bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Transporters in the Toxicity of Chemotherapeutic Drugs: Focus on Transporters for Organic Cations
Authors: Hucke Anna , Ciarimboli Giuliano
Published: July 2016

The introduction of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer is one of the most important achievements of modern medicine, even allowing the cure of some lethal diseases such as testicular cancer and other malignant neoplasms. The number and type of chemotherapeutic agents available have steadily increased and have developed until the introduction of targeted tumor therapy. It is now evident that transporters play an important role for determining toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs not only against target but also against nontarget cells. This is of special importance for intracellularly active hydrophilic drugs, which cannot freely penetrate the plasma membrane. Because many important chemotherapeutic agents are substrates of transporters for organic cations, this review discusses the known interaction of these substances with these transporters. A particular focus is given to the role of transporters for organic cations in the development of side effects of chemotherapy with platinum derivatives and in the efficacy of recently developed tyrosine kinase inhibitors to specifically target cancer cells. It is evident that specific inhibition of uptake transporters may be a possible strategy to protect against undesired side effects of platinum derivatives without compromising their antitumor efficacy. These transporters are also important for efficient targeting of tyrosine kinase inhibitors to cancer cells. However, in order to achieve the aims of protecting from undesired toxicities and improving the specificity of uptake by tumor cells, an exact knowledge of transporter expression, function, regulation under normal and pathologic conditions, and of genetically and epigenetically regulation is mandatory.
Comparing Various In Vitro Prediction Criteria to Assess the Potential of a New Molecular Entity to Inhibit Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1B1
Authors: Vaidyanathan Jayabharathi , Yoshida Kenta , Arya Vikram , Zhang Lei
Published: July 2016

Evaluation of organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1–mediated drug‐drug interactions (DDIs) is an integral part of drug development and is recommended by regulatory agencies. In this study we compared various prediction methods and cutoff criteria based on in vitro inhibition data to assess the potential of a new molecular entity to inhibit OATP1B1 in vivo. In vitro (eg, IC50, fu,p) and in vivo (eg, dose, Cmax, change in area under the curve [AUC]) data for 11 substrates and 61 inhibitors for OATP1B1 were obtained from literature and Drugs@FDA, which include 107 clinical (in vivo) DDI studies. Substrate dependency and variability of IC50 values were noted. In addition to the ratio of unbound or total systemic concentration (Imax,u and Imax) to IC50, maximum unbound inhibitor concentration at the inlet to the liver (Iu,in,max) was used for the estimation of “R value” where R = 1 + Iu,in,max/IC50. Based on our analyses, Imax/Ki ≥ 0.1, R ≥ 1.04, or R ≥ 1.1 seem to be appropriate for reducing the false‐negative (FN) predictions. However, as compared with R ≥ 1.1, Imax/Ki ≥ 0.1 and R ≥ 1.04 resulted in higher false positives (FPs) and lower true negatives (TNs). R ≥ 1.1, Imax,u/Ki ≥ 0.02, and R ≥ 1.25 alone, or combined criterion of Imax/Ki ≥ 0.1 and R ≥ 1.25, were reasonable to determine the need to perform clinical DDI studies with OATP1B1 substrates with similar positive and negative predictive values. Possible reasons of FP or FN from different decision criteria should be considered when interpreting prediction results, and the variability in IC50 determination needs to be understood and minimized.
Renal Transporter‐Mediated Drug‐Drug Interactions: Are They Clinically Relevant?
Authors: Lepist Eve‐Irene , Ray Adrian S.
Published: July 2016

The kidney, through the distinct processes of passive glomerular filtration and active tubular secretion, plays an important role in the elimination of numerous endobiotics (eg, hormones, metabolites), toxins, nutrients, and drugs. Renal transport pathways mediating active tubular secretion and reabsorption in the proximal tubule are complex, involving apical and basolateral transporters acting in concert. Detailed studies of the molecular mechanisms of net active tubular secretion have established the involvement of multiple transporters with overlapping substrate specificity mediating competing secretion and reabsorption pathways. Although drug interactions arising from inhibition of renal transporters are rare relative to other mechanisms, they can involve commonly administered drugs (eg, cimetidine, metformin), may be underappreciated due to muted effects on plasma pharmacokinetics relative to tissue levels, can affect narrow‐therapeutic‐index medications (eg, antiarrhythmic, oncology medications), and may disproportionately affect sensitive populations where polypharmacy is common (eg, the elderly, diabetics). In particular, there is the potential for larger‐magnitude interactions in subjects with reduced glomerular filtration rates due to the increased relative contribution of tubular secretion. The assessment of additional endpoints in drug‐drug interaction studies including pharmacodynamics, positron emission tomography imaging, and metabolomics promises to expand our understanding of the clinical relevance of renal drug interactions.
Effect of Disease Pathologies on Transporter Expression and Function
Authors: Atilano‐Roque Amandla , Roda Gavriel , Fogueri Uma , Kiser Jennifer J. , Joy Melanie S.
Published: July 2016

Transporters are important determinants of drug absorption, distribution, and excretion. The clinical relevance of drug transporters in drug disposition and toxicology depends on their localization in liver, kidney, and brain. There has been growing evidence regarding the importance of disease status on alterations in metabolizing enzymes and transporter proteins. This review focuses on uptake and efflux transporter proteins in liver, kidney, and brain and discusses mechanisms of altered transporter expression and function secondary to disease.
Quantification and reproducibility assessment of the regional brain T2 relaxation in naïve rats at 7T
Authors: Liachenko Serguei , Ramu Jaivijay
Published: July 2016

Purpose

To measure the reproducibility of T2 relaxation and to determine the statistical power of T2 mapping in the rat brain as a characteristic of the baseline performance of the T2 relaxation as a potential biomarker of neurotoxicity.

