bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TLR4 Agonist Monophosphoryl Lipid A Alleviated Radiation-Induced Intestinal Injury
Authors: Guo Jiaming , Liu Zhe , Zhang Danfeng , Chen Yuanyuan , Qin Hongran , Liu Tingting , Liu Cong , Cui Jianguo , Li Bailong , Yang Yanyong , Cai Jianming , Gao Fu
Published: June 2019

The small intestine is one of the most sensitive organs to irradiation injury, and the development of high effective radioprotectants especially with low toxicity for intestinal radiation sickness is urgently needed. Monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) was found to be radioprotective in our previous study, while its effect against the intestinal radiation injury remained unknown. In the present study, we firstly determined the intestinal apoptosis after irradiation injury according to the TUNEL assay. Subsequently, we adopted the immunofluorescence technique to assess the expression levels of different biomarkers including Ki67, γ-H2AX, and defensin 1 in vivo. Additionally, the inflammatory cytokines were detected by RT-PCR. Our data indicated that MPLA could protect the intestine from ionizing radiation (IR) damage through activating TLR4 signal pathway and regulating the inflammatory cytokines. This research shed new light on the protective effect of the novel TLR4 agonist MPLA against intestine detriment induced by IR.
Circulating Noncoding RNAs Have a Promising Future Acting as Novel Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Wang Jia-jun , Wang Xin , Song Yong-xi , Zhao Jun-hua , Sun Jing-xu , Shi Jin-xin , Wu Zhong-hua , Wang Zhen-ning
Published: June 2019

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, causing a large number of cancer-related deaths each year. Patients are usually diagnosed at advanced and incurable stages due to the lack of suitable screening methods for early detection. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including small and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA), are known to have significant regulatory functions, and accumulating evidence suggests that circulating ncRNAs have potential applications as noninvasive biomarkers for diagnosing CRC, evaluating its prognosis, or predicting chemosensitivity in the general population. In this review, we summarize the origins of circulating ncRNAs and provide details of single and multiple circulating ncRNAs that might have roles as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in CRC. We end by discussing circulating ncRNAs that may distinguish patients with resistance to chemotherapy.
P2Y6 Receptor-Mediated Spinal Microglial Activation in Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Bian Jiang , Zhang Ying , Liu Yan , Li Qun , Tang Hai-bin , Liu Qing
Published: June 2019

Objective. To explore the role of purine family member P2Y6 receptors in regulating neuropathic pain (NP) via neuroinflammation in the spinal cord. Methods. Chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) of NP was classic in setting up models on Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Experiments were performed on rats with sham surgery, CCI, CCI + MRS2578 (a P2Y6 receptor antagonist), and UDP (a P2Y6 receptor agonist). The hyperalgesia intensity was mirrored by paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL). Immunofluorescence staining and western blot were used to evaluate activated microglial marker Iba-1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to access levels of IL-6. Conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of P2Y6 mRNA and activation of JAK/STAT signaling. Results. Among all groups, CCI caused decreased PWT and TWL compared to sham surgery, meaning a successful establishment of the NP model. These decreased values of PWT and TWL tests could be prevented by intraperitoneally injected MRS2578 and enhanced by UDP administration. Similarly, CCI induced increase of Iba-1 protein, P2Y6 mRNA expression, and circulating IL-6 secretion, as well as increased JAK2/STAT3 mRNA expression and phosphorylating modification in spinal cord tissues could also be diminished by MRS2578 treatment and exacerbated by UDP. Conclusions. These findings indicated the crucial role of the P2Y6 receptor in modulating the microglial and inflammatory responses in the process of NP in vivo. Results from this study would provide insights into targeting the P2Y6 receptor to treat NP in the near future.
Applying Pulse Spectrum Analysis to Facilitate the Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Huang Yi-Chia , Chang Yu-Hsin , Cheng Shu-Meng , Lin Sunny Jui-Shan , Lin Chien-Jung , Su Yi-Chang
Published: June 2019

Not all patients with angina pectoris have coronary artery stenosis. To facilitate the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), we sought to identify predictive factors of pulse spectrum analysis, which was developed by Wang and is one technique of modern pulse diagnosis. The patients suffered from chest pain and received cardiac catheterization to confirm the CAD diagnosis and Gensini score were recruited. Their pulse waves of radial artery were recorded. Then, by performing a fast Fourier transform, 10 amplitude values of frequency spectrum harmonics were obtained. Each harmonic amplitude was divided by the sum of all harmonic amplitude values, obtaining the relative percentages of 10 harmonics (C1-C10). Subsequently, multivariate logistic regression was conducted with two models and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) of these 2 models were compared to see if combining the pulse diagnosis parameters with the risk factor of CAD can increase the prediction rate of CAD diagnosis. The predictive factors of CAD severity were analyzed by multivariate linear regression. A total of 83 participants were included; 63 were diagnosed CAD and 20 without CAD. In the CAD group, C1 was greater and C5 was lower than those of the non-CAD group. The CAD risk factors were put alone in Model 1 to perform the multivariate logistic regression analysis which had a prediction rate of 77.1%; while putting the C1 and C5 harmonics together with the risk factors into Model 2, the prediction rate increased to 80.7%. Finally, the area under ROC of Model 1 and Model 2 was 0.788 and 0.856, respectively. Furthermore, left C1, left C5, gender, and presence of hyperlipidemia were predictors of CAD severity. Therefore, pulse spectrum analysis may be a tool to facilitate CAD diagnosis before receiving cardiac catheterization. The harmonics C1 and C5 were favorable predictive indicators.
Traditional Herbal Knowledge among the Inhabitants: A Case Study in Urgam Valley of Chamoli Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Authors: Singh Ankit , Hart Robbie , Chandra Sudeep , Nautiyal M. C. , Sayok Alexander K.
Published: June 2019

