bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A novel double threshold-based spectrum sensing technique at low SNR under noise uncertainty for Cognitive Radio Systems
Authors: Mahendru Garima 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Cognitive Radio is a novel concept that has invoked a paradigm shift in wireless communication and promises to solve the problem of spectrum underutilization. Spectrum sensing plays a pivotal role in a cognitive radio system by detecting the vacant spectrum for establishing a communication link. For any spectrum sensing method, detection probability and error probability portray a significant part in quantifying the detection performance. At low SNR, it becomes cumbersome to differentiate noise and signal due to which sensing method loses robustness and reliability. In this paper, mathematical modeling and critical measurement of detection probabilities has been done for energy detection-based spectrum sensing at low SNR in uncertain noisy environment. A mathematical model has been proposed to compute double thresholds for reliable sensing when the observed energy is less than the uncertainty in the noise power. A novel parameter “Threshold Wall” has been formulated for optimum threshold selection to overcome sensing failure. Comparative simulation and analytical result measurements have been presented that reveals improved sensing performance.
A Modular Tide Level Prediction Method Based On NARX Neural Network
Authors: Wu Wenhao , LI Lianbo , YIN Jianchuan , LYU Wenyu , ZHANG Wenjun 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
This paper proposed a modular tide level prediction model based on nonlinear autoregressive exogenous model (NARX) neural network in order to improve the accuracy of tide prediction. The model divides tide data into two parts: the astronomical tide data affected by celestial tide generating force, and non-astronomical tide data affected by various environmental factors. NARX neural network and harmonic analysis are used to simulate and predict the non-astronomical and astronomical part of tide respectively, and then the final result is obtained by combining the two parts. In this paper, the tide data from Yorktown, USA, are used to simulate the prediction of tide level, and the results are compared with the traditional harmonic analysis (HA) method and Genetic Algorithm-Back Propagation (GA-BP) neural network. The results show that as a dynamic neural network, NARX neural network modular prediction model is more suitable for the analysis and prediction of time series data and has better stability and accuracy.
Is the suckling period and application pattern relevant for fluazuron efficacy against ticks in cows and their suckling calves?
Authors: Suárez Gonzalo , Robaina Diego , Muela Agustina , Tatiana Saporiti , Puigvert Florencia , Alvariza Silvana , Pareja Lucia 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Fluazuron is a chitin synthesis inhibitor administered as a pour-on formulation in cattle for tick control. This study analyzes under endemic tick infestation, the incidence of the pour-on application pattern on the plasma levels of fluazuron in cows and calves in the lactation period of the beef cow. Three hundred and thirteen beef cows around parturition were treated with commercial pour-on formulation of fluazuron at a rate of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight. A total of 4 treatments were carried out with a dosing period set in a range of 32 to 45 days. At each administration time, the cows were grouped according to the pour-on administration pattern: long (~60 cm pour-on application surface) and short (~30 cm pour-on application surface). Fluazuron levels in cattle and calves plasma were determined before the third and fourth application for each subgroup (n=10) by HPLC-MS/MS. During the entire study cow–calf pairs were maintained under field conditions and qualitatively examined for tick infestation on the day of each treatment. Both treatment (long and short) schemes were designed to prevent the annual persistence of ticks.Results: None of the groups presented ticks during the first 117 days of the study. There were no differences after 40 days post-treatment of the second application (30±5 ppb vs 28.5±12 ppb, P>0.05) and 45 days after the third application (147±55 ppb vs 140±46 ppb, P >0.05) between groups of cows treated with the long or short pour-on application, respectively. Plasma concentration of fluazuron at second and third application was increased (3.3 and 2.9 times, respectively) in calves under free suckling compared to cows. Nevertheless, both groups of cows (4.9 times) and calves (2.8 times) showed a significant increase in plasma concentration of fluazuron between times (P<0.05). In both groups, tick prevalence was 0% throughout the trial, except for day 77, which reached 1%.Conclusions: The main conclusions of this study were the following: 1) Different administration patterns (long vs short) did not differ in plasma levels of fluazuron.; 2) Given that only the cattle were treated, and lactating calves presented higher plasma levels of fluazuron than cows, passage through milk appears to be relevant and possibly due to a cumulative effect and continuos drug intake.
