Analogical creative thinking and its application to engineering design and enterprise

Analogical thinking is valuable to creative design as it assists generation of new knowledge by mapping analogically from source domain to target domain. This study endeavours to enhance the value of analogical thinking in creative design by the development of Analogical Creative Process (ACP), and evaluation of its application in projects of engineering design and enterprise design. ACP is a systematic step-by-step tool to enable analogical thinking in design, and is derived from the fundamental cognitive process of key theories for analogy establishment. It analyses the given design problem as a complex of sub-systems and identifies their functions, before analogically mapping over the relations among the sub-systems between different domains. With these features, ACP is capable of providing tangible guidance on analogical thinking for designers without requirement of their existing experience in use of analogy. The effectiveness of ACP in creative ideation is examined with positive outcome observed in a real-life engineering design project compared to non-analogical approaches. The interrelations between creativity, analogy and design are identified featuring ACP and analogical thinking through a prescriptive study. As a result, a novel analogy-empowered creative design process is proposed and applied in an enterprise design project as a new field of application for analogical thinking in design. Initial evaluation supports the application success of the creative design process and analogical thinking is proven valuable in assisting enterprise design practices. The outcomes of this study include development of ACP based on the cognitive model of analogy, establishment of a new connection between creativity, analogy and design by the analogy-embedded creative design process, and a new design application of analogical thinking in enterprise. The identification of the value of analogical thinking in the context of enterprise design provides the researchers and entrepreneurs with a new tool to enhance enterprise design and business progress.Open Acces

Protective effect of EGb761 against Aβ1-42 -induced SHSY5Y cells injury and blood-brain barrier disruption via regulating Akt/Nrf2 signaling pathway

Purpose: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common disease in the world caused by deposition in the brain parenchyma, accumulation of beta amyloid which leads to the blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption. Regardless of enough progress in the treatment of AD, the principal mechanism of BBB injury is yet not clear.Methods: In this study we examined the impact of EGb761on Aβ 1-42-induced SH-SY5Y cells in vitro  model of AD. Cell viability was assessed by using MTT assay, flow cytometry was used to check the rate of cell apoptosis, ROS generation and BBB leakage was assessed by measuring the level of fluorescence in Aβ-induced SH-SY5Y cells using a reactive oxygen species kit assay and BBB permeability assay, and mRNA levels of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 was measured by using RT-qPCR.  Furthermore, western blot analysis was used to measure the protein expressions of Akt, Nrf2 and HO-1 in Aβ 1-42-induced SH-SY5Y cells.Results: The effect of EGb761 was investigated on the cell apoptosis induced by Aβ 1-42 andgeneration of ROS and we found that EGb761 plays a protective role against cell injury induced by Aβ 1-42. Cell apoptosis and ROS generation in SH-SY5Y cells decreased significantly with the treatment of EGb761. Furthermore, BBB permeability reduced considerably when the cells treated with EGb761 and the expression levels of Caspase-3 and Bax decreased while that of Bcl-2 were markedly increased in the Aβ 1-42-induced SH-SY5Y cells. Also, an increased in expression levels of p-Akt, Nrf2 (nucleus) and HO-1 was observed with the treatment of EGb761 in Aβ 1-42-induced SH-SY5Y cells.Conclusion: It can be concluded from these results that EGb761 could play a protective role byinhibiting apoptosis and protect Aβ 1-42-induced cell injury in vitro model of AD via activating Akt/Nrf2signaling pathway. Our study suggested that EGb761 might be a therapeutic agent for the preventionand treatment of AD

