bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Regio‐selective Reduction of Oxysophoridine by Microorganism Isolated from Soil
Authors: Fu Shaobin , Li Yi , Meng Qingfeng , Yue Changwu , Sun Yongzhen , Wei Gang 
Published: April 2016

AbstractOxysophoridine (OSR), an alkaloid extracted from a traditional Chinese medicine, attracted more and more attention because of remarkable biological activities. Biocatalysis of OSR by 86 stains including soil microbes and endophytic fungi were investigated. Incubation of OSR with soil bacteria T003 identified as Escherichia coli could lead to only one reductive product with highly regio‐selectivity. The structural elucidations of transformation product were achieved mainly by the NMR spectroscopic methods and references. Effect of pH, substrate concentration, conversion time and strain concentration was studied, the optimization of reaction was analyzed by LC‐MS. The production of sophoridine (SR) from OSR was highest at pH 7.0, 36 h of incubation and in presence of 625 μg/mL substrate concentration, 50 μL/mL strain concentration respectively. Biocatalysis was considered the alternatives to preparation of sophoridine with green and sustainable synthetic processes except for less time‐consuming and more environmentally friendly.
The several elements of intestinal innate immune system at the beginning of the life of broiler chicks
Authors: EREN U. , Kum S. , Nazligul A. , Gules O. , Aka E. , Zorlu S. , Yildiz M. 
Published: April 2016

ABSTRACTFunctional capacity of digestive system and intestinal adaptive immunity are immature at hatching of broiler chicks. Therefore, intestinal innate immunity after hatching is vital to young chicks. The purpose of this study was to investigate expression and tissue distributions of several elements of the innate immune system (i.e., TLR2, TLR4, CD83, and MHC class II expressing cells) in the intestine of one‐day‐old chicks. For this purpose, ileum and cecum were examined the under different conditions, which included the control and 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 h after injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phosphate buffered saline. The findings indicated that regardless of the antigenic stimulation, Toll‐like receptor (TLR) 2 and TLR4 expressing cells were present in the intestinal tissues of one‐day‐old chicks. We noticed that the intestinal segments have different TLR expression levels after LPS stimulation. Dendritic cells were identified, and they left the intestinal tissue after LPS treatment. MHC class II molecules were diffusely present in both the ileum and cecum. This study demonstrates that the intestinal tissue of one‐day‐old chicks has remarkable defensive material, including histological properties and several elements of the innate immune system. Microsc. Res. Tech. 79:604–614, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A numerical simulation tool for nanoscale ion‐sensitive field‐effect transistor
Authors: Abdolkader Tarek M. 
Published: April 2016

SummaryIn this work, a self‐contained numerical simulation tool for nanoscale Ion‐Sensitive Field‐Effect Transistor (ISFET) is developed. The tool is based on merging nanoscale ballistic MOSFET analytical equations with the Gouy–Chapman–Stern model equations of ISFET to form a system of nonlinear equations that can be solved iteratively to yield ISFET output current. The numerical solution is accomplished using Newton–Raphson method with efficient trust‐region‐dogleg algorithm using MATLAB software coding. The tool is used to optimize the sensitivity and linearity of nanoscale ISFETs, and to study their dependence on reference voltage, drain current level, and gate‐insulator thickness. Moreover, a comparison between three types of insulators, SiO2, Si3N4, and Al2O3, has been made. The tool is given the name: NIST (Nanoscale ISFET Simulation Tool). It can be used as a guide for design and optimization of nanoscale ISFETs and can be applied for both single‐gate and double‐gate structures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inter‐annual variability of summer monsoon rainfall over Myanmar
Authors: Shrivastava Sourabh , Kar Sarat C. , Sharma Anu Rani 
Published: April 2016

