TableLLM: Enabling Tabular Data Manipulation by LLMs in Real Office Usage Scenarios

We introduce TableLLM, a robust large language model (LLM) with 13 billion parameters, purpose-built for proficiently handling tabular data manipulation tasks, whether they are embedded within documents or spreadsheets, catering to real-world office scenarios. We propose a distant supervision method for training, which comprises a reasoning process extension strategy, aiding in training LLMs to understand reasoning patterns more effectively as well as a cross-way validation strategy, ensuring the quality of the automatically generated data. To evaluate the performance of TableLLM, we have crafted a benchmark tailored to address both document and spreadsheet formats as well as constructed a well-organized evaluation pipeline capable of handling both scenarios. Thorough evaluations underscore the advantages of TableLLM when compared to various existing general-purpose and tabular data-focused LLMs. We have publicly released the model checkpoint, source code, benchmarks, and a web application for user interaction.Our codes and data are publicly available at https://github.com/TableLLM/TableLLM.Comment: https://tablellm.github.io

Experimental Study on Thermal Balance in Soft Clay Area During GSHP Operation

Geothermal energy resources, such as a green and clean renewable energy, are utilized all over the world, especially in soft clay areas along coastal cities in China, such as Shanghai. However, the operation of the ground-buried heat exchanger potentially affects the initial temperature field and the thermal balance, which will probably result in some potential engineering or environmental problems. This paper presents results from a series of large-scale laboratory modeling experiments which were conducted to study the thermal balance in saturated soft clay during the operation of the ground source heat pump (GSHP) system. In experiments, thermal phenomena are induced by a heat exchanger which is embedded in the testing soils and investigated by temperature sensor arrays. It summarizes the experimental methodologies and presents the time-dependent temperature distribution within the testing soils both in operation stage and the re-stabilization duration. Characteristics of thermal balance are discussed in two specific parameters of relative time ratio and temperature factor by comparing summer and winter cases. The thermal mattress effect is proposed to provide valuable guidelines for the utilization and operation of the GSHP system in soft clay areas

Salinomycin, as an autophagy modulator-- a new avenue to anticancer: a review

Abstract Since Salinomycin (Sal) emerged its ability to target breast cancer stem cells in 2009, numerous experiments have been carried out to test Sal’s anticancer effects. What deserve to be mentioned is that Sal can efficiently induce proliferation inhibition, cell death and metastasis suppression against human cancers from different origins both in vivo and in vitro without causing serious side effects as the conventional chemotherapeutical drugs on the body. There may be novel cell death pathways involving the anticancer effects of Sal except the conventional pathways, such as autophagic pathway. This review is focused on how autophagy involves the effects of Sal, trying to describe clearly and systematically why autophagy plays a vital role in predominant anticancer effects of Sal, including its distinctive characteristic. Based on recent advances, we present evidence that a dual role of Sal involving in autophagy may account for its unique anticancer effects - the preference for cancer cells. Further researches are required to confirm the authenticity of this suppose in order to develop an ideal anticancer drug

Rumba Dance Combined with Breathing Training as an Exercise Intervention in the Management of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) refers to involuntary leakage from the urethra, synchronous with exertion/effort, sneezing or coughing, which has a negative effect on quality of life. Studies have shown that mild-to-moderate physical activities reduce the risk of SUI by multiple mechanisms. The objective of this study was to determine whether the Rumba dance combined with breathing training (RDBT) can reduce the severity of incontinence and improve the quality of life of patients with SUI. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted with women who were sedentary, were postmenopausal, reported mild-to-moderate SUI on a 1-h pad test, were not already engaged in Rumba dance and did not receive estrogen replacement therapy. The patients were randomly assigned to the RDBT group (n = 13) or the control group (n = 11). The intervention included 90 min of RDBT three times per week for 16 weeks, and the vaginal resting pressure (VRP), pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength and endurance, 1-h pad test, International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire—Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ—UI SF), and the Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I—QOL) were measured or completed at baseline and 16 weeks. None of the participants reported adverse events. Results: The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 55.75 ± 5.58 years. After 16 weeks, in the RDBT group, the urine leakage on the 1-h pad test was significantly decreased −2.91 ± 0.49 from the baseline (p = 0.000). The VRP increased from 76.00 ± 16.23 cmH2O to 95.09 ± 18.90 cmH2O (p = 0.000), the PFM endurance of class I (−3.15 ± 1.99% vs. −0.46 ± 0.97%, p = 0.000) and class II (−0.69 ± 0.95% vs. −0.23 ± 0.44%, p = 0.065) increased, and the grades of PFM strength of class I and class II were significantly enhanced (p < 0.01). Finally, the severity of self-reported incontinence (ICIQ—UI SF) significantly decreased from 6.12 ± 2.15 to 3.81 ± 1.68 (p = 0.000), and quality of life (I—QOL) improved from 75.73 ± 11.93 to 83.48 ± 7.88 (p = 0.005). Conclusion: A 16-week RDBT program can increase PFM strength and endurance to reduce the severity of incontinence symptoms and improve the quality of life in patients with SUI, demonstrating the feasibility of recruiting and retaining postmenopausal women with SUI into a RDBT therapeutic program

