bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Usability of Online Business Registration Improvisation as Congo‐Brazzaville Re‐Branding Tool
Authors: Momo Alain Michael , Twum‐Darko Michael 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThere is growing concern that Congolese business' inability to compete in a fiercely competitive international economy spells ruin. Thus, the study uses bricolage and information systems (IS) improvisation as a lens to explore the use of online business registration as a means to rebrand government services. Building and achieving brand status is challenging, however; public service organisations and country of any size with a name can become high status brands. The research problem is that if sufficient attention is not given to reconcile IS improvisation with other organisational dimensions such as expertise, team work, culture, communication and training in the business registration process, it is a foregone conclusion that the automatic assumption that improvisation alone creates brand image and identify might not yield desired results. The main objective of this study was to determine the role of online business registration in service branding. The overarching research question is (a) how does the DTI Congo‐Brazzaville intend to improvise business registration process using e‐commerce technology as branding tool? The study is significant in the way that it boosts DTI Congo's brand image; with potentials to improve the country's ranking in terms of ease of doing business; and extends previous research by examining the usability of online business registration system as branding tool in developing countries. The study focused less on merely identifying IS improvisation benefits; or in solving DTI Congo problems. However, the focal point was creating awareness for DTI Congo to weight current study outcomes, available resource and contemporary e‐commerce technologies in order to make informed decision in terms of technology adoption.The investigation was done at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Congo‐Brazzaville using a mixed methodology. A survey questionnaire on a sample size of N = 260 from a total of 800 DTI full‐time employees was used to elicit information by requiring respondents to answer objective questions. A focus group comprising of five full‐time employees selected according to their level of IT awareness and position were invited for discussions to gain a broader understanding of the research problem. Observation in the form field work was also done to experience what it is like when there is no other alternative to register a business but to follow the only lengthy and bureaucratic process of traditional business registration. It was evident from the data that 74.2% of respondents agreed that an online business registration system adoption can re‐brand the organisation for innovative public service delivery.
Process Discovery Driven Process Optimization: A Case Study to the Recruitment of State Personnel in Cameroon
Authors: Mapikou Gaëlle Laetitia Mouafo , Roger Atsa Etoundi 
Published: December 2017

AbstractProcess Optimization is a branch of business process management whose purpose is to reduce or eliminate time and resource wastage, unnecessary costs, bottlenecks, and mistakes while achieving the process objective. In the last decades, many practical contributions such as Six Sigma, Lean management, Lean Six Sigma and others have been proposed for optimization, and the associated tools have been widely used and appreciated within organizations. However, the main difficulty with these contributions is that it isn't clearly shown the scientific method used to understand or identify how exactly the actual processes are conducted before optimizing them. If the optimization process is carried out without really understanding how processes are actually going on, then the most likely outcome would be to continue executing outdated and incorrect processes. This paper try to address this difficulty by presenting a methodology for process optimization based on process discovery. Process discovery is a method concerned with extracting descriptive business processes from event logs within organization. The proposed methodology proceeds by comparing the process obtained after applying process discovery technique, with the process supposed to be executed. The result of this comparison combined with the way it had an impact on the business goals and customer's requirements are used to efficiently identify possible parts processes to be optimized. The utility of this methodology is demonstrated through its application to the Cameroonian state personal recruitment process. The descriptive process obtained showed that there were some unexpected tasks used in practice, and only 40.23% of files followed expected paths while executing the process. This analysis result has been used to efficiently define the control flow of the optimized absorption process.
Comparative proteomic analysis of silver nanoparticle effects in human liver and intestinal cells
Authors: Braeuning Albert , Oberemm Axel , Görte Josephine , Böhmert Linda , Juling Sabine , Lampen Alfonso 
Published: December 2017

AbstractConsumers are orally exposed to nanoparticulate or soluble species of the non‐essential element silver due to its use in food contact materials or as a food additive. Potential toxicity of silver nanoparticles has gained special scientific attention. A fraction of ingested ionic or particulate silver is taken up in the intestine and transported to the liver, where it may induce oxidative stress and elicit subsequent adverse responses. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of global proteomic changes induced in human Hep G2 hepatocarcinoma cells by different concentrations of AgPURE silver nanoparticles or by corresponding concentrations of ionic silver. Bioinformatic analysis of proteomic data confirms and substantiates previous findings on silver‐induced alterations related to redox stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, intermediary metabolism, inflammatory responses, posttranslational protein modification and other cellular parameters. Similarities between the effects exerted by the two silver species are in line with the assumption that silver ions released from nanoparticles substantially contribute to their toxicity. Moreover, a comparative bioinformatic evaluation of proteomic effects in hepatic and intestinal cells exerted either by silver nanoparticles or bionic silver is presented. Our results show that, despite remarkable differences at the level of affected proteins in the different cell lines, highly similar biological consequences, corresponding to previous in vivo findings, can be deduced by applying appropriate bioinformatic data mining.
