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Words are essential parts for understanding classical Chinese poems. We report a collection of 32,399 classical Chinese poems that were annotated with word boundaries. Statistics about the annotated poems support a few heuristic experiences, including the patterns of lines and a practice for the parallel structures (對仗), that researchers of Chinese literature discuss in the literature. The annotators were affiliated with two universities, so they could annotate the poems as independently as possible. Results of an inter-rater agreement study indicate that the annotators have consensus over the identified words 93 per cent of the time and have perfect consensus for the segmentation of a poem 42 per cent of the time. We applied unsupervised classification methods to annotate the poems in several different settings, and evaluated the results with human annotations. Under favorable conditions, the classifier identified about 88 per cent of the words, and segmented poems perfectly 22 per cent of the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical karst habitats are characterized by limited and patchy soil, large rocky outcrops and porous substrates, resulting in high habitat heterogeneity and soil moisture fluctuations. Xylem hydraulic efficiency and safety can determine the drought adaptation and spatial distribution of woody plants growing in karst environments. In this study, we measured sapwood-specific hydraulic conductivity (K s), vulnerability to embolism, wood density, saturated water content, and vessel and pit anatomical characteristics in the branch stems of 12 evergreen tree species in a tropical karst seasonal rainforest in southwestern China. We aimed to characterize the effects of structural characteristics on hydraulic efficiency and safety. Our results showed that there was no significant correlation between K s and hydraulic safety across the tropical karst woody species. K s was correlated with hydraulic vessel diameter (r  = 0.80, P  < 0.05) and vessel density (r  = −0.60, P  < 0.05), while the stem water potential at 50 and 88% loss of hydraulic conductivity (P 50 and P 88) were both significantly correlated with wood density (P  < 0.05) and saturated water content (P  = 0.052 and P  < 0.05, respectively). High stem water storage capacity was associated with low cavitation resistance possibly because of its buffering the moisture fluctuations in karst environments. However, both K s and P 50 /P 88 were decoupled from the anatomical traits of pit and pit membranes. This may explain the lack of tradeoff between hydraulic safety and efficiency in tropical karst evergreen tree species. Our results suggest that diverse hydraulic trait combination may facilitate species coexistence in karst environments with high spatial heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing prominence of machine learning has led to an increased focus on enhancing the inference performance of edge devices to reduce latency and improve efficiency. Two widely adopted strategies for accelerating computational performance are quantisation and the utilisation of AI hardware accelerators. Each type of accelerator or inference engine offers distinct advantages, with accelerators primarily designed to optimise neural network operations. In this paper, we present an innovative method for integrating TVM's quantisation flow with the MediaTek Neuropilot AI accelerator. We outline the process of converting the TVM relay intermediate-representation quantised neural network dialect model to a tensor-oriented quantisation format, with the aim of harnessing the full potential of both TVM and MediaTek NeuroPilot. This integration enables more efficient neural network inference while preserving the accuracy of the results. We assessed the effectiveness of our proposed integration by conducting a series of experiments and comparing the performance of our approach with that of TVM equipped with an autotuning mechanism. The findings indicate that our approach substantially outperforms TVM in both floating-point model inference and quantised model inference, with inference speedups of up to 11× and up to 70×, respectively. These results underscore the potential of our approach in accelerating AI performance across a diverse range of applications and edge devices. Moreover, a key contribution of our work is providing a valuable practical method for other hardware companies interested in integrating TVM with their own accelerators to achieve performance gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, a vinylene‐linked covalent organic framework (V‐COF‐1) was integrated with multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to create a modified electrode (V‐COF‐1/MWCNTs/SPCE) for electrochemical sensing applications. Objective: This research focus to investigate the application of the modified electrode for the simultaneous determination of tryptophan (Trp), uric acid (UA), and 8‐hydroxy‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) in human urine samples and the mechanism between V‐COF‐1 and the analytes (Trp, UA, and 8‐OHdG) by studying tryptophan metabolites, dopamine, and L‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (L‐DOPA). Methods: The electrochemical performance of V‐COF‐1/MWCNTs/SPCE was evaluated using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and use cyclic voltammetry (CV) to detect the modified electrode to explore its electrochemical properties. Results: Under optimized conditions, V‐COF‐1/MWCNTs/SPCE exhibited efficient electron transfer for Trp, UA, and 8‐OHdG, with low detection limits (S/N = 3) of 0.03 μM, 0.06 μM, and 0.006 μM, respectively. The modified electrode demonstrated high selectivity for the target analytes in the presence of interfering species, as well as excellent repeatability and stability. The recoveries of Trp, UA, and 8‐OHdG in human urine samples ranged from 90.6% to 104.8%, which shows that this method has been successfully applied for the simultaneous detection of Trp, UA and 8‐OHdG in biological sample analysis. Conclusions: The integration of V‐COF‐1 and MWCNTs onto the modified electrode showed promising results for the simultaneous detection of Trp, UA, and 8‐OHdG. The developed sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity, selectivity, repeatability, and stability. These findings contribute to the advancement of electrochemical sensor technology for biomedical applications and highlight the potential of V‐COF‐1/MWCNTs/SPCE in analytical chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the effect of different chemotherapy schemes on the prognosis, immune function and adverse reactions of breast cancer patients with low HER-2 expression after surgery. Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out on the clinical data of 60 breast cancer patients with low HER-2 expression in Wuxi No.2 people’s Hospital from January 2018 to December 2019. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups according to the different chemotherapy schemes. Patients in the DC group were treated with polyethylene glycol-coated liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide, and those in the TC group were treated with TC (docetaxel+cyclophosphamide). Further comparison was performed on the difference in prognosis, immune function and adverse reaction between the two groups after different chemotherapy schemes. Results: After four courses of treatment, the IgG, CD4+ and CD4+ /CD8+ values in the DC group after treatment were higher than those before treatment, while the IgG, CD3+ and CD4+ values in the TC group after treatment were lower than those before treatment(P<0.05). Meanwhile, the IgG, CD4+ and CD4+ /CD8+ values in the DC group were better than those in the TC group after treatment(P<0.05). During the treatment, the adverse reactions of leukopenia, alopecia, nausea and vomiting in the DC group were significantly lower than those in the TC group(P<0.05). Conclusion: The chemotherapy combination of liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide can significantly improve immune function and greatly reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions in early-stage breast cancer patients with low HER-2 expression after surgery. It has the same effect as docetaxel+cyclophosphamide in improving the prognosis of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living roots and their rhizodeposits can accelerate or decelerate the decomposition of soil organic matter which refers to the rhizosphere priming effect (RPE). However, whereas plant traits are thought to be key factors controlling the RPE, little is known about how root traits representative of plant biomass allocation, morphology, architecture, or physiology influence the magnitude of the RPE. Using a natural abundance 13C tracer method allowing partitioning of native soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition and plant rhizosphere respiration, we studied here the effects of eight C3 tree species featuring contrasting functional traits on C4 soil respiration over a 204‐day period in a microcosm experiment. All tree species enhanced the rate of SOC decomposition, by 82% on average, but the strength of the rhizosphere priming significantly differed among species. Mean diameter of first‐order roots