Mutual Transformation Research Articles

Investigation and experimental validation of curcumin-related mechanisms against hepatocellular carcinoma based on network pharmacology.

To determine the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of curcumin on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by network pharmacology and experimental in vitro validation. The predictive targets of curcumin or HCC were collected from several databases. the identified overlapping targets were crossed with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) platform. Two of the candidate pathways were selected to conduct an experimental verification. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to determine the effect of curcumin on the viability of HepG2 and LO2 cells. The apoptosis and autophagy of HepG2 cells were respectively detected by flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy. Besides, western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed to verify the p53 apoptotic pathway and adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)‍-activated protein kinase (AMPK) autophagy pathway. HepG2 cells were pretreated with pifithrin-‍α (PFT-‍α) and GSK690693 for further investigation. The 167 pathways analyzed by KEGG included apoptosis, autophagy, p53, and AMPK pathways. The GO enrichment analysis demonstrated that curcumin was involved in cellular response to drug, regulation of apoptotic pathway, and so on. The in vitro experiments also confirmed that curcumin can inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells by promoting the apoptosis of p53 pathway and autophagy through the AMPK pathway. Furthermore, the protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) of the two pathways were downregulated in the inhibitor-pretreated group compared with the experimental group. The damage-regulated autophagy modulator (DRAM) in the PFT-‍α-pretreated group was downregulated, and p62 in the GSK690693-pretreated group was upregulated. Curcumin can treat HCC through the p53 apoptotic pathway and the AMPK/Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) autophagy pathway, in which the mutual transformation of autophagy and apoptosis may occur through DRAM and p62.

Uniqueness of system integration scheme of artificial intelligence technology in fractional differential mathematical equation

Abstract At present, various branches of mathematics have developed very mature, but they still lack an internal structural correlation. They are like “islands” in the universe. If we can find the universal conversion relationship of the three basic mathematical structures of geometry, arithmetic and logic, it will greatly expand the field of mathematics. The ultimate goal of mathematics in the past is to pursue its preciseness, while the ultimate goal of mathematics in the future is to pursue its unity. Fractional differential equation is a generalization of integer order calculus. It discusses the theory of any non integer order differential and integral equation. The rise of artificial intelligence technology just provides the most powerful laboratory for the unity of mathematics. To explore the mystery of the brain and achieve the ultimate goal of artificial intelligence technology, the key is to make a major breakthrough in basic mathematical research and find a basic theoretical system describing the mutual mapping and transformation of different mathematical paradigms. The unity of mathematics will undoubtedly become the forefront of the development of mathematics in the future, which will be the core of the research on the new generation of intelligent computer and artificial intelligence technology.

The temporal evolution mechanism of structure and function of oxidized soy protein aggregates

The emulsifying activity of soy protein would decrease after long-term storage, which caused huge economic losses to food processing plants. This study explored the temporal evolution mechanism of oxidation on the structure and function of soy protein aggregates, which would improve the application of soy protein in food industry. Decreased α-helix and increased random coil were observed at the initial oxidation stage (0-4h), which induced increases in hydrophobicity and disulfide bond content. In addition, emulsibility increased significantly. However, when the oxidation time extended to 6-12h, the soluble aggregates transformed into insoluble aggregates with large particle size, low solubility, and molecular flexibility. Surface hydrophobicity and emulsifying activity were reduced, resulting in bridging flocculation of emulsion droplets. Mutual transformation between components is affected by factors that include spatial conformation and intermolecular forces, which eventually lead to functional changes in the protein molecules.

