bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fifty years of wildland fire science in Canada
Authors: Coogan Sean C.P. , Daniels Lori D. , Boychuk Den , Burton Philip J. , Flannigan Mike D. , Gauthier Sylvie , Kafka Victor , Park Jane S. , Wotton B. Mike
Published: November 2020

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research by reflecting on the considerable progress accomplished in select areas of Canadian wildland fire science over the past half century. Specifically, we discuss key developments and contributions in the creation of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System; the relationships between wildland fire and weather, climate, and climate change; fire ecology; operational decision support; and wildland fire management. We also discuss the evolution of wildland fire management in Banff National Park as a case study. We conclude by discussing some possible directions in future Canadian wildland fire research including the further evaluation of fire severity measurements and effects; the efficacy of fuel management treatments; climate change effects and mitigation; further refinement of models pertaining to fire risk analysis, fire behaviour, and fire weather; and the integration of forest management and ecological restoration with wildland fire risk reduction. Throughout the paper, we reference many contributions published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, which has been at the forefront of international wildland fire science.
mfsQ encoding an MFS efflux pump mediates adaptive protection of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia against benzalkonium chloride
Authors: Chittrakanwong Jurairat , Charoenlap Nisanart , Mongkolsuk Skorn , Vattanaviboon Paiboon
Published: November 2020

The persistence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, especially in hospital environments where disinfectants are used intensively, is one of the important factors that allow this opportunistic pathogen to establish nosocomial infections. In the present study, we illustrated that S. maltophilia possesses adaptive resistance to the disinfectant benzalkonium chloride (BAC). This BAC adaptation was abolished in the ΔmfsQ mutant, in which a gene encoding an efflux transporter belonging to the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) was deleted. The ΔmfsQ mutant also showed increased susceptibility to BAC and chlorhexidine gluconate compared with a parental wild type. The expression of mfsQ increased upon exposure to quaternary ammonium compounds, including BAC. Thus, the results of this study suggest that mfsQ plays a role in both adaptive and nonadaptive protection of S. maltophilia from the toxicity of the disinfectant BAC.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulation Therapy in the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Authors: Shi Jia , Lu Yunfei , Zhang Yuan , Xia Lu , Ye Chen , Lü Ying , Chen Shishi , Xu Qingnian , Tang Bozong , Yin Keshan , Zhang Jing , Chen Xiaorong , Yang Zongguo
Published: November 2020

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) decoction with different intervention timepoints in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. We retrospectively collected the medical records and evaluated the outcomes of COVID-19 patients that received TCM decoction treatment at different timepoints. A total of 234 COVID-19 patients were included in this study. Patients who received TCM decoction therapy within 3 days or 7 days after admission could achieve shorter hospitalization days and disease periods compared to those who received TCM decoction [Formula: see text] 7 days after admission (all [Formula: see text]). Patients who received TCM decoction therapy within 3 days had significantly fewer days to negative SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal/oral swab and days to negative SARS-CoV-2 from urine/stool/blood samples compared to those received TCM decoction [Formula: see text] days after admission (all [Formula: see text]). Patients who received TCM decoction therapy on the 3rd to 7th day after admission had a faster achievement of negative SARS-CoV-2 from urine/stool/blood samples compared to those who received TCM decoction [Formula: see text] days after admission ([Formula: see text]). Logistic models revealed that more days from TCM decoction to admission [Formula: see text] days might be a risk factor for long hospitalization days, disease period, and slower negative-conversion of SARS-CoV-2 (all [Formula: see text]). Conclusively, our results suggest that TCM decoction therapy should be considered at the early stage of COVID-19 patients.
Pairon Green’s function for high-Tc superconductors
Authors: Chauhan Radhika , Indu B. D.
Published: November 2020

Considering the many-body quantum dynamics, the pairon Green’s function has been developed via a Hamiltonian that encompasses the contribution of pairons, pairon-phonon interactions, anharmonicities, and defects. To obtain the renormalized pairon energy dispersion, the most relevant Born–Mayer–Huggins potential has been taken into account. The Fermi surface for the representative [Formula: see text] high-[Formula: see text] superconductor has been obtained via renormalized pairon energy relation. This revealed the [Formula: see text]-shape superconducting gap with a nodal point along [Formula: see text] direction. Further, the superconducting gap equation has been derived using the pairon density of states. The developed gap equation is the function of temperature, Fermi energy, and renormalized pairon energy. The temperature variation of the gap equation is found to be in good agreement with the BCS gap equation. Also, this reveals the reduced gap ratio ([Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]) in the limit (5–8) of the reduced gap ratio designated for high-[Formula: see text] superconductors.
Toda lattice with corrections via inverse scattering transform
Authors: Zhen Yanpei , Wang Xiaodan , Zhu Junyi
Published: November 2020

