bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Screening of facultative strains of high lipid producing microalgae for treating surfactant mediated municipal wastewater
Authors: Hena S. , Abida N. , Tabassum S.
Published: November 2015

This study discusses a novel approach to simultaneously remove two types of hazardous chemicals, surfactants and nutrients, from municipal wastewater by culturing selected microalgae.
Order-enhanced silver nanowire networks fabricated by two-step dip-coating as polymer solar cell electrodes
Authors: Pu Danfeng , Zhou Weixin , Li Yi , Chen Jun , Chen Jianyu , Zhang Hongmei , Mi Baoxiu , Wang Lianhui , Ma Yanwen
Published: November 2015

The efficient utilization of Ag NW by avoiding their aggregation and multi-layer stacking in their networks can improve the optical and electrical properties of the derived transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs).
Testing the mean magnetization approximation, dimensionless and scaling numbers in magnetorheology
Authors: Ruiz-López José Antonio , Fernández-Toledano Juan Carlos , Hidalgo-Alvarez Roque , de Vicente Juan
Published: November 2015

The mean magnetization (MM) approximation is undoubtedly the most widely used approximation in magnetorheology both from theoretical and simulation perspectives.
Strategies to succeed in improving the lithium-ion storage properties of silicon nanomaterials
Authors: Du Fei-Hu , Wang Kai-Xue , Chen Jie-Sheng
Published: November 2015

In this review, we summarize several strategies developed recently for enhancing the lithium-ion storage properties of Si materials.
Ion beam production with sub-milligram samples of material from an ECR source for AMS
Authors: Scott R. , Bauder W. , Palchan-Hazan T. , Pardo R. , Vondrasek R.
Published: November 2015

Current accelerator mass spectrometry experiments at the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System facility at Argonne National Laboratory push us to improve the ion source performance with a large number of samples and a need to minimize cross contamination. These experiments can require the creation of ion beams from as little as a few micrograms of material. These low concentration samples push the limit of our current efficiency and stability capabilities of the electron cyclotron resonance ion source. A combination of laser ablation and sputtering techniques coupled with a newly modified multi-sample changer has been used to meet this demand. We will discuss performance, stability, and consumption rates as well as planned improvements.
Development of a microwave ion source for ion implantations
Authors: Takahashi N. , Murata H. , Kitami H. , Mitsubori H. , Sakuraba J. , Soga T. , Aoki Y. , Katoh T.
Published: November 2015

A microwave ion source is expected to have a long lifetime, as it has fewer consumables. Thus, we are in the process of developing a microwave ion source for ion implantation applications. In this paper, we report on a newly developed plasma chamber and the extracted P+ beam currents. The volume of the plasma chamber is optimized by varying the length of a boron nitride block installed within the chamber. The extracted P+ beam current is more than 30 mA, at a 25 kV acceleration voltage, using PH3 gas.
Development of an in situ temperature stage for synchrotron X-ray spectromicroscopy
Authors: Chakraborty R. , Serdy J. , West B. , Stuckelberger M. , Lai B. , Maser J. , Bertoni M. I. , Culpepper M. L. , Buonassisi T.
Published: November 2015

In situ characterization of micro- and nanoscale defects in polycrystalline thin-film materials is required to elucidate the physics governing defect formation and evolution during photovoltaic device fabrication and operation. X-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopy is particularly well-suited to study defects in compound semiconductors, as it has a large information depth appropriate to study thick and complex materials, is sensitive to trace amounts of atomic species, and provides quantitative elemental information, non-destructively. Current in situ methods using this technique typically require extensive sample preparation. In this work, we design and build an in situ temperature stage to study defect kinetics in thin-film solar cells under actual processing conditions, requiring minimal sample preparation. Careful selection of construction materials also enables controlled non-oxidizing atmospheres inside the sample chamber such as H2Se and H2S. Temperature ramp rates of up to 300 °C/min are achieved, with a maximum sample temperature of 600 °C. As a case study, we use the stage for synchrotron X-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopy of CuInxGa1−xSe2 (CIGS) thin-films and demonstrate predictable sample thermal drift for temperatures 25–400 °C, allowing features on the order of the resolution of the measurement technique (125 nm) to be tracked while heating. The stage enables previously unattainable in situ studies of nanoscale defect kinetics under industrially relevant processing conditions, allowing a deeper understanding of the relationship between material processing parameters, materials properties, and device performance.
Technique for fabrication of ultrathin foils in cylindrical geometry for liner-plasma implosion experiments with sub-megaampere currents
Authors: Yager-Elorriaga D. A. , Steiner A. M. , Patel S. G. , Jordan N. M. , Lau Y. Y. , Gilgenbach R. M.
Published: November 2015

In this work, we describe a technique for fabricating ultrathin foils in cylindrical geometry for liner-plasma implosion experiments using sub-MA currents. Liners are formed by wrapping a 400 nm, rectangular strip of aluminum foil around a dumbbell-shaped support structure with a non-conducting center rod, so that the liner dimensions are 1 cm in height, 6.55 mm in diameter, and 400 nm in thickness. The liner-plasmas are imploded by discharging ∼600 kA with ∼200 ns rise time using a 1 MA linear transformer driver, and the resulting implosions are imaged four times per shot using laser-shadowgraphy at 532 nm. This technique enables the study of plasma implosion physics, including the magneto Rayleigh-Taylor, sausage, and kink instabilities on initially solid, imploding metallic liners with university-scale pulsed power machines.
Linear oscillation of gas bubbles in a viscoelastic material under ultrasound irradiation
Authors: Hamaguchi Fumiya , Ando Keita
Published: November 2015

Acoustically forced oscillation of spherical gas bubbles in a viscoelastic material is studied through comparisons between experiments and linear theory. An experimental setup has been designed to visualize bubble dynamics in gelatin gels using a high-speed camera. A spherical gas bubble is created by focusing an infrared laser pulse into (gas-supersaturated) gelatin gels. The bubble radius (up to 150 μm) under mechanical equilibrium is controlled by gradual mass transfer of gases across the bubble interface. The linearized bubble dynamics are studied from the observation of spherical bubble oscillation driven by low-intensity, planar ultrasound driven at 28 kHz. It follows from the experiment for an isolated bubble that the frequency response in its volumetric oscillation was shifted to the high frequency side and its peak was suppressed as the gelatin concentration increases. The measurement is fitted to the linearized Rayleigh–Plesset equation coupled with the Voigt constitutive equation that models the behavior of linear viscoelastic solids; the fitting yields good agreement by tuning unknown values of the viscosity and rigidity, indicating that more complex phenomena including shear thinning, stress relaxation, and retardation do not play an important role for the small-amplitude oscillations. Moreover, the cases for bubble-bubble and bubble-wall systems are studied. The observed interaction effect on the linearized dynamics can be explained as well by a set of the Rayleigh–Plesset equations coupled through acoustic radiation among these systems. This suggests that this experimental setup can be applied to validate the model of bubble dynamics with more complex configuration such as a cloud of bubbles in viscoelastic materials.
Robust regression with CUDA and its application to plasma reflectometry
Authors: Ferreira Diogo R. , Carvalho Pedro J. , Fernandes Horácio ,   JET Contributors
Published: November 2015

In many applications, especially those involving scientific instrumentation data with a large experimental error, it is often necessary to carry out linear regression in the presence of severe outliers which may adversely affect the results. Robust regression methods do exist, but they are much more computationally intensive, making it difficult to apply them in real-time scenarios. In this work, we resort to graphics processing unit (GPU)-based computing to carry out robust regression in a time-sensitive application. We illustrate the results and the performance gains obtained by parallelizing one of the most common robust regression methods, namely, least median of squares. Although the method has a complexity of O(n3logn), with GPU computing, it is possible to accelerate it to the point that it becomes usable within the required time frame. In our experiments, the input data come from a plasma diagnostic system installed at Joint European Torus, the largest fusion experiment in Europe, but the approach can be easily transferred to other applications.
Dimensionality constraints of light-induced rotation
Authors: Oroszi László , Búzás András , Galajda Péter , Kelemen Lóránd , Mathesz Anna , Vicsek Tamás , Vizsnyiczai Gaszton , Ormos Pál
Published: November 2015

We have studied the conditions of rotation induced by collimated light carrying no angular momentum. Objects of different shapes and optical properties were examined in the nontrivial case where the rotation axis is perpendicular to the direction of light propagation. This geometry offers important advantages for application as it fundamentally broadens the possible practical arrangements to be realised. We found that collimated light cannot drive permanent rotation of 2D or prism-like 3D objects (i.e., fixed cross-sectional profile along the rotation axis) in the case of fully reflective or fully transparent materials. Based on both geometrical optics simulations and theoretical analysis, we derived a general condition for rotation induced by collimated light carrying no angular momentum valid for any arrangement: Permanent rotation is not possible if the scattering interaction is two-dimensional and lossless. In contrast, light induced rotation can be sustained if partial absorption is present or the object has specific true 3D geometry. We designed, simulated, fabricated, and experimentally tested a microscopic rotor capable of rotation around an axis perpendicular to the illuminating light.
Terahertz response of fractal meta-atoms based on concentric rectangular square resonators
Authors: Song Zhiqiang , Zhao Zhenyu , Peng Wei , Shi Wangzhou
Published: November 2015

We investigate the terahertz electromagnetic responses of fractal meta-atoms (MAs) induced by different mode coupling mechanisms. Two types of MAs based on concentric rectangular square (CRS) resonators are presented: independent CRS (I-CRS) and junctional-CRS (J-CRS). In I-CRS, each resonator works as an independent dipole so as to result in the multiple resonance modes when the fractal level is above 1. In J-CRS, however, the generated layer is rotated by π/2 radius to the adjacent CRS in one MA. The multiple resonance modes are coupled into a single mode resonance. The fractal level increasing induces resonance modes redshift in I-CRS while blueshift in J-CRS. When the fractal level is below 4, the mode Q factor of J-CRS is in between the two modes of I-CRS; when the fractal level is 4 or above, the mode Q factor of J-CRS exceeds the two modes of I-CRS. Furthermore, the modulation depth (MD) decreases in I-CRS while it increases in J-CRS with the increase in fractal levels. The surface currents analysis reveals that the capacitive coupling of modes in I-CRS results in the modes redshift, while the conductive coupling of modes in J-CRS induces the mode blueshift. A high Q mode with large MD can be achieved via conductive coupling between the resonators of different scales in a fractal MA.
Annealing effect on the structural and electrical performance of Mn-Co-Ni-O films
Authors: Zhang Fei , Zhou Wei , OuYang Cheng , Wu Jing , Gao Yanqing , Huang Zhiming
Published: November 2015

Thin films of Mn1.95Co0.77Ni0.28O4are deposited on amorphous Al2O3 substrate by the magnetron sputtering method with the thickness of 6.5 μm. The effects of annealing treatment are studied on the film structural performance as well as the entropy of Mn-Co-Ni-O(MCNO) films by annealed at 400 ∘C, 500 ∘C, 600 ∘C, 700 ∘C, 800 ∘C respectively. It shows that the crystallinity of the thin film is the best annealed at 700 ∘C and the entropy is the largest because the number of different kinds of ions belonging to the same element equals with each other. After 800 ∘C annealing, the film resistivity is the minimal with the maximal entropy which means the highest stability.
Micro-/nanosized cantilever beams and mass sensors under applied axial tensile/compressive force vibrating in vacuum and viscous fluid
Authors: Stachiv Ivo , Fang Te-Hua , Chen Tao-Hsing
Published: November 2015

Vibrating micro-/nanosized cantilever beams under an applied axial force are the key components of various devices used in nanotechnology. In this study, we perform a complete theoretical investigation of the cantilever beams under an arbitrary value of the axial force vibrating in a specific environment such as vacuum, air or viscous fluid. Based on the results easy accessible expressions enabling one the fast and highly accurate estimations of changes in the Q-factor and resonant frequencies of beam oscillating in viscous fluid caused by the applied axial force are derived and analyzed. It has been also shown that for beam-to-string and string vibrational regimes the mode shape starts to significantly deviate from the one known for a beam without axial force. Moreover, a linear dependency of the vibrational amplitude in resonance on the dimensionless tension parameter has been found. We revealed that only a large axial force, i.e. the string vibrational regime, significantly improves the Q-factor of beams submerged in fluid, while an increase of the axial force in beam and beam-to-string transition regimes has a negligibly small impact on the Q-factor enhancement. Experiments carried out on the carbon nanotubes and nanowires are in a good agreement with present theoretical predictions.
Fracture behavior of an inclined crack interacting with a circular inclusion in a high-TC superconductor under an electromagnetic force
Authors: Xue Feng , Zhang Zhaoxia , Gou Xiaofan
Published: November 2015

A simple model is proposed to investigate the interaction problem for a circular nonsuperconducting inclusion embedded in a high-TC superconducting matrix which contains an inclined crack, oriented at an arbitrary angle from the direction of the critical currents. The electromagnetic behavior is described by the critical state, the original Bean model. The perturbation brought upon by the circular inclusion and the crack on the critical current density is assumed to be negligible and not considered in this model. The distribution dislocation technology is applied to formulate the current problem. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) are obtained by solving the formulated singular integral equations. The effects of the crack angle, the elastic modulus, the inclusion-crack distance and the inclusion-crack size on the stress intensity factors are discussed in detail.
Growth Mechanism of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays
Authors: Zhang Ji-cheng , Tang Yong-jian , Yi Yong , Zhou Min-jie , Ma Kang-fu , Wu Wei-dong , Wang Chao-yang , Zhao Yan , Luo Bing-chi , Wang Zhuo
Published: November 2015

Vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays grown on quartz substrate are obtained by co-pyrolysis of xylene and ferrocene at 850 °C in a tube furnace. Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements show that the single-walled carbon nanotubes are only present on top of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays. It has been revealed that isolated single-walled carbon nanotubes are only present in those floating catalyst generated materials. It thus suggests that the single-walled carbon nanotubes here are also generated by floating catalyst. Vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays on the quartz substrate have shown good orientation and good graphitization. Meanwhile, to investigate the growth mechanism, two bi-layers carbon nanotube films with different thickness have been synthesized and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the two-layer vertically aligned carbon nanotube films grow “bottom-up”. There are distinguished Raman scattering signals for the second layer itself, surface of the first layer, interface between the first and second layer, side wall and bottom surface. It indicates that the obtained carbon nanotubes follow the base-growth mechanism, and the single-walled carbon nanotubes grow from their base at the growth beginning when iron catalyst particles have small size. Those carbon nanotubes with few walls (typically <5 walls) have similar properties, which also agree with the base-growth mechanism.
Hydrogen Bond Effect in Nonlinear Optical Properties of Azobenzene Derivatives
Authors: Hu Da-qiao , Wang Wen-jun , Wang Rong-rong , Yang Bo , Yu Bo
Published: November 2015

Three kinds of 4-hydroxyl azobenzene compouds with different substituents varied as -NO2, -H, -OCH3 in the para-position were synthesized and characterized. Their nonlinear optical properties in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and chloroform (CHCl3) solution were determined using Z-scan technique. The results revealed that the nonlinear absorption (β) and nonlinear refraction (γ) values of three azobenzene compounds in THF solution were larger than those in CHCl3 solution. It was mainly due to the regular arrangement and effective π-conjugation of azobenzene molecules caused by the formation of hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of azobenzene molecules and the oxygen atom of the THF molecules. Among three kinds of azobenzene compounds, the 4-nitro-4′-hydroxyazobenzene (NAzoOH) had the largest coefficients of β and γ values in both THF and CHCl3 solution. It was mainly because that a push-pull (D-π-A) electron system was formed by the electron withdrawing nitro-substituent with electron donating hydroxyl-group in both extremities of azobenzene, resulting in a higher electron delocalization.
Fully Differential Cross Sections for Single Ionization of Helium by AuQ+ Impact
Authors: Feng Li-li , Sun Shi-yan , Duan Qiao-qiao , Jia Xiang-fu
Published: November 2015

We present fully differential cross sections (FDCS) within three-body distorted wave (3DW) for the single ionization of He by 3.6 MeV/amu AuQ+ (Q=24, 53) ions. By comparing our calculations with experimental data and other theoretical predictions, we find the cross sections are strongly influenced by highly charged projectile, ejected electron would be “pulled” along in the forward direction. However, all of the theoretical approaches can not display experimental unique forward peak structures in the FDCS.
New Insight into Competition between Decomposition Pathways of Hydroperoxymethyl Formate in Low Temperature DME Oxidation
Authors: Xing Li-li , Zhang Xiao-yuan , Wang Zhan-dong , Li Shuang , Zhang Li-dong
Published: November 2015

Hydroperoxymethyl formate is a crucial intermediate formed during the low-temperature oxidation of dimethyl ether. The decomposition pathways of HOOCH2OCHO were calculated at QCISD(T)/CBS//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level. The temperature- and pressure-dependent rate constants are computed using microcanonical variational transition state theory coupled with the RRKM/master equation calculations. The calculations show that a pathway leads to the formation of formic acid and a Criegee intermediate does exist, besides the direct dissociation channel to OH and OCH2OCHO radicals. However, formation of the Criegee intermediate has never been considered as an intermediate in dimethyl ether combustion before. The computed rate constants indicate that the newly confirmed pathway is competitive to the direct dissociation route and it is promising to reduce the low-temperature oxidation reactivity. Also electronic effect of groups, e.g. -CHO and O atom, is taken into account. Moreover, Hirshfeld atomic charge and natural bond order analysis are performed to explain this phenomenon from a perspective of chemical nature.
“Ship-in-a-Bottle” Approach to Synthesize Ag@hm-SiO2 Yolk/Shell Nanospheres
Authors: Li Wei-qiang , Wang Guo-zhong , Li Guang-hai , Zhang Yun-xia
Published: November 2015

An effective protocol is presented for the synthesis of Ag@hm-SiO2 yolk/shell nanostructures (YSNs) via a facile “ship-in-a-bottle” method. TEM observations show that the as-obtained Ag@hm-SiO2 YSNs have a single silver core in the interior of hollow mesoporous silica (hm-SiO2) nanospheres, in which the thickness of hm-SiO2 outer shell is about 14 nm and the silver core has an average size of about 43 nm. And the content of silver in Ag@hm-SiO2 YSNs is about 10.29% based on the inductively coupled plasma measurement. The as-synthesized Ag@hm-SiO2 YSNs exhibited significantly enhanced catalytic performance compared with the pure Ag nanoparticles toward the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of NaBH4.
Full Quantum Theory of Molecular Hot-Electroluminescence in Scanning Tunneling Microscope Tunnel Junctions
Authors: Chen Gong , Li Xiao-guang , Dong Zhen-chao
Published: November 2015

The pursuit of nanoscale photonics and molecular optoelectronics has stimulated a lot of interests in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) induced molecular emission. In this work, we have introduced a full quantum mechanical approach instead of the previous semiclassical theory to consider the quantized surface plasmon modes in this system. By considering the mutual interactions between a single molecule and the quantized surface plasmon, we have studied the molecular electroluminescence from STM tunnel junctions. Due to the coupling to the surface plasmons, the spontaneous emission rate and the fluorescence intensity of the molecule are both enormously enhanced. In particular, we show that when the radiative decay rate becomes comparable to the vibrational damping rate, hot-electroluminescence can be observed. All these findings are believed to be instructive for further developments of both molecular electronics and photonics.
Root biomass in the upper layer of the soil profile is related to the stomatal response of wheat as the soil dries
Authors: Saradadevi Renu , Bramley Helen , Palta Jairo A. , Edwards Everard , Siddique Kadambot H. M.
Published: November 2015

