bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Monetary policy reaction to uncertainty in Japan: Evidence from a quantile‐on‐quantile interest rate rule
Authors: Christou Christina , Naraidoo Ruthira , Gupta Rangan , Hassapis Christis 
Published: September 2020

AbstractJapan's episodes of lower bound of interest rates together with macroeconomic uncertainty for over the past two decades stands as a tremendous hurdle for the estimation of Taylor‐type rule models. We demarcate our study from previous literature by conducting the estimations not only at various points on the conditional distribution of the interest rate but also at various quantiles of an additional regressor on top of inflation and output, viz., an economic uncertainty measure, by adopting a quantile nonseparable triangular system estimation. The results show that the reaction to uncertainty seems to have substituted the Bank's reaction to inflation and output, lending support to the Brainard attenuation principle. In essence, faced with higher economic uncertainty, the monetary authority reacts by cutting (attenuating) its policy rate across all quantiles of uncertainty at all conditional quantiles of interest rate, with an increased response of the Bank of Japan to uncertainty at its lower quantiles when interest rate is at its lower conditional quantiles. A possible explanation is the greater concern of getting out from the lower bounds of interest rate amidst deflationary outcomes.
Environmentally friendly process based on a combination of ultrasound and peracetic acid treatment to obtain cellulose from orange bagasse
Authors: Marim Beatriz M , Mantovan Janaina , Giraldo Gina AG , Mali Suzana 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBACKGROUNDBrazil is responsible for 60% of the global production of orange juice, accounting for over three‐quarters of global orange juice exports, resulting in large quantities of orange bagasse (OB). This is an underutilized byproduct of the orange juice industry and corresponds to 50% of the fruit weight. The objectives of this study were to produce cellulose from OB using a combination of ultrasound and peracetic acid (PA) treatment, and to characterize the obtained materials according to their microstructure, crystallinity, thermal stability and water sorption behavior, and their cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents.RESULTSUltrasound pretreatment alone was not effective in altering the composition of OB. Samples subjected to both ultrasound and PA presented higher cellulose contents and lower hemicellulose and lignin contents in comparison to their respective samples undergoing PA treatment alone. The sample subjected to ultrasound for 10 min at a 30% amplitude combined with PA treatment for 24 h (USPA.24) resulted in the highest crystallinity index (54%), with 81.49% cellulose, 0.88% hemicellulose and 2.68% lignin. The increase in cellulose content of samples also resulted in lower water‐holding capacity, solubility and water adsorption capacity of samples.CONCLUSIONUltrasonication associated with PA treatment can be considered a promising approach and effective protocol for the extraction of cellulose from lignocellulosic residues, and it has the advantages of simplicity and environmental friendliness when compared to conventional methods, reducing the toxicity and amount of the resulting effluents. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)
miR‐381‐3p inhibits high glucose‐induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration by targeting HMGB1
Authors: Zhu Xiao‐Shan , Zhou Han‐Yun , Yang Feng , Zhang Hong‐Shen , Ma Ke‐Zhong 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundHyperglycemia increases the risk of many cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and the dysregulation of proliferation and migration in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) also participates in the pathogenesis of CVD. miR‐381‐3p is known to suppress the proliferation and migration of multiple human cell types. Nevertheless, the function of miR‐381‐3p in VSMCs remains largely indistinct.MethodsA quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) was employed to investigate miR‐381‐3p expression in high‐glucose‐induced VSMCs. Inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor‐α, interleukin‐1β and interleukin‐6, as well as oxidative stress markers SOD and MDA, were determined by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Reactive oxygen species generation was examined using a 2,7'‐dichlorofluorescein kit. The proliferation, migration and apoptosis of VSMCs were monitored by 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazl2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetazolium bromide (MTT), transwell and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick‐end labeling (TUNEL) assays. The TargetScan database (http://www.targetscan.org) was employed to seek the potential target gene of miR‐381‐3p. Interaction between miR‐381‐3p and HMGB1 was determined by a qRT‐PCR, western blotting and a luciferase reporter assay.ResultsmiR‐381‐3p expression was significantly reduced in a VSMCs dysfunction model induced by high‐glucose in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. Transfection of miR‐381‐3p mimics suppressed the inflammation, oxidative stress, proliferation and migration of VSMCs, whereas apoptosis of VSMCs was promoted, and the transfection of miR‐381‐3p inhibitors had the opposite effect. Mechanistically, HMGB1, an important factor in inflammation response, was confirmed as a target gene of miR‐381‐3p.ConclusionsmiR‐381‐3p targets HMGB1 to suppress the inflammation, oxidative stress, proliferation and migration of high‐glucose‐induced VSMCs by targeting HMGB1.
Vulnerability of hop‐yields due to compound drought and heat events over European key‐hop regions
Authors: Potopová Vera , Lhotka Ondřej , Možný Martin , Musiolková Marie 
Published: September 2020

