bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fixed frequency sliding mode control of renewable energy resources in DC micro grid
Authors: Yasin Abdul Rehman , Ashraf Muhammad , Bhatti Aamer Iqbal , Uppal Ali Arshad 
Published: March 2019

AbstractThe rising cost of fossil fuels, their high depleting rate and issues regarding environmental pollution have brought the attention of the researchers towards renewable energy technologies. Different renewable energy resources like wind turbines, fuel cells and solar cells are connected to DC micro grid through controllable power electronic converters. In presence of these diverse generation units, robust controllers are required to ensure good power quality and to regulate grid voltage. This paper presents a sliding mode control based methodology to address the above mentioned challenges. The proposed technique keeps the switching frequency constant so that electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues can be solved with conventional filter design. Parallel operation of converter in DC micro gird is considered. Chattering reduction and power quality improvement by harmonic cancellation is proposed. A scaled down hardware for unregulated 11.5 V to 17.5 V input and 24V output is designed and tested. The experimental results show good performance of the controller under different loads and uncertain input voltage conditions. Moreover, the results show the robustness of the closed loop system to sudden variations in load conditions. Furthermore, a significant improvement in power quality is achieved by harmonic cancellation of chattering in the output of the converters.
Development of a quantum dot molecularly imprinted polymer sensor for fluorescence detection of atrazine
Authors: Nsibande Sifiso A. , Forbes Patricia B.C. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractAtrazine is a common agricultural pesticide which has been reported to occur widely in surface drinking water, making it an environmental pollutant of concern. In the quest for developing sensitive detection methods for pesticides, the use of quantum dots (QDs) as sensitive fluorescence probes has gained momentum in recent years. QDs have attractive and unique optical properties whilst coupling of QDs to molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) has been shown to offer excellent selectivity. Thus, the development of QD@MIPs based fluorescence sensors could provide an alternative for monitoring herbicides like atrazine in water. In this work, highly fluorescent CdSeTe/ZnS QDs were fabricated using the conventional organometallic synthesis approach and were then encapsulated with MIPs. The CdSeTe/ZnS@MIP sensor was characterized and applied for selective detection of atrazine. The sensor showed a fast response time (5 min) upon interaction with atrazine and the fluorescence intensity was linearly quenched within the 2–20 mol L−1 atrazine range. The detection limit of 0.80 × 10−7 mol L−1 is comparable to reported environmental levels. Lastly, the sensor was applied in real water samples and showed satisfactory recoveries (92–118%) in spiked samples, hence it is a promising candidate for use in water monitoring.
Multicentre study of multidisciplinary team assessment of pancreatic cancer resectability and treatment allocation
Authors: Kirkegård J , Aahlin E K , Al-Saiddi M , Bratlie S O , Coolsen M , de Haas R J , den Dulk M , Fristrup C , Harrison E M , Mortensen M B , Nijkamp M W , Persson J , Søreide J A , Wigmore S J , Wik T , Mortensen F V 
Published: March 2019

Abstract

Background
Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings have been adopted widely to ensure optimal treatment for patients with cancer. Agreements in tumour staging, resectability assessments and treatment allocation between different MDTs were assessed.

Methods
Of all patients referred to one hospital, 19 patients considered to have non-metastatic pancreatic cancer for evaluation were selected randomly for a multicentre study of MDT decisions in seven units across Northern Europe. Anonymized clinical information and radiological images were disseminated to the MDTs. All patients were reviewed by the MDTs for radiological T, N and M category, resectability assessment and treatment allocation. Each MDT was blinded to the decisions of other teams. Agreements were expressed as raw percentages and Krippendorff's α values, both with 95 per cent confidence intervals.

Results
A total of 132 evaluations in 19 patients were carried out by the seven MDTs (1 evaluation was excluded owing to technical problems). The level of agreement for T, N and M categories ranged from moderate to near perfect (46·8, 61·1 and 82·8 per cent respectively), but there was substantial variation in assessment of resectability; seven patients were considered to be resectable by one MDT but unresectable by another. The MDTs all agreed on either a curative or palliative strategy in less than half of the patients (9 of 19). Only fair agreement in treatment allocation was observed (Krippendorff's α 0·31, 95 per cent c.i. 0·16 to 0·45). There was a high level of agreement in treatment allocation where resectability assessments were concordant.