The perturbation theory based on the inverse scattering transform is extended to discuss the Toda lattice with corrections. The time evolution of the associated scattering data is given by some summation representations for corrections and eigenfunctions. The perturbation correction of the conservation laws is investigated. The adiabatic approximate solution and its correction are considered.
Large time behavior of solutions to space-time monopole equations in 1 + 1 dimensions
Authors: Moon Bora , Yim Jihyun
Published: November 2020

We study the large time behavior of solutions to the space-time monopole equations in [Formula: see text] dimensions. We establish that the solutions will tend to traveling wave solution when time tends to infinity.
Abelian Subgroup Separability of Certain Generalized Free Products of Groups
Authors: Zhou Wei , Kim Goansu
Published: November 2020

We prove that generalized free products of certain abelian subgroup separable groups are abelian subgroup separable. Applying this, we show that tree products of polycyclic-by-finite groups, amalgamating central subgroups or retracts are abelian subgroup separable.
Finite Groups with Certain S-Permutable and GS-Maximal Subgroups
Authors: Elkholy A.M. , Abd-Ellatif M.H.
Published: November 2020

Let G be a finite group and H a subgroup of G. We say that H is S-permutable in G if H permutes with every Sylow subgroup of G. A group G is called a generalized smooth group (GS-group) if [G/L] is totally smooth for every subgroup L of G of prime order. In this paper, we investigate the structure of G under the assumption that each subgroup of prime order is S-permutable if the maximal subgroups of G are GS-groups.
A Note on Skew Cyclic Codes over a Class of Rings
Authors: Dinh Hai Q. , Nguyen Bac T. , Sriboonchitta Songsak
Published: November 2020

We study skew cyclic codes over a class of rings [Formula: see text], where each [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] is a finite field. We prove that a skew cyclic code of arbitrary length over R is equivalent to either a usual cyclic code or a quasi-cyclic code over R. Moreover, we discuss possible extension of our results in the more general setting of [Formula: see text]-dual skew constacyclic codes over R, where δR is an automorphism of R.
How Does Tax Aggressiveness Affect Shareholder Wealth? An Examination Using a Regulatory Transition
Authors: Xu Shawn , Mo Wan-Shin (Cindy) , Peng Jacob
Published: November 2020

We examine the relation between tax aggressiveness and firm value. Using a tax enforcement change in Taiwan that limits firms’ abilities to pursue aggressive tax strategies, we document that the relation between tax aggressiveness and firm value becomes more negative after the regulatory change. Further analyses reveal that the negative change is more pronounced for firms that are more likely to be targeted by the stricter tax enforcement. In addition, we do not find strong evidence on the impact of corporate governance in moderating the main relation. Our results seem to be consistent with the argument that potential increases in regulatory costs may outweigh the benefit of the stricter tax enforcement in constraining insiders’ income diversion, intensifying the conflict between aggressive tax positions and shareholder wealth in our research setting.
A REVIEW AND CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE ISO56002 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS STANDARD: EVIDENCE AND LIMITATIONS
Authors: TIDD JOE
Published: November 2020

The ISO56002 international standard for managing innovation systems was published in 2019. In this paper, we review the rationale, the key features, and the evidence base for this new standard. The primary objective of the standard is to promote the professionalisation of the field by providing a framework for management and organisational practice. The standard was developed by a wide range of stakeholders, including consultants and professional associations, and therefore features most of the elements we would expect from such a high-level, generic approach: strategy, organisation, leadership, planning, support, process, performance evaluation, and improvement. We examine the empirical base for each of these components in this paper. We also identify some critical shortcomings, such as the implicit adoption of a linear model, lack of specific tools to support practice, or any significant variation in application by sector or context. Finally, we recommend how the standard could be improved and implemented in practice.
WHAT DETERMINES CUSTOMERS’ PERCEPTION OF BANKING COMMUNICATION? AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM COMMERCIAL BANKS OF NEPAL
Authors: PAUDEL UDAYA RAJ , PARAJULI SEEPRATA , DEVKOTA NIRANJAN , MAHAPATRA SUSHANTA KUMAR
Published: November 2020

This paper provides insight on how banking officials communicate with customers and how effective their techniques and tools are for development of banks. With the help of structured questionnaire technique, 373 customers having accounts in commercial banks in Nepal were interviewed in the month of April–September, 2019. Dummy based awareness index and Ordered Logit Regression Model were performed to understand customers’ perception on banking communication in Nepal. The Awareness Index shows that banking customers are moderately aware about banking communication while the Ordered Logit reveals that providing time to address customers’ problem and DEMAT facility were found to have significant relationship with banking communication awareness level. This study therefore indicates providing time to address customer’s problem and using DEMAT facilities experiences increases awareness in banking communication. This study contributes to the banking sector communication by transforming communication barriers for customers’ satisfaction.
The Effects of Predictive Features of Mobile Keyboards on Text Entry Speed and Errors
Authors: Alharbi Ohoud , Stuerzlinger Wolfgang , Putze Felix
Published: November 2020

