bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Differential expression patterns of glycosphingolipids and C‐type lectin receptors on immune cells in absence of functional regulatory T cells
Authors: Jirmo Adan C. , Rossdam Charlotte , Grychtol Ruth , Happle Christine , Gerardy‐Schahn Rita , Buettner Falk F. R. , Hansen Gesine 
Published: August 2020

AbstractBackgroundGlycosylation is a common and complex type of protein posttranslational modification. Altered glycosylation of immunoglobulins in autoimmune diseases has led to the “altered glycan hypothesis” postulating existence of a unique glycan signature on immune cells and extracellular proteins characterized by site‐specific relative abundances of individual glycan structures and glycosylation patterns. However, it is not clear how glycosylation on leukocyte subpopulations differ between states of health or inflammation.HypothesisGlycosphingolipid patterns on immune cells of forkhead‐box‐P3‐deficient scurfy mice differs from those on wild‐type immune cells.MethodsT cells and dendritic cells were isolated from spleens of either wild‐type or age‐matched scurfy mice. Glycosphingolipids of CD4+ T cells and splenic dendritic cells from wild‐type and scurfy mice were then analyzed by multiplexed capillary gel electrophoresis coupled to laser‐induced fluorescence detection (xCGE‐LIF). In addition, flow cytometry and ChipCytometry were used to access expression patterns of various C‐type lectin receptors on antigen‐presenting cells from various organs of both wild‐type and scurfy mice.ResultsWe, hereby report differential expression of glycosphingolipids in health and under inflammatory conditions as reflected in wild‐type and scurfy mice. Furthermore, we observed that the absence of functional regulatory T cells correlated with elevated expression of CLEC‐7A and CD205 but a reduction in levels of CLEC12A and CD206 on antigen‐presenting cells.ConclusionWe hereby show that the absence of functional regulatory T cells affects expression pattern and quantities of glycosphingolipids on immune cells. Thus, glycosphingolipids could serve as biomarkers for mapping genetical and homeostatic perturbances such as those resulting from a diseased condition.
Conditional relative survival and competing mortality in patients who underwent surgery for lung cancer: A nationwide cohort study
Authors: Yoo Jung Eun , Han Kyungdo , Shin Dong Wook , Park Sang Hyun , Cho In Young , Yoon Dong Woog , Cho Jongho , Jung Kyu‐Won 
Published: August 2020

AbstractWe aimed to investigate the conditional relative survival (CRS) and competing mortality in patients who underwent surgery for newly diagnosed lung cancer. Using a nationwide population‐based database, we calculated 5‐year CRS on 1 to 5 years survival after surgery. These rates were reported according to age, sex, socioeconomic status, comorbidities and treatment received. We also estimated cause‐specific mortality with the consideration of competing risk. We identified 34 349 patients newly diagnosed with primary lung cancer from 2007 to 2013. The 5‐year CRS after surgery was 71.7% at baseline improving steadily to 85.4% by 5 years, suggesting evidence of persistent excess mortality risk. Throughout the period, lung cancer was the most common cause of death, contributing to 83.6% mortality 1 year after surgery and 66.3% 5 years after surgery. Other causes of death included cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease, which increased continuously with time after surgery. CRS rates for patients with lung cancer improved over time but did not reach the level of the general population even 5 years after surgery. Although the main cause of death continues to be lung cancer, death from noncancer causes increased with time after surgery. Evidence‐based decisions could be made on the dynamic risk profiles of the patients.
The impact of Euro through time: Exchange rate dynamics under different regimes
Authors: Antonakakis Nikolaos , Chatziantoniou Ioannis , Gabauer David 
Published: August 2020

AbstractIn this study, we examine the role of the Euro in currency co‐movements and contagion considering the USD exchange rates of six major currencies (i.e., EUR[DM], JPY, GBP, CHF, AUD, as well as, CAD). We identify five distinct intervals, each one corresponding to a different exchange rate regime or reflecting diverse economic developments. First, we model conditional volatility by introducing a novel DCC‐GARCH‐Copula model (based on GARCH selection criteria). Then, we investigate conditional volatility connectedness employing a Bayesian TVP‐(Pseudo)FAVAR model. This approach effectively refines existing measures of dynamic connectedness. Findings suggest strong co‐movements that differ across regimes. In addition, the EUR becomes weaker following both the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the decision for the first Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece. Following the announcement of the result of the EU referendum the GBP eventually receives influence from the EUR. Results remain robust to a series of tests.
