bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the utility of neutral‐loss‐dependent MS3 strategies in large‐scale phosphorylation analysis
Authors: Villén Judit , Beausoleil Sean A. , Gygi Steven P. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPhosphopeptide identification and site determination are major challenges in biomedical MS. Both are affected by frequent and often overwhelming losses of phosphoric acid in ion trap CID fragmentation spectra. These losses are thought to translate into reduced intensities of sequence informative ions and a general decline in the quality of MS/MS spectra. To address this issue, several methods have been proposed, which rely on extended fragmentation schemes including collecting MS3 scans from neutral loss‐containing ions and multi‐stage activation to further fragment these same ions. Here, we have evaluated the utility of these methods in the context of a large‐scale phosphopeptide analysis strategy with current instrumentation capable of accurate precursor mass determination. Remarkably, we found that MS3‐based schemes did not increase the overall number of confidently identified peptides and had only limited value in site localization. We conclude that the collection of MS3 or pseudo‐MS3 scans in large‐scale proteomics studies is not worthwhile when high‐mass accuracy instrumentation is used.
Facile preparation of novel epoxy curing agents and their high‐performance thermosets
Authors: Lin Ching Hsuan , Lin Tsung Li , Chang Sheng Lung , Dai Shenghong A. , Cheng Ru Jen , Hwang Kuen Yuan , Tu An Pang , Su Wen Chiung 
Published: October 2008

AbstractTwo flame‐retardant epoxy curing agents, 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐yl‐tris(4‐hydroxyphenyl)methane (1) and 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐yl‐ (4‐aminophenyl)‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl)methane (2), were prepared by a facile, economic, one‐pot procedure. The structures of the curing agents were confirmed by IR, high‐resolution mass, 1‐D, and 2‐D NMR spectra. A reaction mechanism was proposed for the preparation, and the effect of electron withdrawing/donating effects on the stabilization of the carbocation was discussed. (1‐2) served as curing agents for diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), dicyclopentadiene epoxy (HP‐7200), and cresol novolac epoxy (CNE). Properties such as glass transition temperature, coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal decomposition temperature, and flame retardancy of the resulting epoxy thermosets were evaluated. The resulting epoxy thermosets show high Tg, low thermal expansion, moderate thermostability, and excellent flame retardancy. The bulky biphenylene phosphinate pendant makes polymer chains difficult to rotate, explaining the high Tg and low thermal expansion characteristic. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7898–7912, 2008
Poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) amphiphilic triblock copolymer nanoparticles as delivery vehicles for dexamethasone
Authors: Lin Xiaona , Zhou Ruimei , Qiao Yong , Jin Fengmin , Zhai Yinglei , Xing Jinfeng , Deng Liandong , Dong Anjie 
Published: October 2008

AbstractAmphiphilic triblock copolymers, poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate)‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol)‐b‐poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) (PECA‐b‐PEG‐b‐PECA), were synthesized via oxyanion‐initiated polymerization with sodium alcoholate‐terminated PEG as macroinitiator. PECA‐b‐PEG‐b‐PECA were characterized by gel permeation chromatography system, 1H NMR and FTIR. The results indicate that the copolymerization is well controlled with narrow molecular weight distribution. The dexamethasone (DXM)‐loaded PECA‐b‐PEG‐b‐PECA nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by nanoprecipitation technique and then characterized by Laser Particle Size Analyzer, 1H NMR and transmission electron microscopy. The drug‐loaded PECA‐b‐PEG‐b‐PECA NPs are of spherical shape with average size of less than 100 nm. The drug‐loaded amount (DLA) and encapsulation efficiency of DLNPs were investigated by HPLC. The results show that DXM can be effectively incorporated into PECA‐b‐PEG‐b‐PECA NPs, which provides an optional delivery system for DXM and other hydrophobic drugs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7809–7815, 2008
Synthesis and characterization of siloxane resins derived from silphenylene‐siloxane copolymers bearing benzocyclobutene pendant groups
Authors: Zuo Xiaobiao , Chen Jiansheng , Zhao Xiaojuan , Yang Shiyong , Fan Lin 
Published: October 2008

