bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Using Clinical Balance Tests to Assess Fall Risk among Established Unilateral Lower Limb Prosthesis Users: Cutoff Scores and Associated Validity Indices
Authors: Sawers Andrew , Hafner Brian J. 
Published: March 2019

BackgroundClinicians are routinely required to make decisions about fall risk among lower limb prosthesis (LLP) users. These decisions can be guided by standardized clinical balance tests but require population‐ and test‐specific cutoff scores and validity indices to categorize individuals as probable fallers or nonfallers on the basis of test performance. Despite the importance of cutoff scores and validity indices to clinical interpretation of clinical balance test scores, they are rarely reported for LLP users. In their absence, clinicians cannot use results from clinical balance tests to assess the likelihood of a fall by any one patient.ObjectiveDerive cutoff scores, and associated validity indices, for clinical balance tests administered to established unilateral LLP users.DesignCross‐sectional study.SettingOutpatient clinic and research laboratory.ParticipantsEstablished ambulatory unilateral transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis users (n = 40).InterventionNot applicable.Main Outcome Measure(s)Optimal cutoff scores and related validity indices (ie, area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios) were computed for five balance tests, the activities‐specific balance confidence scale (ABC), timed up and go (TUG), four square step test (FSST), Berg balance scale (BBS), and narrowing‐beam walking test (NBWT).ResultsCutoff scores were identified for the NBWT (≤.43/1.0), TUG (≥8.17 seconds], FSST (≥8.49 seconds), BBS (≤50.5/56), and ABC (≤80.2/100). Validity indices (ie, area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios) for the NBWT, TUG, and FSST had greater diagnostic accuracy and provided more information about the probability of a fall than those for the BBS or ABC.ConclusionPerformance above or below identified cutoff scores for the NBWT, FSST, and TUG provides information about potentially important shifts in the probability of falling among established unilateral LLP users. These results can serve as initial benchmarks to reduce uncertainty surrounding fall risk assessment in established unilateral LLP users but require future prospective evaluation.Level of EvidenceIII
Thermal Characterization of Naturally Aged Propellants
Authors: Heil Moritz , Hickmann Jürgen , Müller Christian 
Published: March 2019

AbstractIn this work, seven different, naturally aged gun propellants and four rocket propellants have been investigated by heat flow calorimetry, ARC, mass loss and stabilizer consumption. The investigated gun propellants are A 5020, K 503, GK 5030, Feldgeschütz Rottweil 1909 (FG 1909), K 6210, US M5 and US M26, the rocket propellants are D 714, HV 5, DBE 40, DBE 470 each with ageing time ranging up to several decades of natural ageing. From heat flow calorimetry data, activation energies for stabilizer consumption, NC decomposition and autocatalytic reaction are determined as well as time of reaction change depending on temperature of 70 °C, 80 °C and 90 °C. Conversion‐dependent activation energy is calculated using an iso‐conversional method for the three temperatures. The results are compared to the mass loss results obtained at 90 °C. Based on these results, the overall stability of the propellants is assessed.
piRNA‐DQ722010 contributes to prostate hyperplasia of the male offspring mice after the maternal exposed to microcystin‐leucine arginine
Authors: Han Ruitong , Zhang Ling , Gan Weidong , Fu Kai , Jiang Ke , Ding Jie , Wu Jiang , Han Xiaodong , Li Dongmei 
Published: March 2019

