Search

Key message: We identified seven OfNCEDs and analyzed the potential function of OfNCED4, which is involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoids and abscisic acid in Osmanthus fragrans. In plants, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) can cleave carotenoids and are rate-limiting enzymes for the biosynthesis of abscisic acid (ABA). Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans Lour.), an important ornamental and fragrant tree, contains abundant carotenoids in its flowers. To examine the function of the 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) involved in ABA biosynthesis and floral coloration in O. fragrans, the sequences of seven OfNCEDs were isolated from the genomic DNA and cDNA of O. fragrans. A bioinformatics analysis showed that these OfNCEDs encode 422 ~ 591 amino acids, and they all contain the RPE65 domain. These OfNCEDs showed different patterns of expression, and that of OfNCED4 was most consistent to the patterns of ABA accumulation during the flowering process. Moreover, the levels of expression of seven OfNCEDs in the O. fragrans flowers were significantly induced by exogenous ABA. ABA-responsive elements were found in the promoters of OfNCEDs. The overexpression of OfNCED4 resulted in increased contents of chlorophylls, carotenoids and ABA, and up-regulation of NtCRTISO, NtLCYE, NtLCYB, and NtNXS, and down-regulation of NtCCD1 and NtCCD4 in tobacco leaves. It suggests that OfNCED4 probably mediates the biosynthesis of ABA. Taken together, this study systematically identified the bioinformatics, pattern of expression of OfNCED genes and the potential function of OfNCED4, which could provide molecular evidence for further research on the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis and floral color of O. fragrans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are the two most prevalent movement disorders, sharing several overlapping tremor clinical features. Although growing evidence pointed out that changes in similar brain network nodes are associated with these two diseases, the brain network topological properties are still not very clear. Objective: The combination of graph theory analysis with machine learning (ML) algorithms provides a promising way to reveal the topological pathogenesis in ET and tremor-dominant PD (tPD). Methods: Topological metrics were extracted from Resting-state functional images of 86 ET patients, 86 tPD patients, and 86 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). Three steps were conducted to feature dimensionality reduction and four frequently used classifiers were adopted to discriminate ET, tPD, and HCs. Results: A support vector machine classifier achieved the best classification performance of four classifiers for discriminating ET, tPD, and HCs with 89.0% mean accuracy (mACC) and was used for binary classification. Particularly, the binary classification performances among ET vs. tPD, ET vs. HCs, and tPD vs. HCs were with 94.2% mACC, 86.0% mACC, and 86.3% mACC, respectively. The most power discriminative features were mainly located in the default, frontal-parietal, cingulo-opercular, sensorimotor, and cerebellum networks. Correlation analysis results showed that 2 topological features negatively and 1 positively correlated with clinical characteristics. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that combining topological metrics with ML algorithms could not only achieve high classification accuracy for discrimination ET, tPD, and HCs but also help to reveal the potential brain topological network pathogenesis in ET and tPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We bound the greatest common divisor of two coprime multivariable polynomials evaluated at algebraic numbers, generalizing work of Levin, and going towards conjectured inequalities of Silverman and Vojta. As an application, we prove results on greatest common divisors of terms from two linear recurrence sequences, extending the results of Levin, who considered the case where the linear recurrences are simple, and improving recent results of Grieve and Wang. The proofs rely on Schmidt’s Subspace Theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the early prevalence of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (AIC) and anthracycline-induced liver injury (AILI) using T2 and T2* mapping and to explore their correlations. Materials and Methods: The study included 17 cardiotoxic rabbits that received weekly injections of doxorubicin and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) every 2 weeks for 10 weeks. Cardiac function and T2 and T2* values were measured on each period. Histopathological examinations for two to five rabbits were performed after each MRI scan. The earliest sensitive time and the threshold of MRI parameters for detecting AIC and AILI based on these MRI parameters were obtained. Moreover, the relationship between myocardial and liver damage was assessed. Results: Early AIC could be detected by T2 mapping as early as the second week and focused on the 7th, 11th, and 12th segments of left ventricle. The cutoff value of 46.64 for the 7th segment had the best diagnostic value, with an area under the curve (of 0.767, sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 52%. T2* mapping could detect the change in iron content for early AIC at the middle interventricular septum and AILI as early as the sixth week (p = 0.014, p = 0.027). The T2* values of the middle interventricular septum showed a significant positive association with the T2* values of the liver (r = 0.39, p = 0.002). Conclusion: T2 and T2* mapping showed value one-stop assessment of AIC and AILI and could obtain the earliest MRI diagnosis point and optimal parameter thresholds for these conditions. Clinical relevance statement: Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity could be detected by T2 mapping as earlier as the second week, mainly focusing on the 7th, 11th, and 12th segments of left ventricle. Combined with T2* mapping, hepatoxicity and supplementary cardiotoxicity were assessed by one-stop scan. Key Points: • MRI screening time of cardiotoxicity was as early as the second week with focusing on T2 values of the 7th, 11th, and 12th segments of left ventricle. • T2* mapping could be used as a complement to T2 mapping to evaluate cardiotoxicity and as an effective index to detect iron change in the early stages of chemotherapy. • The T2* values of the middle interventricular septum showed a significant positive association with the T2* values of the liver, indicating that iron content in the liver and heart increased with an increase in the chemotherapeutic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: MIKC type MADS-box transcription factors are one of the largest gene families and play a pivotal role in flowering time and flower development. Chimonanthus salicifolius belongs to the family Calycanthaceae and has a unique flowering time and flowering morphology compared to other Chimonanthus species, but the research on MIKC type MADS-box gene family of C. salicifolius has not been reported. Objective: Identification, comprehensive bioinformatic analysis, the expression pattern of MIKC-type MADS-box gene family from different tissues of C. salicifolius. Methods: Genome-wide investigation and expression pattern under different tissues of the MIKC-type MADS-box gene family in C. salicifolius, and their phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary characteristics, gene structure, motif distribution, promoter cis-acting element were performed. Results: A total of 29 MIKC-type MADS-box genes were identified from the whole genome sequencing. Interspecies synteny analysis revealed more significant collinearity between C. salicifolius and the magnoliids species compared to eudicots and monocots. MIKC-type MADS-box genes from the same subfamily share similar distribution patterns, gene structure, and expression patterns. Compared with Arabidopsis thaliana, Nymphaea colorata, and Chimonanthus praecox, the FLC genes were absent in C. salicifolius, while the AGL6 subfamily was expanded in C. salicifolius. The selectively expanded promoter (AGL6) and lack of repressor (FLC) genes may explain the earlier flowering in C. salicifolius. The loss of the AP3 homologous gene in C. salicifolius is probably the primary cause of the morphological distinction between C. salicifolius and C. praecox. The csAGL6a gene is specifically expressed in the flowering process and indicates the potential function of promoting flowering. Conclusion: This study offers a genome-wide identification and expression profiling of the MIKC-types MADS-box genes in the C. salicifolius, and establishes the foundation for screening flowering development genes and understanding the potential function of the MIKC-types MADS-box genes in the C. salicifolius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear editor, The neurovascular conflict of the vagus nerve resulting in hemi-laryngopharyngeal spasm (HELPS) has been rarely reported previously. MRI imaging revealed PICA distorting the lower cranial nerves of both glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve fibers. [Extracted from the article]

Prunus mume, a woody perennial tree, is valued for its ornamental traits and has been cultivated for a long history. Low temperature is the main environmental factor restricting the distribution and affecting the growth of P. mume. In plants, some WRKY transcription factors have been reported to participate in regulating cold tolerance. However, there were few researches about functional characterization of WRKYs involving in P. mume cold response. Here, a cold-induced WRKY gene named as PmWRKY57 was cloned from a P. mume cultivar 'Guhong Zhusha.' PmWRKY57 protein harboring a WRKY domain and a C2H2 zinc finger motif belongs to Group IIc of WRKY family. The PmWRKY57 protein was located to the nucleus and has transcriptional activation activity. PmWRKY57-overexpresing Arabidopsis thaliana lines showed improved cold tolerance, compared to wild-type plants. Under cold treatment, the leaves of transgenic lines contained significantly lower malondialdehyde content, and higher levels of superoxide dismutase activity, peroxidase activity, and proline content than wild-type plants. Furthermore, the expression levels of cold-response genes such as AtCOR6.6, AtCOR47, AtKIN1, and AtRCI2A were up-regulated in leaves of transgenic A. thaliana compared to those in wild-type plants. This study characterized the function of PmWRKY57 in improving cold tolerance of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report the early 2-year results and experience of a novel gutter-plugging chimney stent-graft in a single center that participated in the clinical trial of Prospective Study for Aortic Arch Therapy with stENt-graft for Chimney technology. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with aortic dissection were treated with the novel chimney stent-grafts named Longuette™ for the left subclavian artery revascularization. Primary study outcomes were the incidence of freedom from major adverse events within 30 days and success rate of the operation over 12 months. Results: A total of 34 patients were enrolled between September 2019 and December 2020. The immediate technical success rate (stent-grafts successfully deployed without fast-flow type Ia or type III endoleak intraoperatively) was 100%, and there were no conversions to open repair. Type Ia and type II endoleaks were noted in three patients (8.8%) and one patient (2.9%) at discharge, respectively. One patient (2.9%) with type Ia endoleak underwent coil embolization at 12 months because of false lumen dilation, and one (2.9%) case of type Ia endoleak resolved spontaneously at 24 months. One chimney stent (2.9%) was revealed with stenosis at discharge and occluded with thrombosis at 6 months postoperatively. During the 2-year follow-up, there was no death, rupture, stroke, paraplegia, left arm ischemia, retrograde dissection, stent-graft induced new entry, or stent migration. Conclusion: The initial results of the Longuette™ stent-graft for revascularization of the left subclavian artery are encouraging with a high technical success rate. Further multicenter follow-up outcomes are required to assess the long-term durability. Level of Evidence: Level 4, Case Series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic salts usually demonstrate simple phasal behaviors in dilute aqueous solution mainly involving soluble (homogeneous) and insoluble (macrophase separation) scenarios. Herein, we report the discovery of complex phase behavior involving multiple phase transitions of clear solution – macrophase separation – gelation – solution – macrophase separation in the dilute aqueous solutions of a structurally well-defined molecular cluster [Mo7O24]6− macroanions with the continuous addition of Fe3+. No chemical reaction was involved. The transitions are closely related to the strong electrostatic interaction between [Mo7O24]6− and their Fe3+ counterions, the counterion-mediated attraction and the consequent charge inversion, leading to the formation of linear/branched supramolecular structures, as confirmed by experimental results and molecular dynamics simulations. The rich phase behavior demonstrated by the inorganic cluster [Mo7O24]6− expands our understanding of nanoscale ions in solution. Complex phase transitions including gelation in dilute aqueous solutions of polyanionic clusters ([Mo7O24]6−) in the presence of (Fe(NO3)3) and attributed to the counterion association and overcharging on the clusters, have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore whether casticin (CAS) suppresses stemness in cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs) obtained from human cervical cancer (CCSLCs) and the underlying mechanism. Methods: Spheres from HeLa and CaSki cells were used as CCSLCs. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) activity and mRNA levels, self-renewal capability (Nanog and Sox2), and cancer stem cell markers (CD133 and CD44), were detected by a colorimetric DNMT activity/inhibition assay kit, quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, sphere and colony formation assays, and immunoblot, respectively. Knockdown and overexpression of DNMT1 by transfection with shRNA and cDNA, respectively, were performed to explore the mechanism for action of CAS (0, 10, 30, and 100 nmol/L). Results: DNMT1 activity was increased in CCSLCs compared with HeLa and CaSki cells (P<0.05). In addition, HeLa-derived CCSLCs transfected with DNMT1 shRNA showed reduced sphere and colony formation abilities, and lower CD133, CD44, Nanog and Sox2 protein expressions (P<0.05). Conversely, overexpression of DNMT1 in HeLa cells exhibited the oppositive effects. Furthermore, CAS significantly reduced DNMT1 activity and transcription levels as well as stemness in HeLa-derived CCSLCs (P<0.05). Interestingly, DNMT1 knockdown enhanced the inhibitory effect of CAS on stemness. As expected, DNMT1 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of CAS on stemness in HeLa cells. Conclusion: CAS effectively inhibits stemness in CCSLCs through suppression of DNMT1 activation, suggesting that CAS acts as a promising preventive and therapeutic candidate in cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with organic solar cells (OSCs) adopting conventional architecture, inverted OSCs have offered generally better stability, where ZnO is the most widely used electron transporting layer (ETL) material. For ZnO-based inverted OSCs, a well-tuned interface of organic (active layer)-inorganic (ZnO film) with matched surface energy (γS) is critical for both high performance and high stability. In this work, two typical calixarenes, C4A and BuC4A, were employed as the tuning agents to adjust this organic-inorganic interface for ZnO-based inverted OSCs. As a result, with PM6:L8-BO as the active layer, significantly promoted power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) from 17.14% (for ZnO) to 18.25% (for ZnO/C4A) and 17.80% (for ZnO/BuC4A) were achieved. Photodynamic studies indicate that the enhanced performance is due to the faster charge extraction process, the suppressed recombination and more ideal internal electric field in ZnO/calixarene-based devices. In addition, well-matched interface energy and more ordered molecular aggregation in active layer effectively improved photostability and thermal stability for ZnO/calixarene-based devices. These results indicate that calixarenes could act as effective modifying agents of ZnO to improve inverted OSCs' performance and stability simultaneously, and likely also stimulate calixarenes' and other macromolecules' broader studies in other organic electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a traditional ornamental flower, rhododendrons are increasingly used in landscaping and urban greening. In this study, we surveyed 49 urban green areas and 134 sample sites in Nanjing, China, according to the functional type and administrative area of each green area using typical sampling and quadrat methods. We calculated the Rhododendron shrub community quantitative characteristics index and community diversity index to evaluate the species diversity of each Rhododendron shrub community. Additionally, the indicators of rhododendron planting in each sample site were counted to understand the characteristics of the application of rhododendrons in Nanjing's urban green space and to identify the problems. According to the Simpson index and Shannon–Wiener index of the Rhododendron shrub community, road green space and Xuanwu District have relatively higher species diversity, while the Pielou index indicates that road green space and Jianye District have relatively higher species evenness. A total of 11 Rhododendron cultivars were found in this survey, among which R. simsii 'ZiHuDie' was the most widely used cultivar in Nanjing urban greenery; however, this result shows that the applied Rhododendron cultivars are too homogeneous. This study highlights problems affecting Nanjing urban greening and can be used as a reference for future Rhododendron breeding research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface quality inspection of industrial printed circuit board (PCB) is a vitally important link in its manufacturing process. To inspect surface defects of PCBs effectively, the automatic optical inspection (AOI) technology, in which the PCB image acquisition depends on the path planning method, is widely adopted by industry. It is regarded as a characteristic travelling salesman problem (TSP), which includes component clustering, location adjustment and algorithm adaptation optimization. In this paper, by improving the ant colony algorithm (ACA) algorithm, we devise a PCB image acquisition path planning model and the corresponding solving algorithms. Because the ACA encounters difficulty escaping from the local optimal solution, an improved ACA with a negative feedback mechanism is proposed that is able to obtain a better tour path with a higher probability. Aiming at the uncertainty of the local location of image acquisition windows, location adjustment methods are introduced to further shorten the path length and improve the image acquisition efficiency. Finally, via simulation experiments, the proposed global negative feedback ACA (GNF-ACA) can shorten the average length of the tour path by 1.7% without changing the time complexity. The three methods of location adjustment can further shorten the length of the tour path by 5.6%, 13.1% and 13.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhododendron molle G. Don is a deciduous species of Rhododendron with unique yellow flowers. Carotenoids play a major role in flower coloration. Lycopene β-cyclase (LCYB) is an essential enzyme which catalyzes the synthesis of β-carotene from lycopene in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. However, the molecular function of the LCYB gene in R. molle remains unknown. In this study, the RmLCYB gene was first isolated from R. molle. The RmLCYB protein sequence showed high similarity with LCYB in other plant species. RmLCYB is expressed in petals during flower development and reaches the highest level at the initial flowering stage. The main content of carotenoid in R. molle flower is β-carotene. To verify the function of RmLCYB, we overexpressed RmLCYB in tobacco. We found that the total content of carotenoid in the transgenic tobacco with overexpression of RmLCYB gene increased 1.73-fold compared with the wild-type tobacco. The results indicate that the RmLCYB gene can enhance the carotenoid content and alter flower color. This gene has the potential to promote carotenoid synthesis and improve our ability to create evergreen azaleas with desirable yellow flower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a novel control algorithm to deal with trajectory tracking control problems of robotic manipulators based on adaptive backstepping integral nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (BINTSMC). The proposed approach is developed based on an integration between the integral nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (INTSMC) and stability analysis procedure of backstepping control technique. In addition, the extreme learning machine (ELM) learning algorithm is introduced to approximate lumped uncertain component of the dynamics model. The approximated lumped uncertain terms are transmitted to rebuild the dynamics and provide a compensation feedback for control systems. Moreover, the robust term is utilized to counteract the approximation residual error, wherein the nonconstant ELM approximation error is analyzed. The superior performance of the BINTSMC is validated by comparing conventional NTSMC in the simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has made tremendous progress in the last few years, the small medical datasets remain to be the major bottleneck in this area. To address this problem, researchers start looking for information out of the medical datasets. Previous efforts mainly leverage information from natural images via transfer learning. More recent research work focuses on integrating knowledge from medical practitioners, either letting networks resemble how practitioners are trained, how they view images, or using extra annotations. In this paper, we propose a scheme named Domain Guided-CNN (DG-CNN) to incorporate the margin information, a feature described in the consensus for radiologists to diagnose cancer in breast ultrasound (BUS) images. In DG-CNN, attention maps that highlight margin areas of tumors are first generated, and then incorporated via different approaches into the networks. We have tested the performance of DG-CNN on our own dataset (including 1485 ultrasound images) and on a public dataset. The results show that DG-CNN can be applied to different network structures like VGG and ResNet to improve their performance. For example, experimental results on our dataset show that with a certain integrating mode, the improvement of using DG-CNN over a baseline network structure ResNet18 is 2.17% in accuracy, 1.69% in sensitivity, 2.64% in specificity and 2.57% in AUC (Area Under Curve). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the margin information is utilized to improve the performance of deep neural networks in diagnosing breast cancer in BUS images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rhododendron is an important woody ornamental plant, and breeding varieties with different colors is a key research goal. Although there have been a few reports on the molecular mechanisms of flower colors and color patterning in Rhododendron, it is still largely unknown what factors regulate flower pigmentation in Rhododendron. Methods and results: In this study, the flower color variation cultivar 'Yanzhi Mi' and the wild-type (WT) cultivar 'Dayuanyangjin' were used as research objects, and the pigments and transcriptomes of their petals during five flower development stages were analyzed and compared. The results showed that derivatives of cyanidin, peonidin and pelargonidin might be responsible for the pink color of mutant petals and that the S2 stage was the key stage of flower color formation. In total, 412,910 transcripts and 2780 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in pairwise comparisons of WT and mutant petals. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of the DEGs showed that 'DNA-binding transcription factor activity', 'Flavonoid biosynthesis' and 'Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis' were more active in mutant petals. Early anthocyanin pathway candidate DEGs (CHS3-CHS6, CHI, F3Hs and F3′H) were significantly correlated and were more highly expressed in mutant petals than in WT petals in the S2 stage. An R2R3-MYB unigene (TRINITY_DN55156_c1_g2) was upregulated approximately 10.5-fold in 'Yanzhi Mi' petals relative to 'Dayuanyangjin' petals in the S2 stage, and an R2R3-MYB unigene (TRINITY_DN59015_c3_g2) that was significantly downregulated in 'Yanzhi Mi' petals in the S2 stage was found to be closely related to Tca MYB112 in cacao. Conclusions: Taken together, the results of the present study could shed light on the molecular basis of anthocyanin biosynthesis in two Rhododendron obtusum cultivars and may provide a genetic resource for breeding varieties with different flower colors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies have established a positive association between obesity and the incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer. Moreover, it is known that obesity promotes stem cell-like properties of breast cancer cells. However, the cancer cell-autonomous mechanisms underlying this correlation are not well defined. Here we demonstrate that obesity-associated tumor formation is driven by cellular adaptation rather than expansion of pre-existing clones within the cancer cell population. While there is no correlation with specific mutations, cellular adaptation to obesity is governed by palmitic acid (PA) and leads to enhanced tumor formation capacity of breast cancer cells. This process is governed epigenetically through increased chromatin occupancy of the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPB). Obesity-induced epigenetic activation of C/EBPB regulates cancer stem-like properties by modulating the expression of key downstream regulators including CLDN1 and LCN2. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that obesity drives cellular adaptation to PA drives tumor initiation in the obese setting through activation of a C/EBPB dependent transcriptional network. Obesity is linked to cancer risk in post-menopausal breast cancer. At the molecular level this is governed by cellular adaption to palmitic acid through epigenetic activation of a C/EBPB-dependent transcriptional network that drives tumor formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topological Hall effect (THE) as a powerful probe for the experimental observation of topological spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, has been observed in a wide variety of distinct material systems. However, limited experimental observations have been reported for antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials. Here, the THE signals in the AFM state were observed in compensated ferrimagnetic thin films interfaced with heavy metals at the magnetization compensation temperature (TM). Ferrimagnetic CoTb thin films grown on Pt thin films were used in the experiments. The CoTb films exhibited a magnetization compensation point at which the moments of Co and Tb sublattices canceled each other, giving rise to the AFM state. The temperature (T)-dependent Hall measurements showed anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and THE responses at T ≠ TM but pure THE responses at T = TM. Control measurements and analyses suggest that the THE responses are associated with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) rather than the overlapping of different AHE signals in the structure. This work presents the first-ever observation of interfacial DMI-induced THE in AFM metal trilayered systems and demonstrates a new approach for electrical reading of chiral spin textures in AFM thin film-based heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human serum albumin has shown remarkable efficacy in rodent models of ischemic stroke, while results from relevant clinical research on albumin therapy remain controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to quantitatively analyze the neurofunctional outcomes of patients with ischemic stroke treated with albumin. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched in July 2020. A total of four studies and 1611 patients were included. The aggregated results indicated that there were 635 patients with good neurological outcomes, among which 321 patients were in the albumin group (39.8%) and 314 patients in the control group (39.1%), showing no statistically significant difference between the albumin and control groups (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.85–1.27). The results suggest that albumin therapy at the acute stage of ischemic stroke has no beneficial effect on the long-term neurological function of patients with ischemic stroke. Considering pulmonary edema and other complications are more likely to occur in such patients after albumin infusion, the administration of albumin therapy for acute ischemic stroke should be done with utmost caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security logs in cloud environment like intrusion detection system (IDS) logs, firewall logs, and system logs provide historical information describing potential security risks. However, the use of logs for cyber intrusion detection relies heavily on expert knowledge. It is very difficult for the non-expert