Revenue management method and critical techniques of railway passenger transport

Purpose–Revenue management(RM)is a significant technique to improve revenue with limited resources.With the macro environment of dramatically increasing transit capacity and rapid railway transport development in China,it is necessary to involve the theory of RM into the operation and decision of railway passenger transport.Design/methodology/approach–This paper proposes the theory and framework of generalized RM of railway passenger transport(RMRPT),and the thoughts and methods of the main techniques in RMRPT,involving demand forecasting,line planning,inventory control,pricing strategies and information systems,are all studied and elaborated.The involved methods and techniques provide a sequential process to help with the decision-making for each stage of RMRPT.The corresponding techniques are integrated into the information system to support practical businesses in railway passenger transport.Findings–The combination of the whole techniques devotes to railway benefit improvement and transit resource utilization and has been applied into the practical operation and organization of railway passenger transport.Originality/value–The development of RMRPT would provide theoretical and technical support for the improvement of service quality as well as railway benefits and efficiency.

Ultrasensitive proteomics depicted an in-depth landscape for the very early stage of mouse maternal-to-zygotic transition

Single-cell or low-input multi-omics techniques have revolutionized the study of pre-implantation embryo development.However,the single-cell or low-input proteomic research in this field is relatively underdeveloped because of the higher threshold of the starting material for mammalian embryo samples and the lack of hypersensitive proteome technology.In this study,a comprehensive solution of ultrasensitive proteome technology(CS-UPT)was developed for single-cell or low-input mouse oocyte/embryo samples.The deep coverage and high-throughput routes significantly reduced the starting material and were selected by investigators based on their demands.Using the deep coverage route,we provided the first large-scale snapshot of the very early stage of mouse maternal-to-zygotic transition,including almost 5,500 protein groups from 20 mouse oocytes or zygotes for each sample.Moreover,significant protein regulatory networks centered on transcription factors and kinases between the MII oocyte and 1-cell embryo provided rich insights into minor zygotic genome activation.

铁改性酚醛树脂的合成与结构表征

通过配位反应在热固性酚醛树脂中引入三价铁离子,合成了铁改性酚醛树脂。通过红外光谱仪、X射线光电子能谱仪以及利用电导率测定配位数的方法表征了铁改性酚醛树脂的结构,分析得到三价铁离子与酚醛树脂形成六配位的结构,4个氧原子来自亚氨基二乙酸的羧酸基,2个氧原子来自游离的酚羟基。与普通树脂相比,铁改性酚醛树脂的固含量和残炭率明显提高,分别达到89. 16%和51. 41%;通过热重分析表明,铁改性酚醛树脂的耐热性能明显提高。

Characterization of microRNAs in serum： a novel class of biomarkers for diagnosis of cancer and other diseases

Dysregulated expression of microRNAs （miRNAs） in various tissues has been associated with a variety of diseases, including cancers. Here we demonstrate that miRNAs are present in the serum and plasma of humans and other animals such as mice, rats, bovine fetuses, calves, and horses. The levels of miRNAs in serum are stable, reproducible, and consistent among individuals of the same species. Employing Solexa, we sequenced all serum miRNAs of healthy Chinese subjects and found over 100 and 91 serum miRNAs in male and female subjects, respectively. We also identified specific expression patterns of serum miRNAs for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and diabetes, providing evidence that serum miRNAs contain fingerprints for various diseases. Two non-small cell lung cancer-specific serum miRNAs obtained by Solexa were further validated in an independent trial of 75 healthy donors and 152 cancer patients, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Through these analyses, we conclude that serum miRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers for the detection of various cancers and other diseases.

Identification and characterization of microRNAs in raw milk during different periods of lactation, commercial fluid, and powdered milk products

Recent baby formula milk powder contamination incidents have shown that the classic markers or standards in milk quality control are insufficient in identifying ＂manipulated＂ poor-quality milk. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that cow milk contains large amounts of microRNAs （miRNAs） and that the unique expression profile of milk-specific miRNAs can serve as a novel indicator and possible new standard for the quafity control of raw milk and milk-related commercial products, such as fluid milk and powdered formula milk. First, using Solexa sequencing, we systematically screened miRNA expression in raw milk and identified a total of 245 miR- NAs in raw milk. Unlike other classic biomarkers whose expression levels are nearly identical at different periods of lactation, individual miRNAs can be significantly altered during lactation process, implicating that miRNAs may be a more accurate indicator to reflect the quality alteration of milk. Second, using TaqMan probe-based miRNA quantitative RT-PCR, we further identified seven miRNAs that have a relatively consistent expression throughout the lactation process, and more importantly, the expression profile of these seven milk-specific miRNAs can serve as an ideal biomarker for discriminating poor-quality or ＂manipulated＂ milk from pure raw milk, as well as for the quality control of commercial milk products, such as fluid milk and powdered formula milk. Together, our findings provide a basis for understanding the physiological role of milk miRNAs and a new potential standard for determining the quality of raw milk or milk-related commercial products.

