bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Forgoing New Public Management and Adopting Post‐New Public Management Principles: The On‐Going Civil Service Reform in Israel
Authors: Cohen Nissim 
Published: February 2016

SummarySince the 1980s, New Public Management (NPM) and post‐NPM reforms have dominated attempts to improve public administration. The literature suggests several reasons for the latter approach. However, these explanations seem to be less relevant to the ongoing civil service reforms in Israel. The Israeli experience is an example where NPM reforms did not occur, but post‐NPM reforms were adopted enthusiastically decades later. Our findings demonstrate how under the structural conditions of both non‐governability and bureaucratic centralization, post‐NPM reforms may provide an attractive layering strategy, offering the option of changing certain features of the system without requiring a drastic, comprehensive overhaul of it. Once Israeli decision makers decided that there was a real public demand for reform, and long‐term learning and diffusion processes convinced them that change was needed, the characteristics of the post‐NPM approach made it much easier politically for them to adopt. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of fulleroid materials on the mechanical and tribological properties and dielectric relaxation of polyamide 6 nanocomposites
Authors: Sinitsin Alex N. , Zuev Vjacheslav V. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe effect of fulleroid materials (fullerene С60 and fullerene soot, which is used for fullerenes production) on the mechanical and tribological properties of polymer nanocomposites based on polyamide 6 (PA6) was investigated. Composites were synthesized by direct mixing in an extruder. The use of the nanoparticles was an effective way to decrease the friction coefficient of the polymer composites because the fillers had the same size as the segments of the surrounding polymer chains. The steady state coefficients of friction with addition of fulleroid fillers were lower than that of unfilled PA6. The lowest coefficient of friction was observed for PA6 filled with 1 wt% fullerene soot. Dielectric spectroscopy was used to investigate the influence of nanoparticles on the relaxation processes in the polymer matrix. It is found that the segmental relaxation processes become faster with the addition of fullerene С60. In contrast, the secondary processes of PA6/fullerene C60 nanocomposites were observed to slow down with the addition of fullerene C60. This means that the local “molecular stiffness” is increased, and a phenomenological link between the secondary relaxation times and the mechanical properties explains the increase in the Young's modules of the nanocomposites upon the addition of С60. These observations suggest that nanoparticles can have a qualitatively different effect on the matrix polymer dynamics at different length scales, and caution must be taken in comparing the changes in the dynamics associated with different relaxation processes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Studies on Energetic Salts Based on (2,4,6‐Trinitrophenyl)guanidine
Authors: Klapötke Thomas M. , Mieskes Frank , Stierstorfer Jörg , Weyrauther Michael 
Published: February 2016

Abstract(2,4,6‐Trinitrophenyl)guanidine was synthesized and its thermal and energetic properties were investigated. The reaction of (2,4,6‐trinitrophenyl)guanidine with different acids, such as nitric, picric, perchloric, and hydrochloric acid results in protonation of (2,4,6‐trinitrophenyl)guanidine and the formation of the corresponding salts (cation : anion ratio 1 : 1). The reactions are performed at ambient temperature in H2O or EtOH and produce qualitatively pure products with energetic properties, which are typical of those of secondary explosives. The compounds were characterized using multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR and Raman spectroscopy, as well as mass spectrometry. Single crystal X‐ray diffraction studies were performed and the structures of the four different salts at low temperatures were determined. The thermal stabilities were measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The sensitivities were determined using the BAM drophammer and friction tests. The heats of formation were calculated by the atomization method based on CBS‐4M enthalpies. Using these values as well as the X‐ray or pycnometric densities, several detonation parameters such as the detonation pressure, velocity, energy, and temperature were computed using the EXPLO5 code.
