bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk Models and Managerial Strategies for the Global Supply Chain's Security
Authors: Zamboni Francesco Saverio
Published: June 2021

This chapter aims to investigate the effectiveness of managerial strategies to address sources of risk and strengthen global supply chain security, with specific attention to disasters deriving from the interaction between extreme natural phenomena and pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities. The object of the study is represented by the mutual learning opportunities that can arise from socially-oriented cross-sector collaborations between humanitarian agencies and enterprises. With the ultimate scope of grasping the economic impacts, the business perspective provides several insights to integrate a proactive approach into the corporate strategic planning to ensure a capacity to react with respect to external stimuli. In particular, an in-depth study was carried out dedicated to the regulatory standards that allow the development of this management system. Finally, the private sector's involvement in humanitarian programs is analyzed in order to highlight the benefits in terms of effectiveness of operational performances and the safety of communities' critical infrastructure.
State of the Art of XR Management Training Applications
Authors: Gironacci Irene Maria
Published: June 2021

Recent advancements in extended reality (XR) immersive technologies provide new tools for the development of novel and promising applications for business. Specifically, extended reality training applications are becoming popular in business due to their advantages of low cost, risk-free, data-oriented training. Extended reality training is the digital simulation of lifelike scenarios for training purposes using technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality. Many applications are already available to train employees to develop specific technical skills, from maintenance to construction. The purpose of this chapter is to review the emerging XR applications developed for management training. Specifically, this chapter will focus on the training of some key skills in management such as leadership, problem solving, emotional intelligence, communication, and team working.
Professional Mindset in Troubled Times
Authors: Impedovo Maria Antonietta
Published: June 2021

Globally, COVID-19 has stressed social and personal tensions in professional life. This chapter focuses on the networked dimension to highlight the workers need for social connections. Some suggestions are proposed to implement an epistemic community to sustain creative and collaborative professional development in disruptive time. Two points are discussed to scaffold epistemic communities in the organisation: 1) the inter-professional dimension to embrace complex topic and 2) the emotional dimension as resources to embrace professional transformation.
Community Education, Active Citizenship, and Immigration
Authors: Gelabert Miquel Angel Essomba
Published: June 2021

This chapter aims to report on the results, conclusions, and recommendations of a case study on community education experiences that are currently being carried out in the territory of Catalonia (Spain), in which migrants have opportunities to exercise their political rights of association and participation. The authors assume the hypothesis that community education is the most appropriate context to run an inclusive participation model, as opposed to a more segregating model in which the participation of migrants takes place within of their own communities, without interaction with the rest of society. By using a literature review, group interviews, and observations, they have identified the success factors underlying the observed good practices and, secondly, indicated which ones can facilitate or become a barrier for an effective development of migrants' participation practices.
The Real Blockchain Game Changer
Authors: Loureiro Mitchell , Pêgo Ana , Raposo Inês Graça
Published: June 2021

The single critical output of a blockchain is creating trust where previously impossible. While this feature delivers compelling value for many use cases (bitcoin for money, standards setting and data sharing for permissioned blockchains, audit trails and protection against liability in supply chains), the most novel use case has been something unexpected: the birth of a new type of social structure to provide goods and services. The early examples of this new type of social structure have shown themselves to be incredibly effective at providing those services to their users.
Risky Jews
Authors: Schwartzman Roy
Published: June 2021

Focusing on many previously untranslated articles in popular national magazines and newspapers, as well as works by prominent racial theorists, this chapter traces how outrage was systematically fomented against Jews in Nazi-era Germany, creating perceived imperatives for drastic discriminatory measures. Rather than locate the core of Nazi antisemitism in historical or psychological factors, this study approaches antisemitism using the theoretical framework of risk communication. The heuristics of risk perception reveal an array of rhetorical tactics that fomented visceral aversion impervious to logical refutation. Portraying Jews as embodying maximal and uncontrollable risk, political, academic, and mass media discourse converged on the theme of Jews as posing unacceptable dangers that required progressively more drastic measures to control. The principles of risk communication, especially the means of inflaming outrage, could furnish useful interpretive frames for analyzing current antisemitism and other types of repressive discourse.
Listening Fast and Slow
Authors: Bodie Graham , Jones Susanne M.
Published: June 2021

Like other constructs studied by communication scientists, listening has been viewed as a predominantly deliberate process that requires considerable cognitive resources to perform well. Listening, contrasted with hearing as a more passive mode of information processing, requires a person to actively receive, process, and sensibly respond to aural information. The emphasis on deliberate processing might perhaps have been fueled by research in social psychology, from which much communication theory is drawn. That literature has emphasized rational, deliberate processing at the expense of a more intuitive mode that tends to be viewed as inferior in human decision making and grounded much more in emotions. Using a general dual-process framework, the authors argue that an intuitive, experiential system plays a much more important role in the listening process than previously recognized. They lay out their rationale and model for experiential listening and discuss ways in which people can improve their intuitive listening through mindfulness-based metacognitive practices.
Supporting Learner Social-Emotional Learning and Literacy in Virtual Environments
Authors: English Minkie O. , Dioso-Lopez Rozanne , Lawrence Salika A.
Published: June 2021

An exploratory and descriptive case study of the experiences of secondary learners at a community-based learning center on the Caribbean coast in Latin America, this study explores how the Casa Morpho Community of Learners (CoL) model met the socio-emotional (SEL) and literacy needs of adolescents within various virtual environments during the quarantine in Costa Rica. Using lesson plans, teachers' reflective notes, and a developed Learners reflective survey, the following questions were addressed: 1) How did Casa Morpho's curriculum support learners in virtual environments, and with their SEL and literacy needs during the COVID-19 pandemic? 2) What practices were used and how do learners perceive those experiences?
Literacy as a Support for Social-Emotional and Academic Growth
Authors: Clark Amy Jo , Van Dyke Melanie K. , Tussey Jill T. , Haas Leslie
Published: June 2021

This overview of childhood brain development makes targeted connections between social-emotional learning (SEL) and instructional supports. Emphasis is placed on how interactions between caregivers/teachers, children, and the environment inform early SEL and literacy skill development. Specific attention is paid to delayed social-emotional development and behavior disorders. Multimodal text sets are offered as a way to increase classroom awareness and understanding related to autism, ADD/ADHD, and ODD. SEL resources and support organization information is also provided.
Teaching SEL Through Literacy in Foundations of Language
Authors: Pizzuto Daria
Published: June 2021

The chapter discusses how social-emotional learning areas underpin specific reading, writing, and comprehension strategies in Foundations of Language, an 8th grade half-year course that teaches middle school students language and study skills to be successful in high school world language classes. The chapter provides ready-to-use pedagogical strategies for practicing world language educators and other fields. Literacy in areas of phonemic awareness, vocabulary recognition, cognate work, reading fluency, and text comprehension is practiced daily and is intertwined with SEL skills: self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and responsible decision making. The author proposes applicable activities and thematic units that merge literacy work with areas of SEL. The chapter concludes with recommendations for nurturing all five areas of social-emotional learning in middle school settings and beyond.
Implications of Cybersecurity Breaches in LPWANs
Authors: Axeland Åke , Hagfeldt Henrik , Carlsson Magnus , Lagerquist Sergel Lina , Butun Ismail
Published: June 2021

With the contrast of limited performance and big responsibility of IoT devices, potential security breaches can have serious impacts in means of safety and privacy. Potential consequences of attacks on IoT devices could be leakage of individuals daily habits and political decisions being influenced. While the consequences might not be avoidable in their entirety, adequate knowledge is a fundamental part of realizing the importance of IoT security and during the assessment of damages following a breach. This chapter will focus on two low-powered wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, narrow-band iot (NB-IoT) and long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN). Further, three use cases will be considered—healthcare, smart cities, and industry—which all to some degree rely on IoT devices. It is shown that with enough knowledge of possible attacks and their corresponding implications, more secure IoT systems can be developed.
Cloud-Based Big Data Analysis Tools and Techniques Towards Sustainable Smart City Services
Authors: P. Suresh , P. Keerthika , V. Sathiyamoorthi , K. Logeswaran , R. Manjula Devi , K. Sentamilselvan , M. Sangeetha , C. Sagana
Published: June 2021

Cloud computing and big data analytics are the key parts of smart city development that can create reliable, secure, healthier, more informed communities while producing tremendous data to the public and private sectors. Since the various sectors of smart cities generate enormous amounts of streaming data from sensors and other devices, storing and analyzing this huge real-time data typically entail significant computing capacity. Most smart city solutions use a combination of core technologies such as computing, storage, databases, data warehouses, and advanced technologies such as analytics on big data, real-time streaming data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT). This chapter presents a theoretical and experimental perspective on the smart city services such as smart healthcare, water management, education, transportation and traffic management, and smart grid that are offered using big data management and cloud-based analytics services.
A Case Study of Decision Support System and Warehouse Management System Integration
Authors: Sari Alparslan , Butun Ismail
Published: June 2021

A warehouse is an indispensable part of the logistics. A warehouse management system (WMS) is designed to improve efficiency in warehouses to increase their throughput and potential. The rise of IoT and its commercialization enabled ‘smart things' to be widely adopted by hobbyists and companies. Cheap sensors and smart devices triggered better automation opportunities. Many devices and sensors that are being deployed in the industry and warehousing are affected by this trend. A well-designed WMS is needed to connect devices and humans in a heterogenous warehouse environment. This chapter introduces a prototype of a WMS powered by a decision support system (DSS) based on real-life requirements. In order to have fast, reliable, and efficient decision making in warehousing, the importance of employing DSS in the WMS is emphasized. Warehouse-related IoT technology is briefly introduced, and its security considerations are discussed thoroughly. The main contribution of this chapter is to show how warehouse operations can be modeled in business process model notation and executed in a DSS.
Security of In-Vehicle Communication Systems
Authors: Dubrefjord Dennis , Jang Myeong-jin , Carlsson Oscar , Hadi Hayder , Olovsson Tomas
Published: June 2021

