bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Long‐term pacemaker dependency and impact of pacing on mortality following transcatheter aortic valve replacement with the LOTUS valve
Authors: Alasti Mohammad , Rashid Hashrul , Rangasamy Karthikeyan , Kotschet Emily , Adam David , Alison Jeff , Gooley Robert , Zaman Sarah 
Published: January 2018

AbstractObjectivesTo determine permanent pacemaker (PPM) dependency following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with the Lotus™ valve system (Boston Scientific), and the impact of PPM implantation on long‐term morbidity and mortality.BackgroundConduction abnormalities are among the most common complications following TAVR. Limited studies have assessed pacing dependency following TAVR.MethodsConsecutive patients (n = 166) with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVR with the Lotus valve system were prospectively recruited from a single‐center. PPMs were implanted according to standard clinical criteria. Patients were followed in‐hospital and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months to determine pacemaker dependency and clinical outcomes.ResultsFourteen patients with a pre‐existing PPM (8%) were excluded with the remaining 152 patients aged 83.6 ± 5.6 years and 46% male. PPMs were implanted 3.8 ± 4 days post‐TAVR in 38/152 patients (25%). Indication for PPM was complete heart block in 29 (76%) of patients. At 30‐day and one‐year follow up, 57% and 38% of patients were pacemaker dependent, respectively. The mean ventricular pacing percentage decreased in the first three months after PPM implantation and remained relatively stable after that.ConclusionOnly 38% of Lotus recipients who require a PPM following TAVR with the Lotus valve remain pacing dependent at one year.
Lost and found: Coronary stent retrieval and review of literature
Authors: Malik Shahbaz A. , Brilakis Emmanouil S. , Pompili Vincent , Chatzizisis Yiannis S. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA 61‐year‐old man with a history of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the mid right coronary artery (RCA) with a drug eluting stent (DES), presented with non‐ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography demonstrated complex disease of the distal RCA as well as in‐stent stenosis of the previously placed mid RCA stent. The patient underwent bifurcation PCI of the distal RCA followed by attempted intervention with a DES on the mid RCA lesion. The stent could not cross the lesion and eventually became dissociated from its delivery system. The lost stent was successfully retrieved using two different snaring systems. The procedure was terminated without further attempts for stent delivery. The patient had an uneventful recovery and underwent successful PCI of the mid RCA lesion one month later.
Preliminary evaluation of durum wheat (Triticum Turgidum Subsp Durum) during malting process
Authors: Alfeo Vincenzo , De Causmaecker Brecht , Goiris Barbara Jaskula , Aerts Guido , Planeta Diego , Todaro Aldo 
Published: January 2018

Background and objectivesEffects of 45 and 70°C final malt drying temperature on a traditional Italian durum wheat (SM45, SM70) were evaluated for the malt quality parameters and the wort characteristics when employed in rate of 40% with commercial barley malt (BM), using a common wheat (CWM) as a control test.FindingsDrying temperatures and wheat genotypes were major contributors to variability in malt quality parameters. SM45 and SM70 were characterized by reduced protein and starch degradation, lower solubility for beta‐glucans (BG), and high levels of water‐extractable arabinoxylans (WEAX) compared to CWM. Alpha‐ and beta‐amylases, endo‐β‐glucanases, and endo‐1,4‐β‐d‐xylanase activities detected on SM45 were higher than SM70 and CWM, likely due to the combined effects of the cultivar characteristics and the low temperatures used during the kilning phase. When SM4540% and SM7040% were used, the derived worts have had lower color, FAN levels, saccharification time, beta‐glucans (WBG), and viscosity than CWM40%.ConclusionsMalting conditions and genotypes affect the malt quality attributes, mainly in terms of extractable compounds and enzyme activities. The use in mashing of 40% of durum wheat malt results in low viscosity and reduced availability of BG.Significance and noveltyThese first results indicate that durum wheat malt has good characteristics and can be suitable for brewing purposes.
Rituximab therapy for hepatitis C virus‐associated cryoglobulinemic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
Authors: Koratala Abhilash , Zeng Xu 
Published: January 2018

