bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Potential of Trigona spp. Propolis as an Antioxidant Agent to Reduce Residual Peroxide after Intra-Coronal Bleaching Treatments
Authors: Trilaksana Aries Chandra , Syam Syamsiah , Ruslin Muhammad , Shen Yung-Kang
Published: July 2022

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Trigona spp. propolis as an antioxidant to reduce residual peroxide after intra-coronal bleaching treatments. Thirty-five maxillary central incisors were divided into seven groups: five samples without antioxidants; sodium ascorbate 10% combined with Tween 80 0.2%; and Trigona spp. propolis 10%. The lengths of the application time were 1 h, 24 h, and 48 h. Each application time consisted of five samples. Root resection followed by artificial discoloration was performed in the samples. Then, intra-coronal bleaching using 35% hydrogen peroxide was applied. After the tooth color changed, the bleaching material was cleared, and this was followed by the applications of sodium ascorbate 10% combined with Tween 80 0.2% and Trigona spp. propolis 10%. The peroxide residue was measured by assessing dissolved oxygen using a titration analysis with either the Winkler or iodometric method. Data were analyzed using the ANOVA test and Tukey’s HSD test. The lowest peroxide residue amount was found with the application of antioxidants for 48 h after the intra-coronal bleaching treatment using 35% hydrogen peroxide. However, there was no significant difference between sodium ascorbate 10% combined with Tween 80 0.2% and Trigona spp. propolis 10% to reduce peroxide residues after the intra-coronal bleaching treatment (p > 0.05). Therefore, these findings indicate that Trigona spp. propolis 10% effectively reduces peroxide residues after intra-coronal bleaching treatments, which can interfere with the bond of the composite to the tooth surface and shorten the wait time for composite restorations after bleaching treatments.
Regional Characteristics and Control Method of the Mixing Flow Pattern for Water-Lubricated Tilting Pad Thrust Bearings
Authors: Ouyang Wu , Wang Bin , Huang Jian
Published: July 2022

The water-lubricated tilting pad thrust bearings (WTTBs) of the reactor coolant main pump and high-power RDT operate at a large linear velocity, heavy load, and low viscosity. On the basis of the performance prediction of WTTBs in the mixing flow pattern, a hypothesis of the regional flow pattern is proposed. To compare the lubrication performance under four kinds of flow pattern modes, a thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication model of the WTTB considering the flow pattern is established, and a partition iteration algorithm for the mixing flow pattern is provided. Moreover, a method for controlling the flow pattern by changing the pad surface morphology is proposed. A simulation is used to indicate that the bearing performance under the mixing flow pattern calculated by the regional flow pattern mode is between that of the laminar and turbulent flows. The regional mixing flow pattern mode can automatically retrogress to the single flow pattern mode by changing the operation conditions. Both the circumferential bulge and radial concave pad surfaces are beneficial for increasing the turbulent area and thereby improving the load-carrying capacity of the WTTB.
An In Vitro Study of the Reproducibility of the Drilling Access of Digitalized Surgical Guides Generated via Three Different Implant Planning Software Programs
Authors: Visuttiwattanakorn Surakit , Phatthanagowit Bongkoch
Published: July 2022

Several implant planning software programs are widely use in implant treatments, but there has been no evidence of how different software programs affect the accuracy of static surgical guides used for implant placement. Thus, in this in vitro study, we aimed to compare the accuracy of static surgical guides that were prefabricated from three different software programs, including Implant Studio (Program A) (3Shape®, Copenhagen, Denmark), coDiagnostiX® (Program B) (Straumann®, Basal, Switzerland), and Blue Sky Plan (Program C) (Blue Sky Bio®, LLC, Libertyville, IL, USA). A total of 90 drillable polyurethane models were used as samples in this in vitro study; 30 study models were used to plan the same implant positions and design the surgical guides by each software program (n = 30) and then 90 implants were placed in the models using the surgical guides. The outcomes of the surgical guide accuracy were autonomically measured by the evaluation tool in the coDiagnostiX® (Straumann®, Basal, Switzerland) software program. The deviations between the planned and placed implants were automatically evaluated as three-dimensional and angular deviations. The mean three-dimensional implant position deviations from the implant platform of Program A, Program B, and Program C were 0.55 ± 0.25 mm, 0.52 ± 0.31 mm, and 0.56 ± 0.22 mm, respectively. The mean three-dimensional implant position deviations from the implant apex of Program A, Program B, and Program C were 0.72 ± 0.37 mm, 0.73 ± 0.4 mm, and 0.9 ± 0.46 mm, respectively. The mean depth deviations of Program A, Program B, and Program C were 0.19 ± 0.13 mm, 0.31 ± 0.32 mm, and 0.31 ± 0.22 mm, respectively. The mean angulation deviations of Program A, Program B, and Program C were 1.72 ± 0.88 degrees, 2.05 ± 1.24 degrees, and 2.74 ± 1.81 degrees, respectively. The results indicated that there were no significant differences among the three-dimensional positions at the implant platform, the three-dimensional positions at the implant apex, and the depth deviations between all three groups. However, it was found that there was a significant difference in the angular deviation of the implant position between the three groups (p = 0.02). The mean angular deviation of Program C was significantly greater than the Program A group (p = 0.001). In terms of the deviation directions of the implant platform and implant apex for the three groups, most of the deviations of a larger magnitude were toward the mesio-buccal direction. No matter which program was used to plan the implant position, deviations between the placed implant position and the planned position still occurred. Therefore, when planning implant positions with any implant planning software program, one must take into account an implant position deviation.
An Enhanced Proximal Policy Optimization-Based Reinforcement Learning Method with Random Forest for Hyperparameter Optimization
Authors: Ma Zhixin , Cui Shengmin , Joe Inwhee
Published: July 2022