The automotive industry has seen remarkable growth in the use of network and communication technology. These technologies can be vulnerable to attacks. Several examples of confirmed attacks have been documented in academic studies, and many vehicular communications systems have been designed without security aspects in mind. Furthermore, all the security implications mentioned here would affect the functionality of decision support systems (DSS) of IoT and vehicular networks. This chapter focuses on in-vehicle security and aims to categorize some attacks in this field according to the exploited vulnerability by showing common patterns. The conclusion suggests that an ethernet-based architecture could be a good architecture for future vehicular systems; it enables them to meet future security needs while still allowing network communication with outside systems.
Decision Making in IoT Systems Based on Guided Self-Organization and Autonomic Computing in the Context of the I4.0 Era
Authors: Villela Zavala Luis Eduardo , Siller Mario
Published: June 2021

Internet of things (IoT) systems are taking an important role in daily life. Each year the number of connected devices increases considerably, and it is important to keep systems working appropriately. There are some options related to decision support systems to perform IoT systems tasks such as deployment, maintenance, and its operation on environments full of different connected devices and IoT systems interacting among them. For the decision-making process, the authors consider the complexity nature observed in IoT systems and their operational context and environments. In this sense, rather than using grain and fixed control rules/laws for the system design, the use of general principles, goals, and objectives are defined to guide the system adaptation. This has been referred to as guided self-organization (GSO) in the literature. The GSO design approach is based in evaluating the system entropy to reduce the emergence and enable self-organization. Also, in this chapter, a series of study cases from different IoT application domains are presented.
Gait Event Detection System for the Control of Lower Limb Exoskeleton
Authors: Kalathe Mohanavelu , Agarwal Sakshi , Sampaath Vinutha , Daniel Jayanth
Published: June 2021

Locomotion is an essential aspect of day-to-day human life. Advancement in wearable robotic technology enhances capabilities for maintaining the locomotion of people with disabilities. The exoskeleton, being one of them, meets the growing demands in the rehabilitation industry and enhanced locomotion requirements. Depending on the need and disability, various types of exoskeletons are designed. The design aspect of the exoskeleton includes various sensor systems, mechanical structure, mechanism, and control strategy used. Detection of gait events depends on the disability of the wearer and is very critical to decide the appropriate gait event that needs to be activated either by powering the actuators actively or passively. These interfaces should have a minimum possible response time to control the exoskeleton system to follow the wearer's gait. This review paper describes various sensing system incorporated in the control of various exoskeleton systems for the detection of gait events.
Treatment Case Studies and Emissions Analysis of Wood in Yagya
Authors: Rastogi Rohit , Sagar Sheelu , Tandon Neeti , Garg Priyanshi , Rastogi Mukund
Published: June 2021

The mantra becomes more powerful when that sound is chanted in front of purified fire and light; sound and heat energy mixtures are converted into high level of energy and spread around the atmosphere. Through this paper, the well experienced author team of various domains is continuously working in experimenting in joint collaboration with different GoI departments. They have observed the slow but continuous progress in different ails on many subjects through scientific study and approach. The main case studies where the patients got significant benefits through this alternate therapy have been systematically presented here. The power of yajna and mantra has attracted the intellectuals of this era. In the future, we may expect some automated intelligent healthcare expert system using this way of life. Yagya science and its treatment power of different diseases is surprising; the need is that current science should accept it logically with an open mind and heart and let the humanity take the complete benefit of it.
Adoption of E-Commerce and M-Commerce Marketing Practices
Authors: Mandal Pratap Chandra
Published: June 2021

E-commerce has become an important marketing channel with the increasing usage of internet by customers. Companies use both physical intermediaries and online distribution channels for selling their products and services. The study discusses about pure-click companies which sell products online and about brick-and-click companies which sell products both online and through intermediaries. The study focuses on m-commerce which is becoming an important distribution channel and preferred mode of transaction with the increasing usage of smart phones. Companies practicing e-commerce and m-commerce adopt a number of strategies to delight their customers and these strategies are discussed. Both e-commerce and m-commerce have a number of privacy and security issues. Companies should be aware of these issues and formulate measures to ensure privacy and security of information shared by customers. All these will help companies in adopting e-commerce and m-commerce, delighting their customers, building long-term relationships, and in achieving business excellence.
Gamesy
Authors: Waweru B. W. , Ng P. S. Joseph , Eaw H. C.
Published: June 2021