Mobile users rely on typing assistant mechanisms such as prediction and autocorrect. Previous studies on mobile keyboards showed decreased performance for heavy use of word prediction, which identifies a need for more research to better understand the effectiveness of predictive features for different users. Our work aims at such a better understanding of user interaction with autocorrections and the prediction panel while entering text, in particular when these approaches fail. We present a crowd-sourced mobile text entry study with 170 participants. Our mobile web application simulates autocorrection and word prediction to capture user behaviours around these features. We found that using word prediction saves an average of 3.43 characters per phrase but also adds an average of two seconds compared to actually typing the word, resulting in a negative effect on text entry speed. We also identified that the time to fix wrong autocorrections is on average 5.5 seconds but that autocorrection does not have a significant effect on typing speed.
Evaluation of Skill Improvement by Combining Skill and Difficulty Levels During Paper-cutting Production
Authors: Higashi Takafumi
Published: November 2020

In artworks such as paper-cutting, it is important to combine the skill of the artist with the difficulty of the rough sketch to improve the skill. We developed a system to measure the distances and widths of cutting lines and patterning the pictures based on the steering law. We quantitatively evaluated the difficulty level of the pictures. We developed an interactive system to support the improvement of cutting pressure control, which is one of the skills for making paper-cutting. Furthermore, we analyzed users' psychological state when making a paper cutting based on the psychological flow state. The flow state is a highly focused state that tends to be shown when the user's skills balance with the difficulty of the task. On the other hand, since it is difficult to analyze skills and difficulty quantitatively, many researchers evaluate them by qualitative analysis. In this paper, we set "skill" as the cutting ability and "challenge" as the difficulty level of the picture. We evaluated the improvement of the user's skill and the flow state through quantitative analysis. We developed a questionnaire to evaluate the psychological state of a paper-cutting process based on the existing flow state questionnaire. In this paper, we describe the changes in skill improvement due to the combination of user skill and picture difficulty, with "skill" being the cutting ability and "challenge" being the difficulty of the picture.
Flex-ER
Authors: Lobo María Jesús , Hurter Christophe , Irani Pourang
Published: November 2020

Extended Reality (XR) systems (which encapsulate AR, VR and MR) is an emerging field which enables the development of novel visualization and interaction techniques. To develop and to assess such techniques, researchers and designers have to face choices in terms of which development tools to adopt, and with very little information about how such tools support some of the very basic tasks for information visualization, such as selecting data items, linking and navigating. As a solution, we propose Flex-ER, a flexible web-based environment that enables users to prototype, debug and share experimental conditions and results. Flex-ER enables users to quickly switch between hardware platforms and input modalities by using a JSON specification that supports both defining interaction techniques and tasks at a low cost. We demonstrate the flexibility of the environment through three task design examples: brushing, linking and navigating. A qualitative user study suggest that Flex-ER can be helpful to prototype and explore different interaction techniques for immersive analytics.
Eliciting Sketched Expressions of Command Intentions in an IDE
Authors: Samuelsson Sigurdur Gauti , Book Matthias
Published: November 2020

Software engineers routinely use sketches (informal, ad-hoc drawings) to visualize and communicate complex ideas for colleagues or themselves. We hypothesize that sketching could also be used as a novel interaction modality in integrated software development environments (IDEs), allowing developers to express desired source code manipulations by sketching right on top of the IDE, rather than remembering keyboard shortcuts or using a mouse to navigate menus and dialogs. For an initial assessment of the viability of this idea, we conducted an elicitation study that prompted software developers to express a number of common IDE commands through sketches. For many of our task prompts, we observed considerable agreement in how developers would express the respective commands through sketches, suggesting that further research on a more formal sketch-based visual command language for IDEs would be worthwhile.
Expanding Side Touch Input on Mobile Phones
Authors: Yeh Yen-Ting , Roy Quentin , Irudayaraj Antony Albert Raj , Vogel Daniel
Published: November 2020

We investigate the performance of one-handed touch input on the side of a mobile phone. A first experiment examines grip change and subjective preference when reaching for side targets using different fingers. Results show all locations can be reached with at least one finger, but the thumb and index are most preferred and require less grip change for positions along the sides. Two following experiments examine taps and flicks using the thumb and index finger in a new two-dimensional input space. A side-touch sensor is simulated with a combination of capacitive sensing and motion tracking to distinguish touches on the lower, middle, or upper edges. When tapping, index and thumb speeds are similar with thumb more accurate and comfortable, and the lower edge is most reliable with the middle edge most comfortable. When flicking with the thumb, the upper edge is fast and rated highly.
VibHand: On-Hand Vibrotactile Interface Enhancing Non-Visual Exploration of Digital Graphics
Authors: Zhao Kaixing , Serrano Marcos , Oriola Bernard , Jouffrais Christophe
Published: November 2020

