bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Friction and Wear Behavior of Environmentally Friendly Ionic Liquids for Sustainability of Biolubricants
Authors: Reeves Carlton J. , Siddaiah Arpith , Menezes Pradeep L.
Published: February 2019

The sustainability of biolubricants as green alternatives for industrial and machinery lubrication is questionable due to their unreliable oxidative stability, high pour point, and easy accumulation of contaminants that affect their tribological performance. Bio-based ionic liquid (IL) lubricants, which are environmentally friendly liquid state salts, have overcome these concerns related to conventional biolubricants. The present study investigates the effect of varying cation–anion moieties in ILs to understand their tribological performance and industrial viability. The industrial viability was analyzed by scaling their friction and wear behaviors against conventional biolubricants, and petroleum-based oils. The study investigated both bio- and nonbio-based ILs. Among the ILs examined, P666,14Saccharinate, P666,14Salicyate, and P666,14Benzoate were found to have superior tribological properties. The presence of large alkyl cation chain length and large aromatic anion ring size in ILs can effectively reduce friction and wear. This study details the mechanism by which the structural combinations of anion and cation in ILs define the tribological behavior of the bulk IL. Additionally, this study also highlights the environmentally benign nature of IL lubricants for possible industrial applications.
Structural and optical properties of high magnesium content wurtzite-Zn1−xMgxO nanowires
Authors: Rivera Abdiel , Mazady Anas , Zeller John W. , Sood Ashok K. , Manzur Tariq , Anwar Mehdi
Published: February 2019

Wurtzite Zn1−xMgxO nanowires (NWs) are grown using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique with the highest Mg mole fraction of 0.29. The physical structure of the NWs remains invariant with increasing Mg incorporation while the diameters and lengths vary in the range 40–180 nm and 0.5–1.5 μm, respectively. Room temperature photoluminescence shows near band edge emission associated with free exciton emission that shifts to shorter wavelength with an increase in the Mg mole fraction. Hall measurement shows that electron mobility decreases with increasing Mg concentration. Revised elastic constants are suggested to explain the observed decrease in the lattice volume at a low Mg mole fraction.
Measles epidemic in Ukraine drove troubling European year
Authors: Wadman Meredith
Published: February 2019

War and distrust of vaccines seeded ongoing outbreak
Analysis, Control and FPGA Implementation of a Fractional-Order Modified Shinriki Circuit
Authors: Rajagopal Karthikeyan , Nazarimehr Fahimeh , Guessas Laarem , Karthikeyan Anitha , Srinivasan Ashokkumar , Jafari Sajad
Published: February 2019

In this paper, we introduce a novel integer-order memristor-modified Shinriki circuit (MMSC). We investigate the dynamic properties of the MMSC system and the existence of chaos is proved with positive largest Lyapunov exponent. Bifurcation plots are derived to analyze the parameter dependence of the MMSC system. The fractional-order model of the MMSC system (FOMMSC) is derived and the bifurcation analysis of the FOMMSC system with the fractional orders is carried out. Fractional-order adaptive sliding-mode controllers (FOASMCs) and genetically optimized PID controllers are designed to synchronize identical FOMMSC systems with unknown parameters. Numerical simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical results. FPGA implementation of the FOASMC controllers is presented to show that the proposed control algorithm is hardware realizable. MMSC has trigonometric functions which make the system more complex and the optimization and synchronization of such systems in the integer order itself are harder, so the paper does the same in fractional order. The proposed system is a memristive circuit which can show special features such as multistability, hyperchaos, and multiscroll attractor. Such a system with these features is very rare in the literature.
Permission-Based Malware Detection System for Android Using Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Arslan Recep Sinan , Doğru İbrahim Alper , Barişçi Necaattin
Published: February 2019

Mobile applications create their own security and privacy models through permission-based models. Some applications may request extra permissions that they do not need but may use for suspicious activities. The aim of this study is to identify those spare permissions requested and use this information in the security and privacy approach, which uses static and code analysis together and applies them to the existing datasets; then the results are compared and accuracy level is determined. Classification is made with an accuracy rate of 91.95%.
Flutter of Telescopic Span Morphing Wings
Authors: Ajaj Rafic M. , Omar Farag K. , Darabseh Tariq T. , Cooper Jonathan
Published: February 2019

This paper studies the aeroelastic behavior of telescopic, multi-segment, span morphing wings. The wing is modeled as a linear, multi-segment, stepped, cantilever Euler–Bernoulli beam. It consists of three segments along the axis and each segment has different geometric, mechanical, and inertial properties. The aeroelastic analysis takes into account spanwise out-of-plane bending and torsion only, for which the corresponding shape functions are derived and validated. The use of shape functions allows representing the wing as an equivalent aerofoil whose generalized coordinates are defined at the wingtip according to the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Theodorsen’s unsteady aerodynamic theory is used to estimate the aerodynamic loads. A representative Padé approximation for the Theodorsen’s transfer function is utilized to model the aerodynamic behaviors in state-space form allowing time-domain simulation and analysis. The effect of the segments’ mechanical, geometric, and inertial properties on the aeroelastic behavior of the wing is assessed. Finally, the viability of span morphing as a flutter suppression device is studied.
Surface Effect on Static Bending of Functionally Graded Porous Nanobeams Based on Reddy’s Beam Theory
Authors: Su Jie , Xiang Yang , Ke Liao-Liang , Wang Yue-Sheng
Published: February 2019

