bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Particle Coarsening Influence on Oxygen Reduction in LSM–YSZ Composite Materials
Authors: Farlenkov A. S. , Ananyev M. V. , Eremin V. A. , Porotnikova N. M. , Kurumchin E. Kh.
Published: November 2014

The microstructure influence on the oxygen reduction process for the LSM–YSZ composite materials has been studied in this paper. To localize the effect of particle coarsening influence, the oxygen isotope exchange measurements with the gas phase analysis have been performed for LSM–YSZ | YSZ | LSM–YSZ symmetric cells during 300 and 1000 hours at T = 850 °C and Po2 = 10−2 atm. In order to find quantitative relations the changes in the oxygen surface exchange and the diffusion coefficients and its microstructure parameters such as porosity and triple phase boundary (TPB) length have been compared. The rate determining stage of the LSM–YSZ degradation has been suggested to be the LSM‐phase surface diffusion and the LSM surface diffusion coefficient have been estimated.
Effect of Compression Cycling on Polybenzimidazole‐based High‐Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
Authors: Pinar F. J. , Rastedt M. , Pilinski N. , Wagner P.
Published: November 2014

Contact pressure cycling experiments have been conducted with various commercial high temperature PEM membrane‐electrode‐assemblies based on phosphoric acid doped PBI. Two different membrane‐electrode‐assembly types have been electrochemically investigated employing linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and polarization curves, but also micro‐computed tomography imaging has been used as post‐mortem investigation technique. Thickness displacement changes on the membrane‐electrode‐assemblies (MEA) during the experiences have also been recorded. Reversible and irreversible effects have been observed in MEA behavior during the three contact pressure cycles. Furthermore, the micro‐computed tomography tool allows a detailed visual insight into the structural effects of compression forces on the MEA. The electrochemical characterization has revealed that damages under contact pressure cycling have been induced in both kinds of MEAs. Moreover, once MEA damages have appeared, they are facilitated from cycle to cycle. These damages are related to hydrogen crossover and short circuit formation that develop fuel cell performance deterioration. Thus, micro‐computed tomography imaging investigations reveal defects, pin holes or cracks within the catalyst layer and membrane e.g., which may cause degradation aspects like hydrogen crossover or loss of electrical isolation already observed by the electrochemical characterization.
Structured random measurements in signal processing
Authors: Krahmer Felix , Rauhut Holger
Published: November 2014

Compressed sensing and its extensions have recently triggered interest in randomized signal acquisition. A key finding is that random measurements provide sparse signal reconstruction guarantees for efficient and stable algorithms with a minimal number of samples. While this was first shown for (unstructured) Gaussian random measurement matrices, applications require certain structure of the measurements leading to structured random measurement matrices. Near optimal recovery guarantees for such structured measurements have been developed over the past years in a variety of contexts. This article surveys the theory in three scenarios: compressed sensing (sparse recovery), low rank matrix recovery, and phaseless estimation. The random measurement matrices to be considered include random partial Fourier matrices, partial random circulant matrices (subsampled convolutions), matrix completion, and phase estimation from magnitudes of Fourier type measurements. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the mathematical techniques for the analysis of such structured random measurements. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
De novo expression of parvalbumin in ependymal cells in response to brain injury promotes ependymal remodeling and wound repair
Authors: Szabolcsi Viktória , Celio Marco R.
Published: November 2014

The calcium‐binding protein parvalbumin (PV) hallmarks subpopulations of interneurons in the murine brain. We serendipitously observed the de novo expression of PV in ependymal cells of the lateral ventricle wall following in vivo lesioning and brain slicing for the preparation of organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSCs). In OHSCs, de novo PV‐expression begins shortly after the onset of culturing, and the number of ependymal cells implicated in this process increases with time. PV‐immunopositive ependymal cells aggregate and form compact cell clusters, which are characterized by lumen‐formation and beating cilia. Scratches inflicted on such clusters with a sharp knife are rapidly closed. Exposure of OHSCs to NF‐КB‐inhibitors and to antioxidants reduces PV‐expression in ependymal cells, thereby implicating injury‐induced inflammation in this process. Indeed, in vivo stab injury enhances PV‐expression in ependymal cells adjacent to the lesion, whereas neuraminidase denudation is without effect. PV‐knock‐out mice manifest an impaired wound‐healing response to in vivo injury, and a reduced scratch‐wound reparation capacity in OHSCs. Whole‐transcriptome analysis of ependymal‐cell clusters in OHSCs revealed down‐regulation of genes involved in cytoskeletal rearrangement, cell motility and cell adhesion in PV‐knock out mice as compared with wild‐type mice. Our data indicate that the injury‐triggered up‐regulation of PV‐expression is mediated by inflammatory cytokines, and promotes the motility and adhesion of ependymal cells, thereby contributing to leakage closure by the re‐establishment of a continuous ependymal layer. GLIA 2015;63:567–594
Human oligodendrocytes in remyelination research
Authors: Czepiel Marcin , Boddeke Erik , Copray Sjef
Published: November 2014

