bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
El Niño influence on potential maize yield in Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Capa‐Morocho Mirian , Rodríguez‐Fonseca Belén , Ruiz‐Ramos Margarita 
Published: August 2015

ABSTRACTEl Niño phenomenon is the leading mode of sea surface temperature interannual variability. It can affect weather patterns worldwide and therefore crop production. Crop models are useful tools for impact and predictability applications, allowing to obtain long time series of potential and attainable crop yield, unlike to available time series of observed crop yield for many countries. Using this tool, crop yield variability in a location of Iberia Peninsula (IP) has been previously studied, finding predictability from Pacific El Niño conditions. Nevertheless, the work has not been done for an extended area. The present work carries out an analysis of maize yield variability in IP for the whole 20th century, using a calibrated crop model at five contrasting Spanish locations and reanalyses climate datasets to obtain long time series of potential yield. The study tests the use of reanalysis data for obtaining only climate‐dependent time series of crop yield for the whole region, and to use these yield to analyse the influences of oceanic and atmospheric patterns. The results show a good reliability of reanalysis data. The spatial distribution of the leading principal component of yield variability shows a similar behaviour over all the studied locations in the IP. The strong linear correlation between El Niño index and yield is remarkable, being this relation non‐stationary on time, although the air temperature–yield relationship remains on time, being the highest influences during grain filling period. Regarding atmospheric patterns, the summer Scandinavian pattern has significant influence on yield in IP. The potential usefulness of this study is to apply the relationships found to improving crop forecasting in IP.
Use of enzymes to minimize the rheological dough problems caused by high levels of damaged starch in starch–gluten systems
Authors: Barrera Gabriela N , León Alberto E , Ribotta Pablo D 
Published: August 2015

AbstractBACKGROUNDDuring wheat
milling, starch granules can experience mechanical damage, producing damaged starch. High levels of damaged starch modify the physicochemical properties of wheat flour, negatively affecting the dough behavior as well as the flour quality and cookie and bread making quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of α‐amylase, maltogenic amylase and amyloglucosidase on dough rheology in order to propose alternatives to reduce the issues related to high levels of damaged starch.RESULTSThe dough with a high level of damaged starch became more viscous and resistant to deformations as well as less elastic and extensible. The soluble fraction of the doughs influenced the rheological behavior of the systems. The α‐amylase and amyloglucosidase reduced the negative effects of high damaged starch contents, improving the dough rheological properties modified by damaged starch. The rheological behavior of dough with the higher damaged‐starch content was related to a more open gluten network arrangement as a result of the large size of the swollen damaged starch granules.CONCLUSIONWe can conclude that the dough rheological properties of systems with high damaged starch content changed positively as a result of enzyme action, particularly α‐amylase and amyloglucosidase additions, allowing the use of these amylases and mixtures of them as corrective additives. Little information was reported about amyloglucosidase activity alone or combined with α‐amylase. The combinations of these two enzymes are promising to minimize the negative effects caused by high levels of damaged starch on product quality. More research needs to be done on bread quality combining these two enzymes. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Effects of different strains Penicillium nalgiovense in the Nalžovy cheese during ripening
Authors: Mrázek Josef , Pachlová Vendula , Buňka František , Černíková Michaela , Dráb Vladimír , Bejblová Martina , Staněk Karel , Buňková Leona 
Published: August 2015

