Identification of differentially expressed microRNAs and the potential of microRNA-455-3p as a novel prognostic biomarker in glioma.

Glioma is an aggressive central nervous system malignancy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) have been reported to be involved in the tumorigenesis of numerous types of cancer, including glioma. The present study aimed to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs in glioma, and further explore the clinical value of miR-455-3p in patients with glioma. GEO2R was used for the identification of the differentially expressed miRNAs according to the miRNA expression profiles obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. OncomiR was used to analyze the relationship of miRNAs with the survival outcomes of the patients with glioma. A total of 108 patients with glioma were recruited to examine the expression levels of miR-455-3p and further explore its clinical value. The bioinformatics analysis results suggested that a total of 64 and 48 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in the GSE90603 and GSE103229 datasets, respectively. There were 12 miRNAs in the overlap of the two datasets, of which three were able to accurately predict overall cancer survival, namely hsa-miR-7-5p, hsa-miR-21-3p and hsa-miR-455-3p. In patients with glioma, miR-455-3p was determined to be significantly upregulated (P<0.001). Additionally, patients with high miR-455-3p expression had significantly lower 5-year overall survival than those with low miR-455-3p expression (log-rank test, P=0.001). Cox regression analysis further determined that miR-455-3p was an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival in patients with glioma (hazard ratio=2.136; 95% CI=1.177-3.877; P=0.013). In conclusion, the present study revealed a series of miRNAs with potential functional roles in the pathogenesis of glioma, and provides findings that indicate miR-455-3p as a promising biomarker for the prognosis of glioma

Crystallization behavior and IR structure of yttrium aluminosilicate glasses

The crystallization of four Y2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 (YAS) glasses were investigated to prepare YAS glass ceramics precipitated singly/mainly Y2Si2O7 or Y4.67(SiO4)3O apatite, and to explore the crystallization difference between the stoichiometric parent glass (SPG) and non-stoichiometric parent glass (NSPG). The DSC results revealed that glass locating at the higher liquidus surface temperature has lower crystallization peak temperature, which indicating that the corresponding glass has higher crystallization potential to crystallize easily. Crystallization of the NSPG samples is along surface and caused by phase separation, while SPG sample is the surface crystallization at the first exothermic peak temperature and overall crystallization at the second exothermic peak temperature. Glass ceramics only containing y-Y2Si2O7 or Y4.67(SiO4)3O apatite are obtained successfully, and which are illustrated by fitting FTIR spectra. These results can provide technical guide for controlling the crystallization process and the types of precipitated crystals in YAS glass for different application potentials

A dynamic global backbone updating for communication-efficient personalised federated learning

Federated learning (FL) is an emerging distributed machine learning technique. However, when dealing with heterogeneous data, a shared global model cannot generalise all devices' local data. Furthermore, the FL training process necessitates frequent parameter communication, which interferes with the limited bandwidth and unstable connections of participating devices. These two issues have a significant impact on FL's effectiveness and efficiency. In this paper, an enhanced communication-efficient personalised FL technique, FedGB, is proposed. Different from existing approaches, FedGB believes that only interacting common information from training results on different devices can improve local personalised training results more effectively. FedGB dynamically selects the backbone structures in the local models to represent the dynamically determined backbone information (common features) in the global model for aggregation. Only interacting common features between different nodes reduce the impact of heterogeneous data to a certain extent. The dynamic adaptive sub-model selection avoids the impact of manually setting the scale of sub-model. FedGB can thus reduce communication overheads while maintaining inference accuracy. The results obtained in a variety of experimental settings show that FedGB can effectively improve communication efficiency and inference accuracy

Laboratory study on the propagation of edge cracks in rock-like material and its implication in coal mining

Rock fracture propagation is a major hazard for mining and tunnel excavation in fractured rock masses or coal seams. A longwall mining panel with a typical dimension of 200m (width)×1000m (length)×3m (height) can be considered as an open edge crack. The fracturing processes in the vicinity of the edge crack (or the longwall panel) particularly in the roof and floor are critically important for the safety of mining operation because fracturing can lead to water inrush and dynamic loading on the working face. It’s therefore important to understand and predict the pre-existing edge crack initiation and propagation in rock masses. This paper describes a study investigating the mechanisms and pathways of rock fracture under uniaxial compression. In this study, a rock-like material which consists of model gypsum, water and diatomaceous earth at a mass ratio of 165:75:2 was used. The uniaxial compression strength of the material decreased with the increase of the length of pre-existing edge crack. During the tests, wing (tensile) cracks were first observed at the tip of the pre-existing edge crack. This was followed by secondary cracks as the loading increased. The final failure of the specimens however was dominated by tensile cracks throughout the specimens. Due to the sudden crack initiations in the specimens, the loading stress in the specimen varies stepwise, and acoustic emission (AE) energy and amplitude showed abrupt changes when crack initiated. When the crack initiation occurred, the loading stress of the specimens showed a notable retreat in the stress-strain curve, and the recorded AE energy and amplitude showed a sharp spike. These findings from this experimental study have been applied to the underground longwall mining to explain the failure mechanisms in the floor of the mining panel. The fracturing process associated with the pre-existing edge crack resembles the formation of flow channels for water inrush during longwall mining

(Ecological-adaptive reuse and post-evaluation on energy-efficiency of industrial heritage)

The protection and adaptation of industrial heritage has been increasing in domestic attention, and the number of cases is increasing. The traditional functional implantation can no longer meet the existing recycling requirements. How to ensure dozens or hundreds of years of industrial heritage no longer be urban scars, and integrate with the city as an organic whole, and meet or approach the energy and comfort requirements of new buildings, has become a challenge for architects. The Australian Geelong wool warehouse building was reconstructed to educational building, which is as the analysis case. The energy-saving transformation strategy in the adaptive transformation of industrial heritage is expounded, evaluating the status quo of its transformation through energy consumption data, to provide a reference for energy-saving transformation of existing industrial buildings in China

Experimental Study of Joint Roughness Influence on Fractured Rock Mass Seepage

Surrounding rock pressure, water pressure, and joint roughness are the important factors that affect the fractured rock mass seepage. It is of great significance to quantify the influence of these factors through experiments. In this study, rock fracture joint surfaces were measured. Next, 3D coordinates of joint surfaces were extracted with using the Geomagic software, and joint roughness was described using the mean variance of protrusion height and equidistant fluctuation angle, which were acquired through calculation. Stress-seepage coupling test was then conducted on the samples on a triaxial apparatus, and the effects of confining stress and water pressure on the permeability of single-fracture rock were investigated. On the basis of the relationship between the parameters in data fitting expression and the mean variance of protrusion height and equidistant fluctuation angle, the calculation formula of the permeability coefficient including joint roughness, confining pressure, and seepage pressure difference was derived

Cellulose-based materials for carbon capture and conversion

With the worldwide attention on decreasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is utilized to stop CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere. Selecting appropriate materials is crucial for the establishment of a dependable and secure carbon capture and storage technology infrastructure. The natural cellulose materials possess inherent characteristics such as eco-friendliness, high utility, remarkable physical and mechanical properties, which make them particularly available for CCS. In the field of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technologies, cellulose-based materials can be used as adsorbents for CO2 capture and as catalyst carriers for CO2 conversion. Firstly, the application of cellulose-based materials in carbon capture and conversion is introduced. Secondly, the research progress of cellulose-based films, aerogels and solid adsorbents in the field of carbon capture are summarized. Subsequently, the research mechanisms of cellulose-based materials for the conversion of CO2 to methanol format, carbonate and CO are also described in detail. Finally, the challenges and the key problems of cellulose-based materials in carbon capture and utilization are described