bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Amphiphilic Cholic‐Acid‐Modified Dextran Sulfate and its Application for the Controlled Delivery of Superoxide Dismutase
Authors: Xiong Yubing , Qi Jianing , Yao Ping 
Published: January 2012

AbstractA novel amphiphilic and biodegradable polyelectrolyte DS‐CA is prepared by the esterification of DS with CA. DS‐CA can self‐assemble into stable nanoparticles in water. SOD can effectively associate with DS‐CA at pH = 5.0 by virtue of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. SOD release from the complex nanoparticles is slow at pH = 1.2. The release at pH = 7.4 PBS shows an extended behavior and is tunable by changing the weight ratio of SOD to DS‐CA as well as the CA substitution degree. Increasing the CA substitution degree of DS‐CA can significantly enhance the cellular uptake of the loaded SOD. This study demonstrates that the amphiphilic DS‐CA provides a promising strategy for oral delivery of protein/peptide drugs.magnified image
Controlled/Living Surface‐Initiated ATRP of Antifouling Polymer Brushes from Gold in PBS and Blood Sera as a Model Study for Polymer Modifications in Complex Biological Media
Authors: Rodriguez‐Emmenegger Cesar , Hasan Erol , Pop‐Georgievski Ognen , Houska Milan , Brynda Eduard , Alles Aldo Bologna 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe use of PBS, 10% FBS or 10% CS as media for SI‐ATRP is reported. Controlled/living SI‐ATRP of MeOEGMA in PBS is achieved leading to better control than in water. The livingness is confirmed by chain extension with MeOEGMA or carboxybetaine acrylamide. This technique is successfully adopted for the polymerization of MeOEGMA in 10% FBS or CS as models for complex biological media with reasonable control of the brush growth. All prepared brushes show excellent antifouling properties.magnified image
Initial and subsequent therapy for newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients treated in primary care using data from a vendor‐based electronic health record
Authors: Brouwer Emily S. , West Suzanne L. , Kluckman Marianne , Wallace Dennis , Masica Andrew L. , Ewen Edward , Kudyakov Rustam , Cheng Dunlei , Bowen James , Fleming Neil S. 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTBackgroundDiabetes is a leading cause of death and disability, and its prevalence is increasing. When diet fails, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are prescribed oral hypoglycemics for glycemic control. Few studies have explored initial use or change from initial oral hypoglycemic therapy in the primary care setting. We aimed to describe the utilization of initial oral hypoglycemics among newly diagnosed patients with diabetes from 1998–2009 and changes from initial to subsequent therapy among patients prescribed older oral hypoglycemic agents using electronic health records.MethodsThis observational cohort study used electronic health records from newly diagnosed patients with T2DM between 1 January 1998 and 31 March 2009 at two large health systems in the USA. Oral hypoglycemics included older (biguanide, sulfonylurea, and thiazolidinedione) and newer agents (incretin mimetic agents, alpha‐glucosidase inhibitors, and D‐phenylalanine derivatives). Multinomial regression models were fit to evaluate initial older oral hypoglycemic medication. We used incidence density sampling and conditional logistic regression models to evaluate predictors of regimen change.ResultsMost patients were treated from the biguanide class of oral hypoglycemics (67%), but there were differences in initial prescribing by age and race. HbA1c (Odds Ratio for HbA1c 7.0–8.9 vs < 7.0, 5.87 [95% Confidence Interval: 3.62–9.52]; Odds Ratio for HbA1c ≥ 9 vs < 7.0, 20.25 [95% Confidence Interval: 8.32–49.29] and Black people (Odds Ratio, 0.29 [95% Confidence Interval: 0.14, 0.60]) versus White people were associated with regimen change in the adjusted analysis.ConclusionsClinical and demographic characteristics influence choice and duration of initial oral hypoglycemic treatment as well as regimen changes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subtle issues in model specification and estimation of marginal structural models
Authors: Yang Wei , Joffe Marshall M. 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTWe review the concept of time‐dependent confounding by using the example in paper “Comparative effectiveness of individual angiotensin receptor blockers on risk of mortality in patients with chronic heart failure” by Desai et al. and illustrate how to adjust for it by using inverse probability of treatment weighting through a simulated example. We discuss a few subtle issues that arise in specification of the model for treatment required to fit marginal structural models (MSMs) and in specification of the structural model for the outcome. We discuss the differences between the effects estimated in MSMs and intention‐to‐treat effects estimated in randomized trials, followed by an outline of some limitations of MSMs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The role of recalibration response shift in explaining bodily pain in cancer patients undergoing invasive surgery: an empirical investigation of the Sprangers and Schwartz model
Authors: Visser Mechteld R. M. , Oort Frans J. , van Lanschot J. Jan B. , van der Velden Jacobus , Kloek Jaap J. , Gouma Dirk J. , Schwartz Carolyn E. , Sprangers Mirjam A. G. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractObjectiveThis study aims to explain bodily pain using the Sprangers and Schwartz theoretical model (1999) on quality of life (QL) and response shift in its entirety. Response shift refers to the phenomenon that the meaning of a person's self‐evaluation changes over time. In this model, response shift mediates effects of changes in health status (catalysts), stable characteristics of the person (antecedents), and coping mechanisms (mechanisms) on QL.MethodsCancer patients (202) were assessed prior to and 3 months following surgery. Measures were for catalysts: type of operation and possibility of tumor resection; for antecedents: age, duration of pain, optimism, and rigidity; for mechanisms: post‐traumatic growth, social comparisons, social support, denial, and acceptance; and for QL: bodily pain; for response shift: the pretest‐minus‐thentest bodily pain score, further referred to as recalibration response shift. Structural equation modeling and sequential regression analyses were used.ResultsThe final model reached close fit (RMSEA = 0.03; 90% CI = 0.000–0.071; χ2 (18) = 21.13; p = 0.27). Significant effects were found for catalysts on mechanisms, antecedents on mechanisms, mechanisms on response shift, and response shift on bodily pain. Four extra model effects had to be permitted. Using sequential regression analysis, recalibration response shift added 4.4% to the total amount of 29.8% explained variance of bodily pain.ConclusionsMany effects as hypothesized by the model were found. Recalibration response shift had a unique albeit small contribution to the explanation of bodily pain. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Milling effect on the control efficacy of spray‐dried Bacillus thuringiensis technical powder against diamondback moths
Authors: Kim Jae Su , Je Yeon Ho 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBACKGROUND: The relationship between the particle size of spray‐dried Bacillus thuringiensis NT0423 technical powder and its insecticidal activity against diamondback moth was investigated in laboratory and glasshouse conditions. A variety of sizes of Bt particles were made by homogenisation, followed by pilot‐scale milling to optimise further the current Bt formulation process.RESULTS: In laboratory conditions, homogenised Bt suspension with smaller particles had higher control efficacy against diamondback moth. However, in glasshouse conditions, the smallest particle treatment did not follow the size‐dependent insecticidal activity, rather showing decreased control efficacy. Secondly, air‐jet‐milled Bt powder (16.9 µm) had higher control efficacy than hammer‐milled Bt powder (35.1 µm) in glasshouse conditions. However, double air‐jet milling (5.3 µm) had lower control efficacy compared with one‐time milling.CONCLUSION: These results suggest that NT0423 technical powder with smaller particles is better in controlling diamondback moths, but excessively small particles (<10 µm) possibly reduce the insecticidal activity. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
Formation and ionization energies of small chlorine‐doped lithium clusters by thermal ionization mass spectrometry
Authors: Veličković S. R. , Djustebek J. B. , Veljković F. M. , Radak B. B. , Veljković M. V. 
Published: January 2012

