bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MEMS sensor-based monitoring system for engineered geological disposal facilities
Authors: Yang Wenbin , Lunn Rebecca , Tarantino Alessandro 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe design of a novel MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) sensor-based monitoring system is presented in this article for the in situ monitoring of the conditions (temperature, relative humidity) of an engineered bentonite barrier for the underground disposal of radioactive waste in a geological disposal facility (GDF). A first prototype of the monitoring system incorporating multiple state-of-the-art MEMS sensors has been developed on a PCB-based (Printed Circuit Board) structure, in order to measure the variation of temperature and relative humidity inside a cylindrical bentonite block during the hydration process. The monitoring system comprises separate sensor boards, the microcontroller-equipped interface board and the software user interface in the Labview environment. One of the main design priorities is to reduce the size of the embedded sensors in order to minimize their influence on the hydro-mechanical response of the bentonite block. The sensor boards are encapsulated in different manners to protect them from moisture, chemical corrosion and mechanical shocks. The sensor system has been tested and calibrated in the temperature range between –20°C and 120°C, and at different relative humidity levels implemented by saturated salt solutions in enclosed containers. Test results demonstrate that the sensors have shown good functionality and robustness in harsh test environments such as high temperature and high humidity. Both temperature and relative humidity sensors have shown satisfactory precision level and temporal stability, which are in good accordance with the design specification of these devices.
Consequence modelling of hypothetical post-closure criticality events for spent fuel disposal
Authors: Mason R. M. , Martin J. K. , Smith P. N. , Winsley R. J. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractIn support of the Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) safety case for a geological disposal facility (GDF) in the UK, there is a regulatory requirement to consider the likelihood and consequences of nuclear criticality. Waste packages are designed to ensure that criticality is not possible during the transport and operational phases of a GDF and for a significant period post-closure. However, over longer post-closure timescales, conditions in the GDF will evolve.For waste packages containing spent fuel, it can be shown that, under certain conditions, package flooding could result in a type of criticality event referred to as 'quasi-steady-state' (QSS). Although unlikely, this defines a 'what-if' scenario for understanding the potential consequences of post-closure criticality. This paper provides an overview of a methodology to understand QSS criticality and its application to a spent fuel waste package.The power of such a hypothetical criticality event is typically estimated to be a few kilowatts: comparable with international studies of similar systems and the decay heat for which waste packages are designed. This work has built confidence in the methodology and supports RWM's demonstration that post-closure criticality is not a significant concern.
Requirement of the assessment strategy for biosphere in mature safety cases for nuclear waste repositories – Finland case
Authors: Ikonen A. T. K. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractIn safety assessments for nuclear waste disposal, the biosphere is a completely open system, whereas the bedrock can be treated with comparably simple boundary conditions. The bedrock has a vital role in providing and maintaining favourable conditions for the waste, but the public interest tends to focus on the biosphere. More importantly, the bedrock groundwater does arrive from the biosphere. Also, the regulations usually set the safety criteria in terms of doses occurring in the biosphere. Thus, it is reasonable to address the biosphere as a part of the disposal system, performance of which should be described based on conceptual models that cover phenomena and processes controlling radionuclide release and transport. From these, the actual assessment models and data are expected to be derived based on high-level research and expertise obtained through empirical study. In this paper, the complexity expected of a biosphere assessment within a mature safety case is discussed through the example of the Finnish regulations and recent safety cases for nuclear waste disposal. Both elaborate and complex presentations and stylised approaches have their benefits, and a balance needs to be sought.
State-of-the-art and proof-of-concept installations for repository concepts based in crystalline rock
Authors: Kronberg Magnus , Gugala Jan , Haapala Keijo 
Published: December 2015

