bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Frequency-dependent Amplitude Versus Offset analysis of a Cenozoic mass-transport deposit on the Namibian slope
Authors: Buckley Francis Andrew , Carnell Adam C. , Al-Maskari Safa , Cottee Lewis
Published: February 2022

A partially tuned, ‘soft’ seismic reflection, overlying a regional limestone marker on the west African slope, is shown to represent a sequence, up to 30 m thick, within which various individual stratigraphic units are identified, some of which display characteristics of a mass-transport deposit (MTD). The seismic reflection is described in terms of its two-way time structure, reflection amplitude pattern, complex seismic attributes and AVO response. Frequency-dependent aspects of the AVO response, resulting from velocity attenuation and dispersion of seismic signals, are shown to indicate variations in pore-fluid gas concentration. These are exploited to assess lithological, petrophysical and pore-fluid characteristics of the various sub-units within the sequence. A relative acoustic impedance inversion of the seismic data is combined with a low-frequency model, constructed from acoustic velocity data, to approximate absolute acoustic impedance characteristics of the sequence and to model behaviour of the various sub-units across the area. These pseudo-absolute impedance data are combined with evidence from AVO analysis, to construct a 2D model of the MTD unit and to generate a synthetic seismic record, which confirms the interpretation of stratigraphic, petrophysical and lithological properties of the MTD complex.
Insights into the geomorphology of the Ceará Basin, Brazil, by combining seismic attributes, machine learning, and rock-physics analyses
Authors: Leopoldino Oliveira Karen M. , Arroyo Alexandro V. , Bedle Heather , Nepomuceno Filho Francisco
Published: February 2022

We utilize 3D seismic data and robust rock-physics models, combined with a well dataset, to investigate the subsurface of the Mundaú sub-basin, Brazil. Seismic attributes analysis and unsupervised machine-learning approaches were able to produce high-resolution images to allow the mapping of the 3D geometry of ancient geomorphological features across stratigraphic levels, from the Albian to the Turonian interval. Significant deep-water elements were identified using seismic attributes and machine-learning techniques (i.e. channel complex, point bars, feeder channels, faults, depocentres, dendritic lobes, smaller channels and distributaries). In addition, the petrophysical analysis enhanced the subsurface characterization by employing a deep convolutional network that allowed S-wave modelling and synthetic seismic generation. The well-log data analysis validated interpretation of sand-prone deposits; in addition, the rock-physics modelling provided insight into the deposited lithologies. After the petrophysical analysis, seismic facies classification was performed using machine-learning techniques, including self-organizing maps and independent component analysis, which provided valuable insights into the geomorphology of this under-researched basin. The enhancement of seismic and petrophysical data with machine learning proves to be a useful technique for better characterizing this basin. This approach may be used on similar frontier hydrocarbon basins to help de-risk petroleum exploration.
Exponential Separations in Local Privacy
Authors: Joseph Matthew , Mao Jieming , Roth Aaron
Published: February 2022

We prove a general connection between the
communication
complexity of two-player games and the
sample
complexity of their multi-player locally private analogues. We use this connection to prove sample complexity lower bounds for locally differentially private protocols as straightforward corollaries of results from communication complexity. In particular, we (1) use a communication lower bound for the hidden layers problem to prove an exponential sample complexity separation between sequentially and fully interactive locally private protocols, and (2) use a communication lower bound for the pointer chasing problem to prove an exponential sample complexity separation between
k
-round and (
k+1
)-round sequentially interactive locally private protocols, for every
k
.
Experience: Analyzing Missing Web Page Visits and Unintentional Web Page Visits from the Client-side Web Logs
Authors: Hsu Che-Yun , Chen Ting-Rui , Chen Hung-Hsuan
Published: February 2022

Web logs have been widely used to represent the web page visits of online users. However, we found that web logs in Chrome’s browsing history only record 57% of users’ visited websites, i.e., nearly half of a user’s website visits are not recorded. Additionally, 5.1% of the visits recorded in the web log occur because of unconscious user actions, i.e., these page visits are not initiated from users. We created a Google Chrome plugin and recruited users to install the plugin to collect and analyze the conscious URL visits, unconscious URL visits, and “missing” URL visits (i.e., the visits unrecorded in the traditional web log). We reported the statistics of these behaviors. We showed that sorting popular website categories based on traditional web logs differs from the rankings obtained when including missing visits or excluding unintentional visits. We predicted users’ future behaviors based on three types of training data – all the visits in modern web logs, the intentional visits in web logs, and the intentional visits plus missing visits in web logs. The experimental results indicate that missing visits in web logs may contain additional information, and unintentional visits in web logs may contain more noise than information for user modeling. Consequently, we need to be careful of the observations and conclusions derived from web log analyses because the web log data could be an incomplete and noisy dataset of a user’s visited web pages.
Read Refresh Scheduling and Data Reallocation against Read Disturb in SSDs
Authors: Liao Jianwei , Li Jun , Zhao Mingwang , Sha Zhibing , Cai Zhigang
Published: February 2022

