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Background: Interleukin (IL)-18 is produced mainly in the heart and can be associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy that leads to cardiac dysfunction. However, the effects of hypoxia on IL-18 expression and atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) secretion remain largely unknown. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of hypoxia on IL-18 production and its role in ANF secretion by using an isolated perfused beating rat atrial model. Methods: The level of ANF in the perfusates was determined by radioimmunoassay, and the protein levels of Src, IL-18 and its receptors (IL-18-Rα and IL-18-Rβ), Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) and RhoA, activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), T cell factor (TCF) 3 and 4, and lymphoid enhancer factor (LEF) 1 in atrial tissue samples were detected by Western blotting. Results: Hypoxia significantly upregulated the expression of the non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src, and this effect was blocked by endothelin-1 receptor type A (BQ123) and type B (BQ788) antagonists. Hypoxia also enhanced the expression of RhoGEF and RhoA concomitantly with the upregulation of IL-18, IL-18-Rα and IL-18-Rβ. The hypoxia-induced RhoGEF and RhoA were abolished by Src inhibitor 1 (SrcI), and the protein levels of IL-18 and its two receptors were also blocked by SrcI. Moreover, the hypoxia-induced expression levels of ATF3, TCF3, TCF4 and LEF1 were repealed by IL-18 binding protein, and the hypoxia-promoted secretion of ANF was also obviously attenuated by this binding protein. Conclusions: These findings imply that Src-IL-18 signaling is involved in the release of ANF in hypoxic beating rat atria.

AlGaN/GaN E/D-mode GaN inverters are successfully fabricated on a 150-mm Si wafer. P-GaN gate technology is applied to be compatible with the commercial E-mode GaN power device technology platform and a systematic study of E/D-mode GaN inverters has been conducted with detail. The key electrical characters have been analyzed from room temperature (RT) to 200 °C. Small variations of the inverters are observed at different temperatures. The logic swing voltage of 2.91 V and 2.89 V are observed at RT and 200 °C at a supply voltage of 3 V. Correspondingly, low/high input noise margins of 0.78 V/1.67 V and 0.68 V/1.72 V are observed at RT and 200 °C. The inverters also demonstrate small rising edge time of the output signal. The results show great potential for GaN smart power integrated circuit (IC) application.

The apparent charge sequence of cable joint samples with typical defects at different test voltages is utilized as a feature for pattern recognition of partial discharge (PD). The vector quantization and fast matching algorithm are introduced to realize PD pattern recognition of the cable. First, the codebook design makes use of Linde–Buzo–Gray encoding technology. Second, the code matrices of PD training samples and testing samples under different defects of cable joints are obtained, and the code occurrence frequency matrix is calculated. Finally, a fast matching algorithm is used to match the code occurrence frequency matrices of training and testing samples. The defect type with the highest matching degree is chosen as the recognition result. The recognition results of 100 samples of cable joints with four defect types demonstrate that the recognition algorithm has the advantages of high execution efficiency and high-recognition rate.

Purposes: To evaluate the accuracy of Ophtha Top and consistency between Ophtha Top and IOLMaster 500 in intraocular lens refractive power calculation among cataract patients with normal and long a...

Inerter is a two-terminal dynamic element applied in vibration control systems. Based on the analogy between mechanical and electrical systems, an inerter corresponds to a capacitor. There is an electrical breakdown of a capacitor in electrical systems and there should also be a dynamic breakdown of an inerter in mechanical systems. This study focuses on the dynamic breakdown of an inerter. First, the definition and the expressive form of the dynamic breakdown of the inerter are introduced. The definition of the dynamic breakdown of an inerter in this study is that “the two terminals of the inerter come into contact”. When dynamic breakdown occurs, two terminals of the inerter impact on each other. To analyze the impact when the dynamic breakdown appears, a dynamic model is built. The expression of the impulse when the dynamic breakdown occurs is obtained, and an experimental system is established. Because of the experimental data collected by the force sensor, the impact force is far larger than the weight of the falling parts of the inerter. A design parameter for the inerter, the maximum allowable relative striking velocity, is proposed. Furthermore, the impact forces of the improved design, a new ball-screw inerter with mechanical diodes, are apparently reduced. The relationship between the impact force of the original inerter and the impact force of the improved design is also obtained and verified with experiments. It is concluded that there is a dynamic breakdown of the inerter and that the improved design of the inerter is effective to reduce the impact force when dynamic breakdown of the inerter occurs.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is a major health crisis has led to adverse mental health consequences in the general public, medical staff, and individual in self isolation. In order to stop transmission of the virus and save lives, Fangcang shelter hospitals were developed and used for the first time in China. However, there is no research on mental health problems in Fangcang shelter hospitals patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence and major influencing factors of anxiety, depression among the hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Fangcang shelter hospital. Methods From February 23rd, 2020, to February 26th, 2020, we obtained the information of demographic data, clinical symptoms, and assessed the mental health status, sleep quality by using an online questionnaire including self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depressive scale (SDS) and pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) at Jianghan Fangcang shelter hospital. We assessed the prevalence of anxiety, depression symptoms and poor sleep quality via the scores of SAS, SDS and PSQI. We explored the influencing factors of anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients using multivariable logistic regression models. Results We collected data from 307 COVID-19 patients in Jianghan Fangcang shelter hospital. The prevalence of anxiety, depression symptoms were 18.6% and 13.4%, respectively. Poor Sleep quality, number of current physical symptoms ≥ 2 were independent risk factors for anxiety symptoms (P P P ༜ 0.05). Conclusions Anxiety and depression are common among the COVID-19 patients in Fangcang shelter hospital. Those with more current physical symptoms, poor sleep quality are more likely to have anxiety. Females, those with their family members diagnosed with COVID-19, more current physical symptoms are more vulnerable to depression symptom. Our findings can be used to formulate targeted psychological interventions to reduce adverse psychological impacts in Fangcang shelter hospital during the outbreak of epidemic disease in the future.

