Parallel Acceleration and Improvement of Gravitational Field Optimization Algorithm

The Gravitational Field Algorithm, a modern optimization algorithm, mainly simulates celestial mechanics and is derived from the Solar Nebular Disk Model (SNDM). It simulates the process of planetary formation to search for the optimal solution. Although this optimization algorithm has more advantages than other optimization algorithms in multi-peak optimization problems, it still has the shortcoming of long computation time when dealing with large-scale datasets or solving complex problems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the efficiency of the Gravitational Field Algorithm (GFA). In this paper, an optimization method based on multi-population parallel is proposed to accelerate the Gravitational Field Algorithm. With the help of the parallel mechanism in MATLAB, the algorithm execution speed will be improved by using the parallel computing mode of multi-core CPU. In addition, this paper also improves the absorption operation strategy. By comparing the experimental results of eight classical unconstrained optimization problems, it is shown that the computational efficiency of this method is improved compared with the original Gravitational Field Algorithm, and the algorithm accuracy has also been slightly improved

Associations between trabecular bone score and bone mineral density in Taiwanese older adult men

Osteoporosis is a common bone disease in older adults, and it is a predictor of bone fracture. This study determined the mean trabecular bone score (TBS) of older Taiwanese men in different age groups and analyzed the effectiveness of TBS in predicting osteoporosis risk. A total of 1568 men aged 50 and older were enrolled. The demographic characteristics; bone mineral density (BMD) T-scores of the spine, total hip, and femoral neck; and TBS of the spine were recorded to statistically determine osteoporosis-related factors. The average age (range) of the included patients was 59.5 ± 7.5 (50.0–92.7) years. The mean (range) TBS was 1.386 ± 0.073 (0.999–1.605). The TBS was moderately and positively correlated with the BMD T-scores of the spine, total hip, and femoral neck (r = 0.516, 0.499, and 0.480, respectively). The lowest of the BMD T-scores measured at multiple sites revealed a higher rate of osteoporosis (5.5%) than did BMD T-scores measured at individual sites. Moreover, bone microarchitecture degradation was noted in 2.2% of the patients. Compared with the use of BMD alone, a combination of BMD and TBS predicted more patients (1.4%) to be at a high risk of osteoporosis. Combining the lowest BMD and TBS revealed that 20.3% of patients aged ≥70 years had a high risk of osteoporosis. TBS can be used to clinically assess the risk of osteoporosis in older adults without osteoporosis. We recommend combining the lowest BMD T-score and TBS for predicting the risk of osteoporosis

6-Chloro-3-nitro-N-(propan-2-yl)pyridin-2-amine

There are two mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit mol­ecule of the title compound, C8H10ClN3O2. Intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the mol­ecular structure. There are no classical inter­molecular hydrogen bonds in the crystal structure

All-Trans Retinoic Acid Induces DU145 Cell Cycle Arrest through Cdk5 Activation

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the active form of vitamin A, plays an important role in the growth arrest of numerous types of cancer cells. It has been indicated that cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activity can be affected by ATRA treatment. Our previous results demonstrate the involvement of Cdk5 in the fate of prostate cancer cells. The purpose of this study is to examine whether Cdk5 is involved in ATRA-induced growth arrest of the castration-resistant cancer cell line DU145 through up-regulating Cdk inhibitor protein, p27

Poly[[[μ2-1,1′-(butane-1,4-di­yl)bis­(1H-imidazole)-κ2 N 3:N 3′](μ2-2,6-di­methyl­pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl­ato-κ2 O 3:O 5)zinc] dihydrate]

In the title coordination polymer, {[Zn(C9H7NO4)(C10H14N4)]·2H2O}n, the ZnII ion displays a distorted tetra­hedral geometry with two imidazole N atoms from two 1,1′-(butane-1,4-di­yl)bis­(imidazole) (bbi) ligands and two carboxyl­ate O atoms from two 2,6-dimethyl­pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl­ate (dpdc) ligands. The bbi and dpdc ligands bridge the ZnII ions, forming layers parallel to (011). O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds and π–π inter­actions between the imidazole rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.807 (5) Å] connect the layers. Two of the three uncoordinated water mol­ecules are disordered, each over two 0.25-occupancy positions

Genomic insight into diet adaptation in the biological control agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Background: The ladybird beetle Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant, 1853 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) is used worldwide as a biological control agent. It is a predator of various mealybug pests, but it also feeds on alternative prey and can be reared on artificial diets. Relatively little is known about the underlying genetic adaptations of its feeding habits. Results: We report the first high-quality genome sequence for C. montrouzieri. We found that the gene families encoding chemosensors and digestive and detoxifying enzymes among others were significantly expanded or contracted in C. montrouzieri in comparison to published genomes of other beetles. Comparisons of diet-specific larval development, survival and transcriptome profiling demonstrated that differentially expressed genes on unnatural diets as compared to natural prey were enriched in pathways of nutrient metabolism, indicating that the lower performance on the tested diets was caused by nutritional deficiencies. Remarkably, the C. montrouzieri genome also showed a significant expansion in an immune effector gene family. Some of the immune effector genes were dramatically downregulated when larvae were fed unnatural diets. Conclusion: We suggest that the evolution of genes related to chemosensing, digestion, and detoxification but also immunity might be associated with diet adaptation of an insect predator. These findings help explain why this predatory ladybird has become a successful biological control agent and will enable the optimization of its mass rearing and use in biological control programs

Effects of Gualou Guizhi Decoction Aqueous Extract on Axonal Regeneration in Organotypic Cortical Slice Culture after Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation

Gualou Guizhi decoction (GLGZD) is effective for the clinical treatment of limb spasms caused by ischemic stroke, but its underlying mechanism is unclear. Propidium iodide (PI) fluorescence staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL), immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real-time qPCR were used to observe the axonal regeneration and neuroprotective effects of GLGZD aqueous extract on organotypic cortical slices exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) and further elucidate the potential mechanisms. Compared with the OGD group, the GLGZD aqueous extract decreased the red PI fluorescence intensity; inhibited neuronal apoptosis; improved the growth of slice axons; upregulated the protein expression of tau and growth-associated protein-43; and decreased protein and mRNA expression of neurite outgrowth inhibitor protein-A (Nogo-A), Nogo receptor 1 (NgR1), ras homolog gene family A (RhoA), rho-associated coiled-coil-containing protein kinase (ROCK), and phosphorylation of collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP2). Our study found that GLGZD had a strong neuroprotective effect on brain slices after OGD injury. GLGZD plays a vital role in promoting axonal remodeling and functional remodeling, which may be related to regulation of the expression of Nogo-A and its receptor NgR1, near the injured axons, inhibition of the Rho-ROCK pathway, and reduction of CRMP2 phosphorylation

Serologic Status for Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus, Taiwan

We studied preexisting immunity to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus in persons in Taiwan. A total of 18 (36%) of 50 elderly adults in Taiwan born before 1935 had protective antibodies against currently circulating pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus. Seasonal influenza vaccines induced antibodies that did not protect against pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus