bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discovery of Coding Genetic Variants Influencing Diabetes-Related Serum Biomarkers and Their Impact on Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Ahluwalia Tarunveer Singh , Allin Kristine Højgaard , Sandholt Camilla Helene , Sparsø Thomas Hempel , Jørgensen Marit Eika , Rowe Michael , Christensen Cramer , Brandslund Ivan , Lauritzen Torsten , Linneberg Allan , Husemoen Lise Lotte , Jørgensen Torben , Hansen Torben , Grarup Niels , Pedersen Oluf
Published: January 2015

Context:

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevalence is spiraling globally, and knowledge of its pathophysiological signatures is crucial for a better understanding and treatment of the disease.

Objective:

We aimed to discover underlying coding genetic variants influencing fasting serum levels of nine biomarkers associated with T2D: adiponectin, C-reactive protein, ferritin, heat shock 70-kDa protein 1B, IGF binding protein 1 and IGF binding protein 2, IL-18, IL-2 receptor-α, and leptin.

Design and Participants:

A population-based sample of 6215 adult Danes was genotyped for 16 340 coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms and were tested for association with each biomarker. Identified loci were tested for association with T2D through a large-scale meta-analysis involving up to 17 024 T2D cases and up to 64 186 controls.

Results:

We discovered 11 associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms and five distinct biomarkers at a study-wide P < 3.4 × 10−7. Nine associations were novel: IL18: BIRC6, RAD17, MARVELD2; ferritin: F5; IGF binding protein 1: SERPING1, KLKB, GCKR, CELSR2, and heat shock 70-kDa protein 1B: CFH. Three of the identified loci (CELSR2, HNF1A, and GCKR) were significantly associated with T2D, of which the association with the CELSR2 locus has not been shown previously.

Conclusion:

The identified loci influence processes related to insulin signaling, cell communication, immune function, apoptosis, DNA repair, and oxidative stress, all of which could provide a rationale for novel diabetes therapeutic strategies.
Soluble Chemically Reduced Graphene Oxide Assembly with High-molecular-weight Poly(ethylene glycol) through Noncovalent Interaction
Authors: Son Young Ji , Park Young Ho , Park Sung Young , In Insik
Published: January 2015

Noncovalent interactions between chemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and aliphatic polymers were examined by the formation of soluble rGO/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) assembly, where PEG has the simplest structure among various water-soluble aliphatic polymers. Only high-molecular-weight PEG was successful for the formulation of soluble rGO/PEG assembly and therefore, van der Waals interaction (or σ–π interaction) between π-rich rGO and σ-rich PEG was proposed. The thermal property of the resulting rGO/PEG composite (or assembly) was changed dramatically compared to that of the pristine PEG, depending on the amount of rGO in the composite.
Facile and Practical Synthesis of Platinum(II) Porphyrins under Mild Conditions
Authors: Yamashita Ken-ichi , Katsumata Natsuki , Tomita Shohei , Fuwa Miki , Fujimaki Keisuke , Yoda Takuya , Hirano Daisuke , Sugiura Ken-ichi
Published: January 2015

A facile and mild method for the preparation of platinum(II) porphyrin complexes is reported. A simple treatment of free-base porphyrins with 1.5 equiv of [PtCl2(PhCN)2] in the presence of sodium propionate in refluxing chlorobenzene (bp: 131 °C) affords the corresponding Pt(II) complexes in good yields within a few hours. Furthermore, the work-up processes for our methods are less complex than those for the reported ones because chlorobenzene can be easily removed by simple evaporation.
Nitrogen Fixation in an Aqueous Solution by a Novel Flow Plasma System
Authors: Mizukoshi Yoshiteru , Katagiri Ryusuke , Horibe Hiroshi , Hatanaka Shin-ichi , Asano Masahiro , Nishimura Yoshimi
Published: January 2015

We developed a novel flow plasma system which could continuously treat water. Atmospheric nitrogen molecules entering the plasma were decomposed into the constituent atoms. Successive formations, first nitrite, then nitrate ions, could be explained by a thermodynamic model and reactions with in situ formed H2O2.
Low-polydispersity Hyperbranched Polyphenylene Sulfide as a Protectant for Palladium Nanocomposites
Authors: Meng Yuzhu , Zhang Chongyang , Xu Lan , Kuang Jinzhi , Bi Ruilin
Published: January 2015

A low-polydispersity (Mw/Mn = 1.009) hyperbranched poly(phenylene sulfide) (HPPS) is successfully synthesized by modified polycondensation of an AB2 monomer with a core molecule, and served as the skeleton for synthesis and stabilization of Pd nanoparticle. The effect of different PdCl2:HPPS mass ratios on the formation and stabilization of Pd nanoparticles is discussed. The resulting Pd nanoparticles with small average particle size (2.0 nm) have a narrow distribution (σ = 0.4 nm) and exhibit outstanding thermostability. These results clearly demonstrate HPPS (with uniform molecular weight) as a promising stabilizer for the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles.
Religiousness and perceived social support as predictive factors for mental health outcomes.
Authors: Krok Dariusz
Published: January 2015

Aim of the study

The study is to investigate predictive values of the religious meaning system, the centrality of religiosity and perceived social support for mental health outcomes. Although there is some evidence about associations of religiousness and social support with mental health, insufficient data exists to explain which dimensions of religiousness and social support are related to mental health outcomes.

