bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Existence of a Precipitation Threshold in the Electrostatic Precipitation of Oppositely Charged Nanoparticles
Authors: Nakanishi Hideyuki , Deák András , Hólló Gábor , Lagzi István 
Published: October 2018

AbstractOppositely charged nanoparticles precipitate rapidly only at the point of electroneutrality, wherein their charges are macroscopically compensated. We investigated the aggregation and precipitation of oppositely charged nanoparticles at concentrations ranging from 10 to 10−3 mm (based on gold atoms) by using UV/Vis measurements. We employed solutions of equally sized (4.6 nm) gold nanoparticles, which were functionalized and stabilized with either positively or with negatively charged alkanethiols. Results showed that oppositely charged nanoparticles do not precipitate if their concentration is below a certain threshold even if the electroneutrality condition is fulfilled. This finding suggests a universal behavior of chemical systems comprising oppositely charged building blocks such as ions and charged nanoparticles.
Hierarchical Self‐Assembly of BODIPY Dyes as a Tool to Improve the Antitumor Activity of Capsaicin in Prostate Cancer
Authors: Sampedro Angel , Ramos‐Torres Ágata , Schwöppe Christian , Mück‐Lichtenfeld Christian , Helmers Ingo , Bort Alicia , Díaz‐Laviada Inés , Fernández Gustavo 
Published: October 2018

AbstractCapsaicin (CAP) has been long known for its analgesic properties and more recently for its antitumor activity in various cell types. However, its pungency and the high doses needed to achieve a significant activity have precluded its application in cancer therapy. Herein, we propose a straightforward novel strategy to improve the antitumor effect of CAP based on the enhancement of its aggregation propensity in aqueous media by covalent attachment of a BODIPY (BDP) dye. The target CAP‐BDP 1 self‐assembles in aqueous solutions into weakly fluorescent globular assemblies that become highly emissive upon cell uptake‐induced disassembly. Remarkably, due to the improved delivery to the tumour tissue upon aggregation, we have succeeded in reducing the doses of CAP‐based drugs in vivo in prostate cancer by two orders of magnitude while maintaining a substantial antitumor activity.
Nitromethane as a Carbanion Source for Domino Benzoannulation with Ynones: One‐Pot Synthesis of Polyfunctional Naphthalenes and a Total Synthesis of Macarpine
Authors: Singh Shweta , Samineni Ramesh , Pabbaraja Srihari , Mehta Goverdhan 
Published: October 2018

