bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Morphophysiological and Phytochemical Variability in Some Wild Populations of Ducrosia anethifolia from Iran
Authors: Arbabi Mina , Badi Hassanali Naghdi , Labbafi Mohammadreza , Mehrafarin Ali , Saboki Ebrahim 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn order to determine the morphophysiological and phytochemical properties of various Ducrosia anethifolia populations, the plant samples were collected from 20 locations in native regions. Current study indicated significant differences in the morphophysiological and phytochemical characteristics of D. anethifolia populations collected from 20 locations in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. The highest value of plant height and the number of lateral stems, node per plant, umbellate per umbel, seeds per umbellate and the roots fresh and dry weight were related to the location with relatively high rainfall (130–161 mm) and low altitude (up to 1165 m) compared with others. Based on the essential oil components, D. anethifolia populations were divided into five different chemotypes. Chemotypes I, II and III were characterized by high amounts of methyl chavicol, chrysanthenyl acetate and decanal, respectively. Moreover, the populations with high amounts of decanal, anethole and dodecanal were placed in chemotype IV. Chemotype V was attributed to the Naserabad population with 1‐decanol as the major compound.
Antifungal Activities of Isoflavonoids from Uromyces striatus Infected Alfalfa
Authors: Li Ya , Li Guangda , Yu Haitao , Jiao Xingzhi , Gao Kun 
Published: September 2018

AbstractFungal pathogens constitute a severe yield‐limiting factor for the pasture crop alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Eleven phenolic compounds, including a new isoflavane, were isolated from the Uromyces striatus Schroet. infected alfalfa. The effect of infection with U. striatus Schroet. on the phytochemical profile of alfalfa was investigated using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), and the antifungal properties of isolated compounds against a range of pathogens were tested. It was found that the contents of most of the isolated compounds in U. striatus infected alfalfa were higher than those in healthy alfalfa. Compounds 1–5 exhibited a moderate inhibitory activity against Curvularia lunata with 40.14±1.63 %, 48.03±1.22 %, 57.54±1.18 %, 50.10±1.56 %, and 61.54±2.14 % inhibition ratio at the concentration of 50 μg/mL. Compounds 3 and 5 showed a weak inhibitory activity against Fusarium graminearum with the EC50 values of 104.2±2.66 and 123.0±1.23 μg/mL, and a moderate inhibitory activity against Bipolaris sorokinianum with the EC50 values of 39.1±2.05 and 95.0±1.01 μg/mL, respectively. In pot experiments with wheat, compounds 1–5 possessed desirable protective efficacy of over 80 % and curative effectiveness of over 50 % against Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici at a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL
Cavitation in Diesel Fuel Injector Nozzles and its Influence on Atomization and Spray
Authors: Sun Yubiao , Guan Zhiqiang , Hooman Kamel 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn combustors, high‐pressure fuel injector nozzles are employed for liquid atomization and spray generation. The internal flow within nozzles, especially cavitation, plays an important role in promoting the breakup of liquid jets. The formation mechanism and evolvement of cavitation are reviewed and described. Different cavitation regimes were characterized experimentally and the positive effect of cavitation on liquid atomization was confirmed. Different empirical formulas correlating the discharge coefficient with fluid‐dynamical parameters are summarized. The applicability, advantages, and disadvantages of two popular computational models for flow modeling, i.e., the interface tracking model and the homogeneous equilibrium model, are reviewed. The effects of cavitation on the generated spray are discussed.
SO2 Removal from Gas Streams by Ammonia Scrubbing: Process Optimization by Response Surface Methodology
Authors: Hashemi Seyed M. H. , Mehrabani-Zeinabad Arjomand , Zare Masoud Habibi , Shirazian Saeed 
Published: September 2018

