Automated rolling shutter calibration with an LED panel.

Cameras with rolling shutters (RSs) dominate consumer markets but are subject to distortions when capturing motion. Many methods have been proposed to mitigate RS distortions for applications such as vision-aided odometry and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. They usually need known line delay d between successive image rows. To calibrate d, several methods have been proposed that often involve complex procedures. This Letter proposes an easy RS calibration method by using an off-the-shelf light-emitting diode (LED) panel, using the fact that the RS causes the blinking LED columns to appear slanted in images by a static camera. The calibration starts with extracting the LED lights and then rectifies the images to remove the lens distortion and misalignment between the camera and the LED panel. Next, blocks of slanted bright LEDs are recognized and their inclination leads to the line delay estimate. Our method needs not to move the camera, adjust the ambient light, or calibrate camera intrinsic parameters beforehand, and it can usually estimate the line delay given two LED panel images in one second. Extensive tests with industrial cameras and consumer cameras of wide-angle and fish-eye lenses validate its competitive accuracy relative to the established methods.

PGT for structural chromosomal rearrangements in 300 couples reveals specific risk factors but an interchromosomal effect is unlikely.

RESEARCH QUESTION: What factors affect the proportion of chromosomally balanced embryos in structural rearrangement carriers? Is there any evidence for an interchromosomal effect (ICE)? DESIGN: Preimplantation genetic testing outcomes of 300 couples (198 reciprocal, 60 Robertsonian, 31 inversion and 11 complex structural rearrangement carriers) were assessed retrospectively. Blastocysts were analysed either by array-comparative genomic hybridization or next-generation sequencing techniques. ICE was investigated using a matched control group and sophisticated statistical measurement of effect size (φ). RESULTS: 300 couples underwent 443 cycles; 1835 embryos were analysed and 23.8% were diagnosed as both normal/balanced and euploid. The overall cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were 69.5% and 55.8%, respectively. Complex translocations and female age (≥35) were found to be risk factors associated with lower chance of having a transferable embryo (P < 0.001). Based on analysis of 5237 embryos, the cumulative de-novo aneuploidy rate was lower in carriers compared to controls (45.6% versus 53.4%, P < 0.001) but this was a 'negligible' association (φ < 0.1). A further assessment of 117,033 chromosomal pairs revealed a higher individual chromosome error rate in embryos of carriers compared to controls (5.3% versus 4.9%), which was also a 'negligible' association (φ < 0.1), despite a P-value of 0.007. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that rearrangement type, female age and sex of the carrier have significant impacts on the proportion of transferable embryos. Careful examination of structural rearrangement carriers and controls indicated little or no evidence for an ICE. This study helps to provide a statistical model for investigating ICE and an improved personalized reproductive genetics assessment for structural rearrangement carriers.

Subgraph Learning for Topological Geolocalization with Graph Neural Networks.

One of the challenges of spatial cognition, such as self-localization and navigation, is to develop an efficient learning approach capable of mimicking human ability. This paper proposes a novel approach for topological geolocalization on the map using motion trajectory and graph neural networks. Specifically, our learning method learns an embedding of the motion trajectory encoded as a path subgraph where the node and edge represent turning direction and relative distance information by training a graph neural network. We formulate the subgraph learning as a multi-class classification problem in which the output node IDs are interpreted as the object's location on the map. After training using three map datasets with small, medium, and large sizes, the node localization tests on simulated trajectories generated from the map show 93.61%, 95.33%, and 87.50% accuracy, respectively. We also demonstrate similar accuracy for our approach on actual trajectories generated by visual-inertial odometry. The key benefits of our approach are as follows: (1) we take advantage of the powerful graph-modeling ability of neural graph networks, (2) it only requires a map in the form of a 2D graph, and (3) it only requires an affordable sensor that generates relative motion trajectory.

Unraveling the KNOTTED1 regulatory network in maize meristems.

KNOTTED1 (KN1)-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factors function in plant meristems, self-renewing structures consisting of stem cells and their immediate daughters. We defined the KN1 cistrome in maize inflorescences and found that KN1 binds to several thousand loci, including 643 genes that are modulated in one or multiple tissues. These KN1 direct targets are strongly enriched for transcription factors (including other homeobox genes) and genes participating in hormonal pathways, most significantly auxin, demonstrating that KN1 plays a key role in orchestrating the upper levels of a hierarchical gene regulatory network that impacts plant meristem identity and function.

Simultaneous determination of drug active compound, hormones, pesticides, and endocrine disruptor compounds in wastewater samples by GC-MS with direct calibration and matrix matching strategies after preconcentration with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction.

DLLME was coupled with GC-MS for the simultaneous determination of a drug active compound, hormones, pesticides, and endocrine disruptor compounds with high accuracy and reproducibility in this study. Extraction parameters that affect extraction output including types and volumes of dispersive and extraction solvents, and effect of salt addition were optimized to lower the detection limits for 12 compounds. Under the optimum conditions, LOD and LOQ values were found between 1.99-5.05 and 6.63-16.87 ng/mL, respectively. Spiked recovery tests were also applied to wastewater samples to check the applicability of the method. Matrix matching strategy was used to improve the overall recovery results of the analytes obtained for municipal wastewater. Two different municipal wastewater samples were used in the matrix matching studies. Percent recovery values calculated with the matrix matching experiments were between 85-114%. The results obtained indicated that the developed method could be applied for the determination of the analytes of interest with high accuracy and sensitivity.

Molecular basis for the action of a dietary flavonoid revealed by the comprehensive identification of apigenin human targets.

Flavonoids constitute the largest class of dietary phytochemicals, adding essential health value to our diet, and are emerging as key nutraceuticals. Cellular targets for dietary phytochemicals remain largely unknown, posing significant challenges for the regulation of dietary supplements and the understanding of how nutraceuticals provide health value. Here, we describe the identification of human cellular targets of apigenin, a flavonoid abundantly present in fruits and vegetables, using an innovative high-throughput approach that combines phage display with second generation sequencing. The 160 identified high-confidence candidate apigenin targets are significantly enriched in three main functional categories: GTPase activation, membrane transport, and mRNA metabolism/alternative splicing. This last category includes the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2 (hnRNPA2), a factor involved in splicing regulation, mRNA stability, and mRNA transport. Apigenin binds to the C-terminal glycine-rich domain of hnRNPA2, preventing hnRNPA2 from forming homodimers, and therefore, it perturbs the alternative splicing of several human hnRNPA2 targets. Our results provide a framework to understand how dietary phytochemicals exert their actions by binding to many functionally diverse cellular targets. In turn, some of them may modulate the activity of a large number of downstream genes, which is exemplified here by the effects of apigenin on the alternative splicing activity of hnRNPA2. Hence, in contrast to small-molecule pharmaceuticals designed for defined target specificity, dietary phytochemicals affect a large number of cellular targets with varied affinities that, combined, result in their recognized health benefits.

Effects of suckling duration on growth, slaughtering and carcass quality characteristics of Kivircik lambs.

Effects of suckling length (45, 75 and 120 days) and birth type (single and twin) on lamb growth, slaughtering and carcass quality characteristics were investigated using 40 Kivircik lambs. SC-45 and SC-75 lambs were weaned at 45 and 75 days of age, respectively, whilst SC-120 lambs remained with their mothers until the end of the experimental period. Lambs from all studied groups were slaughtered at 120 days of age. Weaning treatment caused a decrease in average daily gain in SC-45 and SC-75 lambs, and therefore, final weight was higher in SC-120 lambs than lambs from weaned groups. SC-120 lambs had higher empty body weight, cold carcass weight, dressing percentage, carcass measurements, carcass fatness (proportions of the kidney knob and channel fat, subcutaneous and intramuscular fat in pelvic limb) and non-carcass fatness (omental and mesenteric fat proportion) than weaned lambs. As a conclusion, the potential losses in meat production due to weaning should be considered before deciding the weaning of lambs at early ages.

A genome-wide regulatory framework identifies maize pericarp color1 controlled genes.

