bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Marine-derived antimicrobial molecules from the sponges and their associated bacteria
Authors: Devkar Heena U. , Thakur Narsinh L. , Kaur Parvinder
Published: October 2022

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the leading global health issues that demand urgent attention. Very soon the world will have to bear the consequences of increased drug resistance if new anti-infectives are not pumped into the clinical pipeline in a short period. This presses on the need for novel chemical entities, and the marine environment is one such hotspot to look for. The Ocean harbours a variety of organisms, of which from this aspect, “Sponges (Phylum Porifera)” are of particular interest. To tackle the stresses faced due to their sessile and filter-feeding lifestyle, sponges produce various bioactive compounds, which can be tapped for human use. The sponges harbour several microorganisms of different types and in most cases; the microbial symbionts are the actual producers of the bioactive compounds. This review describes the alarming need for the development of new antimicrobials and how marine sponges can contribute to this. Selected antimicrobial compounds from the marine sponges and their associated bacteria have been described. Additionally, measures to tackle the supply problem have been covered, which is the primary obstacle in marine natural product drug discovery.
Upregulation of circFOXP1 attenuates inflammation and apoptosis induced by ox-LDL in human umbilical vein endothelial cells by regulating the miR-185-5p/BCL-2 axis
Authors: Xi Xuemei , Zheng Xiaofei , Zhang Rongxian , Zeng Liangbang
Published: October 2022

The pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD) is closely related to an abnormal function of the coronary arteries due to myocardial ischemia, hypoxia, or necrosis, which poses a threat to human health. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the role of circFOXP1 in controlling endothelial cell function during atherosclerosis (AS), and further investigate its potential molecular mechanism of regulation. Through Starbase database analysis, we predicted that circFOXP1 can sponge miR-185–5p that targets BCL-2. We found that interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrois factor (TNF)-α, and IL-1β were significantly upregulated in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice compared with those in the control mice. CircFOXP1 was also significantly upregulated in the AS-mice model and AS-cell model. Moreover, miR-185-5p overexpression was found to inhibit BCL-2 protein expression, which consequently reduced the proliferation, and increased the oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) apoptotic rate. Taken together, our data show that circFOXP1 can further aggravate endothelial cell injury by regulating the miR-185-5p/BCL-2 signal axis.
Towards a unified theory of the fundamental physical interactions based on the underlying geometric structure of the tangent bundle
Authors: Herrmann Joachim
Published: October 2022

This paper pursues the hypothesis that the tangent bundle (TB) with the central extended little groups of the SO(3,1) group as gauge group is the underlying geometric structure for a unified theory of the fundamental physical interactions. Based on this hypothesis as a first step, I recently presented a generalized theory of electroweak interaction (including hypothetical dark matter particles) (Herrmann in Eur Phys J C 79:779, 2019). The vertical Laplacian of the tangent bundle possesses the same form as the Hamiltonian of a 2D semiconductor quantum Hall system. This explains fractional charge quantization of quarks and the existence of lepton and quark families. As will be shown, the SU(3) color symmetry for strong interactions arises in the TB as an emergent symmetry similar to Chern–Simon gauge symmetries in quantum Hall systems. This predicts a signature of quark confinement as a universal large-scale property of the Chern–Simon fields and induces a new understanding of the vacuum as the ground state occupied by a condensate of quark–antiquark pairs. The gap for quark–antiquark pairing is calculated in the mean-field approximation, which allows a numerical estimation of the characteristic parameters of the vacuum such as its chemical potential, the quark condensation parameter and the vacuum energy. Note that a gauge theoretical understanding of gravity was previously achieved by considering the translation group T(3,1) in the TB as gauge group. Therefore, the theory presented here can be considered as a new type of unified theory for all known fundamental interactions linked with the geometrization program of physics.
Dynamics and statefinder analysis of a class of sign-changeable interacting dark energy scenarios
Authors: Arévalo Fabiola , Cid Antonella
Published: October 2022

We revise the dynamical properties of a class of cosmological models where the dark sector interacts through an interacting term that changes sign during evolution. In particular, we obtain the critical points and investigate the existence and stability conditions for cosmological solutions, describing radiation, matter and dark energy dominated eras. We find that all the studied models admit a stable critical point corresponding to an accelerated phase. We use background data to find the best fit parameters for one of the studied models, resulting in an interacting parameter with a definite sign within the $$1\sigma $$

1
σ

confidence level, consistent with the results of the dynamical system analysis. We compute the statefinder parameters and plot the $$r-q$$

r
-
q

and $$r-s$$

r
-
s

planes, where we observe different evolutionary trajectories for the interacting scenarios, allowing in this sense to discriminate among dark energy models.
Excitation functions of deuteron induced nuclear reactions on dysprosium targets for the production of the theranostic relevant isotopes of terbium
Authors: Colucci Michele , Carminati Stefano , Haddad Ferid , Nigron Etienne , Groppi Flavia , Manenti Simone
Published: October 2022

The physical properties of $${}^{149,152,155,161}$$

149
,
152
,
155
,
161

Tb enable their use in both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the field of nuclear medicine. For this reason the optimization of the production routes of these radionuclides is of widespread interest in research. In this work, the feasibility of the production of $${}^{155}$$

