bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Molecular epidemiology of JCV genotypes in patients and healthy subjects from Northern Italy
Authors: Zanotta Nunzia , Delbue Serena , Rossi Tatiana , Pelos Giorgio , D'Agaro Pierlanfranco , Monasta Lorenzo , Ferrante Pasquale , Comar Manola 
Published: May 2013

AbstractVery little is known about JCV infection and genotype distribution with respect to the different demographic and clinical characteristics of the Italian population. A cross‐sectional study was carried out on the prevalence of JCV genotypes in 323 Caucasian subjects (mean age: 37.5 years, range: 2–70 years). Urine samples from 200 immunocompromised patients, including patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), colon cancer, inflammatory diseases and Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), and 123 immunocompetent individuals were tested by quantitative real time PCR. Sequencing of the JCV viral protein 1 (VP1) and transcriptional control region (TCR) was performed. In this series, the overall prevalence of JCV excretion was 32.8% without significant differences between males and females. JCV was detected in 39.5% of patients and in 22% of healthy individuals (P = 0.004). The most prevalent JCV genotype excreted was genotype 1 (69.8%), followed by genotype 2 (22.6%) and genotype 4 (7.5%). Distribution of genotypes between patients and healthy subjects showed a statistically significant difference for the type 1 compared to the other variants (P < 0.01). Of note, JCV genotype 2 was found to be associated to young patients (P = 0.0001) and to patients treated with immunomodulator drugs (P = 0.0001), but not to PML subjects. The non‐pathogenic archetype IIS (singular, insert) form was present in all JCV strains detected. This result allows to hypothesize a possible JCV genotype selection in response to pressure by immunomodulatory drugs. J. Med. Virol. 85:1286–1292, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Serum apolipoprotein B‐100 concentration predicts the virological response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy in patients infected with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1b
Authors: Yoshizawa Kai , Abe Hiroshi , Aida Yuta , Ishiguro Haruya , Ika Makiko , Shimada Noritomo , Tsubota Akihito , Aizawa Yoshio 
Published: May 2013

AbstractHost lipoprotein metabolism is associated closely with the life cycle of hepatitis C virus (HCV), and serum lipid profiles have been linked to the response to pegylated interferon (Peg‐IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) therapy. Polymorphisms in the human IL28B gene and amino acid substitutions in the core and interferon sensitivity‐determining region (ISDR) in NS5A of HCV genotype 1b (G1b) were also shown to strongly affect the outcome of Peg‐IFN plus RBV therapy. In this study, an observational cohort study was performed in 247 HCV G1b‐infected patients to investigate whether the response to Peg‐IFN and RBV combination therapy in these patients is independently associated with the level of lipid factors, especially apolipoprotein B‐100 (apoB‐100), an obligatory structural component of very low density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein. The multivariate logistic analysis subsequently identified apoB‐100 (odds ratio (OR), 1.602; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.046–2.456), alpha‐fetoprotein (OR, 0.764; 95% CI, 0.610–0.958), non‐wild‐type ISDR (OR, 5.617; 95% CI, 1.274–24.754), and the rs8099917 major genotype (OR, 34.188; 95% CI, 10.225–114.308) as independent factors affecting rapid initial virological response (decline in HCV RNA levels by ≥3‐log10 at week 4). While lipid factors were not independent predictors of complete early or sustained virological response, the serum apoB‐100 level was an independent factor for sustained virological response in patients carrying the rs8099917 hetero/minor genotype. Together, we conclude that serum apoB‐100 concentrations could predict virological response to Peg‐IFN plus RBV combination therapy in patients infected with HCV G1b, especially in those with the rs8099917 hetero/minor genotype. J. Med. Virol. 85:1180–1190, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Epidemiological and molecular analyses of a non‐seasonal outbreak of acute icteric hepatitis E in Bangladesh
Authors: Harun‐Or‐Rashid Mohammad , Akbar Sheikh Mohammad Fazle , Takahashi Kazuaki , Al‐Mahtab Mamun , Khan Mohammad Sakirul Islam , Alim Mohammad Abdul , Ekram A. R. M. Saifuddin , Khan Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman , Arai Masahiro , Mishiro Shunji 
Published: May 2013

