bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Histogram Based Clustering for Nonlinear Compensation in Long Reach Coherent Passive Optical Networks
Authors: Aldaya Ivan , Giacoumidis Elias , de Oliveira Geraldo , Wei Jinlong , Pita Julián Leonel , Marconi Jorge Diego , Fagotto Eric Alberto Mello , Barry Liam , Abbade Marcelo Luis Francisco
Published: December 2019

In order to meet the increasing capacity requirements, network operators are extending their optical infrastructure closer to the end-user while making more efficient use of the resources. In this context, long reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs) are attracting increasing attention.Coherent LR-PONs based on high speed digital signal processors represent a high potential alternative because, alongside with the inherent mixing gain and the possibility of amplitude and phase diversity formats, they pave the way to compensate linear impairments in a more efficient way than in traditional direct detection systems. The performance of coherent LR-PONs is then limited by the combined effect of noise and nonlinear distortion. The noise is particularly critical in single channel systems where, in addition to the the elevated fibre loss, the splitting losses should be considered. In such systems, Kerr induced self-phase modulation emerges as the main limitation to the maximum capacity. In this work, we propose a novel clustering algorithm, denominated histogram based clustering (HBC), that employs the spatial density of the points of a 2D histogram to identify the borders of high density areas to classify nonlinearly distorted noisy constellations. Simulation results reveal that for a 100 km long LR-PON with a 1:64 splitting ratio, at optimum power levels, HBC presents a Q-factor 0.57 dB higher than maximum likelihood and 0.21 dB higher than k-means. In terms of nonlinear tolerance, at a BER of 2×10 − 3 , our method achieves a gain of ∼2.5 dB and ∼1.25 dB over maximum likelihood and k-means, respectively. Numerical results also show that the proposed method can operate over blocks as small as 2500 symbols.
An Adversarial Deep Hybrid Model for Text-Aware Recommendation with Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Zheng Xiaolin , Dong Disheng
Published: December 2019

The standard matrix factorization methods for recommender systems suffer from data sparsity and cold-start problems. Thus, in real-world scenarios where items are commonly associated with textual data such as reviews, it becomes necessary to build a hybrid recommendation model that can fully utilize the text features. However, existing methods in this area either cannot extract good features from the texts due to their order–insensitive document modeling approaches or fail to learn the hybrid model in an effective way due to their complexity of inferring the latent vectors. To this end, we propose a deep hybrid recommendation model which seamlessly integrates matrix factorization with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), a powerful text feature extraction tool with the capability of detecting the information of word orders. Unlike previous works which use content features as prior knowledge to regularize the latent vectors, we combine CNN into MF in an additive manner to allow training CNN with direct learning signals. Furthermore, we propose an adversarial training framework to learn the hybrid recommendation model, where a generator model is built to learn the distribution over the pairwise ranking pairs while training a discriminator to distinguish generated (fake) and real item pairs. We conduct extensive experiments on three real-world datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model against state-of-the-art methods in various recommendation settings.
Predicting Burnout Factors among Healthcare Providers at Private Hospitals in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Al-Omari Awad , Al Mutair Abbas , Shamsan Abbas , Al Mutairi Alya
Published: December 2019

Background: Burnout is defined as a long-term work stress. The prevalence of burnout syndrome among nurses is 42% of nurses in England. Many countries have conducted studies to measure the level of burnout among health care providers. There is a lack of research on burnout among healthcare providers in the Arabic countries. Aims: This study aimed to assess the burnout level among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates and to predict the burnout factors of healthcare providers working in tertiary private hospitals. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to evaluate the burnout among healthcare providers. A total of 900 healthcare providers working in the clinical areas of six private hospitals in the Arabia Gulf Region were recruited for the study. A total of 892 healthcare providers were included in the study. A total of eight surveys were excluded due to major missing data. Results: A total of 892 healthcare providers were included in the study. The average age was 32 years ± 7 years for male and female healthcare providers. A high burnout level was found in the results. The participating female healthcare providers had a higher level of emotional exhaustion as compared with their male counterparts. Nurses had more emotional exhaustion as compared with physicians, respiratory therapists, and other colleagues. Conclusions: High burnout levels among healthcare providers can reflect negatively on the healthcare providers well-being, job satisfaction, and mental health. Burnout has been linked with medical errors and physician–patient relationships. We believe that it is important to deal with this issue of public health in Saudi Arabia and UAE. This study aimed to explore burnout levels among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia and UAE. Results showed a high level of burnout among the healthcare.
Assessment of Daily Personal PM2.5 Exposure Level According to Four Major Activities among Children
Authors: Woo Jiyoung , Rudasingwa Guillaume , Kim Sungroul
Published: December 2019

Particulate matters less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), whose concentration has increased in Korea, has a considerable impact on health. From a risk management point of view, there has been interest in understanding the variations in real-time PM2.5 concentrations per activity in different microenvironments. We analyzed personal monitoring data collected from 15 children aged 6 to 11 years engaged in different activities such as commuting in a car, visiting a commercial building, attending an education institute, and resting inside home from October 2018 to March 2019. The fraction of daily mean exposure duration per activity was 72.7 ± 18.7% for resting inside home, 27.2 ± 14.4% for attending an education institute, and 11.5 ± 9.6% and 5.3 ± 5.9% for visiting a commercial building, commuting in a car, respectively. Daily median (interquartile range) PM2.5 exposure amount was 88.9 (55.9–159.7) μg in houses and that in education buildings was 43.3 (22.9–55.6) μg. Real-time PM2.5 exposure levels varied by person and time of day (p-value < 0.05). This study demonstrated that our real-time personal monitoring and data analysis methodologies were effective in detecting polluted microenvironments and provided a potential person-specific management strategy to reduce a person’s exposure level to PM2.5.
Dynamics of Structures with Distributed Gyroscopes: Modal Discretization Versus Spatial Discretization
Authors: Yang Xiao-Dong , Xie Bao-Yin , Zhang Wei , Hu Quan
Published: December 2019

In this study, two discretization numerical methods, modal discretization and spatial discretization methods, were proposed and compared when applied to the gyroscopic structures. If the distributed gyroscopes are attached, the general numerical methods should be modified to derive the natural frequencies and complex modes due to the gyroscopic effect. The modal discretization method can be used for cases where the modal functions of the base structure can be expressed in explicit forms, while the spatial discretization method can be used in irregular structures without modal functions, but cost more computational time. The convergence and efficiency of both modal and spatial discretization techniques are illustrated by an example of a beam with uniformly distributed gyroscopes. The investigation of this paper may provide useful techniques to study structures with distributed inertial components.
Optical Birefringence Growth Driven by Magnetic Field in Liquids: The Case of Dibutyl Phosphate/Propylamine System
Authors: Pochylski Mikolaj , Lombardo Domenico , Calandra Pietro
Published: December 2019

Magnetically-induced birefringence is usually low in molecular liquids owing to the low magnetic energy of molecules with respect to the thermal one. Despite this, it has been found that a mixture of dibutyl phosphate and propylamine at propylamine molar ratio (X) around 0.33 surprisingly gives an intense effect (∆n/λ ≈ −0.1 at 1 Tesla). In this paper the time- and intensity- response to the magnetic field of such mixture have been studied. It was found that the reaction to the magnetic field is unusually slow (from several minutes to hours) depending of the magnetic field intensity. On the basis of the data, the model of orientable dipoles dispersed in a matrix enables to interpret the magnetic field-induced self-assembly in terms of soft molecules-based nanostructures. The analogy with systems made of magnetically polarizable (solid or soft) particles dispersed in liquid carrier allows understanding, at the microscopic scale, the molecular origin and the supra-molecular dynamics involved in the observed behavior. The data present a novel phenomenon in liquid phase where the progressive building up/change of ordered and strongly interacting amphiphiles is driven by the magnetic field.
Metal-Printing Defined Thermo-Optic Tunable Sampled Apodized Waveguide Grating Wavelength Filter Based on Low Loss Fluorinated Polymer Material
Authors: Wang Jihou , Chen Changming , Wang Chunxue , Wang Xibin , Yi Yunji , Sun Xiaoqiang , Wang Fei , Zhang Daming
Published: December 2019

In this work, thermo-optic (TO) lateral shift apodized sampled waveguide grating for 1550 nm wavelength is designed and fabricated by the metal-printing technique based on fluorinated epoxy-terminated polycarbonates (FBPA-PC EP) and fluorinated epoxy resin (FSU-8) materials. The optical characteristics and thermal stability of the FBPA-PC EP and FSU-8 materials are analyzed. To realize periodic wide-spectrum filtering and suppress the side-lobes of grating, a lateral shift apodized sampled waveguide grating is proposed. The 3 dB bandwidth and wavelength spacing can reach 4.8 nm and 9.7 nm. The side-lobe suppression ratio of proposed device can reach 22.6 dB, which is much better than traditional Bragg grating (6.1 dB). Driving electrical powers of 42.4 mW and 87.2 mW can produce blueshifts of 1.8 nm and 3.5 nm in the measured reflection spectrum, respectively. This device realizes the aim of multiple functions, including periodic filtering, wide-spectrum filtering, and high side-lobe suppression. The device is applicable of realizing signal processing and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM )systems.
Metal Nanoparticle Containing Nanocomposites of Drug Substances and Their Potential Biomedical Applications
Authors: Shabatina Tatyana I. , Vernaya Olga I. , Shabatin Vladimir P. , Melnikov Michail Y. , Semenov Alexandr M. , Lozinsky Vladimir I.
Published: December 2019

New hybrid nanosystems containing the antibacterial substances dioxidine or gentamicin sulfate with bioactive metal (Ag, Cu) nanoparticles have been obtained by a cryogenic freeze-drying method and incorporate further the nanocomposites thus obtained into the cryogenically structured biopolymeric matrices based on gelatin, calcium alginate, and chitosan. FTIR, UV-visible, and NMR spectroscopy, TEM and SEM microscopy data show that the resulting systems consist of wide-porous polymer sponges (pore diameters, 10–200 μm) that contain antibacterial drugs and silver (2–30 nm) or copper (1–5 nm) nanoparticles. The investigation showed that these systems ensure a gradual release of dioxidine (from 40 min up to 3 days), depending on the nature of the matrix and its microstructure. The higher activity of hybrid composites based on nanometals and dioxidine or incorporated into cryostructured biopolymer matrices against the bacterial strains of Escherichia coli 52, Staphylococcus aureus 144 is demonstrated as compared to the individual components in the same matrices.
The Behavior of Melts with Vanishing Viscosity in the Cone-and-Plate Rheometer
Authors: Lang Lihui , Alexandrov Sergei , Lyamina Elena , Dinh Van Manh
Published: December 2019