155

Tb and $${}^{161}$$

161

Tb via the nuclear reactions induced by deuterons on dysprosium target with natural isotopic abundances has been discussed. The cross sections of $${}^{nat}$$

nat

Dy(d,x) reactions have been studied in the 12.5–32 MeV energetic range with the stacked-foil technique and the corresponding Thick Target Yields have been obtained. The presence of terbium and dysprosium contaminants ($${}^{156,160}$$

156
,
160

Tb, $${}^{155,157,159}$$

155
,
157
,
159

Dy) has been evaluated too.
Development of thallium bromide semiconductor detectors for particle-induced gamma-ray emission
Authors: Hitomi K. , Nogami M. , Terakawa A. , Ishii K.
Published: October 2022

A thallium bromide (TlBr) gamma-ray detector was developed for particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) applications. The PIGE spectrum of a lithium fluoride (LiF) crystal was obtained for the first time using the TlBr detector. This detector was fabricated using a zone-purified crystal with dimensions of approximately 2mm × 2mm × 5mm. An energy resolution of 2.3% full-width at half maximum for 511 keV gamma rays was obtained from the detector at room temperature. The LiF crystal target was irradiated with a 20 MeV proton beam at the Aomori Prefecture Quantum Science Center. Full-energy peaks of 478 keV and 197 keV were successfully detected from lithium and fluorine, respectively, using the TlBr detector in the PIGE experiment.
Complex scalar fields in scalar-tensor and scalar-torsion theories
Authors: Paliathanasis Andronikos
Published: October 2022

In this paper, we investigate the cosmological dynamics in a spatially flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker geometry in scalar-tensor and scalar-torsion theories where the nonminimally coupled scalar field is a complex field. We derive the cosmological field equations and we make use of dimensionless variables in order to determine the stationary points and determine their stability properties. The physical properties of the stationary points are discussed while we find that the two-different theories, scalar-tensor and scalar-torsion theories, share many common features in terms of the evolution of the physical variables in the background space.
LINKING THE USE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND EMPLOYEE CREATIVE PERFORMANCE: THE INFLUENCE OF CREATIVE PROCESS ENGAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION
Authors: HERBST TOBIAS D. , HAUSBERG J. PIET
Published: October 2022

Although prior studies have examined the positive direct effect of using knowledge management systems (KMS) on firm performance, scholars have devoted scant attention to their impact on creative performance at the employee level even though individuals primarily provide creative outputs. To investigate the impact of using KMS on employee creative performance and help clarify the relevant contingencies that positively affect this relationship, the authors develop a theoretical model that links KMS usage with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and creative process engagement and explore their contribution to employee creative performance. Using data from an online survey of 528 employees, the empirical results show that KMS usage raises employee creative performance. Moreover, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and creative process engagement increase employee creative performance. However, the authors find no positive moderating impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation or creative process engagement on the KMS usage-employee creative performance relationship.
Novel method to detect Hopf bifurcation in a delayed fractional-order network model with bidirectional ring structure
Authors: Li Shuai , Huang Chengdai , Song Xinyu
Published: October 2022

In this paper, we formulate and study a fractional-order network model with four neurons, bidirectional ring structure and self-delay feedback. For the scenario of non-identical neurons, we develop a new algebraic technique to deal with the characteristic equation with [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the self-feedback delay) term and thus establish the easy-to-check criteria to determine the Hopf bifurcation point of self-feedback delay by fixing communication delay in its stable interval. For the scenario of identical neurons, we apply the crossing curves method to the fractional functional equations and thus procure the Hopf bifurcation curve. The obtained results accommodate the fact that the model cannot preserve its stability behavior when the self-feedback delay crosses the Hopf bifurcation point in the positive direction. Finally, we deliberate on the correctness of our methodology through two demonstration examples.
Anthropometric Study of Proximal Radius in Below-Average Height Thai Women and Its Correlation with Commercially Available Radial Head Prostheses
Authors: LUENAM Suriya , TANTHAPRABHA Natpawee , KOSIYATRAKUL Arkaphat
Published: October 2022

Background: Most radial head prostheses were designed in Western countries based on the anatomical characteristics of Western populations. We hypothesised that these prostheses are too large for below-average height Thai women. The objective of this study is to evaluate the anthropometric parameters of the proximal radius in such a population and its correlation with commercially available prostheses.

Methods: Dominant elbows of 124 Thai women whose height was <155 cm were studied. Using the standard anteroposterior and lateral radiographic images, the head diameter and thickness, the distance between the articular surface and radial tuberosity, the narrowest intra-medullary canal diameter and the narrowest outer diameter of the radial neck were measured. Correlations between body height and each radiographic parameter were assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC). The specifications of the commercial metallic radial head implants were reviewed and used to evaluate the relevant radiographic parameters.