AbstractCompound climate events in which only one variable is extreme (e.g., either hot but no drought or extreme drought but not hot) and events in which both variables are extreme (e.g., drought and heat waves) may have different impacts on hop yields and alpha‐bitter acid contents. Increasing occurrences of compound drought and heat events have led to increased income variability for beer production, and also affecting the major hop growers across Europe (EU). Our study includes the key hop‐growing regions across the EU such as Hallertau (Germany); Úštěcko, Žatecko and Tršická (Czech Republic); Kent (Great Britain); Alsace (France); Lublin (Poland); Koroška (Slovenia) and León and Galicia (Spain). For these regions, we used the concurrent bivariate return period to model the joint probability distributions of daily precipitation and maximum temperature extremes and to provide risk assessments for concurrent drought‐heat waves during the hop‐growing season. We estimated the risk of lower yields from hop cones based on concurrent dry‐cool, dry‐hot, wet‐cool and wet‐hot modes over the target areas. The results show that longer and more severe drought and heat wave concurrences have increased more frequently than shorter concurrences. The degree of risk was estimated as being higher over the extensive hop‐growing areas in the Czech Republic and Germany. A total of 22.4, 12.5 and 7.2% of EU areas with conditions suitable for commercial hop production fell into the moderate, high and very high yield loss risk categories, respectively. Integrating the damage between April and August indicated that more than 62.7% of total yield losses were due to high temperatures under dry conditions and that 21.5% of the yield losses were due to dry‐cool conditions in the top hop‐farming regions. The hotter European droughts caused decreases in noble aromatic hops by 29–68%. This indicates that hop yields are very vulnerable to these events due to a slower rate of adaptation of hops compared to field crops.
The effect of ankle osteoarthritis and total ankle arthroplasty on center of pressure position
Authors: Zeininger Angel , Schmitt Daniel , Hughes‐Oliver Cherice , Queen Robin M. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractTotal ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is a common surgical approach for patients with end‐stage ankle osteoarthritis (OA). However, very little is known about the path of the center of pressure (COP) of the foot, and thus important aspects of load transfer, muscle mechanical advantage, and balance, in patients before or after surgery. The objective of this study was to trace the pathway of the COP under the foot in patients with symptomatic ankle OA, comparing asymmetry between affected and unaffected limbs. From force plate data, proximodistal and mediolateral positions of the COP beneath the foot were calculated and compared for the affected and unaffected foot in patients with unilateral ankle OA (N = 93) before and after TAA. Gender and age at surgery had little or no effect in this study. Patients with ankle OA had minimal COP position asymmetry before surgery, and this asymmetry was reduced following surgery. Before surgery, patients had a slower walking speed and a shorter path of the COP which began relatively distal to the heel and ended relatively proximal to the hallux. TAA increased the proximodistal distance the COP traveled under both the unaffected and affected foot, a pattern that was maintained for over 2‐year postsurgery. TAA allows patients with ankle OA to maintain a longer COP path than they had before surgery on both sides that is closer to that reported for unaffected individuals, extending effectively from the heel to the hallux, potentially improving pedal mechanics.
Tuning gold nanostar morphology for the SERS detection of uranyl
Authors: Harder Rachel A. , Wijenayaka Lahiru A. , Phan Hoa T. , Haes Amanda J. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe impact of tunable morphologies and plasmonic properties of gold nanostars is evaluated for the surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of uranyl. To do so, gold nanostars are synthesized with varying concentrations of the Good's buffer reagent, 2‐[4‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐1‐piperazinyl]propanesulfonic acid (EPPS). EPPS plays three roles including as a reducing agent for nanostar nucleation and growth, as a nanostar‐stabilizing agent for solution phase stability, and as a coordinating ligand for the capture of uranyl. The resulting nanostructures exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectra that contain two visible and one near‐infrared plasmonic modes. All three optical features arise from synergistic coupling between the nanostar core and branches. The tunability of these optical resonances is correlated with nanostar morphology through careful transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. As the EPPS concentration used during synthesis increases, both the length and aspect ratio of the branches increase. This causes the two lower energy extinction features to grow in magnitude and become ideal for the SERS detection of uranyl. Finally, uranyl binds to the gold nanostar surface directly and via sulfonate coordination. Changes in the uranyl signal are directly correlated to the plasmonic properties associated with the nanostar branches. Overall, this work highlights the synergistic importance of nanostar morphology and plasmonic properties for the SERS detection of small molecules.
Strategic systematic for software development in industry 4.0
Authors: de Oliveira Valério Karollay Giuliani , da Silva Carlos Eduardo Sanches , Neves Sandra Miranda 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIndustry 4.0 is a relevant subject both in academia and practice. Organizations need systems for managing technologies and to understand how they can be essential for business strategy. The requirements of software development include points that must be discussed at a strategic level to create institutional value. Systematics that integrate technology, and theory will influence the organization's strategic decisions.Keywords: industry 4.0, software development, systematic proposal, technology roadmapping
Overview of environmental management in an emerging market
Authors: Yan Jie , Xu Lu , Farajallah Mehdi , Zhao Shuyan , Xiong Jie 
Published: September 2020