Games have existed since time immemorial and have proved to significantly change people's mentality and attitudes towards countless scenarios. Although games are ‘time wasters', we should acknowledge the one thing that games offer, constant testing, and learning a simple game engages the brain and proves that games are an asset in mental development. Thus, gamification can be used to provide a fun learning environment. In this article, the authors discuss how gamification has been implemented in various applications over the years, people's take on gamification and gamified apps from a survey and interview conducted, and thereafter design a student-oriented gamified study app, Gamesy, that makes use of game elements to improve performance in school and change/improve study habits in a game environment via progressive game design. With this, better performance may be realized in the tertiary education level.
Prediction and Estimation of Lung Cancer and Authenticating by CNN-ECC Model
Authors: Sasi Smitha , Srividya B. V.
Published: June 2021

Miscellany of data analysis on the genesis of disease and the outcome of mortality is very crucial to keep track of the death rates induced due to the disease. The primary detection of the presence of viral infections in lungs is one of the major concerns in the health industry in today's scenario. These infections can lead to mortality. Therefore, the classification and analysis of disease are very pivotal along with security of data. Hence, it is essential for detecting diseases using CNN algorithm at an early stage and generation of medical report automatically. The method is tested for different modals with various lung infections like pneumonia, COVID-19, and cancerous growth in lungs. For these system-generated reports, encryption using ECC algorithm is used to prevent the breach of information while being exchanged from hospital to other organizations or vice versa.
Microcelebrities
Authors: Thomas Bejoy John
Published: June 2021

Traditionally, celebrities advertised the brands on mass media, and this influenced the purchase of the brands. The usage of smart phones and the penetration of internet have resulted in the advertisement of brands by micro celebrities. This study would help us to understand the influence of micro celebrities on purchase intention of brands and would also study the mediating effect of brand engagement in self-concept and brand expected value. The study was conducted among 205 followers of Indian micro celebrities in social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. The followers for the study were selected based on the snowball sampling technique. The results revealed that the perceived influence of micro celebrities had influence on brand engagement in self-concept, brand expected value, and purchase intention. The study highlighted that micro celebrities suggest brands to followers which leads to greater connection to the brand and the attractiveness of the brand increases which in turn would lead to recommendation of the brand by the followers.
Knowledge Sharing in Project Environments
Authors: Novais Zinga , Gomes Jorge Vareda , Romão Mário José Batista
Published: June 2021

Projects have been increasingly used in the implementation of organizations' business operations. Knowledge sharing has been considered essential in project environment; therefore, the integration of knowledge management within project management becomes crucial for project success. The objective of this research is to study how knowledge sharing is integrated within the context of a project, and what is the perception of project team members about it. A case study was carried out in a company within the financial sector, focused on a project team of the entity. The results revealed that project managers, other professionals in project management, and the organization itself are very much aware of the importance of knowledge sharing. The results also emphasized that, regardless of the lack of incentives by top management, project team members consider that knowledge sharing highly contributes for a successful execution of projects.
A Hybrid Decision Support System for Holistic Evaluation of Material Alternatives
Authors: Abdelkader Eslam Mohammed
Published: June 2021

Selection of materials is pivotal for the success of engineering design applications. Their proper selection is an exhaustive task as a result of the presence of a wide range of material alternatives and performance attributes. Thus, this research proposes an integrated multi-criteria decision-making method for the sake of evaluating a set of material alternatives. The material alternatives are assessed with regards to their surface hardness, core hardness, surface fatigue limit, bending fatigue limit, ultimate tensile strength, and cost. The weights of attributes are obtained based on criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) algorithm. This research then employs six types of multi-criteria decision-making algorithms to rank the material alternatives. Average ranking algorithm is then applied to generate a full consensus prioritization of material alternatives. A sensitivity analysis is also carried out to determine the most robust and sensitive multi-criteria decision-making algorithm.
Sinkhole Attack Detection-Based SVM In Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Aissaoui Sihem , Hacene Sofiane Boukli
Published: June 2021

Wireless sensor network is a special kind of ad hoc network characterized by high density, low mobility, and the use of a shared wireless medium. This last feature makes the network deployment easy; however, it is prone to various types of attacks such as sinkhole attack, sybil attack. Many researchers studied the effect of such attacks on the network performance and their detection. Classification techniques are some of the most used end effective methods to detect attacks in WSN. In this paper, the authors focus on sinkhole attack, which is one of the most destructive attacks in WSNs. The authors propose an intrusion detection system for sinkhole attack using support vector machines (SVM) on AODV routing protocol. In the different experiments, a special sinkhole dataset is used, and a comparison with previous techniques is done on the basis of detection accuracy. The results show the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Missing Data in OLAP Cubes
Authors: Tremblay Monica Chiarini , Hevner Alan R.
Published: June 2021