AbstractBackgroundMicrocystin‐leucine arginine (MC‐LR) could disrupt prostate development and cause prostate hyperplasia. But whether and how maternal and before‐weaning MC‐LR exposure causes prostate hyperplasia in male offspring by changing expression profile of P‐element‐induced wimpy (PIWI)–interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have not yet been reported.MethodsFrom the 12th day in the embryonic period to the 21st day after offspring birth, three groups of pregnant mice that were randomly assigned were exposed to 0, 10, and 50 μg/L of MC‐LR through drinking water followed by the analyses of their male offspring. Abortion rate and litter size of maternal mice were recorded. The prostate histopathology was observed. Differential expressed piRNAs of prostate were screened by piRNA microarray analysis. Murine prostate cancer cell line (RM‐1) was used for further mechanism study. Luciferase report assay was used to determine the relationship between piRNA‐DQ722010 and polypeptide 3 (Pik3r3).ResultsThe downregulated expression of piRNA‐DQ722010 was the most significant in piRNA microarray analysis in 10 μg/L MC‐LR treated group, while Pik3r3 was significantly upregulated, consistent with the results that a distinct prostatic epithelial hyperplasia was observed and phosphoinositide‐3‐kinase (PI3K)/protien kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway was activated. Pik3r3 was verified as the target gene of piRNA‐DQ722010. In addition, we found MC‐LR decreased the expression of PIWI‐like RNA‐mediated gene silencing 2 (Piwil2) and 4 (Piwil4) both in vivo and in vitro, and both Piwil4 and Piwil2 could regulate the expression of DQ722010.ConclusionMC‐LR caused downregulation of piRNA‐DQ722010 and PIWI proteins, while piRNA‐DQ722010 downregulation promoted activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway inducing prostate hyperplasia by upregulating the expression of Pik3r3. In contrast, piRNA‐DQ722010 downregulation may be attributed to PIWI proteins downregulation.
Failure mode and effects analysis by integrating Bayesian fuzzy assessment number and extended gray relational analysis‐technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method
Authors: Nie Wenbin , Liu Weidong , Wu Zhongyi , Chen Binsong , Wu Lulu 
Published: March 2019

AbstractFailure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a prospective risk assessment tool used to identify, assess, and eliminate potential failure modes (FMs) in various industries to improve security and reliability. However, the traditional FMEA method has been criticized for several shortcomings and even the improved FMEA methods based on predefined linguistic terms cannot meet the needs of FMEA team members' diversified opinion expressions. To solve these problems, a novel FMEA method is proposed by integrating Bayesian fuzzy assessment number (BFAN) and extended gray relational analysis‐technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (GRA‐TOPSIS) method. First, the BFANs are used to flexibly describe the risk evaluation results of the identified failure modes. Second, the Hausdorff distance between BFANs is calculated by using the probability density function (PDF). Finally, on the basis of the distance, the extended GRA‐TOPSIS method is applied to prioritize failure modes. A simulation study is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach in dealing with vague concepts and show its advantages over existing FMEA methods. Furthermore, a real case concerning the risk evaluation of aero‐engine turbine and compressor blades is provided to illustrate the practical application of the proposed method and particularly show the potential of using the BFANs in capturing FMEA team members' diverse opinions.
Interval observer versus set‐membership approaches for fault detection in uncertain systems using zonotopes
Authors: Pourasghar Masoud , Puig Vicenç , Ocampo‐Martinez Carlos 
Published: March 2019

SummaryThis paper presents both analysis and comparison of the interval observer–based and set‐membership approaches for the state estimation and fault detection (FD) in uncertain linear systems. The considered approaches assume that both state disturbance and measurement noise are modeled in a deterministic context following the unknown but bounded approach. The propagation of uncertainty in the state estimation is bounded through a zonotopic set representation. Both approaches have been mathematically related and compared when used for state estimation and FD. A case study based on a two‐tanks system is employed for showing the relationship between both approaches while comparing their performance.
A quantitative determination of the polymerization of benzoxazine thin coatings by time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry
Authors: Pospisilova Eva , Renaud Alexis , Poorteman Marc , Olivier Marjorie , Dumas Ludovic , Dubois Philippe , Bonnaud Leila , Moshkunov Konstantin , Nysten Bernard , Delcorte Arnaud 
Published: March 2019

