bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mechanical properties study of micro‐ and nano‐hydroxyapatite reinforced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites
Authors: Kang Xueqin , Zhang Wei , Yang Chunmin 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTThis is a comparative study between ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced with micro‐ and nano‐hydroxyapatite (HA) under different filler content. The micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites were prepared by hot‐pressing method, and then compression strength, ball indentation hardness, creep resistance, friction, and wear properties were investigated. To explore mechanisms of these properties, differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectrum, wettability, and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry analysis were carried out on the samples. The results demonstrated that UHMWPE reinforced with micro‐ and nano‐HA would improve the ball indentation hardness, compression strength, creep resistance, wettability, and wear behavior. The mechanical properties for both micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites were comparable with pure UHMWPE. The mechanical properties of nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites are better compared with micro‐HA/UHMWPE composites and pure UHMWPE. The optimum filler quantity of micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites is found to be at 15 wt % and 10 wt %, separately. The micro‐ and nano‐HA/UHMWPE composites exhibit a low friction coefficient and good wear resistance at this content. The worn surface of HA/UHMWPE composites shows the wear mechanisms changed from furrow and scratch to surface rupture and delamination when the weight percent of micro‐ and nano‐HA exceed 15 wt % and 10 wt %. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42869.
Improved dielectric performance of polypropylene/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites by solid‐phase orientation
Authors: Lin Xiang , Tian Jie‐Wei , Hu Peng‐Hao , Ambardekar Rohan , Thompson Glen , Dang Zhi‐Min , Coates Phil 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTBy means of a die‐drawing technique in the rubbery state, the effect of the orientation of the microstructure on the dielectric properties of polypropylene (PP)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites was examined in this study. The viscoelastic behavior of the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites with MWCNT weight loadings ranging from 0.25 to 5 wt % and the dielectric performance of the stretched PP/MWCNT nanocomposites at different drawing speeds and drawing ratios were studied to obtain insight into the influences of the dispersion and orientation state of the MWCNTs and matrix molecular chains. A viscosity decrease (ca. 30%) of the PP/MWCNT‐0.25 wt % (weight loading) melt was obviously due to the free volume effect. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction were adopted to detect the orientation structure and the variation of crystal morphology of the PP/MWCNTs. Melting plateau regions, which indicated the mixed crystallization morphology for the stretched samples, were found in the DSC patterns instead of a single‐peak for the unstretched samples. We found that the uniaxial stretching process broke the conductive MWCNT networks and consequently increased the orientation of MWCNTs and molecular chains along the tensile force direction; this led to an improvement in the dielectric performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42893.
Development of thermally conductive polymer matrix composites by foaming‐assisted networking of micron‐ and submicron‐scale hexagonal boron nitride
Authors: Ding Hao , Guo Yanting , Leung Siu Ning 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTThermally conductive polymer matrix composite (PMC) foams with effective thermal conductivities (keff) higher than their solid counterparts have been developed for the first time. Using a material system consists of low density polyethylene and micron‐scale or submicron‐scale hexagon boron nitride platelets as a case example, this article demonstrates that foaming‐assisted filler networking is a feasible processing strategy to enhance PMC's keff, especially at a low hBN loading. Parametric studies were conducted to identify the structure‐to‐property relationships between foam morphology (e.g., cell population density, cell size, and foam expansion) and the PMC foam's keff. In particular, there exists an optimal cell size to maximize the PMC foam's keff for foams with up to 50% volume expansion. However, an optimal cell size is absent for PMC foams with higher volume expansion. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analyses reveal that both the presence of hBN platelets and foam expansion promoted the crystallization of LDPE phase. Moreover, the XRD spectra also provide evidence for the effect of foam expansion on the orientation of hBN platelets. Overall, the findings provide new directions to design and fabricate thermally conductive PMC foams with low filler contents for heat management applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42910.
