bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fast screening of analytes for chemical reactions by reactive low‐temperature plasma ionization mass spectrometry
Authors: Zhang Wei , Huang Guangming
Published: October 2015

Rationale

Approaches for analyte screening have been used to aid in the fine‐tuning of chemical reactions. Herein, we present a simple and straightforward analyte screening method for chemical reactions via reactive low‐temperature plasma ionization mass spectrometry (reactive LTP‐MS).

Methods

Solution‐phase reagents deposited on sample substrates were desorbed into the vapor phase by action of the LTP and by thermal desorption. Treated with LTP, both reagents reacted through a vapor phase ion/molecule reaction to generate the product. Finally, protonated reagents and products were identified by LTP‐MS.

Results

Reaction products from imine formation reaction, Eschweiler‐Clarke methylation and the Eberlin reaction were detected via reactive LTP‐MS. Products from the imine formation reaction with reagents substituted with different functional groups (26 out of 28 trials) were successfully screened in a time of 30 s each. Besides, two short‐lived reactive intermediates of Eschweiler‐Clarke methylation were also detected.

Conclusions

LTP in this study serves both as an ambient ionization source for analyte identification (including reagents, intermediates and products) and as a means to produce reagent ions to assist gas‐phase ion/molecule reactions. The present reactive LTP‐MS method enables fast screening for several analytes from several chemical reactions, which possesses good reagent compatibility and the potential to perform high‐throughput analyte screening. In addition, with the detection of various reactive intermediates (intermediates I and II of Eschweiler‐Clarke methylation), the present method would also contribute to revealing and elucidating reaction mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improving Student Success by Understanding Reasons for, Types of, and Appropriate Responses to Stressors Affecting Asian Graduate Students in Canada
Authors: Kim Andrew
Published: October 2015

An increasing number of university students in Canada are from East Asian countries and enrolled in graduate programs. For these students, unique factors may contribute to a stressful study environment, which in turn can impact academic performance. This article draws on literature to identify five such factors and appropriate coping strategies: (1) occupational factors, (2) sociocultural factors, (3) academic factors, (4) gender, and (5) age. While acknowledging that stressors are complex and can have both additive and subtractive effects on each other, the article recommends several intervention strategies that may be deployed at the institutional level to address and mitigate stress‐related risks to ultimately improve student persistence and success: (1) comprehensive social supports, in which graduate supervisors and peer groups play prominent roles; (2) development of problem‐solving skills early in a student's program, when acculturative and occupational stressors are most severe; and (3) enhanced campus awareness of sociocultural and occupational limits and benefits.
A note on bias of measures of explained variation for survival data
Authors: Kejžar Nataša , Maucort‐Boulch Delphine , Stare Janez
Published: October 2015

Papers evaluating measures of explained variation, or similar indices, almost invariably use independence from censoring as the most important criterion. And they always end up suggesting that some measures meet this criterion, and some do not, most of the time leading to a conclusion that the first is better than the second. As a consequence, users are offered measures that cannot be used with time‐dependent covariates and effects, not to mention extensions to repeated events or multi‐state models. We explain in this paper that the aforementioned criterion is of no use in studying such measures, because it simply favors those that make an implicit assumption of a model being valid everywhere. Measures not making such an assumption are disqualified, even though they are better in every other respect. We show that if these, allegedly inferior, measures are allowed to make the same assumption, they are easily corrected to satisfy the ‘independent‐from‐censoring’ criterion. Even better, it is enough to make such an assumption only for the times greater than the last observed failure time τ, which, in contrast with the ‘preferred’ measures, makes it possible to use all the modeling flexibility up to τ and assume whatever one wants after τ. As a consequence, we claim that some of the measures being preferred as better in the existing reviews are in fact inferior. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Data mining and machine learning in computational creativity
Authors: Toivonen Hannu , Gross Oskar
Published: October 2015

Creative machines are an old idea, but only recently computational creativity has established itself as a research field with its own identity and research agenda. The goal of computational creativity research is to model, simulate, or enhance creativity using computational methods. Data mining and machine learning can be used in a number of ways to help computers learn how to be creative, such as learning to generate new artifacts or to evaluate various qualities of newly generated artifacts. In this review paper, we give an overview of research in computational creativity with a focus on the roles that data mining and machine learning have had and could have in creative systems. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2015, 5:265–275. doi: 10.1002/widm.1170

This article is categorized under:

Application Areas > Science and Technology

Application Areas > Society and Culture
War and Marriage: Assortative Mating and the World War II GI Bill
Authors: Larsen Matthew F. , McCarthy T. J. , Moulton Jeremy G. , Page Marianne E. , Patel Ankur J.
Published: October 2015

World War II and its subsequent GI Bill have been widely credited with playing a transformative role in American society, but there have been few quantitative analyses of these historical events’ broad social effects. We exploit between-cohort variation in the probability of military service to investigate how WWII and the GI Bill altered the structure of marriage, and find that it had important spillover effects beyond its direct effect on men’s educational attainment. Our results suggest that the additional education received by returning veterans caused them to “sort” into wives with significantly higher levels of education. This suggests an important mechanism by which socioeconomic status may be passed on to the next generation.
Is a Cardio-Protective Diet Sustainable? A Review of the Synergies and Tensions Between Foods That Promote the Health of the Heart and the Planet
Authors: Downs Shauna M. , Fanzo Jessica
Published: October 2015

