Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the “1 + 1 + 1” Method in Theoretical Teaching of Emergency Pericardiocentesis

Background: Pericardial effusion may progress to cardiac tamponade when pressure around the heart increases to a level comparable to that of the right and left atria. Patients with cardiac tamponade need timely completion of emergency pericardiocentesis to relieve the threat to the patient’s life, and to save valuable time for patients who need emergency thoracotomy and pericardial window drainage. Pericardiocentesis is a necessary clinical skill for residents in standardized training. In addition, nurses who are familiar with this technology can better assist clinicians to perform this operation. In order to make the medical staff quickly master the theoretical knowledge of emergency pericardiocentesis, we designed a “1 + 1 + 1” teaching method for the theoretical teaching of emergency pericardiocentesis. Objective: This study aims to explore the effectiveness of the “1 + 1 + 1” teaching method in the theoretical teaching of emergency pericardiocentesis. Methods: We used an English teaching video of emergency pericardiocentesis and applied the “1 + 1 + 1” teaching method for theoretical teaching. A questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the lecture among 19 medical staff of different years of service to understand their mastery of the theoretical content of emergency pericardiocentesis before and after the lecture. According to the years of service, the medical staff were divided into three groups: 1 - 3 years (Group A), 4 - 10 years (Group B), and over 10 years (Group C), and the changes in the mastery of various contents by the overall medical staff and each group were statistically analyzed. Results: Before the lecture, the number of people who mastered the indications, contraindications, most commonly used methods, and common complications of emergency pericardiocentesis were 15, 12, 16, and 17, respectively, whereas after the lecture, these numbers increased to 17, 19, 19, and 19, respectively. The overall mastery before and after the lecture was statistically significant (p Conclusion: The “1 + 1 + 1” teaching method can effectively improve the overall mastery level of medical staff’s theoretical knowledge of emergency pericardiocentesis, especially in improving the mastery of contraindications of this operation.

Straw return increases crop production by improving soil organic carbon sequestration and soil aggregation in a long-term wheat-cotton cropping system

Straw return is a promising strategy for managing soil organic carbon(SOC)and improving yield stability.However,the optimal straw return strategy for sustainable crop production in the wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)-cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.)cropping system remains uncertain.The objective of this study was to quantify the long-term(10 years)impact of carbon(C)input on SOC sequestration,soil aggregation and crop yields in a wheat-cotton cropping system in the Yangtze River Valley,China.Five treatments were arranged with a single-factor randomized design as follows:no straw return(Control),return of wheat straw only(Wt),return of cotton straw only(Ct),return of 50%wheat and 50%cotton straw(Wh-Ch)and return of 100%wheat and 100%cotton straw(Wt-Ct).In comparison to the Control,the SOC content increased by 8.4 to 20.2%under straw return.A significant linear positive correlation between SOC sequestration and C input(1.42-7.19 Mg ha^(−1)yr^(−1))(P<0.05)was detected.The percentages of aggregates of sizes>2 and 1-2 mm at the 0-20 cm soil depth were also significantly elevated under straw return,with the greatest increase of the aggregate stability in the Wt-Ct treatment(28.1%).The average wheat yields increased by 12.4-36.0%and cotton yields increased by 29.4-73.7%,and significantly linear positive correlations were also detected between C input and the yields of wheat and cotton.The average sustainable yield index(SYI)reached a maximum value of 0.69 when the C input was 7.08 Mg ha^(−1)yr^(−1),which was close to the maximum value(SYI of 0.69,C input of 7.19 Mg ha^(−1)yr^(-1))in the Wt-Ct treatment.Overall,the return of both wheat and cotton straw was the best strategy for improving SOC sequestration,soil aggregation,yields and their sustainability in the wheat-cotton rotation system.

