A Cost-sensitive Intelligent Prediction Model for Outsourced Software Project Risk

Outsourced software project is one of the main ways of software development, which is of high failure rate. Intelligent risk prediction model can help identify high risk project in time. However, the existing models are mostly based on such a hypothesis that all the cost of misclassification is equal, which is not consistent with the reality that in the domain of software project risk prediction, the cost of predicting a fail-prone project as a success-prone project is different from predicting a success-prone project as a fail-prone project. To the best of our knowledge, the cost-sensitive learning method has not yet been applied in the domain of outsourced software project risk management though it has been widely used in a variety of fields. Based on this situation, we selected five classifiers, and introduced cost-sensitive learning method to build intelligent prediction models respectively. This paper totally collected 292 real data of outsourced software project for modeling. Experiment results showed that, under cost-sensitive scenario, the polynomial kernel support vector machine is the best classifier for outsourced software project risk prediction among the five classifiers due to its high prediction accuracy, stability and low cost

Are men dominant? Evidence of differences between physical activity and quality of life among older adults in China

At present, the aging population is one of China's basic national concerns, and physical exercise offers endless potential to cope with it. However, the life expectancy of men in China is generally lower than that of women, and the health status of older men is more worrying. Could it be that differences in physical exercise cause the difference in life expectancy between older men and women? This study analyzes the exercise regimen of older men and women and its influence on their quality of life. Approximately 200 respondents aged over 60 were investigated using the SF-36 and exercise questionnaires. Our findings revealed the following: (1) The scores of seven dimensions of life quality of older men were significantly lower than those of older women (p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference only in physiological function (p > 0.05); (2) The exercise frequency and persistence of older men were significantly lower than those of older women (p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference in exercise time (p > 0.05); and (3) All eight indices of quality of life of older men were positively correlated with the four indices of exercise (0.250 < R < 0.597). Our study offered the following conclusions: (1) The health of older men who lack physical exercise is poor. From the perspective of healthy aging, older men are a vulnerable group that deserves more attention. (2) Within an appropriate range, the more older men participate in physical activity programs, the more conducive they are to improved health. (3) This study focuses on promoting physical exercise for older adults and suggests organizing them to participate in sports activities as an important measure to promote healthy aging in China

MYCBP2 expression correlated with inflammatory cell infiltration and prognosis immunotherapy in thyroid cancer patients

IntroductionImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown promising results for the treatment of multiple cancers. ICIs and related therapies may also be useful for the treatment of thyroid cancer (TC). In TC, Myc binding protein 2 (MYCBP2) is correlated with inflammatory cell infiltration and cancer prognosis. However, the relationship between MYCBP2 expression and ICI efficacy in TC patients is unclear.MethodsWe downloaded data from two TC cohorts, including transcriptomic data and clinical prognosis data. The Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm was used to predict the efficacy of ICIs in TC patients. MCPcounter, xCell, and quanTIseq were used to calculate immune cell infiltration scores. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and single sample GSEA (ssGSEA) were used to evaluate signaling pathway scores. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis and clinical follow up was used to identify the MYCBP2 protein expression status in patients and associated with clinical outcome.ResultsA higher proportion of MYCBP2-high TC patients were predicted ICI responders than MYCBP2-low patients. MYCBP2-high patients also had significantly increased infiltration of CD8+ T cells, cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTLs), B cells, natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DC)s. Compared with MYCBP2-low patients, MYCBP2-high patients had higher expression of genes associated with B cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), antigen processing and presentation, inflammatory stimulation, and interferon (IFN) responses. GSEA and ssGSEA also showed that MYCBP2-high patients had significantly increased activity of inflammatory factors and signaling pathways associated with immune responses.In addiation, Patients in our local cohort with high MYCBP2 expression always had a better prognosis and greater sensitivity to therapy while compared to patients with low MYCBP2 expression after six months clinic follow up.ConclusionsIn this study, we found that MYCBP2 may be a predictive biomarker for ICI efficacy in TC patients. High MYCBP2 expression was associated with significantly enriched immune cell infiltration. MYCBP2 may also be involved in the regulation of signaling pathways associated with anti-tumor immune responses or the production of inflammatory factors

The Antiviral Drug Valacyclovir Successfully Suppresses Salivary Gland Hypertrophy Virus (SGHV) in Laboratory Colonies of Glossina pallidipes

