bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Electrophysiological Evidence of Auditory and Cognitive Processing Deficits in Parkinson Disease
Authors: Folmer Robert L. , Vachhani Jay J. , Riggins Amy
Published: June 2021

Background. Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are at increased risk for central auditory processing (CAP) deficits and cognitive dysfunction. However, behavioral assessments of CAP and cognitive processing used in a previous study by our research team found few significant differences in performance between early‐stage PD patients and age‐matched control subjects. The objective of this study is to use auditory event‐related potentials (AERPs) to compare CAP and cognitive functions in a population of PD patients with a group of age‐matched control subjects. Methods. AERPs in response to tonal and speech stimuli were recorded from 35 adults who had a medical diagnosis of PD (23 males and 12 females; mean age = 66.9 ± s.d.11.2 years), and 35 age‐matched control subjects who did not have PD or any other neurological disorders (31 males and 4 females; mean age = 65.4 ± s.d.12.3 years). Auditory stimuli included pure tones (500 and 1000 Hz) to elicit the P300 response and a dichotic digits paradigm to elicit the N200 processing negativity. Results. Compared to control subjects, PD patients exhibited significantly longer latencies of P300 and N200 components and smaller amplitude N200 components. Latency and amplitude of the N200 component were significantly correlated with participants’ age. N200 amplitude was correlated with results from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) of cognitive ability. Latency of the P300 and amplitude of the N200 components were significantly correlated with results from the Spatial Release From Masking (SRM) behavioral CAP assessment. Conclusions. AERP assessments used in this study appear to be sensitive indicators of CAP and cognitive deficits exhibited by early‐stage PD patients. While few significant differences in performance on behavioral CAP and cognitive tests were previously observed between this population of PD patients and age‐matched control subjects, N200 and P300 components recorded in the present study revealed impaired neural processing by the PD group.
Candidate Anti-COVID-19 Medicinal Plants from Ethiopia: A Review of Plants Traditionally Used to Treat Viral Diseases
Authors: Tegen Dires , Dessie Kindalem , Damtie Destaw
Published: June 2021

Background. Emerging viral infections are among the major global public health concerns. The pandemic COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory and vascular disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There are no medicines that can treat SARS-CoV-2 except the vaccines. Therefore, searching for plant-originated therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19 is required. Consequently, reviewing medicinal plants used to treat different viral infections is mandatory. This review article aims to review the ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants traditionally used to treat different viral diseases by the Ethiopian people and suggests those plants as candidates to fight COVID-19. Methods. Articles written in English were searched from online public databases using searching terms like “Traditional Medicine,” “Ethnobotanical study,” “Active components,” “Antiviral activities,” and “Ethiopia.” Ethnobotanical data were analyzed using the Excel statistical software program. Result. From the 46 articles reviewed, a total of 111 plant species were claimed to treat viral infections. Fifty-six (50.4%) of the plant species had reported to have antiviral active components that are promising to treat COVID-19. Lycorine, gingerol shogaol, resveratrol, rhoifolin, oleanolic acid, kaempferol, rosmarinic acid, almond oil, ursolic acid, hederagenin, nigellidine, α-hederin, apigenin, nobiletin, tangeretin, chalcone, hesperidin, epigallocatechin gallate, allicin, diallyl trisulfide, ajoene, aloenin, artemisinin, glucobrassicin, curcumin, piperine, flavonoids, anthraquinone, hydroxychloroquine, and jensenone were some of them. Conclusion. The Ethiopian traditional knowledge applies a lot of medicinal plants to treat different viral infections. Reports of the chemical components of many of them confirm that they can be promising to fight COVID-19.
Underwater Depth Estimation for Spherical Images
Authors: Cui Jiadi , Jin Lei , Kuang Haofei , Xu Qingwen , Schwertfeger Sören
Published: June 2021

This paper proposes a method for monocular underwater depth estimation, which is an open problem in robotics and computer vision. To this end, we leverage publicly available in-air RGB-D image pairs for underwater depth estimation in the spherical domain with an unsupervised approach. For this, the in-air images are style-transferred to the underwater style as the first step. Given those synthetic underwater images and their ground truth depth, we then train a network to estimate the depth. This way, our learning model is designed to obtain the depth up to scale, without the need of corresponding ground truth underwater depth data, which is typically not available. We test our approach on style-transferred in-air images as well as on our own real underwater dataset, for which we computed sparse ground truth depths data via stereopsis. This dataset is provided for download. Experiments with this data against a state-of-the-art in-air network as well as different artificial inputs show that the style transfer as well as the depth estimation exhibit promising performance.
Evaluation of the Antimalarial Activity of the Leaf Latex of Aloe weloensis (Aloaceae) against Plasmodium Parasites
Authors: Amare Gedefaw Getnet , Degu Amsalu , Njogu Peter , Kifle Zemene Demelash
Published: June 2021