In the big data era, machine learning is expected to be a promising solution for intrusion detection. However, most existing machine learning based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) are not satisfactory in performing the multiclass intrusion detection task in the case when traffic data are imbalanced. In this paper, a multi-layer intrusion detection system named KC-IDS is proposed, which aims to improve the detection performance of multi-class classification task. The motivation of KC-IDS is to predict different kinds of traffic in different layers and combine the advantages of k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) and Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) to alleviate the effects of imbalanced data. Experimental results on KDD99 dataset verified that KC-IDS can achieve better detection performance compared with some existing machine learning methods.

Background Chronic low back pain is a common disease in clinic. The prevention and treatment of this disease requires a great deal of medical care resources, which is now the third medical economic burden in China. Although non-steroidal analgesics have been shown to be effective for chronic low back pain, considering the obvious side effects of these drugs, more and more patients are inclined to employ non-drug therapies. Typical examples are exercise therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Exercise therapy of traditional Chinese medicine is an important part of non-drug therapy in China, such as sinew-strengthening exercise (SSE). Originating from traditional Chinese medicine exercise therapy, it has long been used for the prevention and treatment of chronic low back pain in Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SGH), but it has not been validated by clinical trials. In this trial, we will seek to determine whether SSE is an effective and safe treatment option for persons with chronic nonspecific low back pain (CNLBP) by comparing it with CBT and explore a new method to CNLBP.Methods/Design In this trial, we will randomize 480 adults with nonspecific chronic back pain to CBT and SSE arms (240 per group). Participants in both groups will be followed for 52 weeks after randomization with home practice. Interviewers will assess outcomes 4, 8, 26 and 52 weeks postrandomization. The primary outcome will be Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) with 26-week follow-up being the primary endpoint.Discussion If SSE is found to be an effective treatment option for patients with chronic back pain, it will become a meritorious addition to the current limited treatment approaches available to patients with significant psychosocial contributors to their pain.

Through the investigation of bridges along Shanghai Suzhou Creek, we find a lot of problems. Firstly, Bridge layout is unreasonable. Secondly, mobiles occupy the main traffic volume. Thirdly, slow-traffic and lingering space isn’t comfortable. This study proposes the bridge planning and design idea oriented by slow-traffic and lingering space. Learning from overseas experiences, we put forward the bridge layout suggestions for Suzhou Creek from three aspects. First is to construct the reasonable distance between slow-traffic and lingering bridges. Second is to build the bridge system suitable for fast and slow-traffic. The last is to connect the cross-river attracted sources and bridges. Based on the above, we propose the bridges layout suggestion plan of Suzhou Creek.

Background/Aims: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a cytokine that plays diverse roles in the regulation of immune responses. However, a detailed understanding of the TSLP signaling pathway in asthma remains elusive. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of the TSLP signaling pathway in asthma and its effect on airway inflammation and remodeling. Methods: Forty Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were evenly classified into control, asthma, IgG2a mAb and anti-TSLP mAb groups. Ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma models were successfully established. Blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue samples were prepared. Total BALF leukocytes were counted, and the proportions of different leukocyte types were determined. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry were performed to determine the mRNA and protein levels of TSLP, OX40L, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA, a marker of airway remodeling in asthma) and collagen I in the plasma. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to measure the concentrations of TSLP, OX40L, and other inflammatory factors, such as interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5 and IL-13, in the plasma. Results: Compared with the control group, there were more leukocytes, increased EOS and LYM proportions, higher Underwood and PAS scores, increased WTt, WTm, WAt/A0, WAm/WAt, WTt/R0, WTm/WTt, TSLP, OX40L, a-SMA and collagen I mRNA and protein levels, and higher SLP, OX40L, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 levels, but lower MON proportions and IFN-γ levels in the asthma and IgG2a mAb groups. Compared with the asthma and IgG2a mAb groups, there were less leukocytes, decreased EOS and LYM proportions, lower Underwood and PAS scores, decreased WTt, WTm, WAt/A0, WAm/WAt, WTt/R0, WTm/WTt, TSLP, OX40L, a-SMA and Collagen I mRNA and protein levels, and lower levels of SLP, OX40L, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13, but higher MON proportions and IFN-γ levels in the anti-TSLP mAb group. WTm and WTt were positively associated with the TSLP, OX40L, α-SMA and collagen-I levels in the rat lung tissues. Conclusion: The results indicate that TSLP may be an important contributor for asthma development as TSLP signaling blockade attenuates airway inflammation and remodeling in asthmatic rats.

