bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
First Result of a Tailored Progressive Multistep Approach for the Treatment of Aorto-esophageal Fistulae
Authors: Helmedag Marius Julian , Eickhoff Roman , Lambertz Andreas , Heise Daniel , Grommes Jochen , Jacobs Michael , Neumann Ulf Peter , Klink Christian
Published: July 2019

Background Aorto-esophageal fistulae (AEFs) are a rare but serious and life-threatening disease of the mediastinum. Especially, AEF in the presence of infected stent grafts, for example, after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is only curable by a multistage interdisciplinary surgical approach. This study presents the results of our four-stage approach consisting of bridging TEVAR, esophagectomy, complete stent removal followed by total bovine tube aortic replacement (TBTAR), and finally esophageal reconstruction.

Methods A case series of four patients from our department receiving a four-stage treatment of AEF is presented in this study. Retrospective database analysis focusing on overall survival, duration of intensive care unit and total hospital stay until discharge, complications, surgical time frame, and completion of chosen surgical treatment course was performed.

Results Overall, four patients surgically treated for AEF since May 2015 were included. A 30-day mortality was 0%, and overall survival at 1 year was 75%. All patients survived more than 5 months and could be discharged after TEVAR and esophagectomy. TBTAR could be performed in two of four patients (50%). Esophageal reconstruction was completed in all patients. Average follow-up was 20.3 ± 1.7 months or until death.

Conclusion The acute management of AEF using this approach seems satisfactory, especially for reducing acute short-term mortality. Complete restoration of the circulatory system and digestive tract remains challenging and is associated with high morbidity. We support the application of bridging TEVAR with a staggered approach to further surgical treatment individually tailored to the patient.
Towards green antisolvent for efficient CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite light emitting diodes: A comparison of toluene, chlorobenzene, and ethyl acetate
Authors: Xu Lingbo , Che Siyuan , Huang Jianye , Xie Danyan , Yao Yuxin , Wang Peng , Lin Ping , Piao Hongjing , Hu Haihua , Cui Can , Wu Fengmin , Yang Deren , Yu Xuegong
Published: July 2019

Antisolvent engineering is one of the most widely used methods to obtain high quality perovskite films. This process involves the heavy use of toxic antisolvents, such as toluene (Tol) and chlorobenzene (CB). It is thus highly desirable to develop green antisolvents for the future manufacturing of perovskites. Though several green antisolvents have been developed for iodide perovskites, there are few reports about their application on bromide ones. Besides, the reported green antisolvents for iodide perovskites usually lead to a significant increase in the crystal size, which is not suitable for light emission due to reduced carrier confinement and radiative recombination. Here, we introduce green antisolvent ethyl acetate (EA) to prepare CH3NH3PbBr3 (MAPbBr3) perovskite films. In contrast to previously reported iodide perovskites, EA engineered MAPbBr3 only shows a slight increase in the crystal size. A systematic study on the structural, morphological, and optoelectronic properties of MAPbBr3 prepared with Tol, CB, and EA was carried out. With the benefits of relatively high polarity and low boiling point compared with Tol and CB, EA could extract the solvent more efficiently. This gives rise to MAPbBr3 films with increased crystallinity, improved morphology, and reduced defects, boosting the performance of the corresponding light emitting diodes (LEDs). Our study provides an environmentally friendly way to the manufacturing of efficient MAPbBr3 perovskite LEDs as well as other optoelectronic devices.
A study on dual role of viscosity on the stability of a viscous planar liquid sheet surrounded by inviscid gas streams of equal velocities, and prediction of resulting droplet distribution using maximum entropy formulation
Authors: Dasgupta Debayan , Nath Sujit , Bhanja Dipankar
Published: July 2019

Low sensitivity to rheological properties of fluid and ability to produce fine sprays at low liquid pressure make airblast atomizers a preferred choice to process viscous liquids. Airblast atomizers essentially employ kinetic energy of coflowing gases to disintegrate a liquid sheet into fine spray. The present study employs the perturbation technique to carry out nonlinear investigation of the sinuous mode of instability in a thin planar viscous liquid sheet sandwiched between two inviscid gas streams moving at equal velocities. This paper analyzes temporal instability as well as droplet characteristics for a range of Reynolds numbers, Weber numbers, gas to liquid density ratios, and velocity ratios and reports the dual behavior of liquid viscosity at different operating conditions. For higher gas to liquid velocity ratios, this study identifies three regimes at all Weber numbers and gas to liquid density ratios: the first regime represents the stabilizing effect of viscosity at low Reynolds numbers, the second regime indicates the destabilizing effect of viscosity at intermediate Reynolds numbers, and the third regime further depicts the stabilizing effect of viscosity at high Reynolds numbers. However, for low gas to liquid velocity ratios, the third zone disappears at lower Weber numbers and gas to liquid density ratios, and the effect of viscosity is characterized by two regimes representing the weak stabilizing and destabilizing effect at low and relatively higher Reynolds numbers, respectively. Investigation of spray characteristics reveals that an increase in liquid viscosity produces relatively larger droplets at all flow conditions.
Low-temperature behaviors of multilayer MoS2 transistors with ohmic and Schottky contacts
Authors: Choi Woong , Yin Demin , Choo Sooho , Jeong Seok-Hwan , Kwon Hyuk-Jun , Yoon Youngki , Kim Sunkook
Published: July 2019

