bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synoptic classification in 21st century CMIP5 predictions over the Eastern Mediterranean with focus on cyclones
Authors: Hochman Assaf , Harpaz Tzvika , Saaroni Hadas , Alpert Pinhas
Published: September 2017

The Mediterranean has been recognized as a ‘hot spot’, currently influenced by climate change, and predicted to be strongly affected in the future by significant warming and drying. This trend is expected to be expressed in changes in the occurrence and intensity of Mediterranean cyclones, in general, and of East Mediterranean (EM), i.e. Cyprus Lows (CL), in particular, as well as in the occurrence of all other synoptic systems dominating the region.

Here we have modified the semi‐objective synoptic classification (Alpert et al., 2004) to investigate future changes in the occurrence of EM synoptic types, with an emphasis on CLs. The modified classification was applied to eight CMIP5 models for the present (1986–2005), mid‐21st century (2046–2065) and end of the century (2081–2100) periods, for both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios.

The modified classification captured the synoptic‐type frequencies for the present period well, and particularly excelled in capturing that of the CLs. For the future period, approximately a 35% reduction in CL occurrence is found towards the end of the 21st century (RCP8.5). Analysing this reduction for each of the seven specific types of CLs showed that lows located to the west of Cyprus are the main contributors to this decrease. The reductions in the frequencies of CLs are accompanied by an increase in the frequencies of Red Sea Troughs in winter. The predicted changes in the occurrence of various synoptic types in general and of CLs, in particular, will lead to a more accurate forecast of local potential climatic hazards.
Potential use of multispectral imaging technology to identify moisture content and water‐holding capacity in cooked pork sausages
Authors: Ma Fei , Zhang Bin , Wang Wu , Li Peijun , Niu Xiangli , Chen Conggui , Zheng Lei
Published: September 2017

BACKGROUND

The traditional detection methods for moisture content (MC) and water‐holding capacity (WHC) in cooked pork sausages (CPS) are destructive, time consuming, require skilled personnel and are not suitable for online industry applications. The goal of this work was to explore the potential of multispectral imaging (MSI) in combination with multivariate analysis for the identification of MC and WHC in CPS.

RESULTS

Spectra and textures of 156 CPS treated by six salt concentrations (0–2.5%) were analyzed using different calibration models to find the most optimal results of predicting MC and WHC in CPS. By using the fused data of spectra and textures, partial least squares regression models performed well for determining the MC and WHC, with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.949 and 0.832, respectively. Additionally, their spatial distribution in CPS could be visualized via applying prediction equations to transfer each pixel in the image.

CONCLUSION

Results of satisfactory detection and visualization of the MC and WHC showed that MSI has the potential to serve as a rapid and non‐destructive method for use in sausage industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry
The influence of the age of biodiesel and heating oil with 10 % biodiesel on the resistance of sealing materials at different temperatures
Authors: Weltschev M. , Heming F. , Haufe M. , Heyer M.
Published: September 2017

The objective of this research was to determine the resistance of frequently used sealing materials such as fluorocarbon rubber (FKM), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ), silicone rubber (VMQ), ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber (EPDM), chloroprene rubber (CR), chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSM), butyl rubber (IIR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), polyester urethane rubber (PUR) and polyamide (PA) in non‐aged/aged biodiesel and heating oil with 10 % biodiesel at 20 °C, 40 °C and 70 °C. Mass, tensile properties and shore hardness A/D (for polyamide) of the test specimens were determined before and after the exposure for 84/42 days in the aged and non‐aged fuels of different age. Biodiesel fuels are easily oxidized and contain acids and water. The sealing materials: acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, chloroprene rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene and ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber and were generally not resistant to biodiesel and heating oil with 10 % biodiesel. Fluorocarbon rubber, fluorosilicone rubber and polyamide were the most resistant materials in all tested fuels up to 70 °C. The degree of damage to the sealing materials increased with higher test temperatures and the age of the fuels.
Case investigation in safety and reliability of a family heat supply system
Authors: Guo Z. J. , Chen Z. L.
Published: September 2017

Corrosion investigation and reliability analysis of a family heat supply system has been carried out. Results indicate that the smoke emission steel pipe mainly suffers the corrosion at high temperature, and the corrosion components in the heat supply system undergo the atmospheric corrosion attack in indoor environment. Besides, safety and reliability related corrosion factors include water temperature, water oxygen concentration, pH value, carbon dioxide content, and chloride and sulfate ion in water have been discussed. It is concluded that the make‐up water quality is crucial to the safety and reliability of the heat supply system.
Characterization of mechanical properties and three‐body abrasive wear of functionally graded aluminum LM25/titanium carbide metal matrix composite
Authors: Radhika N. , Raghu R.
Published: September 2017