AbstractReduction of the SO2 content by ammonia scrubbing in the incinerator of the Isfahan Refinery complex was investigated. An experimental continuous setup was designed to study the underlying process parameters affecting SO2 capture from air. The effects of various parameters was analyzed by a systematic experimental design based on response surface methodology with central composite design. The developed response surface model was found to be useful and robust to predict the degree of desulfurization of ammonia wet flow gas disulfurization reactors. The ammonia concentration had the most significant influence on the efficiency of the desulfurization process. The square of temperature affected the efficiency more than the temperature, whereas the gas flow rate had a minor influence on the separation efficiency.
Polydopamine Functionalized Cu Nanowires for Enhanced CO2 Electroreduction Towards Methane
Authors: Liu Hui , Xiang Kaisong , Liu Yucheng , Zhu Fangfang , Zou Mi , Yan Xu , Chai Liyuan 
Published: September 2018

AbstractElectrochemical reduction of CO2 provides an ideal approach to convert the greenhouse gas into fuels under mild conditions. Copper electrodes are capable of producing significant amounts of hydrocarbons, but the selectivity to convert CO2 into methane (CH4) remains low. Here, we prepared functionalized Cu nanowire electrodes by coating polymers (polydopamine, PDA) and experimentally verified that the functionalized CuNWs indeed shows 2.3 times higher CH4 selectivity compared with that of CuNWs. The PDA functionalized CuNWs catalyst remains catalytically stable for in excess of 14 hours. We experimentally reveal that the amino groups could be responsible for the capture and delivery of protons for the hydronation of CO* intermediates and phenolic hydroxyl groups for the stabilization of CO* intermediates. The results provide us insights into a new approach to optimize the electrochemical methanation of CO2 by polymers that contain abundant functional groups.
Enhancement of Bromine Reversibility using Chemically Modified Electrodes and their Applications in Zinc Bromine Hybrid Redox Flow Batteries
Authors: Suresh Subramanian , Ulaganathan Mani , Aswathy Raghunandanan , Ragupathy Pitchai 
Published: September 2018

AbstractOne of the significant issues that play a vital role in the determination of the performance of Zinc‐Bromine Redox Flow Battery system is the reversibility of bromine/bromide redox couple. In this work, surface modified carbon paper is used to improve the reversibility of bromine/bromide redox couple and successfully demonstrated in Zinc‐Bromine Redox Flow Battery as a positive electrode. It is evidenced that the flow cell fabricated using surface modified carbon paper showed better reaction kinetics than that of pristine carbon paper based flow cell. Further, the samples are subjected to various electrochemical and physical characterization techniques to evidence the improvement in the cell function. From the obtained cell characteristics, it is noted that the cell fabricated using surface modified carbon delivered better efficiency in terms of Coulombic (95 %), voltaic (86 %), and energy (78 %) at a current density of 20 mA/cm2. Thus, the improved effective reversibility of bromine/bromide redox couple of functionalized carbon electrode material can be a potential candidate for Zinc‐Bromine Redox Flow Battery applications.
Reconstruction of vocal tract geometries from biomechanical simulations
Authors: Dabbaghchian Saeed , Arnela Marc , Engwall Olov , Guasch Oriol 
Published: September 2018

AbstractMedical imaging techniques are usually utilized to acquire the vocal tract geometry in 3D, which may then be used, eg, for acoustic/fluid simulation. As an alternative, such a geometry may also be acquired from a biomechanical simulation, which allows to alter the anatomy and/or articulation to study a variety of configurations. In a biomechanical model, each physical structure is described by its geometry and its properties (such as mass, stiffness, and muscles). In such a model, the vocal tract itself does not have an explicit representation, since it is a cavity rather than a physical structure. Instead, its geometry is defined implicitly by all the structures surrounding the cavity, and such an implicit representation may not be suitable for visualization or for acoustic/fluid simulation. In this work, we propose a method to reconstruct the vocal tract geometry at each time step during the biomechanical simulation. Complexity of the problem, which arises from model alignment artifacts, is addressed by the proposed method. In addition to the main cavity, other small cavities, including the piriform fossa, the sublingual cavity, and the interdental space, can be reconstructed. These cavities may appear or disappear by the position of the larynx, the mandible, and the tongue. To illustrate our method, various static and temporal geometries of the vocal tract are reconstructed and visualized. As a proof of concept, the reconstructed geometries of three cardinal vowels are further used in an acoustic simulation, and the corresponding transfer functions are derived.
Pharmacokinetics and Safety of CSL112 (Apolipoprotein A‐I [Human]) in Adults With Moderate Renal Impairment and Normal Renal Function
Authors: Tortorici Michael A. , Duffy Danielle , Evans Rebecca , Feaster John , Gille Andreas , Mant Timothy G. K. , Wright Samuel D. , D'Andrea Denise 
Published: September 2018