Read disturb is a circuit-level noise in flash-based Solid-State Drives (SSDs), induced by intensive read requests, which may result in unexpected read errors. The approach of read refresh (RR) is commonly adopted to mitigate its negative effects by unconditionally migrating all valid data pages in the RR block to another new block. However, routine RR operations greatly impact the I/O responsiveness of SSDs, because the processing on normal I/O requests must be blocked at the same time. To further reduce the negative effects of read refresh, this article proposes a read refresh scheduling and data reallocation method to deal with two primary issues with respect to an RR operation, including where to place data pages and when to trigger page migrations. Specifically, we first construct a data reallocation model to match the data pages in the RR block and the destination blocks for addressing the issue of where to place the data. The model considers not only the read hotness of pages in the RR block, but also the accumulated read counts of the destination blocks. Moreover, for addressing the issue of when to trigger data migrations, we build a timing decision model to determine the time points for completing page migrations by considering the factors of the intensity of I/Os and the disturb situation on the RR block. Through a series of simulation experiments based on several realistic disk traces, we illustrate that the proposed RR scheduling and data reallocation mechanism can noticeably reduce the read errors by more than
10.3%
, on average, and the long-tail latency by between
43.9%
and
64.0%
at the 99.99th percentile, in contrast to state-of-the-art methods.
Insights into the Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Amino-Acid Radicals in Proteins
Authors: Tommos Cecilia
Published: February 2022

Some oxidoreductase enzymes use redox-active tyrosine, tryptophan, cysteine, and/or glycine residues as one-electron, high-potential redox (radical) cofactors. Amino-acid radical cofactors typically perform one of four tasks—they work in concert with a metallocofactor to carry out a multielectron redox process, serve as storage sites for oxidizing equivalents, activate the substrate molecules, or move oxidizing equivalents over long distances. It is challenging to experimentally resolve the thermodynamic and kinetic redox properties of a single-amino-acid residue. The inherently reactive and highly oxidizing properties of amino-acid radicals increase the experimental barriers further still. This review describes a family of stable and well-structured model proteins that was made specifically to study tyrosine and tryptophan oxidation-reduction. The so-called α3X model protein system was combined with very-high-potential protein film voltammetry, transient absorption spectroscopy, and theoretical methods to gain a comprehensive description of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of protein tyrosine and tryptophan radicals.
Traditional and Hybrid Access Control Models: A Detailed Survey
Authors: Aftab Muhammad Umar , Hamza Ali , Oluwasanmi Ariyo , Nie Xuyun , Sarfraz Muhammad Shahzad , Shehzad Danish , Qin Zhiguang , Rafiq Ammar
Published: February 2022

Access control mechanisms define the level of access to the resources among specified users. It distinguishes the users as authorized or unauthorized based on appropriate policies. Several traditional and hybrid access control models have been proposed in previous researches over the last few decades. In this study, we provide a detailed survey of access control models and compare the traditional and hybrid access control models based on their access control criteria. This survey focuses on the growing literature of access control models and summarizes it through comparative analysis, identifying limitations and illustrating the advantages of both traditional and hybrid models. This study will help the researchers to get a deep understanding of the traditional and hybrid access control models.
The Action of Botulinum Toxin A on the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle: An Experimental Study on Rats
Authors: Vampertzis Themistoklis , Barmpagianni Christina , Mpekiari Chrysa , Baka Rania , Zervos Ioannis , Tsiridis Eleftherios , Galanis Nikiforos
Published: February 2022

In this study, we aim to investigate the effective dose of botulinum neurotoxin A that results in paralysis of the sternocleidomastoid muscle for a minimum duration of 28 days in Wistar rats. This research is the first in a series of studies to investigate the value of botulinum toxin A in the healing of clavicle fractures through the temporary paralysis of the sternocleidomastoid. A surgical incision was made under general anaesthesia, and botulinum neurotoxin A in respective doses of 4 and 6 international units (IU) or normal saline in equivalent volumes were injected directly into the exposed muscle. Electromyography was conducted on days 0, 7, and 28 following substance administration to determine the extent of muscle paralysis. Electromyography on day 0 showed no paralysis in either group. Animals injected with neurotoxin all exhibited paralysis on days 7 and 28 that was weaker in the group injected with the smaller dose of 4 IU. One death occurred in the group injected with the higher dose (6 IU), whereas in the control group, no paralysis was seen. Botulinum neurotoxin A in a dose of 6 IU resulted in complete paralysis of the sternocleidomastoid in rats for a minimum of 28 days. A dose of 4 IU resulted in less potent paralysis but was safer in our research. Botulinum neurotoxin is a substance utilised in cosmetics and therapeutics for many years, yet research shows that its use can be expanded to target a wider range of pathologies. In this series of studies, we aim to explore the neurotoxin’s applications on the treatment of clavicle fractures. To investigate this, we need to first establish the duration of its action on the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
Interplay between Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiome, Lipid Metabolism, and Tumorigenesis: Can Gut Dysbiosis Stand as a Prognostic Marker in Cancer?
Authors: Chattopadhyay Indranil , Gundamaraju Rohit , Jha Niraj Kumar , Gupta Piyush Kumar , Dey Abhijit , Mandal Chandi C. , Ford Bridget M.
Published: February 2022