Several engineering components require location specific performance under operating conditions. A compositional/microstructural gradient can provide the performance required at specific locations and these materials were named as functionally graded materials. Functionally graded aluminium metal matrix composites were generally established for the tribo‐components where high wear resistance was a necessity. Reports on three body abrasive wear behaviour of functionally graded materials was limited to date. In the present work, a new functionally graded system comprising aluminium/titanium carbide (10 wt%) was produced through stir casting route followed by centrifugal casting technique and its three body abrasive wear behaviour was investigated. Hollow cylindrical part with the dimensions of length 150 mm, outer diameter 150 mm and thickness 16 mm was obtained. Microstructural study was performed on outer (1 mm) and inner surface (13 mm) to analyze the compositional gradient across the thickness of the functionally graded composite. Hardness was measured on different surfaces along the radial distance from outer periphery and tensile test was conducted on the outer and inner zone. Abrasive wear test was conducted on different surfaces of the functionally graded composite under various loads and speeds at constant time. The microstructural results revealed that particle segregation was more at the outer surface and less at the inner surface. Wear test results showed that increase in wear rate was obtained with increase of load and decrease in wear rate was obtained with increase of speed. The outer surfaces of the functionally graded composite had greater mechanical properties and better wear resistance compared to other surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was done on the abraded surfaces and observed wear mechanisms were interpreted.
Conidia of Penicillium rubens formed at low water activities can attract more water
Authors: van Laarhoven Karel A. , Peeters Loes H. M. , Bekker Mirjam , Huinink Hendrik P. , Adan Olaf C. G.
Published: September 2017

To address the problem of indoor fungal growth, understanding the influence of moisture conditions on the fungal colonization process is crucial. This paper explores the influence of past moisture conditions on current processes. Specifically, it studies the growth and water sorption of conidia of Penicillium rubens formed at lower water activities (ranging from 0.86 to 0.99). For the first time, dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) is applied as a tool to quantify the water sorption of conidia as a function of the water activity at conidiation. Furthermore, growth experiments on agar and gypsum substrates are reported that relate hyphal growth rates of the mycelium from pretreated conidia to the water activity at conidiation. No effect of the conidiation water activity on mycelial growth rates is found on either gypsum or agar. It is found, however, that conidia formed at lower activities have a higher dry weight and attract more water from humid air. It is shown that both phenomena can be explained by conidia from lower activities carrying higher amounts of compatible solutes, glycerol in particular. The enhanced sorption observed in this study might constitute a mechanism through which solute reserves contribute to survival during the early steps of fungal colonization.
Large‐scaleNMRsimulations in liquid state: A tutorial
Authors: Kuprov Ilya
Published: September 2017

Liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance is the only class of magnetic resonance experiments for which the simulation problem is solved comprehensively for spin systems of any size. This paper contains a practical walkthrough for one of the many available simulation packages —Spinach. Its unique feature is polynomial complexity scaling: the ability to simulate large spin systems quantum mechanically and with accurate account of relaxation, diffusion, chemical processes, and hydrodynamics. This paper is a gentle introduction written with a PhD student in mind.
Accelerated 4D self‐gated MRI of tibiofemoral kinematics
Authors: Mazzoli Valentina , Schoormans Jasper , Froeling Martijn , Sprengers Andre M. , Coolen Bram F. , Verdonschot Nico , Strijkers Gustav J. , Nederveen Aart J.
Published: September 2017

Anatomical (static) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most useful imaging technique for the evaluation and assessment of internal derangement of the knee, but does not provide dynamic information and does not allow the study of the interaction of the different tissues during motion. As knee pain is often only experienced during dynamic tasks, the ability to obtain four‐dimensional (4D) images of the knee during motion could improve the diagnosis and provide a deeper understanding of the knee joint. In this work, we present a novel approach for dynamic, high‐resolution, 4D imaging of the freely moving knee without the need for external triggering. The dominant knee of five healthy volunteers was scanned during a flexion/extension task. To evaluate the effects of non‐uniform motion and poor coordination skills on the quality of the reconstructed images, we performed a comparison between fully free movement and movement instructed by a visual cue. The trigger signal for self‐gating was extracted using principal component analysis (PCA), and the images were reconstructed using a parallel imaging and compressed sensing reconstruction pipeline. The reconstructed 4D movies were scored for image quality and used to derive bone kinematics through image registration. Using our method, we were able to obtain 4D high‐resolution movies of the knee without the need for external triggering hardware. The movies obtained with and without instruction did not differ significantly in terms of image scoring and quantitative values for tibiofemoral kinematics. Our method showed to be robust for the extraction of the self‐gating signal even for uninstructed motion. This can make the technique suitable for patients who, as a result of pain, may find it difficult to comply exactly with instructions. Furthermore, bone kinematics can be derived from accelerated MRI without the need for additional hardware for triggering.
Reversible Broad‐Spectrum Control of Selective Reflections of Chiral Nematic Phases by Closed‐/Open‐Type Axially Chiral Azo Dopants
Authors: Nishikawa Hiroya , Mochizuki Daigou , Higuchi Hiroki , Okumura Yasushi , Kikuchi Hirotsugu
Published: September 2017

