bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Recent advance in antibacterial activity of nanoparticles contained polyurethane
Authors: Farrokhi Z. , Ayati A. , Kanvisi M. , Sillanpää M. 
Published: August 2018

ABSTRACTPolyurethanes (PUs) are among the most widely used polymers with various applications in several industries. Antibacterial activity is an important feature of PU materials used in medical or many other related consumer products. They can, however, be easily colonized by bacteria and fungi, which may cause many problems for human health. It is therefore very important to enhance the antimicrobial properties of PUs, besides improving their chemical and physical properties. The incorporation of some antibacterial materials in the PUs' polymeric matrices is an effective strategy to improve their antibacterial activity. In this regard, the addition of some materials including Ag, Au, ZnO, and TiO2 nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and chitosan to the PUs' material structure is reviewed in this article, and their antibacterial mechanisms are discussed. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 46997.
The Multiplicity of Polypeptide GalNAc‐Transferase: Assays, Inhibitors, and Structures
Authors: Hu Youtian , Feng Juan , Wu Fang 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMucin‐type O‐glycosylation is the dominant form of glycosylation in eukaryotes and plays an important role in various physiological processes. The polypeptide GalNAc‐transferase (GalNAc‐T) catalyzes the first step in the attachment of mucin‐type O‐glycosylation. GalNAc‐T was recently uncovered to be linked with cancer, atherogenic dyslipidemia, and X‐linked hypophosphatemic rickets. Therefore, it has attracted increasing interest as a new target for exploring the underlying mechanism and developing new treatments for related diseases. Decades of studies on GalNAc‐T have laid a stable foundation for understanding the catalytic mechanism, determining atom‐resolution three‐dimensional structures, and developing various types of biochemical assays as well as small‐molecule inhibitor leads. Here, we systematically summarize this invaluable knowledge on GalNAc‐T and cultivate new perspectives to foster breakthrough points for mucin‐type O‐glycosylation.
A Unified View of Assessing the Pro‐oxidant versus Antioxidant Nature of Amyloid Beta Conformers
Authors: Mitra Suchitra , Prasad Pallavi , Chakraborty Saumen 
Published: August 2018

AbstractTransition‐metal‐catalyzed oxidative stress is a widespread concern in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. However, the exact role of amyloid beta oligomers towards oxidative stress is widely debated. Assessing the oxidative nature of the oligomers in vitro is complicated by the different experimental conditions under which they are prepared. We have investigated Cu2+‐catalyzed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by using oligomers prepared in phosphate‐buffered saline (AβO‐PBS) and in cell culture medium (AβO‐CCM), and compared their activities with respect to the monomers and fibrils prepared at neutral and acidic pH. Although both are deca‐ to dodecamers, the AβO‐PBSoligomers have a spherical morphology and are smaller than the AβO‐CCM. The AβO‐PBSbehaved as pro‐oxidants; in contrast, AβO‐CCMquench OH.generation attributed to CCM itself. Although the pro‐oxidant oligomers showed oxidation, they also partially protect themselves from radical damage and maintain their overall spherical arrangement. The monomers and fibrils manifested antioxidant properties: radical scavenging as opposed to redox silencing. A dual role of Aβ species depending on the stage of the disease is proposed. In the earlier stages, the monomers can act as antioxidants, whereas at the later stages, the oligomers take on a pro‐oxidant role. Kaempferol, a natural flavonoid, bound Cu2+in 2:1 ratio and abolished ROS production in all Aβ species. It also distinctly modified the folding landscape of Aβ species into new or altered morphologies.
Refined SMD Parameters for Bromine and Iodine Accurately Model Halogen‐Bonding Interactions in Solution
Authors: Engelage Elric , Schulz Nils , Heinen Flemming , Huber Stefan M. , Truhlar Donald G. , Cramer Christopher J. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMotivated by the need to calculate liquid‐phase free energies of species and equilibria involving halogen bonding, recent experimental data were used to optimize new Coulomb radii for Br and I for use in the SMD universal solvation model for calculating free energies of solvation. The use of the SMD model with these parameters for Br and I and the SMD values of all other parameters is called SMD18. After parametrization, the SMD18 model was tested for data not used in the parametrization. These data are standard‐state free energies (equivalent to equilibrium constants) for 18 ionic equilibria involving Cl, Br, and I halogen bonding in acetonitrile, and the agreement of theory and experiment is satisfactory. The SMD18 model is then used to compare hydrogen bonding to halogen bonding and to reassess the interpretation of recent experiments.
School meanings related content knowledge for german university teacher – conception and evaluation of tasks in the seminar “Organic Experimentalchemistry I”
Authors: Hermanns Jolanda 
Published: August 2018