There are many synergies between a diet that is healthy for the heart and one that is healthy for the planet, but there may also be tensions. We examined the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition’s double pyramid to describe the carbon, water, and ecological footprints of the components of a cardio-protective diet. Overall, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains all tend to have low carbon and water footprints, while nuts and olive oil have relatively higher water footprints and fish have a high ecological footprint. In order to increase the sustainability of a cardio-protective diet, consumers can choose nuts (e.g., walnuts) and oils (e.g., sunflower) with lower water footprints and sustainably produced fish. However, in order to increase consumption of these foods, parallel efforts should be implemented targeting consumer knowledge and incentives to make these foods more affordable.
Dissecting the functional roles of the conserved NXXE and HXE motifs of the ADP‐dependent glucokinase fromThermococcus litoralis
Authors: Abarca-Lagunas María José , Rivas-Pardo Jaime Andrés , Ramírez-Sarmiento César A. , Guixé Victoria
Published: October 2015

The activity of the ADP‐dependent glucokinase fromThermococcus litoralis (TlGK) relies on the highly conserved motifs NXXE (i.e. Asn‐Xaa‐Xaa‐Glu) and HXE (i.e. His‐Xaa‐Glu). Site‐directed mutagenesis of residues Glu279 (HXE) and Glu308 (NXXE) leads to enzymes with highly reduced catalytic rates. The replacement of Glu308 by Gln increased theK
M for MgADP− and was activated by free Mg2+. On the other hand, HXE mutants did not affect theK
M for MgADP−, were still inhibited by free Mg2+, and caused a large increase onK
M for glucose and an 87‐fold weaker binding of glucose onto the non‐hydrolysableTlGK·AMP–AlF3 complex. Our findings put forward the fundamental role of the HXE motif in glucose binding during ternary complex formation.
Refractory status epilepticus: Febrile Illness Related Epileptic Syndrome (FIRES)
Authors: Sharma Varun , Hegde Anaita , Nabi Fazal
Published: October 2015

In recent literature, a new entity has emerged, which focuses on a possible non-encephalitic epileptic encephalopathy precipitated by fever in a previously normal child. We report a typical case of Febrile illness related epileptic syndrome (FIRES) from Indian subcontinent. The index case presented with fever and multiple seizures, which progressed to status epilepticus and encephalopathy. All infectious, metabolic and autoimmune markers were negative. Convulsions were refractory to all possible treatment except thiopentone which achieved burst suppression pattern. Breakthrough seizures were prevented by using lacosamide and ketogenic diet along with multiple anticonvulsants. At 1-year follow-up, patient had a relatively good neurological outcome, however has persistent refractory epilepsy.
Effectiveness of Ventricular Intrinsic Preference (VIP™) and Ventricular AutoCapture (VAC) algorithms in pacemaker patients: Results of the validate study
Authors: Yadav Rakesh , Jaswal Aparna , Chennapragada Sridevi , Kamath Prakash , Hiremath Shirish M.S. , Kahali Dhiman , Anand Sumit , Sood Naresh K. , Mishra Anil , Makkar Jitendra S. , Kaul Upendra
Published: October 2015

Background

Several past clinical studies have demonstrated that frequent and unnecessary right ventricular pacing in patients with sick sinus syndrome and compromised atrio‐ventricular conduction (AVC) produces long‐term adverse effects. The safety and efficacy of two pacemaker algorithms, Ventricular Intrinsic Preference™ (VIP) and Ventricular AutoCapture (VAC), were evaluated in a multi‐center study in pacemaker patients.

Methods

We evaluated 80 patients across 10 centers in India. Patients were enrolled within 15 days of dual chamber pacemaker (DDDR) implantation, and within 45 days thereafter were classified to either a compromised AVC (cAVC) arm or an intact AVC (iAVC) arm based on intrinsic paced/sensed (AV/PV) delays. In each arm, patients were then randomized (1:1) into the following groups: VIP OFF and VAC OFF (Control group; CG), or VIP ON and VAC ON (Treatment Group; TG). Subsequently, the AV/PV delays in the CG groups were mandatorily programmed at 180/150 ms, and to up to 350 ms in the TG groups. The percentage of right ventricular pacing (%RVp) evaluated at 12‐month post‐implantation follow‐ups were compared between the two groups in each arm. Additionally, in‐clinic time required for collecting device data was compared between patients programmed with the automated AutoCapture algorithm activated (VAC ON) vs. the manually programmed method (VAC OFF).

Results

Patients randomized to the TG with the VIP algorithm activated exhibited a significantly lower %RVp at 12 months than those in the CG in both the cAVC arm (39±41% vs. 97±3%; p=0.0004) and the iAVC arm (15±25% vs. 68±39%; p=0.0067). In‐clinic time required to collect device data was less in patients with the VAC algorithm activated. No device‐related adverse events were reported during the year‐long study period.

Conclusions

In our study cohort, the use of the VIP algorithm significantly reduced the %RVp, while the VAC algorithm reduced in‐clinic time needed to collect device data.
Phylogeny of tremellomycetous yeasts and related dimorphic and filamentous basidiomycetes reconstructed from multiple gene sequence analyses
Authors: Liu X.-Z. , Wang Q.-M. , Theelen B. , Groenewald M. , Bai F.-Y. , Boekhout T.
Published: October 2015

The Tremellomycetes (Basidiomycota) contains a large number of unicellular and dimorphic fungi with stable free-living unicellular states in their life cycles. These fungi have been conventionally classified as basidiomycetous yeasts based on physiological and biochemical characteristics.
Many currently recognised genera of these yeasts are mainly defined based on phenotypical characters and are highly polyphyletic. Here we reconstructed the phylogeny of the majority of described anamorphic and teleomorphic tremellomycetous yeasts using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood,
and neighbour-joining analyses based on the sequences of seven genes, including three rRNA genes, namely the small subunit of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA), D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rDNA, and the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS 1 and 2) of rDNA including 5.8S rDNA; and four protein-coding
genes, namely the two subunits of the RNA polymerase II (RPB1 and RPB2), the translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1) and the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (CYTB). With the consideration of morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic characters
and the congruence of phylogenies inferred from analyses using different algorithms based on different data sets consisting of the combined seven genes, the three rRNA genes, and the individual protein-coding genes, five major lineages corresponding to the orders Cystofilobasidiales, Filobasidiales,
Holtermanniales, Tremellales, and Trichosporonales were resolved. A total of 45 strongly supported monophyletic clades with multiple species and 23 single species clades were recognised. This phylogenetic framework will be the basis for the proposal of an updated taxonomic system of tremellomycetous
yeasts that will be compatible with the current taxonomic system of filamentous basidiomycetes accommodating the ‘one fungus, one name’ principle.
Predictive Factors for Determining the Clinical Severity of Pediatric Scorpion Envenomation Cases in Southeastern Turkey
Authors: Çağlar Aykut , Köse Halil , Babayiğit Aslan , Öner Taliha , Duman Murat
Published: October 2015

Objective

The aim of this study was to define the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory manifestations of scorpion envenomation and to identify factors that are predictive of severe cases.

Methods

The medical files of 41 scorpion envenomation cases were reviewed retrospectively. The cases were classified as mild-moderate or severe. The epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory findings of patients were recorded.

Results

There were 27 patients (65.9%) in the mild-moderate group and 14 patients (34.1%) in the severe group. The median age of all patients was 48 months. The most common systemic finding was cold extremities (41.5%). In all patients, the most commonly observed dysrhythmia was sinus tachycardia (34.1%). Two patients (4.9%) had pulseless ventricular tachycardia and died. Pulmonary edema and myocarditis were observed in 9 patients (22%). Median values of leukocyte and glucose levels were markedly increased in the severe group. Additionally, the mean thrombocyte level (540,857 ± 115,261 cells/mm3) in the severe group was significantly increased compared with the mild-moderate group (391,365 ± 150,017 cells/mm3). Thrombocyte levels exhibited a positive correlation with leukocyte and glucose values and a negative correlation with patient left ventricular ejection fraction. Multivariate analysis of laboratory parameters indicated that the most predictive factor for clinical severity is thrombocytosis (odds ratio 23.9; 95% CI: 1.6–353.5, P = .021).

Conclusions

Although our results share some similarities with those of other reports, thrombocytosis was markedly increased in the severe group and served as the most predictive laboratory factor of clinical severity.
Marked Hypofibrinogenemia and Gastrointestinal Bleeding After Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) Envenomation
Authors: Kopec Kathryn T. , Yen May , Bitner Matthew , Evans C. Scott , Gerardo Charles J.
Published: October 2015

Compared with other crotaline envenomations, copperhead envenomations have historically been reported as having less severe hematologic venom effects and rarely hemorrhage. We report a case of clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding after a copperhead ( Agkistrodon contortrix) envenomation. A 52-year-old woman with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus was bitten on her right medial ankle after which hypofibrinogenemia and hematochezia developed. The symptoms resolved after repeated administration of Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine) antivenom. She was discharged without further complications 2 days later. Although copperhead envenomations are classically considered less severe than other crotaline envenomations, this case demonstrates the potential of the venom to produce clinically significant hematologic effects.
The World Is Going to Hell, the Young No Longer Respect Their Elders, and Other Tricks of the Mind
Authors: Steel Piers , Kammeyer-Mueller John
Published: October 2015

The notion of a “Millennial” generation, much like a “Generation X” or the “Baby Boom” generation, with a strong coherence in terms of values and norms that differ from previous cohorts, has been of dependable interest in the popular press. However, given what we know regarding the proportion of trait expression due to sources largely immune to cohort effects (e.g., large genetic contributions), how difficult it is for us to systematically influence their expression (e.g., small long-term parental effects), and the massive variation within groups, the meta-analytic work of Costanza, Fraser, Badger, Severt, and Gade (2012) underscores what should already be known from first principles; generation or cohorts are inevitably a poor predictor of anything. The literature on ingroup/outgroup bias (Hogg & Abrams, 1990), stereotype formation (Mackie, Hamilton, Susskind, & Rosselli, 1996), and reconstructive memory issues (Schacter, 1999) provides ample underlying evidence for how these generational overgeneralizations form.
More Than g-Factors: Second-Stratum Factors Should Not Be Ignored
Authors: Wee Serena , Newman Daniel A. , Song Q. Chelsea
Published: October 2015

