Development of a novel parallel synthesis by injection moulding and its application to study dielectric materials

A new parallel synthesis method by injection moulding technique has been developed for producing multi-component solid-state inorganic materials. The utility of the method has been illustrated by phase relationship investigation of the ternary system Fe2O3-TiO2-Al2O3. The consistency of phase relationship to the previous investigations by conventional means proved the reliability of the new combinatorial strategy. A further application of this parallel synthesis strategy was performed on another ternary system CuO-TiO2-CaO. The phase relations have been tentatively determined. From room-temperature dielectric property mapping at 10 kHz, giant dielectric constants (år >104) were observed for most of ceramic composites in the CuO-rich region and in the region along CuO-CaO binary line. The composites in the CaCu3Ti4O12-rich region were found to give a comparable giant dielectric constant when sintered at 1050°C. Composites with high år showed a particular microstructure of larger grains of a predominant phase surrounded by smaller grains of a secondary phase. In the representative composite with molar fraction of Cu/Ti/Ca of ~85/10/5, the frequency and temperature dependencies of permittivity and impedance were investigated. Strong hints suggested grain boundary effect as the most probable dielectric mechanism. Finally, the dielectric properties of the high-år composites prepared by sol-gel process revealed the qualitative reproducibility of the high-år composites.Ausgehend vom klassischen Spritzguss wurde eine neue Methode zur Parallelsynthese von anorganischen Multikomponentensystemen entwickelt. Die Leistungsfähigkeit der Methode wurde am Beispiel des ternären Systems Fe2O3-TiO2-Al2O3 gezeigt. Die Phasenanalyse mit XRD entspricht der Literatur und zeigt die Zuverlässigkeit der neuen Methode. In einem weiteren Beispiel wurden die subsolidus-Phasenbeziehungen des ternären Systems CuO-TiO2-CaO bei 950°C bestimmt. Bei 25°C und 10 kHz zeigen sich sehr große Dielektrizitätskonstanten >104 für die meisten Zusammensetzungen im CuO-reichen Bereich und entlang der binären CuO-CaO-Linie. Im Bereich von CaCu3Ti4O12 findet man vergleichbar hohe dielektrische Konstanten nach Sinterung bei 1050°C. Proben mit derart hohen dielektrischen Konstanten zeigen eine typische Struktur mit großen Körnern aus einer vorherrschenden Phase und kleineren Körnern einer zweiten Phase. Für das Material Cu/Ti/Ca ~ 85/10/5 wurde die Impedanz temperatur- und frequenzabhängig bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für einen internen Sperrschicht-Effekt im Bereich der Korngrenzen als den wahrscheinlichsten Mechanismus zur Erklärung des dielektrischen Verhaltens. Abschließend wurden durch Sol-Gel-Prozesse Materialien mit vergleichbar hohen dielektrischen Konstanten hergestellt. Dies belegt die Übertragbarkeit des neuen Syntheseverfahrens auf andere Methoden

Fusion-Based Versatile Video Coding Intra Prediction Algorithm with Template Matching and Linear Prediction

The new generation video coding standard Versatile Video Coding (VVC) has adopted many novel technologies to improve compression performance, and consequently, remarkable results have been achieved. In practical applications, less data, in terms of bitrate, would reduce the burden of the sensors and improve their performance. Hence, to further enhance the intra compression performance of VVC, we propose a fusion-based intra prediction algorithm in this paper. Specifically, to better predict areas with similar texture information, we propose a fusion-based adaptive template matching method, which directly takes the error between reference and objective templates into account. Furthermore, to better utilize the correlation between reference pixels and the pixels to be predicted, we propose a fusion-based linear prediction method, which can compensate for the deficiency of single linear prediction. We implemented our algorithm on top of the VVC Test Model (VTM) 9.1. When compared with the VVC, our proposed fusion-based algorithm saves a bitrate of 0.89%, 0.84%, and 0.90% on average for the Y, Cb, and Cr components, respectively. In addition, when compared with some other existing works, our algorithm showed superior performance in bitrate savings

Delving into Commit-Issue Correlation to Enhance Commit Message Generation Models

Commit message generation (CMG) is a challenging task in automated software engineering that aims to generate natural language descriptions of code changes for commits. Previous methods all start from the modified code snippets, outputting commit messages through template-based, retrieval-based, or learning-based models. While these methods can summarize what is modified from the perspective of code, they struggle to provide reasons for the commit. The correlation between commits and issues that could be a critical factor for generating rational commit messages is still unexplored. In this work, we delve into the correlation between commits and issues from the perspective of dataset and methodology. We construct the first dataset anchored on combining correlated commits and issues. The dataset consists of an unlabeled commit-issue parallel part and a labeled part in which each example is provided with human-annotated rational information in the issue. Furthermore, we propose \tool (\underline{Ex}traction, \underline{Gro}unding, \underline{Fi}ne-tuning), a novel paradigm that can introduce the correlation between commits and issues into the training phase of models. To evaluate whether it is effective, we perform comprehensive experiments with various state-of-the-art CMG models. The results show that compared with the original models, the performance of \tool-enhanced models is significantly improved.Comment: ASE2023 accepted pape

