bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimal Strokes of Low Reynolds Number Linked-Sphere Swimmers
Authors: Wang Qixuan
Published: September 2019

Optimal gait design is important for micro-organisms and micro-robots that propel themselves in a fluid environment in the absence of external force or torque. The simplest models of shape changes are those that comprise a series of linked-spheres that can change their separation and/or their sizes. We examine the dynamics of three existing linked-sphere types of modeling swimmers in low Reynolds number Newtonian fluids using asymptotic analysis, and obtain their optimal swimming strokes by solving the Euler–Lagrange equation using the shooting method. The numerical results reveal that (1) with the minimal 2 degrees of freedom in shape deformations, the model swimmer adopting the mixed shape deformation modes strategy is more efficient than those with a single-mode of shape deformation modes, and (2) the swimming efficiency mostly decreases as the number of spheres increases, indicating that more degrees of freedom in shape deformations might not be a good strategy in optimal gait design in low Reynolds number locomotion.
Theoretical Description of Carbon Felt Electrical Properties Affected by Compression
Authors: Averbukh Moshe , Lugovskoy Svetlana
Published: September 2019

Electro-conductive carbon felt (CF) material is composed by bonding together different lengths of carbon filaments resulting in a porous structure with a significant internal surface that facilitates enhanced electrochemical reactions. Owing to its excellent electrical properties, CF is found in numerous electrochemical applications, such as electrodes in redox flow batteries, fuel cells, and electrochemical desalination apparatus. CF electro-conductivity mostly arises from the close contact between the surface of two electrodes and the long carbon fibers located between them. Electrical conductivity can be improved by a moderate pressing of the CF between conducting electrodes. There exist large amounts of experimental data regarding CF electro-conductivity. However, there is a lack of analytical theoretical models explaining the CF electrical characteristics and the effects of compression. Moreover, CF electrodes in electrochemical cells are immersed in different electrolytes that affect the interconnections of fibers and their contacts with electrodes, which in turn influence conductivity. In this paper, we investigated both the role of CF compression, as well as the impact of electrolyte characteristics on electro-conductivity. The article presents results of measurements, mathematical analysis of CF electrical properties, and a theoretical analytical explanation of the CF electrical conductivity which was done by a stochastic description of carbon filaments disposition inside a CF frame.
Three-Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Periciliary Liquid Layer: Ciliary Abnormalities in Respiratory Diseases
Authors: M. Vanaki Shayan , Holmes David , Jayathilake Pahala Gedara , Brown Richard
Published: September 2019

Human pulmonary epithelial cells are protected by two layers of fluid—the outer watery periciliary liquid layer (PCL) and the uppermost non-Newtonian mucus layer (ML). Aerosols and inhaled toxic particles are trapped by the ML which must then be removed swiftly to avoid adverse health implications. Epithelial cells are covered with cilia that beat rapidly within the PCL. Such ciliary motion drives the mucus transport. Although cilia can penetrate slightly inside the mucus to assist mucus movement, the motion of the underlying PCL layer within the airway surface liquid (ASL) is significant in mucus and pathogens transport. As such, a detailed parametric study of the influence of different abnormal cilia characteristics, such as low beating frequency, short length, abnormal beating pattern, reduced ciliary density, and epithelium patchiness due to missing cilia on the PCL transport, is carried out numerically. Such abnormalities are found in various chronic respiratory diseases. In addition, the shear stress at the epithelium is assessed due to the importance of shear stress on the epithelial function. Using the immersed boundary (IB) method combined with the finite-difference projection method, we found that the PCL, under standard healthy conditions, has net forward motion but that different diseased conditions decrease the forward motion of the PCL, as is expected based on clinical understanding.
Autonomous Installations for Monitoring the “Protector Prosperina“ Forest
Authors: Delgado-Plaza Emérita , Intriago Gabriel , Peralta-Jaramillo Juan , Piedrahita Paolo , Velázquez-Martí Borja
Published: September 2019

Within the city of Guayaquil, the Protector Prosperina Forest is located, which protects an area rich in biodiversity. To prevent visitors from damaging the forest, the Polytechnic community has established a tourism intervention plan based on sustainability criteria, generating responsible and ecological tourism. Therefore, the project aims to improvement of spaces, signage, and construction of energy systems using renewable energy for lighting and loading of electronic devices, will also, serve as logistical technical support for the operation of the sensor network and information acquisition for the monitoring of diversity forest through audio and video, especially for the protection of those species that are in danger of extinction. In this initiative to raise awareness and promote the protection of the forest and the sustainable use of its resources, autonomous photovoltaic stations have been installed in 5 strategic locations for the development of the aforementioned activities.
A Standardized Method for Estimating the Functional Diversity of Soil Bacterial Community by Biolog® EcoPlatesTM Assay—The Case Study of a Sustainable Olive Orchard
Authors: Sofo Adriano , Ricciuti Patrizia
Published: September 2019

