bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Natural killer T cell immunotherapy combined with oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus or reovirus treatments differentially increases survival in mouse models of ovarian and breast cancer metastasis
Authors: Gebremeskel Simon , Nelson Adam , Walker Brynn , Oliphant Tora , Lobert Lynnea , Mahoney Douglas , Johnston Brent
Published: March 2021

Background

Oncolytic viruses reduce tumor burden in animal models and have generated promising results in clinical trials. However, it is likely that oncolytic viruses will be more effective when used in combination with other therapies. Current therapeutic approaches, including chemotherapeutics, come with dose-limiting toxicities. Another option is to combine oncolytic viruses with immunotherapeutic approaches.

Methods

Using experimental models of metastatic 4T1 breast cancer and ID8 ovarian peritoneal carcinomatosis, we examined natural killer T (NKT) cell-based immunotherapy in combination with recombinant oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) or reovirus. 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells or ID8 ovarian cancer cells were injected into syngeneic mice. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with VSV or reovirus followed by activation of NKT cells via the intravenous administration of autologous dendritic cells loaded with the glycolipid antigen α-galactosylceramide. The effects of VSV and reovirus on immunogenic cell death (ICD), cell viability and immunogenicity were tested in vitro.

Results

VSV or reovirus treatments followed by NKT cell activation mediated greater survival in the ID8 model than individual therapies. The regimen was less effective when the treatment order was reversed, delivering virus treatments after NKT cell activation. In the 4T1 model, VSV combined with NKT cell activation increased overall survival and decreased metastatic burden better than individual treatments. In contrast, reovirus was not effective on its own or in combination with NKT cell activation. In vitro, VSV killed a panel of tumor lines better than reovirus. VSV infection also elicited greater increases in mRNA transcripts for proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and antigen presentation machinery compared with reovirus. Oncolytic VSV also induced the key hallmarks of ICD (calreticulin mobilization, plus release of ATP and HMGB1), while reovirus only mobilized calreticulin.

Conclusion

Taken together, these results demonstrate that oncolytic VSV and NKT cell immunotherapy can be effectively combined to decrease tumor burden in models of metastatic breast and ovarian cancers. Oncolytic VSV and reovirus induced differential responses in our models which may relate to differences in virus activity or tumor susceptibility.
Medical treatment of polymeric cerebral granulomatous reactions following endovascular procedures
Authors: Boyle Therese , Fernando Suran L , Steinfort Brendan , Li Jamma , Krause Martin , Harrington Tim , Assaad Nazih , Faulder Ken
Published: March 2021

Background

Endovascular procedures are standard of care for an increasing range of cerebrovascular diseases. Many endovascular devices contain plastic and are coated with a hydrophilic polymer which has been rarely described to embolize, resulting in distal granulomatous inflammatory lesions within the vascular territory.

Methods

We reviewed three cases of cerebral granulomatous reactions that occurred after endovascular intervention for internal carotid aneurysms. The patient procedure details, presentation, relevant investigations, and treatment course are described. We also provide a literature review on endovascular granulomatous reactions.

Results

These three cases represent the largest biopsy proven series of cerebral granulomatosis following endovascular intervention. We highlight the variable clinical presentation, with two of the three cases having an unusually delayed onset of up to 4 years following the intervention. We show the characteristic histological findings of granulomatous lesions with foreign body material consistent with a type IV reaction, radiological abnormalities of enhancing lesions within the vascular territory of the intervention, and the requirement of prolonged immunosuppression for maintenance of clinical remission, with two of the three patients requiring a corticosteroid sparing agent. In comparison with the available literature, in addition to hydrophilic gel polymer, we discuss that plastic from the lining of the envoy catheter may be a source of embolic material. We also discuss the recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration and the implementation of novel biomaterials for the prevention of these reactions in the future.

Conclusions

There is a need for increased awareness of this severe complication of cerebral endovascular procedures and further longitudinal studies of its prevalence, optimal management and preventative measures.
Impairments in glycaemic control do not increase linearly with repeated nights of sleep restriction in healthy adults: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Sweeney Emma L. , Peart Daniel J. , Ellis Jason G. , Walshe Ian H.
Published: March 2021

Evidence suggests reduced glycaemic control following sleep restriction in healthy individuals. However, it remains unknown if impairments in glycaemic control increase with each additional night of sleep restriction in a linear manner. This randomised crossover study aimed to determine if the impairment in glycaemic control increases with each additional night of sleep restriction. Ten healthy individuals underwent 4 nights of control sleep (8 hours in bed) and 4 nights of sleep restriction (4 hours in bed) in a sleep laboratory. An oral glucose tolerance test was conducted each morning. Serum glucose and insulin were measured. Glucose and insulin area under the curve were higher overall in the sleep restriction trial compared with control (p < 0.001 and p = 0.033); however, no effect of day (p = 0.620 and p = 0.863) or interaction effect (p = 0.152 and p = 0.285) were observed. This supports previous literature showing a detrimental impact of sleep restriction on glucose regulation. The present findings, however, suggest the impairment in glycaemic control does not increase in a linear manner with an increasing number of nights of sleep restriction. This may have implications for the design of future studies examining sleep restriction and glycaemic control.

