bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of the Catalyst on the Selectivity of the Heterogeneous 1,4-addition of Organomagnesium Compounds to Chalcone
Authors: Juhász Kinga , Hell Zoltán
Published: June 2019

The conjugate addition in the presence of a catalytic amount of copper is a widely used method for the formation of a C-C bond. However, mostly homogeneous catalysts and/or homogeneous ligands are used in these type of reactions. Previously we reported the heterogeneous catalytic 1,4-addition of organomagnesium compounds to chalcones in the presence of Cu(II) on 4Å molecular sieve support. In this study various heterogeneous supported catalysts were tested in the 1,4-addition reaction, such as La(III), Ti(IV), In(III), Co(II) and Ni(II) on 4Å molecular sieve support. Using the Ti(IV)-4A the desired products could be obtained in excellent yields and no 1,2-addition by-product could be detected. Therefore the reusability of the catalyst was tested in a second reaction. It was found, that the Ti(IV)-4A cannot be reused in this type of reaction, due to significant loss of selectivity. In the second experiment a considerable amount of the 1,2-addition product was formed. Thus, the Cu(II)-4A is a suitable catalyst for the heterogeneous 1,4-addition of organomagnesium compounds to chalcones, as described in our previous work.
Rescriptos Andinos II. Análisis jurisprudencial de los atributos de la personalidad y su desarrollo
Authors: Valbuena (comp) Leopoldo
Published: June 2019

Rescriptos Andinos es un compendio de ejercicios académicos realizados por estudiantes del programa de Derecho de la Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, sede Bogotá, cuyo objeto es acercar al estudiante al análisis jurisprudencial, a partir del estudio de sentencias emitidas por la Corte Constitucional que desarrollan la protección de la persona frente a los atributos de la personalidad y su libre desarrollo.
O impacto dos sintomas do trato urinário inferior na pessoa com esclerose múltipla
Authors: Palhais Rodrigues Cátia Patrícia , Dias Henriques Fernando Manuel
Published: June 2019

Este estudo pretendeu descrever o impacto que os Sintomas do trato urinário Inferior apresentam na Qualidade de Vida relacionada com a saúde das pessoas com Esclerose Múltipla, recorrendo ao Qualiveen, que avalia o impacto, tanto o real como o percecionado, dos problemas urinários na qualidade de vida das pessoas com lesão medular e com esclerose múltipla. É um estudo quantitativo, descritivo-correlacional. A amostra é não probabilística acidental constituída por 72 indivíduos. Os sintomas do trato urinário inferior mais frequentes são os mistos sendo a urgência urinária o mais frequente. O Impacto dos Problemas Urinários na Qualidade de Vida é notório e apresentou maiores valores no sexo feminino, nos reformados, nos que necessitam de ajuda nas atividades de vida diária dentro e fora de casa e nas pessoas que usam dispositivos protetores. Apresenta correlação elevada com a perceção da pessoa sobre a forma como urina e correlação moderada com o número de sintomas do trato urinário inferior, a frequência urinária diária aumentada e os anos de evolução dos Sintomas do trato urinário Inferior. Os sintomas do trato urinário inferior constituem um problema real das pessoas com Esclerose Múltipla e causam impacto real e percecionado na sua qualidade de vida, com necessidade urgente de intervenção ativa e imediata dos Enfermeiros de Reabilitação.
Palavras-chave: qualidade de vida; esclerose múltipla; transtornos urinários
Escala Eating Assessment Tool 10 na pessoa com acidente vascular cerebral
Authors: Pozo Rosado Juan Luis , Simões Ribeiro Gomes Ana Alexandra , de Almeida Borlido de Paula Ana Catarina , Levita Antunes Ana Sofia , Mota de Sousa Luís Manuel
Published: June 2019

Introdução: Com o Acidente Vascular Cerebral, surgem com frequência alterações da deglutição. O Eating Assessment Tool-10 é um instrumento que permite detetar precocemente a disfagia e a resposta ao tratamento. Objetivo: Avaliar as propriedades métricas do Eating Assessment Tool-10 na pessoa com Acidente Vascular Cerebral com alteração da deglutição. Método: Revisão Sistemática da Literatura baseada nas recomendações do Joanna Brigs Institute para a estratégia PICo, quais a propriedades métricas do Eating Assessment Tool-10 em pessoas com Acidente Vascular Cerebral com alteração da deglutição? A pesquisa foi realizada com recurso a plataformas de bases de dados eletrónicas EBSCO, Host, Google Escolar, Cochrane Lybrary Collection, Scielo e Proquest, tendo sido identificados, selecionados, avaliados na qualidade metodológica e incluídos os artigos de acordo com as recomendações PRISMA. Resultados: Foram incluídos seis estudos que cumpriam os critérios de elegibilidade e de qualidade metodológica. Foram encontrados estudos sobre a reprodutibilidade, validade e responsividade do Eating Assessment Tool-10. Contudo, esta última propriedade necessita de ser estudada em futuras investigações. A limitação identificada foi na aplicabilidade da escala em pessoas com alterações cognitivas. Conclusões: O Eating Assessment Tool-10 é um instrumento fiável, válido e com responsividade, nas pessoas com AVC com alterações da deglutição.
Descritores: Acidente Vascular Cerebral, Transtornos de Deglutição; Psicometria; Reprodutibilidade dos resultados; Enfermagem em Reabilitação.
Biçim Yüksekliği ve Sayısının Yulafın Tohum ve Ot Verimine Etkileri
Authors: ALATÜRK Firat
Published: June 2019