PGC-la induces apoptosis in human epithelial ovarian cancer cells through a PPARy-dependent pathway

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma （PPAR）,） coactivator-1 alpha （PGC-1α） coactivates multiple transcription factors and regulates several metabolic processes. The current study investigated the role of PGC-1α in the induction of apoptosis in human epithelial ovarian cancer cells. The PGC-1α mRNA level between human ovaries and human ovarian epithelial tumors was examined by quantitative RT-PCR. Less PGC- 1α expression was found in the surface epithelium of malignant tumors compared with normal ovaries. Overexpression of PGC-1α in human epithelial ovarian cancer cell line Ho-8910 induced cell apoptosis through the coordinated regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression. Microarray analyses confirmed that PGC-1α dramatically affected the apoptosis-related genes in Ho-8910 cells. Mitochondrial functional assay showed that the induction of apoptosis was through the terminal stage by the release of cytochrome c. Furthermore, PG-C- 1 α-induced apoptosis was partially, but not completely, blocked by PPAR）, antagonist （GW9662）, and suppression of PPAR）, expression by siRNA also inhibited PGC-1α-induced apoptosis in Ho-8910 cells. These data suggested that PGC-1α exerted its effect through a PPARγ-dependent pathway. Our findings indicated that PGC-1α was involved in the apoptotic signal transduction pathways and downregulation of PGC-1α may be a key point in promoting epithelial ovarian cancer growth and progression.

Hypoxia induces PGC-la expression and mitochondrial biogenesis in the myocardium of TOF patients

PGC-1α, a potent transcriptional coactivator, is the major regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and activity in the cardiac muscle. The dysregulation of PGC-la and its target genes has been reported to be associated with congenital and acquired heart diseases. By examining myocardium samples from patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, we show here that PGC-1α expression levels are markedly increased in patients compared with healthy controls and positively correlated with the severity of cyanosis. Furthermore, hypoxia significantly induced the expression of PGC-1α and mitochondrial biogenesis in cultured cardiac myocytes. Mechanistic studies suggest that hypoxia-induced PGC-1α expression is regulated through the AMPK signaling pathway. Together, our data indicate that hypoxia can stimulate the expression of PGC-1α and mitochondrial biogenesis in the cardiac myocytes, and this process might provide a potential adaptive mechanism for cardiac myocytes to increase ATP output and minimize hypoxic damage to the heart.

Incremental support vector machine algorithm based on multi-kernel learning

A new incremental support vector machine （SVM） algorithm is proposed which is based on multiple kernel learning. Through introducing multiple kernel learning into the SVM incremental learning, large scale data set learning problem can be solved effectively. Furthermore, different punishments are adopted in allusion to the training subset and the acquired support vectors, which may help to improve the performance of SVM. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can not only solve the model selection problem in SVM incremental learning, but also improve the classification or prediction precision.

In tegrative iTRAQ-based proteomic and transcriptomic analysis reveals the accumulation patter ns of key metabolites associated with oil quality during seed ripening of Camellia oleifera