For most machine learning and deep learning models, the selection of hyperparameters has a significant impact on the performance of the model. Therefore, deep learning and data analysis experts have to spend a lot of time on hyperparameter tuning when building a model for accomplishing a task. Although there are many algorithms used to solve hyperparameter optimization (HPO), these methods require the results of the actual trials at each epoch to help perform the search. To reduce the number of trials, model-based reinforcement learning adopts multilayer perceptron (MLP) to capture the relationship between hyperparameter settings and model performance. However, MLP needs to be carefully designed because there is a risk of overfitting. Thus, we propose a random forest-enhanced proximal policy optimization (RFEPPO) reinforcement learning algorithm to solve the HPO problem. In addition, reinforcement learning as a solution to HPO will encounter the sparse reward problem, eventually leading to slow convergence. To address this problem, we employ the intrinsic reward, which introduces the prediction error as the reward signal. Experiments carried on nine tabular datasets and two image classification datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our model.
A Decision Support System for Melanoma Diagnosis from Dermoscopic Images
Authors: Rizzi Maria , Guaragnella Cataldo
Published: July 2022

Innovative technologies in dermatology allow for the early screening of skin cancer, which results in a reduction in the mortality rate and surgical treatments. The diagnosis of melanoma is complex not only because of the number of different lesions but because of the high similarity amongst skin lesions of different nature; hence, human vision and physician experience still play a major role. The adoption of automatic systems would aid clinical assessment and make the diagnosis reproducible by eliminating inter- and intra-observer variabilities. In our paper, we describe a computer-aided system for the early diagnosis of melanoma in dermoscopic images. A soft pre-processing phase is performed so as to avoid the loss of details both in texture, colors, and contours, and color-based image segmentation is later carried out using k-means. Features linked to both geometric properties and color characteristics are used to analyze skin lesions through a support vector machine classifier. The PH2 public database is used for the assessment of the procedure’s sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. A statistical approach is carried out to establish the impact of image quality on performance. The obtained results show remarkable achievements, so our computer-aided approach should be suitable as a Decision Support System for melanoma detection.
Selected Properties of Juices from Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa L.) Fruits Preserved Using the PEF Method
Authors: Oziembłowski Maciej , Trenka Magdalena , Czaplicka Marta , Maksimowski Damian , Nawirska-Olszańska Agnieszka
Published: July 2022

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa L.) fruit and processed berries have very high biological value because they are a rich source of bioactive compounds. The method of black chokeberry juice preservation is of key importance. One of the more recent ways in which semiliquid and liquid products can be preserved is the pulsed electric field (PEF) method. The aim of our study was to compare chosen physical and chemical properties of fresh and PEF-preserved chokeberry fruit juices derived from farms located in the vicinity of Cracow (Kraków). The analysis focused on the physical properties and chemical composition of black chokeberry juices, their bioactive compound content, and antioxidant activity. After using the PEF method, there was an increase in dry weight, sugars, and polyphenols, which could be caused by the slight evaporation of water during the process. During this process, antioxidant activity decreased, and ultra-weak luminescence slightly increased. The process of preserving juices using the PEF method is a good way to preserve the bioactive properties of the obtained aronia juices.
An Urban Traffic Flow Fusion Network Based on a Causal Spatiotemporal Graph Convolution Network
Authors: Xu Xing , Mao Hao , Zhao Yun , Lü Xiaoshu
Published: July 2022

Traffic flow prediction is an important part of intelligent transportation systems. In recent years, most methods have considered only the feature relationships of spatial dimensions of traffic flow data, and ignored the feature fusion of spatial and temporal aspects. Traffic flow has the features of periodicity, nonlinearity and complexity. There are many relatively isolated points in the nodes of traffic flow, resulting in the features usually being accompanied by high-frequency noise. The previous methods directly used the graph convolution network for feature extraction. A polynomial approximation graph convolution network is essentially a convolution operation to enhance the weight of high-frequency signals, which lead to excessive high-frequency noise and reduce prediction accuracy to a certain extent. In this paper, a deep learning framework is proposed for a causal gated low-pass graph convolution neural network (CGLGCN) for traffic flow prediction. The full convolution structure adopted by the causal convolution gated linear unit (C-GLU) extracts the time features of traffic flow to avoid the problem of long running time associated with recursive networks. The reduction of running parameters and running time greatly improved the efficiency of the model. The new graph convolution neural network with self-designed low-pass filter was able to extract spatial features, enhance the weight of low-frequency signal features, suppress the influence of high-frequency noise, extract the spatial features of each node more comprehensively, and improve the prediction accuracy of the framework. Several experiments were carried out on two real-world real data sets. Compared with the existing models, our model achieved better results for short-term and long-term prediction.
Physically Consistent Implementation of the Mixture Model for Modelling Nanofluid Conjugate Heat Transfer in Minichannel Heat Sinks
Authors: Ali Abdullah Masoud , Angelino Matteo , Rona Aldo
Published: July 2022

