bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Peculiarities of regression model design based on neural networks
Authors: Grigoryeva N Yu , Perkov A S , Zhangirov T R , Liss A A
Published: October 2020

In this article a neural-network regression model for prediction of the bacterioplankton abundance according to physicochemical parameters of the environmental conditions is considered and some of the peculiarities of its development are described. A particular case of small and very heterogeneous data sample, typical for biological applications, is analysed. To solve this problem, a number of multi-layer feed-forward neural networks with different architectures are studied. The regression results are estimated on the base of determination coefficient and standard deviation of predicted values in the test sample. The effect of the dropout, applied to one of the hidden layers, on learning process and obtained results is analysed.
Estimation of the probability of correct determination of the coordinates of an object in computer modeling of methods for selecting their images
Authors: Kornyshev N P , Serebrjakov D A
Published: October 2020

The article discusses the issues of computer modeling of methods for selecting images of objects. It considers a test video sequence with given background and object parameters. The issues of computer simulation of the formation of such a video sequence, as well as the process of selecting an image of an object and measuring its coordinates are discussed. Examples of test images and graphs of the obtained dependencies of the probability of the correct determination of coordinates depending on the specified parameters of the object and background are given.
Electronic structure of the ideal Si (001) surface by first-principles calculations
Authors: Manyakin M D , Kurganskii S I
Published: October 2020

The electronic structure of Si nanofilms with an ideal unreconstructed surface (001) was modeled using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. Total and local density of states spectra are calculated. The transformation of the electronic structure of nanofilms with an increase in their thickness from 1 to 10 silicon elementary cells along the crystallographic direction Z (4-40 monoatomic layers) is considered. A layer-by-layer analysis of a nanofilm electronic structure with a thickness of 40 atomic layers was performed.
Study of sensor properties of zinc oxide based nanostructures
Authors: Nalimova S S , Kondratev V M , Ryabko A A , Maksimov A I , Moshnikov V A
Published: October 2020

Nanostructures based on zinc oxide were synthesized on ceramic substrate with interdigitated electrodes by spin-coating and low-temperature hydrothermal method. The sensor response to CO, CO2 and O2 was studied at room temperature under near UV light illumination. Gas exposure was supplied using metrological certified equipment. All samples showed no response to CO2. Layers based on zinc oxide nanowires are most sensitive to CO because of complex morphology and more effective adsorption of gas molecules. The obtained dependencies allow us to characterize the interaction of nanostructure based on zinc oxide with the main oxidizing and reducing atmosphere gases.
Forecasting of daily power consumption dynamics
Authors: Petrova S Y
Published: October 2020

The purpose of the study is to simulate the time series of power consumption in a power grid segment. It gives us be able to forecast the future state from values of the series according to current and past estimates. We want to test two different approaches: Box-Jenkins method and recurrent neural networks, for detect which of them give more accuracy and speed of prediction calculation. This article discusses the using Box-Jenkins method.
Formation of carboxylic acid complexes with polyaromatic hydrocarbons of the coronene series. Quantum chemical modelling
Authors: Raksha E V , Vysotsky Yu B , Kartashynska E S , Savoskin M V
Published: October 2020

The paper presents the results of molecular modelling of the carboxylic acid interaction with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) of a coronene series in the framework of the semi-empirical PM6-DH2 method. It has been shown that the orientation of the acid molecule when all its atoms are in the plane parallel to the PAH one is the most preferable. Using the results of the thermodynamic parameters assessment, it was shown that for complexes of acetic acid with considered PAH the binding enthalpy and Gibbs free energy increase in the series from coronene to dicircumcoronene. An acid hydrocarbon radical elongation leads to an increase in the binding enthalpy and Gibbs free energy of carboxylic acids of the series CnH2n+1-COOH (n = 0 ÷ 5) with dicircumcoronene. Complexes of carboxylic acids with PAH are stabilized by nonvalent CH…CPAH interactions. It was found that the thermodynamic parameters of the complexes formation linearly correlate with the number of stabilizing CH…CPAH interactions for considered complexes of carboxylic acids CnH2n+1-COOH (n = 1 ÷ 5) with dicircumcoronene.
Results of computer processing of digital spectrozonal images by the CLAHE algorithm
Authors: Vaniev A A , Kalitov M A , Kornyshev N P
Published: October 2020

The article discusses the features of the formation of spectrozonal images corresponding to narrow zones of registration digitally. It analyses the processes of the corresponding signal transformations. The results of computer simulations are discussed with the aim of qualitative assess of the degree of correspondence between optical spectrozonal imaging and the differential method of digital spectrozonal imaging and subsequent application of the CLAHE algorithm. The examples of images of test and real objects obtained as a result of processing initial spectrozonal images by this algorithm are given.
The study of the interaction of quantum dots with phosphatidylcholine to create hybrid functional materials
Authors: Zaitsev I S , Oleinikov V A , Zaitsev S Yu
Published: October 2020