Phenol‐paraphenylenediamine (P‐pPDA) benzoxazines exhibit excellent barrier properties, adequate to protect aluminum alloys from corrosion, and constitute interesting candidates to replace chromate‐containing coatings in the aeronautical industry. For the successful application of P‐pPDA coatings, it is necessary to decrease the curing temperature to avoid the delamination of the coating while preserving the mechanical properties of the alloy, as well as the barrier properties of the coating. However, decreasing the curing temperature leads to less polymerized films, the extent of which requires a quantitative assessment.While the conversion rate of the polymerization reaction is commonly evaluated for bulk samples using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), a tool for its evaluation in thin films is missing. Therefore, a new approach was developed for that matter using time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS). The relation between the SIMS data integrated from inside thin films and the DSC results obtained on bulk samples with the same curing cycle allowed to calibrate the SIMS data. With this preliminary calibration of the technique, the polymerization of P‐pPDA coatings can be locally determined, at the surface and along the depth of the coating, using dual‐beam depth profiling with large argon cluster beam sputtering.
App store mining for iterative domain analysis: Combine app descriptions with user reviews
Authors: Liu Yuzhou , Liu Lei , Liu Huaxiao , Yin Xinglong 
Published: March 2019

SummaryCompared with traditional software, the domain analysis of apps is conducted not only in the early stage of software development to gain knowledge of a particular domain but also runs throughout each iteration of apps to help developers understand evolution trends of the domain for maintaining their competitiveness. In this paper, we propose an approach to analyze app descriptions combined with reviews in App stores automatically and construct a feature‐based domain state model (FDSM) in the form of state machine to support the domain analysis of apps. In FDSM, the domain knowledge up to a certain moment together is defined as a state. Initial state summarizes the high‐level knowledge by gaining topics of app descriptions, whereas each transition is generated based on the information gained within one period of time and describes the change from the current state to the next one. Furthermore, user opinions in reviews are introduced into the model to quantify the value of information for helping developers get key domain knowledge efficiently. To validate the proposed approach, we conducted a series of experiments based on Google Play. The results show that FDSM can provide valuable information for supporting domain analysis, especially in the evolution process of apps.
Transient stability and voltage regulation in the framework of the interval type‐2 fuzzy model‐based control systems
Authors: Abbadi Amel , Hamidia Fethia 
Published: March 2019

In this paper, the transient stability enhancement and voltage regulation of a multimachine power system are investigated taking into account the generator parameter uncertainties. An interval type‐2 Takagi–Sugeno (IT2 T‐S) fuzzy model is proposed to represent the nonlinear plant subject to parameter uncertainties. New basic concepts of the IT2 T‐S fuzzy model are proposed to reduce considerably the number of models adopted. A Lyapunov‐based approach is employed to analyze the stability and the pole placement of the IT2 fuzzy closed‐loop system formed by the IT‐2 T‐S fuzzy model and the IT‐2 fuzzy controller. This approach presents a simple closed mathematical form that provides the possibility to regulate the system under uncertain model parameters with closed‐loop design specifications as linear matrix inequality (LMI)‐based optimization problems without any assumptions about the membership functions. A simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed IT‐2 fuzzy model‐based control approach. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Investigating the topology dependence of quark and gluon jets
Authors: Bright-Thonney Samuel , Nachman Benjamin 
Published: March 2019

AbstractAs most target final states for searches and measurements at the Large Hadron Collider have a particular quark/gluon composition, tools for distinguishing quark- from gluon-initiated jets can be very powerful. In addition to the difficulty of the classification task, quark-versus-gluon jet tagging is challenging to calibrate. The difficulty arises from the topology dependence of quark-versus-gluon jet tagging: since quarks and gluons have net quantum chromodynamic color charge while only colorless hadrons are measured, the radiation pattern inside a jet of a particular type depends on the rest of its environment. Given a definition of a quark or gluon jet, this paper studies the topology dependence of such jets in simulation. A set of phase space regions and jet substructure observables are identified for further comparative studies between generators and eventually in data.
A theory of RPC calculi for client–server model
Authors: CHOI KWANGHOON , CHANG BYEONG-MO 
Published: March 2019

