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Expectation Propagation (EP)-based Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) detector achieves exceptional performance in high-dimensional systems with high-order modulations and flexible antenna configurations. However, based on our studies, the EP MIMO detector cannot achieve superior performance due to the empirical parameter selection, including initial variance and damping factors. According to the influence of the moment matching and parameter selection on the performance of the EP MIMO detector, we propose a modified EP MIMO detector (MEPD). To obtain the initial variance and damping factors which lead to better performance, we adopt a deep learning scheme, the iterative process of MEPD is unfolded to establish MEPNet for parameters training. The simulation results show that MEPD with off-line trained parameters outperforms the original one in various MIMO scenarios. Besides, the proposed MEPD with deep learning parameters selection is more robust than EPD in practical scenarios.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • The probiotic group, AB + Prob, had more Parabacteroides goldsteinii. • Both probiotic groups had more short chain fatty acids. • Parabacteroides goldsteinii correlated with probiotic and short-chain fatty acids. • Probiotic treatment decreased the rat serum IL-1α level., Probiotics administration can facilitate the restoration of host gut microbiota/metabolome after antibiotic treatment. Yet, the mechanism behind such beneficial effects remains unclear. This study constructed a rat model of antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis to monitor the effects and mechanism of probiotic (Lactobacillus casei Zhang) treatment in maintaining gut homeostasis and restoring the gut microbiota/metabolome. Forty rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10 per group): control receiving only saline (Ctrl), antibiotic (AB-Ctrl), antibiotic followed by probiotic (AB-Prob), and antibiotic plus probiotic followed by probiotic (AB + Prob). Rat fecal microbiota and sera were collected at four time points from pre-treatment to post-treatment. The probiotic-treated group (AB + Prob) had significantly more Parabacteroides (P.) goldsteinii after one week of antibiotic and probiotic intervention but fewer antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)-possessing bacteria (Clostridioides difficile and Burkholderiales bacterium). Consistently, metabolomics data revealed that both probiotic groups had more acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid post treatment. Moreover, a potential probiotic species, P. goldsteinii, strongly correlated with L. casei, as well as propionic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid. Furthermore, administering probiotic lowered the serum IL-1α level. In contrast, the antibiotic-recipients had a higher irreversible level of IL-1α, suggesting inflammation of the rats. Thus, antibiotic treatment not only led to host gut dysbiosis, but inflammatory responses and an increase in gut ARGs. Daily L. casei Zhang supplementation could alleviate the side effect of cefdinir intervention and facilitate the restoration of gut microbial homeostasis, and these probiotic effects might involve P. goldsteinii-mediated beneficial activities.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus and outbreaks of ZIKV have been reported in Africa, Americas and other parts of the world lately. The ZIKV epidemic has received extensive attention due to its ability to cause serious medical consequences and complications such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome in recent years. Up to now, there are no specific treatments or vaccines available for ZIKV infection, which highlights the urgent need for developing new therapies. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of novel 6-methyl-7-acetylenenyl-7-deazapurine nucleoside analogs as potential inhibitors of ZIKV replication. The biological activities against ZIKV replication were evaluated and the structure-activity relationship (SAR) was also studied. Among the compounds evaluated, nucleoside analog 38 (EC

In recent years, the detection algorithm based on expectation propagation in high-dimension high-order modulation multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems shows a huge advantage over the traditional detection algorithm; however, this MIMO-based detection algorithm suffers from the prohibited complexity caused by matrix inversion in each iteration. In this paper, an EP-SU detection algorithm for large-scale MIMO systems is proposed. On the one hand, a successive updating method of information nodes is proposed, which speeds up the efficiency of information updating and avoids the matrix inversion of original EP; on the other hand, the single node update algorithm is optimized, which improves the efficiency and accuracy of information update. Simulation results show that the proposed EP-SU detection algorithm in various large-scale MIMO scenarios exhibits a more outstanding detection performance, faster convergence rate, lower error flat layer, and lower computational complexity compared with traditional EP detection; most importantly, these advantages will be more significant at higher antenna scales.

Background: The intraoperative visualization of tumor cells is a powerful modality for surgical treatment of solid tumors. Since the completeness of tumor excision is closely correlated with the survival of patients, probes that can assist in distinguishing tumor cells are highly demanded. Purpose: In the present study, a fluorescent probe JF1 was synthesized for imaging of tumor cells by conjugating a substrate of cathepsin B (quenching moiety) to Oregon Green derivative JF2 using a self-immolative linker. Methods: JF1 was then loaded into the folate-PEG modified CaCO3 nanoparticles. The folate receptor-targeted, pH-dependent, and cathepsin B activable CaCO3 nanoprobe was test in vitro and in vivo for tumor imaging. Results: CaCO3 nanoprobe demonstrated good stability and fast lighting ability in tumors under low pH conditions. It also showed lower fluorescence background than the single cathepsin B dependent fluorescent probe. The pH-dependent and cathepsin B controlled "turn-on" property enables precise and fast indication of tumor in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: This strategy of controlled drug delivery enables in vivo imaging of tumor nodules with a high signal-to-noise ratio, which has great potential in surgical tumor treatment.

