bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nano-Iron Oxide Supported on the Printed Electrode for Voltammetric Determination of Manidipine on a Very Small Sample in Different Media: Analytical and Clinical Purposes
Authors: Hendawy Hassan A. M. , Amin Ala S. , Moalla S. M. N. , Aish Mai
Published: November 2021

In this work, a sensitive and selective voltammetric determination for Manidipine in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids have been studied based on the enhanced electrochemical response at surface nano-iron oxide modified screen-printed electrode, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to confirm the morphology, structure of the as-prepared nanospheres electrochemical characterizations different modified electrodes. The modified nano iron oxide modified printed electrode (FSPE) exhibits voltammetric with high sensitivity, stability, and its applicability over a wide range for the determination of MAN in 0.04 M universal buffer (pH = 4.00 ± 0.01), SWV method shows linearity over the concentration range 60–925 nM. LOD and LOQ are 8.5nM and 28.4 nM respectively. The statistical validation comparison with the reported technique was also performed for the determination of MAN in authentic and pharmaceutical formulations. Moreover, the modified nano-screen printing sensor showed fine selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, and it was successfully used for the simultaneous determination of MAN in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid in dentate urine samples with appropriate results.
Investigation of the Impact of Radiative Shielding by Internal Partitions Walls on Propagation of Thermal Runaway in a Matrix of Cylindrical Li-Ion Cells
Authors: Mishra Dhananjay , Shah Krishna , Jain Ankur
Published: November 2021

Understanding the nature of onset and propagation of thermal runaway in a Li-ion battery pack is critical for ensuring safety and reliability. This paper presents thermal runaway simulations to understand the impact of radiative heat transfer on thermal runaway onset and propagation in a pack of cylindrical Li-ion cells during transportation/storage. It is shown that radiative properties of the internal partition walls between cells commonly found in battery packs for transportation/storage play a key role in determining whether thermal runaway propagation occurs or not. Surface emissivity of the internal partitions is shown to drive a key balance between radiative heat absorbed from the trigger cell and emitted to neighboring cells. It is shown that a high thermal conductivity partition may greatly help dissipate the radiatively absorbed heat, and therefore prevent onset and propagation. Therefore, choosing an appropriate emissivity of the internal partitions may offer an effective thermal management mechanism to minimize thermal runaway. Emissivity of the cells is also shown to play a key role in radiative heat transfer within the battery pack. This work contributes towards the fundamental understanding of heat transfer during thermal runaway in a battery pack, and offers practical design guidelines for improved safety and reliability.
A Highly Active Bifunctional Catalyst of Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT for Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries
Authors: Wang Keliang , Liu Xiaotian , Zuo Yayu , Wei Manhui , Xiao Yu , Zhang Pengfei , Xiong Jianyin , Pei Pucheng
Published: November 2021

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries are promising candidates for energy storage due to their high energy density, environmentally friendliness, and low cost. However, such batteries are limited by the high cost and sluggish kinetics of noble metal catalysts. Here, we present a highly active bifunctional catalyst of Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT, where the catalyst is synthesized by Mn, Co, and Fe oxides doped with N and S on porous carbon nanotubes. Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT has higher electrocatalytic activity than the commercial catalysts of Pt/C and RuO2, demonstrating that the half-wave potential of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT is 0.807 V (0.9 V with Pt/C), the initial potential is 0.85 V (0.789 V with Pt/C), the limiting current is 5.66 mA cm−2 at 0.2 V (5.69 mA cm−2 with Pt/C), and oxygen evolution reaction overpotential of Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT is 0.386 V at 10 mA cm−2 (0.371 V with RuO2). Moreover, a rechargeable zinc-air battery using Mn–Co–Fe–N/S@CNT outputs a discharging voltage of 1.2 V and a stable cycle life of over 150 h at 10 mA cm−2.
A Method for Estimating State of Charge of Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Gong Qingrui , Wang Ping , Cheng Ze , Zhang Ji’ang
Published: November 2021

State of charge (SOC) estimation of lithium-ion batteries is a problem of time series. In deep learning methods, both convolutional neural network (CNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) can be used to solve such problems. In this paper, based on deep learning, a hybrid neural network model is proposed to estimate the SOC of lithium-ion batteries by taking the sequence of sampling points of voltage, current and temperature as input. The model is mainly composed of three modules, namely, convolutional module, ultra-lightweight subspace attention mechanism (ULSAM) module and the gated recurrent unit (GRU) module. Convolutional module and ULSAM module are responsible for extracting the feature information from the sequence of sampling points and outputting feature maps. GRU module is responsible for processing the sequences of the feature maps and outputting the value of SOC. The proposed model is tested on the public NASA Randomized Battery Usage dataset and Oxford Battery Degradation dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed model can obtain a relatively accurate SOC estimation at unknown aging state and complex operating conditions.
Abnormality in the Morphogenesis of Tooth Development and Relationship with Orthodontic Deformities and Treatment Approaches
Authors: Yordanova-Kostova Greta Roussanova , Grancharov Mario Vaskov , Gurgurova Gergana Diyanova
Published: November 2021