AbstractAcute hepatitis due to hepatitis E virus (HEV) is endemic in Bangladesh, but its epidemiological characteristics and virological features remain obscure. An outbreak of acute icteric hepatitis E occurred in Rajshahi, Bangladesh during 2010 when 200 patients with visible jaundice visited physicians within a period of 1 month (January–February). Clinical and epidemiological data were collected from these patients using questionnaires. Nucleic acids were isolated from 15 patients who were selected at random to ascertain their HEV genotypes. Near‐complete nucleotide sequences of the HEV genome were detected in two patients and partial ORF2 regions in the other 13 patients. All patients tested positive for IgM antibodies to HEV but negative for other hepatitis viruses. Most patients were icteric and complained of vomiting, fever, itching, and abdominal pain. All 15 HEV sequences formed a single cluster within genotype 1a. Two of the 7,186‐nt HEV sequences were 99.8% identical. This is the first study to report the clinical, epidemiological, and molecular characterization of an outbreak of acute hepatitis E in Bangladesh. J. Med. Virol. 85:1369–1376, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Crucial Role of Diffusional Limitations in Controlled Radical Polymerization
Authors: D'hooge Dagmar R. , Reyniers Marie‐Françoise , Marin Guy B. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe importance of diffusional limitations in controlled radical polymerization at laboratory scale and in homogeneous medium is highlighted using different diffusion models. In particular, a coupled ‘parallel’ encounter pair model is introduced which allows a rigorous description of the influence of diffusional limitations on the activation/deactivation process. Diffusional limitations on termination have a significant influence, whereas those on the activation/deactivation process can disturb the regular growth pattern at high conversion if the mediating agent is a sufficiently bulky species. Diffusional limitations on initiation are only important in case radical initiator is still present at high conversion.
Temperature responsive copolymers of N‐vinylcaprolactam and di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate and their interactions with drugs
Authors: Zuber Stefanie , Landfester Katharina , Crespy Daniel , Popa Ana‐Maria 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTPoly(N‐vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) and poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (POEGMA) are well known for their thermoresponsive behavior in aqueous solutions. Indeed, they display lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) in the physiological range, which makes them interesting for biomedical devices and use in drug delivery systems. Homopolymers of N‐vinylcaprolactam and di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate as well as copolymers thereof were synthesized by solution and direct miniemulsion polymerizations. The cloud points of the copolymers in aqueous solution were investigated as a function of temperature, comonomer ratio, and in the presence of model pharmaceutical ingredients. By variation of the comonomer ratio, it was possible to control the cloud point temperature between 26 and 35 °C, which was found to be beneficial to attenuate the effect of the drugs that also altered the cloud points. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3308–3313
Viscoelastic phase diagram of fluorinated and grafted polymer films and proton‐exchange membranes for fuel cell applications
Authors: Leterrier Yves , Thivolle Jérémy , Oliveira Fabiane , Månson Jan‐Anders , Gubler Lorenz , Ben youcef Hicham , Bonorand Lukas , Scherer Günther 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTThe influence of temperature and moisture activity on the viscoelastic behavior of fluorinated membranes for fuel cell applications was investigated. Uncrosslinked and crosslinked ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE)‐based proton‐conducting membranes were prepared by radiation grafting and subsequent sulfonation and their behavior was compared with ETFE base film and commercial Nafion® NR212 membrane. Uniaxial tensile tests and stress relaxation tests at controlled temperature and relative humidity (RH) were carried out at 30 and 50 °C for 10% < RH < 90%. Grafted films were stiffer and exhibited stronger strain hardening when compared with ETFE. Similarly, both uncrosslinked and crosslinked membranes were stiffer and stronger than Nafion®. Yield stress was found to decrease and moisture sensitivity to increase on sulfonation. The viscoelastic relaxation of the grafted films was found to obey a power‐law behavior with exponent equal to −0.04 ± 0.01, a factor of almost 2 lower than ETFE, weakly influenced by moisture and temperature. Moreover, the grafted films presented a higher hygrothermal stability when compared with their membranes counterparts. In the case of membranes, a power‐law behavior at RH < 60% was also observed. However, a markedly different behavior was evident at RH > 60%, with an almost single relaxation time exponential. An exponential decrease of relaxation time with RH from 60 s to 10 s was obtained at RH ≥ 70% and 30 °C. The general behavior of grafted films observed at 30 °C was also obtained at 50 °C. However, an anomalous result was noticed for the membranes, with a higher modulus at 50 °C when compared with 30 °C. This behavior was explained by solvation of the sulfonic acid groups by water absorption creating hydrogen bonding within the clusters. A viscoelastic phase diagram was elaborated to map critical conditions (temperature and RH) for transitions in time‐dependent behavior, from power‐law scaling to exponential scaling. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2013, 51, 1139–1148
