Defining Measures for Location Visiting Preference

AbstractFor better location based service or better analysis of human mobility pattern, measures for presenting frequently visiting locations are usually required. In this paper, we will establish related measures for specific meaningful locations. Location points as well as Location clusters are objects of the measurements. In order to represent the degree of a specific location visit, the degree of location visit called Position Frequency (PF), and Inverse Location Frequency (ILF) are defined. In order to represent the degree of location area (cluster) visit, Inverse Cluster Frequency (ICF) is established. Moreover, along with the frequency of location visit, the duration of location visit is also considered. Therefore Position Duration (PD), Inverse Location Duration (ILD), and Inverse Cluster Duration (ICD) are defined. Using R language, real positioning data set collected by volunteers are analyzed in order to demonstrate the usefulness of these measures. The definitions of measures and the application of measures will be presented

Ten years of MIREX: reflections, challenges and opportunities

The Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange (MIREX) has been run annually since 2005, with the October 2014 plenary marking its tenth iteration. By 2013, MIREX has evaluated approximately 2000 individual music information retrieval (MIR) algorithms for a wide range of tasks over 37 different test collections. MIREX has involved researchers from over 29 different contrives with a median of 109 individual participants per year. This pater summarizes the history of MIREX form its earliest planning meeting in 2001 to the present. It reflects upon the administrative, financial, and technological challenges MIREX has faced and describes how those challenges have been surmounted. We propose new funding models, a distributed evaluation framework, and more holistic user experience evaluation tasks-some evolutionary, some revolutionary-for the continued success of MIREX. We hope that this paper will inspire MIR community members to contribute their ideas so MIREX can have many more successful years to come

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of neoagarobiose hydrolase from Saccharophagus degradans 2-40

Many agarolytic bacteria degrade agar polysaccharide into the disaccharide unit neoagarobiose [O-3,6-anhydro-α-L-galactopyranosyl-(1→3)-D-galactose] using various β-agarases. Neoagarobiose hydrolase is an enzyme that acts on the α-1,3 linkage in neoagarobiose to yield D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose. This activity is essential in both the metabolism of agar by agarolytic bacteria and the production of fermentable sugars from agar biomass for bioenergy production. Neoagarobiose hydrolase from the marine bacterium Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and crystallized in the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 129.83, b = 76.81, c = 90.11 Å, β = 101.86°. The crystals diffracted to 1.98 Å resolution and possibly contains two molecules in the asymmetric unit

The Fruit Hull of Gleditsia sinensis

Lung cancer has substantial mortality worldwide, and chemotherapy is a routine regimen for the treatment of patients with lung cancer, despite undesirable effects such as drug resistance and chemotoxicity. Here, given a possible antitumor effect of the fruit hull of Gleditsia sinensis (FGS), we tested whether FGS enhances the effectiveness of cis-diammine dichloridoplatinum (II) (CDDP), a chemotherapeutic drug. We found that CDDP, when administered with FGS, significantly decreased the viability and increased the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells, which were associated with the increase of p21 and decreases of cyclin D1 and CDK4. Concordantly, when combined with FGS, CDDP significantly reduced the volume and weight of tumors derived from LLC subcutaneously injected into C57BL/6 mice, with concomitant increases of phosphor-p53 and p21 in tumor tissue. Together, these results show that FGS could enhance the antitumor activity of CDDP, suggesting that FGS can be used as a complementary measure to enhance the efficacy of a chemotherapeutic agent such as CDDP

Efficacy and Tolerability of GCSB-5 for Hand Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of GCSB-5, a mixture of 6 purified herbal extracts, in treating hand osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled 220 patients with hand OA who had baseline a visual analog scale joint pain score of >30 of 100 mm at 3 hospitals between September 2013 and November 2014. After randomization, patients were allocated to receive oral GCSB-5 600 mg or placebo, bid for 12 weeks. The primary end point was the change in the Australian/Canadian OA Hand Index (AUSCAN)-defined pain score at 4 weeks relative to baseline. Secondary end points included the frequency Outcome Measures in Rheumatology–OA Research Society International (OMERACT-OARSI)-defined response at 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after randomization.FindingsThe allocated treatment was received by 109 and 106 patients in the GCSB-5 and placebo groups, respectively. At 4 weeks, the median (interquartile range) change in AUSCAN pain score relative to baseline was significantly greater in the GCSB-5 group than in the placebo group (–9.0 [–23.8 to –0.4] vs –2.2 [–16.7 to 6.0]; P = 0.014), with sustained improvement at 8, 12, and 16 weeks (P = 0.039). The GCSB-5 group also had a significantly greater OMERACT-OARSI–defined response rate than did the placebo group at 4 weeks (44.0% vs 30.2%), 8 weeks (51.4% vs 35.9%), 12 weeks (56.9% vs 40.6%), and 16 weeks (50.5% vs 37.7%) (P = 0.0074). The 2 treatments exhibited comparable safety profiles.ImplicationsGCSB-5 was associated with improved symptoms of hand OA, with good tolerability, in these patients. GCSB-5 may be a well-tolerated alternative of, or addition to, the treatment of hand OA. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01910116

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in monolayer WSe2 semiconductor via vanadium dopant

Diluted magnetic semiconductors including Mn-doped GaAs are attractive for gate-controlled spintronics but Curie transition at room temperature with long-range ferromagnetic order is still debatable to date. Here, we report the room-temperature ferromagnetic domains with long-range order in semiconducting V-doped WSe2 monolayer synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. Ferromagnetic order is manifested using magnetic force microscopy up to 360K, while retaining high on/off current ratio of ~105 at 0.1% V-doping concentration. The V-substitution to W sites keep a V-V separation distance of 5 nm without V-V aggregation, scrutinized by high-resolution scanning transmission-electron microscopy, which implies the possibility of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida interaction (or Zener model) by establishing the long-range ferromagnetic order in V-doped WSe2 monolayer through free hole carriers. More importantly, the ferromagnetic order is clearly modulated by applying a back gate. Our findings open new opportunities for using two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides for future spintronics.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Kaempferol inhibits IL‑1β‑induced proliferation of rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts and the production of COX‑2, PGE2 and MMPs

Inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cyclooxygenase (COX)‑2 released from rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) are involved in the destruction of both articular bone and cartilage. Kaempferol has been reported to act as an antioxidant and anti‑inflammatory agent by inhibiting nitric oxide synthase and COX enzymes. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of kaempferol on the interleukin‑1β (IL‑1β)‑induced proliferation of RASFs and the production of MMPs, COX and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by RASFs. The proliferation of the RASFs stimulated with IL‑1β and treated with/without kaempferol was evaluated by CCK‑8 assay. The expression of MMPs, TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor‑1 (TIMP‑1), COXs, PGE2 and that of intracellular MAPK signaling molecules, including p‑ERK, p‑p38, p‑JNK and nuclear factor‑κB (NF‑κB) was examined by immunoblotting or semi‑quantitative reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) and ELISA under the conditions described above. Kaempferol inhibited the proliferation of both unstimulated and IL‑1β‑stimulated RASFs, as well as the mRNA and protein expression of MMP‑1, MMP-3, COX‑2 and PGE2 induced by IL‑1β. Kaempferol also inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK‑1/2, p38 and JNK, as well as the activation of NF‑κB induced by IL‑1β. These results indicate that kaempferol inhibits synovial fibroblast proliferation, as well as the production of and MMPs, COX‑2 and PGE2, which is involved in articular inflammation and destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our data suggest that kaempferol may be a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of RA