bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Promising Method for Repairing Low-Level Biliary Strictures After Cholecystectomy
Authors: Cheng Zhilei , Huang Xiaoqiang , Dong Jiahong
Published: September 2015

The purpose of this study is to introduce and evaluate a new technique of repairing bile ducts by the tubular gastric wall with a vascularized pedicle. Both the end-to-end bile duct repair and Roux-en-Y hepatoenterostomy have limitations in the treatment of benign bile duct strictures after cholecystectomy. There are no other good choices to manage these cases, especially the bile duct transection injuries or partly missing common bile duct or hepatic duct. Eleven patients with partly missing common bile ducts in the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital between January 2007 and December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The study comprised 8 females and 3 males, whose age ranged from 29 to 56 years. All patients underwent successful bile duct repair. The time of operations ranged from 210 minutes to 240 minutes. The maximal blood loss was less than 220 ml. There was no perioperative mortality and no case of gastric fistula. Postoperative complications occurred in 3 patients, including wound infection, bile leakage, and erosive gastritis. All complications were cured by conservative treatment. The mean follow-up time was 42 months. One patient was classified as Terblanche's grade II and 10 patients were classified as Terblanche's grade I. The observations indicate that this technique is a feasible and effective choice to manage low level biliary stricture after cholecystectomy, especially suitable to repair bile duct transection injuries or partly missing common bile duct or hepatic duct.
Chemomechanical evolution of pore space in carbonate microstructures upon dissolution: Linking pore geometry to bulk elasticity
Authors: Arson C. , Vanorio T.
Published: September 2015

One of the challenges faced today in a variety of geophysical applications is the need to understand the changes of elastic properties due to time‐variant chemomechanical processes. The objective of this work is to model carbonate rock elastic properties as functions of pore geometry changes that occur when the solid matrix is dissolved by carbon dioxide. We compared two carbonate microstructures: porous micrite (“mudstone”) and grain‐supported carbonate (“packstone”). We formulated a mathematical model that distinguishes the effects of microporosity and macroporosity on stiffness changes. We used measures of mechanical and chemical porosity changes recorded during injection tests to compute elastic moduli and compare them to moduli obtained from wave velocity measurements. In mudstones, both experimental and numerical results indicate that bulk moduli change by less than 5%. The evolution of elastic moduli is controlled by macropore enlargement. In packstones, model predictions underestimate changes of elastic moduli with total porosity by 10% to 80%. The total porosity variation is 60% to 75% smaller than the chemical porosity variation, which indicates that pore expansion due to dissolution is counterbalanced by pore shrinkage due to compaction. Packstone elastic properties are controlled by grain sliding. The methodology presented in this paper can be generalized to other chemomechanical processes studied in rocks, such as dislocations, glide, diffusive mass transfer, recrystallization, and precipitation.
Simulations of cloud‐radiation interaction using large‐scale forcing derived from the CINDY/DYNAMO northern sounding array
Authors: Wang Shuguang , Sobel Adam H. , Fridlind Ann , Feng Zhe , Comstock Jennifer M. , Minnis Patrick , Nordeen Michele L.
Published: September 2015

The recently completed CINDY/DYNAMO field campaign observed two Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) events in the equatorial Indian Ocean from October to December 2011. Prior work has indicated that the moist static energy anomalies in these events grew and were sustained to a significant extent by radiative feedbacks. We present here a study of radiative fluxes and clouds in a set of cloud‐resolving simulations of these MJO events. The simulations are driven by the large‐scale forcing data set derived from the DYNAMO northern sounding array observations, and carried out in a doubly periodic domain using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Simulated cloud properties and radiative fluxes are compared to those derived from the S‐PolKa radar and satellite observations. To accommodate the uncertainty in simulated cloud microphysics, a number of single‐moment (1M) and double‐moment (2M) microphysical schemes in the WRF model are tested. The 1M schemes tend to underestimate radiative flux anomalies in the active phases of the MJO events, while the 2M schemes perform better, but can overestimate radiative flux anomalies. All the tested microphysics schemes exhibit biases in the shapes of the histograms of radiative fluxes and radar reflectivity. Histograms of radiative fluxes and brightness temperature indicate that radiative biases are not evenly distributed; the most significant bias occurs in rainy areas with OLR less than 150 W/m2 in the 2M schemes. Analysis of simulated radar reflectivities indicates that this radiative flux uncertainty is closely related to the simulated stratiform cloud coverage. Single‐moment schemes underestimate stratiform cloudiness by a factor of 2, whereas 2M schemes simulate much more stratiform cloud.
‘Who's the Thief?’ The Influence of Knowledge and Experience on Early Detection of Criminal Intentions
Authors: Koller Corinne Ines , Wetter Olive Emil , Hofer Franziska
Published: September 2015

Our study investigates if people are able to recognize thieves based on their nonverbal behavior prior to committing the crime. We implemented authentic closed‐circuit television footage from thefts committed at an international airport into a computer‐based test. Five groups of participants (students, police recruits, inexperienced police officers, experienced police officers, and criminal investigators) were studied. The results show that criminals display nonverbal behavior that can be used by observers for early recognition of criminal intentions. In addition, early recognition seems to benefit from knowledge about the criminals' modi operandi (criminal investigators performed best), which renders early recognition teachable and trainable. Further, all participants seem to be biased towards innocence, but this bias was less pronounced in police officers than in students. These findings are discussed in relation to the well‐documented truth‐bias and investigator‐bias in lie detection research as well as taking our measurement method into account.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
How we diagnose and treat iron deficiency anemia
Authors: Auerbach Michael , Adamson John W.
Published: September 2015