Ree, Carretta, and Teachout (2015) outlined a compelling argument for the pervasiveness of dominant general factors (DGFs) in psychological measurement. We agree that DGFs are important and that they are found for various constructs (e.g., cognitive abilities, work withdrawal), especially when an “unrotated principal components” analysis is conducted (Ree et al., p. 8). When studying hierarchical constructs, however, a narrow emphasis on uncovering DGFs would be incomplete at best and detrimental at worst. This commentary largely echoes the arguments made by Wee, Newman, and Joseph (2014), and Schneider and Newman (2015), who provided reasons for considering second-stratum cognitive abilities. We believe these same arguments in favor of second-stratum factors in the ability domain can be applied to hierarchical constructs more generally.
The class Somasteroidea (Echinodermata, Asterozoa): morphology and occurrence
Authors: Blake Daniel B. , Guensburg Thomas E.
Published: October 2015

The class Somasteroidea Spencer, 1951, is basal within the subphylum Asterozoa. Members are most readily recognized by presence of series of rod-like so-called virgal ossicles extending laterally from each ambulacral ossicle. Five somasteroid genera are recognized and assigned to two families. Four genera are Gondwanan, three of these (Chinianaster,Thoralaster,Villebrunaster) from the Lower Ordovician Tremadocian of France and one (Archegonaster) from the Middle Ordovician upper Darriwilian of the Czech Republic. The fifth genus,Ophioxenikos, is Laurentian from the Floian of Nevada.Catervaparmaster, previously assigned to the Somasteroidea, is left in open nomenclature; absence of virgal-series ossicles favors a lineage apart from the principal asterozoan clades. Asterozoan fossils are readily separated from fossils of other echinoderm groups. The subphylum therefore is thought to be monophyletic, its ancestry unknown. Skeletonized representatives of the four major asterozoan clades first occur through a relatively narrow Early Ordovician stratigraphic interval. Robust skeletons therefore are thought to have evolved after a time of unknown duration including only lineages that were no more than weakly calcified. The French occurrences are from a relatively deep distal shelf setting on soft substrates whereas the Nevada occurrence was in a shallower, active setting. Differences document early ecologic diversification.
Impact of palm date consumption on microbiota growth and large intestinal health: a randomised, controlled, cross-over, human intervention study
Authors: Eid Noura , Osmanova Hristina , Natchez Cecile , Walton Gemma , Costabile Adele , Gibson Glenn , Rowland Ian , Spencer Jeremy P. E.
Published: October 2015

The reported inverse association between the intake of plant-based foods and a reduction in the prevalence of colorectal cancer may be partly mediated by interactions between insoluble fibre and (poly)phenols and the intestinal microbiota. In the present study, we assessed the impact of palm date consumption, rich in both polyphenols and fibre, on the growth of colonic microbiota and markers of colon cancer risk in a randomised, controlled, cross-over human intervention study. A total of twenty-two healthy human volunteers were randomly assigned to either a control group (maltodextrin–dextrose, 37·1 g) or an intervention group (seven dates, approximately 50 g). Each arm was of 21 d duration and was separated by a 14-d washout period in a cross-over manner. Changes in the growth of microbiota were assessed by fluorescencein situhybridisation analysis, whereas SCFA levels were assessed using HPLC. Further, ammonia concentrations, faecal water genotoxicity and anti-proliferation ability were also assessed using different assays, which included cell work and the Comet assay. Accordingly, dietary intakes, anthropometric measurements and bowel movement assessment were also carried out. Although the consumption of dates did not induce significant changes in the growth of select bacterial groups or SCFA, there were significant increases in bowel movements and stool frequency (P<0·01;n21) and significant reductions in stool ammonia concentration (P<0·05;n21) after consumption of dates, relative to baseline. Furthermore, date fruit intake significantly reduced genotoxicity in human faecal water relative to control (P<0·01;n21). Our data indicate that consumption of date fruit may reduce colon cancer risk without inducing changes in the microbiota.
Predicted vitamin D status during pregnancy in relation to offspring forearm fractures in childhood: a study from the Danish National Birth Cohort
Authors: Petersen Sesilje B. , Strøm Marin , Maslova Ekaterina , Granström Charlotta , Vestergaard Peter , Mølgaard Christian , Olsen Sjurdur F.
Published: October 2015

In a prospective cohort study, the association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and offspring forearm fractures during childhood and adolescence was analysed in 30 132 mother and child pairs recruited to the Danish National Birth Cohort between 1996 and 2002. Data on characteristics, dietary factors and lifestyle factors were collected on several occasions during pregnancy. We analysed the association between predicted vitamin D status, based on a subsample with 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) biomarker measurements (n1497) from gestation week 25, and first-time forearm fractures among offspring between birth and end of follow-up. Diagnoses were extracted from the Danish National Patient Register. Multivariable Cox regression models using age as the underlying time scale indicated no overall association between predicted vitamin D status (based on smoking, season, dietary and supplementary vitamin D intake, tanning bed use and outdoor physical activity) in pregnancy and offspring forearm fractures. Likewise, measured 25(OH)D, tanning bed use and dietary vitamin D intake were not associated with offspring forearm fractures. In mid-pregnancy, 91 % of the women reported intake of vitamin D from dietary supplements. Offspring of women who took >10 µg/d in mid-pregnancy had a significantly increased risk for fractures compared with the reference level of zero intake (hazard ratios (HR) 1·31; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·62), but this was solely among girls (HR 1·48; 95 % CI 1·10, 2·00). Supplement use in the peri-conceptional period exhibited similar pattern, although not statistically significant. In conclusion, our data indicated no protective effect of maternal vitamin D status with respect to offspring forearm fractures.
Biomarkers predicting chemotherapy response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a review
Authors: Cosway B , Paleri V , Wilson J
Published: October 2015

