bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Energy Level Tuning of Poly(phenylene‐alt‐dithienobenzothiadiazole)s for Low Photon Energy Loss Solar Cells
Authors: Heuvel Ruurd , van Franeker Jacobus J. , Janssen René A. J.
Published: January 2017

Six poly(phenylene‐alt‐dithienobenzothiadiazole)‐based polymers have been synthesized for application in polymer–fullerene solar cells. Hydrogen, fluorine, or nitrile substitution on benzo­thiadiazole and alkoxy or ester substitution on the phenylene moiety are investigated to reduce the energy loss per converted photon. Power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) up to 6.6% have been obtained. The best performance is found for the polymer–fullerene combination with distinct phase separation and crystalline domains. This improves the maximum external quantum efficiency for charge formation and collection to 66%. The resulting higher photocurrent compensates for the relatively large energy loss per photon (E
loss = 0.97 eV) in achieving a high PCE. By contrast, the poly­mer that provides a reduced energy loss (E
loss = 0.49 eV) gives a lower photocurrent and a reduced PCE of 1.8% because the external quantum efficiency of 17% is limited by a suboptimal morphology and a reduced driving force for charge transfer.

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Helical Microfilaments with Alternating Imprinted Intrinsic Curvatures
Authors: Silva Pedro Emanuel Santos , Godinho Maria Helena
Published: January 2017

There has been an intense research for developing techniques that can produce filaments with helical shapes, given the widespread of potential applications. In this work, how helices with different curvatures can be precisely imprinted in microfilaments is shown. It is also shown that using this technique, it is possible to produce, in a single fiber, helices with different curvatures. This striking and innovative behavior is observed when one side of the stretched filaments is irradiated with UV light, modifying the mechanical properties at surface. Upon release, the regions with higher curvature start to curl first, while regions with lower intrinsic curvature remain stretched until start to curl later. The results presented here can be important to understand why structures adopt a helical shape in general, which can be of interest in nanotechnology, biomolecular science, or even to understand why plant filaments curl.

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Differences in MDS‐UPDRS Scores Based on Hoehn and Yahr Stage and Disease Duration
Authors: Skorvanek Matej , Martinez‐Martin Pablo , Kovacs Norbert , Rodriguez‐Violante Mayela , Corvol Jean‐Christophe , Taba Pille , Seppi Klaus , Levin Oleg , Schrag Anette , Foltynie Thomas , Alvarez‐Sanchez Mario , Arakaki Tomoko , Aschermann Zsuzsanna , Aviles‐Olmos Iciar , Benchetrit Eve , Benoit Charline , Bergareche‐Yarza Alberto , Cervantes‐Arriaga Amin , Chade Anabel , Cormier Florence , Datieva Veronika , Gallagher David A. , Garretto Nelida , Gdovinova Zuzana , Gershanik Oscar , Grofik Milan , Han Vladimir , Huang Jing , Kadastik‐Eerme Liis , Kurtis Monica M. , Mangone Graziella , Martinez‐Castrillo Juan Carlos , Mendoza‐Rodriguez Amelia , Minar Michal , Moore Henry P. , Muldmaa Mari , Mueller Christoph , Pinter Bernadette , Poewe Werner , Rallmann Karin , Reiter Eva , Rodriguez‐Blazquez Carmen , Singer Carlos , Tilley Barbara C. , Valkovic Peter , Goetz Christopher G. , Stebbins Glenn T.
Published: January 2017

Background

The Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS) is a newly developed tool to assess Parkinson's disease (PD). Changes in scores on the scale over the course of PD, including increasing disease duration and Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stages, have not been described. The objectives of this study were to analyze MDS‐UPDRS scores on Parts I through IV and their differences based on HY stage and disease duration in a large cohort of patients with PD.

Methods

For this cross‐sectional study, demographic data and MDS‐UPDRS scores were collected, including HY stage. Subscores on MDS‐UPDRS Parts I through IV were analyzed using 1‐way analyses of variance for each HY stage and in 5‐year increments of disease duration. Part III (motor assessment) scores were analyzed separately for on and off states.

Results

The mean age of the 3206 patients was 65.8 ± 10.6 years, 53.3% were men, the mean disease duration was 11.5 ± 4.6 years, and the median HY stage was 2 (range, 0–5); 2156 patients were examined in an on state and 987 were examined in an off state. Scores for all MDS‐UPDRS parts increased significantly through HY stages 1 through 5, with an average increase of 3.8, 7.7, 14.6, and 2.0 points consecutively for parts I through IV, respectively. For the 5‐year increments of disease duration, MDS‐UPDRS subscores increased by an average of 1.6, 3.3, 4.2, and 1.4 points consecutively for parts I through IV, respectively. This increase was significant only during the first 15 years of disease for all 4 parts, including part III scores evaluated in both on and off states.

