bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF GINGIVAL INFLAMMATION USING HIGH-RESOLUTION ULTRASOUNDEX-VIVO
Authors: SAYED AHMED M. , LAMARCK RACHEL , CRUZ ELISA , CHAVES EROS , MUKDADI OSAMA M.
Published: April 2018

This study investigates the feasibility of using high-resolution ultrasound imaging echogenicity to quantitatively diagnose gingival inflammation. Gingival samples were extracted from the study participants during gingivectomy procedures. Ultrasound mechanical scanning of the samples was immediately conducted ex-vivo to render cross-sectional images of high resolution, at different locations. Samples’ histological preparation and analysis was followed after performing ultrasound imaging. Histological sections were then matched with ultrasound images at different sections for each gingival sample. The matched image pairs were used to estimate two quantitative measures; relative inflammation area and ultrasound image echogenicity. These parameters were employed to judge the diagnostic potential of gingival ultrasound imaging. The results show that ultrasound images exhibited low intensity levels at the inflamed gingival regions, while healthy layers showed higher intensity levels. The relative area parameter implied a strong relationship between ultrasound and histological images. Ultrasound echogenicity was found to be statistically significant in differentiating between some inflammation degrees in the studied gingival samples. In summary, ultrasound imaging has the potential to be a noninvasive adjunct diagnostic tool for gingival inflammation, and may help assess the stage of the disease and ultimately limit periodontal disease occurrence; taking into consideration the limits of this study.
Viscous Flow Past a NACA0012 Foil Below a Free Surface Through the Delta-Plus-SPH Method
Authors: Sun P. N. , Ming F. R. , Zhang A. M. , Wang B.
Published: April 2018

The present work is dedicated to the modeling of viscous flow past a NACA0012 foil fixed in a current below a free surface. To this end, the [Formula: see text]-smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model has been adopted. This SPH model prevents the inception of the numerical tensile instability in the flow region characterized by negative pressure since a tensile instability control (TIC) has been included. In the TIC, a pressure differencing formulation (PDF) has been adopted for the momentum equation in the flow region characterized by negative pressure. In order to completely remove the numerical noise in the vorticity field, in this work, the PDF is also applied for the region with positive pressure, but except for the free-surface region in order to ensure the free surface stability when wave breaking occurs. The mechanism of PDF being able to eliminate the numerical noise in the vorticity field is also briefly analyzed. In order to reduce the nonconservation of total momentum induced by the PDF, a particle-shifting technique (PST) is implemented in each time step for regularizing the particle position. In the numerical results, [Formula: see text]-SPH results are validated by the experimental data and other verified numerical results. Improvements of the results of [Formula: see text]-SPH with PDF with respect to the ones without using PDF are demonstrated. Parametrical studies based on the [Formula: see text]-SPH model regarding the breaking and non-breaking waves generated by the flow past a submerged foil are also carried out.
Influence of silane coupling agent on microstructure and properties of CCTO-P(VDF-CTFE) composites
Authors: Tong Yang , Zhang Lin , Bass Patrick , Rolin Terry D. , Cheng Z.-Y.
Published: April 2018

Influence of the coupling agent on microstructure and dielectric properties of ceramic–polymer composites is systematically studied using CaCu3Ti4O[Formula: see text] (CCTO) as the filler, trichloro-(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)-silane (Cl3-silane) as coupling agent, and P(VDF-CTFE) 88/12[Formula: see text]mol.% copolymer as the matrix. It is demonstrated that Cl3-silane molecules can be attached onto CCTO surface using a simple process. The experimental results show that coating CCTO with Cl3-silane can improve the microstructure uniformity of the composites due to the good wettability between Cl3-silane and P(VDF-CTFE), which also significantly improves the electric breakdown field of the composites. It is found that the composites using CCTO coated with 1.0[Formula: see text]wt.% Cl3-silane exhibit a higher dielectric constant with a higher electric breakdown field. For the composites with 15[Formula: see text]vol.% CCTO that is coated with 1.0[Formula: see text]wt.% Cl3-silane, an electric breakdown field of more than 240[Formula: see text]MV/m is obtained with an energy density of more than 4.5[Formula: see text]J/cm3. It is also experimentally found that the dielectric constant can be used to easily identify the optimized content of coupling agent.
Model-Based Response Planning Strategies for Autonomic Intrusion Protection
Authors: Iannucci Stefano , Abdelwahed Sherif
Published: April 2018

The continuous increase in the quantity and sophistication of cyberattacks is making it more difficult and error prone for system administrators to handle the alerts generated by intrusion detection systems (IDSs). To deal with this problem, several intrusion response systems (IRSs) have been proposed lately. IRSs extend the IDSs by providing an automatic response to the detected attack. Such a response is usually selected either with a static attack-response mapping or by quantitatively evaluating all available responses, given a set of predefined criteria. In this article, we introduce a probabilistic model-based IRS built on the Markov decision process (MDP) framework. In contrast to most existing approaches to intrusion response, the proposed IRS effectively captures the dynamics of both the defended system and the attacker and is able to compose atomic response actions to plan optimal multiobjective long-term response policies to protect the system. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed IRS by showing that long-term response planning always outperforms short-term planning, and we conduct a thorough performance assessment to show that the proposed IRS can be adopted to protect large distributed systems at runtime.
Sensory Substitution for Force Feedback Recovery
Authors: Aviles-Rivero Angelica I. , Alsaleh Samar M. , Philbeck John , Raventos Stella P. , Younes Naji , Hahn James K. , Casals Alicia
Published: April 2018

