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Support vector clustering (SVC) has been successfully used to achieve robust clustering. SVC has the capability of dealing with noise and outliers, and can identify clusters of arbitrary shapes. Moreover, SVC has its superiorities for automatically obtaining the number of clusters and having no requirement for prior knowledge to determine the system topological structure. However, in most cases, it is not possible to choose the best of input parameter values for an input dataset which restricts the application of SVC. In this paper, we propose a support vector clustering approach termed locally weighted support vector clustering, which tackles the automatic parameter estimation problem for SVC. An exponential weighting to each data point is assigned to reflect the within-class importance of different data points in order to detect outliers and noise efficiently. The experiments on multiple real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Hyper-plane based Support Vector Machine (SVM) for classification and hyper-spherical based Support Vector Data Description (SVDD) for clustering have been shown to be very effective in many real-world machine learning problems in various domains. Support vector clustering (SVC) based on SVDD has been successfully used to achieve robust clustering. However, in most cases, it is not possible to choose the best of input parameter values for an input dataset which restricts the application of SVC. Only a few heuristic approaches have been proposed to set the different parameters of these methods in an unsupervised manner. In this paper, we propose an ensemble based clustering approach to tackle the automatic parameter estimation problem for SVC in a fully unsupervised manner which is capable of producing robust clustering results. The experiments on multiple real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Objective To investigate the effect of oleuropein (OE) on long term potentiation (LTP) at hippocampal perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses in vivo. Methods An outer guide cannula, a monopolar recording electrode, and a bipolar stimulating electrode were implanted in the skull and extracellular recording technique was used to record the population spike in the dentate gyrus of anesthetized rats. Results Oleuropein significantly increased the basal synaptic transmission and the amplitude of population spike was increased from (117.6 ± 2.3)% to (134.9 ± 3.7)% after administration with OE. OE also accelerated LTP induction and maintenance, the population spike amplitude after high frequency stimulation was increased from (167.2 ± 12.8)% to (225.5 ± 15.5)% and the maintenance phase of LTP was from (182.1 ± 15.1)% to (210.5 ± 9.0)% respectively after administration with OE. Conclusion Present study showed that OE significantly improved different stages of LTP, which could be the molecular mechanism of its efficacy on attenuating AD-like pathology and delaying cognitive decline. OE can be a promising drug for AD and dementia.

The traditional integer-order computation-based denoising approaches often blur the edges and textural details of an image. To solve this problem, from the viewpoint of system evolution, and based on the features of fractional calculus, we propose to implement a texture image denoising approach based on fractional developmental mathematics (FDM) which applies a novel mathematical method, fractional calculus, to image denoising. First, we synopsize the necessary theoretical background of fractional calculus. Second, we derive the necessary mathematical models for implementation of a texture image denoising approach based on FDM. We derive fractional Green's formula, fractional Gauss' formula, and fractional Stokes' formula, and fractional Euler---Lagrange equation. Then, a texture image denoising approach based on FDM is proposed. Third, we implement comparative experiments. We firstly derive the numerical implementation of FDM. Then, we study the capability of preserving the edges and textural details of FDM by comparative experiments. The comparative experimental results show that the capability of preserving the edges and textural details of the FDM-based denoising algorithm is obviously superior to that of traditional integer-order computation-based algorithms, especially for texture detail rich images.

Accurate quantification of transcripts using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) depends on the identification of reliable reference genes for normalization. This study aimed to identify and validate seven reference genes, including actin-2 (ACT-2), elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α), elongation factor 1 beta (EF-1β), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), ubiquitin (UBQ), β-tubulin (β-TUB), and 18S ribosomal RNA, from Crassostrea angulata, a valuable marine bivalve cultured worldwide. Transcript levels of the candidate reference genes were examined using qPCR analysis and showed differential expression patterns in the mantle, gill, adductor muscle, labial palp, visceral mass, hemolymph and gonad tissues. Quantitative data were analyzed using the geNorm software to assess the expression stability of the candidate reference genes, revealing that β-TUB and UBQ were the most stable genes. The commonly used GAPDH and 18S rRNA showed low stability, making them unsuitable candidates in this system. The expression pattern of the G protein β-subunit gene (Gβ) across tissue types was also examined and normalized to the expression of each or both of UBQ and β-TUB as internal controls. This revealed consistent trends with all three normalization approaches, thus validating the reliability of UBQ and β-TUB as optimal internal controls. The study provides the first validated reference genes for accurate data normalization in transcript profiling in Crassostrea angulata, which will be indispensable for further functional genomics studies in this economically valuable marine bivalve.

Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) is a promising application of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance, achieving spatial diversity. Space Time Block Code (STBC) is a powerful technique used at the transmitter of a MIMO system to obtain high data rates, a larger capacity, and a low Bit Error Rate (BER). In this work, the estimated Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) channel is achieved by using pilot's bits technique and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Maximum Likelihood (ML) detection was carried out with more than one type of back propagation training algorithm, which were used to make the (BER) of the proposed system closer to the (BER) of the known channel (MIMO) system.