We demonstrate reversible RGB‐color photocontrol of a chiral nematic liquid crystal (N*LC) by using newly synthesized closed‐ and open‐type chiral dopants. The photoswitching elements in the dopants are azobenzene units on axially chiral binaphthyl cores. Owing to cis–trans photoisomerization of the azobenzene units, both closed‐ and open‐type compounds showed higher solubility, larger helical twisting power (HTP), and larger changes in HTP than conventional chiral dopants in host LCs. Thus, even at very low dopant concentrations, we successfully controlled the chirality of the induced helical structure of the N*LCs. Consequently, the N*LCs reflected right‐ and left‐handed circularly polarized light (CPL) under a light stimulus. In the N*LCs with closed‐type chiral dopants, the RGB‐color reflection was reversibly controlled within several seconds. Interestingly, the open‐type chiral dopant reversibly inverted CPL with opposite handedness in the near and short‐wave IR regions. These novel materials are expected to realize new applications and perspectives in color information and similar technologies.
Polymers in 2D confinement: A nanoscale mechanism for thermo‐mechanical reinforcement
Authors: Romo‐Uribe Angel
Published: September 2017

Acrylate‐clay nanocomposites, a 2D confined system, exhibited unusual increase of thermo‐mechanical properties. The nature of this reinforcement can be ascribed to chain dynamics modification and therefore investigated via dynamic mechanical analysis. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering showed a strong nanoconfined regime, 2Rh ≫ d001, whereRhis the polymer's hydrodynamic radius andd001is the clay gallery spacing. The geometrical constraints to polymer dynamics led to significantenhancementof the thermo‐mechanical properties. Adding only 1 wt% nanoclay, the glass transition temperature increased significantly,ΔTg = Tg − Tg,bulk ~ 10°C, and the dynamic modulusE′ increased 10‐fold. Analysis of dynamic mechanical spectra showed an increase of relaxation timeτ, ie, polymer dynamics retardation. Furthermore, the mechanical damping tanδwas strongly attenuated evidencing the reduction of viscous dissipation. The activation energyEaof theα‐transition increased as the confined macromolecules needed to overcome higher energy barriers to achieve configurational rearrangements. The considerable increase of mechanical modulus cannot be explained by polymer composite models, rather it was associated to a “nano‐effect,” scaling with the degree of confinement asE/Ematrix ~ (2Rh/d001)n. This study paves the road for further understanding of polymer dynamics under 2D confinement and the reinforcement mechanism of thermo‐mechanical properties.
A novel polystyrene/epoxy ultra‐fine hybrid fabric by electrospinning
Authors: Megahed A. A. , Zoalfakar Said H. , Hassan Abdalla E. A. , Ali Ashraf A.
Published: September 2017

In this work, electrospinning technique has been used to produce a new ultra‐fine hybrid fiber from a solution consists of polystyrene (PS) and epoxy polymers in dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent. Five ratios of different weight percentages of epoxy in PS/DMF solutions of 4 different concentrations; 15, 20, 25 and 30 wt.% were made to obtain the minimum diameter of the produced hybrid fiber. The minimum obtained hybrid fiber diameter was found to be 897 ± 239 nm at a PS/epoxy ratio of 5:1 and 13.33 Berry's number. Adding epoxy to PS has reduced the electrospun fiber diameter from 2.64 ± 0.49 μm for PS only to 1.52 ± 0.72 μm for PS/epoxy hybrid ultra‐fine fibers because of the reduction in Berry's number from 12.4 to 11.53, which gives an indication for the effect of adding epoxy on the PS molecular chain entanglement in DMF. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy results unambiguously reveal the coexistence of both epoxy and PS polymers in the hybrid fiber. We hypothesize that a hydrophopic (π‐π) interaction between the benzene rings of PS and epoxy polymers could contribute to the stability of the resulting hybrid fiber under electrospinning conditions. The fact that the lack of functional groups on both of PS and epoxy polymers that can results in covalent bonding or crosslinking between the 2 polymers supports the hypothesis of hydrophopic (π‐π) interaction in the stability of the hybrid fiber. Such (π‐π) interaction is well known to contribute to DNA single strand helical structure via intrastrand staking of the consecutive purine and pyrimidine nucleobases.
Effect of in situ reaction on thermal and mechanical properties of polylactide/talc composites
Authors: Hong Yangyang , Chen Lijie , Song Guolin , Bassir David , Cheng Simin , Shi Xinghong , Liu Haifeng , Tang Guoyi
Published: September 2017

The biodegradable composites with low cost and excellent mechanical property, namely PLA/talc blends, have been successfully prepared by using epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) as a reactive compatibilizer with the presence of peroxides to accelerate the in situ grafting between talc and other components. The surface treatment of talc powder was performed through the in situ reactions of its rich hydroxyl groups with the epoxide ring of ESO and scission radical of PLA during the blending process. Both FTIR and the extracting experiment results verified that surface modification mechanisms. Such a facile and efficient one‐step process can bring a dramatic improvement on both miscibility and mechanical properties of the PLA/talc composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E1618–E1625, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers
Surface modification of glass fibers by oxidized plasma coatings to improve interfacial shear strength in GF/polyester composites
Authors: Cech V. , Knob A. , Lasota T. , Lukes J. , Drzal L.T.
Published: September 2017

