bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of Different Crosslinking Strategies on Physical Properties and Biocompatibility of Freestanding Multilayer Films Made of Alginate and Chitosan
Authors: Apte Gurunath , Repanas Alexandros , Willems Christian , Mujtaba Anas , Schmelzer Christian E. H. , Raichur Ashok , Syrowatka Frank , Groth Thomas 
Published: September 2019

AbstractFreestanding multilayer films prepared by layer‐by‐layer technique have attracted interest as promising materials for wound dressings. The goal is to fabricate freestanding films using chitosan (CHI) and alginate (ALG) including subsequent crosslinking to improve the mechanical properties of films while maintaining their biocompatibility. Three crosslinking strategies are investigated, namely use of calcium ions for crosslinking ALG, 1‐ethyl‐3‐(‐3‐dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide combined with N‐hydroxysuccinimide for crosslinking ALG with CHI, and Genipin for crosslinking chitosan inside the films. Different characteristics, such as surface morphology, wettability, swelling, roughness, and mechanical properties are investigated showing that films became thinner, exhibited rougher surfaces, had lower water uptake, and increased mechanical strength after crosslinking. Changes of wettability are moderate and dependent on the crosslinking method. In vitro cytotoxicity and cell attachment studies with human dermal fibroblasts show that freestanding CHI‐ALG films represent a poorly adhesive substratum for fibroblasts, while studies using incubation of plastic‐adherent fibroblast beneath floating films show no signs of cytotoxicity in a time frame of 7 days. Results from cell experiments combined with film characteristics after crosslinking, indicate that crosslinked freestanding films made of ALG and CHI may be interesting candidates for wound dressings.
Polyethylenimine‐Based Nanogels for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Zou Yu , Li Du , Shen Mingwu , Shi Xiangyang 
Published: September 2019

AbstractNanogels (NGs) are 3‐dimensional (3D) networks composed of hydrophilic or amphiphilic polymer chains, allowing for effective and homogeneous encapsulation of drugs, genes, or imaging agents for biomedical applications. Polyethylenimine (PEI), possessing abundant positively charged amine groups, is an ideal platform for the development of NGs. A variety of effective PEI‐based NGs have been designed and much effort has been devoted to study the relationship between the structure and function of the NGs. In particular, PEI‐based NGs can be prepared either using PEI as the major NG component or using PEI as a crosslinker. This review reports the recent progresses in the design of PEI‐based NGs for gene and drug delivery and for bioimaging applications with a target focus to tackle the diagnosis and therapy of cancer.
Polyethersulfone Block Copolymers for Membrane Applications
Authors: Weber Martin , Rajak Anil , Maletzko Christian 
Published: September 2019

AbstractPolyarylethersulfones (polysulfone: PSU, polyethersulfone: PESU) belong to the group of established membrane materials and are mainly used for production of ultra‐ and microfiltration membranes. They offer several advantageous properties like hydrolysis and chemical resistance, mechanical strength and bio‐compatibility. A general drawback of these polymers compared to the more polar membrane materials cellulosetriacetate or polyacrylonitrile is the hydrophobic nature of the polyarylethersulfone which can be quantified by the contact angle versus water. An improved synthetic pathway to segmented block copolymers based on polyarylethersulfones and various aliphatic polyethers is presented as well as the characterization of the obtained block copolymers and their use for membrane preparation.
Effect of Blending Procedure on Tensile and Degradation Properties of Toughened Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid) Blend with Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) and Reactive Compatibilizer
Authors: Kultravut Katanyu , Kuboyama Keiichi , Ougizawa Toshiaki 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThis research focuses on brittleness improvement of biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) by reactive melt blending with poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT). First, PLA is simultaneously blended with PTT and a reactive compatibilizer, poly(ethylene‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate) (PEGMA), (one‐step blending procedure). In the PLA/PTT/PEGMA blend, PEGMA mainly disperses in the PLA matrix phase, and the blend shows unimproved tensile properties. To increase the reaction between PTT and PEGMA, PEGMA is sequentially blended with PTT then PLA (two‐step blending procedure). This procedure is effective in drastically enhancing elongation at break of the blend. The strain at break of the blend formed by two‐step blending is significantly improved because the blending procedure affects the blend morphology. PLA‐g‐PEGMA‐g‐PTT graft copolymer is formed at the interface between PLA and PTT during reactive melt blending with PEGMA when the two‐step blending procedure is employed as a blending method which is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and viscosity measurement. Such features bring about craze formation during tensile test and this is the reason why the toughening is achieved by the two‐step blending procedure.
Consumer microflow experiences
Authors: Lavoie Raymond , Main Kelley 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThis research explores relatively short, low‐intensity flow states, called microflow and demonstrates that they differ from their longer, more complex deepflow variants with regards to antecedents. As an advancement to flow theory, we demonstrate that the ideal condition to elicit microflow is when skills are slightly higher than the difficulty of the task. Importantly, despite being relatively shorter, microflow experiences still have a strong positive influence on consumer attitudes. Our research also advances theory by demonstrating that the two dimensions of microflow have different relationships with the level of difficulty and consumer attitudes. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications.
Quaternary Solar Cells with 12.5% Efficiency Enabled with Non‐Fullerene and Fullerene Acceptor Guests to Improve Open Circuit Voltage and Film Morphology
Authors: Li Weiping , Liu Wenxu , Zhang Xin , Yan Dong , Liu Feng , Zhan Chuanlang 
Published: September 2019

