bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tens of GHz Tantalum pentoxide‐based micro‐ring all‐optical modulator for Si photonics
Authors: Wu Chung‐Lun , Hsieh Cheng‐Hsuan , Lin Gong‐Ru , Chi Wen‐Chun , Chiu Yi‐Jen , Lin Yuan‐Yao , Hung Yung‐Jr , Shih Min‐Hsiung , Chu Ann‐Kuo , Lee Chao‐Kuei 
Published: December 2016

A tantalum pentoxide‐based (Ta2O5‐based) micro‐ring all‐optical modulator was fabricated. The refractive index inside the micro‐ring cavity was modified using the Kerr effect by injecting a pumped pulse. The transmittance of the ring resonator was controlled to achieve all‐optical modulation at the wavelength of the injected probe. When 12 GHz pulses with a peak power of 1.2 W were coupled in the ring cavity, the transmission spectrum of the Ta2O5 resonator was red‐shifted by 0.04 nm because of the Kerr effect. The relationship between the modulation depth and gap of the Ta2O5 directional coupler is discussed. An optimized gap of 1100 nm was obtained, and a maximum buildup factor of 11.7 with 84% modulation depth was achieved. The nonlinear refractive index of Ta2O5 at 1.55 μm was estimated as 3.4 × 10−14 cm2/W based on the Kerr effect, which is almost an order of magnitude higher than that of Si3N4. All results indicate that Ta2O5 has potential for use in nonlinear waveguide applications with modulation speeds as high as tens of GHz.
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London penetration depth and thermal fluctuations in the sulphur hydride 203 K superconductor
Authors: Talantsev E. F. , Crump W. P. , Storey J. G. , Tallon J. L. 
Published: December 2016

Recently, compressed H2S has been shown to become superconducting at 203 K under a pressure of 155 GPa. One might expect fluctuations to dominate at such temperatures. Using the magnetisation critical current, we determine the ground‐state London penetration depth, λ0=189 nm, and the superconducting energy gap, Δ0=27.8 meV, and find these parameters are similar to those of cuprate superconductors. We also determine the fluctuation temperature scale, K, which shows that, unlike the cuprates, of the hydride is not limited by fluctuations. This is due to its three dimensionality and suggests the search for better superconductors should refocus on three‐dimensional systems where the inevitable thermal fluctuations are less likely to reduce the observed .
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Organisation von Metalloxid‐Nanowürfeln durch Hydroxylierung
Authors: Thomele Daniel , Bourret Gilles R. , Bernardi Johannes , Bockstedte Michel , Diwald Oliver 
Published: December 2016

AbstractWasserdampf kann die Form und Anordnung von Nanopartikeln entscheidend beeinflussen. Inwieweit dies für die Steuerung der Struktur und Eigenschaften von Nanomaterialien nutzbar ist, wurde bislang allerdings kaum erforscht. Hier wird über die durch Wasserdampf ausgelöste Selbstorganisation von MgO‐Nanowürfeln in regelmäßig versetzte eindimensionale Anordnungen berichtet. Diese Transformation erfolgt über eine anfängliche geordnete Anlagerung der MgO‐Würfel, hat die Bildung von länglichen Mg(OH)2‐Strukturen zum Zwischenzustand und endet mit der Rückumwandlung in Stapel aus versetzt gestuften MgO‐Nanowürfeln. Mittels Ab‐initio‐Modellierung konnten die durch Hydratisierung und Hydroxylierung bedingten Änderungen der Energie der Würfeloberflächen als Auslöser und Triebkraft für die ungewöhnliche, gestufte Anordnung der Würfel identifiziert werden. Diese Selbstorganisation von Metalloxid‐Nanopartikeln außerhalb einer flüssigen Umgebungsphase bietet einen neuen Ansatz zur Steuerung keramischer Mikrostrukturen und sowie eine Möglichkeit zur Überprüfung oberflächenwissenschaftlicher Konzepte.
Polymere Selectinliganden als komplexe Glykomimetika: von Selectinbindung bis zur Modifizierung der Makrophagenmigration
Authors: Moog Kai E. , Barz Matthias , Bartneck Matthias , Beceren‐Braun Figen , Mohr Nicole , Wu Zhuojun , Braun Lydia , Dernedde Jens , Liehn Elisa A. , Tacke Frank , Lammers Twan , Kunz Horst , Zentel Rudolf 
Published: December 2016

