bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perforators as recipients for free flap reconstruction of the inguinal and perineal region
Authors: Seo Bommie F. , Yun Choi Jong , Ho Han Hyun , Young Oh Deuk , Won Rhie Jong , Tae Ahn Sang , Moon Suk‐Ho
Published: October 2015

Objective

Extensive defects of the perineal or inguinal area require well vascularized free flap coverage. This area has an abundance of perforating arteries and veins based on vessels from the femoral artery and internal iliac artery. We present our experience on the use of perforators as recipient vessels in reconstructing soft tissue defects of the perineal and inguinal area with free flaps.

Patients and Methods

From March 2012 to August 2014, 13 patients underwent free flap reconstruction for soft tissue defects of the inguinal or perineal area. Perforating arteries with diameters ranging from 0.7 to 1.2 mm were used as recipient arteries. Accompanying veins or neighboring superficial veins were secured as recipient veins.

Results

All flaps survived attached to a recipient perforator with a diameter ranging from 0.7 to 1.2 mm. These vessels were found in the inguinal or perineal areas, regions that are supplied by the superficial circumflex iliac vessels, superficial inferior epigastric vessels, superficial and deep external pudendal vessels, lateral and medial circumflex femoral vessels, and internal pudendal vessels. There were no cases of arterial insufficiency or venous congestion, flap necrosis, or infection. A single case of hematoma beneath the flap was treated by simple evacuation. There were no donor complications.

Conclusion

Using perforators as the recipient during free flap reconstruction of the inguinal and perinea area allows the surgeon to choose from a wider choice of vessels, and yields acceptable flap survival. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 35:627–633, 2015.
An optimization study on cost‐efficient dipole and bow‐tie antenna designs for printed UHF RFID
Authors: Pongpaibool Pornanong , Jantarachote Vasan , Siwamogsatham Siwaruk
Published: October 2015

In this study, the optimized cost‐efficient dipole and bow‐tie antenna designs with thickened feeds are derived via simulations for the printed ultra high frequency radio‐frequency identification (UHF RFID) tags. The results show that the proposed optimized antenna designs requires significantly less amount of conductive material in achieving the same level of antenna efficiency performance as the ideal copper‐trace design. For instance, the saving benefits are around 30 and 65%, respectively, for the dipole and bow‐tie configurations when comparing with the conventional flat layer dipole antenna designs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2676–2679, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26300
A novel Doherty power amplifier with self‐adaptive biasing network for efficiency improvement
Authors: Chen Shichang , Xue Quan
Published: October 2015

A Doherty power amplifier (DPA) with a self‐adaptive biasing circuit is presented in this letter. The proposed structure is integrated into the gate biasing network of the peaking power amplifier (PA), and then the gate voltage can be adaptively adjusted with the input power. Due to the presence of this simple but effective circuit, the peaking PA can approach the ideal power transfer characteristic which results in better efficiency than the conventional design with constant biasing. The proposed circuit is implemented and compared with both the conventional DPA and a single Class‐AB PA. 12% and 34% power added efficiency improvements are achieved at 6 dB backoff, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2586‐2589, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26301
Planar rat‐race coupler with microstrip electromagnetic bandgap element
Authors: Zhang Chris F.
Published: October 2015

This article presents the design of microstrip electromagnetic bandgap element and its applications in the planar rat‐race hybrid coupler with the purpose of harmonic suppression and size reduction.The measured results of proposed hybrid coupler with 1.25 GHz central frequency verify its attractive performance with an insertion loss of less than 3.4 dB, a return loss of about 20 dB, an isolation of 32 dB, 17 dB suppression for the second harmonic, 25 dB suppression for the third harmonic, and 22 dB suppression for the fourth harmonic. In particular, with no loss of the performance, the area of proposed rat‐race coupler, achieving 57% save in size, has been successfully reduced from 38.82 cm2 (the area of conventional hybrid coupler) to 16.72 cm2. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2619–2622, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26308
LTCC ultra wide band filter
Authors: Packiaraj D. , Vinoy K.J. , Ramesh M. , Kalghatgi A.T. , Chaware Varsha , Phatak G. J.
Published: October 2015

This article presents the analysis of ultra wide band (UWB) filter designed using a symmetrical three parallel coupled line resonator in low temperature co‐fired ceramic (LTCC) medium. The ground plane with an aperture incorporated in it improves the coupling. Based on circuit models, the designed UWB filter has been analyzed, and the results have been confirmed by experiments. The filter has been realized with Dupont LTCC tape DuPont 951 (that has dielectric constant of 7.8). Maximum insertion loss of the experimental filter is 1.5 dB. The group variation over the pass band of the filter is within 0.2 ns. Dimensions of the experimental LTCC filter are 20 × 10 × 0.72 mm. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2580–2583, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26311
CPW‐fed‐slot planar antenna for wireless applications
Authors: Tony D. , Sarin V. P. , Nishamol M. S. , Anandan C. K. , Mohanan P. , Vasudevan K.
Published: October 2015

A compact dual‐band antenna for wireless applications is proposed. The proposed antenna provides 2:1 voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) impedance bandwidth of 590 MHz centered at 2.6 GHz and 3.09 GHz centered at 6.19 GHz. The antenna is fabricated on a substrate of dielectric constant 4.4 and thickness 1.6 mm, occupies an area of 36.9 × 18 mm2. Details of the proposed antenna design along with experimental and simulation results are presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2501–2504, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26315
Novel optical cryptography using LIP signals generated by a PANDA ring resonator
Authors: Pongsanam P. , Juleang P. , Mitatha S. , Yupapin P. P.
Published: October 2015

We propose a novel optical cryptography using the dark‐bright soliton conversion control in a modified add/drop (AD) optical filter. By using the control arrangement, the obtained outputs of the dynamic states of dark‐bright soliton can be used to form the key suppression which can be available for communication security application, where finally, the key recovery can be obtained by controlling the AD filter outputs. The optical cryptography part consists of an AD filter which is used to generate the encrypted and decryption keys from the optical keys (LIP signals), and a Mach–Zehnder interferometer is also used for multiplexing and de‐multiplexing operations. The simulation results obtained have shown that the proposed system can be achieved, which can be used to form high security communication. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2575–2580, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26324
Behavioral electromagnetic models of high‐speed p‐i‐n photodiodes
Authors: Jiang Chenhui , Krozer Viktor , Johansen Tom K. , Bach Heinz‐Gunter , Mekonnen Giorgis G. , Yan Lei
Published: October 2015

This article presents a methodology for developing small‐signal behavioral electromagnetic (EM) models of p‐i‐n photodiodes (PDs) for high‐speed applications. The EM model includes RC bandwidth limitation effect and transit‐time effect. The model is capable of accurately modeling arbitrary complex parasitics of PD chips. It can be used to predict the optical‐to‐electrical (O/E) response of PDs with various p‐i‐n junction structures in the frequency domain at the behavioral level. Compared to equivalent circuit models, EM models avoid developing complicated circuit network to represent complex chip parasitics as well as extracting parasitic values and provide straightforward access to EM characteristics of devices. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2530–2533, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26327
Approximation of characteristic parameters for elliptic and circular microshield lines using a robust fuzzy approach
Authors: Sathi Vahid , Ghobadi Changiz , Ehteshami Nasrin
Published: October 2015

We propose a fuzzy learning method by a descent technique, to calculate the characteristic parameters of elliptic‐ and circular‐shaped microshield lines.From input–output data, generated using conformal mapping technique, the inference rules expressing the input output relation of the data are obtained automatically using the proposed fuzzy inference system. The learning speed of this method is substantially higher than that of the neural model. The numerical results are in very good agreement with the results reported elsewhere. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2648–2653, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26335
Broadband shorted‐patch antenna with U‐shaped coupling slot
Authors: Lee Kun‐Joon , Kim Young‐Sik
Published: October 2015

A shorted‐patch antenna with a U‐shaped coupling slot for broadband operation is presented.The U‐shaped coupling slot etched on the ground plane is located in close proximity to the shorting wall to obtain a good impedance matching. Using an L‐shaped shorting wall with a height of about 6% wavelength at the center operating frequency and a U‐shaped coupling slot, the proposed microstrip patch antenna has a compact size and broadband operation. The proposed antenna yields a wide bandwidth of about 33.6% and a peak gain of 4.2 dBi. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2566–2569, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26339
A single‐chip 24‐GHz differential I/Q receiver in 0.18‐μm CMOS technology
Authors: Chen Chi‐Chen , Tsou Chuan‐Wei , Lin Yo‐Sheng
Published: October 2015

This article describes a monolithic complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect‐transistor (CMOS) direct‐conversion receiver (DCR) comprising a low‐noise amplifier, two sub‐harmonic mixers (SHMs), three miniature quadrature couplers (QCs), three miniature baluns, and two intermediate frequency (IF) amplifiers.The SHMs in conjunction with the QCs and baluns are used to eliminate local oscillator (LO) self‐mixing. The circuit was fabricated in a 0.18‐μm CMOS process for 24‐GHz application. At an radio frequency (RF) of 24 GHz and IF frequency of 100 MHz, the DCR dissipates 62.6 mW and exhibits reflection coefficient at RF port smaller than −10 dB for frequencies 10.6∼31.6 GHz, a phase mismatch of 0.22° ∼ 5.18° (the phases of differential in‐phase/quadrature IF outputs are 0°, 95.18°, 176.85°, and 270.22°), a noise figure of 9.1 dB, and a conversion gain of 31.8 dB. In addition, excellent isolations were also achieved. The corresponding LO‐IF, RF‐IF, and LO‐RF isolations are −40, −65.5, and −50.9 dB, respectively, at 24 GHz. The chip area is only 1.6 × 0.67 mm2, i.e., 1.07 mm2, excluding the test pads. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2593–2601, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26351
Rotation—A technique to tune the working frequency of left‐handed materials
Authors: Khan M. F. , Mughal M.J. , Bilal M.
Published: October 2015