and root exudate‐derived respiration were positively correlated with the RPE, together explaining a large part of observed variation in the RPE (R2 = 0.72), whereas root branching density was negatively associated with the RPE. Path analyses further suggested that mean diameter of first‐order roots was the main driver of the RPE owing to its positive direct effect on the RPE and its indirect effects via root exudate‐derived respiration and root branching density. Our study demonstrates that the magnitude of the RPE is regulated by complementary aspects of root morphology, architecture and physiology, implying that comprehensive approaches are needed to reveal the multiple mechanisms driving plant effects on the RPE. Overall, our results emphasize the relevance of integrating root traits in biogeochemical cycling models to improve model performance for predicting soil C dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing prominence of machine learning has led to an increased focus on enhancing the inference performance of edge devices to reduce latency and improve efficiency. Two widely adopted strategies for accelerating computational performance are quantisation and the utilisation of AI hardware accelerators. Each type of accelerator or inference engine offers distinct advantages, with accelerators primarily designed to optimise neural network operations. In this paper, we present an innovative method for integrating TVM's quantisation flow with the MediaTek Neuropilot AI accelerator. We outline the process of converting the TVM relay intermediate-representation quantised neural network dialect model to a tensor-oriented quantisation format, with the aim of harnessing the full potential of both TVM and MediaTek NeuroPilot. This integration enables more efficient neural network inference while preserving the accuracy of the results. We assessed the effectiveness of our proposed integration by conducting a series of experiments and comparing the performance of our approach with that of TVM equipped with an autotuning mechanism. The findings indicate that our approach substantially outperforms TVM in both floating-point model inference and quantised model inference, with inference speedups of up to 11× and up to 70×, respectively. These results underscore the potential of our approach in accelerating AI performance across a diverse range of applications and edge devices. Moreover, a key contribution of our work is providing a valuable practical method for other hardware companies interested in integrating TVM with their own accelerators to achieve performance gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an atypical conventional gear pair, non-circular gear has a variable transmission ratio, which can be used to improve the structure and transmission characteristics in some applications, such as variable speed grinding mechanism, wool blending machine guide mechanism, continuously variable transmission structure and so on. According to the friction theory of conjugate surfaces, the transmission characteristics will be affected by the micro topography of tooth surface, but the shaped tooth surface of non-circular gear with normal hobbing method is not uniform, because of its variable radius and flank orientations of tooth surface. The research on the relationship between micro topography and parameters of non-circular gear is necessary, thus an improved manufacturing method with ultrasonic-assisted motion was presented in this paper, the mathematical equations for the theoretical tooth surface of non-circular gear with and without ultrasonic-assisted motion have been derived in this paper, also the equations for cutting parameters (step displacement, step rotating angle) have been proposed, shown that all the parameters (initial parameters of gear and gear hob, cutting parameters in manufacturing process) will affect the formed micro surfaces. In detail, the height 𝐻𝑚 and width 𝑆𝑚 of micro undulating tooth surface periodically increase and decrease, getting the maximum value at 𝜃𝑛 = 𝜋, where is the maximum radius. The height 𝐻𝑚 and width 𝑆𝑚 of micro tooth surface will increase with any control parameter increase, the height 𝐻𝑚 of most micro peaks is near 6.5um in normal hobbing process. While, the tooth surface with ultrasonic-assisted motion is more regular and clearer with the maximum height 𝐻𝑚 decrease from 6.5 um to 2.7 um, getting more compact cutting tracks and lower surface roughness. The experimental results shows that ultrasonic-assisted hobbing has obviously positive influence for micro tooth surface, provides the theoretical support for a further analysis and better application of unconventional gear pair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated potassium (K) accumulation characteristics and expression of K metabolism related genes in one high-K variety (ND202) and a common variety (NC89) of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Results showed that K accumulation and leaf K content in ND202 were higher than those in NC89. The distribution rate and K accumulation in the leaves of ND202 increased significantly, while the distribution rate in the roots and stems had lower values. In addition, the maximum K accumulation rate and high-speed K accumulation duration in ND202 were found to be better than those in NC89. The expression of NKT1 in the upper and middle leaves of ND202 had an advantage, and the relative expression of NtKC1 and NtTPK1 in both the upper and middle leaves, as well as the roots, was also significantly upregulated. Conversely, the expression of NTRK1 in the lower leaves and roots of ND202 was weaker. ND202 had significantly greater expression levels of NtHAK1 than NC89 in the upper and middle leaves and roots; moreover, the expression of NtKT12 in the upper leaves and roots of ND202 was also higher. In comparison with common varieties, high-K varieties had a stronger ability to absorb and accumulate K. They also possessed higher expression of K+ channel- and transporter-related genes and showed a superior K accumulation rate and longer duration of high-speed K accumulation. Furthermore, K accumulation rate at 40–60 days can be suggested as an important reference for the selection of high-K tobacco varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Failure mechanism of titanium alloy is identified under multiaxial loading in the VHCF. • A pragmatic equivalent method for multiaxial to uniaxial load is proposed. • A multiaxial fatigue life prediction method based on uniaxial S-N curve is proposed. Fatigue failure mechanism of Ti60 titanium alloy under tension–torsion multiaxial loading in the very high cycle regime was studied first, and the results showed that the shear/axial stress ratio directly affects the failure mechanism. When the shear/axial stress ratio is relatively small, cracks tend to originate from the subsurface in single-point initiation mode, and the larger the shear/axial stress ratio, the more cracks tend to originate from the surface in multi-point initiation mode. Then, a pragmatic equivalent method for multiaxial to uniaxial load based on the law of shear/axial stress ratio on fatigue strength was proposed. Based on this method and uniaxial S - N curve, the fatigue lives of Ti60 specimens under shear/axial stress ratios of 1.37, 1.95, and 3.53 was predicted, and the experimental results showed that the prediction error is basically within a factor of 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a typical intermetallic material, TiAl is inevitably difficult to process by conventional methods. Additive manufacturing (AM) has recently become a new option for making net-shape TiAl components. Among all AM methods, electron beam melting (EBM) shows the potential to make TiAl components with good mechanical properties and is used for low pressure turbine blades. The mechanical properties, including tensile and compression properties, fracture toughness, fatigue and creep properties of EBM TiAl are reviewed and compared to the conventionally fabricated alloys. Results show that the tensile strength of EBM alloys is higher than cast alloys, and other properties are comparable to the cast/forged alloys. The sensitivity of mechanical properties and microstructure to EBM processing parameters is presented. Issues including layered microstructure, anisotropy in mechanical properties, and fatigue failure from defects are also reviewed. Finally, some opportunities and challenges of EBM TiAl are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Himalayan Orogen is a typical continental collision orogenic belt that formed during India-Asia collision. The orogeny involved a transition in tectonic regime, which led to E-W-trending extension during the middle Miocene. At the same time, widespread post-collisional adakitic magmatism occurred in southern Tibet, particularly in the Lhasa Terrane, and these rocks provide a valuable record of the collisional geodynamic processes within the lithosphere. Few studies have focused on the middle Miocene adakitic rocks of the Himalayan Orogen, so further research is required to constrain their origin and geodynamics. This study presents new geochronological and geochemical data, including the whole rock Sr-Nd and zircon Hf isotopic compositions from the Mayum pluton in the Mayum-Gong Tso area, Northern Himalaya. Zircon U-Pb ages show that the Mayum granodiorite porphyries crystallized at 16.67 ± 0.14 Ma (mean square weighted deviation [MSWD] = 0.82, n = 29) and 16.68 ± 0.16 Ma (MSWD = 1.13, n = 28), indicating that they formed during the middle Miocene. The major and trace element characteristics are as follows: SiO2 = 65.79-67.31 wt%, Al2O3 = 15.28-16.00 wt%, MgO = 1.77-1.89 wt%, Y = 12.0-13.5 ppm, Yb = 0.11-0.99 ppm, Sr = 719-822 ppm, (La/Yb)N = 21.89-27.02, Sr/Y = 56.1-65.5, and the rocks have weak negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.76-0.85), indicating that they are adakitic rocks and show high Sr-Ba granite affinity. The Mayum granodiorite porphyries have high K2O contents (3.42-3.65 wt%), Na2O (3.76-4.04 wt%), and K2O/Na2O ratios of 0.91-0.95, indicating a high-K calc-alkaline affinity. All samples are enriched in large-ion lithophile elements and depleted in high field strength elements. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios are 0.709262-0.709327 and εNd(t) values are -6.36 to -7.07, which correspond to two-stage Nd model ages [TDM2(Nd)] of 1405-1348 Ma. In situ zircon Lu-Hf isotopic compositions are variable, with 176Hf/177Hf ratios of 0.2823845-0.282824, εHf(t) values of -13.37 to +2.17, and two-stage Hf model ages [TDM2(Hf)] of 1704-841 Ma. These geochemical and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic characteristics indicate that the Mayum granodiorite porphyries may be derived from partial melting of the subducted Indian thickened ancient mafic lower crust (~92%) mixed with depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt mantle material input (~8%) slightly. Crust-mantle interaction was induced by asthenospheric upwelling followed by the underplating of the Himalayan lower crust beneath Southern Tibet during the middle Miocene in response to significant changes in the geodynamics of the India-Asia collisional orogen. These deep geodynamic processes reflect the break-off or rollback of the subducted Indian continental slab, which caused asthenospheric upwelling, the input of juvenile heat, and the addition of depleted mantle material. This study indicates that the middle Miocene Himalayan adakitic rocks, which include the Miocene Yardoi two-mica granite, Gyangzê granite porphyry dike, Bendui two-mica granite, Langkazi enclave, Kuday dacitic dike, Lasa pluton, and Mayum pluton, form a belt of adakitic rocks in the Northern Himalaya to the south of the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone. These adakitic rocks have similar temporal and spatial distributions, geochemical features, and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions, indicating that their petrogenesis and geodynamic settings were similar. At that time there was widespread initiation of N-S-trending rifting, exhumation of central Himalayan eclogites, and large changes in the compositions of Himalayan leucogranites in the Himalayan Orogen. These can be attributed to significant changes in the characteristics of the subducted Indian continental lithosphere during the middle Miocene. The middle Miocene Himalayan adakitic rocks provide valuable insights into this transition in the tectonic regime and deep geodynamic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Crack initiation on the oversized facet formed by α p phase cluster cleavage is found. • The size of oversized facet can be predicted by the value of stress intensity factor range. • A simplified model is proposed to describe the microstructure short crack propagation. • A full-life prediction model based on crack propagation is proposed in VHCF regime. • A deterministic life prediction model considering the effect of temperature is proposed. The very high cycle fatigue crack initiation mechanism of Ti60 titanium alloy at different temperatures was studied. The results showed that the initiation of cracks occurred on oversized facets in the subsurface. Based on this crack initiation mechanism, a full-life prediction model based on crack propagation at room temperature was first proposed, and then a very high cycle fatigue life prediction model considering temperature was proposed based on the degradation law of tensile strength at different temperatures. The experimental and predicted life results of Ti60 specimen at room temperature with 300 °C and 500 °C showed that the proposed method can effectively predict the very high cycle fatigue life, and the error is within a factor of 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a leading allergic disease worldwide, demonstrating an ever‑increasing prevalence over the past two decades. Asthma is characterized by allergen‑associated airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) that primarily results from T helper 2 (Th2) cell inflammation, in which dendritic cells (DCs) serve an important role in determining T cell development after encountering an antigen. Atractylodin (ATL), a polyethene alkyne extracted from Atractylodis rhizoma (also known as Cangzhu), has proven effective in treating digestive disorders, rheumatic disease and influenza. In addition, ATL was discovered to alleviate mouse collagen‑induced arthritis via regulating DC maturation. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of ATL on asthma given that DCs serve an essential role in Th2‑mediated inflammation in asthma. Mouse model of asthma was induced by ovalbumin (OVA). OVA‑induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected. The production of IgE and IgG1 in serum and cytokines in BALF were detected by ELISA. The effects of ATL on dendritic cells maturation and T cell expansion were detected by flow cytometry analysis and 3H‑thymidine incorporation. Using a model of OVA‑induced asthma, it was demonstrated that ATL ameliorated AHR and decreased the levels of IL‑4, IL‑5 and IL‑13 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and OVA‑specific IgE and IgG1 in the serum. OVA‑stimulated splenocytes were used to demonstrated that ATL decreased cell expansion and the production of IL‑4, IL‑5 and IL‑13 in the culture medium. In order to determine the cellular mechanism of ATL in asthma, splenic DCs were isolated and it was subsequently observed that ATL downregulated the expression levels of CD40 and CD80. Furthermore, OVA‑stimulated CD4+ T cells were co‑cultured with splenic DCs, which revealed that ATL‑treated splenic DCs led to impaired cellular proliferation and the production of IL‑4, IL‑5 and IL‑13 in OVA‑stimulated T cells. In conclusion, these results indicated that ATL may suppress antigen‑specific Th2 responses in an OVA‑induced allergic asthma model via regulating DCs. Therefore, ATL may exhibit therapeutic potential in the management of asthma and other allergic diseases presenting with Th2 inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marijuana intoxication impairs neurocognitive functions. Common side effects of consuming cannabis include time distortion and memory loss. However, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms involved in these effects remain unclear. We hypothesized that communication between the hippocampal CA1 region and medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) is essential for the transmission of temporal‐associated information. We used a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate (DRL) task, which requires subjects to press a lever at an optimal time point, to correlate the distributions of interresponse time (IRT) with local field potentials (LFPs) recorded in the CA1 and MEC under the effects of a cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor agonist. We used a DRL 10‐s schedule and trained the rats to withhold for 10 s before pressing a lever. Our data showed that the percentage of 12.4‐ to 14‐s IRT events rose after activation of CB1 receptors in the MEC. In addition, gamma amplitude synchronization and CA1 theta phase–MEC gamma amplitude coupling decreased during the 6‐ to 14‐s IRT events. These results suggest that activation of CB1 receptors in the MEC disrupt the functional connectivity between the CA1 and the MEC. This inefficient communication may result in increased IRT during a DRL schedule. Overall, we postulate that marijuana intoxication impairs the communication between the CA1 and MEC and influences behavioral performances that require precise timing ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients with parotid lymph node (PLN) metastasis remains unclear. This study was performed to investigate the prognostic significance and optimal staging category of PLN metastasis and develop a nomogram for estimating individual risk. Materials and Methods: Clinical data of 7,084 non-metastatic NPC patients were retrospectively reviewed. Overall survival (OS) was the primary endpoint. A nomogram was established based on the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The accuracy and calibration ability of this nomogram was evaluated by C-index and calibration curves with bootstrap validation. Results: Totally, 164/7,084 NPC patients (2.3%) presented with PLNs. Multivariate analyses showed that PLN metastasis was a negative prognostic factor for OS, progression-free survival (PFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS). Patients with PLN metastasis had a worse prognosis than N3 disease. Five independent prognostic factors were included in the