Subject or material and methods

Participants were 206 people (108 women and 98 men) randomly recruited in southern parts of Poland. Their ages ranged from 18 to 78 years, with a mean age of 38.6 years (SD = 16.44). All participants filled in the four questionnaires: The Religious Meaning System Questionnaire, The Centrality of Religiosity Scale, The Berlin Social Support Scales, and The General Health Questionnaire-28.

Results

The religious meaning system and the centrality of religiosity showed negative links with the dimension of mental health called somatic symptoms. Actually received support was associated with better mental health, whereas need for support and protective buffering support were predictors of negative mental health outcomes.

Discussion

The findings support the hypotheses that religiousness and social support are predictive factors for mental health outcomes, though their effects are rather moderate or weak. Both religion and social support can influence mental health by imbuing life with a sense of meaning and significance, and offering fellowship in times of stress and suffering.

Conclusions

Both religiousness and social support are associated with mental health outcomes, but the character of these associations depends on particular dimensions.
Psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation of the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (ASRQ)
Authors: Walęcka-Matyja Katarzyna
Published: January 2015

Aim of the study

Polish studies have not been focused on the method enabling a reliable and valid measure of the psychological attributes of sibling relationships in the period of adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation of the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (ASRQ).

Subject or material and methods

The study included 406 students of different majors of the University of Łódź and the Łódź University of Technology. In the surveyed group, 58.9% were women (n=239) and 41.1% men (n=167). The participants of the survey were adult, aged from 18 to 35 years (M=23.7,SD=3,891).

Results

The three main ASRQ factors (Warmth, Conflict, Rivalry) showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α .87-.97). Correlations between the individual scales creating the main factors demonstrate similar patterns to the results obtained by the authors of the original version of the ASRQ. The results of the conducted exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analyses confirm the factorial structure of the original version of the ASRQ.

Discussion

The presented results indicate that the ASRQ in the Polish adaptation is a reliable and valid multidimensional measure of relationships between siblings in early adulthood.

Conclusions

The Polish version of the ASRQ could be used as an appropriate measure assessing relations between siblings in adulthood in Poland.
New Heuristic Approaches for the Bounded-Diameter Minimum Spanning Tree Problem
Authors: Steitz Wolfgang
Published: January 2015

Given a bound, the bounded-diameter minimum spanning tree (BDMST) problem seeks a spanning tree of minimum total weight with a diameter not exceeding the given diameter bound. Depending on the tightness of the bound, optimal solutions have different structures. For loose bounds, optimal solutions are similar to the much easier minimum spanning tree problem, and greedy heuristics perform best. In contrast, these approaches fail for tight diameter bounds. This paper investigates how the structure of good solutions, and in particular their backbones, change depending on the diameter bound. Two new heuristics are then designed to overcome the shortcomings of existing approaches; required parameters are investigated; and the paper presents performance results for Euclidean BDMST instances.
Hedge Funds and Stock Market Efficiency
Authors: Kokkonen Joni , Suominen Matti
Published: January 2015

We measure misvaluation using the discounted residual income model. As shown in the literature, this measure of stocks' misvaluation significantly explains their future cross-sectional returns. We measure the market-level misvaluation (market inefficiency) by the misvaluation spread: the difference in the misvaluation of the most overvalued and undervalued shares. We show that the misvaluation spread is a strong predictor of a misvaluation-based long–short portfolio’s returns, reinforcing the hypothesis that it proxies for the level of mispricing in the stock market. Using data on hedge fund returns, hedge fund industry assets under management, flows, and individual hedge fund holdings, we present evidence that hedge funds' trading reduces market-level misvaluation. Our results are robust across different time periods and are not driven by market liquidity. Moreover, we find that mutual funds do not have the price-correcting effect that hedge funds have.

This paper was accepted by Wei Jiang, finance.
Optimal Trade-Off Between Speed and Acuity When Searching for a Small Object
Authors: Alpern Steve , Lidbetter Thomas
Published: January 2015

A Searcher seeks to find a stationary Hider located at some point H (not necessarily a node) on a given network Q. The Searcher can move along the network from a given starting point at unit speed, but to actually find the Hider she must pass it while moving at a fixed slower speed (which may depend on the arc). In this “bimodal search game,” the payoff is the first time the Searcher passes the Hider while moving at her slow speed. This game models the search for a small or well hidden object (e.g., a contact lens, improvised explosive device, predator search for camouflaged prey). We define a bimodal Chinese postman tour as a tour of minimum time δ which traverses every point of every arc at least once in the slow mode. For trees and weakly Eulerian networks (networks containing a number of disjoint Eulerian cycles connected in a tree-like fashion) the value of the bimodal search game is δ/2. For trees, the optimal Hider strategy has full support on the network. This differs from traditional search games, where it is optimal for him to hide only at leaf nodes. We then consider the notion of a lucky Searcher who can also detect the Hider with a positive probability q even when passing him at her fast speed. This paper has particular importance for demining problems.
Worst-Case Analysis of Process Flexibility Designs
Authors: Simchi-Levi David , Wei Yehua
Published: January 2015