Studies on myelination and oligodendrocyte development are inevitably linked with demyelinating conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), leukodystrophies or spinal cord injury (SCI). Chronic loss of myelin, subsequently leading to neurodegeneration, is the ultimate cause of severe and permanent disability. Thus, fast restoration of myelin (remyelination) is essential for circumventing demyelination‐caused pathologies. Implantation of exogenous remyelinating cells has been considered as a potential remyelination strategy. Researchers have examined a variety of cell types endowed with myelin‐forming capacity (oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells, olfactory ensheathing cells etc.) in vitro and in vivo for their potential application as myelin restoring cell grafts. This review gives a summary of studies on the generation and testing of pure suspensions of human oligodendrocytes as a clinically relevant, efficient cellular tool for treating myelin pathology. We start with a brief overview of the current knowledge on the development of human oligodendrocytes from the late stages of embryogenesis up to the early postnatal stage. Insight in the specific extrinsic and intrinsic factors regulating normal oligodendrogenesis is crucial in order to achieve and maintain a sufficient population of engraftable functional oligodendrocytes in vitro. We discuss potential sources of human oligodendrocytes, including novel oligodendrocyte generation strategies employing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and direct conversion technology. Finally, we provide a systematic overview of (the outcome of) experimental studies, in which human oligodendrocytes were tested for their (re)myelination capacity and efficiency. GLIA 2015;63:513–530
Interferon regulatory factor 7 participates in the M1‐like microglial polarization switch
Authors: Tanaka Tatsuhide , Murakami Koichi , Bando Yoshio , Yoshida Shigetaka
Published: November 2014

Microglia are generally considered the immune cells of the central nervous system. Recent studies have demonstrated that under specific polarization conditions, microglia develop into two different phenotypes, termed M1‐like and M2‐like microglia. However, the phenotypic characteristics of M1‐like‐ and M2‐like‐polarized microglia and the mechanisms that regulate polarization are largely unknown. In this study, we characterized lipopolysaccharide‐treated M1‐like and IL‐4‐treated M2‐like microglia and investigated the mechanisms that regulate phenotypic switching. The addition of M2‐like microglial conditioned medium (CM) to primary neurons resulted in an increase in neurite length when compared with neurons treated with M1‐like microglial CM, possibly because of the enhanced secretion of neurotrophic factors by M2‐like microglia. M1‐like microglia were morphologically characterized by larger soma, whereas M2‐like microglia were characterized by long processes. M2‐like microglia exhibited greater phagocytic capacity than M1‐like microglia. These features switched in response to polarization cues. We found that expression of interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) increased during the M2‐like to M1‐like switch in microglia in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of IRF7 using siRNA suppressed the expression of M1 marker mRNA and reduced phosphorylation of STAT1. Our findings suggest that IRF7 signaling may play an important role in microglial polarization switching. GLIA 2015;63:595–610
What if implementation is not the problem? Exploring the missing links between knowledge and action
Authors: Kreindler Sara A.
Published: November 2014

Given all the available knowledge about effective implementation, why do many organizations continue to have—or appear to have—an implementation problem? Analysis of a 7‐year corpus of reports by a Canadian health region's “embedded” research and evaluation unit sought to discover the source of the region's intractable difficulty implementing improvement. Findings suggested that the problem was neither a lack of knowledge (decision‐makers displayed sophisticated understanding of fundamental issues) nor an inability to take action (there existed sufficient capacity to implement change). However, managers' high‐level knowledge was not made actionable, and micro‐level decision‐making often produced piecemeal actions inadequately informed by existing knowledge. The problem arose at the stage of “operationalization”—the identification of concrete, executable actions fully informed by knowledge of complex, system‐level issues. Yet this crucial phase is a focus of neither the implementation nor knowledge translation (KT) literatures. The organizational decision‐making literature reveals how decision‐makers initiate operationalization (i.e., by setting the direction for a discovery approach) but not how they can ensure its successful completion. The focus of KT research and practice should expand to explicating and improving decision‐making, lest KT become an exercise of infusing content into a broken process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An evaluation of time in establishing operation on the effectiveness of functional communication training
Authors: Derosa Nicole M. , Fisher Wayne W. , Steege Mark W.
Published: November 2014

We examined whether different durations of exposure to relevant establishing operations (EO) during treatment of problem behavior affected treatment efficacy and response bursting. In Study 1, we compared 2 functional communication training (FCT) interventions. In the first treatment, we used a card touch as the target mand; this was associated with limited exposure to the EO because we could physically guide the mand at prescribed times. In the other treatment, we used a vocal response as the mand; this was associated with longer exposure to the EO because it was not possible to guide the response. In Study 2, we exposed participants to time‐based reinforcement schedules that were yoked to the schedules of obtained reinforcement from the 2 FCT interventions in Study 1. Results indicated that limited exposure to the EO was associated with less response bursting, larger and more rapid reductions in problem behavior, and faster acquisition of the alternative mand.
Successful validation of genomic biomarkers for human immunotoxicity in Jurkat T cells in vitro
Authors: Schmeits Peter C. J. , Shao Jia , van der Krieken Danique A. , Volger Oscar L. , van Loveren Henk , Peijnenburg Ad. A. C. M. , Hendriksen Peter J. M.
Published: November 2014

