A DEA-TOPSIS method for multiple criteria decision analysis in emergency management

A hybrid approach of DEA (data envelopment analysis) and TOPSIS (technique for order performance (preference) by similarity to ideal solution) is proposed for multiple criteria decision analysis in emergency management. Two DEA-based optimization models are constructed to facilitate identifying parameter information regarding criterion weights and quantifying qualitative criteria in TOPSIS. An emergency management case study utilizing data from the Emergency Management Australia (EMA) Disasters Database is provided to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed analysis procedure

Circulating microRNA-92a and microRNA-21 as novel minimally invasive biomarkers for primary breast cancer

PURPOSE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in breast malignant tumor development and progression. The development of clinically validated biomarkers for primary breast cancer (BC) has remained an insurmountable task despite other advances in the field of cancer molecular biology. The objective of this study is to investigate the differential expression of miRNAs and the potential of circulating microRNAs as novel primary breast cancer biomarkers. METHODS: Our analyses were performed on 48 tissue and 100 serum samples of patients with primary BC and a set of 20 control samples of healthy women, respectively. The relative expression of ten candidate miRNAs (miR-106b, miR-125b, miR-17, miR-185, miR-21, miR-558, miR-625, miR-665, miR-92a, and miR-93) from the results of four bioinformatics approaches and literature curation was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: The level of miR-92a was significantly lower, while miR-21 was higher, as previous reports, in tissue and serum samples of BC than that of healthy controls (p < 0.001). Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed the significant and independent value (p < 0.001) of the miR-92a and miR-21 expression quantification in serums. Moreover, the comparison with the clinicopathologic data of the BC patients showed that decreased levels of miR-92a and increased levels of miR-21 were associated with tumor size and a positive lymph node status (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that many miRNAs expressions are altered in BC, whose expression profiling may provide a useful clue for the pathophysiological research. Circulating miR-92a has potential use as novel breast cancer biomarker, which is comparable to miR-21

How do the non-cognitive skills affect retirees’ reemployment? Evidence from China

IntroductionPromoting the reemployment of retirees is important to effectively recognize the capacity of older adults and to help governments cope with an aging global population. Existing research on the factors that impact reemployment has mainly focused on the role of traditional forms of human capital, like education and experience, while ignoring non-cognitive skills.MethodsBased on 3,693 samples, this study examines the impact of non-cognitive skills on the reemployment of Chinese retirees using the Logit model through the lens of human capital theory.ResultsThe results show that non-cognitive skills incentivize retirees to seek reemployment. The incentive effect is greater for retirees who are male, live in a rural household, and are of lower age and education level. Further, the mediation effect model reveals the mediating role of social capital between non-cognitive skills and the reemployment of retirees. Social capital is important to the promotion of retiree reemployment.DiscussionThis study ultimately sheds light on the relationship between non-cognitive skills and the reemployment of retirees. Findings will help improve governments’ understandings of non-cognitive skills so that they may develop better policies on retiree reemployment

Front-like entire solutions for monostable reaction-diffusion systems

This paper is concerned with front-like entire solutions for monostable reactiondiffusion systems with cooperative and non-cooperative nonlinearities. In the cooperative case, the existence and asymptotic behavior of spatially independent solutions (SIS) are first proved. Combining a SIS and traveling fronts with different wave speeds and directions, the existence and various qualitative properties of entire solutions are then established using comparison principle. In the non-cooperative case, we introduce two auxiliary cooperative systems and establish some comparison arguments for the three systems. The existence of entire solutions is then proved via the traveling fronts and SIS of the auxiliary systems. Our results are applied to some biological and epidemiological models. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first work to study the entire solutions of non-cooperative reaction-diffusion systems

Regulation of MntH by a Dual Mn(II)- and Fe(II)-Dependent Transcriptional Repressor (DR2539) in Deinococcus radiodurans

