bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TGA and kinetic modelling of Co, Mn and Cu oxides for chemical looping gasification (CLG)
Authors: Aghabararnejad Milad , Patience Gregory S. , Chaouki Jamal 
Published: August 2014

AbstractOxygen carriers for biomass gasification are capable of absorbing oxygen from air and desorbing it in the gasifier. Based on thermodynamic equilibrium, copper, manganese, and cobalt oxides have the highest oxygen release capacities among the different oxygen carriers. These oxygen carriers were deposited on alumina via incipient wetness impregnation. The weight loss of the CuO–Cu2O carrier, as measured in a thermo‐gravimetric analyzer, was 10 % while it was 7 % for the Co3O4–CoO couple and only 3 % for the Mn2O3–Mn3O4 couple. The optimum operating temperature for the CuO oxygen carrier was 100 °C higher compared to the other two at 950 °C. A modified nuclei growth model (MNG) characterizes the weight loss/gain during the reduction‐oxidation cycles. The reduction rate is 3 times higher at 875 °C compared to 825 °C while the oxidation rate decreases more than 10 times. The CuO carrier surface area decreased by 70 %, while it was 30 % and 60 % in the Co3O4 and Mn2O3 carriers, respectively. Cobalt has a lower tendency to sinter at high temperature compared to either copper or manganese and has a higher oxygen transport capacity and oxidation‐reduction rates. Therefore, despite its higher cost and toxicity, it might be considered as a potential oxygen carrier especially for solid fuel gasification.
Implications of a suspicious afirma test result in thyroid fine‐needle aspiration cytology: An institutional experience
Authors: Lastra Ricardo R. , Pramick Michelle R. , Crammer Cody J. , LiVolsi Virginia A. , Baloch Zubair W. 
Published: August 2014

BACKGROUNDFine‐needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is the most frequently used method for thyroid nodule evaluation. However, up to 30% of cases are considered indeterminate. Surgery is typically recommended for these cases, but up to two‐thirds of indeterminate cases are found to be benign. The Afirma test is used for the preoperative classification of thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology. This study reviews the authors' institutional experience with Afirma.METHODSA cohort of 132 cases of thyroid FNA with Afirma testing was selected from the study files and relevant information was recorded and analyzed. At the study institution, Afirma is mainly performed on atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) cases when diagnosed as such on repeat FNA.RESULTSThe cohort included 98 female (74%) and 34 male (26%) patients. Cytology diagnosis was AUS/FLUS in 68 cases (51.5%), follicular neoplasm (FN) in 39 cases (29.5%), and FN with oncocytic features (FNOF) in 25 cases (19.0%). Of the FNOF cases with suspicious Afirma findings, 2 (15%) were malignant and 11 (85%) were benign. Of the FN cases with suspicious Afirma findings, 9 (53%) were malignant and 8 (47%) were benign. Of the AUS/FLUS cases with suspicious Afirma findings, 10 (63%) were malignant and 6 (37%) were benign.CONCLUSIONSThe Afirma classifier is a useful tool to aid in the distinction of cytologically indeterminate nodules. Performing Afirma in cases diagnosed as AUS/FLUS on repeat FNA would increase the positive predictive value, thereby minimizing the number of benign cases referred to surgery. Results of the Afirma test could be limited in cases diagnosed as FNOF. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2014;122:737–744. © 2014 American Cancer Society.
Radial glia phagocytose axonal debris from degenerating overextending axons in the developing olfactory bulb
Authors: Amaya Daniel A. , Wegner Michael , Stolt C. Claus , Chehrehasa Fatemeh , Ekberg Jenny A.K. , St John James A. 
Published: August 2014