Previously, we identified 25 classifier genes that were able to assess immunotoxicity using human Jurkat T cells. The present study aimed to validate these classifiers. For that purpose, Jurkat cells were exposed for 6 h to subcytotoxic doses of nine immunotoxicants, five non‐immunotoxicants and four compounds for which human immunotoxicity has not yet been fully established. RNA was isolated and subjected to Fluidigm quantitative real time (qRT)–PCR analysis. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the screening assay as based on the nine immunotoxicants and five non‐immunotoxicants used in this study were 100%, 80% and 93%, respectively, which is better than the performance in our previous study. Only one compound was classified as false positive (benzo‐e‐pyrene). Of the four potential (non‐)immunotoxicants, chlorantraniliprole and Hidrasec were classified immunotoxic and Sunset yellow and imidacloprid as non‐immunotoxic. ToxPi analysis of the PCR data provided insight in the molecular pathways that were affected by the compounds. The immunotoxicants 2,3‐dichloro‐propanol and cypermethrin, although structurally different, affected protein metabolism and cholesterol biosynthesis and transport. In addition, four compounds, i.e. chlorpyrifos, aldicarb, benzo‐e‐pyrene and anti‐CD3, affected genes in cholesterol metabolism and transport, protein metabolism and transcription regulation. qRT–PCR on eight additional genes coding for similar processes as defined in ToxPi analyzes, supported these results. In conclusion, the 25 immunotoxic classifiers performed very well in a screening with new non‐immunotoxic and immunotoxic compounds. Therefore, the Jurkat screening assay has great promise to be applied within a tiered approach for animal free testing of human immunotoxicity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Discovery and Correction of Spurious Low Platelet Counts due to EDTA‐Dependent Pseudothrombocytopenia
Authors: Lin Jianhua , Luo Yaoling , Yao Shaoyu , Yan Miansheng , Li Jianpei , Ouyang Wenting , Kuang Miaohuan
Published: November 2014

Background

Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (EDTA‐PTCP) is a laboratory artifact that may lead to unnecessary evaluation and treatment of patients. The purpose of this article is to discuss how to identify EDTA‐PTCP and correct spurious low platelet counts in clinical laboratories.

Methods

We use two criteria to screen for platelet aggregation: (1) an abnormal platelet count in EDTA‐treated blood from a patient lacking clinical signs of a platelet disorder, and (2) an instrument flag for platelet clumps. EDTA‐PTCP was confirmed by microscopic examination for platelet agglutination and by platelet counts that corrected with citrate sample. In addition, the time course of EDTA‐PTCP was investigated in samples from 26 patients anticoagulated with EDTA‐K2 and sodium citrate. Amikacin (5 mg/ml) was added to tubes with EDTA‐K2 or sodium citrate from seven additional cases in order to confirm its dissociative effect on platelet aggregation.

Results

In our laboratory, the overall incidence of EDTA‐PTCP was approximately 0.09%; and the duration was between 2 weeks and 6 months. EDTA‐PTCP was time‐dependent and occurred as early as 10 min after sample collection. Weaker agglutination could also occur in most corresponding citrate‐treated samples. The dissociative effect of amikacin on platelet agglutination was case‐specific and not concentration‐dependent.

Conclusions

The method of screening for platelet clumping with the help of XE5000 images is convenient. The decline in the platelet count is related to the length of time and the intensity of chelation. Amikacin supplement is not always effective for correcting platelet counts in vitro.
A High Frequency of Peripheral Blood IL‐22+CD4+ T Cells in Patients With New Onset Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Guo Hui , Xu Bing‐Chuan , Yang Xi‐Ge , Peng Di , Wang Ye , Liu Xiao‐Bo , Cui Cheng‐Ri , Jiang Yan‐Fang
Published: November 2014

Background

This study is aimed at investigating the frequency of different functional IL‐22+CD4+ T cells in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods

The frequency of circulating IFN‐γ+IL‐17‐IL‐22‐CD4+ (Th1), IFN‐γ‐IL‐17A+IL‐22‐CD4+ (Th17), and IFN‐γ‐IL‐17A‐IL‐22+CD4+ (Th22), and other subsets of IL‐22+CD4+ T cells in 31 patients with new onset T2DM and 16 healthy controls was characterized by flow cytometry. The levels of serum IL‐22, IL‐17, IFN‐γ, insulin C‐peptide, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose, and insulin were examined.

Results

The frequency of Th1, Th17, Th22, IFN‐γ+IL‐17−IL‐22+, and IFN‐γ−IL‐17+IL‐22+ CD4+ T cells and the concentrations of IL‐22, but not IL‐17 and IFNγ, in the patients were significantly higher than controls. The percentages of Th22 cells were correlated positively with the frequency of IFN‐γ−IL‐17+IL‐22+CD4+ T cells, the values of body mass index (BMI) and homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), and the levels of serum IL‐22 in those patients.

