bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
[Retracted] Applications of Wireless Communication in a New Dual Branch CTS Charge Pump Based on Employing Clock Matched Technology
Authors: Li Jiayang
Published: August 2021

With the increase in communication requirements, new communication technologies and implementation methods have developed rapidly. The rise of emerging markets such as the Internet of Things, smart homes, smart cities, and wearables has promoted the development of wireless communication integrated circuits in the direction of monolithic, low energy consumption, and high energy efficiency. This paper proposes a new dual branch charge pump based on CTS charge pump with enhanced current drive capability and undesired charge transfer completely eliminated. Clock matched technology is proposed to completely eliminate undesired charge transfer caused by delay turn on and off of the auxiliary transistors in the traditional CTS charge pump. The current drive capability is enhanced by employing NMOS transistors with 2Vdd gate drive voltage, while traditional dual branch CTS charge pumps are based on PMOS with 1Vdd gate drive voltage. The output voltage ripple is also reduced resulting from a dual branch structure. Simulation results of output voltage gain and power efficiency for the proposed charge pump and other traditional charge pumps are provided. Comparisons are made to show the improvement of the proposed charge pump compared with other traditional charge pumps.
Pseudomonas luteola Bacteremia in Newly Diagnosed Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Barry Mazin
Published: August 2021

Pseudomonas luteola is rarely considered as a human pathogen.There are only fewer than twenty reported cases of P. luteola infections since 1950. It has been described in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients as a cause of both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. We report a rare case of P. luteola infection in a previously healthy patient who was admitted to hospital with a first presentation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) presenting with P. luteola bacteremia.
Inverse Kinematics of Concentric Tube Robots in the Presence of Environmental Constraints
Authors: Jabari Mohammad , Zakeri Manizhe , Janabi-Sharifi Farrokh , Norouzi-Ghazbi Somayeh
Published: August 2021

Inverse kinematics (IK) of concentric tube continuum robots (CTRs) is associated with two main problems. First, the robot model (e.g., the relationship between the configuration space parameters and the robot end-effector) is not linear. Second, multiple solutions for the IK are available. This paper presents a general approach to solve the IK of CTRs in the presence of constrained environments. It is assumed that the distal tube of the CTR is inserted into a cavity while its proximal end is placed inside a tube resembling the vessel enabling the entry to the organ cavity. The robot-tissue interaction at the beginning of the organ-cavity imposed displacement and force constraints to the IK problem to secure a safe interaction between the robot and tissue. The IK in CTRs has been carried out by treating the problem as an optimization problem. To find the optimized IK of the CTR, the cost function is defined to be the minimization of input force into the body cavity and the occupied area by the robot shaft body. The optimization results show that CTRs can keep the safe force range in interaction with tissue for the specified trajectories of the distal tube. Various simulation scenarios are conducted to validate the approach. Using the IK obtained from the presented approach, the tracking accuracy is achieved as 0.01 mm which is acceptable for the application.
Partial Color Photo Processing Method for Components Based on Image Enhancement Technology
Authors: Wu Hao , Zhou Zhi
Published: August 2021

Computer vision is currently playing an increasingly important role in automatically identifying the character of the image processing technology as research hotbed in the field of smart computing, OCR, face recognition, fingerprinting, biometric recognition, and so forth. Content‐based image recovery, video recovery, multimedia collection, watermarking, games, film stunts, virtual reality, e‐commerce, and other apps are available all round. The color pictures of parts taken by industrial cameras depend on computer performance and the intricate environment, and in particular, on the whole resolution image display, a lot of CPU resources are needed. Some details cannot be shown completely at the same time. If the image is not sufficiently clearly visible, methods for image processing like improvement, noise reduction, and interpolation must be used to improve color photo clarity. This article, based on the OpenCV platform, uses frequency domain filters, median filters, Fourier transform, and other image improvement technologies to remove image noise in order to enhance the quality of local photos from industrial cameras’ components. Finally, clear and available image information is obtained in different experimental methods, which check the application of image enhancement technology to image rebuilding. Finally, the performance of the proposed method in terms of CPBD value, definition Q value, and operation time is compared, which shows that the proposed method has obvious advantages in the above performance.
Three‐Dimensional Outcome Assessments of Surgical Correction in Cleft and Noncleft Patients with Class III Skeletal Relation: A Case‐Control Study
Authors: Wu Te-Ju , Wu Cheng-Chun , Tsai Chi-Yu , Lee Yi-Hao , Chang Yu-Jen , Lin Shiu-Shiung , Lai Jui-Pin
Published: August 2021