Bu araştırma yulafta tane verimi
azaltılmadan ot üretiminin mümkün olabilirliğini ortaya koymak amacıyla
planlanmış ve yürütülmüştür. Bunun için bitkiler farklı yüksekliklere ulaştıklarında
(20, 30, 40 cm) değişik sayılarda (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 biçim) biçilmiştir. Her
biçimde 5 cm anız bırakılmıştır. Araştırma 2016-2017 yetiştirme döneminde ÇOMÜ
Ziraat Fakültesi Dardanos Yerleşkesi deneme alanında yürütülmüştür. Deneme
tesadüf blokları deneme desenine göre 3 tekerrürlü olarak kurulmuştur.
Çalışmada tohum ve ot verimi ile otun ham protein, ham kül, NDF ve ADF oranları
incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre, biçim sayısı ve yüksekliğindeki
artışına bağlı olarak yeşil ve kuru ot verimleri önemli oranda (%150-200)
artmıştır. Tohum verimi ise kontrol parseline göre %15-40 arasında azalmıştır.
Fakat yapılan ekonomik değerlendirmede ot verimindeki artışın tohum verimindeki
azalışı tolere ettiği ve yapılan ikili (ot+tohum) uygulamaların, tekli (tohum)
üretim sistemlerine göre %1-18 oranında daha fazla gelir elde edildiği tespit
edilmiştir. Araştırmada yapılan uygulamaların otun besin maddesi kapsamına (ham
protein, ham kül, NDF ve ADF) etkisi istatistiki olarak önemsiz olmuştur. Bu
sonuçlar mevcut uygulama şekliyle ikili üretimin (tohum ve ot) iyi bir seçenek
olabileceğini göstermiştir.
The Graceful Coalescence of Alpha Cycles
Authors: BARRİENTOS Christian , MİNİON Sarah
Published: June 2019

The standard coalescence of two graphs is extended, allowing to identify two isomorphic subgraphs instead of a single vertex. It is proven here that any succesive coalescence of cycles of size $n$, where $n$ is divisible by four, results in an $\alpha$-graph, that is, the most restrictive kind of graceful graph, when the subgraphs identified are paths of sizes not exceeding $\frac{n}{2}$. Using the coalescence and another similar technique, it is proven that some subdivisions of the ladder $L_n = P_2 \times P_n$ also admit an $\alpha$-labeling, extending and generalizing the existing results for this type of subdivided graphs.
Stability Conditions for Perturbed Semigroups on a Hilbert Space via Commutators
Authors: GİL' Michael
Published: June 2019

Let $A$ and $B$ be linear operators on a Hilbert space. Let $A$ and $A+B$ generate $C_0$-semigroups $e^{tA}$ and $e^{t(A+B)}$, respectively, and $e^{tA}$ be exponentially stable. We establish exponential stability conditions for $e^{t(A+B)}$ in terms of the commutator $AB-BA$, assuming that it has a bounded extension. Besides, $B$ can be unbounded.
Standard and Corrected Numerical Differentiation Formulae
Authors: DUBEAU François
Published: June 2019

Standard numerical differentiation rules that might be established by the method of undetermined coefficients are revisited. Best truncation error bounds are established by a direct method and by the method of integration by parts "backwards". A new method to increase the order of the truncation error using a primitive is presented. This approach leads to corrected numerical differentiation rules. Differentiation formulae and numerical tests are presented.
Püskürtme Betonda Kimyasal Katkı Miktarının Priz Süresine ve Beton Basınç Dayanımına Etkisi
Authors: BAŞYİĞİT Celalettin , ÖZTÜRK Ali
Published: June 2019

Bu
çalışmada, tünellerde kullanılan püskürtme betona eklenen priz hızlandırıcı
katkı malzemesi oranının optimum değeri araştırılmıştır. %5, %8, %10
oranlarında katkı kullanılarak ve katkı kullanılmadan, püskürtme betonu için
çimento priz hızlandırıcı katkı uyum testi ve beton basınç dayanım deneyleri
yapılmıştır. Yapılan deneylerde, su/çimento oranı, çimento miktarı ve tipi,
agrega miktarı ve özellikleri sabit tutulmuştur. Priz hızlandırıcı katkı uyum
testi için toplamda 6 adet numune hazırlanmıştır. Cem-I 42,5 Portland çimentosu
kullanılarak, katkısız kontrol numuneleri, %5 katkı içeren numuneler, %8 katkı
içeren numuneler ve %10 katkı içeren numuneler hazırlanarak elde edilen
sonuçlar değerlendirilip beton priz süresine ve beton basınç dayanımına etkisi
incelenmiştir. Deneylerde kullanılan %10 priz hızlandırıcı katkı miktarı, priz
süresini oldukça kısaltmaktadır ve bu denli bir kısalma uygulama zorluklarına
yol açmaktadır. %5 priz hızlandırıcı katkı malzemesi kullanılması durumunda,
priz süresi değerlendirme tablosuna göre ilk priz süresi kabul edilebilir
olarak değerlendirilmiştir. %8 priz hızlandırıcı katkı miktarı kullanıldığında
ise en optimum sonuç elde edildiği gözlemlenmiştir.
ESL Learners’ Language Errors in a Reflective Writing Assessment
Authors: CHE HASSAN NOR SYAMIMI ILIANI , MOHAMMAD NOR NOR HAIRUNNISA , ROSLY ROHAZLYN , WAN ZAKARIA WAN NUUR FAZLIZA
Published: June 2019