Maternal asthma medication use during pregnancy and risk of congenital heart defects
Authors: Van Zutphen Alissa R. , Bell Erin M. , Browne Marilyn L. , Lin Shao , Lin Angela E. , Druschel Charlotte M. ,   for the National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Published: September 2015

BackgroundAsthma affects 4% to 8% of pregnant women and studies suggest maternal asthma, particularly when uncontrolled, may be associated with adverse reproductive outcomes.MethodsWe examined self‐reported asthma medication use and the risk of congenital heart defects (CHD) in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multi‐center, population‐based case–control study of selected major structural defects. We evaluated maternal use of bronchodilators and anti‐inflammatories during the periconceptional period (1 month before conception through the first 3 pregnancy months) among 7638 infants with CHDs and 8106 nonmalformed controls with estimated delivery dates from 1997 to 2007. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for 20 types of CHDs.ResultsAmong asthma medications reported during the periconceptional period among controls, albuterol accounted for 85.1% of all bronchodilator use, and fluticasone, prednisone, and montelukast accounted for 46.1%, 15.6%, and 14.9% of anti‐inflammatory use, respectively. Of the women who reported bronchodilators during the periconceptional period, 71.1% reported use throughout pregnancy and only 29.4% reported concurrent use of an anti‐inflammatory. We observed one statistically significant association between maternal bronchodilator use only and anomalous pulmonary venous return (odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.1–4.8) among numerous comparisons.ConclusionWe did not observe statistically significant associations between the reported use of asthma medications during pregnancy and most specific types of CHDs. Despite limitations in our inability to evaluate asthma status and severity, our study suggests that maternal asthma medication use does not substantially, if at all, increase the risk of CHDs. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 103:951–961, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Success rates for consent and collection of prenatal biological specimens in an epidemiologic survey of child health
Authors: Abdul‐Rahman Omar A. , Rodriguez Beatriz , Wadlinger Sandra R. , Slutsman Julia , Boyle Elizabeth B. , Merrill Lori S. , Botkin Jeffrey , Moye Jack 
Published: September 2015

BackgroundThe National Children's Study (NCS) Vanguard Study began enrollment in January 2009 as an initial pilot study for a planned large‐scale, longitudinal U.S. cohort study of the effect of environmental influences on child health and development, with biological and environmental sample collection conducted in seven locations from April 2009 to October 2010. We sought to determine rates of consent for, and success of collection of, maternal and paternal biospecimens before and during pregnancy in the NCS Vanguard Study.MethodsSamples of blood, saliva, vaginal swabs, urine, hair, and nails were collected before and during pregnancy. All specimens were sent to a central repository for processing, storage, and quality assessment.ResultsOf 780 pregnant women asked to consent to sample collection, 773 (>99%) agreed, and of 295 nonpregnant women, 292 (99%) agreed. Of 440 fathers asked to consent to sample collection, 435 (99%) agreed. Frequency of successful collection of biospecimens varied depending on sample and visit type. In descending order, the ranges over all visit types of the proportion of expected samples successfully collected from women were: urine, 92.5 to 95.7%; hair, 89.6 to 92.5%; vaginal swab, 84.2 to 88.5%; blood, 74.9 to 78.5%; 2‐day saliva, 65.8 to 81.6%; and nails, 76.4 to 76.7%. For fathers, rates were highest for urine (94.9%) and lowest for hair (63.0%).ConclusionHigh rates of consent for and collection of a wide variety of biospecimens can be achieved in prospective epidemiologic cohort studies of pregnant women. Ease of sample collection may be a primary factor influencing successful biospecimen collection. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:47–54, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Risk of severe hypoglycemia in sulfonylurea‐treated patients from diabetes centers in Germany/Austria: How big is the problem? Which patients are at risk?