RATIONALETheoretical calculations have shown that the first ionization energy of clusters of the type LinCl (n ≥2), with more than eight valent electrons, is lower than that of alkali metal atoms; hence they are named superalkali. Superalkali clusters can mimic the chemical behavior of alkali metals and may be used as building blocks of new cluster‐assembled materials. There is currently no reliable experimental proof of this kind of clusters and such proof is required.METHODSThe LinCl (n = 2–6) clusters were produced by a thermal ionization source of modified design, and mass selected by a magnetic‐sector mass spectrometer. The modification pertains to the replacement of the side filaments by a cylinder in the triple‐filament thermal ionization source. The sample, which is LiCl salt, was pressed into a ring and placed on the inner wall of the cylinder.RESULTSIt was observed that the ions of clusters with an even number of lithium atoms (Li2Cl+, Li4Cl+, Li6Cl+) are more stable than the odd‐numbered ones (Li5Cl+, Li3Cl+). The ionization energies were determined to be 3.98 ± 0.25 eV for Li2Cl, 4.10 ± 0.25 eV for Li3Cl, 3.90 ± 0.25 eV for Li4Cl, 4.01 ± 0.25 eV for Li5Cl, and 4.09 ± 0.25 eV for Li6Cl. The presence of a halogen atom reduces the ionization energy of the metal clusters.CONCLUSIONSThe thermal ionization source of modified design presents a suitable simple way to obtaining and measuring the ionization energies of very small lithium monochloride clusters. Clusters LinCl, n = 4 to 6, were detected for the first time. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Application of the N2/Ar technique to measuring soil‐atmosphere N2 fluxes
Authors: Yang Wendy H. , Silver Whendee L. 
Published: January 2012