Visual graphics are widely spread in digital media and are useful in many contexts of daily life. However, access to this type of graphical information remains a challenging task for people with visual impairments (VI). In this study, we designed and evaluated an on-hand vibrotactile interface that enables users with VI to explore digital graphics presented on tablets. We first conducted a set of exploratory tests with both people with VI and blindfolded (BF) people to investigate several design factors. We then conducted a comparative experiment to verify that on-hand vibrotactile cues (indicating direction and progression) can enhance the non-visual exploration of digital graphics. The results based on 12 participants with VI and 12 BF participants confirmed the usability of the technique and revealed that the visual status of the users does not impact graphics identification and comparison tasks.
Effects of hypothermia, hypoxia, and hypercapnia on brain oxygenation and hemodynamic parameters during simulated avalanche burial: a porcine study
Authors: Strapazzon Giacomo , Putzer Gabriel , Dal Cappello Tomas , Falla Marika , Braun Patrick , Falk Markus , Glodny Bernhard , Pinggera Daniel , Helbok Raimund , Brugger Hermann
Published: November 2020

Avalanche patients who are completely buried but still able to breathe are exposed to hypothermia, hypoxia, and hypercapnia (triple H syndrome). In a porcine model, there was no clinically relevant reduction in cerebral oxygenation during hypothermia and initial reduction of fraction of inspiratory oxygen ([Formula: see text]), as observed during hypercapnia. Hypercapnia may be the main cause of cardiovascular instability, which seems to be the major trigger for a decrease in cerebral oxygenation in triple H syndrome despite severe hypothermia.
Research on the Mechanism of Qushi Huayu Decoction in the Intervention of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Technology
Authors: Gao Shan-shan , Sun Ji-jia , Wang Xin , Hu Yi-yang , Feng Qin , Gou Xiao-jun
Published: November 2020

Objective. To use network pharmacology and molecular docking technology in predicting the main active ingredients and targets of Qushi Huayu Decoction (QHD) treatment in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and explore the potential mechanisms of its multi‐component‐multi‐target‐multi‐pathway. Materials and Methods. The main chemical components of QHD were searched using traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology technology platform (TCMSP) and PubChem database. The main chemical components of the prescription were ADMET screened by the ACD/Labs software. The main active ingredient was screened by 60% oral bioavailability, and 60% of “bad” ingredients were removed from the drug‐like group. Swiss Target Prediction, the SEA, and HitPick systems were sequentially used to search for the target of each active ingredient, and a network map of the QHD’s target of the active ingredient was constructed. Genome annotation database platforms (GeneCards, OMIM, and DisGeNET) were used to predict action targets related to fatty liver disease. “Drug‐Disease‐Target” network diagram could be visualized with the help of Cytoscape (3.7.1) software. UniProt and STRING database platforms were used to build a protein interaction network. The KEGG signal pathway and DAVID platform were analyzed for biological process enrichment. Results. A total of 128 active ingredients and 275 corresponding targets in QHD were discovered through screening. 55 key target targets and 27 important signaling pathways were screened, such as the cancer pathway, P13K‐AKT signaling pathway, PPAR signaling pathway, and other related signaling pathways. Conclusions. The present study revealed the material basis of QHD and discussed the pharmacological mechanism of QHD in fatty liver, thus providing a scientific basis for the clinical application and experimental research of QHD in the future.
Influence of Partner Characteristics and Relational Capital on the Success of Business/Nonprofit Organization Partnerships
Authors: Barroso-Méndez María Jesús , Galera-Casquet Clementina , Valero-Amaro Víctor , Nevado-Gil María Teresa
Published: November 2020