AbstractDie Entwicklung von Aufgaben zum „Erweiterten Fachwissen für den schulischen Kontext“ für Lehramtsstudierende wird vorgestellt. Die Kriterien für die Erstellung der Aufgaben werden an Beispielaufgaben erläutert. Der Einsatz der Aufgaben in den Übungen zur Vorlesung „Organische Experimentalchemie I“ wird evaluiert und diskutiert.
A novel enhanced bat optimization based energy efficiency and imperfect channel state information in cooperative MIMO‐AF systems
Authors: Kanithan S. , Tamilselvan G.M. 
Published: August 2018

SummaryEnergy Efficiency (EE) is a vital design standard for the future generation of communication systems. Similarly, cooperative communication is extremely efficient for improving the performance of such systems. Current research presents a relay precoding optimization algorithm in order to resolve EE problem in the Multiple‐Input‐Multiple‐Output (MIMO) Amplify‐And‐Forward (AF) Relay Networks containing correct Channel State Information (CSI) only. With the intension of focus on imperfect, this work presents a novel design of MIMO AF Relay Networks under Imperfect CSI (ICSI) by taking Channel Estimation (CE) errors and feedback delay errors, deprived of taking the straight link from source to destination. For this reason, we present a Hidden Semi Markov Model (HSMM) under ICSI, in which the source and destination based relay links are identified through destination. After that, we implement an Enhanced Bat Optimization (EBO) algorithm to enhance the EE of MIMO relay‐based non‐regenerative cooperative communication systems by means of improving the source and relay precoders by taking relay and direct links into consideration. Simulation outcomes prove that the EE‐ EBO optimization is capable of enhancing the outcomes of MIMO‐AF systems while matched up with direct/relay link with EE precoding optimization and precoding optimization algorithms.
Optimal feature level fusion based ANFIS classifier for brain MRI image classification
Authors: K Shankar , Elhoseny Mohamed , S K Lakshmanaprabu , M Ilayaraja , RM Vidhyavathi , A. Elsoud Mohamed , Alkhambashi Majid 
Published: August 2018

SummaryThe cases identified with Brain tumor have increased with respect to time owing to various reasons. One of the major challenging issues can be defined by incorporating image processing along with data mining models as classification approach. There are various procedures as of now exhibited for segmentation of brain tumor effectively. In any case, it is as yet unequivocal to distinguish the brain tumor from MR images. In this new tumor classifying, considering two significant models, such as Feature Selection (FS) and Machine Learning classification techniques, are extremely valuable for distinguishing and visualizing the tumor in the MRI brain images; it is classified using Adaptive Neuro‐Fuzzy Interface System (ANFIS). For better classification of image, Optimal Feature Level Fusion (OFLF) is considered to fuse low and high‐level feature of brain image; from this analysis, the images are classifying as Benign or Malignant. From this implementation of medical images, the experiment results are evaluating performance metrics are compared existing classifiers. From the proposed MRI image classification process the accuracy as 96.23%, sensitivity as 92.3%, and specificity as 94.52%, compared to existing classifier. It is in the working platform of MATLAB that this proposed methodology is implemented.
Implementation of a non‐linear solver on heterogeneous architectures
Authors: Carracciuolo Luisa , Lapegna Marco 
Published: August 2018

SummaryHeterogeneous architectures seem to be not only the present but also the future of the HPC world (eg, see the Exascale Project of U.S. Department of Energy or the European Horizon 2020 FET Proactive ‐ High Performance Computing Call). A lot of work has been done in developing software libraries useful to solve problem described by linear equations on such computing systems. Instead, not the same effort is spent in such context for the implementation of software modules to be used to solve non‐linear problem. In this work, we present some experiences related with the implementation of a Quasi‐Newton method able to exploit, using a combination of “Task Scheduling,” “matrix‐free,” and “look‐ahead” approaches, both the CPUs and the GP‐GPUs components of a heterogeneous system.
Extracting and classifying typhoon disaster information based on volunteered geographic information from Chinese Sina microblog
Authors: Zhao Qiansheng , Chen Zi , Liu Chang , Luo Nianxue 
Published: August 2018