AbstractWith multi-tier programming languages, programmers can specify the locations of code to run in order to reduce development efforts for the web-based client–server model where programmers write client and server programs separately and test the multiple programs together. The RPC calculus, one of the foundations of those languages by Cooper and Wadler, has the feature of symmetric communication in programmer’s writing arbitrarily deep nested client–server interactions. The feature of the calculus is fully implemented by asymmetric communication in trampolined style suitable for the client–server model. However, the existing research only considers a stateless server strategy in which all server states are encoded for transmission to the client so that server states do not need to be stored in the server. It cannot always correctly handle all stateful operations involving disks or databases. To resolve this problem, we first propose new stateful calculi that fully support both symmetric communication from the programmer’s viewpoint and asymmetric communication in its implementation using trampolined style. All the existing calculi either provide only the feature of asymmetric communication or propose only symmetric implementation suitable for the peer-to-peer model, rather than the client–server model. Second, the method used to design our stateful server strategy is based on a new locative type system which paves the way for a theory of RPC calculi for the client–server model. Besides proposing the new stateful calculi, this theory can improve the existing stateless server strategy to construct new state-encoding calculi that eliminate runtime checks on remote procedure calls present in the existing strategy, and it enables us to design a new mixed strategy that combines the benefits of both kinds of strategies. As far as we know, there are no typed multi-tier calculi that offer programmers the feature of symmetric communication with the implementation of asymmetric communication under the three strategies together.
Seasonality of births in horizontal strabismus: comparison with birth seasonality in schizophrenia and other disease conditions
Authors: Agarwal A. B. , Cassinelli K. , Johnson L. A. , Matsuda K. , Kirkpatrick B. , Yang W. , von Bartheld C. S. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractRecent work has implicated one type of horizontal strabismus (exotropia) as a risk factor for schizophrenia. This new insight raises questions about a potential common developmental origin of the two diseases. Seasonality of births is well established for schizophrenia. Seasonal factors such as light exposure affect eye growth and can cause vision abnormalities, but little is known about seasonality of births in strabismus. We examined birth seasonality in people with horizontal strabismus in a retrospective study in Washoe County, Nevada, and re-examined similar previously obtained data from Osaka, Japan. We then compared seasonal patterns of births between strabismus, refractive error, schizophrenia and congenital toxoplasmosis. Patients with esotropia had a significant seasonality of births, with a deficit in March, then increasing to an excess in September, while patients with exotropia had a distinctly different pattern, with an excess of births in July, gradually decreasing to a deficit in November. These seasonalities were statistically significant with either χ2 or Kolmogorov–Smirnov-type statistics. The birth seasonality of esotropia resembled that for hyperopia, with an increase in amplitude, while the seasonality for myopia involved a phase-shift. There was no correlation between seasonality of births between strabismus and congenital toxoplasmosis. The pattern of an excess of summer births for people with exotropia was remarkably similar to the well-established birth seasonality of one schizophrenia subtype, the deficit syndrome, but not schizophrenia as a whole. This suggests a testable hypothesis: that exotropia may be a risk factor primarily for the deficit type of schizophrenia.
First In Situ Evidence of Mars Nonthermal Exosphere
Authors: Leblanc F. , Benna M. , Chaufray J. Y. , Martinez A. , Lillis R. , Curry S. , Elrod M. K. , Mahaffy P. , Modolo R. , Luhmann J. G. , Jakosky B. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractDedicated in situ measurements of Mars' exospheric Ar density by Neutral Gas Ion Mass Spectrometer/Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (NGIMS/MAVEN) highlight profiles displaying two slopes altitude variation. Below 230 km, the Ar density is characterized by scale height of 13.5 ± 1.7 km and above 400 km by scale height of 156 ± 25 km. A comparison with the model HELIOSARES suggests that the most probable origin of the Ar nonthermal component is the collisional interaction, below the exobase, between the atmospheric Ar and the nonthermal O atoms produced by the dissociative recombination of O2+. These measurements therefore provide a new approach to constrain one of the main sources of Mars' atmospheric escape. They also lead to set up an upper limit on the efficiency of pickup ion sputtering at Mars. The comparison with HELIOSARES suggests that NGIMS detection sensitivity might allow a positive detection of this mechanism if more measurements at high altitude deep in the nightside are performed.
On-chip manufacturing of synthetic proteins for point-of-care therapeutics
Authors: Murphy Travis W. , Sheng Jiayuan , Naler Lynette B. , Feng Xueyang , Lu Chang 
Published: March 2019