Producers and drivers of odor compounds in a large drinking-water source

IntroductionTaste and odor (T&O) problems have been affecting drinking water safety. As a eutrophicated drinking water reservoir in Tianjin city, the Yuqiao Reservoir was threatened by 2-MIB and geosmin in recent years.MethodsIn this study, quantile regression analysis and metagenome were used to quickly and accurately screen the producers and drivers of 2-MIB and geosmin in this reservoir.ResultsThe mean concentrations of 2-MIB and geosmin in the four-year were 103.58 ± 128.13 ng/L and 14.29 ± 27.95 ng/L, respectively. 2-MIB concentrations were higher in summer and autumn, with a bimodal variation throughout the year. Geosmin concentrations showed a decreasing trend from year to year from 2018 to 2021. Metagenome revealed that Pseudanabaena sp. dqh15, Microcoleus pseudautumnalis Ak1609, Pseudanabaena limnetica, and Planktothricoides raciborskii were the 2-MIB-producers, while Streptosporangium caverna and Dolichospermum circinale were the geosmin-producers. Multivariate quantile regression analysis indicated Pseudanabaena sp. and CODMn were the best predictors of 2-MIB concentrations, temperature and CODMn were the most useful parameters for describing geosmin concentration change. 2-MIB concentrations increased with the increase of Pseudanabaena sp. cell density and CODMn. Geosmin concentrations were higher at harsh temperatures and increased with higher CODMn. CODMn was significantly and positively correlated with the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites synthesis and terpenoid backone biosynthesis pathway. Both quantile regression and metagenome results showed that CODMn was an important driver of odor compounds.DiscussionMetagenome achieved higher resolution of taxonomic annotation than amplicons to identify odor-producers, which helps us to understand the main taxa of odor-producing microorganisms in Chinese water bodies and the genetic basis of odor compounds in microorganisms. Understanding the sources and drivers of odor compounds was useful for improving taste and odor problem management. This is the first time that the main odor-producing microorganisms in water bodies have been resolved by microbial metagenomic functional gene prediction

Federated Learning Hyper-Parameter Tuning from a System Perspective

Federated learning (FL) is a distributed model training paradigm that preserves clients' data privacy. It has gained tremendous attention from both academia and industry. FL hyper-parameters (e.g., the number of selected clients and the number of training passes) significantly affect the training overhead in terms of computation time, transmission time, computation load, and transmission load. However, the current practice of manually selecting FL hyper-parameters imposes a heavy burden on FL practitioners because applications have different training preferences. In this paper, we propose FedTune, an automatic FL hyper-parameter tuning algorithm tailored to applications' diverse system requirements in FL training. FedTune iteratively adjusts FL hyper-parameters during FL training and can be easily integrated into existing FL systems. Through extensive evaluations of FedTune for diverse applications and FL aggregation algorithms, we show that FedTune is lightweight and effective, achieving 8.48%-26.75% system overhead reduction compared to using fixed FL hyper-parameters. This paper assists FL practitioners in designing high-performance FL training solutions. The source code of FedTune is available at https://github.com/DataSysTech/FedTune.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2110.0306

Controversial role of ILC3s in intestinal diseases: A novelty perspective on immunotherapy

ILC3s have been identified as crucial immune regulators that play a role in maintaining host homeostasis and modulating the antitumor response. Emerging evidence supports the idea that LTi cells play an important role in initiating lymphoid tissue development, while other ILC3s can promote host defense and orchestrate adaptive immunity, mainly through the secretion of specific cytokines and crosstalk with other immune cells or tissues. Additionally, dysregulation of ILC3-mediated overexpression of cytokines, changes in subset abundance, and conversion toward other ILC subsets are closely linked with the occurrence of tumors and inflammatory diseases. Regulation of ILC3 cytokines, ILC conversion and LTi-induced TLSs may be a novel strategy for treating tumors and intestinal or extraintestinal inflammatory diseases. Herein, we discuss the development of ILCs, the biology of ILC3s, ILC plasticity, the correlation of ILC3s and adaptive immunity, crosstalk with the intestinal microenvironment, controversial roles of ILC3s in intestinal diseases and potential applications for treatment

Association of antenatal vitamin B complex supplementation with neonatal vitamin B12 status: evidence from a cluster randomized controlled trial

