Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization Driven by Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)

Recently, increasing works have proposed to drive evolutionary algorithms using machine learning models. Usually, the performance of such model based evolutionary algorithms is highly dependent on the training qualities of the adopted models. Since it usually requires a certain amount of data (i.e. the candidate solutions generated by the algorithms) for model training, the performance deteriorates rapidly with the increase of the problem scales, due to the curse of dimensionality. To address this issue, we propose a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm driven by the generative adversarial networks (GANs). At each generation of the proposed algorithm, the parent solutions are first classified into real and fake samples to train the GANs; then the offspring solutions are sampled by the trained GANs. Thanks to the powerful generative ability of the GANs, our proposed algorithm is capable of generating promising offspring solutions in high-dimensional decision space with limited training data. The proposed algorithm is tested on 10 benchmark problems with up to 200 decision variables. Experimental results on these test problems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm

Porous pyroelectric ceramic with carbon nanotubes for high-performance thermal to electrical energy conversion

The recycling of low-grade thermal energy from our surroundings is an environmental-friendly approach to contribute to sustainability, which remains a grand challenge. Herein, a high-performance porous pyroelectric ceramic formed using carbon nanotubes (CNT) is designed and fabricated using a modified solid-state reaction technique. Localized characterization of PMN-PMS-PZT and PMN-PMS-PZT with 0.3 wt% CNT additions by piezoelectric force microscopy suggests that the presence of porosity and defects in grains can restrict the reversal of domains and weaken the local piezoresponse; that is due to the influence of porosity on the electric field, domain morphology, or screening effects induced by defects at the pore surface. More importantly, the porous ceramics showed enhanced figure of merits, including voltage responsibility and energy harvesting figure of merit, compared to the dense ceramic. The harvested energy increased by 208% when the 0.3 wt% of CNT was added to produce porosity, which has a potential application in thermal energy harvesting and sensing system.</p

Transient Pulmonary Atelectasis after Ketamine Sedation during Cardiac Catheterization in Spontaneously Breathing Children with Congenital Heart Disease

Background: Ketamine is applied widely for sedation during cardiac catheterization in spontaneously breathing children with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, a rare and unreported respiratory complication, transient and reversible atelectasis of lungs (TRAL), was identified. Purpose: The study was performed to investigate retrospectively the prevalence and clinical characteristics of TRAL after ketamine sedation in pediatric cardiac catheterization. Methods: Four thousand four hundred and seventy-four sick children were sedated with ketamine, and pediatric cardiac catheterization was carried out under spontaneous breathing. TRAL was detected in 33 children (17 M/16 F, age was 2.1±1.7 years) by retrospective analysis. The clinical and radiographic characteristics were recorded before, during and after TRAL. Results: In pediatric cardiac catheterization, the prevalence of TRAL was 0.74% after ketamine sedation. TRAL occurred in 23 children with cyanotic CHD, and 10 with acyanotic CHD. All TRALs had common clinical and radiographic features: the diffuse opacity of bilateral lungs developed rapidly (identified under X-ray fluoroscopy), associated with decrease in lung volume, and then the decrease in SpO2 (94.2±9.2% vs. 59.4±2.2%, P<0.05), and heart rates (143.5±14.3 bpm vs. 58.3±9.7 bpm, P<0.05) followed quickly. TRAL was relieved by supportive oxygen in 32 children (23 with face mask, and 9 with endotracheal intubation), and the duration of TRAL was 1.6±0.5 minutes. However, TRAL caused the death of one child. Conclusions: TRAL is a rare and urgent respiratory complication after ketamine sedation, and the mechanism is unclear. Rapid and diffuse opacity of bilateral lungs is the earliest sign of TRAL in pediatric cardiac catheterization, and the immediate supportive oxygen is crucial

Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure (HOME BP) using a digital intervention in poorly controlled hypertension:Randomised controlled trial

