bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anaesthetic and Perioperative Management of 14 Male New Zealand White Rabbits for Calvarial Bone Surgery
Authors: Raillard Mathieu , Detotto Carlotta , Grepper Sandro , Beslac Olgica , Fujioka-Kobayashi Masako , Schaller Benoit , Saulacic Nikola
Published: November 2019

Calvarial bone surgery on rabbits is frequently performed. This report aims to document a simple and practical anaesthetic and perioperative management for this procedure. Fourteen male New Zealand white rabbits were included in the study. Subcutaneous (SC) dexmedetomidine, ketamine and buprenorphine ± isoflurane vaporized in oxygen administered through a supraglottic airway device (V-gel®) provided clinically suitable anaesthesia. Supplemental oxygen was administered throughout recovery. Monitoring was clinical and instrumental (pulse-oximetry, capnography, invasive blood pressure, temperature, arterial blood gas analysis). Lidocaine was infiltrated at the surgical site and meloxicam was injected subcutaneously as perioperative analgesia. After surgery, pain was assessed five times daily (composite behavioural pain scale and grimace scale). Postoperative analgesia included SC meloxicam once daily for four days and buprenorphine every 8 h for three days (unless both pain scores were at the lowest possible levels). Rescue analgesia (buprenorphine) was administered in case of the score > 3/8 in the composite pain scale, >4/10 on the grimace scale or if determined necessary by the caregivers. Airway management with a V-gel® was possible but resulted in respiratory obstruction during the surgery in two cases. Hypoventilation was observed in all rabbits. All rabbits experienced pain after the procedure. Monitoring, pain assessments and administration of postoperative analgesia were recommended for 48 h.
Leptin Receptor Mediates Bmal1 Regulation of Estrogen Synthesis in Granulosa Cells
Authors: Chu Guiyan , Ma Guangjun , Sun Jingchun , Zhu Youbo , Xiang Aoqi , Yang Gongshe , Sun Shiduo
Published: November 2019

Chronobiology affects female fertility in mammals. Lepr is required for leptin regulation of female reproduction. The presence of E-box elements in the Lepr promoter that are recognized and bound by clock genes to initiate gene transcription suggested that circadian systems might regulate fertility through Lepr. However, it is unclear whether Bmal1, a key oscillator controlling other clock genes, is involved in leptin regulation in hormone synthesis through Lepr. In this study, serum estradiol (E2) concentration and the expressions of Bmal1, Lepr, Cyp19a1, and Cyp11a1 genes were found to display well-synchronized circadian rhythms. Knockdown of Bmal1 significantly reduced expression levels of Lepr, Fshr, and Cyp19a1 genes; protein production of Bmal1, Lepr, and Cyp19a1; and the E2 concentration in granulosa cells. Knockdown of Lepr reduced the expression levels of Cyp19a1 and Cyp11a1 genes and Cyp19a1 protein, and also reduced E2 concentration. Addition of leptin affected the expression of Cyp19a1, Cyp11a1, and Fshr genes. Bmal1 deficiency counteracted leptin-stimulated upregulation of the genes encoding E2 synthesis in granulosa cells. These results demonstrated that Bmal1 participates in the process by which leptin acts on Lepr to regulate E2 synthesis.
Optimal Design of Electrothermal Microactuators for Many Criteria by Means of an Immune Game Theory Multiobjective Algorithm
Authors: Długosz Adam , Jarosz Paweł , Schlieter Tomasz
Published: November 2019

The paper presents the application of the IMGAMO (immune game theory multiobective algorithm) in the optimal design of electrothermal microactuators. Several numerical tests on the mathematical benchmark test functions were performed, showing the superiority of the IMGAMO, when a large number of criteria are considered, in comparison to other multiobjective optimizers. A parametric numerical model of an electrothermal microactuaror was developed and verified. Six functionals, which depend on various thermal and mechanical quantities of the microactuator, were proposed, formulated and numerically implemented. These functionals represent real requirements asked of microactuators. The boundary-value problem of an electro-thermo-mechanical field was solved multiple times during the course of optimization by way of the finite element method (FEM). A numerical example of multiobjective optimization of chevron-type electrothermal actuators is included in the paper. Representation of the multi-dimensional Pareto fronts by means of scatter plot matrices, aided by self-organizing maps (SOMs), is presented. The novel method of selecting interesting, compromise-solutions is proposed and described.
Tone Mapping of High Dynamic Range Images Combining Co-Occurrence Histogram and Visual Salience Detection
Authors: Choi Ho-Hyoung , Kang Hyun-Soo , Yun Byoung-Ju
Published: November 2019

