bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigating the Relationship between Metalinguistic Knowledge and L2 writing among Intermediate-level adult Turkish EFL Learners
Authors: AYDIN FATMA
Published: June 2019

The present study investigates the nature of metalinguistic knowledge among intermediate-level adult Turkish EFL learners, and the relationship between their metalinguistic knowledge and L2 writing in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency. The participants of the present study are a total of 78 intermediate-level adult Turkish EFL learners. The data collection instruments of the present study include Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT), Productive Metalinguistic Knowledge Test (PMKT), Receptive Metalinguistic Knowledge Test (RMKT) (adapted from Ellis, 2009) and opinion essays of a smaller group of the participants. The results revealed that intermediate-level adult Turkish EFL learners have moderate to high productive and metalinguistic knowledge. They are better at explaining why a L2 sentence is grammatically incorrect than referring to the exact grammar rule and using technical words for the grammatical features. The results also revealed that there is significant moderate correlation between metalinguistic knowledge and writing accuracy.
JURISPRUDENCE POSITION IN THE COMMON AND CIVIL LAWS
Authors: Rohaedi Edi
Published: June 2019

The development of jurisprudence continues to grow in accordance with the existing laws in the society which it is not the same as the law in legal development. It is not related to the rigid nature of the law which only regulates the general nature and the process of its formation takes a long time. In practice, the development of jurisprudence, as one of the sources of formal law, can be distinguished into two legal systems affecting the legal world. They are namely the Continental European legal system with its Civil Law System which prioritizes "codification" in the field of law and the Anglo Saxon law with its Common Law System, which is famous for the "Precedent" system binding the judges to follow the previous judgment in deciding the same case.
EFEKTIVITAS EKSTRAK DAUN TEMBAKAU (NICOTIANA TABACUM) SEGAR DAN DAUN TEMBAKAU (NICOTIANA TABACUM) YANG SUDAH DIOVEN SEBAGAI INSEKTISIDA NABATI LALAT HIJAU (CHRYSOMYA BEZZIANA)
Authors: Kristinawati Erna , Zaetun Siti , Srigede Lalu
Published: June 2019

Green flies (Chrysomya bezziana) are flies that are common in Indonesia. This fly is a type of ectoparasite which acts as a bully. This fly began to be perceived as a threatening threat, not only in terms of health because of its habit of crowding in decaying waste and easily perched on food, but also in terms of aesthetics. Moreover, green flies (Chrysomya bezziana) also have the potential to cause myasis (maggots) in the eyes, nose, bones and other organs through wounds. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of fresh tobacco leaf extract (Nicotiana tabacum) with tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum) which were ovened at concentrations of 60%, 70%, and 80% against the death of green flies (Chrysomya bezziana). This research is experimental (true experiment) with Purposive Sampling techniques. The data analysis technique used was Kruskal Walli Death of Green Flies (Chrysomya bezziana) on tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum) with a concentration of 60%, obtained a value of 41.46, a concentration of 70% with a value of 67.85, a concentration of 80% with a value of 82.25. In tobacco leaf extract (Nicotiana tabacum) which has been concentrated with a concentration of 60% obtained a value of 58.33, a concentration of 70% with a value of 80.42, a concentration of 80% with a value. The results of the Kruskal Wallis test prove that tobacco leaf extract (Nicotiana tabacum) that has been roasted is more effective in killing green flies (Chrysomya bezziana) compared with fresh tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum).
KEDUDUKAN HUKUM BADAN PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA KONSUMEN (BPSK) DALAM SISTEM PERADILAN DI INDONESIA
Authors: Alifin Lalu Sultan , Asikin Zainal , Kurniawan Kurniawan
Published: June 2019

Bentuk sengketa beraneka ragam dan keanekaragamannya menentukan inti permasalahan, yang mana setiap permasalahan memiliki sekian banyak liku-liku, akan tetapi pada akhirnya akan muncul ke permukaan. melalui jalur pengadilan kemudian dinilai tidak lagi memenuhi kebutuhan masyarakat sebagai lembaga penyelesaian sengketa. BPSK adalah badan yang bertugas menangani dan menyelesaikan sengketa antara pelaku usaha dan konsumen. BPSK merupakan suatu lembaga khusus yang dibentuk dan diatur dalam Undang-Undang Perlindungan Konsumen, yang tugas utamanya adalah menyelesaikan sengketa atau perselisihan antara konsumen dan pelaku usaha. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah Untuk menganalisis eksisitensi dari Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen (BPSK) dalam sistem peradilan di Indonesia dan untuk menganalisis kedudukan/kekuatan hukum putusan Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen (BPSK) dalam meberikan kepastian hukum bagi Konsumen. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah Kedudukan Putusan Hukum dalam sistem peradilan di Indonesia berbeda dengan putusan peradilan pada umumnya, putusan BPSK merupakan penyelesaian non litigasi diluar pengadilan umum, dan putusannya bersifat sifat final dan mengikat, artinya tidak ada upaya banding ataupun kasasi terhadap putusan majlis BPSK, dan mengikat dapat mengandung arti memaksa dan harus dijalankan oleh pihak yang diwajibkan. Putusan tersebut dapat dijalankan secara sukarela dan atau dapat dimintakan eksekusi dengan cara didaftarkan pada pengadilan setempat,  baik terhadap putusan mediasi, arbitrase dan putusan BPSK, sehingga putusan tersebut memiliki kekuatan eksekusi dengan dicantumkanirah-irah “Demi Keadilan Berdasarkan Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa”
Refinement of Background-Subtraction Methods Based on Convolutional Neural Network Features for Dynamic Background
Authors: Yu Tianming , Yang Jianhua , Lu Wei
Published: June 2019