Rotation of left‐handed materials (LHM) is presented as tuning technique in this article. For verification of proposed idea, S‐shaped resonator and its two modified cases are chosen as LHM. The frequency bands of these resonators are determined experimentally with and without rotation. The comparison of results justifies the tuning technique. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2517–2521, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26354
Dipole antenna with folded branch lines for wireless local area network dual band and phase reversal operation
Authors: Jung Jinwoo , Lee Hyeonjin , Lim Yeongseog
Published: October 2015

A dipole antenna with folded branch lines with dimensions of 45.16 × 9 × 0.6 mm3 is proposed.The folded branch lines are used for the wireless local area network dual band and phase reversal operations of the antenna. The experimental results indicate that the achieved voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) 2:1 impedance bandwidths were 313 MHz (2.29–2.603 GHz) and 371 MHz (5.639–6.01 GHz). The measured maximum gains in each operation band were 2.96 and 4.47 dBi, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2449–2451, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26359
Planar loop tag antenna with bandwidth enhancement for UHF RFID system
Authors: Lu Jui‐Han , Su Jr‐Ying
Published: October 2015

A novel planar loop tag antenna mounted on the plastic pallets for ultra‐high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) system is proposed. By insetting the U‐shaped slot and a pair of rectangular parasitic strips into the proposed loop tag antenna, the resonant mode close to ultra‐high frequency (UHF) 900‐MHz band is excited to enhance the operating bandwidth. The obtained impedance bandwidth across the operating band can reach about 174 MHz (18.8%) for UHF band. Also, with bidirectional pattern, the measured reading distance is about 2.0 m as the proposed loop tag antenna mounted on the plastic pallets. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2711–2713, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26361
CMOS quadrature VCO using the injection MOSFET coupling
Authors: Jang Sheng‐Lyang , Chiu Yao‐Ting , Chang Chia‐Wei , Hsue Ching‐Wen
Published: October 2015

This article presents a new quadrature voltage‐controlled oscillator (QVCO). The LC‐tank QVCO consists of two first‐harmonic injection‐locked oscillators (ILOs). The outputs of one ILO are injected to the gates of the MOS transistors on the other ILO and vice versa so as to force the two local oscillator (LOs) operate in quadrature. The injection metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MOSFETs) are also used as frequency tuning varactors. The QVCO has been implemented with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacture Company (TSMC) 0.18 μm complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) technology and the die area is 0.646 mm × 0.841 mm. At the supply voltage of 1.3 V, the total power consumption is 9.58 mW. The free‐running frequency is tunable from 5.44 to 5.95 GHz as the tuning voltage is varied from 0.2 to 2.0 V. The measured phase noise at 1 MHz offset is −121.52 dBc/Hz at the oscillation frequency of 5.91 GHz and the figure of merit (FOM) of the proposed QVCO is about −187.14 dBc/Hz. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2631–2634, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26363
High Isolation Microstrip Diplexer with Enhanced Stopband Characteristics for GSM and WLAN Application
Authors: Zhou Yong‐gang , Deng Honge‐wei , Zhao Yong‐jiu
Published: October 2015

In this article, a high‐isolation microstrip diplexer with enhanced stopband characteristics is presented for GSM and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) application. The proposed diplexer consists of two compact bandpass filters (BPFs) using short‐circuit centered stepped impedance resonators (SCSIRs), operated at 1.8 and 2.45 GHz, respectively. Due to the intrinsic characteristics of the SCSIRs, multiple transmission zeros can be generated for high selectivity and wide upper‐stopband. By locating the transmission zero of one channel at the passband of the other channel, and utilizing good impedance matching between two BPFs, high output isolation can be achieved. A microstrip diplexer prototype is designed and fabricated. The upper‐stopband of two channels in experiment is extended up to 10.2 GHz with an insertion loss larger than 28 dB. Meanwhile, the measured isolation greater than 48 dB in GSM passband and more than 52 dB in WLAN passband is achieved between two channels. A satisfactory agreement between the simulated and measured results validates the proposed configuration. The size without the 50‐Ω feed lines is only
in which
is the guided wavelength at 1.8 GHz. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2990–2993, 2013
UWB BPF with Triple Notched Bands using Interdigital Coupled‐Line and Three QWR Coupling Short Stubs
Authors: Deng Hong‐Wei , Zhao Yong‐Jiu , Fu Yong , He Ying , Zhang Lu
Published: October 2015

In this article, a compact ultrawideband microstrip bandpass filter with triple narrow notched bands and wide stopband is proposed utilizing interdigital coupled‐line and three quarter‐wavelength resonator (QWR) coupling short stubs loaded in the 50‐Ω feedlines. The short stubs can improve the passband performance and create new transmission zeros in the upper‐stopband. The coupling QWR is studied and used to generate the desired notched band and deepen the stopband. By simply adjusting the dimensions of the QWRs, the center frequencies of the notched bands can be allocated at 3.6, 5.2, and 5.8 GHz, respectively. Good insertion/return losses and wide stopband are achieved as demonstrated in both simulation and experiment. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2874–2876, 2013
Bandwidth enhancement of a wearable UWB antenna near a human arm
Authors: Koohestani Mohsen , Pires Nuno , Skrivervik Anja K. , Moreira Antonio A.
Published: October 2015

A dielectric sandwich loading technique is proposed to enhance impedance matching bandwidth of an antenna when it is placed close to the human body. This technique mitigates the body influence by confining the reactive fields in the dielectric loads. This has no side effects on the antenna performance. Unloaded and loaded prototypes of a recently developed UWB antenna have been measured both in free space and near a human arm. Free space results confirm that loading the antenna neither detune |S11| nor decrease efficiency. It was found that in a body proximity scenario, loading the antenna increases the impedance matching by 22% with respect to the unloaded antenna. These results show the suitability of this technique to design antennas for WBAN applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2965–2967, 2013
Radio Frequency U‐Shape Slot Antenna Design with Niti Shape Memory Alloys
Authors: Kaya Adnan , Kaya Irfan , Karaca Haluk E.
Published: October 2015

In this article, a novel instruments, scientific, measurements (ISM) band antenna which includes NiTi shape memory alloy is proposed and its return loss, impedance bandwidth, and gain performance are analyzed. A NiTi‐based U‐shape antenna operating at 2.4 GHz having 12.3% bandwidth has been utilized as a reference antenna. The 10‐dB return loss bandwidth of the proposed antenna is found to be 12.3%, which covers the recently proposed communication applications. In addition, it has been shown that NiTi antenna improves the radiation pattern. The gain of the NiTi antenna is higher than 6 dBi. An accurate electromagnetic model of the NiTi antenna is developed. The computed and measured results showed good agreement for copper, aluminum, and NiTi antennas. The NiTi‐based antenna shows stable gain and radiation patterns over the frequency range of 2–3 GHz. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2976–2984, 2013
Implementing Long Reach WDM‐PON Delivering Downstream Data 2 Gbps and Upstream Data 70 Gbps on a Single Wavelength using Soliton Pulse
Authors: Tawade Laxman
Published: October 2015

This article presents Long Reach Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (WDM‐PON) system capable of delivering downstream 2 Gbit/s data and upstream 70 Gbit/s data on a single wavelength using pulse source which is mode locked laser that generates a single pulse of “sech” shape with specified power and width. That is, soliton pulse. The optical source for downstream data and upstream data is sech pulse generator at central office (CO) and reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) at each optical network unit (ONU). We use two RSOAs at each ONU for the 70‐Gb/s upstream transmission. The operating wavelengths of these RSOAs are separated by the free‐spectral range of the cyclic arrayed waveguide gratings used at the CO and remote node (RN) for (de)multiplexing the WDM channels. We extend the maximum reach of this WDM PON to be 123 km by using Erbium‐doped fiber amplifiers at the RN. The results show that the error‐free transmission can be achieved for all WDM channels in the wavelength range of >35 nm with sufficient power margins. We also investigate analysis of backscattered optical signal for upstream data and downstream data simultaneously. Bit error rate, were measured to demonstrate the proposed scheme. In this article, Long reach and large data service aspects of a WDM‐PON is presented. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2853–2859, 2013
FDTD Analysis of Emission from Capacitor with Mechanical Motion
Authors: Shimizu Yuhei , Hirata Akimasa , Kuroda Michiko
Published: October 2015

In this study, we investigate the unwanted emission from a simplified microelectro‐mechanical capacitor with sinusoidal and damped motions. A finite‐difference time‐domain method combined with an adaptive local subcell technique is developed to analyze the field emission from the variable capacitor. First, our computational method is confirmed from the time course of the charge accumulated on the electrode. The unwanted electromagnetic wave is observed to be radiated with its amplitude being sinusoidally modulated at the frequency of the electrode motion. For a realistic motion of the variable capacitor with a damped vibration, the unwanted emission is modulated at frequencies lower than the source frequency. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2821–2824, 2013
A Tunable Fiber Ring Laser Based on a Hybrid Amplifier
Authors: Lin Wen‐Piao , Kuo Han‐Lung
Published: October 2015

A new tunable 1060‐nm fiber ring laser based on a hybrid amplifier is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The hybrid amplifier includes an ytterbium‐doped fiber amplifier with a 70‐cm Yb‐doped fiber and a semiconductor optical amplifier. The proposed laser can provide low relative intensity noise and a narrow linewidth. According to experimental results, the laser output power can exceed 3 dBm and the wavelength tuning range reaches 45 nm from 1035 to 1080 nm under an optical side‐mode suppression ratio greater than 55 dB. Moreover, stable and flat laser output with negligible power fluctuations can be maintained for over 1 h. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2892–2896, 2013
Group velocity dispersion monitoring for QPSK signals using direct detection
Authors: Sousa A. , Shahpari A. , Teixeira A. , Nogueira R. , Andre P. S.
Published: October 2015