One of the significant qualities of the human vision, which differentiates it from computer vision, is so called attentional control, which is the innate ability of our human eyes to select what visual stimuli to pay attention to at any moment in time. In this sense, the visual salience detection model, which is designed to simulate how the human visual system (HVS) perceives objects and scenes, is widely used for performing multiple vision tasks. This model is also in high demand in the tone mapping technology of high dynamic range images (HDRIs). Another distinct quality of the HVS is that our eyes blink and adjust brightness when objects are in their sight. Likewise, HDR imaging is a technology applied to a camera that takes pictures of an object several times by repeatedly opening and closing a camera iris, which is referred to as multiple exposures. In this way, the computer vision is able to control brightness and depict a range of light intensities. HDRIs are the product of HDR imaging. This article proposes a novel tone mapping method using CCH-based saliency-aware weighting and edge-aware weighting methods to efficiently detect image salience information in the given HDRIs. The two weighting methods combine with a guided filter to generate a modified guided image filter (MGIF). The function of the MGIF is to split an image into the base layer and the detail layer which are the two elements of an image: illumination and reflection, respectively. The base layer is used to obtain global tone mapping and compress the dynamic range of HDRI while preserving the sharp edges of an object in the HDRI. This has a remarkable effect of reducing halos in the resulting HDRIs. The proposed approach in this article also has several distinct advantages of discriminative operation, tolerance to image size variation, and minimized parameter tuning. According to the experimental results, the proposed method has made progress compared to its existing counterparts when it comes to subjective and quantitative qualities, and color reproduction.
Feature Extraction with Discrete Non-Separable Shearlet Transform and Its Application to Surface Inspection of Continuous Casting Slabs
Authors: Liu Xiaoming , Xu Ke , Zhou Peng , Liu Huajie
Published: November 2019

A new feature extraction technique called DNST-GLCM-KSR (discrete non-separable shearlet transform-gray-level co-occurrence matrix-kernel spectral regression) is presented according to the direction and texture information of surface defects of continuous casting slabs with complex backgrounds. The discrete non-separable shearlet transform (DNST) is a new multi-scale geometric analysis method that provides excellent localization properties and directional selectivity. The gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is a texture feature extraction technology. We combine DNST features with GLCM features to characterize defects of the continuous casting slabs. Since the combination feature is high-dimensional and redundant, kernel spectral regression (KSR) algorithm was used to remove redundancy. The low-dimension features obtained and labels data were inputted to a support vector machine (SVM) for classification. The samples collected from the continuous casting slab industrial production line—including cracks, scales, lighting variation, and slag marks—and the proposed scheme were tested. The test results show that the scheme can improve the classification accuracy to 96.37%, which provides a new approach for surface defect recognition of continuous casting slabs.
Natural Products and Synthetic Analogs as a Source of Antitumor Drugs
Authors: Sharifi-Rad Javad , Ozleyen Adem , Boyunegmez Tumer Tugba , Oluwaseun Adetunji Charles , El Omari Nasreddine , Balahbib Abdelaali , Taheri Yasaman , Bouyahya Abdelhakim , Martorell Miquel , Martins Natália , C. Cho William
Published: November 2019

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease and one of the major issues of health concern, especially for the public health system globally. Nature is a source of anticancer drugs with abundant pool of diverse chemicals and pharmacologically active compounds. In recent decade, some natural products and synthetic analogs have been investigated for the cancer treatment. This article presents the utilization of natural products as a source of antitumor drugs.
Fast Active Merging of Microdroplets in Microfluidic Chambers Driven by Photo-Isomerisation of Azobenzene Based Surfactants
Authors: Hayat Zain , Bchellaoui Nizar , Deo Claire , Métivier Rémi , Bogliotti Nicolas , Xie Juan , Buckle Malcolm , El Abed Abdel I.
Published: November 2019

In this work, we report on the development of a newly synthesized photoactive reversible azobenzene derived surfactant polymer, which enables active and fast control of the merging of microdroplets in microfluidic chambers, driven by a pulsed UV laser optical stimulus and the well known cis-trans photo-isomerisation of azobenzene groups. We show for the first time that merging of microdroplets can be achieved optically based on a photo-isomerization process with a high spatio-temporal resolution. Our results show that the physical process lying behind the merging of microdroplets is not driven by a change in surface activity of the droplet stabilizing surfactant under UV illumination (as originally expected), and they suggest an original mechanism for the merging of droplets based on the well-known opto-mechanical motion of azobenzene molecules triggered by light irradiation.
Durability of Stone Cladding in Buildings: A Case Study of Marble Slabs Affected by Bowing
Authors: Sousa Hipólito , Sousa Rui
Published: November 2019

Bowing is an uncommon pathology that can affect marble stone cladding of building façades, causing a large permanent deflection and the degradation of the flexural and anchoring strength of the stone slabs, which can lead to the cladding falling from the façades. Moreover, the combination of bowing with wind pressure effects on the building façades can increase the risk of fracture and collapse of the stone slabs, especially if this combination is not properly evaluated during design. Motivated by a case study, this work describes a stability evaluation of a 15-year-old building façade coated with marble stone cladding affected by bowing and subjected to wind pressures. This evaluation was focused on the stone slabs, and was performed through finite element model (FEM) numerical simulations of these slabs submitted to wind pressures and through lab tests using samples of stone slabs removed from the building façade. The results obtained demonstrated stability problems on the stone slabs caused by wind pressure-induced stresses combined with the loss of strength due to aging and bowing effects, especially for slabs with larger dimensions.
Segmentation and Grade Prediction of Colon Cancer Digital Pathology Images Across Multiple Institutions
Authors: Rathore Saima , Iftikhar Muhammad Aksam , Chaddad Ahmad , Niazi Tamim , Karasic Thomas , Bilello Michel
Published: November 2019

