bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of long‐persistent photoluminescent epoxy resin immobilized with europium (II)‐doped strontium aluminate
Authors: Khattab Tawfik A. , Abd El‐Aziz Mahmoud , Abdelrahman Meram S. , El‐Zawahry Manal , Kamel Samir
Published: December 2019

A facile approach for possible industrial production of long‐persistent phosphorescence, continuing to emitting light for a long time period, smart cobbles were developed toward photoluminescent hard surfaces. The inorganic strontium aluminium oxide pigment doped with rare earth elements was added to a synthetic organic epoxy in the presence of polyamine as a hardener to make a phosphor‐loaded viscous fluid that can then be hardened in a few minutes. The transparency of the solid cobbles can be accomplished easily using homogeneous dispersion of the phosphor in the epoxy resin fluid before the addition of a hardener to avoid pigment aggregation. This pigment–epoxy formula can be easily applied industrially onto flagstones surfaces under ambient conditions. The photoluminescent cobblestones demonstrated an optimum excitation wavelength at 366 nm and an emission band at 521 nm with a long‐persistent phosphorescence cobble surface. The development of a translucent white colour under normal daylight, bright green under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, bright white colour after 30 sec in the dark, and phosphorescent green colour after 75 min in the dark was indicated using Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) Laboratory coloration measurements. The luminescent hard composite cobble exhibited a highly durable and reversible long‐persistent phosphorescence light. Photoluminescence, morphological, and hardness properties as well as the elemental composition of the prepared cobbles were explored.
Identification of a 7‐microRNA signature in plasma as promising biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma detection
Authors: Zhang Huo , Zou Xuan , Wu Lirong , Zhang Shiyu , Wang Tongshan , Liu Ping , Zhu Wei , Zhu Jun
Published: December 2019

Background

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have become reliable sources of non‐invasive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Identification of promising miRNA biomarkers in plasma might benefit a lot to the detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods

The Exiqon miRNA qPCR panel was used in the screening stage to identify candidate miRNAs, which were further verified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) in the following three stages among plasma samples from 200 NPC patients and 189 healthy donors (as normal controls [NCs]). The identified miRNAs were further explored in tissue specimens (48 NPC vs 32 NCs) and plasma exosomes (32 NPC vs 32 NCs). Survival analyses were ultimately conducted by Cox regression models and Kaplan‐Meier curves using log‐rank tests.

Results

We identified a 7‐miRNA signature including let‐7b‐5p, miR‐140‐3p, miR‐144‐3p, miR‐17‐5p, miR‐20a‐5p, miR‐20b‐5p, and miR‐205‐5p in plasma for NPC diagnosis after four‐stage validation. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) for the signature were 0.879, 0.884, 0.921, and 0.807 for the training, testing, external validation stage, and the combined three stages, respectively. In NPC tissues, miR‐144‐3p, miR‐17‐5p, miR‐20a‐5p, and miR‐205‐5p were consistently up‐regulated while let‐7b‐5p and miR‐140‐3p were significantly down‐regulated compared to NCs. However, none of the seven identified miRNAs were dysregulated in plasma‐derived exosomes in NPC patients. As to survival analysis, none of the seven miRNAs seemed to be associated with NPC prognosis.

Conclusion

We identified a 7‐miRNA signature in plasma as promising non‐invasive biomarkers for NPC detection.
The extent of lymph node yield in central neck dissection can be affected by preoperative and intraoperative assessment and alter the prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma
Authors: Hu Jia‐Qian , Wen Duo , Ma Ben , Zhang Ting‐Ting , Liao Tian , Shi Xiao , Wang Yu‐Long , Zhu Yong‐Xue , Wang Yu , Wei Wen‐Jun , Ji Qing‐Hai
Published: December 2019

Background

Lymph node yield (LNY) was implemented in the stratification of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. The effect of LNY may be related to the extent of surgery. This study aims to identify influencing factors for LNY in central compartment neck dissection (CND).

Methods

Data of 13 712 consecutive PTC patients were analyzed retrospectively. Risk factors for LNY in CND and distribution characteristics of LNY were evaluated. Its relationship with prognosis was studied in another cohort of 136 cases.

Results

LNY in therapeutic CND was significantly higher than prophylactic CND (Unilateral: 5.55 ± 3.79 vs 3.41 ± 2.77; Bilateral: 8.90 ± 5.10 vs 6.47 ± 4.17, P < .001). Other independent factors included extranodal extension (ETE), tumor size, and concurrent Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The inconsistency distribution of LNY in bilateral CND was associated with preoperative and intraoperative assessment. Patients with significant difference between major and minor LNY suffered from poorer prognosis (10y‐RFS: 58.3% vs 92.0%; HR = 6.719, 95%, P < .0001).

