Simultaneous purification of minor components in natural products using twin-column recycling chromatography with a step solvent gradient

The isolation of minor components from complex natural product matrices presents a significant challenge in the field of purification science due to their low concentrations and the presence of structurally similar compounds.This study introduces an optimized twin-column recycling chromatography method for the efficient and simultaneous purification of these elusive constituents.By introducing water at a small flowing rate between the twin columns,a step solvent gradient is created,by which the leading edge of concentration band would migrate at a slower rate than the trailing edge as it flowing from the upstream to downstream column.Hence,the band broadening is counterbalanced,resulting in an enrichment effect for those minor components in separation process.Herein,two target substances,which showed similar peak position in high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and did not exceed 1.8%in crude paclitaxel were selected as target compounds for separation.By using the twin-column recycling chromatography with a step solvent gradient,a successful purification was achieved in getting the two with the purity almost 100%.We suggest this method is suitable for the separation of most components in natural produces,which shows higher precision and recovery rate compared with the common lab-operated separation ways for natural products(thin-layer chromatography and prep-HPLC).

Self organizing optimization and phase transition in reinforcement learning minority game system

Whether the complex game system composed of a large number of artificial intelligence(AI)agents empowered with reinforcement learning can produce extremely favorable collective behaviors just through the way of agent self-exploration is a matter of practical importance.In this paper,we address this question by combining the typical theoretical model of resource allocation system,the minority game model,with reinforcement learning.Each individual participating in the game is set to have a certain degree of intelligence based on reinforcement learning algorithm.In particular,we demonstrate that as AI agents gradually becomes familiar with the unknown environment and tries to provide optimal actions to maximize payoff,the whole system continues to approach the optimal state under certain parameter combinations,herding is effectively suppressed by an oscillating collective behavior which is a self-organizing pattern without any external interference.An interesting phenomenon is that a first-order phase transition is revealed based on some numerical results in our multi-agents system with reinforcement learning.In order to further understand the dynamic behavior of agent learning,we define and analyze the conversion path of belief mode,and find that the self-organizing condensation of belief modes appeared for the given trial and error rates in the AI system.Finally,we provide a detection method for period-two oscillation collective pattern emergence based on the Kullback–Leibler divergence and give the parameter position where the period-two appears.

Predictive modeling for postoperative delirium in elderly patients with abdominal malignancies using synthetic minority oversampling technique

BACKGROUND Postoperative delirium,particularly prevalent in elderly patients after abdominal cancer surgery,presents significant challenges in clinical management.AIM To develop a synthetic minority oversampling technique(SMOTE)-based model for predicting postoperative delirium in elderly abdominal cancer patients.METHODS In this retrospective cohort study,we analyzed data from 611 elderly patients who underwent abdominal malignant tumor surgery at our hospital between September 2020 and October 2022.The incidence of postoperative delirium was recorded for 7 d post-surgery.Patients were divided into delirium and non-delirium groups based on the occurrence of postoperative delirium or not.A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors and develop a predictive model for postoperative delirium.The SMOTE technique was applied to enhance the model by oversampling the delirium cases.The model’s predictive accuracy was then validated.RESULTS In our study involving 611 elderly patients with abdominal malignant tumors,multivariate logistic regression analysis identified significant risk factors for postoperative delirium.These included the Charlson comorbidity index,American Society of Anesthesiologists classification,history of cerebrovascular disease,surgical duration,perioperative blood transfusion,and postoperative pain score.The incidence rate of postoperative delirium in our study was 22.91%.The original predictive model(P1)exhibited an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.862.In comparison,the SMOTE-based logistic early warning model(P2),which utilized the SMOTE oversampling algorithm,showed a slightly lower but comparable area under the curve of 0.856,suggesting no significant difference in performance between the two predictive approaches.CONCLUSION This study confirms that the SMOTE-enhanced predictive model for postoperative delirium in elderly abdominal tumor patients shows performance equivalent to that of traditional methods,effectively addressing data imbalance.

Cardiovascular diseases in European ethnic minorities: Beyond the traditional cardiovascular risk factors

This editorial is intended to be a reflection on cardiovascular disease(CVD)burden in European ethnic minorities.In some European countries,ethnic minority realities,due to their recent appearance,are still to be studied in depth.The experience of several European countries,where the migration processes started earlier,even more than a century ago,can help by being an example.Many studies have shown that major differences in CVD burden exist not only between countries,but also within the same country when considering different social strata and ethnic groups.The CV risk factors underlying heart disease have been well established.Important epidemiological studies have helped us understand that the underlying causes of heart disease as well as the behaviors that can help prevent them are the same.We are now well aware that CVD should be treated by considering a holistic approach.This is why the social determinants(SDs)of health that may worsen the disease burden or that,vice versa,may improve the treatment,and even more significantly,the prognosis of a patient’s illness should be taken into consideration.For ethnic minority patients,this holistic,hermeneutic approach is of importance.Several SDs of health that influence CVDs have been identified but their relevance for the health of ethnic minorities has not yet been clearly defined.In some European countries,most ethnic minorities are largely also religious minorities.Only a few studies have evaluated the role of religion,which is an important SD that affects the probability of having CV risk factors and diseases.Adolescents,particularly those belonging to the second generation,seem to be the weak link.If we believe that these young people are really citizens of their country of birth,then a way of recognizing their belonging to the community starts from a will to better understand their condition,in order to assist them while they grow physically and mentally.Thinking about safeguarding the health of this population should be more than a health task,rather a goal of social justice.

4-连通P0-Minor-Free图的特征

设H和G是两个图,如果图H可以通过从图G的一个子图中收缩边然后删除产生的环和平行边得到,我们就把图H叫做图G的一个minor。如果图G没有同构于图H的minor,我们称图G为H-minor-free图。图论中很多猜想都与H-minor-free图有关,例如Hadwiger猜想和Tutte 4-流猜想等。为了推动这些猜想的解决,我们目前非常关注Petersen-minor-free图的结构。由于它们都是15条边的3-连通图,直接刻画起来比较困难。因此为了刻画Petersen-minor-free图,许多学者尝试对每个边数小于15的3-连通图进行刻画去接近Petersen-minor-free图。记P0为Petersen收缩两条完美匹配边和一条非完美匹配边得到的子图基础上添加一条边得到的13条边的图。本文下面将给出完整的4-连通P0-minor-free图的刻画。

Spiritual Forests—A Nature Conservation Model of Ethnic Minority Communities in Central Viet Nam

This paper aims to analyze and evaluate a model of forest conservation and management of ethnic minority (or indigenous) people in central Vietnam, often referred to as the spiritual forest. These forests, called sacred forest or ghost forests by the ethnic minority people in Thua Thien Hue province, have existed for a long time among forest residents. However, they have recently declined, both in quality and quantity, due to various factors, including changes in society, economy, environment, and perception, among other reasons. Based on research conducted in A Luoi district, Thua Thien Hue province with household interviews, group discussions, and field surveys, we find that spiritual forest retains religious and human significance. They are also often among the last remaining natural forests left due to deforestation by human activities. The research results indicate challenges that conservation of spiritual forest may face, while giving recommendations derived from communities for sustainable forest development and conservation in the region.

海岸凤尾蕨(Pteris minor)的地理分布格局及保护价值分析

海岸凤尾蕨是海岸带少有的蕨类植物之一。由于其植株形态和傅氏凤尾蕨相似,因长期被误定为傅氏凤尾蕨而缺乏关注。其实,二者在生境、植株形态、孢子形态及染色体倍性上有明显区别。所以,海岸凤尾蕨由傅氏凤尾蕨的变种提升为种。为厘清海岸凤尾蕨的分布区域和生存现状,通过整理前人的采集记录和研究结果,结合野外考察,使用Arc-GIS 10.7软件构建海岸凤尾蕨不同范围的地理分布信息图,并依据IUCN 3.1的标准,对其保护价值进行评估。研究结果显示:(1)从世界地理分布格局来看,海岸凤尾蕨主要分布在亚洲;亚洲主要分布在中国、日本和菲律宾;中国主要分布在浙江、福建、澳门、香港和台湾;日本主要分布在琉球群岛;菲律宾主要分布在北部岛屿。(2)根据IUCN 3.1标准,海岸凤尾蕨的保护等级暂时定为近危(NT)。从目前的数据来看,海岸凤尾蕨的分布范围狭窄,其生境容易受到人类活动的干扰,却长期缺乏保护。因此,最后提出相应保护建议。

A minor emphasis on the outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis after devastating earthquakes in Turkey

Leishmaniasis is a serious parasitic disease caused by Leishmania species transmitted by the bite of sandflies. This disease is also an important public health problem. Clinical manifestations can be classified as cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis, depending on the species of parasite and the host’s immune status. Although the cutaneous form is not fatal, it often causes disfiguring scars on the skin[1].