Novelty: Four nights of sleep restriction impaired glycaemic control in healthy individuals, but did not do so in a linear manner. No effect of number of nights of restriction was found for glucose or insulin, which may have implications for future studies.
Application of a parametric survival model to understand capture-related mortality and predation of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) released in a recreational fishery
Authors: Kneebone Jeff , Benoît Hugues P. , Bernal Diego , Golet Walt
Published: March 2021

Distinguishing the cause and magnitude of capture-related mortality (CRM) in fishes is important for effective management. To better understand CRM in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) released in the recreational troll fishery off the United States east coast, 48 fish (76–127 cm curved fork length, CFL) were monitored for up to 86 days postrelease with survivorship pop-up satellite archival tags. Recovered data indicated 40 fish were alive at the time of tag detachment and eight died, including six from predation, from 0 to 30 days postrelease. Survival model variants were constructed to independently estimate the rates of immediate capture and handling (CH), postrelease (PR), total CRM (CH + PR), and natural mortality (M) for small (≤103 cm CFL) and large (>103 cm CFL) fish under different hypotheses and causes of mortality. CH was low (0%–8%) for both size classes but predation was an important component of PR, particularly in the small size class. Total CRM was 51% (95% CI: 26%, 81%) for small and 8% (95% CI: 2%, 30%) for large fish.
Migration and accumulation of bacteria with chemotaxis and chemokinesis
Authors: Jakuszeit Theresa , Lindsey-Jones James , Peaudecerf François J. , Croze Ottavio A.
Published: March 2021

Bacteria can chemotactically migrate up attractant gradients by controlling run-and-tumble motility patterns. In addition to this well-known chemotactic behaviour, several soil and marine bacterial species perform chemokinesis; they adjust their swimming speed according to the local concentration of chemoeffector, with higher speed at higher concentration. A field of attractant then induces a spatially varying swimming speed, which results in a drift towards lower attractant concentrations—contrary to the drift created by chemotaxis. Here, to explore the biological benefits of chemokinesis and investigate its impact on the chemotactic response, we extend a Keller–Segel-type model to include chemokinesis. We apply the model to predict the dynamics of bacterial populations capable of chemokinesis and chemotaxis in chemoeffector fields inspired by microfluidic and agar plate migration assays. We find that chemokinesis combined with chemotaxis not only may enhance the population response with respect to pure chemotaxis, but also modifies it qualitatively. We conclude presenting predictions for bacteria around dynamic finite-size nutrient sources, simulating, e.g. a marine particle or a root. We show that chemokinesis can reduce the measuring bias that is created by a decaying attractant gradient.

Graphic abstract
Computing oscillatory solutions of the Euler system via 𝒦-convergence
Authors: Feireisl Eduard , Lukáčová–Medvid’ová Mária , She Bangwei , Wang Yue
Published: March 2021

We develop a method to compute effectively the Young measures associated to sequences of numerical solutions of the compressible Euler system. Our approach is based on the concept of [Formula: see text]-convergence adapted to sequences of parameterized measures. The convergence is strong in space and time (a.e. pointwise or in certain [Formula: see text] spaces) whereas the measures converge narrowly or in the Wasserstein distance to the corresponding limit.
Unknotting operations on knots and links
Authors: Shimizu Ayaka
Published: March 2021

By considering unknotting operations, we obtain ways of measuring how knotted a knot is. Unknotting phenomena can be seen not only in knot theory, but also in various settings such as DNA knots, mind knots and so on ([C. C. Adams, The Knot Book: An Elementary Introduction to the Mathematical Theory of Knots (American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2004); A. Kawauchi, K. Kishimoto and A. Shimizu, Knot theory and game (in Japanese) (Asakura Publishing, Tokyo, 2013); L. Rudolph, Qualitative Mathematics for the Social Sciences (Routledge, London, 2013); K. Murasugi, Knot Theory and Its Applications, Translated from the 1993 Japanese original by Bohdan Kupita (Birkhauser, Boston, MA, 1996)], etc.). In this paper, we see how knots can be unknotted (and therefore how they are knotted) by considering various unknotting operations and their associated unknotting numbers.
The large cardinal strength of weak Vopenka’s principle
Authors: Wilson Trevor M.
Published: March 2021

We show that Weak Vopěnka’s Principle, which is the statement that the opposite category of ordinals cannot be fully embedded into the category of graphs, is equivalent to the large cardinal principle Ord is Woodin, which says that for every class [Formula: see text] there is a [Formula: see text]-strong cardinal. Weak Vopěnka’s Principle was already known to imply the existence of a proper class of measurable cardinals. We improve this lower bound to the optimal one by defining structures whose nontrivial homomorphisms can be used as extenders, thereby producing elementary embeddings witnessing [Formula: see text]-strongness of some cardinal.
Multi-Point Suspension Design and Stability Analysis of a Scaled Hoop Truss Antenna Structure
Authors: Ma Guoliang , Xu Minglong , Dong Longlei , Zhang Zhuo
Published: March 2021