Camellia oleifera(C.oleifera)is one of the four major woody oil-bearing crops in the world and has relatively high ecological,economic,and medicinal value.Its seeds undergo a series of complex physiological and biochemical changes during ripening,which is mainly manifested as the accumulation and transformation of certain metabolites closely related to oil quality,especially flavonoids and fatty acids.To obtain new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms,a parallel analysis of the transcriptome and proteome profiles of C.oleifera seeds at different maturity levels was conducted using RNA sequencing(RNA-seq)and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification(iTRAQ)complemented with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)data.A total of 16,530 transcripts and 1228 proteins were recognized with significant differential abundances in pairwise comparisons of samples at various developmental stages.Among these,317 were coexpressed with a poor correlation,and most were involved in metabolic processes,including fatty acid metabolism,a-linolenic acid metabolism,and glutathione metabolism.In addition,the content of total flavonoids decreased gradually with seed maturity,and the levels of fatty acids generally peaked at the fat accumulation stage;these results basically agreed with the regulation patterns of genes or proteins in the corresponding pathways.The expression levels of proteins annotated as upstream candidates of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase(PAL)and chalcone synthase(CHS)as well as their cognate transcripts were positively correlated with the variation in the flavonoid content,while shikimate O-hydroxycinnamoyltransferase(HCT)-(encoding genes had the opposite pattern.The increase in the abundance of proteins and mRNAs corresponding to alcohol dehydrogenase(ADH)was associated with a reduction in linoleic acid synthesis.Using weighted gene coexpression network analysis(WGCNA),we further identi fied six unique modules related to flavonoid,oil,and fatty acid anabolism that contained hub genes or proteins similar to transcription factors(TFs),such as MADS intervening keratin-like and C-terminal(MIKC_MAD s),type-B authentic response regulator(ARR-B),and basic helix-loop-helix(bH〔H).Finally,based on the known metabolic pathways and WGCNA combined with the correlation analysis,fi ve coexpressed transcripts and proteins composed of cinnamyl-alcohol dehyd rogenases(CADs),caffeicacid 3-O-methyltransferase(COMT),fl avonol synthase(FLS),and 4-coumarate:CoA ligaas(4CL)were screened out.With this exploratory multiomics dataset,our results presented a dynamic picture regarding the maturation process of C.oleifera seeds on Hainan Island,not only revealing the temporal specific expression of key candidate genes and proteins but also providing a scientific basis for the genetic improvement of this tree species.

Recycled Aggregate Pervious Concrete: Analysis of Influence of Water-Cement Ratio and Fly Ash under Single Action and Optimal Design of Mix Proportion

Pervious concrete is recommended,which is of great benefit to the ecological environment and human living environment.In this paper,the influences of five water-cement ratios and four fly ash contents to replace the cement by mass with a water-cement ratio of 0.30 on the properties of Recycled Aggregate Pervious Concrete(RAPC)were studied.Following this,based on the Grey relational-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution(TOPSIS)optimization method,the strength,permeability,abrasion loss rate,and material costs of RAPC were adopted as evaluation indices to establish a mix proportion optimization model.The results show that the increase of water-cement ratio and fly ash replacement level of RAPC leads to decreased compres-sive strength while an increase in the permeability and abrasion loss rate.According to test results based on the optimal model 0.30 was identified as the best mix proportion.In addition,ecological-economic analysis of RAPC raw materials was carried out by comparing different natural aggregates.The results of EE(embodied energy)and ECO 2e(embodied CO_(2) emission)pointed out that the combination of recycled aggregate and fly ash leads to sig-nificant ecological and economic benefits.

Partial dehydration of brucite and its implications for water distribution in the subducting oceanic slab

Hydrous minerals within the subducting oceanic slab are important hosts for water.Clarification of the stability field of hydrous minerals helps to understand transport and distribution of water from the surface to the Earth’s interior.We investigated the stability of brucite,a prototype of hydrous minerals,by means of electrical conductivity measurements in both open and closed systems at 3 GPa and temperatures up to 1300 K.Dramatic increase of conductivity in association with characteristic impedance spectra suggests that partial dehydration of single-crystal brucite in the open system with a low water fugacity occurs at 950 K,which is about 300 K lower than those previously defined by phase equilibrium experiments in the closed system.By contrast,brucite completely dehydrates at 1300 K in the closed system,consistent with previous studies.Partial dehydration may generate a highly defective structure but does not lead to the breakdown of brucite to periclase and water immediately.Water activity plays a key role in the stability of hydrous minerals.Low water activity(a H_(2)O)caused by the high wetting behavior of the subducted oceanic slab at the transition zone depth may cause the partial dehydration of the dense hydrous magnesium silicates(DHMSs),which significantly reduces the temperature stability of DHMS(this mechanism has been confirmed by previous study on super hydrous phase B).As a result,the transition zone may serve as a‘dead zone’for DHMSs,and most water will be stored in wadsleyite and ringwoodite in the transition zone.

Informal caregivers'quality of life and management strategies following the transformation of their cancer caregiving role:A qualitative systematic review

Objectives:Globally,informal caregivers caring for cancer patients meet challenges within their caregiving role,which significantly influence their quality of life.This qualitative systematic review aimed to analyze how cancer caregiving influence the quality of life of informal caregivers and the management strategies of informal caregivers for their role as cancer caregivers.Methods:Following the enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research(ENTREQ)statement,Wanfang database,the China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),CINAHL,MEDLINE,PubMed,Cochrane Library,PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO,and grey literature in English and Chinese from 1 May 2009 to 31 December 2019 were searched.Quality of included studies was assessed by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme(2018)Qualitative Checklist and thematic synthesis was conducted.Results:Of the 8,945 studies identified,6 studies met the inclusion criteria.One analytical theme relating to the QoL of informal caregivers following cancer caregiving was identified:"challenges of caregiving".In terms of the management strategies to the role of cancer caregivers,two analytical themes were identified:"self-adjustment"and"seeking for formal and informal support".Conclusions:Cancer caregiving influences informal caregivers'QoL significantly and informal caregivers develop diverse coping strategies to deal with the difficulties occurred while balancing the relationship between their own lives and caregiving.However,professional and policy support remain inadequate for informal caregivers that require the need for improvement in terms of health care professionals and policymakers.