Key Clinical MessageMembranoproliferative glomerulonephritis associated with mixed cryoglobulinemia is the most common form of kidney disease observed in relation to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against CD20, is an effective treatment for severe and/or refractory HCV‐related vasculitis and may evade the need for dialysis as in our patient.
Hierarchical Porous Zr‐Based MOFs Synthesized by a Facile Monocarboxylic Acid Etching Strategy
Authors: Yang Pengfei , Mao Fangxin , Li Yongsheng , Zhuang Qixin , Gu Jinlou 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA new monocarboxylic acid etching (MAE) strategy was developed for transforming chemically stable Zr‐based metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) of UiO‐66 to their hierarchical porous counterpart. The key design element was based on the incomplete replacement of bridging ligands in MOFs by monocarboxylic acids (MAs), leading to the departure of partial ligands and metal clusters to create mesopores in MOFs. A series of MAs with different acidity and carbon chain length were tested, and propionic acid (PA) was screened to be the suitable choice. The textural features including pore size distribution, specific surface area, and pore volume of the obtained products can be controlled by adjusting the MA concentration and reaction temperature. The obtained hierarchical porous MOFs inherited excellent stability from their parent materials. Additionally, the MAE strategy was universal to construct hierarchical porous Zr‐based MOFs, and it was expanded to etch UiO‐66 derivatives. The excellent adsorption behavior of the resultant hierarchical porous Zr‐based MOFs over two enzymes with different size was also successfully exemplified, demonstrating their application potentials with bulky molecules involved.
CoIII‐Catalyzed Isonitrile Insertion/Acyl Group Migration Between C−H and N−H bonds of Arylamides
Authors: Kalsi Deepti , Barsu Nagaraju , Sundararaju Basker 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA general efficient and site‐selective cobalt‐catalyzed insertion of isonitrile into C−H and N−H bonds of arylamides through C−H bond activation and alcohol assisted intramolecular trans‐amidation is demonstrated. This straightforward approach overcomes the limitation by the presence of strongly chelating groups. Isolation of CoIII‐isonitrile complex B has been achieved for the first time to understand the reaction mechanism.
Further Development of Weakly Coordinating Cations: Fluorinated Bis(triarylphosphoranylidene)iminium Salts
Authors: Mann Lisa , Hornberger Elisabeth , Steinhauer Simon , Riedel Sebastian 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSo far unknown bis(triarylphosphoranylidene)iminium cations [PPN]+ with one fluorine atom in para ([PPN‐1F]+), two in meta ([PPN‐2F]+), or three in para and meta positions of the phenyl rings ([PPN‐3F]+) were obtained by a newly developed one‐pot reaction. These halogenated [PPN]+ cations were characterized by IR and Raman spectroscopy in comparison with quantum‐chemical calculations, ESI+ mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. To assess their quality as weakly coordinating cations and the associated ability to stabilize labile anions, the electrostatic potential and fluoride‐ion affinity were calculated and compared with those of the unsubstituted and so far unknown perfluorinated [PPN‐5F]+ cations.
Superior HIV‐1 TAR Binders with Conformationally Constrained R52 Arginine Mimics in the Tat(48–57) Peptide
Authors: Bhosle Govind S. , Kharche Shalmali , Kumar Santosh , Sengupta Durba , Maiti Souvik , Fernandes Moneesha 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe report a 100‐fold increase in binding affinity of the Tat(48–57) peptide to HIV‐1 transcriptional activator‐responsive element (TAR) RNA by replacing Arg52, an essential and critical residue for Tat's specific binding, with (2S,4S)‐4‐guanidinoproline. The resulting αTat1M peptide is a far superior binder than γTat1M, a peptide containing another conformationally constrained arginine mimic, (2S,4S)‐4‐amino‐N‐(3‐guanidinopropyl)proline, or even the control Tat peptide (CtrlTat) itself. Our observations are supported by circular dichroism (CD), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), gel electrophoresis and UV spectroscopy studies. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest increased interactions between the more compact αTat1M and TAR RNA, relative to CtrlTat. The CD signature of the RNA itself remains largely unchanged upon binding of the peptides. The Tat mimetics further have better cell uptake properties than the control Tat peptide, thus increasing their potential application as specific TAR‐binding molecules.
Engineering Biocompatible Scaffolds through the Design of Elastin‐Based Short Peptides
Authors: Hassan Musfizur , Martin Adam D. , Thordarson Pall 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA small library of short peptides has been synthesized based upon the repeat tetrapeptide sequence Gly‐Val‐Ala‐Pro (GVAP) which is found in the hydrophobic domain of tropoelastin. Of the five peptides synthesized, four formed self‐supporting hydrogels with similar secondary structures. The ability to tune the mechanical properties of the resultant hydrogels was demonstrated, and this is understood in relation to fiber bundling. Finally, the cytotoxicity of these elastin‐based short peptide hydrogels towards HeLa cells was assessed, with clear evidence that increased aromaticity of the peptide is detrimental towards cell viability.
Electrochemically Sensitized Luminescence from Lanthanides in d‐/f‐Block Heteronuclear Arrays
Authors: Stringer Bradley D. , Quan Linh M. , Barnard Peter J. , Hogan Conor F. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe front cover artwork is provided by the Department of Chemistry and Physics at La Trobe University (Melbourne). The image shows the heterobimetallic compound used to facilitate electrochemically initiated europium emission following energy transfer from an ECL‐active donor. Read the full text of the Article at 10.1002/cptc.201700172.
MoS2/MoOx‐Nanostructure‐Decorated Activated Carbon Cloth for Enhanced Supercapacitor Performance
Authors: Sari Fitri Nur Indah , Ting Jyh‐Ming 
Published: January 2018

