bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Developments of the method of difference potentials for linear elastic fracture mechanics problems
Authors: Woodward W. H. , Utyuzhnikov S. , Massin P. 
Published: March 2018

SummaryRecently, the method of difference potentials has been extended to linear elastic fracture mechanics. The solution was calculated on a grid boundary belonging to the domain of an auxiliary problem, which must be solved multiple times. Singular enrichment functions, such as those used within the extended finite element method, were introduced to improve the approximation near the crack tip leading to near‐optimal convergence rates. Now, the method is further developed by significantly reducing the computation time. This is achieved via the implementation of a system of basis functions introduced along the physical boundary of the problem. The basis functions form an approximation of the trace of the solution at the physical boundary. This method has been proven efficient for the solution of problems on regular (Lipschitz) domains. By introducing the singularity into the finite element space, the approximation of the crack can be realised by regular functions. Near‐optimal convergence rates are then achieved for the enriched formulation. A solution algorithm using the fast Fourier transform is provided with the aim of further increasing the efficiency of the method.
Proteomic Analysis Reveals a Strong Association of β‐Catenin With Cadherin Adherens Junctions in Resting Human Platelets
Authors: Maguire Patricia B , Donlon Tim , Parsons Martin , Wynne Kieran , Dillon Eugene , Ní Áinle Fionnuala , Szklanna Paulina B 
Published: March 2018

AbstractIt was previously demonstrated that the WNT/β‐catenin pathway is present and active in platelets and established that the canonical WNT ligand, WNT‐3a, suppresses platelet adhesion and activation. In nucleated cells, β‐catenin, the key downstream effector of this pathway, is a dual function protein, regulating the coordination of gene transcription and cell–cell adhesion. The specific role of β‐catenin in the anucleate platelet however remains elusive. Here, a label‐free quantitative proteomic analysis of β‐catenin immunoprecipitates from human platelets is performed and nine co‐immunoprecipitating proteins are identified. Three of the co‐immunoprecipitating proteins (α‐catenin‐1, cadherin‐6, and β‐catenin‐interacting protein 1) are common to both resting and activated conditions. Bioinformatics analysis of proteomics data reveal a strong association of the dataset with both cadherin adherens junctions and regulators of WNT signaling. It is then verified that platelet β‐catenin and cadherin‐6 interact and that this interaction is regulated by the activation state of the platelet. Taken together, this proteomics study suggests a novel role for β‐catenin in human platelets where it interacts with platelet cadherins and associated junctional proteins.
Beyond using composite measures to analyze the effect of unmet supportive care needs on caregivers' anxiety and depression
Authors: Lambert Sylvie D. , Hulbert‐Williams Nicholas , Belzile Eric , Ciampi Antonio , Girgis Afaf 
Published: March 2018

AbstractObjectiveCaregiver research has relied on composite measures (eg, count) of unmet supportive care needs to determine relationships with anxiety and depression. Such composite measures assume that all unmet needs have a similar impact on outcomes. The purpose of this study is to identify individual unmet needs most associated with caregivers' anxiety and depression.MethodsTwo hundred nineteen caregivers completed the 44‐item Supportive Care Needs Survey and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (minimal clinically important difference = 1.5) at 6 to 8 months and 1, 2, 3.5, and 5 years following the patients' cancer diagnosis. The list of needs was reduced using partial least square regression, and those with a variance importance in projection >1 were analyzed using Bayesian model averaging.ResultsAcross time, 8 items remained in the top 10 based on prevalence and were labelled “core.” Three additional ones were labelled “frequent,” as they remained in the top 10 from 1 year onwards. Bayesian model averaging identified a maximum of 3 significant unmet needs per time point—all leading to a difference greater than the minimal clinically important difference. For depression, none of the core unmet needs were significant, rather significance was noted for frequent needs and needs that were not prevalent. For anxiety, 3/8 core and 3/3 frequent unmet needs were significant.ConclusionsThose unmet needs that are most prevalent are not necessarily the most significant ones, and findings provide an evidence‐based framework to guide the development of caregiver interventions. A broader contribution is proposing a different approach to identify significant unmet needs.
Psychometric testing of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory‐caregiver Chinese version in cancer family caregivers in Taiwan
Authors: Lin Ching‐Rong , Chen Shu‐Ching , Simard Sébastien , Chang Joseph Tung‐Chien , Lai Yeur‐Hur 
Published: March 2018