Materials and Methods

Multislice multiecho spin‐echo imaging was utilized to obtain the quantitative T2 maps in 138 naïve rats at 7T. Images were skull‐stripped and coregistered to the common anatomical reference. A full anatomical segmentation mask, which included all major brain structures, was created using the same reference T2 map. The overall variability map was also calculated from all T2 maps and the areas with arbitrarily high variability (coefficient of variation >25%) were excluded from the full segmentation mask to produce a trimmed mask. T2 maps were segmented using both these masks and statistical power analysis was conducted in all segmented areas.

Results

The coefficient of variation of T2 relaxation in different brain areas varied from 5.4% (cerebrospinal fluid) to 1.2% (cortex) when using a full segmentation mask. The use of a trimmed segmentation mask decreased the coefficient of variation in many areas, which ranged between 3.2% (inferior colliculi) and 1.2% (cortex) in this case. As revealed by statistical power analysis to detect 5% change with power of 0.8, the minimum number of observations needed for different areas ranged from 3 (cortex) to 8 (inferior colliculi) in the case of use of a trimmed segmentation mask.

Conclusion

T2 relaxation is a very reproducible MRI parameter of the rat brain with high statistical power, which allows detecting very small changes in groups consisting of a minimal number of experimental animals.

Level of Evidence: 1

J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:700–709.
An improved model for substrate in RF SOI MOSFET varactor
Authors: Li Wenjun , Chen Xiaochuan , Liu Jun
Published: July 2016

A simple small‐signal equivalent circuit based on the physical structure of silicon‐on‐insulator metal–oxide–semiconductor field‐effect transistor varactor for substrate loss effects is presented in this paper. The model includes a BSIMSOI charge formulation and physical geometry and process parameter based on parasitic modeling. Key device performances of capacitance and quality factor are validated over voltage, frequency, and geometry. The model, implemented in Verilog‐A, provides robust and accurate radiofrequency simulation of metal–oxide–semiconductor varactor. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Derivatization coupled to headspace programmed‐temperature vaporizer gas chromatography with mass spectrometry for the determination of amino acids: Application to urine samples
Authors: González Paredes Rosa María , García Pinto Carmelo , Pérez Pavón José Luis , Moreno Cordero Bernardo
Published: July 2016

A new method based on headspace programmed‐temperature vaporizer gas chromatography with mass spectrometry has been developed and validated for the determination of amino acids (alanine, sarcosine, ethylglycine, valine, leucine, and proline) in human urine samples. Derivatization with ethyl chloroformate was employed successfully to determine the amino acids. The derivatization reaction conditions as well as the variables of the headspace sampling were optimized.

The existence of a matrix effect was checked and the analytical characteristics of the method were determined. The limits of detection were 0.15–2.89 mg/L, and the limits of quantification were 0.46–8.67 mg/L. The instrumental repeatability was 1.6–11.5%. The quantification of the amino acids in six urine samples from healthy subjects was performed with the method developed with the one‐point standard additions protocol, with norleucine as the internal standard.
Nano‐structured gemini‐based supramolecular solvent for the microextraction of cyhalothrin and fenvalerate
Authors: Feizi Neda , Yamini Yadollah , Moradi Morteza , Ebrahimpour Behnam
Published: July 2016

A novel supramolecular solvent‐based microextraction followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection method has been developed for the extraction and determination of two pyrethroid analytes, cyhalothrin and fenvalerate, in water and soil samples. The liquid–liquid‐phase separation of surfactants has been used in analytical extraction. The surfactant‐rich phase is a nano‐structured liquid, recently named as a supramolecular solvent, generated from the amphiphiles. The alkyl carboxylic acid based supramolecular solvents were introduced before. Coacervates made up of gemini surfactant, consisting of two amphiphilic moieties, were first used as solvent. The effective parameters on extraction (i.e., type of organic solvent, the amount of surfactant and volume of tetrahydrofuran, sample solution pH, salt addition, ultrasonic and centrifugation time) were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, preconcentration factors of 110 and 145 were obtained for the analytes. The linearity was 0.5–200.0 μg/L with the correlation of determination of (R2) ≥ 0.9984. The limit of detection of the method was (S/N = 3) 0.2 μg/L, and precisions in the range of 6.3–10.3% (RSDs, n = 5) were obtained. This method has been successfully applied to analyze real samples, and good recoveries in the range of 101.2–108.8% were obtained.
Online restricted‐access material combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of vanillin and its vanillic acid metabolite in human plasma
Authors: Li De‐qiang , Zhang Zhi‐qing , Yang Xiu‐ling , Zhou Chun‐hua , Qi Jin‐long
Published: July 2016

