488 research outputs found
Object-oriented stream programming using Aspects: a high-productivity programming paradigm for hybrid platforms
No full textThe move to massively parallel hybrid platforms, such as multicore CPUs accelerated with heterogeneous GPU co-processing systems, is significantly impacting software programmers because existing programs have to be properly parallelized before they can take advantage of these advanced processing architectures. However, using current programming frameworks such as CUDA leads to tangled source code that combines code for the core computation with that for device and computational kernel management, data transfers between memory spaces, and various optimizations. In this research, we propose a programming system based on the principles of Aspect-Oriented Programming, to un-clutter the code and to improve programmability of these heterogeneous parallel systems. Specifically, we use a standard Object-Oriented language to describe the core computations and aspects to encapsulate all other support functions, such as parallelization granularity and memory access optimization. An aspect-weaving compiler is then used to combine the core OO program with these aspects to generate parallelized programs. This approach modularizes concerns that are hard to manage using conventional programming frameworks such as CUDA, has a small impact on existing program structure as well as performance, and as a result, simplifies the programming of accelerator-based heterogeneous parallel systems. Studies on example programs suggest that programs written using this system can be successfully translated to CUDA programs for execution on a CPU + GPU co-processing system with comparable performance. The performance of the translated code achieved ~80% of the hand-coded CUDA programs. We also introduce a performance model based on Bulk Synchronous Parallel (BSP) to help with quick identification of performance bottlenecks and tuning programs for better performance. This model defines a machine parameter (Machine Characteristic Ratio) and an application parameter (Application Characteristic Ratio) to identify the principle factors that can be used to bound application performance for the hierarchical parallel execution in the GPU co-processing device.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Mingliang Wan
Size and shape-based separation using deterministic lateral displacement microfludic systems
No full textContinuous separation of particles of different sizes and shapes is important in both clinical diagnostics and industrial applications and a number of methods have been developed for such separations. In microfluidic systems, deterministic lateral displacement has proved its great potential in achieving the goal of high throughput and efficient separation. Although it was originally based on transporting the suspension in a convective flow, particles can be also driven with external force fields, thus force-driven DLD (f-DLD) devices were demonstrated. This thesis demonstrates the separation of suspended particles by shape and size using scaled-up macroscopic f-DLD devices, using gravity force and a centrifuge, respectively. In the first set of experiments and for the first time, we demonstrate the potential of gravity-driven DLD devices for the separation of particles of different shapes. Our results show that each type of particle moves in different directions within the array of obstacles in DLD systems, depending on the forcing direction. Interestingly, we show that the migration of the particles can be predicted by the diameter of the inscribed sphere, independent of shape. In the second set of experiments and also for the first time, we combined DLD devices with centrifugal force as the driving field. We show that spherical particles of different sizes are driven to different outlets. We show that at some specific angles this setup provides high separation resolution, but the resolution decreases as the concentration of particles increases.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Mingliang JiangThis work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation Grant no. CBET-1339087
MicroRNA-181a Regulates the Proliferation and Differentiation of Hu Sheep Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells and Targets the YAP1 Gene
No full textMicroRNA (miRNA) is of great importance to muscle growth and development, including
the regulation of the proliferation and differentiation of skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs). In our
research group’s previous study, we found that miR-181a is differentially expressed in the longissimus
dorsi muscle of Hu sheep at different stages. We speculated that miR-181a may participate in the
growth and development process of Hu sheep. To understand the mechanism of miR-181a regulating
the growth and development of Hu sheep skeletal muscle, we extracted skeletal muscle satellite
cells from the longissimus dorsi muscle of 3-month-old Hu sheep fetuses and performed a series of
experiments. Our results showed that miR-181a suppressed SMSCs’ proliferation using QRT-PCR,
Western blot, CCK-8, EDU, and Flow cytometry cycle tests. In addition, QRT-PCR, Western blot,
and immunofluorescence indicated that miR-181a facilitated the differentiation of SMSCs. Then, we