Conclusion

Our data suggest that IL‐22+CD4+ T cells may contribute to the early process of T2DM.
Diagnostic Performance of an Anti‐Actin Autoantibody Binding Enzyme Immunodot Blot in Autoimmune Hepatitis Type 1
Authors: Schotte Heiko , Willeke Peter , Schmalhorst Johanna , Schlüter Bernhard
Published: November 2014

Background

A serologic hallmark of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) type 1 are anti‐smooth muscle autoantibodies (ASMA) with specificity for filamentous actin (F‐actin; AAA (anti‐actin antibodies)), traditionally detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IFT) using rat liver, kidney, and stomach tissue sections as substrates. However, IFT is a subjective method requiring an experienced investigator. Therefore, a more objective technique for the detection of AAA may be a helpful diagnostic tool.

Methods

In a retrospective study with cross‐sectional design, we evaluated AAA detected by an enzyme immunodot blot (IDB; Liver5 IgG BlueDot, D‐tek, Mons, Belgium). Serum samples of patients with AIH type 1 (n = 47) and specified controls (n = 142) were included. For comparison, standard IFT was applied to rat LKS (liver, kidney, stomach) triple tissue sections.

Results

IDB readings were done by two independent investigators (92% concordance). The diagnostic sensitivity of the AAA‐IDB was 70%, compared to 51% of AAA‐IFT (n.s.). The diagnostic specificity of AAA‐IDB was significantly lower compared to AAA‐IFT (76% vs. 94%; P < 0.0005). Correspondingly, the positive predictive value (49% vs. 75%; P < 0.05) and positive likelihood ratio (2.9 vs. 8.5) differed significantly. Neither prescreening for ANA or ASMA, nor the exclusion of infectious hepatopathies resulted in a significantly better diagnostic performance of the IDB.

Conclusion

Compared to standard IFT, testing for AAA via IDB did not result in a significantly better diagnostic performance for AIH type 1. A blot with higher antigen binding specificity may be more functional.
A nurse‐driven screening tool for the early identification of sepsis in an intermediate care unit setting
Authors: Gyang Elsie , Shieh Lisa , Forsey Lynn , Maggio Paul
Published: November 2014

BACKGROUND

Use of a screening tool as a decision support mechanism for early detection of sepsis has been widely advocated, yet studies validating tool performance are scarce, especially in non–intensive care unit settings.

METHODS

For this pilot study we prospectively screened consecutive patients admitted to a medical/surgical intermediate care unit at an academic medical center over a 1‐month period and retrospectively analyzed their clinical data. Patients were screened with a 3‐tiered, paper‐based, nurse‐driven sepsis assessment tool every 8 hours. For patients screening positive for sepsis or severe sepsis, the primary treatment team was notified and the team's clinical actions were recorded. Results of the screening test were then compared to patient International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD‐9) codes for sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock identified during the study time period, and performance of the screening test was assessed.

RESULTS

A total of 2143 screening tests were completed in 245 patients (169 surgical, 76 medical). ICD‐9 codes confirmed sepsis incidence was 9%. Of the 39 patients who screened positive, 51% were positive for sepsis, and 49% screened positive for severe sepsis. Screening tool sensitivity and specificity were 95% and 92%, respectively. Negative predictive value was 99% and positive predictive value was 54%. Overall test accuracy was 92%. There was no statistically significant difference in tool performance between medical and surgical patients.

CONCLUSIONS

A simple screening tool for sepsis utilized as part of nursing assessment may be a useful way of identifying early sepsis in both medical and surgical patients in an intermediate care unit setting. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2015;10:97–103. © 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine
The Use of Credit Scoring in Microfinance Institutions and Their Outreach
Authors: Bumacov Vitalie , Ashta Arvind , Singh Pritam
Published: November 2014

Microfinance institutions that use credit scoring increase the productivity of their loan officers, thus leading to an increase in the number of borrowers, higher growth in the number of loans, and expanding financial inclusion and developmental opportunities.
Start‐Up Informal Finance and Formal Microfinance: The Role of Human Capital
Authors: Koubâa Hédia Fourati
Published: November 2014

Microfinancial institutions afford funding to the financially constrained and to the serious entrepreneur (of age and highly educated).
Ethno‐Banking, Microfinance, and Societal Integration in Lower Austria and Vienna
Authors: Caseau Cornelia
Published: November 2014

Ethno‐banking and its related services foster recognition of the values and habits of immigrant communities, whereas microcredit may help Turkish entrepreneurs to better integrate into their host‐country society by creating or pursuing their business activity.
Microfinance Non‐Financial Services as a Competitive Advantage: The Mexican Case
Authors: Biosca Olga , Lenton Pamela , Mosley Paul
Published: November 2014

Non‐financial programs are being used by microfinance institutions to manage reputational risks and competitive pressures.
In Silico Investigation of a HIV‐1 Vpr Inhibitor Binding Site: Potential for Virtual Screening and anti‐HIV Drug Design
Authors: Choi Sy Bing , Choong Yee Siew , Saito Akiko , Wahab Habibah A. , Najimudin Nazalan , Watanabe Nobumoto , Osada Hiroyuki , Ong Eugene Boon Beng
Published: November 2014

