This paper is devoted to invest an optimal investment strategy for a defined-contribution (DC) pension plan under the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U) process and the loan. By considering risk-free asset, a risky asset driven by O-U process and a loan in the financial market, we firstly set up the dynamic equation and the asset market model which are instrumental in achieving the expected utility of ultimate wealth at retirement. Secondly, the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman(HJB) equation is derived by means of dynamic programming principle. The explicit expression for the optimal investment strategy is obtained by Legendre transform method. Finally, different parameters are selected to simulate the explicit solution and the financial interpretation of the optimal investment strategy is given.

A way to obtain approximate periodic solutions to nonlinear oscillators arising in a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) is presented for the case of zero initial conditions and magnetostatic excitation. The frequency-amplitude relationship is derived by adopting He’s frequency formulation. The obtained analytical results are illustrated graphically. The proposed simple approach gives the fast insight into the dynamics of the singular oscillator and can be useful for design of MEMS devices.

A strategy is devised to make the WENO interpolation in the point values achieve optimal accuracy near the discontinuities. The classical WENO interpolation ensures the optimal accuracy when all stencils are smooth and ENO property when the discontinuity appears. When there exist more than two successive smooth stencils, the maximum theoretical accuracy near discontinuity is also preferred to be obtained. To achieve it, we divide the classical WENO algorithm into several sub-WENO procedures. In each sub-WENO procedure, only two stencils are used and the order of accuracy grows one at most. If both stencils are smooth, then sub-WENO procedure increases the order of accuracy by one. If there is a stencil is smooth and the left one is non-smooth, then algorithm conserves the order of interpolation by corresponding smooth stencil and keeps the ENO property. If both stencils are non-smooth, then the value constructed by sub-WENO procedure will be ignored in the latter procedures. The whole of new WENO algorithm can be expressed as a tree structure. The indicator of smoothness of every medium stencil in the tree structure is defined by the indicators of smoothness of corresponding stencils on the top of tree. Such definition is proved to be capable of obtaining the optimal accuracy and keep the ENO property. And the new WENO algorithm has almost the same computational cost as the classical WENO algorithm.

The present work is concerned with the well-posedness and efficient numerical algorithm for a terminal value problem with a generalized Caputo fractional derivative. We investigate the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the terminal value problem, and consider the continuous dependence of the solutions on the given data. To illustrate our theoretical results, we present a one step algorithm for solving the considered problems. Some numerical examples are shown to illustrate the theoretical results and the efficiency of the numerical method.

In this paper, a novel numerical method for solving the optimal control problems (OCPs) are presented. This method uses Genocchi polynomials. Some properties of Genocchi polynomials are given and the operational matrix of derivative is constructed. This matrix helps us to convert the nonlinear constrained optimal control problem to the nonlinear programming one that can be solved by Maple programming software. The presented method is applied on some numerical examples in order to show its advantages.

In this note, we show that the Hausdorff operator $H_{\Phi}$ is unbounded on a large family of Quasi-Banach spaces, unless $H_{\Phi}$ is a zero operator.

In this paper we study exact boundary controllability for a linear wave equation with strong and weak interior degeneration of the coefficients in the principle part of the elliptic operator. The objective is to provide a well-posedness analysis of the corresponding system and derive conditions for its controllability through boundary actions. Passing to a relaxed version of the original problem, we discuss existence and uniqueness of solutions, and using the HUM method we derive conditions on the rate of degeneracy for both exact boundary controllability and the lack thereof.

In this paper, we study the vaporization process of a polydisperse ensemble of liquid drops on the basis of a nonlinear set of balance and kinetics equations for the particle-radius distribution function and temperature in the gaseous phase. We found an exact parametric solution to this problem using a modified time variable and the Laplace integral transform method. The distribution function of vaporizing drops as well as its moments, the temperature dynamics in gas, and the unvaporized mass of drops are found. The initial particle-radius distribution shifts to smaller particle radii with increasing the vaporization time. As this takes place, the temperature difference between the drops and gas decreases with time. It is shown that the heat of vaporization and initial total number of particles in the system substantially influence the dynamics of a polydisperse ensemble of liquid drops.

