Data Provenance Inference in Machine Learning

Unintended memorization of various information granularity has garnered academic attention in recent years, e.g. membership inference and property inference. How to inversely use this privacy leakage to facilitate real-world applications is a growing direction; the current efforts include dataset ownership inference and user auditing. Standing on the data lifecycle and ML model production, we propose an inference process named Data Provenance Inference, which is to infer the generation, collection or processing property of the ML training data, to assist ML developers in locating the training data gaps without maintaining strenuous metadata. We formularly define the data provenance and the data provenance inference task in ML training. Then we propose a novel inference strategy combining embedded-space multiple instance classification and shadow learning. Comprehensive evaluations cover language, visual and structured data in black-box and white-box settings, with diverse kinds of data provenance (i.e. business, county, movie, user). Our best inference accuracy achieves 98.96% in the white-box text model when "author" is the data provenance. The experimental results indicate that, in general, the inference performance positively correlated with the amount of reference data for inference, the depth and also the amount of the parameter of the accessed layer. Furthermore, we give a post-hoc statistical analysis of the data provenance definition to explain when our proposed method works well

The role of inflammation in autoimmune disease: a therapeutic target

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are immune disorders whose incidence and prevalence are increasing year by year. AIDs are produced by the immune system’s misidentification of self-antigens, seemingly caused by excessive immune function, but in fact they are the result of reduced accuracy due to the decline in immune system function, which cannot clearly identify foreign invaders and self-antigens, thus issuing false attacks, and eventually leading to disease. The occurrence of AIDs is often accompanied by the emergence of inflammation, and inflammatory mediators (inflammatory factors, inflammasomes) play an important role in the pathogenesis of AIDs, which mediate the immune process by affecting innate cells (such as macrophages) and adaptive cells (such as T and B cells), and ultimately promote the occurrence of autoimmune responses, so targeting inflammatory mediators/pathways is one of emerging the treatment strategies of AIDs. This review will briefly describe the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of different AIDs, and give a rough introduction to inhibitors targeting inflammatory factors, hoping to have reference significance for subsequent treatment options for AIDs

The effects of grazing and fencing on grassland productivity and diversity in alpine grassland ecosystem in the Tibetan highland

Anthropogenic activities, such as grazing and fencing, have been known to alter the productivity and biodiversity of grassland ecosystems, potentially affecting their functioning. However, the impact of these activities on aboveground biomass (AGB) and plant diversity in alpine grasslands at different altitudes, as well as how they may be affected by soil nutrients and environmental climate, is not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, a study was conducted in the Lhasa Valley of Tibet. In 2013, twelve metal fences were set up at mountainous transects, and field surveys were conducted at twelve paired sites in early August 2021. The results of the study showed that AGB was slightly higher in fenced sites compared to grazed sites at altitudes from 4000 to 5100 m, but decreased with altitude at a slower rate in grazed sites. Plant diversity indices exhibited a unimodal pattern with increasing altitude, with no significant differences between fenced and grazed sites. Soil nutrients and environmental climate were found to be positively correlated with plant diversity indices and AGB at both fenced and grazed sites. Multiple linear regression models revealed that AGB and the Shannon index were largely influenced by soil nutrients (AP and AN) rather than by growing season soil temperature at fenced sites, while AGB and the Shannon index were more impacted by growing season soil temperature than by soil nutrients at grazed sites. These findings provide important insights into the impacts of grazing and fencing on above-ground biomass and plant diversity in mountainous environments

Surfactant-modified three-dimensional layered double hydroxide for the removal of methyl orange and rhodamine B: Extended investigations in binary dye systems