Robotic-assisted surgeries are commonly used today as a more efficient alternative to traditional surgical options. Both surgeons and patients benefit from those systems, as they offer many advantages, including less trauma and blood loss, fewer complications, and better ergonomics. However, a remaining limitation of currently available surgical systems is the lack of force feedback due to the teleoperation setting, which prevents direct interaction with the patient. Once the force information is obtained by either a sensing device or indirectly through vision-based force estimation, a concern arises on how to transmit this information to the surgeon. An attractive alternative is sensory substitution, which allows transcoding information from one sensory modality to present it in a different sensory modality. In the current work, we used visual feedback to convey interaction forces to the surgeon. Our overarching goal was to address the following question: How should interaction forces be displayed to support efficient comprehension by the surgeon without interfering with the surgeon’s perception and workflow during surgery? Until now, the use the visual modality for force feedback has not been carefully evaluated. For this reason, we conducted an experimental study with two aims: (1) to demonstrate the potential benefits of using this modality and (2) to understand the surgeons’ perceptual preferences. The results derived from our study of 28 surgeons revealed a strong positive acceptance of the users (96%) using this modality. Moreover, we found that for surgeons to easily interpret the information, their mental model must be considered, meaning that the design of the visualizations should fit the perceptual and cognitive abilities of the end user. To our knowledge, this is the first time that these principles have been analyzed for exploring sensory substitution in medical robotics. Finally, we provide user-centered recommendations for the design of visual displays for robotic surgical systems.
Blind Key Based Attack Resistant Audio Steganography Using Cocktail Party Effect
Authors: Gupta Banik Barnali , Bandyopadhyay Samir Kumar
Published: April 2018

Steganography is a popular technique of digital data security. Among all digital steganography methods, audio steganography is very delicate as human auditory system is highly sensitive to noise; hence small modification in audio can make significant audible impact. In this paper, a key based blind audio steganography method has been proposed which is built on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) as well as discrete cosine transform (DCT) and adheres to Kerckhoff’s principle. Here image has been used as secret message which is preprocessed using Arnold’s Transform. To make the system more robust and undetectable, a well-known problem of audio analysis has been explored here, known as Cocktail Party Problem, for wrapping stego audio. The robustness of the proposed method has been tested against Steganalysis attacks like noise addition, random cropping, resampling, requantization, pitch shifting, and mp3 compression. The quality of resultant stego audio and retrieved secret image has been measured by various metrics, namely, “peak signal-to-noise ratio”; “correlation coefficient”; “perceptual evaluation of audio quality”; “bit error rate”; and “structural similarity index.” The embedding capacity has also been evaluated and, as seen from the comparison result, the proposed method has outperformed other existing DCT-DWT based technique.
Flexible Wi-Fi Communication among Mobile Robots in Indoor Industrial Environments
Authors: Haxhibeqiri Jetmir , Jarchlo Elnaz Alizadeh , Moerman Ingrid , Hoebeke Jeroen
Published: April 2018

In order to speed up industrial processes and to improve logistics, mobile robots are getting important in industry. In this paper, we propose a flexible and configurable architecture for the mobile node that is able to operate in different network topology scenarios. The proposed solution is able to operate in presence of network infrastructure, in ad hoc mode only, or to use both possibilities. In case of mixed architecture, mesh capabilities will enable coverage problem detection and overcoming. The solution is based on real requirements from an automated guided vehicle producer. First, we evaluate the overhead introduced by our solution. Since the mobile robot communication relies in broadcast traffic, the broadcast scalability in mesh network is evaluated too. Finally, through experiments on a wireless testbed for a variety of scenarios, we analyze the impact of roaming, mobility and traffic separation, and demonstrate the advantage of our approach in handling coverage problems.
Does the Intensity of IGG4 Immunostaining Have a Correlation with the Clinical Presentation of Riedel’s Thyroiditis?
Authors: Simões C. A. , Tavares M. R. , Andrade N. M. M. , Uehara T. M. , Dedivitis R. A. , Cernea C. R.
Published: April 2018

Riedel’s thyroiditis (RT) represents one type of IgG4-related thyroid disease (IgG4RTD) and the diagnosis involves quantitative immunohistochemistry showing dense lymphoplasmacellular inflammatory infiltrate consisting of IgG4-positive plasma cells with storiform fibrosis and obliterative phlebitis. We report a case of RT with progressive enlargement of the anterior neck, severe dysphagia, odynophagia, and dyspnea. The patient underwent surgical decompression of the airway, protection tracheotomy, and gastrostomy for nutritional intake 6 months after first symptoms. Complete resolution occurred after surgical treatment combined with prednisolone. Immunostaining revealed IgG4-positive plasma cells 12/HPF (high-power field) and the IgG4/IgG ratio 25%, values that were disproportionate to the intensity of the patient’s symptoms. As to this case and the few cases described and analyzed in the literature, our impression is that there is no relation between the intensity of symptoms in RT with the total number of IgG4-positive plasma cells and the IgG4/IgG ratio, but more studies are needed.
Electronic Pulses from Pulsed Field Emission of CNT Cathodes
Authors: Wei Xianqi , Wang Xiaoli , Li Xin , Liu Weihua
Published: April 2018