AbstractObjectiveThe purposes of this study were to develop a Chinese version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory‐caregiver (FCRI‐c Chinese) and assess the psychometrics of this test in the family caregivers (FCs) of Taiwanese patients with head and neck cancer.MethodsAn instrument testing study was conducted at a major medical center in Taiwan. Head and neck cancer patients and their major FCs were recruited as dyads from the radiation outpatient department. The FCRI‐c Chinese was tested for internal consistency reliability, test‐retest reliability, and construct validity (including theoretically supported correlation, discriminant validity, and factor structure).ResultsWe recruited 300 patient‐caregiver dyads. The test had good internal consistency (Cronbach α = .94) and a 2‐week test‐retest reliability of .88. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable fit of the model to the data. The construct validity was also satisfactory, as indicated by the significant positive correlations of the test with depression and anxiety in FCs, and the significant negative correlation of the test with patients' quality of life. A significantly higher test score was present in FCs caring for patients with metastasis and patients who completed treatment a long time ago.ConclusionsThe FCRI‐c Chinese is a valid instrument for examination of the fear of cancer recurrence in the FCs of patients with head and neck cancer. Clinicians can use this multidimensional instrument to assess important clinical care issues and improve the quality of care provided by FCs.
Reduced vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression and plasma vitamin D levels are associated with aging‐related prostate lesions
Authors: Campolina‐Silva Gabriel H. , Maria Bruna T. , Mahecha Germán A.B. , Oliveira Cleida A. 
Published: March 2018

BackgroundProtective roles have been proposed for vitamin D in prostate cancer, which has the advanced age as the major risk factor. However, little is known about the expression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the aging prostate and its association with the development of epithelial lesions that affect tissue homeostasis and may precede prostate tumors.MethodsVDR expression in the prostatic complex of young adults to senile Wistar rats, a natural model to study age‐related prostatic disorders, was evaluated by immunohistochemical, Western blotting, and image‐assisted analyzes. Results were correlated with the plasma levels of vitamin D and testosterone, the occurrence of punctual histopathological changes in the aging prostate, and the expression of retinoid X receptors (RXR).ResultsVDR was widely distributed in the prostatic complex at all ages analyzed, with the highest immunoexpression found in basal epithelial cells. As the animals aged, VDR levels increased, except in punctual areas with intraepithelial proliferation, metaplasia, or proliferative inflammatory atrophy, which had reduced expression of this receptor concomitantly with increased cell proliferation. Interestingly, RXR expression in the aging prostate was similar to that found for its partner VDR, indicating that components of the VDR/RXR complex required for vitamin D signaling are affected in aging‐related prostatic lesions. Moreover, plasma vitamin D levels declined at the same ages when prostatic alterations appeared. Although circulating levels of testosterone also decreased with aging, the changes observed in the components of the vitamin D system were not correlated with androgens.ConclusionsOur data indicate that the aging prostate suffers from an imbalance on the intricate mechanism of tissue regulation by the vitamin D responsive system. We argue that the status of VDR expression might be determinant for the development of histopathological alterations in the aging prostate, which include premalignant lesions.
Early experience with totally robotic esophagectomy for malignancy. Surgical and oncological outcomes
Authors: Guerra Francesco , Vegni Alessandra , Gia Elena , Amore Bonapasta Stefano , Di Marino Michele , Annecchiarico Mario , Coratti Andrea 
Published: March 2018