An automated online solid‐phase extraction with restricted‐access material combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of vanillin and its vanillic acid metabolite in human plasma. After protein precipitation by methanol, which contained the internal standards, the supernatant of plasma samples was injected to the system, the endogenous large molecules were flushed out, and target analytes were trapped and enriched on the adsorbent, resulting in a minimization of sample complexity and ion suppression effects. Calibration curves were linear over the concentrations of 5–1000 ng/mL for vanillin and 10–5000 ng/mL for vanillic acid with a coefficient of determination >0.999 for the determined compounds. The lower limits of quantification of vanillin and vanillic acid were 5.0 and 10.0 ng/mL, respectively. The intra‐ and inter‐run precisions expressed as the relative standard deviation were 2.6–8.6 and 3.2–10.2%, respectively, and the accuracies expressed as the relative error were in the range of –6.1 to 7.3%. Extraction recoveries of analytes were between 89.5 and 97.4%. There was no notable matrix effect for any analyte concentration. The developed method was proved to be sensitive, repeatable, and accurate for the quantification of vanillin and its vanillic acid metabolite in human plasma.
Evaluation Of freehand high‐resolution 3‐dimensional ultrasound of the median nerve
Authors: Pelz Johann Otto , Busch Maria , Weinreich Anna , Saur Dorothee , Weise David
Published: July 2016

Introduction: In this study we evaluated freehand 3D ultrasound (3DUS) of the median nerve in comparison to 2D ultrasound (2DUS) and assessed the influence of tilting the transversal plane on cross‐sectional area (CSA) measurement. Methods: Two examiners investigated the median nerves of 22 healthy subjects over a distance of 20 cm using 3DUS. Image quality and CSA were assessed at random points within the virtual 3D volume and compared with 2DUS. Results: Image quality within the virtual 3D volume was good/sufficient/poor in 53.0%/40.2%/6.8% (examiner 1) and 21.6%/69.6%/8.8% (examiner 2), respectively. CSA measurements with 3DUS were smaller than with 2DUS (–12% and –17%; Wilcoxon test, P < 0.001). Interrater agreement for 3DUS and intermethod agreement between 2DUS and 3DUS were moderate. Stepwise tilting of the transversal plane increased CSA significantly. Conclusion: Freehand 3DUS of the median nerve over 20 cm is feasible and may help overcome some of the limitations and pitfalls of 2DUS. Muscle Nerve 55: 206–212, 2017
Polycyclische Aromaten in Textilien bestimmen
Authors: Schröder Stephan , Dieckmann Melanie
Published: July 2016

Bei Bedarfsgegenständen – dazu zählen Textilien und auch Kuscheltiere – muss sichergestellt sein, dass diese nicht mit polyaromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen (PAK) belastet sind. Hochsiedende PAK aus Textilproben lassen sich gaschromatographisch sauber trennen und dann sicher quantifizieren. Mit einem Triplequadrupol‐GC‐MS/MS‐System sinkt die Nachweisgrenze.
Veredeln statt verbrennen
Authors: Xiong Xin , Schmid Rolf D.
Published: July 2016

Chinas neuer Fünfjahresplan betrifft auch die deutsche chemische Industrie. Denn nach China exportieren deutsche Unternehmen nicht nur, sondern sie produzieren und forschen dort auch.
Eine globale Nährstoffpumpe
Authors: Groß Michael
Published: July 2016

Nährstoffe und Mineralien fließen mit dem Wasserkreislauf bergab und werden letztlich in Sedimenten begraben, wo sie niemandem nützen. Diesem Trend wirken viele größere Tierarten entgegen, die Nährstoffe gegen den Strom und die Schwerkraft transportieren und sie somit weiter verfügbar machen.
Totalsynthese von Strictamin
Authors: Manolikakes Georg , Grimmer Jennifer
Published: July 2016

Das Akuammilin‐Alkaloid Strictamin hemmt die Monoaminoxidase und wird in der traditionellen asiatischen Medizin verwendet. Es wurde bereits vor 50 Jahren isoliert, aber erst zu Beginn dieses Jahres beschrieben zwei Gruppen nahezu simultan die Totalsynthese dieses Naturstoffs.
„Wie Naturwissenschaftler wirklich arbeiten“
Authors: Zbikowski Frauke
Published: July 2016

Katrin Sommer, Professorin für Chemiedidaktik, veranstaltet im Schülerlabor der Universität Bochum ein etwas anderes Mitmachprojekt: Kinder und ihre Eltern experimentieren hier gemeinsam, ein Dreiviertel Jahr lang einmal im Monat. Für ihr Konzept, „Kinder erleben mit ihren Eltern Chemie“, Kemie, hat Sommer in diesem Jahr den mit 50 000 Euro dotierten Preis der Polytechnischen Gesellschaft erhalten. Im Interview berichtet sie, wie sich das Projekt entwickelt hat, wie es in ihre Forschung eingeht und warum es keine Konkurrenz zur Schule sein soll.
Ungünstiger Wechselkurs
Authors: Zbikowski Frauke
Published: July 2016

Die großen Analysengerätehersteller in den USA klagen über gesunkene Umsätze – anders als die Branche in Deutschland, die im letzten Jahr zweistellig wuchs.
Investigation of novel lightweight phenolic foam‐based composites reinforced with flax fiber mats
Authors: Gao Li , Tang Qiheng , Chen Yongping , Wang Zheng , Guo Wenjing
Published: July 2016

