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Background: Previous studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) has a significant effect on acute pain, but it has not solved the clinical problem of the chronification of acute pain. Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) function as a reliable indicator to predict the risk of chronic pain events. DNIC function in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients has been demonstrated to gradually decrease during the development of chronic pain. The purpose of this study is to conduct a randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine if EA can repair impaired DNIC function and thus prevent chronification of the acute pain of KOA. Methods/Design: This is a multicenter, single blind, randomized, controlled, three-arm, large-scale clinical trial. A total of 450 KOA patients will be randomly assigned to three groups. The strong EA group will receive EA with high-intensity current (2 mA < current < 5 mA) at the ipsilateral 'Neixiyan' (EX-LE5), 'Dubi'(ST35), 'Liangqiu'(ST34) and 'Xuehai' (SP10). The weak EA group will receive EA with low-intensity current (0 mA < current < 0.5 mA) on the same acupoints. The sham EA group will receive EA with low-intensity current (0 mA < current < 0.5 mA) with fine needles inserted superficially into the sites 2 cm lateral to the above acupoints. The patients will be treated with EA once a day, 30 minutes per session, in 5 sessions per week, for 2 weeks. In order to determine the best stage of KOA for effective EA intervention, patients within the treatment groups also will be divided into four stages. The primary outcomes are Visual Analog Scale (VAS), DNIC function and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Clinical assessments will be evaluated at baseline (before treatment) and after 5 to 10 sessions of treatment. Discussion: This trial will be helpful in identifying whether strong EA is more effective than weak EA in reversing chronification of acute pain through repairing the impaired DNIC function and in screening for the best stage of KOA for effective EA intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severe low-speed creep phenomenon occurs in the telescopic boom system of a heavy-load transfer robot with a long telescopic boom as a result of nonlinear friction. In order to improve control precision and operation performance at low speeds, we built a three-loop control nonlinear model of an AC servo motor with Stribeck friction disturbance. Traditional proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID) and fuzzy PID controls were, respectively, adopted in the position loop, and the control performance was simulated. The results showed that a system with fuzzy PID control eliminates "flat top" position tracking and "dead zone" speed tracking, which are generated by traditional PID, and thereby decreases the effect of friction on the performance of the servo system. This elimination also improved the tracking accuracy and robustness of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curing process has a great impact on molding quality of the fiber-winding composite shell. In order to improve its curing quality and efficiency, a new curing process employed the method of heating the internal metal mandrel with steam can be adopted, which is called internal curing process. This paper introduces the principle of internal curing process and establishes the mathematical models of internal curing process, adopts ANSYS and APDL to develop the 3-D transient numerical simulation program of internal curing to realize numerical simulation of temperature, curing degree and residual strain, and analyze the influence of shell thick, fiber volume fraction and film coefficient on the simulation results. Taking the cylinder shell as an example, numerical simulation and experiment are carried out. This research provides theory basis and analysis method for the design, simulation and parameter optimization of internal curing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to find the relations between the production performance of interlacer and its cross-sectional shapes of yam duct, radial yam movement in various yam duets of interlacer and its effect on performance of interlaced yarn were studied in this paper. Seven interlacers, which were different in the cross-sectional shape of yarn duct, were made. Yarn motion in yarn duct of interlace was observed with optical fibers and photo-sensors. Performance of the interlaced yarn was evaluated by the number and the strength of tangles. Experimental results disclose the relations between the yarn motions and the properties of the interlaced yarn. The interlacer with round yarn duet is capable of producing an interlaced yam with bigger number of tangles, since it can make yarn transverse frequently the axis of air jet issuing from air jet nozzle. The interlacer with cornered shape of yarn duet makes yarn subjected to the action of compressed air for a longer time, which results in larger strength of tangles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linear servo control system is widely used on high speed warp knitting machines. In order to improve the characters of the electronic shogging system and decrease the impact, the principle of shogging movement is analysed in this paper, in which a trapezoidal acceleration curve is selected as the motion curve of the electronic shogging system. The parameters that affect the shogging movement are also studied. The research shows that increasing the shogging time allowed can help optimise the shogging movement. Provided that the shogging movement is secure, the shogging time can be increased as much as possible, thus improving the operational capability of the warp knitting machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study on the nature of single fiber kappa distributions in the paper mill industry. Using a fiber kappa analyzer, the study explores the uniformity of a variety of kraft pulps and the trend of kappa distributions. It specifically offers a synthesis of the important observations made about kappa uniformity of kraft pulps, centering on the characteristics of hardwood pulps and softwood pulps. Details of the study showing the relationship on the nature of pulp uniformity and pulp quality are cited. In addition, it also includes the analysis obtained in the study.

Objective To isolate human antibodies against hepatitis E virus from phage display library by a new method of panning phage antibody library based on immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). Methods Phage antibody library was allowed to mix with hex-His tagged expressed HEV specific antigen, NE2, in solution for adequate binding before affinity resin for hex-His was added. The non-specific phage antibodies were removed by extensive washing and the specific bound phage antibodies could then be eluted to infect TG1 or repeat the binding process for subsequent rounds of purification. The specificity of the selected human antibodies were tested by antigen competitive ELISA, human sera blocking ELISA, scFv expression, and sequence analysis. Results His-NE2 specific recombinant phages were successfully enriched after panning procedure. Two individual phage clones, 126 and 138, showed 50% inhibition in NE2 antigen competition ELISA and obvious blocking effect by HEV positive serum in blocking ELISA. Soluble scFv of 126, 138 bound to NE2 specifically. Conclusion Two specific human phage antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV) from phage display library were isolated by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The immobilized metal affinity chromatography applied to phage antibody selection was a helpful supplement to the selection in solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombinant hepatitis C virus (HCV)-like particles (HCV-LPs) containing HCV structural proteins (core, E1, and E2) produced in insect cells resemble the putative HCV virions and are capable of inducing strong and broad humoral and cellular immune responses in mice and baboons. Here, we present evidence on the immunogenicity and induction of protective immunity by HCV-LPs in chimpanzees. Chimpanzees (two in each group), were immunized with HCV-LPs or HCV-LPs plus AS01B adjuvant. After immunizations, all animals developed an HCV-specific immune response including IFN-γ+, lL-2+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell and proliferative lymphocyte responses against core, E1, and E2. Upon challenge with an infectious HCV inoculum, one chimpanzee developed transient viremia with low HCV RNA titers (10³ to 104 copies per ml) in the third and fourth weeks after the challenge. The three other chimpanzees became infected with higher levels of viremia (104 to 105 copies per ml), but their viral levels became unquantifiable (<10³ copies per ml) 10 weeks after the challenge. After the HCV challenge, all four chimpanzees demonstrated a significant increase in peripheral and intrahepatic T cell and proliferative responses against the HCV structural proteins. These T cell responses coincided with the fall in HCV RNA levels. Four naïve chimpanzees were infected with the same HCV inoculum, and three developed persistent infection with higher viremia in the range of 105 to 106 copies per ml. Our study suggests that HCV-LP immunization induces HCV-specific cellular immune responses that can control HCV challenge in the chimpanzee model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol has been investigated over Au/Al2O3 catalysts using molecular oxygen in a solvent-free system. The catalysts were prepared by a modified direct anionic exchange method and characterized by AAS, N2 adsorption and TEM. The results showed that the catalytic performance of Au/Al2O3 is very high in terms of turnover frequency. Moreover, the nano-size effect of gold is also reported in the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forward-biased diode has been widely applied in electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection projects. In this Letter, various diodes with finger-shaped topology are studied by transmission line pulse (TLP) and emission microscope (EMMI) experiments. Among them, a novel mix-mode diode with P-well and floating deep N-well, called MMDIO, is fabricated by the same process and footprint, except that some discrete N+ regions are being added to the original anode P+ region. This approach forms a combination of a parasitic NPN transistor and a PNPN structure, which can significantly optimise the ESD current efficiency and clamping voltage (VCL). According to the comprehensive comparison, the MMDIO with overlapped anode N+ layout could endure the failure current 1.25 times higher than that of a regular diode under the same junction capacitance (Cj), while the VCL is reduced by 20%. Accordingly, the MMDIO is an attractive solution