bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Co‐delivery of methotrexate and doxorubicin via nanocarriers of star‐like poly(DMAEMA‐block‐HEMA‐block‐AAc) terpolymers
Authors: Saraei Mahnaz , Sarvari Raana , Massoumi Bakhshali , Agbolaghi Samira
Published: July 2019

Combined therapy is a promising strategy for clinical cancer treatment with synergistic effects. The purpose of the work reported was to evaluate a smart nanocarrier for co‐delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and methotrexate (MTX). Since star‐like nanocarriers can load a high dose of drugs with various properties, we developed star polymer nanomicelles based on poly[(2,2‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)‐block‐(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate)‐block‐(acrylic acid)] having potential for multi‐drug delivery. The nanomicelles demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency, i.e. 97.1% for DOX and 79.5% for MTX. To this end, the star‐like terpolymers were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization with pentaerythritol as an initiator. The micellar properties and dual stimuli‐responsive behaviour of the terpolymers were investigated using transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements, concluding that this co‐therapy offers a promising approach for cancer treatment. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
Proteomic Analysis Reveals that Odoroside A Triggers G2/M Arrest and Apoptosis in Colorectal Carcinoma Through ROS‐p53 Pathway
Authors: Chen Yan‐Yan , Wen Shi‐Yuan , Deng Chun‐Miao , Yin Xing‐Feng , Sun Zheng‐Hua , Jiang Miao‐Miao , He Qing‐Yu
Published: July 2019

Odoroside A (OA) is an active ingredient extracted from the leaves of Nerium oleander Linn. (Apocynaceae). This study aims to examine the anticancer bioactivity of OA against CRC cells and to investigate the action mechanisms involved. As a result, OA can significantly inhibit cellular ability and induce apoptosis of CRC cells in a concentration‐dependent manner without any obvious cytotoxicity in normal colorectal epithelial cells. Then, quantitative proteomics combined with bioinformatics is adopted to investigate the alterations of proteins and signaling pathways in response to OA treatment. As suggested by the proteomic analysis, flow cytometry and Western blotting analyses validate that exposure of CRC cells to OA causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, accompanied with the activation of the ROS/p53 signaling pathway. This observation demonstrates that OA, as a natural product, can induce oxidative stress to suppress tumor cell growth, implicating a novel therapeutic agent against CRC without obvious side effects.
Introducing psychology services to advanced cancer patients: A randomized double‐blind trial
Authors: Ann‐Yi Sujin , Tanco Kimberson , Carmack Cindy L. , Liu Diane D. , Bansal Swati , Williams Janet , Lim Kyu‐Hyoung , Bruera Eduardo
Published: July 2019

Context

Psychology services utilization in cancer patients remains low due to barriers such as patient/caregiver acceptance of counseling.

Objective

We aimed to determine if the manner of introducing psychology services impacted patients' acceptance of services and to identify factors associated with acceptance and barriers to psychology utilization.

Methods

In this double‐blind randomized cross‐over trial, cancer patients with no prior psychology services observed two video vignettes: (a) physician introducing counselor and psychology services to the patient (PI) and (b) counselor introducing psychology services alone (CI). A counterbalanced design was used to control for order effects. After viewing both videos, patients completed a survey regarding preference, attitudes, and barriers for psychology services. Patients and investigators were blinded to the purpose of the study and content and order of videos, respectively. We hypothesized that patients would prefer physician introduction of counselor.

Results

One hundred patients participated: 40 (40%) expressed no difference, 34 (34%) preferred PI, and 26 (26%) preferred CI (P > .2). Younger patients (less than 40 years) either preferred PI (86%) or had no preference (14%, P = .01). Most reported awareness of available psychology services (N = 63), and half (N = 50) were offered psychology services by their physician. Only 40 (40%) and 43 (43%) patients felt psychology services would be helpful for them and their family/caregivers, respectively. Patients who perceived psychology as helpful for self or family had higher anxiety (P = .01 and P = .006, respectively).

Conclusions

No significant difference was found in patient preference of introducing psychology services except in patients less than 40 years old who preferred PI.
Solution NMR structure of CGL2373, a polyketide cyclase‐like protein from Corynebacterium glutamicum
Authors: Cai Cong , Nie Yao , Gong Yixuan , Li Shuangli , Ramelot Theresa A. , Kennedy Michael A. , Yue Xiali , Zhu Jiang , Liu Maili , Yang Yunhuang
Published: July 2019

Protein CGL2373 from Corynebacterium glutamicum was previously proposed to be a member of the polyketide_cyc2 family, based on amino‐acid sequence and secondary structure features derived from NMR chemical shift assignments. We report here the solution NMR structure of CGL2373, which contains three α‐helices and one antiparallel β‐sheet and adopts a helix‐grip fold. This structure shows moderate similarities to the representative polyketide cyclases, TcmN, WhiE, and ZhuI. Nevertheless, unlike the structures of these homologs, CGL2373 structure looks like a half‐open shell with a much larger pocket, and key residues in the representative polyketide cyclases for binding substrate and catalyzing aromatic ring formation are replaced with different residues in CGL2373. Also, the gene cluster where the CGL2373‐encoding gene is located in C. glutamicum contains additional genes encoding nucleoside diphosphate kinase, folylpolyglutamate synthase, and valine‐tRNA ligase, different from the typical gene cluster encoding polyketide cyclase in Streptomyces. Thus, although CGL2373 is structurally a polyketide cyclase‐like protein, the function of CGL2373 may differ from the known polyketide cyclases and needs to be further investigated. The solution structure of CGL2373 lays a foundation for in silico ligand screening and binding site identifying in future functional study.
CASP13 target classification into tertiary structure prediction categories
Authors: Kinch Lisa N. , Kryshtafovych Andriy , Monastyrskyy Bohdan , Grishin Nick V.
Published: July 2019

Protein target structures for the Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction round 13 (CASP13) were split into evaluation units (EUs) based on their structural domains, the domain organization of available templates, and the performance of servers on whole targets compared to split target domains. Eighty targets were split into 112 EUs. The EUs were classified into categories suitable for assessment of high accuracy modeling (or template‐based modeling [TBM]) and topology (or free modeling [FM]) based on target difficulty. Assignment into assessment categories considered the following criteria: (a) the evolutionary relationship of target domains to existing fold space as defined by the Evolutionary Classification of Protein Domains (ECOD) database; (b) the clustering of target domains using eight objective sequence, structure, and performance measures; and (c) the placement of target domains in a scatter plot of target difficulty against server performance used in the previous CASP. Generally, target domains with good server predictions had close template homologs and were classified as TBM. Alternately, targets with poor server predictions represent a mixture of fast evolving homologs, structure analogs, and new folds, and were classified as FM or FM/TBM overlap.
A deep dense inception network for protein beta‐turn prediction
Authors: Fang Chao , Shang Yi , Xu Dong
Published: July 2019

Beta‐turn prediction is useful in protein function studies and experimental design. Although recent approaches using machine‐learning techniques such as support vector machine (SVM), neural networks, and K nearest neighbor have achieved good results for beta‐turn prediction, there is still significant room for improvement. As previous predictors utilized features in a sliding window of 4‐20 residues to capture interactions among sequentially neighboring residues, such feature engineering may result in incomplete or biased features and neglect interactions among long‐range residues. Deep neural networks provide a new opportunity to address these issues. Here, we proposed a deep dense inception network (DeepDIN) for beta‐turn prediction, which takes advantage of the state‐of‐the‐art deep neural network design of dense networks and inception networks. A test on a recent BT6376 benchmark data set shows that DeepDIN outperformed the previous best tool BetaTPred3 significantly in both the overall prediction accuracy and the nine‐type beta‐turn classification accuracy. A tool, called MUFold‐BetaTurn, was developed, which is the first beta‐turn prediction tool utilizing deep neural networks. The tool can be downloaded at http://dslsrv8.cs.missouri.edu/~cf797/MUFoldBetaTurn/download.html.
Passivation of Detector‐Grade Float Zone Silicon with Atomic Layer Deposited Aluminum Oxide
Authors: Ott Jennifer , Pasanen Toni P. , Repo Päivikki , Seppänen Heli , Vähänissi Ville , Savin Hele
Published: July 2019

Silicon radiation and particle detectors are traditionally passivated with thermal silicon dioxide. It has been shown that aluminum oxide (Al2O3) films provide better surface passivation due to their high negative charge, but studies on Al2O3 surface passivation are usually performed on low‐resistivity substrates. Herein, the passivation of high‐resistivity, detector‐grade float zone silicon (FZ‐Si) with Al2O3 is studied, with a specific emphasis on the effect of post‐annealing temperature on carrier lifetimes and film properties. It is confirmed that Al2O3 provides excellent surface passivation also on high‐resistivity FZ‐Si substrates, with a low interface defect density of around (2–4) × 1011 cm−2 eV−1 and a high negative oxide charge of 1 × 1012 to 3 × 1012 q cm−2, when post‐annealed at temperatures of up to 450–500 °C. In addition, high‐resistivity samples are studied for the phenomenon of bulk lifetime degradation occurring at typical post‐annealing or metal sintering temperatures, which has been reported for low‐resistivity FZ‐Si. At post‐annealing temperatures of >500 °C, reduced bulk lifetimes are observed if the substrates did not receive high‐temperature treatment prior to surface passivation. Furthermore, it is noticed that n‐type samples exhibit lower bulk lifetimes even when a high‐temperature treatment is performed, which indicates a connection between FZ‐Si bulk lifetime degradation and doping type.
Preliminary evidence of the clinical effectiveness of odourless garlic
Authors: Vlachojannis Christian , Schoenenberger Andreas W. , Erne Paul , Chrubasik‐Hausmann Sigrun
Published: July 2019