As much as two-phase mixture models resolve more physics than single-phase homogeneous models, their inconsistent heat transfer predictions have limited their use in modelling nanofluid cooled minichannel heat sinks. This work investigates, addresses, and solves this key shortcoming, enabling reliable physically sound predictions of minichannel nanoflows, using the two-phase mixture model. It does so by applying the single-phase and the two-phase mixture model to a nine-passages rectangular minichannel, 3 mm deep and 1 mm wide, cooled by a 1% by volume suspension of Al2O3 nanoparticles in water, over the Reynolds number range 92 to 455. By varying the volume fraction αnf of the second phase between 2% and 50%, under a constant heat flux of 16.67 W/cm2 and 30 Celsius coolant inflow, it is shown that the two-phase mixture model predicts heat transfer coefficient, pressure loss, friction factor, exergy destruction rate, exergy expenditure rate, and second law efficiency values converging to the single-phase model ones at increasing αnf. A two-phase mixture model defined with 1% second phase volume fraction and 100% nanoparticles volume fraction in the second phase breaks the Newtonian fluid assumption within the model and produces outlier predictions. By avoiding this unphysical regime, the two-phase mixture model matched experimental measurements of average heat transfer coefficient to within 1.76%. This has opened the way for using the two-phase mixture model with confidence to assess and resolve uneven nanoparticle dispersion effects and increase the thermal and mass transport performance of minichannels.
A Semantic Segmentation Method with Emphasis on the Edges for Automatic Vessel Wall Analysis
Authors: Xu Wenjing , Zhu Qing
Published: July 2022

To develop a precise semantic segmentation method with an emphasis on the edges for automated segmentation of the arterial vessel wall and plaque based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) in order to facilitate the quantitative assessment of plaque in patients with ischemic stroke. A total of 124 subjects’ MR vessel wall images were used to train, validate, and test the model using deep learning. An end-to-end architecture network that can emphasize the edge information, namely the Edge Vessel Segmentation Network (EVSegNet) for automated segmentation of the arterial vessel wall, is proposed. The EVSegNet network consists of two workflows: one is implemented to achieve finely and multiscale segmentation by combining Dense Upsampling Convolution (DUC) and Hybrid Dilated Convolution (HDC) with different dilation rates modules, and the other utilizes edge information and is fused with another workflow to finally segment the vessel wall. The proposed network demonstrates robust segmentation of the vessel wall and better performance with a Dice (%) of 87.5, compared with the traditional U-net that has a Dice (%) of 81.0 and other U-net-based models on the test dataset. The results suggest that the proposed segmentation method with an emphasis on the edges improves segmentation accuracy effectively and will facilitate the quantitative assessment of atherosclerosis.
Stereoselective Synthesis and Isolation of (±)-trans,trans-Cyclohexane-1,2,4,5-tetraol
Authors: Rosatella Andreia A. , Afonso Carlos A. M.
Published: July 2022

Cyclohexanetetrols belong to the family of cyclitols, a class of natural products known for their diverse bioactivity. Their synthesis has been reported using hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant and water or tert-butanol as a solvent. Due to the high polarity of those compounds, a green approach for their isolation from aqueous solutions can be challenging. Here, we report the stereoselective synthesis of (±)-trans,trans-cyclohexane-1,2,4,5-tetraol combined with a novel isolation method, where is possible the isolation of the product in excellent yield without the need for derivatization, column chromatography or organic solvent extraction.
Functional Kriging for Spatiotemporal Modeling of Nitrogen Dioxide in a Middle Eastern Megacity
Authors: Ahmadi Basiri Elham , Taghavi-Shahri Seyed Mahmood , Mahaki Behzad , Amini Heresh
Published: July 2022

Long-term hour-specific air pollution exposure estimates have rarely been of interest in epidemiological research. However, this can be relevant for studies that aim to estimate the residential exposure for the hours that subjects mostly spend time there, or for those hours that they may work in another location. Here, we developed a model by spatially predicting the long-term diurnal curves of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Tehran, Iran, one of the most polluted and populated megacities in the Middle East. We used the statistical framework of functional data analysis (FDA) including ordinary kriging for functional data (OKFD) and functional analysis of variance (fANOVA) for modeling. The long-term NO2 diurnal curves had two distinct maxima and minima. The absolute minimum value of the city average was 40.6 ppb (around 4:00 p.m.) and the absolute maximum value was 52.0 ppb (around 10:00 p.m.). The OKFD showed the concentrations, the diurnal maximum/minimum values, and their corresponding occurring times varied across the city. The fANOVA highlighted that the effect of population density on the NO2 concentrations is not constant and depends on time within the diurnal period. The provided estimation of long-term hour-specific maps can inform future epidemiological studies to use the long-term mean for specific hour(s) of the day. Moreover, the demonstrated FDA framework can be used as a set of flexible statistical methods.
Effects and Prognostic Values of Circadian Genes CSNK1E/GNA11/KLF9/THRAP3 in Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma via a Comprehensive Analysis
Authors: Li Shujing , Wang Xianggang , Wang Qingqing , Ding Kaixin , Chen Xin , Zhao Yun , Gao Yu , Wang Yuanyuan
Published: July 2022

Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is one of the most prevalent and deadly types of renal cancer in adults. Recent research has identified circadian genes as being involved in the development and progression of KIRC by altering their expression. This study aimed to identify circadian genes that are differentially expressed in KIRC and assess their role in KIRC progression. In KIRC, there were 553 differentially expressed rhythm genes (DERGs), with 300 up-regulated and 253 down-regulated DERGs. Functional enrichment analyses showed that DERGs were greatly enriched in the circadian rhythm and immune response pathways. Survival analyses indicated that higher expression levels of CSNK1E were related to shorter overall survival of KIRC patients, whereas lower expression levels of GNA11, KLF9, and THRAP3 were associated with shorter overall survival of KIRC patients. Through cell assay verification, the mRNA level of CSNK1E was significantly up-regulated, whereas the mRNA levels of GNA11, KLF9, and THRAP3 were dramatically down-regulated in KIRC cells, which were consistent with the bioinformatics analysis of KIRC patient samples. Age, grade, stage, TM classification, and CSNK1E expression were all shown to be high-risk variables, whereas GNA11, KLF9, and THRAP3 expression were found to be low-risk factors in univariate Cox analyses. Multivariate Cox analyses showed that CSNK1E and KLF9 were also independently related to overall survival. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that the proportion of immune cells varied greatly between KIRC tissues and normal tissue, whereas CSNK1E, GNA11, KLF9, and THRAP3 expression levels were substantially linked with the infiltration abundance of immune cells and immunological biomarkers. Moreover, interaction networks between CSNK1E/GNA11/KLF9/THRAP3 and immune genes were constructed to explore the stream connections. The findings could help us better understand the molecular mechanisms of KIRC progression, and CSNK1E/GNA11/KLF9/THRAP3 might be used as molecular targets for chronotherapy in KIRC patients in the near future.
Rapid Degradation of Rhodamine B through Visible-Photocatalytic Advanced Oxidation Using Self-Degradable Natural Perylene Quinone Derivatives—Hypocrellins
Authors: Huang Zhixian , Zhang Fan , Tang Yanbo , Wen Yongdi , Wu Zhenqiang , Fang Zhen , Tian Xiaofei
Published: July 2022

Hypocrellins (HYPs) are natural perylene quinone derivatives from Ascomycota fungi. Based on the excellent photosensitization properties of HYPs, this work proposed a photocatalytic advanced oxidation process (PAOP) that uses HYPs to degrade rhodamine B (RhB) as a model organic pollutant. A synergistic activity of HYPs and H2O2 (0.18 mM of HYPs, 0.33% w/v of H2O2) was suggested, resulting in a yield of 82.4% for RhB degradation after 60 min under visible light irradiation at 470–475 nm. The principle of pseudo-first-order kinetics was used to describe the decomposition reaction with a calculated constant (k) of 0.02899 min−1 (R2 = 0.983). Light-induced self-degradation of HYPs could be activated under alkaline (pH > 7) conditions, promising HYPs as an advanced property to alleviate the current dilemma of secondary pollution by synthetic photocatalysts in the remediation of emerging organic pollutants.
A Novel Technique for Disinfection Treatment of Contaminated Dental Implant Surface Using 0.1% Riboflavin and 445 nm Diode Laser—An In Vitro Study
Authors: Morelato Luka , Budimir Ana , Smojver Igor , Katalinić Ivan , Vuletić Marko , Ajanović Muhamed , Gabrić Dragana
Published: July 2022

Background: Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been introduced as a potential option for peri-implantitis treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of a novel technique involving a combination of 445 nm diode laser light with 0.1% riboflavin solution (used as a photosensitizing dye) as applied on a bacterial–fungal biofilm formed on implants and to compare the performance of this technique with that of the commonly used combination of 660 nm diode laser with 0.1% methylene blue dye. Methods: An in vitro study was conducted on 80 titanium dental implants contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and Candida albicans (CA) species. The implants were randomly divided into four groups: negative control (NC), without surface treatment; positive control (PC), treated with a 0.2% chlorhexidine (CHX)-based solution; PDT1, 660 nm (EasyTip 320 µm, 200 mW, Q power = 100 mW, 124.34 W/cm2, 1240 J/cm2) with a 0.1% methylene blue dye; and PDT2, 445 nm (EasyTip 320 µm, 200 mW, Q power = 100 mW, 100 Hz, 124.34 W/cm2, 1.24 J/cm2) with a 0.1% riboflavin dye. Results: The PDT1 and PDT2 groups showed greater reduction of SA and CA in comparison to the NC group and no significant differences in comparison to the PC group. No statistically significant differences between the PDT1 and PDT2 groups were observed. Conclusions: A novel antimicrobial treatment involving a combination of 445 nm diode laser light with riboflavin solution showed efficiency in reducing SA and CA biofilm formation on dental implant surfaces comparable to those of the more commonly used PDT treatment consisting of 660 nm diode laser light with methylene blue dye or 0.2% CHX treatment.
Understanding How Heart Metabolic Derangement Shows Differential Stage Specificity for Heart Failure with Preserved and Reduced Ejection Fraction
Authors: Ferro Federico , Spelat Renza , Valente Camilla , Contessotto Paolo
Published: July 2022