AbstractTwo bis(dimethylamimo)silanes with benzocyclobutene (BCB) groups, bis(dimethylamino)methyl(4′‐benzocyclobutenyl)silane (2) and bis(dimethylamino)methyl [2′‐(4′‐benzocyclobutenyl)vinyl]silane (4), were synthesized from different synthetic routes, which were then employed to prepare two novel silphenylene‐siloxane copolymers (SiBu and SiViBu) bearing latent reactive BCB groups by polycondensation procedure with 1,4‐bis(hydroxydimethylsilyl)benzene. At elevated temperatures these copolymers were readily converted to highly crosslinked films and molding disks with network structures by polymer chain crosslinking, which followed the first‐order kinetic reaction model. The final resins of SiBu and SiViBu demonstrated excellent thermal stability with high glass transition temperatures (218 and 256 °C) and high temperatures at 5% weight loss (553 and 526 °C in N2, 530 and 508 °C in air). After aging at 300 °C in air for 100 h, the cured resins showed weight loss lower than 4%. The films of cured SiBu and SiViBu also exhibited relatively low dielectric constants of 2.66 and 2.64, low dissipation factors of 2.23 and 2.12 × 10−3, low water absorptions (≤0.28%), and high transparence in the visible region with cutoff wavelengths of 321 and 314 nm. Moreover, the aged films exhibited good dielectric properties and low water absorptions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7868–7881, 2008
Relationships between nanostructure and thermomechanical properties in poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite nanocomposite with an entrapped polyelectrolyte
Authors: Paranhos Caio M. , Dahmouche Karim , Zaioncz Soraia , Soares Bluma G. , Pessan Luiz A. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPoly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite (PVA/MOM) hydrogels containing coacervated microparticles of sulfonated polyester (PES) were prepared by direct mixture of the components in water. The system was characterized by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), and dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA). The influence of PES and MOM on the microstructure of the nanocomposite hydrogels was established. The presence of PES causes a significant change on the crystallinity of PVA. Furthermore, the presence of MOM leads to a hierarchical nanostructure that also contributes to change the crystallinity of PVA. The results of structural investigation are correlated with the mechanical properties of the composites obtained by DMA. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2618–2629, 2008
Cold crystallization and postmelting crystallization of PLA plasticized by compressed carbon dioxide
Authors: Yu Long , Liu Hongsheng , Dean Katherine , Chen Ling 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe cold crystallization at temperature Tcc (melting > Tcc > glass transition) and the postmelting crystallization of polylactic acid plasticized by compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) were studied using a high‐pressure differential scanning calorimeter. The kinetics of the two kinds of crystallization were evaluated by the Avrami equation as a function of pressure at certain temperatures. The effects of using talc as a nucleation agent on the two types of crystallization under pressure were also investigated. The results show that compressed CO2 increased the mobility of the polymer chains in solid state, resulting in an increased rate of cold crystallization. The decreased rate of postmelting crystallization was mainly in the nucleation‐controlled region, which indicates that the number of nuclei was decreased by the compressed CO2. The growth rate of the two crystallization types followed the Avrami equation, but the kinetics of each depended upon temperature and pressure. The inclusion of talc accelerated postmelting crystallization but had little effect on cold crystallization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2630–2636, 2008
Influences of nonsolvent and temperature on critical viscoelastic behaviors of ternary polyacrylonitrile solutions around the sol‐gel threshold
Authors: Ma Caixia , Du Weiping , Chen Huifang , Liu Zhanlian , Qin Zongyi , Pan Ding 
Published: October 2008