Theoretical studies of process flexibility designs have mostly focused on expected sales. In this paper, we take a different approach by studying process flexibility designs from the worst-case point of view. To study the worst-case performances, we introduce the plant cover indices (PCIs), defined by bottlenecks in flexibility designs containing a fixed number of products. We prove that given a flexibility design, a general class of worst-case performance measures can be expressed as functions of the design’s PCIs and the given uncertainty set. This result has several major implications. First, it suggests a method to compare the worst-case performances of different flexibility designs without the need to know the specifics of the uncertainty sets. Second, we prove that under symmetric uncertainty sets and a large class of worst-case performance measures, the long chain, a celebrated sparse design, is superior to a large class of sparse flexibility designs, including any design that has a degree of two on each of its product nodes. Third, we show that under stochastic demand, the classical Jordan and Graves (JG) index can be expressed as a function of the PCIs. Furthermore, the PCIs motivate a modified JG index that is shown to be more effective in our numerical study. Finally, the PCIs lead to a heuristic for finding sparse flexibility designs that perform well under expected sales and have lower risk measures in our computational study.
Adaptation of Network Simplex for the Traffic Assignment Problem
Authors: Zheng Hong
Published: January 2015

This paper presents an algorithm for the traffic assignment problem. The algorithm is characterized by the “origin-based” feature, which solves the user equilibrium flow that is restricted to a single-origin network and loops among origins to produce the all-origin to all-destination equilibrium flow. In contrast to most prior traffic assignment problem algorithms, our method maintains a general spanning tree rooted at each origin, where in-tree arcs can be directed either away from or toward the root. Leveraging an optimality condition in the cycle space, the algorithm uses the network simplex method to identify and cancel a set of negative cost cycles. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the algorithm can generate highly precise solutions with fast convergence on large-scale networks.
Tattoos and piercings – are they compatible with the workplace?
Authors: Jones Nick , Hobbs Matthew
Published: January 2015

The raceaway popularity of tattoos and piercings has left legislation struggling to keep up. But while much depends on discretion and individual cases, argue Nick Jones and Matthew Hobbs, having a clearly communicated policy is crucial
The best advice: top tips for care home managers
Authors: Bernstein Adam
Published: January 2015

In this informative piece, Adam Bernstein provides some key advice for care home managers on a range of different topics; from financial and legal matters, to using mentoring to enhance a business
Working in partnership with families to support individuals
Authors: Green Danielle
Published: January 2015

This optional unit assesses the health and social care worker's knowledge and skills when working in partnership with families to support individuals living in residential care
Best practice: treating chronic oedema and venous disease
Authors: Todd Marie
Published: January 2015

Marie Todd aims to increase awareness of the need for arterial assessment prior to the application of compression in the management of chronic oedema and venous disease
Improving career paths for your staff
Authors: Weston David
Published: January 2015

Access to career development opportunities is often a key priority for teaching staff. David Weston offers seven ways schools can meet this need
Compras governamentais sob a ótica da avaliação de desempenho: um mapeamento do tema conforme as delimitações postas pelos pesquisadores
Authors: Ensslin Sandra Rolim , Ensslin Leonardo , Nishiyama Mario Augusto , Chaves Leonardo Corrêa
Published: January 2015

A atividade de compras governamentais tem ganhando destaque na mídia, sociedade e, consequentemente, no meio aca­dêmico. Isso se deve ao fato que a sociedade é quem sofre as consequências das decisões de compra. Diante desse cenário, os modelos de avaliação de desempenho propiciam transparência para os critérios adotados ao se efetuar uma compra. Nesse sentido, o objetivo dessa pesquisa, de natureza exploratória e descritiva, consistui-se em realizar o mapeamento e seleção de um conjunto de artigos científicos referentes ao tema “Compra governamental sob a ótica da avaliação de desempenho”. Para tanto, utilizou-se o processo de Knowledge Development – Construtivist (ProKnow-C). Ao final da pes­quisa, possibilitou-se identificar os principais periódicos, artigos, autores e palavras-chave referentes ao assunto conforme as delimitações estabelecidas pelos pesquisadores.
Desenvolvimento de Métricas para Avaliação da Competitividade de Clusters: uma aplicação empírica no setor têxtil
Authors: Pereira Cristina Espinheira Costa , Sarturi Greici , Boaventura João Maurício Gama , Polo Edson Fernandes
Published: January 2015

O objetivo deste estudo consiste em desenvolver métricas para avaliação da competitividade de clusters. O modelo teórico adotado foi de Zaccarelli et al. (2008), o qual apresenta 11 fundamentos de competitividade de clusters. A pesquisa classifica-se como qualitativa exploratória, cujos dados foram levantados através de fontes primárias (entrevistas em profundidade) e secundárias (análise de documentos). Como resultado, desenvolveram-se métricas exequíveis e adequadas à avaliação da competitividade de clusters. Além disso, foi verificada a presença dos onze fundamentos no Brás e a apreciação de cada métrica permitiu uma descrição detalhada das características que tornam o Brás um cluster competitivo.
Effects of silver nanoparticles on human health
Authors: Korani Mitra , Ghazizadeh Elham , Korani Shahla , Hami Zahra , Mohammadi-Bardbori Afshin
Published: January 2015

