bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Elucidation of major contributors involved in nitrogen removal and transcription level of nitrogen-cycling genes in activated sludge from WWTPs
Authors: Che You , Liang Peixin , Gong Ting , Cao Xiangyu , Zhao Ying , Yang Chao , Song Cunjiang 
Published: March 2017

AbstractWe investigated nitrogen-cycle bacterial communities in activated sludge from 8 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Redundancy analyses (RDA) showed that temperature was the most significant driving force in shaping microbial community structure, followed by influent NH4+ and total nitrogen (TN). The diversity of ammonia oxidizing and nitrite reducing bacteria were investigated by the construction of amoA, nirS and nirK gene clone libraries. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Thauera and Mesorhizobium were the predominant nitrite reducing bacteria, and Nitrosomonas was the only detected ammonia oxidizing bacteria in all samples. Quantification of transcription level of nirS and nirK genes indicated that nirS-type nitrite reducing bacteria played the dominant roles in nitrite reduction process. Transcription level of nirS gene positively correlated with influent NH4+ and TN significantly, whereas inversely linked with hydraulic retention time. Temperature had a strong positive correlation to transcription level of amoA gene. Overall, this study deepened our understanding of the major types of ammonia oxidizing and nitrite reducing bacteria in activated sludge of municipal WWTPs. The relationship between transcription level of nitrogen-cycle genes and operational or environmental variables of WWTPs revealed in this work could provide guidance for optimization of operating parameters and improving the performance of nitrogen removal.
The endoplasmic reticulum stress/autophagy pathway is involved in cholesterol-induced pancreatic β-cell injury
Authors: Kong Fei-Juan , Wu Jia-Hua , Sun Shui-Ya , Zhou Jia-Qiang 
Published: March 2017

AbstractLipotoxicity has been implicated in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes, but the exact mechanisms remain unknown. The current study explored the role of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway in cholesterol-induced lipotoxicity. Two different insulinoma cell lines were treated with cholesterol with or without inhibitors. ER stress-associated proteins glucose-regulated protein (GRP) 78, activating transcription factor (ATF) 4 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), as was phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (EIF) 2α, were all up-regulated by cholesterol. Cholesterol also up-regulated microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-II and stimulated the formation of autophagic vacuoles and LC3-II aggregates. Cholesterol-induced autophagy and cell injuries were suppressed by pretreatment with the ER stress inhibitor 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA). Pretreatment with autophagy inhibitors E-64d/pepstatin A increased ER stress-induced cell injuries as indicated by increased cell apoptosis and decreased insulin secretion. These results suggest that cholesterol treatment induces apoptosis and dysfunction of β-cells, and enhances autophagy through activation of the ER stress pathway. More importantly, autophagy induced by cholesterol may protect β-cells against ER stress-associated cell damages.
Nightmares as predictors of suicide: an extension study including war veterans
Authors: Sandman Nils , Valli Katja , Kronholm Erkki , Vartiainen Erkki , Laatikainen Tiina , Paunio Tiina 
Published: March 2017

AbstractNightmares are intensive dreams with negative emotional tone. Frequent nightmares can pose a serious clinical problem and in 2001, Tanskanen et al. found that nightmares increase the risk of suicide. However, the dataset used by these authors included war veterans in whom nightmare frequency - and possibly also suicide risk - is elevated. Therefore, re-examination of the association between nightmares and suicide in these data is warranted. We investigated the relationship between nightmares and suicide both in the general population and war veterans in Finnish National FINRISK Study from the years 1972 to 2012, a dataset overlapping with the one used in the study by Tanskanen et al. Our data comprise 71,068 participants of whom 3139 are war veterans. Participants were followed from their survey participation until the end of 2014 or death. Suicides (N = 398) were identified from the National Causes of Death Register. Frequent nightmares increase the risk of suicide: The result of Tanskanen et al. holds even when war experiences are controlled for. Actually nightmares are not significantly associated with suicides among war veterans. These results support the role of nightmares as an independent risk factor for suicide instead of just being proxy for history of traumatic experiences.
Preparation and dispersity of carbon nanospheres by carbonizing polyacrylonitrile microspheres
Authors: Guangzhi Yang , Binbin Yu , Shen Song , Zhihong Tang , Dengguang Yu , Junhe Yang 
Published: March 2017

