Porcellio scaber algorithm (PSA) for solving constrained optimization problems

In this paper, we extend a bio-inspired algorithm called the porcellio scaber algorithm (PSA) to solve constrained optimization problems, including a constrained mixed discrete-continuous nonlinear optimization problem. Our extensive experiment results based on benchmark optimization problems show that the PSA has a better performance than many existing methods or algorithms. The results indicate that the PSA is a promising algorithm for constrained optimization.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Chemical ordering suppresses large-scale electronic phase separation in doped manganites

For strongly correlated oxides, it has been a long-standing issue regarding the role of the chemical ordering of the dopants on the physical properties. Here, using unit cell by unit cell superlattice growth technique, we determine the role of chemical ordering of the Pr dopant in a colossal magnetoresistant (La1-yPry)1-xCaxMnO3 (LPCMO) system, which has been well known for its large length-scale electronic phase separation phenomena. Our experimental results show that the chemical ordering of Pr leads to marked reduction of the length scale of electronic phase separations. Moreover, compared with the conventional Pr-disordered LPCMO system, the Pr-ordered LPCMO system has a metal–insulator transition that is ~100 K higher because the ferromagnetic metallic phase is more dominant at all temperatures below the Curie temperature

Effects of straw and plastic film mulching on microbial functional genes involved in soil nitrogen cycling

IntroductionMicroorganisms regulate soil nitrogen (N) cycling in cropping systems. However, how soil microbial functional genes involved in soil N cycling respond to mulching practices is not well known.MethodsWe collected soil samples from a spring maize field mulched with crop straw (SM) and plastic film (FM) for 10-year and with no mulching (CK) in the Loess Plateau. Microbial functional genes involved in soil N cycling were quantified using metagenomic sequencing. We collected soil samples from a spring maize field mulched with crop straw (SM) and plastic film (FM) for 10-year and with no mulching (CK) in the Loess Plateau. Microbial functional genes involved in soil N cycling were quantified using metagenomic sequencing.ResultsCompared to that in CK, the total abundance of genes involved in soil N cycling increased in SM but had no significant changes in FM. Specifically, SM increased the abundances of functional genes that involved in dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (nirB, napA, and nrfA), while FM decreased the abundances of functional genes that involved in ammonification (ureC and ureA) in comparison with CK. Other genes involved in assimilatory nitrate reduction, denitrification, and ammonia assimilation, however, were not significantly changed with mulching practices. The nirB and napA were derived from Proteobacteria (mainly Sorangium), and the ureC was derived from Actinobacteria (mainly Streptomyces). Mental test showed that the abundance of functional genes that involved in dissimilatory nitrate reduction was positively correlated with the contents of soil microbial biomass N, potential N mineralization, particulate organic N, and C fractions, while ammonification related gene abundance was positively correlated with soil pH, microbial biomass C and N, and mineral N contents.DiscussionOverall, this study showed that SM could improve soil N availability and promote the soil N cycling by increasing the abundance of functional genes that involved in DNRA, while FM reduced the abundance of functional genes that involved in ammonification and inhibited soil N cycling

Electronically phase separated nano-network in antiferromagnetic insulating LaMnO3/PrMnO3/CaMnO3 tricolor superlattice

Strongly correlated materials often exhibit an electronic phase separation (EPS) phenomena whose domain pattern is random in nature. The ability to control the spatial arrangement of the electronic phases at microscopic scales is highly desirable for tailoring their macroscopic properties and/or designing novel electronic devices. Here we report the formation of EPS nanoscale network in a mono-atomically stacked LaMnO3/CaMnO3/PrMnO3 superlattice grown on SrTiO3 (STO) (001) substrate, which is known to have an antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulating ground state. The EPS nano-network is a consequence of an internal strain relaxation triggered by the structural domain formation of the underlying STO substrate at low temperatures. The same nanoscale network pattern can be reproduced upon temperature cycling allowing us to employ different local imaging techniques to directly compare the magnetic and transport state of a single EPS domain. Our results confirm the one-to-one correspondence between ferromagnetic (AFM) to metallic (insulating) state in manganite. It also represents a significant step in a paradigm shift from passively characterizing EPS in strongly correlated systems to actively engaging in its manipulation

Case report: Compound heterozygous mutations in the KDSR gene cause progressive keratodermia and thrombocytopenia

KDSR (3-ketodihydrosphingosine reductase) is a short-chain dehydrogenase located in the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutations in KDSR cause defects in ceramides, which play a key role in the biological processes of the skin and other tissues. Herein, we report a case of compound heterozygous mutations in KDSR that caused progressive keratodermia and thrombocytopenia in a 2-year-old male patient

Measuring web service security in the era of Internet of Things

Technologies such as Internet of Things allow small devices to offer web-based services in an open and dynamic networking environments on a massive scale. End users or service consumers face a hard decision over which service to choose among the available ones, as security holds a key in the decision making process. In this paper a base linguistic evaluation set is designed, based on which all the other fuzzy term sets that used for describing security attributes are uniformed and integrated for calculating an overall security value of the services. This work, to the best of our knowledge, is the first practical solution to offer direct comparisons and rankings of network services based on multiple security attributes such as confidentiality, availability, privacy and accountability. We analysed four major cloud service platforms to illustrate the proposed approach

A Common Genetic Variant (97906C>A) of DAB2IP/AIP1 Is Associated with an Increased Risk and Early Onset of Lung Cancer in Chinese Males

DOC-2/DAB2 interactive protein (DAB2IP) is a novel identified tumor suppressor gene that inhibits cell growth and facilitates cell apoptosis. One genetic variant in DAB2IP gene was reported to be associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer recently. Since DAB2IP involves in the development of lung cancer and low expression of DAB2IP are observed in lung cancer, we hypothesized that the variations in DAB2IP gene can increase the genetic susceptibility to lung cancer. In a case-control study of 1056 lung cancer cases and 1056 sex and age frequency-matched cancer-free controls, we investigated the association between two common polymorphisms in DAB2IP gene (−1420T>G, rs7042542; 97906C>A, rs1571801) and the risk of lung cancer. We found that compared with the 97906CC genotypes, carriers of variant genotypes (97906AC+AA) had a significant increased risk of lung cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.33, 95%CI = 1.04–1.70, P = 0.023) and the number of variant (risk) allele worked in a dose-response manner (Ptrend = 0.0158). Further stratification analysis showed that the risk association was more pronounced in subjects aged less than 60 years old, males, non-smokers, non-drinkers, overweight groups and in those with family cancer history in first or second-degree relatives, and the 97906A interacted with overweight on lung cancer risk. We further found the number of risk alleles (97906A allele) were negatively correlated with early diagnosis age of lung cancer in male patients (P = 0.003). However, no significant association was observed on the −1420T>G polymorphism. Our data suggested that the 97906A variant genotypes are associated with the increased risk and early onset of lung cancer, particularly in males