Mining Temporal Sequential Patterns Based on Multi-granularities

Sequential pattern mining is an important data mining problem that can extract frequent subsequences from sequences. However, the times between successive items in a sequence is typically used as user-specified constraints to pre-process the input data or to prune the pattern search space. In either cases, the times cannot be used to identify item intervals of sequential patterns. In this paper, we introduce a form of multi-granularity sequence patterns, which is a sequential pattern where each transition time is annotated with multi-granularity boundary interval and average time derived from the source data rather than the user-predetermined time interval or only a typical time. Then we present a novel algorithm, MG-PrefixSpan, of multiple granularity sequential patterns based on PrefixSpan[, which discovers all such patterns. Empirical evaluation shows that MG-PrefixSpan scales up linearly as the size of database, and has a good scalability with respect to the length of sequence and the size of transaction

Research progress on the incidence and progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis induced by trace elements

Hashimoto's thyroiditis （HT） is an autoimmune disease triggered by environmental factors on the basis of genetic susceptibility. Trace elements are an important part of environmental factors， among which iodine excess， selenium deficiency， magnesium deficiency and vitamin D deficiency are the risk factors inducing the incidence and progression of HT. The mechanism of HT induced by these nutritional factors is related to the activation of thyroid autoimmune response， oxidative stress response and inflammatory response. For HT susceptible population and HT patients， rational dietary guidance should be given， and corresponding nutritional supplements should be delivered when necessary， aiming to delay the incidence and progression of HT

The Order Selection Strategy of Polluting OEMs under Environmental Regulations

Under environmental regulations, the government restricts the economic activities of polluting OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) in order to improve ecological and economic efficiency. The most direct measure is to limit the production capacity of the companies. Under the condition of limited capacity, the order selection strategy of OEMs will be the direct determinant of the company’s own profits. In the foundry market, there are many low-profit orders, while the number of high-profit orders is limited and uncertain. Companies who choose to wait for high-profit orders must bear the waiting costs and the risk of losing a certain profit. Therefore, it is of great significance for the long-term development of the company to select orders to obtain the best profit under the condition of limited production capacity. This paper takes polluting OEMs as the research object and studies the optimal order selection problems of companies under environmental regulations by establishing order selection decision models for different foundry cycles under the condition of limited production capacity. The study found that in the single foundry cycle, there will be an optimal waiting-time threshold for high-profit orders. Based on this optimal waiting-time threshold, the corresponding order selection strategy can be effectively formulated. However, in the multi-foundation cycle, since the optimal waiting-time threshold of high-profit orders is affected by the long-term average profit, the company’s optimal order selection strategy is based on the long-term average profit maximization

Palmitate induces fat accumulation via repressing FoxO1-mediated ATGL-dependent lipolysis in HepG2 hepatocytes.

Obesity is closely associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and elevated serum palmitate is the link between obesity and excessive hepatic lipid accumulation. Forkhead box O-1 (FoxO1) is one of the FoxO family members of transcription factors and can stimulate adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and suppress its inhibitor G0/G1 switch gene 2 (G0S2) expression in the liver. However, previous researches have also shown conflicting results regarding the role of FoxO1 in hepatic lipid accumulation. We therefore examined the role of FoxO1 as a downstream suppressor to palmitate-stimulated hepatic steatosis. Palmitate significantly promoted lipid accumulation but inhibited lipid decomposition in human HepG2 hepatoma cells. Palmitate also significantly reduced FoxO1, ATGL and its activator comparative gene identification-58 (CGI-58) expression but increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorγ (PPARγ) and its target gene G0S2 expression. FoxO1 overexpression significantly increased palmitate-inhibited ATGL and CGI-58 expression but reduced palmitate-stimulated PPARγ and its target gene G0S2 expression. FoxO1 overexpression also inhibited lipid accumulation and promoted lipolysis in palmitate-treated hepatocytes. Overall, these results indicate that FoxO1-mediated ATGL-dependent lipolysis may be an effective molecular mechanism in protecting hepatocytes from palmitate-induced fat accumulation

Global competence of medical students: An assessment scale and preliminary investigation in China.

IntroductionThe importance of global competence has been acknowledged in medical care as well as medical education. This study aims to develop a scale assessing the global competence of medical students, determine the factor structure and internal consistency of the scale and explore the underlying factors influencing the global competence of Chinese medical students in 8-year programs.MethodsA questionnaire (Global Competence Assessment Scale for Medical Students, MS-GCAS) was developed, and a cross-sectional multicenter survey was conducted in 1062 medical students from 10 medical schools in China. Questionnaire data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression.ResultsThe exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor scale. The MS-GCAS has good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79 to 0.87). In the multivariate regression analyses, medical education stage (pDiscussionThe MS-GCAS has the potential to serve as a tool to measure the global competence of medical students. This three-factor scale can be used by medical education researches to improve future versions. Medical schools should conduct further educational reforms to promote students' global competence

Global competence of medical students: An assessment scale and preliminary investigation in China

Introduction The importance of global competence has been acknowledged in medical care as well as medical education. This study aims to develop a scale assessing the global competence of medical students, determine the factor structure and internal consistency of the scale and explore the underlying factors influencing the global competence of Chinese medical students in 8-year programs. Methods A questionnaire (Global Competence Assessment Scale for Medical Students, MS-GCAS) was developed, and a cross-sectional multicenter survey was conducted in 1062 medical students from 10 medical schools in China. Questionnaire data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression. Results The exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor scale. The MS-GCAS has good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.79 to 0.87). In the multivariate regression analyses, medical education stage (pDiscussion The MS-GCAS has the potential to serve as a tool to measure the global competence of medical students. This three-factor scale can be used by medical education researches to improve future versions. Medical schools should conduct further educational reforms to promote students’ global competence

Recent Developments on Processes for Recovery of Rhodium Metal from Spent Catalysts

Rhodium (Rh) catalyst has played an indispensable role in many important industrial and technological applications due to its unique and valuable properties. Currently, Rh is considered as a strategic or critical metal as the scarce high-quality purity can only be supplemented by refining coarse ores with low content (2–10 ppm) and is far from meeting the fast-growing market demand. Nowadays, exploring new prospects has already become an urgent issue because of the gradual depletion of Rh resources, incidental pressure on environmental protection, and high market prices. Since waste catalyst materials, industrial equipment, and electronic instruments contain Rh with a higher concentration than that of natural minerals, recovering Rh from scrap not only offers an additional source to satisfy market demand but also reduces the risk of ore over-exploitation. Therefore, the recovery of Rh-based catalysts from scrap is of great significance. This review provides an overview of the Rh metal recovery from spent catalysts. The characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of several current recovery processes, including pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and biosorption technology, are presented and compared. Among them, the hydrometallurgical process is commonly used for Rh recovery from auto catalysts due to its technological simplicity, low cost, and short processing time, but the overall recovery rate is low due to its high remnant Rh within the insoluble residue and the unstable leaching. In contrast, higher Rh recovery and less effluent discharge can be ensured by a pyrometallurgical process which therefore is widely employed in industry to extract precious metals from spent catalysts. However, the related procedure is quite complex, leading to an expensive hardware investment, high energy consumption, long recovery cycles, and inevitable difficulties in controlling contamination in practice. Compared to conventional recovery methods, the biosorption process is considered to be a cost-effective biological route for Rh recovery owing to its intrinsic merits, e.g., low operation costs, small volume, and low amount of chemicals and biological sludge to be treated. Finally, we summarize the challenges and prospect of these three recovery processes in the hope that the community can gain more meaningful and comprehensive insights into Rh recovery