bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Supramolecular Proteoglycan Aggregate Mimics: Cyclodextrin‐Assisted Biodegradable Polymer Assemblies for Electrostatic‐Driven Drug Delivery
Authors: Szente Lajos , Puskás István , Csabai Katalin , Fenyvesi Éva
Published: March 2014

Self‐assembled, noncovalent polymeric biodegradable materials mimicking proteoglycan aggregates were synthesized from inclusion complexes of cationic surfactants with γ‐cyclodextrin and the natural anionic polymer hyaluronan. The amorphous structure of this ternary system was proven by X‐ray diffraction and thermal analysis. Light‐scattering measurements showed that there was a competition between hyaluronic acid and the surfactant for the cyclodextrin cavity. These self‐assembled supramolecular matrices were loaded with both hydrophilic and lipophilic drug substances for dissolution studies. The release of the entrapped drugs was found to be controlled by cations in the surrounding media and by biodegradation. Slow drug release in an ion‐free medium became faster in physiological salt solution in which the macroscopic polymer matrix was disassembled. In contrast, the enzymatic degradation of hyaluronan was hindered in the polymeric matrix. The supramolecular systems consisting of γ‐cyclodextrin as a macrocyclic host, a cationic surfactant guest, and hyaluronic acid as the anionic polymer electrostatically cross‐linked by the inclusion complex of the first two was found to be a novel drug‐delivery system for the controlled release of traditional drugs such as curcumin and ketotifen and proteins such as bovine serum albumin.
Microporous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Gas Separation
Authors: Li Bin , Wang Hailong , Chen Banglin
Published: March 2014

Microporous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are comparatively new porous materials. Because the pores within such MOFs can be readily tuned through the interplay of both metal‐containing clusters and organic linkers to induce their size‐selective sieving effects, while the pore surfaces can be straightforwardly functionalized to enforce their different interactions with gas molecules, MOF materials are very promising for gas separation. Furthermore, the high porosities of such materials can enable microporous MOFs with optimized gas separation selectivity and capacity to be targeted. This Focus Review highlights recent significant advances in microporous MOFs for gas separation.
Minimizing fucosylation in insect cell‐derived glycoproteins reduces binding to IgE antibodies from the sera of patients with allergy
Authors: Palmberger Dieter , Ashjaei Kazem , Strell Stephanie , Hoffmann‐Sommergruber Karin , Grabherr Reingard
Published: March 2014

The baculovirus/insect cell system has proven to be a very powerful tool for the expression of several therapeutics. Nevertheless, these products sometimes suffer from reduced biological activity and unwanted side effects. Several studies have demonstrated that glycosylation can greatly influence the structure, function, half‐life, antigenicity and immunogenicity of various glycoproteins. Yet, the glycosylation pattern of insect cell‐derived products is not favorable for many applications. Especially, the presence of core α1,3‐linked fucose bears the risk of causing immediate hypersensitivity reactions in patients with allergy. In this study, we evaluated the impact of fucose residues on the allergenic potential of an insect cell‐expressed vaccine candidate. In order to block the GDP‐L‐fucose de novo synthesis pathway, we integrated the Pseudomonas aeruginosa GDP‐6‐deoxy‐D‐lyxo‐4‐hexulose reductase (RMD) gene into a baculovirus backbone. This virus was then used for the expression of soluble influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA). Expression studies showed that the co‐expression of RMD did not influence the overall level of recombinant protein secretion. We confirmed the result of our strategy by analyzing PNGase A‐released N‐glycans using MALDI‐TOF‐MS. In order to evaluate the biological impact of defucosylation of influenza HA we tested the binding activity of IgE derived from the sera of patients with allergy to the purified antigen. The non‐fucosylated HA showed a 10‐fold decrease in IgE binding levels as compared to wildtype variants.

same article under 10.1002/biot.201400061.
On a novel mechanistic model for simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose considering morphology
Authors: Zhang Yang , Xu Bingqian , Zhou Wen
Published: March 2014

We develop a novel and general modeling framework for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose simultaneously. Our mechanistic model, for the first time, takes into consideration explicitly the time evolution of morphologies of intertwining cellulose and hemicelluloses within substrate during enzymatic hydrolysis. This morphology evolution is driven by hydrolytic chain fragmentation and solubilization, which is, in return, profoundly affected by the substrate morphology. We represent the substrate morphology as a randomly distributed smallest accessible compartments (SACs) which are described by geometric functions to track total volume and exposed surface substrate materials, including both cellulose and hemicelluloses. Our morphology‐plus‐kinetics approach then couple the time‐dependent morphology with chain fragmentation and solubilization resulted from enzymatic reactions between various bonds in cellulose and hemicelluloses and a mixture (i.e., endo‐, exo‐, and oligomer‐ acting) of cellulases and hemicellulases. In addition, we propose an advanced and generalized site concentration formalism that considers different polysaccharide chain types and different monomer unit types on chains. The resulting ODE system has a substantially reduced size compared to conventional chain concentration formalism. We present numerical simulation results under real enzymatic hydrolysis experimental conditions from literature. The comparisons between the simulation results and the experiment measurements demonstrate effectiveness and wide applicability of the proposed mechanistic model. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;111: 1767–1781. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Structure–Activity Relationships of Nickel–Hexaaluminates in Reforming Reactions Part I: Controlling Nickel Nanoparticle Growth and Phase Formation
Authors: Roussière Thomas , Schelkle Korwin M. , Titlbach Sven , Wasserschaff Guido , Milanov Andrian , Cox Gerhard , Schwab Ekkehard , Deutschmann Olaf , Schulz Linus , Jentys Andreas , Lercher Johannes , Schunk Stephan A.
Published: March 2014

