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The emergence of cancers involves numerous coding and non-coding genes. Understanding the contribution of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) to the cancer neighborhood is crucial for interpreting the interaction between molecular markers of cancer. However, there is a lack of systematic studies on the involvement of ncRNAs in the cancer neighborhood. In this paper, we construct an interaction network which encompasses multiple genes. We focus on the fundamental topological indicator, namely connectivity, and evaluate its performance when applied to cancer-affected genes using statistical indices. Our findings reveal that ncRNAs significantly enhance the connectivity of affected genes and mediate the inclusion of more genes in the cancer module. To further explore the role of ncRNAs in the network, we propose a connectivity-based method which leverages the bridging function of ncRNAs across cancer-affected genes and reveals the non-coding RNAs extended omnigenic module (NeOModule). Topologically, this module promotes the formation of cancer patterns involving ncRNAs. Biologically, it is enriched with cancer pathways and treatment targets, providing valuable insights into disease relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyper-networks tend to perform better in representing multivariate relationships among nodes. Yet, due to the complexity of the hyper-network structure, research in synchronization dynamics is rarely involved. In this paper, a Kuramoto model more suitable for k-uniform hyper-networks is proposed. And the generalized Laplacian matrix expression of the k-uniform hyper-network is present. We use the eigenvalue ratio of the generalized Laplacian matrix to quantify synchronization. And we studied the effects of some important structure parameters on the synchronization of three types of k-uniform hyper-networks. And obtained different relationships between synchronization and these parameters. The results show the synchronization of the k-uniform hyper-networks is related to both structure and parameters. And as the size of the nodes increases, the synchronization ability gradually increases for ER random hyper-network, while that gradually decreases for NW small-world hyper-network and BA scale-free hyper-network. As the uniformity increases, the synchronization ability of all three types of uniform hyper-networks increases. In addition, when the structure and node size are fixed, the synchronization ability increases with the increase of the hyper-clustering coefficient in BA scale-free hyper-network and ER random hyper-network, while it decreases with the increase of the hyper-clustering coefficient in NW small-world hyper-network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aims to describe the citation patterns of Cochrane systematic reviews (CSR) in guidelines for managing breast cancer. Methods: We searched for systematic reviews on breast cancer in The Cochrane Library from the date of inception to November 15, 2023, and identified guidelines that cited them. We described how systematic reviews were cited by the guidelines in each database and each year. Additionally, we presented the relationships between the conclusions of the systematic reviews and guideline recommendations and compared the consistency of the recommendations on the same topic across different guidelines. Results: A total of 64 systematic reviews and 228 guidelines were included in this study. The average number of the 64 systematic reviews cited by the guidelines was 5.91. We found that the guideline recommendations were irrelevant or inconsistent with the conclusions of the systematic reviews in 56 (38.36%) cited entries. We grouped recommendations on the same topic across different guidelines into one group, of which only 5 groups (15.15%) had completely consistent recommendations, and the other 28 groups (84.85%) had inconsistent recommendations. Conclusion: The average number of citations for CSR on breast cancer in the guidelines was 5.91. There were also situations in which the guideline recommendations were inconsistent with the conclusions of the included systematic reviews, and recommendations on the same topic across different guidelines were inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and efficient method to synthesize thioethers from sulfonyl chlorides and benzylic trimethylammonium salts is presented. This protocol provides a simple and direct approach to realize the reductive coupling reaction of readily available sulfonyl chlorides with benzyl ammonium salts in the presence of triphenylphosphine along with base via C−N cleavage of benzyl ammonium salts. This reaction features mild conditions and good substrate compatibility to afford thioethers in moderate to good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nakamoto consensus is prevailing in the world largest blockchain-based cryptocurrency systems, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Since then, various attempts have been studied to attack Nakamoto consensus worldwide. In recent years, network delay has won more attention for making inconsistent ledgers in blockchain-based applications by virtue of attacking Nakamoto consensus. However, so far as we know, most of the existing works mainly focus on constructing inconsistent ledgers for blockchain systems, but not offering fine-grained theoretical analysis for how to optimize the success probability by flexibly dividing computational power and network delay from the viewpoint of adversary. The paper first utilizes network delay and the