This paper proposes a scaled model to investigate the dynamic characteristics and stability of a hoop truss antenna on the ground. First, the statically indeterminate equation for the multi-point suspension is established, along with the voltage of the suspension motor calculated. Then the transfer function of the system is theoretically established. The scaled model is established before and after suspension, and the static deformation and natural frequency of the system are obtained by calculation and measurement. There exist the shaking mode and nodding mode. Also, a vibration experiment is conducted for the system to obtain the vibration response. With this, the transfer function is identified by the system identification method, which appears to be of the second order, and the stability is analyzed through the zero pole diagram. The experiment results show that the first two frequencies are close before and after suspension. Moreover, the stability of the system can be judged by the open-loop transfer function. It is concluded that the vibration experimental data of the scaled model can be used as a reference for the large hoop truss antenna structure.
Real-Time Computer Vision-Based Bangla Vehicle License Plate Recognition using Contour Analysis and Prediction Algorithm
Authors: Pervej Masud , Das Sabuj , Hossain Md. Parvez , Atikuzzaman Md. , Mahin Md. , Rahaman Muhammad Aminur
Published: March 2021

Computer vision-based recognition of Bangle vehicle license plates (LPs) is an arduous task in dirty and muddy situations. This paper proposes an efficient method for real-time computer vision-based recognition of Bangla vehicle LPs using contour analysis and prediction algorithms. The method initially applies gray scaling the input RGB images, histogram equalization to improve the grayscale image quality, edge detection using Sobel edge detector, and adaptive thresholding to convert it to a binary image. The system localizes the vehicle LP based on the maximum rectangular contour area and converts it into a predefined size. Noise removal technique using morphological dilation and erosion operation is used, followed by Gaussian filtering on binary image to improve the image quality further. The system clusters the two-lined LP into seven clusters. The sub-clustering is applied on specific clusters and makes 68 individual sub-clusters. The system extracts vector contour (VC) from each 68 individual classes. After VC extraction, the system normalizes it into a q predefined length. The system applies inter co-relation function (ICF) to categorize each sub-cluster to its previously defined individual class. For that, it calculates the maximum similarity between test and previously trained VCs. The system applies the dependency prediction algorithm in parallel to predict the whole string (district name) in the cluster-1 based on previously categorized class or classes (starting character or characters of the district part). (Metro) or (null) from cluster-2, “-” (hyphen) from cluster-3 and 6 are predicted automatically as their positions are fixed. The system is trained using 68 classes in which each class contains 100 samples generated by the augmentation technique. The system is tested using another set of 68 classes with a total of [Formula: see text] images acquiring the recognition accuracy of 96.62% with the mean computational cost of 8.363[Formula: see text]ms/f. The system is also tested using 500 vehicle whole Bangla LPs achieving the mean whole LP recognition accuracy of 95.41% with a mean computational cost of 35.803[Formula: see text]ms/f.
IHAC: Incorporating Heuristics for Efficient Rule Generation & Rule Selection in Associative Classification
Authors: Pal Parashu Ram , Pathak Pankaj , Luma-Osmani Shkurte
Published: March 2021

Associations rule mining along with classification rule mining are both significant techniques of mining of knowledge in the area of knowledge discovery in massive databases stored in different geographic locations of the world. Based on such combination of these two, class association rules for mining or associative classification methods have been generated, which, in far too many cases, showed higher prediction accuracy than platitudinous conventional classifiers. Motivated by the study, in this paper, we proposed a new approach, namely IHAC (Incorporating Heuristics for efficient rule generation & rule selection in Associative Classification). First, it utilises the database to decrease the search space and then explicitly explores the potent class association rules from the optimised database. This also blends rule generation and classifier building to speed up the overall classifier construction cycle. Experimental findings showed that IHAC performs better than any further associative classification methods.
ACRIPPER: A New Associative Classification Based on RIPPER Algorithm
Authors: Abu-Arqoub Mohammed , Hadi Wael , Ishtaiwi Abdelraouf
Published: March 2021

Associative Classification (AC) classifiers are of substantial interest due to their ability to be utilised for mining vast sets of rules. However, researchers over the decades have shown that a large number of these mined rules are trivial, irrelevant, redundant, and sometimes harmful, as they can cause decision-making bias. Accordingly, in our paper, we address these challenges and propose a new novel AC approach based on the RIPPER algorithm, which we refer to as ACRIPPER. Our new approach combines the strength of the RIPPER algorithm with the classical AC method, in order to achieve: (1) a reduction in the number of rules being mined, especially those rules that are largely insignificant; (2) a high level of integration among the confidence and support of the rules on one hand and the class imbalance level in the prediction phase on the other hand. Our experimental results, using 20 different well-known datasets, reveal that the proposed ACRIPPER significantly outperforms the well-known rule-based algorithms RIPPER and J48. Moreover, ACRIPPER significantly outperforms the current AC-based algorithms CBA, CMAR, ECBA, FACA, and ACPRISM. Finally, ACRIPPER is found to achieve the best average and ranking on the accuracy measure.
BEYOND THE MARGINALIZATION THESIS: AN EVALUATION OF THE PREVALENCE, CHARACTER AND MOTIVES OF INFORMAL SECTOR ENTREPRENEURS IN KOSOVO
Authors: GASHI ARDIANA , WILLIAMS COLIN C
Published: March 2021

