bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of carbon nanotubes produced by using different methods on electrical and optical properties of zinc oxide–carbon nanotube composite
Authors: Guler Omer 
Published: April 2015

Abstract
In this study, carbon nanotubes, which were produced by using chemical vapour deposition and mechano-thermal methods, were combined with zinc oxide matrix at different ratios and the effects of the nanotubes on electrical and optical properties of zinc oxide were examined. It was observed that electrical conductivity of zinc oxide at room temperature increased with the increase in the reinforcement rate both in carbon nanotube reinforced samples produced by using chemical vapour deposition and those produced by using the mechano-thermal method. Carbon nano-tube reinforced samples produced by using chemical vapour deposition yielded relatively better results for the same reinforcement rate.
On sea-ice dynamical regimes in the Arctic Ocean
Authors: Lukovich J.V. , Hutchings J.K. , Barber D.G. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractCentral to an understanding of evolution in sea-ice characteristics in response to climate change is an understanding of sea-ice dynamics. In this study, we investigate regional differences in ice dynamics in the Beaufort Sea and High Arctic using high-frequency ice buoy (beacon) data deployed during the SEDNA and IPY-CFL field campaigns from spring 2007 to winter 2008. Examined in particular are scaling laws determined from absolute dispersion statistics. We create temporal scaling maps to determine whether distinct dynamical regimes can be identified with differing scaling properties. The results from this analysis provide an alternative characterization to changes in sea ice based on dynamics rather than concentration and thickness, and thus insight into, and improved understanding of, the connections between sea-ice drift and morphology.
An Evaluation of Patient Safety Event Report Categories Using Unsupervised Topic Modeling
Authors: Fong A. , Ratwani R. 
Published: April 2015

SummaryObjective: Patient safety event data repositories have the potential to dramatically improve safety if analyzed and leveraged appropriately. These safety event reports often consist of both structured data, such as general event type categories, and unstructured data, such as free text descriptions of the event. Analyzing these data, particularly the rich free text narratives, can be challenging, especially with tens of thousands of reports. To overcome the resource intensive manual review process of the free text descriptions, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using an unsupervised natural language processing approach.Methods: An unsupervised natural language processing technique, called topic modeling, was applied to a large repository of patient safety event data to identify topics, or themes, from the free text descriptions of the data. Entropy measures were used to evaluate and compare these topics to the general event type categories that were originally assigned by the event reporter.Results: Measures of entropy demonstrated that some topics generated from the un-supervised modeling approach aligned with the clinical general event type categories that were originally selected by the individual entering the report. Importantly, several new latent topics emerged that were not originally identified. The new topics provide additional insights into the patient safety event data that would not otherwise easily be detected.Conclusion: The topic modeling approach provides a method to identify topics or themes that may not be immediately apparent and has the potential to allow for automatic reclassification of events that are ambiguously classified by the event reporter.
Risk of Overall and Site-specific Cancers in Behçet Disease: A Nationwide Population-based Study in Taiwan
Authors: Wang Li-Hui , Wang Wei-Ming , Hsu Sheng-Min , Lin Sheng-Hsiang , Shieh Chi-Chang 
Published: April 2015

Objective.The relationship between autoimmune disease and cancer is complex while large-scale epidemiological studies of cancer risk in Behçet disease (BD) have not been reported. Therefore, we conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study.Methods.By using the National Health Insurance Research Database of 23 million people in Taiwan, we identified 1314 new patients with BD without previous cancer from 2000–2009 as a cohort. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) of overall and site-specific cancers in patients with BD in comparison with the general population were calculated from 2000–2011.Results.Among the 1314 patients with BD, 30 developed cancers (9 men and 21 women). In overall cancer risk analysis, patients with BD had a higher risk (SIR 1.5, 95% CI 1.03–2.11). Among them, female patients with BD (SIR 1.8, 95% CI 1.14–2.7), but not male patients with BD (SIR 1.08, 95% CI 0.53–1.98), have a higher risk of overall cancer. In site-specific cancer risk analysis, patients with BD had a higher risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (SIR 8.3, 95% CI 2.1–22.7), hematological malignancy (SIR 4.2, 95% CI 1.3–10.2), and female breast cancer (SIR 2.2, 95% CI 1.004–4.1). The cancer risk was highest within the first-year followup (SIR 2.7, 95% CI 1.3–5.1), with 75% of the hematological malignancies found within the first year.Conclusion.This nationwide cohort study of cancer risk in patients with BD provides important information about the relationship between BD and malignancies. The results can be useful for cancer surveys in the future.
Patient Information about Gout: An International Review of Existing Educational Resources
Authors: Johnston Megan E. , Treharne Gareth J. , Chapman Peter T. , Stamp Lisa K. 
Published: April 2015

