bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparing GWAS Results of Complex Traits Using Full Genetic Model and Additive Models for Revealing Genetic Architecture
Authors: Monir Md. Mamun , Zhu Jun 
Published: January 2017

AbstractMost of the genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for human complex diseases have ignored dominance, epistasis and ethnic interactions. We conducted comparative GWASs for total cholesterol using full model and additive models, which illustrate the impacts of the ignoring genetic variants on analysis results and demonstrate how genetic effects of multiple loci could differ across different ethnic groups. There were 15 quantitative trait loci with 13 individual loci and 3 pairs of epistasis loci identified by full model, whereas only 14 loci (9 common loci and 5 different loci) identified by multi-loci additive model. Again, 4 full model detected loci were not detected using multi-loci additive model. PLINK-analysis identified two loci and GCTA-analysis detected only one locus with genome-wide significance. Full model identified three previously reported genes as well as several new genes. Bioinformatics analysis showed some new genes are related with cholesterol related chemicals and/or diseases. Analyses of cholesterol data and simulation studies revealed that the full model performs were better than the additive-model performs in terms of detecting power and unbiased estimations of genetic variants of complex traits.
Endurance and Cycle-to-cycle Uniformity Improvement in Tri-Layered CeO2/Ti/CeO2 Resistive Switching Devices by Changing Top Electrode Material
Authors: Rana Anwar Manzoor , Akbar Tahira , Ismail Muhammad , Ahmad Ejaz , Hussain Fayyaz , Talib Ijaz , Imran Muhammad , Mehmood Khalid , Iqbal Khalid , Nadeem M. Younus 
Published: January 2017

AbstractResistance switching characteristics of CeO2/Ti/CeO2 tri-layered films sandwiched between Pt bottom electrode and two different top electrodes (Ti and TaN) with different work functions have been investigated. RRAM memory cells composed of TaN/CeO2/Ti/CeO2/Pt reveal better resistive switching performance instead of Ti/CeO2/Ti/CeO2/Pt memory stacks. As compared to the Ti/CeO2 interface, much better ability of TaN/CeO2 interface to store and exchange plays a key role in the RS performance improvement, including lower forming/SET voltages, large memory window (~102) and no significant data degradation during endurance test of >104 switching cycles. The formation of TaON thinner interfacial layer between TaN TE and CeO2 film is found to be accountable for improved resistance switching behavior. Partial charge density of states is analyzed using density functional theory. It is found that the conductive filaments formed in CeO2 based devices is assisted by interstitial Ti dopant. Better stability and reproducibility in cycle-to-cycle (C2C) resistance distribution and Vset/Vreset uniformity were achieved due to the modulation of current conduction mechanism from Ohmic in low field region to Schottky emission in high field region.
Molecular evidence for the involvement of a polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein, GhPGIP1, in enhanced resistance to Verticillium and Fusarium wilts in cotton
Authors: Liu Nana , Zhang Xueyan , Sun Yun , Wang Ping , Li Xiancai , Pei Yakun , Li Fuguang , Hou Yuxia 
Published: January 2017

AbstractPolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP), belonging to a group of plant defence proteins, specifically inhibits endopolygalacturonases secreted by pathogens. Herein, we showed that purified GhPGIP1 is a functional inhibitor of Verticillium dahliae and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum, the two fungal pathogens causing cotton wilt. Transcription of GhPGIP1 was increased in cotton upon infection, wounding, and treatment with defence hormone and H2O2. Resistance by GhPGIP1 was examined by its virus-induced gene silencing in cotton and overexpression in Arabidopsis. GhPGIP1-silenced cotton was highly susceptible to the infections. GhPGIP1 overexpression in transgenic Arabidopsis conferred resistance to the infection, accompanied by enhanced expression of pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), isochorismate synthase 1 (ICS1), enhanced disease susceptibility 1 (EDS1), and phytoalexin-deficient 4 (PAD4) genes. Transmission electron microscopy revealed cell wall alteration and cell disintegration in plants inoculated with polygalacturonase (PGs), implying its role in damaging the cell wall. Docking studies showed that GhPGIP1 interacted strongly with C-terminal of V. dahliae PG1 (VdPG1) beyond the active site but weakly interacted with C-terminal of F. oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FovPG1). These findings will contribute towards the understanding of the roles of PGIPs and in screening potential combat proteins with novel recognition specificities against evolving pathogenic factors for countering pathogen invasion.
In situ imaging of microstructure formation in electronic interconnections
Authors: Salleh M. A. A. Mohd , Gourlay C. M. , Xian J. W. , Belyakov S. A. , Yasuda H. , McDonald S. D. , Nogita K. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe development of microstructure during melting, reactive wetting and solidification of solder pastes on Cu-plated printed circuit boards has been studied by synchrotron radiography. Using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu and Sn-0.7Cu/Cu as examples, we show that the interfacial Cu6Sn5 layer is present within 0.05 s of wetting, and explore the kinetics of flux void formation at the interface between the liquid and the Cu6Sn5 layer. Quantification of the nucleation locations and anisotropic growth kinetics of primary Cu6Sn5 crystals reveals a competition between the nucleation of Cu6Sn5 in the liquid versus growth of Cu6Sn5 from the existing Cu6Sn5 layer. Direct imaging confirms that the β-Sn nucleates at/near the Cu6Sn5 layer in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu joints.
Aligned copper nanorod arrays for highly efficient generation of intense ultra-broadband THz pulses
Authors: Mondal S. , Wei Q. , Ding W. J. , Hafez H. A. , Fareed M. A. , Laramée A. , Ropagnol X. , Zhang G. , Sun S. , Sheng Z. M. , Zhang J. , Ozaki T. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractWe demonstrate an intense broadband terahertz (THz) source based on the interaction of relativistic-intensity femtosecond lasers with aligned copper nanorod array targets. For copper nanorod targets with a length of 5 μm, a maximum 13.8 times enhancement in the THz pulse energy (in ≤20 THz spectral range) is measured as compared to that with a thick plane copper target under the same laser conditions. A further increase in the nanorod length leads to a decrease in the THz pulse energy at medium frequencies (≤20 THz) and increase of the electromagnetic pulse energy in the high-frequency range (from 20–200 THz). For the latter, we measure a maximum energy enhancement of 28 times for the nanorod targets with a length of 60 μm. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that THz pulses are mostly generated by coherent transition radiation of laser produced hot electrons, which are efficiently enhanced with the use of nanorod targets. Good agreement is found between the simulation and experimental results.
Spatial mapping of metals in tissue-sections using combination of mass-spectrometry and histology through image registration
Authors: Anyz Jiri , Vyslouzilova Lenka , Vaculovic Tomas , Tvrdonova Michaela , Kanicky Viktor , Haase Hajo , Horak Vratislav , Stepankova Olga , Heger Zbynek , Adam Vojtech 
Published: January 2017

AbstractWe describe a new procedure for the parallel mapping of selected metals in histologically characterized tissue samples. Mapping is achieved via image registration of digital data obtained from two neighbouring cryosections by scanning the first as a histological sample and subjecting the second to laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This computer supported procedure enables determination of the distribution and content of metals of interest directly in the chosen histological zones and represents a substantial improvement over the standard approach, which determines these values in tissue homogenates or whole tissue sections. The potential of the described procedure was demonstrated in a pilot study that analysed Zn and Cu levels in successive development stages of pig melanoma tissue using MeLiM (Melanoma-bearing-Libechov-Minipig) model. We anticipate that the procedure could be useful for a complex understanding of the role that the spatial distribution of metals plays within tissues affected by pathological states including cancer.
Topological features of vector vortex beams perturbed with uniformly polarized light
Authors: D’Errico Alessio , Maffei Maria , Piccirillo Bruno , de Lisio Corrado , Cardano Filippo , Marrucci Lorenzo 
Published: January 2017

