bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of cosmetics on the skin microbiome of facial cheeks with different hydration levels
Authors: Lee Hyo Jung , Jeong Sang Eun , Lee Soyoun , Kim Sungwoo , Han Hyuntak , Jeon Che Ok 
Published: November 2017

AbstractBasic cosmetics was used by volunteers belonging to high (HHG) and low (LHG) hydration groups for 4 weeks, and bacterial communities and biophysical parameters in facial skin were analyzed. Hydration level increases and transepidermal water loss and roughness decreases were observed in both groups after cosmetic use. Bacterial diversity was greater in LHG than HHG, and increased after cosmetic use in both groups. Bray–Curtis dissimilarities that were higher in LHG than HHG increased in HHG after cosmetic use, whereas they decreased in LHG. The phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes and the genera Propionibacterium, Ralstonia, Burkholderia, Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, Cupriavidus, and Pelomonas were identified as common groups and they were not significantly different between LHG and HHG except for Propionibacterium that was more abundant in HHG. After cosmetic use, Propionibacterium, Staphylococcus, and Corynebacterium decreased, whereas Ralstonia, not a core genus, increased, as did KEGG categories of lipid metabolism and xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism, suggesting that Ralstonia in skin may have the ability to metabolize cosmetics components. Bacterial communities after cosmetic use were different from those in both LHG and HHG before the cosmetic use, indicating that bacterial communities in LHG were not shifted to resemble those in HHG by cosmetics use.
Verification and bias correction of ECMWF forecasts for Irish weather stations to evaluate their potential usefulness in grass growth modelling
Authors: McDonnell Jack , Lambkin Keith , Fealy Rowan , Hennessy Deirdre , Shalloo Laurence , Brophy Caroline 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTTypical weather in Ireland provides conditions favourable for sustaining grass growth throughout most of the year. This affords grass based farming a significant economic advantage due to the low input costs associated with grass production. To optimize the productivity of grass based systems, farmers must manage the resource over short time scales. While research has been conducted into developing predictive grass growth models for Ireland to support on‐farm decision making, short term weather forecasts have not yet been incorporated into these models. To assess their potential for use in predictive grass growth models, deterministic forecasts from the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) were verified for lead times up to 10 days using observations from 25 Irish weather stations. Forecasts of air temperature variables were generally precise at all lead times, particularly up to 7 days. Verification of ECMWF soil temperature forecasts is limited, but here they were shown to be accurate at all depths and most precise at greater depths such as 50 cm. Rainfall forecasts performed well up to approximately 5 days. Seven bias correction techniques were assessed to minimize systematic biases in the forecasts. Based on the root mean squared error values, no large improvement was identified for rainfall forecasts on equivalent ECMWF forecasts, but the optimum bias corrections improved air and soil temperature forecasts greatly. Overall, the results demonstrated that forecasts predict observations accurately up to approximately a week in advance and therefore could prove valuable in grass growth prediction at farm level in Ireland.
A model observer study using acquired mammographic images of an anthropomorphic breast phantom
Authors: Balta Christiana , Bouwman Ramona W. , Sechopoulos Ioannis , Broeders Mireille J.M. , Karssemeijer Nico , van Engen Ruben E. , Veldkamp Wouter J.H. 
Published: November 2017