The Indian Himalaya is rich in plant species, including many medicinal plants, greatly valued by local inhabitants for health care needs. The study in Urgam Valley of Uttarakhand, India, is to identity and document traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. The study revealed high consensus on medicinal plant usage, with 51 species belonging to 31 families used for local health care. Number of species and uses known increases with age, and elders and specialist healers retain higher levels of traditional medicinal plant knowledge, having unique knowledge of medicinal plants and their uses as well as preparation.
Increased Oxidative Stress Induced byRubusBioactive Compounds Induce Apoptotic Cell Death in Human Breast Cancer Cells
Authors: George Blassan P. , Abrahamse Heidi
Published: June 2019

Bioactive compounds from plants represent good candidate drugs for the prevention and treatment of various forms of cancer. Berries are rich sources of bioactive compounds, and there has been an increasing interest in the study of therapeutic action of wild berries. Oxidants are generated continuously in biological system as a result of physiological process. When there is an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants, it leads to a condition called oxidative stress. Natural compounds as inducers of oxidative stress are able to modulate the physiological functions of cancer cells leading to cell death or survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the induction of apoptosis by isolated bioactive compounds (1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-4-methylpentan-1-one (C1) and 2-[(3-methylbutoxy) carbonyl] benzoic acid (C2)) fromRubus fairholmianusagainst MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The exposure of C1 and C2 reduced viability (IC50of C1: 4.69; C2: 8.36 μg/mL) and proliferation. Cytochrome c release from mitochondria and changes in mitochondrial membrane potential of treated cells supported the intrinsic apoptotic cell death. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production after treatment with C1 and C2 was found to be higher and induced nuclear damage. Expression of apoptotic proteins after the treatments was significantly upregulated as indicated using immunofluorescence (caspase 9, p53, and Bax), western blotting (p53, cleaved PARP, cytochrome c, and Bax), and ELISA (caspase 9) analysis. Overall, C1 was more cytotoxic, increased the ROS production in dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate assay, and induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells. These results illustrate that berry bioactive compounds have strong chemopreventive potential.In this article, we provide information on prooxidant and anticancer activities ofRubusbioactive compounds. Natural products have always demonstrated a significant contribution to the development of several cancer chemotherapeutic drugs. Most of these compounds are known to affect the redox state of the cell; and studies on these compounds have focused on their antioxidant property instead of prooxidant properties.
Noncompaction and Takotsubo Syndrome in a Neuromuscular Disorder
Authors: Finsterer Josef , Stöllberger Claudia , Winkler Walter Benedikt
Published: June 2019

Background. Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) in patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) has been reported in four patients, and a TTS plus LVHT plus a neuromuscular disorder (NMD) was only reported once so far. Here, we present the fifth patient with LVHT and TTS and the second patient with LVHT, TTS, and a NMD. Methods and Results. The patient is a 68 yo female hobby choir singer with a history of skin dermatofibroma, skin fibrokeratoma, arterial hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism, anemia, hyponatremia, diverticulosis, LVHT detected at age 60 y, five syncopes, a liver cyst, and carotid endarterectomy 2 months prior to admission because of sudden-onset chest pain. Workup revealed ST elevation, troponin elevation, and mild coronary artery sclerosis. Ventriculography and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) showed the apical type of a TTS. ECG normalised within 10 w and TTE within 6 w under beta-blockers and ATII-blockers. The TTS was triggered by being offended of being unable to sing anymore after endarterectomy. Neurological workup suggested the presence of a NMD. Conclusions. This case shows that LVHT occurs in NMD patients and that patients with LVHT and a NMD may develop a TTS. Whether patients with LVHT and a NMD are particularly prone to develop a TTS requires further confirmation. NMD patients with LVHT should avoid stress not to trigger a TTS.
Quick Reduction of Specific Absorption Rate Constraints in Parallel RF Excitation Pulse Design by Maximum Volume Inscribed Ellipsoids
Authors: Majewski Kurt
Published: June 2019