Диссипативные свойства трехслойных композитных структур. 4. Численный эксперимент

Object and purpose of research. The study is concerned with a three-layer plate formed by two rigid anisotropic layers and a soft medium isotropic layer of viscoelastic polymer. Each rigid layer presents anisotropic structure formed by a finite number of randomly oriented orthotropic viscoelastic layers of composites. The paper is intended to study the influence of reinforcement orientation of rigid layers, relative thickness of the soft layer of an isotropic viscoelastic polymer and the ambient temperature on values values of natural frequencies and mechanical loss factors of the coupled damped oscillations in symmetric and assymetric plates. Materials and methods. Numerical experiment using a computer program implementing the previously proposed method for solving coupled differential equations of damped oscillations in anisotropic three-layer plates [2]. Main results. It was shown that in unsupported globally monoclinic symmetrical three-layer rectangular plate a bendingtorsional interaction occurs, generating mutual transformations of the eigenforms of the coupled oscillation modes if at least in one of the directions of the plate one of the eigenforms is characterized by an even number of quarters of the wave, and the other eigenform is characterized by an odd number of quarters of the wave. In unsupported globally orthotropic asymmetric three-layer rectangular plate interaction of bending modes of oscillations occurs in two mutually orthogonal planes, if both eigenforms are characterized by either an even or an odd number of wave quarters in main directions of the plate. It was found that each mode of natural oscillations of both symmetric and asymmetric three-layer plates has its own effective relative thickness of the soft layer of an isotropic viscoelastic polymer corresponding to the maximum level of dissipative properties. A further increase in the relative thickness is often accompanied by a decrease in values of the mechanical loss factors. The significant influence of ambient temperature on natural frequencies values and mechanical loss factors of all considered oscillation modes of symmetric and asymmetric unsupported rectangular three-layer composite plates is demonstrated. Conclusion. It was found that coupled damped oscillations of a symmetric three-layer plate are described by two systems of differential equations, with structures close to that of the systems of corresponding differential equations describing the damped oscillations of a quasi-homogeneous monoclinic plate. At the same time, the coupled damped oscillations of an asymmetric three-layer plate are described by two systems of differential equations that coincide with the systems of corresponding differrential equations describing the damped oscillations of a globally orthotropic three-layer plate.

GeoGravGOCE: A standalone MATLAB GUI for processing GOCE satellite gradient data

The exploitation of data from the Global Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission still offers unique insights in Earth system processes despite the fact that the mission has been completed more than eight years ago. The use of GOCE data requires tedious and cumbersome processing in order to extract them from their original format, process them in the various reference frames and filter them to derive final products at the orbital altitude. GeoGravGOCE is an open-source software, developed in MATLAB, which aims to provide a friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) to process the original GOCE gradiometric observations, i.e., second-order derivatives of the gravitational potential as provided by the European Space Agency. It is composed of four main tabs, which first allows the GOCE gradient pre-processing and the transformation of gradients from a geopotential models to the gradiometric reference frame. Then, the spectral filtering and the mutual transformations of gravity gradients between the four reference systems used in satellite gravimetry can be carried out.. Three main filtering methods are implemented within the software, referring to: Finite Impulse Response (FIR), Infinite Impulse Response (IIR), and Wavelet Multi-Resolution Analysis (WL-MRA) filters. The user is free to select the desired degree of filtering and evaluate the derived results in terms of both the power spectral density of the filtered signals and their spatial distribution. The present work gives an analytical outline of the program, along with its various functionalities, while results derived from the processing of original GOCE data are presented as well. GeoGravGOCE is a free software under the GNU license and can be freely accessed via the project webpage http://olimpia.topo.auth.gr/GeoGravGOCE/.

An analysis of the content changes in free and combinative forms of organic selenium in radish sprouts cultivated with solutions of selenoamino acids

Selenium (Se) is critical for human health, but human intake of Se is often inadequate. Organic forms of dietary Se are considered safe and more bioavailable than inorganic forms. Along with a generally high nutritional value, sprouts are sensitive to Se treatment. This study used selenomethionine and methylselenocysteine solutions to cultivate Se-enriched sprouts under an optimized hydroponic condition. Content change and transformations of the selenoamino acids were analyzed by a developed HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method. Uptake of both selenomethionine and methylselenocysteine was dose-dependent and involved active transport and passive diffusion, as demonstrated by the respiratory and aquaporin inhibition assays. Passive diffusion played a dominant role. Free methylselenocysteine was the predominant form in samples. Selenomethionine and methylselenocysteine were capable of mutual transformation. Moreover, the selenoprotein generation was associated with the increasing Se concentration of the culture solutions. The results provided scientific references for the efficient utilization of organic Se in sprouts.