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the largest framework of global cooperation for human and environmental development on a global scale. This framework requires new responses in the social and political spheres. To a large extent, these can come from different economic and social sectors working together to create synergies that will allow quantitatively significant progress to be made towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Because of that, in the last few decades, the number of cross-sector social partnerships, and, in particular, partnerships between businesses and nonprofit organizations (NPOs), has increased enormously. However, despite their importance, a large proportion of these partnership processes have been unsuccessful due to the different characteristics of the partners and the relational complexity involved in the multiple factors that affect the collaboration over time. In this regard, the business-NPO literature has stressed the importance of improving the existing understanding of the main factors which favour a partnership’s success as well as the interrelationships among those factors. Following different theoretical perspectives used mainly in the context of business-to-business collaborative relationships, the authors test how partner characteristics indirectly influence the success of the partnerships through relational capital. The results, based on a sample (n = 102) of Spanish businesses in collaboration relationships with NPOs, show that partner characteristics (shared values and resource complementarity) help in the formation of relational capital (trust, information sharing, and commitment), and that this positively influences the success of such partnership processes (achievement of objectives and satisfaction of the partners).
Tranexamic Acid Is Beneficial to Patients Undergoing Open‐Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy
Authors: Chen De-Sheng , Zhu Jia-Wang , Wang Tong-Fu , Zhu Bo , Feng Cai-Hong
Published: November 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tranexamic acid (TXA) in patients undergoing open‐wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). Patients from August 2018 to May 2020 were retrospectively studied. Clinical data were obtained including gender, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, prepostoperative hematocrit (Hct) and hemoglobin (Hb), thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, hospital length of stay, size of osteotomy gap, and wound complications such as wound hematoma and infection. 52 patients were enrolled in the tranexamic acid group (TA group), and 48 patients were enrolled in the nontranexamic acid group (NTA group); there were no significant differences between both groups in terms of gender, age, BMI, preoperative Hb, size of osteotomy gap, incidence of smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, and wound hematoma and infection. The mean hospital length of stay was 9.4 ± 1.0 days in the TA group and 11.0 ± 1.2 days in the NTA group (P < 0.001), the blood loss was 296.0 ± 128.7 ml in the TA group and 383.3 ± 181.3 ml in the NTA group (P < 0.05), and the postoperative Hb level was 120.8 ± 15.0 g/l in the TA group and 109.5 ± 13.8 g/l in the NTA group (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the administration of TXA is beneficial to patients undergoing OWHTO via decreasing hospital length of stay, reducing blood loss, and maintaining higher postoperative Hb levels.
Effects of Yinzhihuang Granules on Serum Liver Enzymes in Jaundice Patients: A Real‐World Study Based on HIS Data
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Zhang Lidan , Lyu Jian , Xie Yanming , Xie Yuting
Published: November 2020

Objective. Our aim was to analyze the influence of Yinzhihuang granules on serum liver enzymes in jaundice patients and to provide real‐world evidence for the efficacy evaluation of Yinzhihuang granules in treating jaundice. Methods. We constructed a data warehouse which integrates real‐world electronic medical records from the hospital information system of multiple 3A hospitals in China and used a descriptive statistical method to analyze the changes in the serum liver enzymes of the jaundice patients treated with Yinzhihuang granules and then used Wilcoxon signed‐rank to test the changes in the indicators caused by the treatment. Results. After being treated with Yinzhihuang granules, the jaundice patients had a decrease in the average serum levels of total bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamyl transpeptidase, and alkaline phosphatase, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05) but had no significant changes in the average serum levels of direct bilirubin and alanine aminotransferase (P > 0.05). Conclusion. The data analysis on the real‐world electronic medical records demonstrate that Yinzhihuang granules help to reduce jaundice patients’ serum levels of total bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamyl transpeptidase, and alkaline phosphatase, but there is no evidence that Yinzhihuang granules help to reduce the jaundice patients’ serum levels of direct bilirubin and alanine aminotransferase.
Global Trends in Immunotherapy Research on Breast Cancer over the Past 10 Years
Authors: Ahn Soo Kyung , Hwang Ji Woong
Published: November 2020

In recent years, many studies have focused on the host immune system and its relationship with tumor progression in a variety of solid tumors, including breast cancer. This study investigates recent trends of immunotherapy research in breast cancer and compares the contributions of research from different regions, institutions, and authors. A search of breast cancer and immunotherapy studies that were published between 2010 and 2019—with different keyword combinations—was performed in the Web of Science database. Bibliometric data were collected for analysis. VOSviewer software was used to generate a figure for the keyword’s co-occurrence network, so as to implement network visualization analysis. A total of 1,041 publications were identified. The United States and China contributed to approximately 50% of the publications, 336 and 208, respectively. Both countries drove the increase in publications after 2015. A paper entitled “Pembrolizumab in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer: Phase IB KEYNOTE-012 Study” that was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nanda et al. was the most cited (715 citations). The keywords found in this research were grouped into four clusters: “mechanism,” “vaccination,” “PD-L1,” and “chemotherapy.” The terms “tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes” and “PD-1/PD-L1” are among the latest hotspots, which mostly appeared in 2017. Author keyword analysis revealed that recent trends in breast cancer immunotherapy focus on the triple-negative breast cancer subtype and PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint pathway and inhibitors. This study analyzed global trends in immunotherapy research on breast cancer over the past 10 years and provided insight into the features and research hotspots of the articles in this issue.
CK20 and CK5/6 Immunohistochemical Staining of Urothelial Neoplasms: A Perspective
Authors: Akhtar Mohammed , Rashid Sameera , Gashir Mohamed Ben , Taha Noheir Mostafa , Al Bozom Issam
Published: November 2020