nomogram, which showed a C-index of 0.743. The calibration curves for probability of 3- and 5-year OS indicated satisfactory agreement between nomogram-based prediction and actual observation. All results were confirmed in the validation cohort. Conclusion: NPC patient with PLN metastasis had poorer survival outcome (OS, PFS, DMFS, and LRFS) than N3 disease. We developed a nomogram to provide individual prediction of OS for patients with PLN metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The curve-face gear pair is a new type of face gear pair with a variable transmission ratio. Concerning the complexity of its tooth surface, based on the coordinate transformation principle and the spatial meshing theory, a discrete algorithm of this tooth surface was proposed. The determination rule of the limiting points on the tooth surface was analyzed by introducing the generating method and tooth surface characteristics of this gear tooth. Through the corresponding limiting angles and the distribution law of the contact line, the gear tooth surface was discretized, and the theoretical data points of the tooth surface were obtained. The variations in gear tooth surface in a meshing cycle and under different parameters were analyzed. By comparing the virtual tooth model and the corresponding rolling experiment, the correctness of the tooth surface discrete algorithm of the curve-face gear was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main aim of this study was to establish a scoring model to predict risk of progression and survival in patients with regionally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: Three hundred and forty-eight patients subjected to neck dissection from 2003 to 2017 were included for study. Clinicopathologic information for each patient was analyzed. Independent prognostic factors were selected using the Cox proportional hazards model and incorporated into the scoring model. Concordance index (C-index) and calibration curves were used to verify discrimination and calibration, respectively and the results validated using bootstrap resampling. Results: Microscopic positive lymph node > 2 [hazard ratio (HR), 2.19; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.30-3.68; P = 0.003], extranodal extension (HR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.69-4.47; P < 0.001), and lower neck involvement (HR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.04-3.04; P = 0.034) were identified from multivariate analysis as independent factors for overall survival (OS). A qualitative 4-point scale was generated to stratify patients into 4 risk groups for predicting OS and progression-free survival (PFS). The novel scoring model demonstrated enhanced discrimination (C-index = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.62-0.76) relative to the original recurrent tumor-node-metastasis (rTNM) staging system (C-index = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.50-0.62), and was internally validated with a bootstrap-adjusted C-index of 0.70. The calibration curve showed good agreement between predicted probabilities and actual observations. Conclusions: The scoring system established in this study based on a large regionally recurrent NPC cohort fills a gap regarding assessment of risk and prediction of survival outcomes after neck dissection in this population and could be further applied to identify high-risk patients who may benefit from more aggressive intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization represents one of the largest fluxes in the global carbon cycle. Numerous studies have shown that soil organic carbon decomposition was largely changed owing to the addition of litter, however very few studies have focused on the role of plant organs in the priming effects (PEs). Here, we studied the effects of different Pinus massoniana organs (fresh leaf, leaf litter, twigs, absorptive fine roots, and transport fine roots) on C4 soil respiration by applying the 13C isotopic natural abundance method. Results showed that the effects of plant organs on PEs were significantly different at the end of 210 days incubation, which can be ascribed to contrasting organs traits especially non-structural carbohydrates and water-soluble compounds. Transport fine roots and fresh leaf induced positive PE, whereas absorptive fine roots induced negative PE. Leaf litter did not change the native SOC decomposition. Plant organ addition can change the microbial community and result in the reduction of bacteria-to-fungi ratio. Our results suggest that with regard to determining the PE of the entire ecosystem, using fresh leaf to represent leaf litter and aboveground to represent underground is implausible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concrete expanded-plate pile (The CEP pile) is a kind of pile suit to oceanographic engineering because of the highest bearing capacity for uplift and overturning resistance, this paper aims to study the stress state of CEP pile in fine silt soil. To this end, with the water content of fine silt soil as one single variable, the small-model soil embedded test of halfsection pile was conducted to observe the failure state of the surrounding soil under the vertical tension, and then to confirm the calculation method of single-pile ultimate uplift bearing capacity. By comparing the test model with finite element model, this paper also discusses both calculation modes of punch failure and sliding failure, explores the calculation method of CEP single-pile ultimate bearing capacity under constraints or no constraints on the surface of soil sampling device, and further makes modifications to the related formula of ultimate bearing capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Subsurface failure is in the form of oversized facet formed by α p phase cluster cleavage. • The oxide shedding causes the surface failure at high temperature. • Higher temperature and stress make the oxide shedding failure mechanism dominant. The failure mechanism of Ti60 titanium alloy in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) and very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) at different temperatures was investigated. The results showed that, at different temperatures, there are two different fatigue failure mechanisms, i.e., the oversized facet and oxide shedding failure mechanisms. At room temperature, most of the fatigue cracks initiate at the oversized facet. At 300℃, the crack initiates at the oversized facet for the test with small applied stress, while the crack initiates at the oxide shedding site for the test with large applied stress. At 400℃, all the fatigue cracks initiate at the oxide shedding site. Higher temperature and stress will be conducive to the failure mechanism of oxide shedding to become dominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant litter inputs can promote the decomposition of soil organic matter (OM) through the priming effect (PE). However, whereas leaf litter chemistry has long been identified as the primary driver of litter decomposition within biomes world‐wide, little is known about how litter chemical traits influence the occurrence and strength of the PE.Here, we studied the effects of 15 co‐occurring C3 leaf litters of contrasting chemistry on C4 soil respiration by analysing changes in 13C natural abundance during early and later stages of litter decomposition (up to 125 days).Besides an apparent PE of 16% in the first 3 days, soil C respiration was increased by 24% on average with leaf litter addition in the initial stage of decomposition (4–26 days) and by 8% at later stages (27–125 days). Most interestingly, soil PE related well to initial litter chemistry and the dominant factors influencing the magnitude of the PE changed with decomposition stage. In the early stage of decomposition, litter leachate C content and litter hemicellulose concentration were positively correlated with the strength of the PE, whereas tannin concentration was negatively associated with soil PE. Together, tannin and hemicellulose explained half of the observed variation in the PE (R2 = 0.58). In the later phase of decomposition, lignin and lignin:N ratios were negatively related to the PE, whereas Ca, K and Mg concentrations were positively related to the PE; lignin alone gave the best prediction of the PE (R2 = 0.58) at later decomposition stages.Our findings provide evidence that the magnitude and direction of the PE is influenced by the chemistry of OM inputs and suggest that, as decomposition proceeds differently among litter of contrasting chemistry, litters can also have variable effect on soil PE through time. The predictive power of litter chemical traits on soil PE opens new perspectives for improving our mechanistic understanding of soil PE and improving our abilities to model soil C dynamics at variable scales. A plain language summary is available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the course of life, there is time when we live independently in our house without anyone to look after each other. In order to support these people and ensure their safety with limited medical resources and human labors, it is important to constantly monitor one’s activity of daily living (ADL). Therefore, we propose an activity recognition (AR) system for people living independently in smart homes to achieve the concept of “aging in place.” The AR model adopted by the proposed system is powerful to recognize meaningful ADL by integrating heterogeneous data from both ambient and on-body sensors. Moreover, this proposed system adopts a nonparametric approach, which requires much fewer efforts from humans. The average AR precision and recall rates of this proposed system are up to 98.7% and 99.0%, which indicates its feasibility of deployment in a real-life home environment for monitoring users’ ADL with promising performance and thus helps realize “aging in place.” Note to Practitioners—With the advance of Internet of Things technologies, it is convenient to collect data about ADL in a smart home environment via ambient sensors and on-body sensors. This proposed system integrates data from these two heterogeneous sensors and discovers potential activities automatically without user labeling or parameter setting. By reducing the above-mentioned user efforts, it is more suitable for users and thus greatly helps realize the concept of “aging in place.