Objective The HOME BP (Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure) trial aimed to test a digital intervention for hypertension management in primary care by combining self-monitoring of blood pressure with guided self-management. Design Unmasked randomised controlled trial with automated ascertainment of primary endpoint. Setting 76 general practices in the United Kingdom. Participants 622 people with treated but poorly controlled hypertension (&gt;140/90 mm Hg) and access to the internet. Interventions Participants were randomised by using a minimisation algorithm to self-monitoring of blood pressure with a digital intervention (305 participants) or usual care (routine hypertension care, with appointments and drug changes made at the discretion of the general practitioner; 317 participants). The digital intervention provided feedback of blood pressure results to patients and professionals with optional lifestyle advice and motivational support. Target blood pressure for hypertension, diabetes, and people aged 80 or older followed UK national guidelines. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was the difference in systolic blood pressure (mean of second and third readings) after one year, adjusted for baseline blood pressure, blood pressure target, age, and practice, with multiple imputation for missing values. Results After one year, data were available from 552 participants (88.6%) with imputation for the remaining 70 participants (11.4%). Mean blood pressure dropped from 151.7/86.4 to 138.4/80.2 mm Hg in the intervention group and from 151.6/85.3 to 141.8/79.8 mm Hg in the usual care group, giving a mean difference in systolic blood pressure of -3.4 mm Hg (95% confidence interval -6.1 to -0.8 mm Hg) and a mean difference in diastolic blood pressure of -0.5 mm Hg (-1.9 to 0.9 mm Hg). Results were comparable in the complete case analysis and adverse effects were similar between groups. Within trial costs showed an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £11 ($15, €12; 95% confidence interval £6 to £29) per mm Hg reduction. Conclusions The HOME BP digital intervention for the management of hypertension by using self-monitored blood pressure led to better control of systolic blood pressure after one year than usual care, with low incremental costs. Implementation in primary care will require integration into clinical workflows and consideration of people who are digitally excluded. Trial registration ISRCTN13790648.</p

Disease-Aging Network Reveals Significant Roles of Aging Genes in Connecting Genetic Diseases

One of the challenging problems in biology and medicine is exploring the underlying mechanisms of genetic diseases. Recent studies suggest that the relationship between genetic diseases and the aging process is important in understanding the molecular mechanisms of complex diseases. Although some intricate associations have been investigated for a long time, the studies are still in their early stages. In this paper, we construct a human disease-aging network to study the relationship among aging genes and genetic disease genes. Specifically, we integrate human protein-protein interactions (PPIs), disease-gene associations, aging-gene associations, and physiological system–based genetic disease classification information in a single graph-theoretic framework and find that (1) human disease genes are much closer to aging genes than expected by chance; and (2) diseases can be categorized into two types according to their relationships with aging. Type I diseases have their genes significantly close to aging genes, while type II diseases do not. Furthermore, we examine the topological characters of the disease-aging network from a systems perspective. Theoretical results reveal that the genes of type I diseases are in a central position of a PPI network while type II are not; (3) more importantly, we define an asymmetric closeness based on the PPI network to describe relationships between diseases, and find that aging genes make a significant contribution to associations among diseases, especially among type I diseases. In conclusion, the network-based study provides not only evidence for the intricate relationship between the aging process and genetic diseases, but also biological implications for prying into the nature of human diseases

Hubs with Network Motifs Organize Modularity Dynamically in the Protein-Protein Interaction Network of Yeast

BACKGROUND: It has been recognized that modular organization pervades biological complexity. Based on network analysis, 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' were proposed to understand the basic principle of module organization of biomolecular networks. However, recent study on hubs has suggested that there is no clear evidence for coexistence of 'party hubs' and 'date hubs'. Thus, an open question has been raised as to whether or not 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' truly exist in yeast interactome. METHODOLOGY: In contrast to previous studies focusing on the partners of a hub or the individual proteins around the hub, our work aims to study the network motifs of a hub or interactions among individual proteins including the hub and its neighbors. Depending on the relationship between a hub's network motifs and protein complexes, we define two new types of hubs, 'motif party hubs' and 'motif date hubs', which have the same characteristics as the original 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' respectively. The network motifs of these two types of hubs display significantly different features in spatial distribution (or cellular localizations), co-expression in microarray data, controlling topological structure of network, and organizing modularity. CONCLUSION: By virtue of network motifs, we basically solved the open question about 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' which was raised by previous studies. Specifically, at the level of network motifs instead of individual proteins, we found two types of hubs, motif party hubs (mPHs) and motif date hubs (mDHs), whose network motifs display distinct characteristics on biological functions. In addition, in this paper we studied network motifs from a different viewpoint. That is, we show that a network motif should not be merely considered as an interaction pattern but be considered as an essential function unit in organizing modules of networks

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

Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure (HOME BP) using a digital intervention in poorly controlled hypertension: randomised controlled trial