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical condition defined by structural and functional abnormalities in the heart that gradually result in reduced cardiac output (HFrEF) and/or increased cardiac pressures at rest and under stress (HFpEF). The presence of asymptomatic individuals hampers HF identification, resulting in delays in recognizing patients until heart dysfunction is manifested, thus increasing the chance of poor prognosis. Given the recent advances in metabolomics, in this review we dissect the main alterations occurring in the metabolic pathways behind the decrease in cardiac function caused by HF. Indeed, relevant preclinical and clinical research has been conducted on the metabolite connections and differences between HFpEF and HFrEF. Despite these promising results, it is crucial to note that, in addition to identifying single markers and reliable threshold levels within the healthy population, the introduction of composite panels would strongly help in the identification of those individuals with an increased HF risk. That said, additional research in the field is required to overcome the current drawbacks and shed light on the pathophysiological changes that lead to HF. Finally, greater collaborative data sharing, as well as standardization of procedures and approaches, would enhance this research field to fulfil its potential.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Lower Extremity Pain
Authors: Busch Clayton , Smith Olivia , Weaver Tristan , Vallabh Jayesh , Abd-Elsayed Alaa
Published: July 2022

Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is rapidly increasing in use. This interventional pain treatment modality involves modulating peripheral nerves for a variety of chronic pain conditions. This review evaluated its use specifically in the context of chronic lower extremity pain. Studies continue to elucidate the utility of PNS and better define indications, contraindications, as well as short- and long-term benefits of the procedure for the lower extremity. While large, prospective evidence is still lacking, the best available evidence suggests that improvements may be seen in pain scores, functionality, and opioid consumption. Overall, evidence synthesis suggests that PNS for the lower extremities may be a viable option for patients with chronic lower extremity pain.
Characterization of the Tumor Microenvironment and the Biological Processes with a Role in Prostatic Tumorigenesis
Authors: Ionescu Cristina-Anita , Aschie Mariana , Matei Elena , Cozaru Georgeta Camelia , Deacu Mariana , Mitroi Anca Florentina , Baltatescu Gabriela Isabela , Nicolau Antonela-Anca , Mazilu Laura , Tuta Liliana Ana , Iorga Ionut Ciprian , Stanigut Alina , Enciu Manuela
Published: July 2022

Prostate intratumoral heterogeneity, driven by epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity, contributes to the limited treatment response, and it is therefore necessary to use the biomarkers to improve patient prognostic survival. We aimed to characterize the tumor microenvironment (T lymphocyte infiltration, intratumoral CD34, and KI-67 expressions) by immunohistochemistry methods and to study the biological mechanisms (cell cycle, cell proliferation by adhesion glycoproteins, cell apoptosis) involved in the evolution of the prostate tumor process by flow-cytometry techniques. Our results showed that proliferative activity (S-phase) revealed statistically significant lower values of prostate adenocarcinoma (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) reported at non-malignant adjacent cell samples (PCa 4.32 ± 4.91; BPH 2.35 ± 1.37 vs. C 10.23 ± 0.43, p < 0.01). Furthermore, 68% of BPH cases and 88% of patients with PCa had aneuploidy. Statistically increased values of cell proliferation (CD34+ CD61+) were observed in prostate adenocarcinoma and hyperplasia cases reported to non-malignant adjacent cell samples (PCa 28.79 ± 10.14; BPH 40.65 ± 11.88 vs. C 16.15 ± 2.58, p < 0.05). The CD42b+ cell population with a role in cell adhesion, and metastasis had a significantly increased value in PCa cases (38.39 ± 11.23) reported to controls (C 26.24 ± 0.62, p < 0.01). The intratumoral expression of CD34 showed a significantly increased pattern of PCa tissue samples reported to controls (PCa 26.12 ± 6.84 vs. C 1.50 ± 0.70, p < 0.01). Flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle, apoptosis, and adhesion glycoproteins with a critical role in tumoral cell proliferation, T cell infiltrations, Ki-67, and CD 34 expressions by IHC methods are recommended as techniques for the efficient means of measurement for adenocarcinoma and hyperplasia prostate tissue samples and should be explored in the future.
Signal-Based Methods in Dielectrophoresis for Cell and Particle Separation
Authors: Farasat Malihe , Aalaei Ehsan , Kheirati Ronizi Saeed , Bakhshi Atin , Mirhosseini Shaghayegh , Zhang Jun , Nguyen Nam-Trung , Kashaninejad Navid
Published: July 2022