The controlled synthesis of hexaaluminates ANiyAl12−yO19−δ(A=Ba, La, Sr, andy=0.25, 0.5, 1) is reported by a freeze drying route. This route allows the use of moderate temperatures of approximately 1200 °C to obtain hexaaluminates of high phase purity (>80 wt %) as well as high specific surface areas (10–30 m2 g−1). Under reducing conditions at elevated temperatures, nickel expulsion from the hexaaluminate framework can be observed. High stability of the crystalline phase is observed even if all substitution cations leave the hexaaluminate framework. The moderate calcination temperature of 1200 °C facilitates the reducibility of the Ni–hexaaluminates compared to Ni–hexaaluminates calcined at 1600 °C. SEM and TEM imaging revealed that Ni–hexaaluminates with low Ni loading (y=0.25) and calcined at moderate temperature (1200 °C) lead under reducing atmosphere to the formation of strong textural growth and highly disperse and highly textured Ni0nanoparticles. Nanoparticle growth is associated to surface defect sites occurring on the hexaaluminate platelets.
Methane Coupling Reaction in an Oxy‐Steam Stream through an OH Radical Pathway by using Supported Alkali Metal Catalysts
Authors: Liang Yin , Li Zhikao , Nourdine Mohamed , Shahid Salman , Takanabe Kazuhiro
Published: March 2014

A universal reaction mechanism involved in the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is demonstrated under oxy‐steam conditions using alkali‐metal‐based catalysts. Rigorous kinetic measurements indicated a reaction mechanism that is consistent with OH radical formation from a H2O–O2 reaction followed by CH activation in CH4 with an OH radical. Thus, the presence of water enhances both the CH4 conversion rate and the C2 selectivity. This OH radical pathway that is selective for the OCM was observed for the catalyst without Mn, which suggests clearly that Mn is not the essential component in a selective OCM catalyst. The experiments with different catalyst compositions revealed that the OH.‐mediated pathway proceeded in the presence of catalysts with different alkali metals (Na, K) and different oxo anions (W, Mo). This difference in catalytic activity for OH radical generation accounts for the different OCM selectivities. As a result, a high C2 yield is achievable by using Na2WO4/SiO2, which catalyzes the OH.‐mediated pathway selectively.
Optimized Dispersion and Stability of Hybrid Fe3O4/Pd Catalysts in Water for Suzuki Coupling Reactions: Impact of Organic Capping Agents
Authors: Woo Hyunje , Lee Kyoungho , Park Kang Hyun
Published: March 2014

Pd nanoparticles were easily immobilized on Fe3O4 microspheres without any treatment such as functionalization with organic groups. The Fe3O4 microspheres were synthesized by using different capping agents, and the effect of the capping agents on the dispersion stability and catalytic activity of the Fe3O4/Pd composite for Suzuki coupling reactions in water were evaluated. The catalytic activity varied depending on the dispersion stability of Fe3O4/Pd catalysts in water. The Pd nanoparticles immobilized onto Fe3O4 microspheres capped with trisodium citrate showed strong dispersion stability in water over the reaction duration of seven days (at pH 7), high catalytic activity, and recyclability under mild conditions.
Performance and Energy Consumption of Membrane‐Distillation Hybrid Systems for Olefin‐Paraffin Separation
Authors: Pedram Sara , Kaghazchi Tahereh , Ravanchi Maryam Takht
Published: March 2014

Light olefin and paraffin are commonly separated by energy‐intensive cryogenic distillation. Membrane/distillation hybrid systems constitute an economical alternative separation process. Different configurations of this hybrid system are studied for olefin‐paraffin separation with emphasis on C3 separation. An approach based on the McCabe‐Thiele method is applied to analyze different process configurations. A facilitated transport membrane is considered as membrane type. Both new column design and augmentation of an existing distillation column by a membrane module are considered. Numerical examples are considered for the separation of propane from propylene through different hybridization shapes with facilitated transport membranes. The energy requirement can be halved using hybrid systems.
Application of a genomic model for high‐dimensional chemometric analysis
Authors: Shen Xia , Li Ying , Rönnegård Lars , Udén Peter , Carlborg Örjan
Published: March 2014

