bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Harnessing Population Pedigree Data and Machine Learning Methods to Identify Patterns of Familial Bladder Cancer Risk
Authors: Hanson Heidi A. , Leiser Claire L. , O'Neil Brock , Martin Christopher , Gupta Sumati , Smith Ken R. , Dechet Christopher , Lowrance William T. , Madsen Michael J. , Camp Nicola J.
Published: February 2020

Background:

Relatives of patients with bladder cancer have been shown to be at increased risk for kidney, lung, thyroid, and cervical cancer after correcting for smoking-related behaviors that may concentrate in some families. We demonstrate a novel approach to simultaneously assess risks for multiple cancers to identify distinct multicancer configurations (multiple different cancer types that cluster in relatives) surrounding patients with familial bladder cancer.

Methods:

This study takes advantage of a unique population-level data resource, the Utah Population Database (UPDB), containing vast genealogy and statewide cancer data. Familial risk is measured using standardized incidence risk (SIR) ratios that account for sex, age, birth cohort, and person-years of the pedigree members.

Results:

We identify 1,023 families with a significantly higher bladder cancer rate than population controls (familial bladder cancer). Familial SIRs are then calculated across 25 cancer types, and a weighted Gower distance with K-medoids clustering is used to identify familial multicancer configurations (FMC). We found five FMCs, each exhibiting a different pattern of cancer aggregation. Of the 25 cancer types studied, kidney and prostate cancers were most commonly enriched in the familial bladder cancer clusters. Laryngeal, lung, stomach, acute lymphocytic leukemia, Hodgkin disease, soft-tissue carcinoma, esophageal, breast, lung, uterine, thyroid, and melanoma cancers were the other cancer types with increased incidence in familial bladder cancer families.

Conclusions:

This study identified five familial bladder cancer FMCs showing unique risk patterns for cancers of other organs, suggesting phenotypic heterogeneity familial bladder cancer.

Impact:

FMC configurations could permit better definitions of cancer phenotypes (subtypes or multicancer) for gene discovery and environmental risk factor studies.
Discovery of Berberine that Targetedly Induces Autophagic Degradation of both BCR-ABL and BCR-ABL T315I through Recruiting LRSAM1 for Overcoming Imatinib Resistance
Authors: Yin Zhao , Huang Guiping , Gu Chunming , Liu Yanjun , Yang Juhua , Fei Jia
Published: February 2020

Purpose:

Imatinib, the breakpoint cluster region protein (BCR)/Abelson murine leukemia viral oncogene homolog (ABL) inhibitor, is widely used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, imatinib resistance develops in many patients. Therefore, new drugs with improved therapeutic effects are urgently needed. Berberine (BBR) is a potent BCR-ABL inhibitor for imatinib-sensitive and -resistant CML.

Experimental Design:

Protein structure analysis and virtual screening were used to identify BBR targets in CML. Molecular docking analysis, surface plasmon resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance assays, and thermoshift assays were performed to confirm the BBR target. The change in BCR-ABL protein expression after BBR treatment was assessed by Western blotting. The effects of BBR were assessed in vitro in cell lines, in vivo in mice, and in human CML bone marrow cells as a potential strategy to overcome imatinib resistance.

Results:

We discovered that BBR bound to the protein tyrosine kinase domain of BCR-ABL. BBR inhibited the activity of BCR-ABL and BCR-ABL with the T315I mutation, and it also degraded these proteins via the autophagic lysosome pathway by recruiting E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase LRSAM1. BBR inhibited the cell viability and colony formation of CML cells and prolonged survival in CML mouse models with imatinib sensitivity and resistance.

Conclusions:

The results show that BBR directly binds to and degrades BCR-ABL and BCR-ABL T315I via the autophagic lysosome pathway by recruiting LRSAM1. The use of BBR is a new strategy to improve the treatment of patients with CML with imatinib sensitivity or resistance.

See related commentary by Elf, p. 3899
Induced Tumor Heterogeneity Reveals Factors Informing Radiation and Immunotherapy Combinations
Authors: Aguilera Todd A. , Elghonaimy Eslam A. , Shehade Hussein , Rafat Marjan , Castellini Laura , Jiang Dadi , Kariolis Mihalis , Koong Albert C. , Le Quynh-Thu , Ellies Lesley G. , Rankin Erinn B. , Graves Edward E. , Giaccia Amato J.
Published: February 2020

Purpose:

To investigate how induced tumor heterogeneity influences immune responses to radiotherapy with different proportions of mixed immune-responsive and unresponsive tumor cells in a triple-negative breast cancer model. It is hypothesized that studying the immune environment of mixed tumors and responses to radiotherapy could nominate immune active therapies to enhance immune responses after radiotherapy.

Experimental Design:

Evaluate efficacy and immune responses generated by radiotherapy in tumors with different proportions of immunologically responsive and unresponsive tumor cells. Then study the cellular responses and transcriptomic differences between the tumors to nominate immunotherapy combinations with radiotherapy and evaluate the combination.