In this paper, the surface effect on the static bending behavior of functionally graded porous (FGP) nanobeams subjected to a concentrated transverse load is studied by using Reddy’s higher-order beam theory. Three types of porosity distributions are considered for the nanobeam, i.e. uniform porosity distribution, symmetric and asymmetric non-uniform porosity distributions. With the consideration of the surface effect, the nanobeams can be abstracted as a composite beam composed of a surface layer and a bulk volume. According to the generalized Young–Laplace equation, the normal stress discontinuity across a surface due to the effect of surface stress is taken into consideration. The analytical solutions of the static bending problem of FGP nanobeams are obtained for the beams with hinged-hinged, clamped-clamped and clamped-free boundary conditions. The effects of the residual surface stress, porosity distribution type, porosity coefficient and length-to-thickness ratio on the transverse displacement of the FGP beams are discussed.
Research on Mongolian-Chinese machine translation based on the end-to-end neural network
Authors: Qing-Dao-Er-Ji Ren , Su Yila , Wu Nier
Published: February 2019

With the development of natural language processing and neural machine translation, the neural machine translation method of end-to-end (E2E) neural network model has gradually become the focus of research because of its high translation accuracy and strong semantics of translation. However, there are still problems such as limited vocabulary and low translation loyalty, etc. In this paper, the discriminant method and the Conditional Random Field (CRF) model were used to segment and label the stem and affixes of Mongolian in the preprocessing stage of Mongolian-Chinese bilingual corpus. Aiming at the low translation loyalty problem, a decoding model combining Convolution Neural Network (CNN) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) was constructed. The target language decoding was performed by using the GRU. A global attention model was used to obtain the bilingual word alignment information in the process of bilingual word alignment processing. Finally, the quality of the translation was evaluated by Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) values and Perplexity (PPL) values. The improved model yields a BLEU value of 25.13 and a PPL value of [Formula: see text]. The experimental results show that the E2E Mongolian-Chinese neural machine translation model was improved in terms of translation quality and semantic confusion compared with traditional statistical methods and machine translation models based on Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN).
NASCENT ENTREPRENEURS IN CARIBBEAN SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: OPPORTUNITY VERSUS NECESSITY
Authors: MOHAN PREEYA , WATSON PATRICK , STROBL ERIC
Published: February 2019

Nascent entrepreneurship is important for economic growth and development because it often involves new firm creation and innovation. Besides the perceived ability to become an entrepreneur, determined by one’s human, social and financial capital, individuals must have a willingness to become self-employed as exhibited by their entrepreneurial motivation. A distinction is made between opportunity or “pull” entrepreneurs who set up a business to take advantage of an identified opportunity and necessity or “push” entrepreneurs who are forced to start a business to escape unemployment or poverty. This paper investigates nascent entrepreneurship in a selection of Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean (SIDS), along with differences between nascent opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs. We use the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Adult Population Survey (APS) for Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Probit regressions are used and comparisons between opportunity and necessity driven entrepreneurs are made. The findings indicate that both socio-economic and perceptual factors affect nascent entrepreneurship and do so differently among opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs with important policy implications for encouraging new firm creation.
Functionalization of chlorin e6 trimethylester towards potential amphiphilic photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy
Authors: Bauer Daniela , Nghiem Hai Vu , Tien Doan Duy , Stelten Johannes , Montforts Franz-Peter
Published: February 2019

Chlorins (dihydroporphyrins) are considered, due to their ideal photophysical properties, as attractive photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer and other therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Chlorophyll [Formula: see text], as a naturally occurring chlorin, forms an almost unlimited renewable resource for preparation of potential biologically active chlorin photosensitizers and fluorescence markers. To achieve amphiphilic photosensitizers which might be selectively enriched in tumor cells, we addressed linkage of per se lipophilic chlorophyll derivatives with carbohydrate based hydrophilic aminopolyols.
Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effect of Jaeumganghwa-Tang in an Animal Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Lee Sun Hwa , Yang Eun Jin
Published: February 2019

Neuroinflammation is considered a critical factor in the pathologic mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study examined the levels of neuroinflammatory proteins in the spinal cord of JGT-treated hSOD1G93A transgenic mice to determine the effect of Jaeumganghwa-Tang (JGT) on neuroinflammation. Twelve 8-week-old male experimental mice were randomly allocated to three groups: a non-transgenic group, a hSOD1G93A transgenic group, and a hSOD1G93A transgenic group that received JGT 1 mg/g orally once daily for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, the spinal cord tissues were analyzed for inflammatory proteins (Iba-1, toll-like receptor 4, and tumor necrosis factor-α) and oxidative stress-related proteins (transferrin, ferritin, HO1, and NQO1) by Western blot analysis. Administration of JGT significantly delayed motor function impairment and reduced oxidative stress in hSOD1G93A transgenic mice. JGT effectively ameliorated neuroinflammation mechanisms by downregulating TLR4-related signaling proteins and improving iron homeostasis in the spinal cord of hSOD1G93A mice. JGT could help to decrease neuroinflammation and protect neuronal cells by strengthening the immune response in the central nervous system. This is the first study to demonstrate the role of JGT in neuroinflammation in an animal model of ALS.
Alcohol Induces More Severe Fatty Liver Disease by Influencing Cholesterol Metabolism
Authors: Li Bo , Lei Shan-Shan , Su Jie , Cai Xia-Miao , Xu Hao , He Xinglishang , Chen Ye-Hui , Lu Hai-Xia , Li He , Qian Liu-Qing , Zheng Xiang , Lv Gui-Yuan , Chen Su-Hong
Published: February 2019

