Construction cost prediction system based on Random Forest optimized by the Bird Swarm Algorithm

Predicting construction costs often involves disadvantages, such as low prediction accuracy, poor promotion value and unfavorable efficiency, owing to the complex composition of construction projects, a large number of personnel, long working periods and high levels of uncertainty. To address these concerns, a prediction index system and a prediction model were developed. First, the factors influencing construction cost were first identified, a prediction index system including 14 secondary indexes was constructed and the methods of obtaining data were presented elaborately. A prediction model based on the Random Forest (RF) algorithm was then constructed. Bird Swarm Algorithm (BSA) was used to optimize RF parameters and thereby avoid the effect of the random selection of RF parameters on prediction accuracy. Finally, the engineering data of a construction company in Xinyu, China were selected as a case study. The case study showed that the maximum relative error of the proposed model was only 1.24%, which met the requirements of engineering practice. For the selected cases, the minimum prediction index system that met the requirement of prediction accuracy included 11 secondary indexes. Compared with classical metaheuristic optimization algorithms (Particle Swarm Optimization, Genetic Algorithms, Tabu Search, Simulated Annealing, Ant Colony Optimization, Differential Evolution and Artificial Fish School), BSA could more quickly determine the optimal combination of calculation parameters, on average. Compared with the classical and latest forecasting methods (Back Propagation Neural Network, Support Vector Machines, Stacked Auto-Encoders and Extreme Learning Machine), the proposed model exhibited higher forecasting accuracy and efficiency. The prediction model proposed in this study could better support the prediction of construction cost, and the prediction results provided a basis for optimizing the cost management of construction projects

Ex Situ Reconstruction-Shaped Ir/CoO/Perovskite Heterojunction for Boosted Water Oxidation Reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the performance-limiting step in the process of water splitting. In situ electrochemical conditioning could induce surface reconstruction of various OER electrocatalysts, forming reactive sites dynamically but at the expense of fast cation leaching. Therefore, achieving simultaneous improvement in catalytic activity and stability remains a significant challenge. Herein, we used a scalable cation deficiency-driven exsolution approach to ex situ reconstruct a homogeneous-doped cobaltate precursor into an Ir/CoO/perovskite heterojunction (SCI-350), which served as an active and stable OER electrode. The SCI-350 catalyst exhibited a low overpotential of 240 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in 1 M KOH and superior durability in practical electrolysis for over 150 h. The outstanding activity is preliminarily attributed to the exponentially enlarged electrochemical surface area for charge accumulation, increasing from 3.3 to 175.5 mF cm-2. Moreover, density functional theory calculations combined with advanced spectroscopy and 18O isotope-labeling experiments evidenced the tripled oxygen exchange kinetics, strengthened metal-oxygen hybridization, and engaged lattice oxygen oxidation for O-O coupling on SCI-350. This work presents a promising and feasible strategy for constructing highly active oxide OER electrocatalysts without sacrificing durability

Combining Asian and European genome-wide association studies of colorectal cancer improves risk prediction across racial and ethnic populations

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) have great potential to guide precision colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention by identifying those at higher risk to undertake targeted screening. However, current PRS using European ancestry data have sub-optimal performance in non-European ancestry populations, limiting their utility among these populations. Towards addressing this deficiency, we expand PRS development for CRC by incorporating Asian ancestry data (21,731 cases; 47,444 controls) into European ancestry training datasets (78,473 cases; 107,143 controls). The AUC estimates (95% CI) of PRS are 0.63(0.62-0.64), 0.59(0.57-0.61), 0.62(0.60-0.63), and 0.65(0.63-0.66) in independent datasets including 1681-3651 cases and 8696-115,105 controls of Asian, Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White, respectively. They are significantly better than the European-centric PRS in all four major US racial and ethnic groups (p-values < 0.05). Further inclusion of non-European ancestry populations, especially Black/African American and Latinx/Hispanic, is needed to improve the risk prediction and enhance equity in applying PRS in clinical practice

Deciphering colorectal cancer genetics through multi-omic analysis of 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of European and east Asian ancestries