Results:

The addition of the responsive cells to unresponsive tumors led to a greater than expected therapeutic response to radiotherapy with both innate and adaptive immune components. There was a distinct change in myeloid cells, greater inflammatory macrophage activity, and enhanced antigen presentation with responsive cells after radiotherapy. Because differences in matrix components, cell adhesion biology, and innate immune signaling correlated with myeloid cell response and phenotype, we hypothesized that radiotherapy combined with CD40 agonist antibody would sensitize unresponsive tumors. The combination therapy resulted in improved innate and adaptive immune response. Importantly, CD40 treatment increased tumor response to radiotherapy and protected against metastatic spread in a metastatic model.

Conclusions:

These data combined with transcriptomics from human patients support radiotherapy and myeloid cell targeting for immunologically cold tumors. The established study model presents opportunities to investigate the complex overlapping biologic mechanisms that limit immunotherapy and to implement radiotherapy with different immunotherapy combinations.
Ku80-Targeted pH-Sensitive Peptide–PNA Conjugates Are Tumor Selective and Sensitize Cancer Cells to Ionizing Radiation
Authors: Kaplan Alanna R. , Pham Ha , Liu Yanfeng , Oyaghire Stanley , Bahal Raman , Engelman Donald M. , Glazer Peter M.
Published: February 2020

The development of therapeutic agents that specifically target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue could be used to enhance the efficacy of cancer therapy without increasing its toxicity. Specific targeting of cancer cells can be achieved through the use of pH-low insertion peptides (pHLIP), which take advantage of the acidity of the tumor microenvironment to deliver cargoes selectively to tumor cells. We developed a pHLIP–peptide nucleic acid (PNA) conjugate as an antisense reagent to reduce expression of the otherwise undruggable DNA double-strand break repair factor, KU80, and thereby radiosensitize tumor cells. Increased antisense activity of the pHLIP–PNA conjugate was achieved by partial mini-PEG sidechain substitution of the PNA at the gamma position, designated pHLIP-αKu80(γ). We evaluated selective effects of pHLIP-αKu80(γ) in cancer cells in acidic culture conditions as well as in two subcutaneous mouse tumor models. Fluorescently labeled pHLIP-αKu80(γ) delivers specifically to acidic cancer cells and accumulates preferentially in tumors when injected i.v. in mice. Furthermore, pHLIP-αKu80(γ) selectively reduced KU80 expression in cells under acidic conditions and in tumors in vivo. When pHLIP-αKu80(γ) was administered to mice prior to local tumor irradiation, tumor growth was substantially reduced compared with radiation treatment alone. Furthermore, there was no evidence of acute toxicity associated with pHLIP-αKu80(γ) administration to the mice. These results establish pHLIP-αKu80(γ) as a tumor-selective radiosensitizing agent.

Implications:

This study describes a novel agent, pHLIP-αKu80(γ), which combines PNA antisense and pHLIP technologies to selectively reduce the expression of the DNA repair factor KU80 in tumors and confer tumor-selective radiosensitization.
First Trimester Protein Biomarkers for Risk of Spontaneous Preterm Birth: Identifying a Critical Need for More Rigorous Approaches to Biomarker Identification and Validation
Authors: D’Silva Arlene M. , Hyett Jon A. , Coorssen Jens R.
Published: February 2020

Background: Spontaneous preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide and continues to present a major clinical dilemma. We previously reported that a number of protein species were dysregulated in maternal serum collected at 11–13+6 weeks’ gestation from pregnancies that continued to labour spontaneously and deliver preterm. Objectives and Methods: In this study, we aimed to validate changes seen in 4 candidate protein species: alpha-1-antitrypsin, vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP), alpha-1beta-glycoprotein and apolipoprotein A-1 in a larger cohort of women using a western blot approach. Results: Serum levels of all 4 proteins were reduced in women who laboured spontaneously and delivered preterm. This reduction was significant for VDBP (p = 0.04), which has been shown to be involved in a plethora of essential biological functions, including actin scavenging, fatty acid transport, macrophage activation and chemotaxis. Conclusions: The decrease in select proteoforms of VDBP may result in an imbalance in the optimal intrauterine environment for the developing foetus as well as to a successful uncomplicated pregnancy. Thus, certain (phosphorylated) species of VDBP may be of value in developing a targeted approach to the early prediction of spontaneous preterm labour. Importantly, this study raises the importance of a focus on proteoforms and the need for any biomarker validation process to most effectively take these into account rather than the more widespread practice of simply focussing on the primary amino acid sequence of a protein.
Long-Term Clinical Results and Management following Vitrectomy in Undetected Retinoblastoma Eyes
Authors: Biewald Eva , Schlüter Sabrina , Bechrakis Nikolaos E. , Kiefer Tobias , Rating Philipp , Geismar Dirk , Metz Klaus A. , Göricke Sophia , Ketteler Petra , Bornfeld Norbert
Published: February 2020