Quantum dots (QDs) are widely used as biomarkers that has both fundamental and applied importance. Since cell membranes are mainly composed of lipids such as phosphatidylcholine (PC) and its derivatives, it is important to investigate the interaction of QDs with PC in monolayers to understand the penetration mechanism. This work is devoted to the study of the interaction of QDs with PC by determining their surface-active properties at various interfaces by dynamic surface tension. The isotherms of the surface tension of 5 μg/L QDs solution or 0.17 mM (0.86 mM) PC solutions, as well as the solutions of the mixtures of QDs and PC: 0.17 mM (0.86 mM) PC and 5 μg/L QDs or 0.17 mM (0.86 mM) PC and 15 μg/L QDs were obtained. The mixed QDs/PC monolayers (at low content of QDs equal to 1:100) were characterized by the formation of a stable domain structures. An adsorption of PC at QDs allows to vary the degree of surface modification by changing the amount of the lipid. Such nanoparticles have dimensions not very different from the sizes of the initial QDs, due to the small size of lipids and are well suited for incorporation into biomembrane models.
Generating functional of one-component classical systems in the ergodic approximation
Authors: Zakharov A Yu , Zubkov V V , Folomeeva A S
Published: October 2020

An exact integral representation of the generating functional of a many-body classical system with a factorized structure of the integrand over the coordinates of the particles is obtained. One-particle factors in this expression are calculated using Weyl’s ergodic theorem. The radial distribution function of systems with a double Yukawa interatomic potential is calculated and investigated.
The Effect of Goat Milk Yoghurt Casein Tablet on Dioxin Residue Level in Wing and Thigh Meat of Coob Broiler Chicken
Authors: Mahdi Chanif , Haskito Ajeng Erika Prihastuti , Pratiwi Herlina
Published: October 2020

Chicken meat consumption, especially for broiler chicken, is increasing with time. Chicken meat is preferred by the community because it is easily digestible, relatively cheap, and a good source of animal protein. Latest rumor on the safety of animal derived food is the presence of dioxin compound. Dioxin is a dangerous chemical produced during incineration of household and industrial waste. Food is the main source and pathway for dioxin to enter the body. Most dioxin consumption come from beef, chicken meat, fish, egg, and milk. This research utilized Complete Randomized Sampling (CRS) with 18 Cobb strain broiler chickens as research animals which were divided into 3 groups: negative control group, positive control group, and treatment group. Research animal were given 3 goat milk yoghurt casein tablet/chicken/day (casein dosage was 750 mg of tablet weight) diluted in Reverse Osmosis (RO) water and 2,3,7,8-TCDD 50 ng/ml/1 kg feed dosage for 21 days. Wing and thigh meat samples were analyzed for dioxin residue by UV spectrophotometer in 300 nm wavelength. Residue level data was statistically analyzed by One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test followed by Tukey’s Honestly Significant Test (HSD). The result showed a drop of dioxin residue level in the wing and thigh of treatment group. The result was obtained by comparing with the average residue level of positive control.
Relationship between of Insuline Like growth Factor-2 Gene and Growth Traits in Crosses of Indonesian Local Chicken
Authors: Nurcahya H , Sinaga E , Darwati S , Khaerunissa I
Published: October 2020

Kedu chicken is known as a laying hen, while Sentul and Kampung chicken are known as dual-purpose type chickens. The crossing of Sentul, Kedu and Kampung chicken were produced SKKedu and KeduSK chickens. One of gene that control growth is IGF-2 (Insuline-like Growth Factor 2). This study aims to analyze the diversity of IGF-2 genes and analyze association of genes with growth in SKKedu and KeduSK chickens. The samples used were 23 KeduSK chicken DNA and 17 SKKedu chicken DNA 12 weeks old. Growth measurements consist of body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio. DNA extracted from the blood samples were analysed by PCR-RFLP (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism). The diversity of IGF-2 genes was analysed with X2 test. The results showed of IGF-2 gene in SKKedu and KeduSK chickens (CC, TC, dan TT). IGF-2 gene was polymorphic and was in a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium state. The growth traits of SKKedu and KeduSK chickens based on differences in genotype on IGF-2 genes are almost the same,there were no differences in the growth traits. There was no correlation between IGF-2 genotype of SKKedu and KeduSK chicken with growth traits.
Hypolipidemic Effect of Avocado Peel (Persea americana Mill.) Extract in Rats with Dyslipidemia
Authors: Brajawikalpa R S , Nidhamuddin U , Loebis I M
Published: October 2020

Dyslipidemia is a disorder of lipid metabolism and one of the modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of dyslipidemia based on raised total cholesterol in the world was 39%, of which 37% for men and 40% for women. Cholesterol-lowering drugs have been reported to have many side effects. One alternative medicine in reducing blood cholesterol levels by utilizing the potential of the avocado peel. This research was experimental with a pre-posttest control group design. This research was used 30 Sprague Dawley male rats divided into 6 groups, namely the normal control group (CG1), negative control (CG2), positive control (CG3) and 3 treatment groups (TG) who received avocado peel extract (APE) at 75, 150, and 300 mg/200gr bodyweight rats. Data were tested using a one-way ANOVA. The results showed that APE significantly reduced the levels of LDL-C (P<0.05) was 17.82±2.62, 29.62±2.00, and 36.33±4.47 mg/dl (TG1, TG2, TG3). Decreased triglycerides levels (P<0.05) of 1.62±4.17, 14.05±5.16, and 29.67±5.79 mg/dl (TG1, TG2, TG3). The increased levels of HDL-C (P<0.05) were 29.67±5.79, 22.63±4.82, and 34.35±2.72 mg/dl (TG1, TG2, TG3). Avocado peel (Persea americana Mill.) extract showed a hypolipidemic effect by reducing LDL-C, triglycerides, and increasing HDL-C levels in rats with dyslipidemia.
Improvement of Malang Tahu Quality Using Sweet Potato Natural Dyes by Adsorption Technology
Authors: Setianingsih Tutik , Purwonugroho Danar , Wardhani Sri , Mutrofin Siti , Setiyanto Afif Eka Rahma , Yoniansyah Yoandra Nadya
Published: October 2020