Terminal drought is a common abiotic stress affecting wheat yield in Mediterranean-type environments. As terminal drought develops, top layers of the soil profile dry, exposing the upper part of the root system to soil water deficit while deeper roots can still access soil water. Since open stomata rapidly exhausts available soil water, reducing stomatal conductance to prolong availability of soil water during grain filling may improve wheat yields in water-limited environments. It was hypothesised that genotypes with more root biomass in the drying upper layer of the soil profile accumulate more abscisic acid in the leaf and initiate stomatal closure to regulate water use under terminal drought. The wheat cultivar Drysdale and the breeding line IGW-3262 were grown in pots horizontally split into two segments by a wax-coated layer that hydraulically isolated the top and bottom segments, but allowed roots to grow into the bottom segment. Terminal drought was induced from anthesis by withholding water from (i) the top segment only (DW) and (ii) the top and bottom segments (DD) while both segments in well-watered pots (WW) were maintained at 90% pot soil water capacity. Drysdale, initiated stomatal closure earlier than IGW-3262, possibly due to higher signal strength generated in its relatively larger proportion of roots in the drying top segment. The relationship between leaf ABA and stomatal conductance was strong in Drysdale but weak in IGW-3262. Analysis of ABA metabolites suggests possible differences in ABA metabolism between these two genotypes. A higher capability of deeper roots to extract available water is also important in reducing the gap between actual and potential yield.
The conceptualization of change of state in verbs coming from gentilicios
Authors: Barrajón López Elisa
Published: November 2015

This paper has as its aim to examine the way in which the meaning of the derivative base (regardless of its denominal or deadjectival nature, although it will be demonstrated here that it rather follows an adjectival behavior) influences the semantics of verbs coming from gentilicios (africanizar/se, gauchear, etc.) and, consequently, to identify the underlying argument structure in each case, as well as their main aspectual properties. The conceptual components involved in the process leading to the formation of these complex units can appear explicitly or amalgamate with the verb. According to the semantically conflated component, the argument scheme will be different: Hacer X a Y [To make Y become X], Hacerse X [To become X] or Comportarse X [To behave X]. Nevertheless, it is worth highlighting that the border between the last two schemes is not always clear.
Inner and outer prepositions with Spanish verbs of vertical movement
Authors: Bosque Muñoz Ignacio
Published: November 2015

The lexical structure of Spanish displacement verbs is argued to be built up out of prepositions, whether covert or overt, subject to a number of incorporation processes. Some fine-grained semantic distinctions are introduced on the concepts of ‘goal’ and ‘path’. These and other conceptual components (specifically, direction and source) are shown to participate in various configurations involving conflation proceses at the lexical structure of verbs of vertical movement. A relationship is established between redundancy in transitive structures derived from unergative predicates and similarly redundant V-P structures with displacement verbs.
Argumental comitative and reciprocity in Spanish
Authors: Candalija Reina José Antonio
Published: November 2015

This research paper deals with the reciprocity relationships in Spanish. It is our intention to establish the conditions needed in reciprocal constructions and their distinctive characteristics. One of these features is the presence of an argument characterized by being semantically obligatory and syntactically marked by the Spanish preposition con. This argument is referred to as ‘argumental comitative’ and is determined by a certain kind of symmetrical reciprocity, which is gradual and is related to the active role of the agent. This argument has to do with some types of alternations in Spanish verbs that present a syntactic constraint that is referred to as complemento de regimen preposicional in Spanish and is the syntactic function that represents the argumental comitative in these types of reciprocal constructions.
Causativity and psychological verbs in Spanish
Authors: Cifuentes Honrubia José Luis
Published: November 2015

This paper analyzes the transitive/intransitive alternation in class 2 psychological verbs of Belletti and Rizzi. The transitive variant implies an agentive subject and an aspectual change of state. The intransitive variant implies a cause and a locative state. Spanish class 2 psychological verbs are causative due to the cause component conflated in the verbal structure which gives rise to the verb: most of the psychological verbs with a transitive/intransitive alternation are denominal or deadjetival causative verbs from Romance origin. Some others come from a Latin denominal or deadjectival structure or from a causative meaning which comes as a result of an evolution in their meaning (usually agentive and local). Psychological verbs result from a conflation process by means of which the verb semantically incorporates the psychological element – as it results from a verbal lexicalization of the emotional or psychological noun or adjective, thus shaping a complex predicate. Psychological verbs are consequently complex predicates with a semantically incorporated psychological element.
Lexical agreement processes
Authors: De Miguel Aparicio Elena
Published: November 2015

This paper examines the construction of verbal aspect as a sub-case of generation of verbal lexical meaning. The analysis is based on Pustejovsky’s (1995) Generative Lexicon and assumes the existence of a set of lexical agreement processes that match the lexical features of arguments (and adjuncts) with the information contained in the meta-entry of the verb in the mental lexicon. Verbal meta-entries include distinct sub-structures, among them the Event Structure, which is composed of different phases or sub-events. The materialization of some subevents or others depends on the agreement processes triggered by the arguments and adjuncts and gives rise to different aspectual meanings for the same verb.
Agent control over non culminating events
Authors: Demirdache Hamida , Martin Fabienne
Published: November 2015

This paper investigates a correlation between the availability of non-culminating construals for accomplishments and the control of the agent over the described event (the Agent Control Hypothesis, ach). We consider two versions of the ach, on the basis of a new typology of non-culminating construals. On the strong version, non-culmination requires agent control whether what is being denied is the occurrence of any change of state of the type φ encoded by the verb, or merely that the change of state satisfies the property φ to degree 1. On its weak version, agent control is required in the former case only. The evidence reviewed from Romance, Germanic, Salish, and Mandarin, suggests that the weak version of the ach might indeed hold. The weak version of the ach seems, however, to be too weak for Salish languages. The final section shows how the existing analyses of non-culminating construals could capture the link between non-culmination and agentivity.
Diachronic prototypicity and stativity in Spanish physical affection verbs
Authors: Provencio Garrigós Herminia
Published: November 2015

This paper shows a diachronic research about the aspectual nature of the verbs doler [to hurt], picar [to itch], arder [to burn], escocer [to sting] and hormiguear [to tingle]. Special attention is paid to physical affection meanings (to suffer or experience pain, itch, burning, stinging and tingling in some part of the body), which basically denote a stative aspectual value. The priority aim of this research is to prove that, throughout the diachrony of the Spanish language, these verbs have traveled between staticity and dynamism, which permits to establish a prototypicity scale within the class of transitory, uncontrolled states where these verbs belong. The existing theoretical proposals about state predicates are considered, and a diachronic-corpus-based is utilized in order to achieve this aim. Our findings suggest that the aspectual continuum results from the combination of three elements: the lexico-semantic characteristics of the verb; the syntactic contexts where it is inserted; and the pragmatic conditions perceived by the person who experiences the affection denoted by the predicate. This union is projected in the different ways to conceptualize transitory, uncontrolled states, and it highlights that, despite being the prototypical physical affection state verb in Spain, doler [to hurt] is the one which presents a higher degree of dynamism because it appears in a greater number of dynamic contexts.
Negative imperatives with Spanish copulas ser y estar
Authors: Rodríguez Rosique Susana
Published: November 2015

This chapter analyzes a number of predicates with Spanish ser and estar which may occur in the imperative: behavior predicates, controlled states, and emotional predicates. The imperative mood is usually related to action and, therefore, it would seem somewhat strange to think of constructions where this mood could combine with prototypical copular verbs such as ser and estar, initially conceived as stative. More precisely, this paper focuses on the negative imperative, which is expressed in Spanish through the adverb no + the subjunctive mood when appearing in specific discourse situations. Both the occurrence of negation and that of the subjunctive lead to take into account the information structure, which in fact reveals decisive data about the nature and behavior of these predicates. In this respect, the imperative serves as a source of evidence when it comes to proving heterogeneity within the ‘states’ class as well as to exploring its boundaries.
mTOR controls lysosome tubulation and antigen presentation in macrophages and dendritic cells
Authors: Saric Amra , Hipolito Victoria E. B. , Kay Jason G. , Canton Johnathan , Antonescu Costin N. , Botelho Roberto J.
Published: November 2015

Macrophages and dendritic cells exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) convert their lysosomes from small, punctate organelles into a network of tubules. Tubular lysosomes have been implicated in phagosome maturation, retention of fluid phase, and antigen presentation. There is a growing appreciation that lysosomes act as sensors of stress and the metabolic state of the cell through the kinase mTOR. Here we show that LPS stimulates mTOR and that mTOR is required for LPS-induced lysosome tubulation and secretion of major histocompatibility complex II in macrophages and dendritic cells. Specifically, we show that the canonical phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase–Akt–mTOR signaling pathway regulates LPS-induced lysosome tubulation independently of IRAK1/4 and TBK. Of note, we find that LPS treatment augmented the levels of membrane-associated Arl8b, a lysosomal GTPase required for tubulation that promotes kinesin-dependent lysosome movement to the cell periphery, in an mTOR-dependent manner. This suggests that mTOR may interface with the Arl8b-kinesin machinery. To further support this notion, we show that mTOR antagonists can block outward movement of lysosomes in cells treated with acetate but have no effect in retrograde movement upon acetate removal. Overall our work provides tantalizing evidence that mTOR plays a role in controlling lysosome morphology and trafficking by modulating microtubule-based motor activity in leukocytes.
Surgical treatment of upper extremity contractures in Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy
Authors: Fishman Felicity G. , Goldstein Edward M. , Peljovich Allan E.
Published: November 2015

Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a rare form of muscular dystrophy. In the present study we present two patients with Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and severe upper extremity contractures treated successfully with contracture release and musculotendinous lengthenings. For each of these patients a chart review was carried out and surgical technique reviewed. Patient 1 demonstrated elbow flexion contractures of 65° (right) and 60° (left) preoperatively and ∼45° (right) and 20° (left) postoperatively. Patient 2 demonstrated flexion contractures of 75° bilaterally preoperatively and 45° bilaterally postoperatively. For more severe elbow contractures, surgical treatment resulted in improved range of motion without a significant sacrifice of strength, allowing these patients to remain independent.
Regular Exercise and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Elders in Northern Taiwan
Authors: Chang Shu-Hung , Chien Nai-Hui , Chen Miao-Chuan
Published: November 2015

Background:

According to World Health Organization, depressive disorder will be a Top 2 disease in the world by 2020. In light of Taiwan’s rapidly increasing elderly population, elderly psychological health is expected to become an increasingly important issue in healthcare.

Purpose:

This study examines the association between regular exercise and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults by gender in northern Taiwan.

Methods:

The participants were selected using a probability-proportional-to-size procedure from community-dwelling adults who were aged 65 years or older and living in northern Taiwan. A cross-sectional study and interviews were used to collect information about their exercise behaviors, depressive symptoms, and the factors influencing the depressive symptoms. Percentage, chi-square, t test, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data.

Result:

One thousand twenty elderly individuals completed the questionnaires. Among the participants with the average age of 73.5 years, 44.5% were men, and 55.5% were women. Two hundred seventeen of the participants (21.3%) had depressive symptoms. Five hundred eighty-five of the participants (57.4%) exercised regularly. The result of logistic regression showed that regular exercise was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in elderly individuals (odds ratio = 3.54, 95% confidence interval [1.76, 7.12]). Other factors such as gender, chronicle diseases, and health status were not related to depressive symptoms. Moreover, both for male and female individuals, regular exercise was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms (odds ratio = 4.76, 95% confidence interval [1.65, 13.72] and odds ratio = 3.03, 95% confidence interval [1.18, 7.69], respectively). Other factors were not related to depressive symptoms.

Conclusions/Implications for Practice:

This study shows regular exercise to be a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in both men and women. Therefore, senior citizens should be encouragedto exercise regularly as a way to promote good mental health.
Validation of the Chinese Version of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale on Patients Who Have Undergone Laryngectomy
Authors: Zhao Huiling , Feng Xianqiong , Yu Rong , Gu Deying , Ji Xiaoqin
Published: November 2015

Background:

The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) was designed to assess the readiness of patients for discharge. The original English-language instrument has shown high degrees of reliability and validity, but no Chinese version of the scale has been verified.

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to translate the RHDS into Chinese and assess the psychometric properties of this scale on laryngectomy patients in China.

Methods:

The RHDS was translated into Chinese using forward and back translation, semantic equivalence assessment, and pilot testing. The content and construct validity, internal consistency, and internal reliability of the translated scale were assessed using exploratory factor analysis and Pearson correlation analysis.

Results:

The content validity index of the developed Chinese version of the RHDS was .97, with the content validity indexes of RHDS items ranging between .75 and 1.00. The Cronbach’s α coefficient for internal consistency was .97. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structural model. All correlations among the three factor subscales were significant. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between subscale factors and the total scale ranged from .81 to .97.

Conclusions:

The Chinese version of the RHDS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the discharge readiness of laryngectomy patients in China.
Centromere Detection of Human Metaphase Chromosome Images using a Candidate Based Method
Authors: Subasinghe Akila , Samarabandu Jagath , Li Yanxin , Wilkins Ruth , Flegal Farrah , Knoll Joan H. , Rogan Peter K.
Published: November 2015

Accurate detection of the human metaphase chromosome centromere is an critical element of cytogenetic diagnostic techniques, including chromosome enumeration, karyotyping and radiation biodosimetry. Existing image processing methods can perform poorly in the presence of irregular boundaries, shape variations and premature sister chromatid separation, which can adversely affect centromere localization. We present a centromere detection algorithm that uses a novel profile thickness measurement technique on irregular chromosome structures defined by contour partitioning. Our algorithm generates a set of centromere candidates which are then evaluated based on a set of features derived from images of chromosomes. Our method also partitions the chromosome contour to isolate its telomere regions and then detects and corrects for sister chromatid separation. When tested with a chromosome database consisting of 1400 chromosomes collected from 40 metaphase cell images, the candidate based centromere detection algorithm was able to accurately localize 1220 centromere locations yielding a detection accuracy of 87%. We also introduce a Candidate Based Centromere Confidence (CBCC) metric which indicates an approximate confidence value of a given centromere detection and can be readily extended into other candidate related detection problems.
Actin activatesPseudomonas aeruginosaExoY nucleotidyl cyclase toxin and ExoY-like effector domains from MARTX toxins
Authors: Raoux-Barbot Dorothée , Saveanu Cosmin , Namane Abdelkader , Ogryzko Vasily , Worpenberg Lina , Fellous Souad , Assayag Elodie , Ladant Daniel , Renault Louis , Mechold Undine
Published: November 2015