AbstractBackgroundOver recent decades, minimally invasive esophagectomy has gained popularity and is increasingly performed worldwide. The aim of this work was to investigate the perioperative, clinicopathologic, and oncological outcomes of robot‐assisted esophagectomy on a consecutive series of totally robotic procedures.MethodsAll patients received either an Ivor Lewis or a McKeown procedure according to tumor location. Perioperative, clinicopathologic and oncological outcomes were examined.ResultsA total of 38 patients underwent robot‐assisted esophagectomy procedures. All underwent surgery for primary esophageal neoplasms. Neoadjuvant therapy was given to 22 patients. R0 resections were achieved in all patients and no conversion to open surgery occurred. Overall morbidity and mortality were 42% and 10%, respectively. The 1 year disease free survival was 78.9%, whereas the 1 year overall survival was 84.2%.ConclusionsRobotic surgery can be employed to treat esophageal malignancy competently. Robotic esophagectomy satisfies all features of pathologic appropriateness and offers the expected oncological results.
Facile Electrodeposition of Hierarchical Co‐Gd2O3 Nanocomposites for Highly Selective and Sensitive Electrochemical Sensing of L–Cysteine
Authors: Premlatha Subramanian , Selvarani Karunagaran , Ramesh Bapu Giri Nagasamy Kuppusamy 
Published: March 2018

AbstractMetal/metaloxide based composite materials have wide spread applications in electrochemical sensors and fuel cell applications. Hence, the present work is directed towards the fabrication of cost effective and highly sensitive electrode material for cysteine sensing. In this work, Co‐Gd2O3 nanocomposite is prepared by a simple electrodeposition route and used as electrochemical sensor material. The prepared nanocomposite materials are characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X‐ray Diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X‐ray Photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). SEM images exhibited as hierarchical nanoflakes with open porous structure. EDX analysis showed the presence of cobalt and gadolinium. The reflections at 2θ=330 and 35.70 corresponds to the cubic structured Gd2O3 nanoparticles validated the formation of nanocomposite. Electrooxidation of L‐cysteine on Co and Co‐Gd2O3 was carried out using cyclic voltammetry technique. Upon addition of certain concentration of cysteine, the anodic peak current get increased with the simultaneous decline in the cathodic peak currents displayed the excellent electrocatalytic activity of Co‐Gd2O3 nanocomposite. The chronoamperometric experiments were performed to derive the analytical parameters like sensitivity, limit of detection and linear range. The reproducibility, stability and real sample analysis was studied using chronoamperometry.
Competition–cooperation interplay during multifirm technology coordination: The effect of firm heterogeneity on conflict and consensus in a technology standards organization
Authors: Ranganathan Ram , Ghosh Anindya , Rosenkopf Lori 
Published: March 2018

Research Summary: We examine how competitive tensions and cooperative motivations together shape firms’ interactions and group‐level outcomes during technology coordination activities in multifirm settings. Analyzing the communication and voting behavior of 115 firms across three subcommittees of a computing industry technology standards‐setting organization over 14 years, we find that existing product‐market positions influence how firms with highly overlapped technological resources differ in their interactions: when their product‐markets are more competitive, they exhibit greater support for the emerging standard, as evidenced by positivity and certainty of interaction tone; but when they possess a broader array of complementary products, support is tempered. At the subcommittee level, after accounting for aggregate competitive tensions in prior interactions, heterogeneity in both firms’ relational influence as well as their prior multiparty experience improve consensus.
Managerial Summary: In innovation ecosystems, competing firms are often obligated to collaborate with each other in large multifirm forums to develop the technical standards that enable interoperability between their products. We show how the networks of technical and commercial relationships between firms shape such standards activities in two steps. First, firms who share many common technology interests with others communicate their support for new standards more vigorously when they participate in more competitive product‐markets, but less vigorously when they possess more complementary products. Second, communities find broader support for standards when there is greater imbalance across both firms’ prior collaborative experiences as well as their pattern of relationships. We demonstrate these results in a study of 115 firms participating in computer peripherals standards development over 14 years.
Leveraging who you know by what you know: Specialization and returns to relational capital
Authors: Byun Heejung , Frake Justin , Agarwal Rajshree 
Published: March 2018