AbstractEnterprise strategic orientations influence environmental management, and external environmental characteristics moderate this relationship. Enterprise strategic orientations include policy orientation and market orientation, and external environmental characteristics contain system integrity and industrial competitiveness. Both the policy factors and market factors are important considerations for an enterprise's strategic choice and environmental management activities. System integrity shows no significant negative regulating function on the policy orientation of environmental management relationships, while industrial competitiveness plays a remarkably positive regulating role in the market orientation environmental management.
Review of otitis media microbiome studies: What do they tell us?
Authors: Nogues Juan Carlos , Pérez‐Losada Marcos , Preciado Diego 
Published: September 2020

AbstractObjectivesTo provide a state of the art review on accruing studies focused on defining the middle ear microbiome, highlighting the relationship of the microbiome to disease pathophysiology.Data sourcesPubmed indexed peer‐reviewed articles and published textbooks.Review methodsComprehensive review of the literature using the following search terms: “microbiome” “bacterial pathogens” with the term “otitis media,” and “middle ear.”ResultsA multitude of microbiome studies have been published in the recent past. In general findings from these studies underscore distinct profiles based on disease category. The adenoidal reservoir theory may not explain all etiologies of middle ear effusion production. The host immune system appears to be associated to the bacterial population identified in the middle ear space. Atopic respiratory diseases correlate to the middle ear microbiome. Some novel middle ear bacterial genera may be protective in terms of disease.ConclusionThe understanding of otitis media disease progression pathophysiology is evolving, informed by accruing middle ear microbiomic data. The functional implications of middle ear microbiome findings need to be studied further. This may help counterbalance probiotic vs antibiotic approaches to disease mitigation.
Current Practices in Pediatric Dermatology Laser Therapy: An International Survey
Authors: Loh Tiffany Y. , Cotton Colleen H. , Vasic Jelena B. , Goldberg Gerald N. 
Published: September 2020

