bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kingdom Tok: Legends and Prophecies in Honiara, Solomon Islands
Authors: Maggio Rodolfo
Published: October 2015

Kingdom tok is an expression that is increasingly used in Honiara. It describes a set of ideas and practices related to what Solomon Islanders see as a recent ‘season’ in their history. Such a season is characterised by the reappropriation of particular meanings of their faith that they perceive as influenced by recent historical processes such as the colonial era, the introduction of Christianity, and the first few decades from independence. In terms of ‘Kingdom’, they envision the possibility to challenge political hierarchies, social stratification, and issues of governance, as well as to re‐define their identities in relation to a general state of empowerment. In Honiara, Pentecostal churches and groups with a strong identification with Judaism make use of Kingdom tok discourses. I claim that they experience the actualisation of Kingdom tok as concrete projects of social action and service provision, which they see as concrete alternatives to historical churches, the state, and the ‘way of the waitman’.
Building Jerusalem in North Malaita, Solomon Islands
Authors: Timmer Jaap
Published: October 2015

Amid a variety of ideas of Israelite genealogies for To'abaita speakers in North Malaita, Solomon Islands, ‘Holy Land’ features as a utopian fantasy of a just nation, not in Israel but grounded in the ancestral soil of the island. I analyse this mimetic gesture as part of attempts to reconcile kastom (custom) with Christianity and as evoking a sense of an essentialised group identity. In particular for followers of the All People's Prayer Assembly (APPA), the idea of an essentialised group of To'abaita as a nation in the canonical ‘Table of Nations’ in Genesis 10 is quite prominent. This dialectic between ‘religion’ and ‘nation’ explains the ways in which people claim to have found authentic To'abaita foundations for a nation unifying distinct lineage groups, with a religious form at the centre, namely: Jerusalem. In this article I will show that APPA's theology weakens the claim of the ‘secular’ state while strengthening the force of religious imagination and ideas about local sovereignty and a related notion of nation.
Symmetry analysis for monitoring safety of newly marketed drugs
Authors: Kubota Kiyoshi
Published: October 2015

Introduction

A postmarketing study without a comparator group has been recognized as a problem as it provides no measure of association. Nevertheless, the design is sometimes used in company postmarketing studies particularly when the study involves the primary data collection. In this report, the “Symmetry Analysis Cohort Design” without a comparator group but with a control period is proposed.

Methods and Results

In the proposed design, the rate ratio is estimated using the method of prescription sequence symmetry analysis with slight modification so that the rate ratio can be estimated using data on subjects who have started the drug during the study period but no data on other subjects.

Discussion

The proposed design has an advantage that it can provide the measure of association. Another advantage common to all self‐controlled methods is that the effect of the measured and unmeasured confounders is automatically canceled out when the effect is stable over the study period. Compared with the standard design with a comparator group, the proposed design also has weaknesses. For example, adjustment of confounding by the indication may be difficult when the indication is an acute condition. In addition, the rate ratio is not valid when the probability of the prescription of the drug is dependent on the occurrence of the outcome in the unexposed (pre‐dose) period. The design may be used to evaluate the need for further studies although its real usefulness is to be determined in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Membrane glycoproteomics of fetal lung fibroblasts using LC/MS
Authors: Takakura Daisuke , Tada Minoru , Kawasaki Nana
Published: October 2015

Some aberrant N‐glycosylations are being used as tumor markers, and glycoproteomics is expected to provide novel diagnosis markers and targets of drug developments. However, one has trouble in mass spectrometric glycoproteomics of membrane fraction because of lower intensity of glycopeptides in the existence of surfactants. Previously, we developed a glycopeptide enrichment method by acetone precipitation, and it was successfully applied to human serum glycoproteomics. In this study, we confirmed that this method is useful to remove the surfactants and applicable to membrane glycoproteomics. The glycoproteomic approach to the human fetal lung fibroblasts membrane fraction resulted in the identification of over 272 glycoforms on 63 sites of the 44 glycoproteins. According to the existing databases, the structural features on 41 sites are previously unreported. The most frequently occurring forms at N‐glycosylation site were high‐mannose type containing nine mannose residues (M9) and monosialo‐fucosylated biantennary oligosaccharides. Several unexpected N‐glycans, such as fucosylated complex‐type and fucosylated high‐mannose and/or fucosylated pauci‐mannose types were found in ER and lysosome proteins. Our method provides new insights into transport, biosynthesis, and degradation of glycoproteins.
Successful application of the DBLOC method to the hydroxylation of camphor by cytochrome p450
Authors: Jerome Steven V. , Hughes Thomas F. , Friesner Richard A.
Published: October 2015