Objectives. Fatty liver disease (FLD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dietary cholesterol and alcohol consumption are important risk factors for the progression of FLD, but whether and how alcohol induces more severe FLD with cholesterol ingestion remain unclear. Herein, we mainly used the Lieber-DeCarli diet to establish the FLD mouse model to investigate the synergistic effects of alcohol and cholesterol metabolism on liver damage. The indices of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and total cholesterol (TC) levels, inflammation foci, and pathogenesis by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Oil Red O staining revealed that alcohol induces more severe liver damage by influencing cholesterol metabolism, which might be primarily related to the influence of cholesterol absorption, synthesis, and excretion on the liver or small intestine. Moreover, inhibition of absorption of intestinal cholesterol, but not of fat, sucrose, and alcohol, absorption into the body’s metabolism by Ezetimibe, significantly improved FLD in rats fed with the high fat-cholesterol-sucrose and alcohol diet. These results showed that alcohol plays an important role in cholesterol metabolism in FLD.
Phytochemical Screening of Essential Oils and Antibacterial Activity and Antioxidant Properties of Barringtonia asiatica (L) Leaf Extract
Authors: Umaru Isaac John , Badruddin Fasihuddin A. , Umaru Hauwa A.
Published: February 2019

Objective. To ascertain the essential oil phytochemicals of the leaf and to test for the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of dichloromethane crude extract of Barringtonia asiatica leaf. Methods. The phytochemical screening of essential oils, extraction by hydrodistillation using the Clevenger apparatus, and analysis performed by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Antibacterial activity and the inhibition rate (mm) were determined using the agar disc method against four bacterial strains using tetracycline as positive control. The antioxidant potential of dichloromethane crude extract was investigated spectrophotometrically using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. Results. The essential oil properties were reasonable with major phytochemicals like uncineol 30.9%, eicosane 27.4%, eicosane 21.6%, and 4-propyl-guaiacol 14.05%. The antibacterial activity of the dichloromethane crude extract showed broad-spectrum activity against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae with inhibition value ranges between 2.50 ± 0.10 mm and 5.00 ± 0.06 mm. The dichloromethane crude extract exhibited strong antioxidant activities when compared to the standard. Conclusions. These results suggest that the leaves of Barringtonia asiatica is composed of essential compound as well as antibacterial and antioxidant properties from the crude extract; these are possible due to the presence of some bioactive compounds in the crude extract. The species also showed a reasonable amount of natural products in the essential oils from the hydrodistillation which can as well be used in the cosmetics and food industries.
Dietary and Lifestyle Factors Serve as Predictors of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance Postbariatric Surgery
Authors: Masood Afshan , Alsheddi Lujain , Alfayadh Loura , Bukhari Bushra , Elawad Ruba , Alfadda Assim A.
Published: February 2019

Bariatric surgery is considered to be an effective treatment for the resolution of severe obesity; however, in more than half of the bariatric surgery patients, weight reacquisition occurs as early as 18 months postsurgery, compromising the surgery’s beneficial effects. Maintaining weight loss after surgery poses a great challenge, necessitating the identification of predicting factors. In the present study, we explored the association between weight regain and dietary habits and behavioral lifestyle practices in patients following bariatric surgery. Fifty patients who underwent bariatric surgery with ≥18-month postoperative period of follow-up were included. They were classified into two groups: weight maintainers (n = 29) were patients who regained <15% of their weight, and weight regainers (n = 21) were patients who regained ≥15% of their weight compared to their lowest postoperative weight. The mean age of the study participants was 41.4 ± 8.9 years, and twenty-eight patients (56%) of the total, were females. A detailed analysis of dietary and lifestyle habits was performed by questionnaire-based interviews. Significant weight regain was noted in the regainers compared to the maintainers (19.6 ± 8.4 kg vs. 4.5 ± 3.5 kg, respectively, P≤0.001), which was attributed to their following of unhealthy dietary habits and behavioral lifestyle practices. The dietary and behavioral lifestyle practices adopted by the maintainers were higher fiber consumption and water intake, monitored pace of eating, evasion of emotional binge, and distracted eating and following of self-assessment behaviors. Additionally, regular nutritional follow-ups and compliance with postoperative dietary counseling significantly helped to improve weight maintenance. In conclusion, the effectiveness of weight loss postbariatric surgery was compromised by weight regain due to unhealthy dietary and behavioral lifestyle practices stemming from a lack of nutritional guidance and knowledge. The implementation of comprehensive nutritional counseling and advice on behavioral changes before and after surgery will help achieve optimal weight results.
Discovering Travel Community for POI Recommendation on Location‐Based Social Networks
Authors: Tang Lei , Cai Dandan , Duan Zongtao , Ma Junchi , Han Meng , Wang Hanbo
Published: February 2019

