bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
High-level resection of the infundibulopelvic ligament during epithelial ovarian cancer surgery: Is it necessary?
Authors: Wang Chunfei , Zhou Junying , Yan Haozheng , Li Lei , Li Zhengyu 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Objectives

To identify potential metastases in the infundibulopelvic (IP) ligament and evaluate the necessity of high-level resection of the ligament during surgical treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer.
Methods

In this prospective study, 50 female patients with confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer underwent high-level resection of the IP ligament (10 cm or greater) as part of cytoreductive surgery. The resected IP ligaments were sectioned longitudinally at 10-mm intervals and labeled. Each segment was sectioned serially at a thickness of 4 µm, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and examined by experienced pathologists for metastatic cells.
Results

Fifty pairs of IP ligaments were examined. Metastatic cells were found in the IP ligaments of 11 patients (22%) with FIGO stage III or IV epithelial ovarian cancer, 3–7 cm from the visual ovarian margin.
Conclusions

Our study demonstrates that metastases were occasionally present in the IP ligament of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, and therefore, high-level resection of the IP ligament (10 cm or greater) is necessary as part of cytoreductive surgery to reduce residual tumors for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
Rapid Identification of Druggable Targets and the Power of the PHENotype SIMulator for Effective Drug Repurposing in COVID-19
Authors: MARIA Naomi , Rapicavoli Rosaria Valentina , Alaimo Salvatore , Bischof Evelyne , Stasuzzo Alessia , Broek Jantine , Pulvirenti Alfredo , Mishra Bud , Duits Ashley , Ferro Alfredo 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
The current, rapidly diversifying pandemic has accelerated the need for efficient and effective identification of potential drug candidates for COVID-19. Knowledge on host-immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, remains limited with very few drugs approved to date. Viable strategies and tools are rapidly arising to address this, especially with repurposing of existing drugs offering significant promise. Here we introduce a systems biology tool, the PHENotype SIMulator, which ̶ by leveraging available transcriptomic and proteomic databases ̶ allows modeling of SARS-CoV-2 infection in host cells in silico to i) determine with high sensitivity and specificity (both > 96%) the viral effects on cellular host-immune response, resulting in a specific cellular SARS-CoV-2 signature and ii) utilize this specific signature to narrow down promising repurposable therapeutic strategies. Powered by this tool, coupled with domain expertise, we have identified several potential COVID-19 drugs including methylprednisolone and metformin, and further discern key cellular SARS-CoV-2-affected pathways as potential new druggable targets in COVID-19 pathogenesis.
The City in the Tropics: Lizard Community Structure and Spatial Resource Use Along an Habitat Gradient of the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)
Authors: Luiselli Luca , Dendi Daniele , Petrozzi Fabio , Segniagbeto Gabriel Hoinsoudé 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Studies on habitat gradients are particularly interesting for the community ecology theory, but almost no investigation has been carried out on community structure of any vertebrate groups along gradients of habitat that were modified by humans in historical or prehistorical times, such as for instance the Dahomey Gap in West Africa. Here, we analyze the community structure of lizards in suburban Lomé (Togo) and in comparison with nearby savannah and forest sites, with a suite of statistical methods. Overall, we recorded 25 lizard species, with a heavy reduction in species richness from forest (18 taxa) to savannah (13) and suburbs (9). 24% of the species occurred in all habitat types, 40% exclusively in forest, and only two were exclusive of suburban habitats. Suburban habitat types were relatively homogeneous in terms of number of observed species (maximum number of taxa per habitat = 6). There were significant interspecific differences in both substratum type preferences and vertical spatial niche by species, but with no evidence of a nonrandom niche partitioning pattern, and hence with a competitively assembled community structure. There was a nonrandom “clustered” distribution of the various species along the available resource categories, thus indicating that species-specific preferences instead of community-driven mechanisms are more likely to explain the observed patterns. We concluded that lizard communities in tropical cities are (i) less species-rich than in the surrounding more natural habitats, (ii) usually clustered into specific habitat/substratum types (often artificial ones), and (iii) not assembled through competitive interactions.
