bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 4B: a journey into unexplored territory
Authors: Gouttenoire Jérôme , Penin François , Moradpour Darius 
Published: January 2010

AbstractHepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive‐strand RNA virus that replicates its genome in a membrane‐associated replication complex. Nonstructural protein 4B (NS4B) induces the specific membrane alteration, designated as membranous web (MW), that harbours this complex. HCV NS4B is an integral membrane protein predicted to comprise four transmembrane segments in its central part. The N‐terminal part comprises two amphipathic α‐helices of which the second has the potential to traverse the membrane bilayer, likely upon oligomerisation. The C‐terminal part comprises a predicted highly conserved α‐helix, a membrane‐associated amphipathic α‐helix and two reported palmitoylation sites. NS4B interacts with other viral nonstructural proteins and has been reported to bind viral RNA. In addition, it was found to harbour an NTPase activity. Finally, NS4B has recently been found to have a role in viral assembly. Much work needs to be done with respect to further dissecting these multiple functions as well as providing a refined membrane topology and complete structure of NS4B. Progress in this direction should yield important insights into the functional architecture of the HCV replication complex and may reveal new opportunities for antiviral intervention against a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nanoscale positioning of inorganic nanoparticles using biological ferritin arrays fabricated by dip‐pen nanolithography
Authors: Bellido Elena , de Miguel Rocío , Sesé Javier , Ruiz‐Molina Daniel , Lostao Anabel , Maspoch Daniel 
Published: January 2010

AbstractIn this manuscript we demonstrate the spatially controlled immobilization of ferritin proteins by directly writing them on a wide range of substrates of technological interest. Optical and fluorescence microscopy, AFM and TOF‐SIMS studies confirm the successful deposition of the protein on those surfaces. Control on nanostructure shape and size, by miniaturizing the dot‐like features down to a 100 nm, demonstrates the particular capabilities of the DPN approach. Ultimately, this study gives the opportunity to design nanoparticle‐based arrays regarding the growing interest in the use of nanoparticles as structural and functional elements for fabricating nanodevices. Herein, we demonstrate how the protein shell of ferritins can be removed by a simple heat‐treatment process while maintaining the encapsulated inorganic nanoparticle intact on the same location of the nanoarray. As a result, this study establishes how direct‐write DPN approach could give the opportunity to design not only protein‐based nanoarrays but also nanoparticle‐based nanoarrays with high‐resolution and control. SCANNING 32: 35–41, 2010. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Inverse model of fiber probe aperture size using a non‐destructive method
Authors: Lin Zone‐Ching , Yang Ching‐Been 
Published: January 2010

AbstractThis study establishes a set of theoretical line segment fabrication models of near‐field photolithography using radiation field theory—Dill's exposure model and Mack's development model. By combining the theoretical line segment fabrication model and experiments, this work constructs a novel theory of inverse calculation of fiber probe aperture size using the non‐destructive method. The experimental and simulation results obtained using the theoretical line segment fabrication model are compared; the error between these results is utilized as an objective function. The Levenberg–Marquardt method is used to search and rationalize the convergence criterion. Fiber probe aperture size that fits the experimental and theoretical model is inverse calculated. According to the results, the probe aperture obtained by this inverse model is d=250.6 nm, while the average size certified by SEM is davg=253.4 nm, the close match indicated that the probe aperture calculated with the inverse model is reasonable and can be accepted. The lithographic fabrication profile can be predicted with the inverse model to get the probe aperture and, then, cooperated with the theoretical simulated values and experimental parameter control. Such a fabrication has an application value for industry. This non‐destructive fiber probe aperture measured model can overcome the bottleneck at present to get this value by destructive measurement, thus, it has surmounted contribution in fiber probe aperture measuring techniques. SCANNING 31: 211–220, 2009. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A semiparametric probit model for case 2 interval‐censored failure time data
Authors: Lin Xiaoyan , Wang Lianming 
Published: January 2010