Biolog® EcoPlates™ (Biolog Inc., Hayward, CA, USA) were developed to analyse the functional diversity of bacterial communities by means of measuring their ability to oxidize carbon substrates. This technique has been successfully adopted for studying bacterial soil communities from different soil environments, polluted soils and soils subjected to various agronomic treatments. Unfortunately, Biolog® EcoPlates™ assay, especially working on soil, can be difficult to reproduce and hard to standardize due to the lack of detailed procedures and protocols. The main problems of this technique mainly regard soil preparation, bacterial inoculum densities and a correct definition of blank during the calculation of the diversity indices. On the basis of our previous research on agricultural soils, we here propose a standardized and accurate step-by-step method for estimating the functional diversity of a soil bacterial community by Biolog® EcoPlatesTM assay. A case study of soils sampled in a Mediterranean olive orchard managed accordingly to sustainable/conservation practices was reported for justifying the standardized method here used. The results of this methodological paper could be important for correctly evaluating and comparing the microbiological fertility of soils managed by sustainable/conservation or conventional/non-conservation systems.
SC-M*: A Multi-Agent Path Planning Algorithm with Soft-Collision Constraint on Allocation of Common Resources
Authors: Shi Rongye , Steenkiste Peter , Veloso Manuela
Published: September 2019

Multi-agent path planning (MAPP) is increasingly being used to address resource allocation problems in highly dynamic, distributed environments that involve autonomous agents. Example domains include surveillance automation, traffic control and others. Most MAPP approaches assume hard collisions, e.g., agents cannot share resources, or co-exist at the same node or edge. This assumption unnecessarily restricts the solution space and does not apply to many real-world scenarios. To mitigate this limitation, this paper introduces a more general class of MAPP problems—MAPP in a soft-collision context. In soft-collision MAPP problems, agents can share resources or co-exist in the same location at the expense of reducing the quality of the solution. Hard constraints can still be modeled by imposing a very high cost for sharing. This paper motivates and defines the soft-collision MAPP problem, and generalizes the widely-used M* MAPP algorithm to support the concept of soft-collisions. Soft-collision M* (SC-M*) extends M* by changing the definition of a collision, so paths with collisions that have a quality penalty below a given threshold are acceptable. For each candidate path, SC-M* keeps track of the reduction in satisfaction level of each agent using a collision score, and it places agents whose collision scores exceed its threshold into a soft-collision set for reducing the score. Our evaluation shows that SC-M* is more flexible and more scalable than M*. It can also handle complex environments that include agents requesting different types of resources. Furthermore, we show the benefits of SC-M* compared with several baseline algorithms in terms of path cost, success rate and run time.
Using a GPU to Accelerate a Longwave Radiative Transfer Model with Efficient CUDA-Based Methods
Authors: Wang Yuzhu , Zhao Yuan , Li Wei , Jiang Jinrong , Ji Xiaohui , Zomaya Albert Y.
Published: September 2019

Climatic simulations rely heavily on high-performance computing. As one of the atmospheric radiative transfer models, the rapid radiative transfer model for general circulation models (RRTMG) is used to calculate the radiative transfer of electromagnetic radiation through a planetary atmosphere. Radiation physics is one of the most time-consuming physical processes, so the RRTMG presents large-scale and long-term simulation challenges to the development of efficient parallel algorithms that fit well into multicore clusters. This paper presents a method for improving the calculative efficiency of radiation physics, an RRTMG long-wave radiation scheme (RRTMG_LW) that is accelerated on a graphics processing unit (GPU). First, a GPU-based acceleration algorithm with one-dimensional domain decomposition is proposed. Then, a second acceleration algorithm with two-dimensional domain decomposition is presented. After the two algorithms were implemented in Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) Fortran, a GPU version of the RRTMG_LW, namely G-RRTMG_LW, was developed. Results demonstrated that the proposed acceleration algorithms were effective and that the G-RRTMG_LW achieved a significant speedup. In the case without I/O transfer, the 2-D G-RRTMG_LW on one K40 GPU obtained a speed increase of 18.52× over the baseline performance on a single Intel Xeon E5-2680 CPU core.
An Experimental Study of Turbulent Structures in a Flat-Crested Weir-Type Fishway
Authors: Guo Zhiping , Sun Xihuan , Dong Zhiyong
Published: September 2019

Fishways can assist fish species to overcome obstacles for performing spawning, feeding, and overwintering migrations. Flow structures in a flat-crested weir-type fishway were experimentally studied. Variations of time-averaged velocity, turbulence intensity, and Reynolds stress with longitudinal and vertical directions and flow rates were analyzed. Also, flow patterns in the longitudinal profile were given. The experiments were carried out in a large scale fishway model in the Hydraulics Laboratory at Zhejiang University of Technology. Two typical flow rates corresponding to detection and preference velocities of fish species were considered. Five different horizontal planes for each flow rate were taken. Eleven transverse lines were arranged for each horizontal plane. Ten measuring points were laid along each transverse line. Three-dimensional velocity at each measuring point was measured by acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV). Longitudinal and vertical time-averaged velocity distributions, longitudinal turbulence intensity distribution on the different horizontal planes, vertical turbulent intensity distribution along flow depth, and Reynolds stress distributions on the different horizontal planes and on the different cross-sections in the pool of fishway were analyzed. The experimental results showed that distribution of longitudinal velocity was characterized by topology, which constituted an apparent vertical vortex. Weir flow exhibited skimming flow in the fishway pool. Peak-value range of longitudinal turbulent intensity existed. The amplitude of variation in Reynolds stress near the surface layer reached the maximum, which provided a certain hydraulic condition for fish that favor jumping near the surface layer. This study uncovers three-dimensional flow structures, especially for turbulence characteristics, which can contribute to improving the design of crested weir fishway and to assisting fish species to pass smoothly through fishway, being of potential application value.
Bödewadt Flow Over a Permeable Disk with Homogeneous-Heterogeneous Reactions: A Numerical Study
Authors: Rafiq Talat , Hashmi Meraj Mustafa
Published: September 2019

