More is simpler : effectively and efficiently assessing node-pair similarities based on hyperlinks

Similarity assessment is one of the core tasks in hyperlink analysis. Recently, with the proliferation of applications, e.g., web search and collaborative filtering, SimRank has been a well-studied measure of similarity between two nodes in a graph. It recursively follows the philosophy that "two nodes are similar if they are referenced (have incoming edges) from similar nodes", which can be viewed as an aggregation of similarities based on incoming paths. Despite its popularity, SimRank has an undesirable property, i.e., "zero-similarity": It only accommodates paths with equal length from a common "center" node. Thus, a large portion of other paths are fully ignored. This paper attempts to remedy this issue. (1) We propose and rigorously justify SimRank*, a revised version of SimRank, which resolves such counter-intuitive "zero-similarity" issues while inheriting merits of the basic SimRank philosophy. (2) We show that the series form of SimRank* can be reduced to a fairly succinct and elegant closed form, which looks even simpler than SimRank, yet enriches semantics without suffering from increased computational cost. This leads to a fixed-point iterative paradigm of SimRank* in O(Knm) time on a graph of n nodes and m edges for K iterations, which is comparable to SimRank. (3) To further optimize SimRank* computation, we leverage a novel clustering strategy via edge concentration. Due to its NP-hardness, we devise an efficient and effective heuristic to speed up SimRank* computation to O(Knm) time, where m is generally much smaller than m. (4) Using real and synthetic data, we empirically verify the rich semantics of SimRank*, and demonstrate its high computation efficiency

Ring Chromosome 7 Presenting with Intrauterine Growth Restriction and Multiple Anomalies

SummaryObjectiveRing chromosome 7 is a very rare chromosomal anomaly that may have a grave prognosis. Nevertheless, the clinical features associated with ring chromosome 7 are highly variable. Here, we report a case with ring chromosome 7 and the perinatal findings.Case ReportA 32-year-old, gravida 1, para 0, woman was referred to our hospital because of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and oligohydramnios at 35 weeks of gestation. Prenatal ultrasound revealed a severe IUGR fetus presenting with multicystic kidney, hydronephrosis and oligohydramnios. At parturition, the birth weight of this male infant was 1,720 g, and a battery of anomalies were also noted, including imperforate anus, hypospadia, micropenis, right cryptorchidism, severe IUGR, multiple nevi on the forehead, shoulder and left thigh, brain atrophy, right multicystic kidney, and left mild hydronephrosis. Cytogenetic study from cord blood revealed a ring chromosome 7.ConclusionRing chromosome 7 is extremely rare and our case might be the 15th and youngest case in the medical literature. Our case had multicystic kidney and imperforate anus, which have not been reported previously. Prenatal diagnosis of ring chromosome 7 is very difficult. When fetuses present with severe IUGR, oligohydramnios and multicystic kidney, chromosomal aberrations should be kept in mind, and perinatal cytogenetic workup is warranted

Paxillin facilitates timely neurite initiation on soft-substrate environments by interacting with the endocytic machinery.

Neurite initiation is the first step in neuronal development and occurs spontaneously in soft tissue environments. Although the mechanisms regulating the morphology of migratory cells on rigid substrates in cell culture are widely known, how soft environments modulate neurite initiation remains elusive. Using hydrogel cultures, pharmacologic inhibition, and genetic approaches, we reveal that paxillin-linked endocytosis and adhesion are components of a bistable switch controlling neurite initiation in a substrate modulus-dependent manner. On soft substrates, most paxillin binds to endocytic factors and facilitates vesicle invagination, elevating neuritogenic Rac1 activity and expression of genes encoding the endocytic machinery. By contrast, on rigid substrates, cells develop extensive adhesions, increase RhoA activity and sequester paxillin from the endocytic machinery, thereby delaying neurite initiation. Our results highlight paxillin as a core molecule in substrate modulus-controlled morphogenesis and define a mechanism whereby neuronal cells respond to environments exhibiting varying mechanical properties

Research on the Cleaning Efficacy of Micro-bubbles on Dental Plaque

AbstractLong-term bed-ridden patients do not usually have the same opportunity for proper dental hygiene as normal individuals, as they often have difficulty using toothbrushes to clean their teeth. Patients with periodontal disease are also at risk of increased bacterial infection due to the propensity for teeth brushing causing bleeding of the gums. Therefore, an alternative method of dental hygiene maintenance is required for these individuals. Our study proposed a method to clean dental plaque through a tooth tray with micro-bubbles and verified its cleaning efficacy through experiment. A cleaning device that produces micro bubbles (Braun MD20) was used in the study with five separately modified nozzle diameters as the independent variable: 0.16mm, 0.30mm, 0.63mm, 0.8mmand 1.2mm. The five different rotation speed settings of the device act as the other independent variable, with the resulting flow volume, velocity and the diameter of the micro-bubbles as the intermediate variables. The effects of these variables on cleaning dental plaque were investigated. Our results showed that an average of 45%∼75% cleaning rate of dental plaque was achieved under all combinations of the variables. The best dental plaque removal variable combination was nozzle diameter 0.8mm with speed of 3527rpm, in which 98% dental plaque removal was achieved. The dimension of the nozzle exerted greater influence on flow volume, flow velocity and bubble diameter than rotation speed. The effect of the control variables on plaque removal was also more significant than intermediate variables, with the nozzle dimension influencing plaque removal at 0.05 significance level

Efficiently computing Top-K shortest path join

© 2015, Copyright is with the authors. Driven by many applications, in this paper we study the problem of computing the top-k shortest paths from one set of target nodes to another set of target nodes in a graph, namely the top-k shortest path join (KPJ) between two sets of target nodes. While KPJ is an extension of the problem of computing the top-k shortest paths (KSP) between two target nodes, the existing technique by converting KPJ to KSP has several deficiencies in conducting the computation. To resolve these, we propose to use the best-first paradigm to recursively divide search subspaces into smaller subspaces, and to compute the shortest path in each of the subspaces in a prioritized order based on their lower bounds. Consequently, we only compute shortest paths in subspaces whose lower bounds are larger than the length of the current k-th shortest path. To improve the efficiency, we further propose an iteratively bounding approach to tightening lower bounds of subspaces. Moreover, we propose two index structures which can be used to reduce the exploration area of a graph dramatically; these greatly speed up the computation. Extensive performance studies based on real road networks demonstrate the scalability of our approaches and that our approaches outperform the existing approach by several orders of magnitude. Furthermore, our approaches can be immediately used to compute KSP. Our experiment also demonstrates that our techniques outperform the state-of-the-art algorithm for KSP by several orders of magnitude

Excellent Absorption of LaCoxO3 Over Full Solar Spectrum and Direct Photothermal Energy Storage of Ca(OH)2–LaCoxO3

Abstract: Photothermal conversion is a vital way for solar energy applications. The strong absorption of near Infrared light is essential for excellent photothermal performance. In this study, we demonstrated that nano LaCoxO3 is able to harvest light intensely across the full solar spectrum with high photothermal temperature. A core-shell-like structure of LaCoxO3-coated Ca(OH)2 particles was fabricated and shows excellent photothermal conversion, high kinetics of dehydration and remarkable cycle stability of heat storage and release. The photothermal dehydration-conversion of Ca(OH)2 increases 8.4-fold. Results demonstrate the multifunctionality of LaCoxO3, intensifying light harvesting, high photothermal conversion, good stability, considerable strength, and porous framework favouring the performance of photothermal storage and release cycles. LaCoxO3–Ca(OH)2 composite can simultaneously harvest light and store thermal energy