bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Algicidal bacteria trigger contrasting responses in model diatom communities of different composition
Authors: Bigalke Arite , Pohnert Georg 
Published: February 2019

AbstractAlgicidal bacteria are important players regulating the dynamic changes of plankton assemblages. Most studies on these bacteria have focused on the effect on single algal species in simple incubation experiments. Considering the complexity of species assemblages in the natural plankton, such incubations represent an oversimplification and do not allow making further reaching conclusions on ecological interactions. Here, we describe a series of co‐incubation experiments with different level of complexity to elucidate the effect of the algicidal bacterium Kordia algicida on mixed cultures of a resistant and a susceptible diatom. The growth of the resistant diatom Chaetoceros didymus is nearly unaffected by K. algicida in monoculture, while cells of the susceptible diatom Skeletonema costatum are lysed within few hours. Growth of C. didymus is inhibited if mixed cultures of the two diatoms are infected with the bacterium. Incubations with filtrates of the infected cultures show that the effects are chemically mediated. In non‐contact co‐culturing we show that low concentrations of the lysed algae support the growth of C. didymus, while higher concentrations trigger population decline. Complex cascading effects of algicidal bacteria have thus to be taken into account if their ecological role is concerned.
Blocking gate resonator rasorber surface brings wide band electromagnetic absorption performance approaching theoretical limit
Authors: Yuan Xujin , Xu Yuannan , Chen Mingji , Cheng Xiaodong , Fang Daining 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn wide band electromagnetic absorbers, absorption in high and low frequency domain usually influence each other. Rasorber structure with blocking gate resonator (BGR) sub‐wavelength unit surface is proposed and applied in electromagnetic wave absorber to resolve this problem. The absorber has −10 dB low‐reflectivity performance operating in bandwidth ratio 161.2% and approaches Rozanov's theory limit in low frequency. BGR unit surface also generate a 2‐step design method for multi‐layer absorber structure. Rasorber BGR unit surface helps to enhance low frequency absorption with limited thickness while maintain absorption in relative higher wide frequency range by impedance matching at low frequency. Sample fabrication and experiment measurement basically testify the numerical speculations.
Broad‐band H‐spaced head‐shaped slot with SIW‐based antenna for 60 GHz wireless communication applications
Authors: Mungaru Nanda Kumar , Shanmuganantham Thangavelu 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this article, a compact SIW‐based H‐spaced head‐shaped slot antenna is proposed, and slot is etched into the top, proposed design printed by RT‐Duriod 5880 substrate (εr = 2.2), which is accountable for achieving millimeter‐wave wireless applications, small size, and broadband operation. The SIW‐based slot antenna with a compacted dimension of 14 × 8 × 0.381 mm3 is fabricated and tested. The testing results show that the design proposed, having occupied frequency range from 58.5 to 61.72 GHz, respectively, covers V‐band (millimeter wireless communications applications). The testing and simulation result bandwidth range of a proposed design is 4.22 and 4.19 GHz. It has fine radiation characteristics for both E‐field and H‐field in all the preferred operational bands and generates superior performances compared to the existing design antenna in the reviews.
Self‐generating Brillouin fiber laser using highly nonlinear hafnium bismuth erbium‐doped fiber
Authors: Ahmad Aminah , Cheng Xiau San , Paul Mukul Chandran , Dhar Anirban , Das Shyamal , Ahmad Harith , Harun Sulaiman Wadi 
Published: February 2019

