bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Beta‐mercaptoethanol supplementation of in vitro maturation medium does not influence nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of equine oocytes
Authors: Merlo B , Iacono E , Bucci D , Spinaci M , Galeati G , Mari G 
Published: September 2016

ContentsIn vitro embryo production in the horse is still not as efficient as in other species. Oxidative stress negatively affects oocyte and embryo culture. To attenuate/minimize the oxidative stress, antioxidants such as low‐molecular thiol compounds can be added to culture media. Beta‐mercaptoethanol (BME) has been shown to improve maturation and embryo development in different species. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the addition to maturation medium of BME at common (0.1 mM) and high (0.7 mM) concentration could improve oocyte maturation also in the horse. Equine oocytes recovered from slaughterhouse ovaries were used. Meiotic configuration after in vitro maturation (IVM) and early embryo production after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were considered as criteria for assessing nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation, respectively. A total of 1,076 oocytes were analysed over two experiments: 848 (control n = 293, BME 0.1 n = 270, BME 0.7 n = 285) were stained with Hoechst 33342 and examined for nuclear stage after 26 hr of IVM, and 228 MII oocytes were fertilized by ICSI (control n = 83, BME 0.1 n = 65, BME 0.7 n = 80). Cleavage rates were determined after 60 hr of culture. Unlike results obtained in other species, the addition of BME did not influence maturation rates (51.9% control vs 55.6% BME 0.1 mM and 55.1% BME 0.7 mM), nor cleavage rates after ICSI (38.6% vs 38.5% and 41.3%, respectively). In conclusion, the addition of BME at 0.1 and 0.7 mM to the maturation medium, in our culture conditions, has no effect on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of equine oocytes.
Predictors of long‐term compensatory response of pulmonary function following major lung resection for non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: Takahashi Yusuke , Matsutani Noriyuki , Morita Shigeki , Dejima Hitoshi , Nakayama Takashi , Uehara Hirofumi , Kawamura Masafumi 
Published: September 2016

ABSTRACTBackground and objectiveLong‐term pulmonary function which might include compensatory response (CR) significantly influences quality of life of long‐term survivor after major lung resection. We investigated long‐term pulmonary function after major lung resection.MethodsA total of 137 patients who had undergone lobar resection for non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from May 2013 to June 2014 had spirometry at 10–14 months after surgery. Actual post‐operative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1
) (FEV1apo
)/predicted post‐operative FEV1
(FEV1ppo
), actual post‐operative forced vital capacity (FVC) (FVCapo
)/predicted post‐operative FVC (FVCppo
), its relationship with clinicopathological factors and immunohistochemistry for pro‐surfactant protein C (pro‐SPC), thyroid transcription factor‐1 (TTF‐1) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) were investigated.Results
FEV1apo
/FEV1ppo
showed strong correlation with FVCapo
/FVCppo
(r = 0.628; P < 0.001). We defined greater CR as both FEV1apo
/FEV1ppo
and FVCapo
/FVCppo
were >120%. Greater CR was significantly associated with decreased smoking index (P < 0.001) and greater resected subsegments (P = 0.037). The never‐smoker group revealed significantly greater CR compared with the smoker group in both FEV1apo
/FEV1ppo
(119.9 ± 12.5% vs 107.5 ± 14.2%; P = 0.030) and FVCapo
/FVCppo
(117.9 ± 9.98% vs 107.2 ± 13.1%; P = 0.046) in case‐matched comparison. The expression of pro‐SPC, TTF‐1 and VEGFR2 in the normal lung parenchyma of greater CR group was significantly higher than those of lesser CR group (P < 0.001 for each). In addition, pro‐SPC, TTF‐1 and VEGFR2 expressions showed a significant correlation to the degree of CR especially in the smoker group (r = 0.631, 0.705 and 0.732, respectively; P < 0.001 for each).ConclusionOur data suggest that smokers may develop lesser long‐term CR after major lung resection. Decreased expression of pro‐SPC, TTF‐1 and VEGFR2 may indicate decreased capacity of CR, especially in patients who smoke.
Clinical characteristics of eosinophilic asthma exacerbations
Authors: Bjerregaard Asger , Laing Ingrid A. , Backer Vibeke , Fally Markus , Khoo Siew‐Kim , Chidlow Glenys , Sikazwe Chisha , Smith David W. , Le Souëf Peter , Porsbjerg Celeste 
Published: September 2016