Conclusions

CND surgical procedure, ETE, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis were independent factors of LNY. Inconsistent distribution of LNY was associated with prognosis of bilateral PTC patients. The impact of preoperative and intraoperative assessment on the actual extent of CND can be used to explain the relationship between LNY and PTC prognosis.
Coronary vasospasm induced by cisplatin for seminoma
Authors: Sasaki Wataru , Wada Hiroshi , Sakakura Kenichi , Matsuda Jun , Ibe Tatsuro , Hayashi Takekuni , Ueba Hiroto , Momomura Shin‐ichi , Fujita Hideo
Published: December 2019

Vascular toxicity is one of serious complications following cisplatin‐based chemotherapy. This case suggests that cisplatin has a potential risk of delayed occurrence of vasospastic angina. It is important to perform careful history taking including discontinued drugs for differential diagnosis of chest pain.
NCBI's Conserved Domain Database and Tools for Protein Domain Analysis
Authors: Yang Mingzhang , Derbyshire Myra K. , Yamashita Roxanne A. , Marchler‐Bauer Aron
Published: December 2019

The Conserved Domain Database (CDD) is a freely available resource for the annotation of sequences with the locations of conserved protein domain footprints, as well as functional sites and motifs inferred from these footprints. It includes protein domain and protein family models curated in house by CDD staff, as well as imported from a variety of other sources. The latest CDD release (v3.17, April 2019) contains more than 57,000 domain models, of which almost 15,000 were curated by CDD staff. The CDD curation effort increases coverage and provides finer‐grained classifications of common and widely distributed protein domain families, for which a wealth of functional and structural data have become available. The CDD maintains both live search capabilities and an archive of pre‐computed domain annotations for a selected subset of sequences tracked by the NCBI's Entrez protein database. These can be retrieved or computed for a single sequence using CD‐Search or in bulk using Batch CD‐Search, or computed via standalone RPS‐BLAST plus the rpsbproc software package. The CDD can be accessed via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/cdd.shtml. The three protocols listed here describe how to perform a CD‐Search (Basic Protocol 1), a Batch CD‐Search (Basic Protocol 2), and a Standalone RPS‐BLAST and rpsbproc (Basic Protocol 3). © 2019 The Authors.

Basic Protocol 1: CD‐search

Basic Protocol 2: Batch CD‐search

Basic Protocol 3: Standalone RPS‐BLAST and rpsbproc
The MathIOmica Toolbox: General Analysis Utilities for Dynamic Omics Datasets
Authors: Mias George I. , Zheng Minzhang
Published: December 2019

MathIOmica is a package for bioinformatics, written in the Wolfram language, that provides multiple utilities to facilitate the analysis of longitudinal data generated from omics experiments, including transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data, as well as any generalized time series. MathIOmica uses Mathematica's notebook interface, wherein users can import longitudinal datasets, carry out quality control and normalization, generate time series, and classify temporal trends. MathIOmica provides spectral methods based on periodograms and autocorrelations for automatically detecting classes of temporal behavior and allowing the user to visualize collective temporal behavior, and also assess biological significance through Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analyses. MathIOmica's time‐series classification methods address common issues including missing data and uneven sampling in measurements. As such, the software is ideally suited for the analysis of experimental data from individualized profiling of subjects, can facilitate analysis of data from the emerging field of individualized health monitoring, and can detect temporal trends that may be associated with adverse health events. In this article, we import a transcriptomics (RNA‐sequencing) dataset collected over multiple timepoints and generate time series for each transcript represented in the data. We classify the time series to identify classes of significant temporal trends (using autocorrelations). We assess statistical significance cutoffs in the classification by generating null distributions using randomly resampled time series. We then visualize the significant trends in heatmaps and assess biological significance using enrichment analyses. Finally, we visualize pathway results for statistically significant pathways of interest. © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Basic Protocol: Time series analysis of transcriptomics expression dataset
Web service recommendation based on time‐aware users clustering and multi‐valued QoS prediction
Authors: Fayala Mayssa , Mezni Haithem
Published: December 2019

With the growing number of functionally similar services over the Internet, recommendation techniques become a natural choice to cope with the challenging task of optimal service selection, and to help consumers satisfy their needs and preferences. However, most existing models on service recommendation are static, while in the real world, the perception and popularity of Web services may continually change. Time is becoming an increasingly important factor in recommender systems since time effects influence users' preferences to a large extent. In order to help users with this problem, we propose a time‐aware Web service recommendation system. First, we use K‐means clustering method in order to exclude the less similar users, which share few common Web services with the active user at different times. Slope One algorithm is also adopted in order to deal with data sparsity problem by predicting the missing ratings over time. Then, a recommendation algorithm is presented in order to recommend the top‐rated Web services. Experiments proved the accuracy of our approach compared to five existing solutions.
Recent Advances in First‐Row Transition Metal Clusters for Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Authors: Chen Rong , Yan Zhi‐Hao , Kong Xiang‐Jian
Published: December 2019

Water splitting based on first‐row transition metal (3d) photocatalysts is a cost‐effective technology for the conversion of abundant solar energy into useful energy on a large scale. The catalytic core of photosynthetic enzymes is a cubic CaMn4O5 cluster. Illuminated by natural photosynthesis, artificial solar water splitting photocatalysts composed of metal clusters are now being designed and tested. Ideally, such photocatalysts composed of atomically precise metal clusters with regular crystal structures are promising model catalysts that can be used to study structure–performance relationships. Recent advances based on metal cluster designs have improved our understanding of photoinduced charge separation and catalytic water redox reactions. This Minireview summarizes the recent advances in 3d metal cluster photocatalysts with well‐defined structures for photocatalytic water splitting and focuses on different clusters with tunable structures that are capable of achieving better photocatalytic properties.
Generalized AIC and chi‐squared statistics for path models consistent with directed acyclic graphs
Authors: Shipley Bill , Douma Jacob C.
Published: December 2019

