Identification of Prognostic Immune-Related lncRNAs Pairs in Immune Infiltration of Breast Cancer

Background: Accumulating evidence has supported that long non-coding ribonucleic acids (lncRNAs) could act as essential regulators in cancer immunity. An immune-related lncRNAs (irlncRNAs) risk signature without specific expression value was established to accurately predict prognosis in patients with breast cancer (BRCA).Methods: First, irlncRNAs were identified using co-expression analysis and differential expressed irlncRNAs (DEirlncRNAs) were recognized by “Limma” package. Then, DEirlncRNA pairs were determined using an iteration loop and a 0-or-1 screening matrix. Next, single factor test and Lasso algorithm followed by multivariate Cox regression were employed to establish risk signature. Besides, the Akaike information criterion (AIC) values were calculated to recognize the optimal cut-off point of low- or high-risk groups. Additionally, the potential role of risk score was explored in terms of overall survival, clinical variables, tumor immune microenvironment features, immunotherapeutic targets, and TMB (tumor mutation board) statues.Results: A total of 946 irlncRNAs were determined and 188 DEirlncRNAs were identified. 15 DEirlncRNA pairs were introduced into establishment of prognostic signature, which harbored powerful and independent predictive prognostic ability. Taking advantage of AIC values, risk model was demonstrated to accurately distinguish samples from the viewpoint of clinical outcome, clinicopathological features, infiltrating immune cells, and immunosuppressive biomarkers. Besides, comprehensive prognostic nomogram was constructed to quantitatively estimate risk. Finally, synergistic effect of risk score with TMB value was corroborated.Conclusions: The DEirlncRNA pairs risk signature without specific expression value possessed excellent prognostic performance and may provide direction for immunotherapy in BRCA.

Iterative Text-Based Editing of Talking-Heads Using Neural Retargeting

We present a text-based tool for editing talking-head video that enables an iterative editing workflow. On each iteration users can edit the wording of the speech, further refine mouth motions if necessary to reduce artifacts, and manipulate non-verbal aspects of the performance by inserting mouth gestures (e.g., a smile) or changing the overall performance style (e.g., energetic, mumble). Our tool requires only 2 to 3 minutes of the target actor video and it synthesizes the video for each iteration in about 40 seconds, allowing users to quickly explore many editing possibilities as they iterate. Our approach is based on two key ideas. (1) We develop a fast phoneme search algorithm that can quickly identify phoneme-level subsequences of the source repository video that best match a desired edit. This enables our fast iteration loop. (2) We leverage a large repository of video of a source actor and develop a new self-supervised neural retargeting technique for transferring the mouth motions of the source actor to the target actor. This allows us to work with relatively short target actor videos, making our approach applicable in many real-world editing scenarios. Finally, our, refinement and performance controls give users the ability to further fine-tune the synthesized results.

The Complex Approach of the C-lightVer System to the Automated Error Localization in C-programs

The C-lightVer system for the deductive verification of C programs is being developed at the IIS SB RAS. Based on the two-level architecture of the system, the C-light input language is translated into the intermediate C-kernel language. The meta generator of the correctness conditions receives the C-kernel program and Hoare logic for the C-kernel as input. To solve the well-known problem of determining loop invariants, the definite iteration approach was chosen. The body of the definite iteration loop is executed once for each element of the finite dimensional data structure, and the inference rule for them uses the substitution operation rep, which represents the action of the cycle in symbolic form. Also, in our meta generator, the method of semantic markup of correctness conditions has been implemented and expanded. It allows to generate explanations for unproven conditions and simplifies the errors localization. Finally, if the theorem prover fails to determine the truth of the condition, we can focus on proving its falsity. Thus a method of proving the falsity of the correctness conditions in the ACL2 system was developed. The need for more detailed explanations of the correctness conditions containing the replacement operation rep has led to a change of the algorithms for generating the replacement operation, and the generation of explanations for unproven correctness conditions. Modifications of these algorithms are presented in the article. They allow marking rep definition with semantic labels, extracting semantic labels from rep definition and generating description of break execution condition.

Total Sustainability Management. Describing the Conditions, Requirements and Application of Sustainability Management

Countless people and organisations have been wrestling with the practical application of sustainability and sustainable development. Yet there is no rigorous and unequivocal template that can be followed for management because the meaning of the key concepts of sustainability and development in particular haven’t been properly identified. Although the fundamental meaning of the word sustainability is continuance, the concept has its controversies especially when it drifts into the ‘abstract’ and even becomes confused with sustainable development. For our purposes it is the ability of development and of its associated processing activities to continue that is being managed. For management effectiveness, a system framework is necessary but more importantly what goes into that system has to be rigorously and unambiguously defined. In our case, the mechanisms describing the practicalities that govern the sustainability of development have been clearly identified in this paper and called by name. The concept of development needs clarification, while the accepted popular ‘three pillar’ depiction of sustainable development is also fundamentally flawed when compared with the form of words of the ‘Brundtland’ definition. This well-known ‘Venn representation’ implies a type of ‘balance’ or ‘synergy’ at the heart of sustainability management. In fact, because of the fundamentally unsustainable nature of current development processes, the ‘balance’ turns into a trade-off amongst the three sustainability players. For real sustainable development there can be no such trade-off. Once the misunderstandings are clarified the true basics of sustainability and sustainable development are fed into a standard ISO14001 iteration loop for management to commence.

Analytical modeling of disc-type permanent magnet hysteresis motor in steady-state operational conditions

Purpose In this paper, a new structure for the permanent magnet hysteresis synchronous (PMHS) motor is introduced. Moreover, this paper aims to presents a new analytical method for modeling of a disc-type PMHS motor. Design/methodology/approach Because the hysteresis and permanent magnet motors have unique characteristics, a motor (the PMHS motor) with excellent performance features can be achieved by combining them. Choosing a disc-type slotless structure causes the major advantages of both motors to be preserved in the new motor. To analyze PMHS motor, mathematical equations are obtained by using Ampere’s circuital law, flux continuity law and Faraday’s law. Then the air-gap voltage and exciting current of the motor can be calculated. To implement this method, a new iterative algorithm is proposed. This algorithm consists of one-iteration loop for each input voltage to find the maximum flux density of the operational hysteresis loop of the motor. Findings Validity of the analytical approach is confirmed by experimental results. A reasonably close agreement between the two is shown and some outstanding performances of the PMHS motor are demonstrated. Originality/value A new structure for PMHS motor and also a new analytical method for performance prediction of this motor is presented.

A New High-Precision Correction Method of Temperature Distribution in Model Stellar Atmospheres

The main features of the temperature correction methods, suggested and used in modeling of plane-parallel stellar atmospheres, are discussed. The main features of the new method are described. Derivation of the formulae for a version of the Unsöld-Lucy method, used by us in the SMART (Stellar Model Atmospheres and Radiative Transport) software for modeling stellar atmospheres, is presented. The method is based on a correction of the model temperature distribution based on minimizing differences of flux from its accepted constant value and on the requirement of the lack of its gradient, meaning that local source and sink terms of radiation must be equal. The final relative flux constancy obtainable by the method with the SMART code turned out to have the precision of the order of 0.5 %. Some of the rapidly converging iteration steps can be useful before starting the high-precision model correction. The corrections of both the flux value and of its gradient, like in Unsöld-Lucy method, are unavoidably needed to obtain high-precision flux constancy. A new temperature correction method to obtain high-precision flux constancy for plane-parallel LTE model stellar atmospheres is proposed and studied. The non-linear optimization is carried out by the least squares, in which the Levenberg-Marquardt correction method and thereafter additional correction by the Broyden iteration loop were applied. Small finite differences of temperature (

Pseudo-Inverse Based Iterative Learning Control for Linear Nonminimum Phase Plants with Unmodeled Dynamics*

Learning control is a very effective approach for tracking repetitive processes. In this paper, the stable-inversion based learning controller as presented in (Ghosh, J. and Paden, B., 1999, “Iterative Learning Control for Nonlinear Nonminimum Phase Plants with Input Disturbances,” in Proc. of American Control Conference; Ghosh, J. and Paden, B., 1999, “A pseudo-inverse based Iterative Learning Control for Nonlinear Plants with Disturbances,” in Proc. of 38th Conference on Decision and Control.) is modified to accommodate linear nonminimum phase plants with uncertainties. The design of the learning controller is based on the computation of an approximate inverse of the nominal model of the linear plant, rather than its exact inverse. The advantages of this approach are that the output of the plant need not be differentiated and also the plant model need not be exact. A low pass zero-phase filter is used in the iteration loop to achieve robustness to plant uncertainty. The structure of the controller is such that the low frequency components of the trajectory converge faster than the high frequency components.

Through-Flow Analysis for Axial-Stage Design Including Streamline-Slope Effects

This paper presents a new method to design (or analyze) subsonic or supersonic axial compressor and turbine stages and their three-dimensional velocity diagrams from hub to tip by solving the three-dimensional radial-momentum equation. Some previous methods (matrix through-flow based on the streamfunction approach) can not handle locally supersonic flows, and they are computationally intensive when they require the inversion of large matrices. Other previous methods (streamline curvature) require two nested iteration loops to provide a converged solution: an outside iteration loop for the mass-flow balance; and an inside iteration loop to solve the radial momentum equation at each flow station. The present method is of the streamline-curvature category. It still requires the iteration loop for the mass-flow balance, but the radial momentum equation at each flow station is solved using a one-pass numerical predictor-corrector technique, thus reducing the computational effort substantially. The method takes into account the axial slope of the streamlines. Main design characteristics such as the mass-flow rate, total properties at component inlet, hub-to-tip ratio at component inlet, total enthalpy change for each stage, and the expected efficiency of each streamline at each stage are inputs to the method. Other inputs are the radial position and axial velocity component at one surface of revolution through the axial stages. These can be provided for either the hub, or the mean, or the tip location of the blading. In addition the user specifies the azimuthal deflection of the flow from the axial direction at each radius (or as a function of radius) at each blade row inlet and outlet. By construction the method eliminates radial variations of total enthalpy (work) and entropy at each blade row inlet and outlet. In an alternative formulation enthalpy variations across radial positions at each axial station are included in the analysis. The remaining three-dimensional velocity diagrams from hub to tip, and the radial location of the remaining streamlines, are obtained by solving the momentum equation using a predictor-corrector method. Examples for one turbine and one compressor design are included.