Endogenous biosynthesis of docosahexaenoic acid(DHA)regulates fish oocyte maturation by promoting pregnenolone production

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids(n-3 PUFAs),particularly docosahexaenoic acid(22:6n-3,DHA),play crucial roles in the reproductive health of vertebrates,including humans.Nevertheless,the underlying mechanism related to this phenomenon remains largely unknown.In this study,we employed two zebrafish genetic models,i.e.,elovl2^(-/-)mutant as an endogenous DHAdeficient model and fat1(omega-3 desaturase encoding gene)transgenic zebrafish as an endogenous DHA-rich model,to investigate the effects of DHA on oocyte maturation and quality.Results show that the elovl2^(-/-)mutants had much lower fecundity and poorer oocyte quality than the wild-type controls,while the fat1 zebrafish had higher fecundity and better oocyte quality than wildtype controls.DHA deficiency in elovl2^(-/-)embryos led to defects in egg activation,poor microtubule stability,and reduced pregnenolone levels.Further study revealed that DHA promoted pregnenolone synthesis by enhancing transcription of cyp11a1,which encodes the cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme,thereby stabilizing microtubule assembly during oogenesis.In turn,the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis was enhanced by DHA.In conclusion,using two unique genetic models,our findings demonstrate that endogenously synthesized DHA promotes oocyte maturation and quality by promoting pregnenolone production via transcriptional regulation of cyp11a1.

Andrias davidianus bone peptides alleviates hyperuricemia-induced kidney damage in vitro and in vivo

Hyperuricemia(HUA)is a vital risk factor for chronic kidney diseases(CKD)and development of functional foods capable of protecting CKD is of importance.This paper aimed to explore the amelioration effects and mechanism of Andrias davidianus bone peptides(ADBP)on HUA-induced kidney damage.In the present study,we generated the standard ADBP which contained high hydrophobic amino acid and low molecular peptide contents.In vitro results found that ADBP protected uric acid(UA)-induced HK-2 cells from damage by modulating urate transporters and antioxidant defense.In vivo results indicated that ADBP effectively ameliorated renal injury in HUA-induced CKD mice,evidenced by a remarkable decrease in serum UA,creatinine and blood urea nitrogen,improving kidney UA excretion,antioxidant defense and histological kidney deterioration.Metabolomic analysis highlighted 14 metabolites that could be selected as potential biomarkers and attributed to the amelioration effects of ADBP on CKD mice kidney dysfunction.Intriguingly,ADBP restored the gut microbiome homeostasis in CKD mice,especially with respect to the elevated helpful microbial abundance,and the decreased harmful bacterial abundance.This study demonstrated that ADBP displayed great nephroprotective effects,and has great promise as a food or functional food ingredient for the prevention and treatment of HUA-induced CKD.

Transient receptor potential channels as predictive marker and potential indicator of chemoresistance in colon cancer

Transient receptor potential(TRP)channels are strongly associated with colon cancer development and progression.This study leveraged a multivariate Cox regression model on publicly available datasets to construct a TRP channels-associated gene signature,with further validation of signature in real world samples from our hospital treated patient samples.Kaplan-Meier(K-M)survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were employed to evaluate this gene signature’s predictive accuracy and robustness in both training and testing cohorts,respectively.Additionally,the study utilized the CIBERSORT algorithm and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis to explore the signature’s immune infiltration landscape and underlying functional implications.The support vector machine algorithm was applied to evaluate the signature’s potential in predicting chemotherapy outcomes.The findings unveiled a novel three TRP channels-related gene signature(MCOLN1,TRPM5,and TRPV4)in colon adenocarcinoma(COAD).The ROC and K-M survival curves in the training dataset(AUC=0.761;p=1.58e-05)and testing dataset(AUC=0.699;p=0.004)showed the signature’s robust predictive capability for the overall survival of COAD patients.Analysis of the immune infiltration landscape associated with the signature revealed higher immune infiltration,especially an increased presence of M2 macrophages,in high-risk group patients compared to their low-risk counterparts.High-risk score patients also exhibited potential responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy,evident through increased CD86 and PD-1 expression profiles.Moreover,the TRPM5 gene within the signature was highly expressed in the chemoresistance group(p=0.00095)and associated with poor prognosis(p=0.036)in COAD patients,highlighting its role as a hub gene of chemoresistance.Ultimately,this signature emerged as an independent prognosis factor for COAD patients(p=6.48e-06)and expression of model gene are validated by public data and real-world patients.Overall,this bioinformatics study provides valuable insights into the prognostic implications and potential chemotherapy resistance mechanisms associated with TRPs-related genes in colon cancer.