AbstractOver the last five decades private and national energy programmes worldwide have been producing a variety of radioactive wastes. One of the safest ways of disposing of this waste is to bury it deep underground in purpose-built geological disposal facilities. Currently, there is no operating geological repository in Europe for high-level waste but the goal of the IGD-TP is that the first repository shall be fully operational before the year 2025. Several studies and experiments are ongoing at various potential repository sites in Europe with the goal to establish general approaches that can be adapted for any country in need of a geological repository.The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB) in Sweden and Posiva Oy in Finland are developing a method for geological disposal of high-level long-lived nuclear waste in crystalline rock, the KBS-3 method. KBS-3V (vertical) is both organizations reference design, but KBS-3H (horizontal) emplacement is also being researched as a potential alternative. Of high importance in the development is demonstrating the technical feasibilityin situof safe and reliable construction, manufacturing, disposal and sealing of such geological disposal facilities. Parts of these demonstrations are carried out under the framework of EurAtom/FP7 and one of these projects is the LUCOEX project where SKB is demonstrating horizontal emplacement, the Multi Purpose Test (MPT), and Posiva is demonstrating vertical buffer installation processes.The MPT includes the key components of the horizontal design and comprises all essential steps; manufacturing of the full-scale components, their assembly, installation in the drift and monitoring of the early buffer evolution. The MPT installation was successfully performed in late 2013. By combining the components, an initial verification of the design implementation has been achieved. At the same time, integrating the components has meant the recognition of some design weaknesses and the design will be updated accordingly.Posiva's KBS-3V buffer installation equipment that places buffer blocks with high precision in vertical deposition holes is currently being developed and will be tested during 2014 and 2015 in real underground conditions. The machine uses vacuum lifting tools for moving the buffer blocks and laser scanning technology to position both the machine and blocks. Functionality of the concept and equipment selected will be confirmed by the tests and the installation tests will provide important information about the suitability of the selected buffer dimensions and tolerances.
Multi-scale gas transport modelling for the EC FORGE project
Authors: Bond A. E. , Thatcher K. E. , Norris S. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe generation and migration of gas within and around proposed radioactive waste disposal facilities is potentially a safety critical process. A safety case for a facility that generates significant quantities of gas (e.g. through metal corrosion or radiolysis) will require demonstration that gas migration around and away from the waste is sufficiently understood and will not breach the safety case for the facility. Models can be used to understand the likely hydraulic evolution of such a disposal facility, but the models need to consider processes over a range of scales. A whole repository may extend over kilometres, with individual disposal cells at the scale of tens of metres and features which provide pathways for gas migration on a centimetre scale. All of these features may be significant from a safety perspective and capturing the impact of all of these features in a single model is a significant challenge.This paper presents an approach to tackling this multi-scale problem, which allows the whole repository to be modelled in a computationally efficient manner. The approach involves identifying areas within the modelled domain that show very similar behaviour, and representing these areas with sub-models, so that small-scale features are retained, but computational overhead is decreased by using the results in more than one location in the model domain. The approach allowed a model of a whole repository to be run on a single processor core, whilst maintaining the small-scale features of the system. The model results were compared against more conventional upscaling techniques and show the advantage of a more detailed representation of small-scale features. The model results reflect the conceptual understanding of how gas would migrate in a repository.
Representation of estuarine, coastal and marine biosphere systems within post-closure performance assessments supporting geological disposal of higher activity radioactive wastes in the UK
Authors: Walke R. C. , Thorne M. C. , Smith J. T. , Kowe R. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractRadioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) is tasked with implementing geological disposal of the United Kingdom's (UK) higher activity radioactive wastes. This paper describes how RWM's biosphere modelling capability has been extended from a solely terrestrial model to allow potential contaminant releases to estuarine, coastal and marine systems around the UK to be represented. The new models aim to strike a balance between being as simple as can be justified, erring on the side of conservative estimates of potential doses, while also representing the features and processes required to reflect and distinguish UK coastal systems. Sediment dynamics (including meandering of estuaries and sediment accumulation) are explicitly represented in a simplified form that captures the accumulation and remobilization of radionuclides. Long-term transitions between biosphere systems (such as from a salt marsh to a terrestrial system) are outside the scope of the study. The models and supporting data draw on information about the UK that is representative of present-day conditions and represent potential exposures arising from both occupational and recreational habits.?Generic calculations demonstrate that potential doses to humans arising from releases to estuarine, coastal and marine systems are typically more than two orders of magnitude lower than those for equivalent releases to terrestrial systems via well water and groundwater discharge to soil. The extended capability (i) ensures that RWM is able to undertake assessments for potential coastal site contexts, if and when required, and (ii) provides RWM with quantitative evidence to support the principal focus on terrestrial releases ( particularly for more generic assessments).
Identification of differential microRNA expression during tooth morphogenesis in the heterodont dentition of miniature pigs, SusScrofa
Authors: Li Ang , Li Ye , Song Tieli , Wang Fu , Liu Dayong , Fan Zhipeng , Cheng San , Zhang Chunmei , Wang Jinsong , He Junqi , Wang Songlin 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Background
It has been found that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of tooth development, and most likely increase the complexity of the genetic network, thus lead to greater complexity of teeth. But there has been no research about the key microRNAs associated with tooth morphogenesis based on miRNAs expression profiles. Compared to mice, the pig model has plentiful types of teeth, which is similar with the human dental pattern. Therefore, we used miniature pigs as large-animal models to investigate differentially expressed miRNAs expression during tooth morphogenesis in the early developmental stages of tooth germ.

