bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of high-throughput screening in ecotoxicology and engineered nanomaterials
Authors: Barrick Andrew , Châtel Amélie , Bruneau Mélanie , Mouneyrac Catherine 
Published: April 2017

Abstract

The field of environmental toxicology developed as a result of growing concerns about anthropogenic influences on the environment and how to ameliorate ecological impact. Many governmental bodies are beginning to emphasize prevention rather than mitigation when addressing novel products, leading to more of a focus on identifying potential toxicity prior to release. With the exponential advances in their development and sale, novel metamaterials and biotechnology are set to dramatically outpace the capabilities of current testing strategies. To address the need for a fast, cost-effective means of testing chemicals, high-throughput screening (HTS) is currently being used in toxicology and being adapted to ecotoxicology in projects such as ToxCast and Tox21. Despite the growth of research using HTS platforms, its role in ecotoxicology is still uncertain, particularly in how it should be applied in regulation. The aim of the present review is to discuss common test strategies used in designing HTS platforms, the current potential applications for ecotoxicological research, its role in regulatory policies, and its ability to address growing concerns such as engineered nanomaterials. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1704–1714. © 2017 SETAC
Earthworm dispersal assay for rapidly evaluating soil quality
Authors: Kim Shin Woong , Kim Dokyung , Moon Jongmin , Chae Yooeun , Kwak Jin Il , Park Younsu , Jeong Seung-Woo , An Youn-Joo 
Published: April 2017

ABSTRACT

Earthworms enhance soil functioning and are therefore key species in the soil. Their presence is generally a positive sign for a terrestrial ecosystem, because these species serve as important biomarkers in soil quality evaluations. We describe a novel bioassay, the “dispersal assay,” that is a simple and rapid technique for field-based soil quality evaluations. It is based on the premise that earthworms prefer optimal soils if given the choice. Thus, assay tubes containing a reference soil were inserted in target sites, and earthworms were placed into these tubes. According to their soil preference, the earthworms dispersed into the surrounding soil, remained in the initial soil within the tubes, avoided both by crawling up the tube, or died. Furthermore, sensitivity responses to metal concentrations, electrical conductivity, and soil pH were observed in field tests. Although the dispersal assay did not completely match traditional toxicity endpoints such as earthworm survival, we found that it can serve as an in situ screening test for assessing soil quality. Overall, our dispersal assay was relatively rapid (within 24 h), had low levels of variation, and showed high correlations between earthworm behavior and soil physicochemical properties. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2766–2772. © 2017 SETAC
Identifying relevant and irrelevant variables in sparse factor models
Authors: Kaufmann Sylvia , Schumacher Christian 
Published: April 2017

SummaryThis paper considers factor estimation from heterogeneous data, where some of the variables—the relevant ones—are informative for estimating the factors, and others—the irrelevant ones—are not. We estimate the factor model within a Bayesian framework, specifying a sparse prior distribution for the factor loadings. Based on identified posterior factor loading estimates, we provide alternative methods to identify relevant and irrelevant variables. Simulations show that both types of variables are identified quite accurately. Empirical estimates for a large multi‐country GDP dataset and a disaggregated inflation dataset for the USA show that a considerable share of variables is irrelevant for factor estimation.
A quality control method for surface hourly temperature observations via gene‐expression programming
Authors: Xiong Xiong , Ye Xiaoling , Zhang Yingchao 
Published: April 2017

ABSTRACTThis article aims to find the best‐fit regression function for the quality control (QC) for the surface hourly temperature. A new QC method based on gene‐expression programming (GEP) was employed to identify potential outliers in the surface hourly temperature observations. Compared to the spatial regression test (SRT) method and inverse distance weighting (IDW) method, the results indicate that both GEP and SRT outperform IDW in all the cases. The GEP method and the SRT method display equivalent effects in most of the cases. But GEP was found to be superior to the other methods when the weather station density was low. For all cases, the GEP method could yield a smaller estimated error than the other methods, respectively. The results of the comparison led to the recommendation that the GEP method is an effective QC method in identifying the seeded errors for the surface hourly temperature.
Regulation of benthic oxygen fluxes in permeable sediments of the coastal ocean
Authors: Ahmerkamp Soeren , Winter Christian , Krämer Knut , Beer Dirk de , Janssen Felix , Friedrich Jana , Kuypers Marcel M. M. , Holtappels Moritz 
Published: April 2017

