A Novel Clustering Tree-based Video lookup Strategy for Supporting VCR-like Operations in MANETs

Mobile Peer-to-Peer (MP2P) network is a promising avenue for large-scale deployment of Video-on-Demand (VoD) applications over mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). In P2P VoD systems, fast search for resources is key determinants for improving the Quality of Service (QoS) due to the low delay of seeking resources caused by streaming interactivity. In this paper, we propose a novel Clustering Tree-based Video Lookup strategy for supporting VCR-like operations in MANETs (CTVL) CTVL selects the chunks with the high popularity as "overlay router" chunks to build the "virtual connection" with other chunks in terms of the popularities and external connection of video chunks. CTVL designs a new clustering strategy to group nodes in P2P networks and a maintenance mechanism of cluster structure, which achieves the high system scalability and fast resource search performance. Thorough simulation results also show how CTVL achieves higher average lookup success rate, lower maintenance cost, lower average end-to-end delay and lower packet loss ratio (PLR) in comparison with other state of the art solutions

Graph-Based Radio Resource Management for Vehicular Networks

This paper investigates the resource allocation problem in device-to-device (D2D)-based vehicular communications, based on slow fading statistics of channel state information (CSI), to alleviate signaling overhead for reporting rapidly varying accurate CSI of mobile links. We consider the case when each vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) link shares spectrum with multiple vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) links. Leveraging the slow fading statistical CSI of mobile links, we maximize the sum V2I capacity while guaranteeing the reliability of all V2V links. We propose a graph-based algorithm that uses graph partitioning tools to divide highly interfering V2V links into different clusters before formulating the spectrum sharing problem as a weighted 3-dimensional matching problem, which is then solved through adapting a high-performance approximation algorithm.Comment: 7 pages; 5 figures; accepted by IEEE ICC 201

Optimization of Agricultural Machinery Allocation in Heilongjiang Reclamation Area Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Aiming at the imbalance of seasonal agricultural machinery operations in different regions and the low efficiency of agricultural machinery, an experiment is proposed to use particle swarm algorithm to plan agricultural machinery paths to solve the current problems in agricultural machinery operations. Taking the harvesting of autumn soybeans at Jianshan Farm in Heilongjiang Reclamation Area as the experimental object, this paper constructs the optimization target model of the maximum net income of farm machinery households, and uses particle swarm algorithm to carry out agricultural machinery operation distribution and path planning gradually. In this paper, by introducing 0 - 1 mapping, the improved algorithm adopts continuous decision variables to solve the optimization of discrete variables in agricultural machinery operations. The test results show that the particle swarm algorithm can realize the optimal allocation of agricultural machinery path, and the particle swarm algorithm is scientific and explanatory to solve the agricultural machinery allocation problem. This research can provide a scientific basis for farm agricultural machinery allocation and decision analysis

compatibility with native protein structures and effects on protein–protein interactions

Fluorinated analogues of the canonical α-L-amino acids have gained widespread attention as building blocks that may endow peptides and proteins with advantageous biophysical, chemical and biological properties. This critical review covers the literature dealing with investigations of peptides and proteins containing fluorinated analogues of the canonical amino acids published over the course of the past decade including the late nineties. It focuses on side-chain fluorinated amino acids, the carbon backbone of which is identical to their natural analogues. Each class of amino acids—aliphatic, aromatic, charged and polar as well as proline—is presented in a separate section. General effects of fluorine on essential properties such as hydrophobicity, acidity/basicity and conformation of the specific side chains and the impact of these altered properties on stability, folding kinetics and activity of peptides and proteins are discussed (245 references)

DNA damage repair-related gene signature predicts prognosis and indicates immune cell infiltration landscape in skin cutaneous melanoma

BackgroundDNA damage repair plays an important role in the onset and progression of cancers and its resistance to treatment therapy. This study aims to assess the prognostic potential of DNA damage repair markers in skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM).MethodIn this study, we have analyzed the gene expression profiles being downloaded from TCGA, GTEx, and GEO databases. We sequentially used univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses to screen DNA repair genes associated with prognosis. Then, we have conducted a multivariate regression analysis to construct the prognostic profile of DNA repair-related genes (DRRGs). The risk coefficient is used to calculate the risk scores and divide the patients into two cohorts. Additionally, we validated our prognosis model on an external cohort as well as evaluated the link between immune response and the DRRGs prognostic profiles. The risk signature is compared to immune cell infiltration, chemotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) treatment.ResultsAn analysis using LASSO-Cox stepwise regression established a prognostic signature consisting of twelve DRRGs with strong predictive ability. Disease-specific survival (DSS) is found to be lower among high-risk patients group as compared to low-risk patients. The signature may be employed as an independent prognostic predictor after controlling for clinicopathological factors, as demonstrated by validation on one external GSE65904 cohort. A strong correlation is also found between the risk score and the immune microenvironment, along with the infiltrating immune cells, and ICIs key molecules. The gene enrichment analysis results indicate a wide range of biological activities and pathways to be exhibited by high-risk groups. Furthermore, Cisplatin exhibited a considerable response sensitivity in low-risk groups as opposed to the high-risk incidents, while docetaxel exhibited a considerable response sensitivity in high-risk groups.ConclusionsOur findings provide a thorough investigation of DRRGs to develop an DSS-related prognostic indicator which may be useful in forecasting SKCM progression and enabling more enhanced clinical benefits from immunotherapy

Optimization Design and Analysis of Polymer High Efficiency Mixer in Offshore Oil Field