AbstractDesigning the bulk‐heterojunction structure (binary, ternary and quaternary) is of great fundamental interest for relaxing the trade‐off between open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current density (   Jsc). Herein, a new quaternary blended material system is reported with a nonfullerene and PC71BM as the third and fourth component of PBDB‐T:ITCT, leading to simultaneously increased Voc and Jsc and maintained fill factor (FF). The guest IT‐T‐IC has upshifted LUMO energy level helping to obtain a higher Voc. The further addition of 0.2 PC71BM as the fourth component yields an even higher Voc because the LUMO of PC71BM is higher than that of ITCT. Interestingly, the blend of PC71BM leads to the formation of an unprecedented neuron‐like morphology, which acts as new centers not only performing light absorption and charge separation but also charge transport through their surrounding donor and acceptor fibers. The increased hole and electron mobilities and the reduced bimolecular loss results in an even larger Jsc and FF. These results indicate that a combination using a structurally similar higher‐LUMO‐level non‐fullerene acceptor and PCBM is a simple yet effective quaternary material approach to simultaneously increase Voc and Jsc while maintaining FF, improving final device performance.
Dietary Supplementation of Methyl Donor l‐Methionine Alters Epigenetic Modification in Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Navik Umashanker , Sheth Vaibhav G. , Kabeer Shaheen Wasil , Tikoo Kulbhushan 
Published: September 2019

ScopeThe aim of the current study is to evaluate whether l‐methionine supplementation (l‐Met‐S) improves type 2 diabetes‐induced alterations in glucose and lipid metabolism by modulating one‐carbon metabolism and methylation status.Methods and ResultsDiabetes is induced in male Sprague–Dawley rats using high‐fat diet and low dose streptozotocin. At the end of study, various biochemical parameters, immunoblotting, qRT‐PCR and ChIP‐qPCR are performed. The first evidence that l‐Met‐S activates p‐AMPK and SIRT1, very similar to “metformin,” is provided. l‐Met‐S improves the altered key one‐carbon metabolites in diabetic rats by modulating methionine adenosyl transferase 1A and cystathione β synthase expression. qRT‐PCR shows that l‐Met‐S alleviates diabetes‐induced increase in Forkhead transcription factor 1 expression and thereby regulating genes involved in glucose (G6pc, Pdk4, Pklr) and lipid metabolism (Fasn). Interestingly, l‐Met‐S inhibits the increased expression of DNMT1 and also prevents methylation of histone H3K36me2 under diabetic condition. ChIP assay shows that persistent increase in abundance of histone H3K36me2 on the promoter region of FOXO1 in diabetic rats and it is recovered by l‐Met‐S.ConclusionThe first evidence that dietary supplementation of l‐Met prevents diabetes‐induced epigenetic alterations and regulating methionine levels can be therapeutically exploited for the treatment of metabolic diseases is provided.
A novel normalization for amide proton transfer CEST MRI to correct for fat signal–induced artifacts: application to human breast cancer imaging
Authors: Zimmermann Ferdinand , Korzowski Andreas , Breitling Johannes , Meissner Jan‐Eric , Schuenke Patrick , Loi Lisa , Zaiss Moritz , Bickelhaupt Sebastian , Schott Sarah , Schlemmer Heinz‐Peter , Paech Daniel , Ladd Mark E. , Bachert Peter , Goerke Steffen 
Published: September 2019