Results: Mean of the minimum and maximum head diameter was 18.54 ± 1.11 mm and 19.13 ± 1.17 mm, respectively; the thickness was 7.43 ± 0.69 mm, the distance between the articular surface and tuberosity was 19.05 ± 1.45 mm, the intra-medullary canal diameter was 7.63 ± 1.2 mm and the outer diameter of the radial neck was 11.13 ± 1.26 mm. There is a poor correlation between the participant’s height and each parameter (PCC ≤ 0.50). In 24.2% of the participants, the smallest size of prosthetic designs with a head diameter of 20 mm is larger than +2 mm in reference to minor diameter. The minimum prosthetic head thickness is greater than the average value of the participants in 12 out of 15 designs. One participant has an outer neck diameter smaller than the smallest stem diameter of three designs.

Conclusions: Surgeons must be aware that commercially available radial head replacement implants may be too large for below-average height Thai women.

Level of Evidence: Level IV (Prognostic)
A Linear-Time
n
0.4
-Approximation for Longest Common Subsequence
Authors: Bringmann Karl , Cohen-Addad Vincent , Das Debarati
Published: October 2022

We consider the classic problem of computing the
Longest Common Subsequence (LCS)
of two strings of length
n
. The 40-year-old quadratic-time dynamic programming algorithm has recently been shown to be near-optimal by Abboud, Backurs, and Vassilevska Williams [FOCS’15] and Bringmann and Künnemann [FOCS’15] assuming the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis. This has led the community to look for subquadratic
approximation
algorithms for the problem.

Yet, unlike the edit distance problem for which a constant-factor approximation in almost-linear time is known, very little progress has been made on LCS, making it a notoriously difficult problem also in the realm of approximation. For the general setting, only a naive
O
(
n
ɛ
/2-approximation algorithm with running time
OŠ
(

n
2-ɛ

has been known, for any constant 0 < ɛ ≤ 1. Recently, a breakthrough result by Hajiaghayi, Seddighin, Seddighin, and Sun [SODA’19] provided a linear-time algorithm that yields a
O
(
n
0.497956
-approximation in expectation; improving upon the naive

\(O(\sqrt {n})\)

-approximation for the first time.

In this paper, we provide an algorithm that in time
O
(
n
2-ɛ
) computes an
OŠ
(

n
2ɛ/5

-approximation with high probability, for any 0 < ɛ ≤ 1. Our result (1) gives an
OŠ
(
n
0.4
-approximation in linear time, improving upon the bound of Hajiaghayi, Seddighin, Seddighin, and Sun, (2) provides an algorithm whose approximation scales with any subquadratic running time
O
(
n
2-ɛ
), improving upon the naive bound of
O
(
n
ɛ/2
) for any ɛ, and (3) instead of only in expectation, succeeds with high probability.
Personality Types and Ransomware Victimisation
Authors: Yilmaz Yagiz , Cetin Orcun , Grigore Claudia , Arief Budi , Hernandez-Castro Julio
Published: October 2022

Ransomware remains one of the most prevalent cyberthreats to individuals and businesses alike. Psychological techniques are often employed by attackers when infecting victims’ devices with ransomware in an attempt to increase the likelihood of the victims paying the ransom demand. At the same time, cybersecurity researchers are continually putting in effort to find new ways to prevent ransomware infections and victimisation from happening. Since employees and contractors are often considered to be the most frequent and well-known attack vectors, it makes sense to focus on them. Identifying factors to predict the most vulnerable population to cyberattacks can be useful in preventing or mitigating the impact of ransomware attacks. Additionally, understanding victims’ psychological traits can help us devise better solutions to recover from the attack more effectively, while at the same time, encouraging victims not to pay the ransom demand to cybercriminals. In this article, we investigated the relationship between personality types and ransomware victimisation to understand whether people with certain personality types would be more prone to becoming a ransomware victim. We also studied the behavioural and psychological effects of becoming a ransomware victim in an attempt to see whether such an experience can be used to reinforce positive cybersecurity behaviours in the future. We carried out a survey involving 880 participants, recruited through the Prolific online survey platform. First, these participants were asked to answer a set of standard questions to determine their personality type, using the Big-Five personality trait indicators. They were then asked to answer several follow-up questions regarding victimisation, as well as their feelings and views post-victimisation. We found that 9.55% (
n
= 84) of the participants had been a victim of ransomware. Of these, 2.38% (
n
= 2) were found to have paid the ransom. We found no compelling evidence to suggest that personality traits would influence ransomware victimisation. In other words, there are no discernible differences regarding potential ransomware victimisation based on people’s personality types alone. Therefore, we should not blame victims for falling prey—in particular, we should not apportion the blame to their personality type. These findings can be used to improve positive cybersecurity behaviours, for example, by encouraging victims to invest more in cybersecurity products and tools. Additionally, our results showed that the aftermath of a ransomware attack could be quite devastating and hard to deal with for many victims. Finally, our research shows that properly dealing with ransomware is a complex socio-technical challenge that requires both technical and psychological support.
A Quantum Algorithm for the Sub-graph Isomorphism Problem
Authors: Mariella Nicola , Simonetto Andrea
Published: October 2022

