Random walks on mutual microRNA-target gene interaction network improve the prediction of disease-associated microRNAs

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play an important role in pathological initiation, progression and maintenance. Because identification in the laboratory of disease-related miRNAs is not straightforward, numerous network-based methods have been developed to predict novel miRNAs in silico. Homogeneous networks (in which every node is a miRNA) based on the targets shared between miRNAs have been widely used to predict their role in disease phenotypes. Although such homogeneous networks can predict potential disease-associated miRNAs, they do not consider the roles of the target genes of the miRNAs. Here, we introduce a novel method based on a heterogeneous network that not only considers miRNAs but also the corresponding target genes in the network model. Results: Instead of constructing homogeneous miRNA networks, we built heterogeneous miRNA networks consisting of both miRNAs and their target genes, using databases of known miRNA-target gene interactions. In addition, as recent studies demonstrated reciprocal regulatory relations between miRNAs and their target genes, we considered these heterogeneous miRNA networks to be undirected, assuming mutual miRNA-target interactions. Next, we introduced a novel method (RWRMTN) operating on these mutual heterogeneous miRNA networks to rank candidate disease-related miRNAs using a random walk with restart (RWR) based algorithm. Using both known disease-associated miRNAs and their target genes as seed nodes, the method can identify additional miRNAs involved in the disease phenotype. Experiments indicated that RWRMTN outperformed two existing state-of-the-art methods: RWRMDA, a network-based method that also uses a RWR on homogeneous (rather than heterogeneous) miRNA networks, and RLSMDA, a machine learning-based method. Interestingly, we could relate this performance gain to the emergence of "disease modules" in the heterogeneous miRNA networks used as input for the algorithm. Moreover, we could demonstrate that RWRMTN is stable, performing well when using both experimentally validated and predicted miRNA-target gene interaction data for network construction. Finally, using RWRMTN, we identified 76 novel miRNAs associated with 23 disease phenotypes which were present in a recent database of known disease-miRNA associations. Conclusions: Summarizing, using random walks on mutual miRNA-target networks improves the prediction of novel disease-associated miRNAs because of the existence of "disease modules" in these networks

Moment Resistances of wide flange beams with initial imperfection and residual stresses

Elastic and inelastic moment resistances of W-steel beams with considering the effects of initial imperfections and residual stresses are numerically investigated in the present study. The numerical model is implemented in ABAQUS in which residual stresses are incorporated by using initial conditions while the initial imperfection is imported through the first lateral-torsional buckling mode. By comparing the FEA moment resistances of W250x45 steel beams against those of the CSA S16 and Eurocodes 3 design standards, it is observed that (i) If the effects of initial imperfections and residual stresses are excluded, the inelastic resistances are close to a fully plasticized section moment. In contrast, if the effects are included, the inelastic resistances are significantly smaller than the fully plasticized moment. (ii) The effects of initial imperfections on the moment resistance are significant for intermediate and long spans. Although the initial imperfection taken in the present study is 4.0 mm, that is within the allowable limit specified in the design standards (i.e., not greater than L/1000), the moment resistances with the taken imperfection are considerably smaller than the design moments specified in the design standards, and (iii) When considering steel beams with the effects of initial imperfection and residual stresses, the moment resistances based on the CSA S16 and EC3-6.3.2.3 solutions are higher, while those based on EC3-6.3.2.2 solution are lower than the moment capacities of the beams with the initial imperfection. This indicates that EC3-6.3.2.2 clause is the most safety design for the moment resistances

Moment Resistances of wide flange beams with initial imperfection and residual stresses

Elastic and inelastic moment resistances of W-steel beams with considering the effects of initial imperfections and residual stresses are numerically investigated in the present study. The numerical model is implemented in ABAQUS in which residual stresses are incorporated by using initial conditions while the initial imperfection is imported through the first lateral-torsional buckling mode. By comparing the FEA moment resistances of W250x45 steel beams against those of the CSA S16 and Eurocodes 3 design standards, it is observed that (i) If the effects of initial imperfections and residual stresses are excluded, the inelastic resistances are close to a fully plasticized section moment. In contrast, if the effects are included, the inelastic resistances are significantly smaller than the fully plasticized moment. (ii) The effects of initial imperfections on the moment resistance are significant for intermediate and long spans. Although the initial imperfection taken in the present study is 4.0 mm, that is within the allowable limit specified in the design standards (i.e., not greater than L/1000), the moment resistances with the taken imperfection are considerably smaller than the design moments specified in the design standards, and (iii) When considering steel beams with the effects of initial imperfection and residual stresses, the moment resistances based on the CSA S16 and EC3-6.3.2.3 solutions are higher, while those based on EC3-6.3.2.2 solution are lower than the moment capacities of the beams with the initial imperfection. This indicates that EC3-6.3.2.2 clause is the most safety design for the moment resistances

NOVEL OPTIMAL COORDINATED VOLTAGE CONTROL FOR DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS USING DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION TECHNIQUE

