Three-way Imbalanced Learning based on Fuzzy Twin SVM

Three-way decision (3WD) is a powerful tool for granular computing to deal with uncertain data, commonly used in information systems, decision-making, and medical care. Three-way decision gets much research in traditional rough set models. However, three-way decision is rarely combined with the currently popular field of machine learning to expand its research. In this paper, three-way decision is connected with SVM, a standard binary classification model in machine learning, for solving imbalanced classification problems that SVM needs to improve. A new three-way fuzzy membership function and a new fuzzy twin support vector machine with three-way membership (TWFTSVM) are proposed. The new three-way fuzzy membership function is defined to increase the certainty of uncertain data in both input space and feature space, which assigns higher fuzzy membership to minority samples compared with majority samples. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model, comparative experiments are designed for forty-seven different datasets with varying imbalance ratios. In addition, datasets with different imbalance ratios are derived from the same dataset to further assess the proposed model's performance. The results show that the proposed model significantly outperforms other traditional SVM-based methods

Generation of PCV2 in PK15 cells transfected with recombinant baculovirus containing a 1.1 copy of the PCV2 genome

Porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD) caused by PCV2 are responsible for severe economic losses in the swine industry. The mechanism of PCV2 replication has not been fully elucidated yet. PCV2 may be successfully rescued by means of either an infectious DNA clone containing the full length of the viral genomic DNA, or from PCV2-infected clinical tissues in PK15 cell culture. However, viruses harvested by both methods have low titres. In this study, PCV2 was prepared with a higher titre from PK15 cells infected by recombinant baculoviruses containing 1PCV2 (one stem-loop structure) or 1.1PCV2 (two stem-loop structure) genomic DNA copy. In addition, infectious DNA clones containing two stem-loop structures in either plasmid or baculovirus backbones are capable of generating a higher virus titre than the DNA clones with only one copy of stem-loop structure

Self-passivated freestanding superconducting oxide film for flexible electronics

The integration of high-temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO) into flexible electronic devices has the potential to revolutionize the technology industry. The effective preparation of high-quality flexible YBCO films therefore plays a key role in this development. We present a novel approach for transferring water-sensitive YBCO films onto flexible substrates without any buffer layer. Freestanding YBCO film on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate is extracted by etching the Sr3Al2O6 sacrificial layer from the LaAlO3 substrate. In addition to the obtained freestanding YBCO thin film having a Tc of 89.1 K, the freestanding YBCO thin films under inward and outward bending conditions have Tc of 89.6 K and 88.9 K, respectively. A comprehensive characterization involving multiple experimental techniques including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy is conducted to investigate the morphology, structural and electronic properties of the YBCO film before and after the extraction process where it shows the preservation of the structural and superconductive properties of the freestanding YBCO virtually in its pristine state. Further investigation reveals the formation of a YBCO passivated layer serves as a protective layer which effectively preserves the inner section of the freestanding YBCO during the etching process. This work plays a key role in actualizing the fabrication of flexible oxide thin films and opens up new possibilities for a diverse range of device applications involving thin-films and low-dimensional materials.Comment: 22 pages,4 figures,references adde

ErbB2 Signaling Increases Androgen Receptor Expression in Abiraterone-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Purpose: ErbB2 signaling appears to be increased and may enhance AR activity in a subset of CRPC, but agents targeting ErbB2 have not been effective. This study was undertaken to assess ErbB2 activity in abiraterone-resistant prostate cancer (PCa), and determine whether it may contribute to androgen receptor (AR) signaling in these tumors. Experimental Design: AR activity and ErbB2 signaling were examined in the radical prostatectomy specimens from a neoadjuvant clinical trial of leuprolide plus abiraterone, and in the specimens from abiraterone-resistant CRPC xenograft models. The effect of ErbB2 signaling on AR activity was determined in two CRPC cell lines. Moreover, the effect of combination treatment with abiraterone and an ErbB2 inhibitor was assessed in a CRPC xenograft model. Results: We found that ErbB2 signaling was elevated in residual tumor following abiraterone treatment in a subset of patients, and was associated with higher nuclear AR expression. In xenograft models, we similarly demonstrated that ErbB2 signaling was increased and associated with AR reactivation in abiraterone-resistant tumors, while ERBB2 message level was not changed. Mechanistically, we show that ErbB2 signaling and subsequent activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling stabilizes AR protein. Inhibitors targeting ErbB2/PI3K/AKT pathway disrupt AR transcriptional activity. Furthermore, concomitantly treating CRPC xenograft with abiraterone and an ErbB2 inhibitor, lapatinib, blocked AR reactivation and suppressed tumor progression. Conclusions: ErbB2 signaling is elevated in a subset of abiraterone-resistant prostate cancer patients and stabilizes AR protein. Combination therapy with abiraterone and ErbB2 antagonists may be effective for treating the subset of CRPC with elevated ErbB2 activity