延安气田延长东地区盒8段致密气藏储层特征研究

为深化延安气田延长东地区致密气藏地质认识,对研究区盒8段储层开展了岩石学、物性和孔隙结构特征研究,并对物性主控因素进行了分析。结果表明:1)砂岩类型以岩屑石英砂岩为主,碎屑组分以石英为主,黏土矿物以绿泥石和伊利石为主,脆性指数和成分成熟度较高,孔渗呈强指数正相关和不对称双峰状分布,平均孔隙度为5.3%,平均渗透率为0.101×10^(-3)μm^(2),有效物性下限孔隙度为2.3%、下限渗透率为0.035×10^(-3)μm^(2),渗透率主要受宏孔隙控制;2)平均喉道半径为0.41μm,平均孔隙半径为135.38μm,原生孔隙空间损失较大,孔隙半径、有效孔隙体积和孔喉比为储集空间的主控因素,有效喉道体积为渗流能力的主控因素,储层孔隙结构分为Ⅰ类优质储层、Ⅱ类一般储层和Ⅲ类较差储层;3)储层物性主要受强压实作用、弱胶结作用和弱溶蚀作用控制,初始孔隙度为36.81%,视压实率为71.83%,压实作用减孔量为26.44%,视胶结率为24.50%,胶结作用减孔量为9.02%,视溶蚀率为9.48%,溶蚀作用增孔量为3.49%。该研究成果可为研究区乃至延安气田致密气藏高效勘探开发提供一定的地质依据。

澳大利亚职业生涯教育政策演进:特征动向与启示

职业生涯教育是澳大利亚政府的优先关注事项。对学生进行职业生涯教育是适应全球教育变革的重要举措,并取得了较为丰硕的成果。总的来说,澳大利亚的职业生涯教育政策主要经历了起步探索、完善发展和改革创新三个阶段。当前,澳大利亚的职业生涯教育呈现出以技能培养为目标、以普通教育为载体、以联邦政府为枢纽、以多方合作为保障四个主要特征。今后,如何发挥国家生涯研究所的职能、落实职业生涯教育融入学校课程、保障特殊群体个性化的职业生涯教育,决定着澳大利亚职业生涯教育的成效,对我国当前职业生涯教育改革发展具有借鉴启示意义。

鄂尔多斯盆地中部上古生界盒8段储层特征及敏感性分析

研究区紧邻苏里格气田,但是作为苏里格气田主要产气层段的盒8段在研究区产气较差,为究其原因,针对上古生界盒8段储层应用X衍射、全岩定量分析、薄片鉴定、水驱敏感性流动实验等方法开展储层特征和敏感性研究,明确其影响因素,为下一步增产开发提供思路。实验结果表明,研究区目的层段以石英岩屑砂岩为主,为低-特低孔、特低渗储层。孔隙分选较差,以小孔喉为主;储层具有弱-中等偏弱速敏、强-中等偏强水敏、弱酸敏、中等偏弱盐敏、弱碱敏等特点。研究区伊蒙混层、伊利石和高岭石对储层的水敏、速敏和盐敏具有控制作用,此外储层物性于敏感性也存在一定的相关性,储层物性差时,敏感性增强。

Pre-hospital application of REBOA for life-threatening hemorrhage

Dear Editor,Most battlefield casualties occur prior to the arrival of medical facilities.Uncontrollable hemorrhage accounts for more than 90%of those potentially survivable battlefield casualties[1].In both military and civilian conditions,non-compressible torso hemorrhage always caused rapid exsanguination and high mortality rates before definitive treatment[2].More than half of the deaths due to non-compressible torso hemorrhage occur before hospital care can be provided[2].Therefore,early and rapid pre-hospital hemorrhage control is essential to reduce mortality.

EPSPS regulates cell elongation by disrupting the balance of lignin and flavonoid biosynthesis in cotton

EPSPS is a key gene in the shikimic acid synthesis pathway that has been widely used in breeding crops with herbicide resistance.However,its role in regulating cell elongation is poorly understood.Through the overexpression of EPSPS genes,we generated lines resistant to glyphosate that exhibit an unexpected dwarf phenotype.A representative line,DHR1,exhibits a stable dwarf phenotype throughout its entire growth period.Except for plant height,the other agronomic traits of DHR1 are similar to its transgenic explants ZM24.Paraffin section observations showed that DHR1 internodes are shortened due to reduced elongation and division of the internode cells.Exogenous hormones confirmed that DHR1 is not a classical brassinolide(BR)-or gibberellin(GA)-related dwarfing mutant.Hybridization analysis and fine mapping confirmed that the EPSPS gene is the causal gene for dwarfism,and the phenotype can be inherited in different genotypes.Transcriptome and metabolome analyses showed that genes associated with the phenylpropanoid synthesis pathway are enriched in DHR1 compared with ZM24.Flavonoid metabolites are enriched in DHR1,whereas lignin metabolites are reduced.The enhancement of flavonoids likely results in differential expression of auxin signal pathway genes and alters the auxin response,subsequently affecting cell elongation.This study provides a new strategy for generating dwarfs and will accelerate advancements in light simplification in the cultivation and mechanized harvesting of cotton.

