bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cloudlet and Virtual Machine Performance Enhancement With CLARA and Evolutionary Paradigm
Authors: Gupta Tanvi , Panda Supriya P.
Published: March 2022

The standardised IT paradigm pools services together as an internet network is cloud computing. So, management of the load by cloud providers at this point is difficult and hence manifests the existence of load balancing concept. The aim of proposed algorithm is to enhance the performance by minimizing results, which includes Execution time, Makespan time, and Processing Cost, and maximizing throughput, using ABC Optimization. R code is used to execute the algorithm, and dataset is processed using Microsoft Excel 2007. In the dataset, the MIPS of VMs range from 2000-9000 and bandwidth range from 10000-50000. Finally, it is concluded that, for 3 clusters, the efficiency rate of execution time, makespan time, and processing cost lies between 18%-20% and throughput and degree of imbalance are approximately 16% and 6%, respectively, when compared with the previous work; and for 10 clusters, the efficiency rate of execution time and makespan time raises to approximately 50% with processing cost, throughput, and degree of imbalance as approximately 72%, 33%, and 4%, respectively.
The Effect of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations on Social Media Engagement and Customer Likelihood to Share Content on Facebook
Authors: Al Khasawneh Mohammad , Al-Haddad Shafig , Tahboub Mays , Al Ouri Shahd T. , Al Arabi Dana A , Abu Sumaqa Leen , Rihani Anmar A.
Published: March 2022

The aim of the current study is to understand the motivations that lead to social media engagement and customers sharing intention on social media. A theoretical model is developed including six independent variables, which are community culture, altruism, fear of missing out, entertainment, informativeness, and social media engagement and likelihood to share as dependent variables. A quantitative methodology is used, where an online survey with close-ended questions is distributed and then the data was analyzed. The results of the data analysis found that four of the independent variables have a positive influence on customers’ likelihood to share, and social media engagement has the highest value. However, entertainment and informativeness had no impact on the likelihood to share viral content. eral motivations and the likelihood to share. Furthermore, it outlines key elements to create viral content and guides, marketers, to effective communication with online consumers.
Distress Tolerance in the Context of Emotional Reactivity and Learned Helplessness
Authors: Khan Faisal , Khan Aisha , Jan Sharif Ullah , Khan Hashim
Published: March 2022

Limited attention has been given to the individual differences in distress tolerance in the existing literature. Past studies suggest that the emotional reactivity and learned helplessness individual factors are distress tolerance. Specifically, in the context of self-damaging behavior, further investigation is required to identify the impacts of emotional reactivity and learned helplessness. This study is based on a field survey and the data was collected from 108 respondents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that measures learned helplessness, emotional reactivity, distress tolerance, and self-damaging behavior. Following Khosravani et al. (2021) and Ghasemzadeh et al. (2021), the “Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)” was applied to achieve the results. Findings suggest that together emotional reactivity and learned helplessness can explain the perceived variance in distress tolerance. Further, distress tolerance has a significant impact on self-damaging behavior. Our findings are in line with Sommers (2017). Furthermore, the findings will have implications for researchers studying distress tolerance and self-damaging behaviors, clinicians treating clients with difficulty managing distress, or self-damaging behaviors. The research recommends that emotional reactivity could be a key target of clinical involvement and preemptive learning.
Evaluating the Online Learning Experience at Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Abdel-Salam Abdel-Salam G. , Hazaa Khalifa , Abu-Shanab Emad Ahmed
Published: March 2022

In light of recent COVID-19 pandemic, universities had to cope by resorting to online learning without previous preparation. This paper tries to investigate students’ satisfaction with online learning. The literature review identified seven factors that influence satisfaction (quality, interaction, information technology, academic experience, comprehension, student support, and assessment), with four demographic factors (grade point average (GPA), gender, nationality, and major classification). All variables were significant predictors of satisfaction except assessment. Only GPA was a significant predictor among the four demographic factors. Mean comparisons on the level of satisfaction indicated that no difference between females and males, nationals possessed higher levels of satisfaction, and non-STEM students possessed higher satisfaction level. The study utilized a sample of 2,354 students from a public university in the Gulf region. The coefficient of determination for the regression model was 0.723. Conclusions and implications are reported at the end of the paper.
Efficient Client-Side Cross-Platform Compatible Solution for Phishing Prevention
Authors: Ben Stewart S.  , Dhanush N.  , Santhosh G.  , Gladston Angelin
Published: March 2022

Phishing is a crime where the victim is contacted by an attacker posing as a trustworthy source and lure them into providing sensitive information. This work makes sure that time delay is averted and the attack can be thwarted with fewer computational resources. To solve the above mentioned problem, a web browser add-on that works as a background script on the client side is implemented. All the background scripts made cross platform compatible to make the development easier and more efficient. The contribution in this paper is the new add-on, Off-the-hook-plus. The main objective of this Off-the-hook-plus is to find if the web page that the user visits is a phish or not. The page redirect logs along with the page details are used to find if the site is a phish or not. And then if the site happens to be a phish, the similar looking site which this web page tries to impersonate is given. To make the repeated accesses faster, a whitelist is maintained, where all the safe sites are logged. The add-on is experimentally evaluated and the results are discussed and is found to be effective.
Influence of Strategy Typology on Innovation
Authors: Ganguly Sanjeev , Das Satyasiba , Pandya Saurabh
Published: March 2022