A semi-analytic solution for material flow in the cone-and-plate rheometer is presented. It is assumed that the viscosity is solely a function of the second invariant of the strain rate tensor. A distinguishing feature of the constitutive equations used is that the viscosity is vanishing as the shear strain rate approaches infinity. This feature of the constitutive equations affects the qualitative behavior of the solution. Asymptotic analysis is carried out near the surface of the cone to reveal these features. It is shown that the regime of sliding must occur and the shear strain rate approaches infinity under certain conditions. It is also shown that the asymptotic behavior of the viscosity as the shear strain rate approaches infinity controls these qualitative features of the theoretical solution. Some of these features are feasible for experimental verification. An interpretation of the theoretical solution found is proposed.
Investigation of a Cross-Section with a Constant Transverse Shear Stress Distribution Using a Numerical Approach
Authors: Bednarz Edward , Mulligan Ryan
Published: December 2019

A structural beam which is subjected to shear forces acting perpendicularly to its longitudinal axis will experience longitudinal and transverse shear stresses. In beams where failure in the transverse direction is plausible, it is desirable to maintain a constant transverse shear stress over the beam cross-section to avoid stress concentrations and to use the least amount of material. A numerical approach to the inverse problem of solving for a beam cross-section with a constant transverse shear stress distribution was investigated in this study using Microsoft Excel’s Solver and Matlab. The efficiency and shape of the developed cross-section were dependent on the number of elements used to discretize the cross-section. As the number of elements approached infinity, the shape of the cross-section became infinitely thin at the top and infinitely wide at the neutral axis, while also approaching an efficiency of 100%. It is therefore determined that this is an ill-posed inverse problem and no such perfect cross-section exists.
Optical Properties of Aerosols and Chemical Composition Apportionment under Different Pollution Levels in Wuhan during January 2018
Authors: Bai Dongping , Wang Honglei , Tan Yue , Yin Yan , Wu Zhijun , Guo Song , Shen Lijuan , Zhu Bin , Wang Jinhu , Kong Xiangchen
Published: December 2019

To clarify the aerosol optical properties under different pollution levels and their impacting factors, hourly organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble ion (WSI) concentrations in PM2.5 were observed by using monitoring for aerosols and gases (MARGA) and a semicontinuous OC/EC analyzer (Model RT-4) in Wuhan from 9 to 26 January 2018. The aerosol extinction coefficient (bext) was reconstructed using the original Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environment (IMPROVE) formula with a modification to include sea salt aerosols. A good correlation was obtained between the reconstructed bext and measured bext converted from visibility. bext presented a unimodal distribution on polluted days (PM2.5 mass concentrations > 75 μg⋅m−3), peaking at 19:00. bext on clean days (PM2.5 mass concentrations < 75 μg⋅m−3) did not change much during the day, while on polluted days, it increased rapidly starting at 12:00 due to the decrease of wind speed and increase of relative humidity (RH). PM2.5 mass concentrations, the aerosol scattering coefficient (bscat), and the aerosol extinction coefficient increased with pollution levels. The value of bext was 854.72 Mm−1 on bad days, which was 4.86, 3.1, 2.29, and 1.28 times of that obtained on excellent, good, acceptable, and poor days, respectively. When RH < 95%, bext exhibited an increasing trend with RH under all pollution levels, and the higher the pollution level, the bigger the growth rate was. However, when RH > 95%, bext on acceptable, poor and bad days decreased, while bext on excellent and good days still increased. The overall bext in Wuhan in January was mainly contributed by NH4NO3 (25.2%) and organic matter (20.1%). The contributions of NH4NO3 and (NH4)2SO4 to bext increased significantly with pollution levels. On bad days, NH4NO3 and (NH4)2SO4 contributed the most to bext, accounting for 38.2% and 27.0%, respectively.
Moisture Recycling over the Iberian Peninsula: The Impact of 3DVAR Data Assimilation
Authors: González-Rojí Santos J. , Sáenz Jon , Díaz de Argandoña Javier , Ibarra-Berastegi Gabriel
Published: December 2019

In this paper, we have estimated the spatiotemporal distribution of moisture recycling over the Iberian Peninsula (IP). The recycling ratio was computed from two simulations over the IP using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with a horizontal resolution of 15 km spanning the period 2010–2014. The first simulation (WRF N) was nested inside the ERA-Interim with information passed to the domain through the boundaries. The second run (WRF D) is similar to WRF N, but it also includes 3DVAR data assimilation every six hours (12:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. UTC). It was also extended until 2018. The lowest values of moisture recycling (3%) are obtained from November to February, while the highest ones (16%) are observed in spring in both simulations. Moisture recycling is confined to the southeastern corner during winter. During spring and summer, a gradient towards the northeastern corner of the IP is observed in both simulations. The differences between both simulations are associated with the dryness of the soil in the model and are higher during summer and autumn. WRF D presents a lower bias and produces more reliable results because of a better representation of the atmospheric moisture.
Aerosol Characteristics in the Near-Ground Layer of the Atmosphere of the City of Tomsk in Different Types of Aerosol Weather
Authors: Panchenko Mikhail V. , Kozlov Valerii S. , Polkin Victor V. , Terpugova Svetlana A. , Polkin Vasily V. , Uzhegov Victor N. , Chernov Dmitry G. , Shmargunov Vladimir P. , Yausheva Elena P. , Zenkova Polina N.
Published: December 2019

Considering the wide range of variability of all aerosol characteristics (especially in the near-ground layer of the atmosphere near industrial centers), when creating a realistic empirical model of optical and microphysical characteristics, the optimal dividing of the total data array according to some multifactor signs is needed. In this paper, we analyze the main states of “dry” aerosol on the basis of the results of long-term regular measurements in the near-ground layer of the atmosphere near the city of Tomsk in 2000–2017. The following parameters were considered: aerosol number concentration and size distribution function, total and angular scattering coefficients, including the small-angle range 1.2° to 20°, mass concentration and size distribution of absorbing substances (equivalent black carbon), characteristics of the aerosol hygroscopic properties, and spectral aerosol extinction of radiation on an open long path in the wavelength range 0.45 to 3.9 µm. In our comprehensive study, we first proposed and developed an original approach (classification) to study the optical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol of various physicochemical origins (background, smoke, smog, anthropogenic, etc.) based on dividing the entire data array into characteristic subarrays (types of aerosol weather), which differ from each other in a different combination of scattering and absorbing properties of particles. To divide the total data array into types of aerosol weather including “Background”, “Haze-S”, “Smog”, and “Smoke haze”, the values of the scattering coefficient of the dry aerosol matter σd(λ = 0.51 μm) = 100 Mm−1 and the ratio of the mass concentration of the absorbing substance to the mass concentration of submicron aerosol P = 0.05. The results showed that most of the seasonal average values of the aerosol parameters analyzed in the paper are statistically significantly different when comparing various characteristic types of scattering and absorbing atmospheric aerosol. The results of the research indicate that the application of the developed classification of types of aerosol weather for the analyzed optical and microphysical parameters of aerosol particles is quite effective and reasonable.
A Novel Noncoding RNA dsr11 Involved in Heat Stress Tolerance in Deinococcus radiodurans
Authors: Xue Dong , Chen Yun , Li Jiang , Han Jiahui , Zhou Zhengfu , Zhang Wei , Chen Ming , Lin Min , Ongena Marc , Wang Jin
Published: December 2019

Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremely resistant bacteria that has evolved masterful strategies to enable survival under various environmental stress conditions. Heat stress is a major environmental stress factor that can cause denaturation of proteins, membrane disruption, and oxidative stress. Previous studies have examined the mechanisms of the heat stress response by analyzing changes in protein levels; however, little is known about the role of small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are known to play important regulatory functions in bacteria during various environmental stress response. The ncRNA dsr11 of D. radiodurans was previously identified by RNA-seq and Northern blot. In this study, we showed that the transcription level of dsr11 was up-regulated 4.2-fold under heat stress by qRT-PCR analysis. Heat tolerance assay showed that deleting dsr11 significantly inhibited the viability under high temperature conditions. To assess the influence of dsr11 on the D. radiodurans transcriptome, 157 genes were found differentially expressed in the knock-out mutant by RNA-seq experiment. Combining RNA-seq and in silico analysis, we found that trmE (tRNA modification GTPase) and dr_0651 (arginase) were likely to be the direct targets of dsr11. Further microscale thermophoresis results demonstrated that dsr11 can directly bind to the mRNA of trmE and dr_0651. Our results indicated that dsr11 can enhance the tolerance to heat stress of D. radiodurans by binding to trmE and dr_0651 mRNA. Overall, these results extend our understanding of ncRNA regulation and provide new insights into the heat stress response in D. radiodurans.
Multiple Biological Effects of an Iridoid Glucoside, Catalpol, and Its Underlying Molecular Mechanisms
Authors: Bhattamisra Subrat Kumar , Yap Kah Heng , Rao Vikram , Choudhury Hira
Published: December 2019