ABSTRACTAxon targeting during the development of the olfactory system is not always accurate, and numerous axons overextend past the target layer into the deeper layers of the olfactory bulb. To date, the fate of the mis‐targeted axons has not been determined. We hypothesized that following overextension, the axons degenerate, and cells within the deeper layers of the olfactory bulb phagocytose the axonal debris. We utilized a line of transgenic mice that expresses ZsGreen fluorescent protein in primary olfactory axons. We found that overextending axons closely followed the filaments of radial glia present in the olfactory bulb during embryonic development. Following overextension into deeper layers of the olfactory bulb, axons degenerated and radial glia responded by phagocytosing the resulting debris. We used in vitro analysis to confirm that the radial glia had phagocytosed debris from olfactory axons. We also investigated whether the fate of overextending axons was altered when the development of the olfactory bulb was perturbed. In mice that lacked Sox10, a transcription factor essential for normal olfactory bulb development, we observed a disruption to the morphology and positioning of radial glia and an accumulation of olfactory axon debris within the bulb. Our results demonstrate that during early development of the olfactory system, radial glia play an important role in removing overextended axons from the deeper layers of the olfactory bulb. J. Comp. Neurol. 523:183–196, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of icosapent ethyl (Eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester) on pharmacokinetic parameters of rosiglitazone in healthy subjects
Authors: Braeckman Rene A. , Stirtan William G. , Soni Paresh N. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractBackgroundIcosapent ethyl is a high‐purity form of eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester approved to reduce triglyceride levels in adults with triglycerides ≥500 mg/dL. Candidates for triglyceride‐lowering therapy include patients with diabetes mellitus who may be receiving rosiglitazone. We assessed the effects of icosapent ethyl on the pharmacokinetic parameters of rosiglitazone.MethodsSubjects received a single 8‐mg oral dose of rosiglitazone alone and with oral icosapent ethyl 4 g/day in this open‐label drug–drug interaction study. Pharmacokinetic end points included area under the concentration versus time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC0–inf) and maximum observed concentration (Cmax) for rosiglitazone with and without icosapent ethyl.ResultsOf 30 subjects enrolled, 28 completed the study. Icosapent ethyl 4 g/day at steady‐state did not significantly change the single‐dose AUC0–infor Cmaxof rosiglitazone 8 mg. Least squares geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval) for AUC0–infand Cmaxof rosiglitazone given with icosapent ethyl versus rosiglitazone alone were 0.90 (87.00–93.40) and 1.01 (92.02–109.9), respectively. No serious adverse events were reported and no subject discontinued due to an adverse event.ConclusionsAt steady‐state concentrations, icosapent ethyl did not inhibit the pharmacokinetics of rosiglitazone. Co‐administration of icosapent ethyl and rosiglitazone was safe and well tolerated.
Effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of canagliflozin, a sodium glucose co‐transporter 2 inhibitor, and assessment of dose proportionality in healthy participants
Authors: Devineni Damayanthi , Manitpisitkul Prasarn , Murphy Joseph , Stieltjes Hans , Ariyawansa Jay , Di Prospero Nicholas A. , Rothenberg Paul 
Published: August 2014

AbstractCanagliflozin, an orally active inhibitor of sodium glucose co‐transporter 2, is approved for the treatment of type‐2 diabetes mellitus. The effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of 300 mg canagliflozin, and dose proportionality of 50, 100, and 300 mg canagliflozin, were evaluated, in two studies, in healthy participants. Study 1 used a randomized, 2‐way crossover design: canagliflozin 300 mg/day was administered under fasted (Period‐1) and fed (Period‐2) conditions or vice versa. Study 2 was a 3‐way crossover: participants were randomized to receive three single‐doses of canagliflozin (50, 100, and 300 mg), one in each period. In both studies, treatment periods were separated by washout intervals of 10–14 days, and pharmacokinetics assessed up to 72 hours postdose of each treatment period. No clinically relevant food effects on canagliflozin exposure parameters were observed: 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for the fed/fasted geometric mean ratios of AUC∞ (ratio: 100.51; 90% CI: 89.47–112.93) and Cmax (ratio: 108.09; 90% CI: 103.45–112.95) were entirely within bioequivalence limits (80–125%). Plasma canagliflozin exposures were dose‐proportional as the 90% CI of the slope of the regression line for dose‐normalized AUC∞ and Cmax fell entirely within the prespecified limits of −0.124 to 0.124. No clinically significant safety issues were noted, and canagliflozin was generally well‐tolerated.
An analysis of definition and placement of virtual machines for high performance applications on Clouds
Authors: Mc Evoy Giacomo , Mury Antonio R. , Schulze Bruno 
Published: August 2014

SUMMARYThe efficient deployment of high performance computing applications on Clouds offers many challenges, in particular, for communication‐intensive applications. One strategy to mitigate performance overheads caused by high‐communication latency is to schedule requested virtual machines (VMs) effectively onto physical resources by optimizing VM placement. In current approaches based on Infrastructure as a Service resource provisioning, the task of selecting VM profiles is either left to the user or resolved with policies independent from usage patterns, with potential for performance degradation caused by virtualization overhead. Also, most VM placement heuristics disregard the topology of virtual clusters, resource usage patterns of each application, and competing workloads. In this paper, we study the case of scientific applications in virtual clusters by analyzing how different VM profiles and placements can affect observed performance of a parallel application that uses distributed memory. We propose a description for the characteristics of a virtual cluster through the placement of virtual cores, analyze different configurations with a software for systematic execution of virtual clusters, and explain the observed performance in terms of virtual cluster features and resource usage patterns of the application. Our analysis shows that other factors besides the number of cores can have significant effect on performance, such as virtual core mappings and VM spreading. We discuss how our methodology can be extended toward developing performance models, which are aware of resource contention and virtual cluster topology. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Rigid–Flexible Hybrid Proton‐Exchange Membranes with Improved Water‐Retention Properties and High Stability for Fuel Cells
Authors: Li Jing , Cai Weiwei , Zhang Yunfeng , Cheng Hansong 
Published: August 2014