Background:

Biomarkers are increasingly being used in many cancers to select patients for oncological treatment paradigms based on their inherent genetic properties. However, in head and neck cancers, there are no personalised therapies available outside the context of a clinical trial. A number of studies suggest there are intrinsic tumour properties of head and neck cancers that affect their response to chemotherapeutic agents. This paper aimed to review their evidence base.

Method:

A narrative review was conducted following a search of the PubMed database.

Results and conclusion:

The review identified a number of biomarkers predicting response to chemotherapy in head and neck cancers. The paper discusses these in detail, and explores where future research could be directed in order to deliver personalised therapies for patients with head and neck cancers.
The Particularities of Political Conversations
Authors: MacIntyre Alasdair
Published: October 2015

Redhead's admirable book addresses the questions, What cultural, religious, and other baggage do we bring with us to our political interactions with others, and how does it affect those interactions? I am grateful both for the way in which he has opened up those questions and for his generally accurate and always generous treatment of my views. If he has in some ways misunderstood them, this is the result only of an error of omission. For he has neglected to take adequate note both of my account of the distinctive characteristics of most political interactions in the liberal democracies of advanced modernity (except, oddly and briefly, in his footnote 208) and of the importance that I attach to the Thomistic conception of common goods. Yet, without reference to these, some of my central claims about what we bring to political conversations are apt to be misunderstood.
Creed, Spirituality, and Bicameralism
Authors: Connolly William E.
Published: October 2015

I think of reasoning (or deliberation), arts of the self, and micropolitics as inter-involved modalities of private and public life that are not entirely reducible to one another. You reason, alone or with others, when you ask how to realize a set of goals or to modify them in new circumstances. You practice arts of the self after, say, you have acknowledged that some element in your faith promotes unnecessary suffering for others and/or is inconsonant with other prized elements. That element clings to you or you to it even though another part of you would like it go. An Augustinian might call this a will divided against itself.
On the Government of the Living
Authors: Milchman Alan , Rosenberg Alan
Published: October 2015

It has been widely claimed that Foucault's 1980 lecture course at the Collège de France, On the Government of the Living (GL), constituted an important turning point in his thinking. That course would begin a series of lecture courses at the Collège that would end in March 1984, just before his death, all devoted to core issues arising in Hellenistic philosophy and Christian theology. While Christian practices of penance and confession are a focus of GL, as Mark Jordan has claimed, throughout what has been termed his “Greco-Roman” trip Foucault always emphasized “the historical importance of pastoral power for modern subjectivity.” There is, then, a definite link between what is often described as the “final Foucault,” with his interest in Patristic Christianity and its own governmental practices, on one hand, and, on the other, the broader question of “government,” both of the self and of others, as well as the historical modes of subject formation, all concerns that characterized the whole of Foucault's oeuvre. Indeed, as Foucault says in his conclusion to GL, the obligation “to tell the truth about oneself” has shaped not just Christianity, but Western modernity too; indeed “the whole social system to which we belong” (312).
Control and disturbances compensation in underactuated robotic systems using the derivative-free nonlinear Kalman filter
Authors: Rigatos Gerasimos G.
Published: October 2015

The Derivative-free nonlinear Kalman Filter is used for developing a robust controller which can be applied to underactuated MIMO robotic systems. The control problem for underactuated robots is non-trivial and becomes further complicated if the robot is subjected to model uncertainties and external disturbances. Using differential flatness theory it is shown that the model of a closed-chain 2-DOF robotic manipulator can be transformed to linear canonical form. For the linearized equivalent of the robotic system it is shown that a state feedback controller can be designed. Since certain elements of the state vector of the linearized system cannot be measured directly, it is proposed to estimate them with the use of a novel filtering method, the so-called Derivative-free nonlinear Kalman Filter. Moreover, by redesigning the Kalman Filter as a disturbance observer, it is shown that one can estimate simultaneously external disturbance terms that affect the robotic model or disturbance terms which are associated with parametric uncertainty. The efficiency of the proposed Kalman Filter-based control scheme is tested in the case of a 2-DOF planar robotic manipulator that has the structure of a closed-chain mechanism.
Inexperienced Humanitarians? William Wilberforce, William Pitt, and the Execution Crisis of the 1780s
Authors: Devereaux Simon
Published: October 2015

