bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The influence of taurine and L-carnitine on 6 β-hydroxycortisol/cortisol ratio in human urine of healthy volunteers
Authors: Makhova Anna A. , Shikh Eugenia V. , Bulko Tatiana V. , Sizova Zhanna M. , Shumyantseva Victoria V. 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
Cytochrome P450s (CYPs, EC 1.14.14.1) are the main enzymes of drug metabolism. The functional significance of CYPs also includes the metabolism of foreign chemicals and endogenic biologically active compounds. The CYP3A4 isoform contributes to the metabolism of about half of all marketed medicinal preparations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two biologically active compounds: 2-aminoethane-sulfonic acid (taurine) and 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylaminobutyrate (L-carnitine) on urinary 6β-hydroxycortisol/cortisol (6β-OHC/cortisol) metabolic ratio as a biomarker of the CYP3A4 activity of healthy volunteers. Taurine is used for the treatment of chronic heart failure and liver disease. Cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, gerontologists in addition to the main etiopathogenetic therapies, use L-carnitine. The quantification of the 6β-OHC/cortisol metabolic ratio as a biomarker of CYP3A4 activity in human urine was used for the assessment of CYP3A4 catalytic activity as a non-invasive test.

Methods
The study included 18 healthy male volunteers (aged from 18 to 35 years old). The volunteers took taurine in a dose of 500 mg twice a day or L-carnitine in a dose of 2.5 mL 3 times a day for 14 consecutive days. The test drug was given 20 min before meals. The collection of urine samples was performed before and after 3, 7, 10, and 14 days after taurine intake. The metabolic ratio of 6β-OHC/cortisol in morning spot urine samples was studied by the liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (LC/MS) method.

Results
The ratio of 6-6β-OHC/cortisol was used as a biomarker to study the taurine and L-carnitine influence on CYP3A4 metabolism of cortisol. The ratio of urinary 6β-OCH/cortisol in the morning urine samples of volunteers before the beginning of taurine therapy (baseline ratio) was 2.71 ± 0.2. Seven days after the administration of taurine in a dose of 500 mg twice a day, the 6β-OCH/cortisol ratio was 3.3 ± 0.2, which indicated the increased catalytic activity of CYP3A4 towards cortisol. As for the L-carnitine supplementation, analysis of the 6β-OCH/cortisol ratio in the urine for 14 days did not show any significant changes in this baseline ratio, indicating the lack of L-carnitine influence on the catalytic activity of CYP3A4 to cortisol.

Conclusions
The results obtained demonstrated the influence of taurine on 6β-OCH/cortisol metabolic ratio as a biomarker of CYP3A4 catalytic activity to cortisol. L-carnitine did not affect the activity of CYP3A4. The lack of a clinically meaningful effect of L-carnitine was established.
Characteristics of obstetric admissions to intensive care unit: APACHE II, SOFA and the Glasgow Coma Scale
Authors: Fadiloglu Erdem , Bulut Yuksel Nihal Deniz , Unal Canan , Ocal Serpil , Akinci Seda Banu , Topeli Arzu , Beksac M. Sinan 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Objective
To evaluate the characteristics of obstetric admissions to an intensive care unit (ICU) and assess the utility of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS).

Methods
This study is consisted of 160 patients admitted to an ICU during the antenatal period or within 7 days at the postpartum period. Clinical characteristics and ICU scores were evaluated.

Results
The rate of admission to the ICU was 7.8/1000 deliveries. Four cases ended with maternal mortality (2.5%). The most common hospitalization indications were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, cardiovascular disorders and obstetric hemorrhage, at 40 (25%), 34 (21.2%), and 31 (19.3%) cases, respectively. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis for prediction of maternal mortality revealed area under curve (AUC) values as 0.971 both for APACHE II and predicted mortality rate (PMR), and 24.5 and 47.1 were determined as the cut-offs with sensitivities of 100%. AUCs were also 0.901 and 0.929 for the initial and worst SOFA score, respectively. The cut-off value for the initial and worst SOFA score was 3.5, with a sensitivity of 100%, and was 10 with a specificity of 98.9%, respectively.

Conclusion
APACHE II and PMR overpredict maternal mortality, but those higher scores predict maternal mortality. Higher SOFA scores are related with maternal mortalities with high specificity.
CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dot assisted color conversion of violet laser diode for white lighting communication
Authors: Wang Wei-Chun , Wang Huai-Yung , Chen Tzu-Yu , Tsai Cheng-Ting , Cheng Chih-Hsien , Kuo Hao-Chung , Lin Gong-Ru 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
By color-converting the violet laser diode (VLD) with a cadmium selenide and zinc sulfide (CdSe/ZnS) core-shell-quantum dot (QD) doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, the VLD + CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QD transferred white-light with improved color rendering index (CRI) is demonstrated for high-speed indoor visible lighting communication. To facilitate hue saturation value (HSV) of the VLD + CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QD white-lighting module, dual-sized CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QDs with two luminescent wavelengths centered at 515 and 630 nm are doped into the PDMS. The CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QD doped PDMS phosphor with the optimized thickness of 2.5 mm serves as the beam divergent color-converter, which not only excites red (R) and green (G) fluorescence to detune the correlated color temperature (CCT) and CRI of the mixed red/green/violet (RGV) white-light, but also remains the residual VLD signal for data transmission. With a divergent angle of 127°, such a VLD + CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QD can deliver cold white-light with a CCT of 6389 K and a CRI of 63.3 at Commission International de l’Eclairage coordinate of 0.3214, 0.2755. Most important, the residual VLD light component is relatively weak with its wavelength out of the peak optical sensitivity region of the human retina centered at 441 nm. The directly encoded VLD + CdSe/ZnS core-shell-QD white light successfully carries the 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) discrete multitone data, which supports the maximal transmission data rate of 9.6 Gbit/s with a bit error ratio (BER) of 3.59 × 10−3.
Crystal structure of catena-poly[μ2-4,4′-bipyridine-κ2
N:N′)-tetrakis(μ2-2-((3,5,6-trichloropyridin-2-yl)oxy)acetato-κ2
O:O′)dicobalt(II)], C19H10Cl6CoN3O6
Authors: Du Zhong-Xiang , Li Jun-Xia , Bai Ruo-Fei 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
C19H10Cl6CoN3O6, tetragonal, I4̄ (no. 82), a = 13.1152(4) Å, c = 14.2497(6) Å, V = 2451.07(18) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0359, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0843, T = 293.2(3) K.
Surface Characteristics of Plasma Treated and Titanium Nitride (TiN) Deposited Aluminum Alloy
Authors: Balanand Santhosh , Bhowmik Shantanu , Datta Madhav , Rane Ramkrishna , Mukherjee Subrato 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
This investigation highlights the rationale of the magnetron sputtering technique to deposit titanium nitride (TiN) coatings on aluminum alloy 2024 (AA 2024). TiN deposition on aluminum was systematically optimized, with nitrogen flow rate (mL/min) as the varying parameter. The developed TiN coatings were compared with the atmospheric pressure plasma treated and raw (uncoated) AA 2024 aluminum substrate surface. The crystalline phase formations of TiN on the alloy surface were studied using X-ray diffractometer technique. The scanning electron microscopy imaging technique was used to study the morphology of the formed ceramic layer. Fine and pore-free grains of TiN on the alloy surface were obtained at 1.5 mL/min nitrogen flow rate (TiN layer thickness ∼ 630 nm). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was conducted on the surface in order to characterize elemental composition of the surface. Surface characteristic and wettability studies on the developed coatings were conducted using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and by measurement of contact angle, respectively. The roughness parameter (Ra) (obtained from AFM) increased by ∼72 % with TiN deposition on the AA 2024, while the contact angle value decreased by ∼18 %. The adhesion of the coating to the metal substrate (using scratch test) and the Vickers hardness measurements were also performed. Corrosion resistance imparted by the coatings was also confirmed from the electrochemical measurements. A significant positive shift in the corrosion potential (Ecorr) value from −0.96 V to −0.75 V was observed from the analysis.
Compound Stimuli Reveal the Structure of Visual Motion Selectivity in Macaque MT Neurons
Authors: Zaharia Andrew D. , Goris Robbe L. T. , Movshon J. Anthony , Simoncelli Eero P. 
Published: October 2019