AbstractInterval‐censored data occur naturally in many fields and the main feature is that the failure time of interest is not observed exactly, but is known to fall within some interval. In this paper, we propose a semiparametric probit model for analyzing case 2 interval‐censored data as an alternative to the existing semiparametric models in the literature. Specifically, we propose to approximate the unknown nonparametric nondecreasing function in the probit model with a linear combination of monotone splines, leading to only a finite number of parameters to estimate. Both the maximum likelihood and the Bayesian estimation methods are proposed. For each method, regression parameters and the baseline survival function are estimated jointly. The proposed methods make no assumptions about the observation process and can be applicable to any interval‐censored data with easy implementation. The methods are evaluated by simulation studies and are illustrated by two real‐life interval‐censored data applications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A polytomous conditional likelihood approach for combining matched and unmatched case–control studies
Authors: Gebregziabher Mulugeta , Guimaraes Paulo , Cozen Wendy , Conti David V. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractIn genetic association studies it is becoming increasingly imperative to have large sample sizes to identify and replicate genetic effects. To achieve these sample sizes, many research initiatives are encouraging the collaboration and combination of several existing matched and unmatched case–control studies. Thus, it is becoming more common to compare multiple sets of controls with the same case group or multiple case groups to validate or confirm a positive or negative finding. Usually, a naive approach of fitting separate models for each case–control comparison is used to make inference about disease–exposure association. But, this approach does not make use of all the observed data and hence could lead to inconsistent results. The problem is compounded when a common case group is used in each case–control comparison. An alternative to fitting separate models is to use a polytomous logistic model but, this model does not combine matched and unmatched case–control data. Thus, we propose a polytomous logistic regression approach based on a latent group indicator and a conditional likelihood to do a combined analysis of matched and unmatched case–control data. We use simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and a case–control study of multiple myeloma and Inter‐Leukin‐6 as an example. Our results indicate that the proposed method leads to a more efficient homogeneity test and a pooled estimate with smaller standard error. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A multiple imputation approach for clustered interval‐censored survival data
Authors: Lam K. F. , Xu Ying , Cheung Tak‐Lun 
Published: January 2010

AbstractMultivariate interval‐censored failure time data arise commonly in many studies of epidemiology and biomedicine. Analysis of these type of data is more challenging than the right‐censored data. We propose a simple multiple imputation strategy to recover the order of occurrences based on the interval‐censored event times using a conditional predictive distribution function derived from a parametric gamma random effects model. By imputing the interval‐censored failure times, the estimation of the regression and dependence parameters in the context of a gamma frailty proportional hazards model using the well‐developed EM algorithm is made possible. A robust estimator for the covariance matrix is suggested to adjust for the possible misspecification of the parametric baseline hazard function. The finite sample properties of the proposed method are investigated via simulation. The performance of the proposed method is highly satisfactory, whereas the computation burden is minimal. The proposed method is also applied to the diabetic retinopathy study (DRS) data for illustration purpose and the estimates are compared with those based on other existing methods for bivariate grouped survival data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Breakthrough and future: nanoscale controls of compositions, morphologies, and mesochannel orientations toward advanced mesoporous materials
Authors: Yamauchi Yusuke , Suzuki Norihiro , Radhakrishnan Logudurai , Wang Liang 
Published: January 2010