Archaea Diversity of Five Hot Springs in Lushan from Henan

There are five hot springs named separately SHANGT,ZHONGT,WENT,XIAT and SHENT in Lushan County,Pingdingshan City,Henan Province.The archaeal diversity of the five hot springs was investigated and analyzed.16 S rD NA v4-5 genes of archaea were sequenced by Illumina Hisiq2500 PE250 technology.The numbers of sample sequences and OTUs were sorted by using Uparse,Mothur,SILVA,MUSCLE and Qiime software.Finally,the archaeal abundance and diversity in the five hot springs were analyzed.87993,67326,44400,48611 and 48495 effective reads have been obtained from SHANGT,ZHONGT,WENT,XIAT and SHENT respectively,and 520,280,678,451 and 437 OTUs have been acquired.The analysis of archaeal classification showed that the archaea from the five hot springs could be classified into 11 phyla,in which Thaumarchaeota accounted for 95.25%and was the dominant archaea.In the genera level,the dominant archaea of the SHANGT,ZHONGT and WENT was Candidatus-Nitrosocaldus,and unidentified-Thaumarchaeota was the dominant archaea in XIAT and SHENT.The results showed that the five hot springs in Lushan are rich in microbial resources.The research provided basic data for further research and utilization of the archaea resources in the five hot springs of Lushan.

Advancing the Understanding of Environmental Transformations, Bioavailability and Effects of Nanomaterials, an International US Environmental Protection Agency—UK Environmental Nanoscience Initiative Joint Program

Nanotechnology has significant economic, health, and environmental benefits, including renewable energy and innovative environmental solutions. Manufactured nanoparticles have been incorporated into new materials and products because of their novel or enhanced properties. These very same properties also have prompted concerns about the potential environmental and human health hazard and risk posed by the manufactured nanomaterials. Appropriate risk management responses require the development of models capable of predicting the environmental and human health effects of the nanomaterials. Development of predictive models has been hampered by a lack of information concerning the environmental fate, behavior and effects of manufactured nanoparticles. The United Kingdom (UK) Environmental Nanoscience Initiative and the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency have developed an international research program to enhance the knowledgebase and develop risk-predicting models for manufactured nanoparticles. Here we report selected highlights of the program as it sought to maximize the complementary strengths of the transatlantic scientific communities by funding three integrated US-UK consortia to investigate the transformation of these nanoparticles in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environment. Research results demonstrate there is a functional relationship between the physicochemical properties of environmentally transformed nanomaterials and their effects and that this relationship is amenable to modeling. In addition, the joint transatlantic program has allowed the leveraging of additional funding, promoting transboundary scientific collaboration.

Experimental Study on Impingement Processes of Fuel Sprays on Biomimetic Structured Surfaces

To improve the controllability of the wall-wetting process after the fuel spray-wall impingement in internal combustion engines,the methods of laser etching,chemical etching and surface free energy modification are used to prepare biomimetic structured surfaces with different wettability.The impingement processes of diesel and n-butanol sprays on the walls under different conditions are experimentally investigated.As the surface oleophilicity increases,the spreading radius of wall-impinging sprays decreases.At about 5 s after the fuel injections,the fuel spray droplets hit the walls for the first time,and the secondary breakup and rebound occur.The mixture concentrations of different fuels hitting the various walls reach the peak value.Under a higher surface temperature,the peak value of the mixture concentration is mainly related to the heat flux to the fuel droplets in different boiling regimes from the metal surfaces.The concentration of the air–fuel mixture in the near wall region increases with increasing surface oleophilicity,increasing wall temperature and decreasing ambient pressure.Compared with diesel,n-butanol presents a higher air–fuel mixture concentration in the near wall region.