The conventional depiction of the prevalence, character and motives of informal sector entrepreneurs, here termed the ‘marginalization thesis,’ has been that informal entrepreneurs are a small, insignificant minority of all entrepreneurs, are more likely than formal entrepreneurs to belong to marginalized groups and are more likely to be necessity-driven entrepreneurs. To evaluate critically this marginalization thesis, evidence is here reported from a 2017 survey of entrepreneurs in Kosovo. This reveals that 42.5 percent of entrepreneurs are informal entrepreneurs, that only some characteristics of marginalized populations are more prominent among informal than formal entrepreneurs (e.g., low educational level, deprived households) but others are not significantly associated (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity), and that although informal entrepreneurs are more likely than formal entrepreneurs to be necessity-driven, only fourteen percent of informal entrepreneurs are purely necessity-driven. The outcome is a call to recognize the prevalence of informal sector entrepreneurship, the heterogeneous groups engaged in informal entrepreneurship and the existence of opportunity-drivers among informal entrepreneurs. The theoretical and policy implications are then discussed.
Effect of solvent on the electronic absorption spectral properties of mixed β-octasubstituted free base tetraphenylporphyrins
Authors: Bhyrappa P. , Sarangi U. K.
Published: March 2021

A near planar macrocycle containing 2,3,12,13-tetraphenylethynyl-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(4[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-butylphenyl)porphyrin, H2T(4[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-Bu Ph)P(PE)4 and a series of antipodally mixed substituted nonplanar porphyrins, 2,3,5,10,12,13,15,20-octaphenyl-7,8,17,18-tetra(2[Formula: see text]-thienyl/phenylethynyl, PE)porphyrin, H2OPP(2[Formula: see text]-Th/PE)4 and 2,3,12,13-tetramethyl-7,8,17,18-tetra(2[Formula: see text]-thienyl/PE)-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin, H2TPP(CH[Formula: see text](2[Formula: see text]-Th/PE)4were examined by electronic absorption spectroscopy in twenty different solvents. The presence of push-pull substituents at the antipodal [Formula: see text]-pyrrole positions of the nonplanar macrocycle induces varying degrees of orthogonal dipole moments to the porphyrin ring. The influence of different solvents on the degree of nonplanarity and electronic nature of the macrocycle on their electronic absorption spectral properties were examined. Generally, free base porphyrins showed dramatic solvent dependent absorption spectral band shifts and follow the order: H2OPP(PE)4 > H2OPP(2[Formula: see text]-Th)[Formula: see text] H2TPP(CH[Formula: see text](2[Formula: see text]-Th)4 >[Formula: see text]H2TPP(CH[Formula: see text](PE)4 > H2T(4[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]Bu Ph)P(PE)4. Absorption spectral data in different solvents was analyzed using selected solvatochromic parameters, ([Formula: see text] – 1)/(2[Formula: see text] + 1), [Formula: see text] (30),[Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]*. The enhanced red-shift of the absorption bands of the mixed substituted porphyrins in polar solvents was influenced by solvent-core (porphyrin) interaction and is reflected from the 1H NMR chemical shift of the core imino-hydrogens in polar solvents relative that observed in less polar solvents. The magnitude of the difference in chemical shift ([Formula: see text], ppm) of imino-hydrogens in DMSO-d6 relative to that in CDCl3 follow the order: H2TPP(CH[Formula: see text](2[Formula: see text]-Th)4 (1.37 ppm) > H2OPP(PE)4 (1.17 ppm) > H2TPP(CH[Formula: see text](PE)4 (0.57 ppm). The large red-shift in B and Q bands in polar solvents relative to apolar (or less polar) solvents has been possible due to the combined effect of the electronic nature of the macrocycle, its nonplanarity, and solvent-porphyrin core interactions.
Fluoro-bridged dimanganese(III) porphyrin dimer: Effect of intermacrocyclic interactions in modulating metal spin state
Authors: Sil Debangsu , Banerjee Sayantani , Ghosh Sudip Kumar , Rath Sankar Prasad
Published: March 2021

The synthesis, structure, and spectroscopic properties of a remarkably deformed dimanganese(III)-[Formula: see text]-fluoro porphyrin dimer in connection to its diiron(III) [Formula: see text]-fluoro and [Formula: see text]-hydroxo counterparts is reported. It is the most recent addition to the continued effort in understanding the effect of intermacrocyclic interaction on the molecular structure and properties of di-heme proteins. The dimanganese(III)-[Formula: see text]-fluoro porphyrin dimer, similar to its [Formula: see text]-hydroxo analogs, stabilizes two equivalent high-spin ([Formula: see text]= 2) manganese(III) centers. This is in contrast to the diiron(III) analogs where the [Formula: see text]-hydroxo complex stabilizes two inequivalent iron(III) centers with two different spin states of iron in the same molecule while the [Formula: see text]-fluoro complex stabilizes two equivalent metal centers with intermediate spin ([Formula: see text]= 3/2) state. The present results further establish the extreme interdependence of the energetically accessible spin states of the metal and the extent of porphyrin core deformation. It is very likely that nature utilizes the same powerful tool to modulate large change in the electronic structure and properties of the heme center needed for its function.
Ripple effects of borrower’s default decisions on P2P markets
Authors: Lu Yong , Gao Qiang , Hou Liya , Hu Yanni , Huang Jiang
Published: March 2021

Default is the most critical concern in any financial market. We study the ripple effects of borrower’s default behavior in online peer-to-peer lending with a longitudinal and comprehensive dataset consisting of 347,752 loan listings. Previous studies researched several variables that determine the default risk. We examine how both online and offline friendship networks affect borrower’s default behaviors. We found the borrowers are significantly impacted by the default behaviors of their social networks. The borrowers who have defaulter friends are twice likely to default than the borrowers who do not have.