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a coordinated beamforming design for a multiple-input single-output bursty interference channel. In practical scenarios, the distributed medium access control mechanisms or the decentralized networking protocols across different users contribute to the bursty nature of network traffic. The potential gains provided by such burstiness can be exploited by feeding back the interference state information to the transmitters. Errors may occur during such feedback, thus causing uncertainties in the user traffic and resulting in complicated beamforming design problems. In this paper, we model such traffic uncertainties by using a hidden Markov model (HMM). Assuming that perfect channel state information (CSI) is available at the transmitters, our goal is to maximize the average system utility subjected to average power constraints under traffic uncertainties. We also extend the optimization problem to the imperfect CSI case. However, the resulting problem is highly nonconvex. Hence, we apply a series of convex approximation techniques. We further improve the approximation accuracy by using our proposed successive convex approximation (SCA) algorithms (HMM-SCA). In our simulation results, we observe that our proposed HMM-SCA provides a $46.3\%$ improvement in weighted sum rate over the SCA algorithm, in which the interference is assumed to be always present (NB-SCA). For the average weighted geometric mean rate, we observe that our proposed HMM-SCA also provides a $41.3\%$ improvement over the NB-SCA when user fairness is considered. Therefore, it is crucial to exploit bursty traffic for a practical wireless communication system when channel estimation errors are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial energy production is essential for normal brain function. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases brain energy demands, results in the activation of mitochondrial respiration, associated with enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species. This chain of events triggers neuronal apoptosis via oxidation of a mitochondria-specific phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL). One pathway through which cells can avoid apoptosis is via elimination of damaged mitochondria by mitophagy. Previously, we showed that externalization of CL to the mitochondrial surface acts as an elimination signal in cells. Whether CL-mediated mitophagy occurs in vivo or its significance in the disease processes are not known. In this study, we showed that TBI leads to increased mitophagy in the human brain, which was also detected using TBI models in male rats. Knockdown of CL synthase, responsible for de novo synthesis of CL, or phospholipid scramblase-3, responsible for CL translocation to the outer mitochondrial membrane, significantly decreased TBI-induced mitophagy. Inhibition of mitochondrial clearance by 3-methyladenine, mdivi-1, or phospholipid scramblase-3 knockdown after TBI led to a worse outcome, suggesting that mitophagy is beneficial. Together, our findings indicate that TBI-induced mitophagy is an endogenous neuroprotective process that is directed by CL, which marks damaged mitochondria for elimination, thereby limiting neuronal death and behavioral deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies support the use of herbal medicine or natural products for chemotherapy in human cancers. Reports have associated curcumin (CUR), dimethoxy curcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) with numerous biological activities including anticancer activities, but no available information have shown that these induced apoptotic cell death and autophagy in human oral cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the effect of CUR, DMC and BDMC on the cell viability, apoptotic cell death, reactive oxygen species (ROS), Ca 2 + , mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) and caspase activities using flow cytometry assay and autophagy by monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and acridine orange (AO) staining in human oral cancer SAS cells. Results indicated that CUR, DMC and BDMC decreased total viable cell number through the induction of cell autophagy and apoptosis in SAS cells. Cells were pretreated with N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), 3-methyladenine (3MA), rapamycin and carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoro-methylketone (Z-VAD-fmk) and then were treated with CUR, DMC and BDMC that led to increased total viable cell number when compared to CUR, DMC and BDMC treatments only. Results indicated induced apoptotic cell death through ROS, mitochondria-dependent pathway and induction of cell autophagy. Based on those observations, we suggest that CUR, DMC and BDMC could be used as a potential anticancer agent in human oral cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncaria rhynchophylla ([Mi] Jack) (gouteng) exerts antidepressive effects. Rhynchophylline (RH), a major component of U. rhynchophylla , exerts similar pharmacological effects to those of gouteng. Thus, RH may have antidepressive effects. To investigate the anti-depressive effects of RH in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depressive mice. The anti-depressive mechanism of RH determined by measuring the 5-HT levels, the expressions of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in cortex and hippocampus. The behaviors of CUMS-induced depressive mice were measured using an open field test (OFT), forced swimming test (FST), and tail suspension test (TST). 5-HT levels were measured using an ELISA kits. The expressions of BDNF and CREB were determined using western blot test. RH increased the frequency of rearing and grooming in the OFT and decreased the immobility time in the FST and TST. RH effectively increased the 5-HT level and BDNF and CREB expressions in the cortex and hippocampus. Our findings indicate that the antidepressive mechanism of RH is related to increased levels of 5-HT from regulating CREB and BDNF expressions in cortex and hippocampus. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the station-keeping control for an underwater vehicle keeping balance motions and performing accurate manipulations in underwater inspections. In order to control position and maintain bilateral balance in deep water, a controller is designed with a Sprott system-based self-synchronization error formulation and a bisection approach algorithm to enhance the performances of brushless dc motors. A sufficiently high but not exceeding metacentric height (GM) is designed for the proposed underwater vehicle. Depth control with a pressure sensor is carried out depth gauge to determine the operated voltages. Using the voltage control mode, the practical tracking controller can maintain the same dynamics for bilateral propellers. Uncertainty dynamic parameters cannot be precisely modeled in a vehicle, and another one can track the pre-specified dynamic responses of a reference model. It keeps the bilateral propeller balancing operations by close-loop controlling the duty ratios of a buck-boost converter. In contrast with the incremental conductance based controller and PID controller, the proposed bilateral propellers controller is used to demonstrate the superior performances in depth and station-keeping tests, operating with armature voltages of 0–30 VDC and rotor speeds of 0–900 rpm in 0–3 m diving depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mid-subtropical forest is one of the biggest sections of subtropical forest in China and plays a vital role in mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon. Studies have examined carbon storage density (CSD) distribution in temperate forests. However, our knowledge of CSD in subtropical forests is limited. In this study, Jiangle County was selected as a study case to explore geographic variation in CSD. A spatial heterogeneity analysis by semi-variogram revealed that CSD varied at less than the mesoscale (approximately 2000-3000 m). CSD distribution mapped using Kriging regression revealed an increasing trend in CSD from west to east of the study area. Global spatial autocorrelation analysis indicated that CSD was clustered at the village level (at 