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We analysis the noncollinear Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC) and compare the biphotons generated by the chirped Quasi-Phase-Matching (QPM) between the Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) and Periodically Poled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP) crystals. Due to the chirping of the crystals, the frequency response range of the biphotons would be greatly increased. For nonlinear SPDC, angular variation is limited (less than 0.06° in this paper), and the angle would narrow the frequency response range of the biphotons. We compare the effect of angle in PPLN crystals and PPKTP crystals for biphotons. Both the two crystals with chirped QPM, the single-cycle biphotons can be generated during noncollinear SPDC within a suitable angle range, which is favorable for wider applications in experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely employed tiny neural networks (TNNs) in mobile devices are vulnerable to adversarial attacks. However, more advanced research on the robustness of TNNs is highly in demand. This work focuses on improving the robustness of TNNs without sacrificing the model's accuracy. To find the optimal trade-off networks in terms of the adversarial accuracy, clean accuracy, and model size, we present TAM-NAS, a tiny adversarial multi-objective one-shot network architecture search method. First, we build a novel search space comprised of new tiny blocks and channels to establish a balance between the model size and adversarial performance. Then, we demonstrate how the supernet facilitates the acquisition of the optimal subnet under white-box adversarial attacks, provided that the supernet significantly impacts the subnet's performance. Concretely, we investigate a new adversarial training paradigm by evaluating the adversarial transferability, the width of the supernet, and the distinction between training subnets from scratch and fine-tuning. Finally, we undertake statistical analysis for the layer-wise combination of specific blocks and channels on the first non-dominated front, which can be utilized as a design guideline for the design of TNNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analysis the generation of entangled biphotons by symmetric and antisymmetric phase modulation to obtain the corresponding joint spectral amplitude functions (JSAF) during the spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). With the help of Schmidt decomposition, the distribution probabilities of different modes are analyzed and the degree of entanglement is improved, which in turn leads to the effective regulation of entanglement, entropy, Schmidt coefficient and Schmidt number. Through simulations, we find that the antisymmetric phase modulation can slightly broaden the spectrum width, and the symmetric phase modulation distribution is more advantageous when the crystal is shorter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the feasibility of low-dose computed tomography (CT)–based mixed reality and its clinical role in type A aortic dissection (TAAD) operations. Methods: Eighty-seven patients diagnosed with TAAD were prospectively enrolled and underwent thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality. They were randomly divided into a low-dose mixed reality group, a conventional mixed reality group and a conventional thoracoabdominal aorta computed tomography angiography (CTA) group. Three-dimensional modelling, mixed reality and CT reconstruction technology were selected. The radiation dose and image quality were compared using Student's t test. Doctors with different seniorities evaluated the clinical application value of thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality using a Likert scale. The consistency was assessed using the Cohen kappa coefficient (k). The Pearson chi-square test was used to test the correlation of perioperative index results in TAAD operations. Results: Low-dose CT technology can be effectively applied to thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality and reduces the radiation dose by approximately 59% and the operation time and auxiliary cardiopulmonary bypass time by approximately 22% and 29%, respectively. The subjective scores of doctors with different seniorities on the clinical application value of thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality were higher than those of thoracoabdominal aorta CTA (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Low-dose CT can be effectively used in thoracoabdominal aortic mixed reality to reduce the radiation dose while ensuring quality. Low-dose thoracoabdominal aortic mixed reality has clinical application value and can effectively reduce the operation time and auxiliary cardiopulmonary bypass time in TAAD operations. Key Points: • Low-dose CT technology can ensure the mixed reality quality of the thoracoabdominal aorta with a radiation dose reduction of approximately 59%. • Compared with thoracoabdominal aorta CTA, low-dose thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality can reduce the operation time and auxiliary cardiopulmonary bypass time by approximately 20% and 29%, respectively, in TAAD operations. • The application value of low-dose thoracoabdominal aorta mixed reality in operation scheme formulation, operation risk assessment, operation navigation and diagnosis and treatment under safe distance was greater than that of thoracoabdominal aorta CTA in TAAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the dose–effect relationship between the dose–volume parameters of residual gross tumor volume (GTVres) and clinical prognosis in MRI image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer in our center. Materials and method: The clinical data of 93 patients with locally advanced cervical squamous cell cancer who received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) combined with IGABT ± chemotherapy in our center were retrospectively analyzed. The disease stage, overall treatment time (OTT), chemotherapy, and the dose–volume parameters D90, D98, and D100 of GTVres, the intermediate-risk clinical target volume (CTVIR), and the high-risk clinical target volume (CTVHR) of the patients were statistically analyzed. Kaplan–Meier and uni- and multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to analyze 2‑year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and local control rate (LC). A probit model was employed to assess the dose–effect relationship between the volume and dose–volume parameters of GTVres and 2‑year OS, PFS, and LC. Results: The median follow-up time was 19.6 months and 2‑year OS, PFS, and LC were 79.6%, 68.8%, and 94.6%, respectively. CTVHR D90 was an independent influencing factor for 2‑year PFS (P = 0.041); GTVresBT1 volume was an independent factor for 2‑year OS, PFS, and LC (P < 0.001). The probit model showed that at GTVresBT1 volume < 32.86 cm3, the expected 2‑year LC was > 90%; at GTVres D98 > 129.12 GyEQD2, the expected 2‑year OS was > 90%. Conclusion: Both the volume and dose–volume parameters of GTVres are promising predictors in assessment of IGABT prognosis of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MFF-Net (a multi-scale feature fusion convolutional neural network) was designed to improve the recognition rate of handwritten digits. The low-level, middle-level and high-level features of the image were first extracted through the convolution operation, and then the low-level and intermediate features were further extracted through different convolutional layers, later directly fused with the high-level features of the image with a certain weight, and then processed by the full connection layer. By adding a batch normalization layer before the activation layer, and a dropout layer between the full connection layers, the accuracy and generalization capacity of the network are improved. At the same time, a dynamic learning rate algorithm was designed, with which, the trained network accuracy was significantly improved as shown in the experiments on the MNIST data set. The accurate rate could reach 99.66% through only 30 epochs training. The comparison indicated that the accuracy of the network model is significantly higher than that of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, deep eutectic systems (DES) emerged as novel vehicles for facilitating the transdermal delivery of various drugs, including polysaccharides, proteins, insulin, vaccine, nanoparticles, and herb extracts. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive review of the application of DES to transdermal drug delivery, based on previous work and the reported references. Following a brief overview, the roles of DES in TDDS, the modes of action, as well as the structure–activity relationship of DES are discussed. Particularly, the skin permeation of active macromolecules and rigid nanoparticles, which are the defining characteristics of DES, are extensively discussed. The objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current investigation and development of DES-based transdermal delivery systems, as well as a framework for the construction of novel DES-TDDS in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clique, as the most compact cohesive component in a graph, has been employed to identify cohesive subgroups of entities, and explore the sensitive information in the online social network, crowdsourcing network, and cyber-physical network, etc. In this study, we focus on the defense of clique-based attack and target at reducing the risk of entities security/privacy issues in clique structure. Since the ultimate resolution for defending the clique-based attack and risk is wrecking the clique with minimum cost, we establish the problem of clique-destroying in the network from a fundamental algorithm aspect. Interestingly, we notice that the clique-destroying problem in the directed graph is still an unsolved problem, and complexity analysis also does not exist. Therefore, we propose an innovative formal clique-destroying problem and proof the NP-complete problem complexity with solid theoretical analysis, then present effective and efficient algorithms for both undirected and directed graph. Furthermore, we show how to extend our algorithm to data privacy protection applications with controllable parameter k, which could adjust the size of a clique we wish to destroy. By comparing our algorithm with the up-to-date anonymization approaches, the real data experiment demonstrates that our resolution could efficaciously defend the clique-based security and privacy attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the interchromosomal effect (ICE) in chromosome translocation carriers. Methods: Data on preimplantation genetic testing aneuploidy and structural rearrangements (translocation) were retrospectively collected and classified into a reciprocal translocation group, a Robertsonian translocation group and a control group. According to the carrier's gender and age, all cases underwent further subgroup difference analysis of de novo abnormal embryo rates and the number of chromosomes involved in de novo abnormal embryos. Results: Among the 283 couples who participated in this study, 1076 blastocysts from 352 cycles were collected, and 246 de novo abnormal embryos were included. There was a significant difference in the rate of de novo abnormal embryos among the three groups (p <.05) but no significant difference in the number of de novo abnormal chromosomes in the abnormal embryos (p >.05). Gender and age (classified by 35 years old) had no effect on the de novo abnormal embryo ratios among the translocation carriers (p >.05). However, the de novo abnormal ratio increased with age. The embryo constitution reflected no significant difference between the translocation groups (p >.05). Conclusion: The ICE was detected for the translocation carriers. The de novo abnormal embryo ratio increased with age. Gender had no effect on the de novo abnormal embryo ratio. Translocation status played a more important role than age and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postoperative intestinal ileus is common after laparoscopic surgery, the incidence of those after hysterectomy was 9.2%. Anesthesia is one of the independent risk factors of postoperative ileus. Dexmedetomidine has been widely used in perioperative anesthesia and previous reports suggested that intraoperative dexmedetomidine may be associated with the improvement of gastrointestinal function recovery after abdominal surgery. We hypothesized that dexmedetomidine could improve gastrointestinal function recovery after laparoscopic hysteromyomectomy. Participants in elective laparoscopic hysteromyomectomy were enrolled with a single dose of 0.5 μg kg−1 dexmedetomidine or the same volume of placebo intravenously administered for 15 min, followed by continuous pumping of 0.2 μg kg−1 h−1 of corresponding drugs until 30 min before the end of surgery. The primary outcome was the time to first flatus. Secondary outcomes were the time to first oral feeding and the first defecation, the occurrence of flatulence, pain score and postoperative nausea and vomiting until 48 h after the surgery. Eventually, 106 participants (54 in dexmedetomidine group and 52 in placebo group) were included for final analysis. The time to first flatus (SD, 25.83 [4.18] vs 27.67 [3.77], P = 0.019), oral feeding time (SD, 27.29 [4.40] vs 28.92 [3.82], P = 0.044), the time to first defecation (SD, 59.82 [10.49] vs 63.89 [7.71], P = 0.025), abdominal distension (n%, 12 (22.2) vs 21 (40.4), P = 0.044), PONV at 24 h (n%, 10 (18.5) vs 19 (36.5), P = 0.037), NRS 6 h (3.15(0.68) vs 3.46 (0.87), P = 0.043) and NRS 12 h (3.43 (0.88) vs 3.85 (0.85), P = 0.014) of dexmedetomidine group were significantly shorter than those of the placebo group. Intraoperative dexmedetomidine reduced the time to first flatus, first oral feeding, and first defecation. These results suggested that this treatment may be a feasible strategy for improving postoperative gastrointestinal function recovery in patients undergoing laparoscopic hysteromyomectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem that the gas in the upper corner is easy to exceed the limit in the mining process of the deep outburst coal seam. Based on the theory of "O-ring" and the distribution of stratigraphy in the field, the development law of mining fissures in the overlying rock layer during the workface retrieval was studied by combining theoretical calculation and FLAC3D numerical modeling. The research results show that the range of fissure development zone in 2913 working face is 14.2 to 33 m from the coal seam roof, and the high drilling arrangement can be in the stable rock layer of the roof. For siltstone-fine sandstone interaction stratum, measures such as opening branches to adjust the layer and lowering the casing to protect the hole wall can be taken to ensure the stability of the borehole and the smooth flow of gas extraction channels. Field application shows that the high directional long borehole has the advantages of long extension distance and wide coverage, the average value of extraction mix is 34.3 m3/min, and the average value of extraction pure is 0.4 mm3/min, which helps to prevent the gas overlimit in the upper corner during the workface recovery. The high directional long borehole has obvious economic and safety benefits over the traditional high hole and has important promotion value in coal mine gas management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to resolve the problem of redundant information concerning rolling bearing degradation characteristics and to tackle the difficulty faced by convolutional deep learning models in learning feature information in complex time series, a prediction model for remaining useful life based on multiscale fusion permutation entropy (MFPE) and a multiscale convolutional attention neural network (MACNN) is proposed. The original signal of the rolling bearing was extracted and decomposed by resonance sparse decomposition to obtain the high-resonance and low-resonance components. The multiscale permutation entropy of the low-resonance component was calculated. Moreover, the locally linear-embedding algorithm was used for dimensionality reduction to remove redundant information. The multiscale convolution module was constructed to learn the feature information at different time scales. The attention module was used to fuse the feature information and input it into the remaining useful life prediction module for evaluation. The appropriate network structure and parameter configuration were determined, and a multiscale convolutional attention neural network was designed to determine the remaining useful life prediction model. The results show that the method demonstrates effectiveness and superiority in degrading the feature information representation and improving the remaining useful life prediction accuracy compared with other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between grip strength and depression in elderly individuals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has rarely been studied. This study aims to explore the relevance of grip strength and depression in the elderly population using data from a national large-scale population. Methods: This study was conducted using data from seniors over 60 years old in wave 1 of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). Grip strength is the maximum of three measurements by the dynamometer. Depression symptoms were assessed using 10 items on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) with a 10-point boundary. Multivariate linear regression analysis, non-linear analysis, subgroup analysis, interaction tests and sensitivity analysis were performed. Results: There were 27,343 participants in this study, including 19,861 participants with low grip strength and 7,482 participants with normal grip strength. The results revealed that grip strength and depression were negatively correlated in elderly individuals after adequate adjustment for confounding factors [odds ratio (OR) = 1.237, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.172–1.305, p < 0.00001]. The results remained stable after adjusting for all confounding factors (OR = 1.090, 95% CI 1.030–1.155, p = 0.00307). Regression analysis showed that physical activity (PA), comorbidities and cognition may have an impact on the correlation between grip strength and depression symptoms. Smooth curve fit suggested that grip strength and depressive symptoms were linearly related. The interaction test results of gender in the relationship between grip strength and depression were significant (p for interaction < 0.05). Conclusion: Grip strength and depression were negatively correlated in older Indians, and larger prospective studies are needed in the future to determine this association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional operations, e.g. graph edit distance (GED), are no longer suitable for processing the massive quantities of graph-structured data now available, due to their irregular structures and high computational complexities. With the advent of graph neural networks (GNNs), the problems of graph representation and graph similarity search have drawn particular attention in the field of computer vision. However, GNNs have been less studied for efficient and fast retrieval after graph representation. To represent graph-based data, and maintain fast retrieval while doing so, we introduce an efficient hash model with graph neural networks (HGNN) for a newly designed task (i.e. fast graph-based data retrieval). Due to its flexibility, HGNN can be implemented in both an unsupervised and supervised manner. Specifically, by adopting a graph neural network and hash learning algorithms, HGNN can effectively learn a similarity-preserving graph representation and compute pair-wise similarity or provide classification via low-dimensional compact hash codes. To the best of our knowledge, our model is the first to address graph hashing representation in the Hamming space. Our experimental results reach comparable prediction accuracy to full-precision methods and can even outperform traditional models in some cases. In real-world applications, using hash codes can greatly benefit systems with smaller memory capacities and accelerate the retrieval speed of graph-structured data. Hence, we believe the proposed HGNN has great potential in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of CRISPR gRNAs requires accurate on-target efficiency predictions, which demand high-quality gRNA activity data and efficient modeling. To advance, we here report on the generation of on-target gRNA activity data for 10,592 SpCas9 gRNAs. Integrating these with complementary published data, we train a deep learning model, CRISPRon, on 23,902 gRNAs. Compared to existing tools, CRISPRon exhibits significantly higher prediction performances on four test datasets not overlapping with training data used for the development of these tools. Furthermore, we present an interactive gRNA design webserver based on the CRISPRon standalone software, both available via https://rth.dk/resources/crispr/. CRISPRon advances CRISPR applications by providing more accurate gRNA efficiency predictions than the existing tools. High-quality gRNA activity data is needed for accurate on-target efficiency predictions. Here the authors generate activity data for over 10,000 gRNA and build a deep learning model CRISPRon for improved performance predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of 3D printing of kidney and perinephric fat based on low‐dose CT technology. Patients and Methods: A total of 184 patients with stage T1 complex renal tumors who underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy were prospectively enrolled and divided into three groups: group A (conventional dose kidney and perinephric fat 3D printing group, n = 62), group B (low‐dose kidney and perinephric fat 3D printing, n = 64), and group C (conventional dose merely kidney 3D printing group, n = 58). The effective dose (ED), signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) were determined. The 3D printing quality was evaluated using a 4‐point scale, and interobserver agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The ED of group B was lower than that of group A, with a decrease of 55.1%. The subjective scores of 3D printing quality in all groups were 3 or 4 points. The interobserver agreement among the three observers in 3D printing quality was good (ICC = 0.84–0.92). The perioperative indexes showed that operation time (OT), warm ischemia time (WIT), estimated blood loss (EBL), and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) conversion to laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) in groups A or B were significantly less than those in group C. LPN was more frequent in group A and group B than in group C (all p < 0.017). There were no significant differences in perioperative indexes between group A and group B (all p > 0.017). Conclusion: Low‐dose CT technology can be effectively applied to 3D printing of kidney and perinephric fat and reduce the patient's radiation dose without compromising 3D printing quality. 3D printing of kidney and perinephric fat can significantly increase the success rate of LPN and decrease OT, WIT, and EBL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor object detection is a very demanding and important task for robot applications. Object knowledge, such as two-dimensional (2D) shape and depth information, may be helpful for detection. In this article, we focus on region-based convolutional neural network (CNN) detector and propose a geometric property-based Faster R-CNN method (GP-Faster) for indoor object detection. GP-Faster incorporates geometric property in Faster R-CNN to improve the detection performance. In detail, we first use mesh grids that are the intersections of direct and inverse proportion functions to generate appropriate anchors for indoor objects. After the anchors are regressed to the regions of interest produced by a region proposal network (RPN-RoIs), we then use 2D geometric constraints to refine the RPN-RoIs, in which the 2D constraint of every classification is a convex hull region enclosing the width and height coordinates of the ground-truth boxes on the training set. Comparison experiments are implemented on two indoor datasets SUN2012 and NYUv2. Since the depth information is available in NYUv2, we involve depth constraints in GP-Faster and propose 3D geometric property-based Faster R-CNN (DGP-Faster) on NYUv2. The experimental results show that both GP-Faster and DGP-Faster increase the performance of the mean average precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) detectors have achieved state-of-the-art results on various challenging benchmarks. Although R-CNN has achieved high detection performance, the research of local information in producing candidates is insufficient. In this paper, we design a Keypoint-based Faster R-CNN (K-Faster) method for object detection. K-Faster incorporates local keypoints in Faster R-CNN to improve the detection performance. In detail, a sparse descriptor, which first detects the points of interest in a given image and then samples a local patch and describes its invariant features, is first employed to produce keypoints. All 2-combinations of the produced keypoints are second selected to generate keypoint anchors, which are helpful for object detection. The heterogeneously distributed anchors are then encoded in feature maps based on their areas and center coordinates. Finally, the keypoint anchors are coupled with the anchors produced by Faster R-CNN, and the coupled anchors are used for Region Proposal Network (RPN) training. Comparison experiments are implemented on PASCAL VOC 07/12 and MS COCO. The experimental results show that our K-Faster approach not only increases the mean Average Precision (mAP) performance but also improves the positioning precision of the detected boxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Laparoscopic nephrectomy (LN) has become the preferred method for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Adequate preoperative assessment or intraoperative navigation is key to the successful implementation of LN. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical application value of mixed‐reality–assisted surgical navigation (MRASN) in LN. Patients and Methods: A total of 100 patients with stage T1N0M0 renal tumors who underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) or laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) were prospectively enrolled and divided into a mixed‐reality‐assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy (MRALN) group (n = 50) and a non–mixed‐reality‐assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy (non‐MRALN) group (n = 50). All patients underwent renal contrast‐enhanced CT scans. The CT DICOM data of all patients in the MRALN group were imported into the mixed‐reality (MR) postprocessing workstation and underwent holographic three‐dimensional visualization (V3D) modeling and MR displayed, respectively. We adopted the Likert scale to evaluate the clinical application value of MRASN. The consistency of evaluators was assessed using the Cohen kappa coefficient (k). Results: No significant differences in patient demographic indicators between the MRALN group and the non‐MRALN group (P >.05). The subjective score of MRASN clinical application value in operative plan formulation, intraoperative navigation, remote consultation, teaching guidance, and doctor‐patient communication were higher in the MRASN group than in the non‐MRASN group (all P <.001). There were significantly more patients for whom LPN was successfully implemented in the MRALN group than in the non‐MRALN group (82% vs 46%, P <.001). The MRALN group had a shorter operative time (OT) and warm ischemia time (WIT) and less estimated blood loss (EBL) than the non‐MRALN group (all P <.001). Conclusion: MRASN is helpful for operative plan formulation, intraoperative navigation, remote consultation, teaching guidance, and doctor‐patient communication. MRALN may effectively improve the successful implementation rate of LPN and reduce the OT, WIT, and EBL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnosis of drowning is one of the most difficult in forensic medicine. Forensic diatomology has been proposed to be useful in solving the diagnosis of drowning and considered to be a reliable indicator of the site of drowning. The Yangtze River and Jialing River are the main rivers in the Chongqing area (China), and a large number of corpses are found in the rivers every year. However, the distribution of diatoms in the rivers was not fully studied. In the presented study, a Microwave Digestion-Vacuum Filtration-Scanning Electron Microscopy (MD-VF-SEM) method was performed to acquire the qualitative and quantitative data of diatoms of water samples collected from 10 different sites of the Yangtze River and Jialing River in Chongqing section during different seasons. Our study not only created the diatomological maps of water bodies in Chongqing section of the Yangtze River and Jialing River for the first time but also identified some seasonal and site-specific diatoms that can be taken as markers of particular sites or seasons of drowning. The results of our study may provide forensic scientists helpful reference in solving the drowning cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enabled by the industrial Internet, intelligent transportation has made remarkable achievements such as autonomous vehicles by carnegie mellon university (CMU) Navlab, Google Cars, Tesla, etc. Autonomous vehicles benefit, in various aspects, from the cooperation of the industrial Internet and cyber-physical systems. In this process, users in autonomous vehicles submit query contents, such as service interests or user locations, to service providers. However, privacy concerns arise since the query contents are exposed when the users are enjoying the services queried. Existing works on privacy preservation of query contents rely on location perturbation or k-anonymity, and they suffer from insufficient protection of privacy or low query utility incurred by processing multiple queries for a single query content. To achieve sufficient privacy preservation and satisfactory query utility for autonomous vehicles querying services in cyber-physical systems, this article proposes a novel privacy notion of client-based personalized k-anonymity (CP k A). To measure the performance of CP k A, we present a privacy metric and a utility metric, based on which, we formulate two problems to achieve the optimal CP k A in term of privacy and utility. An approach, including two modules, to establish mechanisms which achieve the optimal CP k A is presented. The first module is to build in-group mechanisms for achieving the optimal privacy within each content group. The second module includes linear programming-based methods to compute the optimal grouping strategies. The in-group mechanisms and the grouping strategies are combined to establish optimal CP k A mechanisms, which achieve the optimal privacy or the optimal utility. We employ real-life datasets and synthetic prior distributions to evaluate the CP k A mechanisms established by our approach. The evaluation results illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the established mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the Pb(II) sorption capacity of jujube pit biochar (JPB) in aqueous solution, which was derived from jujube pit by pyrolysis and used as a promising and economical adsorbent. More importantly, the utilization of JPB could realize the recycling of agricultural residues. The JPB was characterized using conventional science technologies, including SEM, BET and FT-IR, and the sorption capacity of JPB for lead ions was investigated according to different adsorption parameters, such as the kinetics data, solution pH, isotherms data, coexisting ions of Na+ and K+, desorption and reusability, and solution temperature. The results of kinetics data suggested that the lead ion adsorption process by JPB could be fast to reach equilibrium within 30 min. Additionally, the adsorption capacity of JPB for Pb(II) was calculated to be maximum for 137.1 mg/g at pH 6.0. More importantly, after five cycles of desorption and reuse, the JPB still reached 70% of its original adsorption capacity. All the results suggested that JPB had a broad application prospect for the purification of lead ions in practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the potential role of the circMTO1/miR-9-5p/NOX4 axis in liver cancer. Materials and Methods: Human genome-wide circrna microarray V2 was used for analyzing the expression profile of circRNAs in human tissue samples. The TargetScan database was used to predict target genes. Gene overexpression and silencing in hepatoma cell lines were achieved by transfecting the cells with suitable constructs. Quantitative real time PCR and Western blotting were used to analyze gene and protein expression levels. CCK-8 analysis was performed to detect cell proliferation and the transwell assay for analyzing cell migration. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and immunohistochemistry were respectively used to detect apoptosis and protein expression. Results: CircMTO1 were down-regulated in the liver cancer tissues and cell lines compared to their respective normal controls. TargetScan database screening and dual luciferase assay revealed that circMTO1 was a molecular sponge of miR-9-5p, and NOX4 was the target gene of miR-9-5p. Overexpression of circMTO1 and NOX4 inhibited proliferation and migration of hepatoma cells, while the overexpression of miR-9-5p had the opposite effects. In contrast, overexpression of circMTO1 and NOX4 promoted apoptosis, while that of miR-9-5p decreased the cell apoptosis rates. Conclusion: Overexpression of CircMTO1 acts as tumor suppressor in liver cancer by sponging miR-9-5p, which upregulates NOX4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), an economically significant pandemic disease, commonly results in increased impact of bacterial infections, including those by Streptococcus suis (S. suis). In recent years, PRRS virus (PRRSV) NADC30‐like strain has emerged in different regions of China, and coinfected with S. suis and PRRSV has also gradually increased in clinical performance. However, the mechanisms involved in host innate responses towards S. suis and their implications of coinfection with NADC30‐like strain remain unknown. Therefore, the pathogenicity of NADC30‐like strain and S. suis serotype 2 (SS2) coinfection in vivo and in vitro was investigated in this study. The results showed that NADC30‐like increased the invasion and proliferation of SS2 in blood and tissues, resulting in more severe pneumonia, myocarditis, and peritonitisas well as higher mortality rate in pigs. In vitro, NADC30‐like strain increased the invasion and survival of SS2 in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAM) cells, causing more drastic expression of inflammatory cytokines and activation of NF‐ĸB signalling. These results pave the way for understanding the interaction of S. suis with the swine immune system and their modulation in a viral coinfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fractional Cattaneo model is derived for studying the heat transfer in a finite slab irradiated by a short pulse laser. The analytical solutions for the fractional Cattaneo model, the classical Cattaneo-Vernotte model, and the Fourier model are obtained with finite Fourier and Laplace transforms. The effects of the fractional order parameter and the relaxation time on the temperature fields in the finite slab are investigated. The results show that the larger the fractional order parameter, the slower the thermal wave. Moreover, the higher the relaxation time, the slower the heat flux propagates. By comparing the fractional order Cattaneo model with the classical Cattaneo-Vernotte and Fourier models, it can be found that the heat flux predicted using the fractional Cattaneo model always transports from the high temperature to the low one, which is in accord with the second law of thermodynamics. However, the classical Cattaneo-Vernotte model shows that the unphysical heat flux sometimes transports from the low temperature to the high one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern applications and services leveraged by interactive cyberphysical systems (CPS) are providing significant convenience to our daily life in various aspects at present. Clients submit their requests including query contents to CPS servers to enjoy diverse services such as health care, automatic driving, and location-based services. However, privacy concerns arise at the same time. Content privacy is recognized and a lot of efforts have been made in the literature of privacy preserving in interactive cyberphysical systems such as location-based services. Nevertheless, neither the cloaking based solutions nor existing client based solutions have achieved effective content privacy by optimizing proper content privacy metrics. In this paper we formulate the problem of achieving the optimal content privacy in interactive cyberphysical systems using k-anonymity solutions based on two content privacy metrics, which are defined using the concepts of entropy and differential privacy. Then we propose an algorithm, Multilayer Alignment (MLA), to establish k-anonymity mechanisms for preserving content privacy in interactive cyberphysical systems. Our proposed MLA is theoretically proved to achieve the optimal content privacy in terms of both the entropy based and the differential privacy mannered content privacy metrics. Evaluation based on real-life datasets is conducted, and the evaluation results validate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of a wild chestnut species, Castanea mollissima Blume, was determined and mapped based on Illumina sequencing data. The complete chloroplast genome is 160,869 bp and comprises a pair of inverted repeat regions of 25,701 bp each, a large single-copy region of 90,497 bp, and a small single-copy region of 18,970 bp. The genome harbors 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 transfer RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on chloroplast genomes indicates that wild C. mollissima is closely related to Castanopsis echinocarpa and dissimilar to cultivated C. mollissima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we design an automatic pearl classification machine, composed of four parts: feeding mechanism, delivering mechanism, vision-based detection device, and classification mechanism. Pearls can be delivered to the detection device one by one, where multiview images of each pearl can be collected. A novel multistream convolutional neural network (MS-CNN) is developed to cope with these multiview images, with each stream processing an image of particular viewing angle and different streams sharing part of weights to fuse high-order features without losing too much diversity. Using the machine, we collect 52 500 multiview images for 10 500 pearls, i.e., each pearl has five images of top, left, right, main, and rear views. These pearls were labeled by the experienced professionals in advance, and grouped into two classes with rough rules and seven classes with fine rules. Experimental results show that, compared with the support vector machine and backpropagation neural network, our MS-CNN behaves much better in both classification tasks, obtaining 92.14% and 91.24% accuracies. Moreover, the visualization of activations of convolutional kernels suggests that MS-CNN, imitating the manual process, can indeed recognize relatively complex features. These results indicate the potential value of our machine in the pearl industry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nowadays, location-based services (LBS) are facilitating people in daily life through answering LBS queries. However, privacy issues including locationprivacy and queryprivacy arise at the same time. Existing works for protecting queryprivacy either work on trusted servers or fail to provide sufficient privacy guarantee. This paper combines the concepts of differential privacy and k-anonymity to propose the notion of differentially private k-anonymity (DPkA) for queryprivacy in LBS. We recognize the sufficient and necessary condition for the availability of 0-DPkA and present how to achieve it. For cases where 0-DPkA is not achievable, we propose an algorithm to achieve 휖-DPkA with minimized 휖. Extensive simulations are conducted to validate the proposed mechanisms based on real-life datasets and synthetic data distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolation and identification of diverse porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSVs) play a fundamental role in PRRSV research and disease management. However, PRRSV has a restricted cell tropism for infection. MARC-145 cells are routinely used for North American genotype PRRSV isolation and vaccine production. But MARC-145 cells have some limitations such as low virus yield. CD163 is a cellular receptor that mediates productive infection of PRRSV in various nonpermissive cell lines. In this study, we established a high and stable porcine CD163- (pCD163-) expressing MARC-145 cell line toward increasing its susceptibility to PRRSV infection. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and Western blotting assays showed that pCD163 was expressed higher in pCD163-MARC cell line than MARC-145 cells. Furthermore, the ability of pCD163-MARC cell line to propagate PRRSV was significantly increased as compared with MARC-145 cells. Finally, we found that pCD163-MARC cell line had a higher isolation rate of clinical PRRSV samples and propagated live attenuated PRRS vaccine strains more efficiently than MARC-145 cells. This pCD163-MARC cell line will be a valuable tool for propagation and research of PRRSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kuroshio Current intrudes in the bottom layer of the East China Sea continental shelf from the northeast of Taiwan via two bottom branches named the Nearshore Kuroshio Branch Current (NKBC, along the 60 m isobath) and the Offshore Kuroshio Branch Current (OKBC, along the 100 m isobath). However, knowledge on the macrofaunal responses to these bottom branches is limited. This study examined the variations in the benthic macrofaunal community in a section of the East China Sea under the influence of the NKBC. Seven sites corresponding to three regions (the west, middle and east region) were sampled using an Agassiz trawl net at a monthly rate from February to November 2015 (except in August). A total of 270 macrofaunal species were collected in this study. Cluster analysis and nMDS ordination revealed three communities: the inshore, Kuroshio and offshore communities, roughly corresponding to the west, middle and east of NKBC route. Significant differences in the species composition (one-way PERMANOVA) and diversity indices (one-way ANOVA) among the regions and communities were observed, while no statistically significant difference among the months was detected. The indicator species also varied among the communities, with Sternaspis scutata and Odontamblyopus rubicundus dominating the inshore community, Camatopsis rubida, Schizaster lacunosus and Craspidaster hesperus dominating the Kuroshio community, and Portunus argentatus, Champsodon snyderi and Coelorinchus multispinulosus dominating the offshore community. Some rare species (e.g., Neobythites sivicola) may indicate the passage of the NKBC better than the indicator species. A redundancy analysis was used to describe the relationship between the macrofaunal species and environmental variables in this study. Water depth and turbidity played important roles in the distribution of the macrofauna. S. scutata and O. rubicundus were associated with high turbidity and shallow depth, while Plesionika izumiae and P. argentatus were associated with low turbidity and deep depth. This study outlines the impact of the NKBC on the distribution patterns of the macrofaunal community of the East China Sea. More studies are needed to understand the detailed interactions between macrofauna and the NKBC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel shape-stabilized phase change material (PEG/TAMS), fabricated using tannic acid-templated mesoporous silica (TAMS) as a support for polyethylene glycol, was developed for thermal energy storage. The method used to synthesize TAMS was simple, cost effective, environmentally friendly, and free of surfactant. The characterization results indicated that PEG was physically absorbed to TAMS and that TAMS had no influence on the crystal structure of PEG. According to the TGA thermograms, PEG/TAMS has excellent thermal stability and can be applied over a wide temperature range. Additionally, the differential scanning calorimetry results suggested that PEG/TAMS has good thermal properties and that its fusion and solidification enthalpies reached 114.7 J/g and 102.4 J/g, respectively. The results indicated that PEG/TAMS has great potential for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the buckling behaviors of single-walled carbon nanocones (SWCNCs) under bending at finite temperatures are predicted using a proposed multiscale quasi-continuum approach based on the temperature-dependent higher order Cauchy–Born (THCB) rule. The hyper-elastic constitutive model is derived exactly in the context of the higher order gradient theory that incorporates the details of the interatomic interaction. The numerical simulations for the deformation of SWCNCs are implemented using the developed meshless computational framework based on moving least-squares interpolation, which can precisely reproduce the deformation process and buckling patterns of SWCNCs under bending. The underlying correlations of the critical bending angle with respect to the geometry of SWCNCs and temperature are revealed by the numerical results. Furthermore, our simulation captures the transformation from the local to the global buckling process of SWCNCs, accompanied with an average strain energy jump. Our results correspond with previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of form factor k at different drafts is important in predicting full-scale total resistance and speed for different types of ships. In the ITTC community, most organizations predict form factor k using a low-speed model test. However, this method is problematic for ships with bulbous bows and transom. In this article, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based method is introduced to obtain k for different type of ships at different drafts, and a comparison is made between the CFD method and the model test. The results show that the CFD method produces reasonable k values. A grid generating method and turbulence model are briefly discussed in the context of obtaining a consistent k using CFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the efficacy of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) subunit vaccine, the immunological enhancement effects of four natural adjuvants were compared, including Astragalus extract, Astragalus/Bacillus production, propolis, and Freund's adjuvant. The results showed that titers of IgG and neutralizing antibody against highly pathogenic PRRSV (HP-PRRSV) glycoprotein 5 (GP5) from the groups of Astragalus/Bacillus adjuvant and Freund's adjuvant co-administered with a recombinant HP-PRRSV GP5 subunit were the highest among all the experimental groups. In cellular immunity, as shown in T lymphocyte proliferation level, Astragalus/Bacillus adjuvant and Freund's adjuvant exhibited the most potent immunological enhancement effects. Exceptionally, pigs inoculated with Freund's adjuvant developed severely delayed humoral immune responses within 28 days post inoculation. The adjuvants of Astragalus extract and propolis also exhibited immunological enhancement effects on humoral immune and cell-mediated immune responses, but which were obviously lower than Astragalus/Bacillus adjuvant and Freund's adjuvant. Following challenge with HP-PRRSV, pigs inoculated with Astragalus/Bacillus adjuvant and Freund's adjuvant co-administered with GP5 subunit showed lower viremia, slighter clinical signs, and less pathological lung lesions compared with the groups inoculated using Astragalus extract and propolis. In conclusion, from immune responses and immunological protection against HP-PRRSV, the Astragalus/ Bacillus adjuvant demonstrated the most potent immunological enhancement effect on HP-PRRSV GP5 subunit. Astragalus/ Bacillus adjuvant showed promise as a candidate immune adjuvant, to more efficiently prevent and control PRRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), the essential causative agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), can be divided into distinct genotypes. Thirty-two PCV2 isolates obtained made from pigs in Shandong Province between 2005 and 2013. Complete genome sequences were obtained in three replicates for each virus isolate, and the sequences were submitted to the NCBI database. The ORF1-encoded amino acid sequences had 98.4 %-100 % identity among the 32 isolates, and there were no significant differences among the three potential glycosylation positions: aa 23-25 (NPS), aa 256-258 (NQT) and aa 286-288 (NAT). The amino acid sequences of ORF2 had 88 %-100 % identity among the 32 isolates and the potential glycosylation position in the cap protein, aa 143-145 (NYS), had no variation. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the PCV2b/1C genetic lineage was prevalent in swine populations in Shandong Province. It also suggested that selection pressure has made the PCV2 isolates more genetically distant from current vaccine strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]