Dyes pollution have raised great attention due to its fatal harm on aquatic ecosystem and human health. Generally, multiple dyes (anionic dyes, cationic dyes) present in real wastewater systems. In this work, methyl orange (MO) as anionic dye and rhodamine B (RhB) as cationic dye were chosen as typical dyes to investigate the removal behavior with surfactant-modified three-dimensional MgAl layered double hydroxide (S3D-LDH) via macroscopic and microscopic analyses. Adsorption isotherms revealed that the maximum adsorption capacity of MO and RhB could reach 380.2 and 49.6 ​mg·g, respectively. The removal process between S3D-LDH and ionic dyes was identified to be a chemical reaction via adsorption kinetics. XRD and MIR demonstrated a decrease of d-spacing value and a red shift of the stretching vibration of lattice water and hydroxyl group in the MO removal and increased d-spacing and a blue shift of water with hydroxyl group in the RhB removal. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the RSO peak emerged after MO adsorption and the negative bond shift of unbound sulfur of S 2p after RhB adsorption. All investigations revealed that MO adsorbed by S3D-LDH via anion exchange and hydrogen bonding whereas surface adsorption was deemed as the primary pathway for RhB. Furthermore, the MO and RhB adsorption capacity by S3D-LDH was both enhanced in binary component systems. S3D-LDH was demonstrated as a potential broad-spectrum adsorbent for the treatment of dyes wastewater

The enhancement roles of sulfate on the adsorption of sodium dodecylsulfate by calcium-based layered double hydroxide: microstructure and thermal behaviors

As a commonly used surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) usually coexists with inorganic anions in the industrial wastewater. These anions have a significant influence on SDS removal, indirectly threatening the environment. It is important to understand the relationship between the adsorption of SDS and inorganic anions. In this study, calcium-based layered double hydroxide (CaAl-LDH-Cl) as an efficient adsorbent was synthesized for investigating the effect of SO on SDS removal. The SDS adsorption capacities were enhanced to 3.21 and 4.21 mmol g in the presence of SO with low/high SDS concentration, respectively. The phenomenon and mechanism were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Anionic exchange played a dominant role in the adsorption of SDS onto CaAl-LDH-Cl at DS/SO < 2, while both anion exchange and precipitation occurred when DS/SO exceeded 2. Moreover, the thermal analysis (TG-DTA) was employed to further reveal the interaction mechanism. The results showed the highest total mass loss and the lowest loss temperature of interlayer water in the sulfate coexist system, confirming the enhancement of SDS adsorption amount in the presence of SO

The tetracyclines removal by MgAl layered double oxide in the presence of phosphate or nitrate: Behaviors and mechanism exploration

Pollution of tetracyclines (TCs) in swine wastewater has been a critical concern worldwide. Notably, multiple anions (e.g. PO , NO ) coexist in the actual environments, which could significantly influence the TCs removal. In the current study, MgAl layered double oxide (MgAl-LDO) was adopted for investigating the TC removal performance with/without PO or NO . In all systems, the adsorption performance exhibited two different approaches between low and high TC concentrations. In the single system, pseudo-second-order and the Freundlich model fitted well to the equilibrium adsorption data when TC concentration was below 125 mg·L, while the pseudo-first-order and the linear model could describe the removal process at high TC concentration (>125 mg·L). The maximum adsorption capacity was 83.56 mg·g. In the co-existing system, the adsorption capacity was slightly enhanced when TC concentration below 150 mg·L however was inhibited at high concentration (>150 mg·L). Combined with the characterization analyses, the interaction mechanism at low concentration was primarily surface adsorption on reconstructed LDH from LDO in the TC-alone system. It is worth mention that both PO and NO facilitated the formation of LDH via rehydration of LDO which enhanced surface adsorption in the co-existing system. At high TC concentration, the formation of tetracycline-metal complexes played a dominant role in TC removal in the single system, whereas diminished complexation in the binary system led to the decreased TC removal. This study provides a theoretical and practical guidance for MgAl-LDO on the efficient remediation of actual tetracyclines wastewater

Soil, Plant, and Microorganism Interactions Drive Secondary Succession in Alpine Grassland Restoration