Research Summary:This paper investigates the interaction effects of specialization and relational capital on performance. We distinguish between upstream and downstream relational capital and theorize that higher levels of specialization will buffer against decreases in upstream relational capital, because of deeper domain expertise and stronger downstream relational capital. Conversely, higher levels of generalization permit greater gains from increases in upstream relational capital, due to leverage across a more diversified downstream portfolio of activities. We test and find support for these hypotheses in the context of the US lobbying industry. Our study contributes to the strategic human capital literature by isolating the dimension of specialization and relational capital embodied within individuals and providing performance implications of the interactions.Managerial Summary:Both “what you know” and “whom you know” impacts performance. Generalists and specialists are different on the “what you know” dimension. On the “who you know” dimension, we distinguish between upstream (supplier) and downstream (client) relationships. We show that specialists are buffered by deeper downstream relations from performance declines when their powerful upstream connections lose power. Generalists benefit from broader networks when their upstream connections gain power. Thus, when the value of their relationships change, specialists and generalists should each assess when they can reap performance benefits, and when they need to bolster against adversities. For firms, our study suggests hiring the right mix of specialists and generalists is important to reduce risks from relational losses while enjoying the performance benefits from relational gains.
Model‐based design of IoT systems with the BIP component framework
Authors: Lekidis Alexios , Stachtiari Emmanouela , Katsaros Panagiotis , Bozga Marius , Georgiadis Christos K. 
Published: March 2018

SummaryThe design of software for networked systems with nodes running an Internet of things operating system faces important challenges due to the heterogeneity of interacting things and the constraints stemming from the often limited amount of available resources. In this context, it is hard to build confidence that a design solution fulfills the application's requirements. This paper introduces a design flow for web service applications of the representational state transfer style that is based on a formal modeling language, the behaviour, interaction, priority (BIP) component framework. The proposed flow applies the principles of separation of concerns in a component‐based design process that supports the modular design and reuse of model artifacts. The BIP tools for state‐space exploration allow verifying qualitative properties for service responsiveness, ie, the timely handling of events. Moreover, essential quantitative properties are validated through statistical model checking of a stochastic BIP model. All properties are preserved in actual implementation by ensuring that the deployed code is consistent with the validated model. We illustrate the design of a representational state transfer sense‐compute‐control application for a Wireless Personal Area Network architecture with nodes running the Contiki operating system. The results validate qualitative and quantitative properties for the system and include the study of error behaviours.
Some exact solutions for maximally symmetric topological defects in Anti de Sitter space
Authors: Alvarez Orlando , Haddad Matthew 
Published: March 2018

