Attend Who is Weak: Enhancing Graph Condensation via Cross-Free Adversarial Training

In this paper, we study the \textit{graph condensation} problem by compressing the large, complex graph into a concise, synthetic representation that preserves the most essential and discriminative information of structure and features. We seminally propose the concept of Shock Absorber (a type of perturbation) that enhances the robustness and stability of the original graphs against changes in an adversarial training fashion. Concretely, (I) we forcibly match the gradients between pre-selected graph neural networks (GNNs) trained on a synthetic, simplified graph and the original training graph at regularly spaced intervals. (II) Before each update synthetic graph point, a Shock Absorber serves as a gradient attacker to maximize the distance between the synthetic dataset and the original graph by selectively perturbing the parts that are underrepresented or insufficiently informative. We iteratively repeat the above two processes (I and II) in an adversarial training fashion to maintain the highly-informative context without losing correlation with the original dataset. More importantly, our shock absorber and the synthesized graph parallelly share the backward process in a free training manner. Compared to the original adversarial training, it introduces almost no additional time overhead. We validate our framework across 8 datasets (3 graph and 5 node classification datasets) and achieve prominent results: for example, on Cora, Citeseer and Ogbn-Arxiv, we can gain nearly 1.13% to 5.03% improvements compare with SOTA models. Moreover, our algorithm adds only about 0.2% to 2.2% additional time overhead over Flicker, Citeseer and Ogbn-Arxiv. Compared to the general adversarial training, our approach improves time efficiency by nearly 4-fold

Thermal coupling analysis for a multi-chip paralleled IGBT module in a doubly fed wind turbine power converter

Thermal coupling between adjacent IGBT or diode chips is the result of non-uniform temperature distribution in a multi-chip IGBT module. This affects the junction temperatures and hence the total power loss predicted for the module. The study first investigates the impact of thermal coupling effect on the junction temperatures through finite element method (FEM), and then develops a thermal coupling impedance model to represent such effect. The effect is shown to reduce with the distance exponentially. The model result agrees well with test. The validated model is then used to predict the junction temperature swings during operational power cycling in a DFIG wind turbine, showing the difference between the rotor and grid side converters. The model presented and the results obtained may be important for reliability evaluation and condition monitoring in the wind turbine power converters as well as in other multi-chip paralleled power electronic systems

One-Step Process for Environment-Friendly Preparation of Agar Oligosaccharides From Gracilaria lemaneiformis by the Action of Flammeovirga sp. OC4

Oligosaccharides extracted from agar Gracilaria lemaneiformis (G. lemaneiformis) have stronger physiological activities and a higher value than agar itself, but the pollution caused by the extraction process greatly restricts the sustainable use of agar. In this study, four bacterial strains with a high ability to degrade G. lemaneiformis were isolated from seawater by in situ enrichment in the deep sea. Among them, Flammeovirga sp. OC4, identified by morphological observation and its 16S rRNA sequencing (98.07% similarity to type strain JL-4 of Flammeovirga aprica), was selected. The optimum temperature and pH of crude enzyme produced by Flammeovirga sp. OC4 were 50°C and 8, respectively. More than 60% of the maximum enzyme activity remained after storage at pH 5.0–10.0 for 60 min. Both Mn2+ and Ba2+ could enhance the enzyme activity. A “one-step process” for preparation of oligosaccharides from G. lemaneiformis was established using Flammeovirga sp. OC4. After optimization of the Plackett–Burman (PB) design and response surface methodology (RSM), the yield of oligosaccharides was increased by 36.1% from 2.71 to 3.09 g L−1 in a 250-mL fermenter with optimized parameters: 30 g L−1G. lemaneiformis powder, 4.84 g L−1 (NH4)2SO4, 44.8-mL working medium volume at 36.7°C, and a shaking speed of 200 × g for 42 h. The extracted oligosaccharides were identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and ion chromatography, which consisted of neoagarobiose, agarotriose, neoagarotetraose, agaropentaose, and neoagarohexaose. These results provided an alternative approach for environment-friendly and sustainable utilization of algae

Choroidal morphologic and vascular features in patients with unilateral idiopathic epiretinal membranes: An optical coherence tomography analysis integrated with assessment of retinal layers