AbstractA one‐pot, transition‐metal‐free, domino Michael/SNAr protocol of general applicability has been devised for the regioselective synthesis of polyfunctional naphthalenes by employing nitromethane and ortho‐haloaryl ynones. Utilization of nitromethane as a one carbon carbanion source that is incorporated into a variety of ynones, ends up as an aromatic nitro substituent. The application of this domino process towards a total synthesis of the polycyclic alkaloid macarpine demonstrate for the efficacy of this methodology. The conceptually simple approach to affect regioselective, multifunctional benzoannulation of ynones displays wide substrate scope and functional‐group tolerance and has been implemented with substituted nitromethanes, as well as with alicyclic o‐haloynones.
Thermoresponsive‐interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels for heavy metal ion recovery
Authors: Ochi Masanori , Ida Junichi , Matsuyama Tatsushi , Yamamoto Hideo 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTThermoresponsive‐interpenetrating polymer network (TR‐IPN) hydrogels containing a large number of chelating groups were synthesized; the aim was to ensure the recovery of large amounts of heavy metal ions through temperature cycling across volume phase transition temperature of the hydrogel. The TR‐IPN hydrogels were synthesized from poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and alginate, and the ability of these hydrogels to adsorb a heavy metal ion, Cu(II), was investigated at different temperatures. In the experiment, the hydrogels were prepared using various alginate and crosslinker concentrations. Despite the incorporation of a large number of chelating groups, the TR‐IPN hydrogels exhibited a large thermoresponsive volume change regardless of the presence of Cu(II). The Cu(II) adsorption experiment showed that the saturated adsorption amount of the hydrogels was larger at 50 than at 10 °C. In addition, we demonstrated that the difference between the amounts adsorbed at 10 and 50 °C, which we consider to be the amount of Cu(II) that the TR‐IPN hydrogels can recover through temperature cycling, was greater than those obtained by other conventional copolymerized thermoresponsive hydrogels. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci.2018,135, 46701.
Synthesis and characterization of phosphonate and aromatic‐based polynorbornene polymers derived from the ring opening metathesis polymerization method and investigation of their thermal properties
Authors: lşıksel E. , Kahraman G. , Ceren Süer N. , Wang D.‐Y. , Eren T. 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTIn the present study, phosphonate ester, phosphonic acid, and aromatic (phenyl, naphthalene, anthracene) groups containing polymers were synthesized by the ROMP method to analyze thermal properties of these polymers. Thermal stability of the synthesized polymers is tested by thermal gravimetric analysis under nitrogen, air, and microscale combustion calorimetry analysis. Analysis shows that thermal behavior is directly related to the phosphorus level in the copolymer series. All the polymers are thermally stable under nitrogen and air up to 900 °C. Synergistic charring effect under air was observed between aromatic groups and phosphonic acid functionality in the copolymer series. Anthracene units have a greater potential to form carbonaceous char than the naphthalene and phenyl units. Phosphonate ester and naphthalene units bearing copolymers (P3A) gave 8.13% char yield at 900 °C under air. Phosphonic acid derivatives of this polymer, P3D, gave a highest char residue of 17.15% under the same condition. The introduction of phosphonate and phosphonic acid in each copolymer series is also beneficial in reducing the peak heat release rate (PHRR). Cleavage of the phosphonate ester bearing homopolymer (P4) to phosphonic acid (P4A) causes a sharp decrease in the PHRR ratio from 274 to 28.2 W/g. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47085.
Preparation and characterization of antimicrobial films based on nanocrystalline cellulose
Authors: Zhang Yan , Liu Ying , Li Rong , Ren Xuehong , Huang Tung‐Shi 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTNanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) has great potential in applications in medical and food packaging due to its abundance, high specific surface area, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and reproducibility. N‐Halamine is one of the most effective antibacterial agents, with broad‐spectrum efficacy against microorganisms, good stability, and reproducibility. Due to the nanosize effect and high specific surface area of NCC, N‐halamine‐modified NCC is potentially an excellent biocidal compound. In this paper, an N‐halamine precursor 1‐hydroxymethyl‐5,5‐dimethylhydantoin (HDH) was used to modify NCC with cyanuric chloride (cych) as the bonding agent. After chlorination, the produced NCC‐cych‐HDH‐Cl became antibacterial. The synthesized NCC‐cych‐HDH‐Cl was added to a chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution to prepare antibacterial films. The optimum mixing ratio of PVA and CS in the PVA/CS films and concentration of NCC‐cych‐HDH‐Cl were investigated. The surface morphologies and mechanical properties of the antibacterial films were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and mechanical strength tests. The results indicated that the film with 90/10 PVA/CS and 7.0% loading of NCC‐cych‐HDH‐Cl exhibited excellent tensile strength. The antibacterial film with 5.91 × 1017 atoms/cm2 of active chlorine displayed an excellent antibacterial property against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (ATCC 43895). © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47101.
Spinning‐assist layer‐by‐layer assembled polysulfonamide membrane for reverse osmosis from naphthalene‐1,3,6‐trisulfonylchloride and piperazine
