Multicomponent transport in nanoporous networks: theory and simulation

We present a new theory to estimate fluxes and effective transport conductances of binary mixtures through a membrane comprising a nonuniform porous medium with both pore size and pore length distributions, using the Onsager formulation at the single pore level. The theory defines a conductance of each species that is dependent on the concentration gradients of the various species, and on using effective medium theory determines the fluxes and concentration profiles self-consistently in the porous medium. The transport of CH/H mixtures in a silica membrane having a known pore size distribution is examined using this theory, and the results compared with those from rigorous simulations, showing good agreement. It is found that an optimal network coordination number exists at which species fluxes are a maximum, due to the opposing effects of increasing porosity and mean pore length with increase in coordination number. Further, network fluxes decrease with increase in pore dispersion, indicating that uniform pore size is optimal. A species and pressure-dependent optimal temperature is also predicted, due to the competing effects of increase in diffusivity and decrease in adsorption on increasing temperature. It is seen that the CH selectivity is very sensitive to temperature, and undergoes a cross-over, with the membrane being more selective to CH at low temperature and to H at high temperature. In general, the selectivity is very sensitive to the distribution of pore volume, and for bimodal pore networks, undergoes a sharp transition at the percolation threshold, when the smaller pore size is impermeable to the larger species, CH. The approach offers a convenient adaption of effective medium theory to multicomponent systems with nonlinear isotherms, overcoming drawbacks of existing theory

Energy trading and pricing in microgrids with uncertain energy supply:A three-stage hierarchical game approach

This paper studies an energy trading and pricing problem for microgrids with uncertain energy supply. The energy provider with the renewable energy (RE) generation (wind power) determines the energy purchase from the electricity markets and the pricing strategy for consumers to maximize its profit, and then the consumers determine their energy demands to maximize their payoffs. The hierarchical game is established between the energy provider and the consumers. The energy provider is the leader and the consumers are the followers in the hierarchical game. We consider two types of consumers according to their response to the price, i.e., the price-taking consumers and the price-anticipating consumers. We derive the equilibrium point of the hierarchical game through the backward induction method. Comparing the two types of consumers, we study the influence of the types of consumers on the equilibrium point. In particular, the uncertainty of the energy supply from the energy provider is considered. Simulation results show that the energy provider can obtain more profit using the proposed decision-making scheme

Review of the correlation between Chinese medicine and intestinal microbiota on the efficacy of diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a serious metabolic disorder that can lead to a number of life-threatening complications. Studies have shown that intestinal microbiota is closely related to the development of diabetes, making it a potential target for the treatment of diabetes. In recent years, research on the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), TCM compounds, and prepared Chinese medicines to regulate intestinal microbiota and improve the symptoms of diabetes mellitus is very extensive. We focus on the research progress of TCM active ingredients, herbal compounds, and prepared Chinese medicines in the treatment of diabetes mellitus in this paper. When diabetes occurs, changes in the abundance and function of the intestinal microbiota disrupt the intestinal environment by disrupting the intestinal barrier and fermentation. TCM and its components can increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria while decreasing the abundance of harmful bacteria, regulate the concentration of microbial metabolites, improve insulin sensitivity, regulate lipid metabolism and blood glucose, and reduce inflammation. TCM can be converted into active substances with pharmacological effects by intestinal microbiota, and these active substances can reverse intestinal microecological disorders and improve diabetes symptoms. This can be used as a reference for diabetes prevention and treatment

An analysis of microbiota-targeted therapies in patients with avian influenza virus subtype H7N9 infection