PurposeThe application of amide proton transfer (APT) CEST MRI for diagnosis of breast cancer is of emerging interest. However, APT imaging in the human breast is affected by the ubiquitous fat signal preventing a straightforward application of existing acquisition protocols. Although the spectral region of the APT signal does not coincide with fat resonances, the fat signal leads to an incorrect normalization of the Z‐spectrum, and therefore to distorted APT effects. In this study, we propose a novel normalization for APT‐CEST MRI that corrects for fat signal–induced artifacts in the postprocessing without the need for application of fat saturation schemes or water–fat separation approaches.MethodsThe novel normalization uses the residual signal at the spectral position of the direct water saturation to estimate the fat contribution. A comprehensive theoretical description of the normalization for an arbitrary phase relation of the water and fat signal is provided. Functionality and applicability of the proposed normalization was demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo experiments.ResultsIn vitro, an underestimation of the conventional APT contrast of approximately −1.2% per 1% fat fraction was observed. The novel normalization yielded an APT contrast independent of the fat contribution, which was also independent of the water‐fat phase relation. This allowed APT imaging in patients with mamma carcinoma corrected for fat signal contribution, field inhomogeneities, spillover dilution, and water relaxation effects.ConclusionThe proposed normalization increases the specificity of APT imaging in tissues with varying fat content and represents a time‐efficient and specific absorption rate–efficient alternative to fat saturation and water–fat separation approaches.
Consideration of repetitive nerve stimulation of the median nerve in patients being evaluated for myasthenia gravis
Authors: Lee Tiffany Hoi‐Yan , Li Yuebing 
Published: September 2019

AbstractRepetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) of the median nerve is rarely studied in myasthenia gravis (MG). We performed a retrospective analysis of RNS studies performed on 448 patients at our center between 2010 and 2016. Among 95 patients with MG, an abnormal decrement of the compound muscle action potential amplitude was seen in 40.7% of median, 38.4% of spinal accessory, and 57.1% of facial nerve RNS studies. Median nerve RNS was abnormal in 10 patients with normal spinal accessory and 5 patients with normal facial nerve RNS. MG patients with abnormal median nerve RNS were more likely to be seropositive and have limb weakness. No differences were observed in the incidence of abnormal median nerve RNS in patients with and without a median neuropathy at the wrist. Median nerve RNS is easy to perform, reproducible, and should be considered in the electrodiagnostic evaluation of MG.
Improving Proteome Coverage for Small Sample Amounts: An Advanced Method for Proteomics Approaches with Low Bacterial Cell Numbers
Authors: Blankenburg Sascha , Hentschker Christian , Nagel Anna , Hildebrandt Petra , Michalik Stephan , Dittmar Denise , Surmann Kristin , Völker Uwe 
Published: September 2019

