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Adaptive control and synchronization techniques have been extensively developed over the years due to their ability to operate without prior analytical knowledge of the system. However, their application in real-world systems necessitates the consideration of various factors such as delays and stochastic disturbances. Moreover, the conventional hypothesis of a global Lipschitzian condition is often overly restrictive for real-world systems. In this paper, we address these challenges by jointly incorporating these factors. We introduce a novel parameter θ in the algebraic power associated with the adaptive rule. This modification enhances the effectiveness of the adaptive scheme in more realistic systems. Additionally, we investigate how the power θ and the nonlinear degrees of vector fields affect the performance of the adaptive scheme. The adaptive scheme proves to be effective in controlling or synchronizing stochastic complex dynamics in ecosystems and biosystems, demonstrating its broad applicability in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The G-Brownian-motion-driven stochastic differential equations (G-SDEs) as well as the G-expectation, which were seminally proposed by Peng and his colleagues, have been extensively applied to describing a particular kind of uncertainty arising in real-world systems modeling. Mathematically depicting long-time and limit behaviors of the solution produced by G-SDEs is beneficial to understanding the mechanisms of system's evolution. Here, we develop a new G-semimartingale convergence theorem and further establish a new invariance principle for investigating the long-time behaviors emergent in G-SDEs. We also validate the uniqueness and the global existence of the solution of G-SDEs whose vector fields are only locally Lipschitzian with a linear upper bound. To demonstrate the broad applicability of our analytically established results, we investigate its application to achieving G-stochastic control in a few representative dynamical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mathematical framework of stochastically adaptive feedback control, which is generally applicable to significant problems in nonlinear dynamics such as stabilization and synchronization, has been previously established but only for systems whose vector fields satisfy the global Lipschitzian condition. Nonlinear dynamical systems arising from physical, chemical, or biological situations are typically described by vector fields that are only locally Lipschitzian. To generalize the mathematical theory of stochastically adaptive control to realistic systems is quite a challenging and formidable task. We meet this challenge by proving rigorously that stabilization and synchronization can be achieved with probability one for only locally Lipschitzian systems. The result holds not only for one-dimensional but also for any finite-dimensional white noises. Representative examples and an application to synchronization-based parameter identification are presented to illustrate the broad applicability of the developed mathematical criteria. Our successful relaxation of the mathematical condition from globally to locally Lipschitzian provides a rigorous guarantee of the stability of stochastically adaptive control in physical systems with significant implications to the design and realization of engineering control systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning (DL) has achieved promising performance in detecting common abnormalities from the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). However, diagnostic redundancy exists in the 12-lead ECG, which could impose a systematic overfitting on DL, causing poor generalization. We, therefore, hypothesized that finding an optimal lead subset of the 12-lead ECG to eliminate the redundancy would help improve the generalizability of DL-based models. In this study, we developed and evaluated a DL-based model that has a feature extraction stage, an ECGlead subset selection stage and a decision-making stage to automatically interpret multiple common ECG abnormality types. The data analysed in this study consisted of 6877 12-lead ECG recordings from CPSC 2018 (labelled as normal rhythm or eight types of ECG abnormalities, split into training (approx. 80%), validation (approx. 10%) and test (approx. 10%) sets) and 3998 12-lead ECG recordings from PhysioNet/CinC 2020 (labelled as normal rhythm or four types of ECG abnormalities, used as external text set). The ECG-lead subset selection module was introduced within the proposed model to efficiently constrain model complexity. It detected an optimal 4-lead ECG subset consisting of leads II, aVR, V1 and V4. The proposed model using the optimal 4-lead subset significantly outperformed the model using the complete 12-lead ECG on the validation set and on the external test dataset. The results demonstrated that our proposed model successfully identified an optimal subset of 12-lead ECG; the resulting 4-lead ECG subset improves the generalizability of the DL model in ECG abnormality interpretation. This study provides an outlook on what channels are necessary to keep and which ones may be ignored when considering an automated detection system for cardiac ECG abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VANET is the spontaneous evolving creation of a wireless network, and clustering in these networks is a challenging task due to rapidly changing topology and frequent disconnection in networks. The cluster head (CH) stability plays a prominent role in robustness and scalability in the network. The stable CH ensures minimum intra- and intercluster communication, thereby reducing the overhead. These challenges lead the authors to search for a CH selection method based on a weighted amalgamation of four metrics: befit factor, community neighborhood, eccentricity, and trust. The stability of CH depends on the vehicle's speed, distance, velocity, and change in acceleration. These all are included in the befit factor. Also, the accurate location of the vehicle in changing the model is very vital. Thus, the predicted location with the Kalman filter's help is used to evaluate CH stability. The results have shown better performance than the existing state of the art for the befit factor. The change in dynamics and frequent disconnection in communication links due to the vehicle's high speed are inevitable. To comprehend this problem, a graphing approach is used to evaluate the eccentricity and the community neighborhood. The link reliability is calculated using the eigengap heuristic. The last metric is trust; this is one of the concepts that has not been included in the weighted approach to date as per the literature. An adaptive spectrum sensing is designed for evaluating the trust values specifically for the primary users. A deep recurrent learning network, commonly known as long short-term memory (LSTM), is trained for the probability of detection with various signals and noise conditions. The false rate has drastically reduced with the usage of LSTM. The proposed scheme is tested on the real map of Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province, with different vehicular mobilities. The comparative study with the individual and weighted metric has shown significant improvement in the cluster head stability during high vehicular density. Also, there is a considerable increase in network performance in energy, packet delay, packet delay ratio, and throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium is a biocompatible and biodegradable metal, which has attracted much interest in biomedical engineering. Cast magnesium alloy shows the low strength and plasticity at ambient temperature. Microstructure, mechanical properties and degradation properties of the extrusion pressed magnesium alloy have been investigated for biomedical application in detail by optical microscopes, mechanical properties testing and corrosion testing. The magnesium alloy ingots were gained by different cooling rate. Then the ingots were extrude into bar at the same processing condition. The results show that the cooling rate of cast ingot is important factors that affect the properties of Mg alloy by dynamic recrystallisation extruding. The cooling rate of cast ingot has been successfully applied to control the microstructure, mechanical and degradation properties of the Mg alloy. Optical microscopy observation has indicated that the grain size of the dynamic recrystallisation extruding has been significantly decreased from fast cooling cast magnesium ingot, which has mainly contributed to the high tensile strength and good elongation. Fasting cooling rate of cast ingot and dynamic recrystallisation extruding has provided moderate corrosion resistance, which has opened a new window for materials design, especially for biomedical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of Internet of Things (IoT) enables smart city advancement throughout the world. Increasing number of vehicles has brought focus on road safety precautions and in-vehicle communication. This is the right time to focus on the development of new applications and services for vehicular environments. The Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are an interesting range of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) where the Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and vehicle roadways transmission is possible. The V2V scheme is fresh by combining Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth and other all sorts of communication standards. An immense number of nodes working with these networks and due to their immense displacements, the analysis is prevailing regarding the possibility of routing standards. The estimation of conventional routing standards for MANETs illustrates that their behaviors are minimal in VANETs. The intention is to make use of mediators for routing with an effort to address the before described issues. The mediators are accountable for gathering data related to routing and identifying the optimal paths for forwarding information packets. The routing scheme is based on group routing standards and data cluster framework for locating the best possible routes. In this paper, we analyze smart cities vehicle communication development by implementing IoT. We also discuss the ways to minimize the limitations connected to IoT deployment and implementation in smart city environment using multi mediator scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catch statistics are perhaps the most commonly collected data and are widely available for many fisheries. However, it is currently difficult to provide scientific advice for management purposes using only catch data. This article presents a catch-only method for stock assessment of data-poor fisheries. It uses time series of catches and two priors, one for the intrinsic population growth rate derived from life history parameters, and another for stock depletion based on catch trends. The method applies an optimization algorithm to search the potential parameter space. All computations are model or equation based rather than using predefined rules. The utility of this method is demonstrated by applying it to 13 stocks in Australia that are assessed using Stock Synthesis--an assessment package that can make use of a variety of data sources. The estimated parameters, including carrying capacity, intrinsic population growth rate, maximum sustainable yield, and depletion from the