bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circulating branched‐chain amino acids and incident heart failure in type 2 diabetes: The Hong Kong Diabetes Register
Authors: Lim Lee‐Ling , Lau Eric S.H. , Fung Erik , Lee Heung‐Man , Ma Ronald C.W. , Tam Claudia H.T. , Wong Willy K.K. , Ng Alex C.W. , Chow Elaine , Luk Andrea O.Y. , Jenkins Alicia , Chan Juliana C.N. , Kong Alice P.S.
Published: January 2020

Aim

Levels of branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs, namely, isoleucine, leucine, and valine) are modulated by dietary intake and metabolic/genetic factors. BCAAs are associated with insulin resistance and increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although insulin resistance predicts heart failure (HF), the relationship between BCAAs and HF in T2D remains unknown.

Methods

In this prospective observational study, we measured BCAAs in fasting serum samples collected at inception from 2139 T2D patients free of cardiovascular‐renal diseases. The study outcome was the first hospitalization for HF.

Results

During 29 103 person‐years of follow‐up, 115 primary events occurred (age: 54.8 ± 11.2 years, 48.2% men, median [interquartile range] diabetes duration: 5 years [1‐10]). Patients with incident HF had 5.6% higher serum BCAAs than those without HF (median 639.3 [561.3‐756.3] vs 605.2 [524.8‐708.7] μmol/L; P = .01). Serum BCAAs had a positive linear association with incident HF (per‐SD increase in logarithmically transformed BCAAs: hazard ratio [HR] 1.22 [95% CI 1.07‐1.39]), adjusting for age, sex, and diabetes duration. The HR remained significant after sequential adjustment of risk factors including incident coronary heart disease (1.24, 1.09‐1.41); blood pressure, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and baseline use of related medications (1.31, 1.14‐1.50); HbA1c, waist circumference, triglyceride, and baseline use of related medications (1.28, 1.11‐1.48); albuminuria and estimated glomerular filtration rate (1.28, 1.11‐1.48). The competing risk of death analyses showed similar results.

Conclusions

Circulating levels of BCAAs are independently associated with incident HF in patients with T2D. Prospective cohort analysis and randomized trials are needed to evaluate the long‐term safety and efficacy of using different interventions to optimize BCAAs levels in these patients.
Cortical laminar resting‐state signal fluctuations scale with the hypercapnic blood oxygenation level‐dependent response
Authors: Guidi Maria , Huber Laurentius , Lampe Leonie , Merola Alberto , Ihle Kristin , Möller Harald E.
Published: January 2020

Calibrated functional magnetic resonance imaging can remove unwanted sources of signal variability in the blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) response. This is achieved by scaling, using information from a perfusion‐sensitive scan during a purely vascular challenge, typically induced by a gas manipulation or a breath‐hold task. In this work, we seek for a validation of the use of the resting‐state fluctuation amplitude (RSFA) as a scaling factor to remove vascular contributions from the BOLD response. Given the peculiarity of depth‐dependent vascularization in gray matter, BOLD and vascular space occupancy (VASO) data were acquired at submillimeter resolution and averaged across cortical laminae. RSFA from the primary motor cortex was, thus, compared to the amplitude of hypercapnia‐induced signal changes (tSDhc) and with the
M factor of the Davis model on a laminar level. High linear correlations were observed for RSFA and tSDhc (
R2 = 0.92 ± 0.06) and somewhat reduced for RSFA and
M (
R2 = 0.62 ± 0.19). Laminar profiles of RSFA‐normalized BOLD signal changes yielded good agreement with corresponding VASO profiles. Overall, this suggests that RSFA contains strong vascular components and is also modulated by baseline quantities contained in the
M factor. We conclude that RSFA may replace the scaling factor tSDhc for normalizing the laminar BOLD response.
Chronic Viral Hepatitis: Current Management and Future Directions
Authors: Do Albert , Reau Nancy S.
Published: January 2020

The past decade has seen transformation in the strategies for identifying and managing viral hepatitis, most dramatically the transformation of hepatitis C virus from a mostly chronic affliction to a curable disease that is accessible to wide populations through direct‐acting antiviral therapies. More recently, shifting of hepatitis C virus burden to younger patients driven by intravenous drug use has shaped screening recommendations. Future work focusing on effective screening, linkage to care, treatment initiation, and post‐cure management will allow countries to work toward meeting goals of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat. Concurrently, hepatitis B virus has also seen advances in management using oral nucleos(t)ide therapies with high‐resistance barriers. However, virologic cure remains elusive in the setting of viral genetic persistence within the hepatocyte nucleus, even with suppressive antiviral therapy. Future directions include a refined definition of “cure,” new biomarkers, and development of therapies targeting multiple pathways in the viral pathogenic and replication pathway. Progress is additionally being made on the management of hepatitis D infection. This review summarizes the recent evolution in disease characteristics, associated affected population, and changes in our understanding of management for these infections. We also discuss future directions in the management of viral hepatitis, including discussion on issues related to management before and after antiviral therapy. Conclusion: We summarize recent advances in the identification and management of viral hepatitis, which hold the potential to markedly reduce disease burden and therefore associated liver‐related complications. However further work is needed to adequately identify and manage these diseases.
FGF13 promotes metastasis of triple‐negative breast cancer
Authors: Johnstone Cameron N. , Pattison Andrew D. , Harrison Paul F. , Powell David R. , Lock Peter , Ernst Matthias , Anderson Robin L. , Beilharz Traude H.
Published: January 2020

Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents 10–20% of all human ductal adenocarcinomas and has a poor prognosis relative to other subtypes, due to the high propensity to develop distant metastases. Hence, new molecular targets for therapeutic intervention are needed for TNBC. We recently conducted a rigorous phenotypic and genomic characterization of four isogenic populations of MDA‐MB‐231 human triple‐negative breast cancer cells that possess a range of intrinsic spontaneous metastatic capacities in vivo, ranging from nonmetastatic (MDA‐MB‐231_ATCC) to highly metastatic to lung, liver, spleen and spine (MDA‐MB‐231_HM). Gene expression profiling of primary tumours by RNA‐Seq identified the fibroblast growth factor homologous factor, FGF13, as highly upregulated in aggressively metastatic MDA‐MB‐231_HM tumours. Clinically, higher FGF13 mRNA expression was associated with significantly worse relapse free survival in both luminal A and basal‐like human breast cancers but was not associated with other clinical variables and was not upregulated in primary tumours relative to normal mammary gland. Stable FGF13 depletion restricted in vitro colony forming ability in MDA‐MB‐231_HM TNBC cells but not in oestrogen receptor (ER)‐positive MCF‐7 or MDA‐MB‐361 cells. However, despite augmenting MDA‐MB‐231_HM cell migration and invasion in vitro, FGF13 suppression almost completely blocked the spontaneous metastasis of MDA‐MB‐231_HM orthotopic xenografts to both lung and liver while having negligible impact on primary tumour growth. Together, these data indicate that FGF13 may represent a therapeutic target for blocking metastatic outgrowth of certain TNBCs. Further evaluation of the roles of individual FGF13 protein isoforms in progression of the different subtypes of breast cancer is warranted.
Mixed causal–noncausal autoregressions with exogenous regressors
Authors: Hecq Alain , Issler Joao Victor , Telg Sean
Published: January 2020

Mixed causal–noncausal autoregressive (MAR) models have been proposed to model time series exhibiting nonlinear dynamics. Possible exogenous regressors are typically substituted into the error term to maintain the MAR structure of the dependent variable. We introduce a representation including these covariates called MARX to study their direct impact. The asymptotic distribution of the MARX parameters is derived for a class of non‐Gaussian densities. For a Student
likelihood, closed‐form standard errors are provided. By simulations, we evaluate the MARX model selection procedure using information criteria. We examine the influence of the exchange rate and industrial production index on commodity prices.
DeconvTest: Simulation framework for quantifying errors and selecting optimal parameters of image deconvolution
Authors: Medyukhina Anna , Figge Marc Thilo
Published: January 2020

Deconvolution is an essential step of image processing that aims to compensate for the image blur caused by the microscope's point spread function. With many existing deconvolution methods, it is challenging to choose the method and its parameters most appropriate for particular image data at hand. To facilitate this task, we developed DeconvTest: an open‐source Python‐based framework for generating synthetic microscopy images, deconvolving them with different algorithms, and quantifying reconstruction errors. In contrast to existing software, DeconvTest combines all components required to analyze deconvolution performance in a systematic, high‐throughput and quantitative manner. We demonstrate the power of the framework by using it to identify the optimal deconvolution settings for synthetic and real image data. Based on this, we provide a guideline for (a) choosing optimal values of deconvolution parameters for image data at hand and (b) optimizing imaging conditions for best results in combination with subsequent image deconvolution.
Determination of causes of death via spectrochemical analysis of forensic autopsies‐based pulmonary edema fluid samples with deep learning algorithm
Authors: Lin Hancheng , Luo Yiwen , Sun Qiran , Deng Kaifei , Chen Yijiu , Wang Zhenyuan , Huang Ping
Published: January 2020

This study investigated whether infrared spectroscopy combined with a deep learning algorithm could be a useful tool for determining causes of death by analyzing pulmonary edema fluid from forensic autopsies. A newly designed convolutional neural network‐based deep learning framework, named DeepIR and eight popular machine learning algorithms, were used to construct classifiers. The prediction performances of these classifiers demonstrated that DeepIR outperformed the machine learning algorithms in establishing classifiers to determine the causes of death. Moreover, DeepIR was generally less dependent on preprocessing procedures than were the machine learning algorithms; it provided the validation accuracy with a narrow range from 0.9661 to 0.9856 and the test accuracy ranging from 0.8774 to 0.9167 on the raw pulmonary edema fluid spectral dataset and the nine preprocessing protocol‐based datasets in our study. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the deep learning‐equipped Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique has the potential to be an effective aid for determining causes of death.
Sludge‐based mesoporous activated carbon: the effect of hydrothermal pretreatment on material preparation and adsorption of bisphenol A
Authors: Xin Wang , Li Xing , Song Yonghui
Published: January 2020

Background

The excess sludge produced by sewage treatment plants contains a large number of pollutants, which is of huge environmental risk. Transforming this kind of solid waste into adsorption materials is an effective approach to realize the resource utilization of sludge. Combined with hydrothermal pretreatment and chemical activation, the synthesis of sludge‐based mesoporous carbon is used to remove bisphenol A (BPA) in wastewater.

Results

A resource recycling measure to prepare mesoporous activated carbons (MACs) from sewage sludge was developed via the combination of hydrothermal pretreatment and chemical activation using sewage sludge and sulfuric acid as carbon precursor and activating agent, respectively. The combination of hydrothermal pretreatment and chemical activation not only can make efficient use of the activating agents but also facilitate the deep pyrolysis of the sludge. The resultant MAC obtained using the hydrothermal pretreatment possessed a larger total surface area, less crystalline phase and a narrower pore size distribution compared to other samples. Meanwhile, the MAC obtained from hydrothermal pretreatment presented the highest amount of adsorption of BPA and achieved a better capture than the reference commercial activated carbons. In addition, a possible adsorption mechanism has been proposed to further analyze the enhanced adsorption performance.

Conclusions

The yield and mesoporous content of the obtained MAC is 59.19% and 31.51%, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity for BPA is 137.87 mg g−1. Microporosity, hydrogen bonding and π–π effect introduced by the hydrothermal pretreatment play an important role in BPA adsorption. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
Using a Brush Copolymer as Efficient Dispersant for the Preparation of Highly Stabilized Ag Nanoparticles in Aqueous Suspensions
Authors: Chao Tsung‐Ming , Chang Shinn‐Jen , Chang Cha‐Wen , Li Chia‐Chen
Published: January 2020

Silver (Ag) nanoparticle has extremely high surface energy and it is difficult to find an efficient dispersant to prevent its agglomeration in suspensions. A new brush copolymer, succinic anhydride modified epoxy‐amine poly[(propylene oxide)‐co‐(ethylene oxide)]‐grafted polymer (EPOA), which can efficiently disperse concentrated aqueous suspensions of Ag nanoparticles is revealed. The dispersion efficiency of EPOA for the dispersion of a 60 nm‐Ag nanoparticles in aqueous suspension is studied by measuring its sedimentation and rheological behavior, and the results are compared with those of a commercially available dispersant, ammonium poly(acrylic acid) (PAA‐NH4). Interactions between the dispersants and the Ag nanoparticles are characterized by zeta potential and adsorption analyses. Theoretical calculations are conducted to clarify the adsorption and the dominant dispersion stabilization mechanisms of the dispersants. Compared with PAA‐NH4, EPOA obtains a higher stable suspension of Ag nanoparticles with less significant sedimentation over 1 month. The dispersion homogeneity of the suspension remains excellent even at an extremely high solid loading of 30–40 wt%. According to adsorption analysis, it is suggested that both EPOA and PAA‐NH4 adsorb via single‐point attachment through the carboxyl group on the Ag surface. Based on theoretical calculations, the Ag nanoparticles are better stabilized by EPOA via an electrosteric dispersion mechanism.
Validation process of Toronto Exremity Salvage Score in Italian: A quality of life measure for patients with extremity bone and soft tissue tumors
Authors: Rossi Laura , Boffano Michele , Comandone Alessandro , Ferro Andrea , Grignani Giovanni , Linari Alessandra , Pellegrino Pietro , Piana Raimondo , Ratto Nicola , Davis Aileen M.
Published: January 2020

Background and Objectives

Limb salvage surgery remains the standard treatment in bone and soft tissue tumors. Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) is the most used quality of life measure. Our objective was to perform cross‐cultural adaptation and validation in Italian, testing test‐retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness.

Methods

We interviewed patients already treated for content validity. A total of 124 patients completed TESS and other questionnaires presurgery, at 3 months, 3 months + 2 weeks, and 6 months follow‐up. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for reliability, associations with Pearson's r, and change over time with paired T tests.

Results

A new item regarding touch‐screen devices was added to the upper extremity (UE) questionnaire. ICC resulted of 0.99 for lower extremity (LE) and 0.98 for UE patients, Pearson's r between TESS and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society was .66 and .64, EuroQol‐5D‐5L r was .62 and .61, and r between TESS and short form‐36 physical function subscale was .76 and .71 for LE and UE groups, respectively. Paired T test results were statistically significant to detect change over time (0.03, 0.04, and 0.04 for LE groups and 0.03, 0.01, and 0.04 for UE groups).

