bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Different carboxyl‐rich alicyclic molecules proxy compounds select distinct bacterioplankton for oxidation of dissolved organic matter in the mesopelagic Sargasso Sea
Authors: Liu Shuting , Parsons Rachel , Opalk Keri , Baetge Nicholas , Giovannoni Stephen , Bolaños Luis M. , Kujawinski Elizabeth B. , Longnecker Krista , Lu YueHan , Halewood Elisa , Carlson Craig A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractMarine dissolved organic matter (DOM) varies in its recalcitrance to rapid microbial degradation. DOM of varying recalcitrance can be exported from the ocean surface to depth by subduction or convective mixing and oxidized over months to decades in deeper seawater. Carboxyl‐rich alicyclic molecules (CRAM) are characterized as a major component of recalcitrant DOM throughout the oceanic water column. The oxidation of CRAM‐like compounds may depend on specific bacterioplankton lineages with oxidative enzymes capable of catabolizing complex molecular structures like long‐chain aliphatics, cyclic alkanes, and carboxylic acids. To investigate the interaction between bacteria and CRAM‐like compounds, we conducted microbial remineralization experiments using several compounds rich in carboxyl groups and/or alicyclic rings, including deoxycholate, humic acid, lignin, and benzoic acid, as proxies for CRAM. Mesopelagic seawater (200 m) from the northwest Sargasso Sea was used as media and inoculum and incubated over 28 d. All amendments demonstrated significant DOC removal (2–11 μmol C L−1) compared to controls. Bacterioplankton abundance increased significantly in the deoxycholate and benzoic acid treatments relative to controls, with fast‐growing Spongiibacteracea, Euryarcheaota, and slow‐growing SAR11 enriched in the deoxycholate treatment and fast‐growing Alteromonas, Euryarcheaota, and Thaumarcheaota enriched in the benzoic acid treatment. In contrast, bacterioplankton grew slower in the lignin and humic acid treatments, with oligotrophic SAR202 becoming significantly enriched in the lignin treatment. Our results indicate that the character of the CRAM proxy compounds resulted in distinct bacterioplankton removal rates of DOM and affected specific lineages of bacterioplankton capable of responding.
Effects of ethanol preservation and formalin fixation on amino acid stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) and its ecological applications
Authors: Chua Kenny W. J. , Liew Jia Huan , Shin Kyung‐Hoon , Yeo Darren C. J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractCompound‐specific isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA‐AA) is a promising nascent technique that alleviates many shortcomings of conventional bulk‐tissue stable isotope analysis (“bulk SIA”) in ecological studies involving the tracing/reconstruction of carbon and nitrogen pathways. While CSIA‐AA has been increasingly applied to preserved tissue samples (e.g., material in natural history collections), the effects of sample preservation on amino acid δ13C and δ15N profiles are poorly understood. It is therefore unclear if mathematical correction factors are necessary for interpreting isotopic profiles of preserved samples. In this study, we investigated effects of ethanol preservation and formalin fixation on amino acid δ13C and δ15N profiles. We also assess how these effects translate to two ecological applications of CSIA‐AA: quantification of organic carbon sources, and estimation of trophic positions. Results from an 8‐week controlled experiment on freshwater fish tissue show negligible preservation effects on most amino acid δ15N profiles, and results are similar for δ13C profiles of essential amino acids. Findings from mixing models using essential amino acid δ13C profiles similarly show that preserved samples can yield robust estimates of carbon source contributions. We also empirically demonstrate, for the first time, the use of amino acid δ13C profiles to enhance δ15N‐based estimates of trophic position in food webs with multiple producers, and show that these estimates are not compromised by preservation effects. Overall, our findings support the view that amino acid δ13C and δ15N profiles from ethanol‐ and formalin‐treated CSIA‐AA samples can be directly used for addressing ecological questions.