Innovation has prime importance and significant contribution in advancement of humanity as a whole. Its significance cannot be denied by any organization, country, community or any other entity. It’s equally important for public as well as private sectors, developed or developing nations, be it western or oriental. Still, the scholastic attention to study innovation is inclined more towards private sectors in western developed countries. It is attempted here to study issues related to innovation in a different context using primary data. This study attempts to find out relationship between strategy typology and innovation. Study reveals that majority of PSEs have adopted Defender type of strategy and prevalently pursuing Process innovation followed by Market innovation. MANOVA test confirms this relationship between Defender type of strategy and Process innovation. The study also provides an innovation audit of Indian PSEs in manufacturing sector.
Geolocation-Based Mobile Application
Authors: Mustafa Twana , Shwany Zardasht Abdulaziz , Saeed Shwan Hadi , Khoshnaw Karwan , Ismail Shayda Khudhur , Rashid Rzgar Farooq
Published: March 2022

Geolocation denotes the position of an object in a geographical context. The geolocation algorithm is characterized by four Ms: which Measurements are used, the Map, the Motion model used for describing the motion of the object, and the filtering Method. This paper describes a general framework for geolocation based on the particle filter, and Android Studio is used for design and programming. Also, Google Firebase is used as a database for save location and to display only the ones that are within one kilometer's radius from the user carnet location. In this app, when locations save or select or make filtering, the app describes a place and will show all information about the place that has been selected on the map. Several examples based on real data are used to illustrate various combinations of sensors and maps for geolocation. Finally, and aim of this paper is to investigate efficient ways to store geolocation in Google Firebase as a set of latitudes and longitudes based on mobile and web.
High Utility Item-Set Mining From Retail Market Data Stream With Various Discount Strategies
Authors: P. Amaranatha Reddy , M. H. M. Krishna Prasad
Published: March 2022

High Utility Item-set Mining (HUIM) is the futuristic remodel version of Frequent Item Mining (FIM). It has the ability to discover customer purchase trends in the retail market. By using that knowledge, retailers can incorporate innovative schemes (discounts, cross-marketing, seasonal sales offers,... etc) to enhance profit. Even though many HUIM algorithms are proposed to detect profitable patterns, most of them cannot be applied to all kinds of retail market data sets due to certain assumptions. The first assumption is that the items always produce a positive profit. But in reality, even though overall profit could be positive, some of the items make negative profit. The second one is they are developed for static transactional data. Those are useful to take decisions at some intervals like quarterly, half-yearly, yearly. But, to take decisions at any time by analyzing the present sales trend, it is required to process the data stream.
Use of Machine Learning to Detect Lung Cancer
Authors: Kadam Krishna
Published: March 2022

Lung cancer has become one of the most common causes of cancer in both men and women. A large number of people die every year due to lung cancer. The purpose of this project is to detect early signs of lung cancer and improve accuracy and sensitivity. Different features are extracted from the input image and based on the calculations, result from the support vector machine is obtained as cancerous cells are present or not. The stages included in this are pre-processing, segmentation, feature extraction and classification. In pre-processing the noise and blurriness of image removed. In segmentation the image is segmented using DWT techniques. The features extracted using GLCM matrix. The extracted features are Entropy, Co-relation, energy, contrast and Dissimilarities. SVM uses hyper plane algorithm to detect whether the given image is ‘Malignant’ or ‘Benign’
Self-Boosted With Dynamic Semi-Supervised Clustering Method for Imbalanced Big Data Classification
Authors: Abhilasha Akkala , Annan Naidu P.
Published: March 2022

Big data plays a major role in the learning, manipulation, and forecasting of information intelligence. Due to the imbalance of data delivery, the learning and retrieval of information from such large datasets can result in limited classification outcomes and wrong decisions. Traditional machine learning classifiers successfully handling the imbalanced datasets still there is inadequacy in overfitting problems, training cost, and sample hardness in classification. In order to forecast a better classification, the research work proposed the novel “Self-Boosted with Dynamic Semi-Supervised Clustering Method”. The method is initially preprocessed by constructing sample blocks using Hybrid Associated Nearest Neighbor heuristic over-sampling to replicate the minority samples and merge each copy with every sub-set of majority samples to remove the overfitting issue thus slightly reduce noise with the imbalanced data. After preprocessing the data, massive data classification requires big data space which leads to large training costs.
Clustering of Template-Generated Webpages Using DOM Tree Paths of URLs
Authors: Bagban Tanveer I. , Kulkarni Prakash Jayant
Published: March 2022