used dual-luciferase reporter gene detection, QRT-PCR, and Western blot to find that the Yes1-related
transcription regulator (YAP1) is the target gene of miR-181a. Our study supplies a research basis for
understanding the regulation mechanism of miR-181a on the growth of Hu sheep skeletal muscle
Effect of Ti/Y/O on He clustering at a vacancy in vanadium from first-principles calculations
No full textEffect of Ti/Y/O element on helium (He) clustering in vacancy (Vac) defect of vanadium (V) alloy were investigated using first-principles calculations. We first calculated the formation and binding energies of Hen clusters in Vac–X (X = O/O–Ti/O–4Ti/O–3Ti–Y) configurations, the values for O–3Ti–Y configuration are obviously reduced by 0.2–1.6 eV with respect to those of alone Vac. In the presence of O, He still favors the octahedral interstitial site at a Vac. The formation energies of Hen clusters in Vac–O–Ti and Vac–O–4Ti defects are close to those of Vac–O with n = 1–5 (n represents the number of He), which are higher than those of Vac by 3 %. 3Ti–Y considerably increases the formation energies of Hen clusters in Vac–O–3Ti–Y complex over 20 %. The nth He binding energy with Vac–X–Hen−1 shows a decreasing fluctuant trend, the attraction of Vac–O–3Ti–Y to He is the smallest among all considered configurations. The presence of Ti-O/Y-Ti-O/O obviously reduce the stability of Vac–He clusters. In addition, we discussed the de-trapping behaviors of He from the Vac–X–Hen complexes and found Hen clusters more easily de-trapped from the Vac–X configuration. The present results show that the formation of Vac–X complex reduces vacancy-trapping ability for more He impurities, leading to lots of small Vac–X–He cluster formation, hindering the formation of larger Hen clusters (He bubbles) in V alloys under irradiation
Performance evaluation of urea injection on the emission reduction of dioxins and furans in a commercial municipal solid waste incinerator
No full textPolychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans and dioxins (PCDD/Fs) that pose a great threat to human health are commonly found during the incineration of municipal solid waste. In this study, industrial urea was injected into a commercial MSW incinerator flue gas to evaluate the suppression performances of PCDD/Fs, and the possible inhibition mechanisms were proposed. The results show that the use of urea dramatically reduced the PCDD/Fs emission concentration from 8.87 to 0.63 ng/Nm3, along with a significant decrease in the I-TEQ value (0.26 → 0.047 ng I-TEQ/Nm3), below the Chinese national standard of 0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3. The emission reduction cost of the industrial urea was over 41 % lower than that of using activated carbon. Urea molecule poisoned the metal ions, thus seriously inhibiting the de novo synthesis of PCDD/Fs. Furthermore, the decomposition products of urea reduced the concentration of HCl in the flue gas, thereby reducing the formation of Cl2 and hindering the chlorination reaction, which was identified from the reduction of chlorination degree and lower distribution of high-chlorinated PCDD/Fs. This research provided some practice basis and experience to reduce the emission of PCDD/Fs from municipal solid waste incineration for future commercial promotion and application
Identification of Potential Biomarkers for Coronary Artery Disease Based on Cuproptosis
No full textIdentifying peripheral biomarkers is an important noninvasive diagnosis method for coronary artery disease (CAD) which has aroused the strong interest of researchers. Cuproptosis, a newly reported kind of programmed cell death, is closely related to mitochondrial respiration, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, and the TCA cycle. Currently, no studies have been published about the effects of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) on diagnosing CAD. To screen marker genes for CAD from CRGs, we downloaded the whole blood cell gene expression profile of CAD patients and normal samples, i.e., the GSE20680 dataset, from the GEO database. By differential expression analysis, we obtained 10 differentially expressed CRGs (DE-CRGs), which were associated with copper ion response, immune response, and material metabolism. Based on the 10 DE-CRGs, we furtherly performed LASSO analysis and SVM-RFE analysis and identified 5 DE-CRGs as marker genes, including F5, MT4, RNF7, S100A12, and SORD, which had an excellent diagnostic performance. Moreover, the expression of the marker genes was validated in the GSE20681 and GSE42148 datasets, and consistent results were obtained. In mechanism, we conducted gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) based on the marker genes, and the results implied that they might participate in the regulation of immune response. Therefore, we calculated the relative contents of 22 kinds of immune cells in CAD and normal samples using the CIBERSORT algorithm, followed by differential analysis and correlation analysis of the immune microenvironment, and found that regulatory T cell (Treg) significantly decreased and was negatively correlated with marker gene S100A12. To further reveal the regulation mechanisms, a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network based on the marker genes was established. Finally, 13 potential therapeutic drugs targeting 2 marker genes (S100A12 and F5) were identified using the Drug Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb). In summary, our findings indicated that some CRGs may be diagnostic biomarkers and treatment targets for CAD and provided new ideas for further scientific research