The activation barrier for the hydroxylation of camphor by cytochrome P450 was computed using a mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) model of the full protein‐ligand system and a fully QM calculation using a cluster model of the active site at the B3LYP/LACVP*/LACV3P** level of theory, which consisted of B3LYP/LACV3P** single point energies computed at B3LYP/LACVP* optimized geometries. From the QM/MM calculation, a barrier height of 17.5 kcal/mol was obtained, while the experimental value was known to be less than or equal to 10 kcal/mol. This process was repeated using the D3 correction for hybrid DFT in order to investigate whether the inadequate treatment of dispersion interaction was responsible for the overestimation of the barrier. While the D3 correction does reduce the computed barrier to 13.3 kcal/mol, it was still in disagreement with experiment. After application of a series of transition metal optimized localized orbital corrections (DBLOC) and without any refitting of parameters, the barrier was further reduced to 10.0 kcal/mol, which was consistent with the experimental results. The DBLOC method to CH bond activation in methane monooxygenase (MMO) was also applied, as a second, independent test. The barrier in MMO was known, by experiment, to be 15.4 kcal/mol. After application of the DBLOC corrections to the MMO barrier compute by B3LYP, in a previous study, and accounting for dispersion with Grimme's D3 method, the unsigned deviation from experiment was improved from 3.2 to 2.3 kcal/mol. These results suggested that the combination of dispersion plus localized orbital corrections could yield significant quantitative improvements in modeling the catalytic chemistry of transition‐metal containing enzymes, within the limitations of the statistical errors of the model, which appear to be on the order of approximately 2 kcal/mole.
Protein structure refinement with adaptively restrained homologous replicas
Authors: Della Corte Dennis , Wildberg André , Schröder Gunnar F.
Published: October 2015

A novel protein refinement protocol is presented which utilizes molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of an ensemble of adaptively restrained homologous replicas. This approach adds evolutionary information to the force field and reduces random conformational fluctuations by coupling of several replicas. It is shown that this protocol refines the majority of models from the CASP11 refinement category and that larger conformational changes of the starting structure are possible than with current state of the art methods. The performance of this protocol in the CASP11 experiment is discussed. We found that the quality of the refined model is correlated with the structural variance of the coupled replicas, which therefore provides a good estimator of model quality. Furthermore, some remarkable refinement results are discussed in detail. Proteins 2016; 84(Suppl 1):302–313. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
‘I Would Really Like to Go Where You Go’: Rethinking Migration Decision‐Making Among Educated Tied Movers
Authors: Clerge Orly , Sanchez‐Soto Gabriela , Song Jing , Luke Nancy
Published: October 2015

This paper studies ‘tied mover’ men and women who are the partners of graduate students. We use qualitative data to explore the relocation decision‐making process of married and unmarried partners. We find that, while many partners have educational and career aspirations of their own, the maintenance of the relationship is a strong priority that dictates how and when a tied move occurs. Furthermore, the decision‐making process is varied and depends on the stage of the relationship. Tied movers at earlier points in their relationships often make independent decisions to join their graduate student partners after the student has already initiated the move. Some of those in more mature relationships follow a traditional mover–follower model, while others participate in joint decision‐making about their destination. Finally, we find that over one‐third of the tied movers are male, reflecting both increases in women's migration for graduate school and men's openness to ‘following’ career‐oriented partners. This paper contributes to the study of family migration by developing a model focusing on individual and collective non‐economic determinants of couples' decisions to migrate for skill development. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Raman spectra study on Cu2MnGeS4 magnetic quaternary semiconductor with orthorhombic wurtz‐stannite crystal structure
Authors: Power Ch. , Moreno E. , Quintero E. , Rivero D. , Quintero M. , Rincón C. , Henao J. A. , Macías M. A.
Published: October 2015

A study of the Raman spectra and X‐ray diffraction on Cu2MnGeS4 magnetic quaternary semiconductor compound with wurtz‐stannite‐type structure (space group Pmn21) has been done. By considering group theory analysis and by comparing the Raman lines with those obtained from far infrared measurements found in the literature, as well as with experimental and calculated lines for Cu2ZnGeS4, a tentative symmetry assignment of the Raman lines observed for has also been made. The five strongest Raman lines observed at 355, 296, 308, 388 and 408 cm−1 have been assigned to sulphur‐related A1‐symmetry modes, and at 170 and 260 cm−1 to the Mn‐related A1 modes. Also, lines at 98, 105 and 150 cm−1 are assigned to A2‐, B1‐, and Mn‐related B2‐symmetry modes, respectively. In addition, weak lines at 124, 208 and 238 cm−1 were assigned to the orthorhombic GeS secondary phase.
Advanced light trapping interface for a‐Si:H thin film
Authors: Nasser Hisham , Saleh1 Zaki M. , Özkol Engin , Bek Alpan , Turan Raşit
Published: October 2015

Surface texturing of transparent conducting oxides and plasmonic interfaces are two important techniques used separately in thin film solar cells to reduce reflection and enhance light‐trapping. In this study, we merge the effects of Al:ZnO surface texturing and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) plasmonics in a single light‐trapping interface to investigate their combined light trapping efficiency on a‐Si:H thin film. Light scattered by this interface is optimized by placing a thin SiO2 spacer layer between AgNPs and a‐Si:H absorber layer. Our results indicate that the AgNPs embedded in SiO2 significantly enhance absorption at energies close to the band gap of a‐Si:H. Surface texturing by wet etching of Al:ZnO combined with AgNP produces the highest optical extinction of a‐Si:H thin film at the band edge. Furthermore, the measured photocurrent in a‐Si:H shows a clear increase not only at AgNPs resonance wavelength but over the entire wavelength range. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
High‐perfomance Ce‐doped multicomponent garnet single crystalline film scintillators
Authors: Zorenko Yu. , Gorbenko V. , Zorenko T. , Sidletskiy O. , Fedorov A. , Bilski P. , Twardak A.
Published: October 2015

In our article, we had mentioned a wrong affiliation for the third author O. Sidletskiy.