Objective.Inadequate patient information about gout may contribute to poor disease outcomes. We reviewed existing educational resources for gout to identify strengths and weaknesses and compare resources cross-nationally.Methods.Content, readability, and dietary recommendations were reviewed using a sample of 30 resources (print and Web-based) from 6 countries.Results.More than half of the resources were written at a highly complex level. Some content areas were lacking coverage, including comorbidity risks, uric acid target levels, and continuing allopurinol during acute attacks.Conclusion.Our findings suggest significant room for improvement in gout patient educational resources, particularly regarding self-management.
Comparison of different dispersion evaluation methods and a case history with the inversion to a soil model, related admittance functions, and the prediction of train‐induced ground vibration
Authors: Auersch Lutz , Said Samir 
Published: April 2015

ABSTRACTGround vibrations due to different technical sources are analysed in theory and experiment for the dispersion of Rayleigh waves and the admittance spectra. Both tasks are theoretically based on the same concept: The admittance function in frequency‐wavenumber domain yields the dispersion as its maxima, and the admittance function in space domain is obtained by integrating it over the wavenumbers. On the experimental side, many signal processing methods have been applied to many sites and have been developed by the authors in the last 35 years, i.e., time‐domain methods, including the cross‐correlation method, and frequency‐domain methods such as the spectral analysis of surface waves with two or multiple sensors, the wavenumber‐transform method, and the spatial autocorrelation method. All methods are presented by their basic formula and by at least one example site. Different sensor arrays and deterministic and stochastic sources have been tested for the spatial autocorrelation method and the wavenumber‐transform method at several sites. In addition, all frequency‐domain methods are presented for a specific layered site comparing their quality. The evaluated dispersion curves are very similar, but a somewhat higher frequency range has been found for the fastest method, i.e., the multi‐sensor spectral‐analysis‐of‐surface‐waves method. The theoretical solutions have been used for the inversion of the measured dispersion to the soil profile of the specific layered soil. The theoretical soil model has subsequently been used to predict the ground vibration spectra of hammer and railway excitation that exhibit a good agreement with the corresponding measurements. Thus, the contribution shows the benefit of active and passive seismic methods for the prediction of railway vibration, including a new version of the spatial autocorrelation method for technical vibrations. On the other hand, technical and namely railway vibrations are considered a seismic source for the exploration of near surface soils.
The Determinants of Financial Ratio Disclosures and Quality: Evidence from an Emerging market
Authors: Agyei-Mensah Ben k. 
Published: April 2015

This study investigated the influence of firm-specific characteristics which include proportion of Non-Executive Directors, ownership concentration, firm size, profitability, debt equity ratio, liquidity and leverage on the extent and quality of financial ratios disclosed by firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.The research was conducted through detailed analysis of the 2012 financial statements of the listed firms. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis which forms the main data analysis. The results of the extent of financial ratio disclosure level, mean of 62.78%, indicate that most of the firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange did not overwhelmingly disclose such ratios in their annual reports. The results of the low quality of financial ratio disclosure mean of 6.64% indicate that the disclosures failed woefully to meet the International Accounting Standards Board's qualitative characteristics of relevance, reliability, comparability and understandability.The results of the multiple regression analysis show that leverage and return on investment are associated on a statistically significant level as far as the extent of financial ratio disclosure is concerned. Board ownership concentration and proportion of (independent) non-executive directors, on the other hand were found to be statistically associated with the quality of financial ratio disclosed. There is a significant negative relationship between ownership concentration and the quality of financial ratio disclosure. This means that under a higher level of ownership concentration less quality financial ratios are disclosed. The findings also show that there is a significant positive relationship between board composition (proportion of non-executive directors) and the quality of financial ratio disclosure. JEL CLASSIFICATION: G3, M1, M2, M4.
Gaps in Executive and Worker Compensation as an Organizational and Management Challenge
Authors: McFarlane Donovan A. 
Published: April 2015