We report the low-temperature characterization of back-gated multilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on mechanically exfoliated natural MoS2 crystals. Although all the tested MoS2 TFTs are fabricated with the same processes and materials, the current-voltage characteristics of MoS2 TFTs between 77 K and 300 K indicate the existence of two distinct transport behaviors in MoS2 TFTs. One group with a negligible Schottky barrier shows temperature-independent large field-effect mobility, whereas the other group with a high Schottky barrier exhibits significantly lower mobility with a large dependence on temperature variation. We have revealed that the temperature dependence originates from the different carrier injection mechanisms at the source-channel junction, where the intrinsic variation of electronic properties of natural MoS2 crystals can strongly influence the Schottky barrier. Given that sample-to-sample variations are commonly observed in MoS2 TFTs, the metal-semiconductor junction of the as-fabricated device is of paramount importance, and so the low-temperature measurement of current-voltage characteristics of a multilayer MoS2 transistor can be a practical means to investigate the contact properties of natural MoS2 TFTs. Our comprehensive study advances the fundamental knowledge of the transport mechanisms particularly through the metal-MoS2 interface, which will be a critical step toward high-performance electronics based on 2D semiconductors.
A scaled CIS(D) based method for the calculation of valence and core electron ionization energies
Authors: Hanson-Heine Magnus W. D. , George Michael W. , Besley Nicholas A.
Published: July 2019

The calculation of electron ionization energies is a key component for the simulation of photoelectron spectroscopy. CIS(D) is a perturbative doubles correction for the single excitation configuration interaction (CIS) method which provides a new approach for computing excitation energies. It is shown that by introducing a virtual orbital subspace that consists of a single “ghost” orbital, valence electron ionization energies can be computed using a scaled CIS(D) approach with an accuracy comparable with considerably more computationally intensive methods, such as ionization-potential equation of motion coupled cluster theory, and simulated spectra show a significant improvement relative to spectra based upon Koopmans’ theorem. When the model is applied to the ionization energies for core orbitals, there is an increase in the error, particularly for the heavier nuclei considered (silicon to chlorine), although the relative energy of the ionization energies are predicted accurately. In addition to its inherent computational efficiency relative to other wavefunction based approaches, a significant advantage of this approach is that the ionization energies for all electrons can be obtained in a single calculation, in contrast to Δself-consistent field based methods.
Time-resolved laser-induced desorption spectroscopy (LIDS) for quantified in-situ hydrogen isotope retention measurement and removal from plasma facing materials
Authors: Yu J. H. , Baldwin M. J. , Simmonds M. J. , Založnik A.
Published: July 2019

A laboratory scale laser induced thermal desorption spectroscopy system is developed and tested on tungsten-deuterium and titanium-deuterium codeposits, and its feasibility as a hydrogenic inventory measurement diagnostic is demonstrated over a range of retention values from 5 × 1019 m−2 to 7 × 1023 m−2 for absorbed laser power densities as low as 8 MW m−2. Codeposit layer samples are grown by magnetron sputtering and immersed in a weak argon rf plasma. A 1 kW fiber laser (λ = 1100 nm) heats the samples up to a peak surface temperature ranging from 900 to 1500 K using pulse widths of 0.5 and 1 s. Spectral line emission from Balmer series Dα and Hα from thermally desorbed deuterium and hydrogen, as well as line emission from argon, are monitored as a function of time using an optical spectrometer with maximum temporal resolution of 1 ms. To correct for wall recycling and pumping speed, and to accurately measure the time evolution of the laser-induced thermal desorption, the raw Dα signal is deconvolved with the system response function, which is obtained by injecting a short burst of D2 to approximate an impulse. Calibration is done with a standard D2 leak, and laser induced desorption spectroscopy deuterium retention values are found to be in good agreement with companion measurements made using conventional temperature programmed desorption on samples from the same codeposit batch.
Switchable reversal of vortex ratchet with dynamic pinning landscape
Authors: He An , Xue Cun , Zhou You-He
Published: July 2019

Vortex rectifications are well known as drifting vortices along an “easy” direction when asymmetric potential is introduced to break the inversion symmetry for the vortex motion. Using the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau formalism, we show an approach to switch the reversal of vortex ratchets by a dynamic pinning landscape, which is highly tuned by varying the sliding velocity of the dynamic pinning potential and its characteristic sizes and densities. Besides the anticipated positive rectified voltage with an easy vortex motion along the sliding direction of dynamic pinning sites, contrary to intuition, we also observe a negative dc voltage with vortices moving preferentially uphill, i.e., against the sliding direction. The mechanism of such reversal of vortex ratchets is different from previous work, which is revealed based on the dragging effect on the vortex motion by the sliding pinning sites.
Counting quantum jumps: A summary and comparison of fixed-time and fluctuating-time statistics in electron transport
Authors: Rudge Samuel L. , Kosov Daniel S.
Published: July 2019