To reduce the structure vibration caused by changes of working directions, this study proposes a ball-screw inerter with two mechanical diodes, which divides the rotary motion of the flywheel used in the ball-screw inerter into two unidirectional rotations. And the dynamical model and equivalent electrical model of a ball-screw inerter with two mechanical diodes are established and analyzed. Moreover, considering dissipation of energy caused by mechanical diodes, there is a damper in parallel with the inerter. And the damping factor of the damper is in direct proportion to the angular frequency of the exciting harmonic force, when one terminal is fixed and the amplitude of the exciting harmonic force is almost constant. On account of the model and analysis, a ball-screw inerter with two flywheels and two mechanical diodes is designed, manufactured, assembled and installed on the experiment rig. By analyzing the experimental data gathered by force sensor, acceleration sensor and laser displacement sensor, the conclusions that the ball-screw inerter with two mechanical diodes is able to reduce the impulse caused by changes of working directions and there is variable damper caused by mechanical diodes in parallel with the inerter are proved.

Aims Gallic acid (GA) protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, prevents cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, and has anti-inflammatory activity in the heart. However, its effects in regulating atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the function of GA in regulating ANP secretion and atrial dynamics in rat atria. Key findings GA (0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 μmol/L) significantly increased atrial ANP secretion and induced positive inotropy dose-dependently. GA (0.1 μmol/L) also increased plasma level of ANP and hemodynamics in rats. These effects were accompanied by upregulation of atrial protein kinase C subtypes β and e (PKC β and PKC e ), which was completely blocked by LY333531 and EAVSLKPT, antagonists of protein PKC β and PKC e , respectively. GA-induced ANP secretion was also attenuated by Go6983 but not rottlerin, antagonists of PKC α and PKC δ , and the positive inotropy was reversed by Go6983. U-73122, a phospholipase C (PLC) antagonist, mitigated the effects of GA on ANP secretion and mechanical dynamics and downregulated Phospho-PLC β at Ser 537 (pPLC β S537), Phospho-PLC β at Ser 1105 (pPLC β S1105), PKC β and PKC e levels, whereas KN62, an inhibitor of Ca 2 + /calmodulin-dependent kinase II, was not modified the GA-induced ANP secretion and suppressed GA-induced mechanical dynamics. Significance GA promotes ANP secretion and effects positive inotropy with regard to mechanical dynamics through the activation of PLC-PKC signaling in rat atria.

A rasagiline transdermal patch can be used to offer continuous rasagiline to patients with Parkinson's disease who cannot take their usual oral medications. This was the first study to investigate the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of the rasagiline transdermal patch in healthy Chinese subjects. Thirty subjects were randomized to 3 groups with 10 subjects in each group. The 10 subjects of group 1 received a single 1-mg dose of rasagiline as a tablet; the 20 subjects of groups 2 and 3 received a single transdermal patch (48-hour patch-on period) containing 1.25 mg and 2.5 mg rasagiline, respectively. After a 2-week washout period, the subjects of group 1 were assigned to receive 1 mg of rasagiline tablets every 24 hours for 7 days, and the subjects of group 2 were assigned to receive 1.25-mg rasagiline transdermal patches (48-hour patch-on period) every 72 hours for 5 time periods. The absorption of rasagiline from the transdermal patch was significantly improved, although the peak plasma concentration was obviously reduced. There was slight accumulation of rasagiline dose after multiple administrations. Inhibition of platelet monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) activity was dose dependent. The 80% inhibition maintained for at least 48 hours after multiple-dose administration of 1 mg tablets, and for 72 hours after multiple-dose administration of 1.25 mg/48 h patch. Compared with rasagiline tablets, the transdermal patch had a prolonged duration of 80% inhibition and increased maximal inhibition of MAO-B activity. These characteristics permitted an interval of 3 days of dosing, which was convenient for patients to use.

Laparoscopic methods and fast-track surgery (FTS) can enhance recovery and reduce postoperative hospital stay. However, whether laparoscopic surgery can provide short-term benefits within FTS is controversial. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to evaluate the effect of laparoscopic colorectal surgery within FTS. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Ovid databases for eligible studies. Endpoints were duration of postoperative hospital stay, time to first bowel movement, total postoperative complication rate, readmission rate, mortality within 30 days after surgery, and conversation rate of laparoscopic surgery. Four randomized controlled trials and six clinical controlled trials (1510 patients) were eligible for analyses. Duration of postoperative hospital stay (weighted mean difference, –1.65 days; p