Pericarp Color1 (P1) encodes an R2R3-MYB transcription factor responsible for the accumulation of insecticidal flavones in maize (Zea mays) silks and red phlobaphene pigments in pericarps and other floral tissues, which makes P1 an important visual marker. Using genome-wide expression analyses (RNA sequencing) in pericarps and silks of plants with contrasting P1 alleles combined with chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing, we show here that the regulatory functions of P1 are much broader than the activation of genes corresponding to enzymes in a branch of flavonoid biosynthesis. P1 modulates the expression of several thousand genes, and ∼1500 of them were identified as putative direct targets of P1. Among them, we identified F2H1, corresponding to a P450 enzyme that converts naringenin into 2-hydroxynaringenin, a key branch point in the P1-controlled pathway and the first step in the formation of insecticidal C-glycosyl flavones. Unexpectedly, the binding of P1 to gene regulatory regions can result in both gene activation and repression. Our results indicate that P1 is the major regulator for a set of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and a minor modulator of the expression of a much larger gene set that includes genes involved in primary metabolism and production of other specialized compounds.

Thriving under stress: selective translation of HIV-1 structural protein mRNA during Vpr-mediated impairment of eIF4E translation activity.

Translation is a regulated process and is pivotal to proper cell growth and homeostasis. All retroviruses rely on the host translational machinery for viral protein synthesis and thus may be susceptible to its perturbation in response to stress, co-infection, and/or cell cycle arrest. HIV-1 infection arrests the cell cycle in the G2/M phase, potentially disrupting the regulation of host cell translation. In this study, we present evidence that HIV-1 infection downregulates translation in lymphocytes, attributable to the cell cycle arrest induced by the HIV-1 accessory protein Vpr. The molecular basis of the translation suppression is reduced accumulation of the active form of the translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). However, synthesis of viral structural proteins is sustained despite the general suppression of protein production. HIV-1 mRNA translation is sustained due to the distinct composition of the HIV-1 ribonucleoprotein complexes. RNA-coimmunoprecipitation assays determined that the HIV-1 unspliced and singly spliced transcripts are predominantly associated with nuclear cap binding protein 80 (CBP80) in contrast to completely-spliced viral and cellular mRNAs that are associated with eIF4E. The active translation of the nuclear cap binding complex (CBC)-bound viral mRNAs is demonstrated by ribosomal RNA profile analyses. Thus, our findings have uncovered that the maintenance of CBC association is a novel mechanism used by HIV-1 to bypass downregulation of eIF4E activity and sustain viral protein synthesis. We speculate that a subset of CBP80-bound cellular mRNAs contribute to recovery from significant cellular stress, including human retrovirus infection.

Decoding dynamic miRNA:ceRNA interactions unveils therapeutic insights and targets across predominant cancer landscapes.

Competing endogenous RNAs play key roles in cellular molecular mechanisms through cross-talk in post-transcriptional interactions. Studies on ceRNA cross-talk, which is particularly dependent on the abundance of free transcripts, generally involve large- and small-scale studies involving the integration of transcriptomic data from tissues and correlation analyses. This abundance-dependent nature of ceRNA interactions suggests that tissue- and condition-specific ceRNA dynamics may fluctuate. However, there are no comprehensive studies investigating the ceRNA interactions in normal tissue, ceRNAs that are lost and/or appear in cancerous tissues or their interactions. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the tumor-specific ceRNA fluctuations observed in the three highest-incidence cancers, LUAD, PRAD, and BRCA, compared to healthy lung, prostate, and breast tissues, respectively. Our observations pertaining to tumor-specific competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) interactions revealed that, in the cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), and breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA), 3,204, 1,233, and 406 ceRNAs, respectively, engage in post-transcriptional intercommunication within tumor tissues, in contrast to their absence in corresponding healthy samples. We also found that 90 ceRNAs are shared by the three cancer types and that these ceRNAs participate in ceRNA interactions in tumor tissues compared to those in normal tissues. Among the 90 ceRNAs that directly interact with miRNAs, we uncovered a core network of 165 miRNAs and 63 ceRNAs that should be considered in RNA-targeted and RNA-mediated approaches in future studies and could be used in these three aggressive cancer types. More specifically, in this core interaction network, ceRNAs such as GALNT7, KLF9, and DAB2 and miRNAs like miR-106a/b-5p, miR-20a-5p, and miR-519d-3p may have potential as common targets in the three critical cancers. In contrast to conventional methods that construct ceRNA networks using differentially expressed genes compared to normal tissues, our proposed approach identifies ceRNA players by considering their context within the ceRNA:miRNA interactions. Our results have the potential to reveal distinct and common ceRNA interactions in cancer types and to pinpoint critical RNAs, thereby paving the way for RNA-based strategies in the battle against cancer.