The correct affiliation is now given.
Clear‐sky stable boundary layers with low winds over snow‐covered surfaces. Part 2: Process sensitivity
Authors: Sterk H. A. M. , Steeneveld G. J. , Bosveld F. C. , Vihma T. , Anderson P. S. , Holtslag A. A. M.
Published: October 2015

This study evaluates the relative impact of snow‐surface coupling, long‐wave radiation, and turbulent mixing on the development of the stable boundary layer over snow. Observations at three sites are compared to WRF single‐column model (SCM) simulations. All three sites have snow‐covered surfaces but are otherwise contrasting: Cabauw (Netherlands, grass), Sodankylä (Finland, needle‐leaf forest) and Halley (Antarctica, ice shelf). All cases are characterized by stable, clear‐sky, and calm conditions. Part 1 of this study determined the optimal SCM forcing strategy. In this study, the process intensities from that reference are perturbed to study their relative significance and to assess which process could be responsible for the most optimal agreement between model and observation.

The analysis reveals a large variability in the modelled atmospheric state and surface parameters. Overall, the modelled gradients of temperature and moisture are underestimated but decreasing the process intensities improves this. The impact is strongest with reduced mixing, though this then causes the model to overestimate the near‐surface wind speed.

To study the surface energy balance terms, we use so‐called ‘process diagrams’. The achieved variation between the sensitivity runs indicates the model sensitivity to each process. The overall sensitivity is similar for the three sites but the relative offsets in the position of the sensitivity runs with respect to the observations differ, hampering general recommendations for model improvement. Furthermore, sometimes a meaningful interpretation of observations is troublesome, which hampers the comparison with model results. Radiation is relatively more important at Cabauw and Sodankylä, whilst coupling plays a more important role at Halley.

The sensitivity analysis is performed with two boundary‐layer schemes (MYJ, YSU). YSU generates larger, more accurate gradients of atmospheric temperature and humidity, while wind speeds are predicted better with MYJ. The behaviour of an increase in 2 m temperature with decreased mixing is most obvious with YSU.
Mountain waves and orographic precipitation in a northern Colorado winter storm
Authors: Kingsmill David E. , Persson P. Ola G. , Haimov Samuel , Shupe Matthew D.
Published: October 2015

This study characterizes mountain waves and orographic precipitation associated with a winter storm passing over the ∼3.5 km above mean sea level (MSL) Park Range of northern Colorado on 15 December 2010. Observations from an airborne vertically pointing Doppler radar are used to document reflectivity and horizontal and vertical velocity in 13 two‐dimensional vertical planes extending across the Park Range from upstream of the windward slope, over the crest and downstream of the lee slope. The winter storm investigated in this study is associated with a general zonal flow over the western continental USA and significant vertical wind shear between 700 and 500 hPa. A vertically propagating wave forced by the Park Range is most evident above 4 km MSL and associated with relatively wide, upstream‐tilted updraughts and downdraughts located above the Park Range windward and lee slopes, respectively. The Park Range also forces a trapped lee wave that manifests itself as a relatively erect updraught ∼15–20 km east of the crest. Smaller‐scale trapped lee waves forced by terrain upstream of the Park Range are evident below 4 km MSL and associated with rotor circulations composed of relatively narrow updraughts and downdraughts located above the Yampa Valley and the Park Range windward slope. A ∼1 km thick layer of strong vertical shear exists between the mountain waves forced by the Park Range and those forced by upstream terrain. This shear layer exhibits a large vertical displacement over the Park Range, with relatively strong westerly winds plunging to low levels over the lee slope. While precipitation on the Park Range windward slope is generally enhanced for the event, data analysed for this case surprisingly does not show a spatially and temporally consistent correlation between mountain‐wave kinematic structures and orographic precipitation. Transient processes such as wave‐regime interactions may have masked this correlation.
Comparison of initial perturbation methods for ensemble prediction at convective scale
Authors: Raynaud Laure , Bouttier F.
Published: October 2015

Convective‐scale ensemble prediction systems (EPSs) are often initialized with downscaled initial condition perturbations (ICPs) from a global coarser EPS. Although downscaled ICPs have been shown to have a positive impact at short ranges, they cannot represent the uncertainty at small scales. Hence, there is a spin‐up of around 9–12 h until the forecast perturbations develop realistic small‐scale structures. On the other hand, ensemble data assimilation (EDA) is a common approach to obtain initial perturbations at all scales resolved by the numerical model. However, the high computational cost of EDA systems severely limits their size and their resolution. An alternative cheaper method to derive small‐scale ICPs is considered here, based on a random sampling of the model background‐error covariances. This article provides an evaluation of random and EDA‐based IC perturbation methods against the baseline downscaling approach, in the framework of the pre‐operational convective‐scale EPS developed at Météo‐France with the AROME‐France model at a 2.5 km horizontal resolution.

