bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Different Exercise Intensities on Hepatocyte Apoptosis in HFD‐Induced NAFLD in Rats: The Possible Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress through the Regulation of the IRE1/JNK and eIF2α/CHOP Signal Pathways
Authors: Ruan Ling , Li Fanghui , Li Shoubang , Zhang Mingjun , Wang Feng , Lv Xianli , Liu Qin
Published: March 2021

Objective. To investigate the impact of different‐intensity exercise on lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, hepatocyte injury, and apoptosis and the related protein expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease rats. Method. 50 male Sprague–Dawley rats, 2 months old, were randomly divided into the normal control (CON) group, high‐fat diet (HFD) group, low‐intensity exercise (LIE) group, moderate‐intensity exercise (MIE) group, and incremental‐intensity exercise (IIE) group. Blood lipids were tested by the automatic biochemical analyzer. The changes in liver tissues were observed by hematoxylin‐eosin staining (HE). The protein expression of Bax and Bcl‐2 was detected by the immunohistochemical method. The apoptosis of hepatocytes was detected by the TUNEL method. The protein expression of GRP78, Caspase‐3, IRE1, p‐IRE1, JNK1, CHOP, PERK, eIF2α, and ATF4 was detected by Western blotting. Results. Our study showed that compared with the HFD group, TG, TC, FFA, and LDL‐c were reduced in all exercise groups. The different exercise intensities could reduce the protein expression of ATF4, Bax, and hepatocyte apoptosis. Meanwhile, the antioxidant function and Bcl‐2 were increased. However, the moderate‐intensity exercise demonstrated more effect on improving the antioxidant capacity and inhibiting hepatocyte apoptosis. Compared with the HFD group, Caspase‐3 and JNK were significantly decreased in all exercise groups (P < 0.01) and CHOP was decreased in the LIE and MIE groups (P < 0.05). IRE1, eIF2α, the ratio of p‐IRE1/IRE1 (P < 0.01), and ATF4 were decreased (P < 0.05) in the MIE group. Compared with the IIE group, p‐IRE1 was decreased (P < 0.05) in the MIE group. GRP78 had no significant difference among the exercise groups. Conclusion. Exercise at different intensities improved blood lipid and hepatic injury in NAFLD rats. However, the body weight of the rats in each exercise group was not significantly different. Moderate‐intensity exercise demonstrated more effect on improving the antioxidant ability and inhibiting hepatocyte apoptosis. The possible mechanism depends on the regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathways IRE1/JNK and eIF2α/CHOP.
Platelet Distribution Width and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Ruiyan Wang , Bin Xu , Jianhua Dong , Lei Zhou , Dehua Gong , Tang Zheng
Published: March 2021

Objectives. The association between platelet distribution width (PDW) and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients has received little attention. Methods. We retrospectively enrolled HD patients in a single center from January 1, 2008, to December 30, 2011. The primary and secondary endpoints were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. The association between PDW and mortality was estimated by Cox regression model. Results. Of 496 patients, the mean age was 52.5 ± 16.6 years, and the Charlson comorbidity index was 4.39 ± 1.71. During the follow-up period of 48.8 ± 6.7 months, 145 patients (29.2%) died, including 74 (14.9%) cardiovascular deaths. 258 (52.0%) with PDW < 16.31% were in the low group and 238 (48.0%) in those with PDW ≥ 16.31% according to cut-off for all-cause mortality by receiving-operator characteristics. After adjusting for confounding factors, high PDW values were independently associated with higher risk of all-cause (hazards ratio (HR) = 1.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–6.82) and cardiovascular deaths (HR = 2.26, 95% CI 1.44–3.63) in HD patients. When comparing with quartile 1 of PDW, quartile 4 of PDW was independently associated with a higher risk of all-cause (HR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.18–5.30) and cardiovascular deaths (HR = 2.71, 95% CI 1.49–3.76) in HD patients. Conclusions. Baseline PDW was independently associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in HD patients.
A New Method for Reducing Collapsibility of Loess Foundation with Thicker Deposit: The Borehole Preimmersion Method
Authors: Zhi Bin , Wang Xiaochan , Wei Pingping , Li Zengyue , Wang Pan , Xiong Kaicheng , Zhang Hui , Liu Enlong
Published: March 2021

At present, there are some key issues in the traditional preimmersion method for reducing the collapsibility of the loess ground, such as the difficulty in determining the total water consumption and the long immersion time. In response to these issues, a new method, the borehole preimmersion method, is presented, and a specific theoretical design model is proposed for application in projects. The method is specifically discussed from a new perspective, and the diffusion mechanism and evolution law of water in the ground are presented in detail through theoretical analysis and numerical calculation, respectively. The water diffusion is a mushroom‐type form for a single water injection hole immersed in water. A calculation model derived for a single water injection hole or a group of water injection holes based on the research results is used to calculate the volumes of soaked loess and the total water consumption. Through an in situ immersion test, the treatment effect of this method is evaluated to verify the rationality of the method and the theoretical calculation model proposed in this study, which provides a new method and theoretical framework for effectively reducing the collapsibility of the loess ground.
Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Control Law Design for Attitude Tracking Task of a Spacecraft via Reaction Wheels
Authors: Li Yang-Rui , Peng Chao-Chung
Published: March 2021