We evaluated differences in ascorbic acid (AsA) and glutathione (GSH) contents and activities of enzymes involved in the AsA metabolism in fruits of 20 cultivars of Chinese persimmon (Diospyros kaki). The total AsA content ranged from 3.85 (cv. Yangshuohuoshi) to 83.02 μmol·g−1 FW (cv. Wangmoshuishi), with an average of 36.69 μmol·g−1 FW across the 20 cultivars. The total GSH content ranged from 0.205 (cv. Yangshuohuoshi) to 0.815 μmol·g−1 FW (cv. Mimiguan) with an average 0.533 μmol·g−1 FW. There were significant differences in activities of dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11), and glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2) in fruits among the 20 cultivars. The AsA content was significantly positively correlated with MDHAR and DHAR activities, but not with GSH and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents or APX activity. These results indicated that both MDHAR and DHAR, especially MDHAR, play important roles in maintaining the AsA redox state by reducing oxidized AsA back to AsA and the AsA level mainly depends on biosynthesis, rather than recycling.

In this paper, a set of fractional partial differential equations based on fractional total variation and fractional steepest descent approach are proposed to address the problem of traditional drawbacks of PM and ROF multi-scale denoising for texture image. By extending Green, Gauss, Stokes and Euler-Lagrange formulas to fractional field, we can find that the integer formulas are just their special case of fractional ones. In order to improve the denoising capability, we proposed 4 fractional partial differential equation based multiscale denoising models, and then discussed their stabilities and convergence rate. Theoretic deduction and experimental evaluation demonstrate the stability and astringency of fractional steepest descent approach, and fractional nonlinearly multi-scale denoising capability and best value of parameters are discussed also. The experiments results prove that the ability for preserving high-frequency edge and complex texture information of the proposed denoising models are obviously superior to traditional integral based algorithms, especially for texture detail rich images.

In order to modify the tribological properties of titanium alloy, Ti53–Si32–Ni15, Ti43–Si26–Ni31 and Ti30–Si18–Ni52 (at.%) elemental powders blends were designed to fabricate Ti 5 Si 3 reinforced intermetallic composite coatings on Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy substrate by plasma transferred arc (PTA) cladding process. Microstructure of the PTA cladding coatings was characterized by SEM, XRD and EDS. The relationship between Ti/Si/Ni atomic ratios of the Ti–Si–Ni elemental powders blends and microstructure of the PTA cladding coatings was investigated in detail. The effect of volume fraction of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases on microhardness and room temperature dry sliding wear behavior of the PTA cladding coatings was discussed. Results show that the PTA clad intermetallic composite coatings have a non-equilibrium solidified super-fine microstructure consisting of Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases, NiTi 2 /α-Ti/Ti 5 Si 3 ternary eutectics and a small amount of NiTi 2 /Ti 5 Si 3 binary eutectics. The PTA clad composite coatings are metallurgically bonded to the Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy substrate. The Ti/Si/Ni atomic ratios of the Ti–Si–Ni elemental powders blends have a noticeable effect on grain size, volume fraction and solidification morphologies of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases. With increasing the Ni content of the elemental powder blends, grain size and volume fraction of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases decrease significantly. Microhardness values of the PTA clad intermetallic composite coatings are remarkable influenced by the volume fraction of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases. The higher the volume fraction of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases, the higher the microhardness value of the PTA cladding coatings. Room temperature dry sliding wear properties of the PTA cladding coatings are significantly affected by both the solidification morphologies and volume fraction of the Ti 5 Si 3 primary phases.

During a large-scale screen of the larval transcriptome library of the Portuguese oyster, Crassostrea angulata, the oyster gene RACK, which encodes a receptor of activated protein kinase C protein was isolated and characterized. The cDNA is 1,148 bp long and has a predicted open reading frame encoding 317 aa. The predicted protein shows high sequence identity to many RACK proteins of different organisms including molluscs, fish, amphibians and mammals, suggesting that it is conserved during evolution. The structural analysis of the Ca-RACK1 genomic sequence implies that the Ca-RACK1 gene has seven exons and six introns, extending approximately 6.5 kb in length. It is expressed ubiquitously in many oyster tissues as detected by RT-PCR analysis. The Ca-RACK1 mRNA expression pattern was markedly increased at larval metamorphosis; and was further increased along with Ca-RACK1 protein synthesis during epinephrine-induced metamorphosis. These results indicate that the Ca-RACK1 plays an important role in tissue differentiation and/or in cell growth during larval metamorphosis in the oyster, C. angulata.

The goal of this study is to investigate the biotransformation of ginsenoside Rg1 in vivo. A highly sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method was developed and used for metabolite identification in rat feces and urine after oral administration of ginsenoside Rg1 . Four metabolites of Rg1 were detected in rat feces and three metabolites of Rg1 were detected in rat urine. Deglycosylation and oxygenation were found to be the major metabolic pathways of ginsenoside Rg1 after oral administration in rat. Except for the reported metabolites Rh1 and protopanaxatriol, mono-oxygenated Rg1 and mono-oxygenated protopanaxatriol were detected for the first time after oral administration of Rg1. The in vivo metabolite profiling of ginsenoside Rg1 in rat was proposed. Viewed collectively, Rg1 was metabolized to mono-oxygenated Rg1, Rh1, protopanaxatriol and the secondary metabolite mono-oxygenated protopanaxatriol in rat.

The dual-slope integral analog-to-digital converter is widely used in low-speed, high-precision measurement owing to its high precision and strong resistance on crosstalk interference. To meet the requirements of higher accuracy and faster measurement, the integral sensitivity and conversion speed of the dual-slope integral analog-to-digital converter must be improved. Therefore, based on fractional-order calculus, we propose a fractional-order dual-slope integral analog-to-digital converter. First, constant-current charging curves were provided to explain the source of the idea of the fractional-order dual-slope integral analog-to-digital converter. Then, the working principle of the fractional-order dual-slope integral analog-to-digital converter is described in detail. The calculation formula of analog-to-digital conversion is derived and analyzed. Moreover, the relationship of the voltage-measurement error with the operation-order error of the fractor and the reference voltage error is theoretically derived. Furthermore, we theoretically analyze the resistance of the proposed analog-to-digital converter to crosstalk interference, as well as the requirements for the first fractional integral time when crosstalk interference is suppressed. Specifically, we prove that the proposed analog-to-digital converter has a higher sensitivity and conversion speed than the classical converter, and we provide a quantitative calculation formula.