Association analyses of East Asian individuals and trans-ancestry analyses with European individuals reveal new loci associated with cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >175 loci associated with fasting cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). With differences in linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and allele frequencies between ancestry groups, studies in additional large samples may detect new associations. We conducted staged GWAS meta-analyses in up to 69,414 East Asian individuals from 24 studies with participants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. These meta-analyses identified (P < 5 × 10-8) three novel loci associated with HDL-C near CD163-APOBEC1 (P = 7.4 × 10-9), NCOA2 (P = 1.6 × 10-8), and NID2-PTGDR (P = 4.2 × 10-8), and one novel locus associated with TG near WDR11-FGFR2 (P = 2.7 × 10-10). Conditional analyses identified a second signal near CD163-APOBEC1. We then combined results from the East Asian meta-analysis with association results from up to 187,365 European individuals from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium in a trans-ancestry meta-analysis. This analysis identified (log10Bayes Factor ≥6.1) eight additional novel lipid loci. Among the twelve total loci identified, the index variants at eight loci have demonstrated at least nominal significance with other metabolic traits in prior studies, and two loci exhibited coincident eQTLs (P < 1 × 10-5) in subcutaneous adipose tissue for BPTF and PDGFC. Taken together, these analyses identified multiple novel lipid loci, providing new potential therapeutic targets

Exploring Spatiotemporal Variation of Carbon Storage Driven by Land Use Policy in the Yangtze River Delta Region

Land use/land cover (LULC) change driven by land use policy always leads to dramatic change in carbon storage and sequestration, especially in a rapidly urbanizing region. However, few studies explored the influences of land use polices on carbon storage and sequestration in a rapidly urbanizing region. Through Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, the spatial-temporal pattern of carbon storage altered by LULC transformation and its linkage with land use policies were analyzed in five periods (1990–1995, 1995–2000, 2000–2005, 2000–2010, 2010–2015) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region. The results indicated that: (1) the carbon storage in the YRD was substantially altered by continuous LULC transformation, totally decreased by 1.49 × 107 Mg during 1990–2015. (2) The total amount of carbon storage increased from 2.91 × 109 Mg in 1990 to 2.95 × 109 Mg in 1995, and then decreased to 2.90 × 109 Mg in 1995–2015. Thus, the total economic value of carbon storage increased approximately from 467.42 million dollars in 1990 to 472.99 million dollars in 1995, and then decreased to 465.01 million dollars in 2015. (3) The carbon storage and sequestration were influenced by LULC transformation driven by land use policies in five periods: large areas of grassland converted to woodland in 1990–1995 led by Forest Law, then clustered areas of cropland converted to built-up land in 1995–2015 around large cities of YRD Region led by Land Management Law and Development Plans, and finally, the conversion of cropland to built-up land was decreased and scattered in the entire region influenced by land use polices led by early stage of ecocivilization construction. The study can facilitate to develop regional land use policy for carbon storage conservation and carbon neutrality in a rapidly urbanizing region

Assessing Ecological Vulnerability under Climate Change and Anthropogenic Influence in the Yangtze River Estuarine Island-Chongming Island, China

Understanding and assessing ecological vulnerability for estuarine islands are important for maintaining estuarine island ecosystem services and its sustainable development. However, due to its complex fresh water–sea–land interaction mechanism and multiple stressors from both climate change and anthropogenic influence, a comprehensive evaluation of ecological vulnerability for estuarine islands has been limited. Therefore, taking the typical estuary island of Chongming Island as an example, we developed a comprehensive evaluation system of ecological vulnerability for an estuarine island ecosystem based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) conceptual model, and explored the spatial and temporal distribution of ecological vulnerability in 2005 and 2015. The results indicated that the main pressures of Chongming Island from saltwater intrusion intensity and land use intensity were mainly distributed in northern coastal areas and eastern areas of wetland; the ecological vulnerability index (EV) of Chongming Island showed a slight decrease from 2005 to 2015; and three categories of towns based on ecological vulnerability assessment for an eco-island planning and environmental management were identified. Our study provides an effective evaluation system of ecological vulnerability for estuarine islands, which could be helpful for planners and decision makers in improving eco-island planning and environmental management

Integrating Ecosystem Services Supply–Demand and Spatial Relationships for Intercity Cooperation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

Transboundary environmental problems caused by urban expansion and economic growth cannot be solved by individual cities. Successful intercity environmental cooperation relies on the clear identification and definition of the rights and obligations of each city. An Ecosystem services (ES) approach not only budgets the ES supply and demand of a city, but also defines the spatial relationships between Services Provisioning Areas (SPA) and Services Benefiting Areas (SBA). However, to date, quantitative studies integrating ES budgets and spatial relations have been scarce. This study integrates ecosystem services supply&ndash;demand budgeting with flow direction analysis to identify intercity environmental cooperation in the highly urbanized Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of China for water-related ecosystem services (flood protection, erosion regulation and water purification). The results demonstrated that there were significant spatial mismatches in the supply and demand of three water-related ES among 16 core cities in the YRD region: five to six cities in the southern part of the region had significant service surpluses, while ten to 11 cities in the north&ndash;central part had significant service deficits. We then went on to offer definitions for Ecosystem Services Surplus City, Ecosystem Services Deficit City and Ecosystem Services Balance City, as well as Service Provisioning City, Service Benefiting City and Service Connecting City in which to categorize cities in the YRD Region. Furthermore, we identified two intercity cooperation types and two non-cooperation types. This framework can be used to promote ecological integration in highly urbanized regions to advance sustainable development

Market for university education in Singapore

This project seeks to understand the future position of Singapore in the world market place as an education provider. Our group’s main emphasis is not on the objective part, but rather on the subjective part. We seek to find out more about what people look for in and want out of an educational system and the reasons for obtaining what they want either locally or abroad