bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Anthrone and Chromone from the Latex of Aloe harlana Reynolds
Authors: Asamenew Gelila , Bisrat Daniel , Mazumder Avijit , Asres Kaleab 
Published: March 2011

In the search for new antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds from plants, the latex of the medicinal plant Aloe harlana Reynolds from Ethiopia was subjected to bioassay‐guided fractionation, which led to the isolation of two known compounds, anthrone (aloin) and chromone (7‐O‐methylaloeresin A). The latex and its two constituents were assessed for their possible antimicrobial activities against 23 bacterial and four fungal strains using the disc diffusion method and their antioxidant activity by two complementary test systems, namely 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2‐deoxyribose degradation assay methods.The isolated compounds showed promising results against various pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains in comparison with standard drugs. Moreover, 7‐O‐methylaloeresin A exhibited good activity against multiple drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 11994) and Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC 1255) with MIC values of 0.72 and 0.18 mm, respectively. Among the fungal strains tested, Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) was the most susceptible organism to the latex and the two isolated compounds. The latex and isolated compounds also showed significant activities on both antioxidant assays with the highest activity being observed for 7‐O‐methylaloeresin A, which gave IC50 values of 0.026 mm and 0.021 mm for DPPH and 2‐deoxyribose degradation assay, respectively. These findings support the traditional uses of the plant for the treatment of various infectious and inflammatory diseases. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multirobot exploration for search and rescue missions: A report on map building in RoboCupRescue 2009
Authors: Nagatani Keiji , Okada Yoshito , Tokunaga Naoki , Kiribayashi Seiga , Yoshida Kazuya , Ohno Kazunori , Takeuchi Eijiro , Tadokoro Satoshi , Akiyama Hidehisa , Noda Itsuki , Yoshida Tomoaki , Koyanagi Eiji 
Published: March 2011

AbstractIn the future, mobile robots may be able to assist rescue crews in search and rescue missions that take place in the dangerous environments that result from natural or man‐made disasters. In 2006, we launched a research project to develop mobile robots that can rapidly collect information in the initial stages of a disaster. One of our important objectives is three‐dimensional (3D) mapping, which can be a very useful tool for assisting rescue crews in strategizing rescue missions. To realize this 3D mapping, we identified five issues that we needed to address: (1) autonomous traversal of uneven terrain, (2) development of a system for the continuous acquisition of 3D data of the environment, (3) coverage path planning, (4) centralization of map data obtained by multiple robots, and (5) fusion of map data obtained by multiple robots. We solved each problem through our joint research. Each research institute in our group took charge of solving one of the above issues according to its area of expertise. We integrated these solutions to perform 3D mapping using our tracked vehicle, Kenaf. To validate our integrated autonomous 3D mapping system, we participated in RoboCupRescue 2009 and demonstrated our system using multiple robots on the RoboCupRescue field. In this paper, we introduce our mapping system and report the mapping results obtained at the RoboCupRescue event. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cable inspection robot for cable‐stayed bridges: Design, analysis, and application
Authors: Xu Fengyu , Wang Xingsong , Wang Lei 
Published: March 2011

AbstractAs the most important component of cable‐stayed bridges, cable safety has been of crucial public concern. In this paper, a new robot system for the inspection of stay cables is proposed. The robot not only replaces human workers in carrying out risky tasks in a hazardous environment but also increases operational efficiency by eliminating costly erection of scaffolding or dragging of winches. The designed robot is composed of two equally spaced modules, joined by connecting bars to form a closed hexagonal body that clasps the cable. For safe landing in case of an electrical interruption or malfunction, a gas damper with a slider‐crank mechanism is proposed to use up the extra energy generated by gravity when the robot slips down. To conserve energy, a landing method based on back electromotive force is introduced. Laboratory and field experiments verified that the robot can stably climb random inclined cables and land smoothly upon electrical malfunction. Finally, along with an application example, the vision inspection system based on charge‐coupled device cameras, operating modes of the robot, control methods, and feasibility are discussed in detail. The field applications on two cable‐stayed bridges indicate that such a low‐cost robot system can improve the efficiency of inspection operations and satisfy the requirements of actual cable inspection. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Effect of Post Fatigue Tensile Loading on Mechanical Properties and Failure Behaviour of Steel
Authors: Maity Joydeep , Kumar Shiv , Bhattacharyya Ashish 
Published: March 2011