Cytokeratins belong to the family of intermediate filaments. They are expressed in a highly specific manner in epithelial cells where they play a crucial role in the integrity and mechanical stability of the cells. Several types of cytokeratins have been described in normal as well as neoplastic urothelium. In the case of urothelial neoplasms expression of CK20 and CK5/6 has been shown in several studies to have diagnostic and prognostic implications. Thus, low-grade urothelial carcinoma manifests CK expression limited to the umbrella cells, while high-grade tumors usually have an expression in the entire thickness of the urothelium except for the basal layer. CK5/6 expression on the other hand is expressed in the basal cells in all low-grade and some high-grade urothelial carcinomas. Diffuse CK20 staining accompanied by loss of CK5/6-positive basal layer is usually associated with aggressive clinical behavior. Double staining of the slides for these cytokeratins may facilitate proper interpretation and correlation.
Identification of the Roles of Chromobox Family Members in Gastric Cancer: A Study Based on Multiple Datasets
Authors: Chen Zhuo-Yuan , Sun Shang-Xing , Zhu Si-Xian , Bu Jie
Published: November 2020

Background. As the important components in polycomb repressive complexes 1 (PRC1) and heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), Chromobox (CBX) family members are involved in epigenetic regulatory function, transcriptional repression, and other cellular metabolisms. Increasing studies have indicated significant associations between CBX and tumorigenesis, which is a progression in different types of cancers. However, the information about the roles of each CBX in gastric cancer is extremely limited. Methods. We explored CBX mRNA expression, corrections with clinicopathological parameters, protein expression, prognostic values, enrichment analysis with several databases including Oncomine, Human Protein Atlas, UALCAN, Kaplan‐Meier plotter, cBioPortal, GeneMANIA, and Enrichr. Results. In our study, comparing to the normal tissues, higher mRNA expression of CBX1/2/3/4/5/8 and lower mRNA expression of CBX7 were found in GC tissues while upregulations of CBX1/2/3/4/5/8 and downregulations of CBX7 were indicated to be significantly correlated to the nodal metastasis status and individual cancer stages in GC patients. As for protein level, the expression of CBX2/3/4/5/6 was higher and the expression of CBX7 was lower in the GC tissues than those in the normal. What is more, higher mRNA expression of CBX1/5/6/8 and lower mRNA expression of CBX7 were markedly correlated to poor outcomes of OS and FP in GC patients. Besides, high mutation rate of CBXs (42%) was observed in GC patients. Conclusions. We suggest that CBX5/7 may serve as potential therapeutic targets for GC while CBX1/8 may serve as potential prognostic indicators for GC.
Preparation, Biosafety, and Cytotoxicity Studies of a Newly Tumor-Microenvironment-Responsive Biodegradable Mesoporous Silica Nanosystem Based on Multimodal and Synergistic Treatment
Authors: He Zelai , Zhang Huijun , Li Hongwei , Wang Yanyan , Qian Jing , Cai Xixi , Sun Li , Huang Jingwen
Published: November 2020

Patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) often suffer relapse, and clinical improvements offered by radiotherapy and chemotherapy are modest. Although targeted therapy and immunotherapy have been a topic of significant research in recent years, scientific developments have not yet translated to significant improvements for patients with TNBC. In view of these current clinical treatment shortcomings, we designed a silica nanosystem (SNS) with Nano-Ag as the core and a complex of MnO2 and doxorubicin (Dox) as the surrounding mesoporous silica shell. This system was coated with anti-PD-L1 to target the PD-L1 receptor, which is highly expressed on the surface of tumor cells. MnO2 itself has been shown to act as chemodynamic therapy (CDT), and Dox is cytotoxic. Thus, the full SNS system presents a multimodal, potentially synergistic strategy for the treatment of TNBC. Given potential interest in the clinical translation of SNS, the biological safety and antitumor activity of SNS were evaluated in a series of studies that included physicochemical characterization, particle stability, blood compatibility, and cytotoxicity. We found that the particle size and zeta potential of SNS were 94.6 nm and -22.1 mV, respectively. Ultraviolet spectrum analysis showed that Nano-Ag, Dox, and MnO2 were successfully loaded into SNS, and the drug loading ratio of Dox was about 10.2%. Stability studies found that the particle size of SNS did not change in different solutions. Hemolysis tests showed that SNS, at levels far exceeding the anticipated physiologic concentrations, did not induce red blood cell lysis. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments found that SNS did not activate platelets or cause coagulopathy and had no significant effects on the total number of blood cells or hepatorenal function. Cytotoxicity experiments suggested that SNS significantly inhibited the growth of tumor cells by damaging cell membranes, increasing intracellular ROS levels, inhibiting the release of TGF-β1 cytokines by macrophages, and inhibiting intracellular protein synthesis. In general, SNS appeared to have favorable biosafety and antitumor effects and may represent an attractive new therapeutic approach for the treatment of TNBC.
Reliability Estimation for Zero-Failure Data Based on Confidence Limit Analysis Method
Authors: Li Haiyang , Zheng Zeyu
Published: November 2020