This study attempts a systematic evaluation of the clinical evidence for the use of odourless garlic prepared by ageing or fermentation. By PubMed, CENTRAL, and handsearching, 59 clinical studies were identified for potential extraction, of which 24 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The quality of the studies and evidence of effectiveness were assessed by an established set of conventional criteria. Even the 12 best clinical trials (50%) had fundamental flaws that prevented to grade them as confirmatory. On the basis of a subsample of 19 exploratory studies (79%), an impressive reduction of cardiovascular risk was found for odourless garlic (evidence of effectiveness, “moderate” and for other indications, “poor”). Evidence of effectiveness is further limited by the fact that most studies used aged garlic produced by one pharmaceutical company and that products differed in composition and dose of the marker substance S‐allyl‐cysteine. In case odourless garlic is potentially an effective remedy in particular for cardiovascular diseases, we discern an urgent need for long‐term confirmatory studies. The ultimate cardiovascular endpoint for definitive studies would be mortality, but reductions in blood pressure or demonstrable decreases in atherosclerotic plaques or blood markers of cardiovascular risk would be useful surrogates. Sample sizes for various assumptions are provided.
Increasing the discrimination power of rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) in analytical control tissue quality screening and cell line sample identification
Authors: Abu‐Rabie Paul , Sheelan Denver , Laures Alice , Spaull John , Dowell Simon
Published: July 2019

Rationale

Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) has been evaluated as a tool to improve analytical efficiency and add capability in areas within Pharmaceutical Research and Development (Pharma R&D). This article reports the comparison of single MS, and tandem MS/MS REIMS (REIMS and REIMS/MS) methodologies to investigate which mode produces maximum discrimination power for screening applications.

Methods

Control tissue samples and cell line suspension samples were analysed using optimised REIMS and REIMS/MS to evaluate which technique produced optimal discrimination power for control tissue and cell line identification. The iKnife sampling tool and a prototype ‘cell sampler’ were utilised for tissue and cell analysis, respectively. The REIMS source was coupled to a hybrid Quadrupole‐Time Of Flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer. Multivariate Analysis (MVA) was utilised to evaluate the resulting Mass Spectrometry (MS) data and discriminate between sample types.

Results

Proof of concept investigations demonstrating that REIMS/MS offered increased MVA discrimination for sample identification, compared with REIMS, is presented for the first time. Control tissue data showed discrimination by timepoint classification over 0‐144 h storage after removal from the host. Timepoint discrimination was optimised using REIMS/MS with a collision energy that effectively maximised ion fragmentation. Similar optimisation was observed when REIMS/MS was applied to the identification of cell lines.

Conclusions

The proof of concept results demonstrate that REIMS/MS can offer advantages over REIMS for control tissue quality screening, and cell line identification applications in Pharma R&D. Further work following this proof of concept investigation is being undertaken to implement the technology for these applications, utilising the optimised REIMS/MS methodology. REIMS/MS will also be used as an optimised tool for other applications.
Robust orientation control of multi‐DOF cell based on uncertainty and disturbance estimation
Authors: Xie Mingyang , Shakoor Adnan , Li Chuntao , Sun Dong
Published: July 2019

Multiple degrees‐of‐freedom (multi‐DOF) cell orientation control is a vital important technique involved in single cell surgery applications. Currently, few studies have been performed toward automation of multi‐DOF cell orientation control using robotically controlled optical tweezers. In this paper, a robust control framework is developed to perform multi‐DOF cell rotational control with consideration of model uncertainties and external disturbances. Both simulation and experimental studies are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed control strategy. The main contributions of this work lie in that this is the first time to develop a unified framework to achieve multi‐DOF cell orientation control without the need for accurate dynamic model parameters and/or any knowledge about uncertainty characteristic, which greatly enhances the robustness of the overall system.
Inkjet‐Printed High‐Performance Flexible Micro‐Supercapacitors with Porous Nanofiber‐Like Electrode Structures
Authors: Cheng Tao , Wu You‐Wei , Chen Ya‐Li , Zhang Yi‐Zhou , Lai Wen‐Yong , Huang Wei
Published: July 2019

Flexible planar micro‐supercapacitors (MSCs) with unique loose and porous nanofiber‐like electrode structures are fabricated by combining electrochemical deposition with inkjet printing. Benefiting from the resulting porous nanofiber‐like structures, the areal capacitance of the inkjet‐printed flexible planar MSCs is obviously enhanced to 46.6 mF cm−2, which is among the highest values ever reported for MSCs. The complicated fabrication process is successfully averted as compared with previously reported best‐performing planar MSCs. Besides excellent electrochemical performance, the resultant MSCs also show superior mechanical flexibility. The as‐fabricated MSCs can be highly bent to 180° 1000 times with the capacitance retention still up to 86.8%. Intriguingly, because of the remarkable patterning capability of inkjet printing, various modular MSCs in serial and in parallel can be directly and facilely inkjet‐printed without using external metal interconnects and tedious procedures. As a consequence, the electrochemical performance can be largely enhanced to better meet the demands of practical applications. Additionally, flexible serial MSCs with exquisite and aesthetic patterns are also inkjet‐printed, showing great potential in fashionable wearable electronics. The results suggest a feasible strategy for the facile and cost‐effective fabrication of high‐performance flexible MSCs via inkjet printing.
Freestanding Lamellar Porous Carbon Stacks for Low‐Temperature‐Foldable Supercapacitors
Authors: Yang Yu , Ng Sze‐Wing , Chen Dongdong , Chang Jian , Wang Dongrui , Shang Jian , Huang Qiyao , Deng Yonghong , Zheng Zijian
Published: July 2019

