bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A revision of the luminance decay time estimation methods for photoluminescent products
Authors: Alcón Natividad , Tolosa Ángel , Picó Marcela , Iñigo Inma
Published: October 2010

We present a comparison between the methods used by two regulatory standards to estimate the luminance decay time for photoluminescent safety signs and safety way guidance systems (SWGS). One of these standards is the international ISO 16069. The other is the Spanish regulatory standard UNE 23035‐1. Both standards define the luminance decay time as the time for the luminance emitted by the photoluminescent sample to reach 0.3 mcd/m2 after the excitation light over the sample is removed. Due to the fact that decay time can be really long, they propose methods to estimate it by extrapolation. The points suggested by each standard to adjust the luminance decay time curve are quite different and so are the results obtained with them. To compare both methods, four different photoluminescent safety signs were tested using the methods provided by these two regulatory standards. The samples were illuminated for 5 min with a xenon‐arc source of light; luminance measurements after illumination were made with a B‐510 LMT photometer, for an interval of time according to methods explained by the standards. The results were compared with real measurements of luminance decay time for each sample, allowing the luminance value to reach 0.3 mcd/m2. Results obtained from the extrapolating methods provided by each standard showed that standard ISO 16069 was much more accurate than UNE 23035‐1, which showed important deviations from real decay time values. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011
Designing white‐light LED lighting for the display of art: A feasibility study
Authors: Berns Roy S.
Published: October 2010

When displaying art, several criteria must be balanced when designing illumination including the artist's intention, damage, energy efficiency, viewing experience and understanding, and for commercial galleries and sales. The most common lighting for art includes natural daylight and incandescent spotlights. Neither source is optimal for all criteria; thus there is considerable interest in the use of white‐light light‐emitting diode (LED) lighting. A feasibility study was conducted to address two questions. First, was it possible to design a three‐primary LED source that yielded the same color rendering as common museum lighting? Second, could one design the lighting to achieve specific color appearance attributes? Three‐primary lights using a Gaussian function were optimized matching the chromaticity of D65 and minimizing color differences for a set of acrylic dispersion paints. The optimal wavelengths depended on bandwidth. Lights were also optimized that either maximized or minimized average chroma. A set of real LEDs was selected that produced similar results when evaluated computationally. A source that increases chroma may be useful when used to illuminate works of art with high light sensitivity: very low illuminances are necessary and such a source will compensate for the reduction of colorfulness and visual clarity. A source that decreases chroma may be used to render art in similar fashion to low‐light conditions such as churches and caves. In general, white LED lighting is advantageous for art conservation because they do not emit UV and IR radiation and their visible radiation is reduced when compared with their continuous spectrum equivalent. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011
Skin‐color correction method based on hue template mapping for wide color gamut liquid crystal display devices
Authors: Chen Hung‐Shing , Wang Te‐Mei , Chen Shih‐Han , Liu Jin‐Sin
Published: October 2010

The development of wide color gamut (WCG) liquid crystal display (LCD) plays an important role in the high‐quality television (TV) field. Nowadays, people want their TV or display devices to have the capability of showing vivid colors while keeping skin colors as natural as they remember. Therefore, it is necessary to develop color‐correction technologies for WCG LCD system.

A new color‐correction method named “natural skin‐color mapping algorithm” (NSCMA) for WCG LCD is proposed in this study. It can solve the skin‐color contour problem in color‐corrected images with simple skin‐color detection. Its development is based on the concepts of performing color mapping between source hue colors and target hue colors on each hue page. The polynomial regression is also applied to calculate the color mapping conversion matrices.

Two color mapping factors called template‐size factor and tone‐compression factor are designed in NSCMA. The template‐size factor is used to adjust target template sizes adequately. The tone‐compression factor is designed to control the degrees of image enhancement. For facial skin‐color pictures, the appropriate settings of template‐size factor and tone‐compression factor will get suitable color image rendering on the WCG LCD.

It is demonstrated that the WCG LCD can be corrected to show vivid color pictures and keep facial skin colors as natural as possible when the proposed NSCMA is performed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011
Type‐safe concurrent resource sharing
Authors: Wittie Lea , Lockhart Jonathan
Published: October 2010

Concurrent systems often have many processes sharing a common set of resources, both memory regions and hardware devices. Among the many challenges in producing safe concurrent software are single access, atomic transactions, starvation, and deadlock. Locks are frequently used to provide single access to shared resources, but do not guarantee safe usage. This paper extends the previous work on linear, singleton, and arithmetic types and linear memory primitives. Our contributions are capabilities for shared resources, and locks to control these capabilities in provably safe ways. We present formalized locks in a lambda calculus along with the soundness properties of preservation and progress. The type system described here prevents data races. The formalized locks have also been implemented in a C‐like language and used in a network device driver. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparing programming models for medical imaging on multi‐core systems
Authors: Kegel Philipp , Schellmann Maraike , Gorlatch Sergei
Published: October 2010