Tahu is a popular culinary product in Malang town. This product is produced from soyabean and rich of protein. Besides, tahu is also rich of water, so that surface of tahu tends to polar. Colorization of tahu by extract of yellow and sweet potatoes is interesting because both sweet potatoes contains different polarity molecular dyes, i.e. polar anthocyanin in the purple sweet potato but non-polar beta carotene in the yellow sweet potato. In this paper, changing of tahu’s color after colorization by extract of both sweet potatoes was observed at different times of adsorption process (2, 4, 6 h), different compositions of the sweet potato and water (100g/1L and 300g/1L), and effect of palm oil addition (250 mL oil/1L water). Result of observation showed that the higher time of adsorption process, the higher ratio of the sweet potato weight and water volume, the darker color of the colorized tahu. Addition of the palm oil just improved extraction of β - carotene from the yellow sweet potato but did not improve the adsorption of the dyes on the tahu surface. Results of this study are used for supporting program of community service DPP SPP 2020 of Inorganic lecturers, as application of adsorption technology using tahu food as adsorbent and application of intermolecular force theory as part of Inorganic Chemistry I course.
Hepatoprotective effect of
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa
fruit juice in rats fed with high fat high cholesterol diet
Authors: Sinaga E , Suprihatin S , Sari P , Iswahyudi M , Prasasty V D
Published: October 2020

In this study we conducted experiments to prove the effectiveness of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa fruit juice as hepatoprotective agent in rats fed with high fat high cholesterol diet (HFHCD). The experiments were carried out using male albino rats which were fed with HFHCD for 15 days and at the same time orally supplemented with R. tomentosa fruit juice (RTFJ) in doses of 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw daily for 15 days. Simvastatin is used as a positive control. At the end of the experiment, the liver function markers in serum, AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) were determined as well as the histopathological image of the liver. Results of the experiments showed that HFHCD significantly induced hepatotoxicity showed by increase of sAST and sALT level. Supplementation of RTFJ significantly prevent the increase of sAST and sALT levels and maintained healthy histopathological image of liver tissue in rats fed with HFHCD, reduce fat accumulation and balloning hepatocytes as seen in untreated rats. From the results we concluded that R. tomentosa fruit juice possess significant hepatoprotective activity in rats fed with high fat high cholesterol diet, and therefore could be develop further as functional food to prevent hepatic diseases due to high fat high cholesterol diet.
The Endogenous Development of Eimeria tenella in Chickens Injected Subcutaneously with Oocysts Protein as Initially Study of Development of Cecal Coccidiosis Killed Vaccine
Authors: Yunus Muchammad , Suprihati Endang , Wijaya Agus
Published: October 2020

The study was carried out to observe the endogenous development ofE. tenellahistomorphologically in chickens subcutaneously injected withE. tenellaoocyst protein. One day old of twenty-four broiler chickens were divided into 2 groups, each group containing twelve chicks. Group 1 was as control group injected subcutaneously on the neck with two doses: the first dose was administered at age 4th day with Freund’s Complete Adjuvant (FCA) emulsified in PBS and administered booster dose was injected at 18th day of age with Freund’s Incomplete Adjuvant (FICA) emulsified in PBS. Group 2 was injected subcutaneously on the neck with two doses: first dose at 4th day of age with 50μg E. tenella oocyst protein emulsified in FCA and booster dose was given at 18th day of age with 50μg oocyst protein emulsified in FICA. After 14 days of booster, the both groups were challenged orally 1 × 104of virulentE. tenella. The assessment of endogenous development ofE. tenellain chickens evaluated histomorphologically of cecum and oocyst production examination. InjectedE. tenellaoocyst protein chickens were challenged at 32nd day of age, demonstrated that parasite endogenous development in intestine histomorphologically appeared decreased in proliferation and suppressing oocyst production rate around 68% compared with un-injected chicken. Impaired development of endogenous parasites occurs due to protective immunity resulting from exposure to antigens so that the ability to reproduce and multiply the parasites decreases. The study results demonstrated that relatively sufficient protection against coccidia by use theE. tenellaoocyst protein as material of cecal coccidiosis killed vaccine in broiler after challenge.E. tenellaoocysts protein can generate protective immunity against homologous challenge through reduction of proliferation parasite and the presence of parasites disabilities.
Assessment of fibrin-collagen co-gels for generating microvessels ex vivo using endothelial cell-lined microfluidics and multipotent stromal cell (MSC)-induced capillary morphogenesis
Authors: Fitzsimmons Ross E B , Ireland Ronald G , Zhong Aileen , Soos Agnes , Simmons Craig A
Published: October 2020

