Search

A comparison was conducted of 213 patients with haematologic malignancies who underwent HLA-identical sibling (n=108) or HLA-haploidentical (n=105) haematopoietic cell transplantation (haplo-HCT) at our centre. The conditioning regimen included fludarabine, busulphan, cyclophosphamide and antilymphocyte globulin (ATG) (FBCA). The total dose of ATG differed between identical and haploidentical groups (3.75 mg/kg versus 12.5 mg/kg). The cumulative incidences of grade II–IV acute GvHD in the identical and haploidentical groups were 20.4% and 21.9% (P=0.73), and 2-year cumulative incidences of chronic GvHD were 36.4% and 24.1% (P=0.17), respectively. The 3-year probabilities of non-relapse mortality for identical and haploidentical groups were 20.5% and 34.9% (P=0.048), and for relapse were 22.2% and 21.0% (P=0.85), respectively. The 3-year overall survivals in the identical and haploidentical groups were 62.6% and 52.6% (P=0.054), whereas the 3-year disease-free survivals were 54.7% and 43.1% (P=0.14), respectively. In the multivariate analysis, patients in the high-risk group exhibited reduced survival, and the higher dose of mononuclear or CD34+ cells resulted in an increase in the likelihood of survival. In conclusion, haplo-HCT based on an FBCA conditioning regimen could achieve nearly comparable outcomes to HLA-identical sibling HCT.

This study was conducted to explore the regulation of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on gut redox status and proliferation of selected microbiota in weaned piglets. A total of 150 newborn piglets from 15 litters were randomly divided by litter to the control group (normally suckling), the weaning group (fed the basal diet), and the NAC group (basal + NAC diet) with 5 litters per group. Activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and inhibition capacity of hydroxyl radical (IHR), and contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, and NO in the ileum, colon, and cecum were analyzed to profile oxidative stress states. The real-time absolute quantitative PCR reaction was employed to quantify the amounts of total bacteria, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Escherichia coli. The N-acetyl cysteine, as a universal antioxidant, was used to improve the redox status. Results showed that weaning stress resulted in the occurrence of gut oxidative stress and changes of gut microbiota (P< 0.05). Compared with the weaned piglets, the activities of ileal, colonic, and cecal T-AOC; ileal and colonic GSH-Px; cecal SOD; and colonic and cecal IHR were enhanced (P< 0.05), and the concentrations of ileal and cecal H2O2, ileal and colonic NO, and colonic MDA were reduced (P< 0.05) in the NAC-treated piglets. An increase (P< 0.05) in gut Lactobacillusand Bifidobacterium, accompanied with a decrease (P< 0.05) in Escherichia colicounts, was also observed in the NAC group. Bivariate correlation indicated that Lactobacillusand Bifidobacteriumwere positively correlated (P< 0.05) with the activities of T-AOC, GSH-Px, and SOD and inversely related (P< 0.05) to increased levels of H2O2, NO, OH, and MDA, and Escherichia colishowed a strong positive association (P< 0.05) with increased levels of free radicals and MDA and a negative association (P< 0.05) with the activities of antioxidant enzymes in intestines of weaned piglets. We concluded that NAC constructively regulated on the changes of the gut redox status and microbiota in piglets in response to weaning stress. The observed correlations implied that the NAC effects on the gut microbiota were confirmed, partly through an effect on oxidative stress in piglets, providing evidence that gut microbiota may be potentially improved by the modulation of the redox status by an antioxidant, which has relevance for gut health and function.

In swine production, weaning is a critical event for porcine weaning-associated disease, such as postweaning stress syndrome, which involves intestinal dysfunction. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of intestinal dysfunction in pigs during weaning. To gain new insight into the interaction between weaning stress and intestinal function, 4 pigs at 25 d of age for each of the weaning and the suckling groups for a total of 40 pigs were used to analyze changes in the genomic expression in the intestines of weaned pigs by microarray analysis. Four hundred forty-five genes showed altered expression after weaning treatment (286 upregulated and 159 downregulated) at the cutoff criteria of the fold change ≥1.5 or <0.67 and P< 0.05. Most of these altered genes are cellular process related and regulators that may be involved in biological regulation, developmental processes, and metabolic processes. A keen interest was paid in deciphering expression changes in apoptosis or cell cycle control genes. The altered genomic expression of 8 selected genes related to the cell cycle process was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Of the 8 genes tested, increased (P< 0.05) expression of genes involved in apoptosis (cytochrome c, somatic, and ataxia telangiectasia mutated), pro-inflammatory signals (tumor necrosis factorand NO synthases 2), and a transcription factor (nuclear factor of activated T cells, cytoplasmic, and calcineurin-dependent 2) were detected in weaned pigs compared with suckling pigs, but the expression of cell cycle control-related genes, such as E2F transcription factor 5-like, was lower (P< 0.05) in weaned pigs than suckling pigs. Weaned pigs also showed increased interleukin 8expression and decreased SMAD family member 4expression although no significant differences (P> 0.05) were observed when compared with the suckling pigs. These selected genes likely indicate that weaning induced cell cycle arrest, enhanced apoptosis, and inhibited cell proliferation. The results of this study provide a basis for understanding the molecular pathogenesis of weaning treatment.