It is estimated that one‐third of the world's population is anemic, the majority being due to iron deficiency (ID). In adults, ID is associated with fatigue in the absence of anemia, restless legs syndrome, pica and, in neonates, delayed growth and development. In adolescents, ID is associated with decrements in learning and behavioral abnormalities. In the absence of a clear cause, search for a source of bleeding is indicated. No single test is diagnostic of ID unless the serum ferritin is low or the percent transferrin saturation is low with an elevated total iron binding capacity. Oral iron is considered front line therapy except for conditions such as gastric bypass, heavy uterine bleeding, inflammatory bowel disease, and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Oral iron has many unpleasant side effects, resulting in low patient adherence. For patients intolerant of, or unresponsive to, oral iron, intravenous (IV) administration is the preferred route. While early formulations were associated with a high incidence of serious adverse events (SAEs), newer formulations are much safer with SAEs occurring very infrequently. Full replacement doses can be administered in a matter of minutes to a few hours. Nevertheless, there remains a reluctance to use IV iron due to a misunderstanding of the safety of the available formulations. IV iron is safe and effective in all clinical circumstances including pregnancy. The preponderance of published evidence suggests IV iron therapy is underutilized and we believe that IV iron should be moved forward in the treatment of ID and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Am. J. Hematol. 91:31–38, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A three‐signal model of T‐cell lymphoma pathogenesis
Authors: Wilcox Ryan A.
Published: September 2015

T‐cell lymphoma pathogenesis and classification have, until recently, remained enigmatic. Recently performed whole‐exome sequencing and gene‐expression profiling studies have significant implications for their classification and treatment. Recurrent genetic modifications in antigen (“signal 1”), costimulatory (“signal 2”), or cytokine receptors (“signal 3”), and the tyrosine kinases and other signaling proteins they activate, have emerged as important therapeutic targets in these lymphomas. Many of these genetic modifications do not function in a cell‐autonomous manner, but require the provision of ligand(s) by constituents of the tumor microenvironment, further supporting the long‐appreciated view that these lymphomas are dependent upon and driven by their microenvironment. Therefore, the seemingly disparate fields of genomics and immunology are converging. A unifying “3 signal model” for T‐cell lymphoma pathogenesis that integrates these findings will be presented, and its therapeutic implications briefly reviewed. Am. J. Hematol. 91:113–122, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Isodicentric Y mosaicism involving a 46, XX cell line: Implications for management
Authors: Hipp Lauren E. , Mohnach Lauren H. , Wei Sainan , Thomas Inas H. , Elhassan Maha E. , Sandberg David E. , Quint Elisabeth H. , Keegan Catherine E.
Published: September 2015

Carriers of isodicentric Y (idicY) mosaicism exhibit a wide range of clinical features, including short stature, gonadal abnormalities, and external genital anomalies. However, the phenotypic spectrum for individuals carrying an idicY and a 46, XX cell line is less clearly defined. A more complete description of the phenotype related to idicY is thus essential to guide management related to pubertal development, fertility, and gonadoblastoma risk in mosaic carriers. Findings from the evaluation of twin females with an abnormal karyotype, 48, XX, +idic(Yq) x2/47, XX, +idic(Yq)/46, XX, are presented to highlight the importance of interdisciplinary care in the management of multifaceted disorders of sex development. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Common variants of HTR1A and SLC6A4 confer the increasing risk of Schizophrenia susceptibility: A population‐based association and epistasis analysis
Authors: Lin Huali , Lei Ying , Zhang Bo , Dai Zunxiao , Lu Xiaoyun
Published: September 2015

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex psychiatric disorder strongly influenced by genetic variants, some of which are associated with mood disorders. The neurotransmitter 5‐hydoxytryptamine (5‐HT) and its related biochemical factors have been shown to play a significant role in maintaining mood balance. Recent studies evaluating the association between SZ and genetic polymorphisms in a serotonin transporter (encoded by SLC6A4) and serotonin receptor 1A (encoded by HTR1A) show conflicting results. In this study, we performed a case‐control association analysis using 4,000 individuals with Chinese‐Han ancestry. Of these participants, 1,000 were SZ cases and 3,000 were healthy controls. Thirty‐six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in SLC6A4 and HTR1A were genotyped in our 4,000 study samples. Of those, 33 polymorphic SNPs with a minor allele frequency >0.05 were used for further analysis. We found that rs878567 in HTR1A (asymptotic P‐value = 3.89×10−4, corrected P‐value = 0.0106) was significantly associated with SZ. Further haplotype‐based analyses revealed that a two‐SNP haplotype, rs2054847‐rs140701 (TG) in gene SLC6A4, was significantly associated with SZ (P‐value = 1.63×10−4 and corrected P‐value = 0.002799). We did not identify any significant epistatic interactions between the two genes. Our findings provide supportive evidence that genetic polymorphisms in SLC6A4 and HTR1A may influence the risk of SZ in Han Chinese individuals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Differences in the effects of age on the development of entheseal changes among historical Japanese populations
Authors: Yonemoto Shiori
Published: September 2015

Objective

This study aims to determine the impacts of both age and physical activity on entheseal changes at sites of muscle and ligament attachment, and proposes that the influence of age on entheseal changes may depend on specific social systems.

Methods

Entheseal markers of 193 individuals excavated from archaeological sites in Japan were examined, and archaeological evidence from those sites was used to determine the subsistence activities that those individuals engaged in. Fifteenth‐century samples were either fishermen or Agehamashiki salt manufacturers, while samples from between the late 17th century and the 19th century were peasants, townspeople, or samurai. Nineteen entheses were examined using the scoring method of Hawkey and Merbs (1995) to clarify the degree to which age influenced entheseal severity of a given sample as well as the differences in the degree to which age influenced entheseal changes among samples.

Results

Results indicated that age influenced entheseal changes; however, the degree to which age influenced entheseal development was dependent on the characteristic physical activities associated with an individual's class and occupation. Furthermore, in certain groups, aging did not significantly impact entheseal changes.

Discussion

The degree to which age influenced entheseal changes was dependent on characteristic physical activities associated with an individual's class and occupation. This indicated that physical activities and lifestyle, along with age, were major factors that contributed to entheseal changes. Based on these results, it was concluded that entheseal changes could serve as a useful tool in the reconstruction of physical activities of past populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:267–283, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mechanical properties study of micro‐ and nano‐hydroxyapatite reinforced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites
Authors: Kang Xueqin , Zhang Wei , Yang Chunmin
Published: September 2015

This is a comparative study between ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced with micro‐ and nano‐hydroxyapatite (HA) under different filler content. The micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites were prepared by hot‐pressing method, and then compression strength, ball indentation hardness, creep resistance, friction, and wear properties were investigated. To explore mechanisms of these properties, differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectrum, wettability, and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry analysis were carried out on the samples. The results demonstrated that UHMWPE reinforced with micro‐ and nano‐HA would improve the ball indentation hardness, compression strength, creep resistance, wettability, and wear behavior. The mechanical properties for both micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites were comparable with pure UHMWPE. The mechanical properties of nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites are better compared with micro‐HA/UHMWPE composites and pure UHMWPE. The optimum filler quantity of micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites is found to be at 15 wt % and 10 wt %, separately. The micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites exhibit a low friction coefficient and good wear resistance at this content. The worn surface of HA/UHMWPE composites shows the wear mechanisms changed from furrow and scratch to surface rupture and delamination when the weight percent of micro‐ and nano‐HA exceed 15 wt % and 10 wt %. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42869.
Improved dielectric performance of polypropylene/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites by solid‐phase orientation
Authors: Lin Xiang , Tian Jie‐Wei , Hu Peng‐Hao , Ambardekar Rohan , Thompson Glen , Dang Zhi‐Min , Coates Phil
Published: September 2015

By means of a die‐drawing technique in the rubbery state, the effect of the orientation of the microstructure on the dielectric properties of polypropylene (PP)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites was examined in this study. The viscoelastic behavior of the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites with MWCNT weight loadings ranging from 0.25 to 5 wt % and the dielectric performance of the stretched PP/MWCNT nanocomposites at different drawing speeds and drawing ratios were studied to obtain insight into the influences of the dispersion and orientation state of the MWCNTs and matrix molecular chains. A viscosity decrease (ca. 30%) of the PP/MWCNT‐0.25 wt % (weight loading) melt was obviously due to the free volume effect. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction were adopted to detect the orientation structure and the variation of crystal morphology of the PP/MWCNTs. Melting plateau regions, which indicated the mixed crystallization morphology for the stretched samples, were found in the DSC patterns instead of a single‐peak for the unstretched samples. We found that the uniaxial stretching process broke the conductive MWCNT networks and consequently increased the orientation of MWCNTs and molecular chains along the tensile force direction; this led to an improvement in the dielectric performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42893.
Development of thermally conductive polymer matrix composites by foaming‐assisted networking of micron‐ and submicron‐scale hexagonal boron nitride
Authors: Ding Hao , Guo Yanting , Leung Siu Ning
Published: September 2015

Thermally conductive polymer matrix composite (PMC) foams with effective thermal conductivities (keff) higher than their solid counterparts have been developed for the first time. Using a material system consists of low density polyethylene and micron‐scale or submicron‐scale hexagon boron nitride platelets as a case example, this article demonstrates that foaming‐assisted filler networking is a feasible processing strategy to enhance PMC's keff, especially at a low hBN loading. Parametric studies were conducted to identify the structure‐to‐property relationships between foam morphology (e.g., cell population density, cell size, and foam expansion) and the PMC foam's keff. In particular, there exists an optimal cell size to maximize the PMC foam's keff for foams with up to 50% volume expansion. However, an optimal cell size is absent for PMC foams with higher volume expansion. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analyses reveal that both the presence of hBN platelets and foam expansion promoted the crystallization of LDPE phase. Moreover, the XRD spectra also provide evidence for the effect of foam expansion on the orientation of hBN platelets. Overall, the findings provide new directions to design and fabricate thermally conductive PMC foams with low filler contents for heat management applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42910.
Maternal asthma medication use during pregnancy and risk of congenital heart defects
Authors: Van Zutphen Alissa R. , Bell Erin M. , Browne Marilyn L. , Lin Shao , Lin Angela E. , Druschel Charlotte M. ,   for the National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Published: September 2015

Background

Asthma affects 4% to 8% of pregnant women and studies suggest maternal asthma, particularly when uncontrolled, may be associated with adverse reproductive outcomes.