Catalpol, an iridoid glucoside, is widely distributed in many plant families and is primarily obtained from the root of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. Rehmannia glutinosa is a plant very commonly used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine for various disorders, including diabetes mellitus, neuronal disorders, and inflammation. Catalpol has been studied extensively for its biological properties both in vitro and in vivo. This review aims to appraise the biological effects of catalpol and their underlying mechanisms. An extensive literature search was conducted using the keyword “Catalpol” in the public domains of Google scholar, PubMed, and Scifinder. Catalpol exhibits anti-diabetic, cardiovascular protective, neuroprotective, anticancer, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant effects in experimental studies. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are mostly related for its biological effect. However, some specific mechanisms are also elucidated. Elevated serotonin and BDNF level by catalpol significantly protect against depression and neurodegeneration. Catalpol demonstrated an increased mitochondrial biogenesis and activation of PI3K/Akt pathway for insulin sensitizing effect. Further, its cardiovascular protective effect was linked to PI3K/Akt, apelin/APJ and Jak-Stat pathway. Catalpol produced a significant reduction in cell proliferation and an increase in apoptosis in different cancer conditions. Overall, catalpol demonstrated multiple biological effects due to its numerous mechanisms including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
DCLK1 Monoclonal Antibody-Based CAR-T Cells as a Novel Treatment Strategy against Human Colorectal Cancers
Authors: Sureban Sripathi M. , Berahovich Robert , Zhou Hua , Xu Shirley , Wu Lijun , Ding Kai , May Randal , Qu Dongfeng , Bannerman-Menson Edwin , Golubovskaya Vita , Houchen Courtney W.
Published: December 2019

CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T cells) immunotherapy is effective in many hematological cancers; however, efficacy in solid tumors is disappointing. Doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) labels tumor stem cells (TSCs) in genetic mouse models of colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, we describe a novel CAR-T targeting DCLK1 (CBT-511; with our proprietary DCLK1 single-chain antibody variable fragment) as a treatment strategy to eradicate CRC TSCs. The cell surface expression of DCLK1 and cytotoxicity of CBT-511 were assessed in CRC cells (HT29, HCT116, and LoVo). LoVo-derived tumor xenografts in NOD Scid gamma (NSG™) mice were treated with CBT-511 or mock CAR-T cells. Adherent CRC cells express surface DCLK1 (two-dimensional, 2D). A 4.5-fold increase in surface DCLK1 was observed when HT29 cells were grown as spheroids (three-dimensional, 3D). CBT-511 induced cytotoxicity (2D; p < 0.0001), and increased Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) release in CRC cells (2D) compared to mock CAR-T (p < 0.0001). Moreover, an even greater increase in IFN-γ release was observed when cells were grown in 3D. CBT-511 reduced tumor growth by approximately 50 percent compared to mock CAR-T. These data suggest that CRC cells with increased clonogenic capacity express increased surface DCLK1. A DCLK1-targeted CAR-T can induce cytotoxicity in vitro and inhibit xenograft growth in vivo.
HCl Removal Using Calcined Ca–Mg–Al Layered Double Hydroxide in the Presence of CO2 at Medium–High Temperature
Authors: Wu Wei , Wu Yuanfeng , Wang Tongwei , Wang Decheng , Gu Qinyang , Jin Baosheng
Published: December 2019

This present work aimed to investigate the influence of CO2 on HCl removal using calcined Ca–Mg–Al layered double hydroxides (CaMgAl-LDHs) at medium–high temperature (400–800 °C) in a fixed-bed reactor. It was revealed that a moderate CO2 concentration (~6%) in the flue gas of the municipal solid-waste incinerators could reduce the HCl capacity of the CaMgAl-layered double oxides (CaMgAl-LDOs). The highest capacity for HCl removal was observed over the CaMgAl-LDOs at 600 °C. However, sintering was also detected when the reaction temperature was below the calcination temperature (600 °C). Moreover, the decreasing HCl adsorption capacity of CaMgAl-LDOs was attributed to the existence of CO2 in the flue gas, which could efficiently inhibit the decomposition of carbonates as well as the conversion into metal chloride during the HCl removal process.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) in the Cerebrospinal Fluid Samples from Children and Adults with Central Nervous System Infections
Authors: Appelgren Daniel , Enocsson Helena , Skogman Barbro H. , Nordberg Marika , Perander Linda , Nyman Dag , Nyberg Clara , Knopf Jasmin , Muñoz Luis E. , Sjöwall Christopher , Sjöwall Johanna
Published: December 2019

Neutrophils operate as part of the innate defence in the skin and may eliminate the Borrelia spirochaete via phagocytosis, oxidative bursts, and hydrolytic enzymes. However, their importance in Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) is unclear. Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, which is associated with the production of reactive oxygen species, involves the extrusion of the neutrophil DNA to form traps that incapacitate bacteria and immobilise viruses. Meanwhile, NET formation has recently been studied in pneumococcal meningitis, the role of NETs in other central nervous system (CNS) infections has previously not been studied. Here, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from clinically well-characterised children (N = 111) and adults (N = 64) with LNB and other CNS infections were analysed for NETs (DNA/myeloperoxidase complexes) and elastase activity. NETs were detected more frequently in the children than the adults (p = 0.01). NET presence was associated with higher CSF levels of CXCL1 (p < 0.001), CXCL6 (p = 0.007), CXCL8 (p = 0.003), CXCL10 (p < 0.001), MMP-9 (p = 0.002), TNF (p = 0.02), IL-6 (p < 0.001), and IL-17A (p = 0.03). NETs were associated with fever (p = 0.002) and correlated with polynuclear pleocytosis (rs = 0.53, p < 0.0001). We show that neutrophil activation and active NET formation occur in the CSF samples of children and adults with CNS infections, mainly caused by Borrelia and neurotropic viruses. The role of NETs in the early phase of viral/bacterial CNS infections warrants further investigation.
The Nuclear Protein HOXB13 Enhances Methylmercury Toxicity by Inducing Oncostatin M and Promoting Its Binding to TNFR3 in Cultured Cells
Authors: Toyama Takashi , Xu Sidi , Nakano Ryo , Hasegawa Takashi , Endo Naoki , Takahashi Tsutomu , Lee Jin-Yong , Naganuma Akira , Hwang Gi-Wook
Published: December 2019

Homeobox protein B13 (HOXB13), a transcription factor, is related to methylmercury toxicity; however, the downstream factors involved in enhancing methylmercury toxicity remain unknown. We performed microarray analysis to search for downstream factors whose expression is induced by methylmercury via HOXB13 in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293), which are useful model cells for analyzing molecular mechanisms. Methylmercury induced the expression of oncostatin M (OSM), a cytokine of the interleukin-6 family, and this was markedly suppressed by HOXB13 knockdown. OSM knockdown also conferred resistance to methylmercury in HEK293 cells, and no added methylmercury resistance was observed when both HOXB13 and OSM were knocked down. Binding of HOXB13 to the OSM gene promoter was increased by methylmercury, indicating the involvement of HOXB13 in the enhancement of its toxicity. Because addition of recombinant OSM to the medium enhanced methylmercury toxicity in OSM-knockdown cells, extracellularly released OSM was believed to enhance methylmercury toxicity via membrane receptors. We discovered tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF) receptor 3 (TNFR3) to be a potential candidate involved in the enhancement of methylmercury toxicity by OSM. This toxicity mechanism was also confirmed in mouse neuronal stem cells. We report, for the first time, that HOXB13 is involved in enhancement of methylmercury toxicity via OSM-expression induction and that the synthesized OSM causes cell death by binding to TNFR3 extracellularly.
Predicted Archaic 3D Genome Organization Reveals Genes Related to Head and Spinal Cord Separating Modern from Archaic Humans
Authors: Batyrev Daniel , Lapid Elisheva , Carmel Liran , Meshorer Eran
Published: December 2019

High coverage sequences of archaic humans enabled the reconstruction of their DNA methylation patterns. This allowed comparing gene regulation between human groups, and linking such regulatory changes to phenotypic differences. In a previous work, a detailed comparison of DNA methylation in modern humans, archaic humans, and chimpanzees revealed 873 modern human-derived differentially methylated regions (DMRs). To understand the regulatory implications of these DMRs, we defined differentially methylated genes (DMGs) as genes that harbor DMRs in their promoter or gene body. While most of the modern human-derived DMRs could be linked to DMGs, many others remained unassigned. Here, we used information on 3D genome organization to link ~70 out of the remaining 288 unassigned DMRs to genes. Combined with the previously identified DMGs, we reinforce the enrichment of these genes with vocal and facial anatomy, and additionally find significant enrichment with the spinal column, chin, hair, and scalp. These results reveal the importance of 3D genomic organization in understanding gene regulation by DNA methylation.
Distinct Role of CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− Myeloid-Derived Cells on the Progression of the Primary Tumor and Therapy-Associated Recurrent Brain Tumor
Authors: Wu Sheng-Yan , Chiang Chi-Shiun
Published: December 2019

Myeloid-derived cells have been implicated as playing essential roles in cancer therapy, particularly in cancer immunotherapy. Most studies have focused on either CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C+ granulocytic or polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (G-MDSCs or PMN-MDSCs) or CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C+ monocytic MDSCs (M-MDSCs), for which clear roles have been established. On the other hand, CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− myeloid-derived cells (MDCs) have been less well studied. Here, the CD11b-diphtheria toxin receptor (CD11b-DTR) transgenic mouse model was used to evaluate the role of CD11b+ myeloid-derived cells in chemotherapy for an orthotopic murine astrocytoma, ALTS1C1. Using this transgenic mouse model, two injections of diphtheria toxin (DT) could effectively deplete CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− MDCs while leaving CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C+ PMN-MDSCs and CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C+ M-MDSCs intact. Depletion of CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− MDCs in mice bearing ALTS1C1-tk tumors and receiving ganciclovir (GCV) prolonged the mean survival time for mice from 30.7 to 37.8 days, but not the controls, while the effectiveness of temozolomide was enhanced. Mechanistically, depletion of CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− MDCs blunted therapy-induced increases in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and compromised therapy-elicited angiogenesis. Collectively, our findings suggest that CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C− MDCs could be manipulated to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy for brain tumors. However, our study also cautions that the timing of any MDC manipulation may be critical to achieve the best therapeutic result.
The Good, the Bad and the Unknown of CD38 in the Metabolic Microenvironment and Immune Cell Functionality of Solid Tumors
Authors: Konen Jessica M. , Fradette Jared J. , Gibbons Don L.
Published: December 2019

The regulation of the immune microenvironment within solid tumors has received increasing attention with the development and clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade therapies, such as those that target the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. The metabolic microenvironment within solid tumors has proven to be an important regulator of both the natural suppression of immune cell functionality and the de novo or acquired resistance to immunotherapy. Enzymatic proteins that generate immunosuppressive metabolites like adenosine are thus attractive targets to couple with immunotherapies to improve clinical efficacy. CD38 is one such enzyme. While the role of CD38 in hematological malignancies has been extensively studied, the impact of CD38 expression within solid tumors is largely unknown, though most current data indicate an immunosuppressive role for CD38. However, CD38 is far from a simple enzyme, and there are several remaining questions that require further study. To effectively treat solid tumors, we must learn as much about this multifaceted protein as possible—i.e., which infiltrating immune cell types express CD38 for functional activities, the most effective CD38 inhibitor(s) to employ, and the influence of other similarly functioning enzymes that may also contribute towards an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Gathering knowledge such as this will allow for intelligent targeting of CD38, the reinvigoration of immune functionality and, ultimately, tumor elimination.
Dyes Amount and Light Scattering Influence on the Photocurrent Enhancement of Titanium Dioxide Hierarchically Structured Photoanodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Authors: Huang Wen-Yao , Hsieh Tung-Li
Published: December 2019

In this study, we prepared and analyzed the properties of hill-like hierarchically structured titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We expected that the presence of appropriately aggregated TiO2 clusters in the photoanode layer would translate to relatively strong light scattering and dye loading, increasing the photovoltaic efficiency. A detailed light-harvesting study was performed by employing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymers of different molecular weights as binders for the aggregation of the TiO2 nanoparticles (P-25 Degussa). Hence, we obtained a series of TiO2 films, presenting a variety of morphologies. Their reflection, as well as absorbance of light by the attached dye, the amount of dye loading, and the performance of the fabricated DSSC devices were investigated. Our optimized device, with a relatively high dye loading and good light harvesting ability, was able to enhance the short-circuit current (Jsc) in the DSSCs by 23%.
Van der Waals Equation for the Description of Monolayer Formation on Arbitrary Surfaces
Authors: Kutarov Volodymyr , Schieferstein Eva
Published: December 2019

The van der Waals equation is well known for the description of two-dimensional monolayers. The formation of a monolayer is the result of a compromise between the process of self-organization on the surface and the probabilities of spatial configurations of adsorbate molecules near the surface. The main reasons for the geometric heterogeneity of the monolayer are the geometric disorder and the energy inhomogeneity of the surface profile. A monolayer is a statistically related system and its symmetry causes correlations of processes at different spatial scales. The classical van der Waals equation is written for the two-dimensional, completely symmetric Euclidean space. In the general case, the geometry of the monolayer must be defined for the Euclidean space of fractional dimension (fractal space) with symmetry breaking. In this case, the application of the classical van der Waals equation is limited. Considering the fractal nature of the monolayer–solid interface, a quasi-two-dimensional van der Waals equation is developed. The application of the equation to experimental data of an activated carbon is shown.
Doubly-Fed Induction Generator Coordination Control Strategy Compatible with Feeder Automation
Authors: Tian Peng , Hao Zhenghang , Li Zetao
Published: December 2019

To solve the problem of incompatibility and mutual repulsion between a distribution network (DN) and distributed generation (DG), this paper first analyzes the conflicts between current feeder automation (FA) and doubly-fed induction generation (DFIG). Then, a DFIG coordination control strategy compatible with FA is proposed to cause the DFIG operating continuously during fault isolation and power supply recovery. The strategy consists of three aspects: (1) a DFIG islanding active synchronization control technology to support islanding and distant presynchronization control; (2) DFIG senses the status of circuit breakers/tie-switch through generic object oriented substation event (GOOSE) messages to achieve rapid switch of control modes and distant synchronization; (3) tie-switch senses the status of DFIG through GOOSE messages for closing. Finally, the effectiveness of the strategy is validated by multiple sound and detailed time-domain simulation cases. This study indicates future possible development trends and provides a simple and effective strategy for researches in the field of smart grid DN–DG compatibility.
Balanced Scorecard-Based Evaluation of Sustainable Energy Investment Projects with IT2 Fuzzy Hybrid Decision Making Approach
Authors: Zhou Pengran , Zhou Pengfei , Yüksel Serhat , Dinçer Hasan , Uluer Gülsüm Sena
Published: December 2019

The purpose of this study is to determine the issues that financial institutions should pay attention to in their decision to provide financing to large scale energy projects. Within this framework, taking into account the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach, 4 dimensions and 8 criteria that can be effective in these decisions of financial institutions were determined. After that, the importance weights of these dimensions and criteria were determined by interval type-2 (IT2) fuzzy DEMATEL method. In addition, 3 different types of banks (public, private, foreign) are listed for their performance in financing energy projects. According to the results of the analysis, the technological and financial adequacy of the company that will invest in energy is the issue that financial institutions should pay the most attention to in their credit decision. Therefore, it is important for financial institutions to visit the customer's location and pay attention to the technological adequacy in the process of evaluating the customer's demand for credit for a large-scale energy project. In addition, it would be appropriate not to provide this fund to the energy companies with high indebtedness and insufficient liquidity. Another result of the study is that state banks have the lowest performance in financing these large-scale energy projects. When this result is taken into consideration, state banks need to pay more attention in evaluating large-scale energy projects in order to avoid major losses.
Overview of Human Walking Induced Energy Harvesting Technologies and Its Possibility for Walking Robotics
Authors: Shi Hu , Liu Zhaoying , Mei Xuesong
Published: December 2019

This study is mainly to provide an overview of human walking induced energy harvest. Focusing on the proportion of all energy sources provided by daily activity, the available human walking induced energy is divided with respect to the generation principle. The extensive research on harvesting energy results from body vibration, inertial element, and foot press to convert into electricity is overviewed. Over the past decades, various smart materials have been employed to achieve energy conversion. Generators based on electromagnetic induction or the triboelectric effect were developed and integrated. Small captured power and low overall efficiency are criticized. The concept of human walking energy harvest is extended into the wearable walking robotics using other mediums, such as fluid, to transmit power instead of electricity. By comparison, it is indicated that less energy conversion links are involved in energy regeneration of such applications and expected to guarantee less loss and higher efficiency. Meanwhile, in order to overcome the shortage of relatively low power output, comments are made that the harvester should be capable of adaptation under the condition that the mechanical energy of lower limb and feet is subject to change in different gait phases so as to maximize the collected energy.
Improvement of Waste Dehydrated Sludge for Anaerobic Digestion through High-Temperature and High-Pressure Solubilization
Authors: Hong Eui-Hwan , Park Jun-Gyu , Lee Beom , Shi Wei-Qi , Jun Hang-Bae
Published: December 2019

Biochemical methane potential tests and lab-scale continuous experiments were conducted to improve the yield and energy efficiency of anaerobic digestion through thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment. Methane generation, yield, and solubilization efficiency were evaluated through lab-scale tests. The pre-treated samples presented 50% biodegradability at 140 °C and 61.5% biodegradability at 165 °C. The increase in biodegradability was insignificant at 165 °C or higher temperature, and it was confirmed that the optimum conditions were achieved at 165 °C and 20 min of solubilization. The lab-scale continuous experiments confirmed that polymers were decomposed into low-molecular-weight compounds due to thermal hydrolysis, and pH decreased. NH4HCO3 produced by thermal hydrolysis acted as an alkali to enable a more stable operation compared to that before thermal hydrolysis. Total chemical oxygen demand as chromium (TCODCr) and soluble chemical oxygen demand as chromium (SCODCr) indicated 35.4% and 23.1% removal efficiency in terms of organic matter removal, respectively. Methane yield was approximately 0.35 kg m−3 at 2.0–4.0 kg (m3 d)−1 and 0.26 kg m−3 at 5.0 kg (m3 d)−1. The solubilization rate of 40.9% by thermal hydrolysis was confirmed through the lab-scale tests to determine its full-scale applicability.
Enhance of Energy Harvesting from Transverse Galloping by Actively Rotating the Galloping Body
Authors: Barrero-Gil Antonio , Vicente-Ludlam David , Gutierrez David , Sastre Francisco
Published: December 2019

Kinematic rotary control is here proposed conceptually to enhance energy harvesting from Transverse Galloping. The effect of actively orientating the galloping body with respect to the incident flow, by imposing externally a rotation of the body proportional to the motion-induced angle of attack, is studied. To this end, a theoretical model is developed and analyzed, and numerical computations employing the Lattice Boltzmann Method are carried out. Good agreement is found between theoretical model predictions and numerical simulations results. It is found that it is possible to increase significantly the efficiency of energy harvesting with respect to the case without active rotation, which opens the path to consider this idea in practical realizations.
Studying State Convergence of Input-to-State Stable Systems with Applications to Power System Analysis
Authors: Alexandridis Antonio T.
Published: December 2019

In stability studies, the response of a system enforced by external, known or unknown, inputs is of great importance. Although such an analysis is quite easy for linear systems, it becomes a cumbersome task when nonlinearities exist in the system model. Nevertheless, most of the real-world systems are externally enforced nonlinear systems with nonzero equilibriums. Representative examples in this category include power systems, where studies on stability and convergence to equilibrium constitute crucial objectives. Driven by this need, the aim of the present work is twofold: First, to substantially complete the theoretical infrastructure by establishing globally valid sufficient conditions for externally enforced nonlinear systems that converge to nonzero equilibriums and, second, to deploy an efficient method easily applicable on practical problems as it is analyzed in detail on a typical power system example. To that end, in the theoretical first part of the paper, a rigorous nonlinear analysis is developed. Particularly, starting from the well-established nonlinear systems theory based on Lyapunov techniques and on the input-to-state stability (ISS) notion, it is proven after a systematic and lengthy analysis that ISS can also guarantee convergence to nonzero equilibrium. Two theorems and two corollaries are established to provide the sufficient conditions. As shown in the paper, the main stability and convergence objectives for externally enforced systems are fulfilled if simple exponential or asymptotic converging conditions can be proven for the unforced system. Then, global or local convergence is established, respectively, while for the latter case, a novel method based on a distance-like measure for determining the region of attraction (RoA) is proposed. The theoretical results are examined on classic power system generation nonlinear models. The power system examples are suitably selected in order to effectively demonstrate the proposed method as a stability analysis tool and to validate all the particular steps, especially that of evaluating the RoA. The examined system results clearly verify the theoretical part, indicating a rather wide range of applications in power systems.