Distinguishing benign from malignant disease is a primary challenge for colon histopathologists. Current clinical methods rely on qualitative visual analysis of features such as glandular architecture and size that exist on a continuum from benign to malignant. Consequently, discordance between histopathologists is common. To provide more reliable analysis of colon specimens, we propose an end-to-end computational pathology pipeline that encompasses gland segmentation, cancer detection, and then further breaking down the malignant samples into different cancer grades. We propose a multi-step gland segmentation method, which models tissue components as ellipsoids. For cancer detection/grading, we encode cellular morphology, spatial architectural patterns of glands, and texture by extracting multi-scale features: (i) Gland-based: extracted from individual glands, (ii) local-patch-based: computed from randomly-selected image patches, and (iii) image-based: extracted from images, and employ a hierarchical ensemble-classification method. Using two datasets (Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC), n = 174 and gland segmentation (GlaS), n = 165) with three cancer grades, our method reliably delineated gland regions (RMC = 87.5%, GlaS = 88.4%), detected the presence of malignancy (RMC = 97.6%, GlaS = 98.3%), and predicted tumor grade (RMC = 98.6%, GlaS = 98.6%). Training the model using one dataset and testing it on the other showed strong concordance in cancer detection (Train RMC – Test GlaS = 94.5%, Train GlaS – Test RMC = 93.7%) and grading (Train RMC – Test GlaS = 95%, Train GlaS – Test RMC = 95%) suggesting that the model will be applicable across institutions. With further prospective validation, the techniques demonstrated here may provide a reproducible and easily accessible method to standardize analysis of colon cancer specimens.
A New Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Enhances Radiation Sensitivity through the Induction of Misfolded Protein Aggregation and Autophagy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Authors: Chiu Hui-Wen , Yeh Ya-Ling , Ho Sheng-Yow , Wu Yuan-Hua , Wang Bour-Jr , Huang Wei-Jan , Ho Yuan-Soon , Wang Ying-Jan , Chen Li-Ching , Tu Shih-Hsin
Published: November 2019

Radiation therapy (RT) is one of the main treatments for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, many patients experience RT failure due to the metastatic potential of RT and the radiation resistance of several cancers. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) can serve as radiosensitizers. In this study, we investigated whether a novel HDACi, TMU-35435, could reinforce radiosensitivity through the induction of misfolded protein aggregation and autophagy in TNBC. Significantly enhanced toxicity was found for the combination treatment compared with TMU-35435 or irradiation (IR) treatment alone in TNBC cells. The combination treatment induced misfolded protein aggregation and TMU-35435 inhibited the interaction of HDAC6 with dynein. Furthermore, the combined treatment induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress but did not trigger apoptosis. In addition, the combination treatment caused autophagic cell death. Tumor growth in the mouse of model orthotopic breast cancer was suppressed by the combination treatment through the induction of ER stress and autophagy. These findings support the future evaluation of the novel HDACi TMU-35435, as a potent radiosensitizer in TNBC.
Development of a MEL Cell-Derived Allograft Mouse Model for Cancer Research
Authors: Kim Min Young , Choi Sungwoo , Lee Seol Eui , Kim Ji Sook , Son Seung Han , Lim Young Soo , Kim Bang-Jin , Ryu Buom-Yong , Uversky Vladimir N. , Lee Young Jin , Kim Chul Geun
Published: November 2019

Murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells are often employed as a model to dissect mechanisms of erythropoiesis and erythroleukemia in vitro. Here, an allograft model using MEL cells resulting in splenomegaly was established to develop a diagnostic model for isolation/quantification of metastatic cells, anti-cancer drug screening, and evaluation of the tumorigenic or metastatic potentials of molecules in vivo. In this animal model, circulating MEL cells from the blood stream were successfully isolated and quantified with an additional in vitro cultivation step. In terms of the molecular-pathological analysis, we were able to successfully evaluate the functional discrimination between methyl-CpG-binding domain 2 (Mbd2) and p66α in erythroid differentiation, and tumorigenic potential in spleen and blood stream of allograft model mice. In addition, we found that the number of circulating MEL cells in anti-cancer drug-treated mice was dose-dependently decreased. Our data demonstrate that the newly established allograft model is useful to dissect erythroleukemia pathologies and non-invasively provides valuable means for isolation of metastatic cells, screening of anti-cancer drugs, and evaluation of the tumorigenic potentials.
Surfactant Imprinting Hyperactivated Immobilized Lipase as Efficient Biocatalyst for Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil
Authors: Yang Huixia , Zhang Weiwei
Published: November 2019