One aspect of the challenge of engineering viable tissues ex vivo is the generation of perfusable microvessels of varying diameters. In this work, we take the approach of using hydrogel-based microfluidics seeded with endothelial cells (ECs) to form small artery/vein-like vessels, in conjunction with using the self-assembly behavior of ECs to form capillary-like vessels when co-cultured with multipotent stromal cells (MSCs). In exploring this approach, we focused on investigating collagen, fibrin, and various collagen-fibrin co-gel formulations for their potential suitability as serving as scaffold materials by surveying their angiogencity and mechanical properties. Fibrin and co-gels successfully facilitated multicellular EC sprouting, whereas collagen elicited a migration response of individual ECs, unless supplemented with the protein kinase C (PKC)-activator, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Collagen scaffolds were also found to severely contract when embedded with mesenchymal cells, but this contraction could be abrogated with the addition of fibrin. Increasing collagen content within co-gel formulations, however, imparted a higher compressive modulus and allowed for the reliable formation of intact hydrogel-based microchannels which could then be perfused. Given the bioactivity and mechanical benefits of fibrin and collagen, respectively, collagen-fibrin co-gels are a promising scaffold option for generating vascularized tissue constructs.
Effective preparation of superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic nanoparticles/polymeric sponges for oil-water separation
Authors: Lin Bo , He Wen-Xu , Jiang Li-Wang , Li Zeng-Tian , Wang Hua-Ying , Wu Ying-Xuan , He Fu-An , Wu Hui-Jun
Published: October 2020

The hierarchically-micro/nanoscale rough surface structure and the high surface hydrophilicity are two necessary factors to construct the superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic materials for oil-water separation. In this work, an effective method on the fabrication of the superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic sponges was developed, in which the mixture of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles or (and) the SiO2 nanoparticles, the chitosan, the polyvinyl alcohol, and the glutaraldehyde was coated on the polymeric sponge by dip-coating to obtain the surface-modified sponges possessing the rough superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic surface. The structure of the surface-modified sponges were investigated by TGA, FTIR, WAXD, XPS, SEM, two-dimensional EDS element mapping as well as VSM, and the underwater superoleophobicity of the surface-modified sponges was proved by CH2Cl2 contact angle measurement. Furthermore, the resultant surface-modified sponges exhibited good oil-water separation ability by adsorption and filtration.
On the constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics (II)—Existence results
Authors: Chen Xiuxiong , Cheng Jingrui
Published: October 2020

In this paper, we apply our previous estimates in Chen and Cheng [On the constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics (I): a priori estimates, Preprint] to study the existence of cscK metrics on compact Kähler manifolds. First we prove that the properness ofKK-energy in terms ofL1L^1geodesic distanced1d_1in the space of Kähler potentials implies the existence of cscK metrics. We also show that the weak minimizers of theKK-energy in(E1,d1)(\mathcal {E}^1, d_1)are smooth cscK potentials. Finally we show that the non-existence of cscK metric implies the existence of a destabilizedL1L^1geodesic ray where theKK-energy is non-increasing, which is a weak version of a conjecture by Donaldson. The continuity path proposed by Xiuxiong Chen [Ann. Math. Qué. 42 (2018), pp. 69–189] is instrumental in the above proofs.
Sharp systolic inequalities for Riemannian and Finsler spheres of revolution
Authors: Abbondandolo Alberto , Bramham Barney , Hryniewicz Umberto , Salomão Pedro
Published: October 2020

We prove that the systolic ratio of a sphere of revolution

S
S

does not exceed

π
\pi

and equals

π
\pi

if and only if

S
S

is Zoll. More generally, we consider the rotationally symmetric Finsler metrics on a sphere of revolution which are defined by shifting the tangent unit circles by a Killing vector field. We prove that in this class of metrics the systolic ratio does not exceed

π
\pi

and equals

π
\pi

if and only if the metric is Riemannian and Zoll.
Stability of a quasi-local positive mass theorem for graphical hypersurfaces of Euclidean space
Authors: Alaee Aghil , Cabrera Pacheco Armando , McCormick Stephen
Published: October 2020

We present a quasi-local version of the stability of the positive mass theorem. We work with the Brown–York quasi-local mass as it possesses positivity and rigidity properties, and therefore the stability of this rigidity statement can be studied. Specifically, we ask if the Brown–York mass of the boundary of some compact manifold is close to zero, must the manifold be close to a Euclidean domain in some sense?