In medical magnetic resonance imaging, parallel radio frequency excitation pulses have to respect a large number of specific absorption rate constraints. Geometrically, each of these constraints can be interpreted as a complex, centered ellipsoid. We propose to replace a collection of such constraints by the single constraint which corresponds to the associated maximum volume inscribed ellipsoid and implies all original constraints. We describe how to compute this ellipsoid via convex programming. Examples show that this reduction has very short computation times but cuts away parts of the feasible power domain.
Prognostic Impact of Adenosine Receptor 2 (A2aR) and Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) Expression in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Wu Zhaoying , Yang Lin , Shi Linsen , Song Hu , Shi Peicong , Yang Ting , Fan Ruizhi , Jiang Tao , Song Jun
Published: June 2019

Background. Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a key inhibitor to the immune response by binding to the specific receptor PD-1. Adenosine receptor 2 (A2aR) can play an immunosuppressive role in tumor microenvironment by binding to its ligand adenosine (ADO). However, the expression of these two markers has been rarely studied in colorectal cancer simultaneously.Materials and Methods. We, respectively, collected tumor and adjacent nontumor tissue specimens of 204 patients with colorectal cancer. The expressions of PD-L1 and A2aR were detected by immunohistochemistry. The association among their expressions with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic parameters were analyzed as well.Results. The expressions of PD-L1 and A2aR in tumor tissues were both higher than those in matched adjacent nontumor tissues. PD-L1 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor TNM stage. A2aR expression was significantly correlated with tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, and TNM stage. Univariate analysis showed that the high expressions of PD-L1 and A2aR were inversely correlated with the overall survival, respectively. Multivariate analysis further confirmed that both of them were independent prognostic markers for patients.Conclusion. The results of this study suggested that the high expressions of PD-L1 and A2aR were associated with a poor prognosis of colorectal cancer. Coinhibition of these two proteins may be a new breakthrough in the treatment of this disease.
A High-Frequency Data-Driven Machine Learning Approach for Demand Forecasting in Smart Cities
Authors: Preciado Juan Carlos , Prieto Álvaro E. , Benitez Rafael , Rodríguez-Echeverría Roberto , Conejero José María
Published: June 2019

Different types of sensors along the distribution pipelines are continuously measuring different parameters in Smart WAter Networks (SWAN). The huge amount of data generated contain measurements such as flow or pressure. Applying suitable algorithms to these data can warn about the possibility of leakage within the distribution network as soon as the data are gathered. Currently, the algorithms that deal with this problem are the result of numerous short-term water demand forecasting (WDF) approaches. However, in general, these WDF approaches share two shortcomings. The first one is that they provide low-frequency predictions. That is, most of them only provide predictions with 1-hour time steps, and only a few provide predictions with 15 min time steps. The second one is that most of them require estimating the annual seasonality or taking into account not only data about water demand but also about other factors, such as weather data, that make their use more complicated. To overcome these weaknesses, this work presents an approach to forecast the water demand based on pattern recognition and pattern-similarity techniques. The approach has a twofold contribution. Firstly, the predictions are provided with 1 min time steps within a time lead of 24 hours. Secondly, the laborious estimation of annual seasonality or the addition of other factors, such as weather data, is not needed. The paper also presents the promising results obtained after applying the approach for water demand forecasting to a real project for the detection and location of water leakages.
Adsorption of an Anionic Azo Dye Using Moringa oleifera Seed Protein-Montmorillonite Composite
Authors: Mi Xiao , Shang Zhenya , Du Chunbao , Li Guoting , Su Ting , Chang Xinying , Li Ruiming , Zheng Zhihong , Tie Jingxi
Published: June 2019

In this study, Moringa oleifera seed protein-montmorillonite (MOSP-MMT) composite was synthetized using the impregnation method. The MOSP-MMT adsorbent was characterized using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, surface area analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. The removal of water-soluble reactive red 2 (RR-2) from artificial wastewater by the MOSP-MMT composite was carried out in a batch system. The results indicated that RR-2 adsorption increased with contact time, and the pseudo-second-order equation was best to describe the adoption process among the three models. The RR-2 adsorption decreased from 7.60 to 5.92 mg/g as pH increased from 3.2 to 9.1 and increased from 15.2 to 17.1 mg/g as NaCl concentration increased from 0 to 30 g/L. The Freundlich isotherm model provided the better fit of the experimental data than the Langmuir model. The result showed that the MOSP-MMT composite could be a potential adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater containing RR-2.
Detoxification Assays of Tunisian Tannery Wastewater under Nonsterile Conditions Using the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus niger
Authors: Boujelben Raouia , Ellouze Mariem , Sayadi Sami
Published: June 2019

