bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive Evaluation of White Matter Damage and Neuron Death and Whole-Transcriptome Analysis of Rats With Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion
Authors: Li Wenxian , Wei Di , Liang Jianye , Xie Xiaomei , Song Kangping , Huang Li’an
Published: July 2019

Background/Aims

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is induced by chronic deficit of brain perfusion, contributes to a persistent or progressive cognitive dysfunction, which is characterized by diverse neuropathological manifestations. There are currently no effective medications available. White matter damage (WMD) and cortical neuron death may be caused by CCH, which are related to cognitive impairment, while the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In the study, a database of the transcriptome level was built to determine potential biomarkers in cortex of CCH.

Methods

CCH was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by permanent occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries. Rats were randomly divided into three groups: Sham-operated group (n = 24), the 4th and 8th week of CCH groups (total = 56, n = 28 for each group). Cognitive function was evaluated using the Morris water maze task. WMD and neuron damage were detected using diffusion tensor imaging and histological analysis, respectively. Western blotting analysis of various markers was used to examine neuronal death. Whole-transcriptome microarray was performed to assess mRNA, circRNA, and lncRNA expression profiles at 4th and 8th weeks after CCH. Diversified bioinformatic tools were performed to analyze and predict the key biological processes and signaling pathways of differentially expressed RNAs and co-expressed potential target genes. Co-expression networks of mRNA–circRNA–miRNA and lncRNA–mRNA were constructed.

Results

Compared to the sham group, cognitive impairment, disintegration of white matter, blood-brain barrier damage and neuron death were induced by CCH. Neuron death including apoptosis and necroptosis might occur in the cortex of CCH. We constructed the regulatory networks of whole-transcriptomic including differentially expressed mRNAs, circRNAs, and lncRNAs, and related biological functions and pathways involved in neurological disease, cell death and survival, energy and metabolism, et al. Our results also indicated that Cyr61 mRNA may play a role in the CCH-related cortical neuronal death.

Conclusion

WMD and cortical neuronal death are worthy of attention in the pathogenesis of CCH. Additionally, the present results provide potential evidence at the whole-transcription level for CCH, offering candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
New Bipartite Graph Techniques for Irregular Data Redistribution Scheduling
Authors: Li Qinghai , Yu Chang Wu
Published: July 2019

For many parallel and distributed systems, automatic data redistribution improves its locality and increases system performance for various computer problems and applications. In general, an array can be distributed to multiple processing systems by using regular or irregular distributions. Some data distribution adopts BLOCK, CYCLIC, or BLOCK-CYCLIC to specify data array decomposition and distribution. On the other hand, irregular distributions specify a different-size data array distribution according to user-defined commands or procedures. In this work, we propose three bipartite graph problems, including the “maximum edge coloring problem”, the “maximum degree edge coloring problem”, and the “cost-sharing maximum edge coloring problem” to formulate these kinds of distribution problems. Next, we propose an approximation algorithm with a ratio bound of two for the maximum edge coloring problem when the input graph is biplanar. Moreover, we also prove that the “cost-sharing maximum edge coloring problem” is an NP-complete problem even when the input graph is biplanar.
Toward a New Use for Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Wheat Breeding
Authors: Dixon Liam , Carter Arron H.
Published: July 2019

A major obstacle in the effort to develop drought tolerant varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is phenotyping. Traits known to contribute to improved drought tolerance, such as water-use behavior, reliance on stem reserve carbohydrates, and the ability to develop deep roots, require time and resource-intensive screening techniques. Plant breeding programs often have many thousands of experimental genotypes, which makes testing for each of these traits impractical. This work proposes that carbon isotope discrimination (∆) analysis of mature grains may serve as a relatively high-throughput approach to identify genotypes exhibiting traits associated with drought tolerance. Using ∆ as a proxy for stomatal conductance and photosynthetic capacity, assumptions can be made regarding fundamental plant physiological responses. When combined with knowledge of the terminal drought severity experienced in a particular environment, genotypes exhibiting conservative and rapid water use, deep roots, and reliance on stem reserve carbohydrates may be identified. Preliminary data in support of this idea are presented. Further verification of this use for grain ∆ will better equip wheat breeding programs to develop more drought tolerant varieties.
Modelling Crop Transpiration in Greenhouses: Different Models for Different Applications
Authors: Katsoulas Nikolaos , Stanghellini Cecilia
Published: July 2019