SummaryThe notion and application of volunteered geographic information occur and rise rapidly in recent years with the thriving of social media in China such as Sina Microblog, which is one of the most active social network sites. Many researches on natural disasters like flood, earthquake, and forest fires leverage social media like Twitter, Flickr, or YouTube, but few studies focus on typhoon disaster based on Sina Microblog even though typhoon disaster batters southeast coastline of China every year. This study proposed a method to extract and classify typhoon disaster information from Sina Microblog. KNN (k‐nearest neighbors) algorithm is implemented for microblog classification in order to extract useful information about the real hazards, and an experiment is conducted to tune the parameters in KNN by comparison of outcomes of social media data analysis and the real typhoon situation. The result shows that more than 70% microblogs are classified correctly. After the classification, we carried out spatial temporal analysis to map the disaster situation. It shows that the spatial distribution of microblog message mean centers about typhoon has regular variation along with the typhoon path. It can be confidently concluded that Sina Microblog has some potential prospects for estimating the typhoon disaster situation.
Biomimetic walking mechanisms: Kinematic parameters of goats walking on different slopes
Authors: Zhang Fu , Wang Yafei , Zheng Limin , Ma Tianle , Wang Jiajia 
Published: August 2018

SummaryIn order to study bionic walking machinery, the uphill walking processes on different slopes (0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°) were recorded by a high speed video system (VRI Phantom M110). The kinematics parameters of goat slope are analyzed using PCC and ORIGIN software. Goat's average speed decreases with the increase in gradient. The average speed of goats on the 0° slope, 10° slope, 20° slope, and 30° slope are 1.72 m/s, 1.352 m/s, 0.742 m/s, and 0.609 m/s. In the Y axis direction, the variation ranges from 0.1 m to 0.37 m. The left hind legs are basically the same as the feet of the right hind legs. In the Y axis direction, the variation ranges from 0.1 m to 0.195 m. The length of the change in the X axis is greater than the posterior foot. The range of hip joint angle changes is from 46.10 to 135.50. The knee joint angle changes is from 87.90 to 179.80. The hip joint angle of hind leg changes from 115.30 to 1700. The knee joint angle of hind leg changes from 80.50 to 172.80. The present research can provide theoretical basis for the design of a biomimetic agricultural walking mechanism.
Component technology development of thermal absolute humidity sensor for high humidity and condensation environments
Authors: Toshima Katsuhisa 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe author presents a thermal conductivity absolute humidity sensor whose substrate and its channel can be heated. Water droplets getting into the channel due to condensation can be removed by the substrate heater and the bridge heater setting in the channel. Thus this sensor is expected to be applied in condensation environment, such as a humidity sensor for medical ventilator. The output voltage from the prototype platinum hot wire sensor is stably obtained by using the pulse current waveform from the programmable current source under the conditions of 100%RH and 33℃.
Migration studies of butylated hydroxytoluene, tributyl acetylcitrate and dibutyl phthalate into food simulants
Authors: García Ibarra Verónica , Sendón Raquel , García‐Fonte Xoan‐Xosé , Paseiro Losada Perfecto , Rodríguez Bernaldo de Quirós Ana 
Published: August 2018