Advancing the background-subtraction method in dynamic scenes is an ongoing timely goal for many researchers. Recently, background subtraction methods have been developed with deep convolutional features, which have improved their performance. However, most of these deep methods are supervised, only available for a certain scene, and have high computational cost. In contrast, the traditional background subtraction methods have low computational costs and can be applied to general scenes. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an unsupervised and concise method based on the features learned from a deep convolutional neural network to refine the traditional background subtraction methods. For the proposed method, the low-level features of an input image are extracted from the lower layer of a pretrained convolutional neural network, and the main features are retained to further establish the dynamic background model. The evaluation of the experiments on dynamic scenes demonstrates that the proposed method significantly improves the performance of traditional background subtraction methods.
Effect of Biochar Application Depth on Crop Productivity Under Tropical Rainfed Conditions
Authors: Moiwo Juana P. , Wahab Alusine , Kangoma Emmanuel , Blango Mohamed M. , Ngegba Mohamed P. , Suluku Roland
Published: June 2019

Although inherently fertile, tropical soils rapidly degrade soon after cultivation. The period of time for which crops, mulch, compost, and manure provide nutrients and maintain mineral fertilizers in the soil is relatively short. Biochar, on the other hand, has the potential to maintain soil fertility and sequester carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years. This study determined the effect of biochar application depth on the productivity of NERICA-4 upland rice cultivar under tropical rainfed conditions. A fixed biochar–soil ratio of 1:20 (5% biochar) was applied in three depths—10 cm (TA), 20 cm (TB), and 30 cm (TC) with a non-biochar treatment (CK) as the control. The study showed that while crop productivity increased, root penetration depth decreased with increasing biochar application depth. Soil moisture was highest under TA (probably due to water logging in sunken-bed plots that formed after treatment) and lowest under TC (due to runoff over the raised-bed plots that formed too). Grain yield for the biochar treatments was 391.01–570.45 kg/ha (average of 480.21 kg/ha), with the potential to reach 576.47–780.57 kg/ha (average of 695.73 kg/ha) if contingent field conditions including pest damage and runoff can be prevented. By quantifying the effect of externalities on the field experiment, the study showed that biochar can enhance crop productivity. This was good for sustainable food production and for taking hungry Africa off the donor-driven food ration the nation barely survives on.
Research on Multi-Energy Coordinated Intelligent Management Technology of Urban Power Grid Under the Environment of Energy Internet
Authors: Wang Xin , Kong Xiangyu , E Zhijun , Sun Fangyuan , Zhang Changzhi
Published: June 2019

Integrated energy systems (IES) are an important physical carrier of the energy Internet, which undertakes the tasks of energy conversion, distribution, and storage of electricity, heat and cold. From the perspective of energy Internet, this paper studies the optimal operation scheduling of an urban power grid with a high proportion of clean energy and proposes a multi-energy coordinated intelligent management method for the urban power grid. Firstly, the structure and typical characteristics of urban energy Internet are researched. On this basis, the regulatory capacity of the adjustable generator set and the regenerative equipment is used to offset the volatility of renewable energy, the internal operating system, and network stable operation constraints are considered. To solve the model, alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is used. Finally, a real-time power grid example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Indications of Ground-based Electromagnetic Observations to A Possible Lithosphere–Atmosphere–Ionosphere Electromagnetic Coupling before the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan MS 8.0 Earthquake
Authors: Li Mei , Lu Jun , Zhang Xuemin , Shen Xuhui
Published: June 2019

A large number of various precursors have been reported since the Wenchuan MS 8.0 earthquake (EQ) took place on 12 May 2008 in China. In this work, previous investigations of both ground-based electromagnetic (EM) parameters and spatial ionospheric parameters were first examined. The statistical results showed that various anomalies presented different time-scale variations but tended to be characterized by a common feature – reaching their climax on 9 May, three days before the Wenchuan event, which indicates a lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere (LAI) electromagnetic coupling. Second, the fluctuations on 9 May based on the observational ground-based ultra low frequency (ULF) electrical field at the Gaobeidian (GBD) station and the direct current/ultra low frequency (DC–ULF) geomagnetic vertical Z field at the Chengdu (CD) station were comparably analyzed with those of ionospheric disturbances reported previously. The results showed that distinct electromagnetic changes, geomagnetic “double low-point” phenomena, and ionospheric disturbances above both sides of the Earth started in turn, respectively, but reached their climax simultaneously within dozens of hours on 9 May. This evolutionary process increases the probability that electromagnetic energy propagates from the epicentral area, via the atmosphere and ionosphere, to the equatorial plane, and through this plane finally to its magnetically conjugated area in the opposite hemisphere, causing electromagnetic disturbances on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, and in the ionosphere and its conjugate point, in that order.
Modeling the Effects of Explicit Urban Canopy Representation on the Development of Thunderstorms above a Tropical Mega City
Authors: Flores-Rojas José , Pereira-Filho Augusto , Karam Hugo , Vemado Felipe , Masson Valéry , Silva-Vidal Fey
Published: June 2019