AbstractWe obtain exact analytical solutions for a class of SO(l) Higgs field theories in a non-dynamic backgroundn-dimensional anti de Sitter space. These finite transverse energy solutions are maximally symmetricp-dimensional topological defects wheren= (p+ 1) +l. The radius of curvature of anti de Sitter space provides an extra length scale that allows us to study the equations of motion in a limit where the masses of the Higgs field and the massive vector bosons are both vanishing. We call this the double BPS limit. In anti de Sitter space, the equations of motion depend on bothpandl. The exact analytical solutions are expressed in terms of standard special functions. The known exact analytical solutions are for kink-like defects (p= 0,1,2, . . .;l= 1), vortex-like defects (p= 1,2,3;l= 2), and the ’t Hooft-Polyakov monopole (p= 0;l= 3). A bonus is that the double BPS limit automatically gives a maximally symmetric classical glueball type solution. In certain cases where we did not find an analytic solution, we present numerical solutions to the equations of motion. The asymptotically exponentially increasing volume with distance of anti de Sitter space imposes different constraints than those found in the study of defects in Minkowski space.
Partitioning of Calcium Between Liquid Silver and Liquid Iron
Authors: Berg Martin , Lee Jaewoo , Sichen Du 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
The partitioning of calcium between liquid silver and liquid iron at 1823 K and 1873 K (1550 °C and 1600 °C) was studied experimentally using a closed molybdenum container. The calcium potential in the container was controlled by the composition of the alloys in equilibrium. The results agreed well with previous experimental measurements and indicated that the effect of temperature was not very pronounced in the temperature range studied.
Is 60 the New 50? Examining Changes in Biological Age Over the Past Two Decades
Authors: Levine Morgan E. , Crimmins Eileen M. 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
Increasing life expectancy has been interpreted as improving health of a population. However, mortality is not always a reliable proxy for the pace of aging and could instead reflect achievement in keeping ailing people alive. Using data from NHANES III (1988–1994) and NHANES IV (2007–2010), we examined how biological age, relative to chronological age, changed in the United States between 1988 and 2010, while estimating the contribution of changes in modifiable health behaviors. Results suggest that biological age is lower for more recent periods; however, the degree of improvement varied across age and sex groups. Overall, older adults experienced the greatest improvement or decreases in biological age. Males, especially those in the youngest and oldest groups, experienced greater declines in biological age than females. These differences were partially explained by age- and sex-specific changes in behaviors, such as smoking, obesity, and medication use. Slowing the pace of aging, along with increasing life expectancy, has important social and economic implications; thus, identifying modifiable risk factors that contribute to cohort differences in health and aging is essential.
IGF‐1 defends against chronic‐stress induced depression in rat models of chronic unpredictable mild stress through the PI3K/Akt/FoxO3a pathway
Authors: Kuang Wei‐Hong , Dong Zai‐Quan , Tian Lian‐Tian , Li Jin 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the role of IGF‐1 in chronic‐stress induced depression through the PI3K/Akt/FoxO3a pathway. A rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) was established. In total, 48 rats were randomized into control (normal rats), CUMS (CUMS modeled rats) and CUMS + IGF‐1 (injection of IGF‐1 before CUMS modeling) groups. Body weight, horizontal (number of horizontal crossing) and vertical activity (rearing times), and sucrose consumption were identified one day before and after the open‐field test. The mRNA and protein expression of PI3K, Akt, FoxO3a and Bim in the hippocampus was measured by RT‐qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. Compared with the control group, a lower body weight, a decreased number of horizontal crossings, reduced rearing times and lower sucrose consumption were observed in the CUMS and CUMS + IGF‐1 groups after the test. However, a higher body weight, number of horizontal crossings, rearing times and sucrose consumption were found in the CUMS + IGF‐1 group than those in the CUMS group. Compared with the control group, mRNA and protein expression of PI3K, Akt and FoxO3a was decreased, and Bim mRNA and protein expression was increased in the CUMS + IGF‐1 and CUMS groups. Meanwhile, in comparison to the CUMS group, mRNA and protein expression of PI3K, Akt and FoxO3a was elevated, and Bim mRNA and protein expression was reduced in the CUMS + IGF‐1 group. The results suggested that IGF‐1 exerted an antidepressant‐like effect on chronic‐stress induced depression through the PI3K/Akt/FoxO3a pathway.
Exploring the Hidden Costs of Human–Wildlife Conflict in Northern Kenya
Authors: Bond Jennifer , Mkutu Kennedy 
Published: March 2018

Abstract:Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is often considered in terms of how the impact on humans can be mitigated, but in the context of the larger goal of meeting conservation goals. This article explores the hidden costs of HWC on human well-being in northern Kenya through a qualitative case study of Laikipia County. Drawing on narratives of wildlife as destructive, wildlife as inherently more important or valuable than humans, and wildlife preservation as a pathway for capturing resources, it explores the impacts of HWC on human well-being, situating the study within the HWC, political ecology, and human security literature.