Alignment‐Improved and Diameter‐Reduced Electrospun Polymer Fibers via the Hot‐Stretching Process
Authors: Hsu Hsun‐Hao , Chiu Yu‐Jing , Li Jia‐Wei , Tseng Hsiao‐Fan , Chang Kai‐Chieh , Chen Jiun‐Tai 
Published: January 2020

AbstractElectrospinning is one of the most facile and versatile techniques to prepare polymer fibers ranging from micrometers to nanometers. Although several parameters can be tuned to control the sizes and morphologies of electrospun fibers, many obstacles are still encountered as the target sizes of the fibers are getting smaller; for example, the sizes of the fibers can be effectively reduced by lowering the polymer solution concentrations but beaded or beads‐on‐string structures are usually formed. To overcome such obstacles, here a simple technique to prepare alignment‐improved and diameter‐reduced fibers without bead formation by hot‐stretching electrospun fibers at temperatures higher than the glass transition temperatures of the polymers is developed. Polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) are both used in this work as model materials. The relationship between the draw ratio and diameter of the fibers is quantitatively analyzed, demonstrating the control of the fiber diameters. Moreover, higher degrees of alignment improvement at the middle part of the fibers than those at the end part is observed, which results in lower water contact angles at the middle part of the fibers. This work provides a useful post‐treatment technique to control the sizes and orientations of electrospun polymer fibers.
Red price? Red flag! Eye‐tracking reveals how one red price can hurt a retailer
Authors: Ye Hongjun , Bhatt Siddharth , Jeong Haeyoung , Zhang Jintao , Suri Rajneesh 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRetailers present prices in red color to signal savings. Past research has shown that presenting all prices in red increases perceived savings from the store. However, in practice, retailers often present just one price in red in promotion materials with multiple prices. Will consumers perceive higher savings from the store even if only one price is presented in red? This research examines this prevalent retail practice using a theoretical lens. The theoretical framework predicts that two unique learned associations with red color (red: Savings and red: Stop) play a key role in shaping consumers' perception of savings from stores that highlight only one price in red. This research proposes and empirically demonstrates that consumers perceive lower savings from stores that present only one price in red. The theoretical framework is validated using a multi‐method approach that combines the strengths of behavioral and physiological (eye‐tracking) methods. Findings from this research suggest that presenting only one price in red lowers perceived savings from the store, which may hurt sales.
Lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA) for treatment of isolated penile lymphedema: A case report
Authors: Scaglioni Mario F. , Meroni Matteo , Fritsche Elmar 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIsolated penile lymphedema is a rare but severely disabling condition due to reduced lymphatic drainage. In this area treatment opportunities are poor being that conservative management is usually not effective and surgery limited to debulking lymphangiectomy, which is indicated only in very severe cases. Lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA) has a demonstrated efficacy in treatment of upper and lower limbs lymphedema but still has few applications in genital lymphedema and none when the swelling is confined in the penis. Here we present a case of an isolated penile lymphedema treated with super‐microsurgical LVA. A 33‐year‐old patient presented swelling and pain immediately after a traumatic injury at the base of the penis. After 2 years of conservative praxis with manual lymphatic drainage of the penis and upper thigh bandage compression, no improvement of the symptoms was obtained. Indocyanine green lymphography was performed with dye injection in the glans confirming the diagnosis by showing lymphatic drainage stasis (dermal backflow). We consequently decided to undergo a surgical procedure performing lymphovenous anastomosis at the dorsum of the penis. Immediately following this intervention, both objective and subjective symptoms relief were noted with decrease of swelling and pain. The postoperative course was uneventful and at the 6 months follow up the patient reported no recurrence of the swelling even with the complete removal of compression therapy. We consider therefore that LVA may be a valid possibility for management of similar cases to provide a definitive clinical improvement.
Revenue maximization in two‐station tandem queueing systems
Authors: Wang Xinchang , Andradóttir Sigrún , Ayhan Hayriye , Suk Tonghoon 
Published: January 2020

AbstractWe study optimal pricing for tandem queueing systems with finite buffers. The service provider dynamically quotes prices to incoming price sensitive customers to maximize the long‐run average revenue. We present a Markov decision process model for the optimization problem. For systems with two stations, general‐sized buffers, and two or more prices, we describe the structure of the optimal dynamic pricing policy and develop tailored policy iteration algorithms to find an optimal pricing policy. For systems with two stations but no intermediate buffer, we characterize conditions under which quoting either a high or a low price to all customers is optimal and provide an easy‐to‐implement algorithm to solve the problem. Numerical experiments are conducted to compare the developed algorithms with the regular policy iteration algorithm. The work also discusses possible extensions of the obtained results to both three‐station systems and two‐station systems with price and congestion sensitive customers using numerical analysis.