Point‐of‐interest (POI) recommendations are a popular form of personalized service in which users share their POI location and related content with their contacts in location‐based social networks (LBSNs). The similarity and relatedness between users of the same POI type are frequently used for trajectory retrieval, but most of the existing works rely on the explicit characteristics from all users’ check‐in records without considering individual activities. We propose a POI recommendation method that attempts to optimally recommend POI types to serve multiple users. The proposed method aims to predict destination POIs of a user and search for similar users of the same regions of interest, thus optimizing the user acceptance rate for each recommendation. The proposed method also employs the variable‐order Markov model to determine the distribution of a user’s POIs based on his or her travel histories in LBSNs. To further enhance the user’s experience, we also apply linear discriminant analysis to cluster the topics related to “Travel” and connect to users with social links or similar interests. The probability of POIs based on users’ historical trip data and interests in the same topics can be calculated. The system then provides a list of the recommended destination POIs ranked by their probabilities. We demonstrate that our work outperforms collaborative‐filtering‐based and other methods using two real‐world datasets from New York City. Experimental results show that the proposed method is better than other models in terms of both accuracy and recall. The proposed POI recommendation algorithms can be deployed in certain online transportation systems and can serve over 100,000 users.
Targeted Assessment of G0S2 Methylation Identifies a Rapidly Recurrent, Routinely Fatal Molecular Subtype of Adrenocortical Carcinoma
Authors: Mohan Dipika R. , Lerario Antonio Marcondes , Else Tobias , Mukherjee Bhramar , Almeida Madson Q. , Vinco Michelle , Rege Juilee , Mariani Beatriz M. P. , Zerbini Maria Claudia N. , Mendonca Berenice B. , Latronico Ana Claudia , Marie Suely K. N. , Rainey William E. , Giordano Thomas J. , Fragoso Maria Candida B. V. , Hammer Gary D.
Published: February 2019

Purpose:

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, aggressive malignancy with few therapies; however, patients with locoregional disease have variable outcomes. The Cancer Genome Atlas project on ACC (ACC-TCGA) identified that cancers of patients with homogeneously rapidly recurrent or fatal disease bear a unique CpG island hypermethylation phenotype, “CIMP-high.” We sought to identify a biomarker that faithfully captures this subgroup.

Experimental Design: We analyzed ACC-TCGA data to characterize differentially regulated biological processes, and identify a biomarker that is methylated and silenced exclusively in CIMP-high ACC. In an independent cohort of 114 adrenocortical tumors (80 treatment-naive primary ACC, 22 adrenocortical adenomas, and 12 non-naive/nonprimary ACC), we evaluated biomarker methylation by a restriction digest/qPCR-based approach, validated by targeted bisulfite sequencing. We evaluated expression of this biomarker and additional prognostic markers by qPCR.

Results:

We show that CIMP-high ACC is characterized by upregulation of cell cycle and DNA damage response programs, and identify that hypermethylation and silencing of G0S2 distinguishes this subgroup. We confirmed G0S2 hypermethylation and silencing is exclusive to 40% of ACC, and independently predicts shorter disease-free and overall survival (median 14 and 17 months, respectively). Finally, G0S2 methylation combined with validated molecular markers (BUB1B-PINK1) stratifies ACC into three groups, with uniformly favorable, intermediate, and uniformly dismal outcomes.

Conclusions:

G0S2 hypermethylation is a hallmark of rapidly recurrent or fatal ACC, amenable to targeted assessment using routine molecular diagnostics. Assessing G0S2 methylation is straightforward, feasible for clinical decision-making, and will enable the direction of efficacious adjuvant therapies for patients with aggressive ACC.
PDK1 Mediates NOTCH1-Mutated Head and Neck Squamous Carcinoma Vulnerability to Therapeutic PI3K/mTOR Inhibition
Authors: Sambandam Vaishnavi , Frederick Mitchell J. , Shen Li , Tong Pan , Rao Xiayu , Peng Shaohua , Singh Ratnakar , Mazumdar Tuhina , Huang Chenfei , Li Qiuli , Pickering Curtis R. , Myers Jeffery N. , Wang Jing , Johnson Faye M.
Published: February 2019

Purpose:

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is driven largely by the loss of tumor suppressor genes, including NOTCH1, but lacks a biomarker-driven targeted therapy. Although the PI3K/mTOR pathway is frequently altered in HNSCC, the disease has modest clinical response rates to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and lacks validated biomarkers of response. We tested the hypothesis that an unbiased pharmacogenomics approach to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors would identify novel, clinically relevant molecular vulnerabilities in HNSCC with loss of tumor suppressor function.

Experimental Design: We assessed the degree to which responses to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors are associated with gene mutations in 59 HNSCC cell lines. Apoptosis in drug-sensitive cell lines was confirmed in vitro and in vivo. NOTCH1 pathway components and PDK1 were manipulated with drugs, gene editing, knockdown, and overexpression.

