Optimal Routing Strategy Based on Specifying Shortest Path

How to enhance the transfer capacity of weighted networks is of greatimportance. The network transfer capacity, which is often evaluated by the criticalpacket generation rate, is proved to be inversely proportional to the highestnode betweenness. By specifying the shortest path according to the different nodecharacteristics, two different routing strategies are proposed to reduce the high nodebetweenness for the different node delivery capability schemes. Simulations on bothcomputer-generated networks and real world networks show that our routing strategiescan improve the network transfer capacity greatly. Especially, the greater thenew added edge number is, the more efficient our routing strategies are

Concurrence and a proper monogamy inequality for arbitrary quantum states

We obtain an analytical lower bound of entanglement quantified by concurrence for arbitrary bipartite quantum states. It is shown that our bound is tight for some mixed states and is complementary to the previous known lower bounds. On the other hand, it is known that the entanglement monogamy inequality proposed by Coffman, Kundu, and Wootters is in general not true for higher dimensional quantum states. Inducing from the new lower bound of concurrence, we find a proper form of entanglement monogamy inequality for arbitrary quantum states.Comment: 4 pages, Theorem 2 was rephrase

Microbial-feeding interactions reveal the effects of feeding blood on the gut microbiota of the aquaculture leech (Hirudo nipponica)

Leeches (Hirudo nipponica), as a kind of aquatic animal, mainly feed on fresh blood. After feeding, they needed to digest for a long time because the intestinal digestive enzyme content is low, so their digestive needed the help of gut microbiota. Here, we examined intestinal microbiota in captive Hirudo nipponica of different periods after feeding blood with high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that gut microbial diversity was lower before feeding than after. At the level of the core phylum of the gut microbiota of Hirudo nipponica, the focus was on Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. After feeding blood, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria decreased, while the opposite was true for Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The core bacteria at the genus level are Aeromonas and Mucinivorans. The results show that the structure of the gut microbiota and function are closely associated with the blood feeding. The study aimed to lay a theoretical foundation for the blood-digestive mechanism of Hirudo nipponica

Field emission enhancement of Au-Si nano-particle-decorated silicon nanowires

Au-Si nano-particle-decorated silicon nanowire arrays have been fabricated by Au film deposition on silicon nanowire array substrates and then post-thermal annealing under hydrogen atmosphere. Field emission measurements illustrated that the turn-on fields of the non-annealed Au-coated SiNWs were 6.02 to 7.51 V/μm, higher than that of the as-grown silicon nanowires, which is about 5.01 V/μm. Meanwhile, after being annealed above 650°C, Au-Si nano-particles were synthesized on the top surface of the silicon nanowire arrays and the one-dimensional Au-Si nano-particle-decorated SiNWs had a much lower turn-on field, 1.95 V/μm. The results demonstrated that annealed composite silicon nanowire array-based electron field emitters may have great advantages over many other emitters

Exploring Progress in Multivariate Time Series Forecasting: Comprehensive Benchmarking and Heterogeneity Analysis

Multivariate Time Series (MTS) widely exists in real-word complex systems, such as traffic and energy systems, making their forecasting crucial for understanding and influencing these systems. Recently, deep learning-based approaches have gained much popularity for effectively modeling temporal and spatial dependencies in MTS, specifically in Long-term Time Series Forecasting (LTSF) and Spatial-Temporal Forecasting (STF). However, the fair benchmarking issue and the choice of technical approaches have been hotly debated in related work. Such controversies significantly hinder our understanding of progress in this field. Thus, this paper aims to address these controversies to present insights into advancements achieved. To resolve benchmarking issues, we introduce BasicTS, a benchmark designed for fair comparisons in MTS forecasting. BasicTS establishes a unified training pipeline and reasonable evaluation settings, enabling an unbiased evaluation of over 30 popular MTS forecasting models on more than 18 datasets. Furthermore, we highlight the heterogeneity among MTS datasets and classify them based on temporal and spatial characteristics. We further prove that neglecting heterogeneity is the primary reason for generating controversies in technical approaches. Moreover, based on the proposed BasicTS and rich heterogeneous MTS datasets, we conduct an exhaustive and reproducible performance and efficiency comparison of popular models, providing insights for researchers in selecting and designing MTS forecasting models

A targeted next-generation sequencing method for identifying clinically relevant mutation profiles in lung adenocarcinoma