AbstractOptical singularities manifesting at the center of vector vortex beams are unstable, since their topological charge is higher than the lowest value permitted by Maxwell’s equations. Inspired by conceptually similar phenomena occurring in the polarization pattern characterizing the skylight, we show how perturbations that break the symmetry of radially symmetric vector beams lead to the formation of a pair of fundamental and stable singularities, i.e. points of circular polarization. We prepare a superposition of a radial (or azimuthal) vector beam and a uniformly linearly polarized Gaussian beam; by varying the amplitudes of the two fields, we control the formation of pairs of these singular points and their spatial separation. We complete this study by applying the same analysis to vector vortex beams with higher topological charges, and by investigating the features that arise when increasing the intensity of the Gaussian term. Our results can find application in the context of singularimetry, where weak fields are measured by considering them as perturbations of unstable optical beams.
Axisymmetric rotational stagnation point flow impinging radially a permeable stretching/shrinking surface in a nanofluid using Tiwari and Das model
Authors: Roşca Natalia C. , Pop Ioan 
Published: January 2017

AbstractIn this paper, the problem of normal impingement rotational stagnation-point flow on a radially permeable stretching sheet in a viscous fluid, recently studied in a very interesting paper, is extended to a water-based nanofluid. A similarity transformation is used to reduce the system of governing nonlinear partial differential equations to a system of ordinary differential equations, which is then solved numerically using the function bvp4c from Matlab. It is found that dual (upper and lower branch) solutions exist for some values of the governing parameters. From the stability analysis, it is found that the upper branch solution is stable, while the lower branch solution is unstable. Sample velocity and temperature profiles along both solution branches are graphically presented.
Alleviating liver failure conditions using an integrated hybrid cryogel based cellular bioreactor as a bioartificial liver support
Authors: Damania Apeksha , Hassan Mohsin , Shirakigawa Nana , Mizumoto Hiroshi , Kumar Anupam , Sarin Shiv K. , Ijima Hiroyuki , Kamihira Masamichi , Kumar Ashok 
Published: January 2017

AbstractConventionally, some bioartificial liver devices are used with separate plasmapheresis unit to separate out plasma from whole blood and adsorbent column to detoxify plasma before it passes through a hepatocytes-laden bioreactor. We aim to develop a hybrid bioreactor that integrates the separate modules in one compact design improving the efficacy of the cryogel based bioreactor as a bioartificial liver support. A plasma separation membrane and an activated carbon cloth are placed over a HepG2-loaded cryogel scaffold in a three-chambered bioreactor design. This bioreactor is consequently connected extracorporeally to a rat model of acute liver failure for 3 h and major biochemical parameters studied. Bilirubin and aspartate transaminase showed a percentage decrease of 20–60% in the integrated bioreactor as opposed to 5–15% in the conventional setup. Urea and ammonia levels which showed negligible change in the conventional setup increase (40%) and decrease (18%), respectively in the integrated system. Also, an overall increase of 5% in human albumin in rat plasma indicated bioreactor functionality in terms of synthetic functions. These results were corroborated by offline evaluation of patient plasma. Hence, integrating the plasmapheresis and adsorbent units with the bioreactor module in one compact design improves the efficacy of the bioartificial liver device.
Reconfigurable phase inverter with switchable frequency
Authors: Liao Zhen Heng , Zhang XuChun 
Published: January 2017

A novel reconfigurable phase inverter architecture allowing frequency‐switchable is proposed. Interdigital striplines, metallic via holes, and the defected ground structure are used to obtain 180° phase inverter. The switchable frequency is controlled by the length of the slot‐line on the defected ground which can be changed by PIN‐diodes and a single control voltage. For verification, the simulated and measured results of switchable frequency at 900 MHz and 1.6 GHz phase inverter implemented on microstrip are shown.
Interleaved zero‐voltage switching three‐level converter with less output inductor counts
Authors: Lin Bor‐Ren 
Published: January 2017

An interleaved three‐level converter with the new current doubler rectifier is proposed. The main advantages of the proposed converter are zero‐voltage switching (ZVS) turn‐on for all switches, low output ripple current and less voltage stress of the output diodes. Two three‐level converters connected in parallel are used to decrease the input current ripple, as well as to reduce the current rating of power switches. At the secondary side, two current doubler rectifiers sharing the same output filter inductors to reduce the output current ripple. Compared with the conventional centre‐tapped rectifier and current doubler rectifier, the adopted current doubler rectifier has less output current ripple. The output capacitance of the power switch and the leakage inductance (or external inductance) are resonant at the transition interval so that the power switches can be turned on under ZVS. The adopted converter can be employed in high voltage input and high current output applications. Experiments with a prototype with 750–800 V input and 48 V/30 A output are provided to verify the theory analysis.
Method for partial discharge localisation in air‐insulated substations
Authors: Li Pengfei , Zhou Wenjun , Yang Shuai , Liu Yushun , Tian Yan , Wang Yong 
Published: January 2017