AbstractBACKGROUNDMigration is a mass transfer process in which chemical substances with a low molecular weight are transferred from packaging into food. This phenomenon has received great attention from a food safety point of view because these chemicals could potentially represent a risk for consumers' health.The present study investigated the process of migration of two common plasticizers [tributyl acetylcitrate (ATBC) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)] and one antioxidant [butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)] from a common plastic material used in food packaging (low density polyethylene) into 50% ethanol (v/v), 95% ethanol (v/v) and isooctane. A mathematical model based on Fick's second law was used to determine the partition and diffusion coefficients. In addition, the effect of temperature on the diffusion was studied by applying the Arrhenius equation.RESULTSHigh‐performance liquid chromatography with diode‐array detection and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry methods were applied to measure the amount of ATBC, DBP and BHT that migrated into the food simulants. A mathematical model based on Fick's second law of diffusion was used to estimate key migration parameters: diffusion and partition coefficients (DP and KP/F), which were determined for each migrant and food simulant at three temperatures (10, 20 and 40 °C). The results showed that the diffusion process is significantly influenced by temperature, although the type of simulant also plays an important role in the migration process.CONCLUSIONThe model investigated is shown to be appropriate for predicting the migration from food packaging into real foodstuffs at common storage temperatures. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry
Changes in the relationship between zooplankton and phytoplankton biomasses across a eutrophication gradient
Authors: Yuan Lester L. , Pollard Amina I. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe relationship between zooplankton biomass and phytoplankton biomass can provide insight into the structure and function of lake biological communities. We used a Bayesian network model to analyze a continental‐scale data set to estimate changes in the relationship between zooplankton (Z) and phytoplankton (P) biomasses along a eutrophication gradient. The Bayesian network model allowed us to combine two different measurements of phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a concentration and directly observed biovolume) to improve the precision of estimates of true biomass within each sample. The model also allowed us to estimate separate relationships between P and zooplankton abundance and between P and mean individual zooplankton biomass and then to combine these two relationships into an estimate of seasonal mean zooplankton biomass. The resulting analysis indicated that seasonal mean zooplankton biomass increased proportionally with phytoplankton biomass in oligotrophic lakes, yielding a constant ratio between Z and P and suggested that bottom‐up forces determined zooplankton biomass in these systems. In eutrophic lakes, seasonal mean zooplankton biomass was nearly constant with increases in phytoplankton biomass, yielding a decrease in the ratio between Z and P with increasing eutrophication. Bottom‐up forces, as quantified by an increase in the proportion of cyanobacteria, accounted for approximately one fifth of the residual variance in the model as the relationship between Z and P changed from direct proportionality in oligotrophic lakes to the nearly constant value of Z observed in eutrophic lakes, suggesting that a combination of both top‐down and bottom‐up forces likely determined zooplankton biomass in eutrophic lakes.
Inverse optimization of low‐cost kilovoltage x‐ray arc therapy plans
Authors: Breitkreutz Dylan Y. , Renaud Marc‐André , Seuntjens Jan , Weil Michael D. , Zavgorodni Sergei , Bazalova‐Carter Magdalena 
Published: August 2018

PurposeThe objective of this work was to investigate the benefits of using inverse optimization treatment planning for kilovoltage arc therapy (KVAT) and to assess the dosimetric limitations of KVAT.MethodsMonte Carlo (MC) calculated, inversely optimized KVAT plans of spherical, idealized breast, lung, and prostate lesions were calculated using the EGSnrc/BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc MC codes. The dose delivered with the KVAT system, which generates 200–225 kV photon beamlets, was calculated and inversely optimized using an optimization framework developed at McGill University. KVAT dose distributions were compared with inversely optimized and MC generated megavoltage (MV) volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans as a reference. Prescription doses delivered to 95% of the planning target volume (PTV) were 38.5 (10 fractions), 60 (30 fractions) and 73.8 (41 fractions) Gy for the breast, lung and prostate patients, respectively. Dose distributions, dose volume histograms, and PTV homogeneity indices were used to evaluate KVAT and VMAT plans based on RTOG protocols.ResultsAll organ‐at‐risk (OAR) doses were within prescribed dose limits for KVAT and VMAT plans. Generally, KVAT plans delivered higher doses to OARs. For example, due to the lower energy of KVAT, 50% of the rib volume received 12.9 Gy from KVAT while only receiving 2.5 Gy from VMAT. OAR doses were especially high for the KVAT prostate plan due to the presence of large volumes of bony anatomy, which illustrates a limitation of the KVAT system. The KVAT treatment times per fraction for the breast, lung and prostate patients were 2.8, 2.6 and 5.5 min, respectively.ConclusionsThe inversely optimized KVAT plans presented in this work have demonstrated the ability of our novel low‐cost, kilovoltage x‐ray therapy system to safely treat deep‐seated spherical lesions in breast and lung patients while meeting RTOG dose constraints on OARs.
Late effects in high‐risk neuroblastoma survivors treated with high‐dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue
Authors: Elzembely Mahmoud M. , Dahlberg Ann E. , Pinto Navin , Leger Kasey J. , Chow Eric J. , Park Julie R. , Carpenter Paul A. , Baker K. Scott 
Published: August 2018