Immune cell infiltration and prognostic index in cervical cancer: insights from metabolism-related differential genes

BackgroundCervical cancer remains a significant gynecologic malignancy in both China and the United States, posing a substantial threat to women’s lives and health due to its high morbidity and mortality rates. Altered energy metabolism and dysregulated mitochondrial function play crucial roles in the development, growth, metastasis, and recurrence of malignant tumors. In this study, we aimed to predict prognosis and assess efficacy of anti-tumor therapy in cervical cancer patients based on differential genes associated with mitochondrial metabolism.MethodsTranscriptomic data and clinical profiles of cervical cancer patients were retrieved from the TCGA and GEO databases. Differential gene-related cellular pathways were identified through GO, KEGG, and GSEA analyses. Prognostic indices were constructed using LASSO regression analysis. Immune cell infiltration was assessed using CIBERSORT and ssGSEA, and the correlation between immune checkpoint inhibitor genes and differential genes was examined. Tumor mutation load (TMB) and its association with prognostic indices were analyzed using nucleotide variant data from the TCGA database. Patient response to immunotherapy and sensitivity to antitumor drugs were determined using the TIDE algorithm and the oncoPredic algorithm, respectively.ResultsA prognostic index based on metabolism-related differential genes was developed to predict the clinical outcome of cervical cancer patients, enabling their classification into two distinct subtypes. The prognostic index emerged as an independent risk factor for unfavorable prognosis. The high-index group exhibited a significantly worse overall prognosis, along with elevated tumor mutation burden (TMB), increased immune cell infiltration, and lower TIDE scores, indicating a potential benefit from immunotherapy. Conversely, the low-index group demonstrated increased sensitivity to metabolism-related antitumor agents, specifically multikinase inhibitors.ConclusionThe aim of this study was to develop a prognostic index based on differential genes associated with mitochondrial metabolism, which could be used to predict cervical cancer patients’ prognoses. When combined with TIDE and TMB analyses, this prognostic index offers insights into the immune cell infiltration landscape, as well as the potential efficacy of immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Our analysis suggests that the Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly Enzyme (ISCU) gene holds promise as a biomarker for cervical cancer immunotherapy

Discovery and excavation of lichen bioactive natural products

Lichen natural products are a tremendous source of new bioactive chemical entities for drug discovery. The ability to survive in harsh conditions can be directly correlated with the production of some unique lichen metabolites. Despite the potential applications, these unique metabolites have been underutilized by pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries due to their slow growth, low biomass availability, and technical challenges involved in their artificial cultivation. At the same time, DNA sequence data have revealed that the number of encoded biosynthetic gene clusters in a lichen is much higher than in natural products, and the majority of them are silent or poorly expressed. To meet these challenges, the one strain many compounds (OSMAC) strategy, as a comprehensive and powerful tool, has been developed to stimulate the activation of silent or cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters and exploit interesting lichen compounds for industrial applications. Furthermore, the development of molecular network techniques, modern bioinformatics, and genetic tools is opening up a new opportunity for the mining, modification, and production of lichen metabolites, rather than merely using traditional separation and purification techniques to obtain small amounts of chemical compounds. Heterologous expressed lichen-derived biosynthetic gene clusters in a cultivatable host offer a promising means for a sustainable supply of specialized metabolites. In this review, we summarized the known lichen bioactive metabolites and highlighted the application of OSMAC, molecular network, and genome mining-based strategies in lichen-forming fungi for the discovery of new cryptic lichen compounds

Effect of APOE ɛ4 Status on Brain Amyloid-β and Cognitive Function in Amnestic and Nonamnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: A 18F Florbetapir PET-CT Study

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is recognized as a predementia syndrome caused by multiple etiologies and nonmemory symptoms in MCI have recently gained increasing attention. However, the pattern of Aβ deposition and the effect of APOE (apolipoprotein E, APOE) ε4 on cognitive impairment in amnestic MCI (aMCI) and nonamnestic MCI (naMCI) patients has not been demonstrated. In this work, the amyloid-β (Aβ) load by [$^{18}$F]florbetapir PET imaging and cognitive performance is compared by comprehensive neuropsychological scales in participants with different MCI types or different APOE ε4 carriage status. According to the Aβ positivity and results of voxel-wise analysis, higher Aβ loads are observed in aMCI patients than naMCI patients, especially aMCI patients with APOE ε4. Additionally, it is observed that memory domain Z scores show a strong negative correlation with global florbetapir SUVR in the aMCI group (r = – 0.352, p < 0.001) but not in the naMCI group (r = –0.016, p = 0.924). Moreover, this correlation is independent of APOE e4 carriage status. This study aims to identify high-risk groups at an early stage of AD(Alzheimer's Disease, AD) through cognitive performance and APOE ε4 carrier status, which can be important for guiding clinical intervention trials

