Decoding the Roles of Long Noncoding RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide. HCC is associated with several etiological factors, including HBV/HCV infections, cirrhosis, and fatty liver diseases. However, the molecular mechanism underlying HCC development remains largely elusive. The advent of high-throughput sequencing has unveiled an unprecedented discovery of a plethora of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Despite the lack of coding capacity, lncRNAs have key roles in gene regulation through interacting with various biomolecules. It is increasingly evident that the dysregulation of lncRNAs is inextricably linked to HCC cancer phenotypes, suggesting that lncRNAs are potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets. In light of the emerging research in the study of the regulatory roles of lncRNAs in HCC, we discuss the association of lncRNAs with HCC. We link the biological processes influenced by lncRNAs to cancer hallmarks in HCC and describe the associated functional mechanisms. This review sheds light on future research directions, including the potential therapeutic applications of lncRNAs.     

Effect of different control strategies on rapid cold start-up of a 30-cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

Many places experience extreme temperatures below −30 °C, which is a great challenge for the fuel cell vehicle (FCV). The aim of this study is to optimize the strategy to achieve rapid cold start-up of the 30-cell stack at different temperature conditions. The test shows that the stack rapidly starts within 30 s at an ambient temperature of −20 °C. Turning on the coolant at −25 °C show stability of the cell voltage at both ends due to the end-plate heating, however, voltage of intermediate cells fluctuates sharply, and successful start-up is completed after 60 s. The cold start strategy changes to load-voltage cooperative control mode when the ambient temperature reduced to −30 °C, the voltage of multiple cells in the middle of the stack fluctuate more drastic, and start-up takes 113 s. The performance and consistency of the stack did not decay after 20 cold start-up experiments, which indicates that our control strategies effectively avoided irreversible damage to the stack caused by freeze-thaw process.     

Fire hazard in transportation infrastructure: Review,assessment, and mitigation strategies

This paper reviews the fire problem in critical transportation infrastructures such as bridges and tunnels. The magnitude of the fire problem is illustrated, and the recent increase in fire problems in bridges and tunnels is highlighted. Recent research undertaken to address fire problems in transportation structures is reviewed, as well as critical factors governing the performance of those structures. Furthermore, key strategies recommended for mitigating fire hazards in bridges and tunnels are presented, and their applicability to practical situations is demonstrated through a practical case study. Furthermore, research needs and emerging trends for enhancing the “state-of-the-art” in this area are discussed.     

Promoting or prohibiting: Understanding the influence of social media on international students’ acculturation process,coping strategies,and psychological consequences

Although the unprecedented prevalence of social media has infiltrated into international students’ daily trajectories and become an indispensable component of their intercultural communication, yet surprisingly few attempts have been implemented to systematically unpack how the innovative technology could play a role in these sojourners’ acculturation experiences and the consequences of migration and cross-cultural adaption. In order to address such research gap, the objective of this present article is to provide a review of academic, peer-reviewed journal studies that examined the potential effect of social media engagement on international university students’ acculturation process, coping strategies, and psychological adjustments during the period from 2010 to 2019. Moreover, building upon conceptualizations from new media and transcultural research literature, a conceptual framework was developed to classify the relevant studies for further analysis. Overall, these theories and studies synthesized in this paper emphasize the vital role of social media in the acculturation, coping behaviors and mental health for ethnic minorities in the host country. Additionally, certain dimensions of attitudes and behaviors through social media could exert the important influence on the psychological adaption. Therefore, conclusions of the research may assist to further inform practitioners who may encounter newcomers’ experiencing intercultural adjustments and psychological issues in the digital media age. Furthermore, this current review may also help educators determine certain barriers that have not been resolved in campus tactics which may influence the acculturation of sojourning populations.     

Determination of a suitable index for a solvent via two-column extractive distillation using a heuristic method

The traditional approach to solvent selection in the extractive distillation process strictly focuses on the change in the relative volatility of light-heavy components induced by the solvent. However, the total annual cost of the process may not be minimal when the solvent induces the largest change in relative volatility. This work presents a heuristic method for selecting the optimal solvent to minimize the total annual cost. The functional relationship between the relative volatility and the total annual cost is established, where the main factors, such as the relative volatility of the light-heavy components and the relative volatility of the heavy-component solvent, are taken into account. Binary azeotropic mixtures of methanol-toluene and methanol-acetone are separated to verify the feasibility of the model. The results show that using the solvent with the minimal two-column extractive distillation index, the process achieves a minimal total annual cost. The method is conducive for sustainable advancements in chemistry and engineering because a suitable solvent can be selected without simulation verification.     