Identification of the signature genes and network of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) related genes and DNA repair genes in Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD)
Authors: Zhao Ye , Feng Hai-Ming , Wei Xiao-Ping , Yan Wei-Jian , Li Bin , Wang Cheng , Qin Yu 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are present in high amount in patients with tumors, and these ROS can kill and destroy tumor cells. Thus, tumor cells upregulate ROS-related genes to protect themselves and reduce their destruction. Cancer cells already damaged by ROS can be repaired by expressing DNA repair genes consequently promoting their proliferation. In this work, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) transcriptome data in the TCGA database was analyzed and samples were clustered into 5 ROS-related categories and 6 DNA repair categories. Survival analysis revealed a significant difference in patient survival between the two classification methods. In addition, the samples corresponding to the two categories overlap, thus, the gene expression profile of the same sample with different categories and survival prognosis was further explored, and the connection between ROS-related genes and DNA repair genes was investigated. The interactive sample recombination classification was used, revealing that the patient's prognosis was worse when the ROS-related genes and DNA repair genes were expressed at the same time. The further research on the potential regulatory network of the two categories of genes and the correlation analysis revealed that ROS-related genes and DNA repair genes have a mutual regulatory relationship. The ROS-related genes NQO1, TXNRD1, and PRDX4 could establish links with other DNA repair genes through the DNA repair gene NEIL3, thereby increasing the growth of tumor cells and balancing the level of ROS, leading to tumor cell death and constant damage to the tumor cell repair system, thus prolonging patient survival. Thus, targeting ROS-related genes and DNA repair genes might be a promising strategy in the treatment of LUAD. Finally, a survival prognostic model of ROS-related genes and DNA repair genes was established (TERT, PRKDC, PTTG1, SMUG1, TXNRD1, CAT, H2AFX and PFKP), the risk score might be used as an independent prognostic factor in LUAD patients.
The Small G-Protein RalA Promotes Progression and Metastasis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Authors: Thies Katie A , Cole Matthew W. , Schafer Rachel E , Spehar Jonathan M , Richardson Dillon S. , Steck Sarah A , Das Manjusri , Lian Arthur W. , Ray Alo , Shakya Reena , Knoblaugh Sue E , Timmers Cynthia D , Ostrowski Michael C , Chakravarti Arnab , Sizemore Gina M , Sizemore Steven T 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in women. In particular, triple-negative BC (TNBC) has the highest rate of mortality due in large part to the lack of targeted treatment options for this subtype. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify new molecular targets for TNBC treatment. RALA and RALB are small GTPases implicated in growth and metastasis of a variety of cancers, although little is known of their roles in BC. Methods: The necessity of RALA and RALB for TNBC tumor growth and metastasis were evaluated in vivo using orthotopic and tail-vein models. In vitro, 2D and 3D cell culture methods were used to evaluate the contributions of RALA and RALB during TNBC cell migration, invasion, and viability. The association between TNBC patient outcome and RALA and RALB expression was examined using publicly available gene expression data and patient tissue microarrays. Finally, small molecule inhibition of RALA and RALB was evaluated as a potential treatment strategy for TNBC in cell line and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Results: Knockout or depletion of RALA inhibited orthotopic primary tumor growth, spontaneous metastasis, and experimental metastasis of TNBC cells in vivo. Conversely, knockout of RALB increased TNBC growth and metastasis. In vitro, RALA and RALB had antagonistic effects on TNBC migration, invasion, and viability with RALA generally supporting and RALB opposing these processes. In BC patient populations, elevated RALA but not RALB expression is significantly associated with poor outcome across all BC subtypes and specifically within TNBC patient cohorts. Immunohistochemical staining for RALA in patient cohorts confirmed the prognostic significance of RALA within the general BC population and the TNBC population specifically. BQU57, a small molecule inhibitor of RALA and RALB, decreased TNBC cell line viability, sensitized cells to paclitaxel in vitro and decreased tumor growth and metastasis in TNBC cell line and PDX models in vivo. Conclusions: Together, these data demonstrate important but paradoxical roles for RALA and RALB in the pathogenesis of TNBC and advocate further investigation of RALA as a target for the precise treatment of metastatic TNBC.