There has been a great deal of attention and research devoted on nanoparticels (NPs) over the last 10 years. From current knowledge in the field of nanotoxicology, it has become evident that the most NPs, if not all are more toxic than bulk materials. The rapid progress and developing has been leading to concerns about the potential risk associated with the use and application of NPs on human health and the environment. Silver nanoparticles (SNPs) are one of the most available and commercially distributed nanomaterials around the world. In order to understand how human health can be affected by SNPs, quantification and detection of SNPs in biological systems have to be conducted in different models. It seems that respiratory and gastrointestinal systems as well as the skin are the major routes of SNPs penetration into the body. Research on SNPs toxicity is mostly conducted in vitro, and the available human and animal data are relatively limited. This review attempts to focus on the characterization and quantification of the potential harmful effects of SNPs on human health.
Finite Element Model to Predict the Bioconversion Rate of Glucose to Fructose using Escherichia coli K12 for Sugar Production from Date
Authors: Trigui Maher , Gabsi Karim , Zneti Walid , Barrington Suzelle , Helal Ahmed Noureddine
Published: January 2015

In this study, Bioconversion process of glucose to fructose from date syrup using Escherichia coli K12 is modeled using a commercial computational fluids dynamics (CFD) code fluent FLUENT 6.3.23 [8] which we implemented a user-defined functions (UDF) to simulate the interrelationships at play between various phases. A two phases CFD model was developed using an Eulerian – Eulerian approach to calculate the fructose volume fraction produced during time. The bioconversion process was studied as function of three initial concentration of glucose (0.14, 0.242 and 0.463gL–1), three induction time (60, 120 and 180 mn) and three inoculum volume (100, 120 and 150mL). The numerical results are compared with experimental data for bioconversion rate and show good agreement (R2= 0.894). The optimal condition of diffusion was obtained by applying an initial concentration of glucose less than 0.2gL–1 and induction time great than 100 minutes.
A Hybrid Heuristic Algorithm for the Intelligent Transportation Scheduling Problem of the BRT System
Authors: Ning Zheng , Tao Chen , Fei Lin , Haitao Xu
Published: January 2015

This work proposes a hybrid heuristic algorithm to solve the bus rapid transit (BRT) intelligent scheduling problem, which is a combination of the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing algorithm, and fitness scaling method. The simulated annealing algorithm can increase the local search ability of the genetic algorithm, so as to accelerate its convergence speed. Fitness scaling can reduce the differences between individuals in the early stage of the algorithm, to prevent the genetic algorithm from falling into a local optimum through increasing the diversity of the population. It can also increase the selection probability of outstanding individuals, and speed up the convergence at the late stage of the algorithm, by increasing the differences between individuals. Using real operational data of BRT Line 1 in a city of Zhejiang province, the new scheduling scheme can be obtained through algorithm simulation. The passengers’ total waiting time in a single way will be reduced by 40 h on average under the same operating cost compared with the original schedule scheme in a day.
Efficiency at optimal work from finite source and sink: A probabilistic perspective
Authors: Johal Ramandeep S.
Published: January 2015

We revisit the classic thermodynamic problem of maximum work extraction from
arbitrary-sized source of heat and sink, modelled as
perfect gases. For a given initial state of the process,
we assume ignorance of the final temperatures.
We quantify the prior information about the process and assign a prior distribution
to the unknown temperature(s).
This requires that we also take into account the temperature values
which are not regarded in standard analysis.
In the present formulation, however, such values appear to be consistent
with the given prior information and hence are included here in the inference.
We derive estimates of the efficiency
at optimal work from the expected values of the final temperatures,
and show that these match with the exact expressions in the limit when
any one of the systems is very large compared to the other.
For other relative sizes of the source and the sink,
a weighted mean is defined over
the estimates from two valid inference procedures, that generalizes
the procedure suggested earlier in
[J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 46 (2013), 365002].
The mean estimate for efficiency obtained in this way agrees with the results of the optimal performance quite accurately.
On stress relaxation timescales for dense binary particulate systems
Authors: Mao Shaolin
Published: January 2015

We study contact stress relaxation timescales,
especially the temporal correlation involved in dense binary particulate systems, which offers
insight into the intriguing relationship between the contact stresses and
the contact time of particle interactions under non-equilibrium state. The
contact time (also referred to as contact age) of a pair of particles is
defined by the duration between current time and the instant when the
contact was formed. The interspecies inter-particles contact stresses are
derived from Liouville's theorem. We apply particle dynamics methods
(e.g. molecular dynamics, discrete element method) to simulate 3D dense binary
particulate systems with periodic boundary conditions. External perturbation
is exerted on the system to balance the dissipation of energy due to the
viscoelastic collisions. The contact stresses, Reynolds stresses, and the
probability density function of the contact time of particles are
predicted at different volume fraction of particles. The obtained
stress-strain rate data are used to examine the constitutive relation of
macroscopic materials. The study targets the impact of the short-term and
the long-term contact/collision on the contact stress relaxation. The
simulation results reveal distinct effects of the short-term and the
long-term contact/collision on the contact stresses, which have been treated
by only an averaged expression of particle interactions in discrete element
methods before.
Performance Analysis of Multihop Free Space Optical Communication System with Pointing Errors
Authors: Sharma Manish , Chadha D. , Chandra Vinod
Published: January 2015