Pseudomonas aeruginosais a major cause of chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients. The nucleotidyl cyclase toxin ExoY is a virulence factors injected by the pathogen and associated with severe damage to lung tissue. ExoY-like cyclases are also found in other Gram-negative pathogens and shown to contribute to virulence, although they remained poorly characterized. Here we demonstrate that filamentous actin (F-actin) is the hitherto unknown co-factor that activatesP. aeruginosaExoY within host target cells. Highly purified actin, when polymerized into filaments, potently stimulates (>10,000 fold) ExoY activity. ExoY co-localizesin vivowith actin filaments in transfected cells and,in vitro, it interferes with the regulation of actin assembly/disassembly-dynamics mediated by important F-actin-binding proteins. We further show that actin also activates an ExoY-like adenylate cyclase from aVibriospecies. Our results thus highlight a new sub-class within the class II adenylyl cyclase family, defined as actin-activated nucleotidyl cyclase (AA-NC) toxins.
XMRF: An R package to Fit Markov Networks to High-Throughput Genetics Data
Authors: Wan Ying-Wooi , Allen Genevera I. , Baker Yulia , Yang Eunho , Ravikumar Pradeep , Liu Zhandong
Published: November 2015

Motivation

Technological advances in medicine have led to a rapid proliferation of high-throughput “omics” data. Tools to mine this data and discover disrupted disease networks are needed as they hold the key to understanding complicated interactions between genes, mutations and aberrations, and epi-genetic markers.

Results

We developed an R software package,XMRF, that can be used to fit Markov Networks to various types of high-throughput genomics data. Encoding the models and estimation techniques of the recently proposed exponential family Markov Random Fields (Yang et al., 2012), our software can be used to learn genetic networks from RNA-sequencing data (counts via Poisson graphical models), mutation and copy number variation data (categorical via Ising models), and methylation data (continuous via Gaussian graphical models).

Availability

XMRF is available from the CRAN Project and Github at:https://github.com/zhandong/XMRF
Synchrotron powder diffraction of silicon: high-quality structure factors and electron density
Authors: Wahlberg Nanna , Bindzus Niels , Bjerg Lasse , Becker Jacob , Dippel Ann-Christin , Iversen Bo Brummerstedt
Published: November 2015

Crystalline silicon is an ideal compound to test the current state of experimental structure factors and corresponding electron densities. High-quality structure factors have been measured on crystalline silicon with synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. They are in excellent agreement with benchmarkPendellösungdata having comparable accuracy and precision, but acquired in far less time and to a much higher resolution (sin θ/λ < 1.7 Å−1). The extended data range permits an experimental modelling of not only the valence electron density but also the core deformation in silicon, establishing an increase of the core density upon bond formation in crystalline silicon. Furthermore, a physically sound procedure for evaluating the standard deviation of powder-derived structure factors has been applied. Sampling statistics inherently account for contributions from photon counts as well as the limited number of diffracting particles, where especially the latter are particularly difficult to handle.
Government reports versus offenders’ experiences: toward the resolution of discrepancies in healthcare and healthcare delivery
Authors: Memarpour Pegah , Ricciardelli Rose , Maasarjian Pauline
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Canadian literature on federal correctional institutions and prison living indicate a shortage inadequate and available healthcare services to meet the needs of the prison population, despite prisoners higher rates of health challenges (e.g. mental health, addictions, HIV/AIDS) in comparison to the general population. With fewer resources, concerns arise about the delivery, quantity, and quality of penal healthcare provision. Thus, the authors examines former prisoners’ experiences of, in comparison to government reports on, wait-times, and request processes for healthcare services, as well as issues of access, quality of interactions with healthcare professionals and the regulations and policies governing healthcare provision. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors compare data gathered from interviews with 56 former-federal prisoners with publicly available Correctional Services Canada reports on healthcare delivery, staff-prisoner interactions, programmes and services, and overall physical and mental health to identify consistencies and inconsistencies between the government’s and former prisoners’ understandings of penal healthcare.

Findings

– Discrepancies exist between prisoners reported experiences of healthcare provision and government reports. Prisoners are dissatisfied with healthcare provision in more secure facilities or when they feel their healthcare needs are not met yet become more satisfied in less secure institutions or when their needs are eventually met.

Originality/value

– Theories of administrative control frame the analyses, including discrepancies between parolee experiences and Correctional Service Canada reports. Policy recommendations to improve healthcare provision are highlighted.