For the following wave equations with structural damping and nonlinear memory source terms \[ u_{tt}+(-\Delta)^{\frac{\alpha}{2}}u +(-\Delta)^{\frac{\beta}{2}}u_t =\int_{0}^{t}(t-s)^{\gamma-1} \vert u (s)\vert^{p}\,\text{d}s, \] and \[ u_{tt}+(-\Delta)^{\frac{\alpha}{2}}u +(-\Delta)^{\frac{\beta}{2}}u_t = \int_{0}^{t}(t-s)^{\gamma-1} \vert u_s (s)\vert^{p}\,\text{d}s, \] posed in $(x,t) \in \mathbb{R}^N \times [0,\infty) $, where $u=u(x,t)$ is real-value unknown function, $p>1$, $\alpha,\beta\in (0, 2]$, $\gamma\in (0,1)$, we prove the nonexistence of global solutions. Moreover, we give an upper bound estimate of the life span of solutions.

In this paper, the semi-rational solutions that causes vector rogue waves and breathers can be obtained by using the Darboux dressing transformation. We studied vector rogue waves and the interaction between rogue waves and light-dark solitons, and observed that during the interaction, due to the interference between the light-dark components of the solitons, a respiration-like structures appears. Besides, it can be observed that the rogue waves and soliton merge together. Moreover, the main characteristics of the interactions between the breathers and bright-dark solitons are displayed with some graphics.

Orthogonal experiment design together with the analysis of variance was used to examine the processing parameters (laser power, scan speed, layer thickness and hatch spacing) of selective laser melting (SLM) for superior properties of SLM parts, in which nine groups of specimens of Ti-6Al-4V were fabricated. The porosity for each group was measured and the results clarify that the influence sequence of individual parameter on the porosity is laser power > hatch spacing > layer thickness > scan speed. Ultrasonic fatigue tests (20 kHz) were conducted for the SLMed specimens in high-cycle fatigue (HCF) and very-high-cycle fatigue (VHCF) regimes. The S-N data show that the fatigue strength is greatly affected by the porosity: the group with the smallest porosity percentage having the highest fatigue strength in HCF and VHCF regimes. Moreover, the observations by scanning electron microscopy revealed that fatigue cracks initiate at lack-of-fusion defects in the cases of surface and internal crack initiation.

Objective There are some suggestions that global myocardial strain (GLS) early after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a predictor of improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after myocardial infarction. The goal of this study was to evaluate predictive value of GLS in patient with STEMI. Methods The study population consists of 43 patients with acute STEMI and no history of prior coronary intervention treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. LVEF and myocardial strain indices were measured 48hours and two months after STEMI by transthoracic echocardiography and speckle tracking method. More than 5% improvement in LV EF was considered significant improvement. Results GLS values were significantly higher in patients with >5% improvement in LVEF 2 months after the STEMI (GLS=15.76% in patients with >5% improvement vs. 11.54% in the other group,P <0.05). ROC analysis suggested GLS values more than 13.5 to be a predictor of significant LVEF improvement 2 month after STEMI. Higher GLS was observed in patients with inferior, posterior and inferoseptal STEMI versus anterior, extensive or anteroseptal STEMI and in patients with right coronary occlusion versus occlusion of the left anterior descending or circumflex arteries. Conclusion We have observed that early longitudinal LV strain after STEMI is a predictor of during first 2 months after STEMI. This is a useful method to predict early LV recovery after STEMI. GLS values more than 13.5%is a significant predictor of significant LVEF improvement.

The artificial simulated rainfall test method is used to deeply analyze the mechanism of the change of sediment concentration on the grassland slope .Under the experimental condition, the results show the following. 1). The addition of root volume can increase the accuracy of the expression of the sediment concentration variability and reduction of sediment concentration by 0.5% and 1.12%, respectively; 2).The relationship between the vegetation characteristics and the sediment concentration on the grassland slope is best expressed by the coverage and root volume; 3).The slope plays a larger role than the rain intensity in the change of sediment concentration on grassland slopes .