ABSTRACTRainfall over Myanmar has large inter‐annual variability causing droughts and floods in many years. In this study, rainfall variability (in monthly scale) over Myanmar during summer monsoon has been examined using observed data. It is found that monthly rainfall in June, July and August months do not have any relation among each other, indicating that monthly rainfall received in Myanmar in these 3 months vary due to different mechanisms. In order to develop an effective drought monitoring and prediction system for the country, such mechanisms of rainfall variability have to be studied. Using composite wind analysis for excess and deficit rainfall years, it is found that deficiency of rainfall occurs when south‐westerly winds at 850 hPa are weaker over the region in June. During excess rainfall years, south‐westerly wind anomalies seen in June turn to stronger and milder westerly winds in July and August, respectively. However, a cyclonic anomaly is seen over North Bay of Bengal adjoining western coast of Myanmar in all the 3 months. It is found that the Myanmar rainfall is correlated positively with the sea surface temperature over central Pacific Ocean. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of monthly and seasonal mean rainfall over the region has been carried out. The leading mode (EOF‐1) shows coherent spatial patterns between the Indian monsoon rainfall over east and central parts of the India and rainfall over the western Pacific. The second leading mode of seasonal rainfall shows a trend in rainfall during the study period.
Recent developments in biochar as an effective tool for agricultural soil management: a review
Authors: Laghari Mahmood , Naidu Ravi , Xiao Bo , Hu Zhiquan , Mirjat Muhammad Saffar , Hu Mian , Kandhro Muhammad Nawaz , Chen Zhihua , Guo Dabin , Jogi Qamardudin , Abudi Zaidun Naji , Fazal Saima 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn recent years biochar has been demonstrated to be a useful amendment to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emission from the soil to the atmosphere. Hence it can help to mitigate global environment change. Some studies have shown that biochar addition to agricultural soils increases crop production. The mechanisms involved are: increased soil aeration and water‐holding capacity, enhanced microbial activity and plant nutrient status in soil, and alteration of some important soil chemical properties. This review provides an in‐depth consideration of the production, characterization and agricultural use of different biochars. Biochar is a complex organic material and its characteristics vary with production conditions and the feedstock used. The agronomic benefits of biochar solely depend upon the use of particular types of biochar with proper field application rate under appropriate soil types and conditions. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
The Role of Cathepsin D in the Pathogenesis of Human Neurodegenerative Disorders
Authors: Vidoni Chiara , Follo Carlo , Savino Miriam , Melone Mariarosa A. B. , Isidoro Ciro 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn familial neurodegenerative disorders, protein aggregates form continuously because of genetic mutations that drive the synthesis of truncated or unfolded proteins. The oxidative stress imposed by neurotransmitters and environmental neurotoxins constitutes an additional threat to the folding of the proteins and the integrity of organelle membranes in neurons. Failure in degrading such altered materials compromises the function of neurons and eventually leads to neurodegeneration. The lysosomal proteolytic enzyme Cathepsin D is the only aspartic‐type protease ubiquitously expressed in all the cells of the human body, and it is expressed at high level in the brain. In general, cathepsin D mediated proteolysis is essential to neuronal cell homeostasis through the degradation of unfolded or oxidized protein aggregates delivered to lysosomes via autophagy or endocytosis. More specifically, many altered neuronal proteins that hallmark neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., the amyloid precursor, α‐synuclein, and huntingtin) are physiologic substrates of cathepsin D and would abnormally accumulate if not efficiently degraded by this enzyme. Furthermore, experimental evidence indicates that cathepsin D activity is linked to the metabolism of cholesterol and of glycosaminoglycans, which accounts for its involvement in neuronal plasticity. This review focuses on the unique role of cathepsin D mediated proteolysis in the pathogenesis of human neurodegenerative diseases.
Software‐defined network‐based prioritization to avoid video freezes in HTTP adaptive streaming
Authors: Petrangeli Stefano , Wauters Tim , Huysegems Rafael , Bostoen Tom , De Turck Filip 
Published: April 2016

SummaryHTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) is becoming the de facto standard for video streaming services over the Internet. In HAS, each video is segmented and stored in different qualities. Rate adaptation heuristics, deployed at the client, allow the most appropriate quality level to be dynamically requested, based on the current network conditions. It has been shown that state‐of‐the‐art heuristics perform suboptimal when sudden bandwidth drops occur, therefore leading to freezes in the video playout, the main factor influencing users' quality of experience (QoE). This issue is aggravated in case of live events, where the client‐side buffer has to be kept as small as possible in order to reduce the playout delay between the user and the live signal. In this article, we propose a framework capable of increasing the QoE of HAS clients by reducing video freezes. The framework is based on OpenFlow, a widely adopted protocol to implement the software‐defined networking principle. An OpenFlow controller is in charge of introducing prioritized delivery of HAS segments, based on the network conditions and the HAS clients' status. Particularly, the HAS clients' status is obtained without any explicit clients‐to‐controller communication, and thus, no extra signaling is introduced into the network. Moreover, this OpenFlow controller is transparent to the quality decision process of the clients, as it assists the delivery of the segments, but it does not determine the actual quality to be requested. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the proposed approach, we investigate the performance of the proposed OpenFlow‐based framework in the presence of realistic Internet cross‐traffic. Particularly, we model two types of applications, namely, HTTP web browsing and progressive download video streaming, which currently represent the majority of Internet traffic together with HAS. By evaluating this novel approach through emulation in several multi‐client scenarios, we show how the proposed approach can reduce freeze time for the HAS clients due to network congestion up to 10 times compared with state‐of‐the‐art heuristics, without impacting the performance of the cross‐traffic applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Online identifier–actor–critic algorithm for optimal control of nonlinear systems
Authors: Lin Hanquan , Wei Qinglai , Liu Derong 
Published: April 2016