主动和被动吸烟对多发性硬化和视神经脊髓炎临床病程的影响

目的:主动吸烟和被动吸烟是常见的环境危险因素,但它们对多发性硬化(MS)和视神经脊髓炎谱系障碍(NMOSD)复发和残疾进展的影响尚无确切结论。多发性硬化和视神经脊髓炎是两种常见的中枢神经系统脱髓鞘疾病,本研究旨在调查主动和被动吸烟对这两种疾病复发和残疾进展的影响。方法:这是一项回顾性队列研究,患者来自四个中心。人口统计学和临床数据从临床数据库中提取,而涉及日常生活中环境暴露、复发和残疾进展的数据通过电话随访访谈获得。Cox比例风险回归模型用于评估复发的影响,多因素线性回归模型用于评估残疾进展。使用Kaplan-Meier生存曲线估计首次发作后五年内患者的复发情况。结果:本研究共纳入130名MS患者和318名NMOSD患者,女性分别占60%和79.6%。有主动吸烟史的MS患者复发风险更高,在控制协变量后,这种关联变得临界显著(aHR=1.52,95%CI=1.00,2.31;p=0.052)。每天吸烟超过10支的患者和每天吸烟少于10支的患者之间复发风险没有统计学差异(aHR=0.96,95%CI=0.63,1.47;p=0.859)。然而,与从未接触过被动吸烟的患者相比,接触被动吸烟与MS复发风险降低相关(aHR=0.75,95%CI=0.56,1.00;p=0.044)。主动吸烟/被动吸烟与NMOSD复发风险之间没有关联,但有吸烟史的患者扩展残疾状态评分EDSS(aβ=-0.20,95%CI=-0.38,-0.01;p=0.036)和多发性硬化严重程度评分MSSS(aβ=-0.23,95%CI=-0.44,-0.03;p=0.028)的年度进展率较低。结论:我们的研究表明,主动吸烟会增加MS的复发风险,并对患者残疾进展有负面影响,应鼓励患者发病后戒烟。

Recent advances on thermosensitive hydrogels-mediated precision therapy

Precision therapy has become the preferred choice attributed to the optimal drug concentration in target sites,increased therapeutic efficacy,and reduced adverse effects.Over the past few years,sprayable or injectable thermosensitive hydrogels have exhibited high therapeutic potential.These can be applied as cell-growing scaffolds or drug-releasing reservoirs by simply mixing in a free-flowing sol phase at room temperature.Inspired by their unique properties,thermosensitive hydrogels have been widely applied as drug delivery and treatment platforms for precision medicine.In this review,the state-of-theart developments in thermosensitive hydrogels for precision therapy are investigated,which covers from the thermo-gelling mechanisms and main components to biomedical applications,including wound healing,anti-tumor activity,osteogenesis,and periodontal,sinonasal and ophthalmic diseases.The most promising applications and trends of thermosensitive hydrogels for precision therapy are also discussed in light of their unique features.

Recent advances in electrochemical synthesis of urea via C-N coupling

Urea is widely used as fertilizer and is a key substance supporting global food production. However, the traditional industrial synthesis of urea faces the challenges with high energy consumption and serious environmental problems. With the increasing global demand for environmental protection and sustainable development, it is much necessary to develop novel and clean methods for the synthesis of urea.Electrocatalysis provides an efficient and renewable synthesis route that can directly produce urea at room temperature and atmospheric pressure by the coupling of CO_(2) and nitrogenous molecules. In this review, we summarized the most recent advances in electrochemical synthesis of urea via CAN coupling systematically, focusing on the coupling of CO_(2) and different nitrogen sources. And the associated coupling mechanism, catalysts optimization, and electrolyzer design are well discussed. Moreover, the challenges and future directions for electrocatalytic CAN coupling are prospected. This review will provide timely and valuable guidance for others and attract more interests to promote the development of electrochemical synthesis of urea or other valuable chemicals containing CAN bond.