Conclusions

MDS‐UPDRS scores for all 4 parts increase significantly with every HY stage and also with 5‐year increments of disease duration in the first 15 years of the disease.
Management of sleep disorders in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy
Authors: Videnovic Aleksandar
Published: January 2017

Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are disorders associated with α synuclein‐related neurodegeneration. Nonmotor symptoms are common hallmarks of these disorders, and disturbances of the sleep–wake cycle are among the most common nonmotor symptoms. It is only recently that sleep disturbances have received the attention of the medical and research community. Significant progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology of sleep and wake disruption in alphasynucleinopathies during the past few decades. Despite these advancements, treatment options are limited and frequently associated with problematic side effects. Further studies that center on the development of novel treatment approaches are very much needed. In this article, the author discusses the current state of the management of disturbed sleep and alertness in PD and MSA. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Essential pitfalls in “essential” tremor
Authors: Espay Alberto J. , Lang Anthony E. , Erro Roberto , Merola Aristide , Fasano Alfonso , Berardelli Alfredo , Bhatia Kailash P.
Published: January 2017

Although essential tremor has been considered the most common movement disorder, it has largely remained a diagnosis of exclusion: many tremor and nontremor features must be absent for the clinical diagnosis to stand. The clinical features of “essential tremor” overlap with or may be part of other tremor disorders and, not surprisingly, this prevalent familial disorder has remained without a gene identified, without a consistent natural history, and without an acceptable pathology or pathophysiologic underpinning. The collective evidence suggests that under the rubric of essential tremor there exists multiple unique diseases, some of which represent cerebellar dysfunction, but for which there is no intrinsic “essence” other than a common oscillatory behavior on posture and action. One approach may be to use the term essential tremor only as a transitional node in the deep phenotyping of tremor disorders based on historical, phenomenological, and neurophysiological features to facilitate its etiologic diagnosis or serve for future gene‐ and biomarker‐discovery efforts. This approach deemphasizes essential tremor as a diagnostic entity and facilitates the understanding of the underlying disorders to develop biologically tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Approaches for mitigating over‐solving in multiphysics simulations
Authors: Senecal Jaron P. , Ji Wei
Published: January 2017

Multiphysics simulations are used to solve coupled physics problems found in a wide variety of applications in natural and engineering systems. Combining models of different physical processes into one computational tool is the essence of multiphysics simulation. A general and widely used coupling approach is to combine several ‘single‐physics’ numerical solvers, each already being well developed, mature/sophisticated into an iteration‐based computational package. This approach iterates over the constituent solvers at every time step, to obtain globally converged solutions. During the simulation, each single‐physics component is solved repeatedly until the feedback has been adequately resolved. However, the component problem solution only needs to be as precise as the feedback that it receives from the other component. Thus, computational effort expended to exceed such precision is wasted. This issue is usually called over‐solving. This paper proposes and discusses several methods that circumvent over‐solving. The residual balance, relaxed relative tolerance, alternating nonlinear, and solution interruption methods are described, and their performance is compared with Picard iteration. A steady state problem with coupling along an interface and a transient problem with two fields coupled throughout the spatial domain are solved as examples. These problems demonstrate that the savings associated with eliminating over‐solving can reach at least 30% without any loss in accuracy. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Approaching an experimental electron density model of the biologically active trans‐epoxysuccinyl amide group—Substituent effects vs. crystal packing
Authors: Shi Ming W. , Stewart Scott G. , Sobolev Alexandre N. , Dittrich Birger , Schirmeister Tanja , Luger Peter , Hesse Malte , Chen Yu‐Sheng , Spackman Peter R. , Spackman Mark A. , Grabowsky Simon
Published: January 2017

The trans‐epoxysuccinyl amide group as a biologically active moiety in cysteine protease inhibitors such as loxistatin acid E64c has been used as a benchmark system for theoretical studies of environmental effects on the electron density of small active ingredients in relation to their biological activity. Here, the synthesis and the electronic properties of the smallest possible active site model compound are reported to close the gap between the unknown experimental electron density of trans‐epoxysuccinyl amides and the well‐known function of related drugs. Intramolecular substituent effects are separated from intermolecular crystal packing effects on the electron density, which allows us to predict the conditions under which an experimental electron density investigation on trans‐epoxysuccinyl amides will be possible. In this context, the special importance of the carboxylic acid function in the model compound for both crystal packing and biological activity is revealed through the novel tool of model energy analysis.
Processable cyanate ester resin from Cis resveratrol
Authors: Cambrea Lee R. , Davis Matthew C. , Garrison Michael D. , Groshens Thomas J. , Lyon Richard E. , Safronava Natallia
Published: January 2017

Trans resveratrol isomerizes to cis resveratrol (cRes) with ultra‐violet light and undergoes cyanation to the new compound cRes tricyanate (2). Monomer 2 polymerizes to a polycyanurate that is remarkably stable to heat with a glass transition temperature > 350 °C and char yield of 73% in air up to 600 °C. The monomer 2 melts at <80 °C with a wide processing window before polymerization. The new thermosetting resin made from a natural product is a useful matrix material for polymer matrix composites requiring high‐performance characteristics. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 971–980
Clickable polyurethanes based on s‐triazine ring containing aromatic diisocyanate bearing pendent alkyne group: Synthesis and postmodification
Authors: Garg Kavita , Chatterjee Deepshikha , Wadgaonkar Prakash P.
Published: January 2017