Web templates are layouts for webpages that enable rapid and easy access to web content. Web data integration solutions use template based wrapper tools to extract product information from e-commerce websites. Given a collection of webpages, wrapper tools are used to discover the template portion of a webpage and extract data from it. These wrapper based data extraction techniques require pages created with the same template belong to the same cluster. Clustering these webpages based on their template is a significant challenge. While there are algorithms for clustering webpages based on their template, they are computationally intensive to be applied at web scale. By examining the DOM tree paths of URLs on a webpage, the proposed work presents a highly scalable methodology for clustering template-generated webpages. Further, the locality sensitive hashing (LSH) technique is used to reduce the cost of clustering. The proposed technique is found to be more precise and cost effective than the existing baseline methods when tested on three separate real-time data sets.
Methods for Estimating Composition of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes Based on Electronic Type
Authors: Yahya Iskandar , Kunaraj Arulampalam , Mustaza Seri Mastura , Clowes Steven , Silva S. Ravi P.
Published: March 2022

— Synthesized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) consist of a mixture of chiralities and therefore a post-synthesis separation is essential to separate them based on electronic type i.e., metallic (m-SWCNT) or semiconducting (s-SWCNT) for device applications. A key parameter to measure the effectiveness of separation process is the enrichment composition percentage between m-SWCNT and s-SWCNT, which can be estimated via several methods based on optical characterizations. In this paper, we compare the composition percentage estimations from 3 different methods based on Raman spectroscopy and UV-Vis optical absorption spectroscopy. The estimation methods are radial breathing mode (RBM) peak analysis, optical absorption area under curve (OUA) and first derivative amplitude of the optical absorption curve (FDA). Four different SWCNT sources were used in this study, which were subjected to post-synthesis separation process via agarose gel chromatography. Raman and UV-Vis spectroscopy measurements were carried out on all samples, before and after separation. From the estimations, we observed firstly that there are some variations on the estimated enrichment compositions between different methods, although the values are comparable. Secondly, for some SWCNTs samples, only a certain estimation method showed reliable composition percentage. The results presented in this work may provide viable options for characterizations of SWCNTs as there is no direct method to quantify the absolute composition percentage of SWCNTs based on electronic type. Keywords—single-walledcarbon nanotube, separation, electronic type, optical characterization, purity percentage.
Performance of CPHMA Incorporating Vegetable Oil as Asbuton Solution
Authors: Djakfar Ludfi , Wisnumurti  , Khamelda Lila
Published: March 2022

The increasing demand for roads has an impact on the supply of raw materials, especially asphalt. Asphalt oil as conventional asphalt whose quantity is decreasing so that in the end it cannot meet the needs of road construction. Asphalt Buton (Asbuton) offers an opportunity as an alternative natural resource that will be able to supply asphalt needs. Asbuton is still not popularly used due to several shortcomings, including the need for material as an asbuton modifier. Asbuton needs for this material because asbuton has been exposed to the open air for hundreds of years so that the liquid fraction of maltene is reduced because bitumen is trapped in asbuton minerals. This study aimed to evaluate the addition of materials such as vegetable oil with 13 types with which has the potential to serve as a solvent to dissolve bitumen from asbuton in order to improve CPHMA performance. The evaluation conducted using the Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE) and the Marshall tests and the results of the LLE test showed the dissolution of bitumen by vegetable oil produced a high extraction efficiency (E) while Marshall test stability value had a stability value below the allowable standard for CPHMA and this means vegetable oil is not suitable as the solvent. It was, therefore, recommended that other treatments or materials are added to the vegetable oil to increase its ability to dissolve asbuton bitumen towards improving CPHMA performance.
The Influence of Cowper-Symonds Coefficients on the Response of Stiffened Steel Plates Subjected to Close-In Blast Loads
Authors: Abdul Razak Nurul Syafiqah , Alias Aizat , Mohsan Nor Maslina , Masjuki Siti Aliyyah
Published: March 2022

The Cowper-Symonds relationship is the most common empirical equation used to model the influence of strain rates in steel structures subjected to blast loads. The simplicity of this relationship makes it as the preferred choice due to the minimum number of coefficients used in the equation. However, different coefficients were reported from experimental results where it was found that the coefficients could be influenced by the thickness of the specimens, types of materials and method of testing. Even so, the actual coefficients even for the same type of material such as for mild steel could be differ. It is known that strain rates effect increases the yield strength of steel, and this could reduce the maximum displacement of steel structures such as steel plates subjected to blast loads. This influence could be more significant if the steel plate was stiffened. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of Cowper-Symonds coefficients for steel plates with stiffeners subjected to close-in blast loads. The numerical investigations were performed using finite element software, Abaqus. The target plate was a 0.4 m x 0.4 m plate with 0.002 m of thickness subjected to a 0.012 kg of Plastic Explosive No. 4 (PE4) at 0.04 m stand-off distance. The influenced of stiffeners were investigate first where five stiffeners’ configurations were used and, in each configuration, the stiffeners come with different geometry ratios. Two best stiffened steel plates have been chosen to study the influence of different Cowper-Symonds coefficients. Different coefficient values of dominator, D and hardening coefficients, q was used. The results shows that any possible coefficient combinations of Cowper-Symonds relation are possible to use in predicting response of steel plates subjected to blast loads. From this study, the most ideal stiffened square steel plates for offshore platform could be identified.
Long Noncoding RNA lncNDEPD1 Regulates PD-1 Expression via miR-3619-5p in CD8+ T Cells
Authors: Cheng Shaoyan , Li Feng , Qin Haiming , Ping Yu , Zhao Qitai , Gao Qun , Song Mengjia , Qu Jiao , Shan Jiqi , Zhang Kai , Zhang Zhen , Lian Jingyao , Liu Shasha , Wang Liping , Zhang Yi
Published: March 2022

