bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Soil-Monitoring Sensor Powered by Temperature Difference between Air and Shallow Underground Soil
Authors: Ikeda Natsuki , Shigeta Ryo , Shiomi Junichiro , Kawahara Yoshihiro
Published: March 2020

Energy harvesting (EH) technologies are useful for the semi-permanent operation of wireless sensor networks, especially, for agricultural monitoring as the networks need to be installed in large areas where power supply is unavailable. In this paper, we propose a battery-free soil-monitoring sensor for agriculture, which leverages the temperature difference between near-surface air and shallow underground soil using a thermoelectric generator (TEG). The performance of systems driven by the TEG mainly depends on the average temperature between the hot and cold sides of the TEG (T) and the temperature difference across the TEG (ΔT). If T is low and ΔT is small, it is challenging to earn enough power to drive wireless microcontroller unit; however, with our dedicated electric circuit, and thermal designs including impedance matching of thermal circuit and suppression of heat loss, the sensor can harvest more than a hundred microwatt on average from the temperature difference between the air and underground soil at a depth of 30 cm. The performance of the energy harvester is evaluated both by numerical analysis using temperature data collected from various farm fields and by a prototype implementation. Moreover, the prototype was deployed to farm fields in Japan and India. Our field experiment results revealed that the prototype could harvest 100 μW-370 μW on average, and drive a wireless microcontroller unit to perform soil monitoring.
Liquid Level Sensing Using Commodity WiFi in a Smart Home Environment
Authors: Ren Yili , Tan Sheng , Zhang Linghan , Wang Zi , Wang Zhi , Yang Jie
Published: March 2020

The popularity of Internet-of-Things (IoT) has provided us with unprecedented opportunities to enable a variety of emerging services in a smart home environment. Among those services, sensing the liquid level in a container is critical to building many smart home and mobile healthcare applications that improve the quality of life. This paper presents LiquidSense, a liquid level sensing system that is low-cost, high accuracy, widely applicable to different daily liquids and containers, and can be easily integrated with existing smart home networks. LiquidSense uses existing home WiFi network and a low-cost transducer that attached to the container to sense the resonance of the container for liquid level detection. In particular, our system mounts a low-cost transducer on the surface of the container and emits a well-designed chirp signal to make the container resonant, which introduces subtle changes to the home WiFi signals. By analyzing the subtle phase changes of the WiFi signals, LiquidSense extracts the resonance frequency as a feature for liquid level detection. Our system constructs prediction models for both continuous and discrete predictions using curve fitting and SVM respectively. We evaluate LiquidSense in home environments with containers of three different materials and six types of liquids. Results show that LiquidSense achieves an overall accuracy of 97% for continuous prediction and an overall F-score of 0.968 for discrete predication. Results also show that our system has a large coverage in a home environment and works well under non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios.
GIobalFusion
Authors: Liu Shengzhong , Yao Shuochao , Li Jinyang , Liu Dongxin , Wang Tianshi , Shao Huajie , Abdelzaher Tarek
Published: March 2020

The paper enhances deep-neural-network-based inference in sensing applications by introducing a lightweight attention mechanism called the global attention module for multi-sensor information fusion. This mechanism is capable of utilizing information collected from higher layers of the neural network to selectively amplify the influence of informative features and suppress unrelated noise at the fusion layer. We successfully integrate this mechanism into a new end-to-end learning framework, called GIobalFusion, where two global attention modules are deployed for spatial fusion and sensing modality fusion, respectively. Through an extensive evaluation on four public human activity recognition (HAR) datasets, we successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of GlobalFusion at improving information fusion quality. The new approach outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms on all four datasets with a clear margin. We also show that the learned attention weights agree well with human intuition. We then validate the efficiency of GlobalFusion by testing its inference time and energy consumption on commodity IoT devices. Only a negligible overhead is induced by the global attention modules.
D3P
Authors: Luo Man , Du Bowen , Klemmer Konstantin , Zhu Hongming , Ferhatosmanoglu Hakan , Wen Hongkai
Published: March 2020

The future of urban mobility is expected to be shared and electric. It is not only a more sustainable paradigm that can reduce emissions, but can also bring societal benefits by offering a more affordable on-demand mobility option to the general public. Many car sharing service providers as well as automobile manufacturers are entering the competition by expanding both their EV fleets and renting/returning station networks, aiming to seize a share of the market and to bring car sharing to the zero emissions level. During their fast expansion, one determinant for success is the ability of predicting the demand of stations as the entire system is growing continuously. There are several challenges in this demand prediction problem: First, unlike most of the existing work which predicts demand only for static systems or at few stages of expansion, in the real world we often need to predict the demand as or even before stations are being deployed or closed, to provide information and decision support. Second, for the new stations to be deployed, there is no historical data available to help the prediction of their demand. Finally, the impact of deploying/closing stations on the other stations in the system can be complex. To address these challenges, we formulate the demand prediction problem in the context of fast expanding electric vehicle sharing systems, and propose a data-driven demand prediction approach which aims to model the expansion dynamics directly from the data. We use a local temporal encoding process to handle the historical data for each existing station, and a dynamic spatial encoding process to take correlations between stations into account with Graph Convolutional Neural Networks (GCN). The encoded features are fed to a multi-scale predictor, which forecasts both the long-term expected demand of the stations and their instant demand in the near future. We evaluate the proposed approach with real-world data collected from a major EV sharing platform for one year. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms the state of the art, showing up to three-fold performance gain in predicting demand for the expanding EV sharing systems.
PMF
Authors: Feng Jie , Rong Can , Sun Funing , Guo Diansheng , Li Yong
Published: March 2020

