bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Molecular and Chromosomal Markers for Evolutionary Considerations in Torpediniformes (Chondrichthyes, Batoidea)
Authors: Rocco Lucia
Published: September 2012

Due to their basal position in the vertebrate phylogenetic tree, the study on elasmobranch genetics and cytogenetics can provide remarkable information on the mechanisms underlying the evolution of all vertebrates. In recent years, different molecular approaches have been used to study the relationships between the different taxonomic groups of cartilaginous fish, among them are the physical mapping of specific nucleotide sequences on chromosomes. However, these are controversial, particularly in Torpediniformes in which the species have different karyological parameters. The purpose of this paper is to gather the molecular markers so far present in literature that were used to reconstruct the phylogenetic position of Torpediniformes with respect to the other Batoidea and to discriminate between the various chromosome pairs in the endemic species in the Mediterranean Sea, Torpedo torpedo, T. marmorata and T. nobiliana. The 5S and 18S ribosomal DNA, the HpaI and Alu SINE, the telomeric (TTAGGG)n and the spermatogenesis-related SPATA 16, SPATA 18, and UTY sequences were particularly useful. These last genomic segments were also able to differentiate between the male and the female karyotypes. Moreover, the torpedoes showed a particular genomic organization, especially Torpedo torpedo, in which large quantities of highly repeated DNA and a characteristic distribution of heterochromatin, which is never centromeric, were observed.
Leverage AMI for Sustainability
Authors: Fiut Brian , Patience Mark
Published: September 2012

This article discusses three distinct approaches to water conservation using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) leak detection, each of which leverages specific aspects of the technology to detect leaks in different ways: metered leak detection; district metering leak detection; and, acoustic leak detection.
How Can We Coordinate Fire Hydrant Maintenance Better?
Authors: Lippert Michael
Published: September 2012

Coordination and communication among departments, as well as standard operating procedures, are critical to ensure proper fire hydrant operation and maintenance. Implementing a program that establishes such a foundation goes a long way in saving time and money and satisfying utility customers.
Neurogenomics of the Sympathetic Neurotransmitter Switch Indicates That Different Mechanisms Steer Cholinergic Differentiation in Rat and Chicken Models
Authors: Dorn Roland , Loy Bernhard , Dechant Georg , Apostolova Galina
Published: September 2012

Vertebrate sympathetic neurons have the remarkable potential to switch their neurotransmitter phenotype from noradrenergic to cholinergic—a phenomenon that has been intensively studied in rat and chicken models. In both species, loss of noradrenergic markers and concomitant upregulation of cholinergic markers occurs in response to neuropoietic cytokines such as ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). However, other aspects of the neurotransmitter switch including developmental timing, target tissues of cholinergic neurons, and dependence on neurotrophic factors differ between the two species. Here we compare CNTF-triggered transcriptome changes in both species by using DNA microarrays. CNTF induced changes in 1130 out of 16084 analyzed genomic loci in rat sympathetic neurons. When this set of genes was compared to CNTF-induced changes in the chicken transcriptome, a surprisingly small overlap was found—only 94 genes were regulated in the same direction in chicken and rat. The differential responses of the transcriptome to neuropoietic cytokines provide additional evidence that the cholinergic switch, although conserved during vertebrate evolution, is a heterogeneous phenomenon and may result from differential cellular mechanisms.
Antibiotic‐Releasing Silk Biomaterials for Infection Prevention and Treatment
Authors: Pritchard Eleanor M. , Valentin Thomas , Panilaitis Bruce , Omenetto Fiorenzo , Kaplan David L.
Published: September 2012

Effective treatment of infections in avascular and necrotic tissues can be challenging due to limited penetration into the target tissue and systemic toxicities. Controlled‐release polymer implants have the potential to achieve the high local concentrations needed while also minimizing systemic exposure. Silk biomaterials possess unique characteristics for antibiotic delivery, including biocompatibility, tunable biodegradation, stabilizing effects, water‐based processing, and diverse material formats. The functional release of antibiotics spanning a range of chemical properties from different material formats of silk (films, microspheres, hydrogels, coatings) is reported. The release of penicillin and ampicillin from bulk‐loaded silk films, drug‐loaded silk microspheres suspended in silk hydrogels and bulk‐loaded silk hydrogels is investigated and the in vivo efficacy of the ampicillin‐releasing silk hydrogels is demonstrated in a murine infected‐wound model. Silk sponges with nanofilm coatings are loaded with gentamicin and cefazolin, and release is sustained for 5 and 3 days, respectively. The capability of silk antibiotic carriers to sequester, stabilize, and then release bioactive antibiotics represents a major advantage over implants and pumps based on liquid drug reservoirs, where instability at room or body temperature is limiting. The present studies demonstrate that silk biomaterials represent a novel, customizable antibiotic platform for focal delivery of antibiotics using a range of material formats (injectable to implantable).
Ultracompact Asymmetric Mach–Zehnder Interferometers with High Visibility Constructed from Exciton Polariton Waveguides of Organic Dye Nanofibers
Authors: Takazawa Ken , Inoue Jun‐ichi , Mitsuishi Kazutaka , Kuroda Takashi
Published: September 2012

