Better synchronous binarization for machine translation

Binarization of Synchronous Context Free Grammars (SCFG) is essential for achieving polynomial time complexity of decoding for SCFG parsing based machine translation sys-tems. In this paper, we first investigate the excess edge competition issue caused by a left-heavy binary SCFG derived with the method of Zhang et al. (2006). Then we propose a new binarization method to mitigate the problem by exploring other alternative equivalent bi-nary SCFGs. We present an algorithm that ite-ratively improves the resulting binary SCFG, and empirically show that our method can im-prove a string-to-tree statistical machine trans-lations system based on the synchronous bina-rization method in Zhang et al. (2006) on the NIST machine translation evaluation tasks.

Liver Damage Associated with Polygonum multiflorum

Objective. To summarize the characteristics and analysis of relevant factors and to give references for prevention and further study of liver damage associated with Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. (HSW), we provide a systematic review of case reports and case series about liver damage associated with HSW. Methods. An extensive search of 6 medical databases was performed up to June 2014. Case reports and case series involving liver damage associated with HSW were included. Results. This review covers a total of 450 cases in 76 articles. HSW types included raw and processed HSW decoction pieces and many Chinese patent medicines that contain HSW. Symptoms of liver damage occur mostly a month or so after taking the medicine, mainly including jaundice, fatigue, anorexia, and yellow or tawny urine. Of the 450 patients, two cases who received liver transplantation and seven who died, the remaining 441 cases recovered or had liver function improvement after discontinuing HSW products and conservative care. Conclusion. HSW causes liver toxicity and may cause liver damage in different degrees and even lead to death; most of them are much related to long-term and overdose of drugs. Liver damage associated with HSW is reversible, and, after active treatment, the majority can be cured. People should be alert to liver damage when taking HSW preparations

Preparation and toughening mechanism of Al2O3 composite ceramic toughened by B4C@TiB2 core–shell units

In this paper, the concept of incorporating core–shell structured units as secondary phases to toughen Al2O3 ceramics is proposed. Al2O3 composite ceramics toughened by B4C@TiB2 core–shell units are successfully synthesized using a combination of molten salt methodology and spark plasma sintering. The synthesis of B4C@TiB2 core–shell toughening units stems from the prior production of core–shell structural B4C@TiB2 powders, and this core–shell structure is effectively preserved within the Al2O3 matrix after sintering. The B4C@TiB2 core–shell toughening unit consists of a micron-sized B4C core enclosed by a shell approximately 500 nm in thickness, composed of numerous nanosized TiB2 grains. The regions surrounding these core–shell units exhibit distinct geometric structures and encompass multidimensional variations in phase composition, grain dimensions, and thermal expansion coefficients. Consequently, intricate stress distributions emerge, fostering the propagation of cracks in multiple dimensions. This behavior consumes a considerable amount of crack propagation energy, thereby enhancing the fracture toughness of the Al2O3 matrix. The resulting Al2O3 composite ceramics display relative density of 99.7%±0.2%, Vickers hardness of 21.5±0.8 GPa, and fracture toughness 6.92±0.22 MPa·m1/2

Integrated MicroRNA Expression Profile Reveals Dysregulated miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p in Liver Fibrosis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to involve in liver fibrogenesis. However, the miRNA-gene regulation in liver fibrosis is still unclear. Herein, the miRNA expression profile GSE40744 was obtained to analyze the dysregulated miRNAs between liver fibrosis and normal samples. Then, we predicted the target genes of screened miRNAs by miRTarBase, followed by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Then, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to identify the functional miRNA-gene regulatory modules. Furthermore, we verified the hub gene expression using the gene expression profile GSE14323. Finally, 89 DEMs were identified in fibrotic liver samples compared to normal liver samples. The top 3 upregulated DEMs (miR-200b-3p, miR-200a-3p, and miR-182-5p) and downregulated DEMs (miR-20a-5p, miR-194-3p, and miR-148a-3p) were further studied. 516 and 1416 target genes were predicted, respectively. KEGG analysis demonstrated that the predicted genes were enriched in the p53 signaling pathway and hepatitis B, etc. Through constructing a PPI network, the genes with the highest connectivity were identified as hub genes. Of note, most of the hub genes were potentially targeted by miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p. Based on the data from GSE14323, the expression of EGFR, STAT3, CTNNB1, and TP53 targeted by miR-200a-3p was significantly downregulated in fibrotic liver samples. Oppositely, the expression of PTEN, MYC, MAPK1, UBC, and CCND1 potentially targeted by miR-20a-5p was significantly upregulated. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p were identified as the novel liver fibrosis-associated miRNAs, which may play critical roles in liver fibrogenesis

MoSe₂/g-C₃N₄ heterojunction coupled with Pt nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The inefficiency of charge separation is the major practically limited factor towards high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of photocatalysts. Therefore, design and construction of efficient photocatalysts system with efficient charge transfer path is urgently necessary for HER. Herein, we report an effective strategy to construct Pt–MoSe2/g-C3N4 heterostructure through integrating facile solvothermal technique and solution-phase hybridization method. The synthesized ternary Pt–MoSe2/g-C3N4 heterostructures exhibit greatly enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production than bare g-C3N4 and Pt/g-C3N4 catalyst. The enhancement factor is directly correlated with strong photosynergistic effect of charge-carrier generation and separation path coupling heterojunction sensitization on MoSe2/g-C3N4 with Pt nanoparticle. Moreover, the mechanism of enhanced catalytic activity is fully studied by electrochemical characterizations and photocurrent analysis.Ministry of Education (MOE)Accepted versionThe authors acknowledge the financial support from the Scientific research projects funded by Hebei talent project training funds (A201803003), the Program for the Young Top Talents of Hebei Province, the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (grant no. B2019402082) and the Science and Technology Research and Development Projects of Handan City (19422111008-16), W.L. Zhen and C. Xue thank the support from the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under AcRF-Tier 2 (MOE2018-T2-1-017) and AcRF-Tier 1 (MOE2019-T1-002- 012, RG102/19)

Gender Differences in the Association between Serum Uric Acid and Prediabetes: A Six-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study

This study aimed to examine gender differences in the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and the risk of prediabetes in a longitudinal cohort. A total of 8237 participants in the Beijing Health Management Cohort study were recruited and surveyed during 2008–2009, and followed up in 2011–2012 and 2014–2015 surveys. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to evaluate the association between SUA and prediabetes. Furthermore, subgroup analyses assessed the primary outcome according to status of abdominal obesity, age and status of hypertension. During six years of follow-up, we identified 1083 prediabetes events. The GEE analyses confirmed and clarified the association between SUA and prediabetes (RR = 1.362; 95% CI = 1.095–1.696; p = 0.006) after adjusting for other potential confounders, especially in females (RR = 2.109; 95% CI = 1.329–3.347; p = 0.002). In addition, this association was stronger in the subgroup of females aged ≥48 years old (RR = 2.384; 95% CI = 1.417–4.010; p = 0.001). The risk for prediabetes increased significantly with increasing SUA for females in the Chinese population. This association was strongly confirmed in older females aged ≥48 years old rather than in younger females, which may provide clues for pathogenic mechanisms of gender differences in the association between SUA and prediabetes