Partial discharge (PD) localisation in air‐insulated substations (AIS) can be used to assess insulation condition efficiently. The localisation results of previously published methods were in the form of coordinates or bearings, and showed large errors on coordinates. Further research is required if the fault is to be pinpointed. In this study, a novel localisation method based on directional antenna and multi‐point measurement is proposed to improve the accuracy of localisation result and inform the possible error distribution, which reflect the fact that where the PD ultrahigh frequency signal radiates from is not a point but the non‐metallic area of the source equipment. Through the single point measurement, the bearing of the PD source is obtained. With the multi‐point measurement, an accurate result and its error distribution are made available. An onsite test in a 220 kV testing AIS was performed, and compared with an existing method. The results show that the proposed method is more accurate than the existing method, and it is efficient to locate the faulty equipment with additional information of the error distribution.
Microwave radio emissions as a proxy for coronal mass ejection speed in arrival predictions of interplanetary coronal mass ejections at 1 AU
Authors: Matamoros Carolina Salas , Klein Karl Ludwig , Trottet Gerard 
Published: January 2017

The propagation of a coronal mass ejection (CME) to the Earth takes between about 15 h and several days. We explore whether observations of non-thermal microwave bursts, produced by near-relativistic electons via the gyrosynchrotron process, can be used to predict travel times of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) from the Sun to the Earth. In a first step, a relationship is established between the CME speed measured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (SoHO/LASCO) near the solar limb and the fluence of the microwave burst. This relationship is then employed to estimate speeds in the corona of earthward-propagating CMEs. These speeds are fed into a simple empirical interplanetary acceleration model to predict the speed and arrival time of the ICMEs at Earth. The predictions are compared with observed arrival times and with the predictions based on other proxies, including soft X-rays (SXR) and coronographic measurements. We found that CME speeds estimated from microwaves and SXR predict the ICME arrival at the Earth with absolute errors of 11 ± 7 and 9 ± 7 h, respectively. A trend to underestimate the interplanetary travel times of ICMEs was noted for both techniques. This is consistent with the fact that in most cases of our test sample, ICMEs are detected on their flanks. Although this preliminary validation was carried out on a rather small sample of events (11), we conclude that microwave proxies can provide early estimates of ICME arrivals and ICME speeds in the interplanetary space. This method is limited by the fact that not all CMEs are accompanied by non-thermal microwave bursts. But its usefulness is enhanced by the relatively simple observational setup and the observation from ground, which makes the instrumentation less vulnerable to space weather hazards.
Birth Prevalence of Anorectal Malformations for the Western Cape Province, South Africa, 2005 to 2012
Authors: Numanoglu Alp , Theron Andre 
Published: January 2017

Introduction Anorectal malformations (ARMs) are a major birth anomaly worldwide. South Africa has ethnically and geologically diverse populations. A recent publication indicated an increased birth prevalence of ARMs in the Witwatersrand referral area between 2005 and 2010. The purpose of this study was to determine the birth prevalence of ARM and its various subtypes in the Western Cape referral district over an 8-year period.
Methods For an 8-year period from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2012; retrospective data were collected from the Pediatric Surgical Departments of Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Tygerberg Children's Hospital, as well as the private sector health registries. The number of live births per year for a specific municipal district was obtained from the National Department of Health. The chi-square for trend test was used to determine statistical significance.
Results The birth prevalence for ARM in the Western Cape Province (WCP) in 2012 was shown to be 1:5,572 live births (1.79/10,000 live births). The West Coast municipality district had the highest average birth prevalence rate of 1:3,063 (3.26/10,000) live births for years studied. There was a male predominance (1.6:1), the most common ARM was the vestibular fistula (19.2%) and in 26% of the patients, there was an initial delay in the diagnosis.
Conclusion This study has provided some recent data for ARMs for the WCP. There was no statistical significant change in the prevalence of ARMs over the 8-year period for the WCP as well as in any of the individual six municipal health districts (χ2 for trend, p = 0.52). The number of delayed diagnosis of ARM is of concern.
Biosynthetic Studies on Acetosellin and Structure Elucidation of a New Acetosellin Derivative
Authors: Hufendiek Peter , Stölben Simon , Kehraus Stefan , Merten Nicole , Harms Henrik , Crüsemann Max , Arslan Idris , Gütschow Michael , Schneider Tanja , König Gabriele 
Published: January 2017