Enzymatic production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO) could contribute to resolving the problems of energy demand and environment pollutions.In the present work, Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) was activated by surfactant imprinting, and subsequently immobilized in magnetic cross-linked enzyme aggregates (mCLEAs) with hydroxyapatite coated magnetic nanoparticles (HAP-coated MNPs). The maximum hyperactivation of BCL mCLEAs was observed in the pretreatment of BCL with 0.1 mM Triton X-100. The optimized Triton-activated BCL mCLEAs was used as a highly active and robust biocatalyst for biodiesel production from WCO, exhibiting significant increase in biodiesel yield and tolerance to methanol. The results indicated that surfactant imprinting integrating mCLEAs could fix BCL in their active (open) form, experiencing a boost in activity and allowing biodiesel production performed in solvent without further addition of water. A maximal biodiesel yield of 98% was achieved under optimized conditions with molar ratio of methanol-to-WCO 7:1 in one-time addition in hexane at 40 °C. Therefore, the present study displays a versatile method for lipase immobilization and shows great practical latency in renewable biodiesel production.
Study on the Time-Varying Characteristics of Discharge Plasma in Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining
Authors: Liu Qingyu , Zhang Qinhe , Zhang Min , Yang Fazhan
Published: November 2019

Micro electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) has been widely applied in the field of precision machining, but the machining mechanism is still unclear. In this paper, the relationship between the characteristics of discharge plasma and discharge duration is clarified by analyzing the formation and expansion process of the discharge plasma channel under micro-scale discharge conditions. Based on the experimental results, the effects of discharge duration on the discharge current, discharge voltage and discharge crater size are discussed. The results show that the expansion acceleration, internal pressure, temperature, and electron density of the discharge plasma decrease as the discharge duration increase, while the radius and expansion velocity of the discharge plasma increase, and finally the discharge plasma reaches the state of shape–position equilibrium. The resistance of discharge plasma is estimated to fluctuate in the range of 38–45 Ω by the ratio of discharge maintenance voltage to discharge current. The energy utilization rate of micro-EDM is very high when discharge duration is less than 4 μs, and then decreases gradually as the discharge duration increased. There is a positive linear relationship between discharge crater volume and discharge duration. The discharge duration has no significant effect on the discharge crater depth. This study provides a theoretical basis for further study of discharge plasma characteristics in micro-EDM.
Prevention of Crypto-Ransomware Using a Pre-Encryption Detection Algorithm
Authors: Kok S. , Abdullah Azween , Jhanjhi NZ , Supramaniam Mahadevan
Published: November 2019

Ransomware is a relatively new type of intrusion attack, and is made with the objective of extorting a ransom from its victim. There are several types of ransomware attacks, but the present paper focuses only upon the crypto-ransomware, because it makes data unrecoverable once the victim’s files have been encrypted. Therefore, in this research, it was proposed that machine learning is used to detect crypto-ransomware before it starts its encryption function, or at the pre-encryption stage. Successful detection at this stage is crucial to enable the attack to be stopped from achieving its objective. Once the victim was aware of the presence of crypto-ransomware, valuable data and files can be backed up to another location, and then an attempt can be made to clean the ransomware with minimum risk. Therefore we proposed a pre-encryption detection algorithm (PEDA) that consisted of two phases. In, PEDA-Phase-I, a Windows application programming interface (API) generated by a suspicious program would be captured and analyzed using the learning algorithm (LA). The LA can determine whether the suspicious program was a crypto-ransomware or not, through API pattern recognition. This approach was used to ensure the most comprehensive detection of both known and unknown crypto-ransomware, but it may have a high false positive rate (FPR). If the prediction was a crypto-ransomware, PEDA would generate a signature of the suspicious program, and store it in the signature repository, which was in Phase-II. In PEDA-Phase-II, the signature repository allows the detection of crypto-ransomware at a much earlier stage, which was at the pre-execution stage through the signature matching method. This method can only detect known crypto-ransomware, and although very rigid, it was accurate and fast. The two phases in PEDA formed two layers of early detection for crypto-ransomware to ensure zero files lost to the user. However in this research, we focused upon Phase-I, which was the LA. Based on our results, the LA had the lowest FPR of 1.56% compared to Naive Bayes (NB), Random Forest (RF), Ensemble (NB and RF) and EldeRan (a machine learning approach to analyze and classify ransomware). Low FPR indicates that LA has a low probability of predicting goodware wrongly.
Probing Phase Separation and Local Lattice Distortions in Cuprates by Raman Spectroscopy
Authors: Liarokapis Efthymios
Published: November 2019

It is generally accepted that high temperature superconductors emerge when extra carriers are introduced in the parent state, which looks like a Mott insulator. Competition of the order parameters drives the system into a poorly defined pseudogap state before acquiring the normal Fermi liquid behavior with further doping. Within the low doping level, the system has the tendency for mesoscopic phase separation, which seems to be a general characteristic in all high Tc compounds, but also in the materials of colossal magnetoresistance or the relaxor ferroelectrics. In all these systems, metastable phases can be created by tuning physical variables, such as doping or pressure, and the competing order parameters can drive the compound to various states. Structural instabilities are expected at critical points and Raman spectroscopy is ideal for detecting them, since it is a very sensitive technique for detecting small lattice modifications and instabilities. In this article, phase separation and lattice distortions are examined on the most characteristic family of high temperature superconductors, the cuprates. The effect of doping or atomic substitutions on cuprates is examined concerning the induced phase separation and hydrostatic pressure for activating small local lattice distortions at the edge of lattice instability.
Bioindication of the Influence of Oil Production on Sphagnum Bogs in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia
Authors: Skorobogatova Olga , Yumagulova Elvira , Storchak Tatiana , Barinova Sophia
Published: November 2019