Authors: Schloot Nanette C. , Haupt Axel , Schütt Morten , Badenhoop Klaus , Laimer Markus , Nicolay Claudia , Reaney Matthew , Fink Katharina , Holl Reinhard W. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractBackgroundWe investigated the rate of severe hypoglycemic events and confounding factors in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with sulfonylurea at specialized diabetes centers, documented in the German/Austrian DPV–Wiss database.MethodsData from 29 485 sulfonylurea‐treated patients were analyzed (median[IQR] age 70.8[62.2–77.8] years, diabetes duration 8.2[4.3–12.8] years). The primary objective was to estimate the event rate of severe hypoglycemia (requiring external help, causing unconsciousness/coma/convulsion and/or emergency hospitalization). Secondary objectives included exploration of confounding risk factors through group comparison and Poisson regression.ResultsSevere hypoglycemic events were reported in 826(2.8%) of all patients during their most recent year of sulfonylurea treatment. Of these, n = 531(1.8%) had coma, n = 501(1.7%) were hospitalized at least once. The adjusted event rate of severe hypoglycemia [95%CI] was 3.9[3.7–4.2] events/100 patient‐years (coma: 1.9[1.8–2.1]; hospitalization: 1.6[1.5–1.8]). Adjusted event rates by diabetes treatment were 6.7 (sulfonylurea + insulin), 4.9 (sulfonylurea + insulin + other OAD), 3.1 (sulfonylurea + other OAD) and 3.8 (sulfonylurea only). Patients with ≥1 severe event were older (p < 0.001) and had longer diabetes duration (p = 0.020) than patients without severe events. Participation in educational diabetes‐programs and indirect measures of insulin‐resistance (increased BMI, plasma‐triglycerides) were associated with fewer events (all p < 0.001). Impaired renal function was common (n = 3113 eGFR; ≤30 mL/min) and associated with an increased rate of severe events (≤30 mL/min: 7.7; 30‐60 mL/min: 4.8; >60 mL/min: 3.9).ConclusionsThese real‐life data showed a rate of severe hypoglycemia of 3.9/100 patient‐years in sulfonylurea‐treated patients from specialized diabetes centers. Higher risk was associated with known risk factors including lack of diabetes education, older age and decreased eGFR but also with lower BMI and lower triglyceride levels, suggesting that sulfonylurea treatment in those patients should be considered with caution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Yeast Elongator protein Elp1p does not undergo proteolytic processing in exponentially growing cells
Authors: Xu Hao , Bygdell Joakim , Wingsle Gunnar , Byström Anders S. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractIn eukaryotic organisms, Elongator is a six‐subunit protein complex required for the formation of 5‐carbamoylmethyl (ncm5) and 5‐methylcarboxymethyl (mcm5) side chains on uridines present at the wobble position (U34) of tRNA. The open reading frame encoding the largest Elongator subunit Elp1p has two in‐frame 5′ AUG methionine codons separated by 48 nucleotides. Here, we show that the second AUG acts as the start codon of translation. Furthermore, Elp1p was previously shown to exist in two major forms of which one was generated by proteolysis of full‐length Elp1p and this proteolytic cleavage was suggested to regulate Elongator complex activity. In this study, we found that the vacuolar protease Prb1p was responsible for the cleavage of Elp1p. The cleavage occurs between residues 203 (Lys) and 204 (Ala) as shown by amine reactive Tandem Mass Tag followed by LC‐MS/MS (liquid chromatography mass spectrometry) analysis. However, using a modified protein extraction procedure, including trichloroacetic acid, only full‐length Elp1p was observed, showing that truncation of Elp1p is an artifact occurring during protein extraction. Consequently, our results indicate that N‐terminal truncation of Elp1p is not likely to regulate Elongator complex activity.
Is Dominant‐Side Onset Associated With a Better Motor Compensation in Parkinson's Disease?