Carcass characteristics and meat quality of goat kids according to the Colomer - Rocher carcass fatness and conformation classes.

Classifying kid carcasses according to their fatness and conformation scores guides producers toward higher quality and income-generating production methods and determines the ideal slaughter time. This study aimed to determine the effects of Colomer-Rocher fatness and conformation classes on carcass and meat quality characteristics in goat kids. A total of 102 male kid carcasses were used in the study. Carcasses were divided into fatness (1-, 1, 1+, 2-) and conformation (P-, P, P+; O-) classes according to the Colomer-Rocher classification, and these groups were accepted as the experimental group. Hierarchical clustering analysis divided the kid carcasses into 5 clusters using certain carcass characteristics. Differences between clusters in most of the carcass characteristics were significant. The difference between the cluster groups in terms of meat colour and sensory characteristics was also significant. Fatness and conformation classes significantly affected most characteristics except kidney knob and channel fat (KKCF) percentages and carcass joints percentages. The Colomer-Rocher conformation classification was found to be more discriminatory in terms of meat quality than the fatness classification.

AGRIS: the Arabidopsis Gene Regulatory Information Server, an update.

The Arabidopsis Gene Regulatory Information Server (AGRIS; http://arabidopsis.med.ohio-state.edu/) provides a comprehensive resource for gene regulatory studies in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Three interlinked databases, AtTFDB, AtcisDB and AtRegNet, furnish comprehensive and updated information on transcription factors (TFs), predicted and experimentally verified cis-regulatory elements (CREs) and their interactions, respectively. In addition to significant contributions in the identification of the entire set of TF-DNA interactions, which are the key to understand the gene regulatory networks that govern Arabidopsis gene expression, tools recently incorporated into AGRIS include the complete set of words length 5-15 present in the Arabidopsis genome and the integration of AtRegNet with visualization tools, such as the recently developed ReIN application. All the information in AGRIS is publicly available and downloadable upon registration.

Evaluation of retina and choroid perfusion with optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE: In this study, we aimed to evaluate macular perfusion with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and to investigate the correlation between OCTA quantitative data and visual acuity (VA) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). METHODS: This retrospective single-center study was conducted on 60 eyes of 30 RP patients and 52 healthy eyes. The vessel density (VD) of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) of the macula, the size of foveal avascular zone (FAZ), choriocapillary flow density (FD) were measured using OCTA. Quantitative data obtained with OCTA were compared between the two groups. In addition, the correlation between the OCTA measurements and VA was examined. RESULTS: In patients with RP, the choriocapillary FD was decreased (p = 0.001), the FAZ area was enlarged (p = 0.010), and the VDs of the SCP and DCP were decreased in all areas (p = 0.001). Correlation was found between VA and SCP VD, whole image (p = 0.011, rho = -0.327) and parafoveal (p = 0.001, rho = -0.444) areas. CONCLUSION: Quantitative data from OCTA showed reduced macular perfusion in patients with RP compared to healthy controls. There was also a correlation between the quantitative OCTA data and VA.

Biofabrication of Acer palmatum-Mediated Multifunctional CuO Nanoparticles for Dye Removal, Antibacterial-Antifungal Activity, and Molecular Docking.