AbstractViscoelastic experiments were performed to study the influence of nonsolvent and temperature on critical viscoelastic behaviors of ternary polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solutions around the sol‐gel threshold. The dynamic critical parameters around the sol‐gel threshold were determined using dynamic rheometer. The sol‐gel transition takes place at a critical gel temperature at which the scaling law of G′(ω) ∼ G″(ω) ∝ ωn holds, allowing an accurate determination of the critical gel temperature by means of the frequency independence of the loss tangent. Although the gel points of PAN solutions increase with increasing H2O content, the results show that the scaling exponent n at the gel point is found to be universal for all ternary PAN solutions, which is independent of temperature and H2O content, indicating the similarity of the fractal structure in the critical PAN gels. The gelation of ternary PAN solutions induced by adding a nonsolvent and by decreasing the temperature is demonstrated to be a thermoreversible process, which implies that the PAN gels are physical gels. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2637–2643, 2008
All‐organic actuator fabricated with single wall carbon nanotube electrodes
Authors: Kang Jin Ho , Park Cheol , Lowther Sharon E. , Harrison Joycelyn S. , Park Chan Eon 
Published: October 2008

AbstractCompliant electrodes to replace conventional metal electrodes have been required for many actuators to relieve the constraint on the electroactive layer. Many conducting polymers have been proposed for the alternative electrodes, but they still have a problem of poor thermal stability. This article reports a novel all‐ organic actuator with single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films as an alternative electrode. The SWCNT film was obtained by filtering a SWCNT solution through an anodized alumina membrane. The conductivity of the SWCNT film was about 280 S/cm. The performance of the SWCNT film electrode was characterized by measuring the dielectric properties of NASA Langley Research Center – Electroactive Polymer (LaRC‐EAP) sandwiched by the SWCNT electrodes over a broad range of temperature (from 25 to 280 °C) and frequency (from 1 kHz to 1 MHz). The all‐organic actuator with the SWCNT electrodes showed a larger electric field‐induced strain than that with metal electrodes, under identical measurement conditions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2532–2538, 2008
Antioxidant and free‐radical scavenging activities of Allium roseum and Allium subhirsutum
Authors: Štajner D. , Popovic B. M. , Čanadanović‐Brunet J. , Igić R. S. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis study was designed to examine the antioxidant and free‐radical scavenging activities of two Allium species, Allium roseum and Allium subhirsutum. This study reports the results concerning bulb, stalk and leaf antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase and glutathione peroxidase), quantities of malonyldialdehyde, •OH and O2•− radicals and total antioxidant capacity determined by the FRAP method. Scavenging activities were determined by ESR method. The total antioxidant capacity was the highest in the leaves of Allium roseum. Among the investigated organs the leaves exhibited the highest antioxidant activities in all investigated Allium species. The highest ESR (84.61%) scavenger activity was observed in the leaves of Allium roseum. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Extreme loads for an offshore wind turbine using statistical extrapolation from limited field data
Authors: Agarwal Puneet , Manuel Lance 
Published: October 2008

AbstractWhen interest is in establishing extreme loads for wind turbines, it is common to either carry out extensive simulation studies or undertake a field measurement campaign. At the Blyth offshore wind farm in the UK, a 2 MW wind turbine was instrumented, and environment and load data were obtained in a previous study. Here, we discuss how such data, even though very limited, may be used along with parametric models to establish extreme loads associated with return periods on the order of 20–50 years. The environmental characteristics at the Blyth site are such that wind and waves are of primary importance. Distributions for the extreme mudline bending moment are established using parametric models. Long‐term loads are derived for different wind regimes possible at the site and the results are compared. Using bootstrap techniques, the effect of variability in the parameters for load distribution is investigated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Strukturelle Genomvarianten
Authors: Ullmann R. 
Published: October 2008

Zusammenfassung
Unter strukturellen Genomvarianten (SV) versteht man chromosomale Veränderungen größer als 1 kb. Obwohl es dank des technischen Fortschritts immer besser gelingt, die qualitativen und quantitativen Eigenschaften von SV zu definieren, sind deren phänotypischen Konsequenzen meist nur unzureichend verstanden. Die Unterscheidung zwischen neutraler Variante, prädisponierendem Faktor und krankheitsverursachender Veränderung stellt heute eine der großen Herausforderungen in der humangenetischen Diagnostik dar.
Transobturator tape procedure versus tension‐free vaginal tape for treatment of stress urinary incontinence
Authors: Wang Wenyan , Zhu Lan , Lang Jinghe 
Published: October 2008

