bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circular RNA FOXP1 promotes tumor progression and Warburg effect in gallbladder cancer by regulating PKLR expression
Authors: Wang Shouhua , Zhang Yongjie , Cai Qiang , Ma Mingzhe , Jin Long Yang , Weng Mingzhe , Zhou Di , Tang Zhaohui , Wang Jian Dong , Quan Zhiwei
Published: October 2019

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently been identified as potential functional modulators of the cellular physiology processes. The study aims to uncover the potential clinical value and driving molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in gallbladder cancer (GBC).

Patients and methods

We performed RNA sequencing from four GBC and paired adjacent normal tissues to analyze the circRNA candidates. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) was used to measure the circFOXP1 expression from 40 patient tissue samples. Short hairpin RNA mediated knockdown or exogenous expression of circFOXP1 combined with in vitro and in vivo assays were performed to prove the functional significance of circFOXP1. Double luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down assays were also performed.

Results

By performing RNA sequencing from GBC and paired adjacent normal tissues to analyze the circRNA candidates, we identified that circFOXP1 (hsa_circ_0008234) expression was significantly upregulated in GBC tissues and positively associated with lymph node metastasis, advanced TNM stage and poor prognosis in patients. Short hairpin RNA mediated knockdown or exogenous expression of circFOXP1 combined with in vitro assays demonstrated that circFOXP1 has pleiotropic effects, including promotion of cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and inhibition of cell apoptosis in GBC. In vivo, circFOXP1 promoted tumor growth. Mechanistically, double luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and biotin-labeled RNA pull-down assays clarified that circFOXP1 interacted with PTBP1 that could bind to the 3’UTR region and coding region (CDS) of enzyme pyruvate kinase, liver and RBC (PKLR) mRNA (UCUU binding bites) to protect PKLR mRNA from decay. Additionally, circFOXP1 acted as the sponge of miR-370 to regulate PKLR, resulting in promoting Warburg effect in GBC progression.

Conclusions

These results demonstrated that circFOXP1 serve as a prognostic biomarker and critical regulator in GBC progression and Warburg effect, suggesting a potential target for GBC treatment.
Early prognostication of neurological outcome by heart rate variability in adult patients with out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest
Authors: Endoh Hiroshi , Kamimura Natuo , Honda Hiroyuki , Nitta Masakazu
Published: October 2019

Background

Most deaths of comatose survivors of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest result from withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) decisions based on poor neurological prognostication and the family’s intention. Thus, accurate prognostication is crucial to avoid premature WLST decisions. However, targeted temperature management (TTM) with sedation or neuromuscular blockade against shivering significantly affects early prognostication. In this study, we investigated whether heart rate variability (HRV) analysis could prognosticate poor neurological outcome in comatose patients undergoing hypothermic TTM.

Methods

Between January 2015 and December 2017, adult patients with out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest, successfully resuscitated in the emergency department and admitted to the intensive care unit of the Niigata University in Japan, were prospectively included. All patients had an initial Glasgow Coma Scale motor score of 1 and received hypothermic TTM (at 34 °C). Twenty HRV-related variables (deceleration capacity; 4 time-, 3 geometric-, and 7 frequency-domain; and 5 complexity variables) were computed based on RR intervals between 0:00 and 8:00 am within 24 h after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Based on Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at 2 weeks after ROSC, patients were divided into good outcome (GOS 1–2) and poor outcome (GOS 3–5) groups.

Results

Seventy-six patients were recruited and allocated to the good (n = 22) or poor (n = 54) outcome groups. Of the 20 HRV-related variables, ln very-low frequency (ln VLF) power, detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) (α1), and multiscale entropy (MSE) index significantly differed between the groups (p = 0.001), with a statistically significant odds ratio (OR) by univariate logistic regression analysis (p = 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the 3 variables identified ln VLF power and DFA (α1) as significant predictors for poor outcome (OR = 0.436, p = 0.006 and OR = 0.709, p = 0.024, respectively). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for ln VLF power and DFA (α1) in predicting poor outcome was 0.84 and 0.82, respectively. In addition, the minimum value of ln VLF power or DFA (α1) for the good outcome group predicted poor outcome with sensitivity = 61% and specificity = 100%.

Conclusions

The present data indicate that HRV analysis could be useful for prognostication for comatose patients during hypothermic TTM.
Dissociation of solid tumor tissues with cold active protease for single-cell RNA-seq minimizes conserved collagenase-associated stress responses
Authors:   The CRUK IMAXT Grand Challenge Team, O’Flanagan Ciara H. , Campbell Kieran R. , Zhang Allen W. , Kabeer Farhia , Lim Jamie L. P. , Biele Justina , Eirew Peter , Lai Daniel , McPherson Andrew , Kong Esther , Bates Cherie , Borkowski Kelly , Wiens Matt , Hewitson Brittany , Hopkins James , Pham Jenifer , Ceglia Nicholas , Moore Richard , Mungall Andrew J. , McAlpine Jessica N. , Shah Sohrab P. , Aparicio Samuel
Published: October 2019

Background

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a powerful tool for studying complex biological systems, such as tumor heterogeneity and tissue microenvironments. However, the sources of technical and biological variation in primary solid tumor tissues and patient-derived mouse xenografts for scRNA-seq are not well understood.

Results

We use low temperature (6 °C) protease and collagenase (37 °C) to identify the transcriptional signatures associated with tissue dissociation across a diverse scRNA-seq dataset comprising 155,165 cells from patient cancer tissues, patient-derived breast cancer xenografts, and cancer cell lines. We observe substantial variation in standard quality control metrics of cell viability across conditions and tissues. From the contrast between tissue protease dissociation at 37 °C or 6 °C, we observe that collagenase digestion results in a stress response. We derive a core gene set of 512 heat shock and stress response genes, including FOS and JUN, induced by collagenase (37 °C), which are minimized by dissociation with a cold active protease (6 °C). While induction of these genes was highly conserved across all cell types, cell type-specific responses to collagenase digestion were observed in patient tissues.

Conclusions

The method and conditions of tumor dissociation influence cell yield and transcriptome state and are both tissue- and cell-type dependent. Interpretation of stress pathway expression differences in cancer single-cell studies, including components of surface immune recognition such as MHC class I, may be especially confounded. We define a core set of 512 genes that can assist with the identification of such effects in dissociated scRNA-seq experiments.
Successful Integration of Data Science in Undergraduate Biostatistics Courses Using Cognitive Load Theory
Authors: Guzman Laura Melissa , Pennell Matthew W. , Nikelski Ellen , Srivastava Diane S.
Published: October 2019

Biostatistics courses are integral to many undergraduate biology programs. Such courses have often been taught using point-and-click software, but these programs are now seldom used by researchers or professional biologists. Instead, biology professionals typically use programming languages, such as R, which are better suited to analyzing complex data sets. However, teaching biostatistics and programming simultaneously has the potential to overload the students and hinder their learning. We sought to mitigate this overload by using cognitive load theory (CLT) to develop assignments for two biostatistics courses. We evaluated the effectiveness of these assignments by comparing student cohorts who were taught R using these assignments ( n = 146) with those who were taught R through example scripts or were instructed on a point-and-click software program (control, n = 181). We surveyed all cohorts and analyzed statistical and programming ability through students’ lab reports or final exams. Students who learned R through our assignments rated their programming ability higher and were more likely to put the usage of R as a skill in their curricula vitae. We also found that the treatment students were more motivated, less frustrated, and less stressed when using R. These results suggest that we can use CLT to teach challenging material.
Local and global fluid-flow effects on dipole flexural waves
Authors: Dahl Elliot J. H. , Spikes Kyle T.
Published: October 2019

Wave-induced fluid flow (WIFF) can significantly alter the effective formation velocities and cause increasing waveform dispersion and attenuation. We have used modified frame moduli from the theory of Chapman together with the classic Biot theory to improve the understanding of local- and global-flow effects on dipole flexural wave modes in boreholes. We investigate slow and fast formations with and without compliant pores, which induce local flow. The discrete wavenumber summation method generates the waveforms, which are then processed with the weighted spectral semblance method to compare with the solution of the period equation. We find compliant pores to decrease the resulting effective formation P- and S-wave velocities, that in turn decrease the low-frequency velocity limit of the flexural wave. Furthermore, depending on the frequency at which the local-flow dispersion occurs, different S-wave velocity predictions from the flexural wave become possible. This issue is investigated through changing the local-flow critical frequency. Sensitivity analyses of the flexural-wave phase velocity to small changes in WIFF parameters indicate the modeling to be mostly sensitive to compliant pores in slow and fast formations.
Pretreatment Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated With Impaired Progression-Free and Overall Survival in Hodgkin Lymphoma
Authors: Borchmann Sven , Cirillo Melita , Goergen Helen , Meder Lydia , Sasse Stephanie , Kreissl Stefanie , Bröckelmann Paul Jan , von Tresckow Bastian , Fuchs Michael , Ullrich Roland Tillmann , Engert Andreas
Published: October 2019

PURPOSE

Vitamin D deficiency is described as a modifiable risk factor for the incidence of and mortality in many common cancers; however, data in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are lacking.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We thus performed a study measuring pretreatment vitamin D levels in prospectively treated patients with HL and correlated this with clinical outcomes. A total of 351 patients from the German Hodgkin Study Group clinical trials (HD7, HD8, and HD9) were included.

RESULTS

Fifty percent of patients were vitamin D deficient (< 30 nmol/L) before planned chemotherapy. Pretreatment vitamin D deficiency was more common in relapsed/refractory patients than matched relapse-free controls (median baseline vitamin D, 21.4 nmol/L v 35.5 nmol/L; proportion with vitamin D deficiency, 68% v 41%; P < .001). Vitamin D–deficient patients had impaired progression-free survival (10-year difference, 17.6%; 95% CI, 6.9% to 28.4%; hazard ratio, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.84 to 2.48; P < .001) and overall survival (10-year difference, 11.1%; 95% CI, 2.1% to 20.2%; hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.53 to 2.15; P < .001), consistent across trials and treatment groups. We demonstrated that vitamin D status is an independent predictor of outcome and hypothesized that vitamin D status might be important for the chemosensitivity of HL. We subsequently performed experiments supplementing physiologic doses of vitamin D (calcitriol) to cultured HL cell lines and demonstrated increased antiproliferative effects in combination with chemotherapy. In an HL-xenograft animal model, we showed that supplemental vitamin D (dietary supplement, cholecalciferol) improves the chemosensitivity of tumors by reducing the rate of tumor growth compared with vitamin D or chemotherapy alone.