Motivated by the concepts of quantum mechanics and particle swarm optimization (PSO), quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) was developed to achieve better global search ability. This paper proposes a new method to improve the global search ability of QPSO with fractional calculus (FC). Based on one of the most frequently used fractional differential definitions, the Grünwald-Letnikov definition, we introduce its discrete expression into the position updating of QPSO. Extensive experiments on well-known benchmark functions were performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed fractional-order quantum particle swarm optimization (FQPSO). The experimental results demonstrate its superior ability in achieving optimal solutions for several different optimizations.

Aims In this study, we sought to determine the prognostic significance of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1-like (GPD1L) expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods and results The mRNA levels of GPD1L were measured in 70 paired HNSCC and corresponding adjacent normal tissues using real-time PCR. GPD1L protein levels were evaluated in HNSCC from 135 patients using immunohistochemical staining. Correlations were analysed between GPD1L levels and local recurrence rate, regional recurrence rate, second primary malignancy rate), disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). The results of real-time PCR showed that, compared with the paired normal tissues, mRNA levels of GPD1L were decreased significantly in HNSCC (P

Traditional integer-order partial differential equation based image denoising approach can easily lead edge and complex texture detail blur, thus its denoising effect for texture image is always not well. To solve the problem, we propose to implement a fractional partial differential equation (FPDE) based denoising model for texture image by applying a novel mathematical method—fractional calculus to image processing from the view of system evolution. Previous studies show that fractional calculus has some unique properties that it can nonlinearly enhance complex texture detail in digital image processing, which is obvious different with integer-order differential calculus. The goal of the modeling is to overcome the problems of the existed denoising approaches by utilizing the aforementioned properties of fractional differential calculus. Using classic definition and property of fractional differential calculus, we extend integer-order steepest descent approach to fractional field to implement fractional steepest descent approach. Then, based on the earlier fractional formulas, a FPDE based multiscale denoising model for texture image is proposed and further analyze optimal parameters value for FPDE based denoising model. The experimental results prove that the ability for preserving high-frequency edge and complex texture information of the proposed fractional denoising model are obviously superior to traditional integral based algorithms, as for texture detail rich images. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fruits from six persimmon (Diospyros kaki) genotypes were compared for phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacity in this study. The results showed that all fruit extracts exhibited strong antioxidant activities, which generally correlated positively with the total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, and total flavanol contents. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that gallic acid and quercetin were the major phenolic components in the fruit extracts of six D. kaki genotypes. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that wild genotype D. kaki. var. Silvestris Makino belongs to the group with high phenolic content and strong antioxidant ability, while astringent genotypes D. kaki. cv. Xiuningbianshi and D. kaki. cv. Zhouqumomoshi are arranged in one group characterized by moderate phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, the non-astringent genotypes D. kaki. cv. Zenjimaru, D. kaki. cv. Jiro and the astringent genotype D. kaki. cv. Xingyangshuishi belongs to the third group because of their low phenolic content and weak antioxidant activity. On the basis of the results obtained, the persimmon fruit could be a potential source of natural antioxidants for food and pharmaceutical applications.

Many approaches have been proposed to improve the quality of low-dose CT images from noisy projections. These approaches can be categorized into three groups: Sinogram filtering approaches, iterative reconstruction approaches and post-reconstruction restoration approaches. Sinogram filtering approaches directly smooth the raw data before filtered back-projection (FBP) is applied. Iterative reconstruction approaches optimize a prior-regularized objective function by iterative ways. Despite the successes achieved by these two kinds of approaches, researchers on these approaches are often limited in practice due to the difficulty of gaining well-formatted projection data from the commercial CT scanner. The post-reconstruction restoration approaches, which don't rely on the projection data, can be directly applied on low-dose CT and easily integrated into the current CT systems [1]. In this summary, we will focus on the third group. Inspired by the superior performance achieved by non-linear deep neural networks in the field of image processing, a stacked sparse denoising autoencoders (SSDA) based noise reduction method for low-dose CT imaging is presented in this summary. The experiments demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our method.

The formation of the primary shell is a vital process in marine bivalves. Ocean acidification largely influences shell formation. It has been reported that enzymes involved in phenol oxidation, such as tyrosinase and phenoloxidases, participate in the formation of the periostracum. In the present study, we cloned a tyrosinase gene from Crassostrea angulata named Ca-tyrA1, and its potential function in early larval shell biogenesis was investigated. The Ca-tyrA1 gene has a full-length cDNA of 2430bp in size, with an open reading frame of 1896bp in size, which encodes a 631-amino acid protein that includes a 24-amino acid putative signal peptide. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that Ca-tyrA1 transcription mainly occurs at the trochophore stage, and the Ca-tyrA1 mRNA levels in the 3000ppm treatment group were significantly upregulated in the early D-veliger larvae. WMISH and electron scanning microscopy analyses showed that the expression of Ca-tyrA1 occurs at the gastrula stage, thereby sustaining the early D-veliger larvae, and the shape of its signal is saddle-like, similar to that observed under an electron scanning microscope. Furthermore, the RNA interference has shown that the treatment group has a higher deformity rate than that of the control, thereby indicating that Ca-tyrA1 participates in the biogenesis of the primary shell. In conclusion, and our results indicate that Ca-tyrA1 plays a vital role in the formation of the larval shell and participates in the response to larval shell damages in Crassostrea angulata that were induced by ocean acidification.

Objective: To obtain high-quality positron emission tomography (PET) image with low-dose tracer injection, this study attempts to predict the standard-dose PET (S-PET) image from both its low-dose PET (L-PET) counterpart and corresponding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: It was achieved by patch-based sparse representation (SR), using the training samples with a complete set of MRI, L-PET and S-PET modalities for dictionary construction. However, the number of training samples with complete modalities is often limited. In practice, many samples generally have incomplete modalities (i.e., with one or two missing modalities) that thus cannot be used in the prediction process. In light of this, we develop a semisupervised tripled dictionary learning (SSTDL) method for S-PET image prediction, which can utilize not only the samples with complete modalities (called complete samples) but also the samples with incomplete modalities (called incomplete samples), to take advantage of the large number of available training samples and thus further improve the prediction performance. Results: Validation was done on a real human brain dataset consisting of 18 subjects, and the results show that our method is superior to the SR and other baseline methods. Conclusion: This paper proposed a new S-PET prediction method, which can significantly improve the PET image quality with low-dose injection. Significance: The proposed method is favorable in clinical application since it can decrease the potential radiation risk for patients.

Metal artifact reduction (MAR) is still a challenging problem in current computed tomography reconstruction. Traditional methods usually use the unaffected projection data in the same degree to interpolate contaminated positions in the bins. The continuality and smoothness features become hard to fulfill. In this article, we propose a novel noniterative MAR method that uses coherence transport with fast marching. Two-dimensional information, including the neighboring bins, is used to inpaint the uncorrected sinogram with a special form of weighted average according to a sequence calculated by the fast marching method. The results of the experiments and the quantitative analysis demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively suppress the artifacts caused by metal with a high-attenuation coefficient. Compared with linear interpolation, the proposed method can introduce less streak artifacts and obtain more accurate structure information of organs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 22, 200–207, 2012 © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In order to reduce the radiation dose of the X-ray computed tomography (CT), low-dose CT has drawn much attention in both clinical and industrial fields. A fractional order model based on statistical iterative reconstruction framework was proposed in this study. To further enhance the performance of the proposed model, an adaptive order selection strategy, determining the fractional order pixel-by-pixel, was given. Experiments, including numerical and clinical cases, illustrated better results than several existing methods, especially, in structure and texture preservation.

反式烯脂酰-CoA还原酶(trans-2, 3-enoyl-CoA reductase, ECR)是催化超长链脂肪酸(VLCFAs)合成的脂肪酰-CoA延长酶之一。根据已报道拟南芥等的ECR基因设计引物，采用RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends)方法从甘蓝型油菜中克隆ECR的全长cDNA序列和对应的基因组序列，命名为 BnECR (GenBank登录号分别为FJ899705和FJ899706)。序列分析结果显示， BnECR 的全长cDNA序列为1 328 bp，对应的基因组序列为2 093 bp，由4个外显子组成，在ORF的上、下游分别有一个163 bp的5′UTR和一个232 bp的3′UTR。根据编码区预测BnECR前体蛋白为一个310个氨基酸残基的多肽链，包含ECR蛋白的重要功能位点K 144 、R 145 及一个NAD(P)H结合基序G 225 SGGYQIPR/HG 234 。NCBI Blastn、氨基酸序列多重比对及保守域分析表明, 该基因与拟南芥 AtECR 基因的同源性最高，是对应拟南芥 AtECR 的垂直同源基因。RT-PCR分析表明， BnECR 基因在甘蓝型油菜根、茎、叶、花及角果中均有表达，其中在茎中的表达量最高。 BnECR 在高芥酸材料种子发育中后期的表达量显著高于低芥酸种子，表明 BnECR 可能参与甘蓝型油菜芥酸的合成。将 BnECR 克隆到酿酒酵母的穿梭表达载体中，分别转化野生型酵母By4743和突变体菌株YDL015c，添加半乳糖诱导表达。气相色谱分析表明， BnECR 在酿酒酵母中有效表达，转化菌株中的芥酸(C22:1)占总脂肪酸含量的1.34%，比对照增加了52%；对突变体的转化结果表明芥酸含量恢复到野生型水平。

Very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) are critical components in cuticular waxes, sphingolipids, and triacylglycerols in higher plants. Biosynthesis of VLCFAs is catalyzed by the fatty acyl-CoA elongase, a membrane-bound enzymatic complex containing 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS), 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase (KCR), 3-hydroxacyl-CoA dehydratase (HCD), and trans-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase (ECR). In this study, the primers were designed based on multiple alignments of trans-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase (ECR) gene sequences from Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants, and the full-length cDNA, here designated BnECR, and the corresponding genomic sequences were isolated from Brassica napus using rapid amplification of cDNA ends method (GenBank accession numbers FJ899705 and FJ899705). The sequence of BnECR cDNA was 1328 bp in length excluding the poly dA tail, and the corresponding genomic sequence was 2093 bp. BnECR was composed of 4 exons and contained a 163 bp 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) and a 233 bp 3′ UTR. The deduced BnECR protein was 310 amino acid in length with a molecular weight of 735.78 kD and an isoelectric point of 9.52. The critical functional sites K144 and R145 in AtECR were unchanged in BnECR. The G225SGGYQIPR/HG234, which presented a non-classical NADPH-binding motif, was found in the C-terminal of BnECR. NCBI Blastn, multiple alignments and conserved domain search showed that BnECR had the highest homology to A. thaliana AtECR. RT-PCR analysis showed that BnECR was ubiquitously expressed in B. napus and preferentially expressed in the stem. The transcript level of BnECR at mid and late stages of seed development in low erucic acid rapeseed cultivar was obviously lower than that in high erucic acid rapeseed cultivar, suggesting that BnECR was involved in biosynthesis of erucic acid. The 933 bp open reading frame of BnECR was subcloned into the yeast-Escherichia coli shuttle vector pYES2.0. The recombinant plasmid was transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild type strain By4743 and the mutant strain YDL015c. With galactose as inducer, the transformant was cultured to induce the expression of BnECR. The gas chromatographic result indicated that BnECR was overexpressed effectively in S. cerevisiae, and the content of erucic acid reached 1.34% of the total fatty acid in the recombinant strain, an increase of 52% over the control. Functional complementation of BnECR in an ECR-deficient mutant yeast demonstrated that BnECR mediated the biosynthesis of VLCFAs. The results suggest that BnECR should be functional orthologue of AtECR.

In this paper, we propose a new metal artifacts reduction algorithm based on fractional-order total-variation sinogram inpainting model for X-ray computed tomography (CT). The numerical algorithm for our fractional-order framework is also analyzed. Simulations show that, both quantitatively and qualitatively, our method is superior to conditional interpolation methods and the classic integral-order total variation model.

Since we cannot solve the equation, we know nothing about the properties of the fracmemristor circuit. In this paper, HP memristor is used in fracmemristor circuit for the first time. After a series of mathematical processing, the HP fracmemristor can be equivalent to two parts which are represented as F and VM, respectively. The F part is the fractance. The VM part is related to the current, and it can best reflect the fracmemristor property of the circuit. Therefore, we hope that we can understand the fracmemristor circuit by the simulation research of the HP fracmemristor circuit. Firstly, the amplitude frequency characteristic and phase frequency characteristic of HP fracmemristor are obtained by using Matlab. And compared with the fractance, they have different characteristics. After that, the 1/2 order fracmemristor property is studied. By approximating processing the 1/2 Laplasse operator and then using Laplasse transform and inverse Laplasse transform, we can get the total resistance change with time, the changes of total resistance with the current figure, the voltage of part F changes with the current, the voltage of part VM with the current changes, as well as the total voltage with current changes. From these diagrams, the U-I diagram of the VM section intersects at two points. The currents at these two points are symmetrical about the origin, and the voltages at the two points are slightly different. Moreover, the magnitude of the current and voltage is stable at the point of intersection, and does not change with the magnitude of the input current. For HP fracmemristor circuits, its properties depend on the size of the current. When the current is very small, the HP fracmemristor exhibits the characteristics of fractance, and the influence of the VM part can be ignored. With the increase of current, the effect of fractance F is reduced, and the effect of VM is increased. When the current increases to a certain size, the output of the circuit is the same as that of the VM part, and the effect of the fractance F part can be ignored.

In this paper, we intend to implement a class of fractional differential masks with high-precision. Thanks to two commonly used definitions of fractional differential for what are known as GrUmwald-Letnikov and Riemann-Liouville, we propose six fractional differential masks and present the structures and parameters of each mask respectively on the direction of negative x-coordinate, positive x-coordinate, negative y-coordinate, positive y-coordinate, left downward diagonal, left upward diagonal, right downward diagonal, and right upward diagonal. Moreover, by theoretical and experimental analyzing, we demonstrate the second is the best performance fractional differential mask of the proposed six ones. Finally, we discuss further the capability of multiscale fractional differential masks for texture enhancement. Experiments show that, for rich-grained digital image, the capability of nonlinearly enhancing complex texture details in smooth area by fractional differential-based approach appears obvious better than by traditional intergral-based algorithms.

The objective of this study was to determine diversities of ascorbic acid (AsA) and activities of enzymes involved in AsA metabolism, and to determine their relationships to AsA content in the leaves of Chinese persimmon (Diospyros kaki) cultivars. Results showed that there were huge differences not only in the contents of AsA and glutathione (GSH) but also in the enzyme activities of l -galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase (GLDH, EC 1.3.2.3), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11) and glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2) in the leaves of 22 Chinese persimmon cultivars. Control of AsA levels mainly depended on the capacity for biosynthesis and GLDH activity played a main role in determining AsA levels in the leaves of persimmon. Both MDHAR and DHAR, MDHAR in particular, also played an important role in maintaining AsA redox state by reducing oxidized AsA back to AsA. But contents of GSH and hydrogen peroide (H2O2) and activity of APX were not significantly correlated with AsA content in the leaves of persimmon.

The objective of this study was to determine ascorbic acid (AsA) distribution, biosynthesis and recycling in different tissues of young and mature fruit of cv. Gala apple (Malus domestica Borkh). Our results showed that the peel of ‘Gala’ apple had the highest AsA levels among all the tissue types, which resulted from a combination of, lower ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11) activity consuming AsA, and higher dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4) activities used to recycle AsA. Exogenous feeding of AsA synthesis precursors demonstrated that the peel was capable of de nono AsA biosynthesis via l -galactose and d -galacturonic acid pathways whereas the flesh and seed were only able to synthesize AsA via l -galactose pathway. The young fruit had higher AsA concentration and stronger capability of AsA biosynthesis and recycling. The sun-exposed peel had higher AsA concentration and stronger capability of recycling AsA than the shaded peel, while there was no difference in the flesh between the sun-exposed side and the shaded side. Abundant AsA was found in fruit vascular tissue, which suggests that AsA can be transported to vascular tissues of fruit or vascular tissues could synthesize AsA itself in ‘Gala’ apple.

The state space explosion problem is still the key obstacle for applying model checking to systems of industrial size. Abstraction-based methods have been particularly successful in this regard. This paper presents an approach based on refinement of search space partition and abstraction which combines these two techniques for reducing the complexity of model checking. The refinement depends on the representation of each portion of search space. Especially, search space can be refined stepwise to get a better reduction. As reported in the case study, the integration of search space partition and abstraction improves the efficiency of verification with respect to the requirement of memory and obtains significant advantage over the use of each of them in isolation.

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the biological behaviors of a novel 188 Re-labeled meso -tetrakis(4-sulfophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS 4 ) in normal mice and tumor-bearing mice. Methods TPPS 4 was synthesized and labeled by 188 ReO 4 − . Normal KM mice and BALB/c nude mice bearing melanoma or hepatoma were prepared for distribution studies. Results The [ 188 Re]TPPS 4 yield was >98% with a specific activity of 11.2 GBq/mol, and vitamin C could increase its stability in vitro. In normal KM mice, [ 188 Re]TPPS 4 had a fast blood clearance (∼90%, 24 h postinjection), low retention in vital organs and hepatotropic characteristics. In nude mice, uptakes of >4.1% and 6.5% ID/g tumor at 8 h postinjection were observed in melanoma and hepatoma, respectively; this remained at high levels of 4.7% and 5.7%, respectively, after 24 h. At 8 h, the tumor/blood and tumor/muscle ratios in melanoma-bearing and hepatoma-bearing mice were 6.2–15.2 and 6.1–24.2, respectively. Twenty-four hours later, these high ratios still continued at 8.6–22.1 and 12–26.1, respectively. Conclusion The results obtained in this study indicate that [ 188 Re]TPPS 4 has a high tumor affinity and retainable accumulation characteristics in carcinoma, which can potentially be used for tumor-targeted therapy.

This paper discusses the total irredundance relations between the graph G and its clone-contraction graph H, that is, let H be the clone-contraction graph of G and v1, v2, ⋯ vk be all contraction vertices of H. If S is a maximal total irredundant set of H such that A = S∩{v1, v2, ⋯, vk} contains as few vertices as possible, then S′ = S − A is the maximal total irredundant set of G. Furthermore, we obtain the bound of the total irredundance number: irt ⩽ ΔG / 2Δ(G)+1n, which n is the order of graph G, and Δ(G) is maximum degree in G.

The keyword-based searches perform unsatisfactorily because of their poor semantic identification, isolated output information and non-uniformed output format, which lead to hard manual screening. In order to overcome these drawbacks, under the challenges that the ambiguity of legal language, the deficiency of three-stage inference for court decisions and the limited role of cases in China, a circular ontology between normative documents and judicial cases is proposed in order to contribute open-textured legal concepts and improve the retrieval accuracy. Taking spiritual compensation in medical disputes as an example, we discuss the correlativeness of normative documents and the similarity of judicial precedents, and the paper offers a practical framework of ontology-based legal information retrieval.

Legal ontologies have made significant progress during the past 20 years, however, few of these ontologies have gone beyond the stage of advanced and refined prototypes. When building legal ontology, the challenges are not only from the deficiency of the ontology techniques, but also from the inner legal systems. The paper analyzes the challenges for building Chinese legal ontology, such as the ambiguity of legal language, the deficiency of three-stage inference for court decisions and the limited role of cases in China. Based on the challenges, the proposed legal ontology should be circular ontology between normative documents and judicial cases. In addition, we discuss the issues for constructing legal ontology: the role of legal ontology, legal modules and basic elements for legal normative document.

The application of fractional calculus to signal processing and adaptive learning is an emerging area of research. A novel fractional adaptive learning approach that utilizes fractional calculus is presented in this paper. In particular, a fractional steepest descent approach is proposed. A fractional quadratic energy norm is studied, and the stability and convergence of our proposed method are analyzed in detail. The fractional steepest descent approach is implemented numerically and its stability is analyzed experimentally.

This paper discusses a re-examination of dual methods based on Gomory's cutting plane for the solution of the integer programming problem, in which the increment of objection function is allowed as a pivot variable to decide the search direction and stepsize. Meanwhile, we adopt the current equivalent face technique so that lattices are found in the discrete integral face and stronger valid inequalities are acquired easily.

A primal-dual infeasible interior point algorithm for multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) problems was presented. In contrast to the current MOLP algorithm. moving through the interior of polytope but not confining the iterates within the feasible region in our proposed algorithm result in a solution approach that is quite different and less sensitive to problem size, so providing the potential to dramatically improve the practical computation effectiveness.

Feasible-interior-point algorithms start from a strictly feasible interior point, but infeassible-interior-point algorithms just need to start from an arbitrary positive point, we give a potential reduction algorithm from an infeasible-starting-point for a class of non-monotone linear complementarity problem. Its polynomial complexity is analyzed. After finite iterations the algorithm produces an approximate solution of the problem or shows that there is no feasible optimal solution in a large region.

This paper presents a state-of-the-art application of fractional hopfield neural networks (FHNNs) to defend against chip cloning attacks, and provides insight into the reason that the proposed method is superior to physically unclonable functions (PUFs). In the past decade, PUFs have been evolving as one of the best types of hardware security. However, the development of the PUFs has been somewhat limited by its implementation cost, its temperature variation effect, its electromagnetic interference effect, the amount of entropy in it, etc. Therefore, it is imperative to discover, through promising mathematical methods and physical modules, some novel mechanisms to overcome the aforementioned weaknesses of the PUFs. Motivated by this need, in this paper, we propose applying the FHNNs to defend against chip cloning attacks. At first, we implement the arbitrary-order fractor of a FHNN. Secondly, we describe the implementation cost of the FHNNs. Thirdly, we propose the achievement of the constant-order performance of a FHNN when ambient temperature varies. Fourthly, we analyze the electrical performance stability of the FHNNs under electromagnetic disturbance conditions. Fifthly, we study the amount of entropy of the FHNNs. Lastly, we perform experiments to analyze the pass-band width of the fractor of an arbitrary-order FHNN and the defense against chip cloning attacks capability of the FHNNs. In particular, the capabilities of defense against chip cloning attacks, anti-electromagnetic interference, and anti-temperature variation of a FHNN are illustrated experimentally in detail. Some significant advantages of the FHNNs are that their implementation cost is considerably lower than that of the PUFs, their electrical performance is much more stable than that of the PUFs under different temperature conditions, their electrical performance stability of the FHNNs under electromagnetic disturbance conditions is much more robust than that of the PUFs, and their amount of entropy is significantly higher than that of the PUFs with the same rank circuit scale.

Chitinolytic enzymes have an important physiological significance in immune and digestive systems in plants and animals, but chitinase has not been identified as having a role in the digestive system in molluscan. In our study, a novel chitinase homologue, named Ca-Chit, has been cloned and characterized as the oyster Crassostrea angulate. The 3998bp full-length cDNA of Ca-Chit consisted of 23bp 5-UTR, 3288 ORF and 688bp 3-UTR. The deduced amino acids sequence shares homologue with the chitinase of family 18. The molecular weight of the protein was predicted to be 119.389 kDa, with a pI of 6.74. The Ca-Chit protein was a modular enzyme composed of a glycosyl hydrolase family 18 domain, threonine-rich region profile and a putative membrane anchor domain. Gene expression profiles monitored by quantitative RT-PCR in different adult tissues showed that the mRNA of Ca-Chit expressed markedly higher visceral mass than any other tissues. The results of the whole mount in-situ hybridization displayed that Ca-Chit starts to express the visceral mass of D-veliger larvae and then the digestive gland forms a crystalline structure during larval development. Furthermore, the adult oysters challenged by starvation indicated that the Ca-Chit expression would be regulated by feed. All the observations made suggest that Ca-Chit plays an important role in the digestive system of the oyster, Crassostrea angulate.

Caspases have been demonstrated to possess important functions in apoptosis and immune system in vertebrate. But there is less information reported on the oyster larval development. In the present work, two full-length molluscan caspase genes, named Cacaspase-2 and Cacaspase-3, were characterized for the first time from Fujian oyster, Crassostrea angulata. Which respectively encode two predicted proteins both containing two caspase domains of p20 and p10 including the cysteine active site pentapeptide “QACRG” and the histidine active site signature. Otherwise Cacaspase-2 also contains a caspase recruitment domain. Homology and phylogenetic analysis showed that Cacaspase-2 shared high similarity with initiator caspase-2 groups, but Cacaspase-3 clustered together with executioner caspase-3 groups. Cacaspase-2 and Cacaspase-3 mRNA were both highly expressed in gills and labial palp and were significantly expressed highly in larvae during settlement and metamorphosis. Through the whole mount in situ hybridization, the location of Cacaspase-2 is in the foot of the oyster larvae and the location of Cacaspase-3 is in both the foot and velum tissues. These results implied that Cacaspase-2 and Cacaspase-3 genes play a key role in the loss of foot and Cacaspase-3 gene has an important function in the loss of velum during larvae metamorphosis in C. angulata.

To develop a new model of vascular dementia for evaluating Chinese medicine prescriptions. Eighty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. At d00, d42, d70, d98 (ni=20, 20, 24, 24) during fatty-feeding, rats in each group were further divided into 10 or 12 subgroups (ni=2), respectively. Lacunar stroke were replicated with the injection of thrombi which coagulated artificially from itself blood. The median lethal doses (LD50) were regressed from accumulative mortality in each geometric thrombus doses (k=0.75, 0.5, 0.85, 0.85), respectively. The degree of vascular dementia was evaluated as exploratory, learning and memorizing abilities. The median effective dose of thrombus for replicating rat model was regressed from dementia scores which were derived from the abilities. The linear correlation was regressed between the values of LD50 or effective dose (ED50) and the durations (days) of hypercholesterolemia. This model of vascular dementia was pathologically confirmed as the neural injuries from lacunar stroke in rats. The hypercholesterolemia was indicated as elevated total cholesterol, triglyeerides low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The values of LD50 with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) were 1525.0 (1361.0–1709.0), 584.3 (490.1–696.6), 168.7 (163.7–173.8), or 62.4 (59.5–65.4) mg/mL, at d00, d42, d70, and d98, respectively. There is a linear regression between the values of LD50 and the durations of hypercholesterolemia (y=–15.33x+1390.0, r=0.963, P

The purpose of this study is to establish in vivo and in vitro models for studying lymphatic metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Three cell lines CAL-27, Tca-83, and HeLa were injected into the tongue of nude mice. Forty days after injection, we could isolate cells of 2 homologous cell lines LN-CAL-27 and LN-HeLa from lymph node metastasis lesions. Then, the homologous cell pairs were compared by the CCK-8 assay, wound healing assay, real-time PCR, western blot, and animal experiments. The results showed that all the three cell lines could be used to establish lymphatic metastasis animal models, and the lymphatic metastasis process was observed clearly. In addition, the homologous cell pairs performed differently from parent lines with respect to biological behavior and lymphatic metastasis-related gene and protein expression. In conclusion, CAL-27, Tca-83, and HeLa cells could be used to simulate the lymphatic metastasis process of oral cancer in vivo. Furthermore, the homologous cell pairs (CAL-27 and LN-CAL-27; HeLa and LN-HeLa) are potential tools for in vitro investigation of the mechanisms underlying metastasis.

Model checking is an efficient technique for detecting errors of a system. However diagnosing program errors is the most time consuming hard work. One of the major advantages of model checking is the production of a counterexample when a property violation is detected. The error trace produced by a model checker may exhibit the symptom related to the cause of errors. Thus, counterexamples can be enough and are indicative for the cause of violation of the property. We present an assumption-based approach to localize the cause of a property violation using reasoning with constraints. The assumption among the statements in counterexample is made to point out which statement(s) is (are) faulty. Some constraints will be introduced from the specifications of the program. Moreover, we transform the counterexample into a propositional logic formula which is then fed to a SAT solver or a theorem prover together with constraints. A calculus of reasoning with these constraints proceeds under certain assumptions. If the result is satisfiable, the assumption is correct, otherwise, the assumption is wrong and a new assumption should be proposed. Some examples are presented to support the applicability and effectiveness of our approach.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) are one of the few cell types that become polyploid; however, the mechanisms by which these cells are designated to become polyploid are not fully understood. In this investigation, we successfully established two relatively synchronous polyploid cell models by inducing Dami and CMK cells with SP600125. We found that SP600125 induced the polyploidization of Dami and CMK cells, concomitant with the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) at Thr421/Ser424 and dephosphorylation at Thr389. The polyploidization was partially blocked by H-89, a cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor, through direct binding to S6K1, leading to dephosphorylation at Thr421/Ser424 and phosphorylation at Thr389, independent of PKA. Overexpression of a rapamycin-resistant mutant of S6K1 further enhanced the inhibitory effect of LY294002 on the SP600125-induced polyploidization of Dami and CMK cells. SP600125 also induced the polyploidization of Meg-01 cells, which are derived from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia, without causing a significant change in S6K1 phosphorylation. Additionally, SP600125 induced the polyploidization of HEL cells, which are derived from a patient with erythroleukemia, and phosphorylation at Thr389 of S6K1 was detected. However, the polyploidization of both Meg-01 cells and HEL cells as a result of SP600125 treatment was lower than that of SP600125-induced Dami and CMK cells, and it was not blocked by H-89 despite the increased phosphorylation of S6K1 at Thr389 in both cell lines in response to H-89. Given that the Dami and CMK cell lines were derived from patients with acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMKL) and expressed high levels of platelet-specific antigens, our data suggested that SP600125-induced polyploidization is cell-type specific, that these cell lines were more differentiated, and that phosphorylation at Thr421/Ser424 and dephosphorylation at Thr389 of S6K1 may play an important role in the SP600125-induced polyploidization of these cell lines synergistically with other signaling pathways.

To study the preventive effect of Ganlong capsule on chronic alcoholic hepatic injury in rats and its mechanism.The rat chronic hepatic injury model was induced by intragastrically administered with gradient alcohol, once a day for 12 weeks. Efforts were made to detect the content of ALT, AST, TG, CHO, TNF-alpha in rat serum and GSH, SOD, MDA, ADH, Alb in hepatic tissues were detected, conduct a hepatic pathological examination, and pathological injury grading for livers.Ganlong capsule could reduce the content of ALT, AST, TG in blood serum, MDA in hepatic tissues (P0.05), and enhance the activities of antioxidants such as SOD and GSH in hepatic tissues (P0.05). According to the liver histopathological observation, most structures of hepatic lobules in the model group were destroyed, with disordered liver cell cords, diffuse fat empty bubbles of different sizes in cytoplasm, focal necrosis and infiltration of inflammatory cells. All of treatment groups showed alleviation in rat liver injury to varying degrees.Ganlong capsule has a significant preventive effect to chronic alcoholic hepatic injury in rats.

It is well known that the use of a modular approach for modeling has many advantages: it allows the modeler to consider different parts of the model independently of one another. A modular approach to analysis is also attractive: it often dramatically decreases the complexity of the analysis task. To create Petri net models of large systems, four bottom-up techniques, consisting of sharing operation, synchronous operation, self-loops connection as well as inhibitor-arc connection, have been developed. This paper focus on the concurrent behavior relation in self-loops connections of Petri net systems. First, for the property of dynamic invariance we show that it is possible to decide dynamic invariance of the global system from invariance of the individual modules. Second, for reversibility property we show that it is possible to construct reversibility of total modular system from reversibility of the individual modules without unfolding to the entire state space. Finally, we present some examples to illustrate the effectiveness of our approaches. The advantages of our approaches are in the context of concurrent language and can synthesize Petri net systems beyond asymmetric choice nets.