bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quantification of myocardial fibrosis using noninvasive T2‐mapping magnetic resonance imaging: Preclinical models of aging and pressure overload
Authors: Lee Li E. , Chandrasekar Bysani , Yu Ping , Ma Lixin 
Published: November 2021

Noninvasive imaging of cardiac fibrosis is important for early diagnosis and intervention in chronic heart diseases. Here, we investigated whether noninvasive, contrast agent‐free MRI T2‐mapping can quantify myocardial fibrosis in preclinical models of aging and pressure overload. Myocardial fibrosis and remodeling were analyzed in two animal models: (i) aging (15‐month‐old male CF‐1 mice vs. young 6‐ to 8‐week‐old mice), and (ii) pressure overload (PO; by transverse aortic constriction in 4‐ to 5‐month‐old male C57BL/6 mice vs. sham‐operated for 14 days). In vivo T2‐mapping was performed by acquiring data during the isovolumic and early diastolic phases, with a modified respiratory and ECG‐triggered multiecho TurboRARE sequence on a 7‐T MRI. Cine MRI provided cardiac morphology and function. A quantitative segmentation method was developed to analyze the in vivo T2‐maps of hearts at midventricle, apex, and basal regions. The cardiac fibrosis area was analyzed ex vivo by picro sirius red (PSR) staining. Both aged and pressure‐overloaded hearts developed significant myocardial contractile dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy, and interstitial fibrosis. The aged mice had two phenotypes, fibrotic and mild‐fibrotic. Notably, the aged fibrotic subgroup and the PO mice showed a marked decrease in T2 relaxation times (25.3 ± 0.6 in aged vs. 29.9 ± 0.7 ms in young mice, p = 0.002; and 24.3 ± 1.7 in PO vs. 28.7 ± 0.7 ms in shams, p = 0.05). However, no significant difference in T2 was detected between the aged mild‐fibrotic subgroup and the young mice. Accordingly, an inverse correlation between myocardial fibrosis percentage (FP) and T2 relaxation time was derived (R2 = 0.98): T2 (ms) = 30.45 – 1.05 × FP. Thus, these results demonstrate a statistical agreement between T2‐map–quantified fibrosis and PSR staining in two different clinically relevant animal models. In conclusion, T2‐mapping MRI is a promising noninvasive contrast agent‐free quantitative technique to characterize myocardial fibrosis.
Hierarchical maximum likelihood generalized extended stochastic gradient algorithms for bilinear‐in‐parameter systems
Authors: Liu Haibo , Wang Junwei , Meng Xiangxiang 
Published: November 2021

AbstractIn this article, we use the maximum likelihood principle and the multi‐innovation identification theory to study the identification issue of a bilinear‐in‐parameter system with autoregressive moving average noise. A maximum likelihood multi‐innovation stochastic gradient algorithm is derived to estimate the model parameters, which uses not only the current innovation but also the past innovations to improve the parameter estimation accuracy. The maximum likelihood multi‐innovation stochastic gradient algorithm has higher parameter estimation accuracy than the stochastic gradient algorithm. The simulation examples indicate that the proposed methods work well.
Aggregation Mode, Host‐Guest Chemistry in Water, and Extraction Capability of an Uncharged, Water‐Soluble, Liquid Pillar[5]arene Derivative
Authors: Horin Inbar , Shalev Ori , Cohen Yoram 
Published: November 2021

AbstractAn uncharged, water‐soluble per‐ethylene‐glycol pillar[5]arene derivative (1) was synthesized and its aggregation mode, host‐guest chemistry in water and extraction ability was explored. Compound 1 is a liquid at room temperature; in water, limited self‐aggregation occurred at high concentrations as deduced from diffusion NMR and dynamic light scattering. Compound 1 forms pseudo‐rotaxane‐like 1 : 1 host‐guest complexes with 1,ω‐di‐substituted alkanes with association constants on the order of 103–104 m−1. Interestingly, NMR experiments showed that the guest location relative to the host ring system differs among the different complexes. In proof‐of‐concept experiments, compound 1 was shown to extract structurally related organic compounds from benzene into water with significant selectivity. Compound 1, which is a liquid at room temperature and has only limited interactions with its side arms, can, in principle, be regarded as a complement to or as a kind of type I porous liquid.
Two‐terminal III–V//Si triple‐junction solar cell with power conversion efficiency of 35.9 % at AM1.5g
Authors: Schygulla Patrick , Müller Ralph , Lackner David , Höhn Oliver , Hauser Hubert , Bläsi Benedikt , Predan Felix , Benick Jan , Hermle Martin , Glunz Stefan W. , Dimroth Frank 
Published: November 2021