Exporting metal-carbene chemistry to live mammalian cells: Cop-per-catalyzed intracellular synthesis of quinoxalines enabled by N-H carbene insertions
Authors: Gutiérrez Sara , Tomás-Gamasa María , Mascareñas Jose 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Harnessing the power of transition metal catalysis in biological settings, and especially inside living cells, can open a world of new opportunities in chemical and cell biology, as well as in biomedicine. Yet, advancing in this endeavor requires to address major chal-lenges associated to biocompatibility, transport and bioorthogonality issues, as well as the stability of the catalyst in these aqueous, crowded environments. This is especially relevant in reactions that involve the formation of organometallic intermediates that are considered labile, such as metal carbenes. Here, we demonstrate the viability of perform-ing catalytic metal carbene intermolecular transfer reactions inside live mammalian cells. In particular, we show that copper (II) catalysts can promote the intracellular an-nulation of alpha-keto diazocarbenes with ortho-amino arylamines, in a process that is initiated by the insertion of the carbene into the N-H bond of the substrate. The poten-tial of this transformation is underscored by the intracellular synthesis of a product that alters mitochondrial functions, and by demonstrating cell selective biological re-sponses using targeted copper catalysts. Considering the wide reactivity spectrum of metal carbenes, this work opens the door for significantly expanding the repertoire of reactions that can be performed in live environments and for unveiling new biological applications.
Analytical Breakdown Voltage Model for Partial SOI-LDMOS Transistor with Buried Oxide Step Structure
Authors: Sahoo Jagamohan , Mahapatra Rajat 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
We have developed a simple physics-based two-dimensional analytical Off-state breakdown voltage model of a PBOSS Silicon-On-Insulator Lateral Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor (SOI-LDMOS) transistor. The analytical model includes the expressions of surface potential and electric field distributions in the drift region by solving the 2D Poisson’s equation. The electric field at the Si-SiO2 surface is modified by creating additional electric field peaks due to the presence of the PBOSS structure. The uniformly distributed electric field results in improving the breakdown voltage. Further, the breakdown voltage is analytically obtained via critical electric field concept to quantify the breakdown characteristic. The model exploits the impact of the critical device design parameters such as thickness and length of the PBOSS structure, doping, and thickness of the drift region on the surface electric field and the breakdown voltage. The proposed model is verified by the results obtained from ATLAS two dimensional simulations. The analytical model is of the high potential from a physical and mathematical point of view to design high voltage SOI-LDMOS transistors for power switching applications.
Modelling and Reasoning Techniques for Context – Aware Computing in Intelligent Transportation System
Authors: R Chinnaiyan , M Swarnamugi 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
The emergence of IoT technology and recent advancement in sensor networks enabled transportation systems to a new dimension called Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). Due to increased usage of vehicles and communication among entities in road traffic scenarios, the amount of raw data generation in ITS is huge. This raw data are to be processed to infer contextual information and provide new services related to different modes of road transport such as traffic signal management, accident prediction, object detection etc.,. To understand the importance of context, this article aims to study context-awareness in the Intelligent Transportation System. We present a review on prominent applications developed in the literature concerning context – awareness in the intelligent transportation system. The objective of this survey article is (i) to highlight context and its features in ITS (ii) to address the applicability of modelling techniques and reasoning approaches in ITS (iii) to shed light on impact of IoT and machine learning in ITS development.