The rapid development of new technologies for large‐scale analysis of genetic variation in the genomes of individuals and populations has presented statistical geneticists with a grand challenge to develop efficient methods for identifying the small proportion of all identified genetic polymorphisms that have effects on traits of interest. To address such a “largepsmalln” problem, we have developed a heteroscedastic effects model (HEM) that has been shown to be powerful in high‐throughput genetic analyses. Here, we describe how this whole‐genome model can also be utilized in chemometric analysis. As a proof of concept, we use HEM to predict analyte concentrations in silage using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy signals. The results show that HEM often outperforms the classic methods and in addition to this presents a substantial computational advantage in the analyses of such high‐dimensional data. The results thus show the value of taking an interdisciplinary approach to chemometric analysis and indicate that large‐scale genomic models can be a promising new approach for chemometric analysis that deserve to be evaluated more by experts in the field. The software used for our analyses is freely available as an R package athttp://cran.r‐project.org/web/packages/bigRR/. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simultaneous/sequential alkaline‐surfactant‐polymer flooding in fractured/non‐fractured carbonate reservoirs
Authors: Sedaghat Mohammad Hossein , Ghazanfari Mohammad Hossein , Masihi Mohsen
Published: March 2014

Alkaline‐Surfactant‐Polymer flooding is one of the most novel chemical enhanced oil recovery methods in the petroleum industry. This method has attracted interest due to its remarkable advantages. In this work, a series of ASP floods are conducted on fractured/non‐fractured carbonate rocks. The performance of the tests was investigated by various ASP floods consisting of five types of polymers, two surfactants and one common alkaline. ASP was flooded simultaneously and sequentially in four defined scenarios after water flooding. The results showed that although using hydrolysed polymers increases the recovery factor in the fractured medium, sulfonated polymers increase oil recovery even more due to their capability to increase viscosity in saline solutions. Also, since polymers with a higher molecular weight have a larger hydraulic diameter, they increase oil recovery considerably. Moreover, using cationic surfactant improves the efficiency of ASP flooding due to the serious reduction of interfacial tension (IFT) in comparison to using the anionic one. In addition, according to the four scenarios' results, pushing ASP by polymer is much more effective than pushing it with brine. Also, the difference in final oil recovery between simultaneous and sequential ASP floods is more remarkable when ASP is pushed by brine. Thus, choosing a process completely depends on the slug type and the injected volume.
‘À la Carte’ Peptide Shuttles: Tools to Increase Their Passage across the Blood–Brain Barrier
Authors: Malakoutikhah Morteza , Guixer Bernat , Arranz‐Gibert Pol , Teixidó Meritxell , Giralt Ernest
Published: March 2014

Noninvasive methods for efficient drug delivery to the brain is an unmet need. Molecular access to the brain is regulated by the blood–brain barrier (BBB) established by the endothelial cells of brain vessels. Passive diffusion is one of the main mechanisms that organic compounds use to travel through these endothelial cells. This passage across the BBB is determined mainly by certain physicochemical properties of the molecule such as lipophilicity, size, and the presence of hydrogen bond donors and acceptors. One emerging strategy to facilitate the passage of organic compounds across the BBB is the use of peptide shuttles.1 In using this approach the permeability in front the BBB is, clearly, determined by the combined physicochemical properties of both the cargo and the shuttle. Herein we report the synthesis of a series of variations of one of the more efficient peptide shuttles, (N‐MePhe)n. These include diverse structural features such as various backbone stereochemistries or the presence of non‐natural amino acids, including halogenated residues. In several cases, we assessed the BBB permeability of both the shuttles alone and linked to a few cargos. Our results show how factors such as stereochemistry or halogen content influences the passage across the BBB and, more importantly, opens the way to a strategy of peptide shuttles ‘à la carte′, in which a particular fine‐tuned shuttle is used for each specific cargo.
Identification of a characteristic copy number alteration profile by high‐resolution single nucleotide polymorphism arrays associated with metastatic sporadic colorectal cancer
Authors: González‐González María , Fontanillo Celia , Abad María M. , Gutiérrez María L. , Mota Ines , Bengoechea Oscar , Santos‐Briz Ángel , Blanco Oscar , Fonseca Emilio , Ciudad Juana , Fuentes Manuel , De Las Rivas Javier , Alcazar José A. , García Jacinto , Muñoz‐Bellvis Luís , Orfao Alberto , Sayagués José M.
Published: March 2014

BACKGROUND

Metastatic dissemination is the most frequent cause of death in patients with sporadic colorectal cancer (sCRC). It is believed that the metastatic process is related at least in part to a specific background of genetic alterations accumulated in cells from primary tumors, and the ability to detect such alterations is critical for the identification of patients with sCRC who are at risk of developing metastases.

