A new centrality measure based on neighbor loop structure for network dismantling

Nearly all real-world networks are complex networks and usually are in danger of collapse.Therefore,it is crucial to exploit and understand the mechanisms of network attacks and provide better protection for network functionalities.Network dismantling aims to find the smallest set of nodes such that after their removal the network is broken into connected components of sub-extensive size.To overcome the limitations and drawbacks of existing network dismantling methods,this paper focuses on network dismantling problem and proposes a neighbor-loop structure based centrality metric,NL,which achieves a balance between computational efficiency and evaluation accuracy.In addition,we design a novel method combining NL-based nodes-removing,greedy tree-breaking and reinsertion.Moreover,we compare five baseline methods with our algorithm on ten widely used real-world networks and three types of model networks including Erd€os-Renyi random networks,Watts-Strogatz smallworld networks and Barabasi-Albert scale-free networks with different network generation parameters.Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms most peer methods by obtaining a minimal set of targeted attack nodes.Furthermore,the insights gained from this study may be of assistance to future practical research into real-world networks.

Semaphorin 7a participants in pterygium by regulating vascular endothelial growth factor

AIM: To investigate the relationship between semaphorin 7a expression and cell proliferation and migration in pterygium fibroblasts. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with surgically diagnosed pterygium were enrolled, including 15 cases of primary pterygium and 11 cases of recurrent pterygium. In addition, 12 cases of normal conjunctival tissue were collected. The expression of semaphorin 7a in normal conjunctival tissue, primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Recurrent pterygium fibroblasts were isolated and cultured, and the expression of semaphorin 7a was silenced by small interfering RNA(siRNA) interference technique. Furthermore, the effects of si-semaphorin 7a interference on the mRNA and protein levels of β1-integrin, vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor(VEGFR), and on fibroblast proliferation were analyzed. Transwell assay was used to detect the effect of semaphorin 7a interference on fibroblast migration. RESULTS: Semaphorin 7a was highly expressed in the primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium samples than that of the normal conjunctival tissue. Compared with the primary pterygium, the expression of semaphoring 7a in the recurrent pterygium samples was significantly increased(P<0.05). The mRNA and protein expression levels of β1-integrin, VEGFA and VEGFR were decreased after si-semaphorin 7a transfection, and as well as the cell proliferation and migration. CONCLUSION: Semaphorin 7a might play important roles in the pathogenesis of pterygium by affecting the expression of β1-integrin, VEGFA and VEGFR.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis at microhomologous regions of human mitochondrial genome

Genetic manipulation of mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA)could be harnessed for deciphering the gene function of mitochondria;it also acts as a promising approach for the therapeutic correction of pathogenic mutation in mtDNA.However,there is still a lack of direct evidence showing the edited mutagenesis within human mtDNA by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9(CRISPR/Cas9).Here,using engineered CRISPR/Cas9,we observed numerous insertion/deletion(InDel)events at several mtDNA microhomologous regions,which were triggered specifically by double-strand break(DSB)lesions within mtDNA.InDel mutagenesis was significantly improved by sgRNA multiplexing and a DSB repair inhibitor,iniparib,demonstrating the evidence of rewiring DSB repair status to manipulate mtDNA using CRISPR/Cas9.These findings would provide novel insights into mtDNA mutagenesis and mitochondrial gene therapy for diseases involving pathogenic mtDNA.

Effect of loading rate on shear strength parameters of mechanically and biologically treated waste

Mechanical biological treatment(MBT)technology has attracted increasing attention because it can reduce the volume of waste produced.To deal with the current trend of increasing waste,MBT practices are being adopted to address waste generated in developing urban societies.In this study,a total of 20 specimens of consolidated undrained triaxial tests were conducted on waste obtained from the Hangzhou Tianziling landfill,China,to evaluate the effect of loading rate on the shear strength parameters of MBT waste.The MBT waste samples exhibited an evident strain-hardening behavior,and no peak was observed even when the axial strain exceeded 25%.Further,the shear strength increased with an increase in the loading rate;the effect of loading rate on shear strength under a low confining pressure was greater than that under a high confining pressure.Furthermore,the shear strength parameters of MBT waste were related to the loading rate.The relationship between the cohesion,internal friction angle,and logarithm of the loading rate could be fitted to a linear relationship,which was established in this study.Finally,the ranges of shear strength parameters cohesion c and effective cohesion c′were determined as 1.0–8.2 kPa and 2.1–14.9 kPa,respectively;the ranges of the internal friction angleφand effective internal friction angleφ’were determined as 16.2°–29°and 19.8°–43.9°,respectively.These results could be used as a valuable reference for conducting stability analyses of MBT landfills.