identified. At the Earth, strong Forbush decreases in CRI and geomagnetic storms were observed. Several large solar flares, one of them of very high X‐ray importance (X9.3) and three halo CMEs were detected in the solar atmosphere. Two shock‐associated interplanetary CMEs were observed during that interval in near‐Earth space; the latter and faster one arrived even as the ejecta of the earlier one was still crossing. Variations in interplanetary plasma and field parameters during, before, and after the Forbush decreases and geomagnetic storms that occurred during the considered period were examined. A detailed time‐lagged correlation analysis using data at three different temporal resolutions (hourly, 5‐min, and 1‐min) was also performed. Cross correlations of time series of CRI with geomagnetic activity during the period 4–10 September 2017 are computed. This cross‐correlation analysis between CRI variability (defined as the difference of the CRI count rate between the current and the previous time step) and the Dst indicates a delay of Dst by 3–4 hr.
Hillslope Hydrology in Global Change Research and Earth System Modeling
Authors: Fan Y. , Clark M. , Lawrence D. M. , Swenson S. , Band L. E. , Brantley S. L. , Brooks P. D. , Dietrich W. E. , Flores A. , Grant G. , Kirchner J. W. , Mackay D. S. , McDonnell J. J. , Milly P. C. D. , Sullivan P. L. , Tague C. , Ajami H. , Chaney N. , Hartmann A. , Hazenberg P. , McNamara J. , Pelletier J. , Perket J. , Rouholahnejad‐Freund E. , Wagener T. , Zeng X. , Beighley E. , Buzan J. , Huang M. , Livneh B. , Mohanty B. P. , Nijssen B. , Safeeq M. , Shen C. , van Verseveld W. , Volk J. , Yamazaki D.
Published: February 2019

Earth System Models (ESMs) are essential tools for understanding and predicting global change, but they cannot explicitly resolve hillslope‐scale terrain structures that fundamentally organize water, energy, and biogeochemical stores and fluxes at subgrid scales. Here we bring together hydrologists, Critical Zone scientists, and ESM developers, to explore how hillslope structures may modulate ESM grid‐level water, energy, and biogeochemical fluxes. In contrast to the one‐dimensional (1‐D), 2‐ to 3‐m deep, and free‐draining soil hydrology in most ESM land models, we hypothesize that 3‐D, lateral ridge‐to‐valley flow through shallow and deep paths and insolation contrasts between sunny and shady slopes are the top two globally quantifiable organizers of water and energy (and vegetation) within an ESM grid cell. We hypothesize that these two processes are likely to impact ESM predictions where (and when) water and/or energy are limiting. We further hypothesize that, if implemented in ESM land models, these processes will increase simulated continental water storage and residence time, buffering terrestrial ecosystems against seasonal and interannual droughts. We explore efficient ways to capture these mechanisms in ESMs and identify critical knowledge gaps preventing us from scaling up hillslope to global processes. One such gap is our extremely limited knowledge of the subsurface, where water is stored (supporting vegetation) and released to stream baseflow (supporting aquatic ecosystems). We conclude with a set of organizing hypotheses and a call for global syntheses activities and model experiments to assess the impact of hillslope hydrology on global change predictions.
Van Allen Probes Observations of Chorus Wave Vector Orientations: Implications for the Chorus‐to‐Hiss Mechanism
Authors: Hartley D. P. , Kletzing C. A. , Chen L. , Horne R. B. , Santolík O.
Published: February 2019

Using observations from the Van Allen Probes EMFISIS instrument, coupled with ray tracing simulations, we determine the fraction of chorus wave power with the conditions required to access the plasmasphere and evolve into plasmaspheric hiss. It is found that only an extremely small fraction of chorus occurs with the required wave vector orientation, carrying only a small fraction of the total chorus wave power. The exception is on the edge of plasmaspheric plumes, where strong azimuthal density gradients are present. In these cases, up to 94% of chorus wave power exists with the conditions required to access the plasmasphere. As such, we conclude that strong azimuthal density gradients are actually a requirement if a significant fraction of chorus wave power is to enter the plasmasphere and be a source of plasmaspheric hiss. This result suggests it is unlikely that chorus directly contributes a significant fraction of plasmaspheric hiss wave power.
Barcode-free next-generation sequencing error validation for ultra-rare variant detection
Authors: Yeom Huiran , Lee Yonghee , Ryu Taehoon , Noh Jinsung , Lee Amos Chungwon , Lee Han-Byoel , Kang Eunji , Song Seo Woo , Kwon Sunghoon
Published: February 2019

The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has accelerated biomedical research by enabling the high-throughput analysis of DNA sequences at a very low cost. However, NGS has limitations in detecting rare-frequency variants (< 1%) because of high sequencing errors (> 0.1~1%). NGS errors could be filtered out using molecular barcodes, by comparing read replicates among those with the same barcodes. Accordingly, these barcoding methods require redundant reads of non-target sequences, resulting in high sequencing cost. Here, we present a cost-effective NGS error validation method in a barcode-free manner. By physically extracting and individually amplifying the DNA clones of erroneous reads, we distinguish true variants of frequency > 0.003% from the systematic NGS error and selectively validate NGS error after NGS. We achieve a PCR-induced error rate of 2.5×10−6 per base per doubling event, using 10 times less sequencing reads compared to those from previous studies.
Cdk1-mediated DIAPH1 phosphorylation maintains metaphase cortical tension and inactivates the spindle assembly checkpoint at anaphase
Authors: Nishimura Koutarou , Johmura Yoshikazu , Deguchi Katashi , Jiang Zixian , Uchida Kazuhiko S. K. , Suzuki Narumi , Shimada Midori , Chiba Yoshie , Hirota Toru , Yoshimura Shige H. , Kono Keiko , Nakanishi Makoto
Published: February 2019