Results
A custom-designed miRNA microarray with 742 miRNA gene probes was used to analyze the expression profiles of four types of teeth at three stages of tooth development. Of the 591 detectable miRNA transcripts, 212 miRNAs were continuously expressed in all types of tooth germ, but the numbers of miRNA transcript among the four different types of teeth at each embryonic stage were statistically significant differences (p < 0.01). The hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis results suggest that the miRNA expression was globally altered by types and temporal changes. By clustering analysis, we predicted 11 unique miRNA sequences that belong to mir-103 and mir-107, mir-133a and mir-133b, and mir-127 isomiR families. The results of real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR and in situ hybridization experiments revealed that five representative miRNAs may play important roles during different developmental stages of the incisor, canine, biscuspid, and molar, respectively.

Conclusions
The present study indicated that these five miRNAs, including ssc-miR-103 and ssc-miR-107, ssc-miR-133a and ssc-miR-133b, and ssc-miR-127, may play key regulatory roles in different types of teeth during different stages and thus may play critical roles in tooth morphogenesis during early development in miniature pigs.
Incidence and outcome of adults with diabetic ketoacidosis admitted to ICUs in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Venkatesh Balasubramanian , Pilcher David , Prins John , Bellomo Rinaldo , Morgan Thomas John , Bailey Michael 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Background
Over the last two decades, there have been several improvements in the management of diabetes. Whether this has impacted on the epidemiology and outcome of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission is unknown.

Method
This was a retrospective study of 8533 patients with the diagnosis of DKA admitted to 171 ICUs in Australia and New Zealand between 2000–2013 with separate independent analysis of those on established insulin (Group I) or not on insulin (Group NI) at the time of hospitalisation.

Results
Of the 8553 patients, 2344 (27 %) were identified as NI. The incidence of ICU admission with DKA progressively increased fivefold from 0.97/100,000 (95 % CI 0.84–1.10) in 2000 to 5.3/100,000 (95 % CI 4.98–5.53) in 2013 (P < 0.0001), with the proportions between I and NI remaining stable. Rising incidences were observed mainly in rural and metropolitan hospitals (P < 0.01). In the first 24 hours in the ICU, mean worst pH increased over the study period from 7.20 ± 0.02 to 7.24 ± 0.01 (P < 0.0001), and mean lowest plasma bicarbonate from 12.1 ± 6.6 to 13.8 ± 6.6 mmol/L (P < 0.0001). In contrast, mean highest plasma glucose decreased from 26.3 ± 14 to 23.2 ± 13.1 mmol/L (P < 0.0001). Hospital mortality was significantly greater in NI as compared to I (2.4 % vs 1.1 %, P > 0.0001). Elevated plasma urea in the first 24 hours (≥25 mmol/L, adjusted odds ratio 20.6 (6.54–65.7), P < 0.0001) was the strongest individual predictor of mortality.

