bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Raman spectroscopy of thin‐film silicon on woven polyester
Authors: Lind Helena , Wilson John , Mather Robert 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThin‐film silicon deposited by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), encompasses both hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) and ‘nanocrystalline silicon’ (nc‐Si), the latter being a two‐phase mixture of discrete nanocrystallites in an amorphous matrix. It is distinguished from a‐Si:H by a characteristic Raman spectrum. As the film structure moves from amorphous to more crystalline, the Raman TO phonon spectral region no longer consists of a broad amorphous peak at ∼480 cm−1 but instead has an obvious narrower peak located at higher wavenumber. The accepted signature peak for nc‐Si lies between these two and most probably arises from the hexagonal, wurtzite structure of the nanocrystals. Here we use Raman spectroscopy to show how the structure of thin‐film silicon on woven polyester is influenced by the substrate as well as by the deposition conditions. We find that the rough surface of the textile substrate enables nc‐Si formation, provided that the correct deposition conditions are employed and that the substrate temperature does not exceed 210 °C. Although the gas mixture is the dominant parameter for determining the film structure, and input power also has a significant effect, we find that a specific combination of these interrelated parameters is essential to control the final structure.
Carrier‐density dependence of the hole mobility in doped and undoped regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene)
Authors: Brondijk Jakob J. , Maddalena Francesco , Asadi Kamal , van Leijen Herman J. , Heeney Martin , Blom Paul W. M. , de Leeuw Dago M. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractWe investigate the mobility of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) over a carrier‐density range from 1015 to 1020 cm−3. Hole‐only diodes were used for densities below 1016 cm−3 and field‐effect transistors were used for carrier densities higher than 1018 cm−3. To fill the gap, intermediate densities were probed using chemically doped Schottky diodes and transistors. Combining of the mobilities in doped and undoped devices experimentally establishes the full relation of the mobility over the whole carrier‐density range.
Cyclic loading test of T‐shaped mid‐rise shear wall
Authors: Pin‐Le Zhang , Qing‐ning Li 
Published: September 2011

SUMMARYShear wall systems are the most commonly used lateral load resisting systems in high‐rise buildings. Six 1:2 scale mid‐rise T‐shaped reinforced concrete shear wall specimens with aspect ratio of 1.75, 2.15 and 2.80 were respectively tested under reversed cyclic loading. The seismic behavior and displacement ductility were investigated. The effects of aspect ratio, axial load level and transverse steel ratio on the seismic behavior and displacement ductility were also analyzed. Test results were discussed and compared with T‐shaped steel–concrete composite shear wall. Results mainly showed that the T‐shaped shear wall specimens mainly presented bending–shear failure mode and were all destroyed because of the concrete crushing at the web (negative direction) and the longitudinal reinforcement of the web reaching the limited deformation (positive direction), showing that the web was the weakest part of T‐shape shear wall. The ductility of the specimens was decreased, and the ultimate load‐bearing capacity was increased by increasing the axial load. To specimens with smaller aspect ratio and higher axial load ratio, the special transverse steel ratio of the web should be increased to improve the crushing strain of the confined concrete of the web in order to satisfy the ductility of the walls. The seismic performance was obviously improved in the T‐shaped steel–concrete shear wall compared with that of the T‐shaped reinforced concrete shear wall. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gold‐gold junction electrodes:the disconnection method
Authors: Dale Sara E. C. , Vuorema Anne , Ashmore Ellen M. Y. , Kasprzyk‐Horden Barbara , Sillanpää Mika , Denuault Guy , Marken Frank 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThe formation of gold‐gold junction electrodes for application in electroanalysis is described here based on electro‐deposition from a non‐cyanide gold plating bath. Converging growth of two hemispherical gold deposits on two adjacent platinum microelectrodes (both 100 µm diameter in glass, ca. 45 µm gap) followed by careful etching in aqueous chloride solution was employed. During growth both gold hemispheres “connect” and during etching “disconnection” is evident in a drop in current. Gold‐gold junctions with sub‐micron gaps are formed and applied for the electroanalytical detection of sub‐micromolar concentrations of hydroquinone in 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 7 (Erev = 0.04 V vs. SCE) and sub‐micromolar concentration of dopamine in 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 7 (Erev = 0.14 V vs. SCE). The potential future uses in analysis and limitations of gold‐gold junction electrodes are discussed. DOI 10.1002/tcr.201100008
Visual matrix explorer for collaborative seriation
Authors: Liiv Innar , Opik Rain , Ubi Jaan , Stasko John 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIn this article, we present a web‐based open source tool to support cross‐disciplinary collaborative seriation with the following goals: to compare different matrix permutations, to discover patterns from the data, annotate it, and accumulate knowledge. Seriation is an unsupervised data mining technique that reorders objects into a sequence along a one‐dimensional continuum to make sense of the whole series. Clustering assigns objects to groups, whereas seriation assigns objects to a position within a sequence. Seriation has been applied to a variety of disciplines including archaeology and anthropology; cartography, graphics, and information visualization; sociology and sociometry; psychology and psychometrics; ecology; biology and bioinformatics; cellular manufacturing; and operations research. Interestingly, across those different disciplines, there are several commonly emerging similar structural patterns. Visual Matrix Explorer allows users to explore and link those patterns, share an online workplace and instantly transmit changes in the system to other users. WIREs Comp Stat 2012, 4:85–97. doi: 10.1002/wics.193This article is categorized under:

Statistical Learning and Exploratory Methods of the Data Sciences > Clustering and Classification
Statistical Learning and Exploratory Methods of the Data Sciences > Exploratory Data Analysis
Statistical and Graphical Methods of Data Analysis > Statistical Graphics and Visualization
Monte Carlo methods
Authors: Kroese Dirk P. , Rubinstein Reuven Y. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractMany quantitative problems in science, engineering, and economics are nowadays solved via statistical sampling on a computer. Such Monte Carlo methods can be used in three different ways: (1) to generate random objects and processes in order to observe their behavior, (2) to estimate numerical quantities by repeated sampling, and (3) to solve complicated optimization problems through randomized algorithms. WIREs Comp Stat 2012, 4:48–58. doi: 10.1002/wics.194This article is categorized under:

Statistical and Graphical Methods of Data Analysis > Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
Spontaneous burrowing behaviour in the rat is reduced by peripheral nerve injury or inflammation associated pain
Authors: Andrews N. , Legg E. , Lisak D. , Issop Y. , Richardson D. , Harper S. , Pheby T. , Huang W. , Burgess G. , Machin I. , Rice A.S.C. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractPain influences many aspects of daily living and effective analgesics should reinstate normal spontaneous daily behaviours. Experiments are described herein which show that the innate, spontaneous behaviour of burrowing by rats, which can be simply and objectively assessed by measuring the amount of gravel left in a hollow tube 1 h after presentation to the rat, is reduced by peripheral nerve injury (tibial nerve transection (TNT), L5 spinal nerve transection (SNT) and partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL)) and also following inflammation induced by intra‐plantar injection of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA). Gabapentin (100 mg/kg sc) but not at 30 mg/kg sc significantly reduced burrowing activity in naive rats. All peripheral nerve injuries and CFA reduced burrowing compared with shams and rats naive to surgery. The level of mechanical hypersensitivity in rats with peripheral nerve injury did not correlate with the deficit in burrowing indicating that different parameters of the holistic pain experience are measured in these paradigms. Gabapentin at 30 mg/kg sc, but not 100 mg/kg sc, reversed the deficit in burrowing induced by TNT and ibuprofen (30 mg/kg sc) reversed the effect of CFA on burrowing. These experiments show that measurement of burrowing is a simple, objective assay of innate rodent behaviour affected by pain that is ethologically relevant to the rat, does not rely wholly on evoking a reflex and can dissociate a selective analgesic dose of gabapentin from one inducing motor impairment in the same animal.
Inviting questions
Authors: Khan Uzma , Tormala Zakary L. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractConsumers are frequently invited to ask questions in everyday life. The current research provides an initial examination of how inviting consumers to ask questions influences their attitudes and intentions. Two experiments show that inviting questions can have a positive or negative effect depending on whether consumers actually ask them. Experiment 1 shows that merely inviting questions has a positive effect, but that this effect reverses when consumers actually ask questions. Following a similar logic, Experiment 2 shows that inviting questions has a positive effect under low involvement conditions, but a negative effect under high involvement conditions where the likelihood of generating questions is higher.
Evaluation of the immune benefits of two probiotic strains Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis, BB-12® and Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei, L. casei 431® in an influenza vaccination model: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Authors: Rizzardini Giuliano , Eskesen Dorte , Calder Philip C. , Capetti Amedeo , Jespersen Lillian , Clerici Mario 
Published: September 2011