High‐performance supercapacitors (SCs) are important energy storage components for emerging wearable electronics. Rendering low‐temperature foldability to SCs is critically important when wearable devices are used in a cold environment. However, currently reported foldable SCs do not have a stable electrochemical performance at subzero temperatures, while those that are performing are not foldable. Herein, a freestanding pure‐carbon‐based porous electrode, namely, lamellar porous carbon stack (LPCS), is reported, which enables stable low‐temperature‐foldable SCs. The LPCS, which is fabricated with a simple vacuum filtration of a mixture of carbon fibers (CFs), holey reduced graphene oxides (HRGOs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), possesses a lamellar stacking of porous carbon thin sheets, in which the CFs act as the skeleton and the HRGOs and CNTs act as binders. The unique structure leads to excellent compression resilience, high foldability, and high electronic and ionic conductivity. SCs made with the LPCS electrodes and ionic liquid electrolyte show a high energy density (2.1 mWh cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2), low‐temperature long lifetime (95% capacity after 10 000 cycles at −30 °C), and excellent low‐temperature foldability (86% capacity after 1000 folding cycles at −30 °C).
Integrating qualitative system dynamics with accounting practices: The case of integrated reporting and resource mapping
Authors: Giorgino Maria Cleofe , Barnabè Federico , Kunc Martin
Published: July 2019

The article explores the role of qualitative system dynamics (SD) in evaluating the information presented in corporate accounting reports. Particularly, this study focuses on a recent corporate report called integrated reporting (), and analyses the  information using a specific qualitative SD technique, resource mapping, in order to visualize the key resources and their connections responsible for the performance of the organization. The study'; contribution is twofold. First, it provides insights on how to apply qualitative SD in the field of management accounting and corporate reporting. Second, it verifies the benefits of combining qualitative SD and corporate reporting tools to develop new knowledge useful to represent and face the dynamic complexity implicit in a business domain.
The size‐dependent genotoxic potentials of titanium dioxide nanoparticles to endothelial cells
Authors: Liao Fen , Chen Lingying , Liu Yuanfeng , Zhao Dongting , Peng Wenyi , Wang Wuxiang , Feng Shaolong
Published: July 2019

Despite intensive research activities, there are still many major knowledge gaps over the potential adverse effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2‐NPs), one of the most widely produced and used nanoparticles, on human cardiovascular health and the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, alkaline comet assay and cytokinesis‐block micronucleus test were employed to determine the genotoxic potentials of four sizes (100, 50, 30, and 10 nm) of anatase TiO2‐NPs to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in culture. Also, the intracellular redox statuses were explored through the measurement of the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) with kits, respectively. Meanwhile, the protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) were also detected by western blot. The results showed that at the exposed levels (1, 5, and 25 μg/mL), all the four sizes of TiO2‐NPs could elicit an increase of both DNA damage and MN frequency in HUVECs in culture, with a positive dose‐dependent and negative size‐dependent effect relationship (T100 < T50 < T30 < T10). Also, increased levels of intracellular ROS, but decreased levels of GSH, were found in all the TiO2‐NP‐treated groups. Intriguingly, a very similar manner of dose‐dependent and size‐dependent effect relationship was observed between the ROS test and both comet assay and MN test, but contrary to that of GSH assay. Correspondingly, the levels of Nrf2 protein were also elevated in the TiO2‐NP‐exposed HUVECs, with an inversely size‐dependent effect relationship. These findings indicated that induction of oxidative stress and subsequent genotoxicity might be an important biological mechanism by which TiO2‐NP exposure would cause detrimental effects to human cardiovascular health.
Sono‐photo‐assisted heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate by Fe/CMK‐3 catalyst for the degradation of bisphenol A, optimization with response surface methodology
Authors: Rahimzadeh Hadi , Rahmani Alireza , Samadi Mohammad‐Taghi , Farmany Abbas , Asgari Ghorban
Published: July 2019

The present study examined the removal of bisphenol A (BPA) and total organic carbon (TOC) from aqueous solutions by the Fe/CMK‐3 as peroxymonosulfate activator used in the sono‐photo‐catalytic process. The synthesis of Fe/CMK‐3 was carried out using the co‐precipitation method, and it was characterized by FTIR, XRD, BET, EDX, and TEM. The results showed that the iron nanoparticles were uniformly embedded in the CMK‐3 pores. The effect of factors affecting on the removal of BPA and TOC was evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM) with center composite design (CCD). The analysis of variance of the quadratic model showed that the model is significant (p value < .0001 and R2 > 99.4%) and can be used to optimize the removal efficiency of BPA. Optimization results showed that the highest removal efficiency of BPA (100%) and TOC (80.6%) was achieved in optimum conditions of pH 7.8, catalyst dose 0.33 g/L, PMS dose 3.35 mmol/L, BPA concentration 39.3 mg/L, and 78.5 min. In addition, statistical analysis of the data showed that, in the studied range, the initial concentration of BPA was the most influential factor, followed by pH and PMS dose. Highest catalytic stability of Fe/CMK‐3 showed the potential applicability of catalyst in the treatment of BPA‐containing solutions. The quenching test showed that sulfate radical was the main responsible for the removal of BPA. The decrease in IOUR value after the 75‐min reaction time indicates that this process has a high ability for oxidation of the pollutant and its intermediates. Generally, the observed results suggest that the Fe‐CMK‐3/UV/US/PMS system can be a promising procedure for the removal of persistent pollutants such as BPA from aqueous media.