Polyacrylonitrile microspheres of about 240 nm were synthesized and used as a precursor for preparing carbon nanospheres (CNs) by oxidation and sequential carbonization.
Selective replacement of mitochondrial DNA increases the cardioprotective effect of chronic continuous hypoxia in spontaneously hypertensive rats
Authors: Neckář Jan , Svatoňová Anna , Weissová Romana , Drahota Zdeněk , Zajíčková Pavlína , Brabcová Iveta , Kolář David , Alánová Petra , Vašinová Jana , Šilhavý Jan , Hlaváčková Markéta , Tauchmannová Kateřina , Milerová Marie , Ošťádal Bohuslav , Červenka Luděk , Žurmanová Jitka , Kalous Martin , Nováková Olga , Novotný Jiří , Pravenec Michal , Kolář František 
Published: March 2017

Mitochondria play an essential role in improved cardiac ischaemic tolerance conferred by adaptation to chronic hypoxia. In the present study, we analysed the effects of continuous normobaric hypoxia (CNH) on mitochondrial functions, including the sensitivity of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) to opening, and infarct size (IS) in hearts of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and the conplastic SHR-mtBN strain, characterized by the selective replacement of the mitochondrial genome of SHR with that of the more ischaemia-resistant brown Norway (BN) strain. Rats were adapted to CNH (10% O2, 3 weeks) or kept at room air as normoxic controls. In the left ventricular mitochondria, respiration and cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity were measured using an Oxygraph-2k and the sensitivity of MPTP opening was assessed spectrophotometrically as Ca2+-induced swelling. Myocardial infarction was analysed in anaesthetized open-chest rats subjected to 20 min of coronary artery occlusion and 3 h of reperfusion. The IS reached 68±3.0% and 65±5% of the area at risk in normoxic SHR and SHR-mtBN strains, respectively. CNH significantly decreased myocardial infarction to 46±3% in SHR. In hypoxic SHR-mtBN strain, IS reached 33±2% and was significantly smaller compared with hypoxic SHR. Mitochondria isolated from hypoxic hearts of both strains had increased detergent-stimulated COX activity and were less sensitive to MPTP opening. The maximum swelling rate was significantly lower in hypoxic SHR-mtBN strain compared with hypoxic SHR, and positively correlated with myocardial infarction in all experimental groups. In conclusion, the mitochondrial genome of SHR modulates the IS-limiting effect of adaptation to CNH by affecting mitochondrial energetics and MPTP sensitivity to opening.
Screening Bilingual Preschoolers for Language Difficulties: Utility of Teacher and Parent Reports
Authors: Pua Emmanuel Peng Kiat , Lee Mary Lay Choo , Rickard Liow Susan J. 
Published: March 2017

Purpose
The utility of parent and teacher reports for screening 3 types of bilingual preschoolers (English–first language [L1]/Mandarin–second language[L2], Mandarin-L1/English-L2, or Malay-L1/English-L2) for language difficulty was investigated in Singapore with reference to measures of reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity in an English-medium kindergarten setting.

Method

The index tests were teachers’ ratings of the English language ability of 5-year-olds (
N
= 85) on the Bilingual Language Assessment Battery (BLAB): Preschool Teacher Report (Pua, Lee, & Rickard Liow, 2013) and parents' ratings of their child's home language ability (
N
= 78 English-L1, Mandarin-L1, or Malay-L1) on the BLAB: Preschool Parent Report (Pua, Lee, & Rickard Liow, 2013). The reference standards were objective measures of single-word receptive vocabulary (80 items) and expressive vocabulary (140 items) in the child's L1 and L2, as proxies for language ability.

Results
BLAB Teacher Reports for the English receptive and expressive subscales showed concurrent validity for all 3 bilingual groups, as well as generally high sensitivity and specificity. In contrast, BLAB Parent Reports for L1 receptive ability failed to show significant correlations with the objective measures of receptive vocabulary.