Algal diversity in the bogs of the Ershov oil field of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug–Yugra (KMAO-Yugra) with the gradient of oil pollution between 255 and 16,893 mg kg−1 has been studied with the help of bioindication methods and ecological mapping. Altogether 91 species, varieties, and forms of algae and cyanobacteria from seven divisions have been revealed for the first time from seven studied sites on the bogs. Charophyta algae prevail followed by diatoms, cyanobacteria, and euglenoids. The species richness and abundance of algae were maximal at the control site, with charophytic algae prevailing. The species richness of diatoms decreased in the contaminated area, but cyanobacteria were tolerated in a pH which varied between 4.0 and 5.4. Euglenoid algae survived under the influence of oil and organic pollution. Bioindication revealed a salinity influence in the oil-contaminated sites. A comparative floristic analysis shows a similarity in communities at sites surrounding the contaminated area, the ecosystems of which have a long-term rehabilitation period. The percent of unique species was maximal in the control site. Bioindication results were implemented for the first time in assessing the oil-polluted bogs and can be recommended as a method to obtain scientific results visualization for decision-makers and for future pollution monitoring.
Classification and Design Space Exploration of Low-Power Three-Stage Operational Transconductance Amplifier Architectures for Wide Load Ranges
Authors: Riad Joseph , Estrada-López Johan J. , Sánchez-Sinencio Edgar
Published: November 2019

Since operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) form the basic building blocks of many analog systems, the compensation of three-stage OTAs has attracted a lot of attention in the literature. Many different solutions to the stability problem of such OTAs have been proposed over the past 20 years, with each solution exhibiting different properties or targeting a different application. This work surveys a broad selection of previously reported architectures and proposes a novel classification scheme that exposes features common to seemingly different compensation architectures and serves as a guideline for which type of OTA is suitable for a given application. In addition, a novel figure of merit (FoM) is proposed to guide the designer in deciding which OTA architecture suits the tradeoffs specific to the application at hand. Theoretical discussions are further reinforced by transistor-level simulation results.
An ANN-Based Temperature Controller for a Plastic Injection Moulding System
Authors: Khomenko Maksym , Veligorskyi Oleksandr , Chakirov Roustiam , Vagapov Yuriy
Published: November 2019

This paper proposes an approach to an ANN-based temperature controller design for a plastic injection moulding system. This design approach is applied to the development of a controller based on a combination of a classical ANN and integrator. The controller provides a fast temperature response and zero steady-state error for three typical heaters (bar, nozzle, and cartridge) for a plastic moulding system. The simulation results in Matlab Simulink software and in comparison to an industrial PID regulator have shown the advantages of the controller, such as significantly less overshoot and faster transient (compared to PID with autotuning) for all examined heaters. In order to verify the proposed approach, the designed ANN controller was implemented and tested using an experimental setup based on an STM32 board.
Ecosystem Services and Importance of Common Tree Species in Coffee-Agroforestry Systems: Local Knowledge of Small-Scale Farmers at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Authors: Wagner Sigrun , Rigal Clement , Liebig Theresa , Mremi Rudolf , Hemp Andreas , Jones Martin , Price Elizabeth , Preziosi Richard
Published: November 2019

Research Highlights: Global coffee production, especially in smallholder farming systems, is vulnerable and must adapt in the face of climate change. To this end, shaded agroforestry systems are a promising strategy. Background and Objectives: Understanding local contexts is a prerequisite for designing locally tailored systems; this can be achieved by utilizing farmers’ knowledge. Our objective is to explore ecosystem services (ESs) provided by different shade tree species as perceived by farmers and possible factors (elevation, gender, and membership in local farmers groups) influencing these perceptions. We related these factors, as well as farmers’ ESs preferences, to planting densities of tree species. Materials and Methods: During interviews with 263 small-scale coffee farmers on the southern slope of Mt. Kilimanjaro, they ranked the most common shade tree species according to perceived provision of the locally most important ESs for coffee farmers. We asked them to estimate the population of each tree species on their coffee fields and to identify the three ESs most important for their household. Results: Food, fodder, and fuelwood emerged as the most important ESs, with 37.8% of the respondents mentioning all three as priorities. Density of tree species perceived to provide these three ESs were significantly higher for farmers prioritizing these services compared to farmers that did not consider all three ESs in their top three. Albizia schimperiana scored the highest for all rankings of regulatory ESs such as coffee yield improvement, quality shade provision, and soil fertility improvement. Influence of elevation, gender, and farmer group affiliation was negligible for all rankings. Conclusions: This study shows the need to understand factors underlying farmers’ management decisions before recommending shade tree species. Our results led to the upgrade of the online tool (shadetreeadvice.org) which generates lists of potential common shade tree species tailored to local ecological context considering individual farmers’ needs.
A Context-Aware Conversational Agent in the Rehabilitation Domain
Authors: Mavropoulos Thanassis , Meditskos Georgios , Symeonidis Spyridon , Kamateri Eleni , Rousi Maria , Tzimikas Dimitris , Papageorgiou Lefteris , Eleftheriadis Christos , Adamopoulos George , Vrochidis Stefanos , Kompatsiaris Ioannis
Published: November 2019

