bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fabrication of high‐k poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Nylon 6/carbon nanotube nanocomposites through selective localization of carbon nanotubes in blends
Authors: Mao Hanjun , Zhang Tingting , Huang Ting , Zhang Nan , Wang Yong , Yang Jinghui 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe morphology as well as the distribution of conductive fillers in conductive filler/polymer nanocomposites have a decisive effect on the dielectric properties of blend composites. In this study, the relationship between morphology and properties was carefully investigated and the underlying mechanism is discussed based on the microcapacitor model. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were introduced into an immiscible poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/polyamide 6 (Nylon 6) blend and the morphologies of PVDF/Nylon 6 were tailored by changing the weight ratio of PVDF to Nylon 6, varying from sea‐island morphology to co‐continuous morphology. Interestingly, the CNTs are selectively localized in the Nylon 6 phase in both sea‐island and co‐continuous morphological blends, which is due to the finer interaction between Nylon 6 and CNTs. In the sea‐island morphological blend only, a strong increase of the dielectric permittivity can be found when the content of CNTs is increased. It is surprising that no effects of CNTs on the dielectric properties can be found in the co‐continuous morphological blend. The CNT filled Nylon 6 domains in the sea‐island morphological blend act as a microcapacitor with improved charge accumulation and interfacial polarization, resulting in a marked increase in dielectric permittivity. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
Polyimides with side groups: Synthesis and effects of side groups on their properties
Authors: Yi Lang , Huang Wei , Yan Deyue 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTPolyimides are a class of well‐known high‐performance polymers combined the excellent mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties and widely applied in many high‐tech fields. Traditional polyimides can only be processed in the state of soluble intermediates with a hazardous step of cyclodehydration and elimination of a nonvolatile polar solvent. Therefore, a great effort has been devoted to the development of soluble polyimides that can be processed in the full imidation state. The incorporation of side groups into the polyimide backbone is an efficient approach to resolve above problems with a little sacrifice of its inherent merits. The subtle variation of side groups in polyimide backbones has allowed researchers to tune their final properties. In particular, some special side groups can endow polyimides the specific property or functionality to broaden their application fields. In this article, we summarize the synthesis of polyimides with side groups in recent 20 years and further discuss the effect of side groups on their physical and specific properties. The future research directions of polyimides with side groups are also discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 533–559
A randomized pilot trial of a positive affect skill intervention (lessons in linking affect and coping) for women with metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Cheung Elaine O. , Cohn Michael A. , Dunn Laura B. , Melisko Michelle E. , Morgan Stefana , Penedo Frank J. , Salsman John M. , Shumay Dianne M. , Moskowitz Judith T. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBackgroundWe conducted a randomized pilot trial to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a 5 week positive affect skills intervention (LILAC: lessons in linking affect and coping) for women with metastatic breast cancer. Additionally, we examined whether online delivery of the intervention would offer comparable benefits as in‐person delivery.MethodsWomen with metastatic breast cancer (N = 39) were randomized to an in‐person intervention, online intervention, or in‐person attention‐matched control. Psychological well‐being (depression [Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale], positive and negative affect [Differential Emotions Scale], cancer‐specific quality of life [Multidimensional Quality of Life Scale—Cancer Version]), and positive coping (mindfulness, positive‐affect skill use, and self‐compassion [Self‐Compassion Scale: Short‐Form]) were assessed at baseline, 1 week post‐intervention, and 1 month post‐intervention follow‐up.ResultsThe LILAC intervention showed good feasibility, acceptability, and retention. Although the study was not adequately powered to detect between‐group differences in change on preliminary efficacy outcomes, within‐group comparisons revealed that LILAC participants (in‐person and online combined) showed reductions in depression and negative affect by the 1 month follow‐up (d = −0.81). Notably, LILAC participants fell below the clinical threshold for depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale = 16) by the 1 month follow‐up (t[17] = −2.22, P = .04, d = −0.52), whereas control participants did not differ from threshold (t[9] = 0.45, P = .66, d = 0.14).ConclusionsThe LILAC intervention, regardless of delivery method, shows feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy for promoting psychological well‐being in women with metastatic breast cancer. This research provides support for a larger randomized trial to test more definitively the potential benefits of LILAC. A strength of the LILAC intervention includes its innovative focus on positive affect. The efficacy of the online delivery suggests the potential for widespread Internet dissemination.
The perceived influence of childhood cancer on the parents' relationship
Authors: Wiener L. , Battles H. , Zadeh S. , Pelletier W. , Arruda‐Colli M.N.F. , Muriel Anna C. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractObjectiveWhen a child is diagnosed with cancer, parents are faced with many practical and emotional challenges that can significantly affect their relationship. This study explores how having a child with cancer affects the quality of the parents' relationship, categorizes time points and events during the child's treatment when the relationship becomes most stressed and/or strengthened, identifies factors that help couples remain emotionally engaged throughout their child's cancer treatment, and assesses parental interest in a counseling intervention.MethodsThis is a cross‐sectional, multicenter study conducted via a semistructured self‐administered questionnaire that included the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale.ResultsOne hundred ninety‐two parents of children diagnosed between the ages of 1 and 21 participated. Forty percent felt their relationship moved in a negative direction. Diagnosis and relapse of disease were cited as the most individually stressful time points in the disease trajectory, with hospitalizations and relapse being most stressful on the relationship. Participants felt most emotionally connected at diagnosis and least emotionally connected at the start and end of treatment. The majority of couples indicated interest in counseling to address ways to support their relationship. Soon after diagnosis and during treatment was reported as the preferred time to offer these interventions.ConclusionThis study identified specific events and parent behaviors that strain the couples' relationship during the childhood cancer trajectory. This information can inform the development of a couple's intervention. Prospective research is needed to better understand how childhood cancer affects caregivers' partnerships through survivorship and beyond.
Survival prediction of anxious emotion in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care
Authors: Zhao Weiwei , Wu Zhenyu , Chen Jianhua , Jia Huixun , Huang Zhe , Chen Menglei , Gu Xiaoli , Liu Minghui , Zhang Zhe , Wang Huaping , Wang Peng , Cheng Wenwu 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBackgroundThis study was carried out to investigate the prognostic value of baseline and dynamic changes in anxious emotion in advanced cancer patients undergoing palliative care.MethodsThe association between anxious emotion and survival was investigated in a retrospective sample of 377 consecutive advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care from August 2013 to October 2015 and in an extended follow‐up study of 106 of those patients.ResultsThe prevalence of anxious emotion was 24.93% (94/377) overall, 22.48% (47/209) in men and 27.97% (47/168) in women. Significant associations between baseline anxious emotion and overall survival (OS) were not found in the whole sample or in women. However, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that anxious emotion was an independent prognostic indicator of OS in men (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.811, P = .003). Moreover, findings showed that newly developed anxious emotion was significantly associated with poor OS in all readmitted patients (HR: 5.568, P < .001), in men (HR: 5.104, P = .006) and women (HR: 5.820, P = .004).ConclusionsOur study suggests that anxious emotion, especially dynamic changes in anxious emotion, needs to be monitored in advanced cancer patients; whether targeted interventions would prolong survival requires further studies.
Health literacy and physical activity in women diagnosed with breast cancer
Authors: Plummer Leigh C. , Chalmers Kerry A. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractObjectivePhysical activity after a diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with many health benefits. Health literacy has been shown to relate to physical activity, but there is limited research on this relationship. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between health literacy and physical activity in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Specifically, we examined which of Nutbeam's 3 levels of health literacy (functional, interactive, and critical health literacy) predicted physical activity in women who have completed treatment for breast cancer.MethodsParticipants were women (N = 36) who had attended a local cancer care centre for breast cancer treatment. During a telephone interview conducted 6 to 18 months after completion of treatment, women completed a measure of health literacy and reported on their engagement in physical activity.ResultsResults showed that health literacy predicted physical activity after breast cancer treatment. Of the 3 levels of health literacy proposed by Nutbeam, functional health literacy was shown to be the most important predictor of physical activity.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the role of health literacy in physical activity in women diagnosed with breast cancer and have implications for targeted supportive physical activity interventions.
Aquerium: A web application for comparative exploration of domain‐based protein occurrences on the taxonomically clustered genome tree
Authors: Adebali Ogun , Zhulin Igor B. 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTGene duplication and loss are major driving forces in evolution. While many important genomic resources provide information on gene presence, there is a lack of tools giving equal importance to presence and absence information as well as web platforms enabling easy visual comparison of multiple domain‐based protein occurrences at once. Here, we present Aquerium, a platform for visualizing genomic presence and absence of biomolecules with a focus on protein domain architectures. The web server offers advanced domain organization querying against the database of pre‐computed domains for ∼26,000 organisms and it can be utilized for identification of evolutionary events, such as fusion, disassociation, duplication, and shuffling of protein domains. The tool also allows alternative inputs of custom entries or BLASTP results for visualization. Aquerium will be a useful tool for biologists who perform comparative genomic and evolutionary analyses. The web server is freely accessible at http://aquerium.utk.edu. Proteins 2016; 85:72–77. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Modeling protein–protein and protein–peptide complexes: CAPRI 6th edition
Authors: Lensink Marc F. , Velankar Sameer , Wodak Shoshana J. 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTWe present the sixth report evaluating the performance of methods for predicting the atomic resolution structures of protein complexes offered as targets to the community‐wide initiative on the Critical Assessment of Predicted Interactions (CAPRI). The evaluation is based on a total of 20,670 predicted models for 8 protein–peptide complexes, a novel category of targets in CAPRI, and 12 protein–protein targets in CAPRI prediction Rounds held during the years 2013‐2016. For two of the protein–protein targets, the focus was on the prediction of side‐chain conformation and positions of interfacial water molecules. Seven of the protein–protein targets were particularly challenging owing to their multicomponent nature, to conformational changes at the binding site, or to a combination of both. Encouragingly, the very large multiprotein complex with the nucleosome was correctly predicted, and correct models were submitted for the protein–peptide targets, but not for some of the challenging protein–protein targets. Models of acceptable quality or better were obtained for 14 of the 20 targets, including medium quality models for 13 targets and high quality models for 8 targets, indicating tangible progress of present‐day computational methods in modeling protein complexes with increased accuracy. Our evaluation suggests that the progress stems from better integration of different modeling tools with docking procedures, as well as the use of more sophisticated evolutionary information to score models. Nonetheless, adequate modeling of conformational flexibility in interacting proteins remains an important area with a crucial need for improvement. Proteins 2017; 85:359–377. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Temporal patterns of imidacloprid resistance throughout a growing season in Leptinotarsa decemlineata populations
Authors: Clements Justin , Schoville Sean , Clements Nathan , Chapman Scott , Groves Russell L 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is a major agricultural pest of commercial potatoes. Pest managers use a combination of control tactics to limit populations, including multiple insecticides. Finding a window of insecticide susceptibility and understanding genetic responses to insecticide exposure during a growing season may provide novel management recommendations for L. decemlineata.RESULTSWe examined temporal changes (during one growing season) in phenotypic response between a susceptible population and an imidacloprid‐resistant population. Beetles remained more susceptible to imidacloprid in the susceptible population throughout the growing season. Estimated mean LC50 values varied throughout the growing season in the resistant population, with increased susceptibility among overwintered and recently emerged adult beetles compared with a heightened level of resistance in the second generation. RNA transcript abundance was compared among multiple time points through the growing season, showing that cuticular proteins and cytochrome p450s were highly upregulated during peaks of measured resistance.CONCLUSIONTemporal variation in imidacloprid susceptibility of L. decemlineata was observed, which included early time points of susceptibility and later peaks in resistance. Heightened resistance occurred during the second generation and correlated to increased transcript abundance of multiple mechanisms of resistance, including multiple cuticular protein and cytochrome p450 transcripts. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Correlation of lipidomic composition of cell lines and tissues of breast cancer patients using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and multivariate data analysis
Authors: Cífková Eva , Lísa Miroslav , Hrstka Roman , Vrána David , Gatěk Jiří , Melichar Bohuslav , Holčapek Michal 
Published: November 2016