The effects of an explicit three dimensional (3D) urban canopy representation on the development of convective thunderstorms were analyzed with the tropical town energy budget (tTEB) scheme integrated into the advanced regional prediction system (ARPS). The study provides a detailed description of the procedure to couple the system ARPS-tTEB and analyzed the simulation results of the 12 January 2015 sea-breeze event that developed a severe thunderstorm above the metropolitan area of São Paulo (MASP), Brazil. The simulation used realistic boundary and initial conditions from the Global Forecast System (GFS) and sea surface temperature (SST) from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM). The system ARPS-tTEB runs of up to 3 km horizontal resolution were carried out with high resolution topography features and land-use types currently available for Southeastern Brazil. The simulated spatial distribution of precipitation was verified against the Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMORPH), the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) and the São Paulo weather radar (SPWR) precipitation estimates by indexes scores. Time series of grid precipitation estimates (ARPS-tTEB and SPWR) and point measurements (rain gauges) were evaluated with a Bayesian statistical method. Results indicate that the urban area of the MASP modulates the precipitation spatial distribution over it. Furthermore, phase and amplitude precipitation accuracy increased with the 3D urban canyon and the urban energy budget scheme in relationship to control runs without urban environment effects.
Curcumin Regulates Anti-Inflammatory Responses by JAK/STAT/SOCS Signaling Pathway in BV-2 Microglial Cells
Authors: Porro Chiara , Cianciulli Antonia , Trotta Teresa , Lofrumento Dario Domenico , Panaro Maria Antonietta
Published: June 2019

Microglia play important physiological roles in central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis and in the pathogenesis of inflammatory brain diseases. Inflammation stimulates microglia to secrete cytokines and chemokines that guide immune cells to sites of injury/inflammation. Neuroinflammation is also strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for which nutritional intervention could represent a benefit due to a lack of clinically efficacious drugs. To this end, the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of several phytochemicals, including curcumin, have been extensively studied. The present experiments show that the administration of curcumin is able to increase the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-4 and IL-10, in murine BV-2 microglial cells treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Consistent with these data, curcumin stimulation upregulates the expression of Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1, whereas phosphorylation of the JAK2 and STAT3 was reduced. Taken together, these results provide evidence that curcumin is able to regulate neuroinflammatory reactions by eliciting anti-inflammatory responses in microglia through JAK/STAT/SOCS signaling pathway modulation.
Rapid Communication: Plasma Interleukin-35 in Children with Autism
Authors: Rose Destanie , Ashwood Paul
Published: June 2019

In autism spectrum disorders (ASD) many individuals have co-morbid immune dysregulation that can lead to inflammation in the brain and periphery. The novel cytokine interleukin (IL)-35 has described anti-inflammatory properties; however, the plasma levels of IL-35 in children with ASD have never been investigated. The plasma levels of IL-35 were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 30 children with ASD and 39 typically developing (TD) controls. In the current study, we found that plasma IL-35 levels were significantly decreased in children with ASD compared with TD children. Furthermore, lower IL-35 levels were associated with worse behaviors as assessed using the aberrant behavior checklist. These findings are in line with other observations of decreased regulatory cytokines such as transforming growth factor beta and IL-10 in ASD, and associations with severity of behaviors. In conclusion, regulating the expression of IL-35 may provide a new possible target for the treatment of immune issues in ASD to address an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory signals that alter the behavioral phenotype.
Intercellular Transfer of Oncogenic KRAS via Tunneling Nanotubes Introduces Intracellular Mutational Heterogeneity in Colon Cancer Cells
Authors: Desir Snider , Wong Phillip , Turbyville Thomas , Chen De , Shetty Mihir , Clark Christopher , Zhai Edward , Romin Yevgeniy , Manova-Todorova Katia , Starr Timothy K. , Nissley Dwight V. , Steer Clifford J. , Subramanian Subbaya , Lou Emil
Published: June 2019

Mutated forms of the RAS oncogene drive 30% of all cancers, but they cannot be targeted therapeutically using currently available drugs. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that create a heterogenous tumor environment harboring both mutant and wild-type RAS have not been elucidated. In this study, we examined horizontal transfer of mutant KRAS between colorectal cancer (CRC) cells via a direct form of cell-to-cell communication called tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). TNT formation was significantly higher in CRC cell lines expressing mutant KRAS than CRC cell lines expressing wild-type RAS; this effect was most pronounced in metastatic CRC cell lines with both mutant KRAS and deficiency in mismatch repair proteins. Using inverted and confocal fluorescence time-lapse and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP)-based microscopy, we observed GFP-tagged mutant KRASG12D protein trafficking between CRC cells through TNTs within a span of seconds to several minutes. Notably, acquisition of mutant KRAS increased Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and upregulated tunneling nanotube formation in recipient wildtype CRC cells. In conclusion, these findings suggest that intercellular horizontal transfer of RAS can occur by TNTs. We propose that intercellular transfer of mutant RAS can potentially induce intratumoral heterogeneity and result in a more invasive phenotype in recipient cells.
Nerves and Pancreatic Cancer: New Insights into A Dangerous Relationship
Authors: Gasparini Giulia , Pellegatta Marta , Crippa Stefano , Schiavo Lena Marco , Belfiori Giulio , Doglioni Claudio , Taveggia Carla , Falconi Massimo
Published: June 2019

