Parallel Computing for LURR of Earthquake Prediction

The LURR theory is a new approach for earthquake prediction, which achieves a good result within China mainland and some regions in America, Japan, and Australia. However, the expansion of the prediction region leads to the refinement of its longitude and latitude and the increase of the time period. This requires more and more computations and volume of data reaching the order of GB, which will be very difficult for a single CPU. In this paper, adopting the technology of domain decomposition and parallelizing using MPI, we developed a new parallel tempospatial scanning program

Occlusion facial expression recognition based on feature fusion residual attention network

Recognizing occluded facial expressions in the wild poses a significant challenge. However, most previous approaches rely solely on either global or local feature-based methods, leading to the loss of relevant expression features. To address these issues, a feature fusion residual attention network (FFRA-Net) is proposed. FFRA-Net consists of a multi-scale module, a local attention module, and a feature fusion module. The multi-scale module divides the intermediate feature map into several sub-feature maps in an equal manner along the channel dimension. Then, a convolution operation is applied to each of these feature maps to obtain diverse global features. The local attention module divides the intermediate feature map into several sub-feature maps along the spatial dimension. Subsequently, a convolution operation is applied to each of these feature maps, resulting in the extraction of local key features through the attention mechanism. The feature fusion module plays a crucial role in integrating global and local expression features while also establishing residual links between inputs and outputs to compensate for the loss of fine-grained features. Last, two occlusion expression datasets (FM_RAF-DB and SG_RAF-DB) were constructed based on the RAF-DB dataset. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed FFRA-Net achieves excellent results on four datasets: FM_RAF-DB, SG_RAF-DB, RAF-DB, and FERPLUS, with accuracies of 77.87%, 79.50%, 88.66%, and 88.97%, respectively. Thus, the approach presented in this paper demonstrates strong applicability in the context of occluded facial expression recognition (FER)

Identification of two rare NPRL3 variants in two Chinese families with familial focal epilepsy with variable foci 3: NGS analysis with literature review

Background: The GAP Activity Towards Rags 1 (GATOR1) complex, which includes DEPDC5, NPRL2, and NPRL3, plays a key role in epilepsy. It has been reported that focal epilepsy is associated with mutations in the NPRL3 gene in some cases. We report two rare mutations in the NPRL3 gene in two unrelated Chinese families with focal epilepsy in this study.Methods: The proband and her brother in family E1 first experienced seizures at 1.5 and 6 years of age, respectively. Despite resection of epileptogenic foci, she still suffered recurrent seizures. The first seizure of a 20-year-old male proband in family E2 occurred when he was 2 years old. To identify pathogenic variants in these families, whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on genomic DNA from peripheral blood.Results: In family E1, the trio-WES analysis of the proband and her brother without apparent structural brain abnormalities identified a heterozygous variant in the NPRL3 gene (c.954C>A, p.Y318*, NM_001077350.3). In family E2, the proband carried a heterozygous NPRL3 mutation (c.1545-1G>C, NM_001077350.3). Surprisingly, the mothers of the two probands each carried the variants, but neither had an attack. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the mutation (c.954C>A) was in the highly conserved amino acid residues of NPRL3, which affected the α-helix of NPRL3 protein, leading to a truncated protein. The splice variant (c.1545-1G>C) resulted in the loss of the last exon of the NPRL3 gene.Conclusion: The results of this study provide a foundation for diagnosing NPRL3-related epilepsy by enriching their genotypes and phenotypes and help us identify the genetic etiologies of epilepsy in these two families

Differential Analysis of Gut Microbiota Correlated With Oxidative Stress in Sows With High or Low Litter Performance During Lactation

It has been suggested that gut microbiota play a critical role in maternal metabolic oxidative stress responses and offspring growth. However, whether the gut microbiota and oxidative stress status of the sows affect the litter performance during lactation is unclear. A total of 66 Yorkshire sows were identified as high (H) or low (L) litter performance sows based on litter weight at day 21 of lactation. Ten sows per group with similar parity, backfat thickness, and litter weight after cross-foster from the H or L group were collected randomly to analyze the oxidative stress and gut microbiota during lactation. The result showed that the serum total antioxidant capacity was higher in the H group, while 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were lower in the H group at farrowing. Four distinct clusters of bacteria were related to litter performance and reproductive periods of sows. Twelve differentially abundant taxa during gestation and 13 taxa during lactation were identified as potential biomarkers between the H group and the L group. Moreover, the litter performance and the antioxidant capacity of sows were positively correlated with Bacteroides_f__Bacteroidaceae but negatively with Phascolarctobacterium and Streptococcus. In conclusion, this study found that gut microbiota and oxidative stress were significantly correlated with the litter performance of sows during lactation

