bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Complementary and alternative therapies: Use in pediatric pulmonary medicine
Authors: Chung Youngran , Dumont Robert C. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractWith increased awareness of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) and concern of potential adverse effects or limited effectiveness of conventional medications, patients and parents are looking to CAM approaches as either an alternative or as adjunct therapy, especially for chronic diseases such as asthma or cystic fibrosis. It is important that practitioners have adequate information so that patients and parents receive balanced and accurate information, especially regarding safety and potential efficacy. This review provides an overview of some of the more frequently used CAM therapies for children with chronic pulmonary disorders and summarizes the basic principles of each modality, along with efficacy and safety data. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 2011; 46:530–544. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Plasma TGF‐β1 in pediatric cystic fibrosis: Potential biomarker of lung disease and response to therapy
Authors: Harris William T. , Muhlebach Marianne S. , Oster Robert A. , Knowles Michael R. , Clancy J.P. , Noah Terry L. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractIntroductionTransforming growth factor beta‐1 (TGF‐β1) is an important genetic modifier of lung disease severity in cystic fibrosis (CF), yet the mechanism behind this disease association remains unknown. Initial steps in the investigation of the relationship between TGF‐β1 and CF lung disease include determining the most appropriate available biospecimen for TGF‐β1 protein measurement.HypothesisIn hospitalized pediatric CF patients, plasma TGF‐β1 is increased in association with clinical parameters of lung disease severity.MethodsSerum and plasma were obtained pre‐ and post‐intravenous antibiotic therapy in pediatric CF patients hospitalized for a pulmonary exacerbation. Total TGF‐β1, measured via ELISA, was compared with markers of lung disease, including airway microbiology, lung function, and response to therapy.ResultsForty CF children were studied, 15 of whom underwent bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) at the time of admission. Plasma TGF‐β1 positively correlated with BAL fluid (BALF) TGF‐β1 (r = 0.59, P < 0.05). Admission plasma TGF‐β1 was increased in subjects positive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P = 0.014) and was inversely associated with diminished lung function (P < 0.038) after therapy. Treatment with antibiotics significantly decreased plasma TGF‐β1 (P < 0.001). Serum TGF‐β1 was not associated with plasma TGF‐β1, BALF TGF‐β1, or these clinical parameters of lung disease.ConclusionIn pediatric CF, plasma (but not serum) TGF‐β1 is increased in association with Pseudomonas infection and lung disease, and is reduced in response to therapy. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing biospecimen selection for future studies investigating the role of TGF‐β1 in CF lung disease. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 2011; 46:688–695. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Bayesian approach to assessing the uncertainty in estimating bioconcentration factors in earthworms—the example of quinoxyfen
Authors: Fragoulis George , Merli Annalisa , Reeves Graham , Meregalli Giovanna , Stenberg Kristofer , Tanaka Taku , Capri Ettore 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBACKGROUND: Quinoxyfen is a fungicide of the phenoxyquinoline class used to control powdery mildew, Uncinula necator (Schw.) Burr. Owing to its high persistence and strong sorption in soil, it could represent a risk for soil organisms if they are exposed at ecologically relevant concentrations. The objective of this paper is to predict the bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of quinoxyfen in earthworms, selected as a representative soil organism, and to assess the uncertainty in the estimation of this parameter. Three fields in each of four vineyards in southern and northern Italy were sampled over two successive years.RESULTS: The measured BCFs varied over time, possibly owing to seasonal changes and the consequent changes in behaviour and ecology of earthworms. Quinoxyfen did not accumulate in soil, as the mean soil concentrations at the end of the 2 year monitoring period ranged from 9.16 to 16.0 µg kg−1 dw for the Verona province and from 23.9 to 37.5 µg kg−1 dw for the Taranto province, with up to eight applications per season. To assess the uncertainty of the BCF in earthworms, a probabilistic approach was used, firstly by building with weighted bootstrapping techniques a generic probabilistic density function (PDF) accounting for variability and incompleteness of knowledge. The generic PDF was then used to derive prior distribution functions, which, by application of Bayes' theorem, were updated with the new measurements and a posterior distribution was finally created.CONCLUSION: The study is a good example of probabilistic risk assessment. The means of mean and SD posterior estimates of log BCFworm (2.06, 0.91) are the ‘best estimate values’. Further risk assessment of quinoxyfen and other phenoxyquinoline fungicides and realistic representative scenarios for modelling exercises required for future authorization and post‐authorization requirements can now use this value as input. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry
Structural determinants of protein translocation in bacteria: conformational flexibility of SecA IRA1 loop region
Authors: Palladino Pasquale , Saviano Gabriella , Tancredi Teodorico , Benedetti Ettore , Rossi Filomena , Ragone Raffaele 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBacteria employ the SecA motor protein to push unfolded proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane through the SecY protein‐conducting channel complex. The crystal structure of the SecA–SecY complex shows that the intramolecular regulator of ATPase1 (IRA1) SecA domain, made up of two helices and the loop between them, is partly inserted into the SecY conducting channel, with the loop between the helices as the main functional region. A computational analysis suggested that the entire IRA1 domain is structurally autonomous, and was the basis to synthesize peptide analogs of the SecA IRA1 loop region, to the aim of investigating its conformational preferences. Our study indicates that the loop region populates a predominantly flexible state, even in the presence of structuring agent. This provides indirect evidence that the SecA loop–SecY receptor docking involves loop‐mediated opening of the SecY channel. Copyright © 2011 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ultrafast manipulation of the Rabi splitting in metal‐molecular aggregate hybrid nanostructures
Authors: Vasa P. , Pomraenke R. , Cirmi G. , De Re E. , Wang W. , Schwieger S. , Leipold D. , Runge E. , Cerullo G. , Lienau C. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractWe report on an experimental study of the optical properties of a metal‐molecular aggregate hybrid nanostructure consisting of a gold nanoslit array coated with a thin J‐aggregated dye layer. Our experiments reveal a strong coupling between the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excited on a nanoslit array and the aggregate excitons with a large Rabi splitting energy (ΩR). Ultrafast excitation drastically alters the optical response of the hybrid nanostructure inducing transient switching from the strong to weak the coupling regime due to the bleaching of the exciton resonance. The externally controlled switching is fully reversible and occurs on sub‐ps timescale. The results are explained within a phenomenological two coupled oscillator model. Such a strong interaction can, e.g., be used to fabricate ultrafast all‐optical plasmonic switches or tunable mirrors. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Carrier dynamics in (ZnMg)O alloy materials
Authors: Chernikov Alexej , Horst Swantje , Koch Martin , Volz Kerstin , Chatterjee Sangam , Koch Stephan W. , Wassner Thomas A. , Laumer Bernhard , Eickhoff Martin 
Published: February 2011