Background. The lack of available vaccines and the emerging resistance to antimalarial drugs have provided the necessity to find noble antimalarial plant-based medicines. The leaf latex Aloe weloensis has been used in folk medicine against malarial and other human ailments in Ethiopia. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the antimalarial activity of the leaf latex of A. weloensis against Plasmodium parasites. Materials and Methods. The prophylactic and curative models were employed to determine the in vivo antimalarial activity of the leaf latex A. weloensis against P. berghei infected mice, and the antioxidant activity of the latex was assessed using diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) assay. Female mice were recruited for toxicity study, and the leaf latex was administered to fasted mice at a dose of 5000 mg/kg. The mice were kept under continuous observation for fourteen days for any signs of overt toxicity. Results. The leaf latex of A. weloensis was safe up to 5000 mg/kg, and the latex endowed free radical inhibition activity (IC50 = 10.25 μg/ml). The latex of A. weloensis leaf demonstrated the inhibitory activity against the 3D7 strain of P. falciparum (IC50 = 9.14 μg/ml). The prophylactic and curative effect of the latex was found to be dose-dependent. The mice’s parasitemia level was significantly (

p
<
0.001

) reduced at all tested doses of the leaf latex compared to negative control in the curative test. Parasitemia reduction was significant (200 mg/kg,

p
<
0.01

, and 400 and 600 mg/kg,

p
<
0.001

) in the prophylactic test compared to the control. In addition, the leaf latex significantly (

p
<
0.01

) improved mean survival time, packed cell volume, rectal temperature, and bodyweight of P. berghei infected mice. Conclusion. The leaf latex of Aloe weloensis was endowed with the antimalarial activity at various doses, corroborating the plant’s claimed traditional use.
A Smartphone-based Application for Self-Management in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Mokhberdezfuli Mahdieh , Ayatollahi Haleh , Naser Moghadasi Abdorreza
Published: June 2021

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammation of the central nervous system and self-management is necessary for MS patients. The purpose of the present study was to develop a smartphone-based application for self-management in multiple sclerosis. Methods. This research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, users’ requirements were investigated by using a questionnaire. The participants were 120 MS patients and six neurologists. In the second phase, a prototype of the application was designed and its usability was evaluated by using QUIS questionnaire. Results. Most of the proposed educational content, data elements, and the application functions, such as medication time reminder, assessing the severity of fatigue, and calculating the score of the Fatigue Severity Scale were found necessary to be included in the application. Finally, the usability of the application was evaluated by the users and the average of mean values was 7.6 out of 9 which indicated a “good” level of user satisfaction. Conclusions. The application designed in this study was able to collect patient data and facilitated consulting physicians at the point of need. It is expected that the patients’ quality of life and health status can be improved by using this application. However, more research is required to investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of this application in terms of reducing the number of visits to the medical centers, improving self-management skills of MS patients and their quality of life.
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of the Human Endometrial Fluid during the Natural Cycle
Authors: Bregón-Villahoz Marta , Moragues Maria-Dolores , Arrieta-Aguirre Inés , Azkargorta Mikel , Lainz Lucía , Diez-Zapirain Miren , Iglesias Maria , Prieto Maria-Begoña , Matorras Ana , Exposito Antonia , Elortza Felix , Matorras Roberto
Published: June 2021

Purpose. Some microbiota patterns have been associated with favorable IVF prognosis and others with pathological conditions. The endometrial fluid aspirate (EFA) contains antibacterial proteins that are enriched in implantative IVF cycles, but the antimicrobial effect of EFA has not been addressed. We aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the human endometrial fluid during the natural cycle. Methods. EFA was obtained through an embryo transfer catheter in 38 women, aged 18-40 years, with regular cycles attending to a fertility clinic. The antimicrobial activity of EFAs was tested against two strains of Staphylococcus aureus; one strain each of Streptococcus agalactiae, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae; and three yeasts (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, and Candida krusei). Results. All samples exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus. In addition, 32.4% of EFAs were active against one of the other microorganisms assayed, 16.2% against two, and 5.4% against four of them. In contrast, none exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli or K. pneumoniae. The antimicrobial activity differs considerably between EFA samples, and we failed to observe a cycle-related pattern. Conclusions. EFA presented two antimicrobial activity patterns: (a) one common to all the samples, exhibiting activity against S. aureus and lack of activity against E. coli and K. pneumoniae, and (b) an individualized pattern, showing activity against some of the other microorganisms tested. The intensity of antibacterial activity differs between EFA samples. Our data suggest that the uterine microbiota is controlled by means of endometrial fluid components.
Comparison of the Efficiency of Ultraviolet/Zinc Oxide (UV/ZnO) and Ozone/Zinc Oxide (O3/ZnO) Techniques as Advanced Oxidation Processes in the Removal of Trimethoprim from Aqueous Solutions
Authors: Taie Moayede , Fadaei Abdolmajid , Sadeghi Mehraban , Hemati Sara , Mardani Gashtasb
Published: June 2021