In this paper, we have derived closed form expressions for the outage probability and average capacity of multihop free space optical communication system, employing either decode and forward relaying or amplify and forward relaying. The atmospheric channel is characterized by an aggregate channel model, which includes atmospheric attenuation, atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. Gamma-Gamma channel model is used to model the turbulence of the atmosphere, and pointing error effects are considered by jitter standard deviation parameter. The results obtained from the analytical expressions are verified by Monte Carlo simulation. The performance of the multihop free space optical communication system improves with hop count for both relaying techniques, for same link length. The pointing error deteriorates the performance of the system under consideration, and the performance of a decode and forward relaying is better than the amplify and forward relaying, in terms of both average capacity and outage probability.
Experiences of 6 years quality assurance in obstetrics in Nigeria – a critical review of results and obstacles
Authors: Galadanci Hadiza , Künzel Wolfgang , Zinser Robert , Shittu Oladapo , Adams Stefanie , Gruhl Manfred
Published: January 2015

The objective of this study was to monitor the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in 19 general hospitals after introducing quality assurance in four states in Nigeria.

Data collection with a structured maternity record book started in 2008 in ten rural hospitals in Kano and Kaduna State. In 2011, five hospitals from Federal Capital Territory Abuja were added, whilst in 2013 four hospitals were added from Ondo State. The routine data collection was conducted by experienced midwives and supervised by obstetricians from each of the states. However, the data from all four states were collated centrally at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for analysis.

From 2008 to 2013, 121,808 deliveries were evaluated; MMR fell from 1380 to 360/100,000 in Kaduna State, whilst for Kano State there was a gradual reduction of MMR from 2100/100,000 in 2008 to 1070/100,000 in 2011, and then it increased to 2150/100,000 in 2013. Ondo state had the lowest MMR of 180/100,000 in 2013 followed by Abuja with 240/100,000. The median cesarean section rate was 8.19%, (range 0.97–22.53%), eclampsia/preeclampsia was 4.43% (range 0–56.55%), and postpartum hemorrhage was 3.36% (range 0.81–11.4%).

Quality assurance in rural hospitals generates the awareness necessary to improve maternal health and lead to reduction of MMR.
Nanofiber formation in the presence of an external magnetic field in electrospinning
Authors: Badieyan Saeide S. , Janmaleki Mohsen
Published: January 2015

Electrospinning is an efficient, versatile, and straightforward technique involving the fabrication of very thin fibers from a rich variety of materials. Despite several promising applications, the remaining problem with electrospinning is the unpredictable deposition of the nanofibers. In this study, a mathematical model for a novel magnetic electrospinning process was established on the basis of a set of equations. Then, the model was utilized to analyze the behavior of the created polymer jet numerically using the Runge-Kutta method. The jet was assumed to consist of a number of discrete charged particles connected by viscoelastic segments. The results showed that exerting an appropriate magnetic field (MF) could significantly decrease the radius and the instability of the whipping circles. After fixing the instability as far as possible, it was demonstrated that a properly applied perpendicular MF could largely adjust the target of the polymer jet on the collector.
The Rotating Cavitation Performance of a Centrifugal Pump with a Splitter-Bladed Inducer under Different Rotational Speed
Authors: Guo XiaoMei , Zhu ZuChao , Cui BaoLing , Li Yi
Published: January 2015

Designing inducer is one of the effective ways to improve the suction performance of high-speed centrifugal pumps. The operation condition including rotational speeds can affect the internal flow and external performance of high-speed centrifugal pumps with an inducer. In order to clarify the rotating cavitation performance of a centrifugal pump with a splitter-bladed inducer under different rotational speed, a centrifugal pump with a splitter-bladed inducer is investigated in the work. By using Rayleigh–Plesset equations and Mixture model, the cavitation flow of centrifugal pump is numerically simulated, as well as the external performance experimental test is carried out. It is found that the cavitation area increases with the rotational speeds. The location of the passage where cavitation is easy to appear is explored. Asymmetric cavitation behavior is observed. That, the trail of the inducer is easy to take cavitation when the rotational speed is increased to a degree, is also observed. The trend of
Thyrotoxicosis with absence of clinical features of acromegaly in a TSH- and GH-secreting, invasive pituitary macroadenoma
Authors: Johnston Philip C , Hamrahian Amir H , Prayson Richard A , Kennedy Laurence , Weil Robert J
Published: January 2015

A 54-year-old woman presented with bi-temporal hemianopia, palpitations, and diaphoresis. An invasive pituitary macroadenoma was discovered. The patient had biochemical evidence of secondary hyperthyroidism and GH excess; however, she did not appear to be acromegalic. Surgical removal of the pituitary mass revealed a plurihormonal TSH/GH co-secreting pituitary adenoma. TSH-secreting adenomas can co-secrete other hormones including GH, prolactin, and gonadotropins; conversely, co-secretion of TSH from a pituitary adenoma in acromegaly is infrequent.