We analyzed the onset of homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions in Bödewadt flow occurring over an isothermal and permeable surface. This research is based on the assumption that the homogeneous (bulk) reaction follows isothermal cubic autocatalator kinetics, whereas the surface reaction is governed by first-order kinetics. The heat energy released during the chemical reaction is assumed to be negligible. The governing equations are reducible to a set of self-similar equations, which are handled numerically. Asymptotic analysis was conducted, which revealed that the existence of a concentration boundary layer on the disk is possible only when the disk is subjected to a sufficient amount of suction. In a large suction situation, an exact formula for concentration profile ϕ was derived that strongly supports the obtained numerical solution. Our results demonstrate the mass transfer parameter considerably alters flow fields. The concentration at the wall varies substantially when the chemical reaction proceeds at a faster rate.
PTG-HEFA Hybrid Refinery as Example of a SynBioPTx Concept—Results of a Feasibility Analysis
Authors: Müller-Langer Franziska , Oehmichen Katja , Dietrich Sebastian , Zech Konstantin M. , Reichmuth Matthias , Weindorf Werner
Published: September 2019

Limited alternative fuels for a CO2-neutral aviation sector have already been ASTM certified; synthetic paraffinic kerosene from hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA-SPK) is one of these—a sustainable aviation fuel. With the hypothesis to improve the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of a HEFA plant by realizing the required hydrogen supply via electrolysis—power to gas (PTG)—an exemplary SynBioPTx approach is investigated in a comprehensive feasibility study, which is, regarding this comparatively new approach, a novelty in its extent. About 10 scenarios are analysed by technical, environmental, and economic aspects. Within the alternative scenarios on feedstocks, electricity supply, necessary hydrogen supply, and different main products are analysed. For different plant designs of the hybrid refinery, mass and energy balances are elaborated, along with the results of the technical assessment. As a result of this environmental assessment, the attainment of at least 50% GHG mitigation might be possible. GHG highly depends on the renewability grade of the hydrogen provision as well as on the used feedstock. One important conclusion of this economic assessment is that total fuel production costs of 1295 to 1800 EUR t−1 are much higher than current market prices for jet fuel. The scenario in which hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of internally produced naphtha proves to be the best combination of highly reduced GHG emissions and low HEFA-SPK production costs.
The Improvement of an Islanding Detection Method Based on the Perturbation Signal in Case of a Multi-Photovoltaic Operation
Authors: Tran Thanh Son , Nguyen Duc Tuyen , FUJITA Goro
Published: September 2019

Islanding phenomenon is one of the consequences of the emergence and development of microgrids in the power system. Injected signal cancellation is a common problem in a multi- distributed generation that has a significant influence on active islanding detection methods. In this study, this issue was analyzed by injecting a perturbation signal in the multi-photovoltaic system. Furthermore, the promising solution to eliminate injected signal cancellation was proposed in this paper. The solution was validated through mathematical explanations and simulation results.
Differentiation of Particulate Matter Sources Based on the Chemical Composition of PM10 in Functional Urban Areas
Authors: Jandacka Dusan , Durcanska Daniela
Published: September 2019

Urban air quality is continuing to deteriorate. If we want to do something about this problem, we need to know the cause of the pollution. The big problem, not only in Europe, is the high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in the urban environment. The origin of these particles can be different, including combustion, transport, industry, natural resources, etc. Particulate matter includes a large amount of the finest PM fractions, which can remain in the air for a long time, easily enter respiratory tracks, and damage human health. Particulate matter is also produced by the abrasion of different parts of roads and vehicle fleets and from resuspension road dust, which concerns matter with larger aerodynamic diameters. For this reason, we carried out a series of measurements at various measuring stations in Žilina, Slovakia, during different measuring seasons. The main objective was to find out the diversity of particulate matter sources in Žilina. The search for the particulate matter origin was carried out by particulate matter measurements, determination of the particulate matter fraction concentrations (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1), an investigation on the effect of secondary factors on the particulate matter concentrations, chemical analyses, and multivariate statistical analyses. Varied behavior of the particulate matter with respect to the measurement station and the measurement season was found. Differences in the concentrations of investigated chemical elements contained in the PM were found. Significant changes in the concentrations of particulate matter are caused not only by primary sources (e.g., road traffic in the city of Žilina), but mainly by the negative events (combination of air pollution sources and meteorological conditions). Maximum concentrations of particulate matter PM10 were measured during the winter season at the measuring station on Komenského Street: PM10 126.2 µg/m3, PM2.5 97.7 µg/m3, and PM1 90.4 µg/m3 were obtained using the gravimetric method. The coarse fraction PM2.5-10 was mainly represented by the chemical elements Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Cr, Fe, and Ba, and the fine fraction PM2.5 was represented by the chemical elements K, S, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn. Road transport as a dominant source of PM10 was identified from all measurements in the city of Žilina by using the multivariate statistical methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA).
Analysis of a Sea Fog Episode at King George Island, Antarctica
Authors: Chen Jianqiao , Han Bo , Yang Qinghua , Wei Lixin , Zeng Yindong , Wu Renhao , Zhang Lin , Ding Zhuoming
Published: September 2019