Results:

PI3K/mTOR inhibition caused apoptosis and decreased colony numbers in HNSCC cell lines harboring NOTCH1 loss-of-function mutations (NOTCH1MUT) and reduced tumor size in subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models. In all cell lines, NOTCH1MUT was strongly associated with sensitivity to six PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. NOTCH1 inhibition or knockout increased NOTCH1WT HNSCC sensitivity to PI3K/mTOR inhibition. PDK1 levels dropped following PI3K/mTOR inhibition in NOTCH1MUT but not NOTCH1WT HNSCC, and PDK1 overexpression rescued apoptosis in NOTCH1MUT cells. PDK1 and AKT inhibitors together caused apoptosis in NOTCH1WT HNSCC but had little effect as single agents.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that NOTCH1MUT predicts response to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors, which may lead to the first biomarker-driven targeted therapy for HNSCC, and that targeting PDK1 sensitizes NOTCH1WT HNSCC to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors.
Breast Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy Cytology Using the Newly Proposed IAC Yokohama System for Reporting Breast Cytopathology: The Experience of a Single Institution
Authors: Montezuma Diana , Malheiros Daniela , Schmitt Fernando C.
Published: February 2019

Objective: Recently the International Academy of Cytology (IAC) proposed a new reporting system for breast fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) cytology. We aimed to categorize our samples according to this classification and to assess the risk of malignancy (ROM) for each category as well as the diagnostic yield of breast FNAB. Study Design: Breast FNAB specimens obtained between January 2007 and December 2017 were reclassified according to the newly proposed IAC Yokohama reporting system. The ROM for each category was determined. Diagnostic yield was evaluated based on a three-category approach, benign versus malignant. Results: The samples were distributed as follows: insufficient material 5.77%, benign 73.38%, atypical 13.74%, suspicious for malignancy 1.57%, and malignant 5.54%. Of the 3,625 cases collected, 776 (21.4%) had corresponding histology. The respective ROM for each category was 4.8% for category 1 (insufficient material), 1.4% for category 2 (benign), 13% for category 3 (atypical), 97.1% for category 4 (suspicious for malignancy), and 100% for category 5 (malignant). When only malignant cases were considered positive tests, the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy were 97.56, 100, and 99.11%, respectively. Conclusions: Our study is the first to categorize breast FNAB cytology samples according to the proposed IAC reporting system and to evaluate patient outcomes based on this categorization.
Effects of Arteriovenous Fistula on Blood Pressure in Patients With End‐Stage Renal Disease: A Systematic Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Scholz Sean S. , Vukadinović Davor , Lauder Lucas , Ewen Sebastian , Ukena Christian , Townsend Raymond R. , Wagenpfeil Stefan , Böhm Michael , Mahfoud Felix
Published: February 2019

Background

Central arteriovenous fistula (
AVF
) creation is under investigation for treatment of severe hypertension. We evaluated the effects of
AVF
for initiation of hemodialysis on systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure in patients with end‐stage renal disease.

Methods and Results

Data search included PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of peer‐reviewed studies reporting the effects of the creation/ligation of an
AVF
on blood pressure in patients with end‐stage renal disease was performed according to the
PRISMA
(Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis),
PRISMA
‐P (PRISMA for systematic review protocols), and ROBINS‐I (Risk of Bias in Non‐Randomized Studies) criteria by the Cochrane Bias Methods Group. All studies in which the results could have been biased by hemodialysis were excluded. A total of 14 trials including 412 patients with end‐stage renal disease (
AVF
creation, n=185;
AVF
ligation, n=227) fulfilled the criteria and were subsequently analyzed. Average blood pressure in patients with no/closed
AVF
was 140.5/77.6 mm Hg with a mean arterial blood pressure of 96.1 mm Hg. Following creation of
AVF
, systolic blood pressure significantly decreased by 8.7 mm Hg (
P
<0.001), diastolic blood pressure by 5.9 mm Hg (
P
<0.001), and mean arterial blood pressure by 6.6 mm Hg (
P
=0.02), whereas after ligation systolic blood pressure increased by 5.2 mm Hg (
P
=0.07), diastolic blood pressure by 3.8 mm Hg (
P
=0.02), and mean arterial blood pressure by 3.7 mm Hg (
P
=0.07) during short‐ to long‐term follow‐up.

Conclusions

Creation of
AVF
significantly decreases blood pressure in patients with end‐stage renal disease, whereas blood pressure tends to increase after ligation. These findings illustrate the hemodynamic consequences of
AVF
which are under investigation for severe hypertension.
A Distributed Framework for the Construction of Transport Maps
Authors: Mesa Diego A. , Tantiongloc Justin , Mendoza Marcela , Kim Sanggyun , P. Coleman Todd
Published: February 2019