For most historians, William Wilberforce is not immediately associated with the history of capital punishment, at least not beyond his occasional efforts to solicit mercy for individuals sentenced to death, and his distinctly subaltern role in the decisive early nineteenth century parliamentary debates over the abolition of the death penalty in England. Most scholars concern themselves with the first of the two “great objects” of which, in a diary entry for October 28, 1787, Wilberforce declared that “God Almighty has set before me … the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” That concern is easily justified: the abolition of the slave trade quickly became the central preoccupation of Wilberforce's public life, and its implications were of global significance. His second professed mission of 1787 onwards—to help launch and sustain the Society for Giving Effect to His Majesty's Proclamation against Vice and Immorality—has inspired a smaller, although no less rich, body of scholarship. Our broad perspective on Wilberforce's public life remains that which was first laid down half a century ago, and which has subsequently been reinforced by historians of gender such as Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall. Wilberforce and his associates are principally seen as the progenitors of nineteenth century moral earnestness and spiritual idealism, as well as the feminine ideal of “the Angel in the House.” They were, as Ford K. Brown suggested in 1961, the “Fathers of the Victorians.”
Interferometric Diffraction from Amorphous Double Films
Authors: Rezikyan Aram , Belcourt James A. , Treacy Michael M. J.
Published: October 2015

We explore the interference fringes that arise in diffraction patterns from double-layer amorphous samples where there is a substantial separation, up to about a micron, between two overlapping thin films. This interferometric diffraction geometry, where both waves have interacted with the specimen, reveals phase gradients within microdiffraction patterns. The rapid fading of the observed fringes as the magnitude of the diffraction vector increases confirms that displacement decoherence is strong in high-energy electron scattering from amorphous samples. The fading of fringes with increasing layer separation indicates an effective illumination coherence length of about 225 nm, which is consistent with the value of 270 nm expected for the heated Schottky field emitter source. A small reduction in measured coherence length is expected because of the additional energy spread induced in the beam after it passes through the first layer.
What Kind of Trouble? Meeting the Health Needs of ‘Troubled Families’ through Intensive Family Support
Authors: Boddy Janet , Statham June , Warwick Ian , Hollingworth Katie , Spencer Grace
Published: October 2015

The policy rhetoric of the UK Coalition government's ‘Troubled Families’ initiative, and that of New Labour's earlier Respect Agenda, share an emphasis on families’ responsibilities, or rather their irresponsibility, and their financial costs to society. Giving children a chance of a better life coincides, in this framing, with reducing costs for the taxpayer. The research reported here was based on a national study of Family Intervention Projects (FIPs), funded by the UK government between 2009 and 2012, beginning under New Labour, continuing over a period when the FIP programme was discontinued, and ending after the Troubled Families programme had begun. The research involved over 100 in-depth interviews with stakeholders, including service managers, family key workers, and caregivers and children in twenty families, to consider critical questions about the kinds of trouble that families experience in their lives, and how they are recognised in the policy and practice of intensive family intervention.
Sovereignty and Direct Democracy: Lessons from Constant and the Belgian Constitution
Authors: Geenens Raf , Sottiaux Stefan
Published: October 2015

Interpretations of sovereignty in the Belgian Constitution – The ‘national sovereignty’ interpretation – Dismantling the myth of the consensual understanding of sovereignty in the Belgian Constitution – Benjamin Constant’s understanding of sovereignty – Influence of the paradigm of French post-Revolutionary political liberalism -- Implications of the ‘Constantian’ interpretation with regard to more direct modes of citizen participation – Arguments for reconsidering the settled case-law of the Council of State regarding the unconstitutionality of referendums
First records of Amphidoma languida and Azadinium dexteroporum (Amphidomataceae, Dinophyceae) from the Irminger Sea off Iceland
Authors: Tillmann Urban , Gottschling Marc , Nézan Elisabeth , Krock Bernd
Published: October 2015

Species of dinophycean Amphidomataceae are producers of phycotoxins classified as azaspiracids. We provide the first records of two of their constituent species,Amphidoma languidaandAzadinium dexteroporum, for the Irminger Sea off Iceland. Morphological examination and molecular characterization, including uncorrected mean pairwise distances between sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS), doubtlessly assigned the sub-Arctic strain 2A11 to the reference ofAmphidoma languida. Strain 2A11 produced AZA-38 and AZA-39, corresponding to the toxin profile described for the type material. The sub-Arctic isolate 1D12 differed significantly in terms of ITS genetic distance (p = 0.04) from a MediterraneanAzadinium dexteroporumstrain, but our morphological analysis did not reveal any major or stable diagnostic traits between the reference strain ofAzadinium dexteroporumand the new strain described here. In contrast to the Mediterranean strain ofAzadinium dexteroporum, the sub-Arctic strain 1D12 did not produce any known azaspiracids. The new records ofAmphidoma languidaandAzadinium dexteroporumfrom the Irminger Sea imply an important range extension of the species, formerly known from the northern and eastern Atlantic (Amphidoma languida) and from the Mediterranean area (Azadinium dexteroporum) only. Together with three new species ofAzadiniumrecently described from the same expedition, the results clearly show that the biodiversity of the Amphidomataceae in the sub-Arctic is remarkably large.
From Fundamental Principles to individual action: Making the Principles come alive to promote a culture of non-violence and peace
Authors: Beeckman Katrien
Published: October 2015

