ControlRec: Bridging the Semantic Gap between Language Model and Personalized Recommendation

The successful integration of large language models (LLMs) into recommendation systems has proven to be a major breakthrough in recent studies, paving the way for more generic and transferable recommendations. However, LLMs struggle to effectively utilize user and item IDs, which are crucial identifiers for successful recommendations. This is mainly due to their distinct representation in a semantic space that is different from the natural language (NL) typically used to train LLMs. To tackle such issue, we introduce ControlRec, an innovative Contrastive prompt learning framework for Recommendation systems. ControlRec treats user IDs and NL as heterogeneous features and encodes them individually. To promote greater alignment and integration between them in the semantic space, we have devised two auxiliary contrastive objectives: (1) Heterogeneous Feature Matching (HFM) aligning item description with the corresponding ID or user's next preferred ID based on their interaction sequence, and (2) Instruction Contrastive Learning (ICL) effectively merging these two crucial data sources by contrasting probability distributions of output sequences generated by diverse tasks. Experimental results on four public real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on improving model performance.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

7-Piperazinethylchrysin inhibits melanoma cell proliferation by targeting Mek 1/2 kinase activity

Purpose: To investigate the growth-inhibitory effect of 7-piperazinethylchrysin (PEC) on melanoma cell lines.Methods: Cell viability was analyzed by trypan blue exclusion assays and the cell cycle by flow cytometry using ModFit LT software. Specifically, cells were stained with propidium iodide (0.5 mg/mL) supplemented with RNase A (50 mg/mL), and analyzed using flow cytometry and ModFit LT software.Results: In A375 and B16F10 cell cultures, proliferation was reduced to 79 and 72 %, respectively, on treatment with 30 μM PEC. PEC increased the proportion of A375 cells in G1/G0 phase to 71.23 %, versus 42.76 % in untreated cells. In B16F10 and A375 cells, treatment with PEC caused the inhibition of Mek 1/2 kinase activity and suppressed Erk 1/2 phosphorylation. The level of cAMP-response element binding protein was increased by PEC. The expression of microphthalmia-linked transcription factor was also increased by PEC treatment. Marked enhancement was observed in the level of tyrosinase in melanoma cells on treatment with PEC. Analysis of PBG-D expression showed a marked increase in B16F10 and A375 cells on the addition of PEC to cell cultures at 72 h. The level of PBG D expression was increased by 9- and 8.5-fold in B16F10 and A375 cells, respectively, on incubation with 30 μM PEC. The addition of a Mek 1/2 inhibitor (U0126) to the cultures promoted PEC-mediated growth inhibition.Conclusion: PEC inhibited melanoma cell proliferation, apparently by blocking the cell cycle at G0/G1 and downregulating the Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk pathway.Keywords: Tyrosinase, Kinase, Microphthalmia, Phosphorylation, 7-Piperazinethylchrysi

Clinical efficacy and safety of robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for testicular cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundRetroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) is an effective treatment for testicular tumors. In recent years, with the development of robotics, many urological procedures performed via standard laparoscopy have been replaced by robots. Our objective was to compare the safety and efficacy of robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (R-RPLND) versus Non-robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (NR-RPLND) in testicular cancer.MethodsPubmed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for literature on robotic surgery for testicular germ cell tumors up to April 2023. The statistical and sensitivity analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.3. Meta-analysis was performed to calculate mean difference (MD), odds ratio(OR), and 95% confidence interval (CI) effect indicators.ResultsEight studies with 3875 patients were finally included in this study, 453 with R-RPLND and 3422 with open retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (O-RPLND)/laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (L-RPLND). The results showed that R-RPLND had lower rates of intraoperative blood loss (MD = -436.39; 95% CI -707.60 to -165.19; P = 0.002), transfusion (OR = 0.06; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.26; P = 0.0001), total postoperative complication rates (OR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.70; P = 0.002), and length of stay (MD=-3.74; 95% CI -4.69 to -2.78; P<0.00001). In addition, there were no statistical differences between the two groups regarding perioperative and oncological outcomes regarding total operative time, the incidence of postoperative complications grade≥III, abnormal ejaculation rate, lymph node yield, and postoperative recurrence rate.ConclusionsThe R-RPLND and O-RPLND/L-RPLND provide safe and effective retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for testicular cancer. Patients with R-RPLND have less intraoperative bleeding, shorter hospitalization period, fewer postoperative complications, and faster recovery. It should be considered a viable alternative to O-RPLND/L-RPLND.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier CRD42023411696

Bio-inspired artificial pheromone system for swarm robotics applications

From SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2020-06-03Publication status: PublishedFunder: grantová agentura české republiky; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001824; Grant(s): 17-27006YFunder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266; Grant(s): EP/P01366X/1Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266; Grant(s): EP/R026084/1Funder: OP VVV funded project, Research Center for Informatics; Grant(s): CZ.02.101/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000765Pheromones are chemical substances released into the environment by an individual animal, which elicit stereotyped behaviours widely found across the animal kingdom. Inspired by the effective use of pheromones in social insects, pheromonal communication has been adopted to swarm robotics domain using diverse approaches such as alcohol, RFID tags and light. COSΦ is one of the light-based artificial pheromone systems which can emulate realistic pheromones and environment properties through the system. This article provides a significant improvement to the state-of-the-art by proposing a novel artificial pheromone system that simulates pheromones with environmental effects by adopting a model of spatio-temporal development of pheromone derived from a flow of fluid in nature. Using the proposed system, we investigated the collective behaviour of a robot swarm in a bio-inspired aggregation scenario, where robots aggregated on a circular pheromone cue with different environmental factors, that is, diffusion and pheromone shift. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed pheromone system for use in swarm robotic applications

