Southwest University

About: Southwest University is a education organization based out in Chongqing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Gene & Population. The organization has 29772 authors who have published 27755 publications receiving 409441 citations. The organization is also known as: Southwest University in Chongqing & SWU.

A new method of identifying influential nodes in complex networks based on TOPSIS

Abstract: In complex networks, identifying influential nodes is the very important part of reliability analysis, which has been a key issue in analyzing the structural organization of a network. In this paper, a new evaluation method of node importance in complex networks based on technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach is proposed. TOPSIS as a multiple attribute decision making (MADM) technique has been an important branch of decision making since then. In addition, TOPSIS is first applied to identify influential nodes in a complex network in this open issue. In different types of networks in which the information goes by different ways, we consider several different centrality measures as the multi-attribute of complex network in TOPSIS application. TOPSIS is utilized to aggregate the multi-attribute to obtain the evaluation of node importance of each node. It is not limited to only one centrality measure, but considers different centrality measures, because every centrality measure has its own disadvantage and limitation. Then, we use the Susceptible–Infected (SI) model to evaluate the performance. Numerical examples are given to show the efficiency and practicability of the proposed method.

NiO/Graphene Composite for Enhanced Charge Separation and Collection in p-Type Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract: A p-type semiconductor photoelectrode in dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has a large optical band gap and high ionization potential but suffers from its intrinsically low hole transfer rate, thus...

Genome-wide identification and characterization of the Populus WRKY transcription factor family and analysis of their expression in response to biotic and abiotic stresses

Abstract: WRKY proteins are a large family of regulators involved in various developmental and physiological processes, especially in coping with diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, 100 putative PtrWRKY genes encoded the proteins contained in the complete WRKY domain in Populus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the members of this superfamily among poplar, Arabidopsis, and other species were divided into three groups with several subgroups based on the structures of the WRKY protein sequences. Various cis-acting elements related to stress and defence responses were found in the promoter regions of PtrWRKY genes by promoter analysis. High-throughput transcriptomic analyses identified that 61 of the PtrWRKY genes were induced by biotic and abiotic treatments, such as Marssonina brunnea, salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), wounding, cold, and salinity. Among these PtrWRKY genes, transcripts of 46 selected genes were observed in different tissues, including roots, stems, and leaves. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis further confirmed the induced expression of 18 PtrWRKY genes by one or more stress treatments. The overexpression of an SA-inducible gene, PtrWRKY89, accelerated expression of PR protein genes and improved resistance to pathogens in transgenic poplar, suggesting that PtrWRKY89 is a regulator of an SA-dependent defence-signalling pathway in poplar. Taken together, our results provided significant information for improving the resistance and stress tolerance of woody plants.

A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on divergent thinking using activation likelihood estimation.

Abstract: In this study, an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was used to conduct a quantitative investigation of neuroimaging studies on divergent thinking. Based on the ALE results, the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies showed that distributed brain regions were more active under divergent thinking tasks (DTTs) than those under control tasks, but a large portion of the brain regions were deactivated. The ALE results indicated that the brain networks of the creative idea generation in DTTs may be composed of the lateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex (such as the inferior pari- etal lobule (BA 40) and precuneus (BA 7)), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (BA 32), and several regions in the temporal cortex (such as the left middle temporal gyrus (BA 39), and left fusiform gyrus (BA 37)). The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46) was related to selecting the loosely and remotely associated con- cepts and organizing them into creative ideas, whereas the ACC (BA 32) was related to observing and form- ing distant semantic associations in performing DTTs. The posterior parietal cortex may be involved in the semantic information related to the retrieval and buffering of the formed creative ideas, and several regions in the temporal cortex may be related to the stored long-term memory. In addition, the ALE results of the structural studies showed that divergent thinking was related to the dopaminergic system (e.g., left caudate and claustrum). Based on the ALE results, both fMRI and structural MRI studies could uncover the neural basis of divergent thinking from different aspects (e.g., specific cognitive processing and stable individual difference of cognitive capability). Hum Brain Mapp 00:000-000, 2015. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

GhDET2, a steroid 5alpha-reductase, plays an important role in cotton fiber cell initiation and elongation.

Abstract: Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fibers, one of the most important natural raw materials for textile industry, are highly elongated trichomes from epidermal cells of cotton ovules. DET2, an Arabidopsis steroid 5d-reductase, is considered to catalyze a major rate-limiting in brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis. To understand the role of BRs in cotton fiber development, GhDET2, which putatively encodes a steroid 5alpha-reductase by sequence comparison, was cloned from developing fiber cells. In vitro assessment of GhDET2 protein activity confirmed that GhDET2 encodes a functional steroid 5alpha-redutase. High levels of GhDET2 transcript were detected during the fiber initiation stage and the fiber rapid elongation stage. Antisense-mediated suppression of GhDET2 inhibited both fiber initiation and fiber elongation. Similarly, treating cultured ovules with finasteride, a steroid 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, reduced fiber elongation. Inhibition of fiber cell elongation by expression of antisense GhDET2 or the finasteride treatment could be reversed by epibrassinolide, a biologically active BR. Furthermore, seed coat-specific expression of GhDET2 increased fiber number and length. Therefore, GhDET2 and BRs play a crucial role in the initiation and elongation of cotton fiber cells, suggesting that modulation of BR biosynthesis factors may improve fiber quality or yield.