CONCLUSION

On the basis of our clinical and preclinical findings, we encourage that vitamin D screening and replacement be incorporated into future randomized clinical trials to properly clarify the role of vitamin D replacement therapy in HL.
Painting Prophecy
Authors: Cohen-Aponte Ananda , Diaz Ella Maria
Published: October 2019

This article examines the work of the Chicana artist Sandy Rodriguez, who created the Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón, an ongoing project begun in 2017 that consists of botanical illustrations and large-scale maps of California and northern Mexico. Rodriguez’s Codex draws on pre-Hispanic, colonial, and Chicana/o/x antecedents, most notably the Florentine Codex (sixteenth century) and the Chicana/o/x codices of the early 1990s, produced in the context of the quincentenary of Columbus’s voyage. This article posits Rodriguez’s Codex as a polyphonic text that exceeds both the linguistic of the literary and the visual of the artistic, drawing on a multiplicity of sources, both historical and contemporary, visual and textual, oral and aural, in her mapping of California’s land and history. The Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón collapses precolonial, colonial, and contemporary histories to underscore continuities between the ruptures of conquest and our dangerous geopolitical moment.
Trauma and the African Animist Imaginary in Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love and Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s Moses, Citizen, and Me
Authors: Topper Ryan
Published: October 2019

This essay intervenes in debates surrounding trauma theory and postcolonial studies, tracing how forms of African animism can lead to a decolonized discourse of trauma. Taking the postcolonial critique of trauma theory’s Eurocentrism as a point of departure, the essay focuses on two contemporary novels of the African diaspora: Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love and Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s Moses, Citizen, and Me. Narrating local forms of survival in post–civil war Sierra Leone, these novels use animist modes of consciousness to theorize the collective trauma of, and envision political futures for, Sierra Leone. Forna’s writing is emblematic of realism, while Jarrett-Macauley’s is an example of animist realism. Both novels are united, however, by an animism at the level of narrative process, drawing on the spirit world and possession rituals to counter therapeutic and humanitarian ideologies.
Refusing Historical Amnesia
Authors: Stamant Nicole
Published: October 2019

Performing what Michele Elam calls “a refusal of historical amnesia,” Danzy Senna and Emily Raboteau expose how social justice and hospitality are constructed in and around what Pierre Nora calls lieux de mémoire. Engaging particular sites of memory in the American South—places with national and personal significance—Raboteau and Senna negotiate and interrogate the interstitial spaces of racial ambiguity, liminality, and invisibility as they uncover different modes of commemoration and fend off historical forgetting. Writing about their experiences as biracial African Americans, Raboteau and Senna show readers how memorialization of black southern experience connects with communal or inherited familial memories. Their considerations of memory, and the attendant concerns about subjectivity and forgetting, demonstrate the central place of testimony to mnemonic restitution. In so doing, they also expose new ways to engage trauma: through the affect of what Lauren Berlant describes as “crisis ordinariness.”
The dive performance of immature king penguins following their annual molt suggests physiological constraints
Authors: Enstipp Manfred R. , Bost Charles-André , Le Bohec Céline , Bost Caroline , Laesser Robin , Le Maho Yvon , Weimerskirch Henri , Handrich Yves
Published: October 2019

Like all birds, penguins undergo periodic molt, during which they replace old feathers. However, unlike other birds, penguins replace their entire plumage within a short period while fasting ashore. During molt, king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) lose half of their initial body mass, most importantly their insulating subcutaneous fat and half of their pectoral muscle mass. The latter might challenge their capacity to generate and sustain a sufficient mechanical power output to swim to distant food sources and propel themselves to great depth for successful prey capture. To investigate the effects of the annual molt fast on their dive/foraging performance, we studied various dive/foraging parameters and peripheral temperature patterns in immature king penguins across two molt cycles, after birds had spent their first and second year at sea, using implanted data-loggers. We found that the dive/foraging performance of immature king penguins was significantly reduced during post-molt foraging trips. Dive and bottom duration for a given depth were shorter during post-molt and post-dive surface interval duration was longer, reducing overall dive efficiency and underwater foraging time. We attribute this decline to the severe physiological changes that birds undergo during their annual molt. Peripheral temperature patterns differed greatly between pre- and post-molt trips, indicating the loss of the insulating subcutaneous fat layer during molt. Peripheral perfusion, as inferred from peripheral temperature, was restricted to short periods at night during pre-molt but occurred throughout extended periods during post-molt, reflecting the need to rapidly deposit an insulating fat layer during the latter period.
Huffin’ and puffin: seabirds use large bills to dissipate heat from energetically demanding flight
Authors: Schraft Hannes A. , Whelan Shannon , Elliott Kyle H.
Published: October 2019