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the efficacy and safety of the tension‐free vaginal tape (TVT) and inside‐out transobturator tape (TVT‐O) procedures for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).MethodsA total of 315 women with or without concomitant pelvic organ prolapse repairs were randomly allocated to undergo a TVT or TVT‐O procedure. Demographic data, intra‐ and postoperative complications, and surgical outcomes were analyzed.ResultsFifteen patients were lost to follow‐up. There were no significant differences in cure rates between the 2 groups at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months' follow‐up. Hematomas occurred in 4 patients and there were 6 vaginal tape erosions. Urinary retention and de novo urinary urgency were similar in both groups. The operative time was significantly shorter for TVT‐O than for TVT without other procedures (P < 0.001) and postoperative groin/thigh pain was higher (P < 0.05) in the TVT‐O group.ConclusionBoth techniques appear equally effective for the treatment of SUI. However, TVT‐O had a shorter operative time and a higher rate of groin/thigh pain.
Fuzzy Logic for Elimination of Redundant Information of Microarray Data
Authors: Huerta Edmundo Bonilla , Duval Béatrice , Hao Jin-Kao 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Gene subset selection is essential for classification and analysis of microarray data. However, gene selection is known to be a very difficult task since gene expression data not only have high dimensionalities, but also contain redundant information and noises. To cope with these difficulties, this paper introduces a fuzzy logic based pre-processing approach composed of two main steps. First, we use fuzzy inference rules to transform the gene expression levels of a given dataset into fuzzy values. Then we apply a similarity relation to these fuzzy values to define fuzzy equivalence groups, each group containing strongly similar genes. Dimension reduction is achieved by considering for each group of similar genes a single representative based on mutual information. To assess the usefulness of this approach, extensive experimentations were carried out on three well-known public datasets with a combined classification model using three statistic filters and three classifiers.
Identification of MicroRNA Precursors with Support Vector Machine and String Kernel
Authors: Xu Jian-Hua , Li Fei , Sun Qiu-Feng 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are one family of short (21–23 nt) regulatory non-coding RNAs processed from long (70–110 nt) miRNA precursors (pre-miRNAs). Identifying true and false precursors plays an important role in computational identification of miRNAs. Some numerical features have been extracted from precursor sequences and their secondary structures to suit some classification methods; however, they may lose some usefully discriminative information hidden in sequences and structures. In this study, pre-miRNA sequences and their secondary structures are directly used to construct an exponential kernel based on weighted Levenshtein distance between two sequences. This string kernel is then combined with support vector machine (SVM) for detecting true and false pre-miRNAs. Based on 331 training samples of true and false human pre-miRNAs, 2 key parameters in SVM are selected by 5-fold cross validation and grid search, and 5 realizations with different 5-fold partitions are executed. Among 16 independent test sets from 3 human, 8 animal, 2 plant, 1 virus, and 2 artificially false human pre-miRNAs, our method statistically outperforms the previous SVM-based technique on 11 sets, including 3 human, 7 animal, and 1 false human pre-miRNAs. In particular, pre-miRNAs with multiple loops that were usually excluded in the previous work are correctly identified in this study with an accuracy of 92.66%.
30 years of pain treatment in Italy: past, present and future
Authors: Allegri M. , Tinelli C. , Sandrini G. , Bonezzi C. 
Published: October 2008