Demand has been growing for natural fibers that are eco‐friendly, renewable, and show sustainable development during their service lifetime. In this study, a series of novel phenolic foam‐based composites, modified by polyaryl polymethylene isocyanate (PAPI), were synthesized and then reinforced with flax fiber mats. The structure and reactive behavior of PAPI and phenolic resin were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effect of formulation of PAPI:Resol‐type phenolic resin (PR) on the mechanical properties of the composites were studied. The results suggested that the impregnation of PAPI and PR into mats showed good mechanical properties, furthermore, PAPI:PR in a 3:1 ratio led to the best reinforced material with inner bonding, flexural, and impact strengths of 3.39, 25.91 MPa, and 3.88 kJ/m2, respectively. In addition, the morphology of the composites was observed using scanning electron microscopy. Thermal stability and flame retardancy were examined using thermogravimetric analysis and limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests. It was found that the composites exhibited good thermal stability and high char yields. The LOI value of the modified phenolic foam‐based composites decreased with increasing PAPI content, but it still remained at about 24%. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:1809–1817, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers
Classical and quantum dynamics at surfaces: Basic concepts from simple models
Authors: Bonfanti Matteo , Martinazzo Rocco
Published: July 2016

Elementary processes involving atomic and molecular species at surfaces are reviewed. The emphasis is on simple classical and quantum models that help to single out unifying dynamical themes and to identify the basic physical mechanisms that underlie the rich variety of phenomena of surface chemistry. Starting from an elementary description of the energy transfer between a gas‐phase species and a surface—for both classical and quantum lattices—the key processes establishing the formation of an adsorbed phase (sticking, diffusion and vibrational relaxation) are discussed. This is instrumental for introducing the simplest chemical transformations involving adsorbed species and/or scattering of gas‐phase molecules: Langmuir–Hinshelwood, Hot‐Atom, and Eley–Rideal reactions forming complex molecules from elementary constituents, and dissociative chemisorption of molecules into smaller fragments. Applications are also provided illustrating the ideas developed along the way at work in real‐world gas‐surface problems.
A framework of adaptive steganography resisting JPEG compression and detection
Authors: Zhang Yi , Luo Xiangyang , Yang Chunfang , Ye Dengpan , Liu Fenlin
Published: July 2016

Current typical adaptive steganography algorithms take the detection resistant capability into account adequately but usually cannot extract the embedded secret messages correctly when stego images suffer from compression attack. In order to solve this problem, a framework of adaptive steganography resisting JPEG compression and detection is proposed. Utilizing the relationship between Discrete Cosine Transformation (DCT) coefficients, the domain of messages embedding is determined; for the maximum of the JPEG compression resistant ability, the modifying magnitude of different DCT coefficients caused by messages embedding can be determined; in order to ensure the completely correct extraction of embedded messages after JPEG compression, error correct codes are used to encode the messages to be embedded; on the basis of the current distortion functions, the distortion value of DCT coefficients corresponding to the modifying magnitude in the embedding domain can be calculated; to improve the detection resistant ability of the stego images and realize the minimum distortion embedding, syndrome‐trellis codes are used to embed the encoded messages into the DCT coefficients that have a smaller distortion value. Based on the proposed framework, an adaptive steganography algorithm resisting JPEG compression and detection is designed, which utilizes the relationship between coefficients in a DCT block and the means of that in three adjacent DCT blocks. The experimental results that demonstrate the proposed algorithm not only has a good JPEG compression resistant ability but also has a strong detection resistant performance. Comparing with current J‐UNIWARD steganography under quality factor 85 of JPEG compression, the extraction error rates without pre‐compression decrease from about 50% to nearly 0, while the stego images remain a good detection resistant ability comparing with a typical robust watermarking algorithm, which shows the validity of the proposed framework. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anonymous attribute‐based proxy re‐encryption for access control in cloud computing
Authors: Zhang Yinghui , Li Jin , Chen Xiaofeng , Li Hui
Published: July 2016

As a public key cryptographic primitive, attribute‐based encryption (ABE) is promising in implementing fine‐grained access control in cloud computing. However, before ABE comes into practical applications, two challenging issues have to be addressed, that is, users' attribute privacy protection and access policy update. In this paper, we tackle the aforementioned challenge for the first time by formalizing the notion of anonymous ciphertext‐policy attribute‐based proxy re‐encryption (anonymous CP‐ABPRE) and giving out a concrete construction. We propose a novel technique called match‐then‐re‐encrypt, in which a matching phase is additionally introduced before the re‐encryption phase. This technique uses special components of the proxy re‐encryption key and ciphertext to anonymously check whether the proxy can fulfill a proxy re‐encryption or not. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that our anonymous CP‐ABPRE scheme is secure and efficient. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A highly efficient and secure electronic cash system based on secure sharing in cloud environment
Authors: Chang Chin‐Chen , Chen Wei‐Yi , Chang Shih‐Chang
Published: July 2016