Small‐scale IC perturbation methods are shown to significantly improve the short‐range EPS performance for surface weather variables. For 2 m temperature and 10 m wind speed, random ICPs give as good results as the EDA, owing to the very short spin‐up of random perturbations. Precipitation forecasts are also strongly improved during the first six forecast hours, especially when initial humidity perturbations are included. The sensitivity of the EPS performance to the EDA size, horizontal resolution and representation of model errors is discussed. It is found that a large fraction of the initial uncertainty can be properly described with an EDA of reasonable size and at a slightly coarser resolution than the EPS.
Hyphenating size‐exclusion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometry; using on‐line liquid‐liquid extraction to study the lipid composition of lipoprotein particles
Authors: Osei Michael , Griffin Julian L. , Koulman Albert
Published: October 2015

Rationale

Lipoproteins belong to the most commonly measured clinical biochemical parameters. Lipidomics is an orthogonal approach and aims to profile the individual lipid molecules that jointly form the lipoprotein particles. However, in the first step of the extraction of lipid molecules from serum, an organic solvent is used leading to dissociation of the lipoproteins. Thus far it has been impossible to combine lipidomics and lipoprotein analysis in one analytical system.

Methods

Human plasma was diluted in phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) and injected onto a Superose 6 PC 3.2 column with PBS as a mobile phase to separate lipoproteins. The eluent was led to a Syrris FLLEX module, which also received CHCl3/MeOH (3:1). The two phases were mixed and subsequently separated using a Teflon membrane in an especially designed pressurized flow chamber. The organic phase was led to a standard electrospray source of an Orbitrap mass spectrometer.

Results

Size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC) has been commonly applied to separate lipoproteins and is considered a practical alternative to ultracentrifugation. Through the on‐line liquid‐liquid extraction method it becomes possible to obtained detailed mass spectra of lipids across different lipoprotein fractions. The extracted ion chromatograms of specific lipid signals showed their distribution against the size of lipoprotein particles.

Conclusions

The application of on‐line liquid‐liquid extraction allows for the continuous electrospray‐based mass spectral analysis of SEC eluent, providing the detailed lipid composition of lipoprotein particles separated by size. This approach provides new possibilities for the study of the biochemistry of lipoproteins. © 2015 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Skin secretion peptides: the molecular facet of the deimatic behavior of the four‐eyed frog, Physalaemus nattereri (Anura, Leptodactylidae)
Authors: Barbosa Eder Alves , Iembo Tatiane , Martins Graciella Ribeiro , Silva Luciano Paulino , Prates Maura Vianna , Andrade Alan Carvalho , Bloch Carlos
Published: October 2015

Rationale

Amphibians can produce a large amount of bioactive peptides over the skin. In order to map the precise tissue localization of these compounds and evaluate their functions, mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and gene expression studies were used to investigate a possible correlation between molecules involved in the antimicrobial defense mechanisms and anti‐predatory behavior by Physalaemus nattereri.

Methods

Total skin secretion of P. nattereri was analyzed by classical Protein Chemistry and proteomic techniques. Intact inguinal macroglands were dissected from the rest of the skin and both tissues were analyzed by MSI and real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) experiments. Peptides were primarily identified by de novo sequencing, automatic Edman degradation and cDNA data.

Results

Fifteen bradykinin (BK)‐related peptides and two antimicrobial peptides were sequenced and mapped by MSI on the inguinal macrogland and the rest of P. nattereri skin. RT‐PCR results revealed that BK‐related peptide levels of expression were about 30,000 times higher on the inguinal macroglands than on the any other region of the skin, whilst antimicrobial peptide ions appear to be evenly distributed in both investigated regions.

Conclusions

The presence of antimicrobial peptides in all investigated tissue regions is in accordance with the defensive role against microorganisms thoroughly demonstrated in the literature, whereas BK‐related molecules are largely found on the inguinal macroglands suggesting an intriguing link between their noxious activities against potential predators of P. nattereri and the frog's deimatic behavior. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hexagonal Boron Nitride–Graphene Heterostructures: Synthesis and Interfacial Properties
Authors: Li Qiucheng , Liu Mengxi , Zhang Yanfeng , Liu Zhongfan
Published: October 2015

Research on in‐plane and vertically‐stacked heterostructures of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) have attracted intense attentions for energy band engineering and device performance optimization of graphene. In this review article, recent advances in the controlled syntheses, interfacial structures, and electronic properties, as well as novel device constructions of h‐BN and graphene heterostructures are highlighted. Firstly, diverse synthesis approaches for in‐plane h‐BN and graphene (h‐BN‐G) heterostructures are reviewed, and their applications in nanoelectronics are briefly introduced. Moreover, the interfacial structures and electronic properties of h‐BN‐G heterojunctions are discussed, and a zigzag type interface is found to preferentially evolve at the linking edge of the two structural analogues. Secondly, several synthetic routes for the vertically‐stacked graphene/h‐BN (G/h‐BN) heterostructures are also reviewed. The role of h‐BN as perfect dielectric layers in promoting the device performance of graphene is presented. Finally, future research directions in the synthesis and application of such heterostructures are discussed.
Bemessung von Trägern mit Anschlüssen in Form des hängenden Profils
Authors: Liu Dasu , Lange Jörg
Published: October 2015

Das so genannte hängende Profil ist ein in der Praxis gängiger Anschlusstyp für horizontale Verbände. Das besondere Merkmal dieses Anschlusses ist, dass der Träger nur über einen Gurt an die Knotenbleche angeschlossen wird. Bisher wurden Träger mit diesen Anschlusstypen stets vereinfacht als gabelgelagerte Einfeldträger nachgewiesen. Da die Nachgiebigkeit im Anschlussbereich dabei nicht erfasst wird, ist die Annahme der Gabellager nicht ohne weitere Untersuchungen gerechtfertigt.

