Rhetorical strategies in Chinese and English talk show humor: a comparative analysis

Humor is a kind of cognitive psychology activity, and it is diverse among individuals. One of the main characteristics of talk shows is to produce humorous discourse to make the audience laugh; however, rare studies have made a deeper comparative investigation on the rhetorical strategies in different language humorous utterances. Therefore, the current study adopted a mixed method of sequential explanatory design to identify the types of rhetorical strategies in the monolog verbal humor of Chinese and English talk shows, examine their similarities and differences. Two hundred monolog samples from 2016 to 2022, which consisted of 100 monologs of Chinese talk shows (CTS) and 100 monologs of English talk shows (ETS), were downloaded from the internet as language corpus. Berger’s theory was adopted to identify the types of rhetorical strategies. Based on the obtained findings, this study found that both language talk show hosts use a variety type of rhetorical strategies to produce humorous discourse. The comparison of similarities and differences revealed that the most frequently used rhetorical strategies in both talk shows were almost similar (e.g., satire, exaggeration, facetiousness, and ridicule), but the percentage of usage of these various rhetorical strategies in both talk shows was slightly different. Interestingly, misunderstanding occurred 20 times in CTS but was not found in ETS. Meanwhile, simile and personification were used more often in ETS. Conclusively, this study contributes valuable insights on the use of different types of rhetorical strategies to create verbal humor in different language contexts

Genesis, controlling factors and geological significance of low resistivity in Late Paleozoic transitional coal measures in Eastern North China

Low-resistance layers are common in Late Paleozoic transitional coal measures in eastern North China. To clarify their genesis types, controlling factors and geological significance can fully reveal the geological information contained therein, which is of positive significance for the evaluation and exploration deployment of oil and gas resources in the relevant layers. Taking the low-resistance layers in the Taiyuan and Shanxi Formation in eastern North China as research object, their genesis types, controlling factors and geological significance were investigated based on the comprehensive use of cores, thin sections, SEM, carbon and oxygen isotopes and logging data. The results show that low-resistance layers in the Late Paleozoic transitional coal measures in eastern North China are mainly developed in the Tai 1 Member and the Shan 2 Member, and the genesis types include thin interbedding of sandstone and mudstone, high bound water volume and the development of conductive minerals, sedimentation and diagenesis control the formation of the low-resistance layers. The low resistivity of the Tai 1 Member can be attributed to thin interbedding of sandstone and mudstone and high bound water volume, tidal stratification and abundant micro-pore caused by tidal action promote the formation of low resistance in Tai 1 member under the barrier coast background. The low resistivity of the Shan 2 Member can be attributed to the dense development of siderite, stably reducing environment in water column and diagenetic evolution of sedimentary organic matter jointly control the formation of low resistance in the Shan 2 Member under the delta background. The low resistivity and high capillary bound water volume of the Tai 1 Member indicates tidal flat deposition, suggesting that the sedimentary evolution of the Taiyuan Formation is a process of regression, which is in response to the rapid expansion of Gondwana glacier and rapid global sea level fall in the early stage of early Permian. The low resistivity and high photoelectric absorption cross-section index of the Shan 2 Member indicates deltaic front deposition, suggesting that the Shanxi Formation consists of one phase of delta deposition

CSI-PPPNet: A One-Sided One-for-All Deep Learning Framework for Massive MIMO CSI Feedback

To reduce multiuser interference and maximize the spectrum efficiency in orthogonal frequency division duplexing massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, the downlink channel state information (CSI) estimated at the user equipment (UE) is required at the base station (BS). This paper presents a novel method for massive MIMO CSI feedback via a one-sided one-for-all deep learning framework. The CSI is compressed via linear projections at the UE, and is recovered at the BS using deep learning (DL) with plug-and-play priors (PPP). Instead of using handcrafted regularizers for the wireless channel responses, the proposed approach, namely CSI-PPPNet, exploits a DL based denoisor in place of the proximal operator of the prior in an alternating optimization scheme. In this way, a DL model trained once for denoising can be repurposed for CSI recovery tasks with arbitrary compression ratio. The one-sided one-for-all framework reduces model storage space, relieves the burden of joint model training and model delivery, and could be applied at UEs with limited device memories and computation power. Extensive experiments over the open indoor and urban macro scenarios show the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method

Electrophilic oligodeoxynucleotide synthesis using dM-Dmoc for amino protection

Solid-phase synthesis of electrophilic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) was achieved using dimethyl-Dmoc (dM-Dmoc) as amino protecting group. Due to the high steric hindrance of the 2-(propan-2-ylidene)-1,3-dithiane side product from deprotection, the use of excess nucleophilic scavengers such as aniline to prevent Michael addition of the side product to the deprotected ODN during ODN cleavage and deprotection was no longer needed. The improved technology was demonstrated by the synthesis and characterization of five ODNs including three modified ones. The modified ODNs contained the electrophilic groups ethyl ester, α-chloroamide, and thioester. Using the technology, the sensitive groups can be installed at any location within the ODN sequences without using any sequence- or functionality-specific conditions and procedures

An assessment on the incremental value of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to identify culprit plaques in atherosclerotic disease of the middle cerebral artery.