The need to reason about uncertainty in large, complex, and multimodal data sets has become increasingly common across modern scientific environments. The ability to transform samples from one distribution [Formula: see text] to another distribution [Formula: see text] enables the solution to many problems in machine learning (e.g., Bayesian inference, generative modeling) and has been actively pursued from theoretical, computational, and application perspectives across the fields of information theory, computer science, and biology. Performing such transformations in general still leads to computational difficulties, especially in high dimensions. Here, we consider the problem of computing such “measure transport maps” with efficient and parallelizable methods. Under the mild assumptions that [Formula: see text] need not be known but can be sampled from and that the density of [Formula: see text] is known up to a proportionality constant, and that [Formula: see text] is log-concave, we provide in this work a convex optimization problem pertaining to relative entropy minimization. We show how an empirical minimization formulation and polynomial chaos map parameterization can allow for learning a transport map between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] with distributed and scalable methods. We also leverage findings from nonequilibrium thermodynamics to represent the transport map as a composition of simpler maps, each of which is learned sequentially with a transport cost regularized version of the aforementioned problem formulation. We provide examples of our framework within the context of Bayesian inference for the Boston housing data set and generative modeling for handwritten digit images from the MNIST data set.
The Human Character Types in Ancient India
Authors: Zysk Kenneth
Published: February 2019

This paper is a study of the transmission and assimilation of ideas and motifs in different types of Sanskrit literature in ancient India. I examine the classification of both male and female character types in three different Sanskrit literary genres: Jyotiḥśāstra, Āyurveda and Nāṭyaśāstra. The results of the study indicate that the list of male character types offered in the early Jyotiḥśāstra treatise of Garga (Gārgīyajyotiṣa) dating from the beginning of the Common Era contributed in part to the formulations in Āyurveda and formed the basis of the version in the Nāṭyaśāstra. Early āyurvedic treatises expanded the list and organised the male character types according to the Sāṃkhyan guṇa-theory, and the Nāṭyaśāstra further increased the animal similes of Garga, changed the gender emphasis from male to female, and used Kāmaśāstra as the genre for introducting the catalogue of female character types into dramaturgy.
Buddhist and Śaiva Interactions in the Kali Age
Authors: Bisschop Peter C.
Published: February 2019

In a much-discussed passage of the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra it is taught that Avalokiteśvara produced Maheśvara from his forehead. Maheśvara is introduced as a representative of the degenerative Kali age. In this connection, the Kāraṇḍavyūha quotes a doctrinal verse about the worship of the liṅga, which for a long time has been mistakenly attributed to ‘the Skandapurāṇa’, but whose source can now be identified in the Śivadharmaśāstra. After a comparative discussion of this verse in both texts, the article considers the possible broader implications of this quotation, in particular in relation to the question of the origin of the six-syllabled mantra oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ and its Śaiva counterpart oṃ namaḥ śivāya. The article concludes with some observations on distinctive features that characterise Śaiva versus Vaiṣṇava interactions with Buddhism.
A further study on the species of the spider genus Leptonetela (Araneae: Leptonetidae)
Authors: WANG CHUNXIA , LI SHUQIANG
Published: February 2019

The present paper gives a further study of the spider genus Leptonetela Kratochvíl, 1978. A total of twenty-seven species are reported, including seven known species, thirteen new species, seven new combinations and four new synonyms. Leptonetela kanellisi (Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971), type species for genus, is redescribed based on the specimens from Greece. The new species are: Leptonetela chiosensis sp. nov., L. gittenbergeri sp. nov. from Greece; L. flabellaris sp. nov., L. lineata sp. nov., L. mengzongensis sp. nov., L. mita sp. nov., L. parlonga sp. nov., L. rudicula sp. nov., L. sexdentata sp. nov., L. tianxingensis sp. nov., L. yaoi sp. nov. and L. zhai sp. nov. from China; L. pungitia sp. nov. from Vietnam. The new combinations are: Leptonetela hangzhouensis (Chen et al., 1984) comb. nov. and Leptonetela microdonta (Xu & Song, 1983) comb. nov. transferred from Leptoneta; Leptonetela identica (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov., Leptonetela lophacantha (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov., Leptonetela megaloda (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov., Leptonetela nuda (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov. and Leptonetela robustispina (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov. transferred from Qianleptoneta. The new synonyms are: Qianleptoneta lycotropa Chen et al., 2010 is a junior synonym of Leptonetela danxia Lin & Li, 2010; Qianleptoneta triangula Chen et al., 2010 is a junior synonym of Leptonetela digitata Lin & Li, 2010; Qianleptoneta sublunata Chen et al., 2010 is a junior synonym of Leptonetela reticulopecta Lin & Li, 2010 and Qianleptoneta multiseta Chen et al., 2010 is a junior synonym of Leptonetela tetracantha Lin & Li, 2010. In addition, Qianleptoneta palmata Chen et al., 2010 is tranferred to the genus Sinoneta, i.e. Sinoneta palmata (Chen et al., 2010) comb. nov.
“Can You Take the Heat?” Heat-Induced Health Symptoms Are Associated with Protective Behaviors
Authors: Esplin Emily D. , Marlon Jennifer R. , Leiserowitz Anthony , Howe Peter D.
Published: February 2019