“Click” on PLGA‐PEG and hyaluronic acid: Gaining access to anti‐leishmanial pentamidine bioconjugates
Authors: Scala Angela , Piperno Anna , Micale Nicola , Mineo Placido G. , Abbadessa Antonio , Risoluti Roberta , Castelli Germano , Bruno Federica , Vitale Fabrizio , Cascio Antonio , Grassi Giovanni 
Published: December 2017

AbstractPentamidine (Pent), an antiparasitic drug used for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, has been modified with terminal azide groups and conjugated to two different polymer backbones (PLGA‐PEG [PP] copolymer and hyaluronic acid [HA]) armed with alkyne end‐groups. The conjugation has been performed by Copper Catalyzed Azido Alkyne Cycloaddition (CuAAC) using CuSO4/sodium ascorbate as metal source. The novel PP‐Pent and HA‐Pent bioconjugates are proposed, respectively, as non‐targeted and targeted drug delivery systems against Leishmania infections. Moreover, Pent has been encapsulated into PP nanoparticles by the oil‐in‐water emulsion method, with the aim to compare the biological activity of the bioconjugates with that of the classical drug‐loaded delivery system that physically entraps the therapeutic agent. Biological assays against Leishmania infantum amastigote‐infected macrophages and primary macrophages revealed that Pent, either covalently conjugated with polymers or loaded into polymeric nanoparticles, turned out to be more potent and less toxic than the free Pent. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 2778–2785, 2018.
Knockdown of long non‐coding RNA XIST suppresses nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by activating miR‐491‐5p
Authors: Cheng Qiang , Xu Xiuyin , Jiang Hui , Xu Lingen , Li Qiang 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDysregulated long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in the development and progression of human cancers. X‐inactive specific transcript (XIST), an lncRNA, is known as an oncogene in multiple tumors. However, the roles of XIST and its related miRNAs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are poorly understood. In this study, we found that XIST expression was significantly upregulated in NPC tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of XIST inhibited NPC cell proliferation and invasion and induced apoptosis in vitro, as well as suppressed NPC tumor growth in vivo. Further analysis revealed that XIST and miR‐491‐5p interact with and repress each other. XIST may function as an endogenous miR‐491‐5p sponge to regulate the target gene of miR‐491‐5p. Taken together, these results provide a comprehensive view of the XIST/miR‐491‐5p axis in human NPC cells and may provide a new therapeutic target for treating NPC.
Neuroprotective effects of antioxidants in the management of neurodegenerative disorders: A literature review
Authors: Panahi Yunes , Rajaee Seyyed Mahdi , Johnston Thomas P. , Sahebkar Amirhossein 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIt is proven that oxidative stress has a pivotal role in the process of neurodegeneration. The use of antioxidants is an attractive method to prevent the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. We searched major databases (PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar) using the keywords of neurodegeneration, oxidative stress, and antioxidant for both review and original studies, which have reported the various beneficial effects of antioxidants. About 70 studies were identified for this review. Among various antioxidants, nine antioxidants with the most applications in research investigations were selected and the major findings concerning their protective effects were reviewed. It is concluded that antioxidants can modify and readjust the oxidative stress in the biological milieu, elicit neuroprotective effects, and positively impact the management of neurodegenerative processes.
Retracted: LncRNA H19 promotes epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) by targeting miR‐484 in human lung cancer cells
Authors: Zhang Qianqian , Li Xiaoliang , Li Xiao , Li Xiaosu , Chen Zhuochang 
Published: December 2017

AbstractRecently, the long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) H19 has been identified as an oncogenic gene in multiple cancer types. However, the molecular basis for this observation has not been characterized in lung cancer, especially during epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression. Cell viability, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were measured using trypan blue exclusion assay, Transwell migration/invasion assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. Quantitative RT‐PCR was used to measure relative expressions of H19, microR‐484 (miR‐484), and Rho associated coiled‐coil containing protein kinase 2 (ROCK2). Western blot was used to measure expressions of apoptosis‐, EMT‐, and c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) pathway‐related proteins. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the target of H19. H19 was highly expressed in both lung cancer tissues and cells. Suppression of H19 significantly decreased A549 cell viability, migration, and invasion, but promoted apoptosis. Overexpression of H19 promoted cell migration, invasion, and EMT process. miR‐484 was a target of H19 and overexpression of it reversed the effects of H19 on EMT. miR‐484 regulated the expression of ROCK2. Mechanistic study revealed that suppressing H19 decreased the expression of proteins in JNK pathway, and ROCK2 was the main downstream molecule of H19. H19 promoted EMT in lung cancer A549 cells by negatively regulating miR‐484.