ABSTRACTBackground and objectiveAirway eosinophilia is associated with an increased risk of asthma exacerbations; however, the impact on the severity of exacerbations is largely unknown. We describe the sputum inflammatory phenotype during asthma exacerbation and correlate it with severity and treatment response.MethodsPatients presenting to hospital with an asthma exacerbation were recruited during a 12‐month period and followed up after 4 weeks. Induced sputum was collected at both visits. Patients underwent spirometry, arterial blood gas analysis, fractional exhaled nitric oxide analysis, white blood cell counts and a screening for common respiratory viruses and bacteria. An eosinophilic exacerbation (EE) was defined as having sputum eosinophils ≥ 3% and a non‐eosinophilic exacerbation as < 3% (NEE).ResultsA total of 47 patients were enrolled; 37 (79%) had successful sputum induction at baseline, of whom 43% had sputum eosinophils ≥3% (EE). Patients with EE had a significantly lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1
) % predicted (70.8%, P = 0.03) than patients with NEE (83.6%). Furthermore, EE patients were more likely to require supplemental oxygen during admission (63% vs 14%, P = 0.002). The prevalence of respiratory viruses was the same in EE and NEE patients (44% vs 52%, P = 0.60), as was bacterial infection (6% vs 14%, P = 0.44). Fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO) correlated with sputum %‐eosinophils (ρ = 0.57, P < 0.001), and predicted airway eosinophilia with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 70%.ConclusionOur findings suggest that eosinophilic asthma exacerbations may be clinically more severe than NEEs, supporting the identification of these higher risk patients for specific interventions.
Small Farms Survival and Growth: Making Investments Despite Credit Constraints
Authors: Varga Mihai 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThis article argues that we know little about how small farmers in post‐communist Europe survive and even grow while having little access to credit markets. In approaching small farmers, this paper builds on ideas of self‐provisioning, contending that the tendency among small farmers is not one of growth towards and through economies of scale, but one of internalising and de‐monetising costs, by growing in order to control upstream and downstream links in the value chain. It asks what is it that makes self‐provisioning possible in two post‐communist regions (located in Romania and Ukraine) and identifies various assets in the smallholders' environments, such as most importantly a diverse scene of intermediaries supplying smallholders with cash incomes. The implication of the research is that the existence of these assets is crucial for the smallholders' survival and growth, and these assets should be valued accordingly rather than dismissed in favour of integrating smallholders into modern, retailer‐dominated, value chains.
Advanced Logistics in Italy: A City Network Analysis
Authors: Antoine Sébastien , Sillig Cécile , Ghiara Hilda 
Published: September 2016

AbstractLogistics services providers present similarities with main advanced producer services as, besides their operational functions, they manage highly elaborated informational flows in order to run supply chains. Thanks to detailed information on employees provided by the social network LinkedIn, this paper proposes a World City Network analysis applied to main logistics providers operating in Italy, that focus only on knowledge and management activities. LinkedIn also allows decomposing firms’ value chains and permits to develop interlocking networks dedicated to firms divisions. Italian advanced logistics appears to be primarily attracted by knowledge rich environments, rather than infrastructural nodes. The Italian network is centralised in Milan. Though, rather than an exclusive command centre, Milan acts as a hub, where part of the information and power are distributed in certain secondary cities, depending on their sectorial and geographical specificities.
Does Agglomeration Affect Exports? Evidence from Italian Local Labour Markets
Authors: Cainelli Giulio , Di Maria Eleonora , Ganau Roberto 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThis paper analyses whether and how agglomeration economies – related variety, specialisation and urbanisation – affect the export performance of Italian local labour markets (LLM). Adopting spatial econometric techniques, and controlling for potential non‐linear effects, we find that related variety has a negligible effect on LLMs’ export intensity, while the effect of specialisation economies is negative. On the contrary, urbanisation economies positively affect export intensity. The robustness of these results is tested and confirmed using an alternative (institutional‐based) spatial weights matrix.
Evaluation of the SST-SAS Model for Prediction of Separated Flow Inside Turbine Internal Cooling Passages
Authors: Zacharzewski Piotr , Simmons Kathy , Jefferson-Loveday Richard , Capone Luigi 
Published: September 2016