Models for the evapotranspiration of greenhouse crops are needed both for accurate irrigation and for the simulation or management of the greenhouse climate. For this purpose, several evapotranspiration models have been developed and presented, all based on the Penman–Monteith approach, the “big-leaf” model. So, on the one hand, relatively simple models have been developed for irrigation scheduling purposes, and on the other, “knowledge–mechanistic” models have been developed for climate control purposes. These models differ in the amount of detail about variables, such as stomatal and aerodynamic conductance. The aim of this review paper is to present the variables and parameters affecting greenhouse crop transpiration, and to analyze and discuss the existing models for its simulation. The common sub-models used for the simulation of crop transpiration in greenhouses (aerodynamic and stomatal conductances, and intercepted radiation) are evaluated. The worth of the multilayer models for the simulation of the mass and energy exchanges between crops and air are also analyzed and discussed. Following the presentation of the different models and approaches, it is obvious that the different applications for which these models have been developed entail varying requirements to the models, so that they cannot always be compared. Models developed in different locations (high–low latitudes or for closed or highly ventilated greenhouses) are discussed, and their sensitivity to different parameters is presented.
The Perceived Value of Behavioural Traits in Australian Livestock Herding Dogs Varies with the Operational Context
Authors: Early Jonathan , Arnott Elizabeth , Wilson Bethany , Wade Claire , McGreevy Paul
Published: July 2019

This study investigated the value that handlers and breeders assign to various behavioural traits in Australian livestock herding dogs. Data were obtained from 811 handlers and breeders through the ‘Australian Farm Dog Survey’. Respondents were asked to consider dogs within four contexts: utility (livestock herding in both paddocks and yards), mustering (livestock herding in paddocks and along livestock routes), yards (in and around sheds, sale-yards and transport vehicles), and trial (specifically a standard 3-sheep trial), and to rate the value of 16 working manoeuvres (movement sequences used in herding), 11 working attributes (skills or attributes used in herding) and five general attributes (personality traits ascribed to an individual dog). The most valued working manoeuvres were cast, force and gather. Bite, bark and backing were considered of little value in certain contexts, notably the trial context. Across all four contexts, the general attributes most valued in dogs were being trainable, motivated, confident and friendly, while control and trainability were the working attribute traits considered to be of most value. Excitability was revealed to be a ‘Goldilocks’ trait in that respondents preferred not too much or too little but a ‘just right’ amount in their preferred dog. Analysis indicated a handler preference for either specialised dogs for the utility context or dogs who are easy to work with because of a broad range of traits favoured in the yard context. These results reveal both generalities across and the need for specialisation within these four herding contexts. Further investigation may help to reveal how well handlers distinguish between innate and learnt behaviours when selecting and training livestock herding dogs. Identifying which group handlers fit into optimally may assist in selecting suitable dog–human dyads.
Are Tail and Ear Movements Indicators of Emotions in Tail-Docked Pigs in Response to Environmental Enrichment?
Authors: Marcet-Rius Míriam , Fàbrega Emma , Cozzi Alessandro , Bienboire-Frosini Cécile , Descout Estelle , Velarde Antonio , Pageat Patrick
Published: July 2019

The inclusion of emotional indicators in farm monitoring methods can improve welfare assessments. Studies in controlled conditions have suggested that increased tail movement is an indicator of positive emotions in pigs, while others have proposed that increased ear movements are linked to negative emotions. This study aimed to investigate these indicators in pig farm conditions to analyze their validity and the effect of enrichment on welfare. Thirty-six pigs received one of the following enrichment materials: straw in a rack, wooden logs, or chains. Behavioral observations were performed by focal sampling. The results showed that tail movement duration was significantly higher when pigs exhibited “high use” (three or more pigs in a pen interacting with the enrichment) than when they exhibited “low use” (fewer than three) of enrichment (p = 0.04). A positive correlation was found between tail movement frequency and duration (r = 0.88; p = 0.02). The increase in tail movement could be considered an indicator of positive emotions in pigs when measured with other categories of indicators. Regarding ear movements, no significant difference was found. Future studies should further investigate these indicators thoroughly, as the results could be useful for improving the assessment of emotions in pigs.
Impedance Modeling Based Method for Sub/Supsynchronous Oscillation Analysis of D-PMSG Wind Farm
Authors: Yuan Saijun , Hao Zhiguo , Zhang Tao , Yuan Xiaotian , Shu Jin
Published: July 2019

Subsynchronous oscillation (SSO) is a critical issue for the direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous generator (D-PMSG) based wind farm integrated to a weak onshore AC grid. To analyze the mechanism of the SSO phenomenon of D-PMSG based wind farm, widely used impedance-based stability analysis method is utilized in this paper. First, the impedance model based on the harmonic linearization theory of grid-connected D-PMSG is proposed, and the mechanism of sub/supsynchronous currents coupling is analyzed quantitatively for the first time. Then, based on the impedance model and relative stability criterion, the influence of wind farm operating parameters and grid impedance on stability is discussed. Simulations are carried out to verify the correctness of theoretical analysis.
Review on Seat Suspension System Technology Development
Authors: Heidarian Alireza , Wang Xu
Published: July 2019

