bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Theory Approach towards Tradable Rail Freight Option
Authors: Guo Jingwei , Li Lutian , Zhang Ji , Shen Qi , Xie Zhongqi , Li Qinglin
Published: March 2021

For railway freight pricing, this paper proposes a new tradable rail freight option (RFO). A multiphase trigeminal tree pricing model is established to analyze the optimal pricing decision of RFO. The main parameters of the model are identified theoretically through nonparametric Ito stochastic approach. The paper expands the theory of railway freight pricing. The aim of this paper is to construct the railway freight option theory to help railway transportation enterprise cope with fierce competition and challenge from other modes of transportation in China. The most significant feature of this method is its simplicity in analyzing the optimal pricing decision using only the algebraic category and Ito’s lemma.
A Critical Overview of Systematic Reviews of Shenfu Injection for Heart Failure
Authors: Huang Jinke , Wang Yanlu , Huang Suihe , Qin Xiaohui , Yan Fang , Shen Min , Huang Yong
Published: March 2021

Objectives. Shenfu Injection (SFI) was widely used in the treatment of heart failure (HF) in China. A plethora of systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) has been conducted in this research area, although with scattered results. The purpose of this overview was to conduct a comprehensive review to summarize and critically evaluate the existing evidence. Methods. Digital databases were searched for SRs/MAs up to January 28, 2021. Two authors independently screened the reviews and assessed the methodological quality of included SRs/MAs using Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2). Quality of evidence for outcomes evaluated within the reviews was appraised with the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results. Thirteen SRs/MAs met the inclusion criteria. Based on AMSTAR-2, the quality of all SRs/MAs was critically low, because all of them have more than one critical domains that were unmet. Based on GRADE, the evidence quality of 24 outcome measures was low or very low, 27 outcome measures was moderate, and none outcome measure was high. Descriptive analysis showed that SFI was an effective and safe method for HF. Conclusions. The use of SFI for the treatment of HF may be clinically effective and safe. However, this conclusion must be interpreted cautiously due to the generally low methodological quality and low evidence quality of the included SRs/MAs. More rigorously designed SRs/MAs and RCTs with high methodological quality are necessary for further proof.
Combined Inhibition of p38MAPK and PIKfyve Synergistically Disrupts Autophagy to Selectively Target Cancer Cells
Authors: O'Connell Constandina E. , Vassilev Alex
Published: March 2021

In nutrient-poor conditions, autophagy buffers metabolic stress and counteracts the effects of chemotherapy and radiation on cancer cells, which depend on autophagy for survival. However, clinical trials targeting autophagy have failed to produce successful anticancer treatments using currently available inhibitors. Recent studies have shown that PIKfyve kinase inhibitors disrupt lysosome function in autophagy and can selectively kill certain cancer cells. Analysis of biochemical changes caused by PIKfyve inhibition revealed that resistant cells contain significantly higher levels of cellular p38MAPK protein and phosphorylation. Expression of the lysosomal protein, lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2, carrying phosphomimetic mutations of the p38MAPK phosphorylation sites prevented all effects caused by PIKfyve inhibition–induced lysosome dysfunction. Thus, the activation of p38MAPK in response to PIKfyve inhibition revealed a novel compensatory role in maintaining lysosome function in autophagy. The functional cooperation between the cellular PIKfyve and p38MAPK pathways in regulating lysosome homeostasis was especially important in cancer cells. Combined inhibition of PIKfyve and p38MAPK activities synergistically blocked autophagy-mediated protein degradation, prevented cathepsin maturation, and markedly reduced the viability of multiple cancer cell types without affecting the viability of normal cells. Furthermore, combined PIKfyve and p38MAPK inhibitors synergistically reduced tumor growth in mice bearing xenografts of human colorectal adenocarcinoma, suggesting a novel way to target cancer cells by prolonged inhibition of autophagy using lower drug concentrations.

Significance:

This study demonstrates that PIKfyve and p38MAPK cooperate to regulate lysosome homeostasis and their combined inhibition synergistically blocks autophagy to reduce cancer cell viability in vitro and in vivo.
Response to Standard Therapies and Comprehensive Genomic Analysis for Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma with EGFR Exon 20 Insertions
Authors: Choudhury Noura J. , Schoenfeld Adam J. , Flynn Jessica , Falcon Christina J. , Rizvi Hira , Rudin Charles M. , Kris Mark G. , Arcila Maria E. , Heller Glenn , Yu Helena A. , Ladanyi Marc , Riely Gregory J.
Published: March 2021

Purpose:

EGFR exon 20 insertions (ex20ins) are an uncommon genotype in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for which targeted therapies are under development. We sought to describe treatment outcomes and genomic and immunophenotypic characteristics of these tumors.

Experimental Design:

We identified sequential patients with NSCLC with EGFR ex20ins and compared their clinical outcomes and pathologic features with other patients with NSCLC.