Repirinast is a new, synthetic, disodium cromoglycate-like antiallergic agent for oral administration in humans. This study evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of repirinast tablets in healthy Chinese volunteers. This was a phase I, open-label, randomized, single- and multiple-dose study. Subjects were assigned to receive a single dose of repirinast tablet at either 150, 300, or 450 mg, or multiple doses of 150 mg twice daily for 5 days. Plasma samples were analyzed with LC-MS/MS. Pharmacokinetic parameters of active metabolite MY-1250 (deesterified repirinast) were calculated using non-compartmental analysis with WinNonlin software. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. All adverse events (AEs) were mild and of limited duration. No serious adverse event (SAE), death or withdrawal from the study was observed. In the single-dose study, Cmax was reached at about 0.75 hour, and the mean t1/2 was approximately 16.21 hours. Area under curve (AUC) and Cmax increased with dose escalation, but dose proportionality was not observed over the range of 150 to 450 mg. In the multiple-dose study, the steady-state was reached within 3 days with no accumulation. Repirinast tablet was well tolerated in healthy Chinese subjects.

Color tunable electroluminescence is obtained from devices having a spin-coated single emitting layer with a novel EuIII-tetrakis-β-diketonate complex NBu4[EuL4] (L− = 4-(4′-carbazol-9-yl-biphenyl-4-yl)-1,1,1-trifluoro-4-oxo-but-2-en-2-ol anion) doped with CBP (4,4′-N,N′-dicarbazolebiphenyl)–OXD7 (1,3-bis[2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazo-5-yl]benzene) blend. An external quantum efficiency (EQE) as high as 2.8%, maximum brightness (L) of 1547 cd m−2, current efficiency (ηc) of 5.14 cd A−1 and power efficiency (ηp) of 2.53 lm W−1 were shown by a device having the structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS (50 nm)/CBP (56%):OXD7 (24%):NBu4[EuL4] (20%) (50 nm)/TPBI (50 nm)/LiF (1.5 nm)/Al (120 nm). The newly designed β-diketonate ligand containing hole-transporting carbazole group and π-spacer extends the excitation window of the EuIII-complex to 450 nm and also improves the carrier transport properties. The modification in the ligands results in a low turn-on voltage of the devices (

This paper proposes parameter optimization method of GP-MSE based on extraction parameters model. First, we identify the function relationship between dependent and independent variables by using neural networks. Second, independent variable set is made by interpolating the original independent variables, and then input these independent variables to fitted function to generate the dependent variable set. Last, we find the maximum value on dependent variable set to confirm the optimal parameters. Experimental result shows that the proposed method is not only simple and fast, but also ideal for recovery of single analyte.

Gearboxes are important parts of mechanical transmission systems, so that it is very pivotal for avoiding future catastrophic failures to detect faults in gearboxes at the early stage. Various vibration analysis techniques have been proposed and successfully applied to detect faults in gearboxes. The outputs of these techniques are used to identify the signal changes caused by defects. Because of modulations, the low-energy sidebands associated with partial gear teeth failures have also been proved to be notable. However, modulation sidebands are usually very weak and they would be easily submerged in inherent signal produced by mesh vibration. This paper presents an enhanced program based on frequency band analysis and minimum entropy deconvolution (MED) to identify the difference between healthy gear and gear with faulty tooth. With this program, the measured signal is first filtered with the MED filter. Then, spectrum analysis technique is applied to the enhanced-signal to find the modulation sidebands around mesh frequency. The enhanced program is validated using the test data from a two-stage wind turbine gearbox. The results show that the MED enhanced program is an effective tool to detect the pitting fault of gear teeth.

Levator resection surgery is commonly performed to correct ptosis, and a large number of postoperative complications are well known. This report presents a previously unreported complication of marginal ectropion after levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis.The three patients with upper eyelid marginal ectropion in this observational case series previously had undergone levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis. The patients' medical records and clinical photographs were reviewed retrospectively. The patients underwent reoperations for ectropion correction. Unusual tissues identified during the surgery were excised and processed for histopathologic analysis.The patients presented with upper eyelid marginal ectropion and had a history of levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis on the same eye. Ingrown tissues were observed during the second operations for ectropion correction in all three patients. Histopathologic analysis was performed for two of the patients, confirming that the tissue consisted of mucosa. The ectropions were corrected after surgical removal of the ingrown tissues.Marginal ectropion can occur after levator resection surgery. In this study, the ectropion was attributed to mucosal ingrowth, a complication not previously reported. To improve the surgical outcomes, surgeons should be aware of this complication.This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Owing to outstanding properties of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and GaN-base material, such as high electron mobility and high critical electric field, AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been considered as the next-generation power semiconductor devices with high power conversion efficiency, high switching frequency and high-temperature operation capability. For power switching applications, enhancement mode (e-mode, or say normally-off) transistors are desired for fail-safe operation and silicon-compatible gate drive circuit. However, e-mode operation is difficult for AlGaN/GaN-based HEMTs because of the natural existence of 2DEG. To achieve e-mode operation, several approaches have been reported, including gate recess structure, fluorine plasma ion implantation, p-type gate structure and selective channel regrowth, etc. This paper reports normally-off AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with a recessed MOS-gate. After mesa isolation and Source and drain metal, the gate recess process used inductively coupled plasma (ICP). In order to avoid severe etching damage and obtain high drain current density, etching power was carefully optimized. The etching rate is slow for accurate etching depth control to leverage the current density and threshold voltage. After that, an O2 plasma treatment was applied using a plasma asher to oxidize the damaged semiconductor surface. The oxide layer was then removed in HCl: DI-water (1: 3). The next step is an atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al 2 O 3 as the gate dielectric to increase the breakdown voltage. Follow after that, gate metal and pad metal. By the process, our team made three kinds of HEMTs with different recessed gate depths. The first one, which has been report before, exhibits a high threshold voltage of +4.6V, a specific on-resistance of 4mΩ-cm⁁2 and a drain current density of 108 mA/mm. This paper will show the others fabricated in the later researches. The device transfer curves show that this normally-off recessed MOS-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs exhibit threshold voltage of +0.9V and +2.1V, respectively. Additionally, the specific on-resistance and saturation drain current density of the device with 0.9V threshold voltage are 2.26mΩ-cm⁁2 and 326mA/mm, while 2.1V-Threshold Voltage-device are 3.03mΩcm⁁2 and 173mA/mm. Both of the two HEMTs have a breakdown voltage over 400V.