RATIONALEThe emission of dinitrogen (N2) gas from soil is the most poorly constrained flux in terrestrial nitrogen (N) budgets because the high background atmospheric N2 concentration makes soil N2 emissions difficult to measure. In this study, we tested the theoretical and analytical feasibility of using the N2/Ar technique to measure soil‐atmosphere N2 fluxes.METHODSDual inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometry was used to measure δAr/N2 values of gas sampled from surface flux chambers. In laboratory experiments using dry sand in a diffusion box, we induced a known steady‐state flux of N2, and then measured the change in the N2/Ar ratio of chamber headspace air samples to test our ability to reconstruct this flux. We m\odeled solubility, thermal, and water vapor flux fractionation effects on the N2/Ar ratio to constrain physical effects on the measured N2 flux.RESULTSIn dry sand, an actual N2 flux of 108 mg N m–2 day–1 was measured as 111 ± 19 mg N m–2 day–1 (± standard error (SE)). In wet sand, an actual N2 flux of 160 mg N m–2 day–1 was measured as 146 ± 20 mg N m–2 day–1 when solubility and water vapor flux fractionation were taken into account. Corrections for thermal fractionation did not improve estimates of N2 fluxes.CONCLUSIONSWe conclude that our application of the N2/Ar technique to soil surface fluxes is valid only above a detection limit of approximately 108 mg N m–2 day–1. The N2/Ar method is currently best used as a validation tool for other methods in ecosystems with high soil N2 fluxes, but, with future improvements, it holds promise to provide high‐resolution measurements in systems with low soil N2 fluxes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
WYSIWIB: exploiting fine‐grained program structure in a scriptable API‐usage protocol‐finding process
Authors: Lawall Julia L. , Brunel Julien , Palix Nicolas , Hansen René Rydhof , Stuart Henrik , Muller Gilles 
Published: January 2012

SUMMARYBug‐finding tools rely on specifications of what is correct or incorrect code. As it is difficult for a tool developer or user to anticipate all possible specifications, strategies for inferring specifications have been proposed. These strategies obtain probable specifications by observing common characteristics of code or execution traces, typically focusing on sequences of function calls. To counter the observed high rate of false positives, heuristics have been proposed for ranking or pruning the results. These heuristics, however, can result in false negatives, especially for rarely used functions. In this paper, we propose an alternate approach to specification inference, in which the user guides the inference process using patterns of code that reflect the user's understanding of the conventions and design of the targeted software project. We focus on specifications describing the correct usage of API functions, which we refer to as API protocols. Our approach builds on the Coccinelle program matching and transformation tool, which allows a user to construct patterns that reflect the structure of the code to be matched. We evaluate our approach on the source code of the Linux kernel, which defines a very large number of API functions with varying properties. Linux is also critical software, implying that fixing even bugs involving rarely used protocols is essential. In our experiments, we use our approach to find over 3000 potential API protocols, with an estimated false positive rate of under 15% and use these protocols to find over 360 bugs in the use of API functions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Automatic generation of compiler backends
Authors: Brandner Florian , Pavlu Viktor , Krall Andreas 
Published: January 2012

SUMMARYApplication‐specific instruction set processors have proven successful in meeting the various design constraints of modern embedded systems and often provide the only viable trade‐off between computing power and opposing metrics such as power consumption. A promising approach to facilitate the exploration of processor design alternatives are processor description languages, which capture the instruction set and hardware organization of a processor. With the use of those processor models, various design tasks, for example, the adaption of software development tools, the generation of hardware models, and various verification tasks, can be automatized. These languages thus allow effective shortening of development turnaround times. In this work, the novel xADL language is presented, which, in contrast to most contemporary processor description languages, focuses on a structural modeling of the processor's hardware organization. However, a behavioral model of the instruction set is automatically derived using instruction set extraction. This provides a tight coupling between the structural hardware view and the instruction set view of the processor and reduces the complexity of processor models in comparison with existing languages. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated by a compiler backend generator based on tree pattern matching. An important property of our generator is its ability to automatically verify whether the resulting compiler is complete, that is, it can process all possible input programs. The generated compilers are competitive to handcrafted production compilers, showing speedups of up to 20% for certain benchmarks. On average, moderate slowdowns between 3% and 15% have been observed for several processor models while considerable reductions in code size have been measured. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Recalculation of Flow Stresses from Industrial Process Data for Heavy Plate Rolling Using a 2D Finite Element Model
Authors: Parteder Erik , Zeman Klaus , Du Huiying , Grill Rainer 
Published: January 2012