This review will focus on the necessity for developing seat vibration control systems as a part of manufacturers’ investigation into finding innovative methods to increase the comfort and safety of the vehicles’ drivers. Operators of either on-road or off-road vehicles are regularly subjected to an extended variety of various vibration levels, especially at low frequencies. Considering that exposure to such vibration in long term has some damaging effects on driver’s health, many comprehensive investigations have been carried out and researchers have proposed several measures for estimating discomfort and the suitability of various vehicles’ seats such as those of trucks, cars and agricultural vehicles in operating condition. Active, passive and semi-active suspension systems are employed in vehicle seats to alleviate the harmful and damaging effects due to the transmitted vibration to the human body. In order to improve riding comfort, the operator’s body displacement and acceleration must be reduced. According to the research, active suspension control systems are the best choice to reduce the transmitted vibration to the drivers’ body and provide the best ride comfort in comparison with passive and semi-active systems.
Analytical Study of Reinforced Concrete Beams Tested under Quasi-Static and Impact Loadings
Authors: Soleimani Sayed Mohamad , Sayyar Roudsari Sajjad
Published: July 2019

During dynamic events (such as impact forces), structures fail to absorb the incoming energy and catastrophic collapse may occur. Impact and quasi-static tests were carried out on reinforced concrete beams with and without externally bounded sprayed and fabric glass fiber-reinforced polymers. For impact loading, a fully instrumented drop-weight impact machine with a capacity of 14.5 kJ was used. The drop height and loading rate were varied. The load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams under impact loading was obtained using instrumented anvil supports (by summing the support reactions). In quasi-static loading conditions, the beams were tested in three-point loading using a Baldwin Universal Testing Machine. ABAQUS FEA software was used to model some of the tested reinforced concrete beams. It was shown that the stiffness of reinforced concrete beams decreases with increasing drop height. It was also shown that applying sprayed glass fiber-reinforced polymers (with and without mechanical stiffeners) and fabric glass fiber-reinforced polymers on the surface of reinforced concrete beams increased the stiffness. Results obtained from the software analyses were in good agreement with the laboratory test results.
Effect of Sowing Dates on Fatty Acids and Phytosterols Patterns of Carthamus tinctorius L.
Authors: Roche Jane , Mouloungui Zephirin , Cerny Muriel , Merah Othmane
Published: July 2019

Field experiments were carried out at the Regional Centre of Experimentation in Organic agriculture at Auch (near Toulouse, South west of France). Due to the high potential applications for its oil components such as fatty acids and phytosterols, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is considered as an emerging crop. Safflower plants, as many other oil crops, are submitted to environmental stresses that modify seed composition. Nevertheless, few reports are available about the effects of environmental conditions on fatty acid and phytosterol compositions in safflower. Different rainfall supplies can be managed by delaying the sowing dates. In this study, fatty acid and phytosterol contents have been evaluated in safflower seeds cultivated at two sowing dates (conventional and late) that led to a differential of rainfall during seed development. At harvest, seeds were used for oil extraction. Fatty acid composition was performed by using GC-FID. A set of seeds was dehulled to separate the almond (embryo) and hull to release the extraction and measurement of sterol contents in the two compartments by GC-FID. A delay of sowing increased the content of all sterol categories but induced a significant decrease in fatty acids. The ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids increased under a delaying sowing. The repartition of phytosterols was ¾ and ¼ of total sterols in the embryo and the hull, respectively. These results could make the use of hull (considered as waste) possible, help breeders to improve safflower oil composition and develop new industrial applications.
A New Approach to Information Extraction in User-Centric E-Recruitment Systems
Authors: Ahmed Awan Malik Nabeel , Khan Sharifullah , Latif Khalid , Khattak Asad Masood
Published: July 2019

In modern society, people are heavily reliant on information available online through various channels, such as websites, social media, and web portals. Examples include searching for product prices, news, weather, and jobs. This paper focuses on an area of information extraction in e-recruitment, or job searching, which is increasingly used by a large population of users in across the world. Given the enormous volume of information related to job descriptions and users’ profiles, it is complicated to appropriately match a user’s profile with a job description, and vice versa. Existing information extraction techniques are unable to extract contextual entities. Thus, they fall short of extracting domain-specific information entities and consequently affect the matching of the user profile with the job description. The work presented in this paper aims to extract entities from job descriptions using a domain-specific dictionary. The extracted information entities are enriched with knowledge using Linked Open Data. Furthermore, job context information is expanded using a job description domain ontology based on the contextual and knowledge information. The proposed approach appropriately matches users’ profiles/queries and job descriptions. The proposed approach is tested using various experiments on data from real life jobs’ portals. The results show that the proposed approach enriches extracted data from job descriptions, and can help users to find more relevant jobs.
Psychoacoustic Models for Perceptual Audio Coding—A Tutorial Review
Authors: Herre Jürgen , Dick Sascha
Published: July 2019

Psychoacoustic models of human auditory perception have found an important application in the realm of perceptual audio coding, where exploiting the limitations of perception and removal of irrelevance is key to achieving a significant reduction in bitrate while preserving subjective audio quality. To this end, psychoacoustic models do not need to be perfect to satisfy their purpose, and in fact the commonly employed models only represent a small subset of the known properties and abilities of the human auditory system. This paper provides a tutorial introduction of the most commonly used psychoacoustic models for low bitrate perceptual audio coding.
Numerical Investigation of Mineral Grain Shape Effects on Strength and Fracture Behaviors of Rock Material
Authors: Han Zhenhua , Zhang Luqing , Zhou Jian
Published: July 2019

