bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hypoglycemic Effects of a Polysaccharide from Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels & Gilg in Alloxan‐Induced Diabetic Mice
Authors: Ru Yi , Chen Xiao , Xu Jie , Huang Lihong , Jiang Miaoshan , Guo Longhua , Lin Zhenyu , Qiu Bin , Wong Kwok‐Yin
Published: May 2018

Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels & Gilg, a well‐known traditional Chinese medicine, possesses antitumor and anti‐inflammatory activity, etc. However, the anti‐diabetic effect has not been determined. In our present study, a water‐soluble polysaccharide, named THP with molecular weight of 93 307 Da, was isolated from T. hemsleyanum by DEAE‐52 ion‐exchange and Sephadex G‐100 chromatography. It contains rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, glucose, and galactose in the molar ratio of 0.07:0.14:0.38:0.21:0.31. Then anti‐diabetic effects of THP were examined by treating alloxan‐induced diabetic mice with different doses (100, 200, and 300 mg/kg) of THP orally. The results showed that THP could decrease the blood glucose, TC, TG, LDL‐C levels, increase the body weight, HDL‐C, insulin levels, and enhance the activities of antioxidant enzyme system in alloxan‐induced diabetic mice. Furthermore, the histopathological examination of pancreas, liver, and kidney indicated that THP could protect and reverse β‐cells in diabetic mice with low damage to liver and kidney, which suggests that THP may stimulate pancreatic release of insulin and can be an effectively potential candidate for diabetes mellitus.
Antiviral Triketone‐Phloroglucinol‐Monoterpene Adducts from Callistemon rigidus
Authors: Cao Jia‐Qing , Wu Yan , Zhong Yuan‐Lin , Li Ni‐Ping , Chen Mu , Li Man‐Mei , Ye Wen‐Cai , Wang Lei
Published: May 2018

Callistrilones F – K (1 – 6), six new triketone‐phloroglucinol‐monoterpene hybrids were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Callistemon rigidus. Their structures with absolute configurations were established by a combination analysis of NMR spectra, X‐ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Compounds 3 and 4 exhibited moderate inhibitory activities against herpes simplex virus (HSV‐1) with IC50 values of 10.00 ± 2.50 and 12.50 ± 1.30 μm, respectively.
Coordination‐Assisted Bioorthogonal Chemistry: Orthogonal Tetrazine Ligation with Vinylboronic Acid and a Strained Alkene
Authors: Eising Selma , Xin Bo‐Tao , Kleinpenning Fleur , Heming Jurriaan J. A. , Florea Bogdan I. , Overkleeft Herman S. , Bonger Kimberly M.
Published: May 2018

Bioorthogonal chemistry can be used for the selective modification of biomolecules without interfering with any other functionality that might be present. Recent developments in the field include orthogonal bioorthogonal reactions to modify multiple biomolecules simultaneously. During our research, we observed that the reaction rates for the bioorthogonal inverse‐electron‐demand Diels–Alder (iEDDA) reactions between nonstrained vinylboronic acids (VBAs) and dipyridyl‐s‐tetrazines were exceptionally higher than those between VBAs and tetrazines bearing a methyl or phenyl substituent. As VBAs are mild Lewis acids, we hypothesised that coordination of the pyridyl nitrogen atom to the boronic acid promoted tetrazine ligation. Herein, we explore the molecular basis and scope of VBA–tetrazine ligation in more detail and benefit from its unique reactivity in the simultaneous orthogonal tetrazine labelling of two proteins modified with VBA and norbornene, a widely used strained alkene. We further show that the two orthogonal iEDDA reactions can be performed in living cells by labelling the proteasome by using a nonselective probe equipped with a VBA and a subunit‐selective VBA bearing a norbornene moiety.
Discovery of the Tiancilactone Antibiotics by Genome Mining of Atypical Bacterial Type II Diterpene Synthases
Authors: Dong Liao‐Bin , Rudolf Jeffrey D. , Deng Ming‐Rong , Yan Xiaohui , Shen Ben
Published: May 2018

Although genome mining has advanced the identification, discovery, and study of microbial natural products, the discovery of bacterial diterpenoids continues to lag behind. Herein, we report the identification of 66 putative producers of novel bacterial diterpenoids, and the discovery of the tiancilactone (TNL) family of antibiotics, by genome mining of type II diterpene synthases that do not possess the canonical DXDD motif. The TNLs, which are broad‐spectrum antibiotics with moderate activities, are produced by both Streptomyces sp. CB03234 and Streptomyces sp. CB03238 and feature a highly functionalized diterpenoid skeleton that is further decorated with chloroanthranilate and γ‐butyrolactone moieties. Genetic manipulation of the tnl gene cluster resulted in TNL congeners, which provided insights into their biosynthesis and structure–activity relationships. This work highlights the biosynthetic potential that bacteria possess to produce diterpenoids and should inspire continued efforts to discover terpenoid natural products from bacteria.
Comparative Study of Li4Ti5O12 Composites Prepared withPristine, Oxidized, and Surfactant‐Treated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes for High‐Power Hybrid Supercapacitors
Authors: Lee Geon‐Woo , Kim Myeong‐Seong , Jeong Jun Hui , Roh Ha‐Kyung , Roh Kwang Chul , Kim Kwang‐Bum
Published: May 2018

