bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
HHLA2 and PD-L1 co-expression predicts poor prognosis in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Zhou Qiang-Hua , Li Kai-Wen , Chen Xu , He Hai-Xia , Peng Sheng-Meng , Peng Shi-Rong , Wang Qiong , Li Ze-An , Tao Yi-Ran , Cai Wen-Li , Liu Ran-Yi , Huang Hai
Published: January 2020

Background

Although clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is well known as a highly immunogenic tumor, only a small subset of patients could benefit from current immunotherapy, which might be due to the heterogeneity of immune microenvironment in ccRCC. So, it is meaningful to explore novel immunotherapy or combination therapy for improving therapeutic efficacy. HHLA2, a newly discovered B7 family member, is prevalently expressed in numerous tumors, including ccRCC. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of HHLA2/PD-L1 co-expression and its relationship with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).

Methods

The expression levels of HHLA2, PD-L1, CD8, and CD4 in cancer tissues from cases (206 in the training cohort and 197 in the validation cohort) with surgically resectable primary ccRCC were evaluated by immunohistochemistry.

Results

The positive rates of HHLA2 were much higher than those of PD-L1 in ccRCC tissues. HHLA2-positive expression was significantly associated with necrosis, microvascular invasion, advanced Fuhrman nuclear, and TNM stage and indicated a shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in both cohorts. Moreover, patients with HHLA2/PD-L1 co-expression suffered the highest risk of disease progression and death by a significant margin. Besides, HHLA2/PD-L1 co-expression was significantly associated with a high density of CD8+and CD4+TILs. Notably, a new immune classification, based on HHLA2/PD-L1 co-expression and TILs, successfully stratified PFS and OS, especially in patients with TILs positivity.

Conclusions

The expression of HHLA2 is more frequent than PD-L1 in ccRCC. HHLA2/PD-L1 co-expression had an adverse impact on the prognoses of patients with ccRCC; this finding provides a rationale for combination immunotherapy with anti-HHLA2 and PD-L1 blockage for patients with ccRCC in the future.
Confused out of care: unanticipated consequences of a ‘Hostile Environment’
Authors: Glennerster Rose , Hodson Nathan
Published: January 2020

The UK’s 2014 Immigration Act aimed to create a ‘Hostile Environment’ for migrants to the UK. One aspect of this was the restriction of access to secondary care for overseas visitors to the UK, although it remains the case that everybody living in the UK has the legal right to access primary care. In this paper, we argue that the effects of this policy extend beyond secondary care, including preventing eligible people from registering with a General Practice (GP), although as an unintended consequence. This problem arises from misinterpretation of policy wording, misleading GP websites and gatekeeping behaviour from front-line staff, even though there are no grounds in the current guidelines or law to support this. Free access to primary healthcare among refugees and asylum seekers living in deprived populations is particularly important in protecting patient health, given the burden of ill-health in this population and the multiple barriers to accessing early intervention they face. The medical profession has a duty to communicate their rights to this patient group—their legal entitlement to access free healthcare, and the vital importance of doing so.
Treatment and diagnosis of cerebral aneurysms in the post-International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) era: trends and outcomes
Authors: Luther Evan , McCarthy David J , Brunet Marie-Christine , Sur Samir , Chen Stephanie H , Sheinberg Dallas , Hasan David , Jabbour Pascal , Yavagal Dileep R , Peterson Eric C , Starke Robert M
Published: January 2020

Background

Following publication of the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT), treatment paradigms for cerebral aneurysms (CAs) shifted from open surgical clipping to endovascular embolization as primary therapy in a majority of cases. However, comprehensive analyses evaluating more recent CA diagnosis patterns, patient populations and outcomes as a function of treatment modality remain rare.

Methods

The National Inpatient Sample from 2004 to 2014 was reviewed. Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhages (aSAHs) and unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) with a treatment of surgical clipping or endovascular therapy (EVT) were identified. Time trend series plots were created. Linear and logistic regressions were utilized to quantify treatment changes.

Results

114 137 aSAHs and 122 916 UIAs were reviewed. aSAH (+732/year, p=0.014) and UIA (+2550/year, p<0.0001) discharges increased annually. The annual caseload of surgical clippings for aSAH decreased (−264/year, p=0.0002) while EVT increased (+366/year, p=0.0003). For UIAs, the annual caseload for surgical clipping remained stable but increased for EVT (+615/year, p<0.0001). The rate of incidentally diagnosed UIAs increased annually (+1987/year; p<0.0001). Inpatient mortality decreased for clipping (p<0.0001) and EVT in aSAH (p<0.0001) (2004 vs 2014—clipping 13% vs 11.7%, EVT 15.8% vs 12.7%). Mortality rates for clipped UIAs decreased over time (p<0.0001) and remained stable for EVT (2004 vs 2014—clipping 1.57% vs 0.40%, EVT 0.59% vs 0.52%).

Conclusion

Ruptured and unruptured CAs are increasingly being treated with EVT over clipping. Incidental unruptured aneurysm diagnoses are increasing dramatically. Mortality rates of ruptured aneurysms are improving regardless of treatment modality, whereas mortality in unruptured aneurysms is only improving for surgical clipping.
Versatile use of catheter systems for deployment of the Pipeline embolization device: a comparison of biaxial and triaxial catheter systems
Authors: Vakharia Kunal , Waqas Muhammad , Shakir Hakeem J , Chin Felix , Hartke Joelle N , Shallwani Hussain , Beecher Jeffrey S , Siddiqui Adnan H , Levy Elad I
Published: January 2020

Background

A Pipeline embolization device (PED; Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland) can be deployed using either a biaxial or a triaxial catheter delivery system.

