An Opposition-Based Learning-Based Search Mechanism for Flying Foxes Optimization Algorithm

The flying foxes optimization(FFO)algorithm,as a newly introduced metaheuristic algorithm,is inspired by the survival tactics of flying foxes in heat wave environments.FFO preferentially selects the best-performing individuals.This tendency will cause the newly generated solution to remain closely tied to the candidate optimal in the search area.To address this issue,the paper introduces an opposition-based learning-based search mechanism for FFO algorithm(IFFO).Firstly,this paper introduces niching techniques to improve the survival list method,which not only focuses on the adaptability of individuals but also considers the population’s crowding degree to enhance the global search capability.Secondly,an initialization strategy of opposition-based learning is used to perturb the initial population and elevate its quality.Finally,to verify the superiority of the improved search mechanism,IFFO,FFO and the cutting-edge metaheuristic algorithms are compared and analyzed using a set of test functions.The results prove that compared with other algorithms,IFFO is characterized by its rapid convergence,precise results and robust stability.

Clinical Observation on the Treatment of Pre and Postmenopausal Syndromes by Modified Wumei Decoction

Objective:To compare the efficacy of Wumei Decoction in pre and postmenopausal patients and its effect on follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH)and estradiol(E2).Methods:Sixty-four patients who attended the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine I in Cangzhou City Central Hospital from January 2020 to January 2022 were selected and randomly divided into treatment group and control group,32 cases in each group.The treatment group took modified Wumei Decoction orally,1 dose of water boiled 2 times a day,divided into 2 warm doses;the control group took Livial orally,2.5 mg/times,1 time/day,and the observation cycles were all for 3 months.Kupperman score,FSH,E2,clinical symptoms and clinical efficacy were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.Results:The Kupperman score of the two groups decreased after treatment,and the difference was statistically significant;the total effective rate of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant;there was no statistical significance in the comparison of FSH before and after the treatment of the two groups,but the FSH values of the two groups were significantly lower than those before,and the difference was statistically significant;there was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of E2 of the two groups before treatment,and the E2 values of the two groups were higher than those of the control group after the treatment.After the treatment,E2 of the two groups of patients was significantly higher than before,and the difference was statistically significant.After treatment,E2 of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group,and the comparison between the groups was statistically significant.Conclusion:There was no significant difference between modified Wumei Decoction and Livial in lowering follicle-stimulating hormone levels;modified Wumei Decoction was superior in raising oestradiol;and modified Wumei Decoction was relatively effective in improving clinical symptoms.

Experimental and theoretical study on N-hydroxyphthalimide and its derivatives catalyzed aerobic oxidation of cyclohexylbenzene

The liquid phase oxidation of cyclohexylbenzene(CHB)is a new green synthetic approach to cyclohexylbenzene-1-hydroperoxide(CHBHP),a key intermediate for preparing phenol and cyclohexanone.In this work,aryl-substituted(Cl and Br)derivatives of N-hydroxyphthalimide(NHPI)were synthesized and their catalytic performances for CHB oxidation were studied.In addition,geometric optimization and transition state search were performed using DFT calculations.Both experimental and theoretical studies have proven that chloro-substitution on NHPI can significantly improve its catalytic effects on the oxidation of CHB by oxygen.Compared with NHPI,CHB conversion and selectivity of CHBHP over Cl;NHPI were increased by 10.47%and 13.24%.The strategy of aryl-substituting NHPI with halogen atoms proposed in this study would provide a potential way to the development of new NHPI-based catalysts for aerobic oxidation reactions.

Effect of Jianpi Bushen formula for colon cancer patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy:Statistical analysis plan for a multicenter trial

Background:Patients with colon cancer who receive chemotherapy usually experience various gastrointestinal adverse reactions,including nausea,vomiting,and diarrhea,which make it challenging for them to adhere to treatment.As an effective traditional Chinese medicine,the Jianpi Bushen formula has been widely used to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy.Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jianpi Bushen formulae for patients who undergo chemotherapy.This statistical analysis plan(SAP)is intended to enhance the transparency and research quality of our randomized controlled trial.Methods:Our study is a multicenter,double-blind,randomized controlled clinical trial.This trial aimed to compare the completion rate of chemotherapy in colon cancer patients who are using and not using Jianpi Bushen formula.To attenuate possible selection bias in the final report,we declared the overall trial design,outcome measures,subgroup analyses,and safety measures.Also,we described the data management and statistical analysis methods in detail.Conclusion:The SAP provides more detailed information than the trial protocol for data management and statistical analysis methods.Further post-hoc analyses can be performed by referring to the SAP,and possible selection bias can be attenuated.