Introduction: Given the rarity of retinoblastoma and the consequences of accidental vitrectomy in the event of misdiagnosis, reporting on clinical experience in this area is important. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the management and complications with a focus on local orbital recurrence and metastatic disease in 10 children vitrectomized in an undetected retinoblastoma eye. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive case series conducted in a single-centre referral university hospital. Results: From October 1991 to June 2019, 10 patients with a vitrectomy in an unsuspected retinoblastoma eye were included in this study. The main preoperative diagnoses were unilateral inflammation with a suspected lymphoma, uveitis or toxocariasis in 5 cases, vitreous haemorrhage after trauma in 2 cases, and the last 3 were misdiagnosed with Coats disease, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and congenital cataract. Mean age at surgery was 3 years, ranging from 14 months to 6 and a half years. Nine patients were suffering from unilateral retinoblastoma; these were enucleated and treated with 4–6 cycles of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The sclerotomy sites were infiltrated with tumour cells in 3 cases. In 1 patient, the differential diagnosis of a malignant medulloepithelioma could not be excluded. One patient had bone marrow infiltration on initial presentation; all other patients are healthy without any signs of orbital recurrence or metastatic disease with a mean follow-up of 5.4 years. Conclusion: In children, intraocular tumours, including retinoblastoma and medulloepithelioma, should be ruled out before pars plana vitrectomy is performed. If no doubtless preoperative diagnosis can be established, preoperative magnetic resonance imaging is mandatory. If a vitrectomy in a retinoblastoma eye has been performed, immediate enucleation of the eye with subsequent chemotherapy and orbital radiation is effective to avoid local recurrence and systemic metastases.
Cytomegalovirus Enterocolitis in a Patient with Refractory Immune-Related Colitis
Authors: Furuta Yoki , Miyamoto Hideaki , Naoe Hideaki , Shimoda Miki , Hinokuma Yukari , Miyamura Tomohiro , Miyashita Azusa , Fukushima Satoshi , Tanaka Motohiko , Sasaki Yutaka
Published: February 2020

Although most immune-related adverse events (irAEs) secondary to immune checkpoint inhibitors can be managed with immunosuppressive therapies; they can induce reactivation of infectious diseases, including cytomegalovirus (CMV). Here, we show a case of CMV enterocolitis during steroid therapy for an irAE. A 77-year-old man with unresectable malignant melanoma was treated with ipilimumab. He suffered from immune-related colitis (irColitis) and was treated with methylprednisolone. Although corticosteroids initially improved his symptoms, CMV reactivation occurred and colitis was exacerbated. Antiviral therapy improved his symptoms without augmenting the immunosuppressive therapy. CMV colitis should be considered when a patient with irColitis shows resistance to immunosuppressive therapy.
Identifying Cystic Vein Perfusion Area Employing Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Imaging during Laparoscopic Extended Cholecystectomy for Clinical T2 Gallbladder Cancer
Authors: Umemura Akira , Nitta Hiroyuki , Takahara Takeshi , Hasegawa Yasushi , Katagiri Hirokatsu , Kanno Shoji , Ando Taro , Kobayashi Megumi , Sasaki Akira
Published: February 2020

We present an original surgical technique for identifying the perfusion area of the cystic vein with indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging and laparoscopic extended cholecystectomy with lymphadenectomy for a 56-year-old woman with diagnosis of clinical T2 gallbladder cancer (GBC). First, we encircled Calot’s triangle using the Glissonean approach from the ventral side of the gallbladder plate and then taped the hilar Glissonean pedicles; these were temporally clamped, and ICG was injected into the vein. The perfusion area of the cystic vein was scrutinized, specifically the stained area of the hepatic parenchyma was marked, and extended cholecystectomy was performed along the resection line. Subsequently, we performed lymphadenectomy of the hepatoduodenal ligament to complete the operation. A postoperative histopathological examination revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with pathological T1bN0M0. Although extended cholecystectomy is currently recommended for clinical T2 GBC, there is no consensus on the definition of the gallbladder bed, and the ideal extent of hepatic resection has, therefore, not yet been determined. In addition, gallbladder bed resection with 2–3 cm of surgical margin is an empirical procedure that lacks scientific verification. Regarding anatomical features, the cystic vein sometimes drains directly into the anterior branch of the portal vein, penetrating the gallbladder plate and Laennec’s capsule of the anterior Glissonean pedicle. To address this background, we have developed a technique to identify the perfusion area of the cystic vein to determine the extent of hepatic parenchyma that should be resected during laparoscopic extended cholecystectomy for clinical T2 GBC.
Accelerated Venovenous Hemofiltration as a Transitional Renal Replacement Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Allegretti Andrew S. , Endres Paul , Parris Tyler , Zhao Sophia , May Megan , Sylvia-Reardon Mary , Bezreh Nicole , Culbert-Costley Roberta , Ananian Lillian , Roberts Russel J. , Lopez Natasha , Charytan David M. , Tolkoff-Rubin Nina
Published: February 2020