Plasma‐polymerized films (interlayers) of tetravinylsilane in mixture with oxygen gas (oxygen fraction 0‐0.71) were coated on glass fibers (GF) used as reinforcements in GF/polyester composite. Oxygen atoms of increased concentration (0‐18 at.%) were partly incorporated into the plasma polymer network, forming SiOC/COC bonding species and partly forming side polar (hydroxyl, carbonyl) groups with enhanced oxygen fraction. The amount of oxygen in plasma coatings influenced the Young's modulus, interfacial adhesion, and surface free energy of the interlayer. To determine the interfacial shear strength, a microindentation test was implemented for individual glass fibers on a cross‐section of GF/polyester composite. The interfacial shear strength for oxidized plasma coatings was up to 21% higher than that for the non‐oxidized interlayer, indicating a direct chemical effect of oxygen atoms on interphase properties. The interphase shear failure was controlled by the shear strength at the interlayer/fiber interface as follows from experimental and model data. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E186–E193, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers
Group genetic counseling: An alternate service delivery model in a high risk prenatal screening population
Authors: Cloutier Mireille , Gallagher Lauren , Goldsmith Claire , Akiki Salwa , Barrowman Nick , Morrison Shawna
Published: September 2017

Objective

To address the growing demand for prenatal genetic services, group genetic counseling was explored as an alternative service delivery model for women with a positive prenatal screening result.

Method

Women were recruited from a prenatal genetic service and systematically allocated to a traditional individual appointment with a genetic counselor or a group genetic counseling session. Questionnaires were administered to assess patient psychological outcomes, knowledge, and satisfaction following individual and group genetic counseling for a positive prenatal screen. Genetic counselor time per type of patient was measured.

Results

Of 172 participants, 107 (62.2%) received group genetic counseling and 65 (37.8%) received individual genetic counseling. Both group and individual genetic counseling encounters significantly decreased patient anxiety, increased perceived personal control, decreased decisional conflict, and increased knowledge. Satisfaction was high following both methods. Anxiety was significantly decreased in women who received individual genetic counseling compared with group sessions (P < .001). Genetic counselors spent less time per group patient seen compared with individual patients.

Conclusion

Group genetic counseling followed by the option of brief individual genetic counseling appears acceptable to women in a high‐risk prenatal screening population. The findings support an alternative service delivery model for prenatal genetic services that could optimize the utilization of genetic counseling resources.
PROCAL: A Set of 40 Peptide Standards for Retention Time Indexing, Column Performance Monitoring, and Collision Energy Calibration
Authors: Zolg Daniel Paul , Wilhelm Mathias , Yu Peng , Knaute Tobias , Zerweck Johannes , Wenschuh Holger , Reimer Ulf , Schnatbaum Karsten , Kuster Bernhard
Published: September 2017

Beyond specific applications, such as the relative or absolute quantification of peptides in targeted proteomic experiments, synthetic spike‐in peptides are not yet systematically used as internal standards in bottom‐up proteomics. A number of retention time standards have been reported that enable chromatographic aligning of multiple LC–MS/MS experiments. However, only few peptides are typically included in such sets limiting the analytical parameters that can be monitored. Here, we describe PROCAL (ProteomeTools Calibration Standard), a set of 40 synthetic peptides that span the entire hydrophobicity range of tryptic digests, enabling not only accurate determination of retention time indices but also monitoring of chromatographic separation performance over time. The fragmentation characteristics of the peptides can also be used to calibrate and compare collision energies between mass spectrometers. The sequences of all selected peptides do not occur in any natural protein, thus eliminating the need for stable isotope labeling. We anticipate that this set of peptides will be useful for multiple purposes in individual laboratories but also aiding the transfer of data acquisition and analysis methods between laboratories, notably the use of spectral libraries.
Spin and Optical Properties of Silicon Vacancies in Silicon Carbide − A Review
Authors: Tarasenko S. A. , Poshakinskiy A. V. , Simin D. , Soltamov V. A. , Mokhov E. N. , Baranov P. G. , Dyakonov V. , Astakhov G. V.
Published: September 2017

We discuss the fine structure and spin dynamics of spin‐3/2 centers associated with silicon vacancies in silicon carbide. The centers have optically addressable spin states which makes them highly promising for quantum technologies. The fine structure of the spin centers turns out to be highly sensitive to mechanical pressure, external magnetic and electric fields, temperature variation, etc., which can be utilized for efficient room‐temperature sensing, particularly by purely optical means or through the optically detected magnetic resonance. We discuss the experimental achievements in magnetometry and thermometry based on the spin state mixing at level anticrossings in an external magnetic field and the underlying microscopic mechanisms. We also discuss spin fluctuations in an ensemble of vacancies caused by interaction with environment.
In situ XPS Observation of Selective NOx Adsorption on the Oxygenated Graphene Films
Authors: Sysoev Vitalii I. , Okotrub Alexander V. , Gusel'nikov Artem V. , Smirnov Dmitry A. , Bulusheva Lyubov G.
Published: September 2017