Recent advances in the use of the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation for the study of the collapse of polyelectrolyte brushes
Authors: Moya Sergio Enrique , Irigoyen Joseba 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTThe combination of Quartz Crystal Microbalance and ellipsometry to quantify polyelectrolyte brush hydration and how this impacts on the study of brush collapse is discussed here. Recent articles study collapse after quantifying hydration of poly (2‐methacryloyloxy ethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) (PMETAC) and poly(potassium sulfo propyl methacrylate). Water lost increases with ionic strength but only a 50% of their water content is lost at 1 M NaCl. For PMETAC brushes the exchange of Cl− by ClO4− is more effective, causing 50% lost at 0.05 M. The hydration and water lost for PMETAC brushes synthesized from thiol monolayers with variable density of initiators from 1 to 100% show that the freely entrapped water of the brushes is around a 10%. Irrespectively of initiator percentage the brush does not lose at 1 M NaCl more than 50% of the original water content. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2013, 51, 1068–1072
Ferumoxytol (Rienso): new intravenous iron preparation
Authors: Chaplin Steve , Brookes Matthew 
Published: May 2013

AbstractFerumoxytol (Rienso) is a new intravenous iron formulation for the treatment of iron‐deficiency anaemia in chronic kidney disease. In our New products review, Steve Chaplin presents the clinical data relating to its efficacy and adverse events and Dr Matthew Brookes discusses its place in the treatment of iron‐deficiency anaemia.
The ‘Stayers’: Dynamics of Lifelong Sedentary Behaviour in an Urban Context
Authors: Hjälm Anna 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTMigration has, over the years, attracted infinitely more attention than non‐migration or staying. In this paper, the focus is set on those individuals who have demonstrated lifelong sedentary behaviour. The aim of the study is to scrutinise the ways in which people who have lived their entire life in the same place make sense of their sedentary, or immobile, lifestyle. The study builds upon semi‐structured interviews, conducted in 2011–2012, with persons aged 60 years and older who were living in an urban area in northern Sweden. Initially, the different definitions of staying are highlighted by the informants, and the flexibility of the concept is addressed. The findings indicate that even though reasons for staying might be harder to articulate than reasons for migration, the explanations given are still complex and multi‐layered. The findings also suggest that the decision to stay is not a choice made once and then never renegotiated but rather a decision made over and over again. Furthermore, the significance of intertwined lives, both with living relatives and with preceding and following generations, is analysed. Finally, the results from the study challenge earlier pictures of stayers – where they were portrayed as stigmatised – and highlight the need to consider staying, as well as moving, as a conscious choice in order that we may gain a better understanding of the dynamics of staying. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sintering without grain growth for Mg2Si thermoelectric devices
Authors: Nakamura Shigeyuki , Mori Yoshihisa , Takarabe Ken'ichi 
Published: May 2013

AbstractMg2Si is expected as a candidate for environmental‐friendly material of a thermoelectric device. Nano‐crystallization is considered to be one of the most effective approaches to improve thermoelectric property. If grain grows up during sintering, we are afraid not to obtain nano‐effect. We have, therefore, investigated grain growth during sintering. We have found that grain growth is not observed if particle size distribution of starting powder is relatively uniform. On the contrary, grain growth is observed if it is relatively not uniform. We have concluded this may be due to un‐uniformly distributed current during sintering. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Forecast sensitivity to observations in the Met Office Global numerical weather prediction system