Manipulation of light using subwavelength waveguides is a key technology in the development of miniaturized photonic circuits, which possess various advantages over their electronic counterparts. The novel approach presented for such waveguiding involves the propagation of exciton polaritons (EPs), which are quasi‐particles formed by strong exciton–photon coupling, along organic dye nanofibers. A self‐assembled nanofiber of thiacyanine (TC) with a width of ≈200 nm propagates the EPs created by an optical excitation over a submillimeter‐scale distance and passes through a bend with a micrometer‐scale radius with low bending loss. To demonstrate the remarkable potential of EP‐based miniaturized photonic circuits, asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometers (AMZIs) are fabricated with TC nanofibers by micromanipulation. The AMZIs with a footprint of ≈20 μm × 20 μm exhibit a visibility of nearly unity and function as channel drop filters with the considerably high extinction ratio of up to ≈15 dB. Such high‐performance and ultracompact channel drop filters operating in the visible wavelength region have rarely been developed with other waveguide technologies. The coherent properties of the EPs in the nanofibers are investigated using time‐resolved experiments. The coherent properties provide useful information for designing EP‐based photonic circuits and for understanding EP dynamics in a nanofiber.
Large‐scale optimization strategies for pressure swing adsorption cycle synthesis
Authors: Dowling Alexander W. , Vetukuri Sree R. R. , Biegler Lorenz T.
Published: September 2012

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is an efficient method for gas separation and is a potential candidate for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from power plants. However, few PSA cycles have been designed for this purpose; the optimal design and operation of PSA cycles for CO2 capture, as well as other systems, remains a very challenging task. In this study, we present a systematic optimization‐based formulation for the synthesis and design of novel PSA cycles for CO2 capture in IGCC power plants, which can simultaneously produce hydrogen (H2) and CO2 at high purity and high recovery. Here, we apply a superstructure‐based approach to simultaneously determine optimal cycle configurations and design parameters for PSA units. This approach combines automatic differentiation, efficient ODE solvers for the state and sensitivity equations of the PSA model, and state of the art nonlinear programming solvers. Three optimization models are proposed, and two PSA case studies are considered. The first case study considers a binary separation of H2 and CO2 at high purity, where specific energy is minimized, whereas the second case study considers a larger five component separation. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 3777–3791, 2012
Water disinfection by pulsed atmospheric air plasma along water surface
Authors: Zheng Chao , Xu Yuzhen , Huang Haomin , Zhang Zhicheng , Liu Zhen , Yan Keping , Zhu Anna
Published: September 2012

An above water‐pulsed nonthermal plasma technique for water disinfection is reported. Experiments are performed with a 2.5 L plasma reactor and Escherichia coli. When its initial number density is less than 106 cfu/mL, up to six orders reduction can be achieved within 0.5–2.5 min and at a plasma energy density of less than 2 J/mL. The disinfection performance is always effective by controlling water conductivity of below 1.5 mS/cm, which significantly affects plasma generation. Aqueous hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and nitric acid are continuously accumulated inside the reactor by the processing. Plasma generated UV radiation plays an important role in the cell inactivation. Inactivated cell morphology almost remains the same shape, their intracellular protein like green fluorescent protein, however, is destructed according to fluorescence observation. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1458–1467, 2013
Ultrasmooth metallic films with buried nanostructures for backside reflection‐mode plasmonic biosensing
Authors: Lindquist N.C. , Johnson T.W. , Jose J. , Otto L.M. , Oh S.‐H.
Published: September 2012

A new plasmonic device architecture based on ultrasmooth metallic surfaces with buried plasmonic nanostructures is presented. Using template‐stripping techniques, ultrathin gold films with less than 5 Å surface roughness are optically coupled to an arbitrary arrangement of buried metallic gratings, rings, and nanodots. As a prototypical example, linear plasmonic gratings buried under an ultrasmooth 20 nm thick gold surface for biosensing are presented. The optical illumination and collection are completely decoupled from the microfluidic delivery of liquid samples due to the backside, reflection‐mode geometry. This allows for sensing with opaque or highly scattering liquids. With the buried nanostructure design, high sensitivity and decoupled backside (reflective) optical access are maintained, as with traditional prism‐based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors. In addition, the benefits offered by nanoplasmonic sensors such as spectral tunability and high‐resolution, wide‐field SPR imaging with normal‐incidence epi‐illumination that is simple to construct and align are gained as well. Beyond sensing, the buried plasmonic nanostructures with ultrasmooth metallic surfaces can benefit nanophotonic waveguides, surface‐enhanced spectroscopy, nanolithography, and optical trapping.
Influence of monosodium glutamate additive on the morphology and permeability characteristics of polyamide dialysis membranes
Authors: Shakaib M. , Ahmed Iqbal , Yunus Rosli M. , Idris Ani , Hussain A.
Published: September 2012