Conversational agents are reshaping our communication environment and have the potential to inform and persuade in new and effective ways. In this paper, we present the underlying technologies and the theoretical background behind a health-care platform dedicated to supporting medical stuff and individuals with movement disabilities and to providing advanced monitoring functionalities in hospital and home surroundings. The framework implements an intelligent combination of two research areas: (1) sensor- and camera-based monitoring to collect, analyse, and interpret people behaviour and (2) natural machine–human interaction through an apprehensive virtual assistant benefiting ailing patients. In addition, the framework serves as an important assistant to caregivers and clinical experts to obtain information about the patients in an intuitive manner. The proposed approach capitalises on latest breakthroughs in computer vision, sensor management, speech recognition, natural language processing, knowledge representation, dialogue management, semantic reasoning, and speech synthesis, combining medical expertise and patient history.
Energy Transport by Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at the Magnetopause
Authors: Palermo Francesco
Published: November 2019

By means of the formation of vortices in the nonlinear phase, the Kelvin Helmholtz instability is able to redistribute the flux of energy of the solar wind that flows parallel to the magnetopause. The energy transport associated with the Kelvin Helmholtz instability contributes significantly to the magnetosphere and magnetosheath dynamics, in particular at the flanks of the magnetopause where the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the velocity flow does not inhibit the instability development. By means of a 2D two-fluid simulation code, the behavior of the Kelvin Helmholtz instability is investigated in the presence of typical conditions observed at the magnetopause. In particular, the energy penetration in the magnetosphere is studied as a function of an important parameter such as the solar wind velocity. The influence of the density jump at the magnetopause is also discussed.
Formation of Stable and Efficient Social Storage Cloud
Authors: Mane Pramod C. , Krishnamurthy Nagarajan , Ahuja Kapil
Published: November 2019

In this paper, we study the formation of endogenous social storage cloud in a dynamic setting, where rational agents build their data backup connections strategically. We propose a degree-distance-based utility model, which is a combination of benefit and cost functions. The benefit function of an agent captures the expected benefit that the agent obtains by placing its data on others’ storage devices, given the prevailing data loss rate in the network. The cost function of an agent captures the cost that the agent incurs to maintain links in the network. With this utility function, we analyze what network is likely to evolve when agents themselves decide with whom they want to form links and with whom they do not. Further, we analyze which networks are pairwise stable and efficient. We show that for the proposed utility function, there always exists a pairwise stable network, which is also efficient. We show that all pairwise stable networks are efficient, and hence, the price of anarchy is the best that is possible. We also study the effect of link addition and deletion between a pair of agents on their, and others’, closeness and storage availability.
A Mechanogenetic Model of Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage in the Thoroughbred Horse
Authors: Blott Sarah , Cunningham Hannah , Malkowski Laurène , Brown Alexandra , Rauch Cyril
Published: November 2019

Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) occurs in horses performing high-intensity athletic activity. The application of physics principles to derive a ‘physical model’, which is coherent with existing physiology and cell biology data, shows that critical parameters for capillary rupture are cell–cell adhesion and cell stiffness (cytoskeleton organisation). Specifically, length of fracture in the capillary is a ratio between the energy involved in cell–cell adhesion and the stiffness of cells suggesting that if the adhesion diminishes and/or that the stiffness of cells increases EIPH is more likely to occur. To identify genes associated with relevant cellular or physiological phenotypes, the physical model was used in a post-genome-wide association study (GWAS) to define gene sets associated with the model parameters. The primary study was a GWAS of EIPH where the phenotype was based on weekly tracheal wash samples collected over a two-year period from 72 horses in a flat race training yard. The EIPH phenotype was determined from cytological analysis of the tracheal wash samples, by scoring for the presence of red blood cells and haemosiderophages. Genotyping was performed using the Illumina Equine SNP50 BeadChip and analysed using linear regression in PLINK. Genes within significant genome regions were selected for sets based on their GeneOntology biological process, and analysed using fastBAT. The gene set analysis showed that genes associated with cell stiffness (cytoskeleton organisation) and blood flow have the most significant impact on EIPH risk.
Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Insect Hormone Biosynthesis Pathway Involved in Desynchronized Development Phenomenon in Hybridized Sibling Species of Tea Geometrids (Ectropis grisescens and Ectropis obliqua)
Authors: Wang Zhibo , Bai Jiahe , Liu Yongjian , Li Hong , Zhan Shuai , Xiao Qiang
Published: November 2019

