bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design of Biomass Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems based on Economic Risk using Minimax Regret Criterion
Authors: Ling Wen Choong , Andiappan Viknesh , Kin Wan Yoke
Published: February 2018

It is a great challenge to identify optimum technologies for CHP systems that utilise biomass and convert it into heat and power. In this respect, industry decision makers are lacking in confidence to invest in biomass CHP due to economic risk from varying energy demand. This research work presents a linear programming systematic framework to design biomass CHP system based on potential loss of profit due to varying energy demand. Minimax Regret Criterion (MRC) approach was used to assess maximum regret between selections of the given biomass CHP design based on energy demand. Based on this, the model determined an optimal biomass CHP design with minimum regret in economic opportunity. As Feed-in Tariff (FiT) rates affects the revenue of the CHP plant, sensitivity analysis was then performed on FiT rates on the selection of biomass CHP design. Besides, design analysis on the trend of the optimum design selected by model was conducted. To demonstrate the proposed framework in this research, a case study was solved using the proposed approach. The case study focused on designing a biomass CHP system for a palm oil mill (POM) due to large energy potential of oil palm biomass in Malaysia.
Preliminary Study on Effect of Chemical Composition Alteration on Elastic Recovery and Stress Recovery of Nitrile Gloves
Authors: Tan Kai Yang , Phang Siew Wei , Phang Chee Kin , Lang Choh Jing , Pang Goh Ching , Ban Wong Chong , Ting Tee Tiam
Published: February 2018

Nitrile gloves are widely used in the medical and automobile field due to its superiority in hypo-allergic component and chemical resistance over natural latex gloves. However, poor elastic recovery of nitrile glove to compressive force also creates an aesthetic issue for customers with high levels of wrinkling after removing from glove box. This paper demonstrates the preliminary study on the varies chemical composition such as crosslinking agents, sulphur and zinc oxide, the accelerator agent added during curing process, and the rubber filler Titanium Dioxide, on the elastic recovery and stress relaxation in nitrile gloves manufacturing. These chemical were studied at different concentration level comparing the high and low level versus the normal production range. Due to the inconsistency in the analysis technique on the surface imaging, the elastic recovery result was unable to be quantified and was not conclusive at this point. The cross linking agents, sulphur and zinc oxide, and the accelerator agent, played a significant role in the mechanical strength of the gloves. Increment of these chemicals result in higher tensile strength, but a reduction in the elasticity of the materials in which causes a lesser elongation at break percentage for the gloves. Both cross-linkers demonstrate different behaviour where higher sulphur content, provide higher stress relaxation (SR%) yet zinc oxide shows otherwise.
The Enhancement of Pre-Storage Filtration Efficiency for the Rainwater Harvesting System in Malaysia
Authors: Sion Ong Yoong , Sim Ong Ken , Tan Y.k. , Ghadimi Azadeh
Published: February 2018

A conventional design of rainwater harvesting system collects and directs the rainwater through water piping from roof of building to the water storage. The filtration system which locates before the water tank storage and first flush bypass system is the main focus of the research. A filtration system consists of a control volume of filter compartment, filter screen (stainless steel mesh) and water piping that direct the water flow. The filtration efficiency of an existing filter “3P Volume Filter VF1” by industrial company is enhanced. A full scale filter design prototype with filter screen of 1000 μm stainless steel metal mesh is tested to compare with the original filter system design. Three types of water inlet setups are tested. Among the proposed water inlet setups, the 90° inlet setup with extension provides the best filtration rate per unit time, following by the 45° inlet setup. The 45° and 90° inlet setup has similar filtration efficiency at low to medium flow rate while 45° inlet setup has better efficiency at high flow rate. The filtration efficiency with the 90° inlet setup with extension is observed to maintain at highest value at medium to high flow rate. The overall filtration performance achieved by the 90° inlet setup with extension at low to high flow rate is between 34.1 to 35.7%.
Development of a PID Controlled Arduino-Based Stabiliser
Authors: Wah Yee Lyn , Hoo Choon Lih , Felicia Wong Yen Myan , Tai Jun Jet
Published: February 2018

Inverted pendulum remained as the most popular topic for control theory researches because of its characteristic of being non-linear, unstable and under-actuated system. It is ideal for verification, validation and enhancement of control theory by stabilizing the inverted pendulum in an upright position using various controller and stabilizer mechanism. For this project, Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller is used to stabilize the inverted pendulum by tuning the respective gains (kP, kI, and kD) to control the parameters of inverted pendulum which includes the rise time, settling time, overshoot and steady-state error in cooperation with of Arduino microcontroller. The objective of this project is to design and build a stabilizer mechanism with the integration of mechanical and electrical components to stabilize two Directional (2D) inverted pendulum similar to 3D printer mechanism. Besides that, PID controller will be tuned in Arduino microcontroller and control the output of stabilizer mechanism. The stabilizer mechanism is designed in SolidWorks software and built using various manufacturing techniques, raw materials and 3D printing, while the electronics components such as gyroscope and Direct Current (DC) motors are controlled using Arduino Due in C++ language. The gyroscope determines the tilting angle of the pendulum as a feedback in the control loop, and the gains of PID are used to control the speed and direction of DC motor to provide sufficient force/torque to keep the inverted pendulum in an upright position. The stabilizer mechanism with inverted pendulum has been built and the gains of PID have been tuned using “trial and error” method as friction is now taken into consideration. The inverted pendulum is successfully stabilized in an upright position (0o measure at z-axis) using control theory.
Electrical Energy Harvesting from Cooker’s Wasted Heat with Using Conduction Cooling
Authors: Amouzard Mahdiraji Wincent Ghafour
Published: February 2018