Rock is an aggregate of mineral grains, and the grain shape has an obvious influence on rock mechanical behaviors. Current research on grain shape mostly focuses on loose granular materials and lacks standardized quantitative methods. Based on the CLUMP method in the two-dimensional particle flow code (PFC2D), three different grain groups were generated: strip, triangle, and square. Flatness and roughness were adopted to describe the overall contour and the surface morphology of the mineral grains, respectively. Simulated results showed that the grain shape significantly affected rock porosity and further influenced the peak strength and elastic modulus. The peak strength and elastic modulus of the model with strip-shaped grains were the highest, followed by the models with triangular and square grains. The effects of flatness and roughness on rock peak strength were the opposite, and the peak strength had a significant, positive correlation with cohesion. Tensile cracking was dominant among the generated microcracks, and the percentage of tensile cracking was maximal in the model with square grains. At the postpeak stage, the interlocking between grains was enhanced along with the increased surface roughness, which led to a slower stress drop.
Analysis of Nanofluids Behavior in Concentrated Solar Power Collectors with Organic Rankine Cycle
Authors: Sami Samuel
Published: July 2019

In this paper, the performance of nanofluids in a Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Collector (CSP)-based power generation plant, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system is studied. This study is intended to investigate the enhancement effect and characteristics of nanofluids Al2O3, CuO, Fe3O4 and SiO2 in integrated concentrating solar power (CSP) with ORC, and TES under different solar radiations, angles of incidence, and different nanofluid concentrations. The refrigerant mixture used in the ORC loop to enhance the ORC efficiency is an environmentally sound quaternary mixture composed of R134a, R245fa, R125, R236fa. The results showed that the power absorbed, and power collected by the CSP collector and thermal energy stored in the storage tank are enhanced with the increase of the solar radiation. It was also found that the CSP hybrid system efficiency has been enhanced mainly by the increase of the solar radiation and higher nanofluid concentrations over the thermal oil as base fluid. Also, the study concludes that the nanofluid CuO outperforms the other nanofluids—Al2O3, Fe3O4 and SiO2—and has the highest CSP solar collector performance compared to the other nanofluids and thermal oil base fluid under study at similar conditions. Finally, it was found that the model’s prediction compares fairly with data reported in the literature; however, some discrepancies exist between the model’s prediction and the experimental data.
Parallelization Performances of PMSS Flow and Dispersion Modeling System over a Huge Urban Area
Authors: Oldrini Oliver , Armand Patrick , Duchenne Christophe , Perdriel Sylvie
Published: July 2019

The use of modeling as a support tool for crisis management and decision planning requires fast simulations in complex built-up areas. The Parallel Micro SWIFT SPRAY (PMSS) modeling system offers a tradeoff between accuracy and fast calculations, while retaining the capability to model buildings at high resolution in three dimensions. PMSS has been applied to actual areas of responsibilities of emergency teams during the EMERGENCIES (very high rEsolution eMERGEncy simulatioN for citIES) and EMED (Emergencies for the MEDiterranean sea) projects: these areas cover several thousands of square kilometers. Usage of metric meshes on such large areas requires domain decomposition parallel algorithms within PMSS. Sensitivity and performance of the domain decomposition has been evaluated both for the flow and dispersion models, using from 341 up to 8052 computing cores. Efficiency of the Parallel SWIFT (PSWIFT) flow model on the EMED domain remains above 50% for up to 4700 cores. Influence of domain decomposition on the Parallel SPRAY (PSPRAY) Lagrangian dispersion model is less straightforward to evaluate due to the complex load balancing process. Due to load balancing, better performance is achieved with the finest domain decomposition. PMSS is able to simulate accidental or malevolent airborne release at high resolution on very large areas, consistent with emergency team responsibility constrains, and with computation time compatible with operational use. This demonstrates that PMSS is an important asset for emergency response applications.
No Particle Mass Enhancement from Induced Atmospheric Ageing at a Rural Site in Northern Europe
Authors: Ahlberg Erik , Ausmeel Stina , Eriksson Axel , Holst Thomas , Karlsson Tomas , Brune William H. , Frank Göran , Roldin Pontus , Kristensson Adam , Svenningsson Birgitta
Published: July 2019

A large portion of atmospheric aerosol particles consists of secondary material produced by oxidation reactions. The relative importance of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can increase with improved emission regulations. A relatively simple way to study potential particle formation in the atmosphere is by using oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) which simulate atmospheric ageing. Here we report on the first ambient OFR ageing experiment in Europe, coupled with scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and proton transfer reaction (PTR)-MS measurements. We found that the simulated ageing did not produce any measurable increases in particle mass or number concentrations during the two months of the campaign due to low concentrations of precursors. Losses in the reactor increased with hydroxyl radical (OH) exposure and with increasing difference between ambient and reactor temperatures, indicating fragmentation and evaporation of semivolatile material.
The Role of Stabilin-1 in Lymphocyte Trafficking and Macrophage Scavenging in the Liver Microenvironment
Authors: Patten Daniel A. , Shetty Shishir
Published: July 2019

Chronic liver diseases are a major global health burden, and cases of these conditions continue to rise in many countries. A diverse range of insults can lead to chronic liver disease, but they are all characterised by the infiltration and accumulation of immune cells within liver tissue and, if progressive, can lead to tissue fibrosis and cirrhosis. In this review, we focus on the role of stabilin-1 in two key processes that contribute to liver disease, namely, the recruitment of lymphocytes into liver tissue and the response of macrophages to tissue injury. Stabilin-1 is constitutively expressed on the sinusoidal endothelium of the liver and contributes to the homeostatic scavenging function of these cells. Epithelial damage in the context of chronic liver disease leads to the upregulation of stabilin-1 at sites of tissue injury, specifically at sites of immune cell recruitment and on subpopulations of hepatic macrophages. Functionally, stabilin-1 has been shown to mediate transendothelial migration of lymphocyte subsets in the setting of pro-inflammatory-activated human liver endothelium. In experimental models of liver fibrosis, stabilin-1 promotes the uptake of products of chronic oxidative stress by a subset of hepatic macrophages and suppresses their release of pro-inflammatory mediators that regulate tissue remodelling. These studies highlight the active contribution that scavenger receptors such as stabilin-1 can make in regulating chronic inflammation and tissue fibrosis, and their potential as novel therapeutic targets for these conditions.
Phytohormones Regulate Accumulation of Osmolytes Under Abiotic Stress
Authors: Sharma Anket , Shahzad Babar , Kumar Vinod , Kohli Sukhmeen Kaur , Sidhu Gagan Preet Singh , Bali Aditi Shreeya , Handa Neha , Kapoor Dhriti , Bhardwaj Renu , Zheng Bingsong
Published: July 2019

Plants face a variety of abiotic stresses, which generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), and ultimately obstruct normal growth and development of plants. To prevent cellular damage caused by oxidative stress, plants accumulate certain compatible solutes known as osmolytes to safeguard the cellular machinery. The most common osmolytes that play crucial role in osmoregulation are proline, glycine-betaine, polyamines, and sugars. These compounds stabilize the osmotic differences between surroundings of cell and the cytosol. Besides, they also protect the plant cells from oxidative stress by inhibiting the production of harmful ROS like hydroxyl ions, superoxide ions, hydrogen peroxide, and other free radicals. The accumulation of osmolytes is further modulated by phytohormones like abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, cytokinins, ethylene, jasmonates, and salicylic acid. It is thus important to understand the mechanisms regulating the phytohormone-mediated accumulation of osmolytes in plants during abiotic stresses. In this review, we have discussed the underlying mechanisms of phytohormone-regulated osmolyte accumulation along with their various functions in plants under stress conditions.
The Role of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (PTP)-1B in Cardiovascular Disease and Its Interplay with Insulin Resistance
Authors: Abdelsalam Shahenda S. , Korashy Hesham M. , Zeidan Asad , Agouni Abdelali
Published: July 2019

Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of cardiovascular disorders associated with obesity and diabetes. Several studies identified protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP)-1B, a member of the PTP superfamily, as a major negative regulator for insulin receptor signaling and a novel molecular player in endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. Unlike other anti-diabetic approaches, genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of PTP1B was found to improve glucose homeostasis and insulin signaling without causing lipid buildup in the liver, which represents an advantage over existing therapies. Furthermore, PTP1B was reported to contribute to cardiovascular disturbances, at various molecular levels, which places this enzyme as a unique single therapeutic target for both diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Synthesizing selective small molecule inhibitors for PTP1B is faced with multiple challenges linked to its similarity of sequence with other PTPs; however, overcoming these challenges would pave the way for novel approaches to treat diabetes and its concurrent cardiovascular complications. In this review article, we summarized the major roles of PTP1B in cardiovascular disease with special emphasis on endothelial dysfunction and its interplay with insulin resistance. Furthermore, we discussed some of the major challenges hindering the synthesis of selective inhibitors for PTP1B.
Prognostic Role of Androgen Receptor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Multi-Institutional Study
Authors: Bhattarai Shristi , Klimov Sergey , Mittal Karuna , Krishnamurti Uma , Li Xiaoxian , Oprea-Ilies Gabriela , Wetherilt Ceyda , Riaz Ansa , Aleskandarany Mohammed , Green Andrew , Ellis Ian , Cantuaria Guilherme , Gupta Meenakshi , Manne Upender , Agboola Johnson , Baskovich Brett , Janssen Emiel , Callagy Grace , Walsh Elaine , Mehta Anurag , Dogra Atika , Shet Tanuja , Gajaria Pooja , Traina Tiffany , Nggada Haruna , Omonisi Abidemi , Ahmed Saad , Rakha Emad , Rida Padmashree , Aneja Ritu
Published: July 2019

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for AR-positive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, conflicting reports regarding AR’s prognostic role in TNBC are putting its usefulness in question. Some studies conclude that AR positivity indicates a good prognosis in TNBC, whereas others suggest the opposite, and some show that AR status has no significant bearing on the patients’ prognosis. Methods: We evaluated the prognostic value of AR in resected primary tumors from TNBC patients from six international cohorts {US (n = 420), UK (n = 239), Norway (n = 104), Ireland (n = 222), Nigeria (n = 180), and India (n = 242); total n = 1407}. All TNBC samples were stained with the same anti-AR antibody using the same immunohistochemistry protocol, and samples with ≥1% of AR-positive nuclei were deemed AR-positive TNBCs. Results: AR status shows population-specific patterns of association with patients’ overall survival after controlling for age, grade, population, and chemotherapy. We found AR-positive status to be a marker of good prognosis in US and Nigerian cohorts, a marker of poor prognosis in Norway, Ireland and Indian cohorts, and neutral in UK cohort. Conclusion: AR status, on its own, is not a reliable prognostic marker. More research to investigate molecular subtype composition among the different cohorts is warranted.
Reduced Graphene Oxide–P25 Nanocomposites as Efficient Photocatalysts for Degradation of Bisphenol A in Water
Authors: Yu Fei , Bai Xueting , Yang Changfu , Xu Lijie , Ma Jie
Published: July 2019

Reduced graphene oxide–titanium dioxide photocatalyst (rGO–TiO2) was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The rGO–TiO2 was used as photocatalyst for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA), which is a typical endocrine disruptor of the environment. Characterization of photocatalysts and photocatalytic experiments under different conditions were performed for studying the structure and properties of photocatalysts. The characterization results showed that part of the anatase type TiO2 was converted into rutile type TiO2 after hydrothermal treatment and 1% rGO–P25 had the largest specific surface area (52.174 m2/g). Photocatalytic experiments indicated that 1% rGO–P25 had the best catalytic effect, and the most suitable concentration was 0.5 g/L. When the solution pH was 5.98, the catalyst was the most active. Under visible light, the three photocatalytic mechanisms were ranked as follows: O2•− > •OH > h+. 1% rGO–P25 also had strong photocatalytic activity in the photocatalytic degradation of BPA under sunlight irradiation. 1% rGO–P25 with 0.5 g/L may be a very promising photocatalyst with a variety of light sources, especially under sunlight for practical applications.
RF Magnetron Sputtering Deposition of TiO2 Thin Films in a Small Continuous Oxygen Flow Rate
Authors: Simionescu Octavian-Gabriel , Romanițan Cosmin , Tutunaru Oana , Ion Valentin , Buiu Octavian , Avram Andrei
Published: July 2019

Rutile titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films require more energy to crystallize than the anatase phase of TiO2. It is a prime candidate for micro-optoelectronics and is usually obtained either by high substrate temperature, applying a substrate bias, pulsed gas flow to modify the pressure, or ex situ annealing. In the present work, we managed to obtain high enough energy at the substrate in order for the particles to form rutile TiO2 at room temperature without any intentional substrate bias in a continuous gas flow. The rutile TiO2 thin films were deposited by a reactive radiofrequency magnetron sputtering system from a titanium target, in an argon/oxygen gas mixture. Investigations regarding the film’s structure and morphology were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), while the optical properties were investigated by means of ellipsometry.
Increased Sample Entropy in EEGs During the Functional Rehabilitation of an Injured Brain
Authors: Cheng Qiqi , Yang Wenwei , Liu Kezhou , Zhao Weijie , Wu Li , Lei Ling , Dong Tengfei , Hou Na , Yang Fan , Qu Yang , Yang Yong
Published: July 2019

Complex nerve remodeling occurs in the injured brain area during functional rehabilitation after a brain injury; however, its mechanism has not been thoroughly elucidated. Neural remodeling can lead to changes in the electrophysiological activity, which can be detected in an electroencephalogram (EEG). In this paper, we used EEG band energy, approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SampEn), and Lempel–Ziv complexity (LZC) features to characterize the intrinsic rehabilitation dynamics of the injured brain area, thus providing a means of detecting and exploring the mechanism of neurological remodeling during the recovery process after brain injury. The rats in the injury group (n = 12) and sham group (n = 12) were used to record the bilateral symmetrical EEG on days 1, 4, and 7 after a unilateral brain injury in awake model rats. The open field test (OFT) experiments were performed in the following three groups: an injury group, a sham group, and a control group (n = 10). An analysis of the EEG data using the energy, ApEn, SampEn, and LZC features demonstrated that the increase in SampEn was associated with the functional recovery. After the brain injury, the energy values of the delta1 bands on day 4; the delta2 bands on days 4 and 7; the theta, alpha, and beta bands and the values of ApEn, SampEn, and LZC of the cortical EEG signal on days 1, 4 and 7 were significantly lower in the injured brain area than in the non-injured area. During the process of recovery for the injured brain area, the values of the beta bands, ApEn, and SampEn of the injury group increased significantly, and gradually became equal to the value of the sham group. The improvement in the motor function of the model rats significantly correlated with the increase in SampEn. This study provides a method based on EEG nonlinear features for measuring neural remodeling in injured brain areas during brain function recovery. The results may aid in the study of neural remodeling mechanisms.
Rateless Codes-Based Secure Communication Employing Transmit Antenna Selection and Harvest-To-Jam under Joint Effect of Interference and Hardware Impairments
Authors: Tran Tin Phu , Nguyen Tan , Sang Nguyen , Trung Duy Tran , Tran Phuong , Voznak Miroslav
Published: July 2019