Multi‐core processors offer a huge potential of parallelism but pose a challenge of program development for achieving high performance in real applications. We compare three popular parallel programming models—POSIX threads (Pthreads), OpenMP, and Threading Building Blocks (TBB)—regarding their use for multi‐core systems. We analyze how these models can be employed for implementing various parallelizations of a real‐world application from the area of medical imaging, and we conduct extensive runtime experiments to measure performance. Our main contribution is a comprehensive comparison of Pthreads, OpenMP, and TBB with respect to the following criteria: program development effort, programming style, level of abstraction, and runtime performance on multi‐cores. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A new query‐by‐humming system based on the score level fusion of two classifiers
Authors: Nam Gi Pyo , Park Kang Ryoung , Park Sung‐Joo , Lee Soek‐Pil , Kim Moo‐Young
Published: October 2010

With the widespread use of multimedia devices, such as MP3 players, the necessity of a content‐based retrieval is increased, which can find the stored music even if a user does not know the title or singer of the music. Consequently, a query‐by‐humming (QBH) system is introduced, which provides functionality that a user can find a piece of music by humming. Although there have been many researches into QBH, there has been little done to combine more than two classifiers based on various fusion methods. Hence, we propose a new method of QBH based on the score level fusion of two classifiers.

This research is novel in the following three ways as compared with previous works. First, the features of the humming data are extracted by using musical note estimation based on the spectro‐temporal autocorrelation (STA). We normalize the extracted features by using the mean‐shifting, median filtering, average filtering, and min–max scaling methods. Second, a pitch‐based dynamic time warping (DTW) method is used as the first classifier. We use the linear scaling (LS) method with the quantized binary (QB) code of the pitch data as the second classifier. Third, through the combination of these two classifiers based on the score level by the MIN rule, the performance of QBH is much enhanced.

Experimental results with the 2006 MIREX QBSH and 2009 MIR‐QBSH corpus databases showed that the performance of the proposed fusion method was best compared with single classifier and other fusion methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Upstream bandwidth optimization of thin client protocols through latency‐aware adaptive user event buffering
Authors: Simoens P. , Vankeirsbilck B. , Deboosere L. , Ali F. Azmat , De Turck F. , Dhoedt B. , Demeester P.
Published: October 2010

Thin client computing trades local processing for network bandwidth by off‐loading application logic to remote servers. User input and display updates are exchanged between client and server through a thin client protocol. In a wireless device context, it is important to achieve bandwidth efficient thin client protocols because bandwidth availability is limited and the power consumption of the wireless network interface card is directly related to the amount of data that is sent and received. This paper presents and evaluates a novel client‐based mechanism which is transparent to the server to reduce upstream bandwidth consumption. Typically, thin client protocols encode user input as a series of small packets, resulting in a major packetization overhead. By buffering user events at the thin client protocol layer, this overhead can be reduced. However, buffering strategies might result in increased response delays for the user. Therefore, models of the upstream bandwidth and the user perceived responsiveness of pull thin client protocols are presented and validated. These models are used in an adaptive framework, which determines the appropriate buffering time to minimize the bandwidth as much as possible without degrading the responsiveness. For lower network roundtrip times and users actively generating input, it is shown how bandwidth savings up to 78% can be achieved while keeping the average user perceived responsiveness below 150 ms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Summary of ‘Mono‐ and multifaceted inhalant and/or food allergen reduction interventions for preventing asthma in children at high risk of developing asthma’
Authors: Office Evidence‐Based Child Health Editorial
Published: October 2010

This is a summary of a Cochrane review, published in this issue of EBCH, first published as: Maas T, Kaper J, Sheikh A, Knottnerus JA, Wesseling G, Dompeling E, Muris JWM, van Schayck CP. Mono and multifaceted inhalant and/or food allergen reduction interventions for preventing asthma in children at high risk of developing asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD006480. DOI: 10.1002/14 651 858.CD006480.pub2.

Further information for this Cochrane review is available in this issue of EBCH in the accompanying Commentary. Copyright © 2010 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Cochrane Collaboration
Commentary on ‘Reminder Systems and Late Patient Tracers in the Diagnosis and Management of Tuberculosis’
Authors: Kelly Paul M.
Published: October 2010

This is a commentary on a Cochrane review, published in this issue of EBCH, first published as: Liu Q, Abba K, Alejandria MM, Balanag VM, Berba RP, Lansang MAD. Reminder systems and late patient tracers in the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006594. DOI: 10.1002/14 651 858.CD006594.pub2.