AbstractLarge areas of the oceanic shelf are composed of sandy sediments through which reactive solutes are transported via porewater advection fueling active microbial communities. The advective oxygen transport in permeable sands of the North Sea was investigated under in situ conditions using a new benthic observatory to assess the dynamic interaction of hydrodynamics, sediment morphodynamics, and oxygen penetration depth. During 16 deployments, concurrent measurement of current velocity, sediment topography, and porewater oxygen concentration were carried out. In all cases the oxyclines were found at depths of 1–6 cm, correlating with the topography of stationary and migrating bedforms (ripples). Different conditions in terms of bottom water currents and bedform migration led to fluctuating oxygen penetration depths and, hence, highly variable redox conditions in up to 2.5 cm thick layers beneath the surface. Volumetric oxygen consumption rates of surface sediments were measured on board in flow‐through reactors. Bedform migration was found to reduce consumption rates by up to
, presumably caused by the washout of organic carbon that is otherwise trapped in the pore space of the sediment. Based on the observations we found oxygen penetration depths to be largely controlled by oxygen consumption rates, grain size, and current velocity. These controlling variables are summarized by an adapted Damköhler number which allows for prediction of oxygen penetretion depths based on a simple scaling law. By integrating the oxygen consumption rates over the oxygen penetration depth, oxygen fluxes of 8–34 mmol m−2 d−1 were estimated.
CFD simulation of bubbling fluidized bed: Effects of bed column geometry on hydrodynamics of gas–solid mixing
Authors: Afrooz I. Eslami , Sinnathambi C. Mohan , Chuang D. Ling , Karuppanan S. 
Published: April 2017

AbstractIn this study, multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is employed to simulate and study the hydrodynamics behavior of gas‐solid mixing in a new bed column design of bubbling fluidized bed called swirl bed. The new fluidized bed is a swirl tube reactor design based on swirl tube technology. The results are compared with the conventional straight tube rector which is the scaled down version of the existing pilot plant gasifier. It is found that the usage of the swirl tube reactor design results in better lateral solid mixing inside the bed. Furthermore an increase in residence time of the particles is also observed due to the swirl motion of the particles.
On the prediction of uniformity of air flow out from manifold distribution
Authors: Farajpourlar M. 
Published: April 2017

AbstractComputational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate a closed‐end multiple outlet pipe to examine the effect of different exit port geometry and size of perforation on performance of manifold distribution. To obtain an optimum design, the amount of fluid discharging from any opening in a pipe is greatly concern in engineering applications because uniform flow distribution has significant influence on the performance of manifold distribution. In this investigation, the vertical manifold system was used to study the hydrodynamics of air flow and simulate with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Firstly, three different exit port geometry (circular, rectangular and square) are chosen to investigate the effect of exit port on mass flow rate uniformity effusing from distribution manifold. The best performance, which most closely approximating uniform outflow was achieved by the rectangle exit ports. Secondly, three different perforation size (3, 4 and 5 mm) of circular exit port were selected to reach to the finding of uniformity. Results show the 5 mm diameter orifices exit port achieve the uniform outflow of all. The ratio of the total opening area for all cases to the cross‐sectional area of the cylindrical pipe is identical for these two cases. Thirdly, the effect of perforation diameter with variable pipe ratio for equal number of orifices was investigated. The analysis for investigating the changes in the discharge angle of the stream between the orifices of multi‐perforated pipes perform for all cases. Standard k–ϵ turbulence model was considered for the numerical simulation, the finding results of numerical simulation were evaluated by the laboratory experiments.
The effect of temperature on the formation behavior of reaction layer in Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu solder joint with the addition of porous Copper interlayer
Authors: Hani J. Nashrah , Fadzil J. Mohd , Farazila Y. , Tadashi A. , Yukio M. , Hamdi A. S. Mohd 
Published: April 2017

