Critical frontier for the Potts and percolation models on triangular-type and kagome-type lattices II: Numerical analysis

In a recent paper (arXiv:0911.2514), one of us (FYW) considered the Potts model and bond and site percolation on two general classes of two-dimensional lattices, the triangular-type and kagome-type lattices, and obtained closed-form expressions for the critical frontier with applications to various lattice models. For the triangular-type lattices Wu's result is exact, and for the kagome-type lattices Wu's expression is under a homogeneity assumption. The purpose of the present paper is two-fold: First, an essential step in Wu's analysis is the derivation of lattice-dependent constants $A, B, C$ for various lattice models, a process which can be tedious. We present here a derivation of these constants for subnet networks using a computer algorithm. Secondly, by means of a finite-size scaling analysis based on numerical transfer matrix calculations, we deduce critical properties and critical thresholds of various models and assess the accuracy of the homogeneity assumption. Specifically, we analyze the $q$-state Potts model and the bond percolation on the 3-12 and kagome-type subnet lattices $(n\times n):(n\times n)$, $n\leq 4$, for which the exact solution is not known. To calibrate the accuracy of the finite-size procedure, we apply the same numerical analysis to models for which the exact critical frontiers are known. The comparison of numerical and exact results shows that our numerical determination of critical thresholds is accurate to 7 or 8 significant digits. This in turn infers that the homogeneity assumption determines critical frontiers with an accuracy of 5 decimal places or higher. Finally, we also obtained the exact percolation thresholds for site percolation on kagome-type subnet lattices $(1\times 1):(n\times n)$ for $1\leq n \leq 6$.Comment: 31 pages,8 figure

SPHR-SAR-Net: Superpixel High-resolution SAR Imaging Network Based on Nonlocal Total Variation

High-resolution is a key trend in the development of synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which enables the capture of fine details and accurate representation of backscattering properties. However, traditional high-resolution SAR imaging algorithms face several challenges. Firstly, these algorithms tend to focus on local information, neglecting non-local information between different pixel patches. Secondly, speckle is more pronounced and difficult to filter out in high-resolution SAR images. Thirdly, the process of high-resolution SAR imaging generally involves high time and computational complexity, making real-time imaging difficult to achieve. To address these issues, we propose a Superpixel High-Resolution SAR Imaging Network (SPHR-SAR-Net) for rapid despeckling in high-resolution SAR mode. Based on the concept of superpixel techniques, we initially combine non-convex and non-local total variation as compound regularization. This approach more effectively despeckles and manages the relationship between pixels while reducing bias effects caused by convex constraints. Subsequently, we solve the compound regularization model using the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) algorithm and unfold it into a Deep Unfolded Network (DUN). The network's parameters are adaptively learned in a data-driven manner, and the learned network significantly increases imaging speed. Additionally, the Deep Unfolded Network is compatible with high-resolution imaging modes such as spotlight, staring spotlight, and sliding spotlight. In this paper, we demonstrate the superiority of SPHR-SAR-Net through experiments in both simulated and real SAR scenarios. The results indicate that SPHR-SAR-Net can rapidly perform high-resolution SAR imaging from raw echo data, producing accurate imaging results

Dinitrogen (N2_{2}) pulse emissions during freeze-thaw cycles from montane grassland soil

