bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Global continuous robust finite‐time control design for unified power flow controller
Authors: Lei Bangjun , Fei Shumin , Zhang Tao 
Published: June 2018

SummaryThis article proposes a global continuous robust finite‐time control (GCRFTC) for a unified power flow controller (UPFC) to improve the transient stability and oscillation damping of power system. First, by using an appropriate coordinate transformation, the nonlinear system of the UPFC is transformed into a nonlinear port‐controlled dissipative Hamiltonian (PCDH) system. Second, based on the PCDH system, by utilizing the Hamiltonian structural properties and the “energy shaping plus damping injection” technique, a proper form of a Hamiltonian function is obtained for the PCDH system. Third, using the Hamiltonian function method, finite‐time stability criterion and robust control technique, the GCRFTC is designed and theoretically proved, and the chattering phenomena and the high‐order frequencies of the power system are avoided effectively. Lastly, a six‐bus and two power plants power system with a UPFC is used to test the effectiveness and robustness of the GCRFTC. Simulation results show that the speed, overshoot, and settling time of the response and the transient conditions of the GCRFTC are further improved in comparison with that of the robust finite‐time power flow control.
Testing lepton flavour universality in semileptonic Λb → Λ*
c decays
Authors: Böer Philipp , Bordone Marzia , Graverini Elena , Owen Patrick , Rotondo Marcello , van Dyk Danny 
Published: June 2018

Abstract

Lepton Flavour Universality tests with semileptonic Λ
b
→ Λ

c

*
decays are important to corroborate the present anomalies in the similar ratios

$$ {R_D}_{{}^{\left(\ast \right)}} $$

R
D

∗

, and can provide complementary constraints on possible origins of these anomalies beyond the Standard Model. In this paper we provide — for the first time — all the necessary theoretical ingredients to perform and interpret measurements of

$$ {R}_{\Lambda_c^{*}} $$

R

Λ
c
*

at the LHCb experiment. For this, we revisit the heavy-quark expansion of the relevant hadronic matrix elements, and provide their expressions to order α

s
and 1/m accuracy. Moreover, we study the sensitivity to the form factor parameters given the projected size and purity of upcoming and future LHCb datasets of

$$ {\Lambda}_b\to {\Lambda}_c^{*}\mu \overline{\nu} $$

Λ
b

→

Λ
c
*

μ

ν
¯

decays. We demonstrate explicitly the need to perform a simultaneous fit to both Λ

c

*
final states. Finally, we provide projections for the uncertainty of

$$ {R}_{\Lambda_c^{*}} $$

R

Λ
c
*

based on the form factors analysis from semimuonic decays and theoretical relations based on the heavy-quark expansion.
Metal accumulation by the ultramafic flora of Kosovo
Authors: Salihaj Muharrem , Bani Aida , Shahu Edmira , Benizri Emile , Echevarria Guillaume 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe largest serpentine outcrops in Europe occur in the Balkan Peninsula. Kosovo, as a part of this region, hosts an ultramafic area of 487 km2 within its territory. This work reports the first systematic biogeochemical survey on the significant and most representative ultramafic massifs of Kosovo. The aim of this study was (i) to detail the geochemical composition of 12 ultramafic pedons obtained from 10 selected sites chosen as representative for Kosovo, (ii) to inventoriate the flora occurring on these sites and (iii) to identify plant species with potential for use in phytostabilization or phytoextraction purposes. Twelve representative pedons from 10 different sites across the country were excavated and 27 horizon samples were collected. Regarding the serpentine flora, a total of 162 plant taxa located at the ultramafic sites were collected. Soils samples were characterized for basic physico‐chemical characteristics and both plant and soil samples were analyzed for chemical composition. The serpentine soils samples displayed a vast array of physico‐chemical characteristics which reflected the geochemistry of the bedrock, the degree of weathering and the horizon characteristics. However there appeared to be a relationship between edaphic properties and the occurrence of several plant species. Although most of the plants’ species did not show metal concentrations above 1000 mg kg−1, Odontarrhena muralis (syn. Alyssum murale Waldst. and Kit). and Noccaea ochroleuca (Boiss and Heldr.) F.K.Mey. (syn. Thlaspi ochroleucum), did, thus meeting the criterion of Ni hyperaccumulating plants. Given the aforementioned, the resilience of these plants to both tolerate and accumulate heavy metals may prove useful for phytostabilization,
The Changes of MicroRNA Expression in the Corpus Cavernosum of a Rat Model With Cavernous Nerve Injury
Authors: Liu Chunhui , Cao Yanna , Ko Tien C. , Chen Ming , Zhou Xiaodong , Wang Run 
Published: June 2018