In this study, a marine fog episode at King George Island off the Antarctic Peninsula from 26–30 January 2017 was investigated using surface observations, upper-air soundings, and re-analysis data as well as the air mass backward trajectory method. The marine fog episode resulted from an approaching low-pressure system, was maintained at high wind speeds, and quickly dissipated when the low-pressure system passed the observation site. During this episode, cloud lay existed above the fog and stratus, the atmosphere was stably stratified for 1600 m, and the air close to the surface was more mixed than air in the upper layer. The air-sea temperature difference (ASTD) of 1–2 °C and a strong surface wind parallel to the gradient of SST were two important factors in the formation and maintenance of the marine fog near the Antarctic region. The convergence of flux for both water vapor and heat during the fog episode was also discussed.
Short-Range Numerical Weather Prediction of Extreme Precipitation Events Using Enhanced Surface Data Assimilation
Authors: Lindskog Magnus , Landelius Tomas
Published: September 2019

A limited-area kilometre scale numerical weather prediction system is applied to evaluate the effect of refined surface data assimilation on short-range heavy precipitation forecasts. The refinements include a spatially dependent background error representation, use of a flow-dependent data assimilation technique, and use of data from a satellite-based scatterometer instrument. The effect of the enhancements on short-term prediction of intense precipitation events is confirmed through a number of case studies. Verification scores and subjective evaluation of one particular case points at a clear impact of the enhanced surface data assimilation on short-range heavy precipitation forecasts and suggest that it also tends to slightly improve them. Although this is not strictly statistically demonstrated, it is consistent with the expectation that a better surface state should improve rainfall forecasts.
Gabor Frames and Deep Scattering Networks in Audio Processing
Authors: Bammer Roswitha , Dörfler Monika , Harar Pavol
Published: September 2019

This paper introduces Gabor scattering, a feature extractor based on Gabor frames and Mallat’s scattering transform. By using a simple signal model for audio signals, specific properties of Gabor scattering are studied. It is shown that, for each layer, specific invariances to certain signal characteristics occur. Furthermore, deformation stability of the coefficient vector generated by the feature extractor is derived by using a decoupling technique which exploits the contractivity of general scattering networks. Deformations are introduced as changes in spectral shape and frequency modulation. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical examples and experiments. Numerical evidence is given by evaluation on a synthetic and a “real” dataset, that the invariances encoded by the Gabor scattering transform lead to higher performance in comparison with just using Gabor transform, especially when few training samples are available.
Development of High Cell Density Cultivation Strategies for Improved Medium Chain Length Polyhydroxyalkanoate Productivity Using Pseudomonas putida LS46
Authors: Blunt Warren , Dartiailh Christopher , Sparling Richard , Gapes Daniel J. , Levin David B. , Cicek Nazim
Published: September 2019

High cell density (HCD) fed-batch cultures are widely perceived as a requisite for high-productivity polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) cultivation processes. In this work, a reactive pulse feed strategy (based on real-time CO2 or dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements as feedback variables) was used to control an oxygen-limited fed-batch process for improved productivity of medium chain length (mcl-) PHAs synthesized by Pseudomonas putida LS46. Despite the onset of oxygen limitation half-way through the process (14 h post inoculation), 28.8 ± 3.9 g L−1 total biomass (with PHA content up to 61 ± 8% cell dry mass) was reliably achieved within 27 h using octanoic acid as the carbon source in a bench-scale (7 L) bioreactor operated under atmospheric conditions. This resulted in a final volumetric productivity of 0.66 ± 0.14 g L−1 h−1. Delivering carbon to the bioreactor as a continuous drip feed process (a proactive feeding strategy compared to pulse feeding) made little difference on the final volumetric productivity of 0.60 ± 0.04 g L−1 h−1. However, the drip feed strategy favored production of non-PHA residual biomass during the growth phase, while pulse feeding favored a higher rate of mcl-PHA synthesis and yield during the storage phase. Overall, it was shown that the inherent O2-limitation brought about by HCD cultures can be used as a simple and effective control strategy for mcl-PHA synthesis from fatty acids. Furthermore, the pulse feed strategy appears to be a relatively easy and reliable method for rapid optimization of fed-batch processes, particularly when using toxic substrates like octanoic acid.
Effects of Pulsed Electric Field on the Cell Wall and Infection Activity of Rhizoctonia solani
Authors: Feng Xuebin , He Peijun , Pan Chaoya , Xu Jin , Xue Baoshan , Yin Wenqing , Qian Yan
Published: September 2019