Conclusion
Subjective teacher ratings may be an effective method of screening bilingual preschoolers for language difficulty, thereby prompting referral to clinicians.
Frequency ambiguity free tiered differential‐polyphase codes for GNSS signal design
Authors: Han S.K. , Kim J.‐B. , Kim J.‐K. , Han A. , Kim K.‐J. , Song K.‐W. , Lee S.‐J. , Ahn J.M. 
Published: March 2017

To resolve frequency ambiguity of tiered polyphase code (TPC), a differential encoding method to the secondary code of the TPC is proposed. By performing differential decoding, the frequency ambiguity is removed and the code sequence boundary is correctly found. In addition, the correlation results at the receiver can be used as a frequency offset estimator. Analysis on the receiver operations and the simulation results show that the proposed tiered differential‐PC makes the code sequence boundary detection correctly under the frequency offset of up to several hundred hertz. The root mean squared error of the frequency offset estimation is reduced to <10 Hz under operating signal‐to‐noise power ratio which is about −35 dB.
Butterfly packaged low‐linewidth optical comb source
Authors: Alexander J.K. , Morrissey P.E. , Yang H. , Yang M. , Zhao Y. , Rensing M. , O'Brien P. , Peters F.H. 
Published: March 2017

A packaged optical comb source is demonstrated. A low‐linewidth optical comb source is designed and fabricated. The device is packaged in a seven‐pin high‐speed butterfly package with an subminiature version A (SMA) connector for RF modulation and fibre pigtail. Fibre coupling efficiency is estimated at 43%. The packaged comb source is shown to have a linewidth of 300 kHz for the comb line set when modulated at 4 GHz, with eight comb lines within 3 dB of each other. The prototype packaged comb source has applications in high bandwidth telecommunications.
Experimental Comparison of High‐Speed Gate Driver Design for 1.2‐kV/120‐A Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET Modules
Authors: Yin Shan , Tseng King Jet , Simanjorang Rejeki , Tu Pengfei 
Published: March 2017

Silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide–semiconductor field‐effect transistor (MOSFET) is regarded as an attractive replacement for Si insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in high‐power density applications due to its high switching speed and low switching loss. However, to fully utilise these benefits, the gate driver of the SiC MOSFET needs to be optimised to meet its special driving requirements. Fundamentally, both gate drivers for Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET share similar design methodology since these two power devices have the same MOS‐gated structure. However, one of the major challenges in the gate driver design for SiC MOSFET is overcoming the electromagnetic interference, which is resulted from the much higher dv/dt and di/dt ratios during the switching transition. In this study, high‐speed gate drivers for Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET power modules of similar ratings of 1.2 kV/120 A have been designed. The performances of gate driver have been experimentally evaluated by a double pulse test. The design considerations of gate driver to enable the replacement of Si IGBT by SiC MOSFET have been conclusively investigated and presented in this study.
Performance improvement of magnetic anomaly detector using Karhunen–Loeve expansion
Authors: Wan Chengbiao , Pan Mengchun , Zhang Qi , Chen Dixiang , Pang Hongfeng , Zhu Xuejun 
Published: March 2017

In this work, the authors improve the magnetic anomaly detector by using Karhunen–Loeve expansion, for expanding the detection distance of visually obscured ferromagnetic object when the target signal is contaminated by coloured noise. In the detector, the orthonormal basis functions are modified by the autocorrelation function of geomagnetic noise, and the anomaly is detected by matched filtering. Compared with the traditional detector, simulation results show that the modified detector has better performance with coloured Gaussian noise; especially, the improvement is more evident when the noise exponent is bigger. The real geomagnetic noise is proved to be coloured and obey approximate Gaussian distribution by the measurements in experiment. Tests with this noise indicate that the proposed detector achieves an incremental detection probability of 0.1 – 0.2 in the case of low signal‐to‐noise ratio, which makes it more attractive in practice.
Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using AM extract
Authors: Yang Rong , Sun Wei‐Jie , Qu Xiao , Wang Mao‐Hua 
Published: March 2017