Authors: Yuan Tao , Hu Yuefang , He Meng , Zhao Shuzhen , Lan Hongling , Li Peng , Jason Niu Q. 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTPolysulfonamide (PSA), with its chemical stability and acid‐resistance, is seen as a potential material for reverse osmosis. However, the present PSA thin film composite membranes fabricated via prevailing interfacial polymerization (IP) approach generally exhibited nonfavored desalination performance. In this work, PSA membrane was assembled via spinning‐assist layer‐by‐layer (sLbL) on a poly(vinyl alcohol) modified polyethersulfone substrate. Fabrication was carried out through sequential interfacial reaction between naphthalene‐1,3,6‐trisufonylchloride and piperazine by alternately dipping and drying the substrate in two monomer phases. Morphology, chemical composition, surface charge distribution as well as surface hydrophilicity were investigated as a function of repeated cycles. The sLbL assembly approach implemented facile control over membrane properties with well‐organized selective layer thickness growth and twofold to threefold reduced surface roughness. As measured from spectroscopic ellipsometry, the sLbL assembled membranes exhibited a linear thickness growth at ~2.72 nm per layer. Performance test indicated that the salt rejection and water flux showed a trade‐off pattern with increasing layer number. The PSA membrane with five layers showed a preferable NaCl rejection of 95.7 ± 0.4% with a water flux of 12.4 ± 0.9 L m−2 h−1 at 10 bar, whereas the IP membrane exhibited only 58% and a 22.12 L m−2 h−1 flux. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47138.
A temperature‐responsive polyurethane film with reversible visible light transmittance change and constant low UV light transmittance
Authors: Xiao Y. , Wu B. , Liu Z. , Jiang L. , Lei J. , Wang R. 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTWe prepared a temperature‐responsive polyurethane (PU) film with reversible visible light transmittance change, which was opaque at room temperature and became transparent when the temperature rised. The PU film has very low visible light transmittance of 1.4% at room temperature. At 45 °C, the PU film has relatively high transmittance of 66.7% looking translucent. When the temperature goes to 50 °C or above, the transmittance is more than 80% and the PU film is transparent. The reason for this interesting phenomenon about visible light transmittance change was illustrated by polarizing optical microscope and differential scanning calorimetry. While ultraviolet light transmittance of the PU film is very low at all time. Moreover, this PU film has excellent mechanical performance in a wide temperature range. We suppose this PU film has potential applications in many fields such as tunable optical devices or coating materials with smart temperature responsivity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47140.
Development of gelatin/chitosan/PVA hydrogels: Thermal stability, water state, viscoelasticity, and cytotoxicity assays
Authors: Rodríguez‐Rodríguez R. , García‐Carvajal Z. Y. , Jiménez‐Palomar I. , Jiménez‐Avalos J. A. , Espinosa‐Andrews H. 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTGelatin/chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels were fabricated with different polymer ratio using the freeze‐drying process. The thermal stability, water state, rheological, and cytotoxic properties of the hydrogels were evaluated. Thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry analyses showed a decomposition onset temperature below 242.7 ± 2.7 °C. The samples did not show statistical differences (p < 0.05) on the onset temperature values. Nonfreezing water reached a constant value around of 1 g water/g polymer. Freezing water increased linearly with the increase of the water content independently of the polymer ratio. The hydrogels showed an equilibrium water content from 9 to 13 times their mass. The hydrogels exhibited a solid‐viscoelastic behavior. The elastic modulus was higher with the increase of chitosan concentration (G′ = 22 170 ± 85 Pa) independently of the temperature (5–55 °C). In vitro assay showed that hydrogels are nontoxic in the HT29‐MTX‐E12 cell line. These results indicate that the gelatin/chitosan/PVA hydrogels could be considered for biomedical applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47149.
Comparative analysis of atrazine molecularly imprinted polymers using acetonitrile and toluene as solvents
Authors: Zhang Mengxiao , Gu Lili , Kong Guanghui , Zheng Yali , Han Yi , Li Zhijun , Shi Junli , Peng Jian 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTAcetonitrile and toluene are solvents commonly used for the synthesis of atrazine molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), but their effects have seldom been compared in the same imprinting system. In this paper, effects of the two solvents in an atrazine molecular imprinting system were evaluated theoretically and experimentally. A polarizable continuum model was adopted, and it was found that using the two solvents, the energy difference for the atrazine–methacrylic acid complex between vacuum and solution was not the same. The two types of MIPs prepared using different solvents vary in morphology, porosity, binding capacity, and specificity. All of these results suggest that the abilities of the solvents used to form hydrogen bonds with other compounds in the system are different. The porogen imprinting effect of the solvents also has an influence on binding capacity. Compared to MIPs synthesized using acetonitrile as solvent (MIPs‐ACN), MIPs synthesized using toluene as solvent (MIPs‐PhMe) have fewer but larger pores and exhibit much higher adsorption capability but less rigorous specificity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47190.
Alkene–Azide 1,3‐Dipolar Cycloaddition as a Trigger for Ultrashort Peptide Hydrogel Dissolution
Authors: Dadhwal Sumit , Fairhall Jessica M. , Goswami Shailesh K. , Hook Sarah , Gamble Allan B. 
Published: October 2018