This paper adopts the Design-Expert software to design an orthogonal experiment with a pulse voltage amplitude of 30 kV, processing time of three minutes, and a pulse width of 45 μs as the center points, in order to study the effects of the pulsed electric field on the cell wall and infection activity of Rhizoctonia solani. High-voltage pulse power was used to treat the bacteria solution with the pulsed electric field. Untreated Rhizoctonia solani were used as the control group. Transmission electron microscope images were used to analyze the cell wall damage. ANOVA was performed on the experimental results and the fitting degree of the model was good (F>>1). Response surface analysis was used to optimize the parameters based on chitin content and polygalacturonase activity. The optimal treatment conditions were obtained as a pulse voltage amplitude of 25 kV, processing time of 2.54 min, and a pulse width of 34.35 μs. On this basis, experiments were designed to verify the optimized conditions. The results demonstrated that, under the optimal processing conditions, the damage index of the cell wall of Rhizoctonia solani was 9.59% lower in chitin content and 83.05% lower in polygalacturonase activity compared with those of the control group. All indexes were significantly different (P < 0.001), which is consistent with the parameter optimization results. The results provide a theoretical basis for the pulsed electric field assisted sterilization and reference for the design of plant protection machinery in the latter stage.
Interplay between BMPs and Reactive Oxygen Species in Cell Signaling and Pathology
Authors: Sánchez-de-Diego Cristina , Valer José Antonio , Pimenta-Lopes Carolina , Rosa José Luis , Ventura Francesc
Published: September 2019

The integration of cell extrinsic and intrinsic signals is required to maintain appropriate cell physiology and homeostasis. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are cytokines that belong to the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, which play a key role in embryogenesis, organogenesis and regulation of whole-body homeostasis. BMPs interact with membrane receptors that transduce information to the nucleus through SMAD-dependent and independent pathways, including PI3K-AKT and MAPKs. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are intracellular molecules derived from the partial reduction of oxygen. ROS are highly reactive and govern cellular processes by their capacity to regulate signaling pathways (e.g., NF-κB, MAPKs, KEAP1-NRF2 and PI3K-AKT). Emerging evidence indicates that BMPs and ROS interplay in a number of ways. BMPs stimulate ROS production by inducing NOX expression, while ROS regulate the expression of several BMPs. Moreover, BMPs and ROS influence common signaling pathways, including PI3K/AKT and MAPK. Additionally, dysregulation of BMPs and ROS occurs in several pathologies, including vascular and musculoskeletal diseases, obesity, diabetes and kidney injury. Here, we review the current knowledge on the integration between BMP and ROS signals and its potential applications in the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Divergent Roles of CYP26B1 and Endogenous Retinoic Acid in Mouse Fetal Gonads
Authors: Bellutti Laura , Abby Emilie , Tourpin Sophie , Messiaen Sébastien , Moison Delphine , Trautmann Emilie , Guerquin Marie-Justine , Rouiller-Fabre Virginie , Habert René , Livera Gabriel
Published: September 2019

In female mammals, germ cells enter meiosis in the fetal ovaries, while in males, meiosis is prevented until postnatal development. Retinoic acid (RA) is considered the main inducer of meiotic entry, as it stimulates Stra8 which is required for the mitotic/meiotic switch. In fetal testes, the RA-degrading enzyme CYP26B1 prevents meiosis initiation. However, the role of endogenous RA in female meiosis entry has never been demonstrated in vivo. In this study, we demonstrate that some effects of RA in mouse fetal gonads are not recapitulated by the invalidation or up-regulation of CYP26B1. In organ culture of fetal testes, RA stimulates testosterone production and inhibits Sertoli cell proliferation. In the ovaries, short-term inhibition of RA-signaling does not decrease Stra8 expression. We develop a gain-of-function model to express CYP26A1 or CYP26B1. Only CYP26B1 fully prevents STRA8 induction in female germ cells, confirming its role as part of the meiotic prevention machinery. CYP26A1, a very potent RA degrading enzyme, does not impair the formation of STRA8-positive cells, but decreases Stra8 transcription. Collectively, our data reveal that CYP26B1 has other activities apart from metabolizing RA in fetal gonads and suggest a role of endogenous RA in amplifying Stra8, rather than being the initial inducer of Stra8. These findings should reactivate the quest to identify meiotic preventing or inducing substances.
Associations of SNPs of the ADIPOQ Gene with Serum Adiponectin Levels, Unstable Angina, and Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Smetnev Stepan , Klimushina Marina , Kutsenko Vladimir , Kiseleva Anna , Gumanova Nadezhda , Kots Alexander , Skirko Olga , Ershova Alexandra , Yarovaya Elena , Metelskaya Victoria , Meshkov Alexey , Drapkina Oksana
Published: September 2019