METHODS

The authors used high‐resolution, 500‐K single nucleotide polymorphism arrays to identify copy number alteration profiles present at diagnosis in primary tumors from patients with metastatic (n = 23) versus nonmetastatic (n = 26) sCRC.

RESULTS

The results revealed a characteristic pattern of copy number alterations in metastatic sCRC tumors that involved losses of 23 regions at chromosomes 1p, 17p, and 18q, together with gains of 35 regions at chromosomes 7 and 13q.

CONCLUSIONS

In line with expectations, the copy number profile investigated involved multiple genes that were associated previously with sCRC (ie, SMAD2) and/or the metastatic process (ie, podocalyxin‐like [PODXL]), and it also was associated with a poorer outcome. Cancer 2014;120:1948–1959. © 2014 American Cancer Society.
Sign Inversion of the Spontaneous Polarization in a “de Vries”‐Type Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal
Authors: Nonnenmacher Dorothee , Lemieux Robert P. , Osipov Mikhail A. , Giesselmann Frank
Published: March 2014

In contrast to common ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystals, the siloxane‐terminated smectic mesogen E6 is characterized by an unusual temperature variation of the spontaneous polarization. The polarization starts to grow from nearly zero despite the first‐order SmA*‐SmC* transition, and increases faster than linearly over a large temperature interval while the tilt angle rapidly saturates. To study this behavior in more detail, binary mixtures of different concentrations of E6 in the achiral SmC material C8Cl, which has a similar chemical structure, were investigated. Surprisingly, all mixtures show a temperature dependent polarization sign inversion, which shifts towards the SmC*‐SmA* transition with increasing E6 concentration. For the pure E6 the inversion temperature meets the SmA*‐SmC* phase transition temperature. In a second binary mixture with E6 and a conventional material C9–2PhP we found out, that the dependence of the inversion temperature on the concentration of E6 changes qualitatively when the nanosegregation is partially destroyed. A molecular theory of the polarization sign inversion in smectics C* with strong polar intermolecular interactions is developed which enables one to explain the concentration dependence of the inversion temperature in both mixtures.
The Discriminative Stimulus Effects of the Neurotensin NTS1 Receptor Agonist PD149163 in Rats: Stimulus Generalization Testing with Dopamine D1 and D2 Receptor Ligands
Authors: Prus Adam J. , Schuck Candice J. , Rusch Kristoffer R. , Carey Lawrence M.
Published: March 2014

Preclinical Research

Brain‐penetrant neurotensin NTS1 receptor agonists produce antipsychotic drug‐like effects in animal models, including inhibition of conditioned avoidance responding and reversal of psychostimulant‐induced hyperactivity and stereotypy. Allosteric interactions between NTS1 receptors and dopamine D2 receptors may account for some of these antipsychotic effects. In order to determine the role that dopamine receptors may play in the behavioral effects produced by activation of NTS1 receptors, a drug discrimination approach was used in rats to evaluate the potential mediation of NTS1 receptor agonist stimulus effects by dopamine D1 and D2 receptors. Rats were trained to discriminate either the NTS1 receptor agonist PD149163, the D1 receptor agonist SKF81297, or the D2 receptor agonist quinpirole from vehicle in a two choice drug discrimination task. Full stimulus generalization occurred from PD149163 to the typical antipsychotic drug and D2 receptor‐preferring antagonist haloperidol. However, stimulus generalization did not occur from SKF81297 or quinpirole to PD149163. The discriminative cue for SKF91297 and quinpirole was fully blocked the D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 and the D2/3 receptor antagonist raclopride, respectively. Cross generalization did not occur between SKF91297 and quinpirole. Based on these findings, the stimulus effects of PD149163 may be mediated, in part, through D2 receptor antagonism, but this may only be evident when PD149163 is used as the training drug.
HILIC‐UPLC‐MS/MS combined with hierarchical clustering analysis to rapidly analyze and evaluate nucleobases and nucleosides in Ginkgo biloba leaves
Authors: Yao Xin , Zhou Guisheng , Tang Yuping , Guo Sheng , Qian Dawei , Duan Jin‐ao
Published: March 2014

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract has been widely used in dietary supplements and more recently in some foods and beverages. In addition to the well‐known flavonol glycosides and terpene lactones, G. biloba leaves are also rich in nucleobases and nucleosides. To determine the content of nucleobases and nucleosides in G. biloba leaves at trace levels, a reliable method has been established by using hydrophilic interaction ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple‐quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC‐UPLC‐TQ‐MS/MS) working in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Eleven nucleobases and nucleosides were simultaneously determined in seven min. The proposed method was fully validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, and repeatability, as well as recovery. Furthermore, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was performed to evaluate and classify the samples according to the contents of the eleven chemical constituents. The established approach could be helpful for evaluation of the potential values as dietary supplements and the quality control of G. biloba leaves, which might also be utilized for the investigation of other medicinal herbs containing nucleobases and nucleosides. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Biomass production through grey water fertigation in eucalyptus hybrid and its economic significance
Authors: Shankhwar Anil Kumar , Srivastava R.K.
Published: March 2014