The Novel Role of Circular RNA ST3GAL6 on Blocking GC Malignant Behaviors Through Autophagy Regulated by the FOXP2/MET/Mtor Axis
Authors: Xu Penghui , Zhang Xing , Cao Jiacheng , Yang Jing , Chen Zetian , Wang Weizhi , Wang Sen , Zhang Lu , Xie Li , Fang Lang , Xia Yiwen , Xuan Zhe , Lv Jialun , Xu Zekuan 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Gastric cancer (GC) ranks third in motality among all cancers worldwide. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play essential roles in the malignant progression and metastasis of gastric cancer. As a transcription factor, FOXP2 is involved in the progression of many tumours. However, the regulation and association between circRNAs and FOXP2 remain to be discovered. In our study, CircST3GAL6 was significantly depressed in GC tissues and cells. circST3GAL6 overexpression inhibited the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of GC cells in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, circST3GAL6 overexpression induced apoptosis and promote autophagy in GC cells. Furthermore, we found that circST3GAL6 sponged miR-300 and subsequently regulated FOXP2. We further revealed that FOXP2 suppressed the activation of the Met/AKT/mTOR axis, a classic pathway that regulates autophagy-mediated proliferation and migration. In summary, our ﬁndings revealed that circST3GAL6 functions as a tumour suppressor through the miR-300/FOXP2 axis in GC, regulates apoptosis and autophagy through FOXP2-mediated transcriptional inhibition of the MET axis and may be a biomarker for GC treatment.
Non-Stem Bladder Cancer Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Promote Cancer Stem Cell Survival in Response to Chemotherapy&nbsp;
Authors: Chung Wei-Min , Molony Ryan D , Lee Yi-Fen 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Chemosenstive non-stem cancer cells (NSCCs) constitute the bulk of tumors and are considered as part of the cancer stem cell (CSC) niche in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate the communication between tumors and the TME. In this study, we sought to investigate the impacts of EVs released by NSCCs on the maintenance of CSC properties and chemoresistance. Methods: We employed murine MB49 bladder cancer (BC) sub-lines representing CSCs and NSCCs as a model system. Chemotherapy drugs were used to treat NSCCs in order to collect conditioned EVs. The impacts of NSCC-derived EVs on CSC progression were evaluated through sphere formation, cytotoxicity, migration, and invasion assays, and by analyzing surface marker expression on these BC cells. Differential proteomic analyses were conducted to identify cargo protein candidates involving in the EV-mediated communication between NSCCs and CSCs. Results: NSCC-derived EVs contained cargo proteins enriched in proteostasis-related functions, and significantly altered the development of CSCs such that they were more intrinsically chemoresistant, aggressive, and better able to undergo self-renewal. Conclusions: We thus identified a novel communication mechanism whereby NSCC-EVs can alter the relative fitness of CSCs to promote disease progression and the acquisition of chemoresistance.
Surface Charge Manipulation and Electrostatic Immobilization of Synaptosomes for Super-resolution Imaging: A Study on Tau Compartmentalization
Authors: Bhattacharya Ushashi , Jhou Jia-Fong , Zou Yi-Fong , Abrigo Gerald , Lin Shu-Wei , Chen Yun-Hsuan , Chien Fan-Ching , Tai Hwan-Ching 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Synaptosomes are subcellular fractions prepared from brain tissues that are enriched in synaptic terminals, widely used for the study of neural transmission and synaptic dysfunction. Immunofluorescence imaging is increasingly applied to synaptosomes to investigate protein localization. However, conventional methods for imaging synaptosomes over glass coverslips suffer from formaldehyde-induced aggregation. Here, we developed a simple and facile strategy to capture and image synaptosomes without aggregation artefacts. First, ethylene glycol bis(succinimidyl succinate) (EGS) is chosen as the chemical fixative to replace formaldehyde. EGS/glycine treatment makes the zeta potential of synaptosomes more negative. Second, we modified glass coverslips with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to impart positive charges. EGS-fixed synaptosomes spontaneously attach to modified glasses via electrostatic attraction while maintaining good dispersion. Individual synaptic terminals are imaged by conventional fluorescence microscopy or by super-resolution techniques such as direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM). We examined tau protein by two-color and three-color dSTORM to understand its spatial distribution within mouse cortical synapses, observing tau colocalization with synaptic vesicles as well postsynaptic densities.