We presented a demonstration of infrared laser irradiated field emission electronic pulse based on carbon nanotube (CNT) cathodes. Electronic pulses greatly depended on pulsed infrared laser and were almost synchronous with laser pulses. We have designed a pulsed field emission cathode based on CNTs and investigated correlation between electronic pulse and laser pulse, acquiring the shortest width of electronic pulses about 50 ms and turn-on field less than 0.14 V/μm. Besides, we have studied the thermal effect on the pulsed field emission of CNT cathodes caused by laser heating. Interestingly, the thermal effect has caused an enhancement of emission current but resulted in a waveform distortion on short electronic pulses. The application of laser pulses on CNT cathodes would extend conventional electron sources to a pulsed electron source and offered a possibility of pulsed field emission. These results were encouraging us to prepare further studies of ultrafast electronic pulses for high-frequency electron sources.
Consumption of Cuban Policosanol Improves Blood Pressure and Lipid Profile via Enhancement of HDL Functionality in Healthy Women Subjects: Randomized, Double‐Blinded, and Placebo‐Controlled Study
Authors: Cho Kyung-Hyun , Kim Suk-Jeong , Yadav Dhananjay , Kim Jae-Yong , Kim Jae-Ryong
Published: April 2018

Policosanol has been reported to improve blood pressure, lipid profile, and HDL functionality via inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) both in vitro and in vivo in zebrafish and human models. However, there are limited reports and randomized, double‐blinded trials on policosanol that could advocate the blood pressure‐lowering effect in prehypertensive participants. Therefore, we performed in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo experiments to provide more substantial and concrete data on the blood pressure‐lowering effect of policosanol. Consumption of policosanol for 8 weeks enhanced plasma antioxidant activity. In the policosanol group, plasma total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels were reduced up to 20% and 14%, respectively, and HDL‐C level was elevated up to 1.3‐fold compared to that at week 0. TG/HDL‐C and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activities were reduced up to 36% and 20%, respectively. Uptake of oxidized LDL in macrophages was reduced as oxidized species levels were reduced, and HDL2‐associated paraoxonase activities were enhanced by 60% compared to those at week 0. Encapsulation of policosanol into reconstituted HDL (PCO‐rHDL) enhanced cholesterol efflux activity and insulin secretion capacity. In conclusion, consumption of policosanol for 8 weeks in healthy female subjects resulted in lowered blood pressure and CETP activity via elevation of HDL/apoA‐I contents and enhancement of HDL functionalities, including cholesterol efflux and insulin secretion. These functional enhancements of HDL can contribute to the prevention of aging‐related diseases, hypertension, and stroke.
Information Processing Features Can Detect Behavioral Regimes of Dynamical Systems
Authors: Quax Rick , Chliamovitch Gregor , Dupuis Alexandre , Falcone Jean-Luc , Chopard Bastien , Hoekstra Alfons G. , Sloot Peter M. A.
Published: April 2018

In dynamical systems, local interactions between dynamical units generate correlations which are stored and transmitted throughout the system, generating the macroscopic behavior. However a framework to quantify exactly how these correlations are stored, transmitted, and combined at the microscopic scale is missing. Here we propose to characterize the notion of “information processing” based on all possible Shannon mutual information quantities between a future state and all possible sets of initial states. We apply it to the 256 elementary cellular automata (ECA), which are the simplest possible dynamical systems exhibiting behaviors ranging from simple to complex. Our main finding is that only a few information features are needed for full predictability of the systemic behavior and that the “information synergy” feature is always most predictive. Finally we apply the idea to foreign exchange (FX) and interest‐rate swap (IRS) time‐series data. We find an effective “slowing down” leading indicator in all three markets for the 2008 financial crisis when applied to the information features, as opposed to using the data itself directly. Our work suggests that the proposed characterization of the local information processing of units may be a promising direction for predicting emergent systemic behaviors.
Optimal Pricing for MDS-Coded Caching in Wireless D2D Networks
Authors: Zhang Tao , Xiao Lin , Yang Dingcheng , Cuthbert Laurie
Published: April 2018

In this paper, we investigate the caching of files in mobile devices in a wireless D2D network using maximum distance separable (MDS) codes. The coded symbols of each file are stored in the mobile devices. To regulate the D2D communications and reduce the transmission cost among mobile devices, a price mechanism is used for D2D communications so that they are allowed to choose whether to transmit the requested coded symbol to the other device or not. The mobile device can cooperate with others in terms of the battery level and the reward that is given from the other device. If the mobile device fails to retrieve enough coded symbols, the BS will respond with the missing coded symbols. We derived the optimal payment after taking the battery level of devices into consideration, and the problem was formulated as an optimization problem, subject to a range of payment. Numerical results demonstrate that using the MDS-coded scheme can significantly reduce the cost of transmitting a file, and there exist an optimal number of coded symbols cached in the mobile device, which consumes minimal cost of transmitting a requested file.
Fast Algorithm of Truncated Burrows-Wheeler Transform Coding for Data Compression of Sensors
Authors: Jiancheng Qin , Yiqin Lu , Yu Zhong
Published: April 2018