With the popularity of mobile devices and location-based social network, understanding and modelling the human mobility becomes an important topic in the field of ubiquitous computing. With the model developing from personal models with own information to the joint models with population information, the prediction performance of proposed models become better and better. Meanwhile, the privacy issues of these models come into the view of community and the public: collecting and uploading private data to the centralized server without enough regulation. In this paper, we propose PMF, a privacy-preserving mobility prediction framework via federated learning, to solve this problem without significantly sacrificing the prediction performance. In our framework, based on the deep learning mobility model, no private data is uploaded into the centralized server and the only uploaded thing is the updated model parameters which are difficult to crack and thus more secure. Furthermore, we design a group optimization method for the training on local devices to achieve better trade-off between performance and privacy. Finally, we propose a fine-tuned personal adaptor for personal modelling to further improve the prediction performance. We conduct extensive experiments on three real-life mobility datasets to demonstrate the superiority and effectiveness of our methods in privacy protection settings.
METIER
Authors: Chen Ling , Zhang Yi , Peng Liangying
Published: March 2020

Activity recognition (AR) and user recognition (UR) using wearable sensors are two key tasks in ubiquitous and mobile computing. Currently, they still face some challenging problems. For one thing, due to the variations in how users perform activities, the performance of a well-trained AR model typically drops on new users. For another, existing UR models are powerless to activity changes, as there are significant differences between the sensor data in different activity scenarios. To address these problems, we propose METIER (deep multi-task learning based activity and user recognition) model, which solves AR and UR tasks jointly and transfers knowledge across them. User-related knowledge from UR task helps AR task to model user characteristics, and activity-related knowledge from AR task guides UR task to handle activity changes. METIER softly shares parameters between AR and UR networks, and optimizes these two networks jointly. The commonalities and differences across tasks are exploited to promote AR and UR tasks simultaneously. Furthermore, mutual attention mechanism is introduced to enable AR and UR tasks to exploit their knowledge to highlight important features for each other. Experiments are conducted on three public datasets, and the results show that our model can achieve competitive performance on both tasks.
Mobile Device Batteries as Thermometers
Authors: He Liang , Lee Youngmoon , Shin Kang G.
Published: March 2020

The ability to sense ambient temperature pervasively, albeit crucial for many applications, is not yet available, causing problems such as degraded indoor thermal comfort and unexpected/premature shutoffs of mobile devices. To enable pervasive sensing of ambient temperature, we propose use of mobile device batteries as thermometers based on (i) the fact that people always carry their battery-powered smart phones, and (ii) our empirical finding that the temperature of mobile devices' batteries is highly correlated with that of their operating environment. Specifically, we design and implement Batteries-as-Thermometers (BaT), a temperature sensing service based on the information of mobile device batteries, expanding the ability to sense the device's ambient temperature without requiring additional sensors or taking up the limited on-device space. We have evaluated BaT on 6 Android smartphones using 19 laboratory experiments and 36 real-life field-tests, showing an average of 1.25°C error in sensing the ambient temperature.
Hydrogen sulfide rescues high glucose-induced migration dysfunction in HUVECs by upregulating miR-126-3p
Authors: Xue Wen-long , Chen Rui-qin , Zhang Qing-qing , Li Xing-hui , Cao Lei , Li Meng-yao , Li Ye , Lin Ge , Chen Ying , Wang Ming-jie , Zhu Yi-chun
Published: March 2020

