bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fortune Telling, Estimating & Systems Engineering
Authors: Nolan Andy , Vlad Olimpia , Pickard Andrew C , Beasley Richard 
Published: August 2017

AbstractEstimating the cost of a system is an essential aspect of Systems Engineering. Both the recurring and non‐recurring costs will need to be understood before a business can make a commitment. Often systems will be constrained by affordability and when the system will be needed and such constraints will need to be understood by the Systems Engineer. There is little point developing a system that will take too long to build and would likely bankrupt the company or customer. So a Systems Engineer will also need to explore trade options to optimize the system for cost and schedule.Fortune tellers profess to know the future and assure business leaders that the system is a good idea and will be affordable. Evidence presented in this paper shows that fortune telling can be inaccurate and that unless robust estimation practices are applied, most systems will overshoot their budgets and deadlines. Often it is too late when a business finds out the true cost of the system they are committed to. A Systems Engineer must employ proven estimating practices if they are to avoid customer dissatisfaction and business lossesSuccess leaves clues and successful estimates are no accident. Success is defined here as an accurate estimate, one where the final system costs and schedules come in acceptably close to the estimate.When we asked Systems Engineers for their views on the factors that lead to an accurate estimate, we hear answers like; clear requirements, accurate historic data, and robust estimation techniques. But how important are these and is it possible to quantify their value, their contribution, towards a successful estimate?The authors developed a calibrated scoring mechanism to quantify the “maturity” of an estimate to help business leaders understand the “goodness” of an estimate before they make a commitment. The concept is called Estimate Readiness Level and is a score between 1 and 9 representing the maturity of the estimate. This paper summarizes how the authors calibrated the Estimate Readiness Level assessment so that business leaders can now predict the risk and uncertainty in an estimate before the project launches, and therefore be confident that the system being proposed is affordable and that the business case can be believed.
Integration and Framing between System Engineering, Enterprise Engineering and Whole of Society
Authors: Erasmus Louwrence , Greeff Braam 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThis paper proposes the integration between the domains of product development, systems engineering, enterprise engineering & architecture and the whole of society. The effort addresses the following systems engineering imperatives as per INCOSE Vision 2025: “Expanding the application of systems engineering across industry domains, applying systems engineering to help shape policy related to social and natural systems, expanding the theoretical foundation for systems engineering, advancing the tools and methods to address complexity.” Formal theoretical structures in the form of mathematical predicates are used from the structuralist programme in the philosophy of science to frame the integration. The formal structures make future simulations of the identified integration possible.
Systematic Capacity‐Based Risk Assessment: Application to Water Service Project in Kassala, Sudan
Authors: Magpili Luna , Pinto C. Ariel , Bharathy Gnana , Babiker Mohammed 
Published: August 2017

AbstractInhabitants of sub‐Saharan Africa suffer disproportionately from lack of access to improved drinking water sources than the rest of the world. Previous studies have established capacity‐related success factors (or enablers) of infrastructure development projects, including drinking water supply. However, these enablers when not well established can also be indicators of risks to the sustainability and overall success of such water projects. The riskiness for success of a water project in Kassala, Sudan was assessed using the eight enablers, resulting in explicit documentation of capacity deficiencies, which may be considered as risk factors for the sustainability, and ultimately, the overall success of the water project. These capacity deficiencies may also serve as risk checklist for project managers and systems engineers involved in projects in similar environments.
MicroRNA‐142‐5p induces cancer stem cell‐like properties of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma via inhibiting PTEN
Authors: Bai Xinping , Zhou Yu , Chen Ping , Yang Ming , Xu Jiang 
Published: August 2017

AbstractCutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a malignancy of keratinocyte‐derived skin tumor, which is regarded as the second most common skin cancer worldwide. Accumulating evidence has established that microRNAs (miRNAs) can play a critical role in tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis including cSCC. Abnormal expression of hsa‐miR‐142‐5p has been elaborated in various tumors. Nevertheless, its expression and function in the development of cSCC remain unclear. In our study, we found that the expression of hsa‐miR‐142‐5p in cSCC cells were greatly overexpressed compared to human benign epidermal keratinocyte cells. Moreover, inhibited hsa‐miR‐142‐5p can repress cSCC cell growth and induce apoptosis while upregulated hsa‐miR‐142‐5p exhibited a reverse phenomenon. Recently, cancer stem cells (CSCs) which possess the ability of self‐renewal and proliferation and are able to produce cancer cells have been widely reported. However, the correlation between hsa‐miR‐142‐5p and CSCs in cSCC is still unknown. Interestingly, we observed that overexpressing hsa‐miR‐142‐5p can induce CSC‐like properties in cSCC via activating Wnt signaling. In addition, the luciferase reporter assay data and bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that hsa‐miR‐142‐5p can target the 3′UTR of PTEN mRNA. Taken these together, we draw a conclusion that hsa‐miR‐142‐5p can trigger cancer stem cell‐like properties of cSCC through inhibition of PTEN. Our findings may provide hsa‐miR‐142‐5p as a new therapeutic target for cSCC.
Silencing of SOCS‐1 and SOCS‐3 suppresses renal interstitial fibrosis by alleviating renal tubular damage in a rat model of hydronephrosis
Authors: Zheng Gui‐Hong , Wang Yong‐Jian , Wen Xin , Han Xin‐Rui , Shen Min , Wang Shan , Zhuang Juan , Zhang Zi‐Feng , Wang Liang , Hu Bin , Sun Chun‐Hui , Mao Xiao‐Yun , Yi Lan‐Ni , Wu Dong‐Mei , Lu Jun , Zheng Yuan‐Lin 
Published: August 2017

AbstractOur study was performed to elucidate how SOCS‐1/3 silencing suppresses renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) by alleviating renal tubular damage in rat models affected by hydronephrosis. Male Wistar rats were randomly selected to establish hydronephrosis rat model, after which all rats were classified into normal, model, negative control (NC), siRNA‐SOCS‐1, siRNA‐SOCS‐3, and siRNA‐SOCS‐1 + siRNA‐SOCS‐3 groups. The levels of urine protein, serum creatinine (Scr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected. ELISA was performed to determine levels of cystatin (CysC), β2‐microglobulin (β2‐MG), interleukin (IL)‐6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α. RT‐qPCR and Western blotting were used for mRNA and protein expressions of SOCS‐1, SOCS‐3, α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), and transforming Growth Factor (TGF)‐β1. Compared with the normal group, the levels of Scr, BUN, urine protein, NAG, CysC, β2‐MG, IL‐6, and TNF‐α were increased in other groups, as well as elevated mRNA and protein expressions of SOCS‐1, SOCS‐3, α‐SMA, and TGF‐β1. The siRNA‐SOCS‐1, siRNA‐SOCS‐3, and siRNA‐SOCS‐1 + siRNA‐SOCS‐3 groups were found with decreased levels of Scr, BUN, urine protein, NAG, CysC, β2‐MG, IL‐6, and TNF‐α, as well as mRNA and protein expressions of SOCS‐1, SOCS‐3, α‐SMA, and TGF‐β1, including positive rates of SOCS‐1 and SOCS‐3 proteins in comparison with the model and NC groups. In comparison with the siRNA‐SOCS‐1 and siRNA‐SOCS‐3 groups, the siRNA‐SOCS‐1 + siRNA‐SOCS‐3 group exhibited decreased levels of Scr, BUN, urine protein, NAG, CysC, β2‐MG, IL‐6, and TNF‐α. Our study demonstrated that silencing of SOCS‐1/3 may suppress RIF by alleviating the renal tubular damage in rat models affected by hydronephrosis.
Sleep deprivation induces pathological changes in rat masticatory muscles: Role of Toll like signaling pathway and atrophy
Authors: Yujra Veronica Q. , Antunes Hanna K. M. , Mônico‐Neto Marcos , Pisani Luciana P. , Santamarina Aline B. , Quintana Hananiah T. , de Oliveira Flavia , Oshima Celina T. F. , Ribeiro Daniel A. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the Toll like signaling pathway and atrophy after sleep deprivation (SD) in rat masticatory muscles: masseter and temporal. A total of 24 animals was distributed into three groups: Control group (CTL, n = 8), subjected to SD for 96 h (SD96, n = 8) and subjected to SD for 96 h more 96 h of sleep recovery (SD96 + R, n = 8). Histopathological analysis revealed the presence of acute inflammatory cells, congested vessels, fibrosis, and high cellularity in the skeletal muscle fibers from masseter and temporal submitted to SD. These morphological alterations were not observed in the control group since neither inflammatory cells nor congested vessels were observed to this group. In the group SD96 + R, the absence of inflammation was noticed to the masseter only. In this group, COX‐2 and TNF‐alpha downregulation were detected when comparing to control group. MyD88 and pIKK decreased in SD96 and SD96 + R groups being pNFKBp50 downregulatated in SD96 + R. MyD88 expression increased in rats submitted to SD96 and SD96 + R in temporal when compared to control group. On the other hand, pIKK decreased the protein expression in groups SD96 and SD96 + R while pNFKBp50 showed a decreased protein expression in group SD96 only. The activation of atrophy by means of MAFbx upregulation was detected in temporal muscle in SD96 and SD96 + R when compared to control. In summary, our results show that SD is able to induce morphological alterations in rat masticatory muscles. Toll like signaling pathway and atrophy play important roles in ethiopathogenesis induced by SD, being dependent of skeletal muscle type.
Effect of Combination Therapy of Ezetimibe and Atorvastatin on Remnant Lipoprotein Versus Double Atorvastatin Dose in Egyptian Diabetic Patients
Authors: El‐Tamalawy Mona Mohammed , Ibrahim Osama Mohamed , Hassan Timour Mostafa , El‐Barbari Ali Ali 
Published: August 2017