Present HIV antiviral therapy only targets structural proteins of HIV, but evidence shows that the targeting of accessory proteins will expand our options in combating HIV. HIV‐1 Vpr, a multifunctional accessory protein involved in viral infection, replication and pathogenesis, is a potential target. Previously, we have shown that phenyl coumarin compounds can inhibit the growth arrest activity of Vpr in host cells and predicted that the inhibitors’ binding site is a hydrophobic pocket on Vpr. To investigate our prediction of the inhibitors’ binding site, we docked the coumarin inhibitors into the predicted hydrophobic binding pocket on a built model of Vpr and observed a linear trend between their calculated binding energies and prior experimentally determined potencies. Subsequently, to analyze the inhibitor‐protein binding interactions in detail, we built homology models of Vpr mutants and performed docking studies on these models too. The results revealed that structural changes on the binding pocket that were caused by the mutations affected inhibitor binding. Overall, this study showed that the binding energies of the docked molecules are good indicators of the activity of the inhibitors. Thus, the model can be used in virtual screening to identify other Vpr inhibitors and for designing more potent inhibitors.
How Safe Are Recently FDA‐Approved Antimicrobials? A Review of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Database
Authors: Khadem Tina M. , van Manen Robbert P. , Brown Jack
Published: November 2014

Study Objective

To review quantitatively and qualitatively the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) database to provide clinicians with a general understanding of the comparative occurrence of clinically meaningful adverse events associated with 15 antimicrobial new molecular entities approved by the FDA since 2006: anidulafungin, darunavir, maraviroc, raltegravir, doripenem, telavancin, ceftaroline, boceprevir, telaprevir, fidaxomicin, bedaquiline, dolutegravir, simeprevir, sofosbuvir, and dalbavancin.

Design

Retrospective analysis.

Data Source

FDA AERS database.

Measurements and Main Results

Empirica Signal software was used to query the AERS database from November 1968 to December 2012. Using disproportionality analyses, we calculated a relative reporting ratio (RRR) estimate for reports of antimicrobial adverse events. The RRR estimate compares the occurrence of a specific adverse event with an index drug of interest to the occurrence of the same adverse event with similar agents or with all other FDA‐approved prescription drugs. Common industry practice considers an RRR meaningful if the 5th percentile of the distribution is at least 2 (RRR05 of 2.0 or higher). Antimicrobials were compared with agents within their respective antimicrobial therapeutic class as well as with all agents in the AERS database. Seventeen adverse signals with an RRR05 of 2.0 or higher were identified from the database for six agents. Ten of the 17 signals were not included in the most up‐to‐date manufacturers' package inserts for four of the six agents: doripenem‐associated hepatic dysfunction (RRR05 3.7) and hyperchloremia (RRR05 2.6); boceprevir‐associated weight loss (RRR05 2.2); darunavir‐associated premature labor (RRR05 3.1), sudden infant death syndrome (RRR05 2.9), ventricular hypertrophy (RRR05 2.7), acute coronary syndrome (RRR05 2.4), and congenital anomaly in offspring (RRR05 2.4); and raltegravir‐associated congenital heart valve disorders (RRR05 2.5) and SIDS (RRR05 2.3).

Conclusion

Clinically meaningful adverse event signals appeared to be associated with antimicrobial new molecular entities approved since 2006 including many not yet identified in package inserts. Although a disproportionality analysis suggests a quantitative signal for these associations, causality cannot be inferred from the data. Due to several key limitations in this type of analysis, investigative studies are needed to further explore these adverse event signals and the potential mechanisms by which they occur.
A web‐tool for visualizing quantitative protein–protein interaction data
Authors: Knight James D. R. , Liu Guomin , Zhang Jian Ping , Pasculescu Adrian , Choi Hyungwon , Gingras Anne‐Claude
Published: November 2014

Quantitative interaction proteomics data can be a challenge to efficiently analyze and subsequently present to an audience in a simple and easy to understand format that still conveys sufficient levels of information. Here we present freely accessible and open‐source web tools for displaying multiple parameters from quantitative protein–protein interaction data sets in a visually intuitive format. Given a set of “bait” proteins with detected “prey” interactions, dot plots can be generated to display absolute spectral counts for the preys, relative spectral counts between baits and confidence levels for the interactions (e.g. as determined by SAINTexpress). Additional tools are available for displaying fold change results between numerous baits with their associated confidence level (e.g. resulting from intensity measurements) and pairwise bait analyses displaying spectral counts, confidence score and fold change differences in a scatter plot format. These tools make it easy for the user to identify important interaction changes, interpret their data, and present this information to others in an intuitive way.
Synthesis and characterization of highly transparent and hydrophobic fluorinated polyimides derived from perfluorodecylthio substituted diamine monomers
Authors: Tapaswi Pradip Kumar , Choi Myeon‐Cheon , Nagappan Saravanan , Ha Chang‐Sik
Published: November 2014