Background: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is commonly employed in the intensive care unit (ICU), though there are no guidelines around the transition between CRRT and intermittent hemodialysis (iHD). Accelerated venovenous hemofiltration (AVVH) is a modality utilizing higher hemofiltration rates (4–5 L/h) with shorter session durations (8–10 h) to “accelerate” the clearance and volume removal that normally is spread out over a 24-h period in CRRT. We examined AVVH as a transition therapy between CRRT and iHD, with the aim of decreasing time on CRRT and providing a more graduated transition for hemodynamically unstable patients requiring RRT. Methods: Retrospective cohort study describing the clinical outcomes and quality initiative experience of the integration of AVVH into the CRRT program at an academic tertiary care center. Outcomes of interest included mortality, ICU length of stay and readmission rates, and technical characteristics of treatments. Results: In total, 97 patients received a total of 298 AVVH treatments (3.1 ± 3.3 treatments per patient). Totally, 271/298 (91%) treatments were completed successfully. During an average treatment time of 9.5 ± 1.6 h with 4.2 ± 0.5 L/h ­replacement fluid rate, urea reduction ratio was 23 ± 26% per 10-h treatment, and net ultrafiltration volume was 2.4 ± 1.3 L/treatment. Inpatient mortality was 32%, mean total hospital length of stay was 54 ± 47 days. Sixty-four out of 97 (66%) patients recovered renal function by discharge. Among those who transferred out of the ICU, 7/62 (11%) patients required readmission to the ICU after developing hypotension on iHD. Conclusion: AVVH can serve as a transition therapy between CRRT and iHD in the ICU and has the potential to decrease total time on CRRT, improve patient mobility, and sustain low ICU readmission rates. Future study is needed to analyze the implications on resource use and cost of this modality.
Carcinoid Heart Disease: Prognostic Value of 5-Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid Levels and Impact on Survival: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Buchanan-Hughes Amy , Pashley Alex , Feuilly Marion , Marteau Florence , Pritchard D. Mark , Singh Simron
Published: February 2020

Background: Carcinoid heart disease (CHD) can develop in patients with carcinoid syndrome (CS), itself caused by overproduction of hormones and other products from some neuroendocrine tumours. The most common hormone is serotonin, detected as high 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). This systematic literature review summarises current literature on the impact of CHD on survival, and the relationship between 5-HIAA levels and CHD development, progression, and mortality. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane databases, and grey literature were searched using terms for CHD, 5-HIAA, disease progression, and mortality/survival. Eligible articles were non-interventional and included patients with CS and predefined CHD and 5-HIAA outcomes. Results: Publications reporting on 31 studies were included. The number and disease states of patients varied between studies. Estimates of CHD prevalence and incidence among patients with a diagnosis/symptoms indicative of CS were 3–65% and 3–42%, respectively. Most studies evaluating survival found significantly higher mortality rates among patients with versus without CHD. Patients with CHD reportedly had higher 5-HIAA levels; median urinary levels in patients with versus without CHD were 266–1,381 versus 67.5–575 µmol/24 h. Higher 5-HIAA levels were also found to correlate with disease progression (median progression/worsening-associated levels: 791–2,247 µmol/24 h) and increased odds of death (7% with every 100 nmol/L increase). Conclusions: Despite the heterogeneity of studies, the data indicate that CHD reduces survival, and higher 5-HIAA levels are associated with CHD development, disease progression, and increased risk of mortality; 5-HIAA levels should be carefully managed in these patients.
177Lu-DOTATATE Therapy of Advanced Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Heavily Pretreated with Chemotherapy: Analysis of Outcome, Safety, and Their Determinants
Authors: Fröss-Baron Katarzyna , Garske-Roman Ulrike , Welin Staffan , Granberg Dan , Eriksson Barbro , Khan Tanweera , Sandström Mattias , Sundin Anders
Published: February 2020

Objective: To retrospectively analyze toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and their determinants in patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs), previously pretreated with chemothe­r­apy, undergoing peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with 177Lu-DOTATATE. Methods: A total of 102 patients with advanced PanNETs, previously pretreated with one (67%) or several (33%) lines of chemotherapy, were included, of whom 90% had progressive disease and the majority (74.5%) had grade 2 tumors. 177Lu-DOTATATE, 7.4 GBq per cycle, was administered with 6- to 8-week intervals in 88% of patients utilizing a dosimetry-guided protocol until an absorbed dose of 23 Gy to the kidneys was reached. Results: A mean dose of 32 ± 10.9 GBq per patient was administered in 1–10 cycles starting a median of 36 months after PanNET diagnosis. The median follow-up was 34 months, the median PFS was 24 months, and the median OS was 42 months from start of PRRT. Independent risk factors for both progression and death were liver tumor burden >50%, more than one line of previous chemotherapy, and elevated alkaline phosphatase. Resection of the primary tumor was linked to longer survival. Bone marrow toxicity grade 3–4 occurred in 10.8%. One patient (1.0%) developed acute myeloid leukemia. Bone marrow toxicity was unrelated to type and length of previous chemotherapy, amount of administered activity, and absorbed dose to the bone marrow. Conclusion: 177Lu-DOTATATE therapy was feasible, highly effective, and safe in patients with advanced PanNETs heavily pretreated with chemotherapy. More than one line of chemotherapy was a therapy-related independent risk factor for shorter PFS and OS.
Thomas Jones’ Neapolitan Kitchen: The Material Cultures of Food on the Grand Tour
Authors: Calaresu Melissa
Published: February 2020