Results:

Among 6,290 patients with NSCLC, 106 (2%) had EGFR ex20ins. Patients with EGFR ex20ins were more likely to be Black (14% vs. 6%; P < 0.001) or Asian (22% vs. 10%; P < 0.001) compared with all other patients with NSCLC. Median tumor mutational burden (TMB; 3.5 vs. 5.9; P < 0.001) and proportion of tumors with PD-L1 expression ≥1% (22% vs. 60%; P < 0.001) were lower in EGFR ex20ins compared with other NSCLCs (TMB, n = 5,851 and PD-L1 expression, n = 282) and EGFR del 19/L858R (median TMB, 3.5; P = 0.001 and 39% PD-L1 ≥ 1%; P = 0.02). Compared with a 2:1 cohort of patients with metastatic NSCLC without targetable alterations (n = 192), EGFR ex20ins patients had longer overall survival (median 20 vs. 12 months; HR, 0.56; P = 0.007) and longer time to treatment discontinuation (TTD) for platinum chemotherapy (median, 7 vs. 4 months; HR, 0.6; P = 0.02) and no improvement in TTD for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI; HR, 1.75; P = 0.05).

Conclusions:

With better outcomes on platinum chemotherapy, patients with EGFR ex20ins NSCLC have improved prognosis, lower PD-L1 expression and TMB, and derive less benefit from ICIs compared with patients with NSCLC without targetable oncogenes. Improving molecularly targeted therapies could provide greater benefit for patients with EGFR ex20ins.
A secured automated bimodal biometric electronic voting system
Authors: Okokpujie Kennedy , Abubakar John , John Samuel , Noma-Osaghae Etinosa , Ndujiuba Charles , Princess Okokpujie Imhade
Published: March 2021

Insecurity, rigging and violence continue to mar electoral processes in developing nations. It has been difficult to enforce security and transparency in the voting process. This paper proposes a secure and automated bimodal voting system. The system uses three security layers, namely, a unique ID code, a token passcode that expires every five minutes and biometrics (iris and fingerprint). A scanner captures the fingerprint and iris of eligible voters. The fingerprint and iris images stored along with the corresponding particulars in a database. The software implemented is a .net managed code in C#. The result of this system shows the system is transparent, fast and fraud-free. The proposed method had a failure to enroll (FTE) and a failure to capture (FTC) of zero.
Implementation of an incremental deep learning model for survival prediction of cardiovascular patients
Authors: Elyassami Sanaa , Ait Kaddour Achraf
Published: March 2021

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year and representing 31% of all global deaths. The patient records including blood reports, cardiac echo reports, and physician’s notes can be used to perform feature analysis and to accurately classify heart disease patients. In this paper, an incremental deep learning model was developed and trained with stochastic gradient descent using feedforward neural networks. The chi-square test and the dropout regularization have been incorporated into the model to improve the generalization capabilities and the performance of the heart disease patients' classification model. The impact of the learning rate and the depth of neural networks on the performance were explored. The hyperbolic tangent, the rectifier linear unit, the Maxout, and the exponential rectifier linear unit were used as activation functions for the hidden and the output layer neurons. To avoid over-optimistic results, the performance of the proposed model was evaluated using balanced accuracy and the overall predictive value in addition to the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The obtained results are promising, and the proposed model can be applied to a larger dataset and used by physicians to accurately classify heart disease patients.
Toward a deep learning-based intrusion detection system for IoT against botnet attacks
Authors: Idrissi Idriss , Boukabous Mohammed , Azizi Mostafa , Moussaoui Omar , El Fadili Hakim
Published: March 2021

The massive network traffic data between connected devices in the internet of things have taken a big challenge to many traditional intrusion detection systems (IDS) to find probable security breaches. However, security attacks lean towards unpredictability. There are numerous difficulties to build up adaptable and powerful IDS for IoT in order to avoid false alerts and ensure a high recognition precision against attacks, especially with the rising of Botnet attacks. These attacks can even make harmless devices becoming zombies that send malicious traffic and disturb the network. In this paper, we propose a new IDS solution, baptized BotIDS, based on deep learning convolutional neural networks (CNN). The main interest of this work is to design, implement and test our IDS against some well-known Botnet attacks using a specific Bot-IoT dataset. Compared to other deep learning techniques, such as simple RNN, LSTM and GRU, the obtained results of our BotIDS are promising with 99.94% in validation accuracy, 0.58% in validation loss, and the prediction execution time is less than 0.34 ms.
A simulation energy management system of a multi-source renewable energy based on multi agent system
Authors: Basma Aoukach , Benyounes Oukarfi
Published: March 2021