PurposeTo study the feasibility of a task‐based framework composed of an anthropomorphic breast phantom and mathematical model observers (MOs) for the evaluation of system‐processed mammographic images.MethodsA prototype anthropomorphic breast phantom with inserted gold discs of 0.1 mm and 0.25 mm diameter was imaged with two digital mammography systems (system A and B) at four different dose levels. From the acquired processed and unprocessed images, signal‐present and signal‐absent regions of interest (ROIs) were extracted. The ROIs were evaluated by a non‐pre‐whitening MO with eye filter (NPWE) and by three human observers in a two‐alternative forced‐choice experiment. We compared the human and the MO performance on a simple detection task of the calcification‐like discs in ROIs with and without postprocessing. Proportion of correct responses of the human (PCH) and NPWE (PCNPWE) experiments was calculated and the correlation between the two was analyzed using a mixed‐effect regression model. Correlation results including the goodness of fit (r2) of PCH and PCNPWE for all different parameters investigated were evaluated to determine whether NPWE MO can be used to predict human observer performance.ResultsPCH and PCNPWE increased with dose for all conditions investigated (signal size, processing status, and different system). In case of the 0.1 mm discs, for system A, r2 between PCH with PCNPWE was 0.81. For system B, r2 was 0.93. In case of the 0.25 mm discs, r2 in system A was 0.79 and for system B, r2 was 0.82. For the combined parameters investigated, and after excluding the 0.1 mm discs on system A because the results were influenced by aliasing, the overall r2 was 0.81. Image processing did not affect the detectability of calcification‐like signals. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was found between the predicted PCH(pred) by the MO and the PCH for all different conditions.ConclusionsThe framework seems promising to be used in objective image quality assessment. It was found to be relatively robust for the range of parameters investigated. However, further optimization of the anthropomorphic breast phantom and investigation of other MOs for a broader range of image quality assessment tasks is needed.
Design of universal parallel‐transmit refocusing kT‐point pulses and application to 3D T2‐weighted imaging at 7T
Authors: Gras Vincent , Mauconduit Franck , Vignaud Alexandre , Amadon Alexis , Le Bihan Denis , Stöcker Tony , Boulant Nicolas 
Published: November 2017

PurposeT2‐weighted sequences are particularly sensitive to the radiofrequency (RF) field inhomogeneity problem at ultra‐high‐field because of the errors accumulated by the imperfections of the train of refocusing pulses. As parallel transmission (pTx) has proved particularly useful to counteract RF heterogeneities, universal pulses were recently demonstrated to save precious time and computational efforts by skipping B1 calibration and online RF pulse tailoring. Here, we report a universal RF pulse design for non‐selective refocusing pulses to mitigate the RF inhomogeneity problem at 7T in turbo spin‐echo sequences with variable flip angles.MethodAverage Hamiltonian theory was used to synthetize a single non‐selective refocusing pulse with pTx while optimizing its scaling properties in the presence of static field offsets. The design was performed under explicit power and specific absorption rate constraints on a database of 10 subjects using a 8Tx‐32Rx commercial coil at 7T. To validate the proposed design, the RF pulses were tested in simulation and applied in vivo on 5 additional test subjects.ResultsThe root‐mean‐square rotation angle error (RA‐NRMSE) evaluation and experimental data demonstrated great improvement with the proposed universal pulses (RA‐NRMSE ∼8%) compared to the standard circularly polarized mode of excitation (RA‐NRMSE ∼26%).ConclusionThis work further completes the spectrum of 3D universal pulses to mitigate RF field inhomogeneity throughout all 3D MRI sequences without any pTx calibration. The approach returns a single pulse that can be scaled to match the desired flip angle train, thereby increasing the modularity of the proposed plug and play approach. Magn Reson Med 80:53–65, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
RACER‐GRASP: Respiratory‐weighted, aortic contrast enhancement‐guided and coil‐unstreaking golden‐angle radial sparse MRI
Authors: Feng Li , Huang Chenchan , Shanbhogue Krishna , Sodickson Daniel K , Chandarana Hersh , Otazo Ricardo 
Published: November 2017

PurposeTo develop and evaluate a novel dynamic contrast‐enhanced imaging technique called RACER‐GRASP (Respiratory‐weighted, Aortic Contrast Enhancement‐guided and coil‐unstReaking Golden‐angle RAdial Sparse Parallel) MRI that extends GRASP to include automatic contrast bolus timing, respiratory motion compensation, and coil‐weighted unstreaking for improved imaging performance in liver MRI.MethodsIn RACER‐GRASP, aortic contrast enhancement (ACE) guided k‐space sorting and respiratory‐weighted sparse reconstruction are performed using aortic contrast enhancement and respiratory motion signals extracted directly from the acquired data. Coil unstreaking aims to weight multicoil k‐space according to streaking artifact level calculated for each individual coil during image reconstruction, so that coil elements containing a high level of streaking artifacts contribute less to the final results. Self‐calibrating GRAPPA operator gridding was applied as a pre‐reconstruction step to reduce computational burden in the subsequent iterative reconstruction. The RACER‐GRASP technique was compared with standard GRASP reconstruction in a group of healthy volunteers and patients referred for clinical liver MR examination.ResultsCompared with standard GRASP, RACER‐GRASP significantly improved overall image quality (average score: 3.25 versus 3.85) and hepatic vessel sharpness/clarity (average score: 3.58 versus 4.0), and reduced residual streaking artifact level (average score: 3.23 versus 3.94) in different contrast phases. RACER‐GRASP also enabled automatic timing of the arterial phases.ConclusionsThe aortic contrast enhancement–guided sorting, respiratory motion suppression and coil unstreaking introduced by RACER‐GRASP improve upon the imaging performance of standard GRASP for free‐breathing dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI of the liver. Magn Reson Med 80:77–89, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Approaching ultimate intrinsic specific absorption rate in radiofrequency shimming using high‐permittivity materials at 7 Tesla
Authors: Haemer Gillian G. , Vaidya Manushka , Collins Christopher M. , Sodickson Daniel K. , Wiggins Graham C. , Lattanzi Riccardo 
Published: November 2017

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of integrated high‐permittivity materials (HPMs) on excitation homogeneity and global specific absorption rate (SAR) for transmit arrays at 7T.MethodsA rapid electrodynamic simulation framework was used to calculate L‐curves associated with excitation of a uniform 2D profile in a dielectric sphere. We used ultimate intrinsic SAR as an absolute performance reference to compare different transmit arrays in the presence and absence of a layer of HPM. We investigated the optimal permittivity for the HPM as a function of its thickness, the sample size, and the number of array elements.ResultsAdding a layer of HPM can improve the performance of a 24‐element array to match that of a 48‐element array without HPM, whereas a 48‐element array with HPM can perform as well as a 64‐element array without HPM. Optimal relative permittivity values changed based on sample and coil geometry, but were always within a range obtainable with readily available materials (εr = 100–200).ConclusionIntegration of HPMs could be a practical method to improve RF shimming performance, alternative to increasing the number of coils. The proposed simulation framework could be used to explore the design of novel transmit arrays for head imaging at ultra‐high field strength. Magn Reson Med 80:391–399, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
The same or different? Experimenting with the influence of peat environment on use‐wear traces on antler tools
Authors: Orłowska J. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractPostdeposition issues are one of the most important factors that must be considered during study of all archaeological osseous artefacts, especially if our analysis involves technological or use‐wear traces. In order to better understand the possible changes on the worked, polished surfaces of antler tools resulting from the latter being deposited in peat environment, an experiment was conducted, in which experimentally made antler tools were deposited inside a container with humid peat for a period of 3 months. The results of the study provide numerous interesting observations and information on the state of preservation of various kinds of wear traces and emphasise the need for further in‐depth research in this regard.
Genetic Fine‐Mapping and Identification of Candidate Genes and Variants for Adiposity Traits in Outbred Rats
Authors: Keele Gregory R. , Prokop Jeremy W. , He Hong , Holl Katie , Littrell John , Deal Aaron , Francic Sanja , Cui Leilei , Gatti Daniel M. , Broman Karl W. , Tschannen Michael , Tsaih Shirng‐Wern , Zagloul Maie , Kim Yunjung , Baur Brittany , Fox Joseph , Robinson Melanie , Levy Shawn , Flister Michael J. , Mott Richard , Valdar William , Solberg Woods Leah C. 
Published: November 2017