AbstractA high level of remnant lipoprotein cholesterol (RLP‐C) is a predominant feature in diabetic patients with atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ezetimibe added to statin therapy compared to doubling standard statin dose. Sixty‐five eligible patients were recruited then prospectively randomized to receive ezetimibe 10 mg/day plus their 40 mg daily atorvastatin dose (group 1) or atorvastatin 80 mg/day (group 2) for 3 months. Efficacy was evaluated using plasma levels of RLP‐C, apolipoprotein B, non–high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (non‐HDL), percentage of brachial artery flow‐mediated dilation, and lipid profile. Forty patients completed the study and provided efficacy data. Group 1 showed more reduction in RLP‐C (45.7% vs 31.7%, P = .02), apolipoprotein B (28.5% vs 9.5%, P = .01), total cholesterol (34.7% vs 24.6%, P = .003), triglycerides (49% vs 24.4%, P = .000), non‐HDL (49.3% vs 33%, P = .002), and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (49.6% vs 35.2%, P = .02) compared to group 2. Group 1 showed a greater increase in HDL (66% vs 35%, P = .002); and flow‐mediated dilation (30% vs 17%, P = .01) compared to group 2. It is concluded that adding ezetimibe 10 mg to atorvastatin 40 mg may be a better choice than doubling atorvastatin dose in improving RLPs, endothelial function, and lipid profile in diabetic cardiovascular patients who could not achieve their therapeutic treatment goals with the standard atorvastatin dose.
Effect of different implant abutment surfaces on OBA‐09 epithelial cell adhesion
Authors: Rigolin Maria Sílvia M. , de Avila Erica Dorigatti , Basso Fernanda G. , Hebling Josimeri , de S. Costa Carlos Alberto , Mollo Junior Francisco de Assis 
Published: August 2017