AbstractA novel molecular structural design of rigid–flexible hybrid polymer backbone is proposed for proton‐exchange membranes (PEMs) with the objective to preserve the material longevity by enhancing the dimensional stability. The effect of the rigid–flexible hybrid backbone is demonstrated based on performance tests for a series of non‐fluorinated polyamide–sulfonimide proton conductors, among which the conductivity of the rigid–flexible hybrid structural PEM is nearly 100 % higher than the rigid PEM with almost the same ion‐exchange capacity (IEC). The dimensional and mechanical stabilities of these PEMs are better than those of Nafion membranes. The measured conductivity of the rigid–flexible hybrid structural PEM is on the order of 10−2 S cm−1.
Bed morphological changes around a finite patch of vegetation
Authors: Kim Hyung Suk , Kimura Ichiro , Shimizu Yasuyuki 
Published: August 2014

AbstractFor the appropriate management and restoration of rivers, isolated vegetation is often a practical means for improving stream habitat and ecology. The effect of a finite vegetation patch on flow and bed morphology in an open channel was investigated using laboratory experiments. The patch containing emergent and submerged vegetation was modeled using circular cylinders and located mid‐channel along a side wall. Several configurations of the patch and submergence ratio (i.e. water depth to the height of vegetation), and two flow conditions (i.e. below and above the sediment motion threshold) were considered. For flows below the sediment motion threshold, erosion occurred primarily on the opposite side of the patch and near the leading edge of the patch. The degree of scouring depth observed in both these regions was affected by the submergence ratio and it increased with the non‐dimensional flow blockage (i.e. the product of the patch density and width). In contrast, for flows above the sediment motion threshold, sediment accumulated within and around the patch due to a reduction in bed shear stress, which was strongly influenced by the flow blockage and the obstruction ratio (i.e. the ratio of patch width to channel width). The eroded area observed within the patch was consistent with the interior adjustment region where the deceleration and diversion of flow occurred through the patch. As the flow blockage increased or as the obstruction ratio decreased, the deposition rate within and behind the patch decreased. Furthermore, the deposition rate increased with an increase in the ratio of flow rate through the patch to total flow rate regardless of the submergence ratio. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Smart primary user emulation in cognitive radio networks: defence strategies against radio‐aware attacks and robust spectrum sensing
Authors: Haghighat M. , Sadough S. M. S. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractCognitive radio (CR), which provides dynamic spectrum access to combat spectrum scarcity, imposes some emerging threats to the network. One of the common threats in CR is primary user emulation (PUE) attack, in which some malicious users try to mimic primary signal and deceive CR users to prevent them from accessing the vacant frequency bands. In this paper, we propose a smart radio‐aware PUE attacker that is equipped with spectrum sensing and consumes malicious resources in a way that causes more destruction on CR performance than always present PUE attackers. We first analyse and formulate the destructive effect such an attacker imposes to the CR network, and then, we derive robust cooperative spectrum sensing rules for energy detection spectrum sensing under PUE attacks. Moreover, using a weighting vector at fusion centre of the CRs, we propose a scheme to combat fake signals by maximising the average cognitive signal to interference plus noise ratio. We combine proposed method with two widely used energy detection scheme, Neyman–Pearson and minimum probability of error criterion. Numerical results show the superiority and robustness of our proposed method in the presence of smart attackers compared with conventional methods. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Activated recombinant factor VIIa should not be used in patients with refractory variceal bleeding: It is mostly ineffective, is expensive, and may rarely cause serious adverse events
Authors: Sozio Margaret S. , Chalasani Naga 
Published: August 2014

Abstract

Background & Aims: Two randomized controlled studies have evaluated the effect of recombinant Factor VIIa (rFVIIa) on variceal bleeding in cirrhosis without showing significant benefit. The aim of the present study was to perform a meta-analysis of the two trials on individual patient data with special focus on high risk patients. Methods: The primary outcome measure was the effect of rFVIIa on a composite five day endpoint: failure to control bleeding, 5-day rebleeding or death. Analysis was based on intention to treat. High risk was defined as active bleeding on endoscopy while under vasoactive drug infusion and Child-Pugh score >8. Results: 497 patients were eligible for the meta-analysis; 308 (62%) had active variceal bleeding at endoscopy (oozing or spurting) and 283 of these had a Child-Pugh score >8. Analysis on the composite endpoint in all patients with bleeding from oesophageal varices did not show any beneficial treatment effect. However, failure rate for the primary composite end-point was significantly lower in treated patients with active bleeding at endoscopy (17%) compared to placebo (26%,

p

= 0.049). This difference was highly significant in patients with Child-Pugh score >8 and active bleeding at endoscopy (rFVIIa 16%, placebo 27%;