In quantum transport through nanoscale devices, fluctuations arise from various sources: the discreteness of charge carriers, the statistical nonequilibrium that is required for device operation, and unavoidable quantum uncertainty. As experimental techniques have improved over the last decade, measurements of these fluctuations have become available. They have been accompanied by a plethora of theoretical literature using many different fluctuation statistics to describe the quantum transport. In this paper, we overview three prominent fluctuation statistics: full counting, waiting time, and first-passage time statistics. We discuss their weaknesses and strengths and explain connections between them in terms of renewal theory. In particular, we discuss how different information can be encoded in different statistics when the transport is nonrenewal and how this behavior manifests in the measured physical quantities of open quantum systems. All theoretical results are illustrated via a demonstrative transport scenario, a Markovian master equation for a molecular electronic junction with electron-phonon interactions. We demonstrate that to obtain nonrenewal behavior, and thus to have temporal correlations between successive electron tunneling events, there must be a strong coupling between tunneling electrons and out-of-equilibrium quantized molecular vibrations.
General framework for calculating spin–orbit couplings using spinless one-particle density matrices: Theory and application to the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster wave functions
Authors: Pokhilko Pavel , Epifanovsky Evgeny , Krylov Anna I.
Published: July 2019

Standard implementations of nonrelativistic excited-state calculations compute only one component of spin multiplets (i.e., Ms = 0 triplets); however, matrix elements for all components are necessary for deriving spin-dependent experimental observables. Wigner–Eckart’s theorem allows one to circumvent explicit calculations of all multiplet components. We generate all other spin–orbit matrix elements by applying Wigner–Eckart’s theorem to a reduced one-particle transition density matrix computed for a single multiplet component. In addition to computational efficiency, this approach also resolves the phase issue arising within Born–Oppenheimer’s separation of nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom. A general formalism and its application to the calculation of spin–orbit couplings using equation-of-motion coupled-cluster wave functions are presented. The two-electron contributions are included via the mean-field spin–orbit treatment. Intrinsic issues of constructing spin–orbit mean-field operators for open-shell references are discussed, and a resolution is proposed. The method is benchmarked by using several radicals and diradicals. The merits of the approach are illustrated by a calculation of the barrier for spin inversion in a high-spin tris(pyrrolylmethyl)amine Fe(II) complex.
Hydrogen plasma treatment of
β
-Ga2O3: Changes in electrical properties and deep trap spectra
Authors: Polyakov A. Y. , Lee In-Hwan , Smirnov N. B. , Yakimov E. B. , Shchemerov I. V. , Chernykh A. V. , Kochkova A. I. , Vasilev A. A. , Ren F. , Carey P. H. , Pearton S. J.
Published: July 2019

The effects of hydrogen plasma treatment of β-Ga2O3 grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy and doped with Si are reported. Samples subjected to H plasma exposure at 330 °C developed a wide (∼2.5 μm-thick) region near the surface, depleted of electrons at room temperature. The thickness of the layer is in reasonable agreement with the estimated hydrogen penetration depth in β-Ga2O3 based on previous deuterium profiling experiments. Admittance spectroscopy and photoinduced current transient spectroscopy measurements place the Fermi level pinning position in the H treated film near Ec-1.05 eV. Annealing at 450 °C decreased the thickness of the depletion layer to 1.3 μm at room temperature and moved the Fermi level pinning position to Ec-0.8 eV. Further annealing at 550 °C almost restored the starting shallow donor concentration and the spectra of deep traps dominated by Ec-0.8 eV and Ec-1.05 eV observed before hydrogen treatment. It is suggested that hydrogen plasma exposure produces surface damage in the near-surface region and passivates or compensates shallow donors.
Morphology and syntax in the Scandinavian vernaculars of Ovansiljan
Authors: Garbacz Piotr
Published: July 2019

The paper deals with the assumed correlation between morphological and syntactic phenomena, especially the one that has its roots in a parametric approach to syntax since (Chomsky 1981). Its main focus is on testing predictions presented in two works (Bobaljik and Thráinsson 1998andHolmberg 2010a). These papers connect verbal morphology with a clustering of syntactic phenomena in the Scandinavian languages and maintain that morphological evidence – in the form of ‘rich’ verbal agreement – signifies a positive setting of a parameter that in turn makes certain syntactic patterns possible. In the present paper it is shown how this relation works when tested on a group of Ovansiljan vernaculars (East Scandinavian non-standard varieties). Five of these vernaculars have retained verbal agreement in number and person, whereas two others have not. It turns out that the hypotheses encounter difficulties when faced with the Ovansiljan data.
SRC and ERK cooperatively phosphorylate DLC1 and attenuate its Rho-GAP and tumor suppressor functions
Authors: Tripathi Brajendra K. , Anderman Meghan F. , Qian Xiaolan , Zhou Ming , Wang Dunrui , Papageorge Alex G. , Lowy Douglas R.
Published: July 2019