Here we consider a class of compact

n
n

-manifolds with boundary that can be realized as graphs in

R

n
+
1

\mathbb {R}^{n+1}

, and establish the following. If the Brown–York mass of the boundary of such a compact manifold is small, then the manifold is close to a Euclidean hyperplane with respect to the Federer–Fleming flat distance.
Structurally distinct endocytic pathways for B cell receptors in B lymphocytes
Authors: Roberts Aleah D. , Davenport Thaddeus M. , Dickey Andrea M. , Ahn Regina , Sochacki Kem A. , Taraska Justin W.
Published: October 2020

We report structural and mechanistic differences in B cell receptor endocytosis at high and low concentrations of antigen. We propose that the mechanism of endocytosis switches to accommodate large receptor clusters formed when cells encounter high concentrations of antigen. This mechanism is regulated by the dynamics of the cortical actin cytoskeleton.
Evaluation of Human Kidney Injury Molecule 1 (hKIM-1) Expression in Tumors From Various Organs by Messenger RNA In Situ Hybridization
Authors: Sarami Iman , Shi Jianhui , Lin Benjamin , Liu Haiyan , Monroe Robert , Lin Fan
Published: October 2020

Objectives

Human kidney injury molecule 1 (hKIM-1) is a sensitive and specific marker for detection of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CRCC), papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), and ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC). Its use was limited to a few surgical pathology laboratories because this specific antibody to hKIM-1 was not commercially available. We investigated the diagnostic utility of RNA in situ hybridization/RNAscope in the detection of hKIM-1 in tumors from various organs.

Methods

RNAscope for hKIM-1 was performed on 1,252 cases on tissue microarray sections, including CRCC (n = 185), PRCC (n = 59), chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (n = 18), oncocytoma (n = 12), OCCC (n = 27), and metastatic CRCC (n = 46).

Results

Fifty-nine (100%) of 59 PRCCs, 94 (95%) of 99 low-grade CRCCs, 83 (96%) of 86 high-grade CRCCs, and 24 (89%) of 27 OCCCs, and 44 (96%) of 46 metastatic CRCCs were positive for hKIM-1. In contrast, hKIM-1 expression was not seen in normal renal tubules or in most nonrenal tumors. Low-level expression could be seen in a small percentage of urothelial, hepatocellular, and colon carcinomas.

Conclusions

hKIM-1 is a sensitive and relatively specific marker (1) for diagnosing PRCC, CRCC, and OCCC when working on a tumor of unknown origin and (2) for differentiating CRCC from chromophobe renal cell carcinoma and oncocytoma.
Spectrum of Kidney Diseases in Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Authors: Guo Shunhua , Kapp Meghan E , Beltran Diego M , Cardona Cesar Y , Caster Dawn J , Reichel Ronald R , Fogo Agnes B
Published: October 2020

Objectives

To study the pathologic spectrum of kidney diseases in patients with hepatitis C virus infection (HCV+).

Methods

Native kidney biopsy specimens in HCV+ patients were reviewed.

Results

A total of 9,836 native kidney biopsy specimens were evaluated from January 2007 to December 2016, of which 273 (2.8%) were from HCV+ patients, and of these, 115 (42.1%) had diagnoses consistent with HCV-associated glomerulonephritis (GN). Non–HCV-associated kidney diseases comprised most diagnoses (158 cases, 57.9%) including non–immune complex–mediated kidney diseases (127 cases, 46.5%) and other immune complex–mediated glomerular diseases (31 cases, 11.4%). Forty-one (40.6%) patients had HCV-associated GN among 101 HCV+ patients from 2007 to 2011 vs 74 (43.0%) patients with HCV-associated GN among 172 HCV+ patients from 2012 to 2016. HCV-associated GN showed five morphologic patterns: focal proliferative (5.2%), diffuse mesangial proliferative (50.4%), diffuse membranoproliferative (28.7%), proliferative GN with crescentic lesions (7.8%), and membranous patterns (7.8%).

Conclusions

We found a spectrum of pathologic changes in renal biopsy specimens of HCV+ patients, with most having diseases unrelated to HCV infection, HCV-associated GN showing five morphologic patterns, and availability of effective HCV antiviral therapy not yet resulting in major changes in the spectrum of kidney diseases in these patients.
Gendering Citizenship and Decolonizing Justice in 1960s Ghana: Revisiting the Struggle for Family Law Reform
Authors: Skinner Kate
Published: October 2020

This article revisits the debates over family law reform in the years surrounding the independence of Ghana from British colonial rule. It builds upon social historical studies of marriage and child-rearing, and puts these into dialogue with the scholarship on legal pluralism, in order to examine the postcolonial implications of gendered legal struggles over social reproduction that arose during the colonial era. Drawing on key court cases, the report of a commission of inquiry, parliamentary debates, and the papers of a voluntary association, the article explores how different groups of women established their authority to speak on these issues, and why they were able to legitimate some reforms but not others. Whilst historians have pointed to the constraints that single-party socialism imposed on feminist mobilization in Ghana, this article explores further the ‘form, scale and scope’ of women’s agency. In the context of republican attempts to tackle colonial legacies of ‘deep legal pluralism’, and a programme of socialist development, women reformers framed their arguments in terms of a balance between the preservation of ‘custom’ and ‘advancement’ to modernity, and claimed their authority as mothers. By working creatively with the contradictions arising between legal, political, and sociological discourses, women parliamentarians secured a child maintenance law in 1965, even though earlier attempts to reform the marriage, divorce, and inheritance laws had ended in failure.
Estimating Exposure to Three Commonly Used, Potentially Carcinogenic Pesticides (Chlorolathonil, 2,4-D, and Glyphosate) Among Agricultural Workers in Canada
Authors: Rydz Ela , Larsen Kristian , Peters Cheryl E
Published: October 2020

Objectives

Certain pesticides have been associated with adverse health outcomes including cancer and reproductive harms. However, little is known about the prevalence of occupational pesticide exposure among agricultural workers in Canada. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and likelihood of occupational exposure to pesticides in Canada’s agricultural industry, using three commonly used, potentially carcinogenic pesticides [chlorothalonil, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and glyphosate] as an example.