In order meet the demand of electricity in current era, the need for new sources of energy even in very minimal amount, could be done with proper research and technology advancement in order to convert as much wasted energy as possible. Collecting and analyses cooker’s wasted heat as a main wasted energy source become the main interest for this research. This application can be installed either in household usage or commercial usage. Based on majority stove in household datasheet it shown that the efficiency of the stove is approximately 50%. With half of the efficiency turn into wasted heat, this application is suitable for thermoelectric generator (TEG) to harvest the heat. The objective of this research is to determine whether the thermoelectric generator (TEG) would able to power the 3V LED light as a small lighting system in household. Several designs with five TEGs in series circuit are tested to the application to analyses which method generated a better result. Since this research only focus in using a conduction cooling, aluminum heat sink will be utilized either for heat absorption or heat rejection. The maximum temperature differences between hot side and cold side is 209.83 °C with average power approximately 0.1 W.
Constitutive Parameters Identification of AZ31B-H24 Magnesium Alloy and Energy-Absorption Analysis in Structural Panel Use
Authors: Yang Yuedong , Chen Jiqing , Lan Fengchong , Zeng Wu , Ma Zhengwei
Published: February 2018

As a novel lightweight material, AZ31B magnesium alloy is considered as the most potential material to instead baseline steel in some automotive parts. However, their structural use is quite limited and so far proper numerical modeling has not been developed to represent magnesium alloy. In present study, the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) test is utilized to investigate material dynamic mechanism for AZ31B-H24 over a wide range of strain rates from 1389 s-1 to 7296 s-1. Parametric identification for Johnson-Cook (J-C) constitutive model available in the commercial finite element package LS-DYNA is carried out. Proper parameters are obtained by curve fit using genetic algorithm with experimental results. Constitutive model after parametric identification is applied to automotive outer panels for crashworthiness analysis. Energy absorption with magnesium alloy substituted baseline steel under lightweight 51.18% is obtained and the key problem of thin-walled magnesium alloy applied in automotive structure is advanced.
Comparative study on porous media combustion characteristics using different discrete materials
Authors: Janvekar Ayub Ahmed , Abdullah M. Z. , Ahmad Z. A. , Abas Aizat , Bashir Musavir , Mohamed Mazlan
Published: February 2018

Occurrence of combustion phenomenon in porous media has always excited researchers to develop various shape and size of burner so that maximum utilization of energy can be taken achieved. Here in this experiential work, dual layer micro burner was exclusively built to carry out porous media combustion characteristic with different type of discrete material in reaction zone. Presently, only alumina and zirconia are compared in discrete form, while preheat layer was made of porcelain ceramic material (foam type). Reaction zone was restricted to thickness of 20mm while preheat zone at 10mm. A concept of equivalence ratio was aided since it involves premixed combustion of air and butane as fuel mixture. Additionally, burner was made to run under lean to ultra-lean modes and finest temperature were recorded. Both surface and submerged flame was generated effectively. Maximum temperatures recorded during surface and submerged flame condition was better by installing alumina rather than zirconia there by reaching a value of 631°C and 470°C respectively. Thus maximum thermal efficiency was calculated and found out to be 84%. Finally, emission parameters like NOx and CO where monitored and found out to be well within acceptable limits.
A review on humanoid robotics in healthcare
Authors: Joseph Azeta , Christian Bolu , Abiodun Abioye A. , Oyawale Festus
Published: February 2018

Humanoid robots have evolved over the years and today it is in many different areas of applications, from homecare to social care and healthcare robotics. This paper deals with a brief overview of the current and potential applications of humanoid robotics in healthcare settings. We present a comprehensive contextualization of humanoid robots in healthcare by identifying and characterizing active research activities on humanoid robot that can work interactively and effectively with humans so as to fill some identified gaps in current healthcare deficiency.
Application Value of Slider-Crank Mechanism in Pick-and-Place Operation of Delta Robot
Authors: Zhe QIN , Xiao-chu LIU , Zhuan ZHAO , Jin-rui XIAO
Published: February 2018