In this paper, we propose a rateless codes-based communication protocol to provide security for wireless systems. In the proposed protocol, a source uses the transmit antenna selection (TAS) technique to transmit Fountain-encoded packets to a destination in presence of an eavesdropper. Moreover, a cooperative jammer node harvests energy from radio frequency (RF) signals of the source and the interference sources to generate jamming noises on the eavesdropper. The data transmission terminates as soon as the destination can receive a sufficient number of the encoded packets for decoding the original data of the source. To obtain secure communication, the destination must receive sufficient encoded packets before the eavesdropper. The combination of the TAS and harvest-to-jam techniques obtains the security and efficient energy via reducing the number of the data transmission, increasing the quality of the data channel, decreasing the quality of the eavesdropping channel, and supporting the energy for the jammer. The main contribution of this paper is to derive exact closed-form expressions of outage probability (OP), probability of successful and secure communication (SS), intercept probability (IP) and average number of time slots used by the source over Rayleigh fading channel under the joint impact of co-channel interference and hardware impairments. Then, Monte Carlo simulations are presented to verify the theoretical results.
Enhanced Oil Recovery by Polymer Flooding: Direct, Low-Cost Visualization in a Hele–Shaw Cell
Authors: Tanino Yukie , Syed Amer
Published: July 2019

We designed a hands-on laboratory exercise to demonstrate why injecting an aqueous polymer solution into an oil reservoir (commonly known as “polymer flooding”) enhances oil production. Students are split into three groups of two to three. Each group is assigned to a packed Hele–Shaw cell pre-saturated with oil, our laboratory model of an oil reservoir, and is given an aqueous solution of known polymer concentration to inject into the model reservoir to “push” the oil out. At selected intervals, students record the oil produced, take photos of the cell using their smartphones, and demarcate the invading polymer front on an acetate sheet. There is ample time for students to observe the experiments of other groups and compare the different flow patterns that arise from different polymer concentrations. Students share their results with other groups at the end of the session, which require effective data presentation and communication. Both the in-session tasks and data sharing require team work. While this experiment was designed for a course on Enhanced Oil Recovery for final year undergraduate and MSc students in petroleum engineering, it can be readily adapted to courses on groundwater hydrology or subsurface transport by selecting different test fluids.
Effectiveness Assessment of a Nanocrystalline Sleeve Ferrite Core Compared with Ceramic Cores for Reducing Conducted EMI
Authors: Suarez Adrian , Victoria Jorge , Torres Jose , Martinez Pedro A. , Alcarria Antonio , Martos Julio , Garcia-Olcina Raimundo , Soret Jesus , Muetsch Steffen , Gerfer Alexander
Published: July 2019

The interconnection of different electronic devices or systems through cables is becoming more difficult due to the hard restrictions related to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) in order to comply with requirements. Therefore, the use of EMC components is a good solution to manage the problems associated with the filtering of electromagnetic interference (EMI) in cables and to pass the compliance test. In this sense, sleeve ferrite cores become a very interesting solution since they can be set around a wire and, hence, they provide an effective solution against EMI without having to redesign the electronic circuit. This contribution is focused on the characterization of the performance of a sleeve ferrite core based on a novel nanocrystalline (NC) novel material for EMI suppression and comparing it to the most conventional ceramic ferrite cores such as MnZn and NiZn. The research highlights the suitability of an NC novel component in terms of its magnetic properties to reduce EMI within the conducted emissions range. This range is generally defined by the International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR) test standards frequency band that covers from 150 kHz up to 30 MHz (108 MHz in the case of CISPR 25). First, this study presents a description of the main parameters that define the behavior of NC and ceramic cores and, secondly, by analyzing the data obtained from experimental procedures, it is possible to directly determine the insertion loss parameter. Hence, this characterization procedure is used to obtain the performance of NC material compared to the conventional sleeve ferrite core compositions employed to filter the interferences in this problematic frequency range. As can be deduced from the results obtained, an NC sleeve ferrite core provides the best performance in terms of EMI filtering within a significant frequency range between 100 kHz and 100 MHz.
An Intelligent Air Quality Sensing System for Open-Skin Wound Monitoring
Authors: Sattar Hina , Bajwa Imran Sarwar , Shafi Umar Farooq
Published: July 2019

