There exists a notion that there is an obesity paradox in the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia.In other words,obese individuals with communityacquired pneumonia have a better prognosis.The study by Wang et al...There exists a notion that there is an obesity paradox in the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia.In other words,obese individuals with communityacquired pneumonia have a better prognosis.The study by Wang et al supports this claim,but we believe that the obesity paradox should not be proposed hastily as it is influenced by numerous subjective and objective confounding factors.展开更多
Friendship paradox states that individuals are likely to have fewer friends than their friends do,on average.Despite of its wide existence and appealing applications in real social networks,the mathematical understand...Friendship paradox states that individuals are likely to have fewer friends than their friends do,on average.Despite of its wide existence and appealing applications in real social networks,the mathematical understanding of friendship paradox is very limited.Only few works provide theoretical evidence of single-step and multi-step friendship paradoxes,given that the neighbors of interest are onehop and multi-hop away from the target node.However,they consider non-evolving networks,as opposed to the topology of real social networks that are constantly growing over time.We are thus motivated to present a first look into friendship paradox in evolving networks,where newly added nodes preferentially attach themselves to those with higher degrees.Our analytical verification of both single-step and multistep friendship paradoxes in evolving networks,along with comparison to the non-evolving counterparts,discloses that“friendship paradox is even more paradoxical in evolving networks”,primarily from three aspects:1)we demonstrate a strengthened effect of single-step friendship paradox in evolving networks,with a larger probability(more than 0.8)of a random node’s neighbors having higher average degree than the random node itself;2)we unravel higher effectiveness of multi-step friendship paradox in seeking for influential nodes in evolving networks,as the rate of reaching the max degree node can be improved by a factor of at least Θ(t^(2/3))with t being the network size;3)we empirically verify our findings through both synthetic and real datasets,which suggest high agreements of results and consolidate the reasonability of evolving model for real social networks.展开更多
China has emerged as the world’s largest producer of scientific publications and a dominant force across high-impact research indicators.Yet,this extraordinary expansion has not translated into Nobel-level breakthrou...China has emerged as the world’s largest producer of scientific publications and a dominant force across high-impact research indicators.Yet,this extraordinary expansion has not translated into Nobel-level breakthroughs.This commentary examines the structural,institutional,and cultural factors underpinning this“Nobel paradox.”China’s research ecosystem is optimized for rapid scaling,publication productivity,and alignment with national policy cycles,but these strengths also generate incentives that discourage high-risk,conceptually disruptive inquiry.Comparative analysis with Japan and the United States reveals that environments producing Nobel-winning discoveries typically feature long-term stability,investigator autonomy,tolerance for failure,and mechanisms that empower early-career scientists.In China,hierarchical authorship norms,metric-driven evaluations,and risk-averse grant structures hinder the emergence of transformative ideas,despite the abundance of talent and resources.The commentary outlines reforms,such as decoupling assessment from publication metrics,creating safe harbors for high-risk research,and strengthening career pathways,that could enable China to convert its scientific capacity into world-changing discovery.展开更多
For the first time in human history,hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been subjected to compulsory vaccination with a new type of nucleic acid based vaccines in order to keep their jobs or be able...For the first time in human history,hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been subjected to compulsory vaccination with a new type of nucleic acid based vaccines in order to keep their jobs or be able to travel due to some notorious coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)mandates.The vast majority of African countries were either initially deprived of these vaccines,or later,a majority of the population was too skeptical to receive them and preferred a safe early treatment pharmacological approach.Yet,Africa had the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate compared to those countries that adopted mass vaccination.This letter to the editor adds African insights that should be helpful in future pandemics to save millions of precious lives.展开更多
The“obesity paradox”in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)suggests patients with obesity may experience better treatment outcomes compared to patients without obesity.Wang et al highlighted this paradox in HCC immunothera...The“obesity paradox”in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)suggests patients with obesity may experience better treatment outcomes compared to patients without obesity.Wang et al highlighted this paradox in HCC immunotherapy,demonstrating superior progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with overweight and obesity treated with lenvatinib and camrelizumab,focusing on hepatitis B virus-related HCC.Mechanisms such as better nutritional reserves,leptin-mediated immune modulation,and reduced protein breakdown may explain these outcomes.Obesity’s role in anti-programmed cell death protein-1 therapy appears could have a benefit,while its effects on other treatments,such as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy,may reduce efficacy.Further research is needed to explore how obesity influences the effectiveness of other most common immunotherapies like nivolumab,pembrolizumab,and bevacizumab,and whether weight loss as well as weight-loss related sarcopenia impacts these benefits.展开更多
What laws do the universe naturally operate according to?What should be the logical foundation of the human real world?This is a foundational and fundamental issue that humans have always wanted to clarify.From Thales...What laws do the universe naturally operate according to?What should be the logical foundation of the human real world?This is a foundational and fundamental issue that humans have always wanted to clarify.From Thales to philosophers such as Socrates,Plato,and Aristotle,ancient Greece achieved the origin and development of philosophy;Later,Descartes,Hume,Kant,Hegel,Nietzsche,and others explored new fields and concepts;Philosophers such as Husserl,Sartre,Russell,Wittgenstein,and Derrida left a profound mark in the 20th century.The emergence of a worldview emerged in the ancient Indian Vedas,and later in the religious and philosophical work The Upanishads,there was a discourse on the entities of"Brahma"and"I",which gave rise to the idea of"Advaita"in later generations.The Book of Changes was born in ancient China,along with major academic schools such as Taoism,Confucianism,Legalism,and Mohism.Later,Buddhist thought was integrated;With the Eastern ideas of yin and yang,the Doctrine of the Mean,harmony,and the ultimate goodness,I have integrated Eastern and Western historical philosophies,modern physics,and classical logic theories in my thinking on the principle of cosmic paradox,proposing a new perspective of understanding the essence of the universe and its natural logical relationship structure using the principle of paradox as the law of cosmic operation.The theoretical exploration and discussion of the dual nature relationship of"non-contradiction"and"contradiction"in the"first contradiction"relationship of things in the universe,that is,the identity of the universe is a self-contradictory overall transformation process;Attempting to reveal the paradoxical relationship of the universe from a new perspective in modern science,philosophy,and logic,striving to have a beneficial impact on the exploration and practical application of sustainable human survival and development models in the future.展开更多
文摘There exists a notion that there is an obesity paradox in the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia.In other words,obese individuals with communityacquired pneumonia have a better prognosis.The study by Wang et al supports this claim,but we believe that the obesity paradox should not be proposed hastily as it is influenced by numerous subjective and objective confounding factors.
基金supported by NSF China(No.61960206002,62020106005,42050105,62061146002)Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research–Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
文摘Friendship paradox states that individuals are likely to have fewer friends than their friends do,on average.Despite of its wide existence and appealing applications in real social networks,the mathematical understanding of friendship paradox is very limited.Only few works provide theoretical evidence of single-step and multi-step friendship paradoxes,given that the neighbors of interest are onehop and multi-hop away from the target node.However,they consider non-evolving networks,as opposed to the topology of real social networks that are constantly growing over time.We are thus motivated to present a first look into friendship paradox in evolving networks,where newly added nodes preferentially attach themselves to those with higher degrees.Our analytical verification of both single-step and multistep friendship paradoxes in evolving networks,along with comparison to the non-evolving counterparts,discloses that“friendship paradox is even more paradoxical in evolving networks”,primarily from three aspects:1)we demonstrate a strengthened effect of single-step friendship paradox in evolving networks,with a larger probability(more than 0.8)of a random node’s neighbors having higher average degree than the random node itself;2)we unravel higher effectiveness of multi-step friendship paradox in seeking for influential nodes in evolving networks,as the rate of reaching the max degree node can be improved by a factor of at least Θ(t^(2/3))with t being the network size;3)we empirically verify our findings through both synthetic and real datasets,which suggest high agreements of results and consolidate the reasonability of evolving model for real social networks.
文摘China has emerged as the world’s largest producer of scientific publications and a dominant force across high-impact research indicators.Yet,this extraordinary expansion has not translated into Nobel-level breakthroughs.This commentary examines the structural,institutional,and cultural factors underpinning this“Nobel paradox.”China’s research ecosystem is optimized for rapid scaling,publication productivity,and alignment with national policy cycles,but these strengths also generate incentives that discourage high-risk,conceptually disruptive inquiry.Comparative analysis with Japan and the United States reveals that environments producing Nobel-winning discoveries typically feature long-term stability,investigator autonomy,tolerance for failure,and mechanisms that empower early-career scientists.In China,hierarchical authorship norms,metric-driven evaluations,and risk-averse grant structures hinder the emergence of transformative ideas,despite the abundance of talent and resources.The commentary outlines reforms,such as decoupling assessment from publication metrics,creating safe harbors for high-risk research,and strengthening career pathways,that could enable China to convert its scientific capacity into world-changing discovery.
文摘For the first time in human history,hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been subjected to compulsory vaccination with a new type of nucleic acid based vaccines in order to keep their jobs or be able to travel due to some notorious coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)mandates.The vast majority of African countries were either initially deprived of these vaccines,or later,a majority of the population was too skeptical to receive them and preferred a safe early treatment pharmacological approach.Yet,Africa had the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate compared to those countries that adopted mass vaccination.This letter to the editor adds African insights that should be helpful in future pandemics to save millions of precious lives.
文摘The“obesity paradox”in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)suggests patients with obesity may experience better treatment outcomes compared to patients without obesity.Wang et al highlighted this paradox in HCC immunotherapy,demonstrating superior progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with overweight and obesity treated with lenvatinib and camrelizumab,focusing on hepatitis B virus-related HCC.Mechanisms such as better nutritional reserves,leptin-mediated immune modulation,and reduced protein breakdown may explain these outcomes.Obesity’s role in anti-programmed cell death protein-1 therapy appears could have a benefit,while its effects on other treatments,such as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy,may reduce efficacy.Further research is needed to explore how obesity influences the effectiveness of other most common immunotherapies like nivolumab,pembrolizumab,and bevacizumab,and whether weight loss as well as weight-loss related sarcopenia impacts these benefits.
文摘What laws do the universe naturally operate according to?What should be the logical foundation of the human real world?This is a foundational and fundamental issue that humans have always wanted to clarify.From Thales to philosophers such as Socrates,Plato,and Aristotle,ancient Greece achieved the origin and development of philosophy;Later,Descartes,Hume,Kant,Hegel,Nietzsche,and others explored new fields and concepts;Philosophers such as Husserl,Sartre,Russell,Wittgenstein,and Derrida left a profound mark in the 20th century.The emergence of a worldview emerged in the ancient Indian Vedas,and later in the religious and philosophical work The Upanishads,there was a discourse on the entities of"Brahma"and"I",which gave rise to the idea of"Advaita"in later generations.The Book of Changes was born in ancient China,along with major academic schools such as Taoism,Confucianism,Legalism,and Mohism.Later,Buddhist thought was integrated;With the Eastern ideas of yin and yang,the Doctrine of the Mean,harmony,and the ultimate goodness,I have integrated Eastern and Western historical philosophies,modern physics,and classical logic theories in my thinking on the principle of cosmic paradox,proposing a new perspective of understanding the essence of the universe and its natural logical relationship structure using the principle of paradox as the law of cosmic operation.The theoretical exploration and discussion of the dual nature relationship of"non-contradiction"and"contradiction"in the"first contradiction"relationship of things in the universe,that is,the identity of the universe is a self-contradictory overall transformation process;Attempting to reveal the paradoxical relationship of the universe from a new perspective in modern science,philosophy,and logic,striving to have a beneficial impact on the exploration and practical application of sustainable human survival and development models in the future.