Towards Robust Rain Removal with Unet

Image deraining has become a hot topic in the field of computervision. It is the process of removing rain streaks from an image to reconstructa high-quality background. This study aims at improving the performance ofimage rain streak removal and reducing the disruptive effects caused by rain.To better fit the rain removal task, an innovative image deraining method isproposed, where a kernel prediction network with Unet++ is designed andused to filter rainy images, and rainy-day images are used to estimate thepixel-level kernel for rain removal. To minimize the gap between synthetic andreal data and improve the performance in real rainy image handling, a lossfunction and an effective data optimization method are suggested. In contrastwith other methods, the loss function consists of Structural Similarity Indexloss, edge loss, and L1 loss, and it is adopted to improve performance. Theproposed algorithm can improve the Peak Signal-to-Noise ratio by 1.3% whencompared to conventional approaches. Experimental results indicate that theproposed method can achieve a better efficiency and preserve more imagestructure than several classical methods.

Analysis of cancer pain in hospitals in Beijing,China

Objective:This study aimed to survey the characteristics and treatments of cancer pain in Beijing hospitals,China.Methods:At 20:00 on December 22,2009,there conducted a questionnaire survey in 2238 patients with malignant tumors of 26 hospitals in Beijing,and the survey results were statistically analyzed.Results:The 531 cases in 2238 patients had pained and 121 cases (22.79%) had outbreak pain with one week.At 20:00 on December 22,2009,199 cases (38%) in the above-mentioned 531 pain patients suffered the moderate to severe pain (pain scores ≥ 4).The number of pain (pain scores ≥ 4) patients in the consecutive three days from December 20 to December 22 were 150.Conclusion:In the 531 cancer pain patients of the surveyed hospitals,38% of the patients were not satisfied with the pain control.Doctors believed that the main reason for pain not controlled was the non-standard treatment,but patients considered to be afraid of addiction.

Analysis of Chicken T Cell-Mediated Responses on Thymus after Immune Stress

In order to assess chicken T cell-mediated responses after immune stress, 200 two-week-old chickens were randomly divided into control group(C) and treatment groups (T1 and T2). The live I-type of Newcastle disease vaccine (ND) was taken as the source of immunological stress. The chickens in group (T2) were injected with overdose of live I-type Newcastle disease vaccine. After vaccination, the dynamic changes of CD4+, CD8+T cells on thymus were detected by immunohisto-chemistry. The ultra-structure of T cells on thymus of the chickens in group (T2) was observed by electron microscopic. The result showed: (1) After immune stress, from day 1 to day 5, the number of the CD4+T cells significantly declined and reached the bottom at day 5, but the number of the CD8+T cells increased dramatically and peaked at day 5. (2) After immune stress, from day 1 to day 5, part of T cells of chicken thymus came with apoptotic and pathological changes of putrescence continually. These results underscore: the immune stress can cause transient immune adjustment. These changes for chickens were the self-protection mechanism of immune system to adapt to survival and avoid immune disorder.

Detection of scene-irrelevant head movements via eye-head coordination information

Background Accurate motion tracking in head-mounted displays(HMDs)has been widely used in immersive VR interaction technologies.However,tracking the head motion of users at all times is not always desirable.During a session of HMD usage,users may make scene-irrelevant head rotations,such as adjusting the head position to avoid neck pain or responding to distractions from the physical world.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first study that addresses the problem of scene-irrelevant head movements.Methods We trained a classifier to detect scene-irrelevant motions using temporal eye head-coordinated information sequences.To investigate the usefulness of the detection results,we propose a technique to suspend motion tracking in HMDs where scene-irrelevant motions are detected.Results/Conclusions Experimental results demonstrate that the scene-relevancy of movements can be detected using eye-head coordination information,and that ignoring scene-irrelevant head motions in HMDs improves user continuity without increasing sickness or breaking immersion.