There are many factors that may have a significant effect on the skin wound healing process. The environment is one of them. Although different previous research woks have highlighted the role of environmental elements such as humidity, temperature, dust, etc., in the process of skin wound healing, there is no predefined method available to identify the favourable or adverse environment conditions that seriously affect (positively or negatively) the skin wound healing process. In the current research work, an IoT-based approach is used to design an AQSS (Air Quality Sensing System) using sensors for the acquisition of real-time environment data, and the SVM (Support Vector Machine) classifier is applied to classify environments into one of the two categories, i.e., “favourable”, and “unfavourable”. The proposed system is also supported with an Android application to provide an easy-to-use interface. The proposed system provides an easy and simple means for patients to evaluate the environmental parameters and monitor their effects in the process of open skin wound healing.
Real-Time Energy Management for a Small Scale PV-Battery Microgrid: Modeling, Design, and Experimental Verification
Authors: Elkazaz Mahmoud , Sumner Mark , Thomas David
Published: July 2019

A new energy management system (EMS) is presented for small scale microgrids (MGs). The proposed EMS focuses on minimizing the daily cost of the energy drawn by the MG from the main electrical grid and increasing the self-consumption of local renewable energy resources (RES). This is achieved by determining the appropriate reference value for the power drawn from the main grid and forcing the MG to accurately follow this value by controlling a battery energy storage system. A mixed integer linear programming algorithm determines this reference value considering a time-of-use tariff and short-term forecasting of generation and consumption. A real-time predictive controller is used to control the battery energy storage system to follow this reference value. The results obtained show the capability of the proposed EMS to lower the daily operating costs for the MG customers. Experimental studies on a laboratory-based MG have been implemented to demonstrate that the proposed EMS can be implemented in a realistic environment.
Constraint Satisfaction in Current Control of a Five-Phase Drive with Locally Tuned Predictive Controllers
Authors: Kowal G. Agnieszka , Arahal Manuel R. , Martin Cristina , Barrero Federico
Published: July 2019

The problem of control of stator currents in multi-phase induction machines has recently been tackled by direct digital model predictive control. Although these predictive controllers can directly incorporate constraints, most reported applications for stator current control of drives do no use this possibility, being the usual practice tuning the controller to achieve the particular compromise solution. The proposal of this paper is to change the form of the tuning problem of predictive controllers so that constraints are explicitly taken into account. This is done by considering multiple controllers that are locally optimal. To illustrate the method, a five-phase drive is considered and the problem of minimizing x − y losses while simultaneously maintaining the switching frequency and current tracking error below some limits is tackled. The experiments showed that the constraint feasibility problem has, in general, no solution for standard predictive control, whereas the proposed scheme provides good tracking performance without violating constraints in switching frequency and at the same time reducing parasitic currents of x − y subspaces.
Demand Response and Distributed Generation Remuneration Approach Considering Planning and Operation Stages
Authors: Silva Cátia , Faria Pedro , Vale Zita
Published: July 2019

The need for new business models to replace existing ones, soon obsolete, is a subject often discussed among researchers in the area. It is essential to find a practical solution that includes the concepts of demand response and distributed generation in the energy markets, these being the future of the electricity grid. It is believed that these resources can bring advantages to the operation of the system, namely increasing technical efficiency. However, one of the problems is the aggregation of small resources as a result of the associated uncertainties. The authors propose a business model with three main phases used in planning: optimal scheduling, aggregation, and remuneration. In this paper, a new phase was added, the classification, with the main purpose of assisting the aggregator of these small resources in operating situations. The focus is on the fair remuneration of participants in the management of the market, in addition to minimizing operating costs. After testing four different remuneration methods, it was proved that the method proposed by the authors obtained better results, proving the viability of the proposed model.
Aerodynamically Interacting Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines: Performance Enhancement and Three-Dimensional Flow
Authors: Brownstein Ian D. , Wei Nathaniel J. , Dabiri John O.
Published: July 2019

This study examined three-dimensional, volumetric mean velocity fields and corresponding performance measurements for an isolated vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) and for co- and counter-rotating pairs of VAWTs with varying incident wind direction and turbine spacings. The purpose was to identify turbine configurations and flow mechanisms that can improve the power densities of VAWT arrays in wind farms. All experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of R e D = 7.3 × 10 4 . In the paired arrays, performance enhancement was observed for both the upstream and downstream turbines. Increases in downstream turbine performance correlate with bluff–body accelerations around the upstream turbine, which increase the incident freestream velocity on the downstream turbine in certain positions. Decreases in downstream turbine performance are determined by its position in the upstream turbine’s wake. Changes in upstream turbine performance are related to variations in the surrounding flow field due to the presence of the downstream rotor. For the most robust array configuration studied, an average 14% increase in array performance over approximately a 50° range of wind direction was observed. Additionally, three-dimensional vortex interactions behind pairs of VAWT were observed that can replenish momentum in the wake by advection rather than turbulent diffusion. These effects and their implications for wind-farm design are discussed.