ObjectiveObesity is a major risk factor for multiple diseases and is in part heritable, yet the majority of causative genetic variants that drive excessive adiposity remain unknown. Here, outbred heterogeneous stock (HS) rats were used in controlled environmental conditions to fine‐map novel genetic modifiers of adiposity.MethodsBody weight and visceral fat pad weights were measured in male HS rats that were also genotyped genome‐wide. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified by genome‐wide association of imputed single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes using a linear mixed effect model that accounts for unequal relatedness between the HS rats. Candidate genes were assessed by protein modeling and mediation analysis of expression for coding and noncoding variants, respectively.ResultsHS rats exhibited large variation in adiposity traits, which were highly heritable and correlated with metabolic health. Fine‐mapping of fat pad weight and body weight revealed three QTL and prioritized five candidate genes. Fat pad weight was associated with missense SNPs in Adcy3 and Prlhr and altered expression of Krtcap3 and Slc30a3, whereas Grid2 was identified as a candidate within the body weight locus.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate the power of HS rats for identification of known and novel heritable mediators of obesity traits.
Energetic Nanocomposites as Burn Rate Catalyst for Composite Solid Propellants
Authors: Bagalkote Vrushali , Grinstein Dan , Natan Benveniste 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIn the present study the effect of addition of Al/Fe2O3 based energetic nanocomposites (ENC) to non‐aluminized and aluminized propellants was investigated. Comparative study was carried out using n‐Fe2O3 as burn rate catalyst. Ferric oxide xerogel and Al/Fe2O3 ENC were synthesized by sol‐gel method. The dried xerogel was characterised by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). TEM and SEM images reveal presence of porous interconnected ferric oxide clusters of size 3–5 nm and intimate mixing of the ingredients at nanoscale in case of ENC. XRD analysis shows amorphous nature of the ferric oxide xerogel. Fe2O3 and FeO(OH) are the major constituents (>84 %) of the xerogel as confirmed by XPS analysis. Thermal analysis of the ENC indicates that the composition is energetic in nature. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to assess the safety of the ENC during propellant processing. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results for propellant samples show that the Al/Fe2O3 ENC is a better catalyst for AP decomposition than n−Fe2O3. Burn rate studies of ENC catalyzed propellants with μ‐Al and with n‐Al were carried out using acoustic strand burner. The results indicate that ENCs can be promising catalysts for composite propellants.
Revisiting the O(3) Non‐linear Sigma Model and Its Pohlmeyer Reduction
Authors: Pastras Georgios 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIt is well known that sigma models in symmetric spaces accept equivalent descriptions in terms of integrable systems, such as the sine‐Gordon equation, through Pohlmeyer reduction. In this paper, we study the mapping between known solutions of the Euclidean O(3) non‐linear sigma model, such as instantons, merons and elliptic solutions that interpolate between the latter, and solutions of the Pohlmeyer reduced theory, namely the sinh‐Gordon equation. It turns out that instantons do not have a counterpart, merons correspond to the ground state, while the class of elliptic solutions is characterized by a two to one correspondence between solutions in the two descriptions.
E‐String Theory on Riemann Surfaces
Authors: Kim Hee‐Cheol , Razamat Shlomo S. , Vafa Cumrun , Zafrir Gabi 
Published: November 2017

AbstractWe study compactifications of the 6d E‐string theory, the theory of a small E8 instanton, to four dimensions. In particular we identify field theories in four dimensions corresponding to compactifications on arbitrary Riemann surfaces with punctures and with arbitrary non‐abelian flat connections as well as fluxes for the abelian sub‐groups of the E8 flavor symmetry. This sheds light on emergent symmetries in a number of 4d SCFTs (including the ‘E7 surprise’ theory) as well as leads to new predictions for a large number of 4‐dimensional exceptional dualities and symmetries.
Sustainability requirements for connected health applications
Authors: Ouhbi Sofia , Fernández‐Alemán José Luis , Toval Ambrosio , Rivera Pozo José , Idri Ali 
Published: November 2017