Online electronic transactions have become more and more popular in recent years. Electronic cash (e‐cash) has acted an important role, but e‐cash is digital data that can be copied easily, resulting in double spending. To ensure the security and fairness of transactions, researchers designed secure e‐cash payment systems. In 1982, Chaum proposed the first payment scheme using an RSA‐based, blind signature to achieve anonymity. Since then, many studies have been conducted, but most related schemes still have high costs associated with the computations. In this paper, we propose a new, secure, e‐cash payment system using elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC) and secret sharing combined with cloud computing to provide lower cost than previous systems. Our proposed scheme also can meet the requirements of a well‐designed, secure, e‐cash payment system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Optically‐Pure Hemicryptophane as NMR and ECD Responsive Probe for Chloroform
Authors: Brégier Frédérique , Aubert Emmanuel , Espinosa Enrique , Chambron Jean‐Claude
Published: July 2016

An optically pure hemicryptophane cavitand, in which the primary side of permethylated α‐cyclodextrin (α‐CD) is capped with a C3‐chiral cyclotribenzylene (CTB) derivative, responds to its solution environment, either by electronic circular dichroism or 1H NMR spectroscopy. In particular, the primary methoxy (6′‐OMe) protons of the α‐CD component behave as solvent sensitive NMR probes. For example, they are more shielded in C2D2Cl4 than in CDCl3, and their chemical shifts show opposite temperature dependence. A similar contrasted behavior was observed in benzene vs. toluene, suggesting that the observed effects are related to the size of the solvent molecule. Molecular Dynamics simulations indicated that C2H2Cl4 and CHCl3 were included in the α‐CD component of the hemicryptophane, but not in the CTB concavity, with binding energies of –21.1 kJ
mol–1 and –32.7 kJ
mol–1, respectively.
Extruded Poly(ethylene–co–vinyl alcohol) Composite Films Containing Biopolymers Isolated from Municipal Biowaste
Authors: Nisticò Roberto , Evon Philippe , Labonne Laurent , Vaca‐Medina Guadalupe , Montoneri Enzo , Francavilla Matteo , Vaca‐Garcia Carlos , Magnacca Giuliana , Franzoso Flavia , Negre Michèle
Published: July 2016

Single‐screw extrusion allows obtaining composite films containing poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl alcohol), hereinafter EVOH, and water‐soluble lignin‐like biopolymers (SLP) isolated from the alkaline hydrolysate of two materials sampled from an urban waste treatment plant. During extrusion, a condensation reaction occurs between the EVOH and SLP. The products are heterogeneous. They contain a mix of EVOH‐SLP copolymers with different composition and solubility properties. The films were characterized for tensile strength and water sorption properties. Young modulus and strain at break, respectively, were 2.8 GPa and 14 % for neat EVOH vs. 2.1‐0.9 GPa and 17–4 % for the blends containing 2–15 % SLP, with values decreasing upon increasing the % SLP. The blends were more hydrophilic than neat EVOH; their water sorption capacity was found to increase upon increasing the SLP content. Compared to previously reported similar blends obtained by twin‐screw extrusion and solvent casting, the data for the single‐screw extruded films allows discussing several aspects connected to the valorisation of blends obtained from fossil and biowaste sourced polymers.
Superior Monodisperse CNT‐Supported CoPd (CoPd@CNT) Nanoparticles for Selective Reduction of Nitro Compounds to Primary Amines with NaBH4 in Aqueous Medium
Authors: Göksu Haydar , Çelik Betül , Yıldız Yunus , Şen Fatih , Kılbaş Benan
Published: July 2016

Superior carbon nanotube furnished CoPd (CoPd@CNT) nanoparticles (NPs) were reproducibly and easily produced by sonochemical double solvent reduction method in a mild condition and the size of the CoPd NPs was found as 3.63 nm. The prepared novel catalyst were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the high resolution electron micrograph (HRTEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The sum of their results showed the formation of highly crystalline, monodisperse and colloidally stable CoPd@CNT. The catalytic performance of these novel NPs were investigated for the first time for highly selective reduction to –NO2 unlike –CN groups, in which they were found to be exceptional reusable, isolable, stable and highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst. All prepared products were obtained with perfect yield by using CoPd@CNT as a heterogeneous catalyst and NaBH4 as a hydrogen source. Our synthesis process provides a facile and eco‐friendly route to CoPd@CNT, allowing further investigation of current catalysts for many other chemical reactions.
Nanoporous Gold Bowls: A Kinetic Approach to Control Open Shell Structures and Size‐Tunable Lattice Strain for Electrocatalytic Applications
Authors: Pedireddy Srikanth , Lee Hiang Kwee , Koh Charlynn Sher Lin , Tan Joel Ming Rui , Tjiu Weng Weei , Ling Xing Yi
Published: July 2016

Controlling sub‐10 nm ligament sizes and open‐shell structure in nanoporous gold (NPG) to achieve strained lattice is critical in enhancing catalytic activity, but it remains a challenge due to poor control of reaction kinetics in conventional dealloying approach. Herein, a ligament size‐controlled synthesis of open‐shell NPG bowls (NPGB) through hetero‐epitaxial growth of NPGB on AgCl is reported. The ligament size in NPGB is controlled from 6 to 46 nm by varying the hydroquinone to HAuCl4 ratio. The Williamson–Hall analysis demonstrates a higher lattice strain in smaller ligament size. In particular, NPGB with 6 nm (NPGB 6) ligament size possess the highest strain of 15.4 × 10−3, which is nearly twice of conventional 2D NPG sheets (≈8.8 × 10−3). The presence of high surface energy facets in NPGBs is also envisaged. The best electrocatalytic activity toward methanol oxidation is observed in NPGB 6 (27.8 μA μg−1), which is ≈9‐fold and 3‐fold higher than 8 nm solid Au nanoparticles, and conventional NPG sheets. The excellent catalytic activity in NPGB 6 is attributed to the open‐shell structure, lattice strain, and higher electro‐active surface area, allowing efficient exposure of catalytic active sites to facilitate the methanol oxidation. The results offer a potential strategy for designing next generation electrocatalysts.
The Antibacterial Applications of Graphene and Its Derivatives
Authors: Shi Lin , Chen Jiongrun , Teng Lijing , Wang Lin , Zhu Guanglin , Liu Sa , Luo Zhengtang , Shi Xuetao , Wang Yingjun , Ren Li
Published: July 2016