Nowadays, advanced oxidation processes, particularly photocatalyst process and catalytic ozonation by ZnO nanoparticles, are the most efficient method of eliminating pharmaceuticals. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency of ultraviolet/zinc oxide (UV/ZnO) and ozone/zinc oxide (O3/ZnO) techniques as advanced oxidation processes in the removal of trimethoprim (TMP) from aqueous solutions. The process consisted of 0.6 g/L of ozone (O3), pH = 7.5 ± 0.5, TMP with a concentration of 0.5–5 mg/L, ZnO with a dose of 50–500 mg/L, 5–30 min reaction time, and 30–180 min contact time with UV radiation (6 W, 256 nm) in a continuous reactor. The high removal efficiency was achieved after 25 minutes when ZnO is used in 1 mg/L TMP under an operational condition at pH 7.5. When the concentration of the pollutant increased from 0.5 to 1, the average removal efficiency increased from 78% to 94%, and then, it remained almost constant. An increase in the reaction time from 5 to 25 minutes will cause the average elimination to increase from 84% to 94%. The results showed that the efficiency of O3/ZnO process in the removal of TMP was 94%, while the removal efficiency of UV/ZnO process was 91%. The findings exhibited that the kinetic study followed the second-order kinetics, both processes. With regard to the results, the photocatalyst process and catalytic ozonation by ZnO nanoparticles can make acceptable levels for an efficient posttreatment. Finally, this combined system is proven to be a technically effective method for treating antibiotic contaminants.
Determinants of Mortality among Cervical Cancer Patients Attending in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia: Institutional-Based Retrospective Study
Authors: Wassie Mulugeta , Fentie Beletech , Asefa Tseganesh
Published: June 2021

Background. Globally, about 570,000 cases and 311,000 deaths of cervical cancer occurred in 2018. It was the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Africa. The global mean age at death of cervical cancer was about 59 years. This study aimed to assess the determinants of cervical cancer mortality among cervical cancer patients attending in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH). Methods. Institutional-based retrospective cohort study was conducted in the oncology center of TASH, Ethiopia, from March to April 2019. Data were extracted from patients’ chart using structured checklist and analyzed using Stata 14.2. Cox regression was used to identify variables that affect the outcome variable. Result. From the total of 2045 reviewed medical records of cervical cancer patients, 1057 medical records were found to be complete and included in this study. The incidence of mortality among cervical cancer patients was 15.6/100/years. Mortality was significantly increased with advanced age (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) = 1.02, 95% CI (1.01–1.03)), comorbidity (AHR = 1.8, 95% CI (1.39–1.89)), being anemic (AHR = 1.42, 95% CI (1.07–1.89)), advanced stage (AHR = 1.63, 95% CI (1.24–2.13)), and being substance user (AHR = 2.71, 95% CI (2.08–3.53)). Conclusion. The study revealed that the incidence of mortality within the cohort was 15.6/100/years. Mortality was significantly increased with advanced age, anemia, advanced stage, comorbidity, and using substances. It is better to give special attention to patients with anemia, advanced age, advanced stage, comorbidity, and substance usage. In addition, expanding cervical cancer early screening will decrease the mortality of patients.
Adsorptive Removal of Cd(II) Ions from Wastewater Using Maleic Anhydride Nanocellulose
Authors: Kara Hizkeal Tsade , Anshebo Sisay Tadesse , Sabir Fedlu Kedir
Published: June 2021

In this study, both pristine cellulose nanocrystalline (CNC) and maleic anhydride functionalized cellulose nanocrystalline (MA-CNC) were prepared from the stems of Eichhornia crassipes weed by the sulfuric acid hydrolysis method. The as-prepared adsorbents were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) instruments. These materials were applied for the removal of Cd(II) ions from WW. The uptake mechanism was fixed to both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms with a maximum Cd(II) ion uptake capability (qmax) of 75.76 and 215.52 mg g−1 by CNC and MA-CNC adsorbents, respectively. Pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic model was well fitted to the uptake process. The adsorbent regeneration study was done after desorption of Cd(II) ions from the adsorbent by HCl washing. Results exhibited that the adsorbent was reused for the removal of Cd(II) ions from real WW after successive 13th cycle.
The Approximation of Laplace-Stieltjes Transforms Concerning Sun’s Type Function
Authors: Shen Xia , Xu Hong Yan
Published: June 2021

The main aim of this paper is to establish some theorems concerning the error

E

n

F
,
β

, the Sun’s type function

U

r

, and

M

u

σ
,
F

of entire functions defined by Laplace-Stieltjes transforms with infinite order converge in the whole complex plane. Our results exhibit the growth of Laplace-Stieltjes transforms from the point of view of approximation.
Multiple Standing Waves for Nonlinear Schrödinger-Poisson Systems
Authors: Zhou Jian , Wu Yunshun
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we consider the following nonlinear Schrödinger-Poisson systems. Under suitable conditions on

V

,

K

,

g

, and

h

, when

1
<
s
<
6

, we obtain two nontrivial solutions for the problem and when

g

x
,
·

is odd and

6
<
s
<
∞

, we obtain infinitely many solutions for the problem.
A Novel Fast Image Stitching Method Based on the Combination of SURF and Cell
Authors: An Qing , Chen Xijiang , Wu Shusen
Published: June 2021

The traditional image stitching method has some shortcomings such as double shadow, chromatic aberration, and stitching. In view of this, this paper proposes a power function‐weighted image stitching method that combines SURF optimization and improved cell acceleration. First, the method uses the cosine similarity to preliminarily judge the similarity of the feature points and then uses the two‐way consistency mutual selection to filter the feature point pairs again. Simultaneously, some incorrect matching points in the reverse matching are eliminated. Finally, the method uses the MSAC algorithm to perform fine matching. Then, the power function‐weighted fusion algorithm is used to calculate the weight of the center point. The power function weight of the accelerated cell is used to perform the final image fusion. The experimental results show that the matching accuracy rate of the proposed method is about 11 percentage points higher than the traditional SURF algorithm, and the time is reduced by about 1.6 s. In the image fusion stage, this paper first selects images with different brightness, angles, resolutions, and scales to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method effectively solves the ghosting and stitching seams. Comparing with the traditional fusion algorithm, the time consumption is reduced by at least 2 s, the mean square error is reduced by about 1.32%∼1.48%, and the information entropy is improved by about 0.98%∼1.70%. The proposed method has better performance in matching accuracy and fusion effect and has better stitching quality.
CT Image Examination Based on Virtual Reality Analysis in Clinical Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
Authors: Wang Zhiying , Qu Qiaoyan , Cai Ke , Xu Ting
Published: June 2021

With the advancement and development of medical equipment, CT images have become a common lung examination tool. This article mainly studies the application of CT imaging examination based on virtual reality analysis in the clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Before extracting suspected lymph nodes from a CT image of the stomach, the CT image sequence is preprocessed first, which can reduce the cumbersomeness of subsequent extraction of suspected lymph nodes and speed up the subsequent processing. According to medical knowledge, CT images of the stomach show that lymph nodes mainly exist in the adipose tissue around the gastric wall, but there are no lymph nodes in the subcutaneous fat outside the chest. The most basic gray value in the image and the neighborhood average difference feature related to gray level are used as the primary features of visual attention detection. When extracting the neighborhood average difference feature, we use a

3
∗

3 sliding window method to traverse each point of the pixel matrix in the image, thereby calculating the feature value of each pixel in the image. After the feature extraction is completed, it is necessary to calibrate the data and make a training data set. The SP immunohistochemical staining method was used. The specimens were fixed with 10% formaldehyde, routinely embedded in paraffin, sectioned, and stained with HE. The tumor tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry, and the reagents were products of Maixin Company. All patients were followed up by regular outpatient review, letters, and visits or phone calls. The data showed that immunohistochemical tumor cells showed positive staining for CD117 (14/15, 93.3%) and CD34 (10/15, 66.7%). The results show that the application of virtual reality technology to CT imaging examination can significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
Consistent Conjectural Variations Equilibrium in the Semi-Mixed Oligopoly
Authors: Huarachi-Benavídez Gabriela Renata , Flores-Muñiz José Guadalupe , Kalashnykova Nataliya , Kalashnikov Viacheslav
Published: June 2021

We study a variant of the mixed oligopoly model with conjectural variations equilibrium, in which one of the producers maximizes not his net profit but the convex combination of the latter with the domestic social surplus. The coefficient of this convex combination is named socialization level. The producers’ conjectures concern the price variations depending upon their production output variations. In this work, we extend the models studied before, considering the case of the producers’ cost functions being convex but not necessarily quadratic. The notion of exterior and interior equilibrium is introduced (similarly to previous works), developing a consistency criterion for the conjectures. Existence and uniqueness theorems are formulated and proven. Results concerning the comparison between conjectural variations, perfect competition, and Cournot equilibriums are provided. Based on these results, we formulate an optimality criterion for the election of the socialization level. The existence of the optimal socialization level is proven under the condition that the public company cannot be too weak as compared to the private firms.
Fatty Acid Synthesis in Prostate Cancer: Vulnerability or Epiphenomenon?
Authors: Sena Laura A. , Denmeade Samuel R.
Published: June 2021

Tumor metabolism supports the energetic and biosynthetic needs of rapidly proliferating cancer cells and modifies intra- and intercellular signaling to enhance cancer cell invasion, metastasis, and immune evasion. Prostate cancer exhibits unique metabolism with high rates of de novo fatty acid synthesis driven by activation of the androgen receptor (AR). Increasing evidence suggests that activation of this pathway is functionally important to promote prostate cancer aggressiveness. However, the mechanisms by which fatty acid synthesis are beneficial to prostate cancer have not been well defined. In this review, we summarize evidence indicating that fatty acid synthesis drives progression of prostate cancer. We also explore explanations for this phenomenon and discuss future directions for targeting this pathway for patient benefit.
MYC- and MIZ1-Dependent Vesicular Transport of Double-Strand RNA Controls Immune Evasion in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Krenz Bastian , Gebhardt-Wolf Anneli , Ade Carsten P. , Gaballa Abdallah , Roehrig Florian , Vendelova Emilia , Baluapuri Apoorva , Eilers Ursula , Gallant Peter , D'Artista Luana , Wiegering Armin , Gasteiger Georg , Rosenfeldt Mathias T. , Bauer Stefan , Zender Lars , Wolf Elmar , Eilers Martin
Published: June 2021

