Study on the Algorithm for Real-time Interpolation of NURBS Curve

Abstract. In order to meet the needs of high speed and high precision computerized numerical control machining, a calculation based on the control of contour error and feeding acceleration for the real-time interpolation of Non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curves was presented in this paper. On the premise of meeting the error requirement, machine can process parts with the highest feeding speed to achieve interpolation precision and interpolation speed optimization, and improve processing quality and efficiency

The Modification Strategies for Enhancing the Metabolic Stabilities and Pharmacokinetics of Aptamer Drug Candidates

Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA that can mimic the functional properties of monoclonal antibodies. Aptamers have high affinity and specificity for their target molecules, which can make them a promising alternative to therapeutic antibodies or peptide ligands. However, many aptamer drug candidates in clinical development have been discontinued due to suboptimal metabolic stabilities and pharmacokinetics. To address these issues, chemical modification can be used to enhance the metabolic stability and prolong the half-life of aptamer candidates. The chapter reviewed published data regarding the metabolic stability and pharmacokinetics of aptamer drug candidates from preclinical and clinical studies. The benefits and possible shortcomings of current modification strategies used in these aptamers were briefly discussed

The First Data Release of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey

The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a new wide-field legacy imaging survey in the northern Galactic cap using the 2.3m Bok telescope. The survey will cover about 5400 deg$^2$ in the $g$ and $r$ bands, and the expected 5$\sigma$ depths (corrected for the Galactic extinction) in the two bands are 24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS started observations in January 2015, and has completed about 41% of the whole area as of July 2016. The first data release contains both calibrated images and photometric catalogs obtained in 2015 and 2016. The depths of single-epoch images in the two bands are 23.4 and 22.9 mag, and the full depths of three epochs are about 24.1 and 23.5 mag, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, published by A

Evidence for acquisition of virulence effectors in pathogenic chytrids

Background The decline in amphibian populations across the world is frequently linked to the infection of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This is particularly perplexing because Bd was only recently discovered in 1999 and no chytrid fungus had previously been identified as a vertebrate pathogen. Results In this study, we show that two large families of known virulence effector genes, crinkler (CRN) proteins and serine peptidases, were acquired by Bd from oomycete pathogens and bacteria, respectively. These two families have been duplicated after their acquisition by Bd. Additional selection analyses indicate that both families evolved under strong positive selection, suggesting that they are involved in the adaptation of Bd to its hosts. Conclusions We propose that the acquisition of virulence effectors, in combination with habitat disruption and climate change, may have driven the Bd epidemics and the decline in amphibian populations. This finding provides a starting point for biochemical investigations of chytridiomycosis

Intronic splicing enhancers, cognate splicing factors and context-dependent regulation rules

SummaryMost human genes produce multiple splicing isoforms with distinct functions. To systematically understand splicing regulation, we conducted an unbiased screen and identified >100 intronic splicing enhancers (ISEs) that were clustered by sequence similarity into six groups. All ISEs functioned in another cell type and heterologous introns, and their distribution and conservation patterns in different pre-mRNA regions are similar to exonic splicing silencers. Consistently all ISEs inhibited use of splice sites from exonic locations. The putative trans-factors of each ISE group were identified and validated. Five distinct ISE motifs were recognized by hnRNP H and F whose C-terminal domains were sufficient to render context-dependent activities of ISEs. The sixth group was controlled by factors that either activate or suppress splicing. This work provided a comprehensive picture of general ISE activities and provided new models of how a single element can function oppositely depending on its locations and binding factors

Synthetic nicotine e-liquids sold in US online vape shops

Synthetic nicotine (relative to tobacco-derived, or “natural” nicotine) is an emerging feature of e-cigarettes including e-liquids in the online marketplace. This study investigated a total of 11,161 unique nicotine e-liquids sold in online stores in the US during 2021, using keyword matching approach to identify the feature of synthetic nicotine based on product description texts. We showed that in 2021, 2.13% of nicotine-containing e-liquids in our sample were marketed as synthetic nicotine e-liquids. About a quarter of the synthetic nicotine e-liquids that we identified were salt-based; the nicotine strength varied; and those synthetic nicotine e-liquids had a variety of flavor profiles. Synthetic nicotine containing e-cigarettes are likely to remain in the market and manufacturers might market those products as “tobacco-free,” to attract consumers who this feature as healthier or less addictive. It is important to monitor synthetic nicotine in the e-cigarette marketplace and assess how this feature influences consumer behaviors

OFFDTAN: A New Approach of Offline Dynamic Taint Analysis for Binaries

Dynamic taint analysis is a powerful technique for tracking the flow of sensitive information. Different approaches have been proposed to accelerate this process in an online or offline manner. Unfortunately, most of these approaches still have performance bottlenecks and thus reduce analytical efficiency. To address this limitation, we present OFFDTAN, a new approach of offline dynamic taint analysis for binaries. OFFDTAN can be described in terms of four stages: dynamic information acquisition, vulnerability modeling, offline analysis, and backtrace analysis. It first records program runtime information and models the stack buffer overflow vulnerabilities and controlled jump vulnerabilities. Then it performs offline analysis and backtrace analysis to locate vulnerabilities. We implement OFFDTAN on the basis of QEMU virtual machine and apply it to off-the-shelf applications. In order to illustrate how our approach works, we first employ a case study. Furthermore, six applications have been verified so as to evaluate our approach. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach is correct and effective. Compared with other offline analysis tools, OFFDTAN has much lower application runtime overhead