to identify these intrusion behaviors. This paper proposes a new method for mining association rules from multi-source logs to detect various intrusion behaviors in the cloud computing platform. In this method, a rule base is constructed to detect cyber intrusion. An adaptive approach is used to speed up the calculation of the association rule mining, in which the decision depends on the time complexity of the algorithm. Various cyber-attacks are simulated in the verification experiments which show the calculation speed of the proposed method is faster than other algorithms. Furthermore, compared with other methods, the performance of the proposed intrusion detection method is better than others in term of precision, recall, and f-measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Arborinine is a natural product isolated from G. parva leaf extracts, which displays potentially antiproliferative activity against human cervical cancer cells. In contrast, its anticancer effects against gastric cancer cells and drug-resistant gastric cancer cells remain unknown. In this work, arborinine was evaluated as a broad-spectrum antiproliferative agent, and it exhibited potently inhibitory activity against NCI-N87 (IC50 = 5.67 μM), BGC-823 (IC50 = 7.26 μM), MGC803 (IC50 = 4.75 μM), SGC-7901 (IC50 = 1.96 μM), HGC-27 (IC50 = 5.70 μM), SGC-7901/ADR (IC50 = 0.24 μM), SGC-7901/VCR (IC50 = 1.09 μM), and MGC803/PTX (IC50 = 1.32 μM) cell lines. Subsequent target verification experiments demonstrated that arborinine selectively and reversibly inhibited LSD1 in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, it was found that arborinine suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and adriamycin-resistant gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901/ADR in a dose-dependent manner. The in vivo antitumor study further indicated that arborinine can significantly reduce the growth of tumors both in SGC-7901 and SGC-7901/ADR xenograft mouse models. Overall, we demonstrated the potential of arborinine as an effective treatment for gastric cancer and adriamycin-resistant gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Baricitinib is an oral, selective inhibitor of Janus kinase which demonstrates clinical efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This report aims to analyze the onset time of baricitinib in Chinese patients with moderately to severely active RA who had an inadequate response to methotrexate. Methods: This post hoc analysis evaluated clinical improvements of Chinese patients treated with baricitinib 4 mg once daily compared with placebo, based on data from a phase 3 study RA-BALANCE. Efficacy measures including American College of Rheumatology 20% (ACR20) response, ACR core set values, Disease Activity Score modified to include the 28 diarthrodial joint count (DAS28) using high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), DAS28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Simplified Disease Activity Index, Clinical Disease Activity Index, DAS28-hsCRP ≤ 3.2 response (low disease activity), and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) were evaluated at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 14, 16, 20, and 24 (except for FACIT-F evaluated every 4 weeks). A logistic regression model and an analysis of covariance model were used to analyze treatment comparisons of categorical and continuous measures, respectively. Results: Statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvements were observed as early as week 1 or 2 for the baricitinib group compared to placebo in almost all main efficacy measures. For other outcomes including 66 swollen joint count, 68 tender joint count, FACIT-F, and DAS28-hsCRP ≤ 3.2 response rate, differences were evident (p ≤ 0.05) by week 4 in the baricitinib group compared with placebo. Significant improvements in all efficacy measures were sustained through 24 weeks. Conclusions: Baricitinib demonstrated a rapid onset of efficacy on ACR20 response, ACR core set values, disease activity, and patient-reported outcome improvements in Chinese patients from RA-BALANCE. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02265705. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the efficacy of the "Implementation Details of Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan", the chemical composition of PM2.5 and other pollutants was determined during the winters of 2013–2014 and 2016–2017 at two urban sites in Xiangtan City, Hunan. The concentrations of PM2.5, SO2, and NO2 decreased from 146.0 to 94.5 μg/m3, 75.9 to 33.5 μg/m3, and 80.6 to 55.8 μg/m3, respectively, from winter 2013–2014 to winter 2016–2017. The concentrations of almost all the major chemical components of PM2.5 decreased as well, particularly secondary inorganic aerosols (SIAs). These results indicate that the implementation of the air quality control plan was very effective in improving air quality. Analysis of the data also suggests that SIA formation is likely responsible for high winter PM2.5 pollution and that high relative humidity levels and low wind speed can promote the formation of SIA. A 72-h back trajectory analysis shows that both regional transport and the accumulation of local pollutants under stagnant meteorological conditions promote the occurrence of episodes of high wintertime pollution levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pestaloamides A and B (1 and 2), two novel alkaloids featuring an unprecedented spiro[imidazothiazoledione-alkylidenecyclopentenone] scaffold, were obtained from the cultures of an endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis sp. HS30 which inhabited the stems of Isodon xerophilus. Their planar structures and absolute configurations were fully determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis and X-ray crystallography. In addition, both compounds 1 and 2 showed the latent tumor immunotherapy activity through markedly promoting the cell surface engagement of NKG2D ligands involving MICA/B and ULBP1 in HCT116 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a potential anti-renal interstitial fibrotic drug. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of how NCTD works remains unclear. In this study, using both in vivo and in vitro models, we report that the level of β-catenin is positively correlated to the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF). Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) binds to β-catenin and suppresses its phosphorylation, thereby increasing the total β-catenin expression. Additionally, NCTD dramatically elevates the level of phosphorylated β-catenin and decreases total β-catenin expression in a dose-dependent manner, consequently leading to the reduction of RIF. Mechanistically, PP2A-mediated suppression of β-catenin phosphorylation is an essential target for the anti-renal interstitial fibrotic effect of NCTD. Therefore, we report a potential theoretical basis for clinical application of NCTD in treating RIF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current task scheduling is separated from the virtual machine (VM) allocation, which, to some extent, wastes resources or degrades application performance. The scheduling algorithm influences the demand of VMs in terms of service-level agreement, while the number of VMs determines the performance of task scheduling. Workload plays an indispensable role in both dynamic VM allocation and task scheduling. To address this problem, we coordinate task scheduling and VM allocation based on workload characteristics. Workload is empirically time-varying and stochastic. We demonstrate that the acquired workload data set has Markov property which can be modeled as a Markov chain. Then, three workload characteristic operators are extracted: persistence, recurrence and entropy, which quantify the relative stability, burstiness, and unpredictability of the workload, respectively. Experiments indicate that the persistence and recurrence of workloads has a direct bearing on the average response time and resource utilization of the system. A nonlinear model between the load characteristic operators and the number of VMs is established. In order to test the performance of the collaborative framework, we design a scheduling algorithm based on genetic algorithm (GA), which takes the estimated number of VMs as input and the task completion time as the optimization target. Simulation experiments have been performed on the CloudSim platform, testifying that the estimated average absolute VMs error is only 2.6%. The GA-based task scheduling algorithm could improve resource utilization and reduce task completion time compared with the first come first serve and greedy algorithm. The proposed coordination mechanism in this paper has proved able to find the optimal match and reduce the resource cost by utilizing the interaction between VM allocation and task scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource-constrained project scheduling problem is one of the most intractable problems in the field of operation research and management science. It is important for both academic research and engineering applications to develop effective solution algorithms for scheduling problems. In this paper, the activity back-shift response model is introduced for scheduling problems, based on which a resource-constrained scheduling model is built, and a two-phase decomposition algorithm is proposed to address the project resource-constraint and timing optimization. The first stage is resource optimization, where the conflicted activities are resolved by a genetic algorithm. In this case, if parallel activities are scrambling resources during resource optimization, the activity priority, determined by comparing the activity back-shift response time, is applied to dissolve the resource conflict. The second stage is timing optimization. After obtaining the progress plan with optimized resource constraints, activities are adjusted to move forward as much as possible. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by a real project case. The computational results reveal that the proposed model and algorithm obtain appropriate results and have the potential to be applied to other similar problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the risk of epilepsy recurrence after withdrawal from antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), researchers extensively studied recurrence-related risk factors, including electroencephalogram (EEG) during AED withdrawal. The relationship between EEG and epilepsy recurrence is controversial. We used meta-analysis to determine the correlation between EEG during AED withdrawal and epilepsy recurrence. A total of seven studies met the criteria for inclusion. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to conduct the research quality evaluation. Seven hundred three patients were included in meta-analysis. Patients with abnormal EEGs during withdrawal had a higher recurrence rate than patients with normal EEGs. Abnormal EEGs during withdrawal were a risk factor for recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell surface proteins are important target molecules for biomarkers discovery. Diseases are often reflected within the glycan profiles of proteins. As such, studying the glycan profiles of cell surface proteins may give rise to new biomarker or drug target discoveries. Focused on cell surface glycoproteins, hydrazine technology had been applied to cell surface protein capturing (CSC) technology. In this study, hydrazide-functionalized magnetic beads were used to capture surface glycoproteins on intact cells and the released N-glycan profiling, except protein profiling, was investigated by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) detection. The use of magnetic beads gave rapid separation and enrichment of the captured glycoproteins. The sample processing parameters, including the ratio of cells to hydrazine groups, oxidation time and cell incubation time with magnetic beads, cell lysis and glycopeptide cleavage methods, were evaluated using MALDI-TOF–TOF mass spectrometry analysis. Subsequently, citric acid was applied at optimized temperature for the glycan cleavage from the beads. The technique developed has the potential in sensing, diagnostic and therapeutic applications by speeding up the method development of glycoprotein identification, N-glycan profiling, drug target screening and biomarker discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sialylation affects circulating half-life, charge distribution, and other biochemical properties of therapeutic glycoproteins. Loss of protein sialylation during glycoprotein-producing bioprocesses could lead to a low final protein sialylation level and bring negative effects on subsequent clinical efficacy. In this work, an Fc-fusion protein-producing Chinese hamster ovary cell fed-batch culture process was studied and insights into the loss of protein sialylation during the Fc-fusion protein production phase (days 5 to 13) were presented. The results showed that the decreased total sialic acid content was 13.84 μg/mg during the production phase, which accounted for 24% of the total sialic acid content on day 5. The lost sialic acids were predominantly from α 2-3 sialylation on N- and O-glycans. Through cell-free incubation and kinetics studies, it was found that the decreased sialic acid content caused by extracellular sialic acid degradation and incomplete glycan biosynthesis were 7.79 μg/mg and 6.05 μg/mg, respectively. The two processes had a nearly equal contribution to the loss of final product sialylation. Detailed characterizations revealed that decreases in sialic acid content were due either to extracellular sialic acid degradation via hydrolysis of α 2-3 sialic acids probably by released cytosolic sialidase or to a lack of galactosylated glycan availability for sialylation during late-stage glycosylation. Our work provides a better understanding of losses in protein sialylation during glycoprotein manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The primary aim of the present study is to explore whether brief education can change Chinese adolescents' and parents' beliefs about when counselors would breach confidentiality. The two secondary aims are to examine whether the brief education (1) increases adolescents' willingness to share private information with their counselor and (2) decreases parents' expectations of the amount of information their child's counselor would divulge to them. Results showed that adolescents and parents who read a brief passage about the limitations of confidentiality were significantly less likely to believe counselors would breach confidentiality in situations where counselors reported they would not likely breach confidentiality. Regarding our secondary research aims, results indicate that education increases adolescents' willingness to share more sensitive information, such as about suicidality and drug use, but it does not change parents' expectations to have most of the information divulged to them by their child's counselor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the large quantity of three-dimensional (3D) models and the manual operation process used for their virtual assembly, production line assembly design is time consuming and cannot readily meet the requirements of normalization. To address these problems, we propose a rapid virtual assembly approach based on the smart recognition of assembly features and present a system based on this concept. A 3D-two-dimensional (2D)-3D assembly feature recognition mode is proposed. The 3D models are first standardized using a standardization algorithm. The standardized 3D models are subsequently divided into six half parts, and each half part is projected into the coordinate plane to obtain its 2D projection drawing. The contours of the 2D projection drawings are obtained via a contour-recognition algorithm, and segments in contours are classified into different groups according to collinearity. A lightweight 3D model of the original 3D model is created through a series of Boolean operations. Assembly features can be obtained by matching the lightweight 3D model with the original 3D model. The recognized assembly features are used in the rapid assembly system to perform the assembly, and the constraints among these features are automatically added when two models are in proximity. Three comparison tests are conducted, and the results show that the system simplifies the assembly process, greatly increases the assembly design efficiency of the production line, and simultaneously reduces the workload and operational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epileptogenesis, induced by status epilepticus (SE), is a chronic process, and intervention in this progress may prevent chronic epilepsy. It has been proposed that DNA methylation might be related with epileptogenesis. RASgrf1 has a differentially methylated region at the promoter which can silence gene expression. We have previously observed the down-regulation of RASgrf1 in epilepsy patients and proved that hypermethylation of RASgrf1 reaches maximal level at the latent period in mice after kainate-induced SE (KA mice), with corresponding alteration of RASgrf1 expression. In the present study, N-phthalyl-L-tryptophan (RG108), a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, was applied in KA mice at latent phase and the behavior, electroencephalogram and pathological changes were observed in chronic phase. Methylation and expression of RASgrf1 were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), western blotting, and bisulfite sequencing PCR. The results showed that the incidence of spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) was significantly lower in the RG108 group than the normal saline (NS) group. Subgroup analysis showed significant hypermethylation and lower expression of RASgrf1 in the RG108-SRS subgroup and the NS-SRS subgroup but not in the RG108-NSRS (no SRS) subgroup and the NS-NSRS subgroup compared with the control group. No significant difference was found between the RG108-SRS and NS-SRS subgroups. Meanwhile, hippocampal neuronal loss was observed in RG108-SRS and NS-SRS subgroups. We thus demonstrated that RG108 could modify the progression of epileptogenesis after KA induced SE and prevent chronic epilepsy. Meanwhile, hypermethylation of RASgrf1 after KA induced SE could be reversed with corresponding changes of RASgrf1 expression. Additionally, we speculated that RASgrf1 might be a potential epigenetic mediator in epileptogenesis and chronic epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhododendron molle G. Don occupies an important phylogenetic node in the genus rhododendron with unique yellow flower and medicinal functions. However, only limited genetic resources and their genome information are available for the generation of rhododendron flowers. The next generation sequencing technologies enables generation of genomic resources in a short time and at a minimal cost, and therefore provide a turning point for rhododendron research. Our goal is to use the genetic information to facilitate the relevant research on flowering and flower color formation in R. molle. In total, 66,026 unigenes were identified, among which 31,298 were annotated in the NCBI non-redundant protein database and 22,410 were annotated in the Swiss-Prot database. Of these annotated unigenes, 9490 and 18,680 unigenes were assigned to clusters of orthologous groups and gene ontology categories, respectively. A total of 7177 genes were mapped to 118 pathways using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database. In addition, 8266 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected, and these SSRs will undoubtedly benefit rhododendron breeding work. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed that 32 unigenes were predicted to be involved in carotenoid biosynthesis. Our transcriptome revealed 32 engines that encode key enzymes in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, including PSY, PDS, LCYB, LCYE, etc. The content of β-carotene was much higher than the other carotenoids throughout the flower development. It was consistent with the key genes expression level in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway by the Illumina expression profile analysis and the qRT-PCR analysis. Our study identified genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis in R. molle and provides a valuable resource for understanding the flowering and flower color formation mechanisms in R. molle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium channel blocking antiepileptic drugs (SCB-AEDs) are common effective medications available for epilepsy. However, not all patients respond to this regimen and drug resistance is frequently encountered. Rs2298771(c.3184A > G/p.Thr1067Ala) and rs3812718(IVS5N +5G > A) polymorphisms are two of the most common polymorphisms in the SCN1A gene, which is closely related to resistance to SCB-AEDs. Therefore, we have conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the contribution of the two polymorphisms to resistance of SCB-AEDs. The PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to September 2017, for studies on the association of SCN1A polymorphisms with resistance to SCB-AEDs. A fixed-effects or random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios based on the results from the heterogeneity tests. A total of eight studies were eligible for the pooled analysis, of which eight studies included SCN1A rs3812718 polymorphism and four studies included SCN1A rs2298771 polymorphism. The results showed that SCN1A rs2298771 polymorphism was significantly associated with resistance to SCB-AEDs. (A vs. G: OR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.61-0.95, P = 0.02; AA vs. AG + GG: OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.54-0.94, P = 0.022). However, no association was observed between SCN1A rs3812718 polymorphism and resistance to SCB-AEDs. Our results indicate that the A-allele of SCN1A rs2298771 polymorphism, especially AA genotype, may play an important role in responsiveness to SCB-AEDs, while SCN1A rs3812718 polymorphism is not associated with SCB-AEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enantiopure vicinal amino alcohols and derivatives are essential structural motifs in natural products and pharmaceutically active molecules, and serve as main chiral sources in asymmetric synthesis. Currently known asymmetric catalytic protocols for this class of compounds are still rare and often suffer from limited scope of substrates, relatively low regio- or stereoselectivities, thus prompting the development of more effective methodologies. Herein we report a dual catalytic strategy for the convergent enantioselective synthesis of vicinal amino alcohols. The method features a radical-type Zimmerman–Traxler transition state formed from a rare earth metal with a nitrone and an aromatic ketyl radical in the presence of chiral N,N′-dioxide ligands. In addition to high level of enantio- and diastereoselectivities, our synthetic protocol affords advantages of simple operation, mild conditions, high-yielding, and a broad scope of substrates. Furthermore, this protocol has been successfully applied to the concise synthesis of pharmaceutically valuable compounds (e.g., ephedrine and selegiline). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is the residue of edible mushroom production occurring in huge amounts. The SMS residue can be digested for biogas production in the mesophilic anaerobic digestion. In the present study, performance of batch thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) of SMS was investigated as well as the interconnected microbial population structure changes. The analyzed batch TAD process lasted for 12 days with the cumulative methane yields of 177.69 mL/g volatile solid (VS). Hydrolytic activities of soluble sugar, crude protein, and crude fat in SMS were conducted mainly in the initial phase, accompanied by the excessive accumulation of volatile fatty acids and low methane yield. Biogas production increased dramatically from days 4 to 6. The degradation rates of cellulose and hemicellulose were 47.53 and 55.08%, respectively. The high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed that Proteobacteria (56.7%-62.8%) was the dominant phylum in different fermentative stages, which was highly specific compared with other anaerobic processes of lignocellulosic materials reported in the literature. Crenarchaeota was abundant in the archaea. The most dominant genera of archaea were retrieved as Methanothermobacter and Methanobacterium, but the latter decreased sharply with time. This study shows that TAD is a feasible method to handle the waste SMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence suggests that ion channels not only regulate electric signaling in excitable cells but also play important roles in the development of human cancer. However, the roles of ion channels in glioma remain controversial. We systematically analyzed the expression patterns of ion channel genes in a cohort of Chinese patients with glioma using whole-genome mRNA expression profiling. First, a molecular signature comprising 47 ion channel genes (IC47) was identified using Spearman's rank correlation test conducted between tumor grade and gene expression. We assigned a risk score based on IC47 to each glioma patient. We demonstrated that the risk score effectively predicted overall survival in glioma patients. Next, we screened IC47 in different molecular glioma subtypes. IC47 showed a Mesenchymal subtype and wild-type IDH1 preference. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and gene set variation analysis (GSVA) for the functional annotation of IC47 showed that patients with high-risk scores tended to exhibit the decreased expression of proteins associated with the apoptosis and cell adhesion, and higher expression of proteins associated with the cell cycle and cell proliferation. These results suggest that ion channel gene expression could improve the subtype classification in gliomas at the molecular level. The findings in the present study have been validated in two independent cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solidification characteristics and microstructure evolution in grey cast iron were investigated through Jmat-Pro simulations and quenching performed during directional solidification. The phase transition sequence of grey cast iron was determined as L → L + γ → L + γ + G → γ + G → P (α + FeC) + α + G. The graphite can be formed in three ways: directly nucleated from liquid through the eutectic reaction (L → γ + G), independently precipitated from the oversaturated γ phase (γ → γ + G), and produced via the eutectoid transformation (γ → G + α). The area fraction and length of graphite as well as the primary dendrite spacing decrease with increasing cooling rate. Type-A graphite is formed at a low cooling rate, whereas a high cooling rate results in the precipitation of type-D graphite. After analyzing the graphite precipitation in the as-cast and transition regions separately solidified with and without inoculation, we concluded that, induced by the inoculant addition, the location of graphite precipitation changes from mainly the γ interdendritic region to the entire γ matrix. It suggests that inoculation mainly acts on graphite precipitation in the γ matrix, not in the liquid or at the solid-liquid front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chip multi-processors are applied in embedded system. An embedded system with multi-cores is considered large and consumes substantial power. Scathed-pad memory (SPM) and non-volatile memory (NVM) are new memory technologies, and an embedded system that uses SPM and NVM can reduce its size and power consumption.This study proposes an optimization of data allocation with data migration algorithm on task-level (TODMA). Data migration and dynamic programming are co-dependent and are combined to allocate task data in TODMA. In the experiments, we evaluated the performance of TODMA algorithm based on DSPstone benchmark and random benchmark. Results of DSPstone show that TODMA reduces the time cost, the number of write activities on NVM, and system energy consumption by 36.25, 24.58, and 34.41 %, respectively, compared with the greedy algorithm. The corresponding reductions are 33.82, 10.00, and 24.27 %, respectively, compared with the iterational optimal data placement algorithm (IODA). For the random benchmark, TODMA can reduce the time cost, the number of write activities on NVM, and system energy consumption by 26.79, 33.32, and 26.88 %, respectively, compared with the greedy algorithm. The advanced percentages are 25.17, 9.87, and 19.54 %, respectively, which are similar to IODA algorithm. Results show that the proposed TODMA algorithm effectively optimizes data allocation problems, improves system performance, reduces the number of write activities on NVM main memory, and lessens system energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the finite-time asymptotic synchronization problem of a class of dynamical complex networks with adjustable couplings. Pinning controllers are developed to guarantee that synchronization errors of pinned nodes converge to zero within finite-time. The effects of couplings in networks are further studied, and adaptive schemes for adjusting coupled strength are provided to ensure the finite-time synchronization of unpinned nodes. Through the Lyapunov function and adaptive schemes, some results indicating that control strategies and coupling adjustment laws can guarantee the asymptotic synchronization of pinned and unpinned nodes within finite-time respectively, are obtained. Simulation results are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]