catch-only method are broadly comparable with those from the full assessments. The circumstances in which the method may perform poorly, such as longer-term changes in productivity and episodic recruitment, are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and thoracotomy are used for sleeve lobectomy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This retrospective study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of VATS sleeve lobectomy for NSCLC patients.Methods: Between May 2009 and May 2013, 51 sleeve lobectomies (10 by VATS and 41 by thoracotomy) were performed for patients with NSCLC. Operative characteristics and postoperative course were compared between two groups.Results: Patient demographics were similar between the two groups. Thoracotomy patients had larger tumors compared with VATS patients (p = 0.02). VATS patients had a longer operating time (p < 0.001) but a shorter length of postoperative hospital stay (p = 0.009). The two groups did not differ in pathologic stage, histologic results, blood loss, ICU stay, amount of chest drainage, duration of chest drainage, numbers and distributions of dissected lymph nodes and the occurrence of complications. There were no perioperative deaths in the VATS group, whereas there was one death (2.4 %) in the thoracotomy group. There were no conversions to thoracotomy in the VATS group. The overall median survival between the two groups was similar (3.2 years VATS versus 3.2 years thoracotomy, log-rank p = 0.58).Conclusions: VATS sleeve lobectomy for the treatment of NSCLC is technically feasible and safe and is associated with comparable complication rates and survival compared with thoracotomy approach, but it deserves further investigation in large series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, many fish species are overexploited and many stocks have collapsed. This crisis, along with increasing concerns over flow-on effects on ecosystems, has caused a reevaluation of traditional fisheries management practices, and a new ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) paradigm has emerged. As part of this approach, selective fishing is widely encouraged in the belief that nonselective fishing has many adverse impacts. In particular, incidental bycatch is seen as wasteful and a negative feature of fishing, and methods to reduce bycatch are implemented in many fisheries. However, recent advances in fishery science and ecology suggest that a selective approach may also result in undesirable impacts both to fisheries and marine ecosystems. Selective fishing applies one or more of the "6-S's selections: species, stock, size, sex, season, and space. However, selective fishing alters biodiversity. which in turn changes ecosystem functioning and may affect fisheries production, hindering rather than helping achieve the goals of EBFM. We argue here that a "balanced exploitation" approach might alleviate many of the ecological effects of fishing by avoiding intensive removal of particular components of the ecosystem, while still supporting sustainable fisheries. This concept may require reducing exploitation rates on certain target species or groups to protect vulnerable components of the ecosystem. Benefits to society could be maintained or even increased because a greater proportion of the entire suite of harvested species is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) in a sample of individuals from mainland China, 20 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), 26 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and 30 normal control subjects were compared on two batteries of ToM tasks and EF tasks. Children with ASD had a significant theory of mind impairment relative to the other controls, while non-verbal IQ removed group differences in executive function. ToM was significantly correlated with inhibitory control. Performance on inhibitory control tasks, however, did not affect performance on ToM tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a phenomenon of collective dynamics on discrete-time complex networks: a random temporal interaction matrix even of zero or/and small average is able to significantly enhance synchronization with probability one. According to current knowledge, there is no verifiably sufficient criterion for the phenomenon. We use the standard method of synchronization analytics and the theory of stochastic processes to establish a criterion, by which we rigorously and accurately depict how synchronization occurring with probability one is affected by the statistical characteristics of the random temporal connections such as the strength and topology of the connections as well as their probability distributions. We also illustrate the enhancement phenomenon using physical and biological complex dynamical networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiation therapy is a primary treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its effectiveness can be diminished by various factors. The over-expression of PD-L1 has been identified as a critical reason for radiotherapy resistance. Previous studies have demonstrated that nifuroxazide exerts antitumor activity by damaging the Stat3 pathway, but its efficacy against PD-L1 has remained unclear. In this study, we investigated whether nifuroxazide could enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy in HCC by reducing PD-L1 expression. Our results showed that nifuroxazide significantly increased the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiation therapy by inhibiting cell proliferation and migration while increasing apoptosis in vitro. Additionally, nifuroxazide attenuated the up-regulation of PD-L1 expression induced by irradiation, which may be associated with increased degradation of PD-L1 