bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
One‐step Electrosynthesis of Poly(1,5‐diaminonaphthalene)/Graphene Nanocomposite as Platform for Lead Detection in Water
Authors: Nguyen T. Dung , Dang T. T. Huyen , Thai Hoang , Nguyen L. Huy , Tran D. Lam , Piro B. , Pham M. C. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractA simple electrochemical methodology was described to elaborate a sensor based on poly(1,5‐diaminonaphthalene)/reduced graphene oxide film onto platinum‐patterned electrodes. The composite electrodes were investigated for Pb2+ determination using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. Pb2+ was first reduced and preconcentrated onto the modified electrodes at −1.0 V, then a positive potential sweep was applied to oxidize Pb0. A well‐defined stripping peak appeared at −0.5 V, which was used as analytical signal. The linear detection range was found from 200 ng L−1 to 700 µg L−1. Interferences with several other metal ions were evaluated.
A Compact Batch Injection Analysis Cell for Screen Printed Electrodes: A Portable Electrochemical System for On‐site Analysis
Authors: Richter Eduardo M. , Tormin Thiago F. , Cunha Rafael R. , Silva Weberson P. , Pérez‐Junquera Alejandro , Fanjul‐Bolado Pablo , Hernández‐Santos David , Muñoz. Rodrigo A. A. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractHerein, a compact batch injection analysis cell for screen printed electrodes (BIASPE cell) is reported. The proposed system shows several requirements of a portable system that include easy‐to‐operate (“user‐friendly”), high‐speed quantitative and qualitative analysis, excellent cost effectiveness, and low‐power requirements (all auxiliary components are battery‐powered). Similar to analytical microsystems, small volumes of samples (5 to 100 μL) are required for analysis, however, the robustness of the system here proposed is considerably higher. The combination of the BIASPE cell with battery‐powered accessories (electronic micropipette, potentiostat and tablet or laptop computer) can be considered as a robust portable electroanalytical system. Electrochemical methods with portable characteristics can be now easily developed.
Influence of Reactant Atmospheres and Temperature on Mechanism of Gasification of Coal Char Derived from Lignite
Authors: Ye Chao , Wang Qinhui , Luo Zhongyang , Fang Mengxiang , Cen Kefa 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe structural characteristics and reactivity of char derived from lignite were studied to explore the mechanism of char gasification and existence of a maximum reaction rate under an atmosphere of CO2 and H2O in a pressured thermogravimetric analyzer system. Gasification was carried out at temperatures of 1123, 1173, and 1223 K. When the temperature was below 1173 K, the mechanism of char gasification in the mixture of H2O and CO2 proceeded through the separate active sites assumption, whereas if the temperature was higher than 1173 K, it favored common active sites. The reaction rate increased and then decreased during the remaining time, which was in agreement with the total surface area. The existence of a maximum reaction rate depended highly on the surface area: a larger surface area resulted in a higher reaction rate. The total surface in H2O was the largest and the addition of CO2 inhibited the formation of pores. The reaction of char with CO2 mainly took place on the microporous surface first, and then took place on a mesoporous surface, and the reaction of char with H2O took place on both the micro‐ and mesoporous surfaces simultaneously.
3D Free‐Standing NiCo2O4@graphene Foam for High‐Performance Supercapacitors
Authors: Wei Yiying , Sun Bing , Su Dawei , Zhu Jianguo , Wang Guoxiu 
Published: March 2016