A computational model for molecular interactions between curved slender fibers undergoing large 3D deformations with a focus on electrostatic, van der Waals, and repulsive steric forces
Authors: Grill Maximilian J. , Wall Wolfgang A. , Meier Christoph 
Published: January 2020

SummaryThis contribution proposes the first three‐dimensional (3D) beam‐beam interaction model for molecular interactions between curved slender fibers undergoing large deformations. While the general model is not restricted to a specific beam formulation, in the present work, it is combined with the geometrically exact beam theory and discretized via the finite element method. A direct evaluation of the total interaction potential for general 3D bodies requires the integration of contributions from molecule or charge distributions over the volumes of the interaction partners, leading to a six‐dimensional integral (two nested 3D integrals) that has to be solved numerically. Here, we propose a novel strategy to formulate reduced section‐section interaction laws for the resultant interaction potential between a pair of cross‐sections of two slender fibers such that only two one‐dimensional integrals along the fibers' length directions have to be solved numerically. This section‐section interaction potential (SSIP) approach yields a significant gain in efficiency, which is essential to enable the simulation of relevant time and length scales for many practical applications. In a first step, the generic structure of SSIP laws, which is suitable for the most general interaction scenario (eg, fibers with arbitrary cross‐section shape and inhomogeneous atomic/charge density within the cross‐section) is presented. Assuming circular, homogeneous cross‐sections, in a next step, specific analytical expressions for SSIP laws describing short‐range volume interactions (eg, van der Waals (vdW) or steric interactions) and long‐range surface interactions (eg, Coulomb interactions) are proposed. Besides ready‐to‐use expressions for the total interaction potential, also the resulting virtual work contributions, its finite element discretizations, as well as a suitable numerical regularization for the limit of zero separation are derived. The validity of the SSIP laws, as well as the accuracy and robustness of the general SSIP approach to beam‐beam interactions, is thoroughly verified by means of a set of numerical examples considering steric repulsion, electrostatic, or vdW adhesion.
An enhanced finite difference time domain method for two dimensional Maxwell's equations
Authors: Meagher Timothy , Jiang Bin , Jiang Peng 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAn enhanced finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) algorithm is built to solve the transverse electric two‐dimensional Maxwell's equations with inhomogeneous dielectric media where the electric fields are discontinuous across the dielectric interface. The new algorithm is derived based upon the integral version of the Maxwell's equations as well as the relationship between the electric fields across the interface. To resolve the instability issue of Yee's scheme (staircasing) caused by discontinuous permittivity across the interface, our algorithm revises the permittivities and makes some corrections to the scheme for the cells around the interface. It is also an improvement over the contour‐path effective permittivity algorithm by including some extra terms in the formulas. The scheme is validated in solving the scattering of a dielectric cylinder with exact solution from Mie theory and is then compared with the above contour‐path method, the usual staircasing and the volume‐average method. The numerical results demonstrate that the new algorithm has achieved significant improvement in accuracy over other methods. Furthermore, the algorithm has a simple structure and can be merged into current FDTD software packages easily. The C++ source code for this paper is provided as supporting information for public access.
BMI and Medically Certified Long‐Term Sickness Absence Among Japanese Employees
Authors: Endo Motoki , Inoue Yosuke , Kuwahara Keisuke , Nishiura Chihiro , Hori Ai , Ogasawara Takayuki , Yamaguchi Miwa , Nakagawa Tohru , Honda Toru , Yamamoto Shuichiro , Okazaki Hiroko , Imai Teppei , Nishihara Akiko , Miyamoto Toshiaki , Sasaki Naoko , Uehara Akihiko , Yamamoto Makoto , Murakami Taizo , Shimizu Makiko , Eguchi Masafumi , Kochi Takeshi , Nagahama Satsue , Tomita Kentaro , Kunugita Naoki , Tanigawa Takeshi , Konishi Maki , Nanri Akiko , Kabe Isamu , Mizoue Tetsuya , Dohi Seitaro ,   for the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study Group
Published: January 2020

ObjectiveIn contrast to the association between excess weight and sickness absence (SA), the association in relation to underweight has been under‐researched. This study aimed to examine the effects of BMI at both extremes of its distribution on SA.MethodsData came from the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health study of 77,760 workers aged 20 to 59 years (66,166 males, 11,594 females). Information was collected on medically certified long‐term SA (LTSA) (i.e., SA lasting ≥ 30 consecutive days) from April 2012 to March 2017. A sex‐specific Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the associations.ResultsAmong males, both obesity (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.50‐2.17) and underweight (HR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.23‐1.96) were significantly associated with LTSA compared with normal weight. This U‐shaped association between BMI categories and LTSA was observed both for mental and physical disorders. Among females, an elevated risk was observed among those with overweight (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.16‐2.05).ConclusionsIn a cohort of the Japanese working‐age population, both obesity and underweight were associated with a greater risk of LTSA in males. Future research should not overlook the excess risk of LTSA associated with underweight.
Estimation of the Ballistic Parameters of Double Base Gun Propellants
Authors: Boulkadid Karim M. , Trache Djalal , Krai Samir , Lefebvre Michel H. , Jeunieau Laurence , Dejeaifve Alain 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe burning properties of propellants are important inputs needed in ballistic simulation. A closed vessel experiment is employed to characterize the burning properties of gunpowder. The results obtained after testing in a closed vessel are exploited according to the development of the burning rate equation defined in the NATO Standardization Agreement. Recently a method for the estimating of the burning rate, r(p), of a solid propellant simply on the basis of pressure P(t), which had been recorded during closed vessel experiments, and a knowledge of the shape and geometric dimensions of the propellant grains, has been reported. This method does not need prior knowledge of the values of the thermodynamic properties (specific force and co‐volume) of the propellant. It has been verified on the following examples: a 4/1 single‐base propellant with cylindrical single‐perforated grains and the JA‐2 triple‐base propellant with seven‐perforated grains. In this paper, this method was corroborated for the case of spherical and flattened double base gun propellants. Additionally, based on the previous cited method, a new approach allowing the estimation of the ballistic parameters was established.
Extreme responses to immune checkpoint blockade following bipolar androgen therapy and enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer
Authors: Markowski Mark C. , Shenderov Eugene , Eisenberger Mario A. , Kachhap Sushant , Pardoll Drew M. , Denmeade Samuel R. , Antonarakis Emmanuel S. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackgroundImmune checkpoint inhibition has been shown to have limited efficacy in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Prostate cancers that harbor certain homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair gene mutations, inactivating CDK12 mutations or have underlying mismatch repair deficiency may be effectively treated with immunotherapy. Combination therapy may improve clinical response rates to immune checkpoint blockade. We observed profound prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) and/or objective responses to immune checkpoint blockade following prior treatment with bipolar androgen therapy (BAT) and enzalutamide.MethodsWe report three cases of patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) undergoing therapy with anti‐PD‐1 inhibitors. All patients underwent both somatic molecular testing and germline genetic testing.ResultsTwo of the three patients with mCRPC harbored an inactivating mutation in an HR DNA repair gene (BRCA2, ATM). No patient demonstrated mismatch repair deficiency, nor were CDK12 alterations present. All three patients had been treated with BAT and enzalutamide before immune checkpoint blockade, a paradoxical approach for the treatment of mCRPC developed by our group.ConclusionsThese cases of mCRPC suggest that immune checkpoint blockade may have therapeutic potential in patients with prostate cancer, especially following immune activation (“priming”) using BAT and enzalutamide.