Conclusion

The Italian version of TESS can be used for the bone and soft tissue sarcoma population in clinical trials in Italy and with Italian speaking patients abroad to ensure patients’ perspectives for efficacy and efficiency of treatments.
Environmental, social and governance initiatives and wealth creation for firms: An empirical examination
Authors: Bhaskaran Rajesh Kumar , Ting Irene Wei Kiong , Sukumaran Sujit K. , Sumod Saraswathy Divakaran
Published: January 2020

This study examines the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities on firm performance of 4,887 global companies. Mean difference test shows that firms with a high level of ESG activities are different from their low‐ESG counterparts. The two‐stage least square results suggest that ESG activities on (a) the welfare for internal stakeholders and best corporate governance practices are beneficial for firm performance and (b) antitakeover mechanisms (pollution control) adopted by firms are negatively (positively) valued by market players. Overall, this is the first study to examine the effects of ESG on the market‐based and accounting‐based performance of global firms.
Application of targeted observation in a model's physical parameters for the simulation and forecast of heat flux with a land surface model
Authors: Sun Guodong , Peng Fei , Mu Mu
Published: January 2020

The targeted observation is that the additional observation is implemented in important regions to improve a numerical forecast of a weather or climate event. These additional observations are aimed to reduce the uncertainties of the initial state with the data‐assimilation system. In the study, the targeted observation strategy is attempted in the uncertainties of the model's physical parameters to improve the numerical simulation and forecast skills of surface turbulent fluxes (sensible heat flux—SH and latent heat flux—LH). First, an approach for determining important parameter combinations based on conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation related to parameters (CNOP‐P) is employed to choose sensitive parameter combinations for the SH and LH. The characteristic of the new approach is to judge the sensitivity of the parameter combination and consider the nonlinear effect of the combination. The sensitivity of the parameter combination using the new approach is compared with that using the traditional one‐at‐a‐time (OAT) approach. The latter method ranks parameters one by one according to the sensitivity of each parameter and it fails to judge the sensitivity of the parameter combination. Within the Common Land Surface Model (CoLM), numerical results show differences between the sensitivity of the parameter combinations using the new approach and the top‐ranked sensitive parameter using the OAT approach in dry and wet regions of China for the SH and LH. Second, the benefits of forecast skills of the SH and LH are evaluated by reducing the parameter error within the sensitive parameter combination. It is found that the prediction skills of the SH and LH are improved in China. For example, elevated extents of the SH (84.3%) and LH (78.3%) calculated from the sensitive parameter combination using the new approach are greater than those of the SH (57.2%) and LH (48.5%) using the OAT approach in semi‐arid regions. This result suggests that it is practicable to apply the targeted observation to reduce the model physical parameters to improve the simulation skill. The new approach for determining parameter combinations based on the CNOP‐P is a promising method with which to explore the problems of the targeted observation to the model physical parameters.
Numerical modeling of plastic deformation and failure around a wellbore in compaction and dilation modes
Authors: Garavand Aboozar , Stefanov Yuri Pavlovich , Rebetsky Yuri Leonidovich , Bakeev Rustam Alfredovich , Myasnikov Artem Veniaminovich
Published: January 2020

In many wellbore stability analyses, the ability to forecast both the occurrence and extent of plastic deformation and failure hinges upon a fundamental understanding of deformation mode and failure mechanism in the reservoir rock. This study focuses on analyzing plastic zones, localized deformations, and failures around a borehole drilled overbalanced or underbalanced through a highly porous rock formation. Based on several laboratory experiments, porous rocks are prone to deform under both shear‐induced dilation and shear‐enhanced compaction mechanisms depending on the stress state. The shapes of the deformation and failure patterns around the borehole are shown, depending on the initial stress state and the local stress paths. The inquiry of the local stress paths in the near‐wellbore zone facilitates the understanding of the reasons for different types of failure mechanisms, including the mixed‐mode and the plastic deformation structures. The modification of the 2D plane strain condition by imitating third stress in the numerical scheme helps us bring the stress paths closer to the real state of loading conditions. Our modeling reveals that the transition from isotropic to anisotropic stress state is accompanied by an increase in the deviatoric part of effective shear tensor that leads to the development of inelastic deformation, degradation, and subsequent rock failure. Particular interest is devoted to the modeling of strain localization especially in compaction mode around a wellbore and computing the amount of stress concentration at the tips of dog‐eared breakouts. Stress concentration can result in a change in irreversible deformation mode from dilatancy to compaction, elucidating the formation of the shear‐enhanced compaction phenomenon at the failure tips in the direction of the minimum horizontal stress.
The prediction of behavioral intention to use online mental health interventions
Authors: Chuenphitthayavut Krittipat , Zihuang Tang , Zhu Tingshao
Published: January 2020