The gut bacterial community is involved in the metabolism of bile acids and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Bile acids are involved in the absorption of fat and the regulation of lipid homeostasis through emulsification and are transformed into unconjugated bile acids by the gut microbiota. The gut microbiota is actively involved in the production of bile acid metabolites, such as deoxycholic acid, lithocholic acid, choline, and SCFAs such as acetate, butyrate, and propionate. Metabolites derived from the gut microbiota or modified gut microbiota metabolites contribute significantly to host pathophysiology. Gut bacterial metabolites, such as deoxycholic acid, contribute to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and colon cancer by factors such as inflammation and oxidative DNA damage. Butyrate, which is derived from gut bacteria such as Megasphaera, Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, and Clostridium, is associated with the activation of Treg cell differentiation in the intestine through histone acetylation. Butyrate averts the action of class I histone deacetylases (HDAC), such as HDAC1 and HDAC3, which are responsible for the transcription of genes such as p21/Cip1, and cyclin D3 through hyperacetylation of histones, which orchestrates G1 cell cycle arrest. It is essential to identify the interaction between the gut microbiota and bile acid and SCFA metabolism to understand their role in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis including colon, gastric, and liver cancer. Metagenomic approaches with bioinformatic analyses are used to identify the bacterial species in the metabolism of bile acids and SCFAs. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of gut microbiota-derived bile acid metabolism in tumor development and whether it can stand as a marker for carcinogenesis. Additionally, this review assesses the evidence of gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids including butyric acid in antitumor activity. Future research is required to identify the beneficial commensal gut bacteria and their metabolites which will be considered to be therapeutic targets in inflammation-mediated gastrointestinal cancers.
Research on Construction and Risk Management of Operating Room Based on IoTs and Digitization
Authors: Zhang Chen , Jia Fengqian , Wang Wei , Xu Tiantian
Published: February 2022

This paper introduces the background and experience of the development of a digital operating room and designs the main functions of the digital operating room based on the Internet of Things, the impact on medical data in hospitals, and how to build the digital operating room to cope with the huge amount of data in the “data era.” The infrastructure of the digital operating room is described, as well as how to collect and transmit medical data, how to store large amounts of medical data, and how to analyze medical data and explore its hidden data value are also described. One hundred and four surgical patients from June 2020 to June 2021 were randomly selected for the study, and they were randomly and equally divided into 52 cases each in the control group and the observation group, with the control group implementing the management of conventional care methods and the observation group implementing information technology for care management, comparing the management effects of patients in both groups. The satisfaction of patients in the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (

P
<
0.05

). The use of information technology to ensure the quality of care in the operating room not only can help patients recover early but also can help patients relieve the psychological pressure after surgery, thus improving the doctor-patient relationship, and has a significant application effect.
Human Neutrophil Antigen Genotype and Allele Frequencies in Iranian Blood Donors
Authors: Esmaeili Behnaz , Bayat Behnaz , Alirezaee Atefe , Delkhah Mona , Mehdizadeh Mohammad Reza , Pourpak Zahra
Published: February 2022

Objective. Human neutrophil antigens (HNAs) can be targeted by HNA-allo antibodies and cause a variety of clinical conditions such as transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) and neonatal alloimmune neutropenia (NAIN). The current study is aimed at identifying the genotype and allele frequencies of HNAs in Iranian blood donors. Methods. A total of 150 blood samples were obtained from healthy blood donors. HNA-1, HNA-3, HNA-4, and HNA-5 were genotyped, using the polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) technique. The expression of the HNA-2 antigen on the neutrophil surface was evaluated by flow cytometry. Results. The allele frequencies of FCGR3B

∗

1 (encoding HNA-1a), FCGR3B

∗

2 (encoding HNA-1b), and FCGR3B

∗

3 (encoding HNA-1c) were 0.34, 0.63, and 0.03, respectively. For HNA-3, the allele frequencies for SLC44A2

∗

1 (encoding HNA-3a) and SLC44A2

∗

2 (encoding HNA-3b) were 0.63 and 0.37, respectively. The frequencies of ITGAM

∗

1 (encoding HNA-4a) and ITGAM

∗

2 (encoding HNA-4b) alleles were 0.85 and 0.15, respectively. Furthermore, the frequencies of ITGAL

∗

1 (encoding HNA-5a) and ITGAL

∗

2 (encoding HNA-5b) alleles were 0.72 and 0.28, respectively. In the studied population, HNA-2 antigen was present on the neutrophil surface in 97.3% of the individuals, while no detectable HNA-2 expression was observed in 2.7% of the individuals. However, no significant difference in HNA-2 expression between different age groups was found. Conclusion. The present study provides the first report of the HNA allele and genotype frequencies among the Iranian population. All HNAs (HNA-1 to HNA-5) were typed using the PCR-SSP and flow cytometer. In the current cohort study, the determined HNA allele frequencies were similar to the previous reports from British, German, and Danish populations. Considering the presence of different Iranian ethnic groups, further studies with a larger sample size are needed to draw a total picture for HNA allele frequencies.
Describing the Clinical and Laboratory Features and HLA-B Pattern of Adult-Onset Idiopathic Autoimmune Uveitis at a Tertiary Hospital in South India: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Visalakshy Jyothi , Surendran Sandeep , Ganu Salil , Shah Kannisha , Mithun C. B. , Marwaha Vishal , Biswas Lalitha , Kartha Niveditha , Pillai Gopal
Published: February 2022