Probiotics have attracted much attention because of their health-promoting effects, but little is known about the in vivo evolution of probiotics. This study analyzed the genome adaptation of the probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum P-8 strain cultivated in ordinary and glucose restrictive growth media. Then, this study re-analyzed genomes of P-8 isolates recovered from the gut contents of subjects in two feeding trials (in rat and human). The sampling time points were similar to that of the in vitro evolution experiment, which might give parallel comparison of the in vitro and in vivo evolution processes. Our results showed that intra-individual specific microbial genomic variants of the original strain were detected in all human and some rat subjects. The divergent patterns of evolution within the host gastrointestinal tract suggested intra-individual-specific environmental adaptation. Based on comprehensive analysis of adapted-isolates recovered from these experiments, our results showed that the energy restriction was not the main driving force for evolution of probiotics. The individual-specific adaptation of probiotics might partially explain the varying extent of health effects seen between different individuals after probiotic consumption. In addition, the results suggest that probiotics should not only adapt to the environment of the birth canal, but also adapt to other species in the gut, revealing the Red Queen hypothesis in the process of intestinal flora.

Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) technologies play an important role in modern and future wireless communication systems. The low-complexity and high-performance MIMO detection schemes are desired but challenging. The iterative MIMO detection scheme based on the Expectation Propagation (EP) algorithm is regarded as state-of-the-art due to its outstanding performance. In this paper, we analyze the influence of the initial parameters on the performance of the EP based MIMO detection and propose a scheme to optimize the initial parameters. Numerical results show the proposed optimization scheme for EP detection scheme outperforms the original scheme about 1.5 dB in different scenarios. Thus, the proposed scheme can improve the performance for EP based MIMO detection.

In the present study, comparative effects of the single and binary probiotics of Lacticaseibacillus casei Zhang (L. casei Zhang) and Bifidobacterium lactis V9 (B. lactis V9) on the growth and metabolomic profiles during milk fermentation and storage has been analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The growth of B. lactis V9 can be significantly increased (p 0.001) by co-cultivation with L. casei Zhang at the end of fermentation and storage 10 days, and valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis may be a major contributor to the growth promotion of B. lactis V9. However, the growth of L. casei Zhang was not affected by co-cultivation with B. lactis V9. There were notable distinctions in volatile and non-volatile metabolomic profiles and pathways between the single and binary probiotics cultures; binary probiotics L. casei Zhang and B. lactis V9 significantly affected the volatile, non-volatile metabolic profiles compared to the single probiotics. The levels of acetic acid, hexanoic acid, butanoic acid and pentanoic acid were significantly higher (p 0.05) in binary probiotics cultures compared to the single probiotic cultures at the storage 10 days, which indicates that binary probiotics had additive effects on the production of short-chain fatty acids during storage. This work provides a detailed insight into metabolomic profiles and growth that differ between the single and binary probiotics cultures, and it can be helpful to develop probiotic yogurt with high probiotic viability and distinct metabolomic profiles.

With the expansion of modern power systems, the stability issues become more and more prominent. Transient stability emergency control is usually designed in open-loop schemes and applies proper actions to avoid system collapse when transient stability cannot be guaranteed in serious contingencies. Taking transient stability and economic efficiency of power system into consideration, the emergency control problem can be modeled as an optimal control problem, which is computational expensive. In this paper, an optimal control method with constraint aggregation is proposed to reduce computational complexity. The yield nonlinear problem is a fairly small-scale optimization problem which can be efficiently solved by predictor–corrector interior point method. The adjoint sensitivity analysis (ASA) is employed to evaluate the first-order derivative while Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS) algorithm is used to obtain the second-order derivative. Besides, very dishonest Newton (VDHN) method and reusage of LU factorization results are explored to accelerate the forward and backward integration phase of ASA, respectively. The proposed approach is tested on four cases with different scales, and shows its potential in computational efficiency.

High performance and high efficiency detection scheme is one of the key issues for MIMO-LDPC system designs. In this paper, we proposed a hybrid jointed detection scheme for MIMO-LDPC detection, in which the expectation propagation (EP) algorithm is used in MIMO detection and the belief propagation (BP) algorithm is adopted for the low density parity check code (LDPC) decoding. In the proposed scheme, we provide a jointed detection algorithm (EP-BP JDD) with the integrated factor graph for MIMO-LDPC systems. Compared with conventional MMSE-PIC IDD and BP-BP JDD, the proposed method can achieve low computational complexity with high performance. The complexity and performance gains become more significant with the number of antennas increasing.