Star chromatic index of subcubic multigraphs
Authors: Lei Hui , Shi Yongtang , Song Zi‐Xia 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe star chromatic index of a multigraph G, denoted , is the minimum number of colors needed to properly color the edges of G such that no path or cycle of length four is bicolored. A multigraph G is star k‐edge‐colorable if . Dvořák, Mohar, and Šámal [Star chromatic index, J. Graph Theory 72 (2013), 313–326] proved that every subcubic multigraph is star 7‐edge‐colorable. They conjectured in the same article that every subcubic multigraph should be star 6‐edge‐colorable. In this article, we first prove that it is NP‐complete to determine whether for an arbitrary graph G. This answers a question of Mohar. We then establish some structure results on subcubic multigraphs G with such that but for any , where . We finally apply the structure results, along with a simple discharging method, to prove that every subcubic multigraph G is star 6‐edge‐colorable if , and star 5‐edge‐colorable if , respectively, where is the maximum average degree of a multigraph G. This partially confirms the conjecture of Dvořák, Mohar, and Šámal.
Rotator cuff tendon assessment using magic‐angle insensitive 3D ultrashort echo time cones magnetization transfer (UTE‐Cones‐MT) imaging and modeling with histological correlation
Authors: Zhu Yanchun , Cheng Xin , Ma Yajun , Wong Jonathan H. , Xie Yaoqin , Du Jiang , Chang Eric Y. 
Published: December 2017

BackgroundRotator cuff tendons (RCTs) are challenging to image due to the “magic angle effect” and their short T2.PurposeTo assess the degree of magic angle sensitivity of human RCTs and to utilize a 3D ultrashort echo time Cones sequence with magnetization transfer preparation (UTE‐Cones‐MT) and two‐pool quantitative MT modeling with histological correlation. We hypothesized that MT parameters would be less sensitive to the magic angle compared with conventional T2 measurements.Study TypeProspective imaging pathologic correlation.SpecimenTwenty cadaveric rotator cuff tendons were imaged at five sample orientations ranging from 0–90° relative to the B0 field.Field Strength/Sequence3T/3D UTE‐Cones‐MT and Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG).AssessmentTwo‐pool quantitative MT modeling parameters and T2 values were calculated in regions of interest drawn by a medical physicist. Histopathological analysis was performed and mild and severe tendinopathy groups were assigned by a histopathologist and histotechnician.Statistical TestsCoefficients of variations (CVs) were calculated for measures between the different orientations and group means were compared for each measure.ResultsCVs of T2 and macromolecular fractions between orientations were 26.14 ± 16.82% and 6.18 ± 2.77% (mean ± SD), respectively. T2 measurements at 0°, 27°, 70°, and 90° showed significant differences between the two histological groups (P = 0.004, 0.008, 0.003, and 0.015, respectively), but not at 55° (P = 0.611). Mean T2 value ranges between orientations for the mild and severe tendinopathy groups were 15.27–30.32 msec and 20.81–35.85 msec, respectively, showing overlap despite statistically significant differences (P = 0.003). Macromolecular fractions at all angles showed significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.0001). Mean fraction ranges between orientations for the mild and severe tendinopathy groups were 14.32–17.17% and 10.00–13.75% respectively (P < 0.0001) with no overlap.Data ConclusionCompared with T2, macromolecular fraction obtained with the 3D UTE‐Cones‐MT technique is resistant to the magic angle effect and is more sensitive to RCT degeneration.Level of Evidence: 1Technical Efficacy: Stage 2J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017.
Exploring the chemistry of complex samples by tentative identification and semiquantification: A food contact material case
Authors: Pieke Eelco N. , Smedsgaard Jørn , Granby Kit 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn fields such as food safety and environmental chemistry, ensuring safety is greatly challenged by large numbers of unknown substances occurring. Even with current state‐of‐the‐art mass spectrometers, dealing with nonidentified substances is a very laborious process as it includes structure elucidation of a vast number of unknowns, of which only a fraction may be relevant. Here, we present an exploration and prioritization approach based on high‐resolution mass spectrometry. The method uses algorithm‐based precursor/product‐ion correlations on quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry data to retrieve the most likely chemical match from a structure database. In addition, time‐of‐flight‐only data are used to estimate analyte concentration via semiquantification. The method is demonstrated in recycled paper food contact material. Here, 585 chromatographic peaks were discovered, of which 117 were unique to the sample and could be tentatively elucidated via accurate mass, isotopic pattern, and precursor/product‐ion correlations. Nearly 85% of these 117 peaks were matched with database entries, which provided varying certainty of information about the analyte structure. Semiquantitative concentration ranges of investigated compounds were between 0.7 and 1600 μg dm−2. With these data, a subgroup of chemicals was risk‐categorized and prioritized by using the most likely candidate structure(s) obtained. Prioritization based on expected health impact was possible by using the tentatively assigned data. Overall, the described method not only is a valuable chemical exploration tool for nonidentified substances but may also be used as a preliminary prioritization tool for substances expected to have the highest health impact, for example, in food contact materials.
