bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Engineered method for directional growth of muscle sheets on electrospun fibers
Authors: Soliman Erfan , Bianchi Fabio , Sleigh James N. , George Julian H , Cader M. Zameel , Cui Zhanfeng , Ye Hua 
Published: December 2017

AbstractResearch on the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and its function and development spans over a century. However, researchers are limited in their ability to conduct experimentation on this highly specialized synapse between motor neurons and muscle fibers, as NMJs are not easily accessible outside the body. The aim of this work is to provide a reliable and reproducible muscle sheet model for in vitro NMJ study. A novel culture system was designed by engineering a method for the directional growth of myofiber sheets, using muscle progenitor cells cultured on electrospun fiber networks. Myoblastic C2C12 cells cultured on suspended aligned fibers were found to maintain directionality, with alignment angle standard deviations approximately two‐thirds lower on fibers than on regular culture surfaces. Morphological studies found nuclei and cytoskeleton aspect ratios to be elongated by 20 and 150%, respectively. Furthermore, neurons were shown to form innervation patterns parallel to suspended fibers when co‐cultured on developed muscle sheets, with alignment angle standard deviations three times lower compared with those on typical surfaces. The effect of agrin on samples was quantified through the slow release of agrin medium, encapsulated in alginate pellets and imbedded within culture chambers. Samples exposed to agrin showed significantly increased percentage of AChR‐covered area. The developed model has potential to serve as the basis for synaptogenesis and NMJ studies, providing a novel approach to bio‐artificial muscle alignment and setting the groundwork for further investigations in innervation. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 1165–1176, 2018.
Payday Lending and Microcredit: Two Faces of the Same Problem?
Authors: Islam Khan Jahirul , Simpson Wayne 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDespite large differences in socio‐economic, geographical and political background, this study finds noteworthy similarities in the determinants of financial exclusion in Canada and Bangladesh. Household income, education, regional differences and respondent age are common significant determinants of payday loan borrowing in Canada and microcredit borrowing in Bangladesh. Financial knowledge has been identified as a significant determinant of payday loan borrowing in Canada. Our results suggest the need for paying more attention to the causes of financial exclusion and to improving financial literacy because the regulatory policies on interest rates in both countries do not seem to be effective. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Large‐scale heavy precipitation over central Europe and the role of atmospheric cyclone track types
Authors: Hofstätter Michael , Lexer Annemarie , Homann Markus , Blöschl Günter 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTPrecipitation patterns over Europe are largely controlled by atmospheric cyclones embedded in the general circulation of the mid‐latitudes. This study evaluates the climatologic features of precipitation for selected regions in central Europe with respect to cyclone track types for 1959–2015, focusing on large‐scale heavy precipitation.The analysis suggests that each of the cyclone track types is connected to a specific pattern of the upper level atmospheric flow, usually characterized by a major trough located over Europe. A dominant upper level cut‐off low (COL) is found over Europe for strong continental (CON) and van Bebber's type (Vb) cyclones which move from the east and southeast into central Europe. Strong Vb cyclones revealed the longest residence times, mainly due to circular propagation paths.The central European cyclone precipitation climate can largely be explained by seasonal track‐type frequency and cyclone intensity; however, additional factors are needed to explain a secondary precipitation maximum in early autumn. The occurrence of large precipitation totals for track events is strongly related to the track type and the region, with the highest value of 45% of all Vb cyclones connected to heavy precipitation in summer over the Czech Republic and eastern Austria. In western Germany, Atlantic winter cyclones are most relevant for heavy precipitation. The analysis of the top 50 precipitation events revealed an outstanding heavy precipitation period from 2006 to 2011 in the Czech Republic, but no gradual long‐term change. The findings help better understand spatio‐temporal variability of heavy precipitation in the context of floods and may be used for evaluating climate models.
Resident perceptions of tourism: The role of social distance
Authors: Thyne Maree , Watkins Leah , Yoshida Mari 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe past 10 years has seen dramatic growth in international visitor numbers to Japan. Our research investigates Japanese host community perceptions of tourism development, specifically the impact that social distance has on these perceptions. Results from host residents (n = 1,569) confirmed significant differences in perceived social distance between visitor nationalities. Regression analyses reveal social distance to have a more significant influence on host perceptions towards tourism and its development than host attributes identified in earlier studies. Strategies and tactics for alleviating social distance are discussed, and implications are drawn for Japan's future development as a sustained successful tourism destination.
The Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire for self‐assessment of basic symptoms in the early detection of psychosis—Factor structure, reliability, and predictive validity
Authors: Uttinger Martina , Studerus Erich , Ittig Sarah , Heitz Ulrike , Schultze‐Lutter Frauke , Riecher‐Rössler Anita 
Published: December 2017