AbstractProteome analyses are often hampered by the low amount of available starting material like a low bacterial cell number obtained from in vivo settings. Here, the single pot solid‐phase enhanced sample preparation (SP3) protocol is adapted and combined with effective cell disruption using detergents for the proteome analysis of bacteria available in limited numbers only. Using this optimized protocol, identification of peptides and proteins for different Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative species can be dramatically increased and, reliable quantification can also be ensured. This adapted method is compared to already established strain‐specific sample processing protocols for Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus suis, and Legionella pneumophila. The highest species‐specific increase in identifications is observed using the adapted method with L. pneumophila samples by increasing protein and peptide identifications up to 300% and 620%, respectively. This increase is accompanied by an improvement in reproducibility of protein quantification and data completeness between replicates. Thus, this protocol is of interest for performing comprehensive proteomics analyses of low bacterial cell numbers from different settings ranging from infection assays to environmental samples.
Evaluation of the anticancer effects induced by cold atmospheric plasma in 2D and 3D cell‐culture models
Authors: Zhang Hao , Zhang Jishen , Liu Zhijie , Xu Dehui , Guo Li , Liu Dingxin , Kong Michael G. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe biological characteristics of three‐dimensional (3D) tumors cannot be adequately represented through two‐dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Here, to acquire more precise information about plasma–tumor interactions, the plasma‐induced cytotoxicity was tested in both 2D cell culture and 3D tumor‐spheroid culture. The results indicated that the toxic effects were markedly reduced in 3D cancer cells compared with 2D cells. We found that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species can penetrate through the entire depth of 3D tumor spheroid, but local apoptosis was observed only on the outermost layer. The permeation depth of plasma‐generated reactive species was then tracked in 3D tumor spheroids. We hypothesized that plasma‐induced apoptosis within a tumor depends on the “deep” delivery of H2O2, NO2−, and NO3−rather than O2−, OH•, and ONOOH/ONOO−.
TiO2 thin film patterns prepared by chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition using an atmospheric pressure microplasma printer
Authors: Aghaee Morteza , Verheyen Joerie , Stevens Alquin A. E. , Kessels Wilhelmus M. M. , Creatore Mariadriana 
Published: September 2019

AbstractA microplasma printer is employed to deposit thin film patterns of TiO2 by titanium tetra‐isopropoxide and N2/O2 plasma at atmospheric pressure. The setup is adopted to carry out deposition in two configurations, namely under chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) modes. The properties of TiO2, as well as the patterning resolution, are investigated. The amorphous TiO2 deposited in the CVD mode contains a relatively high level of impurities (residual carbon content of 5–10 at.%) and is characterized by a low refractive index of 1.8. With the ALD mode on the other hand, TiO2 is obtained with a low level of impurities (<1 at.% C and <2 at.% N), a refractive index of 1.98, and a growth per cycle of 0.15 nm. Furthermore, the spatial resolution for a 8‐nm‐thick film is determined by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy line scan and found to be equal to 2,000 and 900 µm for the CVD and ALD modes, respectively. This study can be regarded as the first step toward area‐selective CVD and ALD of TiO2 by a microplasma printer, which can be further explored and extended to other material systems.
Identification of Malonylation, Succinylation, and Glutarylation in Serum Proteins of Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients
Authors: Zhou Boda , Du Yipeng , Xue Yajun , Miao Guobin , Wei Taotao , Zhang Ping 
Published: September 2019

PurposeTo identify protein malonylation, succinylation, and glutarylation in human and rat serum.Experimental designImmunoprecipitation coupled with MS/MS is employed to compare the relative abundance of malonylation, succinylation, and glutarylation of serum protein in acute myocardial infarction human and rat.ResultsOne hundred thirty and 48 unique malonylated, succinylated, or glutarylated peptides are found in human and rat serum, respectively. Succinylation is the most predominant modification. The most modified protein is albumin. Abundance of serum protein succinylation and glutarylation is significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the peripheral serum of ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction patients compared with healthy volunteers, which is also observed in acute myocardial infarction rats.Conclusions and clinical relevanceMalonylation, succinylation, and glutarylation widely exist in mammalian serum proteins, and may reveal novel mechanism of acute myocardial infarction.
Critical Advances in Ambient Air Operation of Nonaqueous Rechargeable Li–Air Batteries
Authors: Liu Lili , Guo Haipeng , Fu Lijun , Chou Shulei , Thiele Simon , Wu Yuping , Wang Jiazhao 
Published: September 2019

AbstractOver the past few years, great attention has been given to nonaqueous lithium–air batteries owing to their ultrahigh theoretical energy density when compared with other energy storage systems. Most of the research interest, however, is dedicated to batteries operating in pure or dry oxygen atmospheres, while Li–air batteries that operate in ambient air still face big challenges. The biggest challenges are H2O and CO2 that exist in ambient air, which can not only form byproducts with discharge products (Li2O2), but also react with the electrolyte and the Li anode. To this end, recent progress in understanding the chemical and electrochemical reactions of Li–air batteries in ambient air is critical for the development and application of true Li–air batteries. Oxygen‐selective membranes, multifunctional catalysts, and electrolyte alternatives for ambient air operational Li–air batteries are presented and discussed comprehensively. In addition, separator modification and Li anode protection are covered. Furthermore, the challenges and directions for the future development of Li–air batteries are presented.
Enhancing listening capability of humanoid robot by reduction of stationary ego‐noise
Authors: Wake Naoki , Fukumoto Masaaki , Takahashi Hirokazu , Ikeuchi Katsushi 
Published: September 2019