Objective: The HOME BP (Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure) trial aimed to test a digital intervention for hypertension management in primary care by combining self-monitoring of blood pressure with guided self-management. Design: Unmasked randomised controlled trial with automated ascertainment of primary endpoint. Setting: 76 general practices in the United Kingdom. Participants: 622 people with treated but poorly controlled hypertension (&gt;140/90 mm Hg) and access to the internet. Interventions: Participants were randomised by using a minimisation algorithm to self-monitoring of blood pressure with a digital intervention (305 participants) or usual care (routine hypertension care, with appointments and drug changes made at the discretion of the general practitioner; 317 participants). The digital intervention provided feedback of blood pressure results to patients and professionals with optional lifestyle advice and motivational support. Target blood pressure for hypertension, diabetes, and people aged 80 or older followed UK national guidelines. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the difference in systolic blood pressure (mean of second and third readings) after one year, adjusted for baseline blood pressure, blood pressure target, age, and practice, with multiple imputation for missing values. Results: After one year, data were available from 552 participants (88.6%) with imputation for the remaining 70 participants (11.4%). Mean blood pressure dropped from 151.7/86.4 to 138.4/80.2 mm Hg in the intervention group and from 151.6/85.3 to 141.8/79.8 mm Hg in the usual care group, giving a mean difference in systolic blood pressure of −3.4 mm Hg (95% confidence interval −6.1 to −0.8 mm Hg) and a mean difference in diastolic blood pressure of −0.5 mm Hg (−1.9 to 0.9 mm Hg). Results were comparable in the complete case analysis and adverse effects were similar between groups. Within trial costs showed an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £11 ($15, €12; 95% confidence interval £6 to £29) per mm Hg reduction. Conclusions: The HOME BP digital intervention for the management of hypertension by using self-monitored blood pressure led to better control of systolic blood pressure after one year than usual care, with low incremental costs. Implementation in primary care will require integration into clinical workflows and consideration of people who are digitally excluded. Trial registration: ISRCTN13790648

Pre-treated corn straw fiber for fiber-reinforced concrete preparation with high resistance to chloride ions corrosion

Chloride ions erosion is a negative factor for concrete sustainable usage. Fiber addition is a potential solution, which promotes a tight concrete structure formation resulting in the resistance of chloride ions. Corn straw is a kind of crop waste widely sourced that can be used as sustainable concrete reinforcement material. The traditional recycling method of corn straw including burnt as straw ash is not environment friendly. This work aims to pre-treat corn straw fiber (CSF) by some convenient methods (untreated, water-treated, alkali-treated) and add treated CSFs directly into concrete to prepare fiber-reinforced concrete with excellent mechanical properties and high resistance ability to chloride ions. The component content of different treated CSFs was tested to study the fibers composition and microstructure changes. The heat of hydration, compressive strength, and flexural strength were tested to study the hydration degree and the effect of different treated CSFs on the concrete mechanical performance. The rapid chloride permeability (RCPT) and chloride migration (RCM) tests were designed to study the reinforced concretes chloride ions resistance ability change. In addition, to further explore the mechanism of mechanical performance and chloride ions resistance ability change, water absorption rate (WAR) and mercury intrusion porosity (MIP) were tested to provide more supporting information from the micro-level. It is concluded that CSF treated by Na2SiO3 has the least impurities and a rougher surface with a larger specific surface area bonding with the cement substrate. Compared to the original concrete, the compressive strength of CSF concrete, WT-CSF concrete, and NT-CSF concrete increased by 15.7 %, 17.8 %, and 33.4 % respectively. The results of RCM and RCPT show a decreasing trend with different treated CSFs addition, the NT-CSF concrete shows the greatest decrease with 20.1 %, and 17.5 %, respectively. Except for the rougher surface and less impurities of CSF, the improvement of mechanical performance and chloride ions resistance ability is mainly due to treated CSF, especially the NT-CSF contributes to a denser structure formation based on the MIP and WAR test results. The viscosity of Na2SiO3 solution acts as a binder that helps to tighten the bonding between substrate and CSF. The water adsorbed by CSF and the alkaline environment provided by Na2SiO3 facilitates hydration decreasing the chloride ions migration. At the same time, the cellulose in CSF containing many hydroxyl and carboxyl groups further contributes to the concrete chloride ion resistance improvement due to its weak conductivity and the binding force of ions exchange