Extraction of Catastrophe Boundary and Evolution of Expressway Traffic Flow State

As the main road type in an urban traffic system, the increasingly severe congestion of the expressway restricts social and economic development. It is essential to explore the evolution law of congestion and dissipation to ensure the efficient operation of the expressway. In order to accurately grasp the evolution law of the expressway traffic flow state, this paper selects the expressway weaving section, which is a traffic flow frequency-changing area, to study the traffic operation state, change process, and evolution law, and determine the traffic state discrimination standard. The simulation analysis was carried out using the traffic simulation platform, Vissim software. The simulation results showed an apparent catastrophe phenomenon in the mutual transformation between free and congestion flow. The spectral clustering analysis algorithm was used to accurately extract the boundary of traffic state mutation, combined with the cusp catastrophe theory, to study and analyze the traffic flow state at different times and positions, thus completely displaying the evolution characteristics of traffic flow state. The research results provide an essential theoretical basis for formulating control measures of expressway traffic flow and strategies for traffic congestion dissipation.

Value Realization and Optimization Path of Forest Ecological Products-Case Study from Zhejiang Province, China.

In the last decade, more and more attention has been paid to the efficiency of ecological products’ value in the literature. Studying the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products can measure and reflect the huge value contained in forests, which is of great significance to promote the transformation between “clear water and green mountains” and “gold and silver mountains” as well as solve the problem of economic development and environmental protection. Studying the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products can scientifically evaluate the results of the mutual transformation of “clear water and green mountains” and “gold and silver mountains”, which is of great significance for deepening the theory of the “two mountains”. This paper took Zhejiang Province as the research object, constructed an index system of forest ecological products’ value accounting, used the super-SBM model and Malmquist index to calculate the conversion efficiency of forest ecological products’ value, and proposed optimization paths according to the research results. The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the value of forest ecological products in Zhejiang Province showed a fluctuating upward trend. In 2020, the total value of forest ecological products was RMB 973.717 billion. Among them, the value of material products was RMB 12.560 billion, the value of ecological regulatory products was RMB 726.323 billion, and the value of cultural service products was RMB 234.834 billion. (2) There were great differences in the value-conversion efficiency of forest ecological products among cities in Zhejiang Province, but the overall trend was steady and developing in a positive direction. (3) The total-factor productivity of forest ecological products in Zhejiang Province showed a fluctuating trend, and its growth was mainly limited by the technical efficiency and technological progress index. (4) The main reasons for the conversion-efficiency loss of forest ecological products’ value in Zhejiang Province were excessive input and insufficient output. The specific reasons for the loss of efficiency in different cities were different, so it is necessary to find improvement paths according to local conditions. Our research provides a new perspective for the academic community to evaluate the value-realization effect of ecological products as well as a decision-making reference for policy makers of ecological environmental protection and construction.

Dynamical Behaviors of an Environmental Protection Expenses Model in Protected Areas with Two Delays

This paper investigates an environmental protection expenses model, which considers the relations between the visitors to the protected areas V, the quality of the environmental resource E, and the capital stock K. In this model, the total tourism income is used partly to increase the capital stock or as the environmental protection expenses. Two time delays are introduced into the number of visitors, since the visitors need time to respond the changes of the environment, and the environment will take time to respond to the input of money. Stability crossing curves in the plane of delays (τ1,τ2) are used to obtain the stable region of equilibrium. Numerical simulations represent the mutual transformation of the supercritical bifurcation and the subcritical bifurcation. Our model shows that under some parameter conditions, the share of tourism income η is related closely to the delay τ1, while the capital stock and the environmental quality can be maintained persistently if the delay τ1 is not too large.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamic and Structural Characteristics of Land Use/Cover Change Based on a Complex Network: A Case Study of the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration

Due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization, urban agglomeration has become the area with the most drastic and concentrated land use change. The research on the evolution law and structural characteristics of urban agglomeration land use system is of great significance for the sustainable development. Taking the middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration (MRYRUA) of China as the study area, we analyzed the phasic changes from 1980 to 2018 in land use/cover in the MRYRUA as well as the spatial differences between the three core regions. Furthermore, the transfer matrix of land use/cover change (LUCC) was converted to network, with land use types as nodes and conversion relationships between different land types as network connecting lines. Complex network indexes such as centrality, diffusion, and dominant flow were applied to identify the major changes in land use types, key change paths, and transformation patterns. The results show that: (1) in the past 40 years, the building land area in the MRYRUA has increased significantly, while the area of crop land and forest has, and still is, decreasing at an accelerated rate; (2) in terms of the scale, structure, and spatial distribution of land use transfer, there are distinct differences among the three core regions. The Wuhan metropolitan area has the largest intensity of land use transfer and the most drastic structural adjustment; (3) in all four periods, the land use transition network, crop land, and water bodies are the key land use types. Over time, the influence of building land and forest in the land use transition network has increased; and (4) the first transfer direction of each land use type was stable during different periods, such as the transfer of crop land to water bodies and building land, the transfer of water bodies to crop land, and the mutual transformations among crop land and forest, indicating a stable transfer pattern in the MRYRUA.

Multifunction change of rural housing land in metropolitan suburbs from the perspective of farmer households’ land-use behavior

Investigating the multifunction change of rural housing land is important to guide appropriate land use adjustment and rural land planning. This paper develops a multifunction identification method from the perspective of farmer households’ land-use behavior, and analyzes the change in function types and patterns based on survey data of 613 typical farmers in Pinggu District. It appears a trend of function specialization and socialization from 2005 to 2018, along with mutual transformation of subfunction space. The living function of rural housing land became the dominant and specialization function of rural housing land, which the intensity continued to strengthen from 66.4 % to 86.3 %, while the production function intensity of rural housing continuously reduced to 12.6 % due to withdrawal of the subclasses. Under the comprehensive influence of human needs and social development, such as leisure agriculture and tourism in suburb of the semi-mountainous area, non-residential function space withdrew and separated from rural housing land, and then socialized within the village. The specialization function inside rural housing land should be integrated into rural land planning; simultaneously, the public space construction should be reinforced with the socialization of the withdrawal function from rural housing land.

How do tourism goal disclosure motivations drive Chinese tourists' goal-directed behaviors? The influences of feedback valence, affective rumination, and emotional engagement

Based on self-determination theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion, this study investigated the motivations of disclosing tourism goals on social media and its impacts on Chinese tourists' goal-directed behaviors (GDBs). We proposed and tested a mutual transformation model of tourism goal disclosure motivation under different conditions of feedback valence (positive vs. negative feedback) and examine the mediating role of tourists' affective rumination and emotional engagement. The results revealed that tourists driven by extrinsic motivations develop a stronger emotional engagement in their tourism goals and exhibit more GDBs after receiving positive feedback on their disclosed tourism goals. However, negative feedback disclosed goals lowers GDBs and leads to affective rumination about tourism goals among those with intrinsic motivations. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for destination marketers to adopt marketing strategies based on the findings.