Endothermic animals regulate body temperature by balancing metabolic heat production and heat exchange with the environment. Heat dissipation is especially important during and immediately after demanding activities such as flapping flight, the most energetically expensive mode of locomotion. As uninsulated appendages, bird bills present a potential avenue for efficient heat dissipation. Puffins possess large bills and are members of the bird family with the highest known flight cost. Here, we used infrared thermography to test whether wild tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) use their bills to dissipate excess heat after energetically-expensive flight. Both bill surface temperature and the proportion of total heat exchange occurring at the bill decreased with time since landing, suggesting that bills are used to dissipate excess metabolic heat. We propose that bill size in puffins may be shaped by opposing selective pressures that include dissipating heat after flight and conserving heat in cold air and water temperatures.
An Automatic Detection of Hemorrhages in Retinal Fundus Images by Motion Pattern Generation
Authors: Murugan R
Published: October 2019

Programmed retinal picture investigation is a significant screening device for simple identification of eye infections like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma. Hemorrhage (HE) identification is one of the significant strides in programmed extraction in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) ailment. The manual strategy evaluated by clinicians is a tedious and asset concentrated procedure. Programmed retinal picture examination gives a prompt recognition and portrayal of retinal highlights preceding a pro investigation. Current HE detection techniques suffer from impractically-high computation time. In this research work, presented a technique to automatically detect HE. This paper proposes an efficient motion pattern generation algorithm to detect HE. The novelty of this method is to reduce the dimensional space based on image resolutions thus, enhances to speedup of the HE detection. The proposed strategy was executed in MATLAB and assessed both ordinary and unusual retinal pictures utilizing openly accessible MESSIDOR dataset. The proposed strategy accomplished better execution estimates when contrast with other cutting edge strategies. This automated method helps ophthalmologists in the screening process of DR.
Evaluation of Vigilance Promoting Drugs Modafinil and Caffeine on Cognition Enhancing Activities in Wistar Albino Rats-A Comparative Study
Authors: Vittalrao Amberkar Mohanbabu , Chakraborti Abhishek , Kumari K Meena , Banawalikar Nandit , Kumar N Kiran
Published: October 2019

Learning process can’t be made simple unless one is wakeful/attentive/aware of present situations. Worldwide, it is known fact that behavioral modulating actions of Caffeine is used in many common beverages, likewise modafinil appears to promote a possible facilitatory effect on cognitive function perhaps that is the primary reason why is it is been used in narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, shiftwork and Jet lag syndrome. The rationale for conducting this animal experiment was to exploit/evaluate the vigilance promoting pharmacological actions of modafinil and compare with caffeine and rivastigmine. It promising agent for various indications like cognitive dysfunctional disorders, chronic alcoholism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. Two drugs modafinil 75mg/kg and caffeine 10mg/kg were used as test drugs and rivastigmine 5mg/kg as standard cognition enhancing and scopolamine 0.5mg/kg to induce amnesia in Wistar albino rats. Three different experimental models were used to screen the memory enhancing activities. The ability of the rats to retain chronic and working memory were screened by standard experiments like T-Maze and passive avoidance respectively. Morris water and T-Maze were used to test navigation and spatial task memory enhancing activities respectively. Total 72 rats were used in the study, 4 groups in each model, and 6 rats in each group. The obtained data were denoted as mean values and statistically analyzed by One-way ANOVA using SPSS 20.0 software. Both the test drugs and rivastigmine treated rats exhibited significant anti- amnesic activities among all three models compared to control (P<0.05). In passive avoidance, rivastigmine ranked maximum in memory retention abilities (17.83), whereas in modafinil treated rats showed similar results however; the rank of increased latency time (15.33 s) was not comparable with caffeine (13.17 s). In T-maze, the no. of mean correct spontaneous and rewarded alternations exhibited by caffeine and modafinil treated rats were 16.50±0.50 and 15.83±0.60 respectively and were comparable to the rivastigmine treated rats. In Morris water maze test, all three drugs caffeine, modafinil and rivastigmine treated group showed significant difference compared to the control. However, caffeine treated rats exhibited statistically significant (P<0.01) least escape latency time at probe trial compared to other groups and rats treated with modafinil showed maximum time in the probe quadrant by 27.37 s. The total amount of time spent in the probe quadrant and escape latency in caffeine and modafinil treated rats were comparable to rivastigmine treated rats.
A Novel Approach for Non-Contact Heart Rate Measurement
Authors: Christ M.C. Jobin , Dhulakshika S. Dhulakshika , Divya R. , Kousalya R. , Aparna R.
Published: October 2019

This paper provides an insight into the non-contact vital parameter measurements, especially the heart rate of a person from a short distance. The increasing demand to new developments in healthcare technologies poses inevitability to the thought of easing the patient monitoring in a non-invasive and unobtrusive manner. Patients, who are in need of regular checkups, find the existing modes of electrode-based and probe-based monitoring, a discomfort. To make the monitoring environment comfortable for the patients and to take the results in a continuous and rapid manner, the non-contact heart rate measurement comes as a boon to the healthcare sector. This paper deals with miniaturized radar-based non-contact heart rate measurement using hand gestures in a precise manner. Though there were lots of methods proposed for contactless measurements, this approach comes with better accuracy and ease of handling.
Non Concurrent Multimodal Stress Decreases Sperm Quality and Motor Activity in Male Wister Albino Rats
Authors: Kumar Jyothi Ashok , Balaji Thotakura , Priyadarshini C. Swathi , Subramanian Manickam , Sundaramurthi Indumathi
Published: October 2019