through the ubiquitination-proteasome pathway. Furthermore, nifuroxazide greatly enhanced the efficacy of radiation therapy in H22-bearing mice by inhibiting tumor growth, improving survival, boosting the activation of T lymphocytes, and decelerating the ratios of Treg cells in spleens. Importantly, nifuroxazide limited the increased expression of PD-L1 in tumor tissues induced by radiation therapy. This study confirms, for the first time, that nifuroxazide can augment PD-L1 degradation to improve the efficacy of radiation therapy in HCC-bearing mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between time delay and phase shifts plays an important role for the regulation of synchronization and gives rise to interesting collective dynamical phenomena. Here we derive a stability criterion for the synchronous state in a system of identical oscillators in the presence of inertia, time delay, and a phase shift. We investigate how the combination of these factors influences the synchronization rates of the system approaching steady states after small perturbations. In particular, we prove that the global synchronization rate is twice the smallest local synchronization rate. We also find that the fastest synchronization rate increases with inertia but occurs at smaller values of critical delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here an adaptive control scheme with a feedback delay to achieve elimination of synchronization in a large population of coupled and synchronized oscillators. We validate the feasibility of this scheme not only in the coupled Kuramoto’s oscillators with a unimodal or bimodal distribution of natural frequency, but also in two representative models of neuronal networks, namely, the FitzHugh–Nagumo spiking oscillators and the Hindmarsh–Rose bursting oscillators. More significantly, we analytically illustrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme with a feedback delay and reveal how the exact topological form of the bimodal natural frequency distribution influences the scheme performance. We anticipate that our developed scheme will deepen the understanding and refinement of those controllers, e.g. techniques of deep brain stimulation, which have been implemented in remedying some synchronization-induced mental disorders including Parkinson disease and epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Techniques of deterministically adaptive feedback couplings have been successfully and extensively applied to realize control or/and synchronization in chaotic dynamical systems and even in complex dynamical networks. In this article, a technique of stochastically adaptive feedback coupling is novelly proposed to not only realize control in chaotic dynamical systems but also achieve synchronization in unidirectionally coupled systems. Compared with those deterministically adaptive couplings, the proposed stochastic technique interestingly shows some advantages from a physical viewpoint of time and energy consumptions. More significantly, the usefulness of the proposed stochastic technique is analytically validated by the theory of stochastic processes. It is anticipated that the proposed stochastic technique will be widely used in achieving system control and network synchronization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first asymmetric total synthesis of (-)-hibiscone C and a concise synthesis of ergot alkaloid lysergine are described. Both syntheses were achieved using the radical cyclization/fragmentation strategy. This cascade reaction enabled the application of the strained bicycle as a synthon for the synthesis of highly substituted decalins in an efficient and stereoselective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface modification is one approach to enhance the biocompatibility of implanted cardiovascular devices. In this work, a copper-containing film used to blood contacted biomaterials was prepared by vacuum arc deposition. The phase composition of the films was investigated via X-ray diffraction, and the adherence strength of the films was evaluated with conventional deformation tests. Blood compatibility of the films was characterized by hemolysis ratio, clotting time and platelet adhesion etc. The surface of inferior vena cava filters were smooth and uniform, no cracks or delaminations were observed on the deformed surface. These results indicate that the mechanical behavior of the films is suitable for withstanding deformation stresses as operation in clinic. Good blood compatibility of the copper-containing films was identified through experiment in vitro, the activated partial thromboplastin times (APTTs) of Cu/Ti films were similar to that of the uncoated substrate, and Cu/Ti films were also found to inhibit platelet adhesion comparing to the nitinol substrate. However, with increasing ratio of Cu/Ti, the hemolysis ratio increased, resulting in platelet damage. These results indicate that the copper-containing film has potential application on blood contacted devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The outcomes of video-assisted thoracic bronchial sleeve lobectomy (VABSL), a minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy, are mostly unknown in Chinese patients. Objectives To investigate operative and postoperative outcomes of VABSL in a cases series of Chinese patients with lung cancer. Methods Retrospective study of 9 patients (male:female 8:1; mean age 59.4 ± 17.6 years, ranging 21-79 years) diagnosed with lung cancer of a single lobe, treated with VABSL between March 2009 and November 2011, and followed up for at least 2 months (mean follow-up: 14.17 ± 12.91 months). Operative outcomes (tumor size, operation time, estimated blood loss and blood transfusion), postoperative outcomes (intensive