Diabetes (especially Type II) is one of the primary threats to cardiovascular health. Wound healing defects and vascular dysfunction are common in diabetic patients, and the primary cause of deterioration is sustained high plasma glucose. microRNA, a noncoding RNA, has regulatory functions that are critical to maintaining homeostasis. MicroRNA (miR)-126-3p is a potential diabetes biomarker and a proangiogenic factor, and its plasma level decreases in diabetic patients. Previous studies have revealed the proangiogenic character of the gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide (H2S). However, little is known about the relationship between H2S and miR-126-3p when the extracellular glucose level is high, let alone their influences on deteriorated endothelial cell migration, a key component of angiogenesis, which is crucial for wound healing. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with high glucose (33.3 mmol/L) or normal glucose (5.5 mmol/L) for 48 h. Affymetrix miRNA profiling and real-time PCR were used to validate the miRNA expression. An H2S probe (HSip-1) was used to detect endogenous H2S. Scratch wound-healing assays were used to evaluate HUVEC migration. The protein levels were quantified by Western blot. Both exogenous and endogenous H2S could upregulate the miR-126-3p levels in HUVECs or muscle tissue. High glucose decreased the H2S level and the protein expression of the H2S-producing enzyme cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) in HUVECs; however, the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) protein level was upregulated. CSE overexpression not only increased the miR-126-3p level by decreasing the DNMT1 protein level but also rescued the deteriorated cell migration in HUVECs treated with high glucose. DNMT1 overexpression decreased the miR-126-3p level and inhibited the migration of HUVECs, whereas silencing DNMT1 improved cell migration. High glucose decreased the endogenous H2S and miR-126-3p levels and increased the DNMT1 expression, thus inducing the migration dysfunction of HUVECs. Treatment with exogenous H2S or the overexpression of the endogenously produced enzyme CSE would rescue this migration dysfunction through H2S-DNMT1-miR-126-3p.
Impaired exercise performance is independent of inflammation and cellular stress following genetic reduction or deletion of selenoprotein S
Authors: Addinsall Alex Bernard , Wright Craig Robert , Kotsiakos Taryan L. , Smith Zoe M. , Cook Taylah R. , Andrikopoulos Sofianos , van der Poel Chris , Stupka Nicole
Published: March 2020

Selenoprotein S (Seps1) can be protective against oxidative, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and inflammatory stress. Seps1 global knockout mice are less active, possess compromised fast muscle ex vivo strength, and, depending on context, heightened inflammation. Oxidative, ER, and inflammatory stress modulates contractile function; hence, our aim was to investigate the effects of Seps1 gene dose on exercise performance. Seps1−/− knockout, Seps1−/+ heterozygous, and wild-type mice were randomized to 3 days of incremental, high-intensity treadmill running or a sedentary control group. On day 4, the in situ contractile function of fast tibialis anterior (TA) muscles was determined. Seps1 reduction or deletion compromised exercise capacity, decreasing distance run. TA strength was also reduced. In sedentary Seps1−/− knockout mice, TA fatigability was greater than wild-type mice, and this was ameliorated with exercise. Whereas, in Seps1+/− heterozygous mice, exercise compromised TA endurance. These impairments in exercise capacity and TA contractile function were not associated with increased inflammation or a dysregulated redox state. Seps1 is highly expressed in muscle fibers and blood vessels. Interestingly, Nos1 and Vegfa mRNA transcripts were decreased in TA muscles from Seps1−/− knockout and Seps1−/+ heterozygous mice. Impaired exercise performance with Seps1 reduction or deletion cannot be attributed to heightened cellular stress, but it may potentially be mediated, in part, by the effects of Seps1 on the microvasculature.
Before and beyond the Wilson–Cowan equations
Authors: Chow Carson C. , Karimipanah Yahya
Published: March 2020

The Wilson–Cowan equations represent a landmark in the history of computational neuroscience. Along with the insights Wilson and Cowan offered for neuroscience, they crystallized an approach to modeling neural dynamics and brain function. Although their iconic equations are used in various guises today, the ideas that led to their formulation and the relationship to other approaches are not well known. Here, we give a little context to some of the biological and theoretical concepts that lead to the Wilson–Cowan equations and discuss how to extend beyond them.
Contrast gain control occurs independently of both parvalbumin-positive interneuron activity and shunting inhibition in auditory cortex
Authors: Cooke James E. , Kahn Martin C. , Mann Edward O. , King Andrew J. , Schnupp Jan W. H. , Willmore Ben D. B.
Published: March 2020

We investigated whether contrast gain control is mediated by shunting inhibition from parvalbumin-positive interneurons in auditory cortex. We performed extracellular and intracellular recordings in mouse auditory cortex while presenting sensory stimuli with varying contrasts and manipulated parvalbumin-positive interneuron activity using optogenetics. We show that while parvalbumin-positive interneuron activity modulates the gain of cortical responses, this activity is not the primary mechanism for contrast gain control in auditory cortex.
Research Progress on Anti‐Inflammatory Effects and Mechanisms of Alkaloids from Chinese Medical Herbs
Authors: Li Sicong , Liu Xin , Chen Xiaoran , Bi Lei
Published: March 2020

As the spectrum of diseases keeps changing and life pace keeps going faster, the probability and frequency of diseases caused by human inflammatory reactions also keep increasing. How to develop effective anti‐inflammatory drugs has become the hotspot of researches. It has been found that alkaloids from Chinese medical herbs have anti‐inflammatory, analgesic, antitumor, anticonvulsant, diuretic, and antiarrhythmic effects, among which the anti‐inflammatory effect is very prominent and commonly used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and other rheumatic immune diseases, but its mechanism of action has not been well explained. Based on this, this paper will classify alkaloids according to structural types and review the plant sources, applicable diseases, and anti‐inflammatory mechanisms of 16 kinds of alkaloids commonly used in clinical treatment, such as berberine, tetrandrine, and stephanine, with the aim of providing a reference for drug researches and clinical applications.
EGFRPolymorphism and Survival of NSCLC Patients Treated with TKIs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Jurisic Vladimir , Vukovic Vladimir , Obradovic Jasmina , Gulyaeva Lyudmila F. , Kushlinskii Nikolay E. , Djordjević Nataša
Published: March 2020