Nevertheless, not all friend types have equal influences. The impact is stronger for online friends while much weaker for offline friends. We further explain that default records could harm a person’s social image and cause social stigma costs. This study is one of the first to investigate the default decision-making in online financial market. It has significant theoretical and practical contributions to grasp the borrower’s default behaviors and further diminish default risk to stabilize the financial market.
Understanding the effects of banking profitability in Pakistan
Authors: Yaqoob Tanzeela , Omer Zara , Fatima Samreen
Published: March 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the bank specific determinants related to the performance of public and private sector banks in Pakistan. Using strongly balanced panel yearly data from 2010 to 2017, Pooled OLS, fixed effect, Random effect and Random Effect Mundlak Transformation (REMT) have been utilized to provide the empirical evidences in credit risk management in Pakistan. The identification of suitable explanatory variable that explains the banking profitability wisely is made possible by using the panel data techniques. In this study, impact of bank specific variables are: Return On Assets, Capital Ratio, Credit Risk, Credit deposit ratio, Liquidity Ratio, Interest expended to interest earned, bank size and ownership on the profitability of banks in Pakistan has been assessed using four different panel data techniques. Out of the four estimation strategies Random Effect with Mundlak (1978) transformation raises the overall variation of the baseline model to 63% that is explained by banking profitability. Ignoring the time-invariant characteristics in the model, credit deposit ratio and interest expanded to interest earned possess negative relationship with return on assets of banks. Size of the bank is positive and significant when with-in and between banks information is augmented in Radom effect method of estimation. However the size of banks may not affect the banking profitability by allowing correlation between unobservable heterogeneity using Random Effect with Mundlak (1978) transformation.
Chapter 5.4a Marie Byrd Land and Ellsworth Land: volcanology
Authors: Wilch T. I. , McIntosh W. C. , Panter K. S.
Published: March 2021

Nineteen large (2348–4285 m above sea level) central polygenetic alkaline shield-like composite volcanoes and numerous smaller volcanoes in Marie Byrd Land (MBL) and western Ellsworth Land rise above the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and comprise the MBL Volcanic Group (MBLVG). Earliest MBLVG volcanism dates to the latest Eocene (36.6 Ma). Polygenetic volcanism began by the middle Miocene (13.4 Ma) and has continued into the Holocene without major interruptions, producing the central volcanoes with 24 large (2–10 km-diameter) summit calderas and abundant evidence for explosive eruptions in caldera-rim deposits. Rock lithofacies are dominated by basanite and trachyte/phonolite lava and breccia, deposited in both subaerial and ice-contact environments. The chronology of MBLVG volcanism is well constrained by 330 age analyses, including 52 new
40
Ar/
39
Ar ages. A volcanic lithofacies record of glaciation provides evidence of local ice-cap glaciation at 29–27 Ma and of widespread WAIS glaciation by 9 Ma. Late Quaternary glaciovolcanic records document WAIS expansions that correlate to eustatic sea-level lowstands (MIS 16, 4 and 2): the WAIS was +500 m at 609 ka at coastal Mount Murphy, and +400 m at 64.7 ka, +400 m at 21.2 ka and +575 m at 17.5 ka at inland Mount Takahe.
Operating Systems for Resource-adaptive Intelligent Software: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Liu Xuanzhe , Wang Shangguang , Ma Yun , Zhang Ying , Mei Qiaozhu , Liu Yunxin , Huang Gang
Published: March 2021

The past decades witnessed the fast and wide deployment of Internet. The Internet has bred the ubiquitous computing environment that is spanning the cloud, edge, mobile devices, and IoT. Software running over such a ubiquitous computing environment environment is eating the world. A recently emerging trend of Internet-based software systems is “
resource adaptive
,” i.e., software systems should be robust and intelligent enough to the changes of heterogeneous resources, both physical and logical, provided by their running environment. To keep pace of such a trend, we argue that some considerations should be taken into account for the future operating system design and implementation. From the structural perspective, rather than the “monolithic OS” that manages the aggregated resources on the single machine, the OS should be dynamically composed over the distributed resources and flexibly adapt to the resource and environment changes. Meanwhile, the OS should leverage advanced machine/deep learning techniques to derive configurations and policies and automatically learn to tune itself and schedule resources. This article envisions our recent thinking of the new OS abstraction, namely,
ServiceOS
, for future resource-adaptive intelligent software systems. The idea of
ServiceOS
is inspired by the delivery model of “
Software-as-a-Service
” that is supported by the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). The key principle of
ServiceOS
is based on resource disaggregation, resource provisioning as a service, and learning-based resource scheduling and allocation. The major goal of this article is not providing an immediately deployable OS. Instead, we aim to summarize the challenges and potentially promising opportunities and try to provide some practical implications for researchers and practitioners.
Sampling the feasible sets of SDPs and volume approximation
Authors: Chalkis Apostolos , Fisikopoulos Vissarion , Repouskos Panagiotis , Tsigaridas Elias
Published: March 2021

