bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TGF-β1-VEGF-A pathway induces neoangiogenesis with peritoneal fibrosis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis
Authors: Kariya Tetsuyoshi , Nishimura Hayato , Mizuno Masashi , Suzuki Yasuhiro , Matsukawa Yoshihisa , Sakata Fumiko , Maruyama Shoichi , Takei Yoshifumi , Ito Yasuhiko
Published: October 2017

The characteristic features of chronic peritoneal injury with peritoneal dialysis (PD) are submesothelial fibrosis and neoangiogenesis. Transforming growth factor (TGF)β and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A are the main mediators of fibrosis and neoangiogenesis, respectively; however, the effect of the interaction between them on the peritoneum is not well known. In this study, we investigated the relationship between TGF-β1 and VEGF-A in inducing peritoneal fibrosis by use of human tissues and dialysate, cultured cells, and animal models. The VEGF-A concentration correlated with the dialysate-to-plasma ratio of creatinine (D/P Cr) ( P < 0.001) and TGF-β1 ( P < 0.001) in human PD effluent. VEGF-A mRNA levels increased significantly in the peritoneal tissues of human ultrafiltration failure (UFF) patients and correlated with number of vessels ( P < 0.01) and peritoneal thickness ( P < 0.001). TGF-β1 increased VEGF-A production in human mesothelial cell lines and fibroblast cell lines, and TGF-β1-induced VEGF-A was suppressed by TGF-β receptor I (TGFβR-I) inhibitor. Incremental peak values of VEGF-A mRNA stimulated by TGF-β1 in human cultured mesothelial cells derived from PD patients with a range of peritoneal membrane functions correlated with D/P Cr ( P < 0.05). To evaluate the regulatory mechanisms of VEGF-A and neoangiogenesis in vivo, we administered TGFβR-I inhibitor intraperitoneally in a rat chlorhexidine-induced peritoneal injury (CG) model. TGFβR-I inhibitor administration in the CG model decreased peritoneal thickness ( P < 0.001), the number of vessels ( P < 0.001), and VEGF-A levels ( P < 0.05). These results suggest that neoangiogenesis is associated with fibrosis through the TGF-β1-VEGF-A pathway in mesothelial cells and fibroblasts. These findings are important when considering the strategy for management of UFF in PD patients.
Effects of serelaxin on renal microcirculation in rats under control and high-angiotensin environments
Authors: Shao Weijian , Rosales Carla B. , Gonzalez Camila , Prieto Minolfa C. , Navar L. Gabriel
Published: October 2017

Serelaxin is a novel recombinant human relaxin-2 that has been investigated for the treatment of acute heart failure. However, its effects on renal function, especially on the renal microcirculation, remain incompletely characterized. Our immunoexpression studies localized RXFP1 receptors on vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of afferent arterioles and on principal cells of collecting ducts. Clearance experiments were performed in male and female normotensive rats and Ang II-infused male rats. Serelaxin increased mean arterial pressure slightly and significantly increased renal blood flow, urine flow, and sodium excretion rate. Group analysis of all serelaxin infusion experiments showed significant increases in GFR. During infusion with subthreshold levels of Ang II, serelaxin did not alter mean arterial pressure, renal blood flow, GFR, urine flow, or sodium excretion rate. Heart rates were elevated during serelaxin infusion alone (37 ± 5%) and in Ang II-infused rats (14 ± 2%). In studies using the in vitro isolated juxtamedullary nephron preparation, superfusion with serelaxin alone (40 ng/ml) significantly dilated afferent arterioles (10.8 ± 1.2 vs. 13.5 ± 1.1 µm) and efferent arterioles (9.9 ± 0.9 vs. 11.9 ± 1.0 µm). During Ang II superfusion, serelaxin did not alter afferent or efferent arteriolar diameters. During NO synthase inhibition (l-NNA), afferent arterioles also did not show any vasodilation during serelaxin infusion. In conclusion, serelaxin increased overall renal blood flow, urine flow, GFR, and sodium excretion and dilated the afferent and efferent arterioles in control conditions, but these effects were attenuated or prevented in the presence of exogenous Ang II and NO synthase inhibitors.
Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibition preserves exercise-onset vasodilator kinetics when NOS activity is reduced
Authors: Kellawan J. Mikhail , Limberg Jacqueline K. , Scruggs Zachariah M. , Nicholson Wayne T. , Schrage William G. , Joyner Michael J. , Curry Timothy B.
Published: October 2017

Nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilation contributes to the rapid rise in muscle blood flow at exercise onset. This occurs via increased cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which is catabolized by phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5). Whether PDE-5 limits exercise vasodilation onset kinetics is unknown. We hypothesized the time course of exercise vasodilation would be 1) accelerated during PDE-5 inhibition (sildenafil citrate, SDF) and 2) decelerated during NO synthase inhibition ( NG-monomethyl-l-arginine, l-NMMA), and 3) the effect of SDF on vasodilation onset kinetics would be attenuated with concurrent l-NMMA. Data from 29 healthy adults were analyzed. Individuals completed 5 min of moderate-intensity forearm exercise under control conditions and during 1) oral SDF ( n = 8), 2) intra-arterial l-NMMA ( n = 15), or 3) combined SDF + l-NMMA ( n = 6). Forearm blood flow (FBF; Doppler ultrasound of the brachial artery) and mean brachial artery blood pressure (MAP) were measured continuously. Forearm vascular conductance (FVC, FBF ÷ MAP) was curve-fit with a monoexponential model, and vasodilation onset kinetics were assessed by mean response time (MRT, time to achieve 63% of steady state). SDF had no effect on MRT ( P = 0.90). NOS inhibition increased MRT ( P = 0.01). MRT during SDF+l-NMMA was not different from control exercise ( P = 0.76). PDE-5 inhibition alone has no effect on rapid-onset vasodilation. Whereas NOS inhibition decelerates vasodilator kinetics, when combined with SDF, vasodilator kinetics do not differ from control. These data suggest NO-independent activation of cGMP occurs at exercise onset; thus PDE-5 inhibition may improve vasodilation in pathologies where NO bioavailability is impaired.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that when NO bioavailability is reduced, PDE-5 inhibition can restore vasodilation onset kinetics of exercise-mediated vasodilation via NO-independent cGMP pathways. These data suggest PDE-5 inhibition may improve exercise vasodilation onset kinetics in pathologies where NO bioavailability is impaired.
Force illusions and drifts observed during muscle vibration
Authors: Reschechtko Sasha , Cuadra Cristian , Latash Mark L.
Published: October 2017

We explored predictions of a scheme that views position and force perception as a result of measuring proprioceptive signals within a reference frame set by ongoing efferent process. In particular, this hypothesis predicts force illusions caused by muscle vibration and mediated via changes in both afferent and efferent components of kinesthesia. Healthy subjects performed accurate steady force production tasks by pressing with the four fingers of one hand (the task hand) on individual force sensors with and without visual feedback. At various times during the trials, subjects matched the perceived force using the other hand. High-frequency vibration was applied to one or both of the forearms (over the hand and finger extensors). Without visual feedback, subjects showed a drop in the task hand force, which was significantly smaller under the vibration of that forearm. Force production by the matching hand was consistently higher than that of the task hand. Vibrating one of the forearms affected the matching hand in a manner consistent with the perception of higher magnitude of force produced by the vibrated hand. The findings were consistent between the dominant and nondominant hands. The effects of vibration on both force drift and force mismatching suggest that vibration led to shifts in both signals from proprioceptors and the efferent component of perception, the referent coordinate and/or coactivation command. The observations fit the hypothesis on combined perception of kinematic-kinetic variables with little specificity of different groups of peripheral receptors that all contribute to perception of forces and coordinates.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that vibration of hand/finger extensors produces consistent errors in finger force perception. Without visual feedback, finger force drifted to lower values without a drift in the matching force produced by the other hand; hand extensor vibration led to smaller finger force drift. The findings fit the scheme with combined perception of kinematic-kinetic variables and suggest that vibration leads to consistent shifts of the referent coordinate and, possibly, of coactivation command to the effector.
Three-Dimensional CST Parameterization Method Applied in Aircraft Aeroelastic Analysis
Authors: Su Hua , Gong Chunlin , Gu Liangxian
Published: October 2017

Class/shape transformation (CST) method has advantages of adjustable design variables and powerful parametric geometric shape design ability and has been widely used in aerodynamic design and optimization processes. Three-dimensional CST is an extension for complex aircraft and can generate diverse three-dimensional aircraft and the corresponding mesh automatically and quickly. This paper proposes a parametric structural modeling method based on gridding feature extraction from the aerodynamic mesh generated by the three-dimensional CST method. This novel method can create parametric structural model for fuselage and wing and keep the coordination between the aerodynamic mesh and the structural mesh. Based on the generated aerodynamic model and structural model, an automatic process for aeroelastic modeling and solving is presented with the panel method for aerodynamic solver and NASTRAN for structural solver. A reusable launch vehicle (RLV) is used to illustrate the process for aeroelastic modeling and solving. The result shows that this method can generate aeroelastic model for diverse complex three-dimensional aircraft automatically and reduce the difficulty of aeroelastic analysis dramatically. It provides an effective approach to make use of the aeroelastic analysis at the conceptual design phase for modern aircraft.
Cytokine Profile of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis Caused by Pollen, Mite, and Microbial Allergen Sensitization
Authors: Tyurin Yury A. , Lissovskaya Svetlana A. , Fassahov Rustem S. , Mustafin Ilshat G. , Shamsutdinov Anton F. , Shilova Marina A. , Rizvanov Albert A.
Published: October 2017

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is especially prevalent among the population of large cities. Immunologically, the airway epithelium is a region where the population of allergen-presenting cells concentrates. These cells actively express a group of receptors of the innate immune system. A specific cytokine profile is its representation. The study was aimed at evaluating the cytokine profile in patients with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis. The cytokine profile of nasal secretion and blood serum of 44 patients with AR was studied. 24 of them had seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), and 20 patients suffered from perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR). The patients’ age ranged from 4 to 60 years. It was determined in our study that the activation of the GM-CSF production retained in patients with PAR sensitized to mite allergen components (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus). There was a higher production profile of TNF-α and TSLP in nasal secretion in the patients with perennial allergic rhinitis and additional high sensitization to SEs. Sensitization to mold fungal allergen components significantly increases in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis. They demonstrated high level of sensitization to the Aspergillus fumigatus component m3. Thus, along with other clinical trials, the study performed would clarify some aspects of molecular pathogenesis of human allergic rhinitis.
Developing the WCRF International/University of Bristol Methodology for Identifying and Carrying Out Systematic Reviews of Mechanisms of Exposure–Cancer Associations
Authors: Lewis Sarah J. , Gardner Mike , Higgins Julian , Holly Jeff M.P. , Gaunt Tom R. , Perks Claire M. , Turner Suzanne D. , Rinaldi Sabina , Thomas Steve , Harrison Sean , Lennon Rosie J. , Tan Vanessa , Borwick Cath , Emmett Pauline , Jeffreys Mona , Northstone Kate , Mitrou Giota , Wiseman Martin , Thompson Rachel , Martin Richard M.
Published: October 2017

Background: Human, animal, and cell experimental studies; human biomarker studies; and genetic studies complement epidemiologic findings and can offer insights into biological plausibility and pathways between exposure and disease, but methods for synthesizing such studies are lacking. We, therefore, developed a methodology for identifying mechanisms and carrying out systematic reviews of mechanistic studies that underpin exposure–cancer associations.

Methods: A multidisciplinary team with expertise in informatics, statistics, epidemiology, systematic reviews, cancer biology, and nutrition was assembled. Five 1-day workshops were held to brainstorm ideas; in the intervening periods we carried out searches and applied our methods to a case study to test our ideas.

Results: We have developed a two-stage framework, the first stage of which is designed to identify mechanisms underpinning a specific exposure–disease relationship; the second stage is a targeted systematic review of studies on a specific mechanism. As part of the methodology, we also developed an online tool for text mining for mechanism prioritization (TeMMPo) and a new graph for displaying related but heterogeneous data from epidemiologic studies (the Albatross plot).

Conclusions: We have developed novel tools for identifying mechanisms and carrying out systematic reviews of mechanistic studies of exposure–disease relationships. In doing so, we have outlined how we have overcome the challenges that we faced and provided researchers with practical guides for conducting mechanistic systematic reviews.

Impact: The aforementioned methodology and tools will allow potential mechanisms to be identified and the strength of the evidence underlying a particular mechanism to be assessed. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(11); 1667–75. ©2017 AACR.
Potential Medication-Related Problems in Older Breast, Colon, and Lung Cancer Patients in the United States
Authors: Lund Jennifer L. , Sanoff Hanna K. , Peacock Hinton Sharon , Muss Hyman B. , Pate Virginia , Stürmer Til
Published: October 2017

Background: Older adults are often exposed to multiple medications, some of which could be inappropriate or have the potential to interact with each other. Older cancer patients may be at increased risk for medication-related problems due to exposure to cancer-directed treatment.

Methods: We described patterns of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use and potential drug–chemotherapy interactions among adults age 66+ years diagnosed with stage I–III breast, stage II–III colon, and stage I to II lung cancer. Within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare database, patients had to have Medicare Part D coverage with 1+ prescription in the diagnosis month and Medicare Parts A/B coverage in the prior 12 months. We estimated monthly prevalence of any and cancer-related PIM from 6 months pre- to 23 months postcancer diagnosis and 12-month period prevalence of potential drug–chemotherapy interactions.

Results: Overall, 19,318 breast, 7,283 colon, and 7,237 lung cancer patients were evaluated. Monthly PIM prevalence was stable prediagnosis (37%–40%), but increased in the year following a colon or lung cancer diagnosis, and decreased following a breast cancer diagnosis. Changes in PIM prevalence were driven primarily by cancer-related PIM in patients on chemotherapy. Potential drug–chemotherapy interactions were observed in all cohorts, with prevalent interactions involving hydrochlorothiazide, warfarin, and proton-pump inhibitors.

Conclusions: There was a high burden of potential medication-related problems among older cancer patients; future research to evaluate outcomes of these exposures is warranted.

Impact: Older adults diagnosed with cancer have unique medication management needs. Thus, pharmacy specialists should be integrated into multidisciplinary teams caring for these patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(1); 41–49. ©2017 AACR.
A Molecularly Annotated Model of Patient-Derived Colon Cancer Stem–Like Cells to Assess Genetic and Nongenetic Mechanisms of Resistance to Anti-EGFR Therapy
Authors: Luraghi Paolo , Bigatto Viola , Cipriano Elia , Reato Gigliola , Orzan Francesca , Sassi Francesco , De Bacco Francesca , Isella Claudio , Bellomo Sara E. , Medico Enzo , Comoglio Paolo M. , Bertotti Andrea , Trusolino Livio , Boccaccio Carla
Published: October 2017

Purpose: Patient-derived xenografts (“xenopatients”) of colorectal cancer metastases have been essential to identify genetic determinants of resistance to the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab and to explore new therapeutic strategies. From xenopatients, a genetically annotated collection of stem-like cultures (“xenospheres”) was generated and characterized for response to targeted therapies.