Further information for this Cochrane review is available in this issue of EBCH in the accompanying Summary article. Copyright © 2010 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Cochrane Collaboration
Synthesis and Conformational Properties of Nonsymmetric Pillar[5]arenes and Their Acetonitrile Inclusion Compounds
Authors: Kou Yuhui , Tao Hongqi , Cao Derong , Fu Zhiyong , Schollmeyer Dieter , Meier Herbert
Published: October 2010

The catalytic cyclocondensation of 1‐butoxy‐4‐methoxy‐2,5‐bis(methoxymethyl)benzene (1d) affords a statistical mixture of the regioisomeric pillar[5]arenes 3a–d in high yield. The alkoxy groups are arranged stereoselectively in a mode so that they avoid steric interactions. The rotation of the benzene rings is, at room temperature, fast in terms of the NMR timescale and leads to a de facto Cs symmetry for 3a–c and a C5h symmetry for 3d. All four structural isomers can encapsulate two CH3CN guest molecules. The structure determinations are based on four crystal structure analyses (constitutions) and NMR spectroscopic measurements (conformations).
Erinacine A biosynthesis in submerged cultivation of Hericium erinaceum: Quantification and improved cultivation
Authors: Krzyczkowski Wojciech , Malinowska Eliza , Herold Franciszek
Published: October 2010

This paper describes the validation of an HPLC method for quantitative determination of erinacine A as well as optimization of the culture medium composition for its effective production in submerged culture of the edible and medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceum. The effects of different medium components were examined by the one‐factor‐at‐a‐time method and then by the central composite rotatable design. The most favorable combination of nutrient medium constituents ensuring the highest erinacine A production was found to be: glucose 69.87 g/L, casein peptone 11.17 g/L, NaCl 1.45 g/L, ZnSO4 55.24 mg/L, KH2PO4 1.0 g/L, and pH 4.5. The kinetics of metabolite biosynthesis was examined during the cultivation in a 10‐L bioreactor. Under the optimal conditions the biomass yield was 13.3±2.6 g/L, while the production of erinacine A was 192±42 mg/L. The optimal time to obtain the highest production of erinacine A during cultivation of H. erinaceum in a bioreactor was eight days.
Muscle dysmorphia symptomatology during a period of religious fasting: A case report
Authors: Murray Stuart B. , Rieger Elizabeth , Touyz Stephen W.
Published: October 2010

We present a case of muscle dysmorphia in a Muslim male, whose muscle dysmorphia symptomatology markedly escalated during a period of religious fasting, in which abstinence from food and liquid during daylight hours was endorsed. This case represents the first attempt to delineate the relative centrality of eating versus exercise practices in muscle dysmorphia presentations, and suggests that the maintenance of muscle dysmorphia is inclusive of a central eating component, irrespective of exercise status, lending support to the notion of conceptualising muscle dysmorphia within an eating disorder spectrum. Implications and further research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Do abnormalities in regional cerebral blood flow in anorexia nervosa resolve after weight restoration?
Authors: Frampton I. , Watkins B. , Gordon I. , Lask B.
Published: October 2010

Objective

Previous studies have demonstrated localised abnormalities of cerebral blood flow in anorexia nervosa, suggesting reduction of cerebral activity and function in specific regions. There is debate as to whether such findings are secondary to starvation or indicative of a primary abnormality predating the illness, representing an underlying biological substrate. This small study, the first in early onset anorexia nervosa, reports findings of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at both baseline and follow up.

Method

Nine participants who had previously undergone rCBF studies at the start of treatment, had a repeat scan at an average of 4.2 years later.

Results

Seven out of the nine had persisting reduced cerebral blood flow in one area of the brain, predominantly the medial temporal region.

Discussion

These data suggest that in the majority of cases rCBF does not return to normal following weight restoration. The implications for future research are explored. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Emission allowance allocation with multiple equity principles in deregulated power systems
Authors: Xie J. , Zhong J. , Gan D.
Published: October 2010

Equity is an essential issue to consider in emission allowance allocation problems to ensure the participation of as many market participants as possible. Various equity principles have been practiced in emission allowance allocations, and some of them conflict. The main purpose of this work is to present an emission allowance allocation methodology that takes into account both individual interests and different versions of equity and makes progress toward reaching a global consensus for emission allowance allocation in deregulated power systems. We propose nine equity principles for emission allowance allocation. We combine a hierarchical system with a voting mechanism to incorporate various definitions of equity and to find a compromise solution. The voting mechanism is used for selecting equity principles for each power plant (market participant). The hierarchical system is composed of two subsystems. The upper level subsystem computes the emission allowances among all regions, while the lower level subsystem obtains the emission allowances among the power plants in each region. A test power system serves to illustrate the essential features of the proposed methodology, and the results are used to investigate the choice of equity principles of different types of power plants located in different regions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Radial basis function neural network model for mean velocity and vorticity of capillary flow
Authors: El‐Bakry Mostafa Y.
Published: October 2010

The radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) simulation has been designed to simulate and predict the mean velocity of capillary flow in transition from laminar to turbulent flow and the root‐mean‐square vorticity as a function of wall‐normal position at different values of Reynolds number. The system was trained on the available data of the two cases. Therefore, we designed the system to work in automatic way for finding the best network that has the ability to have the best test and prediction. The proposed system shows an excellent agreement with that of an experimental data in these cases. The technique has been also designed to simulate the other distributions not presented in the training set and predicted them with effective matching. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Godunov‐type fractional semi‐implicit method based on staggered grid for dam‐break modeling
Authors: Yekta Amir Hossein Asadiani , Banihashemi Mohammad Ali
Published: October 2010

A semi‐implicit finite volume model based upon staggered grid is presented for solving shallow water equation. The model employs a time‐splitting scheme that uses a predictor–corrector method for the advection term. The fluxes are calculated based on a Riemann solver in the prediction step and a downwind scheme in the correction step. A simple TVD scheme is employed for shock capturing purposes in which the Minmond limiter is used for flux functions. As a consequence of using staggered grid, an ADI method is adopted for solving the discretized equations for 2‐D problems. Several 1‐D and 2‐D flows have been modeled with satisfactory results when compared with analytical and experimental test cases. The model is also capable of simulating supercritical as well as subcritical flow. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adaptive Lagrangian–Eulerian computation of propagation and rupture of a liquid plug in a tube
Authors: Hassan Ez A. , Uzgoren Eray , Fujioka Hideki , Grotberg James B. , Shyy Wei
Published: October 2010

Liquid plug propagation and rupture occurring in lung airways can have a detrimental effect on epithelial cells. In this study, a numerical simulation of a liquid plug in an infinite tube is conducted using an Eulerian–Lagrangian approach and the continuous interface method. A reconstruction scheme is developed to allow topological changes during plug rupture by altering the connectivity information about the interface mesh. Results prior to the rupture are in reasonable agreement with the study of Fujioka et al. in which a Lagrangian method is used. For unity non‐dimensional pressure drop and a Laplace number of 1000, rupture time is shown to be delayed as the initial precursor film thickness increases and rupture is not expected for thicknesses larger than 0.10 of tube radius. During the plug rupture process, a sudden increase of mechanical stresses on the tube wall is recorded, which can cause tissue damage. The peak values of those stresses increase as the initial precursor film thickness is reduced. After rupture, the peaks in mechanical stresses decrease in magnitude as the plug vanishes and the flow approaches a fully developed behavior. Increasing initial pressure drop is shown to linearly increase maximum variations in wall pressure and shear stress. Decreasing the pressure drop and increasing the Laplace number appear to delay rupture because it takes longer for a fluid with large inertial forces to respond to the small pressure drop. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Viscous flow in a mixed compression intake
Authors: Kotteda V. M. Krushnarao , Mittal Sanjay
Published: October 2010

Numerical simulation of the flow in a two‐dimensional mixed compression intake is carried out by solving unsteady viscous compressible equations using a stabilized finite element method. The effect of bleed in starting/unstarting of the intake and controlling the buzz instability is investigated in detail. Higher bleed leads to an increase in the ability of the intake to sustain larger back‐pressure for stable operation. The amount of bleed and its location is varied to understand its effect on the performance of the intake. Two kinds of unsteady oscillations are observed: ‘little’ and ‘big’ buzz. The frequency of the both kinds of buzz oscillations is found to be super‐harmonic of the fundamental acoustic frequency of intake modeled as an open‐closed organ pipe. The frequency as well as amplitudes of the big buzz cycles is larger than those of the little buzz. The little‐ and big‐buzz are found to occur for low‐ and high‐subcritical state of the intake and are very similar to Ferri and Dailey criteria, respectively. Buzz is eliminated when relatively high bleed is implemented, both, upstream and downstream of the throat. The effect of rate of change of back‐pressure on the start/unstart of the intake is investigated. Two situations are considered. The first case is that of an intake where the back‐pressure remains below the critical value. It is found that the intake remains started if the change in back‐pressure is gradual. However, it unstarts if the back‐pressure is changed relatively rapidly. The second set of simulations is an attempt to model the situation where the back‐pressure at the exit of the intake exceeds the critical value and a logic is incorporated in the feed back loop of the fuel modulation to start the intake. Low rate of change of pressure is unsuccessful in starting the intake. Relatively high rates result in either a quick starting of the intake or a slow unstart. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A high‐precision unstructured adaptive mesh technique for gas–liquid two‐phase flows
Authors: Ito Kei , Kunugi Tomoaki , Ohshima Hiroyuki
Published: October 2010