AbstractThis paper investigates the growth and formation of intermetallic compound when a porous copper interlayer is added into the soldering of 96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy and copper substrate. Porous copper interlayers with two different porosities, P15 (15 pores per inch, ppi) and P25 (25 ppi), were selected as interlayers to be placed in between 96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy/copper substrate. Three soldering temperatures of 267 °C, 287 °C and 307 °C with soldering time of 300 s were applied. It was found that during the soldering process, the intermetallic layer of copper compound with tin (6:5) with discontinuous scallop‐shaped morphology was formed at the interface of the 96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy and copper substrate, while a uniform and continuous intermetallic compound was observed at the interface of 96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy and porous copper. The activation energies of intermetallic compound growth at copper substrate/96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy interface for the samples without porous copper and with porous copper (P15 and P25) were calculated to be 52.90 kJ/mol, 54.53 kJ/mol and 51.67 kJ/mol, respectively. The activation energies of intermetallic compound growth at porous copper/96.5Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (in wt%) solder alloy interface for P15 and P25 were 51.73 kJ/mol and 20.62 kJ/mol, respectively. Results of the tensile tests have shown that the highest joint strength for P15 was 54 MPa, whereas for P25 the highest joint strength was 52 MPa, both obtained at a soldering temperature of 307 °C.
Intramuscular fat infiltration evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging predicts the extensibility of the supraspinatus muscle
Authors: Giambini Hugo , Hatta Taku , Gorny Krzysztof R. , Widholm Per , Karlsson Anette , Leinhard Olof D. , Adkins Mark C. , Zhao Chunfeng , An Kai‐Nan 
Published: April 2017

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Rotator cuff (RC) tears result in muscle atrophy and fat infiltration within the RC muscles. An estimation of muscle quality and deformation, or extensibility, is useful in selecting the most appropriate surgical procedure. We determined if noninvasive quantitative assessment of intramuscular fat using MRI could be used to predict extensibility of the supraspinatus muscle. Methods: Seventeen cadaveric shoulders were imaged to assess intramuscular fat infiltration. Extensibility and histological evaluations were then performed. Results: Quantitative fat infiltration positively correlated with histological findings and presented a positive correlation with muscle extensibility (r = 0.69; P = 0.002). Extensibility was not significantly different between shoulders graded with a higher fat content versus those with low fat when implementing qualitative methods. Discussion: A noninvasive prediction of whole‐muscle extensibility may directly guide pre‐operative planning to determine if the torn edge could efficiently cover the original footprint while aiding in postoperative evaluation of RC repair. Muscle Nerve 57: 129–135, 2018
Sensitivity of Dental Phenotypic Data for the Identification of Biological Relatives
Authors: Stojanowski C. M. , Hubbard A. R. 
Published: April 2017

AbstractUsing modern samples of known kin, this paper evaluates two fundamental aspects of kinship analysis in archaeological contexts: (1) choice of data (dental metrics or morphology) and (2) analytical approach (multivariate, distance‐based approach or a ‘rare trait’ analysis). Stone dental casts were analysed from 155 female individuals from four sampling locations in Kenya. Of these 155 individuals, only three pairs were close kin: mother–daughter, sister–sister, and first‐cousin–first‐cousin dyads. After variable winnowing, inter‐individual distances or similarities were calculated using 11 odontometric variables and 25 dental morphological variables. Resulting distance matrices were ordinated in two dimensions using multidimensional scaling. Odontometric data performed relatively well at identifying known relative pairs, but the results were heavily affected by choice of similarity measure (e.g. Euclidean distances vs. Gower coefficients) and pre‐analysis data treatments (e.g. raw data vs. principal components). Dental morphological data performed comparably with odontometric data but were slightly less effective. Rare traits were identified and compared among relative pairs for concordance, with mixed results. Rare morphological features were randomly distributed throughout the population and were not exclusively found in close kin. In combination, results indicated the sister–sister dyad was most consistently identified; however, in no analysis were relatives more phenotypically similar than all random pairs of unrelated individuals. A multivariate, distance‐based approach was more effective than rare traits at identifying relative pairs, but even under ideal circumstances, there is not enough variation present in the dentition to faithfully identify close relatives in the absence of contextual archaeological data. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hypertriglyceridemia during asparaginase treatment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia correlates with antithrombin activity in adolescents
Authors: Persson Lisa , Harila‐Saari Arja , Hed Myrberg Ida , Heyman Mats , Nilsson Anna , Ranta Susanna 
Published: April 2017