By absorbing the advantages of the rotary-driven Delta robot and linear-driven Delta robot, a Delta robot for pick-and-place operation that forms a crank-slider at the drive joint is designed.To take the most common gate shaped curve in Cartesian space as the motion trail of robotic pick-and-place operation, according to the kinematics inverse solution theory of Delta robot, this thesis mainly solves the output angular velocity of robot-driven joint. Establishing the static transfer mathematical model and solving the forced condition of driving joint. The simulation analysis show that after the upper slider-crank mechanism is connected to the driving joint, the angular velocity of the driving joint changes suddenly, which caused a rigid impact on the robot in the picking and releasing operation, though the force of the driving joint can be made smaller.
Research on the compensation method of Indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring under Sinusoidal Driving Condition
Authors: Liqiang Wang , Lin Qi , Zhe Zhang , Zongqi HAN
Published: February 2018

Indirect tire pressure monitoring method (ITPMS) is based on the wheel speed signal differences indirectly infer that the change of the tire pressure. In the steering mode, there is a large yaw rate, and there is a big deviation between the four wheels’ speed. The traditional indirect tire pressure monitoring method based on wheel speed comparison method is invalid. That the automobiles which is matched electronic stability control system estimate the four-wheel speed according to the yaw rate and steering wheel angle become an important method to improve the accuracy of Indirect tire pressure monitoring. Four-wheel vehicle kinematics model for turning condition is established to compensate for the wheel speed in the steering mode, avoid the misjudgment of indirect tire pressure monitoring system. The seven degree of freedom vehicle model and the four wheel speed model are established firstly, and analyse the four wheel speed change of the vehicle under the condition of a certain corner input in the simulation. Then conduct a test on the vehicle road, calculated using the four wheel speed distribution module model of vehicle wheel speed on the theoretical value of the actual value of the wheel speed compensation, so it can monitor the tire pressure in turning vehicle. When the error of the wheel speed is beyond the threshold, the wheel can be judged to be in the state of lack of gas.
Numerical Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibration Energy Extraction Efficiency of Double Circular Cylinders In Tandem Arrangement at Low Reynolds Number
Authors: Junwu Wu , Zhongjun Yin
Published: February 2018

Vortex shedding from a bluff body results in fluctuating forces acting on the bluff body, which may induce vibration of the bluff body when the bluff body is elastically mounted or deformable. Researchers put forward an idea that we can ex-tract energy from the water flow based on VIV at low flow velocity. Although plenty of researches on parameters of VIV are already presented, however, the improvement of energy extraction efficiency still needs further study. According to the previous research, this essay has simulated flow-induced vibration of tandem double circular cylinders when Reynolds number is 100. Working condition has been considered as the fixed upstream cylinder and the free vibration of the downstream cylinder. The influence of the mass coefficient and the two cylinders spacing ratio on the downstream cylinder’s energy obtained from the fluid is studied. Analysis results show that, the maximum value of the energy extraction efficiency is before the frequency locked range. In the case of large spacing ratio (L/D=7~9), the phenomenon of "beat vibration" appears on the downstream cylinder. The results of this work could provide reference for the improvement of energy extraction efficiency and the design of VIV converter.
Optimization and Numerical Simulation of Outlet of Twin Screw Extruder
Authors: Zhang Yuan , Jiang Xiaohan , Fan Huaping , Li Xihan
Published: February 2018

In view of the unreasonable design of non-intermeshing counter-rotating twin screw extruder die, the problem of productivity reduction was discussed. Firstly, the mathematical model of extruder productivity was established. The extruder die model was improved. Secondly, the force analysis of twin screw extruder physical model was carried out. Meanwhile, A combination of mechanical analysis and numerical simulation was adopted. The velocity field, pressure field and viscosity field were calculated by Mini-Element interpolation method, linear interpolation method and Picard iterative convergence method respectively. The influence of die model on the quantity of each field before and after improvement was analyzed. The results show that the improved model had increased the rheological parameters of the flow field, the leakage and reverse flow decreased. Through post-processing calculation, the productivity of the third dies extruder was 10% higher than before. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of die model of non intermeshing counter-rotating twin screw extruder.
Transient Magnetic Model of Magnetorheological Damper and Its Experimental Verification
Authors: Michal Kubík , Ondřej Macháček , Zbyněk Strecker , Jakub Roupec , Petr Novák , Ivan Mazůrek
Published: February 2018

The present paper deals with the transient magnetic model of the magnetorheological (MR) damper and its experimental verification. The response time of MR damper affects the quality of semi-active control of this damper. The lower the response time, the higher the system efficiency. The most important part of the response time of the MR damper is the response time of magnetic field of the MR damper which can be determined by transient magnetic model. The transient magnetic model was created by the software Ansys Electromagnetics 17.1 as 2D axisymmetric and verified by measurement of magnetic field in the gap of MR damper piston. The maximum difference between the model and the experiment was 28 %. The response time depends on the electric current in the coil of MR damper. The transient magnetic model was used for determination of influence of MR fluid type, material of cover and material of magnetic circuit on the response time of magnetic field of MR damper. The type of MR fluid has a significant influence on the response time. The lower the mass concentration of ferromagnetic particles, the lower the response time of magnetic field. A material selection of magnetic circuit is always a trade-off between the response time and the maximum magnetic flux density (dynamic force range) in the gap of the MR damper. According to the verified transient magnetic model, it is possible to find a suitable material of magnetic circuit for specific application (response time).
Research on the Design Criterion of Packers and Slips in Pipeline Isolation Tool
Authors: Zhang Kang , Zhang Shimin , Ding Qingxin , Gong Pu , Zhu Xiaoxiao
Published: February 2018