Perineural invasion (PNI) is defined as the presence of neoplastic cells along nerves and/or within the different layers of nervous fibers: epineural, perineural and endoneural spaces. In pancreatic cancer—particularly in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)—PNI has a prevalence between 70 and 100%, surpassing any other solid tumor. PNI has been detected in the early stages of pancreatic cancer and has been associated with pain, increased tumor recurrence and diminished overall survival. Such an early, invasive and recurrent phenomenon is probably crucial for tumor growth and metastasis. PNI is a still not a uniformly characterized event; usually it is described only dichotomously (“present” or “absent”). Recently, a more detailed scoring system for PNI has been proposed, though not specific for pancreatic cancer. Previous studies have implicated several molecules and pathways in PNI, among which are secreted neurotrophins, chemokines and inflammatory cells. However, the mechanisms underlying PNI are poorly understood and several aspects are actively being investigated. In this review, we will discuss the main molecules and signaling pathways implicated in PNI and their roles in the PDAC.
Elevated Lactate Dehydrogenase Has Prognostic Relevance in Treatment-Naïve Patients Affected by Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia with Trisomy 12
Authors: Autore Francesco , Strati Paolo , Innocenti Idanna , Corrente Francesco , Trentin Livio , Cortelezzi Agostino , Visco Carlo , Coscia Marta , Cuneo Antonio , Gozzetti Alessandro , Mauro Francesca Romana , Frustaci Anna Maria , Gentile Massimo , Morabito Fortunato , Molica Stefano , Falcucci Paolo , D’Arena Giovanni , Murru Roberta , Vincelli Donatella , Efremov Dimitar G , Ferretti Antonietta , Rigolin Gian Matteo , Vitale Candida , Tisi Maria Chiara , Reda Gianluigi , Visentin Andrea , Sica Simona , Foà Robin , Ferrajoli Alessandra , Laurenti Luca
Published: June 2019

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) patients with +12 have been reported to have specific clinical and biologic features. We performed an analysis of the association between demographic; clinical; laboratory; biologic features and outcome in CLL patients with +12 to identify parameters predictive of disease progression; time to treatment; and survival. The study included 487 treatment-naive CLL patients with +12 from 15 academic centers; diagnosed between January 2000 and July 2016; and 816 treatment-naïve patients with absence of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) abnormalities. A cohort of 250 patients with +12 CLL followed at a single US institution was used for external validation. In patients with +12; parameters associated with worse prognosis in the multivariate model were high Lactate DeHydrogenase (LDH) and β-2-microglobulin and unmutated immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region gene (IGHV). CLL patients with +12 and high LDH levels showed a shorter Progression-Free-Survival (PFS) (30 months vs. 65 months; p < 0.001), Treatment-Free-Survival (TFS) (33 months vs. 69 months; p < 0.001), Overall Survival (OS) (131 months vs. 181 months; p < 0.001) and greater CLL-related mortality (29% vs. 11% at 10 years; p < 0.001) when compared with +12 CLL patients with normal LDH levels. The same differences were observed in the validation cohort. These data suggest that serum LDH levels can predict PFS; TFS; OS and CLL-specific survival in CLL patients with +12.
MicroRNA Regulation of Epigenetic Modifiers in Breast Cancer
Authors: Humphries Brock , Wang Zhishan , Yang Chengfeng
Published: June 2019

Epigenetics refers to the heritable changes in gene expression without a change in the DNA sequence itself. Two of these major changes include aberrant DNA methylation as well as changes to histone modification patterns. Alterations to the epigenome can drive expression of oncogenes and suppression of tumor suppressors, resulting in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. In addition to modifications of the epigenome, microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation is also a hallmark for cancer initiation and metastasis. Advances in our understanding of cancer biology demonstrate that alterations in the epigenome are not only a major cause of miRNA dysregulation in cancer, but that miRNAs themselves also indirectly drive these DNA and histone modifications. More explicitly, recent work has shown that miRNAs can regulate chromatin structure and gene expression by directly targeting key enzymes involved in these processes. This review aims to summarize these research findings specifically in the context of breast cancer. This review also discusses miRNAs as epigenetic biomarkers and as therapeutics, and presents a comprehensive summary of currently validated epigenetic targets in breast cancer.
Circulating microRNAs as Promising Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Rapado-González Óscar , Álvarez-Castro Ana , López-López Rafael , Iglesias-Canle José , Suárez-Cunqueiro María Mercedes , Muinelo-Romay Laura
Published: June 2019