Genetic diagnosis and treatment of inherited renal tubular acidosis

Background: Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is caused by various disruptions to the secretion of H+ by distal renal tubules and/or dysfunctional reabsorption of HCO3- by proximal renal tubules, which causes renal acidification dysfunction, ultimately leading to a clinical syndrome characterized by hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis with a normal anion gap. With the development of molecular genetics and gene sequencing technology, inherited RTA has also attracted attention, and an increasing number of RTA-related pathogenic genes have been discovered and reported. Summary: This paper focuses on the latest progress in the research of inherited RTA and systematically reviews the pathogenic genes, protein functions, clinical manifestations, internal relationship between genotypes and clinical phenotypes, diagnostic clues, differential diagnosis, and treatment strategies associated with inherited RTA. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of inherited RTA and reduce the missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis of RTA. Key Messages: This review systematically summarizes the pathogenic genes, pathophysiological mechanisms, differential diagnosis and treatment of different types of inherited renal tubular acidosis, which has good clinical value for guiding the diagnosis and treatment of inherited renal tubular acidosis

Parallel Computing for LURR of Earthquake Prediction

The LURR theory is a new approach for earthquake prediction, which achieves a good result within China mainland and some regions in America, Japan, and Australia. However, the expansion of the prediction region leads to the refinement of its longitude and latitude and the increase of the time period. This requires more and more computations and volume of data reaching the order of GB, which will be very difficult for a single CPU. In this paper, adopting the technology of domain decomposition and parallelizing using MPI, we developed a new parallel tempospatial scanning program

Особенности течения воздуха через решетки прямолинейных зубьев и влияние геометрических параметров формы зуба

Исследованы особенности течения воздуха через прямоточные лабиринтные уплотнения и построен алгоритм их функционирования в условиях влияния геометрических характеристик зуба. Разработано и экспериментально испытано 22 вида профиля зуба прямой зубчатой решетки. Установлено, что коэффициент текучести повышается с увеличением зазора уплотнения и толщины наконечника зуба и пропорционален высоте зуба, шагу и количеству зубьев. Показано, что при прохождении сжатого воздуха через лабиринтные уплотнения основное внимание следует уделять конструкции первых и последних зубьев в группе для повышения эффекта уплотнения

(Effect of configuration size of thermoelectric couple on performance of annular thermoelectric generator)

A theoretical model was provided for the annular thermoelectric generator (ATEG) based on the one-dimensional steady heat transport theory. Effects of configuration size of P-type and N-type thermoelectric couple, asymmetry of material properties of thermoelectric couple and interface contact resistance on the output performance of ATEG were considered. The relationship between configuration size of P-type and N-type thermoelectric couple and their material properties was determined for the ideal ATEG based on the principle of maximum energy conversion efficiency. The influence of interface contact heat resistance and electrical resistance was considered, and the linear simplified solution which is more convenient to use than exact solution was obtained. The optimized angle ratio of N-type to P-type thermoelectric legs in the direction of circumference was also determined when the maximum output power and maximum conversion efficiency of ATEG attained. The interface contact resistance has a significant effect on the optimized anlge ratio for the short ATEG, and this ratio approaches to the ideal solution gradually as the configuration size of ATEG increases. Results obtained based on the ideal model can be used to guide the design of the realistic ATEG device when the size parameter sr is greater than 2

The influence of spherical inclusions on the effective thermoelectric properties of thermoelectric composite materials

A homogenization theory is developed to predict the influence of spherical inclusions on the effective thermoelectric properties of thermoelectric composite materials based on the general principles of thermodynamics and Mori-Tanaka method. Closed-form solutions of effective Seebeck coefficient, electric conductivity, heat conductivity and figure of merit for such thermoelectric materials are obtained by solving the nonlinear coupled transport equations of electricity and heat. It is found that the effective figure of merit of thermoelectric materials containing spherical inclusions can be higher than that of each constituent in the absence of size and interface effects. Some interesting examples of actual thermoelectric composites with spherical inclusions, such as insulated cavities, inclusions subject to conductive electric and heat exchange and thermoelectric inclusions, are considered, numerical results lead to the conclusion that considerable enhancement of the effective figure of merit can be achievable by introducing inclusions. This paper provides a theoretical foundation for analytical and computational treatments of thermoelectric composites with more complicated inclusion structures, and thus points to a new route for their design and optimization