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor- (TKI-) based therapy revolutionized the overall survival and the quality of life in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients that have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. However,EGFRis a highly polymorphic and mutation-prone gene, with over 1200 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Since the role ofEFGRpolymorphism on the treatment outcome is still a matter of debate, this research analyzed the available literature data, according to the PRISMA guidelines for meta-analyses. Research includes PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and 14 of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) electronic databases in order to provide quantitative assessment of the association between ten investigatedEGFRSNPs and the survival of NSCLC patients. The pooled HR and their 95% CI for OS and PFS for differentEGFRpolymorphisms using a random or fixed effect model based on the calculated heterogeneity between the studies was applied. The longest and the shortest median OSs were reported for the homozygous wild genotype and a variant allele carriers for rs712829 (-216G>T), respectively. Quantitative synthesis in our study shows that out of ten investigatedEGFRSNPs (rs11543848, rs11568315, rs11977388, rs2075102, rs2227983, rs2293347, rs4947492, rs712829, rs712830, and rs7809028), only four, namely, rs712829 (-216G>T), rs11568315 (CA repeat), rs2293347 (D994D), and rs4947492, have been reported to affect the outcome of TKI-based NSCLC treatment. Of these, only -216G>T and variable CA repeat polymorphisms have been confirmed by meta-analysis of available data to significantly affect OS and PFS in gefitinib- or erlotinib-treated NSCLC patients.
IL‐4 Alleviates Ischaemia‐Reperfusion Injury by Inducing Kupffer Cells M2 Polarization via STAT6‐JMJD3 Pathway after Rat Liver Transplantation
Authors: Deng Minghua , Wang Jingyuan , Wu Hao , Wang Menghao , Cao Ding , Li Jinzheng , Wu Yakun , Gong Jianping
Published: March 2020

Background. Liver ischaemia‐reperfusion injury (IRI) remains a problem in liver transplantation. Interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) has been found to reduce liver IRI, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Methods. Donor livers were infused with recombinant IL‐4 or normal saline during cold storage, and the hepatocellular apoptosis and the inflammatory response were detected. The effect of IL‐4 treatment on Kupffer cells (KCs) polarization and expression of the STAT6‐JMJD3 pathway was evaluated in vivo and in vitro. KCs in donor livers were depleted by clodronate liposome treatment or JMJD3 was inhibited by GSK‐J4 before liver transplantation to determine whether the protective effect of IL‐4 treatment was dependent on KCs. Results. IL‐4 treatment decreased sALT and sAST levels and alleviated hepatocellular apoptosis and inflammation at 6 h after liver transplantation. IL‐4 treatment induced KCs alternatively activated (M2) polarization in vitro and in vivo, and the expression of STAT6 and JMJD3 was increased. JMJD3 knockdown abolished KCs M2 polarization and reduced the antiapoptotic and anti‐inflammatory effects induced by IL‐4 treatment in vitro. In addition, the protection of IL‐4 treatment against IRI induced by liver transplantation was significantly reduced after the depletion of KCs or the inhibition of JMJD3 in donor livers. Conclusions. IL‐4 treatment‐induced KCs M2 polarization was dependent on the STAT6‐JMJD3 pathway and protected liver grafts from IRI after liver transplantation.
A Critical Review on Tropical Fruits Seeds as Prospective Sources of Nutritional and Bioactive Compounds for Functional Foods Development: A Case of Indonesian Exotic Fruits
Authors: Kumoro Andri Cahyo , Alhanif Misbahudin , Wardhani Dyah Hesti
Published: March 2020

Some tropical countries in the Southeast Asia are rich in exotic fruits with worldwide acceptance, such as mango, orange, snake fruit, durian, jackfruit, rambutan, and avocado. In addition to their abundant production, those fruits are also currently gaining expansive distribution and marketing due to their promising advantages to human well-being. Surprisingly, their by-products, especially the seed kernel and peel, which account about 10–35% of their weight also offer high nutritional and functional potentials. This work exhibits the nutritional and bioactive compositions of the seeds of eight tropical exotic fruits, which are analyzed for their possible application as sources of functional food and environmental points of view. The seeds contain essential bioactive components, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic acid, and carotenoids, that exhibit excellent antioxidant activity, fats that have remarkable physicohemical properties (free of trans-fatty acids), and a high protein content. After a proper reduction of antinutritional contents, seed powders which contain carbohydrate, protein, and premium lipids or specific extracts with excellent functional properties can be obtained. However, further research should be carried out to determine the profiles of the nutritional and bioactive components in different seed types, their bioavailability, and their efficacy. Extensive researches with the industrial parts should also be performed to valorize the nutritional and functional potentials of these exotic fruit seeds.
Complete Surgical Enucleation of a Giant Chylous Mesenteric Cyst
Authors: Isaia Maria , Erodotou Maria , Nakos Georgios , Nikolaou Nikolaos
Published: March 2020

Mesenteric cysts are rare benign abdominal tumors, and they can appear anywhere in the mesentery of the gastrointestinal tract, from the duodenum to the rectum. They are generally asymptomatic and may present as an incidental finding. The diagnosis is confirmed by the laparotomy findings and the results of the histopathological examination. Complete surgical (open or laparoscopic) enucleation of the cyst is the treatment of choice. We present a case of a female patient who presented with abdominal pain and a giant palpable abdominal mass. The patient underwent a surgical exploration which showed a giant mesenteric cyst. A complete surgical enucleation of the cyst was successfully performed without the need of bowel resection. The histopathological examination of the cyst was compatible with the diagnosis of chylous mesenteric cyst.
Proportion of Maternal Near-Miss and Its Determinants among Northwest Ethiopian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Asaye Mengstu Melkamu
Published: March 2020

Background. Life-threatening situations might arise unexpectedly during pregnancy. Maternal near-miss can be a proxy for maternal death and explained as women who nearly died due to obstetric-related complications. It is recognized as the predictor of level of care and maternal death. Maternal near-miss evaluates life-threatening pregnancy-related complications, and it directs the assessment of the quality of obstetric care. Objective. To determine the proportion and factors associated with maternal near-miss at maternity wards at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019. Methods. A cross-sectional study design was carried out from March 1 to June 20, 2019, using WHO criteria for maternal near-miss at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital. The data are from the interviews and review of 303 systematically selected participants’ medical files at maternity wards. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze factors associated with maternal near-miss, including estimation of crude and adjusted odds ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals and p value less than 0.05 through SPSS version 20. Result. The study revealed that the proportion of maternal near-miss was found to be 15.8% (95%CI=11.9%-20.1%). In the adjusted analyses, maternal near-miss was significantly associated with low (≤1000 ETB) monthly income (AOR=399; 95%CI=1.65, 9.65), seven or more days of hospital stay (AOR=5.43; 95%CI=2.49, 11.83), vaginal bleeding (AOR=2.75, 95%CI=1.17, 6.47), and pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR=5.13; 95%CI=2.08, 12.6). Conclusion and Recommendation. The near-miss proportion was comparable to that in the region. Associated factors were low monthly income, seven or more days of hospital stay, vaginal bleeding, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Thus, giving attention on early identification and treatment of these potential factors can be the opportunity in the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality.
Large Cell Calcifying Sertoli Cell Tumor with Macrocalcification in a Partially Resected Testis
Authors: Bardisi Mahmoud , Khabaz Mohamad Nidal , Al-Maghrabi Jaudah Ahmad
Published: March 2020

Large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumors (LCCSCTs) are extremely rare, with less than 100 tumors being described to date. Most of the tumors are benign with a few malignant cases, and aggressive behavior is infrequent. These tumors are a type of Sertoli cell tumor, and these tumors comprise less than 0.3% of all testis tumors in Saudi Arabia. They usually occur in boys and young adults and can affect one or both testicles in multifocal form causing microcalcifications. A 28-year-old male visited our hospital with left testis pain. Physical examination of the scrotum revealed that both testicles were normal sized with no palpable mass. Ultrasonography evaluation revealed grade 3 left varicocele and an incidental 9 mm calcified mass in the right testicle, which was further confirmed by MRI. Partial orchiectomy was performed. Clinical data, radiological studies, and morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics were analyzed.
Quantitative Assessment of Thyroid Nodules Using Dual-Energy Computed Tomography: Iodine Concentration Measurement and Multiparametric Texture Analysis for Differentiating between Malignant and Benign Lesions
Authors: Tomita Hayato , Kuno Hirofumi , Sekiya Kotaro , Otani Katharina , Sakai Osamu , Li Baojun , Hiyama Takashi , Nomura Keiichi , Mimura Hidefumi , Kobayashi Tatsushi
Published: March 2020

Background and Objectives. Thyroid nodules are increasingly being detected during cross-sectional imaging of the neck and chest. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) using iodine concentration measurement and multiparametric texture analysis of monochromatic images for differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods. This retrospective study included 34 consecutive patients who presented with thyroid nodules and underwent noncontrast DECT between 2015 and 2016. Manual segmentation of each thyroid nodule by monochromatic imaging (40, 60, and 80 keV) was performed, and an in-house developed MATLAB-based texture analysis program was used to extract 41 textures. Iodine material decomposition and CT attenuation slopes were also measured. Histopathologic findings of ultrasound-guided biopsies over a follow-up period of at least one year were used as reference standards. Basic descriptive statistics and areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were evaluated. Results. The 34 nodules comprised 14 benign nodules and 20 malignant nodules. Iodine content and Hounsfield unit curve slopes did not differ significantly between benign and malignant thyroid nodules (P=0.480–0.670). However, significant differences in the texture features of monochromatic images were observed between benign and malignant nodules: histogram mean and median, co-occurrence matrix contrast, gray-level gradient matrix (GLGM) skewness, and mean gradients and variance of gradients for GLGM at 80 keV (P=0.014–0.044). The highest AUC was 0.77, for the histogram mean and median of images acquired at 80 keV. Conclusions. Texture features extracted from monochromatic images using DECT, specifically acquired at high keV, may be a promising diagnostic approach for thyroid nodules. A further large study for incidental thyroid nodules using DECT texture analysis is required to validate our results.
Efficacy of the Combination of rhBMP-2 with Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate in Mandibular Defect Reconstruction after a Pindborg Tumor Resection
Authors: Alraei Kamel , Sharqawi Jameel , Harcher Somaya , Ghita Ibrahim
Published: March 2020

Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) is an osteoinductive growth factor used in oral and maxillofacial surgery. It offers a feasible alternative for various regenerative procedures, including reconstruction of mandibular defects. In this study, we report a case of a large Pindborg tumor involving the left mandible. The treatment consisted of surgical resection, followed by off-label use of rhBMP-2 in addition to bone marrow aspirate concentrate, together with an allograft in a titanium mesh. The patient was rehabilitated with dental implants, and a good clinical outcome was achieved. We found no evidence of bone resorption or complications in both clinical and radiographic evaluations during the one-year follow-up period. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the efficacy of using rhBMP-2 combined with bone marrow aspirate concentrate, and an allograft with a titanium mesh, for the reconstruction of long mandibular bone defects. Not only is this combination feasible, but it also has the advantages of lower morbidity and cost.
Application of Hybrid ARIMA and Artificial Neural Network Modelling for Electromagnetic Propagation: An Alternative to the Least Squares Method and ITU Recommendation P.1546-5 for Amazon Urbanized Cities
Authors: Fraiha Lopes Ramz L. , Fraiha Simone G. C. , Gomes Herminio S. , Lima Vinicius D. , Cavalcante Gervasio P. S.
Published: March 2020

This study sets out an empirical hybrid autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and artificial neural network (ANN) model designed to estimate electromagnetic wave propagation in densely forested urban areas. Received signal power intensity data was acquired through measurement campaigns carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Belém (MAB), in the Brazilian Amazon. Comparisons were made between estimates from classical least squares (LS) fitting and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) recommendation P. 1546-5. The results indicate the model is, at least, 44% more precise than every ITU estimate and, in some situations, is at least 11% better than an LS estimate, depending on the respective values of the relative error (RE).
Symptomatic Intrathecal Hematoma following an Epidural Blood Patch for an Obstetric Patient with Postdural Puncture Headache: A Case Report and Synthesis of the Literature
Authors: McInerney Hailey J. , Lee Manuel , Saunders Tracie , Schabel Joy , Adsumelli Rishimani S. N.
Published: March 2020

Epidural blood patch (EBP), generally considered a low-risk procedure, can potentially lead to significant neurological complications. We report the case of a parturient who underwent an uneventful EBP for postdural puncture headache (PDPH) and subsequently presented with progressively worsening radicular symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an intrathecal hematoma, and conservative management with steroids led to complete recovery. Our case highlights the possibility of this rare complication following an uneventful procedure and the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment to prevent serious adverse outcomes. Literature review, EBP alternatives, and strategies to minimize complications following blood patch will be discussed in this report.
Platelets Disseminate Extracellular Vesicles in Lymph in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Tessandier Nicolas , Melki Imene , Cloutier Nathalie , Allaeys Isabelle , Miszta Adam , Tan Sisareuth , Milasan Andreea , Michel Sara , Benmoussa Abderrahim , Lévesque Tania , Côté Francine , McKenzie Steven E. , Gilbert Caroline , Provost Patrick , Brisson Alain R. , Wolberg Alisa S. , Fortin Paul R. , Martel Catherine , Boilard Éric
Published: March 2020

Objective:

The lymphatic system is a circulatory system that unidirectionally drains the interstitial tissue fluid back to blood circulation. Although lymph is utilized by leukocytes for immune surveillance, it remains inaccessible to platelets and erythrocytes. Activated cells release submicron extracellular vesicles (EV) that transport molecules from the donor cell. In rheumatoid arthritis, EV accumulate in the joint where they can interact with numerous cellular lineages. However, whether EV can exit the inflamed tissue to recirculate is unknown. Here, we investigated whether vascular leakage that occurs during inflammation could favor EV access to the lymphatic system.

Approach and Results:

Using an in vivo model of autoimmune inflammatory arthritis, we show that there is an influx of platelet EV, but not EV from erythrocytes or leukocytes, in joint-draining lymph. In contrast to blood platelet EV, lymph platelet EV lacked mitochondrial organelles and failed to promote coagulation. Platelet EV influx in lymph was consistent with joint vascular leakage and implicated the fibrinogen receptor α2bβ
3
and platelet-derived serotonin.

Conclusions:

These findings show that platelets can disseminate their EV in fluid that is inaccessible to platelets and beyond the joint in this disease.
Sickle Cell Anemia Mediates Carotid Artery Expansive Remodeling That Can Be Prevented by Inhibition of JNK (c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase)
Authors: Song Hannah , Keegan Philip M. , Anbazhakan Suhaas , Rivera Christian P. , Feng Yundi , Omojola Victor O. , Clark Alexus A. , Cai Shuangyi , Selma Jada , Gleason Rudolph L. , Botchwey Edward A. , Huo Yunlong , Tan Wenchang , Platt Manu O.
Published: March 2020

Objective:

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) causes chronic inflammation and multiorgan damage. Less understood are the arterial complications, most evident by increased strokes among children. Proteolytic mechanisms, biomechanical consequences, and pharmaceutical inhibitory strategies were studied in a mouse model to provide a platform for mechanistic and intervention studies of large artery damage due to sickle cell disease.

Approach and Results:

Townes humanized transgenic mouse model of SCA was used to test the hypothesis that elastic lamina and structural damage in carotid arteries increased with age and was accelerated in mice homozygous for SCA (sickle cell anemia homozygous genotype [SS]) due to inflammatory signaling pathways activating proteolytic enzymes. Elastic lamina fragmentation observed by 1 month in SS mice compared with heterozygous littermate controls (sickle cell trait heterozygous genotype [AS]). Positive immunostaining for cathepsin K, a powerful collagenase and elastase, confirmed accelerated proteolytic activity in SS carotids. Larger cross-sectional areas were quantified by magnetic resonance angiography and increased arterial compliance in SS carotids were also measured. Inhibiting JNK (c-jun N-terminal kinase) signaling with SP600125 significantly reduced cathepsin K expression, elastin fragmentation, and carotid artery perimeters in SS mice. By 5 months of age, continued medial thinning and collagen degradation was mitigated by treatment of SS mice with JNK inhibitor.

Conclusions:

Arterial remodeling due to SCA is mediated by JNK signaling, cathepsin proteolytic upregulation, and degradation of elastin and collagen. Demonstration in Townes mice establishes their utility for mechanistic studies of arterial vasculopathy, related complications, and therapeutic interventions for large artery damage due to SCA.
GFAP (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein)-Positive Progenitor Cells Contribute to the Development of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Endothelial Cells—Brief Report
Authors: Osman Islam , Wang Liang , Hu Guoqing , Zheng Zeqi , Zhou Jiliang
Published: March 2020

Objective:

While GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) is commonly used as a classical marker for astrocytes in the central nervous system, GFAP-expressing progenitor cells give rise to other cell types during development. The goal of this study was to investigate whether GFAP-expressing progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular cells in major arteries.

Approach and Results:

To label GFAP-expressing progenitor cells and their progeny, we crossed
GFAP
promoter-driven
Cre
recombinase mice (
GFAP
-
Cre
) with transgenic mice expressing the
Cre
-dependent
mTmG
dual fluorescent reporter gene. Using this genetic fate-mapping approach, here we demonstrate that GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular smooth muscle cells in both neural crest- and non-neural crest-derived vascular beds. In addition, GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to a subset of endothelial cells in some vasculature. Furthermore, fate-mapping analyses at multiple time points of mouse development demonstrate a time-dependent increase in the contribution of GFAP-positive progenitors to vascular smooth muscle cells, which mostly occurs in the postnatal period.

Conclusions:

Our study demonstrates that vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells within the same vascular segment are developmentally heterogeneous, where varying proportions of vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells are contributed by GFAP-positive progenitor cells.
Identification of a Plasma MicroRNA Profile Associated With Venous Thrombosis
Authors: Rodriguez-Rius Alba , Lopez Sonia , Martinez-Perez Angel , Souto Juan Carlos , Soria Jose Manuel
Published: March 2020

Objective:

Venous thrombosis (VT) is a complex condition with a highly heritable genetic component that predisposes one to its development. Certain microRNAs (miRNAs) might be used as biomarkers of VT, but few studies have examined miRNA expression in this respect. The aim of the present work was to identify a plasma miRNA profile associated with VT.

Approach and Results:

miRNAs were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in plasma samples from members of the GAIT-2 (Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia 2) population (n=935). A discovery phase involving the screening of 752 miRNAs from a subset of 104 GAIT-2 subjects was followed by an internal validation phase in which the selected miRNAs were quantified in the whole GAIT-2 population. In the discovery phase, 16 miRNAs were selected, including 9 associated with VT and 7 that correlated with an intermediate phenotype of VT. In the next phase, 4 miRNAs were validated as differentially expressed (false discovery rate, <0.1) in VT: hsa-miR-126-3p, hsa-miR-885-5p, hsa-miR-194-5p, and hsa-miR-192-5p. The 4 miRNAs each returned a significant (
P
<0.05) odds ratio for VT (range of 1.3–1.8). A risk model including the 4 miRNAs, age, and sex returned an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.77. Moreover, all 4 miRNAs showed significant correlations with intermediate phenotypes of VT (eg, protein S and factor VII). The targets of the miRNAs in the blood coagulation pathway and their interactions are also discussed.

Conclusions:

The present results suggest a 4-miRNA plasma profile associated with VT is of potential use in predicting the risk of this condition.
Exercise-Related Acute Cardiovascular Events and Potential Deleterious Adaptations Following Long-Term Exercise Training: Placing the Risks Into Perspective–An Update: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
Authors: Franklin Barry A. , Thompson Paul D. , Al-Zaiti Salah S. , Albert Christine M. , Hivert Marie-France , Levine Benjamin D. , Lobelo Felipe , Madan Kushal , Sharrief Anjail Z. , Eijsvogels Thijs M.H. ,   On behalf of the American Heart Association Physical Activity Committee of the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Clinical Cardiology; and Stroke Council
Published: March 2020

Epidemiological and biological plausibility studies support a cause-and-effect relationship between increased levels of physical activity or cardiorespiratory fitness and reduced coronary heart disease events. These data, plus the well-documented anti-aging effects of exercise, have likely contributed to the escalating numbers of adults who have embraced the notion that “more exercise is better.” As a result, worldwide participation in endurance training, competitive long distance endurance events, and high-intensity interval training has increased markedly since the previous American Heart Association statement on exercise risk. On the other hand, vigorous physical activity, particularly when performed by unfit individuals, can acutely increase the risk of sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction in susceptible people. Recent studies have also shown that large exercise volumes and vigorous intensities are both associated with potential cardiac maladaptations, including accelerated coronary artery calcification, exercise-induced cardiac biomarker release, myocardial fibrosis, and atrial fibrillation. The relationship between these maladaptive responses and physical activity often forms a U- or reverse J-shaped dose-response curve. This scientific statement discusses the cardiovascular and health implications for moderate to vigorous physical activity, as well as high-volume, high-intensity exercise regimens, based on current understanding of the associated risks and benefits. The goal is to provide healthcare professionals with updated information to advise patients on appropriate preparticipation screening and the benefits and risks of physical activity or physical exertion in varied environments and during competitive events.
Endothelium-Targeted Deletion of microRNA-15a/16-1 Promotes Poststroke Angiogenesis and Improves Long-Term Neurological Recovery
Authors: Sun Ping , Zhang Kai , Hassan Sulaiman H. , Zhang Xuejing , Tang Xuelian , Pu Hongjian , Stetler R. Anne , Chen Jun , Yin Ke-Jie
Published: March 2020

Rationale:

Angiogenesis promotes neurological recovery after stroke and is associated with longer survival of stroke patients. Cerebral angiogenesis is tightly controlled by certain microRNAs (miRs), such as the miR-15a/16-1 cluster, among others. However, the function of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster in endothelium on postischemic cerebral angiogenesis is not known.

Objective:

To investigate the functional significance and molecular mechanism of endothelial miR-15a/16-1 cluster on angiogenesis in the ischemic brain.

Methods and Results:

Endothelial cell-selective miR-15a/16-1 conditional knockout (EC-miR-15a/16-1 cKO) mice and wild-type littermate controls were subjected to 1 hour middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by 28-day reperfusion. Deletion of miR-15a/16-1 cluster in endothelium attenuates post-stroke brain infarction and atrophy and improves the long-term sensorimotor and cognitive recovery against ischemic stroke. Endothelium-targeted deletion of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster also enhances post-stroke angiogenesis by promoting vascular remodeling and stimulating the generation of newly formed functional vessels, and increases the ipsilateral cerebral blood flow. Endothelial cell-selective deletion of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster up-regulated the protein expression of pro-angiogenic factors VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor), FGF2 (fibroblast growth factor 2), and their receptors VEGFR2 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2) and FGFR1 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 1) after ischemic stroke. Consistently, lentiviral knockdown of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster in primary mouse or human brain microvascular endothelial cell cultures enhanced in vitro angiogenesis and up-regulated pro-angiogenic proteins expression after oxygen-glucose deprivation, whereas lentiviral overexpression of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster suppressed in vitro angiogenesis and down-regulated pro-angiogenic proteins expression. Mechanistically, miR-15a/16-1 translationally represses pro-angiogenic factors VEGFA, FGF2, and their receptors VEGFR2 and FGFR1, respectively, by directly binding to the complementary sequences within 3′-untranslated regions of those messenger RNAs.

Conclusions:

Endothelial miR-15a/16-1 cluster is a negative regulator for postischemic cerebral angiogenesis and long-term neurological recovery. Inhibition of miR-15a/16-1 function in cerebrovascular endothelium may be a legitimate therapeutic approach for stroke recovery.