The intermittent nature of renewable energies sources makes their control difficult. One of the solutions to overcome this handicap is to promote hybridization (multi-source system). To ensure continuity of service, a storage system must be coupled to the system. To do so, artificial intelligence based models are developed to respond optimally to the dilemma of energy supply and demand. These models allow the management of the energy flow between the sources (photovoltaic, wind, battery, super capacitor, and generator) and the variable loads by controlling electronic switches according to the availability of the sources. The artificial intelligence algorithm used in this study is multi agent system (MAS). The simulation results and validation tests shows the effectivenes of the proposed approach.
Linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines for classifying breast cancer
Authors: Rustam Zuherman , Amalia Yasirly , Hartini Sri , Stephani Saragih Glori
Published: March 2021

Breast cancer is an abnormal cell growth in the breast that keeps changed uncontrolled and it forms a tumor. The tumor can be benign or malignant. Benign could not be dangerous to health and cancerous, but malignant could be has a probability dangerous to health and be cancerous. A specialist doctor will diagnose the patient and give treatment based on the diagnosis which is benign or malignant. Machine learning offer times efficiency to determine a cancer cell. The machine will learn the pattern based on the information from the dataset. Support vector machines and linear discriminant analysis are common methods that can be used in the classification of cancer. In this study, both of linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines are compared by looking from accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score. We will know which methods are better in classifying breast cancer dataset. The result shows that the support vector machine has better performance than the linear discriminant analysis. It can be seen from the accuracy is 98.77%.
Vehicle detection and tracking for traffic management
Authors: Anandhalli Mallikarjun , P. Baligar Vishwanth , Baligar Pavana , Deepsir Pooja , Iti Mithali
Published: March 2021

The detection of object with respect to Vehicle and tracking is the most needed step in computer research area as there is wide investment being made form Intelligent Traffic Management. Due to changes in vision or scenes, detection and tracking of vehicle under different drastic conditions has become most challenging process because of the illumination, shadows etc. To overcome this, we propose a method which uses TensorFlow fused with corner points of the vehicles for detection of vehicle and tracking of an vehicle is formulated again, the location of the object which is detected is passed to track the detected object, using the tracking algorithm based on CNN. The proposed algorithm gives result of 90.88% accuracy of detection in video sequences under different conditions of climate.
The ICT basic skills: Contribution to student social media utilization activities
Authors: Supardi Supardi , Juhji Juhji , Azkiyah Intan , Muqdamien Birru , Ansori Aan , Kurniawan Iwan , Sari Ahmad Fitriadi
Published: March 2021

This study aimed to analyze the contribution of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) basic skills to student social media utilization activities. Quantitative research was determined as a method with regression analysis. A total of 144 students selected randomly participated in this research. The research instrument used a five-scale questionnaire, consisting of 32 items of ICT skill instruments and 20 items for social media utilization instruments. The results showed a high level of ICT students' basic skills and social media use activities. There is a contribution of basic ICT skills to student social media utilization activities. The higher of the basic skill of ICT causes the higher the level of activity utilization of their social media. Research recommendations suggest efforts to improve students' basic ICT skills.
Technical experience with tempera paintings in a bachelor degree course in Turkey
Authors: Erim Gonca , Tetikci Ismail , Ersoy Remziye
Published: March 2021

This article aims to understand the place of the tempera technique in art history, which is thought to be encountered for the first time by art education undergraduate students, and to determine the effects on the participants after the application. The study consists of the findings and results of the first and second research questions in the master thesis “Tempera technique and its use in the course of painting courses on undergraduate level.” In this study the “case study” pattern was used, and is one of the qualitative research approaches. The participants of the research are eight students studying in Bursa Uludag University, Faculty of Education, Department of Fine Arts Education in the 2018-2019 academic year. The data collection tools of literature review and two interview forms interview were used. The findings obtained were evaluated by thematic analysis technique. According to the findings obtained in the research, it was observed that the participants did not have prior knowledge about the tempera technique before oral presentation and application. It was concluded that there were differences in the levels of interest and knowledge after the teaching process, and that there were positive changes in their opinions regarding the technique.
Analysis of teacher performance to build student interest and motivation towards mathematics achievement
Authors: Tambunan Hardi , Sinaga Bornok , Widada Wahyu
Published: March 2021

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact and categories of teacher performance in building student interest and motivation on mathematics achievement. The population in this study was students in the eighth grade of junior high schools from six public and two private schools, and a sample of 277 students was taken by cluster sampling. Data collection instruments used a questionnaire, and data analysis was done by using by descriptive and path analysis. The results of data analysis showed that partially, teacher performance significantly affected student interest and motivation excel at mathematics. Simultaneously, teacher performance is very significant in influencing student interest and motivation to be excellent in mathematics. Partially, teacher performance builds interest and student motivation for mathematics achievement is low category. Simultaneously, teacher performance builds student interest and motivation to excel at mathematics is low category. Both of these can be caused by the ability of teachers to build motivation and interest is not good, so students are also less interested and motivated to learn mathematics.
Teacher’s experiences in character education for autistic children
Authors: Cahyo Adi Kistoro Hanif , Setiawan Caly , Latipah Eva , Putranta Himawan
Published: March 2021