Highly phosphorescent (Ph4 P)2 [MnBr4 ] as a low-cost and environmentally benign emitting material achieves peak current efficiency of 25.4 cd A-1 and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 7.2% for nondoped organic light-emitting diodes, and peak current efficiency of 32.0 cd A-1 and EQE of 9.6% for doped devices with 20% (Ph4 P)2 [MnBr4 ]:27% TCTA:53% 6DCZPPY as a doping emitting layer.

The subacute intraperitoneal toxicity of decursin was investigated in Spargue-Dawly (SD) rats. The rats were treated with decursin at a dose of 125 and 250 mg · kg −1 · day −1 for 4 weeks. All animals were observed daily for clinical signs. Their body weights were recorded weekly, no mortality was observed in two doses of 125 and 250 mg · kg −1 of decursin. There were no significant differences in the clinical observations, body weight, food and water consumption, hematology, blood chemistry, gross pathological examination or organ weight between control and treated animals of both sexes. In conclusion, no evidence of a subacute toxic potential was observed in this study and no indication for adverse effects was noted at a dose level of 250 mg · kg −1 · day −1 .

Micro turn-milling has superiority on the productivity and the quality of work pieces, and is more suitable to machine micro-shaft parts and desirable miniature parts based on the turn-milling technology. On the basis of ADAMS and UG software, kinematics simulation of complete machine has been performed, meanwhile, the natural frequency and vibration mode of micro turn-milling machine tool has been analyzed by adoption of modal analysis in this paper. The results forecasts dynamic characteristics of micro turn-milling machine tool. It also provides important reference frame of dynamic optimization design of micro turn-milling machine tool.

The problem of detecting community structures of a social network has been extensively studied over recent years, but most existing methods solely rely on the network structure and neglect the context information of the social relations. The main reason is that a context-rich network offers too much flexibility and complexity for automatic or manual modulation of the multifaceted context in the analysis process. We address the challenging problem of incorporating context information into the community analysis with a novel visual analysis mechanism. Our approach consists of two stages: interactive discovery of salient context, and iterative context-guided community detection. Central to the analysis process is a context relevance model (CRM) that visually characterizes the influence of a given set of contexts on the variation of the detected communities, and discloses the community structure in specific context configurations. The extracted relevance is used to drive an iterative visual reasoning process, in which the community structures are progressively discovered. We introduce a suite of visual representations to encode the community structures, the context as well as the CRM. In particular, we propose an enhanced parallel coordinates representation to depict the context and community structures, which allows for interactive data exploration and community investigation. Case studies on several datasets demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of our approach.

In order to describe the time-delays and faults on continuous nonlinear descriptor system using T-S fuzzy model, an observer is proposed to estimate system states, actuator and sensor faults. A fuzzy state feedback controller is constructed for faults compensations. On the basic of Lyapunov stability theory, the proposed robust fault-tolerant control method ensures the closed-loop system to be robust stability even as faults occur. The actuator and sensor faults can be diagnosed and estimated in 0.2 seconds. The performance of the proposed design method is effective in simulations.

This paper presents a new method for human identification using one lead ECG signal. First, preprocessing technique is used to perform the denoising. Then, QRS detection, modified HOAC, and DCT are utilized to extract features from preprocessed data. Finally, 1-nn classifier is used to classify the extracted features. The experimental result based on the proposed method shows the good performance in human identification.

This paper presents a new method for detecting lead pollution in rice by using hyperspectral data. First, some transform methods are used to generate relatively independent datasets on hyperspectral data. Then, the kernel discriminant analysis is utilized to extract features from each represented dataset. Finally, new fused features are made by combining aforementioned features serially. The experimental result based on the proposed method shows the good performance in detecting lead pollution in rice.