care unit [ICU] stay, hospitalization length and pathological tumor stage), death, tumor recurrence and safety were assessed. Results Patients were diagnosed with carcinoid cancer (11.1%), squamous carcinoma (66.7%) or small cell carcinoma (22.2%), affecting the right (77.8%) or left (22.2%) lung lobes in the upper (55.6%), middle (11.1%) or lower (33.3%) regions. TNM stages were T2 (88.9%) or T3 (11.1%); N0 (66.7%), N1 (11.1%) or N2 (22.2%); and M0 (100%). No patient required conversion to thoracotomy. Mean tumor size, operation time and blood loss were 2.50 ± 0.75 cm, 203 ± 20 min and 390 ± 206 ml, respectively. Patients were treated in the ICU for 18.7 ± 0.7 hours, and overall hospitalization duration was 20.8 ± 2.0 days. No deaths, recurrences or severe complications were reported. Conclusions VABSL surgery is safe and effective for treatment of lung cancer by experienced physicians, warranting wider implementation of VABSL and VATS training in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates what forms the spatial pattern of the amplitude changes in tropical intraseasonal and interannual variability—represented by the two most important variables, precipitation (ΔP′) and circulation (Δω′)—under global warming, based on 24 models from the phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Diagnostic analyses reveal that the moisture budget and thermodynamic energy equations related to the ΔP′ and Δω′ proposed separately in previous studies are simultaneously tenable. As a result, we investigate the mechanism for the spatial pattern of Δω′ from the perspective of the moist static energy (MSE) balance mainly considering the positive contribution from vertical advection. Therefore, based on the simplified MSE balance, the spatial pattern of Δω′ can be approximately projected based on three factors: background circulation variability ω′, the vertical gradient of mean-state MSE M̅, and its future change Δ M̅ . Under global warming, the middle-level vertical gradient of MSE increases slightly over the Indian Ocean and the Maritime Continent and decreases over the equatorial Pacific where the increase in sea surface temperature (SST) exceeds the tropical mean. The vertical gradient of mean-state MSE is modified by the increase in vertical gradients of moisture and dry static energy (DSE) simultaneously. In short, the change in the vertical gradient of mean-state MSE under global warming can influence the moisture budget and thermodynamic energy balances, resulting in the spatial pattern of ΔP′ and Δω′ at intraseasonal and interannual time scales consequently, mainly determined by the lower boundary moisture condition in the response of the SST change pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity and related metabolic diseases are becoming worldwide epidemics that lead to increased death rates and heavy health care costs. Effective treatment options have not been found yet. Here, based on the observation that baicalin, a flavonoid from the herbal medicine Scutellaria baicalensis, has unique antisteatosis activity, we performed quantitative chemoproteomic profiling and identified carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), the controlling enzyme for fatty acid oxidation, as the key target of baicalin. The flavonoid directly activated hepatic CPT1 with isoform selectivity to accelerate the lipid influx into mitochondria for oxidation. Chronic treatment of baicalin ameliorated diet-induced obesity (DIO) and hepatic steatosis and led to systemic improvement of other metabolic disorders. Disruption of the predicted binding site of baicalin on CPT1 completely abolished the beneficial effect of the flavonoid. Our discovery of baicalin as an allosteric CPT1 activator opens new opportunities for pharmacological treatment of DIO and associated sequelae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punt, A. E., Deng, R. A., Dichmont, C. M., Kompas, T., Venables, W. N., Zhou, S., Pascoe, S., Hutton, T., Kenyon, R., van der Velde, T., and Kienzle, M. 2010. Integrating size-structured assessment and bioeconomic management advice in Australia's northern prawn fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1785–1801.Three species in Australia's northern prawn fishery (Penaeus semisulcatus, P. esculentus, and Metapenaeus endeavouri) are assessed using a size-structured population model that operates on a weekly time-step. The parameters of this multispecies population model are estimated using data on catches, catch rates, length frequency data from surveys and the fishery, and tag release–recapture data. The model allows for the technical interaction among the three species. The results from the multispecies stock assessment are used to calculate the time-series of catches and levels of fishing effort that maximize net present value. The bioeconomic model takes into account costs which are proportional to catches and those which are proportional to fishing effort, as well as fixed costs. The sensitivity of the results is examined by changing the assumptions regarding the values for the economic parameters of the bioeconomic model as well as those on which the assessment are based. The results suggest that fishing effort needs to be reduced in the short term to achieve economic goals, although most stocks are estimated currently to be above the stock size corresponding to maximum sustainable yield. Short-term catches and effort levels are sensitive to model assumptions, and in particular, to trends in prices and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An abstract of the article "Clinical Significance of EpCAM in Circulating Tumor Cells in the Peripheral Blood During Adjuvant Therapy for Postoperative Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients" is presented.