Maternal-Fetal Pregnancy Complications of in Minors Raped with or without Physical Restraint in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction: Pregnancy resulting from rape is a public health and sexual and reproductive health issue, especially among minors. Rape can be perpetrated with or without physical restraint. The objective of the present study is to highlight the prevalence of physical coercion leading to pregnancy and the associated maternal-fetal complications. Methodology: This was a comparative descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study of complications associated with post-rape pregnancy by physical restraint among minors who were treated at the General Reference Hospital of Panzi over a two-year period from June 2020 to June 2022. A total of 140 minor survivors of violence with pregnancy were included in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire, coded and analyzed in Excel and XLSTAT version 2014. Results: The prevalence of physical constraints was 65%. After mulltivariate analyses, denial of pregnancy (ORa: 9.64 95% CI: 1.1 - 81.2;p-value: 0.0370), attempted abortion (ORa: 56.1 95% CI: 1.5 - 2027.6;p-value: 0.0278) and agitation during delivery (ORa: 88.7 95% CI: 4.5 - 1715;p-value: 0.0030) were the complications associated with pregnancy in minors who experienced physical restraint rape. In addition, BMI was a factor in reducing the risk of physical restraint rape at the ORa of 0.5054 [0.3;0.8];p 0.006). Conclusion: Pregnancy among minors is a reality and occurs in a situation of physical coercion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. These pregnancies are often associated with complications that require an intensive management system since they can jeopardize the maternal-fetal prognosis of minors.

Perpetrators of Sexual Violence against Minors in Casamance (Senegal)

Introduction: The causes of sexual delinquency against children are multifactorial and the motivations that drive the perpetrators of sexual assault are diverse. Nowadays, there is still no consensus on a single portrait of child sex offenders and studies that focus on sex offenders are still rare in Senegal and Africa. Objectives: To determine the profile of the perpetrators and to identify the circumstances of sexual violence against minors in Casamance. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive and analytical study from April 1, 2014 to October 31, 2019 was conducted. The study population was made up of perpetrators of sexual violence against minors whose legal proceedings were dealt with at the Ziguinchor High Court. The data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and then analyzed using Epi InfoTM 7 software. Results: A total of 106 cases of sexual violence against minors were collected for 113 aggressors and 106 victims. Rape accounted for 66.03% of sexual violence. Male aggressors were 98.23%. Female victims accounted for 95.28%. The average age of the attackers was 32.52 years (±13.68). Offenders over the age of 35 committed the most rape (p = 0.043). The average age of the victims was 12.62 years (±3.42). Victims aged ten and over (p = 0.015) and who had a low level of education (p = 0.016) were more exposed to rape. The assault took place during the day (65.71%) and at the home of the aggressor (62.26%). Victims knew their attackers (84.47%). Victims were assaulted more than once by the same assailant (40.57%). Those aged 10 years and over (p = 0.0037) and who knew their attackers (p = 0.014) were more at risk of being repeatedly sexually abused. Conclusion: In Senegal, sexual violence against minors is perpetrated by young adult men, single, with little or no education and exercising low-income professions. Rape is the type of aggression preferred by perpetrators, most of whom were known to their victims. The policy to fight sexual violence against children must integrate sex education at school and community level, public awareness, monitoring of child sex offenders and possibly, their medico-psychological care.

An End-to-End Transformer-Based Automatic Speech Recognition for Qur’an Reciters

The attention-based encoder-decoder technique,known as the trans-former,is used to enhance the performance of end-to-end automatic speech recognition(ASR).This research focuses on applying ASR end-toend transformer-based models for the Arabic language,as the researchers’community pays little attention to it.The Muslims Holy Qur’an book is written using Arabic diacritized text.In this paper,an end-to-end transformer model to building a robust Qur’an vs.recognition is proposed.The acoustic model was built using the transformer-based model as deep learning by the PyTorch framework.A multi-head attention mechanism is utilized to represent the encoder and decoder in the acoustic model.AMel filter bank is used for feature extraction.To build a language model(LM),the Recurrent Neural Network(RNN)and Long short-term memory(LSTM)were used to train an n-gram word-based LM.As a part of this research,a new dataset of Qur’an verses and their associated transcripts were collected and processed for training and evaluating the proposed model,consisting of 10 h of.wav recitations performed by 60 reciters.The experimental results showed that the proposed end-to-end transformer-based model achieved a significant low character error rate(CER)of 1.98%and a word error rate(WER)of 6.16%.We have achieved state-of-the-art end-to-end transformer-based recognition for Qur’an reciters.