Associations of Gestational Exposure to Air Pollution and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons with Placental Inflammation

Restricted fetal growth(RFG)is a leading contributor to perinatal mortality and has been associated with gestational exposure to air pollution,such as fine particulate matter(PM_(2.5)),nitrogen dioxide(NO2),and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs).This study examines the association between trimester-specific and weekly means of air pollution throughout gestation and placental inflammatory markers at delivery.In a prospective cohort study of 263 pregnant women in Rochester,NY,we measured interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)in placental tissue and estimated gestational exposure to PM_(2.5)and NO_(2)using a high-resolution spatial-temporal model.Exposure to PAHs was estimated using urinary 1-hydroxypyrene(1-OHP)concentrations collected once per trimester.Using distributed lag models with a penalized spline function,each interquartile range(2.6μg/m^(3))increase in PM_(2.5)concentration during gestational weeks 6−11 was associated with decreased placental IL-6 levels(−22.2%,95%CI:−39.0%,−0.64%).Using multiple linear regression models,each interquartile range increase of 1-OHP was associated with an increase in TNF-αin the first trimester(58.5%,95%CI:20.7%,74.2%),third trimester(22.9%,95%CI:0.04%,49.5%),and entire pregnancy(29.6%,95%CI:3.9%,60.6%).Our results suggest gestational exposure to air pollution may alter the inflammatory environment of the placenta at delivery.

Retention of trace elements in coal-fired flue gas by a novel heterogeneous agglomeration technology

Heterogeneous agglomeration (HA) is a very potential technology for coal-fired flue gas treatment.In this paper,the distribution and migration mechanisms of trace elements (TEs such as Se,As and Pb in CFPPs were studied on a 30,000 m^(3)/hr pilot-scale experimental plat form.The influences of HA on the removal efficiency of gaseous and particulate TEs were well analyzed.The results showed that Se,As and Pb were enriched in fly ash,and their sen sitivity to particle size is quite different.The content of Se was the highest in PM1,reaching193.04 mg/kg at the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) outlet.The average particle size of the total dust before ESP increased significantly from 21.686 to 62.612μm after injecting the heterogeneous agglomeration adsorbent,conducive to its further removal by ESP.In addi tion,the concentrations of gaseous Se,As and Pb in the flue gas decreased after adsorben spray,and accordingly,their contents in the hierarchical particles increased,indicating tha the adsorbent could effectively promote the adsorption of gaseous trace elements in fly ash and reduce the possibility of their escape to the atmosphere.Total concentrations of Se,As and Pb emitted by wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) are 0.223,0.668 and 0.076μg/m^(3)which decreased by 59.98%,47.69%and 90.71%,respectively.Finally,a possible HA mecha nism model was proposed,where chemical adsorption,physical condensation and collision agglomeration of gaseous TEs and fine particles with adsorbent droplets occurred to form larger agglomerates.

Transformers in medical image analysis

Transformers have dominated the field of natural language processing and have recently made an impact in the area of computer vision.In the field of medical image analysis,transformers have also been successfully used in to full-stack clinical applications,including image synthesis/reconstruction,registration,segmentation,detection,and diagnosis.This paper aimed to promote awareness of the applications of transformers in medical image analysis.Specifically,we first provided an overview of the core concepts of the attention mechanism built into transformers and other basic components.Second,we reviewed various transformer architectures tailored for medical image applications and discuss their limitations.Within this review,we investigated key challenges including the use of transformers in different learning paradigms,improving model efficiency,and coupling with other techniques.We hope this review would provide a comprehensive picture of transformers to readers with an interest in medical image analysis.

Plate Tectonics:The Stabilizer of Earth’s Habitability

Earth is the only planet known to be habitable,and is also unique with its liquid water,and the operation of plate tectonics.The geological record shows that the habitability of our planet can rapidly recover from major disasters or catastrophes,even those that cause mass extinctions.We suggest that plate tectonics,which acts as a link between the shallow and deep,is pivotal for the formation,evolution,and long-term stability of the hydrosphere,atmosphere,lithosphere,and thus life.Plate tectonics links the surface environment with the deep interior of high viscosity,low Reynolds number,low entropy,and low chaos,able to produce a strong healing effect to neutralize catastrophic events.It can transfer the bio-essential elements from the deep interior to the near-surface environment and can recycle toxic elements to the deep.This unique planetary energy and material transfer process of Earth is a continuous,slow-release,and bidirectional cycle,where a change in the surface is slowly buffered by a reaction from the deep,shaping a long-term and stable habitable environment.Therefore,it is considered that plate tectonics is the basic condition for the long-term stable evolution of the Earth’s biosphere and the stabilizer of the Earth’s habitability.

Temporospatial inhibition of Erk signaling is required for lymphatic valve formation

Intraluminal lymphatic valves(LVs)and lymphovenous valves(LVs)are critical to ensure the unidirectional flow of lymphatic fluid.Morphological abnormalities in these valves always cause lymph or blood reflux,and result in lymphedema.