The attitude control has been recognized as one of the most important research topics for spacecraft. If the desired attitude trajectory cannot be tracked precisely, it may cause mission failures. In the real space mission environment, the unknown external perturbations, for example, atmospheric drag and solar radiation, should be taken into consideration. Such external perturbations could deviate the precision of the spacecraft orientation and thereby lead to a mission failure. Therefore, in this paper, a quaternion-based super-twisting sliding mode robust control law for the spacecraft attitude tracking is developed. The finite time stability based on the formulation of the linear matrix inequality (LMI) is also provided. To avoid losing the control degree of freedom due to the certain actuator fault, a redundant reaction wheels configuration is adopted. The actuators distribution associated force distribution matrix (FDM) is analyzed in detail. Finally, the reference tangent-normal-binormal (TNB) command generation strategy is implemented for simulating the scenario of the space mission. Finally, the simulation results reveal that the spacecraft can achieve the desired attitude trajectory tracking demands in the presence of the time-varying external disturbances.
Detection of Coronary Artery Disease by an Erectile Dysfunction Questionnaire
Authors: Sayadi Mehrab , Elmafshar Reza , Razeghian-Jahromi Iman , Zibaeenezhad Mohammad Javad
Published: March 2021

Background. Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been become an important health challenge in recent years affecting the quality of life significantly. In addition to imposed social problems, it may warn the existence of cardiovascular diseases especially that of ischemic heart disease (IHD). We aimed to investigate the association between ED and coronary artery disease (CAD) in a population of patients with stable angina based on angiographic findings. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, among patients who are diagnosed with stable angina referring for coronary angiography (excluding those with acute coronary syndrome), 200 patients were selected. They were divided equally into two groups of case and control. The former were positively CAD patients and the latter were normal peers, with respect to angiographic results. International index of erectile function (IIEF) questionnaire was used in order to evaluate erectile function during recent four weeks. Statistical analyses of the t-test and logistic regression were performed. The significance level was considered as a P value less than 5%. Results. The age range of the patients was 40–65 years old. The case group was significantly older (P=0.001). There was a remarkable relation between the low score from IIEF (ED) and existence of CAD. Also, the severity of ED was in a close relationship with severity of CAD. In addition, dyslipidemia in terms of high LDL and low HDL was associated with both ED and severity of CAD. Conclusion. Other than CAD, ED could be considered as one of the manifestations of atherosclerosis. Accordingly, the IIEF questionnaire is a useful tool to early diagnosis of CAD. Also, IIEF-derived scores estimate CAD severity. We suggest subjects with low score of IIEF examine their cardiovascular health with special attention to possible existence of IHD.
Different Training Durations and Frequencies of Tai Chi for Bone Mineral Density Improvement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zhou Yi , Zhao Zhi-Hui , Fan Xiao-Hong , Li Wei-Hong , Chen Zhen
Published: March 2021

Objective. Tai Chi shows potential as a safe and cost-effective intervention to improve bone mineral density (BMD). However, the various effects caused by different training durations and frequencies have not been evaluated. This updated systematic review aims to explore the effectiveness of Tai Chi in attenuating bone mineral density loss based on different training durations and frequencies. Methods. We conducted an extensive database search in Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Data, and China Science and Technology Journal Database on randomized controlled trials that examined Tai Chi for BMD improvement. Two reviewers independently performed data screening and extraction. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Results. A total of 23 randomized controlled trials involving 1582 patients were identified. The aggregated results have shown significant benefits in favor of Tai Chi on BMD improvement in the lumbar spine (SMD = 0.36, 95% [0.13, 0.59],

P
=
0.002

), femoral neck (SMD = 0.40, 95% [0.16, 0.63],

P
=
0.0009

), femoral trochanter (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI [0.20, 0.66],

P
=
0.0002

), and Ward’s triangle (SMD = 0.31, 95% [0.15, 0.48],

P
=
0.002

). Such favorable benefits in Tai Chi can only be seen when compared with the nonexercise group, and Tai Chi showed no significant improvement in BMD change when compared with other exercises group. Subgroup analyses showed various effects of BMD improvement based on different training durations and frequencies of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is effective in attenuating BMD loss with an intervention frequency of >4 days/week in the lumbar spine, with an intervention frequency of >4 days/week or an intervention duration of >10 months in the femoral neck, and with an intervention duration of >10 months or a frequency of ≤4 days/week in Ward’s triangle. Conclusions. The results demonstrated that Tai Chi may have benefits in attenuating BMD loss. Different training durations and frequencies may result in variable effectiveness. Researchers should focus more on the training durations and frequencies of Tai Chi so that a more definitive claim can be made regarding the beneficial effects for BMD improvement.
An Efficient Explicit Decoupled Group Method for Solving Two–Dimensional Fractional Burgers’ Equation and Its Convergence Analysis
Authors: Abdi N. , Aminikhah H. , Sheikhani A. H. Refahi , Alavi J. , Taghipour M.
Published: March 2021