In the process of odontogenesis, a disturbance in the formation of the epithelium and mesenchyme can be observed and this can be manifested by atypical forms of dental development. Such biological phenomena with altered morphology are as follows: dens invaginatus (DI), dens evaginatus (DE), talon cusps, and double teeth (DT) or connate teeth (fusion and gemination). Patients with orthodontic anomalies who also exhibit teeth with morphogenetic disorders are presented in this article. Dens evaginatus and talon cusps pose orthodontic challenges in the treatment finishing phase. These reduce the possibility of achieving maximum intercuspidation between the lower and upper front teeth as well as poor incisor guidance. Other orthodontic challenges are as follows: the risk of occlusal trauma and periodontal loading of the antagonists and the possibility of accessory cusps to play the role of the inclined plane and lead to deviations in the closure of the lower jaw. The fused teeth can cause aesthetic and occlusal disturbances in the anterior segment. Furthermore, double teeth can lead to ectopic eruption or noneruption of adjacent teeth due to their increased crown size as is the case with one of the presented patients. This is because a double tooth occupies more space in the dental arch. If not diagnosed early, impaction of the adjacent tooth, violation of the occlusal ratios (Bolton/anterior), and exacerbation of the orthodontic deformity can be observed. The modern CBCT imaging is the best diagnostic method for identifying problems related to tooth positions or tooth germs.
Trilobatin Alleviates Cognitive Deficits and Pathologies in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model
Authors: Ding Jiuyang , Huang Jian , Yin Dan , Liu Ting , Ren Zheng , Hu Shanshan , Ye Yuanliang , Le Cuiyun , Zhao Na , Zhou Hongmei , Li Zhu , Qi Xiaolan , Huang Jiang
Published: November 2021

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease nowadays that causes memory impairments. It is characterized by extracellular aggregates of amyloid‐beta (Aβ), intracellular aggregates of hyperphosphorylated Tau (p‐Tau), and other pathological features. Trilobatin (TLB), a natural flavonoid compound isolated from Lithocarpuspolystachyus Rehd., has emerged as a neuroprotective agent. However, the effects and mechanisms of TLB on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remain unclear. In this research, different doses of TLB were orally introduced to 3×FAD AD model mice. The pathology, memory performance, and Toll‐like receptor 4‐ (TLR4‐) dependent inflammatory pathway protein level were assessed. Here, we show that TLB oral treatment protected 3×FAD AD model mice against the Aβ burden, neuroinflammation, Tau hyperphosphorylation, synaptic degeneration, hippocampal neuronal loss, and memory impairment. The TLR4, a pattern recognition immune receptor, has been implicated in neurodegenerative disease‐related neuroinflammation. We found that TLB suppressed glial activation by inhibiting the TLR4‐MYD88‐NFκB pathway, which leads to the inflammatory factor TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6 reduction. Our study shows that TLR4 might be a key target of TLB in AD treatment and suggests a multifaceted target of TLB in halting AD. Taken together, our findings suggest a potential therapeutic effect of TLB in AD treatment.
Downregulation of the Proton‐Activated Cl‐ Channel TMEM206 Inhibits Malignant Properties of Human Osteosarcoma Cells
Authors: Peng Fei , Li Haohuan , Li Jianping , Wang Zhe
Published: November 2021

Transmembrane protein 206 (TMEM206), a proton‐activated chloride channel, has been implicated in various biochemical processes, including bone metabolism, and has emerged as a novel cancer‐related protein in multiple tumor types. However, its role in primary malignant bone tumors, particularly in osteosarcoma (OS), remains unclear. This study is aimed at exploring the effects of TMEM206 gene silencing on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of human OS cells in vitro and in vivo using an shRNA‐knockdown strategy. We found that TMEM206 is frequently overexpressed and that high levels of TMEM206 correlated with clinical stage and pulmonary metastasis in patients with OS. We provided evidence that TMEM206‐silenced OS cancer cells exhibit decreased proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Mechanistically, we identified β‐catenin, a key member of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling, as a downstream effector of TMEM206. TMEM206 silencing inhibits the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway in expression rescue experiments, confirming that TMEM206 silencing attenuates OS cell tumorigenic behavior, at least in part, via the β‐catenin mediated downregulation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. More importantly, TMEM206 knockdown‐related phenotype changes were replicated in a xenograft nude mouse model where pulmonary metastases of OS cells were suppressed. Together, our results demonstrate that silencing TMEM206 negatively modulates the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway via β‐catenin to suppress proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis in OS carcinogenesis, suggesting TMEM206 as a potential oncogenic biomarker and a potential target for OS treatment.
Application of HMC-SS Method in Pipeline Reliability Analysis and Residual Life Assessment
Authors: Lin Xin , Shao Guojian
Published: November 2021