A new s‐triazine ring containing aromatic diisocyanate bearing a pendent alkyne group, namely, 2,4‐bis(4‐isocyanatophenoxy)−6‐(prop‐2‐yn‐1‐yloxy)−1,3,5‐triazine was synthesized and reacted with various diols viz., 1,10‐decanediol, tetraethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate as the catalyst to obtain a series of linear polyurethanes. The selected polyurethanes possessing pendent alkyne groups were postmodified with chemically diverse azides viz., 1‐(azidomethyl)benzene, 1‐(azidomethyl)pyrene, and methoxy end‐caped poly(ethylene glycol) azide via copper‐catalysed azide‐alkyne Huisgen 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition. FTIR and 1H NMR spectra indicated quantitative click reaction. UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopic analysis confirmed complete incorporation of pyrenyl groups indicating the formation of fluorescence active polyurethane by postmodification with 1‐(azidomethyl)pyrene. TG analysis of polyurethanes indicated two stage weight loss and their thermal stability, as judged by T10 values, was governed by weight percent of urethane linkages. The water contact angle measurements revealed improved wettability with increased content of PEG either in the backbone of polyurethanes or as grafted chains. DLS and TEM studies confirmed that certain polyurethanes possessing PEG segments displayed self‐assembly in aqueous solution, which was further supported by pyrene encapsulation studies using UV–vis spectroscopy. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 1008–1020
Controlling domain orientation of liquid crystalline block copolymer in thin films through tuning mesogenic chemical structures
Authors: Xie He‐Lou , Li Xiao , Ren Jiaxing , Bishop Camille , Arges Christopher G. , Nealey Paul F.
Published: January 2017

Controlling the macroscopic orientation of nanoscale periodic structures of amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers (LC BCPs) is important to a variety of technical applications (e.g., lithium conducting polymer electrolytes). To study LC BCP domain orientation, a series of LC BCPs containing a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) block as a conventional hydrophilic coil block and LC blocks containing azobenzene mesogens is designed and synthesized. LC ordering in thin films of the BCP leads to the formation of highly ordered, microphase‐separated nanostructures, with hexagonally arranged PEO cylinders. Substitution on the tail of the azobenzene mesogen is shown to control the orientation of the PEO cylinders. When the substitution on the mesogenic tails is an alkyl chain, the PEO cylinders have a perpendicular orientation to the substrate surface, provided the thin film is above a critical thickness value. In contrast, when the substitution on the mesogenic tails has an ether group the PEO cylinders assemble parallel to the substrate surface regardless of the film thickness value. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017, 55, 532–541
Physically cross‐linked networks of POSS‐capped poly(acrylate amide)s: Synthesis, morphologies, and shape memory behavior
Authors: Cao Yuqin , Xu Sen , Li Lei , Zheng Sixun
Published: January 2017

In this work, we synthesized a novel organic–inorganic semitelechelic polymer from polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and poly(acrylate amide) (PAA) via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The organic–inorganic semitelechelic polymers have been characterized by means of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. It was found that capping POSS groups to the single ends of PAA chains caused a series of significant changes in the morphologies and thermomechanical properties of the polymer. The organic–inorganic semitelechelics were microphase‐separated; the POSS microdomains were formed via the POSS–POSS interactions. In a selective solvent (e.g., methanol), the organic–inorganic semitelechelics can be self‐assembled into the micelle‐like nanoobjects. Compared to plain PAA, the POSS‐capped PAAs significantly displayed improved surface hydrophobicity as evidenced by the measurements of static contact angles and surface atomic force microscopy. More importantly, the organic–inorganic semitelechelics displayed typical shape memory properties, which was in marked contrast to plain PAA. The shape memory behavior is attributable to the formation of the physically cross‐linked networks from the combination of the POSS–POSS interactions with the intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions in the organic–inorganic semitelechelics. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017, 55, 587–600
Strain Mediated Bandgap Reduction, Light Spectrum Broadening, and Carrier Mobility Enhancement of Methylammonium Lead/Tin Iodide Perovskites
Authors: Jiao Yalong , Ma Fengxian , Wang Hongxia , Bell John , Du Aijun
Published: January 2017

Density functional theory calculations are performed to study the electronic and optical properties of methylammonium lead/tin iodide perovskites under hydrostatic strain. It is found that the bandgap is significantly reduced to only 80/14 meV in lead/tin iodide perovskites under a moderate −6%/−4% strain. Such bandgap narrowing consequently induces the redshift of light absorption spectrum of the perovskite material by extending the onset light absorption edge by 200 meV. Additionally, applying external strain is also found to lighten the electron effective mass for CH3NH3PbI3/CH3NH3SnI3, thus enhancing the carrier mobility which benefits the collection of photogenerated charge carriers.
Inflation and localization tests in the development of an ensemble of 4D‐ensemble variational assimilations
Authors: Bowler N. E. , Clayton A. M. , Jardak M. , Lee E. , Lorenc A. C. , Piccolo C. , Pring S. R. , Wlasak M. A. , Barker D. M. , Inverarity G. W. , Swinbank R.
Published: January 2017