The Asymptotic Behavior of Particle Size Distribution Undergoing Brownian Coagulation Based on the Spline-Based Method and TEMOM Model
No full textIn this paper, the particle size distribution is reconstructed using finite moments based on a converted spline-based method, in which the number of linear system of equations to be solved reduced from 4m × 4m to (m + 3) × (m + 3) for (m + 1) nodes by using cubic spline compared to the original method. The results are verified by comparing with the reference firstly. Then coupling with the Taylor-series expansion moment method, the evolution of particle size distribution undergoing Brownian coagulation and its asymptotic behavior are investigated
Thermodynamic Analysis of Brownian Motion-Induced Particle Agglomeration Using the Taylor-Series Expansion Method of Moments
No full textOn the basis of binary perfectly inelastic collision theory, the time evolutions of kinetic energy and surface area for a particle agglomerate system, due to Brownian motion, are investigated by using the Taylor series expansion technology. The asymptotic behaviors over a long time period show a significantly negative power function of time. The thermodynamic constraints of this system are then obtained according to the principle of maximum entropy, which establishes a relationship of inequality between the first three particle moments and some physical parameters (i.e., surface tension and temperature). In the thermodynamic equilibrium state, this function provides a new approach for estimating the effect of molecular structure on surface tension of liquid polymers
Understanding diabetic retinopathy
No full textA recent survey shows that diabetes affect 92.4 million people in mainland China [1], among which 16.9 million have diabetic retinopathy (DR) [2]. DR is one of the major causes of blindness in the working age population in both developing and developed countries. Although the exact mechanism by which diabetes causes retinopathy remains elusive, several hypotheses have been postulated to explain pathogenies of the disease. Here we invited five groups of scientists and clinicians to share their recent discoveries and expert opinions in molecular biology, pathophysiology, genetics, and epigenetics of DR.SCI(E)PubMed中国科学引文数据库(CSCD)EDITORIAL [email protected]
Palaeoecological insights into the Changhsingian–Induan (latest Permian–earliest Triassic) bivalve fauna at Dongpan, southern Guangxi, South China
No full text<div><p>Yang, T.L., He, W.H., Zhang, K.X., Wu, S.B., Zhang, Y., Yue, M.L., Wu, H.T. & Xiao, Y.F., XX.XXXX.2015. Palaeoecological insights into the Changhsingian–Induan (latest Permian–earliest Triassic) bivalve fauna at Dongpan, southern Guangxi, South China. <i>Alcheringa 40</i>, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.</p><p>The Talung Formation (latest Permian) and basal part of Luolou Formation (earliest Triassic) of the Dongpan section have yielded 30 bivalve species in 17 genera. Eight genera incorporating 11 species are systematically described herein, including three new species: <i>Nuculopsis guangxiensis</i>, <i>Parallelodon changhsingensis</i> and <i>Palaeolima fangi</i>. Two assemblages are recognized, i.e., the <i>Hunanopecten exilis</i>–<i>Euchondria fusuiensis</i> assemblage from the Talung Formation and the <i>Claraia dieneri–Claraia griesbachi</i> assemblage from the Luolou Formation. The former is characterized by abundant <i>Euchondria fusuiensis</i>, an endemic species, associated with other common genera, such as <i>Hunanopecten</i>, which make it unique from coeval assemblages of South China. A palaeoecological analysis indicates that the Changhsingian bivalve assemblage at Dongpan is diverse and represented by various life habits characteristic of a complex ecosystem. This also suggests that redox conditions were oxic to suboxic in deep marine environments of the southernmost Yangtze Basin during the late Changhsingian, although several episodes of anoxic perturbations and declines in palaeoproductivity saw deterioratation of local habitats and altered the taxonomic composition or population size of the bivalve fauna.</p><p><i>Tinglu Yang [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan, Wuhan 430074, PR China; Weihong He* [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>] and Kexin Zhang [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan, Wuhan 430074, PR China; Shunbao Wu [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], Yang Zhang [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], Mingliang Yue [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], Huiting Wu [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>] and Yifan Xiao [</i><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><i>], School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan, Wuhan 430074, PR China.</i></p></div
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