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an important and complex crops trait and its improvement represents a strategy to maintain high yield reducing N-supply. We report the genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of four eggplants contrasting for NUE to identify key genes related to the NUE pathway, after short- and long-term low-N exposure, in both root and shoot. Co-expression Gene Networks (CGN) analysis permitted to identify up-regulated differential expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the light reaction pathway, the biological processes response to inorganic substance, abiotic stimulus and cellular response to nitrogen starvation in high NUE genotypes. Some transcription factor (TF) were up-regulated in the N-use efficient genotypes, in particular, WRKY33 showed a significant up-regulation triggering the higher expression of 21 genes cluster including other TFs, many of which associated to N-metabolism. To validate our results, an independent de novo experiment including two other NUE-contrasting genotypes, at both low and high N supply, was carried out. Interestingly, the high significant WRKY33 expression and its cluster were confirmed in the high NUE genotypes at low-N supply. Moreover, the WRKY33 role was confirmed in Arabidopsis as the 35S::AtWRKY33 over expressing line showed a more competitive root system able to uptake more efficiently N from the soil.

We present comprehensive measurements of the evaporation behaviour, E, of a thinning film during a hydrodynamic-evaporative spincoating experiment. E, ω (rotational speed), and \nu (viscosity) are the main control parameters of the process. The evolution of the entire film thinning process can be described theoretically quite well based on the bulk value of \nu of the deposited liquid and with a process-specific (constant) E. The weighing in values of \nu are easily accessible (calculations, literature values, simple measurements). E is specific for the experimental conditions and values cannot be found in literature. There is also no generally accepted strategy to calculate E in advance. We analyzed our experimental results in view of a theoretical prediction for E, which was presented already some time ago by Bornside, Macosco, and Scriven, but never tested experimentally. We find good agreement between theory and experiment for many solvents and different! Accordingly, this approach permits in advance the calculation of the evolution of the entire hydrodynamic-evaporative film thinning in a spincoating process. In addition, we present a general formula, which allows in the case of spincoating mixtures of volatile solvents and nonvolatile solutes the prediction of the final solute deposit based on literature data only.

Sixty-three patients with LCH (54 adults, 9 children), with unifocal or multifocal bone lesions were treated with indomethacin. All but one patient achieved a response, that was complete in 52% of them. Overall, 5-year reactivation-free survival was 72%, significantly higher in patients treated with indomethacin as first-line (81.7% vs 52.5%; p=0.01); in those who received indomethacin as single agent (80.5% vs 36.5%, p=0.005); and in those with unifocal disease (90.9% vs 48.1%, p=0.003). Our results confirmed the efficacy of indomethacin in bone LCH both as front-line treatment and after reactivations, in localized, or more extended disease, with minimal side effects.

BACKGROUND Although evidence suggests a weak association of single environmental risk factors with asthma and allergy risk in children, the influence of a combination of multiple environmental pollutants and household air pollution in the relationship of asthma and allergy remains unclear. We aimed to assessed the association of environmental composite quality index scores with asthma and allergy. METHOD Environmental composite quality indices were collected using the questionnaire that contains asthma and allergy, Chinese residential living habits, and outdoor environment items. Multivariable odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the binary logistic regression model after adjusting the most known asthma or allergy risk factors. RESULTS In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1636 girls and 1446 boys were included in the final analyses. Higher environmental quality index score was correlated with higher risk of asthma, eczema, and rhinitis. Comparing the top (≥5) to bottom group (0-2), the multivariable ORs were 2.47 (95% CI, 1.41-4.33, P trend = 0.004) for asthma, 1.51 for eczema (95% CI, 1.18-1.93; P trend = 0.002) and 1.83 for rhinitis (95% CI, 1.12-3.00; P trend = 0.017). Similar findings were observed in the stratified analyses. CONCLUSION The study showed that there is a harmful association between environmental quality and asthma with allergic diseases in children living in northeast China, and further research was needed to confirm the findings in other areas and clarify the specific mechanism.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate whether early TRAP exposure is associated with the development of AR during preschool years, stratified by sex, parental allergy, or stressful family events. Methods: A nested case-control study including 398 was conducted in Shenyang. TRAP exposure in early childhood was estimated by nitrogen oxides (NOx) air dispersion modeling. We used multinomial logistic regression models to assess the association between early TRAP exposure and preschool children AR, stratified by potential confounders including sex, parental allergy, or stressful family events. Results: Life-time prevalence of AR in children aged 4 years (6.4%) was associated with TRAP exposure during early children, with an increased odds ratio (OR) [adjusted OR=2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI),1.35 to 3.52] for an interquartile range (38 μg/m3) increase in NOx levels. A relative risk for AR of of 1.88 (95% CI, 1.26 to 2.81) with boys, of 1.91 (95% CI, 1.28 to 2.85) among with eczema during the first year, of 2.94 (95% CI, 1.77 to 4.87) with parents allergy, of 4.14 (95% CI, 2.65 to 6.49) with stressful family events, was also observed. TRAP exposure was significantly associated with AR in preschool children who are boys (adjusted OR=2.13; 95% CI, 1.31 to 3.45), with parental having allergy (adjusted OR=2.06, 95% CI, 1.27 to 3.36), and a history of stressful family events (adjusted OR=1.94, 95% CI, 1.18 to 3.20). Conclusions: Early childhood TRAP exposure, boys, parental allergy, stressful family events may contribute to AR in children at 4 years of age.

To improve understanding of real-world asthma treatment and inform physician education, we evaluated regional variation in asthma prevalence and oral corticosteroid (OCS) use across Germany. We developed a machine learning gradient boosted tree model with IMS® Disease Analyzer electronic medical records, which cover 3% of German patients. This model had a 91% accuracy in predicting the presence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We applied the model to the IMS® Longitudinal Prescription database, with 82% national coverage, to classify patients receiving treatment for airflow obstruction from October 2017–September 2018 in 63 regions in Germany. Of 2.4 million individuals under statutory health insurance with predicted high OCS use for asthma (defined as 1 tablet per day for the duration of therapy), 13.7%, 18.7%, 36.5%, 29.4%, and 1.7% were categorised as receiving Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 treatment, respectively. Approximately 7–15% of those receiving GINA Steps 1–4 treatment, and 35% of those receiving Step 5 treatment received ≥1 acute OCS prescription (duration <10 days). Of patients receiving GINA Steps 1–4 and Step 5 treatments, 1–3% and 86%, respectively, received ≥1 OCS prescription defined as high OCS use. Cumulative OCS dosage and percentages of patients receiving OCS differed substantially across regions, and regions with lower OCS use had greater use of biologic therapies. Both acute and high OCS use varied regionally across Germany, with overall use greater than recommended by guidelines for all degrees of asthma severity.

Lipid droplets (LDs) are endoplasmic-reticulum-derived neutral lipid storage organelles. An overabundance of LDs in mammalian cells is characteristic of the progression of the metabolic syndrome. Thus, the development of technologies to increase controlled LD breakdown could provide therapy to treat metabolic-associated disorders. Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) plays a key role in LD breakdown. In CMA, LDs are guided to lysosomes where perilipins (PLINs) are degraded so that adipose tissue triglyceride lipase (ATGL) can convert the neutral lipids into free fatty acids for energy or materials for phospholipids. Here, we used a naturally spit intein to target LDs to lysosomes to enhance CMA. DNA constructs were introduced into NIH/3T3 fibroblasts where the C-terminal segment (NpuC) of the split was linked to PLIN2 and the N-terminal segment of the split intein (NpuN) was linked to the lysosomal surface protein LAMP2A. We showed that NpuC-mCherry-PLIN2/LDs colocalized with LAMP2A-NpuN-GFP/lysosomes in NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. These fibroblasts had a ~4-fold decrease in the number of LDs versus non-transfected control cells and cells expressing a non-cleaving version of the intein system: NpuC(N136A)-mCherry-PLIN2. These results point to the possibility of using technologies to guide entire organelles or protein complexes to lysosomes to control cellular autophagy and upkeep.

This study aimed to evaluate the antitumor potential and cytotoxicity induction mechanisms of green synthesized AgCl-NPs and Ag/AgCl-NPs through image-based high content analysis method. The antitumor potential of AgCl-NPs and Ag/AgCl-NPs was evaluated in breast cancer BT-474 and MDA-MB-436 cell lines treated with 0-40 μg/mL AgCl-NPs or 0-12.5 μg/mL Ag/AgCl-NPs. Normal human retinal pigment epithelial 1 (RPE-1) cells were used for comparison. The growth rate of the RPE-1 cells treated with AgCl-NPs or Ag/AgCl-NPs was little affected, and no significant changes in cell viability were observed. In these cells, the nanoparticle treatments did not induce lysosomal damage, changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production or a reduction in the mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover, the percentage of apoptotic cells was minimally affected, reaching a maximum of 3.51% of the population. The level of BT-474 and MDA-MB-436 cell proliferation was markedly decreased, and cell viability was reduced by 64.19 and 46.19% after treatment with AgCl-NPs and reduced by 98.36 and 82.29% after treatment with Ag/AgCl-NPs. The cells also showed a significant increase in ROS production and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which culminated in an increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells. BT-474 cells also presented lysosomal damage when treated with the highest concentrations of both nanoparticle types, and actin polymerization was observed after exposure to Ag/AgCl-NPs. Together, the results obtained show overall cytotoxic effects of both AgCl-NPs and Ag/AgCl-NPs towards breast cancer cells with negligible effects against healthy cells, which suggests their promising anticancer and biomedical applications.

The contamination of heavy metals (e.g., Hg, Pb, Cd and As) poses great risks to environment and human health. Rapid and simple detection of heavy metals of considerable toxicity in low concentration levels is an important task in biological and environmental analysis. Among the many convenient detection methods for heavy metals, DNA-inspired gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) (DNA-AuNPs) have been becoming a well-established approach, in which assembly/disassembly of AuNPs serves for colorimetric signaling of the recognition event between DNA and target heavy metals at the AuNP interface. This review focuses on the recent efforts of employing DNA to manipulate the interfacial properties of AuNPs, and summarizes the recent advances in the colorimetric detection of heavy metals. Beginning with the introduction of the fundamental aspects of DNA and AuNPs, three main strategies of constructing DNA-AuNPs with DNA binding-responsive interface are discussed, namely, crosslinking, electrostatics, and base pair stacking. Then, recent achievements in colorimetric biosensing of heavy metals based on the interfacial manipulation of DNA-AuNPs are surveyed and compared. Finally, conclusions and perspectives on the futuristic directions in the field are provided, including the evaluation of the pros and cons of the three strategies, with an expectation of providing a reference for researchers who works in the related field. It is also suggested that manipulation of the interface of DNA-AuNPs represent enormous potential in the pursuit of colorimetric biosensors for a range of analytes of interest.

Methyltransferases (MTs) constitute a large group of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a methyl moiety most frequently from S-adenosyl-L-methionine to their substrates. It plays an essential role in regulation of genes expression and synthesis of many natural compounds. Owing to its broad substrate spectrum, MTs make important contributions to diversify the spectrum of products through methylation modifications. Recently, employment of MTs for biosynthesis of natural products has made great progress but have not been detailed and informative viewed so far. In this article, we summary the recent advances in application of MTs for microbial synthesis of various natural products including phenylpropane compounds, fragrances, hormones and antibiotics. We put emphasis on the applied metabolic engineering strategies for efficient production of those chemicals and for expanding the diversity of the products. Then, we present the current challenges and future perspectives in utilization of MTs for efficient production of more diverse natural products in microorganisms.

Microbial conversion of plant biomass into fuels and chemicals offers a practical solution to global concerns on limited natural resources, environmental pollution, and climate change. Pursuant to these goals, researchers have put tremendous efforts and resources towards engineering the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to efficiently convert xylose, the second most abundant sugar in lignocellulosic biomass, into various fuels and chemicals. Although many challenges remain, these research investments have facilitated efficient and rapid fermentation of xylose, simultaneous co-consumption of xylose with carbon sources in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, and enhanced production of a wide range of valuable chemicals from xylose. In particular, understanding of xylose-induced metabolic rewiring in engineered yeast has stimulated the use of xylose as a preferred carbon source for the production of various non-ethanol bioproducts. Here, we summarize recent advances in metabolic engineering in yeast to address bottlenecks of xylose assimilation, and to enable simultaneous co-utilization of xylose and other cellulosic carbon sources. We also highlight distinct characteristics of xylose metabolism which can be harnessed for the production of advanced biofuels and chemicals.