Graphene derivatives are promising sensor materials due to their high surface area available for molecule adsorption and conductivity changes under the adsorbate impact. The selectivity of such materials can be tuned through the attaching of certain functional groups preferably interacting with the defined gases. In the present work, we compare the reactivity of graphene oxide, oxyfluorinated graphene, and fluorinated graphene toward gaseous NOx molecules. The interaction of the molecules with the graphene‐based films was monitored by in situ X‐ray photoelectron and near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy measurements. The spectra before and after exposure of the films to a gaseous NOx mixture detected equal concentrations of adsorbed NO2 and NO species on graphene oxide, the preferable interaction of oxyfluorinated graphene with NO2 and the absence of the adsorbed molecules on the fluorinated graphene surface. These results are useful for the development of selective graphene‐based gas sensors.
Hexagonal Array of Mesoscopic HTM‐Based Perovskite Solar Cell with Embedded Plasmonic Nanoparticles
Authors: Ghahremanirad Elnaz , Olyaee Saeed , Nejand Bahram A. , Ahmadi Vahid , Abedi Kambiz
Published: September 2017

Inorganic hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) profoundly improve the stability and robustness of the solar cell compared to that expected from organic HTMs. In this work, the efficiency of a perovskite solar cell is greatly enhanced using a hexagonal nanoprism array of inorganic metal oxide HTM. We found that the introduced structure increases the efficiency of the mesoscopic configuration by 42% higher than that of the planar perovskite solar cell with the same thickness of the active layers. The reason of this enhancement in power conversion efficiency is the better carrier transportation in the mesoscopic configuration. The periodic array of mesoscopic hole‐transporting layer is vastly tunable and reveals unique capabilities of designing a particular array, which can enhance the efficiency of the perovskite solar cell. We also incorporated plasmonic nanoparticles into the absorber layer and found that they significantly could improve the performance of the solar cell. The inclusion of spherical nanoparticles improves the light absorption of the bare mesoscopic solar cell. An increasing number of nanoparticles enhances the light trapping inside the active layer and as a result improves the probability of light absorption.
Oral herbal medicines marketed in Brazil for the treatment of osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Del Grossi Moura Mariana , Lopes Luciane Cruz , Biavatti Maique Weber , Kennedy Sean Alexander , de Oliveira e Silva Maria Carolina , Silva Marcus Tolentino , de Cássia Bergamaschi Cristiane
Published: September 2017

Herbal medications are commonly used to manage symptoms associated with osteoarthritis (OA). This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness and safety of oral medications used in Brazil for the treatment of OA. Randomized clinical trials involving adults with OA treated by a herbal medicine or a control group were eligible. The primary outcomes measured were pain, physical function, swelling, stiffness and quality of life; and the secondary outcomes were adverse events, activity limitations and treatment satisfaction. Sixteen studies were included (n = 1,741 patients) in the systematic review and nine studies in the meta‐analysis, representing 6 of the 13 herbal medicines studied: Boswellia serrata (n = 2), Curcuma longa (n = 3), Harpagophytum procumbens (n = 1), Salix daphnoides (n = 3), Uncaria guianensis (n = 2) and Zingiber officinale (n = 5). B. serrata was more effective than both placebo and valdecoxib for improvement of pain and physical function. No difference was observed for H. procumbens, C. longa and U. guianensis compared with control. Z. officinale showed improvement of pain over placebo. The evidence was insufficient to support the effective and safe use of these herbal medicines, because the quality of evidence of studies was low. This study guides managers of the Brazilian public health system and prescribers in decision‐making regarding the use of these herbal medicines for OA. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lack of maintenance is a major challenge for stream restoration projects
Authors: Moore Harriet Elizabeth , Rutherfurd Ian D.
Published: September 2017

Environmental infrastructure and practices designed to restore and protect aquatic systems are now mainstream. Yet many of these projects are failing to produce the biophysical outcomes that they are designed for because of poor maintenance. The success of restoration projects is just as much a consequence of how they are maintained, as it is how the project was initially designed and implemented. Successful maintenance relies on understanding the ecological and biological recovery trajectories of aquatic systems. Some interventions will require ongoing maintenance indefinitely, whereas others will reach a self‐sustaining point where maintenance is no longer required. Different management arrangements are required to ensure the maintenance of different types of project. Those projects that involve high costs should be managed using more robust arrangements, such as legal regulation, compared to those projects that involve lower costs. This paper describes the maintenance required for common river restoration projects and outlines a classification of projects based on maintenance and recovery trajectories. It then considers the types of management arrangements required to ensure maintenance. Finally, these points are illustrated with 3 case studies of typical restoration actions (riparian stock exclusion, fish passage, and restoring large wood loads). Projects that require ongoing maintenance, particularly those that involve high costs, such as environmental flows, require strong management arrangements to ensure successful outcomes. Voluntary instruments are more appropriate for self‐sustaining interventions. Regardless of the chosen management arrangements, monitoring and independent assessment are essential for successful maintenance.
Modeling continuous response variables using ordinal regression
Authors: Liu Qi , Shepherd Bryan E. , Li Chun , Harrell Frank E.
Published: September 2017