Many species of tsetse flies are infected with a virus that causes salivary gland hypertrophy (SGH) symptoms associated with a reduced fecundity and fertility. A high prevalence of SGH has been correlated with the collapse of two laboratory colonies of Glossina pallidipes and colony maintenance problems in a mass rearing facility in Ethiopia. Mass-production of G. pallidipes is crucial for programs of tsetse control including the sterile insect technique (SIT), and therefore requires a management strategy for this virus. Based on the homology of DNA polymerase between salivary gland hypertrophy virus and herpes viruses at the amino acid level, two antiviral drugs, valacyclovir and acyclovir, classically used against herpes viruses were selected and tested for their toxicity on tsetse flies and their impact on virus replication. While long term per os administration of acyclovir resulted in a significant reduction of productivity of the colonies, no negative effect was observed in colonies fed with valacyclovir-treated blood. Furthermore, treatment of a tsetse colony with valacyclovir for 83 weeks resulted in a significant reduction of viral loads and consequently suppression of SGH symptoms. The combination of initial selection of SGHV-negative flies by non-destructive PCR, a clean feeding system, and valacyclovir treatment resulted in a colony that was free of SGH syndromes in 33 weeks. This is the first report of the use of a drug to control a viral infection in an insect and of the demonstration that valacyclovir can be used to suppress SGH in colonies of G. pallidipes

Spatially restricted drivers and transitional cell populations cooperate with the microenvironment in untreated and chemo-resistant pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal disease with limited treatment options and poor survival. We studied 83 spatial samples from 31 patients (11 treatment-naïve and 20 treated) using single-cell/nucleus RNA sequencing, bulk-proteogenomics, spatial transcriptomics and cellular imaging. Subpopulations of tumor cells exhibited signatures of proliferation, KRAS signaling, cell stress and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Mapping mutations and copy number events distinguished tumor populations from normal and transitional cells, including acinar-to-ductal metaplasia and pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Pathology-assisted deconvolution of spatial transcriptomic data identified tumor and transitional subpopulations with distinct histological features. We showed coordinated expression of TIGIT in exhausted and regulatory T cells and Nectin in tumor cells. Chemo-resistant samples contain a threefold enrichment of inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts that upregulate metallothioneins. Our study reveals a deeper understanding of the intricate substructure of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumors that could help improve therapy for patients with this disease

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Molecular Dynamics Study on the Mechanism of Nanoscale Jet Instability Reaching Supercritical Conditions

This paper investigates the characteristics of a nitrogen jet (the thermodynamic conditions ranging from subcritical to supercritical) ejected into a supercritical nitrogen environment using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The thermodynamic properties of nitrogen obtained by molecular dynamics show good agreement with the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state (EOS). The agreement provides validation for this nitrogen molecular model. The molecular dynamics simulation of homogeneous nitrogen spray is carried out in different thermodynamic conditions from subcritical to supercritical, and a spatio-temporal evolution of the nitrogen spray is obtained. The interface of the nitrogen spray is determined at the point where the concentration of ejected fluid component reaches 50%, since the supercritical jet has no obvious vapor-liquid interface. A stability analysis of the transcritical jets shows that the disturbance growth rate of the shear layer coincides very well with the classical theoretical result at subcritical region. In the supercritical region, however, the growth rate obtained by molecular dynamics deviates from the theoretical result

Molecular dynamics simulation of a nanoscale feedback-free fluidic oscillator

We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of a feedback-free fluidic oscillator model. Using the molecular dynamics simulations, it is demonstrated that the oscillation can be self-induced and sustained in a large range of flow rate and two very different jet directions. The oscillation mechanism of the nanoscale fluidic oscillator is physically similar to that in macroscale in which the dome vortex plays a crucial role. The thermal fluctuation is not significant enough to submerged the effect of hydrodynamics in the nanoscale feedback-free fluidic oscillator. The linear relationship between the oscillation frequency and the flow rate revealed by macroscopic experiments was also found in our simulations. Two of the three oscillation regimes found in macroscopic studies are shown to be able to be reproduced in our simulation. Our results show that molecular dynamics simulation is fully capable of studying the complicated flow in a feedback-free fluidic oscillator

Time-Decoupling Layered Optimization for Energy and Transportation Systems under Dynamic Hydrogen Pricing

The growing popularity of renewable energy and hydrogen-powered vehicles (HVs) will facilitate the coordinated optimization of energy and transportation systems for economic and environmental benefits. However, little research attention has been paid to dynamic hydrogen pricing and its impact on the optimal performance of energy and transportation systems. To reduce the dependency on centralized controllers and protect information privacy, a time-decoupling layered optimization strategy is put forward to realize the low-carbon and economic operation of energy and transportation systems under dynamic hydrogen pricing. First, a dynamic hydrogen pricing mechanism was formulated on the basis of the share of renewable power in the energy supply and introduced into the optimization of distributed energy stations (DESs), which will promote hydrogen production using renewable power and minimize the DES construction and operation cost. On the basis of the dynamic hydrogen price optimized by DESs and the traffic conditions on roads, the raised user-centric routing optimization method can select a minimum cost route for HVs to purchase fuels from a DES with low-cost and/or low-carbon hydrogen. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed optimization strategy was verified by simulations