In hybrid supercapacitors, lithium‐ion battery (LIB)‐type intercalation materials have slower reaction kinetics than electrical double‐layer‐capacitor‐type carbonaceous materials. Thus, it is of prime importance to improve the rate capability of LIB‐type intercalation materials to achieve high energy density as well as high power density from hybrid supercapacitors. In this study, we report Li4Ti5O12/pristine multiwalled carbon nanotube (LTO/P‐MWCNT) composites with high rate capability and demonstrate their anode application for high‐power hybrid supercapacitors. For comparison, two additional LTO composites are prepared by using oxidized MWCNTs and surfactant‐treated MWCNTs through a similar spray‐drying process. The LTO/P‐MWCNT composite shows superior rate capability over the other two composites, owing to the high electrical conductivity of pristine MWCNTs. The hybrid supercapacitor composed of a LTO/P‐MWCNT anode and an activated carbon cathode delivers an energy density of 70.9 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 0.03 kW kg−1 and a maximum power density of 21.8 kW kg−1 is achieved at an energy density of 24.3 Wh kg−1. Furthermore, the hybrid supercapacitor exhibits excellent cycling stability. These salient results provide further impetus to the use of MWCNTs in the design and synthesis of high‐rate oxide‐based composites with efficient lithium‐ion transport and high electrical conductivity for high‐power hybrid supercapacitors and high‐power LIBs.
Selective Photooxidation of Sulfides Catalyzed by Bis‐cyclometalated IrIII Photosensitizers Bearing 2,2′‐Dipyridylamine‐Based Ligands
Authors: Vaquero Mónica , Ruiz‐Riaguas Alba , Martínez‐Alonso Marta , Jalón Félix A. , Manzano Blanca R. , Rodríguez Ana M. , García‐Herbosa Gabriel , Carbayo Arancha , García Begoña , Espino Gustavo
Published: May 2018

A new family of heteroleptic bis‐cyclometalated IrIII complexes with formula [Ir(
)2(
)]Cl (
=2‐phenylpyridinate and
=2,2′‐dipyridylamine or N‐benzylated 2,2′‐dipyridylamines, were synthesized, characterized, and successfully used as photosensitizers in the catalytic photooxidation of an array of dialkyl, dibenzyl, alkyl aryl, and diaryl sulfides, as well as sulfur‐containing amino acids. Furthermore, the reactions proceeded with optimal chemoselectivity, and atom economy under mild conditions. Experimental observations support a dual mechanism in which singlet oxygen and superoxide are the actual oxidants.
Nucleophilic Influences and Origin of the SN2 Allylic Effect
Authors: Galabov Boris , Koleva Gergana , Schaefer Henry F. , Allen Wesley D.
Published: May 2018

The potential energy surfaces for the SN2 reactions of allyl and propyl chlorides with 21 anionic and neutral nucleophiles was studied by using ωB97X‐D/6‐311++G(3df,2pd) computations. The “allylic effect” on SN2 barriers was observed for all reactions, and compared with propyl substrates, the energy barriers differed by −0.2 to −4.5 kcal mol−1 in the gas phase. Strong correlations of the SN2 net activation barriers with cation affinities, proton affinities, and electrostatic potentials at nuclei demonstrated the powerful influence of electrostatic interactions on these reactions. For the reactions of anionic (but not neutral) nucleophiles with allyl chloride, some of the incoming negative charge (0.2–18 %) migrated into the carbon chains, which would provide secondary stabilization of the SN2 transition states. Activation strain analysis provided additional insight into the allylic effect by showing that the energy of geometric distortion for the reactants to reach the SN2 transition state was smaller for each allylic reaction than for its propyl analogue. In many cases, the interaction energies between the substrate and nucleophile in this analysis were more favorable for propyl chloride reactions, but this compensation did not overcome the predominant strain energy effect.
Fabrication of Photonic Bandgap Materials by Shifting Double Frameworks
Authors: Sheng Qingqing , Mao Wenting , Han Lu , Che Shunai
Published: May 2018

Biological organisms have evolved over millions of years to generate tremendously complex structures on a nanometer to micrometer scale. Among them, a range of three‐dimensional (3D) biological photonic structures with minimal surface or constant mean curvature surfaces have been discovered in the wing scales of insects, attracting a great deal of interest because of their unique optical properties, such as structural color, antireflection, light collection, and photonic band gaps. Single‐diamond and single‐gyroid surface structures are considered to be excellent photonic crystals with complete band gaps. Although the corresponding bicontinuous architectures have been synthesized by self‐assembly, single‐framework structures are thermodynamically unfavorable and have been only achieved by physical fabrications and the alternating gyroid method. The production of materials derived from the thermodynamically stable double‐framework structures provides a feasible solution for their chemical construction. This concept article highlights the significant progress in understanding 3D photonic structures by shifting double‐frameworks to form low‐symmetry structures, the physical properties of which can be greatly altered. Specifically, a complete photonic band gap can be achieved via a shifted double‐diamond structure composed of materials with high dielectric contrast and high refractive index. We believe this concept will provide new insights in interdisciplinary research areas including the study of photonic structures, the self‐assembly of amphiphilic molecules and the formation of biological architectures.
A Cyclometalated IrIII Complex as a Lysosome‐Targeted Photodynamic Therapeutic Agent for Integrated Imaging and Therapy in Cancer Cells
Authors: Sudheesh Karivachery V. , Jayaram Prasad S. , Samanta Animesh , Bejoymohandas Kochan S. , Jayasree Ramapurath S. , Ajayaghosh Ayyappanpillai
Published: May 2018

Organelle‐targeted photosensitizers (PSs) having luminescence properties are potential theranostic agents for simultaneous luminescence imaging and photodynamic therapy. Herein, we report a water‐soluble luminescent cyclometalated IrIII complex, Ir‐Bp‐Ly, as a lysosome‐targeted theranostic probe. Ir‐Bp‐Ly exhibits exceptional photophysical properties, with good triplet‐state quantum yield (0.90), singlet oxygen generation quantum yield (0.71 at pH 4), and long lifetime (1.47 μs). Interestingly, Ir‐Bp‐Ly localizes mostly in lysosomes due to the presence of morpholine units, suggesting its potential use as a lyso‐tracker. Ir‐Bp‐Ly displays a notable PDT effect in C6 glioma cells, efficiently generating reactive oxygen species owing to close proximity between the energy levels of its triplet state and those of molecular oxygen (3O2). The mechanism of cell death has been studied through caspase‐3/7 and flow cytometry analyses, which clearly established the apoptotic pathway.
Multi‐Valent Group 14 Chalcogenide Architectures from Ionic Liquids: 0D‐{[Cs@SnII4(GeIV4Se10)4]7−} and 2D‐{[SnII(GeIV4Se10)]2−}
Authors: Santner Silke , Wolff Alexander , Ruck Michael , Dehnen Stefanie
Published: May 2018

In order to explore if and how salts comprising polycations and salts comprising polyanions might interact, the [AlBr4]− salt of the [Pt@Bi10]4+ cluster cation was added to the reaction mixture for the synthesis of the supersphere cluster anion [Ge24Sn36Se132]24− from Cs4[Ge4Se10]⋅H2O and SnCl4⋅5 H2O under ionothermal conditions at 120 °C. Indeed, the reaction yields two new compounds, depending on the cation of the used ionic liquid. Apparently, the polycation is not retained under the given conditions, but it acts as a reductant affording SnII. In a (C4C1C1im)+‐based ionic liquid mixture, a unique supertetrahedral anion is obtained that embeds a Cs+ cation, 0D‐{[Cs@SnII4(GeIV4Se10)4]7−}, while (C4C1im)+ cations stabilize an unprecedented ternary layered anion, 2D‐{[SnII(GeIV4Se10)]2−}. Test reactions with common sources of SnII did not afford the new compounds, indicating the necessity of an in situ reduction, for which the polycation seems appropriate.
Sulfides and Disulfides of s‐Triazine: Potential Thermal Thiyl Radical Generators
Authors: Höhne Carl‐Christoph , Posern Christian , Böhme Uwe , Kroke Edwin
Published: May 2018

A series of aliphatic and aromatic thioethers and dithioethers of s‐triazine were synthesised to study their thermal properties, in particular the thermally induced thiyl radical generation ability. Four symmetric s‐triazine sulfides of the type (RS)3C3N3, namely 2,4,6‐tris(phenylthio)‐ (1), 2,4,6‐tris(para‐tolylthio)‐ (3), 2,4,6‐tris(ethylthio)‐ (5) and 2,4,6‐tris(tert‐butylthio)‐1,3,5‐triazine (7), as well as four symmetric s‐triazine disulfides of the type (RSS)3C3N3, namely 2,4,6‐tris(phenyldithio)‐ (2), 2,4,6‐tris(para‐tolyldithio)‐ (4), 2,4,6‐tris(ethyldithio)‐ (6) and 2,4,6‐tris(tert‐butyldithio)‐1,3,5‐triazine (8) were synthesised. All compounds were comprehensively characterised by 1H and 13C NMR, infrared and Raman spectroscopy as well as elemental analyses. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses of 1, 2 and 5 are discussed. The thermal behaviour was studied by thermogravimetric analyses coupled with mass spectrometry (TGA‐MS) and quantum chemical calculations. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) flammability tests showed that the disulfides are the most promising radical generators, and are most likely suitable flame retardants for selected polymers.
Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Enantiomerically Pure GluN2B Selective NMDA Receptor Antagonists
Authors: Börgel Frederik , Szermerski Marina , Schreiber Julian A. , Temme Louisa , Strutz‐Seebohm Nathalie , Lehmkuhl Kirstin , Schepmann Dirk , Ametamey Simon M. , Seebohm Guiscard , Schmidt Thomas J. , Wünsch Bernhard
Published: May 2018

To determine the eutomers of potent GluN2B‐selective N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists with a 3‐benzazepine scaffold, 7‐benzyloxy‐3‐(4‐phenylbutyl)‐2,3,4,5‐tetrahydro‐1H‐3‐benzazepin‐1‐ols (S)‐2 and (R)‐2 were separated by chiral HPLC. Hydrogenolysis and subsequent methylation of the enantiomerically pure benzyl ethers of (S)‐2 and (R)‐2 provided the enantiomeric phenols (S)‐3 and (R)‐3 [3‐(4‐phenylbutyl)‐2,3,4,5‐tetrahydro‐1H‐3‐benzazepine‐1,7‐diol] and methyl ethers (S)‐4 and (R)‐4. All enantiomers were obtained with high enantiomeric purity (≥99.7 % ee). The absolute configurations were determined by CD spectroscopy. R‐configured enantiomers turned out to be the eutomers in receptor binding studies and two‐electrode voltage clamp experiments. The most promising ligand of this compound series is the R‐configured phenol (R)‐3, displaying high GluN2B affinity (Ki=30 nm), high inhibition of ion flux (IC50=61 nm), and high cytoprotective activity (IC50=93 nm). Whereas the eudismic ratio in the receptor binding assay is 25, the eudismic ratio in the electrophysiological experiment is 3.
An Asymmetrical Cyanine Dye Nanoparticles for Small Vessel Photoacoustic Imaging In Vivo
Authors: Li Yunzheng , Xiong Jialiang , Shao Zixing , Ai Yongjian , Hua Ruimao , Luo Guoan , Liang Qionglin
Published: May 2018

A novel asymmetrical cyanine dye (TR) with NIR absorption at 970 nm was synthesized and applied in photoacoustic imaging (PAI) in vivo for the first time. The advantages of asymmetrical structure in PAI was demonstrated with DFT calculation and verified by related experiments. BSA was selected as the matrix to encapsulate TR‐BSA nanoparticles (TR‐NPs) which was investigated as a PAI agent. Exceptional performance of TR‐NPs was shown in Balb/c rats caudal vein model; the details could be clearly displayed and identified at a 0.1 mm scale.
Tuning the Optical and Self‐Assembly Properties of Diketopyrrolopyrrole Semicarbazone Derivatives through Hydrogen Bonding
Authors: Militzer Swann , Tran Thi My Phuong , Mésini Philippe J. , Ruiz‐Carretero Amparo
Published: May 2018

Hydrogen bonds are great noncovalent interactions for guiding self‐assembly processes in organic semiconductors. Their presence in molecular structures allows to modify their aggregation state by changing the solvent, concentration and temperature. Here we show that just by functionalizing simple thiophene‐capped diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives with semicarbazone units, the optical and self‐assembly properties can be tuned while controlling the formation of hydrogen bonding. The appearance of J‐type aggregates upon hydrogen‐bond formation made possible to vary the energy band gaps and supramolecular structures formed in solution and on thin films.
An autonomic‐computing approach on mapping threads to multi‐cores for software transactional memory
Authors: Zhou Naweiluo , Delaval Gwenaël , Robu Bogdan , Rutten Éric , Méhaut Jean‐François
Published: May 2018

A parallel program needs to manage the trade‐off between the time spent in synchronisation and computation. This trade‐off is significantly affected by its parallelism degree. A high parallelism degree may decrease computing time while increasing synchronisation cost. Furthermore, thread placement on processor cores may impact program performance, as the data access time can vary from one core to another due to intricacies of the underlying memory architecture. Alas, there is no universal rule to decide thread parallelism and its mapping to cores from an offline view, especially for a program with online behaviour variation. Moreover, offline tuning is less precise. We present our work on dynamic control of thread parallelism and mapping. We address concurrency issues via Software Transactional Memory (STM). STM bypasses locks to tackle synchronisation through transactions. Autonomic computing offers designers a framework of methods and techniques to build autonomic systems with well‐mastered behaviours. Its key idea is to implement feedback control loops to design safe, efficient, and predictable controllers, which enable monitoring and adjusting controlled systems dynamically while keeping overhead low. We implement feedback control loops to automate management of threads and diminish program execution time.
Application of Internet of Things technology in the construction of wisdom museum
Authors: Ke Ge , Jiang Qijie
Published: May 2018

The wisdom museum is an advanced development stage for information, digital, and intelligent museums. It utilizes a variety of information technologies such as the Internet of Things and various low‐carbon technologies, such as new energy and energy conservation, and integrates the needs of cultural heritage protection and cultural heritage. The new museum operation method realizes the perfect combination of information technology and traditional culture. It can be based on safety and health and can be collected, protected, and researched for a better education, research, and appreciation heritage through a convenient, efficient, and cultural smart system. Finally, it can be able to disseminate and display the material and intangible heritage of the human and human environment.
Spotting review spammer groups: A cosine pattern and network based method
Authors: Zhang Lu , He Gaofeng , Cao Jie , Zhu Haiting , Xu Bingfeng
Published: May 2018

Nowadays, online product reviews strongly influence the purchase decision of consumers in e‐commerce platforms. Driven by the immense financial profits, review spammers deliberately post fake reviews to promote or demote their target products. Some spammers are even organized as groups to work together and try to take total control of the sentiment on their target products. To detect such spammer groups, most previous works exploit frequent itemset mining (FIM) to find spammer group candidates and then use unsupervised spamicity ranking methods to identify real spammer groups. However, these methods usually suffer from the problem of threshold setting, ie, high support value finding fewer groups while low support value leading to more coincidentally generated groups and computational inefficiency. Moreover, the unsupervised methods are not able to make good use of labeled instances which are actually obtainable in practice. In this paper, we propose CONSGD, a cosine pattern and heterogeneous information network–based spammer group detecting method. Specifically, the CONSGD uses cosine pattern mining (CPM) to discover tight spammer group candidates with a respective low support value, where the cosine threshold is utilized to avoid coincidentally generated groups. Moreover, CONSGD employs heterogeneous information network classification to identify the real spammer groups, which could utilize the labeled instances and do not rely to the assumption of independent instances. Experiments on real‐life dataset show that our proposed CONSGD is effective and outperforms the state‐of‐the‐art spammer group detection methods.
Fast multidimensional reduction and broadcast operations on GPU for machine learning
Authors: Dikbayır Doğa , Çoban Enis Berk , Kesen İlker , Yuret Deniz , Unat Didem
Published: May 2018

Reduction and broadcast operations are commonly used in machine learning algorithms for different purposes. They widely appear in the calculation of the gradient values of a loss function, which are one of the core structures of neural networks. Both operations are implemented naively in many libraries usually for scalar reduction or broadcast; however, to our knowledge, there are no optimized multidimensional implementations available. This fact limits the performance of machine learning models requiring these operations to be performed on tensors. In this work, we address the problem and propose two new strategies that extend the existing implementations to perform on tensors. We introduce formal definitions of both operations using tensor notations, investigate their mathematical properties, and exploit these properties to provide an efficient solution for each. We implement our parallel strategies and test them on a CUDA enabled Tesla K40 m GPU accelerator. Our performant implementations achieve up to 75% of the peak device memory bandwidth on different tensor sizes and dimensions. Significant speedups against the implementations available in the Knet Deep Learning framework are also achieved for both operations.
Boron Nitride for Hydrogen Storage
Authors: Lale Abhijeet , Bernard Samuel , Demirci Umit B.
Published: May 2018

Boron nitride, BN, for hydrogen storage emerged in the beginning of the millennium and there swiftly followed more than 15 years of efforts combining experimental laboratory works and to a greater extent computational predictions. BN has been considered mainly for the storage of molecular hydrogen, H2, by physisorption and/or chemisorption over a wide range of temperatures, that is, between −196 °C and 300 °C. Yet its potential has gone beyond the sorption of H2 as it has been also, although less extensively, involved in chemical H storage. The present review aims at giving a comprehensive overview of the main experimental results and findings as well as of the different avenues worth being explored. A key lesson of this survey is that boron nitride may turn out to be a promising material for hydrogen storage at room conditions provided all the predictions come true. The “ball” is now in the lab experimenters’ court.
Valorization of Oleuropein via Tunable Acid‐Promoted Methanolysis
Authors: Cavaca Lídia A. S. , Rodrigues Catarina A. B. , Simeonov Svilen P. , Gomes Rafael F. A. , Coelho Jaime A. S. , Romanelli Gustavo P. , Sathicq Angel G. , Martínez José J. , Afonso Carlos A. M.
Published: May 2018

The acid‐promoted methanolysis of oleuropein was studied using a variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts. Exclusive cleavage of the acetal bond between the glucoside and the monoterpene subunits or further hydrolysis of the hydroxytyrosol ester and subsequent intramolecular rearrangement were observed upon identification of the most efficient catalyst and experimental conditions. Furthermore, selected conditions were tested using oleuropein under continuous flow and using a crude mixture extracted from olive leaves under batch. Formation of (−)‐methyl elenolate was also observed in this study, which is a reported precursor for the synthesis of the antihypertensive drug (−)‐ajmalicine.
Temporal and spatial evolutions of plasma produced in a nanosecond laser field characterized by langmuir probe diagnostics
Authors: Morshedian N. , Shahverdi F.
Published: May 2018

Based on the temporal and spatial evolutions of the plasma plume, the behaviour of the laser‐produced plasma is studied using a wire Langmuir probe. The plasma is generated by focusing a Nd:YAG laser pulse of 30 ns pulse duration, ∼110 mJ energy, and 1064 nm wavelength) on a solid metal (steel‐316) target. By conducting experiments at low pressures (1 × 103–5 × 10−5 mbar), the following results were obtained: (a) At a lower pressure, the rise time of the electron signals is reduced, but the current amplitude is increased for both ions and electrons. (b) Fitting the shock wave model of propagation to the experimental results of the plasma plume expansion within the range 1–7 mm distance from the target shows better agreement at lower pressures. (c) For both electrons and ions, the velocity of the particles exhibited plume splitting (two regimes of velocities, namely fast and slow), which is interpreted as being dominant due to the ambipolar field. In addition, at the centimetre‐scale distance from the target and using the time‐of‐flight method, the electron and ion velocities were determined to be ∼3 × 107 and ∼1.2 × 106 cm/s, respectively. The electron temperature is in the range 2–29 eV, and the ion density is in the range 1011–1013 cm−3 at milimeter to centimetre distances from the target.
Synthesis of carbon and copper nanoparticles in radio frequency plasma with additional electrostatic field
Authors: Orazbayev S.A. , Utegenov A.U. , Zhunisbekov A.T. , Slamyiya M. , Dosbolayev M.K. , Ramazanov T.S.
Published: May 2018

In this work, carbon and copper nanoparticles were synthesized in a radio frequency (RF)/DC discharge plasma, and the dependence of particle formation and growth on the discharge parameters was experimentally studied. Investigation of the influence of the self‐bias voltage contributed to the determination of the dependence of the dimensions of carbon and copper particles on time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and chemical composition of synthesized nanoparticles and dimension distribution graph were also obtained. The obtained results show that the diameter of nanoparticles ranged from 50 to 500 nm and depended on the plasma parameters. In addition, a direct correlation between the formation and growth of the nanoparticles and the applied DC voltage was seen. As can be seen from the experimental results, an increase in the DC voltage reduces the time needed for nanoparticle synthesis.
A secure and enhanced elliptic curve cryptography‐based dynamic authentication scheme using smart card
Authors: R Madhusudhan , Hegde Manjunath , Memon Imran
Published: May 2018

In remote system security, 2‐factor authentication is one of the security approaches and provides fundamental protection to the system. Recently, numerous 2‐factor authentication schemes are proposed. In 2014, Troung et al proposed an enhanced dynamic authentication scheme using smart card mainly to provide anonymity, secure mutual authentication, and session key security. By the analysis of Troung et al's scheme, we observed that Troung et al' s scheme does not provide user anonymity, perfect forward secrecy, server's secret key security and does not allow the user to choose his/her password. We also identified that Troung et al's scheme is vulnerable to replay attack. To fix these security weaknesses, a robust authentication scheme is proposed and analyzed using the formal verification tool for measuring the robustness. From the observation of computational efficiency of the proposed scheme, we conclude that the scheme is more secure and easy to implement practically.
Transient window of resilience during early development minimizes teratogenic effects of heat in zebrafish embryos
Authors: Menon Triveni , Nair Sreelaja
Published: May 2018

Background: Transient heat shock during early development is an established experimental paradigm for doubling the genome of the zebrafish zygote, which has practical applications in expedited identification of recessive mutations in genetic screens. Despite the simplicity of the strategy and the genetic tractability of zebrafish, heat shock has not been used for genome doubling since the proof‐of‐principle experiments done in the 1980s. This is because of poor survival of embryos that ensue from transient heat shocks and gross developmental abnormalities in the few survivors, which is incompatible with phenotype driven screens. Results: We show that heat shocks during early zebrafish development uncouple the second cycle of DNA and centrosome duplication. Interestingly, the developmental time of the heat shock that triggers the dissociation between DNA and centrosome duplication cycles significantly affect the potential of embryos to survive and attain normal morphology. The potential to develop normally after a heat shock alters in a developmental time span of 2 min in zebrafish embryos, a phenomenon that has not been reported in any species. Conclusions: The existence of heat resilient developmental windows and reduced heat teratogenicity during these windows could be an effective step forward in practical application of transient heat for experimental manipulation of ploidy in zebrafish. More broadly, heat resilience before zygotic genome activation suggests that metazoan embryos may possess innate protective features against heat beyond the canonical heat shock response. Developmental Dynamics 247:992–1004, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Upgrades from a previous device compared to de novo cardiac resynchronization therapy in the European Society of Cardiology CRT Survey II
Authors: Linde Cecilia M. , Normand Camilla , Bogale Nigussie , Auricchio Angelo , Sterlinski Maciej , Marinskis Germanas , Sticherling Christian , Bulava Alan , Pérez Óscar Cano , Maass Alexander H. , Witte Klaus K. , Rekvava Roin , Abdelali Salima , Dickstein Kenneth
Published: May 2018

Background

To date, there are no data from randomized controlled studies on the benefit of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) when implanted as an upgrade in patients with a previous device as compared to de novo CRT. In the CRT Survey II we compared the baseline data of patients upgraded to CRT (CRT‐P/CRT‐D) from a previous pacemaker (PM) or implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) to de novo CRT implantation.

Methods and results

In the European CRT Survey II, clinical practice data of patients undergoing CRT and/or ICD implantation across 42 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) countries were collected between October 2015 and December 2016. Out of a total of 11 088 patients, 2396 (23.2%) were upgraded from a previous PM or ICD and 7933 (76.8%) underwent de novo implantation. Compared to de novo implantations, upgraded patients were older, more often male, more frequently had ischaemic heart failure aetiology, atrial fibrillation, reduced renal function, worse heart failure symptoms, and higher N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide levels. Upgraded patients were more often PM‐dependent and less frequently received CRT‐D. Total peri‐procedural, in‐hospital complications and length of hospital stay were similar. Upgraded patients were less frequently treated with heart failure medication at discharge.

Conclusion

Despite a lack of evidenced‐based data, close to one quarter of all CRT implantations across 42 ESC countries were upgrades from a previous PM or ICD. Despite older age and worse symptoms, the CRT implantation procedures in upgraded patients were equally frequently successful and complications similar to de novo implantations. These results call for more studies.
Advanced heart failure: a position statement of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology
Authors: Crespo‐Leiro Maria G. , Metra Marco , Lund Lars H. , Milicic Davor , Costanzo Maria Rosa , Filippatos Gerasimos , Gustafsson Finn , Tsui Steven , Barge‐Caballero Eduardo , De Jonge Nicolaas , Frigerio Maria , Hamdan Righab , Hasin Tal , Hülsmann Martin , Nalbantgil Sanem , Potena Luciano , Bauersachs Johann , Gkouziouta Aggeliki , Ruhparwar Arjang , Ristic Arsen D. , Straburzynska‐Migaj Ewa , McDonagh Theresa , Seferovic Petar , Ruschitzka Frank
Published: May 2018

This article updates the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2007 classification of advanced heart failure and describes new diagnostic and treatment options for these patients. Recognizing the patient with advanced heart failure is critical to facilitate timely referral to advanced heart failure centres. Unplanned visits for heart failure decompensation, malignant arrhythmias, co‐morbidities, and the 2016 ESC guidelines criteria for the diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are included in this updated definition. Standard treatment is, by definition, insufficient in these patients. Inotropic therapy may be used as a bridge strategy, but it is only a palliative measure when used on its own, because of the lack of outcomes data. Major progress has occurred with short‐term mechanical circulatory support devices for immediate management of cardiogenic shock and long‐term mechanical circulatory support for either a bridge to transplantation or as destination therapy. Heart transplantation remains the treatment of choice for patients without contraindications. Some patients will not be candidates for advanced heart failure therapies. For these patients, who are often elderly with multiple co‐morbidities, management of advanced heart failure to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life should be emphasized. Robust evidence from prospective studies is lacking for most therapies for advanced heart failure. There is an urgent need to develop evidence‐based treatment algorithms to prolong life when possible and in accordance with patient preferences, increase life quality, and reduce the burden of hospitalization in this vulnerable patient population.
Straightforward and Sustainable Synthesis of Sulfonamides in Water under Mild Conditions
Authors: Eid Nadim , Karamé Iyad , Andrioletti Bruno
Published: May 2018

Ideally, a sustainable chemical synthesis should involve the use of non‐toxic solvents and reactants, easy separations and purification by energy‐efficient processes. In this context, reconsidering the synthesis of widely used drugs is especially timely and should allow important benefits to be obtained in terms of environmental impact. Sulfonamides are pertinent as their synthesis generally requires the use of toxic and/or hard‐to‐remove solvents such as dichloromethane, DMF and DMSO. In addition, toxic and highly reactive sulfur‐containing sources such as sulfonyl chloride are often involved and coupled with amines. Moreover, the latter may exhibit some toxicity and are generally difficult to purify. Herein, we disclose the unprecedented and sustainable synthesis of sulfonamides by using sodium sulfinate as a commercial and stable sulfur source and nitroarenes as the nitrogen‐containing reactant. In addition, under the optimized conditions only water is used as a “green” solvent and the products are collected by simple filtration.
Molecular and in vitro assessment of some probiotic characteristics of amylolytic Lactobacillus plantarum strains from Bulgarian fermented products
Authors: Gotcheva Velitchka , Petrova Galya , Petkova Mariana , Kuzmanova Yordanka , Angelov Angel
Published: May 2018

In the recent years, consumers’ interest in healthy diet opened a new field for functional food development through combining the valuable composition of cereals and the health‐promoting properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). LAB with amylolytic properties can assimilate starch in a single‐step process and could be successfully applied as starter cultures offering an efficient nutritional conversion of cereal matrices. The probiotic potential of amylolytic LAB has not been investigated so far, therefore the present study focused on the molecular screening and in vitro tests of five amylolytic Lactobacillus plantarum strains to assess their tolerance to high acid and bile salts concentrations and antibiotic resistance as basic characteristics required for probiotic strains selection. Results showed excellent correspondence between the genetic screening and the phenotypic tests performed. Survivability at high acidity and bile salts presence was strain specific, with significant positive effect observed for cultures in stationary phase compared to those in exponential phase. Effect of starch in the medium proved most important to ensure viability of the amylolytic strains, which reveals the excellent potential of amylolytic LAB for commercially relevant probiotic applications. The strains proved to be generally safe in terms of antibiotic resistance. Among the five tested strains, L. plantarum Bom2 showed the best probiotic potential.
Groundhog Day for Medical Artificial Intelligence
Authors: London Alex John
Published: May 2018

Following a boom in investment and overinflated expectations in the 1980s, artificial intelligence entered a period of retrenchment known as the “AI winter.” With advances in the field of machine learning and the availability of large datasets for training various types of artificial neural networks, AI is in another cycle of halcyon days. Although medicine is particularly recalcitrant to change, applications of AI in health care have professionals in fields like radiology worried about the future of their careers and have the public tittering about the prospect of soulless machines making life‐and‐death decisions. Medicine thus appears to be at an inflection point—a kind of Groundhog Day on which either AI will bring a springtime of improved diagnostic and predictive practices or the shadow of public and professional fear will lead to six more metaphorical weeks of winter in medical AI.
Rescue via Genetic Findings
Authors: Haupt Laura
Published: May 2018

Two articles in this issue of the Hastings Center Report (May‐June 2018) argue that having knowledge of genetic mutations can entail a moral responsibility to rescue others. In the lead article, Madison Kilbride, a philosopher at the Perelman School of Medicine, assigns to the patient, under certain conditions, a task physicians are prohibited from taking on without patient consent: to disclose a finding of a serious, clinically actionable genetic mutation to the patient's relatives who are likely to have the same mutation. Kilbride emphasizes that the responsibility to family members that comes with such a finding has nothing to do with special obligations, duties to people with whom one has special relationships, such as people one lives with, works with, or loves. Rather, Kilbride maintains, the patient's duty to warn is grounded, in the principle of rescue; “another person … who just happens to be the patient's relative … is at risk of suffering serious harm.” In an article on disclosing incidental findings, Haley Sullivan and Benjamin Berkman, both at the National Institutes of Health, consider the ethical professional responsibility of those conducting genetic research on human subjects in low‐ and middle‐income countries, where many people are made vulnerable by the scarcity and inferiority of medical and other resources.
Genetic Privacy, Disease Prevention, and the Principle of Rescue
Authors: Kilbride Madison K.
Published: May 2018

Suppose that you have deeply personal information that you do not want to share. Further suppose that this information could help others, perhaps even saving their lives. Should you reveal the information or keep it secret? With the increasing prevalence of genetic testing, more and more people are finding themselves in this situation. Although a patient's genetic results are potentially relevant to all her biological family members, her first‐degree relatives—parents, children, and full siblings—are most likely to be affected. This is especially true for genetic mutations—like those in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes—that are associated with a dramatically increased risk of disease. Fortunately, people are usually willing to share results with their at‐risk relatives. Occasionally, however, a patient refuses to disclose her findings to anyone outside her clinical team.

Ethicists have written little on patients’ moral duties to their at‐risk relatives. Moreover, the few accounts that have been advanced are problematic. Some unnecessarily expose patients’ genetic information to relatives who are unlikely to benefit from it, and others fail to ensure that patients’ most vulnerable relatives are informed of their genetic risks. Patients’ duty to warn can be defended in a way that avoids these problems. I argue that the duty to share one's genetic results is grounded in the principle of rescue—the idea that one ought to prevent, reduce, or mitigate the risk of harm to another person when the expected harm is serious and the cost or risk to oneself is sufficiently moderate. When these two criteria are satisfied, a patient will most likely have a duty to warn.
Genetic Information, the Principle of Rescue, and Special Obligations
Authors: Liao S. Matthew , MacKenzie Jordan
Published: May 2018

In “Genetic Privacy, Disease Prevention, and the Principle of Rescue,” Madison Kilbride argues that patients have a duty to warn biological family members about clinically actionable adverse genetic findings. The duty does not stem from the special obligations that we may have to family members, she argues, but rather follows from the principle of rescue, which she understands as the idea that one ought to prevent, reduce, or mitigate the risk of harm to another person when the expected harm is serious and the cost or risk to oneself is sufficiently moderate. We doubt, however, whether the principle of rescue can ground a duty to warn in the cases Kilbride envisages, and we suggest that Kilbride may have underappreciated the role that special obligations could play in generating a duty to warn family members.
Returning Incidental Findings in Low‐Resource Settings: A Case of Rescue?
Authors: Mackay Douglas
Published: May 2018

In a carefully argued article, Haley K. Sullivan and Benjamin E. Berkman address the important question of whether investigators have a duty to report incidental findings to research participants in low‐resource settings. They suggest that the duty to rescue offers the most plausible justification for the duty to return incidental findings, and they explore the implications of this duty for the context of research in low‐resource settings. While I think they make valuable headway on an important problem, in this commentary, I identify a significant difference between the paradigmatic rescue case and the return of incidental findings in low‐resource settings. This difference, I suggest, implies that their framework may be too narrow in scope. If investigators (and their sponsors) really wish to fulfill their duty to rescue, they must consider factors that are left out of Sullivan and Berkman's framework.
Personalized Medicine Is the Postgenomic Condition
Authors: Neuhaus Carolyn P.
Published: May 2018

When President Obama laid out his vision for the U.S. Precision Medicine Initiative in a 2016 Boston Globe op‐ed, he cautioned, “[I]t only works if we collect enough information first.” “Collecting information” is an apt way to describe the subject of both books reviewed here. Jenny Reardon's The Postgenomic Condition: Ethics, Justice, and Knowledge after the Genome traces the history of the Human Genome Project and efforts around the globe to obtain blood samples to extract not only genetic data but also meaning from them. Barbara Prainsack's Personalized Medicine: Empowered Patients in the 21st Century? concerns the capture of digital, quantifiable, and computable information about nearly all aspects of people's lives in the pursuit of personalized medicine. Reardon and Prainsack critique scientists’ and corporations’ appeals to liberal democracy, justice, and empowerment to collect more and more information about people. They reveal the limitations and frequent superficiality of those appeals and remind us that person‐centric ethics rather than data‐centric research is needed to realize a more democratic, just, and empowered society.
Revealing misleading schemes through operator activity analysis: A factory case study
Authors: Hoarau Marie , Charron Camilo , Mars Franck
Published: May 2018

This article presents an activity analysis carried out in an aeronautical factory. The representation of the real process and the operators’ representations were identified. The representation of the real process was elaborated using an abstraction hierarchy, as described by the ecological interface design framework. The operators’ representations were extracted through interviews and observations and described in terms of schemes. The analysis revealed that operators in the studied factory used misleading schemes (i.e., false representations) to organize their activities, resulting in poor performance. We conclude by offering possible remedies, including training aimed at inhibiting the misleading scheme and a simulation tool to convey a more accurate representation.
Conducting Mode 2 research in HRM: A phase‐based framework
Authors: Guerci Marco , Radaelli Giovanni , Shani Abraham B. (Rami)
Published: May 2018

Recent studies in the field of human resource management (HRM) have highlighted that current research is mostly performed and consumed by academics, and is driven by theoretical and disciplinary concerns rather than practical ones. This debate has invoked the need to produce more Mode 2 research in the HRM field, that is, research driven by practical problems that integrate collaborative efforts by academics and practitioners. Yet, guidelines on how academics and practitioners may implement Mode 2 research remain disjointed and incomplete. Our study provides a phase‐based collaborative‐based framework for the implementation of Mode 2 research in the HRM field, in ways that both academic rigor and practical relevance are achieved. Our framework is informed by a comprehensive review of previous Mode 2 research, within and outside the HRM field. The proposed framework details four macro‐phases: the codevelopment of research questions with practitioners; the design of collaborative spaces and mechanisms; the design and management of double‐loop iterative research processes; and finally the academic and practice legitimization of Mode 2 outcomes. Our framework has the objective to support HRM researchers and practitioners, as well as relevant institutions and gatekeepers in the design, implementation, education, and assessment of Mode 2 research.