Every human being is exposed to the stress in one or the other form in the day to day life. Most of the existing studies on the impact of stress on the male reproduction were assessed by using single stressor, which may lead habituation to that stressor. The present study intends to estimate the consequence of stress on motor activity, sperm quality and histopathology of the testis in stress-induced male rats using multimodal stress one per day. Four weeks old Wister albino rats were randomly split into 4 groups and induced multimodal stress at different ages of life span. After induction of stress serum corticosterone levels, muscle strength and coordination, quality of sperm and histopathology of testes were estimated. Elevated serum corticosterone levels and body weight, reduced muscle strength, coordination. Sperm concentration and motility was significantly reduced and increased morphologically abnormal sperm in stress induced animals but sperm viability was not altered much. Histopathology of testes in stress received animals showed decreased tubular diameter and increased intertubular space. Multimodal stress caused elevated serum corticosterone and body weight, decreased motor activity, sperm quality and degenerative changes in the testis
Phytochemical Analysis and Biochemical Characterization f Terminalia Chebula Extracts For its Medicinal use
Authors: Vemuri Praveen Kumar , Dronavalli Lohitha , Nayakudugari Poojitha , Kunta Ankitha , Challagulla Rishitha
Published: October 2019

Alternative medicine has become popular these days as it is gaining practices across the globe. Our studies aim to detect phytocompounds and biochemical activities of aqueous, dichloro methane, ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts of Terminalia chebula. Antioxidant, flurorescence and anitmicrobial studies were carried out for the phytocompounds. Methonolic extracts at 517nm exhibited maximum activity with 82% of free radical scavenging property. Methanolic extract also showed highest antimicrobial activity towards S.aureus of 7mm and S.pyogenes of 6mm respectiviely. Hence, it can be concluded that Terminalia chebula may be a promising candidate in pharmaceuticals and future medicine.
A 60-year dysfunctional relationship: How and why curriculum and assessment in fine art in England have always been problematic and still are
Authors: Houghton Nicholas
Published: October 2019

This article gives a brief account of the last 60 years of fine art in English art schools, concentrating on the curriculum and assessment only. Sixty years ago, there were national examinations and teachers taught to the test. The main causes of changes to assessment and curriculum were policy decisions of the 1960s, which abolished national examinations. This was followed a decade later by the need to accommodate post-Duchampian art practice. This new paradigm of fine art placed an emphasis on criticality, information and interdisciplinary practice with a reduced role for self-expression, formalism and traditional skills. The challenge this offered to the curriculum was that there was no longer any core set of skills or knowledge that all students need to learn. This has come up against higher education sector requirements to provide a detailed description of what all students should learn and against which they are assessed. Behind this intractable contradiction lies a clash of two incompatible world-views: the one interpretive within fine art and the other positivist held by those who determine assessment policy. A consequence of the ubiquitous adoption of these assessment regimes and the pressures of marketization is that teaching to the test is once again becoming the norm, albeit without standardized examinations.
Legacy effects of precommercial thinning on the natural regeneration of next rotation balsam fir stands in eastern Canada
Authors: Canuel Claudie-Maude , Thiffault Nelson , Hoepting Michael , Farrell James
Published: October 2019

The Green River precommercial thinning (PCT) trial was established between 1959â1961 in New Brunswick (Canada) within natural balsam fir ( (L.) Mill.)-dominated stands. Three silviculture scenarios differing only by the increasing nominal spacings of PCT treatments (1.2 m, 1.8 m, 2.4 m) were compared to an unthinned control within randomized replicates that were clearcut harvested in 2008 and treated with herbicide in 2011. During the fourth post-harvest growing season, we assessed regeneration, competing vegetation and coarse woody debris (CWD; differentiated between large woody debris and slash) to assess the legacy effects of PCT on regeneration of next rotation stands. Our results confirmed that silviculture scenarios including PCT significantly increased conifer stocking in treated plots compared to control conditions, but only in the 1.8 m nominal spacing. Considering that treated and untreated stands were fully stocked, we conclude that PCT using the spacing gradient tested has no legacy effect on the regeneration of next rotation natural balsam fir stands. Given the known sensitivity of balsam fir to future climate conditions in this region, we suggest that future treatments should promote tree species diversity to support ecosystem resilience to climate change by favouring more warm-adapted species, such as some hardwoods.Abies balsamea
Entre memória e experiência: algumas reflexões teórico-metodológicas sobre narrativas em fontes autobiográficas
Authors: Silveira Éder da Silva , Kahmann Ana Paula , Oliveira Amanda Assis de
Published: October 2019

O presente artigo contempla algumas reflexões produzidas a partir do acúmulo produzido em nosso grupo de pesquisa em torno de um projeto de investigação que buscou compreender algumas práticas de educação desenvolvidas por comunistas brasileiros, em períodos nos quais viveram práticas educativas na ou para a clandestinidade, particularmente entre as décadas de 1950 e 1970. A partir da intersecção entre história da educação e cultura política, apresentamos reflexões de cunho teórico-metodológico sobre as narrativas autobiográficas que constituíram as fontes da investigação em curso. A metodologia é de natureza qualitativa e se pauta na apresentação de algumas notas que possam servir de mote para a reflexão sobre o uso de narrativas e suas interfaces com a experiência e a memória coletiva. As reflexões realizadas defendem que a análise das narrativas presentes nas fontes autobiográficas deve considerar algumas intersecções teórico-metodológicas da perspectiva da pesquisa (auto)biográfica, bem como sobre memória e experiência.
СОЦИАЛЬНЫЙ КАПИТАЛ, МЕЖЛИЧНОСТНОЕ ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ И ПСИХИЧЕСКОЕ ЗДОРОВЬЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ РЕГИОНА
Authors: Смолева Елена
Published: October 2019