AbstractBackgroundAsparaginase (ASP) is a cornerstone in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is also known for its ability to cause side effects, such as allergy and pancreatitis, as well as lipid and coagulation disturbances. The most important laboratory abnormalities are hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) and low antithrombin (AT). HTG is usually considered to be transient and benign in children with ALL, whereas low AT activity predisposes to thrombosis. Studies on the incidence and significance of HTG in children with ALL are scarce, and their findings have not always been congruent. We investigated the incidence and significance of ASP‐related HTG, defined as triglyceride values more than five times the upper normal limit, in children with ALL.ProcedureWe analyzed the laboratory and clinical data of children diagnosed with ALL at the Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, from July 2008 to December 2014. Triglyceride and AT values were measured before each injection of pegylated ASP.ResultsThe study group comprised of 92 patients, aged 1–17.9 years at diagnosis (median 4.8 years), almost half (42/92, 46%) of whom had HTG. A significant negative correlation between triglyceride and AT values was observed in those aged over 10 years (P = 0.0002). No significant correlation was found between HTG and thrombosis, osteonecrosis, or pancreatitis.ConclusionsAlthough common, ASP‐associated HTG was not associated with other ASP‐related toxicities. HTG correlated with decreased AT activity in older children, which may explain previous association between HTG and thrombosis. Larger studies are of interest with regard to establishing guidelines for HGT management.
Evolution of the plasma proteome of divers before and after a single SCUBA dive
Authors: Lautridou Jacky , Pichereau Vianney , Artigaud Sébastien , Bernay Benoit , Barak Otto , Hoiland Ryan , Lovering Andrew T. , Eftedal Ingrid , Dujic Zeljko , Guerrero François 
Published: April 2017

PurposeDecompression sickness (DCS) is a poorly understood and complex systemic disease caused by inadequate desaturation following a reduction of ambient pressure. A previous proteomic study of ours showed that DCS occurrence but not diving was associated with changes in the plasma proteome in rats, including a dramatic decrease of abundance of the tetrameric form of Transthyretin (TTR). The present study aims to assess the impact on the human blood proteome of a dive inducing significant decompression stress but without inducing DCS symptoms.Experimental designTwelve healthy male divers were subjected to a single dive at a depth of 18 m of sea water (msw) with a 47‐min bottom time followed by a direct ascent to the surface at a rate of 9 msw/min. Venous blood was collected before the dive as well as 30 min and 2 h following the dive. The plasma proteomes from four individuals were then analyzed by using a two‐dimensional electrophoresis‐based proteomic strategy.ResultsNo protein spot showed a significantly changed abundance (fdr< 0.1) between the tested times.ConclusionThese results strengthen the hypothesis according to which significant changes of the plasma proteome measurable with two‐dimensional electrophoresis may only occur along with DCS symptoms.
Sustainable Development Goal 6: watering down justice concerns
Authors: Lele Sharachchandra 
Published: April 2017