5% significance). Some areas with local spatial autocorrelation were detected by Anselin Local Moran's I and Getis-Ord G*. A geographically weighted regression model showed different impacts on the different areas for each determinant. Generally, diameter at breast height, tree height, and stand density had positive correlation with CSD in Jiangle County, but varied substantially in magnitude by location. In contrast, coefficients of elevation and slope ranged from negative to positive. Based on these results, we propose certain measures to increase forest carbon storage, including increasing forested area, improving the quality of the current forests, and promoting reasonable forest management decisions and harvesting strategies. The established CSD model emphasizes the important role of mid-subtropical forest in carbon sequestration and provides useful information for quantifying mid-subtropical forest carbon storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have revealed the clinical significance of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in gastric cancer, whereas the role of the cytokines that orchestrate TAM polarization in gastric cancer remains elusive. The present study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of granulocyte-macro-phage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) expression in patients with gastric cancer. Intratumoral GM-CSF expression was investigated by immunohistochemical staining in 408 retrospectively enrolled patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression models were used to evaluate the prognostic value of GM-CSF expression. Predictive nomograms were generated to predict the overall survival and disease-free survival rates of the patients. Decreased intratumoral GM-CSF expression was identified, and indicated a poorer clinical outcome for patients with gastric cancer, particularly in advanced stages. Intratumoral GM-CSF expression may provide an additional risk stratification for the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer based on the Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) staging system. Cox multivariate analysis identified GM-CSF expression as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival time. The generated nomograms performed well in predicting the 3-and 5-year clinical outcome of patients with gastric cancer. In conclusion, GM-CSF is a potential independent prognostic indicator for patients with gastric cancer, which may be integrated with TNM staging systems to improve the predictive accuracy for clinical outcome, particularly in advanced tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrO2 powders were modified by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with CeO2 and ZrO2, using Ce(TMHD)4and Zr(TMHD)4as the precursors, in order to determine the effect of ALD films on the structure, surface area, and catalytic properties of the ZrO2. Growth rates were measured gravimetrically and found to be 0.017 nm/cycle for CeO2 and 0.031 nm/cycle for ZrO2. The addition of 20 ALD cycles of either CeO2 or ZrO2 was found to stabilize the surface area of the ZrO2 powder following calcination to 1073 K and to suppress the tetragonal-to-monoclinic transition. Shrinkage of ZrO2 wafers was also suppressed by the ALD films. When used as a support for Pd in CO oxidation, the CeO2-modified materials significantly enhanced rates due to interactions between the Pd and the CeO2. Potential applications for modifying catalyst supports using ALD are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought disasters cause great economic losses in China every year, especially in its southwest, and they have had a major influence on economic development, lives, and property. In this study, precipitation and drought hazards were examined for a region covering Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi Provinces to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of different drought hazard grades in this region. Annual precipitation data from 90 meteorological stations in or around the study area were collected and organized for the period of 1964-2013. A spatiotemporal covariance model was calculated and fitted. The Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) method, which considers physical knowledge bases to reduce errors, was used to provide an optimal estimation of annual precipitation. Regional annual precipitation distributions were determined. To analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of the drought hazard, the annual standardized precipitation index was used to measure drought severity. A method that involves space-time scan statistics was used to detect the most likely spatiotemporal clusters of the drought hazards. Test-significance p values for all of the calculated clusters were less than 0.001, indicating a high significance level. The results showed that Yunnan Province was a drought-prone area, especially in its northwest and center, followed by Guizhou Province. In addition, Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces were cluster areas of severe and extreme drought. The most likely cluster year was 1966; it was clustered five times during the study period. In this study, the evolutionary process of drought hazards, including spatiotemporal distribution and spatiotemporal clustering characteristics, was considered. The results may be used to provide support for prevention and mitigation of drought in the study area such as optimizing the distribution of drought-resisting resources, drought monitoring, and evaluating potential drought impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species identification of Scenedesmus‐like microalgae, comprising Desmodesmus, Tetradesmus, and Scenedesmus, has been challenging due to their high morphological and genetic similarity. After developing a DNA signaturing tool for Desmodesmus identification, we built a DNA signaturing database for Tetradesmus. The DNA signaturing tool contained species‐specific nucleotide sequences of Tetradesmus species or strain groups with high similarity in ITS2 sequences. To construct DNA signaturing, we collected data on ITS2 sequences, aligned the sequences, organized the data by ITS2 sequence homology, and determined signature sequences according to hemi‐compensatory base changes (hCBC)/CBC data from previous studies. Four Tetradesmus species and 11 strain groups had DNA signatures. The signature sequence of the genus Tetradesmus, TTA GAG GCT TAA GCA AGG ACCC, recognized 86% (157/183) of the collected Tetradesmus strains. Phylogenetic analysis of Scenedesmus‐like species revealed that the Tetradesmus species were monophyletic and closely related to each other based on branch lengths. Desmodesmus was suggested to split into two subgenera due to their genetic and morphological distinction. Scenedesmus must be analyzed along with other genera of the Scenedesmaceae family to determine their genetic relationships. Importantly, DNA signaturing was integrated into a database for identifying Scenedesmus‐like species through BLAST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous work in household energy conservation has focused on rule-based home automation to achieve energy savings, with relatively few researchers focusing on context-aware technologies. As a result, user comfort is often disregarded and few solutions handle decision conflicts caused by multiple activities undertaken by multiple users. The main contribution of this work is twofold. First, a comprehensive human-centric and context-aware comfort index is proposed to evaluate how users feel under particular environmental conditions with regard to thermal, illumination, and appliance-usage preferences. Second, the energy savings is formulated into an optimization problem to minimize the total energy consumption, even under multiple user comfort constraints. Short-term evaluation in our simulated home environment resulted in energy savings of at least 28.98%. Long-term evaluation using a home simulator resulted in energy savings of 33.7%. Most importantly, the energy savings in both situations was achieved under multiple user comfort constraints, representing a truly human-centric living environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PRPS1 (phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase 1), which drives the nucleotide biosynthesis pathway, modulates a variety of functions by providing central building blocks and cofactors for cell homeostasis. As tumor cells often display abnormal nucleotide metabolism, dysregulated de-novo nucleotide synthesis has potential impacts in cancers. We now report that PRPS1 is specifically and highly expressed in chemoresistant (CR) cancer cells derived from cisplatin-resistant human breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3 and MCF-7. The inhibition of PRPS1 activity in CR cells by genetic silencing reduces cell viability and increases apoptosis in vitro, both of which can be further potentiated by cisplatin treatment. Significantly, such down-regulation of PRPS1 in CR cells when administered to nude mice enhanced the survival of those animals, as demonstrated by decreased tumor growth. Knockdown of PRPSI may cause these effects by potently inducing autonomous activation of caspase-3 and inhibiting the proliferation in the engrafted CR tumors. As