Perceived as one fundamental element in language learning, grammar is reckoned important in ESL writing. ESL learners need to master the knowledge of how to transfer grammatical concepts into their ESL composition. However, Malaysian learners of English often repeat errors in writing which they cannot even recognize. The current study draws attention to the occurrences of language errors and examines their sources in Malaysian ESL learners’ writing. 40 students in their Semester 2 of diploma level were selected to participate in the study. Each student was to produce two essays of 100-word length. Each essay was first examined before language errors were identified and coded based on the parts of speech: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Articles, Pronouns, Prepositions, Adverbs, Conjunctions and Determiners. For each type of errors, the sources were categorized based on interlingual and intralingual sources. 258 errors were identified with the most frequent language errors produced were verb errors while the least were determiner errors. The result revealed that the most dominant errors were caused by intralingual sources. This study would greatly help teachers to establish better curriculum and select materials to facilitate students in learning English and develop them as proficient learners who can self-correct language errors.
FORMULASI TABLET HISAP KOMBINASI EKSTRAK TEH HIJAU, PEGAGAN DAN JAHE MERAH DENGAN VARIASI KONSENTRASI NA-SIKLAMAT
Authors: Yulianita Yulianita
Published: June 2019

Teh hijau, pegagan dan jahe merah merupakan beberapa tanaman yang memilikikhasiat baik untuk kesehatan dan salahsatu khasiatnya adalah sebagai peningkat stamina.Sehingga dilakukan penelitian formulasi kombinasi ketiga tanaman tersebut sebagai tablethisap. Telah dilakukan formulasi tablet hisap yang mengandung bahan aktif ekstrak tehhijau, jahe merah dan pegagan dengan perbedaan kadar pemanis Na siklamat
ANALISIS KINERJA KEUANGAN KSP. DHARMA SARI BUMI PAGUTAN DITINJAU DARI RASIO LAPORAN ARUS KAS
Authors: Arsana I Nengah , Nuada I Wayan
Published: June 2019

This study is entitled "Financial Performance Analysis of KSP. Dharma Sari Bumi Pagutan Viewed From the Ratio of Cash Flow Reports". The type of research used in this study is descriptive research. Data collection techniques carried out in this study were observation, interviews and documentation. The results of this study in general in terms of the ratio of cooperative cash flow statement shows good financial performance, where the ability of cooperatives to meet short-term liabilities is in the range of 10% <X <15%, cooperative ability to pay commitments (interest, tax, SHU divided) very well, namely above 1 (one) time, cooperatives have the ability to finance capital expenditures and without having to wait for external funding, while the ability of cooperatives in terms of fulfilling all liabilities is not good, because most or above 80% of cash flow free net owned by cooperatives is used for investment.
Familial Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis: Case Report
Authors: Ozceylan Gokmen , Toprak Dilek
Published: June 2019

Hypokalemic periodic paralysis is a congenital disorder which is characterized by intermittent episodes of muscle weakness or paralysis. The attacks can occur everyday or once a year, may last for a few hours or for several days. Serum potassium level is low during the attack. But serum potassium levels are normal between two attacks. There is no potassium deficiency in the whole body. In this report, a 16 years old boy, whose grandfather, father and uncle had the same semptoms, and had his first attack of familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis following a grand exercise were presented according to the clinical and laboratory features.
Guidelines for Experimental Algorithmics: A Case Study in Network Analysis
Authors: Angriman Eugenio , van der Grinten Alexander , von Looz Moritz , Meyerhenke Henning , Nöllenburg Martin , Predari Maria , Tzovas Charilaos
Published: June 2019

The field of network science is a highly interdisciplinary area; for the empirical analysis of network data, it draws algorithmic methodologies from several research fields. Hence, research procedures and descriptions of the technical results often differ, sometimes widely. In this paper we focus on methodologies for the experimental part of algorithm engineering for network analysis—an important ingredient for a research area with empirical focus. More precisely, we unify and adapt existing recommendations from different fields and propose universal guidelines—including statistical analyses—for the systematic evaluation of network analysis algorithms. This way, the behavior of newly proposed algorithms can be properly assessed and comparisons to existing solutions become meaningful. Moreover, as the main technical contribution, we provide SimexPal, a highly automated tool to perform and analyze experiments following our guidelines. To illustrate the merits of SimexPal and our guidelines, we apply them in a case study: we design, perform, visualize and evaluate experiments of a recent algorithm for approximating betweenness centrality, an important problem in network analysis. In summary, both our guidelines and SimexPal shall modernize and complement previous efforts in experimental algorithmics; they are not only useful for network analysis, but also in related contexts.
Moringa Extract Attenuates Inflammatory Responses and Increases Gene Expression of Casein in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells
Authors: Cheng Wei Nee , Jeong Chang Hee , Seo Han Geuk , Han Sung Gu
Published: June 2019