The flow and heat transfer over a three-dimensional axisymmetric hill and rectangular ribbed duct is computed in order to evaluate the Shear Stress Transport - Scale Adaptive Simulation (SST-SAS) turbulence model. The study presented here is relevant to turbine blade internal cooling passages and the aim is to establish whether SAS-SST is a viable alternative to other turbulence models for computations of such flows. The model investigated is based on Menter’s modification to Rotta’s k-kL model and comparison is made against experimental data as well as other models including some with scale resolving capability, such as LES, DES & hybrid LES-RANS.
For the hill case the SAS model dramatically overpredicts the size of the separation bubble. The LES on the other hand proved to be more accurate even though the mesh is courser by LES standards. There is little improvement of SST-SAS compared with RANS. Broadly speaking all models predict streamwise velocity profiles for the ribbed channel with reasonable accuracy. The cross-stream velocity is underpredicted by all models. Heat transfer prediction is more accurately predicted by LES than RANS, DES & SST-SAS on a mesh that is slightly coarser than required by LES standard, however it still exhibits significant error. It is concluded that more investigation of the SST-SAS model is required to more broadly assess its viability for industrial computation.
Investigation on the Performance and Flow Structure of Centrifugal Compressor: Understand the Inlet Bent Duct Configurations
Authors: Yang Ce , Liu Yixiong , Wang Leilei , Lao Dazhong , Yang Changmao 
Published: September 2016

In turbocharger systems, the inlets of centrifugal compressor often connect with bent ducts, producing a non-uniform flow field distribution at the compressor impeller inlet, which degrades the compressor performance and deteriorate the flow structure of the compressor significantly.
In present work, a group of typical bent ducts is designed by adjusting the torsion angle of the U-shaped duct to investigate the effects of these bent ducts on the performance and flow field of the compressor. The experimental tests of the compressor with various inlet bent duct configurations were carried out to obtain the aerodynamic performance and pressure distributions. The experimental performance curves showed the bent ducts affect the aerodynamic performance and surge margin of the compressor.
To understand these effects fundamentally, the unsteady flow calculations were conducted to capture the detailed flow in the bent ducts and compressor internal. The flow distortion distributions and swirl patterns in various bent ducts were compared by numerical calculation results and analyzed in theory. The results showed the total pressure distorted region at the duct exit expands along the circumferential direction and distortion degree is weakened with the torsion angle of bent duct increases. Moreover, the swirl distortion patterns vary in different inlet ducts. The further analysis showed that an appropriate bent duct configuration is helpful for improving the surge margin of the compressor effectively. By observing the static pressure in the impeller inlet and shroud region, it found that the bent ducts produce non-uniform static pressure at impeller inlet and reduce the static pressure in shroud wall. It also found that the change of the pressure in compressor internal has some relation with the swirl structure of bent duct exit.
A Computational and Experimental Compressor Design Project for Japanese and British High-School Students
Authors: Grimshaw S. D. , Sequeira C. L. , Hewkin-Smith M. 
Published: September 2016

This paper describes an innovative, three-day, turbomachinery research project for Japanese and British high-school students. The project is structured using modern teaching theories which encourage student curiosity and creativity. The experience develops team-work and communication, and helps to break-down cultural and linguistic barriers between students from different countries and backgrounds. The approach provides a framework for other hands-on research projects which aim to inspire young students to undertake a career in engineering.
The project is part of the Clifton Scientific Trust’s annual UK-Japan Young Scientist Workshop Programme. The work focuses on compressor design for jet engines and gas turbines. It includes lectures introducing students to turbomachinery concepts, a computational design study of a compressor blade section, experimental tests with a low-speed cascade and tutorials in data analysis and aerodynamic theory. The project also makes use of 3D printing technology, so that students go through the full engineering design process, from theory, through design, to practical experimental testing.
Alongside the academic aims, students learn what it is like to study engineering at university, discover how to work effectively in a multinational team, and experience a real engineering problem. Despite a lack of background in fluid dynamics and the limited time available, the lab work and end of project presentation show how far young students can be stretched when they are motivated by an interesting problem.
Power Setting Sensor Fault Detection and Accommodation for Gas Turbine Engines Using Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Courdier A. , Li Y. G. 
Published: September 2016

Sensors installed on gas turbine gas path are used to obtain gas path measurement parameters for control and condition monitoring purpose. These sensors are prone to degradation or failure due to hostile working environment around them. Most gas path sensor diagnostic research is based on an assumption that the power setting sensor, a sensor used by engine control system to control engine power output, has no fault so engine measurement data can always be obtained at desired operating conditions. However in practice, power setting sensor may also be faulty, which may result in misleading measurement data and diagnostic results.
In this paper, an artificial neural network based gas path diagnostic approach for engine power setting sensor fault detection and quantification has been introduced. Nested artificial neural networks (ANN) are used to detect power setting sensor fault and ensure prediction accuracy. Measurement noise is also considered in the training and testing samples to ensure the robustness of the diagnostic system.
The developed power setting sensor diagnostic approach has been applied to a model 2-shafts industrial gas turbine engine similar to a GE LM2500+G4 engine to test the effectiveness of the approach. The selected power setting parameter is the shaft power output measured by a power setting sensor. An engine performance model is produced using Cranfield University’s gas turbine performance and diagnostics software, Pythia. Training samples with the consideration of sensor faults were simulated with the engine model assuming one of the sensors, either the power setting sensor or other gas path sensors may be faulty. In the nested neural network for sensor fault diagnostics, the system separately performs sensor fault detection, sensor fault identification and sensor fault quantification.
Results show that the developed nested neural network diagnostic system is able to identify the power setting sensor fault and correctly predict the magnitude of the fault. This would allow the engine control system correct its control schedule and accommodate the power setting sensor fault.
Rotating Heat Transfer Measurements on a Multi-Pass Internal Cooling Channel: I — Rig Development
Authors: Pagnacco Fabio , Furlani Luca , Armellini Alessandro , Casarsa Luca , Davis Anthony 
Published: September 2016