In the version of this article initially published, the author affiliations incorrectly listed “Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo (TO), Italy” as “Candiolo Cancer Institute, Candiolo, Italy.” The change has been made to the HTML and PDF versions of the article

Fine-mapping analysis including over 254,000 East Asian and European descendants identifies 136 putative colorectal cancer susceptibility genes

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 common genetic variants independently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known CRC risk loci using GWAS data from 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of East Asian and European ancestry. Our stepwise conditional analyses revealed 238 independent association signals of CRC risk, each with a set of credible causal variants (CCVs), of which 28 signals had a single CCV. Our cis-eQTL/mQTL and colocalization analyses using colorectal tissue-specific transcriptome and methylome data separately from 1299 and 321 individuals, along with functional genomic investigation, uncovered 136 putative CRC susceptibility genes, including 56 genes not previously reported. Analyses of single-cell RNA-seq data from colorectal tissues revealed 17 putative CRC susceptibility genes with distinct expression patterns in specific cell types. Analyses of whole exome sequencing data provided additional support for several target genes identified in this study as CRC susceptibility genes. Enrichment analyses of the 136 genes uncover pathways not previously linked to CRC risk. Our study substantially expanded association signals for CRC and provided additional insight into the biological mechanisms underlying CRC development

C2-Continuous Orientation Planning for Robot End-Effector with B-Spline Curve Based on Logarithmic Quaternion

Smooth orientation planning is beneficial for the working performance and service life of industrial robots, keeping robots from violent impacts and shocks caused by discontinuous orientation planning. Nevertheless, the popular used quaternion interpolations can hardly guarantee C2 continuity for multiorientation interpolation. Aiming at the problem, an efficient quaternion interpolation methodology based on logarithmic quaternion was proposed. Quaternions of more than two key orientations were expressed in the exponential forms of quaternion. These four-dimensional quaternions in space S3, when logarithms were taken for them, could be converted to three-dimensional points in space R3 so that B-spline interpolation could be applied freely to interpolate. The core formulas that B-spline interpolated points were mapped to quaternion were founded since B-spline interpolated point vectors were decomposed to the product of unitized forms and exponents were taken for them. The proposed methodology made B-spline curve applicable to quaternion interpolation through dimension reduction and the high-order continuity of the B-spline curve remained when B-spline interpolated points were mapped to quaternions. The function for reversely finding control points of B-spline curve with zero curvature at endpoints was derived, which helped interpolation curve become smoother and sleeker. The validity and rationality of the principle were verified by the study case. For comparison, the study case was also analyzed by the popular quaternion interpolations, Spherical Linear Interpolation (SLERP) and Spherical and Quadrangle (SQUAD). The comparison results demonstrated the proposed methodology had higher smoothness than SLERP and SQUAD and thus would provide better protection for robot end-effector from violent impacts led by unreasonable multiorientation interpolation. It should be noted that the proposed methodology can be extended to multiorientation quaternion interpolation with higher continuity than the second order

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization of Two Triticum aestivum L.—Dasypyrum villosum Translocations Lines in the Same Wheat Genetic Background

A wheat 660K chip was used to genotype two wheat-Dasypyrum villosum 6V#4S.6DL and 6V#2S.6AL translocation lines (A303 and B303) and their common wheat recurrent parent Wan7107. The results showed that these three lines have similar characteristics of base composition except for the translocation chromosomes. The alien translocation chromosomes have fewer homozygous and more heterozygous genotypes with more invalid probes. Distributions of SNPs between the translocation lines and Wan7107 were mainly dense on the regions of 6AS or 6DS as expected, but unexpectedly also on near the telomere of 2BS, and some regions of other wheat chromosomes. Meanwhile, the translocation lines A303 and B303 have 99.44% and 98.81% identical genotypes to Wan7107, respectively. Under the same genetic background, A303 and B303 showed different reactions to Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) strains of powdery mildew. Both translocation lines have higher grain weight and plant height, and B303 has fewer spikelets compared to Wan7107. These results provide us a new insight into the genomic variation between the backcross generation plant and the recurrent parent, which is valuable information for understanding the relationship between wheat and the 6VS chromosome of D. villosum as well as the application potential of the alien chromosome arms