A new method for generating ensemble predictions based on an ensemble of data assimilations has been developed. Using an ensemble of four‐dimensional ensemble‐variational minimizations provides an approach which is close to the Met Office's operational data assimilation system and less computationally expensive than other alternatives. In developing this system, several inflation schemes have been compared. One form of additive inflation, based on analysis increments, was developed and found to be very effective at increasing the overall ensemble spread and correcting systematic biases in the model. However, the analysis increments are not flow‐dependent since they are randomly drawn from a long archive. It was decided to scale back their amplitude to avoid them dominating the overall performance. Of the other inflation schemes considered, it was found that relaxation‐to‐prior‐perturbations was the most effective at maintaining the ensemble spread. However, this scheme also produced perturbations which are too large‐scale and too balanced. The relaxation‐to‐prior‐spread scheme performed well in many respects, but required a relaxation factor greater than one to produce an acceptable spread. Therefore these two schemes were combined in order to mitigate the drawbacks of each. This combination proved successful and was used in final testing of the ensemble against the currently operational ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF). The ETKF has its perturbations centred around a high‐resolution ‘deterministic’ analysis. This was seen to be an important benefit, and the new ensemble system also benefited from being recentred around the high‐resolution analysis. This recentred system has slightly lower forecast skill than the ETKF over a variety of variables, due to the fact that the spread of this ensemble is less than the spread of the ETKF ensemble. The deficiency of the spread of the new ensemble system will be addressed in ongoing work.
RK‐IMEX HEVI schemes for fully compressible atmospheric models with advection: analyses and numerical testing
Authors: Colavolpe Charles , Voitus Fabrice , Bénard Pierre
Published: January 2017

Integration of the fully compressible non‐hydrostatic equations with horizontally implicit schemes creates scalability problems for massively parallel computing architectures. An alternative is to use horizontally explicit and vertically implicit (HEVI) approaches, where the implicit problems are only along the vertical direction. Besides this, various multi‐stage implicit–explicit (IMEX) methods, based on Runge–Kutta (RK) schemes, have been developed over recent years in order to achieve time discretizations free of any computational modes and possessing specified properties (accuracy‐order, number of implicit iterations, amount of storage, etc.). This article compares the analytical responses of three RK‐IMEX HEVI schemes (identified as attractive for atmospheric modelling), for a linear fully compressible system supporting gravity and acoustic waves as well as advection. Each scheme is analyzed in two variants, ‘UFPreF’ and ‘UFPreB’, recently proposed in the literature. The propagation of gravity waves is found to be generally well represented, but advection makes all UFPreB variants unstable; in contrast, they were more stable without advection. The instability is analyzed in a one‐dimensional framework and a new class of schemes is proposed to circumvent the problem (using four Butcher tableaux, at no extra cost). A particular member of this class is examined in detail: it is shown to be accurate and stable even with advection. Some numerical testing is provided to support the analyses in a more realistic context.
Overall convergence rate of delta operator systems subject to actuator saturation
Authors: Yang Hongjiu , Li Peng , Xia Yuanqing , Geng Qing
Published: January 2017

In this paper, overall convergence rate is considered for a delta operator system with actuator saturation. A saturation feedback law is presented for the delta operator system to obtain a desired overall convergence rate. Some properties on the overall convergence rate are revealed for time‐optimal actuator saturation delta operator systems. Limitations on the overall convergence rate are also investigated by proposed methods. An optimization problem is solved through a linear matrix inequality method to obtain the domain of attraction and overall convergence rate. Two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of Taxon‐Specific and Taxon‐Generic Risk Screening Tools to Identify Potentially Invasive Non‐native Fishes in the River Neretva Catchment (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia)
Authors: Glamuzina B. , Tutman P. , Nikolić V. , Vidović Z. , Pavličević J. , Vilizzi L. , Copp G. H. , Simonović P.
Published: January 2017

The Freshwater Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit (FISK) v2 and Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS‐ISK) risk identification screening tools were used to assess the invasiveness potential of 24 non‐native (NNS) freshwater fish species in the River Neretva catchment (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia), a risk assessment (RA) area that is an important Mediterranean hotspot for fish endemism. The two assessors assigned similar scores for the invasiveness potential of the NN fishes, and both screening tools successfully distinguished invasive from non‐invasive species. Mean calibrated threshold scores were 10.25 for FISK and 10.00 for AS‐ISK, with the latter increasing to 12.62 when questions that assess the likely impact of predicted future climate conditions on the RA were taken into consideration. These relatively low threshold values are characteristic of areas with an elevated number of translocated species and suggest that NN fishes pose a considerable threat to native species and ecosystems. FISK ranked 50.0–62.6% of the species as being of ‘high risk’ compared with 58.4–59.3% using AS‐ISK. The highest scores (‘very high risk’) were attributed to gibel carp Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782) and pikeperch Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758). The generic screening tool for aquatic species (AS‐ISK) provided similar risk rankings to its predecessor, FISK, as regards invasiveness potential. For this reason, it is likely to be an effective tool for evaluating the potential invasion risk of NNS freshwater fishes for other RA areas in the Balkans. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intuitive understanding of steady‐state and transient behaviors
Authors: Moxnes Erling , Davidsen Pål I.
Published: January 2017