Online analytical processing (OLAP) engines display aggregated data to help business analysts compare data, observe trends, and make decisions. Issues of data quality and, in particular, issues with missing data impact the quality of the information. Key decision-makers who rely on these data typically make decisions based on what they assume to be all the available data. The authors investigate three approaches to dealing with missing data: 1) ignore missing data, 2) show missing data explicitly (e.g., as unknown data values), and 3) design mitigation algorithms for missing data (e.g., allocate missing data into known value categories). The authors evaluate the approach with focus groups and controlled experiments. When one tries to inform decision-makers using the approaches in the research, the authors find that they often alter their decisions and adjust their decision confidence: individual differences of tolerance for ambiguity and pre-existing omission bias in the decision context influence their decisions.
A Review on the Integration of Deep Learning and Service-Oriented Architecture
Authors: Fantinato Marcelo , Peres Sarajane Marques , Kafeza Eleanna , Chiu Dickson K. W. , Hung Patrick C. K.
Published: June 2021

In recent years, machine learning has been used for data processing and analysis, providing insights to businesses and policymakers. Deep learning technology is promising to further revolutionize this processing leading to better and more accurate results. Current trends in information and communication technology are accelerating widespread use of web services in supporting a service-oriented architecture (SOA) consisting of services, their compositions, interactions, and management. Deep learning approaches can be applied to support the development of SOA-based solutions, leveraging the vast amount of data on web services currently available. On the other hand, SOA has mechanisms that can support the development of distributed, flexible, and reusable infrastructures for the use of deep learning. This paper presents a literature survey and discusses how SOA can be enabled by as well as facilitate the use of deep learning approaches in different types of environments for different levels of users.
Seneca Valley Virus 3C Protease Induces Pyroptosis by Directly Cleaving Porcine Gasdermin D
Authors: Wen Wei , Li Xiangmin , Wang Haoyuan , Zhao Qiongqiong , Yin Mengge , Liu Wenqiang , Chen Huanchun , Qian Ping
Published: June 2021

Seneca Valley virus (SVV), a newly emerging virus belonging to the Picornaviridae family, has caused vesicular disease in the swine industry. However, the molecular mechanism of viral pathogenesis remains poorly understood. This study revealed that SVV infection could induce pyroptosis in SK6 cells in a caspase-dependent and -independent manner. SVV may inhibit caspase-1 activation at late infection because of 3Cpro cleavage of NLRP3, which counteracted pyroptosis activation. Further study showed that 3Cpro targeted porcine gasdermin D (pGSDMD) for cleavage through its protease activity. 3Cpro cleaved porcine GSDMD (pGSDMD) at two sites, glutamine 193 (Q193) and glutamine 277 (Q277), and Q277 was close to the caspase-1–induced pGSDMD cleavage site. pGSDMD1–277 triggered cell death, which was similar to N-terminal fragment produced by caspase-1 cleavage of pGSDMD, and other fragments exhibited no significant inhibitory effects on cellular activity. Ectopic expression of pGSDMD converted 3Cpro-induced apoptosis to pyroptosis in 293T cells. Interestingly, 3Cpro did not cleave mouse GSDMD or human GSDMD. And, both pGSDMD and pGSDMD1–277 exhibited bactericidal activities in vivo. Nevertheless, pGSDMD cannot kill bacteria in vitro. Taken together, our results reveal a novel pyroptosis activation manner produced by viral protease cleavage of pGSDMD, which may provide an important insight into the pathogenesis of SVV and cancer therapy.
Neddylation Alleviates Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection by Inducing Macrophage Reactive Oxygen Species Production
Authors: Xiu Huiqing , Peng Yanmei , Huang Xiaofang , Gong Jiali , Yang Jie , Cai Jiachang , Zhang Kai , Cui Wei , Shen Yingying , Wang Jianli , Zhang Shufang , Cai Zhijian , Zhang Gensheng
Published: June 2021

Neddylation, a posttranslational modification in which NEDD8 is covalently attached to target proteins, has emerged as an endogenous regulator of innate immunity. However, the role of neddylation in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection remains unknown. In this study, we found that neddylation was activated after MRSA infection in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of neddylation with MLN4924 promoted injury of liver and kidneys in C57BL/6 mice with MRSA bloodstream infection and increased mortality. Blockade of neddylation, either pharmacologically (MLN4924, DI591) or through the use of Uba3 small interfering RNA, inhibited Cullin3 neddylation and promoted Nrf2 accumulation, thus reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction and bacterial killing ability in mouse peritoneal macrophages. In summary, our findings suggest that activation of neddylation in macrophages plays a critical protective role against MRSA infection by increasing ROS production, partially by signaling through the NEDD8-Cullin3-Nrf2-ROS axis. Furthermore, our results may provide a new non-antibiotic treatment strategy for MRSA infection through targeting of neddylation.
Novel Role for Macrophage Galactose-Type Lectin-1 to Regulate Innate Immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Naqvi Kubra F , Huante Matthew B , Saito Tais B , Endsley Mark A , Gelman Benjamin B , Endsley Janice J
Published: June 2021