The present contribution describes the design and realization of a rotating test rig for heat transfer measurements on internal cooling passages of gas turbine blades. The aim is to study the effects of Coriolis and buoyancy forces on the heat transfer distribution inside realistic cooling schemes.
Spatially resolved heat transfer data are obtained by means of transient thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC) technique. In order to replicate the same buoyancy effects induced by the Coriolis forces during rotation, the transient measurements are performed with a cold temperature step on the coolant flow. New solutions are adopted to generate the cold temperature step, acquire the experimental data on board of the rotating test model and to control the experimental parameters during tests execution. The main components of the rig will be described in the paper, together with an overview of the data processing methodology that has been developed.
A Simple Model for Identifying the ‘Flutter Bite’ of Fan Blades
Authors: Zhao Fanzhou , Smith Nigel , Vahdati Mehdi 
Published: September 2016

This paper presents a simple model for the prediction of the ‘flutter bite’ of fan blades due to acoustic reflections from the intake. In a previous work by the authors, it was shown that the acoustic effects of the intake is very important and needs to be considered during the design of a fan blade. It was also shown that the damping due to blade motion and intake acoustics are independent and can be analysed separately. The acoustic reflections from the intake changes the damping of the blade by modifying the phase and amplitude of the unsteady pressure at the leading edge of the fan. It will be shown in the paper that, for a given intake, the phase and amplitude of the reflected acoustic waves can be evaluated analytically based on established theories independent of the fan design. The proposed model requires only the design intent of the fan blade and the geometry of the intake, which are available in the early design stages of a new engine, and can predict the operating conditions at which fan flutter is likely to occur. The proposed simple model can be used in two ways:
(i) For a particular intake design, the flutter bite speed can be determined based on the fan operating line. This type of analysis can be very useful before the experimental testing stages of an engine, where possible ‘flutter bite’ regions must be identified prior to the experiments so as to avoid potential damages to the engine. Moreover, whole annulus unsteady CFD flutter computations are usually performed for a ‘fan plus intake’ design prior to manufacture. However due to the high demands on both computational time and resources, these computations cannot be carried out over the entire fan speed range in the early design stages. The proposed model can predict the fan speeds at which fan flutter is likely to occur, so that CFD investigations can be carried out accordingly.
(ii) For a particular fan design, the effects of different intakes on the fan flutter stability can be determined so as to devise an optimal intake design which minimises the chance of potential flutter bite.
Development of a Multipoint Matching Method for Turbocompound Systems
Authors: Ding Zhanming , Zhuge Weilin , Zhang Yangjun , Yin Yong , Zhang Shuyong 
Published: September 2016

Turbocompounding is a promising waste heat recovery technology to improve fuel economy of internal combustion engines and comply with increasingly stringent emission regulations. The performance of a turbocompound engine is significantly influenced by the matching of the turbocharger turbine and the power turbine. Conventionally, the matching of the turbocharger turbine and power turbine is carried out at a single operating point. Single-point matched turbocompound systems tends to have poor performance at off-design operating conditions, which restrained the fuel-saving potential of turbocompound engines under driving cycle conditions.
In the present study, a multipoint matching method for turbocompound systems was developed, which was essentially an optimization process of the swallowing capacities of the turbocharger turbine and the power turbine to achieve best performance at multiple matching points. In order to improve the performance of turbocompound engines under driving cycle conditions, common operating points of a driving cycle were used as matching points in the matching process. Common operating points under a driving cycle were determined by clustering the dynamic profiles of the driving cycle.
A simulation study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of the multipoint matching method. The performance of the multipoint matched turbocompound system was compared against two single-point matched turbocompound systems under stationary operating points and driving cycle conditions respectively. According to the simulation results, the multipoint matched turbocompound system could attain satisfactory BSFC benefit under a wider operating range when compared with the two single-point matched turbocompound systems. The multipoint matched turbocompound engine showed the largest reduction in fuel consumption under driving cycle conditions.