AbstractObjectivesPatients with schizophrenia often experience subtle disturbances in several domains of information processing—so‐called basic symptoms (BS). BS are already present before onset of frank psychosis and can be assessed by interviews but also by the self‐administered Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (FCQ). We investigated the factor structure, reliability, and predictive validity for transition to psychosis of the FCQ, comparing previously proposed factor solutions containing 1, 2, 4, and 10 factors.MethodsConfirmatory factor analysis was used in a sample of 117 at‐risk mental state and 92 first‐episode psychosis participants of the Basel FePsy (early detection of psychosis) study.ResultsAlthough all factor models fitted to the data, the 2‐ or 4‐factor solutions performed best among the models that used at least half of the FCQ items, suggesting the covariance between FCQ items is best explained by 2 to 4 underlying factors. No FCQ‐scale predicted transition to psychosis.ConclusionWe could confirm a 2‐ to 4‐factor structure of the FCQ in a sample of at‐risk mental state and first‐episode psychosis patients using confirmatory factor analysis. Contrary to interview‐assessed cognitive–perceptive BS, self‐assessed BS do not seem to improve prediction of psychosis. This result reinforces reports of poor correspondence between interview‐ and questionnaire‐assessed BS.
Online reinforcement learning for a class of partially unknown continuous‐time nonlinear systems via value iteration
Authors: Su Hanguang , Zhang Huaguang , Zhang Kun ,  Gao Wenzhong 
Published: December 2017

SummaryIn this paper, a modified value iteration–based approximate dynamic programming method is proposed for a class of affine nonlinear continuous‐time systems, whose dynamics are partially unknown. The value iteration algorithm is established in an online fashion, and the convergence proof is given. To attenuate the effect caused by the unascertained characteristics of the system dynamics, the integral reinforcement learning scheme is also used. In the proposed approximate dynamic programming method, it is emphasized that the single‐network structure is utilized to estimate the value functions and the control policies. That is, the iteration process is implemented on the actor/critic structure, in which case only the critic NN is required to be identified. Then, the least‐squares scheme is derived for the NN weights updating. Finally, a linear system and a nonlinear system are tested to evaluate the performance of the proposed online value iteration algorithm. Both of the examples show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Delivering an accredited non‐invasive prenatal diagnosis service for monogenic disorders and recommendations for best practice
Authors: Jenkins Lucy A. , Deans Zandra C. , Lewis Celine , Allen Stephanie 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe identification of cell‐free fetal DNA circulating in maternal blood combined with technological developments, in particular next‐generation sequencing, is enabling the development of safer prenatal diagnosis. While this technology has been widely applied as a highly sensitive screening test for aneuploidy, there has been relatively little clinical application for the diagnosis of monogenic disorders. In the UK, we have established non‐invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) as a clinical service for a range of inherited disorders. The results from NIPD do not require confirmation by invasive testing and are welcomed by patients and health professionals alike. Here, we describe the technical approaches used, current practice and outline recommendations for best practice when delivering an NIPD service from an accredited laboratory. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Place, kinship, and employment
Authors: Holm Einar , Westin Kerstin , Haugen Katarina 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThis study explores the magnitude and composition of kinship ties at Swedish workplaces. By analysing official register data and illustrating findings from interviews with HR personnel at different workplaces, the following questions are discussed: How much kinship concentration is there today on the labour market in a modern Western society such as Sweden? How is the kin‐based selection of workplace members structured by place? The study is based on an analysis of individually connected register information on all workplaces in Sweden in 2012. The number of individual links between relatives and couples at an average workplace amounts to 14% of the number of employees as derived from 310, 000 couples and pairs of relatives among 4.3 million workers. So, even today in Sweden, kinship is a common phenomenon observable for most workers at most workplaces. Of all such connected pairs of kin at workplaces, more than a third contain counterparts living in the same household. A non‐linear individual‐level regression reveals that population density in the vicinity of the workplace is substantially related to kin density. Large agglomerations seem to coexist with low kin density workplaces. Although some level of kin membership is unavoidable especially at workplaces in sparsely populated places, removing this part still reveals that kinship above an unavoidable level seems to exist. The study contributes to the discussion of kinship in workplaces by examining the magnitude and composition of kinship ties in the whole work force and complementing findings with interviews.
Attracting and retaining expatriates in Qatar during an era of uncertainty: Would you stay or would you go?
Authors: Ewers Michael C. , Shockley Bethany 
Published: December 2017

AbstractHow do foreign workers navigate competing pressures when deciding to remain in a place or leave for a new destination? Here, we explore migration decision‐making across a diverse set of migrant nationalities using an innovative survey experiment implemented in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar. Extending recent work that highlights the contribution of experiments to the study of complex migration decision‐making choices, we employ a conjoint survey experiment that asks respondents whether they would remain in the country or seek to leave under randomised scenarios. Responses to conventional migration questions about past and future migration decisions are compared with experimental findings, covering a range of economic, social, and political factors. Both the conventional and experimental results are analysed across nationality subgroups. We find that local security and stability underpin both the reasons that migrants were attracted to Qatar and their propensities to leave, conditional on regional background. This has major implications for migrant decision‐making calculus in light of regional economic and political deterioration. The results confirm the importance of a variety of economic factors for complex migration decision‐making and suggest that survey experiments present a fruitful option for future research on this topic.
Beyond the obvious: A comparison of some demographic changes across selected shrinking and growing cities in the United States from 1990 to 2010
Authors: Danko Joseph J. , Hanink Dean M. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractShrinking cities have undergone rapid demographic changes since World War II, especially as many of these urban centres deindustrialized during the 1970s and onwards. However, not all shrinking cities have experienced the same type of demographic changes. In fact, the shrinking designation may even be considered misleading in some places because not all population segments decrease during periods of overall total population decline. In order to gain a better grasp of these changes and trends over the past two decades, this paper use Franklin's () demographic shift‐share analysis to explore and compare changes in a series of racial and ethnic population characteristics across a selection of five shrinking cities (Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis) and five growing cities (Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle) in the United States during the two intercensal periods of 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2010. The list of case studies is hardly exhaustive or necessarily representative but was rather chosen as a set of fairly high‐profile cities in the United States that would be useful in making comparisons with respect to their recent decline or growth. Results show that each of the shrinking cities and growing cities had exceptions among the population segments considered in this paper. For example, shrinking cities generally experienced growth in terms of their Mexican, Puerto Rican, Asian, and foreign‐born populations even as their White and Black populations rapidly declined between 1990 and 2010.
Multiple model adaptive control for switched linear systems: A two‐layer switching strategy
Authors: Xie Jing , Yang Dong , Zhao Jun 
Published: December 2017

SummaryIn this paper, the multiple model adaptive control scheme is first introduced into a class of switched systems. A switched multiple model adaptive control scheme is proposed to improve the transient behavior by resetting the controller parameters. Firstly, a finite‐time parameter identification model is presented, which greatly reduces the number of identification models. Secondly, a two‐layer switching strategy is constructed. The outer layer switching mechanism is to ensure the stability of the switched systems. The inner layer switching mechanism is to improve the transient behavior. Then, by using the constructed jumping multiple Lyapunov functions, the proposed adaptive control scheme guarantees that all the closed‐loop system signals remain bounded and the state tracking error converges to a small ball whose radius can be made arbitrarily small by appropriately choosing the design parameter. Finally, a practical example about model reference adaptive control of an electrohydraulic system using multiple models is given to demonstrate the validity of the main results.
Disturbance rejection of singularly perturbed switched systems subject to actuator saturation
Authors: Wang Qianjin , Zhou Linna , Ma Xiaoping , Yang Chunyu 
Published: December 2017

SummaryThis paper addresses the disturbance rejection problem for singularly perturbed switched systems subject to actuator saturation. We focus our attention on the synthesis of feedback control laws to achieve disturbance rejection for the systems. By using the average dwell‐time approach together with the piecewise Lyapunov function technique, sufficient conditions for the existence of a controller are derived in terms of LMIs, which are independent of the singular perturbation parameter ε. Some convex optimization problems are formulated to get a larger estimate of the basin of attraction and a better disturbance rejection ability. The state‐feedback controller depends on the singular perturbation parameter ε, but it is shown to be well posed for all ε∈(0,ε0]. In addition, if ε is sufficiently small, the ε‐dependent controller can be reduced to an ε‐independent one. Finally, a hydraulic servoposition system is used to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the obtained results.
Mitochondria‐Targeted Anticancer Activity of BODIPY‐Appended Iron(III) Catecholates in Red Light
Authors: Garai Aditya , Pant Ila , Bhattacharyya Arnab , Kondaiah Paturu , Chakravarty Akhil R. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIron(III) catecholates of dipicolylamine (dpa) bases having appended Benzyl (in bzdpa) or BODIPY (borondipyrromethene) moiety (in L1 and L2), viz. [Fe(Bzdpa)(cat)Cl] (1), [Fe(L1)(cat)Cl] (2) and [Fe(L2)(cat)Cl] (3), were prepared and characterized (H2cat=catechol). The iron(III) complexes with a ligand‐to‐metal charge transfer (LMCT) band within 600–800 nm were studied for their photocytotoxicity in visible (400–700 nm) and red (600–720 nm) light. Complex 2 with a BODIPY fluorophore in L1 gave IC50 values of 2.2±0.5 and 15.0±0.7 μM in visible and red light, respectively, in HeLa cells. Complex 3 with a diiodo‐BODIPY moiety showed excellent PDT activity giving respective IC50 values of 0.8±0.2 and 12.6±1.1 μM. They are less toxic in dark (IC50: ≥85 μM). A similar activity was observed in MCF‐7 cancer cells. The BODIPY complexes showed significant mitochondrial localization. Annexin FITC assay showed apoptotic cell death involving reactive oxygen species (ROS). Photo‐generation of ROS was evidenced from dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) assay. Mechanistic studies on DNA photocleavage reactions showed the presence of two types of ROS. Singlet oxygen formation from BODIPY was evidenced from the 1,3‐diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) experiments. Hydroxyl radical was generated on red light photo‐activation of the LMCT band within photodynamic therapy (PDT) spectral window.
Deterioration of Chronotropic Responses and Heart Rate Recovery Indices in Men With Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Kucukdurmaz Faruk , Acar Gurkan , Resim Sefa 
Published: December 2017