Two new perfluorodecylthio substituted aromatic diamines, namely 2,4‐diamino‐1‐(1H,1H,2H,2H‐perfluorodecathio)benzene (DAPFB) and 2,2'‐Bis((1H,1H,2H,2H‐perfluorodecyl)thio)[1,1'‐biphenyl]4,4'‐diamine (BPFBD) were synthesized and polycondensed with 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) to produce two new perfluorinated polyimides (PI2 and PI4). The chemical structures of these polyimides were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Two other polyimides (PI1 and PI3) were also synthesized from 6FDA and analogous perfluorodecylthio unsubstituted diamines to investigate the incorporation effect of perfluorodecylthio group on various physical and chemical properties of the synthesized PIs. Compared with PI1 and PI3, PI2 and PI4 exhibited improved solubility, optical transparency, and hydrophobicity, lower moisture absorption, dielectric constant, and thermo‐mechanical stabilities owing to the presence of the perfluorodecylthio side group in the polymer chain. Even though thermo‐mechanical properties of PI2 and PI4 (
: 413 and 404 °C, Tg: 220 and 209 °C, tensile strength of 101 and 76 MPa, tensile modulus of 1.7 and 1.5 GPa and elongation at break of 8 and 10%, respectively) were reduced in comparison to PI1 and PI3 but still were good enough for most of the practical applications. Most importantly, the presence of the perfluorodecylthio side group in BPFBD considerably reduced the dielectric constant of PI4 to 2.71 which was quite low as aromatic polyimide. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 479–488
Self‐assembled graphene oxide–gelatin nanocomposite hydrogels: Characterization, formation mechanisms, and pH‐sensitive drug release behavior
Authors: Piao Yongzhe , Chen Biqiong
Published: November 2014

Novel physically crosslinked graphene oxide (GO)‐gelatin nanocomposite hydrogels were obtained by self‐assembly. The hydrogels with various ratios of GO to gelatin were prepared, and characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The static and dynamic rheological properties of the hydrogels were investigated, along with the underlying hydrogel formation mechanisms. The storage modulus of the hydrogels (containing 98–98.5 wt % water) reached 114.5 kPa, owing to the relatively strong physical bonding (i.e., hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces) between GO and gelatin. Drug release tests showed that the drug release from the hydrogel was pH‐dependent, with 96% of the model drug released in a neutral environment, compared to 28% released in an acidic medium. These hydrogels could have potential in pH‐sensitive drug delivery. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 356–367
Effect of dispersion and selective localization of carbon nanotubes on rheology and electrical conductivity of polyamide 6 (PA6), Polypropylene (PP), and PA6/PP nanocomposites
Authors: Abbasi Moud Aref , Javadi Azizeh , Nazockdast Hossein , Fathi Amir , Altstaedt Volker
Published: November 2014

Nanocomposites were prepared by adding 1–3 vol % multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to polyamide 6 (PA6), polypropylene (PP), and their co‐continuous blends of 60/40 and 50/50 volume compositions. Because of the good interaction and interfacial adhesion to the PA6, nanotubes were disentangled and distributed evenly through nanocomposites containing PA6. In contrast, lack of active interactions between the matrix and the CNTs resulted in poor tube dispersion in PP. These observations were then verified by studying the rheology and electrical conductivity of their respective nanocomposites. Absence of percolated CNT clusters and possible wrapping of the tubes by PA6 resulted in low electrical conductivity of PA6/CNT nanocomposites. On the other hand, despite the weak dispersion of the tubes, electrical conductivities of PP/CNT nanocomposites were much higher than all other counterparts. This could be the result of good three‐dimensional distribution of the agglomerated bundles and secondary aggregation of tubes in PP. Adding CNTs to blends of PA6/PP (60/40 and 50/50) resulted in almost full localization of carbon nanotubes in PA6, leading to their higher effective concentration. At the same CNT loadings, the blend nanocomposites had three to seven orders of magnitude higher electrical conductivity than pure PA6. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 368–378
Rapid search for tertiary fragments reveals protein sequence–structure relationships
Authors: Zhou Jianfu , Grigoryan Gevorg
Published: November 2014

Finding backbone substructures from the Protein Data Bank that match an arbitrary query structural motif, composed of multiple disjoint segments, is a problem of growing relevance in structure prediction and protein design. Although numerous protein structure search approaches have been proposed, methods that address this specific task without additional restrictions and on practical time scales are generally lacking. Here, we propose a solution, dubbed MASTER, that is both rapid, enabling searches over the Protein Data Bank in a matter of seconds, and provably correct, finding all matches below a user‐specified root‐mean‐square deviation cutoff. We show that despite the potentially exponential time complexity of the problem, running times in practice are modest even for queries with many segments. The ability to explore naturally plausible structural and sequence variations around a given motif has the potential to synthesize its design principles in an automated manner; so we go on to illustrate the utility of MASTER to protein structural biology. We demonstrate its capacity to rapidly establish structure–sequence relationships, uncover the native designability landscapes of tertiary structural motifs, identify structural signatures of binding, and automatically rewire protein topologies. Given the broad utility of protein tertiary fragment searches, we hope that providing MASTER in an open‐source format will enable novel advances in understanding, predicting, and designing protein structure.
Determinants of Health-Related Quality of Life in Taiwanese Middle-Aged Women Stroke Survivors
Authors: Pai Hsiang-Chu , Wu Ming-Hsiu , Chang Mei-Yueh
Published: November 2014

Purpose:

Female stroke victims have a higher survival rate and experience a greater loss of quality of life than do male stroke victims. The aim of this study was to evaluate the determinants of health-related quality of life in middle-aged women stroke survivors.

Design:

This study is a cross-sectional design.