The Welsh painter, Thomas Jones, recorded in minute detail the prices, origin, and types of food and services for each day of his family’s stay in Naples from their arrival from Rome in 1780 to their departure for England in 1783. His “Italian account book” has not been studied before in any depth, except in relation to his activities as an artist. However, this “time-capsule” of a Grand Tour household provides an extraordinarily vivid entry into the material world of urban provisioning in one of the largest cities in eighteenth-century Europe, by linking the economy of the street to wider networks of provisioning from outside of the city. It also provides a better understanding of the extent of acculturation of British residents in Italy. Space, time, and the interconnectedness between the home and the street are central themes in this material culture analysis of food on the Grand Tour.
Introduction: The Material Worlds of Food in Early Modern Europe
Authors: Calaresu Melissa
Published: February 2020

All of the articles in this special issue show the necessity of having to combine different kinds of sources—texts with images, images with objects, and objects with absences—to build an integrated history of the material worlds of food in the early modern period. They also reflect newer approaches to materiality which are sensitive to the relationship between matter and the senses and consider the haptic, visual, olfactory, and even aural aspects of cooking and eating alongside taste. In turn, the tastes of collectors and the fragility and absence of source material also need to be taken into consideration in order to write a meaningful cultural and social history of food. Despite the ephemeral nature of eating and cooking, this special issue shows that the sources studied by historians of material culture of the early modern period are remarkably rich, and their analysis fruitful.
The Gulper and the Slurper: A Lexicon of Mistakes to Avoid While Eating with Ottoman Gentlemen
Authors: Pfeifer Helen
Published: February 2020

This article examines the material culture and social etiquette of elite dining in the early modern Ottoman Empire. The challenges of eating with others were numerous, as the sixteenth-century Damascene scholar Badr al-Din al-Ghazzi (d. 1577) showed in painful and hilarious ways in his treatise entitled Table Manners (Adab al-Muʾakala). One set of problems stemmed from the objects structuring the meal, especially the relative dearth of crockery and cutlery. Far from making dining experiences simpler and more straightforward, as scholars have sometimes suggested, this necessitated greater cooperation between diners and made them vulnerable to individual misbehavior. Another set of problems arose from the material qualities of food, where sources of pleasure, handled poorly, could easily trigger disgust. The self-discipline that Ghazzi promoted in his manual offered a partial solution to these difficulties, but not a solution equally available to all.
As People of the Gospel
Authors: Tackett Zachary Michael
Published: February 2020

Pentecostals visualize, read, and rehearse Scripture in ways that speak to a gospel of wholeness, inclusion, and uplift. Pentecostals use Scripture to participate via the Spirit in the continuing expression of gospel, with Scripture emerging from gospel. This gospel that gave birth to Scripture emerges anew in the reading, hearing, and rehearsal of Scripture. This article considers three models for the use of Scripture that empower Pentecostals to participate in a continuing expression of gospel. These are 1) gospel as mysterion, 2) gospel as liberation, and 3) gospel as embodied, prophetic voice.
The Coming of the Spirit and the Laying on of Hands
Authors: Adams Scott Lewis
Published: February 2020

The traditional Pentecostal understanding of the events of Acts 8.4-25 typically centers upon a two-stage model for the reception of the Spirit. While this article does not seek to preclude the plausibility of such a model, it does, however, seek to take a step further by providing a culturally-sensitive analysis concerning how the coming of the Spirit, the apostolic imposition of hands (Acts 8.17), and the concept of worship in ‘spirit and truth’ (Jn 4.24) serves as a paradigm for ethnic reconciliation.
The Nature of Predestination and the Character of the Predestinating God
Authors: Green Chris E.W.
Published: February 2020

This article is a reply to Christopher C. Emerick’s reply to two articles the author has written on the doctrine of predestination, one of which offers a constructive proposal for the doctrine; the other sets out a creative reading of Romans 9–11. In this article, the author responds to Emerick’s complaints, and points out the convergences and divergences in his understanding of the doctrine and the author’s. Finally, the author will reiterate what he said previously, not only rephrasing what he said but also going beyond it in explanation for the sake of clarity.
Taxonomic notes on the genus Quwatanabius in Taiwan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)
Authors: HU FANG-SHUO , BOGRI AMALIA
Published: February 2020

The description of the male of the species Quwatanabius chiaw (Smetana, 1995) is provided for the first time, including a habitus photo and illustrations of the aedeagus. A brief discussion of the endemic status of Q. chiaw on the island of Taiwan, as well as additional Taiwanese material of the wide-spread Q. flavicornis (Sharp, 1889) are also provided.
Discovery of the genus Termitodiellus Nakane, 1961 in China, with description of Termitodiellus hainanensis Jiang & Wang, new species
(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae)
Authors: JIANG RI-XIN , WANG SHUO
Published: February 2020

The genus Termitodiellus Nakane, 1961 is a member of the tribe Rhyparini, which includes several morphologically similar genera. Members of Rhyparini can be readily recognized by their carinate dorsal surface, elytral apex with bulbous projection bearing trichomes, hastate posterior prosternal process, and greatly reduced tibial spurs (Howden & Storey 1992, 2000; Skelley 2007; Howden 1995; Pittino 2006).
Diversity of Naked Amoebae in Soils of Forest Areas of Zhytomyr Region (Ukraine)
Authors: PATSYUK MARINA
Published: February 2020