In this paper, the Crank–Nicolson (CN) and rotated four-point fractional explicit decoupled group (EDG) methods are introduced to solve the two-dimensional time–fractional Burgers’ equation. The EDG method is derived by the Taylor expansion and 45° rotation of the Crank–Nicolson method around the

x

and

y

axes. The local truncation error of CN and EDG is presented. Also, the stability and convergence of the proposed methods are proved. Some numerical experiments are performed to show the efficiency of the presented methods in terms of accuracy and CPU time.
Dynamical Analysis and Simulation of a New Lorenz-Like Chaotic System
Authors: Li You , Zhao Ming , Geng Fengjie
Published: March 2021

This work presents and investigates a new chaotic system with eight terms. By numerical simulation, the two-scroll chaotic attractor is found for some certain parameters. And, by theoretical analysis, we discuss the dynamical behavior of the new-type Lorenz-like chaotic system. Firstly, the local dynamical properties, such as the distribution and the local stability of all equilibrium points, the local stable and unstable manifolds, and the Hopf bifurcations, are all revealed as the parameters varying in the space of parameters. Secondly, by applying the way of Poincaré compactification inℝ3, the dynamics at infinity are clearly analyzed. Thirdly, combining the dynamics at finity and those at infinity, the global dynamical behaviors are formulated. Especially, we have proved the existence of the infinite heteroclinic orbits. Furthermore, all obtained theoretical results in this paper are further verified by numerical simulations.
MicroRNA-497-5p Is Downregulated in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Associated with Tumorigenesis and Poor Prognosis in Patients
Authors: Tian Lin-Lin , Qian Bin , Jiang Xiao-Hui , Liu Yu-Shan , Chen Tong , Jia Cheng-You , Zhou Ya-Li , Liu Ji-Bin , Ma Yu-Shui , Fu Da , Ding Sen-Tai
Published: March 2021

Background. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to exhibit important regulatory roles in multiple malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). hsa-miR-497-5p was reported to involve in cancer progression and poor prognosis in many kinds of tumors. However, the expression and its clinical significance of hsa-miR-497-5p in HCC remain unclear. Methods. In the present study, we investigated the expression of hsa-miR-497-5p in HCC and analyzed the correction of clinical features with prognosis. The expression levels of hsa-miR-497-5p and potential target genes were analyzed in HCC and adjacent noncancerous tissues using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze hsa-miR-497-5p levels in 328 HCC tissues and 30 paired adjacent noncancer tissues. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with HCC were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Results. The hsa-miR-497-5p expression levels were decreased, and its target genes ACTG1, CSNK1D, PPP1CC, and BIRC5 were upregulated in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues. Lower levels of hsa-miR-497-5p expression and higher levels of the four target genes were significantly associated with higher tumor diameter. Moreover, patients with lower hsa-miR-497-5p expression and higher target genes levels had shorter OS. Conclusion. The expression levels of hsa-miR-497-5p may play an important regulatory role in HCC and are closely correlated with HCC progression and poor prognosis in patients. The hsa-miR-497-5p may be a specific therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.
Genotyping by Sequencing‐Based Discovery of SNP Markers and Construction of Linkage Map from F5 Population of Pepper with Contrasting Powdery Mildew Resistance Trait
Authors: Manivannan Abinaya , Choi Sena , Jun Tae-Hwan , Yang Eun-Young , Kim Jin-Hee , Lee Eun-Su , Lee Hye-Eun , Kim Do-Sun , Ahn Yul-Kyun
Published: March 2021

Powdery mildew (PM) is a common fungal disease infecting pepper plants worldwide. Molecular breeding of pepper cultivars with powdery mildew resistance is desirable for the economic improvement of pepper cultivation. In the present study, 188 F5 population derived from AR1 (PM resistant) and TF68 (PM sensitive) parents were subjected to high‐throughput genotyping by sequencing (GBS) for the identification of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Further, the identified SNP markers were utilized for the construction of genetic linkage map and QTL analysis. Overall read mapping percentage of 87.29% was achieved in this study with the total length of mapped region ranging from 2,956,730 to 25,537,525 bp. A total of 41,111 polymorphic SNPs were identified, and a final of 1,841 SNPs were filtered for the construction of a linkage map. A total of 12 linkage groups were constructed corresponding to each chromosome with 1,308 SNP markers with the map length of 2506.8 cM. Further, two QTLs such as Pm-2.1 and Pm-5.1 were identified in chromosomes 2 and 5, respectively, for the PM resistance. Overall, the outcomes of the present endeavor can be utilized for the marker‐assisted selection of pepper with powdery mildew‐resistant trait.
Research on Coal Mechanical Properties Based on True Triaxial Loading and Unloading Experiment
Authors: Peng Yanyan , Deng Haoxiang , Xing Minghong , Guo Pengfei , Zhu Chun
Published: March 2021