Abstract

Introduction
Erectile dysfunction (ED) and cardiovascular (CV) diseases share common risk factors and ED has been accepted as an early manifestation of CV disease. Exercise stress testing (EST) is used to evaluate CV functions in men with ED. Low exercise workload, a slower heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise, and inability to increase heart rate during EST (chronotropic incompetence) are independent negative predictors of adverse CV outcomes.

Aim
To assess the association among EST parameters, ED, and testosterone levels.

Methods
The study population consisted of 41 patients with ED and 40 controls. All participants underwent treadmill EST to assess cardiac autonomic functions. HRR indices were calculated by subtracting 1st (HRR1), 2nd (HRR2), and 3rd (HRR3) minute heart rates during the recovery period from maximal heart rate. Total exercise duration, exercise capacity and chronotropic response, and plasma testosterone levels were evaluated. Erectile functions were evaluated with the Sexual Health Inventory for Men. Patients were divided into subgroups according to severity and duration of ED.

Main Outcome Measures
Mean HRR1 (30.6 ± 11.9 vs 36.9 ± 9.9; P = .01), HRR2 (44.9 ± 12.4 vs 54.9 ± 7.8; P &lt; .001), and HRR3 (50.1 ± 11.7 vs 63.0 ± 7.9; P &lt; .001) were significantly lower in the ED than in the control group. Total exercise duration (9.4 ± 1.9 vs 10.9 ± 1.7 minutes; P &lt; .001), exercise capacity (12.5 ± 1.9 vs 13.6 ± 1.4 metabolic equivalents; P = .004), and chronotropic response (0.88 ± 0.1 vs 1.0 ± 0.1; P &lt; .001) were worse in the ED group. However, we found no association between severity and duration of ED and EST parameters. In addition, serum testosterone levels were significantly correlated with HRR1 (r = 0.36, P = .02) in men with ED.

Conclusion
Our data suggested that cardiac autonomic functions are impaired in patients with ED. A weak correlation between cardiac autonomic dysfunction and low testosterone levels in patients with ED was noted. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the prognostic significance and clinical implications of impaired autonomic functions and testosterone replacement therapy in patients with ED.
Prediction of lean blowout performance of gas turbine combustor based on flow structures
Authors: Ahmed E. , Yong H. 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTThe insufficient depth of modelling to capture the flow physics within primary combustion zone is the prime reason behind limited accuracy of semi-empirical correlations. Flame volume concept establishes a better connection between LBO performance and flame parameters, which improves the modelling depth and hence the prediction accuracy. Nonetheless, estimation of flame parameters is a challenging task. In addition, the iterative loop to approach convergence for a single geometry demands several numerical simulation runs. In this study, the association of LBO performance has been extended to flow structures, they are uniquely associated with the geometric features and can efficiently relate global LBO performance with primary zone geometry. The lean blowout phenomenon was presented as a contest between igniting and extinction forces within Reverse Flow Zone. These forces were quantified by four performance parameters including area, minimum axial velocity, average temperature, and average velocity. Selected parameters provide valuable information regarding the size of recirculation bubble, the intensity of flow reversal and the amount of entrained hot gases. For the purpose of validation, 11 combustor geometries were selected. The RANS simulation was carried out to estimate performance parameters, and predicted performance was compared against experimental data. The excellent agreement highlights the efficiency and promising future for the proposed methodology. Moreover, the association of prediction process with flow structure, instead of geometric features/dimension, makes it universal prediction methodology for wide range of combustor configurations.