Animal cells undergo rapid rounding during mitosis, ensuring proper chromosome segregation, during which an outward rounding force abruptly increases upon prometaphase entry and is maintained at a constant level during metaphase. Initial cortical tension is generated by the actomyosin system to which both myosin motors and actin network architecture contribute. However, how cortical tension is maintained and its physiological significance remain unknown. We demonstrate here that Cdk1-mediated phosphorylation of DIAPH1 stably maintains cortical tension after rounding and inactivates the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Cdk1 phosphorylates DIAPH1, preventing profilin1 binding to maintain cortical tension. Mutation of DIAPH1 phosphorylation sites promotes cortical F-actin accumulation, increases cortical tension, and delays anaphase onset due to SAC activation. Measurement of the intra-kinetochore length suggests that Cdk1-mediated cortex relaxation is indispensable for kinetochore stretching. We thus uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which Cdk1 coordinates cortical tension maintenance and SAC inactivation at anaphase onset.
Sex Differences Associated With Circulating PCSK9 in Patients Presenting With Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Zhang Zhong , Wei Teng-Fei , Zhao Bei , Yin Zhao , Shi Quan-Xing , Liu Pei-Lin , Liu Li-Feng , Liu Li , Zhao Jing-Tao , Mao Shuai , Rao Meng-Meng , Wang Shou-Li , Chen Yun-Dai
Published: February 2019

A limited number of studies have explored whether the role of circulating proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in the pathogenesis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is sex specific. The purpose of the present study was to examine sex differences in plasma PCSK9 in Chinese patients with AMI. In this study, a total of 281 records from patients presenting with AMI were analyzed.We compared hospital data and plasma PCSK9 levels by sex difference for inpatients presenting with AMI. After 1 year of follow-up, major adverse cardiac events(MACE) were recorded. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals. We found that, compared with male groups, PCSK9 levels were higher in female patients not only for overall patients with AMI but also for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (median: 273.6 [215.6–366.8] vs. 325.1 [247.5–445.3] ng/ml, P = 0.0136; 273.4 [215.6–369.7] vs. 317.1 [249.6–450.1], P = 0.0275, respectively). The cumulative incidence of cardiac death and 1-year MACE were significantly higher in the female group compared with male group (10% vs. 2.74%, P = 0.025; 15% vs. 4.11%, P = 0.0054, respectively). On multivariate Cox regression analysis, female sex, total triglyceride, glycosylated hemoglobin A, and homocysteic acid were independent risk factors of 1-year MACE. There was no significant correlation between PCSK9 and 1-year MACE in total AMI patients. In conclusion, PCSK9 levels and 1-year MACE were higher in women with AMI than in men with AMI, however, female sex but not PCSK9 were significant correlated with the 1-year MACE. The clinical implications of this finding are worthy of further investigations and must be confirmed in larger cohorts.
Sending-or-not-sending twin-field quantum key distribution in practice
Authors: Yu Zong-Wen , Hu Xiao-Long , Jiang Cong , Xu Hai , Wang Xiang-Bin
Published: February 2019

Recently, the twin field quantum key distribution (TF-QKD) protocols have been investigated extensively. In particular, an efficient protocol for TF-QKD with sending or not sending the coherent state has been given in. Here in this paper, we present results of practical sending-or-not-sending (SNS) twin field quantum key distribution. In real-life implementations, we need consider the following three requirements, a few different intensities rather than infinite number of different intensities, a phase slice of appropriate size rather than infinitely small size and the statistical fluctuations. We first show the decoy-state method with only a few different intensities and a phase slice of appropriate size. We then give a statistical fluctuation analysis for the decoy-state method. Numerical simulation shows that, the performance of our method is comparable to the asymptotic case for which the key size is large enough. Our method can beat the PLOB bound on secret key capacity. Our results show that practical implementations of the SNS quantum key distribution can be both secure and efficient.
The prevalence of microsporidia in China : A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Qiu Luyao , Xia Wanyuan , Li Wendao , Ping Jing , Ding Songtao , Liu Handeng
Published: February 2019

Microsporidia are a diverse parasite phylum infecting host from all major taxa in all global biomes. This research was conducted to conclude the prevalence of microsporidia in China. All published articles up to February 16, 2018 were considered, including descriptive, cross-sectional, case-control and epidemiology studies. A total of 1052 articles were separated after literature search. After a strict selection according to our criteria, 82 articles were included in qualitative synthesis and ultimately 52 studies were included in quantitative synthesis. Three species of microsporidia were confirmed to exist in China, including Enterocytozoon bieneusi (E. bieneusi), Nosema and Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi). The highest overall estimated prevalence of E. bieneusi in humans was 8.1%, which was observed in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients (AIDS). Moreover, the prevalence of E. bieneusi in animals including the cattle, dogs, pigs, deer, sheep and goats were analyszed in this study. The overall estimated prevalence of E. bieneusi acquired by using the random effects model in meta-analysis in cattle, dogs, pigs, sheep and goats and deer was 20.0% (95% confidence intervals: 0.133–0.266, I2 = 98.031%, p < 0.0001), 7.8% (95% CI: 0.050–0.106, I2 = 60.822%, p = 0.0537), 45.1% (95% CI: 0.227–0.674, I2 = 98.183%, p < 0.0001), 28.1% (95% CI: 0.146–0.415, I2 = 98.716%, p < 0.0001) and 19.3% (95% CI: 0.084–0.303, I2 = 96.995%, p < 0.0001) respectively. The overall detection rate of E. bieneusi in water acquired by using the random effects model in meta-analysis was 64.5% (95% CI: 0.433–0.857, I2 = 98.486%, p < 0.0001). Currently, 221 genotypes of E. bieneusi, 1 genotype of E. cuniculi and 6 Nosema were detected in China. The most prevalent genotype of E. bieneusi was genotype D, followed by BEB6 and EbpC.
Syntaxin 6: A novel predictive and prognostic biomarker in papillary renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Peak Taylor C. , Su Yixin , Chapple Andrew G. , Chyr Jacqueline , Deep Gagan
Published: February 2019

Syntaxin 6 is a SNARE family protein known to play an important role in intracellular trafficking. Here, we examined the tumorogenic role of syntaxin 6 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was queried for clinicopathologic data and syntaxin 6 expression. We found a significant difference in overall survival (OS) between groups, with high syntaxin 6 expression correlating with decreased survival. When stratifying the data based on histological subtype, the papillary RCC subtype exhibited a significant correlation between syntaxin 6 expression and survival. Using ROC curve, we calculated the area under the curve (AUC) to determine the ability of syntaxin 6 to predict 3-year overall survival. The AUC for syntaxin 6 was 0.73, significantly higher compared to 0.52 for T stage. Next, syntaxin 6 expression was evaluated in clear cell (786-O and Caki-1) and papillary (Caki-2 and ACHN) RCC cells. Syntaxin 6 expression was higher in Caki-1 and ACHN RCC cells. Silencing of syntaxin 6 in ACHN cells significantly decreased the cell viability (p < 0.001). Overall, syntaxin 6 could be a prognostic biomarker for patients with papillary RCC and syntaxin 6 inhibitors hold promise as a novel therapy against RCC.
Suppression of Akt-mTOR pathway rescued the social behavior in Cntnap2-deficient mice
Authors: Xing Xiaoliang , Zhang Jing , Wu Kunyang , Cao Beibei , Li Xianfeng , Jiang Fang , Hu Zhengmao , Xia Kun , Li Jia-Da
Published: February 2019

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) form a heterogeneous, neurodevelopmental syndrome characterized by deficits in social interactions and repetitive behavior/restricted interests. Dysregulation of mTOR signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of certain types of ASD, and inhibition of mTOR by rapamycin has been demonstrated to be an effective therapeutics for impaired social interaction in Tsc1+/−, Tsc2+/−, Pten−/− mice and valproic acid-induced ASD animal models. However, it is still unknown if dysregulation of mTOR signaling is responsible for the ASD-related deficit caused by other genes mutations. Contactin associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) is the first widely replicated autism-predisposition gene. Mice deficient in Cntnap2 (Cntnap2−/− mice) show core ASD-like phenotypes, and have been demonstrated as a validated model for ASD-relevant drug discovery. In this study, we found hyperactive Akt-mTOR signaling in the hippocampus of Cntnap2−/− mice with RNA sequencing followed with biochemical analysis. Treatment with Akt inhibitor LY294002 or mTOR inhibitor rapamycin rescued the social deficit, but had no effect on hyperactivity and repetitive behavior/restricted behavior in Cntnap2−/− mice. We further showed that the effect of LY294002 and rapamycin on social behaviors is reversible. Our results thus identified hyperactive Akt-mTOR signaling pathway as a therapeutic target for abnormal social behavior in patients with dysfunction of CNTNAP2.
Overexpression of Aiolos promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell-like properties in lung cancer cells
Authors: Hung Jung-Jyh , Kao Ying-Shiun , Huang Chi-Hung , Hsu Wen-Hu
Published: February 2019

Aiolos/Ikaros family zinc finger 3 (IKZF3), a member of the Ikaros family of lymphocyte maturation-driving transcription factors, is highly expressed in hematopoietic malignancies. However, its role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cell (CSC)-like properties in lung cancer remains unknown. Human lung cancer cell lines H1299 with overexpressing Aiolos (H1299-Aiolos) and A549 with overexpressing Aiolos (A549-Aiolos) were generated by stable transfection. Cell migration and invasion assays were done to demonstrate their invasion and migration ability. Sphere formation assay was used to determine their tumor-initiating capability. Aiolos overexpression induced EMT and increased migration/invasiveness in H1299 and A549 cells. Aiolos overexpression also increased metastatic ability in vivo. Aiolos overexpression upregulated the expression of Twist and matrix metalloproteinase 16 (MMP16). By using knockdown of Twist or an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, EMT, migration/invasiveness ability, and MMP16 expression were reversed in H1299-Aiolos and A549-Aiolos cells. Overexpression of Aiolos upregulated the CSC-like properties in lung cancer cells, and were also reversed by an inhibitor of PI 3-kinase. For lung cancer cells, Aiolos overexpression promotes EMT and CSC-like properties through upregulating the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway. The information is helpful for developing therapeutic strategies targeting Aiolos expression for lung cancer treatment.
Prognostic significance of preoperative MRI findings in young patients with breast cancer
Authors: Bitencourt Almir G. V. , Eugênio Deise S. G. , Souza Juliana A. , Souza Juliana O. , Makdissi Fabiana B. A. , Marques Elvira F. , Chojniak Rubens
Published: February 2019

The objective is to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in breast cancer patients aged less than 40 years. This retrospective, single-center study evaluated 92 women aged <40 years who received a diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma between 2008 and 2012. These patients underwent a breast MRI before treatment and follow-up at the same institution. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze overall survival, with the log-rank test used to compare different groups. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) values. The mean age of the patients was 34 years (range: 25–39 years) and the mean tumor size was 3.9 cm in maximal dimension (range: 0.7–10.5 cm). Recurrence was observed in 21 (22.8%) patients and 15 (16.3%) patients did not survive during a mean follow-up period of 5.4 ± 1.9 years. MRI findings associated with worse overall survival included tumor size >5 cm (HR:5.404; 95% CI:1.922–15.198; p = 0.017), presence of non-mass enhancement (HR:3.730; 95% CI:1.274–10.922; p = 0.016) and multifocal tumor (HR:3.618; 95% CI:1.151–11.369; p = 0.028). Inconclusion, MRI findings that are suggestive of more extensive disease were associated with worse overall survival in young breast cancer patients.
GPDPLQ1237—A Type II Collagen Neo-Epitope Biomarker of Osteoclast- and Inflammation-Derived Cartilage Degradation in vitro
Authors: Löfvall Henrik , Katri Anna , Dąbrowska Aneta , Karsdal Morten A. , Luo Yunyun , He Yi , Manon-Jensen Tina , Dziegiel Morten H. , Bay-Jensen Anne-Christine , Thudium Christian S. , Henriksen Kim
Published: February 2019

C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) has been shown to be a highly relevant biomarker of cartilage degradation in human rheumatic diseases, if measured in synovial fluid or urine. However, serum or plasma CTX-II have not been demonstrated to have any clinical utility to date. Here, we describe the GPDPLQ1237 ELISA which targets the EKGPDPLQ↓ neo-epitope, an elongated version of the CTX-II neo-epitope (EKGPDP↓), speculated to be a blood-precursor of CTX-II generated by the cysteine protease cathepsin K. Human osteoclast cartilage resorption cultures as well as oncostatin M and tumour necrosis factor α-stimulated bovine cartilage explant cultures were used to validate GPDPLQ1237 biologically by treating the cultures with the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64 and/or the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor GM6001 to assess the potential contributions of these two protease classes to GPDPLQ1237 release. Cartilage resorption-derived GPDPLQ1237 release was inhibited by E-64 (72.1% inhibition), GM6001 (75.5%), and E-64/GM6001 (91.5%), whereas CTX-II release was inhibited by GM6001 (87.0%) but not by E-64 (5.5%). Cartilage explant GPDPLQ1237 and CTX-II release were both fully inhibited by GM6001 but were not inhibited by E-64. No clinically relevant GPDPLQ1237 reactivity was identified in human serum, plasma, or urine from healthy donors or arthritis patients. In conclusion, the GPDPLQ1237 biomarker is released during osteoclast-derived cysteine protease- and MMP-mediated cartilage degradation in vitro, whereas CTX-II release is mediated by MMPs and not by cysteine proteases, as well as from MMP-mediated cartilage degradation under a pro-inflammatory stimulus. These findings suggest that GPDPLQ1237 may be relevant in diseases with pathological osteoclast activity and cartilage degradation. Further studies are required to validate the neo-epitope in human samples.
Neural representations of Groups and Stereotypes using fMRI repetition suppression
Authors: Delplanque Jeroen , Heleven Elien , Van Overwalle Frank
Published: February 2019

Categorizing people in groups and associating them with stereotypical behavior is an integral part of human social understanding and interaction. This study investigates where knowledge on social groups and their stereotypes is represented in the brain. We presented participants with two sentences describing a group member (e.g. the police officer) performing a behavior believed to be stereotypical of the group (e.g. makes an arrest, i.e. authoritative), and asked them to rate the degree to which the behavior was typical of the group. Our critical manipulation was the repetition of this information across the two sentences: Either both the group and the stereotype implied by the behavior was repeated, only the group was repeated, only the stereotype implied by the behavior, or neither. Results showed robust suppression of hemodynamic activation from the first to second sentence in the medial prefrontal cortex in response to the repetition of the stereotype implied in the behavior, but only when groups were different. This finding suggests that the neural representation of stereotypes is located in this area, and this is in line with similar repetition suppression research showing trait representation in this area. A suppression effect for the repetition of groups was observed in the posterior cingulate cortex, regardless of whether stereotypes were repeated or not. This finding suggests that the neural representation of groups is located in this area. Because this location is unexpected, we discuss several suggestions for future research to confirm this finding.
CRISPR-mediated activation of endogenous BST-2/tetherin expression inhibits wild-type HIV-1 production
Authors: Zhang Yanzhao , Ozono Seiya , Yao Weitong , Tobiume Minoru , Yamaoka Shoji , Kishigami Satoshi , Fujita Hideaki , Tokunaga Kenzo
Published: February 2019

The CRISPR technology not only can knock out target genes by using the RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease but also can activate their expression when a nuclease-deficient Cas9 (dCas9) is employed. Using the latter function, we here show the effect of the CRISPR-mediated pinpoint activation of endogenous expression of BST-2 (also known as tetherin), a virus restriction factor with a broad antiviral spectrum. Single-guide RNA (sgRNA) sequences targeting the BST-2 promoter were selected by promoter assays. Potential sgRNAs and dCas9 fused to the VP64 transactivation domain, along with an accessory transcriptional activator complex, were introduced into cells by lentiviral transduction. Increased expression of BST-2 mRNA in transduced cells was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Cells in which BST-2 expression was highly enhanced showed the effective inhibition of HIV-1 production and replication even in the presence of the viral antagonist Vpu against BST-2. These findings confirm that the physiological stoichiometry between host restriction factors and viral antagonists may determine the outcome of the battle with viruses.
Elevated red cell distribution width to platelet count ratio predicts poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer
Authors: Takeuchi Hideya , Abe Miyuki , Takumi Yohei , Hashimoto Takafumi , Miyawaki Michiyo , Okamoto Tatsuro , Sugio Kenji
Published: February 2019

Red cell distribution width (RDW) to platelet ratio (RPR) is a prognosticator in acute pancreatitis and myocardial infarction; however, the prognostic values of RDW and RPR in breast cancer have not been studied. This retrospective analysis of 299 breast cancer patients investigated the association between RDW and RPR and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis, compared to platelet distribution width to platelet count ratio (PDW/P) which is a known independent prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer. We found a significant correlation between RPR, and age and HER2 status. An elevated RPR significantly correlated with age and HER2 status. After a median follow-up duration of 48 months, tumour size, nuclear grade, PDW/P, and RPR were recgnized to be significantly associated with lower disease-free survival rates (tumour size: p < 0.01; nuclear grade, PDW/P, and RPR: p < 0.05) in univariate analysis. Tumour size and RPR were significant prognostic factors for lower disease-free survival rates, with hazard ratios of 4.31 (95% confidence interval: 1.76–10.53) (p < 0.01)] and 2.79 [95% confidence interval: 1.01–87.69) (p < 0.05)], respectively, in a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model. This is the first study showing that an elevated RPR could independently predict poor prognosis in patients with breast carcinoma. Thus, RPR could be a novel biomarker for prognostic estimation.
Interplay of arene radical cations with anions and fluorinated alcohols in hole catalysis
Authors: Shida Naoki , Imada Yasushi , Nagahara Shingo , Okada Yohei , Chiba Kazuhiro
Published: February 2019

Chemical reactions via radical cation intermediates are of great interest in photoredox catalysis and electrosynthesis, while their reactivities are not clearly understood. For example, how the counter anions correlate with the reactivity of radical cations is still ambiguous. Here we report the effect of anions and fluorinated alcohols on the reactivity of organic radical cations in hole catalysis. The addition of salts in a radical cation Diels–Alder reaction under photoredox catalysis demonstrates that common anions significantly decease the efficiency of hole catalysis. The use of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) restores the reaction efficiency in the presence of salts, presumably due to solvation of the anions by HFIP to reduce their nucleophilicity. These findings enable hole catalysis under electrolytic conditions with greatly improved efficiency. The effect of anions and fluorinated alcohol described in this paper gives important insights on the fundamental understanding for the reactivity of arene radical cations.
1D-helical platinum(ii) complexes bearing metal-induced chirality, aggregation-induced red phosphorescence, and circularly polarized luminescence
Authors: Song Jintong , Wang Man , Xu Xuemei , Qu Lang , Zhou Xiangge , Xiang Haifeng
Published: February 2019

Binaphthyls-linked Pt(ii) complexes with metal-induced chirality self-assemble to build 1D M or P helices and show aggregation/racemization-induced and circularly polarized luminescence.
The mutual dependence of negative emission technologies and energy systems
Authors: Creutzig Felix , Breyer Christian , Hilaire Jérôme , Minx Jan , Peters Glen P. , Socolow Robert
Published: February 2019

While a rapid decommissioning of fossil fuel technologies deserves priority, most climate stabilization scenarios suggest that negative emission technologies (NETs) are required to keep global warming well below 2 °C.
Quantifying the temperature dependence of nitrate reduction in woodchip bioreactors: experimental and modeled results with applied case-study
Authors: Halaburka Brian J. , LeFevre Gregory H. , Luthy Richard G.
Published: February 2019

The temperature dependence of denitrification in woodchip bioreactors was quantified using experimental and modeled results to enhance predictive power and applied to a case study.
Magnetically induced enzymatic cascades – advancing towards multi-fuel direct/mediated bioelectrocatalysis
Authors: Herkendell Katharina , Stemmer Andreas , Tel-Vered Ran
Published: February 2019

Enzyme-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles are channeled by magnetic field gradients onto modified electrodes to activate enzymatic cascades for multi-substrate power generation.
Recent advances in nanomaterial-enabled acoustic devices for audible sound generation and detection
Authors: Ding Huijun , Shu Xiaolan , Jin Yukun , Fan Taojian , Zhang Han
Published: February 2019

Acoustic devices are widely applied in telephone communication, human–computer voice interaction systems, medical ultrasound examination, and other applications.
Synthesis and nano-Pd catalyzed chemoselective oxidation of symmetrical and unsymmetrical sulfides
Authors: Li Xing , Du Jia , Zhang Yongli , Chang Honghong , Gao Wenchao , Wei Wenlong
Published: February 2019

A highly chemoselective nano-Pd catalyzed protocol for the construction of sulfoxides and sulfones via the oxidation of symmetrical and unsymmetrical sulfides using H2O2 as an oxidant has been developed, respectively.
Electrochemistry of chemiluminescent novel hybrid nanocomposites based on polyaniline and hydrolyzed pectin with CdS nanoparticles
Authors: Alipour Azita , Lakouraj Moslem Mansour , Roudbari Mohsen Najafi , Chaichi Javad
Published: February 2019

The mCdS NPs due to uniform dispersion improved the conductivity, electrochemical and chemiluminescence properties in mCdS@HPEc-g-PANi.
The role of shape disorder in the collective behaviour of aligned fibrous matter
Authors: Salamone Salvatore , Schulmann Nava , Benzerara Olivier , Meyer Hendrik , Charitat Thierry , Marques Carlos M.
Published: February 2019

We show how bending rigidity and shape disorder control the mechanical properties of fiber bundles.
Detection of alkaline phosphatase activity and inhibition with fluorescent hydroxyapatite nanoparticles
Authors: Yang Wenqian , Luo Junjun , Qi Min , Yang Minghui
Published: February 2019

Fluorescence detection of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and inhibition based on fluorescent hydroxyapatite nanoparticles.
Informatics analysis of capillary electropherograms of autologously doped and undoped blood
Authors: Chatterjee Shiladitya , Chapman Sean C. , Major George H. , Eggett Denis L. , Lunt Barry M. , Harrison Christopher R. , Linford Matthew R.
Published: February 2019

Detection of autologous blood doping using capillary electrophoresis and inverse least squares.
Reductive-heat-treated platinum tungsten oxide catalyst with improved CO oxidation activity and CO gas sensing property
Authors: Liu Shiwei , Liang Liang , Zhang Qixian , Liu Changpeng , Xing Wei , Dong Xiandui
Published: February 2019

Reductive-heat-treated platinum tungsten oxide presented excellent CO electro-oxidation activity and was applied in electrochemical CO gas sensing method.
Structural and photophysical properties of Tb3+-tetra-1,3-diketonate complexes controlled by calix[4]arene-tetrathiacalix[4]arene scaffolds
Authors: Podyachev Sergey N. , Sudakova Svetlana N. , Nagimov Rinas N. , Lapaev Dmitry V. , Masliy Alexey N. , Syakaev Victor V. , Bazanova Olga B. , Gimazetdinova Gulnaz Sh. , Babaev Vasiliy M. , Kuznetsov Andrey M. , Mustafina Asiya R.
Published: February 2019

Impact of thiacalix[4]arene-calix[4]arene scaffolds on structure and luminescence of Tb3+ complexes.
Consecutive intermolecular 1,1-carboboration reactions of Me3Si-substituted alkynes with the halogeno-B(C6F5)2 reagents
Authors: Škoch Karel , Pauly Christophe , Daniliuc Constantin G. , Bergander Klaus , Kehr Gerald , Erker Gerhard
Published: February 2019

1-(Trimethylsilyl)propyne 2a reacts with halogenoboranes XB(C6F5)2 (X: Cl, Br) in a 2 : 1 molar ratio under mild conditions by consecutive 1,1-carboboration reactions to give the highly substituted boryldienes 4.
Determination of Se and Te in coal at ultra-trace levels by ICP-MS after microwave-induced combustion
Authors: Rondan Filipe S. , Henn Alessandra S. , Mello Paola A. , Perez Magali , Bullock Liam A. , Parnell John , Feldmann Joerg , Flores Erico M. M. , Mesko Marcia F.
Published: February 2019

The development of a method for the ultra-trace determination of selenium and tellurium in coal by ICP-MS using microwave-induced combustion for sample preparation.
3D printing of biomimetic vasculature for tissue regeneration
Authors: Lei Dong , Yang Yang , Liu Zenghe , Yang Binqian , Gong Wenhui , Chen Shuo , Wang Shaofei , Sun Lijie , Song Benyan , Xuan Huixia , Mo Xiumei , Sun Binbin , Li Sen , Yang Qi , Huang Shixing , Chen Shiyan , Ma Yiding , Liu Wenguang , He Chuanglong , Zhu Bo , Jeffries Eric M. , Qing Feng-Ling , Ye Xiaofeng , Zhao Qiang , You Zhengwei
Published: February 2019

A simple strategy tailors perfusable and permeable hierarchical microchannel networks from diverse materials.
Large-scale synthesis of carbon dots/TiO2 nanocomposites for the photocatalytic color switching system
Authors: Wang Aiwu , Xiao Xufen , Zhou Cangtao , Lyu Fucong , Fu Li , Wang Chundong , Ruan Shuangchen
Published: February 2019

In view of the easy control and contactless spatial nature of light, the photoreversible color switching system has attracted tremendous attention.
Design of Raman tag-bridged core–shell Au@Cu3(BTC)2nanoparticles for Raman imaging and synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy
Authors: He Jincan , Dong Jianwei , Hu Yufei , Li Gongke , Hu Yuling
Published: February 2019

Raman tag-bridged core–shell Au@Cu3(BTC)2NPs were fabricated stepwisely, and utilized for versatile Raman imaging and chemo-photothermal therapy.
Using Nature's polyenes as templates: studies of synthetic xanthomonadin analogues and realising their potential as antioxidants
Authors: Madden Katrina S. , Jokhoo Hans R. E. , Conradi Fabian D. , Knowles Jonathan P. , Mullineaux Conrad W. , Whiting Andrew
Published: February 2019

Two truncated analogues of polyenyl photoprotective agent xanthomonadin were synthesised using iterative cross coupling and investigated as model photoprotective agents in bacteria.
Co-production of solvents and organic acids in butanol fermentation byClostridium acetobutylicumin the presence of lignin-derived phenolics
Authors: Luo Hongzhen , Zheng Panli , Xie Fang , Yang Rongling , Liu Lina , Han Shuo , Zhao Yuping , Bilal Muhammad
Published: February 2019

Lignin-derived phenolics enhance solvent and organic acid biosynthesis in butanol fermentation byClostridium acetobutylicumATCC 824.
Bifunctional NiCo2S4 catalysts supported on a carbon textile interlayer for ultra-stable Li–S battery
Authors: Liu Bo , Huang Shaozhuan , Kong Dezhi , Hu Junping , Yang Hui Ying
Published: February 2019

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries with high energy density and natural abundance are promising energy storage devices.
Enhanced charge transport in Al-doped ZnO nanotubes designed via simultaneous etching and Al doping of H2O-oxidized ZnO nanorods for solar cell applications
Authors: Pelicano Christian Mark , Yanagi Hisao
Published: February 2019

Innovative design of Al-doped ZnO nanotubes with superior charge-transport properties via simultaneous etching and Al doping of H2O-oxidized ZnO nanorods.
Robust staggered band alignment in one-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures: binary compound nanoribbons in nanotubes
Authors: Gong Ming , Zhang Guang-Ping , Hu Hui Hui , Kou Liangzhi , Dou Kun Peng , Shi Xing-Qiang
Published: February 2019

The robust staggered band alignment in one-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures is favorable for enhancing light harvesting and water splitting.
A narrow-band blue emitting phosphor Ca8Mg7Si9N22:Eu2+ for pc-LEDs
Authors: Li Chao , Wang Xiao-Ming , Chi Feng-Feng , Yang Zu-Pei , Jiao Huan
Published: February 2019

Ca8Mg7Si9N22 crystallizes in a tetragonal space group P42/nmc (No. 137) with a unit cell of a = 7.3271(11) Å and c = 10.336(2) Å. Ca8Mg7Si9N22:Eu2+ shows a narrow-band blue emission peaking at 400 nm with an intriguing bandwidth ∼34 nm and shows remarkably high thermal quenching resistance, maintaining 92% photoluminescence emission intensity at 420 K and 75% at 700 K of that measured at room temperature.
Efficacy and Prognostic Factors of Combined Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Patients With Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Authors: Wang Yong , Gao Yali , Wang Boxuan , Chen Liyan , Zhang Xiaoxiao
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a clinical emergency with an increased incidence of occurrence in recent years. Hyperbaric oxygen has been widely used in the clinical treatment of sudden hearing loss. However, prognostic factors related to its curative effects are still not clear, which hinders its clinical application. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and prognostic factors of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) plus drug therapies in the treatment of sudden hearing loss.

Method

Patients with sudden hearing loss who were treated with hyperbaric oxygen from April to October 2017 were retrospectively included. Clinical information was collected, including pure-tone audiometry data before and after hyperbaric oxygen treatment, age, gender, hearing curve classification, concomitant symptoms, history of diseases (diabetes and hypertension), history of hormone therapy, start time of hyperbaric oxygen treatment, and total number of hyperbaric oxygen treatments. The prognostic factors were analyzed with univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

Sixty-four patients with sudden hearing loss were enrolled, including 7 cases of low-frequency loss, 4 cases of high-frequency loss, 32 cases of flat loss, and 21 cases of complete hearing loss. After HBOT, there were 16 cases (25%) of complete recovery, 15 cases (23.43%) of partial recovery, 7 cases (10.93%) of slight improvement, and 26 cases (40.63%) of no improvement. The total effective rate was 59.37%. Twelve of 21 cases (57.14%) of complete hearing loss showed recovery. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the start time of HBOT ≤ 7 days from disease onset was independently associated with hearing recovery (
OR
= 27.763, 95% CI [4.209, 183.115],
p
= .001).

Conclusion

Combined HBOT can improve the hearing impairment of sudden hearing loss. The early HBOT showed the most promising therapeutic effects, especially among patients with complete hearing loss.
Active contour‐based clutter defiance scheme for correlation filters
Authors: Awan A.B. , Bakhshi A.D. , Abbas M. , Rehman S.
Published: February 2019

The negative impact of clutters on correlation output still remains the problem not handled in correlation pattern recognition (CPR) paradigm. Some of the known impacts caused by the presence of clutters include pronounced side‐lobe generation and reduction in height of correlation peak. The occurrence of the side‐lobes results in the distortion of actual correlation output while making the class decision a difficult task. Whereas, reduction in correlation height may cause class decisions to go wrong. The authors propose a novel clutter defiance strategy based on object segmentation through active contours approach thus evading a negative effect on the correlation output. Instead of allowing clutters to participate in CPR‐based classification decision they recommend blocking irrelevant details to avoid distortion in the correlation process. An appropriate tweaking in the optimal logarithmic maximum average correlation height filter design yields a performance gain up to 80% in the correlation peak to side‐lobe ratio, thus making it well pronounced to classify the true class objects correctly. The improvement remains consistent throughout the range of in‐plane angular distortions against synthetically cluttered challenging images.
Dynamic length colour palettes
Authors: Afifi M.
Published: February 2019