We study the application of a widely used ordinal regression model, the cumulative probability model (CPM), for continuous outcomes. Such models are attractive for the analysis of continuous response variables because they are invariant to any monotonic transformation of the outcome and because they directly model the cumulative distribution function from which summaries such as expectations and quantiles can easily be derived. Such models can also readily handle mixed type distributions. We describe the motivation, estimation, inference, model assumptions, and diagnostics. We demonstrate that CPMs applied to continuous outcomes are semiparametric transformation models. Extensive simulations are performed to investigate the finite sample performance of these models. We find that properly specified CPMs generally have good finite sample performance with moderate sample sizes, but that bias may occur when the sample size is small. Cumulative probability models are fairly robust to minor or moderate link function misspecification in our simulations. For certain purposes, the CPMs are more efficient than other models. We illustrate their application, with model diagnostics, in a study of the treatment of HIV. CD4 cell count and viral load 6 months after the initiation of antiretroviral therapy are modeled using CPMs; both variables typically require transformations, and viral load has a large proportion of measurements below a detection limit.
Penalized estimation for proportional hazards models with current status data
Authors: Lu Minggen , Li Chin‐Shang
Published: September 2017

We provide a simple and practical, yet flexible, penalized estimation method for a Cox proportional hazards model with current status data. We approximate the baseline cumulative hazard function by monotoneB‐splines and use a hybrid approach based on the Fisher‐scoring algorithm and the isotonic regression to compute the penalized estimates. We show that the penalized estimator of the nonparametric component achieves the optimal rate of convergence under some smooth conditions and that the estimators of the regression parameters are asymptotically normal and efficient. Moreover, a simple variance estimation method is considered for inference on the regression parameters. We perform 2 extensive Monte Carlo studies to evaluate the finite‐sample performance of the penalized approach and compare it with the 3 competingRpackages:C1.coxph,intcox, andICsurv. A goodness‐of‐fit test and model diagnostics are also discussed. The methodology is illustrated with 2 real applications.
Detecting safety‐related components in statecharts through traceability and model slicing
Authors: Kan Shuanglong , Huang Zhiqiu
Published: September 2017

With rapid development in software technology, more and more safety‐critical systems are software intensive. Safety issues become important when software is used to control such systems. However, there are 2 important problems in software safety analysis: (1) there is often a significant traceability gap between safety requirements and software design, resulting in safety analysis and software design are often conducted separately; and (2) the growing complexity of safety‐critical software makes it difficult to determine whether software design fulfills safety requirements. In this paper, we propose a technique to address the above 2 important problems on the model level. The technique is based on statecharts, which are used to model the behavior of software, and fault tree safety analysis. This technique contains the following 2 parts, which are corresponding to the 2 problems, respectively. The first part is to build a metamodel of traceability between fault trees and statecharts, which is to bridge their traceability gap. A collection of rules for the creation and maintenance of traceability links is provided. The second part is a model slicing technique to reduce the complexity of statecharts with respect to the traceability information. The slicing technique can deal with the characteristics of hierarchy, concurrency, and synchronization of statecharts. The reduced statecharts are much smaller than their original statecharts, which are helpful to successive safety analysis. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness and the importance of the method by a case study of slats and flaps control units in flight control systems.
CoopREP: Cooperative record and replay of concurrency bugs
Authors: Machado Nuno , Romano Paolo , Rodrigues Luís
Published: September 2017

This paper presents CoopREP, a system that provides support for fault replication of concurrent programs based on cooperative recording and partial log combination. CoopREP uses partial logging to reduce the amount of information that a given program instance is required to store to support deterministic replay. This allows reducing substantially the overhead imposed by the instrumentation of the code, but raises the problem of finding a combination of logs capable of replaying the fault. CoopREP tackles this issue by introducing several innovative statistical analysis techniques aimed at guiding the search of the partial logs to be combined and needed for the replay phase. CoopREP has been evaluated using both standard benchmarks for multithreaded applications and real‐world applications. The results highlight that CoopREP can successfully replay concurrency bugs involving tens of thousands of memory accesses, while reducing recording overhead with respect to state‐of‐the‐art noncooperative logging schemes by up to 13× (and by 2.4× on average).
Sustainability evaluation of butterfly web bridge
Authors: Shibata Toshio , Kata Kenichi , Kasuga Akio , Sakai Koji
Published: September 2017

The authors developed the butterfly web bridge structure, an “innovative” bridge technology, to tackle the issues on lifespan extension, durability enhancement, high seismic resistance by reducing the weight and member size, and shortening of construction term. This bridge structure is characterized by the use of butterfly‐shaped prefabricated prestressed high‐strength, concrete panels for the webs. The butterfly web bridge seems to have a great advantage. However, the major issue is how to evaluate the advantage afforded by the “innovative” bridge technology that completely differs from conventional techniques. “Sustainability thoughts” is a solid foundation for such evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the performance of the butterfly web bridge from the standpoint of sustainability that consists of social, economic, and environmental aspects, thereby objectively evaluating the advantage of this “innovative” bridge technology. From the sustainability evaluation, it is concluded that the butterfly web bridge developed to meet a wide variety of complicated requirements is superior than conventional structures from the social, economic, and environmental aspects and also an innovative structure with high sustainability can be created through a comprehensive development approach involving design/execution methods in consideration of all sustainability elements.
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide shifts synaptic vesicle recycling to a fast mode at the mouse neuromuscular junction
Authors: Bertone Nicolas Ivan , Groisman Ayelén Ivana , Mazzone Graciela Lujan , Cano Raquel , Tabares Lucia , Uchitel Osvaldo Daniel
Published: September 2017