AbstractA compact Brillouin fiber laser (BFL) utilizing a newly developed hafnium bismuth erbium‐doped fiber (HB‐EDF), which functions as both the Brillouin and linear gain media, is realized in the absence of Brillouin pump. It is achieved by the self‐Brillouin generation from a 0.2 m length of HB‐EDF with high nonlinearity in a laser cavity. The self‐generating BFL was obtained in both ring and linear laser cavities. Compared to the ring cavity, the BFL in the linear cavity produced more Brillouin stokes at a lower pump threshold. In the experiment, an eight‐line comb with average spacing of 0.087 nm was generated at the HB‐EDF pump power of 75.27 mW. This compact BFL has total cavity length of less than 0.5 m, and thus, this is the shortest gain medium reported for Brillouin erbium fiber laser generation without using any Brillouin pump.
Enhancement of the performance of the Cu2Se band filters via Yb nanosandwiching
Authors: Khusayfan Najla M. , Qasrawi A. F. , Khanfar Hazem K. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this article, we report the experimental and theoretical modeling on the band pass filters that are made of two thin film layers of Cu2Se coated onto aluminum substrates and nanosandwiched with 50 nm ytterbium layers. The nanosandwiching of Yb between two layers of Cu2Se is found to decrease the lattice constant, the defect density, and the strain and increase the grain size in the Cu2Se. Electrically, it is observed that, Al/Cu2Se/Al structure exhibits wave trap characteristics with notch frequency of 1.31 GHz. The Yb‐layers improved the performance of the band pass filters by increasing the amplitude of the reflection coefficients, increasing the return loss values and decreasing the voltage standing wave ratios. The calculated conduction and wave trapping parameters nominate the Yb‐nanosandwiched Cu2Se films for use in communication technology as they exhibit negative capacitance effect and narrow band pass range.
Circular sectoral waveguide TM01 to TE11 mode converter
Authors: Kumar Vikram , Dwivedi Smrity , Jain Pradip K. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractA high power microwave (HPM) TM01 to TE11 mode converter using circular sectoral waveguide (CSWG) is analyzed in this article. The design is simulated and validated by the measurements. The conversion efficiency is more than 90% over the frequency range 2.97‐3.02 GHz, Along with more than 99% of the input power is radiated at 3 GHz. The proposed all metal CSWG mode converter is of low weight, linear in design and HPM sustainable, having high return loss and good conversion efficiency.
23.5‐30 GHz gallium nitride on silicon power amplifier MMIC with 7.6‐12.4 W saturation output power
Authors: Tong Xiaodong , Zhang Shiyong , Zheng Penghui , Xu Jianxing , Wang Rong 
Published: February 2019

AbstractA 23.5‐30 GHz power amplifier (PA) using 0.1‐μm gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon (Si) microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) process is presented in this work. The area of this PA MMIC is 3.7 mm × 3.2 mm (11.8 mm2). The measured linear gain is 16.4‐19.4 dB with input/output return loss over 10 dB. The measured saturation output power (Psat) is 7.6‐12.4 W under pulsed working condition. The drain voltage is 12 V and the total drain current is 2.6 A, which induce a power added efficiency (PAE) of 26%‐37%. The reported GaN on Si (GaN/Si) PA has high power, high efficiency and low cost. It is more suitable for massive commercial application compared with the traditional GaN on silicon‐carbon (GaN/SiC) PA. As we know, there has been no high output power GaN/Si PA as high as 10 W level reported in the 20‐30 GHz frequency region.
Miniaturized dual‐band branch‐line coupler with enhanced bandwidth
Authors: Bekasiewicz Adrian 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this letter, a miniaturized hybrid dual‐band branch‐line coupler (BLC) with enhanced fractional bandwidths is proposed. Compact size and bandwidth enhancement are obtained using meandered transmission line sections with broken symmetry between cross‐coupling branches. The circuit is designed at a low numerical cost using surrogate‐assisted techniques. The optimized design features small size of only 0.25 λ
g × 0.19 λ
g (28% miniaturization with respect to conventional single‐band structure), as well as fractional bandwidths of 16% and 9% for 2.5 GHz and 5.4 GHz center frequencies, respectively. The proposed structure is compared against state‐of‐the‐art dual‐band couplers and validated experimentally.
Automatic multiorgan segmentation in thorax CT images using U‐net‐GAN
Authors: Dong Xue , Lei Yang , Wang Tonghe , Thomas Matthew , Tang Leonardo , Curran Walter J. , Liu Tian , Yang Xiaofeng 
Published: February 2019

PurposeAccurate and timely organs‐at‐risk (OARs) segmentation is key to efficient and high‐quality radiation therapy planning. The purpose of this work is to develop a deep learning‐based method to automatically segment multiple thoracic OARs on chest computed tomography (CT) for radiotherapy treatment planning.MethodsWe propose an adversarial training strategy to train deep neural networks for the segmentation of multiple organs on thoracic CT images. The proposed design of adversarial networks, called U‐Net‐generative adversarial network (U‐Net‐GAN), jointly trains a set of U‐Nets as generators and fully convolutional networks (FCNs) as discriminators. Specifically, the generator, composed of U‐Net, produces an image segmentation map of multiple organs by an end‐to‐end mapping learned from CT image to multiorgan‐segmented OARs. The discriminator, structured as an FCN, discriminates between the ground truth and segmented OARs produced by the generator. The generator and discriminator compete against each other in an adversarial learning process to produce the optimal segmentation map of multiple organs. Our segmentation results were compared with manually segmented OARs (ground truth) for quantitative evaluations in geometric difference, as well as dosimetric performance by investigating the dose‐volume histogram in 20 stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) lung plans.ResultsThis segmentation technique was applied to delineate the left and right lungs, spinal cord, esophagus, and heart using 35 patients’ chest CTs. The averaged dice similarity coefficient for the above five OARs are 0.97, 0.97, 0.90, 0.75, and 0.87, respectively. The mean surface distance of the five OARs obtained with proposed method ranges between 0.4 and 1.5 mm on average among all 35 patients. The mean dose differences on the 20 SBRT lung plans are −0.001 to 0.155 Gy for the five OARs.ConclusionWe have investigated a novel deep learning‐based approach with a GAN strategy to segment multiple OARs in the thorax using chest CT images and demonstrated its feasibility and reliability. This is a potentially valuable method for improving the efficiency of chest radiotherapy treatment planning.
In air and in vivo measurement of the leaf open time in tomotherapy using the on‐board detector pulse‐by‐pulse data
Authors: Schopfer Mathieu , Bochud François O. , Bourhis Jean , Moeckli Raphaël 
Published: February 2019

PurposeWe developed an algorithm to measure the leaf open times (LOT) from the on‐board detector (OBD) pulse‐by‐pulse data in tomotherapy. We assessed the feasibility of measuring the LOTs in dynamic jaw mode and validated the algorithm on machine QA and clinical data. Knowledge of the actual LOTs is a basis toward calculating the delivered dose and performing efficient phantom‐less delivery quality assurance (DQA) controls of the multileaf collimator (MLC). In tomotherapy, the quality of the delivered dose depends on the correct performance of the MLC, hence on the accuracy of the LOTs.Materials and methodsIn the detector signal, the period of time during which a leaf is open corresponds to a high intensity region. The algorithm described here locally normalizes the detector signal and measures the FWHM of the high intensity regions.The Daily QA module of the TomoTherapy Quality Assurance (TQA) tool measures LOT errors. The Daily QA detector data were collected during 9 days on two tomotherapy units. The errors yielded by the method were compared to these reported by the Daily QA module.In addition, clinical data were acquired on the two units (25 plans in total), in air without attenuation material in the beam path and in vivo during a treatment fraction. The study included plans with fields of all existing sizes (1.05, 2.51, 5.05 cm). The collimator jaws were in dynamic mode (TomoEDGETM). The feasibility of measuring the LOTs was assessed with respect to the jaw aperture.ResultsThe mean discrepancy between LOTs measured by the algorithm and those measured by TQA was of 0 ms, with a standard deviation of 0.3 ms. The LOT measured by the method had thus an uncertainty of 1 ms with a confidence level of 99%.In 5.05 cm dynamic jaw procedures, the detector is in the beam umbra at the beginning and at the end of the delivery. In such procedures, the algorithm could not measure the LOTs at jaw apertures between 7 and maximum 12.4 mm. Otherwise, no measurement error due to the jaw movement was observed. No LOT measurement difference between air and in vivo data was observed either.ConclusionThe method we propose is reliable. It can equivalently measure the LOTs from data acquired in air or in vivo. It handles fully the static procedures and the 2.51 cm dynamic procedures. It handles partially the 5.05 cm dynamic procedures. The limitation was evaluated with respect to the jaw aperture.
Experienced barriers in shared decision‐making behaviour of orthopaedic surgery residents compared with orthopaedic surgeons
Authors: Bossen Jeroen K.J. , van der Weijden Trudy , Driessen Erik W. , Heyligers Ide C. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIntroductionIn shared decision‐making (SDM), physicians encourage the patient to participate in the care process. The theory of planned behaviour describes that behaviour is dependent on intention. In its turn, intention is explained by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. In orthopaedics, little is known about current SDM behaviour and how to promote it.The aim of the present study was to gain insight into the SDM behaviour of orthopaedic residents and supervisors by measuring levels of intention, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the predictors of intention for SDM.MethodsA questionnaire survey study was conducted among orthopaedic surgeons and residents working in the care of hip and knee osteoarthritis, to determine their intentions, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control regarding SDM.ResultsOf the 385 physicians approached, 71 residents and 64 orthopaedic surgeons participated. Residents and the supervisors alike had positive intentions regarding SDM. Intention for SDM behaviour was explained by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, with perceived behavioural control having the strongest association. In residents, the intention to engage in SDM was more hampered by a lower level of perceived behavioural control than in surgeons.ConclusionsPhysicians are willing to perform SDM and consider SDM as favourable in the orthopaedic clinic. The implementation of SDM is mainly hampered by experienced barriers that they cannot control. These findings underline the importance of incorporating SDM in the curriculum of postgraduates. Possibilities for efficient SDM implementation should be explored, to overcome perceived barriers.
Sensory modulation of fasciculation discharge frequency
Authors: de Carvalho Mamede , Turkman Antonia , Swash Michael 
Published: February 2019