AbstractIII–V//Si multijunction solar cells offer a pathway to increase the power conversion efficiency beyond the fundamental Auger limit of silicon single‐junctions. In this work, we demonstrate how the efficiency of a two‐terminal wafer‐bonded III–V//Si triple‐junction solar cell is increased from 34.1 % to 35.9 % under an AM1.5g spectrum, by optimising the III–V top structure. This is the highest reported efficiency to date for silicon‐based multijunction solar cell technologies. This improvement was accomplished by two main factors. First, the integration of a GaInAsP absorber in the middle cell increased the open‐circuit voltage by 51 mV. Second, a better current matching of all subcells enhanced the short‐circuit current by 0.7 mA/cm2. Two different growth directions, upright and inverted, were investigated. The highest cell efficiency of 35.9 % (Voc = 3.248 V, jsc = 13.1 mA/cm2, FF = 84.3 %) was achieved with an upright grown structure. Processing of upright structures requires additional bonding steps, which results in a reduced homogeneity of cell performance across the wafer. A detailed comparison with the currently best triple‐junction solar cell reveals future improvement opportunities and limits, considering voltage and current, respectively.
Ag nanoparticles immobilized on C:H:N:O plasma polymer film by elevated temperature for LSPR sensing
Authors: Kumar Sanjay , Kratochvíl Jiří , Al‐Muhkhrabi Yasmina , Kylián Ondřej , Nikitin Daniil , Straňák Vítězslav 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe dependence of nanoparticles' plasmonic properties on the medium's material surrounding them finds utilization in sensing applications. However, as the detection sensitivity exponentially decreases with distance from the nanoparticles, direct contact between the medium and the nanoparticles is required to obtain the highest signal. This study shows how to prepare such a localized surface plasmon resonance sensor composed of gas‐phase synthesized Ag nanoparticles and magnetron sputtered C:H:N:O plasma polymer film. It is proved that excellent stability of Ag/C:H:N:O, enduring even ultrasound bath, may be reached by heating the C:H:N:O film during the deposition of Ag nanoparticles. Such a prepared sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 78 nm/RIU and detects medium changes at distances over 32 nm from its surface.
AdaptivePIDcontrol of robotic manipulators without equality/inequality constraints on control gains
Authors: Qiao Lei , Zhao Min , Wu Chao , Ge Tong , Fan Rui , Zhang Weidong 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThis article proposes two novel adaptive PID controllers for the trajectory tracking of robotic manipulators with known or unknown upper bound of the uncertainties, respectively. The designed controllers are shown to be not only robust with respect to the uncertainties but also adaptive with reference to the unknown manipulator and load parameters. Lyapunov stability analysis is included to prove eventual local asymptotic tracking. The salient features of the two proposed adaptive PID controllers are as follows: (1) they guarantee the eventual asymptotic convergence of the manipulator joint position and velocity tracking errors to zero with no need of any equality/inequality constraints on the controller gains when compared with the classical PID controller and the existing adaptive PID controllers; and (2) they offer better robustness against uncertainties than the existing classical PID controller, the adaptive PD controller, the linear active disturbance rejection controller, and the nonlinear disturbance observer based adaptive PID controller. Simulation studies and comprehensive comparisons demonstrate the superiorities of the two proposed adaptive PID controllers.
Globally exponentially convergent velocity observer design for mechanical systems with nonholonomic constraints
Authors: Liu Li , Yue Xiaokui , Wen Haowei , Tian Shaobo , Zhao Danmeng 
Published: November 2021

AbstractIn this article, a novel globally exponentially convergent velocity observer for a class of mechanical systems with l nonholonomic constraints is presented. Through using a special coordinate transformation, the constrained system is converted into the integral cascade Euler–Lagrange form, which could avoid solving partial differential equations and eliminate the influence of the constraint force when reconstructing the speed information. The proposed observer has a simple structure and lower dimensions compared with other globally exponentially stable observers by using dynamic scaling and gain filtering. The simulation results demonstrate the stability and effectiveness of proposed reduced‐dimensional observer.
Dynamic output feedback under quantization based on spherical polar coordinate quantizer
Authors: Wang Jian , Yu Jiafeng 
Published: November 2021