We present algorithmic, complexity, and implementation results on the problem of sampling points in the interior and the boundary of a spectrahedron, that is the feasible region of a semidefinite program. Our main tool is random walks. We define and analyze a set of primitive geometric operations that exploits the algebraic properties of spectrahedra and the polynomial eigenvalue problem and leads to the realization of a broad collection of efficient random walks. We demonstrate random walks that experimentally show faster mixing time than the ones used previously for sampling from spectrahedra in theory or applications, for example Hit and Run. Consecutively, the variety of random walks allows us to sample from general probability distributions, for example the family of log-concave distributions which arise frequently in numerous applications. We apply our tools to compute (i) the volume of a spectrahedron and (ii) the expectation of functions coming from robust optimal control. We provide a C++ open source implementation of our methods that scales efficiently up to dimension 200. We illustrate its efficiency on various data sets.
Optimal monomial quadratization for ODE systems
Authors: Bychkov Andrey , Pogudin Gleb
Published: March 2021

Transformation of a polynomial ODE system to a special quadratic form has been successfully used recently as a preprocessing step for model order reduction methods. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no practical algorithm for performing this step automatically with any optimality guarantees.

We present an algorithm that, given a system of polynomial ODEs, finds a transformation into a quadratic ODE system by introducing new variables which are monomials of the original variables. The algorithm is guaranteed to produce an optimal transformation of this form. The algorithm is implemented, and we demonstrate it on examples from the literature.
Effect of Ti content on Magnetic and Electrochemical Corrosion Properties of FeCoCrNi High Entropy Alloys
Authors: Li Shuai , Lei Sheng , Wu Yanbo , Hu Shanshan , Liu Yafeng , Xu Haili
Published: March 2021

FeCoCrNiTiX (X = 0.5,0.75,1) series high entropy alloys with different contents were prepared by vacuum arc melting method. The effects of Ti content on the magnetic properties and electrochemical corrosion properties of FeCoCrNi high entropy alloys were studied by SEM, XRD, VSM, hardness tester and other methods. The experimental results show that the face-centered cubic structure composed of many plate-like structures between dendrites and interdendritic is found in the as-cast alloy of CoCrFeNiTix. With the further increase of Ti content, the volume fraction of Laves phase increases, and the morphology of Laves phase changes from granular to reticular structure. The hardness of the alloy increased with Ti content at x = 0.5 to x = 0.75, but decrease when Ti reached x = 1.Compared to FeCoCrNiTi0.5 and FeCoCrNiTi0.75 alloys, FeCoCrNiTi1 alloys has a wider hysteresis area, while FeCoCrNiTi0.75 alloys has the smallest hysteresis. When the content of Ti continues to increase to 1 at.%, the paramagnetism of FeCoCrNiTi weakens. The FeCoCrNiTi1 alloy presents the largest semicircle radius of the Nyquist curve and the highest diffusion impedance. With the increase of Ti element in the alloy, the diameter of the semicircular arc decreases at first and then increases, and FeCoCrNiTi1 has better corrosion resistance.
Human blood contains circulating cell-free mitochondria, but are they really functional?
Authors: Stier Antoine
Published: March 2021

The recently reported cell-free mitochondria in human blood have been thought to be respiratory competent, giving rise to speculation about their biological function(s). By characterizing their bioenergetics in vitro, we show that circulating cell-free mitochondria are unlikely to be functional in vivo since they display no potential for oxidative phosphorylation.
Nanoscale Effect Investigation for Effective Bulk Modulus of Particulate Polymer Nanocomposites Using Micromechanical Framework
Authors: Le Tien-Thinh , Le Minh Vuong
Published: March 2021

This paper investigates the nanoscale effect on the effective bulk modulus of nanoparticle‐reinforced polymer. An interface‐based model is introduced in this work to study the nanoscale effects on the effective properties of heterogeneous materials. That interface model is able to capture discontinuity of mechanical fields across the surface between the nanoparticle and matrix. A generalized self‐consistent scheme is then employed to determine the effective bulk modulus. It has been seen from the results that, in a certain range of limits, the influence of nanoscale effects on effective properties of heterogeneous materials is significant and needs to be taken into account. In particular, when the nanoparticle radius is smaller than 10 nm, the value of effective bulk modulus significantly increases when the characteristic size of nanofillers decreases. Besides, it is seen that the harder the inclusion, the smaller the nanoscale influence effects on the overall behaviors of composite materials. Finally, parametric studies in terms of surface strength and filler’s volume fractions are investigated and discussed, together with a comparison between the proposed model and other contributions in the literature.
The Predictive Efficacy of Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) on Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Treated by Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Nan Zhang , Guoqing Wang , Xiaoxu Yu , Yin Mi , Xin He , Xue Li , Rong Wang
Published: March 2021