SRC and ERK kinases control many cell biological processes that promote tumorigenesis by altering the activity of oncogenic and tumor suppressor proteins. We identify here a physiological interaction between DLC1, a focal adhesion protein and tumor suppressor, with SRC and ERK. The tumor suppressor function of DLC1 is attenuated by phosphorylation of tyrosines Y451 and Y701 by SRC, which down-regulates DLC1’s tensin-binding and Rho-GAP activities. ERK1/2 phosphorylate DLC1 on serine S129, which increases both the binding of SRC to DLC1 and SRC-dependent phosphorylation of DLC1. SRC inhibitors exhibit potent antitumor activity in a DLC1-positive transgenic cancer model and a DLC1-positive tumor xenograft model, due to reactivation of the tumor suppressor activities of DLC1. Combined treatment of DLC1-positive tumors with SRC plus AKT inhibitors has even greater antitumor activity. Together, these findings indicate cooperation between the SRC, ERK1/2, and AKT kinases to reduce DLC1 Rho-GAP and tumor suppressor activities in cancer cells, which can be reactivated by the kinase inhibitors.
Algebraic Fields and the Dynamical Approach to Physical Geometry
Authors: Menon Tushar
Published: July 2019

Brown and Pooley’s ‘dynamical approach’ to physical theories asserts, in opposition to the orthodox position on physical geometry, that facts about physical geometry are grounded in, or explained by, facts about dynamical fields, not the other way round. John Norton has claimed that the proponent of the dynamical approach is illicitly committed to spatiotemporal presumptions in ‘constructing’ space-time from facts about dynamical symmetries. In this article, I present an abstract, algebraic formulation of field theories and demonstrate that the proponent of the dynamical approach is not committed, in special relativity, to the illicit presumptions to which Norton refers.
The Roles of Possibility and Mechanism in Narrative Explanation
Authors: Swaim Daniel G.
Published: July 2019

There is a fairly long-standing distinction between what are called the ideographic as opposed to nomothetic sciences. The nomothetic sciences, such as physics, offer explanations in terms of the laws and regular operations of nature. The ideographic sciences, such as natural history (or, more controversially, evolutionary biology), cast explanations in terms of narratives. This article offers an account of what is involved in offering an explanatory narrative in the historical (ideographic) sciences. I argue that narrative explanations involve two chief components: a possibility space and an explanatory causal mechanism.
Axial GaAs/Ga(As, Bi) nanowire heterostructures
Authors: Oliva Miriam , Gao Guanhui , Luna Esperanza , Geelhaar Lutz , Lewis Ryan B
Published: July 2019

Bi-containing III-V semiconductors constitute an exciting class of metastable compounds with wide-ranging potential optoelectronic and electronic applications. However, the growth of III-V-Bi alloys requires group-III-rich growth conditions, which pose severe challenges for planar growth. In this work, we exploit the naturally-Ga-rich environment present inside the metallic droplet of a self-catalyzed GaAs nanowire (NW) to synthesize metastable GaAs/GaAs1−x
Bi
x
axial NW heterostructures with high Bi contents. The axial GaAs1−x
Bi
x
segments are realized with molecular beam epitaxy by first enriching only the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) Ga droplets with Bi, followed by exposing the resulting Ga-Bi droplets to As2 at temperatures ranging from 270 °C to 380 °C to precipitate GaAs1−x
Bi
x
only under the NW droplets. Microstructural and elemental characterization reveals the presence of single crystal zincblende GaAs1−x
Bi
x
axial NW segments with Bi contents up to (10 ± 2)%. This work illustrates how the unique local growth environment present during the VLS NW growth can be exploited to synthesize heterostructures with metastable compounds.
Optimization of Semiconductor Device Packaging Singulation Process
Authors: Wei T K , Mahmud M N
Published: July 2019

With the advancement of semiconductor technology, the assembly process of semiconductor packaging is driving the devices to become smaller and smaller in size. One of the critical processes in backend assembly is the product’s singulation to separate bulk processed products into individual unit. Before the sawing process kick-off, saw blade preparation (blade dressing) has to be performed. Blade dressing is the process of sharpening the saw blade surface to expose the diamond grits to the blade surface that are covered by the blade bonding material (Nickel-based). Inappropriate blade preparation technique induces burn mark defect to semiconductor devices. This research presented the dressing process optimization on critical factors using Silicon carbide (SiC) as part of the effort to enhance the product quality. The 2k Full Factorial Design of Experiment (DOE) methodology, with consideration of three factors namely Blade Revolution Per Minute (RPM), Feedspeed and Dress Pass. The overall singulation process yields performance improvement by reducing the burn mark to < 0.1% with optimum saw blade preparation technique. Besides, the optimized process complementarily contributes to less kerf deformation and dressing wear.
A 3-Pixel Fuzzy Mask for Edge Detection
Authors: Seng N H , Samad Z , Nor N M
Published: July 2019

A new group of fuzzy masks is proposed in this study to perform edge detection of images. A group of 3-pixel masks is used to detect edges in four directions. The resulting images retain more edges and show better continuity of the edges compared to the ones produced by the conventional 3 x 3 fuzzy masks. This is accomplished more efficiently using fewer fuzzy rules. Furthermore, thinning functions incorporated yielded edges with good continuity and optimal thickness.
Numerical Simulation on the Statics Deformation Study of Composite Cross Arms of Different Materials and Configurations
Authors: Mohamad D , Syamsir A , Itam Z , Bakar H A , Abas A , Ng F C , Razali M F , Seman S A H A
Published: July 2019