Character education is also important given to autistic children. This phenomenological research aims to reveal the teacher's experience in teaching character education for autistic children. The participants in this research were 10 teachers from three exceptional schools consisting of public and private exceptional schools. In-depth interview method as a data collection technique. Data analysis using semantic reduction is carried out by the stages of identifying important statements from the results of the interview, determining the theme of the discussion, and describing the significance of the whole the teacher's experience. The results found that character learning for autistic children through three models, namely explanatory, practice, and intensive mentoring. The explanatory model is used to practice the ability of autistic children in terms of building children's concentration and focus. The practice model is used to train autistic children soft skills in terms of strengthening the understanding of the material and its reasoning ability. While the intensive mentoring model for training soft skills autistic children related to the ability of interpersonal relationships and confidence. Therefore, the inclusion of teacher competencies must at a minimum include pedagogical, personal, and social abilities to teach character education for autistic children.
Ubiquitous learning in occupational health and safety for vocational education
Authors: Ismara Ketut Ima , Suharjono Amin , Supriadi Didi
Published: March 2021

This research aimed to develop instructional media for occupational safety and health android-based for vocational schools. The second aim is to determine the feasibility of instructional media and student responses. The type of research is research and development (R&D) with the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation (ADDIE) method, namely, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire with fourth scales. Data collection used an assessment questionnaire for two experts and 103 users. Research data analysis techniques used quantitative descriptive analysis. This study's results have produced products in the form of android-based instructional media for Occupational Safety and Health. In this study, we designed and developed an application called Zerosicks for mobile devices to help students learn occupational safety and health principles. The results of testing for all features and navigation work well and under their functions. The assessment results by content experts, media experts, and students as users indicate that this media has a very decent level of eligibility. Suggestions for product development are to add videos to the media, provide selected music, and add discussion forums for users.
Achievement goals model validation: Is the 2X2 better than the Trichotomous?
Authors: Simamora Bilson , Mutiarawati Elisabeth Vita
Published: March 2021

Achievement motivation evolved fast in the educational field. In this development, the trichotomous and the 2X2 models received myriad attention from the educational specialist. However, there is a debate about which is better between the two models. This study aimed to intercede this debate and argue that the study's duration should be accounted for in the validation. Approach goals should dominate new students' achievement goals, and old students' achievement goals will show the balance of approach and avoidance goals. For these reasons, this study gathers the data from 350 new students and 203 old students. Confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the trichotomous is the best model for new student segments. While for the old student segment, the 2X2 model shows its efficacy. Therefore, for the new students' segment, achievement goals consist of mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. For the old students, besides those three-goal orientations, mastery-avoidance goals are also included. As expected, the independent sample t-test shows that new students have higher mastery-approach and performance-approach goals than old students have. Self-efficacy is more influential in the new than old student segments, as shown by simple linear regression. This study is still stuck to a single cross-sectional design. Further research can utilize longitudinal research with segmental-based analysis and pay attention to gender, major, social class, or other potential moderation variables.
The improving of effectiveness school-based enterprise: A structural equation modeling in vocational school management
Authors: Khurniawan Arie Wibowo , Sailah Illah , Muljono Pudji , Indriyanto Bambang , Maarif M. Syamsul
Published: March 2021

The study aimed to investigate the influence of total quality management and school governance on school management effectiveness, whether school governance as an antecedent of total quality management and school management effectiveness. The object of research is the vocational high school with the Regional Public Service Agency status (school-based enterprise) in Indonesia. The research is a quantitative research with survey method. The sample of 533 people who are school principals, teachers, and students. It was selected by proportional stratified random sampling. The data analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM). The research finding is the total quality management has a significant influence on school management effectiveness. The mediation analysis indicates that school governance as the antecedent of total quality management and school management effectiveness. The improvement of effectiveness school-based enterprises should consider implementing total quality management and it will be increasingly by school governance application. The modeling that correlates total quality management and school governance to improved vocational school management effectiveness, especially at vocational school with Regional Public Service Agency status (school-based enterprise).
The use of reflective practice towards achieving effective English language teaching at primary schools
Authors: Hashim Siti Noor Aneeis , Yusoff Nurahimah Mohd
Published: March 2021

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of reflective practice by English language teachers in providing effective English language teaching in primary school classrooms. This qualitative case study involving six in-service English language teachers who were selected based on purposive sampling. The data in this study were collected using teachers’ reflection logs and a series of semi-structured interviews with the English language teachers. Thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes based on the codes gathered from the interviews and teachers’ reflections logs. The results showed that the English language teachers used reflective practice erstwhile in preparing and providing effective English language teaching for the students. They reviewed what has been accomplished and identify constructive guidelines to follow to succeed in the future teaching. They have also been doing variations of changes in teaching based on reflecting on the quality of instruction, levels of instruction, using incentive to motivate the students and managing time equally in teaching and learning process to help the children in learning English language. Since there is no clear guideline for teachers who use reflective practice in their classes, this study provided some insights on the preparations and the use of reflective practice as part of their teaching and learning process.
The value of economic and cultural capital to college readiness among Filipino senior high school graduates
Authors: Pagulayan Editha S. , Asuncion Jay Emmanuel L. , Tamayao Antonio I. , Vecaldo Rudolf T. , Mamba Maria T. , Paat Febe Marl G.
Published: March 2021

Guided by the lens of Bourdieu, this study examined the relationship of the students' economic capital (parents' monthly income and students' weekly allowance) and cultural capital (parents' highest educational attainment and students' community involvement) to their college readiness. The study utilized a descriptive-correlational design, and data were collected from 6,626 K-12 graduates enrolled in one state-university in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. The results reveal that the respondents have parents who have income below the Philippine poverty threshold level and have obtained a secondary level of education. They, too, are college-unready, implying that the competencies they obtained from their basic education need further enhancement. Moreover, economic and cultural capital becomes significant resources that are valuable in explaining the college readiness of Filipino Senior High School (SHS) graduates. Those who come from families with higher economic and cultural capital tend to have higher college readiness. Remarkably, the low economic and cultural capital of the students possibly explains their lack of college readiness. As they have less economic and cultural capital, they tend to have fewer competencies to capacitate them in hurdling tertiary education. Hence, these disadvantaged students generally struggle to achieve more and to be successful in life.
Development of Webtoon non-test instrument as education media
Authors: Berlian Mery , Vebrianto Rian , Thahir Musa
Published: March 2021

The objective of this research was to develop non-test instrument or questionnaire to measure the evaluation of the use of Webtoon among the students of Open University in Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia and to obtain the instrument’s validity and reliability. This research employed the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation (ADDIE) instructional model. The data were collected using online questionnaire. There were 55 respondents participated in this research. The data collected were analyzed descriptively using SPSS program version 23.00 for windows. The result of the data analysis indicated that the instrument has the percentage of agreement result of 82.75% (valid) and Cronbach alpha with score 0.942 (reliable). The data proved that the instrument has very feasible. This result showed that this research and development produced Webtoon non-test instrument which is valid and reliable.
Design and implementation of an integrated pipeline security system with optmized scheduling
Authors: Oyubu Akpovi Oyubu , Okpeki Ufuoma Kazeem
Published: March 2021

Offshore equipment and facilities are some of the most capital intensive and strategically located assets that require millions to billions of dollars to setup. Thus, it is important to put in place a stout security and surveillance system to ultimately protect these assets from vandalisation and theft. Monitoring of intruders/ unfamiliar objects within and outside the offshore platform requires a round-the-clock observation through provided security personnel who are stationed so as to quickly respond to any threat within a safe distance in the event of any physical intrusion but this measure is fraught with some challenges. Some of these challenges include fatigue, error in human judgement, and the limited vision of humans to mention but a few. To remedy these weaknesses and ensure a robust protection, the design and implementation/ setting up of a surveillance system to detect and track real time security concerns with a much wider and effective coverage area to enable the control unit make a well informed decision appropriately is an imperative. The system presented in this paper is designed to operate in harsh (sea waves, and fog) and unprotected (extreme heat, cold precipitation) environment.
Demography factors influencing Indonesian general knowledge on COVID-19
Authors: Linardi Violantina , Syakurah Rizma Adlia , Moudy Jesica
Published: March 2021

Pandemic COVID-19 is a health problem that is spread all over the world including Indonesia. As 4 June 2020, Indonesia has reached 28,818 persons confirmed COVID-19, 1,721 deaths related to COVID-19 and 8.892 patients have recovered from the disease. The amount of response and attention of the public regarding the COVID-19 case in Indonesia and the circulation of information in the community became the basis of interest in identifying and analyzing demography factors with general knowledge on COVID-19. Participants were 1,254 collected through online questionnaire distributed on social media platform, from February 5, 2020 to June 6, 2020. Data analyzed used Chi square test with significant <0.05. The result showed that majority of respondents have good general knowledge about COVID-19 and the personal prevention towards the disease (>75%). Nonetheless, most misinformation was that COVID-19 killed everyone contracted to it, came from a biological weapon laboratory, and that covering mouth and nose with bare hand is considered as correct coughing ethic. Characteristics that showed statistical significances were education, occupation, and educational/occupational background. Although Indonesian governments already give the best effort to educate the public to stop the transmission, an extensive educational health campaign should be done to raise awareness in public about preventive knowledge and behavior of COVID-19.
Pressure Overload–Mediated Sustained PKR2 (Prokineticin-2 Receptor) Signaling in Cardiomyocytes Contributes to Cardiac Hypertrophy and Endotheliopathies
Authors: Demir Ferda , Urayama Kyoji , Audebrand Anais , Toprak-Semiz Ayca , Steenman Marja , Kurose Hitoshi , Nebigil Canan G.
Published: March 2021

Chronic cardiac pressure overload, caused by conditions, such as hypertension, induces pathological hypertrophic growth of myocardium and vascular rarefaction, with largely unknown mechanisms. Here, we described that expression of the PKR2 (prokineticin-2 receptor) is increased in the cardiomyocytes of mice following transaortic constriction pressure overload–mediated pathological hypertrophy. To identify PKR2-induced pathways, we performed microarray analysis on TG-PKR2 (transgenic mice overexpressing cardiomyocyte-restricted human PKR2) hearts and cytokine analyses in hPKR2 overexpressing H9c2-lines (PKR2-cardiomyocytes). An enrichment of activin pathway gene sets was found in both TG-PKR2 and transaortic constriction-operated hearts. Elevated levels of 2 cytokines activin A and its coreceptor, sENG (soluble Endoglin), were found in both PKR2-cardiomyocytes and in PKR2-cardiomyocytes conditioned medium. ELISA analyses of the cardiomyocytes derived from both TG-PKR2 and transaortic constriction hearts revealed high levels of these cardiokines that were repressed with antibodies blocking PKR2, indicating a PKR2-dependent event. The conditioned medium of PKR2-cardiomyocytes induced fenestration of endothelial cells and inhibited tube-like formations. These endotheliopathies were blocked by either depleting activin A or sENG from conditioned medium or by using 2 pharmacological inhibitors, follistatin, and TRC105. In addition, similar endotheliopathies were produced by exogenous administration of activin A and ENG. Prolonged exposure to prokineticin-2 in PKR2-cardiomyocytes increased cell volume by the PKR2/Gα
12/13
/ERK5-pathway. Activation of the PKR2/Gα
12/13
/matrix metalloprotease-pathway promoted both activin A and sENG release. This study reveals that pressure overload–mediated PKR2 signaling in cardiomyocytes contributes to cardiac hypertrophy through autocrine signaling, and vascular rarefaction via cardiac cytokine-mediated cardiomyocyte–endothelial cell communications. Our results may contribute to the development of potential therapeutic targets for heart failure.
Sex Differences in Ischemic Stroke Outcomes in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Pana Tiberiu A. , Dawson Dana K. , Mohamed Mohamed O. , Murray Fiona , Fischman David L. , Savage Michael P. , Mamas Mamas A. , Myint Phyo K.
Published: March 2021

Background

The association between systemic hypertension and cerebrovascular disease is well documented. However, the impact of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on acute ischemic stroke outcomes is unknown despite PH being recognized as a risk factor for acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to determine the association between PH and adverse in‐hospital outcomes after acute ischemic stroke, as well as whether there are sex differences in this association.

Methods and Results

Acute ischemic stroke admissions from the US National Inpatient Sample between October 2015 and December 2017 were included. The relationship between PH and outcomes (mortality, prolonged hospitalization >4 days, and routine home discharge) was analyzed using logistic regressions adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and revascularization therapies. Interaction terms between PH and sex and age groups were also included. A total of 221 249 records representative of 1 106 045 admissions were included; 2.9% of patients had co‐morbid PH, and 35.34% of those were male. PH was not associated with in‐hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% CI, 0.86–1.09) but was associated with increased odds of prolonged hospitalization (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.09–1.22) and decreased odds of routine discharge (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.81–0.94) for both sexes. Older patients with PH were significantly less likely to be discharged routinely (
P
=0.028) than their younger counterparts. Compared with female patients with PH, men were 31% more likely to die in hospital (
P
=0.024).

Conclusions

PH was not significantly associated with in‐hospital mortality but was associated with prolonged hospitalization and adverse discharge status. Male patients with PH were more likely to die in hospital than female patients.
Meta‐Analysis of Stroke and Mortality Rates in Patients Undergoing Valve‐in‐Valve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Authors: Macherey Sascha , Meertens Max , Mauri Victor , Frerker Christian , Adam Matti , Baldus Stephan , Schmidt Tobias
Published: March 2021

Background

During the past decade, the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was extended beyond treatment‐naïve patients and implemented for treatment of degenerated surgical bioprosthetic valves. Selection criteria for either valve‐in‐valve (viv) TAVR or redo surgical aortic valve replacement are not well established, and decision making on the operative approach still remains challenging for the interdisciplinary heart team.

Methods and Results

This review was intended to analyze all studies on viv‐TAVR focusing on short‐ and mid‐term stroke and mortality rates compared with redo surgical aortic valve replacement or native TAVR procedures. A structured literature search and review process led to 1667 potentially relevant studies on July 1, 2020. Finally, 23 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria for qualitative analysis. All references were case series either with or without propensity score matching and registry analyses. Quantitative synthesis of data from 8509 patients revealed that viv‐TAVR is associated with mean 30‐day stroke and mortality rates of 2.2% and 4.2%, respectively. Pooled data analysis showed no significant differences in 30‐day stroke rate, 30‐day mortality, and 1‐year mortality between viv‐TAVR and comparator treatment (native TAVR [n=11 804 patients] or redo surgical aortic valve replacement [n=498 patients]).

Conclusions

This review is the first one comparing the risk for stroke and mortality rates in viv‐TAVR procedures with native TAVR approach and contributes substantial data for the clinical routine. Moreover, this systematic review is the most comprehensive analysis on ischemic cerebrovascular events and early mortality in patients undergoing viv‐TAVR. In this era with increasing numbers of bioprosthetic valves used in younger patients, viv‐TAVR is a suitable option for the treatment of degenerated bioprostheses.
First documented record of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 from the southwestern Mediterranean coasts
Authors: Hamida Chafia , Hichem Kara M.
Published: March 2021

A previous record of the alien crab Callinectes sapidus from the Algerian coasts was based on a photograph provided by a fisherman showing the dorsal side of a single individual. In this contribution, we confirm this presence in the mouth of the Mafragh Estuary in eastern Algeria, where four individuals of this species were found on 19 November 2019. The specimens examined are one female (60 mm CL, 125.9 g) and three males (60-66 mm CL, 120.4-176.8 g). This discovery confirms the presence of this species in the southwestern Mediterranean Basin where it could become invasive in suitable habitats.
A new and a known species of Taeniacanthus Sumpf, 1871 (Copepoda, Cyclopoida, Taeniacanthidae) parasitic on Japanese fishes
Authors: Izawa Kunihiko
Published: March 2021

Taeniacanthus aulacocephali sp. nov. recovered from Aulacocephalus temminckii Bleeker, 1855 (Serranidae) is described and T. sebastichthydis Yamaguti, 1939 collected from Sebastiscus marmoratus (Cuvier, 1829) and Sebastes inermis Cuvier, 1829 (Sebastidae) is redescribed. The male, copepodid V male, both sexes of copepodid IV, and copepodid II of the latter species are herein described for the first time.
The Dynamics of Security Sector Reform in Liberia
Authors: Islam Mohammad Tarequl
Published: March 2021

Security Sector Reform (ssr) is one of the key mechanisms of the UN norms of liberal peacebuilding. After the end of a 14-year-long civil war, ssr in Liberia has faced enormous challenges but opened a new space for peace and democracy for the people. Under the comprehensive supervision of the USA, two private military companies, DynCorp International and Pacific Architects and Engineers (pae), have played a pivotal role in army reform. Alternatively, unmil has been involved in police reform, which has not been considered successful enough. Furthermore, this study has observed that before ssr, disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (ddr) was not properly managed, which has had a pessimistic impact on ssr. The study has also found that the reformed army and police have been strongly criticised due to a lack of local ownership and citizen oversight, gender inequality, and poor democratic control. Nevertheless, beyond its limitations, the study shows that ssr has achieved a mixture of success in the current security, stability and peace in Liberia.
Analyzing the Diurnal Cycle by Bayesian Interpolation on a Sphere for Mapping GNSS Radio Occultation Data
Authors: Leroy Stephen S. , Ao Chi O. , Verkhoglyadova Olga P. , Oyola Mayra I.
Published: March 2021

Bayesian interpolation has previously been proposed as a strategy to construct maps of radio occultation (RO) data, but that proposition did not consider the diurnal dimension of RO data. In this work, the basis functions of Bayesian interpolation are extended into the domain of the diurnal cycle, thus enabling monthly mapping of radio occultation data in synoptic time and analysis of the atmospheric tides. The basis functions are spherical harmonics multiplied by sinusoids in the diurnal cycle up to arbitrary spherical harmonic degree and diurnal cycle harmonic. Bayesian interpolation requires a regularizer to impose smoothness on the fits it produces, thereby preventing the overfitting of data. In this work, a formulation for the regularizer is proposed and the most probable values of the parameters of the regularizer determined. Special care is required when obvious gaps in the sampling of the diurnal cycle are known to occur in order to prevent the false detection of statistically significant high-degree harmonics of the diurnal cycle in the atmosphere. Finally, this work probes the ability of Bayesian interpolation to generate a valid uncertainty analysis of the fit. The postfit residuals of Bayesian interpolation are dominated not by measurement noise but by unresolved variability in the atmosphere, which is statistically nonuniform across the globe, thus violating the central assumption of Bayesian interpolation. The problem is ameliorated by constructing maps of RO data using Bayesian interpolation that partially resolve the temporal variability of the atmosphere, constructing maps for approximately every 3 days of RO data.
Holding back and hidden family displays: Reflections on aunthood as a morally charged category
Authors: Lahad Kinneret , May Vanessa
Published: March 2021

This article explores aunthood as a morally charged category. By conducting a thematic analysis, we analyse advice-seeking posts published in Dear Savvy Auntie, an American online advice forum for aunts. We examine the moral tales of aunthood and particularly why some aunts might feel that they cannot openly articulate their sense of responsibility within the family context, and the consequences of this. This leads us to assert that one way of ‘doing’ moral aunthood can be a form of non-doing, and allows us to examine how aunthood is done and displayed in ways which are often hidden and unacknowledged. We suggest that caution, avoidance and self-restraint may be routine aspects of displaying aunthood and of working out family responsibilities and family obligations.
Prediction of residual tumor and overall survival after first-line surgery in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using preoperative magnetic resonance imaging findings
Authors: Bae Jae Seok , Kim Jung Hoon , Kang Hyo-Jin , Han Joon Koo
Published: March 2021

Background

Complete resection is the only potentially curative treatment in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and is associated with a longer overall survival (OS) than incomplete resection of tumor. Hence, prediction of the resection status after surgery would help predict the prognosis of patients with PDA.

Purpose

To predict residual tumor (R) classification and OS in patients who underwent first-line surgery for PDA using preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Material and Methods

In this study, 210 patients with PDA who underwent MRI and first-line surgery were randomly categorized into a test group (n=150) and a validation group (n=60). The R classification was divided into R0 (no residual tumor) and R1/R2 (microscopic/macroscopic residual tumor). Preoperative MRI findings associated with R classification and OS were assessed by using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models. In addition, the prediction models for the R classification and OS were validated using calibration plots and C statistics.

Results

On preoperative MRI, portal vein encasement (odds ratio 4.755) was an independent predictor for R1/R2 resection ( P=0.040). Tumor size measured on MRI (hazard ratio [HR] per centimeter 1.539) was a predictor of OS, along with pathologic N1 and N2 stage (HR 1.944 and 3.243, respectively), R1/R2 resection (HR 3.273), and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy (HR 0.250) ( P<0.050). Calibration plots demonstrated satisfactory predictive performance.

Conclusion

Preoperative MRI was valuable for predicting R1/R2 resection using portal vein encasement. Tumor size measured on MRI was useful for the prediction of OS after first-line surgery for PDA.
Anesthetic management of precise radiotherapy under apnea-like condition
Authors: Zhang Shilong , Zhao Bin , Chen Dongji , Qi Ying , Ma Youguo , Ma Juan , Xie Wenjuan , Guo Haiyan
Published: March 2021

Objective

To study the safety and feasibility of implementation of precise radiotherapy with inducement of an apnea-like condition.

Methods

Two patients with lung tumors underwent precise radiotherapy under an apnea-like condition. The apnea-like condition was induced 11 times between the two patients for tumor localization and treatment. The changes in the blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, heart rate, and end-tidal carbon dioxide during the apnea-like periods were observed, and the incidence of adverse reactions was recorded.

Results

The average apnea-like time was 6.2 minutes (range, 3–9 minutes), and the average radiotherapy time was 4.6 minutes (range, 1–7 minutes). The lowest blood oxygen saturation level was 97%, with a change of <1%. The heart rate and average arterial blood pressure increased during the apnea-like periods. Contact sores appeared on the patients’ posterior pharyngeal wall after the first apnea-like period; no other adverse events occurred.

Conclusion

Precise radiotherapy under an apnea-like condition is safe and feasible for patients with lung tumors.
Surgical treatment for insertional Achilles tendinopathy and retrocalcaneal bursitis: more than 1 year of follow-up
Authors: Zhang Changgui , Cao Jin , Yang Liu , Duan Xiaojun
Published: March 2021

Objective

To analyse the imaging changes in bone marrow oedema of the calcaneal prominence, retrocalcaneal bursa and degenerative Achilles tendon after the surgical treatment of insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT).

Methods

This retrospective study analysed patients with IAT and retrocalcaneal bursitis that were diagnosed based on their symptoms and radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. For patients that had received 3 months of conservative treatment but still presented with symptoms, arthroscopic debridement of the retrocalcaneal bursa and resection of calcaneal prominence were undertaken. Patients with degeneration of the Achilles tendon underwent debridement of Achilles tendon calcification with an open incision. The last follow-up included radiographic and MRI imaging, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain scores and American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS)-Ankle and Hindfoot scores.

Results

Thirty patients were included (mean ± SD follow-up, 3.1 ± 0.5 years). The VAS pain and AOFAS-Ankle and Hindfoot scores were significantly improved after surgery. MRI showed that bone marrow oedema of the calcaneal prominence and the retrocalcaneal bursa was significantly reduced compared with preoperative values. There was no significant change in the high signal area of the IAT.

Conclusion

Surgical treatment of IAT and retrocalcaneal bursitis effectively alleviated local pain and restored function.