Conclusions
The incidence of ICU admission of patients with DKA in Australia and New Zealand has increased fivefold over the last decade, with a significant proportion of patients not on insulin at presentation. Overall physiological status in the first 24 hours of ICU admission has progressively improved and mortality rates have remained stable. However, DKA patients not on established insulin therapy at presentation had significantly worse outcomes. This notion has epidemiologic, diagnostic and management implications.
Cognitive impact after short-term exposure to different proton pump inhibitors: assessment using CANTAB software
Authors: Akter Sanjida , Hassan Md. Rajib , Shahriar Mohammad , Akter Nahia , Abbas Md. Golam , Bhuiyan Mohiuddin Ahmed 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Introduction
Studies have shown that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increase the brain burden of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and also create vitamin B12 deficiency. However, these two phenomena have deleterious effect on cognition and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since the use of PPIs has increased tremendously for the last few years, it is of great public health importance to investigate the cognitive impact of PPIs. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of neuropsychological association of each PPI with different cognitive functions.

Methods
Sixty volunteers of either gender were recruited and divided randomly into six groups: five test groups for five classes of PPIs and one control group. All the groups participated in the five computerized neuropsychological tests (nine subtests) of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery twice: at the beginning of the study and 7 days thereafter.

Results
We found statistically and clinically significant impairment in visual memory, attention, executive function, and working and planning function. One-way analysis of variance findings showed that all PPIs had a similar negative impact on cognition. However, paired-samples t tests indicated that omeprazole showed significant (p < 0.05) results in seven subtests; lansoprazole and pantoprazole showed significant results in five subtests; and rabeprazole showed significant results in four subtests. Among five classes of PPIs, esomeprazole showed comparatively less impact on cognitive function with significant results in three subtests.

Conclusions
The present study reveals for the first time that different PPIs have varying degrees of influence on different cognitive domains and have associations with AD. These findings should be considered when balancing the risks and benefits of prescribing these medications. A study done for a longer period of time with a larger sample size might yield better results.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Boundary behaviors of modified Green’s function with respect to the stationary Schrödinger operator and its applications
Authors: Li Zhiqiang 
Published: December 2015

AbstractIn this paper, we construct a modified Green’s function with respect to the stationary Schrödinger operator on cones. As applications, we not only obtain the boundary behaviors of generalized harmonic functions but also characterize the geometrical properties of the exceptional sets with respect to the Schrödinger operator.
Evaluating the referral preferences and consultation requests of primary care physicians with otolaryngology – head and neck surgery
Authors: Scott John R. , Wong Eric , Sowerby Leigh J 
Published: December 2015