Abnormal Traffic Detection for Internet of Things Based on an Improved Residual Network

Along with the progression of Internet of Things(IoT)technology,network terminals are becoming continuously more intelligent.IoT has been widely applied in various scenarios,including urban infrastructure,transportation,industry,personal life,and other socio-economic fields.The introduction of deep learning has brought new security challenges,like an increment in abnormal traffic,which threatens network security.Insufficient feature extraction leads to less accurate classification results.In abnormal traffic detection,the data of network traffic is high-dimensional and complex.This data not only increases the computational burden of model training but also makes information extraction more difficult.To address these issues,this paper proposes an MD-MRD-ResNeXt model for abnormal network traffic detection.To fully utilize the multi-scale information in network traffic,a Multi-scale Dilated feature extraction(MD)block is introduced.This module can effectively understand and process information at various scales and uses dilated convolution technology to significantly broaden the model’s receptive field.The proposed Max-feature-map Residual with Dual-channel pooling(MRD)block integrates the maximum feature map with the residual block.This module ensures the model focuses on key information,thereby optimizing computational efficiency and reducing unnecessary information redundancy.Experimental results show that compared to the latest methods,the proposed abnormal traffic detection model improves accuracy by about 2%.

Magnesium fertilizer application increases peanut growth and pod yield under reduced nitrogen application in southern China

This study investigated the effect of magnesium application on peanut growth and yield under two nitrogen(N)application rates in acidic soil in southern China.The chlorophyll content,net photosynthetic rate and dry matter accumulation of the N-sensitive cultivar decreased under reduced N treatments,whereas no effect was observed on the relevant indicators in the N-insensitive variety GH1026.Mg application increased the net photosynthetic rate by increasing the expression of genes involved in chlorophyll synthesis and Rubisco activity in the leaves during the pegging stage under 50%N treatment,while no effect on the net photosynthetic rate was observed under the 100%N treatment.The rate of dry matter accumulation at the early growth stage,total dry matter accumulation and pod yield at harvest increased after Mg application under 50%N treatment by increasing the transportation of assimilates from stems and leaves to pods in both peanut varieties,whereas no effect was found under 100%N treatment.Moreover,Mg application increased the NUE under 50%N treatment.No improvement of NUE in either peanut variety was found under 100%N treatment,while Mg application under the 50%N treatment can obtain a higher economic benefit than the 100%N treatment.In acidic soil,application of 307.5 kg ha^(-1)of Mg sulfate fertilizer under 50%reduced nitrogen application is a suitable fertilizer management measure for improving carbon assimilation,NUE and achieve high peanut yields in southern China.

A new model simulating the development of gas condensate reservoirs

A new simulation model for the development of gas condensate reservoirs is introduced based on the influence that phase change,non-Darcy flow,and capillary pressure have on the production of gas condensates.The model predicts well performance,including bottom-hole pressure,oil/gas production rate,oil/gas recovery,gaseoil ratio,and the change in produced fluid composition.It also calculates dynamic characters,such as the change of pressure field and oil/gas saturation field during the development of gas condensate reservoirs.The model is applicable to different boundary conditions(both constant-pressure and sealed boundary)and different production modes(both constant-pressure and constant-volume production modes).Model validation attempted using numerical simulation results for sealed boundary conditions with constant-pressure production mode has shown a relatively good match,proving its validity.For constant-pressure boundary conditions with constant-volume production mode,four stages are defined according to the dynamic behavior of production performance in the development of gas condensate reservoirs.

Effectiveness of the A3 robot on lower extremity motor function in stroke patients:A prospective,randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND The results of existing lower extremity robotics studies are conflicting,and few relevant clinical trials have examined short-term efficacy.In addition,most of the outcome indicators in existing studies are scales,which are not objective enough.We used the combination of objective instrument measurement and scale to explore the short-term efficacy of the lower limb A3 robot,to provide a clinical reference.AIM To investigate the improvement of lower limb walking ability and balance in stroke treated by A3 lower limb robot.METHODS Sixty stroke patients were recruited prospectively in a hospital and randomized into the A3 group and the control group.They received 30 min of A3 robotics training and 30 min of floor walking training in addition to 30 min of regular rehabilitation training.The training was performed five times a week,once a day,for 2 wk.The t-test or non-parametric test was used to compare the threedimensional gait parameters and balance between the two groups before and after treatment.RESULTS The scores of basic activities of daily living,Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale,FM balance meter,Fugl-Meyer Assessment scores,Rivermead Mobility Index,Stride speed,Stride length,and Time Up and Go test in the two groups were significantly better than before treatment(19.29±12.15 vs 3.52±4.34;22.57±17.99 vs 4.07±2.51;1.21±0.83 vs 0.18±0.40;3.50±3.80 vs 0.96±2.08;2.07±1.21 vs 0.41±0.57;0.89±0.63 vs 0.11±0.32;12.38±9.00 vs 2.80±3.43;18.84±11.24 vs 3.80±10.83;45.12±69.41 vs 8.41±10.20;29.45±16.62 vs 8.68±10.74;P<0.05).All outcome indicators were significantly better in the A3 group than in the control group,except the area of the balance parameter.CONCLUSION For the short-term treatment of patients with subacute stroke,the addition of A3 robotic walking training to conventional physiotherapy appears to be more effective than the addition of ground-based walking training.