Joint distribution of design precipitation and tide and impact of sampling in a coastal area
Authors: Tu Xinjun , Du Yiliang , Singh Vijay P. , Chen Xiaohong 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTInstream flooding in coastal areas becomes more severe when heavy precipitation and high tide occur simultaneously. Flood modelling under such conditions requires the joint design of precipitation and tide. Data of 24‐h heavy precipitation and the corresponding daily high tidal level in the Xixiang basin, south China were used. Annual maxima and peaks over threshold sampling methods were applied to construct the precipitation and tidal level series. The joint distribution of precipitation and tide was derived by Archimedean copulas and their joint return period was calculated by the Kendall measure function. Then, equalized frequency and most likely weight function methods were employed for the joint design of precipitation and tide. Results showed that for the peaks over threshold sampling heavy precipitation coincided with more and greater high tidal levels. The general normal distribution was found to fit the marginals of precipitation and tide well, but the location, scale and shape parameters of two sampling methods differed markedly for heavy precipitation and slightly for high tidal level. Although the dependence of heavy precipitation and high tidal level was quite small and positive, Archimedean copulas effectively modelled the joint distribution of precipitation and tide. Based on the equalized frequency method, the joint design precipitation and tide using Gumbel–Hougaard copula for the peaks over threshold sampling was safer than that for the annual maxima sampling. However, for the most likely weight method design pairs remarkably tended to the lower heavy precipitation and the higher high tidal level. If the sampling method and the joint distribution were determined, a reciprocal situation for the design pairs of precipitation and tide occurred for a given joint return period, that is, a greater design value of heavy precipitation corresponded to a smaller design value of high tidal level, and vice versa. Therefore, which design method was safer was underdetermined.
Reducing Trap‐Assisted Recombination in Small Organic Molecule‐Based Photovoltaics by the Addition of a Conjugated Block Copolymer
Authors: Cho Kyuwan , Kim Jinseck , Yoon So Yeon , Ryu Ka Yeon , Jang Song‐Rim , Lim Bogyu , Kim Kyungkon 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe performance of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) based on the small‐molecule organic semiconductor p‐DTS(FBTTh2)2 is greatly improved by the addition of a conjugated block copolymer composed of difluoroquinoxaline and thienopyrrolodione blocks (D130). The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the p‐DTS(FBTTh2)2‐based OPV is improved from 5.08% to 6.75% by the addition of 5 wt% D130 to the photoactive layer, which is composed of p‐DTS(FBTTh2)2 and a fullerene derivative. Current–voltage and grazing incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering analyses revealed that the addition of D130 significantly reduces the trap density of the device and changes the packing orientation of p‐DTS(FBTTh2)2 from mostly edge‐on to partially face‐on. These changes greatly improve the charge carrier mobility of the OPV, indicating that D130 is highly compatible with p‐DTS(FBTTh2)2. Furthermore, the addition of D130 improve the photostability of the OPV by reducing the burn‐in loss under a light soaking intensity of 1 sun. The D130‐based OPV maintained 34% of its initial PCE after a light soaking test for 858 h. In contrast, the PCE of the OPV without D130 reduced to 14% of its initial efficiency in the same time period.
Residual stress formation after re‐contouring of micro‐plasma welded Ti−6Al−4 V parts by means of ball end milling
Authors: Denkena B. , Grove T. , Mücke A. , Langen D. , Nespor D. , Hassel T. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDuring the regeneration of damaged components such as compressor blades, the weld repair is followed by machining processes. Excess weld material is removed in a cutting process in order to reproduce the final contour. Therefore, both processe have to be considered regarding the resulting surface and functional properties of the repaired component. In this study, bead on plate welds are produced on 10 mm Ti‐6Al‐4 V sheets using micro‐plasma welding with different levels of welding current. They are subsequently re‐contoured via ball end milling using tools of different cutting edge radii. The residual stress depth profile is measured using X‐ray diffractometry. It is shown that the final residual stress depth profile is mainly influenced by the milling process when machining with rounded cutting edges.