IntroductionIntegrated analysis of retinal and choroidal morphologic and vascular features is urgently needed to examine whether and how these two elements interact with each other, thus contributing to visual impairment in patients with idiopathic epiretinal membranes (iERMs).MethodsAn observational retrospective study consisting of 181 patients diagnosed with unilateral iERM between August 2019 and July 2022 was carried out at Peking University Third Hospital. All patients underwent a standardized set of ophthalmologic examinations, including EDI-OCT and OCTA scanning, and were subsequently categorized into four stages according to current classification schemes based on their OCT findings. Altogether, 15 qualitative and quantitative parameters of both the retina (full-layer, inner and outer layers) and choroid were identified.ResultsThe results revealed variations in the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) among different stages of iERMs (p < 0.001) for the first time. Distributions of retinal parameters across four stages of iERMs were validated. Correlation analysis between choroidal and retinal parameters showed that the CVI was associated with both inner and outer retinal morphologic biomarkers. Functional damage to retinal integrity was determined to be a strong contributor to visual acuity reduction in iERMs.DiscussionThis study complemented our present understanding of posterior segment structural and vascular alterations in iERMs

Weight Function Method for computations of crack face displacements and stress intensity factors of center cracks

The weight function method provides a powerful and reliable tool for the determination of the stress intensity factor around the crack tip in a linearly elastic cracked solid subjected to arbitrary loading conditions. However, it is difficult to exactly compute the crack face displacement whose partial derivative is responsible for the weight function calculation. In the present paper, only one reference stress intensity factor is used for the purpose of establishing a general expression of the crack face displacement. Then, the generalized and simple expression is applied to calculate the weight function and the stress intensity factor of the center crack configuration. The calculation of the weight function is reduced to the simple integration of the correction function and of the partial derivative of the crack face displacement. It is shown that the present expressions for the computations of the crack face displacement and its partial derivative are in good agreement with their exact solutions

Grain quality evaluations of hybrids between Triticum aestivum and Sorghum bicolor produced by pollen tube pathway method

Abstract Distant hybridization makes it possible to transfer the genome of one species to another, and the pollen tube pathway method has been widely used based on the hypothesis that such distant hybridization process provided the opportunity of the recombination of DNA segment. In this study, we carried out a distant hybridization between Triticum aestivum and Sorghum bicolor via pollen tube pathway method, and five new wheat lines including 9122 (S. bicolor 2D + T. aestivum L13), 9141 (S. bicolor 5D + T. aestivum L10), 9144 (S. bicolor 2D + T. aestivum G8), 9145 (S. bicolor 5D + T. aestivum G8) and 0154 (S. bicolor 10D + T. aestivum G8) were selected to determine the grain quality characteristics of these hybrids. Therefore, the properties of their flour mixogram and high molecular weight subunit of hybrids were analyzed. The variations of mixogram peak time, mixogram peak height, mixogram height in the seventh minute and sedimentation value in the five hybrids were observed, while mixogram width at the seventh minute of all the hybrids was improved. The mutation of high molecular weight subunits of glutenin happened including the composition pattern and content of HMW-GS. In hybrid 9144, the high molecular weight glutenin subunits 5+10 were presented instead of subunits 2+12 of its maternal parent G8. The results indicated that distant hybridization between T. aestivum and S. bicolor via pollen tube pathway method improved the wheat grain quality, which will provide more opportunities for the selection of new wheat cultivar with improving grain quality

Revealing and Resolving the Restrained Enzymatic Cleavage of DNA Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold: Electrochemical Quantitation and ESI-MS Confirmation

Herein we report a combined electrochemical and ESI-MS study of the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of DNA self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold, platform systems for understanding nucleic acid surface chemistry and for constructing DNA-based biosensors. Our electrochemical approach is based on the comparison of the amounts of surface-tethered DNA nucleotides before and after Exonuclease I (Exo I) incubation using electrostatically bound [Ru(NH3)6]3+ as redox indicators. It is surprising to reveal that the hydrolysis efficiency of ssDNA SAMs does not depend on the packing density and base sequence, and that the cleavage ends with surface-bound shorter strands (9-13 mers). The ex-situ ESI-MS observations confirmed that the hydrolysis products for ssDNA SAMs (from 24 to 56 mers) are dominated with 10-15 mer fragments, in contrast to the complete digestion in solution. Such surface-restrained hydrolysis behavior is due to the steric hindrance of the underneath electrode to the Exo I/DNA binding, which is essential for the occurrence of Exo I-catalyzed processive cleavage. More importantly, we have shown that the hydrolysis efficiency of ssDNA SAMs can be remarkably improved by adopting long alkyl linkers (locating DNA strands further away from the substrates)