This cross‐sectional study addresses two important contributions to understanding behavioral intention to use online mental health interventions: (a) to investigate the proposed behavioral intention model in predicting the use of online mental health interventions, and (b) to compare the proposed behavioral intention model in predicting the use of online mental health interventions between Chinese and Thai patients and between healthy individuals and those with mental health disorders. The samples included 250 Chinese respondents and 251 Thai respondents. Data were collected using Likert questionnaires with a reliability of 0.75 to 0.95 and analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling. The structural model of behavioral intention to use online mental health intervention was shown the significant acceptances on indices in overall group. However, the result did not enhance the previous literature review according to the proposed behavioral intention model. Most latent variables in this study did not show an influence on behavioral intention to use online mental health services. Individual characteristics, particularly mental health literacy, only significantly predicted behavioral intention to use online mental health interventions. However, significant influences in some observed variables were detected, such as informational support and emotional support in social support, including media and the general public in social influence. Comparing the multigroup model, no difference in the causal relationship model between Chinese and Thai patients was found, but a difference between healthy individuals and those with mental health disorders, especially individual characteristics to behavioral intention path and social support to attitude toward use path, was found. Results highlight the benefits of further development and patient education of online mental health services in the future.
Vancomycin Pharmacokinetics in Obese Patients with Sepsis or Septic Shock
Authors: Masich Anne M. , Kalaria Shamir N. , Gonzales Jeffrey P. , Heil Emily L. , Tata Asha L. , Claeys Kimberly C. , Patel Devang , Gopalakrishnan Mathangi
Published: January 2020

Study Objectives

Obese patients with sepsis or septic shock may have altered vancomycin pharmacokinetics compared with the general population that may result in improper dosing or inadequate drug concentrations. The objective of this study was to characterize vancomycin pharmacokinetics in obese patients with sepsis or septic shock, and to develop a novel pharmacokinetic dosing model based on pharmacokinetic‐pharmacodynamic target requirements.

Design

Prospective observational pharmacokinetic study.

Setting

Large quaternary academic medical center.

Patients

Sixteen obese (body mass index [BMI] 30 kg/m2 or higher) adults with sepsis and either a gram‐positive bacteremia or requiring vasopressor support (septic shock), who were receiving vancomycin between November 2016 and June 2018, were included. Patients were excluded if they were receiving renal replacement therapy or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, treatment for central nervous system infections, pregnant, or receiving vancomycin for surgical prophylaxis.

Intervention

Four blood samples per patient were collected following a single dose of vancomycin: one peak serum vancomycin level (within 1–2 hrs of infusion completion), two random levels during the dosing interval, and one trough level (within 30–60 min of the next dose) were measured.

Measurements and Main Results

A population pharmacokinetic model was developed to describe vancomycin concentrations over time. Simulations to determine optimal dosing were performed using the pharmacokinetic model with different ranges of creatinine clearance (Clcr) and different vancomycin daily doses. Median age of the patients was 62 years; median BMI was 36.1 kg/m2, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 26, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was 11. Eleven patients (69%) had an acute kidney injury. Median initial vancomycin dose was 15 mg/kg; median vancomycin trough concentration was 17 mg/L. A one‐compartment model best characterized the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in obese patients with sepsis or septic shock. Volume of distribution was slightly increased in this population (0.8 L/kg) compared with the general population (0.7 L/kg). Only Clcr effect on drug clearance was found to be significant (decrease in the objective function value by 16.4 points), confirming that it is a strong predictor of vancomycin clearance.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this study provides the first population‐based pharmacokinetic model in obese patients with sepsis or septic shock. The nomograms generated from this pharmacokinetic model provide a simplified approach to vancomycin dosing in this patient population.
Interfacial stability of compatibilizers dictated by the thermodynamic interactions in an immiscible system and the effects of micelles on the crystallization of PLLA
Authors: Dong Wenyong , He Meifeng , Ren Fanglu , Li Yongjin , Hanada Takeshi , Lee Sungdoke , Hakukawa Hideki , Yamahira Naohiro , Horiuchi Shin
Published: January 2020

Poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) is blended with three acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) materials and compatibilized by a kind of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)‐type reactive comb (RC) polymer (RC). The compatibilization efficiency is found to be dictated by the thermodynamic interactions between PMMA‐type compatibilizers and ABS materials. For one type of ABS, which is composed of methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (St), acrylonitrile (AN), and butadiene (BD), the MMA component of ABS is able to strengthen the interaction between the PMMA‐type compatibilizers and the ABS phase and thus the obtained compatibilized PLLA/ABS blends display a fine cocontinuous morphology and excellent mechanical properties. For the other two ABS materials, which are constituted by St, AN, and BD, it has been found that the PMMA‐type compatibilizers are pulled out from the interface to form micelles in the PLLA phase, on account of the weakening interactions between ABS and PMMA‐type compatibilizers. The thus formed micelles can interact with the crystallization of PLLA and the melting temperature (Tm) of PLLA is split into a lower and a higher peak firstly, compared to the Tm of neat PLLA, then significantly decrease to lower temperature, with increasing the amount of micelles in the PLLA phase. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020, 58, 372–382
Finite‐time stabilization for a class of stochastic low‐order nonlinear systems with unknown control coefficients
Authors: Shao Yu , Xu Shengyuan , Li Yongmin , Zhang Zhengqiang
Published: January 2020

This paper addresses the problem of finite‐time stabilization for a class of low‐order stochastic upper‐triangular nonlinear systems corrupted by unknown control coefficients. Unlike the relevant schemes, the control strategy draws into a dominate gain to cope with the deteriorative effects of both uncertain nonlinearities and unknown control coefficients without using traditional adaptive compensation method. Then, a state feedback controller is constructed by the adding a power integrator method and modified homogeneous domination approach, to ensure the finite‐time stability of the closed‐loop system. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed control strategy has been demonstrated by a simulation example.
Causal data fusion methods using summary‐level statistics for a continuous outcome
Authors: Li Hongkai , Miao Wang , Cai Zheng , Liu Xinhui , Zhang Tao , Xue Fuzhong , Geng Zhi
Published: January 2020

In many empirical studies, there exist rich individual studies to separately estimate causal effect of the treatment or exposure variable on the outcome variable, but incomplete confounders are adjusted in each study. Suppose we are interested in the causal effect of a treatment or exposure on an outcome variable, and we have available rich datasets that contain different confounders. How to integrate summary‐level statistics from multiple individual datasets to improve causal inference has become a main challenge in data fusion. We propose a novel method in this article to identify the causal effect of a treatment or exposure on the continuous outcome. We show that the causal effect is identifiable and can be estimated by combining summary‐level statistics from multiple datasets containing subsets of confounders and an external dataset only containing complete confounding information. Simulation studies indicate the unbiasedness of causal effect estimate by our method and we apply our method to a study about the effect of body mass index on fasting blood glucose.
Directional Catalytic Hydroconversion of Oxybis (methylene)dibenzene and an Extract from Piliqing Subbituminous Coal over a Magnetic Difunctional Solid Superbase
Authors: Xu Mei‐Ling , Wei Xian‐Yong , Liu Guang‐Hui , Li Feng‐Hai , Zhao Yun‐Peng , Liu Fang‐Jing , Li Sheng , Zong Zhi‐Min , Fan Xing , Cao Jing‐Pei , Zhao Wei , Ma Feng‐Yun , Liu Jing‐Mei
Published: January 2020

An active and novel magnetic difunctional solid superbase catalyst Ni‐Mg2Si/attapulgite powder (AP) was prepared by thermally decomposing nickel tetracarbonyl onto the as‐synthesized Mg2Si/AP followed by impregnating Mg2Si onto AP in CCl4 and characterized by multiple analyses. It was also successfully used in the catalytic hydroconversion (CHC) of coal‐related model compound oxybis (methylene) dibenzene (OBMDB) and an extract (E) from Piliqing subbituminous coal (PSBC) in n‐hexane. As a result, OBMDB was completely converted to methylcyclohexane by the CHC under 3 MPa of initial hydrogen pressure at 240 °C for 2 h. Ni‐Mg2Si/AP can activate H2 to biatomic active hydrogen (H…H) and split H2 to immobile H+ attached on the Ni‐Mg2Si/AP surface and relatively mobile H−. Then the bridged linkage (BL) in OBMDB can be cleaved by H− attack on a α‐carbon atom in OBMDB, producing toluene and benzyloxy anion, which abstracts H+ from the Ni‐Mg2Si/AP surface to afford phenylmethanol (PM). The α‐carbon in PM is attacked by H‐ to generate toluene and HO−. H…H transfers to benzene ring in toluene yields methylcyclohexane. The soluble portion (SP) from the CHC (SPE‐CHC) and non‐CHC (NCHC) (SPE‐NCHC) of E were analyzed with a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Non‐substituted cycloalkanes (NSCAs) are predominant in the SPE‐CHC, accounting for 66.9 % of the total group components, and interestingly 65.3 % of NSCAs is cyclohexane, while non‐substituted arenes are the most abundant in the SPE‐NCHC. The results indicate that the CHC is beneficial to the fracture of COCBB and hydrogenation of ARs to produce more NSCAs.
Daily stressors facilitate giving and receiving of emotional support in adulthood
Authors: Joo Susanna , Chai Hye Won , Jun Hey Jung , Almeida David M.
Published: January 2020

The aims of the present study were to examine whether daily stressors are associated with engagement in emotional support and whether these associations differ by gender. Analyses were conducted using Wave 2 of Midlife in the United States data and its subproject National Study of Daily Experiences. The sample consisted of adults aged 33 to 84 (N = 1,622). Using multinomial multilevel analysis, we looked at the associations between lagged and concurrent daily stressors with engagement in emotional support. For concurrent associations, people who experienced stressors were more likely to both give and receive, solely give, and solely receive emotional support compared with those who did not have any stressors. Women were more likely to engage in both giving and receiving of emotional support compared with men when they experienced stressors during the same day. In terms of the lagged associations, both men and women who experienced stressors during the previous day were more likely to both give and receive emotional support the next day compared with those who did not experience any stressors during the previous day. These results suggest that experiencing daily stressors facilitates giving and receiving of emotional support at daily level in adulthood.
Psychological stress, cardiac symptoms, and cardiovascular risk in women with suspected ischaemia but no obstructive coronary disease
Authors: Gomez Mayra A. , Merz Noel Bairey , Eastwood Jo‐Ann , Pepine Carl J. , Handberg Eileen M. , Bittner Vera , Mehta Puja K. , Krantz David S. , Vaccarino Viola , Eteiba Wafia , Rutledge Thomas
Published: January 2020

This paper evaluated cross‐sectional relationships between psychological stress and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk among women with suspected ischaemia and no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA). Between 1996 and 2000, 551 women with INOCA were enrolled in the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) cohort from four U.S. institutions. Between 2009 and 2012, 376 women with INOCA were recruited from two U.S. institutions for an independent cohort study titled WISE‐Coronary Vascular Dysfunction (WISE‐CVD). Participants underwent coronary angiography and testing for CAD symptoms and risk factors at baseline. Psychological stress was assessed in the form of home/work stress in WISE and home/work stress and financial stress in WISE‐CVD. Results showed that home/work stress predicted greater depression, functional impairment, CAD symptoms, and lower self‐rated health in WISE but was inconsistent as a predictor in WISE‐CVD. In contrast, >60% of WISE‐CVD women reported moderate or severe financial stress. Financial stress levels predicted more CAD risk factors and cardiac symptoms, poorer self‐rated health, and greater depression and functional impairment. Among women with INOCA, psychological stress was associated with CAD symptoms and CAD risk factors. The prevalence and predictive value of psychological stress in this population supports the inclusion of stress measures in future CAD research.
An Appreciation of Metaphors in Management Consulting from the Conceptual Lens of Holistic Flexibility
Authors: Chowdhury Rajneesh
Published: January 2020

Metaphors are popular in human interaction as a means to make relevant associations, convey complex ideas, and even dramatize reality or introduce humour in conversations. Metaphors, if leveraged effectively, can be a powerful tool for management consultants in their client engagement process. Chosen with a sensitive and empathetic rationale, metaphors can not only help fathom highly complex problem situations, they can also bring in an element of light‐heartedness in consulting conversations that may otherwise be stale and unexciting. Metaphorical associations can enable informality, trust, and long‐term engagement between consultants and their clients. This paper presents a first person narrative of how the author has used metaphors as a tool for creative consulting. A reflection is provided on how the experiences narrated in this paper align with the conceptual lens of holistic flexibility introduced by Rajneesh Chowdhury in his latest book on systems thinking for management consultants in 2019.
Design, development and optimization of new high performance thin‐layer chromatography method for quantitation of Retapamulin in pharmaceutical formulation: Application of design of experiment
Authors: Patel Rashmin , Patel Nishant , Patel Mrunali
Published: January 2020

The objective of the present study was to design, develop and optimize Design of Experiments supported high performance thin‐layer chromatography method for quantitative estimation of Retapamulin in marketed cream and microemulsion formulations. Design of Experiments help to identify and understand the effect of important factors on response with minimum experimental run in developing robust method. To optimize chromatographic conditions and to study their effects on separation of Retapamulin, Box–Behnken experimental design was selected. Experimental conditions with desirability 1 were selected which gave the optimal composition of methanol in mobile phase along with ethyl acetate: ammonia, development distance of 70 millimeter and chamber saturation time of 22 minutes. Retapamulin was well separated with retardation factor value 0.60 from excipients of marketed cream formulation on high performance thin‐layer chromatography plate using optimized chromatographic conditions. The optimized method was validated and statistical analysis proved that the method is specific, sensitive, accurate and precise. A new high performance thin‐layer chromatography has been successfully designed, developed, optimized and validated for quantification of Retapamulin in cream formulation using Box–Behnken design. The proposed high performance thin‐layer chromatography method is easy, convenient, reliable and accurate for the routine analysis of Retapamulin in marketed cream and microemulsion formulations.
The anti‐icing and deicing robot system for electricity transmission line based on external excitation resonant
Authors: Zhou Feng , Zhu Jie , An Na , Wang Chenguang , Liu Jian , Long Li
Published: January 2020

Aiming at the problem of off‐line deicing in overhead transmission lines, such as poor continuity of power supply and possible damage of lines caused by over‐thick deicing, a new online anti‐icing and deicing method based on external excitation resonance is proposed. The theoretical basis of the external excitation resonance to anti‐icing and deicing is established. Then the modal characteristics of the external excitation resonance are determined through the modal analysis of the ice‐coated transmission lines, and the reasonable frequency range of the external excitation resonance is obtained. According to the theoretical analysis and calculation results, the anti‐icing and deicing robot system is designed by the external excitation resonance. Intelligent video technology is used to detect the icing condition of transmission lines in real time, and the vibration frequency range of transmission lines is analyzed and calculated. The vibration frequency is adjusted through the real‐time tracking of the resonance feedback mechanism to ensure the continuity of the resonance working state, so as to effectively realize the efficient anti‐icing and deicing of the transmission lines with the thickness of 1–3 mm at the initial icing stage. Finally, the parameters of the key components of the system are calculated and determined, and the related influencing factors are analyzed. A new deicing theory based on anti‐icing theory is proposed, and specific engineering measures are given. © 2020 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Proposals for a practical calibration method for mechanical torque measurement on the wind turbine drive train under test on a test bench
Authors: Zhang Hongkun , Wenske Jan , Reuter Andreas , Neshati Mohsen
Published: January 2020