AbstractBei neuartigen polymeren Inhibitoren der Zelladhäsion wird das Selectin‐bindende Tetrasaccharid Sialyl‐LewisX (SLeX) multivalent auf einem biokompatiblen Poly(2‐hydroxypropyl)methacrylamid (PHPMA) entweder alleine (P1) oder in Kombination mit O‐sulfatierten Tyramin‐Seitenketten (P2) präsentiert. Zum Vergleich wurden entsprechende polymere Glykomimetika hergestellt, in denen die entscheidenden Fucose‐, Galactose und Sialinsäure‐Seitenketten statistisch verteilt im PHPMA‐Rückgrat (P3 oder P4 (O‐sulfatiertes Tyramin) vorliegen. Alle Polymere haben den gleichen Polymerisationsgrad, da sie vom selben Ausgangspolymer abstammen. Assays für die Bindung an Selectine, aktivierte Endothelzellen und Makrophagen zeigen, dass PHPMA mit SLeX exzellent an E‐, L‐ und P‐Selectine bindet. Das Mimetikum P4 kann allerdings vergleichbare Bindungsaffinitäten bei In‐vitro‐Messungen erzielen und inhibiert überraschenderweise signifikant die Migration von Makrophagen; dies eröffnet neue Perspektiven für die Therapie schwerer Entzündungen.
Object‐based Shell Craters Classification from LiDAR‐derived Sky‐view Factor
Authors: Magnini Luigi , Bettineschi Cinzia , De Guio Armando 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThis paper presents the results of the first attempt to assess, identify and quantify the residual number of shell craters of World War I currently present in the Vezzena/Luserna/Lavarone Plateau, areas of Millegrobbe, Bisele and Cima Campo (Province of Trento, Italy). Historical sources report the existence of several thousand artillery explosions: therefore, a field survey or a classic photo‐interpretation would be labour‐intensive and highly time‐consuming. For this reason, a digital terrain model (DTM) of the test‐site was processed using the Sky‐view Factor algorithm and was analysed with an object‐based approach, which implied: (1) multiresolution segmentation; (2) classification (main features considered size, shape and colour).The automatically classified shell craters were thus verified during anin situsurvey that determined the accuracy of the method in the order of 84% of the total occurrences. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Event‐Triggered Iterative Learning Control for Multi‐Agent Systems with Quantization
Authors: Zhang Ting , Li Junmin 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe emergence of networked control systems urges the digital control design to integrate communication constraints efficiently. In order to accommodate this requirement, this paper investigates the joint design of tracking problem for multi‐agent system (MAS) in the presence of resource‐limited communication channel and quantization. An event‐triggered robust learning control with quantization is firstly proposed and employed for MAS in this paper. The new event‐triggered distributed robust learning control system with the introduction of logarithmic quantization guarantees the asymptotic tracking property on the finite interval. Convergence analysis is given based on the Lyapunov direct method. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the efficacy of the event‐triggered approach compared with time‐triggered controllers.
High levels of iron supplementation prevents neural tube defects in the Fpn1ffe mouse model
Authors: Stokes Bethany A. , Sabatino Julia A. , Zohn Irene E. 
Published: December 2016

BackgroundPericonception maternal nutrition and folate in particular are important factors influencing the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs). Many but not all NTDs are prevented by folic acid supplementation and there is a pressing need for additional strategies to prevent these birth defects. Other micronutrients such as iron are potential candidates, yet a clear role for iron deficiency in contributing to NTDs is lacking. Our previous studies with the flatiron (ffe) mouse model of Ferroportin1 (Fpn1) deficiency suggest that iron is required for neural tube closure and forebrain development raising the possibility that iron supplementation could prevent NTDs.MethodsWe determined the effect of periconception iron and/or folic acid supplementation on the penetrance of NTDs in the Fpn1ffe mouse model. Concurrently, measurements of folate and iron were made to ensure supplementation had the intended effects.ResultsHigh levels of iron supplementation significantly reduced the incidence of NTDs in Fpn1ffe mutants. Fpn1 deficiency resulted in reduced folate levels in both pregnant dams and embryos. Yet folic acid supplementation did not prevent NTDs in the Fpn1ffe model. Similarly, forebrain truncations were rescued with iron. Surprisingly, the high levels of iron supplementation used in this study caused folate deficiency in wild‐type dams and embryos.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that iron supplementation can prevent NTDs and forebrain truncations in the Fpn1ffe model. Surprisingly, high levels of iron supplementation and iron overload can cause folate deficiency. If iron is essential for neural tube closure, it is possible that iron deficiency might contribute to NTDs. Birth Defects Research 109:81–91, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Birth Defects Research Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multi‐objective global optimization (MOGO): Algorithm and case study in gradient elution chromatography
Authors: Freier Lars , von Lieres Eric 
Published: December 2016