Adaptive mesh techniques are used widely in the numerical simulations of fluid flows, and the simulation results with high accuracies are obtained by appropriate mesh adaptations. However, gas–liquid two‐phase flows are still difficult to be simulated on adaptive meshes, especially on unstructured adaptive meshes, because the physical phenomena near gas–liquid interfaces are highly complicated and in general, not modeled appropriately on adaptive meshes. In this paper, a high‐precision unstructured adaptive mesh technique for gas–liquid two‐phase flows is developed and verified/validated. In the unstructured adaptive mesh technique, the PLIC algorithm is employed to simulate interfacial dynamic behaviors and, therefore, the reconstruction method for the interfaces in refined cells is developed, which satisfies the gas and liquid volume conservations and geometrical conservations of interfaces. In addition, the physics‐based consideration is performed on the momentum calculations near interfaces, and the calculation method with gas and liquid momentum conservations is developed. For verification, the slotted‐disk revolution problem is solved. As a result, the unstructured adaptive mesh technique succeeds in reproducing the slotted‐disk shape accurately and well maintaining the shape after one full‐revolution. The dam‐break problem is also simulated and the momentum conservative calculation method succeeds in providing physically appropriate results, which show good agreements with experimental data. Therefore, it is confirmed that the developed unstructured adaptive mesh technique is very efficient to simulate gas–liquid two‐phase flows accurately. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of targets of specific miRNAs by selective amplification of Ago2‐associated mRNA
Authors: Zhao Botao , Shi Yi , Qin Wenmin , Li Chaoqun , Wu Mengjun , Ma Jiexian , Tang Lintao , Jin Youxin
Published: October 2010

To study the function of a miRNA, it is necessary to identify its target genes. The most common methods to reveal miRNA target genes rely on ectopically expressed tagged Ago2 and nonphysiological overexpression or inhibition of the miRNA of interest. To uncover the natural association between miRNAs and their target genes, we isolated endogenous Ago2 protein followed by a selective strategy, which only amplified target genes of the selected miRNA from the purified RNA‐induced silencing complex by miRNA specific primers. This enabled us to identify the mRNAs regulated by miRNAs of interest. Our data demonstrated that this strategy is effective and highly credible. Moreover, our results showed the evidence of efficient miRNA target sites in 5′ untranslated regions and open reading frames of target mRNAs. © 2010 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 62(10): 752–756, 2010
A special relationship: Race, child study, and Rockefeller philanthropy
Authors: Milar Katharine S.
Published: October 2010

In 1928, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial granted funds to the University of Cincinnati to establish a child study and parent education program for African Americans. This paper traces the origin of the idea for this program to a special relationship between the family of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and Spelman College, an African American women's college in Atlanta, Georgia. This relationship embodied Rockefeller's interest in women and children, in Baptist charities, in higher education (especially in the South), and race. The case study of this relationship addresses the larger question: To what purpose was the African American woman to be educated? © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Efficient chemoselective alkylation of quinoline 2,4‐diol derivatives in water
Authors: Ahmed Nafees , Brahmbhatt Keyur G. , Singh Inder P. , Bhutani Kamlesh K.
Published: October 2010

Synthesis of various C‐3‐dialkyl derivatives of quinoline 2,4‐diol was achieved by condensation of aniline or substituted anilines with diethyl malonate, followed by chemoselective alkylation at C‐3 in water. The higher yields, easy work up and environmental compatible conditions are the main aspects of our method. J. Heterocyclic Chem., 2011.
Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of tris phosphonates
Authors: Siva Kumar B. , Veera Narayana Reddy M. , Chandra Sekhar Reddy G. , Bakthavatchala Reddy N. , Suresh Reddy C.
Published: October 2010

Syntheses of novel [{(3‐dialkoxy‐phosphoryl)‐(substituted‐phenyl‐methyl)‐2‐oxo‐2‐phenyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐2λ5–benzo [1,3,2] diazaphosphol‐1‐yl}‐(substituted‐phenyl)‐methyl]‐phosphonic acid diethyl/dimethyl esters (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, 3j) were conveniently accomplished by cyclocondensation of [(2‐{(dimethoxy‐phosphoryl)‐phenyl‐methyl)‐amino}‐phenyl amino)‐phenyl‐methyl]phosphonic acid diethyl/dimethyl esters (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i, 2j) with phenyl phosphonic dichloride in dry toluene in the presence of triethylamine at 40°C. The title compounds were characterized by physicospectral techniques. All the synthesized compounds were found to possess antimicrobial properties. J. Heterocyclic Chem., 2011.
Synthesis of 1,2‐bisubstituted benzimidazole: 1,3‐Shift mechanism catalyzed by acid or base
Authors: Xia Ya‐Mu , You Jia , Yang Feng‐Ke
Published: October 2010

