Self-Adaptive and Relaxed Self-Adaptive Projection Methods for Solving the Multiple-Set Split Feasibility Problem

Given nonempty closed convex subsets , and nonempty closed convex subsets , , in the - and -dimensional Euclidean spaces, respectively. The multiple-set split feasibility problem (MSSFP) proposed by Censor is to find a vector such that , where is a given real matrix. It serves as a model for many inverse problems where constraints are imposed on the solutions in the domain of a linear operator as well as in the operator’s range. MSSFP has a variety of specific applications in real world, such as medical care, image reconstruction, and signal processing. In this paper, for the MSSFP, we first propose a new self-adaptive projection method by adopting Armijo-like searches, which dose not require estimating the Lipschitz constant and calculating the largest eigenvalue of the matrix ; besides, it makes a sufficient decrease of the objective function at each iteration. Then we introduce a relaxed self-adaptive projection method by using projections onto half-spaces instead of those onto convex sets. Obviously, the latter are easy to implement. Global convergence for both methods is proved under a suitable condition

A Task Allocation Algorithm for Profit Maximization in NFC-RAN

In this paper, we study a general Near-Far Computing Enhanced C-RAN (NFC-RAN), in which users can offload the tasks to the near edge cloud (NEC) or the far edge cloud (FEC).We aim to propose a profit-aware task allocation model by maximizing the profit of the edge cloud operators. We first prove that this problem can be transformed to a Multiple-Choice Multi-Dimensional 0-1 Knapsack Problem (MMKP), which is NP-hard. Then, we solve it by using a low complexity heuristic algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves a good tradeoff between the performance and the complexity compared with the benchmark algorithm

Stress arch effect on the productivity of the vertical fractured well

Rock permeability impacts by effective stress. Permeability modulus is used to evaluate the level of permeability reduction due to effective stress change. And the permeability modulus is always obtained by the experiment which assumes that the overburden pressure is constant during production. Actually, the overburden pressure reduces during production due to stress arch effect and it is easy to form a stress arch in the overburden when the reservoir is small and soft compared with surrounding’s rock. Based on the definition of the permeability modulus, we obtain an expression between permeability modulus bγ considering stress arch effect and permeability modulus b0 without stress arch. There lies a linear ship between bγ and b0, which is also proved by the experiment data. Based on the relationship between bγ and b0, a delivery equation for vertical fractured well is established. Compared with the absolute open flow with stress arch ratio of 0, the absolute open flow increases by 2.87 %, 6.79 %, 12.32 %, 20.12 % and 25.44 % for the stress arch ratio of 0.12, 0.28, 0.5, 0.8 and 1, respectively, with permeability modulus b0 of 0.0397 MPa-1. And it increases by 7.31 %, 18.1 %, 34.88 %, 61.02 % and 79.97 % for the stress arch ratio of 0.12, 0.28, 0.5, 0.8 and 1, respectively, when b0= 1. So absolute open flow with high permeability modulus b0 is more sensitive to stress arch ratio. Stress arch also impacts the optimum fracture half-length. Vertical well has the maximum absolute open flow when it has the optimum fracture half-length. The maximum absolute open flow increases with the increasing of stress arch ratio, while optimum fracture half-length decreases with increasing of stress arch ratio for the same permeability modulus b0. Compared with case with no stress arch, the optimum fracture half-length reduces by 2.86 %, 5.7 %, 11.43 %, 17.14 % and 22.86 % for the stress arch ratio of 0.12, 0.28, 0.5, 0.8 and 1 respectively when b0 equals to 0.0397 MPa-1. While the maximum absolute open flow increases by 1.6 %, 3.8 %, 7.16 %, 12.02 % and 15.60 % for the stress arch ratio of 0.12, 0.28, 0.5, 0.8 and 1 respectively. Thus, vertical well considering stress arch needs smaller fracture half-length than that with no stress arch. Meanwhile, the maximum absolute open flow and optimum fracture conductivity both increase as stress arch ratio increases. Compared with the case without stress arch, the optimum fracture conductivity increases by 50 %, while the maximum absolute open flow increases by 21.40 % with stress arch ratio of 0.5 when b0 equals to 0.0397 MPa-1. The stress arch greatly impacts on the stress sensitive permeability, permeability modulus and well performance, which can’t be neglected especially in the low and ultra-low permeability reservoir

WebTraceMiner: a web service for processing and mining EST sequence trace files

Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) remain a dominant approach for characterizing the protein-encoding portions of various genomes. Due to inherent deficiencies, they also present serious challenges for data quality control. Before GenBank submission, EST sequences are typically screened and trimmed of vector and adapter/linker sequences, as well as polyA/T tails. Removal of these sequences presents an obstacle for data validation of error-prone ESTs and impedes data mining of certain functional motifs, whose detection relies on accurate annotation of positional information for polyA tails added posttranscriptionally. As raw DNA sequence information is made increasingly available from public repositories, such as NCBI Trace Archive, new tools will be necessary to reanalyze and mine this data for new information. WebTraceMiner (www.conifergdb.org/software/wtm) was designed as a public sequence processing service for raw EST traces, with a focus on detection and mining of sequence features that help characterize 3′ and 5′ termini of cDNA inserts, including vector fragments, adapter/linker sequences, insert-flanking restriction endonuclease recognition sites and polyA or polyT tails. WebTraceMiner complements other public EST resources and should prove to be a unique tool to facilitate data validation and mining of error-prone ESTs (e.g. discovery of new functional motifs)