partition of controlled computation power of honest miners for making forks as long as possible. Then, formally analysis is provided to show the success probability of the proposed attack, and compute the optimal network delay and splitting for adversarial computation power in theory. Finally, simulation experiments validate the correctness of the formal analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A promising feature for group decision making (GDM) lies in the study of the interaction between individuals. In conventional GDM research, experts are independent. This is reflected in the setting of preferences and weights. Nevertheless, each expert’s role is played through communication, collaboration, and cooperation with other individuals. The interaction from others may affect the power of an expert as well as his/her opinion. Furthermore, it is noted that a link path with the highest degree of trust is the most efficient information transmission channel. Inspired by these findings, an optimal trust-induced consensus process is designed with the usage of intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation. The comprehensive weight of each expert is decomposed into two portions, namely: 1) the individual weights and 2) interactive weights. Three optimization models are constructed to achieve weight parameters under different decision situations, where the weight parameters are represented through a 2-order additive fuzzy measure and the Shapley value. To reflect the interaction, the Choquet integral is employed for aggregating opinions, and a novel distance measure is adopted for accomplishing a consensus index. An illustrative example and comparison are put in practice to show the effectiveness and improvements of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of directed control paths in complex networks is important because control paths indicate the structure of the propagation of control signals through edges. A challenging problem is to identify them in complex networked systems characterized by different types of interactions that form multilayer networks. In this study, we describe a graph pattern called the conserved control path, which allows us to model a common control structure among different types of relations. We present a practical conserved control path detection method (CoPath), which is based on a maximum-weighted matching, to determine the paths that play the most consistent roles in controlling signal transmission in multilayer networks. As a pragmatic application, we demonstrate that the control paths detected in a multilayered pan-cancer network are statistically more consistent. Additionally, they lead to the effective identification of drug targets, thereby demonstrating their power in predicting key pathways that influence multiple cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G be a graph with n vertices, let A (G) be an adjacency matrix of G and let P A (G , λ) be the characteristic polynomial of A (G) . The adjacency spectrum of G consists of eigenvalues of A (G) . A graph G is said to be determined by its adjacency spectrum (DS for short) if other graphs with the same adjacency spectrum as G are isomorphic to G. In this paper, we investigate the spectral characterization of unicycle graphs with only two vertices of degree three. We use G 21 (s 1 , s 2) to denote the graph obtained from Q (s 1 , s 2) by identifying its pendant vertex and the vertex of degree two of P 3 , where Q (s 1 , s 2) is the graph obtained by identifying a vertex of C s 1 and a pendant vertex of P s 2 . We use G 31 (t 1 , t 2) to denote the graph obtained from circle with the vertices v 0 v 1 ⋯ v t 1 + t 2 + 1 by adding one pendant edge at vertices v 0 and v t 1 + 1 , respectively. It is shown that G 21 (s 1 , s 2) ( s 1 ≠ 4 , 6 , s 1 ≥ 3 , s 2 ≥ 3 ) and G 31 (t 1 , t 2) ( t 1 + t 2 ≠ 2 , t 2 ≥ t 1 ≥ 1 ) are determined by their adjacency spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To evaluate the protective effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) against cerebral ischemia reperfusion and investigate whether autophagy is involved in its mechanism of action. Methods. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: the sham, cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R), and I/R + BHD groups. A rat model of cerebral I/R injury was established via middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h, followed by 1, 3, and 7 d of reperfusion. Neurological scores and regional cerebral blood flow were assessed to determine whether the model was successfully established. Brain infarct volume was determined by 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. The apoptosis rate was detected using TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) staining, and neuronal damage was evaluated by Nissl staining. The Beclin-1 and LC3 protein levels in the ischemic core, penumbra, and contralateral area were analysed by Western blotting. The occurrence of autophagy in the penumbra was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results. BHD treatment alleviated the cerebral infarct volume, neuronal apoptosis rate, and neuronal damage 3 and 7 d after cerebral I/R injury. Furthermore, 3 d after reperfusion, we observed that the Beclin-1 levels were significantly decreased in the core in the I/R group, whereas transformation of LC3 I to LC3 II exhibited no obvious differences between the sham and I/R groups. In the penumbra, the Beclin-1 levels and transformation of LC3 I to LC3 II in the I/R group were significantly increased compared with that in the sham group. However, no