a result, cisplatin sensitivity in a xenograft model of CR cancer cells can be restored by the down-regulation of PRPS1. Thus, PRPS1 inhibition may afford a therapeutic approach to relapsed patients with breast cancer, resistant to chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of curve-face gear drive, a generalized nonlinear dynamic model based on Lagrange Bondgraphs was presented. The model considered the effects of the basic parameters of curve-face gear, such as meshing frequency, eccentricity k and the order number n1 of non-cylindrical gears. Utilizing this simulation model, the vibration characteristics of curve-face gears were analysed. It is indicated that the vibration response of the curve-face gear is more complex than that of the face gear due to the influence of external excitation. These characteristics determine that this gear pair cannot be applied directly to a transmission system with high speed. Finally, a related experiment was proposed to present the validation of the numerical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging viral pathogen that causes severe morbidity and mortality. Up to date, there is no approved or licensed vaccine or antiviral medicines can be used to treat MERS-CoV-infected patients. Here, we analyzed the antiviral activities of resveratrol, a natural compound found in grape seeds and skin and in red wine, against MERS-CoV infection.Methods: We performed MTT and neutral red uptake assays to assess the survival rates of MERS-infected Vero E6 cells. In addition, quantitative PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescent assays determined the intracellular viral RNA and protein expression. For viral productivity, we utilized plaque assays to confirm the antiviral properties of resveratrol against MERS-CoV.Results: Resveratrol significantly inhibited MERS-CoV infection and prolonged cellular survival after virus infection. We also found that the expression of nucleocapsid (N) protein essential for MERS-CoV replication was decreased after resveratrol treatment. Furthermore, resveratrol down-regulated the apoptosis induced by MERS-CoV in vitro. By consecutive administration of resveratrol, we were able to reduce the concentration of resveratrol while achieving inhibitory effectiveness against MERS-CoV.Conclusion: In this study, we first demonstrated that resveratrol is a potent anti-MERS agent in vitro. We perceive that resveratrol can be a potential antiviral agent against MERS-CoV infection in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential predictive biomarker(s) to respond to chemotherapy in gastric cancer are unclear. Excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1), a DNA repair enzyme, is associated with clinical outcomes in gastric cancer. Here, we investigated the expression of ERCC1 in gastric cancer with platinum-based chemotherapy after surgery, and the association between ERCC1 expression and clinical parameters was analyzed. Our data showed that high levels of ERCC1 expression were positively associated with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy but not with lymph node metastasis and pathological stage. In addition, patients with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy probably had lymph node metastasis and pathological stage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We computed linguistic information at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels for Recognizing Inference in Text (RITE) tasks for both traditional and simplified Chinese in NTCIR-9 and NTCIR-10. Techniques for syntactic parsing, named-entity recognition, and near synonym recognition were employed, and features like counts of common words, statement lengths, negation words, and antonyms were considered to judge the entailment relationships of two statements, while we explored both heuristics-based functions and machine-learning approaches. The reported systems showed their robustness by simultaneously achieving second positions in the binary-classification subtasks for both simplified and traditional Chinese in NTCIR-10 RITE-2. We conducted more experiments with the test data of NTCIR-9 RITE, with good results. We also extended our work to search for better configurations of our classifiers and investigated contributions of individual features. This extended work showed interesting results and should encourage further discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary pancreatic leiomyosarcoma is a rare pancreatic malignancy; the clinical presentation and treatment is not well-characterized. Further, the molecular mechanisms underlying its pathogenesis are not known. We report a patient with pancreatic stromal tumor that progressed to primary pancreatic leiomyosarcoma with hepatic and peritoneal metastases. Case presentation: A 54-year-old woman was found to have pancreatic and hepatic tumor masses on routine health checkup. Owing to the difficulty in performing biopsy, this patient underwent open operation. Histopathological examination of pancreatic and liver biopsy specimen demonstrated spindle cells with nuclear mitoses. Immunohistochemical examination showed positive staining for Cluster of Differentiation117 (+) and negative staining for S-100 (-) and Smooth Muscle Actin (-). Thus, the patient was diagnosed as a case of advanced pancreatic stromal tumor with liver metastases. After surgery, treatment with oral imatinib mesylate combined with thymosin injection therapy was prescribed. Follow-up examination at 13-months revealed multiple nodular masses in liver and right peritoneum. The patient underwent a second surgery. Liver biopsy and the resected peritoneal specimen showed positive staining for Discovered On Gastrointestinal tumor-1(weak +), Actin (+), Smooth Muscle Actin (+) and negative staining for Cluster of Differentiation117 (-) Cluster of Differentiation34 (-) and S-100 (-). Histopathological examination showed spindle cells with nuclear mitoses. The final diagnosis was primary pancreatic leiomyosarcoma, transdifferentiating from pancreatic stromal tumor, with liver and peritoneal metastases. Conclusions: Surgery is the first line treatment for primary pancreatic leiomyosarcoma and extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumors. In the present case, radical resection was not performed owing to hepatic metastases. Palliative treatment with radioactive 125I ion implantation and microwave coagulation therapy was administered. However, the long-term therapeutic effect needs to be assessed in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic mechanisms, and participates in the pathogenic processes of many diseases. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the genome have been reported and implicated in a number of different diseases, tissues and cell types, and are associated with gene expression levels. Therefore, identification of DMRs is one of the most critical and fundamental issues in dissecting the disease etiologies. Based on bisulfite conversion, advances in sequence- and array-based technologies have helped investigators study genome-wide DNA methylation. Many methods have been developed to detect DMRs, and they have revolutionized our understanding of DNA methylation and provided new insights into its role in diverse biological functions. According to data and region types, we discuss various methods in detecting DMRs, their utility and limitations comprehensively. We recommend using a few of the methods in the same data and region type to detect DMRs because they could be complementary to one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three pentacyclic triterpene dilactones were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma colossum, a medicinal mushroom. Colossolactone H (colo H) as a new compound and the most cytotoxic among the isolates was studied for its anticancer mechanism and the potential use in cancer therapy. Gene expression profiling analysis indicated that treatment of lung cancer cells with colo H caused upregulation of 252 genes and downregulation of 398 genes. Gene ontology enrichment analysis indicated that the downregulated genes were the most significantly enriched in cell cycle progression, and the upregulated genes were significantly enriched in metabolic process, cellular response to stimulus, and oxidation reduction. Accordingly, colo H was found to halt cell growth and induce cell apoptosis via the elevation of cellular reactive oxygen species to cause DNA damage and the increase of tumor suppressor p53 protein. These events facilitate additive cytotoxicity of colo H and gefitinib for gefitinib-resistant H1650 lung cancer cells. Furthermore, combination of colo H and gefitinib effectively inhibited the growth of tumor xenografts in athymic mice. In addition to the efficacy in adjunctive cancer therapy, we have also demonstrated the isolation of colo H from cultivated G. colossum. Thus it is feasible to use colo H or Ganoderma colossum for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen addition has been shown to affect plant litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. The way that nitrogen deposition impacts the relationship between plant litter decomposition and altered soil nitrogen availability is unclear, however. This study examined 18 co-occurring litter types in a subtropical forest