In situ monitoring of the structural change of microemulsions in simulated gastrointestinal conditions by SAXS and FRET

Microemulsions are promising drug delivery systems for the oral administration of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, the evolution of microemulsions in the gastrointestinal tract is still poorly characterized, especially the structural change of microemulsions under the effect of lipase and mucus. To better understand the fate of microemulsions in the gastrointestinal tract, we applied small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to monitor the structural change of microemulsions under the effect of lipolysis and mucus. First, the effect of lipolysis on microemulsions was studied by SAXS, which found the generation of liquid crystalline phases. Meanwhile, FRET spectra indicated micelles with smaller particle sizes were generated during lipolysis, which could be affected by CaCl2, bile salts and lecithin. Then, the effect of mucus on the structural change of lipolysed microemulsions was studied. The results of SAXS and FRET indicated that the liquid crystalline phases disappeared, and more micelles were generated. In summary, we studied the structural change of microemulsions in simulated gastrointestinal conditions by SAXS and FRET, and successfully monitored the appearance and disappearance of the liquid crystalline phases and micelles. KEY WORDS: Microemulsions, SAXS, FRET, Lipolysis, Mucus, Liquid crystalline phas

SZC015, a synthetic oleanolic acid derivative, induces both apoptosis and autophagy in MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women with high mortality and morbidity. The present study was aimed to investigate the cytotoxic mechanism of SZC015, a synthetic oleanolic acid (OA) derivative, in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. SZC015 reduced MCF-7 cell viability with an IC50 value of only 24.19 μM at 24 h by activating both apoptosis and autophagy pathways. More specifically, we found that SZC015 was able to activate intrinsic apoptosis, which was proved by activations of caspase3, caspase9, release of cytochrome C, cleavage of PARP and increasing ratio of Bax/Bcl-2. SZC015 induced autophagy in MCF-7 cells evidenced by the increase of LC3II/LC3I and up-regulation of Atg5 and beclin1. Moreover, these two cell death pathways were modulated by inhibiting phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin/nuclear factor-κB (PI3K/Akt/mTOR/NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. SZC015 also induced S phase cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, analysis of topoisomerase I (Top I) and topoisomerase IIα (Top IIα) proteins suggested that SZC015 may interfere the DNA topological phenomenon. The computer-assisted molecular docking study also showed SZC015 had lower interaction energy with Top I and Top IIα than that of OA. In conclusion, the current study revealed SZC015 played an important role in the regulation of autophagy and apoptosis in breast cancer cells

Discovery of Novel Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitors Bearing a <i>N</i>,9-Diphenyl‑9<i>H</i>‑purin-2-amine Scaffold

Based on the pyrimidine skeleton of EGFR^T790M inhibitors, a series of <i>N</i>,9-diphenyl-9<i>H</i>-purin-2-amine derivatives were identified as effective BTK inhibitors. Among these compounds, inhibitors <b>10d</b>, <b>10i</b>, and <b>10j</b>, possessing IC₅₀ values of 0.5, 0.5, and 0.4 nM, displayed anti-BTK kinase activity that was as potent as the reference compounds. In particular, compound <b>10j</b> suppressed the proliferation of two typical B-cell leukemia cell lines expressing high levels of BTK with concentrations of 7.75 and 12.6 μM. The activity of the subject compound as determined by the CCK-8 method and apoptosis analysis validated that inhibitor 1<b>0j</b> is slightly more potent than AVL-292 and ibrutinib. The results of these experimental explorations suggested that <b>10j</b> could serve as a valuable molecule for control of leukemia pending further development