Here we consider the morphotypes and changing species composition of naked amoebae in soils of forest areas in Zhytomyr region (Ukraine). The species composition and morphotypes of amoebae are influenced by the microclimate of soil and litter. Complexes of naked amoebae in the study area constitute two clusters: one of broadleaf (oak) and mixed forests, another of coniferous forests. The most similar species compositions were found in soils of oak and mixed forests (64 % similarity). The least similar were amoebae complexes of coniferous forests and oak forests, and coniferous forests and mixed forests. Non-parametric multidimensional scaling (MDS) showed that species complex of amoebae of mixed forests and oak forests had moister and more acidic soils compared to coniferous forests.
Empis s. str. (Diptera: Empididae) from Egypt, Israel and Syria: notes on some species described by J.E. Collin and a key to species
Authors: SHAMSHEV IGOR V.
Published: February 2020

The type material of three Empis s. str. species described by J.E. Collin from Egypt and Syria are revised: E. demissa, E. insulata and E. nigropilosa. Lectotypes for Empis insulata Collin, 1937 (Syria) and E. demissa Collin, 1949 (Egypt) are designated. A key to species of Empis s. str. of Egypt, Israel and Syria is provided.
Software Defined Networking Based Solution in Load Balancing for Media Transfer in Overlay Network
Authors: Ramya K. , Sayeekumar M. , Karthik G. M.
Published: February 2020

Traditional methodologies for routing in media streaming is challenging because packets are not retransmitted when there is loss or corruption of packets. Thus throughput, packet loss rate or delay is not guaranteed. Providing multipath for every transmission helps in meeting efficient
load balancing metrics. Software defined networking (SDN) approach is used to configure the network topology and increase the network performance and monitoring. Controller act as a centralized management device which monitors the overlay network. It reacts to network failures/changes by administering
alternate routing instructions to the overlay nodes. The overlay network enhances different load balancing metrics. Dijkstra’s algorithm is used to solve the routing problem for find the shortest path. The proposed scheme is using an AOMDV multipath on-demand routing protocol which dynamically
finds multipath. It experimentally evaluates performance metrics like end-to-end delay, throughput using AOMDV is compared with AODV.
Key Management Scheme for Internet of Things Using an Elliptic Curve
Authors: Singh Soram Ranbir , Ajoy Khan Kumar
Published: February 2020

With the advancements in wireless internet technology, a new computing ecosystem, the Internet of Things(IoT), has ushered in numerous devices in many areas in our life as well as in industries. The IoT is a computing notion that describes a scenario in which objects we use everyday
are accessible using the internet and can be controlled from anywhere (Kung, Y.F., et al., 2018. Home Monitoring System Based Internet of Things. 2018 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Invention (ICASI), April; IEEE. pp.325–327; Singh, S. and Singh, N., 2015. Internet
of Things (IoT): Security Challenges, Business Opportunities and Reference Architecture for E-Commerce. 2015 International Conference on Green Computing and Internet of Things (ICGCIoT), October; IEEE. pp.1577–1581). It could comprise devices with sensors to gather and broadcast
data over the Internet (Singh, S. and Singh, N., 2015. Internet of Things (IoT): Security Challenges, Business Opportunities and Reference Architecture for E-Commerce. 2015 International Conference on Green Computing and Internet of Things (ICGCIoT), October; IEEE. pp.1577–1581).
As per report of the research firm Gartner, the number of IoT objects will surpass 11.2 billion by 2018, and 20.4 billion by 2020. By 2020, the IoT industries will make revenue of almost 3 trillion US Dollars. As IoT devices are largely used in various areas of importance, it will definitely
bring a lot of interests to hackers. It is worthwhile to quote here that hackers took away more than Rs 78 crore by hacking into router of Cosmos Bank based in Pune by duplicating debit cards in August, 2018. They carried out about 12 thousand unethical transactions worth Rs 78 crore in 28
countries. Hence, it is necessary to consider data privacy so that we can protect the data with limited system resource and technology. This paper proposes a new key management scheme with entity authentication for IoT devices. The proposed scheme uses modified Tate pairing. The presented
scheme is apposite for IoT devices such as sensor networks due to their lower computational requirements.
Constructing a Knowledge-Based Quality Attributes Relationship Matrix to Identify Conflicts in Non-Functional Requirements
Authors: Shah Unnati S. , Patel Sankita J. , Jinwala Devesh C.
Published: February 2020

A critical success factor in requirements engineering involves recognizing conflicts in Non-functional requirements (NFRs). The recent approaches use Quality attributes relationship matrix (QARM) to identify conflicts in NFRs that represents how one quality attribute undermine (-) or
support (+) achieving other types of quality attributes. However, the static QARMs are not always obvious and may vary in the context of available standards, development and the involved stakeholders. In addition, these matrixes do not contain relations for emergent quality attributes viz.
Recoverability, context awareness, mobility among others. Furthermore, identifying the conflicts in NFRs using the matrix without knowing the purpose of NFRs in the system may produce the false conflict identification. Hence, the aim of our research is to identify relations and influences
between NFR attributes (a.k.a. Quality attributes) from available unconstrained natural language documents through automated natural language processing and machine learning that helps to deal with false conflict identification.
An Efficient Implementation of Data Mining Techniques in Agriculture
Authors: Nath Suraj , Debnath Debashri , Sarkar Parthapratim , Biswas Ankur
Published: February 2020