Ectropis grisescens and Ectropis obliqua are sibling species of tea-chewing pests. An investigation of the distribution of tea geometrids was implemented for enhancing controlling efficiency. E. grisescens is distributed across a wider range of tea-producing areas than Ectropis obliqua in China with sympatric distribution found in some areas. In order to explore reproductive isolation mechanisms in co-occurrence areas, hybridization experiments were carried out. Results showed they can mate but produce infertile hybrids. During experiments, the desynchronized development phenomenon was found in the hybridized generation of sibling tea geometrids. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis of those individuals of fast-growing and slow-growing morphs revealed that the insect hormone biosynthesis pathway was enriched in two unsynchronized development groups of hybrid offspring. More importantly, some genes regulating the synthesis of moulting hormone showed significantly up-regulated expression in fast-growing groups. Above all, metabolism of the juvenile hormone and synthesis of the ecdysone pathway were found to be crucially involved in the desynchronized development phenomenon. This research finding contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms of insect development and reproductive isolation of two sibling species.
Ants Sense, and Follow, Trail Pheromones of Ant Community Members
Authors: Chalissery Jaime M. , Renyard Asim , Gries Regine , Hoefele Danielle , Alamsetti Santosh Kumar , Gries Gerhard
Published: November 2019

Ants deposit trail pheromones that guide nestmates to food sources. We tested the hypotheses that ant community members (Western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc; black garden ants, Lasius niger; European fire ants, Myrmica rubra) (1) sense, and follow, each other’s trail pheromones, and (2) fail to recognize trail pheromones of allopatric ants (pavement ants, Tetramorium caespitum; desert harvester ants, Novomessor albisetosus; Argentine ants, Linepithema humilis). In gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection analyses of a six-species synthetic trail pheromone blend (6-TPB), La. niger, Ca. modoc, and M. rubra sensed the trail pheromones of all community members and unexpectedly that of T. caespitum. Except for La. niger, all species did not recognize the trail pheromones of N. albisetosus and Li. humilis. In bioassays, La. niger workers followed the 6-TPB trail for longer distances than their own trail pheromone, indicating an additive effect of con- and hetero-specific pheromones on trail-following. Moreover, Ca. modoc workers followed the 6-TPB and their own trail pheromones for similar distances, indicating no adverse effects of heterospecific pheromones on trail-following. Our data show that ant community members eavesdrop on each other’s trail pheromones, and that multiple pheromones can be combined in a lure that guides multiple species of pest ants to lethal food baits.
Modular Strategies to Build Cell-Free and Cell-Laden Scaffolds towards Bioengineered Tissues and Organs
Authors: Salerno Aurelio , Cesarelli Giuseppe , Pedram Parisa , Netti Paolo Antonio
Published: November 2019

Engineering three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds for functional tissue and organ regeneration is a major challenge of the tissue engineering (TE) community. Great progress has been made in developing scaffolds to support cells in 3D, and to date, several implantable scaffolds are available for treating damaged and dysfunctional tissues, such as bone, osteochondral, cardiac and nerve. However, recapitulating the complex extracellular matrix (ECM) functions of native tissues is far from being achieved in synthetic scaffolds. Modular TE is an intriguing approach that aims to design and fabricate ECM-mimicking scaffolds by the bottom-up assembly of building blocks with specific composition, morphology and structural properties. This review provides an overview of the main strategies to build synthetic TE scaffolds through bioactive modules assembly and classifies them into two distinct schemes based on microparticles (µPs) or patterned layers. The µPs-based processes section starts describing novel techniques for creating polymeric µPs with desired composition, morphology, size and shape. Later, the discussion focuses on µPs-based scaffolds design principles and processes. In particular, starting from random µPs assembly, we will move to advanced µPs structuring processes, focusing our attention on technological and engineering aspects related to cell-free and cell-laden strategies. The second part of this review article illustrates layer-by-layer modular scaffolds fabrication based on discontinuous, where layers’ fabrication and assembly are split, and continuous processes.
PD-L1 Expression and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Thymic Epithelial Neoplasms
Authors: Higuchi Rumi , Goto Taichiro , Hirotsu Yosuke , Nakagomi Takahiro , Yokoyama Yujiro , Otake Sotaro , Amemiya Kenji , Oyama Toshio , Omata Masao
Published: November 2019

Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare malignant mediastinal tumors that are difficult to diagnose and treat. The programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor and its ligand (PD-L1) are expressed in various malignant tumors and have emerged as potential immunotherapeutic targets. However, the immunobiology of TETs is poorly understood. We evaluated PD-L1 expression and the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8 and CD3 expression) in surgical TET specimens from 39 patients via immunohistochemistry and determined their relation to clinicopathological parameters. Cases with membranous reactivity of the PD-L1 antibody in ≥1% of tumor cells were considered positive. Positive PD-L1 expression was observed in 53.9% of cases. Histologically, PD-L1 expression was positive in 2/6 type A, 2/6 type AB, 3/9 type B1, 4/4 type B2, 5/6 type B3, and 5/8 type C TET cases. Thus, the number of cases with PD-L1 expression and the percent expression of PD-L1 were significantly higher in more aggressive thymomas (type B2 or B3). CD3+ and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were diffusely and abundantly distributed in all cases. These data suggest that a PD-1/PD-L1 blockade is a promising treatment for TETs, with more beneficial treatment effects for aggressive thymomas such as type B2 or B3.
Prevotella Copri and Microbiota in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Fully Convincing Evidence?
Authors: Drago Lorenzo
Published: November 2019