AbstractBiotechnological separation processes are routinely designed and optimized using parallel high‐throughput experiments and/or serial experiments. Well‐characterized processes can further be optimized using mechanistic models. In all these cases – serial/parallel experiments and modeling – iterative strategies are customarily applied for planning novel experiments/simulations based on the previously acquired knowledge. Process optimization is typically complicated by conflicting design targets, such as productivity and yield. We address these issues by introducing a novel algorithm that combines recently developed approaches for utilizing statistical regression models in multi‐objective optimization. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated by simultaneous optimization of elution gradient and pooling strategy for chromatographic separation of a three‐component system with respect to purity, yield, and processing time. Gaussian Process Regression Models (GPM) are used for estimating functional relationships between design variables (gradient, pooling) and performance indicators (purity, yield, time). The Pareto front is iteratively approximated by planning new experiments such as to maximize the Expected Hypervolume Improvement (EHVI) as determined from the GPM by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. A comprehensive Monte‐Carlo study with in‐silico data illustrates efficiency, effectiveness and robustness of the presented Multi‐Objective Global Optimization (MOGO) algorithm in determining best compromises between conflicting objectives with comparably very low experimental effort.
DbpA is a region‐specific RNA helicase
Authors: Moore Anthony F. T. , Gentry Riley C. , Koculi Eda 
Published: December 2016

AbstractDbpA is a DEAD‐box RNA helicase implicated in RNA structural rearrangements in the peptidyl transferase center. DbpA contains an RNA binding domain, responsible for tight binding of DbpA to hairpin 92 of 23S ribosomal RNA, and a RecA‐like catalytic core responsible for double‐helix unwinding. It is not known if DbpA unwinds only the RNA helices that are part of a specific RNA structure, or if DbpA unwinds any RNA helices within the catalytic core's grasp. In other words, it is not known if DbpA is a site‐specific enzyme or region‐specific enzyme. In this study, we used protein and RNA engineering to investigate if DbpA is a region‐specific or a site‐specific enzyme. Our data suggest that DbpA is a region‐specific enzyme. This conclusion has an important implication for the physiological role of DbpA. It suggests that during ribosome assembly, DbpA could bind with its C‐terminal RNA binding domain to hairpin 92, while its catalytic core may unwind any double‐helices in its vicinity. The only requirement for a double‐helix to serve as a DbpA substrate is for the double‐helix to be positioned within the catalytic core's grasp.
Simplified AIP‐II Peptidomimetics Are Potent Inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus AgrC Quorum Sensing Receptors
Authors: Vasquez Joseph K. , Tal‐Gan Yftah , Cornilescu Gabriel , Tyler Kimberly A. , Blackwell Helen E. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus controls many aspects of virulence by using the accessory gene regulator (agr) quorum sensing (QS) system. The agr system is activated by a macrocyclic peptide signal known as an autoinducing peptide (AIP). We sought to develop structurally simplified mimetics of AIPs for use as chemical tools to study QS in S. aureus. Herein, we report new peptidomimetic AgrC receptor inhibitors based on a tail‐truncated AIP‐II peptide that have almost analogous inhibitory activities to the parent peptide. Structural comparison of one of these peptidomimetics to the parent peptide and a highly potent, all‐peptide‐derived, S. aureus agr inhibitor (AIP‐III D4A) revealed a conserved hydrophobic motif and overall amphipathic nature. Our results suggest that the AIP scaffold is amenable to structural mimicry and minimization for the development of synthetic agr inhibitors.
Accelerating the phylogenetic parsimony function on heterogeneous systems
Authors: Santander‐Jiménez Sergio , Ilic Aleksandar , Sousa Leonel , Vega‐Rodríguez Miguel A. 
Published: December 2016