Koumiss is a traditional fermented dairy product and a good source for isolating novel bacteria with biotechnology potential. In the present study, we applied the single-cell amplification technique in the metagenomics analysis of koumiss. This approach aimed at detecting the low-abundant bacteria in the koumiss. Briefly, each sample was first serially diluted until reaching the level of approximately 100 cells. Then, three diluted bacterial suspensions were randomly picked for further study. By analyzing 30 diluted koumiss suspensions, a total of 24 bacterial species were identified. In addition to the previously reported koumiss-associated species, such as Lactobacillus (L.) helveticus. Lactococcus lactis. L. buchneri, L. kefiranofaciens, and Acetobacter pasteurianus, we successfully detected three low-abundant taxa in the samples, namely L. otakiensis. Streptococcus macedonicus, and Ruminococcus torques. The functional koumiss metagenomes carried putative genes that relate to lactose metabolism and synthesis of typical flavor compounds. Our study would encourage the use of modern metagenomics to discover novel species of bacteria that could be useful in food industries.

Bacillus coagulans HM-08 is a commercialized probiotic strain in China. Its genome contains a 3.62Mb circular chromosome with an average GC content of 46.3%. In silico analysis revealed the presence of one xyl operon as well as several other genes that are correlated to xylose utilization. The genetic information provided here may help to expand its future biotechnology potential in lactic acid production.

We recently identified a novel probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum P-8 (L. plantarum P-8), which has been characterized in detail with regard to its probiotic potential. In the present study, soymilk fermented with L. plantarum P-8 was examined for its effects on diet-induced hyperlipidemia in Wistar rats. The experimental animals were divided into four groups: control group (C group), model group (M group), soymilk group (SM group) and fermented soymilk group (FSM group). The serum lipid levels, hepatic fat deposition, serum oxidative stress parameters, hepatic marker enzymes levels, organ indices, gut bacteria and fecal fat contents were analyzed. Fermented soymilk reduced the concentration of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in serum, with a significant elevation in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) concentration. Our results also suggested the beneficial effects of fermented soymilk on the liver function, hyperlipidemia-induced oxidative stress and intestinal bacteria. Moreover, fermented soymilk could enhance the fecal excretion of TC, TG and bile acids. These findings demonstrated that soymilk fermented with L. plantarum P-8 was effective in improving the lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemic rats. The hypolipidemic effect of fermented soymilk was partly due to the inhibition of dietary fats absorption and regulation of fecal fats excretion mediated by gut bacteria.

Probiotics have been reported to play an important role in the prevention of metabolic disorders. We recently identified a novel probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) P-8. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of L. plantarum P-8 on lipid metabolism of rats fed with high fat diet. All experimental rats were divided into three groups: control group, model group, and L. plantarum P-8 group. Changes in serum lipid levels, hepatic lipid deposition, serum oxidative stress-related parameters, activities of liver function marker enzymes, organ indices, gut microflora, and fecal lipids were assessed. Compared with model group, L. plantarum P-8 exhibited hypolipidemic effects by lowering serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, accompanied with elevation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. L. plantarum P-8 also exerted beneficial effects against high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress, curtailed the accumulation of liver lipids and protected healthy liver function. Moreover, L. plantarum P-8 was able to regulate intestinal bacteria and enhance the fecal excretion of TC, TG, and bile acid. These findings indicate that L. plantarum P-8 may represent a potential therapeutic agent for controlling hyperlipidemia.

One hundred and two strains of Lactobacillus plantarum, all isolated from traditional dairy products of minority nationalities, were evaluated for in vitro probiotic properties, including acid and bile tolerance, aggregation activity, and antibacterial activity. Of these, 12 strains with a high tolerance to simulated gastric juice (pH 2.5, 3 h of incubation) were selected, of which eight of these also showed a good tolerance to bile salt. All selected 12 strains showed a high autoaggregation percentage after being incubated at room temperature for 20 h, and nine of these significantly inhibited growth of the five indicator intestinal pathogens. Six L. plantarum strains (IMAU10120, IMAU10156, IMAU40126, IMAU70004, IMAU60042, and IMAU60171) were selected for further evaluation of their fermentation characteristics, sensory quality, and viable counts, both during the fermentation process of soymilk and following a 28-day storage of the soymilk. The six strains had an acid-producing ability at the refrigerated temperature. All of the fermented soymilk samples had a viable count above log 8.45 CFU/ml, and viability in the samples was maintained during storage. Based on both the probiotic properties and fermented characteristics, L. plantarum IMAU10120 was the best potential probiotic strain of those tested for the production of fermented functional soymilk.

Bacillus licheniformis BL-09 is a probiotic strain isolated from naturally fermented congee in Inner Mongolia of China. The genome of this strain contains a 4.39 Mb circular chromosome with an average GC content of 45.9%. The analysis of the genome revealed two gene clusters that are related to the peptide biosynthesis. The available genetic information of these peptides makes it possible to construct an improved strain for the industrial production of antimicrobial agents.