Methods

We examined self‐reported asthma medication use and the risk of congenital heart defects (CHD) in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multi‐center, population‐based case–control study of selected major structural defects. We evaluated maternal use of bronchodilators and anti‐inflammatories during the periconceptional period (1 month before conception through the first 3 pregnancy months) among 7638 infants with CHDs and 8106 nonmalformed controls with estimated delivery dates from 1997 to 2007. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for 20 types of CHDs.

Results

Among asthma medications reported during the periconceptional period among controls, albuterol accounted for 85.1% of all bronchodilator use, and fluticasone, prednisone, and montelukast accounted for 46.1%, 15.6%, and 14.9% of anti‐inflammatory use, respectively. Of the women who reported bronchodilators during the periconceptional period, 71.1% reported use throughout pregnancy and only 29.4% reported concurrent use of an anti‐inflammatory. We observed one statistically significant association between maternal bronchodilator use only and anomalous pulmonary venous return (odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.1–4.8) among numerous comparisons.

Conclusion

We did not observe statistically significant associations between the reported use of asthma medications during pregnancy and most specific types of CHDs. Despite limitations in our inability to evaluate asthma status and severity, our study suggests that maternal asthma medication use does not substantially, if at all, increase the risk of CHDs. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 103:951–961, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Success rates for consent and collection of prenatal biological specimens in an epidemiologic survey of child health
Authors: Abdul‐Rahman Omar A. , Rodriguez Beatriz , Wadlinger Sandra R. , Slutsman Julia , Boyle Elizabeth B. , Merrill Lori S. , Botkin Jeffrey , Moye Jack
Published: September 2015

Background

The National Children's Study (NCS) Vanguard Study began enrollment in January 2009 as an initial pilot study for a planned large‐scale, longitudinal U.S. cohort study of the effect of environmental influences on child health and development, with biological and environmental sample collection conducted in seven locations from April 2009 to October 2010. We sought to determine rates of consent for, and success of collection of, maternal and paternal biospecimens before and during pregnancy in the NCS Vanguard Study.

Methods

Samples of blood, saliva, vaginal swabs, urine, hair, and nails were collected before and during pregnancy. All specimens were sent to a central repository for processing, storage, and quality assessment.

Results

Of 780 pregnant women asked to consent to sample collection, 773 (>99%) agreed, and of 295 nonpregnant women, 292 (99%) agreed. Of 440 fathers asked to consent to sample collection, 435 (99%) agreed. Frequency of successful collection of biospecimens varied depending on sample and visit type. In descending order, the ranges over all visit types of the proportion of expected samples successfully collected from women were: urine, 92.5 to 95.7%; hair, 89.6 to 92.5%; vaginal swab, 84.2 to 88.5%; blood, 74.9 to 78.5%; 2‐day saliva, 65.8 to 81.6%; and nails, 76.4 to 76.7%. For fathers, rates were highest for urine (94.9%) and lowest for hair (63.0%).

Conclusion

High rates of consent for and collection of a wide variety of biospecimens can be achieved in prospective epidemiologic cohort studies of pregnant women. Ease of sample collection may be a primary factor influencing successful biospecimen collection. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:47–54, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Risk of severe hypoglycemia in sulfonylurea‐treated patients from diabetes centers in Germany/Austria: How big is the problem? Which patients are at risk?
Authors: Schloot Nanette C. , Haupt Axel , Schütt Morten , Badenhoop Klaus , Laimer Markus , Nicolay Claudia , Reaney Matthew , Fink Katharina , Holl Reinhard W.
Published: September 2015

Background

We investigated the rate of severe hypoglycemic events and confounding factors in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with sulfonylurea at specialized diabetes centers, documented in the German/Austrian DPV–Wiss database.

Methods

Data from 29 485 sulfonylurea‐treated patients were analyzed (median[IQR] age 70.8[62.2–77.8] years, diabetes duration 8.2[4.3–12.8] years). The primary objective was to estimate the event rate of severe hypoglycemia (requiring external help, causing unconsciousness/coma/convulsion and/or emergency hospitalization). Secondary objectives included exploration of confounding risk factors through group comparison and Poisson regression.