AbstractCSL112 (Apolipoprotein A‐I [human]) is an intravenous preparation of apolipoprotein A‐I (apoA‐I), formulated with phosphatidylcholine (PC) and stabilized with sucrose, in development to prevent early recurrent cardiovascular events following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This phase 1 study was designed to determine if moderate renal impairment (RI) influenced the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of CSL112. Thirty‐two subjects, 16 with moderate RI (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥ 30 and < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and 16 age‐, sex‐, and weight‐matched subjects with normal renal function (eGFR ≥ 90 mL/min/1.73 m2) were randomized 3:1 to receive a single infusion of CSL112 2 g (n = 6) or placebo (n = 2), or CSL112 6 g (n = 6) or placebo (n = 2). PK sampling was at prespecified times from 48 hours prior to 144 hours following infusions, with final safety assessments at 90 days. Renal and hepatic safety, and adverse events (AEs) were monitored throughout the study. Plasma apoA‐I and PC PK profiles were similar between renal function cohorts at both doses. For CSL112 6 g mean ± SD apoA‐I AUC0‐last was 7670 ± 1900 and 9170 ± 2910 mg·h/dL in normal renal function and moderate RI subjects, respectively. Renal apoA‐I clearance was <1% of CSL112 dose. In moderate RI, sucrose clearance was slower; however, approximately 70% was excreted within 48 hours in both renal function cohorts. No CSL112‐related serious AEs or clinically significant renal or hepatic safety changes were observed. Dose adjustment of CSL112 is not required in subjects with moderate RI, supporting its further investigation in AMI patients with moderate RI.
Balancing parallelization and asynchronization in event‐driven programs with OpenMP
Authors: Fan Xing , Sinnen Oliver , Giacaman Nasser 
Published: September 2018

SummaryOpenMP is a popular multiprocessing interface to parallelize different domains of applications. A previously proposed extension has made it possible for OpenMP to speedup event‐driven programs. There, a virtual target model extension is used to incrementally introduce asynchronous execution into an OpenMP program. At the same time it allows a mixture of nested parallelism with asynchronous processing. This new possibility raises the question how to use available processors/threads, for parallelism or for asynchronous execution? To investigate the best combination of asynchronization and parallelization, a performance model for measuring parallel event‐driven systems is proposed. Based on queue theory, the theoretical analysis discovers some interesting facts in an event‐driven system. Then, experiments are conducted to study the best practice of improving event‐driven programs and how to balance parallelism and asynchronous execution. By comparing it with the OpenMP tasking model, the evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the virtual target model, which is able to achieve significantly better parallel event‐driven performance.
A safety simulation analysis algorithm for Altarica language
Authors: Wang Wenru , Shi Xiaohua , Lu Xinghai 
Published: September 2018

SummaryAltarica is a modeling language for safety analysis and supports simulation analysis. Although Altarica is widely used in the industry, research studies on simulation algorithm are rarely found. Therefore, we design and implement a simulation algorithm. We first briefly introduce the syntax and characteristics of Altarica, and then describe the design and implementation of the algorithm in detail, and finally accurately simulate the most probable sequence of events. We use Reverse Polish Notation to deal with complex event triggered conditions, and support three kinds of synchronization, including Synchronization, Broadcasting and Common Cause Failure, and support multiple probability distribution types. At the end of this paper, through case study and comparison with SIMFIA, the correctness of the algorithm is proved.
A deadlock‐free lock‐based synchronization for GPUs
Authors: Anand Anshu S , Srivastava Akash , Shyamasundar R.K. 
Published: September 2018

SummaryGraphics Processing Units (GPUs) have evolved from pure graphics applications toward general purpose applications, often referred to as GPGPU computing. However, its scope is still limited to data‐parallel applications that require little synchronization. As synchronization on GPUs is quite costly, synchronization requirements in GPUs are usually realized using existing synchronization primitives like atomic operations and barriers. These approaches either incur significant overhead or place certain restrictions in their usage, affecting the scalability/scope of such applications. The lack of adequate support for fine‐grained synchronization has restricted the realization of irregular algorithms on GPUs, wherein control flow and memory access patterns are data‐dependent and unpredictable. Recently, there has been an interest in building relationship between lock‐step semantics and interleaving semantics and to develop lock‐based synchronization mechanism for GPUs to overcome these issues. GPUs follow SIMD, and hence, when adapted for general purpose computing, new distinct deadlock scenarios arise. In this paper, we discuss various deadlock scenarios that can happen in GPUs, and present a modeling of deadlocks in GPUs. We shall first illustrate such deadlock scenarios in GPU applications, and then describe a novel lock‐based deadlock‐free, fine‐grained synchronization mechanism for GPU architectures that overcomes deadlocks without a significant overhead. We further establish the correctness of our methods and discuss the performance overheads.
Studying Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis in Mice
Authors: Blease Andrew , Das Neves Borges Patricia , Curtinha Marcia , Javaheri Behzad , von Loga Isabell S. , Parisi Ida , Zarebska Jadwiga , Pitsillides Andrew , Vincent Tonia L. , Potter Paul K. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractWith the increasing availability and complexity of mouse models of disease, either spontaneous or induced, there is a concomitant increase in their use in the analysis of pathogenesis. Among such diseases is osteoarthritis, a debilitating disease with few treatment options. While advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis has advanced through clinical investigations and genome‐wide association studies, there is still a large gap in our knowledge, hindering advances in therapy. Patient samples are available ex vivo, but these are generally in the very late stages of disease. However, with mice, we are able to induce disease at a defined time and track the progression in vivo and ex vivo, from inception to end stage, to delineate the processes involved in disease development. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Morpho‐Functional Characteristics of Bone Marrow Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells after Activation or Inhibition of Epidermal Growth Factor and Toll‐Like Receptors or Treatment with DNA Intercalator Cisplatin
Authors: Golovynska Iuliia , Kalmukova Olesia , Svitina Hanna M. , Kyryk Vitaliy M. , Shablii Volodimir A. , Senchylo Nataliya V. , Ostrovska Galyna V. , Dzerzhinskyi Mykola , Stepanov Yurii V. , Golovynskyi Sergii , Ohulchanskyy Tymish Y. , Liu Liwei , Garmanchuk Liudmila V. , Qu Junle 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis study is aimed to reveal morphological and functional changes in multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from the rat bone marrow after: (i) activation of Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) with teichoic acid (TA), (ii) impact on epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors with activator EGF or inhibitor Herceptin, and (iii) treatment with DNA intercalator Cisplatin. According to our results, TA and EGF cause an increase in the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans, c‐Myc content, and protein in the MSC cytoplasm. It was observed that the cell population in G0 phase decreased and the cell population in G1 phase increased, when compared with control. At the same time, the cell population with a higher nuclear–cytoplasmic ratio (NCR) in S and G2 phases also increased. This indicates the manifestation of the MSC mesenchymal phenotype, exhibiting indirect metabolic signs of the regenerative potential increase. In other experiments, Herceptin was shown to suppress only the stemness signs of MSCs, while Cisplatin seriously affected cell viability in general, reducing synthetic and proliferative activities and causing cell morphology disturbances. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Development of the other‐race effect in Malaysian‐Chinese infants
Authors: Tham Diana Su Yun , Woo Pei Jun , Bremner J. Gavin 
Published: September 2018