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is characterized by inflammatory pathology and poorly understood mechanisms of innate immunity. Pattern recognition receptors, expressed on the surface of macrophages, determine the balance of inflammatory and antimicrobial functions that influence disease outcome. Carbohydrate moieties displayed by mycobacteria can serve as pattern recognition receptor ligands for some members of the C-type lectin receptor (CLR) family, interactions that mediate a variety of incompletely understood immune outcomes. This work identifies a novel role for the CLR macrophage galactose-type lectin (MGL)-1 in a mouse model (C57BL/6 and MGL-1−/−) of experimental TB. Murine macrophages upregulated MGL-1 following in vitro exposure to M. tuberculosis, whereas MGL+ cells accumulated at sites of mycobacteria-driven inflammation in the lung. Pulmonary macrophages from MGL-1–deficient mice displayed increased production of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ) that were associated with greater lipid accumulation, following M. tuberculosis infection. Surprisingly, for a CLR, we also observed MGL-1–dependent antimycobacterial activity as evidenced by greater M. tuberculosis proliferation in bone marrow–derived macrophages, and the lung, of MGL-1–deficient mice. Differential transcriptome analysis further revealed that loss of MGL-1 perturbs the activation of various genes involved in the regulation of inflammation and lipid metabolism in the setting of M. tuberculosis infection. These results identify MGL-1 signaling as an important mechanism that regulates innate immunity against M. tuberculosis and indicates the potential for the MGL pathway as a novel therapeutic target for anti-TB immunity.
INVASIVE FUNGAL INFECTION IN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE LEUKEMIA AND SEVERE APLASTIC ANEMIA
Authors: Supatharawanich Sutatta , Narkbunnam Nattee , Vathana Nassawee , Takpradit Chayamon , Phuakpet Kamon , Pongtanakul Bunchoo , Tongsai Sasima , Sinlapamongkolkul Phakatip , Ngamskulrungroj Popchai , Phongsamart Wanatpreeya , Sanpakit Kleebsabai , Buaboonnam Jassada
Published: June 2021

Although the outcome of childhood leukemia and severe aplastic anemia (SAA) has improved, infectious complications are still the major concern, particularly invasive fungal infection (IFI), which is one of the most common causes of infectious related death in such patients with prolonged neutropenia.  A retrospective study of IFI in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed acute leukemia and SAA in Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, was conducted.   There were 241 patients (150 patients with ALL, 35 patients with AML, 31 patients with relapsed leukemia and 25 patients with SAA) with the median age of 5.4 years (rage, 0.3-16.0 years). The overall prevalence of IFI was 23.2%, and the breakdown prevalence in ALL, AML, relapsed leukemia and SAA were 12.7%, 37.1%, 45.2% and 40.0% respectively. Candida tropicalis was the most common identifiable organism. Pulmonary IFI caused by invasive aspergillosis was the most common site of infection. The overall case-fatality rate was 50.0% with the highest rate in relapsed leukemia of 92.9%. In multivariable analysis, the age > 4 years, AML, relapsed leukemia and SAA were found to be independent risk factors of IFI with adjusted odds ratio of 2.3, 4.1, 5.1 and 3.7 respectively. In SAA group, only very severe aplastic anemia (ANC < 200 mm3) was found to be associated with development of IFI with odds ratio of 32.7. IFI in Thai children with hematologic diseases appeared to be prevalent with high fatality. Anti-fungal prophylaxis should be considered in patients with SAA to prevent IFI.
Ibrutinib associated cardiovascular events in a patient wearing an implanted loop recorder
Authors: Rivera Daniel , Takahashi Koichi , Durand Jean-Benard , Ferrajoli Alessandra
Published: June 2021

Ibrutinib is a well-tolerated and effective therapy used for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Its use has been associated with cardiovascular events such as atrial fibrillation (Afib), hypertension, and ventricular arrhythmias. Implanted loop recorders are a useful tool in guiding the management of patients with cardiac arrhythmias.
Traitement et production d'une série dendroisotopique millénaire
Authors: Naulier M , Savard M M , Bégin C , Arseneault D
Published: June 2021

The stable isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen in tree rings are remarkable paleoclimatic data. In northeastern Canada, where climatic reconstructions longer than 500 years are very rare and where none is based on tree-ring isotopes, subfossil stems from boreal
lakes can be used to produce long isotopic series. The most important steps in producing millennial isotopic series consist in selecting the material to study (lakes, living trees, subfossil stems) and the method to sample tree rings in order to obtain a climate reconstruction of high temporal
resolution. The climatic significance of the isotopic ratios was determined by correlations with climatic parameters, and validated by our understanding of the physiological and pedogeochemical response mechanisms. The significant correlation obtained for the delta-18O series with summer maximal
temperature has allowed reconstructing the mean of June-July maximum temperature over the last millennium by using subfossil stems recovered from a boreal lake. This new millennial series, the first isotopic series in northeastern Canada, is one of the first in the world to use delta-18O values as a
proxy for climate. It brings new knowledge of the past climate for northeastern Quebec by highlighting that the medieval warm anomaly (1000-1250 AD) was as warm as the last three decades and the warming observed since 1970 is one of the most important of the last millennium.
Design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel racecadotril-tetrazole-amino acid derivatives as new potent analgesic agents
Authors: Asadi Mehdi , Mohammadi-Khanaposhtani Maryam , Hosseini Faezeh Sadat , Gholami Mahdi , Dehpour Ahmad Reza , Amanlou Massoud
Published: June 2021