significant difference in the contralateral area was noted between the two groups. BHD significantly inhibited the expression of Beclin-1 and the transformation of LC3 I to LC3 II in the penumbra after cerebral I/R injury but yielded no significant changes in the core and contralateral area. Conclusions. BHD exerts a neuroprotective effect by inhibiting autophagy in neurons in the penumbra after cerebral I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two thousand nineteen novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen of COVID-19, has caused a catastrophic pandemic, which has a profound and widespread impact on human lives and social economy globally. However, the molecular perturbations induced by the SARS-CoV-2 infection remain unknown. In this paper, from the perspective of omnigenic, we analyze the properties of the neighborhood perturbed by SARS-CoV-2 in the human interactome and disclose the peripheral and core regions of virus-host network (VHN). We find that the virus-host proteins (VHPs) form a significantly connected VHN, among which highly perturbed proteins aggregate into an observable core region. The non-core region of VHN forms a large scale but relatively low perturbed periphery. We further validate that the periphery is non-negligible and conducive to identifying comorbidities and detecting drug repurposing candidates for COVID-19. We particularly put forward a flower model for COVID-19, SARS and H1N1 based on their peripheral regions, and the flower model shows more correlations between COVID-19 and other two similar diseases in common functional pathways and candidate drugs. Overall, our periphery-core pattern can not only offer insights into interconnectivity of SARS-CoV-2 VHPs but also facilitate the research on therapeutic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walking stability is an important factor that is related to working accidents at height. The understanding of the relationship between walking stability and walking conditions remains an unmet need. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of path height, width, and asymmetric conditions on the pressure and time information of the foot-ground interaction during walking. 12 subjects were required to walk at two height, three width, and asymmetric conditions. Plantar pressures during walking were measured with the F-scan insole sensors. The total pressures were normalized with body weight, and the temporal parameters were normalized with stance time. When the walking height increased, the plantar pressure at the "heel strike" phase did not change significantly, while that at "heel rise" and "toe off" phases significantly increased, and the "heel rise" occurred earlier, indicating a greater foot-ground interaction at the forefoot part of the sole. As the path width increased from 0.6 m to 1.2 m, the foot-ground interaction as well as the asymmetric effect approached to that of overground walking. The findings could help improve the risk assessment and footwear design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entropy is an important index for describing the structure, function, and evolution of network. The existing research on entropy is primarily applied to undirected networks. Compared with an undirected network, a directed network involves a special asymmetric transfer. The research on the entropy of directed networks is very significant to effectively quantify the structural information of the whole network. Typical complex network models include nearest-neighbour coupling network, small-world network, scale-free network, and random network. These network models are abstracted as undirected graphs without considering the direction of node connection. For complex networks, modeling through the direction of network nodes is extremely challenging. In this paper, based on these typical models of complex network, a directed network model considering node connection in-direction is proposed, and the eigenvalue entropies of three matrices in the directed network is defined and studied, where the three matrices are adjacency matrix, in-degree Laplacian matrix and in-degree signless Laplacian matrix. The eigenvalue-based entropies of three matrices are calculated in directed nearest-neighbor coupling, directed small world, directed scale-free and directed random networks. Through the simulation experiment on the real directed network, the result shows that the eigenvalue entropy of the real directed network is between the eigenvalue entropy of directed scale-free network and directed small-world network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-omics molecules regulate complex biological processes (CBPs), which reflect the activities of various molecules in living organisms. Meanwhile, the applications to represent disease subtypes and cell types have created an urgent need for sample grouping and associated CBP-inferring tools. In this paper, we present CBP-JMF, a practical tool primarily for discovering CBPs, which underlie sample groups as disease subtypes in applications. Differently from existing methods, CBP-JMF is based on a joint non-negative matrix tri-factorization framework and is implemented in Python. As a pragmatic application, we apply CBP-JMF to identify CBPs for four subtypes of breast cancer. The result shows significant overlapping between genes extracted from CBPs and known subtype pathways. We verify the effectiveness of our tool in detecting CBPs that interpret subtypes of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study is a systematic review and meta‐analysis compare the short‐ and long‐term outcomes of splenectomy (SP) versus splenic preservation (NSP) in radical gastric cancer surgery. Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Knowledge was performed. Evaluation of short‐ and long‐term outcomes was collected and analyzed by a fixed or random effects model, according to the heterogeneity using RevMan 5.2 software. Results: A total of 5431 gastric cancer patients who underwent radical surgery (1706 with SP and 3725 with NSP) were reviewed in 11 studies included in this study. Compared with NSP, SP was significantly associated with higher rate of overall postoperative complication and increased incidence of pulmonary complications, abdominal abscess and pancreas complications. No statistical difference was observed regarding mortality, wound infection, anastomotic leakage and postoperative 5‐year overall survival. Conclusion: There was no difference in long‐term oncological outcome but remarkably poorer short‐term outcomes in SP group than NSP group. Therefore, SP seems unnecessary in radical gastric cancer surgery. However, well‐designed, multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trials are warranted for further validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new organic-inorganic hybrid arsenomolybdate, formulated as, [{Cu(abi){H4AsIIIAsVMo9O34}](abi)4[Cu(abi)2]·H2O (1) (abi = 2-aminobenzimidazole) has been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by the elemental analysis, TG, IR, XRD, UV and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 represents the first example of monocapped trivacant Keggin {H4AsIIIAsVMo9O34}2− cluster as polydentate ligand linked to Cu-abi complexes and abi ligands through one covalent bond and fourteen hydrogen bonds. Compound 1 possesses two different four rings, which forms a 3D topology framework with schläfli symbol of {46·6·8·1820}{4}2{6}2{8}3. The photoluminescence and photocatalysis properties of 1 have been investigated. Moreover, we performed evaluation on its catalytic activity towards the hydrolysis of ethylene carbonate to produce ethylene glycol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, an arsenomolybdate, {Cu(diz)4(H2O)2}[{Cu(diz)2(H2O)2}2{As2Mo6O26}]·2H2O (diz = 1,2-diazole) (1), has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR, TG, XPS, PXRD, and UV-Vis-NIR. The {Cu-diz} complexes link the [As2Mo6O26]6− polyoxoanions, forming a 1-D infinite chain. The 2-D layer is constructed from 1-D chains through hydrogen bonds. Adjacent layers and free {Cu(diz)4(H2O)2} complexes are fused through hydrogen bonding to form a 3-D topological framework with symbol of {414·610·84}{4}2. Compound 1 exhibits luminescence at room temperature, excellent degradation activity for four different organic dyes (RhB, MB, MO, and AP) under UV irradiation. The photocatalytic mechanism of 1 is discussed in detail. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic activity of 1 toward hydrogen peroxide has also been studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, we consider the question as to whether a unital full amalgamated free product of quasidiagonal C*-algebras is itself quasidiagonal. We give a sufficient condition for a unital full amalgamated free product of quasidiagonal C*-algebras with amalgamation over a finite-dimensional C*-algebra to be quasidiagonal. By applying this result, we conclude that the unital full free product of two AF algebras with amalgamation over a finite-dimensional C*-algebra is AF if there exists a faithful tracial state on each of the two AF algebras such that the restrictions of these states to the common subalgebra coincide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling complex network is an essential problem in network science and engineering. Recent advances indicate that the controllability of complex network is dependent on the network's topology. Liu and Barabási, et.al speculated that the degree distribution was one of the most important factors affecting controllability for arbitrary complex directed network with random link weights. In this paper, we analysed the effect of degree distribution to the controllability for the deterministic networks with unweighted and undirected. We introduce a class of deterministic networks with identical degree sequence, called (x,y)-flower. We analysed controllability of the two deterministic networks ((1, 3)-flower and (2, 2)-flower) by exact controllability theory in detail and give accurate results of the minimum number of driver nodes for the two networks. In simulation, we compare the controllability of (x,y)-flower networks. Our results show that the family of (x,y)-flower networks have the same degree sequence, but their controllability is totally different. So the degree distribution itself is not sufficient to characterize the controllability of deterministic networks with unweighted and undirected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas most research on Internetware has focused on new technologies for keeping track of a changing Internet, little attention has been paid to the software development process. A large portion of the software running the Internet is open source software. Open source software is developed both by volunteers and commercial companies, often jointly. Companies get involved in open source projects for commercial reasons, and bring with them a commercial software development process. Thus, it is important to understand how commercial involvement affects the software development process of open source projects. This article presents case studies of three open source application servers that are being developed jointly by a volunteer community and one primary software company. We are interested in better understanding developer behavior, specifically task distribution and performance, based on whether the developer is an external contributor, e.g., a volunteer working in their spare time, or a commercial developer from inside the primary backing company who is being paid for their time. To achieve this, we look at issue reporting as an example of commercial involvement in open source projects. In particular, we investigate the distribution of tasks among volunteers and commercial developers by studying the source of reported issues and quantify the task performance on user experience via the issue resolution speed. We construct measures based on historical records in issue tracking repositories. Our results show that, with intensified commercial involvement, the majority of issue reporting tasks would be undertaken by commercial developers, and issue resolution time would be reduced, implying a better user experience. We hope our methods and results provide practical insights for designing an efficient hybrid development process in the Internetware environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite biological and inorganic fouling occurs in plate heat exchangers (PHEs) using treated sewage as heat transfer medium, which lowers the heat transfer coefficient and increases the frictional resistance. In order to optimize the heat exchange process and improve the anti-fouling strategies, the dynamic behavior of composite fouling at a vertical surface of stainless steel (ANSI 316L) was investigated under typical conditions of PHEs. The growth curves of composite fouling were obtained. The evolution of composite fouling was characterized by means of environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). Backscattered Electron Image (BEI) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) were used as aids in interpreting the results. The experimental results show that a preliminary stage of a 6-day period with a low fouling growth rate exists during the composite fouling development. A significant change of the fouling growth rate happens after the preliminary stage during which the bacterial behaviors at the surface could be recorded clearly. After the preliminary stage, a space netshape, mainly consisting of bacteria, extracellular products (EPS) and inorganic particles, could be established on the surface of the fouling layer. The change of fouling growth rate occurs synchronously with the evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let $$ \mathcal{H} $$ olenote a complex separable Hilbert space and $$ \mathcal{L}(\mathcal{H}) $$ denote the collection of bounded linear operators on $$ \mathcal{H} $$ . An operator T ∈ $$ \mathcal{L}(\mathcal{H}) $$ is said to be strongly irreducible if T does not commute with any nontrivial idempotent. Herrero and Jiang showed that the norm-closure of the class of all strongly irreducible operators is the class of all operators with connected spectrum. This result can be considered as an “approximate inverse” of the Riesz decomposition theorem. In the paper, we give a more precise characterization of approximate invariants of strongly irreducible operators. The main result is: For any T ∈ $$ \mathcal{L}(\mathcal{H}) $$ with connected spectrum and ε > 0, there exists a strongly irreducible operator A, such that $$ \parallel A - T\parallel < \varepsilon , V(\mathcal{A}'(A)) \cong \mathbb{N}, K_0 (\mathcal{A}'(A)) \cong \mathbb{Z} $$ , and $$ \mathcal{A}'(A) $$ /rad $$ \mathcal{A}'(A) $$ is commutative, where $$ \mathcal{A}'(A) $$ denotes the commutant of A and rad $$ \mathcal{A}'(A) $$ denotes the Jacobson radical of $$ \mathcal{A}'(A) $$ . The research is inspired by the recent similarity classification technique of Cowen-Douglas operators of Jiang Chunlan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noncommutative moment problems for C*-algebras are studied. We generalize a result of Hadwin on tracial states to nontracial case. Our results are applied to obtain simple solutions to moment problems on the square and the circle as well as extend the positive unital functionals from a (discrete) complex group algebra to states on the group C*-algebra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wrought AZ (Mg–Al–Zn) series alloys have attracted lots of researches, due to low cost, high strength and good formability. Few researches focus on creep characteristics of wrought AZ series alloys, which might be of significance to extensive use of low-cost wrought Mg–Al based alloy at elevated temperature. The microstructures, tensile properties and creep characteristics of as-extruded Mg-9Al-Zn-0.5RE-0.5Ca-0.5Si (wt.%, named AZXSE91000) alloy were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), tensile tests and tensile creep tests (40–100 MPa, 125–150 °C). The as-extruded AZXSE91000 alloy exhibited good tensile strength both at room temperature and elevated temperature. The co-addition of Si, Ca and rare earth elements can improve the heat resistance of as-extruded AZ91 alloy resulting from fragmented heat-resistant particles hindering grain boundaries sliding. The steady creep rates of as-extruded AZXSE91000 alloy can be comparable with that of as-cast AZ91 alloy under similar experimental conditions. Dislocation climbing and grain boundary slip should dominantly contribute to the creep of as-extruded AZXSE91000 alloy. The asymmetric discontinuous precipitation in crept samples revealed that diffusion played an unneglected role during the creep process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]