Purpose Evidence about the effect of maternal vitamin B12 supplementation on offspring’s vitamin B12 status is limited. The present interventional study sought to evaluate the association of antenatal vitamin B complex supplementation with neonatal vitamin B12 status. Methods In an ongoing cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in three rural counties in northwest China, pregnant women < 20 weeks of gestation were randomized to three treatment groups: blank control, iron supplements, or vitamin B complex supplements. All women were administered folic acid supplements during the periconceptional period. In a sub-study, we collected cord blood samples of 331 participants from the control or vitamin B complex groups in the Xunyi county from January 2017 to December 2017. Plasma concentrations of folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine were measured. Linear mixed models with a random intercept for cluster were used to compare biochemical indexes between groups after controlling for covariates. Results Compared with newborns whose mothers were in the control group, newborns of the vitamin B complex-supplemented women had significantly higher cord plasma vitamin B12 (P = 0.001) and lower homocysteine concentrations (P = 0.043). The association of antenatal vitamin B complex supplementation with cord blood vitamin B12 concentrations appeared to be more pronounced among newborns with high folate status than those with low folate status (Pinteraction = 0.060). Conclusions Maternal vitamin B complex supplementation during pregnancy was associated with better neonatal vitamin B12 status in rural northwest China

Maternal adherence to micronutrient supplementation before and during pregnancy in Northwest China: a large-scale population-based cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES To report the situation of maternal micronutrient supplementation before and during pregnancy in Northwest China and to examine the rates of and factors related to the adherence to micronutrient supplementation among pregnant women in this region, where dietary micronutrient intake is commonly insufficient. DESIGN A large-scale population-based cross-sectional survey. SETTING Twenty counties and ten districts of Shaanxi Province. PARTICIPANTS A sample of 30 027 women were selected using a stratified multistage random sampling method. A total of 28 678 women were chosen for the final analysis after excluding those who did not provide clear information about nutritional supplementation before and during pregnancy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Maternal adherence to micronutrient supplementation (high and low) were the outcomes. They were determined by the start time and duration of use according to Chinese guidelines (for folic acid (FA) supplements) and WHO recommendations (for iron, calcium and multiple-micronutrient (MMN) supplements). RESULTS In total, 83.9% of women took at least one kind of micronutrient supplement before or during pregnancy. FA (67.6%) and calcium (57.5%) were the primarily used micronutrient supplements; few participants used MMN (14.0%) or iron (5.4%). Adherence to supplementation of all micronutrients was low (7.4% for FA, 0.6% for iron, 11.7% for calcium and 2.7% for MMN). Higher educational levels, higher income levels, urban residence and better antenatal care (including pregnancy consultation and a higher frequency of antenatal visits) were associated with high adherence to micronutrient supplementation. CONCLUSION Maternal micronutrient supplementation before and during pregnancy in Northwest China was way below standards recommended by the Chinese guidelines or WHO. Targeted health education and future nutritional guidelines are suggested to improve this situation, especially in pregnant women with disadvantaged sociodemographic conditions

Associations of B Vitamin-Related Dietary Pattern during Pregnancy with Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based Study in Northwest China

This study aimed to derive a maternal dietary pattern to explain the variation in B vitamins during pregnancy and to investigate this pattern in relation to birth outcomes. A total of 7347 women who gave birth to live newborns less than one year were included. Their dietary pattern during pregnancy was derived using the reduced-rank regression method with six B vitamins as response variables. Associations between dietary pattern score and birth weight, gestational age at delivery, birth weight Z score, low birth weight, preterm, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) were estimated using generalised linear mixed models. We identified a high B-vitamin dietary pattern characterised by high intakes of animal foods, vegetables, fungi and algae, legumes, and low intakes of oils and cereals. Women in the highest quartile of this pattern score had newborns with a 44.5 g (95% CI: 13.8, 75.2 g) higher birth weight, 0.101 (95% CI: 0.029, 0.172) higher birth weight Z score, and 27.2% (OR: 0.728; 95% CI: 0.582, 0.910) lower risk of SGA than those in the lowest quartile. Our study suggested that adherence to the high B-vitamin dietary pattern during pregnancy was associated with a higher birth weight and a lower risk of SGA