This paper examines the gaps in chief executive officer (CEO) and worker compensation by exploring the vital data of 10 corporations as uncovered in a study by NerdWallet.com on the differences in hourly compensation between CEOs and average hourly workers or employees. The author examines the problem of excessive compensation for CEOs as a major organizational challenge that affects perceptions of fairness by stakeholders, especially employees or workers whose contributions to organizational performance and success are not being adequately rewarded, but instead transferred to CEOs and other executives as companies increase revenues and profits through the sweat and toil of ordinary workers. The author argues that executive compensation should be linked to organizational results and performance, and examines the standards and considerations for determining fair wage and compensation, and from examining vital data on CEO compensation and average worker compensation, explores the implications for organizational change, including consideration of quality work life (QWL) investments. Several recommendations are made for meeting the challenge of excessive CEO compensation to include the following: (1) developing new approaches or methods of compensation that take worker rewards into consideration; (2) limiting CEO or executive compensation relative to established multiple of the average worker’s wage; (3) intervention and petition from governmental and administrative agencies including workers’ rights organizations for change; and (4) more compassionate leadership and management by organizational CEO and executives with increased concern for workers’ well-being. Employee Retention, Employee Satisfaction, Excessive Compensation, Executive Compensation, Fair Wage, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), Quality Work Life (QWL), Stakeholders.
Overview of the Purification of Recombinant Proteins
Authors: Wingfield Paul T. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractWhen the first version of this unit was written in 1995, protein purification of recombinant proteins was based on a variety of standard chromatographic methods and approaches, many of which were described and mentioned throughoutCurrent Protocols in Protein Science. In the interim, there has been a shift toward an almost universal usage of the affinity or fusion tag. This may not be the case for biotechnology manufacture where affinity tags can complicate producing proteins under regulatory conditions. Regardless of the protein expression system, questions are asked as to which and how many affinity tags to use, where to attach them in the protein, and whether to engineer a self‐cleavage system or simply leave them on. We will briefly address some of these issues. Also, although this overview focuses onE.coli, protein expression and purification, other commonly used expression systems are mentioned and, apart from cell‐breakage methods, protein purification methods and strategies are essentially the same. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Site‐Specific Recombinational Cloning Using Gateway and In‐Fusion Cloning Schemes
Authors: Park Jaehong , Throop Andrea L. , LaBaer Joshua 
Published: April 2015

AbstractThe comprehensive study of protein structure and function, or proteomics, depends on the obtainability of full‐length cDNAs in species‐specific expression vectors and subsequent functional analysis of the expressed protein. Recombinational cloning is a universal cloning technique based on site‐specific recombination that is independent of the insert DNA sequence of interest, which differentiates it from classical restriction enzyme−based cloning methods. Recombinational cloning enables rapid and efficient parallel transfer of DNA inserts into multiple expression systems. This unit summarizes strategies for generating expression‐ready clones using the most popular commercial recombinational cloning technologies, Gateway (Life Technologies) and In‐Fusion (Clontech). © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Use of Proteasome Inhibitors
Authors: Downey Sondra L. , Florea Bogdan I. , Overkleeft Herman S. , Kisselev Alexei F. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractProteasome inhibitors are indispensable research tools in immunology and cell biology. With numerous proteasome inhibitors available commercially, choosing the appropriate compound for a biological experiment may be challenging, especially for a novice. This unit provides an overview of the proteasome inhibitors commonly used in research. It discusses how to select an appropriate highly specific inhibitor, its concentration, and length of exposure for mammalian cell culture experiments. In addition, assays that can be used to confirm proteasome inhibition are discussed. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Use of Affymetrix Arrays in the Diagnosis of Gene Copy‐Number Variation
Authors: Zahir Farah R. , Marra Marco A. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractDiagnosing constitutional pathogenic copy number variants (CNVs) requires detecting submicroscopic segmental chromosomal imbalances. The Affymetrix GeneChip mapping array was one of the initial microarray platforms used to measure duplication and deletion of genetic material in DNA samples. Unlike oligonucleotide microarrays from NimbleGen and Agilent, developed around the same time to infer copy number status for the DNA sequence covered by the probe, the Affymetrix GeneChip system used 25‐mer oligonucleotide probes designed to interrogate SNPs. Thus, it was possible to use the Affymetrix ‘SNP chips’ to both identify SNPs and to identify copy number status. Affymetrix now offers the CytoScan microarray platforms, which are optimized for copy‐number analyses, and provides accompanying software. They also offer several other microarray platforms suitable for copy‐number analyses. Here we discuss the application of the CytoScan high‐density (HD) platform for the detection of genomic imbalance. We provide an overview of the sequence of computational analyses involved in identifying pathogenic CNVs and highlight important parameters for consideration in assessing the pathogenicity of a detected CNV. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Probe‐Directed Degradation (PDD) for Flexible Removal of Unwanted cDNA Sequences from RNA‐Seq Libraries
Authors: Archer Stuart K. , Shirokikh Nikolay E. , Preiss Thomas 
Published: April 2015

AbstractMost applications for RNA‐seq require the depletion of abundant transcripts to gain greater coverage of the underlying transcriptome. The sequences to be targeted for depletion depend on application and species and in many cases may not be supported by commercial depletion kits. This unit describes a method for generating RNA‐seq libraries that incorporates probe‐directed degradation (PDD), which can deplete any unwanted sequence set, with the low‐bias split‐adapter method of library generation (although many other library generation methods are in principle compatible). The overall strategy is suitable for applications requiring customized sequence depletion or where faithful representation of fragment ends and lack of sequence bias is paramount. We provide guidelines to rapidly design specific probes against the target sequence, and a detailed protocol for library generation using the split‐adapter method including several strategies for streamlining the technique and reducing adapter dimer content. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cell Proliferation Method: Click Chemistry Based on BrdU Coupling for Multiplex Antibody Staining
Authors: Cappella Paolo , Gasparri Fabio , Pulici Maurizio , Moll Jürgen 
Published: April 2015

AbstractDetermination of incorporation of the thymidine analog 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) into DNA is a widely used method to analyze the cell cycle. However, DNA denaturation is required for BrdU detection with the consequence that most protein epitopes are destroyed and their immunocytochemical detection for multiplex analysis is not possible. A novel assay is presented for identifying cells in active S‐phase that does not require the DNA denaturation step but nevertheless detects BrdU. For this purpose, cells were pulsed for a short time by 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine (EdU) which is incorporated into DNA. The nucleotide‐exposed ethynyl residue was then derivatized by a copper‐catalyzed cycloaddition reaction (“click chemistry” coupling) using a BrdU azide probe. The resulting DNA‐bound bromouracil moieties were then detected by commercial anti‐BrdU monoclonal antibodies without the need for a denaturation step. This method has been tested using several cell lines and is more sensitive than traditional BrdU and allows multicolor and multiplex analysis in flow cytometry (FCM) and image‐based cytometry. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Multiday thermospheric density oscillations associated with variations in solar radiation and geomagnetic activity
Authors: Xu Jiyao , Wang Wenbin , Zhang Shunrong , Liu Xiao , Yuan Wei 
Published: April 2015

AbstractThermospheric densities observed by Challenging Minisatellite Payload and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites during 2002–2010 and the globally averaged thermospheric densities from 1967 to 2007 have been used to investigate latitudinal, longitudinal, and height dependences of the multiday oscillations of thermospheric densities. The data show that the main multiday oscillations in thermospheric densities are 27, 13.5, 9, and 7 day oscillations. The high‐correlation coefficients between the density oscillations and the F10.7 or Ap index indicate that these oscillations are externally driven. The 27 day density oscillation, being the strongest, is induced by variations in solar radiation, as well as recurrent geomagnetic activity that is the result of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and high‐speed solar wind streams of coronal hole origin. Density oscillations at periods of 13.5, 9, and 7 days at solar minimum and during the declining phase are stronger than those at solar maximum. These oscillations are mainly associated with recurrent geomagnetic activity due to coronal hole high‐speed streams and CIRs. The multiday, periodic oscillations of thermospheric density exhibit strong latitudinal and longitudinal variations in the geomagnetic coordinate and oscillate synchronously at different heights. Oscillations with zonal wave number 0 oscillate globally, whereas those with nonzero wave numbers are strong at high geomagnetic latitudes, and hemispherically asymmetric. They are stronger in the Southern Hemisphere. The spectral distributions of thermospheric densities at different heights have almost the same latitude and longitude structures, but the spectral magnitudes increase with height.
A prediction model for the global distribution of whistler chorus wave amplitude developed separately for two latitudinal zones
Authors: Kim Jin‐Hee , Lee Dae‐Young , Cho Jung‐Hee , Shin Dae‐Kyu , Kim Kyung‐Chan , Li Wen , Kim Thomas K. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractWhistler mode chorus waves are considered to play a central role in accelerating and scattering electrons in the outer radiation belt. While in situ measurements are usually limited to the trajectories of a small number of satellites, rigorous theoretical modeling requires a global distribution of chorus wave characteristics. In the present work, by using a large database of chorus wave observations made on the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms satellites for about 5 years, we develop prediction models for a global distribution of chorus amplitudes. The development is based on two main components: (a) the temporal dependence of average chorus amplitudes determined by correlating with the preceding solar wind and geomagnetic conditions as represented by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz and AE index and (b) the determination of spatial distribution pattern of chorus amplitudes, specifically, the profiles in L in all 2 h magnetic local time zones, which are categorized by activity levels of either the IMF Bz or AE index. Two separate models are developed: one based only on the IMF Bz and the other based only on AE. Both models predict chorus amplitudes for two different latitudinal zones separately: |magnetic latitude (MLAT)| < 10°, and |MLAT| = 10°–25°. The model performance is measured by the coefficient of determination R2 and the rank‐order correlation coefficient (ROCC) between the observations and model prediction results. When tested for a new data interval of ~1.5 years, the AE‐based model works slightly better than the IMF Bz‐based model: for the AE‐based model, the mean R2 and ROCC values are ~0.46 and ~0.78 for |MLAT| < 10°, respectively, and ~0.4 and ~0.74 for |MLAT| = 10°–25°, respectively; for the IMF Bz‐based model, the mean R2 and ROCC values are ~0.39 and ~0.74 for |MLAT| < 10°, respectively, and ~0.33 and ~0.70 for |MLAT| = 10°–25°, respectively. We provide all of the model information in the text and supporting information so that the developed chorus models can be used for the existing outer radiation belt electron models.