Dynamic Behavior Analysis and Synchronization of Memristor-Coupled Heterogeneous Discrete Neural Networks

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Continuous memristors have been widely studied in recent years; however, there are few studies on discrete memristors in the field of neural networks. In this paper, a four-stable locally active discrete memristor (LADM) is proposed as a synapse, which is used to connect a two-dimensional Chialvo neuron and a three-dimensional KTZ neuron, and construct a simple heterogeneous discrete neural network (HDNN). Through a bifurcation diagram and Lyapunov exponents diagram, the period and chaotic regions of the discrete neural network model are shown. Through numerical analysis, it was found that the chaotic region and periodic region of the neural network based on DLAM are significantly improved. In addition, coexisting chaos and chaos attractors, coexisting periodic and chaotic attractors, and coexisting periodic and periodic attractors will appear when the initial value of the LADM is changed. Coupled by a LADM synapse, two heterogeneous discrete neurons are gradually synchronized by changing the coupling strength. This paper lays a good foundation for the future analysis of LADMs and the related research of discrete neural networks coupled by LADMs.Peer reviewe

A Context-Dependent Sentiment Analysis of Online Product Reviews based on Dependency Relationships

Consumers often view online consumer product review as a main channel for obtaining product quality information. Existing studies on product review sentiment analysis usually focus on identifying sentiments of individual reviews as a whole, which may not be effective and helpful for consumers when purchase decisions depend on specific features of products. This study proposes a new feature-level sentiment analysis approach for online product reviews. The proposed method uses an extended PageRank algorithm to extract product features and construct expandable context-dependent sentiment lexicons. Moreover, consumers’ sentiment inclinations toward product features expressed in each review can be derived based on term dependency relationships. The empirical evaluation using consumer reviews of two different products shows a higher level of effectiveness of the proposed method for sentiment analysis in comparison to two existing methods. This study provides new research and practical insights on the analysis of online consumer product reviews

C1q/TNF-related protein 3 (CTRP3) and 9 (CTRP9) concentrations are decreased in patients with heart failure and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Biochemical marker has revolutionized the approach to the diagnosis of heart failure. However, it remains difficult to assess stability of the patient. As such, novel means of stratifying disease severity are needed. C1q/TNF-Related Protein 3 (CTRP3) and C1q/TNF-Related Protein 9 (CTRP9) are novel adipokines that contribute to energy homeostasis with additional anti-inflammatory and anti-ischemic properties. The aim of our study is to evaluate concentrations of CTRP3 and CTRP9 in patients with HFrEF (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction) and whether associated with mortality. METHODS: Clinical data and plasma were obtained from 176 healthy controls and 168 patients with HFrEF. CTRP3 and CTRP9 levels were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Both CTRP3 and CTRP9 concentrations were significantly decreased in the HFrEF group compared to the control group (p \u3c 0.001). Moreover, patients with higher New York Heart Association class had significantly lower CTRP3 or CTRP9 concentrations. Correlation analysis revealed that CTRP3 and CTRP9 levels were positively related with LVEF% (CTRP3, r = 0.556, p \u3c 0.001; CTRP9, r = 0.526, p \u3c 0.001) and negatively related with NT-proBNP levels (CTRP3, r = - 0.454, p \u3c 0.001; CTRP9, r = - 0.483, p \u3c 0.001). After a follow up for 36 months, after adjusted for age, LVEF and NT-proBNP, we observed that CTRP3 or CTRP9 levels below the 25th percentile was a predictor of total mortality (CTRP3,HR:1.93,95%CI1.03~3.62,P = 0.042;CTRP9,HR:1.98,95%CI:1.02~3.85,P = 0.044) and hospitalizations (CTRP3,HR:2.34,95% CI:1.43~3.82,P = 0.001;CTRP9,HR:2.67,95%CI:1.58~4.50,P \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CTRP3 and CTRP9 are decreased in patients with HFrEF, proportionate to disease severity, and each is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01372800 . Registered May 2011

Plastic Responses in Growth, Morphology, and Biomass Allocation of Five Subtropical Tree Species to Different Degrees of Shading

We investigated how different degrees of shading affected growth, morphology, and biomass allocation in seedlings from two coniferous and three broadleaved species. The experiment was conducted in a shade house over a 1-year period. Our results showed that under increasing shade, seedlings from most species exhibited lower total biomass, net assimilation rates, relative growth rates, root mass ratios, and root/shoot ratios. In contrast, the slenderness quotients, leaf area ratios, and specific leaf areas increased with increasing shade. For coniferous species, growth traits were relatively more plastic (responsive to shade) than morphology or biomass allocation traits, whereas for broadleaved species, growth and biomass allocation were the most shade-sensitive traits. When comparing coniferous versus broadleaved species, the former had a higher growth plasticity index and lower allocation plasticity than the latter. Root biomass and stem mass ratio were the most and least plastic traits in response to shading. Our results indicate that shade differentially affects coniferous and broadleaved species in terms of their growth, morphology, and biomass allocation. These findings have important implications for the establishment and maintenance of mixed-species stands

Notch Signaling Mediates TNF-α-Induced IL-6 Production in Cultured Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes from Rheumatoid Arthritis