This paper focuses on the individual perspective, as opposed to the institutional or operational one, towards the Fundamental Principles and their underpinning humanitarian values. It demonstrates the added value of this perspective, which goes beyond addressing challenges regarding the Fundamental Principles' understanding and application. By making the Principles and values come alive in peoples' behaviour, the individual perspective also enables Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers to inspire a change of mindset and behaviour towards a culture of non-violence and peace. Two tools created to this purpose, as well as their impact, are presented: (i) the Seven Skills for Seven Principles (747) framework, which unpacks the high-level Principles into more concrete and tangible components, values and intra- and interpersonal skills; and (ii) the Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change (YABC) initiative, which, using a non-cognitive learning approach, fosters a personal connection towards the Principles and increases participants' ability to role-model them.
Liu Receives 2015 Jason Morgan Early Career Award
Authors:   AGU
Published: October 2015

Lijun Liu will receive the 2015 Jason Morgan Early Career Award at the 2015 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award is for significant early-career contributions in tectonophysics.
Bending Plate Provides Unexpected Heat Source
Authors: Minnehan Catherine
Published: October 2015

Scientists discover the causes for heat flow anomalies near the Japan Trench.
The expression level of BAALC-associated microRNA miR-3151 is an independent prognostic factor in younger patients with cytogenetic intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Díaz-Beyá M , Brunet S , Nomdedéu J , Cordeiro A , Tormo M , Escoda L , Ribera J M , Arnan M , Heras I , Gallardo D , Bargay J , Queipo de Llano M P , Salamero O , Martí J M , Sampol A , Pedro C , Hoyos M , Pratcorona M , Castellano J J , Nomdedeu M , Risueño R M , Sierra J , Monzó M , Navarro A , Esteve J
Published: October 2015

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease whose prognosis is mainly related to the biological risk conferred by cytogenetics and molecular profiling. In elderly patients (⩾60 years) with normal karyotype AML miR-3151 have been identified as a prognostic factor. However, miR-3151 prognostic value has not been examined in younger AML patients. In the present work, we have studied miR-3151 alone and in combination with BAALC, its host gene, in a cohort of 181 younger intermediate-risk AML (IR-AML) patients. Patients with higher expression of miR-3151 had shorter overall survival (P=0.0025), shorter leukemia-free survival (P=0.026) and higher cumulative incidence of relapse (P=0.082). Moreover, in the multivariate analysis miR-3151 emerged as independent prognostic marker in both the overall series and within the unfavorable molecular prognostic category. Interestingly, the combined determination of both miR-3151 and BAALC improved this prognostic stratification, with patients with low levels of both parameters showing a better outcome compared with those patients harboring increased levels of one or both markers (P=0.003). In addition, we studied the microRNA expression profile associated with miR-3151 identifying a six-microRNA signature. In conclusion, the analysis of miR-3151 and BAALC expression may well contribute to an improved prognostic stratification of younger patients with IR-AML.
The NAE inhibitor pevonedistat (MLN4924) synergizes with TNF-α to activate apoptosis
Authors: Wolenski F S , Fisher C D , Sano T , Wyllie S D , Cicia L A , Gallacher M J , Baker R A , Kirby P J , Senn J J
Published: October 2015

Predicting and understanding the mechanism of drug-induced toxicity is one of the primary goals of drug development. It has been hypothesized that inflammation may have a synergistic role in this process. Cell-based models provide an easily manipulated system to investigate this type of drug toxicity. Several groups have attempted to reproduce in vivo toxicity with combination treatment of pharmacological agents and inflammatory cytokines. Through this approach, synergistic cytotoxicity between the investigational agent pevonedistat (MLN4924) and TNF-α was identified. Pevonedistat is an inhibitor of the NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE). Inhibition of NAE prevents activation of cullin-RING ligases, which are critical for proteasome-mediated protein degradation. TNF-α is a cytokine that is involved in inflammatory responses and cell death, among other biological functions. Treatment of cultured cells with the combination of pevonedistat and TNF-α, but not as single agents, resulted in rapid cell death. This cell death was determined to be mediated by caspase-8. Interestingly, the combination treatment of pevonedistat and TNF-α also caused an accumulation of the p10 protease subunit of caspase-8 that was not observed with cytotoxic doses of TNF-α. Under conditions where apoptosis was blocked, the mechanism of death switched to necroptosis. Trimerized MLKL was verified as a biomarker of necroptotic cell death. The synergistic toxicity of pevonedistat and elevated TNF-α was also demonstrated by in vivo rat studies. Only the combination treatment resulted in elevated serum markers of liver damage and single-cell hepatocyte necrosis. Taken together, the results of this work have characterized a novel synergistic toxicity driven by pevonedistat and TNF-α.
Post-translational allosteric activation of the P2X7 receptor through glycosaminoglycan chains of CD44 proteoglycans
Authors: Moura GEDD , Lucena SV , Lima MA , Nascimento FD , Gesteira TF , Nader HB , Paredes-Gamero EJ , Tersariol ILS
Published: October 2015