Pattern and Predictive Factors of Metastasis in Lymph Nodes Posterior to the Right Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

ObjectiveThe right cervical central lymph nodes include lymph nodes anterior to the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (LN-arRLN) and lymph nodes posterior to the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (LN-prRLN), and are separated by the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). LN-prRLN is a common site of nodal recurrence after the resection of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the complexity in anatomical structure brings difficulties in determining the surgical scope, so it is necessary to assess the pattern and predictive factors of right cervical central lymph nodes, especially LN-prRLN metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.MethodsA total of 562 diagnosed PTC patients who underwent right or total thyroidectomy were enrolled in this retrospective study. The clinicopathological features were collected, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine predictive factors of the right central lymph node metastasis.ResultsIn this study, the metastatic rates of the right CLN, the LN-arRLN and the LN-prRLN were 59.6% (335/562), 51.8% (291/562) and 30.4% (171/562), respectively. And 22.6% (127/562) of patients had both LN-arRLN and LN-prRLN metastasis. Among patients without LN-arRLN metastasis, the rate of LN-prRLN metastasis was 16.2% (44/271), accounting for 25.7% of the LN-prRLN metastasis group. Factors associated with an increased risk of LN-arRLN metastasis include male, age below 55 years, tumor size > 1cm, extrathyroidal extension (ETE), clinical lymph nodes metastasis(cN1), lateral lymph node metastasis, and left CLN metastasis. In addition, ETE, lateral lymph node metastasis, and LN-arRLN metastasis were independent factors of LN-prRLN metastasis. The predictive factors of LN-prRLN in cN0 PTC were further explored, revealing that tumor size ≥1.5cm, ETE, and LN-arRLN metastasis were independent predictors of LN-prRLN metastasis in cN0 PTC.ConclusionThe LN-prRLN should not be ignored in surgery because of its high rate of metastasis. Our findings indicate that thorough dissection of central lymph nodes, especially LN-prRLN is crucial in clinical work

Effect of 5/6 Nephrectomized Rat Serum on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition In Vitro

Objective: To investigate whether the 5/6 nephrectomized (5/6Nx) rats’ 12-week serum could lead to tubular epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its molecular mechanism, so as to probe the potential stimulation from circulation in chronic progressive kidney disease. Methods: A total of 24 Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into two groups: sham operation group (sham group) and 5/6Nx group. Rats were killed 12 weeks after surgery to obtain 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum. Then we detected the expression of E-cadherin in renal tubular epithelial cells of the remaining kidney and we investigated whether the 12th week serum of 5/6Nx rats could cause HK-2 (human kidney proximal tubular cell line) cells to transdifferentiate into fibroblasts. Results: Our data confirmed that E-cadherin expression decreased significantly in the remaining kidney at 12 weeks, and the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could suppress E-cadherin protein and mRNA expression (p < 0.05). We also found that the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could upreg-ulate ZEB1, β-catenin, and wnt3 protein expression (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could suppress the expression of E-cadherin in HK-2 cells. It was partially through modulating the increase of ZEB1. The loss of E-cadherin could lead β-catenin to localize to the cytoplasm and nucleus, and feed into the Wnt signaling pathway. It means that the pathogenic serum in chronic kidney disease (CKD) plays an important role in the loss of renal function and turns to be a new avenue of research with potential clinical implications

Flying Over an Infected Landscape: Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Risk in South Asia and Satellite Tracking of Wild Waterfowl

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus persists in Asia, posing a threat to poultry, wild birds, and humans. Previous work in Southeast Asia demonstrated that HPAI H5N1 risk is related to domestic ducks and people. Other studies discussed the role of migratory birds in the long distance spread of HPAI H5N1. However, the interplay between local persistence and long-distance dispersal has never been studied. We expand previous geospatial risk analysis to include South and Southeast Asia, and integrate the analysis with migration data of satellite-tracked wild waterfowl along the Central Asia flyway. We find that the population of domestic duck is the main factor delineating areas at risk of HPAI H5N1 spread in domestic poultry in South Asia, and that other risk factors, such as human population and chicken density, are associated with HPAI H5N1 risk within those areas. We also find that satellite tracked birds (Ruddy Shelduck and two Bar-headed Geese) reveal a direct spatio-temporal link between the HPAI H5N1 hot-spots identified in India and Bangladesh through our risk model, and the wild bird outbreaks in May–June–July 2009 in China (Qinghai Lake), Mongolia, and Russia. This suggests that the continental-scale dynamics of HPAI H5N1 are structured as a number of persistence areas delineated by domestic ducks, connected by rare transmission through migratory waterfowl