In this paper, the reliability analysis and residual life assessment model of gas pipelines with multiple corrosion pits are established. Aiming at the simulation evaluation of small failure probability of gas pipelines, a new method for reliability analysis and residual life assessment of gas pipelines with multiple internal corrosion pits is proposed, which is called the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo subset simulation (HMC-SS) method. Compared with the traditional MCS (Monte Carlo simulation) algorithm, the HMC-SS method has the advantages of less sampling, low cost, and high accuracy. And compared with the random walk SS method, the HMC-SS method can analyze the state space more efficiently and achieve faster convergence. In this paper, the HMC-SS method is applied to the reliability analysis and residual life assessment of gas pipeline engineering, and the sensitivity analysis of the random parameters affecting the failure probability of the pipeline is carried out. The results show that the corrosion rate, the depth of corrosion defects, and the wall thickness of the pipeline have great influence on the residual life of the pipeline, while the yield strength, working pressure, and the length of corrosion pits have no obvious influence on the failure probability and residual life of the pipeline. The analysis shows that the proposed HMC-SS method can be used as a reasonable tool for failure assessment of natural gas pipelines affected by corrosion to determine the remaining life of the pipeline system. This method provides a reliable theoretical basis for the integrity management of the gas pipeline.
Credit Rating Model of Small Enterprises Based on Optimal Discriminant Ability and Its Empirical Study
Authors: Li Zhanjiang , Guo Lin
Published: November 2021

As an important part of the national economy, small enterprises are now facing the problem of financing difficulties, so a scientific and reasonable credit rating method for small enterprises is very important. This paper proposes a credit rating model of small enterprises based on optimal discriminant ability; the credit score gap of small enterprises within the same credit rating is the smallest, and the credit score gap of small enterprises between different credit ratings is the largest, which is the dividing principle of credit rating of small enterprises based on the optimal discriminant ability. Based on this principle, a nonlinear optimization model for credit rating division of small enterprises is built, and the approximate solution of the model is solved by a recursive algorithm with strong reproducibility and clear structure. The small enterprise credit rating division not only satisfies the principle that the higher the credit grade, the lower the default loss rate, but also satisfies the principle that the credit group of small enterprises matches the credit grade, with credit data of 3111 small enterprises from a commercial bank for empirical analysis. The innovation of this study is the maximum ratio of the sum of the dispersions of credit scores between different credit ratings and the sum of the dispersions of credit scores within the same credit rating as the objective function, as well as the default loss rate of the next credit grade strictly larger than the default loss rate of the previous credit grade as the inequality constraint; a nonlinear credit rating optimal partition model is constructed. It ensures that the small enterprises with small credit score gap are of the same credit grade, while the small enterprises with large credit score gap are of different credit grades, overcoming the disadvantages of the existing research that only considers the small enterprises with large credit score gap and ignores the small enterprises with small credit score gap. The empirical results show that the credit rating of small enterprises in this study not only matches the reasonable default loss rate but also matches the credit status of small enterprises. The test and comparative analysis with the existing research based on customer number distribution, K‐means clustering, and default pyramid division show that the credit rating model in this study is reasonable and the distribution of credit score interval is more stable.
Solution of Fractional Partial Differential Equations Using Fractional Power Series Method
Authors: Ali Asif Iqbal , Kalim Muhammad , Khan Adnan
Published: November 2021

In this paper, we are presenting our work where the noninteger order partial differential equation is studied analytically and numerically using the noninteger power series technique, proposed to solve a noninteger differential equation. We are familiar with a coupled system of the nonlinear partial differential equation (NLPDE). Noninteger derivatives are considered in the Caputo operator. The fractional-order power series technique for finding the nonlinear fractional-order partial differential equation is found to be relatively simple in implementation with an application of the direct power series method. We obtained the solution of nonlinear dispersive equations which are used in electromagnetic and optics signal transformation. The proposed approach of using the noninteger power series technique appears to have a good chance of lowering the computational cost of solving such problems significantly. How to paradigm an initial representation plays an important role in the subsequent process, and a few examples are provided to clarify the initial solution collection.
Characterization of Volatile Component Changes in Peas under Different Treatments by GC-IMS and GC-MS
Authors: Zhang Kangyi , Zhang Can , Zhuang Haining , Liu Yue , Feng Tao , Nie Bin
Published: November 2021