Speech interfaces for household robots utilizing third‐party automatic speech recognition (ASR) services face the challenge of overcoming stationary ego‐noise that decreases ASR accuracy. Previous studies on signal processing have proposed numerous noise reduction methods that increase the signal‐to‐noise ratio of speech audio and subjective speech clarity. However, severe limitations on the cost of hardware of household robots and the use of closed ‘black box’ ASR services require us to re‐examine the efficacy of noise reduction methods in this context. Here we compare the effect of several basic noise filters on the performance of ASR services when speech sounds include the stationary ego‐noise of a humanoid Pepper robot. The result revealed that a spectrum subtraction filter improves the accuracy of ASR services best. We also demonstrate that the filter improves ASR performance on an actual Pepper robot system. This study not only provides practical knowledge on the selection of noise filters for a robot system but also discusses further improvements to the listening capabilities of the robot utilizing ASR. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A review of keyphrase extraction
Authors: Papagiannopoulou Eirini , Tsoumakas Grigorios 
Published: September 2019

AbstractKeyphrase extraction is a textual information processing task concerned with the automatic extraction of representative and characteristic phrases from a document that express all the key aspects of its content. Keyphrases constitute a succinct conceptual summary of a document, which is very useful in digital information management systems for semantic indexing, faceted search, document clustering and classification. This article introduces keyphrase extraction, provides a well‐structured review of the existing work, offers interesting insights on the different evaluation approaches, highlights open issues and presents a comparative experimental study of popular unsupervised techniques on five datasets.This article is categorized under:
Ensemble Methods > Web Mining
Ensemble Methods > Text Mining
Flexible modelling of spatial variation in agricultural field trials with the R package INLA
Authors: Selle Maria Lie , Steinsland Ingelin , Hickey John M. , Gorjanc Gregor 
Published: September 2019

AbstractKey messageEstablished spatial models improve the analysis of agricultural field trials with or without genomic data and can be fitted with the open-source R package INLA.AbstractThe objective of this paper was to fit different established spatial models for analysing agricultural field trials using the open-source R package INLA. Spatial variation is common in field trials, and accounting for it increases the accuracy of estimated genetic effects. However, this is still hindered by the lack of available software implementations. We compare some established spatial models and show possibilities for flexible modelling with respect to field trial design and joint modelling over multiple years and locations. We use a Bayesian framework and for statistical inference the integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA) implemented in the R package INLA. The spatial models we use are the well-known independent row and column effects, separable first-order autoregressive ($$\mathrm{AR1} \otimes \mathrm{AR1}$$AR1⊗AR1) models and a Gaussian random field (Matérn) model that is approximated via the stochastic partial differential equation approach. The Matérn model can accommodate flexible field trial designs and yields interpretable parameters. We test the models in a simulation study imitating a wheat breeding programme with different levels of spatial variation, with and without genome-wide markers and with combining data over two locations, modelling spatial and genetic effects jointly. The results show comparable predictive performance for both the$$\mathrm{AR1} \otimes \mathrm{AR1}$$AR1⊗AR1and the Matérn models. We also present an example of fitting the models to a real wheat breeding data and simulated tree breeding data with the Nelder wheel design to show the flexibility of the Matérn model and the R package INLA.
Harmonic metrics on Higgs sheaves and uniformization of varieties of general type
Authors: Greb Daniel , Kebekus Stefan , Peternell Thomas , Taji Behrouz 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
We prove a criterion for the existence of harmonic metrics on Higgs bundles that are defined on smooth loci of klt varieties. As one application, we resolve the quasi-étale uniformisation problem for minimal varieties of general type to obtain a complete numerical characterisation of singular quotients of the unit ball by discrete, co-compact groups of automorphisms that act freely in codimension one. As a further application, we establish a nonabelian Hodge correspondence on smooth loci of klt varieties.