The safety and feasibility of laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization are still uncertain. The aim of this study was to compare our results for laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization with those for open splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization. From January 2008 to December 2011, 153 patients were diagnosed with portal hypertension and serious gastroesophageal varices in our institute, among which, 107 patients also had repeated upper gastrointestinal bleeding and 85 had severe hypersplenism. Eighty patients chose laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization and 73 patients underwent the open procedure. Results and outcomes were compared retrospectively. Nine patients underwent conversion to laparotomy in the laparoscopic group. We compared the laparoscopic group (80 patients) and the open group (73 patients). Operating times and the frequencies of blood transfusions were similar. Blood loss was less (P = 0.044), the passing of flatus was earlier (P = 0.041), and hospital stays were shorter (P = 0.028) in the laparoscopic group. Portal vein system thrombosis after laparoscopy was more frequent (P = 0.012) but the rates of main trunk occlusion were similar between the two groups. Pleural effusion after laparoscopy was less (P = 0.021) and, apart from this, there was no difference in other morbidities between the two groups. During a postoperative follow-up period of 2 to 50 months in 80 patients of the laparoscopic group vs. 73 patients of the open group, the incidence of esophagogastric variceal rebleeding, encephalopathy, and secondary liver cancer showed no significant differences. And the mortality rates for each of the groups were not different. The short-term effects of laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization were better than those for open surgery, and the medium-term effects were similar between these two surgical approaches. Prospective randomized studies with a greater number of cases are needed to confirm the role of laparoscopy in splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization.

This paper presents importance of skin texture information in face recognition. To this end, we perform the illumination normalization on face image in order to extract texture information unaffected by illumination variation. And then apply mask image on each illumination normalized face image to obtain the corresponding texture data, which hardly contain the shape information. Face recognition experiments are carried out by using texture data. Experimental results on Yale face database B and CMU PIE database show that the texture information has considerable ability to distinguish subjects in face recognition.

Developing effective black start plans is significant to the rapid restoration from the power system blackout. This paper makes theoretical research in some key concerns of self-excitation, over-voltage, the impact of starting loads on the voltage and frequency, and stability of the initial small system. The paper also presents countermeasures against these problems. This overview should be very useful to utility operators involved in the development of black start plans.

This paper presents a new illumination normalization method for robust face recognition under varying lighting conditions. In the proposed method, the illumination component is estimated by applying nonlocal total variation model in the logarithmic domain, and then the reflectance component is obtained based on reflectance model. The proposed method restrains the halo effect effectively while preserves the adequate texture information on the reflectance images. As an illumination invariant facial features, the reflectance images are directly utilized for face recognition. Experimental results on Yale face database B and CMU PIE database show that the performance of proposed method is robust and reliable in illumination invariant face recognition.

Fuel oil-mixture gas converter is used for heavy oil exploitation is a new equipment of thermal recovery. Strength calculations and enthalpy values are related in the design. For selection and design to each part-structure of the fuel-mixture converter. Applied the analysis software of ANSYS FLUENT, fuel-gas combustion simulation is to combustion chamber of Fuel oil-mixture gas converter. The results show that the design is feasibility.

Tisplatin is one of the valuable icancer agents against several types of neoplasm. However, nephrotoxicity is the major adverse effect representing in cisplatin therapy. In this study, the animal tests detecting protective effects of a natural compound, Decursin, on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity were examined by using in vivo model. Pretreatment Decursin 10, 20 and 40 mg · kg −1 at 48, 24 and 6 h, and administration of a single dose of Cisplatin 5.2 mg · kg −1 . Nephrotoxicity was evaluated by serum BUN and creatinine examination. There was significant difference in body weights, serum BUN and creatinine levels of the normal group. Based on the new understanding of the protective mechanisms of cisplatin-induced nephrotocivity, new strategies can be developed to prevent renal injury or to enhance recovery after cisplatin treatment.

Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) aims to address the scattering and tangling of cross-cutting concerns in a system. Many aspect mining techniques are proposed based on the concepts that concerns crosscut other modules of a system. Most of these researches targeted on a single version during the development of a software system. However, it is also possible that the difference between versions during the development of a software system may also be a source of aspects. In this paper, we propose to discover aspect candidates through the analysis of a series of versions of a software system. A supporting tool, AMTV (Aspect-Mining Tool among Versions), is also developed based on the fan-in metric to identify aspect candidates across multiple versions of a software system. An experiment of applying the proposed approach is conducted to a software system JHot Draw, and the results show that eight kinds of aspect candidates may appear during the development of a software system. At last, several advices are given to programmers as a reference for dealing with aspects while developing a software system using aspect-oriented development paradigm.

Background Haemodialysis vascular access dysfunction caused by aggressive venous neointimal hyperplasia is a major problem for haemodialysis patients with synthetic arteriovenous (AV) grafts. Several different strategies to prevent venous stenosis by inhibiting smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration using local delivery of potent antiproliferative agents are currently under investigation. We performed this study to evaluate the efficacy of sirolimus-eluting vascular grafts in preventing stenosis and to compare the effectiveness of sirolimus-coated grafts with that of paclitaxel-coated vascular grafts that we characterized in a previous study. Methods AV grafts were implanted laterally between the common carotid artery and external jugular vein of 14 female Landrace pigs. Three types of grafts were implanted: grafts coated with 1.08 μg/mm(2) sirolimus (low dose, n = 6), grafts coated with 2.41 μg/mm(2) sirolimus (high dose, n = 2) and uncoated control grafts (n = 6). Animals were sacrificed 6 weeks after surgery. Cross-sections of the venous anastomoses were analysed to determine the percentage of luminal stenosis in each group, and immunohistochemistry was performed to identify the cellular phenotypes of the neointimal hyperplasia and tissues adjacent to the implanted grafts. Results Compared with the control group, neointimal hyperplasia in the venous anastomoses of the groups implanted with sirolimus-coated vascular grafts was significantly suppressed without infection. The mean ± standard error values for the percentage of luminal stenosis were 75.7 ± 12.7% in the control group and 22.2 ± 1.41% in the low-dose sirolimus-coated group. Myofibroblasts and fibroblasts were the major cell types found in the neointimal hyperplasia. Conclusions Neointimal hyperplasia was effectively suppressed by sirolimus-eluting grafts. However, the inhibitory effects of sirolimus-eluting grafts were weaker than those observed for paclitaxel-coated grafts in our previous study.

For the problem of higher transverse sensitivity ratio of the cymbal piezoelectric vibration acceleration sensors, a mathematical model of output voltage sensitivity is established which employ orthogonal and array methods to reduce the transverse sensitivity ratio of the piezoelectric vibration acceleration sensor. Two compensation methods are designed. The results showed that the array and orthogonal methods can decrease the effect of the transverse interference of acceleration sensor effectively and control the relative error in a smaller range, improve the measurement accuracy of the sensors.

Background: The authors devised a double-bundle posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction technique in combination with a single-sling method. However, the double-bundle technique needs more simplicity and a decreased possibility of failure. Hypothesis: A novel surgical technique of transtibial double-bundle posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using a single-sling method with a tibialis anterior allograft, previously introduced, produces satisfactory results. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Twenty-one patients who underwent double-bundle transtibial isolated posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using a single-sling method between July 2003 and September 2007 were enrolled in this study. The exclusion criteria applied were (1) a multiligamentous injury, (2) posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction previously performed using another technique, and (3) the presence of any additional injury capable of affecting knee stability. The Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) knee scales were used for the clinical outcome evaluation. Stability was evaluated using a KT-2000 arthrometer. The evaluation was performed by comparing preoperative and last follow-up results. Results: Nineteen men and 2 women were enrolled, with a mean follow-up of 49.2 months (range, 25-73 months). The mean Lysholm score was 53 ± 5.3 (range, 34-68) preoperatively and improved to 83.5 ± 13 (range, 61-97) at the last follow-up after surgery ( P < .001). The IKDC score also improved from preoperative (0 A, 0 B, 7 C, 14 D) to final follow-up (8 A, 9 B, 3 C, 1 D; P < .001). Mean side-to-side difference in posterior translation, measured using the KT-2000 arthrometer, was 13.5 ± 1.2 mm preoperatively and 3.4 ± 0.8 mm at last follow-up evaluations (mean 51.7 months postoperatively). Conclusion: After follow-up for longer than 24 months, the transtibial double-bundle posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with a single sling was found to produce satisfactory clinical and stability results, which indicates that the described technique should be viewed as a viable alternative.

Hemodialysis vascular access dysfunction (HVAD) due to the aggressive development of venous neointimal hyperplasia remains a major complication for patients with synthetic arteriovenous grafts. Paclitaxel-coated expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts effectively prevent neointimal hyperplasia and stenosis. However, peri graft inflammation or edema can be another complication of ePTFE grafts, preventing early cannulation. Three different types of ePTFE grafts, including grafts without paclitaxel coating (control group, n = 12), grafts with paclitaxel coating at a dose density of 0.61 ug/mm 2 (low concentration group, n =12), and grafts with paclitaxel coating at a dose density of 1.15 ug/mm 2 (high concentration group, n = 12) were placed in the backs of 12 rabbits, simultaneously. Six rabbits were euthanized after one week and the remaining six were euthanized two weeks after implantation. Perigraft inflammation, graft wall inflammation, stromal cell proliferation, blood vessel formation, tissue necrosis and edema were analyzed for the grafts in each animal. Inflammation surrounding the paclitaxel-coated grafts was significantly reduced compared to the control group. Stromal cell layers were detected at the interface between the graft and the surrounding tissue in the control group, infiltrated into the graft interstices, and differentiated into myofibroblasts for graft healing. Paclitaxel-coated grafts inhibited stromal cell proliferation and infiltration into the graft wall. Tissue necrosis and edema were not detected in either of the paclitaxel-coated graft groups.