to pass the higher ESD level without any negative influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported the production of hepatitis C virus-like particles (HCV-LP) using a recombinant baculovirus containing the cDNA of the HCV structural proteins (core, El, and E2). These particles resemble the putative HCV virions and are capable of inducing strong and broad humoral and cellular immune responses in mice. Here we present evidence on the immnnogenicity of HCV-LP and the effects of novel adjuvant systems in a nonhuman primate model, the baboon. Three groups of four baboons were immunized with HCV-LP, HCV-LP and adjuvant AS01B (monophosphoryl lipid A and QS21), or HCV-LP and the combination of AS01B and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides 10105. After four immunizations over an 8-month period, all animals developed HCV-specific humoral and cellular immune responses including antibodies to HCV structural proteins and gamma interferon+ (IFN-γ+)CD4+ and IFN-γ+CD8++T-cell responses. The immunogenicity of HCV-LP was only marginally enhanced by the use of adjuvants. The overall HCV-specific immune responses were broad and long lasting. Our results suggest that HCV-LP is a potent immunogen to induce HCV-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in primates and may be a promising approach to develop novel preventive and therapeutic modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently demonstrated that immunization with hepatitis C virus-like particles (HCV-LPs) generated in insect cells can elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses in BALB/c mice. Here, we evaluate the immunogenicity of HCV-LPs in HLA2.1 transgenic (AAD) mice in comparison to DNA immunization. HCV-LP immunization elicited a significantly stronger humoral immune response than DNA immunization. HCV-LP-immunized mice also developed stronger HCV-specific cellular immune responses than DNA-immunized mice as determined by using quantitative enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay and intracellular cytokine staining. In BALB/c mice, immunization with HCV-LPs resulted in a >5 log[sub 10] reduction in vaccinia titer when challenged with a recombinant vaccinia expressing the HCV structural proteins (vvHCV.S), as compared to 1 log[sup 10] decrease in DNA immunization. In HLA2.1 transgenic mice, a 1-2 log[sub 10] reduction resulted from HCV-LP immunization, whereas no reduction was seen from DNA immunization. Adoptive transfer of lymphocytes from HCV-LP-immunized mice to naive mice provided protection against vvHCV.S challenge, and this transferred immunity can be abrogated by either CD4 or CD8 depletion. Our results suggest that HCV-LPs can induce humoral and cellular immune responses that are protective in a surrogate HCV challenge model and that a strong cellular immunity provided by both CD4 and CD8 effector lymphocytes may be important for protection from HCV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantitative assay of hepatitis B virus (HBV) binding to hepatocyte plasma membranes was adapted to show that leucocyte plasma membranes bind serum-derived HBV saturably, and that this binding is inhibited using synthetic peptides representative of the large envelope protein of HBV. Using a panel of ligand- blocking monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to opsonin receptors, it was shown that the three classes of FcyR and CR3 are not major receptors for HBV on leucocytes or hepatocytes. It was also shown that HBV docs not utilize the receptor for IgA, FcaR, tor attachment to leucocytes, despite reported sequence homology between the large envelope protein of HBV and the Fc portion of human IgA. Evidence is presented that the receptor for HBV on leucocytes may differ from the hepatocyte receptor(s). based on synthetic peptide inhibition assays of HBV binding. Furthermore, it was observed that glycosaminoglycans influence the HBV-liver and leucocyte interactions, providing evidence that HBV attachment may be a multi-stage process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates on the biological components of nonalkaloid portions of Ervatamia yunnanensis. The study used a plant material from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province identified as stems of Ervatamia yunnanensis Tsiang which were extracted and suspended in 2% hydrochloric (HCL) solution. It says that the fractions were subjected to chromatography and 14 compounds, including flavonoids, vanillin, and lignans, were isolated.