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite numerous advances in therapeutic approaches, this cancer has a poor prognosis when it is diagnosed at late stages. Therefore, the scientific effort is nowadays directed towards the development of new non-invasive and dynamic biomarkers to improve the survival expectancy of CRC patients. In this sense, deregulated expression of many miRNAs has been shown to play an important role for CRC carcinogenesis and dissemination. Noticeably, an increasing number of studies highlight that circulating miRNAs, including those traveling inside exosomes or those released by tumor cells into circulation, constitute a promising tool for early detection, prognosis and therapy selection of CRC. Therefore, in this review we focus on the clinical potential of blood circulating miRNAs as emerging biomarkers with high value to improve the clinical management of CRC patients, providing a deep and complete perspective of the realities and challenges to translate these biomarkers to the clinical context.
Store-Operated Ca2+ Entry in Tumor Progression: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Implications
Authors: Chen Yih-Fung , Lin Peng-Chan , Yeh Yu-Min , Chen Li-Hsien , Shen Meng-Ru
Published: June 2019

The remodeling of Ca2+ homeostasis has been implicated as a critical event in driving malignant phenotypes, such as tumor cell proliferation, motility, and metastasis. Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) that is elicited by the depletion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ stores constitutes the major Ca2+ influx pathways in most nonexcitable cells. Functional coupling between the plasma membrane Orai channels and ER Ca2+-sensing STIM proteins regulates SOCE activation. Previous studies in the human breast, cervical, and other cancer types have shown the functional significance of STIM/Orai-dependent Ca2+ signals in cancer development and progression. This article reviews the information on the regulatory mechanisms of STIM- and Orai-dependent SOCE pathways in the malignant characteristics of cancer, such as proliferation, resistance, migration, invasion, and metastasis. The recent investigations focusing on the emerging importance of SOCE in the cells of the tumor microenvironment, such as tumor angiogenesis and antitumor immunity, are also reviewed. The clinical implications as cancer therapeutics are discussed.
Clinical Translatability of “Identified” Circulating miRNAs for Diagnosing Breast Cancer: Overview and Update
Authors: Grimaldi Anna Maria , Incoronato Mariarosaria
Published: June 2019

The effective management of patients with breast cancer (BC) depends on the early diagnosis of the disease. Currently, BC diagnosis is based on diagnostic imaging and biopsy, while the use of non-invasive circulating biomarkers for diagnosis remains an unmet need. Among the plethora of proposed non-invasive biomarkers, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been considered promising diagnostic molecules because they are very stable in biological fluids and easily detectable. Although the discovery of miRNAs has opened a new avenue for their clinical application, the clinical translatability of these molecules remains unclear. This review analyses the role of circulating miRNAs as BC diagnostic biomarkers and focuses on two essential requirements to evaluate their clinical validity: i) Specificity and ii) consistent expression between the blood and tissue. These two issues were analyzed in depth using the Human miRNA Disease Database (HMDD v3.0) and the free search engine PubMed. One hundred and sixty three BC-associated miRNAs were selected and analyzed for their specificity among all human pathologies that shared deregulation (291) and consistent expression in the bloodstream and the tissue. In addition, we provide an overview of the current clinical trials examining miRNAs in BC. In conclusion, we highlight pitfalls in the translatability of circulating miRNAs into clinical practice due to the lack of specificity and a consistent expression pattern between the tissue and blood.
Special Issue on “Proteostasis and Autophagy”
Authors: Kern Andreas , Behl Christian
Published: June 2019

Autophagy is a highly conserved eukaryotic pathway responsible for the lysosomal degradation (and subsequent recycling) of cellular components such as proteins, protein aggregates, and a growing number of organelles or cellular compartments [...]
Silver Doping Mechanism in Bioceramics—From Ag+:Doped HAp to Ag°/BCP Nanocomposite
Authors: Jacobs Aurélie , Gaulier Morgane , Duval Alexis , Renaudin Guillaume
Published: June 2019

The results presented in this paper, based on the powder X-ray diffraction technique followed by Rietveld analyses, are devoted to the mechanism of silver incorporation in biphasic calcium phosphates. Results were confirmed by SEM observation. Samples were synthesized via the sol-gel route, followed by heat treatments. Two incorporation sites were highlighted: Ca2+ replacement by Ag+ into the calcium phosphates (HAp: hydroxyapatite and β-TCP: tricalcium phosphate), and the other as metallic silver Ag° nanoparticles (formed by autogenous reduction). The samples obtained were thus nanocomposites, written Ag°/BCP, composed of closely-mixed Ag° particles of about 100 nm at 400 °C (which became micrometric upon heating) and calcium phosphates, themselves substituted by Ag+ cations. Between 400 °C and 700 °C the cationic silver part was mainly located in the HAp phase of the composition Ca10−xAgx(PO4)6(OH)2−x (written Ag+: HAp). From 600 °C silver cations migrated to β-TCP to form the definite compound Ca10Ag(PO4)7 (written Ag+: TCP). Due to the melting point of Ag°, the doping element completely left our sample at temperatures above 1000 °C. In order to correctly understand the biological behavior of such material, which is potentially interesting for biomaterial applications, its complex doping mechanism should be taken into consideration for subsequent cytotoxic and bacteriologic studies.
Charging of Superconducting Layers in Arrays of Coupled Josephson Junctions for Overcritical Currents
Authors: Cuzminschi Marina , Zubarev Alexei
Published: June 2019

In this work, we effectuated the numerical simulations of the phase dynamics of an array of Josephson junctions taking into account the capacitive coupling between the neighboring junctions and the diffusion current in the stack. We observed that, if we increase the coupling and the dissipation parameters, the IV characteristic changes qualitatively from the IV characteristics studied before. For currents greater than the critical one, we obtained an additional branch in the IV characteristics. This branch is characterized by a lower voltage than the outermost one. Moreover, we obtained an additional charging of the superconducting layers in the IV region for currents greater than the critical one. We studied the time evolution of this charging by the means of Fast Fourier Transform. We proved that the charge density wave associated with this charging has a complex spectral structure. In addition, we analyzed the behavior of the system for different boundary conditions, appropriate to different experimental setups.
Cell and Gene Therapies for Mucopolysaccharidoses: Base Editing and Therapeutic Delivery to the CNS
Authors: Christensen Chloe L. , Ashmead Rhea E. , Choy Francis Y. M.
Published: June 2019

Although individually uncommon, rare diseases collectively account for a considerable proportion of disease impact worldwide. A group of rare genetic diseases called the mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are characterized by accumulation of partially degraded glycosaminoglycans cellularly. MPS results in varied systemic symptoms and in some forms of the disease, neurodegeneration. Lack of treatment options for MPS with neurological involvement necessitates new avenues of therapeutic investigation. Cell and gene therapies provide putative alternatives and when coupled with genome editing technologies may provide long term or curative treatment. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based genome editing technology and, more recently, advances in genome editing research, have allowed for the addition of base editors to the repertoire of CRISPR-based editing tools. The latest versions of base editors are highly efficient on-targeting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) editors. Here, we describe a number of putative guide ribonucleic acid (RNA) designs for precision correction of known causative mutations for 10 of the MPSs. In this review, we discuss advances in base editing technologies and current techniques for delivery of cell and gene therapies to the site of global degeneration in patients with severe neurological forms of MPS, the central nervous system, including ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier disruption.
Entropy Generation and Thermoelastic Damping in the In-plane Vibration of Microring Resonators
Authors: Tai Yongpeng , Li Pu , Zheng Yan , Tian Jie
Published: June 2019

Thermoelastic damping is a critical issue for designing very high quality factor microresonators. This paper derives the entropy generation, associated with the irreversibility in heat conduction, that is used for ring resonators in in-plane vibration and presents an analytical model of thermoelastic damping according to heat increments calculated by entropy theory. We consider the heat flow only in radial thickness of the ring and obtain a complex temperature field that is out of phase with the mechanical stress. The thermoelastic dissipation is calculated in the perspective of heat increments that appear due to entropy generation. The analytical model is validated by comparing with an LR (Lifshitz and Roukes) model, finite-element method and measurement. The accuracy of the present model is found to be very high for different ambient temperatures and structures. The effects of structure dimensions and vibration frequencies on entropy generation and thermoelastic damping is investigated for ring resonators under in-plane vibration.
Calculation and Interpretation of Ground Penetrating Radar for Temperature and Relative Water Content of Seasonal Permafrost in Qinghai-Tibet Platea
Authors: Wang Qing , Shen Yupeng
Published: June 2019

Due to the seasonal permafrost thawing, the Qinghai–Tibet Highway has a depression and instability of the roadbed. In order to obtain the ablation interface and water content characteristics of seasonal permafrost areas, non-destructive ground penetrating radars using electromagnetic wave detection methods are widely used. Regarding the imaging of the ablation interface in permafrost regions, this paper proposes a high-precision procedure for seasonal permafrost media using waveform difference analysis, electromagnetic wave attenuation attribute calculation and relative wave impedance conversion. It improves the resolution and division accuracy of the imaging. In addition, the study demonstrates a method to calculate the temperature and water content of the ablation zone by mining attenuation attribute, relative wave impedance attribute, absolute instantaneous amplitude attribute and the weighted average frequency attribute parameters under the constraints of the measured data. This method has high accuracy and high efficiency and can be used in the rapid calculation of temperature and water content of seasonal permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Highway.
Evaluation of the Hydro—Mechanical Efficiency of External Gear Pumps
Authors: Zardin Barbara , Natali Emiliano , Borghi Massimo
Published: June 2019

This paper proposes and describes a model for evaluating the hydro-mechanical efficiency of external gear machines. The model is built considering and evaluating the main friction losses in the machines, including the viscous friction losses at the tooth tip gap, at the bearing blocks-gears gaps, at the journal bearings, and the meshing loss. To calculate the shear stress at each gap interface, the geometry of the gap has to be known. For this reason, the actual position of the gears inside the pump casing and consequent radial pressure distribution are numerically calculated to evaluate the gap height at the tooth tips. Moreover, the variation of the tilt and reference height of the lateral gaps between the gears and the pump bushings are considered. The shear stresses within the lateral gaps are estimated, for different lateral heights and tilt values. At the journal bearings gaps, the half Sommerfeld solution has been applied. The meshing loss has been calculated according to the suggestion of the International Standards. The hydro-mechanical efficiency results are then discussed with reference to commercial pumps experimentally characterized by the authors in a previous work. The average percentage deviation from experimental data was around 2%, without considering the most critical operating conditions (high delivery pressure, low rotational speed). The limits of this approach are also explained. Finally, the role of each source of loss is discussed, considering different operating conditions and two values of fluid viscosity. Lateral gap losses and meshing loss are much more relevant in determining the hydro-mechanical efficiency variation in the pump’s operating range, especially at a low delivery pressure. Moreover, while lateral gap losses increase with the rotational speed, the meshing loss shows the opposite behavior. The tooth tip gap losses are never as relevant, but they increase at high pressure. The journal bearings losses become comparable with the lateral and meshing ones at high delivery pressure values. Considering the pumps analyzed and the operating range of delivery pressure values and rotational speed values, the meshing loss made the mechanical efficiency vary in a percentage range of ±7%, with lateral losses in the range of about the ±15%, when also considering the extreme operating points (low speed, high pressure; high speed, low pressure). The weight of the lateral losses slightly reduced when we analyzed the higher temperature results, while the meshing losses slightly increased.
A Type-2 Fuzzy Chance-Constrained Fractional Integrated Modeling Method for Energy System Management of Uncertainties and Risks
Authors: Zhou Changyu , Huang Guohe , Chen Jiapei
Published: June 2019