In this letter, we propose a technique to monitor the group velocity dispersion analyzing a quadrature phase‐shift keying modulated optical signal. The method is based on the analysis of the direct detection electrical signal power, measured at the clock frequency, being able to return the dispersion magnitude value and sign. The proposed method was tested for 20 Gb/s signal in a dispersion range of [−600,600] ps/nm. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:2078–2080, 2014
Preparation of adamantyl derivatives of 1,4‐; 1,6‐ and 1,7‐dihydroxynaphthalenes and assignment of their NMR data
Authors: Peterson Ivan V. , Svirskaya Nadezhda M. , Kondrasenko Alexander A. , Rubaylo Anatoliy I.
Published: October 2015

Adamantylation of dihydroxynaphthalenes with the hydroxyl groups on the same or different rings leads to compounds that are convenient starting materials in target‐oriented organic synthesis. Here, we report the 1H and 13C NMR assignments of eight 1‐adamantyl substituted derivatives of 1,4‐; 1,6‐ and 1,7‐dihydroxynaphthalenes. The data acquired and peculiarities of their molecular structure are useful for extrapolation for prompt characterization of compounds containing adamantane, dihydroxynaphthalenes or naphthoquinone units. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Abläufe in der Biotechindustrie
Authors: Bengs Holger
Published: October 2015

Biotechnische Wertschöpfung benötigt zur vollen Entfaltung neue Prozesse: mehr Miteinander von Groß und Klein, weniger Not‐invented‐here‐Syndrom und schnellere Innovationen statt nur Inventionen.
Prenatal counseling for congenital anomaly tests: parental preferences and perceptions of midwife performance
Authors: Martin L. , Van Dulmen S. , Spelten E. , De Jonge A. , De Cock P. , Hutton E.
Published: October 2015

Objective

Evidence‐based instruments to evaluate the preferences and experiences of future parents regarding prenatal counseling for congenital anomaly tests are currently lacking. We developed the quality of care through clients' eyes prenatal questionnaire (QUOTEprenatal), a client‐centered instrument, and assessed its components. Furthermore, the QUOTEprenatal was used to provide insight into (1) clients' previsit preferences and (2) clients' postvisit experience, that is, perceived care provider performance regarding the counseling they received.

Method

In the questionnaire survey, a principal component analysis was used to gain insight into the underlying components of the questionnaire. Regression analysis was performed to examine differences between groups.

Results

In 17 Dutch midwifery practices, 941 pregnant women and their partners (response rate 79%) completed the 59‐item QUOTEprenatal previsit and postvisit, measuring preferences and perceived performances, respectively. A principal component analysis revealed three counseling components: client–midwife relation, health education and decision‐making support. Reponses showed that, previsit, most clients consider the client–midwife relationship and health education to be (very) important. One third of the clients consider decision‐making support to be (very) important. Nulliparae had higher preferences for health education and decision‐making support than multiparae.

Conclusion

Clients perceive that their midwives perform well in building the client–midwife relationship and in giving health education. Improvement is needed in decision‐making support. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Properties of na‐montmorillonite and cellulose nanocrystal reinforced poly(butyl acrylate‐co‐methyl methacrylate) nanocomposites
Authors: Vatansever Alican , Dogan Hacer , Inan Tulay , Sezer Serdar , Sirkecioglu Ahmet
Published: October 2015

Poly(butyl acrylate‐co‐methyl methacrylate) (BA‐co‐MMA) nanocomposite latexes were synthesized in the presence of sodium montmorillonite (Na‐MMT) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) as fillers. Nanocomposite preparation with 3 wt% Na‐MMT based upon the total monomer amount was conducted by semi‐batch emulsion polymerization. Furthermore, direct blending of neat copolymer latex with Na‐MMT was performed for comparison. CNC/BA‐co‐MMA nanocomposites were obtained via blending process with varying CNC content (1, 2, and 3 wt %). Good dispersion of both Na‐MMT and CNC within the copolymer matrix was achieved as demonstrated by X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. Particle size of the nanocomposite latexes was around 120 nm. Thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of the copolymer showed great improvement with the addition of both Na‐MMT and CNC. CNC nanocomposites displayed enhanced properties with increasing CNC level. Tensile strength of copolymer latex with 3 wt% CNC reached 262.5% of the pristine latex, while tensile strength of Na‐MMT nanocomposite at the same content was 187.5% of the pristine latex. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2922–2928, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) embedded with surface‐modified SiO2 nanoparticles
Authors: Lee Eunwoo , Hong Jin‐Yong , Ungar Goran , Jang Jyongsik
Published: October 2015

The crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in the presence of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) was investigated in terms of heterogeneous nucleation of SiO2 NPs using polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The content and surface functionality of SiO2 NPs were considered as the main factors affecting crystallization, and the effect of annealing time and temperature was also examined. The SiO2 NPs acted as heterogeneous nucleates during the crystallization process, thereby enhancing the nucleation density and limiting the spherulitic growth rate. A kinetics study of non‐isothermal crystallization showed that the crystallization rate of 5 wt% SiO2/PEO nanocomposite was ca 2.1 times higher than that of neat PEO. In addition, among various surface‐functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles, alkyl‐chain‐functionalized SiO2 NPs were favorable for achieving a higher crystallization rate due to the enhanced compatibility between the SiO2 NPs and PEO chains. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
Rubber‐toughened polyamide‐6 with a low thermal expansion coefficient: effect of preferential distribution of rubber and inorganic filler
Authors: Wu Guozhang , Zhang Kun , Takagi Kiyoji , Sano Hironari , Yui Hiroshi
Published: October 2015

The effects of morphological changes on the thermal expansion, toughness and heat resistance of polyamide‐6 (PA)/styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene (SEBS)/polyphenylene ether (PPE) blends were investigated. Compared with the typical ‘sea (PA matrix)–island (PPE domain)–lake (SEBS in PPE domain)’ morphology, an injection‐molded ternary blend with a preferential distribution of SEBS component at the interface between PA and PPE exhibited a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE) in the flow direction. This low CLTE was ascribed to the deformation of SEBS and PA into a co‐continuous microlayer network structure during injection molding. Consequently, the expansion preferentially occurred towards the thickness direction. Further CLTE reduction either by a change in PA viscosity or by the selective location of an inorganic filler was examined, and its influences on impact strength and heat resistance are discussed based on transmission electron microscopy observations. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Proteomic techniques to probe the ubiquitin landscape
Authors: Beaudette Patrick , Popp Oliver , Dittmar Gunnar
Published: October 2015

Protein ubiquitination is a powerful modulator of cellular functions. Classically linked to the degradation of proteins, it also plays a role in intracellular localization, DNA damage response, vesicle fusion events, and the immune and transcriptional responses. Ubiquitin is versatile and can code for several distinct signals, either by adding a single ubiquitin or forming a chain of ubiquitins on the target protein. The enzymatic cascade associated with the cellular process determines the nature of the modification. Numerous efforts have been made for the identification of ubiquitin acceptor sites in the target proteins using genetic, biochemical or MS‐based proteomic methods, such as affinity‐based enrichment of ubiquitinated proteins, and antibody‐based enrichment of modified peptides. Modern instrumentation enables quantitative MS strategies to identify and characterize hundreds of ubiquitin substrates in a single analysis making it the dominant method for ubiquitin site detection. Characterization of the interubiquitin connectivity in ubiquitin polymers has also moved into focus, with the field of targeted proteomics techniques proving invaluable for identifying and quantifying linkage types found in such polyubiquitin chains. This review seeks to provide an overview of the many MS‐based proteomics techniques available for exploring this dynamic field.
“Bipartisanship” as a Detriment to Anti‐Poverty Efforts: Some Contrarian Comments
Authors: Skidmore Max J.
Published: October 2015

The preoccupation of media and Beltway insiders with “bipartisanship” to the exclusion of policy content is an obstacle to the adoption of effective anti‐poverty measures.
Understanding the Preamble as a Rhetorical Context for Political Action
Authors: Cline Andrew R.
Published: October 2015

Andrew Cline of Missouri State University crosses a number of disciplinary boundaries, especially rhetorical analysis and political science. Dr. Cline examines the Constitution of the United States and discusses the need to address poverty by concentrating upon the Constitution's meaning for contemporary society.
Trends in primary care prescribing for diabetes
Authors: Chaplin Steve
Published: October 2015

Statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show trends in prescribing in diabetes.
Systemic lupus erythematosus and the role of the GP
Authors: Fasano Serena , Isenberg David A
Published: October 2015

This article provides a brief overview of the clinical and pathological features, diagnosis, management and treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.
Nicorette QuickMist: rapidly absorbed NRT mouthspray
Authors: Chaplin Steve
Published: October 2015

Nicorette QuickMist is a spray formulation for nicotine replacement therapy licensed to relieve and/or prevent cravings associated with smoking cessation. In our New products review, Steve Chaplin presents the clinical data relating to its efficacy and adverse events. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Interface Ltd
On the effect of solvent molecules on the structure and mechanical properties of organic polyphenylacetylene auxetic re‐entrant network polymers
Authors: Grima Joseph N. , Zerafa Christine
Published: October 2015

Auxetics exhibit the unusual property of a negative Poisson's ratio, meaning they get wider rather than thinner when stretched. This work employs force‐field based simulations to study the effect of solvent molecules on the structure and mechanical properties of porous polyphenylacetylene auxetic organic networked polymers. In particular, nano‐level re‐entrant honeycombs 1,4‐ and 2,8‐reflexyne were exposed to three types of solvent molecules (ethanol, propanol and benzene) at different concentrations by performing Monte‐Carlo based sorption simulations in two scenarios, one where the solvent was permitted into the pores of the system upon exposure, and one were the solvent could also enter in between the layers of the polymer. Results indicate that the presence of solvent molecules within the molecular framework of the networked polymers has a significant effect on their density and stiffness but does not influence the Poisson's ratio of the material. The effect on the stiffness was found to be highly dependent on various factors, including the properties of the network and the type and amount of solvent adsorbed. These results have important implications in future case scenarios which may involve the synthesis of such systems, and it throws light on how the mechanical properties could be affected due to contamination, while also identifying new methods on how to tailor such properties by exposing the material to specific solvents.
On the mechanical properties of centro‐symmetric honeycombs with T‐shaped joints
Authors: Cauchi Reuben , Attard Daphne , Grima Joseph N.
Published: October 2015