Short-lived pulses of soil nitrous oxide (N$_{2}$O) emissions during freeze-thaw periods can dominate annual cumulative N$_{2}$O fluxes from temperate managed and natural soils. However, the effects of freeze thaw cycles (FTCs) on dinitrogen (N$_{2}$) emissions, i.e., the dominant terminal product of the denitrification process, and ratios of N$_{2}$/N$_{2}$O emissions have remained largely unknown because methodological difficulties were so far hampering detailed studies. Here, we quantified both N$_{2}$ and N$_{2}$O emissions of montane grassland soils exposed to three subsequent FTCs under two different soil moisture levels (40 and 80% WFPS) and under manure addition at 80% WFPS. In addition, we also quantified abundance and expression of functional genes involved in nitrification and denitrification to better understand microbial drivers of gaseous N losses. Our study shows that each freeze thaw cycle was associated with pulse emissions of both N$_{2}$O andN$_{2}$, with soil N$_{2}$ emissions exceeding N$_{2}$O emissions by a factor of 5–30. Increasing soil moisture from 40 to 80% WFPS and addition of cow slurry increased the cumulative FTC N$_{2}$ emissions by 102% and 77%, respectively. For N$_{2}$O, increasing soil moisture from 40 to 80% WFPS and addition of slurry increased the cumulative emissions by 147%and 42%, respectively. Denitrification gene cnorB and nosZ clade I transcript levels showed high explanatory power for N$_{2}$O and N$_{2}$ emissions, thereby reflecting both N gas flux dynamics due to FTC and effects of different water availability and fertilizer addition. In agreement with several other studies for various ecosystems, we show here for mountainous grassland soils that pulse emissions of N$_{2}$O were observed during freeze-thaw.More importantly, this study shows that the freeze-thaw N$_{2}$ pulse emissions strongly exceeded those of N$_{2}$O in magnitude, which indicates that N$_{2}$ emissions during FTCs could represent an important N loss pathway within the grassland N mass balances. However, their actual significance needs to be assessed under field conditions using intact plant-soil systems

A Comparative Study of Patients’ Attitudes Toward Clinical Research in the United States and Urban and Rural China

As the number of clinical trials conducted in China increases, understanding Chinese attitudes toward clinical research is critical for designing effective and ethical studies. Two survey studies were conducted in 2012 and 2013 to compare patient attitudes toward clinical research and factors affecting research participation in the United States and urban and rural China. We surveyed 525 patients in 2012 (186 US, 186 urban, 153 rural China) and 690 patients in 2013 (412 US, 206 urban, 72 rural China). US patients were more likely to have no concerns regarding research participation than Chinese patients. Most common concerns of US patients were safety, privacy and confidentiality, and time required. Safety was a top concern for many Chinese. Chinese patients, particularly rural Chinese, were more concerned about the likelihood of self‐benefit, and receiving free medical care and financial incentive had greater influence on their participation. Being informed of the freedom to choose whether to participate or to leave a study was less important to Chinese patients. Our study provides important insights into Chinese patients' attitudes toward clinical research and the need to educate them about their rights. These findings help in designing cross‐cultural clinical studies that maximize enrollment while upholding Western ethical standards.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111170/1/cts12254.pd

Comprehensive characterization of endoplasmic reticulum stress in bladder cancer revealing the association with tumor immune microenvironment and prognosis

Background: This study constructs a molecular subtype and prognostic model of bladder cancer (BLCA) through endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) related genes, thus helping to clinically guide accurate treatment and prognostic assessment.Methods: The Bladder Cancer (BLCA) gene expression data was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We clustered by ERS-related genes which obtained through GeneCards database, results in the establishment of a new molecular typing of bladder cancer. Further, we explored the characteristics of each typology in terms of immune microenvironment, mutations, and drug screening. By analyzing the ERS-related genes with univariate Cox, LASSO and multivariate Cox analyses, we also developed the four-gene signature, while validating the prognostic effect of the model in GSE32894 and GSE13507 cohorts. Finally, we evaluated the prognostic value of the clinical data in the high and low ERS score groups and constructed a prognostic score line graph by Nomogram.Results: We constructed four molecular subtypes (C1- C4) of bladder cancer, in which patients with C2 had a poor prognosis and those with C3 had a better prognosis. The C2 had a high degree of TP53 mutation, significant immune cell infiltration and high immune score. In contrast, C3 had a high degree of FGFR3 mutation, insignificant immune cell infiltration, and reduced immune checkpoint expression. After that, we built ERS-related risk signature to calculate ERS score, including ATP2A3, STIM2, VWF and P4HB. In the GSE32894 and GSE13507, the signature also had good predictive value for prognosis. In addition, ERS scores were shown to correlate well with various clinical features. Finally, we correlated the ERS clusters and ERS score. Patients with high ERS score were more likely to have the C2 phenotype, while patients with low ERS score were C3.Conclusion: In summary, we identified four novel molecular subtypes of BLCA by ERS-related genes which could provide some new insights into precision medicine. Prognostic models constructed from ERS-related genes can be used to predict clinical outcomes. Our study contributes to the study of personalized treatment and mechanisms of BLCA