SummaryThe availability of heterogeneous CPU+GPU systems has opened the door to new opportunities for the development of parallel solutions to tackle complex biological problems. The reconstruction of evolutionary histories among species represents a grand computational challenge, which can be addressed by exploiting this kind of hardware designs. In this research, we study the application of heterogeneous computing with OpenCL to accelerate one of the most well‐known objective functions for inferring phylogenies, the phylogenetic parsimony function. For this purpose, we undertake the design of CPU and GPU kernel implementations of this relevant function, proposing a heterogeneous CPU+GPU multidevice approach that distributes multiple parsimony evaluations among processing devices. Experiments on 6 real nucleotide data sets and comparisons with other parallel implementations give account of the benefits of the proposal in this paper, obtaining significant parallel results by combining CPU and GPU capabilities in accordance with the characteristics of the input data.
Efficient and high‐quality sparse graph coloring on GPUs
Authors: Chen Xuhao , Li Pingfan , Fang Jianbin , Tang Tao , Wang Zhiying , Yang Canqun 
Published: December 2016

SummaryGraph coloring has been broadly used to discover concurrency in parallel computing. To speed up graph coloring for large‐scale datasets, parallel algorithms have been proposed to leverage modern GPUs. Existing GPU implementations either have limited performance or yield unsatisfactory coloring quality (too many colors assigned). We present a work‐efficient parallel graph coloring implementation on GPUs with good coloring quality. Our approach uses the speculative greedy scheme, which inherently yields better quality than the method of finding maximal independent set. To achieve high performance on GPUs, we refine the algorithm to leverage efficient operators and alleviate conflicts. We also incorporate common optimization techniques to further improve performance. Our method is evaluated with both synthetic and real‐world sparse graphs on the NVIDIA GPU. Experimental results show that our proposed implementation achieves averaged 4.1 × (up to 8.9 × ) speedup over the serial implementation. It also outperforms the existing GPU implementation from the NVIDIA CUSPARSE library (2.2 × average speedup), while yielding much better coloring quality than CUSPARSE.
Consequences of Ca Codoping in YAlO3:Ce Single Crystals
Authors: Moretti Federico , Hovhannesyan Karine , Derdzyan Marina , Bizarri Gregory A. , Bourret Edith D. , Petrosyan Ashot G. , Dujardin Christophe 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe influence of Ca codoping on the optical absorption, photo‐, radio‐, and thermo‐luminescence properties of YAlO3:Ce (YAP:Ce) crystals has been studied for four different calcium concentrations ranging from 0 to 500 ppm. Ca codoping results in a partial oxidation of Ce3+ into Ce4+, The luminescence time response under pulsed X‐ray excitation of the Ce3+/Ce4+ admixure clearly demonstrates the role of hole migration on both the rise time and the generally observed slow components. From an application point of view, Ca codoping significantly improves the timing performances, but the induced presence of Ce4+ ions is also the cause of a reduction in scintillation efficiency.
A new theory of plant–microbe nutrient competition resolves inconsistencies between observations and model predictions
Authors: Zhu Qing , Riley William J. , Tang Jinyun 
Published: December 2016