Fishing capacity evaluation of fishing vessel based on cloud model

In the evaluation problem of fishing vessel fishing capacity, the imperfect evaluation index system and the methods of evaluation indexes are mostly artificial qualitative evaluation methods, which lead to strong subjectivity and fuzziness as well as low accuracy of evaluation results. Therefore, this study introduces cloud model theory on the basis of improving the evaluation index system, converts the artificial qualitative evaluation results into the digital characteristics of clouds, realizes the mutual transformation of qualitative evaluation and quantitative evaluation, and improves the accuracy of evaluation results. Taking the trawler as an example, the cloud model method is used to evaluate the fishing capacity, and the result obtained is (77.1408, 1.6897, 0.0), the result obtained by the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is 76.664785, and the result obtained by the cloud center of gravity evaluation method is 0.7919. Compared with the other two methods, the cloud model method uses three numerical characteristics to describe the results, and combining the different numerical characteristics meanings, the evaluation results can be judged to be accurate, and the influence of ambiguity on the results is greatly reduced. Meanwhile, the evaluation results can be presented in the form of pictures, and the results are more intuitive; in addition, the cloud model of the evaluation results is compared with the standard cloud model for similarity, which improves the credibility and authenticity of the results.

Corrosion Behavior of Ancient White Cast Iron Artifacts from Marine Excavations at Atmospheric Condition

A large number of iron pot artifacts were excavated from the “Nanhai I” shipwreck. The rapid embrittlement and pulverization of these objects (that have a good matrix) in the atmospheric environment is worthy of attention. Metallographic analysis showed that the material of the iron pots was hypereutectic white cast iron. Micro-CT observations revealed that there were numerous microcracks and fissures within the seemingly well-preserved iron. These fissures increased and enlarged with prolonged exposure to air. Scanning electron microscopy exhibited that the microcracks were initially created at the “concave surface” formed by the ferrite corrosion, and the cementite was gradually torn by the local accumulation of large internal stresses. Micro-Raman proved that the structure of rust was varied and complex during the generation and development of fissures. The dimension of corrosion products could expand and contract in mutual transformation, forming local internal stress and promoting the expansion of microcracks. This work proposed a reasonable mechanism for the rapid embrittlement and pulverization in the atmospheric environment of such hypereutectic white cast iron artifacts out of the sea, which provided a scientific reference for future protection.

The consistency method of linguistic information and other four preference information in group decision-making

Abstract The transformation method between the linguistic judgement matrix and other four forms of preference information is researched in this paper. The four forms of preference information are preference ordering, utility value, reciprocal judgement matrices and complementary judgement matrices. First, based on the definition of preference information, the mutual transformation methods of linguistic judgement matrix and other four forms of preference information are given. Then new transformation equations are obtained. Next, it is proved that when the linguistic judgement matrix has complete consistency, the other four forms of preference information will have complete consistency too. Finally, a numerical analysis is offered to show that these methods are feasible and effective.

Response of drought index to land use types in the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi, China

Drought is influenced by numerous factors, and traditional studies have only considered meteorological factors, but human activities are also an important influencing factor. From 1980 to 2010, the reform and opening up and the project of returning farmland to forest have largely changed the land use type of Loess Plateau in Shaanxi. In order to study the influence of land use types on drought in the study area, 8 stations with different land use types were selected based on remote sensing data and meteorological data. Based on univariate linear regression, the response of the drought index SPI to land use types was analyzed sequentially in each of the five time stages. The results showed that from 1980 to 2000, forest had the greatest drought intensity, followed by arable land and town and country. However, the response of arable land to the drought index was the greatest, followed by town and country. Forest had the weakest response to the drought index. From 2000 to 2010, the greatest degree of drought was observed in forest, followed by town and country and arable land. And forest has the strongest response to the drought index, followed by town and country, and finally, arable land. The area of forest, grass and town and country keeps increasing. The area of arable land is decreasing year by year. Land use types are constantly undergoing complex transformations. The drought index responds strongly to the change of both arable land to grass and arable land to town and country, while it responds weakly to the mutual transformation of both grass and town and country. In the areas where meteorological conditions are difficult to change, the local drought is considered to be improved by changing the substrate type.