Abstract

Background
MicroRNAs (miRs) were found to be dysregulated in erectile dysfunction (ED) related to aging, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and vasculogenic abnormalities. However, miR expression in ED after radical prostatectomy (RP) is not known.

Aim
To detect abnormal miR expression in post-RP ED and analyze target genes and pathways.

Methods
16 Sprague Dawley rats were divided into bilateral cavernous nerve crush (BCNC) and control groups. 4 weeks after surgery, erectile function and histological change in the corpus cavernosum were evaluated. Total RNA from 3 rats from each group was isolated and processed to analyze the miR expression profiling by RNA sequencing. The top 10 up-regulated miR profiles were chosen directly and further validated in another 5 rats per each group by quantitative real-time polymerase chain (PCR) reaction. The target genes were predicted by online databases, including: TargetScan, mirwalk, miRanda, miRDB, and DIANA. The enrichment analysis of gene ontology-term analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were performed by DAVID database.

Outcomes
Intra-cavernosal pressure, mean arterial pressure, smooth muscle content, and miR expression were measured.

Results
Compared to the control group, the BCNC group had decreased intra-cavernosal/mean arterial pressure ratio and smooth muscle marker (α-smooth muscle actin). The sequence results showed that 124 miR expression dysregulated in the BCNC group, in which 122 miR expression were up-regulated. Of the 122 miRs, 21 miR expressions were increased above 2-fold. Among the top 10 up-regulated miRs, 4 miRs (miR-101a, miR-138, miR-338, and miR-142) levels were finally validated for over-expression by quantitative (PCR) reaction. The gene ontology analysis results showed that these 4 miRs could regulate the processes of cell apoptosis, fibrosis, endothelium, and smooth muscle cells function. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed the target genes were involved in 7 pathways related to ED.

Clinical Translation
Our findings provide novel insights into post-RP ED that may stimulate further studies to develop miR targeted therapy or damage detection for ED.

Strengths & Limitations
To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify the miR profiling and function in the BCNC rat model. The rat model might not represent the human condition and the miR was only detected at 1 period. Besides that, there is a high probability of false positives for RNA sequence results.

Conclusion
4 dysregulated miRs were found in the BCNC rat model, which may be related to post-RP ED by regulating apoptosis, fibrosis, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells.
ANALYZING LABOR HETEROGENEITY IN GHANAIAN COCOA PRODUCTION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEPARABILITY IN HOUSEHOLD DECISIONS AND POLICY ASSESSMENT
Authors: TSIBOE FRANCIS , LUCKSTEAD JEFF , DIXON BRUCE L. , NALLEY LAWTON L. , POPP JENNIE S. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractResearchers have employed farm household models (FHMs) for policy analysis under the separability assumption. However, separability can fail, and the household's production and consumption decisions become simultaneous. Using 5 years of household data, the separability assumption among Ghana's cocoa-producing households is tested via heterogeneity of household adult males and females, household children, and hired and exchange labor. Results show labor is heterogeneous, implying a lack of separability. Simulation analysis also shows that ignoring nonseparability leads to an underestimation of policy effects. Thus, nonseparability in production and consumption decisions must be incorporated in FHMs developed for Ghanaian cocoa-producing households.
JEWISH LAW, STATE, AND SOCIAL REALITY: PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS FOR THE PREVENTION OF DIVORCE REFUSAL IN ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Radzyner Amihai 
Published: June 2018