Depreciate to save the economy? An empirical evidence worldwide
Authors: Ku‐Hsieh Chen 
Published: August 2020

AbstractCan depreciation save the economy? This paper conducts an empirical examination with balanced panel data for 133 economies from 1980 to 2014. In the study, the impact of depreciation is dichotomized into common effect and individual effect. The results show that, first of all, the common effect is negative in the current period, and turns to be positive in the lag period, while the magnitude of the former is higher. Secondly, it is also revealed that in terms of individual effect, the negative impact of the common effect will be intensified by the degree of openness, but be mitigated by the scale, floatability, and development level of economies. Among them, scale has a decisive influence. Third, when putting the two tiers of effects together, the aggregate results are generally not strong; moreover, only a few economies can benefit from depreciation. The exceptions are the US and China, which can obtain approximately 0.58% benefits from a 1% depreciation. Fourth, insufficient evidence was found to show a contribution of exchange rate change to total factor productivity. Fifth, there is a two‐way causal relationship between exchange rate and output; however, the causality between exchange rate and productivity is not obvious.
The role of financial stress in the economic activity: Fresh evidence from a Granger‐causality in quantiles analysis for the UK and Germany
Authors: Saliminezhad Andisheh , Bahramian Pejman 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis study examines the dynamic causal relationship between financial stress index and economic activity in the UK and Germany for the period from 2003 to 2018. Unlike the previous studies which ignore the consideration of all quantiles of distribution, we employ a Granger causality in quantiles that captures causal links in each quantile of distribution. Hence we are able to disseminate between the causality in the median and the tails of the conditional distribution. Our findings indicate that there is a significant, negative causal relationship running from financial stress to economic activity in both countries. However, the changes in the financial stress level in Germany start influencing the industrial production earlier (when economic activity is at lower levels) than in the UK. Our results highlight the emphasis on the consideration of the entire conditional distribution to avoid the risk of misleading inferences on the causality analysis.
The relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth: A multivariate causality approach from Namibia
Authors: Owusu Erasmus L. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe paper empirically investigates the short and long‐run causal relationship between foreign direct investments, credit to the private sector, trade openness, gross national expenditure and economic growth in Namibia. In doing this, the paper employs multivariate Granger‐causality within an Auto‐regression distributed lag‐bounds approach to co‐integration and unrestricted error correction model. The paper finds a strong bi‐directional causal relationship between FDI inflow and economic growth both in the short and the long run. Suggesting that FDI inflow spurs economic growth and economic growth promotes FDI inflow and also, FDI inflow, credit to the private international trade and national expenditure spur economic growth both in the short and the long runs in Namibia. The policy implication therefore is to provide incentives for private sector innovation and production away from the export and import sector.
POLYNOMIAL SOLUTION OF THE STANDARD H2 OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEM FOR MACHINE CONTROL SYSTEM APPLICATIONS: LQG GAUGE CONTROL PROBLEM DESIGN
Authors: Grimble M. J. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYA solution to the standard H2 optimal control problem is presented which is particularly useful in machine and process control applications where the output to be controlled is different from the signal for feedback. The tracking problem is considered where the unmeasured output must follow a given reference trajectory. A feature of the solution is that the algorithm involves a number of Diophantine equations associated with each control function, which provides insight and simpler equations for numerical computations.The results are applicable to both one‐ and two‐degrees‐of‐freedom controller structures and the unusual two‐and‐a‐half‐degrees‐of‐freedom controller structure. A special dynamic robustness weighting function is introduced so that the feedback loop properties can be improved. The general system model employed enables a much wider class of problems to be tackled than is possible with the usual output feedback control problem.
MODELLING AND OPTIMAL TRACKING OF A SINGLE‐LINK FLEXIBLE MANIPULATOR
Authors: Liu Linghua , Hac Aleksander 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYWe consider here motion control of the end‐point of a one‐link flexible manipulator. The partial differential equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle and include the effect of ‘centrifugal stiffening’ arising from the presence of axial forces, as well as other non‐linear terms. The desired trajectory is assumed to be given prior to the execution of motion. An optimal control law which minimizes a performance index that trades off the tracking precision and the terminal position accuracy versus control effort is obtained. This control law is composed of a feedforward term that depends on the desired trajectory and a full state feedback term with a time‐varying gain matrix. Since the optimal control law requires the availability of the full state vector, the output feedback is considered as an alternative. We propose to determine the output feedback control law by minimizing the least squares difference between the feedback portions of the optimal control input and the actual input. The basic structure of the optimal control law, which includes the feedback and feedforward terms, is preserved. The results of simulations demonstrate that when the outputs are carefully selected, the performance of the system with the output feedback can closely approach that of the optimal system with full state feedback.