Accurate detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 genomic and subgenomic mRNAs by ddPCR and meta-transcriptomics analysis
Authors: Oranger Annarita , Manzari Caterina , Chiara Matteo , Notario Elisabetta , Fosso Bruno , Parisi Antonio , Bianco Angelica , Iacobellis Michela , d'Avenia Morena , D'Erchia Anna Maria , Pesole Graziano 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 replication requires the synthesis of a set of structural proteins expressed through discontinuous transcription of ten subgenomic mRNAs (sgmRNAs). Here, we have fine-tuned a droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays to accurately detect and quantify SARS-CoV-2 genomic ORF1ab and sgmRNAs for the nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) proteins. We analyzed 166 RNAs from anonymized COVID-19 positive subjects and we found a recurrent and characteristic pattern of sgmRNAs expression in relation to the total viral RNA content. Further, we observed that expression profiles of sgmRNAs analyzed in a subset of 110 samples subjected to meta-transcriptomics sequencing were highly correlated with those obtained by ddPCR.
Our results, providing a comprehensive and dynamic snapshot of SARS-CoV-2 sgmRNAs expression and replication, may contribute to provide a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 transcription and expression mechanisms, and support the development of more accurate molecular diagnostic tools and for the stratification of COVID-19 patients.
Use of 18F-FDG PET/CT to differentiate ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting lung tumors from tumor-like pulmonary infections in patients with ectopic Cushing syndrome
Authors: Hou Guozhu , Jiang Yuanyuan , Li Fang , Cheng Xin 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting lung tumors represent the most common cause of ectopic Cushing syndrome (ECS). Pulmonary opportunistic infections are associated with ECS and occasionally difficult to differentiate from tumors by using computed tomography (CT) alone. The present study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/CT (18F-FDG PET/CT) for differentiating ectopic ACTH-secreting lung tumors from tumor-like pulmonary infections in patients with ECS.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the imaging data for 24 patients with ECS who were suspected to have ACTH-secreting lung tumors and underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT between 2008 and 2019. Part of the 24 patients underwent 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy and 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT.Results: In total, 18 patients had lung tumors and six had pulmonary infections. The primary source of ECS remained occult in the six patients with pulmonary infections. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) for pulmonary infections was significantly higher than that for tumors (P = 0.008). Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed, and it was found that a cut-off SUVmax of 4.95 helped in differentiating lung tumors from infections with 75% sensitivity and 94.4% specificity. In a subgroup analysis of 12 typical and five atypical carcinoids, there was no significant between-group difference with respect to SUVmax, the lesion size, the ACTH level, and the prevalence of regional lymph node metastasis. Four out of 6 patients with 5 infectious lesions and 16 out of 18 patients with 16 ACTH-secreting tumors underwent 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy, and 1/6 patients with 1 infectious lesion, and 6 out of 18 patients with 6 ACTH-secreting tumors underwent 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT. There is no significant difference in sensitivity between tumor lesions and infections using 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that pulmonary infections exhibit significantly higher FDG uptake than do well-differentiated ACTH-secreting lung tumors in 18F-FDG PET/CT. Therefore, SUVmax (cut-off 4.95) may be useful for differentiating the two conditions. However, 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC scintigraphy is of no value in distinguishing the focus of well-differentiated ACTH-secreting lung tumors from that of infection. Typical and atypical ACTH-secreting lung carcinoids may show similar clinical behavior and appearance on 18F-FDG PET/CT.