To study the safety issues caused by coal mine excavation, self‐developed simulation of earth interior atmosphere and sound test system was used to perform true triaxial loading and unloading tests of coal. An acoustic emission detection system was used to record the damage evolution trend of coal under different intermediate principal stress states. The experimental results show that in the true triaxial unloading test, as the intermediate principal stress increases, the failure state of coal changes from shear failure to partial shear tension failure, finally leading to overall yield failure. In the stress‐strain curves, with the increase in intermediate principal stress, the strain in the direction of intermediate principal stress gradually changes from compression to expansion, and typical expansion occurs. The Mogi–Coulomb strength criterion better reflects the strength failure characteristics of coal during unloading. The stress‐acoustic emission diagrams show that the increase in intermediate principal stress causes the internal cracks of the coal to grow unsteadily and exponentially, and the increase in intermediate principal stress makes the coal lose its ability to continue to bear the load. Studying the influence of the intermediate principal stress on the mechanical properties of coal has practical significance for coal mine safety production.
The Cauchy Problem for the Incompressible 2D-MHD with Power Law-Type Nonlinear Viscous Fluid
Authors: Kim Jae-Myoung
Published: March 2021

We investigate a motion of the incompressible 2D-MHD with power law-type nonlinear viscous fluid. In this paper, we establish the global existence and uniqueness of a weak solution

u
,
b

depending on a number

q

in

ℝ

2

. Moreover, the energy norm of the weak solutions to the fluid flows has decay rate

1
+
t

−
1
/
2

.
Uptake, Translocation, and Consequences of Nanomaterials on Plant Growth and Stress Adaptation
Authors: Ali Shahid , Mehmood Asif , Khan Naeem
Published: March 2021

Nanotechnology has shown promising potential tools and strategies at the nanometer scale to improve food production and meet the future demands of agricultural and food security. However, considering nanotechnology’s potential benefits to date, their applicability has not yet reached up to field conditions. Increasing concerns regarding absorption, translocation, bioavailability, toxicity of nanoparticles, and impropriety of the regulatory framework restrict the complete acceptance and inclination of the agricultural sector to implement nanotechnologies. The biological function of nanoparticles depends on their physicochemical properties, the method of application, and concentration. The effects of the various types of nanoparticles (NPs) on plants were determined to increase seed germination and biomass or grain yield. The NPs also increased the plant’s resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses. The plant’s biological functions depend on the events that occur at the molecular level. However, little progress has been made at the molecular level influenced by nanoparticles, which is an important step in evaluating potential mechanisms and plants’ effects. Therefore, it is important to understand plants’ underlying mechanism and response towards nanoparticles, and the gene expression changes through molecular approaches. The associations of nanomaterials with plant cells, the process of internalization, and the distribution of biomolecules using nanoparticles as a carrier are studied but not well understood. The transmission of biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, is a major obstacle due to cell walls, limiting the application of nanomaterials in crop enhancement mediated by genetic engineering. Recently, the use of different nanomaterials for nucleic acid delivery in plant cells has been published. Here, we aim to update researchers on the absorption and translocation of nanoparticles and elaborate on the importance of nanoparticles in agriculture and crop stress tolerance.
The Influence of Person-Environment Fit on the Turnover Intention of Nurses in Jordan: The Moderating Effect of Psychological Empowerment
Authors: Amarneh Saleh , Raza Ali , Matloob Sheema , Alharbi Raed Khamis , Abbasi Munir A.
Published: March 2021

There is an acute shortage of nurses worldwide, including in Jordan. The nursing shortage is considered to be a crucial and complex challenge across healthcare systems and has stretched to a warning threshold. High turnover among nurses in Jordan is an enduring problem and is believed to be the foremost cause of the nurse shortage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the multidimensional impact of the person-environment (P-E) fit on the job satisfaction (JS) and turnover intention (TI) of registered nurses. The moderating effect of psychological empowerment (PE) on the relationship between JS and TI was also investigated. Based on a quantitative research design, data were collected purposively from 383 registered nurses working at private Jordanian hospitals through self-administered structured questionnaires. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 and Smart Partial Least Squares (PLS) 3.2.8 were used to analyze the statistical data. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between person-job fit (P-J fit), person-supervisor fit (P-S fit), and JS. However, this study found an insignificant relationship between person-organization fit (P-O fit) and JS. Moreover, PE was also significantly moderate between JS and TI of nurses. This study offers an important policy intervention that helps healthcare organizations to understand the enduring issue of nurse turnover. Additionally, policy recommendations to mitigate nurse turnover in Jordan are outlined.
Fuzzy Identity-Based Ring Signature from Lattices
Authors: Cao Chengtang , You Lin , Hu Gengran
Published: March 2021

In this paper, a construction of a fuzzy identity-based ring signature scheme (LFIBRS) is proposed. Our LFIBRS combines the characteristics of both the fuzzy identity-based signature (FIBS) and the ring signature. On the one hand, a signature issued under an identity

ID

can be verified by any identity

ID

′

that is “close enough” to the identity

ID

. Since biometric identification is the well-known most popular and reliable identification method, our LFIBRS can be applied in such a situation whenever it is required for official audit or supervision that the signer’s real identity is needed to be authenticated. On the other hand, LFIBRS provides anonymity under the random oracle model. In addition, LFIBRS provides unforgeability under the small integer solution (SIS) lattice hardness assumption which can resist large-scale quantum computer attacks in the future.
Enterprise Financing Mode and Technological Innovation Behavior Selection: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Data of the World Bank’s Survey of Chinese Private Enterprises
Authors: Zhu Entao , Zhang Qiming , Sun Lan
Published: March 2021