The ability of Aspergillus niger strain to reduce organic and mineral pollution as well as the toxicity of two tannery wastewaters, the unhairing effluent (UE) and the final effluent (FE), taken from a local Tunisian tannery and under nonsterile conditions, was studied. Raw effluents show alkaline pH ≥11; thus experiments were carried out at initial pH values and at pH adjusted to 6. Characterization of effluents also revealed high salt levels (EC > 17 mS/cm) and high organic matter content (25 g/L for the UE and 7.2 g/L for the FE) but a low biodegradability since BOD5 did not exceed 2.5 and 1.25 g/L for the UE and the FE, respectively. The results of the biological treatment showed that A. niger was able not only to grow at high pH and salinity values, but also to reduce organic and mineral pollutant load. After treatment, the COD reduction for the UE reached 90% and 70% at pH=6 and at initial pH (12.13), respectively. For the FE, the decrease of COD values reached 75% at pH=6 and 64% at initial pH (11.64). Monitoring of mineral pollution levels showed a reduction in chromium (Cr) concentrations reaching 70% for the FE. This was reflected by an increase of the biomass of A. niger from 9.25 g/L (control) to 9.84 g/L for the FE. To confirm the efficiency of the biological treatment using A. niger, phytotoxicity (tomato seeds) and microtoxicity (Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis) tests were carried out. Results of this monitoring showed an important decrease in the toxicity levels for both effluents.
Avionics Graphics Hardware Performance Prediction with Machine Learning
Authors: Girard Simon R. , Legault Vincent , Bois Guy , Boland Jean-François
Published: June 2019

Within the strongly regulated avionic engineering field, conventional graphical desktop hardware and software application programming interface (API) cannot be used because they do not conform to the avionic certification standards. We observe the need for better avionic graphical hardware, but system engineers lack system design tools related to graphical hardware. The endorsement of an optimal hardware architecture by estimating the performance of a graphical software, when a stable rendering engine does not yet exist, represents a major challenge. As proven by previous hardware emulation tools, there is also a potential for development cost reduction, by enabling developers to have a first estimation of the performance of its graphical engine early in the development cycle. In this paper, we propose to replace expensive development platforms by predictive software running on a desktop computer. More precisely, we present a system design tool that helps predict the rendering performance of graphical hardware based on the OpenGL Safety Critical API. First, we create nonparametric models of the underlying hardware, with machine learning, by analyzing the instantaneous frames per second (FPS) of the rendering of a synthetic 3D scene and by drawing multiple times with various characteristics that are typically found in synthetic vision applications. The number of characteristic combinations used during this supervised training phase is a subset of all possible combinations, but performance predictions can be arbitrarily extrapolated. To validate our models, we render an industrial scene with characteristic combinations not used during the training phase and we compare the predictions to those real values. We find a median prediction error of less than 4 FPS.
Combined Real-Time Three-Dimensional Hysterosalpingo-Contrast Sonography with B Mode Hysterosalpingo-Contrast Sonography in the Evaluation of Fallopian Tube Patency in Patients Undergoing Infertility Investigations
Authors: Chen Sumin , Du Xiya , Chen Qingzi , Chen Shaoqi
Published: June 2019

Objective. This prospective study aimed to investigate the use of real-time three-dimensional hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography (4D-HyCoSy), using contrast agent SonoVue, with B mode hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography (B mode-HyCoSy), to evaluate tubal patency and the wall of the Fallopian tubes in infertility patients. Method. In total, we recruited 739 women with fertility requirements from the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou Medical College between January 2017 and July 2018. All cases received 4D-HyCoSy using contrast agent SonoVue, immediately followed by the B mode-HyCoSy. Of these patients, 145 showed pathological findings in the Fallopian tubes during HyCoSy; 34 of these (62 Fallopian tubes) were verified by laparoscopy and the dye test against routine reference standards. Sonographic findings, along with laparoscopic findings and dye test results, were used to compare the two techniques using the Cohen kappa coefficient. We also investigated the duration of examination and pain score. Results. Compared with laparoscopy and the dye test, the tubal occlusion diagnostic accordance rates for 4D-HyCoSy were 88.7% (32+23)/62, with a kappa coefficient of 0.769 and a 76.9% agreement rate. Distal occlusion diagnostic accordance rates for 4D-HyCoSy were 100% (8/8) with a k coefficient of 1.000 and a 100% agreement rate. Conclusions. The use of 4D-HyCoSy, with B mode-HyCoSy, for the diagnosis of tubal patency is safe, feasible, noninvasive, and highly accurate. B mode-HyCoSy allowed us to observe tubal walls in an intuitive manner.
Current Outcomes of Anti-VEGF Therapy in the Treatment of Macular Oedema Secondary to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusions: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Spooner Kimberly , Hong Thomas , Fraser-Bell Samantha , Chang Andrew A.
Published: June 2019