The present study investigated the ability of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (BB-12®) and Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei (L. casei 431®) to modulate the immune system using a vaccination model in healthy subjects. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was conducted in 211 subjects (56 % females, mean age 33·2 (sd 13·1) years). Subjects consumed a minimum of 109 colony-forming units of BB-12® (capsule) or L. casei 431® (dairy drink) or a matching placebo once daily for 6 weeks. After 2 weeks, a seasonal influenza vaccination was given. Plasma and saliva samples were collected at baseline and after 6 weeks for the analysis of antibodies, cytokines and innate immune parameters. Changes from baseline in vaccine-specific plasma IgG, IgG1 and IgG3 were significantly greater in both probiotic groups v. the corresponding placebo group (L. casei 431®, P = 0·01 for IgG; P < 0·001 for remaining comparisons). The number of subjects obtaining a substantial increase in specific IgG (defined as ≥ 2-fold above baseline) was significantly greater in both probiotic groups v. placebo (BB-12®, P < 0·001 for IgG, IgG1 and IgG3; L. casei 431®, P < 0·001 for IgG1 and IgG3). Significantly greater mean fold increases for vaccine-specific secretory IgA in saliva were observed in both probiotic groups v. placebo (BB-12®, P = 0·017; L. casei 431®, P = 0·035). Similar results were observed for total antibody concentrations. No differences were found for plasma cytokines or innate immune parameters. Data herein show that supplementation with BB-12® or L. casei 431® may be an effective means to improve immune function by augmenting systemic and mucosal immune responses to challenge.
Marine collagen peptides protect against early alcoholic liver injury in rats
Authors: Lin Bing , Zhang Feng , Yu Yongchao , Jiang Qinghao , Zhang Zhaofeng , Wang Junbo , Li Yong 
Published: September 2011

Marine collagen peptides (MCP) have been reported to exhibit antioxidative activity, which is the common property of numerous hepatoprotective agents. Previous studies have shown that MCP have biological functions including anti-hypertension, anti-ulcer, anti-skin ageing and extending the life span. However, its role in alcoholic liver injury remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of MCP on early alcoholic liver injury in rats. Rats were administered with alcohol at a dose of 6 g/kg body weight intragastrically per d to induce early liver injury, which was then evaluated by serum markers and histopathological examination. Treatment with MCP could reverse the increased level of serum aminotransferase and reduce hepatic histological damage. In addition, MCP attenuated the alteration in serum superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde levels. MCP also counteracted the increased levels of total cholesterol and TAG. However, no significant difference was observed in the contents of alcohol dehydrogenase both in liver and serum protein of rats. These findings suggest that MCP have a protective effect on early alcoholic liver injury in rats by their antioxidative activity and improving lipid metabolism.
Vitamin C and fibre consumption from fruits and vegetables improves oxidative stress markers in healthy young adults
Authors: Hermsdorff Helen Hermana M. , Barbosa Kiriaque B. F. , Volp Ana Carolina P. , Puchau Blanca , Bressan Josefina , Zulet M. Ángeles , Martínez J. Alfredo 
Published: September 2011

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess the potential relationships between fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and some oxidative stress markers in young adults, with particular emphasis on fibre and vitamin C intake. The study enrolled 246 healthy subjects (eighty-eight men and 158 women), with a mean age of 22 (sd3) years and a mean BMI of 21·9 (sd2·8) kg/m2. Dietary intake, anthropometry, blood pressure, lifestyle features and blood biochemical data were assessed with validated procedures. Those subjects in the highest tertile (T) of FV consumption ( ≥ 705 g/d) had statistically lower oxidised LDL (ox-LDL) concentrations as well as higher plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity (Pfor trend < 0·05), after adjusting for sex, age, energy intake, physical activity, smoking, BMI, vitamin supplement use and other confounding factors. Moreover, plasma ox-LDL concentrations showed a decreasing trend and TAC an increasing trend across tertiles of fibre (T3: ≥ 14 g/d) and vitamin C (T3: ≥ 150 mg/d) from FV intake, while GPx activity was positively associated with vitamin C intake (Pfor trend < 0·05). In conclusion, greater FV consumption was independently associated with reduced ox-LDL as well as increased TAC and GPx activity in healthy young adults, with dietary fibre and vitamin C from FV clearly being implicated in this beneficial relationship.
Prognostic role of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 protein expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Li J-J , Yang X-M , Wang S-H , Tang Q-L 
Published: September 2011

AbstractObjective:This study aimed to retrospectively analyse the expression of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 protein in cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:We studied 116 patients retrospectively. Expression of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 protein was determined in tumour and nontumour tissue samples, by immunohistochemistry.Results:Expression levels were significantly increased in 94 cases. Increased expression levels correlated well with tumour stage (p = 0.001) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002). Log-rank survival testing showed a significant difference between patients with marked versus limited expression levels (p = 0.03). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 protein expression level was an independent predictor of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma prognosis.Conclusion:These findings provide evidence that increased epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 protein expression is associated with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma stage, lymph node metastasis and poor survival. This suggests that this protein may be a potential marker for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
Face salient points and eyes tracking for robust drowsiness detection
Authors: Jimenez-Pinto J. , Torres-Torriti M. 
Published: September 2011

SUMMARYMeasuring a driver's level of attention and drowsiness is fundamental to reducing the number of traffic accidents that often involve bus and truck drivers, who must work for long periods of time under monotonous road conditions. Determining a driver's state of alert in a noninvasive way can be achieved using computer vision techniques. However, two main difficulties must be solved in order to measure drowsiness in a robust way: first, detecting the driver's face location despite variations in pose or illumination; secondly, recognizing the driver's facial cues, such as blinks, yawns, and eyebrow rising. To overcome these challenges, our approach combines the well-known Viola–Jones face detector with the motion analysis of Shi–Tomasi salient features within the face. The location of the eyes and blinking is important to refine the tracking of the driver's head and compute the so-called PERCLOS, which is the percentage of time the eyes are closed over a given time interval. The latter cue is essential for noninvasive driver's alert state estimation as it has a high correlation with drowsiness. To further improve the location of the eyes under different conditions of illumination, the proposed method takes advantage of the high reflectivity of the retina to near infrared illumination employing a camera with an 850 nm wavelength filter. The paper shows that motion analysis of the salient points, in particular cluster mass centers and spatial distributions, yields better head tracking results compared to the state-of-the-art and provides measures of the driver's alert state.
Establishing quantitative habitat targets for a ‘Critically Endangered’ Neotropical migrant (Golden-cheeked WarblerDendroica chrysoparia) during the non-breeding season
Authors: KING DAVID I. , CHANDLER CARLIN C. , RAPPOLE JOHN H. , CHANDLER RICHARD B. , MEHLMAN DAVID W. 
Published: September 2011

SummaryThe Golden-cheeked WarblerDendroica chrysopariais a federally endangered Neotropical migrant that inhabits montane pine-oak forests in Mexico and northern Central America during the non-breeding season. Although it is known that Golden-cheeked Warblers are closely associated with ‘encino’ oaks (evergreen or holm oak) such asQuercus sapotifolia,Q. elipticaandQ. elongata,which have shiny, narrow, elliptical, or oblong leaves, quantitative habitat targets are useful for effectively incorporating this information into conservation planning and forest management practices. We analysed data on wintering Golden-cheeked Warblers collected during the non-breeding season in Honduras from 1996 to 1998 to identify quantitative targets for habitat conditions for this species. Data on warbler abundance were collected using line transect surveys located in montane pine-oak forests in a stratified-random fashion. Habitat data were collected at five 0.04 ha plots on these same transects and the averaged values used as predictors of Golden-cheeked Warbler abundance. We found that Golden-cheeked Warblers were strongly associated with the basal area ofencinooaks and density of ‘roble’ oaks, such asQ. segoviensis,Q. purulhanaandQ. rugosa, which have large, lobed leaves. Density of Golden-cheeked Warblers peaked at ≈ 5.6 m2ha–1basal area ofencinoand ≈7robleoaks ha–1. These values can be used to identify quantitative habitat targets that can be directly incorporated into forest management practices to ensure that these activities maintain habitat conditions necessary for their use by Golden-cheeked Warblers.
The statistics of contour fragments in natural scenes
Authors: Merel Josh , Tkacik Gasper , Gifford Adam , Prentice Jason , Balasubramanian Vijay 
Published: September 2011

AbstractSummary: Recent electrophysiology recordings in macaque V4/IT suggest that single neuron response to synthetic closed contours can be largely captured by models which only consider a small number of contour fragments (Brincat and Connor 2004). Motivated by this experimental work, we sought firstly to characterize the statistics of contour fragments in natural scenes, and secondly to generate synthetic images which reflect the measured contour-fragment statistics.To detect contour fragments, we defined a set of feature detectors which respond only in the presence of two edges co-occurring at a fixed relative angle – implemented as a logical ‘AND’ of two Gabor-like, laplacian-of-gaussian linear filters. We then determined the pairwise correlations of these contour fragments in a natural image ensemble. If efficient coding extends to higher cortical centers and processing in the ventral visual stream can be modeled as a sequence of logical operations on linear shape features, then the pairwise statistics we measure should be informative about neural shape coding.Using these statistics directly, it is possible to produce a generative model of simple images which contain the measured statistics. We implemented a modified Ising model and solved the inverse problem of determining the optimal model parameters which satisfy the measured correlations. The resulting Ising-like model of the pairwise statistics can generate the probability of any arrangement of contour fragments as measured in the natural image ensemble.As a complementary approach to producing images with naturalistic contour fragment statistics, it is possible to start with a natural scene and isolate the target features. This is achieved by applying our contour fragment detection processing to the single scene and then separately visualizing the fragments detected. This second procedure lends itself to parametric randomization of the generated image.Narrative Elaboration: The central question guiding our study is how shapes are represented in inferotemporal cortex. To that end, we have investigated natural images in order to motivate experiments capable of targeting the extent to which neural processing of shapes involves representing shapes as combinations of key contour features. To simplify, we are focusing on black-and-white images and prioritizing contour features. This project suggests it is possible to generate synthetic images containing only a select set of contour statistics. Our subsequent goals include conducting collaborative macaque electrophysiology experiments with our generated images as visual stimuli.
Urban Tree Canopy Prioritization (UTC): Experience from Baltimore
Authors: Grove J. Morgan , Locke Dexter 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThe recently emerging shift in urban land management to an “all lands, all people” approach to achieve critical urban sustainability goals created the need to 1) characterize landcover at the unit of individual property units: i.e. property parcels, and 2) integrate social and ecological data corresponding to diverse, sustainability goals so that all neighborhoods and parcels can be prioritized. Currently, there are two types of UTC tools: 1) UTC Assessment and Monitoring tools are used to assess existing and potential urban tree canopy at a parcel level (2’ resolution) and regional extent; and 2) UTC Prioritization tools are used to identify where to increase urban tree canopy at watershed, neighborhood, and parcel levels based upon diverse stakeholders’ goals and preferences among goals. These goals may be ecological, social, and/or economic.In this presentation, we report on advances in our development of UTC Prioritization tools and their application in Baltimore, Maryland.