Separation and detection of cells and particles in a suspension are essential for various applications, including biomedical investigations and clinical diagnostics. Microfluidics realizes the miniaturization of analytical devices by controlling the motion of a small volume of fluids in microchannels and microchambers. Accordingly, microfluidic devices have been widely used in particle/cell manipulation processes. Different microfluidic methods for particle separation include dielectrophoretic, magnetic, optical, acoustic, hydrodynamic, and chemical techniques. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a method for manipulating polarizable particles’ trajectories in non-uniform electric fields using unique dielectric characteristics. It provides several advantages for dealing with neutral bioparticles owing to its sensitivity, selectivity, and noninvasive nature. This review provides a detailed study on the signal-based DEP methods that use the applied signal parameters, including frequency, amplitude, phase, and shape for cell/particle separation and manipulation. Rather than employing complex channels or time-consuming fabrication procedures, these methods realize sorting and detecting the cells/particles by modifying the signal parameters while using a relatively simple device. In addition, these methods can significantly impact clinical diagnostics by making low-cost and rapid separation possible. We conclude the review by discussing the technical and biological challenges of DEP techniques and providing future perspectives in this field.
An Overview on Coinage Metal Nanocluster-Based Luminescent Biosensors via Etching Chemistry
Authors: Si Hongxin , Shu Tong , Du Xin , Su Lei , Zhang Xueji
Published: July 2022

The findings from the synthetic mechanism of metal nanoclusters yield the etching chemistry based on coinage metal nanoclusters. The utilization of such chemistry as a tool that can alter the optical properties of metal nanoclusters has inspired the development of a series of emerging luminescent biosensors. Compared with other sensors, the luminescent biosensors have the advantages of being more sensitive, saving time and saving cost. We reviewed topics on the luminescent sensors based on the etching of emissive coinage metal nanoclusters. The molecules possessing varied etching ability towards metal nanoclusters were categorized with discussions of corresponding etching mechanisms. The understanding of etching mechanisms favored the discussions of how to use etching methods to detecting biochemical molecules. The emerging luminescent biosensors via etching chemistry also provided challenges and new opportunities for analytical chemistry and sensors.
A VR Experimental Study on the Influence of Chinese Hotel Interior Color Design on Customers’ Emotional Experience
Authors: Xu Jian , Li Muchun , Cao Kaizhong , Zhou Fangqi , Lv Boyi , Lu Ziqi , Cui Zihan , Zhang Kailiang
Published: July 2022

As an important part of a hotel’s internal environment, color design affects not only customers’ hotel stay experiences, but also their check-in experiences. However, how hotel guests’ emotional experiences are affected by interior color design is understudied in China. Drawing on the theory of color psychology, we designed a Virtual Reality (VR) experiment and a questionnaire to explore how hotel guests’ emotional experience can be influenced by the color scheme of hotel interior color design. The results show that hotel rooms decorated in yellow have a pleasurable effect, those decorated in gray a calming effect, and those decorated in blue a relatively neutral effect. Young participants have more negative emotional responses to rooms decorated in dark yellow. The emotional impact of both gray and yellow with higher grayscale values shifts from positive to negative with the improvement of customers’ educational background. Low grayscale color schemes are preferred over high grayscale ones, and indoor environments with synergistic colors are preferred over contrasting colors. It is also found that male subjects tend to have more positive emotional reactions to all color schemes than females. For most subjects, age and education have no effect on their emotional reactions to different color schemes. These findings have important implications for hotel interior environment color design.
Improvement Options of a Social Housing Prototype in Different Climate Zones in Ecuador
Authors: Delgado-Gutierrez Evelyn , Canivell Jacinto , Bienvenido-Huertas David , Rubio-Bellido Carlos
Published: July 2022

Ecuador is a country with several climate zones. The zones’ characteristics are very different; however, there are social housing prototypes used in all the territories. This study constitutes the second part of the analysis of a social housing prototype in four zones (Cfb, Af, Aw, and BSh) in both the current climate situation (2020) and its projection to 2050. Improvement measures from the original dwelling block have been proposed according to the initial diagnosis, considering seven passive performance variants. A total of 56 dynamic simulations have been performed for both the current and 2050 climate scenario. The results have shown that, depending on the climate zone, improvement measures differently influence comfort ranges. In addition, the behaviour of the dwellings on the upper floor is different from those on the ground floor. This study is a starting point to show that prototype solutions of social housing should be adapted with various improvement measures and should be based on specific requirements according to their location to achieve acceptable comfort levels.
CDK Inhibition Primes for Anti-PD-L1 Treatment in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Models
Authors: Cheung Anthony , Chenoweth Alicia M. , Quist Jelmar , Sow Heng Sheng , Malaktou Christina , Ferro Riccardo , Hoffmann Ricarda M. , Osborn Gabriel , Sachouli Eirini , French Elise , Marlow Rebecca , Lacy Katie E. , Papa Sophie , Grigoriadis Anita , Karagiannis Sophia N.
Published: July 2022