Methods

Estimates were calculated using the Canadian Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture. The number of workers and the proportion of farms applying ‘herbicides’ or ‘fungicides’ by farm type was estimated using survey data from the Census of Agriculture. These values were multiplied to yield the potential number of workers at risk of exposure. Likelihood of exposure (i.e. exposed, probably exposed, and possibly exposed) was then qualitatively assigned using information on crop type, primary expected tasks, crop production practices, and residue transfer data. Additional agricultural workers who are at risk of exposure but not captured by the Census of Agriculture were identified using the 2016 Census of Population.

Results

An estimated range of 37 700–55 800 workers (11–13% of agricultural workers) were exposed to glyphosate in Canada while 30 800–43 600 workers (9–11%) and 9000–14 100 (2.9–3.2%) were exposed to 2,4-D and chlorothalonil, respectively. Approximately 70–75% of workers at risk of exposure were considered probably or possibly exposed to any of the pesticides. Glyphosate exposure was most common among workers in oilseed (29% of oilseed farm workers exposed) and dry pea/bean farms (28%), along with those providing support activities for farms (31%). 2,4-D exposure was most common in corn (28%), other grain (28%), and soybean farms (27%), while chlorothalonil exposure was more likely among greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture workers (42%), workers on farms (28%, for occupations not captured by the Census of Agriculture, specifically), and those providing support activities for farms (20%). Regional variations broadly reflected differences in farm types by province.

Conclusions

This study estimated the prevalence of occupational exposure to three pesticides in Canada. Seasonal and temporary agricultural workers, which were captured by the Census of Agriculture, contributed to many additionally exposed workers. A large percent of the workers who were considered at risk of exposure were considered probably or possibly exposed, indicating a need for enhanced data collection and availability on pesticide use data in Canada. The study’s methods can be applied to estimate workers’ exposures to other pesticides within the agricultural industry.
Unveiling the immune infiltrate modulation in cancer and response to immunotherapy by MIXTURE—an enhanced deconvolution method
Authors: Fernández Elmer A , Mahmoud Yamil D , Veigas Florencia , Rocha Darío , Miranda Matías , Merlo Joaquín , Balzarini Mónica , Lujan Hugo D , Rabinovich Gabriel A , Girotti María Romina
Published: October 2020

The accurate quantification of tumor-infiltrating immune cells turns crucial to uncover their role in tumor immune escape, to determine patient prognosis and to predict response to immune checkpoint blockade. Current state-of-the-art methods that quantify immune cells from tumor biopsies using gene expression data apply computational deconvolution methods that present multicollinearity and estimation errors resulting in the overestimation or underestimation of the diversity of infiltrating immune cells and their quantity. To overcome such limitations, we developed MIXTURE, a new ν-support vector regression-based noise constrained recursive feature selection algorithm based on validated immune cell molecular signatures. MIXTURE provides increased robustness to cell type identification and proportion estimation, outperforms the current methods, and is available to the wider scientific community. We applied MIXTURE to transcriptomic data from tumor biopsies and found relevant novel associations between the components of the immune infiltrate and molecular subtypes, tumor driver biomarkers, tumor mutational burden, microsatellite instability, intratumor heterogeneity, cytolytic score, programmed cell death ligand 1 expression, patients’ survival and response to anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 and anti-programmed cell death protein 1 immunotherapy.
Prediction of protein–carbohydrate complex binding affinity using structural features
Authors: Siva Shanmugam N R , Jino Blessy J , Veluraja K , Gromiha M Michael
Published: October 2020

Protein–carbohydrate interactions play a major role in several cellular and biological processes. Elucidating the factors influencing the binding affinity of protein–carbohydrate complexes and predicting their free energy of binding provide deep insights for understanding the recognition mechanism. In this work, we have collected the experimental binding affinity data for a set of 389 protein–carbohydrate complexes and derived several structure-based features such as contact potentials, interaction energy, number of binding residues and contacts between different types of atoms. Our analysis on the relationship between binding affinity and structural features revealed that the important factors depend on the type of the complex based on number of carbohydrate and protein chains. Specifically, binding site residues, accessible surface area, interactions between various atoms and energy contributions are important to understand the binding affinity. Further, we have developed multiple regression equations for predicting the binding affinity of protein–carbohydrate complexes belonging to six categories of protein–carbohydrate complexes. Our method showed an average correlation and mean absolute error of 0.731 and 1.149 kcal/mol, respectively, between experimental and predicted binding affinities on a jackknife test. We have developed a web server PCA-Pred, Protein–Carbohydrate Affinity Predictor, for predicting the binding affinity of protein–carbohydrate complexes. The web server is freely accessible at https://web.iitm.ac.in/bioinfo2/pcapred/. The web server is implemented using HTML and Python and supports recent versions of major browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, IE10 and Opera.
Comparative viromes of Culicoides and mosquitoes reveal their consistency and diversity in viral profiles
Authors: Liu Lin , Shen Qin , Li Nan , He Yuwen , Han Na , Wang Xianyue , Meng Jinxin , Peng Yousong , Pan Mei , Jin Yuting , Jiang Taijiao , Tan Wenjie , Wang Jinglin , Wu Aiping
Published: October 2020