In China, private enterprises are becoming more and more important subjects of technological innovation, however(at the same time) financing difficulties of private enterprises are also ubiquitous. The research on the impact of financing methods on technological innovation behavior of private enterprises is conducive for the government to launch more targeted financing support policies.I men private enterprises are becoming the mainbody of technological innovation, but the difficulties in financing is especially heavy in China. Based on the data of the World Bank survey on China’s enterprises in 2012, this paper studies the impact of different financing methods on technological innovation behavior of private enterprises. The results show that (1) internal financing can promote the technological innovation behavior of enterprises better than external financing can do and (2) among the various forms of external financing, bank loans have the most significant impact on the technological innovation behavior of private enterprises, followed by commercial credit.
Paederus Dermatitis Outbreak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Neamin G. , Negga A. , Mukemil H. , Mengistu B. , Rahel Y.
Published: March 2021

Background. Paederus dermatitis is an irritant contact dermatitis caused by crushing insects of the genus Paederus, which releases a vesicant toxin called pederin. On July 28, 2018, the district health office received a report of cases with erythema, itching, and burning after contact with the Paederus insect. In response, we investigated the outbreak intending to describe, confirm, and identify the risk factors associated with the country’s first reported outbreak. Methods. A community-based unmatched case-control study was conducted from August 10 to 22, 2018. Two hundred twenty-five (75 cases and 150 controls) study participants were involved in the study. Cases were defined as Bole subcity residents who had acute contact dermatitis after contact with the insect, while controls were persons who did not have contact with the insect. Cases were recruited consecutively as they present, whereas controls were selected by the neighborhood sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection, and multiple logistic regression was applied to determine the independent risk factors. The results were expressed as adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. A total of 122 cases were reported from the three districts of the subcity. The mean age of cases and controls was 23.6 (SD ± 16.4) and 29.4 (SD ± 10.9) years, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of outdoor light (AOR = 5.1; 95% CI (2.5, 10.9), presence of rotten leaves (AOR = 6.4; 95% CI (2.9, 15.7)), sleeping on the floor (AOR = 6.1; 95% CI (2.5, 15.7)), wearing protective clothing (AOR = 0.2; 95% CI (0.1, 0.4)), and use of insect repellant (AOR = 0.1; 95% CI (0.0, 0.4)) were significantly associated with Paederus dermatitis outbreak. Conclusion. The investigation identified exposure to artificial light and the presence of rotten leaves around the residential area as important factors leading to an increase in the odds of Paederus dermatitis. In contrast, the use of insect repellant and wearing protective clothing were shown to provide protection. The investigation determined that reducing burning outdoor lights, cleaning excess vegetation, avoiding sleeping on the floor, using insect repellants, and wearing protective clothing can reduce the risk of contracting Paederus dermatitis.
Engineering T Cells to Express Tumoricidal MDA-7/IL24 Enhances Cancer Immunotherapy
Authors: Liu Zheng , Guo Chunqing , Das Swadesh K. , Yu Xiaofei , Pradhan Anjan K. , Li Xia , Ning Yanxia , Chen Shixian , Liu Wenjie , Windle Jolene J. , Bear Harry D. , Manjili Masoud H. , Fisher Paul B. , Wang Xiang-Yang
Published: March 2021

Antigen-specific immunotherapy can be limited by induced tumor immunoediting (e.g., antigen loss) or through failure to recognize antigen-negative tumor clones. Melanoma differentiation–associated gene-7/IL24 (MDA-7/IL24) has profound tumor-specific cytotoxic effects in a broad spectrum of cancers. Here we report the enhanced therapeutic impact of genetically engineering mouse tumor-reactive or antigen-specific T cells to produce human MDA-7/IL24. While mock-transduced T cells only killed antigen-expressing tumor cells, MDA-7/IL24-producing T cells destroyed both antigen-positive and negative cancer targets. MDA-7/IL24-expressing T cells were superior to their mock-engineered counterparts in suppressing mouse prostate cancer and melanoma growth as well as metastasis. This enhanced antitumor potency correlated with increased tumor infiltration and expansion of antigen-specific T cells as well as induction of a Th1-skewed immunostimulatory tumor environment. MDA-7/IL24-potentiated T-cell expansion was dependent on T-cell–intrinsic STAT3 signaling. Finally, MDA-7/IL24-modified T-cell therapy significantly inhibited progression of spontaneous prostate cancers in Hi-Myc transgenic mice. Taken together, arming T cells with tumoricidal and immune-potentiating MDA-7/IL24 confers new capabilities of eradicating antigen-negative cancer cell clones and improving T-cell expansion within tumors. This promising approach may be used to optimize cellular immunotherapy for treating heterogeneous solid cancers and provides a mechanism for inhibiting tumor escape.