Deregulated expression of the MYC oncoprotein enables tumor cells to evade immune surveillance, but the mechanisms underlying this surveillance are poorly understood. We show here that endogenous MYC protects pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) driven by KRASG12D and TP53R172H from eradication by the immune system. Deletion of TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) bypassed the requirement for high MYC expression. TBK1 was active due to the accumulation of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which was derived from inverted repetitive elements localized in introns of nuclear genes. Nuclear-derived dsRNA is packaged into extracellular vesicles and subsequently recognized by toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) to activate TBK1 and downstream MHC class I expression in an autocrine or paracrine manner before being degraded in lysosomes. MYC suppressed loading of dsRNA onto TLR3 and its subsequent degradation via association with MIZ1. Collectively, these findings suggest that MYC and MIZ1 suppress a surveillance pathway that signals perturbances in mRNA processing to the immune system, which facilitates immune evasion in PDAC.

Significance:

This study identifies a TBK1-dependent pathway that links dsRNA metabolism to antitumor immunity and shows that suppression of TBK1 is a critical function of MYC in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Site-Dependent Immune Escape Due to Impaired Dendritic Cell Cross-Priming
Authors: Diamond Mark S. , Lin Jeffrey H. , Vonderheide Robert H.
Published: June 2021

T-cell recognition of tumor neoantigens is critical for cancer immune surveillance and the efficacy of immunotherapy. Tumors can evade host immunity by altering their antigenicity or orchestrating an immunosuppressive microenvironment, leading to outgrowth of poorly immunogenic tumors through the well-established process of cancer immunoediting. Whether cancer immune surveillance and immunoediting depend on the tissue site of origin, however, is poorly understood. Herein, we studied T-cell–mediated surveillance of antigenic, clonal murine pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells expressing neoantigen. Whereas such tumors are robustly eliminated after subcutaneous or intravenous challenge, we observed selective immune escape within the pancreas and peritoneum. Tumor outgrowth occurred in the absence of immunoediting, and antitumor immunity could not be rescued by PD-1 or CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade. Instead, tumor escape was associated with diminished CD8+ T-cell priming by type I conventional dendritic cells (cDC1). Enhancing cDC1 cross-presentation by CD40 agonist treatment restored immunologic control by promoting T-cell priming and broadening T-cell responses through epitope spread. These findings demonstrate that immune escape of highly antigenic tumors can occur without immunoediting in a tissue-restricted manner and highlight barriers to cDC1-mediated T-cell priming imposed by certain microenvironments that must be addressed for successful combination immunotherapies.
Breast Cancer Treatment in a Patient with Decubitus Ulcer Infection Secondary to Spina Bifida: Surgical Resection versus Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Authors: Sato Fumiya , Shimomura Akihiko , Nakayama Kanako , Kawamura Yukino , Hashimoto Kazuki , Ishibashi Yuko , Shimizu Chikako , Kitagawa Dai
Published: June 2021

Spina bifida (SB) is a congenital neural tube defect that often presents with neurological disability and decubitus ulcers. A 66-year-old woman with SB presented to our hospital with decubitus ulcers and was treated by a plastic surgeon. She was referred to our department because of a mass measuring 5 × 4 cm in the superolateral quadrant of the right breast. The size of the right axillary lymph node (LN) was 2 × 1 cm. A core-needle biopsy revealed an invasive ductal carcinoma. Total mastectomy and axillary LN dissection were planned. However, 2 days prior to surgery, the size of the mass and the LN rapidly increased to 7 × 4 cm and 3 × 2 cm, respectively. Furthermore, the enlarged LN was close to the thoracodorsal artery. Since complete resection was difficult, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was also administered. On day 11 of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the patient was febrile and developed a decubitus ulcer infection at the buttock. The neutrophil count was within normal limits; thus, she was not diagnosed with febrile neutropenia. Follow-up computed tomography revealed a shrinking of the mass to 5 × 4 cm after the first cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. After 17 days of antibiotic therapy and drainage, total mastectomy and axillary LN dissection were performed. Due to the risk of recurrence of infection, adjuvant chemotherapy was discontinued and hormone therapy was initiated. In conclusion, indications for chemotherapy should be carefully evaluated in SB patients with lower limb paralysis and decubitus ulcers.
Durable Response to PD1 Inhibitor Pembrolizumab in a Metastatic, Metaplastic Breast Cancer
Authors: Gorshein Elan , Matsuda Kant , Riedlinger Gregory , Sokol Levi , Rodriguez-Rodriguez Lorna , Eladoumikdachi Firas , Grandhi Miral , Ganesan Shridar , Toppmeyer Deborah L. , Potdevin Lindsay , Toomey Kathleen , Hirshfield Kim M. , Chan Nancy
Published: June 2021

Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare and aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Tumor characteristics typically feature estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2-negative, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), with a poorer prognosis relative to pure invasive ductal or lobular disease. Resistance to chemotherapy often leads to local recurrence and distant metastasis. Genomic profiling has identified multiple molecular abnormalities that may translate to targetable therapies in MBC. These tumors are known to display higher PD-L1 expressivity than other subtypes of breast cancer, and disease control with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy has been documented. We identify a patient with metastatic, metaplastic TNBC, with mesenchymal components and osseous differentiation, who completed 2 years of pembrolizumab treatment and has remained without evidence of disease after 32 months of observation, while maintaining good quality of life. Future efforts should focus on immunotherapy response with respect to the various subtypes of MBC, and treatment should continue to be incorporated in clinical trials to maximize disease response.
Concurrent Scoliosis and Dentofacial Anomaly: A Case Report
Authors: Bennett Samuel , Whitewood Colin , Xu Jiake
Published: June 2021

The relationship between scoliosis, dentofacial anomaly, and malocclusion is poorly understood. We report a novel and complex pediatric case of concurrent juvenile scoliosis, dentofacial anomaly, and malocclusion, successfully treated and managed by an interdisciplinary hospital team over a 15-year period. The degree of severity of the scoliosis and dentofacial anomaly necessitates surgical intervention. Successful orthopedic surgical procedures have improved the patient’s quality of life. Future surgical correction of the dentofacial anomaly and malocclusion is necessary to improve the patient’s condition from psychosocial, aesthetic, and functional standpoints. The patient’s condition is characterized by multiple congenital abnormalities, developmental delay, seizure disorder, juvenile scoliosis, and dentofacial anomaly with malocclusion. Intriguingly, a unifying diagnosis for the patient’s condition could not be confirmed despite the indication of a syndromic cause. The collection of characteristics is suggestive of the chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndromes (including velocardiofacial syndrome [VCFS] or DiGeorge syndrome) as possible genetic causes. Clinical genetics testing was unable to establish a diagnosis of chromosome 22q11.2 deletion, VCFS or DiGeorge syndrome. Further investigation of the genotype-phenotype relationships of scoliosis, dentofacial anomaly, and malocclusion is required to improve medical knowledge, diagnostic capability, and patient care, specifically relating to cases of undiagnosed diseases. Future research utilizing next-generation sequencing techniques is necessary to aim for precise genetic diagnosis, including knowledge of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, for the development of the potential of therapeutic approaches targeting gene repair.
Factors Associated with the Use of Fecal Immunochemical Tests and Colonoscopy in the INSEF Portuguese Population
Authors: Gomes Fábio Sousa , Kislaya Irina , Seabra Dulce , Cordeiro Eugénio , Nunes Baltazar
Published: June 2021

Introduction: The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing worldwide. However, the screening uptake is generally low. We analyzed the association between sociodemographic, economic, and access-to-healthcare factors and the use of exams that are the basis for colorectal cancer screening in Portugal. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study based on data from the 1st National Health Examination Survey. We used Poisson regression to estimate prevalence ratios and study factors associated with the use of fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) and colonoscopy in a Portuguese population aged 50–74 years (n = 2,489). Results: 45.7% of the individuals reported using FIT in the previous 2 years; 37.3% reported using colonoscopy in the previous 5 years. The use of FIT was associated with age group, health region, and having a family doctor. It was higher in older individuals (47.6% in the age group 70–74 years vs. 38.1% in the age group 50–54 years; adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 1.32; 95% CI 1.05–1.65), and in individuals assigned to a family doctor (47.6 vs. 30.3%; aPR = 1.50; 95% CI 1.14–1.98). Colonoscopy was associated with age group, health region, higher education, economic capacity, and having a family doctor. It was higher in older individuals (45.3% in the age group 70–74 years vs. 25.6% in the age group 50–54 years; aPR = 1.85; 95% CI 1.42–2.40), individuals with a higher economic capacity (40.5 vs. 32.4%; aPR = 1.19; 95% CI 1.01–1.40), and individuals assigned to a family doctor (38.7 vs. 25.6%; aPR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.08–1.91). Discussion/Conclusion: In our analysis, the use of FIT and colonoscopy was influenced by sociodemographic, economic, and access-to-healthcare factors. This is relevant to guide interventions in this area. It is essential to ensure an equitable and uniform implementation of the screening program, with family doctors as an important part of the process.
The First Report on Incidence of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in Sabah, Borneo
Authors: Wong Eugene Hung Chih , Tan Heng Yao , Dompok Tracey May , Mohamad Ishak Luqman Afiq , Loong Siow Ping
Published: June 2021