Authors: Ham Jee H. , Lee Jae J. , Kim Jae S. , Lee Phil H. , Sohn Young H. 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTIntroductionUnilateral onset and persistent asymmetry of motor signs are unique features of PD. The dominant hemisphere may have more efficient motor networks with greater neural reserve to cope with pathological changes. Therefore, this study compared dominant‐side onset and non‐dominant‐side onset PD to evaluate whether dominant‐side onset patients have greater neural reserve and fewer motor deficits despite similar pathological changes.MethodsWe included the data of 157 consecutive, de novo PD patients with documented right‐handedness who underwent dopamine transporter PET scans for an initial diagnostic workup. Among them, 118 patients with significant asymmetric motor deficits were selected for the analyses.ResultsDominant‐side patients (i.e., the majority of motor deficits on the right side) showed significantly fewer motor deficits (i.e., the part III score of the UPDRS) than non‐dominant‐side patients (18.0 ± 8.1 and 22.9 ± 10.1, respectively; P = 0.005). Other variables, including symptom duration and striatal dopaminergic activities, were similar between the two groups. A general linear model showed that this difference in motor deficits remained statistically significant after controlling for patient age, sex, symptom duration, and striatal dopaminergic activity in the posterior putamen (P = 0.013).ConclusionThese results suggest that dominant‐side patients have greater neural reserve, allowing them to better cope with PD‐related pathological changes (i.e., fewer motor deficits despite similar dopamine reduction) compared to non‐dominant‐side patients. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Minor hallucinations occur in drug‐naive Parkinson's disease patients, even from the premotor phase
Authors: Pagonabarraga Javier , Martinez‐Horta Saul , Fernández de Bobadilla Ramón , Pérez Jesús , Ribosa‐Nogué Roser , Marín Juan , Pascual‐Sedano Berta , García Carmen , Gironell Alexandre , Kulisevsky Jaime 
Published: September 2015

AbstractObjectivesThe description of minor hallucinatory phenomena (presence, passage hallucinations) has widened the spectrum of psychosis in Parkinson's disease (PD). Minor hallucinatory phenomena seem to antedate the development of more severe hallucinations. Early detection of minor hallucinations may be useful for screening patients with more severe endophenotypes. Motivated by the observation of “de novo,” drug‐naive PD patients reporting minor hallucinations, we aimed to prospectively identify “de novo” untreated PD patients experiencing hallucinatory phenomena, and to compare their clinico‐demographic characteristics with those of untreated PD patients without hallucinations and healthy controls.MethodsScreening and description of psychosis was assessed by the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale—Part I and a structured interview covering all types of psychotic phenomena reported in PD. Clinical, neuropsychological, and demographic data of PD patients with and without psychotic phenomena were compared with those of age‐ and education‐matched healthy controls.ResultsFifty drug‐naive, “de novo” PD patients and 100 controls were prospectively included. Minor hallucinations were experienced in 42% (21 of 50) PD patients and 5% controls (P < 0.0001). Coexistence of passage and presence hallucinations was the most common finding. Unexpectedly, 33.3% of patients with minor hallucinations manifested these as a pre‐motor symptom, starting 7 months to 8 years before first parkinsonian motor symptoms. The presence of minor hallucinations was significantly associated with presence of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.ConclusionsIn this first study to prospectively analyze the frequency of minor hallucinatory phenomena in incident, untreated PD patients, hallucinations appeared as a frequent early non‐motor symptom that may even predate the onset of parkinsonism. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
A wideband ultrathin low profile metamaterial microwave absorber
Authors: Sood Deepak , Tripathi C. C. 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTA novel design of wideband ultrathin, low profile metamaterial microwave absorber has been presented. The structure is composed of a periodic array of microstrip bend, like structure printed on metal backed FR4 dielectric substrate. The 10 dB absorption bandwidth from 8.60 to 12.35 GHz covering X‐band has been observed in simulation for normal incidence. The FWHM bandwidth of 5.72 GHz has been observed ranging from 8.07 to 13.79 GHz. The proposed design is low profile (unit cell size 0.16 λ0) and is ultrathin (λ0/18 thick at center frequency of 10.47 GHz). The designed absorber is fabricated and experimentally verified for normal and oblique incidence angles. The performance of the proposed absorber at different angles of polarization has also been investigated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2723–2728, 2015
Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch antenna for circularly polarized radiation and RF energy harvesting