Volatile profiles of peas under 9 kinds of different treatments including native, washing, blanching, precooling, freezing, steaming, boiling, frying, and freeze-drying were characterized by GC-IMS and GC-MS. The differences of volatile compounds in different peas were observed from the characteristic fingerprints by GC-IMS. The Venn diagram found that the common flavor substances codetected by GC-IMS and GC-MS were n-hexanal, nonanal, 1-octene-3-ol, benzaldehyde, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, trans-2-octenal, and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine, which were speculated to be the key flavor substances of peas. The cluster analysis of the heat map conducted towards the differences of volatile components in peas under different treatments; the results indicated that peas could be mainly divided into four groups, which was consistent with the above conclusion of GC-IMS. Eight sensory descriptors were used to evaluate the aroma notes: sweet flowers, fat fragrance, waxy aldehydes, mushroom hay, roasted potato with nuts, vegetable-like bean, spicy dry tar, and bitter almond from the sensory analysis, and the sensory analysis also showed good agreement with the results of GC-IMS and GC-MS. The results indicated that the volatile compounds of peas under different treatments could be visualized and identified quickly via GC-IMS, and the samples could be clearly classified based on the difference of volatile compounds. Practical Application. In the study, fingerprints coupled with cluster analysis were a visualized method for the identification of volatile compounds. Meanwhile, a new method, the Venn diagram with OAV, was used to identify the key-aroma of products. Finally, a rapid method is established to classify products by GC-IMS. In future practical applications, GC-IMS can be used to classify products from different origins and different manufacturers. Similarly, it can identify fake and inferior products and whether the products have deteriorated. In addition, this research will provide a new strategy to find the relationship between flavor compounds and various processed technology towards different cereals.
A Discourse Coherence Analysis Method Combining Sentence Embedding and Dimension Grid
Authors: Jiang Lanlan , Yuan Shengjun , Li Jun
Published: November 2021

Discourse coherence is strongly associated with text quality, making it important to natural language generation and understanding. However, existing coherence models focus on measuring individual aspects of coherence, such as lexical overlap, entity centralization, rhetorical structure, etc., lacking measurement of the semantics of text. In this paper, we propose a discourse coherence analysis method combining sentence embedding and the dimension grid, we obtain sentence‐level vector representation by deep learning, and we introduce a coherence model that captures the fine‐grained semantic transitions in text. Our work is based on the hypothesis that each dimension in the embedding vector is exactly assigned a stated certainty and specific semantic. We take every dimension as an equal grid and compute its transition probabilities. The document feature vector is also enriched to model the coherence. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves excellent performance on two coherence‐related tasks.
Prevalence of Hypertension and Adherence to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet Score in Childbearing Age Tunisian Women: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Authors: El Ati Jalila , Doggui Radhouene , Ben Gharbia Houda , El Ati-Hellal Myriam
Published: November 2021

Background and Aims. The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of hypertension, along with their sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle associations, were evaluated in a cross‐sectional survey of childbearing age Tunisian women. Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score was also assessed for hypertensive versus nonhypertensive women. Methods and Results. A total of 1689 nonpregnant women, aged 20‐49 years, were randomly sampled a regional (Greater Tunis), two‐stage, stratified, cross‐sectional cluster survey from March 2009 to January 2010. Data on medical history and sociodemographic characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. The average daily intake of energy and nutrients was computed using a specific Tunisian food composition database. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score (0 to 10) was assessed by adding the individual scores (0 to 1) of ten nutrient components according to dietary guidelines. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 21.4%. Age, obesity, abdominal fat, parity, and family history were significantly associated with hypertension. The mean Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension accordance score was 4.93 for hypertensive women and 4.86 for nonhypertensive women (P = 0.0556). After adjustment for age, energy intake, and all nutritional covariates, no associations were observed between hypertension and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet components. Conclusion. Though no clear‐cut associations between hypertension and environmental or behavioral factors were identified in the study, the association with abdominal obesity and multiparity suggests that interventions aimed at lifestyle modifications to reduce these risk factors could be also useful in the prevention of hypertension.
Identification of RNA‐Binding Proteins with Prognostic Prediction in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Bai Xiao-fen , Liu Jing-wen
Published: November 2021

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies of the digestive system. Recent studies have revealed the importance of RNA‐binding proteins (RBPs) in tumorigenesis, but their role in CRC remains unclear. The present study systematically analyzed the relationships between RBPs and CRC using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. We detected 483 differentially expressed RBPs and identified a series of pathways and processes using GO (Gene Ontology) analysis and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis. Analyzing protein–protein interactions and modules identified the edges and modules of RBPs. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were then used to construct a prognostic model that included 13 RBPs. Survival analyses indicated that the overall survival (OS) was significantly lower for CRC patients in the high‐risk group than for those in the low‐risk group, and that high risk scores were associated with poor OS. Finally, we constructed a nomogram that included 13 RBPs for calculating the estimated survival probabilities of CRC patients at 1, 2, and 3 years. Calibration plots indicated good conformity between the predicted and observed outcomes. This study has revealed that the expression of RBPs differs between CRC and normal tissues. A prognostic model based on 13 RBP coding genes has been developed that can provide independent prognoses of CRC.
Modeling Community Evolution Characteristics of Dynamic Networks with Evolutionary Bayesian Nonnegative Matrix Factorization
Authors: Yu Wei , Li Xiaoming , Wu Huaming , Chen Xue , Tang Minghu , Yu Yang , Wang Wenjun
Published: November 2021