AbstractFree‐standing NiCo2O4@graphene 3D foams were prepared by using a controllable freeze‐casting method (CFC). In this designed method, the amount of water governs the size and shape of the ice upon introducing the material into a freeze‐drying system. By this means, controllable pore size and aligned nanostructures can be achieved. In the free‐standing foam, the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets form a highly conductive skeleton with high surface area to support the uniform distribution of NiCo2O4 nanoparticles on graphene sheets. When applied as electrode materials for supercapacitors, this dense NiCo2O4@graphene foam material exhibited a high capacitance of 562 F g−1 at a current density of 2 A g−1, and an excellent cycling performance at a high current density of 10 A g−1. Compression testing revealed that the 3D NiCo2O4@graphene foam possesses strong mechanical properties, and is able to support 20,000 times of its own weight. The novel synthesis method can be extended to prepare other 3D porous foam materials for diverse applications.
Parametric analysis and systems design of dynamic photovoltaic shading modules
Authors: Hofer Johannes , Groenewolt Abel , Jayathissa Prageeth , Nagy Zoltan , Schlueter Arno 
Published: March 2016

AbstractShading systems improve building energy performance and occupant comfort by controlling glare, natural lighting, and solar gain. Integrating PV (photovoltaics) in shading systems opens new opportunities for BIPV (building integrated photovoltaics) on façades. A key problem of such systems is mutual shading among PV modules as it can lead to electrical mismatch losses and overheating effects. In this work, we present a new modeling framework, which couples parametric 3D with high‐resolution electrical modeling of thin‐film PV modules to simulate electric energy yield of geometrically complex PV applications. The developed method is able to predict the shading pattern for individual PV modules with high spatio‐temporal resolution, which is of great importance for electrical system design. The methodology is applied to evaluate the performance of different dynamic BIPV shading system configurations, as well as its sensitivity to façade orientation and module arrangement. The analysis shows, that there is a trade‐off between tracking performance and mutual shading of modules. Distance between modules is a critical parameter influencing the amount of mutual shading and hence limiting solar irradiation and electricity generation of PV shading systems using solar tracking. Planning of module string configuration, PV cell orientation, and location of bypass diodes according to partial shading conditions, reduces electrical mismatch losses and results in significantly higher electricity generation. The integration of parametric 3D and electrical modeling opens new possibilities for PV system design and dynamic control optimization. Though the analysis focuses on BIPV, the method is useful for the planning and operation of solar tracking systems in general.
Could alluvial knickpoint retreat rather than fire drive the loss of alluvial wet monsoon forest, tropical northern Australia?
Authors: Larsen Annegret , May Jan‐Hendrik , Moss Patrick , Hacker Jorg 
Published: March 2016

AbstractDrainage rejuvenation through headward migration of alluvial knickpoints is common in ephemeral semi‐arid streams, but has not yet been described for tropical rivers. In the Australian monsoon tropics (AMT), wet monsoon forests have an important ecological function, and are present along many alluvial valleys and springs within a eucalypt‐savanna dominated landscape. Using a combination of LiDAR, remote sensing and field evidence, we observe the ongoing destruction of wet monsoon forest through hydro‐geomorphic feedbacks, along with the headward retreat of an alluvial knickpoint at Wangi Creek in Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory. Due to the highly transmissive shallow aquifer along the lower Wangi Creek, this knickpoint retreat leads to a downstream drop in in‐channel water level, which in turn drives a decrease in the local groundwater table. The lowered groundwater level causes the shallow anabranches and formerly water saturated peaty floodplain soil to desiccate, which results in a reduction of vegetation density. The resulting dry surface conditions allow annual to bi‐annual high frequency low‐intensity fires to affect the monsoon forest, while wet rainforest upstream of the knickpoint remains intact. In this paper, we argue that such hydro‐geomorphic feedbacks may cause the initial destabilization of the forest, which then provides the necessary conditions for the impact of fire. This scenario thus challenges the prevalent view that fire is a first‐order control on the spatial extent of wet monsoonal rainforest in the study area, and provides a new and testable hypothesis for further studies in the AMT. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Physiological and cellular responses of oysters (Crassostrea hongkongensis) in a multimetal-contaminated estuary
Authors: Liu Xuan , Wang Wen-Xiong 
Published: March 2016