DESIGN OF OPTIMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS WITH EIGENVALUE PLACEMENT IN A SPECIFIED REGION
Authors: Arar Abdul‐Razzaq , Sawan M. E. , Rob R. A. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYA recursive method for determining the state weighting matrix of a linear quadratic regulator problem in order to shift the open‐loop poles inside a vertical strip is presented. This method is capable of shifting both real and imaginary parts for continuous time systems. Aggregation is used in each step of the recursive process. Therefore each time the order of the system is reduced to first‐ or second‐order. In this paper we combine the well‐known aggregation technique and the non‐linear constrained minimization problem and develop a new algorithm for determining the state weighting matrix which shifts the open‐loop poles inside the desired vertical strip.
OPTIMAL FEEDBACK GUIDANCE FOR LOW‐THRUST ORBIT INSERTION
Authors: Kluever Craig A. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYAn optimal feedback guidance scheme is developed for the terminal orbit insertion phase of a low‐thrust planar transfer to geosynchronous orbit. The minimum fuel trajectory between specified energy levels is utilized as a reference trajectory and the guidance law is derived using linear quadratic regulator optimization. The feedback guidance scheme responds effectively to a wide range of initial conditions and results in very precise terminal orbit conditions with near‐optimal performance. The guidance scheme also successfully handles propulsion system uncertainties and extremely large initial state deviations. Numerical results are presented for a variety of orbit insertion manoeuvres.
DISCRETE TIME DYNAMIC GAME MODELS FOR ADVERTISING COMPETITION IN A DUOPOLY
Authors: Sorger Gerhard 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYAdvertising competition in a duopoly is modelled as a discrete time dynamic game over an infinite time horizon. Firms maximize the present value of their profits which depend on their own advertising strategy and on their market share. The evolution of market shares is determined by both firms' advertising activities. In this simple framework we compute a Nash equilibrium and analyse the dynamic properties of the equilibrium strategies and the resulting time path of the market share. It turns out that, depending on the revenue functions and the market response function, various dynamic patterns may emerge among which one can find convergence towards a unique steady state, convergence towards one of multiple steady states, and regular or irregular pulsing strategies.
ITERATIVE DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING FOR MINIMUM ENERGY CONTROL PROBLEMS WITH TIME DELAY
Authors: Dadebo S. A. , McAuley K. B. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYThis paper presents the use of iterative dynamic programming employing exact penalty functions for minimum energy control problems. We show that exact continuously non‐differentiable penalty functions are superior to continuously differentiable penalty functions in terms of satisfying final state constraints. We also demonstrate that the choice of an appropriate penalty function factor depends on the relative size of the time delay with respect to the final time and on the expected value of the energy consumption. A quadratic approximation (QA) of the delayed variables is much better than a linear approximation (LA) of the same for relatively large time delays. The QA improves the rate of convergence and avoids the formation of ‘kinks‘.A more general way of selecting appropriate penalty function factors is given and the results obtained using four illustrative examples of varying complexity corroborate the efficacy of the method.
CONTROLLABILITY OF QUASI‐LINEAR DELAY SYSTEMS IN BANACH SPACES
Authors: Balachandran K. , Balasubramainiam P. , Dauer J. P. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYSufficient conditions for the controllability of quasi‐linear delay systems in Banach spaces are established. The results are obtained using the Schauder‐Tychonov theorem. A class of examples to which the results apply is presented.
RECURSIVE REDUCED‐ORDER OPEN‐LOOP OPTIMAL CONTROL OF DISCRETE WEAKLY COUPLED LINEAR SYSTEMS
Authors: Shen Sherman X. , Xia Qijun , Rao Ming 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYA recursive reduced‐order algorithm with an arbitrary degree of accuracy is obtained for solving the open‐loop optimal control problem of discrete weakly coupled linear systems. The original two‐point boundary value problem is transformed into two reduced‐order initial value problems via the use of a non‐singular transformation. The solutions by the proposed algorithm converge to the optimal solutions of discrete time open‐loop control with a rate of convergence of O(ɛ2), where ɛ is a small coupling parameter. The obtained results are in the spirit of the parallel reduced‐order algorithms for small‐parameter optimal control problems. The algorithm produces considerable savings in required computations.
FEEDBACK CONTROL OF A HEAT DIFFUSION SYSTEM WITH TIME‐DEPENDENT SPATIAL DOMAIN
Authors: Wang P. K. C. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYThe problem of controlling the temperature distribution in a solid cylinder whose length varies with time and with one end in contact with a constant temperature medium is considered. This problem is motivated from that of controlling the temperature and thermal gradient inside a crystal pulled from a melt by the Czochralski method. Boundary feedback controls are derived by considering the time rate of change of a cost functional involving the deviations of both the solid temperature and its gradient from their desired values. The derived feedback controls consist of spatially distributed proportional‐plus‐rate and lag compensators and a non‐linear feedback control involving the temperature gradient at the cylinder surface and the velocity of the spatial domain boundary. The resulting feedback‐controlled system has the property that the cost functional along any motion decreases monotonically to zero with time. A numerical scheme for solving the partial differential equation of the feedback‐controlled system is proposed. Typical numerical results on the dynamic behaviour of the feedback‐controlled system obtained by means of the proposed scheme are presented.