AbstractDifferent from uniform quantizer and logarithmic quantizer, this article utilizes a novel quantizer based on spherical polar coordinates for the design problems of quantized feedback systems with dynamic output feedback. This quantizer has a desired relation between the quantized vector and the corresponding quantization error, by which in this article the quantization error is converted to the uncertainty of the systems and stabilization problems of linear systems via dynamic output feedback under quantization can be converted to the corresponding robust control problems. From a practical point of view, we are concerned with quantized feedback control with finite data rate and use the quantizer with finite data rate to design quantized feedback systems. Under the quantizer with finite data rate, a time‐varying bounded quantization region needs to be determined to contain the quantized vector as the system evolves. Under this circumstance, some entries of the quantized vector are not available to the quantizer with finite data rate such that the vector cannot be quantized directly, so we propose a quantization and controller design method to solve this problem.
Poly(phenylene sulfide) Containing Boron in the Main Chain for Shield Thermal Neutron
Authors: Li Pengcheng , Ren Haohao , Liu Dong , Yan Dawei , Tang Wanli , Yan Yonggang 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe thermal neutron shielding poly(phenylene sulfide)s containing boron (PPSmBs) are synthesized with sodium sulfide, dichlorobenzene and lithium bis[4‐chlorosalicylato(2‐)]borate (CLBSB) which is prepared with 4‐chlorosalicylic acid and boric acid. The structure of CLBSB is characterized and confirmed with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), 13C NMR, 11B NMR and Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR). CLBSB exhibits excellent thermal stability with 5 % weight loss temperature (T5%) at 434 °C. The structure and the element composition of PPSmBs are analyzed by FT‐IR, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The melting temperature (Tm) of PPSmBs ranges from 280.7 to 284.1 °C, and the crystallization peak temperature (Tc) is in the range of 244.9–255.0 °C. The T5% is 472–492 °C, and tensile strength is 45.8–69.0 MPa, flexural strength is 56.0–106.2 MPa. The thermal neutron shielding properties are evaluated by the small angle neutron scattering spectrometer. The mass attenuation coefficient of PPSmB‐5 is 2.06 cm2 g−1, which is 30 % higher than that of PPS (2.64 cm2 g−1).
Thrombin Based Photothermal‐Responsive Nanoplatform for Tumor‐Specific Embolization Therapy
Authors: Yin Jiajia , Wang Xiaorui , Sun Xu , Dai Hanming , Song Xuejiao , Li Buhong , Zhang Yewei , Chen Peng , Dong Xiaochen 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe specific coagulation in the tumor vasculature has the potential for the ablation of solid tumors by cutting off the blood supply. However, the safe delivery of effective vessel occluding agents in the tumor‐specific embolization therapy remains challenging. Herein, it is reported that the photothermal responsive tumor‐specific embolization therapy based on thrombin (Thr) is delivered by intravenous injection via the phase‐change materials (PCM)‐based nanoparticles. The wax sealing profile of PCM enables safe delivery and prevents the preleakage of Thr in the blood circulation. While in the tumor site, the thermal effect induced by IR780 triggers the melting of PCM and rapidly releases Thr to generate coagulation in the tumor blood vessels. Based on the safe delivery and controllable release of Thr, thermal responsive tumor‐specific embolization therapy could be achieved with high efficiency and no significant damage to normal organs and tissues. The safe administration of Thr to induce vascular infarction in tumors based on PCM nanoparticles in this work shows a promising strategy for improving the therapeutic specificity and efficacy of coagulation‐based tumor therapy.
Implementing game requirements using design patterns
Authors: Paschali Maria‐Eleni , Volioti Christina , Ampatzoglou Apostolos , Gkagkas Anastasios , Stamelos Ioannis , Chatzigeorgiou Alexander 
Published: November 2021

AbstractGame mechanics are high‐level descriptions of common game requirements; however, they do not provide any guidance on their code implementation. Nevertheless, their implementation involves high volumes of essential complexity, which in turn leads to the introduction of accidental complexity (long methods, code repetition, etc.). A possible solution to this problem is to map game mechanics to design patterns, in order to provide template instantiations that handle structural complexity. The aim of this study is twofold: (a) introduce template instantiations of game mechanics with Gang of Four (GoF) patterns and (b) evaluate such mappings in terms of extendibility and reusability. To achieve these objectives, we developed an online repository of mappings between GoF patterns and game mechanics and conducted an experiment to explore the benefits of the mapping. The results of the study suggest that the implementation of game mechanics with GoF patterns is beneficial, because the time to extent the current implementation or reuse code chunks is not prolonged, whereas the implementations are less faulty. Finally, the suggested mapping will equip game mechanics with sample implementations (that adhere to good design principles—ensuring extendibility) that can be reused, acting as a starting point for source code development.
Dimensionierungshilfen für ausgesteifte und unausgesteifte Beulfelder nach DIN EN 1993‐1‐5 – Teil 1: unausgesteifte Beulfelder
Authors: Hulm Felix , Kreutz Johannes , Maier Nadine , Mensinger Martin , Ndogmo Joseph 
Published: November 2021