Agriculture being the utmost noteworthy operational domain in current scenario and agribusiness holders including farmers are required to make wide range of decisions every day. An efficient farming decision includes all relevant environmental conditions, consistency of soil, rainfall,
combinations of fertilizers and product prices. A vital concern in agricultural planning objective is the estimation of perfect acquiesces for several crops concerned in the scheduling. Information technology deployment in agricultural field can transform the state of affairs of policy making
so that farmers can yield in a superior way. For this reason, the raw data is changed into useful information through data mining which can play a decisive role to achieve the realistic and efficient solutions for this problem and numerous other issues allied to agriculture field. In this
paper an analysis of agricultural data and ruling best possible factor to capitalize on the production of crops under varied condition using data mining technique is primarily focused. Various commonly used data mining methodologies mainly on agricultural domain are presented. Results attained
through Classification using J48 tree classifier with related confusion matrix confirm the stoutness of the proposed method.
Comparative Study of Machine Learning Algorithms on Prediction of Diabetes Mellitus Disease
Authors: George Gina , Lal Anisha M. , Gayathri P. , Mahendran Niveditha
Published: February 2020

Diabetes Mellitus disease is said to occur when there is not proper generation of insulin in the body which is needed for proper regulation of glucose in the body. This health disorder leads to whole degradation of several organs including the heart, kidneys, eyes, nerves. Hence diabetes
disease diagnosis by means of accurate prediction is vital. When such disease related data is given as input to several machine learning techniques it becomes an important classification problem. The purpose of the work done in this paper is to compare several classic machine learning algorithms
including decision tree, logistic regression and ensemble methods to identify the more accurate classification algorithm for better prediction of the diabetes mellitus disease. This in turn would help for better and effective treatment.
Integration of Prophet Model and Convolution Neural Network on Wikipedia Trend Data
Authors: Sahay Apurvanand , Amudha J.
Published: February 2020

Forecasting a time series is an ever growing area in which various machine learning techniques have been used to predict and analyze the future based on the data gathered from past. “Prophet” forecasting model is the most recent development in forecasting the time series,
developed by Facebook. Prophet is much faster and simpler to implement than the previous forecasting model such as ARIMA model. Classification of forecasting output can be done by applying convolution neural network (CNN) on the outcomes of the Prophet model. To get higher accuracy with lesser
loss, the method runs CNN with the best possible deep layers. The yearly, weekly, daily seasonality and trends could be realized by Prophet Model. The paper shows classification of these output based on the varying types of seasonality and trends. The labeled output can then, train and test
all the trends’ result and find out the accuracy and loss incurred in a CNN model. Applying different depth and parameters of CNN that is a combined unit at each layer, it can achieve more than 96% accuracy with less than 4% loss. The integration of prophet and CNN shows that the training
and testing model of a neural network can validate the prediction done by using prophet forecasting model along with the seasonality and trends parameters are in coherence to one another.
A Meetei Mayek Handwritten Digit Recognition System
Authors: Devi Chingakham Neeta , Das Debaprasad , Devi Haobam Mamata
Published: February 2020

Optical Character Recognition is an appealing field of work for research where an image containing text is given as input and text in the image is translated into an editable format. This paper proposes Meetei/Meitei Mayek Handwritten Digit Recognition System where an Isolated Handwritten
Meetei Mayek Digit Database consisting of 10000 plus digits has been developed. This proposed Handwritten Meetei Mayek Digit Recognition System is an important component of Manipuri Meetei Mayek Optical Character Recognition system which is under development. For feature extraction, we have
used State-of-Art techniques—Histogram of Oriented Gradients and Bag of Features Descriptor for Speeded Up Robust Features. Five classifiers have been employed for classification viz. Support Vector Machine, with Linear, Polynomial and Radial Basis Function kernels, K-Nearest
Neighbours and Bootstrap Aggregating and compared in terms of accuracy. Support Vector Machine using Radial Basis Function Kernel has found to achieve the recognition accuracy with the highest value compared with the other classifiers with the extracted Histogram of Oriented Gradients and
Bag of Features for Speeded Up Robust Features.
An Improved Grey Wolf Optimizer (iGWO) for Global Engineering Optimization
Authors: Gohil Bhavesh N. , Patel Dhiren R.
Published: February 2020

Metaheuristic algorithms are more popular due to their ability to solve generic problems. Selection and tuning of their algorithm specific control parameters are the key factors for their success. Grey Wolf Optimizer, an algorithm having less dependency on their control parameters and
influenced by the hunting approach and social dominant hierarchy of grey wolves is considered here to solve global optimization problems. An improved GWO is proposed to achieve a perfect ratio of exploitation and exploration phases and gives more weight to the most suitable wolves to find
the new position of grey wolves during the stated iterations. Simulation results of standard benchmark test functions convey the stability, efficiency, and effectiveness of iGWO compared with GWO, and other standard algorithms.
Agricart: An Innovative Methodology for Enhancing Farmers Livelihood
Authors: Vincent Rajiv , Sanjaykumar K. , Rajesh M. , Verma Shivam Kumar
Published: February 2020

We propose Agricart (website and android application) which will help the user to identify the required Fertilizers, Pesticides, Seeds, Saplings, Manure and other farming equipment availability shops which are nearby their location. This application will reduce manual work by finding
the right store where we can order the farming goods online and receive them at respective location. The payment can be done through online payment portal. The main aim of this project is to solve the problems of marketing and help the farmers to buy their products in a timely manner and to
manage agricultural activities those are done on daily, weekly and monthly basis in the farm. So, we propose Agricart (website and android application) where it helps farmers to communicate with the market directly and providing a showcase platform of their products. The main objective is
to maintain the agricultural activities on daily bases and user can easily interact with shops regarding the need of their agriculture products and create an event corner where all the details about latest events, seminars regarding agriculture or horticulture can be posted regularly.
Mechanisms underlying the action of self-assembling short-peptide nano-fiber gel scaffold materials in the aesthetic repair of burn wounds
Authors: Wang Wendi , Liu Guangjing , Liu Man , Li Xiaobing
Published: February 2020

To study the mechanism of self-assembling short-peptide nano-fiber gel scaffolds on the aesthetic repair of burns. RADA16-1 assembled short-peptide nano-fiber gel scaffold was prepared using the ultrasonic method. Twenty female SD rats were randomly divided into two groups. Burn model
was established using the electrical machinery method. The wound surface of the rats in the experimental group was coated with RADA16-1 and that of the rats in the control group was coated with NaCl. The degree of wound healing, hair follicle growth, hair growth length, and expression of bFGF
and EGF were compared between the two groups. RADA16-1 fibers were broken into short fibers under the ultrasonic environment and then reorganized into gels. The degree of wound healing, hair follicle growth, hair growth length, and expression of bFGF and EGF in the experimental group were
better than those in the control group. The assembly of short peptide nano-fiber gel scaffolds can effectively repair burn wounds.
Uncoupling protein 2 facilitates insulin-elicited protection against lipopolysaccharide-induced myocardial dysfunction
Authors: Chen Yiting , Chen Guangdao , Zhang Junliang , Wang Tao , Zhang Juxing , Huang Jinda , Ji Zhonghua , Zeng Qiyi
Published: February 2020

Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction is a critical cause of high mortality among patients with sepsis. Previously, insulin has been suggested to protect against lethal endotoxemia, while uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) has been reported to exert beneficial effects against sepsis. Thus,
this study aimed to investigate whether UCP2 is involved in insulin-elicited protection against myocardial dysfunction in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis. Treatment of male SD rats with insulin for 30 min before LPS challenge improved the survival and cardiac function in endotoxemic
rats, which was likely due to an insulin-dependent reduction of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and cardiac troponin T (cTn-T) levels, mitochondrial oxidative stress, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Insulin treatment also increased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, prevented the release of cytochrome
c into the cytosol, and reduced cleaved caspase-9 levels, which was determined by purifying the proteins using the His-tag Magnetic Bead Purification Kit (Fe3O4). Moreover, UCP2 was found to be upregulated in endotoxemic rats which were pretreated with insulin. To determine
whether the apoptotic role of insulin is associated with UCP2 upregulation, we examined the effects of genipin, a UCP2 inhibitor, on insulin activity in LPS-treated H9c2 cells. Insulin strongly attenuated LPS-induced H9c2 cell apoptosis and stimulated UCP2 expression. However, genipin treatment
eliminated the antiapoptotic effects of insulin. Thus, our results demonstrate that insulin-induced UCP2 upregulation plays a role in the protective effect of insulin against LPS-induced myocardial dysfunction.
Fibrin scaffolds embedded with sonic hedgehog/chitosan microspheres for recovery of spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Yang Wenjing , Wang Zhe , Zhang Jingxin , Yang Kaiyuan , Lu Cong , Cui Xuewen , Lu Hao , Cao Sucheng , Chen Qian , Lu Xiaodong , He Nongyue , Wu Lili
Published: February 2020

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) has been shown to exert a protection on promoting the spinal cord injury (SCI) recovery, but it can’t remain with its biological activity and sustained release at the injury site for long-term application. Herein, fibrin scaffolds embedded with SHH-loaded
chitosan (CS) microspheres (SHH/CS) were synthesized and applied to provide protection and regeneration for complete transected spinal cord in rats. Characteristics of fibrin scaffolds embedded with SHH/CS microspheres, histological studies, immunohistochemistry staining, Western Blotting
and recovery of motor function were conducted after implantation, respectively. Result showed that SHH maintained its biological activity and continued to act at the injury site, and the fibrin scaffolds embedded with SHH/CS microspheres could protect neurons and reduce apoptosis in the in
vivo study, it also promoted some nerve fibers cross the spinal cord injury area. Moreover, the scaffolds improved partial motor function of double-hindlimb on a macro level. Overall, the fibrin scaffolds embedded with SHH/CS microspheres showed more satisfactory effect on nerve regeneration,
tissue cavities prevention and motor function improvement, compared to fibrin scaffolds with SHH directly encapsulated into or fibrin scaffolds alone.