Ability Discovery and Weak Centralized Based Crowdsourcing Service Release System in Social Network

Crowdsourcing developed rapidly for its inspiring public abilities. But how to effectively find qualified participants and how to find and prevent malicious workers may be the main difficulties to ensure the crowdsourcing quality. In this paper, the related theories of social network were used in crowdsourcing services, the task publisher (Seeker) was regarded as the network center, his Abilities Set (AS) would be quantified and his Friends Abilities Matrix (FAM) would be generated according to the communication between them, thus his social network was re-constructed. Subsequently, some friends that conformed to the ability requirements of the task would be chosen to be the task receivers (Solvers). The natural trust relationship in the social network was fully used to build a crowdsourcing service release system on weak centralization. By using the social network, even the privacy information needn’t to be shared with others, the system could help the seeker find solvers accurately in the seeker’s own social network according to task demands, and then help to reduce fraud and invalid data. The simulation experiments showed that the release system could help the seeker discover his own abilities, construct the FAM, and select the appropriate solvers precisely and automatically

How do IT capabilities support fast delivery of big data services to clients across industries?

IT capabilities have been an important research area, especially in the big data era, when much business value can be drawn from external data. This study reports an interesting phenomenon, the transformation of an internal IT department of a traditional manufacturing company into an IT service provider. It adopts the single case study approach to explaining how the newly transformed business unit rapidly delivers IT services to external clients across industries. Results show that the IT service providers can provide fast service delivery to different clients across industries through developing digital assets, bridging business-data and standardizing services/products, which interact with each other. The whole process of service delivery is supported by IT capabilities such as IT infrastructures, IT managerial skills and IT technical skills. We extend the IT capability and IT service provider literature to the big data context

Inhibitory Effects of Columbianadin on Nociceptive Behaviors in a Neuropathic Pain Model, and on Voltage-Gated Calcium Currents in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons in Mice

Radix angelicae pubescentis (RAP) has been used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat painful diseases such as rheumatism and headache. A previous study has reported that columbianadin (CBN), a major coumarin in RAP inhibits acute and inflammatory pain behaviors. However, the effects of CBN on neuropathic pain behaviors, and the potential underlying mechanism have not been reported. In the present study, the effects of CBN, compared to another major coumarin of RAP osthole (OST), on oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic pain behaviors and on the voltage-gated calcium currents in small dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were studied in mice. It was found that CBN and OST inhibited both mechanical and cold hypersensitivity induced by oxaliplatin. Moreover, CBN and OST might preferentially inhibit T- and L-type calcium currents (Ica). The inhibitory effects of CBN and OST on the oxaliplatin-induced mechanical allodynia were prevented by gabapentin. These results suggest that CBN, as well as OST might inhibit neuropathic pain behaviors through an inhibition of T- and L-type calcium currents in nociceptive DRG neurons

Modeling acute toxicity of metal mixtures to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using the biotic ligand model-based toxic units method

The combined toxic effects of copper (Cu) and cobalt (Co) were predicted using the biotic ligand model (BLM) for different concentrations of magnesium (Mg2+) and pH levels, with parameters derived from Cu-only and Co-only toxicity data. The BLM-based toxic unit (TU) approach was used for prediction. Higher activities of Mg2+ linearly increased the EC50 of Cu and Co, supporting the concept of competitive binding of Mg2+ and metal ions in toxic action. The effects of pH on Cu and Co toxicity were related not only to free Cu2+ and Co2+ activity, respectively, but also to inorganic metal complexes. Stability constants for the binding of Cu2+, CuHCO3 +, CuCO3(aq), CuOH+, Mg2+, Co2+, CoHCO3+ and Mg2+ with biotic ligands were logK(CuBL) 5.87, logK(CuHCO3BL) 5.67, logK(CuCO3BL) 5.44, logK(CuOHBL) 5.07, logK(MgBL) 2.93, logK(CoBL) 4.72, logK(CoHCO3BL) 5.81 and logKMgBL 3.84, respectively. The combinations of Cu and Co showed additive effects under different conditions. When compared with the FIAM-based TU model (root mean square error [RMSE = 16.31, R-2 = 0.84]), the BLM-based TU model fitted the observed effects better (RMSE = 6.70, R-2 = 0.97). The present study supports the BLM principles, which indicate that metal speciation and major cations competition need to be accounted for when predicting toxicity of both single metals and mixtures of metals

Novel approach to investigate η\eta decays via η′→ππη\eta'\rightarrow\pi\pi\eta

To avoid the impact from the background events directly from $e^+e^-$ annihilations or $J/\psi$ decays, we propose a novel approach to investigate $\eta$ decays, in particular for its rare or forbidden decays, by using $\eta^\prime\rightarrow\pi\pi\eta$ produced in $J/\psi$ decays at the $\tau-$charm factories. Based on the MC studies of a few typical decays, $\eta\rightarrow \pi\pi$, $\gamma l^+l^- (l= e, \mu)$, $l^+l^-$, as well as $l^+l^-\pi^0$, the sensitivities could be obviously improved by taking advantage of the extra constraint of $\eta^\prime$. Using one trillion $J/\psi$ events accumulated at the Super $\tau$-Charm facility, the precision on the investigation of $\eta$ decays could be improved significantly and the observation of the rare decay $\eta\rightarrow e^+e^-$ is even accessable.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Superior intrinsic thermoelectric performance with zT of 1.8 in single-crystal and melt-quenched highly dense Cu2-xSe bulks

