bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Aberrant cell signalling in PBMCs upon IFN‐α stimulation in primary Sjögren's syndrome patients associates with type I interferon signature
Authors: Davies Richard , Hammenfors Daniel , Bergum Brith , Vogelsang Petra , Gavasso Sonia , Brun Johan G. , Jonsson Roland , Appel Silke 
Published: March 2018

AbstractPrimary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a complex systemic autoimmune disease with heterogeneous disease manifestations. Genetic predisposition, hormonal and environmental factors are all thought to contribute to disease etiology and pathogenesis. A better understanding of the disease pathogenesis is required in order to establish new targeted therapies. We analysed MAPK/ERK and JAK/STAT signalling networks in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) upon stimulation with interferon alpha 2b (IFN‐α2b) by flow cytometry to define potentially dysfunctional intracellular signalling pathways involved in disease pathogenesis. Cells derived from pSS patients displayed small but significant increases in basal phosphorylation levels of numerous signalling proteins compared to cells from healthy donors. The phosphorylation profiles following stimulation with IFNα2b differed significantly between pSS patients and healthy donors, especially regarding STAT1 Y701. PCA further grouped patients according to clinical characteristics. Type I IFN induced gene expression was found to negatively correlate with the IFN‐α2b induced phosphorylation of STAT3 S727 in T cells and positively with pSTAT1 Y701 in B cells. Increases in pSTAT1 Y701 were associated with the presence of autoantibodies. Our results indicate involvement of both STAT3 S727 and STAT1 Y701 pathways in pSS patients. Therapies targeting these pathways might therefore be beneficial for certain subgroups of patients.
NaCl Replacement with KCl Affects Lipolysis, Microbiological and Sensorial Features of Soppressata Molisana
Authors: Tremonte Patrizio , Gambacorta Giuseppe , Pannella Gianfranco , Trani Antonio , Succi Mariantonietta , La Gatta Barbara , Tipaldi Luca , Grazia Luigi , Sorrentino Elena , Coppola Raffaele , Di Luccia Aldo 
Published: March 2018

The influence of partial replacement of NaCl with KCl on the lipolysis and on the microbial and sensory features of Soppressata molisana is investigated during 50 days of ripening. In addition, the relation between KCl and a multiple strain starter culture is also considered and the effects of their combination on some quality features are examined. The lipolysis, the microbiological and sensorial features and the lipid oxidation of experimental batches, are compared with those exhibited by control batches. The results highlight that the KCl, used as an alternative salt, is able to inhibit undesirable microorganisms equally to NaCl, ensuring the safety of the final products. In addition, a stimulating effect on the growth of added bacteria is detected in presence of KCl, with a resulting better fermentative process. In fact, the addition of KCl, even if produces a decrease in lipolytic activities, improves the nutritional value of soppressata molisana, in terms of higher PUFA/SFA ratio. These advantages are further amplified when the alternative salt is used in combination with the starter culture. Finally, the combined use of KCl and starter culture reduces the lipid oxidation and seems crucial for maintaining the sensorial features.Pratical Applications: The main findings of the present research highlight that the use of KCl in combination with an appropriately selected starter culture allows the production of healthier and safety dry‐fermented sausage (soppressata molisana) and consistent with WHO guidelines and modern consumers demand.Partial replacement of NaCl with KCl affects the behaviour of fermentative and lipolytic process in Soppressata molisana. KCl, in combination with a multiple strain starter culture, improves the nutritional features of dry‐fermented sausage by promoting lower SFA and higher MUFA and PUFA levels. Moreover, the innovative approach preserves sensorial features of traditional‐fermented sausages limiting lipid oxidation.
Carbon Nanohorn‐modified Carbon Fiber Microelectrodes for Dopamine Detection
Authors: Puthongkham Pumidech , Yang Cheng , Venton B. Jill 
Published: March 2018