Background and ObjectivesTo date, there are no well‐established guidelines regarding laser therapy for the treatment of cutaneous lesions in pediatric patients. We aim to ascertain the types of lasers commonly used, types of lesions treated, and factors that affect the selection of specific laser modalities in pediatric patients.Study Design/Materials and MethodsAn anonymous online survey was distributed to healthcare providers who treat children with lasers through listservs of four major national and international dermatology and laser organizations.ResultsOutpatient office‐based procedure rooms are the most common clinical setting for laser procedures (74.4%), and pulsed dye laser is the most commonly used laser (95.4%). Conditions routinely treated with lasers included port wine stains (95.4%), infantile hemangiomas (81.5%), other vascular lesions (81.5%), scars (77.7%), and hair (60.8%). 84.4% of respondents expressed concern about general anesthesia in patients <2 years old. Nevi of Ota is treated with laser more frequently (52.3%) than other pigmented lesions.LimitationsLimited generalizability of case examples to general conditions.ConclusionsVascular lesions are the most common lesions treated with lasers in pediatric dermatology patients, and most providers are using these devices in the outpatient setting. Many providers are concerned about the effects of repeated general anesthesia in infants, and there appears to be a trend toward providing laser therapy in the outpatient setting without general anesthesia. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC
Consequences of Extended Spectrum Beta‐Lactamase–Producing Enterobacteriaceae and Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in Awaiting Liver Transplant Patients
Authors: Magro Bianca , Mazzola Alessandra , Munteanu Mona , Goumard Claire , Martinez Valerie , Bernard Denis , Scatton Olivier , Battaglia Salvatore , Celsa Ciro , Cammà Calogero , Conti Filomena 
Published: September 2020

Infections in patients with cirrhosis are associated with liver‐related complications (LRCs), especially in patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended spectrum beta‐lactamase colonization on infections and LRCs for patients on the wait list and on infections after LT. We retrospectively included 250 of 483 patients with cirrhosis who were placed on the wait list for LT from December 2015 to January 2018. These patients were screened for MRSA or extended spectrum beta‐lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLE) at the time of wait‐list placement and after LT. Of the patients, 76% were male with a mean age of 57.5 ± 10 years, and the most frequent cause of liver disease was alcohol (39%). Median Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 19 (12‐28). Only 1 patient was positive for MRSA; 19% of patients (n = 47) had ESBLE fecal carriage at the time of wait‐list placement and 15% (n = 37) had it after LT. Infection‐free survival on the wait list and after LT, according to fecal carriage status, was not statistically different between 2 groups. LRC‐free survival at 6 and 12 months was significantly lower in ESBLE fecal carriage (HR, 1.6; P = 0.04). MELD score >19 (HR, 3.0; P = 0.01) and occurrence of infection during the first 3 months on the wait list (HR, 4.13; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for LRC occurrence in the multivariate analysis. Our study is the first showing that in a cohort of patients with cirrhosis waiting for LT LRC‐free survival was lower in patients with ESBLE fecal carriage but that infection‐free survival was not different between the 2 groups.
Remarks on solitons for inverse mean curvature flow
Authors: Kim Daehwan , Pyo Juncheol 
Published: September 2020

AbstractHomothetic and translating solitons for the inverse mean curvature flow (IMCF) in are self‐similar solutions deformed by only homothety and translation under IMCF, respectively. In this paper, we address some geometric properties of these solitons. To be specific, the incompleteness for the homothetic soliton of velocity C with and for any translating soliton are proved. In addition, we show that the quantitative area growth for the homothetic solitons for and the translating solitons.
Absorbed dose distributions from beta‐decaying radionuclides: Experimental validation of Monte Carlo tools for radiopharmaceutical dosimetry
Authors: Tiwari Ashok , Sunderland John , Graves Stephen A. , Strand Sarah , Flynn Ryan 
Published: September 2020