Graphene materials have unique structures and outstanding thermal, optical, mechanical and electronic properties. In the last decade, these materials have attracted substantial interest in the field of nanomaterials, with applications ranging from biosensors to biomedicine. Among these applications, great advances have been made in the field of antibacterial agents. Here, recent advancements in the use of graphene and its derivatives as antibacterial agents are reviewed. Graphene is used in three forms: the pristine form; mixed with other antibacterial agents, such as Ag and chitosan; or with a base material, such as poly (N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and poly (lactic acid) (PLA). The main mechanisms proposed to explain the antibacterial behaviors of graphene and its derivatives are the membrane stress hypothesis, the oxidative stress hypothesis, the entrapment hypothesis, the electron transfer hypothesis and the photothermal hypothesis. This review describes contributions to improving these promising materials for antibacterial applications.
Countering the Segregation of Transition‐Metal Ions in LiMn1/3Co1/3Ni1/3O2 Cathode for Ultralong Life and High‐Energy Li‐Ion Batteries
Authors: Luo Dong , Fang Shaohua , Tamiya Yu , Yang Li , Hirano Shin‐ichi
Published: July 2016

High‐voltage layered lithium transition‐metal oxides are very promising cathodes for high‐energy Li‐ion batteries. However, these materials often suffer from a fast degradation of cycling stability due to structural evolutions. It seriously impedes the large‐scale application of layered lithium transition‐metal oxides. In this work, an ultralong life LiMn1/3Co1/3Ni1/3O2 microspherical cathode is prepared by constructing an Mn‐rich surface. Its capacity retention ratio at 700 mA g−1 is as large as 92.9% after 600 cycles. The energy dispersive X‐ray maps of electrodes after numerous cycles demonstrate that the ultralong life of the as‐prepared cathode is attributed to the mitigation of TM‐ions segregation. Additionally, it is discovered that layered lithium transition‐metal oxide cathodes with an Mn‐rich surface can mitigate the segregation of TM ions and the corrosion of active materials. This study provides a new strategy to counter the segregation of TM ions in layered lithium transition‐metal oxides and will help to the design and development of high‐energy cathodes with ultralong life.
Assessing the adoption level of scaled agile development: a maturity model for Scaled Agile Framework
Authors: Turetken Oktay , Stojanov Igor , Trienekens Jos J. M.
Published: July 2016

Although the agile software development approaches have gained wide acceptance in practice, the concerns regarding the scalability and integration of agile practices in traditional large‐scale system development projects are prevailing. Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) has emerged as a solution to address some of these concerns. Despite few encouraging results, case studies indicate several challenges of SAFe adoption. Currently, there is a lack of a well‐structured gradual approach for establishing SAFe. Before and during SAFe adoption, organizations can benefit greatly from a uniform model for assessing the current progress, and establishing a roadmap for the initiative. To address this need, we developed a maturity model that provides guidance for software developing organizations in defining a roadmap for adopting SAFe. The model can also be used to assess the level of SAFe adoption. We took an existing agile maturity model as a basis for agile practices and extended it with practices that are key to SAFe. The model was developed and refined with industry experts using the Delphi technique. A case study was conducted in a large organization where we evaluated the model by applying it to assess the level of SAFe adoption. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Bathtub Dynamics Revisited: An Examination of Déformation Professionelle in Higher Education
Authors: Kapmeier Florian , Happach Roland Maximilian , Tilebein Meike
Published: July 2016

It is assumed that more education leads to better understanding of complex systems. Some researchers, however, find indications that simple mechanisms like stocks and flows are not well understood even by people who have passed higher education. In this paper, we test people's understanding of complex systems with the widely studied stock‐and‐flow (SF) tasks. SF tasks assess people's understanding of the interplay between stocks and flows. We investigate SF failure of domain experts and novices in different knowledge domains. In particular, we compare performance on the original study's Bathtub task with the square wave pattern with two alternative cover stories from the engineering and business domains on different groups of business and engineering students from different semesters. Further, we show that, while engineering students perform better than business students, with progressing in higher education, students may lose the capability of dealing with simple SF tasks. We thus find hints on déformation professionelle in higher education. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Injury Characteristics and Outcomes in Elderly Trauma Patients in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Authors: Gallaher Jared R. , Haac Bryce E. , Geyer Andrew J. , Mabedi Charles , Cairns Bruce A. , Charles Anthony G.
Published: July 2016

Background

Traumatic injury in the elderly is an emerging global problem with an associated increase in morbidity and mortality. This study sought to describe the epidemiology of elderly injury and outcomes in sub‐Saharan Africa.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of adult patients (≥ 18 years) with traumatic injuries presenting to the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, Malawi, over 5 years (2009–2013). Elderly patients were defined as adults aged ≥65 years and compared to adults aged 18–44 and 45–64 years. We used propensity score matching and logistic regression to compare the odds of mortality between age groups using the youngest age group as the reference.