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) are used in many fields from electronics to medicine due to their multifunctionality, and therefore, their production with environmentally friendly methods is a current issue. In this study, biofabricated CuONPs were obtained by using the leaf extract of Acer palmatum plant originating from the Far East to enlighten the characteristics of the novel nanoparticles differentiating from those existing in the literature. Multifunctional nature of the CuONPs was evaluated by the antibacterial, antifungal, and decolorative applications and also by performing molecular docking analysis. The fabricated CuONPs were characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The absorbance seen at 270 nm in the SPR band obtained by UV-vis spectroscopy proved the presence of CuONPs, while the 602, 560, and 540 cm-1 vibrations obtained in the FT-IR spectroscopy indicated the same result. SEM images proved that the nanoparticles were in spherical form with sizes ranging from 140 to 225 nm. The result of DLS analysis showed that the average particle size was 229 nm in diameter, and CuONPs had monodisperse systems (polydispersity index, 0.184). The dye removal potency of CuONPs was also investigated by using remazol brilliant blue R (RBBR) and napthol blue black (NBB). Decolorizations (74 and 86%) of RBBR and NBB were obtained in 90 min at 50 °C, respectively. The strong antibacterial properties of the synthesized CuONPs were observed on both Gram (-) and Gram (+) bacterial strains by disk diffusion and optical analyses, and their antifungal activity was close to that of Amphotericin B, which was applied as a positive control. Molecular docking analysis was performed with Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase and Staphylococcus aureus DNA Gyrase B to analyze the antibacterial mechanisms of CuONP and observed that they exhibit good interactions with their targets with binding energies of -12.562 and -8.797 kcal/mol, respectively. Our findings suggested that CuONPs are crucial in the mechanisms of folate metabolism and DNA replication associated with bacterial proliferation. This work will provide significant guidance for the biofabrication of CuONPs and their medical and industrial applications.

Robust and rigorous identification of tissue-specific genes by statistically extending tau score.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to identify tissue-specific genes for various human tissues/organs more robustly and rigorously by extending the tau score algorithm. INTRODUCTION: Tissue-specific genes are a class of genes whose functions and expressions are preferred in one or several tissues restrictedly. Identification of tissue-specific genes is essential for discovering multi-cellular biological processes such as tissue-specific molecular regulations, tissue development, physiology, and the pathogenesis of tissue-associated diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gene expression data derived from five large RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) projects, spanning 96 different human tissues, were retrieved from ArrayExpress and ExpressionAtlas. The first step is categorizing genes using significant filters and tau score as a specificity index. After calculating tau for each gene in all datasets separately, statistical distance from the maximum expression level was estimated using a new meaningful procedure. Specific expression of a gene in one or several tissues was calculated after the integration of tau and statistical distance estimation, which is called as extended tau approach. Obtained tissue-specific genes for 96 different human tissues were functionally annotated, and some comparisons were carried out to show the effectiveness of the extended tau method. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Categorization of genes based on expression level and identification of tissue-specific genes for a large number of tissues/organs were executed. Genes were successfully assigned to multiple tissues by generating the extended tau approach as opposed to the original tau score, which can assign tissue specificity to single tissue only.

Ab interno 180-degree trabeculectomy with a dual blade in a patient with refractory primary congenital glaucoma.

A 13-year-old female patient with refractory primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in the right eye who had a history of multiple glaucoma operations underwent ab interno 180-degree trabeculectomy with the Kahook Dual Blade (KDB) targeting the nasal and inferior angles. On postoperative day 1, the intraocular pressure (IOP) of the right eye reduced from 43 to 15 mmHg while on medical therapy. The patient maintained this IOP level throughout the 6-month follow-up. Ab interno KDB trabeculectomy targeting both nasal and inferior angles may be an effective and safe procedure for the treatment of PCG even in eyes with a history of previously failed glaucoma procedures.

HVIOnet: A deep learning based hybrid visual-inertial odometry approach for unmanned aerial system position estimation.