Bovine mastitis is a common inflammatory disease in the udder of dairy cows that causes economic loss to dairy industries. The development of alternative strategies, especially the utilization of natural products, e.g., Moringa oleifera, has gained a lot of interests. The objective of the current study was to investigate the protective effects of moringa extract (ME) in bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T) in in vitro settings. Radical scavenging capacities and anti-inflammatory properties of ME were examined using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged MAC-T cells. ME showed significant radical scavenging activities. In addition, ME decreased reactive oxygen species produced by LPS in cells. ME also attenuated inflammatory cyclooxygenase-2 expression induced by LPS by down-regulating NF-κB signaling cascade. Moreover, ME ameliorated LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6. Furthermore, ME up-regulated mRNA expression levels of heme oxygenase-1, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase-1, and thioredoxin reductase 1. Importantly, ME promoted differentiated MAC-T cells by increasing mRNA expression levels of α-casein S1, α-casein S2, and β-casein. In conclusion, ME has beneficial effects in bovine mammary epithelial cells through its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and casein production properties. Our study provides evidence that ME could be a good candidate for a feed supplement to decrease inflammatory responses due to bovine mastitis.
Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator with Optimized Phase Modulation Ranges to Display Multiorder Diffractive Elements
Authors: Pérez-Cabré Elisabet , Millán María Sagrario
Published: June 2019

A liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulator (LCoS SLM) with large phase modulation has been thoroughly characterized to operate optimally with several linear phase modulation ranges (π, 2π, 3π, 4π, 6π, and 8π) for an intermediate wavelength of the visible spectrum (λG = 530 nm). For each range, the device response was also measured for two additional wavelengths at the blue and red extremes of the visible spectrum (λB = 476 nm and λR = 647 nm). Multiorder diffractive optical elements, displayed on the LCoS SLM with the appropriate phase modulation range, allowed us to deal with some widely known encoding issues of conventional first-order diffractive lenses such as undersampling and longitudinal chromatic aberration. We designed an achromatic multiorder lens and implemented it experimentally on the SLM. As a result, the residual chromatic aberration reduces to one-third that of the chromatic aberration of a conventional first-order diffractive lens.
A Comparative Study on Interactions of Antimicrobial Peptides L- and D-phenylseptin with 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
Authors: Mijiddorj Batsaikhan , Matsuo Yuta , Sato Hisako , Ueda Kazuyoshi , Kawamura Izuru
Published: June 2019

L-phenylseptin (L-Phes) and D-phenylseptin (D-Phes) are amphibian antimicrobial peptides isolated from the skin secretion of Hypsiboas punctatus. In the N-termini, L-Phes and D-Phes contain three consecutive phenylalanine residues, l-Phe-l-Phe-l-Phe and l-Phe-d-Phe-l-Phe, respectively. They are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Glycines. However, their mechanism of action and the role of the D-amino acid residue have not been elucidated yet. In this study, the interactions of both peptides with 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) were investigated by means of quartz crystal microbalance, circular dichroism, vibrational circular dichroism, 31P solid-state NMR, and molecular dynamics simulation. Both peptides have similar binding constants to the DMPC lipid bilayers, in the order of 106 M−1, and form an α-helix structure in the DMPC lipid bilayers. Both the peptides induce similar changes in the dynamics of DMPC lipids. Thus, in spite of the difference in the conformations caused by the chirality at the N-terminus, the peptides showed similar behavior in the membrane-bound state, experimentally and computationally.
Insulation Monitoring Method for DC Systems with Ground Capacitance in Electric Vehicles
Authors: Du Jifei , Zheng Trillion Q. , Yan Yian , Zhao Hongyan , Zeng Yangbin , Li Hong
Published: June 2019

Owing to the influence of ground capacitance in electric vehicles, in the traditional unbalanced electric bridge DC insulation monitoring (DC-IM) method, the voltage of positive and negative electric bridges changes slowly. To calculate the insulation resistances, sampling should be conducted once the voltage of the bridge becomes stable, that will inevitably extend the monitoring cycle. To reduce the monitoring cycle, this study proposes a three-point climbing algorithm, namely, three-bridge voltage sampling with equal sampling intervals, to predict the evolution of the bridge voltage curve. However, due to the existence of sampling errors, the insulation resistances calculated by sampling values will deviate from the actual values. Then, this article also proposes the filter and correction methods of three sampled voltages to improve monitoring accuracy. Through experimental data, the influences of different parameters on the results are verified, and comparisons with the traditional method are shown in the back. The conclusion is that compared with the traditional method, the proposed method can monitor insulation resistance more quickly and ensure fixed monitoring cycles under different ground capacitance values and keep the similar monitoring accuracy.
Correlations between PM2.5 and Ozone over China and Associated Underlying Reasons
Authors: Zhu Jia , Chen Lei , Liao Hong , Dang Ruijun
Published: June 2019

We investigated the spatial-temporal characteristics of the correlations between observed PM2.5 and O3 over China at a national-scale level, and examined the underlying reasons for the varying PM2.5–O3 correlations by using a chemical transport model. The PM2.5 concentrations were positively correlated with O3 concentrations for most regions and seasons over China, while negative correlations were mainly observed in northern China during winter. The strongest positive PM2.5–O3 correlations with correlation coefficients (r) larger than +0.7 existed in southern China during July, and the strongest negative correlations (r < −0.5) were observed in northern China during January. It was a very interesting phenomenon that the positive PM2.5–O3 correlations prevailed for high air temperature samples, while the negative correlations were generally found in cold environments. Together, the effective inhibitory effect of PM2.5 on O3 generation by reducing photolysis rates and the strong titration effect of freshly emitted NO with O3 contributed to the strongest negative PM2.5–O3 correlations in northern China during January (i.e., in cold environments). The strongest positive correlations in southern China during July (i.e., at high temperature), however, were mainly attributed to the promoting effect of high O3 concentration and active photochemical activity on secondary particle formation.
Spatio-Temporal Consistency Evaluation of XCO2 Retrievals from GOSAT and OCO-2 Based on TCCON and Model Data for Joint Utilization in Carbon Cycle Research
Authors: Kong Yawen , Chen Baozhang , Measho Simon
Published: June 2019

