A Network Resource Allocation Recommendation Method with An Improved Similarity Measure

Recommender systems have been acknowledged as efficacious tools for managing information overload. Nevertheless, conventional algorithms adopted in such systems primarily emphasize precise recommendations and, consequently, overlook other vital aspects like the coverage, diversity, and novelty of items. This approach results in less exposure for long-tail items. In this paper, to personalize the recommendations and allocate recommendation resources more purposively, a method named PIM+RA is proposed. This method utilizes a bipartite network that incorporates self-connecting edges and weights. Furthermore, an improved Pearson correlation coefficient is employed for better redistribution. The evaluation of PIM+RA demonstrates a significant enhancement not only in accuracy but also in coverage, diversity, and novelty of the recommendation. It leads to a better balance in recommendation frequency by providing effective exposure to long-tail items, while allowing customized parameters to adjust the recommendation list bias

PAHs in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean: Spatial Distribution and Water Mass Transport

In the Arctic Ocean, it is still unclear what role oceanic transport plays in the fate of semivolatile organic compounds. The strong-stratified Arctic Ocean undergoes complex inputs and outputs of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the neighboring oceans and continents. To better understand PAHs’ transport processes and their contribution to high-latitude oceans, surface seawater, and water column, samples were collected from the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean in 2012. The spatial distribution of dissolved PAHs (∑9PAH) in surface seawater showed an “Arctic Shelf \u3e Atlantic Ocean \u3e Arctic Basin” pattern, with a range of 0.3–10.2 ng L−1. Positive matrix factorization modeling results suggested that vehicle emissions and biomass combustion were the major PAHs sources in the surface seawater. According to principal component analysis, PAHs in different water masses showed unique profiles indicating their different origins. Carried by the Norwegian Atlantic Current (0–800 m) and East Greenland Current (0–300 m), PAH individuals’ net transport mass fluxes ranged from −4.4 ± 1.7 to 53 ± 39 tons year−1 to the Arctic Ocean. We suggested the limited contribution of ocean currents on PAHs’ delivery to the Arctic Ocean, but their role in modulating PAHs’ air–sea interactions and other biogeochemical processes needs further studies

Cross-session Emotion Recognition by Joint Label-common and Label-specific EEG Features Exploration

Since Electroencephalogram (EEG) is resistant to camouflage, it has been a reliable data source for objective emotion recognition. EEG is naturally multi-rhythm and multi-channel, based on which we can extract multiple features for further processing. In EEG-based emotion recognition, it is important to investigate whether there exist some common features shared by different emotional states, and the specific features associated with each emotional state. However, such fundamental problem is ignored by most of the existing studies. To this end, we propose a Joint label-Common and label-Specific Features Exploration (JCSFE) model for semi-supervised cross-session EEG emotion recognition in this paper. To be specific, JCSFE imposes the ℓ 2,1 -norm on the projection matrix to explore the label-common EEG features and simultaneously the ℓ 1 -norm is used to explore the label-specific EEG features. Besides, a graph regularization term is introduced to enforce the data local invariance property, i.e ., similar EEG samples are encouraged to have the same emotional state. Results obtained from the SEED-IV and SEED-V emotional data sets experimentally demonstrate that JCSFE not only achieves superior emotion recognition performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art models but also provides us with a quantitative method to identify the label-common and label-specific EEG features in emotion recognition

Transcriptomic insights into the molecular mechanism for response of wild emmer wheat to stripe rust fungus

IntroductionContinuous identification and application of novel resistance genes against stripe rust are of great importance for wheat breeding. Wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, has adapted to a broad range of environments and is a valuable genetic resource that harbors important beneficial traits, including resistance to stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst). However, there has been a lack of systematic exploration of genes against Pst races in wild emmer wheat.MethodsGenome-wide transcriptome profiles were conducted on two wild emmer wheat genotypes with different levels of resistance to (Pst (DR3 exhibiting moderate (Pst resistance, and D7 displaying high (Pst resistance). qRT-PCR was performed to verify findings by RNA-seq.ResultsA higher number of DEGs were identified in the moderately (Pst-resistant genotype, while the highly (Pst-resistant genotype exhibited a greater enrichment of pathways. Nonetheless, there were consistent patterns in the enrichment of pathways between the two genotypes at the same time of inoculation. At 24 hpi, a majority of pathways such as the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism, and alpha-Linolenic acid metabolism exhibited significant enrichment in both genotypes. At 72 hpi, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and circadian rhythm-plant pathways were notably and consistently enriched in both genotypes. The majority of (WRKY, MADs , and AP2-ERF families were found to be involved in the initial stage of response to Pst invasion (24 hpi), while the MYB, NAC, TCP, and b-ZIP families played a role in defense during the later stage of Pst infection (72 hpi).DiscussionIn this present study, we identified numerous crucial genes, transcription factors, and pathways associated with the response and regulation of wild emmer wheat to Pst infection. Our findings offer valuable information for understanding the function of crucial Pst-responsive genes, and will deepen the understanding of the complex resistance mechanisms against Pst in wheat

How to become a generalist species? Individual niche variation across habitat transformation gradients

Species in transformed habitats, frequently labeled as environmental generalists, tend to show broader niches than species in natural habitats. However, how population niche expansion translates into changes in the niches of individual organisms remains unclear, particularly in the context of habitat transformation. Niche expansion could be a product of individuals having broader niches, greater distances among individuals’ niches, or a combination of both processes. This would challenge the traditional conceptions on niche dynamics, which emphasize the role played by individual specialization (IS). Here, using stable isotopes, we computed total niche width (TNW), its within- and between-individual components (WIC and BIC), and IS (the ratio WIC/TNW), in 13 populations of 6 bird species and 8 populations of 3 frog species in natural and transformed habitats. We confirmed that species had broader niche width in transformed than in natural habitats, yet population niche expansion across habitats was mainly a product of increased distance between individuals. Within each habitat type, increases in TNW were linked to increases in WIC for all habitat types, while relationships between TNW and BIC were found in transformed but not in natural habitats. Hence, both increased individual niche width and increased distance among individuals were apparent within habitats, particularly in transformed ones, where increases in WIC dominated. Neither across or within habitats was niche expansion associated with increasing IS. Therefore, our results overturn traditional conceptions associated with the niche variation hypothesis and illustrate that niche expansion is not invariably associated with increased IS, because the distance between individual’s niches (BIC) can increase, as well as the breadth of those niches (WIC)

Open-source genomic analysis of Shiga-toxin–producing E. coli O104:H4

An outbreak caused by Shiga-toxin–producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 occurred in Germany in May and June of 2011, with more than 3000 persons infected. Here, we report a cluster of cases associated with a single family and describe an open-source genomic analysis of an isolate from one member of the family. This analysis involved the use of rapid, bench-top DNA sequencing technology, open-source data release, and prompt crowd-sourced analyses. In less than a week, these studies revealed that the outbreak strain belonged to an enteroaggregative E. coli lineage that had acquired genes for Shiga toxin 2 and for antibiotic resistance