Macrophages in cardiovascular diseases:molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets

The immune response holds a pivotal role in cardiovascular disease development.As multifunctional cells of the innate immune system,macrophages play an essential role in initial inflammatory response that occurs following cardiovascular injury,thereby inducing subsequent damage while also facilitating recovery.Meanwhile,the diverse phenotypes and phenotypic alterations of macrophages strongly associate with distinct types and severity of cardiovascular diseases,including coronary heart disease,valvular disease,myocarditis,cardiomyopathy,heart failure,atherosclerosis and aneurysm,which underscores the importance of investigating macrophage regulatory mechanisms within the context of specific diseases.Besides,recent strides in single-cell sequencing technologies have revealed macrophage heterogeneity,cell–cell interactions,and downstream mechanisms of therapeutic targets at a higher resolution,which brings new perspectives into macrophage-mediated mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases.Remarkably,myocardial fibrosis,a prevalent characteristic in most cardiac diseases,remains a formidable clinical challenge,necessitating a profound investigation into the impact of macrophages on myocardial fibrosis within the context of cardiac diseases.In this review,we systematically summarize the diverse phenotypic and functional plasticity of macrophages in regulatory mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases and unprecedented insights introduced by singlecell sequencing technologies,with a focus on different causes and characteristics of diseases,especially the relationship between inflammation and fibrosis in cardiac diseases(myocardial infarction,pressure overload,myocarditis,dilated cardiomyopathy,diabetic cardiomyopathy and cardiac aging)and the relationship between inflammation and vascular injury in vascular diseases(atherosclerosis and aneurysm).Finally,we also highlight the preclinical/clinical macrophage targeting strategies and translational implications.

Featured services and performance of BDS-3

BeiDou Global Navigation Satellite System(BDS-3)not only performs the normal positioning,navigation and timing(PNT)functions,but also provides featured services,which are divided into geostationary orbit(GEO)and medium earth orbit(MEO)satellite-based featured services in this paper.The former refers to regional services consisting of the regional short message communication service(RSMCS),the radio determination satellite service(RDSS),the BDS satellite-based augmented service(BDSBAS)and the satellite-based precise point positioning service via B2b signal(B2b-PPP).The latter refers to global services consisting of the global short message communication service(GSMCS)and the MEO satellite-based search and rescue(MEOSAR)service.The focus of this paper is to describe these featured services and evaluate their performances.The results show that the inter-satellite link(ISL)contributes a lot to the accuracy improvement of orbit determination and time synchronization for the whole constellation.Compared with some other final products,the root mean squares(RMS)of the BDS-3 precise orbits and broadcast clock are 25.1 cm and 2.01 ns,respectively.The positioning accuracy of single frequency is better than 6 m,and that of the generalized RDSS is usually better than 12 m.For featured services,the success rates of RSMCS and GSMCS are better than 99.9% and 95.6%,respectively;the positioning accuracies of single and dual frequency BDSBAS are better than 3 and 2 m,respectively;the positioning accuracy of B2b-PPP is better than 0.6 m,and the convergence time is usually smaller than 30 min;the single station test shows that the success rate of MEOSAR is better than 99%.Due to the ISL realization in the BDS-3 constellation,the performance and capacities of the global featured services are improved significantly.

SIS accuracy and service performance of the BDS-3 basic system

On December 27,2018,the basic system of the third-generation BeiDou navigation satellite system(BDS-3)completed the deployment of its constellation of 18 MEO networking satellites as well as the construction of the operation control system(OCS)and began to provide basic navigation services to users worldwide.Compared with BDS-2,BDS-3 aims to offer users better navigation signals and higher precision with a series of new technologies.For example,the spaceborne atomic clock of BDS-3 is upgraded for higher performance,the Ka-band inter-satellite link is adopted for inter-satellite ranging and communication,and new B1C and B2a signals are broadcast in addition to B1I and B3I signals(compatible with BDS-2).In addition,a 9-parameter model based on a spherical harmonic function is employed for ionospheric delay corrections.Using the observation data from 18 satellites of the basic system,this paper conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the pseudorange measurement characteristics,signal-in-space(SIS)accuracy of navigation messages and global service capability of BDS-3.The results indicate that the pseudorange measurement multipath effect and observation noise of BDS-3 satellites are better than those of BDS-2;additionally,with the support of inter-satellite links,the user range error(URE)of the BDS-3 satellite broadcast ephemeris is better than 10 cm,the precision of the broadcast clock parameter is better than 1.5 ns,and the SIS accuracy is better than 0.6 m overall.Different from the traditional Klobuchar model,the BeiDou global broadcast ionospheric delay correction model(BDGIM)can provide ionospheric delay corrections better than 70%for worldwide single-frequency users.The service capability evaluation of the basic system consists mainly of the accuracy improvement of the B1I and B3I signals according to BDS-2 as well as the global positioning accuracy of the new signals.These results prove that the BDS-3 basic system has achieved the design goal;that is,both the horizontal and the vertical global positioning accuracies are better than 10 m(95%).In the future,6 MEO satellites as well as 3 GEO satellites and 3 IGSO satellites for regional enhancement purposes will be deployed for full operation;consequently,BDS-3 will definitely provide a higher SIS accuracy and better service capability.