Background No literature exists which examines referral preferences to, or the consultation process with, Otolaryngology. In a recent Canadian Medical Association nation-wide survey of General Practitioners and Family Physicians, Otolaryngology was listed as the second-most problematic specialty for referrals. The purpose of this study was to learn about and improve upon the referral process between primary care physicians (PCPs) and Otolaryngology at an academic centre in Southwestern Ontario. Methods PCPs who actively refer patients to Otolaryngology within the catchment area of Western University were asked to complete a short paper-based questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 50 PCPs were surveyed. Subspecialty influenced 90.0 % of the referrals made. Specialist wait times altered 58.0 % of referrals. All PCPs preferred to communicate via fax. Half of those surveyed wanted clinical notes from every encounter. Seventy-four percent of respondents wanted inappropriate referrals forwarded to the proper specialist automatically. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed were satisfied with current wait times. A central referral system was favored by 74 % of PCPs. Conclusion Improvements could help streamline the referral and consultation practices with Otolaryngology in Southwestern Ontario. A central referral system and reduction in the frequency of consultative reports can be considered.
Tofogliflozin Improves Insulin Resistance in Skeletal Muscle and Accelerates Lipolysis in Adipose Tissue in Male Mice
Authors: Obata Atsushi , Kubota Naoto , Kubota Tetsuya , Iwamoto Masahiko , Sato Hiroyuki , Sakurai Yoshitaka , Takamoto Iseki , Katsuyama Hisayuki , Suzuki Yoshiyuki , Fukazawa Masanori , Ikeda Sachiya , Iwayama Kaito , Tokuyama Kumpei , Ueki Kohjiro , Kadowaki Takashi 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors have attracted attention as they exert antidiabetic and antiobesity effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of tofogliflozin on glucose homeostasis and its metabolic consequences and clarified the underlying molecular mechanisms. C57BL/6 mice were fed normal chow containing tofogliflozin (0.005%) for 20 weeks or a high-fat diet containing tofogliflozin (0.005%) for 8 weeks ad libitum. In addition, the animals were pair-fed in relation to controls to exclude the influence of increased food intake. Tofogliflozin reduced the body weight gain, mainly because of fat mass reduction associated with a diminished adipocyte size. Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were ameliorated. The serum levels of nonesterified fatty acid and ketone bodies were increased and the respiratory quotient was decreased in the tofogliflozin-treated mice, suggesting the acceleration of lipolysis in the white adipose tissue and hepatic β-oxidation. In fact, the phosphorylation of hormone-sensitive lipase and the adipose triglyceride lipase protein levels in the white adipose tissue as well as the gene expressions related to β-oxidation, such as Cpt1α in the liver, were significantly increased. The hepatic triglyceride contents and the expression levels of lipogenic genes were decreased. Pair-fed mice exhibited almost the same results as mice fed an high-fat diet ad libitum. Moreover, a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp revealed that tofogliflozin improved insulin resistance by increasing glucose uptake, especially in the skeletal muscle, in pair-fed mice. Taken together, these results suggest tofogliflozin ameliorates insulin resistance and obesity by increasing glucose uptake in skeletal muscle and lipolysis in adipose tissue.
TBC1D14 regulates autophagy via the TRAPP complex and ATG9 traffic
Authors: Lamb Christopher A , Nühlen Stefanie , Judith Delphine , Frith David , Snijders Ambrosius P , Behrends Christian , Tooze Sharon A 
Published: December 2015

AbstractMacroautophagy requires membrane trafficking and remodelling to form the autophagosome and deliver its contents to lysosomes for degradation. We have previously identified the TBC domain‐containing protein, TBC1D14, as a negative regulator of autophagy that controls delivery of membranes from RAB11‐positive recycling endosomes to forming autophagosomes. In this study, we identify the TRAPP complex, a multi‐subunit tethering complex and GEF for RAB1, as an interactor of TBC1D14. TBC1D14 binds to the TRAPP complex via an N‐terminal 103 amino acid region, and overexpression of this region inhibits both autophagy and secretory traffic. TRAPPC8, the mammalian orthologue of a yeast autophagy‐specific TRAPP subunit, forms part of a mammalian TRAPPIII‐like complex and both this complex and TBC1D14 are needed for RAB1 activation. TRAPPC8 modulates autophagy and secretory trafficking and is required for TBC1D14 to bind TRAPPIII. Importantly, TBC1D14 and TRAPPIII regulate ATG9 trafficking independently of ULK1. We propose a model whereby TBC1D14 and TRAPPIII regulate a constitutive trafficking step from peripheral recycling endosomes to the early Golgi, maintaining the cycling pool of ATG9 required for initiation of autophagy.