Results

Severe hypoglycemic events were reported in 826(2.8%) of all patients during their most recent year of sulfonylurea treatment. Of these, n = 531(1.8%) had coma, n = 501(1.7%) were hospitalized at least once. The adjusted event rate of severe hypoglycemia [95%CI] was 3.9[3.7–4.2] events/100 patient‐years (coma: 1.9[1.8–2.1]; hospitalization: 1.6[1.5–1.8]). Adjusted event rates by diabetes treatment were 6.7 (sulfonylurea + insulin), 4.9 (sulfonylurea + insulin + other OAD), 3.1 (sulfonylurea + other OAD) and 3.8 (sulfonylurea only). Patients with ≥1 severe event were older (p < 0.001) and had longer diabetes duration (p = 0.020) than patients without severe events. Participation in educational diabetes‐programs and indirect measures of insulin‐resistance (increased BMI, plasma‐triglycerides) were associated with fewer events (all p < 0.001). Impaired renal function was common (n = 3113 eGFR; ≤30 mL/min) and associated with an increased rate of severe events (≤30 mL/min: 7.7; 30‐60 mL/min: 4.8; >60 mL/min: 3.9).

Conclusions

These real‐life data showed a rate of severe hypoglycemia of 3.9/100 patient‐years in sulfonylurea‐treated patients from specialized diabetes centers. Higher risk was associated with known risk factors including lack of diabetes education, older age and decreased eGFR but also with lower BMI and lower triglyceride levels, suggesting that sulfonylurea treatment in those patients should be considered with caution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Yeast Elongator protein Elp1p does not undergo proteolytic processing in exponentially growing cells
Authors: Xu Hao , Bygdell Joakim , Wingsle Gunnar , Byström Anders S.
Published: September 2015

In eukaryotic organisms, Elongator is a six‐subunit protein complex required for the formation of 5‐carbamoylmethyl (ncm5) and 5‐methylcarboxymethyl (mcm5) side chains on uridines present at the wobble position (U34) of tRNA. The open reading frame encoding the largest Elongator subunit Elp1p has two in‐frame 5′ AUG methionine codons separated by 48 nucleotides. Here, we show that the second AUG acts as the start codon of translation. Furthermore, Elp1p was previously shown to exist in two major forms of which one was generated by proteolysis of full‐length Elp1p and this proteolytic cleavage was suggested to regulate Elongator complex activity. In this study, we found that the vacuolar protease Prb1p was responsible for the cleavage of Elp1p. The cleavage occurs between residues 203 (Lys) and 204 (Ala) as shown by amine reactive Tandem Mass Tag followed by LC‐MS/MS (liquid chromatography mass spectrometry) analysis. However, using a modified protein extraction procedure, including trichloroacetic acid, only full‐length Elp1p was observed, showing that truncation of Elp1p is an artifact occurring during protein extraction. Consequently, our results indicate that N‐terminal truncation of Elp1p is not likely to regulate Elongator complex activity.
Is Dominant‐Side Onset Associated With a Better Motor Compensation in Parkinson's Disease?
Authors: Ham Jee H. , Lee Jae J. , Kim Jae S. , Lee Phil H. , Sohn Young H.
Published: September 2015

Introduction

Unilateral onset and persistent asymmetry of motor signs are unique features of PD. The dominant hemisphere may have more efficient motor networks with greater neural reserve to cope with pathological changes. Therefore, this study compared dominant‐side onset and non‐dominant‐side onset PD to evaluate whether dominant‐side onset patients have greater neural reserve and fewer motor deficits despite similar pathological changes.

Methods

We included the data of 157 consecutive, de novo PD patients with documented right‐handedness who underwent dopamine transporter PET scans for an initial diagnostic workup. Among them, 118 patients with significant asymmetric motor deficits were selected for the analyses.

Results

Dominant‐side patients (i.e., the majority of motor deficits on the right side) showed significantly fewer motor deficits (i.e., the part III score of the UPDRS) than non‐dominant‐side patients (18.0 ± 8.1 and 22.9 ± 10.1, respectively; P = 0.005). Other variables, including symptom duration and striatal dopaminergic activities, were similar between the two groups. A general linear model showed that this difference in motor deficits remained statistically significant after controlling for patient age, sex, symptom duration, and striatal dopaminergic activity in the posterior putamen (P = 0.013).

Conclusion

These results suggest that dominant‐side patients have greater neural reserve, allowing them to better cope with PD‐related pathological changes (i.e., fewer motor deficits despite similar dopamine reduction) compared to non‐dominant‐side patients. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Minor hallucinations occur in drug‐naive Parkinson's disease patients, even from the premotor phase
Authors: Pagonabarraga Javier , Martinez‐Horta Saul , Fernández de Bobadilla Ramón , Pérez Jesús , Ribosa‐Nogué Roser , Marín Juan , Pascual‐Sedano Berta , García Carmen , Gironell Alexandre , Kulisevsky Jaime
Published: September 2015

Objectives

The description of minor hallucinatory phenomena (presence, passage hallucinations) has widened the spectrum of psychosis in Parkinson's disease (PD). Minor hallucinatory phenomena seem to antedate the development of more severe hallucinations. Early detection of minor hallucinations may be useful for screening patients with more severe endophenotypes. Motivated by the observation of “de novo,” drug‐naive PD patients reporting minor hallucinations, we aimed to prospectively identify “de novo” untreated PD patients experiencing hallucinatory phenomena, and to compare their clinico‐demographic characteristics with those of untreated PD patients without hallucinations and healthy controls.