Bioenergy demand is accelerating day by day due to increase in population pressure whereas on other end worldwide water scarcity for irrigation is also becoming a challenge. This problem may be resolved through the fertigation with grey water for biomass production through short rotation intensive cultural plantation systems (SRICPS). The grey water generated from households constitutes the major portion of domestic wastewater with higher nutritive value. Reuse and recycling of grey water save natural water resources require for irrigation and moreover greywater use would be an added advantage to increase in the biomass due to its nutritive quality. Therefore, in present study, an experimental trial has been done for comparison of SRICPS biomass production within treatment (fertigated with greywater) and control (irrigated with bore well water) plots for biomass growth rate, biomass deficit and estimation of actual and potential biomass productivity with fertigation and control irrigation in same environmental condition by planting Eucalyptus hybrid (clone K‐413). Eucalyptus hybrid (clone K‐413) above ground biomass (AGBM) production per tree was observed to be 34.19 kg tree−1 in treatment plots as compared to 25.69 kg tree−1 in control plots during initial 2‐year of field observation and it envisages higher economic returns by fertigation due to higher biomass production per unit area as compared to control irrigation. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 222–226, 2015
Design of a medical‐grade QoS metric for wireless environments
Authors: Park Kyung‐Joon , Lee Hyung‐Ho , Choi Sunghyun , Kang Kyungtae
Published: March 2014

In this letter, we introduce medical‐grade quality of service (QoS) for wireless healthcare applications. We first investigate the basic QoS requirements of medical applications. We point out that the conventional QoS metric of the packet error rate (PER) is insufficient for evaluating the QoS level of medical applications. The most critical concern in medical‐grade QoS is whether the received data can be diagnosed by medical personnel, that is, medical diagnosability. As a prevailing application, we present a medical‐grade QoS metric for wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) transmission. The introduced QoS metric, called weighted diagnostic distortion (WDD), can properly evaluate medical‐grade QoS by reflecting the main diagnostic features of an ECG signal. Our simulation results demonstrate that there can be a significant discrepancy between WDD and PER, which confirms the importance of developing a medical‐grade QoS metric by properly taking into account the key characteristics of medical traffic. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Power‐aware routing in networks with quality of services constraints
Authors: Lin Gongqi , Soh Sieteng , Chin Kwan‐Wu , Lazarescu Mihai
Published: March 2014

Current network infrastructures are over‐provisioned and thus exhibit poor power efficiency at low traffic load. We consider networks consisting of bundled links, whereby each link has one or more physical cables that can be switched off independently. The problem at hand is to switch off redundant nodes and cables during off‐peak periods, while retaining the quality of services provided to existing traffic demands. Unfortunately, the problem to maximally shutdown redundant nodes and cables is Non‐deterministic Polynomial‐time (NP)‐complete. Henceforth, we design a fast heuristic, called Multiple Paths by Shortest Path First (MSPF), that aims to maximise the number of switched‐off nodes and cables subject to satisfying maximum link utilisation (MLU) and path length (PL) constraints. We have extensively evaluated the performance of MSPF on both real and synthetic topologies and traffic demands. Further, we have compared its performance against two state‐of‐the‐art techniques: GreenTE, usable when each link has one cable, and Fast Greedy Heuristic (FGH), which supports bundled links but only for networks without MLU and PL constraints. On the Sprint network, MSPF can save on average 5% more power as compared to GreenTE while incurring only 1% of GreenTE's running time. While yielding equivalent power savings, MSPF requires only 0.35% of FGH's running time. Finally, setting MLU to at most 50% and PL to no longer than the network diameter, MSPF reduces the power usage of the GÉANT topology by up to 91% for links consisting of 10 cables. For experiments on synthetic topologies with bundle size of 30, MSPF yields a power saving of 89.81%. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Disrupted network architecture of the resting brain in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Sripada Chandra , Kessler Daniel , Fang Yu , Welsh Robert C. , Prem Kumar Krishan , Angstadt Michael
Published: March 2014

Background

Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders of childhood. Neuroimaging investigations of ADHD have traditionally sought to detect localized abnormalities in discrete brain regions. Recent years, however, have seen the emergence of complementary lines of investigation into distributed connectivity disturbances in ADHD. Current models emphasize abnormal relationships between default network—involved in internally directed mentation and lapses of attention—and task positive networks, especially ventral attention network. However, studies that comprehensively investigate interrelationships between large‐scale networks in ADHD remain relatively rare.