AbstractIn this research work the early fatigue damage characteristics up to 50% of life has been investigated at near‐endurance stress amplitude in a medium carbon steel with hardened & tempered and normalized conditions by application of post fatigue tensile loading. During fatigue loading microvoids were generated at the interphase‐interface through vacancy clustering. Directional localized coalescence of these microvoids generated ‘void sheets’ in the normalized steel and ‘craters’ in the hardened & tempered steel. These defects acted as the potential sites for failure during post fatigue tensile loading deteriorating the mechanical properties. This was, therefore, clearly indicated that when a high tensile load is superimposed on near‐endurance fatigue loading, material may fail much earlier than its actual fatigue life. The normalized steel suffered from more reduction in ductility than the hardened & tempered steel indicating more susceptibility to fatigue damage.
Recent Developments and Mid‐ and Long‐Term CO2 Mitigation Projects in Ironmaking
Authors: Takeda Kanji , Anyashiki Takashi , Sato Takeshi , Oyama Nobuyuki , Watakabe Shiro , Sato Michitaka 
Published: March 2011

AbstractCO2 mitigation and the stable supply of raw materials are two major issues for the steel industry. The Japanese steel industry has promoted short term developments and investments to comply with the Japan Iron and Steel Federation's voluntary action plan in parallel with developing plans for drastic CO2 mitigation programs toward the post Kyoto protocol period. This paper describes short‐term measures in the ironmaking field such as natural gas injection technology to the sintering bed and burden distribution control with coke mixed charging.For mid and long term CO2 mitigation, the joint project, ‘Preparatory research work for the blast furnace based innovative ironmaking technologies’ was actively promoted by the New Energy and industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) from FY2006 to FY2008. Based on the enhancement of carbon ‐ CO2 reaction by close positioning of carbon and iron oxide/metallic iron, the production process and reaction mechanism in a blast furnace were studied for two innovative composites with iron oxide, metallic iron and carbon.For development at a pilot plant scale, a new project, ‘Development of innovative ironmaking process using low cost iron ore and coal’ started in FY2009. Key technologies of the project are the production process and evaluation in a blast furnace of a hybrid composite of metallic iron and carbon, so called ‘Ferro‐coke’. This paper describes key technologies and recent developments of the project.
Recursive algebraic method of computing power system harmonics
Authors: Peiravi Ali , Ildarabadi Rahim 
Published: March 2011

AbstractEnsuring power quality in power systems demands fast calculation of harmonics. In this paper, a recursive algebraic approach to the calculation of current transformer (CT)‐derived current signal frequency and harmonics is proposed that is based on a fast but accurate recursive algorithm whereby in any stage of sampling in a given cycle the variables are calculated on the basis of their values in the previous stage. Comparison with the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) approach shows the superiority of the proposed approach. It is shown that when the number of samples used in the DFT approach is increased, the results obtained approach those of the proposed recursive algebraic method. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Delay‐dependent robust stability analysis for interval neural networks with time‐varying delay
Authors: Liu Fang , Wu Min , He Yong , Zhou Yicheng , Yokoyama Ryuichi 
Published: March 2011

AbstractThis article deals with the problem of robust stability for interval neural networks with time‐varying delay. By constructing an appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, using the S‐procedure and taking the relationship among the time‐varying delay, its upper bound and their difference into account, some linear matrix inequality(LMI) ‐based delay‐dependent stability criteria are obtained without ignoring any terms in the derivative of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Finally, two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of the proposed method. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
An investigation of flying capacitor converter for circuit integration
Authors: Kamaga Masamu , Sung Kyungmin , Sato Yukihiko , Ohashi Hiromichi 
Published: March 2011