Objective

To compare the use of these two catheter delivery systems for intracranial aneurysm treatment with the PED.

Methods

A retrospective study of patients undergoing PED deployment with biaxial or triaxial catheter systems between 2014 and 2016 was conducted. Experienced neurointerventionalists performed the procedures. Patients who received multiple PEDs or adjunctive coils were excluded. The two groups were compared for PED deployment time, total fluoroscopy time, patient radiation exposure, complications, and cost.

Results

Eighty-two patients with 89 intracranial aneurysms were treated with one PED each. In 49 cases, PEDs were deployed using biaxial access; triaxial access was used in 33 cases. Time (min) from guide catheter run to PED deployment was significantly shorter in the biaxial group (24.0±18.7 vs 38.4±31.1, P=0.006) as was fluoroscopy time (28.8±23.0 vs 50.3±27.1, P=0.001). Peak radiation skin exposure (mGy) in the biaxial group was less than in the triaxial group (1243.7±808.2 vs 2074.6±1505.6, P=0.003). No statistically significant differences were observed in transient and permanent complication rates or modified Rankin Scale scores at 30 days. The triaxial access system cost more than the biaxial access system (average $3285 vs $1790, respectively). Occlusion rates at last follow-up (mean 6 months) were similar between the two systems (average 88.1%: biaxial, 89.2%: triaxial).

Conclusion

Our results indicate near-equivalent safety and effectiveness between biaxial and triaxial approaches. Some reductions in cost and procedure time were noted with the biaxial system.
Randomised comparison of provisional side branch stenting versus a two-stent strategy for treatment of true coronary bifurcation lesions involving a large side branch: the Nordic-Baltic Bifurcation Study IV
Authors: Kumsars Indulis , Holm Niels Ramsing , Niemelä Matti , Erglis Andrejs , Kervinen Kari , Christiansen Evald Høj , Maeng Michael , Dombrovskis Andis , Abraitis Vytautas , Kibarskis Aleksandras , Trovik Thor , Latkovskis Gustavs , Sondore Dace , Narbute Inga , Terkelsen Christian Juhl , Eskola Markku , Romppanen Hannu , Laine Mika , Jensen Lisette Okkels , Pietila Mikko , Gunnes Pål , Hebsgaard Lasse , Frobert Ole , Calais Fredrik , Hartikainen Juha , Aarøe Jens , Ravkilde Jan , Engstrøm Thomas , Steigen Terje K , Thuesen Leif , Lassen Jens F
Published: January 2020

Background

It is still uncertain whether coronary bifurcations with lesions involving a large side branch (SB) should be treated by stenting the main vessel and provisional stenting of the SB (simple) or by routine two-stent techniques (complex). We aimed to compare clinical outcome after treatment of lesions in large bifurcations by simple or complex stent implantation.

Methods

The study was a randomised, superiority trial. Enrolment required a SB≥2.75 mm, ≥50% diameter stenosis in both vessels, and allowed SB lesion length up to 15 mm. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, non-procedural myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularisation at 6 months. Two-year clinical follow-up was included in this primary reporting due to lower than expected event rates.

Results

A total of 450 patients were assigned to simple stenting (n=221) or complex stenting (n=229) in 14 Nordic and Baltic centres. Two-year follow-up was available in 218 (98.6%) and 228 (99.5%) patients, respectively. The primary endpoint of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 6 months was 5.5% vs 2.2% (risk differences 3.2%, 95% CI −0.2 to 6.8, p=0.07) and at 2 years 12.9% vs 8.4% (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.13, p=0.12) after simple versus complex treatment. In the subgroup treated by newer generation drug-eluting stents, MACE was 12.0% vs 5.6% (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.17 to 1.17, p=0.10) after simple versus complex treatment.

Conclusion

In the treatment of bifurcation lesions involving a large SB with ostial stenosis, routine two-stent techniques did not improve outcome significantly compared with treatment by the simpler main vessel stenting technique after 2 years.

Trial registration number

NCT01496638.
The solitary wave solutions to the fractional Radhakrishnan–Kundu–Lakshmanan model
Authors: Sulaiman Tukur Abdulkadir , Bulut Hasan
Published: January 2020

This study addresses the local [Formula: see text]-fractional Radhakrishnan–Kundu–Lakshmanan (RKL) equation by utilizing the extended rational sine-cosine/sinh-cosh methods. We give the constraint conditions which guarantee the existence of the valid solitons and other solutions to the studied model. The reported solutions may be useful in explaining the physical meaning of the RKL equation and some other related nonlinear phenomena arising in nonlinear sciences.
Electrode Mesoscale as a Collection of Particles: Coupled Electrochemical and Mechanical Analysis of NMC Cathodes
Authors: Ferraro Mark E. , Trembacki Bradley L. , Brunini Victor E. , Noble David R. , Roberts Scott A.
Published: January 2020