AbstractCarrier recombination dynamics in Zn1–xMgxO alloys were studied by time‐resolved photoluminescence as function of Mg concentration and lattice temperature for different emission and excitation energies. Disorder and carrier localization effects are found to play a significant role, becoming increasingly important for lower temperatures and higher Mg concentrations.Emission energy dependent dynamics were analyzed by the application of a theoretical model, yielding a characteristic localization energy of 60 ± 15 meV for the sample with the highest Mg concentration of x = 0.21. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Initiation of convection over the Black Forest mountains during COPS IOP15a
Authors: Bennett Lindsay J. , Blyth Alan M. , Burton Ralph R. , Gadian Alan M. , Weckwerth Tammy M. , Behrendt Andreas , Di Girolamo Paolo , Dorninger Manfred , Lock Sarah‐Jane , Smith Victoria H. , Mobbs Stephen D. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractDoppler‐On‐Wheels radar observations made during the Convective and Orographically‐induced Precipitation Study (COPS) on 12 August 2007 showed that precipitating clouds only developed between the north–south orientated Murg and Nagold Valleys of the northern Black Forest. The clouds produced moderate precipitation. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model run at 700 m horizontal resolution in the inner domain was able to simulate the location of the precipitation. Insight is therefore gained into the physical mechanisms responsible for the initiation and development of the convection. Convergence lines resulting from thermally driven flows constrained the initial location of the convection within warm and moist cores produced by heating on elevated surfaces. The heaviest precipitation was later produced by secondary convection, which was initiated within the cores at the boundary between cold‐pool outflows and thermal flows. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
An improved control chart structure for process location parameter
Authors: Riaz Muhammad 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThe article proposes a Shewhart‐type control chart, namely Mt chart, for an improved monitoring of the mean level of a quality characteristic of interest, say Y, in a process. The proposed control chart uses the information on a single auxiliary characteristic, say X, of the process and is based on product–difference‐type estimator, say Mt (in fact the spirit is to pool different styles of using information on auxiliary variable(s)). Assuming bivariate normality of the characteristic of interest Y and the auxiliary characteristic X, design structure of the proposed Mt chart is developed and its comparisons are made with those of some existing control charts used for the same purposes. The comparisons reveal an improved performance of the proposed Mt chart relative to its existing counterparts due to suggested merger of different approaches. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multiple sliding mode observers and unknown input estimations for Lipschitz nonlinear systems
Authors: Veluvolu K. C. , Soh Y. C. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractMultiple sliding mode observers for state and unknown input estimations of a class of MIMO nonlinear systems are systematically developed in this paper. A new nonlinear transformation is formulated to divide the original system into two interconnected subsystems. The unknown inputs are assumed to be bounded and not necessarily Lipschitz, and do not require any matching condition. Under structural assumptions for the unknown input distribution matrix, the sliding mode terms of the nonlinear observer are designed to track their respective unknown inputs. Also, the unknown inputs can be reconstructed from the multiple sliding mode structurally. The conditions for asymptotic stability of estimation error dynamics are derived. Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Control of continuous‐time Markov chains with safety constraints
Authors: Hsu Shun‐Pin 
Published: February 2011