AbstractAusgesteifte Beulfelder im Brückenbau sind in Deutschland mit der Methode der reduzierten Spannungen (MRS) nach DIN EN 1993‐1‐5 nachzuweisen. Unausgesteifte Beulfelder dürfen dagegen entweder nach der Methode der effektiven Breiten oder nach der Methode der reduzierten Spannungen nachgewiesen werden. Um die insbesondere für ausgesteifte Beulfelder vorherrschende aufwendige Nachweisführung der genormten Nachweisformate für die Vordimensionierung zu verkürzen, werden im vorliegenden Aufsatz Teil 1 auf Basis der MRS durch Umformulierung des Beulnachweises Diagramme für unausgesteifte Beulfelder entwickelt und dargestellt, die eine schnelle Vordimensionierung ermöglichen. Mit den Diagrammen lässt sich die Dimensionierung von Blechdicken und Steifenabständen in wenigen einfachen und nachvollziehbaren Arbeitsschritten durchführen. Die Auswahl der Diagramme erfolgt anhand der Geometrieparameter a, b und t bzw. der zutreffenden Belastungen. Für ausgesteifte Beulfelder können die maximal zulässigen Abstände der Längssteifen oder die erforderliche Hauptblechdicke ermittelt werden. Im zweiten Teil dieses Aufsatzes werden ergänzend Diagramme für die Dimensionierung von Längssteifen über die Ermittlung von Mindeststeifigkeiten vorgestellt. Die Mindeststeifigkeiten werden dazu aus der Geometrie der linearen Beulformen von einfach ausgesteiften Beulfeldern abgeleitet.
Conclusions
Authors: Ortiz Isabel , Burke Sara , Berrada Mohamed , Saenz Cortés Hernán 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe conclusion of “World Protests: A Study of Key Protest Issues in the 21st-Century” provides a summary of the content of the book: who protests, why and how they protest, as well as achievements and fallbacks. Protests have increased in all world regions, with demands articulated for real democracy, jobs, public services, social protection, civil rights, global justice and against austerity and corruption. The study also identifies 250 methods of protest and discusses selected topics such as inequality, the rise of radical right and women’s protests. The book calls on governments to listen and act on the main demands of protestors.
Bacterial lectin BambL acts as a B cell superantigen
Authors: Frensch Marco , Jäger Christina , Müller Peter F. , Tadić Annamaria , Wilhelm Isabel , Wehrum Sarah , Diedrich Britta , Fischer Beate , Meléndez Ana Valeria , Dengjel Joern , Eibel Hermann , Römer Winfried 
Published: November 2021

AbstractB cell superantigens crosslink conserved domains of B cell receptors (BCRs) and cause dysregulated, polyclonal B cell activation irrespective of normal BCR-antigen complementarity. The cells typically succumb to activation-induced cell death, which can impede the adaptive immune response and favor infection. In the present study, we demonstrate that the fucose-binding lectin ofBurkholderia ambifaria, BambL, bears functional resemblance to B cell superantigens. By engaging surface glycans, the bacterial lectin activated human peripheral blood B cells, which manifested in the surface expression of CD69, CD54 and CD86 but became increasingly cytotoxic at higher concentrations. The effects were sensitive to BCR pathway inhibitors and excess fucose, which corroborates a glycan-driven mode of action. Interactome analyses in a model cell line suggest BambL binds directly to glycans of the BCR and regulatory coreceptors. In vitro, BambL triggered BCR signaling and induced CD19 internalization and degradation. Owing to the lectin’s six binding sites, we propose a BCR activation model in which BambL functions as a clustering hub for receptor glycans, modulates normal BCR regulation, and induces cell death through exhaustive activation.
Die Anwendung antiallergisch beschichteter Knieendoprothesen ist mittelfristig sicher
Authors: Postler Anne , Beyer Franziska , Lützner Cornelia , Tille Eric , Lützner Jörg 
Published: November 2021