AbstractCurrently, ordered mesoporous materials prepared through the self‐assembly of surfactants have attracted growing interests owing to their special properties, including uniform mesopores and a high specific surface area. Here we focus on fine controls of compositions, morphologies, mesochannel orientations which are important factors for design of mesoporous materials with new functionalities. This Review describes our recent progress toward advanced mesoporous materials. Mesoporous materials now include a variety of inorganic‐based materials, for example, transition‐metal oxides, carbons, inorganic‐organic hybrid materials, polymers, and even metals. Mesoporous metals with metallic frameworks can be produced by using surfactant‐based synthesis with electrochemical methods. Owing to their metallic frameworks, mesoporous metals with high electroconductivity and high surface areas hold promise for a wide range of potential applications, such as electronic devices, magnetic recording media, and metal catalysts. Fabrication of mesoporous materials with controllable morphologies is also one of the main subjects in this rapidly developing research field. Mesoporous materials in the form of films, spheres, fibers, and tubes have been obtained by various synthetic processes such as evaporation‐mediated direct templating (EDIT), spray‐dried techniques, and collaboration with hard‐templates such as porous anodic alumina and polymer membranes. Furthermore, we have developed several approaches for orientation controls of 1D mesochannels. The macroscopic‐scale controls of mesochannels are important for innovative applications such as molecular‐scale devices and electrodes with enhanced diffusions of guest species. © 2010 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 9: 321–339; 2009: Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI 10.1002/tcr.200900022
Tricuspid atresia with absent pulmonary valve and intact ventricular septum: intrauterine course and outcome of an unusual congenital heart defect
Authors: Lato K. , Gembruch U. , Geipel A. , Lachmann R. , Schneider M. , Hraska V. , Berg C. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractThe extremely rare syndrome including absent pulmonary valve associated with membranous tricuspid atresia or severe tricuspid stenosis, intact ventricular septum and patent ductus arteriosus has been reported sporadically in the postnatal literature. This cardiac defect is characterized by right ventricular dysplasia with asymmetrical ventricular septal hypertrophy, ventricular septum bulging into the left ventricle, small right ventricular cavity, membranous tricuspid atresia or severe stenosis with abnormal papillary muscles and leaflets and absence of the pulmonary valve leaflets. The only prenatal case reported so far was diagnosed at 33 weeks of gestation and terminated shortly thereafter; the natural history of prenatally diagnosed cases is therefore unknown. We report on the intrauterine course of a case diagnosed at 17 weeks of gestation that had a favorable postnatal outcome after palliation. Copyright © 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
First‐trimester markers for the prediction of pre‐eclampsia in women with a‐priori high risk
Authors: Khalil A. , Cowans N. J. , Spencer K. , Goichman S. , Meiri H. , Harrington K. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the predictive value of the combination of first‐trimester serum placental protein 13 (PP13), uterine artery Doppler pulsatility index (PI) and pulse wave analysis (augmentation index at a heart rate of 75 beats per min (AIx‐75)), and to evaluate concurrent and contingent strategies using this combination for assessing the risk of pre‐eclampsia in high‐risk women.MethodsIn this nested case–control study, serum PP13, uterine artery mean PI and AIx‐75 were measured at between 11 + 0 and 13 + 6 weeks' gestation in women at increased risk of pre‐eclampsia. For each case of pre‐eclampsia (n = 42), five matched controls were randomly selected from the study group. Gestation specific multiples of the median (MoMs) were adjusted for body mass index, ethnicity, smoking, age and parity. MoMs were compared between cases and controls using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Sensitivities and specificities were derived from receiver–operating characteristics curves.ResultsCompared with controls, women who developed pre‐eclampsia had lower PP13, higher uterine artery mean PI and higher AIx‐75 (P < 0.001). For a 10% false‐positive rate, the best detection rate for pre‐eclampsia (85.7% (95% CI, 71.5–94.6%)) and pre‐eclampsia requiring delivery before 34 weeks (92.9% (95% CI, 66.1–99.8%)) was achieved by concurrent testing with all three markers. The best contingency screening sequences for pre‐eclampsia were (AIx‐75 → PP13 → mean PI) and (PP13 → AIx‐75 → mean PI), with an 86% detection rate for false‐positive rates of 9 and 10%, respectively. These two sequences would require 410 and 414 tests, respectively, compared with 756 tests in concurrent testing.ConclusionCombination of first‐trimester PP13, uterine artery mean PI and pulse‐wave analysis is promising for the prediction of pre‐eclampsia in women at increased @ a‐priori risk and may be useful in clinical practice. Contingency screening achieved similar detection rates to concurrent testing, but required almost 50% fewer tests, making it a more cost‐effective option. Copyright © 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Spectral estimation
Authors: Fokianos Konstantinos 
Published: January 2010