Considerations for Restriction on the Right of Rescission in Case of Obviously Minor Breaches

Whether,and how,to rescind the right of one party(the non-breaching party)to rescind a contract in case of an obviously minor breach by the other party(the breaching party)is a recurring topic in the field of contract law.The Minutes of the Ninth Work Conference of the Courts Nationwide on Civil and Commercial Trial(the Minutes of the Ninth Work Conference)stipulates that whether a contract shall be rescinded depends on whether a breach is obviously minor and affects the fulfillment of the contract purposes expected by the non-breaching party.In juridical practice,however,there are no clear criteria to define what constitutes obviously minor breaches,and the factors considered in such cases are often inadequate to allow for a fully considered decision.By analyzing Article 55 of the Judicial Interpretation of the General Provisions of Contracts of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China(Draft for Comments)and reviewing the previous juridical practices,we present our conclusions regarding the conditions and factors that should be considered when restricting the right of rescission in cases of obviously minor breaches with a view to unifying the judicial judgment criteria by differentiating the type of breaches.

The trend of low fertility and aging in ethnic minority areas and the policy responses in China:An analysis based on data from the latest three censuses

Low fertility and population aging are important factors affecting economic and social development.From 2000 to 2020,the development of low fertility in ethnic minority areas shows three trends of accelerated declining,slow declining and first falling and then rising,which are the results of the balance between the inhibiting effect of controlling birth policy and the rapidly rising birth cost,and the promoting effect of encouraging birth policy on the fertility desire of social members.The development of aging in ethnic minority areas shows two trends of acceleration and deceleration,which are the results of the balance between the promoting effect of controlling birth policy,the outflow of young and middle-aged labor force and the rise of life expectancy,and the inhibiting effect of the encouraging birth policy,the restraint of talent return and talent introduction.Combined with the development degree of low fertility and aging,we can accurately classify and implement policies for different ethnic minority areas.The areas with serious low fertility and population aging problems need economic policies to change the population age structure as soon as possible.The areas with slight low fertility and population aging problems should carry out ideological policies in priority to maintain the benign structure of population age.

Inheritance and Development of Guangxi Minority Musical Instruments and Their Integration With Operas

The traditional musical instrument of minorities converges the evolution of ethnic group culture and history,and ethnic musical instruments are a core component of minority culture.The traditional instruments of Guangxi minorities are rich and varied,and an all-round cultural inheritance and protection mechanism should be used for ethnic musical instruments,so that the performance form of classical musical instruments of minorities can be more widely understood and mastered.Therefore,in this paper,we discuss the specific practice idea of the inheritance and development of classical musical instruments of Guangxi minorities,and facilitate the innovation of development path of ethnic musical instruments by taking the inheritance form of integrating musical instruments with operas.

The Protection of Right of Minors to Express Their Opinions in Family Litigations

The right of minors to express their opinions in family litigations refers to minors,who have a certain degree of mental capacity and assertiveness,having the right to express their opinions on the arrangements or decisions related to themselves when the courts handle familial litigation cases involving their interests,and to request the courts hear their opinions.In essence,the right of minors to express their opinions in family litigations belongs to the basic procedural rights of minors as well as judicial beneficiary rights.As for the protection of the right of minors to express their opinions in family litigations,recognizing the status of minors as independent subjects of rights is the logical premise,the procedural guarantee for the rights of the substantive parties involved is the direct cause,and ensuring the best interests of children is the fundamental reason.In order to protect the right of minors to express their opinions in family litigations,China should standardize the mechanisms for judges to hear the opinions of minors directly,improve the mechanisms for family investigators,and establish mechanisms for representing the interests of minors.

A Study on the Chess Culture of Ethnic Minority Groups in Gansu Province

As a region inhabited by large populations of ethnic minority groups, Gansu province boasts rich ethnic cultural resources which reflect traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage that had taken shape thousands of years ago. Among these are various ethnic folk chess games. They are time-honored with many types such as the “Fang” chess of the Hui ethnic group, the “Jiu” chess of the Tibetans, the “King and Ministers” chess, the Mongolian chess, the Mongolian military chess, etc. These games embody distinctive ethnic and regional characteristics, as well as the cultural elements of a particular ethnic minority group. It is of great significance, therefore, to study the ethnic chess by collecting, documenting and comparing different types of related chess. The paper explores ways to standardize, protect and promote them scientifically in joint efforts, and draws a conclusion that examining their significance in the present era and the ethnic characteristics is the key to understanding the profound culture behind the chess.