This study focuses on the deformation of cross arms made from composite material under static loading. Two materials properties of fiberglass with are assigned to the cross arms model and it is subjected to a load at the one end of the cross arms. A bracing support is then installed, and the deformation and stress experienced by the cross arms are observed and compared with the case where no bracing support is used. The results obtained show that material B has lower deformation value, but experienced greater stress compared to material A. The bracing managed to reduce the total deformation by about 12% and 20% for material A and B respectively. The reduction of stresses experienced by the cross arms ranges from 4% to 30%.
A Collaborative Scheme with Vendor in Kaizen
Authors: Peterson A D , Chin J F
Published: July 2019

The paper investigates a novel collaborative Kaizen scheme that involves vendor as the volunteered countermeasure provider in exchange for a fair sharing in gain. The skeleton of the scheme is made up of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). In Plan, the required improvement is first assessed by the Kaizen team to gauge the need to bring in vendor. The proposal must be scrutinized and undergoes negotiations for acceptable terms to both parties, which ultimately helps to build a long-term partnership. The scheme is presented as a case study in an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) where energy consumption and maintenance cost for workstation lighting system at the production were reduced through the implementation of countermeasure proposed by vendor. The implementation cost was fully borne by the vendor and in return, the vendor would be paid in amount equivalent to the saving on the energy bill for the next nine months.
Common Mistakes in Running PDCA: A Survey on University Student PDCA Projects
Authors: Wani Z K , Chin J F , Muhammad N A
Published: July 2019

The main purpose of this paper is to present common mistakes in running Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) project by using case study. New practitioners with petite knowledge are having a high tendency to perform simple mistakes in conducting PDCA project. The study focused on the projects conducted by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) manufacturing students as approaches. The mistakes are collected during the project presentation and finalized by the Lean Six Sigma (LLS) experts. A questionnaire survey was sent to LSS experts to rate the high impact mistakes according to their experiences and knowledge. In total, there are 12 mistakes listed coverall to all PDCA phases. Five mistakes are highlighted as high impact mistakes according to 80-20 rules of Pareto. The findings emphasize some ideas that might help new practitioner to avoid such mistakes. However, the case study presented only focus on the mistakes in project conducted by university students not a practitioner in industries.
Performance Evaluation of Continuous and Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization in Job-Shop Scheduling Problems
Authors: Anuar N I , Fauadi M H F M , Saptari A
Published: July 2019

The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is an optimization method that was modeled based on the social behavior of organisms, such as bird flocks or swarms of bees. It was initially applied for cases defined over continuous spaces, but it can also be modified to solve problems in discrete spaces. Such problems include scheduling problems, where the Job-shop Scheduling Problem (JSP) is among the hardest combinatorial optimization problems. Although the JSP is a discrete problem, the continuous version of PSO has been able to handle the problem through a suitable mapping. Subsequently, its modified model, namely the discrete PSO, has also been proposed to solve it. In this paper, the performance of continuous and discrete PSO in solving JSP are evaluated and compared. The benchmark tests used are FT06 and FT10 problems available in the OR-library, where the goal is to minimize the maximum completion time of all jobs, i.e. the makespan. The experimental results show that the discrete PSO outperforms the continuous PSO for both benchmark problems.
Profit Optimization Through the Application of Theory of Constraints (TOC): A Case Study in Printing Company
Authors: Saleh C , Immawan T , Hassan A B , Zakka M N
Published: July 2019

Globalization has made industrial competition to become intensified and more stringent. As technology advances, traditional management is deemed insufficient to meet the needs of many companies in order to achieve their goals. The theory of constraints is considered to be a pertinent method to overcome the faced challenges. The theory is aimed to effectively manage constraints that prevent companies from achieving their goals. It is focused on enhancing system capacity constraints and minimizing inventory and operating costs to increase the profit by managing company’s resources efficiently. The purpose of this study is to apply the theory on a case study in a printing company to manage obstacles in an effective way by defining constraints that prevent the company from achieving its targets. Thus, it can increase the company’s profitability. Results show that there are capacity constraints on glue and laminating machine causing the company to solely produce 72.06% of the total demand. It is suggested that if the company adds one more laminating glue machine, an increasing profit as much as 22.33 % can be attained.
Maintenance for Energy efficiency: A Review
Authors: Firdaus N , Samat H A , Mohamad N
Published: July 2019

Energy efficiency program is used to reduce energy cost that leads to a reduction in production or overhead cost. Energy saving can be obtained by application of energy-efficient technologies, operational improvement, and effective maintenance. However, maintenance and energy efficiency is usually researched separately. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of maintenance in energy saving and available maintenance approaches for energy consumption reduction. Various literatures and publication on the research areas were reviewed and summarized to show the importance on maintenance and approached commonly used for energy efficiency.
Conceptual Analysis and Survey of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Relationship
Authors: Azid N A A , Shamsudin S N A , Yusoff M S , Samat H A
Published: July 2019