With the rapid development of pipeline industry, the pipeline maintenance technology using isolation tool has got developed widely in the global scope. The packers and slips are the determining parts for isolation reliability and their design criterions are essential to investigate. This paper firstly studied the contact pressure between the packers and pipeline through theoretical and simulation methods. And then the modified model has been achieved according to the analysis results. Finally, the design criterions of packers and slips have been presented accordingly. The results of this research has great meaning and provide efficiency and convenience for tool designing in engineering.
Vertical Vibration Control of Cold Rolling Mill’s Rolls Based on Time-delay Feedback Control Method
Authors: Hou Dongxiao
Published: February 2018

In this paper, a two degree of freedom nonlinear vertical vibration equation of the cold rolling mill with the dynamic rolling force was established, then the delay feedback control method was introduced into the equation to controlled the vertical vibration of the system. The amplitude-frequency equations of primary resonance of system was carried out by using the multi-scale method, and the resonance characteristics of different parameters of delay feedback control method were obtained by adopting the actual parameters of rolling mill. It is found that the size of the resonance amplitude value was effectively controlled and the resonance region and jumping phenomenon of the system were eliminated by selecting the appropriate time-delay parameters combination, which provides an effective theoretical reference for solving mill vibration problems.
Measurement of six degree bi-directional motion error of linear stage
Authors: Furutani Ryoshu
Published: February 2018

We proposed the measurement system of the six degree of motion errors which is based on distance measurement by the laser interferometer. The system has six parallel laser beams and six ball lenses as the retroreflectors on the linear stage, which reflect the corresponding laser beams. In the proposed system, the error of axial direction is measured with the ordinary distance measurement method by laser interferometer. The vertical errors to the axial direction and the roll errors around the optical axis are measured by tilted beams using the wedge prism. The pitch and yaw errors in the vertical plane to the optical axis are measured by the difference between distance of two ball lenses. The former system can measure the displacement and the error angle in one-direction. The propose system are expanded and bi-directional displacement and error angle can be measured. In this paper, it is shown how to expand the measurement system. As a result, the maximum displacement errors in x, y and z directions are 242nm, 179nm and 90nm. The maximum rotational errors around x, y, z axes are 1.75 arcsec, 2.35 arcsec and 1.67 arcsec.
Magnetic Microfluidic Linear Halbach Array Configuration for Cell Separation
Authors: Saeed Omer , Duru Iucienne , Yulin Deng
Published: February 2018

The different type of blood entities like red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cell (WBCs) and platelets counts is a critical point in routine medical tests. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) counting and analysing in the blood is indicative of the stage and origin of cancer in particular time. Here we are describing a proposed microfluidic device, used a magnetic means for CTCs separation from a blood or buffer sample. The device characterizations were simulated using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS software as well as practically validated. Using a known spiked number of CTCs in the sample, the purity and recovery rate were calculated to be 93% and respectively.
Predictive Control Algorithm Based on Integral Action-Design and Implementation on a Conical Tank System
Authors: Bhat Vinayambika S , Thirunavukkarasu I. , Shanmuga Priya S. , Shreesha C
Published: February 2018

This article presents a Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm based on integral action. Level control in process industry is challenging because of nonlinearity presents in the shape of the tank, actuators etc. The conical tank system is taken as benchmark process in the present study. It is Single Input Single Output (SISO) nonlinear system whose cross-sectional area varies along the tank height. The control algorithm is simulated using MATLAB m-file environment. The effectiveness of the predictive algorithm is also presented by experimentally validating it on a conical tank system at different heights. The interfacing of m-file with the experimental setup is the challenging task faced during the initial stage of experimental validation.
Design and Finite Element Analysis of Water Jet Energy Accumulator Barrel
Authors: Yuxian Zhang , mengke Yang , Hong Wang , Binbin Liu
Published: February 2018

In order to solve the yielding failure problem of water jet energy accumulator barrel due to high pressure, the prestressed composite structure design and the theory of equal strength are used to determine the parameters of accumulator barrel, such as the internal cylinder of the composite cylinder, the radii of the inner and outer cylinders, the radius of sub-layer and the optimal interference. Then the ANSYS software is used to analyze the cylinder model with the finite element method, the equivalent stress of the effective node along the wall thickness of the simulation model is obtained by path extraction method and the distribution curves of the equivalent stress along the wall thickness with different internal pressure are also obtained. By analyzing the simulated results and curves, the design parameters of accumulator barrel meet the expected strength requirement.
Calculation for Hard Measured Loads on the Travelling Mechanism of Bridge Inspection Vehicle
Authors: Han Meng , Lu Yongneng , Ma Hongfeng
Published: February 2018

