A two-node binary chief executive officer (CEO) problem is investigated. Noise-corrupted versions of a binary sequence are forwarded by two nodes to a single destination node over orthogonal additive ...white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. We first reduce the binary CEO problem to a binary multiterminal source coding problem, of which an outer bound for the rate-distortion region is derived. The distortion function is then established by evaluating the relationship between the binary CEO and multiterminal source coding problems. A lower bound approximation on the Hamming distortion (HD) is obtained by minimizing a distortion function subject to constraints obtained based on the source-channel separation theorem. Encoding/decoding algorithms using concatenated convolutional codes and a joint decoding scheme are used to verify the lower bound on the HD. It is found that the theoretical lower bounds on the HD and the computer simulation-based bit error rate performance curves have the same tendencies. The differences in the threshold signal-to-noise ratio between the theoretical lower bounds and those obtained by simulations are around 1.5 dB in AWGN channel. The theoretical lower bound on the HD in block Rayleigh fading channel is also evaluated by performing Monte Carlo simulation.
5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an epigenetic DNA modification that is highly abundant in central nervous system. It has been reported that DNA 5hmC dysregulation play a critical role in ...Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Changes in 5hmC signatures can be detected in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), which has shown potential as a non-invasive liquid biopsy material.
However, the genome-wide profiling of 5hmC in cfDNA and its potential for the diagnosis of AD has not been reported to date.
We carried out a case-control study and used a genome-wide chemical capture followed by high-throughput sequencing to detect the genome-wide profiles of 5hmC in human cfDNA and identified differentially hydroxymethylated regions (DhMRs) in late-onset AD patients and the control.
We discovered significant differences of 5hmC enrichment in gene bodies which were linked to multiple AD pathogenesis-associated signaling pathways in AD patients compared with cognitively normal controls, indicating they can be well distinguished from normal controls by DhMRs in cfDNA. Specially, we identified 7 distinct genes (RABEP1, CPNE4, DNAJC15, REEP3, ROR1, CAMK1D, and RBFOX1) with predicting diagnostic potential based on their significant correlations with MMSE and MoCA scores of subjects.
The present results suggest that 5hmC markers derived from plasma cfDNA can served as an effective, minimally invasive biomarkers for clinical auxiliary diagnosis of late-onset AD.
We consider the pricing of discretely sampled volatility swaps under a modified Heston model, whose risk-neutralized volatility process contains a stochastic long-run variance level. We derive an ...analytical forward characteristic function under this model, which has never been presented in the literature before. Based on this, we further obtain an analytical pricing formula for volatility swaps which can guarantee the computational accuracy and efficiency. We also demonstrate the significant impact of the introduced stochastic long-run variance level on volatility swap prices with synthetic as well as calibrated parameters.
Background
Acute appendicitis is one of the most common emergency requiring operation. As the first discovered coagulation factor, plasma fibrinogen frequently increases with inflammation due to the ...activation of coagulation. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the diagnostic value of hyperfibrinogenemia as a preoperative laboratory marker for appendiceal perforation in patients with acute appendicitis.
Materials and methods
We identified 455 patients (202 females, 253 males; mean age, 31.7 years) with histologically confirmed acute appendicitis who underwent laparoscopic or open appendectomy. Results of preoperative laboratory values and post‐operative histologic results were analysed retrospectively. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to determine patient's age and laboratory tests associated with perforated appendicitis.
Result
Mean plasma fibrinogen level of all patients was 3.99 g/L (1.41 SD; range, 1.73–10.6 g/L; median, 3.69 g/L). Patients with appendiceal perforation had a mean fibrinogen level of 5.72 g/L (1.52 SD; range, 3.38–10.04 g/L; median, 5.28 g/L), which was significantly higher than those with nonperforated groups (P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed fibrinogen and D‐dimer were associated with perforation (P = 0.001, P = 0.014, respectively). Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of fibrinogen for discriminating acute perforated appendicitis from non‐perforated groups were larger than white blood cell and D‐dimer.
Conclusions
Hyperfibrinogenemia was common in patients with acute appendicitis and fibrinogen may be useful as a predictive factor for appendiceal perforation.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Previous studies have suggested that there is a positive correlation between prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels and prostate volume (PV). A better understanding of the possible influence of PV on ...a ratio of free to total PSA (f/tPSA) may improve the diagnostic value of the prostate disease. The study group consisted of 342 men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). All patients underwent urinary tract ultrasonography and had tests carried out on PSA, serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL and blood pressure. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the associations between prostate volume and f/tPSA value. We found no obvious relationship between prostate volume and f/tPSA value when PSA >10 ng/ml but did observe a positive correlation when 4 ng/ml < PSA ＜ 10 ng/ml (hazard ratio HR: 0.0012; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.0009–0.0248). With increasing prostate volume, multivariate analysis showed an obvious increase in f/tPSA value (HR: 0.0011; 95% CI: 0.0007–0.0015) (p ≤ .0001). We confirmed that prostate volume could affect the f/tPSA levels in serum. There was an obvious positive correlation between prostate volume and f/tPSA level when PSA levels were between 4 and 10ng/dl. There was no significant correlation between prostate volume and f/tPSA value when PSA >10 ng/ml.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Alzheimer's disease (AD) alters astrocytes, but the effect of Aß and Tau pathology is poorly understood. TRAP-seq translatome analysis of astrocytes in APP/PS1 ß-amyloidopathy and MAPT
tauopathy mice ...revealed that only Aß influenced expression of AD risk genes, but both pathologies precociously induced age-dependent changes, and had distinct but overlapping signatures found in human post-mortem AD astrocytes. Both Aß and Tau pathology induced an astrocyte signature involving repression of bioenergetic and translation machinery, and induction of inflammation pathways plus protein degradation/proteostasis genes, the latter enriched in targets of inflammatory mediator Spi1 and stress-activated cytoprotective Nrf2. Astrocyte-specific Nrf2 expression induced a reactive phenotype which recapitulated elements of this proteostasis signature, reduced Aß deposition and phospho-tau accumulation in their respective models, and rescued brain-wide transcriptional deregulation, cellular pathology, neurodegeneration and behavioural/cognitive deficits. Thus, Aß and Tau induce overlapping astrocyte profiles associated with both deleterious and adaptive-protective signals, the latter of which can slow patho-progression.
Abstract
Accurately obtaining the distribution of the open-channel velocity field in hydraulic engineering is extremely important, which is helpful for better calculation of open-channel flow and ...analysis of open-channel water flow characteristics. In recent years, machine learning has been used for open-channel velocity field prediction. However, effective training of data-driven models in machine learning heavily depends on the diversity and quantity of data. In this paper, a CFD-based pre-training neural network model (CFD–PNN) is proposed for accurate open-channel velocity field prediction, allowing the adaption to the task with small sample data. Also, a cross-sectional velocity field prediction method combining the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and machine learning is established. By comparing CFD–PNN with six other neural network algorithm models and the CFD model, the results show that, in the case of small sample data, the CFD–PNN model can predict a more reasonable open-channel velocity field with higher prediction accuracy than other models. The average error of the velocity calculation for the trapezoidal open-channel cross-section is about 3.62%. Compared with other models, the accuracy is improved by 0.3–2.8%.
Seed aging detection and viable seed prediction are of great significance in alfalfa seed production, but traditional methods are disposable and destructive. Therefore, the establishment of a rapid ...and non-destructive seed screening method is necessary in seed industry and research. In this study, we used multispectral imaging technology to collect morphological features and spectral traits of aging alfalfa seeds with different storage years. Then, we employed five multivariate analysis methods, i.e., principal component analysis (PCA), linear discrimination analysis (LDA), support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF) and normalized canonical discriminant analysis (nCDA) to predict aged and viable seeds. The results revealed that the mean light reflectance was significantly different at 450~690 nm between non-aged and aged seeds. LDA model held high accuracy (99.8~100.0%) in distinguishing aged seeds from non-aged seeds, higher than those of SVM (87.4~99.3%) and RF (84.6~99.3%). Furthermore, dead seeds could be distinguished from the aged seeds, with accuracies of 69.7%, 72.0% and 97.6% in RF, SVM and LDA, respectively. The accuracy of nCDA in predicting the germination of aged seeds ranged from 75.0% to 100.0%. In summary, we described a nondestructive, rapid and high-throughput approach to screen aged seeds with various viabilities in alfalfa.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In the present study, the spatial distributions and vertical variations of PFASs in the sediments of the Dalian Bay were investigated. The total concentrations of PFASs (∑PFASs) in surface sediments ...of Dalian Bay ranged from 1.49 to 2.66ngg−1 dw. The predominant PFASs in surface sediments were PFOA, PFBS and PFBA with the concentration ranges of 0.50 to 0.95, 0.21 to 0.94, and 0.035 to 0.32ngg−1 dw, respectively. For the two sediment cores, ∑PFASs ranged from 1.20 to 2.00 and from 1.37 to 2.06ngg−1 dw, respectively. There was a maximum ∑PFASs concentration value near the surface. In general, ∑PFASs gradually decreased with increasing sampling depth after reaching the maximum. PFOA, PFBS and PFBA were also the predominant PFASs in the two sediment cores. It is recommended that the monitoring and risk assessment of short-chain PFAS should be taken into consideration, and further researches are needed to understand the transportation and fate of these chemicals in the aquatic environment.
•The sediment of the Dalian Bay was moderately contaminated by PFASs.•The predominant PFASs were PFOA, PFBS and PFBA.•The spatial distribution and vertical variation of PFASs in the sediments were analyzed.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
A series of dicationic ionic liquids (ILs) including PF
6
(PYR)C
4
(MIM)Cl, PF
6
(PYR)C
4
(PYR)Cl, PF
6
(PYR)C
5
(MIM)Cl, and PF
6
(PYR)C
5
(PYR)Cl, and monocationic ILs including (PYR)C
4
ClPF
6
, ...(PYR)C
5
ClPF
6
, (MIM)C
2
COOHPF
6
and (PYR)C
2
COOHPF
6
were synthesized. Their thermal stability and melting points were determined. Their solubility with organic solvents and the miscibility with water were investigated. These functional ILs are hydrophilic at high temperatures and they are hydrophobic at low temperatures, which enable the effective isolation of the resulting reducing sugar. High yields of reducing sugar were obtained for corn stalk after 8 h (20.73%) and potato starch after 6 h (72.50%) by the treatment with the mixture of PF
6
(PYR)C
4
(PYR)Cl and (PYR)C
2
COOHPF
6
. The reuse of dicationic and monocationic ILs was successfully performed and no significant reduction in yields of reducing sugar was observed. These functional ILs have important implications in the design of homogeneous and heterogeneous systems with water and organic solvents, which could be used to satisfy some specific applications.
A series of dicationic and monocationic ionic liquids (ILs) were synthesized and investigated and it was found that these functional ILs have important implications in the design of homogeneous and heterogeneous systems.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