Centro‐symmetric cellular honeycombs, in particular, their re‐entrant version have been the subject of much research in recent years in view of their highly desirable macroscopic properties, including negative Poisson's ratio (auxetic) behavior. This work re‐examines the mechanical properties of such honeycombs at the transition between the re‐entrant and non re‐entrant form, i.e. when the joints form a T‐shaped junction, including the more general cases when the vertical ligaments have different thickness and material properties from the horizontal ligaments. It was shown through FE simulations that, contrary to current understanding, such honeycombs may deform in a manner which results in bending of the horizontal ligaments upon loading in the horizontal direction, with the result that such honeycombs may exhibit non‐zero Poisson's ratio values. This effect was explained in terms of uneven stretching of the horizontal ribs upon uniaxial horizontal loading, a property which may also be employed to design honeycombs with negative Poisson's ratios.
Shear modulus and Poisson's ratio of single‐walled carbon nanotubes: Numerical evaluation
Authors: Pereira A. F. G. , Fernandes J. V. , Antunes J. M. , Sakharova N. A.
Published: October 2015

The mechanical behaviour of non‐chiral and chiral single‐walled carbon nanotubes under torsional loading is studied. For this purpose, three‐dimensional finite element modelling is used in order to evaluate the torsional rigidity and shear modulus. It is shown that the evolution of torsional rigidity as a function of nanotube diameter can be described by a unique function for non‐chiral and chiral single‐walled nanotubes. A comprehensive study to evaluate the Poisson's ratio of single‐walled carbon nanotubes is also carried out. Two robust methodologies, one for evaluating the shear modulus from results of tensile, bending and torsion tests, and the other to assess Poisson's ratio from results of bending and torsion tests, are recommended.
Pseudomorphic ZnO‐based heterostructures: From polar through all semipolar to nonpolar orientations
Authors: Grundmann Marius , Zúñiga‐Pérez Jesús
Published: October 2015

We calculate the strain and stress state and the polarization in pseudomorphic wurtzite MgZnO/ZnO and CdZnO/ZnO heterostructures as a function of the polar angle between the c‐axis and the epitaxial direction. (Cd,Zn)O/ZnO behaves qualitatively similar to the systems (In,Ga)N/GaN and (Al,Ga)N/GaN. (Mg,Zn)O/ZnO represents a unique case since the signs of the change of lattice constants and are opposite. Among the consequences are: (i) the epilayer strain energy has a minimum between and for semipolar growth plane close to ; (ii) for nonpolar growth () the strain in the epitaxial direction is close to zero; and the in‐plane polarization is large (comparable to the polar case); and (iii) the piezoelectric polarization along the growth direction has only one zero (at ) between 0 and . Also we give useful analytical formula within an isotropic approximation for the compliances.

Elastic strain energy (in relative units) of pseudomorphic wurtzite (Mg,Zn)O/ZnO and (Cd,Zn)O/ZnO heterostructures as a function of the polar angle between interface normal and the c‐axis
A Novel Triterpene Extract from Mistletoe Induces Rapid Apoptosis in Murine B16.F10 Melanoma Cells
Authors: Strüh C. M. , Jäger S. , Schempp C. M. , Scheffler A. , Martin S. F.
Published: October 2015

The European mistletoe Viscum album L. is a plant used for remedies in cancer treatment. The benefit of commonly used aqueous extracts is controversial but the plant contains water insoluble triterpene acids providing interesting anticancer properties. Triterpene extracts (TE) from plants and single triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid (OA) or betulinic acid (BA) are known for their cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines in vitro. We report here cytotoxic effects of a novel OA‐rich triterpene extract from mistletoe (V. album L., Santalaceae) solubilized by 2‐hydroxypropyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (2‐HP‐β‐CD) on B16.F10 mouse melanoma cells. The 2‐HP‐β‐CD solubilized triterpene extract (STE) was highly cytotoxic by causing DNA fragmentation, followed by loss of membrane integrity and intracellular adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP). Blocking the caspase machinery by inhibitors aborted DNA fragmentation and delayed the cytotoxic effects but did not prevent cell death. The solubilization by 2‐HP‐β‐CD allows a solvent‐free application of triterpene extracts in the in vitro setting. These findings suggest the use of STE from mistletoe as a solvent‐free anticancer drug for preclinical animal experiments and clinical trials. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diagnosing Maintenance System Problems: Theory and a Case Study
Authors: Bazrafshan Majid , Hajjari Tayebeh
Published: October 2015