Practitioner points

Fe/CMK‐3 exhibited prominent catalytic activity and high stability for peroxymonosulfate activation.

Effective degradation of bisphenol A was achieved in the Fe‐CMK‐3/UV/US/PMS system.

The effect of five factors at five levels and their interactions during the removal of BPA was evaluated by RSM method coupled with central composite design (CCD).

The analysis of variance of the quadratic model showed that the model is very significant (p value < .0001) and can be used to optimize the removal efficiency of BPA.

The quenching test showed that sulfate radical was the main responsible for the removal of BPA.

Reducing IOUR value after the 75‐min reaction time indicates that toxicity of the solution was significantly decreased in this system.
A review on sentiment discovery and analysis of educational big‐data
Authors: Han Zhongmei , Wu Jiyi , Huang Changqin , Huang Qionghao , Zhao Meihua
Published: July 2019

Sentiment discovery and analysis (SDA) aims to automatically identify the underlying attitudes, sentiments, and subjectivity towards a certain entity such as learners and learning resources. Due to its enormous potential for smart education, SDA has been deemed as a powerful technique for identifying and classifying sentiments from multimodal and multisource data over the whole process of education. For big educational data streams, SDA faces challenges in unimodal feature selection, sentiment classification, and multimodal fusion. As such, a large body of studies in the literature explores diverse approaches to SDA for educational applications. This paper provides a self‐contained, uniform overview of the SDA techniques for education. In particular, we focus on prominent studies in unimodal sentiment features and classifications (e.g., text, audio, and visual). In addition, we present a novel SDA framework of multimodal fusions, together with description of their crucial components. Based on this framework, we review different approaches to SDA on education from the perspectives of approaches and applications. After comprehensively reviewing the SDA techniques on education, we present the trends and prospectives of the future SDA research under ubiquitous education contexts.

This article is categorized under:

Application Areas > Education and Learning
Matrix correction with Compton to Rayleigh ratio in a plant–soil–rock interface analysis using a laboratory micro‐XRF
Authors: Shen Yating , Luo Liqiang , Song Yufang , Liu Jian , Lao Changling , Sun Menghe , Yang Wenlei
Published: July 2019

Biogeochemistry interface process in a plant–soil (rock) system normally takes a key role in environmental processes. It involves complex mediums relating with complex crucial physical, chemical, and biological interactions. Accurate description of element distribution characteristics in interfaces and combination media is the prerequisite for revealing elements transfer and transformation processes. In situ micro‐X‐ray fluorescence is used here to describe the localizations of elements in a bryophyte–soil–rock interface involving biological (plant) and geological (soil and rock) matrixes. It is shown that matrix effects get great influence on the localization characteristics in this interface. Spectra without matrix corrections shows that Zn, Cu, Fe, Ca, and K reach maximum concentrations in different interface layers. Compton to Rayleigh ratio (Com/Ray), relating with mean atomic number (mean Z) and mass attenuation coefficients, has been applied in matrix correction, whereas other correction methods like multiplied or divided by Com or Ray were compared here too. The results show that the correction method with Ray*Ray/Com is more suitable for describing reasonable Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Pb localization characteristics in this interface, whereas correction with Ray/Com is better for K. The localization characters after ideal corrections show that K, Ca, Pb, Zn, and Cu reach their maximum peaks at the soil layer in the interface, which are much more reasonable than the results without corrections.
Size‐dependent free vibration of sandwich micro beam with porous core subjected to thermal load based on SSDBT
Authors: Amir Saeed , Soleimani‐Javid Zeinab , Arshid Ehsan
Published: July 2019

In this study, free vibration of the sandwich microbeam with porous core and FG carbon nanotubes reinforced composite face sheets which is rested on Winkler‐Pasternak substrate is investigated. It is assumed the beam is in thermal environment and is subjected to thermal load and the displacement components are described based on sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory. The small scale effects are taken into account according to the modified couple stress theory. The core and face sheets properties are diffused through the thickness. The motion equations are derived and solved using Hamilton's principle and Navier's method, respectively. Effect of different parameters such as porosity coefficient and distributions, different types of CNTs distribution, small scale and geometrical size of the beam is considered. The results show by enhancing the porosity, the frequency decreased. The findings of the current study can be used to design prominent role in modern engineering applications.
Chaos in three-dimensional higher spin gravity
Authors: Narayan Prithvi , Yoon Junggi
Published: July 2019

Abstract

We discuss SL(N, ℂ) Chern-Simons higher spin gauge theories in Euclidean AdS3. With appropriate boundary term, we derive the higher spin generalization of Schwarzian on-shell action. We investigate gravitationally dressed bi-locals, and we study the soft higher spin mode expansion to obtain soft mode eigenfunctions. We also derive the spin-s eigenfunction from Ward identity of

$$ \mathcal{W} $$

W

-algebra and a recursion relation. Using the on-shell action, we evaluate the contributions of the soft higher spin modes to the out-of-time-order correlators, and the corresponding Lyapunov exponent of SL(N) higher spin gravity is found to be

$$ \frac{2\pi }{\beta}\left(N - 1\right) $$

2
π

β

N
−

1

.
Vector SIMP dark matter with approximate custodial symmetry
Authors: Choi Soo-Min , Lee Hyun Min , Mambrini Yann , Pierre Mathias
Published: July 2019