AbstractRabbinical courts in Israel serve as official courts of the state, and state law provides that a Jewish couple can obtain a divorce only in these courts, and only strictly according to Jewish law. By contrast, in the Western world, especially the United States, which has the largest concentration of Jews outside of Israel, the Jewish halakha is not a matter of state law, and rabbinical courts have no official status. This article examines critically the common argument that for a Jew committed to the halakha, and in particular for a Jewish woman who wants to divorce her husband, a state-sponsored halakhic system is preferable to a voluntary one. This argument is considered in light of the main tool that has been proven to help American Jewish women who wish to obtain a halakhic divorce from husbands refusing to grant it: the prenuptial agreement. Many Jewish couples in the United States sign such an agreement, but only a few couples in Israel do so, primarily because of the opposition of the rabbinical courts in Israel to these agreements. The article examines the causes of this resistance, and offers reasons for the distinction that exists between the United States and Israel. It turns out that social and legal reality affect halakhic considerations, to the point where rabbis claim that what the halakha allows in the United States it prohibits in Israel. The last part of the article uses examples from the past to examine the possibility that social change in Israel will affect the rulings of rabbinical courts on this issue.
Domesticating a Mystic: Catholic Saint-Making in Weimar Germany
Authors: Painter Cassandra 
Published: June 2018

AbstractVeneration of Westphalian stigmatic and visionary Anna Katharina Emmerick (1774–1824) reached new heights during the Weimar Republic. German Catholics engaged in promoting her beatification cause organized a multipronged, multimedia campaign. Priests and laypersons, as well as the popular press and theological journals, all encouraged the veneration of Emmerick as “a crucified saint for a crucifiedVolk.” Memories of Napoleonic French aggression, secularization, and waning religious belief provided revanchist Weimar German Catholics with a readymade narrative of victimization. Moreover, as a poster child of the WestphalianHeimat, her pilgrimage sites offered a spiritual antidote to the “godless” modern city. Meanwhile, everyday Catholics continued a century-old, locally-based tradition of veneration that did not strictly conform to the new “official” line. Emmerick's Weimar cult, and the modern saint-making process more generally, thus provide a window onto the push and pull between clergy and laity, men and women, institutional and popular forces, in shaping lived German Catholicism in the 1920s.
Fixing Prussia's Peripheries: Rural Disasters and Prusso-German State-Building, 1866–1914
Authors: Jones Elizabeth B. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractIn the 1860s, rural disasters on Prussia's eastern and western peripheries forced lawmakers to wrestle with the definition of the termemergency(Notstand), as well as with its temporal and spatial boundaries. The article first explores the legislative decision by Berlin politicians to limit state aid to East Prussia in 1868, even as other hunger crises devastated remote regions in the northwestern state of Hanover. The article then turns to the political conflicts over the 1868 law, including the disputes after unification over how to determine eligibility for state funds; the jostling among representatives of poor regions for attention; the creation of permanent relief funds; and politicians’ use of new understandings of moor science to strengthen and link Prussia's eastern and western peripheries. The article also considers the larger political context, emphasizing that the dismay over Prussian “backwardness” and inner-Prussian competition for disaster aid unfolded against the backdrop of the state's successful leadership during German unification.
A Sequence of Cultural Development in Meso-America
Authors: Armillas Pedro 
Published: June 2018

To understand better the nature of the American Indian civilizations they must be viewed as a whole. To do this it is necessary, as Dr. Steward indicated in his paper, to establish adequate bases for the comparison of general trends in cultural development, leaving out for the time being the frequently confusing individual traits and peculiarities of style.Such a point of departure requires a re-evaluation of our knowledge of the Meso-American cultural sequence, but to do this there is the obvious difficulty that the available information is as yet quite inadequate. From the beginning of the modern period of research in this area the efforts of most investigators were attracted almost exclusively to the ceremonial aspects of Meso-American civilization and their artistic expressions. Perhaps inevitable because of the dazzling splendor of the ruined buildings and ritualistic art, this resulted, nevertheless, in an overbalance of our knowledge in that direction.
Population, Disease, and Evolution
Authors: Armelagos George J. , McArdle Alan 
Published: June 2018