Antibody‐Free Hydrogel with the Synergistic Effect of Cell Imprinting and Boronate Affinity: Toward the Selective Capture and Release of Undamaged Circulating Tumor Cells
Authors: Liu Lukuan , Dong Chengyong , Li Xinwei , Li Senwu , Ma Baofu , Zhao Baofeng , Li Xiao , Liang Zhen , Yang Kaiguang , Zhang Lihua , Zhang Yukui 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe selective and highly efficient capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood and their subsequent release without damage are very important for the early diagnosis of tumors and for understanding the mechanism of metastasis. Herein, a universal strategy is proposed for the fabrication of an antibody‐free hydrogel that has a synergistic effect by featuring microinterfaces obtained by cell imprinting and molecular recognition conferred by boronate affinity. With this artificial antibody, highly efficient capture of human hepatocarcinoma SMMC‐7721 cells is achieved: as many as 90.3 ± 1.4% (n= 3) cells are captured when 1 × 105SMMC‐7721 cells are incubated on a 4.5 cm2hydrogel, and 99% of these captured cells are subsequently released without any loss of proliferation ability. In the presence of 1000 times as many nontarget cells, namely, leukaemia Jurkat cells, the SMMC‐7721 cells can be captured with an enrichment factor as high as 13.5 ± 3.2 (n= 3), demonstrating the superior selectivity of the artificial antibody for the capture of the targeted CTCs. Most importantly, the SMMC‐7721 cells can be successfully captured even when spiked into whole blood, indicating the great promise of this approach for the further molecular characterization of CTCs.
Phosphine‐Based Covalent Organic Framework for the Controlled Synthesis of Broad‐Scope Ultrafine Nanoparticles
Authors: Tao Rao , Shen Xiran , Hu Yiming , Kang Kun , Zheng Yaqian , Luo Shichang , Yang Shiyu , Li Wenliang , Lu Shuanglong , Jin Yinghua , Qiu Li , Zhang Wei 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn this work, a phosphine‐based covalent organic framework (Phos‐COF‐1) is successfully synthesized and employed as a template for the confined growth of broad‐scope nanoparticles (NPs). Ascribed to the ordered distribution of phosphine coordination sites in the well‐defined pores, various stable and well‐dispersed ultrafine metal NPs including Pd, Pt, Au, and bimetallic PdAuNPs with narrow size distributions are successfully prepared as determined by transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma, and powder X‐ray diffraction analyses. It is also demonstrated that the as‐prepared Phos‐COF‐1‐supported ultrafine NPs exhibit excellent catalytic activities and recyclability toward the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction, reduction of nitro‐phenol and 1‐bromo‐4‐nitrobenzene, and even tandem coupling and reduction of p‐nitroiodobenzene. This work will open many new possibilities for preparing COF‐supported ultrafine NPs with good dispersity and stability for a broad range of applications.
Identifying Phase‐Dependent Electrochemical Stripping Performance of FeOOH Nanorod: Evidence from Kinetic Simulation and Analyte–Material Interactions
Authors: Yang Meng , Li Yi‐Xiang , Jiang Min , Li Pei‐Hua , Chen Shi‐Hua , Liu Jin‐Huai , Lin Chu‐Hong , Huang Xing‐Jiu , Liu Wen‐Qing 
Published: January 2020

AbstractMetal hydroxide nanomaterials are widely applied in the energy and environment fields. The electrochemical performance of such materials is strongly dependent on their crystal phases. However, as there are always multiple factors relating to the phase‐dependent electrochemistry, it is still difficult to identify the determining one. The well‐defined crystal phases of α‐ and β‐FeOOH nanorods are characterized through the transmission electron microscopy by a series of rotation toward one rod, where the cross‐section shape and the growth direction along the [001] crystalline are first verified for 1D FeOOH nanostructures. The electrosensitivity of the two materials toward Pb(II) is tested, where α‐FeOOH performs an outstanding sensitivity whilst it is only modest for β‐FeOOH. Experiments via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), etc., show that α‐FeOOH presents a larger Pb(II) adsorption capacity due to more surficial hydroxyl groups and weaker PbO bond strength. The reaction kinetics are simulated and the adsorption capacity is found to be the determining factor for the distinct Pb(II) sensitivities. Combining experiment with simulation, this work reveals the physical insights of the phase‐dependent electrochemistry for FeOOH and provides guidelines for the functional application of metal hydroxide nanomaterials.