Abstract

We consider a novel scenario for Vector Strongly Interacting Massive Particle (VSIMP) dark matter with local SU(2)X× U(1)Z′symmetry in the dark sector. Similarly to the Standard Model (SM), after the dark symmetry is broken spontaneously by the VEVs of dark Higgs fields, the approximate custodial symmetry determines comparable but split masses for SU(2)Xgauge bosons. In this model, we show that the U(1)Z′-charged gauge boson of SU(2)X(X±) becomes a natural candidate for SIMP dark matter, annihilating through 3 → 2 or forbidden 2 → 2 annihilations due to gauge self-interactions. On the other hand, the U(1)Z′-neutral gauge boson of SU(2)Xachieves the kinetic equilibrium of dark matter through a gauge kinetic mixing between U(1)Z′and SM hypercharge. We present the parameter space for the correct relic density in our model and discuss in detail the current constraints and projections from colliders and direct detection experiments.
Fiducial cross sections for the four-lepton decay mode in Higgs-plus-jet production up to NNLO QCD
Authors: Chen X. , Gehrmann T. , Glover E. W. N. , Huss A.
Published: July 2019

Abstract

The four-lepton decay mode of the Higgs boson allows for a clean kinematic reconstruction, thereby enabling precision studies of the Higgs boson properties and of its production dynamics. We compute the NNLO QCD corrections to fiducial cross sections relevant to this decay mode in the gluon-fusion channel producing a Higgs boson in association with a hadronic jet, and study the impact of the QCD corrections on the fiducial acceptance factors in inclusive Higgs and Higgs-plus-jet production. We investigate in detail the different definitions used in the ATLAS and CMS measurements to define the fiducial cross sections. Differences in the lepton isolation prescription are found to have a sizeable impact on the higher order corrections to the fiducial acceptance factors.
Unraveling the specific regulation of the shikimate pathway for tyrosine accumulation in Bacillus licheniformis
Authors: Xu Yinbiao , Li Youran , Zhang Liang , Ding Zhongyang , Gu Zhenghua , Shi Guiyang
Published: July 2019

l-Tyrosine serves as a common precursor for multiple valuable secondary metabolites. Synthesis of this aromatic amino acid in Bacillus licheniformis occurs via the shikimate pathway, but the underlying mechanisms involving metabolic regulation remain unclear. In this work, improved l-tyrosine accumulation was achieved in B. licheniformis via co-overexpression of aroGfbr and tyrAfbr from Escherichia coli to yield strain 45A12, and the l-tyrosine titer increased to 1005 mg/L with controlled glucose feeding. Quantitative RT-PCR results indicated that aroA, encoding DAHP synthase, and aroK, encoding shikimate kinase, were feedback-repressed by the end product l-tyrosine in the modified strain. Therefore, the native aroK was first expressed with multiple copies to yield strain 45A13, which could accumulate 1201 mg/L l-tyrosine. Compared with strain 45A12, the expression of aroB and aroF in strain 45A13 was upregulated by 21% and 27%, respectively, which may also have resulted in the improvement of l-tyrosine production. Furthermore, supplementation with 5 g/L shikimate enhanced the l-tyrosine titers of 45A12 and 45A13 by 29.1% and 24.0%, respectively. However, the yield of l-tyrosine per unit of shikimate decreased from 0.365 to 0.198 mol/mol after aroK overexpression in strain 45A12, which suggested that the gene product was also involved in uncharacterized pathways. This study provides a good starting point for further modification to achieve industrial-scale production of l-tyrosine using B. licheniformis, a generally recognized as safe workhorse.
Cystic Lesion in the Fetal Scalp: A Systematic Approach
Authors: Singh Divya , Kaur Ladbans
Published: July 2019

During an anomaly scan, cystic lesion in the scalp may be encountered while examining the fetal head. Some of these originate from the scalp tissue and can be dealt with postnatally by simple excision. Others may be more than just scalp cysts and have an intracranial communication. The objective of this communication is to illustrate a few cystic lesions in the fetal scalp and suggest a systematic approach in arriving at a diagnosis.
Indications for Penile Prosthesis Revision: Lessons Learned to Limit Technical Causes of Reoperation
Authors: Chan Ernest Pang , Punjani Nahid , Campbell Jeffrey Douglas , Abed Haider , Brock Gerald
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Reoperations are necessary in approximately 30% of penile prostheses over 15 years following original implantation.

Aim

To determine the most common indications for initial penile prosthesis reoperation at our institution and to describe technical alterations that have improved postoperative outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective review of all patients who underwent penile prosthesis reoperation surgery at a single, high-volume Canadian center between 2006 and 2018 was performed. Patient demographic information, prosthetic device factors, and surgical complications were analyzed.

Main Outcome Measure

The primary outcomes were the indications for and variables associated with initial penile prosthesis reoperation.