Authors: Lorenc Andrew C. , Marriott Richard T. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractAn adjoint‐based method for calculating the impacts of observations in the Met Office's global four‐dimensional variational assimilation (4D‐Var) system is documented. Our approach is novel, as we seek from the outset a linearized approximation to partition the finite impact from a batch of observations, but our method and results are very similar to those of other systems. The large beneficial impacts measured for satellite radiances and radiosonde soundings in our system are interesting results. We also identify areas for potential improvement, such as the assimilation of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric satellite radio occultation (GPSRO) observations, polar atmospheric motion vectors and tropical cyclone (TC) bogus observations synthesized automatically from tropical cyclone warning centre advisory messages.We use a toy model to explain why only just over 50% of observations improve the forecast. Growing modes, observational errors and errors in the verifying forecast contribute approximately equally and we suggest that our necessarily imperfect knowledge of background‐error statistics also contributes.
Impact of anthropogenic heat emissions on London's temperatures
Authors: Bohnenstengel S. I. , Hamilton I. , Davies M. , Belcher S. E. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractWe investigate the role of the anthropogenic heat flux on the urban heat island of London. To do this, the time‐varying anthropogenic heat flux is added to an urban surface‐energy balance parametrization, the Met Office–Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme (MORUSES), implemented in a 1 km resolution version of the UK Met Office Unified Model. The anthropogenic heat flux is derived from energy‐demand data for London and is specified on the model's 1 km grid; it includes variations on diurnal and seasonal time‐scales. We contrast a spring case with a winter case, to illustrate the effects of the larger anthropogenic heat flux in winter and the different roles played by thermodynamics in the different seasons. The surface‐energy balance channels the anthropogenic heat into heating the urban surface, which warms slowly because of the large heat capacity of the urban surface. About one third of this additional warming goes into increasing the outgoing long‐wave radiation and only about two thirds goes into increasing the sensible heat flux that warms the atmosphere. The anthropogenic heat flux has a larger effect on screen‐level temperatures in the winter case, partly because the anthropogenic flux is larger then and partly because the boundary layer is shallower in winter. For the specific winter case studied here, the anthropogenic heat flux maintains a well‐mixed boundary layer through the whole night over London, whereas the surrounding rural boundary layer becomes strongly stably stratified. This finding is likely to have important implications for air quality in winter. On the whole, inclusion of the anthropogenic heat flux improves the comparison between model simulations and measurements of screen‐level temperature slightly and indicates that the anthropogenic heat flux is beginning to be an important factor in the London urban heat island.
Analysis of the annual cycle of the precipitable water vapour over Spain from 10‐year homogenized series of GPS data
Authors: Ortiz de Galisteo J. P. , Bennouna Y. , Toledano C. , Cachorro V. , Romero P. , Andrés M. I. , Torres B. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThis study reports the characteristics of precipitable water vapour (PWV) at ten sites over Spain from 10 yr of hourly data from ground‐based global positioning system (GPS) receivers. The PWV data series from the GPS sites was inhomogeneous owing to a change in calibration procedure for variations of the antenna phase centre in November 2006. Radiosonde data therefore were used to homogenize the GPS data series and to assess the quality of the GPS measurements. The annual average value of PWV ranges from 14.5 to 20.0 mm, with an average of 18.3 ± 1.9 mm for Spain as a whole. The highest values are registered at sites on the coast, especially on the Mediterranean coast, and lowest values were at inland sites. The PWV presents a clear annual cycle, with a minimum in winter and maximum at the end of the summer. However, the southwestern sites present a relative minimum in July. This minimum seems to be related with the presence of drier air masses in the atmospheric layers between 1 and 4 km altitude. The amplitude of the cycle ranges from 8.9 to 18.7 mm. The largest amplitudes are found at the Mediterranean coastal sites (approximately 15–19 mm) and the lowest found at inland sites (approximately 9–10 mm). A harmonic analysis of the annual cycle showed that the 12 month harmonic explains, on average, over 96% of the variance. The average annual regime of PWV followed the cycle of the temperature, except for the relative minimum of PWV in July at the southwestern sites.