AbstractMotion selectivity in primary visual cortex (V1) is approximately separable in orientation, spatial frequency, and temporal frequency (“frequency-separable”). Models for area MT neurons posit that their selectivity arises by combining direction-selective V1 afferents whose tuning is organized around a tilted plane in the frequency domain, specifying a particular direction and speed (“velocity-separable”). This construction explains “pattern direction-selective” MT neurons, which are velocity-selective but relatively invariant to spatial structure, including spatial frequency, texture and shape. We designed a set of experiments to distinguish frequency-separable and velocity-separable models and executed them with single-unit recordings in macaque V1 and MT. Surprisingly, when tested with single drifting gratings, most MT neurons’ responses are fit equally well by models with either form of separability. However, responses to plaids (sums of two moving gratings) tend to be better described as velocity-separable, especially for pattern neurons. We conclude that direction selectivity in MT is primarily computed by summing V1 afferents, but pattern-invariant velocity tuning for complex stimuli may arise from local, recurrent interactions.
Ethnobiology and Shifting Baselines: An Example Reinterpreting the British Isles’ Most Detailed Account of a Sea Serpent Sighting as Early Evidence for Pre-Plastic Entanglement of Basking Sharks
Authors: France Robert 
Published: October 2019

AbstractRecognizing shifts in baseline conditions is necessary for understanding long-term changes in populations as a prelude to implementing present-day management actions and setting future restoration goals for anthropogenically-altered marine ecosystems. Examining historical information contained within anecdotal accounts from non-traditional sources has previously proven useful in this regard. Herein, I scrutinize eyewitness descriptions and illustrations related to the most detailed nineteenth-century report of sighting a purported sea serpent in the British Isles. I then reinterpret this anecdote (as well as complementary evidence offered by cryptozooloogists in its support obtained from other sightings of similarly described unidentified marine objects), suggesting it to provide one of the earliest descriptions of the non-lethal entanglement of an animal—in this case what I believe to have been a basking shark—in European waters. The present work suggests that the entanglement of sharks in fishing gear or hunting equipment has a much longer environmental history than is commonly believed, and provides another example of how ethnozoological studies can contribute toward recognizing past fishing-related pressures and baseline shifts in affected populations. Sharks, it seems, have been subjected to the impacts of not just direct fishery exploitation but also through becoming by-catch, long before the advent and widespread use of plastic in the middle of the twentieth century.
Effect of External Environment on the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Benue State
Authors: Garba ADAMU 
Published: October 2019

The study assessed the effect of External Environment on the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Benue State. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were obtained by the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The study made use of 316 respondents from the SMEs in the selected geopolitical zones in Benue. Demographic data obtained from the study were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and multiple regressions Analysis. The result also shows that a positive relationship between Political environment, Technological environment and competitive environment with Small and medium scale enterprises performance in Benue State and it is in line with a priori expectation and it is statistically significant (p<0.05). This implies that these external environments dimension significantly contributes in varying degree to the performance of SMEs in Benue State. The coefficient of determination R2 for the study is 77.0% indicating that 77.0% of the variations in the model can be explained by the explanatory variables of the model while 23.0% can be attributed to unexplained variation captured by the stochastic term while the Durbin Watson statistics does not suggest that autocorrelation was a problem in the model of the study. It was also recommended among others that since economic environment made a negative contribution to the performance of small and medium scale enterprises in Benue State, management of SMEs should ensure that all factors caused by economic environment is resolved to enhance effective performance of SMEs in Benue State.
Synergic effect of nanostructuring and excess Mn3+ content in the electrochemical performance of Li4Ti5O12–LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 Li-ion full-cells
Authors: Haridas Anulekha K. , Jyothirmayi Adduru , Sharma Chandra S. , Rao Tata N. 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Community Structure in Industrial SAT Instances
Authors: Ansótegui Carlos , Bonet Maria Luisa , Giráldez-Cru Jesús , Levy Jordi , Simon Laurent 
Published: October 2019