In the present study, a simple and eco‐friendly chemical direction for the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using leaf extract of Astragalus membranaceus (AM) has been used. X‐ray diffraction analysis revealed the wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO nanoparticles. The transmission electron microscopy results suggested that the ZnO nanopowders were approximately spherical in shape and their size were found to be 35–38 nm. The calculated average crystalline size decreases from 38.54 to 11.68 nm when AM extract content increased from 0.5 to 1.5 wt%. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the presence of functional groups of both leaf extract and ZnO nanoparticles. The experimental results showed the advantage of addition of the AM extract for controlling particle size.
Template synthesis of porous nanoZnO and its adsorption capability
Authors: Jiao Congda , Tang Fan , Xue Maoquan 
Published: March 2017

Porous nanozinc oxide (ZnO) was successfully fabricated by a facile inﬁltration and calcination method with the help of a China rose petal template. The as‐prepared products were studied by X‐ray powder diffraction, field‐emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X‐ray diffraction results proved that the as‐prepared product was the hexagonal phase of ZnO without any impurity. Both SEM and TEM images showed that the biomorphic structures of ZnO were constructed with many regular nanoparticles with diameter of about 20 nm. The as‐synthesised porous nanoZnO displayed excellent waste water treatment performance with high removal capacities toward methyl orange. This novel biotemplate process provides an economical and environmentally friendly route to obtain advanced assembling biomorphic nanoarchitectures, and will make it possible for their potential application in the field of catalysis and other.
The Role of ABO Blood Type in Thrombosis Scoring Systems
Authors: Marano Giuseppe , Vaglio Stefania , Catalano Liviana , Pupella Simonetta , Liumbruno Giancarlo , Franchini Massimo 
Published: March 2017

AbstractIn addition to their major role in transfusion medicine, there is increasing evidence that ABO blood group antigens (complex carbohydrate molecules widely expressed on the surface of red blood cells and several other cell types) are implicated in the development of a wide array of pathologic conditions. In particular, intense research has been dedicated over the last 50 years to the study of the association between non-O blood type and the risk of developing cardiovascular disorders. Several pathways have been hypothesized to explain this relationship, the most reasonable implying the influence of the ABO blood group on circulating plasma levels of von Willebrand factor, factor VIII, and several inflammatory cytokines. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of ABO antigens in both venous and arterial thromboses, focusing on their association with clinical scoring systems evaluating thrombotic risk.
At Home Photography-Based Method for Measuring Wrist Range of Motion
Authors: Trehan Samir , Rancy Schneider , Johnsen Parker , Hillstrom Howard , Lee Steve , Wolfe Scott 
Published: March 2017

Purpose To determine the reliability of wrist range of motion (WROM) measurements based on digital photographs taken by patients at home compared with traditional measurements done in the office with a goniometer.
Methods Sixty-nine postoperative patients were enrolled in this study at least 3 months postoperatively. Active and passive wrist flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation were recorded by one of the two attending surgeons with a 1-degree resolution goniometer at the last postoperative office visit. Patients were provided an illustrated instruction sheet detailing how to take digital photographic images at home in six wrist positions (active and passive flexion/extension, and radial/ulnar deviation). Wrist position was measured from digital images by both the attending surgeons in a randomized, blinded fashion on two separate occasions greater than 2 weeks apart using the same goniometer. Reliability analysis was performed using the intraclass correlation coefficient to assess agreement between clinical and photography-based goniometry, as well as intra- and interobserver agreement.
Results Out of 69 enrolled patients, 30 (43%) patients sent digital images. Of the 180 digital photographs, only 9 (5%) were missing or deemed inadequate for WROM measurements. Agreement between clinical and photography-based measurements was “almost perfect” for passive wrist flexion/extension and “substantial” for active wrist flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation. Inter- and intraobserver agreement for the attending surgeons was “almost perfect” for all measurements.
Discussion This study validates a photography-based goniometry protocol allowing accurate and reliable WROM measurements without direct physician contact. Passive WROM was more accurately measured from photographs than active WROM. This study builds on previous photography-based goniometry literature by validating a protocol in which patients or their families take and submit their own photographs.
Clinical Relevance Patient-performed photography-based goniometry represents an alternative to traditional clinical goniometry that could enable longer-term follow-up, overcome travel-related impediments to office visits, improve convenience, and reduce costs for patients.
Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials with Simple (Tone Burst) and Complex (Speech) Stimuli in Children with Cochlear Implant
Authors: Martins Kelly Vasconcelos , Gil Daniela 
Published: March 2017