We propose a novel variational method for solving the sub-graph isomorphism problem on a gate-based quantum computer. The method relies (1) on a new representation of the adjacency matrices of the underlying graphs, which requires a number of qubits that scales logarithmically with the number of vertices of the graphs; and (2) on a new ansatz that can efficiently probe the permutation space. Simulations are then presented to showcase the approach on graphs up to 16 vertices, whereas, given the logarithmic scaling, the approach could be applied to realistic sub-graph isomorphism problem instances in the medium term.
Combining Evolution and Deep Reinforcement Learning for Policy Search: A Survey
Authors: Sigaud Olivier
Published: October 2022

Deep neuroevolution and deep Reinforcement Learning have received a lot of attention over the past few years. Some works have compared them, highlighting their pros and cons, but an emerging trend combines them so as to benefit from the best of both worlds. In this article, we provide a survey of this emerging trend by organizing the literature into related groups of works and casting all the existing combinations in each group into a generic framework. We systematically cover all easily available papers irrespective of their publication status, focusing on the combination mechanisms rather than on the experimental results. In total, we cover 45 algorithms more recent than 2017. We hope this effort will favor the growth of the domain by facilitating the understanding of the relationships between the methods, leading to deeper analyses, outlining missing useful comparisons and suggesting new combinations of mechanisms.
Maternal hepatocytes heterogeneously and dynamically exhibit developmental phenotypes partially via yes-associated protein 1 during pregnancy
Authors: Nambiar Shashank Manohar , Lee Joonyong , Yanum Jennifer Abla , Garcia Veronica , Jiang Huaizhou , Dai Guoli
Published: October 2022

We found that maternal hepatocytes exhibit developmental phenotypes in a temporal and spatial manner, similarly to fetal hepatocytes. They acquire this new property partially via yes-associated protein 1.
Novel insights into physiological mechanisms underlying fecal continence
Authors: Trzpis Monika , Sun Ge , Chen Ji-Hong , Huizinga Jan D. , Broens Paul
Published: October 2022

The machinery maintaining fecal continence prevents involuntary loss of stool and is based on the synchronized interplay of multiple voluntary and involuntary mechanisms, dependent on cooperation between motor responses of the musculature of the colon, pelvic floor, and anorectum, and sensory and motor neural pathways. Knowledge of the physiology of fecal continence is key toward understanding the pathophysiology of fecal incontinence. The idea that involuntary contraction of the internal anal sphincter is the primary mechanism of continence and that the external anal sphincter supports continence only by voluntary contraction is outdated. Other mechanisms have come to the forefront, and they have significantly changed viewpoints on the mechanisms of continence and incontinence. For instance, involuntary contractions of the external anal sphincter, the puborectal muscle, and the sphincter of O’Beirne have been proven to play a role in fecal continence. Also, retrograde propagating cyclic motor patterns in the sigmoid and rectum promote retrograde transit to prevent the continuous flow of content into the anal canal. With this review, we aim to give an overview of primary and secondary mechanisms controlling fecal continence and evaluate the strength of evidence.
The Attenuation Ability of Saturated Joints Filled with Granular Materials under High-Amplitude Stress Wave Loading
Authors: Li Sheng , Xiong Ziming , Fan Pengxian , Xing Haozhe , Xie Kaidi
Published: October 2022

Existing experimental evidence shows that the propagation of explosive waves in the free fields of soils is remarkably affected by the degree of saturation. In the surrounding rocks of underground protective structures, the underground water is normally unavoidable, which is supposed to reduce the isolation efficiency of a passive antiblast barrier. To investigate the effect of water saturation on the stress wave attenuation ability of infilled joints, impact tests were carried out on artificial joints filled with dry and saturated granular materials using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). The test results revealed that under the same conditions, the stress and energy transmission coefficients of the waves crossing saturated sand-filled joints were about 3.16–4.13 times and 9.75–11.4 times those of joints filled with dry sand, respectively. The dynamic stress-strain relationship of the filling layer during the impact process and the crushing index of the infill were analyzed. The results showed that the compressibility and the granular crushing index of the dry sand were much greater than that of the saturated sand, and the dynamic stress-strain relationship of the dry sand exhibited three-stage nonlinear characteristics. The experimental results quantitatively uncovered the serious adverse effect of water on the wave absorption properties and markedly diminished the potential of the filled joints as a wave elimination barrier, which should be a matter of great concern in the design of underground protective structures.
Video Error-Resilience Encoding and Decoding Based on Wyner-Ziv Framework for Underwater Transmission
Authors: Li Borui , Zhang Yang , Feng Qingjuan
Published: October 2022

Limited by the characteristics of underwater acoustic channels, the video transmission applications targeting deep-sea detection and operation tasks are facing severe challenges such as network failure and high delay, resulting in loss of video details, color distortion, blurring, and even bit errors, which seriously affect decoding quality of the video transmission and reception. In order to solve the problems of deep-sea long-distance wireless communication, this paper proposes an improved Wyner-Ziv coding scheme (UnderWater-WZ) for video transmission through acoustic channels. The implementation process includes controlling error range by using MJPEG coding, combining motion compensation time interpolation with calibration information to generate high-quality side information. And intraframe quantization matrix is designed to weaken the change of video scene. The experimental results show that under the highest packet loss rate of 20%, this scheme can achieve 2.6~3.5 dB improvements in terms of video reconstruction compared to the previous methods, which is close to the error-free level.
Multiattribute Decision-Making Method Based on Hesitant Triangular Fuzzy Power Average Operator
Authors: Pu Dongping , Yu Mingliang , Yuan Guanghui
Published: October 2022