Experimental Design: Xenospheres underwent exome-sequencing analysis, gene expression profile, and in vitro targeted treatments to assess genetic, biological, and pharmacologic correspondence with xenopatients, and to investigate nongenetic biomarkers of therapeutic resistance. The outcome of EGFR family inhibition was tested in an NRG1-expressing in vivo model.

Results: Xenospheres faithfully retained the genetic make-up of their matched xenopatients over in vitro and in vivo passages. Frequent and rare genetic lesions triggering primary resistance to cetuximab through constitutive activation of the RAS signaling pathway were conserved, as well as the vulnerability to their respective targeted treatments. Xenospheres lacking such alterations (RASwt) were highly sensitive to cetuximab, but were protected by ligands activating the EGFR family, mostly NRG1. Upon reconstitution of NRG1 expression, xenospheres displayed increased tumorigenic potential in vivo and generated tumors completely resistant to cetuximab, and sensitive only to comprehensive EGFR family inhibition.

Conclusions: Xenospheres are a reliable model to identify both genetic and nongenetic mechanisms of response and resistance to targeted therapies in colorectal cancer. In the absence of RAS pathway mutations, NRG1 and other EGFR ligands can play a major role in conferring primary cetuximab resistance, indicating that comprehensive inhibition of the EGFR family is required to achieve a significant therapeutic response. Clin Cancer Res; 24(4); 807–20. ©2017 AACR.

See related commentary by Napolitano and Ciardiello, p. 727
What Factors Influence Decision-Making about Breast Cancer Chemoprevention among High-Risk Women?
Authors: Crew Katherine D.
Published: October 2017

Estrogen exposure is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer development. Chemoprevention with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM), such as tamoxifen and raloxifene, has been shown in randomized controlled trials to reduce breast cancer incidence by up to 50% among high-risk women. Despite the strength of this evidence, there is significant underutilization of chemoprevention. Given the relatively few modifiable breast cancer risk factors, SERM use provides an important strategy for the primary prevention of this disease. Understanding factors which influence chemoprevention decision-making will inform efforts to implement breast cancer risk assessment and increase chemoprevention uptake in clinical practice. Cancer Prev Res; 10(11); 609–11. ©2017 AACR.

See related article by Holmberg et al., p. 625
TOX Regulates Growth, DNA Repair, and Genomic Instability in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Authors: Lobbardi Riadh , Pinder Jordan , Martinez-Pastor Barbara , Theodorou Marina , Blackburn Jessica S. , Abraham Brian J. , Namiki Yuka , Mansour Marc , Abdelfattah Nouran S. , Molodtsov Aleksey , Alexe Gabriela , Toiber Debra , de Waard Manon , Jain Esha , Boukhali Myriam , Lion Mattia , Bhere Deepak , Shah Khalid , Gutierrez Alejandro , Stegmaier Kimberly , Silverman Lewis B. , Sadreyev Ruslan I. , Asara John M. , Oettinger Marjorie A. , Haas Wilhelm , Look A. Thomas , Young Richard A. , Mostoslavsky Raul , Dellaire Graham , Langenau David M.
Published: October 2017

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignancy of thymocytes. Using a transgenic screen in zebrafish, thymocyte selection–associated high mobility group box protein (TOX) was uncovered as a collaborating oncogenic driver that accelerated T-ALL onset by expanding the initiating pool of transformed clones and elevating genomic instability. TOX is highly expressed in a majority of human T-ALL and is required for proliferation and continued xenograft growth in mice. Using a wide array of functional analyses, we uncovered that TOX binds directly to KU70/80 and suppresses recruitment of this complex to DNA breaks to inhibit nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) repair. Impaired NHEJ is well known to cause genomic instability, including development of T-cell malignancies in KU70- and KU80-deficient mice. Collectively, our work has uncovered important roles for TOX in regulating NHEJ by elevating genomic instability during leukemia initiation and sustaining leukemic cell proliferation following transformation.

Significance: TOX is an HMG box–containing protein that has important roles in T-ALL initiation and maintenance. TOX inhibits the recruitment of KU70/KU80 to DNA breaks, thereby inhibiting NHEJ repair. Thus, TOX is likely a dominant oncogenic driver in a large fraction of human T-ALL and enhances genomic instability. Cancer Discov; 7(11); 1336–53. ©2017 AACR.

This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1201
Barriers and Challenges to Telecardiology Adoption in Malaysia Context
Authors: Yeo Kee-Jiar , Handayani Lina , Satria Haikal , Lee Shih-Hui , Yap Chia-Keat
Published: October 2017

Mainly in infrastructure deficient communities, telecardiology is considered as a complement to insufficient cardiac care. Telecardiology can reduce travelling and waiting time, enables information sharing in shorter time and facilitate care in rural and remote areas. A qualitative study examined the perspectives of health care providers: cardiologist and general physician and health care service receivers: patient and public towards telecardiology adoption. The barriers in telecardiology adoption were identified in this paper. It includes practicality of telecardiology, the need of education for staffs and administrators, ease of use, preferred face-to-face consultation, cost and confidentiality. Improvements can be done by the implementers based on this study in order to promote telecardiology successfully in Malaysia. 
Gain Flatness and Noise Figure Optimization of C-Band EDFA in 16-channels WDM System using FBG and GFF
Authors: Mounia Chakkour , Otman Aghzout , Badiaa Ait Ahmed , Fahd Chaoui , Vazquez Alejos Ana , Mounir El Yakhloufi
Published: October 2017