Basierend auf einer Reihe von Bauteilversuchen sowie der darauf folgenden umfangreichen Parameterstudie anhand nichtlinearer FE‐Rechnungen wurde ein auf dem gegenwärtigen Nachweisformat nach EC 3 aufgebautes Bemessungsmodell entwickelt, welches das Tragverhalten von Bauteilen mit Anschlüssen dieser Art sicher, genau und wirtschaftlich erfassen kann. Dieses Bemessungsmodell wurde nach Anhang D der EN 1990 gemäß dem semi‐probabilistischen Konzept kalibriert, sodass das normativ geforderte Sicherheitsniveau erfüllt wird.

Analysis and design of members with hanging‐profile connections. The so called hanging‐profile is a commonly used type of joint in steel structures for horizontal bracing systems, where large compression forces are transferred. This kind of joint is characterized by the connection of a bracing beam to gusset plates only at the top flange. This type of structure is usually simplified as a single‐span beam with fork bearings. Due to the overestimation of the system stiffness in the connection areas under this assumption, basic engineering with this conventional approach has been considered generally not safe.

Based on an extensive parametric study using finite‐element‐models calibrated on a serial of 1:1 scale tests, a new design approach was developed for the lateral torsional buckling check of members with this kind of connection. To meet the standards safety level, the new design formulae were further analyzed with the semi‐probabilistic method according to EN 1990 Annex D.
Vorschläge für eine anwenderfreundliche und praxistaugliche Novellierung der allgemeinen Bemessungsregeln und Regeln für den Hochbau (EN 1993 Teil 1‐1)
Authors: Egner Ralf , Heyde Stefan , Laumann Jörg , Prokop Ines
Published: October 2015

Die Eurocodes werden bis zum Jahr 2020 im Europäischen Komitee für Normung (CEN), Technisches Komitee TC 250 überarbeitet. In Vorbereitung auf die Eurocode‐Novellierung haben engagierte Ingenieure im Rahmen der Initiative PraxisRegeln Bau (PRB) die bei der praktischen Anwendung am häufigsten genutzten Teile des Eurocodes 3 untersucht. Dazu gehört als Grundlagenteil für den Stahlbau die EN 1993‐1‐1. Mit dem Ziel, die Anwenderfreundlichkeit und Praxistauglichkeit der EN 1993‐1‐1 zu verbessern, wurden die bestehende Norm analysiert und Vorschläge für die europäische Novellierung erarbeitet. Die Analysen zeigen, dass vielfach eine Straffung der Texte ohne Inhaltsverlust möglich ist und dass durch Umstrukturierungen die Verständlichkeit und Anwenderfreundlichkeit der Bemessungsregeln und Regeln für den Hochbau bedeutend erhöht werden können.

Proposals for a user‐friendly amendment suited for practice of the general rules and rules for buildings of steel structures (EN 1993 Part 1‐1). The Eurocodes will be revised in the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), Technical Committee (TC) 250, up to 2020. In preparation on the eurocode amendment engaged engineers have examined the most frequently used parts of the Eurocode 3 within the Initiative Practice‐oriented Rules in Building Construction (PRB). The EN 1993‐1‐1 belongs to the examined parts as a basis part for the steel construction. With the aim to improve the user‐friendliness and ease of use of EN 1993‐1‐1 the existing norm was analysed and proposals were compiled for the European amendment. The analyses show that lots of the texts can be shortened without loss of information. Restructuring can enhance comprehensiveness and ease of use of the general rules and rules for buildings of steel structures considerably.
Fagus sylvatica glucuronoxylan sulfate−chemical profile and pharmacological view
Authors: Sivová Veronika , Nosál'ová Gabriela , Jureček L'udovít , Turjan Jozef , Vlčková Silvia , Bystrický Peter , Kantárová Dana , Capek Peter
Published: October 2015

Glucuronoxylans represent a large group of naturally occurring and renewable biopolymers with a wide range of application possibilities. Controlled depolymerization of Fagus sylvatica 4‐O‐methylglucuronoxylan afforded three fractions of descending molecular mass, i.e., 3000, 2600, and 1800 g/mol. The native polymer (GX1) and its depolymerized fractions (GX2, GX3, and GX4) were decorated by functional groups to give sulfated products (GXS1, GXS2, GXS3, and GXS4) which were used for pharmacological tests. Antitussive activity tests revealed that the increase in the dose of the glucuronoxylan sulfate (GXS1) from 50 to 100 mg/kg body weight resulted in only slightly increased cough‐suppressing effect. This fact indicates that the cough‐suppressing effect of the glucuronoxylan sulfate is not dose dependent. Results have shown significant cough‐suppressing effect of GXS1, it was only slightly lower than the effect of narcotic codeine. Glucuronoxylan‐derived fractions decorated by sulfates (GXS2, GXS3, and GXS4) showed similar cough‐suppressing effect as the polymer‐sulfate (GXS1) confirming thus that the changes in molecular mass does not affect the cough suppressive activity. Similarly, different contents of sulfate groups in GXS2, GXS3, and GXS4 did not influence their effect. Tests have shown that in the antitussive activity of all glucuronoxylan sulfates a bronchodilation was not involved. During the experiment course, no serious side effects after administration of glucuronoxylan sulfates were observed which is important fact from the application point of view.
Stream restoration and the surprisingly social dynamics of science
Authors: Lave Rebecca
Published: October 2015