Background and purpose:

Although pain is one of the most common symptoms of diseases, it is often mismanaged due to limited access to painkillers and ineffectiveness, unacceptable side effects, or the possibility of abuse. However, an alternative approach to existing analgesics is to indirectly increase endogenous pain relief pathways by neprilysin (an enkephalinase) inhibitors. This enzyme breaks down and inactivates enkephalin, dynorphin, endorphins, and their derivatives.

Experimental approach:

In this project, a new series of racecadotril-tetrazole-amino acid derivatives 15a-l was synthesized and characterized on the basis of IR, 1H and 13C NMR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The antinociceptive activity of synthesized compounds was assessed by a hot plate, tail-flick, and formalin assays in mice. Docking was used to identify the possible interactions between neprilysin and synthesized compounds. 15a-l was synthesized and characterized on the basis of IR, 1H and 13C NMR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The antinociceptive activity of synthesized compounds was assessed by a hot plate, tail-flick, and formalin assays in mice. Docking was used to identify the possible interactions between neprilysin and synthesized compounds.

Findings/Results:

Most of the synthesized compounds showed moderate to good analgesic effects in hot plat and tail-flick test in comparison to morphine and racecadotril. Compounds 15l and 15j were the most potent compounds. The synergistic analgesic effect of compounds 15l and 15j with morphine and the antagonistic effect of naloxone on the activity of these compounds confirm that the analgesic effect of compounds 15l and 15j could be mediated through the opioidergic system. The negative and high binding energy of docking simulation of the most potent compounds in the catalytic site of neprilysin was also in good agreement with the inhibitory activity of test compounds.

Conclusion and implications:

Racecadotril-tetrazole-amino acid derivatives, as potential antinociceptive agents, demonstrated moderate to good antinociceptive activities comparable with morphine and higher than racecadotril.
Evaluation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma and normal oral mucosa using western blot
Authors: Mony Vinod , Nirmal R Madhavan , Parvathi V , Parvathy R L , Varun B R , Jayanthi P
Published: June 2021

Background:

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that acts as a binding site for toxic chemicals, particularly the dioxin group of chemicals. Elevated levels of AHR have been observed in various human cancers, including lung carcinomas, hepatic carcinomas and in mammary tumors. However, the expression of AHR in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients who are tobacco users are less explored.

Aims and Objectives:

The aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare AHR levels in OSSC patients and in normals using Western blot technique in an attempt to explore the possible role of AHR in oral carcinogenesis.

Materials and Methods:

The study sample consisted of ten oral squamous cell carcinoma cases which were diagnosed clinically and confirmed histopathologically as OSCC and four samples of the normal oral mucosa. AHR protein expression was evaluated using Western blot technique and chemiluminescence detection kit. The densitometry was performed on a Microtek scan maker MSP flatbed scanner and quantified using Image J software. Mean AHR protein levels were calculated and compared between OSCC and normal oral mucosa using Student's t-test.

Results:

The mean AHR protein level in OSCC samples (n = 10) was 2878.90 ± 1231.27 and 975.75 ± 227.27 in the normal oral mucosa (n = 4). The OSCC samples showed significantly higher levels of AHR protein compared to the normal oral mucosa (P = 0.008).

Conclusion:

The study showed a significantly higher expression of AHR in oral squamous cell carcinoma samples when compared to the normal oral mucosa, suggesting a possible role of AHR in the initiation, promotion and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Metastasis in the mandible involving gingiva
Authors: Shah Sonalee J , Mishra Biswajit , Jadwani Sanjay
Published: June 2021