In this study, a type-2 fuzzy chance-constrained fractional integrated programming (T2FCFP) approach is developed for the planning of sustainable management in an electric power system (EPS) under complex uncertainties. Through simultaneously coupling mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), chance-constrained stochastic programming (CCSP), and type-2 fuzzy mathematical programming (T2FMP) techniques into a fractional programming (FP) framework, T2FCFP can tackle dual objective problems of uncertain parameters with both type-2 fuzzy characteristics and stochastic effectively and enhance the robustness of the obtained decisions. T2FCFP has been applied to a case study of a typical electric power system planning to demonstrate these advantages, where issues of clean energy utilization, air-pollutant emissions mitigation, mix ratio of renewable energy power generation in the entire energy supply, and the displacement efficiency of electricity generation technologies by renewable energy are incorporated within the modeling formulation. The suggested optimal alternative that can produce the desirable sustainable schemes with a maximized share of clean energy power generation has been generated. The results obtained can be used to conduct desired energy/electricity allocation and help decision-makers make suitable decisions under different input scenarios.
Application of Biochar Derived from Different Types of Biomass and Treatment Methods as a Fuel Source for Direct Carbon Fuel Cells
Authors: Palniandy Lithnes Kalaivani , Yoon Li Wan , Wong Wai Yin , Yong Siek-Ting , Pang Ming Meng
Published: June 2019

The direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) is an emerging technology for energy production. The application of biomass in DCFCs will be a major transition from the use of coal to generate energy. However, the relationship between biomass or biochar composition and the electrochemical performance of a DCFC is yet to be studied. The performance of a DCFC using fuel sources derived from woody and non-woody biomass were compared in this study. The effect of pyrolysis temperature ranges from 550 °C to 850 °C on the preparation of biochar from rubber wood (RW) and rice husk (RH) were evaluated for power generation from DCFCs. In addition, the effect of applying chemical pre-treatment and post-treatment on biochar were further investigated for DCFC performance. In general, the power density derived from rubber wood biochar is significantly higher (2.21 mW cm−2) compared to rice husk biochar (0.07 mW cm−2). This might be due to the presence of an oxygen functional group, higher fixed carbon content, and lower ash content in rubber wood biochar. The acid and alkaline pre-treatment and post-treatment have altered the composition with a lower ash content in rubber wood biochar. The structural and compositional alterations in alkaline pre-treatment bring a positive effect in enhancing the power density from DCFCs. This study concludes that woody biochar is more suitable for DCFC application, and alkaline pre-treatment in the preparation of biochar enhances the electrochemical activity of DCFC. Further investigation on the optimization of DCFC operating conditions could be performed.
Peatland Hydrological Dynamics as A Driver of Landscape Connectivity and Fire Activity in the Boreal Plain of Canada
Authors: Thompson Dan K. , Simpson Brian N. , Whitman Ellen , Barber Quinn E. , Parisien Marc-André
Published: June 2019

Drought is usually the precursor to large wildfires in northwestern boreal Canada, a region with both large wildfire potential and extensive peatland cover. Fire is a contagious process, and given weather conducive to burning, wildfires may be naturally limited by the connectivity of fuels and the connectivity of landscapes such as peatlands. Boreal peatlands fragment landscapes when wet and connect them when dry. The aim of this paper is to construct a framework by which the hydrological dynamics of boreal peatlands can be incorporated into standard wildfire likelihood models, in this case the Canadian Burn-P3 model. We computed hydrologically dynamic vegetation cover for peatlands (37% of the study area) on a real landscape in the Canadian boreal plain, corresponding to varying water table levels representing wet, moderate, and severely dry fuel moisture and hydrological conditions. Despite constant atmospheric drivers of fire spread (air temperature, humidity, and wind speed) between drought scenarios, fire activity increased 6-fold in moderate drought relative to a low drought baseline; severe (1 in 40 years) drought scenarios drove fires into previously fire-restrictive environments. Fire size increased 5-fold during moderate drought conditions and a further 20–25% during severe drought. Future climate change is projected to lead to an increase in the incidence of severe drought in boreal forests, leading to increases in burned area due to increasing fire frequency and size where peatlands are most abundant. Future climate change in regions where peatlands have historically acted as important barriers to fire spread may amplify ongoing increases in fire activity already observed in Western North American forests.
Allelopathic Effects of Cinnamomum migao on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of its Associated Species Liquidambar formosana
Authors: Wang Deng , Chen Jingzhong , Xiong Xue , Wang Shu , Liu Jiming
Published: June 2019