AbstractMoS2/MoOx nanostructures were grown on activated carbon cloth through a facile one‐step microwave‐assisted hydrothermal method. The growth of MoS2/MoOx on activated carbon cloth creates a unique structure that favors ion intercalation. The conductive activated carbon cloth, MoO3−x, and monoclinic MoO2 provide fast electron transport, whereas the MoS2 nanosheets/MoO3−x nanoparticles structure improves the capacitance. As a result, MoS2/MoOx‐nanostructure‐decorated activated carbon cloth shows a high specific capacitance of 230 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 with a low contact resistance of approximately 1.91 Ω. Moreover, the activated carbon cloth acts as a template for the growth of a perpendicular MoS2 layer, which gives an excellent utilization rate of the active MoS2/MoOx material. We also demonstrate that the MoS2/MoOx/activated carbon cloth nanocomposite shows excellent electrochemical stability with retention up to 128 % after 1500 cycles. Finally, we show the use of a microwave‐assisted hydrothermal method for the synthesis of the MoS2/MoOx/activated carbon cloth nanocomposite as an alternative and clean route to improve the kinetics of the intercalation redox reaction.
Quality assurance issues in the teacher‐based assessment of students with literacy difficulties for examination access arrangements
Authors: McMurray Sharon , O'Callaghan Paul , McVeigh Claire 
Published: January 2018