In this paper, Gain Flatness and Noise Figure of Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) have been investigated in 16-channels Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) is used in C-band with the aim to achieve flat EDFA output gain. The proposed model has been studied in detail to evaluate and to enhance the performance of the transmission system in terms of gain, noise figure and eye diagram of the received signals. To that end, various design parameters have been investigated and optimized, such as frequency spacing, EDF length and temperature. To enhance the transmission system performance in terms of gain flatness, the Gain Flattening Filter (GFF) has been introduced in the design. To prove the efficiency of the new design, the optical transmission system with optimized design parameters has been compared with a previous works in the literature. The simulation results show satisfactory performance with quasi-equalized gain for each channel of the WDM transmission system.
A Study of Shading Effect on Photovoltaic Modules with Proposed P&O Checking Algorithm
Authors: Alik Rozana , Jusoh Awang , Sutikno Tole
Published: October 2017

Sun irradiation levels and associated temperature changes are the main factors that influence the conversion of solar energy into electricity. Most energy is produced during a hot sunny day as the sun irradiation is at the maximum level and uniform throughout the solar photovoltaic (PV). However, most solar PV were frequently get shadowed, completely or partially, by the neighbouring buildings, trees and passing clouds. Consequently, the solar PV has lower voltage and current output; hence, multiple maximum power points (MPP) are existed on the PV curve, which could cause confusion to the conventional Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) to track the true MPP for the PV system. Thus, it is important to examine the impacts of partial shading on the solar PV in order to extract the maximum possible power. This paper presents a MATLAB-based modelling for simulation and experimental setup to study the I-V and P-V characteristics of a solar module under a non-uniform irradiation due to partial shading condition (PSC).  Furthermore, this study is also proposed an effective method (a variable step size of P&O with checking algorithm) that is low cost and higher tracking efficiency. Thus, this study is essential in improving and evaluating any new MPPT algorithm under the PSC.
Selection of the Best Proposal using FAHP: Case of Procurement of IT Master Plan’s Realization
Authors: Diabagate Amadou , Azmani Abdellah , Harzli Mohamed El
Published: October 2017

IT master plan, which allows planning and managing the development of the computer systems, derives its importance in the central role of the computer systems in the functioning of organizations. This article focuses on the use of FAHP method for analysis and evaluation of tenders during the awarding of contracts of IT master plan’s realization. For those purposes, a painstaking work was realized for making an inventory of criteria and sub-criteria involved in the evaluation of tenders and for specifying the degrees of preference for each pair of criteria and sub-criteria. To find a provider for the IT master plan’s realization, organizations are increasingly using tendering as the mode of awarding contracts. This paper is an improvement of a previous published paper in which AHP method was used. The goals of this work are to make available to members of tenders committee a decision support tool for evaluating tenders of IT master plan’s realization and endow the organizations with effective IT master plans in order to increase their information systems’ performance.
Offine/online Optimum Routing of a UAV using Auxiliary Points
Authors: Fadavi Abbas , Beheshti Ali , Kermani Pedram
Published: October 2017

This paper presents a method to determine the route of a three-dimensional UAV. Three criteria; the height, the length of flight path and the unauthorized areas are used as the constraints and combined in a fuzzy function as the evaluation function. The article aimed to discover a minimum cost route from source to destination considering the constrains. In this paper a new searching method is proposed, with use of auxiliary points. The auxiliary point method iteratively divides a straight line to two shorter lines with less cost of evaluation function. Implementation results show that the proposed method dramatically decreases the calculations; meanwhile the ight route is sub-optimum.
Biometric Identification and Authentication Providence using Fingerprint for Cloud Data Access
Authors: Mary Bastina A. Amali , Rama N.
Published: October 2017

The raise in the recent security incidents of cloud computing and its challenges is to secure the data. To solve this problem, the integration of mobile with cloud computing, Mobile biometric authentication in cloud computing is presented in this paper. To enhance the security, the biometric authentication is being used, since the Mobile cloud computing is popular among the mobile user. This paper examines how the mobile cloud computing (MCC) is used in security issue with finger biometric authentication model. Through this fingerprint biometric, the secret code is generated by entropy value. This enables the person to request for accessing the data in the desk computer. When the person requests the access to the authorized user through Bluetooth in mobile, the Authorized user sends the permit access through fingerprint secret code. Finally this fingerprint is verified with the database in the Desk computer. If it is matched, then the computer can be accessed by the requested person.
Design of Pervasive Discovery, Service and Control for Smart Home Appliances: An Integration of Raspberry Pi, UPnP Protocols and Xbee
Authors: Akbar Sabriansyah Rizqika , Handono Maystya Tri , Basuki Achmad
Published: October 2017