The Study of Infectious Disease in human populations has traditionally focused on the biological factors of virulence of the pathogen and the immunity of the host. Since this type of research has been stimulated by the need for the development of treatments for specific diseases, it is not difficult to understand this orientation. The definition of symptoms, differential diagnosis and the isolation of the pathogen are essential elements in the eventual treatment of a disease. The clinical approach to the study of disease was necessarily particularistic. Although population parameters were considered in evaluating the incidence of a disease, the social and cultural factors were seldom dealt with fully. Alland's (1970) study is one of the best attempts to examine the interaction of disease and population in the perspective of adaptation.In this paper, we will review studies which demonstrate the importance of culture in the transmission of infectious diseases, and from this perspective, we will attempt to develop an evolutionary framework for studying disease in human populations. Specifically, we will examine the effect of infectious diseases in small populations and propose models which will allow the measurement of these effects.
The Pueblos and the Turkey: Who Domesticated Whom?
Authors: Pinkley Jean M. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractExtinct at Mesa Verde in historic times, the turkey was reintroduced in 1944. This permitted observation of the relationship between wild birds and domesticated employees at the park. Timid at first, the turkeys soon knew where food could be found. They took over the feeding stations set out for small birds and took advantage of warm roosting places in the residential area. Despite efforts to chase them away (tossing cherry bombs and firing guns in the air), turkeys continued to congregate around park homes. It can be conjectured that the prehistoric Indians suffered likewise. When they learned that they could not drive off the turkeys, they most likely decided to corral them to protect their crops and food stores. Recognition of the value of this bird for food and artifacts was the logical next step. Domestication must have been a means for establishing order and maintaining sanity among the prehistoric Indians, who might otherwise have been driven wild by turkeys.
Phantoms in the Pinyon: An Investigation Of UTE-Pueblo Contacts
Authors: Kayser Joyce 
Published: June 2018

AbstractDespite Fewkes's reports of 1909 and 1916 that a legend of a battle with the Anasazi was obtained from the Utes, such knowledge was denied by all Southern Utes queried in 1963. Their matter-of-fact acceptance of a common identity between the ruins builders and the modern Pueblo peoples, together with evidence from Spanish documents, led to the hypothesis that the Utes have had a long, unbroken (if somewhat peripheral), and for the most part nonviolent contact with the Anasazi-Pueblo. Spanish records also suggest that eastern Utes in early historic times had become quite unlike their more closely studied Great Basin relatives, and that as participants in the general plains culture they had further contact with the Pueblos and the Spanish. Evidence that an Athapascan intrusion successfully blocked Ute-Pueblo contact seems far from conclusive.
Identification of Medicinally Used Flora Using Pollen Features Imaged in the Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Lower Margalla Hills Islamabad Pakistan
Authors: Sufyan Muhammad , Badshah Ikram , Ahmad Mushtaq , Zafar Muhammad , Bahadur Saraj , Rashid Neelam 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe present study planned to assess the medicinally important plants in the lower Margalla Hills of Islamabad, Pakistan using scanning electron microscopy of their pollens. Both quantitative and qualitative characters of the pollens were analyzed. The shapes of the pollen were prolate, spheroidal, elliptical, and oblate. Exine sculpturing showed rugulate, scabrate, psilate gemmate, and reticulate ornamentation. The people residing in the rural areas are thought to depend, primarily, on medicinal plant resources for many health care needs. A sample of 140 respondents was selected and interviewed by using a stratified random sampling technique. Results showed that the local communities of lower Margalla Hills are highly dependent on plants to treat various ailments, for example, respiratory (28%), digestive (46%) nervous, circulatory and dermatological problems (6% each), and reproductive problems (8%). The continuous dependence of the local community on ethnomedicinally important plants has led to serious degradation of the natural forest of lower Margalla Hills. Priority-based conservation and sustainable use of these forest resources are necessary, and use of alternative resources will also help in the forest conservation.
Asymmetry of the Predictability Limit of the Warm ENSO Phase
Authors: Hou Zhaolu , Li Jianping , Ding Ruiqiang , Karamperidou Christina , Duan Wansuo , Liu Ting , Feng Jie 
Published: June 2018

AbstractA nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent method based on monthly sea surface temperature data is employed to explore the predictability limit of warm El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Results using observational data show an asymmetry of the predictability limit between the developing and decaying stages of the warm ENSO phase. To wit, predictability of the developing stage of warm ENSO events is found to approach a limit of 10 months, less than that of the mature and decaying stages. This asymmetrical predictability limit is also found in a long climate model simulation and may explain the asymmetry in operational forecast skill of warm ENSO events. Through exploring the error growth rate as represented by nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent and the instantaneous error growth rate, it is shown that error growth, especially during the first 8‐month lead forecasts, is the primary contributor to the asymmetry of the predictability limit of warm ENSO events.
Evolutionary conservation of the antimicrobial function of mucus: a first defence against infection
Authors: Bakshani Cassie R , Morales-Garcia Ana L , Althaus Mike , Wilcox Matthew D , Pearson Jeffrey P , Bythell John C , Burgess J Grant 
Published: June 2018

AbstractMucus layers often provide a unique and multi-functional hydrogel interface between the epithelial cells of organisms and their external environment. Mucus has exceptional properties including elasticity, changeable rheology and an ability to self-repair by re-annealing, and is therefore an ideal medium for trapping and immobilising pathogens and serving as a barrier to microbial infection. The ability to produce a functional surface mucosa was an important evolutionary step, which evolved first in the Cnidaria, which includes corals, and the Ctenophora. This allowed the exclusion of non-commensal microbes and the subsequent development of the mucus-lined digestive cavity seen in higher metazoans. The fundamental architecture of the constituent glycoprotein mucins is also evolutionarily conserved. Although an understanding of the biochemical interactions between bacteria and the mucus layer are important to the goal of developing new antimicrobial strategies, they remain relatively poorly understood. This review summarises the physicochemical properties and evolutionary importance of mucus, which make it so successful in the prevention of bacterial infection. In addition, the strategies developed by bacteria to counteract the mucus layer are also explored.
The prognostic significance of metabolic syndrome and weight loss in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Liu Bowen , Cheng Bo , Wang Cong , Chen Pengxiang , Cheng Yufeng 
Published: June 2018

AbstractOur study aimed to investigate the association between metabolic syndrome and postoperative survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and evaluate whether metabolic syndrome can predict the prognosis in esophageal cancer patients. The retrospective study reviewed 519 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who had received esophagetomy and lymphnode dissections in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University between January 2007 and December 2011. All patients were followed up until December 2016. The median follow-up time was 39.59 months (range 0.25–72 months). The 3-year and 5-year survival rate was 51.4% and 37.0%, respectively. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed a significant correlation between OS and obesity (P = 0.000), weight loss (P = 0.000), diabetes (P = 0.001) and dyslipidemia (P = 0.030). Multivariate analysis indicated that advanced TNM staging (P = 0.007, HR: 1.760, 95% CI: 1.167–2.654) and more weight loss (P = 0.000, HR: 1.961, 95% CI: 1.697–2.267) were independent factors for adverse prognosis of esophageal squamous carcinoma patients. In contrast, diabetes was a protective factor in the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer (P = 0.018, HR: 0.668, 95% CI: 0.478–0.933). Our findings suggest that TNM staging, weight changes and diabetes were independent predictors for the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients.
Modification of an Amidolytic Heparin Assay to Express Protein-Bound Heparin and to Correct for the Effect of Antithrombin III Concentration
Authors: Lyon Sandra G , Lasser Elliott C , Stein Rosalyn 
Published: June 2018

SummaryA modification of an anti-Xa assay for plasma heparin has been devised using a low molecular weight dextran sulfate that competitively binds protein heparin neutralizers and displaces masked heparin. The addition of 0.12 mg dextran sulfate per ml of plasma permits heparin, neutralized by the products of platelet aggregation, to recover full functional activity against Xa. The assay will permit a more accurate assessment of both exogenous plasma heparin and endogenous liepaiin-like activity in blood samples collected with varying techniques. A further modification is proposed employing polybrene to neutralize the plasma heparin-like material providing a concurrent control for each sample that increases accuracy by eliminating the effect of varying AT-III levels which have anti-Xa activity.