A majority of the mishaps of rotary aircraft are caused by the faults in drive train which is composed of some complex rotary mechanical systems. Planetary gear sets are common mechanical components and are widely used to transmit power and change speed and/or direction in rotary aircrafts. Planetary gear sets are epicyclical gear drive that is more complex compared to ordinary gear train, so the features of planetary gear sets is quite different from traditional features and hard to extract. This research focuses on the physical-model-based approach to extract features for planetary gear set. Physical model will be established for planetary gear set with fault. Then, the features suitable for severity estimation is selected based on the simulation signals of physical models. After that, the tests with faults seeded are carried out, and the validation has a promising result.

High molecular weight (MW) hyaluronan (HA) preparation is considered to be more biologically active than HAs of lower MWs. However, many of the HA preparations currently used to treat osteoarthritis (OA) have lower MWs by the enhanced penetration of HA molecules into the synovial lining cells. In this study, we determined the effectiveness of sonophoresis on the delivery of high MW HA into synovial membrane using an animal model of OA. A total of 1000 kDa (HA1000) and 3000 kDa (HA3000) HA were labeled with fluorescein and injected into the knees of rabbits. Low-intensity continuous ultrasound at 1 MHz, 400 mW/cm2 was applied to the knees for 10 min treatment bid. Synovial fluid analysis revealed increased absorption and fluorescence microscopy showed deeper penetration of both HA1000 and HA3000, more so with the latter. Histologic examination indicated that ultrasound treatment resulted in no apparent damage to the synovial membrane. These results suggest that simultaneous sonication with HA injection might compensate for the short half-life of HA. Consequently, this dual treatment would render HA a far more effective tool in the management of OA.

Background We describe four cases of primary lacrimal adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) treated with neoadjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy (NAIC). Methods The outcomes and complications of NAIC were reviewed. Several treatment-related local and/or systemic complications were noted. Results One patient experienced ipsilateral eyelid and eyeball necrosis and permanent facial palsy; the second patient developed ipsilateral facial swelling and jaw claudication; and the third patient had febrile neutropenia, cellulitis, and phlebitis. These three patients underwent total exenteration. The fourth patient experienced neutropenia and thrombocytopenia and underwent tumour removal without exenteration. All patients were followed for more than 4 years and were alive at the last follow-up. Conclusion Neoadjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy may be an alternative treatment that will improve the survival rate of ACC. However, careful and close observation is needed to minimise the risk of side effects. Further investigations are needed to justify the use of chemotherapy-related treatments and the associated costs.

We report a selective area growth (SAG) method to define the p-GaN gate of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Compared with Schottky gate HEMTs, the SAG p-GaN gate HEMTs show more positive threshold voltage (V th) and better gate control ability. The influence of Cp2Mg flux of SAG p-GaN gate on the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs has also been studied. With the increasing Cp2Mg from 0.16 μmol/min to 0.20 μmol/min, the V th raises from −0.67 V to −0.37 V. The maximum transconductance of the SAG HEMT at a drain voltage of 10 V is 113.9 mS/mm while that value of the Schottky HEMT is 51.6 mS/mm. The SAG method paves a promising way for achieving p-GaN gate normally-off AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without dry etching damage.

Induction chemotherapy is likely to be effective for biologically distinct subgroups of patients with cancer with biomarker detection. To investigate the prognostic and predictive values of cyclin D1 expression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) who were treated in a prospective, randomized, phase III trial evaluating standard treatment with surgery and postoperative radiotherapy preceded or not by induction docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (TPF), immunohistochemical staining for cyclin D1 was conducted in pretreatment biopsy specimens of 232 out of 256 clinical stage III/IVA OSCC patients randomized to the clinical trial. Cyclin D1 index was estimated as the proportion of tumor cells with cyclin D1 nuclear staining. A low cyclin D1 expression predicted significantly better overall survival (OS; P = 0.001), disease-free survival (P = 0.005), locoregional recurrence-free survival (P = 0.003), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS; P = 0.002) compared with high cyclin D1 expression. Cyclin D1 expression levels were not predictive of benefit from induction TPF in the population overall. However, patients with nodal stage cN2 whose tumors had high cyclin D1 expression treated with TPF had significantly greater OS (P = 0.025) and DMFS (P = 0.025) when compared with high cyclin D1 cN2 patients treated with surgery upfront. Patients with low cyclin D1 level or patients with cN0 or cN1 disease did not benefit from induction chemotherapy. This study indicates that cN2 OSCC patients with high cyclin D1 expression can benefit from the addition of TPF induction chemotherapy to standard treatment. Cyclin D1 expression could be used as a biomarker in further validation studies to select cN2 patients that could benefit from induction therapy. Mol Cancer Ther; 12(6); 1112–21. ©2013 AACR.

Endoscopic sinus surgery is a popular surgical treatment for chronic sinus disease. Despite improved surgical techniques, postoperative orbital complications can occur, including extraocular muscle injury. We report the case of a 62-year-old woman who suffered from medial rectus muscle transection after transnasal endoscopic ethmoidectomy. She was successfully managed with periorbital globe fixation.