We explain how to obtain a generalized maximum‐likelihood chi‐square statistic,, and a full‐model Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) statistic for piecewise structural equation modeling (SEM); that is, structural equations without latent variables whose causal topology can be represented as a directed acyclic graph (DAG). The full piecewise SEM is decomposed into submodels as a Markov network, each of which can have different distributional assumptions or functional links and that can be modeled by any method that produces maximum‐likelihood parameter estimates. The generalized is a function of the difference in the maximum likelihoods of the model and its saturated equivalent and the full‐model AIC is calculated by summing the AIC statistics of each of the submodels.
Α mass‐reduction design concept for seismic hazard mitigation
Authors: Charalampakis Aristotelis E. , Tsiatas George C. , Tsopelas Panos
Published: December 2019

A mass reduction concept for seismic hazard mitigation is investigated herein. The proposed method is implemented through floating slabs, ie, slabs that have been seismically isolated from the skeleton of the structure. The investigation is based on time history analyses of MDOF models under scaled strong‐motion seismic records complying with an EC8 spectrum. The purpose of these slabs is twofold; for selected short isolation periods, they act as a mass‐damping system for the overall response of the structure, employing significantly more mass than traditional TMDs, while for longer isolation periods they provide seismic protection on their contents while effectively reducing the seismic mass of the structure. In the latter case, it is found that the response of the skeleton can be evaluated accurately from a corresponding reduced‐mass model. The proposed design method does not necessarily aim at replacing existing seismic design approaches; it rather provides design versatility in the hands of the practicing engineers.
Empowering Better End‐of‐Life Dementia Care (EMBED‐Care): A mixed methods protocol to achieve integrated person‐centred care across settings
Authors: Sampson Elizabeth L. , Anderson Janet E. , Candy Bridget , Davies Nathan , Ellis‐Smith Clare , Gola Anna , Harding Richard , Kenten Charlotte , Kupeli Nuriye , Mead Simon , Moore Kirsten J. , Omar Rumana Z. , Sleeman Katherine E. , Stewart Robert , Ward Jane , Warren Jason D. , Evans Catherine J.
Published: December 2019

Objectives

Globally, the number of people with dementia who have palliative care needs will increase fourfold over the next 40 years. The Empowering Better End‐of‐Life Dementia Care (EMBED‐Care) Programme aims to deliver a step change in care through a large sequential study, spanning multiple work streams.

Methods

We will use mixed methods across settings where people with dementia live and die: their own homes, care homes, and hospitals. Beginning with policy syntheses and reviews of interventions, we will develop a conceptual framework and underpinning theory of change. We will use linked data sets to explore current service use, care transitions, and inequalities and predict future need for end‐of‐life dementia care. Longitudinal cohort studies of people with dementia (including young onset and prion dementias) and their carers will describe care transitions, quality of life, symptoms, formal and informal care provision, and costs. Data will be synthesised, underpinned by the Knowledge‐to‐Action Implementation Framework, to design a novel complex intervention to support assessment, decision making, and communication between patients, carers, and inter‐professional teams. This will be feasibility and pilot tested in UK settings. Patient and public involvement and engagement, innovative work with artists, policymakers, and third sector organisations are embedded to drive impact. We will build research capacity and develop an international network for excellence in dementia palliative care.

Conclusions

EMBED‐Care will help us understand current and future need, develop novel cost‐effective care innovations, build research capacity, and promote international collaborations in research and practice to ensure people live and die well with dementia.
Macroeconomic news, public communications, and foreign exchange jumps around U.S. and European financial crises
Authors: Ayadi Mohamed A. , Ben Omrane Walid , Wang Jiahui , Welch Robert
Published: December 2019

Jumps in the Euro, Pound, and Yen, based on 5‐minute returns for the period 2004–2015, are shown to be state dependent between recessions and expansions in their response to macroeconomic news announcements and speeches by treasury and central bank senior officials. We find evidence of large jumps and cojumps response to the Federal Open Market Committee rate decision consistently over economic states. U.S. news is more important than EU news and jump magnitude and probability exhibit positive responses. Federal Reserve senior officials' speeches generate more jumps during the U.S. mortgage crisis and the EU sovereign debt recession. Although public communications of some European Central Bank and Bank of England senior officials cause fewer jumps, they produce significant cojumps of the three major currency markets.
ESTIMATION OF GROUNDWATER RECHARGE ORIGINATING FROM AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION AND RAINFALL IN SHYRAMYN PLAIN, IRAN
Authors: Pahlevani Majdabady Marjan , Rasoulzadeh Ali , Kanooni Amin , Ahmadzadeh Gholamreza
Published: December 2019

Groundwater recharge from rainfall and return flow of irrigation are essential for sustainable water resources management. There are many ways to estimate groundwater recharge. Most of them require a lot of field data, which limits their application in practice. To overcome this limitation, the rainfall infiltration breakthrough (RIB) model has been applied, which has the potential for estimating recharge using only rainfall, pumping rate, specific yield and groundwater level data in a semi‐arid region, the Shyramyn area, Iran. The groundwater recharge from rainfall (r) and the return flow of irrigation (λ) were estimated using the RIB model. Results of this effort indicated that the value of r varied around a ratio of 24.6% across the site, with a minimum and maximum of 1.1 and 27.0%, respectively, while λ varied with a minimum and maximum value of 0.0 and 33.0%, respectively.

For the estimation of groundwater recharge most emphasis was usually put on recharge from rainfall. However, the findings of this study indicate that recharge from the return flow of irrigation played a major role in groundwater recharge and was 66.3% more than the recharge from rainfall. We hypothesize that this is a common process in similar areas where surface irrigation is applied. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Formate and potassium ions affect Escherichia coli proton ATPase activity at low pH during mixed carbon fermentation
Authors: Gevorgyan Heghine , Trchounian Armen , Trchounian Karen
Published: December 2019

Escherichia coli is able to ferment not only single but also mixtures of carbon sources. The formate metabolism and effect of formate on various enzymes have been extensively studied during sole glucose but not mixed carbon sources utilization. It was revealed that in membrane vesicles (MV) of wild type cells grown at pH 7.5 during fermentation of the mixture of glucose (2 g/L), glycerol (10 g/L), and formate (0.68 g/L), in the assays, the addition of formate (10 mM) increased the N,N′‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD)‐inhibited ATPase activity on ~30% but no effect of potassium ions (100 mM) had been detected. In selC (coding formate dehydrogenases) and fdhF (coding formate dehydrogenase H) single mutants, formate increased DCCD‐inhibited ATPase activity on ~40 and ~70%, respectively. At pH 5.5, in wild type cells MV, formate decreased the DCCD‐inhibited ATPase activity ~60% but unexpectedly in the presence of potassium ions, it was stimulated ~5.8 fold. The accessible SH or thiol groups number in fdhF mutant was less by 28% compared with wild type. In formate assays, the available SH groups number was less ~10% in wild type but not in fdhF mutant. Taken together, the data suggest that proton ATPase activity depends on externally added formate in the presence of potassium ions at low pH. This effect might be regulated by the changes in the number of redox‐active thiol groups via formate dehydrogenase H, which might be directly related to proton ATPase FO subunit.
A combined Raman spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence, and electron backscatter diffraction study of kyanite porphyroblasts from diamondiferous and diamond‐free metamorphic rocks (Kokchetav massif)
Authors: Rezvukhina Olga V. , Korsakov Andrey V. , Rezvukhin Dmitriy I. , Zamyatin Dmitry A. , Zelenovskiy Pavel S. , Greshnyakov Evgeny D. , Shur Vladimir Ya.
Published: December 2019

A series of precise nondestructive analytical methods (Raman spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence, and EBSD—electron backscatter diffraction) has been employed to investigate the internal textures of kyanite porphyroblasts from diamondiferous and diamond‐free ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic rocks (Kokchetav massif, Northern Kazakhstan). Such internal kyanite characteristics as twinning, radial fibrous pattern, and spotty zoning were identified by means of Raman and cathodoluminescence imaging, whereas an intergrowth of two kyanite crystals was distinguished only by Raman imaging. The EBSD analysis recorded an ~10–25° changing of orientations along the elongation in the investigated kyanite porphyroblasts. The absence of a radial fibrous pattern and a spotty zoning on the EBSD maps indicates that these textures are not related to variations in crystallographic orientation. The absence of clear zoning patterns (cores, mantles, and rims) on the Raman, cathodoluminescence, or EBSD maps of the kyanite porphyroblasts indicates the rapid single‐stage formation of these porphyroblasts near the peak metamorphic conditions and the lack of recrystallization processes. The obtained results provide important implications for deciphering of mineral internal textures, showing that the data obtained by cathodoluminescence mapping can be clearly reproduced by Raman imaging, with the latter method occasionally being even more informative. This observation is of significant importance for the study of minerals that are unexposed on a thin section surface or Fe‐ and Ni‐rich minerals that do not show luminescence emission. The combination of the Raman spectroscopic, cathodoluminescence, and EBSD techniques may provide better spatial resolution for distinguishing different domains and textural peculiarities of mineral than the selective application of individual approaches.
Sensory properties of yellow pea and macadamia honeys from conventional and flow hive extraction methods
Authors: Grace Emily , Olarte Mantilla Sandra Milena , Sunarharum Wenny Bekti , Ong Cheng Mun , Waanders Jennifer , DʼArcy Bruce Robert , Smyth Heather Eunice
Published: December 2019

BACKGROUND

The process of harvesting honey is time consuming and labor intensive. A new system, the Flow Frame, has drastically simplified the harvesting process, enabling honey to be extracted directly from the hive with minimal processing. The sensory profile of honey is influenced, first, by botanical origin and subsequently by processing and storage parameters. A reduction in harvest processing may thus influence the sensory profile of honey harvested from FFs compared to that of honey produced from conventional processing. To test this hypothesis, two monofloral honeys (macadamia and yellow pea) were harvested from FFs, or by conventional honey extraction. Sensory profiling using conventional descriptive analysis was carried out for each floral source with an experienced trained panel.

RESULTS

The two monofloral honeys harvested using the FF system had significantly (p < 0.05) higher floral and cleaner aftertaste sensory scores than the honey extracted using commercial (C) methods that involve the use of heat and centrifugation.

CONCLUSION

The flow system retains honey's natural sensory properties compared to harvesting methods that require heat and centrifugation. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
Separation of the mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons of three and more aromatic rings from those of one or two aromatic rings
Authors: Koch Michael , Becker Erik , Päch Michael , Kühn Susanne , Kirchhoff Erhard
Published: December 2019

An analytical method was developed for the quantitation of the mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons in cosmetic raw materials separating those of one or two aromatic rings from those of three and more aromatic rings. Normal phase high performance liquid chromatography was used with donor‐acceptor complex chromatography. The composition of both fractions and the quantities of respective compounds were determined by comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography with time of flight mass spectrometry and by liquid chromatography coupled to gas chromatography with flame ionization detection.
Development of a needle trap device packed with titanium‐based metal‐organic framework sorbent for extraction of phenolic derivatives in air
Authors: Firoozichahak Ali , Bahrami Abdulrahman , Ghorbani Shahna Farshid , Alizadeh Saber , Nematollahi Davood , Farhadian Maryam
Published: December 2019

We developed a novel method of needle trap device packed with titanium‐based metal‐organic framework for the extraction of phenolic derivatives in air followed by gas chromatography‐flame ionization detector analysis. The synthetized adsorbent was packed inside a 22‐gauge spinal needle. This method was first tested at laboratory scale, and then was used for field sampling of phenolic derivatives in air. A glass chamber placed on a heater at 60°C was used to provide different concentrations of phenolic derivatives. The desorption conditions and breakthrough volume were optimized using response surface methodology. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation of the proposed method were estimated to be in the range of 0.001–0.12 and 0.003–0.62 ng/mL, respectively, indicating a high sensitivity for the suggested sampler. Storing the packed needle trap device in a refrigerator at 4˚C for 60 days did not dramatically affect the storage stability. Our findings indicated that there was a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.99) between the measurement results of this method and the NIOSH recommended method (XAD‐7 sorbent tube). Therefore, it can be concluded that the needle trap device packed with titanium‐based metal‐organic framework can be used as a efficient method for extraction of phenolic derivatives in air.
Hydrogen Peroxide and Glutathione Dual Redox‐Responsive Nanoparticles for Controlled DOX Release
Authors: Chen Runhai , Ma Zhifang , Xiang Zehong , Xia Yu , Shi Qiang , Wong Shing‐Chung , Yin Jinghua
Published: December 2019

Polymer nanoparticulate drug delivery systems that respond to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) simultaneously at biologically relevant levels hold great promise to improve the therapeutic efficacy to cancer cells with reduced side effects of chemo drugs. Herein, a novel redox dual‐responsive amphiphilic block copolymer (ABP) that consists of a hydrophilic poly (ethylene oxide) block and a hydrophobic block bearing disulfide linked phenylboronic ester group as pendant is synthesized, and the DOX loaded nanoparticles (BSN‐DOX) based on ABPs with varied hydrophobic block length are fabricated for DOX delivery. The self‐immolative leaving reaction of phenylboronic ester triggered by extracellular ROS and the cleavage of disulfide linkages induced by intracellular GSH both lead to rapid DOX release from BSN‐DOX, resulting in an on‐demand DOX release. Moreover, BSN‐DOX show better tumor inhibition and lower side effects in vivo compared with free drug.
Microwave‐Assisted Reversible Addition–Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization of Cationic Monomers in Mixed Aqueous Solvents
Authors: Tran Jonathan D. , Mikulec Sydney N. , Calzada Oscar M. , Prossnitz Alexander N. , Ennis Amanda F. , Sherwin William J. , Magsumbol Alisson S. , Jameson Alexandra , Schellinger Joan G.
Published: December 2019

Cationic polymers are an interesting class of macromolecules due to their versatility and emerging properties that can be used for various industrial and biomedical purposes. This report is focused on investigating the use of microwave heating in the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of functional cationic monomers, N‐(3‐aminopropyl)methacrylamide hydrochloride (APMA) and N‐[3‐(dimethylamino)propyl]methacrylamide (DMAPMA). Under comparable polymerization reaction conditions, the microwave‐assisted reaction achieves up to 270% (APMA) and 375% (DMAPMA) rate enhancement over conventional oil‐bath mediated set‐up. Linear relationships are observed between number average molecular weight and monomer conversion for different target degrees of polymerization to give low‐ to high‐molecular‐weight cationic polymers. Chain extension experiments show increase in molecular weight of the cationic polymers with narrow dispersities (Ð < 1.2) indicating retention of the chain transfer agent with no observable aminolysis or hydrolysis during polymerization.
A Facile Preparation of Mussel‐Inspired Poly(dopamine phosphonate‐co‐PEGMA)s via a One‐Pot Multicomponent Polymerization System
Authors: Zhang Yaling , Zhao Yuan , Xia Shuang , Tao Lei , Wei Yen
Published: December 2019

Mussel‐inspired polymers attract much research interest due to their potential as effective adhesives. In this work, a new kind of mussel‐inspired polymer, poly(dopamine phosphonate‐co‐PEGMA), is prepared via a one‐pot multicomponent polymerization system. The multicomponent polymerization system refers to a combination of multicomponent Kabachnik–Fields (KF) reaction and reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization system. Reactants are converted to dopamine phosphonate monomers in situ through the KF reaction and polymerized simultaneously along with poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether) methacrylate (PEGMA) co‐monomers by the RAFT process in a one‐pot operation. Target polymers with dopamine phosphonate as side groups and well‐defined polymer structures are thus facilely and successfully prepared. Afterwards, a series of polymers with various ratios of dopamine phosphonates as well as the crosslinked polymer analogues are prepared. Benefiting from the dopamine phosphonate side groups, aqueous solutions of those polymers show potential as effective adhesives in both dry and wet conditions, and their adhesive strengths are highly related to ratios of dopamine phosphonates in the polymers. Those polymers are non‐cytotoxic and show strong bonding affinities on various substrates including metals, polymers, and bovine bones, suggesting their potential as environmentally friendly general adhesives in broad areas.
Application of radiomics for the prediction of HPV status for patients with head and neck cancers
Authors: Bagher‐Ebadian Hassan , Lu Mei , Siddiqui Farzan , Ghanem Ahmed I. , Wen Ning , Wu Qixue , Liu Chang , Movsas Benjamin , Chetty Indrin J.
Published: December 2019

Purpose

To perform radiomic analysis of primary tumors extracted from pretreatment contrast‐enhanced computed tomography (CE‐CT) images for patients with oropharyngeal cancers to identify discriminant features and construct an optimal classifier for the characterization and prediction of human papilloma virus (HPV) status.

Materials and methods

One hundred and eighty seven patients with oropharyngeal cancers with known HPV status (confirmed by immunohistochemistry—p16 protein testing) were retrospectively studied as follows: Group A: 95 patients (19HPV− and 76HPV+) from the MICAII grand challenge. Group B: 92 patients (52HPV− and 40HPV+) from our institution. Radiomic features (172) were extracted from pretreatment diagnostic CE‐CT images of the gross tumor volume (GTV). Levene and Kolmogorov–Smirnov's tests with absolute biserial correlation (>0.48) were used to identify the discriminant features between the HPV+ and HPV− groups. The discriminant features were used to train and test eight different classifiers. Area under receiver operating characteristic (AUC), positive predictive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) were used to evaluate the performance of the classifiers. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on the discriminant feature set and seven PCs were used to train and test a generalized linear model (GLM) classifier.

Results

Among 172 radiomic features only 12 radiomic features (from 3 categories) were significantly different (P < 0.05, |BSC| > 0.48) between the HPV+ and HPV− groups. Among the eight classifiers trained and applied for prediction of HPV status, the GLM showed the highest performance for each discriminant feature and the combined 12 features: AUC/PPV/NPV = 0.878/0.834/0.811. The GLM high prediction power was AUC/PPV/NPV = 0.849/0.731/0.788 and AUC/PPV/NPV = 0.869/0.807/0.870 for unseen test datasets for groups A and B, respectively. After eliminating the correlation among discriminant features by applying PCA analysis, the performance of the GLM was improved by 3.3%, 2.2%, and 1.8% for AUC, PPV, and NPV, respectively.

Conclusions

Results imply that GTV's for HPV+ patients exhibit higher intensities, smaller lesion size, greater sphericity/roundness, and higher spatial intensity‐variation/heterogeneity. Results are suggestive that radiomic features primarily associated with the spatial arrangement and morphological appearance of the tumor on contrast‐enhanced diagnostic CT datasets may be potentially used for classification of HPV status.
Synthetic CT generation from CBCT images via deep learning
Authors: Chen Liyuan , Liang Xiao , Shen Chenyang , Jiang Steve , Wang Jing
Published: December 2019

Purpose

Cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanning is used daily or weekly (i.e., on‐treatment CBCT) for accurate patient setup in image‐guided radiotherapy. However, inaccuracy of CT numbers prevents CBCT from performing advanced tasks such as dose calculation and treatment planning. Motivated by the promising performance of deep learning in medical imaging, we propose a deep U‐net‐based approach that synthesizes CT‐like images with accurate numbers from planning CT, while keeping the same anatomical structure as on‐treatment CBCT.

Methods

We formulated the CT synthesis problem under a deep learning framework, where a deep U‐net architecture was used to take advantage of the anatomical structure of on‐treatment CBCT and image intensity information of planning CT. U‐net was chosen because it exploits both global and local features in the image spatial domain, matching our task to suppress global scattering artifacts and local artifacts such as noise in CBCT. To train the synthetic CT generation U‐net (sCTU‐net), we include on‐treatment CBCT and initial planning CT of 37 patients (30 for training, seven for validation) as the input. Additional replanning CT images acquired on the same day as CBCT after deformable registration are utilized as the corresponding reference. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed sCTU‐net, we use another seven independent patient cases (560 slices) for testing.

Results

We quantitatively compared the resulting synthetic CT (sCT) with the original CBCT image using deformed same‐day pCT images as reference. The averaged accuracy measured by mean absolute error (MAE) between sCT and reference CT (rCT) on testing data is 18.98 HU, while MAE between CBCT and rCT is 44.38 HU.

Conclusions

The proposed sCTU‐net can synthesize CT‐quality images with accurate CT numbers from on‐treatment CBCT and planning CT. This potentially enables advanced CBCT applications for adaptive treatment planning.
Placental infection of hepatitis B virus among Thai pregnant women: Clinical risk factors and its association with fetal infection
Authors: Sirilert Sirinart , Khamrin Pattara , Kumthip Kattareeya , Malasao Rungnapa , Maneekarn Niwat , Tongsong Theera
Published: December 2019

Objectives

To identify the risk factors of placental and fetal infections among HBsAg‐positive women.

Methods

A prospective cohort study involving HBsAg‐positive pregnant women was conducted. Maternal risk factors, including serum HBeAg status, anti‐HBcIgM, and HBV‐DNA levels, were determined. Placental infection was identified by PCR and confirmed by DNA sequencing. Fetal infection was defined as a positive umbilical cord blood HBV‐DNA at birth.

Results

A total of 96 HBsAg‐positive women were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of placental infection was high (44 of 96; 45.8%) among HBsAg‐positive women. The major risk factors for placental infection were high maternal viral load and the presence of HBeAg. Fetal infection was detected in one quarter of HBsAg‐positive women (25 of 95; 25.3%). The risk of fetal infection was strongly associated with placental infection (78.3%), high maternal viral load, and the presence of HBeAg. There was no significant difference in perinatal outcomes between the groups with and without placental infection. Data on rates of chronic HBV infection in infants after fetal infection were not available.

Conclusion

A significant association between maternal measures of viral replication and placental and fetal infection was demonstrated. These findings suggest that transplacental infection prior to birth may be a mechanism contributing to the higher rates of newborn prophylaxis failure in women with a high viral load.
Electroactive polythiophene/polystyrene bottlebrushes as morphology compatibilizers in photovoltaic systems
Authors: Sarvari Raana , Agbolaghi Samira , Massoumi Bakhshali , Sorkhishams Nafiseh
Published: December 2019

Poly(3‐thiophene ethanol) (P3ThEt)‐graft‐polystyrene (PSt) bottlebrushes were synthesized and applied in active layers of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) solar cells as morphology compatibilizers. In the presence of 15 wt% of P3ThEt‐graft‐PSt bottlebrush compatibilizers, the P3HT crystallite dimensions (D(100) = 45.67 nm and D(020) = 30.12 nm) and Rmean (38.96 nm) of PCBM clusters were the largest and the layer spacings were all the smallest (d(100) = 1.054 nm, d(020) = 0.301 nm and d(PCBM) = 0.406 nm). These dimensional properties led to better hole (1.9 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1) and electron (1.2 × 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1) mobilities. The content of bottlebrushes was optimized at 15 wt%, and thereby the best photovoltaic results including the maximum cell efficiency of 5.37% were obtained for this turning point (12.75 mA cm−2, 61%, 0.69 V). On exceeding the optimum weight percentage, all photovoltaic parameters decreased markedly and reached even less than that of pristine devices (1.92% versus 2.24%). After an optimum weight percentage of compatibilizers, further enhancement in bottlebrush content in active layers saturated and finally oversaturated the system and, consequently, the cell parameters significantly decreased. Accumulation of bottlebrushes in interfaces and donor/acceptor phases ruined the system function even with large and packed P3HT crystallites and PC71BM clusters. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
A facile light‐trapping approach for ultrathin GaAs solar cells using wet chemical etching
Authors: van Eerden Maarten , Bauhuis Gerard J. , Mulder Peter , Gruginskie Natasha , Passoni Marco , Andreani Lucio C. , Vlieg Elias , Schermer John J.
Published: December 2019

Thinning down the absorber layer of GaAs solar cells can reduce their cost and improve their radiation hardness, which is important for space applications. However, the lighttrapping schemes necessary to achieve high absorptance in these cells can be experimentally challenging or introduce various parasitic losses. In this work, a facile light‐trapping approach based on wet chemical etching is demonstrated. The rear‐side contact layer of ultrathin GaAs solar cells is wet‐chemically textured in between local Ohmic contact points using an NaOH‐based etchant. The resulting contact layer morphology is characterized using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron miscroscopy. High broadband diffuse reflectance and haze factors are measured on bare and Ag‐coated textured contact layers. The textured contact layer is successfully integrated as a diffusive rear mirror in thin‐film solar cells comprising a 300‐nm GaAs absorber and Ag rear contact. Consistent increases in short‐circuit current density (JSC) of approximately 3 mA cm−2 (15%) are achieved in the textured cells, while the open‐circuit voltages and fill factors do not suffer from the textured rear mirror. The best cell achieves a JSC of 24.8 mA cm−2 and a power conversion efficiency of 21.4%. The textured rear mirror enhances outcoupling of luminescence at open circuit, leading to a strong increase in the external luminescent efficiency.
Evolution of resistance to HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides in a wild radish population via enhanced herbicide metabolism
Authors: Lu Huan , Yu Qin , Han Heping , Owen Mechelle J , Powles Stephen B
Published: December 2019

BACKGROUND

Relatively new herbicides that target 4‐hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) are now available for use on the world's great grain crops (rice, wheat, corn and soybean) and for other uses. With widespread and persistent use of HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides, the evolution of HPPD‐inhibiting herbicide resistant weeds is inevitable. Currently, resistance to HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides is known in two weed species, waterhemp and Palmer amaranth. Here, we report a HPPD‐inhibiting herbicide resistant wild radish population from the Western Australia grain belt. This population was not selected with HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides, rather it evolved resistance to earlier used herbicides with different modes of action and exhibits cross‐resistance to HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides.

RESULTS

Dose–response experiments showed the resistant (R) population exhibits 4 to 6.5‐fold resistance to the HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides mesotrione, tembotrione and isoxaflutole, compared to the susceptible (S) population. This resistance is not target‐site based as cloning of full coding sequences of the HPPD genes from S and R plants did not reveal resistance‐endowing single nucleotide polymorphisms. The HPPD gene expression levels are similar in S and R plants. In addition, no differences in [14C]‐mesotrione uptake and translocation were observed in the S and R plants. However, the time required for R plants to metabolise 50% [14C]‐mesotrione is 7.7‐fold faster than for the S plants.

CONCLUSION

We confirm resistance to HPPD‐inhibiting herbicides exists in a population of the economically damaging global weed wild radish. The resistance in this population is due to a non‐target‐site based enhanced rate of herbicide metabolism. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
Reliable control design for composite‐driven scheme based on delay networked T‐S fuzzy system
Authors: Aslam Muhammad Shamrooz , Dai Xisheng , Hou Jun , Li Qianmu , Ullah Rizwan , Ni Zhen , Liu Yaozong
Published: December 2019

This paper is focused on reliable controller design for a composite‐driven scheme of networked control systems via Takagi‐Sugeno fuzzy model with probabilistic actuator fault under time‐varying delay. The proposed scheme is distinguished from the other schemes as mentioned in this paper. Aims of this article are to solve the control problem by considering the H∞, dissipative, and L2−L∞ constraints in a unified way. Firstly, to improve the efficient utilization of bandwidth, the adaptive composite‐driven scheme is introduced. In such a scenario, the channel transmission mechanism can be adjusted between adaptive event‐triggered generator scheme and time‐driven scheme. In this study, the threshold is dependent on a new adaptive law, which can be obtained online rather than a predefined constant. With a constant threshold, it is difficult to get the variation of the system. Secondly, a novel fuzzy Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional is constructed to design the fuzzy controller, and delay‐dependent conditions for stability and performance analysis of the control system are obtained. Then, LMI‐based conditions for the existence of the desired fuzzy controller are presented. Finally, an inverted pendulum that is controlled through the channel is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Controlling Photoluminescence Enhancement and Energy Transfer in WS2:hBN:WS2 Vertical Stacks by Precise Interlayer Distances
Authors: Xu Wenshuo , Kozawa Daichi , Zhou Yingqiu , Wang Yizhi , Sheng Yuewen , Jiang Tian , Strano Michael S. , Warner Jamie H.
Published: December 2019

2D semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are endowed with fascinating optical properties especially in their monolayer limit. Insulating hBN films possessing customizable thickness can act as a separation barrier to dictate the interactions between TMDs. In this work, vertical layered heterostructures (VLHs) of WS2:hBN:WS2 are fabricated utilizing chemical vapor deposition (CVD)‐grown materials, and the optical performance is evaluated through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Apart from the prohibited indirect optical transition due to the insertion of hBN spacers, the variation in the doping level of WS2 drives energy transfer to arise from the layer with lower quantum efficiency to the other layer with higher quantum efficiency, whereby the total PL yield of the heterosystem is increased and the stack exhibits a higher PL intensity compared to the sum of those in the two WS2 constituents. Such doping effects originate from the interfaces that WS2 monolayers reside on and interact with. The electron density in the WS2 is also controlled and subsequent modulation of PL in the heterostructure is demonstrated by applying back‐gated voltages. Other influential factors include the strain in WS2 and temperature. Being able to tune the energy transfer in the VLHs may expand the development of photonic applications in 2D systems.
Using Causal Inference in Field Development Optimization: Application to Unconventional Plays
Authors: Bertoncello Antoine , Oppenheim Georges , Cordier Philippe , Gourvénec Sébastien , Mathieu Jean-Philippe , Chaput Eric , Kurth Tobias
Published: December 2019

In the current era of big data and machine learning, a strong focus exists on prediction and classification. In industrial applications, however, many important questions are not about prediction or classification; rather, they are causal: if I change A, what will happen to B? Traditional regression techniques such as machine learning optimize predictions based on correlations seen in the data and are not robust tools for epidemiologists and biostatisticians when evaluating the efficacy of new treatments or medications using observational data. Therefore, a set of statistical tools have been developed to go beyond correlations and aim to make inferences about causal relationships between variables. The goal of the present work is to apply one of these statistical tools, propensity score matching, in the oil and gas context, which is a novel application of the method. Two case studies are presented, one on proppant type and the other on lateral length, to determine their respective impacts on productivity.