In allusion to the recently problem of some loads to be calculated and hard measured of travel mechanism of bridge inspection vehicle, based on the principle of superposition in the elastic mechanics, the FEA simulation and test methods have been used to research the hard-measured loads on the travel mechanism of bridge inspection vehicle. The calculation case of the driving force in the driving case and the side load in the turning case of traveling mechanism of bridge inspection vehicle have been solved with this method, the results are used to be applied reference for the property optimization and model selection of mechanical bearing inside of travel mechanism of the bridge inspection vehicle. The research method is of well-reference value for the calculation of the unknown loads of whole machine and parts of construction machinery.
Dynamic Behavior Analysis of Non-Contacting Hydrodynamic Finger Seal Based on Fluid-Solid-Interaction Method
Authors: Su Hua , Wang Jiru
Published: February 2018

Finger seal is an advanced compliant seal and can be utilized to separate high (HP) and low pressure (LP) zones in high speed rotating shaft environment. The work to be presented concerns the dynamic behavior of a repetitive section of a two-layer finger seal with high-and padded low-pressure laminates. The dynamic performance of the finger seal are analyzed by the coupled fluid-solid-interaction (FSI) simulations. By using the commercial software ANSYS-CFX, the numerical simulation results of interactions between the gas flow and fingers structural deformation are described when the radial periodic excitation from the shaft applies to the finger seal. And the gas film loading capacity, gas film stiffness and leakage varied with time are put forward in different working conditions. Compared with the dynamic performance analysis results based on equivalent dynamic method, the FSI dynamic analysis shows some different characteristics which are more accordance with actual circumstance. Moreover, it is shown that under low pressure differential and high rotation speed the non-contacting finger seal with advance features both in sealing effectiveness and potential unlimited life span can be obtained by rational structure design. But for the non-contacting finger seal with circumferential convergent pad working in high pressure and low rotating speed conditions, it is difficult to improve the sealing performance by the way of changing the structure parameters of finger seal. It is because the high pressure plays a major role on this sealing situation.
Optimization Design and Calculation of Mooring System Parameters based on Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Xia Liang-yu , Zhi Li , Chen Ling , Cheng Yue
Published: February 2018

Based on the static equilibrium model of mooring system parameters, the multi - objective optimization model is established and the genetic algorithm is introduced as the optimization algorithm, which improves the crossover operator. Taking the example of a single point mooring system, concerned optimization design and calculation has been done. Compared with the general genetic algorithm, the result of this algorithm is superior, significantly improving the stability of the mooring system.
Research on Multioperator silk screen printer Based on Communication Protocol Macro
Authors: Zhiming Zhang , Jun Sun , Binbin Lu , Yaoshuai Duan
Published: February 2018

Multioperator silk screen printer is automatic silk screen printing equipment. There are many advantages, such as energy saving, reduce the labor intensity and so on. The control system consists of an intermittent movement main motor and eight color working station printing cycle motion motors. The system controls nine frequency converters through protocol macro communication by using PLC. This paper studies the principle and process characteristics of multioperator silk screen printer. Besides, this paper adopts protocol macro sequence generation method for communication between PLC and frequency converter. This method can control the programming of parameters, such as frequency, operation and monitoring. It also can realize the printing of eight color working stations and monitor the printing status in real time. The practical application proves that the method meets the technical requirements and the reliability is good.
Design and Fabrication of Integrated Microchannel and Peristaltic Micropump System for Inertial Particle Separation
Authors: Sönmez Utku , Bekin Muhammed , Trabzon Levent
Published: February 2018

In particle separation applications, conventional syringe pumps are widely used to supply fluid flow into microchannels at a controlled flow rate. However, their bulky structures lack the development of compact particle separation systems which is essential for all LoC (Lab on a Chip) systems. In this study, we designed and fabricated a peristaltic micropump which can be integrated into an inertial particle separation microchannel at the same layer with a compact design. Since inertial particle separation can be done without a need for an external force field, we aimed to develop a μTAS (Micro Total Analysis Systems) system which is able to realize particle separation in an integrated micropump-microchannel system. The circular micropump channel made of two PDMS layers and its width is optimized. The 3D-Printed micropump is actuated by a stepper motor, and the rate of pumped fluid is monitored by an LCD screen connected and programmed to system according to the system parameters. Micropump has a theoretical capacity of supplying particle carrying fluid at the flow rate of 25.47 ml/min when the stepper motor is rotated at 330 rpm.
Effects of Risperidone and Aripiprazole on Serum Levels of Prolactin, Testosterone and Estradiol in Female Patients with Schizophrenia
Authors: Jiang Xiao-Jia , Wu Fu-Xi , Zhang Jian-Ping , Shi Lei , Hu Jin-Qing , Zhu Hai-Zhen , Xiao Bing , Lin Wei-Cheng , Wen Yu-Guan , Shang De-Wei
Published: February 2018

Objective To evaluate the effects of treatment with risperidone and aripiprazole on serum prolactin, testosterone and estradiol levels in female patients with schizophrenia in China.