The genus Culicoides includes biting midges, some of which are vectors for viruses that cause diseases in humans and animals. Knowledge of the roles of Culicoides in viral ecology is inadequate. We collected ~300 000 samples of Culicoides and mosquitoes in 15 representative regions within Yunnan, China. Using mosquitoes as reference vectors, we designed a comparative virome strategy to study the viral composition, diversity, hosts and spatiotemporal distribution of Culicoides. A map of viromes in Culicoides and mosquitoes in Yunan province, China, was constructed. At the same locations, Culicoides and mosquitoes usually share a similar viral diversity. At least 10 important pathogenic viruses were detected from Culicoides. Many novel viruses were discovered, including 21 segmented viruses of Flaviviridae, 180 viruses of Monjiviricetes and 130 viruses of Bunyavirales. The findings demonstrate that Culicoides is an important part of viral ecology and should be studied and monitored for potentially emerging viruses.
EphB3 interacts with initiator caspases and FHL-2 to activate dependence receptor cell death in oligodendrocytes after brain injury
Authors: Tsenkina Yanina , Tapanes Stephen A , Díaz Madelen M , Titus David J , Gajavelli Shyam , Bullock Ross , Atkins Coleen M , Liebl Daniel J
Published: October 2020

Clinical trials examining neuroprotective strategies after brain injury, including those targeting cell death mechanisms, have been underwhelming. This may be in part due to an incomplete understanding of the signalling mechanisms that induce cell death after traumatic brain injury. The recent identification of a new family of death receptors that initiate pro-cell death signals in the absence of their ligand, called dependence receptors, provides new insight into the factors that contribute to brain injury. Here, we show that blocking the dependence receptor signalling of EphB3 improves oligodendrocyte cell survival in a murine controlled cortical impact injury model, which leads to improved myelin sparing, axonal conductance and behavioural recovery. EphB3 also functions as a cysteine-aspartic protease substrate, where the recruitment of injury-dependent adaptor protein Dral/FHL-2 together with capsase-8 or -9 leads to EphB3 cleavage to initiate cell death signals in murine and human traumatic brain-injured patients, supporting a conserved mechanism of cell death. These pro-apoptotic responses can be blocked via exogenous ephrinB3 ligand administration leading to improved oligodendrocyte survival. In short, our findings identify a novel mechanism of oligodendrocyte cell death in the traumatically injured brain that may reflect an important neuroprotective strategy in patients.
Weakly Supervised Sentiment-Specific Region Discovery for VSA
Authors: Xue Luoyang , Xu Ang , Mao Qirong , Gao Lijian , Chen Jie
Published: October 2020

Local information has significant contributions to visual sentiment analysis (VSA). Recent studies about local region discovery need manually annotate region location. Affective local information learning and automatic discovery of sentiment-specific region are still the challenges in VSA. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end VSA method for weakly supervised sentiment-specific region discovery. Our method contains two branches: an automatic sentiment-specific region discovery branch and a sentiment analysis branch. In the sentiment-specific region discovery branch, a region proposal network with multiple convolution kernels is proposed to generate candidate affective regions. Then, we design the multiple instance learning (MIL) loss to remove redundant and noisy candidate regions. Finally, the sentiment analysis branch integrates both holistic and localized information obtained in the first branch by feature map coupling for final sentiment classification. Our method automatically discovers sentiment-specific regions by the constraint of MIL loss function without object-level labels. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations on four benchmark affective datasets demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Which Pitfall Traps and Sampling Effort to Choose to Evaluate Cropping System Effects on Spider and Carabid Assemblages?
Authors: Gardarin Antoine , Valantin-Morison Muriel
Published: October 2020

In arable agroecosystems, arthropod communities often have a reduced abundance and diversity, which represents a challenge for sampling techniques needed to detect small differences among these simplified communities. We evaluated the suitability of pitfall traps for comparing the effects of cropping systems on arthropod communities. In a field experiment, we compared the effects of two pitfall trap diameters, the type of preserving fluid and the sampling effort on three metrics (activity density, taxonomic richness, and community weighted mean [CWM] of body size) for carabids and spiders. Trap size affected the observed composition of communities, with large traps yielding a higher proportion of spiders, and a higher richness and CWM body size for both taxa. The type of preserving fluid had a weaker effect. Simulations with various sampling efforts showed that only very different communities could be distinguished with less than 10 traps per field or less than 30 field replicates. Fewer traps were required to find differences between cropping systems for body size than for other metrics. Carabid activity density and body size, and spider genus richness, were the variables better distinguishing between cropping systems with the smallest sampling effort. A high sampling effort was required for comparing activity density and richness across cropping systems. Selection of the most appropriate trap design, metrics, and crops are the main factors for optimizing the trade-off between sampling effort and the ability to detect arthropod community responses to habitat management.
Artemisinin susceptibility in the malaria parasitePlasmodium falciparum: propellers, adaptor proteins and the need for cellular healing
Authors: Sutherland Colin J , Henrici Ryan C , Artavanis-Tsakonas Katerina
Published: October 2020