First microsatellite markers for the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) and their application in analysis of parentage and genetic diversity
Authors: Gwiazdowska Aleksandra , Karpińska Oliwia , Kamionka-Kanclerska Katarzyna , Rowiński Patryk , Panagiotopoulou Hanna , Pomorski Jan J. , Broughton Richard K. , Silva Luis F. P. da , Rutkowski Robert 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
The European Robin is a small passerine bird associated with woodlands of Eurasia and North Africa. Despite being relatively widespread and common, little is known of the species’ breeding biology and genetic diversity. We used Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to develop and characterize microsatellite markers for the European Robin, designing three multiplex panels to amplify 14 microsatellite loci. The level of polymorphism and its value for assessing parentage and genetic structure was estimated based on 119 individuals, including seven full families and 69 unrelated individuals form Poland’s Białowieża Primaeval Forest and an additional location in Portugal. All markers appeared to be highly variable. Analysis at the family level confirmed a Mendelian manner of inheritance in the investigated loci. Genetic data also revealed evidence for extra-pair paternity in one family. The set of markers that we developed are proven to be valuable for analysis of the breeding biology and population genetics of the European Robin.
Assessment of Safety Practice and Associated Factors Among Waste Handlers in Governmental Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Authors: Tekle Tesgera , Abegaz Teferi , Wondimagne Abigiya , Abdo Ziyad Ahmed 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Health facilities generate different types of wastes characterized as hazardous wastes and most of them are infectious, toxic, harmful and carcinogenic. Medical Waste handlers faced massive exposure to hazardous wastes and occupational accidents as a result of manual handling of waste and working under unfavorable conditions. This indicates that waste handlers are often at high risk occupational injuries. In Ethiopia there are limited studies and updated information concerning this issues and it is not well studied in our study settings. The aim of this study was to assess safety practices and associated factors among selected public hospital waste handler in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2019.Method: An institutional based cross- sectional study was used to conduct the study. All waste handlers of selected government hospital were included in the study. The data was collected via interview using structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multi variable logistic regressions were employed to identify the predictor variables. Statistical significance was considered at P <0.05 with adjusted odds ratio calculated at 95% CI. Result: The prevalence of current safety practice among public hospital waste handlers was found to be 44.1% (95% CI; 37.3-51.0). Respondents with good knowledge (AOR=4.7; 95% CI: 1.9, 11.5), having good supplies (AOR=6.78; 95% CI: 2.2, 20.7) had higher odds of adherence to safety practices compared to their counterparts.Conclusion: The study shows that the prevalence of safety practice is low. Knowledge of waste handles on safety measures and availability & accessibility of safety materials is the determinant factors for safety practice while handling waste. To sustain good safety practice adequate per-service and in-service training should be in place to increase their knowledge about safety precautions and availing safety materials for adherence to safety practice among hospital waste handlers.
Performance Modelling and Analysis of IoT based Edge computing policies
Authors: Shirke Archana , Chandane M. M. 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
In today’s era, the acceptance of IoT-based edge devices is growing exponentially, which creates challenges of data acquisition, processing, and communication. In the edge computing paradigm, intelligence is shifted from the center to the edge by performing specific processing and prediction locally. A strategy based on reducing communication resources between sensors and edge devices is the prime focus of this investigation. It uses a predictive model-based policy at edge devices for the reconstruction of not delivered context vector. A new hybrid Averaged Exponential Smoothening (AES) policy proposed is based on the current context vectors as well as a smoothing vector to reduce reconstruction error and improve the percentage of communication. It is observed that if we send data only when there is a marginal change in data then we can reduce communication overhead as well as keep reconstruction error low. This policy would be suitable for IoT-based edge computing applications for the smart city such as Smart Home, Healthcare, and Intelligent traffic to delivers the power of AI.