AbstractIn hot rolling, the quantities rolling load, torque, and power consumption are important measurable process parameters. For the determination of rolling loads in hot flat rolling processes, like heavy plate rolling, Sims's model1 is a well‐known approach represented by an analytical formula. The solution of Sims's equation leads to the multiplier Q, which is a function of the roll gap geometry. The rolling load is then computed by applying the width of the plate, the contact length, the multiplier, and an average material flow stress called kfm. This flow stress is commonly recalculated from process data as a function of temperature, pass strain, and a mean strain rate, applying the Sims model itself. One question arises from this method: Are the recalculated flow stresses physically based values or in other words, what is the (physical) meaning or interpretation of these values? The present paper tries to give an answer to this question by determining the influence of the roll gap geometry alternatively by means of a simple 2D FEM model which gives a corresponding multiplier referred to as QFE. Flow stresses are recalculated from a set of process data using both factors. The results are compared to experimental flow stress data from hot compression tests. It is shown, that the recalculated flow stresses using QFE are in better agreement with the laboratory data than the recalculated values using Sims's Q.
Experimental Investigation on Hydromechanical Deep Drawing of Aluminum Alloy with Heated Media
Authors: Lang Lihui , Liu Baosheng , Li Tao , Zhao Xiangni , Zeng Yuansong 
Published: January 2012

AbstractTemperature controlled sheet hydroforming is known as the innovative processing of warm/hot sheet hydroforming. Cylindrical cup hydromechanical deep drawing (HMD) at elevated temperature is the typical process for basic research. Warm HMD process was carried out on a warm sheet hydroforming experiment platform to investigate the influences of key processing parameters on formability. The process window of successful forming versus liquid pressure was obtained, which was manifested as a shape of pyramid. The region of successful forming in warm/hot sheet hydroming is a father set of that in cold sheet hydroforming. The microstructure evolution of cups formed by using warm HMD under the effect of temperature was investigated. The grain growth was observed compared with cold HMD. The hardness of hydroformed cup was tested and no apparent reduction of hardness was detected.
Extractive fermentation for enhanced production of thailandepsin A from Burkholderia thailandensis E264 using polyaromatic adsorbent resin Diaion HP-20
Authors: Liu Bing , Hui Junyuan , Cheng Yi-Qiang , Zhang Xuehong 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Thailandepsin A is natural product of Burkholderia thailandensis E264 with potent histone deacetylase inhibitory activities and promising anticancer activities. The titer of thailandepsin A is very low (less than 10 mg/l) from limited empirical fermentation. To facilitate preclinical evaluations and potentially clinical development of thailandepsin A, systematic optimization and extractive fermentation of thailandepsin A from B. thailandensis E264 culture in flasks were investigated in this pilot study. The main fermentation parameters—28°C, pH 7.0, inoculum ratio 1% (v/v), incubation duration 60 h, medium volume 26%, shaking speed 170 rpm, and chloroform as extracting solvent—were determined by single factor experiments. Polyaromatic adsorbent resin Diaion HP-20, when added at a concentration of 4% (w/v), was most effective to reduce feedback inhibition of thailandepsin A and to significantly increase the titer of target product. Central composite design was used to further optimize the fermentation medium for B. thailandensis E264. The optimized medium contains glucose 17.89 g/l, tryptone 34.98 g/l, potassium phosphate 24.84 g/l, and sodium citrate 0.01 g/l, which resulted in a large increase of the titer of thailandepsin A to 236.7 mg/l. Finally kinetic models based on the modified logistic and Luedeking–Piret equations were developed, delivering a good description of temporal variations of biomass, product, and substrate in the fermentation process, which could be used as references for developing large-scale fermentation.
Reciprocal fluxes of stream and riparian invertebrates in a coastal California basin with Mediterranean climate
Authors: Rundio David E. , Lindley Steven T. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractStream and riparian food webs are connected by reciprocal fluxes of invertebrates, and a growing number of studies demonstrate strong effects of these subsidies on consumers and food webs in both habitats. However, despite its importance in understanding energy flow between these habitats, seasonality of reciprocal subsidies has been examined only in a single temperate system in Japan. We measured input of terrestrial invertebrates and emergence of adult aquatic insects for 14 months in two adjacent streams in a coastal Mediterranean basin in California to assess seasonal patterns, annual fluxes, and local variation. Fluxes of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates fluctuated seasonally and were relatively synchronous, although in the fall of 2004, terrestrial inputs peaked 1–2 months earlier than emergence. Terrestrial inputs were similar in the two streams with annual flux of 7.9–8.6 g dry mass m−2year−1. Emergence differed between the streams: annual emergence was 7.8 g m−2year−1(similar to terrestrial flux) in one reach but 5.3 g m−2year−1from the other. The presence of streambed travertine in the reach with lower emergence was the primary difference in habitat between the streams, suggesting that travertine may reduce emergence and alter net reciprocal flux. Comparison of our results with those from Japan suggests that seasonality and net annual flux of reciprocal stream‐riparian subsidies vary among biomes due to differences in climate, vegetation, and geography. Our results also indicate that local factors, such as travertine, may cause reciprocal fluxes to vary at finer spatial scales.