The integrated satellite-terrestrial network (ISTN) provides a promising solution to achieve high-data-rate and ubiquitous connectivity in next-generation communication networks. Considering the ...scarce spectrum resources and unevenly distributed traffic demands, we investigate the resource allocation algorithms for ISTNs, where the beam-hopping (BH)-based satellite system and terrestrial systems share the same frequency band. Taking advantage of the scheduling flexibility of BH technology, the dynamical protection zones are constructed to avoid co-channel interference and improve the spectrum efficiency. Since both spectrum efficiency and user fairness are the key optimization indexes in practical systems, two resource allocation problems are formulated to maximize the weighted sum of capacity (MWSC) and maximize the minimum capacity-to-demand ratio (MMCDR) of ISTNs, respectively. By reformulating the problems as mixed-integer linear programming problems, optimal solutions are obtained. To reduce the computational complexity, two greedy suboptimal algorithms are proposed for the MWSC and MMCDR, respectively. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithms achieve higher spectrum efficiency and guarantee fairness between the satellite and terrestrial systems. It is also shown that both the greedy algorithms perform similarly to the optimal algorithms while having much lower complexity.
The economic downturn has led to a variety of challenges for higher education institutions, including budget cuts and a heightened focus on efficiency and effectiveness. Performance-based budgeting ...is gaining traction as a means of more efficiently allocating resources, and Chinese public universities are not an exemption. The main purpose of this study was to look into the relationship between political influence, financial pressure, performance-based budgeting, and university performance in China. It also explored power dynamics in Chinese public universities. 271 participants were chosen using a purposive sampling technique. This study employed a multimethod approach combining necessary condition analysis (NCA), the PROCESS macro, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Furthermore, this study employed a novel technique (the Johnson-Neyman technique) to show the exact scope of the moderation effect. The findings of the PLS-SEM showed that performance-based budgeting is positively related to university performance and acts as a mediator between selected variables, and it also indicated that the moderated mediation model is validated in Chinese public universities. The NCA results showed that performance-based budgeting, political influence, and financial pressure are all important necessary conditions for university performance. Meanwhile, the outcomes of PLS-SEM and NCA showed how researchers and practitioners can pinpoint key elements that affect university performance and produce the best outcomes. Overall, this study provides useful information about the implementation of performance-based budgeting in higher education institutions.
Plain Language Summary
How political influence and financial pressure contribute to performance-based budgeting and university performance: Evidence from SEM and NCA
The main purpose of this study was to look into the relationship between political influence, financial pressure, performance-based budgeting, and university performance in China. It also explored power dynamics in Chinese public universities. This study employed a multimethod approach combining necessary condition analysis (NCA), the PROCESS macro, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Furthermore, this study employed a novel technique (the Johnson-Neyman technique) to show the exact scope of the moderation effect. The findings of the PLS-SEM showed that performance-based budgeting is positively related to university performance and acts as a mediator between selected variables, and it also indicated that the moderated mediation model is validated in Chinese public universities. The NCA results showed that performance-based budgeting, political influence, and financial pressure are all important necessary conditions for university performance. The outcomes of PLS-SEM and NCA showed how researchers and practitioners can pinpoint key elements that affect university performance and produce the best outcomes. Overall, this study provides useful information about the implementation of performance-based budgeting in higher education institutions. Limitations: Just focus on Chinese public universities.
Sleep deprivation has developed into a common phenomenon, which can lead to inflammatory responses and cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanism is ambiguous. Emerging evidence shows that ...gut microbiota plays a crucial role in theoccurrence and development of inflammatory and psychiatric diseases, possibly through neuroinflammation and the brain-gut axis. The current study investigated the influence of sleep deprivation on gut microbiota composition, pro-inflammatory cytokines, learning and memory in mice. Further, it explored whether changes in gut microbiota increase pro-inflammatory cytokine and induce learning and memory impairment.
Healthy 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the regular control group (RC), environmental control group (EC), and sleep deprivation group (SD). The sleep deprivation model was established by the Modified Multiple Platform Method. The experimental mice were subjected to sleep deprivation for 6h/d (8:00 am∼14:00 pm) in a sleep deprivation chamber, and the duration of sleep deprivation was 8 weeks. Morris water maze test to assess learning and memory in mice. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay determined the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines. The changes in gut microbiota in mice were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing.
We found that SD mice had elevated latency of exploration to reach the hidden platform (p>0.05) and significantly decreased traversing times, swimming distance, and swimming time in the target zone when the hidden platform was removed (p<0.05). Sleep deprivation caused dysregulated expression in serum IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in mice, and the difference was significant (all p<0.001). Tannerellaceae, Rhodospirillales, Alistipes, and Parabacteroides were significantly increased in SD mice. Correlation analysis showed IL-1β was positively correlated with the abundance of Muribaculaceae (r=0.497, p<0.05) and negatively correlated with the abundance of Lachnospiraceae (r=-0.583, p<0.05). The TNF-α was positively correlated with the abundances of Erysipelotrichaceae, Burkholderiaceae, and Tannerellaceae (r=0.492, r=0.646, r=0.726, all p<0.05).
Sleep deprivation can increase pro-inflammatory cytokine responses and learning and memory impairment in mice and may be caused by the disorder of the microbiota. These findings of this study may open avenues for potential interventions that can relieve the detrimental consequences of sleep loss.
Polysaccharide hydrogels are widely used in tissue engineering because of their superior biocompatibility and low immunogenicity. However, many of these hydrogels are unrealistic for practical ...applications as the cost of raw materials is high, and the fabrication steps are tedious. This study focuses on the facile fabrication and optimization of agarose-polydopamine hydrogel (APG) scaffolds for skin wound healing. The first study objective was to evaluate the effects of polydopamine (PDA) on the mechanical properties, water holding capacity and cell adhesiveness of APG. We observed that APG showed decreased rigidity and increased water content with the addition of PDA. Most importantly, decreased rigidity translated into significant increase in cell adhesiveness. Next, the slow biodegradability and high biocompatibility of APG with the highest PDA content (APG3) was confirmed. In addition, APG3 promoted full-thickness skin defect healing by accelerating collagen deposition and promoting angiogenesis. Altogether, we have developed a straightforward and efficient strategy to construct functional APG scaffold for skin tissue engineering, which has translation potentials in clinical practice.
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•Agarose-polydopamine hydrogel scaffold was developed via a simple two-step approach.•In vitro and in vivo experiments show that the scaffold holds biocompatibility and biodegradability.•The cell migration rate on the scaffold is high and cells can migrate from the surface to the inside of scaffold.•The scaffold can facilitate wound healing by promoting collagen deposition and angiogenesis.
Smart hydrogels play an increasingly important role in biomedical applications, since materials that are both biocompatible and multi‐stimuli‐responsive are highly desirable. A simple, organic ...solvent‐free method is presented to synthesize a biocompatible hydrogel that undergoes a sol–gel transition in response to multiple stimuli. Methoxy‐poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) is modified into carboxylic‐acid‐terminated‐methoxy‐poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG‐acid), which is then grafted onto chitosan via amide linkages yielding mPEG‐g‐chitosan. Grafting of mPEG onto hydrophobic chitosan imparts hydrophilic properties to the resultant polymer. The mPEG‐g‐chitosan gel exhibits a controllable multi‐stimuli‐responsive property. The balance between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity is believed to confer mPEG‐g‐chitosan with stimuli‐responsive behavior. The effect of salt concentration, solute concentration, temperature, and pH on the sol–gel transition of mPEG‐g‐chitosan is evaluated and the underlying mechanisms of mPEG‐g‐chitosan polymer packing and gelation property is discussed.
Smart hydrogels play an increasingly important role in biomedical applications, since materials that are both biocompatible and multi‐stimuli‐responsive are highly desirable. A biocompartible hydrogel is introduced that exhibits a controllable multi‐stimuli‐responsive property. The effect of multiple environmental variables on the sol–gel transition of the hydrogel is evaluated and the underlying mechanisms of polymer gelation are discussed.
An ideal anti‐counterfeiting label not only needs to be unclonable and accurate but also must consider cost and efficiency. But the traditional physical unclonable function (PUF) recognition ...technology must match all the images in a database one by one. The matching time increases with the number of samples. Here, a new kind of PUF anti‐counterfeiting label is introduced with high modifiability, low reagent cost (2.1 × 10−4 USD), simple and fast authentication (overall time 12.17 s), high encoding capacity (2.1 × 10623), and its identification software. All inorganic perovskite nanocrystalline films with clonable micro‐profile and unclonable micro‐texture are prepared by laser engraving for lyophilic patterning, liquid strip sliding for high throughput droplet generation, and evaporative self‐assembling for thin film deposition. A variety of crystal film profile shapes can be used as “specificator” for image recognition, and the verification time of recognition technology based on this divide‐and‐conquer strategy can be decreased by more than 20 times.
A fluorescent anti‐counterfeiting label with low reagent cost (2.1 × 10−4 USD), simple and fast authentication (overall time 12.17 s), and high encoding capacity (2.1 × 10623) is presented here with its identification software. The diversified and clonable micro‐shapes engraved by the nanosecond laser can help the software to classify and accelerate the recognition speed of unclonable micro‐texture.
Creb (Cyclic AMP response element binding protein) is a nuclear regulatory factor that regulates transcription through autophosphorylation. In melanocytes, cAMP's corresponding elements bind to the ...Creb protein to autophosphorylation and activate MITF (Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor). MITF stimulates Tyrosine(tyr) to induce melanocytes to differentiate into eumelanin and pheomelanin. In this study, a HcCreb gene in Hyriopsis cumingii was cloned and its effects on melanin synthesis and nacre color were studied. HcCreb was expressed in both purple and white mussels, and there was a significant difference in expression between adductor muscle (p<0.01) and mantle tissue (p<0.05). Other tissues did not show significant differences (except for gill tissue), and in general, the level of mRNA expression was higher in purple mussels than in white mussels. In both white and purple mussels expression levels in gill tissue was the highest, followed by the mantle. Strong and specific mRNA signals were detected in the dorsal epithelial cells of the mantle pallial layer, indicating that HcCreb may be involved in nacre formation. After arbutin treatment, the expression of HcCreb decreased significantly. By further testing the changes in mantle melanin content it was found that the melanin content after arbutin treatment decreased significantly compared to the control group (p<0.05). It is speculated that the HcCreb gene plays a role in the process of melanin synthesis and nacre color formation in H. cumingii.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We report a simple methodology to fabricate PDMS multi-layer microfluidic chips. A PDMS slab was surface-treated by trichloro (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl) silane, and acts as a reusable transferring ...layer. Uniformity of the thickness of the patterned PDMS layer and the well-alignment could be achieved due to the transparency and proper flexibility of this transferring layer. Surface treatment results are confirmed by XPS and contact angle testing, while bonding forces between different layers were measured for better understanding of the transferring process. We have also designed and fabricated a few simple types of 3D PDMS chip, especially one consisting of 6 thin layers (each with thickness of 50 mum), to demonstrate the potential utilization of this technique. 3D fluorescence images were taken by a confocal microscope to illustrate the spatial characters of essential parts. This fabrication method is confirmed to be fast, simple, repeatable, low cost and possible to be mechanized for mass production.
microRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in tissue development and the pathology of various diseases. However, the effects and roles of miRNAs in macrophage polarization have yet to be investigated. In ...this study, we analyzed and compared the miRNA expression profiles of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) with two distinct polarizing conditions (classical macrophage activation 'M1' and alternative activation 'M2') using miRNA microarray. In total, 109 miRNAs were differentially expressed between M1 and M2. The differential expression of selected miRNAs was validated by real-time qRT-PCR: miR-181a, miR-155-5p, miR-204-5p and miR-451 were upregulated (fold change >2, P<0.05) and miR-125-5p, miR-146a-3p, miR-143-3p and miR-145-5p were downregulated (fold change <−2, P<0.05) in M1 compared with M2. In conclusion, our study may be useful for exploring the precise roles of miRNAs in macrophage differentiation and polarized activation processes in the future.
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