AbstractAn alkene–azide 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition between trans‐cyclooctene (TCO) and an azide‐capped hydrogel that promotes rapid gel dissolution is reported. Using an ultrashort aryl azide‐capped peptide hydrogel (PhePhe), we have demonstrated proof‐of‐concept where upon reaction with TCO, the hydrogel undergoes a gel–sol transition via 1,2,3‐triazoline degradation and 1,6‐self‐immolation of the generated aniline. The potential application of this as a general trigger in sustained drug delivery is demonstrated through release of encapsulated cargo (doxorubicin). Administration of TCO resulted in 87 % of the cargo being released in 10 h, compared to 13–14 % in the control gels. This is the first example of a potential bioorthogonal‐triggered hydrogel dissolution using a traditional click‐type reaction. This type of stimulus could be extended to other aryl azide‐capped hydrogels.
Finite‐Time Guaranteed Cost Control of Caputo Fractional‐Order Neural Networks
Authors: Thuan Mai Viet , Binh Tran Nguyen , Huong Dinh Cong 
Published: October 2018

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the problem of finite‐time guaranteed cost control of uncertain fractional‐order neural networks. Firstly, a new cost function is defined. Then, by using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) approach, some new sufficient conditions for the design of a state feedback controller which makes the closed‐loop systems finite‐time stable and guarantees an adequate cost level of performance are derived. These conditions are in the form of linear matrix inequalities, which therefore can be efficiently solved by using existing convex algorithms. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Effect of Proportional Delays and Continuously Distributed Leakage Delays on Global Exponential Convergence of CNNS
Authors: Xu Changjin , Chen Lilin , Li Peiluan 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThis paper is concerned with a class of cellular neural networks (CNNs) with proportional delays and continuously distributed leakage delays. Using the differential inequality theory, a set of sufficient conditions which guarantee the exponential convergence of all solutions of CNNs with proportional delays and continuously distributed leakage delays are derived. Computer simulations are carried out to verify our theoretical findings. The obtained results of this paper are new and complement some previous studies.
In Search of Biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Del Valle Rubido Marta , McCracken James T. , Hollander Eric , Shic Frederick , Noeldeke Jana , Boak Lauren , Khwaja Omar , Sadikhov Shamil , Fontoura Paulo , Umbricht Daniel 
Published: October 2018

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lacks validated measures of core social functions across development stages suitable for clinical trials. We assessed the concurrent validity between ASD clinical measures and putative biomarkers of core deficits, and their feasibility of implementation in human studies. Datasets from two adult ASD studies were combined (observational study [n = 19] and interventional study baseline data [n = 19]). Potential biomarkers included eye‐tracking, olfaction, and auditory and visual emotion recognition assessed via the Affective Speech Recognition test (ASR) and Reading‐the‐Mind‐in‐the‐Eyes Test (RMET). Current functioning was assessed with intelligence quotient (IQ), adaptive skill testing, and behavioral ratings. Autism severity was determined by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale‐2 and Social Communication Interaction Test (SCIT). Exploratory measures showed varying significant associations across ASD severity, adaptive skills, and behavior. Eye tracking endpoints showed little relationship to adaptive ability but correlated with severity and behavior. ASR scores significantly correlated with most adaptive behavior domains, as well as severity. Olfaction predicted visual and auditory emotion recognition. SCIT scores related moderately to multiple severity domains, and was the only measure not related with IQ. RMET accuracy was less related to ASD features. Eye tracking, SCIT, and ASR showed high test–retest reliability. We documented associations of proximal biomarkers of social functioning with multiple ASD dimensions. With the exception of SCIT, most correlations were modest, limiting utility as proxy measures of social communication. Feasibility and reliability were high for eye‐tracking, ASR, and SCIT. Overall, several novel experimental paradigms showed potential as social biomarkers or surrogate markers in ASD. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1567–1579. © 2018 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Lay SummaryMore accurate measurements of treatment effects are needed to help the development of new drug treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study evaluates the relationship between assessments designed to measure behaviors associated with social communication and cognition in ASD with clinical and diagnostic assessments of symptom severity as well as their implementation. The assessments including eye‐tracking, auditory and visual social stimuli recognition, and olfaction identification showed potential for use in the evaluation of treatments for social difficulties in ASD.
Power priors based on multiple historical studies for binary outcomes
Authors: Gravestock Isaac , Held Leonhard 
Published: October 2018