Chronic pain is a situation that bring patients to ask for a medical intervention and can be originated from many different pathologic conditions. Nowadays, recent advancements in pain treatment have made possible to control pain in many patients, allowing them to return to daily activities. Anaesthesiologists are the modern pain specialists, and must know and define the origin of pain in every case: the comprehension of pain mechanisms gives them the possibility for a planned strategy of treatment.In this work we perform a overview about the “state of the art” of pain treatment in Italy analyzing what are the problems that require to focalize our attention.Therefore, sometimes many visits are necessary for a correct diagnosis and successful therapy. Pain management is still a young speciality, and the Italian pain specialist is often a self made expert who needs proper structures and dedicated people: the result is a different treatment not only between the hospitals but also in the same pain conditions.Although it seems that many of the new techniques used to control pain are successful, few studies and controlled trials have been done to verify long‐term efficacy and potential adverse effects.
Regional anaesthesia and side effects: Is it safe?
Authors: Allegri Massimo , Grossi Paolo , Ferrari Federica , Borghi Battista 
Published: October 2008

The availability of new local anaesthetics and the improvement of regional techniques has caused a great increase of central and peripheral blockades for anaesthesia as well as for postoperative pain. The increase of these blockades tends to increase the rate of complications.In a Pubmed research we found more than 400 articles about this topic. In the analysis of the literature we divided two major chapters: severe complications after central blockades and after peripheral nerve blocks.Analysis of the literature showed a lower incidence of serious complications associated with neuroaxial anaesthesia. It is important to underline that authors stressed the importance of predisposing factors like pre‐existing peripheral or central neurological disease, arteriosclerotic disease, osteoporosis and spinal stenosis, diabetes, cancer, chronic alcohol abuse and steroid therapy. Otherwise, the most concern about peripheral nerve blocks is nerve injury and/or neuropathy due to potential toxicity of local anaesthetics or due a nerve lesion for needle trauma or infection.Even if the incidence of severe side effects is rare, it is very important that we approach this technique knowing well the risks (even if low) so that we can prevent them improving the outcome of patients. Nevertheless, there is again the need to have a large prospective study to investigate the real incidence of severe complications of central and peripheral blocks.
Ultrasound in paediatric anaesthesia
Authors: Mossetti Valeria , Ivani Giorgio 
Published: October 2008

Regional anaesthesia is widely employed for the perioperative pain control also in children. The literature data confirm the very low rate of complications and side effects of regional anaesthesia in children but there are key points for performing a block and placing a catheter in children: there is the need of good knowledge of anatomical and physiological differences; the use of the more recent local anaesthetics increases the therapeutic window and it is mandatory to work with dedicated paediatric tools.Through the use of new techniques like ultrasound we can improve the success of the blocks reducing the risks and adding safety and efficacy to a technique that is part of our daily clinical practice.
SYMMETRY RESULT FOR SOME OVERDETERMINED VALUE PROBLEMS
Authors: BARKATOU MOHAMMED , KHATMI SAMIRA 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe aim of this article is to prove a symmetry result for several overdetermined boundary value problems. For the two first problems, our method combines the maximum principle with the monotonicity of the mean curvature. For the others, we use essentially the compatibility condition of the Neumann problem.
Constitutions and Democratic Performance in Semi-Presidential Democracies
Authors: CHEIBUB JOSÉ ANTONIO , CHERNYKH SVITLANA 
Published: October 2008

AbstractIn 1946 there were three democracies in the world with constitutions that, on the one hand, required the government to obtain the support of a legislative majority in order to come to and remain in power and, on the other hand, established a popularly elected president. In 2002, this number had grown to 25. Constitutions with this feature are often considered to be problematic, and, given the number of new democracies that have adopted them, have received considerable attention from political scientists. The primary concern has to do with the potential for conflict between the assembly supported government and the popularly elected president, which may lead to unstable governments, policy paralysis, and the eventual undermining of the democratic regime. Concern has also been raised regarding the negative role a popularly elected president may have on party development and the ‘chain of delegation’ that in a pure parliamentary democracy runs from voters to government through political parties. In this paper, we examine the effect the combination of assembly confidence with a popularly elected president has on government instability, accountability, legislative effectiveness, and democratic survival. We also examine the impact on these outcomes of different combinations of presidential powers. We find that the introduction of a popularly elected president in parliamentary constitutions is of little significant impact and that the preoccupation with the specific powers of the president is mostly overblown.