A growing literature demonstrates how most people misperceive structure and behavior of even simple dynamic systems. Developing an intuitive understanding of dynamics is also challenging for system dynamics students and teachers. The main purpose of this article is to contribute to intuitive understanding of steady‐state and transient behaviors. Analytical solutions to illustrative sample models are used to analyze these behaviors. The analysis explains why simple rules of thumb about exponential growth, exponential decay, and oscillations often fail to fully explain behavior in higher‐order models. The analysis highlights the role of initial stock values and of what we term “stock coordination”. The exposed complexity of dynamics strengthens the need for simulations to test hypothesized explanations in terms of model structures. Copyright © 2017 System Dynamics Society
Crucial pitfall of DPA Contest V4.2 implementation
Authors: Martinasek Zdenek , Iglesias Felix , Malina Lukas , Martinasek Josef
Published: January 2017

Differential power analysis (DPA) is a powerful side‐channel key recovery attack that efficiently breaks cryptographic algorithm implementations. In order to prevent these types of attacks, hardware designers and software programmers make use of masking and hiding techniques. DPA contest is an international framework that allows researchers to compare their power analysis attacks under the same conditions. The latest version of DPA contest, denoted as V4.2, provides an improved implementation of the rotating S‐box masking scheme where low‐entropy boolean masking is combined with the shuffling technique to protect Advanced Encryption Standard implementation on a smart card. The improvements were designed based on the awareness of implementation lacks analyzed from attacks carried out during the previous DPA contest V4. Therefore, this new approach is devised to resist most of the proposed attacks to the original rotating S‐box masking implementation. In this paper, we investigate the security of this new implementation in practice. Our analysis, focused on exploiting the first‐order leakage, discovered important lacks. The main vulnerability observed is that an adversary can mount a standard DPA attack aimed at the S‐box output in order to recover the whole secret key even when a shuffling technique is used. We tested this observation on a public dataset and implemented a successful attack that revealed the secret key using only 35 power traces. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mass Spectrometric Coverage of Complex Mixtures: Exploring the Carbon Space of Crude Oil
Authors: Vetere Alessandro , Schrader Wolfgang
Published: January 2017

Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool to investigate complex reactions in complex matrices such as crude oils. However, certain requirements have to be met. Apart from a good instrument sensitivity and mass measurement accuracy, especially a certain minimum mass resolving power of above 500,000 at m/z 1000 needs to be reached to resolve critical peak pairs. If the desired parameters are met, a good coverage of the full compositional space or “carbon space” can be achieved to allow a comprehensive picture of the sample at hand. Here, the performance of a newly introduced High‐field Fourier Transform Orbitrap setup with nominal resolving power of 960,000 at m/z 400 is tested against the demands.
Ultrasensitive Fluorescent Biosensor for Creatinine Determination in Human Biofluids Based on Water Soluble Rhodamine B Dye‐Au3+ ions Conjugate
Authors: Ellairaja S. , Shenbagavalli K. , Vasantha V. S.
Published: January 2017

Simple, ultrasensitive and selective diagnostic tool is required for the quantification of creatinine in human biofluids. To the best of our knowledge, we are reporting the second fluorescent as well as colorimetric biosensor for creatinine with a very good linear range. We have utilized a simple water soluble Rhodamine B dye as a probe because of its excellent emitting properties and quantum yield. As a colorimetric biosensor, the dye has selectively detected the Au3+ ions in a ratiometric aspect through ICT mechanism among all other interfering metal ions. When the creatinine was introduced, the Au3+ ions were gradually released from the dye and binded with the creatinine which finally enhanced the fluorescent intensity. The Stern Volmer quenching constant Ksv was found to be 2.6 x 109 M−1. As a colorimetric biosensor, the limit of detection and linear range for creatinine are found to be 54 nM and 100 nM to 15 μM, respectively. Under the optimized condition, the fluorescent biosensor has detected the creatinine within the linear range of 10 nM to 1.2X10−3M along with the LOD of 5 nM. The linear range of developed biosensor implies that the biosensor can be applied for clinical diagnosis of muscle disorder (creatinine level < 40μM), extreme renal problem (creatinine level=1000μM). We have extended the application of this developed biosensor for the determination of creatinine in human urine sample and achieved a very good recovery.Introduction
Ag(I)‐Catalyzed Cyclizative Hydration of Alkynes and Propargylic Alcohols. A Mild Approach to 2‐Acylfuran Derivatives
Authors: Gandhi Soniya , Tharra Prabhakararao , Baire Beeraiah
Published: January 2017