ZusammenfassungHintergrundPatienten mit einer Kontaktallergie gegen Implantatbestandteile erhalten in Deutschland üblicherweise beschichtete Prothesen. Ob die Versorgung mit solchen hypoallergenen Implantaten vergleichbare Ergebnisse erzielt wie die Standardversorgung mit Implantaten aus Kobalt-Chrom-Legierungen (CoCr) ist international umstritten und mittelfristig bislang wenig untersucht.Ziel der Arbeit (Fragestellung)Gibt es Unterschiede hinsichtlich Metallionenkonzentration im Blut, Kniefunktion und patientenberichteter Ergebnisse (PROM) zwischen beschichteten Knieendoprothesen und Standardimplantaten?Material und Methoden118 Patienten erhielten randomisiert entweder eine beschichtete oder eine Standard-Knieendoprothese und wurden hinsichtlich Kniefunktion und PROM untersucht. Präoperativ, ein und 5 Jahre nach der Operation wurden zusätzlich die Metallionenkonzentrationen für Chrom, Kobalt, Molybdän und Nickel im Blut gemessen.ErgebnisseNach 5 Jahren konnten die Ergebnisse von 97 Patienten ausgewertet werden. Sowohl die Metallionenkonzentrationen als auch die Ergebnisse für PROM zeigten gleich gute Werte und keine Unterschiede zwischen den Gruppen. Während nach einem Jahr ein Anstieg der Chrom-Konzentration bei 13 Patienten über 2 µg/l im Plasma zu verzeichnen war, lag nach 5 Jahren kein gemessener Wert über 1 µg/l.DiskussionDie Anwendung beschichteter Implantate gilt als umstritten und möglicherweise sogar als unsicher. In der vorliegenden Arbeit konnten mittelfristig gleich gute Ergebnisse zwischen beschichteten (TiNbN) und Standardprothesen (CoCr) nachgewiesen werden, sodass sich bei der Verwendung beschichteter Knieendoprothesen hinsichtlich gemessener Metallionenkonzentration und PROM kein Nachteil ergibt.
Spatial and temporal anoxia in single-osculum Halichondria panicea demosponge explants studied with planar optodes
Authors: Kumala Lars , Larsen Morten , Glud Ronnie N. , Canfield Donald E. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe water flow through sponges is regulated by their contractile behaviour including contraction and expansion of the aquiferous system, which leads to shifting oxygen levels in the sponge interior. Still, knowledge of spatial and temporal anoxia in sponges is lacking, but important in elucidating interactions between sponge hosts and their microbiomes. We combined 2-D luminescence lifetime imaging of oxygen with simultaneous time-lapse recordings of the sponge exhalant opening (osculum) to unveil temporal as well as spatial oxygen dynamics caused by contractile behaviour in single-osculum explants of the demosponge Halichondria panicea. The present study reveals an intrinsic concentric deoxygenation pattern in explants during episodes of osculum contraction generating an oxygen gradient with increasing concentrations towards the explant periphery. Four sponge explants faced 25 episodes with substantial changes in internal oxygen and anoxia which prevailed for 4.4 h of the total 92.0 h observation period. The 2-D images revealed that the total area of the explant experiencing anoxia during periods of osculum contraction–expansion varied between 0.01 and 13.22% and was on average 7.4 ± 4.4% for all sponge explants. Furthermore, oxygen respiration, as approximated by the rate of change of oxygen concentration during deoxygenation of the explant interior, was similar throughout the oxic parts of the explant base. The resolved 2-D dynamics provide an unprecedented insight into the internal O2 distribution of sponges and complement the traditional point measurements of oxygen sensors.
Robust immune response stimulated by in situ injection of CpG/αOX40/cGAMP in αPD-1-resistant malignancy
Authors: Cai Luya , Du Xuedan , Zhang Cheng , Yu Shanshan , Liu Lixiao , Zhao Jinduo , Zhao Ye , Zhang Chunhong , Wu Jinting , Wang Bin , Chen Yingyu , Su Xiaoping , Yan Xiaojian , Li Wenfeng 
Published: November 2021

AbstractRecently, the emergence of immunotherapy has revolutionized traditional tumour treatment. However, effective treatments for patients exhibiting αPD-1 resistance are still lacking. In our study, a combination of cytosine–phosphate–guanine oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODNs), anti-OX40 and cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP) injection in situ systematically generated a robust antitumour immune response in TC1 and B16 cells, which are αPD-1-resistant malignancies. More precisely, this method activates both adaptive and innate immunity. Additionally, in situ vaccination with CpG/αOX40/cGAMP fully activates the production of cytokines. However, the combination of αPD-1 does not improve the efficacy of triple therapy, prompting further questions. Collectively, the combination of CpG/αOX40/cGAMP causes the regression of various αPD-1-resistant tumours through the full mobilization of innate and adaptive immunity. In addition, we explored the therapeutic effect of triple therapy on the αPD-1-sensitive cell line CT26. The results showed that triple therapy could significantly enhance the therapeutic effect of αPD-1, and some mice even achieved complete tumour regression after the combined application of αPD-1 and triple treatment.