Introduction. There is a scarcity of information available on clinical and laboratory features of adult-onset idiopathic autoimmune uveitis. Therefore, we conducted a single centre descriptive cross-sectional study. Patients and Methods. A chart review of all patients with idiopathic autoimmune uveitis with onset after 18 years of age who were referred to the rheumatology department between January 2017 and December 2018 was performed. Their clinical features, demographic features, and HLA-B genotypes were documented and described. Results. Out of 210 patients referred to rheumatology, 66 were found to have uveitis, and 16 of these had an adult-onset idiopathic autoimmune uveitis. Apart from a slight female preponderance (62.5%), our patients were characterized by a high proportion of panuveitis (4 out of 16, i.e., 25%). There was an increased frequency of occurrence of synechiae (5 out of 16, i.e., 31.3%), retinal vasculitis (4 out of 16, i.e., 25%), optic disc edema (3 out of 16, i.e., 18.8%), and cystoid macular edema (seen in 2 patients, i.e., 12.5%). These features correlated with the anatomical subtypes. Retinal vasculitis and optic disc edema present in three fourth of all panuveitis cases were the most prominent features. The odds of finding HLA-B∗35 in retinal vasculitis were 33 times higher than odds of finding it in idiopathic autoimmune uveitis patients not having retinal vasculitis (OR 33; 95% CI 1.6–698). Conclusion. Idiopathic autoimmune uveitis in our patients is characterized by a high frequency of panuveitis and retinal vasculitis, and complications with a probable association between HLA-B∗35 and retinal vasculitis.
Impact of the Hormonal Status in Women on Intraoperative Hypothermia during Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery when Considering the Fresh Gas Flow Rate: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Lee Cheol , Lee Juhwan , Lee Gongheui , Park SeongNam , Lee Myeongjong , Kim Hyungtae
Published: February 2022

Previous studies reported the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on intraoperative hypothermia. However, no clinical study to date has considered the effects of both the phase of the menstrual cycle (an intrinsic factor) and the fresh gas flow rate (FGF) during anesthesia (an extrinsic factor) on the core body temperature and intraoperative hypothermia. This study is aimed at investigatig the effect of the menstrual cycle phase on intraoperative hypothermia when considering the FGF in patients who underwent laparoscopic gynecologic surgery. This study included 667 women aged 19‐65 years with menstruation cycles and menopause. The patients were divided into the follicular, luteal, and menopause groups. The primary outcome was the correlations of hormonal status with intraoperative hypothermia. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia, time to onset of hypothermia, incidence of shivering after anesthesia, and frequency of antishivering drug use in the three groups and risk factors for hypothermia. Overall, the hypothermia incidence was the lowest and the time to onset of hypothermia was the longest in the luteal phase group. At a high FGF, the incidence of hypothermia in the luteal phase group was lower than that in the other two groups (P < 0.05). At a low FGF, the time to onset of hypothermia in the luteal phase group was longer than that in the other two groups (P < 0.05). The female hormonal status had weak positive correlations with hypothermia at low and high FGF rates. A high FGF in univariate and multivariate analyses, follicular phase and menopause in multivariate analysis, and estradiol and progesterone levels in univariate analysis were risk factors for hypothermia. When considering the FGF, the luteal phase is associated with better outcomes concerning intraoperative hypothermia.
Platelet‐Lymphocyte and Neutrophil‐Lymphocyte Ratio for Prediction of Hospital Outcomes in Patients with Abdominal Trauma
Authors: El-Menyar Ayman , Mekkodathil Ahammed , Al-Ansari Amani , Asim Mohammad , Elmenyar Eman , Rizoli Sandro , Al-Thani Hassan
Published: February 2022

Background. The platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) reflect the patient inflammatory and immunity status. We investigated the role of on‐admission PLR and NLR in predicting massive transfusion protocol (MTP) activation and mortality following abdominal trauma. Methods. A 4‐year retrospective analysis of all adult abdominal trauma patients was conducted. Patients were classified into survivors and nonsurvivors and low vs. high PLR. The discriminatory power for PLR and NLR to predict MTP and mortality was determined. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed for predictors of mortality. Results. A total of 1199 abdominal trauma patients were included (18.7% of all the trauma admissions). Low PLR was associated with more severe injuries and greater rates of hospital complications including mortality in comparison to high PLR. On‐admission PLR and NLR were higher in the survivors than in nonsurvivors (149.3 vs. 76.3 (p = 0.001) and 19.1 vs. 13.7 (p = 0.009), respectively). Only PLR significantly correlated with injury severity score, revised trauma score, TRISS, serum lactate, shock index, and FASILA score. Optimal cutoffs of PLR and NLR for predicting mortality were 98.5 and 18.5, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of PLR were 81.3% and 61.1%, respectively, and 61.3% and 51.3%, respectively, for NLR. The AUROC for predicting MTP was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.655–0.743) for PLR and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.510–0.598) for NLR. To predict hospital mortality, the area under the curve (AUROC) for PLR was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.712–0.825) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.529–0.650) for the NLR. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the age, Glasgow Coma Scale, sepsis, injury severity score, and PLR were independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion. On‐admission PLR but not NLR helps early risk stratification and timely management and predicts mortality in abdominal trauma patients. Further prospective studies are required.
Rhein Inhibits the Progression of Chemoresistant Lung Cancer Cell Lines via the Stat3/Snail/MMP2/MMP9 Pathway
Authors: Liu Jinxin , Ding Dapeng , Liu Feiye , Chen Yizhi
Published: February 2022