Maintenance is an important issue that needs to be addressed during the design and manufacturing or building of a system. Both Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) have its own concepts and principles as a maintenance strategy to give impact to the performance and reliability of the system. Therefore, in this research, the TPM will be studied with RCM to show their relationship. Based on the conceptual analysis, the author will analyze publications from journals, books, and articles to find all related information, such as genealogy, definition, concepts, and principle, and implementation of both strategy. The conceptual method used is Näsi’s four elements of conceptual analysis and a questionnaire survey method which has been answered electronically to study the current maintenance strategies in the real industries and to relate it to TPM and RCM. The result of the study shows that TPM had started in 1970 while RCM started in the 1960s, but the foundation of TPM and RCM was started in 1950s with Breakdown Maintenance (BM). TPM is basically about elimination of faults through day-today activities involving the entire force work while the concept of RCM is to improve equipment reliability. The objective of TPM is to achieve zero breakdowns, zero defects, and zero accidents while TPM is to preserve the functions. Although both are using different tools but both are linked together through the Lean Tool and can increase product quality, equipment reliability, increase safety, and increase profit. From the survey result, most of the respondent comes from the companies that implementing traditional maintenance (PM and CM) rather than TPM and RCM. TPM mostly can be implemented in big plant industries while RCM can be applied in small or medium size plant.
Ergonomics Redesign of the Effective Chopping Tool for Harvesting the Eucalyptus Plant
Authors: Soewardi H , Husna A S
Published: July 2019

Eucalyptus plant is a plant producing an essential oil. It is beneficial oil for fabricating the cosmetic and aroma therapy. In consequence, a quality of the oil is very substantial to ensure the quality of product. One of factor affecting it is the degree of purity of the oil. In the interest of producing the high purity, a good harvesting technique should be considered particularly with a design of the chopping tool. Preliminary study was found that the quality and number of the oil are still not able to reach the target by using the existing tool. Thus this is significant to improve the tool which is more effective and safer. The purpose of this study is to redesign the ergonomic and innovative chopping tool. TRIZ used to determine the inventive principles for producing the specific solutions or design on basis a contradiction between improving and worsening features. Fuzzy linguistic concept is implemented to specify the design attribute that is vague. Result of this study finds four specifications of a purposed design. They are sharp with specifications thickness of the tool at the tip is 0.2 cm and the base is 0.37 cm, then strong with specifications the gilding is done for 2.63 minutes with 1216ºC temperature, and for durable is the use of “Per” Steel as the material, and for comfortability is the size of the handle that corresponds to the dimensions of the human hand namely the diameter of the handle is 3.25 cm, the length of the handle is 12 cm, the width of each contour of the fingers is 2 cm using silicon rubber material. Signed-rank test results in that the proposed design is valid specifically it is more comfortable, more powerful, sharper, and more durable by using the existing design.
Significance of Gender in Badminton Lunge Classification
Authors: Lee J J J , Loh W P , Ho Z W
Published: July 2019

Most badminton lunge studies considered only the male players. No study has investigated the effect of gender on the badminton lunge movement. Past researches presented the statistical analysis approach on badminton lunge motion study. However, no study has classified lunge motion specifically by gender segregation. This paper investigates the gender effects in distinguishing the five lunge directions; center-forward (CF), left-forward (LF), right-forward (RF), left-lateral (L) and right-lateral (R) lunges using classification approach. The case study involved video captures of five-male and six-female university-level players lunging in the badminton 21-point singles. A total of 23 attributes of 10894 instances were extracted to classify lunges into CF, LF, RF, L and R lunges using 21 classification algorithms of the WEKA tool. Lunge direction classifications were performed on unsegregated and segregated genders datasets. Lunge classification on segregated gender datasets showed improvement over the unsegregated gender on 17 out of 21 classification algorithms. The notable improvements were on Trees-Hoeffding Tree (+8.67% on male, +3.08% on female) and Functions-Multilayer Perceptron algorithms (+4.35% on male, +9.37% on female). The study shows that gender segregation improves the lunge classification accuracies.
Segregating Offline and Online Handwriting for Conditional Classification Analysis
Authors: Wong L C , Loh W P
Published: July 2019

Offline and online handwriting patterns vary when exposed to external factors. Recent researches on both type handwriting analysis were focused on the image feature extraction, pattern recognition, and classification approach. However, no studies have considered segregating the conditional effects of handwriting patterns on two categories: offline vs. online and normal vs. vibration. Hence, the main goal of the study was to investigate the effects of classifying induced vibration on the offline and online handwriting patterns. There were 25 experimental handwriting samples retrieved under four pre-defined class: FLN, FLV, NLN, and NLV. Extracted data attributes consisted of seven handwriting size metrics and two demographic data. JRip algorithm and Decision Stump algorithm of WEKA tool were employed on tenfold cross-validation mode for handwriting classification and a further segregation by offline and online handwriting. JRip and Decision Stump merely resulted in 54% and 44% classification accuracy respectively. On data categorization between the offline and online handwriting, both algorithms achieved classification accuracies of 56% and 76% respectively. Findings showed that the misclassifications between offline and online were reduced to 5 and 7 instances for JRip and Decision Stump algorithms respectively, whereas the total misclassification between normal and vibration were reduced to 22 and 13 instances.
Cytoskeletal proteins in the cell nucleus: a special nuclear actin perspective
Authors: Percipalle Piergiorgio , Vartiainen Maria
Published: July 2019