В статье представлены результаты исследования влияния социального капитала на состояние психического здоровья населения региона. Социальный капитал рассматривается через показатели межличностного взаимодействия и вхождения в социальные сети. Эмпирическое исследование проводилось с помощью социологического опроса населения Вологодской области с использованием модели многоступенчатой районированной выборки с квотным отбором единиц наблюдения. При помощи факторного анализа выявлено 5 латентных переменных, характеризующих включенность в социальные сети населения региона, выявлены варианты структуры социальных сетей. С помощью кластерного анализа на основе выделенных латентных переменных    жители области разделились на три группы, которые различаются и по субъективным оценкам здоровья. Определено, что межличностное отчуждение в виде малоактивного общения и отсутствие социальной поддержки связано с более частными проявлениями негативных психических состояний в виде тревоги, депрессии, невроза.
O papel do indivíduo na evolução institucional de Veblen
Authors: Moura Ana Carolina , Rohenkohl Júlio Eduardo , Marin Solange Regina
Published: October 2019

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir o papel que o indivíduo ocupa na evolução institucional de Veblen. Para isto, foi desenvolvida uma estrutura analítica com base nos trabalhos de Witt (2014), Potts (2003) e Metcalfe (1998), que apresenta as características fundamentais da Teoria Econômica Evolucionária. Essa estrutura está alicerçada na ontologia evolucionária de Dopfer e Potts (2004; 2008), o Realismo Evolucionário. Da sua aplicação na obra de Veblen constata-se que na evolução institucional o indivíduo possui um múltiplo papel, ora atuando como agente através de seus instintos e hábitos, ora sendo moldado pelo ambiente institucional.
Research Output of Biological Science during 1901 1945 A Scientometric Analysis
Authors: Roy Sanku Bilas
Published: October 2019

A scientometric evaluation of India’s scientific productions in the field of biological science during 1901-1947 has been performed. The growth rate, authorship pattern, collaboration trend, and prolific researchers (male and female) of biological science literature is investigated. From the result it is found that the mean relative growth rate and duplication time is 0.615 and 1.007 respectively for the period 1901-1945. The calculated results follow the spirit of the ‘Price Law’ i.e. the coefficient of determination of the exponential plot is greater than that of the linear plot. About 75 per cent papers are single-authored and the degree of collaboration is 0.249. The Collaborative author index (CAI) for single author shows decreasing trend while for two author and more than two author shows increasing trend. The data set derived from this study follows Lotka’s law of author productivity. The productivity of ten most productive researchers together contributed 15 per cent publication share. It is also found that the productivity of women researchers together contributed 0.62 per cent publication share in biological science research.
Microwave Absorption Performance of Graphene Nanoplatelets Dispersed SiC
Authors: Maurya Anil Kumar , Mr Saurabh , Singh Samarjit , Kumar Abhishek
Published: October 2019

Microwave absorption performance of graphene nanoplatelets based SiC composites have been studied in the present work. Graphene nanoplatelets were dispersed at varying weight fractions viz. 0.5, 1, 2, 2.5 and 3 wt.% in SiC using ultrasonication and ball milling methods. Microwave attenuation behaviour of the prepared composites have been observed in the 2-18 GHz range. The results reflect that dispersion of graphene in SiC proves to be very instrumental in attenuating the incident microwave signals translating into enhanced absorption. The enhancement in the microwave absorption performance is due to the presence of conductive graphene nanoplatelets which is very instrumental in promoting conduction and polarisation losses in the composite translating into enhanced absorption. For 3 wt.% graphene nanoplatelets dispersion in SiC, the value of reflection loss (RL) was obtained as -38.67 dB at 14.67 GHz frequency for 2.2 mm thickness with the corresponding bandwidth of 5 GHz.
Dimensions Selection Criteria of Stair shaped Slot for Obtaining the Wideband Response of CPDRA
Authors: Varshney Gaurav , Gotra Shailza , Singh Rakesh , Pandey V. S. , Yaduvanshi R.S.
Published: October 2019

The analysis of a circularly polarised (CP) dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with the aperture coupled feeding technique is presented in this paper. Until now, the random techniques have been developed for obtaining the CP response in DRA. It is glaringly required to develop a fixed mathematical criterion for the selection of dimensions of the antenna structure. The criterion for selection of the stair-shaped slot dimensions, which is utilised for obtaining the CP response, is defined in this paper. The ranges of slot length ratios are investigated so that a wide CP bandwidth can be obtained. The antenna offers the 10-dB impedance of 58.62% (4.1 GHz - 7.5 GHz) and 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 40.86 per cent (4.26GHz - 6.385 GHz).
Modified Low Rank Approximation for Detection of Weak Target by Noise space Exploitation in Through Wall Imaging
Authors: Bivalkar Mandar K. , Kumar Bambam , Singh Dharmendra
Published: October 2019