Benzimidazole ring system is a useful nucleus in medicinal chemistry and is found in many biologically active compounds. An efficient approach for the synthesis of 1,2‐bisubstituted benzimidazoles is presented in this article, and the mechanism of the condensation from 2‐[(2‐aminophenylimino)phenylmethyl]‐4‐bromophenol, using piperdine or acetic acid as catalyst, is studied. 1,3‐Shift of negative hydrogen ion is the key step for this rearrangement reaction, and the influences of catalyst, temperature, substrate, and solvent are also investigated. J. Heterocyclic Chem., 2011.
Regional and seasonal variability of extreme precipitation trends in southern Poland and central‐eastern Germany 1951–2006
Authors: Łupikasza Ewa B. , Hänsel Stephanie , Matschullat Jörg
Published: October 2010

Spatial and temporal trend variability in extreme precipitation indices was studied for the meteorological seasons from 1951 to 2006. Eight indices were used, describing their frequency (90pNoD, 95pNoD), totals (1dayT, 5dayT, 90pT, 95pT) and intensity (90pInt, 95pInt). The following key challenges were addressed: (1) temporal variability in the relative number of stations with significant 30‐year trends, (2) temporal stability and (3) average magnitude of the calculated 30‐year trends. Temporal changes in the spatial extent of statistically significant extreme precipitation trends proceeded differently in each season. The trend direction, indicated by trend stability analysis, was consistent with that of averaged 30‐year trend magnitudes at most stations. A distinct spatial differentiation emerged in the prevailing trend directions between the eastern and the western part of the study area. In all seasons, increasing trends in extreme precipitation dominated in central‐eastern Germany, whereas opposite trends prevailed in southern Poland. This pattern was particularly prominent in winter. Similarities in the temporal variability of the percentage of significant trends between the eastern and the western sub‐regions emerged in autumn only. Summer was characterized by the most pronounced temporal changes in the percentage of significant negative trends. Summer also showed the most stable extreme precipitation trends of all seasons and a higher trend magnitude than the transitional seasons. Spatial patterns of trend directions in spring, showing the most complex pattern of all seasons, vary depending on the index, particularly with respect to trend stability. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society
Precipitation variability and change in the Calabria region (Italy) from a high resolution daily dataset
Authors: Brunetti Michele , Caloiero Tommaso , Coscarelli Roberto , Gullà Giovanni , Nanni Teresa , Simolo Claudia
Published: October 2010

The present study aims at improving data availability and quality for the last 80–90 years for daily precipitation in the Calabria region (southern Italy). First, the original database was homogenised and the gaps filled in for 129 daily rain gauges for the 1916–2006 period. Then, precipitation variability and change were evaluated at an adequate spatial resolution. Monthly and annual total precipitation (P), number of wet days (WDs), and precipitation intensity (PI) were calculated for each series. With regard to the monthly total precipitation a general negative trend, albeit not everywhere significant, was detected, in particular for the autumn–winter period, while in summer the tendency was toward an increase in total precipitation. The monthly behaviour of WDs was not very different from that observed for P: a diffuse negative trend was detected in most months, particularly evident and significant in January, with the exception of April and the summer months, for which the tendency was toward an increase. Regarding the PI, a general negative and often significant trend was found for the entire region and for almost all the months, except summer. Attention was also focused on tendencies in the different PI categories, revealing negative trends in high‐intensity categories, especially coming from the winter season.

Finally, running trend analysis revealed that the previously discussed tendencies were not persistent throughout the series length, but depended on the period examined. This important aspect should be taken into account when different results based on different time windows are compared. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society
Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy in living plant using triplex AuAgC core–shell nanoparticles
Authors: Shen Aiguo , Guo Jingzhe , Xie Wei , Sun Mengxiang , Richards Ryan , Hu Jiming
Published: October 2010

This paper presents, for the first time, noninvasive imaging of a livingplant using biocompatible carbon‐encapsulated AuAg nanoparticles (NPs) using micro‐Raman spectroscopy (MRS). A convenient and controllable hydrothermal synthetic route was developed to synthesize the layer‐by‐layer triplex AuAgC core–shell NPs, which can incorporate the reporter molecule 4‐mercapto benzoic acid (4‐MBA). A unique approach was devised to deliver the carbon‐encapsulated surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) tags into the leaf of Nicotiana benthamiana. In vivo SERS mapping was subsequently performed to monitor the distribution of tags inside the leaf, which successfully avoided interference of autofluorescence from plant tissue. The imaging modality reported here and further the bio‐functionalized carbon‐encapsulated SERS NPshold significant potential as a strategy forbiochemical imaging in living plantsin a noninvasive and nontoxic manner, whichmight open up exciting opportunities for plant sciences. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Low anaerobic threshold and increased skeletal muscle lactate production in subjects with Huntington's disease
Authors: Ciammola Andrea , Sassone Jenny , Sciacco Monica , Mencacci Niccolò E. , Ripolone Michela , Bizzi Caterina , Colciago Clarissa , Moggio Maurizio , Parati Gianfranco , Silani Vincenzo , Malfatto Gabriella
Published: October 2010

Mitochondrial defects that affect cellular energy metabolism have long been implicated in the etiology of Huntington's disease (HD). Indeed, several studies have found defects in the mitochondrial functions of the central nervous system and peripheral tissues of HD patients. In this study, we investigated the in vivo oxidative metabolism of exercising muscle in HD patients. Ventilatory and cardiometabolic parameters and plasma lactate concentrations were monitored during incremental cardiopulmonary exercise in twenty‐five HD subjects and twenty‐five healthy subjects. The total exercise capacity was normal in HD subjects but notably the HD patients and presymptomatic mutation carriers had a lower anaerobic threshold than the control subjects. The low anaerobic threshold of HD patients was associated with an increase in the concentration of plasma lactate. We also analyzed in vitro muscular cell cultures and found that HD cells produce more lactate than the cells of healthy subjects. Finally, we analyzed skeletal muscle samples by electron microscopy and we observed striking mitochondrial structural abnormalities in two out of seven HD subjects. Our findings confirm mitochondrial abnormalities in HD patients' skeletal muscle and suggest that the mitochondrial dysfunction is reflected functionally in a low anaerobic threshold and an increased lactate synthesis during intense physical exercise. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society
Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging characterization of slings for female stress urinary incontinence
Authors: Giri Subhasis K. , Drumm John , Wallis Fintan , Flood Hugh
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The aim was to characterize different types of slings such as autologous rectus fascia (ARF), porcine dermis (PD) and tension‐free vaginal tape (TVT) in the early postoperative period with regard to its visibility and location by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials and Methods

Between October 2003 and June 2007, total of 60 patients underwent MRI after a sling procedure. Thirty‐six patients had ARF slings. Twelve patients had a PD sling and 12 had a TVT. All patients had pelvic MRI 6–8 hr postoperatively. Six patients in the ARF sling group had both preoperative and postoperative images at 6 hr and 3 months. MRI images were analyzed with regard to visibility and location. All data were collected prospectively.

Results

ARF slings were clearly visible in both T1W and T2W images. ARF appeared as low signal intensity area with surrounding high signal intensity due to fat attached to the rectus fascia in the MRI images obtained 6 hr after the procedure. Although the fatty component of the sling was diminished but was still visible on MRI scan 3 months postoperatively. On the other hand PD and TVT sling materials were not visible by MRI. Most of the ARF slings were located just below the bladder neck.

Conclusions

The ARF sling is easily identifiable on MRI in the early postoperative period primarily because of the fat attached to the autologous rectus fascia. However, depiction of the PD and TVT slings in the early postoperative period is very poor. Neurourol. Urodynam. 30:108–112, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Positive contrast technique for the detection and quantification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in MRI
Authors: Zhao Qun , Langley Jason , Lee Sunbok , Liu Wei
Published: October 2010

In vivo detection and quantification of cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles has been attracting increasing attention. In particular, positive contrast methods, such as susceptibility gradient mapping (SGM) and phase gradient mapping (PGM), have been proposed for the improved detection of SPIO nanoparticles. In this study, a different implementation of the PGM method is introduced; it calculates the phase gradient in the image space using a fast Fourier transform without the need for phase unwrapping. We first compared positive contrast generation between the PGM and SGM methods, which estimates the susceptibility gradient in k space through echo shift measurements. Next, PGM was applied to quantify SPIO concentrations by fitting the resulting phase gradient maps to those of a theoretical model. MR experiments were conducted using a 3‐T magnet scanner to acquire two datasets: the first was acquired from a gelatin phantom with three SPIO‐doped vials of different concentrations, and the second was obtained in vivo from a nude rat with SPIO‐labeled C6 glioma cells implanted in the flanks. The sensitivity of the PGM and SGM methods was compared using various factors, including different SPIO concentrations, TEs and signal‐to‐noise ratios. Based on the theoretical model of an infinite cylinder, the results demonstrated that, without loss of spatial resolution, the PGM method presents positive contrast maps with a higher sensitivity than SGM at medium and low SPIO concentrations, whereas SGM is more sensitive than PGM at longer TEs. The quantification of SPIO concentrations using the phantom dataset was also reported. On the basis of the same infinite cylinder model, it was shown that the PGM method provides an accurate estimation of SPIO concentration. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Does timing of biochemistry in first‐trimester aneuploidy risk assessment affect the gestational age at prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination?
Authors: Chasen Stephen T. , Krantz David
Published: October 2010

Objective

To determine the relationship between the timing of chemistry and timing of prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination in pregnancies with chromosomal abnormalities.