PurposeThis study aims to experimentally validate the Monte Carlo generated absorbed doses from the beta particles emitted by 90Y and 177Lu using radiochromic EBT3 film‐based dosimetry.MethodsLine sources of 90Y and 177Lu were inserted longitudinally through blocks of low‐density polyethylene and tissue‐equivalent slabs of cortical bone and lung equivalent plastics. Radiochromic film (Gafchromic EBT3) was laser cut to accommodate orthogonal line sources of radioactivity, and the film was sandwiched intimately between the rectangular blocks to achieve charged particle equilibrium. Line sources consisted of plastic capillary tube of length (13 ± 0.1) cm, with 0.42‐mm inner diameter and a wall thickness of 0.21 mm. 90Y line sources were prepared from a solution of dissolved 90Y resin microspheres. 177Lu line sources were prepared from an aliquot of 177Lu‐DOTATATE. Film exposures were conducted for durations ranging from 10 min to 38 h. Radiochromic film calibration was performed by irradiation with 6‐MV‐bremsstrahlung x rays from a calibrated linear accelerator, in accordance with literature recommendations. Experimental geometries were precisely simulated within the GATE Monte Carlo toolkit, which has previously been used for the generation of dose point kernels.ResultsThe mean percentage difference between measured and simulated absorbed doses were 5.04% and 7.21% for 90Y and 177Lu beta absorbed dose in the range of (0.1–10) Gy. Additionally, 1D gamma analysis using a local 10%/1 mm gamma criterion was performed to compare the absorbed dose distributions. The percentage of measurement points passing the gamma criterion, averaged over all tests, was 93.5%.ConclusionsWe report the experimental validation of Monte Carlo derived beta absorbed dose distributions for 90Y and 177Lu, solidifying the validity of using Monte Carlo‐based methods for estimating absorbed dose from beta emitters. Overall, excellent agreement was observed between the experimental beta absorbed doses in the linear region of the radiochromic film and the GATE Monte Carlo simulations demonstrating that radiochromic film dosimetry has sufficient sensitivity and spatial resolution to be used as a tool for measuring beta decay absorbed dose distributions.
Material interface control in multi‐material topology optimization using pseudo‐cost domain method
Authors: Shah Vishrut , Pamwar Manish , Sangha Balbir , Kim Il Yong 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe recent drive for producing lightweight and high performance designs on reduced timelines has promoted the need for computational design generation tools such as Multi‐Material Topology Optimization (MMTO). However, MMTO has drawn some industry skepticism as it assumes different material elements to be perfectly fused together. To address this concern, in this article, a novel pseudo‐cost domain (PCD) method is proposed which mathematically determines individual material interfaces in MMTO solutions. The proposed methodology employs a user defined joint cost model to weigh the distinct material interfaces relative to each other. An innovative approach to tailor the MMTO design considering the relative cost of each material interface is presented. The proposed methodology can consider any number of materials and their respective interfaces, and it is defined in such a way that increasing the number of materials has minimal effect on computational time. The methodology is formulated in a smooth and differentiable manner and the sensitivity expressions required by gradient‐based optimization solvers are presented. A series of example problems are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology.
Smoothed numerical manifold method with physical patch‐based smoothing domains for linear elasticity
Authors: Liu Zhijun , Zhang Peng , Sun Cong , Yang Yongtao 
Published: September 2020

AbstractSmoothed finite element method with the node‐based strain smoothing domains (NS‐FEM) is remarkable for the upper‐bound feature and insensitivity to the volumetric locking. As a mesh‐based methodology, its application is limited by the burdensome meshing for which elements align with the physical domain. We extend the strain smoothing in NS‐FEM to the numerical manifold method (NMM) with unfitted meshes, and propose a novel methodology named physical patch‐based smoothed NMM. Benchmark problems demonstrate the optimal convergence, stability in term of the condition number, upper‐bound property, suppression of the volumetric locking, as well as the stress stability.