Purpose: The current body of evidence on the efficacy and safety of anti-VEGFs for macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is steadily growing as large clinical trials and observational studies are continually completed. The aim of this meta-analysis is to analyse anatomical and functional outcomes in response to anti-VEGF therapy using evidence generated from a pooled analysis of current clinical trials and observational studies. Methods: The current meta-analysis includes treatment of BRVO with aflibercept, bevacizumab and ranibizumab from randomised controlled trials and observational studies. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed publications with at least a 12-month follow-up period. On literature review using multiple electronic databases (PubMed, Embase and Cochrane), 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Baseline patient characteristics, study design, sample size and 12- and 24-month change in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central foveal thickness (CFT) as measured on optical coherence tomography imaging were pooled in a meta-analysis. Data were then stratified by study design and anti-VEGF therapy in subgroup analyses. Results: A total of 1,236 eyes from 22 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Mean baseline BCVA ranged from 66 ETDRS letters (20/50 Snellen equivalent) to 35 letters (20/200 Snellen). Mean baseline CFT ranged from 406.0 to 681.0 µm. Anti-VEGF treatment demonstrated an overall mean improvement in BCVA at 12 months of 14 letters (95% CI 12.0 to 16.2, p < 0.001) and CFT reduction of 228 µm (95% CI –278.9 to –176.1, p < 0.001). The BCVA gains at 12 months were maintained to month 24 with a mean gain of 12.5 letters (95% CI 6.3 to 18.8, p < 0.001), as well as reduction of CFT of 238 µm (95% CI –336.0 to –140.2, p < 0.001). No cases of endophthalmitis or glaucoma were reported in any study. Conclusion: This meta-analysis confirms the comparable safety and efficacy of anti-VEGF therapies for patients with cystoid macular oedema secondary to BRVO. There is a need for randomised prospective comparative trials of anti-VEGF agents for BRVO.
Role of Secondary Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy in Children: Review of an Institutional Experience
Authors: Shaikh Salman , Deopujari Chandrashekhar Eknath  , Karmarkar Vikram , Muley Kapil , Mohanty Chandan
Published: June 2019

Background: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has become a standard and safe procedure for obstructive hydrocephalus. ETV can also play an important role in children presenting with shunt malfunction with an added advantage of shunt independence. Secondary ETV can be defined as either a redo endoscopic ventriculostomy done after primary ETV stoma closure or that done in cases presenting with shunt malfunction. Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of secondary ETV in the pediatric age group patients. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 36 children (<18 years) who underwent ETV after shunt malfunction and 4 children with ETV done after previous ETV stoma closure from 2004 until 2018. In all patients, the obstructive pattern suggesting aqueduct outflow obstruction was observed on MRI. Patients were followed up for a mean period of 4.25 years. Results: ETV was considered successful if the patient avoided a shunt insertion later on in their life. Considering this definition, a success rate of 72% was observed with secondary ETV for shunt malfunction whereas a success rate of 75% was observed after primary ETV failure without any major side effects in any of the patients. Conclusion: ETV can be considered a primary treatment modality in children with shunt malfunction and has a good success rate in cases presenting with closure of previously performed ETV stoma.
MCH Neuron Activity Is Sufficient for Reward and Reinforces Feeding
Authors: Dilsiz Pelin , Aklan Iltan , Sayar Atasoy Nilufer , Yavuz Yavuz , Filiz Gizem , Koksalar Fulya , Ates Tayfun , Oncul Merve , Coban Ilknur , Ates Oz Edanur , Cebecioglu Utku , Alp Muhammed Ikbal , Yilmaz Bayram , Atasoy Deniz
Published: June 2019

Background: Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH)-expressing neurons have been implicated in regulation of energy homeostasis and reward, yet the role of their electrical activity in short-term appetite and reward modulation has not been fully understood. Objectives: We investigated short-term behavioral and physiological effects of MCH neuron activity manipulations. Methods: We used optogenetic and chemogenetic approaches in Pmch-cre transgenic mice to acutely stimulate/inhibit MCH neuronal activity while probing feeding, locomotor activity, anxiety-like behaviors, glucose homeostasis, and reward. Results: MCH neuron activity is neither required nor sufficient for short-term appetite unless stimulation is temporally paired with consumption. MCH neuronal activation does not affect short-term locomotor activity, but inhibition improves glucose tolerance and is mildly anxiolytic. Finally, using two different operant tasks, we showed that activation of MCH neurons alone is sufficient to induce reward. Conclusions: Our results confirm diverse behavioral/physiological functions of MCH neurons and suggest a direct role in reward function.
Performance Analysis of Reed-Solomon Codes Concatenated with Convolutional Codes over AWGN Channel
Authors: Mergu Kattaswamy
Published: June 2019

With rapid growth in today’s technology, digital communication is playing a major role to provide hostile environment to meet various applications. In this communication, Coding plays a prominent role to contribute error free transmission through channel coding which improves capacity of a channel by adding some redundant bit to the original information. One way to provide a better performance of the communication system is by concatenating different types of channel coding techniques. The concatenation can be done either in parallel or serial. The primary aim of this paper is to concatenate the Reed-Solomon codes with Convolutional codes in series, which provides better results comparing with single coding techniques. The performance of the concatenation of Reed-Solomon codes with Convolutional codes can be evaluated by finding bit error rate with various values of signal-to-noise ratio over AWGN channel. The analytical result has been obtained by using MATLAB/OCTAVE.
Fuzzy-Ant Colony based Routing on Road Networks
Authors: Saravanan S. , Jayanthiladevi A. , Geetha M.
Published: June 2019

Route selection is essential in everyday life. We have several algorithms for detecting efficient route on Large Road Networks. This paper introduces the hierarchical community, is presented.  It splits large road networks into hierarchical structure. It introduces a multi parameter route selection system which employs Fuzzy Logic (FL) and ant’s behavior in nature is applied to the dynamic routing. The important rates of parameters such as path length and traffic are adjustable by the user. The purposes of the new hierarchical routing algorithm significantly reduce the search space. We develop a community-based hierarchical graph model that supports Dynamic, efficient route computation on large road networks.
Data Mining Itemset of Big Data Using Pre-Processing Based on Mapreduce FrameWork with ETL Tools
Authors: Anantharaman Padmanathan , Ramakrishan H.V.
Published: June 2019

As data volumes continue to grow, they quickly consume the capacity of data warehouses and application databases. Is your IT organization forced into costly upgrades to expensive databases and data warehouse hardware appliances and enormous amount of data is getting explored through Internet of Things (IoT) as technologies are advancing and people uses these technologies in day to day activities, this data is termed as Big Data having its characteristics and challenges. Frequent Itemset Mining algorithms are aimed to disclose frequent itemsets from transactional database but as the dataset size increases, it cannot be handled by traditional frequent itemset mining. MapReduce programming model solves the problem of large datasets but it has large communication cost which reduces execution efficiency. This proposed new pre-processed k-means technique applied on BigFIM algorithm. ClustBigFIM uses hybrid approach, clustering using k-means algorithm to generate Clusters from huge datasets and Apriori and Eclat to mine frequent itemsets from generated clusters using MapReduce programming model. Results shown that execution efficiency of ClustBigFIM algorithm is increased by applying k-means clustering algorithm before BigFIM algorithm as one of the pre-processing technique.
Acoustic Echo Cancellation using Computationally Efficient Adaptive Algorithm Techniques
Authors: Shaik Mastan Sharif , Prasad K. Satya , Shaik Rafi Ahamed , Rao D. Venkata
Published: June 2019

Several sign based LMS adaptive filters, which are computationally free having multiplier free weight update loops, are proposed for acoustic echo cancellation. The adaptive filters essentially minimizes the mean-squared error between a primary input, which is the echo, and a reference input, which is either echo that is correlated in some way with the echo in the primary input. The results show that the performance of the signed regressor. LMS algorithm is superior than conventional LMS algorithm, the performance of signed LMS and sign-sign LMS based realizations are comparable to that of the LMS based filtering techniques in terms of Average Attenuation and computational complexity.
Constructing Relationship between Software Metrics and Code Reusability in Object Oriented Design
Authors: M. Manoj H. , N. Nandakumar A.
Published: June 2019

The role of design pattern in the form of software metric and internal code architecture for object-oriented design plays a critical role in software en-gineering in terms of production cost efficiency. This paper discusses about code reusability that is a frequently exercised cost saving methodology in IT produc-tion. After reviewing existing literatures towards study on software metrics, we found that very few studies are witnessed to incline towards code reusability. Hence, we developed a simple analytical model that establishes relationship between the design components of standard software metric and code reusability using case studies of three software projects (Customer Relationship Management project, Supply Chain Management project, and Enterprise Relationship Management project). We also testify our proposal using stochastic based Markov model to find that proposed system can extract significant information of maximized values of code reusability with increasing level of uncertainties of software project methodologies.
Development of Arduino-based Data Acquisition System for Environmental Monitoring using Zigbee Communication Protocol
Authors: A. Busari Sherif , F. Dunmoye Abibat , F. Akingbade Kayode
Published: June 2019

Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) are used for a variety of applications such as environmental monitoring, indoor climate control, health management and medical diagnostics, traffic surveillance and emergency response, disaster management among others. This paper presents the design of a DAS for monitoring environmental temperature, pressure and relative humidity. The system employs Arduino Uno microcontroller for signal processing and Zigbee transceivers operating on the 2.4 GHz license-free Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band as communication modules at both the transmitter and receiver ends. While the transmitter board houses the sensors, a GPS module and an LCD, the receiver system is interfaced with a PC which runs a developed MATLAB GUI for data display and analysis and it incorporates an SD card for data storage. The battery-powered system is a low cost, low-power consumption system which serves as a mini-weather station with real-time data logging, wireless communication and tracking capabilities.
Cervical Cancer Risk Factors: Classification and Mining Associations
Authors: -Ul-Islam Arif , H Ripon Shamim , Qaisar Bhuiyan Nuruddin
Published: June 2019

Women of all over the world suffer from a common cancer, named Cervical cancer. Cervical cancer cells grow slowly at the cervix. This cancer can be avoided if it is recognized and handled in its first stage. Now it is a key challenge for Medical experts to identify such cancer before it develops extremely. Nowadays, data mining models are popularly used to extract hidden patterns from huge medical dataset. This paper introduces data mining techinques for classification and finding associations in order to detect Cervical cancer at early stage. After preprocessing, the dataset was tested on Decision Tree, Random Forest, Logistic Model Tree and Artificial Neural Network. These methods achieve considerable success in case of both K-fold cross validations and randomly split dataset. Association rules has been established for detecting comparatively riskier factors which are more responsible for cancer development. The proposed methodology can help Medical experts to conduct their research on Cervical cancer.
Notice of Retraction Performace Analysis of WiMAX Traffic Based on WiMAX Traffic Parameters
Authors: Mahjabeen D. , Rashid M. A. , Mohamed S. B.
Published: June 2019