Due to the improvement of the quality of industrial products, zero-failure data often occurs during the reliability life test or in the service environment, and such problems cannot be handled using traditional reliability estimation methods. Regarding the processing and analysis of zero-failure data, the confidence limit assessment methods were proposed by some researchers. Based on the existing research, a confidence limit method set (CLMS) is established in the Weibull distribution for reliability estimation of zero-failure data. The method set includes the unilateral confidence limit method and optimal confidence limit method, so that almost all existing grouping types of zero-failure data can be quickly evaluated, and multiple methods can be used in parallel to deal with the same problem. The effectiveness and high efficiency of the CLMS combined with numerical simulation examples have been verified, and the possibility of analyzing multiple groups of zero-failure data with a confidence limit method suitable for processing single group of zero-failure data is expanded. Finally, the actual effect of the method set is verified by the single group of zero-failure data of rolling bearings and the multiple groups of zero-failure data of torque motors. The results of the example evaluation show that the CLMS has obvious advantages in practical engineering applications.
Asynchronous Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control for Networked Stochastic Unmanned Surface Vehicles with Multiple Types of Actuator Faults
Authors: Wang Ai-Min , Li Jian-Ning , Xu Xiao-Bin
Published: November 2020

This paper aims to design an asynchronous adaptive fault-tolerant controller for the networked stochastic unmanned surface vehicles (NSUSVs) subject to multiple types of actuator faults and external disturbance. The partial fault and bias fault of the actuator are taken into consideration simultaneously. By estimating online the unknown bias fault of the actuator and the external disturbances, the proposed adaptive fault-tolerant controller can automatically compensate for these impacts produced by actuator faults and external perturbation while preserving the uniformly ultimate boundedness of the solutions. Both the faulty actuator and the designed controller are asynchronous with the NSUSVs. Moreover, a mode-dependent adaptive event-triggered mechanism (AETM) is introduced in order to facilitate network resources utilization. Finally, the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed design scheme are verified by a numerical example.
Immunotherapeutic Approaches in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: State of the Art and Future Perspectives
Authors: Oualla Karima , Kassem Loay , Nouiakh Lamiae , Amaadour Lamiae , Benbrahim Zineb , Arifi Samia , Mellas Nawfel
Published: November 2020

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). It accounts for 15%–20% of all breast cancers and is associated with an aggressive evolution and poor outcomes with the majority of recurrences and deaths occurring in the first 5 years. Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment in the absence of effective targets, but the good understanding of immune tumor microenvironment, the identification of immune-related targets, and the role of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in TNBC has allowed to develop promising immunotherapeutic strategies for this unique subset of breast cancer. Recently, immunotherapy is being extensively explored in TNBC and clinical trials have shown promising results. In this article, we tried to explain the rationale and mechanisms of targeting the immune system in TNBC, to report the results from recent clinical trials that put immunotherapy as a new standard of care in TNBC in addition to ongoing trials and future directions in the next decade.
Valorization of Moroccan Crocus sativus L. By‐products: Foliar Spraying of Aqueous Tepal Extract Stimulates Growth and Confers Antioxidant Properties in Eggplant Seedling under Greenhouse Conditions
Authors: Khoulati Amine , Ouahhoud Sabir , Mamri Samira , Meziane Mouhssine , Choukri Mohammed , Asehraou Abdeslam , Saalaoui Ennouamane
Published: November 2020

The valorization of Crocus sativus L. by‐products has become important given its interesting content of bioactive molecules. In the present study, aqueous tepal extract (ATE) studied eggplant seedling’s growth and physiology under a plastic tunnel. ATE was foliage sprayed 3 times every 15 days, with various concentrations (1 mg/mL, 2 mg/mL, 3 mg/mL) in addition to a treatment containing 2 mg/mL of tepals and 0.6 mg/mL of stigmas (T+S). The concentration of 2 mg/L ATE significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the plant’s height, the chlorophyll content, and decreased antioxidant activity and MDA (malondialdehyde). However, the concentration 3 mg/mL inhibited the plant growth; increased the content of ascorbic acid and polyphenol; and resulted in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant activities increases, indicating oxidative stress (p ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, T+S significantly influenced some parameters analyzed. Our findings demonstrate that ATE can act as a biostimulant at 2 mg/mL to enhance eggplant growth in plastic tunnel production and used in plant stress situations.
Origin-Destination-Based Travel Time Reliability under Different Rainfall Intensities: An Investigation Using Open-Source Data
Authors: Zhang Qi , Chen Hong , Liu Hongchao , Li Wei , Zhang Yibin
Published: November 2020