Studies of the susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to the artemisinin family of antimalarial drugs provide a complex picture of partial resistance (tolerance) associated with increased parasite survival in vitro and in vivo. We present an overview of the genetic loci that, in mutant form, can independently elicit parasite tolerance. These encode Kelch propeller domain protein PfK13, ubiquitin hydrolase UBP-1, actin filament-organising protein Coronin, also carrying a propeller domain, and the trafficking adaptor subunit AP-2μ. Detailed studies of these proteins and the functional basis of artemisinin tolerance in blood-stage parasites are enabling a new synthesis of our understanding to date. To guide further experimental work, we present two major conclusions. First, we propose a dual-component model of artemisinin tolerance in P. falciparum comprising suppression of artemisinin activation in early ring stage by reducing endocytic haemoglobin capture from host cytosol, coupled with enhancement of cellular healing mechanisms in surviving cells. Second, these two independent requirements limit the likelihood of development of complete artemisinin resistance by P. falciparum, favouring deployment of existing drugs in new schedules designed to exploit these biological limits, thus extending the useful life of current combination therapies.
MN1overexpression with varying tumor grade is a promising predictor of survival of glioma patients
Authors: Saini Masum , Jha Ajaya Nand , Tangri Rajiv , Qudratullah Md , Ali Sher
Published: October 2020

Gliomas have substantial mortality to incidence rate ratio and a dismal clinical course. Newer molecular insights, therefore, are imperative to refine glioma diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. Meningioma 1 (MN1) gene is a transcriptional co-regulator implicated in other malignancies, albeit its significance in glioma pathology remains to be explored. IGFBP5 is regulated transcriptionally by MN1 and IGF1 and is associated with higher glioma grade and shorter survival time, prompting us to ascertain their correlation in these tumors. We quantified the expression of MN1, IGFBP5 and IGF1 in 40 glioma samples and examined their interrelatedness. MN1 mRNA-protein inter-correlation and the gene’s copy number were evaluated in these tumors. Publicly available TCGA datasets were used to examine the association of MN1 expression levels with patient survival and for validating our findings. We observed MN1 overexpression correlated with low-grade (LGGs) and not high-grade gliomas and is not determined by the copy number alteration of the gene. Notably, gliomas with upregulated MN1 have better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). IGFBP5 expression associated inversely with MN1 expression levels in gliomas but correlated positively with IGF1 expression in only LGGs. This suggests a potential grade-specific interplay between repressive and activating roles of MN1 and IGF1, respectively, in the regulation of IGFBP5. Thus, MN1 overexpression, a promising predictor of OS and PFS in gliomas, may serve as a prognostic biomarker in clinical practice to categorize patients with survival advantage.
Endometrial function in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a comprehensive review
Authors: Palomba Stefano , Piltonen Terhi T , Giudice Linda C
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of anovulatory infertility. An endometrial component has been suggested to contribute to subfertility and poor reproductive outcomes in affected women.

OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE

The aim of this review was to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support that endometrial function is altered in women with PCOS, whether clinical features of PCOS affect the endometrium, and whether there are evidence-based interventions to improve endometrial dysfunction in PCOS women.

SEARCH METHODS

An extensive literature search was performed from 1970 up to July 2020 using PubMed and Web of Science without language restriction. The search included all titles and abstracts assessing a relationship between PCOS and endometrial function, the role played by clinical and biochemical/hormonal factors related to PCOS and endometrial function, and the potential interventions aimed to improve endometrial function in women with PCOS. All published papers were included if considered relevant. Studies having a specific topic/hypothesis regarding endometrial cancer/hyperplasia in women with PCOS were excluded from the analysis.

OUTCOMES

Experimental and clinical data suggest that the endometrium differs in women with PCOS when compared to healthy controls. Clinical characteristics related to the syndrome, alone and/or in combination, may contribute to dysregulation of endometrial expression of sex hormone receptors and co-receptors, increase endometrial insulin-resistance with impaired glucose transport and utilization, and result in chronic low-grade inflammation, immune dysfunction, altered uterine vascularity, abnormal endometrial gene expression and cellular abnormalities in women with PCOS. Among several interventions to improve endometrial function in women with PCOS, to date, only lifestyle modification, metformin and bariatric surgery have the highest scientific evidence for clinical benefit.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS

Endometrial dysfunction and abnormal trophoblast invasion and placentation in PCOS women can predispose to miscarriage and pregnancy complications. Thus, patients and their health care providers should advise about these risks. Although currently no intervention can be universally recommended to reverse endometrial dysfunction in PCOS women, lifestyle modifications and metformin may improve underlying endometrial dysfunction and pregnancy outcomes in obese and/or insulin resistant patients. Bariatric surgery has shown its efficacy in severely obese PCOS patients, but a careful evaluation of the benefit/risk ratio is warranted. Large scale randomized controlled clinical trials should address these possibilities.