Methods:

This cross-sectional research uses a descriptive, prospective, and correlational study design to investigate the associations between latent variables. Participants included women stroke survivors, aged 45–65 years, who were patients at a medical center in Taiwan. Participants completed an interview and a six-part questionnaire comprising the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Modified Rankin Scale, Burden Scale, Chinese Health Questionnaire, and five items that pertain to the survivor’s cognitive appraisal of coping. Structural equation modeling (SEM), with the use of the partial least squares (PLS) method, was used to examine the proposed conceptual model.

Findings:

A total of 48 dyad samples (48 female stroke survivors, mean age = 55.29; 48 caregivers, mean age = 42.71) participated in the study. Overall, women’s physical functioning (PF; stroke severity), cognitive appraisal of coping, and caregiver’s psychosocial functioning were the predictors, explaining 43.3% of the variance in women’s health-related quality of life.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance:

We found that female stroke survivors’ level of stroke severity and negative appraisal-impact of stroke are significant predictors of the stroke survivor’s quality of life. In addition to assisting women in their PF rehabilitation, rehabilitation nurses also should help to develop survivors’ self-care confidence as a means to avoid the recurrence of stroke.
Detection of seam carving‐based video retargeting using forensics hash
Authors: Fei Wei , Gaobo Yang , Leida Li , Ming Xia , Dengyong Zhang
Published: November 2014

Seam carving is a content‐aware multimedia retargeting technique to adaptively resize multimedia data for different display sizes. However, it can also be used to remove objects from digital object or video for malicious purposes. In this paper, a forensics hash‐based tampering detection and localization approach is proposed for seam carving‐based video retargeting. It extracts the invariant Speeded‐up Robust Feature points from every spatiotemporal image to represent the matching surface, and the relative position change of the neighboring matching surface is used to build the forensic hash in a compact and scalable way. Experimental results show that the proposed forensics approach can effectively estimate the exact amount and rough locations of deleted seam carving surfaces. It achieves desirable detection performance even when there are frames deleted. If the hash length is reasonably increased, it can estimate the rough location and exact amount of deleted frames. Moreover, the built forensics hash is of good robustness, scalability, and compactness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of organic SIMS system with Ar‐GCIB and IMS‐4f
Authors: Nojima Masashi , Suzuki Masato , Fujii Makiko , Seki Toshio , Matsuo Jiro
Published: November 2014

We have developed Ar‐gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry system by introducing Ar‐GCIB column to IMS‐4f. Mass spectrums of arginine and polystyrene (PS) are obtained with typical fragment ions. Depth profiles of PS are obtained within 10 nm depth resolutions. Secondary ion images of fine‐patterned PS are observed within 10 µm image resolutions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brain stem cell division and maintenance studied using multi‐isotope imaging mass spectrometry (MIMS)
Authors: Enikolopov Grigori , Guillermier Christelle , Wang Mei , Trakimas Louise , Steinhauser Matthew L. , Lechene Claude
Published: November 2014

New neurons are continuously produced from neural stem cells in specific regions of the adult brain of animals and humans. In the hippocampus, a region crucial for cognitive function, neurogenesis responds to a multitude of extrinsic stimuli; emerging evidence indicates that it may be important for behavior, pathophysiology, brain repair, and response to drugs. We have developed an approach to identify and quantify the cellular targets of pro‐ and anti‐neurogenic stimuli, based on reporter transgenic mouse lines in which neural stem and progenitor cells or their progeny are marked by fluorescent proteins. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of using multi‐isotope imaging mass spectrometry for studying adult neurogenesis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adaptive pair‐matching in randomized trials with unbiased and efficient effect estimation
Authors: Balzer Laura B. , Petersen Maya L. , van der Laan Mark J. ,   the SEARCH Consortium
Published: November 2014

In randomized trials, pair‐matching is an intuitive design strategy to protect study validity and to potentially increase study power. In a common design, candidate units are identified, and their baseline characteristics used to create the best n/2 matched pairs. Within the resulting pairs, the intervention is randomized, and the outcomes measured at the end of follow‐up. We consider this design to be adaptive, because the construction of the matched pairs depends on the baseline covariates of all candidate units. As a consequence, the observed data cannot be considered as n/2 independent, identically distributed pairs of units, as common practice assumes. Instead, the observed data consist of n dependent units. This paper explores the consequences of adaptive pair‐matching in randomized trials for estimation of the average treatment effect, conditional the baseline covariates of the n study units. By avoiding estimation of the covariate distribution, estimators of this conditional effect will often be more precise than estimators of the marginal effect. We contrast the unadjusted estimator with targeted minimum loss based estimation and show substantial efficiency gains from matching and further gains with adjustment. This work is motivated by the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health study, an ongoing community randomized trial to evaluate the impact of immediate and streamlined antiretroviral therapy on HIV incidence in rural East Africa. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Doping Modulated Carbon Nanotube Synapstors for a Spike Neuromorphic Module
Authors: Shen Alex Ming , Kim Kyunghyun , Tudor Andrew , Lee Dongwon , Chen Yong
Published: November 2014

A doping‐modulated carbon nanotube (CNT) electronic device, called a “synapstor,” emulates the function of a biological synapse. The CNT synapstor has a field‐effect transistor structure with a random CNT network as its channel. An aluminium oxide (Al2O3) film is deposited over half of the CNT channel in the synapstor, converting the covered part of the CNT from p‐type to n‐type, forming a p–n junction in the CNT channel and increasing the Schottky barrier between the n‐type CNT and its metal contact. This scheme significantly improves the postsynaptic current (PSC) from the synapstor, extends the tuning range of the plasticity, and reduces the power consumption of the CNT synapstor. A spike neuromorphic module is fabricated by integrating the CNT synapstors with a Si‐based “soma” circuit. Spike parallel processing, memory, and plasticity functions of the module are demonstrated. The module could potentially be integrated and scaled up to emulate a biological neural network with parallel high‐speed signal processing, low power consumption, memory, and learning capabilities.
Attractors accompanied with a training pattern of multivalued hopfield neural networks
Authors: Kobayashi Masaki
Published: November 2014

Recently, multivalued Hopfield neural networks, such as complex‐valued Hopfield neural networks, and their applications have been studied by many researchers. In their application, low noise robustness is an important problem. Too many attractors accompanied with training patterns damage the noise robustness. Rotated patterns are well‐known attractors of complex‐valued Hopfield neural networks. In the present work, we reveal that any other patterns are never attractors in complex‐valued Hopfield neural networks with a training pattern. We also prove a similar result for rotor Hopfield neural network. In addition, we investigate the relation between noise robustness and the number of attractors. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CMT‐CQA: Cross‐layer QoS‐aware adaptive concurrent multipath data transfer in heterogeneous networks
Authors: Cao Yuanlong , Xu Changqiao , Guan Jianfeng , Zhang Hongke
Published: November 2014

Stream control transport protocol (SCTP)‐based concurrent multipath transfer (CMT) can help multi‐homed devices to increase their throughput by making use of parallel transmissions over multiple paths and bandwidth aggregation. However, if CMT cannot identify wireless error, it cannot really achieve the desired performance. Furthermore, if CMT only utilizes all available paths for data delivery, it will undoubtedly degrade application‐level performance since the asymmetric paths may involve large quality differences. This paper proposes a novel cross‐layer quality‐of‐service (QoS)‐aware adaptive CMT (CMT‐CQA) with the following aims: (i) to provide an adaptive ‘CMT‐to‐partial CMT’ adjustment strategy for efficient bandwidth aggregation by jointly considering transport layer QoS, MAC layer QoS, and path history information; (ii) to address an enhanced congestion window (cwnd) fast recovery mechanism to reduce bursty transmission in multi‐homed wireless network environments where fail‐over occurs frequently; and (iii) to introduce a proper multimedia transmission behavior to improve users' quality of experience (QoE) for multimedia streaming service. Simulation results show that CMT‐CQA outperforms the existing CMT solutions in terms of performance and QoS. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Numerical inverse definite minimum time overcurrent relay for microgrid power system protection
Authors: Kannuppaiyan Sekar , Chenniappan Vivekanandan
Published: November 2014

Access of distributed generation gets complicated at the distribution level, and hence managing these systems effectively becomes highly challenging. Microgrids have been proposed as a way of integrating a large number of distributed renewable energy sources with a distribution system. They are low to medium voltage networks of small load clusters with distributed generation sources and storages. Microgrids can be operated in the islanded mode or the grid‐connected mode. If a microgrid is connected to the system, it is seen as a single aggregate load. One of the potential advantages of a microgrid is that it could provide more reliable supply to customers by islanding itself from the system in the event of a major disturbance. However, a major problem with microgrid implementation in islanded operation is designing a proper protection scheme. The fault currents for grid‐connected and islanded microgrids are significantly different. Additionally, high penetration of inverter‐connected distributed generation sources leads to conditions where no standard overcurrent protection method will work. Overcurrent protection is considered as the backbone of any protection strategy, especially in distribution systems. Distribution systems constitute the largest portion of the power system network, and therefore the diagnosis of faults in this system is a challenging task. Faults occurring in distribution systems will affect the reliability, security, and quality of a power system. Field‐processable gate array (FPGA) Xilinx Zynq‐based numerical overcurrent relay protection is provided to the microgrid that is operated in islanded mode. This results in faster discrimination and quicker isolation of the faulty section from the microgrid. This improves the reliability of the microgrid because the fault is rapidly diagnosed and isolated from the healthy part, thanks to the high‐speed operation of the 800‐MHz FPGA Xilinx Zynq‐based numerical overcurrent relay. This system is simulated using MATLAB Simulink SimPower system tool box and LabView software. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Experiment of the lorentz force law using twin toy motors
Authors: Moriyama Shin‐ichi
Published: November 2014

This paper proposes a torque measurement method with two toy motors. The aim is to study the basic principles of electric motors and generators, that is, the Lorentz force law, in a laboratory experiment. The two motors are directly coupled and used as a driver and a generator, respectively. The generator functions as an electric brake and as a rotational speed sensor. Since the experimental setup does not need any torque tester, its handling is very easy. It is confirmed from the demonstration tests that the twin characteristics of the motors on motional electromotive force lead to reasonable results of torque estimation. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.