The risks associated with extreme heat are increasing as heat waves become more frequent and severe across larger areas. As people begin to experience heat waves more often and in more places, how will individuals respond? Measuring experience with heat simply as exposure to extreme temperatures may not fully capture how people subjectively experience those temperatures or their varied impacts on human health. These impacts may also influence an individual’s response to heat and motivate risk-reduction behaviors. If subjectively experiencing negative health effects from extreme heat promotes protective actions, these effects could be used alongside temperature exposure to more accurately measure extreme heat experience and inform risk prevention and communication strategies according to local community needs. Using a multilevel regression model, this study analyzes georeferenced national survey data to assess whether Americans’ exposure to extreme heat and experience with its health effects are associated with self-reported protective behaviors. Subjective experience with heat-related health symptoms strongly predicted all reported protective behaviors while measured heat exposure had a much weaker influence. Risk perception was strongly associated with some behaviors. This study focuses particularly on the practice of checking on family, friends, and neighbors during a heat wave, which can be carried out by many people. For this behavior, age, race/ethnicity, gender, and income, along with subjective experience and risk perception, were important predictors. Results suggest that the subjective experience of extreme heat influences health-related behavioral responses and should therefore be considered when designing or improving local heat protection plans.
Item Response Tree Models to Investigate Acquiescence and Extreme Response Styles in Likert-Type Rating Scales
Authors: Park Minjeong , Wu Amery D.
Published: February 2019

Item response tree (IRTree) models are recently introduced as an approach to modeling response data from Likert-type rating scales. IRTree models are particularly useful to capture a variety of individuals’ behaviors involving in item responding. This study employed IRTree models to investigate response styles, which are individuals’ tendencies to prefer or avoid certain response categories in a rating scale. Specifically, we introduced two types of IRTree models, descriptive and explanatory models, perceived under a larger modeling framework, called explanatory item response models, proposed by De Boeck and Wilson. This extends the typical application of IRTree models for studying response styles. As a demonstration, we applied the descriptive and explanatory IRTree models to examine acquiescence and extreme response styles in Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. Our findings suggested the presence of two distinct extreme response styles and acquiescence response style in the scale.
The mechanical and thermal properties of chopped basalt fiber-reinforced poly (butylene terephthalate) composites: Effect of fiber amount and length
Authors: Arslan Cagrialp , Dogan Mehmet
Published: February 2019

In this study, the effects of basalt fiber (BF) amount and initial fiber length on tensile, flexural and impact properties of poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT)-based composites are studied. The effect of BF amount on thermomechanical and thermal properties of the composites is also investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimeter and thermal gravimetric analysis. The BF is used at concentrations of 5, 10, 20 and 30 wt% and with different initial lengths of 3, 6 and 12 mm under constant loading of BF (20 wt%). According to the test results, the addition of BF improves the tensile strength and thermal stability of PBT at 20 and 30 wt% loading. Flexural strength and elastic modulus increase steadily as the added amount of BF increases. The addition of BF favors crystallization up to 10 wt% loading. No remarkable effect of initial fiber length is observed on the mechanical properties of the composites.
Wear Behavior of Graded Glass/Zirconia Crowns and Their Antagonists
Authors: Kaizer M.R. , Bano S. , Borba M. , Garg V. , dos Santos M.B.F. , Zhang Y.
Published: February 2019

Monolithic zirconia crowns have become very popular; their surface finish is considered a key factor for restoration longevity. While polishing has shown excellent results in vivo, the surface glass infiltration of zirconia may offer superior damage resistance and aesthetic advantages by using tooth-colored glasses. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of polishing and glass infiltration on the wear behavior of monolithic zirconia crowns. The wear behavior of intact natural molar teeth was investigated as a reference. Zirconia crowns were divided into 3 groups: PolZ—sintered then polished; PolGZ—polished in the presintered state and then glass infiltrated and sintered; NoPolGZ—as machined, glass infiltrated and sintered. Crowns were adhesively bonded to a dentin-like abutment. Zirconia crowns and molar teeth ( n = 15) were subjected to contact-slide-liftoff cyclic loading (200 N, 1.25 million cycles) with a steatite sphere ( r = 3 mm) as an antagonist in water. Surface and subsurface damages were investigated with optical and scanning electron microscopies. Wear depth and volume loss were determined with micro–computed tomography. PolGZ and NoPolGZ crowns exhibited shallow wear scars, where material loss remained within the glass/zirconia layer with no visible cracks. Meanwhile, PolZ crowns presented no visible wear damage. Volume loss (mm3) in the steatite antagonist was as follows (mean ± SD): PolZ = 0.022 ± 0.007, PolGZ = 0.011 ± 0.004, and NoPolGZ = 0.014 ± 0.006. Molar teeth yielded no measurable wear on the antagonist, while the wear scar on the teeth was greater than that on zirconia crowns, ranging from 0.07 to 0.35 mm3. The combination of polishing and glass infiltration on the occlusal surface of monolithic zirconia crowns yielded reduced wear on both crown and antagonist.
Physicochemical and sorption characteristics of poplar seed fiber as a natural oil sorbent
Authors: Xu Yanfang , Su Qincheng , Shen Hua , Xu Guangbiao
Published: February 2019