Methods In the retrospective study, Data were collected and included prolactin, testosterone and estradiol levels of 30 female patients with risperidone monotherapy. In the prospective study, Another 30 female schizophrenic patients were randomized to receive risperidone or adjunctive aripiprazole for six weeks. Serum prolactin, testosterone and estradiol levels were measured.

Results Serum prolactin, testosterone and estradiol levels in both studies were significantly decreased after risperidone treatment compared with baseline (P<0.05), and prolactin levels remained at a high level. Serum prolactin levels in the adjunctive aripiprazole group were significantly decreased after treatment compared with baseline in the prospective study (P<0.05). Doses of 5 mg and 10 mg of adjunctive aripiprazole achieved the same efficacy at the end of treatment.

Conclusions Risperidone treatment decreased serum testosterone and estradiol levels. Adjunctive aripiprazole relieved hyperprolactinemia, but had no effect on testosterone or estradiol levels. Adjunctive aripiprazole at a dose of 5 mg is recommended for clinical use.
Bandwidth-enhanced polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber based on fractal structures
Authors: Fan Shicheng , Song Yaoliang
Published: February 2018

This paper presents a broadband polarization insensitive prefect metamaterial absorber based on fractal structures. Through the combination of fractal and circular structure, the bandwidth is extended without increasing the size of the unit cell. A simple equivalent circuit model has been proposed describing the absorption phenomenon to predict the frequency of absorption of the proposed absorber. The simulated result shows that the absorber's full width half maximum is 18.5%. With rotational symmetry structures, the absorber is insensitive to the polarization. The incident angles at which the metamaterial absorber can maintain 50% of the absorbance are up to 50°. With the geometrical scalability, the absorber can be extended to any frequencies. This absorber is fabricated and measured at X-band, and the experimental results coincide well with the simulation results.
Acquisition of scalar implicatures
Authors: Snape Neal , Hosoi Hironobu
Published: February 2018

Our study investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of scalar implicaturessomeandall. We set out to answer two research questions based on three theoretical accounts, the lexical, pragmatic and syntactic accounts. In an experiment we include English and Japanese native speakers, and intermediate and advanced Japanese L2 learners of English. We used quantifierssomeandallin ‘Yes/No’ questions in a context with sets of toy fruits, where pragmatic answers are expected, e.g., a ‘No’ response to the question ‘Are some of the strawberries in the red circle?’ (when a set of 14/14 strawberries are placed inside a red circle). Our individual results indicate that L2 learners are generally more pragmatic in their responses than native English speakers. But, there are neither significant differences between groups nor significant differences between L2 proficiency levels. We consider the implications of our findings for the acquisition of L2 semantics and pragmatics.
From the heavy to the light verb
Authors: Sanromán Vilas Begoña
Published: February 2018

The study aims to show that the selection of the Spanish light verbtomar‘to take’ within a light verb construction (LVC), rather than being arbitrary, is based on its meaning. To support this claim the hypothesis of semantic compatibility is tested. According to this hypothesis, light verbs are paradigmatically related to their heavier counterparts and syntagmatically to the nouns within the same LVC by means of components of meaning called lexical features. After a fine-grained analysis of the polysemous verbtomar, the study provides a tentative list of lexical features that function as semantic links between the lexical units within the polysemoustomar, as well as elements of semantic agreement between the components within the same LVC.
Altered metabolism distinguishes high-risk from stable carotid atherosclerotic plaques
Authors: Tomas Lukas , Edsfeldt Andreas , Mollet Inês G , Perisic Matic Ljubica , Prehn Cornelia , Adamski Jerzy , Paulsson-Berne Gabrielle , Hedin Ulf , Nilsson Jan , Bengtsson Eva , Gonçalves Isabel , Björkbacka Harry
Published: February 2018

Aims

Identification and treatment of the rupture prone atherosclerotic plaque remains a challenge for reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease. The interconnection of metabolic and inflammatory processes in rupture prone plaques is poorly understood. Herein, we investigate associations between metabolite profiles, inflammatory mediators and vulnerability in carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

Methods and results

We collected 159 carotid plaques from patients undergoing endarterectomy and measured 165 different metabolites in a targeted metabolomics approach. We identified a metabolite profile in carotid plaques that associated with histologically evaluated vulnerability and inflammatory mediators, as well as presence of symptoms in patients. The distinct metabolite profiles identified in high-risk and stable plaques were in line with different transcription levels of metabolic enzymes in the two groups, suggesting an altered metabolism in high-risk plaques. The altered metabolic signature in high-risk plaques was consistent with a change to increased glycolysis, elevated amino acid utilization and decreased fatty acid oxidation, similar to what is found in activated leucocytes and cancer cells.