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the fourth common cancer in Malaysia. A few studies have looked into the incidence of NPC in Malaysia in general, but there has been no published data on its incidence in Sabah specifically, where NPC is very common among the population. The aim of this study is to present the first report on the incidence of NPC in the state of Sabah, Borneo. Methods: Data of all patients diagnosed with NPC over a 5-year period from January 2015 to December 2019 inclusive were collected from the NPC registry of 3 main hospitals in Sabah. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) for different genders, ethnicities, and districts of origin were calculated. Results: 215 NPC patients were identified with a mean age at diagnosis of 49 (range 9–82). The ASR of NPC was 7.9/100,000 where the average age-adjusted male-to-female ratio was 2.4. The highest ASR was found in Dusun ethnicity in both male (3.19/100,000) and female (1.69/100,000) individuals, followed by Chinese (both genders), and Kadazan (for male individuals) and Bajau (for female individuals). The highest ASR was found in patients originating from Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, and Tawau. Conclusion: This is the first report on the incidence of NPC in Sabah, Borneo. The data suggest high ASRs among the population, especially in male Dusun and Chinese ethnic groups. Further research looking into NPC in this state, especially on risk factors and ways to improve diagnosis and prevention among the population, is recommended.
Upregulation of Basonuclin1 Is Associated with p63-Involved Epithelial Barrier Impairment and Type-2 Helper T-cell Inflammation in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps
Authors: Gao Yunbo , Li Jingyun , Jiao Jian , Li Ying , Wang Chengshuo , Zhang Yuan , Zhang Luo
Published: June 2021

Background: Tumor protein p63 has been shown to be important for epithelial dysfunction, including epithelial barrier defects and mucosal inflammation, in the development of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). Basonuclin1 (BNC1), an epithelial-specific transcriptional factor, is a direct downstream target of p63 and thus might be involved in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP. Objective: We sought to investigate whether BNC1 was associated with p63-mediated epithelial barrier defects and nasal mucosal inflammation in CRSwNP. Methods: Nasal tissue biopsies were obtained from 91 patients to CRSwNP, 49 chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) patients, and 28 control subjects. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining were used to determine the distribution of BNC1 in tissues and localization in cells, respectively. Quantitative PCR was performed to detect the expression levels of BNC1, TP63, epithelial barrier proteins, and type-2 helper T-cell inflammation-related genes. Results: BNC1 mRNA expression was significantly elevated in the tissues in CRSwNP patients compared with CRSsNP (1.96-fold, p = 0.0003) and control groups (2.40-fold, p < 0.0001). BNC1 staining was strongly positive in the nasal epithelium and co-localized with p63-positive epithelial cells. The expression of BNC1 mRNA was strongly correlated with TP63 mRNA level both in tissue biopsies (r = 0.78, p < 0.0001) and epithelial scrapings (r = 0.97, p < 0.0001). BNC1 expression was also positively correlated with epithelial barrier protein genes (CDH1, CLDN1, CLDN4, TJP1, and TJP2) and epithelial genes involved in TH2 inflammation (IL33, CCL26, CLC, and ALOX15). Conclusions: Overexpression of BNC1 may be associated with increased expression of TP63, and possibly contribute to the epithelial barrier defects and TH2 inflammation in CRSwNP.
A Rare BRAF Fusion in Advanced Rectal Cancer Treated with Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Therapy
Authors: Hasegawa Hiroko , Miyo Masaaki , Mori Kiyoshi , Mano Masayuki , Ishida Hisashi , Mita Eiji
Published: June 2021

Recently, v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homologue B (BRAF) fusions have been identified in multiple cancer types using comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) assays. BRAF fusions are extremely rare, occurring in <0.5% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Until now, there is no standard treatment for mCRC with BRAF fusions. Here, we report a recurrent colorectal cancer case that harbored an EXOC4-BRAF fusion. A 40-year-old female patient with a 2-year history of type 2 diabetes was diagnosed with pathologically confirmed stage IV rectal adenocarcinoma with liver metastasis. She underwent R0 resection after neoadjuvant therapy; however, her disease recurred at multiple metastatic sites (lymph nodes, ovary, and peritoneal gland). A rectal cancer surgical specimen was submitted for CGP (Foundation One) to identify potential targets to develop treatment strategies. An EXOC4-BRAF fusion was identified, and she achieved partial response to FOLFOX + panitumumab which is a fully human antibody directed against epidermal growth factor receptor. No EXOC4-BRAF fusions in colorectal cancer cases have been reported to date. Further studies investigating molecular mechanisms and novel targeted therapy approaches are required.
Application of PSO for optimal coordination of directional over-current relays in distribution system with distributed renewable energy sources
Authors: Bougouffa Lazhar , Chaghi Abdelaziz
Published: June 2021

The use of Distributed Renewable Energy Sources in the electrical network has expanded greatly. But, integration of these resources into distribution systems caused more problems in protection related issues such as mis-coordination, and changes the direction and value of fault currents. When connecting new D-RES to electrical power distribution networks, it is required to re-coordinate Directional Over-CurrentRelays (DOC-Relays) to ensure the continuity of the power transmission when the short circuits take place. This work presented a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to determine two independent variables called Pickup current (Ip) and Time Dial Setting (TDS) for optimal setting of relays. From analysis result, the impacts of RES location in the distribution system on DOCRs had been observed on the optimal relays settings
Design and implement of robotic arm and control of moving via IoT with Arduino ESP32
Authors: Ahmed Anwer Sabah , Marzog Heyam A. , Abdul-Rahaim Laith Ali
Published: June 2021