Membranes were prepared with dope solutions of various concentrations of polyamide and monosodium glutamate (MSG) additive for dialysis applications. The results show that the membranes with higher MSG concentrations had higher water uptakes and porosities. The membranes were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy techniques and evaluated in terms of the permeability of solutes, such as urea and creatinine. The cross‐sectional structure of the membranes prepared without MSG additive or with a low MSG concentration were dense, and their surfaces consisted of large‐sized nodule aggregates. The permeation of solutes was less through these membranes. When the amount of additive in the membrane solution was sufficient, macrovoids were seen in the SEM images, and the sizes of nodules were small, which caused an increase in the diffusive permeability of solutes. The surfaces of the membranes with higher MSG concentrations were found to be smooth; this could be useful for the dialysis process. The contact angles of these membranes were also lower; this indicated that this additive improved the hydrophilicity of the membranes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013
Thermal stability of novolac cured with polyborosilazane
Authors: Guo Zibin , Li Hao , Han Weijian , Zhao Tong
Published: September 2012

To improve the thermal stability of phenolic resins, silicon‐ and boron‐containing phenolic resin (SBPR) was synthesized from novolac‐type phenolic resin using polyborosilazane (PBSZ) as curing agent, which can react with novolac resin at room temperature. The curing mechanism was studied by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermal and morphological properties of SBPR were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. TG results showed that the thermal properties of SBPR were much better than the corresponding novolac resin cured with hexamethylenetetramine, both for the initial decomposition temperatures (Td) and residual weight at 900°C. The SEM and EDX results showed that the SBPR hybrids after oxidation were covered with SiO2 glass coatings, which improved the thermo‐oxidative resistance of SBPR. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013
Assessing Obliteration by Incorporation: Issues and Caveats
Authors: McCain Katherine W.
Published: September 2012

Empirical studies of obliteration by incorporation (OBI) may be conducted at the level of the database record or the fulltext citation‐in‐context. To assess the difference between the two approaches, 1,040 articles with a variant of the phrase “evolutionarily stable strategies” (ESS) were identified by searching the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters, Philadelphia, PA) and discipline‐level databases. The majority (72%) of all articles were published in life sciences journals. The ESS concept is associated with a small set of canonical publications by John Maynard Smith; OBI represents a decoupling of the use of the phrase and a citation to a John Maynard Smith publication. Across all articles at the record level, OBI is measured by the number of articles with the phrase in the database record but which lack a reference to a source article (implicit citations). At the citation‐in‐context level, articles that coupled a non‐Maynard Smith citation with the ESS phrase (indirect citations) were counted along with those that cited relevant Maynard Smith publications (explicit citations) and OBI counted only based on those articles that lacked any citation coupled with the ESS text phrase. The degree of OBI observed depended on the level of analysis. Record‐level OBI trended upward, peaking in 2002 (62%), with a secondary drop and rebound to 53% (2008). Citation‐in‐context OBI percentages were lower with no clear pattern. Several issues relating to the design of empirical OBI studies are discussed.
Gene expression profiling for mechanistic understanding of cellular aggregation in mammalian cell perfusion cultures
Authors: Liu Meile , Goudar Chetan T.
Published: September 2012

Aggregation of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells cultivated in perfusion mode for manufacturing recombinant proteins was characterized. The potential impact of cultivation time on cell aggregation for an aggregating culture (cell line A) was studied by comparing expression profiles of 84 genes in the extracellular adhesion molecules (ECM) pathway by qRT‐PCR from 9 and 25 day shake flask samples and 80 and 94 day bioreactor samples. Significant up‐regulation of THBS2 (4.4‐ to 6.9‐fold) was seen in both the 25 day shake flask and 80 and 94 day bioreactor samples compared to the 9 day shake flask while NCAM1 was down‐regulated 5.1‐ to 8.9‐fold in the 80 and 94 day bioreactor samples. Subsequent comparisons were made between cell line A and a non‐aggregating culture (cell line B). A 65 day perfusion bioreactor sample from cell line B served as the control for 80 and 94 day samples from four different perfusion bioreactors for cell line A. Of the 84 genes in the ECM pathway, four (COL1A1, COL4A1, THBS2, and VCAN) were consistently up‐regulated in cell line A while two (NCAM1 and THBS1) were consistently down‐regulated. The magnitudes of differential gene expression were much higher when cell lines were compared (4.1‐ to 44.6‐fold) than when early and late cell line B samples were compared (4.4‐ to 6.9‐fold) indicating greater variability between aggregating and non‐aggregating cell lines. Based on the differential gene expression results, two mechanistic models were proposed for aggregation of BHK cells in perfusion cultures. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 483–490. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Modeling the influence of slurry concentration on Saccharomyces cerevisiae cake porosity and resistance during microfiltration
Authors: Mota Manuel , Flickinger Michael C.
Published: September 2012