Household air pollution and lung cancer in China:a review of studies in Xuanwei

Over half of the world's population is exposed to household air pollution from the burning of solid fuels at home. Household air pollution from solid fuel use is a leading risk factor for global disease and remains a major public health problem, especially in low- and mid-income countries. This is a particularly serious problem in China, where many people in rural areas still use coal for household heating and cooking. This review focuses on several decades of research carried out in Xuanwei County, Yunnan Province, where household coal use is a major source of household air pollution and where studies have linked household air pollution exposure to high rates of lung cancer. We conducted a series of case-control and cohort studies in Xuanwei to characterize the lung cancer risk in this population and the factors associated with it. We found lung cancer risk to vary substantially between different coal types, with a higher risk associated with smoky(i.e., bituminous) coal use compared to smokeless(i.e., anthracite) coal use. The installation of a chimney in homes resulted in a substantial reduction in lung cancer incidence and mortality. Overall, our research underscores the need among existing coal users to improve ventilation, use the least toxic fuel, and eventually move toward the use of cleaner fuels, such as gas and electricity.

Effects of bortezomib in sensitizing human prostate ：ancer cell lines to NK-mediated cytotoxicity

The proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, has been demonstrated to sensitize tumor cells to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand （TRAIL）-mediated apoptosis. Natural killer （NK） cells represent potent antitumor effector cells. They also express TRAIL. Therefore, we investigated whether bortezomib could sensitize tumor cells to NK cell-mediated killing, and have the same effect in human prostate cancer cell lines （LNCaP and DU145）. We found that bortezomib strongly inhibits proliferation in both cell lines. Furthermore, compared with LNCaP cells, DU145 cells are more sensitive to bortezomib-induced apoptosis. However, bortezomib is unable to sensitize these two cell lines to NK cell-mediated killing in short-term assays. In long-term assays, we found that killing mediated by activated NK cells following bortezomib treatment leads to greater antitumor effects than either treatment alone. In addition, treatment with bortezomib causes these cells to upregulate apoptosis-related mRNA as well as death receptors and downregulate the major histocompatibility class （MHC）-I molecule on the cell surface of DU145 cells. In contrast, LNCaP cells are not sensitized by this treatment. Death receptors and the MHC-I molecule did not change in this cell line. These data suggest that bortezomib can be used to sensitize prostate cancer cells to NK cell-mediated killing and improve current cancer therapies. This theral）eutic stratelzv may be more effective in I）atients with androeen-insensitive orostate cancer.

Finding Statistically Significant Communities in Networks with Weighted Label Propagation

Various networks exist in the world today including biological, social, information, and communication networks with the Internet as the largest network of all. One salient structural feature of these networks is the formation of groups or communities of vertices that tend to be more connected to each other within the same group than to those outside. Therefore, the detection of these communities is a topic of great interest and importance in many applications and different algorithms including label propagation have been developed for such purpose. Speaker-listener label propagation algorithm (SLPA) enjoys almost linear time complexity, so desirable in dealing with large networks. As an extension of SLPA, this study presented a novel weighted label propagation algorithm (WLPA), which was tested on four real world social networks with known community structures including the famous Zachary's karate club network. Wilcoxon tests on the communities found in the karate club network by WLPA demonstrated an improved statistical significance over SLPA. Withthehelp of Wilcoxon tests again, we were able to determine the best possible formation of two communities in this network relative to the ground truth partition, which could be used as a new benchmark for assessing community detection algorithms. Finally WLPA predicted better communities than SLPA in two of the three additional real social networks, when compared to the ground truth.