Cartografierea ca enactivare. Poetica cognitivă și subgenurile narativului: repere teoretice

My study, though concise, problematizes the methodology and some of the conceptual vocabulary of cognitive poetics in relation to the narrative (sub)genre(s). This metatheoretical research attempts to reveal the specific algorithms and concepts of cognitive literary cartography, seen as an enactive process - the interpretation of narrative texts is defined as a dynamic interaction, a mutual transformation of both the `literary mind` and the text. In this respect, concepts such as `figure`, `image schemata`,`scenario` or`cognitive model` are relevant for the attempts to observe and explain the enactive (interpretative) approaches.

Assessment of new spectral indices and multi-seasonal ASTER data for gypsum mapping

Advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) data and different spectral indices were employed to map gypsum minerals. However, most proposed gypsum indices are designed based on the 2.21 μm gypsum absorption, overlapping with most hydroxy-bearing minerals. Moreover, the seasonal mutual transformation between gypsum, bassanite, and anhydrite may lead to seasonal reflectance variability of gypsum formation pixels, affecting the classification accuracy of gypsum indices. In this research, the feasibility of 2.26 μm (ASTER band7) reflectance absorption for gypsum mapping was assessed, using lab and ASTER reflectance. On the basis of this, two new ASTER gypsum spectral indices (GI1: B4*B8/B6*B7; GI2: B4*B8/B7*B7) were proposed and applied to exclude the interference of hydroxyl-bearing minerals effectively. Seasonal reflectance variability of gypsum formation pixels was confirmed, and it causes the accuracy difference of gypsum indices for multi-seasonal ASTER data. The GI1 achieves the most robust accuracy for multi-seasonal ASTER data with average areas under receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve of 98.5% and 98.7% for summer and winter ASTER data. Therefore, the GI1 can be used for gypsum mineral mapping, especially in the areas where clay minerals and other hydroxyl-containing minerals are widely distributed.

A unified representation and transformation of multi-model data using category theory

The support for multi-model data has become a standard for most of the existing DBMSs. However, the step from a conceptual (e.g., ER or UML) schema to a logical multi-model schema of a particular DBMS is not straightforward. In this paper, we extend our previous proposal of multi-model data representation using category theory for transformations between models. We introduce a mapping between multi-model data and the categorical representation and algorithms for mutual transformations between them. We also show how the algorithms can be implemented using the idea of wrappers with the interface published but specific internal details concealed. Finally, we discuss the applicability of the approach to various data management tasks, such as conceptual querying.

Identification of Unstable Glacier Flow in the Western Tibetan Plateau and Karakoram Using Machine Learning

AbstractA novel method was developed for rapidly and accurately identifying unstable glacier flows, including pulse and surge events. The identification method was based on machine learning and high‐frequency glacier velocities derived from short time interval Sentinel‐1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. The method was built and tested using 32 glaciers in the eastern Pamir Plateau and applied it to 13 glaciers in western Karakoram. The test results showed that the success rate of identifying speedup events was more than 90% compared to manual interpretation results derived using velocity change maps and DEM differencing. The application results showed that there were some neglected pulse events, including two pulses on the Kukuar Glacier in 2017 and 2019, one pulse on the Karambar Glacier in 2017, and one pulse on the Ghulkin Glacier in 2016. Moreover, a complete surge event with multiple scattered pulses on the Shispare Glacier in 2018–2019 was also detected. The speedup events of the Shispare Glacier indicated the possibility of mutual transformation between pulse and surge events due to the influence of glacier basal roughness. In all unstable flows occurring within the test and application areas, pulse events could be observed on the nonsurging glaciers during the active phase and quiescent phase of the surge‐type glaciers, which might suggest the randomness of pulse events. Machine learning method made it possible to identify glacier speedup events in large areas with high efficiency and low manpower.