OBJECTIVE: Although certain morphological features depicted by high resolution, multi-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (hrMRI) have been shown to be different between culprit and non-culprit middle cerebral artery (MCA) atherosclerotic lesions, the incremental value of hrMRI to define culprit lesions over stenosis has not been assessed. METHODS: Patients suspected with MCA stenosis underwent hrMRI. Lumen and outer wall were segmented to calculate stenosis, plaque burden (PB), volume (PV), length (PL) and minimum luminal area (MLA). RESULTS: Data from 165 lesions (112 culprit and 53 non-culprit) in 139 individuals were included. Culprit lesions were larger and longer with a narrower lumen and increased PB compared with non-culprit lesions. More culprit lesions showed contrast enhancement. Both PB and MLA were better indicators than stenosis in differentiating lesion types (AUC were 0.649, 0.732 and 0.737 for stenosis, PB and MLA, respectively). Combinations of PB, MLA and stenosis could improve positive predictive value (PPV) and specificity significantly. An optimal combination of stenosis ≥ 50 %, PB ≥ 77 % and MLA ≤ 2.0 mm(2) produced a PPV = 85.7 %, negative predictive value = 54.1 %, sensitivity = 69.6 %, specificity = 75.5 %, and accuracy = 71.5 %. CONCLUSIONS: hrMRI plaque imaging provides incremental information to luminal stenosis in identifying culprit lesions. KEY POINTS: • High resolution MRI provides incremental information in defining culprit MCA atherosclerotic lesions. • Both plaque burden and minimum luminal area are better indicators than stenosis. • An optimal combination includes stenosis ≥ 50 %, PB ≥ 77 % and MLA ≤ 2.0 mm (2) .This research is supported by Shanghai Shenkang Porject SHDC12013110, Shanghai, China; British Heart Foundation (BHF) PG/11/74/29100; and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK. Dr Peng is supported by China Scholarship Council (201306580006), Beijing, China.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00330-015-4008-

Magnetic Anisotropy of Quantum Critical Fluctuation in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7_7 at High Magnetic Fields of up to 100 T

The investigation of high-temperature superconductors under high magnetic fields is one of the most important topics in condensed matter physics. For YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ (YBCO), the measurements of magnetoresistance under a high magnetic field are technically challenging because the required magnetic field ($B$) is 100 T class. The low temperature (from 52 to 150 K) magnetoresistance is measured in optimally-doped YBCO thin films under the condition $B$$\parallel$CuO$_2$-plane up to 103 T by employing the single-turn coil technique and a radio frequency reflection method. The electrical resistivity $\rho$ exhibits $B$-linear behavior in the normal phase in the high magnetic field region. The field slope coefficient $\beta$ (=$d\rho/dB$) becomes converged at low temperatures. The convergency of $\beta$ below $T_c$ indicates the field-induced strange metal phase, which is determined by the quantum critical fluctuation at high magnetic fields. The $\beta$ value difference under the different directions of the magnetic field suggests the strong anisotropy in quantum critical fluctuations in the strange metal phase of YBCO.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy for refractory or unexplained chronic cough: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background: Refractory chronic cough (RCC) has a significant impact on patient's health-related quality of life and represents a challenge in clinical management. However, the optimal treatment for RCC remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate and compare the efficacy and safety of the current pharmacological therapeutic options for RCC. Methods: A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Ovid databases from January 1, 2008 to March 1, 2023. All randomised control trials (RCTs) reporting outcomes of efficacy or/and safety were included in the Bayesian network meta-analysis. Here, we compared the effects on Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and objective cough frequency of patients with RCC. Besides, we also compared the incidence of adverse events (AEs) for analysis of safety. PROSPERO registration: CRD42022345940. Findings: 19 eligible RCTs included 3326 patients and 7 medication categories: P2X3 antagonist, GABA modulator, Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) modulator, NK-1 agonist, opioid analgesic, macrolide, and sodium cromoglicate. Compared with placebo, mean difference (MD) of LCQ and 24 h cough frequency for P2X3 antagonist relief were 1.637 (95% CI: 0.887–2.387) and −11.042 (P = 0.035). Compared with placebo, effect sizes (MD for LCQ and cough severity VAS) for GABA modulator were 1.347 (P = 0.003) and −7.843 (P = 0.003). In the network meta-analysis, gefapixant is the most effective treatment for patients with RCC (The Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curves (SUCRA) is 0.711 in LCQ, 0.983 in 24 h cough frequency, and 0.786 in cough severity VAS). Lesogaberan had better efficacy than placebo (SUCRA: 0.632 vs. 0.472) in 24 h cough frequency. Eliapixant and lesogaberan had better efficacy than placebo in cough severity VAS. However, TRP modulator had worse efficacy than placebo. In the meta-analysis of AEs, the present study found P2X3 antagonist had a significant correlation to AEs (RR: 1.129, 95% CI: 1.012–1.259), especially taste-related AEs (RR: 6.216, P < 0.05). Interpretation: In this network meta-analysis, P2X3 antagonist showing advantages in terms of efficacy is currently the most promising medication for treatment of RCC. GABA modulator also showed potential efficacy for RCC but with AEs of the central system. Nevertheless, the role of TRP modulator needed to be revisited. Further research is needed to determine the potential beneficiary population for optimizing the pharmacological management of chronic cough. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 81870079), Guangdong Science and Technology Project ( 2021A050520012), Incubation Program of National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars ( GMU2020-207)

ATM Transaction Status Feature Analysis and Anomaly Detection

In this paper, based on ATM transaction status analysis and anomaly detection problem, by analyzing the transaction statistics of a bank ATM application system, the characteristic parameters of ATM transaction status are extracted and analyzed, then a set of targets are designed. An abnormal monitoring scheme that can promptly and accurately alarm the four abnormal situations in which the trading volume is steep, the transaction failure rate is increased, the transaction processing is slow, and the transaction response time is too long. Firstly, the transaction data is divided to distinguish between working days, non-working days, trading volume troughs, and normal trading periods, to avoid data interference between different time periods and to take into account the data discontinuity. The characteristics of the anomaly data were identified by K-Means Clustering Analysis. Then the data is analyzed by B-P Neural Network method, the change rule of ATM transaction status with time is obtained. According to this rule, the ATM transaction status is judged, and the abnormal situation is alarmed in time. Finally, this paper increases the amount and type of data collected, then increases the influencing factors such as ATM popularity, holidays, transaction types into the model, uses the existing transaction data before and after the Spring Festival to verify, in order to obtain a more realistic monitoring and early warning program. The transaction status anomaly monitoring scheme designed in this paper not only can correctly judge but also timely alarm the financial aid equipment failure scenarios, so that the security of the financial self-service equipment trading system is guaranteed

Enhanced secretion of hepatocyte growth factor in human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells ameliorates pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin in rats

Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) are a reportedly promising choice in the treatment of irreversible pulmonary fibrosis and lethal interstitial lung disease with limited drug treatment options. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of UCMSCs overexpressing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is considered one of the main anti-fibrotic factors secreted by MSCs. Adenovirus vector carrying the HGF gene was transfected into UCMSCs to produce HGF-modified UCMSCs (HGF-UCMSCs). Transfection promoted the proliferation of UCMSCs and did not change the morphology, and differentiation ability, or biomarkers. Rats were injected with HGF-UCMSCs on days 7 and 11 after intratracheal administration of bleomycin (10 mg/kg). We performed an analysis of histopathology and lung function to evaluate the anti-fibrotic effect. The results showed that HGF-UCMSCs decreased the Ashcroft scores in hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections, the percentage positive area in Masson trichrome-stained sections, and the hydroxyproline level in lungs. Forced expiratory volume in the first 300 m/forced vital capacity was also improved by HGF-UCMSCs. To explore the possible therapeutic mechanism of HGF-UCMSCs, we detected inflammatory factors in the lungs and performed mRNA sequencing in UCMSCs and HGF-UCMSCs. The data indicated that inhibition of interleukin-17 in the lung may be related to the anti-fibrosis of HGF-UCMSCs, and overexpressed HGF probably played a primary role in the treatment. Collectively, our study findings suggested that the overexpression of HGF may improve the anti-fibrotic effect of UCMSCs through directly or indirectly interacting with interleukin-17-producing cells in fibrotic lungs

Diagnostic Yields of Trio-WES Accompanied by CNVseq for Rare Neurodevelopmental Disorders

ObjectiveThis study is to investigate the diagnostic yield of the combination of trio whole exome sequencing (Trio-WES) and copy number variation sequencing (CNVseq) for rare neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).MethodsClinical data from consecutive pediatric patients who were diagnosed with rare NDDs that were suspected to be monogenic disorders, who were admitted to our hospital from April 2017 to March 2019, and who underwent next generation sequencing (NGS) were extracted from the medical records. Patients for whom Trio-WES and CNVseq data were available were enrolled in this study. Sanger sequencing was applied for the validation of the variants identified by Trio-WES. Sequence alignment and structural modeling were conducted for analyzing the possibility of the variants in the onset of the NDDs.ResultsIn total, 54 patients were enrolled in this study, with the median age of 15 (8–26) months. A total of 242 phenotypic abnormalities belonging to 20 different systems were identified in the cohort. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed by Trio-WES, eight patients were diagnosed by CNVseq, and one case was identified by both WES and CNVseq. Compared with Trio-WES, the diagnosis rate of Trio-WES accompanied by CNVseq was significantly higher (P = 0.016). Trio-WES identified 36 variants in 26 different genes, among which 27 variants were novel. CNVseq detected four duplications and eight deletions, ranging from 310 kb to 23.27 Mb. Our case examples demonstrated the high heterogeneity of NDDs and showed the challenges of rare NDDs for physicians.ConclusionThe significantly higher diagnosis rate of Trio-WES accompanied by CNVseq makes this strategy a potential alternative to the most widely used approaches for pediatric children with rare and undiagnosed NDDs