Colour palettes are finite sets of representative colours for image colours. Similar to any clustering problem, the palette's optimal number of colours is an ill‐posed problem. Existing techniques assume the number of colours is given by the user. In this work, the authors introduce an approach to generate dynamic length colour palettes. The authors' approach is based on two‐stage clustering. At the first stage, they use k‐means‐based clustering in order to reduce the number of data points in the given image. Then, the second stage is applied using a density‐based clustering. The qualitative results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. At the end of this Letter, they suggest the best range of colours per palette for natural images based on a study performed on 118,060 images from Microsoft COCO dataset.
Throughput enhancing concatenated codes
Authors: Rezaei Elahe , Fonseka John P. , Bo Yu
Published: February 2019

Traditionally, concatenation of codes is used to increase the coding gain at the expense of the code rate and the throughput. In contrast, throughput enhancing concatenated codes (TECCs) are constructed here aiming to increase the throughput. In a TECC, the coded sequence of a code C transmitted through the channel is altered according to the coded bits of a second coded sequence of an implicit code . In this study, TECCs select one bit in every segment of n coded bits of C based on coded bits of , and flip that selected coded bit of C before transmission. Even though the coded bits of are not transmitted explicitly over the channel, the information of coded bits of is transferred to the destination through the altered bits which can be recovered by exploiting the extrinsic information of explicitly coded bits. Using iterative decoding between codes C and , the receiver can decode the coded bits of both the explicit code C and the implicit code jointly. TECCs that can increase the throughput of C by 25–37.5% without sacrificing the performance of C are reported, however, at the expense of increased complexity.
Improved adaptive backstepping sliding mode control for a three‐phase PWM AC–DC converter
Authors: Li Jian , Liu Zexu , Su Qingyu
Published: February 2019

The stability problem of a three‐phase voltage source PWM AC–DC converter is addressed through an improved adaptive backstepping method, which combines the following contents: input–output linearisation, adaptive backstepping method, error compensation and sliding mode control. The state equation of the three phase system is obtained by the power balance relationship between the input current and the output voltage, and then the coordinate conversion is carried out in order to design the controller. When the input–output linearisation method transfers the system model to a strict‐feedback form, an improved adaptive backstepping control approach is given to stabilise the converter. Finally, the simulation results show that the improved method has three benefits: retain a faster stability of rectifier, reduce overshoot of DC voltage and bring about a real‐time parameter estimation.
Event‐triggered stabilisation for continuous‐time switched non‐linear systems under switching constraints
Authors: Peng Lianghong , Ai Zidong
Published: February 2019

In this work, the authors investigate event‐triggered stabilisation problem for continuous‐time switched systems, where switching instants and transitions are under given constraints. By designing some event‐triggered conditions and a proper switching law, they establish some sufficient stabilisation criteria for the considered systems. The proposed event‐triggered scheme is advantageous to reduce the utilisation of communication and computation resources. Further, they study the switching synchronisation problem for two continuous‐time switched non‐linear systems with different initial values. Finally, an example of Chua's circuit with simulations results are presented to illustrate the validity of the method.
Network‐based distributed direct load control guaranteeing fair welfare maximisation
Authors: Sakurama Kazunori , Ahn Hyo‐sung
Published: February 2019

This study examines a distributed direct load control (DLC) problem for maximising customer welfare in a power system for the network communication of energy management controllers (EMCs). A model is first built to describe the dynamics and communication intervals of the EMCs with a distributed and uniform controller. The controller conditions are then derived to stabilise the system and to converge the power imbalance to zero at an assigned rate. The control condition that maximises customer welfare is then found. Furthermore, an optimal controller that maximises customer welfare over a given network communication is proposed, and the performance degradation caused by distributed management is evaluated. This study reveals that even though moving from a centralised to a distributed DLC can degrade customer welfare, this degradation can be reduced by considering consumer properties and network topologies of the EMCs. Numerical examples with real consumption data are also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Multistage robust energy management for microgrids considering uncertainty
Authors: Shi Zhichao , Liang Hao , Huang Shengjun , Dinavahi Venkata
Published: February 2019

Microgrids play an important role in modern power systems which can integrate different kinds of distributed energy resources (DERs). To deal with the uncertainty from various factors such as renewable generation, robust energy management for microgrids has become a significant problem. In this work, a novel multistage robust energy management model for grid‐connected microgrids is developed which considers the uncertainty of renewable generation and load demand. The multistage energy management problem is complex and computationally difficult. To solve this problem, a robust version of dual dynamic programming method is proposed which includes a forward pass and a backward pass procedure and has a similar framework with the common stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) method. Based on real datasets, a case study is carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model and solution methodology. Numerical results show that the proposed approach can effectively achieve the robust optimal solution, and the comparison with other methods also testifies the advantage of the proposed multistage robust model.
New family of non‐isolated step‐up/down and step‐up switched‐capacitor‐based DC–DC converters
Authors: Abbasi Maysam , Babaei Ebrahim , Tousi Behrouz
Published: February 2019

Here, a new family of non‐isolated step‐up/down and step‐up switched‐capacitor (SC)‐based DC–DC converters are proposed possessing many advantages as lower voltage stress on capacitors and higher voltage gain compared to previously introduced DC–DC converters. The proposed converter structures have multiple capacitors which are based on principles of DC–DC SC converters. Therefore, the amount of power transfer from the input to the output is higher in the proposed converters. Generally, the proposed converters are more suitable for industrial applications, especially for generating high‐voltage gains in lower duty‐cycles. For proving the analysis, comprehensive comparisons and precise experiments have been performed which show remarkable performance of the proposed converter topologies.