AbstractConnected health applications are efficient tools to improve health care services. The aim of this paper is to define a reusable requirements repository (catalog) for sustainable connected health applications based on the main related software engineering standards, e‐health technology standards, and literature. The catalog contains requirements which cover the individual, social, environmental, and technical dimensions of sustainability. The requirements presented in this paper can be very useful to connected health application stakeholders and can be adapted to specific m‐health applications. Moreover, the requirements catalog can be used to generate a checklist of requirements to evaluate and audit connected health applications. An application example is presented to show that the evaluation of connected health applications using the generated checklist is realistic.
Jsvee & Kelmu: Creating and tailoring program animations for computing education
Authors: Sirkiä Teemu 
Published: November 2017

AbstractTo learn to program, a novice programmer must understand the dynamic, runtime aspect of program code, a so‐called notional machine. Understanding the machine can be easier when it is represented graphically, and tools have been developed to this end. However, these tools typically support only 1 programming language and do not work in a Web browser. In this article, we present the functionality and technical implementation of the 2 visualization tools. First, the language‐agnostic and extensible Jsvee library helps instructors visualize notional machines and create expression‐level program animations for online course materials. Second, instructors can use the Kelmu toolkit to augment automatically generated animations, for instance, by adding annotations such as textual explanations and arrows on top of the original animation. Both of these libraries have been used in introductory programming courses, and there is preliminary evidence that learners find the animations useful and annotated animations change student behavior.
Molecular prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of Theileria annulata and Trypanosoma evansi in cattle in Northern Tunisia
Authors: Sallemi Souhir , Rjeibi Mohamed R. , Rouatbi Mariem , Amairia Safa , Ben Said Mourad , Khamassi Khbou Madiha , Gharbi Mohamed 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe present study aimed to estimate the molecular prevalence of Theileria annulata and Trypanosoma evansi infection in cattle in Northern Tunisia. A total number of 96 cattle from five farms were evaluated. T. annulata and T. evansi prevalences were 61% [56/66] and 10% [7/13], respectively, at a confidence interval (CI) of 95%, while co‐infection was present in 6% [4/8] of the tested animals at a CI of 95%. There was a significant correlation between age and the prevalence of T. annulata infection, whereas, there was no significant association shown with the age of cattle and T. evansi infection. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that the T. annulata Tams1 gene and T. evansi ITS1 rDNA gene were highly conserved with 97.1–100% and 98.3–100% sequence identity, respectively.
Effect of vaccine storage temperatures and dose rate on antibody responses to foot and mouth disease vaccination in Cambodia
Authors: Sieng Socheat , Walkden‐Brown Stephen W. , Kerr James 
Published: November 2017

AbstractA field study investigated the effects of foot and mouth disease vaccine storage temperature for 7 days (frozen, refrigerated or held at ambient temperature) and dose (half or full dose) on the serological response to vaccination. It utilised a complete factorial design replicated on 18 smallholder cattle farms in three villages in Pursat province, Cambodia. Antibody responses from the 108 cattle involved were assessed by serological examination of blood samples collected at primary vaccination (day 0), at booster vaccination (day 30) and finally at 60 days post primary vaccination. Vaccination responses to the inactivated vaccine were assessed by testing for antibodies directed against FMD structural proteins in a liquid‐phase blocking ELISA (LPBE test) and differentiated from responses to natural infection by examining antibody titres against non‐structural viral proteins (NSPE test). LPBE results indicated that the mean log10 LPBE antibody titres of all experimental cattle increased from below protective levels at day 0 to protective levels at 30 days post primary vaccination, and increased further at 60 days post primary vaccination. Storage at ambient temperature for 1 week had no effect on antibody response to vaccination. However, freezing the vaccine for a week or use of a half dose resulted in significant reduction in titres at day 60 (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02, respectively). The results of this study reinforce the need to store FMD vaccines within the range recommended by the manufacturers and to adhere to the specified dosage instructions.