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) give much greater attention to environmental concerns than the Millennium Development Goals. SDG6, the water sector goal, is also more broadly framed, as it recognizes conservation needs in addition to drinking water and sanitation. However, normatively speaking, SDG6 is still framed in adequacy and sustainability terms, downplaying the goal of justice. This is a serious lacuna. Intragenerational justice is fundamental to many environmental problems, and especially to water, because water is a common‐pool, multiple‐use and unidirectionally flowing resource. Most debates in the water sector—upstream–downstream sharing, intersectoral allocations and specifically allocation to in‐stream conservation, water pollution, and even groundwater depletion—are about the ‘biophysical (in)justice’ caused by these characteristics of the resource. The debates then focus on how the outcomes may be made more equitable (within sectors) or fair (across sectors). Large interventions, such as big dams, create multiple benefits and costs across multiple users and sectors, focusing attention on procedural justice. Social inequities may add another layer, as they often correlate with biophysical injustice. While SDG6 recognizes conservation and public health needs, it fails to recognize the fundamental tension between these needs and other uses of water, and therefore the issues of equity, fairness, and/or procedural justice in allocating between them. Policy makers may be more comfortable with framing environmental problems as sustainability problems. However, researchers have contributed to this narrowing by framing environmental problems along disciplinarily fragmented lines. The idea of biophysical justice offers an interdisciplinary bridge that may help broaden the discourse. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1224. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1224This article is categorized under:

Engineering Water > Planning Water
Human Water > Rights to Water
Human Water > Water Governance
Nanophotonic trapping: precise manipulation and measurement of biomolecular arrays
Authors: Baker James E. , Badman Ryan P. , Wang Michelle D. 
Published: April 2017

Optical trapping is a powerful and widely used laboratory technique in the biological and materials sciences that enables rapid manipulation and measurement at the nanometer scale. However, expanding the analytical throughput of this technique beyond the serial capabilities of established single‐trap microscope‐based optical tweezers remains a current goal in the field. In recent years, advances in nanotechnology have been leveraged to create innovative optical trapping methods that increase the number of available optical traps and permit parallel manipulation and measurement of arrays of optically trapped targets. In particular, nanophotonic trapping holds significant promise for integration with other lab‐on‐a‐chip technologies to yield compact, robust analytical devices. In this review, we highlight progress in nanophotonic manipulation and measurement, as well as the potential for implementing these on‐chip functionalities in biological research and biomedical applications. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2018, 10:e1477. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1477This article is categorized under:

Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology
Strength testing of raccoons and invasive wild pigs for a species‐specific bait station
Authors: Snow Nathan P. , Lavelle Michael J. , Halseth Joseph M. , Blass Chad R. , Foster Justin A. , V er cauteren Kurt C. 
Published: April 2017

ABSTRACTWith the development of a toxic bait (HOGGONE®) for the control of invasive wild pig (IWP; Sus scrofa) populations in the United States, there is a need to develop a bait station to mitigate potential effects on nontarget species. Our objective was to identify characteristics of a bait station that can successfully exclude raccoons (Procyon lotor)—a ubiquitous and dexterous nontarget species—while facilitating bait consumption by IWPs that exhibit group‐feeding behaviors. We evaluated abilities of captive raccoons (n = 19) and IWPs (n = 41) to open the lids of prototype resistance assessment bait stations (RABS) under various levels of resistance (range = 1.1–18.1 kg) at research facilities in Colorado and Texas, USA, during July–August 2014. We found that similar proportions (0.65) of individual raccoons and IWPs in our tests opened lids with 0–1.4 kg resistance, which decreased as resistance increased. No raccoons opened lids with ≥13.6 kg of resistance. However, equal proportions (0.45) of IWPs opened lids with 13.6 kg and 18.1 kg, and a greater proportion (0.73) secondarily accessed RABS after other IWPs opened them. Scrounging behaviors of IWPs (i.e., aggressively taking access to food from less dominate IWPs) increased as the levels of resistance increased, but similar proportions of animals gained access. These results suggest that a threshold‐weight‐of‐resistance of 13.6–18.1 kg on hinged lids excludes raccoons and allows access by IWPs. Furthermore, bait stations designed to allow multiple IWPs to feed simultaneously may be preferred because of group feeding behaviors. Field evaluations are required to evaluate the exclusion of other nontarget species (e.g., white‐tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus], black bears [Ursus americanus], and coyotes [Canis latrans]), potential scrounging behaviors by nontargets, and bait consumption by IWPs. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.