This paper considers two major concerns centring on the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) regulations for access arrangement and reasonable adjustments and qualifications for teachers who take on the role of Level 7 access arrangements assessor. Thus, the paper is divided into two parts. First, the JCQ 2017‐2018 regulations are critically evaluated highlighting the areas of need for which greater clarity and more extensive detail is required in these regulations. The second part of the paper discusses the findings of research on teacher competence in test administration, scoring, and reporting. Drawing on evidence from the first stage of this research, McMurray, O'Callaghan, and McVeigh highlight the extensive formative process required to build a high‐level skill set required for competent assessment involving the use of high level tests and also the specialist knowledge required to analyse and accurately report assessment findings to make recommendations for students with specific literacy difficulties.Recommendations are provided both at policy and practice levels regarding the content of courses and the assessment involving the use of high level tests and also the specialist knowledge required to analyse and accurately report assessment findings to make recommendations for students with specific literacy difficulties.The authors provide recommendations for test publishers, course providers, and assessors.
Disturbance reduces the differentiation of mycorrhizal fungal communities in grasslands along a precipitation gradient
Authors: House Geoffrey L. , Bever James D. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractGiven that mycorrhizal fungi play key roles in shaping plant communities, greater attention should be focused on factors that determine the composition of mycorrhizal fungal communities and their sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance. We investigate changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal community composition across a precipitation gradient in North American grasslands as well as changes occurring with varying degrees of site disturbance that have resulted in invasive plant establishment. We find strong differentiation of AM fungal communities in undisturbed remnant grasslands across the precipitation gradient, whereas communities in disturbed grasslands were more homogeneous. These changes in community differentiation with disturbance are consistent with more stringent environmental filtering of AM fungal communities in undisturbed sites that may also be promoted by more rigid functional constraints imposed on AM fungi by the native plant communities in these areas. The AM fungal communities in eastern grasslands were particularly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, with disturbed sites having low numbers of AM fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) commonly found in undisturbed sites, and also the proliferation of AM fungal OTUs in disturbed sites. This proliferation of AM fungi in eastern disturbed sites coincided with increased soil phosphorus availability and is consistent with evidence suggesting the fungi represented by these OTUs would provide reduced benefits to native plants. The differentiation of AM fungal communities along the precipitation gradient in undisturbed grasslands but not in disturbed sites is consistent with AM fungi aiding plant adaptation to climate, and suggests they may be especially important targets for conservation and restoration in order to help maintain or re‐establish diverse grassland plant communities.
Save your host, save yourself? Caste‐ratio adjustment in a parasite with division of labor and snail host survival following shell damage
Authors: MacLeod Colin , Poulin Robert , Lagrue Clément 
Published: January 2018

AbstractShell damage and parasitic infections are frequent in gastropods, influencing key snail host life‐history traits such as survival, growth, and reproduction. However, their interactions and potential effects on hosts and parasites have never been tested. Host–parasite interactions are particularly interesting in the context of the recently discovered division of labor in trematodes infecting marine snails. Some species have colonies consisting of two different castes present at varying ratios; reproductive members and nonreproductive soldiers specialized in defending the colony. We assessed snail host survival, growth, and shell regeneration in interaction with infections by two trematode species, Philophthalmus sp. and Maritrema novaezealandense, following damage to the shell in the New Zealand mud snail Zeacumantus subcarinatus. We concomitantly assessed caste‐ratio adjustment between nonreproductive soldiers and reproductive members in colonies of the trematode Philophthalmus sp. in response to interspecific competition and shell damage to its snail host. Shell damage, but not parasitic infection, significantly increased snail mortality, likely due to secondary infections by pathogens. However, trematode infection and shell damage did not negatively affect shell regeneration or growth in Z. subcarinatus; infected snails actually produced more new shell than their uninfected counterparts. Both interspecific competition and shell damage to the snail host induced caste‐ratio adjustment in Philophthalmus sp. colonies. The proportion of nonreproductive soldiers increased in response to interspecific competition and host shell damage, likely to defend the parasite colony and potentially the snail host against increasing threats. These results indicate that secondary infections by pathogens following shell damage to snails both significantly increased snail mortality and induced caste‐ratio adjustments in parasites. This is the first evidence that parasites with a division of labor may be able to produce nonreproductive soldiers according to environmental factors other than interspecific competition with other parasites.
A Functional Specialization‐Based Multiobjective Optimization Method
Authors: MORITA SEIJUN , TAMURA KENICHI , YASUDA KEIICHIRO 
Published: January 2018

SUMMARYIn this paper, we propose a new multiobjective optimization method based on a functional specialization search strategy. The functional specialization search strategy is composed of two ideas. The first idea is to evaluate the progress status of search points and classification of search points. The second idea is to use the status to update each search point by suitable one of the Pareto ranking or scalarization. The proposed method takes advantage of this search strategy to realize an efficient improvement both of convergence and diversity of the search points. The proposed method achieves a consistently high performance through diverse search scenarios by taking advantage of the benefits of both a Pareto ranking‐based method and a scalarization‐based method. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by some numerical simulations using some typical benchmark problems with different shapes of Pareto frontiers and various number of objectives.
Daily home BNP monitoring in heart failure for prediction of impending clinical deterioration: results from the HOME HF study
Authors: McDonald Kenneth , Troughton Richard , Dahlström Ulf , Dargie Henry , Krum Henry , van der Meer Peter , McDonagh Theresa , Atherton John J. , Kupfer Ken , San George Richard C. , Richards Mark , Doughty Robert 
Published: January 2018