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe present study examined the influence of eight selected strains of Penicillium nalgiovense as secondary culture on the ripening of soft mould cheese. Ion‐exchange chromatography, SDS‐PAGE and sensory analysis were used for comparison of P. nalgiovense with common secondary mould culture (Penicillium camemberti).RESULTSProteolytic activity was more intensive in the case of the strains of P. nalgiovense in comparison with the control strains of P. camemberti. Some differences in the proportion and amount of free amino acids were observed between the strains of P. nalgiovense during ripening. Lower proteolytic activity of P. nalgiovense was more desirable for sensory properties of cheese, especially in case sample N2.CONCLUSIONThis study provides information on the usability of selected strains of P. nalgiovense that could support the development of sensory properties of mould‐ripened soft cheese. The cheese with the culture N2 had the best flavour after 35 days of storage. Moreover, this strain showed the lowest bitterness in comparison with the other used P. nalgiovense cultures. The intensity of bitterness of sample N2 was comparable to that of the control sample with P. camemberti. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Inhibiting sorbent stripping by designing a sorbent‐packed porous probe for headspace solid‐phase microextraction
Authors: Qin Shuai , Tao Gu , Yunjie Huang , Shuangshuang Xu , Luyan Li , Hongyan Xiao 
Published: August 2015

To prevent the stripping of coating sorbents in headspace solid‐phase microextraction, a porous extraction probe with packed sorbent was introduced by using a porous stainless steel needle tube and homemade sol–gel sorbents. The traditional stainless‐steel needle tube was punched by a laser to obtain two rows of holes, which supply a passageway for analyte vapor during extraction and desorption. The sorbent was prepared by a traditional sol–gel method with both poly(ethylene glycol) and hydroxy‐terminated silicone oil as coating ingredients. Eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and six benzene series compounds were used as illustrative semi‐volatile and volatile organic compounds in sequence to verify the extraction performance of this porous headspace solid‐phase microextraction probe. It was found that the analysis method combining a headspace solid‐phase microextraction probe and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry yielded determination coefficients of no less than 0.985 and relative standard deviations of 4.3–12.4%. The porous headspace solid‐phase microextraction probe showed no decrease of extraction ability after 200 uses. These results demonstrate that the packed extraction probe with porous structure can be used for headspace solid‐phase microextraction. This novel design may overcome both the stripping and breakage problems of the conventional coating fiber.
Benefits Derived from Rehabilitating a Degraded Semi‐Arid Rangeland in Private Enclosures in West Pokot County, Kenya
Authors: Wairore John N. , Mureithi Stephen M. , Wasonga Oliver V. , Nyberg Gert 
Published: August 2015

AbstractRehabilitating degraded rangelands using enclosures offers various benefits to agro‐pastoral households. However, enclosure benefits cannot be generalized as there are variations across dryland ecosystems and societies. This study assessed the qualitative and quantitative benefits derived from rehabilitating degraded rangelands using private enclosures in Chepareria, West Pokot County, Kenya. Dry‐season grazing reserves, healthier livestock, improved livestock productivity, easier livestock management, food security, reduced animal losses, ecosystem services, land ownership, independence and improved standard of living were the main qualitative benefits from private enclosures identified. Quantitative benefits were manifested through various enclosure enterprise combinations, sale of enclosure marketable products and adoption of alternative income generating activities. They included the sale of livestock and livestock products, maize, wood cutting, grass cuttings, contractual grazing, grass seeds, poultry products, fruits and honey, amongst others. Livestock production directly accounts for 42·4% of the total enclosure income and is the main source of livelihood in Chepareria. There was a significant trend of increasing total enclosure income with enclosure acreage (p ≤ 0·05) while enclosure age was insignificant. Enclosures cushion households against climatic shocks such as drought by providing additional flexibility in land, fodder, livestock management and the uptake of various income generating activities. We conclude that enclosures have the potential of contributing to resilience as attested from the benefits reported in this study. However, private enclosure tradeoffs such income differentiation, reduced communal land and conflict have implications on how the ecological and socio‐economic aspects may be impacted as the establishment of private enclosures in Chepareria continues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Brassica epithionitrile 1‐cyano‐2,3‐epithiopropane triggers cell death in human liver cancer cells in vitro
Authors: Hanschen Franziska S. , Herz Corinna , Schlotz Nina , Kupke Franziska , Bartolomé Rodríguez María M. , Schreiner Monika , Rohn Sascha , Lamy Evelyn 
Published: August 2015