SUMMARYIn this work the controlled continuous‐time finite‐state Markov chain with safety constraints is studied. The constraints are expressed as a finite number of inequalities, whose intersection forms a polyhedron. A probability distribution vector is called safe if it is in the polyhedron. Under the assumptions that the controlled Markov chain is completely observable and the controller induces a unique stationary distribution in the interior of the polyhedron, the author identifies the supreme invariant safety set (SISS) where a set is called an invariant safety set if any probability distribution in the set is initially safe and remains safe as time evolves. In particular, the necessary and sufficient condition for the SISS to be the polyhedron itself is given via linear programming formulations. A closed‐form expression for the condition is also derived as the constraints impose only upper and/or lower bounds on the components of the distribution vectors. If the condition is not satisfied, a finite time bound is identified and used to characterize the SISS. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Composite stratified anti‐disturbance control for a class of MIMO discrete‐time systems with nonlinearity
Authors: Wei Xinjiang , Chen Nan , Deng Changhui , Liu Xiaohua , Tang Meiqin 
Published: February 2011

SUMMARYAnti‐disturbance control and estimation problem are investigated for nonlinear system subject to multi‐source disturbances. The disturbances classified model is proposed based on the error and noise analysis of priori knowledge. The disturbance observers are constructed separately from the controller design to estimate the disturbance with partial known information. By integrating disturbance‐observer‐based control with discrete‐time sliding‐mode control (DSMC), a novel type of composite stratified anti‐disturbance control scheme is presented for a class of multiple‐input–multiple‐output discrete‐time systems with known and unknown nonlinear dynamics, respectively. Simulations for a flight control system are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the results compared with the previous schemes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gain‐scheduled dynamic output feedback control for discrete‐time LPV systems
Authors: De Caigny J. , Camino J. F. , Oliveira R. C. L. F. , Peres P. L. D. , Swevers J. 
Published: February 2011