Filtration of an isotonic suspension of baker's yeast through a 0.45‐μm membrane was studied at two different pressures, 40 and 80 kPa, for yeast concentrations ranging from 0.14 to 51 kg/m3 (dry weight). For a yeast volume fraction above 0.06 (∼21.8 kg/m3), the porosity of the yeast cake is less dependent on the suspension concentration. For highly diluted suspensions, the specific cake resistance approaches a minimum that depends on the filtration pressure. Correlation functions of cake porosity and specific cake resistance were obtained for the concentration range investigated showing that the Kozeny–Carman coefficient increases when the applied pressure increases. Both filtration pressure and slurry concentration can be process controlled. In the range of moderate yeast concentration, the filtrate flux may be increased by manipulating the filtration pressure and the slurry concentration, thereby improving the overall process efficiency. The complex behavior of yeast cakes at high slurry concentration can be described by a conventional model as long as part of yeast cells are assumed to form aggregates, which behave as single bigger particles. The aggregation effect may be accounted for using a binary mixture model. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012
Specialist training in forensic psychiatry: The UK experience
Authors: Sebastian Lavanya
Published: September 2012

Background

Training pathways and structures in forensic psychiatry differ between European Union countries, and perspective may differ between trainees and trainers.

Aim

To describe the context of forensic psychiatry training in the UK, with a particular emphasis on England and Wales, as well as some details of core psychiatry and specialist forensic training.

Information and discussion

Forensic psychiatry in the UK takes place in the context of general medical training guidance and regulation. In the last decade, it has changed to be in line with the European working directive and to take account of opinions from outside medicine. The specialist component is typically during the last 3 years of post‐graduate training and is based on an apprenticeship/competency model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Highly Active Bifunctional Iridium Complex with an Alcohol/Alkoxide‐Tethered N‐Heterocyclic Carbene for Alkylation of Amines with Alcohols
Authors: Bartoszewicz Agnieszka , Marcos Rocío , Sahoo Suman , Inge A. Ken , Zou Xiaodong , Martín‐Matute Belén
Published: September 2012

A series of new iridium(III) complexes containing bidentate N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) functionalized with an alcohol or ether group (NHCOR, R=H, Me) were prepared. The complexes catalyzed the alkylation of anilines with alcohols as latent electrophiles. In particular, biscationic IrIII complexes of the type [Cp*(NHC‐OH)Ir(MeCN)]2+2[BF4−] afforded higher‐order amine products with very high efficiency; up to >99 % yield using a 1:1 ratio of reactants and 1–2.5 mol % of Ir, in short reaction times (2–16 h) and under base‐free conditions. Quantitative yields were also obtained at 50 °C, although longer reaction times (48–60 h) were needed. A large variety of aromatic amines have been alkylated with primary and secondary alcohols. The reactivity of structurally related iridium(III) complexes was also compared to obtain insights into the mechanism and into the structure of possible catalytic intermediates. The IrIII complexes were stable towards oxygen and moisture, and were characterized by NMR, HRMS, single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, and elemental analyses.
Cadmium(II) biosorption from aqueous solutions using Hydrilla verticillata
Authors: Li Guo‐Xin , Yan Chang‐Zhou , Zhang Dan‐Dan , Zhao Chao , Chen Guo‐Yuan
Published: September 2012

The kinetics and equilibrium of cadmium biosorption from aqueous solutions were investigated using fresh tissues of Hydrilla verticillata. The biosorptive characteristics of cadmium ions were studied with respect to well‐established effective parameters, including pH, temperature and contact time. The biosorptive capacity of H. verticillata for cadmium increased with increasing pH. In addition, the resulting isotherms were well‐described by Langmuir and extended Langmuir models (R2 = 0.9794–0.9957 and 0.9880, respectively). The comparison between calculated and experimental qe values showed that the extended Langmuir model had a better simulation for the cadmium biosorption by H. verticillata than the Langmuir isotherm model. The equilibrium biosorption data at a constant temperature were well‐interpreted by the Langmuir model. The maximum biosorptive capacity increased from 33.54 to 37.46 mg/g when the solution temperature was increased from 278 to 298 K. Other various thermodynamic parameters were also estimated. Biosorptive equilibrium was established within approximately 20 min. Moreover, the pseudo‐second‐order equation was more appropriate in predicting biosorptive capacity than the pseudo‐first‐order equation. In practical viewpoints, the abundant and inexpensive plant biomass H. verticillata can be used as an effective and environmentally friendly biosorbent for the detoxification of cadmium from aqueous solutions. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering
Elderly patients with colon cancer have unique tumor characteristics and poor survival
Authors: Patel Supriya S. , Nelson Rebecca , Sanchez Julian , Lee Wendy , Uyeno Lori , Garcia‐Aguilar Julio , Hurria Arti , Kim Joseph
Published: September 2012

BACKGROUND:

The incidence of colon cancer increases with age, and colon cancer predominantly affects individuals >65 years old. However, there are limited data regarding clinical and pathologic factors, treatment characteristics, and survival of older patients with colon cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of increasing age on colon cancer.

METHODS:

Patients diagnosed with colon cancer between 1988 and 2006 were identified through the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program, in Southern California. Patients were stratified into 4 age groups: 18‐49, 50‐64, 65‐79, and ≥80 years. Clinical and pathologic characteristics and disease‐specific and overall survival were compared between patients from different age groups.