Oral metastasis, although rare, tends to involve jawbones, particularly the posterior region of the mandible, and involvement of oral soft tissues, even when less likely, is most often seen on the gingiva and tongue. Clinically, the soft-tissue masses tend to mimic pyogenic granuloma, peripheral giant cell granuloma or an epulis and thus are difficult to diagnose and identify. The jaw bone is preferred by prostate carcinoma as a metastatic target. Prostate malignancy, which is more common in Western countries than in India, may be adenocarcinomas or carcinomas. Oftentimes, metastatic lesions develop in the alveolar region and are a cause for tooth mobility, yet, they tend to be detected only after extraction of the affected tooth. In such cases, the symptomatic presentation therefore, is vague and indicative of tooth mobility secondary to periodontal pathology unless, a detailed history and follow-up is done. We report a case of a male patient who presented to our department with a proliferative, painful, swelling postextraction of the left first molar region, and the lesion was seen at the extraction site as well as in the mandibular anterior tooth region. The swelling was associated with palpable lymph nodes. Orthopantomogram showed an irregular, radiolucent lesion extending from the lower left central incisor to the left first molar region in the mandibular alveolus. Incisional biopsy tissue came with provisional diagnosis of osteomyelitis or squamous cell carcinoma as the patient was a habitual bidi smoker for more than 20 years. Histologically, it was an undifferentiated tumor with tumor cells seen in deep connective tissue with a lack of lineage differentiation. An undifferentiated malignant tumor represents either a metastasis of unknown origin or a primary neoplasia without obvious cell line of differentiation. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of undifferentiated tumors helps to categorize them into small round blue cell tumors or large cell tumors. The oral pathologist was perplexed as there was no mention of any other malignancy in the patient's history, which, however, was noted by the surgeons few days later. Hence, initially, a hematopoietic malignancy was suspected which was ruled out by IHC, and later, staining with cytokeratin 7 (CK7), CK-high molecular weight and P63 confirmed prostate metastases as all three were negative.
Peculiarities of the Pontogammarus robustoides (Amphipoda, Gammaridae) Adaptive Reactions to the Water Temperature Increasing in the Model Ecosystem – Microcosm
Authors: Romanenko Victor , Romanenko Olexander , Krot Yurii , Podruhina Anna
Published: June 2021

The crustaceans’ family Gammaridae populations’ adaptive reactions with a water temperature increasing to the critical values were studied in the model ecosystem – the microcosm. The experiment included investigation of such indexes as population dimensional composition, precopulatory activity, number of oviparous females, embryogenesis duration, and energy metabolism at the different phases of thermocycle. Obtained data revealed optimal and critical for gammarid’s viability temperature conditions of environment. It is assumed that under conditions of climate change, when water temperature sharp fluctuations take place, in the Kyiv reservoir (Dnipro River, Ukraine) coastal shallow water crustacean’s family Gammaridae components of the invertebrates associations the structural and functional changes are expected. Temperature increasing to the critical values will promote the animals migration processes intensification; incapable of this animals will perish. Gammarids with ability to migrate in direction of areas with more favorable for their viability conditions will have a significant advantage.
Single Genetic Stock Revealed by Microsatellite Markers Among Wild Populations of Cirrhinus mrigala from Peninsular India
Authors: Das Sofia P. , Swain Subrat K. , Sahoo Lakshman , Jena Joy Krushna , Das Paramananda
Published: June 2021

Cirrhinus mrigala (mrigal) is one of the Indian major carps widely cultured in the whole Indian subcontinent. Population genetic structure of this species from Peninsular Rivers of India is lacking. Among DNA markers, microsatellites are excellent tools to evaluate genetic variation of populations. In this study, genetic variation of six peninsular riverine mrigal populations was evaluated using seventeen microsatellite loci. In analyzing 288 samples, the number of alleles ranged from 4 to 27; observed heterozygosity from 0.595 to 1.00, expected heterozygosity from 0.586 to 0.959 and inbreeding coefficient (FIS) ranged from -0.034 to 0.02. Exact test for Hardy Weinberg disequilibrium revealed that one locus was not in equilibrium across the rivers except one. The AMOVA analysis revealed the main source of genetic variation to be within the population (94.54%) than among the populations (5.46%). The Nei’s genetic distance and structure analysis depict river Narmada and Mahi populations are different from the four east coast rivers. The overall Fst (0.05462) data showed moderate differentiation among the six populations. The results of this study provide essential information to resource recovery and help in delineating populations for fishery management. Besides, the data will provide a valuable baseline for further investigations on the geographic distribution of this commercially important fish species.
Evaluation of Water Quality and Heavy Metal Pollution in the Shoots and Roots of Aquatic Plants
Authors: Olawusi-Peters Olamide Olaronke
Published: June 2021

The safety of vegetables has been an issue of public concern in recent years. Thus, heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Mn, Pb, Zn and Fe) in the shoot and root of Sacciolepis africana, Ceratophyllun demersum and Pistia stratiotes in Owena reservoir, Nigeria were tested using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer while some Physico-chemical parameters of water were measured using multi parameter hand-held meter. The water quality result revealed that the average temperature, turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH were 27.77oC, 7.21NTU, 101.83Ω/S, 6.95mg/l and 6.55 respectively. The single factor pollution index showed that Temperature (0.93), DO (0.99) and pH (0.99) fell within the category of slight pollution while turbidity (1.20) and conductivity (1.02) fell within the medium pollution category. Sacciolepis africana bio-concentrated more heavy metals than Ceratophyllun demersum and Pistia stratiotes. The HRIs of Cu, Cd, Mn, Zn and Fe indicated no risk since all values were less than 1. However, there was a potential risk for Pb through the consumption of the plants despite that the HRI of the shoot of Ceratophyllun demersum (0.65) and root of Pistia stratiotes (0.46) were less than 1. The THQ and HI values for the root and shoot of all the vegetables were less than 1, indicating that they are unlikely to result in any chronic systemic risk-averse health effects.