Conclusion
Considerable disparities in MDT evaluations of patients with pancreatic cancer exist, including substantial variation in resectability assessments.
Colossal left ventricular apical thrombus
Authors: Luu Judy , Boston‐Griffiths Edney , Zhu Antonia , Jassal Davinder S. , Minhas Kunal 
Published: March 2019

Key Clinical MessageLeft ventricular apical thrombus is a known complication following an anterior ST‐elevation myocardial infarction. Although left ventriculography may suggest an apical thrombus in the presence of a filling defect, additional imaging with echocardiography and/or cardiac magnetic resonance is strongly recommended to further characterize the thrombus post myocardial infarction.
Is thrombotic event a side effect of oral buprenorphine abuse? Two case reports
Authors: Alirezaei Toktam , Hajimoradi Behzad 
Published: March 2019

Key Clinical MessageBuprenorphine is used to treat opioid addiction. The spectrum of complications of oral buprenorphine is not well known. We describe two cases and based on a hypothesis is proposed which suggests that the use of oral buprenorphine could be relevant to the increase of thrombotic risk.
When exposure is subject to nondifferential misclassification, are validation data helpful in testing for an exposure–disease association?
Authors: Gustafson Paul , Karim Mohammad Ehsanul 
Published: March 2019

AbstractConsider assessing the evidence for an exposure variable and a disease variable being associated, when the true exposure variable is more costly to obtain than an error‐prone but nondifferential surrogate exposure variable. From a study design perspective, there are choices regarding the best use of limited resources. Should one acquire the true exposure status for fewer subjects or the surrogate exposure status for more subjects? The issue of validation is also central, i.e., should we simultaneously measure the true and surrogate exposure variables on a subset of study subjects? Using large‐sample theory, we provide a framework for quantifying the power of testing for an exposure–disease association as a function of study cost. This enables us to present comparisons of different study designs under different suppositions about both the relative cost and the performance (sensitivity and specificity) of the surrogate variable. We present simulations to show the applicability of our theoretical framework, and we provide a case‐study comparing results from an actual study to what could have been seen had true exposure status been ascertained for a different proportion of study subjects. We also describe an extension of our ideas to a more complex situation involving covariates. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 47: 222–237; 2019 © 2019 Statistical Society of Canada
Controllable Hydrolysis Performance of MgLi Alloys and Their Hydrides
Authors: Jiang Jun , Ouyang Liuzhang , Wang Hui , Liu Jiangwen , Shao Huaiyu , Zhu Min 
Published: March 2019

AbstractTheoretically, the hydrolysis of MgLi and MgH2−LiH can produce 9.6 and 17.5 wt.% hydrogen (water is not included in the calculation), respectively. The ball‐milling method is commonly used to refine the particle size and thus may improve hydrolysis kinetics. However, Mg and Li will be easily agglomerated, which means that direct ball‐milling could not refine MgLi. In this work, we introduced 10 wt.% expanded graphite into the ball‐milling process to synthesize refined MgLi alloy samples. Further studies showed that MgLi‐10 wt.% expanded graphite can produce 966 mL/g hydrogen within 3 min in 0.5 M MgCl2 solution. The MgLi hydrides were synthesized by reactive ball milling under 3 MPa H2 and their hydrolysis performance was investigated. Moreover, the sawed powder was milled in 3 MPa H2 for 6 h and then hydrogenated in 3 MPa H2 at 380 °C; it can produce 1542 and 1773 mL/g (15.8 wt.%) hydrogen in 5 and 30 min with mild kinetics, respectively, and the activation energy of the hydrolysis reaction is 24.6 kJ/mol in 1 M MgCl2 solution. The findings here open a new avenue to the development of refined MgLi alloys and hydrides for hydrogen generation through a controllable hydrolysis process.
Gene markers for exon capture and phylogenomics in ray‐finned fishes
Authors: Jiang Jiamei , Yuan Hao , Zheng Xin , Wang Qian , Kuang Ting , Li Jingyan , Liu Junning , Song Shuli , Wang Weicai , Cheng Fangyuan , Li Hongjie , Huang Junman , Li Chenhong 
Published: March 2019