Lots of sensors in the IoT (Internet of things) may generate massive data, which will challenge the limited sensor storage and network bandwidth. So the study of big data compression is very useful in the field of sensors. In practice, BWT (Burrows-Wheeler transform) can gain good compression results for some kinds of data, but the traditional BWT algorithms are neither concise nor fast enough for the hardware of sensors, which will limit the BWT block size in a very small and incompetent scale. To solve this problem, this paper presents a fast algorithm of truncated BWT named “CZ-BWT algorithm” and implements it in the shareware named “ComZip.” CZ-BWT supports the BWT block up to 2 GB (or larger) and uses the bucket sort. It is very fast with the time complexity O(N) and fits the big data compression. The experiment results indicate that ComZip with the CZ-BWT filter is obviously faster than bzip2, and it can obtain better compression ratio than bzip2 and p7zip in some conditions. In addition, CZ-BWT is more concise than current BWT with SA (suffix array) sorts and fits the hardware BWT implementation of sensors.
The Progress of Methylation Regulation in Gene Expression of Cervical Cancer
Authors: Feng Chunyang , Dong Junxue , Chang Weiqin , Cui Manhua , Xu Tianmin
Published: April 2018

Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological tumors in females, which is closely related to high-rate HPV infection. Methylation alteration is a type of epigenetic decoration that regulates the expression of genes without changing the DNA sequence, and it is essential for the progression of cervical cancer in pathogenesis while reflecting the prognosis and therapeutic sensitivity in clinical practice. Hydroxymethylation has been discovered in recent years, thus making 5-hmC, the more stable marker, attract more attention in the field of methylation research. As markers of methylation, 5-hmC and 5-mC together with 5-foC and 5-caC draw the outline of the reversible cycle, and 6-mA takes part in the methylation of RNA, especially mRNA. Furthermore, methylation modification participates in ncRNA regulation and histone decoration. In this review, we focus on recent advances in the understanding of methylation regulation in the process of cervical cancer, as well as HPV and CIN, to identify the significant impact on the prospect of overcoming cervical cancer.
The Planners’ Perspective on Train Timetable Errors in Sweden
Authors: Palmqvist Carl-William , Olsson Nils O. E. , Winslott Hiselius Lena
Published: April 2018

Timetables are important for train punctuality. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the people who plan the timetables: the research has instead been more centred on how to improve timetables through simulation, optimisation, and data analysis techniques. In this study, we present an overview of the state of practice and the state of the art in timetable planning by studying the research literature and railway management documents from several European countries. We have also conducted interviews with timetable planners in Southern Sweden, focusing on how timetable planning relates to punctuality problems. An important backdrop for this is a large project currently underway at the Swedish Transport Administration, modernizing the timetable planning tools and processes. This study is intended to help establish a baseline for the future evaluation of this modernization by documenting the current process and issues, as well as some of the research that has influenced the development and specifications of the new tools and processes. Based on the interviews, we found that errors in timetables commonly lead to infeasible timetables, which necessitate intervention by traffic control, and to delays occurring, increasing, and spreading. We found that the timetable planners struggle to create a timetable and that they have neither the time nor the tools required to ensure that the timetable maintains a high quality and level of robustness. The errors we identified are (a) crossing train paths at stations, (b) wrong track allocation of trains at stations, especially for long trains, (c) insufficient dwell and meet times at stations, and (d) insufficient headways leading to delays spreading. We have identified eleven reasons for these errors and found three themes among these reasons: (1) “missing tools and support,” (2) “role conflict,” and (3) “single-loop learning.” As the new tools and processes are rolled out, the situation is expected to improve with regard to the first of these themes. The second theme of role conflict occurs when planners must strive to meet the demands of the train operating companies, while they must also be unbiased and create a timetable that has a high overall quality. While this role conflict will remain in the future, the new tools can perhaps help address the third theme by elevating the planners from first- to double-loop learning and thereby allowing them to focus on quality control and on finding better rules and heuristics. Over time, this will lead to improved timetable robustness and train punctuality.
Postural Tachycardia Syndrome and Vasovagal Syncope: A Hidden Case of Obstructive Cardiomyopathy without Severe Septal Hypertrophy
Authors: Mayuga Kenneth A. , Ho Natalie , Shields Robert W. , Cremer Paul , Rodriguez L. Leonardo
Published: April 2018

A 36-year-old female with symptoms of orthostatic intolerance and syncope was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope on a tilt table test and with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) after a repeat tilt table test. However, an echocardiogram at our institution revealed obstructive cardiomyopathy without severe septal hypertrophy, with a striking increase in left ventricular outflow tract gradient from 7 mmHg at rest to 75 mmHg during Valsalva, with a septal thickness of only 1.3 cm. Cardiac MRI showed an apically displaced multiheaded posteromedial papillary muscle with suggestion of aberrant chordal attachments to the anterior mitral leaflet contributing to systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve. She underwent surgery with reorientation of the posterior medial papillary muscle head, resection of the tethering secondary chordae to the A1 segment of the mitral valve, chordal shortening and tacking of the chordae to the A1 and A2 segments of the mitral valve, and gentle septal myectomy. After surgery, she had significant improvement in her prior symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of obstructive cardiomyopathy without severe septal hypertrophy with abnormalities in papillary muscle and chordal attachment, in a patient diagnosed with vasovagal syncope and POTS.
A Family of Hyperbolic-Type Explicit Force Regulators with Active Velocity Damping for Robot Manipulators
Authors: Reyes-Cortés Fernando , Chávez-Olivares César , González-Galván Emilio J.
Published: April 2018

This paper addresses the explicit force regulation problem for robot manipulators in interaction tasks. A new family of explicit force-control schemes is presented, which includes a term driven by a large class of saturated-type hyperbolic functions to handle the force error. Also, an active velocity damping term with the purpose of obtaining energy dissipation on the contact surface is incorporated plus compensation for gravity. In order to ensure asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system equilibrium point in Cartesian space, we propose a strict Lyapunov function. A force sensor placed at the end-effector of the robot manipulator is used in order to feed back the measure of the force error in the closed-loop, and an experimental comparison of the performanceL2-norm between 5 explicit force control schemes, which are the classical proportional-derivative (PD), arctangent, and square-root controls and two members of the proposed control family, on a two-degree-of-freedom, direct-drive robot manipulator, is presented.
A Comparative Study of EMG Indices in Muscle Fatigue Evaluation Based on Grey Relational Analysis during All-Out Cycling Exercise
Authors: Wang Lejun , Wang Yuting , Ma Aidi , Ma Guoqiang , Ye Yu , Li Ruijie , Lu Tianfeng
Published: April 2018

The increased popularization of cycling has brought an increase in cycling-related injuries, which has been suggested to be associated with muscle fatigue. However, it still remains unclear on the utility of different EMG indices in muscle fatigue evaluation induced by cycling exercise. In this study, ten cyclist volunteers performed a 30-second all-out cycling exercise after a warm-up period. Surface electromyography (sEMG) from vastus lateralis muscle (VL) and power output and cadence were recorded and EMG RMS, MF and MPF based on Fourier Transform, MDF and MNF based on wavelet packet transformation, and C(n) based on Lempel–Ziv complexity algorithm were calculated. Utility of the indices was compared based on the grey rational grade of sEMG indices and power output and cadence. The results suggested that MNF derived from wavelet packet transformation was significantly higher than other EMG indices, indicating the potential application for fatigue evaluation induced by all-out cycling exercise.
Scleredema Diabeticorum with Superimposed Cellulitis and Abscess Formation
Authors: Shrestha Binav , Sharma Eliza , Mukhtar Osama , Kaler Jaspreet , Thapa Shivani , Khalid Mazin
Published: April 2018

Scleredema diabeticorum is a rare cutaneous manifestation of diabetes mellitus. We present a case of an obese male with poorly controlled diabetes who came to the hospital with upper back pain and subsequently developed sepsis due to a small deep-seated abscess in his back that was drained and treated with antibiotics. He was also found to have extensive induration of the skin over his back and neck. Skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of scleredema diabeticorum.
Initial Clinical Trial of Robot of Endovascular Treatment with Force Feedback and Cooperating of Catheter and Guidewire
Authors: Jiang Yuhua , Liu Keyun , Li Youxiang
Published: April 2018

To evaluate the feasibility and safety of the robot of endovascular treatment (RobEnt) in clinical practice, we carried out a cerebral angiography using this robot system. We evaluated the performance of application of the robot system to clinical practice through using this robotic system to perform the digital subtraction angiography for a patient who was suspected of suffering intracranial aneurysm. At the same time, through comparing the postoperative head nuclear magnetic and blood routine with the preoperative examination, we evaluated the safety of application of the robot system to clinical practice. We performed the robot system to complete the bilateral carotid artery and bilateral vertebral arteriography. The results indicate that there was no obvious abnormality in the patient’s cerebral artery. No obvious abnormality was observed in the examination of patients’ check-up, head nuclear magnetism, and blood routine after the digital subtraction angiography. From this clinical trial, it can be observed that the robot system can perform the operation of cerebral angiography. The robot system can basically complete the related observation indexes, and its accuracy, effectiveness, stability, and safety basically meet the requirements of clinical application in neurointerventional surgery.
Sustained Adrenergic Signaling Promotes Intratumoral Innervation through BDNF Induction
Authors: Allen Julie K. , Armaiz-Pena Guillermo N. , Nagaraja Archana S. , Sadaoui Nouara C. , Ortiz Tatiana , Dood Robert , Ozcan Merve , Herder Danielle M. , Haemmerle Monika , Gharpure Kshipra M. , Rupaimoole Rajesha , Previs Rebecca A. , Wu Sherry Y. , Pradeep Sunila , Xu Xiaoyun , Han Hee Dong , Zand Behrouz , Dalton Heather J. , Taylor Morgan , Hu Wei , Bottsford-Miller Justin , Moreno-Smith Myrthala , Kang Yu , Mangala Lingegowda S. , Rodriguez-Aguayo Cristian , Sehgal Vasudha , Spaeth Erika L. , Ram Prahlad T. , Wong Stephen T.C. , Marini Frank C. , Lopez-Berestein Gabriel , Cole Steve W. , Lutgendorf Susan K. , De Biasi Mariella , Sood Anil K.
Published: April 2018

Mounting clinical and preclinical evidence supports a key role for sustained adrenergic signaling in the tumor microenvironment as a driver of tumor growth and progression. However, the mechanisms by which adrenergic neurotransmitters are delivered to the tumor microenvironment are not well understood. Here we present evidence for a feed-forward loop whereby adrenergic signaling leads to increased tumoral innervation. In response to catecholamines, tumor cells produced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in an ADRB3/cAMP/Epac/JNK-dependent manner. Elevated BDNF levels in the tumor microenvironment increased innervation by signaling through host neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase 2 receptors. In patients with cancer, high tumor nerve counts were significantly associated with increased BDNF and norepinephrine levels and decreased overall survival. Collectively, these data describe a novel pathway for tumor innervation, with resultant biological and clinical implications.