circCAPRIN1 interacts with STAT2 to promote tumor progression and lipid synthesis via upregulating ACC1 expression in colorectal cancer

Background:Circular RNAs(circRNAs)generated by back-splicing of precursor mRNAs(pre-mRNAs)are often aberrantly expressed in cancer cells.Accumulating evidence has revealed that circRNAs play a critical role in the progression of several cancers,including colorectal cancer(CRC).However,the current understandings of the emerging functions of circRNAs in CRC lipid metabolism and the underlying molecular mechanisms are still limited.Here,we aimed to explore the role of circCAPRIN1 in regulating CRC lipid metabolism and tumorigenesis.Methods:circRNA microarray was performed with three pairs of tumor and non-tumor tissues from CRC patients.The expression of circRNAs were determined by quantitative PCR(qPCR)and in situ hybridization(ISH).The endogenous levels of circRNAs in CRC cells were manipulated by transfection with lentiviruses overexpressing or silencing circRNAs.The regulatory roles of circRNAs in the occurrence of CRC were investigated both in vitro and in vivo using gene expression array,RNA pull-down/mass spectrometry,RNA immunoprecipitation assay,luciferase reporter assay,chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis,and fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH).Results:Among circRNAs,circCAPRIN1 was most significantly upregulated in CRC tissue specimens.circCAPRIN1 expression was positively correlated with the clinical stage and unfavorable prognosis of CRC patients.Downregulation of circCAPRIN1 suppressed proliferation,migration,and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of CRC cells,while circCAPRIN1 overexpression had opposite effects.RNA sequencing and gene ontology analysis indicated that circCAPRIN1 upregulated the expressions of genes involved in CRC lipid metabolism.Moreover,circCAPRIN1 promoted lipid synthesis by enhancing Acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1(ACC1)expression.Further mechanistic assays demonstrated that circCAPRIN1 directly bound signal transducer and activator of transcription 2(STAT2)to activate ACC1 transcription,thus regulating lipid metabolism and facilitating CRC tumorigenesis.Conclusions:These findings revealed the oncogenic role and mechanism of circCAPRIN1 in CRC.circCAPRIN1 interacted with STAT2 to promote CRC tumor progression and lipid synthesis by enhancing the expression of ACC1.circCAPRIN1 may be considered as a novel potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for CRC patients.

Programmed death ligand-1 regulates angiogenesis and metastasis by participating in the c-JUN/VEGFR2 signaling axis in ovarian cancer

Background:Although programmed cell death-ligand 1(PD-L1)plays a wellknown function in immune checkpoint response by interacting with programmed cell death-1(PD-1),the cell-intrinsic role of PD-L1 in tumors is still unclear.Here,we explored the molecular regulatory mechanism of PD-L1 in the progression and metastasis of ovarian cancer.Methods:Immunohistochemistry of benign tissues and ovarian cancer samples was performed,followed by migration,invasion,and angiogenesis assays in PDL1-knockdown ovarian cancer cells.Immunoprecipitation,mass spectrometry,and chromatin immunoprecipitation were conducted along with zebrafish and mouse experiments to explore the specific functions and mechanisms of PD-L1 in ovarian cancer.Results:Our results showed that PD-L1 induced angiogenesis,which further promoted cell migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo of ovarian cancer.Mechanistically,PD-L1 was identified to directly interact with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2(VEGFR2)and then activated the FAK/AKT pathway,which further induced angiogenesis and tumor progression,leading to poor prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.Meanwhile,PD-L1 was found to be regulated by the oncogenic transcription factor c-JUN at the transcriptional level,which enhanced the expression of PD-L1 in ovarian cancer.Furthermore,we demonstrated that PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab,combined with the antiangiogenic drug,apatinib,could enhance the effect of anti-angiogenesis and the inhibition of cell migration and invasion.Conclusion:Our results demonstrated that PD-L1 promoted the angiogenesis and metastasis of ovarian cancer by participating in the c-JUN/VEGFR2 signaling axis,suggesting that the combination of PD-L1 inhibitor and antiangiogenic drugs may be considered as a potential therapeutic approach for ovarian cancer patients.