AbstractLittle is known about how infants born and raised in a multiracial environment process own‐ and other‐race faces. We investigated face recognition of 3‐ to 4‐month‐old (N = 36) and 8‐ to 9‐month‐old (N = 38) Chinese infants from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a population that is considered multiracial, using female and male faces that are of infants’ own‐race (Chinese), experienced other‐race (Malay) and less experienced other‐race (Caucasian‐White). Three‐ to 4‐month‐olds recognized own‐race female faces, whereas 8‐ to 9‐month‐olds also recognized experienced other‐race female faces (Malay) in addition to own‐race female faces (Chinese). Furthermore, infants from this population did not show recognition for male faces at any age. This contrasts with 8‐ to 9‐month‐old British‐White infants (Tham, Bremner, & Hay, ), a group that is considered single‐race, who recognized female and male own‐race faces. It appears that for infants born and raised in a multiracial environment, there is a developmental shift from a female‐based own‐race recognition advantage to a female‐based own‐ and experienced other‐race advantage that may relate to infants’ social and caregiving experiences.
Suspect and non‐target screening workflows to investigate the in vitro and in vivo metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoid 5Cl‐THJ‐018
Authors: Vervliet Philippe , Mortelé Olivier , Gys Celine , Degreef Maarten , Lanckmans Katrien , Maudens Kristof , Covaci Adrian , van Nuijs Alexander L.N. , Lai Foon Yin 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe use of synthetic cannabinoids causes similar effects as Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol and long‐term (ab)use can lead to health hazards and fatal intoxications. As most investigated synthetic cannabinoids undergo extensive biotransformation, almost no parent compound can be detected in urine, which hampers forensic investigations. Limited information about the biotransformation products of new synthetic cannabinoids makes the detection of these drugs in various biological matrices challenging. This study aimed to identify the main in vitro biotransformation pathways of 5Cl‐THJ‐018 and to compare these findings with an authentic urine sample of a 5Cl‐THJ‐018 user. The synthetic cannabinoid was incubated with pooled human liver microsomes and cytosol to simulate phase I and phase II biotransformations. Resulting extracts were analyzed with liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF–MS). Three different data analysis workflows were applied to identify biotransformation products. A suspect screening workflow used an in‐house database built from literature data and in silico biotransformation predictions. Two non‐target screening workflows used a commercially available software and an open‐source software for mass spectrometry data processing. A total of 23 in vitro biotransformation products were identified, with hydroxylation, oxidative dechlorination, and dihydrodiol formation pathways as the main phase I reactions. Additionally, five glucuronidated and three sulfated phase II conjugates were identified. The predominant in vivo pathway was through oxidative dechlorination and in total six metabolites of 5Cl‐THJ‐018 were identified. Biotransformation products both in vitro and in vivo were successfully identified using complementary suspect and non‐target screening workflows.
Metformin inhibits IgE‐ and aryl hydrocarbon receptor‐mediated mast cell activation in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Wang Hsueh‐Chun , Huang Shau‐Ku 
Published: September 2018

AbstractMetformin, an anti‐diabetic drug, possesses anti‐inflammatory property beyond its glucose‐lowering activity, but its regulatory effect on mast cells and allergic responses remains unknown, wherein the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)‐ligand axis is critical in controlling mast cell activation. Herein, we provide evidence supporting the role of metformin in modulating mast cell activation by FcεR1‐, AhR‐mediated signaling or their combination. Metformin at relatively low doses was shown to suppress FcεR1‐mediated degranulation, IL‐13, TNF‐α and sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) secretion in murine bone marrow‐derived mast cells (BMMCs). In contrast, metformin at the same doses potently inhibited all parameters in mast cells stimulated with an AhR ligand, 5,11‐dihydroindolo[3,2‐b]carbazole‐6‐carbaldehyde (FICZ). Further, metformin was shown to inhibit FcεR1‐ and AhR‐mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in vivo, reversible by a S1P receptor 2 antagonist, JTE‐013. Using AhR reporter cells, Huh7‐DRE‐Luc cells, a human mast cell line, HMC‐1, and BMMCs, metformin's inhibitory effect was mediated through the suppression of FICZ‐induced AhR activity, calcium mobilization and ROS generation. Notably, FICZ‐mediated oxidation of S1P lyase (S1PL) and its reduced activity were reversed by metformin, resulting in decreased levels of S1P. Collectively, these results suggested the potential utility of metformin in treating allergic diseases, particularly in cases with comorbid type II diabetes mellitus.