Background. Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, and the majority of NSCLC patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage. Chemotherapy is still the main treatment at present, and the overall prognosis is poor. In recent years, immunotherapy has developed rapidly. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as the representative have been extensively applied for treating various types of cancers. Tumor mutation burden (TMB) as a potential biomarker is used to screen appropriate patients for treatment of ICIs. To verify the predictive efficacy of TMB, a systematic review and meta‐analysis were conducted to explore the association between TMB and ICIs. Method. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and son on were systematically searched from inception to April 2020. Objective response rate (ORR), progression‐free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were estimated. Results. A total of 11 studies consisting of 1525 nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were included. Comparison of high and low TMB: pooled HRs for OS, 0.57 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.99; P = 0.046); PFS, 0.48 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.69; P < 0.001); ORR, 3.15 (95% CI 2.29 to 4.33; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis values: pooled HRs for OS, 0.75 (95% CI 0.29 to 1.92, P = 0.548) for blood TMB (bTMB), 0.44 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.75, P = 0.003) for tissue TMB (tTMB); for PFS, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.98, P = 0.044) and 0.43 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.71, P = 0.001), respectively. Conclusions. These findings imply that NSCLC patients with high TMB possess significant clinical benefits from ICIs compared to those with low TMB. As opposed to bTMB, tTMB was thought more appropriate for stratifying NSCLC patients for ICI treatment.
Chamber Optimization for Comprehensive Improvement of Cone Crusher Productivity and Product Quality
Authors: Wu Fengbiao , Ma Lifeng , Zhao Guanghui , Wang Zhijian
Published: March 2021

This study aims to analyze the impact of key structural parameters such as the bottom angle of the mantle, the length of the parallel zone, and the eccentric angle on the productivity and product quality of the cone crusher and optimize the crushing chamber to improve the crusher performance. The amount of ore in the blockage layer was calculated by analyzing the movement state of the ore in the crushing chamber. Considering the amount of ore uplift further, the traditional mathematical model of crusher productivity was revised. Then, a mathematical model for dual-objective optimization of productivity and product quality of cone crusher was established. Furthermore, taking the existing C900 cone crusher as the research object, the influence of key parameters on the performance of the crusher was researched. And the optimal values of key structural parameters were obtained. Finally, based on the iron ore coarsely crushed by the gyratory crusher, the dynamic characteristics of the C900 cone crusher were simulated by using the discrete element method (DEM), and the simulation results are basically consistent with the numerical analysis results. Results show that considering the amount of ore uplift in the blockage layer, the revised mathematical model of crusher productivity can better characterize the actual productivity. The bottom angle of the mantle and the length of the parallel zone are within the range of 50°–60°and 140 mm–190 mm, respectively. The productivity shows a positive correlation with the bottom angle and a negative correlation with the length of the parallel zone. But the dependence of product quality on the angle and the length is just the opposite. The eccentric angle is within the range of 1.4°–2° and its decrease has a negative effect on the productivity and product quality.
[Retracted] Cross‐Domain End‐To‐End Aspect‐Based Sentiment Analysis with Domain‐Dependent Embeddings
Authors: Tian Yingjie , Yang Linrui , Sun Yunchuan , Liu Dalian.
Published: March 2021

With the development of sentiment analysis, studies have been gradually classified based on different researched candidates. Among them, aspect‐based sentiment analysis plays an important role in subtle opinion mining for online reviews. It used to be treated as a group of pipeline tasks but has been proved to be analysed well in an end‐to‐end model recently. Due to less labelled resources, the need for cross‐domain aspect‐based sentiment analysis has started to get attention. However, challenges exist when seeking domain‐invariant features and keeping domain‐dependent features to achieve domain adaptation within a fine‐grained task. This paper utilizes the domain‐dependent embeddings and designs the model CD‐E2EABSA to achieve cross‐domain aspect‐based sentiment analysis in an end‐to‐end fashion. The proposed model utilizes the domain‐dependent embeddings with a multitask learning strategy to capture both domain‐invariant and domain‐dependent knowledge. Various experiments are conducted and show the effectiveness of all components on two public datasets. Also, it is also proved that as a cross‐domain model, CD‐E2EABSA can perform better than most of the in‐domain ABSA methods.
Laboratory Model Tests on Flow Erosion Failure Mechanism of a Slope Consisting of Anqing Group Clay Gravel Layer
Authors: Huang Kang , Duan Haipeng , Yi Yuelin , Yu Fei , Chen Shanxiong , Dai Zhangjun
Published: March 2021