AbstractOutput power density of power converters has been increased. In power converters with lower harmonic distortion and lower electromagnetic interference (EMI) which are required in many applications, bulky harmonic and EMI filters are usually connected. The volume of the harmonic filters can be reduced by increasing the switching frequency. However, higher switching frequency will cause larger switching loss and severe EMI. As another approach, there is possibility of intrinsic elimination of harmonics and EMI by introducing multilevel converters. However, as the number of levels increases, the number of circuit components will exceed the practical limit of the implementation. Thus, from a practical viewpoint, the main circuit and related circuits should be integrated. However, it has not been clarified which multilevel topology is suitable for circuit integration. In addition, the effectiveness in reducing total device loss considering chip size has not been evaluated. In this paper, the advantage of a flying capacitor multilevel topology for circuit integration is clarified by theoretical and experimental investigations. Also, the total device loss and chip size of the flying capacitor converter are estimated. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Fabrication of a microelectromechanical system mirror array and its drive electrodes for low electrical interference in wavelength‐selective switches
Authors: Sakata Tomomi , Usui Mitsuo , Uchiyama Shingo , Shimoyama Nobuhiro , Kodate Junichi , Ishii Hiromu , Matsuura Tohru , Shimokawa Fusao , Sato Yasuhiro 
Published: March 2011

AbstractThis article describes the fabrication of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror array and mirror‐drive electrodes with high‐aspect‐ratio gold walls that reduce electrical interference in a wavelength‐selective switch (WSS). The MEMS mirror array, in which a lot of closely spaced adjacent mirrors are electrostatically operated, can be fabricated with a high yield by encapsulating the mirrors with an organic film that protects them from process damage. The gold walls with a high‐aspect ratio are formed in the narrow space between adjacent mirror‐drive electrodes by using thick‐multilevel interconnection technology. Because of these walls between adjacent electrodes, each MEMS mirror operates with low electrical interference. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A fast low‐density parity‐check code simulator based on compressed parity‐check matrices
Authors: Yau Shek F. , Wong Tan L. , Lau Francis C. M. , He Yejun 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTLow‐density parity‐check (LDPC) codes are very powerful error‐correction codes with capabilities approaching the Shannon's limits. In evaluating the error performance of an LDPC code, the computer simulation time taken becomes a primary concern when tens of millions of noise‐corrupted codewords are to be decoded, particularly for codes with very long lengths. In this paper, we propose modeling the parity‐check matrix of an LDPC code with compressed parity‐check matrices in the check‐node domain (CND) and in the bit‐node domain (BND), respectively. Based on the compressed parity‐check matrices, we created two message matrices, one in the CND and another in the BND, and two domain conversion matrices, one from CND to BND and another from BND to CND. With the proposed message matrices, the data used in the iterative LDPC decoding algorithm can be closely packed and stored within a small memory size. Consequently, such data can be mostly stored in the cache memory, reducing the need for the central processing unit to access the random access memory and hence improving the simulation time significantly. Furthermore, the messages in one domain can be easily converted to another domain with the use of the conversion matrices, facilitating the central processing unit to access and update the messages. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Personality assessment in snow leopards (Uncia uncia)
Authors: Marieke Cassia Gartner , David Powell 
Published: March 2011

AbstractKnowledge of individual personality is a useful tool in animal husbandry and can be used effectively to improve welfare. This study assessed personality in snow leopards (Uncia uncia) by examining their reactions to six novel objects and comparing them to personality assessments based on a survey completed by zookeepers. The objectives were to determine whether these methods could detect differences in personality, including age and sex differences, and to assess whether the two methods yielded comparable results. Both keeper assessments and novel object tests identified age, sex, and individual differences in snow leopards. Five dimensions of personality were found based on keepers' ratings: Active/Vigilant, Curious/Playful, Calm/Self‐Assured, Timid/Anxious, and Friendly to Humans. The dimension Active/Vigilant was significantly positively correlated with the number of visits to the object, time spent locomoting, and time spent in exploratory behaviors. Curious/Playful was significantly positively correlated with the number of visits to the object, time spent locomoting, and time spent in exploratory behaviors. However, other dimensions (Calm/Self‐Assured, Friendly to Humans, and Timid/Anxious) did not correlate with novel‐object test variables and possible explanations for this are discussed. Thus, some of the traits and behaviors were correlated between assessment methods, showing the novel‐object test to be useful in assessing an animal's personality should a keeper be unable to, or to support a keeper's assessment. Zoo Biol 31: 151–165, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
CaPiTo: protocol stacks for services
Authors: Gao Han , Nielson Flemming , Nielson Hanne Riis 
Published: March 2011