Acetazolamide (AZ), a molecule frequently used to treat different neurological syndromes, is an inhibitor of the carbonic anhydrase (CA), an enzyme that regulates pH inside and outside cells. We combined fluorescent FM styryl dyes and electrophysiological techniques at ex vivo levator auris longus neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) from mice to investigate the modulation of synaptic transmission and vesicle recycling by AZ. Transmitter release was minimally affected by AZ, as evidenced by evoked and spontaneous end‐plate potential measurements. However, optical evaluation with FM‐styryl dyes of vesicle exocytosis elicited by 50 Hz stimuli showed a strong reduction in fluorescence loss in AZ treated NMJ, an effect that was abolished by bathing the NMJ in Hepes. The remaining dye was quenched by bromophenol, a small molecule capable of diffusing inside vesicles. Furthermore, in transgenic mice expressing Synaptophysin‐pHluorin (SypHy), the fluorescence responses of motor nerve terminals to a 50 Hz train of stimuli was decrease to a 50% of controls in the presence of AZ. Immunohistochemistry experiments to evaluate the state of the Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), an enzyme involved in vesicle recycling, demonstrated that MLCK phosphorylation was much stronger in the presence than AZ than in its absence in 50 Hz stimulated NMJs. We postulate that AZ, via cytosol acidification and activation of MLCK, shifts synaptic vesicle recycling to a fast (kiss‐and‐run) mode, which changes synaptic performance. These changes may contribute to the therapeutic action reported in many neurological syndromes like ataxia, epilepsy, and migraine.
Improving automatic Chinese–Japanese patent translation using bilingual term extraction
Authors: Yang Wei , Lepage Yves
Published: September 2017

The identification of terms in scientific and patent documents is a crucial issue for applications like information retrieval, text categorization, and also for machine translation. This paper describes a method to improve Chinese–Japanese statistical machine translation of patents by re‐tokenizing the training corpus with aligned bilingual multi‐word terms. We automatically extract multi‐word terms from monolingual corpora by combining statistical and linguistic filtering methods. An automatic alignment method is used to identify corresponding terms. The most promising bilingual multi‐word terms are extracted by setting some threshold on translation probabilities and further filtering by considering the components of the bilingual multi‐word terms in characters as well as the ratio of their lengths in words. We also use kanji (Japanese)–hanzi (Chinese) character conversion to confirm and extract more promising bilingual multi‐word terms. We obtain a high quality of correspondence with 93% in bilingual term extraction and a significant improvement of 1.5 BLEU score in a translation experiment. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mortality and Morbidity After Hartmann’s Procedure Versus Primary Anastomosis Without a Diverting Stoma for Colorectal Perforation: A Nationwide Observational Study
Authors: Tsuchiya Asuka , Yasunaga Hideo , Tsutsumi Yusuke , Matsui Hiroki , Fushimi Kiyohide
Published: September 2017

Background

The benefit of primary anastomosis (PA) without a diverting stoma over Hartmann’s procedure (HP) for colorectal perforation remains controversial. We compared postoperative mortality and morbidity between HP and PA without a diverting stoma for colorectal perforation of various etiologies.

Methods

Using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, we extracted data on patients who underwent emergency open laparotomy for colorectal perforation of various etiologies from July 1, 2010 to March 31, 2014. We compared 30‐day mortality, postoperative complication rates, and postoperative critical care interventions between HP and PA groups using propensity score matching, inverse probability of treatment weighting, and instrumental variable analyses to adjust for measured and unmeasured confounding factors.

Results

We identified 8500 eligible patients (5455 HP and 3045 PA). In the propensity score‐matched model, a significant difference between the HP and PA groups was detected in 30‐day mortality (7.7% vs. 9.6%; risk difference, 1.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.5–3.4). The inverse probability of treatment weighting showed similar results (8.8% vs. 10.7%; risk difference, 1.9%; 95% CI, 1.0–2.8). In the instrumental variable analysis, the point estimate suggested similar direction to that of the propensity score analyses (risk difference, 4.4%; 95% CI, −3.3 to 12.1). The PA group had significantly higher rates of secondary surgery for complications (4.6% vs. 8.4%; risk difference, 3.8%; 95% CI, 2.5–4.1) and slightly longer duration of postoperative critical care interventions.