The emerging role of cytoskeletal proteins in the cell nucleus has become a new frontier in cell biology. Actin and actin-binding proteins regulate chromatin and gene expression, but importantly they are beginning to be essential players in genome organization. These actin-based functions contribute to genome stability and integrity while affecting DNA replication and global transcription patterns. This is likely to occur through interactions of actin with nuclear components including nuclear lamina and subnuclear organelles. An exciting future challenge is to understand how these actin-based genome-wide mechanisms may regulate development and differentiation by interfering with the mechanical properties of the cell nucleus and how regulated actin polymerization plays a role in maintaining nuclear architecture. With a special focus on actin, here we summarize how cytoskeletal proteins operate in the nucleus and how they may be important to consolidate nuclear architecture for sustained gene expression or silencing.
Alcohol Use Disorder and Comorbid Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Effectiveness of Supportive Text Messages in Aiding Recovery
Authors: O’Reilly Helen , Hagerty Aisling , O’Donnell Seamus , Farrell Aoife , Hartnett Dan , Murphy Edel , Kehoe Elizabeth , Agyapong Vincent , McLoughlin Declan M , Farren Conor
Published: July 2019

This randomized controlled trial examined the impact of daily supportive text messages over a six-month treatment period on mood and alcohol consumption in individuals with a dual diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and depression. Results highlighted mood benefits at 3-month and lower alcohol consumption at 6-month treatment points.
Biochemical and physiological flexibility accompanies reduced cellulose biosynthesis in Brachypodium cesa1S830N
Authors: Brabham Chad , Singh Abhishek , Stork Jozsef , Rong Ying , Kumar Indrajit , Kikuchi Kazuhiro , Yingling Yaroslava G , Brutnell Thomas P , Rose Jocelyn K C , Debolt Seth
Published: July 2019

Here, we present a study into the mechanisms of primary cell wall cellulose formation in grasses, using the model cereal grass Brachypodium distachyon. The exon found adjacent to the BdCESA1 glycosyltransferase QXXRW motif was targeted using Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) and sequencing candidate amplicons in multiple parallel reactions (SCAMPRing) leading to the identification of the Bdcesa1S830N allele. Plants carrying this missense mutation exhibited a significant reduction in crystalline cellulose content in tissues that rely on the primary cell wall for biomechanical support. However, Bdcesa1S830N plants failed to exhibit the predicted reduction in plant height. In a mechanism unavailable to eudicotyledons, B. distachyon plants homozygous for the Bdcesa1S830N allele appear to overcome the loss of internode expansion anatomically by increasing the number of nodes along the stem. Stem biomechanics were resultantly compromised in Bdcesa1S830N. The Bdcesa1S830N missense mutation did not interfere with BdCESA1 gene expression. However, molecular dynamic simulations of the CELLULOSE SYNTHASE A (CESA) structure with modelled membrane interactions illustrated that Bdcesa1S830N exhibited structural changes in the translated gene product responsible for reduced cellulose biosynthesis. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that substituting S830N resulted in a stabilizing shift in the flexibility of the class specific region arm of the core catalytic domain of CESA, revealing the importance of this motion to protein function.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 beta protects endometriotic cells against apoptotic cell death by up-regulating the expression of antiapoptotic genes†
Authors: Preya Umma Hafsa , Woo Jeong-Hwa , Choi Youn Seok , Choi Jung-Hye
Published: July 2019

The overexpression of hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 beta (HNF1β) in endometriotic lesion has been demonstrated. However, the role of HNF1β in endometriosis remains largely unknown. Human endometriotic 12Z cells showed higher level of HNF1β when compared with normal endometrial HES cells. In human endometriotic 12Z cells, HNF1β knockdown increased susceptibility to apoptotic cell death by oxidative stress, while HNF1β overexpression suppressed apoptosis. In addition, HNF1β knockdown and overexpression significantly decreased and increased, respectively, the expression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB)-dependent antiapoptotic genes. Knockdown of the antiapoptotic genes significantly reduced the HNF1β-induced resistance against oxidative stress in 12Z cells. Furthermore, HNF1β regulated the transcriptional activity of NF-κB, and an NF-κB inhibitor suppressed the HNF1β-enhanced NF-κB-dependent antiapoptotic gene expression and the resistance of the 12Z cells against cell death. Taken together, these data suggest that HNF1β overexpression may protect endometriotic cells against oxidative damage by augmenting antiapoptotic gene expression.
No price without value: towards a theory of value and price
Authors: Elder-Vass Dave
Published: July 2019