Modern SAT solvers have experienced a remarkable progress on solving industrial instances. It is believed that most of these successful techniques exploit the underlying structure of industrial instances. Recently, there have been some attempts to analyze the structure of industrial SAT instances in terms of complex networks, with the aim of explaining the success of SAT solving techniques, and possibly improving them.
In this paper, we study the community structure, or modularity, of industrial SAT instances. In a graph with clear community structure, or high modularity, we can find a partition of its nodes into communities such that most edges connect variables of the same community. Representing SAT instances as graphs, we show that most application benchmarks are characterized by a high modularity. On the contrary, random SAT instances are closer to the classical Erdös-Rényi random graph model, where no structure can be observed. We also analyze how this structure evolves by the effects of the execution of a CDCL SAT solver, and observe that new clauses learned by the solver during the search contribute to destroy the original structure of the formula. Motivated by this observation, we finally present an application that exploits the community structure to detect relevant learned clauses, and we show that detecting these clauses results in an improvement on the performance of the SAT solver. Empirically, we observe that this improves the performance of several SAT solvers on industrial SAT formulas, especially on satisfiable instances.
Mathematical methods in the breeding evaluation of small horned ruminants
Authors: Katkov K. A. , Skorykh L. N. , Pashtetsky V. S. , Ostapchuk P. S. , Kuevda T. A. 
Published: October 2019

Aim. Traditionally, prediction of breeding values of male small horned ruminants (rams) by referring to levels of economically useful traits of their progeny is carried out by methods of statistical analysis. However, at the same time, there is a forecasting method based on the use of a mixed biometric model. The solution of the system of equations constituting a mixed biometric model is associated with certain difficulties caused by the peculiarity of the system matrix. It is proposed to use integrated mathematical packages in the forecast, by which the system of equations can be solved in several ways, followed by analysis of the results. The prediction of progeny values is carried out by statistical methods using three statistical tests, as well as with the use of a mixed biometric model. It is of interest to compare estimates obtained by using statistical methods with estimates using a mixed biometric model. Material and Methods. The initial data set was the live weight of Qigai rams, the progeny of a group of sixteen rams belonging to eight genetic groups. Results. It was found that the forecast of breeding values of each animal using a mixed biometric model substantially clarifies the rank of each animal in the group being evaluated. Conclusion. The refinement of the estimation of breeding value is related to the effects of the genetic groups to which the animals belong in the mixed model, as well as the degree of relationship between them. Also the mixed model also allows one to isolate environmental effects from the overall assessment. Solving the system of equations in several ways will improve the reliability of the forecast.
Monitoring and assessment of well quality of water infiltration intakes in water reservoirs in the south‐east of Belarus
Authors: Makarov D. V. , Kantor E. A. , Krasulina N. A. , Berezhnova Z. Z. , Savicheva Yu. S. 
Published: October 2019

Aim. Comparison of water quality according to 19 indicators: odour at 20°C, odour at 60°C, taste, colour, turbidity, total iron, permanganate oxidation, dry residue, total hardness, oil products, surfactants, phenolic index, nitrates (NO3‐), chlorides (Сl‐), fluorides (F‐), sulphates (SO42‐), zinc (Zn2+), copper (Сu, total), pH value of two infiltration water intakes in the south‐eastern region of the Republic of Belarus. Identification and analysis of linear trends, and determination of trends in the dynamics of indicator values. Material and Methods. As initial data we used the results of quarterly measurements of the values of borehole water indicators of the infiltration water intakes. Results. By comparing the relative concentrations of the mean annual values of the studied quality indicators for two water intakes, it was revealed that the priority indicators are odour at 20°C, odour at 60°C, taste, chromaticity, turbidity, and iron. By comparing the relative concentrations of total iron, it was found that the concentration in the wells of WI 1 is much higher than in the wells of WI 2, probably due to the presence of rocks and minerals from moraine and fluvioglacial complexes of glacial deposits. For other indicators the values were approximately on the same level. Conclusion. By constructing matrices of pair correlation and geographic proximity for each of the priority indicators, well groups were identified whose water quality is interrelated and which were subsequently aggregated as a single group.
LINGUOCULTURAL PECULIARITIES OF ABBREVIATIONS IN THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Authors: A. Gimadeeva Alfiya , B. Garifullina Dilyara , Yu. Giniyatullina Alsu , G. Khismatullina Lyutsiya 
Published: October 2019

The purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to define the linguocultural peculiarities of the abbreviations in the political discourse.Materials and methods: The leading approach to the study of this problem is scientific. In the article such general scientific research methods as a descriptive-analytical method; method of continuous sampling and contextual analysis were used.Results of the research: there is relevance to the detailed investigation of the active language processes in modern English electronic media. Abbreviations are the language tools that help create a picture of the day. The newspaper is the first source where new abbreviations are fixed. In the English speaking electronic newspapers in political discourse generally accepted abbreviations are used. In political articles the use of abbreviations is in outline. The materials of the article can be useful for students, Masters, and postgraduates in English study. Data on the "language picture of the world" of the analyzed linguistic and cultural community can be applied in the methodology and teaching practice of foreign languages.
Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students.
Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of Linguocultural Peculiarities of Abbreviations in Political Discourse is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.
PENGEMBANGAN BUKU TEKS MITIGASI BENCANA PADA MATERI ERUPSI GUNUNG API DI SDN PENATARAN 01 KABUPATEN BLITAR
Authors: Meviana Ika , Susanti Nelya Eka 
Published: October 2019

<p>In science subjects at the elementary school level, the concept of geologi’s disaster can be introduced, such as disaster mitigation, namely volcanic eruption disaster. The purpose of this study was to determine the contents feasibility and the book presentation of disaster mitigation education material. In addition, the purpose of developing textbooks was to determine students' understanding of volcanic eruption disaster mitigation materials. This research was designed with a modified 4-D development design. The 4-D development design stages are Define, Design, Develop, and Disseminate. In this study the 4-D design was modified into three steps, namely: Define, Design, Develop. Based on the results of research and discussion, the feasibility of the contents and presentation of the book with Disaster Mitigation education material for grade 5 students after going through a series of processes including the validation from material experts, product presentation, language, graphics, limited trials, and field trials, the product is categorized of having very good quality. The level on students understanding of disaster mitigation education material of grade 5 books as a developed product is seen based on students cognitive and affective aspects. Based on the result of the student work on the post test sheet, the average value obtained by the students is 82,25, it incates that students learning process about the mitigation of volcanic eruption disaster have been completed. The dominant scientific attitude of students are curiosity, gaining new information, and cooperation. These scientific atitudes are reflected in the activities of students who are interested in repeating the experiments and their harmonious work shown by the fact that they can work well together with friend within their group.</p><p><strong><em>Keywords: development; textbooks; disaster mitigation; volcanoes</em></strong></p>
The Effect of Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Toward Service Quality at Universitas Kristen Indonesia
Authors: Siregar Edison , Luddin Muchlis R. , Suyatno Thomas 
Published: October 2019

The objective of this research is to find out the effect organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior towards service quality at Universitas Kristen Indonesia. The research method used was a quantitative method wiht using path analysed design. In collecting the data, 71 employees were chosen from 243 employees randomly to be the sample of this research. The data of the this research were obtained by distrubuting questiinnaires and analyzed them using path analysis. The result shows that there exists a positive direct effect of (1) organizational commitment towards service quality, (2) organizational citizenship behavior towards service quality, and (3) organizational commitment towards organizational citizenship behavior. Therefore, as the conclussion to this research, to improve the service quality of the employee at Universitas Kristen Indonesia, the organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior should be improved.