Methods

Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 757 participants at seven sites in the ADHD‐200 multisite sample. Functional connectomes were generated for each subject, and interrelationships between seven large‐scale brain networks were examined with network contingency analysis.

Results

ADHD brains exhibited altered resting state connectivity between default network and ventral attention network [P < 0.0001, false discovery rate (FDR)‐corrected], including prominent increased connectivity (more specifically, diminished anticorrelation) between posterior cingulate cortex in default network and right anterior insula and supplementary motor area in ventral attention network. There was distributed hypoconnectivity within default network (P = 0.009, FDR‐corrected), and this network also exhibited significant alterations in its interconnections with several other large‐scale networks. Additionally, there was pronounced right lateralization of aberrant default network connections.

Conclusions

Consistent with existing theoretical models, these results provide evidence that default network‐ventral attention network interconnections are a key locus of dysfunction in ADHD. Moreover, these findings contribute to growing evidence that distributed dysconnectivity within and between large‐scale networks is present in ADHD. Hum Brain Mapp 35:4693–4705, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multi‐group acculturation orientations in a changing context: Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents in Israel after the lost decade
Authors: Munayer Salim J. , Horenczyk Gabriel
Published: March 2014

Grounded in a contextual approach to acculturation of minorities, this study examines changes in acculturation orientations among Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents in Israel following the “lost decade of Arab–Jewish coexistence.” Multi‐group acculturation orientations among 237 respondents were assessed vis‐à‐vis two majorities—Muslim Arabs and Israeli Jews—and compared to 1998 data. Separation was the strongest endorsed orientation towards both majority groups. Comparisons with the 1998 data also show a weakening of the Integration attitude towards Israeli Jews, and also distancing from Muslim Arabs. For the examination of the “Westernisation” hypothesis, multi‐dimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of perceptions of Self and group values clearly showed that, after 10 years, Palestinian Christian Arabs perceive Israeli Jewish culture as less close to Western culture, and that Self and the Christian Arab group have become much closer, suggesting an increasing identification of Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents with their ethnoreligious culture. We discuss the value of a multi‐group, multi‐method, and multi‐wave approach to the examination of the role of the political context in acculturation processes.
Knowledge Representation Issues in Complex Decision Domains: an Example from Inherent Audit Risk Assessment
Authors: Peters James M.
Published: March 2014

There has been significant discussion in artificial intelligence and expert systems concerning different representation systems for complex domain knowledge. This article discusses the strengths, weaknesses and psychological validity of two common systems, associational or rule‐ and model‐based, and presents a computer model which incorporates both approaches into a hybrid system. The computer model reasons in the complex decision domain of inherent audit risk assessment.
Case‐based Reasoning and Multiple‐agent Systems for Accounting Regulation Systems with Extensions
Authors: O'Leary Daniel E.
Published: March 2014

One of the areas of judgment research in accounting and financial applications is that of accounting regulation. Previously, artificial intelligence efforts at modeling human judgment in accounting regulation systems have concentrated on rule‐based expert systems. In those systems, general heuristic knowledge was captured using ‘if … then …’ rules in order to model particular decision processes. Recent developments in artificial intelligence have focused on case‐based reasoning (CBR) and multiple‐agent intelligent systems (MAIS). The ideas behind CBR are that ‘if it worked once then remember to use it again’ and ‘if it did not work before, then remember to not use it again‘. MAIS assumes that many organizational systems can be treated as computational models of multiple‐interacting intelligent agents. Typically, solutions may be derived using some form of negotiations between agents to accomplish single global or separate individual interacting goals. This paper argues that many accounting regulation judgment processes can be modeled using CBR and MAIS. As a result, it summarizes some examples of both CBR and MAIS useful in accounting regulation and extends those to other accounting applications. In addition, it describes the results of some previously developed systems that employ CBR or MAIS.
Case‐Based Reasoning and Risk Assessment in Audit Judgment
Authors: Denna Eric L. , Hansen James V. , Meservy Rayman D. , Wood Larry E.
Published: March 2014

The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an effort to utilize case‐based reasoning (CBR) to model a specific audit judgment task. To date, most efforts to develop computational models of audit judgment have used strictly rule‐based representation methods. Some researchers have recently adopted more robust structures to model the auditor domain knowledge. Although these recent efforts to extend the representation methods appear to be more accurate descriptions of auditor reasoning and memory, they still lack a comprehensive theory to guide the development of the model. A commonly encountered phenomenon in audit judgment is for an auditor to compare the current case to similar previous experiences. Others have proposed a model for this type of judgment in other expert judgment domains. This model has become known as case‐based reasoning (CBR). This study describes our initial efforts to utilize CBR to model a specific audit judgment task.
A Case Study and Field Evaluation of EDP‐XPERT
Authors: Messier William F. , Hansen James V.
Published: March 2014