AbstractFor the long‐term success of implants, it is necessary to achieve a direct contact between the implant and the subjacent bone. To avoid bacterial penetration that could adversely affect the initial wound healing as well as the long‐term behavior of the implants, an early tissue barrier must form that is able to protect the biological peri‐implant structures. Given the need of an effective tissue early barrier around dental implants, the present study evaluated, in vitro, the influence of physical and chemical characteristics of two implant abutment surfaces on gingival epithelial cells (OBA‐9) adhesion. To this end, titanium (Ti) and zirconia (ZrO2) disk‐shaped specimens were used mimicking the abutment components surfaces, while bovine enamel (BE) and glass cover slips (GCS) disks served as positive and negative controls, respectively. Roughness and surface free energy (SFE) of all materials were evaluated previously to cellular adhesion step. In sequence, the effect of each material on cells morphology and viability was analyzed after 1 and 24 hr. The results showed that roughness and SFE had no effect on the cell viability data or on their interaction (p = .559), independent of a post‐contact analysis of 1 or 24 hr. However, cells attachment and spreading increased after 24 hr on Ti and ZrO2 than BE, corresponding to the highest SFE values. SFE appears to be an important property interfering on the quality of the soft tissue surrounding dental implants. These data can be considered a trigger point for developing new material surfaces.
The Impact of Fiscal Consolidation on Human Development
Authors: Agnello Luca , Castro Vitor , Jalles João Tovar , Sousa Ricardo M. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractWe find that fiscal austerity is associated with a reduction of human development standards, with the negative effect being particularly severe in the case of spending‐driven consolidation episodes. Fiscal adjustments are especially damaging for human development in developing countries (namely, African and Latin American countries). Additionally, the empirical evidence shows that (i) government stability is a crucial institutional determinant of human development, and (ii) while investment in physical capital can boost human development, government consumption and inflation are detrimental to it. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A piecewise spectral method for solving the chaotic control problems of hyperchaotic finance system
Authors: Karimi Mohammad , Saberi Nik Hassan 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThis work presents an accurate algorithm for solving the chaotic control (optimal and adaptive control) problems of hyperchaotic finance system. A modification of the spectral homotopy analysis method technique is proposed for solving the hyperchaotic finance system and the extreme conditions obtained from the Pontryagin minimum principle. The proposed method is based on implementing the spectral homotopy analysis method on a sequence of multiple intervals thereby increasing its radius of convergence to yield highly accurate method that is referred to as the piecewise spectral homotopy analysis method. Finally, piecewise spectral homotopy analysis method is used to solve the problem of Lyapunov stabilization of the hyperchaotic finance system. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate and verify effectiveness of the proposed strategy.
Modeling of the hERG K+ Channel Blockage Using Online Chemical Database and Modeling Environment (OCHEM)
Authors: Li Xiao , Zhang Yuan , Li Huanhuan , Zhao Yong 
Published: August 2017

AbstractHuman ether‐a‐go‐go related gene (hERG) K+ channel plays an important role in cardiac action potential. Blockage of hERG channel may result in long QT syndrome (LQTS), even cause sudden cardiac death. Many drugs have been withdrawn from the market because of the serious hERG‐related cardiotoxicity. Therefore, it is quite essential to estimate the chemical blockage of hERG in the early stage of drug discovery. In this study, a diverse set of 3721 compounds with hERG inhibition data was assembled from literature. Then, we make full use of the Online Chemical Modeling Environment (OCHEM), which supplies rich machine learning methods and descriptor sets, to build a series of classification models for hERG blockage. We also generated two consensus models based on the top‐performing individual models. The consensus models performed much better than the individual models both on 5‐fold cross validation and external validation. Especially, consensus model II yielded the prediction accuracy of 89.5 % and MCC of 0.670 on external validation. This result indicated that the predictive power of consensus model II should be stronger than most of the previously reported models. The 17 top‐performing individual models and the consensus models and the data sets used for model development are available at https://ochem.eu/article/103592.
Novel Method Proposing Chemical Structures with Desirable Profile of Activities Based on Chemical and Protein Spaces
Authors: Maeda Iwao , Hasegawa Kiyoshi , Kaneko Hiromasa , Funatsu Kimito 
Published: August 2017

AbstractActive molecules among numerous chemical structures in a chemical database can be searched easily by statistical prediction of compound–protein interactions. However, constructing a simple prediction model against one protein does not aid drug design, because detecting chemical structures that act similarly against multiple proteins is necessary for preventing side effects of the potential drug. To tackle this problem, we propose a new method that visualizes chemical and protein spaces.For simultaneous visualization of both spaces, we employ a counterpropagation neural network (CPNN) and develop a new visualization method named multi‐input CPNN (MICPNN). In a case study of the kinase protein family, the MICPNN model predicted accurately the complex relationships between compounds and proteins. The proposed method identified chemical structures with promising activity against kinases. Our proposed method is also applicable to other protein families, such as G‐protein coupled receptors, ion channels and transporters.
Local incompressible registration for liver ablation surgery assessment
Authors: Fu Tianyu , Li Qin , Liu Dingkun , Ai Danni , Song Hong , Liang Ping , Wang Yongtian , Yang Jian 
Published: August 2017