Learning points

This case highlights an unusual patient with a rare TSH/GH co-secreting pituitary adenoma with absence of the clinical features of acromegaly.

Plurihormonality does not always translate into the clinical features of hormonal excess.

There appears to be a clinical and immunohistochemical spectrum present in plurihormonal tumors.
Adrenal cancer in neurofibromatosis type 1: case report and DNA analysis
Authors: Menon Ravi Kumar , Ferrau Francesco , Kurzawinski Tom R , Rumsby Gill , Freeman Alexander , Amin Zahir , Korbonits Márta , Chung Teng-Teng L L
Published: January 2015

Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) has previously only been reported in eight patients with type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1). There has not been any clear evidence of a causal association between NF1 gene mutations and adrenocortical malignancy development. We report the case of a 49-year-old female, with no family history of endocrinopathy, who was diagnosed with ACC on the background of NF1, due to a novel germline frame shift mutation (c.5452_5453delAT) in exon 37 of the NF1 gene. A left adrenal mass was detected by ultrasound and characterised by contrast computerised tomography (CT) scan. Biochemical tests showed mild hypercortisolism and androgen excess. A 24-h urinary steroid profile and 18flouro deoxy glucose PET suggested ACC. An open adrenalectomy was performed and histology confirmed ACC. This is the first reported case with DNA analysis, which demonstrated the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the NF1 locus in the adrenal cancer, supporting the hypothesis of an involvement of the NF1 gene in the pathogenesis of ACC. LOH analysis of the tumour suggests that the loss of neurofibromin in the adrenal cells may lead to tumour formation.

Learning points

ACC is rare but should be considered in a patient with NF1 and adrenal mass when plasma metanephrines are normal.

Urinary steroid metabolites and PET/CT are helpful in supporting evidence for ACC.

The LOH at the NF1 region of the adrenal tumour supports the role of loss of neurofibromin in the development of ACC.
Nuclear Desalination: An Alternative Solution to the Water Shortage
Authors: Guglielmo Mantero  , Guglielmo Lomonaco  , Riccardo Marotta
Published: January 2015

Global water shortage is one of the rising problems that, nowadays and worldwide, Countries and governments have to face. People from many countries have to deal with scarcity of water supply and aquifer pollution that could jeopardize their health and agriculture. Desalination process could be one of the most promising method to hinder such phenomenon. During this work we analyzed different desalination processes and the state of art of the technology. In this paper we carried on a deep evaluation of the state of art of desalination processes. Obviously all these methods need a driving force in terms of energy. With the aim of a more environmental friendly scenario, nuclear energy has been chosen as energy source for different desalination processes, implementing the so called nuclear desalination. Moreover a nuclear scenario analysis has been studied for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), one of the countries that have to deal with water shortage and that presents today an ambitious nuclear program.
Electrochemical Degradation of Indigo Carmine Textile Dye Powered by Solar Photovoltaic Energy
Authors: Konstantinos Dermentzis  , Dimitrios Stergiopoulos  , Anastasios Moumtzakis
Published: January 2015

The proposed photovoltaic electro oxidation process combines the autonomous and environmentally friendly photovoltaic solar energy with the capability of electro oxidation at boron doped diamond electrodes to effectively decolorize and degrade indigo carmine textile dye from wastewater. The photovoltaic array can be connected directly to the electrochemical reactor without batteries increasing, in this way, the system sustainability and eliminating the environmental threat of improper battery disposal. The system is made versatile according to the instantaneous solar irradiation by adjusting the wastewater flow rate to the current intensity supplied by the photovoltaic panel. All operating parameters affecting the efficiency of the proposed process, such as wastewater conductivity, pH, flow rate, current density, electro processing time and solar irradiance were studied and optimal conditions were investigated. The experimental results showed that by applying current densities of 1, 2.5 and 5 mA cm2 the initial dye concentration of 100 mg L-1 in the treated wastewater was quantitatively eliminated in 45, 20 and 10 minutes of electro processing respectively. The process is appropriate for treatment of colored industrial textile dye house effluents and especially for applications in remote and isolated locations without connection to public electric grid.
Relaxometric Study Concerning the Action of A Complexant Agent on Petroleum
Authors: Flávio Vinicius Crizóstomo Kock  , Elói Alves Silva Filho  , Eustáquio Vinícius Ribeiro de
Castro  , Valdemar Lacerda Jr  , Lúcio Leonel Barbosa
Published: January 2015

Applying a complexant agent to the contention and bioremediation of petroleum spills, although important for industry, is very rare. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a study concerning the influence of a complexant agent, namely chitosan, on petroleum using time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR). Alterations in the transverse relaxation time (T2) values and peak areas were observed, inferring that the interaction of the complexant agent with petroleum causes destabilization, precipitation of chemical compounds and separation of phases (water and oil). Thus, a novel application involving this spectroscopic technique in the energy field is presented.
Direct Numerical Simulation Modeling of Multidisciplinary Transport during Li-Ion Battery Charge/Discharge Processes
Authors: Jiang Fangming , Zeng Jianbang , Peng Peng , He Shaoyang
Published: January 2015