BackgroundSerial measurement of natriuretic peptides may guide management in heart failure (HF) patients. In previous trials, natriuretic peptides were infrequently monitored, which may undervalue the benefit of this approach.Methods and resultsHOME was an adaptive three‐arm randomized clinical study to test whether home monitoring of BNP could reduce HF‐related death, hospitalization due to acute decompensated HF (ADHF), and ADHF treated with intravenous diuretics in the emergency department or outpatient setting. Enrolment was terminated early because of slow enrolment, low event rates, and the belief that an algorithm for assessing BNP trends was needed. Justification for pooling data from all study arms was made and analysis as a single observational study was performed. The analysis resulted in 107 patients who were monitored for a median of 172 days with BNP measures on a median of 74% of days. BNP values were highly variable within a patient. Dispersion between serial BNPs was calculated to be 39.3%, 57.7%, and 73.6% for 1, 60, and 120 days between measures, respectively. A moving average filter (fBNP) was calculated to reduce day‐to‐day fluctuations and track changes from week to week. There were 27 primary events in 17 362 patient days of monitoring; the hazard ratio for time‐varying fBNP was 2.22 (95% confidence interval 1.48–3.34) per unit natural log (corresponding to a 2.72‐fold change in fBNP level).ConclusionThe HOME HF study demonstrates the feasibility of home BNP measurement and shows the potential value of fBNP as an index of emerging clinical deterioration. Assessment of the clinical value of this is required.
OpenFlow‐based low‐overhead and high‐accuracy SDN measurement framework
Authors: He Qiang , Wang Xingwei , Huang Min 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNetwork measurement is an essential part of network management. Software‐defined networking (SDN) is a promising networking architecture to make network management more flexible by separating the control plane and the data plane. Recently, the corresponding research studies about SDN measurement have not attracted much attention due to its preliminary stage, especially the currently proposed SDN measurement methods that have been suffering from high network overhead, low accuracy, and incompatibility. To address these issues, this paper proposes an OpenFlow‐based low‐overhead and high‐accuracy (OpenLh) SDN measurement framework. Firstly, to decrease the load of edge switch and network overhead, we propose a switch querying algorithm to measure the first and last switches per flow periodically. Secondly, a novel adaptive polling algorithm is designed to adjust the polling interval, which reduces network overhead while optimizing measurement accuracy. Furthermore, we quantitatively analyze the trade‐off among measurement overhead, accuracy, and minimum time interval. Finally, the POX controller is utilized to implement OpenLh, and its effectiveness is verified by Mininet. The simulation results demonstrate that OpenLh can obtain lower network overhead without compromising measurement accuracy than the chosen benchmarks.
Study on the relationship between the particle size distribution and the effectiveness of the K‐powder fire extinguishing agent
Authors: Yan Ye , Han Zhiyue , Zhao Lingshuang , Du Zhiming , Cong Xiaomin 
Published: January 2018

SummaryThe relationship between the particle size distribution and the extinguishing effectiveness of the new K‐powder fire extinguishing agent has been studied experimentally, to explore the reason of the great extinguishing efficiency exhibited by the new K‐powder fire extinguishing agent on Class B fire (liquid fuel fire). The results of the experiment showed that the extinguishing effectiveness increased along with the decrease of the particle size distribution. In addition, a sharp discontinuity appeared around the limiting size, about 40 μm. The powder with the particle size below 40 μm exhibited highly effective extinguishing with the minimum effective extinguishing concentration Cxr = 23 g·m−3, while the powder with the particle size above 40 μm exhibited little fire extinguishing efficiency. Compared with other fire extinguishing agents produced by different substances, the new K‐powder fire extinguishing has the bigger limiting size. That means, in the same particle size distribution, the new K‐powder fire extinguishing agent contains more highly effective powder than others contain, and is more effective.