AbstractGene capture coupled with the next‐generation sequencing has become one of the preferred methods of subsampling genomes for phylogenomic studies. Many exon markers have been developed in plants, sharks, frogs, reptiles, fishes, and others, but no universal exon markers have been tested in ray‐finned fishes. Here, we identified a suite of “single‐copy” protein‐coding sequence (CDS) markers through comparing eight fish genomes, and tested them empirically in 83 species (33 families and nine orders or higher clades: Acipenseriformes, Lepisosteiformes, Elopomorpha, Osteoglossomorpha, Clupeiformes, Cypriniformes, Gobiaria, Carangaria, and Eupercaria; sensu Betancur et al. 2013). Sorting the markers according to their completeness and phylogenetic decisiveness in taxa tested resulted in a selection of 4,434 markers, which were proven to be useful in reconstructing phylogenies of the ray‐finned fishes at different taxonomic levels. We also proposed a strategy of refining baits (probes) design a posteriori based on empirical data. The markers that we have developed may greatly enrich the batteries of exon markers for phylogenomic study in ray‐finned fishes.
Capillary electrophoretic assay of human acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase 2
Authors: Nguyen Thu H. , Waldrop Grover L. , Gilman S. Douglass 
Published: March 2019

AbstractHuman acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase 2 catalyzes the carboxylation of acetyl coenzyme A to form malonyl coenzyme A, along with the conversion of magnesium‐adenosine triphosphate complex to magnesium‐adenosine diphosphate complex. A simple off‐column capillary electrophoresis assay for human acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase 2 was developed based on the separation of magnesium‐adenosine triphosphate complex, magnesium‐adenosine diphosphate complex, acetyl coenzyme A and malonyl coenzyme A with detection by ultraviolet absorption at 256 nm. When Mg2+ was absent from the separation buffer, the zones due to magnesium‐adenosine triphosphate complex and magnesium‐adenosine diphosphate complex both split and migrated as two separate peaks. With Mg2+ added to the separation buffer, magnesium‐adenosine triphosphate complex and magnesium‐adenosine diphosphate complex produced single peaks, and the reproducibility of peak shape and area improved for human acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase 2 assay components. The final separation buffer used was 30.0 mM HEPES, 3.0 mM MgCl2, 2.5 mM KHCO3, and 2.5 mM potassium citrate at pH 7.50. The same buffer was used for the enzyme‐catalyzed reaction (off‐column). Inhibition of human acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase 2 by CP‐640186, a known inhibitor, was detected using the capillary electrophoresis assay.
The lift force on a charged sphere that translates and rotates in an electrolyte
Authors: Khair Aditya S. , Balu Bhavya 
Published: March 2019

AbstractThe distortion of the charge cloud around a uniformly charged, dielectric, rigid sphere that translates and rotates in an unbounded binary, symmetric electrolyte at zero Reynolds number is examined. The zeta potential of the particle ζ is assumed small relative to the thermal voltage scale. It is assumed that the equilibrium structure of the cloud is slightly distorted, which requires that the Péclet numbers characterizing distortion due to particle translation, , and rotation, , are small compared to unity. Here, a is radius of the particle; D is the ionic diffusion coefficient; and , where U and Ω are the rectilinear and angular velocities of the particle, respectively. Perturbation expansions for small and are employed to calculate the nonequilibrium structure of the cloud, whence the force and torque on the particle are determined. In particular, we predict that the sphere experiences a force orthogonal to its directions of translation and rotation. This “lift” force arises from the nonlinear distortion of the cloud under the combined actions of particle translation and rotation. The lift force is given by . Here, ε is the permittivity of the electrolyte; is the Debye length; and is a negative function that decreases in magnitude with increasing . The lift force implies that an unconstrained particle would follow a curved path; an electrokinetic analog of the inertial Magnus effect. Finally, the implication of the lift force on cross‐streamline migration of an electrophoretic particle in shear flow is discussed.
Direct‐acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 4 infection: Exploring new regimens
Authors: Toyoda Hidenori 
Published: March 2019

The optimal antiviral regimen for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 is still a subject of investigation. The report in this issue of Health Science Reports by Asselah and colleagues investigated the additional benefit of extending treatment duration of the ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir plus ribavirin regimen to up to 24 weeks for patients with HCV genotype 4 and compensated cirrhosis.
The establishment of in‐house neurology driven therapeutic plasma exchange infrastructure in a resource‐limited public hospital in Malaysia: Adopting and integrating evidenced‐based health care technology through time
Authors: Viswanathan Shanthi , Hiew Fu Liong 
Published: March 2019

AbstractThere has been an increase in the use of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in immune‐mediated neurological disorders in recent years. However, accessibility and availability of TPE remains low and costly, especially for a country with limited healthcare funding like Malaysia. With expanding clinical indications in neurological disorders, and increasingly expensive conventional immunomodulatory treatment such as intravenous immunoglobulin and monoclonal antibodies, TPE remains an effective part of first or second‐line treatment. In this article, we detailed the historical aspects of the use of TPE in neurological disorders in Malaysia over the last four decades and discussed the challenges behind the establishment of the first in‐house neurology‐driven TPE service in the country. Local TPE database from a national neurology centre in Kuala Lumpur over the past 20 years was analyzed. We observed a remarkable three folds increase in the use of TPE at our center over the past 10 years (total 131 TPE treatments) compared to a decade prior, with expanding clinical indications predominantly for central nervous system demyelinating disorders. Besides using membrane filtration method, centrifugal technique was adopted, providing new opportunities for other clinical beneficiaries such as a neurologist driven “in‐house TPE unit”. However, there were real world challenges, especially having to provide services with limited funding, human resources, and space. In addition, much has to be done to improve accessibility, availability, and sustainability of TPE services at our center and nationwide. Nevertheless, even with limited resources and support, it is possible with concerted efforts to work within the confines of these limitations to establish a safe, successful, and sustainable TPE service.
Biofortification of common buckwheat microgreens and seeds with different forms of selenium and iodine
Authors: Germ Mateja , Stibilj Vekoslava , Šircelj Helena , Jerše Ana , Kroflič Ana , Golob Aleksandra , Maršić Nina K 
Published: March 2019

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe biofortification of crops can counteract human diseases, including selenium (Se) and iodine (I) deficiencies in the diet. Little is known about the effects of combinations of Se and I on microgreens and seeds, or on their accumulation in these tissues. The present study aimed to evaluate Se (SeO32−, SeO42−) and I (I−, IO3−) biofortification of common buckwheat microgreens and seeds with respect to the effects of the addition of Se, I and Se + I on yield and on physiological and biochemical characteristics.RESULTSIn combination treatments, microgreens yield (600–800 g m−2) was 50–70% higher than for Se and I alone. The respiratory potential also increased by 60–120%. Fv/Fm was close to 0.8 in all samples. Se content [0.24 μg g−1 dry weight (DW)] was 50% higher for combination treatments than for Se and I alone. I content was highest for IO3− treatment (216 μg g−1 DW) and decreased in combination treatments with Se by 50%.CONCLUSIONBiofortification of buckwheat microgreens with Se and I should be performed with care because there are synergistic and antagonistic effects of these elements with respect to their accumulation. IO3− for the biofortification of microgreens should be kept low to prevent exceeding the recommended daily intake of I. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
COL1A2 p.Gly1066Val variant identified in a Han Chinese family with osteogenesis imperfecta type I
Authors: Wang Mingyuan , Guo Yi , Rong Pengfei , Xu Hongbo , Gong Lina , Deng Hao , Yuan Lamei 
Published: March 2019

AbstractBackgroundOsteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetically determined connective tissue disorder, is characterized by increased bone fragility and reduced bone mass. Clinical presentation severity ranges from very mild types with nearly no fractures to intrauterine fractures and perinatal lethality. It can be accompanied by blue sclerae, dentinogenesis imperfecta (DI), hearing loss, muscle weakness, ligament laxity, and skin fragility. This study sought to identify pathogenic gene variants in a four‐generation Han Chinese family with OI type I.MethodsIn order to unveil the molecular genetic factors underlying the disease phenotype, whole exome sequencing in a member, with OI type I, of a Han Chinese family from Hunan, China was performed. The variant identified by whole exome sequencing was further tested by Sanger sequencing in the family members.ResultsA heterozygous missense variant (NM_000089.3: c.3197G>T; NP_000080.2: p.Gly1066Val) in the collagen type I alpha 2 chain gene (COL1A2) was identified in four patients. It co‐segregated with the disease in the family.ConclusionThe sequence variant may be a disease‐causing factor resulting in abnormal type I procollagen synthesis and leading to OI type I. This finding has significant implications for genetic counseling and clinical monitoring of high‐risk families and may be helpful for understanding pathogenic mechanism of OI and developing therapies.
Improvement of random coefficient differential models of growth of anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria by combining Bayesian inference and gPC
Authors: Calatayud Julia , Cortés Juan Carlos , Jornet Marc 
Published: March 2019

