4,647 research outputs found
ZOOpt: Toolbox for Derivative-Free Optimization
Recent advances of derivative-free optimization allow efficient approximating
the global optimal solutions of sophisticated functions, such as functions with
many local optima, non-differentiable and non-continuous functions. This
article describes the ZOOpt (https://github.com/eyounx/ZOOpt) toolbox that
provides efficient derivative-free solvers and are designed easy to use. ZOOpt
provides a Python package for single-thread optimization, and a light-weighted
distributed version with the help of the Julia language for Python described
functions. ZOOpt toolbox particularly focuses on optimization problems in
machine learning, addressing high-dimensional, noisy, and large-scale problems.
The toolbox is being maintained toward ready-to-use tool in real-world machine
learning tasks
Supplementation with probiotics modifies gut flora and attenuates liver fat accumulation in rat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease model
This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between gut probiotic flora and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a diet-induced rat model, and to compare the effects of two different probiotic strains on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 4 groups for 12 weeks: control (standard rat chow), model (fat-rich diet), Lactobacillus (fat-rich diet plus Lactobacillus acidophilus), and Bifidobacterium (fat-rich diet plus Bifidobacterium longum) groups. Probiotics were provided to rats in drinking water (1010/ml). Gut bifidobacteria and lactobacilli were obviously lower at weeks 8 and 10, respectively, in the model group compared with the control group. Supplementation with Bifidobacterium significantly attenuated hepatic fat accumulation (0.10 ± 0.03 g/g liver tissue) compared with the model group (0.16 ± 0.03 g/g liver tissue). However, there was no improvement in intestinal permeability in either the Lactobacillus or the Bifidobacterium group compared with the model group. In all 40 rats, the hepatic total lipid content was negatively correlated with gut Lactobacillus (r = â0.623, p = 0.004) and Bifidobacterium (r = â0.591, p = 0.008). Oral supplementation with probiotics attenuates hepatic fat accumulation. Further, Bifidobacterium longum is superior in terms of attenuating liver fat accumulation than is Lactobacillus acidophilus
Investigation of ultra-thin AlâOâ film as Cu diffusion barrier on low-k (k=2.5) dielectrics
Ultrathin Al(2)O(3) films were deposited by PEALD as Cu diffusion barrier on low-k (k=2.5) material. The thermal stability and electrical properties of the Cu/low k system with Al(2)O(3) layers with different thickness were studied after annealing. The AES, TEM and EDX results revealed that the ultrathin Al(2)O(3) films are thermally stable and have excellent Cu diffusion barrier performance. The electrical measurements of dielectric breakdown and TDDB tests further confirmed that the ultrathin Al(2)O(3) film is a potential Cu diffusion barrier in the Cu/low-k interconnects system
Single-step bioconversion of lignocellulose to hydrogen using novel moderately thermophilic bacteria
BACKGROUND: Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of lignocellulosic biomass to hydrogen offers great potential for lower cost and higher efficiency compared to processes featuring dedicated cellulase production. Current studies on CBP-based hydrogen production mainly focus on using the thermophilic cellulolytic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum and the extremely thermophilic cellulolytic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus. However, no studies have demonstrated that the strains in the genus Thermoanaerobacterium could be used as the sole microorganism to accomplish both cellulose degradation and H(2) generation. RESULTS: We have specifically screened for moderately thermophilic cellulolytic bacteria enabling to produce hydrogen directly from conversion of lignocellulosic materials. Three new strains of thermophilic cellulolytic bacteria in the genus Thermoanaerobacterium growing at a temperature of 60°C were isolated. All of them grew well on various plant polymers including microcrystalline cellulose, filter paper, xylan, glucose, and xylose. In particular, the isolated bacterium, designated as Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum M18, showed high cellulolytic activity and a high yield of H(2). When it was grown in 0.5% microcrystalline cellulose, approximately 82% cellulose was consumed, and the H(2) yield and maximum production rate reached 10.86 mmol/g Avicel and 2.05 mmol/L/h, respectively. Natural lignocellulosic materials without any physicochemical or biological pretreatment also supported appreciable growth of strain M18, which resulted in 56.07% to 62.71% of insoluble cellulose and hemicellulose polymer degradation in corn cob, corn stalk, and wheat straw with a yield of 3.23 to 3.48 mmol H(2)/g substrate and an average production rate of 0.10 to 0.13 mmol H(2)/L/h. CONCLUSIONS: The newly isolated strain T. thermosaccharolyticum M18 displayed effective degradation of lignocellulose and produced large amounts of hydrogen. This is the first report of a Thermoanaerobacterium species presenting cellulolytic characteristics, and this species thus represents a novel cellulolytic bacterium distinguished from all other known cellulolytic bacteria. In comparison, the extraordinary yield and specific rate of hydrogen for strain M18 obtained from lignocellulose make it more attractive in monoculture fermentation. T. thermosaccharolyticum M18 is thus a potential candidate for rapid conversion of lignocellulose to biohydrogen in a single step
Stacking Group Structure of Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases
In the past decade, there has been a systematic investigation of
symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases in interacting fermion systems.
Specifically, by utilizing the concept of equivalence classes of finite-depth
fermionic symmetric local unitary (FSLU) transformations and the decorating
symmetry domain wall picture, a large class of fixed-point wave functions have
been constructed for fermionic SPT (FSPT) phases. Remarkably, this construction
coincides with the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, enabling a complete
classification of FSPT phases. However, unlike bosonic SPT phases, the stacking
group structure in fermion systems proves to be much more intricate. The
construction of fixed-point wave functions does not explicitly provide this
information. In this paper, we employ FSLU transformations to investigate the
stacking group structure of FSPT phases. Specifically, we demonstrate how to
compute stacking FSPT data from the input FSPT data in each layer, considering
both unitary and anti-unitary symmetry, up to 2+1 dimensions. As concrete
examples, we explictly compute the stacking group structure for crystalline
FSPT phases in all 17 wallpaper groups using the fermionic crystalline
equivalence principle. Importantly, our approach can be readily extended to
higher dimensions, offering a versatile method for exploring the stacking group
structure of FSPT phases
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