Pervasive technology is an important feature in smart home appliances control. With pervasive technology, the user is able to discover and control every device and each service without initialization configuration and setup. Since single-board computer often used in smart home appliances, combining pervasive technology and microcomputer/single-board computer will be important to be applied and make a possibility to create a smart home system based on the requirement of it users that will be beneficial for the smart home users and the developers. This paper proposed a design of pervasive discovery, service, and control system for smart home appliances by integrating Raspberry Pi, UPnP protocols, and Xbee that able to control an RGB LED services such as switching, dimming, change color and read a temperature sensor as an example in smart home appliances. This paper enriched the raspberry Pi GPIO function to be able to control via TCP/IP network with UPnP protocol and receive information from a temperature sensor node via Xbee communication. Service control time is measured with UPnP round trip time by subtracting HTTP response arrival with HTTP request time. GPIO processing time measured at the application level by counting a timer that starts before GPIO process and ended after GPIO successfully executed.
Development of Compact P-Band Vector Reflectometer
Authors: Lung Then Yi , Yeow You Kok , Hao Lee Ming , Yew Lee Chia
Published: October 2017

A compact and low cost portable vector reflectometer is designed for a reliable measurement of reflection coefficient, S11. This reflectometer focuses on return loss measurement of frequency ranges from 450 MHz to 550 MHz. The detection of magnitude and phase is based on the utilization of surface mount Analog Devices AD8302 gain/phase detector. The data acquisition is controlled by using Arduino-Nano 3.0 microcontroller, with the use of two analog to digital converter (ADC) and a digital to analog converter (DAC). One port (Open, short and matched load) calibration technique is used to eliminate systematic errors prior to data acquisition. The evaluation of the reflectometer is done by comparing the result of the measurement to that of vector network analyzer.
Hungarian-Puzzled Text with Dynamic Quadratic Embedding Steganography
Authors: Alrashed Ebrahim , Suood Alroomi Suood
Published: October 2017

Least-Significant-Bit (LSB) is one of the popular and frequently used steganography techniques to hide a secret message in a digital medium. Its popularity is due to its simplicity in implementation and ease of use. However, such simplicity comes with vulnerabilities. An embedded secret message using the traditional LSB insertion is easily decodable when the stego image is suspected to be hiding a secret message.  In this paper, we propose a novel secure and high quality LSB embedding technique. The security of the embedded payload is employed through introducing a novel quadratic embedding sequence. The embedding technique is also text dependent and has non-bounded inputs, making the possibilities of decoding infinite. Due to the exponential growth of and quadratic embedding, a novel cyclic technique is also introduced for the sequence that goes beyond the limits of the cover medium. The proposed method also aims to reduce the noise arising from embedding the secret message by reducing bits changed. This is done by partitioning the cover medium and the secret message into N partitions and artificially creating an assignment problem based on bit change criteria. The assignment problem will be solved using the Hungarian algorithm that will puzzle the secret message partition for an overall least bit change.
The Weights Detection of Multi-criteria by using Solver
Authors: Fachrurrazi Fachrurrazi , Away Yuwaldi , Husin Saiful
Published: October 2017

Multi criteria, which are generally used for decision analysis, have certain characteristics that relate to the purpose of the decision. Multi criteria have complex structures and have different weights depending upon the consideration of assessors and the purpose of the decision also. Expert’s judgment will be used to detect the criteria weights that applied by assessors. The aim of this study is a model to detect the criteria weights and biases on the subcontractor selection and detecting the significant weights, as decisive criteria. A method, which is used to modeling the weights detection, is the Solver Application. Data, totaling 40 sets, has been collected that consist of the assessor’s assessment and the expert’s judgment. The result is a pattern of weights and biases detection. The proposed model have been able to detect of 20 criteria weights and biases, that consist of 4 criteria in  the total weights of 60% (as decisive criteria) and 16 criteria in the total weights of 40%. A model has been built by training process performed by the Solver, which the result for MSE training is 9.73711e-08 and for MSE validation is 0.00900528. Novelty in the study is a model to detect pattern of weights criteria and biases on subcontractor selection by transferring the expert's judgment using Solver Application.
Security Measure to Detect and Avoid Flooding Attacks using Multi-Agent System in MANETS
Authors: Mahapatra Bandana , Patnaik Srikanta
Published: October 2017

Security is considered as one of the major challenge when it comes to infrastructure less and self dependent network without any centralized control. The vulnerability of Adhoc Network makes it susceptible to external attacks like flooding of hello messages or propagating fake routing messages etc. Such attacks generates a variety of problems like disturbing the network by flooding messages that results in waste of battery which is a vital resource to maintain the life span of the network. Most importantly cause agents to die when unable to reach destination due to fake routing messages causing a heavy loss on part of the nodes generating them to maintain the route knowledge.  The paper proposes a novel technique to identify the flooding attack and measure to overcome them using Multi-Agent system.
Comparison of Instantaneous Reactive and Notch Filter Algorithms Seven Level Parallel Active Filter
Authors: Hadj Benali Farouk , Azzouz Fouad
Published: October 2017

