Hyperspectral sparse unmixing aims at modeling pixels of hyperspectral image as a linear combination of a subset of a prior spectral library. Over the past years, spectral library has been constantly ...expanded, including spectra of the same material with intrinsic variability, which may result in the problem of high correlation. Recently, multiobjective sparse unmixing methods presented promising performance in dealing with sparsity via a nonconvex <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> \mathcal {L}_{0}</tex-math></inline-formula> norm but are insensitive to identifying endmembers with high correlation. In this article, we propose a multiobjective sparse unmixing method, multiobjective group sparse hyperspectral unmixing (MO-GSU), which integrates a group sparsity structure to address high correlation of the spectral library induced by spectral variability. In order to describe the sparsity within and among groups, MO-GSU develops a mixed norm <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> \mathcal {L}_{0,q}</tex-math></inline-formula> instead of the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> \mathcal {L}_{0}</tex-math></inline-formula> norm. During the optimization, we propose two new search strategies: intragroup local search and group-oriented adaptive genetic operator. The intragroup local search strategy is presented in addition to the multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for better exploitation within groups. The group-oriented adaptive genetic operator is designed to maintain the intergroup distribution between generations and further ensure the intragroup exploitation. Moreover, we provide theoretical proof for the advantage of the group operators in exploiting the endmembers within group. To verify the efficiency of the proposed method on high correlation situations, MO-GSU is compared with recently proposed endmember bundle based and multiobjective-based sparse unmixing methods on synthetic and real data with high correlation libraries.
The relationship between financialization and innovation has become a common focus of academic attention. This paper analyzes the influence of corporate financialization on innovation efficiency ...based on balanced panel data of listed Chinese pharmaceutical companies from 2015 to 2020. Also, it examines the relationship between corporate financialization and innovation efficiency under different levels of financing constraints and the moderating mechanisms that exist. The results of the study show that corporate financialization negatively affects innovation efficiency and that this effect has a lag; corporate financialization hurts innovation efficiency across the different regions and firm nature, with a less inhibiting effect for eastern firms and non-state-owned firms; further tests of the mechanism of action show that there is a non-linear negative relationship between corporate financialization and innovation efficiency. And the inhibition of corporate financialization on innovation efficiency decreases as the level of financing constraints rises. Based on the above findings, this study provides warnings and recommendations for pharmaceutical companies to finance their innovative activities through financialization.
Judgments pertaining to sexuality can often serve as a mirror, reflecting the cultural norms and values of a specific country or region. In the current study, we employ provincial panel data to ...examine the temporal and spatial variances in the attitudes of the Chinese populace towards “same-sex sexuality.” Our findings indicate that the Chinese public’s stance on same-sex sexual behavior is equivocal. It is neither wholly embraced nor entirely rejected. While there has been a gradual progression towards a more accepting attitude towards this form of sexual behavior, the level of tolerance remains relatively conservative in comparison to international standards. Moreover, significant regional disparities are evident. To further investigate these regional differences in attitudes towards sexuality in China, we employ a panel regression analysis with fixed time effects. The outcomes of this study provide substantial evidence in support of the social construction of sexuality. That is, the shifts in the sexual attitudes of the Chinese populace can be attributed both to the subconscious influence of traditional Chinese culture and the shaping effects of modernity.
In 2016, China began to execute the consistency evaluation policy of generic drugs. Many scholars believed that the policy would stimulate pharmaceutical firms to increase R&D investment with a ...theoretical perspective, but few have conducted empirical studies. Therefore, we conduct a difference-in-differences (DID) model and use panel data of 111 A-share listed pharmaceutical firms from 2012 to 2020 to empirically study the impact of the consistency evaluation policy of generic drugs on pharmaceutical firms' R&D investment intensity. The result shows that the policy has a significant positive impact on the R&D investment intensity of firms with chemical generics, robust under the test for parallel trend test, placebo test, and the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) test. In addition, we further analyzed the impact of this policy on the R&D intensity of pharmaceutical firms according to the heterogeneity of enterprise's operational nature, regional distribution and profitability. From the perspective of time changes and the average effect, the R&D investment intensity of private pharmaceutical firms is more affected by the policy than state-owned enterprises; the R&D investment intensity of pharmaceutical firms in the eastern region is more affected by this policy than those in the central and the western; the R&D investment intensity of high-profitability pharmaceutical firms is more affected by the policy than those with low-profitability. The consistency evaluation policy is still being implemented, and its impact on pharmaceutical firms needs to be studied from different empirical research perspectives in the future.
In 2016, China began to execute the consistency evaluation policy of generic drugs. Many scholars believed that the policy would stimulate pharmaceutical firms to increase R&D investment with a ...theoretical perspective, but few have conducted empirical studies. Therefore, we conduct a difference-in-differences (DID) model and use panel data of 111 A-share listed pharmaceutical firms from 2012 to 2020 to empirically study the impact of the consistency evaluation policy of generic drugs on pharmaceutical firms' R&D investment intensity. The result shows that the policy has a significant positive impact on the R&D investment intensity of firms with chemical generics, robust under the test for parallel trend test, placebo test, and the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) test. In addition, we further analyzed the impact of this policy on the R&D intensity of pharmaceutical firms according to the heterogeneity of enterprise's operational nature, regional distribution and profitability. From the perspective of time changes and the average effect, the R&D investment intensity of private pharmaceutical firms is more affected by the policy than state-owned enterprises; the R&D investment intensity of pharmaceutical firms in the eastern region is more affected by this policy than those in the central and the western; the R&D investment intensity of high-profitability pharmaceutical firms is more affected by the policy than those with low-profitability. The consistency evaluation policy is still being implemented, and its impact on pharmaceutical firms needs to be studied from different empirical research perspectives in the future.
Marine biofouling is a ubiquitous problem that accompanies human marine activities and marine industries. It exerts detrimental impacts on the economy, environment, ecology, and safety. ...Traditionally, mainstream approaches utilize metal ions to prevent biological contamination, but this also leads to environmental pollution and damage to the ecosystem. Efficient and environmentally friendly coatings are urgently needed to prevent marine devices from biofouling. Since nature is always the best teacher for humans, it offers us delightful thoughts on the research and development of high-efficiency, broad-spectrum and eco-friendly antifouling coatings. In this work, we focus on the research frontier of marine antifouling coatings from a bionic perspective. Enlightened by three distinctive dimensions of bionics: chemical molecule bionic, physiological mechanism bionic, and physical structure bionic, the research status of three main bioinspired strategies, which are natural antifoulants, bioinspired polymeric antifouling coatings, and biomimetic surface microtopographies, respectively, are demonstrated. The antifouling mechanisms are further interpreted based on biomimetic comprehension. The main fabrication methods and antifouling performances of these coatings are presented along with their advantages and drawbacks. Finally, the challenges are summarized, and future research prospects are proposed. It is believed that biomimetic antifouling strategies will contribute to the development of nontoxic antifouling techniques with exceptional repellency and stability.
Display omitted
•A critical review of biomimetic surface coating for marine antifouling is provided.•The natural products and synthetic analogs for marine antifouling are summarized.•The bio-inspired polymeric coatings for marine antifouling are presented.•The biomimetic surface microtopography for marine antifouling is demonstrated.
Targeted genome editing technologies are powerful tools for studying biology and disease, and have a broad range of research applications. In contrast to the rapid development of toolkits to ...manipulate individual genes, large-scale screening methods based on the complete loss of gene expression are only now beginning to be developed. Here we report the development of a focused CRISPR/Cas-based (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated) lentiviral library in human cells and a method of gene identification based on functional screening and high-throughput sequencing analysis. Using knockout library screens, we successfully identified the host genes essential for the intoxication of cells by anthrax and diphtheria toxins, which were confirmed by functional validation. The broad application of this powerful genetic screening strategy will not only facilitate the rapid identification of genes important for bacterial toxicity but will also enable the discovery of genes that participate in other biological processes.
Abstract
Drug–target interactions (DTIs) play a crucial role in target-based drug discovery and development. Computational prediction of DTIs can effectively complement experimental wet-lab ...techniques for the identification of DTIs, which are typically time- and resource-consuming. However, the performances of the current DTI prediction approaches suffer from a problem of low precision and high false-positive rate. In this study, we aim to develop a novel DTI prediction method for improving the prediction performance based on a cascade deep forest (CDF) model, named DTI-CDF, with multiple similarity-based features between drugs and the similarity-based features between target proteins extracted from the heterogeneous graph, which contains known DTIs. In the experiments, we built five replicates of 10-fold cross-validation under three different experimental settings of data sets, namely, corresponding DTI values of certain drugs (SD), targets (ST), or drug-target pairs (SP) in the training sets are missed but existed in the test sets. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed approach DTI-CDF achieves a significantly higher performance than that of the traditional ensemble learning-based methods such as random forest and XGBoost, deep neural network, and the state-of-the-art methods such as DDR. Furthermore, there are 1352 newly predicted DTIs which are proved to be correct by KEGG and DrugBank databases. The data sets and source code are freely available at https://github.com//a96123155/DTI-CDF.
A novel lysine and EDA double cross-linked graphene aerogel (LEGA) was constructed. The prepared LEGA was utilized as a methylene blue (MB) adsorbent in the wastewater treatment. It exhibits a ...three-dimensional interconnected porous structure benefiting dye adsorption. Its compression property is highly enhanced with the addition of lysine. Adsorption isotherm and kinetics of MB onto LEGA were discussed. Their results show that MB adsorption onto LEGA was fitted to follow Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. LEGA has an excellent adsorption capacity towards MB as high as 332.23 mg/g and its MB adsorption process is proved to be an exothermic process. The mechanism for MB adsorption onto LEGA was proposed as the ion exchange, electrostatic interaction, π-π stacking interaction and hydrogen bonding. Thus, LEGA is confirmed to be a sustainable and green MB adsorbent with highly removal efficiency in the treatment of wastewater.
•LEGA as a novel graphene aerogel was constructed with a double cross-linked strategy.•The prepared LEGA exhibits a three-dimensional interconnected porous structure.•The mechanical property is highly enhanced with the addition of lysine.•The prepared LEGA has an excellent methylene blue (MB) adsorption capacity.•The mechanism for MB adsorption onto LEGA is proposed.
A novel composite anode is prepared by mixing zinc particles with activated carbon (AC) to improve the cycle performance of the neutral rechargeable zinc ion batteries. Galvanostatic charge/discharge ...cycling tests indicate that the capacity retention of the cell with adding 12 wt% activated carbon in Zn anode is 85.6% after 80 cycles, which is much higher than that of 56.7% for the cell using unmodified Zn anode. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the addition of activated carbon can suppress the formation of inactive basic zinc sulfates (Zn4SO4(OH)6·nH20). Morphology, elemental mapping and N2 adsorption and desorption measurements indicate that the pores of activated carbon can accommodate the deposition of Zn dendrites and insoluble anodic products. As a result, the cycle stability of the Zn anode has been greatly enhanced by activated carbon modification.
