Structural Deep Clustering Network

Clustering is a fundamental task in data analysis. Recently, deep clustering, which derives inspiration primarily from deep learning approaches, achieves state-of-the-art performance and has attracted considerable attention. Current deep clustering methods usually boost the clustering results by means of the powerful representation ability of deep learning, e.g., autoencoder, suggesting that learning an effective representation for clustering is a crucial requirement. The strength of deep clustering methods is to extract the useful representations from the data itself, rather than the structure of data, which receives scarce attention in representation learning. Motivated by the great success of Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) in encoding the graph structure, we propose a Structural Deep Clustering Network (SDCN) to integrate the structural information into deep clustering. Specifically, we design a delivery operator to transfer the representations learned by autoencoder to the corresponding GCN layer, and a dual self-supervised mechanism to unify these two different deep neural architectures and guide the update of the whole model. In this way, the multiple structures of data, from low-order to high-order, are naturally combined with the multiple representations learned by autoencoder. Furthermore, we theoretically analyze the delivery operator, i.e., with the delivery operator, GCN improves the autoencoder-specific representation as a high-order graph regularization constraint and autoencoder helps alleviate the over-smoothing problem in GCN. Through comprehensive experiments, we demonstrate that our propose model can consistently perform better over the state-of-the-art techniques.Comment: Published at The Web Conference (WWW) 2020, full pape

Supercapacitor-based coordinated synthetic inertia scheme for voltage source converter-based HVDC integrated offshore wind farm

A supercapacitor‐based coordinated synthetic inertia (SCSI) scheme for a voltage source converter‐based HVDC (VSC‐HVDC)‐integrated offshore wind farm (OWF) is proposed. The proposed SCSI allows the OWF to provide a designated inertial response to an onshore grid. Under the SCSI scheme, a supercapacitor is added to the DC side of each wind turbine generator via a bidirectional DC/DC converter, varying its voltage along with the offshore frequency to synthesise the desired inertial response. The HVDC grid side VSC employs a DC voltage/frequency droop control to convey the onshore frequency information to DC voltage without communication. Meanwhile, the wind farm side VSC regulates the offshore frequency to couple with the conveyed onshore frequency, considering voltage drop across the DC cables. An offshore frequency switching algorithm is incorporated to avoid undesired SCSI maloperation under offshore faults. The key parameters of the proposed SCSI are optimised through a small signal stability analysis. The effectiveness of the SCSI scheme is evaluated using a modified IEEE 39‐bus test system. The results show that the proposed SCSI scheme can provide required inertial support from WTG‐installed supercapacitors to the onshore grid through the VSC‐HVDC link, significantly improving the onshore frequency stability

A cohort study of the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors plus anlotinib versus immune checkpoint inhibitors alone as the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer in the real world

BACKGROUND: Anlotinib is a new multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and has been shown to have antitumor effects and synergistic antitumor effects with immunotherapy only in animal studies and in the 2nd-line treatment in small clinical trials. A real-world study with large sample to compare the efficacy and safety of anlotinib plus immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with ICIs alone in the multiline treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was urgently needed. METHODS: The data of 535 advanced NSCLC patients were collected from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021. The patients were divided into 2 groups: (I) ICI monotherapy (230 patients); (II) ICI + anlotinib (305 patients). After propensity-score matching (PSM) to reduce the effects of biases and confounding variables, the progression-free survival time (PFS), occurrence of adverse events, disease control rate (DCR), and objective response rate (ORR) of the 2 groups were compared. The effects of clinical factors, including age, gender, gene mutations, tumor proportion score, metastases, and combined radiotherapy, were also analyzed. RESULTS: After PSM, the baseline clinical characteristics were well balanced and the 2 group had a good comparability. Patients in the ICI + anlotinib group had significantly longer median PFS in both the 2nd-line treatment (7.73 vs. 4.70 months; P=0.003) and 3rd-line treatment (5.90 vs. 3.37 months; P=0.020), but the difference lacked statistical significance in the 1st-line treatment (8.40 vs. 5.20 months; P=0.229). The overall median PFS of patients in the ICI + anlotinib group was also much longer than that of patients in the ICI monotherapy group (6.37 vs. 3.90 months; P<0.001). The ICI + anlotinib group also tended to have a higher DCR, a higher ORR, and a higher probability of severe adverse drug reactions during the treatment than the ICI monotherapy group, but the differences were not statistically significant. Combining ICI + anlotinib could improve the outcomes of patients with bone metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Anlotinib + ICI therapy could have greater efficacy in the treatment of advanced NSCLC patients than ICI monotherapy. The probability of adverse events might increase in the combined treatment, but could be controlled

Effects of n-3 fatty acid supplements on glycemic traits in Chinese type 2 diabetic patients: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