AbstractWe review spectral analysis and its application in inference for stationary processes. As can be seen from the list of references, the practice of spectral analysis is widespread in diverse scientific and engineering fields, particularly in signal processing and communications.One of the most striking characteristics of time series is their oscillatory behavior. This behavior is manifested, for example, in electroencephalogram (EEG) records, weekly sales, monthly environmental data, hourly financial indices, and in numerous economic data observed periodically in time. When observing such data the intuitive notion of periodicity is inescapable, and this led to the statistical problem of estimation of ‘hidden periodicities’ in time series. Schuster [47] was among the first who studied the problem seriously, and is credited with the invention of the so‐called periodogram, a tool for discovering periodicities in oscillatory data. Consequently, spectral analysis and its ramification was further advanced by the pioneering works of Slutsky, Yule, Khintchine, Wiener, Cramer, Kolmogorov, Bartlett, Tukey, Parzen, Rosenblatt, Grenander, Koopmans, Brillinger, and Hannan. The goal of this communication is to introduce the reader to the topic of spectral analysis, and to review some state‐of‐the‐art developments.It is of course not possible to give a full account of the literature on spectral analysis within this limited space. The selection of the references has been influenced by my own personal research interests. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.This article is categorized under:Data: Types and Structure > Time Series, Stochastic Processes, and Functional Data
What Does it Mean to be a Man Today?: Bloke Culture and the Media
Authors: Hodgetts Darrin , Rua Mohi 
Published: January 2010

AbstractPsychologists have paid scant attention to the positive relationships and community contributions of working class men who are not in trouble, and have focused instead on men who are ‘in trouble.’ In addressing this oversight, we draw on insights from ethnographic observations, life narrative interviews, photographic techniques and media items, which have been compiled by 12 working class men from a shared community of practice in New Zealand. We illustrate how these men often appropriate aspects from contemporary media deliberations regarding what it means to be a man today in order to make sense of their own lives. The implications of participants' emphasis on friendship, support, familial obligations, and community participation are discussed in relation to the place of working class men in society.
Effects ofdl-2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyrate on the first-pass intestinal metabolism of dietary methionine and its extra-intestinal availability
Authors: Fang Zhengfeng , Huang Feiruo , Luo Jie , Wei Hongkui , Ma Libao , Jiang Siwen , Peng Jian 
Published: January 2010

The present study was conducted in a one-factorial arrangement to determine the effects ofdl-2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyrate (dl-HMTB) on the first-pass intestinal metabolism of dietary methionine and its extra-intestinal availability. Barrows (n6; aged 35 d; weight 8·6 kg), implanted with arterial, portal, mesenteric and gastric catheters, were fed a diet containingdl-methionine (dl-MET) ordl-HMTB once hourly and infused intramesenterically with 1 %p-aminohippurate and intragastrically with [1-13C]methionine at 7·0 μmol/kg body weight per h. Arterial and portal blood samples were taken at hourly intervals until 6 h of tracer infusion and pigs was then killed for collection of muscle, intestine, liver and kidney samples. The net portal appearance of methionine, expressed as the fraction of ingested directly availablel-methionine, was higher (P < 0·05) in thedl-HMTB than in thedl-MET diet, and there was no difference (P = 0·26) in the fractional portal balance of [1-13C]methionine between the diets. [1-13C]methionine enrichment (tracer:tracee ratio; mol/100 mol amino acid) in the jejunum, arterial and portal plasma, liver, kidney and muscle was also not different (P>0·05) between the groups. Over the 6 h period after the start of feeding, the average concentration of citrulline both in the arterial and portal plasma was higher (P < 0·05) in thedl-HMTB than in thedl-MET group, and arterial plasma ornithine and taurine concentration was also higher (P < 0·05) in thedl-HMTB than in thedl-MET group. However, plasma urea concentration both in the arterial and portal vein was lower (P < 0·05) in thedl-HMTB than in thedl-MET group. These results suggested that the potential difference in the first-pass use of methionine by the intestine between thedl-HMTB anddl-MET diets might affect intestinal and systemic metabolism of other amino acids, which may provide new important insights into nutritional efficiency of different methionine sources.
Functional characterisation of a recombinant xylanase fromPichia pastorisand effect of the enzyme on nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs
Authors: He Jun , Yin Jia , Wang Li , Yu Bing , Chen Daiwen 
Published: January 2010