Methods

Screening and description of psychosis was assessed by the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale—Part I and a structured interview covering all types of psychotic phenomena reported in PD. Clinical, neuropsychological, and demographic data of PD patients with and without psychotic phenomena were compared with those of age‐ and education‐matched healthy controls.

Results

Fifty drug‐naive, “de novo” PD patients and 100 controls were prospectively included. Minor hallucinations were experienced in 42% (21 of 50) PD patients and 5% controls (P < 0.0001). Coexistence of passage and presence hallucinations was the most common finding. Unexpectedly, 33.3% of patients with minor hallucinations manifested these as a pre‐motor symptom, starting 7 months to 8 years before first parkinsonian motor symptoms. The presence of minor hallucinations was significantly associated with presence of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.

Conclusions

In this first study to prospectively analyze the frequency of minor hallucinatory phenomena in incident, untreated PD patients, hallucinations appeared as a frequent early non‐motor symptom that may even predate the onset of parkinsonism. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
A wideband ultrathin low profile metamaterial microwave absorber
Authors: Sood Deepak , Tripathi C. C.
Published: September 2015

A novel design of wideband ultrathin, low profile metamaterial microwave absorber has been presented. The structure is composed of a periodic array of microstrip bend, like structure printed on metal backed FR4 dielectric substrate. The 10 dB absorption bandwidth from 8.60 to 12.35 GHz covering X‐band has been observed in simulation for normal incidence. The FWHM bandwidth of 5.72 GHz has been observed ranging from 8.07 to 13.79 GHz. The proposed design is low profile (unit cell size 0.16 λ0) and is ultrathin (λ0/18 thick at center frequency of 10.47 GHz). The designed absorber is fabricated and experimentally verified for normal and oblique incidence angles. The performance of the proposed absorber at different angles of polarization has also been investigated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2723–2728, 2015
Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch antenna for circularly polarized radiation and RF energy harvesting
Authors: Bernard Loo B. K. , Nasimuddin  , Alphones A.
Published: September 2015

A novel circularly polarized (CP) Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch antenna is proposed for RF energy harvesting. The antenna consists of a Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch and an aperture‐coupled feeding network. A Teo‐shaped slot is embedded at the center of a circular‐patch and its size and rotation are optimized for wide‐beam CP radiation. The antenna prototype shows the 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 100 MHz (2.4–2.5 GHz) with 10‐dB return loss bandwidth is 33% (1.89–2.66 GHz). The 3‐dB AR beamwidth is around 100° with gain more than 6.0 dBic across the desired band. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2752–2758, 2015
Wide‐locking range single‐injection divide‐by‐3 injection‐locked frequency divider
Authors: Jang Sheng‐Lyang , Lin Guan‐Yu
Published: September 2015

This letter presents a wide‐locking range CMOS divide‐by‐3 injection‐locked frequency dividers (ILFD) using single‐ended injection signal. The fabricated 0.18 μm CMOS ÷3 ILFD uses cross‐coupled switching transistors, single‐injection MOSFET, and a dual‐resonance RLC resonator. The consumed power of the ÷3 ILFD core is 7.97 mW at the DC drain‐source voltage 0.76 V. At an external injected signal power Pinj = 0 dBm, the measured locking range is 2.97 GHz (25.25%) from 10.28 to 13.25 GHz and the operation range is 5.17 GHz (48.5%) from 8.08 to 13.25 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2720–2723, 2015
A decision support system based on wireless power metering for energy saving in smart buildings
Authors: Viani Federico
Published: September 2015

Energy saving in smart buildings is addressed through an innovative approach based on game theory (GT). Starting from the measurement of the users’ consumptions performed with wireless smart meters interconnected to the appliances, the collected data are processed by a control unit to evaluate the optimal load profiles and to suggest to the users the most convenient schedule of appliances. This is yielded by mathematically solving a multiplayer game throughout GT principles. The objective is that of reaching the Nash equilibrium in which all the players are not interested in changing their situation/status (i.e., the appliance scheduling) as every deviation would be suboptimal. Results from numerical simulations are reported to assess the performance of the proposed GT‐based method, while preliminary experimental tests are performed to show the potentialities of the system in real conditions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2750–2752, 2015
Compact wideband bandpass filter using fish spear‐shaped multimode resonator
Authors: Jhariya Dharmendra , Azad Amit Ranjan , Mohan Akhilesh , Sinha Manoranjan
Published: September 2015

A compact wide‐band pass filter (BPF) with sharp band rejection characteristics and wide upper stopband is presented in this article. The proposed bandpass filter is designed using a fish spear‐shaped multimode resonator (MMR). This fish spear‐shaped MMR has four arms and have five resonant modes, out of which three are even modes and the remaining two modes are odd. These modes lie in the wide frequency spectrum and they are used to realize the wideband passband of the filter. These five modes are brought closer by optimizing the dimensions of fish spear‐shaped MMR to get the desired passband. To improve out‐of band performance, a stepped impedance resonator is added at the central plane. The proposed wideband BPF filter have fractional bandwidth better than 85%. Moreover, to verify the proposed concept the designed filter is fabricated and measured. The measured bandwidth of proposed filter is 6.82 GHz and is from 2.55 to 9.37 GHz with an insertion loss of 2 dB. The measured return loss of the filter is better than 10 dB in the entire designed wideband. Measured results are validated with the simulated results. The group delay variation is less than 0.25 ns. A wide stopband with 15 dB attenuation is extended up to 20 GHz is obtained. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2833–2837, 2015
Compact quad‐ and quint‐band BPFs based on multimode stub loaded resonators
Authors: Chen Lei , Wei Feng
Published: September 2015