This paper reports on the continued evaluation of EDP‐XPERT, and expert system for assisting Computer Audit Specialists (CASs) in evaluating the reliability of EDP controls in advanced computer environments. The current evaluation of the system involved four phases. First, Senior CASs used the system on two case studies. Second, it was then used by the Senior CASs to evaluate recently completed audits. Third, a sensitivity analysis of the system's output was conducted. Fourth, the knowledge base was reprogrammed into another expert system shell and the Senior CASs' responses on the two cases and the audits were re‐run. The results indicated that EDP‐XPERT performed well on the case studies but that performance declined on the audits. The sensitivity analysis showed that EDP‐XPERT's conclusions were affected by moderate perturbations of the CASs' input judgments. Finally, reprogramming the knowledge base into a more flexible expert system shell substantially improved the performance of the system's judgements.
Analysis of Accounting Expert Systems Citations: An Alternative Accounting Classification Scheme
Authors: Brown Carol E.
Published: March 2014

This paper compares and contrasts a paper by Shanker, Nilakanta, and Norris (1992) that quantitatively analyzes citations with Brown (1989). The analytical approach used by Shanker et al. is discussed in light of the background and limitations of the original study, the accounting classification scheme used for the analysis, and classification differences caused by either authors classifying their own articles or someone else classifying the articles based on abstracts. An alternative accounting classification scheme is presented that uses four dimensions to describe and organize the discipline of accounting: accounting tasks, domain, organization type, and service provider. In this context, a number of representative accounting expert systems are classified and discussed. Recommendations are suggested for further research.
On Intelligent Database Systems
Authors: McLeod Dennis , Yanover Paul
Published: March 2014

In response to the limitations of comtemporary database management systems in addressing the requirements of many potential application environments, and in view of the characteristics of emerging interconnected systems, we examine research directions involving adding more ‘intelligence’ to database systems. Three major thrusts in the intelligent database systems area are discussed. The first involves increasing the modeling power to represent an application environment. The second emphasis centers on enhancing the functionality of such a system to include rule‐based inference capabilities. The third direction focuses on supporting the interoperability of multiple, autonomous, heterogeneous database systems. We provide here a view of the first two thrusts, and examine the third via a description of the Remote‐Exchange research effort currently underway at USC.
Artificial Neural Networks Applied to Ratio Analysis in the Analytical Review Process
Authors: Coakley James R. , Brown Carol E.
Published: March 2014

Experts claim that artificial neural network (ANN) technology can outperform standard statistical methods when applied to examine actual financial data. Researchers have used ANNs to analyze bankruptcy prediction, bond rating and the going‐concern problem. Financial firms have employed ANNs commercially to predict commercial bank failures, detect credit card fraud and verify signatures. For accounting and auditing problems, however, application of ANN technology has been limited. Preliminary experiments tested whether an ANN offered improved performance in recognizing material misstatements during the analytical review process of auditing. Four years of audited financial data from a medium‐sized distributor were input as data streams to calibrate the ANN across fifteen financial accounts. Researchers compared a presumed lack of actual errors and certain seeded material errors with signals from the ANN analytical review process to evaluate performance. Results were compared to analyses where financial ratios and regression methods were employed as analytical review techniques. Results tentatively suggest that the ANN method recognized patterns within financial accounts more effectively than did financial ratio and regression methods. ANNs applied as a forecasting tool seem useful for identifying patterns that can indicate potential investigations of a firm's unaudited financial data in the current year.
A Research Perspective: Artificial Intelligence, Management and Organizations
Authors: Duchessi Peter , O'Keefe Robert , O'Leary Daniel
Published: March 2014

In recent years many companies have deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has included neural networks, expert systems and voice‐recognition systems. Yet managers and developers understand very little about how management and organizations affect or are affected by the technology. Using specific examples from practice and research, this paper discusses the interaction of AI, management and organizations, and describes some methodological approaches and theoretical models for studying those interactions. It provides direction for future research.
Expert Systems for Evaluating Business Opportunities: Implementing the Management Advisor at Krypton Chemical
Authors: Reitman W. , Shim S.J.
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates issues arising in procuring and implementing a commercial high‐end expert system, Palladian's Management Advisor. This system is intended for improving corporate decisions about financial investments in new business opportunities, e.g. projects involving new plants, equipment, products, or marketing expenditures. We look at Krypton Chemical's experiences with the Management Advisor from both the customer's and the vendor's viewpoints. The discussion raises some difficult questions about what it takes to make high‐end financial expert systems successful. The paper then concludes with recommendations intended to improve design, marketing, procurement and implementation practices with respect to such systems.
The Accuracy of Decision Tree Induction in a Noisy Domain for Expert Systems Construction
Authors: Kim Hyunsoo , Koehler Gary J.
Published: March 2014

Many studies have shown that decision tree induction methods could be used to determine rules for expert systems. Pruning techniques are often used to increase the accuracy of an induced decision tree over the instance space. While recent results of decision tree induction show that large samples may be required to induce a decision tree of small error, recent expository studies have used very small sample sizes. In such cases it is of value to obtain a posterior evaluation of the error of the induced concept. In this paper we give three methods to estimate the accuracy of a pruned decision tree. The first method assumes uniform prior distribution. For those cases where uniform prior is not appropriate, we develop a method to obtain appropriate prior using a beta distribution. Finally, we provide a general bound which requires no assumption over the instance space. These results can be used when a pruned decision tree is used to classify the original domain or another close domain.
A Multi‐Stage Model of Decision Bias: Implications for Expert Systems
Authors: Housel Thomas J. , Rodgers Waymond
Published: March 2014

The study of the bias processes that affect decision making is crucial in designing expert systems. This study proposes a multi‐stage model for decision biases which reconceptualizes cognitive styles and decision heuristics within a framework that borrows heavily from research by Posner and McLeod (1982), Tversky and Kahneman (1973) and Ramaprasad (1987). The framework is tested within the context‐bound area of loan making so that the biasing effects of prior experience on decision making can be examined. The results are analyzed with a path‐modeling technique (i.e. covariance structural modeling) that allows testing for indirect as well as direct effects. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for expert systems development
The Fourth International Symposium on Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management
Authors: Brown Carol E. , Coakley James R. , Eining Martha M.
Published: March 2014

The Fourth International Symposium on Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management ranks as the oldest, on‐going meeting on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in business. The conference spotlights a wide range of issues with both theoretical/practical and behavioral/technological dimensions.
Non‐Linear Predictive Models for Intra‐Day Foreign Exchange Trading
Authors: Zhang Xiru
Published: March 2014

Abstract

Artificial neural networks were used to search for non‐linear relations in high‐ frequency foreign exchange time series. Three years (1985‐7) tick‐by‐tick bid prices for the Swiss franc to the US dollar exchange rate were used in this study as training data to specify predictive models for intra‐day trading, which was then tested on the same exchange rate time series in the following year (1988). A simple trading rule was adopted to evaluate the models, which showed statistically significant trading profit under moderate transaction costs. In contrast, a standard linear model did not produce profit with the same training and test data and under the same trading rule and transaction cost assumption. This provides evidence for the non‐linear nature of the foreign exchange time series under study.
Using Constraint Programming to Design an Option‐based Decision Support System
Authors: Mizoguchi Fumio , Ohwada Hayato
Published: March 2014

Abstract

Financial options and futures give investors the opportunity to form complex strategies that meet their investment objectives for risk management. However, this opportunity gives rise to a difficult task: finding a desired strategy from among a large number of possible strategies. This paper describes an intelligent decision‐support system for generating option‐based investment strategies by using constraint programming, which is an integrated framework of Artificial Intelligence and Logic Programming. In this system, constraint programming acts as a bridge between qualitative and quantitative analyses in decision processes. In qualitative analysis, logical reasoning with hypotheses is used to automatically create complex strategies through abstract matching with investors' profiles. Here, abstract matching can be regarded as symbolic computation for producing qualitatively reasonable strategies. In quantitative analysis, a set of complete solutions that satisfy user‐supplied constraints are obtained by constraint satisfaction and optimization. A constraint language based on the framework of Constraint Logic Programming has been developed in order to integrate these symbolic and numerical computations in a uniform way. The resulting system written in this language has the following features. (1) Unlike rule‐based expert systems, the constraint‐based system can create novel investment strategies. (2) A smooth transition from qualitative to quantitative analyses can be naturally achieved due to the constraint language. (3) Qualitative analysis can reduce search complexity, because the analysis focuses on a small set of qualitative distinctions in solution space. These features indicate the usefulness of constraint programming for designing intelligent decision‐support systems.
Application of the Rough Set Approach to Evaluation of Bankruptcy Risk
Authors: Slowinski R. , Zopounidis C.
Published: March 2014

Abstract

We present a new approach to evaluation of bankruptcy risk of firms based on the rough set theory. The concept of a rough set appeared to be an effective tool for the analysis of information systems representing knowledge gained by experience. The financial information system describes a set of objects (firms) by a set of multi‐valued attributes (financial ratios and qualitative variables), called condition attributes. The firms are classified into groups of risk subject to an expert's opinion, called decision attribute. A natural problem of knowledge analysis consists then in discovering relationships, in terms of decision rules, between description of firms by condition attributes and particular decisions. The rough set approach enables one to discover minimal subsets of condition attributes ensuring an acceptable quality of classification of the firms analysed and to derive decision rules from the financial information system which can be used to support decisions about financing new firms. Using the rough set approach one analyses only facts hidden in data, it does not need any additional information about data and does not correct inconsistencies manifested in data; instead, rules produced are categorized into certain and possible. A real problem of the evaluation of bankruptcy risk by a Greek industrial development bank is studied using the rough set approach.