Significance: Sustained adrenergic signaling promotes tumor growth and metastasis through BDNF-mediated tumoral innervation. Cancer Res; 78(12); 3233–42. ©2018 AACR.
Differential Effects of Estrogen Receptor β Isoforms on Glioblastoma Progression
Authors: Liu Jinyou , Sareddy Gangadhara R. , Zhou Mei , Viswanadhapalli Suryavathi , Li Xiaonan , Lai Zhao , Tekmal Rajeshwar R. , Brenner Andrew , Vadlamudi Ratna K.
Published: April 2018

The estrogen receptor β (ERβ) functions as a tumor suppressor in glioblastoma (GBM) cells. However, the in vivo significance of endogenous ERβ and the roles of its isoforms in GBM are incompletely understood. Using ERβ isoform-specific PCR screening, we found that GBM cells predominantly express ERβ1 and ERβ5, along with low levels of ERβ2 and ERβ4. We observed greater ERβ5 expression in higher grades of glioma than in lower grades. In CRISPR-based ERβ knockout (KO) cells and ERβ KO cells uniquely expressing ERβ1 or ERβ5 only, ERβ1 significantly reduced proliferation. Compared with parental GBM cells, ERβ KO cells exhibited high migratory and invasive potentials, and reexpression of ERβ1 resulted in the reduction of this phenotype. Interestingly, ERβ5 expression increased foci formation and anchorage-independent growth of NIH3T3 cells and increased motile structure formation, including filopodia and ruffles in GBM cells. Only ERβ1-expressing tumors resulted in longer mouse survival. RNA-Seq analysis revealed unique pathways modulated by ERβ1 and ERβ5. Compared with ERβ KO cells, ERβ1 cells exhibited lower activation of mTOR signaling molecules, including p-mTOR, p-S6K, and p-S6, and ERβ5-expressing cells had enhanced mTOR downstream signaling. Unique proteins including several that function as regulators of mTOR, immunomodulatory, and apoptosis pathways bound to ERβ1 and ERβ5 isoforms. Our work confirms the tumor-suppressive potential of ERβ1 and reveals the acquired oncogenic ability of ERβ5 in GBM cells. ERβ isoform status and their unique interactions with oncogenic pathways may have important implications in GBM progression.

Significance: These findings suggest that only ERβ isoform 1 has tumor suppressor function in GBM and that ERβ isoform switching contributes to GBM progression. Cancer Res; 78(12); 3176–89. ©2018 AACR.
Anti-CA15.3 and Anti-CA125 Antibodies and Ovarian Cancer Risk: Results from the EPIC Cohort
Authors: Cramer Daniel W. , Fichorova Raina N. , Terry Kathryn L. , Yamamoto Hidemi , Vitonis Allison F. , Ardanaz Eva , Aune Dagfinn , Boeing Heiner , Brändstedt Jenny , Boutron-Ruault Marie-Christine , Chirlaque Maria-Dolores , Dorronsoro Miren , Dossus Laure , Duell Eric J. , Gram Inger T. , Gunter Marc , Hansen Louise , Idahl Annika , Johnson Theron , Khaw Kay-Tee , Krogh Vittorio , Kvaskoff Marina , Mattiello Amalia , Matullo Giuseppe , Merritt Melissa A. , Nodin Björn , Orfanos Philippos , Onland-Moret N. Charlotte , Palli Domenico , Peppa Eleni , Quirós J. Ramón , Sánchez-Perez Maria-Jose , Severi Gianluca , Tjønneland Anne , Travis Ruth C. , Trichopoulou Antonia , Tumino Rosario , Weiderpass Elisabete , Fortner Renée T. , Kaaks Rudolf
Published: April 2018

Background: Neoplastic and non-neoplastic events may raise levels of mucins, CA15.3, and CA125, and generate antibodies against them, but their impact on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk has not been fully defined.

Methods: CA15.3, CA125, and IgG1 antibodies against them were measured in 806 women who developed EOC and 1,927 matched controls from the European Prospective Investigation of Nutrition and Cancer. Associations between epidemiologic factors and anti-mucin antibodies were evaluated using generalized linear models; EOC risks associated with anti-mucin antibodies, by themselves or in combination with respective antigens, were evaluated using conditional logistic regression.

Results: In controls, lower antibodies against both mucins were associated with current smoking; and, in postmenopausal women, higher levels with longer oral contraceptive use and later-age-at and shorter-interval-since last birth. Lower anti-CA15.3 antibodies were associated with higher body mass and, in premenopausal women, more ovulatory cycles. Higher anti-CA15.3 and anti-CA125 antibodies were associated with higher risk for mucinous EOC occurring ≥ 3 years from enrollment. Long-term risk for serous EOC was reduced in women with low CA125 and high anti-CA125 antibodies relative to women with low concentrations of both.

Conclusions: We found general support for the hypothesis that anti-mucin antibody levels correlate with risk factors for EOC. Antibodies alone or in combinations with their antigen may predict longer term risk of specific EOC types.

Impact: Anti-CA125 and anti-CA15.3 antibodies alone or in perspective of antigens may be informative in the pathogenesis of EOC subtypes, but less useful for informing risk for all EOC. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(7); 790–804. ©2018 AACR.
Immunogenomic Analyses of Advanced Serous Ovarian Cancer Reveal Immune Score is a Strong Prognostic Factor and an Indicator of Chemosensitivity
Authors: Hao Dapeng , Liu Jie , Chen Meng , Li JingJing , Wang Li , Li Xiaobo , Zhao Qi , Di Li-jun
Published: April 2018

Purpose: Ovarian cancer is one of the first human cancers for which in situ immune response was reported to be important for the clinical outcome. To elucidate the mechanistic relationship between immune repertoire and cancer genotype in ovarian cancer, the development of a well-defined immune score for ovarian cancer is required.

Experimental Design: From a collection of 2,203 patient samples of advanced ovarian cancer from public available resources, we evaluated the prognostic values for a compendium of immune marker genes and proposed an immune score. The relationships between immune score, tumor-infiltrating immune cells, cancer genotypes, and their impact on patient outcome were characterized.

Results: Loss of chemokine and IFNγ pathway genes is frequent in ovarian cancer and is significantly associated with low immune score and poor outcome. Chemotherapy can increase the immune score of tumors by inducing the expression of IFNγ inducible chemokines. High immune score is significantly associated with BRCA1/2 mutation status and the response to chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis revealed that immune score is a strong predictor of patient survival and the response to immunotherapy.

Conclusions: Our results reveal the drivers of the immune repertoire of advanced ovarian cancer and demonstrate the importance of immune score as an independent prognostic signature and a potent indicator of intratumoral immune status. Clin Cancer Res; 24(15); 3560–71. ©2018 AACR.
The Anorexigenic Neural Pathways of Oxytocin and Their Clinical Implication
Authors: Maejima Yuko , Yokota Shoko , Nishimori Katsuhiko , Shimomura Kenju
Published: April 2018

Oxytocin was discovered in 1906 as a peptide that promotes delivery and milk ejection; however, its additional physiological functions were determined 100 years later. Many recent articles have reported newly discovered effects of oxytocin on social communication, bonding, reward-related behavior, adipose tissue, and muscle and food intake regulation. Because oxytocin neurons project to various regions in the brain that contribute to both feeding reward (hedonic feeding) and the regulation of energy balance (homeostatic feeding), the mechanisms of oxytocin on food intake regulation are complicated and largely unknown. Oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) receive neural projections from the arcuate nucleus (ARC), which is an important center for feeding regulation. On the other hand, these neurons in the PVN and supraoptic nucleus project to the ARC. PVN oxytocin neurons also project to the brain stem and the reward-related limbic system. In addition to this, oxytocin induces lipolysis and decreases fat mass. However, these effects in feeding and adipose tissue are known to be dependent on body weight (BW). Oxytocin treatment is more effective in food intake regulation and fat mass decline for individuals with leptin resistance and higher BW, but is known to be less effective in individuals with normal BW. In this review, we present in detail the recent findings on the physiological role of oxytocin in feeding regulation and the anorexigenic neural pathway of oxytocin neurons, as well as the advantage of oxytocin usage for anti-obesity treatment.
Cheek to cheek: Ginger e Fred vão ao paraíso
Authors: Waizbort Leopoldo
Published: April 2018

O ensaio interpreta uma cena do filme Top Hat, de 1935, na qual Ginger Rogers e Fred Astaire dançam “Cheek to cheek”, e discute o significado da dança e o mundo criado pelos seres dançantes.
Passagens: Hubert Damisch
Authors: Salzstein Sônia
Published: April 2018

Introdução ao conjunto de textos acerca da obra de Hubert Damisch.
Role of Invasive Functional Assessment in Surgical Revascularization of Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Baibhav Bipul , Gedela Maheedhar , Moulton Michael , Pavlides Gregory , Pompili Vincent , Rab Tanveer , Dangas George , Bhatt Deepak L. , Siddique Aleem , Chatzizisis Yiannis S.
Published: April 2018

In patients with stable coronary artery disease, percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with improved outcomes if the lesion is deemed significant by invasive functional assessment using fractional flow reserve. Recent studies have shown that a revascularization strategy using instantaneous wave-free ratio is noninferior to fractional flow reserve in patients with intermediate-grade stenoses. The decision to perform coronary artery bypass grafting surgery is usually based on anatomic assessment of stenosis severity by coronary angiography. The data on the role of invasive functional assessment in guiding surgical revascularization are limited. In this review, we discuss the diagnostic and prognostic significance of invasive functional assessment in patients considered for coronary artery bypass grafting. In addition, we critically discuss ongoing and future clinical trials on the role of invasive functional assessment in surgical revascularization.
Cigarette Smoking and Incident Heart Failure
Authors: Kamimura Daisuke , Cain Loretta R. , Mentz Robert J. , White Wendy B. , Blaha Michael J. , DeFilippis Andrew P. , Fox Ervin R. , Rodriguez Carlos J. , Keith Rachel J. , Benjamin Emelia J. , Butler Javed , Bhatnagar Aruni , Robertson Rose M. , Winniford Michael D. , Correa Adolfo , Hall Michael E.
Published: April 2018

Background:

Cigarette smoking has been linked with several factors associated with cardiac dysfunction. We hypothesized that cigarette smoking is associated with left ventricular (LV) structure and function, and incident heart failure (HF) hospitalization.