RESULTS:

A total of 32,819 patients were assessed. Patients aged 18 to 49 and 65 to 79 years represented the smallest and largest groups, respectively. A near equal number of males and females were diagnosed with colon cancer in the 3 youngest age groups, whereas patients who were ≥80 years old were more commonly white and female. Tumor location was different between groups, and the frequency of larger tumors (>5 cm) was greatest in youngest patients (18‐49 years). The oldest patients (≥80 years) were administered chemotherapy at the lowest frequency, and disease‐specific and overall survival rates decreased with increasing age.

CONCLUSIONS:

This investigation demonstrates that older age is associated with alterations in clinical and pathologic characteristics and decreased survival. This suggests that the phenotype of colon cancer and the efficacy of colon cancer therapies may be dependent on the age of patients. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.
Use of adjuvant trastuzumab in women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)‐positive breast cancer by race/ethnicity and education within the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
Authors: Freedman Rachel A. , Hughes Melissa E. , Ottesen Rebecca A. , Weeks Jane C. , He Yulei , Wong Yu‐Ning , Theriault Richard , Keating Nancy L.
Published: September 2012

BACKGROUND.

Trastuzumab for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)‐positive breast cancer is highly efficacious yet costly and time‐intensive, and few data are available about its use. The authors of this report examined receipt and completion of adjuvant trastuzumab by race/ethnicity and education for women with HER2‐positive disease.

METHODS.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer Outcomes Database was used to identify 1109 women who were diagnosed with stage I through III, HER2‐positive breast cancer during September 2005 through December 2008 and were followed for ≥1 year. The authors used multivariable logistic regression to assess the association of race/ethnicity and education with the receipt of trastuzumab and, among those women who initiated trastuzumab, with the completion of > 270 days of therapy.

RESULTS.

The cohort was 75% white, 8% black, and 9% Hispanic; and 20% of women had attained a high school degree or less. Most women (83%) received trastuzumab, and no significant differences were observed according to race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Among the women who initiated trastuzumab, 73% of black women versus 87% of white women (P = .007) and 70% of women with less than a high school education versus 90% of women with a college degree completed > 270 days of therapy (P = .006). In adjusted analyses, black women (vs white women) and women without a high school degree (vs those with a college degree) had lower odds of completing therapy (black women: odds ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.27‐074; white women: odds ratio, 0.27, 95% confidence interval, 0.14‐0.51).

CONCLUSIONS.

Differences in completing trastuzumab therapy were observed according to race and educational attainment among women who received treatment at National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers. Efforts to assure the appropriate use of trastuzumab and to understand treatment barriers are needed and may lead to improved outcomes.

The authors report differences in the rate at which patients complete treatment with trastuzumab according to race and education among women who receive treatment at National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers. Efforts to assure the appropriate use of trastuzumab and to understand treatment barriers are needed and may lead to improved outcomes. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.
Hierarchical MapReduce: towards simplified cross‐domain data processing
Authors: Luo Yuan , Plale Beth , Guo Zhenhua , Li Wilfred W. , Qiu Judy , Sun Yiming
Published: September 2012

The MapReduce programming model has proven useful for data‐driven high throughput applications. However, the conventional MapReduce model limits itself to scheduling jobs within a single cluster. As job sizes become larger, single‐cluster solutions grow increasingly inadequate. We present a hierarchical MapReduce framework that utilizes computation resources from multiple clusters simultaneously to run MapReduce job across them. The applications implemented in this framework adopt the Map–Reduce–GlobalReduce model where computations are expressed as three functions: Map, Reduce, and GlobalReduce. Two scheduling algorithms are proposed, one that targets compute‐intensive jobs and another data‐intensive jobs, evaluated using a life science application, AutoDock, and a simple Grep. Data management is explored through analysis of the Gfarm file system.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
CSR for Sustainable Development: CSR Beneficiary Positioning and Impression Management Motivation
Authors: Kim Moon Seop , Kim Dong Tae , Kim Jae Il
Published: September 2012

This study aims to seek ways to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) a vehicle for the sustainable development of companies and society. It examines the effect of CSR beneficiary positioning on purchase intention based on social exchange theory. It also investigates the moderating roles of product category, situation, and consumer's self‐monitoring level based on impression management theory. The results show that consumers will be more likely to buy products from those companies which employ a self‐benefit CSR positioning. In addition, the findings also suggest that the effect of the CSR beneficiary positioning on purchase intention depends on product type, situation, and self‐monitoring level. Specifically, when the impression management motivation is heightened, people will pay more attention to information about companies' CSR efforts. Thus, CSR beneficiary positioning will have less effect on purchase intention. However, the effect of CSR beneficiary positioning persists when the motivation is not heightened. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Framed slotted aloha based MAC protocol for low energy critical infrastructure monitoring networks
Authors: Sanaullah Chowdhury M. , Ullah Niamat , Ameen Mosaddique Al , Kwak Kyung Sup
Published: September 2012