Therapies targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have gained great success in patients with multiple types of cancer. The regulatory mechanisms underlying PD-1 expression have been extensively explored. However, the impact of long noncoding RNAs on PD-1 expression remains elusive. In this study, we identified the Notch1/lncNDEPD1 axis, which plays a critical role in PD-1 expression in human CD8+ T cells. RNA sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription PCR data showed that lncNDEPD1 was upregulated in activated T cells, especially in PD-1high subsets. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated that lncNDEPD1 was localized in the cytoplasm. A mechanistic study showed that lncNDEPD1 could bind with miR-3619-5p and PDCD1 mRNA to prevent PDCD1 mRNA degradation and then upregulate PD-1 expression. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that Notch1 directly binds to the promoter of lncNDEPD1 instead of PDCD1. Furthermore, chimeric Ag receptor T cells expressing lncNDEPD1-specific short hairpin RNAs were generated. Chimeric Ag receptor T cells with decreased lncNDEPD1 expression showed enhanced tumoricidal effects when PD-L1 was present. Our work uncovered a new regulatory mechanism of PD-1 expression and thus provided a potential target to decrease PD-1 without affecting T cell function.
Perceptions of Leadership Competency Among Doctorate in Athletic Training Graduates
Authors: Robinson Elena A. , Games Kenneth E. , Eberman Lindsey E. , Rivera Matthew J.
Published: March 2022

Context

Within the athletic training profession, Doctor of Athletic Training (DAT) programs are expected to develop advanced practice leaders; however, little is known about whether this is achieved.

Objective

Assess DAT graduates' perceived importance and confidence in performing personal leadership competencies as well as the level of influence a DAT program had on the development of these competencies.

Design

Cross-sectional design.

Setting

A 73-item Web-based survey.

Patients or Other Participants

Seventy-seven DAT graduates, from a possible 205 graduates responded to the survey. Forty-five respondents completed the survey (21.9%) and were included in this study (age = 31.5 ± 6.1 years; years since graduating from DAT = 1.13 ± 0.90; years of experience = 8.69 ± 5.6; years employed at current job = 3.00 ± 4.04).

Intervention(s)

Each participant completed a questionnaire with 7 demographic items and 66 items to assess perceived importance, confidence, and influence of the DAT on 22 personal leadership competencies. The questionnaire was adapted from the Leadership Development in Athletic Training instrument.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Descriptive statistics were used to characterize participant demographics and assess the perceived importance, confidence, and influence of the DAT program on leadership competencies. Partial data were included in the analysis.

Results

All competencies were rated as important or higher with critical thinking (mean = 4.84 ± 0.37) rated very important (mode = 5, n = 37/45, 82.2%). Graduates were moderately confident or higher on all competencies with being credible (mean = 4.5 ± 0.55) rated extremely confident (mode = 5, n = 23/45, 51.1%). Graduates indicated that the DAT was extremely influential on their being future minded (mean = 4.63 ± 0.58; mode = 5, n = 29/45, 64.4%).

Conclusions

Doctor of Athletic Training graduates' perceptions suggest that programs may be meeting the goal of developing advanced practice leaders. Respondents indicated higher perceptions of confidence in competencies they deemed as important. Respondents also indicated that DAT programs were influential in shaping their perceptions about certain leadership competencies. Other factors may influence graduates' perceptions outside of the DAT, such as previous education and experience.
Normalized Creatinine-to-Cystatin C Ratio and Risk of Diabetes in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study
Authors: Qiu Shanhu , Cai Xue , Xie Bo , Yuan Yang , Sun Zilin , Wu Tongzhi
Published: March 2022

Background: Creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio is recently suggested to be a surrogate marker for sarcopenia. However, little is known about its association with diabetes. This study aimed to fill in this gap based on a large-scale prospective cohort.Methods: A population-based representative sample of 5,055 participants aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study was enrolled between 2011 and 2012 and followed at least once during the subsequent surveys at 2013, 2015, or 2018. Creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio was calculated and normalized by body weight. Incident diabetes was ascertained by plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, self-reported history, or use of anti-diabetic drugs. Logistic regression analysis and mediation analysis were employed.Results: During follow-up, 634 participants developed diabetes. The risk of diabetes was gradually and significantly decreased with increased normalized creatinine–cystatin C ratio. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for diabetes was 0.91 (95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.99) per 1 standard deviation higher of normalized creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio, and this relationship remained significant after controlling for muscle strength. The risk reduction in diabetes was significantly larger in participants with normal-weight and high normalized creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio compared with those with overweight/obesity and high normalized creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio (Pinteraction=0.01). Insulin resistance and inflammation appeared to be key mediators accounting for the observed relationship between normalized creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio and risk of diabetes, with their mediating effect being 93.1% and 22.0%, respectively.Conclusion: High normalized creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio is associated with reduced risk of diabetes in middle-aged and older adults.
Reactive oxygen species and senescence modulatory effects of rice bran extract on 4T1 and NIH-3T3 cells co-treatment with doxorubicin
Authors: Zulfin Ummi Maryam , Rahman Ave , Hanifa Mila , Utomo Rohmad Yudi , Haryanti Sari , Meiyanto Edy
Published: March 2022

Objective:

To determine the effect of rice bran extract (RBE) in combination with doxorubicin on 4T1 triple-negative breast cancer cells and NIH-3T3 cells.