Abstract

The Pearl River estuary, southern China, suffers from multiple sources of metal contamination as a result of the rapid industrial development in the region; but the biological impacts of contamination remain unknown. In the present study, a euryhaline oyster, Crassostrea hongkongensis, was collected from different sites of the Pearl River estuary; and various physiological (heart rate, alkaline phosphatase as homeostatic regulation, and glycogen as energy reserve) and cytological (lysosomal membrane stability) biomarkers were quantified to assess this species as a potential bioindicator of metal pollution in contaminated areas. Large variations of metal accumulation levels in the oysters were documented, especially for copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium, and nickel (Ni). Among these metals, the authors demonstrated significant correlations between the digestive gland metal accumulation of Cu, Zn, and Ni and the cellular homeostasis (alkaline phosphatase) and glycogen reserves. Heart rate was positively correlated with Cd but negatively correlated with Cu and Zn concentrations in the gills. Lysosomal membrane stability was significantly inhibited at the most contaminated sites but had no relationship with the accumulated metal concentrations. These measurements indicate that multimetal contamination in the Pearl River estuary impacts the physiological and cytological performance of oysters. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2577–2586. © 2016 SETAC
Facilitating Evaluation to Lead Meaningful Change
Authors: Catsambas Tessie Tzavaras 
Published: March 2016

AbstractEvaluation education and training has traditionally emphasized methodological skills and ignored soft skills. A review of routine evaluation tasks, however, reveals that evaluation typically requires the evaluator to work with groups of people for organizing and managing an evaluation, as well as in collecting and analyzing data; that is, evaluators must frequently facilitate group interactions to conclude an evaluation successfully. A juxtaposition of evaluator and facilitator competencies shows significant overlap between them. Furthermore, evaluations of increasing complexity call for higher levels of facilitation. Transformational evaluations call for significant self‐development and strengthening of leadership competencies. Through development and use of facilitation tools and techniques, facilitation can be used to enhance the effectiveness and use of an evaluation.
Protein hydrolysates produced from rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) Head: emulsifying capacity and food safety
Authors: He Shan , Nguyen Trung T. , Su Peng , Zhang Wei 
Published: March 2016

AbstractLobster protein hydrolysates (LPH) were produced by an enzymatic process using a proteinase Alcalase, and a chemical process at strong alkaline condition (pH of 14), from rock lobster head (RLH), respectively. The chemical process recovered about 30% more protein than the enzymatic process (84.9% recovery of total protein in RLH by the chemical process and 54.5% recovery of total protein in RLH by the enzymatic process). The emulsifying capacity of LPH produced by the chemical process (69.7 m2/g) was significantly higher than the emulsifying capacity of the LPH produced by the enzymatic process (20.7 m2/g), and also exceeds the emulsifying capacity of cow gelatine (50.3 m2/g), a commercial emulsifier in the food industry. LPH produced by the chemical process possess 30.3% essential amino acids. This content is comparable with the essential amino acid content of fish protein, a commonly recognized food resource for essential amino acid supplement for human. The content of heavy metals, including inorganic arsenic, of LPH is lower than the standard levels regulated by Food Standard Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). These results demonstrated the potential value of LPH used as a safe emulsifier with significant nutritional value for the food industry.
Inactivation of Salmonella on tainted foods: using blue light to disinfect cucumbers and processed meat products
Authors: Guffey J. Stephen , Payne William C. , Motts Susan D. , Towery Pam , Hobson Todd , Harrell Grafton , Meurer Logan , Lancaster Kristoffer 
Published: March 2016