Recently, the IEEE TG4k has been formed to amend the IEEE 802.15 family to address the low energy critical infrastructure monitoring networks. The purpose is to facilitate point to multi‐thousands of point communication to collect the scheduled and event data from a large number of nonmains powered endpoints that are widely dispersed. It should support low energy operation, which is necessary for multiyear battery life. Other major features are application data rate up to 40 Kb/s, thousands of endpoints per mains powered infrastructure, asymmetric application data flow, small and infrequent messages, tolerant to data latency, etc. In this paper, we present a discussion on low energy critical infrastructure monitoring networks. We propose a medium access control protocol based on framed slotted aloha for these networks. We investigated probable packet sizes, energy consumptions, battery lifetime and the success rate for our protocol. The proposed protocol is simple to implement. Simulation results show that it is efficient in terms of packet success rate, energy consumption, and battery lifetime.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Conditional error rate and combining schemes for hybrid automatic repeat request with M‐pulse amplitude modulation
Authors: Long Hang , Xiang Wei , Wang Jing , Zhang Yueying , Liu Yuanan , Wang Wenbo
Published: September 2012

In hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), maximum ratio combining (MRC) is usually employed at the receiver if the retransmitted signal is the same as that of the first transmission. However, it is proved that MRC is not the optimum combining scheme with binary phase shift keying modulation in terms of the conditional error rate. In this paper, the conditional error rate of HARQ with M‐pulse amplitude modulation (M‐PAM) and arbitrary combining schemes at the receiver is analyzed. Then, the optimum combining scheme with M‐PAM is proposed with the aim of minimizing the conditional error rate.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Growing season variability in evapotranspiration, ecosystem water use efficiency, and energy partitioning in switchgrass
Authors: Wagle Pradeep , Kakani Vijaya Gopal
Published: September 2012

Evapotranspiration (ET), ecosystem water use efficiency (EWUE), and energy partitioning in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) ecosystems are crucial to understand its water and energy balances since switchgrass acreage is expanding for cellulosic biofuels. We measured CO2, H2O, and energy fluxes over a switchgrass field in Chickasha, OK, USA, using eddy covariance method. The objective of this study was to quantify seasonal variations in ET, EWUE, and seasonal distributions of energy partitioning in response to controlling factors. Seasonal (May to mid‐November) cumulative ET (450 mm) was similar to cumulative rainfall (432 mm). During June to September, ET was 1·92 times of rainfall, indicating that the crop experienced severe drought during the mid‐growing season. ET showed clear seasonality with 3–4 mm day−1 during the active growing season (late May and June) to low rates of about 0·5 mm day−1 during the late growing season (November). The ET rate decreased during dry periods. On seasonal scale, more energy was partitioned to sensible heat flux (H) than latent heat (LE) because of drought. Estimation of EWUE by dividing time integrals of gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP) by respective H2O fluxes (ET) at monthly time scale provided EWUE from 10·46 (August) to 14·08 g CO2 mm−1 ET (October) with a seasonal average of 12·01 g CO2 mm−1 ET. Seasonal patterns in EWUE were observed with smaller values during drought because of more rapid reduction in carbon assimilation (GEP) than ET. These findings confirm the major role of precipitation in determining water and energy balances in switchgrass. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dexamethasone promotes tolerance in vivo by enriching CD11cloCD40lo tolerogenic macrophages
Authors: Zheng Guoxing , Zhong Shibo , Geng Yajun , Munirathinam Gnanasekar , Cha Isaac , Reardon Catherine , Getz Godfrey S. , van Rooijen Nico , Kang Youmin , Wang Bin , Chen Aoshuang
Published: September 2012

We previously showed that antigen immunization in the presence of the immunosuppressant dexamethasone (a strategy we termed “suppressed immunization”) could tolerize established recall responses of T cells. However, the mechanism by which dexamethasone acts as a tolerogenic adjuvant has remained unclear. In the present study, we show that dexamethasone enriches CD11cloCD40lo macrophages in a dose‐dependent manner in the spleen and peripheral lymph nodes of mice by depleting all other CD11c+CD40+ cells including dendritic cells. The enriched macrophages display a distinct MHC class II (MHC II)loCD86hi phenotype. Upon activation by antigen in vivo, CD11cloCD40lo macrophages upregulate IL‐10, a classic marker for tolerogenic antigen‐presenting cells, and elicit a serum IL‐10 response. When presenting antigen in vivo, these cells do not elicit recall responses from memory T cells, but rather stimulate the expansion of antigen‐specific regulatory T cells. Moreover, the depletion of CD11cloCD40lo macrophages during suppressed immunization diminishes the tolerogenic efficacy of the treatment. These results indicate that dexamethasone acts as a tolerogenic adjuvant partly by enriching the CD11cloCD40lo tolerogenic macrophages.
Synthesis of Polycyclic Imidazo[1,4]thiazine Derivatives by an ANRORC Domino Reaction
Authors: Voskressensky Leonid G. , Festa Alexey A. , Sokolova Ekaterina A. , Khrustalev Victor N. , Varlamov Alexey V.
Published: September 2012