We developed a mild strategy for the synthesis of 2‐acylfuran derivatives via cyclizative hydration of propargylic alcohols and alkynes, under Ag(I) catalysis. This is the first report employing the propargylic alcohols and their derivatives as alkyne partners in the cyclizative hydration process. This process found very broad scope for propargylic alcohols, alkynes and tethers. The highly chemo‐selective cyclizative hydration of 6‐acetoxy‐hex‐2‐en‐4‐ynal substrates suggests that, the acetoxy directed hydration of alkyne is not operable under Ag‐catalysis conditions and hence propargylic acetates can also be conveniently employed for the synthesis of 2‐(acetoxyacyl)furans.
Scalable Synthesis and Supramolecular Assembly of trans‐A2B2 Porphyrins with Pendant Carboxylic Functional Groups
Authors: Tripuramallu Bharat Kumar , Palakuri Ramesh , Titi Hatem M. , Goldberg Israel
Published: January 2017

This article deals with facile synthesis of A2B2 porphyrins bearing carboxylate groups at 5,15‐ positions and different functional groups at 10,20‐ positions viz. 4‐iodophenyl (a), 4‐tert‐butylphenyl (b), 3,5‐dimethoxyphenyl (c) 3‐carboxyphenyl (d), 2‐thienyl (e) 4‐nitrophenyl (f), 4‐methoxy‐2,3,5,6‐tetrafluorophenyl (g) and 2‐pyrenyl (h) as single major component in scalable yields. It relates also to the supramolecular assembly modes of these species. The use of stoichiometric amounts of trifluoroacetic acid in condensation of 5‐(4‐methoxycarbonylphenyl)dipyrromethane and different aldehydes led to the formation of trans‐porphyrins as di‐esters (1 a‐1 h). These were transformed by hydrolysis to the corresponding di‐acids (2 a‐2 h). (1 a‐1 h) and (2 a‐2 h) were then core‐metalated to afford the corresponding metalloporphyrin species (3 a‐3 h) and (4 a‐4 h). The absorption and emission spectra of the free base (2 a‐2 h) and metallated porphyrins (4 a‐4 h) were found greatly influenced by the substituents at 10,20‐positions. SEM studies of solids deposited on surfaces from solution exhibited hydrogen‐bonded block‐shaped structures of 2 e and fibrous sheets of 2 f. Co‐crystallization of 2 a and 2 g with 4,4′‐bipyridyl yielded hetero‐molecular structures stabilized by both hydrogen O−H⋅⋅⋅N, and halogen N⋅⋅⋅I bonds in 2 a, and by O−H⋅⋅⋅N hydrogen bonds and C−F⋅⋅⋅π interactions in 2 g.
An Efficient and Metal–free Synthesis of α‐Ketoesters via Oxidative Cross Coupling of Arylglyoxals with Alcohols
Authors: Vadagaonkar Kamlesh S. , Kalmode Hanuman P. , Shinde Suresh L. , Chaskar Atul C.
Published: January 2017

An efficient and metal‐free protocol has been developed for the synthesis of α‐ketoesters via oxidative cross coupling of arylglyoxals with alcohols by using N‐bromosuccinimide as an oxidant and 1,8‐Diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) as a base. The process involves cleavage of a C−H bond and construction of a C−O bond. Mild reaction conditions, short reaction time, broad substrate scope, operational simplicity and good to excellent yields of the products are remarkable features of this method.
Firm Lifecycles: Linking Employee Incentives and Firm Growth Dynamics
Authors: Bennett Victor M. , Levinthal Daniel A.
Published: January 2017

Research summary: While the economic advantages of scale are well understood, implications of the rate of firm growth are arguably less appreciated. Since firms' growth rate influences employees' promotion opportunities, the growth rate can have significant implications for the incentives employees face. Rapid growth, by creating more promotion opportunities, motivates employees to engage in extra‐role behaviors that might result in promotion should an opportunity arise. Building on this argument, we develop a formal model linking the design of firms' incentive structure to their rate of growth. The associated dynamics lead to three distinct epochs of firms' lifecycle: rapid growth and high‐powered incentives driven by frequent promotion opportunities; moderate growth with infrequent promotion opportunities, but large salary increases contingent on promotion; and finally, stagnant firms with low‐powered incentives.

Managerial summary: While being innovative can lead to a firm growing quickly, the opposite may also be true. Growing quickly may contribute to a firm's ability to improve its processes. Employees are often a source of process improving ideas. Employees' primary incentive to go “outside the job description” to improve those processes is often promotion. The availability of promotions, however, is linked to the firm's growth rate. Firms that are growing quickly can credibly promise to reward their most innovative employees with promotions. Established and slowly growing firms have fewer opportunities for growth, which gives employees less incentive to go “above and beyond.” This can mean that rapid growth can reinforce a firm's competitive advantage. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Low wind speed events: persistence and frequency
Authors: Patlakas Platon , Galanis George , Diamantis Dimitris , Kallos George
Published: January 2017