Low dielectric materials referred as weak targets are very difficult to detect behind the wall in through wall imaging (TWI) due to strong reflections from wall. TWI Experimental data collected for low dielectric target behind the wall and transceiver on another side of the wall. Recently several researchers are using low-rank approximation (LRA) for reduction of random noise in the various data. Explore the possibilities of using LRA for TWI data for improving the detection of low dielectric material. A novel approach using modification of LRA with exploiting the noise subspace in singular value decomposition (SVD) to detect weak target behind the wall is introduced. LRA consider data has low rank in f-x domain for noisy data, local windows are implemented in LRA approach to satisfy the principle assumptions required by the LRA algorithm itself. Decomposed TWI data in the noise space of the SVD to detect the weak target adaptively. Results for modified LRA for detection of weak target behind the wall are very encouraging over LRA.
Ready for Equity? A Cross-Cultural Organizational Framework to Scale Access to Learning-Ready Classrooms That Support Student Success
Authors: Summers Teggin , Beers Maggie
Published: October 2019

Abstract: There is a national urgency in higher-education to close the achievement gap and increase graduation rates for first generation, low-income and underrepresented minorities, and classroom environments are integral to student learning experience. The authors propose shifting learning space discussions away from building an historically small number of active learning spaces, towards a larger number of what they term “learning-ready classrooms,” which apply universal design principles to support the multiple teaching identities and philosophies of faculty and the physiological, cultural, and cognitive needs of all students. Equitable access to learning-ready classrooms means they must be built at scale, so it is imperative to earn campus-wide commitment to this goal by honoring the multiple perspectives and priorities of members of all six cultures of the academy, as identified by Berquist (1992) and Berquist and Pawlak (2008). This article proposes a cross-cultural organizational framework, embodied in the example of a Classroom Readiness Committee (CRC) charter, that unites and aligns the different organizational perspectives of its members through clearly articulated mission, vision, functions and belief statements. Preliminary findings suggest that institutions can engage and mobilize multiple stakeholders towards the common goal of providing equitable access to learning-ready classrooms as long as the goal aligns with the core values and priorities of the institution, is clearly articulated and communicated, and honors the perspectives of the six cultures of the academy.
La biomasa residual pecuaria como recurso energético en Colombia
Authors: López Martínez Germán , Buriticá Arboleda Clara , Silva Lora Electo
Published: October 2019

La energía eléctrica en Colombia depende, fundamentalmente, de hidroeléctricas (70,0%) y termoeléctricas (29,3%), desaprovechando otras fuentes de energías renovables como la biomasa residual pecuaria, entre otras. El estiércol que se genera en la explotación pecuaria sobrepasa los 81 millones de toneladas anuales, con un potencial energético de más de 71.000 TJ/año; y no se aprovecha actualmente. Sin embargo, genera problemas de contaminación, principalmente por su inadecuada disposición final, debido a la explotación extensiva que se practica actualmente, en especial en los casos de cría de bovinos, búfalos, caballos, ovejas, cabras y una fracción de porcinos. Si se quisiera utilizar el actual potencial energético solo se podría aprovechar una fracción del mismo (14,3%); especialmente el producido por el sector avícola y una fracción de porcinos ya que estos dos sectores cuentan con un porcentaje alto de explotación en granjas tecnificadas lo que facilita la recolecta de este recurso. Se estima que se podrían generar 864 GWh/año, si se aprovecha la biomasa residual generada en granjas tecnificadas, lo que equivale a 1,3%, de la actual demanda nacional de energía eléctrica.
Framework de Gestión de Conocimiento (FGC) en el programa de investigación AIDETC
Authors: Cavanzo Gloria Andrea , Guevara Juan Carlos , Wanumen Luis Felipe
Published: October 2019

En este artículo se presenta la aplicación del Framework de Gestión del Conocimiento (FGC) al Programa de investigación alianza de instituciones para el desarrollo de la educación y la tecnología en Colombia (AIDETC). En la primera parte se da una breve descripción de los conceptos base que soportaron el trabajo, luego se describe el marco de trabajo del programa de investigación, posteriormente se muestran los resultados obtenidos de la aplicación del FGC y, finalmente, se presentan los últimos avances que se han obtenido del diseño y desarrollo del sistema de gestión del conocimiento
Das CO2-Kompensationssystem an der BOKU: Ökologische und sozio-ökonomische Nachhaltigkeitswirkungen
Authors: Schmitz Dominik , Lindenthal Thomas
Published: October 2019

Die Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU) begann 2012 mit dem Aufbau eines eigenen CO2-Kompensationssystems in Verbindung mit BOKU-eigenen Klimaschutzprojekten in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika. Seitdem haben sechs der gestarteten Projekte über 40 000 Tonnen
CO2 reduziert. Finanziert werden sie über CO2-Kompensation von Unternehmen und Privatpersonen, aber auch durch CO2-Kompensation der Flugreisen der BOKU-Wissenschaftler(innen). Die BOKU-Klimaschutzprojekte zielen nicht allein auf CO2-Bindung/CO2-Vermeidung,
sondern auf weitere ökologische und insbesondere auch sozio-ökonomische Nachhaltigkeitswirkungen.
A GH13 glycoside phosphorylase with unknown substrate specificity from Corallococcus coralloides
Authors: Franceus Jorick , Desmet Tom
Published: October 2019