Oil spills have become a global concern due to their environmental and economic impact. Various methods, including the use of fibers as sorbents, have been developed for oil spill concern. Poplar seed fiber is a plant biomass that has the potential of being used as low-cost sorbent. In this study, the physicochemical and sorption characteristics of poplar seed fiber as an oil sorbent was evaluated. Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy analyses showed that poplar seed fiber was a lignocellulosic material with smooth surface and hollow lumen. Oil sorption tests showed that loose poplar seed fibers could absorb 53.74 g/g of diesel oil, 65.85 g/g of motor oil and 67.97 g/g of vegetable oil, which were higher than that of kapok and cotton fiber. The availability of void fraction inside the fiber assembly coupled with hollow fiber structure and hydrophobicity/oleophilicity of poplar seed fiber were the main contributing factors. Moreover, the oil sorption kinetics of poplar seed fiber, including the effect of packing density of fiber assembly, oil types on sorption capacity and rate, was analyzed by a wicking method. Results illustrated that the oil sorption capacity was closely related to the packing density of fiber assembly, with an apparent decrease when the packing density changed from 0.05 g/cm3 to 0.09 g/cm3. For sorption rate, the highest oil sorption coefficients were observed for diesel oil, of 0.36 g2/s, 0.32 g2/s and 0.30 g2/s at the packing densities of 0.05 g/cm3, 0.07 g/cm3 and 0.09 g/cm3, respectively, which were about 10 times higher than that of vegetable oil and 70 times higher than that of motor oil.
Witness and Silence in Neuromarketing: Managing the Gap between Science and Its Application
Authors: Brenninkmeijer Jonna , Schneider Tanja , Woolgar Steve
Published: February 2019

Over the past decades commercial and academic market(ing) researchers have studied consumers through a range of different methods including surveys, focus groups, or interviews. More recently, some have turned to the growing field of neuroscience to understand consumers. Neuromarketing employs brain imaging, scanning, or other brain measurement technologies to capture consumers’ (brain) responses to marketing stimuli and to circumvent the “problem” of relying on consumers’ self-reports. This paper presents findings of an ethnographic study of neuromarketing research practices in one neuromarketing consultancy. Our access to the minutiae of commercial neuromarketing research provides important insights into how neuromarketers silence the neuromarketing test subject in their experiments and presentations and how they introduce the brain as an unimpeachable witness. This enables us conceptually to reconsider the role of witnesses in the achievement of scientific credibility, as prominently discussed in science and technology studies (STS). Specifically, we probe the role witnesses and silences play in establishing and maintaining credibility in and for “commercial research laboratories.” We propose three themes that have wider relevance for STS researchers and require further attention when studying newly emerging research fields and practices that straddle science and its commercial application.
Translational Research: The Cornerstone for Medical Technology Advancement
Authors: Tellez Armando , Ferrone Marco , Granada Juan F.
Published: February 2019

Significant improvements in quality of life and mortality have occurred over the last century due to the giant advancements in medical innovation. Medical innovation continues to move forward, and it is expanding to areas never explored before. In particular, the advancement in big data analytics is now enabling the rapid progress in the understanding of gene influence in human diseases. The progress in medical innovation achieved until today is significant; however, the potential that future technologies have to modify patterns of disease thought to be incurable is mind-boggling. In the present issue of Toxicologic Pathology, a wide variety of devices and validation platforms are presented as a clear evidence of the multidisciplinary approach that is necessary for the progress of this field. As a clinician, scientist, and medical device innovator, I am confident that this special issue dedicated to the “Pathology of Medical Devices” will be of great value to the scientific and medical device innovation community.
Evaluation and Management of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease: State of the Art Review
Authors: Lechien Jerome R. , Akst Lee M. , Hamdan Abdul Latif , Schindler Antonio , Karkos Petros D. , Barillari Maria Rosaria , Calvo‐Henriquez Christian , Crevier‐Buchman Lise , Finck Camille , Eun Young‐Gyu , Saussez Sven , Vaezi Michael F.
Published: February 2019

Objective

To review the current literature about the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

Data Sources

PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus.

Methods

A comprehensive review of the literature on LPR epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment was conducted. Using the PRISMA statement, 3 authors selected relevant publications to provide a critical analysis of the literature.

Conclusions

The important heterogeneity across studies in LPR diagnosis continues to make it difficult to summarize a single body of thought. Controversies persist concerning epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. No recent epidemiologic study exists regarding prevalence and incidence with the use of objective diagnostic tools. There is no survey that evaluates the prevalence of symptoms and signs on a large number of patients with confirmed LPR. Regarding diagnosis, an increasing number of authors used multichannel intraluminal impedance–pH monitoring, although there is no consensus regarding standardization of the diagnostic criteria. The efficiency of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy remains poorly demonstrated and misevaluated by incomplete clinical tools that do not take into consideration many symptoms and extralaryngeal findings. Despite the recent advances in knowledge about nonacid LPR, treatment protocols based on PPIs do not seem to have evolved.

Implications for Practice

The development of multichannel intraluminal impedance–pH monitoring and pepsin and bile salt detection should be considered for the establishment of a multiparameter diagnostic approach. LPR treatment should evolve to a more personalized regimen, including diet, PPIs, alginate, and magaldrate according to individual patient characteristics. Multicenter international studies with a standardized protocol could improve scientific knowledge about LPR.