In most cases, the block structures and evolution characteristics always coexist in dynamic networks. This leads to inaccurate results of temporal community structure analysis with a two‐step strategy. Fortunately, a few approaches take the evolution characteristics into account for modeling temporal community structures. But the number of communities cannot be determined automatically. Therefore, a model, Evolutionary Bayesian Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (EvoBNMF), is proposed in this paper. It focuses on modeling the temporal community structures with evolution characteristics. More specifically, the evolution behavior, which is introduced into EvoBNMF, can quantify the transfer intensity of communities between adjacent snapshots for modeling the evolution characteristics. Innovatively, the most appropriate number of communities can be determined autonomously by shrinking the corresponding evolution behaviors. Experimental results show that our approach has superior performance on temporal community detection with the virtue of autonomous determination of the number of communities.
Growth and Bulb Yield of Garlic as Influenced by Clove Size
Authors: Desta Bizuayehu , Tena Netsanet , Amare Getachew
Published: November 2021

Garlic is an important cash crop in many regions of Ethiopia. However, the yield of the crop is constrained by several factors. Among these, inappropriate clove size is one of the major agronomic practices that can decrease the yield of the crop. Hence, a field experiment was conducted during the 2020/21 main cropping season at Debre Berhan University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, demonstration and research site to evaluate the effect of clove size on growth and bulb yield of garlic (Allium sativum L.). The treatments consisted of five clove sizes: 1–1.49 g, 1.5–1.99 g, 2–2.50 g, 2.51–2.99 g, and 3–3.5 g. An improved variety “Tseday” was used as a planting material. The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and replicated for three times. The results revealed that clove size significantly influenced all growth and yield parameters of garlic. Planting of 3–3.5 g cloves reduced days to emergence by 11 and 6.33 days and days to maturity by 28.33 and 18.00 days, respectively, as compared to planting of 1–1.49 g and 2–2.5 g cloves. This treatment also increased total bulb yield by 25.88% and 15.58%, respectively, as compared to planting of 1–1.49 g and 2–2.5 g cloves. In addition, this treatment significantly increased most of the growth and bulb yield components. Hence, it can be concluded that planting of 3–3.5 g cloves could be recommended to enhance early emergence, good vegetative growth, and total bulb yield of garlic.
ASC Speck Formation after Inflammasome Activation in Primary Human Keratinocytes
Authors: Smatlik Nikola , Drexler Stefan Karl , Burian Marc , Röcken Martin , Yazdi Amir Sadegh
Published: November 2021

Chronic UV irradiation results in many changes in the skin, including hyperplasia, changes in dermal structures, and alteration of pigmentation. Exposure to UVB leads to cutaneous damage, which results in inflammation characterized by increased NF‐κB activation and the induction of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin‐ (IL‐) 1, or IL‐8. IL‐1 secretion is the result of inflammasome activation which is besides apoptosis, a result of acute UVB treatment. Inflammasomes are cytosolic protein complexes whose formation results in the activation of proinflammatory caspase‐1. Key substrates of caspase‐1 are IL‐1β and IL‐18, and the cytosolic protein gasdermin D (GSDMD), which is involved in inflammatory cell death. Here, we demonstrate that UVB‐induced inflammasome activation leads to the formation of ASC specks. Our findings show that UVB provokes ASC speck formation in human primary keratinocytes prior to cell death, and that specks are, opposed to the perinuclear cytosolic localization in myeloid cells, formed in the nucleus. Additionally, we showed by RNAi that NLRP1 and not NLRP3 is the major inflammasome responsible for UVB sensing in primary human keratinocytes. Formation of ASC specks indicates inflammasome assembly and activation as their formation in hPKs depends on the presence of NLRP1 and partially on NLRP3. Nuclear ASC specks are not specific for NLRP1/NLRP3 inflammasome activation, as the activation of the AIM2 inflammasome by cytosolic DNA results in ASC specks too. These nuclear ASC specks putatively link cell death to inflammasome activation, possibly by binding of IFI16 (gamma‐interferon‐inducible protein) to ASC. ASC can interact upon UVB sensing via IFI16 with p53, linking cell death to ASC speck formation.
The Mitochondrial‐Associated Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane and Its Role in Diabetic Nephropathy
Authors: Ni Lihua , Yuan Cheng
Published: November 2021

The mitochondrial‐associated endoplasmic reticulum membrane (MAM) is located between the outer mitochondrial membrane and the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. The MAM is involved in a wide range of cellular functions, including calcium signaling, the division and fusion of mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and the synthesis and transport of lipids. Recent studies have discovered that the MAM is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). In this article, we summarize the structure, function and role of the MAM in DN. We hope this study will provide clues and a theoretical basis for mechanistic and targeted drug research on DN.
The Roles of FGF21 and ALCAT1 in Aerobic Exercise‐Induced Cardioprotection of Postmyocardial Infarction Mice
Authors: Bo Wenyan , Ma Yixuan , Xi Yue , Liang Qiaoqin , Cai Mengxin , Tian Zhenjun
Published: November 2021