Methods:

We investigated 4129 (never smoker n=2884, current smoker n=503, and former smoker n=742) black participants (mean age, 54 years; 63% women) without a history of HF or coronary heart disease at baseline in the Jackson Heart Study. We examined the relationships between cigarette smoking and LV structure and function by using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging among 1092 participants, cigarette smoking and brain natriuretic peptide levels among 3325 participants, and incident HF hospitalization among 3633 participants with complete data.

Results:

After adjustment for confounding factors, current smoking was associated with higher mean LV mass index and lower mean LV circumferential strain (
P
<0.05, for both) in comparison with never smoking. Smoking status, intensity, and burden were associated with higher mean brain natriuretic peptide levels (all
P
<0.05). Over 8.0 years (7.7–8.0) median follow-up, there were 147 incident HF hospitalizations. After adjustment for traditional risk factors and incident coronary heart disease, current smoking (hazard ratio, 2.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.71–4.64), smoking intensity among current smokers (≥20 cigarettes/d: hazard ratio, 3.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.65–7.32), and smoking burden among ever smokers (≥15 pack-years: hazard ratio, 2.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.29–3.3) were significantly associated with incident HF hospitalization in comparison with never smoking.

Conclusions:

In blacks, cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for LV hypertrophy, systolic dysfunction, and incident HF hospitalization even after adjusting for effects on coronary heart disease.
Rethinking Knowledge and Difference in Latin America’s Insurgent Moment: On de Sousa Santos and García Linera
Authors: Cavooris Robert
Published: April 2018

This review examines two works that address the theoretical importance of Latin American political movements over the last two decades. I argue that while Boaventura de Sousa Santos raises the important issue of the political relationship between difference and unity, his work lends itself to ambiguous conclusions regarding this relationship. In particular, de Sousa Santos underestimates Marxism’s potential role as a theory and practice of political union. Nonetheless, his work provides certain insights on epistemology and political temporality that may help Marxism amplify its political relevance today. Álvaro García Linera’s text represents a particular mode by which Marxism may engage with a politics of difference; however, I argue that García Linera’s work contains a tension between difference construed in autonomist, material terms and difference construed as identity. The latter, I suggest, has come to serve in Bolivia as the basis for an ultimately limited political project.
Atimia and Outlawry in Archaic and Classical Greece
Authors: Joyce Christopher
Published: April 2018

This article challenges the commonly held belief that atimia in its earliest Greek usage meant exile, arguing instead that atimia and outlawry were always two entirely distinct, though not mutually exclusive, concepts. It is often claimed that atimia originated as a penalty of death or exile, but that over time its harshness became modified so that those who suffered under its restrictions could not be killed or assaulted with impunity. A careful study of the evidence will show that atimia never meant outlawry, and moreover, its archaic cognates do not imply that in early times to lose timê was the same as losing membership in a political community. Rather, atimazesthai entailed the loss of social honour and status which was an all-encompassing value in the aristocratic societies of archaic Greece. Atimia in the Classical period is similarly a loss of rights (timai), and because penalties and conditions such as exile and outlawry can be easily described, in Greek, as involving the loss of prerogatives (timai), they are conceptually forms of atimia. However, in the legal language of democratic Athens atimia is and always was something distinct from exile, and this legal distinction went back to the very earliest times.
Wicked Angels and the Good Demon: The Origins of Alchemy According to the Physica of Hermes
Authors: Bull Christian H.
Published: April 2018

The alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis, writing around 300ce, is our only source for a series of treatises by Hermes called the Physica, which reportedly spoke about angels who had intercourse with women, as in 1 Enoch, and which credited the revelation of alchemy to an enigmatic figure called Chemeu. The present contribution aims to show that Zosimus has in fact harmonized the account of 1 Enoch with the Physica of Hermes, identifying the Watchers of the former treatise with wicked angels who perverted the authentic art of alchemy, originally revealed to Hermes by Chemeu, who should be identified with Agathodaimon. It is further argued that the Physica likely served as a source for the Hermetic treatises the Perfect Discourse (Ascl. =nhcvi,8) and Kore Kosmou (Stob. herm. 23). This indicates that the literary relationship between the technical and theoretical Hermetica is tighter than hitherto assumed.
The Notion of Truth in Some Hermetic Texts and Chaldaean Oracles
Authors: van den Kerchove Anna
Published: April 2018

The following paper is an inquiry into the notion of truth in the Hermetic fragment Stobaeus Hermetica 2aand the Chaldaean Oracles fr. 107. In both texts, the truth has an absolute status and is considered not to be present on earth. This conception has consequences for the way of evaluating sciences, divination, philosophy and ritual. In order to study how these four topics are portrayed, the article analyzes other Hermetic passages, in particular that can be found in the Asclepius. The four topics are positively evaluated only when they are related to the “primary truth.” Philosophy encompasses the four topics and is defined as piety. This impacts the attitude that the Hermetic groups might adoptvis-à-visthe civic sacrifices, especially when the Decian edict obliged the citizens to sacrifice.