The relationship between value and price, a central focus of classical political economy, has fallen into the shadows of neglect in contemporary economics. This paper builds on a critical realist framework and findings from the economics of conventions and the sociology of valuation to develop a theory of value that returns to the relation between value and price. It argues that value is best understood as a view of the price that something ought to exchange at, and that these views are shaped normatively by a host of lay theories of value and the groups and organisations that advance them. Through their effects on our assessments of value, these theories also influence the determination of prices. Although prices in open systems are determined by many interacting factors, lay theories of value play a crucial role in the process.
Cosmc is required for T cell persistence in the periphery
Authors: Cutler Christopher E , Jones Mark B , Cutler Alicia A , Mener Amanda , Arthur Connie M , Stowell Sean R , Cummings Richard D
Published: July 2019

T lymphocytes, a key arm of adaptive immunity, are known to dynamically regulate O-glycosylation during T cell maturation and when responding to stimuli; however, the direct role of O-glycans in T cell maturation remains largely unknown. Using a conditional knockout of the gene (C1GalT1C1 or Cosmc) encoding the specific chaperone Cosmc, we generated mice whose T cells lack extended O-glycans (T cell conditional Cosmc knock out or TCKO mice) and homogeneously express the truncated Tn antigen. Loss of Cosmc is highly deleterious to T cell persistence, with near-complete elimination of Cosmc-null T cells from spleen and lymph nodes. Total T cell counts are 20% of wild type (WT), among which only 5% express the truncated glycans, with the remaining 95% consisting of escapers from Cre-mediated recombination. TCKO thymocytes were able to complete thymic maturation but failed to populate the secondary lymphoid organs both natively and upon adoptive transfer to WT recipients. Our results demonstrate that extended O-glycosylation is required for the establishment and maintenance of the peripheral T cell population.
Trends of Utilization of Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Canadian Population-Based Study
Authors: El-Matary Wael , Leung Stella , Tennakoon Aruni , Benchimol Eric I , Bernstein Charles N , Targownik Laura E
Published: July 2019

Background

Population-based studies examining the prevalence of anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) antagonist utilization in children and young adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are lacking. We aimed to describe the trend of anti-TNF utilization in pediatric IBD over time.

Methods

Survival analyses were performed for all patients diagnosed with IBD before age 18 years in the province of Manitoba to determine the time from diagnosis to first anti-TNF prescription in different time eras (2005–2008, 2008–2012, 2012–2016).

Results

There were 291 persons diagnosed with IBD (157 with Crohn’s disease [CD] and 134 with ulcerative colitis [UC]) over the study period. The likelihood of being initiated on an anti-TNF by 1, 2, and 5 years postdiagnosis was 18.4%, 30.5%, and 42.6%, respectively. The proportion of persons aged <18 years utilizing anti-TNFs rose over time; in 2010, 13.0% of CD and 4.9% of UC; by 2016, 60.0% of CD and 25.5% of UC. For those diagnosed after 2012, 42.5% of CD and 28.4% of UC patients had been prescribed an anti-TNF antagonist within 12 months of IBD diagnosis. Initiating an anti-TNF without prior exposure to an immunosuppressive agent increased over time (before 2008: 0%; 2008–2012: 18.2%; 2012–2016: 42.8%; P < 0.001). There was a significant reduction in median cumulative dose of corticosteroids (CS) in the year before anti-TNF initiation (2005–2008: 4360 mg; 2008–2012: 2010 mg; 2012–2016: 1395 mg prednisone equivalents; P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Over a period of 11 years, anti-TNFs are being used earlier in the course of pediatric IBD, with a parallel reduction in the cumulative CS dose.
Association Between Reduced Brain Glucose Metabolism and Cortical Thickness in Alcoholics: Evidence of Neurotoxicity
Authors: Tomasi Dardo G , Wiers Corinde E , Shokri-Kojori Ehsan , Zehra Amna , Ramirez Veronica , Freeman Clara , Burns Jamie , Kure Liu Christopher , Manza Peter , Kim Sung W , Wang Gene-Jack , Volkow Nora D
Published: July 2019

Background

Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with reduced cortical thickness (CT) and lower cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRGlu), but the correlation between these 2 measures has not been investigated.

Methods

We tested the association between CT and cerebral CMRGlu in 19 participants with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 20 healthy controls. Participants underwent 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]fluoroglucose positron emission tomography to map CMRGlu and magnetic resonance imaging to assess CT.

Results

Although performance accuracy on a broad range of cognitive domains did not differ significantly between AUD and HC, AUD had widespread decreases in CT and CMRGlu. CMRGlu, normalized to cerebellum (rCMRGlu), showed significant correlation with CT across participants. Although there were large group differences in CMRGlu (>17%) and CT (>6%) in medial orbitofrontal and BA 47, the superior parietal cortex showed large reductions in CMRGlu (~17%) and minimal CT differences (~2.2%). Though total lifetime alcohol (TLA) was associated with CT and rCMRGlu, the causal mediation analysis revealed significant direct effects of TLA on rCMRGlu but not on CT, and there were no significant mediation effects of TLA, CT, and rCMRGlu.

Conclusions

The significant correlation between decrements in CT and CMRGlu across AUD participants is suggestive of alcohol-induced neurotoxicity, whereas the findings that the most metabolically affected regions in AUD had minimal atrophy and vice versa indicates that changes in CT and CMRGlu reflect distinct responses to alcohol across brain regions.