Aerobic exercise mitigates oxidative stress and apoptosis caused by myocardial infarction (MI) even though the precise mechanisms remain completely elusive. In this study, we investigated the potential mechanisms of aerobic exercise in ameliorating the cardiac function of mice with MI. In vivo, MI was induced by left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery ligation in wild‐type mice, alcat1 knockout, and fgf21 knockout mice. The mice were exercised under a moderate‐intensity protocol for 6 weeks at one week later post‐MI. In vitro, H9C2 cells were treated with lentiviral vector carrying alcat1 gene, recombinant human FGF21 (rhFGF21), PI3K inhibitor, and H2O2 to explore the potential mechanisms. Our results showed that aerobic exercise significantly increased the FGF21 expression and decreased the ALCAT1 expression in the hearts of mice with MI. fgf21 knockout weakened the inhibitory effects of aerobic exercise on oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and apoptosis in mice with MI. Both/either alcat1 knockout and/or aerobic exercise improved cardiac function by inhibiting oxidative stress and apoptosis in the MI heart. rhFGF21 inhibited both H2O2 and overexpression of ALCAT1‐induced oxidative stress and apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway in H9C2 cells. In conclusion, our results showed that aerobic exercise alleviated oxidative stress and apoptosis by activating the FGF21/FGFR1/PI3K/AKT pathway or inhibiting the hyperexpression of ALCAT1, which ultimately improved the cardiac function in MI mice.
Observation on the Clinical Effect of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Combined with Repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Facial Paralysis
Authors: Liang Lina , Qiang Feng
Published: November 2021

In view of the difficulty in the treatment of facial paralysis and the poor effect of traditional methods, this paper proposes a strategy based on acupuncture and repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation. The three groups of patients were tested for efficacy using the H-B scale and the symptom characteristics and physical signs measurement scale. Acupuncture combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can improve the clinical efficacy of facial paralysis. And it is significantly better than traditional paralysis and repetitive translational magnetic stimulation in the degree of healing.
Loss of Long Noncoding RNANXTARin Prostate Cancer Augments Androgen Receptor Expression and Enzalutamide Resistance
Authors: Ghildiyal Ruchi , Sawant Mithila , Renganathan Arun , Mahajan Kiran , Kim Eric H. , Luo Jingqin , Dang Ha X. , Maher Christopher A. , Feng Felix Y. , Mahajan Nupam P.
Published: November 2021

Androgen receptor (AR) signaling continues to play a dominant role in all stages of prostate cancer, including castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPC) that have developed resistance to second generation AR antagonists such as enzalutamide. In this study, we identified a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), NXTAR (LOC105373241) that is located convergent with the AR gene and is repressed in human prostate tumors and cell lines. NXTAR bound upstream of the AR promoter and promoted EZH2 recruitment, causing significant loss of AR (and AR-V7) expression. Paradoxically, AR bound the NXTAR promoter, and inhibition of AR by the ACK1/TNK2 small molecule inhibitor (R)-9b excluded AR from the NXTAR promoter. The histone acetyltransferase GCN5 bound and deposited H3K14 acetylation marks, enhancing NXTAR expression. Application of an oligonucleotide derived from NXTAR exon 5 (NXTAR-N5) suppressed AR/AR-V7 expression and prostate cancer cell proliferation, indicating the translational relevance of the negative regulation of AR. In addition, pharmacologic restoration of NXTAR using (R)-9b abrogated enzalutamide-resistant prostate xenograft tumor growth. Overall, this study uncovers a positive feedback loop, wherein NXTAR acts as a novel prostate tumor-suppressing lncRNA by inhibiting AR/AR-V7 expression, which in turn upregulates NXTAR levels, compromising enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer. The restoration of NXTAR could serve as a new therapeutic modality for patients who have acquired resistance to second generation AR antagonists.

Significance:

This study identifies NXTAR as a tumor suppressive lncRNA that can epigenetically downregulate AR/AR-V7 expression and provides a therapeutic strategy to reinstate NXTAR expression for treating recurrent CRPC.
Single-Cell Analysis Reveals EP4 as a Target for Restoring T-Cell Infiltration and Sensitizing Prostate Cancer to Immunotherapy
Authors: Peng Shihong , Hu Pan , Xiao Yu-Tian , Lu Weiqiang , Guo Dandan , Hu Shixiu , Xie Jiayi , Wang Minna , Yu Weiwei , Yang Junjie , Chen Huang , Zhang Xiaomin , Zhu Yasheng , Wang Ye , Yang Yue , Zhu Guanghui , Chen Sujun , Wang Jian , Zhang Bo , Chen Weidong , Wu Huangan , Sun Zhenliang , Ding Tao , Zhang Hankun , Yi Zhengfang , Liu Mingyao , Ren Shancheng
Published: November 2021

Purpose:

Immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoint molecules have shown promising treatment for a subset of cancers; however, many “cold” tumors, such as prostate cancer, remain unresponsive. We aimed to identify a potential targetable marker relevant to prostate cancer and develop novel immunotherapy.