Conclusion

These results highlight a possible key role of cellular metabolism to support inflammation and a high-risk phenotype of atherosclerotic plaques. Targeting the metabolism of atherosclerotic plaques with novel metabolic radiotracers or inhibitors might therefore be valid future approaches to identify and treat the high-risk atherosclerotic plaque.
1D anyons in relativistic field theory
Authors: Yamamoto Arata
Published: February 2018

We study relativistic anyon field theory in 1+1 dimensions. While (2+1)-dimensional anyon fields are equivalent to boson or fermion fields coupled with the Chern–Simons gauge fields, (1+1)-dimensional anyon fields are equivalent to boson or fermion fields with many-body interaction. We derive the path integral representation and perform a lattice Monte Carlo simulation.
Parallelized Inference for Single Cell Transcriptomic Clustering with Split Merge Sampling on DPMM Model
Authors: Duan Tiehang , Pinto José P. , Xie Xiaohui
Published: February 2018

Motivation:With the development of droplet based systems, massive single cell transcriptome data has become available, which enables analysis of cellular and molecular processes at single cell resolution and is instrumental to understanding many biological processes. While state-of-the-art clustering methods have been applied to the data, they face challenges in the following aspects: (1) the clustering quality still needs to be improved; (2) most models need prior knowledge on number of clusters, which is not always available; (3) there is a demand for faster computational speed.

Results:We propose to tackle these challenges withParallelized Split Merge Sampling onDirichletProcessMixtureModel (the Para-DPMM model). Unlike classic DPMM methods that perform sampling on each single data point, the split merge mechanism samples on the cluster level, which significantly improves convergence and optimality of the result. The model is highly parallelized and can utilize the computing power of high performance computing (HPC) clusters, enabling massive inference on huge datasets. Experiment results show the model achieves about 7% improvement in clustering accuracy for small datasets and more than 20% improvement for large challenging datasets compared with current widely used models. In the mean time, the model’s computing speed is significantly faster.

Availability:Source code is publicly available onhttps://github.com/tiehangd/Para_DPMM/tree/master/Para_DPMM_package
GTSF-1 is required for the formation of a functional RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase complex in C. elegans
Authors: Almeida Miguel Vasconcelos , Dietz Sabrina , Redl Stefan , Karaulanov Emil , Hildebrandt Andrea , Renz Christian , Ulrich Helle D. , König Julian , Butter Falk , Ketting René F.
Published: February 2018

In every domain of life, Argonaute proteins and their associated small RNAs regulate gene expression. Despite great conservation of Argonaute proteins throughout evolution, many proteins acting in small RNA pathways are not widely conserved. Gametocyte-specific factor 1 (Gtsf1) proteins, characterized by two tandem CHHC zinc fingers and an unstructured, acidic C-terminal tail, are conserved in animals and act in small RNA pathways. In fly and mouse, they are required for fertility and have been shown to interact with Piwi clade Argonautes. We identified T06A10.3 as the Caenorhabditis elegans Gtsf1 homolog and named it gtsf-1. Given its conserved nature and roles in Piwi-mediated gene silencing, we sought out to characterize GTSF-1 in the context of the small RNA pathways of C. elegans. Like its homologs, GTSF-1 is required for normal fertility. Surprisingly, we report that GTSF-1 is not required for Piwi-mediated gene silencing. Instead, gtsf-1 mutants show strong depletion of a class of endogenous small RNAs, known as 26G-RNAs, and fully phenocopy mutants lacking RRF-3, the RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase that synthesizes 26G-RNAs. We show, both in vivo and in vitro, that GTSF-1 specifically and robustly interacts with RRF-3 via its tandem CHHC zinc fingers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that GTSF-1 is required for the assembly of a larger RRF-3 and DCR-1-containing complex, also known as ERIC, thereby allowing for 26G-RNA generation. We propose that GTSF-1 homologs may similarly act to drive the assembly of larger complexes that subsequently act in small RNA production and/or in imposing small RNA-mediated silencing activities.
A bHLH-PAS protein regulates light-dependent diurnal rhythmic processes in the marine diatomPhaeodactylum tricornutum
Authors: Annunziata Rossella , Ritter Andrés , Fortunato Antonio Emidio , Cheminant-Navarro Soizic , Agier Nicolas , Huysman Marie J. J. , Winge Per , Bones Atle , Bouget François-Yves , Lagomarsino Marco Cosentino , Bouly Jean Pierre , Falciatore Angela
Published: February 2018

Periodic light-dark cycles govern the timing of basic biological processes in organisms inhabiting land as well as the sea, where life evolved. Although prominent marine phytoplanktonic organisms such as diatoms show robust diurnal rhythms in growth, cell cycle and gene expression, the molecular foundations controlling these processes are still obscure. By exploring the regulatory landscape of diatom diurnal rhythms, we unveil the function of aPhaeodactylum tricornutumbHLH-PAS protein,PtbHLH1a, in the regulation of light-dependent diurnal rhythms. Peak expression ofPtbHLH1amRNA occurs toward the end of the light period and it adjusts to photoperiod changes. Ectopic over-expression ofPtbHLH1a results in lines showing a phase shift in diurnal cell fluorescence, compared to the wild-type cells, and with altered cell cycle progression and gene expression. Reduced oscillations in gene expression are also observed in overexpression lines compared to wild-type in continuous darkness, showing that the regulation of rhythmicity byPtbHLH1a is not directly dependent on light inputs and cell division.PtbHLH1a homologs are widespread in diatom genomes which may indicate a common function in many species. This study adds new elements to understand diatom biology and ecology and offers new perspectives to elucidate timekeeping mechanisms in marine organisms belonging to a major, but underinvestigated branch of the tree of life.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Most organisms experience diurnal light-dark changes and show rhythms of basic biological processes such that they occur at optimal times of the day. The ocean harbours a huge diversity of organisms showing light-dependent rhythms, but their molecular foundations are still largely unknown. In this study, we discover a novel protein,PtbHLH1a that regulates cell division, gene expression and the diurnal timing of these events in the marine diatomPhaedoactylum tricornutum. The identification ofPtbHLH1a-like genes in many diatom species suggests a conserved function in diurnal rhythm regulation in the most species-rich group of algae in the ocean. This study unveils critical features of diatom biology and advances the field of marine rhythms and their environmental regulation.
The role of AP-1 in self-sufficient proliferation and migration of cancer cells and its potential impact on an autocrine/paracrine loop
Authors: Ibrahim Abd El-Fattah Sherif , Abudu Aierken , Jonhson Eugenia , Aftab Neelum , Fluck Michele
Published: February 2018

The activating protein-1 (AP-1) family members are highly expressed in invasive cancers, but the consequences of this are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to explore the significance of elevated levels of AP-1 family members under conditions that restrict growth. We observed that invasive MDA-MB-231 cells express high levels of Fra-1, c-Jun and, Jun-D during serum starvation and throughout the cell cycle compared to non-tumorigenic and non-invasive cell lines. We then analyzed Fra-1 levels in additional breast and other cancer cell lines. We found a correlation between the high levels of Fra-1 during serum starvation and the ability of the cells to proliferate and migrate under these conditions. Utilizing a dominant negative construct of AP-1, we demonstrated that proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 in the absence of serum requires AP-1 activity. Finally, we observed that MDA-MB-231 cells secrete factors(s) that induce Fra-1 expression and migration in non-tumorigenic and non-metastatic cells and that both the expression of and response to these factors require AP-1 activity. These results suggest the presence of an autocrine/paracrine loop that maintains high Fra-1 levels in aggressive cancer cells, enhancing their proliferative and metastatic ability and affecting neighbors to alter the tumor environment.
The exon junction complex regulates the release and phosphorylation of paused RNA polymerase II
Authors: Akhtar Junaid , Kreim Nastasja , Marini Federico , Kumar Mohana Giriram , Brune Daniel , Binder Harald , Roignant Jean-Yves
Published: February 2018

Promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a widespread transcriptional regulatory step across metazoans. Here we find that the nuclear exon junction complex (pre-EJC) plays a critical and conserved role in this process. Depletion of pre-EJC subunits leads to a global decrease in Pol II pausing and to premature entry into elongation. This effect occurs, at least in part, via non-canonical recruitment of pre-EJC components at promoters. Failure to recruit the pre-EJC at promoters results in increased binding of the positive transcription elongation complex (P-TEFb) and in enhanced Pol II release. Notably, restoring pausing is sufficient to rescue exon skipping and the photoreceptor differentiation defect associated with depletion of pre-EJC componentsin vivo. We propose that the pre-EJC serves as an early transcriptional checkpoint to prevent premature entry into elongation, ensuring proper recruitment of RNA processing components that are necessary for exon definition.
Crystal structure of the Kelch domain of human NS1-binding protein at 1.98 Å resolution
Authors: Guo Lu , Liu Yingfang
Published: February 2018

NS1-binding protein (NS1-BP), which belongs to the Kelch protein superfamily, was first identified as a novel human 70 kDa protein that interacts with NS1 ofInfluenza A virus. It is involved in many cell functions, including pre-mRNA splicing, the ERK signalling pathway, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway, F-actin organization and protein ubiquitylation. However, the structure of NS1-BP is still unknown, which may impede functional studies. Here, the structure of the C-terminal Kelch domain of NS1-BP (NS1-BP-C; residues 330–642) was determined at 1.98 Å resolution. The Kelch domain adopts a highly symmetric six-bladed β-propeller fold structure. Each blade of the β-propeller is composed of four antiparallel β-strands. Comparison of the Kelch-domain structures of NS1-BP and its homologues showed that the Gly–Gly pair in β-strandBand the hydrophobic Trp residue in β-strandDare highly conserved, while theB–Cloops in blades 2 and 6 are variable. This structure of the Kelch domain of NS1-BP extends the understanding of NS1-BP.