PurposeIn liver microwave ablation (MWA) surgery, the ablation area covers the tumor to generate tissue necrosis and treat the cancer. As the liver deforms during the operation, deviation between the target area determined during preoperative planning and the resultant ablation area is inevitable. Therefore, an accurate assessment of tumor coverage is crucial for treatment. Through registration between the pre‐ and postoperative livers, the ablation area is warped on the preoperative liver for the computation of tumor coverage. However, large deformations between the pre‐ and postoperative livers are caused by multiple factors, and these diverse deformations make registration a challenging task. The purpose of this paper was to develop an automatic method that can accurately register post‐ to preoperative livers.MethodsIn the proposed method, nonrigid deformations caused by respiratory movement and edema are separately considered and estimated by the local incompressible model in the registration of livers. The pre‐ and postoperative livers are first aligned by a rigid registration based on a convex hull. In the nonrigid registrations, local incompressible constraints are then set on the liver and the ablation area to estimate the deformations caused by respiratory movement and edema, respectively. The concatenation of the rigid and nonrigid deformations is used to warp the ablation area on the preoperative liver.ResultsThe proposed method was evaluated using clinical CT datasets from 20 patients. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) between the preoperative and warped postoperative livers is 94.35%, the mean surface distance (MSD) between the livers is 1.65 mm, the mean Hausdorff distance (HDD) between the livers is 3.36 mm, and the mean corresponding distance (MCD) between the corresponding landmarks is 1.70 mm. Compared with five other state‐of‐the‐art methods, the proposed method achieves automatic ablation assessment with highly accurate registration.ConclusionsThe proposed method achieves a high accuracy for registering the livers. The sizes and positions of the ablation area and tumor are accurately compared for the assessment of ablation surgery.
Feasibility of quantitative regional ventilation and perfusion mapping with phase‐resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in healthy volunteers and COPD, CTEPH, and CF patients
Authors: Voskrebenzev Andreas , Gutberlet Marcel , Klimeš Filip , Kaireit Till F. , Schönfeld Christian , Rotärmel Alexander , Wacker Frank , Vogel‐Claussen Jens 
Published: August 2017

PurposeIn this feasibility study, a phase‐resolved functional lung imaging postprocessing method for extraction of dynamic perfusion (Q) and ventilation (V) parameters using a conventional 1H lung MRI Fourier decomposition acquisition is introduced.MethodsTime series of coronal gradient‐echo MR images with a temporal resolution of 288 to 324 ms of two healthy volunteers, one patient with chronic thromboembolic hypertension, one patient with cystic fibrosis, and one patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were acquired at 1.5 T. Using a sine model to estimate cardiac and respiratory phases of each image, all images were sorted to reconstruct full cardiac and respiratory cycles. Time to peak (TTP), V/Q maps, and fractional ventilation flow‐volume loops were calculated.ResultsFor the volunteers, homogenous ventilation and perfusion TTP maps (V‐TTP, Q‐TTP) were obtained. The chronic thromboembolic hypertension patient showed increased perfusion TTP in hypoperfused regions in visual agreement with dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI, which improved postpulmonary endaterectomy surgery. Cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients showed a pattern of increased V‐TTP and Q‐TTP in regions of hypoventilation and decreased perfusion. Fractional ventilation flow‐volume loops of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient were smaller in comparison with the healthy volunteer, and showed regional differences in visual agreement with functional small airways disease and emphysema on CT.ConclusionsThis study shows the feasibility of phase‐resolved functional lung imaging to gain quantitative information regarding regional lung perfusion and ventilation without the need for ultrafast imaging, which will be advantageous for future clinical translation. Magn Reson Med 79:2306–2314, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.