AbstractCarbon nanohorns (CNHs), closed cone‐shaped cages of sp2‐hybridized carbons, are a promising nanomaterial to improve carbon‐fiber microelectrode (CFME) dues to their high specific surface area and edge planes, but few studies have tested their electrochemical properties. Here, we tested dopamine detection at electrodeposited CNHs on CFME (CNH/CFME). The optimized concentration of CNHs in the deposition solution is 0.5 mg/mL, and the optimized electrodeposition waveform is 10 cycles of triangular waveform scanned from −1.0 V and +1.0 V at 50 mV/s. Using fast‐scan cyclic voltammetry, the optimized CNH/CFME enhances dopamine peak current to 2.3±0.2 times that of the CFME. To further increase the current, CNH/CFMEs were oxidized in NaOH (ox‐CNH/CFME), which creates more defects and surface oxide groups to adsorb dopamine. The oxidative etching further increases the peak current to 3.5±0.2 times of the CFME, and ox‐CNH/CFME had a limit of detection of 6±2 nM. The dopamine anodic current at ox‐CNH/CFME was stable for 8 h of continuous scanning. The ox‐CNH/CFME enhanced the anodic peak current for other cationic neurotransmitters including epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, but less enhancement was found for ascorbic acid, showing higher selectivity for cationic molecules. CNHs also decreased tissue biofouling at CFME. Thus, electrodeposited CNHs are a promising new method for increasing the surface area and current of CFMEs for dopamine detection.
Extraction approaches used for the determination of biologically active compounds (cyclitols, polyphenols and saponins) isolated from plant material
Authors: Ligor Magdalena , Ratiu Ileana‐Andreea , Kiełbasa Anna , Al‐Suod Hossam , Buszewski Bogusław 
Published: March 2018

AbstractBased on the bioactive properties of certain compounds, such as antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activities, an interesting subject of research are natural substances present in various parts of plants. The choice of the most appropriate method for separation and quantification of biologically active compounds from plants and natural products is a crucial step of any analytical procedure. The aim of this review article is to present an overview of a comprehensive literature study from the last 10 years (2007–2017), where relevant articles exposed the latest trends and the most appropriate methods applicable for separation and quantification of biologically active compounds from plant material and natural products. Consequently, various extraction methods have been discussed, together with the available procedures for purification and pre‐concentration and dedicated methods used for analysis.
On the electrophoretic mobilities of partially charged oligosaccharides as a function of charge patterning and degree of polymerization
Authors: Irani Amir H. , Mercadante Davide , Williams Martin A.K. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractFully or partially charged oligosaccharide molecules play a key role in many areas of biology, where their fine structures are crucial in determining their functionality. However, the separation of specific charged oligosaccharides from similar moieties that typically coexist in extracted samples, even for those that are unbranched, and in cases where each saccharide moiety can only carry a single charge or not, is far from trivial. Typically such molecules are characterized by a degree of polymerization n and a number m (and distribution) of charged residues, and must be separated from a plethora of similar species possessing different combinations of n and m. Furthermore, the separation of the possible isomers of each species of fixed n and m is a formidable challenge to analytical chemists. Herein, we report the results of molecular dynamics simulations that have been performed in order to calculate the free solution electrophoretic mobilities of galacturonides and charged oligosaccharides derived from digests of the important plant cell‐wall polysaccharide pectin. The simulations are compared with an experiment and are found to correctly predict the loss of resolution of fully charged species above a critical degree of polymerization n and the ionic strength dependence of the electrophoretic mobilities of different partially charged oligosaccharides. It is expected that having a predictive tool for the calculation of the electrophoretic mobilities of differently charged oligosaccharide species in hand will allow experimental conditions that optimize the resolution of particular species to be ascertained and understood.
Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Corn Distillers Oil for Fuel‐Grade Hydrocarbons
Authors: Hossain Md. Zakir , Jhawar Anil Kumar , Chowdhury Muhammad B. I. , Xu William Z. , Charpentier Paul A. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractCatalytic hydrothermal conversion of non‐edible corn distillers oil (CDO), a low‐value by‐product of the ethanol industries, into high value fuel‐grade hydrocarbons was investigated in near‐supercritical water. The decarboxylation experiments were conducted using activated carbon in a 300 mL batch stirred tank reactor at reaction temperatures of 300–400 °C with pressure ranges from 2200–2500 psi (≈15–17 MPa), water/CDO (v/v) ratios of 2:1 to 5:1, and reaction times of 0.5 to 4 h at constant stirring speed (800 rpm). For the first time, complete removal of the −COO− group from CDO was achieved at 400 °C with 4 h of reaction time and a water/CDO (v/v) ratio of 4:1. The liquid products obtained were a mixture of saturated hydrocarbons, mainly C8–C16 (selectivity 49.7 %) and heptadecane (48.9 %) which have similar specific gravity, higher heating value (HHV), cloud points, and pour points to those of commercial fuels. 65 % liquid yield was obtained under optimal reaction conditions. The reaction mechanism was found to follow pseudo‐first‐order kinetics with an activation energy 66.1±3 kJ mol−1, which is much lower than similar reported literature values for the decarboxylation process.
Assessment of a capacity spectrum seismic design approach against cyclic and seismic experiments on full‐scale precast RC structures
Authors: Dal Lago Bruno , Molina Francisco J. 
Published: March 2018