Modelling Key Population Attrition in the HIV and AIDS Programme in Kenya Using Random Survival Forests with Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique-Nominal Continuous

HIV and AIDS has continued to be a major public health concern, and hence one of the epidemics that the world resolved to end by 2030 as highlighted in sustainable development goals (SDGs). A colossal amount of effort has been taken to reduce new HIV infections, but there are still a significant number of new infections reported. HIV prevalence is more skewed towards the key population who include female sex workers (FSW), men who have sex with men (MSM), and people who inject drugs (PWID). The study design was retrospective and focused on key population enrolled in a comprehensive HIV and AIDS programme by the Kenya Red Cross Society from July 2019 to June 2021. Individuals who were either lost to follow up, defaulted (dropped out, transferred out, or relocated) or died were classified as attrition;while those who were active and alive by the end of the study were classified as retention. The study used density analysis to determine the spatial differences of key population attrition in the 19 targeted counties, and used Kilifi county as an example to map attrition cases in smaller administrative areas (sub-county level). The study used synthetic minority oversampling technique-nominal continuous (SMOTE-NC) to balance the datasets since the cases of attrition were much less than retention. The random survival forests model was then fitted to the balanced dataset. The model correctly identified attrition cases using the predicted ensemble mortality and their survival time using the estimated Kaplan-Meier survival function. The predictive performance of the model was strong and way better than random chance with concordance indices greater than 0.75.

Higher Education Admission Policy and Social Class of Ethnic Minority:The Case of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,China

Gaokao has been considered as the gatekeeper of intergenerational class reproduction in today’s slowing social mobility in China.In order to bolster the fairness of Gaokao,the Policy of Bonus Scores for Ethnic Minority Candidates(PBSEMC)has been issued,whose,however,effectiveness in promoting upward social class has not been adequately empirically explored.The difference-in-differences(DID)analysis based on cross-sectional data,which is distinct from the traditional DID analysis paradigm,was implemented to assess the Reform of PBSEMC in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1988.The results showed that PBSEMC had a significant and positive impact on the social classes of ethnic minorities,and gender,residence type and occupation type were also relevant to social class,aligning with the previous literature.The PBSEMC is effective in improving the social classes of ethnic minorities.However,the PBSEMC policy should be made more precise,in order to benefit the candidates who are in genuine need of assistance.

认罪认罚从宽制度的再完善:以轻微犯罪治理为场域

目前,我国已经进入轻微犯罪时代。通过认罪认罚从宽制度治理轻微犯罪是重要的刑事司法途径。然而,轻微犯罪治理与认罪认罚从宽制度之间仍存在一定的不适性,特别是实体与程序的衔接不畅、治理需求与制度供给的不一致等。因此,应当强化轻微犯罪治理与认罪认罚从宽制度之间的契合度与协同性,以轻微犯罪治理的实际需求为导向,按照刑事一体化的理念,不断完善认罪认罚从宽制度及其相关的实施机制。当前,刑法与认罪认罚从宽制度之间的制度性“沟壑”亟待填补。为此,既需要调试现行刑法理论的互斥部分,也要重新审视刑法总则相关规定的适宜性和有效性,进而及时启动必要的实体性立法修正程序。《刑事诉讼法》修改在即,整合性的程序回应也势在必行,独立的认罪认罚从宽协商程序、更加健全的量刑协商机制等均是轻罪治理的主要关切点。

从消极惩罪到积极治理:中国特色轻罪治理体系的反思与完善

当今中国社会的犯罪现象正在经历从重罪到轻罪的重大变化,我国轻罪治理体系也应与时俱进地进行完善。这要求我们取轻罪之长,避轻罪之短。首先,要明确轻罪的定义,可以法定刑3年有期徒刑为上限、以处带有保安处分性质的限制或剥夺人身自由措施为下限,这一轻罪概念既契合我国刑事立法和司法的现实,也是面向未来轻罪立法的一种前瞻性考虑。然后,对轻罪扩张现象进行反思,厘清轻罪扩张带来的正面功能和负面效应,指明其具有回应民意、完善立法、规范行为的优势,也揭示其简化司法、异化刑罚、附随后果过剩的缺陷。在此基础上,对我国轻罪治理体系进行完善,在实体层面依据《刑法》第13条的但书规定和第37条的定罪免刑规定,建立多元的轻罪处遇模式;在程序法层面贯彻“三分原则”;在附随后果上严格限制适用主体、对象和内容;在前科消灭上逐步建立犯罪记录封存、注销和复权制度。这样多措并举,推动我国轻罪治理体系从消极惩罪向积极治理的现代化转型。