Significance:

This research describes a novel strategy to overcome the antigenic heterogeneity of solid cancers and prevent tumor escape by engineering T lymphocytes to produce a broad-spectrum tumoricidal agent.
Transient Competitive Inhibition Bypasses the Binding Site Barrier to Improve Tumor Penetration of Trastuzumab and Enhance T-DM1 Efficacy
Authors: Bordeau Brandon M. , Yang Yujie , Balthasar Joseph P.
Published: March 2021

Poor penetration of mAbs in solid tumors is explained, in part, by the binding site barrier hypothesis. Following extravasation, mAbs rapidly bind cellular antigens, leading to the observation that, at subsaturating doses, therapeutic antibody in solid tumors localizes around tumor vasculature. Here we report a unique strategy to overcome the binding site barrier through transient competitive inhibition of antibody–antigen binding. The anti-trastuzumab single domain antibody 1HE was identified through in vitro binding assays as a model inhibitor. Coadministration of 1HE did not alter the plasma pharmacokinetics of trastuzumab or ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in vivo. Administration of 1HE alone was rapidly eliminated with a terminal plasma half-life of 1.2 hours, while coadministrations of 1HE with trastuzumab had a terminal half-life of 56 hours. In mice harboring SKOV3 xenografts, coadministration of 1HE with trastuzumab led to significant increases in both penetration of trastuzumab from vasculature and the percentage of tumor area that stained positive for trastuzumab. 1HE coadministered with a single dose of T-DM1 to NCI-N87 xenograft–bearing mice significantly enhanced T-DM1 efficacy, increasing median survival. These results support the hypothesis that transient competitive inhibition can improve therapeutic antibody distribution in solid tumors and enhance antibody efficacy.

Significance:

This study describes the development of a transient competitive inhibition strategy that enhances the tumor penetration and efficacy of anticancer antibodies.

See related commentary by van Dongen, p. 3956
Prognostic Value of ER and PgR Expression and the Impact of Multi-clonal Expression for Recurrence in Ductal Carcinoma in situ: Results from the UK/ANZ DCIS Trial
Authors: Thorat Mangesh A. , Levey Pauline M. , Jones J. Louise , Pinder Sarah E. , Bundred Nigel J. , Fentiman Ian S. , Cuzick Jack
Published: March 2021

Purpose:

The prognostic value of estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PgR) expression in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is unclear. We observed multi-clonality when evaluating ER/PgR expression in the UK/ANZ DCIS trial, therefore, we investigated the prognostic role of both uni-clonal and multi-clonal ER/PgR expression in DCIS.

Experimental Design:

Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues were collected from UK/ANZ DCIS trial participants (n = 755), and ER/PgR expression was evaluated by IHC in 181 cases (with recurrence) matched to 362 controls by treatment arm and age. Assays were scored by the Allred method and by a newly devised clonal method—analyses categorizing multi-clonal DCIS as ER/PgR-positive as per current practice (Standard) and as ER/PgR-negative (clonal) were performed.

Results:

ER expression was multi-clonal in 11% (39/356) of ER-positive (70.6%, 356/504) patients. Ipsilateral breast event (IBE) risk was similarly higher in ER-multi-clonal and ER-negative DCIS as compared with DCIS with uni-clonal ER expression. ER-negative DCIS (clonal) had a higher risk of in situ IBE [OR 4.99; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.66–9.36; P < 0.0001], but the risk of invasive IBE was not significantly higher (OR 1.72; 95% CI, 0.84–3.53; P = 0.14), Pheterogeneity = 0.03. ER was an independent predictor in multivariate analyses (OR 2.66; 95% CI, 1.53–4.61). PgR status did not add to the prognostic information provided by ER.

Conclusions:

ER expression is a strong predictor of ipsilateral recurrence risk in DCIS. ER-positive DCIS with distinct ER-negative clones has a recurrence risk similar to ER-negative DCIS. ER should be routinely assessed in DCIS, and ER scoring should take clonality of expression into account.
Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Modulators on BV2 Cells
Authors: Aripaka Sanjay S. , Mikkelsen Jens D.
Published: March 2021

Objective: The development of neuroinflammation shares numerous risk factors and involves many complex interactions which contribute to disease pathology. An important cell type in neuroinflammation is the active microglia cell – the resident immune cell of the CNS. There is increasing need to understand how these pathways related to neuroinflammation work and how they can be regulated. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are pentameric ligand-gated receptors and widely distributed in the brain. The α7 nAChR is a penta-homomeric receptor and is one of the nAChRs expressed in microglia. This study was first designed to characterize the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on BV2 culture cells, a cell line of murine microglia origin, on release of inflammatory markers and to characterize the inhibitory effects of α7 nAChR modulators in these cells. Methods: First, the BV2 cell cultures were functionally validated by exposing them to LPS for 4–24 h and then examining the release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) using ELISA and nitric oxide (NO) release using the Griess assay, respectively. Next, α7 nAChR modulators with different pharmacological profiles were applied dose-dependently to study their effects on LPS-induced release of NO and TNF-α. Results: The time-course and dose-response curve revealed that LPS dose-dependently activated (EC50 = 2.5 ng/mL) BV2 cells releasing TNF-α at 4 h, followed by release of NO that occurred first at 8-h time point. The α7 nAChR subunit mRNA was identified in the BV2 cells. The pharmacology studies showed the α7 nAChR selective modulators NS6740 and TQS reduced NO and cytokine release from BV2 cell cultures. Conclusion: We here identified the dose- and time-dependent effects of LPS in BV2 cell cultures on several inflammatory readouts and showed that α7 nAChR modulators with little or no ion channel activity inhibited this anti-inflammatory mechanism.
Molecular Actions Underlying Wolffian Duct Regression in Sexual Differentiation of Murine Reproductive Tracts
Authors: Zhao Fei , Grimm Sara A. , Yao Humphrey H.-C.
Published: March 2021