In vivo evaluation of PhiC31 recombinase activity using a self-excision cassette

Gene targeting allows precise tailoring of the mouse genome such that desired modifications can be introduced under precise temporal and spatial control. This can be achieved through the use of site-specific recombinases, which mediate deletion or inversion of genomic DNA flanked by recombinase-specific recognition sites, coupled with gene targeting to introduce the recombinase recognition sites at the desired genomic locations within the mouse genome. The introduction of multiple modifications at the same locus often requires use of multiple recombination systems. The most commonly used recombination system is Cre/lox. We here evaluated in vivo the ability of PhiC31 phage integrase to induce a genomic deletion in mouse. We engineered a self-excision cassette, modeled after one previously designed for Cre, containing a positive selection marker and PhiC31 driven by a testis-specific promoter, all flanked by PhiC31 specific attP/B sites. We found in vivo PhiC31 mediated self-excision in 38% of transmitted alleles, although 18% of these showed evidence of imprecise deletion. Furthermore, in the 69% of un-recombined cassettes, sequence analysis revealed that PhiC31 mediated an intra-molecular deletion of the attB site preventing any subsequent recombination. This study demonstrates that PhiC31 can be used to automatically remove Neo, in the male chimera germline, although it is not as efficient or as accurate as Cre

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Entwicklung einer neuen Parallelsynthese mittels Spritzguss und ihre Anwendung zur Untersuchung dielektrischer Materialien

A new parallel synthesis method by injection moulding technique has been developed for producing multi-component solid-state inorganic materials. The utility of the method has been illustrated by phase relationship investigation of the ternary system Fe2O3-TiO2-Al2O3. The consistency of phase relationship to the previous investigations by conventional means proved the reliability of the new combinatorial strategy. A further application of this parallel synthesis strategy was performed on another ternary system CuO-TiO2-CaO. The phase relations have been tentatively determined. From room-temperature dielectric property mapping at 10 kHz, giant dielectric constants (år >104) were observed for most of ceramic composites in the CuO-rich region and in the region along CuO-CaO binary line. The composites in the CaCu3Ti4O12-rich region were found to give a comparable giant dielectric constant when sintered at 1050°C. Composites with high år showed a particular microstructure of larger grains of a predominant phase surrounded by smaller grains of a secondary phase. In the representative composite with molar fraction of Cu/Ti/Ca of ~85/10/5, the frequency and temperature dependencies of permittivity and impedance were investigated. Strong hints suggested grain boundary effect as the most probable dielectric mechanism. Finally, the dielectric properties of the high-år composites prepared by sol-gel process revealed the qualitative reproducibility of the high-år composites.Ausgehend vom klassischen Spritzguss wurde eine neue Methode zur Parallelsynthese von anorganischen Multikomponentensystemen entwickelt. Die Leistungsfähigkeit der Methode wurde am Beispiel des ternären Systems Fe2O3-TiO2-Al2O3 gezeigt. Die Phasenanalyse mit XRD entspricht der Literatur und zeigt die Zuverlässigkeit der neuen Methode. In einem weiteren Beispiel wurden die subsolidus-Phasenbeziehungen des ternären Systems CuO-TiO2-CaO bei 950°C bestimmt. Bei 25°C und 10 kHz zeigen sich sehr große Dielektrizitätskonstanten >104 für die meisten Zusammensetzungen im CuO-reichen Bereich und entlang der binären CuO-CaO-Linie. Im Bereich von CaCu3Ti4O12 findet man vergleichbar hohe dielektrische Konstanten nach Sinterung bei 1050°C. Proben mit derart hohen dielektrischen Konstanten zeigen eine typische Struktur mit großen Körnern aus einer vorherrschenden Phase und kleineren Körnern einer zweiten Phase. Für das Material Cu/Ti/Ca ~ 85/10/5 wurde die Impedanz temperatur- und frequenzabhängig bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für einen internen Sperrschicht-Effekt im Bereich der Korngrenzen als den wahrscheinlichsten Mechanismus zur Erklärung des dielektrischen Verhaltens. Abschließend wurden durch Sol-Gel-Prozesse Materialien mit vergleichbar hohen dielektrischen Konstanten hergestellt. Dies belegt die Übertragbarkeit des neuen Syntheseverfahrens auf andere Methoden

Substation reliability and its impacts on composite system adequacy

Modern society expects the production and distribution of electric power to be accomplished at maximum reliability and minimum cost. Reliability and reliability worth assessment plays an important role in power system planning, operation, and expansion. Substation and switching station, which forms a link between the bulk transmission system and the generation system, is the pivotal portion of an electric power system. Failure events in substations and switching stations often result in multiple outages of generators, lines, and/or loads in power system. Station-originated outages are normally of short duration but their effect on the security and stability of power systems may be quite severe. The reliability evaluation of station-originated outages is therefore of vital importance. How to provide the system planners and operators necessary reliability indices and reliability worth information about station-originated outages is a challenging task which was undertaken in this project.Master of Engineerin