The global carbon cycle research requires precise and sufficient observations of the column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CO 2 (XCO 2 ) in addition to conventional surface mole fraction observations. In addition, assessing the consistency of multi-satellite data are crucial for joint utilization to better infer information about CO 2 sources and sinks. In this work, we evaluate the consistency of long-term XCO 2 retrievals from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) in comparison with Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and the 3D model of CO 2 mole fractions data from CarbonTracker 2017 (CT2017). We create a consistent joint dataset and compare it with the long-term model data to assess their abilities to characterize the carbon cycle climate. The results show that, although slight increasing differences are found between the GOSAT and TCCON XCO 2 in the northern temperate latitudes, the GOSAT and OCO-2 XCO 2 retrievals agree well in general, with a mean bias ± standard deviation of differences of 0.21 ± 1.3 ppm. The differences are almost within ±2 ppm and are independent of time, indicating that they are well calibrated. The differences between OCO-2 and CT2017 XCO 2 are much larger than those between GOSAT and CT XCO 2 , which can be attributed to the significantly different spatial representatives of OCO-2 and the CT-transport model 5 (TM5). The time series of the combined OCO-2/GOSAT dataset and the modeled XCO 2 agree well, and both can characterize significantly increasing atmospheric CO 2 under the impact of a large El Niño during 2015 and 2016. The trend calculated from the dataset using the seasonal Kendall (S-K) method indicates that atmospheric CO 2 is increasing by 2–2.6 ppm per year.
Rational Development of Structurally Ordered Platinum Ternary Intermetallic Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Authors: Wang Zhongxiang , Yao Xiaozhang , Kang Yongqiang , Xia Dongsheng , Gan Lin
Published: June 2019

Structurally ordered intermetallic structure is an efficient catalyst design strategy to significantly improve the catalytic performance of Pt alloy electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. However, a high structural ordering degree generally relies on high-temperature annealing, which results in detrimental catalyst particle sintering. Herein, we reveal that the incompatibility between high ordering degree and minimum particle sintering during thermal annealing can be resolved through rational development of structurally ordered Pt ternary alloys. Ordering transformation mediated by high-temperature annealing of three representative Pt ternary alloys (Pt–Fe–Co, Pt–Ni–Co and Pt–Fe–Ni) at a similar Pt composition was systematically studied. It was found that Fe can significantly promote the structural ordering due to a faster atomic diffusion, whereas Co can effectively inhibit the particle sintering. As a result of the synergy between Co and Fe, the ordered PtCoFe catalyst exhibited the highest ordering degree after thermal annealing at 600 °C with the minimum nanoparticle growth, leading to the highest catalytic activity (0.65 A/mgPt at 0.9 V, 4 times that of pure Pt catalyst) and best stability (16% drop after 10,000 potential cycles). This study provides important clues for the rational design of high-performance structurally ordered ternary Pt alloys.
An Ex-Vivo Culture System of Ovarian Cancer Faithfully Recapitulating the Pathological Features of Primary Tumors
Authors: Ghani Farhana Ishrat , Dendo Kasumi , Watanabe Reiko , Yamada Kenji , Yoshimatsu Yuki , Yugawa Takashi , Nakahara Tomomi , Tanaka Katsuyuki , Yoshida Hiroshi , Yoshida Masayuki , Ishikawa Mitsuya , Goshima Naoki , Kato Tomoyasu , Kiyono Tohru
Published: June 2019

The success rate of establishing human cancer cell lines is not satisfactory and the established cell lines often do not preserve the molecular and histological features of the original tissues. In this study, we developed a novel culture method which can support proliferation of almost all primary epithelial ovarian cancer cells, as well as primary normal human oviductal epithelial cells. Cancer cells from fresh or frozen specimens were enriched by the anti-EpCAM antibody-conjugated magnetic beads, plated on Matrigel-coated plate and cultivated under the optimized culture conditions. Seventeen newly established ovarian cancer cell lines, which included all four major histotypes of ovarian cancer, were confirmed to express histotype-specific markers in vitro. Some of the cell lines from all the four histotypes, except mucinous type, generated tumors in immune-deficient mice and the xenograft tumor tissues recapitulated the corresponding original tissues faithfully. Furthermore, with poorly tumorigenic cell lines including mucinous type, we developed a novel xenograft model which could reconstruct the original tissue architecture through forced expression of a set of oncogenes followed by its silencing. With combination of the novel culture method and cell-derived xenograft system, virtually every epithelial ovarian cancer can be reconstituted in mice in a timely fashion.
Aberrant Expression of Intracellular let-7e, miR-146a, and miR-155 Correlates with Severity of Depression in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder and Is Ameliorated after Antidepressant Treatment
Authors: Hung Yi-Yung , Wu Ming-Kung , Tsai Meng-Chang , Huang Ya-Ling , Kang Hong-Yo
Published: June 2019