Sensor fusion is used to solve the localization problem in autonomous mobile robotics applications by integrating complementary data acquired from various sensors. In this study, we adopt Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO), a low-cost sensor fusion method that integrates inertial data with images using a Deep Learning (DL) framework to predict the position of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). The developed system has three steps. The first step extracts features from images acquired from a platform camera and uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to project them to a visual feature manifold. Next, temporal features are extracted from the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data on the platform using a Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (BiLSTM) network and are projected to an inertial feature manifold. The final step estimates the UAS position by fusing the visual and inertial feature manifolds via a BiLSTM-based architecture. The proposed approach is tested with the public EuRoC (European Robotics Challenge) dataset and simulation environment data generated within the Robot Operating System (ROS). The result of the EuRoC dataset shows that the proposed approach achieves successful position estimations comparable to previous popular VIO methods. In addition, as a result of the experiment with the simulation dataset, the UAS position is successfully estimated with 0.167 Mean Square Error (RMSE). The obtained results prove that the proposed deep architecture is useful for UAS position estimation.

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Patients with Cone Dystrophy.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate macular perfusion using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in patients with cone dystrophy and to determine the associations between the quantitative data of OCTA and functional parameters. METHODS: The data of 36 eyes of 18 patients with cone dystrophy and 38 eyes of 19 healthy controls were analyzed. The superficial and deep capillary plexus (SCP and DCP) vessel densities (VD) of the macula, the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and choriocapillary flow density values were obtained using OCTA. The associations between visual acuity (VA) and full-field electroretinography (ffERG) and the quantitative data of OCTA, and the associations between OCTA and ffERG were analyzed. RESULTS: : VD was significantly lower in all areas except the foveal area in SCP in the cone dystrophy group compared to the control group. VA was found to be associated with the VDs of the SCP and DCP except for that of the foveal SCP. VA was also associated with dark-adapted, light-adapted wave amplitudes. CONCLUSION: OCTA quantitatively showed that macular perfusion was decreased in cone dystrophy compared to the healthy controls. In addition, there was an association between VA and ffERG parameters and quantitative data of OCTA.

Effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on host competing endogenous RNA and miRNA network.

Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) play a crucial role in cell functions. Computational methods that provide large-scale analysis of the interactions between miRNAs and their competitive targets can contribute to the understanding of ceRNA regulations and critical regulatory functions. Recent reports showed that viral RNAs can compete with host RNAs against host miRNAs. Regarding SARS-CoV-2 RNA, no comprehensive study had been reported about its competition with cellular ceRNAs. In this study, for the first time, we used the ceRNAnetsim package to assess ceRNA network effects per individual cell and competitive behavior of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the infected cells using single-cell sequencing data. Our computations identified 195 genes and 29 miRNAs which vary in competitive behavior specifically in presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We also investigated 18 genes that are affected by genes that lost perturbation ability in presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the human miRNA:ceRNA network. These transcripts have associations with COVID-19-related symptoms as well as many dysfunctions such as metabolic diseases, carcinomas, heart failure. Our results showed that the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 genome on host ceRNA interactions and consequent dysfunctions can be explained by competition among various miRNA targets. Our perturbation ability perspective has the potential to reveal yet to be discovered SARS-CoV-2 induced effects invisible to conventional approaches.

Network based multifactorial modelling of miRNA-target interactions.

Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulations and crosstalk between various types of non-coding RNA in humans is an important and under-explored subject. Several studies have pointed out that an alteration in miRNA:target interaction can result in unexpected changes due to indirect and complex interactions. In this article, we defined a new network-based model that incorporates miRNA:ceRNA interactions with expression values. Our approach calculates network-wide effects of perturbations in the expression level of one or more nodes in the presence or absence of miRNA interaction factors such as seed type, binding energy. We carried out the analysis of large-scale miRNA:target networks from breast cancer patients. Highly perturbing genes identified by our approach coincide with breast cancer-associated genes and miRNAs. Our network-based approach takes the sponge effect into account and helps to unveil the crosstalk between nodes in miRNA:target network. The model has potential to reveal unforeseen regulations that are only evident in the network context. Our tool is scalable and can be plugged in with emerging miRNA effectors such as circRNAs, lncRNAs, and available as R package ceRNAnetsim: https://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/ceRNAnetsim.html.