SummaryWithin the last decades, simplified methods alternative to dynamic nonlinear analysis have been developed to estimate the seismic performance of structures toward a performance‐oriented design. Considering drift as the main parameter correlated with structural damage, its estimation is of main importance to assess the structural performance. While traditional force‐based design deals with calibrated force reduction factors based on the expected structural ductility, other methods are based on the definition of a viscous damping factor defined as a function of the expected energy dissipated by the structure. An example is the capacity spectrum method. This method can be applied even without any a priori calibration or designer arbitrariness. This allows considering several peculiarities of the seismic behavior of precast structures, which may be influenced by nontraditional hysteresis of connections and members, interaction with the cladding panels,P‐δeffects, etc. The paper aims at verifying the soundness and accuracy of this method through the comparison of its predictions against the results of cyclic and pseudodynamic tests on precast structures, including single‐ and multistory buildings either stiff or flexible, obtained on full‐scale building prototypes tested within the framework of recent research projects (namely, “Precast Structures EC8,” “Safecast,” and “Safecladding”). Two simple methodologies of determination of the equivalent viscous damping from a force‐displacement cycle, based on the dissipated energy in relation to 2 different estimates of the elastic strain energy, are addressed and compared. Comments on the possible use of this procedure for the estimation of the seismic performance of precast structures are provided.
Displacement reduction effect and simplified evaluation method for SDOF systems using a clutching inerter damper
Authors: Wang Meng , Sun Feifei 
Published: March 2018