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the influence of weaning stress and an antioxidant blend on gut health and free radical metabolism in postweaning pigs. A total of 96 pigs from 12 litters were randomly divided by litter to 3 groups with 4 litters each. The control group and the weaning group were fed the basal diet, and the antioxidant group was fed the basal diet supplemented with an antioxidant blend. The control group was suckling normally during the experimental period and the other 2 treatments were weaned at 21 d of age. Morphology in different parts of the intestines was used as a measure of intestinal barrier function. Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), NO, H(2)O(2), and O(2) were measured in serum. Activities of the digestive enzymes, including sucrase, maltase, amylase, lipase, and pepsin, were measured at 24 d of age for all treatments. Gene expressions of free radicals, digestive enzymes, or antioxidant enzymes were selected for quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analyses. Results showed that weaning resulted in reductions (P < 0.05) in the villus height and width, and activity of digestive enzymes. Activity of SOD decreased (P < 0.05) and the concentrations of MDA, NO, and H(2)O(2) increased (P < 0.05) after weaning. The expression results indicated that the genes related to the antioxidant enzymes and digestive enzymes were down regulated (P < 0.05) after weaning. Tumor protein 53, which regulates reactive oxygen-species generation, tended to increase (P < 0.10) in the weaning group. The concentration of PPARγ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), which plays an important protective role against oxidative stress by regulating the expression of mitochondrial antioxidants, was reduced (P < 0.05) in weaning pigs and increased (P < 0.01) in antioxidant pigs compared with the control pigs. Results indicated that intestinal dysfunction occurred after weaning and there was an inhibition of the antioxidant system. The antioxidant blend has the potential to prevent free radical-induced damage and suppress oxidative stress by modulating the expressions of tumor protein 53 and PGC-1α genes.

AbstractIn this article a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to determine the desired current waveforms for switched reluctance motors (SRM) through generating appropriate reference phase torques for a given desired torque using torque-sharing function. The objective is to yield smoother phase current waveforms in general, and achieve minimum phase current variations in particular. This problem is formulated into a multiobjective optimization task with certain constraints. Due to the highly nonlinear relationship between the SRM torque and current, this optimization task is an NP-hard problem. To deal with the difficulty, the problem is further coded so that a GA can be applied to facilitate the search of global minimum. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A new vector level set method for modelling propagating cracks in the element-free Galerkin (EFG) method is presented. With this approach only nodal data are used to describe the crack; no geometrical entity is introduced for the crack trajectory, and no partial differential equations need to be solved to update the level sets. The nodal description is updated as the crack propagates by geometric equations. The advantages of this approach, here introduced and analysed for the two-dimensional case, are particularly promising in three-dimensional applications, where the geometrical description and evolution of an arbitrary crack surface in a complex solid is very awkward. In addition, new methods for crack approximations in EFG are introduced, using a jump function accounting for the displacement discontinuity along the crack faces and the Westergard's solution enrichment near the crack tip. These enrichments, being extrinsic, can be limited only to the nodes surrounding the crack and are naturally coupled to the level set crack representation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, a new analysis method is presented to study the steady periodic solution of non-linear dynamical systems over one period. By using the good properties of Chebyshev polynomials, the state vectors appearing in the equations can be expanded in terms of Chebyshev polynomials over the principal period such that the original non-linear differential problem is simplified to a set of non-linear algebraic equations. Furthermore, all systems, including linear, weak non-linear and strong non-linear can be analyzed in the same way for no limitation of small parameter any more. It is also very efficient to get the asymptotic solution of periodical orbit even for high-dimensional dynamical systems. The numerical accuracy of the proposed technique is compared with that of the standard numerical Runge–Kutta method.

This paper deals with an iterative learning approach for modulating the desired torque profile so as to obtain ripple-free torque in switched reluctance motors. Because of the highly nonlinear relation between torque, current, and rotor position for this motor, it is not possible to obtain a closed-form mathematical expression for current as a function of torque and rotor position. Thus, the current waveforms are conventionally computed by using the linear torque model of the motor, and it is well known that such a scheme results in high torque ripple. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to minimize the ripple. In this new scheme, the current is still computed using the linear torque model, but the value of the torque used for this is not the desired (specified) torque, but rather a modulated-desired torque that is obtained by repeated corrections to the desired torque from iteration to iteration. The conventional rectangular pulse profile is taken as the initial current waveform. The method requires much less a priori knowledge of the magnetic characteristics of the motor. The algorithms have been formulated for both one-phase-on and two-phase-on schemes, for a four-phase switched reluctance motor, in the light of the principles behind iterative learning. Based on the observations from the simulation results of these schemes, a modified scheme has been proposed by incorporating a suitable commutation process, often called torque sharing functions, in order to generate reasonably smooth current waveforms for the ease of tracking by the stator circuit of the motor. The performances of all the proposed schemes have been verified by computer simulation.

With cervical mucus, or Billings, method of family planning, a woman learns to recognize the characteristics of her cervical mucus that identify the fertile phase in her menstrual cycle. She and her partner abstain from sexual activity during a period from the first indication of mucus until four days after the mucus peak day, which includes ovulation. They also abstain during menses, because mucus can be confused with menstrual bleeding. This method of family planning is used widely, worldwide, by couples seeking a natural, reliable method of family planning.

The postpartum period is an ideal time to begin contraception, as women are more highly motivated to adopt contraception at this time and it is convenient for both patients and service providers. For intrauterine device (IUD) contraception, this period offers other advantages, such as ease of insertion and minimal adverse impacts on breastfeeding. Among early studies, most postpartum insertions were performed anywhere from a few hours to seven days or more after delivery, and retention of the IUD in the uterus was poor. Since the 1970s, immediate postplacental insertion (IPPI), i.e., IUD insertion performed within 10 minutes after placental delivery, has been advocated, and fairly low expulsion rates have been reported. Up to now, IPPI has not been widely accepted in clinics because its expulsion rate still appears to be higher than that of interval insertion. In order to further study IPPI and perfect this contraceptive technique, it is essential to comprehensively review IPPI results and compare the Chinese experience with that of the rest of the world.

Immediate postplacental insertion (IPPI) of the intrauterine device (IUD) has been practiced in China for at least 17 years. This presentation reviews and integrates the clinical experiences of IPPIs at five Chinese centers. The stainless-steel ring IUD was the most commonly used device for this procedure.

This paper presents a new model-based adaptive sliding controller applicable to a class of uncertain nonlinear dynamical systems. The proposed controller combines elements of adaptive techniques and sliding control principles in a new model-based strategy which achieves a reduction of the asymptotic sliding control gain (thus significantly reducing the magnitude of the control signal chattering typically associated with sliding control) while ensuring that the sliding condition is maintained. An analysis that demonstrates the stability and convergence properties of the proposed controller are provided, and the paper also includes simulation results which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

A large-scale preparation of the two-subunit protein complex (QPs) that converts succinate dehydrogenase into succinate-ubiquinone reductase from cytochrome b-c1 particles is achieved by a procedure involving Triton X-100 solubilization and calcium phosphate column chromatography at different pH values. The isolated two-subunit QPs contains 25 nmol of cytochrome b560/mg of protein and is able to reconstitute with soluble succinate dehydrogenase to form a TTFA-sensitive succinate-ubiquinone reductase. The maximum reconstitutive activity is 100 mumol of succinate oxidized per min per mg of QPs protein at 23 degrees C. Although cytochrome b560 in isolated QPs is not succinate reducible and its dithionite reduced form is reactive to carbon monoxide, cytochrome b560 is shown to be physically associated with succinate dehydrogenase by the following observations. The dithionite reduced form of cytochrome b560 in isolated QPs has a symmetrical alpha-absorption peak, which upon reconstitution with succinate dehydrogenase becomes slightly broadened and shows a shoulder at around 553 nm, identical to that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase. Upon addition of succinate dehydrogenase to QPs, about 50% of the reduced form of cytochrome b560 in the QPs becomes insensitive to carbon monoxide treatment. The redox potential of cytochrome b560 in QPs is -144 mV which is higher than that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase (-185 mV). Upon addition of succinate dehydrogenase, the redox potential of about 46% of the cytochrome b560 in QPs preparation becomes identical to that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase. Cytochrome b560 in the QPs preparation shows two epr signals, g = 3.07 and g = 2.92, whereas cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase exhibits only one epr signal at g = 3.46. When QPs is reconstituted with succinate dehydrogenase to form succinate-ubiquinone reductase, the g = 3.46 epr signal reappears at the expense of the g = 3.07 signal. Based on epr measurement at liquid helium temperature, about 18% of the total cytochrome b in the isolated active succinate-cytochrome c reductase is cytochrome b560, indicating that cytochrome b560 is indeed a unique cytochrome b and not a denatured product of cytochrome b562 or b565.

An iterative method of point mapping under cell reference for the global analysis of non linear dynamical systems is proposed. To build a cell reference, a cell co-ordinate system, in additional to the original Cartesian system, is first established in the state space to construct a cell space, and then characteristic functions are defined in the cell space. With the cell reference, the global characteristic information of a dynamical system involved in generating trajectories in the Euclidian state space can be effectively captured and used to determine the characters of cells, or the collective dynamical characteristics of the points in sub-regions of the state space. After the characters of some cells are determined, these character confirmed cells can be used to determine the characters of the trajectories in the Euclidian state space. To facilitate the implementation, the present method consists of an initial procedure and an iterative procedure. As shown by applications, the present method can effectively share the advantages of the previous global analysis methods but also eliminate their weaknesses.

A series of 1-(N-ethoxycarbonylamino)alkylphosphonic monoesters were synthesized via three-component Mannich-type condensation of ethyl carbamate, aldehydes and dichlorophosphites in benzene, followed by hydrolysis.

A novel nonlinear first order derivative estimator is proposed. The estimator exhibits finite time convergence and can be used as a direct differentiator of smooth and bounded input signals. It is also shown that high order derivative signals can be obtained by concatenating a set of the proposed first order derivative estimators.

The results of solid-state phase transformation kinetics analysis for the steel have been controverted because of the complexity and diversity. In this paper, the activation energy, which represents the energy barrier for austenite to pearlite solid-state phase transformation of 1035 steel, was determined from the nonlinear isoconversional method. The result shown that the activation energy is change with the degree of transformation. Therefore, the nonlinear isoconversional approach maybe a better way to calculate the activation energy of solid-state phase transformation.

Fatigue failure is the main damage forms of asphalt mixture. Acoustic emission (AE) is an effective technique for continuously monitoring the development of fatigue damage in asphalt mixture. Firstly, the AE characteristic and mechanical behaviour of asphalt mixture and their relationship were investigated by performing four-point bending fatigue test and AE test. Furthermore, the parameters of continuum damage mechanics model that describes the deterioration process of asphalt mixture were calibrated in according with the AE technique. Finally, simulation analysis on the four-point bending fatigue test of asphalt mixture is performed. The results indicated that the AE parameters could reflect the changes of mechanical characteristic. The variation of AE energy and dissipated energy had a similar tendency. There is a strong correlation between the result of continuum damage mechanics model and mechanical test. The numerical results show that the definition of damage variable based on AE energy is reliable and reasonable. This research would provide a new idea for the application of AE technique on diagnosing the fatigue damage evolution process of asphalt mixture.

This paper investigated the creep behaviour of asphalt mixtures using a randomly generated meso-scale finite element model that takes into account the effect of asphalt-aggregate interface. Simulation analysis on the three-point bending creep tests of asphalt mixture were performed and validated. Furthermore, parameters studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of gradation and angularity of coarse aggregate, air void content, and asphalt-aggregate interface strength. The results indicated that mesostructural parameters and interface properties have an important effect on the creep behaviour of asphalt mixture. The creep performance of medium-sized asphalt mixture is better than that of fine-sized asphalt mixtures. The larger the angularity index of coarse aggregate is, the better ability asphalt mixture has to resist deformation. As to the suspended dense structure asphalt mixtures, with the increase of void ratio, the creep deformation increase gradually, and the excessive void ratio would lead to the fracture of the interface. Asphalt-aggregate interface with higher interface strength would result in better resistance to of the mixture to permanent deformation.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.