Abstract

CaPiTo allows the modelling of service-oriented applications using process algebras at three levels of abstraction. The
abstract
level focuses on the key functionality of the services; the
plug-in
level shows how to obtain security using standardised protocol stacks; finally, the
concrete
level allows to consider how security is obtained using asymmetric and symmetric cryptographic primitives. The CaPiTo approach therefore caters for a variety of developers that need to cooperate on designing and implementing service-oriented applications. We show how to formally analyse CaPiTo specifications for ensuring the absence of security flaws. The method used is based on static analysis of the corresponding LySa specifications. We illustrate the development on two industrial case studies; one taken from the banking sector and the other a single sign-on protocol.
Adjuvant surgical therapy for patients with initially‐unresectable pancreatic cancer with long‐term favorable responses to chemotherapy
Authors: Kato Kentaro , Kondo Satoshi , Hirano Satoshi , Tanaka Eiichi , Shichinohe Toshiaki , Tsuchikawa Takahiro , Matsumoto Joe 
Published: March 2011

AbstractBackgroundTo evaluate the prognostic impact of surgical intervention for initially‐unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with long‐term favorable responses to chemotherapy.MethodTwelve patients with initially‐unresectable pancreatic ductal carcinomas who underwent radical surgery after a favorable response to chemotherapy for six months or longer in principle were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of these 12 patients and performed a survival analysis.ResultsInitially, the included patients were unable to undergo resection secondary to locally‐advanced disease in eight patients and metastatic disease in four patients. The length of preoperative therapy was five to 44 months (median 12). The operative procedure included resection of the area initially involved by tumor and regional major vessels. The postoperative mortality and morbidity rates were 0% for patients with locally‐advanced disease and 50% in those with metastatic disease. R0 resection was achieved in nine patients (75%) and pathological CR was seen in one patient. Estimated overall five‐year survival from initial therapy was 50.0%. The survival rate (0% at 5 years) of the four patients with metastatic disease as the cause of initial unresectability was significantly worse than that (100% at 5 years) of the eight patients with locally‐advanced disease (p = 0.0014).ConclusionSurgical intervention should be considered for patients with initially‐unresectable pancreatic cancers who demonstrate long‐term favorable responses to chemotherapy. R0 resection may significantly contribute to cure, especially in patients with initially locally‐advanced disease. Large cohort prospective studies will be necessary to demonstrate the efficacy of this strategy.
Study on Free Lipase‐Catalyzed Ethanolysis for Biodiesel Preparation in an Oil/Water Biphasic System
Authors: Ren Hongjie , Du Wei , Lv Liangliang , Liu Dehua 
Published: March 2011

AbstractUsing free lipase as the catalyst for biodiesel production has drawn increasing attention in recent years due to its advantages of lower cost and faster reaction rate compared to immobilized lipase. Our previous study showed that free lipase NS81006 could effectively catalyze the methanolysis of renewable oil. Ethanol, derived from renewable biomass, has a greater potential for biodiesel production. In this paper, ethanol was explored for the first time as the acyl acceptor for free lipase‐mediated biodiesel preparation. The effect of stirring rate, water content, molar ratio of ethanol to oil and ethanol adding strategy was investigated systematically during the process of free lipase NS81006‐catalyzed ethanolysis. An ethyl ester yield of 90% was obtained under the optimized conditions. Further study showed that the free lipase could be repeatedly used by simple separation of the water phase from the oil phase and there was no obvious loss in lipase activity after five repeated uses.
Arsenic affects expression and processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in primary neuronal cells overexpressing the Swedish mutation of human APP
Authors: Zarazúa Sergio , Bürger Susanne , Delgado Juan M. , Jiménez‐Capdeville Maria E. , Schliebs Reinhard 
Published: March 2011

AbstractArsenic poisoning due to contaminated water and soil, mining waste, glass manufacture, select agrochemicals, as well as sea food, affects millions of people world wide. Recently, an involvement of arsenic in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been hypothesized (Gong and O'Bryant, 2010). The present study stresses the hypothesis whether sodium arsenite, and its main metabolite, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), may affect expression and processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), using the cholinergic cell line SN56.B5.G4 and primary neuronal cells overexpressing the Swedish mutation of APP, as experimental approaches.Exposure of cholinergic SN56.B5.G4 cells with either sodium arsenite or DMA decreased cell viability in a concentration‐ and exposure‐time dependent manner, and affected the activities of the cholinergic enzymes acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase. Both sodium arsenite and DMA exposure of SN56.B5.G4 cells resulted in enhanced level of APP, and sAPP in the membrane and cytosolic fractions, respectively. To reveal any effect of arsenic on APP processing, the amounts of APP cleavage products, sAPPβ, and β‐amyloid (Aβ) peptides, released into the culture medium of primary neuronal cells derived from transgenic Tg2576 mice, were assessed by ELISA. Following exposure of neuronal cells by sodium arsenite for 12 h, the membrane‐bound APP level was enhanced, the amount of sAPPβ released into the culture medium was slightly higher, while the levels of Aβ peptides in the culture medium were considerably lower as compared to that assayed in the absence of any drug. The sodium arsenite‐induced reduction of Aβ formation suggests an inhibition of the APP γ‐cleavage step by arsenite. In contrast, DMA exposure of neuronal cells considerably increased formation of Aβ and sAPPβ, accompanied by enhanced membrane APP level. The DMA‐induced changes in APP processing may be the result of the enhanced APP expression. Alternatively, increased Aβ production may also be due to stimulation of caspase activity by arsenic compounds, or failure in Aβ degradation.In summary, the present report clearly demonstrates that sodium arsenite and DMA affect processing of APP in vitro.
Identification for Chaos and Subharmonic Responses in Coupled Forced Duffing's Oscillators
Authors: Jeng J.-D. , Kang Y. , Chang Y.-P. 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a response integral quantity method is proposed. This technique provides a quantitative characterization of system responses and can assist the role of the traditional stroboscopic technique (Poincaré section method) in observing bifurcations and chaos of the nonlinear oscillators. We numerically analyze and identify the chaos and subharmonic responses in the forced coupled Duffing's oscillators in which we find that chaotic behaviors and high-order subharmonic responses exist. Due to the signal response contamination of system, it is difficult to identify the high-order responses of the subharmonic motion because of the sampling points on Poincaré map being very close to each other. Even the system responses are subject to misjudgments. The simulation results, however, show that the highorder subharmonic and chaotic responses and their bifurcations can be observed effectively.
The Method of Fundamental Solutions for Water-Wave Diffraction by Thin Porous Breakwater
Authors: Tsai C. H. , Young D. L. 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTThe method of fundamental solutions (MFS) and domain decomposition method (DDM) are employed to solve the water-wave diffraction by a thin porous vertical breakwater of semi-infinite extent. Based on the linearized theory of water waves, the problem can be reduced to a boundary value problem with degenerate boundary. In contrast to other mesh dependent numerical method, the MFS is easier and more efficient to handle degenerate boundary value problems. Various incident wave angles and porous parameters are included to validate the power of the proposed numerical scheme. The present results demonstrate the MFS is sufficiently accurate and feasible to be used to predict water-wave diffraction by a thin permeable breakwater by comparing with literature.