SummaryThis study evaluates the response reduction effect of linear single degree of freedom systems with a clutching inerter damper (CID) via parametric analysis under harmonic excitations and real earthquake records. The cause of the displacement reduction effect of a CID is inherited from the inertial mass damper (IMD)—reducing the nominal load intensity by increasing the mass by inertance. Additionally, the displacement reduction effect is further enhanced by the clutching effect, which speeds up the decreasing of the velocity response from an instantaneous extremum to 0. Thus, the CID is more effective than the IMD at reducing displacement responses. For example, the displacement response for a long‐period structure with a CID can be reduced by approximately 53%, while for an IMD, it can only be reduced by approximately 24%. Additionally, the linear single degree of freedom system with a CID is a weak nonlinear system reserving homogeneity, indicating that the response reduction factor will provide enough information to reveal the seismic reduction effect of the CID and that there is no need to consider the amplitude of the input excitations. To simplify the analysis of such nonlinear systems, an equivalent linearization method and a simplified formula of displacement reduction factors for code‐based designs are proposed and validated by another independent set of records from the European Strong‐motion Database.
Location and probability of shoal margin collapses in a sandy estuary
Authors: van Dijk Wout M. , Mastbergen Dick R. , van den Ham Geeralt A. , Leuven Jasper R. F. W. , Kleinhans Maarten G. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractChannel bank failure, and collapses of shoal margins and beaches due to flow slides, have been recorded in Dutch estuaries for the past 200 years but have hardly been recognized elsewhere. Current predictions lack forecasting capabilities, because they were validated and calibrated for historic data of cross‐sections in specific systems, allowing local hindcast rather than location and probability forecasting. The objectives of this study were to investigate where on shoal margins collapses typically occur and what shoal margin collapse geometries and volumes are, such that we can predict their occurrence. We identified shoal margin collapses, generally completely submerged, from bathymetry data by analyzing digital elevation models of difference of the Western Scheldt for the period 1959–2015. We used the bathymetry data to determine the conditions for occurrence, specifically to obtain slope height and angle, and applied these variables in a shoal margin collapse predictor. We found 299 collapses along 300 km of shoal margin boundaries over 56 years, meaning that more than five collapses occur on average per year. The average shoal margin collapse body is well approximated by a 1/3 ellipsoid shape, covers on average an area of 34 000 m2 and has an average volume of 100 000 m3. Shoal margin collapses occur mainly at locations where shoals take up a proportionally larger area than average in the cross‐section of the entire estuary, and occur most frequently where lateral shoal margin displacement is low. A receiver operating characteristic curve shows that the forecasting method predicts the shoal margin collapse location well. We conclude that the locations of the shoal margin collapses are well predicted by the variation in conditions of the relative slope height and angle within the Western Scheldt, and likely locations are at laterally relatively stable shoal margins. This provides hypotheses aiding the recognition of these features in sandy estuaries worldwide. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigation of a new passive sampler for the detection of munitions compounds in marine and freshwater systems
Authors: Warren Joseph K. , Vlahos Penny , Smith Richard , Tobias Craig 
Published: March 2018

Abstract

Over the last century, unexploded ordnances have been disposed of in marine shelf systems because of a lack of cost-effective alternatives. Underwater unexploded ordnances have the potential to leak 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), commonly used chemical munitions, and contaminate local waters, biota, and sediments. The rate at which this contamination occurs in the environment is relatively unknown, and the cost- and time-prohibitive nature of sampling across sites makes mapping difficult. In the present study we assessed the efficacy of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) for sampling relatively soluble munitions compounds over a range of environmental conditions (i.e., changes in temperature and salinity) and optimized the composition of the passive sampling polymer. The EVA sampler was able to successfully detect ambient concentrations of lingering munitions compounds from field sites containing unexploded ordnances. The sampler affinity for the munitions in terms of an EVA–water partition coefficient was greater than the standard octanol water values for each target compound. Partitioning of compounds onto EVA over the natural ranges of salinity did not change significantly, although uptake varied consistently and predictably with temperature. Increasing the vinyl acetate to ethylene ratio of the polymer corresponded to an increase in uptake capacity, consistent with enhanced dipole–dipole interactions between the munitions and the polymer. This sampler provides a cost-effective means to map and track leakage of unexploded ordnances both spatially and temporally. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:1990–1997. © 2018 SETAC
Characterizing the behavior, uptake, and toxicity of NM300K silver nanoparticles in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Kleiven Merethe , Rossbach Lisa M. , Gallego-Urrea Julian A. , Brede Dag A. , Oughton Deborah H. , Coutris Claire 
Published: March 2018