Evaluation of Systemic Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Retinal Vein Occlusion
Authors: Bozkurt Erdinc , Cetin Turkhun , Rencuzogulları Ibrahim 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Purpose: To determine the condition of systemic endothelial function and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and to identify the risk factors associated with the disease.Material-Method: Seventy-six patients who presented to the clinic with the diagnosis of RVO and 76 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals without a RVO history were included in the study. The patients' vision levels and central macular thickness were measures, and diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, carotid artery disease, body mass index and smoking histories were recorded. The endothelial function levels of the patients, pulse wave velocity (PWV), and CIMT were measured. Serum hematological parameters were evaluated.Results: The most important risk factor in patients with RVO was found to be hypertension (OR 1.455, 95% CI 1.981-9.272; p=0.001) compared to the control group, and diabetes (OR 0.460, 95% CI 1.981-9.272; p=0.001) and hyperlipidemia (OR 0.124, 95% CI 0.371-3.456; p=0.828) were significantly more common among the patients.There was a statistically significant difference between the RVO and control groups in terms of flow-mediated dilation (OR 0.050, 95% CI 0.020-0.080; p =0.001), PWV (OR 0.392, 95% CI 0.271-0.513; p<0.001), and the CIMT of both sides (OR 2.434, 95% CI 1.801-3.055 for the right CIMT and OR 2.284, 95% CI 1.646-2.922 for the left CIMT) (p<0.001 for all).Conclusion: Considering that RVO is associated with systemic endothelial dysfunction and may also be accompanied by carotid artery stenosis, we think that additional systemic diseases should be questioned in this patient group.
A clinical study focusing Evaluation and treatment of acute and chronic cartilage injuries of the knee
Authors: Årøen Asbjørn , Kjennvold Stian 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Treatment of articular cartilage injuries have been a challenge for orthopedic surgeons for decades. The following study protocol add knowledge about ongoing research in the field and outline the ongoing long-term follow-up on the transplantation of bone marrow derived stem cells in a clinical trial with 10 years follow-up. The study protocol describes a method to save chondral fractures, which in the past frequently treated with removal of the detached fragments.
Effects of control measures and their impacts on COVID-19 transmission dynamics
Authors: Supatgiat Chonawee 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Governments around the world have grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year. Control measures such as social distancing, use of face masks in public places, business and school closures, city or transportation lockdowns, mass gathering bans, population education and engagement, contact tracing, and improved mass testing protocols are being used to contain the pandemic. Currently, there are no studies to date that rank the effectiveness of these measures, resulting in government responses that may be uncoordinated and inefficient. In this study, we developed a Discrete Time Markov Chain model that captures the above control measures and ranks them. We found that the importance of the measures changes over time and depends on the stage of transmission dynamics, as well as the ecological environment. For example, contact tracing is a powerful measure to effectively control the pandemic, however, our results show that while it is indeed helpful during the early stages of the pandemic, it is much less important after a vaccination program takes effect. Besides, our model improved the standard SEIR compartmental model by taking into account the dynamic temporal transmission and recovery probabilities along with considering a portion of the population that will not comply with government-mandated control measures. If implemented, our novel and unique model may assist many countries in pandemic control decisions.
Performance Enhancement in Multicore Fiber Using Trench Assisted Technique
Authors: Fatmia Salma , CT Manimegalai , Gauni Sabitha , Kalimuthu K. 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Analysis of crosstalk in multicore fiber using trench assisted technique. To reduce the crosstalk between the cores in the fiber the coupled mode theory and coupled power theory are adopted for crosstalk estimation and considering different design parameters such as core pitch, bending radius and wavelength to optimize the crosstalk performance. The homogeneous fiber which works under single mode operation has been considered. The study of performance by varying the trench width is also analysed. Crosstalk variation in outer cores and center core of the fiber is studied. And the study of variation of crosstalk with 5 different core radius has been done. The numerical simulation results of crosstalk behavior over bending radius, wavelength and trench width is obtained.
BRAF Mutation Correlates with Worse Local-regional Control Following Radiation Therapy in Patients with Stage III Melanoma
Authors: Wolfe Adam R , Chablani Priyanka , Siedow Michael , Miller Eric D , Walston Steve , Kendra Kari , Wuthrick Evan , Williams Terence M 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background

In patients with stage III melanoma, the use of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) after lymph node dissection (LND) may be currently considered in selected high-risk patients to improve local-regional control. Melanomas harbor BRAF mutations (BRAF+) in 40–50% of cases, the majority of which are on the V600E residue. This study sought to compare the clinical outcomes after RT between patients with BRAF + and BRAF- melanoma.