AbstractFoodborne illness resulting from infectious organisms occurring in vegetables and processed meat is a serious health concern in the United States. Improved and cost‐effective techniques for disinfection are needed. Visible light in the blue range (405 nm) was administered to processed meat that had been inoculated with Escherichia coli. One application of light energy at doses of 10, 30, 60, and 100 J/cm2 was applied, in vitro. In the case of vegetables contaminated with Salmonella (cucumbers), 464 nm light was used at 6, 12, and 18 J/cm2. In both cases, after 20 hours of incubation, colony‐forming units were counted and compared to controls to determine whether the light energy inhibited growth of E. coli or Salmonella. E. coli – 405 nm light at doses of 30, 60, and 100 J/cm2 were all effective inhibitors of the organism. Kill rates of 75.61 – 96.34% were achieved. Salmonella – 464 nm light at doses of 6, 12, and 18 J/cm2 produced significant inactivation of the organism. Kill rates of 80.23–100% were obtained. Blue light, delivered in the wavelength/dose combinations used in this study is an effective inhibitor of both E. coli and Salmonella on actual foodstuffs. Blue light should be considered as a potentially effective tool in the effort to protect humans from foodborne illnesses.
Are premorbid abnormal personality traits associated with behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia?
Authors: Prior Jack , Abraham Rajesh , Nicholas Helen , Chan Tom , Vanvlymen Jeremy , Lovestone Simon , Boothby Harry 
Published: March 2016

ObjectiveThe study aims to investigate associations between behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and abnormal premorbid personality traits.MethodsData were obtained from 217 patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease. Behavioural and psychological symptoms of late‐onset dementia were assessed with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Premorbid personality traits were assessed using the Standardised Assessment of Personality. Abnormal premorbid personality traits were categorised with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition and International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems—10 diagnostic criteria for personality disorders.ResultsAbnormal premorbid personality traits were associated with increased behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia. Cluster A (solitary/paranoid) premorbid personality traits were associated with anxiety, depression and hallucinations. Cluster C (anxious/dependent) traits were associated with a syndrome of depression.ConclusionsThe presence of Clusters A (solitary/paranoid) and C (anxious/dependent) abnormal premorbid personality traits seems to affect the expression of certain behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia, depression in particular. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Collecting New Data on Disability Health Inequities
Authors: Pendo Elizabeth 
Published: March 2016

AbstractOne of the goals of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the reduction and elimination of health inequities, generally defined as population‐level health differences that adversely affect disadvantaged groups. The ACA provides powerful new tools to collect, analyze, and share standardized data on these inequities. Prior to the ACA, disability was marginalized in data collection efforts, limiting our ability to understand and address significant health inequities experienced by millions of Americans. Now, for the first time, we can use these tools to collect valuable new data on the nature and extent of health inequities experienced by people with disabilities across the country. Standardized health data collection is critical to health equity.
Reframing Conscientious Care: Providing Abortion Care When Law and Conscience Collide
Authors: Buchbinder Mara , Lassiter Dragana , Mercier Rebecca , Bryant Amy , Lyerly Anne Drapkin 
Published: March 2016

Abstract“It's almost like putting salt in a wound, for this person who's already made a very difficult decision,” suggested Meghan Patterson (an alias), a licensed obstetrician‐gynecologist whom we interviewed in our qualitative study of the experiences of North Carolina abortion providers practicing under the state's Woman's Right to Know Act (House Bill 854; 2011). The act requires that women receive counseling with state‐mandated information at least twenty‐four hours prior to obtaining an abortion. After the law was passed, Patterson worked with clinic administrators, in consultation with a lawyer, to write a script to be used in the state‐mandated counseling procedure. She and her colleagues took particular steps to mitigate the effects of what she described as HB 854's “forced language”—such as referring to the “father of the child.” While HB 854 stipulated that patients must be informed of the medical risks associated with the particular abortion procedure as well as those of carrying the child to term, Patterson's script made explicit the magnitude of comparative risks, emphasizing that the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term are substantially greater than the risks of an early‐term abortion. She felt that these contextualization strategies helped to facilitate trust and rapport in a clinical care situation that proved relationally and morally challenging. In this article, we take up and expand on this point by elucidating an empirically grounded approach to ethically justified care when health care providers face legal or institutional policy mandates that raise possible moral conflicts. Our approach builds on recent bioethics discourse addressing conscience in the practice of medicine. While the concept of conscience has broad philosophical underpinnings relating to moral judgment, agency, and discernments of right and wrong, debates in bioethics have tended to engage the concept primarily vis‐à‐vis rights of conscientious objection or refusal. Here, we suggest a broader frame for thinking about claims of conscience in health care. Our approach draws on the feminist bioethics and the ethics of care literatures to highlight how providers may be motivated by matters of conscience, including relational concerns, in the active provision of certain forms of care. What emerges are two possibilities: not only conscientious refusal to comply with a policy mandate but also conscientious compliance—working conscientiously within a mandate's confines.
Conscience, Courage, and “Consent”
Authors: Hall Mark A. , King Nancy M. P. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractOn September 8, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to revise the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, widely known as the “Common Rule.” The NPRM proposes several changes to the current system, including a dramatic shift in the approach to secondary research using biospecimens and data. Under the current rules, it is relatively easy to use biospecimens and data for secondary research. This approach systematically facilitates secondary research with biospecimens and data, maximizing the capacity for substantial public benefit. However, it has been criticized as insufficiently protective of the privacy and autonomy interests of biospecimen and data sources. Thus, the NPRM proposes a more restrictive regime, although more so for biospecimens than data. Both the status quo and the NPRM's proposal are critically flawed.
Cortical chemoarchitecture shapes macroscale effective functional connectivity patterns in macaque cerebral cortex
Authors: Turk Elise , Scholtens Lianne H. , van den Heuvel Martijn P. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe mammalian cortex is a complex system of—at the microscale level—interconnected neurons and—at the macroscale level—interconnected areas, forming the infrastructure for local and global neural processing and information integration. While the effects of regional chemoarchitecture on local cortical activity are well known, the effect of local neurotransmitter receptor organization on the emergence of large scale region‐to‐region functional interactions remains poorly understood. Here, we examined reports of effective functional connectivity—as measured by the action of strychnine administration acting on the chemical balance of cortical areas—in relation to underlying regional variation in microscale neurotransmitter receptor density levels in the macaque cortex. Linking cortical variation in microscale receptor density levels to collated information on macroscale functional connectivity of the macaque cortex, we show macroscale patterns of effective corticocortical functional interactions—and in particular, the strength of connectivity of efferent macroscale pathways—to be related to the ratio of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter receptor densities of cortical areas. Our findings provide evidence for the microscale chemoarchitecture of cortical areas to have a direct stimulating influence on the emergence of macroscale functional connectivity patterns in the mammalian brain. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1856–1865, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Structural Insights into the Polymorphism of Self‐Assembled Amylin Oligomers
Authors: Wineman‐Fisher Vered , Miller Yifat 
Published: March 2016

AbstractType 2 diabetes (T2D) affects over 300 million people worldwide. The main component, found in the pancreas of 95 % of T2D patients, is amylin oligomers and fibrils. So far, four different molecular structures of the self‐assembled amylin oligomers have been observed experimentally: two ssNMR models and two crystal models. This review illustrates that there are further self‐assembled amylin oligomers that differ in the orientations of the side chains along the β‐arch and are all derived from the two ssNMR models. This review focuses on polymorphism of the self‐assembled amylin oligomers. It also provides the various pathway mechanisms which lead to various amylin oligomers. Finally, it illustrates that interactions of amylin oligomers with further amyloids, such as Aβ oligomers, increase the polymorphism by forming polymorphic states of amylin‐Aβ oligomers with various pathway mechanisms. The polymorphism of amylin oligomers and the polymorphism of the cross‐seeding amylin‐Aβ oligomers phenomena could contribute to explaining, at least in part, the still unknown origins of the pathological conditions, and may assist in preventing aggregation in amyloidogenic diseases with drug design and other therapeutic approaches.