Results

During the study period, 99 first-time penile prosthesis reoperations were performed out of 1,161 penile prosthesis procedures (Figure 1). This included 14 (14.1%) explants, 32 (32.3%) revisions, and 53 (53.5%) explant and reimplants. Indications for reoperation included 49 (49.5%) mechanical failures, 28 (28.3%) technical causes (such as correction of malposition or device herniation), and 12 (12.1%) procedures to treat chronic postoperative pain. Median follow-up was 78.5 months, and median time to reoperation was 46 months. Mechanical failures commonly occurred in the tubing (n = 13, 26.5%) and cylinders (n = 13, 26.5%). The most frequently repositioned component was the valve pump (n = 11, 39.3%). Infection-related indications for reoperation were uncommon (n = 10, 10.1%).

Clinical Implications

More than a quarter of penile prosthesis reoperations may have been preventable with alterations in surgical technique, device positioning, and postoperative care.

Strengths and Limitations

This study evaluates a range of indications for initial penile prosthesis reoperation performed by a high-volume single surgeon over a 12-year period. Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study, loss of patients to follow-up, and lack of etiological determinants of prosthesis failure.

Conclusions

Reoperation for device repositioning and herniation was required for more than a quarter of the initial penile prosthesis implants. Modifications in surgical technique and perioperative care can help reduce the incidence of these technical causes for reoperation.
Risk of Death and Major Injury from Natural Winter Hazards in Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing in Canada
Authors: Walcher Matthias , Haegeli Pascal , Fuchs Sven
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Guests and guides partaking in helicopter and snowcat skiing (collectively known as mechanized skiing) are exposed to numerous natural winter hazards that can result in injury or death, but detailed quantitative risk estimates are currently lacking. This lack represents a considerable barrier for evaluating existing risk management practices and implementing evidence-based improvements.

Methods

We collected historical incident and exposure information from mechanized skiing operations in Canada to perform a retrospective risk analysis. Our analysis dataset includes 713 incidents that resulted in injuries or fatalities among guests or guides during a total of 3,258,000 skier days from the 1970 to 2016 winter season.

Results

Overall risk of death from natural winter hazards in mechanized skiing was 18.6 fatalities per million skier days (1997–2016). Although the risk of death from avalanches decreased substantially over the entire study period, avalanches remain the largest contributor to the overall risk of death (77%), followed by tree wells and other non–avalanche-related snow immersions. The risk of death from avalanches in snowcat skiing is about half of that in helicopter skiing, but other snow immersion fatalities are more common. The risk of major injury to guests is primarily associated with other falls and collisions. The risk of major injury for guides is higher in snowcat skiing than in helicopter skiing.

Conclusion

We recommend the design of an industry-wide incident and near-miss reporting system to support evidence-based improvements of safety practices.
Young Adult Fantasy Fiction
Authors: Wilkins Kim
Published: July 2019

Young adult fantasy (YA fantasy) brings together two established genres - young adult fiction and fantasy fiction - and in so doing amplifies, energises, and leverages the textual, social, and industrial practices of the two genres: combining the fantastic with adolescent concerns; engaging passionate online fandoms; proliferating quickly into series and related works. By considering the texts alongside the way they are circulated and marketed, this Element aims to show that the YA fantasy genre is a dynamic formation that takes shape and reshapes itself responsively in a continuing process over time.
Designing Border Carbon Adjustments for Enhanced Climate Action
Authors: Mehling Michael A. , van Asselt Harro , Das Kasturi , Droege Susanne , Verkuijl Cleo
Published: July 2019

The Paris Agreement advances a heterogeneous approach to international climate cooperation. Such an approach may be undermined by carbon leakage—the displacement of emissions from states with more to less stringent climate policy constraints. Border carbon adjustments offer a promising response to leakage, but they also raise concerns about their compatibility with international trade law. This Article provides a comprehensive analysis of border carbon adjustments and proposes a way to design them that balances legal, administrative, and environmental considerations.
The Economic Structure of International Investment Agreements with Implications for Treaty Interpretation and Design
Authors: Sykes Alan O.
Published: July 2019

This Article argues that international investment agreements (IIAs) serve a dual economic function—to discipline host country policies that impose international externalities on foreign investors, and to curtail inefficient risks associated with agency costs, risk aversion, asymmetric information, and time inconsistency problems that uneconomically increase the cost of imported capital in host countries. It draws on the economic analysis to explain central features of IIAs and their evolution over time, and to address various controversial issues in international investment litigation.
María de los Ángeles González Carreño v. Ministry of Justice
Authors: Kanetake Machiko
Published: July 2019

The ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court in Judgment No. 1263/2018, recognizing, for the first time, the binding character of the Views of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), augmented the normative authority of the Views of the human rights treaty monitoring body, not only at the domestic level, but also within the international legal sphere. In the Judgment, the Spanish highest court held that the government must comply with the Views of the CEDAW Committee as a matter of the state's constitutional mandate as well as its international obligations. The Court's interpretation in this case meets the expectation of human rights treaty monitoring bodies that states are obligated to respond to their Views concerning individual communications, despite some states parties’ claims to the contrary.
Salvage Therapy for Childhood Medulloblastoma: A Single Center Experience
Authors: Kameda-Smith Michelle M. , Wang Alick , Abdulhadi Noora , Voth Rebecca , Sergeant Anjali , Maharaj Arjuna , Bakhshinyan David , Adile Ashley A. , Pai Akshat M. , Ajani Olufemi , Yarascavitch Blake , Alyman M. Cheryl , Duckworth JoAnn , Samaan M. Constantine , Farrokhyar Forough , Singh Sheila K. , Fleming Adam ,   on behalf of the Pediatric Brain Tumour Study Group
Published: July 2019