A comparative study of rhodopsin function in the great bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis): Spectral tuning and light‐activated kinetics
Authors: van Hazel Ilke , Dungan Sarah Z. , Hauser Frances E. , Morrow James M. , Endler John A. , Chang Belinda S. W. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractRhodopsin is the visual pigment responsible for initiating the phototransduction cascade in vertebrate rod photoreceptors. Although well‐characterized in a few model systems, comparative studies of rhodopsin function, particularly for nonmammalian vertebrates are comparatively lacking. Bowerbirds are rare among passerines in possessing a key substitution, D83N, at a site that is otherwise highly conserved among G protein‐coupled receptors. While this substitution is present in some dim‐light adapted vertebrates, often accompanying another unusual substitution, A292S, its functional relevance in birds is uncertain. To investigate functional effects associated with these two substitutions, we use the rhodopsin gene from the great bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis) as a background for site‐directed mutagenesis, in vitro expression and functional characterization. We also mutated these sites in two additional rhodopsins that do not naturally possess N83, chicken and bovine, for comparison. Both sites were found to contribute to spectral blue‐shifts, but had opposing effects on kinetic rates. Substitutions at site 83 were found to primarily affect the kinetics of light‐activated rhodopsin, while substitutions at site 292 had a larger impact on spectral tuning. The contribution of substitutions at site 83 to spectral tuning in particular depended on genetic background, but overall, the effects of substitutions were otherwise surprisingly additive, and the magnitudes of functional shifts were roughly similar across all three genetic backgrounds. By employing a comparative approach with multiple species, our study provides new insight into the joint impact of sites 83 and 292 on rhodopsin structure‐function as well as their evolutionary significance for dim‐light vision across vertebrates.
Inhibition of ice recrystallization and cryoprotective activity of wheat proteins in liver and pancreatic cells
Authors: Chow‐Shi‐Yée Mélanie , Briard Jennie G. , Grondin Mélanie , Averill‐Bates Diana A. , Ben Robert N. , Ouellet François 
Published: February 2016

AbstractEfficient cryopreservation of cells at ultralow temperatures requires the use of substances that help maintain viability and metabolic functions post‐thaw. We are developing new technology where plant proteins are used to substitute the commonly‐used, but relatively toxic chemical dimethyl sulfoxide. Recombinant forms of four structurally diverse wheat proteins, TaIRI‐2 (ice recrystallization inhibition), TaBAS1 (2‐Cys peroxiredoxin), WCS120 (dehydrin), and TaENO (enolase) can efficiently cryopreserve hepatocytes and insulin‐secreting INS832/13 cells. This study shows that TaIRI‐2 and TaENO are internalized during the freeze–thaw process, while TaBAS1 and WCS120 remain at the extracellular level. Possible antifreeze activity of the four proteins was assessed. The “splat cooling” method for quantifying ice recrystallization inhibition activity (a property that characterizes antifreeze proteins) revealed that TaIRI‐2 and TaENO are more potent than TaBAS1 and WCS120. Because of their ability to inhibit ice recrystallization, the wheat recombinant proteins TaIRI‐2 and TaENO are promising candidates and could prove useful to improve cryopreservation protocols for hepatocytes and insulin‐secreting cells, and possibly other cell types. TaENO does not have typical ice‐binding domains, and the TargetFreeze tool did not predict an antifreeze capacity, suggesting the existence of nontypical antifreeze domains. The fact that TaBAS1 is an efficient cryoprotectant but does not show antifreeze activity indicates a different mechanism of action. The cryoprotective properties conferred by WCS120 depend on biochemical properties that remain to be determined. Overall, our results show that the proteins' efficiencies vary between cell types, and confirm that a combination of different protection mechanisms is needed to successfully cryopreserve mammalian cells.