The mechanical torque input into the wind turbine drive train is a very useful measurement for tests performed on a test bench. To ensure the accuracy and the reliability, an accurate calibration of the torque measurement must be carried out and repeated within a certain period of time. However, owing to the high torque level and large structure size, such a calibration is both expensive and time consuming. To overcome this challenge, a new calibration method is proposed here. The method is based on the electrical power measurement, where a high level of accuracy is much easier to achieve. With the help of a special test process, a relationship between the torque‐measuring signal and the electrical power can be established. The process comprises two tests with the drive train running in different operating modes. The calibration is possible by carrying out the same test process on several different torque levels. Detailed uncertainty analysis of the method is presented, whereby the uncertainty can be calculated by means of matrix operation and also numerically. As a demonstration, the implementation of the method on a test bench drive train that contains two 5‐MW motors in tandem with the motors operating in a back‐to‐back configuration is also presented. Finally, some variations on the method and possible ways of achieving better accuracy are discussed.
Application of mild pulsed electric fields on starter culture accelerates yogurt fermentation
Authors: Chanos Panagiotis , Warncke Malou C. , Ehrmann Matthias A. , Hertel Christian
Published: January 2020

The goal of this work was to investigate the influence of pulsed electric fields (PEF) operational parameters on a mixture of Streptococcus thermophilus DIL 5218 and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus DSMZ 20081T with regards to the culture’s acidification capability in reconstituted skim milk medium. We investigated the effects of field strength, pulse frequency and total number of pulses by use of design of experiments and a two-level full factorial design. The responses were the cell counts of the two microorganisms after PEF application, the pH lag phase λpH, the maximum pH change rate µmax, the maximum pH change and the oxidation/reduction potential (ORP). The application of PEF on the mixed culture accelerated the acidification of milk by an average of 12 min in an approx. 160 min lasting control λpH. In contrast the maximum pH change rate µmax and the maximum pH change decreased slightly in fermentations with PEF-treated cultures. Furthermore, a significantly faster decrease of the oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) already within the first 30 min and a lower final ORP was observed in milk fermented with PEF-treated culture. The total number of pulses applied was the most influencing factor in most of the responses measured. We hypothesized that the reason for the enhanced performance of the PEF-treated culture was a combination of an oxidative stress response of S. thermophilus DIL 5218 and an enhanced proteolytic phenotype in L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus DSMZ 20081T.
Magnetic Skyrmions at Critical Coupling
Authors: Barton-Singer Bruno , Ross Calum , Schroers Bernd J.
Published: January 2020

We introduce a family of models for magnetic skyrmions in the plane for which infinitely many solutions can be given explicitly. The energy defining the models is bounded below by a linear combination of degree and total vortex strength, and the configurations attaining the bound satisfy a first order Bogomol’nyi equation. We give explicit solutions which depend on an arbitrary holomorphic function. The simplest solutions are the basic Bloch and Néel skyrmions, but we also exhibit distorted skyrmions and anti-skyrmions as well as line defects and configurations consisting of skyrmions and anti-skyrmions.
Effective long-term treatment with incobotulinumtoxin (Xeomin®) without neutralizing antibody induction: a monocentric, cross-sectional study
Authors: Hefter Harald , Brauns Raphaela , Ürer Beyza , Rosenthal Dietmar , Albrecht Philipp
Published: January 2020

Background

Among the spectrum of licensed botulinum neurotoxin preparations incobotulinumtoxin (incoBoNT/A; Xeomin®) is the only one which does not contain complex proteins. Therefore, incoBoNT/A has been suggested to have a low antigenicity, but precise estimations on incidence and prevalence of neutralizing antibody formation during long-term treatment are outstanding so far.

Methods

For the present cross-sectional study, 59 patients having exclusively been treated with incoBoNT/A (mono group) and 32 patients having been treated with other BoNT/A preparations less than nine times and who were then switched to at least 14 sessions of incoBoNT/A treatment (switch group) were recruited from one botulinum toxin outpatient clinic. Side effects and doses were extracted from the charts, and the efficacy of treatment was assessed by the patients using a visual analogue scale (0–100). The prevalence of neutralizing antibodies was tested by means of the mouse hemi-diaphragm assay (MHDA).

Findings

None of the patients in the mono and only two in the switch group had a positive MHDA-test. Across all indications and patients, mean improvement exceeded 67%. Improvement did not depend on age at onset, sex, change of dose or duration of treatment, but on disease entity. In patients with cervical dystonia, improvement was about the same in the mono and switch subgroup, but the last dose was different.

Conclusions

The present study confirms the low antigenicity of incoBoNT/A, which has immediate consequences for patient management, and the use of higher doses and shorter durations of reinjection intervals in botulinum toxin therapy.