Sexually dimorphic establishment of the reproductive tract system requires sex-specific regression of the Wolffian duct and Müllerian duct in the mesonephros. In an XX embryo, the Wolffian duct regresses under the control of the mesenchymal transcription factor COUP-TFII. To understand cellular and molecular actions underlying Wolffian duct regression, we performed transcriptomic analyses of XX mesonephroi with or without Coup-tfII and genome-wide analysis of COUP-TFII chromatin occupancy in XX mesonephroi. The integrative analysis of COUP-TFII genome-wide binding and transcriptomic analysis revealed the suppression of muscle differentiation and extracellular matrix genes by COUP-TFII and identified a group of potential transcriptional partners of COUP-TFII in the mesenchyme that potentially facilitate Wolffian duct regression. These findings provide insights into the molecular action of COUP-TFII in the Wolffian duct mesenchyme and identify a list of biologically relevant candidate genes and pathways for future functional analyses in sexual differentiation of reproductive tracts.
A comparative study of different network simulation tools and experimentation platforms for underwater communication
Authors: Murgod Tejaswini R. , Sundaram S. Meenakshi
Published: March 2021

Study of computer networks and their performance parameters like delay, bandwidth utilization, throughput, latency, jittering, and packet loss. have gained significant importance in the recent times. Simulation studies have been preferred for these parameters in computer networks, which in a real time is a difficult task. A network consists of many networking devices as gateways, routers, bridges, wireless access points and hub connected to it. To implement any new protocol or algorithm in a network is costlier and time consuming. Recently lot of research is going on underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs). Conducting real time experiments for underwater applications are overpriced, so as an alternative solution for this, we can conduct simulation studies to reduce the cost and quicken the research activities.In this paper we explore the different experimentation platforms and simulation tools available that help the network architects to develop new protocols or do changes to the existing protocol in a productive manner. We classify the tools based on various parameters and provide guidelines for researchers to choose a suitable platform based on their requirements.
Rabid Euclidean direction search algorithm for various adaptive array geometries
Authors: Qasim Aseel Abdul-Karim , Sallomi Adheed Hassan , Jassim ِAli Khalid
Published: March 2021

One of the exciting technologies used to meet the increasing demand for wireless communication services is a smart antenna. A smart antenna is basically confirmed by an array of antennas and a digital beamformer unit through which cellular base station can direct the beam toward the desired user and set nulls toward interfering users. In this paper, different array configurations (linear, circular, and planer) with the REDS algorithm are implemented in the digital beam-forming unit. The wireless system performance is investigated to check the smart antenna potentials assuming Rayleigh fading channel environment beside the AWGN channel. Results show how the REDS algorithm offers a significant improvement through antenna radiation pattern optimization, sidelobe level, and interference reduction, and also the RDES algorithm proves fast convergence with minimum MSE and better sidelobe level reduction comparing with other algorithms.
Predicting machine failure using recurrent neural network-gated recurrent unit (RNN-GRU) through time series data
Authors: Z. Zainuddin , E. A. P. Akhir , M. H. Hasan
Published: March 2021

Time series data often involves big size environment that lead to high dimensionality problem. Many industries are generating time series data that continuously update each second. The arising of machine learning may help in managing the data. It can forecast future instance while handling large data issues. Forecasting is related to predicting task of an upcoming event to avoid any circumstances happen in current environment. It helps those sectors such as production to foresee the state of machine in line with saving the cost from sudden breakdown as unplanned machine failure can disrupt the operation and loss up to millions. Thus, this paper offers a deep learning algorithm named recurrent neural network-gated recurrent unit (RNN-GRU) to forecast the state of machines producing the time series data in an oil and gas sector. RNN-GRU is an affiliation of recurrent neural network (RNN) that can control consecutive data due to the existence of update and reset gates. The gates decided on the necessary information to be kept in the memory. RNN-GRU is a simpler structure of long short-term memory (RNN-LSTM) with 87% of accuracy on prediction.
BCH codes in UFMC: A new contender candidate for 5G communication systems
Authors: Hussain Ghasan Ali , Audah Lukman
Published: March 2021

Nowadays, fifth generation (5G) wireless network is considered one of the most important research topics in wireless industry and it will be substituting with fourth generation (4G) in several aspects. Although the robustness of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system against channel delays which is the reason behind using it in LTE/LTE Advanced however, it is suffering from high peak to average power ration (PAPR) and out of band side lobes. So, universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC) technique is considered a new modulation scheme for 5G wireless communication system to overcome on the common OFDM demits. In contrast, to achieve reliable data transmission in digital communication systems, using error correcting codes are considered an essential over noisy channels. In this paper, BCH code has been used for UFMC system over AWGN. The results showed that using BCH codes in UFMC contributed in enhancing BER performance while could decreasing both of PAPR and OOBE values better than conventional OFDM system.
Studying strictly positive secure capacity in cognitive radio-based non-orthogonal multiple access
Authors: Le Chi-Bao , Do Dinh-Thuan
Published: March 2021