APPROXIMATE LINEARIZATION OF CONTROL SYSTEMS WITH DISCONTINUOUS NON‐LINEARITIES
Authors: Cebuhar Wenceslao A. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYThe class of systems containing elements with discontinuous input‐output characteristics (such as jumps, hysteresis, etc.) presents a serious challenge to control specialists. They are so difficult to treat analytically that they are normally dealt with using heuristic methods. In this paper a mathematical framework for such problems is presented and precise criteria for measuring the non‐linearity are introduced. Linearization is considered in a restricted but realistic sense (on average or at discrete times only). In this context the most common practical techniques such as dithering and pulse width modulation are analysed. In addition, a simple new approach for feedforward control is developed. It produces a locally optimal control, providing results that are superior to those from more standard precompensation techniques. An application of these ideas to a small travelling wave motor is included. Such motors have considerable dry friction and therefore provide significant examples of the kind of systems under consideration.
APPROXIMATE TIME OPTIMAL CONTROL OF DC SERVOS WITH UNKNOWN LOAD AND NON‐LINEAR FRICTION TORQUE
Authors: Majd Vahid Johari , Simaan Marwan A. , Vogt William G. 
Published: August 2020

SUMMARYIn this paper we apply the minimum time optimal control strategy to achieve the fastest possible position tracking of a servo system under unknown load and non‐linear friction torque. Adaptive identification of the discretized model, which becomes a non‐linear function of the unknown parameters, is implemented under poor excitation of bang‐bang control by introducing two approximate methods. The results show significant improvement in the performance of the system.
Ameliorative role of curcumin on copper oxide nanoparticles‐mediated renal toxicity in rats: An investigation of molecular mechanisms
Authors: Elkhateeb Shereen A. , Ibrahim Taiseer R. , El‐Shal Amal S. , Abdel Hamid Omaima I. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe increasing role of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) in many industries and their broad range of applications increase its potential toxic effects. Curcumin possesses a wide range of health benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the role of curcumin in attenuating CuO NPs toxicity in rat kidney. Thirty six animals were divided into five groups; control groups (I, II), curcumin group orally received curcumin 200 mg/kg bw, CuO NPs group orally gavaged 250 mg/kg bw CuO NPs and combined group orally gavaged curcumin and CuO NPs. Treatment was given for 3 months. Administration of CuO NPs revealed elevation in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, elevated kidney and urine levels of kidney injury molecule‐1, decreased catalase, superoxide dismutase activities, total sulfhydryl, reduced glutathione content, increased serum reactive oxygen species, tissue total oxidant status, lipid hydroperoxides, protein carbonyl, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide levels, increased interleukin‐1β, tumor necrosis factor‐α, nuclear factor (NF‐κB), and decreased heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) and γ‐glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ‐GCS) genes expression. Moreover, histopathological alteration in kidney structure was detected. Immunohistochemical‐stained sections by caspase‐3 reaction revealed apoptosis. Pretreatment with curcumin improved most of the adverse effects in rats treated with CuO NPs regarding oxidative stress and inflammatory indices in kidney, and kept histopathological‐ and immunohistochemical‐stained sections near to normal. This study shows that curcumin administration attenuates the toxicity in the kidney of CuO NPs‐treated rats through its antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects.
Interpersonal problems and social dysfunction: Examining patients with avoidant and borderline personality disorder symptoms
Authors: McCloskey Katharine D. , Cox Daniel W. , Ogrodniczuk John S. , Laverdière Olivier , Joyce Anthony S. , Kealy David 
Published: August 2020

AbstractObjective(s)Interpersonal problems are one of the most persistent difficulties facing those with personality disorders (PDs) and are linked with dysfunction across numerous social domains. Using an interpersonal model of PDs, we examined the indirect effects of Avoidant PD (AvPD) symptoms and social dysfunction through interpersonal problems, as well as Borderline PD (BPD) symptoms and social dysfunction.MethodsParticipants were 226 adults taking part in an outpatient treatment program.ResultsUsing cross‐sectional data from self‐reported measures, we found that cold (b = 0.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.038, 0.176]) and overly nurturant (b = 0.04, 95% CI [0.001, 0.090]) interpersonal problems showed an indirect association between AvPD symptoms and social dysfunction. The only significant indirect association between BPD symptoms and social dysfunction was overly nurturant (b = 0.05, 95% CI [0.001, 0.120]).ConclusionsResults may aid in the development of more individualized treatments for AvPD and BPD symptoms.