This work focused on the association of a seven level Neutral Point Clamped inverter and a parallel active filter. In order to test the efficiency of the 7 level parallel active filter, two reference current generating algorithms are used. The instantaneous reactive power algorithm and the notch filter algorithm. In this study, the instantaneous reactive power method and the notch filter method are presented. Than a section which gives a recall of the NPC multilevel inverter and PWM strategy. A comparison between the two reference current generating algorithms is made. The subjects of comparison are the total harmonic distortion (THD) and the fundamental value of the source current. The obtained simulation results have proved that the instantaneous reactive power technique is better than the notch filter technique. Simulations are carried out by PSIM program.
Optimal Sizing and Economical Analysis of PV-Wind Hybrid Power System for Water Irrigation using Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Ahmed Ninet Mohamed , Farghally Hanaa Mohamed , Fahmy Faten Hosney
Published: October 2017

In the present study three renewable power systems are proposed to select the most optimum one for powering an irrigation pumping system and a farmer’s house in two different locations in Sinai, Egypt. Abu-Rudies in south Sinai and El-Arish in north Sinai are the two selected locations. The three suggested power systems are; standalone photovoltaic (PV) system, standalone wind system and standalone PV-wind hybrid system. HOGA (Hybrid Optimization by Genetic Algorithms) simulation software tool based on genetic algorithm (GA) is used for sizing, optimization and economical evaluation of three suggested renewable power systems. Optimization of the powersystem is based on the components sizing and the operational strategy.  The calculated maximum amount of water required for irrigating ten acres of olive per day is 170 m3. In terms of cost effectiveness, the optimal configurations are the hybrid PV-wind system and the standalone PV system for Abu-Rudies and El-Arish locations respectively. These systems are the most suitable than the others for the selected sites metrological data and the suggested electrical load
Performance Evaluation of Energy Detector Based Spectrum Sensing for Cognitive Radio using NI USRP-2930
Authors: El Bahi Fatima Zahra , Ghennioui Hicham , Zouak Mohcine
Published: October 2017

This paper presents the performance evaluation of the Energy Detector technique, which is one of the most popular Spectrum Sensing (SS) technique for Cognitive Radio (CR). SS is the ability to detect the presence of a Primary User (PU) (i.e. licensed user) in order to allow a Secondary User (SU) (i.e unlicensed user) to access PU's frequency band using CR, so that the available frequency bands can be used efficiently. We used for implementation an Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP), which is the most used Software Defined Radio (SDR) device for research in wireless communications. Experimental measurements show that the Energy Detector can obtain good performances in low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) values. Furthermore, computer simulations using MATLAB are closer to those of USRP measurements.
Distance Estimation based on Color-Block: A Simple Big-O Analysis
Authors: Rahmani Budi , Aprilianto Hugo , Ismanto Heru , Hamdani Hamdani
Published: October 2017

This paper explains how the process of reading the data object detection results with a certain color. In this case the object is an orange tennis ball. We use a Pixy CMUcam5 connecting to the Arduino Nano with microcontroler ATmega328-based. Then through the USB port, data from Arduino nano re-read and displayed. It’s to ensure weather an orange object is detected or not. By this process it will be exactly known how many blocks object detected, including the X and Y coordinates of the object. Finally, it will be explained the complexity of the algorithms used in the process of reading the results of the detection orange object.
Optimal Reactive Power Scheduling Using Cuckoo Search Algorithm
Authors: Salkuti Surender Reddy
Published: October 2017

This paper solves an optimal reactive power scheduling problem in the deregulated power system using the evolutionary based Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA). Reactive power scheduling is a very important problem in the power system operation, which is a nonlinear and mixed integer programming problem. It optimizes a specific objective function while satisfying all the equality and inequality constraints. In this paper, CSA is used to determine the optimal settings of control variables such as generator voltages, transformer tap positions and the amount of reactive compensation required to optimize the certain objective functions. The CSA algorithm has been developed from the inspiration that the obligate brood parasitism of some Cuckoo species lay their eggs in nests of other host birds which are of other species. The performance of CSA for solving the proposed optimal reactive power scheduling problem is examined on standard Ward Hale 6 bus, IEEE 30 bus, 57 bus, 118 bus and 300 bus test systems. The simulation results show that the proposed approach is more suitable, effective and efficient compared to other optimization techniques presented in the literature.
Parameter Extraction of PV Module using NLS Algorithm with Experimental Validation
Authors: Mohapatra Alivarani , Nayak Byamakesh , Mohanty K.B.
Published: October 2017

Photovoltaic (PV) module parameters act an important task in PV system design and simulation. Most popularly used single diode Rsh model has five unknown electrical parameters such as series resistance (Rse), shunt resistance (Rsh), diode quality factor (a), photo-generated current (Ipg) and dark saturation current (Is) in the mathematical model of PV module. The PV module output voltage and current relationship is represented by a transcendental equation and is not possible to solve analytically. This paper proposes nonlinear least square (NLS) technique to extract five unknown parameters. The proposed technique is compared with other two popular techniques available in the literature such as Villalva’s comprehensive technique and modified Newton-Raphson (N-R) technique. Only two parameters Rse and Rsh are estimated by Villalva’s technique, but all single diode unknown electrical parameters can be estimated by the NLS technique. The accuracy of different estimation techniques is compared in terms of absolute percentage errors at MPP and is found the minimum for the proposed technique. The elapsed time for parameter estimation for NLS technique is minimum and much less compared to other two techniques. Extracted parameters of polycrystalline ELDORA-40 PV panel by the proposed technique have been validated through simulation and experimental current-voltage (I-V) and power-voltage (P-V) characteristics.
An Ear Recognition Method Based on Rotation Invariant Transformed DCT
Authors: Hourali Fatemeh , Gharravi Sorayya
Published: October 2017