Maintenance management is a well‐developed area in literature. Many strategies are available for implementing maintenance programs. However, there is an increasing concern about the function of maintenance and also the measurement of its performance practically. Maintenance performance measurement systems are of concepts developed in this regard. One reason many maintenance policies do not work properly, with regard to an organization's goals and performance measurement systems, is the lack of a systematic view on the maintenance system. In this paper, it is argued that it is important to take a broader view when dealing with maintenance problems in practice. An organizational perspective on maintenance is developed. The main idea behind this perspective is the organizational context of maintenance. This means that in addition to the traditional points for assessment and development of maintenance performance, other aspects need integrated attention as well. In order to develop a systematic viewpoint that comprehensively considers maintenance problem roots as well as leads to an increase in maintenance performance, a framework is developed in this paper. One of the main features of the framework is that it develops a systematic perspective on the design of a maintenance system. Besides, it leads to a comprehensive understanding of maintenance situations and factors that affect the performance of the system. Moreover, this study describes the result of a case study regarding the application of the organizational perspective to a practical maintenance problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Coordination of lithium ion with ethylene carbonate electrolyte solvent: A computational study
Authors: Ding Wenhui , Lei Xueling , Ouyang Chuying
Published: October 2015

The coordination and energetics of low‐lying structures of [Li(EC)n]+ have been analyzed by density functional theory (DFT) and polarizable continuum model (PCM) at the B3LYP/6‐311+G (d, p) level. The results show that the first shell around the lithium ion is fully occupied with four ethylene carbonate (EC) molecules in both gas phase and solvent. The examination on the contribution of vibration entropy to free energy of isomers of [Li(EC)n]+ reveals that the stability of the best candidates at zero‐temperature cannot be maintained at finite temperatures due to the effects of their vibration entropy. In addition, structural transitions between the most stable four‐coordinated and the metastable three‐coordinated structure demand a very low energy barrier, suggesting that at a finite temperature the four‐coordinated and three‐coordinated isomers of [Li(EC)n]+ can coexist in the EC organic solvent lithium salt electrolyte. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Distribution measurement of amphetamine‐type stimulants in organs using micropulverized extraction and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to complement drug distribution using mass spectrometry imaging
Authors: Kuwayama Kenji , Tsujikawa Kenji , Miyaguchi Hajime , Kanamori Tatsuyuki , Iwata Yuko T. , Inoue Hiroyuki
Published: October 2015

Amphetamine‐type stimulants (ATS) such as methamphetamine are widely abused and can cause toxic effects in the body. In this study, a simple and accurate analytical method for distribution measurement of drugs in organs was developed to visualize localization of ATS in organs and to complement drug distribution by mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). The brain, liver and kidney from rats to which ATS had been administered were segmented into blocks of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3at −30 °C. Each organ block was micropulverized with a stainless‐steel bullet at −80 °C. The concentrations of drugs in each block were measured by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The three‐dimensional distribution of drugs in a whole organ was expressed using color gradation of drug concentration after reconstruction of all blocks to the original locations. The distribution was also compared with that obtained by MSI. This method enabled measurement of drug distribution in organs with simple and clean procedures and accurate quantification unlike autoradiography and MSI. The methamphetamine concentrations were different between parts in an organ, particularly in the kidney. This method could be applicable to the measurement of the distribution of compounds in various solid samples and could be used as a complementary method for the measurement of the distribution of compounds by MSI. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of THC, 11‐hydroxy‐THC and 11‐nor‐9‐carboxy‐THC in whole blood by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Simões Susana Sadler , Ajenjo Antonio Castañera , Dias Mário João
Published: October 2015

A qualitative and quantitative analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11‐hydroxy‐Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (11‐OH‐THC) and l1‐nor‐9‐carboxy‐Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC‐COOH) in whole blood. The samples were prepared by solid‐phase extraction followed by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS) analysis using positive ion electrospray ionization and multiple reaction monitoring. The chromatographic separation was performed with an Acquity UPLC® HSS T3 (50 × 2.1 mm i.d., 1.8 µm) reversed‐phase column using a methanol/2 mM ammonium formate (formic acid 0.1%) gradient in a total run time of 9.5 min. MS/MS detection was achieved with two precursor‐product ion transitions per substance. The method was fully validated, including selectivity and capacity of identification, according to the identification criteria (two transitions per substance, signal‐to‐noise ratio, relative retention time and ion ratio) without the presence of interferences, limit of detection (0.2 µg/L for THC and 0.5 µg/L for 11‐OH‐THC and THC‐COOH), limit of quantitation (0.5 µg/L for all cannabinoids), recovery (53–115%), carryover, matrix effect (34‐43%), linearity (0.5‐100 µg/L), intra‐assay precision (CV < 10% for the relative peak area ratios and <0.1% for the relative retention time), inter‐assay accuracy (mean relative error <10%) and precision (CV <11%). The method has already been successfully used in proficiency tests and subsequently applied to authentic samples in routine forensic analysis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.