We examined allelopathic effects and underlying mechanisms of Cinnamomum migao on its associated species Liquidambar formosana. We assessed effects of aqueous extracts of C. migao pericarp, leaf, and rhizosphere soil at different concentrations on seed germination, seedling growth, and physiology of L. formosana. All extracts inhibited L. formosana seed germination, with obvious inhibition at high concentrations (50 mg mL−1). All extracts promoted the height and ground diameter of seedlings, with the highest promotion achieved with aqueous leaf extract at a concentration of 1 mg mL−1 and aqueous pericarp and rhizosphere soil extracts at a concentration of 5 mg mL−1. All extracts promoted soluble protein accumulation in L. formosana seedlings, with the highest accumulation achieved with aqueous pericarp extracts. Aqueous leaf extract promoted soluble starch accumulation. Aqueous pericarp extract at concentrations of >10 mg mL−1 significantly increased soluble sugar content. Aqueous leaf and rhizosphere soil extracts at concentrations of >5 mg mL−1 increased proline accumulation. All extracts at concentrations of >1 mg mL−1 significantly increased malondialdehyde content. Aqueous pericarp and rhizosphere soil extracts at concentrations of 10 and 0.5 mg mL−1, respectively, promoted superoxide dismutase activity. Activities of soil urease, polyphenol oxidase, and catalase were significantly increased when the concentration of aqueous pericarp and leaf extracts exceeded 5 mg mL−1, and the activity of soil acid phosphatase significantly increased when the concentration of all extracts were 5 mg mL−1. According to the synthetic allelopathic index, the low- and medium-concentration extracts all showed a promoting effect, whereas high concentrations exhibited obvious inhibitory effects; furthermore, the comprehensive effect value of leaf water extraction was higher than that of the pericarp and rhizosphere soil. Thus, allelopathy can affect the long-term co-existence of C. migao and L. formosana.
A Novel Tree Height Extraction Approach for Individual Trees by Combining TLS and UAV Image-Based Point Cloud Integration
Authors: Tian Jiarong , Dai Tingting , Li Haidong , Liao Chengrui , Teng Wenxiu , Hu Qingwu , Ma Weibo , Xu Yannan
Published: June 2019

Research Highlights: This study carried out a feasibility analysis on the tree height extraction of a planted coniferous forest with high canopy density by combining terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) image–based point cloud data at small and midsize tree farms. Background and Objectives: Tree height is an important factor for forest resource surveys. This information plays an important role in forest structure evaluation and forest stock estimation. The objectives of this study were to solve the problem of underestimating tree height and to guarantee the precision of tree height extraction in medium and high-density planted coniferous forests. Materials and Methods: This study developed a novel individual tree localization (ITL)-based tree height extraction method to obtain preliminary results in a planted coniferous forest plots with 107 trees (Metasequoia). Then, the final accurate results were achieved based on the canopy height model (CHM) and CHM seed points (CSP). Results: The registration accuracy of the TLS and UAV image-based point cloud data reached 6 cm. The authors optimized the precision of tree height extraction using the ITL-based method by improving CHM resolution from 0.2 m to 0.1 m. Due to the overlapping of forest canopies, the CSP method failed to delineate all individual tree crowns in medium to high-density forest stands with the matching rates of about 75%. However, the accuracy of CSP-based tree height extraction showed obvious advantages compared with the ITL-based method. Conclusion: The proposed method provided a solid foundation for dynamically monitoring forest resources in a high-accuracy and low-cost way, especially in planted tree farms.
Effect of Circadian Clock and Light–Dark Cycles in Onchidium reevesii: Possible Implications for Long-Term Memory
Authors: Xu Guolyu , Yang Tiezhu , Shen Heding
Published: June 2019

The sea slug Onchidium reevesii inhabits the intertidal zone, which is characterized by a changeable environment. Although the circadian modulation of long-term memory (LTM) is well documented, the interaction of the circadian clock with light–dark masking in LTM of intertidal animals is not well understood. We characterized the LTM of Onchidium and tested the expression levels of related genes under a light–dark (LD) cycle and constant darkness (i.e., dark–dark, or DD) cycle. Results indicated that both learning behavior and LTM show differences between circadian time (CT) 10 and zeitgeber time (ZT) 10. In LD, the cry1 gene expressed irregularly, and per2 expression displayed a daily pattern and a peak expression level at ZT 18. OnCREB1 (only in LD conditions) and per2 transcripts cycled in phase with each other. In DD, the cry1 gene had its peak expression at CT 10, and per2 expressed its peak level at CT 18. OnCREB1 had two peak expression levels at ZT 10 or ZT 18 which correspond to the time node of peaks in cry1 and per2, respectively. The obtained results provide an LTM pattern that is different from other model species of the intertidal zone. We conclude that the daily transcriptional oscillations of Onchidium for LTM were affected by circadian rhythms and LD cycle masking.