Methods:

RBE was obtained by maceration with n-hexane. The phytochemical profile of RBE was observed using highperformance liquid chromatography. Cytotoxic effect of RBE was evaluated through MTT assay. In addition, flow cytometry was used for cell cycle and apoptosis analysis. Cellular senescence was observed using SA-β-Gal assay and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were evaluated using DCFDA staining. The pro-oxidant property of RBE was also evaluated through 1-chloro- 2,4-dinitrobenzene spectrophotometry and molecular docking.

Results:

RBE was obtained with a yield of 18.42% w/w and contained tocotrienols as the major compound. RBE exerted no cytotoxic effect on 4T1 and NIH-3T3 cells. However, RBE in combination with doxorubicin decreased 4T1 cell viability synergistically (combination index<0.9) and induced apoptosis and senescence on 4T1 cells. RBE significantly decreased senescence in doxorubicin-treated NIH-3T3 cells. Additionally, RBE did not increase ROS levels in doxorubicin-treated 4T1 cells. Meanwhile, the combination of RBE and doxorubicin reduced ROS levels in NIH-3T3 cells. RBE significantly reduced glutathione-S-transferase activity and alpha-tocotrienol interacted with glutathione-S- transferase in the glutathione binding site.

Conclusions:

Rice bran may be used as a co-chemotherapeutic agent to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of doxorubicin while protecting against the cellular senescence effects of doxorubicin on healthy cells.
Caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid modulate Nrf2 and inhibit Ehrlich ascites carcinomas in mice
Authors: Bovilla Venugopal R. , Anantharaju Preethi G. , Dornadula Sireesh , Veeresh Prashanthkumar M. , Kuruburu Mahadevaswamy G. , Bettada Vidya G. , Ramkumar Kunka Mohanram , Madhunapantula SubbaRao V.
Published: March 2022

Objective:

To assess the nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) modulatory effect of caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid and determine the anti-tumor activity of these phenolic compounds against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma growth in mice.

Methods:

Antioxidant activity of protocatechuic acid and caffeic acid was assessed using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Nrf2 activation potential of phenolic compounds was tested by quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction, and luciferase complementation reporter assays. In vivo efficacy was tested using the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma model.

Results:

FRAP and DPPH radical scavenging assays showed that caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid were more potent compared with cinnamic acid and benzoic acid. Luciferase complementation reporter assays identified caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid as the activators of Nrf2. Both caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid upregulated the expression of Nrf2 target genes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), and glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM) and the activity of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) when tested on HCT-116 cells using a cell-based assay system at 9 h. In addition, intraperitoneal administration of caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid to Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice suppressed tumor growth and angiogenesis.

Conclusions:

Caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid can modulate Nrf2 and inhibit Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells.
Effects of Sirt1 on proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood of SD rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Sun Dong-Mei , Yao Jin-Jian , Dong Zhan-Ling , Qian Jin , Huang Qi-Feng , Sun Yuan-Tian , Liu Xiao-Ran
Published: March 2022

Objective:

To explore the effect of Sirt1 on the function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods:

A rat COPD model was established via smoking and endotoxin administration for three months. The peripheral circulating EPCs were isolated by gradient centrifugation, and their functions, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and Sirt1 expression were examined. The function changes of EPCs in the presence or absence of Sirt1 agonist and inhibitor were estimated; meanwhile, the expressions of Sirt1, FOXO3a, NF-κB, and p53 were also evaluated.

Results:

The proliferation, adhesion, and migration of EPCs decreased while the apoptosis rate was increased in the COPD rats. The expression of Sirt1 protein in EPCs of the COPD group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.01). The overexpression of the Sirt1 gene using a gene transfection technique or Sirt1 agonists (SRT1720) improved the proliferation, migration, and adhesion, and decreased the apoptosis of EPC. However, Sirt1 inhibitor (EX527) decreased EPC functions in the COPD group. The effect of Sirt1 expression on EPC function may be related to reduction of FOXO3a and increase of NF-κB and p53 activity.

Conclusions:

Increased expression of Sirt1 can improve the proliferation and migration of EPCs and reduce their apoptosis in COPD rats. This change may be related to FOXO3a, NF-κB, and p53 signaling pathways.
Antioxidant, cytotoxic, and anti-venom activity of Alstonia parvifolia Merr. Bark
Authors: Tan Maria Carmen S. , Carranza Mary Stephanie S. , Linis Virgilio C. , Malabed Raymond S. , Reyes Yves Ira A. , Franco Francisco C., Jr. , Oyong Glenn G.
Published: March 2022

Objective:

To evaluate antioxidant, cytotoxic, and anti-venom capacity of crude bark extracts of Alstonia parvifolia Merr.