In the decision-making process, it often happens that decision makers hesitate between several possible preference values, so the multiattribute decision-making (MADM) problem of hesitant triangle fuzzy elements (HTFEs) has been widely studied. In related research works, different operators are used to fuse information, and the weighting model is used to represent the degree of difference between information fusion on various indicators, but the mutual influence between information is often not considered. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is to study the MADM problem of the hesitant triangular fuzzy power average (HTFPA) operator. First, the hesitant triangular fuzzy power-weighted average operator (HTFPWA) and the hesitant triangular fuzzy power-weighted geometric (HTFPWG) operator are given, their properties are analyzed and special cases are discussed. Then, a MADM method based on the HTFPWA operator and the HTFPWG operator is developed, and an example of selecting futures products is used to illustrate the results of applying the proposed method to practical problems. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of the HTFPA operator are verified by comparative analysis with existing methods.
Socioeconomic Disparities in Iranians’ Preferences toward Dental Care Services: A Population-Based Survey
Authors: Khajedaluee Mohammad , Yaghoubi Zahra , Malek Mohammadi Tayebeh , Hosseini Kosar Sadat
Published: October 2022

Background and Aims. Patients’ perspectives and preferences are considered an essential influencing factor for healthcare utilization. This study is one of the first to investigate patient preference for dental services across socioeconomic and demographic indicators in Iran. Materials and Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted through telephone interviews with adult residents in Mashhad and Kerman cities. A representative sample was selected by stratified random sampling. A valid structured questionnaire was used for data collection, including people’s preference toward dental care services in terms of dental settings, choosing a general or specialist dentist, prevention or treatment, and the preferable gender of the dentist. Factors potentially associated with preferences included gender, age, educational level, job, monthly income, house size, family number, insurance coverage, dental insurance, type of insurance, and social class in the city were investigated. Results. 1475 individuals participated in the study [response rate 63%]. Our findings showed higher preferences for private offices (50.6%), specialist dentists (76.2%), treatment services (40.8%), and no specific gender preference for the dentist (60.6%). Their preferences were significantly influenced by age range, social class, insurance status, dental insurance, and type of insurance. Income, household size, level of education, and job were not statistically significant with none of the preferences. Conclusions. Socioeconomic and demographic factors’ correlation with people’s preferences was observed. Efforts are needed to promote preventive care demand in deprived regions. Moreover, increasing financial resources allocated to preventive care and covering preventive dental services in insurance plans are recommended.
Klotho Ameliorates Vascular Calcification via Promoting Autophagy
Authors: Li Lufeng , Liu Wei , Mao Qi , Zhou Denglu , Ai Keqi , Zheng Wei , Zhang Jihang , Huang Lan , Xu Shangcheng , Zhao Xiaohui
Published: October 2022

Vascular calcification (VC) is regarded as a common feature of vascular aging. Klotho deficiency reportedly contributes to VC, which can be ameliorated by restoration of Klotho expression. However, the specific mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here, we investigated the role of autophagy in the process of Klotho-inhibiting VC. The clinical study results indicated that, based on Agatston score, serum Klotho level was negatively associated with aortic calcification. Then, Klotho-deficient mice exhibited aortic VC, which could be alleviated with the supplementation of Klotho protein. Moreover, autophagy increased in the aorta of Klotho-deficient mice and protected against VC. Finally, we found that Klotho ameliorated calcification by promoting autophagy both in the aorta of Klotho-deficient mice and in mouse vascular smooth muscle cells (MOVAS) under calcifying conditions. These findings indicate that Klotho deficiency induces increased autophagy to protect against VC and that Klotho expression further enhances autophagy to ameliorate calcification. This study is beneficial to exploring the underlying mechanisms of Klotho regulating VC, which has important guiding significance for future clinical studies in the treatment of VC.
Giant Parathyroid Tumor: Parathyroid Adenoma versus Parathyroid Carcinoma
Authors: Gossili Farid , Carlé Allan , Andersen Trine B. , Zacho Helle D
Published: October 2022

Parathyroid adenoma is the most common cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). We present the preoperative detection of a giant parathyroid adenoma (GPA) using (99mTc)-sestamibi parathyroid scintigraphy in a patient presenting with severely elevated parathyroid hormone, hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia, and vitamin D insufficiency. The patient complained of cerebral symptoms and intermittent abdominal discomfort without constipation. After surgical removal of the hyperactive parathyroid gland and D vitamin supplementation, all blood tests were normalized. The clinical and paraclinical characteristics of GPA may raise the suspicion of parathyroid carcinoma, but not absolutely in this case.
A Privacy-Preserving Crowd Flow Prediction Framework Based on Federated Learning during Epidemics
Authors: Wang Weiya , Yang Geng , Bao Lin , Ma Ke , Zhou Hao
Published: October 2022

Predicting and managing the movement of people in a region during epidemics’ outbreak is an important step in preventing outbreaks. The protection of user privacy during the outbreak has become a matter of public concern in recent years, yet deep learning models based on datasets collected from mobile devices may pose privacy and security issues. Therefore, how to develop an accurate crowd flow prediction while preserving privacy is a significant problem to be solved, and there is a tradeoff between these two objectives. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving mobility prediction framework via federated learning (CFPF) to solve this problem without significantly sacrificing the prediction performance. In this framework, we designed a deep and embedding learning approach called “Multi-Factors CNN-LSTM” (MFCL) that can help to explicitly learn from human trajectory data (weather, holidays, temperature, and POI) during epidemics. Furthermore, we improve the existing federated learning framework by introducing a clustering algorithm to classify clients with similar spatio-temporal characteristics into the same cluster, and select servers at the center of the cluster as edge central servers to integrate the optimal model for each cluster and improve the prediction accuracy. To address the privacy concerns, we introduce local differential privacy into the FL framework which can facilitate collaborative learning with uploaded gradients from users instead of sharing users’ raw data. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments on a realistic crowd flow dataset to evaluate the performance of our CFPF and make a comparison with other existing models. The experimental results demonstrate that our solution can not only achieve accurate crowd flow prediction but also provide a strong privacy guarantee at the same time.
Research on DUAL-ADGAN Model for Anomaly Detection Method in Time-Series Data
Authors: Gong Xingyu , Wang Xin , Li Na
Published: October 2022

In recent years, anomaly detection techniques in time-series data have been widely used in manufacturing, cybersecurity, and other fields. Meanwhile, various anomaly detection models based on generative adversarial networks (GAN) are gradually used in time-series anomaly detection tasks. However, there are problems of unstable generator training, missed detection of anomalous data, and inconsistency between the discriminator’s discriminant and the anomaly detection target in GAN networks. Aiming at the above problems, the paper proposes a DUAL-ADGAN (Dual Anomaly Detection Generative Adversarial Networks) model for the detection of anomalous data in time series. First, the Wasserstein distance satisfying the Lipschitz constraint is used as the loss function of the data reconstruction module, which improves the stability of the traditional GAN network training. Second, by adding a data prediction module to the DUAL-ADGAN model, the distinction between abnormal and normal samples is increased, and the rate of missing abnormal data in the model is reduced. Third, by introducing the Fence-GAN loss function, the discriminator is aligned with the anomaly detection target, which effectively reduces the anomaly data false detection rate of the DUAL-ADGAN model. Finally, anomaly scores derived from the DUAL-ADGAN model are compared with dynamic thresholds to detect anomalies. The experimental results show that the average F1 of the DUAL-ADGAN model is 0.881, which is better than the other nine baseline models. The conclusions demonstrate that the DUAL-ADGAN model proposed in the paper is more stable in training while effectively solving the problems of anomaly miss detection and discriminator inconsistency with the anomaly detection target in the anomaly detection task.
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems: An Updated Policy Statement from the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology
Authors: Herbst Roy S. , Hatsukami Dorothy , Acton Dana , Giuliani Meredith , Moushey Allyn , Phillips Jonathan , Sherwood Shimere , Toll Benjamin A. , Viswanath Kasisomayajula , Warren Nicholas J.H. , Warren Graham W. , Alberg Anthony J.
Published: October 2022

Combustible tobacco use has reached historic lows, demonstrating the importance of proven strategies to reduce smoking since publication of the 1964 Surgeon General's report. In contrast, the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), specifically e-cigarettes, has grown to alarming rates and threatens to hinder progress against tobacco use. A major concern is ENDS use by youth and adults who never previously used tobacco. While ENDS emit fewer carcinogens than combustible tobacco, preliminary evidence links ENDS use to DNA damage and inflammation, key steps in cancer development. Furthermore, high levels of nicotine can also increase addiction, raise blood pressure, interfere with brain development, and suppress the immune system. The magnitude of long-term health risks will remain unknown until longitudinal studies are completed. ENDS have been billed as a promising tool for combustible tobacco cessation, but further evidence is needed to assess their potential efficacy for adults who smoke. Of concern, epidemiological studies estimate that approximately 15% to 42% of adults who use ENDS have never used another tobacco product, and another 36% to 54% “dual use” both ENDS and combustible tobacco. This policy statement details advances in science related to ENDS and calls for urgent action to end predatory practices of the tobacco industry and protect public health. Importantly, we call for an immediate ban on all non-tobacco-flavored ENDS products that contain natural or synthetic nicotine to reduce ENDS use by youth and adults who never previously used tobacco. Concurrently, evidence-based treatments to promote smoking cessation and prevent smoking relapse to reduce cancer incidence and improve public health remain top priorities for our organizations. We also recognize there is an urgent need for research to understand the relationship between ENDS and tobacco-related disparities.
Examining Stripes on a Herd of Zebras: Impact of Genomic Matching for Ultrarare Sarcomas in Phase 1 Clinical Trials (SAMBA 102)
Authors: Moyers Justin T. , Pestana Roberto Carmagnani , Roszik Jason , Hong David S. , Naing Aung , Fu Siqing , Piha-Paul Sarina , Yap Timothy A. , Karp Daniel , Rodon Jordi , Livingston Andy , Zarzour Maria Alejandra , Ravi Vinod , Patel Shreyaskumar , Benjamin Robert S. , Ludwig Joseph , Herzog Cynthia , Ratan Ravin , Somaiah Neeta , Conley Anthony , Gorlick Richard , Meric-Bernstam Funda , Subbiah Vivek
Published: October 2022