AbstractTerrestrial plants assimilate anthropogenic CO2 through photosynthesis and synthesizing new tissues. However, sustaining these processes requires plants to compete with microbes for soil nutrients, which therefore calls for an appropriate understanding and modeling of nutrient competition mechanisms in Earth System Models (ESMs). Here, we survey existing plant–microbe competition theories and their implementations in ESMs. We found no consensus regarding the representation of nutrient competition and that observational and theoretical support for current implementations are weak. To reconcile this situation, we applied the Equilibrium Chemistry Approximation (ECA) theory to plant–microbe nitrogen competition in a detailed grassland 15N tracer study and found that competition theories in current ESMs fail to capture observed patterns and the ECA prediction simplifies the complex nature of nutrient competition and quantitatively matches the 15N observations. Since plant carbon dynamics are strongly modulated by soil nutrient acquisition, we conclude that (1) predicted nutrient limitation effects on terrestrial carbon accumulation by existing ESMs may be biased and (2) our ECA‐based approach may improve predictions by mechanistically representing plant–microbe nutrient competition.
Repeatability and correlation of physiological traits: Do ectotherms have a “thermal type”?
Authors: Goulet Celine T. , Thompson Michael B. , Chapple David G. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractAcross a range of taxa, individuals within a species differ in suites of correlated traits. These trait complexes, known as syndromes, can have dramatic evolutionary consequences as they do not evolve independently but rather as a unit. Current research focuses primarily on syndromes relating to aspects of behavior and life history. What is less clear is whether physiological traits also form a syndrome. We measured 10 thermal traits in the delicate skink, Lampropholis delicata, to test this idea. Repeatability was calculated and their across‐context correlations evaluated. Our results were in alignment with our predictions in that individual thermal traits varied consistently and were structured into a physiological syndrome, which we are referring to as the thermal behavior syndrome (TBS). Within this syndrome, lizards exhibited a “thermal type” with each being ranked along a cold–hot continuum. Hot types had faster sprint speeds and higher preferred body temperatures, whereas the opposite was true for cold types. We conclude that physiological traits may evolve as a single unit driven by the need to maintain optimal temperatures that enable fitness‐related behaviors to be maximized.
Evaluating the effects of triclosan on 3 field crops grown in 4 formulations of biosolids
Authors: Shahmohamadloo René S. , Lissemore Linda , Prosser Ryan S. , Sibley Paul K. 
Published: December 2016

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that amending soil with biosolids can be an integral component of sustainable agriculture. Despite strong evidence supporting its beneficial use in agriculture, there are concerns that chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, could present a risk to terrestrial ecosystems and human health. Triclosan is one of the most commonly detected compounds in biosolids. To date, laboratory studies indicate that triclosan likely poses a de minimis risk to field crops; however, these studies were either conducted under unrealistic exposure conditions or only assessed 1 or 2 formulations of biosolids. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the effects of triclosan on field crops in soils amended with 4 different formulations of biosolids (liquid, dewatered, compost, and alkaline-hydrolyzed), containing both background and spiked triclosan concentrations, following best management practices used in the province of Ontario. Three crop species (corn, soybean, and spring wheat) were evaluated using several plant growth endpoints (e.g., root wet mass, shoot length, shoot wet/dry mass) in 70-d to 90-d potted soil tests. The results indicated no adverse impact of triclosan on any crop-biosolids combination. Conversely, amending soil with biosolids either enhanced or had no negative effect, on the growth of plants. Results of the present study suggest little risk of triclosan to crops in agricultural fields amended with biosolids. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1896–1908. © 2016 SETAC
Molecular determinism of specific anosmia to 2‐bromo‐4‐methylphenol
Authors: Tempere Sophie , Schaaper Marie‐Hélène , Lytra Georgia , Barbe Jean‐Christophe , Riquier Laurent , Marchand Stephanie , de Revel Gilles , Sicard Gilles 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSeveral studies have revealed considerable variations in human chemosensory capacities. Considerable interindividual differences in sensitivity to various odorants and specific hyposmias are well known. Many chemical studies have focused on elucidating structure‐odour relationships on the basis of detection threshold measurements. The basic idea of quantitative structure‐activity relationship studies is that a molecule's structure provides information about its biological activity. In a recent sensory assay of 2‐bromo‐4‐methylphenol, Barbe et al. (2014) highlighted a noticeable bimodal distribution of individual sensitivity with large interindividual differences. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link between the chemical structure of 2‐bromo‐4‐methylphenol and this bimodal distribution. The olfactory phenotypes for a selection of six structurally related halogenated compounds were compared using detection thresholds determination. This study revealed that specific anosmia for 2‐bromo‐4‐methylphenol was apparently linked to the halogenated substitution position. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Crime in Our Cities: A Comparative Study
Authors: Vinson T. , Marshall C. 
Published: December 2016

Crime rates in New South Wales are compared with overseas figures. Comparisons are made between Sydney and eight American and two Canadian cities of similar size. Urban‐rural crime rates are studied by relating Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong to the rest of the State.In both rural and urban areas the rates for homicide, sex offences and other offences against the person are relatively low when compared with American rates. The rates for property offences and car theft are similar to those which exist in America and, and in the case of Sydney, exceed the rate of these offences in the two Canadian cities studied.