Methods:

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and energy dispersive X-ray analyses were accomplished to characterize the chemical constituents of Alstonia parvifolia. Biochemical characterization was evaluated using an inhibitory phospholipase A2 (PLA2) assay, DPPH, and cytotoxicity assays. Using the constituents listed in the GC-MS analyses, molecular docking was conducted to inspect the binding energies between the chosen compounds and selected PLA2 isoforms.

Results:

GC-MS analyses showed that the Alstonia parvifolia crude extract consisted predominantly of acetylmarinobufogenin (14.89%), γ-sitosterol (10.44%), 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (5.88%), 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (5.30%), (2α,5α)-17-methoxyaspidofractinin-3-one (AFM) (4.08%), and 2,3,5,6,7,8,9-heptahydro-1-phenyl-5-(p-chlorophenylimino)-1H-benzo[e][1
,
4]thiazepine (HPT) (1.37%). The principal elemental components of Alstonia parvifolia were Ca (4.012%) and K (1.496%), as exhibited by energy dispersive X-ray examination. Alstonia parvifolia showed significant free radical scavenging ability (IC50: 0.287 mg/mL) and was non-cytotoxic to normal HDFn cells (IC50 >100 μg/mL). Moreover, Alstonia parvifolia was favorably cytotoxic to MCF-7 (IC50: 4.42 μg/mL), followed by H69PR, HT-29, and THP-1, with IC50 values of 4.94, 5.07, and 6.27 μg/mL, respectively. Alstonia parvifolia also displayed notable inhibition against PLA2 activity of Naja philippinensis Taylor venom with IC50 of (15.2 ± 1.8) μg/mL. Docking and cluster analyses projected negative binding energies from AFM (-6.36 to -9.68 kcal/mol), HPT (-7.38 to -9.77 kcal/ mol), and acetylmarinobufogenin (-7.22 to -9.59 kcal/mol). These calculations were for the particular interactions of Alstonia parvifolia constituents to PLA2 homologues where the utmost affinity was detected in HPT owing to the dipole interactions with amino acid residues.

Conclusions:

The bark extract of Alstonia parvifolia shows great potential as an anti-venom agent due to its low cytotoxic profile, remarkable PLA2 inhibition, and docking binding energies between its bioactive constituents and PLA2 homologues.
Effect of Nano-Hydroxyapatite with Biomimetic Analogues on The Characteristics of Partially Demineralised Dentin
Authors: Nambiar Sharanya , Kumari Mohini , Mathew Sylvia , Hegde Swaroop , Ramesh Poornima , Shetty Nithin
Published: March 2022

Background:

Research on dentin remineralisation protocols in particular ‘biomimetic remineralisation’ has gained huge momentum. Aim of this study was to evaluate if biomimetic analogs, incorporated in n-HAp, as an experimental formulation could aid in remineralization of artificial caries-like dentin and have anti-microbial effect on cariogenic bacteria, S mutans.

Materials and Methodology:

An experimental paste was formulated using nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) with Non-Collagenous Protein analogs- polyacrylic acid (PAA), sodium tri-poly phosphate (STPP) with Simulated Body Fluid. Partially demineralised dentin specimens were divided into three groups (n=10) based on the remineralisation treatment as, Group A- n-HAp paste, Group B- n-HAp and NCP analogues and Group C (Control) - no treatment. At the end of the experimental period, the specimens were assessed using SEM-EDS analysis and Vickers microhardness testing. Further, the antimicrobial efficacy of the paste was assessed.

Statistical Analysis:

The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni test.

Results:

Dentin specimens treated with the experimental paste revealed greater tubular occlusion, with intra tubular deposits and increased mineral content. Specimens treated with n-HAp alone had higher microhardness values and inhibitory effect on the cariogenic bacteria.

Conclusion:

Non-Collagenous Protein analogs incorporated in n-HAp could remineralize the demineralised dentin and had antibacterial efficacy against S mutans.
Prevalence of Species-Specific Candidiasis and Status of Oral Hygiene and Dentition among Diabetic Patients
Authors: Duggal Ritu , Goswami Ravinder , Xess Immaculata , Duggal Isha , Talwar Aditya , Mathur Vijay Prakash
Published: March 2022

Objective:

The study was undertaken to estimate the species-specific prevalence of oral candidiasis in diabetic individuals in India, and further find the relationship of oral carriage of Candida in diabetes with degree of diabetic control, duration of disease, type of diabetes and its effect on the status of oral hygiene status and decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) score.

Methodology:

The prospective cross-sectional study involved 900 individuals (470 diabetic and 430 non-diabetic) visiting a tertiary care hospital. Informed consent was obtained from all the individuals participating in the study. The demographic details, medical history and oral cavity examination were recorded in a specially designed proforma. Swabs were taken for microbiological evaluation for specific prevalence of Candida.

Results:

The overall prevalence of Candida in diabetics was 22.1% as compared to 9.7% in non-diabetic individuals. However, among the type 1 and type 2 diabetics, the prevalence of Candida was equally distributed as 22.6% and 20.8%, respectively. C. albicans was the most common species (97.1%), while isolated cases of other species like C. rugosa, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata were also observed. The individuals with higher glycaemic score (HbA1c >7) showed higher prevalence of oral candidiasis. Oral hygiene status was observed to be lower among diabetics as compared to non-diabetic individuals.

Conclusion:

Oral candidiasis was more prevalent in diabetic patients, and C. albicans was the most common species. The diabetics also showed higher mean DMFT with lower oral hygiene status as compared to non-diabetic individuals.
Cutaneous Myiasis (Cordylobia Anthropophaga)
Authors: Hiremath Ravishekar N. , Bhatnagar Anuj , Patil Chetan C , Kandpal Renu , Sandhu Sunmeet , Sreenivas Audukoori
Published: March 2022

Myiasis is a disease caused by the larvae of Diptera flies infesting living tissue. The most common type of myiasis is cutaneous involvement. Imported infections are becoming more common as a result of international travel to tropical regions. After a 3 month stay in Congo, a 29-year-old developed furuncular myiasis on returning to India.
New Records for The Turkish Freshwater Algal Flora in Twenty-five River Basins of Turkey, Part II: Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Euglenozoa
Authors: Maraslioglu Faruk , Oterler Burak , Ongun Sevindik Tuğba , Soylu Elif Neyran , Demir Nilsun , Celekli Abuzer , Somek Hasim , Coskun Tolga , Solak Cuneyt Nadir , Cetin Tolga , Karaaslan Yakup , Temizel Bengü , Koca Merve , Guzel Ugur , Tunca Hatice , Manavoglu Dogan Can , Yilmaz Elif
Published: March 2022

Turkish lakes which have different morphometry and hydrology, have a great potential that supports distinct algal diversity as a result of different climate types and geographical variation (latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal gradients). However, the algal flora of Turkey has not been completed, and the number of new taxa has increased due to new studies in Turkey. This study aims to describe new planktonic algal taxa for the Turkish freshwater algal flora. A total of 330 Chlorophyta, 164 Cyanobacteria and 187 Euglenozoa taxa were determined in a study conducted from 2017 to 2019 in 275 lakes of 25 river basins of Turkey. During this study, 116 Chlorophyta, 41 Cyanobacteria, and 81 Euglenozoa were found new records for the freshwater algal flora of Turkey.
Effects of Silver Nanocolloid and Copper Oxide (I) on HSP70 Expression and GST Activity in the Caspian Kutum
Authors: Amani Razieh , Heidari Behrooz , Ghafoori Hosein , Valipour Abdolmajid
Published: March 2022

The present study investigated the lethal and semi-lethal effects of silver nanocolloid and copper (I) oxide nanoparticles on the expression of HSP70 and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in the gill, liver, and serum of the Caspian kutum fry (Rutilus kutum). Fish were exposed to different concentrations of silver nanocolloid (0.05, 0.35, and 0.7 of LC50) and copper (I) oxide nanoparticles (0.25 and 0.5 of LC50). The results showed a high expression of the HSP70 gene on the 7th and 21st days of exposure to silver nanocolloid and copper (I) oxide nanoparticles. Significant changes in GST levels were observed under the influence of silver nanocolloid in the gills and serum. In conclusion, variations of the HSP70 gene expression and GST activity show that the presence of nanoparticles could be affecting the antioxidant system in the fish body; indicating that their excessive influx brings disruptive danger to aquatic health.
Comparison of Viral Replication, Antiviral Gene Expression and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity in Gibel Carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) Infected with Cyprinid Herpesvirus 2 at Susceptible and Less-susceptible Temperatures
Authors: Zhang Jialin , Meng Shaodong , Ge Heng , Sun Shanling , Yu Xinran , Qiao Guo , Li Qiang
Published: March 2022

Cyprinid herpesvirus 2 is a DNA virus that is a concern for the aquaculture worldwide. Here, the challenge of CyHV-2 infection was conducted in gibel carp at a host susceptible temperature (25 ℃) and a less-susceptible temperature (15 ℃). The viral replication and expression of antiviral genes were analyzed by real time PCR, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in serum were also examined. Results showed that CyHV-2 was in normal proliferative in 25 ℃ group, while the growth was inhibited in 15 ℃ group. Moreover, IFNφ1 and Mx were highly expressed from 12 hpi to 48 hpi in both groups, but the 15 ℃ group showed quicker and stronger response. TNF-α and IL-1β showed early upregulation at 12 hpi followed by a sharp decline in both groups. Fatty acid synthase (FAS) and Caspase-8 showed a higher expression level in 15 ℃ group than that in 25 ℃ group during 48-96 hpi. Furthermore, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) in 15 ℃ group were higher than those in 25 ℃ group at late infection. Thus, water temperature affected the immune response against CyHV-2 infection, which may ultimately lead to host survival in the less-susceptible temperatures.
Age, Growth, Mortality and Reproduction Biology of the Black Seabream, Spondyliosoma cantharus in North Aegean Sea, Turkey, Mediterranean Basin
Authors: Daban İsmail Burak
Published: March 2022

In the present study, the population parameters (length-length and length-weight relationships, age, growth, mortality) and reproductive biology (sex ratio, GSI, condition, length at first maturity, spawning period, fecundity) of black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus Linnaeus, 1758) were investigated. The length-length relationship and length-weight relationship were calculated as FL=0.911TL-0.0433 and W=0.0123TL3.0614 (R2=0.97), respectively. Parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation were: L∞=33.21 cm, K=0.21 per year, t0= −1.84 year and age varied between 0 and 8 years. The instantaneous rates of total mortality (Z) and natural mortality (M) were 0.64 and 0.47 per year, respectively. Rates for fishing mortality (F) and exploitation (E) were 0.17 and 0.27 per year, respectively. The spawning season extended from February to May and peaked in March and April. The female/male ratio was found to be 3.49/1 and sex inversion from female to male occurred after the 24 cm TL length group. Total lengths at 50% maturity were 22.25 cm for males and 20.59 cm for females. The mean absolute fecundity (F) was 109,457±8,011 oocytes, ranging from 59,666 to 182,589.
Prevention of Typhoid Fever by Existing Improvements in Household Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, and the Use of the Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine in Poor Urban Slums: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Trial
Authors: Im Justin , Khanam Farhana , Ahmmed Faisal , Kim Deok Ryun , Kang Sophie , Tadesse Birkneh Tilahun , Chowdhury Fahima , Ahmed Tasnuva , Aziz Asma Binte , Hoque Masuma , Islam Md. Taufiqul , Park Juyeon , Liu Xinxue , Sur Dipika , Pak Gideok , Jeon Hyon Jin , Zaman Khalequ , Khan Ashraful Islam , Qadri Firdausi , Marks Florian , Kim Jerome H. , Clemens John D.
Published: March 2022

Modest improvements in household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and typhoid vaccination can reduce typhoid risk in endemic settings. However, empiric evaluation of their combined impact is lacking. A total of 62,756 persons residing in 80 clusters in a Kolkata slum were allocated randomly 1:1 to either the typhoid Vi polysaccharide (ViPS) vaccine or hepatitis A (Hep A) vaccine. Surveillance was conducted for 2 years before and 2 years after vaccination. We classified households as having “better” or “not better” WASH, and calculated the prevalence of better WASH households in clusters using previously validated criteria. We evaluated the protection by better household WASH, better household WASH prevalence, and ViPS vaccination against typhoid in all cluster members present at baseline using Cox proportional hazard models. Overall, ViPS vaccination was associated with a 55% (P < 0.001; 95% CI, 35–69) reduction of typhoid risk and was similar regardless of better WASH in the residence. Living in a better WASH household was associated with a typhoid risk reduction of 31% (P = 0.16; 95% CI, –16 to 59) overall. The reduction was 48% (P = 0.05; 95% CI, –1 to 73) in Hep A clusters, 6% (P = 0.85; 95% CI, –82 to 51) in ViPS clusters, and 57% (P < 0.05; 95% CI, 15–78) in the population during the 2 years preceding the trial. These findings demonstrate a preventive association of better household WASH in the non-ViPS population, but, unexpectedly, an absence of additional protection from ViPS by better WASH in the ViPS population. This analysis highlights the importance of assessing the combination of WASH in conjunction with typhoid vaccines, and has implications for the evaluation of new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccines.
Economic Benefits of gender equality: comparing EU and BRICS countries
Authors:   Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Diachkova Anna V. , Kontoboitseva Anna E. ,   Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin
Published: March 2022

Introduction. In the modern economy the problems of scientific analysis shift the focus from the subject area of gender inequality to gender equality, and special significance is attached to assessing the impact of gender on the social welfare. At the same time, it is noted that developed and developing countries currently have differences in the quality and quantity of goals achieved to address the issue of gender equality. The aim of the article is to assess the economic benefits of gender equality for a group of countries in the European Union and BRICS. Materials and methods. Empirical analysis was based on the construction of regression econometric models that assess the impact on the welfare of the country (GDP) of gender equality in combination with basic macroeconomic factors. Fixed effects regression models have the best descriptive capacity for the EU and BRICS countries, which was verified by standard econometric tests. The information base of the study was made up of official statistics from the reports of the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations. Results and Discussion. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the level of gender equality has a positive effect on the economic development of both the EU countries and the BRICS; a comparison of the results of the constructed econometric models for groups of EU and BRICS countries showed that gender equality has a statistically significant impact on the economic development of countries in each group, and in the BRICS countries it is stronger, so with an increase in gender equality by one, GDP per capita increases by 3.4172 vs. 0.4647 in EU countries. The inclusion of key socio-economic indicators in the analysis made it possible to compare the obtained impact, and it was found that the degree of influence of the equality index is not lower than the degree of influence of basic economic indicators. That increases the importance of this problem both at the level of the country and international associations. The conclusions obtained based on the analysis of macro statistics confirmed the conclusions of the researchers based on microeconomic data. Conclusions. The results of this study are aimed at understanding the problems of gender equality, its impact on the economic well-being of society, both in an individual country and in the world economy as a whole, which can be taken into account in designing the policy of the state and companies that together ensure progress in the development of equality between men and women.