Results

42,816 Adult patients with traumatic injuries presented to KCH during the study period. 1253 patients (2.9 %) were aged ≥65 years with a male preponderance (77.4 %). Injuries occurred more often at home as age increased (25.3, 29.5, 41.1 %, p < 0.001) and falls were more common (14.1, 23.8, 36.3 %, p < 0.001) for elderly patients. Elderly age was associated with a higher proportion of hospital admissions (10.6, 21.3, 35.2 %, p < 0.001). Upon propensity score matching and logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio of mortality for patients aged ≥65 was 3.15 (95 % CI 1.45, 6.82, p = 0.0037) compared to the youngest age group (18–44 years).

Conclusions

Elderly trauma in a resource‐poor area in sub‐Saharan Africa is associated with a significant increase in hospital admissions and mortality. Significant improvements in trauma systems, pre‐hospital care, and hospital capacity for older, critically ill patients are imperative.
Causal Inference for Meta-Analysis and Multi-Level Data Structures, with Application to Randomized Studies of Vioxx
Authors: Sobel Michael , Madigan David , Wang Wei
Published: July 2016

We construct a framework for meta-analysis and other multi-level data structures that codifies the sources of heterogeneity between studies or settings in treatment effects and examines their implications for analyses. The key idea is to consider, for each of the treatments under investigation, the subject’s potential outcome in each study or setting were he to receive that treatment. We consider four sources of heterogeneity: (1) response inconsistency, whereby a subject’s response to a given treatment would vary across different studies or settings, (2) the grouping of nonequivalent treatments, where two or more treatments are grouped and treated as a single treatment under the incorrect assumption that a subject’s responses to the different treatments would be identical, (3) nonignorable treatment assignment, and (4) response-related variability in the composition of subjects in different studies or settings. We then examine how these sources affect heterogeneity/homogeneity of conditional and unconditional treatment effects. To illustrate the utility of our approach, we re-analyze individual participant data from 29 randomized placebo-controlled studies on the cardiovascular risk of Vioxx, a Cox-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug approved by the FDA in 1999 for the management of pain and withdrawn from the market in 2004.
Predicting user behavior in electronic markets based on personality-mining in large online social networks
Authors: Buettner Ricardo
Published: July 2016

Determining a user’s preferences is an important condition for effectively operating automatic recommendation systems. Since personality theory claims that a user’s personality substantially influences preference, I propose a personality-based product recommender (PBPR) framework to analyze social media data in order to predict a user’s personality and to subsequently derive its personality-based product preferences. The PBRS framework will be evaluated as an IT-artefact with a unique online social network XING dataset and a unique coffeemaker preference dataset. My evaluation results show (a) the possibility of predicting a user’s personality from social media data, as I reached a predictive gain between 23.2 and 41.8 percent and (b) the possibility of recommending products based on a user’s personality, as I reached a predictive gain of 45.1 percent.
Inflammatory bowel and oxidative stress changes in an experimental model of portal hypertension: action of N-acetylcysteine
Authors: Licks Francielli , Hartmann Renata Minuzzo , Schemitt Elizângela , Colares Josieli Raskopf , Fillmann Lúcio Sarubbi , Fillmann Henrique , Marroni Norma Possa
Published: July 2016

Introduction Portal hypertension (PH) is characterized by vasodilatation in the portal system and the bowel is one of the severely affected organs. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a molecule with important properties and widely used in clinical practice.

Objective To evaluate NAC action in the bowel of animals submitted to the animal model of partial portal vein ligation (PPVL).

Methods 18 male Wistar rats were divided into three experimental groups (n = 6): sham-operated (SO), PPVL, and PPVL + NAC. On the 8th day after surgery, N-acetylcysteine (10 mg/kg, ip) was administered daily for 7 days. On the 15th day the animals’ bowel was collected for oxidative stress analysis, immunohistochemistry and Western blot. We evaluated the expression of NF-KB and TNF-α by immunohistochemistry and of iNOS by Western blot. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by TBARS technique, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutation peroxidase (GPx) were checked.

Results We observed an increased expression of NF-KB and TNF-α in PPVL group, and an increased iNOS expression assessed by Western blot. NAC reduced the expression of all proteins evaluated. We also observed an increase in oxidative stress in the bowel of mice PPVL group compared to controls (SO), and NAC was effective in reducing these values in PPVL + NAC group. Also, a reduction in the activity of SOD and GPx enzymes was observed in the diseased group, and NAC was able to restore the activity of the enzymes assessed.