Chemotherapy is a common drug for lung cancer. Nevertheless, the development of drug resistance greatly limits their clinical efficacy. Therefore, to reduce drug resistance, we need to constantly explore new treatments. This study is aimed at determining the role of rhein in the proliferation and metastasis of lung cancer cell. Our study found that rhein significantly inhibits the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells. Additionally, the mRNA expression and protein levels of Snail, MMP2, and MMP9 are decreasing in lung cancer cells treated by rhein. Our results showed that rhein plays a vital role in proliferation and metastasis of chemosensitive and chemoresistant lung cancer cells, and the mechanism may be related to the Stat3/Snail/MMP2/MMP9 pathway.
Astragali Radix-Coptis Rhizoma Herb Pair Attenuates Atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- Mice by Regulating the M1/M2 and Th1/Th2 Immune Balance and Activating the STAT6 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Li Zhaoyu , Ma Dufang , Wang Yongcheng , Wu Sijia , Wang Lin , Jiang Yuehua , Zhang Yongjian , Li Xiao
Published: February 2022

Objective. Immune imbalance and the inflammatory response are associated with atherosclerosis (AS) progression. Astragali Radix and Coptis Rhizoma (ARCR) are an ancient and classic herb pair that is used in herbal medicines for the treatment of coronary heart disease. We focused on the effects and mechanisms of the ARCR herb pair attenuation of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-/-) mice. Methods. ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to establish a model of AS. The ApoE-/- mice were randomly divided into a model group, simvastatin group (Simva), Astragali Radix group (AR), Coptis Rhizoma group (CR), Astragali Radix-Coptis Rhizoma group (ARCR), and Astragali Radix-Coptis Rhizoma + signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 6 (STAT6) inhibitor (AS1517499) group (ARCR + AS1517499). C57BL/6 mice were used as controls. Each group was administered the corresponding drugs, and mice in the model and control groups were given the same volume of normal saline once daily for 6 weeks. The body weights of the mice were observed regularly. The effect of the ARCR herb pair on lipid content in peripheral blood was evaluated using blood lipid tests. The levels of serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), interleukins-12 (IL-12), IL-10, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and IL-4 were determined to assess inflammation. Oil Red O staining, Sirius Red staining, and immunohistochemistry were used to observe changes in plaque stability. Western blotting was used to assay M1/M2 macrophages, Th1/Th2 cells, and STAT6 signaling pathway protein expression. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to detect M1/M2 macrophages and Th1/Th2 cells and reflect the immune imbalance. Results. The ARCR herb pair significantly reduced blood lipids levels and plaque vulnerability and regulated the levels of inflammatory factors and the number of M1/M2 macrophages and Th1/Th2 cells in ApoE-/- AS mice. It also decreased iNOS and T-bet protein levels and increased the Arg-1 and GATA-3 protein levels. The ARCR herb pair also increased STAT6 phosphorylation. A STAT6 inhibitor attenuated the regulation of M1/M2 and Th1/Th2 markers induced by the ARCR herb pair. Conclusion. The ARCR herb pair regulates blood lipid metabolism and attenuates atherosclerosis via regulation of M1/M2 and Th1/Th2 immune balance, which is achieved partially by increasing STAT6 phosphorylation. Our study provides new evidence for the possible use of ARCR herb pair in the prevention and treatment of AS.
The Neuropeptide-Related HERC5/TAC1 Interactions May Be Associated with the Dysregulation of lncRNA GAS5 Expression in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Exosomes
Authors: Tang Gui-Yan , Yu Ping , Zhang Chen , Deng Hong-Yu , Lu Mei-Xiu , Le Jiang-Hua
Published: February 2022

Objective. The goal of this work was to look at the expression and probable role of exosomal long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) GAS5 in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), as well as forecast the importance of its interaction with neuropeptides in the progression of the disease. Methods. We divided 44 pregnant women visiting the obstetric outpatient clinics at the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College from January 2021 to December 2021 into healthy and GDM groups. We measured the expression levels of the lncRNA GAS5 in peripheral blood using PCR and compared the expression levels between the 2 groups. The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and the R software were used to analyse the differences in the genes expressed in the amniotic fluid cells in the GDM and normal groups. catRAPID was used to identify potential target proteins for GAS5. Key neuropeptide-related proteins and potential target proteins of GAS5 were extracted, and protein interaction networks were mapped. AlphaFold 2 was used to predict the structure of the target protein. The ClusPro tool was used to predict protein-protein interactions. ZDOCK was used to further confirm the protein–nucleic acid docking. Results. The lncRNA GAS5 was downregulated in the peripheral blood of pregnant women with GDM compared with normal pregnant women. The subcellular localization sites of GAS5 were the nucleus, cytoplasm, and ribosome; in addition, GAS5 was present in exosomes. Intercellular interactions, including neuropeptide receptors, were increased in the amniotic fluid cells of patients with GDM. Venn diagram analysis yielded seven neuropeptide-related proteins and three GAS5 target proteins. Among them, HERC5/TAC1 interacted and GAS5 docked well with HERC5. Conclusion. The lncRNA GAS5 in the peripheral blood exosomes in patients with GDM may be a new target for the detection of GDM, and the interaction between GAS5 and HERC5/TAC1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of GDM.
Identifying Animals in Camera Trap Images via Neural Architecture Search
Authors: Jia Liang , Tian Ye , Zhang Junguo
Published: February 2022