AbstractNatural products from fungi, especially Ascomycota, play a major role in therapy and drug discovery. Fungal strains originating from marine habitats offer a new avenue for finding unusual molecular skeletons. Here, the marine-derived fungus Epicoccum nigrum (strain 749) was found to produce the azaphilonoid compounds acetosellin and 5′,6′-dihydroxyacetosellin. The latter is a new natural product. The biosynthesis of these polyketide-type compounds is intriguing, since two polyketide chains are assembled to the final product. Here we performed 13C labeling studies on solid cultures to prove this hypothesis for acetosellin biosynthesis.
Effect of High Velocity Ballistic Impact on Pretensioned Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Plates
Authors: KAMARUDIN Kamarul Azhar , ABDUL HAMID Iskandar 
Published: January 2017

Abstract
This work describes an experimental investigation of the pretensioned thin plates made of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) struck by hemispherical and blunt projectiles at various impact velocities. The experiments were done using a gas gun with combination of pretension equipment positioned at the end of gun barrel near the nozzle. Measurements of the initial and residual velocities were taken, and the ballistic limit velocity were calculated for each procedures. The pretension target results in reduction of ballistic limit compared to non-pretension target for both flat and hemispherical projectiles. Target impacted by hemispherical projectile experience split at earlier impact velocity compared to target by flat projectile. C-Scan images analysis technique was used to show target impact damaged by hemispherical and flat projectiles. The damage area was shown biggest at ballistic limit velocity and target splitting occurred most for pretention plate.
Mode I stress intensity factors of slanted cracks in plates
Authors: Ismail Al Emran , Mohd Ghazali Mohd Zubir , Muhd Nor Nik Hisyamudin 
Published: January 2017

Abstract
This paper presents the roles of slanted cracks on the stress intensity factors (SIF) under mode I tension and bending loading. Based on the literature survey, lack of solution of SIFs of slanted cracks in plain strain plates are available. In this work, the cracks are modelled numerically using ANSYS finite element program. There are two important parameters such as slanted angles and relative crack length. SIFs at the crack tips are calculated according to domain integral method. Before the model is further used, it is validated with the existing model. It is found that the present model is well agreed with the previous model. According to finite element analysis, there are not only mode I SIFs produced but also mode II. As expected the SIFs increased as the relative crack length increased. However, when slanted angles are introduced (slightly higher than normal crack), the SIFs increased. Once the angles are further increased, the SIFs decreased gradually however they are still higher than the SIFs of normal cracks. For mode II SIFs, higher the slanted angels higher the SIFs. This is due to the fact that when the cracks are slanted, the cracked plates are not only failed due to mode I but a combination between both modes I and II.
Effect of Immerse Temperature and Time on Solvent Debinding Process of Stainless Steel 316L Metal Injection Molding
Authors: Kamarudin Nur Hafizah , Ibrahim Mohd Halim Irwan 
Published: January 2017

Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate solvent debinding by conducting the extraction process at temperature ranging from 40 to 80 °C within 2 to 8 hours, while keeping the heptane solvent and 12:1 of solvent to feed ratio as constant. The palm kernel loss was evaluated as an indicator of the process’s performance. It was also supported by the pore evolution that was observed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Micrograph (FESEM). Results show that both parameter give large effect on the solvent debinding performance. The best immerse temperature and time for extracting maximum palm kernel in heptane solution at S/F ratio of 12:1, without sacrificing the ability of producing free defect metal part were given by 80 °C and 6 hours, respectively.