Chronic inflammation and abnormalities in Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Our previous work reported that impaired negative regulators for the TLR pathways are associated with MDD. This study aimed to assess the association between the severity of depression and the intracellular microRNAs that regulate TLR4 signaling in both peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and monocytes from MDD patients. The severity of MDD before and after antidepressant treatment was determined by the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure the levels of intracellular regulatory microRNAs, including let-7e, miR-21-5p miR-145, miR-223, miR-146a, and miR-155, in PBMCs and monocytes isolated from 43 healthy controls and 84 patients with MDD before and after treatment with antidepressants. Assays of PBMCs showed that the levels of let-7e, miR-146a, and miR-155 were lower in MDD patients than in healthy controls and were significantly higher after than before treatment in the 69 patients who completed treatment with antidepressants for four weeks. Levels of miR-146a and miR-155 in monocytes were lower in MDD patients than in controls and were increased in the former after antidepressant treatment. Multiple linear regression analyses found that let-7e and miR-146a expression before treatment was inversely correlated with severity of depression, whereas miR-155 before treatment was directly correlated with severity of depression. These findings suggest that intracellular regulatory microRNAs which regulate TLR4 signaling are aberrantly expressed in patients with MDD and that these levels are ameliorated by antidepressant treatment.
Synchrotron Radiation Research and Analysis of the Particulate Matter in Deep Ice Cores: An Overview of the Technical Challenges
Authors: Cibin Giannantonio , Marcelli Augusto , Maggi Valter , Baccolo Giovanni , Hampai Dariush , Robbins Philip E. , Liedl Andrea , Polese Claudia , D’Elia Alessandro , Macis Salvatore , Grilli Antonio , Raco Agostino
Published: June 2019

Airborne dust extracted from deep ice core perforations can provide chemical and mineralogical insight into the history of the climate and atmospheric conditions, with unrivalled temporal resolution, time span and richness of information. The availability of material for research and the natural complexity of the particulate, however, pose significant challenges to analytical methods. We present the developments undertaken to optimize the experimental techniques, materials and protocols for synchrotron radiation-based analysis, in particular for the acquisition of combined Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray Fluorescence and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy data.
Visual Head Counts: A Promising Method for Efficient Monitoring of Diamondback Terrapins
Authors: Levasseur Patricia , Sterrett Sean , Sutherland Chris
Published: June 2019

Determining the population status of the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin spp.) is challenging due to their ecology and limitations associated with traditional sampling methods. Visual counting of emergent heads offers a promising, efficient, and non-invasive method for generating abundance estimates of terrapin populations across broader spatial scales than has been achieved using capture–recapture, and can be used to quantify determinants of spatial variation in abundance. We conducted repeated visual head count surveys along the shoreline of Wellfleet Bay in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and analyzed the count data using a hierarchical modeling framework designed specifically for repeated count data: the N-mixture model. This approach allows for simultaneous modeling of imperfect detection to generate estimates of true terrapin abundance. Detection probability was lowest when temperatures were coldest and when wind speed was highest. Local abundance was on average higher in sheltered sites compared to exposed sites and declined over the course of the sampling season. We demonstrate the utility of pairing visual head counts and N-mixture models as an efficient method for estimating terrapin abundance and show how the approach can be used to identifying environmental factors that influence detectability and distribution.
Model Selection for Non-Negative Tensor Factorization with Minimum Description Length
Authors: Fu Yunhui , Matsushima Shin , Yamanishi Kenji
Published: June 2019

Non-negative tensor factorization (NTF) is a widely used multi-way analysis approach that factorizes a high-order non-negative data tensor into several non-negative factor matrices. In NTF, the non-negative rank has to be predetermined to specify the model and it greatly influences the factorized matrices. However, its value is conventionally determined by specialists’ insights or trial and error. This paper proposes a novel rank selection criterion for NTF on the basis of the minimum description length (MDL) principle. Our methodology is unique in that (1) we apply the MDL principle on tensor slices to overcome a problem caused by the imbalance between the number of elements in a data tensor and that in factor matrices, and (2) we employ the normalized maximum likelihood (NML) code-length for histogram densities. We employ synthetic and real data to empirically demonstrate that our method outperforms other criteria in terms of accuracies for estimating true ranks and for completing missing values. We further show that our method can produce ranks suitable for knowledge discovery.
On the Performance of Interleavers for Quantum Turbo Codes
Authors: Etxezarreta Martinez Josu , Crespo Pedro M. , Garcia-Frías Javier
Published: June 2019

Quantum turbo codes (QTC) have shown excellent error correction capabilities in the setting of quantum communication, achieving a performance less than 1 dB away from their corresponding hashing bounds. Existing QTCs have been constructed using uniform random interleavers. However, interleaver design plays an important role in the optimization of classical turbo codes. Consequently, inspired by the widely used classical-to-quantum isomorphism, this paper studies the integration of classical interleaving design methods into the paradigm of quantum turbo coding. Simulations results demonstrate that error floors in QTCs can be lowered significantly, while decreasing memory consumption, by proper interleaving design without increasing the overall decoding complexity of the system.
Divergence-Based Risk Measures: A Discussion on Sensitivities and Extensions
Authors: Xu Meng , Angulo José M.
Published: June 2019