Authors: Bernard Loo B. K. , Nasimuddin  , Alphones A. 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTA novel circularly polarized (CP) Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch antenna is proposed for RF energy harvesting. The antenna consists of a Teo‐shaped slotted‐circular‐patch and an aperture‐coupled feeding network. A Teo‐shaped slot is embedded at the center of a circular‐patch and its size and rotation are optimized for wide‐beam CP radiation. The antenna prototype shows the 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 100 MHz (2.4–2.5 GHz) with 10‐dB return loss bandwidth is 33% (1.89–2.66 GHz). The 3‐dB AR beamwidth is around 100° with gain more than 6.0 dBic across the desired band. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2752–2758, 2015
Wide‐locking range single‐injection divide‐by‐3 injection‐locked frequency divider
Authors: Jang Sheng‐Lyang , Lin Guan‐Yu 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTThis letter presents a wide‐locking range CMOS divide‐by‐3 injection‐locked frequency dividers (ILFD) using single‐ended injection signal. The fabricated 0.18 μm CMOS ÷3 ILFD uses cross‐coupled switching transistors, single‐injection MOSFET, and a dual‐resonance RLC resonator. The consumed power of the ÷3 ILFD core is 7.97 mW at the DC drain‐source voltage 0.76 V. At an external injected signal power Pinj = 0 dBm, the measured locking range is 2.97 GHz (25.25%) from 10.28 to 13.25 GHz and the operation range is 5.17 GHz (48.5%) from 8.08 to 13.25 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2720–2723, 2015
A decision support system based on wireless power metering for energy saving in smart buildings
Authors: Viani Federico 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTEnergy saving in smart buildings is addressed through an innovative approach based on game theory (GT). Starting from the measurement of the users’ consumptions performed with wireless smart meters interconnected to the appliances, the collected data are processed by a control unit to evaluate the optimal load profiles and to suggest to the users the most convenient schedule of appliances. This is yielded by mathematically solving a multiplayer game throughout GT principles. The objective is that of reaching the Nash equilibrium in which all the players are not interested in changing their situation/status (i.e., the appliance scheduling) as every deviation would be suboptimal. Results from numerical simulations are reported to assess the performance of the proposed GT‐based method, while preliminary experimental tests are performed to show the potentialities of the system in real conditions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2750–2752, 2015
Compact wideband bandpass filter using fish spear‐shaped multimode resonator
Authors: Jhariya Dharmendra , Azad Amit Ranjan , Mohan Akhilesh , Sinha Manoranjan 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTA compact wide‐band pass filter (BPF) with sharp band rejection characteristics and wide upper stopband is presented in this article. The proposed bandpass filter is designed using a fish spear‐shaped multimode resonator (MMR). This fish spear‐shaped MMR has four arms and have five resonant modes, out of which three are even modes and the remaining two modes are odd. These modes lie in the wide frequency spectrum and they are used to realize the wideband passband of the filter. These five modes are brought closer by optimizing the dimensions of fish spear‐shaped MMR to get the desired passband. To improve out‐of band performance, a stepped impedance resonator is added at the central plane. The proposed wideband BPF filter have fractional bandwidth better than 85%. Moreover, to verify the proposed concept the designed filter is fabricated and measured. The measured bandwidth of proposed filter is 6.82 GHz and is from 2.55 to 9.37 GHz with an insertion loss of 2 dB. The measured return loss of the filter is better than 10 dB in the entire designed wideband. Measured results are validated with the simulated results. The group delay variation is less than 0.25 ns. A wide stopband with 15 dB attenuation is extended up to 20 GHz is obtained. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2833–2837, 2015
Compact quad‐ and quint‐band BPFs based on multimode stub loaded resonators
Authors: Chen Lei , Wei Feng 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTA multimode stub loaded resonator (SLR) is presented in this article. The proposed SLR can introduce four or five narrow passbands and has great flexibility to adjust the resonant frequencies. Due to the structural symmetry, the resonators are analyzed using even/odd mode method. Based on the analysis, two compact band‐pass filters (BPFs) with quad‐ and quint‐band responses are designed and good agreement between the simulated and measured results are observed. The quad‐band filter outperformances the other published ones and, to our best knowledge, the quint‐band BPF based on a quint‐mode resonator is the first one ever reported. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2837–2841, 2015