SCOPE: To investigate the effects of n-3 fatty acid supplements, both marine and plant-based, on glycemic traits in Chinese type 2 diabetes patients. METHOD AND RESULTS: In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, 185 recruited Chinese type 2 diabetes patients were randomized to either fish oil (FO, n = 63), flaxseed oil (FSO, n = 61), or corn oil group (served as control group, n = 61) for 180 days. The patients were asked to take corresponding oil capsules (four capsules/day), which totally provided 2 g/day of eicosapentaenoic acid + docosahexaenoic acid in FO group and 2.5 g/day of alpha-linolenic acid in FSO group. No group × time interaction was observed for homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, fasting insulin, or glucose. Significant group × time interaction (P = 0.035) was observed for glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), with HbA1c decreased in FO group compared with corn oil group (P = 0.037). We also found significant group × time interactions for lipid traits, including LDL cholesterol (P = 0.043), total cholesterol (P = 0.021), total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol (P = 0.009), and triacylglycerol (P = 0.003), with the lipid profiles improved in FO group. No significant effects of FSO on glycemic traits or blood lipids were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Marine n-3 PUFA supplements may improve glycemic control and lipid profiles among Chinese type 2 diabetic patients.National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program: 2015CB553604)This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.20160023

Bacterial cellulose membrane combined with BMSCs promotes wound healing by activating the notch signaling pathway

ObjectiveThe bacterial cellulose membrane (BCM) has been widely studied and applied as a new biomaterial for wound healing, but causes pain with frequent dressing changes. Local application of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) requires a niche. Furthermore, the effect and mechanism of the BCM combined with BMSCs have not been reported.MethodsMorphological and chemical identifications of BCMs were investigated by porosity analyses, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Biological wound dressings (BWDs) were prepared by the BCM in combination with BMSCs. The biological effects of BWDs on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) and VEGF-A in human vascular endothelial cells (HuVECs) were detected in vitro, and the effect of BWDs on acute wounds in mice was detected in vivo. Collagen and angiogenesis were evaluated through hematoxylin–eosin staining and Masson staining. The expressions of COL-1 and VEGF-A and the activation of the Notch signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro were detected by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.ResultsThe BCM had a nanoscale structure and provided a partial niche for the survival and proliferation of BMSCs. BWDs were successfully prepared and regulated the biological behaviors of wound healing-related cells in vitro and upregulated the expressions of COL-1 in HDF and VEGF-A in HuVECs. BWDs promoted wound healing by increasing collagen type I synthesis and angiogenesis in acute wounds in mice.ConclusionsBWDs prepared by the combination of nanomaterial BCMs and BMSCs facilitated acute wound healing, which may be regulated by activating the Notch signaling pathway

Application of Alkyl Amidopropyl Betaine in Fire Fighting Foam Extinguishing Agent

In order to improve the fire extinguishing performance of foam fire extinguishing agents in nonpolar liquid fires, the application of alkyl amidopropyl betaine with different chain lengths in aqueous film-forming foam fire extinguishing agents was studied. The relationship between the structure of alkylamidopropyl betaine and surface tension, foaming property and foam stability was analyzed. On this basis, different foam fire extinguishing agent formulations were formed, and then the surface tension, foam performance and fire extinguishing performance of each formulation were tested. The results show that the alkyl chain of alkylamidopropyl betaine is directly proportional to the foaming property. The shorter the alkyl chain, the less oily the foam is and the better the foam’s anti-burning performance. The combination of alkylamidopropyl betaine with different chain lengths is conducive to comprehensive product foam performance and oleophobic performance to achieve the best fire extinguishing effect

Evolutionary Game Analysis on Safety Supervision for Coal Mine Considering Speculative Behavior

This paper considers the speculative behavior of coal mining enterprises and regulatory authorities, and uses evolutionary game theory to study safety supervision in production process of coal mine. It describes the game strategies of coal mining enterprises and regulatory authorities as safety production investment and safety supervision investment respectively. The four game scenarios are defined based on the different speculations of the two parties. The evolutionary game model is established and solved. The evolutionary game analysis is performed, and the conditions that the system evolves to four stable points are obtained. The numerical simulations are used to further analyze the influence of the parameters. The results show that when the parameters meet different conditions, the system evolves to four different stable points. The smaller the number of individuals in the regulatory authorities who choose speculative strategy, the more favorable it is for coal mining enterprises to make normal investment. The more underestimated the supervision power of the regulatory authorities, the more inclined the coal mining enterprises are to adopt speculative strategies. The higher the regulatory authorities&#x2019; assessment of the safety investment of coal mining enterprises, the more inclined regulatory authorities are to adopt speculative strategies