Stream restoration is deeply shaped by social influences. A substantial body of literature has demonstrated the ways in which social dynamics shape myriad aspects of restoration practice. After illustrating these findings via brief reviews of existing research on public participation and environmental justice, I turn to the less commonly addressed influence of social dynamics on the practice and content of river science. I first review the approach and some of the key findings of Science and Technology Studies, a body of research that takes the practice of science as its empirical object of study. I then use the Rosgen Wars, a conflict that has strongly influenced the development of stream restoration science and practice in the United States, as a case study for examining the impacts of social dynamics on the practice of river scientists, the redistribution of scientific authority, and on fluvial landscapes more broadly. Given that is impossible to avoid social influences, I argue that it is crucial that we examine them, and that we choose research and implementation practices that reflect our ecological, scientific, and political commitments rather than passively accepting the existing commitments embedded in our work. WIREs Water 2016, 3:75–81. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1115

This article is categorized under:

Human Water > Value of Water
Robust spectrum sensing algorithm based on free probability theory
Authors: Wang Lei , Chen Jianxin , Jiang Guoping , Zheng Baoyu
Published: October 2015

In low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) cases, the performance of spectrum sensing algorithms cannot meet the practical needs, which is a major problem faced by spectrum sensing technology in current cognitive radio field. Now, existing algorithms based on random matrix theory (RMT) have high sensing performance, but they require a large number of samples, which are very difficult to satisfy in practice. Free probability theory (FPT) is a main branch of RMT. It describes the asymptotic behavior of large random matrices and portrays a strong link between two matrices and their sum or product matrices. FPT can also be utilized to the digital communication system that can be modeled by random matrices and has been applied to spectrum sensing in simplified ideal channels, for example, additive white Gaussian noise channel. The most pivotal issue and difficulty of the FPT‐based methods is to set up and solve the asymptotic freeness equation corresponding to a specific communication model. In this paper, FPT‐based spectrum sensing schemes are proposed for some typical wireless communication systems, such as multiple‐input multiple‐output system, Rayleigh multipath fading system, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system. It is shown that the asymptotic freeness behavior of random matrices and the property of Wishart distribution can be used to assist spectrum sensing for these typical systems with low SNR and very limited samples. Simulation results demonstrate that compared with the existing RMT‐based spectrum detection methods, for example, the maximum and minimum eigenvalue detectors, the proposed FPT‐based schemes offer superior detection performance and are more robust to low SNR cases, especially for a small sample of observations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Substituent and Temperature Effect on the Assemblies of Three Lead(II) Coordination Polymers based on Asymmetrical Biphenyl Tritopic Ligands
Authors: Li Zhi‐Sen , Li Xiu‐Yuan , Liu Jing‐Wei , He Tian , Yue Ke‐Fen
Published: October 2015

Three Pb‐based metal‐organic frameworks, [Pb6(L1)4]·H2O (1), [Pb2(L2)2(H2O)]·H2O (2), and [Pb(L2)(H2O)]·H2O (3) were constructed based on two asymmetrical tritopic ligands, 3‐(2′,5′‐dicarboxylphenyl)benzoic acid (H3L1) and 3‐(2′,5′‐dicarboxylphenyl)pyridine acid (H2L2), under hydrothermal conditions. The substituents on the two ligands and the induced temperature had effects on the resulting structures. All of the complexes were structurally characterized by X‐ray diffraction analyses and further identified by infrared spectra, elemental analyses, powder X‐ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analyses. Complexes 1 and 3 are 3D frameworks, which construct from 1D inorganic Pb–O–Pb rod‐shaped secondary building units (SBUs) and H3L1/H2L2 ligands as pillars. Complex 2 is a 3D framework based on discrete tetranuclear Pb4(COO)8 clusters SBUs and H2L2 ligands. The effects of both the substituent groups on the aromatic rings and the reaction temperature are discussed in details. The fluorescence properties and thermal stabilities of complexes 1–3 were also measured.
RbBrF4 Revisited
Authors: Ivlev Sergei I. , Karttunen Antti J. , Ostvald Roman , Kraus Florian
Published: October 2015

Rubidium tetrafluoridobromate(III) was synthesized and structurally characterized. The compound is isotypic to sodium and potassium tetrafluoridobromate(III), and crystallizes in the tetragonal space group I4/mcm (tI24, KBrF4 structure type) with a = 6.3718(2), c = 11.4934(3) Å, V = 466.63(2) Å3, Z = 4, at T = 293 K. Additionally we investigated the compound by means of IR and Raman spectroscopy as well as theoretical studies. The data obtained by quantum chemical calculations confirm the crystal structure, and also the atomic distances and angles with an average deviation of 2.2 to 2.7 %.
Reducing tau aggregates with anle138b delays disease progression in a mouse model of tauopathies
Authors: Wagner Jens , Krauss Sybille , Shi Song , Ryazanov Sergey , Steffen Julia , Miklitz Carolin , Leonov Andrei , Kleinknecht Alexander , Göricke Bettina , Weishaupt Jochen H. , Weckbecker Daniel , Reiner Anne M. , Zinth Wolfgang , Levin Johannes , Ehninger Dan , Remy Stefan , Kretzschmar Hans A. , Griesinger Christian , Giese Armin , Fuhrmann Martin
Published: October 2015

Pathological tau aggregation leads to filamentous tau inclusions and characterizes neurodegenerative tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17. Tau aggregation coincides with clinical symptoms and is thought to mediate neurodegeneration. Transgenic mice overexpressing mutant human P301S tau exhibit many neuropathological features of human tauopathies including behavioral deficits and increased mortality. Here, we show that the di-phenyl-pyrazole anle138b binds to aggregated tau and inhibits tau aggregation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, anle138b treatment effectively ameliorates disease symptoms, increases survival time and improves cognition of tau transgenic PS19 mice. In addition, we found decreased synapse and neuron loss accompanied by a decreased gliosis in the hippocampus. Our results suggest that reducing tau aggregates with anle138b may represent an effective and promising approach for the treatment of human tauopathies.
Autonomous Repair Mechanism of Creep Damage in Fe-Au and Fe-Au-B-N Alloys
Authors: Zhang S. , Kwakernaak C. , Tichelaar F. D. , Sloof W. G. , Kuzmina M. , Herbig M. , Raabe D. , Brück E. , van der Zwaag S. , van Dijk N. H.
Published: October 2015

The autonomous repair mechanism of creep cavitation during high-temperature deformation has been investigated in Fe-Au and Fe-Au-B-N alloys. Combined electron-microscopy techniques and atom probe tomography reveal how the improved creep properties result from Au precipitation within the creep cavities, preferentially formed on grain boundaries oriented perpendicular to the applied stress. The selective precipitation of Au atoms at the free creep cavity surface results in pore filling, and thereby, autonomous repair of the creep damage. The large difference in atomic size between the Au and Fe strongly hampers the nucleation of precipitates in the matrix. As a result, the matrix acts as a reservoir for the supersaturated solute until damage occurs. Grain boundaries and dislocations are found to act as fast transport routes for solute gold from the matrix to the creep cavities. The mechanism responsible for the self-healing can be characterized by a simple model for cavity growth and cavity filling.
Exploratory study for identifying systemic biomarkers that correlate with pain response in patients with intervertebral disc disorders
Authors: Weber K. T. , Satoh Shina , Alipui D. Olivier , Virojanapa Justin , Levine Mitchell , Sison Cristina , Quraishi Shaheda , Bloom Ona , Chahine Nadeen O.
Published: October 2015

Molecular events that drive disc damage and low back pain (LBP) may precede clinical manifestation of disease onset and can cause detrimental long-term effects such as disability. Biomarkers serve as objective molecular indicators of pathological processes. The goal of this study is to identify systemic biochemical factors as predictors of response to treatment of LBP with epidural steroid injection (ESI). Since inflammation plays a pivotal role in LBP, this pilot study investigates the effect of ESI on systemic levels of 48 inflammatory biochemical factors (cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors) and examines the relationship between biochemical factor levels and pain or disability in patients with disc herniation (DH), or other diagnoses (Other Dx) leading to low back pain, which included spinal stenosis (SS) and degenerative disc disease (DDD). Study participants (n = 16) were recruited from a back pain management practice. Pain numerical rating score (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and blood samples were collected pre- and at 7 to 10 days post-treatment. Blood samples were assayed for inflammatory mediators using commercial multiplex assays. Mediator levels were compared pre- and post-treatment to investigate the potential correlations between clinical and biochemical outcomes. Our results indicate that a single ESI significantly decreased systemic levels of SCGF-β and IL-2. Improvement in pain in all subjects was correlated with changes in chemokines (MCP-1, MIG), hematopoietic progenitor factors (SCGF-β), and factors that participate in angiogenesis/fibrosis (HGF), nociception (SCF, IFN-α2), and inflammation (IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, TRAIL). Levels of biochemical mediators varied based on diagnosis of LBP, and changes in pain responses and systemic mediators from pre- to post-treatment were dependent on the diagnosis cohort. In the DH cohort, levels of IL-17 and VEGF significantly decreased post-treatment. In the Other Dx cohort, levels of IL-2Rα, IL-3, and SCGF-β significantly decreased post-treatment. In order to determine whether mediator changes were related to pain, correlations between change in pain scores and change in mediator levels were performed. Subjects with DH demonstrated a profile signature that implicated hematopoiesis factors (SCGF-β, GM-CSF) in pain response, while subjects with Other Dx demonstrated a biomarker profile that implicated chemokines (MCP-1, MIG) and angiogenic factors (HGF, VEGF) in pain response. Our findings provide evidence that systemic biochemical factors in patients with LBP vary by diagnosis, and pain response to treatment is associated with a unique profile of biochemical responses in each diagnosis group. Future hypothesis-based studies with larger subject cohorts are warranted to confirm the findings of this pilot exploratory study.
Understanding the relationship between schematic beliefs, bullying, and unusual experiences in 8–14 year olds
Authors: Anilmis J.V. , Stewart C.S. , Roddy S. , Hassanali N. , Muccio F. , Browning S. , Bracegirdle K. , Corrigall R. , Laurens K.R. , Hirsch C. , Kuipers E. , Maddox L. , Jolley S.
Published: October 2015

Background

Cognitive models of adult psychosis propose that negative schematic beliefs (NSBs) mediate the established association between victimisation and psychotic symptoms. In childhood, unusual, or psychotic-like, experiences are associated with bullying (a common form of victimisation) and NSBs. This study tests the mediating role of NSBs in the relationship between bullying and distressing unusual experiences (UEDs) in childhood.