Over the last decades, wind energy industry has been growing with an increasing rate. This is highly relevant to the need of new wind farm site selection with certain standards such as high wind potential and accessibility. Even in windy areas, low wind speed persistence can be characterized as an extreme (non‐frequent) atmospheric condition for the electricity network as it can lead to low or no energy production. The current work is focused on the estimation of the duration and the frequency of occurrence of low wind speed events using the principles of extreme value theory. The two methods used are the ‘intensity given duration’ and the ‘duration given intensity’ that lead to the same point from different perspectives. The data used is derived from a 10 year, hindcast, high‐resolution database developed by the Atmospheric Modeling and Weather Forecasting Group of the University of Athens. The great potential and multinational interest concerning energy applications in the North Sea has led to its selection as a study area. The outcome of the study includes the development of intensity–duration–frequency curves as well as a comparison between the two methodologies adopted. Based on these, the largest period of no energy production for a preselected probability of occurrence is estimated for the area of interest. The results of this work could be potentially supportive for studying the regional climatology. Such information can be included in risk assessment techniques and can be applied among others for energy activities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The geometrically nonlinear Cosserat micropolar shear–stretch energy. Part I: A general parameter reduction formula and energy‐minimizing microrotations in 2D
Authors: Fischle Andreas , Neff Patrizio
Published: January 2017

In any geometrically nonlinear quadratic Cosserat‐micropolar extended continuum model formulated in the deformation gradient field and the microrotation field , the shear–stretch energy is necessarily of the form
urn:x-wiley:00442267:media:zamm201500194:zamm201500194-math-0003where is the Lamé shear modulus and is the Cosserat couple modulus. In the present contribution, we work towards explicit characterizations of the set of optimal Cosserat microrotations as a function of and weights and . For , we prove a parameter reduction lemma which reduces the optimality problem to two limit cases: and . In contrast to Grioli's theorem, we derive non‐classical minimizers for the parameter range in dimension . Currently, optimality results for are out of reach for us, but we contribute explicit representations for which we name and which arise for by fixing the rotation axis a priori. Further, we compute the associated reduced energy levels and study the non‐classical optimal Cosserat rotations for simple planar shear.
Patient Barriers to Accessing Surgical Cleft Care in Vietnam: A Multi‐site, Cross‐Sectional Outcomes Study
Authors: Swanson Jordan W. , Yao Caroline A. , Auslander Allyn , Wipfli Heather , Nguyen Thi‐Hai‐Duc , Hatcher Kristin , Vanderburg Richard , Magee William P.
Published: January 2017

Background

Most people who lack adequate access to surgical care reside in low‐ and lower–middle‐income countries. Few studies have analyzed the barriers that determine the ability to access surgical treatment. We seek to determine which barriers prevent access to cleft care in a resource‐limited country to potentially enable barrier mitigation and improve surgical program design.

Methods

A cross‐sectional, multi‐site study of families accessing care for cleft lip and palate deformities was performed in Vietnam. A survey instrument containing validated demographic, healthcare service accessibility, and medical/surgical components was administered. The main patient outcome of interest was receipt of initial surgical treatment prior to 18 months of age.

Results

Among 453 subjects enrolled in the study, 216 (48%) accessed surgical care prior to 18 months of age. In adjusted regression models, education status of the patient’s father (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.1–2.5) and male sex (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.1–2.4) were both associated with timely access to care. Distance and associated cost of travel, to either the nearest district hospital or to the cleft surgical mission site, were not associated with timing of access. In a sensitivity analysis considering care received prior to 24 months of age, cost to attend the surgical mission was additionally associated with timely access to care.

Conclusions

Half of the Vietnamese children in our cohort were not able to access timely surgical cleft care. Barriers to accessing care appear to be socioeconomic as much as geographical or financial. This has implications for policies aimed at reaching vulnerable patients earlier.
Tube Thoracostomy Complications Increase Cost
Authors: Hernandez Matthew C. , Zeb Muhammad H. , Heller Stephanie F. , Zielinski Martin D. , Aho Johnathon M.
Published: January 2017

Background

Tube thoracostomy (TT) can be an effective therapy for thoracic pathologies. Ineffective placement of TT is common and associated with significant complications. Complications require additional interventions to repair damaged tissues or replace dysfunctional TT. We hypothesize that complicated TT insertion increases cost to the hospital system.

Methods

Adult trauma patients requiring TT at a level 1 trauma center (2012–2013) were reviewed. Intraoperative or image‐guided TT placements were excluded. Baseline demographics and TT insertion cost (normalized and assigned by hospital billing records) were recorded. Costs included initial TT equipment, radiographs, and subsequent operative or radiologic intervention to correct TT complications. Complications were categorized using previously validated method. Secondary outcomes included: number of TT inserted, number of chest radiographs performed, and TT dwell time utilizing a standardized TT discontinuation protocol.

Results

A total of 154 patients with 246 TT were included. Ninety TT (37%) had complication. Complication categories are postremoval (n = 15, 16.7%), insertional (n = 13, 14.4%), positional (n = 62, 68.9%). Overall median complicated TT cost was 9 times greater than uncomplicated TT insertion, p = 0.001. Insertional complications median cost 21 times greater than an uncomplicated, due to operative and radiologic interventions (p = 0.0001). Positional and postremoval complication rates increased median cost by 3 times compared to uncomplicated TT (p = 0.03). Operative or radiologic interventions (n = 10) were performed for organ injury or uncontrolled hemo‐/pneumothorax. Increased dwell time median [IQR] was associated with complicated TT compared to uncomplicated 3 [1–5] versus 2 [1–3], p = 0.01.