BACKGROUND: Selective prophylactic decontamination of the digestive tract is a strategy for the prevention of secondary nosocomial infection in patients with avian influenza virus subtype H7N9 infection. Our aim was to summarize the effectiveness of these therapies in re-establishing a stable and diverse microbial community, and reducing secondary infections. METHODS: Comprehensive therapies were dependent on the individual clinical situation of subjects, and were divided into antiviral treatment, microbiota-targeted therapies, including pro- or pre-biotics and antibiotic usage, and immunotherapy. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) were used for real-time monitoring of the predominant intestinal microbiome during treatment. Clinical information about secondary infection was confirmed by analyzing pathogens isolated from clinical specimens. RESULTS: Different antibiotics had similar effects on the gut microbiome, with a marked decrease and slow recovery of the Bifidobacterium population. Interestingly, most fecal microbial DGGE profiles showed the relative stability of communities under the continual suppression of the same antibiotics, and significant changes when new antibiotics were introduced. Moreover, we found no marked increase in C-reactive protein, and no cases of bacteremia or pneumonia, caused by probiotic use in the patients, which confirmed that the probiotics used in this study were safe for use in patients with H7N9 infection. Approximately 72% of those who subsequently suffered exogenous respiratory infection by Candida species or multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae were older than 60 years. The combination of probiotics and prebiotics with antibiotics seemed to fail in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients infected with the influenza A (H7N9) virus are considered a high-risk group for developing secondary bacterial infection. Microbiota restoration treatment reduced the incidence of enterogenous secondary infection, but not exogenous respiratory infection. The prophylactic effects of microbiota restoration strategies for secondary infection were unsatisfactory in elderly and critically ill patients

Hybrid Self-Adaptive Algorithm for Community Detection in Complex Networks

The study of community detection algorithms in complex networks has been very active in the past several years. In this paper, a Hybrid Self-adaptive Community Detection Algorithm (HSCDA) based on modularity is put forward first. In HSCDA, three different crossover and two different mutation operators for community detection are designed and then combined to form a strategy pool, in which the strategies will be selected probabilistically based on statistical self-adaptive learning framework. Then, by adopting the best evolving strategy in HSCDA, a Multiobjective Community Detection Algorithm (MCDA) based on kernel k-means (KKM) and ratio cut (RC) objective functions is proposed which efficiently make use of recommendation of strategy by statistical self-adaptive learning framework, thus assisting the process of community detection. Experimental results on artificial and real networks show that the proposed algorithms achieve a better performance compared with similar state-ofthe-art approaches

GEFT Inhibits Autophagy and Apoptosis in Rhabdomyosarcoma via Activation of the Rac1/Cdc42-mTOR Signaling Pathway

Autophagy and apoptosis are dynamic processes that determine the fate of cells, and regulating these processes can treat cancer. GEFT is highly expressed in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), which accelerates the tumorigenicity and metastasis of RMS by activating Rac1/Cdc42 signaling, but the regulatory mechanisms of autophagy and apoptosis are unclear. In our study, we found that the RMS tissues had high Rac1, Cdc42, mTOR, and Bcl-2 expression levels and low Beclin1, LC3, and Bax expression levels compared with the normal striated muscle tissues (P < 0.05). In addition, multivariate analysis has proven that Rac1 is an independent prognostic factor (P < 0.05), and the high expression level of the Beclin1 protein was closely associated with the tumor diameter of the RMS patients (P = 0.044), whereas the high expression level of the LC3 protein was associated with the clinical stage of the RMS patients (P = 0.027). Furthermore, GEFT overexpression could inhibit autophagy and apoptosis in RMS. A Rac1/Cdc42 inhibitor was added, and the inhibition of autophagy and apoptosis decreased. Rac1 and Cdc42 could regulate mTOR to inhibit autophagy and apoptosis in RMS. Overall, these studies demonstrated that the GEFT–Rac1/Cdc42–mTOR pathway can inhibit autophagy and apoptosis in RMS and provide evidence for innovative treatments

Effects of similarity in processing sentences including humble expressions in Japanese

会議名: Evidence-based Linguistics Workshop 2023, 開催地: 国立国語研究所, 会期: 2023/09/14-15, 主催: 国立国語研究所、神戸大学人文学研究科キュー呼び出しモデルによると（Lewis＆Vasishth, 2005）、文法性の錯覚（非文法的な文を文法的であると錯覚すること）が起こるのは、本来、ヘッド（動詞）と結び付くべき構成素（ターゲット）があるのに、ヘッドと同じ統語的特徴を持っている構成素（アトラクター）があると、ヘッドがアトラクターと結びつき、ヘッドとターゲット間の依存関係に干渉するためである。複数の種類の実験で促進効果が報告されており、促進性干渉とも言う。日本語の謙譲表現「お～する」は、その目的語名詞句のあいだに統語的一致が求められる。本研究では、主語名詞句をアトラクター、目的語名詞句をターゲットとして、尊敬の接辞（先生）を付加し、ヘッドの動詞との統語的一致の有無を操作して促進性干渉の有無を調べた。全文提示の容認性判断課題と自己ペース読文課題を実施した。その結果、前者では抑制性干渉が見られ、後者では促進性干渉が見られなかった。application/pdf関西学院大学関西学院大学Kwansei Gakuin UniversityKwansei Gakuin Universityconference pape

Enhanced B7-H4 expression in gliomas with low PD-L1 expression identifies super-cold tumors.