Origin-destination- (O-D-) based travel time reliability (TTR) is fundamental to next-generation navigation tools aiming to provide both travel time and reliability information. While previous works are mostly focused on route-based TTR and use either ad hoc data or simulation in the analyses, this study uses open-source Uber Movement and Weather Underground data to systematically analyze the impact of rainfall intensity on O-D-based travel time reliability. The authors classified three years of travel time data in downtown Boston into one hundred origin-destination pairs and integrated them with the weather data (rain). A lognormal mixture model was applied to fit travel time distributions and calculate the buffer index. The median, trimmed mean, interquartile range, and one-way analysis of variance were used for quantification of the characteristics. The study found some results that tended to agree with the previous findings in the literature, such that, in general, rain reduces the O-D-based travel time reliability, and some seemed to be unique and worthy of discussion: firstly, although in general the reduction in travel time reliability gets larger as the intensity of rainfall increases, it appears that the change is more significant when rainfall intensity changes from light to moderate but becomes fairly marginal when it changes from normal to light or from moderate to extremely intensive; secondly, regardless of normal or rainy weather, the O-D-based travel time reliability and its consistency in different O-D pairs with similar average travel time always tend to improve along with the increase of average travel time. In addition to the technical findings, this study also contributes to the state of the art by promoting the application of real-world and publicly available data in TTR analyses.
Improvement Strategies Study for Outdoor Wind Environment in a University in Beijing Based on CFD Simulation
Authors: Li Xiaodan , Wang Jing , Eftekhari Mahroo , Qi Qi , Jiang Donglin , Song Yunzi , Tian Peng
Published: November 2020

The outdoor wind environment is one of the most important factors influencing the biological environment and human comfort. The campus of China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing) (CUMTB) is the case study for this research. PHOENICS simulation software was used to carry out a numerical simulation study of the outdoor wind environment. The pedestrian‐level wind (PLW) environments for both winter and summer were investigated. Based on the numerical simulation results, the overall evaluation and subregional analysis of the campus’ current outdoor wind environment were carried out. Then, according to the results and problems of wind environment assessment, improvement measures and strategies of outdoor wind environment in universities are proposed from the aspects of campus planning, single building form, and greening configuration. The main goal is to further improve the outdoor space and environment of universities in Beijing and provide general guidelines to improve the quality of the universities’ wind environment effectively. The strategies can provide a reference for the same type of campus on wind environment renovation and improvement. This study can also provide data support and reference significance for outdoor thermal environment/pedestrian environment research.
Experimental Investigation on Deformation and Strength Behavior of Marble with the Complex Loading‐Unloading Stress Path
Authors: Chen Chen , Liu Lipeng , Cong Yu
Published: November 2020

The excavation of deep tunnel in rock mass undergoes complex loading and unloading stress paths, resulting in rib spalling, flaking, and even severe rockburst disasters. Based on the variation law of the stress path of the surrounding rock, laboratory tests of rock mechanics are designed, and the deformation and strength behavior of marble with different initial confining pressure and unloading rates are systematically studied. By introducing strain increment, the characteristic stress, and the dilatancy index, the rock’s dilatancy and brittleness under different unloading conditions are quantitatively analyzed. During unloading, the energy transformation mechanism of rock is described, and the law of deformation and failure is discussed based on characteristic energy. The rock failure strength fitting formula is given by applying the Mogi–Coulomb criterion and elastic strain energy criterion. The advantages of the elastic strain energy criterion are theoretically explained. This study shows that comprehensive consideration of the complex stress paths, confining pressure levels, and the loading‐unloading rates of surrounding rock is an effective way to accurately study unloading rock characteristics. The results can provide theoretical basis for stability analysis of high‐stress underground engineering.
Antibiotic Resistance Results of Helicobacter pylori in a University Hospital: Comparison of the Hybridization Test and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Authors: Kipritci Zehra , Gurol Yesim , Celik Gulden
Published: November 2020

Aim. H. pylori is a bacterial pathogen in the human stomach which infects about 50% of the world population. Untreated infection can lead to various diseases leading to cancer. Some of the H. pylori strains are asymptomatic, but some of them cause more severe diseases. Standard treatment protocol used for the treatment of H. pylori infection is triple therapy, which includes omeprazole as a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and two antibiotics usually consist of amoxicillin and clarithromycin or metronidazole. In the recent years, because of the increase in the rate of antibiotic resistance, the eradication rate has decreased. Materials and Methods. We evaluated 140 patients who applied to a university hospital gastroenterology department and underwent biopsy during endoscopy. In these patients, we analysed floroquinolone and clarithromycin resistance using the GenoType® HelicoDR (Hain Life Science, Germany). We also used the real-time method for clarithromycin resistance. Results. We found the number and rate of floroquinolone resistance as 20 (25.6%) and clarithromycine resistance as 31 (39.7%). With the real-time PCR method, we detected clarithromycine resistance in 26 (33.3%) patients. These results were not statistically significant. Discussion and Conclusion. Our results show similarity to the other studies held in our country. There should be more studies for the policy of eradication through our country.