Experimental Animal Model Systems for Understanding Salivary Secretory Disorders

Salivary secretory disorders are life-disrupting pathologic conditions with a high prevalence, especially in the geriatric population. Both patients and clinicians frequently feel helpless and get frustrated by the currently available therapeutic strategies, which consist mainly of palliative managements. Accordingly, to unravel the underlying mechanisms and to develop effective and curative strategies, several animal models have been developed and introduced. Experimental findings from these models have contributed to answer biological and biomedical questions. This review aims to provide various methodological considerations used for the examination of pathological fundamentals in salivary disorders using animal models and to summarize the obtained findings. The information provided in this review could provide plausible solutions for overcoming salivary disorders and also suggest purpose-specific experimental animal systems.     

p-Median and p-dispersion problems: A bi-criteria analysis

Given a collection of n locations and a symmetric measure of distance (difference) between each pair of locations, we seek to identify (select) a subset of p locations so as to achieve two distinct objectives. The first objective is to use the selected locations as centers (medians) of p groups that would partition the entire collection and minimize the total distance between the locations and their respective group medians. The second objective is to maximize the minimum distance (diversity) among the selected locations themselves. We study this problem as a multi-objective optimization problem and propose an iterative algorithm to obtain its non-dominated frontier. At each iteration we construct and solve a 0–1 integer programming problem. Through a computational experiment we show that this algorithm is computationally effective for small to medium size instances of the problem. We also propose a Lagrangian heuristic algorithm for solving larger instances of this problem.     

MOOC study group: Facilitation strategies,influential factors,and student perceived gains

“Join a Meetup Group” (face-to-face study group) has been propagated by Coursera to build rapport and provide mutual support among MOOC learners; however, studies remain scant regarding its effectiveness and sustainability. This interpretive case study documents our facilitation process, key influential factors, as well as student perceived gains in a six-week MOOC study group. Data sources include discussion recordings, end-of-course interviews, goal setting sheets, weekly reflection journals, and researchers' observation notes. Results showed that, cognitively, participants broadened their perspective of thinking, raised cultural awareness, and shared many learning strategies. Affectively, they established a strong sense of community and gained motivation for learning. Participants also increased action tendencies toward trying out Coursera functions, new courses, and learning strategies, and they became more cognizant of the benefits and procedures of the MOOC study group. Our findings suggest that, with proper design and facilitation, face-to-face study group would be a practicable and effective approach to leverage MOOC students' motivation, engagement, and deeper learning. Implications are discussed in terms of potential gains, challenges, key influential factors, as well as future design and implementation of MOOC study groups.     

An optimization algorithm for the workforce management in a retail chain

This work proposes a scheduling problem for the workforce management in a chain of supermarkets operating in Italy. We focus on determining the ideal mix of full-time and part-time workers which are needed every week to guarantee a satisfactory service level during the check-out operations. The generation of working shifts, to be assigned to retail workers, is subject to several constraints imposed by both labour laws and enterprise bargaining agreements.We present a mathematical formulation of the problem followed by an exact solution approach which relies on the definition of feasible daily working shifts. The number of feasible daily shifts, that are combined to determine feasible weekly shifts, could drastically increase, depending on the selected planning interval. In addition, there may exist additional constraints, that are difficult to incorporate into the mathematical model. For these reasons, a hybrid heuristic, which does not require the generation of all feasible weekly shifts, is proposed in this paper.Using appropriate statistical techniques, a sensitivity analysis is performed to test the design of the hybrid heuristic. Computational tests are carried out by solving several real instances provided by the retail firm. The results obtained by the heuristic are compared both with an exact approach and with the solutions adopted by the retail company, which have been determined by using a naïf approach. Our hybrid heuristic exhibits excellent performance finding optimal or near optimal solutions in a very limited CPU time.     

Expert system for problem solving in distance university education: The successful case of the subject “operations management”

Acquiring the skills needed to solve certain types of problems is one of the main challenges of distance university education, demanding extra motivation from students to tackle it. New technology should be one of our great allies in addressing these problems. This article proposes an expert system with a web‐based problem‐solving simulator for a multidevice environment in order to allow students to access an unlimited number of problems with their corresponding solutions, immediately, anytime and anywhere. The types of problems that can be used are those based on quantitative methods with a fixed methodology to be followed. A successful case study was carried out for the subject Operations Management at the Distance University of Madrid (UDIMA), with three different problem simulators having been developed. The results were very satisfactory compared with previous academic years in terms of motivation. A decrease in students that did not sit the final examination was observed, as was an increase in the number of visits to the Moodle classroom. Students also responded positively in their assessments of the initiative.