On‐chip addressable Schottky‐on‐heterojunction light‐emitting diode arrays on AlGaN/GaN‐on‐Si platform
Authors: Tang Xi , Li Baikui , Lu Yunyou , Chen Kevin J. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn this work, the Schottky‐on‐heterojunction light‐emitting diodes (SoH‐LED) are monolithically integrated with the AlGaN/GaN high‐electron‐mobility transistors (HEMT) on an AlGaN/GaN‐on‐Si platform commonly used for GaN lateral electronic devices. The on‐chip electro‐optic modulation is realized in a single device fabricated using HEMT‐compatible process. Also, SoH‐LED arrays are fabricated to demonstrate the on‐chip addressable functionality with each SoH‐LED pixel in the array individually controlled by the integrated HEMT. High‐resolution micro‐scale SoH‐LED seven‐segment displays are demonstrated to show the potential of using SoH‐LEDs as a robust alternative for micro flat‐panel displays. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Observation of in‐situ reciprocal lattice evolution of AlGaN/InGaN on Si (111) through GaN and AlN interlayers by RHEED and reflectance
Authors: Bag Ankush , Das Subhashis , Biswas Dhrubes 
Published: February 2016

AbstractDue to the wave‐particle duality of high energy electron beam, RHEED describes a thin film surface through the interaction of reciprocal lattice rod (RLR) of the film. The RLR spacing of the crystal has been computed using RHEED streak spacing on a fluorescent screen. Present evolution study of RLR spacing has been performed for AlGaN/InGaN heterostructure on thick GaN buffer layer during plasma‐assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Effect of composition, strain and temperature on the crystal has been identified as the function of lattice spacing during the growth. The calibrated reflectivity of LED signal has also been employed to map the thickness of different growing epilayers. RLR spacing decreases for interlayer GaN as compared to AlN. Initially, the RLR spacing of GaN buffer decreases more as compared to interlayer GaN owing to its increased growth temperature after the interlayer AlN. The RLR spacing of GaN again gradually increases with decrement of growth temperature up to the InGaN channel layer. The InGaN RLR spacing decreases again which attributes to the relaxation of InGaN on GaN. Additionally, AlGaN reveals strained state to InGaN in combination with effect of high growth temperature. The phenomena result in additional decrement of lattice distance in reciprocal space. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Characterization of carrier concentration in ZnO nanowires by scanning capacitance microscopy
Authors: Wang Lin , Guillemin Sophie , Chauveau Jean‐Michel , Sallet Vincent , Jomard Francois , Brenier Roger , Consonni Vincent , Brémond Georges 
Published: February 2016

AbstractScanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) has been investigated on Ga doped ZnO staircase multi‐layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and ZnO NWs grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD). It is found that SCM data amplitude experiences a monotonic decrease with increasing Ga concentration from 2×1017 cm‐3 to 3×1020 cm‐3, indicating SCM being an appropriate technique for two dimensional dopant/carrier profiling in ZnO at nanoscale. For ZnO nanowires (NWs), a planariz‐ation process was developed based on dip‐coating of silica sol‐gel and chemical‐mechanical polishing. Then ZnO NWs were well detected from the silica matrix by SCM and the residual carrier concentration inside them was estimated through calibration method to be between 5×1017 cm‐3 and 2×1018 cm‐3. Finally, the result was compared with that obtained from conventional capacitance‐voltage (C‐V) measrement and their difference was discussed. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Current density dependence of transition energy in blue InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs
Authors: Zhang F. , Ikeda M. , Zhou K. , Liu Z. S. , Liu J. P. , Zhang S. M. , Yang H. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn this paper we report on the transition energy in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) light emitting diodes (LEDs) under various injection current density from 2 A/cm2 to 200 A/cm2. Various effects including strain, quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE), screening effect by carriers, bandgap renormalization, Stokes‐like shift, band‐filling effect, and quantum levels in triangular quantum wells, are considered quantitatively and analyzed comprehensively. By comparing these effects altogether, we found that when the In‐content in quantum wells is fixed, the transition energy is mainly determined by QCSE and quantum level energy, between which QCSE overweighs the other. The transition energy shift with current density is also mainly governed by the screening effect of QCSE, with detailed competition between band tailing and filling. Additional effect, the coupling between adjacent quantum wells, is investigated in this paper. The coupling between quantum wells with various barrier thicknesses is compared. By calculating the wavefunctions self‐consistently, it is found that for InGaN/GaN MQWs with 5 nm quantum barriers (QBs), the coupling of electron wavefunctions leads to about 2 meV difference in transition energy. While for the MQWs with 3 nm QBs, the influence of electron wave‐function overlap on transition energy is 12.9 meV, which is more significant than that of 5 nm QB case. However, for hole wavefunctions, the coupling effect is too small to be considered, which is mainly due to the much larger effective mass. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Characterization study on machining PMMA thin‐film using AFM tip‐based dynamic plowing lithography
Authors: Yan Yongda , He Yang , Geng Yanquan , Hu Zhenjiang , Zhao Xuesen 
Published: February 2016

SummaryThis paper presents a reliable nanolithography technique, namely dynamic plowing lithography (DPL) based on a commercial atomic force microscope (AFM). The poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution spinning on a silicon substrate is utilized to be scratched directly with an oscillating tip at its resonance frequency. The films with different thickness are obtained by adjusting the concentration of solution and post baked time. A new silicon tip is employed to conduct DPL on PMMA film surface. The geometry of nano‐line structure scratched on the film with high adhesion force is shown with a transition process, including total protuberance, protuberance with groove and groove with pile‐up. The scratching direction has less influence on the scratched depth of groove, while the shape of pile‐up is varied with directions. The depth of groove on thin films is increasing with the drive amplitude until the value of the depth reaches to the threshold value. Moreover, owing to smaller elastic modulus, the film with relatively large thickness could be modified by the tip more easily using this DPL method. SCANNING 38:612–618, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Runtime latency detection and analysis
Authors: Desfossez Julien , Desnoyers Mathieu , Dagenais Michel R. 
Published: February 2016

SummaryDetecting latency‐related problems in production environments is usually carried out at the application level with custom instrumentation. This is enough to detect high latencies in instrumented applications but does not provide all the information required to understand the source of the latency and is dependent on manually deployed instrumentation. The abnormal latencies usually start in the operating system kernel because of contention on physical resources or locks. Hence, finding the root cause of a latency may require a kernel trace. This trace can easily represent hundreds of thousands of events per second. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a methodology, efficient algorithms, and concurrent data structures to detect and analyze latency problems that occur at the kernel level. We introduce a new kernel‐based approach that enables developers and administrators to efficiently track latency problems in production and trigger actions when abnormal conditions are detected. The result of this study is a working scalable latency tracker and an efficient approach to perform stateful tracing in production. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correction of Mutant p63 in EEC Syndrome Using siRNA Mediated Allele-Specific Silencing Restores Defective Stem Cell Function
Authors: Barbaro Vanessa , Nasti Annamaria A. , Del Vecchio Claudia , Ferrari Stefano , Migliorati Angelo , Raffa Paolo , Lariccia Vincenzo , Nespeca Patrizia , Biasolo Mariangela , Willoughby Colin E. , Ponzin Diego , Palù Giorgio , Parolin Cristina , Di Iorio Enzo 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Ectrodactyly-Ectodermal dysplasia-Clefting (EEC) syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by heterozygous mutations in the p63 gene and characterized by limb defects, orofacial clefting, ectodermal dysplasia, and ocular defects. Patients develop progressive total bilateral limbal stem cell deficiency, which eventually results in corneal blindness. Medical and surgical treatments are ineffective and of limited benefit. Oral mucosa epithelial stem cells (OMESCs) represent an alternative source of stem cells capable of regenerating the corneal epithelium and, combined with gene therapy, could provide an attractive therapeutic avenue. OMESCs from EEC patients carrying the most severe p63 mutations (p.R279H and p.R304Q) were characterized and the genetic defect of p.R279H silenced using allele-specific (AS) small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Systematic screening of locked nucleic acid (LNA)-siRNAs against R279H-p63 allele in (i) stable WT-ΔNp63α-RFP and R279H-ΔNp63α-EGFP cell lines, (ii) transient doubly transfected cell lines, and (iii) p.R279H OMESCs, identified a number of potent siRNA inhibitors for the mutant allele, which had no effect on wild-type p63. In addition, siRNA treatment led to longer acquired life span of mutated stem cells compared to controls, less accelerated stem cell differentiation in vitro, reduced proliferation properties, and effective ability in correcting the epithelial hypoplasia, thus giving rise to full thickness stratified and differentiated epithelia. This study demonstrates the phenotypic correction of mutant stem cells (OMESCs) in EEC syndrome by means of siRNA mediated AS silencing with restoration of function. The application of siRNA, alone or in combination with cell-based therapies, offers a therapeutic strategy for corneal blindness in EEC syndrome.
Design recommendations for reinforced concrete interfaces based on statistical and probabilistic methods
Authors: Figueira Diogo , Sousa Carlos , Calçada Rui , Serra Neves Afonso 
Published: February 2016

AbstractA concrete interface is a material discontinuity that requires special care with respect to structural design and assessment. Therefore, the definition of design expressions based on experimental testing data must ensure the necessary reliability depending on the type of structure and its use. The present work describes a new proposal for the design of concrete interfaces subjected to shear loading for different roughness profile types. The proposal is characterized by three linear branches (for monotonic loading) and an S‐N curve (for cyclic loading) and is the result of a parametric analysis of existing experimental data ( obtained by the authors and also from an extensive literature search) based on statistical and probabilistic methods. Design expressions were defined in order to minimize the dispersion and variability of the safety factor values for each experimental test considered and also to assure that those values are within a target range (defined according to reliability considerations). These improvements became clearer when the new proposal was compared with the most common design code recommendations.
Behaviour of reinforced concrete rectangular sections based on tests complying with seismic construction requirements
Authors: López‐López Andrés T. , Tomás Antonio , Sánchez‐Olivares Gregorio 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe prediction of the seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete elements using numerical models has become a field of growing interest in recent years due to the importance of the effects induced by seismic loads applied to reinforced concrete structures. The simulation of the hysteretic behaviour of the plastic hinges generated in the structure when the seismic load acts requires the use of models that are able to describe the sectional behaviour of structural members. Thus, the main objective of the present paper is the adjustment of several empirical expressions that reduce the computational time needed to simulate the yield and ultimate behaviour of a given reinforced concrete rectangular section under either monotonic or cyclic loading. The expressions are calibrated with a selection of tests, taken from a published database of more than 1000 tests, according to the criterion that the selected specimens comply with the seismic construction requirements of the main international building codes (EC‐2, EC‐8 and ACI‐318). Owing to their robustness and the acceptable computation time for low‐dimensional problems, genetic algorithms are used for this calibration. The equations proposed can be employed by structural engineers for the design and analysis of actual structural elements used in ordinary reinforced concrete buildings located in seismic areas, and provide more accurate results than other expressions.
Fatigue behaviour of a normal‐strength concrete – number of cycles to failure and strain development
Authors: Hümme Julian , von der Haar Christoph , Lohaus Ludger , Marx Steffen 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe fatigue behaviour of concrete is gaining new relevance against the backdrop of continuous developments in concrete construction. Modern types of concrete are achieving ever higher strengths; hence, concrete structures are becoming increasingly attractive for new fields of application such as onshore and offshore wind turbines. The fatigue of concrete has a special relevance for these cyclically loaded structures and knowledge of the number of cycles to failure is no longer sufficient for their design. There are further questions concerning strain and stiffness development and the combination of fatigue loading and maritime environmental conditions which have been investigated with new testing methods at Leibniz Universität Hannover within the scope of the ”ProBeton“ research project. The first results of this project, which is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, are presented here.