Conclusions

This study revealed a significant difference in 30‐day mortality between HP and PA without a diverting stoma.
The Significance of SCC and CEA mRNA in the Pleural Cavity After Lymphadenectomy in Esophageal Cancer Patients who Underwent Preoperative Treatment
Authors: Sugimura Keijiro , Miyata Hiroshi , Motoori Masaaki , Omori Takeshi , Fujiwara Yoshiyuki , Yano Masahiko
Published: September 2017

Background

This report focuses on the surgical manipulation and spread of cancer cells. Our previous study suggested an association between a poor prognosis and positive pleural lavage cytology after resection of esophageal cancer without preoperative treatment. However, little is known regarding the clinical significance of the lavage procedure in esophageal cancer patients who undergo preoperative treatment.

Methods

A cohort of 94 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus who underwent esophagectomy with radical lymph node dissection was prospectively analyzed for free cancer cells in the pleural cavity after mediastinal lymphadenectomy. Reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect free cancer cells in the pleural lavage fluid by measuring squamous cell carcinoma‐related antigen (SCC) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).

Results

Forty‐two patients (44.7%) were positive for SCC after thoracic lymphadenectomy, and 15 patients (15.9%) were positive for CEA. SCC positivity was significantly associated with venous invasion (p = 0.037) and with the clinical response to preoperative treatment (p = 0.001). Furthermore, SCC positivity was associated with poor prognosis compared with negative SCC (p = 0.026). Multivariate analysis revealed that SCC positivity was an independent prognostic factor. Regarding recurrence patterns, SCC positivity tended to be associated with hematogenous recurrence (p = 0.063). Conversely, positive CEA was not associated with any clinicopathological finding, treatment response, prognosis, or recurrence pattern.

Conclusions

Tumor spillage during the evaluated surgical manipulation was assessed in esophageal cancer patients who underwent preoperative treatment. Tumor spillage as evaluated by SCC mRNA was associated with a poor prognosis.
State of the art und Zukunft der Vitrektomie – Techniken und Instrumente
Authors: Mennel Stefan , Bechrakis Nikolaos E. , Binder Susanne , Haas Anton
Published: September 2017

Hintergrund

Durch die Einführung der Pars plana Vitrektomie ist eine Vielzahl von vitreoretinalen Erkrankungen behandelbar geworden. Kontinuierliche Verbesserungen der Geräte, Instrumente und zusätzliche Hilfsmittel sowie neue Techniken kennzeichnen den enormen Fortschritt der vitreoretinalen Chirurgie.

Methoden

In einer Literaturübersicht werden die Operationstechniken verschiedenster vitreoretinaler Eingriffe analysiert. Sofern aufgrund aktueller Entwicklungen verschiedene Optionen in der Operationstechnik bestehen, werden Experten auf dem Gebiet der vitreoretinalen Chirurgie über ihre Erfahrung und ihre Empfehlung befragt.

Ergebnisse

Die 20 Gauge Pars plana Vitrektomie wurde größtenteils durch die Verwendung von Trokaren (23, 25 und 27 Gauge) mit entsprechenden Instrumenten mit kleinerem Durchmesser abgelöst. Die Pars plana Vitrektomie ist nahtlos möglich, trotzdem kann es notwendig sein, eine zusätzliche Sicherung der Wunde mit einer Naht durchzuführen, um Leckage und Hypotonie zu vermeiden. Die Visualisierung des Glaskörpers erfolgt zunehmend mit Triamcinolon, epiretinale Gliosen und die Membrana limitans interna werden routinemäßig mit Vitalfarbstoffen dargestellt. Bei der Operationstechnik beim Makulaforamen und bei der Ablatio retinae zeigen sich sowohl bei aktuellen Publikationen als auch unter den Experten Variationen.

Schlussfolgerungen

Die Pars plana Vitrektomie hat sich aufgrund der Weiterentwicklung speziell im Bereich der Trokar Systeme, Vitrektome, der Weitwinkel-Beobachtungssysteme sowie dank neuer Techniken zu einer essentiellen OP-Methode für ein weites Indikationsspektrum entwickelt. Dies ist die Basis der Behandlung verschiedenster vitreoretinaler Erkrankungen mit immer weniger Operationstrauma, weniger intraoperativen und postoperativen Komplikationen und gutem Therapieerfolg. Unterschiedliche Operationsvarianten, neue Techniken und die Weiterentwicklung der Geräte und Instrumente sind die Basis für einen auch zukünftigen Fortschritt der Pars plana Vitrektomie.
Understanding positive immigrant youth adaptation in the context of multiculturalism☆
Authors: Sam David L.
Published: September 2017

This commentary highlights some of the strengths of the papers in this special issue focusing on how they advance acculturation research; how they link immigrant youth research with positive youth development and how they provide some insights into understanding how immigrant youth thrive in their adoptive societies. The commentary takes as its point of departure the prototypical research question for immigrant youth research within the perspective of positive youth development and the ultimate goals of acculturation research, i.e., to (i) promote positive psychological acculturation and the well‐being of individuals and (ii) the attainment of harmonious intercultural relations among all groups in contact, and argues that the four papers fall short in addressing the second goal. The second goal is subsequently linked to multiculturalism and suggest that to do full justice to the prototypical research question, more attention should be directed to incorporating indicators of multiculturalism in acculturation research.