SpringerPlus

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List of Papers (Total 4,631)

Heterogeneous autoregressive model with structural break using nearest neighbor truncation volatility estimators for DAX

High frequency financial data modelling has become one of the important research areas in the field of financial econometrics. However, the possible structural break in volatile financial time series often trigger inconsistency issue in volatility estimation. In this study, we propose a structural break heavy-tailed heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) volatility econometric model...

Evolution, opportunity and challenges of transboundary water and energy problems in Central Asia

Central Asia is one of the regions that suffer the most prominent transboundary water and energy problems in the world. Effective transboundary water-energy resource management and cooperation are closely related with socioeconomic development and stability in the entire Central Asia. Similar to Central Asia, Northwest China has an arid climate and is experiencing a water...

An empirical evaluation of software quality assurance practices and challenges in a developing country: a comparison of Nigeria and Turkey

Background The importance of quality assurance in the software development process cannot be overemphasized because its adoption results in high reliability and easy maintenance of the software system and other software products. Software quality assurance includes different activities such as quality control, quality management, quality standards, quality planning, process...

Evaluating the effectiveness of public hospital reform from the perspective of efficiency and quality in Guangxi, China

The evaluation of hospital reform effectiveness in health care reform is very important and beneficial since it helps the government to understand the current situation of pilot county public hospitals and smoothly start the reform in all county hospitals. This study used sample hospitals data from 2010 to 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness of public hospital reform through...

Safety of heparin bridging therapy for transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy in patients requiring temporary discontinuation of antithrombotic agents

Background Safety of heparin bridging therapy for transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate (TRUS) biopsy in patients requiring temporary discontinuation of antithrombotic therapy is unknown. This study aimed to assess the relationship between heparin bridging therapy and the incidence of complications after TRUS biopsy. Methods From January 2005 to November 2015, we performed 1307...

Development of intron polymorphism markers in major latex-like protein gene for locality-level and cultivar identification of Salvia miltiorrhiza

Background Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) is one of the most widely used medicinal herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. Locality-level and cultivar identification is of great importance not only for protecting highest therapeutic effectiveness of Daodi Danshen, but also for the genetic conservation and utilization of existing S. miltiorrhiza populations. Results Intron...

Some symmetric identities for the generalized Bernoulli, Euler and Genocchi polynomials associated with Hermite polynomials

In 2008, Liu and Wang established various symmetric identities for Bernoulli, Euler and Genocchi polynomials. In this paper, we extend these identities in a unified and generalized form to families of Hermite–Bernoulli, Euler and Genocchi polynomials. The procedure followed is that of generating functions. Some relevant connections of the general theory developed here with the...

A new gene regulatory network model based on BP algorithm for interrogating differentially expressed genes of Sea Urchin

Background Computer science and mathematical theories are combined to analyze the complex interactions among genes, which are simplified to a network to establish a theoretical model for the analysis of the structure, module and dynamic properties. In contrast, traditional model of gene regulatory networks often lack an effective method for solving gene expression data because of...

Modified differential evolution algorithm with onlooker bee operator for mixed discrete-continuous optimization

For solving non-linear programming problems containing discrete and continuous variables, this article suggests two modified algorithms based on differential evolution (DE). The two proposed algorithms incorporate a novel random search strategy into DE/best/1 and DE/cur-to-best/1 respectively. Inspired by the artificial bee colony algorithm, the random search strategy overcomes...

Evaluating the enhancement and improvement of China’s technology and financial services platform innovation strategy

The development of high-tech industry has been prosperous around the world in past decades, while technology and finance have already become the most significant issues in the information era. While high-tech firms are a major force behind a country’s economic development, it requires a lot of money for the development process, as well as the financing difficulties for its...

Comparisons of oncological and functional outcomes among radical retropubic prostatectomy, high dose rate brachytherapy, cryoablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound for localized prostate cancer

Purpose To conduct a retrospective, single institutional and comparative study for radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRBT), cryoablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in localized prostate cancer with respect to oncological and functional outcomes. Methods We reviewed 97, 161, 114 and 120 patients of RRP, HDRBT, cryoablation and...

The assessment of myometrium perfusion in patients with uterine fibroid by arterial spin labeling MRI

Background It has been suggested that an inadequate blood supply caused by uterine fibroids may lead to decreasing fertility. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of blood flow in the uterus might be a good tool for infertility treatments. For the first step, the ability to perform arterial spin labeling (ASL)-MRI in pelvic organs was examined by measuring blood flow in the...

The evaluation of the three edible tissues of dead adult Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis) freshness in harvest season, based on the analysis of TVBN and biogenic amine

This study was carried out to evaluate the quality of the three edible tissues (muscles, hepatopancreas and gonads) of the male and female Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in natural harvest season, based on total volatile base nitrogen test (TVBN) and biogenic amines analysis at intervals time of 3 h extended for 24 h during 30 °C storage (a mean ambient temperature in...