Background. The orthognathic strategies to treat patients with a concave profile but different tissue conditions remain controversial. The aim of this case‐control study was to investigate the outcome predictability of orthognathic surgery in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients and matched controls. Methods. Fifty consecutive CLP and 45 matched non‐CLP patients who received whole‐piece Le Fort I and bilateral sagittal split osteotomy to correct class III skeletal relations were enrolled. The outcome discrepancies (ODs) from simulations among all groups were evaluated with consideration of the possible influences from planned surgical movements (PSM). Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine threshold values of PSMs that yielded clinically relevant OD. Results. Unilateral CLP (UCLP) patients had comparable postsurgical OD to non‐CLP patients in both jaws, whereas bilateral CLP (BCLP) patients had greater deviations from predicted results. Vertical movement of the A − point > 1.33 mm and yaw correction > 1.65° in the BCLP patients was associated with clinically relevant maxillary OD. Conclusions. The OGS outcomes of BCLP patients were less predictable than those of the UCLP and noncleft patients. Vertical movements of the A − point > 1.33 mm and yaw correction > 1.65° in BCLP patients increased OD to a clinically relevant extent.
Traffic Flow Parameters Collection under Variable Illumination Based on Data Fusion
Authors: Jin Shaojie , Gao Ying , Jing Shoucai , Hui Fei , Zhao Xiangmo , Liu Jianzhen
Published: August 2021

Accurate traffic flow parameters are the supporting data for analyzing traffic flow characteristics. Vehicle detection using traffic surveillance pictures is a typical method for gathering traffic flow characteristics in urban traffic scenes. In complicated lighting conditions at night, however, neither classical nor deep-learning-based image processing algorithms can provide adequate detection results. This study proposes a fusion technique combining millimeter-wave radar data with image data to compensate for the lack of image-based vehicle detection under complicated lighting to complete all-day parameters collection. The proposed method is based on an object detector named CenterNet. Taking this network as the cornerstone, we fused millimeter-wave radar data into it to improve the robustness of vehicle detection and reduce the time-consuming postcalculation of traffic flow parameters collection. We collected a new dataset to train the proposed method, which consists of 1000 natural daytime images and 1000 simulated nighttime images with a total of 23094 vehicles counted, where the simulated nighttime images are generated by a style translator named CycleGAN to reduce labeling workload. Another four datasets of 2400 images containing 20161 vehicles were collected to test the proposed method. The experimental results show that the method proposed has good adaptability and robustness at natural daytime and nighttime scenes.
Maternal Complications and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes among Pregnant Women who Acquired Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Authors: Gebremedhin Ketema Bizuwork , Alemayehu Haile , Medhin Girmay , Amogne Wondwossen , Eguale Tadesse
Published: August 2021

In this study, we aimed to document adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal complications among pregnant women who acquired asymptomatic bacteriuria in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We used hospital‐based prospective cohort study design in which we followed 44 pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteriuria confirmed by urine culture result of ≥105cfu/ml of urine. We documented adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal complications in terms of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Additionally, we used Pearson’s correlation coefficient to investigate associations of selected variables with perinatal death as one of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Of the 44 pregnant women enrolled in the study, complete data was collected from 43 participants with one lost to follow‐up. Six (14%) of women developed fever and were treated with antibiotic during pregnancy, 26 (60.5%) delivered with cesarean section, two (4.3%) perinatal deaths within seven days of delivery, one miscarriage, and 4 (9.3%) newborns were found underweight. The mean birth weight of the newborns was 3.1 kg ± 0.60. Almost half 21(48.8%) were born before 37 weeks of gestational age. Fourteen (32.6%) of newborns were born asphyxiated. Twenty‐two (51.2%) of newborns developed early neonatal fever within 48 hours of delivery and treated with antibiotic. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed that weight and gestational age of newborns at birth, Apgar score at 1st and 5th minutes of birth and miscarriage were positively correlated and significantly associated with perinatal death. The occurrence of unsought pregnancy outcomes were frequent, and substantial number of pregnant women developed maternal complications. Therefore, screening pregnant women for asymptomatic bacteriuria and treating may reduce the possible maternal complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Optimization Control of Cooperative Trajectory towards Dual Arms Based on Time‐Varying Constrained Output State
Authors: Zhang Hui , Zha Wenbin , Xu Xiangrong , Zhu Yongfei
Published: August 2021

Aiming at the impact and disturbance of dual‐arm robots in the process of coordinated transportation, a dual‐arm cooperative trajectory optimization control based on time‐varying constrained output state is proposed. According to the constraint relationship of the end‐effector trajectory of the dual‐arm coordinated transportation, the joint space trajectory mathematical model of the dual‐arm coordinated transportation was established by using the master‐slave construction method. Based on the time impact optimization index of joint trajectory, a multiobjective nonlinear equation is established. Using random probability distribution to extract the interpolation features of nonuniform quintic B‐spline trajectory, the feature optimization target is selected, and the Newton numerical algorithm is used for iterative optimization. At the same time, it is combined with an elite retention genetic algorithm to further optimize the target. Based on the disturbance and tracking problem, a PD control method based on time‐varying constrained output state is proposed, and the control law is designed. Its convergence is verified by establishing the Lyapunov function equation and asymmetric term. The trajectory optimization results show that the proposed trajectory optimization method can increase the individual diversity and enhance the individual local optimization, thus avoiding the premature impact of the elite retention genetic algorithm. Finally, the proposed control method is simulated on the platform of Gazebo; compared with the traditional PD control method, the results show that the proposed control algorithm has high robustness, and the rationality of the coordinated trajectory control method is verified by the double‐arm handling experiment.
Crypto-Watermarking Algorithm Using Weber’s Law and AES: A View to Transfer Safe Medical Image
Authors: Ajili Sondes , Hajjaji Mohamed Ali , Mtibaa Abdellatif
Published: August 2021

We propose a novel method for medical image watermarking in the DCT domain using the AES encryption algorithm. First, we decompose the original medical image into subblocks of 8 × 8. Besides, we apply the DCT and the quantization, respectively, to each subblock. However, in the DCT domain, an adequate choice of the DCT coefficients according to the quantization table in the middle frequencies band is performed. After that, we embed the patient’s data into the corresponding medical image. The insertion step is carried out just after the quantization phase. To increase the robustness, we encrypt the watermarked medical images by using the AES algorithm based on chaotic technique. Arnold’s cat map is used to shuffle the pixel values, and a chaotic Henon map is utilized to generate an aleatory sequence for the AES algorithm. The shuffled watermarked image is encrypted using the modified AES algorithm. The constant of Weber is used to choose the suitable visibility factor for embedding a watermark with high robustness. To control identification, after application of attacks, we use the serial turbo code for correction of the watermark to recover the data inserted. The average peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of the medical images obtained is 61,7769 dB. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed schema against various types of attacks.
A Network Pharmacology Approach for Exploring the Mechanisms of Panax notoginseng Saponins in Ischaemic Stroke
Authors: Wang Cong , Chen Hao , Ma Shi-tang , Mao Bin-bin , Chen Yu , Xu Hao-Nan , Yu Hao
Published: August 2021

Background. Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) have been deemed effective herb compounds for treating ischaemic stroke (IS) and improving the quality of life of IS patients. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of PNS in the treatment of IS based on network pharmacology. Methods. PNS were identified from the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology (TCMSP) database, and their possible targets were predicted using the PharmMapper database. IS-related targets were identified from the GeneCards database, OMIM database, and DisGeNET database. A herb-compound-target-disease network was constructed using Cytoscape, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were established with STRING. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis were performed using DAVID. The binding of the compounds and key targets was validated by molecular docking studies using AutoDock Vina. The neuroprotective effect of TFCJ was substantiated in terms of oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and malondialdehyde) and the levels of IGF1/PI3K/Akt pathway proteins. Results. A total of 375 PNS targets and 5111 IS-related targets were identified. Among these targets, 241 were common to PNS, and IS network analysis showed that MAPK1, AKT1, PIK3R1, SRC, MAPK8, EGFR, IGF1, HRAS, RHOA, and HSP90AA1 are key targets of PNS against IS. Furthermore, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that PNS probably exert therapeutic effects against IS by regulating many pathways, such as the Ras, oestrogen, FoxO, prolactin, Rap1, PI3K-Akt, insulin, PPAR, and thyroid hormone signalling pathways. Molecular docking studies further corroborated the experimental results.The network pharmacology results were further verified by molecular docking and in vivo experiments. Conclusions. The ameliorative effects of PNS against IS were predicted to be associated with the regulation of the IGF1-PI3K-Akt signalling pathway. Ginsenoside Re and ginsenoside Rb1 may play an important role in the treatment of IS.
An Enhanced Secure Deep Learning Algorithm for Fraud Detection in Wireless Communication
Authors: Sanober Sumaya , Alam Izhar , Pande Sagar , Arslan Farrukh , Rane Kantilal Pitambar , Singh Bhupesh Kumar , Khamparia Aditya , Shabaz Mohammad
Published: August 2021

In today’s era of technology, especially in the Internet commerce and banking, the transactions done by the Mastercards have been increasing rapidly. The card becomes the highly useable equipment for Internet shopping. Such demanding and inflation rate causes a considerable damage and enhancement in fraud cases also. It is very much necessary to stop the fraud transactions because it impacts on financial conditions over time the anomaly detection is having some important application to detect the fraud detection. A novel framework which integrates Spark with a deep learning approach is proposed in this work. This work also implements different machine learning techniques for detection of fraudulent like random forest, SVM, logistic regression, decision tree, and KNN. Comparative analysis is done by using various parameters. More than 96% accuracy was obtained for both training and testing datasets. The existing system like Cardwatch, web service‐based fraud detection, needs labelled data for both genuine and fraudulent transactions. New frauds cannot be found in these existing techniques. The dataset which is used contains transaction made by credit cards in September 2013 by cardholders of Europe. The dataset contains the transactions occurred in 2 days, in which there are 492 fraud transactions out of 284,807 which is 0.172% of all transaction.
Applications of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Liver Fibrosis: Novel Strategies, Mechanisms, and Clinical Practice
Authors: Zhu Mengmei , Hua Tianzhen , Ouyang Tao , Qian Huofu , Yu Bing
Published: August 2021

Liver fibrosis is a common result of most chronic liver diseases, and advanced fibrosis often leads to cirrhosis. Currently, there is no effective treatment for liver cirrhosis except liver transplantation. Therefore, it is important to carry out antifibrosis treatment to reverse liver damage in the early stage of liver fibrosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most widely used stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine. The preclinical and clinical research results of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis show that MSC administration is a promising treatment for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. MSCs reverse liver fibrosis and increase liver function mainly through differentiation into hepatocytes, immune regulation, secretion of cytokines and other nutritional factors, reduction of hepatocyte apoptosis, and promotion of hepatocyte regeneration. Recently, many studies provided a variety of new methods and strategies to improve the effect of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis. In this review, we summarized the current effective methods and strategies and their potential mechanisms of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis, as well as the current research progress in clinical practice. We expect to achieve complete reversal of liver injury with MSC-based therapy in the future.
A Novel 8-Gene Prognostic Signature for Survival Prediction of Uveal Melanoma
Authors: Tang Zhongjun , Cai Kebo
Published: August 2021

Background. Uveal melanoma (UM) has favorable local tumor control, but once metastasis develops, the prognosis is rather poor. Thus, it is urgent to develop metastasis predicting markers. Objective. Our study investigated a novel gene expression-based signature in predicting metastasis for patients with UM. Methods. In the discovery phase, 63 patients with UM from GEO data set GSE22138 were analyzed using the Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) to identify metastasis-related hub genes. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Lasso) Cox regression was used to select candidate genes and build a gene expression signature. In the validation phase, the signature was validated in The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Results. Forty-one genes were identified as hub genes of metastasis by WGCNA. After the Lasso Cox regression analysis, eight genes including RPL10A, EIF1B, TIPARP, RPL15, SLC25A38, PHLDA1, TFDP2, and MEGF10 were highlighted as candidate predictors. The gene expression signature for UM (UMPS) could independently predict MFS by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Incorporating UMPS increased the AUC of the traditional clinical model. In the validation cohort, UMPS performed well in predicting the MFS of UM patients. Conclusions. UMPS, an eight-gene-based signature, is useful in predicting prognosis for patients with UM.
Gli1+ Cells Residing in Bone Sutures Respond to Mechanical Force via IP3R to Mediate Osteogenesis
Authors: Huang Xiaoyao , Li Zihan , Liu Peisheng , Wu Meiling , Liu An-qi , Hu Chenghu , Liu Xuemei , Guo Hao , Yang Xiaoxue , Guo Xiaohe , Li Bei , He Xiaoning , Xuan Kun , Jin Yan
Published: August 2021

Early orthodontic correction of skeletal malocclusion takes advantage of mechanical force to stimulate unclosed suture remodeling and to promote bone reconstruction; however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Gli1+ cells in maxillofacial sutures have been shown to participate in maxillofacial bone development and damage repair. Nevertheless, it remains to be investigated whether these cells participate in mechanical force-induced bone remodeling during orthodontic treatment of skeletal malocclusion. In this study, rapid maxillary expansion (RME) mouse models and mechanical stretch loading cell models were established using two types of transgenic mice which are able to label Gli1+ cells, and we found that Gli1+ cells participated in mechanical force-induced osteogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. Besides, we found mechanical force-induced osteogenesis through inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), and we observed for the first time that inhibition of Gli1 suppressed an increase in mechanical force-induced IP3R overexpression, suggesting that Gli1+ cells participate in mechanical force-induced osteogenesis through IP3R. Taken together, this study is the first to demonstrate that Gli1+ cells in maxillofacial sutures are involved in mechanical force-induced bone formation through IP3R during orthodontic treatment of skeletal malocclusion. Furthermore, our results provide novel insights regarding the mechanism of orthodontic treatments of skeletal malocclusion.
Study on Protection of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells from Amiodarone‐Induced Damage by Intermedin through Activation of Wnt/β‐Catenin Signaling Pathway
Authors: Wang Yanhong , Wang Juanjuan , Yang Jia , Kang Jing , Xue Fuping , Chang Sijia , Ji He , Zang Haojing , Zhou Xiaoshuang , Wang Guiqin , Fan Weiping , Yan Xianyan , Guo Jinli , Ren Xiaojun , Tian Jihua
Published: August 2021

Amiodarone (AM) is one of the most effective antiarrhythmic drugs and normally administrated by intravenous infusion which is liable to cause serious phlebitis. The therapeutic drugs for preventing this complication are limited. Intermedin (IMD), a member of calcitonin family, has a broad spectrum of biological effects including anti‐inflammatory effects, antioxidant activities, and antiapoptosis. But now, the protective effects of IMD against amiodarone‐induced phlebitis and the underlying molecular mechanism are not well understood. In this study, the aim was to investigate the protective efficiency and potential mechanisms of IMD in amiodarone‐induced phlebitis. The results of this study revealed that treatment with IMD obviously attenuated apoptosis and exfoliation of vascular endothelial cells and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the rabbit model of phlebitis induced by intravenous infusion of amiodarone compared with control. Further tests in vitro demonstrated that IMD lessened amiodarone‐induced endothelial cell apoptosis, improved amiodarone‐induced oxidative stress injury, reduced inflammatory reaction, and activated the Wnt/β‐catenin signal pathway which was inhibited by amiodarone. And these effects could be reversed by Wnt/β‐catenin inhibitor IWR‐1‐endo, and si‐RNA knocked down the gene of Wnt pathway. These results suggested that IMD exerted the protective effects against amiodarone‐induced endothelial injury via activating the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway. Thus, IMD could be used as a potential agent for the treatment of phlebitis.
[Retracted] Urban Fruit Quality Traceability Model Based on Smart Contract for Internet of Things
Authors: Xu Cheng , Chen Kai , Zuo Min , Liu Hongzhe , Wu Yanan
Published: August 2021

In Internet of things, compared with the traditional traceability system, the existing system has difficulties in operation, data are easily lost, data are uncoordinated, standards are not unified, and so on. In this paper, based on the characteristics of blockchain, the traceability model of urban fruits is established to reduce the risk of counterfeit and shoddy urban fruits. The collected data is integrated into the chain for diversified display, providing different permissions and platforms for multiple roles. Blockchain and supporting intelligent hardware are used to realize the real record and tracking of the whole process of fruit. Improve the transparency and efficiency of supply chain, and reduce the supply chain cost. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm model can be applied to the fruit service field and effectively improve the service level of smart city.
Role of NADPH Oxidase-Induced Hypoxia-Induced Factor-1α Increase in Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption after 2-Hour Focal Ischemic Stroke in Rat
Authors: Wang Yanping , Shen Yufei , Yu Xin , Gu Jingxia , Zhang Xiaoling , Zhou Beiqun , Sun Yanyun , Xu Congying , Qian Shuxia
Published: August 2021

We recently showed that inhibition of hypoxia-induced factor-1α (HIF-1α) decreased acute ischemic stroke-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage. However, factors that induce the upregulation of HIF-1α expression remain unclear. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase played a critical role in reperfusion-induced BBB damage after stroke. However, the role of NADPH oxidase in BBB injury during the acute ischemia stage remains unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the role of NADPH oxidase in BBB injury and the expression of HIF-1α after acute ischemic stroke. A sutured middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used to mimic ischemic stroke in rats. Our results show that the inhibition of NADPH oxidase by apocynin can significantly reduce the BBB damage caused by 2 h ischemic stroke accompanied by reducing the degradation of tight junction protein occludin. In addition, treatment with apocynin significantly decreased the upregulation of HIF-1α induced by 2 h MCAO. More importantly, apocynin could also inhibit the MMP-2 upregulation. Of note, HIF-1α was not colocalized with a bigger blood vessel. Taken together, our results showed that inhibition of NADPH oxidase-mediated HIF-1α upregulation reduced BBB damage accompanied by downregulating MMP-2 expression and occludin degradation after 2 h ischemia stroke. These results explored the mechanism of BBB damage after acute ischemic stroke and may help reduce the associated cerebral hemorrhage transformation after thrombolysis and endovascular treatment after ischemic stroke.
Lipid Carriers in Cancer: Context Matters
Authors: Sherman Mara H.
Published: August 2021

Investigating immune suppression mechanisms in cancer may inform on strategies to overcome resistance to current immunotherapies, common across solid tumor types but near ubiquitous in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). A recent study by Kemp and colleagues in Cancer Research identified an immuno-modulatory axis originating in tumor-associated macrophages whereby macrophage-derived apolipoprotein E (APOE) activates NF-κB in tumor cells in a paracrine manner, inducing expression of immunosuppressive chemokines. In contrast, APOE promotes antitumor immunity in other cancer types including melanoma, highlighting the context dependency of APOE signaling and its impact on the tumor microenvironment. As new immunotherapy approaches increasingly aim to modulate both the myeloid and lymphoid compartments of the PDAC immune milieu, identification of specific mechanisms that foster macrophage-mediated immune suppression may facilitate the development of effective strategies that enable the immune system to tackle these tumors.

See related article by Kemp et al., p. 4305
Microbiota-Centered Interventions: The Next Breakthrough in Immuno-Oncology?
Authors: Derosa Lisa , Routy Bertrand , Desilets Antoine , Daillère Romain , Terrisse Safae , Kroemer Guido , Zitvogel Laurence
Published: August 2021

The cancer–immune dialogue subject to immuno-oncological intervention is profoundly influenced by microenvironmental factors. Indeed, the mucosal microbiota—and more specifically, the intestinal ecosystem—influences the tone of anticancer immune responses and the clinical benefit of immunotherapy. Antibiotics blunt the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), and fecal microbial transplantation may restore responsiveness of ICI-resistant melanoma. Here, we review the yin and yang of intestinal bacteria at the crossroads between the intestinal barrier, metabolism, and local or systemic immune responses during anticancer therapies. We discuss diagnostic tools to identify gut dysbiosis and the future prospects of microbiota-based therapeutic interventions.

Significance:

Given the recent proof of concept of the potential efficacy of fecal microbial transplantation in patients with melanoma primarily resistant to PD-1 blockade, it is timely to discuss how and why antibiotics compromise the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, describe the balance between beneficial and harmful microbial species in play during therapies, and introduce the potential for microbiota-centered interventions for the future of immuno-oncology.
Improved Dialysis Removal of Protein-Bound Uraemic Toxins with a Combined Displacement and Adsorption Technique
Authors: Shi Yuanyuan , Tian Huajun , Wang Yifeng , Shen Yue , Zhu Qiuyu , Ding Feng
Published: August 2021

Introduction: Protein-bound uraemic toxins (PBUTs) are poorly removed by conventional dialytic techniques, given their high plasma protein binding, and thus low, free (dialysable) plasma concentration. Here, we evaluated and compared PBUTs removal among conventional haemodialysis (HD), adsorption-based HD, displacement-based HD, and their 2 combinations both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: The removal of PBUTs, including 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furan-propanoic acid (CMPF), p-cresyl sulphate (PCS), indoxyl sulphate (IS), indole-3-acetic acid (3-IAA), and hippuric acid, was first evaluated in an in vitro single-pass HD model. Adsorption consisted of adding 40 g/L bovine serum albumin (Alb) to the dialysate and displacement involved infusing fatty acid (FA) mixtures predialyser. Then, uraemic rats were treated with either conventional HD, Alb-based HD, lipid emulsion infusion-based HD or their combination to calculate the reduction ratio (RR), and the total solute removal (TSR) of solutes after 4 h of therapy. Results: In vitro dialysis revealed that FAs infusion prefilter increased the removal of PCS, IS, and 3-IAA 3.23-fold, 3.01-fold, and 2.24-fold, respectively, compared with baseline and increased the fractional removal of CMPF from undetectable at baseline to 14.33 ± 0.24%, with a dialysis efficacy markedly superior to Alb dialysis. In vivo dialysis showed that ω-6 soybean oil-based lipid emulsion administration resulted in higher RRs and more TSRs for PCS, IS, and 3-IAA after 4-h HD than the control, and the corresponding TSR values for PCS and IS were also significantly increased compared to that of Alb dialysis. Finally, the highest dialysis efficacy for highly bound solute removal was always observed with their combination both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: The concept of combined displacement- and adsorption-based dialysis may open up new avenues and possibilities in the field of dialysis to further enhance PBUTs removal in end-stage renal disease.
Pyomyositis in a Patient Undergoing Chemotherapy for Gastric Cancer: A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Nakayama Yoko , Sugiyama Akira , Yamamoto Tetsu , Hyakudomi Ryoji , Hirahara Noriyuki , Tajima Yoshitsugu
Published: August 2021

Pyomyositis has recently been recognized as a primary infection of the large skeletal muscles, and it is often accompanied by single or multiple intramuscular abscess formation. Immunocompromised patients, including those with diabetes mellitus, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and cancer, as well as those undergoing chemotherapy, are at a greater risk of developing pyomyositis. A 78-year-old Japanese man with recurrent gastric cancer being treated with chemotherapy presented with sudden-onset pain in his left lower extremity while undergoing a second-line regimen with irinotecan. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an abnormally high-intensity signal in the left internal and external obturator muscles, a finding consistent with pyomyositis. Following intensive antibiotic treatment, the patient recovered completely and was able to resume chemotherapy with irinotecan. For a patient who developed pyomyositis during chemotherapy for gastric cancer, early diagnosis using MRI followed by administration of timely intensive antibiotic therapy resulted in complete recovery.
The schemes of students' understanding through digital argumentation in online learning during pandemic COVID-19
Authors: Lukitasari Marheny , Handhika Jeffry , Murtafiah Wasilatul , Sukri Ahmad
Published: August 2021

The student conception needed to analyze problems and obtain effective solutions. It is also required to train students to think reflective and argumentative, so expressing student conception is necessary. This research aimed to describe the schemes of students' conception through digital arguments in online learning. This research was descriptive qualitative by uncovering students 'digital arguments and making schemes of students' understanding based on digital arguments presented in written discussions. Research Data were from electronic discussion forums, and unstructured interviews in biology and physics. The analysis results describe that digital argumentation can use to schemes students' conception.
Heavy metals removal by thiol modified oak charcoal: Adsorption efficiency and selectivity
Authors: Ezzeddine Zeinab , Solh Batoul , Hamad Hussein
Published: August 2021

Herein, the removal of heavy metals on thiol modified oak charcoal was investigated. The modified charcoal was characterized by X-ray diffraction, granulometric analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Then, its adsorption efficiency for the removal of Cd2+, Cu2+ and Pb2+ from water was tested. The effects of several conditions on metals adsorption were investigated such as contact time, pH, electrolytes and the initial metal ions concentration. The adsorption capacities were high (197, 250 and 214 mg g-1 for Cd2+, Pb2+ and Cu2+ respectively). The selectivity was also dependent on the metal ions nature and the functional group used. The mechanism of adsorption is complex where several types of interaction between metal ions and the adsorbent surface are involved.
A global system for mobile communications-based electrical power consumption for a non-contact smart billing system
Authors: Hasan Ihsan Jabbar , Waheib Bushra Mahmoud , Jalil Salih Nahla Abdul , Abdulkhaleq Nadhir Ibrahim
Published: August 2021

This paper proposes a cheap solution to be a starting point for building smart electrical power billing systems. Electrical power has many challenges issues in Iraq, one of these challenges and the most important is the Billing system. The smart power meter uses an Arduino Uno as the core for controlling the sensed data and transmits it to the electrical power unit for billing services. The system is constructed with two parts: the transmitting unit measures the current, voltage, power and power factor through the compact new sensor PZEM-004T. The data sensed and processed by the microcontroller which displayed the KWh on (2*16 LCD) display. This data also transmitted to the electrical power company unit via the global system for mobile communications (GSM) module (SIM900A) which is a dual band GSM/GPRS-general packet radio service modem. The receiving part is mainly dedicated for collecting the required consumed power data via the same (SIM900A) module and also can display it using (2*16 LCD) display. For the sake of saving these data, the receiver part uses SD ram for such purposes. With such proposed system the electrical power company can control and collect their fees monthly without loss and with minimum cost.
On data collection time by an electronic nose
Authors: Borowik Piotr , Adamowicz Leszek , Tarakowski Rafał , Siwek Krzysztof , Grzywacz Tomasz
Published: August 2021

We use electronic nose data of odor measurements to build machine learning classiﬁcation models. The presented analysis focused on determining the optimal time of measurement, leading to the best model performance. We observe that the most valuable information for classiﬁcation is available in data collected at the beginning of adsorption and the beginning of the desorption phase of measurement. We demonstrated that the usage of complex features extracted from the sensors’ response gives better classiﬁcation performance than use as features only raw values of sensors’ response, normalized by baseline. We use a group shufﬂing cross-validation approach for determining the reported models’ average accuracy and standard deviation.
A new method for vehicles detection and tracking using information and image processing
Authors: Amine Mazouzi , Djoudi Kerfa , Karas Ismail Rakip
Published: August 2021

In this article, a new method of vehicles detecting and tracking is presented: A thresholding followed by a mathematical morphology treatment are used. The tracking phase uses the information about a vehicle. An original labeling is proposed in this article. It helps to reduce some artefacts that occur at the detection level. The main contribution of this article lies in the possibility of merging information of low level (detection) and high level (tracking). In other words, it is shown that many artefacts resulting from image processing (low level) can be detected, and eliminated thanks to the information contained in the labeling (high level). The proposed method has been tested on many video sequences and examples are given illustrating the merits of our approach.
Evaluating spatial and frequency domain enhancement techniques on dental images to assist dental implant therapy
Authors: J. Shashikala , N. Thangadurai
Published: August 2021

Dental imaging provides the patient's anatomical details for the dental implant based on the maxillofacial structure and the two-dimensional geometric projection, helping clinical experts decide whether the implant surgery is suitable for a particular patient. Dental images often suffer from problems associated with random noise and low contrast factors, which need effective preprocessing operations. However, each enhancement technique comes with some advantages and limitations. Therefore, choosing a suitable image enhancement method always a difficult task. In this paper, a universal framework is proposed that integrates the functionality of various enhancement mechanisms so that dentists can select a suitable method of their own choice to improve the quality of dental image for the implant procedure. The proposed framework evaluates the effectiveness of both frequency domain enhancement and spatial domain enhancement techniques on dental images. The selection of the best enhancement method further depends on the output image perceptibility responses, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and sharpness. The proposed framework offers a flexible and scalable approach to the dental expert to perform enhancement of a dental image according to visual image features and different enhancement requirements.
Low-cost wireless mesh communications based on openWRT and voice over internet protocol
Authors: Aminah Nina Siti , Ramadhani Raharjo Muhamamad Reza , Budiman Maman
Published: August 2021

Technology makes it easier for us to communicate over a distance. However, there are still many remote areas that find it difficult to communicate. This is due to the fact that communication infrastructure in some areas is expensive to build while the profit will be low. This paper proposes to combine voice over internet protocol (VoIP) over mesh network implemented on openWRT router. The routers are performing mesh functions. We set up a VoIP server on a router and enabled session initiation protocol (SIP) clients on other routers. Therefore, we only need routers as a means of communication. The experiment showed very good results, in the line-of-sight (LOS) condition, they are limited to reception distances up to 145 meters while in the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) condition, they are limited to reception distances up to 55 meters.
An overview of information extraction techniques for legal document analysis and processing
Authors: Zadgaonkar Ashwini V. , Agrawal Avinash J.
Published: August 2021

In an Indian law system, different courts publish their legal proceedings every month for future reference of legal experts and common people. Extensive manual labor and time are required to analyze and process the information stored in these lengthy complex legal documents. Automatic legal document processing is the solution to overcome drawbacks of manual processing and will be very helpful to the common man for a better understanding of a legal domain. In this paper, we are exploring the recent advances in the field of legal text processing and provide a comparative analysis of approaches used for it. In this work, we have divided the approaches into three classes NLP based, deep learning-based and, KBP based approaches. We have put special emphasis on the KBP approach as we strongly believe that this approach can handle the complexities of the legal domain well. We finally discuss some of the possible future research directions for legal document analysis and processing.
Face recognition for presence system by using residual networks-50 architecture
Authors: Pratama Yohanssen , Ginting Lit Malem , Laurencia Nainggolan Emma Hannisa , Rismanda Ade Erispra
Published: August 2021

Presence system is a system for recording the individual attendance in the company, school or institution. There are several types presence system, including the manually presence system using signatures, presence system using fingerprints and presence system using face recognition technology. Presence system using face recognition technology is one of presence system that implements biometric system in the process of recording attendance. In this research we used one of the convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures that won the imagenet large scale visual recognition competition (ILSVRC) in 2015, namely the Residual Networks-50 architecture (ResNet-50) for face recognition. Our contribution in this research is to determine effectiveness ResNet architecture with different configuration of hyperparameters. This hyperparameters includes the number of hidden layers, the number of units in the hidden layer, batch size, and learning rate. Because hyperparameter are selected based on how the experiments performed and the value of each hyperparameter affects the final result accuracy, so we try 22 configurations (experiments) to get the best accuracy. We conducted experiments to get the best model with an accuracy of 99%.
Overall fuzzy logic control strategy of direct driven PMSG wind turbine connected to grid
Authors: Fannakh Mhamed , Larbi Elhafyani Mohamed , Zouggar Smail , Zahboune Hassan
Published: August 2021

The fuzzy logic strategies reported in the literature about the control of direct drive permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) connected to grid are limited in terms of inclusiveness and efficiency. So an overall control based on fuzzy logic and anti-windup compensation is proposed in this paper. Aiming at the inadequate of hill climb search (HCS) MPPT with fixed step size, the fuzzy logic is introduced in the stage of "generating rotor speed reference" to overcome the oscillations and slowness in traditional method. PI controllers are replaced by anti-windup fuzzy logic controllers in the "machine side control" stage and in "grid side control" stage to pertinently regulate the reference parameters. Then comparison tests with classical methods are implemented under varying climatic conditions. The results obtained demonstrate that the developed control is superior to other methods in response time (less than 4.528E-04 s), precision (an overshoot about 0.41%) and quality of produced energy (efficiency is 91%). The study verifying the feasibility and effectiveness of this algorithm in PMSG wind turbine connected to grid.
Company bankruptcy prediction framework based on the most influential features using XGBoost and stacking ensemble learning
Authors: Muslim Much Aziz , Dasril Yosza
Published: August 2021

Company bankruptcy is often a very big problem for companies. The impact of bankruptcy can cause losses to elements of the company such as owners, investors, employees, and consumers. One way to prevent bankruptcy is to predict the possibility of bankruptcy based on the company's financial data. Therefore, this study aims to find the best predictive model or method to predict company bankruptcy using the dataset from Polish companies bankruptcy. The prediction analysis process uses the best feature selection and ensemble learning. The best feature selection is selected using feature importance to XGBoost with a weight value filter of 10. The ensemble learning method used is stacking. Stacking is composed of the base model and meta learner. The base model consists of K-nearest neighbor, decision tree, SVM, and random forest, while the meta learner used is LightGBM. The stacking model accuracy results can outperform the base model accuracy with an accuracy rate of 97%.
Efficient radio resource allocation scheme for 5G networks with device-to-device communication
Authors: Nizam Fareha , Roslee Mardeni , Yusoff Zubaida , Nmenme Prince Ugochukwu , Singh Keshvinder , Mohamad Hafizal , Bin Osman Anwar Faizd , Mohammed Shayea Ibraheem Abdullah
Published: August 2021

A vital technology in the next-generation cellular network is device-to-device (D2D) communication. Cellular user enabled with D2D communication provides high spectral efficiency and further increases the coverage area of the cell, especially for the end-cell users and blind spot areas. However, the implementation of D2D communication increases interference among the cellular and D2D users. In this paper, we proposed a radio resource allocation (RRA) algorithm to manage the interference using fractional frequency reuse (FFR) scheme and Hungarian algorithm. The proposed algorithm is divided into three parts. First, the FFR scheme allocates different frequency bands among the cell (inner and outer region) for both the cellular and the D2D users to reduce the interference. Second, the Hungarian weighted bipartite matching algorithm is used to allocate the resources to D2D users with the minimum total system interference, while maintaining the total system sum rate. The cellular users share the resources with more than one D2D pair. Lastly, the local search technique of swapping is used for further allocation to minimize the interference. We implemented two types of assignments, fair multiple assignment, and restricted multiple assignment. We compared our results with existing algorithms which verified that our proposed algorithm provides outstanding results in aspects like interference reduction and system sum rate. For restricted multiple assignment, 60-70% of the D2D users are allocated in average cases.