BACKGROUND: Characterizing expression profiles of different immune checkpoint molecules are promising for personalized checkpoint inhibitory immunotherapy. Gliomas have been shown as potential targets for immune checkpoint inhibitors recently. Our study was performed to determine coexpression levels of two major B7 immune regulatory molecules programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and B7-H4, both of which have been demonstrated to inhibit antitumor host immunity in gliomas. METHODS: We assessed tumor tissues from stage II-IV primary gliomas (n=505) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for protein levels of both PD-L1 and B7-H4. Gene coexpression analysis assessing clusters based on extent of PD-L1/B7-H4 classifier genes expression were investigated in two transcriptome datasets (The Cancer Genome Atlas and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas). In addition, levels of immune cell infiltrates were estimated with IHC and RNA-seq data for assessing the tumor immune microenvironment of PD-L1/B7-H4 subgroups. RESULTS: High expression of PD-L1 and B7-H4 in gliomas was 23% and 20%, respectively, whereas coexpression of two proteins at high levels was limited to 2% of the cases. Comparable results were seen in RNA-seq datasets where PD-L1 mRNA expression levels negatively correlated with that of B7-H4. Gene coexpression modules clustered within each grade of gliomas demonstrated lack of double-high modules (cluster with high expression of both PD-L1 and B7-H4 classifier genes). B7-H4 mRNA expression levels showed negative correlation with extent of immune cell infiltration and High-B7-H4 module gliomas (high B7-H4 but low PD-L1 classifier genes expression) had less tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). IHC assessment also showed few TILs and TAMs in High-B7-H4 subgroup gliomas. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of gliomas express PD-L1 or B7-H4, however, coexpression of both at high levels is minimal. The high-B7-H4 patients could be considered as \u27super-cold\u27 gliomas with significantly deficient in TILs, suggesting that B7-H4 might inhibit T-cell trafficking into the central nervous system. This study demonstrated that PD-L1 and B7-H4 may serve as mutually compensatory immune checkpoint molecules in gliomas for immune targeted or active-specific immunotherapy. The distinct B7-H4 pathways modulating T-cell function and immune evasion in glioma patients deserved to be further explored in the future during immunotherapy

Gender differences in geriatric depressive symptoms in urban China: the role of ADL and sensory and communication abilities

ObjectivesADL and Sensory and Communication Abilities are important indicators of the quality of life of the elderly which are significant determinants of health, particularly in developing countries. The present cross-sectional study investigated effect of ADL and Sensory and Communication Abilities on depressive symptoms, as well as the the role of gender in these effects.DesignThis is a cross-sectional study.SettingA nationally representative cross-sectional survey among the Chinese population aged 60 years and over.ParticipantsA total of 163296 females and 148724 males aged 65 and over in 2019 in urban China.Outcome measuresPrevalence, risk factors and gender differences in geriatric depressive symptoms among urban elderly.ResultsApproximately 95.69% of the participants had depressive symptoms according to the CESD-10, with no statistically significant gender difference of 52.15% in females and 47.85% in males. Logistic regression findings suggest that geriatric depressive symptoms are significantly associated with the lack of eldercare (OR=2.427, female; OR=1.426, male), living alone(OR= 1.430, female; OR= 1.179, male), ADL dysfunction (OR=1.528, female; OR=1.246, male), and impaired sensory and communication ability (OR=1.338, female; OR=1.185, male) among both female and male participants. Remarkably, geriatric depressive symptoms are only significantly associated with age (≥75, OR = 1.327), marital status (unmarried, OR=1.598), the number of children (no children, OR=2.271), and the living arrangement (living alone, OR= 1.430) among female participants.ConclusionSignificant gender differences in these associations were found for living alone, ADL dysfunction and impaired sensory and communication ability. Moreover, the study emphasized that the gender difference exists in terms of geriatric depression in urban China. Females are more likely to experience depressive than males with the same circumstances