p

= 0.023). No significant treatment effect was found at 42 days. Five thromboembolic events occurred in rFVIIa treated patients compared to none in placebo treated patients. Conclusions: The current meta-analysis shows a beneficial effect of rFVIIa on the primary composite endpoint of control of acute bleeding, prevention of rebleeding day 1-5 and 5-day mortality in patients with advanced cirrhosis and active bleeding from oesophageal varices at endoscopy. A major drawback of the treatment is a potential increased risk of arterial thrombo-embolic events. This treatment might be considered in patients with lack of control of bleeding after standard treatment.
Data driven analysis of functional brain networks in fMRI for schizophrenia investigation
Authors: Mascolo Luigi , Guccione Pietro , Nico Giovanni , Taurisano Paolo , Fazio Leonardo 
Published: August 2014

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to present a methodology to identify the sources of activity in brain networks from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data using the multiset canonical correlation analysis algorithm. The aim is to lay the foundations for a screening marker to be used as indicator of mental diseases. Group analysis blind source separation methods have proved reliable to extract the latent sources underlying the brain activities but currently there is no recognized biomarker for mental disorders. Recent studies have identified alterations in the so called default mode network (DMN) that are common to several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. In particular, here we account for the hypothesis that the alterations in the DMN activity can be effectively highlighted by analyzing the transient states between two different tasks. A set of fMRI data acquired from 18 subjects performing working memory tasks is investigated for such purpose. Subjects are patients affected by schizophrenia for one half and healthy control subjects for the other. Under these conditions, the proposed methodology provides high discrimination performances in terms of classification error, thereby providing promising results for a preliminary tool able to monitor the disease state or to perform a prescreening for patients at risk for schizophrenia. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 24, 239–248, 2014
Statistically quantified measurement of an Alzheimer's marker by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering
Authors: Buividas Ričardas , Dzingelevičius Nerijus , Kubiliūtė Reda , Stoddart Paul R. , Khanh Truong Vi , Ivanova Elena P. , Juodkazis Saulius 
Published: August 2014

Fibrillar forms of the Amyloid‐β (Aβ) protein have been implicated in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), however there are no standardised assays for soluble Aβ oligomer biomarkers that provide the best indication of the disease progression [1,2]. As a step towards a fast and label‐free method for testing different AD biomarkers, we have combined laser nano‐textured substrates with a SERS mapping technique and validated it using soluble Aβ‐40 oligomers [3‐5]. The nano‐textured SERS substrates provide fast (&5 min), label‐free spectra associated with soluble Aβ‐40 oligomers down to a concentration of 10 nM. Statistical analysis of the spectral intensities mapped over the substrate surface shows a quantitative correlation with the oligomer concentration.
Schematics of experiments: SERS mapping of Aβ‐40 (left figure: measured SERS intensity overlayed with an SEM image of ripples) was carried out on the laser nano‐textured (ripple) surface of sapphire and statistical analysis of the SERS intensity was carried out for qualitative (a high SERS intensity at low probability) and quantitative (a moderate SERS intenisty at the highest probability) measures. Quantitative statistical analysis of SERS mapping data can be performed off line for cross correlations with other known SERS signatures.magnified imageSchematics of experiments: SERS mapping of Aβ‐40 (left figure: measured SERS intensity overlayed with an SEM image of ripples) was carried out on the laser nano‐textured (ripple) surface of sapphire and statistical analysis of the SERS intensity was carried out for qualitative (a high SERS intensity at low probability) and quantitative (a moderate SERS intenisty at the highest probability) measures. Quantitative statistical analysis of SERS mapping data can be performed off line for cross correlations with other known SERS signatures.
Rats' choices with token stimuli in concurrent variable‐interval schedules
Authors: Mazur James E. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractFour rats responded on concurrent variable‐interval schedules that delivered token stimuli (stimulus lights arranged vertically above each of two side levers). During exchange periods, each token could be exchanged for one food pellet by responding on a center lever, with one response required for each pellet delivery. In different conditions, the exchange requirements (number of tokens that had to be earned before they could be exchanged for food) varied between one and four for the two response levers. The experiments were closely patterned after research with pigeons by Mazur and Biondi (), and the results from the rats in the present experiment were similar. Response percentages on the two levers changed as each additional token was earned, and these patterns indicated that choice was controlled by both the time to the exchange periods and the number of food pellets that were delivered in the exchange period. In some conditions, the exchange requirement was three tokens for each lever, but the token lights were not turned on as they were earned for one of the two keys. The rats showed a slight preference for the lever without the token lights, which may indicate that the token lights were not serving as conditioned reinforcers (a result also found by Mazur and Biondi with pigeons). Overall, these results suggest that, in this choice procedure, the token stimuli served primarily as discriminative stimuli that signaled the temporal proximity and quantity of the primary reinforcer, food.