Method

Ninety-four 8–14 year olds referred to community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services completed self-report assessments of UEDs, bullying, and NSBs about the self (NS) and others (NO).

Results

Both NS and NO were associated with bullying (NS: r = .40, P < .001; NO: r = .33, P = .002), and with UEDs (NS: r = .51, P < .001; NO: r = .43, P < .001). Both NS and NO significantly mediated the relationship between bullying and UEDs (NS: z = 3.15, P = .002; NO: z = 2.35, P = .019).

Conclusions

Children's NSBs may mediate the adverse psychological impact of victimisation, and are appropriate treatment targets for young people with UEDs. Early educational intervention to reduce negative appraisals of the self and others may increase resilience to future adverse experiences and reduce later mental health risk.
Effects of momentary self-monitoring on empowerment in a randomized controlled trial in patients with depression
Authors: Simons C.J.P. , Hartmann J.A. , Kramer I. , Menne-Lothmann C. , Höhn P. , van Bemmel A.L. , Myin-Germeys I. , Delespaul P. , van Os J. , Wichers M.
Published: October 2015

Background

Interventions based on the experience sampling method (ESM) are ideally suited to provide insight into personal, contextualized affective patterns in the flow of daily life. Recently, we showed that an ESM-intervention focusing on positive affect was associated with a decrease in symptoms in patients with depression. The aim of the present study was to examine whether ESM-intervention increased patient empowerment.

Methods

Depressed out-patients (n = 102) receiving psychopharmacological treatment who had participated in a randomized controlled trial with three arms: (i) an experimental group receiving six weeks of ESM self-monitoring combined with weekly feedback sessions, (ii) a pseudo-experimental group participating in six weeks of ESM self-monitoring without feedback, and (iii) a control group (treatment as usual only). Patients were recruited in the Netherlands between January 2010 and February 2012. Self-report empowerment scores were obtained pre- and post-intervention.

Results

There was an effect of group × assessment period, indicating that the experimental (B = 7.26, P = 0.061, d = 0.44, statistically imprecise) and pseudo-experimental group (B = 11.19, P = 0.003, d = 0.76) increased more in reported empowerment compared to the control group. In the pseudo-experimental group, 29% of the participants showed a statistically reliable increase in empowerment score and 0% reliable decrease compared to 17% reliable increase and 21% reliable decrease in the control group. The experimental group showed 19% reliable increase and 4% reliable decrease.

Conclusions

These findings tentatively suggest that self-monitoring to complement standard antidepressant treatment may increase patients’ feelings of empowerment. Further research is necessary to investigate long-term empowering effects of self-monitoring in combination with person-tailored feedback.
Measure evolution of cellular automata and of finitely anticipative transformations
Authors: COLLET PIERRE , MARTÍNEZ SERVET
Published: October 2015

The evolution of cellular automata and of finitely anticipative transformations is studied by using right sets. These are the sets of symbols that are compatible with a past of a position and the respective coordinate of the transformation. Our main result shows, under some suitable conditions, that if the entropy converges to zero then the right sets increase towards the whole alphabet. We discuss these concepts with Wolfram automata.
A note on the stationary Euler equations of hydrodynamics
Authors: CIELIEBAK K. , VOLKOV E.
Published: October 2015

This note concerns stationary solutions of the Euler equations for an ideal fluid on a closed 3-manifold. We prove that if the velocity field of such a solution has no zeroes and real analytic Bernoulli function, then it can be rescaled to the Reeb vector field of a stable Hamiltonian structure. In particular, such a vector field has a periodic orbit unless the 3-manifold is a torus bundle over the circle. We provide a counterexample showing that the correspondence breaks down without the real analyticity hypothesis.
Plünnecke inequalities for measure graphs with applications
Authors: BULINSKI KAMIL , FISH ALEXANDER
Published: October 2015

We generalize Petridis’s new proof of Plünnecke’s graph inequality to graphs whose vertex set is a measure space. Consequently, by a recent work of Björklund and Fish, this gives new Plünnecke inequalities for measure-preserving actions which enable us to deduce, via a Furstenberg correspondence principle, Banach density estimates in countable abelian groups that extend those given by Jin.
Amount of failure of upper-semicontinuity of entropy in non-compact rank-one situations, and Hausdorff dimension
Authors: KADYROV S. , POHL A.
Published: October 2015

Recently, Einsiedler and the authors provided a bound in terms of escape of mass for the amount by which upper-semicontinuity for metric entropy fails for diagonal flows on homogeneous spaces $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\setminus G$, where $G$ is any connected semisimple Lie group of real rank one with finite center, and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ is any non-uniform lattice in $G$. We show that this bound is sharp, and apply the methods used to establish bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of the set of points that diverge on average.
An index for Brouwer homeomorphisms and homotopy Brouwer theory
Authors: LE ROUX FRÉDÉRIC
Published: October 2015

We use the homotopy Brouwer theory of Handel to define a Poincaré index between pairs of orbits for an orientation-preserving fixed-point-free homeomorphism of the plane. Furthermore, we prove that this index is almost additive.