ScopeGlucosinolates are secondary metabolites present in Brassica vegetables. Alkenyl glucosinolates are enzymatically degraded forming nitriles or isothiocyanates, but in the presence of epithiospecifier protein, epithionitriles are released. However, studies on the occurrence of epithionitriles in Brassica food and knowledge about their biological effects are scarce.Methods and resultsEpithionitrile formation from glucosinolates of seven Brassica vegetables was analyzed using GC‐MS and HPLC‐DAD. Bioactivity of synthetic and plant‐derived 1‐cyano‐2,3‐epithiopropane (CETP) – the predominant epithionitrile in Brassica vegetables – in three human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and primary murine hepatocytes was also evaluated. The majority of the Brassica vegetables were producers of nitriles or epithionitriles as hydrolysis products and not of isothiocyanates. For example, Brussels sprouts and savoy cabbage contained up to 0.8 μmol CETP/g vegetable. Using formazan dye assays, concentrations of 380–1500 nM CETP were observed to inhibit the mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity of human HCC cells without impairment of cell growth. At 100‐fold higher CETP concentrations, cell death was observed. Presence of plant matrix increased CETP‐based toxicity.ConclusionThese in vitro data provide no indication that epithionitriles will severely affect human health by Brassica consumption. In contrast to isothiocyanates, no evidence of selective toxicity against HCC cells was found.
Sparse grids‐based stochastic approximations with applications to aerodynamics sensitivity analysis
Authors: Resmini A. , Peter J. , Lucor D. 
Published: August 2015

SummaryThis work compares sample‐based polynomial surrogates, well suited for moderately high‐dimensional stochastic problems. In particular, generalized polynomial chaos in its sparse pseudospectral form and stochastic collocation methods based on both isotropic and dimension‐adapted sparse grids are considered. Both classes of approximations are compared, and an improved version of a stochastic collocation with dimension adaptivity driven by global sensitivity analysis is proposed. The stochastic approximations efficiency is assessed on multivariate test function and airfoil aerodynamics simulations. The latter study addresses the probabilistic characterization of global aerodynamic coefficients derived from viscous subsonic steady flow about a NACA0015 airfoil in the presence of geometrical and operational uncertainties with both simplified aerodynamics model and Reynolds‐Averaged Navier‐Stokes (RANS) simulation. Sparse pseudospectral and collocation approximations exhibit similar level of performance for isotropic sparse simulation ensembles. Computational savings and accuracy gain of the proposed adaptive stochastic collocation driven by Sobol' indices are patent but remain problem‐dependent. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The risk of acute liver injury among users of antibiotic medications: a comparison of case‐only studies.
Authors: Brauer Ruth , Ruigómez Ana , Klungel Olaf , Reynolds Robert , Feudjo Tepie Maurille , Smeeth Liam , Douglas Ian 
Published: August 2015