A multimode stub loaded resonator (SLR) is presented in this article. The proposed SLR can introduce four or five narrow passbands and has great flexibility to adjust the resonant frequencies. Due to the structural symmetry, the resonators are analyzed using even/odd mode method. Based on the analysis, two compact band‐pass filters (BPFs) with quad‐ and quint‐band responses are designed and good agreement between the simulated and measured results are observed. The quad‐band filter outperformances the other published ones and, to our best knowledge, the quint‐band BPF based on a quint‐mode resonator is the first one ever reported. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2837–2841, 2015
A compact tri‐band bandpass filter using novel stub‐loaded resonator
Authors: Yu Bin , Jia Baofu , Zhu Zhaojun
Published: September 2015

In this letter, a compact tri‐band bandpass filter (BPF) using novel stub‐loaded resonator is proposed. The resonator consists of one short stub and four open stubs which are symmetric about the middle open stub. Two coupling gaps were formed by the four bended open stubs, which contribute to the performance of second and third passband. The filter was designed, fabricated, and measured. Three passbands were designed to operate at 1.0, 2.4, and 3.5 GHz, respectively. The measured results of the tri‐band BPF exhibit a reasonable agreement with simulated results. The circuit only occupies 0.106 λg × 0.064 λg, where λg is the guided wavelength at lower passband center frequency. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2797–2800, 2015
Bandpass filter with wide stopband using loaded short‐section of parallel‐coupled lines
Authors: Marimuthu Jayaseelan , Abbosh Amin M. , Henin Bassem
Published: September 2015

A compact third order bandpass filter (BPF) using dual and trimode resonators is proposed. To achieve compact size with wide and highly attenuated stopband with achievable fractional bandwidth (FBW), the proposed filter is designed using a dual‐mode resonator in the form of a low‐impedance feeding network and a trimode resonator formed using a miniaturized (one twelfth of a wavelength) parallel‐coupled structure loaded with folded open‐ended stubs of high/low‐impedances and a semiannular resonator. To enable using easy to manufacture dimensions, the coupled structure of the resonator is designed to have moderate mode impedances. A complete design procedure for the filter is explained. Finally, a compact penta‐mode BPF with 35% FBW with sharp upper and lower cutoffs is built and tested. The simulated and measured performance of the filter show less than 0.3 dB insertion loss in the passband and more than 32 dB attenuation across a wide stopband with sharp upper (107 dB/GHz) and lower cutoff (96 dB/GHz) skirts. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2824–2829, 2015
Phase random metasurfaces for broadband wide‐angle radar cross section reduction
Authors: Shen Yang , Pei Zhibin , Pang Yongqiang , Wang Jiafu , Zhang Anxue , Qu Shaobo
Published: September 2015

Ultrathin phase random metasurfaces (PRMSs) for reducing radar cross section (RCS) over a wide range of frequencies and incident angles are presented. The PRMSs are formed by arraying disk‐shaped metal patches of random sizes on an ultrathin grounded dielectric layer. The electromagnetic wave incident on the PRMS feels a rough surface due to the random phase value of each inclusion. The energy is then redirected irregularly and thus the backward RCS reduction in the specular direction can be achieved. The bandwidth of RCS reduction can be broadened by expanding the distribution interval of the metal patch sizes. The experimental validation is performed and the measured result shows an acceptable agreement with the corresponding simulation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2813–2819, 2015
Erbium‐doped fiber laser for remote fiber grating sensor system
Authors: Gu Han‐Wen , Chen Jing‐Fu , Shiu Run‐Kai , Peng Peng‐Chun , Chen De‐Hua , Zhang Yan‐Xiang , Jhang Jhih‐Jiang
Published: September 2015

This article proposes an erbium‐doped fiber laser for remote fiber grating sensor system. Experimental results demonstrated that the sensitivity of wavelength of temperature tested from 25 to 85°C was 5 pm/°C and locating the proposed fiber sensor system 110 km away from the monitoring station ensured a high signal‐to‐noise ratio. The proposed fiber laser will facilitate the development of long‐distance or large‐scale fiber sensor systems and can be easily extended to multipoint sensing applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2809–2813, 2015
A novel tetraskelion dielectric resonator antenna for wideband applications
Authors: Kumar Jitendra , Mukherjee Biswajeet , Gupta Navneet
Published: September 2015

A novel tetraskelion dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) excited by a coaxial probe is investigated for wideband applications. The material used for investigation is Rogers TMM10i, which is a ceramic thermoset polymer composite material having a dielectric constant (
) of 9.8. The proposed geometry offers a wideband of 57.5% for an impedance bandwidth for |S11| < −10 dB from 3.85 to 6.96 GHz. The antenna covers most of the wireless systems like C‐band, WLAN, and Wi‐MAX applications. The experimentally measured results show the efficiency of 90% for the operational bandwidth and peak gain of 4.1 dBi at 5.25 GHz. It is also observed that the new proposed configuration reduces the DRA volume by 52% as compared with conventional rectangular DRA; with reduced volume of 6.48 cm3. The simulated and experimental results are well in agreement. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2781–2786, 2015
Compact UWB bandpass filters with two superposable notched bands
Authors: Yu Yingxin , Xiao Fei , Wang Ling , Tang Xiaohong , Guo Yingjiang
Published: September 2015