The Anqing group clay gravel layer is a special geological body composed of gravel and clay. In excavation projects, involving this soil, such a gravel layer, is prone to slope collapse and instability under the influence of rainfall. To clearly understand the failure mechanism and influencing factors of clay gravel slopes, an indoor artificial rainfall erosion model testing was carried out to analyse the effect of various slope ratios, gravel contents, and rainfall intensities. The slope erosion damage form, runoff rate, infiltration rate, scoured material, and slope stability of the clay gravel slope were studied. The test results show that sloping surfaces of the gentle slope were mainly damaged by erosion, and the degree of damage gradually increased from the top to the bottom of the sloping surface; however, the stability of the surface was good. In the case of the sloping surface layer of the steep slope, large-scale landslides occurred, and the stability of the surface was poor. When the gravel content was small, the surface failure was manifested as a gully failure. When the gravel content was large, it was manifested as a “layer-by-layer sliding” failure. The degree of influence of different conditions on the stable runoff rate was as follows: rainfall intensity>slope ratio>gravel content. The degree of influence of the parameters on the stable infiltration rate was as follows: slope ratio>rainfall intensity>gravel content. On gentle slopes, the total mass of the scoured material was inversely proportional to the gravel content and directly proportional to the rainfall intensity; on a steep slope, the total mass of the scoured material increased with an increase in the rainfall intensity and gravel content. Moreover, the slope ratio was the key influencing factor to decide whether there was gravel in the scoured material.
Investigation on Acoustic Emission Kaiser Effect and Frequency Spectrum Characteristics of Rock Joints Subjected to Multilevel Cyclic Shear Loads
Authors: Hou Zhiqiang , Li Changhong , Song Zhengyang , Xiao Yonggang , Qiao Chen , Wang Yu
Published: March 2021

Rock joints have obvious acoustic emission (AE) Kaiser effect and Felicity effect under multilevel cyclic shear conditions. The TFD-20H/50J rock shear apparatus was used to carry out cyclic loading and unloading joint shear tests, and the acoustic emission parameters and frequency spectrum characteristics of the whole shearing process were analyzed. The results show that, under the cyclic loading, the shear stress-displacement curve forms several cyclic hysteresis loops, and the number of loops increases with the increase of normal stress. With the cycles increase, the shear damage gradually increases, and the Felicity ratio gradually decreases. The Felicity ratio at the final shear failure moment is about 0.94~0.99. The ratio of the RA value (rise time/amplitude) and the average frequency value (RA-AF) is used to classify the cracking mode of the joint sample. There are two AE crack signal types (tensile type and shear type) during shear damage. The peak frequency is displayed as high, medium, and low three frequency bands, which are distributed in the range of 0~35 kHz, 35~122 kHz, and 122~300 kHz, respectively. Both low-frequency and high-frequency signals account for less than 10%, and medium-frequency signals account for more than 90%. The research of the AE monitoring signals of multilevel shear behaviors can help understand the shear-friction mechanisms of rock joints.
Targeting Cytokine Storm in COVID-19: A Role of Online Hemodiafiltration with Asymmetric Cellulose Triacetate in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients—A Report of 10 Cases
Authors: De La Flor José C. , Valga Francisco , Marschall Alexander , Monzon Tania , Albarracín Cristina , Ruiz Elisa , Rodeles Miguel
Published: March 2021

Early reports have suggested that maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients could be more susceptible to a severe course of COVID-19. Among the therapeutic approaches, the use of drugs that reduce the cytokine storm characteristic of this disease has been proposed. Some dialyzers, such as the new generation of asymmetric cellulose triacetate (ATA) membranes, could favor the effective elimination of medium-sized molecules and other inflammatory mediators. In this case series, we describe in depth the clinical, analytical, and radiological details, therapeutic aspects, and outcomes of the case series of 10 MHD patients of our dialysis unit, who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from 5 October to 30 November 2020. Furthermore, we evaluate the removal of hyperinflammatory parameters with the ATA membrane in postdilution online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) in these patients through a variety of biomarkers of systemic inflammation from the diagnosis until stripping. Biochemical blood analysis was carried out at baseline and at days 7 and 14 after diagnosis, respectively. 50% of the patients presented COVID-19 pneumonia and required hospital admission. Median hospitalization time was 21 days. A total of 4 patients developed severe pneumonia (3 of them died) and 1 patient developed moderate pneumonia. Patients who died (n = 3) were more likely to present bilateral pneumonia (100% vs 14.3%) at diagnosis and less reduction in interleukin 6 (IL-6) at day 14, as compared to those who survived. The use of the ATA membrane could be considered a therapeutic option, due to its immunomodulatory effect in MHD patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially at the beginning of the disease, where the inflammatory component is predominant.
Digital Fuzzy Current Controlled Light-Emitting Diode Driver with Power Factor Correction
Authors: Veerendra A. S. , Shah A. A. , SubbaRao M. , Mohamed M. R.
Published: March 2021

This paper presents the design and development of a fuzzy peak current controlled (FPCC) single-stage single-phase nonisolated AC/DC high-power factor LED drive. The proposed controller includes a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) in the loop voltage and a peak current controller in the loop current for an integrated nonisolated LED driver to attain a high-power factor (PF). The proposed control avoids complexities related to nonlinearities of the converter. The control action is initially derived from a group of rules written in accordance with experience and intuitive reasoning. The proposed technique is realized using a DSP processor (TI-TMS320F2812), which is capable of executing a high number of instructions in one cycle. A 70 W, 350 mA LED driver operating with an input of 90 V-230 V, 50 Hz was designed and implemented using MATLAB/Simulink. The results of the driver are in accordance with international regulations. The steady-state and transient responses are validated experimentally.