Experimental Design:

Analysis of transcriptomic profiles at single-cell resolution was performed in clinical patients' samples, along with integrated analysis of multiple RNA-sequencing datasets. The antitumor activity of YY001, a novel EP4 antagonist, combined with anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.

Results:

We identified EP4 (PTGER4) as expressed in epithelial cells and various immune cells and involved in modulating the prostate cancer immune microenvironment. YY001, a novel EP4 antagonist, inhibited the differentiation, maturation, and immunosuppressive function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) while enhancing the proliferation and anticancer functions of T cells. Furthermore, it reversed the infiltration levels of MDSCs and T cells in the tumor microenvironment by overturning the chemokine profile of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. The combined immunotherapy demonstrated a robust antitumor immune response as indicated by the robust accumulation and activation of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, with a significantly decreased MDSC ratio and reduced MDSC immunosuppression function.

Conclusions:

Our study identified EP4 as a specific target for prostate cancer immunotherapy and demonstrated that YY001 inhibited the growth of prostate tumors by regulating the immune microenvironment and strongly synergized with anti–PD-1 antibodies to convert completely unresponsive prostate cancers into responsive cancers, resulting in marked tumor regression, long-term survival, and lasting immunologic memory.
Vaccination Setting of Patients with Autoimmune Diseases in Times of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2 Pandemic Using the Example of Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Longitudinal Multicenter Study
Authors: Heidler Felicita , Baldt Julia , Frahm Niklas , Langhorst Silvan Elias , Mashhadiakbar Pegah , Streckenbach Barbara , Zettl Uwe Klaus , Richter Jörg
Published: November 2021

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection represents a serious health risk, especially in chronically ill people. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic immune-mediated neurological disease. Vaccinations play an important role in the therapeutic MS management. This study aimed at determining MS patients’ attitudes toward vaccinations and governmental measures before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, including associations with sociodemographic and clinical variables. Methods: In a longitudinal, multicenter study, 200 MS patients were investigated regarding their vaccination attitudes before and after the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Data on vaccination status and burden (physical, psychological, and social) experienced as caused by the pandemic and related governmental safety measures were registered. Results: Patients with progressive MS felt significantly more pandemic-burdened than patients with relapsing-onset MS (p < 0.001). Older patients were more frequently willing to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 than younger patients (p < 0.001). After the first pandemic wave, patients with pre-pandemic willingness to comply with vaccination recommendations were more likely to accept recommended standard vaccinations (60% vs. 36%) and a possible SARS-CoV-2 vaccination than pre-pandemic nonwilling patients (66.7% vs. 42.0%). Conclusions: The vaccination topic was not immediately present in many patients before the pandemic. MS patients need comprehensive and understandable education meeting their concerns using evidence-based and convincing arguments on the subject of vaccination, particularly younger patients. Older patients are already more often willing to become vaccinated. Complete vaccination status is necessary to avoid multiple infections.
Dielectric properties assessment of honey by using non-destructive dielectric spectroscopy
Authors: Bakar Aslina Abu , Najmi bin Rodzali Muhammad Aiman , Radzali Rosfariza , Idris Azlina , Razali Ahmad Rashidy
Published: November 2021

In this research the dielectric constant of three types of Malaysian honey has been investigated using a non-destructive measurement technique. The objective of this research is to assess the dielectric constant of the three types of honey in Malaysia using a non-destructive measurement technique known as an open-ended coaxial probe in the frequency range from 100 MHz to 10 GHz frequency. Analysis on the effect water concentration in honey on the dielectric constant and the effect of temperature on dielectric constant of honey has been conducted. The three types of honey that have been chosen to be investigated in this project are stingless bee honey, wild honey and commercial (organic) honey and together their water adulterated samples. For this research, the probe had been set up by setting a range of frequency from 100 MHz to 10 GHz and needs to be calibrated with three calibration methods namely open, short and reference water. From the result it was found that the higher the temperature of the honey and the higher percentage of water content in the honey, the dielectric constant is increased. The dielectric constants of all honeys decreased with increasing frequency in the measured frequency range and increased with increase percentage of water content and temperature.
The impact of channel fin width on electrical characteristics of Si-FinFET
Authors: Atalla Yousif , Hashim Yasir , Abd. Ghafar Abdul Nasir
Published: November 2021

This paper studies the impact of fin width of channel on temperature and electrical characteristics of fin field-effect transistor (FinFET). The simulation tool multi-gate field effect transistor (MuGFET) has been used to examine the FinFET characteristics. Transfer characteristics with various temperatures and channel fin width (WF=5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 nm) are at first simulated in this study. The results show that the increasing of environmental temperature tends to increase threshold voltage, while the subthreshold swing (SS) and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) rise with rising working temperature. Also, the threshold voltage decreases with increasing channel fin width of transistor, while the SS and DIBL increase with increasing channel fin width of transistor, at minimum channel fin width, the SS is very near to the best and ideal then its value grows and going far from the ideal value with increasing channel fin width. So, according to these conditions, the minimum value as possible of fin width is the preferable one for FinFET with better electrical characteristics.
Design and development of multiphase buck converters for voltage regulator modules
Authors: Varghese Mini Puthenpurakkal , Manjunatha Ashwathnarayana , Snehaprabha Thazhathu Veedu
Published: November 2021