Practical applications of the high temperature thermoelectric materials developed so far are partially obstructed by the costly and complicated fabrication process. In this work, we put forward two additional important properties for thermoelectric materials, high crystal symmetry and congruent melting. We propose that the recently discovered thermoelectric material Cu2-xSe, with figure of merit, zT, over 1.5 at T of ~ 1000 K, should meet these requirements, based on our analysis of its crystal structure and the Cu-Se binary phase diagram. We found that its excellent thermoelectric performance is intrinsic, and less dependent on grain size, while highly dense samples can be easily fabricated by a melt-quenching approach. Our results reveal that the melt-quenched samples and single crystals exhibit almost the same superior thermoelectric performance, with zT as high as 1.7-1.8 at T of ~973 K. Our findings not only provide a cheap and fast fabrication method for highly dense Cu2-xSe bulks with superior thermoelectric performance, paving the way for possible commercialization of Cu2-xSe as an outstanding component in practical thermoelectric modules, but also provide guidance in searching for new classes of thermoelectric systems with high crystal symmetry or further improving the cost performance of other existing congruent-melting thermoelectric materials

Antioxidant and anti-dyslipidemic effects of polysaccharidic extract from sea cucumber processing liquor

Sea cucumber is a seafood of high nutritional value. During its processing, sea cucumber processing liquor is routinely produced, which is usually discarded as waste. The chemical composition of this processing liquor is similar to sea cucumbers themselves. Hence, valuable ingredients, such as functional polysaccharides, could be obtained from them. Results Biologically active polysaccharides from sea cucumber processing liquor were extracted through protease hydrolysis and electroosmosis. The analysis revealed that the polysaccharide extract from sea cucumber processing liquor (PESCPL) is predominantly composed of mannose, in addition to some glucose and fucose. The antioxidant activity of PESCPL was analyzed using in vitro. It was demonstrated that PESCPL could effectively scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide anion radicals. The effect of PESCPL was investigated in vivo by using mice model fed with high-fat diets with/without PESCPL supplement. It was shown that PESCPL could increase the catalase and superoxide dismutase activity in the serum and decrease serum malonaldehyde content. Furthermore, mice fed with PESCPL diet showed a considerable decrease in the serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels and an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Conclusions Our research highlights that PESCPL is a natural antioxidant and could be utilized as a therapeutic supplement for dyslipidemia

Effectiveness of plyometric training vs. complex training on the explosive power of lower limbs: A Systematic review

Introduction: Explosive power is considered an important factor in competitive events. Thus, strategies such as complex training (CT) and plyometric training (PLT) are effective at improving explosive power. However, it is still not clear which of the two strategies can enable greater improvements on the explosive power. Thus, the aim of this systematic review was to compare the effects of PLT and CT on the explosive power of the lower limbs.Methods: The Review Manager and GraphPad Prism programs were used to analyze the synthetic and time effects (effects over training time) on explosive power (i.e., jump ability, sprint ability) and maximum strength. Our research identified 87 studies comprising 1,355 subjects aged 10–26.4 years.Results: The results suggested the following: 1) Synthetic effects on jump ability (Hedges’ g): .79 (p < .001) for unloaded PLT, 1.35 (p < .001) for loaded PLT and .85 (p < .001) for CT; 2) Synthetic effects on sprint ability: .83 (p < .001) for unloaded PLT, −2.11 (p < .001) for loaded PLT and −.78 (p < .001) for CT; 3) Synthetic effects on maximum strength: .84 (p < .001) for loaded PLT and 1.53 (p < .001) for CT; 4) The time effects of unloaded PLT and CT on explosive power were similar, but the time effects of CT on maximum strength were obviously above that of PLT.Discussion: In conclusion, unloaded PLT and CT have a similar effect on explosive performance in the short term but loaded PLT has a better effect. The improvement of the maximum strength caused by CT was greater than that induced by PLT. In addition, more than 10 weeks of training may be more beneficial for the improvement of power. Therefore, for explosive power training, we suggest adopting unloaded or light-loaded PLT during a short season and applying CT during an annual or long training cycle

Optimization Design of IGV Profile in Centrifugal Compressor

Variable inlet guide vane (IGV) is used to control the mass flow and generate prewhirl in centrifugal compressors. The efficient operation of IGV is limited to the range of aerodynamic characteristics of their vane profiles. In order to find out the best vane profile for IGV regulation, the modern optimization method was adopted to optimize the inlet guide vane profile. The main methodology idea was to use artificial neural network for continuous fitness evaluation and use genetic algorithm for global optimization. After optimization, the regulating performance of IGV has improved significantly, the prewhirl ability has been enhanced greatly, and the pressure loss has been reduced. The mass flow and power of compressor reduced by using the optimized guide vane at large setting angles, and the efficiency increased significantly; the flow field distribution has been improved obviously, since the nonuniform distribution of flow and flow separation phenomenon greatly weakened or even completely disappeared. The achievement of this research can effectively improve the regulation ability of IGV and the performance of compressor