This paper investigates a Distributed Generators (DG) connected to distribution networks offer multiple benefits for power networks and environments in the case of renewable sources. Nevertheless, if there is not an appropriate planning and control strategy, several issues, such as voltage rise problems and increased power losses, may happen. In order to overcome such disadvantages, in this paper, a coordinated voltage control method for distribution networks with multiple distributed generators is proposed. This method is based on a differential evolution DE approach to obtain the optimal setting points for each control component. Furthermore this proposed method considers both of time-varying load demand and production, leading to not only an improvement in the voltage profile but also to optimally minimize the active power loss

A multi-criteria decision-making in relieving grinding process of surface of gear milling tooth based on the archimedean spiral using taguchi-ahp-topsis method

In this study, in order to optimize the quality criteria of the machined surface based on the Archimedean spiral, the relieving grinding process (RGP) was performed to machine the material of HSS P18 in a 1Б811 machine with four input parameters including graininess of grinding wheel (G), grinding wheel hardness (Hd), velocity of grinding wheel (V), and feed rate (s) and with three quality criteria including surface roughness (Ra), hardening of surface layer (∆HRC), and hardened layer thickness (∆L). Taguchi-AHP-Topsis method was successfully applied to solve the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem in this case. The optimized results of the output parameters are surface roughness of 0.21 µm, surface hardening of 1.45 HRC, and hardened layer thickness of 34.18 µm. These results were determined at the set of the input parameters includes G, V, s with their values of 120, 24 m/s, 2.08 m/min, respectively, and Hd at level 1. The optimal results were verified through the comparison between the calculated and the experimental results using this set of optimal parameters. The differences between the calculated results and the experimental results were quite small (maximum different value was 4.8 %) Thus, the results of this study can be applied to solve the multi-objective optimization problems in RGP of the GMT surface based on the Archimedean spira

Supply Chain Agility and Internal and External Process Connectivity: The Impact of Supply and Product Complexity

The study attempts to analyze the impact of internal and external process connectivity on supply chain agility of manufacturing firms in Thailand. It also examines whether supply and product complexity moderates the impact of internal and external process connectivity on supply chain agility. The study relies on the questionnaire survey to collect the data. Using electronic survey, the respondents working in manager’ positions in Thailand’s manufacturing companies are targeted. Out of 250 survey questionnaires, only 173 responses were found usable with a rate of response of 57.2%. The study focuses on Thai firms because Thai manufacturing sector is one of the strongest players in the globe. The reason to select manufacturing firms is that the manufacturing firms are considered to be very crucial in global supply chains in terms of providing agility and responsiveness while delivering final products to the consumers. Supply chain agility (SCAG) is used as dependent while internal process connectivity (INPC) and external process connectivity (EXPC) are used as independent variables. Moreover, product complexity (PRCX) and supply complexity (SPCX) are used as moderating variables. Findings show that SPCX has negatively significant influence on SCAG while PRCX has insignificant effect on SCAG. INPC and EXPC have positive and significant impact on SCAG. The results state that both INPC and EXPC play vital role in attaining SCAG. The interaction effect of product term (INPC × EXPC) on SCAG is also found to be positively significant. These outcomes are in line with the process theory which states that both INPC and EXPC are significant factor that play important role in attaining SCAG. Both these processes permit companies to better respond to continuous variations

Impact of Corporate Entrepreneurship and Organizational Culture on Business Performance: The Role of Supply Chain Management

With the expanding multifaceted nature and vulnerability of worldwide inventory chains, interruption occasions are as often as possible happening in production network. Commercial condition is separated into two sorts including inner and outer business conditions. In the examination, our inward business condition is organization culture and inside business condition is supply chain performance (SCP). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of organizational culture (OC), corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and its components on business performance (BP) through SCP in the non-financial sector of Thailand. Research sample comprises of 120 non-financial firms operating in Thailand. The study finds that SCP fully mediates the relationship between work reinforcement BP and time availability and BP. Whereas, SCP is found to have partial mediation in the relationship between CE BP, OC BP, management support BP, organization boundaries BP and reward reinforcement and BP. Findings of study are important for mangers in understanding and implementation of better OC which leads to CE and will ultimately enhance BP

The Improvement Model of Navigational Safety for Inland Waterway Transport

This paper aims at evaluating navigational safety for inland waterway transport (IWT). In doing so, the literature and operational features of IWT were initially reviewed to figure out risk elements (REs) influencing the navigational safety for IWT. After that, a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) approach was adopted to estimate the weight for the likelihood and consequence measures of REs. Then, continuous risk matrix (RM) was introduced to identify REs\u27 risk level. Lastly, to test the proposed research model\u27s applicability, IWT operators across Vietnam were empirically surveyed. The empirical findings could be useful for IWT operators in launching managerial policies to boost their navigational safety. Furthermore, the proposed risk evaluation framework may serve as a methodological reference in relevant literature