AbstractIncorporating historical information into the design and analysis of a new clinical trial has been the subject of much recent discussion. For example, in the context of clinical trials of antibiotics for drug resistant infections, where patients with specific infections can be difficult to recruit, there is often only limited and heterogeneous information available from the historical trials. To make the best use of the combined information at hand, we consider an approach based on the multiple power prior that allows the prior weight of each historical study to be chosen adaptively by empirical Bayes. This choice of weight has advantages in that it varies commensurably with differences in the historical and current data and can choose weights near 1 if the data from the corresponding historical study are similar enough to the data from the current study. Fully Bayesian approaches are also considered. The methods are applied to data from antibiotics trials. An analysis of the operating characteristics in a binomial setting shows that the proposed empirical Bayes adaptive method works well, compared to several alternative approaches, including the meta‐analytic prior.
Development of a simple and rapid HPLC‐MS/MS method for quantification of streptomycin in mice and its application to plasma pharmacokinetic studies
Authors: Wang Zhijun , Xie Chen , Yeung Steven , Wang Jeffrey , Chow Moses S.S. 
Published: October 2018

AbstractStreptomycin was the first discovered aminoglycoside antibiotic. It has been widely applied in veterinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infection. However, the current detection methods are not satisfactory in terms of sensitivity and sample process, which makes them unsuitable for a pharmacokinetic study. A high‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometric method employing positive electrospray ionization was developed and validated for the determination of streptomycin concentration in mice plasma. A simple protein precipitation method was utilized to extract streptomycin as well as the internal standard (kanamycin) from mouse plasma. This assay method was validated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, precision, accuracy and recovery. This method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice following intramuscular administration of 200 mg/kg streptomycin. The lower limit of quantification of the developed assay method for streptomycin was 10 ng/mL. The intra‐day and inter‐day precision was evaluated with the coefficient of variations <14.3%, whereas the mean accuracy ranged from 87.0 to 105.0%. The samples were stable under the experimental conditions. The present method provides a robust, fast and sensitive analytical approach for the quantification of streptomycin in mouse plasma and has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice.
Life cycle assessment in corporate sustainability reporting: Global, regional, sectoral, and company‐level trends
Authors: Stewart Raphaëlle , Fantke Peter , Bjørn Anders , Owsianiak Mikołaj , Molin Christine , Hauschild Michael Zwicky , Laurent Alexis 
Published: October 2018

AbstractLarge companies now commonly release corporate sustainability (CS) reports in which they describe their approach to handle sustainability challenges. To guide environmental sustainability efforts in the industry, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been recognized as an important tool by researchers and policy makers. But to what extent has the LCA methodology been present in companies' narratives through their CS reports up to now? To answer this question, we map references to the LCA methodology in CS reports over the past two decades at geographical, sectoral, and company levels through keyword searching within an extensive database (~45,000 CS reports), analyze trends, and highlight challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to strengthen the presence of LCA in CS reports. The results show that LCA generally remains weakly present in CS reporting, with some geographical and sectoral variations. Recommendations to strengthen LCA presence in CS reports are derived for method developers, policy makers, and companies.