Methods

This was a retrospective review of 105 Stage III melanoma patients treated at our institution with LND followed by adjuvant RT from 2006–2019. BRAF mutational status was determined on the primary skin or nodal tissue samples from all patients. We compared characteristics of the BRAF + and BRAF- groups using Fisher’s exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum test and performed univariate and multivariate analysis using Kaplan-Meier estimates, log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazards modeling with the clinical outcomes of local-regional control (LRC), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS).
Results

Fifty-three (50%) patients harbored a BRAF mutation (92%, pV600E). BRAF + patients were younger and had primary tumors more commonly found in the trunk vs head and neck compared to BRAF- patients (p < 0.05). The 5 year local-regional control in the BRAF + patients was 60% compared to 81% in the BRAF- patients (HR 4.5, 95% CI 1.3–15.5, p = 0.02). There were no significant differences in 5-year DMFS, DFS, and OS rates between the two BRAF patient groups. The presence of 4 or more positive LNs remained a significant prognostic factor for LRC, DFS, and OS in multivariate analysis.
Conclusions

Stage III melanoma patients with BRAF mutation treated with adjuvant RT had > 4 times increased risk of loco-regional recurrence. These results could be useful for adjuvant RT consideration in lymph node positive melanoma patients and supports other data that BRAF mutation confers radiation resistance.
Long-term SST Prediction Based on RSST-ARGM
Authors: Zhu Linqian , Liu Qi , Liu Xiaodong , Zhang Yonghong 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
For the purpose of exploring the long-term variation of regional SST, this paper studies the historical SST in local sea areas and the emission pattern of greenhouse gases and proposes a gray model of regional SST based on atmospheric reflection which can be used to predict SST variation in a long time span. By studying the grey systematic relationship between historical SST data, the model obtains the development law of temperature change, and furtherintroduces different future greenhouse gas emission scenarios as the index coefficient to determine the corresponding changing results of seawater temperature in the next 50 years. Taking the North Atlantic Ocean as an example, the cosine similarity test method is used to verify the model proposed in this paper, and its accuracy is as high as 0.99984. The model predicts that the local SST could reach a maximum of 15.3°C by 2070. This model is easy to calculate, with advantages of the high accuracy and good robustness.
Elucidation of the inhibitory activity of plant-derived SARS-CoV inhibitors and their potential as SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors
Authors: Bello Martiniano , Hasan Md. Kamrul 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Due to the necessity of treating the SARS-CoV-2 infection, several drugs are now being tested as possible therapies. Although approved vaccines bring much hope, a vaccination program covering the entire global population will take a very long period, which makes the development of effective antiviral drugs an effective solution for the immediate treatment of this dangerous infection. Previous studies found that three natural compounds: tannic acid, 3-isotheaflavin-3-gallate and theaflavin-3,3-digallate are effective proteinase (3CLpro) inhibitors of SARS-CoV (IC50 < 10 µM). Based on this information, and due to the high percentage of sequence identity of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, these three compounds could be candidate inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro. In this paper, we explore the structural and energetic features that guided the molecular recognition of these three compounds for dimeric SARS-CoV2 and SARS-CoV 3CLpro, the functional state of this enzyme, by using docking and MD simulations with the molecular mechanics-generalized-born surface area (MMGBSA) approach. Energetic analysis demonstrated that the three compounds reached favorable affinities in both systems in the following order: tannic acid > 3-isotheaflavin-3-gallate > theaflavin-3,3-digallate, a tendency that is in line with that which was experimentally reported between these ligands and SARS-CoV 3CLpro. Therefore, tannic acid may have clinical usefulness against COVID-19 by acting as a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro.