novelden Chapter 84 Director Lu, it seems you can't protect him!
Chapter 84 Director Lu, it seems you can't protect him!
Chapter 84 Director Lu, it seems you can't protect him!
Westhawk, Massa, the editorial office of *Cell*. As an editor at one of the world's top biology journals, Elena Costa receives countless manuscripts from around the world every day. Today, as usual, she sits in front of her computer, listlessly processing new submissions in the system. Her fingers glide across the touchpad, her eyes rapidly scanning each title and abstract. Most manuscripts receive their initial fate within seconds: rejection.
"It's high-throughput sequencing data analysis again—mechanism research—CRISPR screening—" Elena muttered to herself, her voice tinged with annoyance, and casually declined.
Suddenly, a headline caught her attention.
"HCS-Miner? Hypergraph community structure? Mining sparse conserved functional modules of non-coding RNA?" Elena sat up straight. As an editor with a PhD in computational biology, she had a natural sensitivity to algorithm-related submissions, and she also knew how difficult it was to get such articles published in Cell unless they could truly solve a problem that was important enough and that existing methods were powerless to address.
She opened the manuscript and began to carefully read the abstract.
Five minutes later, Elena's eyes lit up.
"Unifying multiple sequence alignment and conserved module mining within a hypergraph optimization framework — identifying short functional elements missed by traditional methods — achieving significant performance improvements on multiple benchmark tests and real-world disease datasets —" She scrolled quickly through the introduction's explanation of the domain's pain points and the contrasting performance graphs in the results section.
This paper's innovation is clear, and more importantly, it addresses the problem of finding functional clues in highly variable non-coding RNA sequences—a current hot topic and challenge in genomics and post-genomics. If this algorithm is indeed as effective as the authors claim, it could provide new insights for a large number of related studies.
A sharper tool.
Instead of jumping to conclusions, she continued reading the methodology section. The mathematical model was rigorously described, and the steps for improving the hypergraph construction, weight definition, and community detection algorithm were clearly outlined. The appendix provided detailed pseudocode and parameter descriptions. As an editor with a computational background, she could see the author's deep understanding of mathematics and computer science.
"Single author? From a university in the East?" Elena noticed the author information and was slightly surprised.
Such interdisciplinary algorithmic work usually involves collaborations among multiple people, especially those in mathematics or computer science. The fact that "BiaoHu" completed this work independently, and from a university that wasn't particularly prestigious or well-known to her, piqued her curiosity even more.
An hour later, after carefully reviewing the manuscript, she breathed a sigh of relief, raised her hand, and wrote an internal recommendation report, briefly summarizing the core contributions and potential significance of the manuscript, and adding her own positive evaluation.
"If the findings withstand peer review, they could become an important tool for researchers in the field, meeting Cell's publication standards for work with broad impact and methodological breakthroughs."
That afternoon, editor-in-chief Michael Richards saw Elena's recommendation and the manuscript on his office computer. He spent an hour skimming through the core sections and conclusions of the paper. "The performance improvements look very significant, especially at those tricky nodes. If this method can be widely adopted, many research groups may be able to discover control elements or functional regions that they couldn't find before."
In his view, if the conclusion is true, then he agrees with Elena's judgment. But in any case, this manuscript is worth sending for review. However, for a paper like this that is purely algorithmic, the choice of reviewers needs to be carefully considered.
A day later, four peer review invitation emails were sent from the Cell editorial office to different corners of the world.
Hu Biao, who was eating at the second canteen of Jiangda University, was unaware that his thesis had entered the peer review stage. The exam was tomorrow, and his roommates were also unusually focused, going to the classroom to study diligently before coming to the canteen for dinner.
Several people sat by the window. Hu Biao slowly ate his tomato and egg rice bowl and discussed the exam with his roommates. Suddenly, the large screen TV on the cafeteria wall changed the screen, and the clear voice of the female host came through the loudspeaker.
"Our reporter is reporting live from the East-Thailand cultural exchange event. The Thai cultural delegation's visit is particularly noteworthy, especially the presence of Mr. Charon Sirivad, world kickboxing champion and Muay Thai legend."
Hu Biao looked up at the dark-skinned, muscular Thai man on the screen, who was clasping his hands together and bowing slightly to the camera.
"Hello, Mr. Zhalun, your Chinese is very fluent, which is amazing," the reporter exclaimed.
That's just how Dongguk people are; they love listening to foreigners speak Dongguk. When they encounter a famous person, it's like discovering a new continent, and they'll seize the opportunity to interview them.
Zhalun smiled gently and replied in almost perfect Chinese, "Thank you. I've been interested in Dongguo culture since I was a child. I've read 'The Art of War' and I also like Dongguo's ancient poetry. I came to Dongguo for this exchange program with a learning mindset."
His humble and polite demeanor easily won the favor of the Dongguo people watching on screen.
"Oh, Zhalun, the world champion in kickboxing! His Muay Thai is insane!" Liu Bo, seeing Zhalun, beamed with excitement. "Let me tell you, this guy is a three-time world champion, he's defeated top fighters from all over the world, and he's known as the best in real combat—"
"Tch, all show and no substance!" Hu Biao sneered.
"Sang Biao, you don't understand. He's not just all show and no substance. He's not only invincible in the ring, but he also once took down three robbers in the street. That was real combat, and it was bare-handed against a machete." Liu Bo was immediately displeased upon hearing this. "You must have seen that video. It was the most popular video on social media last year, and it was listed as the most realistic combat training case."
Hu Biao pursed his lips and didn't say anything more.
On the screen, the reporter asked again, "I heard that you visited Dongguo this time and had exchanges with the Dongguo martial arts community. How did you find it?"
"This is truly eye-opening!" A barely perceptible glint flashed in Zhalun's eyes. "Eastern martial arts are profound and extensive, especially some of the traditional combat techniques, which have greatly inspired me. I've gained a lot this time, witnessing performances from many different schools."
He paused, his tone suddenly turning regretful: "However, I've always hoped to meet a legendary master. Many years ago, my father sparred with a martial artist from the East, and that was the only time my father ever lost. That master's Eagle Claw technique filled my father with admiration."
Many students in the cafeteria looked up at the screen, drawn in by the topic.
Hu Biao's eyes narrowed as Zhalun continued, "It's a pity that the master has passed away. However, I heard that he had a personal disciple known as the Eagle Claw King, a rare master. I had hoped to exchange and learn from him, even if it was just to ask him for a few simple moves, but alas..."
He shook his head regretfully, his expression sincere: "This Eagle Claw King seems unwilling to see me. I can understand; he probably has his own considerations. But as a martial artist, it is truly a great pity not to be able to communicate with such a master."
"Could you tell us more about this Eagle Claw King? The audience is probably very curious," the reporter pressed.
Zhalun nodded, as if he had just mentioned it casually: "This Eagle Claw Master is very young and is a college student. As far as I know, he is a freshman at Jiangcheng University named Hu Biao. I heard that he is that senior's most outstanding disciple and has inherited all of his knowledge, which is why he has the title of Eagle Claw King."
"puff!!!"
Liu Bo, who was sitting opposite Hu Biao, spat out a mouthful of rice.
Sun Hao's chopsticks fell onto the plate with a "clatter." He slowly, very slowly, turned his head to look at Hu Biao across from him.
Wang Zhe forgot to chew his food and stared wide-eyed at Hu Biao.
The cafeteria erupted in chaos!
They might not know Hu Biao very well, but this is Jiangcheng University!
Moreover, Hu Biao is quite a celebrity in the School of Biology; his "refined scoundrel" photos have been posted on the forum for quite some time.
So, apart from his three roommates, everyone in the cafeteria who recognized him looked at him. For a moment, the cafeteria fell into an eerie silence. Only Zhalun on the TV maintained his humble smile: "Of course, if Mr. Hu Biao really doesn't want to show his face, I completely understand. After all, this is just a regret of the previous generation and has nothing to do with him."
Hu Biao put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his plastic chair, stared at Zhalun on the screen, suddenly chuckled, then picked up the phone, dialed a number, and the call connected, but there was no sound, as if waiting for something.
Hu Biao grinned, "Director Lu, looks like you can't protect him!"
>