Purpose:

Recently, the Connective Tissue Oncology Society published consensus guidelines for recognizing ultrarare sarcomas (URS), defined as sarcomas with an incidence ≤1 per 1,000,000. We assessed the outcomes of 56 patients with soft tissue, and 21 with bone sarcomas, enrolled in Phase 1 trials.

Experimental Design:

In this Sarcoma-Matched Biomarker Analysis (SAMBA-102 study), we reviewed records from patients on Phase 1 trials at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between January 2013 and June 2021.

Results:

Among 587 sarcomas, 106 (18.1%) were classified as URS. Fifty (47%) were male, and the median age was 44.3 years (range, 19–82). The most common subtypes were alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS), chordoma, dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma, and sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma. Compared with common sarcomas, median OS was similar 16.1 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 13.6–17.5] versus 16.1 (95% CI, 8.2–24.0) in URS (P = 0.359). Objective response to treatment was higher in URS 13.2% (n = 14/106) compared with common sarcomas 6.9% (n = 33/481; P = 0.029). Median OS for those treated on matched trials was 27.3 months (95% CI, 1.9–52.7) compared with 13.4 months (95% CI, 6.3–20.6) for those not treated on matched trials (P = 0.291). Eight of 33 (24%) molecularly matched treatments resulted in an objective response, whereas 6 of 73 unmatched treatments (8.2%) resulted in an objective response (P = 0.024). Clinical benefit rate was 36.4% (12/33) in matched trials versus 26.0% (19/73) in unmatched trials (P = 0.279).

Conclusions:

The results demonstrate the benefit of genomic selection in Phase 1 trials to help identify molecular subsets likely to benefit from targeted therapy.
Sohlh2 Regulates the Stemness and Differentiation of Colon Cancer Stem Cells by Downregulating LncRNA-H19 Transcription
Authors: Zhang Ruihong , Zhang Xiaoli , Zhang Wenfang , Cui Weiwei , Xiao Yunling , Liu Lanlan , Zhi Sujuan , Feng Xiaoning , Liu Xuyue , Shen Ying , Chai Jie , Hao Jing
Published: October 2022

Colon cancer stem cells (CSC) are tumor-initiating cells that drive tumorigenesis and progression through self-renewal and various differentiation potency. Therefore, the identification of factors critical for colon CSC function is vital for the development of therapies. Sohlh2 belongs to the superfamily of bhlh transcription factors and serves as a tumor suppressor in several tumors. The role of Sohlh2 in CSCs remains unknown. Here we demonstrated that Sohlh2 was related to the inhibition of LncRNA-H19/miR-141/β-catenin signaling and led to the consequent suppression of colon CSC stemness and the promotion of colon CSC differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, Sohlh2 could directly bind to the promoter of LncRNA-H19 and repress its transcription activity. LncRNA-H19 mediated the effects of Sohlh2 on colon CSC stemness and differentiation. Clinically, we observed a significant inverse correlation between Sohlh2 and LncRNA-H19, β-catenin, Lgr5, CD133 expression levels, and positive correlation between Sohlh2 and MUC2, TFF2 expression in colon cancer tissues. Collectively, our findings suggest an important role of the Sohlh2/LncRNA-H19/miR-141/β-catenin pathway in regulating colon CSC stemness and differentiation, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for colon cancer.

Implications:

This study identifies that Sohlh2 directly manipulates LncRNA-H19 transcription and suppresses the β-catenin signaling pathway and the Sohlh2/LncRNA-H19/miR-141/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an essential role in the stemness of colon CSCs.
Lifestyle Factors and Development and Natural Course of Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Bogaards Marit , May Anne M. , Hassan Faduma A. , Valk Gerlof D. , van Leeuwaarde Rachel S.
Published: October 2022

Introduction: The rarity of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and their heterogeneous presentation complicate the identification of risk factors for their development and natural course. Several tumor-specific prognostic factors have been identified, but less attention has been given to lifestyle factors as risk and prognostic factors. This review aimed to identify studies on smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, diet, body mass index (BMI), and diabetes and their association with the development and course of gastroenteropancreatic (GEP-) NETs. Methods: The literature was systematically searched for articles on lifestyle factors and NETs available via PubMed and Embase. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Results: A total of 25 eligible studies out of 3,021 screened articles were included. Most studies reported on smoking and alcohol, reporting conflicting results. Diet seems to have an influence on NET development, but few studies were published. Articles reporting on BMI were not unanimous on the effect on GEP-NETs. Diabetes was reported as a risk factor for NETs, while a protective effect was observed with metformin use. Conclusion: Different tissues, i.e., the pancreas and small intestine, may respond differently to exposure to alcohol and smoking. Evidence for diet so far is too limited to draw conclusions. Diabetes seems to be an important risk factor for the development of pancreatic NETs with a protective role in disease progression, while BMI is not unequivocally associated with the development and prognosis of NETs. Hence, our findings suggest that lifestyle factors play an important role in NET development as a disease course. Future research should consider lifestyle as an influence on disease progression and treatment response.
An overview of genus Pteris L. in northeastern India and new report of Pteris amoena Blume from Arunachal Pradesh, India
Authors: Ashish K. Soni  , Vineet K. Rawat  , Abhinav Kumar  , A. Benniamin
Published: October 2022