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Fasciculations are a marker for the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and reflect increased lower motor neuron (LMN) excitability. Methods: We investigated modulation of fasciculation frequency in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle of the right hand following peripheral sensory nerve electrical stimulation, and vibration over the muscle‐tendon region (50 and 100 Hz), in patients with ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and benign fasciculation syndrome. FDI muscles of ALS patients were classified by the presence or absence of neurogenic changes on needle electromyography. Results: Both sensory nerve electrical stimulation and vibration significantly increased the frequency of fasciculations in neurogenic FDI muscles of ALS patients, but not in the remaining groups. Discussion: Our results favour increased excitability of LMNs when affected by the disease process in ALS. We found that some fasciculations originating in these neurons in ALS are susceptible to modulation by sensory input. Muscle Nerve 59:688–693, 2019
Continuous prospectively navigated multi‐echo GRE for improved BOLD imaging of the kidneys
Authors: Morrell Glen Robert , Jeong Eun‐Kee , Shi Xianfeng , Zhang Lei , Lee Vivian Shu‐Ching 
Published: February 2019

The objective of this study is to develop improved methods for renal blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) imaging. T2* mapping of the kidneys, or renal BOLD imaging, may depict renal oxygen levels and may be valuable as a noninvasive means of following the progression of renal disease. Current renal BOLD data is limited by imaging in a single breath hold, which results in low resolution and low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). We compare a new free‐breathing renal BOLD method with conventional breath‐hold BOLD (BH‐BOLD).A multi‐echo GRE sequence with continuous prospective respiratory navigation and real‐time feedback was developed that allows high resolution and high SNR renal BOLD imaging with constant sequence repetition time (TR) during free‐breathing BOLD (FB‐BOLD). The sequence was evaluated in 10 normal volunteers and compared with conventional BH‐BOLD. Scan time for the FB‐BOLD sequence was approximately three minutes, compared with 15 seconds for the BH‐BOLD sequence. SNR of source images and residual error of T2* fitting were compared between the two methods.The FB‐BOLD sequence produced motion‐free T2* maps of the kidneys with SNR 1.9 times higher than BH‐BOLD images. Residual error of T2* fitting was consistently lower in the right kidney with FB‐BOLD (30% less than BH‐BOLD) but higher in the left kidney (80% more than BH‐BOLD), likely related to placement of the navigator on the right hemidiaphragm.A free‐breathing prospectively navigated renal BOLD sequence allows flexible tradeoff between scan time, resolution, and SNR.
Navigating the Challenges of Home Parenteral Nutrition
Authors: Koenen Brian , Benjamin Richard , Panciu Adriana 
Published: February 2019