We develop a direct numerical simulation (DNS) model of multidisciplinary transport coupled with electrochemical reactions during Li-ion battery charge/discharge processes based on the finite volume (FV) numerical technique. Different from macroscopic models, the DNS model is based on microstructure of composite electrodes and solves component-wise transport equations. During DNS, the input physical properties are intrinsic material properties, not effective physical properties for macroscopic models. Since the interface of solid and electrolyte phase is evidently differentiated in DNS, the occurrence of electrochemical reactions is prescribed exactly on the interface of solid and electrolyte phase. Therefore, the DNS model has the potential to unravel the underlying mesoscopic pore-scale mechanisms of multi-disciplinary transport coupled with electrochemical reactions and thus can provide insightful information of the involved processes, as well as enables the design and optimization of electrodes, including microstructures inside electrodes. One test case, in which the electrode microstructure is reconstructed with a purely random reconstruction method, is considered. Simulation results corroborate the validity of the DNS model.
Finite Element Simulation of Jet Combustor Using Local Extinction Approach with in Eddy Dissipation Concept
Authors: Ghasemi E. , Soleimani Soheil , Almas M.A.
Published: January 2015

Non-premixed turbulent reacting flow in a methane-fuelled coaxial jet combustor has been studied numerically employing Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models. A Finite Element Method (FEM) based solver and Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) is used to simulate the methane air reaction inside the combustor. Simulations were carried out using the k-w (k-omega) turbulence model to handle the fluid flow simulation along with heat transfer and chemical reaction. The results were compared to available LES numerical results and experimental data for predicting velocity, and temperature fields. Velocity, temperature and concentration of the different species are also plotted at different cross sections of the methane burner.
Thermal Conductivity of Suspended Si Nanostructures: Design and Fabrication
Authors: J. Rodríguez-Viejo  , L. Licea-Jiménez  , S.A. Pérez-García  , J. Alvarez-Quintana
Published: January 2015

It is presented a process for engineering suspended Si nanostructures in order to measure the thermal conductivity in Si thin films and nanowires based on standard photolithographic techniques. Unlike previous works where the nanostructure was typically grown ex situ, and then mechanically placed and contacted between the two microheaters which introduce a contact thermal resistance that difficult an easy interpretation of the experimental results by increasing the uncertainty of the measured thermal conductance of the nanostructure; in this research, the nanostructure is defined from silicon-on-insulator wafers via FIB with the objective to minimize the thermal contact resistance between the nanostructure under test and the heat sources. It has been demonstrated by experimental measurements that this suspended device is well adapted for the measurement, control and analysis of the thermal conductivity of nanoscale Si thin films and nanowires. FIB micro-fabrication strategy could be used to obtain Si based nanostructures with very low thermal conductivity which is a desirable characteristic in thermoelectric applications for thermal energy harvesting and solid state refrigeration as well.
Condensation Heat Transfer Enhancement on Surfaces with Interlaced Wettability
Authors: You-An Lee  , Long-Sheng Kuo  , Tsung-Wen Su  , Chin-Chi Hsu  , Ping-Hei Chen
Published: January 2015

This study investigated the effect of surfaces with interlaced wettability on steam–air mixture condensation. Experiments were conducted on various types of surface with different modified strip widths. In general, surfaces exhibiting high hydrophobic wettability yield a high condensation heat-transfer rate because dropwise condensation is easily formed. However, the experimental results of this study revealed that surfaces with interlaced wettability demonstrated superior condensation heat-transfer performance to those with homogeneous high hydrophobic wettability. Such an observation implies that the configuration of surface modification can enhance condensation heat transfer. In addition, the data indicated an optimal area ratio of modified surfaces to unmodified surfaces.
Modeling of the Compression Process for Refrigerants R134a and R1234yf of a Variable Speed Reciprocating Compressor
Authors: Barroso-Maldonado J.M. , Belman-Flores J.M. , Ledesma S.
Published: January 2015

This paper presents a robust computational model to predict the behavior of a variable speed reciprocating compressor, incorporating infinitesimal displacements to calculate state by state according to the piston movement. The philosophy of the model is to consider eight sub internal processes: heat transfer on the suction and discharge internal lines, pressure drop across the suction and discharge valves, expansion, suction, compression and discharge. The input variables are: pressure and temperature on the suction (before starting the compression process), discharge pressure (after the compression process completed) and rotation speed, with this the model is able to compute the output parameters like: mass flow rate, power consumption and discharge temperature. With the development of the model, the behaviors of R1234yf and R134a are analyzed. Then the model is validated with experimental data using these both refrigerants, concluding that the model predict with an error of ±10% for the mass flow rate and power consumption, and with an error of ±1 K for the discharge temperature. In the validation, differences in energy behavior for the two refrigerants are discussed; the compressor with R1234yf as working fluid increases its power consumption and delivers greater mass flow rate with low temperature compared when the working fluid on the compressor is R134a.
Coordinated Movement of Multiple Robots in Outdoor Environment with Obstacles Pages
Authors: Jan Sovcik  , Jan Sovcik  , Martin Kajan  , Martin Kajan  , FrantiSek Duchoň  , FrantiSek Duchoň  , Martin Florek  , Martin Florek  , Peter Hubinsky  , Peter Hubinsky  , Khanh Duong Quang   , Khanh Duong Quang 
Published: January 2015