This paper introduces a new family of the convex divergence-based risk measure by specifying ( h , ϕ ) -divergence, corresponding with the dual representation. First, the sensitivity characteristics of the modified divergence risk measure with respect to profit and loss (P&L) and the reference probability in the penalty term are discussed, in view of the certainty equivalent and robust statistics. Secondly, a similar sensitivity property of ( h , ϕ ) -divergence risk measure with respect to P&L is shown, and boundedness by the analytic risk measure is proved. Numerical studies designed for Rényi- and Tsallis-divergence risk measure are provided. This new family integrates a wide spectrum of divergence risk measures and relates to divergence preferences.
Grey SWARA-FUCOM Weighting Method for Contractor Selection MCDM Problem: A Case Study of Floating Solar Panel Energy System Installation
Authors: Cao Qingpeng , Esangbedo Moses Olabhele , Bai Sijun , Esangbedo Caroline Olufunke
Published: June 2019

Selection of the most appropriate contractor for the installation of solar panels is essential to maximizing the benefit of this renewable, sustainable energy source. Solar energy is one of the 100% renewable energy sources, but implementation may not be very simple and cost-effective. A key phase in the implementation of renewable energy is the evaluation of contractors for the installation of solar panels, which is addressed as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. A new hybrid method is proposed that combines the stepwise weight analysis ratio assessment (SWARA) and full consistent method (FUCOM) weights that are represented as grey numbers used with traditional grey relational analysis (GRA) and evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) methods. The ranking of contractors by both methods is the same, which confirmed the results presented in this research. The use of the grey SWARA-FUCOM weighting method combined with the GRA and EDAS methods increased the decision-makers’ (DMs) confidence in awarding the installation of the solar panel energy system to the top-ranked contractor.
Unsupervised Clustering of Forest Response to Drought Stress in Zululand Region, South Africa
Authors: Xulu Sifiso , Peerbhay Kabir , Gebreslasie Michael , Ismail Riyad
Published: June 2019

Drought limits the production of plantation forests, notably in the drought-prone Zululand region of South Africa. During the last 40 years, the country has faced a series of severe droughts, however that of 2015 stands out as the most extreme and prolonged. The 2015 drought impaired forest productivity and led to widespread tree mortality in this region, but the identification of tree response to drought stress remains uncertain because of its spatial variability. To address this problem, a method that can capture drought patterns and identify trees with similar reactions to drought stress is desired. This could improve the accuracy of detecting trees suffering from drought stress which is key for forest management planning. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the utility of unsupervised mapping approaches in compartments of Eucalyptus trees with similar drought characteristics based on the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and to demonstrate the value of cloud-based Google Earth Engine (GEE) resources for rapid landscape drought monitoring. Our results showed that calculating distances between pixels using three different matrices (Random Forest (RF) proximity, Euclidean and Manhattan) can accurately detect similarities within a dataset. The RF proximity matrix produced the best measures, which were clustered using Wards hierarchical clustering to detect drought with the highest overall accuracy of 87.7%, followed by Manhattan (85.9%) and Euclidean similarity measures (79.9%), with user and producer results between 84.2% to 91.2%, 42.8% to 98.2% and 37.2% to 94.7%, respectively. These results confirm the value of the RF proximity matrix and underscore the capability of automatic unsupervised mapping approaches for monitoring drought stress in tree plantations, as well as the value of using GEE for providing cost effective datasets to resource stricken countries.
Mutual Influences of Urban Microclimate and Urban Trees: An Investigation of Phenology and Cooling Capacity
Authors: Stanley Celina H. , Helletsgruber Carola , Hof Angela
Published: June 2019

This paper presents an empirical study on urban tree growth and regulating ecosystem services along an urban heat island (UHI) intensity gradient. The UHI effect on the length of the growing season and the association of cooling and shading with species, age, and size of trees was studied in Salzburg, Austria. Results show that areas with a low UHI intensity differed from areas with a medium or high UHI intensity significantly in three points: their bud break began later, the leaf discoloration took longer, and the growing season was shorter. After leaves have developed, trees cool the surface throughout the whole growing season by casting shadows. On average, the surfaces in the crown shade were 12.2 °C cooler than those in the sun. The tree characteristics had different effects on the cooling performance. In addition to tree height and trunk circumference, age was especially closely related to surface cooling. If a tree’s cooling capacity is to be estimated, tree age is the most suitable measure, also with respect to its assessment effort. Practitioners are advised to consider the different UHI intensities when maintaining or enhancing public greenery. The cooling capacity of tall, old trees is needed especially in areas with a high UHI intensity. In the future, species differences should be examined to determine the best adapted species for the different UHI intensities. The present results can be the basis for modeling future mutual influences of microclimate and urban trees.
A Complete Assessment of Carbon Stocks in Above and Belowground Biomass Components of a Hybrid Eucalyptus Plantation in Southern Brazil
Authors: Viera Márcio , Rodríguez-Soalleiro Roque
Published: June 2019