Adiponectin is encoded by the ADIPOQ gene and participates in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The goal of the study was to assess associations of rs17300539, rs266729, rs182052, rs2241766, and rs17366743 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ADIPOQ gene with concentrations of serum adiponectin and with coronary atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus in 447 patients (316 men and 131 women) subjected to coronary angiography. SNPs of the ADIPOQ gene of the study participants were genotyped using real-time PCR. Multivariate linear regression adjusted for covariates revealed significant association between rs182052 SNP and serum adiponectin concentration (β= –0.11; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): –0.19, –0.03; p = 0.016). Regression analysis revealed an increase in prevalence of unstable angina (OR (odds ratio) = 2.55; 95%CI 1.4–4.82; p = 0.018) and coronary artery disease (OR = 1.55; 95%CI 1.15–2.09; p = 0.021) per copy of the rs182052 A allele. Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus was higher in subjects with the rs182052 A allele (OR = 2.29; 95%CI 1.29-4.21; p = 0.024). Regression analysis of rs266729 showed that prevalence of unstable angina was increased (OR = 3.59; 95%CI 1.17–10.01; p = 0.045) in the subjects with the GG genotype and prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly increased (OR = 1.48; 95%CI 1.09–2.03; p = 0.045) per copy of the G allele. Haplotype analysis revealed that the subjects with the GCATT haplotype have lower adiponectin levels (β= –0.15; p = 0.042) and higher prevalence of unstable angina (OR = 3.597; p = 0.007) compared with reference haplotype carriers. Thus, the results indicate that minor A allele of rs182052 of the ADIPOQ gene is significantly associated with a decrease in serum adiponectin levels, and two SNPs (rs182052 and rs266729) of the ADIPOQ gene are significantly associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
UHPLC-HRMSn Analysis Reveals the Dynamic Metabonomic Responses of Salvia miltiorrhiza Hairy Roots to Polysaccharide Fraction from Trichoderma atroviride
Authors: Ming Qianliang , Dong Xin , Wu Sijia , Zhu Bo , Jia Min , Zheng Chengjian , Rahman Khalid , Han Ting , Qin Luping
Published: September 2019

We have previously reported that Trichoderma atroviride, an endophytic fungus isolated from S. miltiorrhiza, promotes S. miltiorrhiza hairy root growth and significantly stimulates the biosynthesis of tanshinones specifically the polysaccharide fraction (PSF). However, this study only focused exclusively on six metabolites whilst ignoring changes to the whole metabolite composition of the S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots. In the present study, the dynamic metabonomic responses of S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots were investigated using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMSn). UHPLC-HRMS typical total ions chromatograms (TICs) of PSF-treated hairy root samples were different from the control. Moreover, the results of principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) indicated that PSF-treated samples were significantly different from the control. Through the analysis of PLS-DA, a total of 114 and 99 differential metabolites were found from the positive and negative models respectively and a total of 33 differential metabolites were identified. Thus, S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots had been induced to regulate the metabolic profiling in response to PSF and the changes of the metabolic profiling contributed to promoting the biosynthesis of tanshinones notably whilst the biosynthesis of phenolic acids were slightly inhibited.
Influence of Graphene Oxide Concentration when Fabricating an Electrochemical Biosensor for DNA Detection
Authors: Chiticaru Elena A. , Pilan Luisa , Damian Celina-Maria , Vasile Eugeniu , Burns Jorge S. , Ioniţă Mariana
Published: September 2019

We have investigated the influence exerted by the concentration of graphene oxide (GO) dispersion as a modifier for screen printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) on the fabrication of an electrochemical biosensor to detect DNA hybridization. A new pretreatment protocol for SPCEs, involving two successive steps in order to achieve a reproducible deposition of GO, is also proposed. Aqueous GO dispersions of different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 mg/mL) were first drop-cast on the SPCE substrates and then electrochemically reduced. The electrochemical properties of the modified electrodes were investigated after each modification step by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), while physicochemical characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. Finally, the sensing platform was obtained by the simple adsorption of the single-stranded DNA probe onto the electrochemically reduced GO (RGO)-modified SPCEs under optimized conditions. The hybridization was achieved by incubating the functionalized SPCEs with complementary DNA target and detected by measuring the change in the electrochemical response of [Fe(CN)6]3–/4– redox reporter in CV and EIS measurements induced by the release of the newly formed double-stranded DNA from the electrode surface. Our results showed that a higher GO concentration generated a more sensitive response towards DNA detection.
Label Self-Advised Support Vector Machine (LSA-SVM)—Automated Classification of Foot Drop Rehabilitation Case Study
Authors: Adil Abboud Sahar , Al-Wais Saba , Abdullah Salma Hameedi , Alnajjar Fady , Al-Jumaily Adel
Published: September 2019