Battery electrodes are composed of polydisperse particles and a porous, composite binder domain. These materials are arranged into a complex mesostructure whose morphology impacts both electrochemical performance and mechanical response. We present image-based, particle-resolved, mesoscale finite element model simulations of coupled electrochemical-mechanical performance on a representative NMC electrode domain. Beyond predicting macroscale quantities such as half-cell voltage and evolving electrical conductivity, studying behaviors on a per-particle and per-surface basis enables performance and material design insights previously unachievable. Voltage losses are primarily attributable to a complex interplay between interfacial charge transfer kinetics, lithium diffusion, and, locally, electrical conductivity. Mesoscale heterogeneities arise from particle polydispersity and lead to material underutilization at high current densities. Particle-particle contacts, however, reduce heterogeneities by enabling lithium diffusion between connected particle groups. While the porous composite binder domain (CBD) may have slower ionic transport and less available area for electrochemical reactions, its high electrical conductivity makes it the preferred reaction site late in electrode discharge. Mesoscale results are favorably compared to both experimental data and macrohomogeneous models. This work enables improvements in materials design by providing a tool for optimization of particle sizes, CBD morphology, and manufacturing conditions.
Coating of NCM 851005 Cathode Material with Al0@Al2O3 and Subsequent Treatment with Anhydrous HF
Authors: Martens Arthur , Bolli Christoph , Hoffmann Anke , Erk Christoph , Ludwig Thilo , El Kazzi Mario , Breddemann Ulf , Novák Petr , Krossing Ingo
Published: January 2020

The volatile alane (H2AlO
t
Bu)2 decomposes into amorphous HAlO or Al0@Al2O3 nanoparticles upon heating, depending on the time and temperature. By coating the Ni-rich cathode material NCM851005 with this compound, the NCM’s cycling stability and electric conductivity were increased. Thus, the coating not only yielded Al0@Al2O3 nanoparticles but also, by reaction with surface Li2O/LiOH/Li2CO3, a Li+ conductive LiAlO2 layer. The coatings with 0.3 and 0.1 wt% (H2AlO
t
Bu)2, respectively, significantly reduced the resistance build-up to 70/115% after 280 cycles at 1 C (351% without coating). Upon treatment of the 0.3 wt% Al-coating with two equivalents of anhydrous HF, the Al2O3 and LiAlO2 parts were transformed into a Li[AlO(OH)F] layer, which yielded better capacity retention, retaining the low impedance build-up of only +120% (280 cycles at 1 C). This treatment, however, proved to have the same effect as simply reducing the amount of (H2AlO
t
Bu)2 for the coating to 0.1%.
Modified Immune Evolutionary Algorithm for Medical Data Clustering and Feature Extraction under Cloud Computing Environment
Authors: Yu Jing , Li Hang , Liu Desheng
Published: January 2020

Medical data have the characteristics of particularity and complexity. Big data clustering plays a significant role in the area of medicine. The traditional clustering algorithms are easily falling into local extreme value. It will generate clustering deviation, and the clustering effect is poor. Therefore, we propose a new medical big data clustering algorithm based on the modified immune evolutionary method under cloud computing environment to overcome the above disadvantages in this paper. Firstly, we analyze the big data structure model under cloud computing environment. Secondly, we give the detailed modified immune evolutionary method to cluster medical data including encoding, constructing fitness function, and selecting genetic operators. Finally, the experiments show that this new approach can improve the accuracy of data classification, reduce the error rate, and improve the performance of data mining and feature extraction for medical data clustering.
Sustainability of the Air Cargo Handling Process in the Context of Safety and Environmental Aspects
Authors: Drljača Miroslav , Štimac Igor , Vidović Andrija , Petar Saša
Published: January 2020

In addition to passenger traffic, air cargo business is an important business for a global air transport industry. This means that Air Cargo Handling Process (ACHP) is important for any airport or cargo handling agent who provides cargo handling services. To qualitatively manage the ACHP, certain prerequisites must be met, such as competent cargo staff, procedures, cargo information system, infrastructure with enough capacity, and process management. The objective of research presented in this paper is ACHP and its complex structure but in the context of safety and sustainability. Using of several scientific methods of cognition, the authors research the structure of ACHP and safety, and ecological aspects of the process, too. The result of this research is the safety and environmental aspects of the process which are of significant importance for process functionality as well as for the quality level of service that meets customer requirements and to the sustainability of process. Results show that there is a significant impact of the environmental and safety aspects specific to particular activities in ACHP and that they affect the reliability and functionality of the whole process, its profitability, and competitiveness. This points to the need for ACHP to be viewed in context and to understand ACHP sustainability matters and sustainability components.
miR‐146b‐5p Plays a Critical Role in the Regulation of Autophagy in ∆per Brucella melitensis‐Infected RAW264.7 Cells
Authors: Hanwei Jiao , Nie Xin , Zhu Huapei , Li Baobao , Pang Feng , Yang Xiaohong , Cao Ruiyong , Yang Xiaojian , Zhu Shu , Peng Dongmei , Li Yaying , Li Guohua , Zhang Zhenxing , Huang Haifeng , Xu Kailian , Zhao Tianjing , Cheng Ying , Chen Chuangfu , Du Li , Wang Fengyang
Published: January 2020

Brucella‐caused brucellosis is one of the most widespread worldwide zoonoses. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Brucella, which functions as pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), is an important virulence factor that elicits protective antibodies. Per of B. melitensis is involved in the biosynthesis of the O‐side chain of LPS. Autophagy is a crucial element of the innate immune response against intracellular pathogens including Brucella. In this study, we observed that autophagy was inhibited in RAW264.7 cells infected with Brucella melitensis ∆per. And, a high‐throughput array‐based screen and qRT‐PCR validation were performed to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs in RAW264.7 cells infected with B. melitensis M5‐90 ∆per. The results suggested that mmu-miR-146a-5p, mmu-miR-155-5p, mmu-miR-146b-5p, and mmu-miR-3473a were upregulated and mmu-miR-30c-5p was downregulated. During B. melitensis M5‐90 ∆per infection, the increased expression of miR-146b-5p inhibited the autophagy activation in RAW264.7 cells. Using a bioinformatics approach, Tbc1d14 was predicted to be a potential target of miR-146b-5p. The results of a luciferase reporter assay indicated that miR-146b-5p directly targeted the 3′‐UTR of Tbc1d14, and the interaction between miR-146b-5p and the 3′‐UTR of Tbc1d14 was sequence‐specific. High‐throughput RNA‐Seq‐based screening was performed to identify differentially expressed genes in Tbc1d14‐expressing RAW264.7 cells, and these were validated by qRT‐PCR. Among the differentially expressed genes, four autophagy associated genes, IFNγ-inducible p47 GTPase 1 (IIGP1), nuclear receptor binding protein 2 (Nrbp2), transformation related protein 53 inducible nuclear protein 1 (Trp53inp1), and immunity-related GTPase family M member 1 (Irgm1), were obtained. Our findings provide important insights into the functional mechanism of LPS of B. melitensis.
A Simple and Rapid LC-MS/MS Method for Quantification of Total Daidzein, Genistein, and Equol in Human Urine
Authors: Saha Shikha , Kroon Paul A
Published: January 2020

Isoflavones and isoflavandiols have shown many health benefits, such as reducing cardiovascular disease, cancer, age-related disease, and osteoporosis. However, to investigate the relationships between consumption of isoflavones and their health benefits, it is important to be able to accurately quantify exposure in the large numbers of samples typically produced in association studies (i.e., several thousands). Current methods rely on solid-phase extraction protocols for sample cleanup, resulting in protracted extraction and analysis times. Here, we describe a fast and easy sample preparation method of human urine samples for subsequent quantification of daidzein, genistein (isoflavones), and equol (isoflavandiol) using LC-MS/MS. Sample preparation involves only the addition of dimethylformamide (DMF) and formic acid (FA) after enzymatic hydrolysis of their metabolites by a β-glucuronidase and sulfatase mixture. The method was validated by precision, linearity, accuracy, recoveries, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). Linear calibration curves have been shown by daidzein, genistein, and equol. The correlation coefficients values are r2 > 0.99 for daidzein, genistein, and equol. LOD for daidzein and genistein was 1 ng/ml and equol was 2 ng/ml. Recoveries were >90%, and the relative standard deviation for intraday (<10%) and interday (≤20% over 10 days) was good. This method is suitable for quantification of isoflavones and the microbial metabolite equol in human urine and is particularly useful where large numbers of samples require analysis.
Multimodal Capacitated Hub Location Problems with Multi-Commodities: An Application in Freight Transport
Authors: Osorio-Mora Alan , Núñez-Cerda Francisco , Gatica Gustavo , Linfati Rodrigo
Published: January 2020

Hub location problems (HLPs) support decision making on multimodal transport strategic planning. It is related to the location of hubs and the allocation of origin/destination (O/D) flow in a system. Classical formulations assume that these flows are predefined paths and direct delivery is not available. This applied research presents a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for a capacitated multimodal, multi-commodity HLP. Furthermore, an application on the export process in a Latin American country is detailed. The new proposed model, unlike the traditional HLP, allows direct shipment, and its O/D flows are part of the decision model. Situations with up to 100 nodes, six products, and two transport modes are used, working with initial and projected flows. All instances can be solved optimally using the commercial solver, Gurobi 7.5.0, in computational times less than a minute. Results indicate that only one hub is profitable for the case study, both for the initial and projected scenarios. The installation of a hub generates transport savings over 1% per year. Two factors affect the location decision: low concentration and distance between the hubs and destinations. Long distances involve an exhaustive use of trains instead of trucks, which leads to lower transport cost per unit.
Preventive Maintenance Interval Optimization for Continuous Multistate Systems
Authors: Li Ruiying , Zhang Xufeng
Published: January 2020

Preventive maintenance (PM), which is performed periodically on the system to lessen its failing probability, can effectively decrease the loss caused by the system breakdown or the performance degradation. The optimal PM interval has been well studied for both binary-state systems (BSSs) and discrete multistate systems (MSSs). However, in reality, the performance of many systems can change continuously, ranging from complete failure to perfect functioning. Considering such characteristics of systems, two types of performance-based measures, performance availability and probabilistic resilience, are addressed to quantify the system’s behaviour for continuous MSS. A Monte Carlo-based method is given to analyse the performance change process of the system, and an optimization framework is proposed to find the optimal PM interval with the considerations of per-unit-time cost, system breakdown rate, performance availability, and probabilistic resilience. A computer cluster is used as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Aspergilloma Superimposed Infection on Lymphoid Interstitial Pneumonia
Authors: Tran Daniel , Rengan Rajagopalan , Lee James , Lucerna Alan , Espinosa James
Published: January 2020

We describe a case of a 27-year-old female without any prior underlying immunodeficiency syndromes who presented with hemoptysis secondary to subacute invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and subsequently diagnosed with lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP). CT chest demonstrated bilateral interstitial disease with patchy opacities and multiple large cysts and bullae. Diagnosis was confirmed histologically after surgical lung resection of the mycetoma containing cavitation. Therefore, LIP should be suspected in patients presenting with opportunistic infections in the setting of cystic lung disease.
Comparison of Inhibitor and Substrate Selectivity between Rodent and Human Vascular Adhesion Protein-1
Authors: Kubota Ryo , Reid Michael J. , Lieu Kuo Lee , Orme Mark , Diamond Christine , Tulberg Niklas , Henry Susan H.
Published: January 2020

Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is an ectoenzyme that functions as a copper-containing amine oxidase and is involved in leukocyte adhesion at sites of inflammation. Inhibition of VAP-1 oxidative deamination has become an attractive target for anti-inflammatory therapy with demonstrated efficacy in rodent models of inflammation. A previous comparison of purified recombinant VAP-1 from mouse, rat, monkey, and human gene sequences predicted that rodent VAP-1 would have higher affinity for smaller hydrophilic substrates/inhibitors because of its narrower and more hydrophilic active site channel. An optimizedin vitrooxidative deamination fluorescence assay with benzylamine (BA) was used to compare inhibition of five known inhibitors in recombinant mouse, rat, and human VAP-1. Human VAP-1 was more sensitive compared to rat or mouse VAP-1 (lowest IC50concentration) to semicarbazide but was least sensitive to hydralazine and LJP-1207. Hydralazine had a lower IC50in rats compared to humans, although not significant. However, the IC50of hydralazine was significantly higher in the rat compared to mouse VAP-1. The larger hydrophobic compounds from Astellas (compound 35c) and Boehringer Ingelheim (PXS-4728A) were hypothesized to have higher binding affinity for human VAP-1 compared to rodent VAP-1 since the channel in human VAP-1 is larger and more hydrophobic than that in rodent VAP-1. Although the sensitivity of these two inhibitors was the lowest in the mouse enzyme, we found no significant differences between mouse, rat, and human VAP-1. Michaelis-Menten kinetics of the small primary amines phenylethylamine and tyramine were also compared to the common marker substrate BA demonstrating that BA had the highest affinity among the substrates. Rat VAP-1 had the highest affinity for all three substrates and mouse VAP-1 had intermediate affinity for BA and phenylethylamine, but tyramine was not a substrate for mouse VAP-1 under these assay conditions. These results suggest that comparing oxidative deamination in mouse and rat VAP-1 may be important if using these species for preclinical efficacy models.
Analysis of Crossing Behavior and Violations of Electric Bikers at Signalized Intersections
Authors: Tang Tianpei , Wang Hua , Ma Jie , Zhou Xizhao
Published: January 2020

This paper focuses on investigating electric bikers’ (e-bikers) crossing behavior and violations based on survey data of 3,126 e-bikers collected at signalized intersections in Nantong, China. We first explore e-bikers’ characteristics of late crossing, incomplete crossing, and violating crossing behaviors by frequency analysis and duration distribution, and examine a few influential factors for e-bikers’ red-light running (RLR) behavior, including site type, crossing length and traffic signal countdown timers (TSCTs). E-bikers’ RLR behavior is further divided into three categories, namely GR near-violations, RR violations, and RG violations. Second, we use a binary logistic regression model to identify the relationship between e-bikers’ RLR behavior and potential influential factors, including demographic attributes, movement information, and infrastructure conditions. We not only make regression analysis for respective violation type, but also carry out an integrated regression of a census of all three types of violations. Some insightful findings are revealed: (i) the green signal time and site type are the most significant factors to GR near-violations, but with little impact on the other two violation types; (ii) the waiting time, waiting position, passing cars and crossing length exert considerable impact on RR violations; (iii) for RG violations, TSCTs, leading violators and gender are the most significant factors; (iv) it is also unveiled that site type, green signal time and TSCTs have negligible impact on the whole violations regardless of the violation types. Thus, it is more meaningful to investigate the impacts of these variables on e-bikers’ RLR behavior according to different violation types; otherwise, the potential relationship between some crucial factors and e-bikers’ RLR behavior might be ignored. These findings would help to improve intersection crossing safety for traffic management.
The Dynamics of Canalizing Boolean Networks
Authors: Paul Elijah , Pogudin Gleb , Qin William , Laubenbacher Reinhard
Published: January 2020

Boolean networks are a popular modeling framework in computational biology to capture the dynamics of molecular networks, such as gene regulatory networks. It has been observed that many published models of such networks are defined by regulatory rules driving the dynamics that have certain so-called canalizing properties. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a random Boolean network with such properties using analytical methods and simulations. From our simulations, we observe that Boolean networks with higher canalizing depth have generally fewer attractors, the attractors are smaller, and the basins are larger, with implications for the stability and robustness of the models. These properties are relevant to many biological applications. Moreover, our results show that, from the standpoint of the attractor structure, high canalizing depth, compared to relatively small positive canalizing depth, has a very modest impact on dynamics. Motivated by these observations, we conduct mathematical study of the attractor structure of a random Boolean network of canalizing depth one (i.e., the smallest positive depth). For every positive integer ℓ, we give an explicit formula for the limit of the expected number of attractors of length ℓ in an n-state random Boolean network as n goes to infinity.
Fleet Scheduling Optimization of Hazardous Materials Transportation: A Literature Review
Authors: Ma Changxi , Zhou Jibiao , Xu Xuecai (Daniel) , Pan Fuquan , Xu Jin
Published: January 2020

To comprehensively understand the research progress of the fleet scheduling for hazardous materials, the study has summarized the corresponding research results from three aspects (a) hazardous materials transportation risk, (b) route optimization, and (c) fleet scheduling, and then pointed out potential problems from six aspects: (a) the coupling risk of the transport fleet; (b) the screening of time and space for the transport of hazardous materials; (c) the scheduling optimization for transport fleets; (d) taking insufficient account of transport risks fairness; (e) insufficient robustness of scheduling schemes; and (f) lacking of research results on fleet scheduling of transport in the context of antiterrorism. After that, by considering the existing shortcomings of the current research, five research directions are presented that should be further explored in the future. Subsequently, both rough set and association rule theory is applied to explore the cause chain of transportation accidents for hazardous materials, and analyze the mechanism of transport accident for hazardous materials. Next, the Bayesian network is presented to predict the accident rate of hazardous materials transportation under different temporal and spatial conditions, and the dynamic rolling scheduling method of hazardous materials transport fleet is constructed under normal and antiterrorism background.
Using PDMS Plasma Cavity SERS Substrate for the Detection of Aspartame
Authors: Chen Lvming , Ma Chaoqun , Li Lei , Zhu Chun , Gu Jiao , Gao Hui , Zhu Zhuowei , Du Chenxu , Wang Tingyu , Xu Jianwen , Chen Guoqing
Published: January 2020

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to simply and sensitively detect the artificial sweetener aspartame added to purified water. In this paper, a cavity formed spontaneously by silver ion droplets, and liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used as an SERS substrate to integrate plasma nanoparticles into optical devices. Firstly, Raman spectral characteristics of aspartame powder and aspartame aqueous solution were analyzed. Secondly, the effect of aspartame content in purified water on SERS intensity was investigated by using the prepared PDMS plasma cavity to test the samples. Thirdly, the SERS calibration curve was established by using the characteristic peak intensity of aspartame, and a good linearity relationship between the concentration of aspartame added in purified water and the characteristic peak intensity of 1588(±5) cm-1 was obtained. The linear regression equation and correlation coefficient (r) were y = 11412.73874 x + 107.36722 and 0.99593, respectively. The average recovery of aspartame in purified water was 101–106%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 0.121–0.496%. The experimental results show that using this method can detect aspartame in purified water correctly, which is expected to be used in the identification and detection of sweeteners in purified water.
Mechanical Characterization and Chemical Identification of Clear Binders for Road Surface Courses
Authors: Grilli Andrea , Bocci Maurizio , Virgili Amedeo , Conti Carla
Published: January 2020

The development of non‐black asphalt mixtures for surface courses may play a significant role to improve functional, aesthetic and environmental issues of road pavements. Nowadays, the development of clear binders as substitutes for traditional bitumen in asphalt mixtures, which combine durability and mechanical properties, exalting the color of pavements for a better integration of road networks in urban and environmentally sensitive areas, is undoubtedly a timing challenge. However, the selection and classification of clear binders are often based only on color and standard requirements referred to traditional bitumen that do not describe consistently the binder behavior. A better understanding on clear binder properties is required to guide the aggregate selection and the mix design for surface layer, merging safety, aesthetical and environmental benefits into long lasting pavement. This paper presents a comprehensive experimental program, including empirical tests, infrared spectrum analysis, and rheological testing over a wide range of temperature and frequency, to determine the overall mechanical behavior of three clear binders. Results highlighted that the selected clear binders differ from traditional bitumen in terms of mechanical behavior. Different composition or origin can induce to completely different performance. Moreover, the combination of several testing procedures allowed suggesting specific application methods and uses for the three clear binders.
Reclaiming Subsidized Land: An Evaluation of Coal Gangue Interlayers
Authors: Gong Yuling , Hu Zhenqi , McSweeney Kevin
Published: January 2020

Rehabilitation of areas impacted by subsidence following coal mining is a pressing need in eastern China, especially where availability of suitable soil material is limited. A field experiment was established to evaluate performance of varying layered combinations of soil and coal gangue materials as measured by maize (Zea mays L.) growth and yield. Two control treatments and eight experimental treatments were constructed. All treatments had a 30 cm surface layer of topsoil. CK1 consisted of native soil material. CK2 consisted of 50 cm gangue covered by topsoil and 40 cm subsoil. Group 1 treatments (T1–T3) had a 15 cm layer of subsoil immediately below the topsoil, underlain, respectively, by progressively thicker gangue layers (20, 30, and 40 cm) overlying another 15 cm subsoil layer, in turn underlain by gangue. Group 2 treatments (T4–T7) consisted of 40 cm subsoil. T4‐T5 followed the same pattern as Group 1 except that the lower subsoil layer was 25 cm thick. T6‐T7 differed from T4‐T5 by having 25 cm upper and 15 cm lower subsoil layers between different thicknesses of gangue. Group3 (T8) consisted of three 10 cm layer of subsoil separating 2 gangue layers and gangue layer below. Key plant performance indicators, biomass and yield, were significantly better under CK1‐2 than in the other treatments (T1–T8). Below the topsoil Eh, pH and total salt content were higher and water content was less in T1–T8 than in CK1‐2, reflecting the influence of gangue in 30–70 cm zone in these treatments. The nutrient content (TN, AN, TP, OP, TK, AK, and OM) of topsoil in experimental treatments was lower than or similar to that of the control treatments. Results indicate that minimizing the adverse impacts of gangue requires a combined top‐subsoil cover of at least 70 cm.
Optimal Pattern Synthesis of Linear Array and Broadband Design of Whip Antenna Using Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Wang Hengfeng , Liu Chao , Wu Huaning , Li Bin , Xie Xu
Published: January 2020

Antenna arrays with high directivity, low side-lobe level, and null control in desired direction and whip antenna with wider bandwidth both need to be optimized to meet different needs of communication systems. A new natural heuristic algorithm simulating social behavior of grasshoppers, grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), is applied to electromagnetic field as a new effective technology to solve the antenna optimization problem for the first time. Its algorithm is simple and has no gradient mechanism, can effectively avoid falling into local optimum, and is suitable for single-objective and multiobjective optimization problems. GOA is used to optimize the side lobe suppression, null depth, and notch control of arbitrary linear array and then used to optimize the loading and matching network of 10-meter HF broadband whip antenna compared with other algorithms. The results show that GOA has more advantages in side-lobe suppression, null depth, and notch control of linear array than other algorithms and has better broadband optimization performance for HF whip antenna. The pattern synthesis and antenna broadband optimization based on GOA provide a new and effective method for antenna performance optimization.
Pretreatment with Roxadustat (FG-4592) Attenuates Folic Acid-Induced Kidney Injury through Antiferroptosis via Akt/GSK-3β/Nrf2 Pathway
Authors: Li Xue , Zou Yu , Xing Jia , Fu Yuan-Yuan , Wang Kai-Yue , Wan Peng-Zhi , Zhai Xiao-Yue
Published: January 2020

Folic acid- (FA-) induced kidney injury is characterized by the tubule damage due to the disturbance of the antioxidant system and subsequent interstitial fibrosis. FG-4592 is an inhibitor of prolyl hydroxylase of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), an antioxidant factor. The present study investigated the protective role of FG-4592 pretreatment at the early stage of the kidney injury and long-term impact on the progression of renal fibrosis. FG-4592 was administrated two days before FA injection in mice. On the second day after FA injection, the mice with FG-4592 pretreatment showed an improved renal function, compared with those without FG-4592 pretreatment, indicated by biochemical and histological parameters; meanwhile, the cellular content of iron, malondialdehyde, and 4-hydroxynonenal histologically decreased, implying the suppression of iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Simultaneously, upregulation of HIF-1α was found, along with Nrf2 activation, which was reflected by increased nuclear translocation and high-expression of downstream proteins, including heme-oxygenase1, glutathione peroxidase4, and cystine/glutamate transporter, as well as ferroportin. Correspondingly, the elevated levels of antioxidative enzymes and glutathione, as well as reduced iron accumulation, were observed, suggesting a lower risk of occurrence of ferroptosis with FG-4592 pretreatment. This was confirmed by reversed pathological parameters and improved renal function in FA-treated mice with the administration of ferrostatin-1, a specific ferroptosis inhibitor. Furthermore, a signal pathway study indicated that Nrf2 activation was associated with increased phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3β, verified by the use of an inhibitor of the PI3K that phosphorylates Akt. Moreover, FG-4592 pretreatment also decreased macrophage infiltration and expression of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β. On the 14th day after FA injection, FG-4592 pretreatment decreased collagen deposition and expression of fibrosis biomarkers. These findings suggest that the protective role of FG-4592 pretreatment is achieved mainly by decreasing ferroptosis at the early stage of FA-induced kidney injury via Akt/GSK-3β-mediated Nrf2 activation, which retards the fibrosis progression.
A Novel Weighted Fractional GM(1,1) Model and Its Applications
Authors: Shen Qin-Qin , Shi Quan , Tang Tian-Pei , Yao Lin-Quan
Published: January 2020

Based on the ideas of the new information priority principle and the fractional-accumulation generating operator, in this paper we propose a novel weighted fractional GM(1,1) (WFGM(1,1)) prediction model. In the new model, the original sequence is first transformed by using the weighted fractional-accumulation generating operator, which involves two parameters. With special choices of these parameters, the proposed WFGM(1,1) model reduces to the classical GM(1,1) model and the fractional GM(1,1) (FGM(1,1)) model, as well as the new information priority GM(1,1) (NIPGM(1,1)) model studied recently. Stability property of the WFGM(1,1) model is studied in detail. In practice, the quantum particle swarm optimization algorithm is adopted to choose the quasi-optimal parameters for the new model so as to get the best fitting accuracy. Finally, four numerical examples from different practical applications are present. Numerical results show that the new proposed prediction model is very efficient and has both the best fitting accuracy and the best prediction accuracy compared with the GM(1,1) and the FGM(1,1) as well as the NIPGM(1,1) prediction models.
Biquaternionic Reformulation of a Fractional Monochromatic Maxwell System
Authors: Pérez Yudier Peña , Blaya Ricardo Abreu , Alejandre Martín Patricio Árciga , Reyes Juan Bory
Published: January 2020

In this work, we propose a biquaternionic reformulation of a fractional monochromatic Maxwell system. Additionally, some examples are given to illustrate how the quaternionic fractional approach emerges in linear hydrodynamics and elasticity.
Quantifying the Impact of Rainfall on Taxi Hailing and Operation
Authors: Sun Jian , Dong He , Qin Guoyang , Tian Ye
Published: January 2020

Adverse weathers are well-known to impact the operation of transportation systems, including taxis. This paper utilizes taxi GPS waypoint data to investigate the quantitative impact of rainfall on taxi hailing and taxi operations to help improve service quality on rainy days. Through statistical analysis, the study proves that it is more difficult to hail taxis on rainy days, especially during morning peak hours. By modelling the difference value of factors for rainfall and nonrainfall conditions in a multivariate regression model and attaining the significance and elasticity of each factor, passenger demand, taxi supply, search time and velocity are proved to be the significant factors that lower the taxis’ level of service on rainy days. Among them, the number of passengers and taxis are two factors that have the greatest impact. It is also shown that there is no significant difference in the total taxi supply and passenger demand between rainfall and nonrainfall conditions, but a dramatic change in the spatial distribution is discovered. The results suggest that instead of simply providing more taxis on rainy days, optimally dispatching taxicabs to high demand regions can be a more effective solution.
Video-Based Detection Infrastructure Enhancement for Automated Ship Recognition and Behavior Analysis
Authors: Chen Xinqiang , Qi Lei , Yang Yongsheng , Luo Qiang , Postolache Octavian , Tang Jinjun , Wu Huafeng
Published: January 2020

Video-based detection infrastructure is crucial for promoting connected and autonomous shipping (CAS) development, which provides critical on-site traffic data for maritime participants. Ship behavior analysis, one of the fundamental tasks for fulfilling smart video-based detection infrastructure, has become an active topic in the CAS community. Previous studies focused on ship behavior analysis by exploring spatial-temporal information from automatic identification system (AIS) data, and less attention was paid to maritime surveillance videos. To bridge the gap, we proposed an ensemble you only look once (YOLO) framework for ship behavior analysis. First, we employed the convolutional neural network in the YOLO model to extract multi-scaled ship features from the input ship images. Second, the proposed framework generated many bounding boxes (i.e., potential ship positions) based on the object confidence level. Third, we suppressed the background bounding box interferences, and determined ship detection results with intersection over union (IOU) criterion, and thus obtained ship positions in each ship image. Fourth, we analyzed spatial-temporal ship behavior in consecutive maritime images based on kinematic ship information. The experimental results have shown that ships are accurately detected (i.e., both of the average recall and precision rate were higher than 90%) and the historical ship behaviors are successfully recognized. The proposed framework can be adaptively deployed in the connected and autonomous vehicle detection system in the automated terminal for the purpose of exploring the coupled interactions between traffic flow variation and heterogeneous detection infrastructures, and thus enhance terminal traffic network capacity and safety.
Identification of Prognostic Immune Genes in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma
Authors: Su Qisheng , Sun Yan , Zhang Zunni , Yang Zheng , Qiu Yuling , Li Xiaohong , Mo Wuning
Published: January 2020

Background. The aim of this study is to identify possible prognostic‐related immune genes in bladder urothelial carcinoma and to try to predict the prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma based on these genes. Methods. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) expression profile data and corresponding clinical traits were obtained. Differential gene analysis was performed using R software. Reactome was used to analyze the pathway of immune gene participation. The differentially expressed transcription factors and differentially expressed immune‐related genes were extracted from the obtained list of differentially expressed genes, and the transcription factor‐immune gene network was constructed. To analyze the relationship between immune genes and clinical traits of bladder urothelial carcinoma, a multifactor Cox proportional hazards regression model based on the expression of immune genes was established and validated. Results. Fifty‐eight immune genes were identified to be associated with the prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma. These genes were enriched in Cytokine Signaling in Immune System, Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Interferon alpha/beta signaling, and other immune related pathways. Transcription factor‐immune gene regulatory network was established, and EBF1, IRF4, SOX17, MEF2C, NFATC1, STAT1, ANXA6, SLIT2, and IGF1 were screened as hub genes in the network. The model calculated by the expression of 16 immune genes showed a good survival prediction ability (p < 0.05 and AUC = 0.778). Conclusion. A transcription factor‐immune gene regulatory network related to the prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma was established. EBF1, IRF4, SOX17, MEF2C, NFATC1, STAT1, ANXA6, SLIT2, and IGF1 were identified as hub genes in the network. The proportional hazards regression model constructed by 16 immune genes shows a good predictive ability for the prognosis of bladder urothelial carcinoma.