The degree of polymer-water mixing in high-pressure pipelines on offshore oilfields usually influences the polymer solution&rsquo s performance. To realize efficient mixing of the polymer mother liquor with dilution water in the high-pressure pipeline, a high-efficiency mixer is designed and optimized. The designed mixer consists of four parts: a T-shaped pipe as the main body, an inlet flow-splitting plate, a stainless-steel flow-guiding tube, and an outlet flow-splitting plate. Mathematical models are built by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the mixing effects are compared by using Fluent. The research results show that compared with conventional T-shaped mixers, the designed high-efficiency mixer has better mixing performance and increases the mixing rate to 80%. To optimize the mixing rate, the length of the stainless-steel tube is increased and the tube is perforated to guide the flow. The result shows that boring holes along straight lines around the tube can achieve good optimization effect and increase the mixing rate to 95%. The designed high-efficiency mixer can effectively improve the dissolving efficiency and solve problems in polymer-water mixing in the high-pressure pipeline. Document type: Articl

The effects of tai chi on markers of atherosclerosis, lower-limb physical function, and cognitive ability in adults aged over 60: A randomized controlled trial

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Tai Chi (TC) on arterial stiffness, physical function of lower-limb, and cognitive ability in adults aged over 60. Methods: This study was a prospective and randomized 12-week intervention trial with three repeated measurements (baseline, 6, and 12 weeks). Sixty healthy adults who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into three training conditions (TC-24, TC-42, and TC-56) matched by gender, with 20 participants (10 males, 10 females) in each of the three groups. We measured the following health outcomes, including markers of atherosclerosis, physical function (leg power, and static and dynamic balance) of lower-limb, and cognitive ability. Results: When all three TC groups (p \u3c 0.05) have showed significant improvements on these outcomes but overall cognitive ability at 6 or 12 weeks training period, TC-56 appears to have superior effects on arterial stiffness and static/dynamic balance in the present study. Conclusions: Study results of the present study add to growing body of evidence regarding therapeutic TC for health promotion and disease prevention in aging population. Future studies should further determine whether TC-42 and TC-56 are beneficial for other non-Chinese populations, with rigorous research design and follow-up assessment

Functional evaluation of pure natural edible Ferment: protective function on ulcerative colitis

PurposeTo investigate the therapeutic efficiency of a novel drink termed “Ferment” in cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and its influence on the gut microbiota.MethodIn this study, we developed a complex of mixed fruit juice and lactic acid bacteria referred to as Ferment. Ferment was fed to mice for 35 days, before inducing UC with Dextran Sulfate Sodium Salt. We subsequently investigated the gut microbiome composition using 16S rRNA sequencing.ResultAfter Ferment treatment, mouse body weight increased, and animals displayed less diarrhea, reduced frequency of bloody stools, and reduced inflammation in the colon. Beneficial bacteria belonging to Ileibacterium, Akkermansia, and Prevotellacea were enriched in the gut after Ferment treatment, while detrimental organisms including Erysipelatoclostridium, Dubosiella, and Alistipes were reduced.ConclusionThese data place Ferment as a promising dietary candidate for enhancing immunity and protecting against UC

A Novel Estimation Method for Temperature of Magnetic Nanoparticles Dominated by Brownian Relaxation Based on Magnetic Particle Spectroscopy

This paper presents a novel method for estimating the temperature of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) based on AC magnetization harmonics of MNPs dominated by Brownian relaxation. The difference in the AC magnetization response and magnetization harmonic between the Fokker-Planck equation and the Langevin function was analyzed, and we studied the relationship between the magnetization harmonic and the key factors, such as Brownian relaxation time, temperature, magnetic field strength, core size and hydrodynamic size of MNPs, excitation frequency, and so on. We proposed a compensation function for AC magnetization harmonic with consideration of the key factors and the difference between the Fokker-Planck equation and the Langevin function. Then a temperature estimation model based on the compensation function and the Langevin function was established. By employing the least squares algorithm, the temperature was successfully calculated. The experimental results show that the temperature error is less than 0.035 K in the temperature range from 310 K to 320 K. The temperature estimation model is expected to improve the performance of the magnetic nanoparticle thermometer and be applied to magnetic nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermia

Urine Metabolomics Profiling of Lumbar Disc Herniation and its Traditional Chinese Medicine Subtypes in Patients Through Gas Chromatography Coupled With Mass Spectrometry

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) possesses complex pathogenesis, which has not been well elucidated yet. To date, specific or early diagnosis of LDH remains unavailable, resulting in missed opportunity for effective treatment. According to Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, LDH can be divided into two subtypes (reality syndrome and deficiency syndrome). The purpose of this study was to analyze the metabolic disorders of LDH and its TCM subtypes and screen out potential biomarkers for LDH diagnosis. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to test the urine samples from 66 participants (30 healthy volunteers, 18 LDH patients with deficiency syndrome and 18 patients with reality syndrome). PCA analysis showed a distinct separation tendency between the healthy subjects and LDH patients but no obvious separation between the different syndromes (reality syndrome and deficiency syndrome) of LDH patients. As a result, 23 metabolites were identified significantly altered in the LDH patients, as compared with the healthy subjects. The altered metabolites belong to amino acid metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and vitamin metabolism, which are related to osteoporosis and inflammation. Our results indicate metabolic disorders of LDH and thereby propose a group of metabolic biomarkers for potential application in early diagnosis of LDH in clinic, which provide a reasonable explanation for the pathogenesis of LDH