SummaryIn this paper, a novel identifier–actor–critic optimal control scheme is developed for discrete‐time affine nonlinear systems with uncertainties. In contrast to traditional adaptive dynamic programming methodology, which requires at least partial knowledge of the system dynamics, a neural‐network identifier is employed to learn the unknown control coefficient matrix working together with actor–critic‐based scheme to solve the optimal control online. The critic network learns the approximate value function at each step. The actor network attempts to improve the current policy based on the approximate value function. The weights of all neural networks are updated at each sampling instant. Lyapunov theory is utilized to prove the stability of closed‐loop system. It shows that system states and neural network weights are uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dimensions of dependence and their influence on the outcome of cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety: randomized controlled trial
Authors: Tyrer Peter , Wang Duolao , Tyrer Helen , Crawford Mike , Cooper Sylvia 
Published: April 2016

AbstractBackgroundThe personality trait of dependence is common in health‐seeking behaviour. We therefore examined its impact in a large randomized controlled trial of psychological treatment for health anxiety.AimsTo test whether dependent personality traits were positive or negative in determining the outcome of an adapted form of cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety (CBT‐HA) over the course of 5 years and whether dependent personality dysfunction could be viewed dimensionally in a similar way to the new ICD‐11 diagnostic system for general personality disorder.MethodDependent personality dysfunction was assessed using a self‐rated questionnaire, the Dependent Personality Questionnaire, at baseline in a randomized controlled trial of 444 patients from medical clinics with pathological health anxiety treated with a modified form of CBT‐HA or standard treatment in the medical clinics, with assessment on five occasions over 5 years. Dependent personality dysfunction was assessed using four severity groups.ResultsPatients with mild and moderate dependent personality disorder treated with CBT‐HA showed the greatest reduction in health anxiety compared with standard care, and those with no dependent dysfunction showed the least benefit. Patients with higher dependent traits received significantly more treatment sessions (8.6) than those with low trait levels (5.4) (p < 0.01).ConclusionThe results suggest that patients treated with cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety respond better if they have moderate dependent personality. The reasons for this may be related to better adherence to psychological treatment and greater negative effects of frequent reassurance and excessive consultation in those treated in standard care. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
From toroidal to rod‐like nanostructure, a mechanism study for the reversible morphological control on amphiphilic triblock copolymer micelles
Authors: Wang Zhida , Sun Fengman , Huang Shilin , Yan Changfeng 
Published: April 2016

ABSTRACTMechanism of the morphological changes between toroidal and rod‐like nanostructures of P4VP‐b‐PS‐b‐P4VP amphiphilic triblock copolymer micelles has been investigated in aqueous solution. This transition is proved to be highly reversible and tunable upon changing temperature. The toroidal structure, evolving from fibers at 20 °C, can transform to rod‐like morphology as the temperature either gradually or directly increases to 80 °C, and vice versa. However, the transition mechanisms are quite different in different temperature‐changing processes. The structure and thickness of the micelles are dependent on the specific temperature, whereas the transition mechanism is related to the method of the temperature change. These morphological changes are considered as a result from the interaction parameter between the solvent and the copolymer blocks, especially the hydrophobic block. Our research complements the external control over the reversible morphological transition of block copolymer micelles without changing the composition of the system or introducing additional influencing factors. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 1450–1457
Unusual presentation: Concurrent IgA deficiency and idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis
Authors: Erkoçoğlu Mustafa , Civelek Ersoy , Kocabaş Can Naci 
Published: April 2016

SummaryIdiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (IPH) is a rare disorder that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with hemoptysis, recurrent alveolar hemorrhage, dyspnea and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). The frequent association of autoimmune disorders with IPH and a favorable response to steroids suggest the presence of an underlying immune disorder. Here we present a case of a patient with cough, fever, and cyanosis who was also diagnosed with IPH and concurrent selective immunoglobulin A deficiency. This presentation is a unique presentation because of the co‐occurrence of these two disorders. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:E34–E36. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
From Synthesis to Formulation and Final Application
Authors: Nouguez Bruno , Eck Geneviève 
Published: April 2016

AbstractMeeting the requirements for insensitive munitions remains a complex route, where all the steps of the production process have to be addressed. NTO is a choice component, especially for large munitions. Various compositions have been optimized, which are now available, in pressed or cast PBX as well as melt cast formulations. Standard products such as RDX have been improved by the synthesis or crystallization methods, giving reduced sensitivity formulations. Some cast PBX can sustain severe shaped charge jet impacts, thanks to their large critical diameter, and are candidates as main filling of large munitions such as IM Mk82. The formulation step is addressing not only new binder principles, allowing an increase in the filler and thus energy contents, but also a bi‐component innovative method to get a semi continuous filling process where the pot life is no longer an issue. Finally a partial toolset for designing IM features is proposed with a recent example of successful application.
Passivation effect of water vapour on thin film polycrystalline Si solar cells
Authors: Pikna Peter , Müller Martin , Becker Christiane , Fejfar Antonín 
Published: April 2016