Glycoside phosphorylases in subfamily GH13_18 of the carbohydrate-active enzyme database CAZy catalyse the reversible phosphorolysis of α-glycosidic bonds. They contribute to a more energy-efficient metabolism in vivo, and can be applied for the synthesis of valuable glucosides, sugars or sugar phosphates in vitro. Continuing our efforts to uncover new phosphorylase specificities, we identified an enzyme from the myxobacterium Corallococcus coralloides DSM 2259 that does not feature the signature sequence patterns of previously characterised phosphorylases. The enzyme was recombinantly expressed and subjected to substrate screening. Although it was confirmed that the Corallococcus phosphorylase does not have the same substrate specificity as other phoshorylases from subfamily GH13_18, its true natural substrate remains a mystery for now. Myxobacteria have been widely investigated as producers of numerous bioactive secondary metabolites for decades, but little research has been conducted on myxobacterial proteins. The present study exemplifies the untapped metabolic activities and functional diversity that these fascinating organisms may have left to show.
Post-Quantum Crystography System for Secure Electronic Voting
Authors: Junior Gabriel Arome , Alese Boniface Kayode , Adetunmbi Adebayo Olusola , Adewale Olumide Sunday , Sarumi Oluwafemi Abimbola
Published: October 2019

Security (privacy, confidentiality and integrity) of pre-electoral, electoral and post electoral phases of the electioneering process is fundamental to the success of Electronic Voting (E-Voting) Systems. Crystography, which is the combination of cryptography and steganography could be a fitting ‘tool kit’ for enhancing the security of sensitive election-related information transmitted over public networks, thereby also ensuring free, fair and credible election/voting. Most of the existing secure e-voting systems are based on public key cryptographic schemes like RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), whose security depends on the difficulty of solving Integer Factorization Problem (IFP) and Discrete Logarithm problem (DLP) respectively. However, techniques for solving IFP and DLP problems, improves continually. One of such is the quantum algorithm discovered by Peter Shor in 1994, which can solve both IFP and DLP problems in polynomial time. Consequently, the existence of quantum computers in the range of 1000 bits would spell doom to systems based on those problems. This paper presents the development of a new crystographic system that combines Post Quantum Cryptography with steganography to ensure that the security of e-voting is maintained both in classical computing era as well as post-quantum computing era. Our experiments’ results shows that our proposed system performed better than existing ones.
Ramp secret sharing with cheater identification in presence of rushing cheaters
Authors: Pramanik Jyotirmoy , Adhikari Avishek
Published: October 2019

Secret sharing allows one to share a piece of information among n participants in a way that only qualified subsets of participants can recover the secret whereas others cannot.
Some of these participants involved may, however, want to forge their shares of the secret(s) in order to cheat other participants.
Various cheater identifiable techniques have been devised in order to identify such cheaters in secret sharing schemes.
On the other hand, Ramp secret sharing schemes are a practically efficient variant of usual secret sharing schemes with reduced share size and some loss in security.
Ramp secret sharing schemes have many applications in secure information storage, information-theoretic private information retrieval and secret image sharing due to producing relatively smaller shares.
However, to the best of our knowledge, there does not exist any cheater identifiable ramp secret sharing scheme.
In this paper we define the security model for cheater identifiable ramp secret sharing schemes and provide two constructions for cheater identifiable ramp secret sharing schemes.
In addition, the second construction is secure against rushing cheaters who are allowed to submit their shares during secret reconstruction after observing other participants’ responses in one round.
Also, we do not make any computational assumptions for the cheaters, i.e., cheaters may be equipped with unlimited time and resources, yet, the cheating probability would be bounded above by a very small positive number.
Water Oxidation Catalysts from Waste Metal Resources: A Facile Metal-Organic Electrochemical Approach
Authors: Lublow Michael , Schedel-Niedrig Thomas
Published: October 2019

A fabrication route is presented by a novel metal-organic electrochemical approach, allowing facile preparation of electrocatalytic metal and metal oxide thin films from solid metals at room temperature: divalent transition metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt can be deposited as amorphous oxyhydroxide films. Among them, nickel- and cobalt-prepared samples are showing high activity as water oxidation catalysts in alkaline electrolytes. The applicability to waste metal material is exemplified using one of the most abundant waste metal alloys, i.e. steel: with a suitable multi-layer architecture, comprising, a large surface-area iron oxyhydroxide core-geometry and a steel-derived catalytic overlayer, the overpotential for oxygen evolution (at 10 mA cm−2) could be improved to only 370 mV. Chemical analysis is provided to elucidate the reaction pathway, encompassing metal halogenation, formation of meta-stable metal-organic intermediates or direct electrochemical reduction, respectively. Structural peculiarities of the derived films are finally demonstrated upon development of a photoactive nickel oxyhydroxide/silicon junction realizing a photocurrent of 1 mA cm−2 at the thermodynamic potential for oxygen evolution and short-term stabilization in the range of several hours.