In this article, compact microstrip ultrawideband (UWB) bandpass filters with two superposable notched bands are discussed. By cascading n + 1 T‐shaped structures where n = 1 or 2 to a three coupled‐line section, UWB bandpass frequency response with one or two notched bands can be obtained. The analysis shows that these notched bands are superposable and can be relatively independently adjusted in wide frequency range. The simulated and measured results are presented for verification. The filters are characterized by easy tuning and compact size. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2819–2824, 2015
Novel Q‐factor enhancement technique for on‐chip spiral inductors and its application to cmos low‐noise amplifier designs
Authors: Meng Fanyi , Ma Kaixue , Yeo Kiat Seng , Xu Shanshan
Published: September 2015

In this article, a novel Q‐factor enhancement technique for on‐chip spiral inductors is presented. Symmetric return ground structure in traditional on‐chip spiral inductors is modified and shifted toward the side with stronger magnetic field caused by asymmetrical windings of inductors. In full‐wave electro‐magnetic simulation, it is observed that by applying this technique, inductor with higher Q‐factor and larger inductance is obtained with no cost of additional chip area. Using the proposed technique, on‐chip inductors are customized for a three‐stage cascode low‐noise amplifier (LNA) design. Fabricated in a commercial 65‐nm CMOS process, the LNA features peak gain of 26.3 dB, 21.8 mW power consumption, noise figure of 5.3 dB, output P1 dB of −4 dBm, and core size of 0.15 mm2. In the comparison with prior arts, the proposed design achieves the highest gain and figure‐of‐merit. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2883–2886, 2015
Quad reconfigurable antenna using dual‐patch elements
Authors: Abou Al‐Alaa M. , Elsadek H. A. , Abdallah E. A.
Published: September 2015

A quad reconfigurable antenna using 2 × 1 array of rectangular patches is investigated in this article starting from conventional microstrip antenna array with two elements. It offers reconfigurability for frequency, pattern, gain, and polarization in the same design. Modifications are added for conventional 2 × 1 antenna array to get multifunction reconfigurable antenna to change in frequency, pattern, gain, and polarization, simultaneously. Frequency reconfigurability is achieved between 1.88 and 2.45 GHz, the main beam direction of radiation pattern rotates between 0 and 30 degree (elevation angle). The proposed design offers antenna gain that can be switched between 5.7 and 7.8 dBi. Also, this design reconfigures between linear and circular polarization at 2.45 GHz. The proposed design is simulated using the CST Microwave studio 2012. The antenna array is fabricated using thin film photolithographic technique. The scattering parameters are measured using vector network analyzer E8719A. Measurements and simulations show good agreement. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2876–2883, 2015
Perforate‐arrays as an all‐dielectric gradient index metamaterial for HPM lens
Authors: Zhao Xue‐Long , Yuan Cheng‐Wei , Liu Lie , Peng Sheng‐Ren , Cai Dan
Published: September 2015

All‐dielectric metamaterials have high potential for practical applications in high power microwave (HPM) area. In this article, a beam deflected flat lens made of all‐dielectric metamaterial is proposed. Owning to the angular symmetry of the element, the lens is able to neglect the incoming microwave polarization. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2859–2862, 2015
Ultrawideband bandpass filters based on coupled electromagnetic band gap structures
Authors: Martinez‐Iranzo Ursula , Moradi Bahareh , Garcia‐Garcia Joan
Published: September 2015

In this letter, an ultrawideband (UWB) bandpass filter design, using coupled electromagnetic band gap structures, is proposed. Theoretical analysis is used to establish clear relations between physical parameters and the main filter characteristics. UWB bandpass filter from 3.1 to 10.7 GHz has been fabricated and measured. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2857–2859, 2015
Compact microstrip omnidirectional ultrawideband antenna with dual broadband nested U‐shaped slots and flat frequency response
Authors: Naghar A. , Alejos A. V. , Aghzout O. , Essaidi M.
Published: September 2015

In this article, we present a compact ultrawideband antenna with dual broadband‐notched characteristics centered at 3.4 and 5.5 GHz. The proposed antenna consists of a rectangular patch with a modified ground plane structure and 50 Ω microstrip‐fed line. By etching two opposite U‐shaped slots in the radiating patch, the notched bands of 3.375–3.945 GHz for WiMAX and 5.425–6.150 GHz for WLAN and HYPERLAN/2 were achieved. The antenna also offers a flat frequency response so minimizing the formation of spurs and precursors that ensures optimal time domain performance for ultrawideband radio applications. The return loss was measured to better than −10 dB over the entire band from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The antenna gain was larger than 2 dBi all over the frequencies with a flatness of 2.5 dB and an omnidirectional radiation pattern in the H‐plane. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2854–2856, 2015