In this work, we investigated a passivation of both surface and bulk of polycrystalline silicon films by water vapour. To assess the passivation effect we used Suns‐VOC method to measure the open‐circuit voltage VOC of polycrystalline silicon thin film solar cells. The treatment conditions, i.e. temperature, steam pressure, duration, were systematically varied to optimise the passivation process. According to our results, there is a parameter interaction because the same passivation effect can be achieved at different treatment conditions. A sufficiently high temperature (350–450 °C) is necessary for a successful silicon passivation. The impact of this parameter cannot be replaced either by an elevated steam pressure or a prolonged exposure time. Nevertheless, the passivation effect of steam can be strengthened by an elevated steam pressure. Different gases were tested beside water vapour, e.g. H2, H2 + H2O, O2 + H2O, air, but none of them resulted in higher VOC than pure steam (360 mV from starting 220 mV). Results from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicate that water vapour passivation is rather oxidation while hydrogen plays a significant supporting role in the process. We conclude that the water vapour passivation is able to passivate defects in the whole silicon volume. However, its passivation effect is not strong enough to become an adequate alternative to the plasma hydrogenation with the best result of VOC ∼497 mV. On the other hand, it provides advantage of simplicity (no vacuum system and deionised water steam as the only input).Recombination activity of defects in polycrystalline Si can be suppressed by their saturation for instance in hydrogen plasma (Si–H) or in water vapour (Si–O–Si).
Objective filtering of the local correlation tensor
Authors: Michel Y. , Ménétrier B. , Montmerle T. 
Published: April 2016

The local correlation tensor (LCT), also referred to as the local correlation Hessian, the inverse of which is known as the Daley tensor, has proven a useful diagnostic of the spatial variability of background‐error correlations in data assimilation. The LCT (or its inverse) is also used in several correlation models, including those based on recursive filters, the diffusion equation and spatial deformations. It can be estimated from the variances of the background errors and of their spatial derivatives. Additional terms involving the spatial derivatives of the standard deviations are often neglected. This approximation is first discussed for ensembles of forecasts at the global scale.In the context of numerical weather prediction (NWP), only limited ensemble sizes are computationally affordable, meaning that the LCT is affected by sampling noise. The estimation of the LCT may be improved by an efficient spatial filtering designed to remove this sampling noise. Recently, a linear filtering theory was developed by the authors for the purpose of filtering background‐error covariances objectively, with applications to variance filtering and localization (in a convective‐scale model). We discuss several practical filters for the LCT that are designed to preserve its symmetric positive‐definite character. This can be achieved by filtering the raw LCT itself, or by filtering the numerator and the denominator separately within the aforementioned approximation. This also requires a positive filter, a feature not present in earlier attempts. Finally, it is shown that the LCT can be estimated robustly from small ensembles and that this estimation benefits from our objective spatial filtering, equivalent to increasing the sample size by a factor of 1.5–3 depending on the model variable and the vertical level at which it is defined.
A Bivariate Semiparametric Control Chart Based on Order Statistics
Authors: Koutras Markos V. , Sofikitou Elisavet M. 
Published: April 2016

In this article, a new bivariate semiparametric Shewhart‐type control chart is presented. The proposed chart is based on the bivariate statistic (X(r), Y(s)), where X(r) and Y(s) are the order statistics of the respective X and Y test samples. It is created by considering a straightforward generalization of the well‐known univariate median control chart and can be easily applied because it calls for the computation of two single order statistics. The false alarm rate and the in‐control run length are not affected by the marginal distributions of the monitored characteristics. However, its performance is typically affected by the dependence structure of the bivariate observations under study; therefore, the suggested chart may be characterized as a semiparametric control chart.An explicit expression for the operating characteristic function of the new control chart is obtained. Moreover, exact formulae are provided for the calculation of the alarm rate given that the characteristics under study follow specific bivariate distributions. In addition, tables and graphs are given for the implementation of the chart for some typical average run length values and false alarm rates. The performance of the suggested chart is compared with that of the traditional χ2 chart as well as to the nonparametric SN2 and SR2 charts that are based on the multivariate form of the sign test and the Wilcoxon signed‐rank test, respectively. Finally, in order to demonstrate the applicability of our chart, a case study regarding a real‐world problem related to winery production is presented. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.