Gut microbiota regulates the host’s immune system. Microorganisms and their compounds can co-exist peacefully with the immune system and coordinate its function and regulation. Some microbial clusters may be harmful and others helpful in the respective negative or positive balance of the immune network. These insights have revealed important mechanisms for understanding and treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. This Editorial aims to clarify the role of specific genus of gut microbiota, such as Prevotella, in influencing the pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
System of Multi-Valued Mixed Variational Inclusions with XOR-Operation in Real Ordered Uniformly Smooth Banach Spaces
Authors: Ahmad Rais , Ali Imran , Li Xiao-Bing , Ishtyak Mohd. , Wen Ching-Feng
Published: November 2019

In this paper, we consider and study a system of multi-valued mixed variational inclusions with XOR-operation ⊕ in real ordered uniformly smooth Banach spaces. This system consists of bimappings, multi-valued mappings and Cayley operators. An iterative algorithm is suggested to find the solution to a system of multi-valued mixed variational inclusions with XOR-operation ⊕ and consequently an existence and convergence result is proved. In support of our main result, an example is constructed.
Strongly Convex Functions of Higher Order Involving Bifunction
Authors: Mohsen Bandar B. , Noor Muhammad Aslam , Noor Khalida Inayat , Postolache Mihai
Published: November 2019

Some new concepts of the higher order strongly convex functions involving an arbitrary bifuction are considered in this paper. Some properties of the higher order strongly convex functions are investigated under suitable conditions. Some important special cases are discussed. The parallelogram laws for Banach spaces are obtained as applications of higher order strongly affine convex functions as novel applications. Results obtained in this paper can be viewed as refinement and improvement of previously known results.
Equilibrium Joining Strategies in the Geo/GeoK/1 Queueing System
Authors: Liu Zaiming , Cao Can , Gao Shan
Published: November 2019

We study strategic behavior in the G e o / G e o K / 1 queueing system under both fully observable case and fully unobservable case. Furthermore, equilibrium and socially optimal strategies are obtained according to the available information and the linear utility function. We compare the impact of system parameters on the equilibrium strategies and socially optimal strategies. At the same time, we illustrate the effects of parameters on the obtained equilibrium social benefit. Finally, some numerical examples are presented.
Metabolic Profiling of Human Plasma and Urine, Targeting Tryptophan, Tyrosine and Branched Chain Amino Acid Pathways
Authors: Anesi Andrea , Rubert Josep , Oluwagbemigun Kolade , Orozco-Ruiz Ximena , Nöthlings Ute , Breteler Monique M.B. , Mattivi Fulvio
Published: November 2019

Tryptophan and tyrosine metabolism has a major effect on human health, and disorders have been associated with the development of several pathologies. Recently, gut microbial metabolism was found to be important for maintaining correct physiology. Here, we describe the development and validation of a UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for targeted quantification of 39 metabolites related to tryptophan and tyrosine metabolism, branched chain amino acids and gut-derived metabolites in human plasma and urine. Extraction from plasma was optimised using 96-well plates, shown to be effective in removing phospholipids. Urine was filtered and diluted ten-fold. Metabolites were separated with reverse phase chromatography and detected using triple quadrupole MS. Linear ranges (from ppb to ppm) and correlation coefficients (r2 > 0.990) were established for both matrices independently and the method was shown to be linear for all tested metabolites. At medium spiked concentration, recovery was over 80% in both matrices, while analytical precision was excellent (CV < 15%). Matrix effects were minimal and retention time stability was excellent. The applicability of the methods was tested on biological samples, and metabolite concentrations were found to be in agreement with available data. The method allows the analysis of up to 96 samples per day and was demonstrated to be stable for up to three weeks from acquisition.
Cytochalasin-B-Inducible Nanovesicle Mimics of Natural Extracellular Vesicles That Are Capable of Nucleic Acid Transfer
Authors: Oshchepkova Anastasiya , Neumestova Alexandra , Matveeva Vera , Artemyeva Lyudmila , Morozova Ksenia , Kiseleva Elena , Zenkova Marina , Vlassov Valentin
Published: November 2019

Extracellular vesicles provide cell-to-cell communication and have great potential for use as therapeutic carriers. This study was aimed at the development of an extracellular vesicle-based system for nucleic acid delivery. Three types of nanovesicles were assayed as oligonucleotide carriers: Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles and mimics prepared either by cell treatment with cytochalasin B or by vesicle generation from plasma membrane. Nanovesicles were loaded with a DNA oligonucleotide by freezing/thawing, sonication, or permeabilization with saponin. Oligonucleotide delivery was assayed using HEK293 cells. Extracellular vesicles and mimics were characterized by a similar oligonucleotide loading level but different efficiency of oligonucleotide delivery. Cytochalasin-B-inducible nanovesicles exhibited the highest level of oligonucleotide accumulation in HEK293 cells and a loading capacity of 0.44 ± 0.05 pmol/µg. The loaded oligonucleotide was mostly protected from nuclease action.