A global shallow‐water model on an icosahedral–hexagonal grid by a multi‐moment constrained finite‐volume scheme
Authors: Chen Chungang , Bin Juzhong , Xiao Feng , Li Xingliang , Shen Xueshun 
Published: May 2013

AbstractA third‐order global shallow‐water model was developed on an icosahedral–hexagonal grid with the application of the multi‐moment constrained finite‐volume (MCV) method. Using the hexagonal grid, the sphere is divided into quasi‐uniform elements and free of polar problems. The MCV model defines seven degrees of freedom (DOFs) as the prognostic variables which are the point values at the six vertices and the centre for each hexagonal element to construct a third‐order scheme. The time evolution equations to update the DOFs are derived through the constraint conditions on different moments, i.e. the point value and the volume‐integrated average (VIA) moments. Rigorous conservation is guaranteed by the constraint on the VIA through a flux form. The MCV formulation is very simple and easy to implement. We evaluated the model with benchmark tests, and the competitive results reveal the proposed model to be an accurate and practical framework for developing general circulation models.
Derivative‐free optimization for large‐scale nonlinear data assimilation problems
Authors: Gratton S. , Laloyaux P. , Sartenaer A. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe computation of derivatives and the development of tangent and adjoint codes represent a challenging issue and a major human time‐consuming task when solving operational data assimilation problems. The ensemble Kalman filter provides a suitable derivative‐free adaptation for the sequential approach by using an ensemble‐based implementation of the Kalman filter equations. This article proposes a derivative‐free variant for the variational approach, based on an iterative subspace minimization (ISM) technique. At each iteration, a subspace of low dimension is built from the relevant information contained in the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs), allowing us to define a reduced 4D‐Var subproblem which is then solved using a derivative‐free optimization (DFO) algorithm. Strategies to improve the quality of the selected subspaces are presented, together with two numerical illustrations. The ISM technique is first compared with a basic stochastic ensemble Kalman filter on an academic shallow‐water problem. The DFO algorithm embedded in the ISM technique is then validated in the NEMO framework, using its GYRE configuration.
Composite life cycle of tropical mesoscale convective systems from geostationary and low Earth orbit satellite observations: method and sampling considerations
Authors: Fiolleau Thomas , Roca Rémy 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe ability of the current and upcoming space‐borne microwave observing systems to document precipitation processes during the life cycle of tropical convective systems is investigated with emphasis on sampling considerations. A composite technique is introduced that will serve as a Day 1 algorithm for the Megha‐Tropiques mission. It is exemplified using the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite observations from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) instrument and the fleet of operational geostationary infrared images for the boreal summer 2009 over the whole intertropical belt. At the system scale, over both land and oceanic regions, rainfall is overall strong at the beginning (the first third) of the life cycle and then smoothly decreases as the system shrinks and dissipates. Larger rain yields are observed for the land systems (∼6 mm h−1 maximum) compared to the systems over ocean (∼4 mm h−1 maximum). An in‐depth analysis of the sensitivity of the results to various aspects of the sampling is performed using simulated observations. The benefit of using various platforms is discussed, including considerations of constellation configuration. The entire Tropics as well as regional scales are explored, revealing the expected improvements from the inclusion of the Megha‐Tropiques observations. The sampling results are also strongly supportive of the use of multiple‐platform microwave observations from the upcoming Global Precipitation Mission constellation to build a mesoscale convective system precipitation composite life cycle, although the merging of the parameters derived from various resolution radiometers would deserve further investigations. Copyright © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society