Here, we present evidence for the positive allosteric modulation of the P2X7 receptor through glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in CHO (cell line derived from the ovary of the Chinese hamster) cells. The marked potentiation of P2X7 activity through GAGs in the presence of non-saturating agonists concentrations was evident with the endogenous expression of the receptor in CHO cells. The presence of GAGs on the surface of CHO cells greatly increased the sensitivity to adenosine 5′-triphosphate and changed the main P2X7 receptor kinetic parameters EC50, Hill coefficient and Emax. GAGs decreased the allosteric inhibition of P2X7 receptor through Mg2+. GAGs activated P2X7 receptor-mediated cytoplasmic Ca2+ influx and pore formation. Consequently, wild-type CHO-K1 cells were 2.5-fold more sensitive to cell death induced through P2X7 agonists than mutant CHO-745 cells defective in GAGs biosynthesis. In the present study, we provide the first evidence that the P2X7 receptor interacts with CD44 on the CHO-K1 cell surface. Thus, these data demonstrated that GAGs positively modulate the P2X7 receptor, and sCD44 is a part of a regulatory positive feedback loop linking P2X7 receptor activation for the intracellular response mediated through P2X7 receptor stimulation.
Novel nonadride, heptadride and maleic acid metabolites from the byssochlamic acid producer Byssochlamys fulva IMI 40021 – an insight into the biosynthesis of maleidrides
Authors: Szwalbe Agnieszka J. , Williams Katherine , O'Flynn Daniel E. , Bailey Andrew M. , Mulholland Nicholas P. , Vincent Jason L. , Willis Christine L. , Cox Russell J. , Simpson Thomas J.
Published: October 2015

Byssochlamic acid and the novel heptadride, agnestadride A are biosynthesised via alternative dimerisations of a maleic acid monomer.
Camera-based single-molecule FRET detection with improved time resolution
Authors: Farooq Shazia , Hohlbein Johannes
Published: October 2015

Here the authors report on significant improvements in time-resolution and throughput in camera-based single-molecule detection by combining stroboscopic alternating-laser excitation with dynamic probability distribution analysis.
Molecular adsorption at Pt(111). How accurate are DFT functionals?
Authors: Gautier Sarah , Steinmann Stephan N. , Michel Carine , Fleurat-Lessard Paul , Sautet Philippe
Published: October 2015

Recent DFT functionals including van der Waals contributions are benchmarked against micro calorimetric measurement for chemisorption on Pt(111). OptPBE-vdW and PBE-dDsC are found to be the most accurate, especially for unsaturated molecules where large errors can be committed with other functionals as PBE.
Phase transition behaviors of the supported DPPC bilayer investigated by sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM)
Authors: Wu Heng-Liang , Tong Yujin , Peng Qiling , Li Na , Ye Shen
Published: October 2015

The phase transition behaviors of a supported bilayer of dipalmitoylphosphatidyl-choline (DPPC) have been systematically evaluated byin situsum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Weighing the factors behind enzymatic hydrolyzability of pretreated lignocellulose
Authors: Pihlajaniemi Ville , Sipponen Mika Henrikki , Liimatainen Henrikki , Sirviö Juho Antti , Nyyssölä Antti , Laakso Simo
Published: October 2015

Applying an elaborate set of pretreatments, the effects of lignocellulose properties on enzymatic hydrolyzability were arranged in the order of importance.
Conformational promiscuity in triazolamers derived from quaternary amino acids mimics peptide behaviour
Authors: Solà Jordi , Bolte Michael , Alfonso Ignacio
Published: October 2015

Oligomers made by click chemistry display a duality of secondary structures similar to natural peptides as inferred by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments.
Effect of fluorine substitution on the photovoltaic performance of poly(thiophene-quinoxaline) copolymers
Authors: Qiao Zi , Wang Meng , Zhao Mingzhi , Zhang ZhiGuo , Li Yongfang , Li Xiaoyu , Wang Haiqiao
Published: October 2015

Three new conjugated polymers with or without fluorine substituents on quinoxaline ring were investigated in detail to assess the role of F in OPV performance.
The induction of poly(vinylidene fluoride) electroactive phase by modified anodic aluminum oxide template nanopore surface
Authors: Fu Chao , Wang Xuemei , Shi Xiang , Ran Xianghai
Published: October 2015

The polar phase of PVDF nanowires was improved significantly with the modified AAO templates using a solution wetting method.
Influence of hydroxyapatite on thermoplastic foaming performance of water-plasticized poly(vinyl alcohol)
Authors: Wang Jia , Qiu Wenting , Wang Ning , Li Li
Published: October 2015

Water states in the system are adjusted by changing HA content to obtain proper PVA/HA composite foams through thermoplastic processing.
Selective removal of thiosulfate from thiocyanate-containing water by a three-dimensional structured adsorbent: a calcined NiAl-layered double hydroxide film
Authors: Liu Xiaohua , Tian Weiliang , Kong Xianggui , Jiang Meihong , Sun Xiaoming , Lei Xiaodong
Published: October 2015

NiAl-layered double hydroxide (NiAl-LDH) platelets were uniformly grown on a porous Ni foam substrate by a facile in situ hydrothermal method.
A three-dimensional MnO2/graphene hybrid as a binder-free supercapacitor electrode
Authors: Xiong Chuanyin , Li Tiehu , Khan Muhammad , Li Hao , Zhao Tingkai
Published: October 2015

Highly aligned manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanowall arrays electrodeposited onto Ti sheets are used as substrates to grow graphene (GR) through chemical vapor deposition (CVD), thus forming a three-dimensional (3D) MnO2/GR hybrid composite.