It has been reported that Notch family proteins are expressed in synovium tissue and involved in the proliferation of synoviocyte from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this paper was to investigate whether Notch signaling mediated TNF-α-induced cytokine production of cultured fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) from RA. Exposure of RA FLSs to TNF-α (10 ng/ml) led to increase of Hes-1, a target gene of Notch signaling, and a marked upregulation of Notch 2, Delta-like 1, and Delta-like 3 mRNA levels. Blockage of Notch signaling by a γ-secretase inhibitor (DAPT) inhibited IL-6 secretion of RA FLSs in response to TNF-α while treatment with recombinant fusion protein of Notch ligand Delta-like 1 promoted such response. TNF-α stimulation also induced IL-6 secretion in OA FLSs; however, the Hes-1 level remained unaffected. Our data confirm the functional involvement of Notch pathway in the pathophysiology of RA FLSs which may provide a new target for RA therapy

Meta-analysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma microarray data explores mechanism of EBV-regulated neoplastic transformation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) presumably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the molecular mechanism of EBV-dependent neoplastic transformation is not well understood. The combination of bioinformatics with evidences from biological experiments paved a new way to gain more insights into the molecular mechanism of cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We profiled gene expression using a meta-analysis approach. Two sets of meta-genes were obtained. Meta-A genes were identified by finding those commonly activated/deactivated upon EBV infection/reactivation. These genes could be key players for pathways de-regulated by EBV during latent infection and lytic proliferation. Meta-B genes were obtained from differential genes commonly expressed in NPC and PEL (primary effusion lymphoma). We then integrated meta-A, meta-B and associated factors into an interaction network using acquired information. Our analysis suggests that NPC transformation depends on timely regulation of DEK, CDK inhibitor(s), p53, RB and several transcriptional cascades, interconnected by E2F, AP-1, NF-κB, STAT3 among others during latent and lytic cycles.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, our meta-analysis strategy re-analyzed EBV-related tumor data sets and identified sets of meta-genes possibly involved in maintaining latent or switching to lytic cycles of EBV in NPC. The results of this analysis may shed new lights to further our understanding of the EBV-led neoplastic transformation.</p

A memristive non-smooth dynamical system with coexistence of bimodule periodic oscillation

© 2022 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeue.2022.154279In order to explore the bursting oscillations and the formation mechanism of memristive non-smooth systems, a third-order memristor model and an external periodic excitation are introduced into a non-smooth dynamical system, and a novel 4D memristive non-smooth system with two-timescale is established. The system is divided into two different subsystems by a non-smooth interface, which can be used to simulate the scenario where a memristor encounters a non-smooth circuit in practical application circuits. Three different bursting patterns and bifurcation mechanisms are analyzed with the time series, the corresponding phase portraits, the equilibrium bifurcation diagrams, and the transformed phase portraits. It is pointed that not only the stability of the equilibrium trajectory but also the non-smooth interface may influence the bursting phenomenon, resulting in the sudden jumping of the trajectory and non-smooth bifurcation at the non-smooth interface. In particular, the coexistence of bimodule periodic oscillations at the non-smooth interface can be observed in this system. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis is well verified by the numerical simulation and Multisim circuit simulation. This paper is of great significance for the future analysis and engineering application of the memristor in non-smooth circuits.Peer reviewe

ANN RBF Based Approach of Risk Assessment for Aviation ATM Network

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network is the core communication network of civil aviation aeronautical telecommunication network. So it is an urgent time to do scientific risk assessment for ATM network as soon as possible. According to threats and vulnerabilities existing in ATM network, which could bring bad influence to assets and missions of ATM network, even threaten the whole security situation of ATM network. This paper proposes risk assessment model based on RBF neural network. According to the established evaluation model, indexes that influencing the security situation of missions are used as input of the model and train the model. The well-trained neural network model is used to assess ATM network, while the results are compared to that of the traditional methods of scoring by experts for rounds of times. The experimental results demonstrate that the risk assessment model has strong capacities of self-learning and convergence, accords well with the complex ATM network for risk assessment

Food supplementation as a conservation intervention:A framework and a case of helping threatened shorebirds at a refuelling site

Supplemental feeding to mitigate the effects of food shortages may in some cases provide critical help to species conservation. However, supplemental feeding may have both positive and negative effects on wildlife and the environment. A scientifically designed feeding project helps to achieve conservation targets and reduces adverse effects. Here, we summarize a three-step framework for food supplementation that we used in practice: (1) determining whether supplemental feeding is required; (2) designing and implementing a practical feeding scheme; and (3) evaluating the effectiveness of food supplementation. We supplemented food for great knots (Calidris tenuirostris), an endangered migratory shorebird, at a recently impoverished refuelling site (Yalu Jiang estuary) in the Yellow Sea in spring 2018. The abundance of the staple food of great knots (Potamocorbula laevis, which had become very rare after 2012), was insufficient for the birds to refuel before the migratory flight to the breeding grounds. In our practical test, living P. laevis were collected in subtidal areas and transported to the intertidal area where great knots had been foraging in earlier years. The supplemented areas attracted 48% of all the great knots present in the 200 km2 study area. Nearly 90% of the supplemented food was consumed. Most great knots (>80%) foraged in the high-density supplementation zone where the densities of P. laevis were restored to the naturally occurring levels in 2011–2012. Here, food intake rates (mg AFDM/s) were 4.2 times those in the adjacent control zones. The framework and the feeding practice should help guide future supplemental feeding in a wide range of species