Human recognition systems have gained great importance recently in a wide range of applications like access, control, criminal investigation and border security. Ear is an emerging biometric which has rich and stable structure and can potentially be implemented reliably and cost efficiently. Thus human ear recognition has been researched widely and made greatly progress. High recognition rates which are reported in most existing methods can be reached only under closely controlled conditions. Actually a slight amount of rotation and translation which is inescapable would be injurious for system performance. In this paper, a method that uses a transformed type of DCT is implemented to extract meaningful features from ear images. This algorithm is quite robust to ear rotation, translation and illumination. The proposed method is experimented on two popular databases, i.e. USTB II and IIT Delhi II, which achieves significant improvement in the performance in comparison to other methods with good efficiency based on LBP, DSIFT and Gabor. Also because of considering only important coefficients, this method is faster compared to other methods.
A New Dual Band Printed Metamaterial Antenna for RFID Reader Applications
Authors: Ennajih Abdelhadi , Zbitou Jamal , Latrach Mohamed , Errkik Ahmed , Mandry Rachid
Published: October 2017

In this paper, we present a new dual band metamaterial printed antenna for radio frequency identification applications. The proposed antenna consists of two L-shaped slot in the radiating element for dual band operation and a complementary split ring resonator etched from the ground plane for size miniaturization. This antenna is designed and optimized by CST microwave studio on FR-4 substrate with thickness of 1.6 mm, dielectric constant of 4.4 and tangent loss of 0.025. A microstrip line with characteristic impedance of 50 ohms is used to feed this antenna. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated to validate the simulation results. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement. 
The Authority of Government in Clearing Hatefull and Hostilities Electronic Information Based on Tribe, Relegion, Race and Intergroup
Authors: Yusa I Gede , Bunga Dewi , Stiawan Deris
Published: October 2017

The Act Number 19 of 2016 concerning the amendment of The Act Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transaction governing the authority of government in clearing hateful and hostilities electronic information based on tribe, religion, race and intergroup. On the one hand, the government authority aims to protect the public interest and the integrity of the nation, but on the other hand, termination of access to information would restrict the right to freedom of opinion and the right to privacy of Internet users. This study was a normative legal research, which examined the basic authority for the government to shut down negative content in cyberspace. Legal materials were collected through library research. The analysis was conducted qualitatively. This study examined three issues, namely; spreading hatred and hostility in cyberspace, legality government to close the spreading hatred and hostility and electronic evidence in spreading hatred and hostility. Spreading hatred and hostility were criminal acts that used the Internet as facilities. Internet was used by extremists to disseminate his teachings, even being used to commit acts of terrorism (cyber terrorism). In maintaining the unity and integrity, then the government had the authority to shut down access to the unlawful electronic system. The closure should be accompanied by proof of electronic information that contains hatred and hostility based on tribe, religion, race and intergroup
ВИВЧЕННЯ ОСНОВНИХ ЕТАПІВ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА РОЗВИТКУ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ ФАРМАЦІЇ В КРАЇНАХ СВІТУ ТА В УКРАЇНІ
Authors: Kotvitska A. A. , Kubareva I. V. , Surikova I. O.
Published: October 2017

Мета роботи. Вивчення міжнародного досвіду становлення та розвитку соціальної фармації.Матеріали і методи. Аналіз наукових публікацій та офіційних сайтів ВНЗ за допомогою системно-аналітичного та ретроспективного методів аналізу.Результати й обговорення. У статті проаналізовано основні етапи становлення та розвитку соціальної фармації, перші етапи зародження та становлення якої відбулися в 50 рр. ХХ ст. в європейських країнах та США. В 70–80 рр. ХХ ст. відбулося обґрунтування необхідності впровадження соціальних та біхеовіристичних аспектів фармацевтичної діяльності в професійну підготовку фармацевтичних працівників на суспільному та державному рівнях у США та Великій Британії. На початку 2000-х рр. відбулося формування концепції соціальної фармації. Наприкінці 1990-х – у 2010 рр. соціальна фармація як навчальна дисципліна, область наукових досліджень та концепція розвитку фармацевтичного сектора галузі охорони здоров’я впроваджуються в пострадянських країнах та в УкраїніВисновки. У цілому становлення соціальної фармації характеризується обґрунтованою необхідністю впровадження соціальних та біхеовіристичних наук до навчальних програм підготовки фармацевтичних працівників із подальшим включенням соціальної фармації та споріднених дисциплін у навчальні програми, плани, а також створенням структурних підрозділів (кафедр ВНЗ) та центрів з соціальної фармації, що стає передумовою формування концепції соціальної фармації та подальшим впровадження її у практичну діяльність та функціонування фармацевтичного сектора галузі охорони здоров’я.