AbstractTherapeutic proteins have recently received increasing attention because of their clinical potential. Currently, most therapeutic proteins are produced on a large scale using various cell culture systems. However, storing and transporting these therapeutic proteins at low temperatures makes their distribution expensive and problematic, especially for applications in remote locations. To this end, an emerging solution is to use point-of-care technologies that enable immediate and accessible protein production at or near the patient’s bedside. Here we present the development of “Therapeutics-On-a-Chip (TOC)”, an integrated microfluidic platform that enables point-of-care synthesis and purification of therapeutic proteins. We used fresh and lyophilized materials for cell-free synthesis of therapeutic proteins on microfluidic chips and applied immunoprecipitation for highly efficient, on-chip protein purification. We first demonstrated this approach by expressing and purifying a reporter protein, green fluorescent protein. Next, we used TOC to produce cecropin B, an antimicrobial peptide that is widely used to control biofilm-associated diseases. We successfully synthesized and purified cecropin B at 63 ng/μl within 6 h with a 92% purity, followed by confirming its antimicrobial functionality using a growth inhibition assay. Our TOC technology provides a new platform for point-of-care production of therapeutic proteins at a clinically relevant quantity.
Effect of C-2 substitution on the stability of non-traditional cephalosporins in mouse plasma
Authors: Zimmerman Matthew , McDonald Stacey L. , Ho-Liang Hsin-Pin , Porubsky Patrick , Nguyen Quyen , Pharr Cameron W. , Perkowski Andrew J. , Smith Robert , Schoenen Frank J. , Gold Ben S. , Zhang David , Nathan Carl F. , Dartois Véronique , Aubé Jeffrey 
Published: March 2019

AbstractA systematic study of the stability of a set of cephalosporins in mouse plasma reveals that cephalosporins lacking an acidic moiety at C-2 may be vulnerable to β-lactam cleavage in mouse plasma.
Rational approach to guest confinement inside MOF cavities for low-temperature catalysis
Authors: Wang Tiesheng , Gao Lijun , Hou Jingwei , Herou Servann J. A. , Griffiths James T. , Li Weiwei , Dong Jinhu , Gao Song , Titirici Maria-Magdalena , Kumar R. Vasant , Cheetham Anthony K. , Bao Xinhe , Fu Qiang , Smoukov Stoyan K. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractGeometric or electronic confinement of guests inside nanoporous hosts promises to deliver unusual catalytic or opto-electronic functionality from existing materials but is challenging to obtain particularly using metastable hosts, such as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Reagents (e.g. precursor) may be too large for impregnation and synthesis conditions may also destroy the hosts. Here we use thermodynamic Pourbaix diagrams (favorable redox and pH conditions) to describe a general method for metal-compound guest synthesis by rationally selecting reaction agents and conditions. Specifically we demonstrate a MOF-confined RuO2 catalyst (RuO2@MOF-808-P) with exceptionally high catalytic CO oxidation below 150 °C as compared to the conventionally made SiO2-supported RuO2 (RuO2/SiO2). This can be caused by weaker interactions between CO/O and the MOF-encapsulated RuO2 surface thus avoiding adsorption-induced catalytic surface passivation. We further describe applications of the Pourbaix-enabled guest synthesis (PEGS) strategy with tutorial examples for the general synthesis of arbitrary guests (e.g. metals, oxides, hydroxides, sulfides).
The causes of spatiotemporal variations in erupted fluxes and compositions along a volcanic arc
Authors: Till C. B. , Kent A. J. R. , Abers G. A. , Janiszewski H. A. , Gaherty J. B. , Pitcher B. W. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractDecades of study on volcanic arcs have provided insight into the overarching processes that control magmatism, and how these processes manifest at individual volcanoes. However, the causes of ubiquitous and dramatic intra-arc variations in volcanic flux and composition remain largely unresolved. Investigating such arc-scale issues requires greater quantitative comparison of geophysical and geochemical data, linked through sets of common intensive variables. To work towards these goals, we use observed lava compositions to estimate the heat budget associated with Quaternary volcanism in the Cascades Arc and compare this to the heat required to produce the observed geophysical properties of the crust. Here we show that along-strike volcanic variability in the Quaternary Cascades Arc is primarily related to variations in the flux of basalt into the crust, rather than variations in their crustal storage history. This approach shows promise for studying other large-scale frontier geologic problems in volcanic arcs.