Every day, the technologies are expanding and developed with extra things to them. A cloud computing (CC) and Internet of things (IoT) became deeply associated with technologies of the internet of future with one supply the other a way helping it for the successful. Arduino microcontroller is used to design robotic arm to pick and place the objects by the web page commands that can be used in many industrials. It can pick and place an object from source to destination and drive the screws in into its position safely. The robot arm is controlled using web page designed by (html) language which contain the dashboard that give the commands to move the servos in the desired angle to get the aimed direction accordingly. At the receiver end there are four servo motors which are made to be interfaced with the micro controller (Arduino) which is connected to the wireless network router. One of these is for the arm horizontally movement and two for arm knee, while the fourth is for catch tings or tight movement. Two ultra-sonic sensors are used for limiting the operation area of the robotic arm. Finally, Proteus program is used for the simulation the controlling of robot before the hardware installation
Control algorithm for the urban traffic using a realtime simulation
Authors: Khelafa Ilyas , Ballouk Abdelhakim , Baghdad Abdenaceur
Published: June 2021

Many types of research have been interesting by real-time control of urban networks. This paper, basing on a simplified urban traffic model, proposes a novel control approach based on model predictive control concept to reduce congestion and improve the safety of cars on the roads. The contributions of this paper are: First, we consider vehicle heterogeneity, represented by a mathematical model called “S Model” and integrate it with a realtime simulator to evaluate the performance of controllers on real traffic conditions. Second, in order to assess each controller's success under particular circumstances, the structured network-wide traffic controller based on model predictive control (MPC) theory is compared to a fixed time controller (FTC). Using two scenarios, different indicators are tested, i.e total time spent, vehicle number, queue length. The results show that the model predictive control quickly converges, with the different scenarios, and further improves social welfare.
Investigation of robust gait recognition for different appearances and camera view angles
Authors: Wattanapanich Chirawat , Wei Hong , Petchkit Wijittra
Published: June 2021

A gait recognition framework is proposed to tackle the challenge of unknown camera view angles as well as appearance changes in gait recognition. In the framework, camera view angles are firstly identified before gait recognition. Two compact images, gait energy image (GEI) and gait modified Gaussian image (GMGI), are used as the base gait feature images. Histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) is applied to the base gait feature images to generate feature descriptors, and then a final feature map after principal component analysis (PCA) operations on the descriptors are used to train support vector machine (SVM) models for individuals. A set of experiments are conducted on CASIA gait database B to investigate how appearance changes and unknown view angles affect the gait recognition accuracy under the proposed framework. The experimental results have shown that the framework is robust in dealing with unknown camera view angles, as well as appearance changes in gait recognition. In the unknown view angle testing, the recognition accuracy matches that of identical view angle testing in gait recognition. The proposed framework is specifically applicable in personal identification by gait in a small company/organization, where unintrusive personal identification is needed.
Spatial information of fuzzy clustering based mean best artificial bee colony algorithm for phantom brain image segmentation
Authors: Alomoush Waleed , Alrosan Ayat , Almomani Ammar , Alissa Khalid , Khashan Osama A. , Al-nawasrah Ahmad
Published: June 2021

Fuzzy c-means algorithm (FCM) is among the most commonly used in the medical image segmentation process. Nevertheless, the traditional FCM clustering approach has been several weaknesses such as noise sensitivity and stuck in local optimum, due to FCM hasn’t able to consider the information of contextual. To solve FCM problems, this paper presented spatial information of fuzzy clustering-based mean best artificial bee colony algorithm, which is called SFCM-MeanABC. This proposed approach is used contextual information in the spatial fuzzy clustering algorithm to reduce sensitivity to noise and its used MeanABC capability of balancing between exploration and exploitation that is explore the positive and negative directions in search space to find the best solutions, which leads to avoiding stuck in a local optimum. The experiments are carried out on two kinds of brain images the Phantom MRI brain image with a different level of noise and simulated image. The performance of the SFCM-MeanABC approach shows promising results compared with SFCM-ABC and other stats of the arts.
Offline signature recognition system using oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF
Authors: Al-Tamimi Abdel-Karim , Qasaimeh Asseel , Qaddoum Kefaya
Published: June 2021

Despite recent developments in offline signature recognition systems, there is however limited focus on the recognition problem facet of using an inadequate sample size for training that could deliver reliable and easy to use authentication systems. Signature recognition systems are one of the most popular biometric authentication systems. They are regarded as non-invasive, socially accepted, and adequately precise. Research on offline signature recognition systems still has not shown competent results when a limited number of signatures are used. This paper describes our proposed practical offline signature recognition system using the oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF (ORB) feature extraction algorithm. We focus on the practicality of the proposed system, which requires only the minimum number of signatures per user to achieve a high level of fidelity. We manifest the practicality of our approach with a signature database of 300 signatures from 100 different individuals, implying that only two signatures are needed per person to train the proposed system. Our proposed solution achieves a 91% recognition rate with a median matching time of only 7 ms.