Abstract

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, we addressed the potential linkage among toxicity of NM300K Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs), their particle size distribution, and the presence of dissolved Ag in the test media. Of the 3 endpoints assessed (growth, fertility, and reproduction), reproduction was the most sensitive, with the 50% effect concentration (EC50) ranging from 0.26 to 0.84 mg Ag L−1 and 0.08 to 0.11 mg Ag L−1 for NM300K and AgNO3, respectively. Silver uptake by C. elegans was similar for both forms of Ag, whereas bioaccumulation was higher in AgNO3 exposure. The observed differences in toxicity between NM300K and AgNO3 did not correlate with bioaccumulated Ag, which suggests that toxicity is a function of the type of exposing agent (AgNPs vs AgNO3) and its mode of action. Before addition of the food source (Escherichia coli), size fractionation revealed that dissolved Ag comprised 13 to 90% and 4 to 8% of total Ag in the AgNO3 and NM300K treatments, respectively. No dissolved Ag was detectable in the actual test media due to immediate Ag adsorption to bacteria. The results of the present study indicate that information on behavior and characterization of exposure conditions is essential for nanotoxicity studies. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:1799–1810. © 2018 SETAC
Abstract
Exposure to AgNO3 induced higher toxicity to nematodes than NM300K silver nanoparticles. This could not be explained by differences in bioaccumulation, but by Ag speciation in the exposure media. EC50 = 50% effect concentration.
Deep learning–based network application classification for SDN
Authors: Zhang Chuangchuang , Wang Xingwei , Li Fuliang , He Qiang , Huang Min 
Published: March 2018

AbstractAccurate application classification is important and useful to improve network performance. However, with the continuous expansion of network scale and the rapid increase of network users, it is very difficult for the existing application classification methods to accurately identify and classify network applications. Currently, most classification methods are suitable for small‐scale data sets and cannot achieve high classification accuracy because of the shallow learning structure and the limited learning ability. The emergence of deep learning technology and software‐defined networking (SDN) enables the application classification method to process large‐scale data. In this paper, by leveraging the SDN architecture, we present a novel hybrid deep neural network–based application classification method, which achieves high classification accuracy without the manual feature selection and extraction. In the proposed application classification framework, by taking the advantage of the logical centralized control and powerful computing capability, the massive network traffic is easily collected and processed by the SDN controller. The processed data is used to train the hybrid deep neural network, which is composed of the stacked autoencoder and softmax regression layer. The deep flow features can be obtained from the stacked autoencoder automatically instead of the manual feature selection and extraction. The softmax regression layer is used as the classifier to realize the application classification. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that our proposed classification method is effective and gets higher classification accuracy than the support vector machine–based classification method.
Analyzing selective relaying for multiple‐relay–based differential DF‐FSO network with pointing errors
Authors: Agarwal Deepti , Bansal Ankur , Kumar Ashwni 
Published: March 2018

AbstractIn this paper, we examine differential modulation for the decode‐and‐forward(DF) based cooperative free‐space optical (FSO) network. We consider multiple relays for transmitting differential binary phase‐shift keying (DBPSK) data from an optical source to destination along with a direct path between the two. The relays utilize the selective relaying protocol where the source data is forwarded to the destination only in the case of error‐free decoding by the relays. We derive the unified expression of probability density function (PDF) of the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) for generalized‐
(
) distribution with pointing error (PE) considering both intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) and heterodyne detection techniques. The derived unified PDF of SNR for
distribution is mathematically combined with the unified PDF of SNR for the Gamma‐Gamma (GG) distribution. This combining enables us to obtain a single closed‐form expression for a particular performance metric, which is applicable to both
and GG distributions with PE and both IM/DD and heterodyne detection techniques. More specifically, we derive the average bit error rate (ABER) and outage probability(OP) for the considered multiple‐relay–based DF‐FSO network. Furthermore, we analyze the asymptotic BER and asymptotic outage performances for the considered system at high SNR of source to relay links and obtain the diversity order, analytically. The impact of different power allocation schemes on ABER and OP is determined by utilizing the power allocation factor. The derived results clearly demonstrate the impact of severe atmospheric conditions, PE, the type of detection scheme, and the number of relays on the network performance. All the derived analytical results are verified through simulations.