10bH‐6‐Oxa‐1‐thia‐3a,5‐diazaacephenanthrylenes can be easily obtained by a sodium hydrogen carbonate catalyzed anionic domino reaction of thiazolium salts with salicylic aldehydes. It is presumed that the domino sequence includes Kröhnke condensation, nucleophilic cyclization, and ANRORC (addition of nucleophile/ring opening/ring closure) steps. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first example of a multistep anionic domino reaction incorporating an ANRORC transformation. The initial generality of the method is demonstrated by using 3‐hydroxypyridine‐2‐carbaldehyde as a carbonyl component.
Capillary electrophoresis/frontal analysis versus equilibrium dialysis in dexamethasone sodium phosphate‐serum albumin binding studies
Authors: Gonciarz Anna , Kus Kamil , Szafarz Małgorzata , Walczak Maria , Zakrzewska Agnieszka , Szymura‐Oleksiak Joanna
Published: September 2012

Plasma protein binding of drugs may have significant effect on its pharmacodynamic, toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties, since only the free drug can pass across biological membrane and get to its specific site of action. Many drugs show a high affinity to albumin which is the most abundant plasma protein. In the present study capillary electrophoresis in the frontal analysis mode (CE/FA), as promising technique for assessment of drug–protein interaction was used. The free drug concentration was measured from height of the frontal peak and calculated based on the external drug standard in absence of protein. With a known concentration of total drug, the percentage of protein bound drug was determined. The binding parameters were also estimated based on the equilibrium dialysis experiment which is considered to be a reference method. This study was designed to examine the interaction of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DXM) with BSA and HSA under simulated physiological conditions (pH 7.4, 67 mM phosphate buffer, I = 0.17). Using fixed, at physiological level, HSA and BSA concentrations and increasing DXM concentrations, the number of binding sites (n) and binding constant (Ka) was calculated from both nonlinear regression fitting and Scatchard Plot. Despite some differences, it can be concluded that the CE/FA is comparable with equilibrium dialysis, but since the first one offers advantages such as low sample consumption, short analysis time, and high separation efficiency, it can be used in high‐throughput screening of drug protein binding at the early stage of drug discovery. Interspecies differences in binding of a drug to albumins have been observed and it should be taken into account in interpretation of the results.
Mercury removal by thiol‐functionalized metal oxide–carbon black sorbent and mixed‐matrix membranes
Authors: Meeks Noah D. , Davis Erica , Jain Mohit , Skandan Ganesh , Bhattacharyya D.
Published: September 2012

Aqueous mercury sorption is achieved using a novel thiol‐functionalized metal oxide‐coated carbon sorbent. The material is hydrolytically and thermally stable (up to 250°C) because of the formation of covalent siloxane bonds on functionalization and increased hydrophobicity. The particles were synthesized with a variety of morphologies; the base particles are ∼80 nm and a nonuniform metal oxide (including silica) coating less than 5 nm thick. This sorbent material has a high equilibrium capacity for mercury (∼60 mg/g) at concentrations up to ∼150 mg/L. The Langmuir constant for equilibrium sorption (ka/kd) is K = 16.9 L/mol. Packed column experiments using real water reduced mercury levels to below detectable limits. Mixed‐matrix membranes (sorbent particles and polysulfone) were synthesized to combine the ease of surface functionalization on particles with advantages of polymer membranes. Membranes with up to 50 wt % particles were synthesized, with sorption capacities at 200 mg/g sorbent or greater due to dispersion of particles in the matrix and the use of small particles, which are impractical in packed column operations. A regeneration scheme is proposed using multifunctional particles (thiol and sulfonate moieties). Initial experiments showed that mild regeneration conditions (dilute HCl at pH 4) partially regenerated the sorbent particles. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 705–714, 2013
Subassemblage cyclic loading test of RC frame with buckling restrained braces in zigzag configuration
Authors: Qu Zhe , Kishiki Shoichi , Sakata Hiroyasu , Wada Akira , Maida Yusuke
Published: September 2012

A new buckling restrained braced frame system is proposed for reinforced concrete building structures, which is featured by the zigzag configuration of the braces and the corresponding connection details. The connection details tend to separate the vertical and horizontal components of force imposed by the braces to be resisted by independent structural components to make the behavior of the connection easier to estimate and control. The performance of the brace connection details was evaluated through cyclic load testing on 1/2‐scale subassemblies of the proposed system, each of which consisted of a reinforced concrete part and a set of buckling restrained braces. To simplify the test control, the specimens were rotated 90° in the test and were loaded by two displacement controlled actuators. The test results show that the normal and the shear resistance of the gusset plate connection are essentially independent of each other. However, the rotation of the gusset plate with respect to the beam‐to‐column joint may result in nonuniform force distribution of the anchor bolts, the primary resistance for tensile force. At the same time, such rotation may also subject the concrete corbels, the primary shear resistance, to unfavorable tensile force. In addition, it is also confirmed that the buckling restrained braces performed well in the proposed system. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Shifting sands on Mars: insights from tropical intra‐crater dunes
Authors: Geissler Paul E. , Stantzos Nicholas W. , Bridges Nathan T. , Bourke Mary C. , Silvestro Simone , Fenton Lori K.
Published: September 2012