SUMMARYThis paper presents synthesis conditions for the design of gain‐scheduled dynamic output feedback controllers for discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying systems. The state‐space matrix representation of the plant and of the controller can have a homogeneous polynomial dependency of arbitrary degree on the scheduling parameter. As an immediate extension, conditions for the synthesis of a multiobjective ℋ︁∞ and ℋ︁2 gain‐scheduled dynamic feedback controller are also provided. The scheduling parameters vary inside a polytope and are assumed to be a priori unknown, but measured in real‐time. If bounds on the rate of parameter variation are known, they can be taken into account, providing less conservative results. The geometric properties of the uncertainty domain are exploited to derive finite sets of linear matrix inequalities based on the existence of a homogeneous polynomially parameter‐dependent Lyapunov function. An application of the control design to a realistic engineering problem illustrates the benefits of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nanostructuring of Titania Thin Films by a Combination of Microfluidics and Block‐Copolymer‐Based Sol–Gel Templating
Authors: Rawolle Monika , Ruderer Matthias A. , Prams Stefan M. , Zhong Qi , Magerl David , Perlich Jan , Roth Stephan V. , Lellig Philipp , Gutmann Jochen S. , Müller‐Buschbaum Peter 
Published: February 2011

AbstractSol–gel templating of titania thin films with the amphiphilic diblock copolymer poly(dimethyl siloxane)‐block‐methyl methacrylate poly(ethylene oxide) is combined with microfluidic technology to control the structure formation. Due to the laminar flow conditions in the microfluidic cell, a better control of the local composition of the reactive fluid is achieved. The resulting titania films exhibit mesopores and macropores, as determined with scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray reflectivity, and grazing incidence small angle X‐ray scattering. The titania morphology has three features that are beneficial for application in photovoltaics: 1) a large surface‐to‐volume ratio important for charge generation with disordered hexagonally arranged mesopores of 25 nm size and a film porosity of up to 0.79, 2) enhanced light scattering that enables the absorption of more light, and 3) a dense titania layer with a thickness of about 6 nm at the substrate (bottom electrode) to prevent short circuits. An optical characterization complements the structural investigation.
Size‐Dependant Cellular Uptake of Dendritic Polyglycerol
Authors: Reichert Stephanie , Welker Pia , Calderón Marcelo , Khandare Jayant , Mangoldt Dorothea , Licha Kai , Kainthan Rajesh K. , Brooks Donald E. , Haag Rainer 
Published: February 2011

AbstractTo study the mechanism of cellular internalization, hyperbranched polyether derivatives consisting of amino‐bearing hyperbranched polyglycerols (HPGs) of varied molecular mass and size range are designed and synthesized. HPGs were further fluorescently labelled by conjugating maleimido indocarbocyanine dye (ICC‐mal). The conjugates are characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, fluorescence profile, zeta potential, and dynamic light scattering. The uptake mechanism is studied by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and confocal microscopy with human lung cancer cells A549, human epidermoid carcinoma cells A431, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) cells. For the first time, the results suggest that the higher‐molecular‐weight HPGs (40–870 kDa) predominantly accumulate in the cytoplasm much better than their low‐molecular‐weight counterparts (2–20 kDa). The HPG nanocarriers discussed here have many biomedical implications, particularly for delivering drugs to the targeted site.
A case study on business process recovery using an e‐government system
Authors: Pérez‐Castillo Ricardo , García‐Rodríguez de Guzmán Ignacio , Piattini Mario , Places Ángeles S. 
Published: February 2011

SUMMARYBusiness processes have become one of the key assets of organization, since these processes allow them to discover and control what occurs in their environments, with information systems automating most of an organization's processes. Unfortunately, and as a result of uncontrolled maintenance, information systems age over time until it is necessary to replace them with new and modernized systems. However, while systems are aging, meaningful business knowledge that is not present in any of the organization's other assets gradually becomes embedded in them. The preservation of this knowledge through the recovery of the underlying business processes is, therefore, a critical problem. This paper provides, as a solution to the aforementioned problem, a model‐driven procedure for recovering business processes from legacy information systems. The procedure proposes a set of models at different abstraction levels, along with the model transformations between them. The paper also provides a supporting tool, which facilitates its adoption. Moreover, a real‐life case study concerning an e‐government system applies the proposed recovery procedure to validate its effectiveness and efficiency. The case study was carried out by following a formal protocol to improve its rigor and replicability. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simple algebraic data types for C
Authors: Hartel Pieter H. , Muller Henk L. 
Published: February 2011