The time evolution of microorganisms, such as bacteria, is of great interest in biology. In the article by D. Stanescu et al. [Electronic Transactions on Numerical Analysis, 34, 44–58 (2009)], a logistic model was proposed to model the growth of anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria. In the laboratory experiment, actual data for two species of bacteria were considered: Rhodobacter capsulatus and Chlorobium vibrioforme. In this paper, we suggest a new nonlinear model by assuming that the population growth rate is not proportional to the size of the bacteria population, but to the number of interactions between the microorganisms, and by taking into account the beginning of the death phase in the kinetic curve. Stanescu et al. evaluated the effect of randomness into the model coefficients by using generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) expansions, by setting arbitrary distributions without taking into account the likelihood of the data. By contrast, we utilize a Bayesian inverse approach for parameter estimation to obtain reliable posterior distributions for the random input coefficients in both the logistic and our new model. Since our new model does not possess an explicit solution, we use gPC expansions to construct the Bayesian model and to accelerate the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the Bayesian inference.
Novel circularly polarized dielectric resonator antenna for microwave image sensing application
Authors: Singhwal Sumer Singh , Kanaujia Binod Kumar , Singh Ajit , Kishor Jugul 
Published: March 2019

AbstractIn this article, a novel, simple, and compact structure of dielectric resonator antenna is proposed, which provides wide bandwidth across proposed mm wave band for microwave image sensing with considerable gain using a lossy FR‐4 epoxy substrate and thick FR4 as DRA. A DR can be excited using four‐line feed using a circular loop type feed network. These line feeds maintain phase difference of 90° to produce CP. This antenna provides approximate constant gain of 8.6 dB on 25‐26 GHz band and 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth is almost 1 GHz from 25.2 to 26.2 GHz, Impedance bandwidth of the proposed antenna is 3 GHz (24‐27 GHz). This antenna can be used in microwave image sensing and wearable sensors applications, due to its compactness (30 × 30 mm2), in mm wave band.
High‐dimensionality undersampled patch‐based reconstruction (HD‐PROST) for accelerated multi‐contrast MRI
Authors: Bustin Aurélien , Lima da Cruz Gastão , Jaubert Olivier , Lopez Karina , Botnar René M. , Prieto Claudia 
Published: March 2019

PurposeTo develop a new high‐dimensionality undersampled patch‐based reconstruction (HD‐PROST) for highly accelerated 2D and 3D multi‐contrast MRI.MethodsHD‐PROST jointly reconstructs multi‐contrast MR images by exploiting the highly redundant information, on a local and non‐local scale, and the strong correlation shared between the multiple contrast images. This is achieved by enforcing multi‐dimensional low‐rank in the undersampled images. 2D magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) phantom and in vivo brain acquisitions were performed to evaluate the performance of HD‐PROST for highly accelerated simultaneous T1 and T2 mapping. Additional in vivo experiments for reconstructing multiple undersampled 3D magnetization transfer (MT)‐weighted images were conducted to illustrate the impact of HD‐PROST for high‐resolution multi‐contrast 3D imaging.ResultsIn the 2D MRF phantom study, HD‐PROST provided accurate and precise estimation of the T1 and T2 values in comparison to gold standard spin echo acquisitions. HD‐PROST achieved good quality maps for the in vivo 2D MRF experiments in comparison to conventional low‐rank inversion reconstruction. T1 and T2 values of white matter and gray matter were in good agreement with those reported in the literature for MRF acquisitions with reduced number of time point images (500 time point images, ~2.5 s scan time). For in vivo MT‐weighted 3D acquisitions (6 different contrasts), HD‐PROST achieved similar image quality than the fully sampled reference image for an undersampling factor of 6.5‐fold.ConclusionHD‐PROST enables multi‐contrast 2D and 3D MR images in a short acquisition time without compromising image quality. Ultimately, this technique may increase the potential of conventional parameter mapping.