Introduction:Children diagnosed with medulloblastoma (MB) who are refractory to upfront therapy or experience recurrence have very poor prognoses. Although phase I and phase II trials exist, these treatments bear significant treatment-related morbidity and mortality.Methods:A retrospective review of children diagnosed with a recurrence of MB from 2002 to 2015 at McMaster University was undertaken.Results:Recurrent disease in 10 patients involved leptomeningeal dissemination, with 3 experiencing local recurrence. In three recurrent patients the disease significantly progressed, and the children were palliated. The remaining 10 children underwent some form of salvage therapy, including surgical re-resection, radiation, and chemotherapy, either in isolation or in varying combinations. Of the 13 children experiencing treatment-refractory or recurrent disease, 4 are currently alive with a median follow-up of 38.5 months (75.5 months). Of the eight patients with molecular subgrouping data, none of the Wnt MB experienced recurrence.Conclusion:Recurrent MB carried a poor prognosis with a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 18.2% despite the administration of salvage therapy. The upfront therapy received, available treatment, and tolerability of the proposed salvage therapy resulted in significant heterogeneity in the treatment of our recurrent cohort.
A Defense of Intrapersonal Belief Permissivism
Authors: Jackson Elizabeth
Published: July 2019

Permissivism is the view that there are evidential situations that rationally permit more than one attitude toward a proposition. In this paper, I argue for Intrapersonal Belief Permissivism (IaBP): that there are evidential situations in which a single agent can rationally adopt more than one belief-attitude toward a proposition. I give two positive arguments for IaBP; the first involves epistemic supererogation and the second involves doubt. Then, I show how these arguments give intrapersonal permissivists a distinct response to the toggling objection. I conclude that IaBP is a view that philosophers should take seriously.
Global fixed points for nilpotent actions on the torus
Authors: FIRMO S. , RIBÓN J.
Published: July 2019

An isotopic to the identity map of the 2-torus, that has zero rotation vector with respect to an invariant ergodic probability measure, has a fixed point by a theorem of Franks. We give a version of this result for nilpotent subgroups of isotopic to the identity diffeomorphisms of the 2-torus. In such a context we guarantee the existence of global fixed points for nilpotent groups of irrotational diffeomorphisms. In particular, we show that the derived group of a nilpotent group of isotopic to the identity diffeomorphisms of the 2-torus has a global fixed point.
Stability of Poiseuille flow of a Bingham fluid overlying an anisotropic and inhomogeneous porous layer
Authors: Sengupta Sourav , De Sirshendu
Published: July 2019

Modal and non-modal stability analyses are performed for Poiseuille flow of a Bingham fluid overlying an anisotropic and inhomogeneous porous layer saturated with the same fluid. In the case of modal analysis, the resultant Orr–Sommerfeld type eigenvalue problem is formulated and solved via the Chebyshev collocation method, using QZ decomposition. It is found that no unstable eigenvalues are present for the problem, indicating that the flow is linearly stable. Therefore, non-modal analysis is attempted in order to observe the short-time response. For non-modal analysis, the initial value problem is solved, and the response of the system to initial conditions is assessed. The aim is to evaluate the effects on the flow stability of porous layer parameters in terms of depth ratio (ratio of the fluid layer thickness $d$ to the porous layer thickness $d_{m}$), Bingham number, Darcy number and slip coefficient. The effects of anisotropy and inhomogeneity of the porous layer on flow transition are also investigated. In addition, the shapes of the optimal perturbations are constructed. The mechanism of transient growth is explored to comprehend the complex interplay of various factors that lead to intermediate amplifications. The present analysis is perhaps the first attempt at analysing flow stability of viscoplastic fluids over a porous medium, and would possibly lead to better and efficient designing of flow environments involving such flow.
Revisiting the fraud exception: a critique of United City Merchants v Royal Bank of Canada 40 years on
Authors: Richards Katie
Published: July 2019

Much has changed in the four decades since United City Merchants v Royal Bank of Canada, in which Lord Diplock established the fraud exception in transactions financed by documentary credit. In particular, the introduction of the UCP 600, case law on nullity documents and amendment to the American fraud exception justify a reconsideration of both the policy arguments underpinning Lord Diplock's rule and the fate of documents known to be forged or null at the time of presentation. Accordingly, two arguments are made in this paper. First, a consideration of the broader exception in the US should prompt a modern Supreme Court to re-examine his Lordship's insistence that a narrow exception was required to preserve the efficiency of the credit mechanism. In addition, it further argues that banks should be entitled to reject known nullities and forgeries as non-complying. This argument would reinstate the doctrine of strict compliance, which was overlooked in United City Merchants, and is based on the clarified definitions in the UCP 600, more recent judicial consideration of nullities and the existence of the ICC's International Maritime Bureau.