Notice of Retraction-----------------------------------------------------------------------After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of APTIKOM's Publication Principles.We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting ij.aptikom@gmail.com.----------------------------------------------------------------------- WiMAX is a broadband wireless technology for high speed direct access to internet. This broadband technology offers a rich set of features like better coverage area, bandwidth, flexibilities and many other new applications than contemporary wireless technologies. Here traffic engineering becomes a great issue for the better performance of WiMAX technology. This paper mainly focuses on traffic analysis of WiMAX. Based on different WiMAX traffic parameters, traffic analysis of WiMAX is performed depending on data, graph for various conditions in real world application like Bangladesh. Comparative analysis with other countries of the world for the same WiMAX provider is also presented to give a clear picture of traffic flow in a WiMAX network in Bangladesh. From the discussion, it is found that performance of WiMAX in our country is up to satisfaction and proves itself as a better competent. Some suggestions are also mentioned to make it more effective and best candidate to offer better throughput broadband wireless connectivity at a much lower cost with the help of existing architecture and available resources.
Assessment of FOG and Rain Induced-Attenuation on Terrestrial FSO Links
Authors: , M. O. Ajewole , , P. A. Owolawi , , R. M. Adetunji
Published: June 2019

Notice of Retraction-----------------------------------------------------------------------After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of APTIKOM's Publication Principles.We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting ij.aptikom@gmail.com.-----------------------------------------------------------------------  Launching into the next generation of wireless communication network (5G network) requires secure high data rate, high speed and huge bandwidth links. With the tremendous increase in broadband users, the existing communication systems such as radio frequency (RF) and microwave links cannot meet up with the challenges due to their link interference and low bandwidth. A current technology that promises such requirements and more is Free Space Optical (FSO) communication. The FSO basically involves the transmission of signal-modulated optical radiation from a transmitter to a receiver through the atmosphere or outer space. It is designed to complement the traditional fibre optical communication links. However, location-variant atmospheric channel degrades the quality and performance of an FSO system under severe atmospheric conditions. This paper attempts to assess both fog- and rain-induced attenuation on the performance of FSO link in a terrestrial terrain using measured visibility and rain rate data at Akure, Nigeria. 5-year (2012-2016) archived visibility data and measured rain rate data of 1-minute integration time obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Akure respectively, were used to compute the fog- and rain-induced specific attenuations using Kruse and Carboneur models. The performance of the FSO system was analyzed through link margin by using the parameters of a commercial optical transceiver, Terescope 5000. Findings from this work will be useful for FSO system design in the area.
Attendance Management System using Radio Frequency Identification Technology
Authors: O. Agbeyangi Abayomi
Published: June 2019

Educational institutions' administrators are mostly concerned about student irregular attendance coupled with the tendency of impersonation among students. The old method of taking attendance by calling names or signing on paper is time-consuming and not secure. In this paper, the development of a RFID (radio frequency identification)-based attendance management system that handled attendance taking seamlessly via the use of RFID cards is presented. The complete system is made up of a hardware and software part. The hardware was implemented using a Microcontroller and RFID reader as the main component while the Attendance Management application was implemented using C# programming language and MySQL for the database. The results gathered during the testing showed that the system performs excellently and scored 93% on accurate reading of RFID cards. The developed system is seen to have eliminated the bottlenecks associated with manual attendance taking and its application is not limited to tertiary institution.
Notice of Retraction Dynamic clustering of data with modified K-prototype algorithm
Authors: Chadha Anupama
Published: June 2019

Notice of Retraction-----------------------------------------------------------------------After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of APTIKOM's Publication Principles.We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting ij.aptikom@gmail.com.-----------------------------------------------------------------------Clustering of mixed numerical and categorical data has become a challenge now a days. A number of algorithms dealing with mixed data have been proposed. Speed and simplicity are the two major features that have made the K-Prototype algorithm a famous partition based clustering algorithm. This algorithm has a constraint of providing the value of K initially and sometimes predicting the optimum number of clusters in advance becomes practically impossible. In this paper, a new algorithm based on the K-Prototype algorithm for clustering mixed data with advanced features for automatic generation of appropriate number of clusters is presented.
Detection of Crimes Using Unsupervised Learning Techniques
Authors: Babu R. Buli , Snehal G. , Aditya Satya Kiran P.
Published: June 2019

Data mining can be used to detect model crime problems. This paper is about the importance of data mining about its techniques and how we can easily solve the crime. Crime data will be stored in criminal’s database. To analyze the data easily we have data mining technique that is clustering. Clustering is a method to group identical characteristics in which the similarity is maximized or minimized. In clustering techniques also we have different type of algorithm, but in this paper we are using the k-means algorithm and expectation-maximization algorithm. We are using these techniques because these two techniques come under the partition algorithm. Partition algorithm is one of the best methods to solve crimes and to find the similar data and group it. K-means algorithm is used to partition the grouped object based on their means. Expectation-maximization algorithm is the extension of k-means algorithm here we partition the data based on their parameters.
Quality of Service based Multicasting Routing Protocols for MANETs: A Survey
Authors: Kumar Sahu Prabhat , Kumar Pattanayak Binod
Published: June 2019

The modern electronic age consists of many new approaches for the communication among the human civilizations and the AD HOC network is one of the successful self-configuring and infrastructure-less communicating approach. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) comprised of mobile nodes organize themselves in such a manner that the can move freely inside the network and frequently change their position. Open architecture and dynamic nature of the network enhance its use in multimedia applications that needs graphics, audio, data, image, video and animation. Now a day’s the increasing use of multimedia and Internet technology needs quality of service (QoS) in MANETs in order to provide better service for the companies. This type of applications lends themselves well to multicast operations. As multicasting supports group oriented computing it can improve the QoS of the wireless medium by means of sending multiple copies of packets by exploring the internet broadcast properties of wireless transmission. Hence QoS multicasting plays a great role in MANETs for multimedia applications. However it is very difficult and challenging task to provide QoS multicasting. With unique features and by means of different recovery mechanisms, many researchers have been proposed various QoS based multicasting routing protocols for MANETs. In order to assist QoS multicasting routing protocols design for MANETs, we characterize the taxonomy of the multicast routing protocols and design features in this paper.
Evaluating Blind Image Quality Using RBF Neural Network
Authors: Soliga Abi , Jasil Godlin
Published: June 2019

Blind Image Quality Assessment (BIQA) methods are the most part feeling mindful. The BIQA method learns regression models from preparing images with human subjective scores to predict the perceptual nature of test images. The general quality of image and the nature of every image patches are measured by normal pooling. By coordinating the components of normal picture measurements got from different signs, we take a multivariate Gaussian model of picture patches from an accumulation of unblemished regular pictures. The proposed radial bias function neural network method is used to evaluate the quality of images and this method represents the structure of picture distortions with flexibility.
TIPOS DE VEGETAÇÃO PARA MEDIDAS COMPENSATÓRIAS DE CONTROLE PLUVIAL NA FONTE EM ZONAS SUBTROPICAIS
Authors: Teixeira Bárbara Klóss , Silva André de Souza
Published: June 2019

Este artigo apresenta algumas das espécies de plantas mais adequadas para três tipos de sistemas de drenagem urbana, são eles: canteiros pluviais, contenções vegetadas e biovaletas. A definição das espécies sugeridas para o plantio foi baseada nos seguintes fatores: espécies nativas, forma e floração das plantas, resistência e baixa manutenção. Para os jardins de chuva se destacam as espécies do biotipo macrófitas aquáticas anfíbias pois apresentam uma maior resistência a períodos de alagamentos e secas. As valetas ecológicas buscam a permeabilidade e purificação das águas visto que os recursos hídricos retornam para o meio ambiente. Já no âmbito das contenções busca-se a característica de resistência, buscando a estabilidade dos taludes, raízes abundantes cumprem essa função, remetendo as espécies trepadeiras, gramíneas e arbustos. Verifica-se assim, a importância das técnicas da infraestrutura verde que podem evitar inconvenientes futuros, relacionados à densidade urbana, e ainda contribuir com a composição de ambientes sustentáveis.
WORKSHOP INTERNACIONAL: SUSTENTABILIDADE URBANA + RESILIÊNCIA EM WASHINGTON DC
Authors: Freitas Juliana Maria de Souza , Leite Laís Padilha , Franco Maria de Assunção Ribeiro
Published: June 2019

O Workshop Internacional: Urban Sustainability + Resilience in Washington DC (Sustentabilidade Urbana + Resiliência em Washington DC) aconteceu no dia 05 de dezembro de 2018 na Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo – FAUUSP - e teve como principal objetivo oferecer aos alunos da Pós-graduação do Programa de Arquitetura e Urbanismo novas abordagens ligadas à temática da infraestrutura verde e da resiliência urbana através de um estudo de caso: a Praça do Relógio, situada na Cidade Universitária.
O evento, proposto como parte das atividades relacionadas ao LABVERDE[1], contou com a participação do Professor Dr. Dwane Jones da University of the District of Columbia (Universidade do Distrito de Columbia) em Washington DC, onde atua como diretor do Center for Sustainable Development & Resilience (Centro para Desenvolvimento Sustentável & Resiliência), dos professores Drª Maria de Assunção Ribeiro Franco e Dr. Paulo Renato Mesquita Pellegrino, ambos da FAUUSP, e de estudantes de pós-graduação de ambas universidades.
 
[1] O Laboratório Verde, LABVERDE, está atualmente sob a coordenação e organização da Professora Drª Maria Franco e vice coordenação do Professor Dr. Paulo Pellegrino