SUMMARYAdt is a simple tool in the spirit of Lex and Yacc that makes monomorphic algebraic data types, polymorphic built‐in types like the list and an efficient form of pattern matching available in C programs. C programs built with ADTs typically use NULL pointers only to indicate don't care values, and not as sentinels. This reduces the scope for errors involving NULL pointers. The Adt tool generates runtime checks, which catch many of the remaining NULL pointer dereferences. The runtime checks may consume a significant amount of CPU time; hence they can be switched off once the program is suitably debugged. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prevalence of uterine anomalies and their impact on early pregnancy in women conceiving after assisted reproduction treatment
Authors: Jayaprakasan K. , Chan Y. Y. , Sur S. , Deb S. , Clewes J. S. , Raine‐Fenning N. J. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of congenital uterine anomalies in subfertile women and to evaluate their influence on early pregnancy following assisted reproduction treatment (ART).MethodsWe prospectively recruited 1402 subjects undergoing ART over a period of 5 years from 2005 to 2009. Three‐dimensional transvaginal sonography was performed in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (days 2–5) and repeated in the late follicular phase (days 10–14) if the shape of the uterine cavity could not be assessed at the first scan. All subjects who conceived following ART were followed up to 12 weeks' gestation. Chi‐square test was used to compare the pregnancy rates and miscarriage rates between women shown to have uterine anomalies and those with a normal uterus.ResultsOne thousand three hundred and eighty‐five subjects were included for final analysis after excluding 17 subjects in whom a definitive diagnosis could not be made. While 1201 (86.7%) subjects had a normal uterine cavity, uterine anomalies were demonstrated in 184 (13.3%) subjects. Arcuate uteri represented the commonest anomaly (n = 164 (11.8%)) followed by septate (n = 7 (0.5%)), unicornuate (n = 6 (0.4%)), subseptate (n = 5 (0.4%)), bicornuate (n = 1 (0.1%)) and T‐shaped uteri (n = 1 (0.1%)). A total of 440 subjects who underwent ART were followed up. The pregnancy rates in women with arcuate uteri (36/66 (54.5%)) and major uterine anomalies (7/10 (70.0%)) were statistically similar (P = 0.09 and P = 0.11, respectively) to that of the matched controls with normal uteri (158/364 (43.4%)). While first‐trimester miscarriage rates were similar (P = 0.81) between the control group (20/158 (12.7%)) and women with arcuate uteri (5/36 (13.9%)), women with major uterine anomalies experienced a higher miscarriage rate (3/7 (42.9%); P = 0.05).ConclusionsWomen who are referred for ART have a high prevalence of congenital uterine anomalies, the most common anomaly being an arcuate uterus. These anomalies are not associated with a reduction in pregnancy rates following ART. However, while the arcuate uterus was not associated with an increase in first‐trimester miscarriage, major uterine anomalies seemed to increase the risk of first‐trimester miscarriage. Copyright © 2011 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Functions and mechanisms of spliceosomal small nuclear RNA pseudouridylation
Authors: Wu Guowei , Yu Andrew T. , Kantartzis Athena , Yu Yi‐Tao 
Published: February 2011

AbstractPseudouridines are the most abundant and highly conserved modified nucleotides identified in spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). Most pseudouridines are also clustered in functionally important regions of spliceosomal snRNAs. Experiments carried out in several independent experimental systems show that the pseudouridines in spliceosomal snRNAs are functionally important for pre‐messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing. Experimental data also indicate that spliceosomal snRNA pseudouridylation can be catalyzed by both RNA‐dependent (box H/ACA Ribonucleoproteins) and RNA‐independent (protein‐only enzymes) mechanisms. WIREs RNA 2011 2 571–581 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.77This article is categorized under:

RNA Processing > RNA Editing and Modification