Introduction The registry of the component P1 of the cortical auditory evoked potential has been widely used to analyze the behavior of auditory pathways in response to cochlear implant stimulation.
Objective To determine the influence of aural rehabilitation in the parameters of latency and amplitude of the P1 cortical auditory evoked potential component elicited by simple auditory stimuli (tone burst) and complex stimuli (speech) in children with cochlear implants.
Method The study included six individuals of both genders aged 5 to 10 years old who have been cochlear implant users for at least 12 months, and who attended auditory rehabilitation with an aural rehabilitation therapy approach. Participants were submitted to research of the cortical auditory evoked potential at the beginning of the study and after 3 months of aural rehabilitation. To elicit the responses, simple stimuli (tone burst) and complex stimuli (speech) were used and presented in free field at 70 dB HL. The results were statistically analyzed, and both evaluations were compared.
Results There was no significant difference between the type of eliciting stimulus of the cortical auditory evoked potential for the latency and the amplitude of P1. There was a statistically significant difference in the P1 latency between the evaluations for both stimuli, with reduction of the latency in the second evaluation after 3 months of auditory rehabilitation. There was no statistically significant difference regarding the amplitude of P1 under the two types of stimuli or in the two evaluations.
Conclusion A decrease in latency of the P1 component elicited by both simple and complex stimuli was observed within a three-month interval in children with cochlear implant undergoing aural rehabilitation.
Effects of Concentric and Eccentric Training on the Stiffness and Blood Circulation of the Patellar Tendon
Authors: Kubo Keitaro , Yata Hideaki 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) training on stiffness and blood circulation of the tendon, and clarify whether relative changes in tendon stiffness are related to those in tendon blood circulation. 17 subjects were assigned to training (n=9) and control (n=8) groups. Training group completed 12 weeks of unilateral training program for knee extensors. They performed 5 sets of CON or ECC at 80% of 1RM with 10 repetitions. Before and after training, cross-sectional area, stiffness, hysteresis, blood volume, and oxygen saturation of the patellar tendon were measured. Oxygen saturation significantly increased with CON and ECC. Stiffness significantly increased with CON but not with ECC. Other measured variables did not change after training. Furthermore, the relative change in tendon stiffness did not correlate with that in blood volume or oxygen saturation. In control group, measured variables did not change after training. These results suggest that tendon stiffness increased after CON but not after ECC; however no significant differences in the changes observed in size and blood circulation of the tendon were found between 2 protocols. Furthermore, changes in tendon stiffness were not related to those in tendon blood circulation.
Overcoming catastrophic forgetting in neural networks
Authors: Kirkpatrick James , Pascanu Razvan , Rabinowitz Neil , Veness Joel , Desjardins Guillaume , Rusu Andrei A. , Milan Kieran , Quan John , Ramalho Tiago , Grabska-Barwinska Agnieszka , Hassabis Demis , Clopath Claudia , Kumaran Dharshan , Hadsell Raia 
Published: March 2017

Significance
Deep neural networks are currently the most successful machine-learning technique for solving a variety of tasks, including language translation, image classification, and image generation. One weakness of such models is that, unlike humans, they are unable to learn multiple tasks sequentially. In this work we propose a practical solution to train such models sequentially by protecting the weights important for previous tasks. This approach, inspired by synaptic consolidation in neuroscience, enables state of the art results on multiple reinforcement learning problems experienced sequentially.