Method

Singleton pregnancies with chromosomal abnormalities from 2005 to 2009 were identified. Records were reviewed to identify timing of chemistry, nuchal translucency (NT), prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination. Mann‐Whitney U and Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis.

Results

A total of 110 pregnancies were included. Seventy‐eight had biochemistry performed at the time of NT and 32 had biochemistry a median of 9 days prior. Aneuploidy risks were similar between the two groups. Although the timing of NT was similar, those having biochemistry before NT had prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination at significantly earlier gestational ages. Those with early biochemistry were more likely to have chorionic villus sampling (CVS) (69% vs 37%; p = 0.003) compared to those who had biochemistry at the time of NT.

Conclusion

There was a strong correlation between the timing of biochemistry and prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychosocial risk profiles among black male veterans administration patients non‐adherent with colorectal cancer screening
Authors: BeLue Rhonda , Menon Usha , Kinney Anita Y. , Szalacha Laura A.
Published: October 2010

Objective: This study identifies unique psychosocial characteristics among African American men that put the men at risk for non‐adherence to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening (colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood tests (FOBT)). Subgroups sharing similar psychosocial characteristics may be targeted with specific intervention strategies aimed at increasing participation in screening, which could lead to increased early detection and decreased morbidity and mortality.

Methods: The male African American veterans in our sample (n = 260) had a mean age of 57.3 (SD = 7.3) years. Our study employs latent class analysis, a quantitative‐based, audience segmentation method to identify homogeneous subgroups of African American men with similar psychosocial characteristics related to CRC screening, potentially in need of different health information and intervention strategies. Latent class regression was used to examine the relationships among latent class structure and demographic characteristics.

Results: There were four psychosocial risk classes across the three screening tests. A significant subset of men had psychosocial characteristics indicative of willingness to be screened for each test (colonscopy = 21.8%, sigmoidoscopy = 31.5%, and FOBT = 10.8%), although they were currently non‐adherent. Men who received a past screening test, had greater than a high school education, or were married were more likely to be represented in a latent class indicative of being prepared for getting colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. Sociodemographic variables were unrelated to FOBT latent class structure.

Conclusions: Segmenting our sample of male African American veterans based on psychosocial risk characteristics can inform the development of more precisely targeted interventions for African American men who are non‐adherent for CRC screening. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Electronic conductivity of Ce0.8Gd0.2−xPrxO2−δ and influence of added CoO
Authors: Schmale Kerstin , Grünebaum Mariano , Janssen Martin , Baumann Stefan , Schulze‐Küppers Falk , Wiemhöfer Hans‐Dieter
Published: October 2010

Doped ceria and ceria based solid oxide solutions show a unique combination of oxygen ion mobility, electronic conductivity, and high catalytic activity for redox reactions. In this work, the minority conductivity of electrons has been measured directly as a function of the composition of ceria–praseodymia based solid solutions in order to maximize the electronic conductivity without depressing the oxygen ion mobility. The influence of Co as well as the Gd/Pr dopant ratio on the electronic conductivity of ceria–praseodymia pellets was studied for the compositions Ce0.8Gd0.2−xPrxO2−δ (0.05 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) with and without an additional Co content of 0.02 with respect to the formula. The Hebb–Wagner polarization technique was used with ion‐blocking microcontacts. In the temperature range 700–800 °C, the presence of high amounts of praseodymium increases the p‐type conductivity by a factor of more than 10 for oxygen partial pressures higher than 10−10 bar. Co‐doped ceria–gadolinia–praseodymia solid solutions showed a further increase of the electronic conductivities in a partial pressure range where the Co‐free materials showed the minimum of the electronic conductivities. It is assumed that the effect of the additional cobalt doping is due to electronic short circuits along the grain boundaries via segregated CoO.
Representing qualitative variables and their interactions with fuzzy logic in system dynamics modeling
Authors: Liu Shiyong , Triantis Konstantinos P. , Sarangi Sudipta
Published: October 2010

We propose a method for incorporating multiple linguistic or soft variables into a system dynamics framework. A simple example is used to illustrate the procedures necessary to define linguistic variables using triangular membership functions within the VENSIM Simulation Environment. We illustrate the operations of linguistic variables through a sales and service model where two linguistic variables, i.e. customer's satisfaction with respect to service, and lead time associated with a product, impact the conversion of potential customers into customers. After having created fuzzy triangular membership functions, we obtain the combined effect of the two linguistic variables using the max–min inference procedure. For defuzzification we use the notion of the largest of maximum to translate the fuzzy representation of the combined effect into a crisp value. Finally, we provide simulation results pertaining to the probability of generating new customers and profits by considering pessimistic, optimistic and intermediate fuzzy rules for our model. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.