This article mainly focuses on the proposal of the program that coordinates the movement of multiple robots in outdoor environment. The emphasis of the proposed algorithm is on collision free movement. Simulation with four robots that are controlled in an environment with obstacles is the result of these experiments. The formation of robots consists of a leader and three following robots, which are trying to copy leader¢‚¬„¢s movement. Robots use GPS, laser rangefinder, as well as bumpers sensors for the environment scanning. GPS is used as positioning sensor and other sensors are used for reactive navigation. Besides that, simulation uses virtual reality from Microsoft Robotics Studio 4 (MRS). In addition, programming language used for this simulation is called Visual Programming Language. Advantage of MRS usage is that the final code can be simply transferred into real robots.
The Extended Bag of Words Model for Visual Recognition and Categorization
Authors: Miaomiao Liu  , Xinde Li  , Xiaobin Jin  , Xiao Zhang
Published: January 2015

With the development of science and technology, more and more images need to be recognized and categorized. Although the classical Bag of Words (BoW) model has played a great role in the past, there are still many limitations about it, i.e. low precision and accuracy, high complexity of computation, etc. In this paper, it is improved and extended from four ways. Firstly, the features filtered from the background are sampled to reduce the influence of background noise. Secondly, the spatial relationship among all features is integrated with the classical BoW vector to improve the accuracy of recognition and categorization. Thirdly, vocabulary tree is constructed by applying hierarchical K mean value, in order to obtain more reasonable vocabulary list and greatly reduce the clustering time. Fourthly, a weighted visual word histogram is considered, in order to stand out the essential difference among images. At last, some experiments are conducted to show the advantage of the proposed method.
Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children After Repeat Doses of Antenatal Glucocorticoids: An RCT
Authors: McKinlay Christopher J.D. , Cutfield Wayne S. , Battin Malcolm R. , Dalziel Stuart R. , Crowther Caroline A. , Harding Jane E. ,   on behalf of the ACTORDS Study Group
Published: January 2015

BACKGROUND:

Treatment of women at risk for preterm birth with repeat doses of glucocorticoids reduces neonatal morbidity but could have adverse long-term effects on cardiometabolic health in offspring. We assessed whether exposure to repeat antenatal betamethasone increased risk factors for later cardiometabolic disease in children whose mothers participated in the Australasian Collaborative Trial of Repeat Doses of Corticosteroids.

METHODS:

Women were randomized to betamethasone or placebo treatment, ≥7 days after an initial course of glucocorticoids, repeated each week that they remained at risk for preterm birth at <32 weeks’ gestation. In this follow-up study, children were assessed at 6 to 8 years’ corrected age for body composition, insulin sensitivity, ambulatory blood pressure, and renal function.

RESULTS:

Of 320 eligible childhood survivors, 258 were studied (81%; 123 repeat betamethasone group; 135 placebo [single course] group). Children exposed to repeat antenatal betamethasone and those exposed to placebo had similar total fat mass (geometric mean ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78 to 1.23), minimal model insulin sensitivity (geometric mean ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.08), 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (mean difference systolic 0 mm Hg, 95% CI −2 to 2; diastolic 0 mm Hg, 95% CI −1 to 1), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (mean difference 1.2 mL/min/1.73m2, 95% CI −3.2 to 5.6).

CONCLUSIONS:

Exposure to repeat doses of antenatal betamethasone compared with a single course of glucocorticoids does not increase risk factors for cardiometabolic disease at early school age.
Craniomandibular disorder/dysfunction. Characteristics and disorders of the masticatory organ
Authors: Kiss Géza , Pácz Miklós , Kiss Péter
Published: January 2015

The practising physician often meets patients with pain located in different parts of the face and facial skull, mouth opening restriction or other motion disorder of the mandible. It is not always easy to identify and explain the cause. It is not widely known among doctors that most of these problems are due to masticatory dysfunction. There is a special group of patients showing functional disorders and there are some others who present a variety of different symptoms and visit several doctors. The masticatory organ, a functional unit of the human organism has a definite and separate task and function. In the early years of life it is capable of adaptation, while later on it tends to compensation. The authors outline the functional anatomy of the masticatory organ and the characteristics of multicausal pathology, the dynamics of the process of the disease and their interdisciplinary aspects. They discuss the basic elements of craniomandibular dysfunction. Based on the diagnostic algorithm, they summarize treatment options for masticatory function disorders. They emphasize the importance that physicians should offer treatment, especially an irreversible treatment, without a diagnosis. It occurs very often that the causes are identified after the patients become symptom-free due to treatment. The aim of this report is to help the general practitioners, dentists, neurologists, ear-nose-throat specialists, rheumatologists or any other specialists in the everyday practice who have patients with different symptoms such as pain in the skull, acoustic phenomenon of the joint or craniomandibular dysfunction. Orv. Hetil., 2015, 156(4), 122–134.