The high intracellular Mn/Fe ratio observed within the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans may contribute to its remarkable resistance to environmental stresses. We isolated DR2539, a novel regulator of intracellular Mn/Fe homeostasis in D. radiodurans. Electrophoretic gel mobility shift assays (EMSAs) revealed that DR2539 binds specifically to the promoter of the manganese acquisition transporter (MntH) gene, and that DR0865, the only Fur homologue in D. radiodurans, cannot bind to the promoter of mntH, but it can bind to the promoter of another manganese acquisition transporter, MntABC. β-galactosidase expression analysis indicated that DR2539 acts as a manganese- and iron-dependent transcriptional repressor. Further sequence alignment analysis revealed that DR2539 has evolved some special characteristics. Site-directed mutagenesis suggested that His98 plays an important role in the activities of DR2539, and further protein-DNA binding activity assays showed that the activity of H98Y mutants decreased dramatically relative to wild type DR2539. Our study suggests that D. radiodurans has evolved a very efficient manganese regulation mechanism that involves its high intracellular Mn/Fe ratio and permits resistance to extreme conditions

Vaccination with hemagglutinin or neuraminidase DNA protects BALB/c mice against influenza virus infection in presence of maternal antibody

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal antibody is the major form of protection against disease in early life; however, its presence interferes with active immunization of offspring. In order to overcome the immunosuppression caused by maternal antibody, several immune strategies were explored in this paper using mouse model and influenza vaccines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that: i) when the offspring were immunized with the same vaccine as their mothers, whether inactivated or DNA vaccine, the presence of maternal antibody inhibited offspring immune response and the offspring could not be protected from a lethal influenza virus infection; ii) when the offspring, born to mothers immunized with inactivated vaccine, were immunized with NA DNA vaccine, the interference of maternal antibody were overcome and the offspring could survive a lethal virus challenge; iii) when the offspring were immunized with different DNA vaccine from that for their mothers, the interference of maternal antibody were also overcome. In addition, high-dose inactivated vaccine in maternal immunization caused partial inhibition in offspring when the offspring were immunized with HA DNA vaccine, while lower dose caused no significant immunosuppression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To avoid the interference of maternal antibody in influenza vaccination of offspring, mothers and their offspring shall not be immunized with the same vaccine. If mothers are immunized with inactivated vaccine, NA DNA vaccine for the offspring shall be effective; and if mothers are immunized with HA (NA) DNA, NA (HA) DNA for the offspring shall be effective.</p

A single immunization with HA DNA vaccine by electroporation induces early protection against H5N1 avian influenza virus challenge in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Developing vaccines for the prevention of human infection by H5N1 influenza viruses is an urgent task. DNA vaccines are a novel alternative to conventional vaccines and should contribute to the prophylaxis of emerging H5N1 virus. In this study, we assessed whether a single immunization with plasmid DNA expressing H5N1 hemagglutinin (HA) could provide early protection against lethal challenge in a mouse model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mice were immunized once with HA DNA at 3, 5, 7 days before a lethal challenge. The survival rate, virus titer in the lungs and change of body weight were assayed to evaluate the protective abilities of the vaccine. To test the humoral immune response induced by HA DNA, serum samples were collected through the eye canthus of mice on various days after immunization and examined for specific antibodies by ELISA and an HI assay. Splenocytes were isolated after the immunization to determine the antigen-specific T-cell response by the ELISPOT assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Challenge experiments revealed that a single immunization of H5N1 virus HA DNA is effective in early protection against lethal homologous virus. Immunological analysis showed that an antigen-specific antibody and T-cell response could be elicited in mice shortly after the immunization. The protective abilities were correlated with the amount of injected DNA and the length of time after vaccination.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A single immunization of 100 μg H5 HA DNA vaccine combined with electroporation was able to provide early protection in mice against homologous virus infection.</p

A Literature Review of Blockchain-Based Applications in Supply Chain

Blockchain technology is an emerging technology, and cryptocurrency is the most well-known and successful blockchain application. With the development of the concept of blockchain technology, scientists and practitioners have found the potential of blockchain technology in the supply chain, which has led to much research on blockchain applications. There have been many reviews on the subject, but most of them are specific to particular supply chains and lack specific research on published papers. This paper addresses this research gap by examining, through qualitative analysis, the study finds that blockchain applications are moving in the direction of efficient automation. Appropriate consensus algorithms in different supply chain contexts will improve efficiency while reducing costs, while smart contracts play a huge role in security. Therefore, this paper explored articles related to the topic and explored articles in recent years by keyword combination