Alteration of NPY in hypothalamus and its correlation with leptin and ghrelin during the development of T2DM in a rat model

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the alteration of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the hypothalamus and its correlation with insulin, leptin and ghrelin during the development of a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods The type 2 diabetes mellitus model was developed in diet-induced obesity (DIO) rats followed by the intraperitoneal injection of low-dose streptozotocin...

Severe ARDS caused by adenovirus: early initiation of ECMO plus continuous renal replacement therapy

The reported survival rates of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by human adenovirus (HAdV) pneumonia are poor. The results do not differ much in immunocompetent patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We report two immunocompetent patients with severe ARDS complicating HAdV pneumonia who were treated successfully and...

Epitaxial growth of BaHfO3 buffer layer and its structure degeneration analysed by Raman spectrum

BaHfO3 (BHO) has been proposed as a new cap layer material for YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) coated conductors. Highly c-axis oriented BHO cap layer has been deposited on ion-beam assisted deposition-MgO buffered Hastelloy tapes by direct-current-magnetron sputtering method. The epi-growth of BHO films combined with its properties is investigated in details. The degenerated cubic crystal...

Why do consumers respond to eco-labels? The case of Korea

Although eco-labels were introduced with the intention of encouraging eco-friendly purchasing behavior by consumers, they have had little effect on consumers’ purchasing decisions, and therefore a significant gap exists between eco-label awareness and actual purchasing behavior. The aim of this study was to analyze consumer preference, in terms of public and private values, for...

The burden of metastatic disease of the femur on the Medicare system

Background In the United States, over 1,650,000 new cases of cancer are being diagnosed yearly with almost 50 % of them being the top five bone-seeking cancers. Since cancer risk increases with age, this suggests that orthopedic oncology services may be a strain on the Medicare system. The femur is the most common site of long bone metastases. Prophylactic fixation techniques...

Assessment of genetic variability for grain nutrients from diverse regions: potential for wheat improvement

Background A total of 150 bread wheat genotypes representing 121 Indian and 29 Turkish origin were screened for nutrient concentrations and grain protein content. Elemental and grain protein composition were studied by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer and LECO analyser, respectively. The study was performed to determine the variability in nutrient...

Dramatic mitigation of bone pain after phosphorus replacement therapy in a subject with FGF23-related hypophosphatemic osteomalacia

Introduction Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is secreted from bone and suppresses the absorption of phosphorus in renal proximal tubule and in intestinal tract. Therefore, the increase of serum FGF23 levels leads to hypophosphatemic situations. Tumor-induced osteomalacia is often induced by various tumors, but it is often difficult to identify the localization of tumor...

Fixation of split-thickness skin graft using fast-clotting fibrin glue containing undiluted high-concentration thrombin or sutures: a comparison study

Objective For skin defects caused by full-thickness burns, trauma, or tumor tissue excision, skin grafting is one of the most convenient and useful treatment methods. In this situation, graft fixation is important in skin grafting. This study was performed to compare the effectiveness of skin graft fixation between high-concentration fibrin sealant and sutures. There have been...

Bio-ethanol production from wet coffee processing waste in Ethiopia

Large amounts of coffee residues are generated from coffee processing plants in Ethiopia. These residues are toxic and possess serious environmental problems following the direct discharge into the nearby water bodies which cause serious environmental and health problems. This study was aimed to quantify wet coffee processing waste and estimate its bio-ethanol production. The...

Magnetohydrodynamics flow of a nanofluid driven by a stretching/shrinking sheet with suction

The present paper investigates the effect of a mathematical model describing the aforementioned process in which the ambient nanofluid in the presence of suction/injection and magnetic field are taken into consideration. The flow is induced by an infinite elastic sheet which is stretched along its own plane. The stretching/shrinking of the sheet is assumed to be proportional to...

Features of omental adipose tissue in endometrial cancer patients with ‘standard’ or ‘metabolically healthy’ obesity: associations with tumor process characteristics

Purpose Adipose tissue products may contribute to endometrial cancer (EC) initiation and further growth that encourages the analysis of this issue in patients with different obesity phenotypes. Methods/patients Omental fat depot characteristics were studied in EC patients (n = 57) with “standard” (SO) or “metabolically healthy” (MHO) obesity. Collected omental samples were...

Assembly and analysis of the complete Salix purpurea L. (Salicaceae) mitochondrial genome sequence

Plant mitochondrial (mt) genomes possess several complex features, including a variable size, a dynamic genome structure, and complicated patterns of gene loss and gain throughout evolutionary history. Studies of plant mt genomes can, therefore, provide unique insights into organelle evolution. We assembled the complete Salix purpurea L. mt genome by screening genomic sequence...