RationaleThe goal of this work is the comparison of differences in the lipidomic compositions of human cell lines derived from normal and cancerous breast tissues, and tumor vs. normal tissues obtained after the surgery of breast cancer patients.MethodsHydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HILIC/ESI‐MS) using the single internal standard approach and response factors is used for the determination of relative abundances of individual lipid species from five lipid classes in total lipid extracts of cell lines and tissues. The supplementary information on the fatty acyl composition is obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) of fatty acid methyl esters. Multivariate data analysis (MDA) methods, such as nonsupervised principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and supervised orthogonal partial least‐squares discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA), are used for the visualization of differences between normal and tumor samples and the correlation of similarity between cell lines and tissues either for tumor or normal samples.ResultsMDA methods are used for differentiation of sample groups and also for identification of the most up‐ and downregulated lipids in tumor samples in comparison to normal samples. Observed changes are subsequently generalized and correlated with data from tumor and normal tissues of breast cancer patients. In total, 123 lipid species are identified based on their retention behavior in HILIC and observed ions in ESI mass spectra, and relative abundances are determined.ConclusionsMDA methods are applied for a clear differentiation between tumor and normal samples both for cell lines and tissues. The most upregulated lipids are phospholipids (PL) with a low degree of unsaturation (e.g., 32:1 and 34:1) and also some highly polyunsaturated PL (e.g., 40:6), while the most downregulated lipids are PL containing polyunsaturated fatty acyls (e.g., 20:4), plasmalogens and ether lipids. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Rapid sample classification using an open port sampling interface coupled with liquid introduction atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry
Authors: Van Berkel Gary J. , Kertesz Vilmos 
Published: November 2016

RationaleAn “Open Access”‐like mass spectrometric platform to fully utilize the simplicity of the manual open port sampling interface for rapid characterization of unprocessed samples by liquid introduction atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry has been lacking. The in‐house developed integrated software with a simple, small and relatively low‐cost mass spectrometry system introduced here fills this void.MethodsSoftware was developed to operate the mass spectrometer, to collect and process mass spectrometric data files, to build a database and to classify samples using such a database. These tasks were accomplished via the vendor‐provided software libraries. Sample classification based on spectral comparison utilized the spectral contrast angle method.ResultsUsing the developed software platform near real‐time sample classification is exemplified using a series of commercially available blue ink rollerball pens and vegetable oils. In the case of the inks, full scan positive and negative ion ESI mass spectra were both used for database generation and sample classification. For the vegetable oils, full scan positive ion mode APCI mass spectra were recorded. The overall accuracy of the employed spectral contrast angle statistical model was 95.3% and 98% in case of the inks and oils, respectively, using leave‐one‐out cross‐validation.ConclusionsThis work illustrates that an open port sampling interface/mass spectrometer combination, with appropriate instrument control and data processing software, is a viable direct liquid extraction sampling and analysis system suitable for the non‐expert user and near real‐time sample classification via database matching. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Application of MALDI Biotyper to cyanobacterial profiling
Authors: Imanishi Susumu Y. , Nakayama Takuma , Asukabe Hirohiko , Harada Ken‐ichi 
Published: November 2016

RationaleMatrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOFMS) has been used for bacterial profiling. A few reports have shown MALDI‐MS profiling of isolated/cultured cyanobacteria; however, these applications have been limited. In this study, we have investigated whether rapid profiling and differentiation of cyanobacteria including harmful genera Microcystis and Anabaena (Dolichospermum) can be performed by MALDI Biotyper analysis of intact cells.MethodsTwenty‐two cyanobacterial strains including 12 Microcystis, 7 Anabaena, 1 Pseudanabaena, 1 Planktothrix, and 1 Synechocystis were cultured. Also, natural pond water containing cyanobacteria was collected. Intact cyanobacterial cells were deposited on a target plate, and analyzed using an Autoflex Speed MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometer with Biotyper software. Mass spectra obtained from m/z 2000 to 20000 were used for clustering and spectral library searching of cyanobacterial strains.ResultsMALDI‐MS analysis of cultured cyanobacterial cells showed clear ion signals under optimized conditions. Hierarchical clustering of mass spectra using Biotyper resulted in a tight cluster of Microcystis strains which was clearly differentiated from a cluster of Anabaena strains. Spectral library searching was able to identify Microcystis aeruginosa NIES‐298 and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 even when these two cells were mixed. Furthermore, cyanobacterial cells in the pond water were successfully classified as Anabaena.ConclusionsWe have demonstrated that MALDI‐MS in combination with Biotyper analysis is applicable to cyanobacterial profiling. Increasing the size of the spectral library may facilitate monitoring of cyanobacteria in crude cyanobacterial blooms. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tracking of piezoelectric actuators with hysteresis: A nonlinear robust output regulation approach
Authors: Chen Zhiyong , Zheng Jinchuan , Zhang Hai‐Tao , Ding Han 
Published: November 2016

SummaryHysteretic characteristics commonly exist in piezoelectric actuators (PEAs) and degrade the positioning accuracy particularly in the case of low‐frequency trajectory tracking. A PEA with hysteretic characteristics is usually difficult to precisely control because the unmeasurable hysteretic force is typically generated by a complicated nonlinear dynamic model. This task can be theoretically formulated as a robust output regulation problem with a specific nonlinear and non‐autonomous exosystem. In this paper, the theoretical problem is first solved within a novel internal model architecture. With the proposed controller, the PEA is able to asymptotically track a desired reference trajectory with the robustness to plant uncertainties. The effectiveness of the design is verified by extensive experiments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.