Evidence for sand motion is found in repeated observations of sand dunes at three sites in the Martian tropics by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. An eroding outcrop of layered sediments is identified as a possible source of the sand in Pasteur crater. Ancient layered sediments in Becquerel crater are actively being carved into flutes and yardangs by the blowing sands. Dunes in an un‐named crater in Meridiani near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landing site advanced as much as 50 cm over an interval of one Martian year. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of compounds responsible for the odorant properties of aromatic caramel
Authors: Paravisini Laurianne , Gourrat‐Pernin Karine , Gouttefangeas Cécile , Moretton Cédric , Nigay Henri , Dacremont Catherine , Guichard Elisabeth
Published: September 2012

Aromatic caramel results from the heat treatment of sugars under specific temperature conditions. Because of its richness in aroma compounds and its pleasant organoleptic properties, caramel is widely used in the food industry. However, the composition of the volatile odorant fraction has not been completely elucidated. The aim of this work was thus to identify the volatile odorant compounds responsible for caramel sensory properties using a multivariate statistical technique. Four aromatic caramels differing in terms of their carbohydrate composition and cooking process were chosen. Odorant compounds were screened by gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC‐O) and identified by GC–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). GC‐O data were processed using a detection frequency method. A total of 76 odorant zones were detected and 49 aroma compounds identified, some of them being reported for the first time in caramel. In parallel, descriptive sensory profiles of the caramels were performed with a panel of ten trained assessors. Odour properties appeared to be closely related to the cooking properties of the caramel. The relationship between the intensities of sensory descriptors and the 76 odorant zones was modelled by partial least squares regression (PLS‐R). The first PLS‐R component explained 93% of the variance in sensory descriptors and 39% in GC‐O data. Sensory descriptors were mainly separated on the first axis, opposing sweet‐like descriptors (cooked‐syrup, fruity, honey) to burnt sugar descriptors (strong, pungent, roasted). Heterocycles, carbocyclic compounds and acids appeared to be the principal odorants for burnt sugars. They were mainly described by empyreumatic notes in GC‐O and correlated to burnt sugar descriptors in the PLS model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Empirical Bayes Correction for the Winner's Curse in Genetic Association Studies
Authors: Ferguson John P. , Cho Judy H. , Yang Can , Zhao Hongyu
Published: September 2012

We consider an Empirical Bayes method to correct for the Winner's Curse phenomenon in genome‐wide association studies. Our method utilizes the collective distribution of all odds ratios (ORs) to determine the appropriate correction for a particular single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). We can show that this approach is squared error optimal provided that this collective distribution is accurately estimated in its tails. To improve the performance when correcting the OR estimates for the most highly associated SNPs, we develop a second estimator that adaptively combines the Empirical Bayes estimator with a previously considered Conditional Likelihood estimator. The applications of these methods to both simulated and real data suggest improved performance in reducing selection bias.
A study of the effects of friction, heat transfer, and stream impurities on the decompression behavior in CO2 pipelines
Authors: Mahgerefteh Haroun , Brown Solomon , Martynov Sergey
Published: September 2012

A transient multi‐phase outflow model is employed to study the effects of heat transfer and friction on the decompression behavior in CO2 pipelines. The model's predictions are compared to measurements obtained from a number of shock tube experiments for gaseous phase CO2 as well its various mixtures, typical of those found in the different capture technologies. Particular attention is paid to studying the impact of the stream impurities on the CO2 mixtures saturation pressures and the decompression wave speeds given their direct influence on the pipeline's propensity to running ductile fractures. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Functional connectivity between parietal and frontal brain regions and intelligence in young children: The Generation R study
Authors: Langeslag Sandra J.E. , Schmidt Marcus , Ghassabian Akhgar , Jaddoe Vincent W. , Hofman Albert , van der Lugt Aad , Verhulst Frank C. , Tiemeier Henning , White Tonya J.H.
Published: September 2012

It has been shown in adults that individual differences in intelligence are related to the integrity of the interaction between parietal and frontal brain regions. Since connectivity between distant brain regions strengthens during childhood, it is unclear when in the course of development this relationship emerges. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine whether parietal‐frontal functional connectivity is associated with intelligence in young children. We performed independent component analyses on resting‐state fMRI data of 115 children (6–8 years old) to select seed and target regions for a seed/target region correlation analysis. We found that higher nonverbal intelligence was associated with increased functional connectivity between right parietal and right frontal regions, and between right parietal and dorsal anterior cingulate regions. The association between intelligence and functional connectivity between certain brain regions was stronger in girls than boys. In conclusion, we found that connectivity between the parietal and frontal lobes is critically involved in intelligence in young children. Hum Brain Mapp 34:3299–3307, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.