Modern microprocessors in high-power applications require a low input voltage and a high input current, necessitating the use of multiphase buck converters. As per microprocessor computing complexity, the power requirements of the switching converter will also be more important and will be increasing as per load demand. Previous studies introduced some methods to achieve the advantages associated with multiphase regulators. This paper presents an effective closed closed-loop control scheme for multiphase buck converters that reduces ripple and improves transient response. It is suitable for applications that require regulated output voltage with effectively reduced ripple. The analysis began with a simulation of the entire design using the OrCAD tool, followed by the construction of a hardware setup. Experiments on a 200 Khz, 9 V, 12 A, 2-phase buck voltage regulator were conducted and the proposed experiment found to be useful.
Two-dimensional satellite image compression using compressive sensing
Authors: Shivanna Gunasheela Keragodu , Prasantha Haranahalli Shreenivasamurthy
Published: November 2021

Compressive sensing is receiving a lot of attention from the image processing research community as a promising technique for image recovery from very few samples. The modality of compressive sensing technique is very useful in the applications where it is not feasible to acquire many samples. It is also prominently useful in satellite imaging applications since it drastically reduces the number of input samples thereby reducing the storage and communication bandwidth required to store and transmit the data into the ground station. In this paper, an interior point-based method is used to recover the entire satellite image from compressive sensing samples. The compression results obtained are compared with the compression results from conventional satellite image compression algorithms. The results demonstrate the increase in reconstruction accuracy as well as higher compression rate in case of compressive sensing-based compression technique.
Comparison between P&O and SSO techniques based MPPT algorithm for photovoltaic systems
Authors: Mohamedy Ali Mohamed Hussein , Sayed Mohamed Mahmoud Mohammed , Ahmed Ninet Mohamed , Zahran Mohamed Bayoumy Abdelkader
Published: November 2021

Solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems are a renewable source of energy that are environmentally friendly and recyclable nature. When the solar panel is connected directly to the load, the power delivered to the load is not the optimal power. It is therefore important to obtain maximum power from SPV systems for enhancing efficiency. Various maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques of SPV systems were proposed. Traditional MPPT techniques are commonly limited to uniform weather conditions. This paper presents a study of MPPT for photovoltaic (PV) systems. The study includes a discussion of different MPPT techniques and performs comparison for the performance of the two MPPT techniques, the P&O algorithm, and salp swarm optimization (SSO) algorithm. MATLAB simulations are performed under step changes in irradiation. The results of SSO show that the search time of maximum power point (MPP) is significantly decreased and the MPP is obtained in the shortest time with high accuracy and minimum oscillations in the generated power when compared with P&O.
Beam division multiple access for millimeter wave massive MIMO: Hybrid zero-forcing beamforming with user selection
Authors: Vu Hong Son , Truong Kien , Le Minh Thuy
Published: November 2021

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are considered a promising solution to minimize multiuser interference (MUI) based on simple precoding techniques with a massive antenna array at a base station (BS). This paper presents a novel approach of beam division multiple access (BDMA) which BS transmit signals to multiusers at the same time via different beams based on hybrid beamforming and user-beam schedule. With the selection of users whose steering vectors are orthogonal to each other, interference between users is significantly improved. While, the efficiency spectrum of proposed scheme reaches to the performance of fully digital solutions, the multiuser interference is considerably reduced.
Mitigation of packet loss with end-to-end delay in wireless body area network applications
Authors: Oleiwi Suha Sahib , Mohammed Ghassan N. , Al_Barazanchi Israa
Published: November 2021

The wireless body area network (WBAN) has been proposed to offer a solution to the problem of population ageing, shortage in medical facilities and different chronic diseases. The development of this technology has been further fueled by the demand for real-time application for monitoring these cases in networks. The integrity of communication is constrained by the loss of packets during communication affecting the reliability of WBAN. Mitigating the loss of packets and ensuring the performance of the network is a challenging task that has sparked numerous studies over the years. The WBAN technology as a problem of reducing network lifetime; thus, in this paper, we utilize cooperative routing protocol (CRP) to improve package delivery via end-to-end latency and increase the length of the network lifetime. The end-to-end latency was used as a metric to determine the significance of CRP in WBAN routing protocols. The CRP increased the rate of transmission of packets to the sink and mitigate packet loss. The proposed solution has shown that the end-to-end delay in the WBAN is considerably reduced by applying the cooperative routing protocol. The CRP technique attained a delivery ratio of 0.8176 compared to 0.8118 when transmitting packets in WBAN.