Plant secondary succession has been explored extensively in restoring degraded grasslands in semiarid or dry environments. However, the dynamics of soil microbial communities and their interactions with plant succession following restoration efforts remain understudied, particularly in alpine ecosystems. This study investigates the interplay between soil properties, plant communities, and microbial populations across a chronosequence of grassland restoration on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China. We examined five succession stages representing artificial grasslands of varying recovery durations from 0 to 19. We characterized soil microbial compositions using high-throughput sequencing, enzymatic activity assessments, and biomass analyses. Our findings reveal distinct plant and microbial secondary succession patterns, marked by increased soil organic carbon, total phosphorus, and NH4+-N contents. Soil microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and microbial community diversity increased as recovery time progressed, attributed to increased plant aboveground biomass, cover, and diversity. The observed patterns in biomass and diversity dynamics of plant, bacterial, and fungal communities suggest parallel plant and fungal succession occurrences. Indicators of bacterial and fungal communities, including biomass, enzymatic activities, and community composition, exhibited sensitivity to variations in plant biomass and diversity. Fungal succession, in particular, exhibited susceptibility to changes in the soil C: N ratio. Our results underscore the significant roles of plant biomass, cover, and diversity in shaping microbial community composition attributed to vegetation-induced alterations in soil nutrients and soil microclimates. This study contributes valuable insights into the intricate relationships driving secondary succession in alpine grassland restoration

Bulk Polystyrene-BaF₂ Composite Scintillators for Highly Efficient Radiation Detection

Organic–inorganic composite scintillators, demonstrating advantages of easy large-area preparation and a high detection efficiency, have shown enormous potential application prospects in radiation detection and imaging. In this study, bulk polystyrene (PS) composite scintillators were successfully prepared by embedding inorganic BaF2 particles with a loading amount of up to 80 wt% during the polymerization process of the plastic scintillator. The inorganic BaF2 particles were uniformly dispersed in the organic matrix. With the increase of the loading amounts of BaF2 particles, the X-ray-excited luminescence intensity of the PS-BaF2 composite scintillators was about eight times higher than that of the commercial pure plastic scintillator. The scintillation counts under the gamma ray (59.5 KeV) irradiation also showed that the detection efficiency was obviously enhanced by BaF2 particle loading. More importantly, their scintillation pulse retains the decay kinetics of the organic matrix without loading the slow-decay component of BaF2. This work provides a promising solution for the application of the PS-BaF2 composite scintillator in high-efficiency radiation detection and large-area imaging

Withanolides from dietary tomatillo suppress HT1080 cancer cell growth by targeting mutant IDH1

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) is one key rate-limiting enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which is related to various cancers. Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa), a special tomato, is widely consumed as nutritious vegetable in Mexico, USA, etc. As a rich source for withanolides, the fruits of P. ixocarpa were investigated, leading to the isolation of 11 type-A withanolides including 4 new ones (1 is an artificial withanolide). All these withanolides were evaluated for their inhibition on mutant IDH1 enzyme activity. Among them, physalin F (11) exhibited potent enzyme inhibitory activity and binding affinity with mutant IDH1. It inhibits the proliferation of HT1080 cells by selectively inhibiting the activity of mutant IDH1. Since Ixocarpalactone A, another major type-B withanolide in this plant, could act on another energy metabolism target PHGDH, the presence of different types of withanolides in tomatillo and their synergistic effect could make it a potential antitumor functional food or drug

Recent Developed Strategies for Enhancing Chondrogenic Differentiation of MSC: Impact on MSC-Based Therapy for Cartilage Regeneration

Articular cartilage is susceptible to damage, but its self-repair is hindered by its avascular nature. Traditional treatment methods are not able to achieve satisfactory repair effects, and the development of tissue engineering techniques has shed new light on cartilage regeneration. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are one of the most commonly used seed cells in cartilage tissue engineering. However, MSCs tend to lose their multipotency, and the composition and structure of cartilage-like tissues formed by MSCs are far from those of native cartilage. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop strategies that promote MSC chondrogenic differentiation to give rise to durable and phenotypically correct regenerated cartilage. This review provides an overview of recent advances in enhancement strategies for MSC chondrogenic differentiation, including optimization of bioactive factors, culture conditions, cell type selection, coculture, gene editing, scaffolds, and physical stimulation. This review will aid the further understanding of the MSC chondrogenic differentiation process and enable improvement of MSC-based cartilage tissue engineering