Stroke represents a major health problem in our society. One of the effects of stroke is foot drop. Foot drop (FD) is a weakness that occurs in specific muscles in the ankle and foot such as the anterior tibialis, gastrocnemius, plantaris and soleus muscles. Foot flexion and extension are normally generated by lower motor neurons (LMN). The affected muscles impact the ankle and foot in both downward and upward motions. One possible solution for FD is to investigate the movement based on the bio signal (myoelectric signal) of the muscles. Bio signal control systems like electromyography (EMG) are used for rehabilitation devices that include foot drop. One of these systems is function electrical stimulation (FES). This paper proposes new methods and algorithms to develop the performance of myoelectric pattern recognition (M-PR), to improve automated rehabilitation devices, to test these methodologies in offline and real-time experimental datasets. Label classifying is a predictive data mining application with multiple applications in the world, including automatic labeling of resources such as videos, music, images and texts. We combine the label classification method with the self-advised support vector machine (SA-SVM) to create an adapted and altered label classification method, named the label self-advised support vector machine (LSA-SVM). For the experimental data, we collected data from foot drop patients using the sEMG device, in the Metro Rehabilitation Hospital in Sydney, Australia using Ethical Approval (UTS HREC NO. ETH15-0152). The experimental results for the EMG dataset and benchmark datasets exhibit its benefits. Furthermore, the experimental results on UCI datasets indicate that LSA-SVM achieves the best performance when working together with SA-SVM and SVM. This paper describes the state-of-the-art procedures for M-PR and studies all the conceivable structures.
Characteristic of Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emissions: Detection Rate, Musical Training Influence, and Gain Function
Authors: Wang Yao , Qi Zhihang , Yu Mengmeng , Wang Jinhai , Chen Ruijuan
Published: September 2019

Stimulus frequency otoacoustic emission (SFOAE) is an active acoustic signal emitted by the inner ear providing salient information about cochlear function and dysfunction. To provide a basis for laboratory investigation and clinical use, we investigated the characteristics of SFOAEs, including detection rate, musical training influence, and gain function. Sixty-five normal hearing subjects (15 musicians and 50 non-musicians, aged 16–45 years) were tested and analyzed at the probe level of 30 and 50 dB sound pressure levels (SPL) in the center frequency of 1 and 4 kHz in the study. The results indicate that (1) the detection rates of SFOAE are sensitive to the gender, (2) musicians reveal enhanced hearing capacity and SFOAE amplitudes compared with non-musicians, and (3) probe frequency has a significant effect on the compression threshold of SFOAE. Our findings highlight the importance of SFOAE in the clinical hearing screening and diagnosis and emphasize the use of musical training for the rehabilitation enhancement of the auditory periphery and hearing threshold.
Carbons from Biomasic Waste and Their Applications
Authors: Bedia Jorge , Belver Carolina
Published: September 2019

Carbon-based materials, such as chars, activated carbons, one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, and two-dimensional graphene nanosheets, have shown great potential for a wide variety of applications [...]
Potent Activity of Composite Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibition against Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Shao Yu-Yun , Li Yong-Shi , Hsu Hung-Wei , Lin Hang , Wang Han-Yu , Wo Rita Robin , Cheng Ann-Lii , Hsu Chih-Hung
Published: September 2019

Alterations in cell cycle regulators are common in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We tested the efficacy of composite inhibition of CDKs 1, 2, 5, and 9 through dinaciclib on HCC. In vitro, dinaciclib exhibited potent antiproliferative activities in HCC cell lines regardless of Rb or c-myc expression levels. Dinaciclib significantly downregulated the phosphorylation of Rb (target of CDKs 1 and 2), ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase (target of CDK5), and RNA polymerase II (target of CDK9) in the HCC cells. In xenograft studies, mice receiving dinaciclib tolerated the treatment well without significant body weight changes and exhibited a significantly slower tumor growth rate than the mice receiving vehicles. RNA interference (RNAi) of CDKs 1 and 9 was more effective in inhibiting the cell proliferation of HCC cells than RNAi of CDKs 2 and 5. Overexpression of CDK9 significantly reduced the efficacy of dinaciclib in HCC cells, but overexpression of CDK1 did not. In conclusion, composite inhibition of CDKs 1, 2, 5, and 9 through dinaciclib exhibited potent in vitro and in vivo activity against HCC. CDK9 inhibition might be the crucial mechanism.
Personalizing the Prediction of Colorectal Cancer Prognosis by Incorporating Comorbidities and Functional Status into Prognostic Nomograms
Authors: Boakye Daniel , Jansen Lina , Schneider Martin , Chang-Claude Jenny , Hoffmeister Michael , Brenner Hermann
Published: September 2019

Despite consistent evidence that comorbidities and functional status (FS) are strong prognostic factors for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, these important characteristics are not considered in prognostic nomograms. We assessed to what extent incorporating these characteristics into prognostic models enhances prediction of CRC prognosis. CRC patients diagnosed in 2003–2014 who were recruited into a population-based study in Germany and followed over a median time of 4.7 years were randomized into training (n = 1608) and validation sets (n = 1071). In the training set, Cox models with predefined variables (age, sex, stage, tumor location, comorbidity scores, and FS) were used to construct nomograms for relevant survival outcomes. The performance of the nomograms, compared to models without comorbidity and FS, was evaluated in the validation set using concordance index (C-index). The C-indexes of the nomograms for overall and disease-free survival in the validation set were 0.768 and 0.737, which were substantially higher than those of models including tumor stage only (0.707 and 0.701) or models including stage, age, sex, and tumor location (0.749 and 0.718). The nomograms enabled significant risk stratification within all stages including stage IV. Our study suggests that incorporating comorbidities and FS into prognostic nomograms could substantially enhance prediction of CRC prognosis.
Astrogliosis Releases Pro-Oncogenic Chitinase 3-Like 1 Causing MAPK Signaling in Glioblastoma
Authors: Wurm Julian , Behringer Simon P. , Ravi Vidhya M. , Joseph Kevin , Neidert Nicolas , Maier Julian P. , Doria-Medina Roberto , Follo Marie , Delev Daniel , Pfeifer Dietmar , Beck Jürgen , Sankowski Roman , Schnell Oliver , Heiland Dieter H.
Published: September 2019

Although reactive astrocytes constitute a major component of the cellular environment in glioblastoma, their function and crosstalk to other components of the environment is still poorly understood. Gene expression analysis of purified astrocytes from both the tumor core and non-infiltrated cortex reveals a tumor-related up-regulation of Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1), a cytokine which is related to inflammation, extracellular tissue remodeling, and fibrosis. Further, we established and validated a co-culture model to investigate the impact of reactive astrocytes within the tumor microenvironment. Here we show that reactive astrocytes promote a subtype-shift of glioblastoma towards the mesenchymal phenotype, driving mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling as well as increased proliferation and migration. In addition, we demonstrate that MAPK signaling is directly caused by a CHI3L1-IL13RA2 co-binding, which leads to increased downstream MAPK and AKT signaling. This novel microenvironmental crosstalk highlights the crucial role of non-neoplastic cells in malignant brain tumors and opens up new perspectives for targeted therapies in glioblastoma.
An Antibody Specific for the Dog Leukocyte Antigen DR (DLA-DR) and Its Novel Methotrexate Conjugate Inhibit the Growth of Canine B Cell Lymphoma
Authors: Lisowska Marta , Milczarek Magdalena , Ciekot Jarosław , Kutkowska Justyna , Hildebrand Wojciech , Rapak Andrzej , Miazek Arkadiusz
Published: September 2019

Canine B-cell lymphoma (CBL) is an incurable, spontaneous lymphoid malignancy constituting an accurate animal model for testing novel therapeutic strategies in human medicine. Resources of available species-specific therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting CBL are scarce. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of mAb B5, specific for the dog leukocyte antigen DR (DLA-DR) and its antibody-drug conjugate with methotrexate (B5-MTX). B5 induced caspase-dependent apoptosis of DLA-DR-expressing canine B cell lymphoma/CLBL1 and CLB70 leukemia lines, but not the GL-1 line not expressing DLA-DR. The cytotoxicity of B5-MTX to sensitive cells was further potentiated by a payload of MTX, but without any substantial off-target effects. The infusion of B5 and B5-MTX in a murine model of disseminated, advanced canine lymphoma, mediated >80% and >90% improvement in survival, respectively, and was well tolerated by the animals. Interestingly, the concentrations of soluble DLA-DR (sDLA-DR) antigens present in the blood serum of tumor-bearing mice were found proportional to the tumor burden. On this basis, sDLA-DR levels were evaluated as a potential biomarker using samples from canine lymphoma patients. In summary, the action of B5 and B5-MTX holds promise for further development as an alternative/complementary option for the diagnosis and treatment of canine lymphoma.
Splicing Machinery is Dysregulated in Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors and is Associated with Aggressiveness Features
Authors: Vázquez-Borrego Mari C. , Fuentes-Fayos Antonio C. , Venegas-Moreno Eva , Rivero-Cortés Esther , Dios Elena , Moreno-Moreno Paloma , Madrazo-Atutxa Ainara , Remón Pablo , Solivera Juan , Wildemberg Luiz E. , Kasuki Leandro , López-Fernández Judith M. , Gadelha Mônica R. , Gálvez-Moreno María A. , Soto-Moreno Alfonso , Gahete Manuel D. , Castaño Justo P. , Luque and Raúl M.
Published: September 2019

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) constitute approximately 15% of all brain tumors, and most have a sporadic origin. Recent studies suggest that altered alternative splicing and, consequently, appearance of aberrant splicing variants, is a common feature of most tumor pathologies. Moreover, spliceosome is considered an attractive therapeutic target in tumor pathologies, and the inhibition of SF3B1 (e.g., using pladienolide-B) has been shown to exert antitumor effects. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the expression levels of selected splicing-machinery components in 261 PitNETs (somatotropinomas/non-functioning PitNETS/corticotropinomas/prolactinomas) and evaluated the direct effects of pladienolide-B in cell proliferation/viability/hormone secretion in human PitNETs cell cultures and pituitary cell lines (AtT-20/GH3). Results revealed a severe dysregulation of splicing-machinery components in all the PitNET subtypes compared to normal pituitaries and a unique fingerprint of splicing-machinery components that accurately discriminate between normal and tumor tissue in each PitNET subtype. Moreover, expression of specific components was associated with key clinical parameters. Interestingly, certain components were commonly dysregulated throughout all PitNET subtypes. Finally, pladienolide-B reduced cell proliferation/viability/hormone secretion in PitNET cell cultures and cell lines. Altogether, our data demonstrate a drastic dysregulation of the splicing-machinery in PitNETs that might be associated to their tumorigenesis, paving the way to explore the use of specific splicing-machinery components as novel diagnostic/prognostic and therapeutic targets in PitNETs.