AbstractProviding parenteral nutrition at home has significant challenges for both patients and providers alike. Some of these challenges are systemic and are secondary to the way the healthcare system is designed to deliver care. Others are more practical and require educating patients and their families to ensure success at home. Overall, the nutrition support team was designed to help deal with these challenges in an effective way. The changing realities of the modern health system are challenging the nutrition support team to adapt to new obstacles. Providing patients with the tools to succeed at home requires a significant amount of time and investment but will pay dividends in the future as patients thrive for years to come.
Eight‐node nonconforming hexahedral element based on reverse adjustment to patch test for solids, beams, plates, and shells
Authors: Hu Shengrong , Xu Jingjing , Liu Xinhong , Yan Murong 
Published: February 2019

SummaryAn eight‐node 24‐DOF nonconforming brick element is developed. It contains nine internal modes, including quadratic and cubic forms, wherein each local coordinate component is at most quadratic. The reverse adjustment to patch test is applied to quadratic modes to eliminate shear locking. To rectify the ill‐condition of the element stiffness matrix caused by irregular element shape such as large aspect ratio, a modified regularization method is introduced. It is based on Riley's series expansion of the solution to the ill‐conditioned linear system and is coupled in the condensation procedure of the internal degrees of freedom. With the regularization parameter α = 10−3, the first three terms are enough, which are achieved by two additional refinements in addition to the initial value. To validate the accuracy and robustness, a variety of linear benchmark tests is conducted on solid, beam, plate, and shell structures. The results are in good agreement with the reference solutions, provided the mesh is not too coarse or distorted. The overall performance implies that the new element is competitive with almost all the elements cited, including solid, solid‐shell, and shell elements, and is a potential one‐size‐fits‐all solution to linear structure problems.
Adipose Tissue Mediates Associations of Birth Weight with Glucose Metabolism Disorders in Children
Authors: Wu Yunpeng , Yu Xinting , Li Yu , Li Ge , Cheng Hong , Xiao Xinghua , Mi Jie , Gao Shan , Willi Steven M. , Li Ming 
Published: February 2019

ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the associations between low birth weight (LBW) versus high birth weight (HBW) and dysglycemia, including insulin resistance (IR) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in children, and aimed to explore the role of adipose tissue in these relationships.MethodsA total of 2,935 subjects aged 6 to 18 years were recruited to examine the relationship between birth weight and IR (defined as homeostasis model assessment of IR > 2.3) and IFG. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the roles of various adipokines and anthropometrics in these relationships.ResultsChildren with LBW had a nearly twofold increased risk of IR and IFG compared with children with normal birth weight, even after adjusting for BMI. Decreased circulating adiponectin levels contributed to 21.2% of the LBW–IR relationship, whereas none of the selected adipose markers mediated the LBW–IFG relationship. In contrast, after controlling for current BMI or waist circumference, HBW reduced the risk of IR by 34%, but it was not associated with IFG. The HBW–IR relationship was significantly mediated by reduced leptin levels (21.4%) and fat mass percentage (8.8%), after controlling for BMI.ConclusionsThese findings suggest the potential role of adipose tissue dysfunction as an underlying mechanism for the birth weight–type 2 diabetes relationship.
Non‐ossifying fibroma: A RAS‐MAPK driven benign bone neoplasm
Authors: Bovée Judith VMG , Hogendoorn Pancras CW 
Published: February 2019

AbstractNon‐ossifying fibroma (NOF) has been an intriguing entity since its first description. It is the most common bone tumour, is usually asymptomatic affecting children and adolescents, is composed of a heterogeneous cell population, and undergoes spontaneous regression after puberty. In a recent article in The Journal of Pathology, Baumhoer and colleagues demonstrate mutations activating the RAS‐MAPK pathway (KRAS, FGFR1 and NF1) in ∼80% of the tumours. Activation of the RAS‐MAPK pathway by somatic mutations is found in a plethora of tumour types, both benign and malignant, while germline mutations cause a wide range of syndromes collectively termed the RASopathies. Their findings indicate that NOF, for long thought to be reactive, should be considered a true neoplasm. Moreover, their data suggest that only a subset of cells in the lesion contain the mutation. A second cell population consisting of histiocytes and osteoclast‐like giant cells appears to be reactive. This intimate relation between WT and mutant cells is also frequently encountered in other benign and locally aggressive bone tumours and seems essential for tumourigenesis. The spontaneous regression remains enigmatic and it is tempting to speculate that pubertal hormonal signalling, especially increased oestrogen levels, affect the balance between mutant and WT cells. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.