Molecular profiling of lung cancer has become essential for prediction of an individual’s response to targeted therapies. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a promising technique for routine diagnostics, but has not been sufficiently evaluated in terms of feasibility, reliability, cost and capacity with routine diagnostic formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) materials. Here, we report the validation and application of a test based on Ion Proton technology for the rapid characterisation of single nucleotide variations (SNVs), short insertions and deletions (InDels), copy number variations (CNVs), and gene rearrangements in 145 genes with FFPE clinical specimens. The validation study, using 61 previously profiled clinical tumour samples, showed a concordance rate of 100% between results obtained by NGS and conventional test platforms. Analysis of tumour cell lines indicated reliable mutation detection in samples with 5% tumour content. Furthermore, application of the panel to 58 clinical cases, identified at least one actionable mutation in 43 cases, 1.4 times the number of actionable alterations detected by current diagnostic tests. We demonstrated that targeted NGS is a cost-effective and rapid platform to detect multiple mutations simultaneously in various genes with high reproducibility and sensitivity

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein TaqIB polymorphism and its association with serum lipid levels and longevity in Chinese Bama Zhuang population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Taq</it>IB polymorphism in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene has been reported to be associated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and longevity in several populations, but controversial results also arose probably due to racial/ethnic diversity. Bama is a remote and mountainous county located in the northwest of Guangxi, People's Republic of China, which has been well known for its longevity for centuries. The current study was to investigate the possible association of CETP <it>Taq</it>IB polymorphism with serum lipid levels and longevity in the Bama Zhuang population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The CETP <it>Taq</it>IB genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism in 523 long-lived inhabitants (long-lived group, LG; aged 90-107 years) and 498 healthy controls without longevity family history (non-long-lived group, non-LG; aged 40-69 years) residing in Bama County.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were higher but TG, HDL-C/LDL-C ratio and the prevalence of dyslipidemia were lower in LG than in non-LG (<it>P </it>< 0.001 for all). There were no differences in the allelic and genotypic frequencies between the two groups (<it>P </it>> 0.05). Serum HDL-C levels and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio in LG were different among the genotypes (<it>P </it>< 0.01 for each), the subjects with B2B2 and B1B2 genotyes had higher HDL-C levels and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio than the subjects with B1B1genotye, whereas the levels of TC and HDL-C in non-LG were different among/between the genotypes (<it>P </it>< 0.01 for each), the B2 allele carriers had lower TC and higher HDL-C levels than the B2 allele noncarriers. Serum TG and HDL-C levels and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio were correlated with genotypes in LG, whereas serum TC and HDL-C levels were associated with genotypes in non-LG (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The association of CETP <it>Taq</it>IB polymorphism and serum lipid profiles is different between LG and non-LG in the Chinese Bama Zhuang population. CETP <it>Taq</it>IB polymorphism might be one of the longevity-related genetic factors in this population.</p

MAPK SIGNAL PATHWAY INVOLVED IN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF CHAIHU-SHUGAN-SAN AND SHEN-LING-BAI-ZHU-SAN ON HEPATOCYTE IN NON-ALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS RATS

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a thousands-of-years long history of use. Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS) and Shen-ling-bai-zhu-San (SLBZS) are famous traditional Chinese herbal medicine formulas, which has been used in China for the treatment of many chronic diseases. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of CSS and SLBZS on signaling molecules involved in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway on hepatocytes of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) rats induced by high fat diet. SD male rats were randomly divided into 8 groups: negative control group, model control group, high(9.6 g/kg/day)/low(3.2 g/kg/day)-dose CSS group, high(30 g/kg/day)/low(10 g/kg/day)-dose SLBZS group, high(39.6 g/kg/day)/low(13.2g/kg/day)-dose integrated group. The rats of NASH model were induced by feeding a high-fat diet. After 16 weeks, Hepatocytes were isolated from 6 rats in each group by collagenase perfusion. The liver histopathological changes and serum inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 were determined. The proteins of TLR4, phosphor-p38 MAPK and p38 MAPK involved in p38 MAPK signal pathway were assayed. The statistical data indicated the NASH model rats reproduced typical histopathological features of NASH in human. CSS and SLBZS ameliorated lipid metabolic disturbance, attenuated NASH progression, decreased the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in serum, as well as inhibited TLR4 protein expression, p38 MAPK phosphorylation, and activation of p38 MAPK. In conclusion, CSS and SLBZS might work as a significant anti-inflammatory effect on hepatocyte of NASH by inhibiting the activation of TLR4, p-p38 MAPK and p38 MAPK involved in p38 MAPK signal pathway. To some extent, CSS and SLBZS may be a potentially alternative and complementary medicine to protect against liver injury, alleviate the inflammation reaction, moderate NASH progression