in China in terms of their decomposition (1 yr of exposure in the field) with nitrogen addition treatment (0, 0.4, 1.6, and 4.0 mol·N·m−2·yr−1) and soil fauna exclusion (litter bags with 0.1 and 2 cm mesh size). Results showed that the plant litter decomposition rate is significantly reduced because of nitrogen addition; the strength of the nitrogen addition effect is closely related to the nitrogen addition levels. Plant litters with diverse quality responded to nitrogen addition differently. When soil fauna was present, the nitrogen addition effect on medium-quality or high-quality plant litter decomposition rate was −26% ± 5% and −29% ± 4%, respectively; these values are significantly higher than that of low-quality plant litter decomposition. The pattern is similar when soil fauna is absent. In general, the plant litter decomposition rate is decreased by soil fauna exclusion; an average inhibition of −17% ± 1.5% was exhibited across nitrogen addition treatment and litter quality groups. However, this effect is weakly related to nitrogen addition treatment and plant litter quality. We conclude that the variations in plant litter quality, nitrogen deposition, and soil fauna are important factors of decomposition and nutrient cycling in a subtropical forest ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full-flexure micro gripper with three-stage amplification has been designed. The pseudo-rigid-body (PRB) model of a bridge-type amplification mechanism (BTAM) and micro gripper are established; the input/output stiffness of the BTAM are deduced on the use of the compliant mechanism, Castigliano's theorem and the PRB method. The characteristic equations and state-space equations of the micro gripper are derived on the basis of bond graph theory. The displacement simulation curve and flexible hinge angular simulation curve of the micro gripper are acquired through Matlab R2013b programming. Ansys13.0 finite element simulation software is utilized for simulation analysis of the micro gripper micro-motion. The micro gripper is 3D printed using laser rapid prototyping technology, and a test bench has been set up. The experimental value, finite element analysis value, and Matlab simulation value are comparatively analysed, and the change rules are essentially the same. As a result, the validity of the bond graph model of the micro gripper is verified, and providing a new effective method for the flexible mechanism analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2,3,9,10-Substituted pentacene tetraesters and pentacene diester-dinitriles were synthesized. These pentacene derivatives underwent an unusual solid state [4 + 4] thermal dimerization with good efficiency and complete stereoselectivity. This observation indicates this series of pentacene derivatives adopt π-π stacking geometry with large mutual overlap in solid state. This notion was confirmed by molecualr dynamic simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigate the molecular mechanisms of caspases and mitochondria in the extrinsic and intrinsic signal apoptosis pathways in human leukemia HL-60 cells after in vitro exposure to 18α-glycyrrhetinic acid (18α-GA). Cells were exposed to 18α-GA at various concentrations for various time periods and were harvested for flow cytometry total viable cell and apoptotic cell death measurements. Cells treated with 18α-GA significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 100 μM at 48 h. The cell growth inhibition resulted in induction of apoptosis and decreased the mitochondria membrane potential (ΔΨm) and increased caspase-8, -9 and -3 activities. Furthermore, cytochrome c and AIF were released from mitochondria, as shown by western blotting and confirmed by confocal laser microscopy. Western blotting showed that 18α-GA increased the levels of pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bax and Bid and decreased the anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, furthermore, results also showed that 18α-GA increased Fas and Fas-L which are associated with surface death receptor in HL-60 cells. Based on those observations, the present study supports the hypothesis that 18α-GA-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells involves the activation of the both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The peripheral structure of Dalian stadium is a long-span spatial truss structure. To ensure the safety of the peripheral structure during construction and operation period, the permanent structure health monitoring system is implemented. This paper first introduces the structural features of the Dalian stadium, and then illustrates the permanent monitoring program from the aspects of the hardware, the monitoring scheme and the function. This developed monitoring system is utilized to monitor the stress of the truss, and the dynamic response of the structure. Large amounts of data are obtained through the health monitoring system, and thus the safe condition of the structure can be evaluated based on data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-genetic phenotypic variation is common in biological organisms. The variation is potentially beneficial if the environment is changing. If the benefit is large, selection can favor the evolution of genetic assimilation, the process by which the expression of a trait is transferred from environmental to genetic control. Genetic assimilation is an important evolutionary transition, but it is poorly understood because the fitness costs and benefits of variation are often unknown. Here we show that the partitioning of damage by a mother bacterium to its two daughters can evolve through genetic assimilation. Bacterial phenotypes are also highly variable. Because gene-regulating elements can have low copy numbers, the variation is attributed to stochastic sampling. Extant Escherichia coli partition asymmetrically and deterministically more damage to the old daughter, the one receiving the mother’s old pole. By modeling in silico damage partitioning in a population, we show that deterministic asymmetry is advantageous because it increases fitness variance and hence the efficiency of natural selection. However, we find that symmetrical but stochastic partitioning can be similarly beneficial. To examine why bacteria evolved deterministic asymmetry, we modeled the effect of damage anchored to the mother’s old pole. While anchored damage strengthens selection for asymmetry by creating additional fitness variance, it has the opposite effect on symmetry. The difference results because anchored damage reinforces the polarization of partitioning in asymmetric bacteria. In symmetric bacteria, it dilutes the polarization. Thus, stochasticity alone may have protected early bacteria from damage, but deterministic asymmetry has evolved to be equally important in extant bacteria. We estimate that 47% of damage partitioning is deterministic in E. coli. We suggest that the evolution of deterministic asymmetry from stochasticity offers an example of Waddington’s genetic assimilation. Our model is able to quantify the evolution of the assimilation because it characterizes the fitness consequences of variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To collect medical datasets, it is usually the case that a number of data samples contain some missing values. Performing the data mining task over the incomplete datasets is a difficult problem. In general, missing value imputation can be approached, which aims at providing estimations for missing values by reasoning from the observed data. Consequently, the effectiveness of missing value imputation is heavily dependent on the observed data (or complete data) in the incomplete datasets.Objective: In this paper, the research objective is to perform instance selection to filter out some noisy data (or outliers) from a given (complete) dataset to see its effect on the final imputation result. Specifically, four different processes of combining instance selection and missing value imputation are proposed and compared in terms of data classification.Methods: Experiments are conducted based on 11 medical related datasets containing categorical, numerical, and mixed attribute types of data. In addition, missing values for each dataset are introduced into all attributes (the missing data rates are 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%). For instance selection and missing value imputation, the DROP3 and k-nearest neighbor imputation methods are employed. On the other hand, the support vector machine (SVM) classifier is used to assess the final classification accuracy of the four different processes.Results: The experimental results show that the second process by performing instance selection first and imputation second allows the SVM classifiers to outperform the other processes.Conclusions: For incomplete medical datasets containing some missing values, it is necessary to perform missing value imputation. In this paper, we demonstrate that instance selection can be used to filter out some noisy data or outliers before the imputation process. In other words, the observed data for missing value imputation may contain some noisy information, which can degrade the quality of the imputation result as well as the classification performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]