The present paper highlights a taxonomic account of genus Pteris L. (Pteridaceae E.D.M. Kirchn.) with newly reported species Pteris amoena Blume, which was collected from the Pange range of Tale Wildlife Sanctuary and Hapoli Primary Forest, Hapoli, Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh. The present communication is based on plant exploration and in-depth surveys done by the first two authors and through scrutiny of herbaria and literature. All the species are enumerated in this list along with worldwide distribution (outside India), local distribution in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India as NEI included with other Indian states. Reported species shows some morphological closeness with P. terminalis Wall. ex. J.Agardh but differ in having bright pink axes and more rounded and crenately toothed segment-apices. All these characters differentiate to this species to its closely related species and testifying that P. amoena Blume as a new report to the Arunachal Pradesh.  Detailed description, distributional range, ecology and specimen examined of newly reported taxa are provided in this paper.
The Fawcett’s Pierrot Niphanda asialis (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Bandarban: an addition to the butterfly fauna of Bangladesh
Authors: Akash Mojumdar  , Dey Rajib
Published: October 2022

Niphanda asialis de Nicéville, 1895 is a widely distributed butterfly that occurs from Assam (northeastern India) to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Yunnan. This species is “rare” in India (Kehimkar 2016) but it is moderately common in the Malayan region (Gogoi et. al 2016). Niphanda asialis (earlier known as Azanus asialis) was first described by de Nicéville (1895), based on a single collected specimen from Hofrath Dr. L. Martin.
No Mediation Effect of Telomere Length or Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number on the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Central Arterial Stiffness
Authors: Iannarelli Nathaniel J. , Wade Terrance J. , Dempster Kylie S. , Moore Jessy , MacNeil Adam J. , O'Leary Deborah D.
Published: October 2022

Background

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Previous reports have suggested that accelerated biological aging—indexed by telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn)—may contribute to associations between ACEs and cardiovascular health outcomes. Here, we examine the potential mediating effects of TL and mtDNAcn on the association between ACEs and central arterial stiffness—an intermediate cardiovascular health outcome—as a novel pathway linking ACEs to CVD risk among young adults.

Methods and Results

One hundred and eighty‐five (n=102 women; mean age, 22.5±1.5 years) individuals provided information on ACEs. TL (kb per diploid cell) and mtDNAcn (copies per diploid cell) were quantified using quantitative polymerase chain reaction techniques. Central arterial stiffness was measured as carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV; m/s). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the associations between ACEs, TL, mtDNAcn, and cfPWV. ACEs were positively associated with cfPWV (
β
=0.147,
P
=0.035). TL (
β
=−0.170,
P
=0.011) and mtDNAcn (
β
=−0.159,
P
=0.019) were inversely associated with cfPWV. Neither TL (
β
=−0.027,
P
=0.726) nor mtDNAcn (
β
=0.038,
P
=0.620) was associated with ACEs. Neither marker mediated the association between ACEs and cfPWV.

Conclusions

An increasing number of ACEs were associated with a faster cfPWV and thus, a greater degree of central arterial stiffness. ACEs were not associated with either TL or mtDNAcn, suggesting that these markers do not represent a mediating pathway linking ACEs to central arterial stiffness.
Description of adult female, larva, and pupa of Glossosoma (Lipoglossa) kamael Malicky 2012 (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae) associated by COI sequences from China
Authors: ZANG HAO-MING , GE XIN-YU , WANG BEI-XIN , SUN CHANG-HAI
Published: October 2022

The adult female, larva, and pupa of Glossosoma (Lipoglossa) kamael Malicky 2012 from Qinghai Province, China, are described and illustrated. Molecular associations are based on COI sequences. The immature stages of the subgenus Lipoglossa are described for the first time. Biological and habitat information of G. kamael are presented.
Three new species of the genus Philagra Stål (Hemiptera: Cercopidea: Aphrophoridae) from China and Bangladesh
Authors: LIANG AI-PING
Published: October 2022

Three new species of Philagra Stål, P. bimaculata sp. nov., P. fuscofasciata sp. nov. and P. straminea sp. nov. are described and illustrated from China with P. bimaculata sp. nov. also recorded from Bangladesh. Morphological descriptions and structural illustrations of the new species are provided with distributional data given. Scanning electron micrographs of antennal sensilla of P. bimaculata sp. nov. and P. straminea sp. nov. and sensilla on rostral apex of P. bimaculata sp. nov. are provided for the first time.