Wild animals are essential for ecosystem structuring and stability, and thus they are important for ecological research. Since most wild animals have high athletic or concealable abilities or both, it is used to be relatively difficult to acquire evidence of animal appearances before applications of camera traps in ecological researches. However, a single camera trap may produce thousands of animal images in a short period of time and inevitably ends up with millions of images requiring classification. Although there have been many methods developed for classifying camera trap images, almost all of them follow the pattern of a very deep convolutional neural network processing all camera trap images. Consequently, the corresponding surveillance area may need to be delicately controlled to match the network capability, and it may be difficult to expand the area in the future. In this study, we consider a scenario in which camera traps are grouped into independent clusters, and images produced by a cluster are processed by an edge device installed with a customized network. Accordingly, edge devices in this scenario may be highly heterogeneous due to cluster scales. Resultantly, networks popular in the classification of camera trap images may not be deployable for edge devices without modifications requiring the expertise which may be hard to obtain. This motivates us to automatize network design via neural architecture search for edge devices. However, the search may be costly due to the evaluations of candidate networks, and its results may be infeasible without considering the resource limits of edge devices. Accordingly, we propose a search method using regression trees to evaluate candidate networks to lower search costs, and candidate networks are built based on a meta-architecture automatically adjusted regarding to the resource limits. In experiments, the search consumes 6.5 hours to find a network applicable to the edge device Jetson X2. The found network is then trained on camera trap images through a workstation and tested on Jetson X2. The network achieves competitive accuracies compared with the automatically and the manually designed networks.
Quantifying Region-Specific Elastic Properties of Distal Femoral Articular Cartilage: A Shear-Wave Elastography Study
Authors: Deng Weixin , Lin Ming , Yu Suiqing , Liang Hongying , Zhang Zhijie , Liu Chunlong
Published: February 2022

Knee osteoarthritis is a disease with the degeneration of articular cartilage as its main feature. Cartilage thickness cannot become a single index to evaluate cartilage degeneration, so it is essential to also evaluate the stiffness. The purposes were as follows: (1) to examine test-retest reliabilities of the elastic modulus measurement in distal femoral articular cartilage (FAC) and compare the changes in specific-regional of distal FAC, (2) to explore the difference in distal FAC stiffness and thickness between the dominant and nondominant sides, and (3) to examine the correlation between the elastic properties of cartilage and the thickness of cartilage. Twenty healthy participants were recruited. The stiffness of distal FAC at the lateral femoral condyle (LFC), medial femoral condyle (MFC), and intercondylar notch (IN) was quantified using shear-wave elastography (SWE). Intra- and interrater reliabilities were excellent for measuring the stiffness of distal FAC (ICC: 0.83-0.98). About a 50% increase in the stiffness of LFC (40.78 kPa) was found when compared with IN (21.82 kPa) and MFC (18.34 kPa). No significant difference was found between the dominant and nondominant sides in distal FAC stiffness and thickness. There was no correlation between the stiffness and thickness of the distal FAC. In conclusion, SWE can quantify the stiffness of the distal FAC.
Adsorptive Removal of Azo Dye New Coccine Using High-Performance Adsorbent-Based Polycation-Modified Nano-Alpha Alumina Particles
Authors: Doan Thi Hai Yen , Pham Hong Anh , Nguyen Ngoc Huyen , Le Thi Dung , Nguyen Thanh Binh , Le Thanh Son
Published: February 2022

The azo dyes new coccine (NCC) were successfully removed through the adsorption onto PVBTAC-modified α-Al2O3 particles. The optimal conditions of both the surface modification by PVBTAC adsorption and the NCC adsorption were thoroughly investigated. Formerly, polycations PVBTAC were adsorbed onto the nanosized α-Al2O3 particles atpH8, NaCl 100 mM, with a contact time of 2 h, and initial concentration of 1000 ppm to modify the α-Al2O3 surface. Latterly, the NCC adsorptive removal was conducted atpH8, NaCl 10 mM, α-Al2O3 adsorbent dosage of 3 mg mL−1, and a contact time of 45 min. Interestingly, the optimalpHof 8 potentially applies to treat real wastewater as the environmentalpHrange is often about 7–8. High removal efficiency and adsorption capacity of the NCC azo dyes were, respectively, found to be approximately 95% and 3.17 mg g−1 with an initial NCC concentration of 10 ppm. The NCC adsorption on the modified α-Al2O3 particles was well fitted with a Freundlich model isotherm. A pseudo-second kinetic was more suitable for the NCC adsorption on the PVBTAC-modified α-Al2O3 surface than a pseudo-first kinetic. The NCC adsorptive removal kinetic was also affirmed by the FT-IR spectra, based especially on the changes of functional group stretch vibrations of −SO3− group in the NCC molecules and −N+(CH3)3 group in the PVBTAC molecules. The high reusability of the α-Al2O3 particles was proved to be higher than 50% after four generation times.
Optimization and Modeling of Radial Pitch Diameter Difference in Tapping of AISI H13
Authors: Ren Jie , Li Tingting , Chen Zhi , Meng Yu , Zhang Rui , Yan Xianguo
Published: February 2022

The radial pitch diameter difference has a great influence on the quality of the internal thread. However, it is difficult to accurately control the radial pitch diameter difference of the thread in the tapping. Therefore, the influence of various factors on radial pitch diameter difference for tapping AISI H13 steel was studied in this paper. Parameters with optimum radial pitch diameter difference were determined by the Taguchi method, and the tapping experiment was carried out according to Taguchi L18 orthogonal array. Based on the signal-to-noise ratio and variance analysis, the experimental results were evaluated to determine the combination of factors to obtain the smallest radial pitch diameter difference and the influence level of each factor on radial pitch diameter difference, and the prediction equation of radial pitch diameter difference was established through the regression analysis. The results show that the combination of factors to obtain the smallest radial pitch diameter difference is a hone radius of 10 μm, a spindle speed of 100 rev/min, and a chamfer length of 2 pitches; the order of importance of the influencing factors on radial pitch diameter difference is spindle speed, followed by hone radius and chamfer length, and their percentage contribution rates are 61.54%, 24.53%, and 6.16%, respectively; the determination coefficient R2 of the prediction equations is 0.925; the confirmation experiment conducted with 95% confidence level shows that Taguchi method and prediction equation successfully optimize and predict radial pitch diameter difference.
Wave Breaking for the Rotational Camassa–Holm Equation on the Circle
Authors: Chen Rendong
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we consider the rotational Camassa–Holm equation on the circle. Sufficient conditions on the initial data to guarantee wave breaking are established.
Characterization of Program Behavior under Faulty Instruction Encoding
Authors: Ma Junchi , Duan Zongtao , Tang Lei
Published: February 2022

As process technology scales, electronic devices become more susceptible to soft errors. Soft errors can lead to silent data corruptions (SDCs), seriously compromising the reliability of a system. Researchers have explored error resilient encodings, which leverage crash patterns to detect SDCs. Despite its importance, much still remains to be determined regarding how errors propagate to cause SDCs or crashes. Understanding error propagation patterns could lead to more efficient implementation of error detection. An experimental study of program behavior in the presence of faulty instruction encoding under the IA-32 architecture is described in this study. Extensive fault injection experiments including over 70,000 faults were conducted, targeting all fields of instruction encoding. The analysis of the obtained data shows the following: (1) If the alignment of an instruction sequence is not preserved after injection, it causes crashes in a high probability (93.2%). (2) The SDC rate of an alignment-preserved category is close to that of a typical data injection. The SDC-prone fields include the opcode field, reg field, and immediate field. (3) Several crash patterns, such as violation of calling conventions, are revealed to extend the detection methods. These findings help us identify the vulnerable parts of instruction encoding, which need to be protected against soft errors. By applying the implications provided by the findings, we discuss feasible modifications, including swapping reg encodings, to reduce SDC rate, thus increasing the resilience of instruction set to soft errors.
Phosphoinositide-Binding Protein TIPE1 Promotes Alternative Activation of Macrophages and Tumor Progression via PIP3/Akt/TGFβ Axis
Authors: Cheng Yang , Bai Fuxiang , Ren Xiaolei , Sun Renhui , Guo Xiaowei , Liu Wen , Wang Bo , Yang Yongheng , Zhang Xiaolu , Xu Yong , Li Chunyang , Yang Xiaoyun , Gao Lifen , Ma Chunhong , Li Xueen , Liang Xiaohong
Published: February 2022

Macrophages perform key and distinct functions in maintaining tissue homeostasis by finely tuning their activation state. Within the tumor microenvironment, macrophages are reshaped to drive tumor progression. Here we report that tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 8–like 1 (TIPE1) is highly expressed in macrophages and that depletion of TIPE1 impedes alternative activation of macrophages. TIPE1 enhanced activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway in macrophages by directly binding with and regulating the metabolism of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3). Accordingly, inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway significantly attenuated the effect of TIPE1 on macrophage alternative activation. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) in human liver cancer and melanoma tissues showed significantly upregulated TIPE1 expression that negatively correlated with patient survival. In vitro and in vivo, TIPE1 knockdown in macrophages retarded the growth and metastasis of liver cancer and melanoma. Furthermore, blockade or depletion of TGFβ signaling in macrophages abrogated the effects of TIPE1 on tumor cell growth and migration. Together, these results highlight that the phosphoinositide-related signaling pathway is involved in reprogramming TAMs to optimize the microenvironment for cancer progression.

Significance:

This work provides insight into the fine tuning of macrophage polarization and identifies a potential target for macrophage-based antitumor therapy.
Lactate Rewires Lipid Metabolism and Sustains a Metabolic–Epigenetic Axis in Prostate Cancer
Authors: Ippolito Luigi , Comito Giuseppina , Parri Matteo , Iozzo Marta , Duatti Assia , Virgilio Francesca , Lorito Nicla , Bacci Marina , Pardella Elisa , Sandrini Giada , Bianchini Francesca , Damiano Roberta , Ferrone Lavinia , la Marca Giancarlo , Serni Sergio , Spatafora Pietro , Catapano Carlo V. , Morandi Andrea , Giannoni Elisa , Chiarugi Paola
Published: February 2022

Lactate is an abundant oncometabolite in the tumor environment. In prostate cancer, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are major contributors of secreted lactate, which can be taken up by cancer cells to sustain mitochondrial metabolism. However, how lactate impacts transcriptional regulation in tumors has yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we describe a mechanism by which CAF-secreted lactate is able to increase the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism in prostate cancer cells. This regulation enhanced intracellular lipid accumulation in lipid droplets (LD) and provided acetyl moieties for histone acetylation, establishing a regulatory loop between metabolites and epigenetic modification. Inhibition of this loop by targeting the bromodomain and extraterminal protein family of histone acetylation readers suppressed the expression of perilipin 2 (PLIN2), a crucial component of LDs, disrupting lactate-dependent lipid metabolic rewiring. Inhibition of this CAF-induced metabolic–epigenetic regulatory loop in vivo reduced growth and metastasis of prostate cancer cells, demonstrating its translational relevance as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer. Clinically, PLIN2 expression was elevated in tumors with a higher Gleason grade and in castration-resistant prostate cancer compared with primary prostate cancer. Overall, these findings show that lactate has both a metabolic and an epigenetic role in promoting prostate cancer progression.

Significance:

This work shows that stromal-derived lactate induces accumulation of lipid droplets, stimulates epigenetic rewiring, and fosters metastatic potential in prostate cancer.
Cancer Statistics over Time in Northwestern São Paulo State, Brazil: Incidence and Mortality
Authors: Mafra da Costa Allini , Hernandes Isabela Campos Pereira , Weiderpass Elisabete , Soerjomataram Isabelle , Fregnani José Humberto Tavares Guerreiro
Published: February 2022

Background:

Population studies can serve as an essential source of information on cancer's etiology, and assessments of cancer trends over time can detect changes. This study aimed to provide statistics over time on cancer incidence and mortality in the Barretos Region, Brazil.

Methods:

Cancer incidence data were obtained from the population-based cancer registry of the Barretos Region, and mortality data were obtained from the Official Federal Database from 2002 to 2016. Age-standardized rates for incidence and mortality were calculated. Joinpoint Regression software was used to estimate the average annual percentage changes (AAPC).

Results:

Age-standardized rates of incidence increased significantly for colon cancer (AAPC: 2.2), rectum and rectosigmoid (AAPC: 2.4), liver (AAPC: 4.7), female breast (AAPC: 2.2), and thyroid cancer (AAPC: 3.8) but decreased for esophageal (AAPC: −3.2), stomach (AAPC: −4.2), lung (AAPC: −2.0), and ovarian cancer (AAPC: −5.6). The mortality increased for liver cancer (AAPC: 2.3) and decreased for pharyngeal cancer (AAPC: −5.8), stomach cancer (AAPC: −6.6), cervical uterine cancer (AAPC: −5.9), prostate cancer (AAPC: −2.4), and ovarian cancer (AAPC: −3.3).

Conclusions:

We observed decreases in some cancers related to tobacco smoking and cervical and stomach cancers related to infectious agents, showing strong regional and national prevention programs' successes. But, we also observed rises in many cancer sites linked to lifestyle factors, such as breast or colorectal cancer, without a sign of declining mortality.

Impact:

These results can impact and support cancer control program implementation and improvement at the community level and extrapolate to the state level and/or the whole country.
Long-term Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Risk of Testicular Cancer in Denmark: A Population-Based Case–Control Study
Authors: Taj Tahir , Poulsen Aslak Harbo , Ketzel Matthias , Geels Camilla , Brandt Jørgen , Christensen Jesper Heile , Hvidtfeldt Ulla Arthur , Sørensen Mette , Raaschou-Nielsen Ole
Published: February 2022

Background:

The incidence rate risk of testicular cancer has increased over the last four decades, and the most significant increase has been among Caucasian men in Nordic countries. Second-generation immigrant studies indicate a significant role of environmental exposure in testicular cancer.

Methods:

We conducted a nationwide register-based case–control study including 6,390 testicular cancer cases registered in the Danish Cancer Registry between 1989 and 2014. Up to four age-matched controls for each case (n = 18,997) were randomly selected from the Civil Registration System. Ambient air pollution levels were estimated at addresses of cases and controls with a state-of-the-art air pollution modeling system.

Results:

We mostly found ORs close to 1.00 and with 95% confidence intervals (CI) spanning 1.00. Exposure during the year preceding birth was associated with ORs for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.77–0.97) per 10 μg/m3 and for organic carbon of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.72–0.98) per 1 μg/m3. Exposure during the first 10 years of life was associated with ORs for organic carbon of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.67–0.93) per 1 μg/m3, for ozone (O3) of 1.20 (95% CI, 1.07–1.34) per 10 μg/m3, and for secondary inorganic aerosols of 1.07 (95% CI, 1.00–1.15) per 1 μg/m3.

Conclusions:

Early-life exposure to NO2 and organic carbon (OC) was associated with lower risk for testicular cancer whereas early-life exposure to O3 and secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA) was associated with higher risk.

Impact:

We report both positive and negative associations between ambient air pollutants and risk of testicular cancer, dependent on pollutant, exposure time window, and age at diagnosis. This is the first study to investigate such associations.