AbstractBackgroundCurrent treatment strategies have improved the outcome of high‐risk neuroblastoma (HRNB) at the cost of increasing acute and late effects of treatment. Although high‐dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue (HDC‐SCR) has replaced total body irradiation (TBI) based HRNB therapy, late effects of therapy remain a significant concern.ObjectivesTo describe late effects prevalence, severity, and risks after HDC‐SCR.MethodsRetrospective chart review of relapse‐free HRNB survivors ≥1 year after single HDC‐SCR between 2000 and 2015 at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.ResultsSixty‐one survivors (30 males) were eligible. Median age (years) at SCR was 3.5 years (range 0.7‐27 years) and median posttransplant follow‐up was 5.4 years (1.2‐16.3 years) . Fifty‐three (86.9%) survivors developed late effects that increased over time (P < 0.001) and varied in severity from grade 1 (35) to grade 5 (1). These were unrelated to gender or age. High‐frequency hearing loss seen in 82% of survivors was the most common abnormality present and 43% of those required hearing aids. Seventeen (27.9%) survivors developed dental late effects and these were most common in children <2 years of age at transplant (P = 0.008). Other toxicities included endocrine (18%), orthopedic (14.8 %), renal (3.9%), melanotic nevi (8.2%), neuropsychological impairments (8.2%), subsequent malignancies (4.9%), pulmonary (4.9%), cardiac (4.9%), and focal nodular liver hyperplasia (3.3%). At 9 years posttransplant, the median height and weight Z‐scores were significantly lower than Z‐scores at the time of HDC‐SCR (–0.01/–1.08, P < 0.001; –0.14/–0.78, P = 0.005).ConclusionAvoidance of TBI does not mitigate the need to provide diligent, ongoing surveillance for late effects.
Red blood cell transfusion therapy for sickle cell patients with frequent painful events
Authors: Hilliard Lee M. , Kulkarni Varsha , Sen Bisakha , Caldwell Cathy , Bemrich‐Stolz Christina , Howard Thomas H. , Brandow Amanda , Waite Emily , Lebensburger Jeffrey D. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractBackgroundRecurrent pain events or chronic pain are among the most common complications of sickle cell disease. Despite attempts to maximize adherence to and dosing of hydroxyurea, some patients continue to suffer from pain. Our institution developed a program to initiate chronic red blood cell transfusions for one year in patients clinically deemed to have high healthcare utilization from sickle cell pain, despite being prescribed hydroxyurea.ProcedureAn institutional review board approved retrospective study to evaluate the health outcomes associated with a one‐year red blood cell transfusion protocol in sickle cell patients experiencing recurrent pain events as compared with the health outcomes for these patients in the one year prior to receiving transfusion therapy. We performed a matched‐pair analysis using a Wilcoxon signed rank to determine the impact of transfusion therapy on clinic visits, emergency department visits, hospital admissions, hospitalization days, and opioid prescriptions filled.ResultsOne year of transfusion therapy significantly reduced the number of total emergency department visits for pain (6 vs 2.5 pain visits/year, P = 0.005), mean hospitalizations for pain (3.4 vs 0.9 pain admissions/year), and mean hospital days per year for pain crisis (23.5 vs 4.5, P = 0.0001), as compared with the one year prior to transfusion therapy. We identified no significant difference in opioid prescriptions filled during the year of transfusion therapy.ConclusionPatients with frequent pain episodes may benefit from one year of transfusion therapy.
Initiator‐free photopolymerization of common acrylate monomers with 254 nm light
Authors: Furutani Masahiro , Ide Takashi , Kinoshita Shinobu , Horiguchi Raita , Mori Ichiro , Sakai Kazuhiro , Arimitsu Koji 
Published: August 2018

AbstractUsing an available light source at a wavelength of 254 nm, common acrylate monomers were polymerized without any photoinitiators, which was confirmed using Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy, 1H NMR, gel permeation chromatography and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometric measurements. It was found that phenyl acrylate shows higher conversion than n‐ and t‐butyl acrylates. A trifunctional acrylate was also used for UV curing. The cured films were fabricated successfully on different kinds of substrates by using a batch‐ or conveyor‐type irradiation apparatus. It is indicated from FTIR spectral measurements that ca 40%–50% of acryloyl groups are consumed by the photopolymerization. Oxygen concentration in the sample chamber influences the photopolymerization, indicating that the polymerization proceeds via a radical process. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry