An ensemble learning framework for potential miRNA-disease association prediction with positive-unlabeled data

To explore the pathogenic mechanisms of MicroRNA (miRNA) on diverse diseases, many researchers have concentrated on discovering the potential associations between miRNA and disease using machine learning methods. However, the prediction accuracy of supervised machine learning methods is limited by lacking of experimentally-validated uncorrelated miRNA-disease pairs. Without these negative samples, training a highly accurate model is much more difficult. Different from traditional miRNA-disease prediction models using randomly selected unknown samples as negative training samples, we propose an ensemble learning framework to solve this positive-unlabeled (PU) learning problem. The framework incorporates two steps, i.e., a novel semi-supervised Kmeans (SS-Kmeans) to extract reliable negative samples from unknown miRNA-disease pairs and subagging method to generate diverse training sample sets to make full use of those reliable negative samples for ensemble learning. Combined with effective random vector functional link (RVFL) network as prediction model, the proposed framework showed superior prediction accuracy comparing with other popular approaches. A case study on lung and gastric neoplasms further confirms the framework’s efficacy at identifying miRNA disease associations.     

调控碳材料的功函数以大幅度提升其电催化氧还原性能

氧的电催化还原反应是燃料电池装置与金属空气电池的阴极反应,具有重大的研究意义.在众多的非铂催化剂中,碳材料因其低廉的价格以及独特的物理化学性质受到了广泛的关注.自从发现氮掺杂的碳纳米阵列具有优异的氧还原活性后,不同类型的氮掺杂的碳也得到了深入研究.例如近年来兴起的由金属有机框架衍生的氮掺杂的碳材料,兼具丰富的氮位点及良好的三维结构.氮的掺杂对碳原子具有电子调控的作用,是其高氧还原活性的根本原因.本文对金属有机框架衍生的氮掺杂的碳材料进行进一步的电子结构的优化,以提升催化性能.功函是电子逸出表面所需的最少的能量,是材料的电子结构性质之一,其对氧还原反应的影响也有报道,早期以理论计算为基础,探究氧气分子在碳材料表面的解离能与氮掺杂的碳的表面功函的关系,后续则采用开尔文探针显微镜,直接测量了不同元素掺杂的碳表面功函,并建立起功函与氧还原动力学的线性关系.本文通过控制碳材料的功函来调节其电子结构.铯是一种经典的给电子物质,通过将电子注入到掺杂材料表面来降低其功函.因此,本文通过CsCO₃与2-甲基咪唑、Zn(NO₃)₂煅烧形成铯修饰的氮掺杂碳.电镜及XRD均观察不到所得材料中铯的存在,证明碳层中无大颗粒团聚的铯物种.EDS元素分布图表明,铯在碳层中呈原子级均匀分布.Raman谱结果表明,碳的G带发生明显的位置偏移,证明其面内电子结构发生了明显的改变.XPS结果证明铯成功与氮原子配位,通过铯氮键将电子注入到碳骨架.UPS则最终显示,经过铯的修饰,碳表面功函从4.25 eV下降到3.6 eV.表面功函的降低有利于氧气分子的解离,也调节OOH^*中间体的吸附,使其吸附的自由能更接近最优值.材料改性后氧还原性能明显提升,起始电位达到0.91 V vs RHE,半波电位达到0.83 V vs RHE,均接近商业Pt/C催化剂.氧还原反应的动力学电流密度随功函的降低而增大,验证了前人的结论.本文提供了一个较为新颖的电子结构调控策略,为设计新的氧还原催化剂提供了新的思路.     

Boundary-Connected Higher Order Weyl Semimetals in a Helix-Shaped Phononic Crystal

The proposal of higher-order topology leads to intriguing wave propagation properties beyond the conventional bulk-boundary principle in condensed matter physics. Theoretical and experimental models have been conducted to reveal exotic higher-order hinge and corner states in lower dimensions. Meanwhile, this concept is extended to semimetals and verified in platforms like acoustic and photonic systems. However, most existing schemes are confined to C_n-symmetric-like frameworks. Here a phononic higher-order Weyl semimetal (HOWSM) is put forward by introductions of artificial gauge flux shape. Distinguished from most existing schemes, the traditional two-dimensional lattice with a vertical screw-extending operation is deformed, which guarantees the emergence of higher-order Weyl points. The invariant index is utilized to measure different phases between non-trivial topological and normal insulators visibly. Simulation results indicate that the structure supports robust hinge wave transmission in a piling sample. This work brings new approaches for constructing HOWSMs and enriches the potential applications in manufacturing high-performance acoustic devices.     

磁粒子成像示踪剂的研究进展

磁粒子成像是基于功能和断层影像技术检测磁性纳米粒子空间分布的示踪方法, 具有正向的对比信号、 较低的组织背景、 无限的组织穿透深度、 非侵入性成像以及无电离辐射等优点, 是近年来一种很有前途的生物医学成像技术. 磁粒子成像信号是通过在无场点切换磁性纳米粒子的磁自旋矢量来产生的. 磁粒子成像的灵敏度和空间分辨率都高度依赖于作为磁粒子成像示踪剂的磁性纳米粒子本身的磁性能, 因此目前的研究主要集中在磁性纳米粒子的设计和合成上. 本文重点介绍了磁粒子成像示踪剂的最新研究进展, 总结了可作为磁粒子成像示踪剂的磁性纳米粒子的种类、 合成方法、 性能以及生物医学应用, 以期为磁粒子成像的未来研究提供参考.     

Interaction between a screw dislocation and an elastic elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks

The elastic interaction between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks is studied. The screw dislocation may be located outside or inside the inhomogeneity. An efficient complex variable method for the complex multiply connected region is developed, and the general solutions to the problem are derived. As illustrative examples, solutions in explicit series form for complex potentials are presented in the case of one or two interfacial cracks. Image forces on the dislocation are calculated by using the Peach-Koehler formula. The influence of crack geometries and material properties on the image forces is evaluated and discussed. It is shown that the interfacial crack has a significant effect on the equilibrium position of the dislocation near an elliptical-arc interface. The main results indicate, when the length of the crack goes up to a critical value, the presence of the interfacial crack can change the interaction mechanism between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inclusion. The present solutions can include a number of previously known results as special cases.The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(10272009 and 10472030) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(02JJY2014)     

Uniformly moving screw dislocation interacting with interface cracks in anisotropic bimaterials

This paper attempts to investigate the problem for the interaction between a uniformly subsonic moving screw dislocation and interface cracks in two dissimilar anisotropic materials. Using Riemann–Schwarz’s symmetry principle integrated with the analysis singularity of complex functions, we present the general elastic solutions of this problem and the closed form solutions for interface containing one and two cracks. The expressions of stress intensity factors at the crack tips and image force acting on moving dislocation are derived explicitly. The results show that the stress intensity factors at the crack tips decrease with increasing velocity of dislocation, and larger dislocation velocity leads to the equilibrium position of dislocation leaving from crack tips. The presented solutions contain previously known results as the special cases.     

Analysis of energy release rate for composite delaminated cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression

In this paper, the postbuckling governing equations and the analytical expression of the energy release rates associated with delamination growth in a compression-loaded cylindrical shell are derived by using the variational principle of moving boundary and the Griffith fracture criterion. The finite difference method is used to generate the postbuckling solutions of the delaminated cylindrical shells, and with these solutions, the values of the energy release rates are determined. In simulational examples, the effects of a wide range of parameters, such as delamination sizes and depths, boundary conditions, geometrical parameters, material properties and laminate stacking sequences on the energy release rates of axisymmetrical laminated cylindrical shells are intensively discussed.The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Improved operator comfort and off-road capability through pendulum arm technology

The Nordic forest industry requires just-in-time wood deliveries. Operations must continue regardless of season, weather and terrain. Soil compaction and deep ruts must be avoided while providing high performance and a reasonable working environment for operators.The Xt28 pendulum arm forwarder is a full-size concept forwarder with six hydrostatic propelled wheels on pendulum arms built on a three-piece frame connected with two articulation joints. The Xt28 concept machine was tested according to Skogforsk standard machine tests. Rut depth test focused on soil interaction where rut depth was measured related to number of passes. Machine dynamics were measured using standardized test track with focus on operator comfort.The project proved the potential of pendulum arm technology in off-road transportation. Automatic pendulum arm levelling, equalized ground pressure between wheels and improved operator comfort through reducing adverse vibrations and roll angles, simultaneously reducing dynamic forces transferred to the forest floor. Pendulum arm technology improves travel speed in adverse terrain, providing unparalleled side slope capability and enhanced productivity.