Cooking fuels and risk of all-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality in urban China:a prospective cohort study

Background: Cooking practice has transitioned from use of solid fuels to use of clean fuels, with addition of better ventilation facilities. However, the change in mortality risk associated with such a transition remains unclear. Methods: The China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Study enrolled participants (aged 30–79 years) from ten areas across China; we chose to study participants from five urban areas where transition from use of solid fuels to clean fuels for cooking was prevalent. Participants who reported regular cooking (weekly or more frequently) at baseline were categorised as persistent clean fuel users, previous solid fuel users, or persistent solid fuel users, according to self-reported fuel use histories. All-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality were identified through linkage to China's Disease Surveillance Point system and local mortality records. Findings: Between June 24, 2004, and July 15, 2008, 226 186 participants living in five urban areas of China were enrolled in the CKB Study. Among 171 677 participants who reported cooking regularly (weekly or more frequently), 75 785 (44%) were persistent clean fuel users, 80 511 (47%) were previous solid fuel users, and 15 381 (9%) were persistent solid fuel users. During a mean of 9·8 (SD 1·7) years of follow-up, 10 831 deaths were documented, including 3819 cardiovascular deaths and 761 respiratory deaths. Compared with persistent clean fuel users, persistent solid fuel users had significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1·19, 95% CI 1·10–1·28), cardiovascular mortality (1·24, 1·10–1·39), and respiratory mortality (1·43, 1·10–1·85). The excess risk of all-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality fell by more than 60% in 5 years after cessation of solid fuel use and continued to decrease afterwards. Use of ventilation was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk, even among persistent clean fuel users (HR 0·78, 0·69–0·89). Interpretation: Solid fuel use for cooking is associated with a higher risk of mortality, and cessation of solid fuel use cuts excess mortality risks swiftly and substantially within 5 years. Ventilation use also lowers the risk of mortality, even among people who persistently use clean fuels. It is of prime importance for both policy makers and the public to accelerate the transition from solid fuels to clean fuels and promote efficient ventilation to minimise further adverse health effects.</p

High Proportion of 22q13 Deletions and SHANK3 Mutations in Chinese Patients with Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability (ID) is a heterogeneous disorder caused by chromosomal abnormalities, monogenic factors and environmental factors. 22q13 deletion syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by severe ID. Although the frequency of 22q13 deletions in ID is unclear, it is believed to be largely underestimated. To address this issue, we used Affymetrix Human SNP 6.0 array to detect the 22q13 deletions in 234 Chinese unexplained ID patients and 103 controls. After the Quality Control (QC) test of raw data, 22q13 deletions were found in four out of 230 cases (1.7%), while absent in parents of the cases and 101 controls. A review of genome-wide microarray studies in ID was performed and the frequency of 22q13 deletions from the literatures was 0.24%, much lower than our report. The overlapping region shared by all 4 cases encompasses the gene SHANK3. A heterozygous de novo nonsense mutation Y1015X of SHANK3 was identified in one ID patient. Cortical neurons were prepared from embryonic mice and were transfected with a control plasmid, shank3 wild-type (WT) or mutant plasmids. Overexpression of the Y1015 mutant in neurons significantly affected neurite outgrowth compared with shank3 WT. These findings suggest that 22q13 deletions may be a more frequent cause for Chinese ID patients than previously thought, and the SHANK3 gene is involved in the neurite development

hnRNP I Inhibits Notch Signaling and Regulates Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis in the Zebrafish

Regulated intestinal stem cell proliferation and differentiation are required for normal intestinal homeostasis and repair after injury. The Notch signaling pathway plays fundamental roles in the intestinal epithelium. Despite the fact that Notch signaling maintains intestinal stem cells in a proliferative state and promotes absorptive cell differentiation in most species, it remains largely unclear how Notch signaling itself is precisely controlled during intestinal homeostasis. We characterized the intestinal phenotypes of brom bones, a zebrafish mutant carrying a nonsense mutation in hnRNP I. We found that the brom bones mutant displays a number of intestinal defects, including compromised secretory goblet cell differentiation, hyperproliferation, and enhanced apoptosis. These phenotypes are accompanied by a markedly elevated Notch signaling activity in the intestinal epithelium. When overexpressed, hnRNP I destabilizes the Notch intracellular domain (NICD) and inhibits Notch signaling. This activity of hnRNP I is conserved from zebrafish to human. In addition, our biochemistry experiments demonstrate that the effect of hnRNP I on NICD turnover requires the C-terminal portion of the RAM domain of NICD. Our results demonstrate that hnRNP I is an evolutionarily conserved Notch inhibitor and plays an essential role in intestinal homeostasis

Nanoarchitectured Array Electrodes for Rechargeable Lithium- and Sodium-Ion Batteries

Rechargeable ion batteries have contributed immensely to shaping the modern world and been seriously considered for the efficient storage and utilization of intermittent renewable energies. To fulfill their potential in the future market, superior battery performance of high capacity, great rate capability, and long lifespan is undoubtedly required. In the past decade, along with discovering new electrode materials, the focus has been shifting more and more toward rational electrode designs because the performance is intimately connected to the electrode architectures, particularly their designs at the nanoscale that can alleviate the reliance on the materials' intrinsic nature. The utilization of nanoarchitectured arrays in the design of electrodes has been proven to significantly improve the battery performance. A comprehensive summary of the structural features and fabrications of the nanoarchitectured array electrodes is provided, and some of the latest achievements in the area of both lithium‐ and sodium‐ion batteries are highlighted. Finally, future challenges and opportunities that would allow further development of such advanced electrode configuration are discussed