A miR-155–Peli1–c-Rel pathway controls the generation and function of T follicular helper cells

MicroRNA (miRNA) deficiency impairs the generation of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, but the contribution of individual miRNAs to this phenotype remains poorly understood. In this study, we performed deep sequencing analysis of miRNAs expressed in Tfh cells and identified a five-miRNA signature. Analyses of mutant mice deficient of these miRNAs revealed that miR-22 and miR-183/96/182 are dispensable, but miR-155 is essential for the generation and function of Tfh cells. miR-155 deficiency led to decreased proliferation specifically at the late stage of Tfh cell differentiation and reduced CD40 ligand (CD40L) expression on antigen-specific CD4+T cells. Mechanistically, miR-155 repressed the expression of Peli1, a ubiquitin ligase that promotes the degradation of the NF-κB family transcription factor c-Rel, which controls cellular proliferation and CD40L expression. Therefore, our study identifies a novel miR-155-Peli1-c-Rel pathway that specifically regulates Tfh cell generation and functionC. Xiao is a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences. This study is supported by the PEW Charitable Trusts, Cancer Research Institute, Lupus Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (grants R01AI087634, R01AI089854, R56AI110403, and R56AI121155 to C. Xiao and grants R01AI103646 and R01AI108651 to L.-F. Lu), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 31570882 to W.-H. Liu, grant 31570883 to N. Xiao, and grant 31570911 to G. Fu), 1000 Young Talents Program of China (grant K08008 to N. Xiao), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of the People’s Republic of China (grant 20720150065 to N. Xiao and G. Fu), the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, Information and Communications Technology, and Future Planning (grant NRF-2015R1C1A1A01052387 to S.G. Kang), and a 2016 research grant from Kangwon National University (to S.G. Kang

Pseudotargeted metabolomics revealed the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude

Strong ultraviolet radiation and low temperature environment on Gangshika Mountain, located in the eastern part of the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai Province, can force plants to produce some special secondary metabolites for resisting severe environmental stress. However, the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude are still unclear. In the current study, Draba oreades Schrenk from the Gangshika Mountain at altitudes of 3800 m, 4000 m and 4200 m were collected for comprehensive metabolic evaluation using pseudotargeted metabolomics method. Through KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, we found that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis and phenylalanine metabolism related to the biosynthesis of flavonoids were up-regulated in the high-altitude group, which may enhance the environmental adaptability to strong ultraviolet intensity and low temperature stress in high altitude areas. By TopFc20 distribution diagram, the content of flavonoids gradually increased with the elevation of altitude, mainly including apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, hesperidin, kaempferol and their derivatives. Based on the random forest model, 10 important metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers. L-phenylalanine, L-histidine, naringenin-7-O-Rutinoside-4’-O-glucoside and apigenin related to the flavonoids biosynthesis and plant disease resistance were increased with the elevation of altitude. This study provided important insights for the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude by pseudotargeted metabolomics

Ultrahigh-Frequency Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors with Giant Mass-Loading Effects on Electrodes

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are widely used for physical, chemical, and biological sensing applications, and their sensing mechanisms are generally based on frequency changes due to mass-loading effects at the acoustic wave propagation area between two interdigitated transducers (IDTs). In this paper, a new sensing mechanism has been proposed based on a significantly enhanced mass-loading effect generated directly on Au IDT electrodes, which enables significantly enhanced sensitivity, compared with that of conventional SAW devices. The fabricated ultrahigh-frequency SAW devices show a significant mass-loading effect on the electrodes. When the Au-electrode thickness increased from 12 to 25 nm, the Rayleigh mode resonant frequency decreased from 7.77 to 5.93 GHz, while that of the higher longitudinal leaky SAW decreased from 11.87 to 9.83 GHz. The corresponding mass sensitivity of 7309 MHz·mm2·μg–1 (Rayleigh mode) is ∼8.9 × 1011 times larger than that of a conventional quartz crystal balance (with a frequency of 5 MHz) and ∼1000 times higher than that of conventional SAW devices (with a frequency of 978 MHz). Trinitrotoluene concentration as low as 4.4 × 10–9 M (mol·L–1) can be detected using the fabricated SAW sensor, proving its giant mass-loading effect and ultrahigh sensitivity