Conclusion

TT is a common procedure. TT complications are often considered benign. However, patients with a complicated TT insertion, especially related to insertional subtypes, have markedly increased hospitalization costs due to need for operative or radiologic repair.

Level of evidence

Level V—retrospective study.

Study type

This is a retrospective single‐institution study.
Role of Postoperative C‐Reactive Protein Levels in Predicting Prognosis After Surgical Treatment of Esophageal Cancer
Authors: Ibuki Yuta , Hamai Yoichi , Hihara Jun , Emi Manabu , Taomoto Junya , Furukawa Takaoki , Yamakita Ichiko , Kurokawa Tomoaki , Okada Morihito
Published: January 2017

Background

Elevated preoperative serum C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels are reportedly associated with a poor prognosis for patients with various types of malignant tumors. However, the impact of postoperative CRP levels on the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer remains unknown. The present study aims to clarify the prognostic significance of postoperative CRP levels on the survival of patients with esophageal cancer.

Methods

We reviewed the records of consecutive 202 patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent transthoracic esophagectomy. We measured serum CRP levels on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 and evaluated the relationships between postoperative CRP levels and survival.

Results

The findings of Cox regression analyses suggested that elevated CRP levels on POD 3, 5 and 7 were associated with poor recurrence‐free survival (RFS). We divided CRP levels on POD 7 into three tertiles and found that RFS could be clearly stratified, being the poorest (p < 0.001) in the highest tertile (high CRP). The trend was similar even in patients with or without infectious complications and with or without advanced pathological stage. Multivariate analysis showed that pathologically advanced stage (Hazard ratio [HR], 5.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.67–9.87; p < 0.001) and high CRP (HR, 2.27; 95% CI 1.3–3.96; p = 0.004) were independent predictors of RFS.

Conclusion

Postoperative CRP levels could predict the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer. We propose that the clinical course of postoperative CRP level should be carefully monitored as a predictor of survival.
Identity and intensionality in Univalent Foundations and philosophy
Authors: Angere Staffan
Published: January 2017

The Univalent Foundations project constitutes what is arguably the most serious challenge to set-theoretic foundations of mathematics since intuitionism. Like intuitionism, it differs both in its philosophical motivations and its mathematical-logical apparatus. In this paper we will focus on one such difference: Univalent Foundations’ reliance on an intensional rather than extensional logic, through its use ofintensional Martin-Löf type theory. To this, UF adds what may be regarded as certain extensionality principles, although it is not immediately clear how these principles are to be interpreted philosophically. In fact, this framework gives an interesting example of a kind of border case between intensional and extensional mathematics. Our main purpose will be the philosophical investigation of this system, and the relation of the concepts of intensionality it satisfies to more traditional philosophical or logical concepts such as those of Carnap and Quine.
Strain Analysis of the Salem-Attur Shear Zone of Southern Granulite Terrane Around Salem, Tamil Nadu
Authors: Sundaralingam K. , Biswal T. K. , Thirukumaran V.
Published: January 2017

Salem-Attur shear zone in the Southern Granulite Terrane demarcates the tectonic boundary between Archaean granulites of Dharwar Craton and the Palaeoproterozoic granulites of Salem area. The shear zone marks a low angle thrust which has been steepened at places due to late stage folding. Static recrystallisation during late stage folding has removed the strain marker of mylonites to large extent. However, in a few places S-C angle and porphyroclasts are preserved and have been used to compute the strain. The strain shows apparent flattening by simple shear deformation with 35 % volume loss. A minimum displacement along the thrust has been computed to be 2.7 km. The strain k values increases with r suggesting the strain approaching towards prolate field with increase in strain intensity. The above study suggests the Salem-Attur shear zone is a thrust with low to moderate deformation and volume loss.
Drought Analysis and Its Implication in Sustainable Water Resource Management in Barind Area, Bangladesh
Authors: Rahman A. T. M. Sakiur , Jahan Chowdhury Sarwar , Mazumder Quamrul Hasan , Kamruzzaman Md. , Hosono Takahiro
Published: January 2017

The study analyzes drought using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Mann-Kendall (MK) Trend Test in the context of the impacts of drought on groundwater table (GWT) during the period 1971-2011 in the Barind area, Bangladesh. The area experienced twelve moderate to extreme agricultural droughts in the years 1972, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010. Some of them coincide with El Niño events. Hydrological drought also occurred almost in the same years. However, relationship between all drought events and El Niño is not clear. Southern and central parts of the area frequently suffer from hydrological drought, northern part is affected by agricultural drought. Trends in SPI values indicate that the area has an insignificant trend towards drought, and numbers of mild and moderate drought are increasing. GWT depth shows strong correlation with rainy season SPI values such that GWT regaining corresponds with rising SPI values and vice versa. However, 2000 onwards, GWT depth is continuously increasing even with positive SPI values. This is due to over-exploitation of groundwater and changes in cropping patterns. Agricultural practice in Barind area based on groundwater irrigation is vulnerable to drought. Hence, adaptation measures to minimize effects of drought on groundwater ought to be taken.