Thexyn2gene of a filamentous mesophilic fungus,Trichoderma reesei, coding xylanase 2 (Xyn2) was previously expressed inPichia pastoris. In the present study, the recombinant Xyn2 was prepared from a 15 litre fermenter, and subsequently characterised. It has been confirmed to have a molecular mass of 21 kDa, an optimal pH of 6·0 and an optimal temperature of 60°C. When tested using oat-spelt xylan, it showed aKmand catalytic rate constant (kcat) of 1·1 mg/ml and 512·4/s, respectively. Analysis of the products from oat-spelt xylan degradation confirmed that the enzyme was an endoxylanase with xylotriose and xylobiose as the main degradation products. The unprocessed Xyn2 was supplemented to a xylan-containing diet to determine its influences on performance and nutrient digestibilities by weaned pigs. Results showed that the average body-weight gain increased 16·9 % when piglets received Xyn2 at a concentration of 500 U/kg diet. There also was a positive (0·05 < P < 0·10) effect on the digestibility values of crude protein, ash, Ca and acid-detergent fibre with Xyn2 supplementation. The potential benefits of Xyn2 in the nutrition of weaned pigs should make it an alternative applicant for industrial xylanase production.
Spectral analysis of a class of hermitian Jacobi matrices in a critical (double root) hyperbolic case
Authors: Naboko Serguei , Simonov Sergey 
Published: January 2010

AbstractWe consider a class of Jacobi matrices with periodically modulated diagonal in a critical hyperbolic (‘double root’) situation. For the model with ‘non-smooth’ matrix entries we obtain the asymptotics of generalized eigenvectors and analyse the spectrum. In addition, we reformulate a very helpful theorem from a paper by Janas and Moszynski in its full generality in order to serve the needs of our method.
Superlinear elliptic equation for fully nonlinear operators without growth restrictions for the data
Authors: Esteban Maria J. , Felmer Patricio L. , Quaas Alexander 
Published: January 2010

AbstractWe deal with existence and uniqueness of the solution to the fully nonlinear equation−F(D2u) + |u|s−1u = f(x) in ℝn,where s > 1 and f satisfies only local integrability conditions. This result is well known when, instead of the fully nonlinear elliptic operator F, the Laplacian or a divergence-form operator is considered. Our existence results use the Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci inequality since we cannot use any variational formulation. For radially symmetric f, and in the particular case where F is a maximal Pucci operator, we can prove our results under fewer integrability assumptions, taking advantage of an appropriate variational formulation. We also obtain an existence result with boundary blow-up in smooth domains.
On the support of tempered distributions
Authors: Vindas Jasson , Estrada Ricardo 
Published: January 2010

AbstractWe show that if the summability means in the Fourier inversion formula for a tempered distribution f ∈ S′(ℝn) converge to zero pointwise in an open set Ω, and if those means are locally bounded in L1(Ω), then Ω ⊂ ℝn\supp f. We prove this for several summability procedures, in particular for Abel summability, Cesàro summability and Gauss-Weierstrass summability.
Existence and blow-up of solutions for a non-local filtration and porous medium problem
Authors: Latos E. A. , Tzanetis D. E. 
Published: January 2010

AbstractWe consider a non-local filtration equation of the formand a porous medium equation, in this case K(u) = um, with some boundary and initial data u0, where 0 < p < 1 and f, f′, f″ > 0. We prove blow-up of solutions for sufficiently large values of the parameter λ > 0 and for any u0 > 0, or for sufficiently large values of u0 > 0 and for any λ λ 0.
Bilinear character sums and sum-product problems on elliptic curves
Authors: Ahmadi Omran , Shparlinski Igor 
Published: January 2010

AbstractLet E be an ordinary elliptic curve over a finite field q of q elements. We improve a bound on bilinear additive character sums over points on E, and obtain its analogue for bilinear multiplicative character sums. We apply these bounds to some variants of the sum-product problem on E.