Conclusion We suggest the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action of NAC in the bowel of animals submitted to PPVL model.
Guest Editors’ Introduction:Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Developing Country Multinationals
Authors: Doh Jonathan , Husted Bryan W. , Yang Xiaohua
Published: July 2016

In this article we provide an overview of the literature on ethics and social responsibility of developing country multinationals (DMNEs) and an introduction to the contributions of the articles in this special section. With the rising influence of DMNEs in the global economy, there is increasing interest in applying descriptive, explanatory, and normative theories to understand the ethics and CSR behavior and practices of DMNEs. This article provides an overarching review of perspectives first from ethics, CSR, and business and society, and then from international business and management scholarship. We identify limits and gaps in the current literature and show how the articles in our special section contribute to fill these gaps. We highlight the emerging, transitional and distinct features of DMNEs that are different from their domestic and foreign counterparts. The very limited extant literature and the contributions of this special section underscore the influence of institutional voids and duality that appear to prompt DMNEs to pursue CSR as a signaling mechanism to gain legitimacy, overcome liabilities of foreignness and obtain a “license to operate” in developed countries. We outline the key contributions from the articles in this special section and discuss the future research agenda espoused by the issues raised in these articles.
Existence of a sharp transition in the peak propulsive efficiency of a low- pitching foil
Authors: Das Anil , Shukla Ratnesh K. , Govardhan Raghuraman N.
Published: July 2016

We perform a comprehensive characterization of the propulsive performance of a thrust generating pitching foil over a wide range of Reynolds ($10\leqslant Re\leqslant 2000$) and Strouhal ($St$) numbers using a high-resolution viscous vortex particle method. For a given $Re$, we show that the mean thrust coefficient $\overline{C_{T}}$ increases monotonically with $St$, exhibiting a sharp rise as the location of the inception of the wake asymmetry shifts towards the trailing edge. As a result, the propulsive efficiency too rises steeply before attaining a maximum and eventually declining at an asymptotic rate that is consistent with the inertial scalings of $St^{2}$ for $\overline{C_{T}}$ and $St^{3}$ for the mean power coefficient, with the latter scaling holding, quite remarkably, over the entire range of $Re$. We find the existence of a sharp increase in the peak propulsive efficiency ${\it\eta}_{max}$ (at a given $Re$) in the $Re$ range of 50 to approximately 1000, with ${\it\eta}_{max}$ increasing rapidly from about 1.7 % to the saturated asymptotic value of approximately $16\,\%$. The $St$ at which ${\it\eta}_{max}$ is attained decreases progressively with $Re$ towards an asymptotic limit of $0.45$ and always exceeds the one for transition from a reverse von Kármán to a deflected wake. Moreover, the drag-to-thrust transition occurs at a Strouhal number $St_{tr}$ that exceeds the one for von Kármán to reverse von Kármán transition. The $St_{tr}$ and the corresponding power coefficient $\overline{C_{p,}}_{tr}$ are found to be remarkably consistent with the simple scaling relationships $St_{tr}\sim Re^{-0.37}$ and $\overline{C_{p,}}_{tr}\sim Re^{-1.12}$ that are derived from a balance of the thrust generated from the pitching motion and the drag force arising out of viscous resistance to the foil motion. The fact that the peak propulsive efficiency degrades appreciably only below $Re\approx 10^{3}$ establishes a sharp lower threshold for energetically efficient thrust generation from a pitching foil. Our findings should be generalizable to other thrust-producing flapping foil configurations and should aid in establishing the link between wake patterns and energetic cost of thrust production in similar systems.
Medieval impacts on the vegetation around the confluence of the river Meuse and its tributary the Swalm, the Netherlands
Authors: Bakels Corrie
Published: July 2016

The vegetation history of the area around the confluence of the rivers Meuse and Swalm (the Netherlands) during the Middle Ages is covered by two pollen diagrams. The diagram Swalmen reveals a large-scale deforestation as a result of the foundation of a nobleman's homestead around 950. The diagram Syperhof shows a period during which the forest partly returns after a long history of unremitting anthropogenic stress. This temporary phenomenon is ascribed to the onslaught of the Black Death in 1349. Both diagrams provide evidence of the start of buckwheat growing.
Re-evaluation of the mechanisms of dietary fibre and implications for macronutrient bioaccessibility, digestion and postprandial metabolism
Authors: Grundy Myriam M.-L. , Edwards Cathrina H. , Mackie Alan R. , Gidley Michael J. , Butterworth Peter J. , Ellis Peter R.
Published: July 2016

The positive effects of dietary fibre on health are now widely recognised; however, our understanding of the mechanisms involved in producing such benefits remains unclear. There are even uncertainties about how dietary fibre in plant foods should be defined and analysed. This review attempts to clarify the confusion regarding the mechanisms of action of dietary fibre and deals with current knowledge on the wide variety of dietary fibre materials, comprising mainly of NSP that are not digested by enzymes of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These non-digestible materials range from intact cell walls of plant tissues to individual polysaccharide solutions often used in mechanistic studies. We discuss how the structure and properties of fibre are affected during food processing and how this can impact on nutrient digestibility. Dietary fibre can have multiple effects on GI function, including GI transit time and increased digesta viscosity, thereby affecting flow and mixing behaviour. Moreover, cell wall encapsulation influences macronutrient digestibility through limited access to digestive enzymes and/or substrate and product release. Moreover, encapsulation of starch can limit the extent of gelatinisation during hydrothermal processing of plant foods. Emphasis is placed on the effects of diverse forms of fibre on rates and extents of starch and lipid digestion, and how it is important that a better understanding of such interactions with respect to the physiology and biochemistry of digestion is needed. In conclusion, we point to areas of further investigation that are expected to contribute to realisation of the full potential of dietary fibre on health and well-being of humans.