Hybrid eucalypt clones are grown for fiber production worldwide and to provide an ecosystem service that can store atmospheric carbon at a very fast rate. This study assessed the carbon stocks in the soil and various tree fractions in a 10-year-old plantation of Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake × Eucalyptus globulus Labill. in Southern Brazil. Four experimental plots were established, and an inventory of Eucalyptus trees was conducted by considering five diametric classes. Three trees in each diametric class were harvested for biomass and carbon quantification. The understory biomass of native trees was quantified in five subplots and the litter was quantified in 16 subplots. Organic C was quantified in the soil (SOC) and roots (diameter ≤ 0.5 cm) to a depth of 100 cm. The C concentration in the different biomass fractions of the eucalyptus trees were 55.7% (±0.6), 50.4% (±0.4), 49.5% (±0.6) and 45.4 % (±0.9) for leaves, branches, wood and bark, respectively. The C concentrations in the understory fractions were 51.4% (±1.0) for the canopy and 50.0% (±0.9) for the stem. The carbon concentration in the fine root biomass was 45.7% (±1.4). Soil C concentrations were 1.23% (±0.32), 0.97% (±0.10), 0.45% (±0.14), and 0.24% (±0.10) for depths of 0–25, 25–50, 50–75, and 75–100 cm. C was allocated in: (a) the trees (aboveground fraction = 118.45 Mg ha−1 and belowground fraction = 30.06 Mg ha−1), (b) the understory = 1.44 Mg ha−1, (c) the litter = 8.34 Mg ha−1, and (d) the soil (without roots) = 99.7 Mg ha−1. The share of total C stock (a + b + c + d = 258.0 Mg ha−1) was similar in the aboveground (49.7%) and belowground (50.3%) fractions, thus indicating a very high rate of C sequestration in the biomass. Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil are fast growing (for this study = 36.7 m³ ha−1 year−1) and contribute to intense carbon sequestration in above and belowground biomass (14.8 Mg ha−1 year−1).
Analysis of the Essential Oils of Chamaemelum fuscatum (Brot.) Vasc. from Spain as a Contribution to Reinforce Its Ethnobotanical Use
Authors: Fernández-Cervantes Marcos , Pérez-Alonso María José , Blanco-Salas José , Soria Ana Cristina , Ruiz-Téllez Trinidad
Published: June 2019

Chamaemelum fuscatum (Brot.) Vasc. is a south west Iberian chamomile that has been traditionally used as folk medicine in its natural distribution area but currently it is underestimated regarding its biological activities. For this reason, it is proposed in this paper to get insight into the scientific validation of the traditional knowledge of this plant with the aim of taking advantage of its anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective and antinociceptive activities, among others. To this aim, the chemical composition of the essential oil from the whole plant, the flowers and the green parts of this plant has been evaluated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Plant materials were collected in Badajoz (Spain). A total of 61 components including monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids and aliphatic esters were identified. (E)-2-Methyl-2-butenyl methacrylate (27.57%–18.53%) and 2-methylallyl isobutyrate (9.79%–7.51%) were the most abundant compounds in the essential oils of flowers and of the whole plant, whereas α-curcumene, trans-pinocarveol, α-bergamotene and pinocarvone were the major terpenoids irrespective of the plant part considered. Certain compounds showing a relative high abundance as isobutyl methacrylate, isoamyl butyrate, α-bergamotene and pinocarvone were identified for the first time in this species. Finally, we have reviewed the bioactivity of several compounds to relate the ethnobotanical use of this plant in Spain with its volatile profile. This work is a preliminary contribution to reinforce the use to this Mediterranean endemic plant as a natural source of bioactives.
Fractional Cover Mapping of Invasive Plant Species by Combining Very High-Resolution Stereo and Multi-Sensor Multispectral Imageries
Authors: Khare Siddhartha , Latifi Hooman , Rossi Sergio , Ghosh Sanjay Kumar
Published: June 2019

Invasive plant species are major threats to biodiversity. They can be identified and monitored by means of high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery. This study aimed to test the potential of multiple very high-resolution (VHR) optical multispectral and stereo imageries (VHRSI) at spatial resolutions of 1.5 and 5 m to quantify the presence of the invasive lantana (Lantana camara L.) and predict its distribution at large spatial scale using medium-resolution fractional cover analysis. We created initial training data for fractional cover analysis by classifying smaller extent VHR data (SPOT-6 and RapidEye) along with three dimensional (3D) VHRSI derived digital surface model (DSM) datasets. We modelled the statistical relationship between fractional cover and spectral reflectance for a VHR subset of the study area located in the Himalayan region of India, and finally predicted the fractional cover of lantana based on the spectral reflectance of Landsat-8 imagery of a larger spatial extent. We classified SPOT-6 and RapidEye data and used the outputs as training data to create continuous field layers of Landsat-8 imagery. The area outside the overlapping region was predicted by fractional cover analysis due to the larger extent of Landsat-8 imagery compared with VHR datasets. Results showed clear discrimination of understory lantana from upperstory vegetation with 87.38% (for SPOT-6), and 85.27% (for RapidEye) overall accuracy due to the presence of additional VHRSI derived DSM information. Independent validation for lantana fractional cover estimated root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of 11.8% (for RapidEye) and 7.22% (for SPOT-6), and R2 values of 0.85 and 0.92 for RapidEye (5 m) and SPOT-6 (1.5 m), respectively. Results suggested an increase in predictive accuracy of lantana within forest areas along with increase in the spatial resolution for the same Landsat-8 imagery. The variance explained at 1.5 m spatial resolution to predict lantana was 64.37%, whereas it decreased by up to 37.96% in the case of 5 m spatial resolution data. This study revealed the high potential of combining small extent VHR and VHRSI- derived 3D optical data with larger extent, freely available satellite data for identification and mapping of invasive species in mountainous forests and remote regions.