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) expressing PD-L1 qualify for checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. Cyclin E/CDK2 is a potential target axis in TNBC; however, small-molecule drugs at efficacious doses may be associated with toxicity, and treatment alongside immunotherapy requires investigation. We evaluated CDK inhibition at suboptimal levels and its anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects. Transcriptomic analyses of primary breast cancers confirmed higher cyclin E/CDK2 expression in TNBC compared with non-TNBC. Out of the three CDK2-targeting inhibitors tested, the CDK 2, 7 and 9 inhibitor SNS-032 was the most potent in reducing TNBC cell viability and exerted cytotoxicity against all eight TNBC cell lines evaluated in vitro. Suboptimal SNS-032 dosing elevated cell surface PD-L1 expression in surviving TNBC cells. In mice engrafted with human immune cells and challenged with human MDA-MB-231 TNBC xenografts in mammary fat pads, suboptimal SNS-032 dosing partially restricted tumor growth, enhanced the tumor infiltration of human CD45+ immune cells and elevated cell surface PD-L1 expression in surviving cancer cells. In tumor-bearing mice engrafted with human immune cells, the anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab, given sequentially following suboptimal SNS-032 dosing, reduced tumor growth compared with SNS-032 alone or with avelumab without prior SNS-032 priming. CDK inhibition at suboptimal doses promotes immune cell recruitment to tumors, PD-L1 expression by surviving TNBC cells and may complement immunotherapy.
Circulating Cell-Free DNA Profiling Predicts the Therapeutic Outcome in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated with Combination Immunotherapy
Authors: Matsumae Takayuki , Kodama Takahiro , Myojin Yuta , Maesaka Kazuki , Sakamori Ryotaro , Takuwa Ayako , Oku Keiko , Motooka Daisuke , Sawai Yoshiyuki , Oshita Masahide , Nakabori Tasuku , Ohkawa Kazuyoshi , Miyazaki Masanori , Tanaka Satoshi , Mita Eiji , Tawara Seiichi , Yakushijin Takayuki , Nozaki Yasutoshi , Hagiwara Hideki , Tahata Yuki , Yamada Ryoko , Hikita Hayato , Tatsumi Tomohide , Takehara Tetsuo
Published: July 2022

Combination immunotherapy with anti-programmed cell death1-ligand1 (PD-L1) and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies has become the standard treatment for patients with unresectable HCC (u-HCC). However, limited patients obtain clinical benefits. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in peripheral blood contains circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) that reflects molecular abnormalities in tumor tissue. We investigated the potential of cfDNA/ctDNA as biomarkers for predicting the therapeutic outcome in u-HCC patients treated with anti-PD-L1/VEGF therapy. We enrolled a multicenter cohort of 85 HCC patients treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev) between 2020 and 2021. Pretreatment plasma was collected, and cfDNA levels were quantified. Ultradeep sequencing of cfDNA was performed with a custom-made panel for detecting mutations in 25 HCC-related cancer genes. We evaluated the association of cfDNA/ctDNA profiles and clinical outcomes. Patients with high plasma cfDNA levels showed a significantly lower response rate and shorter progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) than those with low cfDNA levels. ctDNA detected in 55% of HCC patients included the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter in 31% of these patients, tumor protein 53 (TP53) in 21%, catenin beta 1 (CTNNB1) in 13% and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) in 7%. The presence or absence of ctDNA did not predict the efficacy of Atezo/Bev therapy. Twenty-six patients with a TERT mutation had significantly shorter OS than those without. The presence of a TERT mutation and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) ≥ 400 ng/mL were independent predictors of poor OS according to multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis and could be used to stratify patients treated with Atezo/Bev therapy based on prognosis. In conclusion, pretreatment cfDNA/ctDNA profiling may be useful for predicting the therapeutic outcome in u-HCC patients treated with anti-PD-L1/VEGF therapy.
Emerging Role of Deubiquitinating Enzymes (DUBs) in Melanoma Pathogenesis
Authors: Ohanna Mickael , Biber Pierric , Deckert Marcel
Published: July 2022

Metastatic melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin cancer. Therapies targeting the BRAF oncogenic pathway and immunotherapies show remarkable clinical efficacy. However, these treatments are limited to subgroups of patients and relapse is common. Overall, the majority of patients require additional treatments, justifying the development of new therapeutic strategies. Non-genetic and genetic alterations are considered to be important drivers of cellular adaptation mechanisms to current therapies and disease relapse. Importantly, modification of the overall proteome in response to non-genetic and genetic events supports major cellular changes that are required for the survival, proliferation, and migration of melanoma cells. However, the mechanisms underlying these adaptive responses remain to be investigated. The major contributor to proteome remodeling involves the ubiquitin pathway, ubiquitinating enzymes, and ubiquitin-specific proteases also known as DeUBiquitinases (DUBs). In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the nature and roles of the DUBs recently identified in melanoma progression and therapeutic resistance and discuss their potential as novel sources of vulnerability for melanoma therapy.
Exploiting the Dixon Method for a Robust Breast and Fibro-Glandular Tissue Segmentation in Breast MRI
Authors: Samperna Riccardo , Moriakov Nikita , Karssemeijer Nico , Teuwen Jonas , Mann Ritse M.
Published: July 2022

Automatic breast and fibro-glandular tissue (FGT) segmentation in breast MRI allows for the efficient and accurate calculation of breast density. The U-Net architecture, either 2D or 3D, has already been shown to be effective at addressing the segmentation problem in breast MRI. However, the lack of publicly available datasets for this task has forced several authors to rely on internal datasets composed of either acquisitions without fat suppression (WOFS) or with fat suppression (FS), limiting the generalization of the approach. To solve this problem, we propose a data-centric approach, efficiently using the data available. By collecting a dataset of T1-weighted breast MRI acquisitions acquired with the use of the Dixon method, we train a network on both T1 WOFS and FS acquisitions while utilizing the same ground truth segmentation. Using the “plug-and-play” framework nnUNet, we achieve, on our internal test set, a Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.96 and 0.91 for WOFS breast and FGT segmentation and 0.95 and 0.86 for FS breast and FGT segmentation, respectively. On an external, publicly available dataset, a panel of breast radiologists rated the quality of our automatic segmentation with an average of 3.73 on a four-point scale, with an average percentage agreement of 67.5%.
Energy Characteristics of a Bidirectional Axial-Flow Pump with Two Impeller Airfoils Based on Entropy Production Analysis
Authors: Meng Fan , Li Yanjun
Published: July 2022

This research sought to determine the spatial distribution of hydraulic losses for a bidirectional axial-flow pump with arc- and S-shaped impellers. The unsteady Reynolds time-averaged Stokes (URANS) approach with the SST k-omega model was used to predict the internal flow field. The total entropy production (TEP) and total entropy production rate (TEPR) were used to evaluate the overall and local hydraulic losses. The results show that the distribution of TEP and TEPR was similar for both impeller cases. Under a forward condition, TEP mainly comes from the impeller and elbow pipe. The high TEPR inside the impeller can be found near the shroud, and it shifts from the leading edge to the trailing edge with an increase in the flow rate due to the decline in the attack angle. The high TEPR inside the elbow pipe can be seen near the inlet, and the area shrinks with an increase in the flow rate caused by a reduction in the velocity circulation. Under the reverse condition, TEP mainly comes from the impeller and the straight pipe. The TEPR of the region near the shroud is obviously higher than for other regions, and the area of high TEPR near the suction side shrinks with an increase in the flow rate. The high TEPR of the straight pipe can be found near the inlet, and declines in the flow direction. These results provide a theoretical reference for future work to optimize the design of the bidirectional axial-flow pump.
Learning from Knowledge Graphs: Neural Fine-Grained Entity Typing with Copy-Generation Networks
Authors: Yu Zongjian , Zhang Anxiang , Feng Huali , Du Huaming , Wei Shaopeng , Zhao Yu
Published: July 2022

Fine-grained entity typing (FET) aims to identify the semantic type of an entity in a plain text, which is a significant task for downstream natural language processing applications. However, most existing methods neglect rich known typing information about these entities in knowledge graphs. To address this issue, we take advantage of knowledge graphs to improve fine-grained entity typing through the use of a copy mechanism. Specifically, we propose a novel deep neural model called CopyFet for FET via a copy-generation mechanism. CopyFet can integrate two operations: (i) the regular way of making type inference from the whole type set in the generation model; (ii) the new copy mechanism which can identify the semantic type of a mention with reference to the type-copying vocabulary from a knowledge graph in the copy model. Despite its simplicity, this mechanism proves to be powerful since extensive experiments show that CopyFet outperforms state-of-the-art methods in FET on two benchmark datasets (FIGER (GOLD) and BBN). For example, CopyFet achieves the new state-of-the-art score of 76.4% and 83.6% on the accuracy metric in FIGER (GOLD) and BBN, respectively.
Emergency Remote Learning in Higher Education in Cyprus during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Zoom-Out View of Challenges and Opportunities for Quality Online Learning
Authors: Meletiou-Mavrotheris Maria , Eteokleous Nikleia , Stylianou-Georgiou Agni
Published: July 2022

This study provides a zoom-out perspective of higher education students’ experiences related to the emergency remote learning (ERL) following the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic as captured by a national, in-depth survey administered to all higher education institutions in Cyprus (different fields of study and educational levels). Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data collected from 1051 students provide valuable information and insights regarding learners’ prior technology background and level of preparedness for online learning, the challenges and benefits of ERL and how they would like their online learning experience to be improved in case of future ERL. The results underline that students’ knowledge of and self-efficacy in using e-learning tools do not directly equate to being a digital learner equipped with necessary digital skills such as self-regulation to fully benefit from online learning. The educational disparities caused by inequalities in access and accessibility to high-quality education laid bare by the pandemic stressed the need for online environments that would afford quality learning for all learners. Online learning demands are discussed in the article, as well as implications for research, practice and policy making.
Research on Optimization of Horizontal Omnidirectional Misalignment Tolerance of WPT Based on Double D Coupler
Authors: Chi Fuhai , Wang Pan , Sun Chenglong , Wu Yuming , Dou Zhenlan , Xu Chenjin , Wang Shuo , Wang Wei
Published: July 2022

DD (Double D) coils have been researched and utilized due to their excellent misalignment tolerance. Here, a compound DD coupler sets for stationary wireless power chargers, which has significantly better anti-misalignment performance than single DD coupler in all directions, is proposed. The transmitting coils are composed of two parts of DD coils wound in opposite directions. Moreover, to obtain the low-level variation of mutual inductance between compound transmitting coils and receiving coils when offset occurs, a parameter optimization strategy of compensation coils is also proposed. With the properly designed parameters, the mutual inductance between transmitting and receiving coils could remain basically constant when misalignment occurs, which means that the efficiency and power remain relatively constant when offset occurs. Finally, both single DD coils and compound DD coils experimental prototypes are built to compare anti-misalignment ability performance. The results show that the proposed system is basically more stable and has a higher output power and more stable efficiency than that of unoptimized coupler during migration. In particular, with the employment of the antiparallel winding, the efficiency fluctuates from 85.5% to 85% when the 0.1-m offset in the X-axis and Y-axis occurs simultaneously. Moreover, the higher and basically more stable output power is also achieved.