Functional Coupling of Slack Channels and P2X3 Receptors Contributes to Neuropathic Pain Processing

The sodium-activated potassium channel Slack (K_Na1.1, Slo2.2, or Kcnt1) is highly expressed in populations of sensory neurons, where it mediates the sodium-activated potassium current (I_KNa) and modulates neuronal activity. Previous studies suggest that Slack is involved in the processing of neuropathic pain. However, mechanisms underlying the regulation of Slack activity in this context are poorly understood. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings we found that Slack-mediated I_KNa in sensory neurons of mice is reduced after peripheral nerve injury, thereby contributing to neuropathic pain hypersensitivity. Interestingly, Slack is closely associated with ATP-sensitive P2X3 receptors in a population of sensory neurons. In vitro experiments revealed that Slack-mediated I_KNa may be bidirectionally modulated in response to P2X3 activation. Moreover, mice lacking Slack show altered nocifensive responses to P2X3 stimulation. Our study identifies P2X3/Slack signaling as a mechanism contributing to hypersensitivity after peripheral nerve injury and proposes a potential novel strategy for treatment of neuropathic pain.     

Multidirectional focus measure for accurate three-dimensional shape recovery of microscopic objects

Shape from focus (SFF) is a technique to recover the shape of an object from multiple images taken at various focus settings. Most of conventional SFF techniques compute focus value of a pixel by applying one of focus measure operators on neighboring pixels on the same image frame. However, in the optics with limited depth of field, neighboring pixels of an image have different degree of focus for curved objects, thus the computed focus value does not reflect the accurate focus level of the pixel. Ideally, an accurate focus value of a pixel needs to be measured from the neighboring pixels lying on tangential plane of the pixel in image space. In this article, a tangential plane on each pixel location (i, j) in image sensor is searched by selecting one of five candidate planes based on the assumption that the maximum variance of focus values along the optical axis is achieved from the neighborhood lying on tangential plane of the pixel (i, j). Then, a focus measure operator is applied on neighboring pixels lying on the searched plane. The experimental results on both the synthetic and real microscopic objects show the proposed method produces more accurate three-dimensional shape in comparison to conventional SFF method that applies focus measures on original image planes.     

Revisiting CO2 emissions convergence in G18 countries

This study revisits whether CO₂ emissions converge in G18 countries over the period of 1950–2013. To work on this empirical analysis, we employ a more powerful quantile unit root test with per capita CO₂ emissions. While conventional unit root tests fail to reject convergence in CO₂ emissions in these G18 countries, quantile unit root test results demonstrate CO₂ emissions converged in 5 of these G18 countries (i.e., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, and India). Our empirical results have important policy implications for the governments of G18 countries to direct efficient and effective energy policies to reduce the CO₂ emissions.     

应用六西格玛管理降低爆破根块率

本文针对白云鄂博铁矿爆破根块率偏高问题,运用了六西格玛管理方法予以改善及控制。通过利用六西格玛管理方法分别从定义、测量、分析、改进、控制五个方面进行开展并应用。应用表明其爆破质量得到有效地改善,爆破根块率降低到16个/万t,并产生经济效益约15万元,为确保矿山有序生产提供了基础保证。     

滚齿工艺对齿根粗糙度的影响

针对国内外风电和工业齿轮箱轻量化的设计趋势,较低的安全系数对齿轮齿根弯曲强度提出了更为严格的要求。研究表明,在材料技术和齿形设计难以再优化的情况下,滚齿加工的粗糙度,尤其是齿根部位的粗糙度对齿轮弯曲强度的影响尤为敏感。针对滚齿工艺过程,从滚齿加工参数、刀具前刀面粗糙度和刀具刃口圆角三方面进行分析,验证其对齿根粗糙度的影响。     

A RBF based finite difference method for option pricing under regime-switching jump-diffusion model

Abstract

In this article, we presented a method for option pricing problem under regime-switching jump-diffusion models. We have proposed a numerical method for solving a partial integro-differential equation (PIDE) for pricing European option and for solving linear complementarity problem (LCP), to evaluate the price of American options. We use implicit explicit method for time semi discretization, followed by radial basis function based finite difference (RBF-FD) method for spatial discretization to solve PIDE. The proposed method is further extended to solve the LCP by coupling it with operator splitting method. Numerical simulation is done for European and American option to demonstrate efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.     

基于变异算子和邻域值自适应的MOEA/D算法

基于分解的多目标进化算法（MOEA/D）在解决多目标问题时，具有简单有效的特点。但多数MOEA/D采用固定的控制参数，导致全局搜索能力差，难以平衡收敛性和多样性。针对以上问题提出一种基于变异算子和邻域值自适应的多目标优化算法。该算法根据种群中个体适应度值的分散或集中程度进行判断，并据此对变异算子进行自适应的调节，从而增强算法的全局搜索能力；根据进化所处的阶段以及个体适应度值的集中程度，自适应地调节邻域值大小，保证每个个体在不同的进化代数都有一个邻域值大小；在子问题邻域中，统计子问题对应个体的被支配数，通过判断被支配数是否超过设定的上限，来决定是否将Pareto支配关系也作为邻域内判断个体好坏的准则之一。将提出的算法与传统的MOEA/D在标准测试问题上进行对比。实验结果表明，提出的算法求得的解集具有更好的收敛性和多样性，在求解性能上具有一定的优势。