AbstractPurposeThe aims of this study were two‐fold: (i) to investigate the effect of exposure to antibiotic agents on the risk of acute liver injury using a self‐controlled case series and case‐crossover study and (ii) to compare the results between the case‐only studies.MethodsFor the self‐controlled case series study relative incidence ratios (IRR) were calculated by dividing the rate of acute liver injury experienced during patients' periods of exposure to antibiotics to patients' rate of events during non‐exposed time using conditional Poisson regression. For the case‐crossover analysis we calculated Odds Ratios (OR) using conditional logistic regression by comparing exposure during 14‐ and 30‐day risk windows with exposure during control moments.ResultsUsing the self‐controlled case series approach, the IRR was highest during the first 7 days after receipt of a prescription (10.01, 95% CI 6.59–15.18). Omitting post‐exposure washout periods lowered the IRR to 7.2. The highest estimate in the case‐crossover analysis was found when two 30‐day control periods 1 year prior to the 30‐day ALI risk period were retained in the analysis: OR = 6.5 (95% CI, 3.95–10.71). The lowest estimate was found when exposure in the 14‐day risk period was compared to exposure in four consecutive 14‐day control periods immediately prior to the risk period (OR = 3.05, 95% CI, 2.06–4.53).ConclusionAn increased relative risk of acute liver injury was consistently observed using both self‐controlled case series and case‐crossover designs. Case‐only designs can be used as a viable alternative study design to study the risk of acute liver injury, albeit with some limitations. © 2015 The Authors Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Solar Radiation and Air and Ground Temperature Relations in the Cold and Hyper‐Arid Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica
Authors: Lacelle Denis , Lapalme Caitlin , Davila Alfonso F. , Pollard Wayne , Marinova Margarita , Heldmann Jennifer , McKay Christopher P. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThis study compares the relations between solar radiation and air and ground temperatures in the Quartermain Mountains of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica with those in ice‐free Victoria Land and Arctic Canada. The surface offset is near 0°C at all sites in the Quartermain Mountains and other sites in coastal Victoria Land, whereas the thermal offset is near 0°C at shallow ice table depths (< 20 cm) and near 1°C for ice tables deeper than the depth of diurnal temperature variation. The surface and thermal offsets in Victoria Land differ markedly from those in Arctic Canada, which are generally characterised by a positive surface offset and a negative thermal offset. These important differences highlight the effects of a lack of vegetation, surface organic layer, snow cover and moisture content in near‐surface soils on the direction and magnitude of surface and thermal offsets. Summer ground surface temperatures in the Quartermain Mountains correlate strongly with incoming solar radiation. Based on measured ground surface temperatures and modelled potential incoming solar radiation, two zones with distinct ground surface temperatures are defined in the Quartermain Mountains: (i) perennially cryotic zones (PCZs) characterised by ground surface temperatures always below 0°C; and (ii) seasonally non‐cryotic zones (NCZs) characterised by ground surface temperatures > 0°C for at least a few hours. Soils in the PCZs experience water exchange through vapour diffusion, whereas soils in the NCZs contain features associated with liquid water activity, such as increased soil moisture and frozen ponds recharged by snow/glacier meltwater. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Some security results of the RC4+ stream cipher
Authors: Banik Subhadeep , Jha Sonu 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe RC4+ stream cipher was proposed as an alternative to the well known RC4 stream cipher. It was claimed by the authors that this new stream cipher was designed to overcome all the weaknesses reported against the alleged RC4 stream cipher. In the design specifications of RC4+, the authors make use of an 8‐bit design parameter called pad that is fixed to the value 0xAA. The first distinguishing attack on RC4+ based on the bias of its first output byte was shown in a previous paper. In this paper, it was also mentioned that the distinguishing attack would still hold if the pad used in RC4+ is fixed to any even 8‐bit constant other than 0xAA. Therefore, the question that naturally arises is whether the design of RC4+ can be protected by fixing the pad parameter to some constant odd value. In this paper, we try to answer this very question. We show that the design is still vulnerable by mounting a distinguishing attack even if the pad is fixed to some constant 8‐bit odd value. Surprisingly, we find that if the value of the pad is made equal to 0x03, the design provides maximum resistance to distinguishing attacks. Lastly, we return to the original cipher, that is, in which pad is set to 0xAA and unearth another bias in the second output byte of the cipher. Thereafter, we will present a generalized way of finding biases in every M‐th output byte (M≥3) of RC4+, that is, ZM, based on the Hamming weight of m ≡ MmodN. Finally, we improve the differential fault attack on RC4+ proposed in a previous paper, both in terms of number of faults required and the computational complexity. In fact, we reduce the number of faults by around 11264 on average, and our algorithm is around 26 times faster. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A new method for proportioning recycled concrete
Authors: Gupta Pramod K. , Khaudhair Ziyad A. , Ahuja Ashok K. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractA new modified mix proportioning method for producing normal‐strength concrete using recycled concrete aggregate, called the equivalent coarse aggregate mass (ECAM) method, is proposed in this paper. The basic concepts of the proposed method with calculations for mix design are presented by designing 14 mixes and testing 99 concrete samples (57 cubes and 42 cylinders). Experimental work was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, an experimental programme was conducted to verify the proposed mix design method by studying a single parameter – uniaxial compressive strength. Five different mixes with initial 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % replacement by mass were designed, cast and tested in this phase. It was concluded from the first phase that the proposed method can be adopted for designing the recycled concrete up to a nominal replacement ratio of 50 %. Accordingly, the second phase of experimental study was carried out to design three different grades of concrete strength using the proposed method to investigate the mechanical properties of the recycled concrete. Seven different mechanical properties – compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, Schmidt hammer test, ultrasonic pulse velocity test, fresh density and hardened density – were investigated and are presented and discussed here.
Yeast Kluyveromyces lactis as host for expression of the bacterial lipase: cloning and adaptation of the new lipase gene from Serratia sp.
Authors: Šiekštelė Rimantas , Veteikytė Aušra , Tvaska Bronius , Matijošytė Inga 
Published: August 2015

Abstract
Many microbial lipases have been successfully expressed in yeasts, but not in industrially attractive Kluyveromyces lactis, which among other benefits can be cultivated on a medium supplemented with whey––cheap and easily available industrial waste. A new bacterial lipase from Serratia sp. was isolated and for the first time expressed into the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis by heterologous protein expression system based on a strong promoter of Kluyveromyces marxianus triosephosphate isomerase gene and signal peptide of Kluyveromyces marxianus endopolygalacturonase gene. In addition, the bacterial lipase gene was synthesized de novo by taking into account a codon usage bias optimal for K. lactis and was expressed into the yeast K. lactis also. Both resulting strains were characterized by high output level of the target protein secreted extracellularly. Secreted lipases were characterized for activity and stability.
Exploration of Male Attitudes on Partnerships and Sexuality with Female BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers
Authors: Mauer Caitlin , Spencer Sara , Dungan Jeffery , Hurley Karen 
Published: August 2015

AbstractWomen with BRCA mutations are inundated with decisions about managing cancer risks and childbearing considerations. Decisions become more complicated when women face disclosing their mutation and risk‐reduction options to a romantic partner. This study identifies the concerns and perspectives of male romantic partners regarding these unique decisions. Twenty‐five male participants completed an online survey posted to cancer support group message boards. Participants reported relationship changes regarding intimacy levels (n = 9), attraction (n = 2), and communication (n = 22) after mutation disclosure. Participants whose partners had not undergone prophylactic mastectomy (n = 14) reported concerns regarding sexual relations (n = 5), post‐surgical appearance (n = 2), post‐surgical attraction (n = 5), and health/lifespan (n = 9). Participants did not express attitude changes toward childbearing. While mutation disclosure conversations and surgical options are concerns for many BRCA mutation carriers in relationships, male partners share these concerns. Aspects of the relationship may change, but male study participants continued to support their partners. This information can benefit female BRCA mutation carriers, their current or future partners, and genetic counselors working with this particular population.
Academic dishonesty amongst Australian criminal justice and policing university students: individual and contextual factors
Authors: Eriksson Li , McGee Tara Renae 
Published: August 2015

Abstract
Over the past few decades, a body of research has developed examining the academic dishonesty of university and college students. While research has explored academic dishonesty amongst American criminal justice and policing students, no research has specifically focused on investigating the dynamics and correlates of academic dishonesty amongst Australian criminology students. This study drew upon data obtained from a survey of 79 undergraduate criminal justice and policing students studying at an Australian university. Overall, the results suggest that male gender, viewing academic dishonesty as less serious and holding justifications for engaging in this type of behaviour were significant predictors of self-reported academic dishonesty. The findings suggest that more proactive strategies need to be implemented by universities to prevent student involvement in academic dishonesty.