This paper studies a downlink security-aware secure outage performance in the secondary network of cognitive radio-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access network (CR-NOMA). The multiple relay is employed to assist transmission from the secondary source to destinations. The security-aware performance is subject to constraints in fixed power allocation factor assigned to each secondary user. The security-aware secure performance is based on channel state information (CSI) at the physical layer in which an eavesdropper intends to steal information. According to the considered system, exact expressions of Strictly positive secure capacity (SPSC) are proved to analyze system in terms of secure performance. Finally, the secondary user secure problem is evaluated via Monte-Carlo simulation method. The main results indicate that the secure performance of proposed system can be improved significantly.
Benefiting wireless power transfer scheme in power domain based multiple access: ergodic rate performance evaluation
Authors: Le Anh-Tu , Nguyen Minh-Sang Van , Do Dinh-Thuan
Published: March 2021

Power domain based multiple access scheme is introduced in this paper, namely Non-orthogonal multiple-access (NOMA). We deploy a wireless network using NOMA together with a wireless power transfer (WPT) scheme for dedicated user over Nakagami-$m$ fading channel. When combined, these promising techniques (NOMA and WPT) improve the system performance in term of ergodic performance at reasonable coefficient of harvested power. However, fixed power allocation factors for each NOMA user can be adjusted at the base station and it further provide performance improvement. We design a new signal frame to deploy a NOMA scheme in WPT which adopts a linear energy harvesting model. The ergodic capacity in such a NOMA network and power allocation factors can be updated frequently in order to achieve a fair distribution among NOMA users. The exact expressions of ergodic capacity for each user is derived. The simulation results show that an agreement between analytic performance and Monte-Carlo simulation can be achieved.
Design and optimization of multi user OFDM orthogonal chaotic vector shift keying communication system
Authors: Abed Ansam M. , Hasan Fadhil S.
Published: March 2021

This paper study and present, power allocation strategy on sub-carriers of multiuser OFDM employed for orthogonal chaotic vector shift keying (MU OFDM-OCVSK) over multipath frequency selective fading channels. firstly, the MU OFDM-OCVSK system is modeled with power allocated on reference and information bearing subcarriers. Then, the computed bit error rate equation of the power allocation MU OFDM-OCVSK system is derived. The optimal power allocation strategy on subcarriers is obtained using convex optimization. Finally, compared with the traditional MU OFDM-DCSK and MU OFDM-OCVSK without power allocation system the proposed system can achieve an excellent BER performance under multipath Rayleigh fading channels. Numerical and Simulation results emphasize the remarkable features of the proposed optimal power allocation strategy.
Investigation of wireless magnetometer in sensing magnetic field changes at different car direction and speed
Authors: Soon Chin Fhong , Aminah Ali Siti Hajar , Ye See Khee , Rohani Munzilah Md , Tee Kian Sek , Morsin Marlia , Nayan Nafarizal , Lim Chiok Chuan
Published: March 2021

The embedment of induction loop underground for traffic volume monitoring caused damaging effects to the road and reduced road surface aesthetics. A wireless magnetometer implanted underground in a small uniform area was developed to detect three-axis magnetic flux changes due to the perturbation of vehicle passing over the sensor. In this project, a wireless magnetometer sensor system operating at a radio frequency of 2.4 GHz for detecting and transmitting Z-field data has been developed to investigate the patterns of magnetic field associated with the car directions and speed. This is the first report in revealing the responses of the sensor to different car speed and sensing directions. Field tests were conducted by car passes over in a direction in-line or countering the X and Y axes of the magnetometer. The results showed that the strong magnetic field density as low as -100 to -230 μT could be generated when a car passed over the sensor in a direction countering X and Y axes. The speed detection limit of the sensor is 60 kmph. The X, Y and Z flux patterns obtained is import in designing an algorithm for accurate detection and counting of vehicles.
Application of content based image retrieval in digital image search system
Authors: Yakin Syamsul , Hasanuddin Tasrif , Kurniati Nia
Published: March 2021

Multimedia data is growing rapidly in the current digital era, one of which is digital image data. The increasing need for a large number of digital image datasets makes the constraints faced eventually drain a lot of time and cause the process of image description to be inconsistent. Therefore, a method is needed in processing the data, especially in searching digital image data in large image dataset to find image data that are relevant to the query image. One of the proposed methods for searching information based on image content is content based image retrieval (CBIR). The main advantage of the CBIR method is automatic retrieval process, compared to traditional keyword. This research was conducted on a combination of the HSV color histogram methods and the discrete wavelet transform to extract color features and textures features, while the chi-square distance technique was used to compare the test images with images into a database. The results have showed that the digital image search system with color and texture features have a precision value of 37.5% - 100%, with an average precision value of 80.71%, while the percentage accuracy is 93.7% - 100% with an average accuracy is 98.03%.