Computationally accelerated discovery of high entropy pyrochlore oxides
Authors: Pitike Krishna Chaitanya , Macias Antonio , Eisenbach Markus , Bridges Craig , Cooper Valentino 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
High entropy ceramics provide enhanced flexibility for tailoring a wide range of physical properties, emerging from the diverse chemical and configurational degrees of freedom. Expanding upon the endeavors of recently synthesized high entropy ceramics in rock salt, fluorite, spinel and perovskite structures, we explore the relative feasibility of formation of high entropy pyrochlore oxides, A2B2O7, with multi-cation occupancy of the B-site, estimated from first principles based thermodynamic descriptors. Subsequently, we used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the phase composition, oxygen vacancy concentration and local ionic segregation as a function of temperature and oxygen partial pressure. In parallel, we have investigated the synthesis of several multicomponent oxides with a pyrochlore composition, related to our computational investigations, resulting in several high purity pyrochlore oxides, in some cases with minor impurity phases. Ultimately, our approach allows us to evaluate potential impurity phases, ionic disorder and oxygen vacancy concentration in response to the experimental variables, thereby making realistic predictions that can direct and accelerate experimental synthesis of novel multicomponent ceramics.
3MCor: An Integrative Web Server for Metabolome-Microbiome-Metadata Correlation Analysis
Authors: Sun Tao , Li Mengci , Yu Xiangtian , Liang Dandan , Xie Guoxiang , Sang Chao , Jia Wei , Chen Tianlu 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: Mounting evidences have shown that microbiome and metabolome are closely linked to human health and dual-omics studies expanded our knowledge and understanding of health and life. Here, we designed and developed a full-function and easy-to-use platform, 3MCor (http://3mcor.cn/), for metabolome and microbiome correlation analysis under the instruction of phenotype and with the consideration of confounders.Results: Many traditional and newly reported correlation analysis methods were integrated for intra- and inter-correlation analysis. Three inter-correlation pipelines are provided for global, hierarchical, and pairwise analysis. Especially, the incorporated network analysis function is conducive to a rapid identification of network clusters and key nodes from a complicated correlation network. Complete numerical results (csv files) and rich figures (pdf files) will be generated in minutes. To our knowledge, 3MCor is the first platform developed specifically for the correlation analysis of metabolome and microbiome. Its functions were compared with corresponding modules of existing omics data analysis platforms. Results from 2 real-world data sets, one from a public library with a continuous phenotype and one from our lab with a categorical phenotype, were used to demonstrate its simple and flexible operation, comprehensive outputs, and distinctive contribution to dual-omics studies. Conclusions: 3MCor is powerful with complementary pipelines and comprehensive considerations of phenotypes, confounders, and the interactions among omics features. In addition to the web server, the backend R script is available at https://github.com/chentianlu/3MCorServer.
Efficacy of Titanium Brush, 915 nm Diode Laser, Citric Acid for Eradication of Staphylococcus Aureus from Implant Surfaces
Authors: Karimi Mohammad Reza , Farkhondemehr Behshad , Najafi Motahare Ghaeni , Etemadi Ardavan , Chiniforush Nasim 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of titanium brush, 915 nm diode laser, citric acid and the combination of latter two with titanium brush for decontamination of SLA surface mini-implants.Materials and Methods: Seventy-five mini-implants contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were randomly divided into five experimental groups (n=12) of titanium brush (TiB), laser, citric acid (CA), brush-laser, and brush-acid, positive [n=12; chlorhexidine mouthwash (CHX)] and negative [n=2; phosphate buffered saline (PBS)] control groups and one no-treatment group (n=1). After counting the colony forming units (CFUs), data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post-hoc tests.Results: Regardless of the no-treatment and negative control groups, maximum and minimum CFUs were noted in the titanium brush and positive control groups. After CHX, minimum CFUs were noted in brush-acid group followed by brush-laser, laser, and acid groups. Generally, the Kruskal-Walli test revealed a significant difference between the groups regarding the colony count (P<0.001). Dunn post-hoc test showed that the difference between the titanium brush and acid-brush group was significant (P<0.001) while the differences between the brush and laser groups with the brush-laser group were not significant (P>0.077).Conclusions: Maximum reduction in colony count was noted in the positive control group. Combination of titanium brush and laser was also effective for decreasing the colony count; however, combined use of titanium brush and citric acid yielded superior results compared to other groups.