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Wei Zhao,1,2 Wancheng Li,3 Wenjing Dai,3 Na Huang,3 Jing Qiu3 1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China Purpose: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and occurs at a higher frequency in male individuals. Little is known about the role of the long intergenic noncoding RNA for kinase activation (LINK-A) in NSCLC, so in the present study we assessed its potential role on cell proliferation in NSCLC. Methods: Expression levels of LINK-A in NSCLC tissues and cell lines were detected by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. LINK-A was knocked down and overexpressed separately in A549 cells and NCI-H1299 cells. The effect of LINK-A expression on cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. The correlation between LINK-A and hexokinase II (HKII) expression was investigated by Western blot and HKII Activity Assay. Glucose consumption and lactate production assay were used to investigate the aerobic glycolysis in NSCLC cells. The effect of LINK-A in vivo was determined by xenograft assay. Results: LINK-A expression levels were increased in NSCLC tissues compared with normal tissues. Moreover, LINK-A expression was positively correlated with NSCLC clinicopathological characteristics and survival rate, while knockdown of LINK-A reduced NSCLC cell proliferation. LINK-A expression was also positively correlated with HKII, and NSCLC cells with low LINK-A expression were found to have significantly reduced HKII protein expression, accompanied by a reduction in enzyme activity levels. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that LINK-A expression affected glucose consumption and lactate production through regulation of HKII expression. Conclusion: These data suggest that the functions of LINK-A in NSCLC might play a key role in tumor progression and that LINK-A could be a promising predictive biomarker and potential therapeutic target for NSCLC. Keywords: non-small-cell lung cancer, LINK-A, proliferation, hexokinase II, aerobic glycolysis, prognosis

AC/DC converters are facing an increasing strict requirement on the conversion efficiency and power density with the development of More-Electric-Aircraft (MEA). In this paper, cascaded H-bridge topology is chosen as a fascinated candidate for front-end rectification topology for its superior in reducing the current harmonic, power loss, and EMI interference. LLC resonant converters, known for its high efficiency at a wide load range, are adopted as the back-end of the two stage converter, with two modules in parallel. Corresponding control method is proposed to ensure the unity input power factor, stable output and power sharing between parallel modules. Two-stage two-unit AC/DC simulation model and experimental platform are established to verify the topology and control strategy proposed.

The hybrid cascaded H-bridge rectifier (CHBR) with suitable modulation is superior in the performance for its ability to synthesize more levels at ac side. The structure of combing hybrid CHBR topology and the hybrid H-bridge inverter is applicable for AC/AC converter for aircraft applications, solid state transformer (SST), and so on. This paper proposes two kinds of modulation methods and corresponding control strategies applying to hybrid CHBR. First the control strategy for traditional hybrid modulation is proposed. Then a kind of quasi unipolar carrier disposition pulse width modulation (CD-PWM) is put forward to avoid the problem existing in hybrid modulation. Simulation verifies the adopted modulation and strategy.

A series of highly branched sulfonated poly (fluorenyl ether ketone sulfone)s (HSPAEK) are synthesized by direct polycondensation reactions. The HSPAEK with 8% degree of branching is further investigated as membrane for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The HSPAEK membrane prepared by solution casting method exhibits smooth, dense and tough morphology. It possesses very low VO 2+ permeability and high ion selectivity compared to those of Nafion 117 membrane. When applied to VRFB, this novel membrane shows higher coulombic efficiency (CE, 99%) and energy efficiency (EE, 84%) than Nafion 117 membrane (CE, 92% and EE, 78%) at current density of 80 mA cm −2 . Besides, the HSPAEK membrane shows super stable CE and EE as well as excellent discharge capacity retention (83%) during 100 cycles life test. After being soaked in 1.5 mol L −1 VO 2 + solution for 21 days, the weight loss of HSPAEK membrane and the amount of VO 2+ reduced from VO 2 + are only 0.26% and 0.7%, respectively, indicating the superior chemical stability of the membrane.

In this work, sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes have been first modified by a polydopamine (PDA) coating and then investigated as an ion exchange membrane for a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The SEM results showed that the PDA film was successfully coated on the surface of the SPEEK membrane. The PDA film can serve as a blocking layer to protect the substrate SPEEK membrane from being corroded by the highly oxidative vanadium electrolyte. The obtained PDA coated SPEEK membranes showed much lower vanadium ion permeability, accompanied by higher mechanical strength and thermal stability than the pristine SPEEK membrane. Consequently, the VRFB with the optimal PDA/SPEEK membrane exhibited much higher coulombic efficiency and better discharge capacity retention than the pristine SPEEK membrane. This indicates that the PDA coated SPEEK membranes are of significant interest for VRFB applications.

Hybrid membranes of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and mesoporous silica SBA-15 are prepared with various mass ratios for vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) application and investigated in detail. The hybrid membranes are dense and homogeneous with no visible hole as the SEM and EDX images shown. With the increasing of SBA-15 mass ratio, the physicochemical property, VO 2þ perme

A novel composite membrane of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and graphene was prepared and investigated in this paper. The scanning electron microscopy images of the composite membrane revealed the presence and the uniformity dispersion of graphene in the SPEEK matrix. The properties of the obtained composite membrane, including the water uptake, swelling ratio, ion exchange capacity (IEC), area resistance, proton conductivity, VO2+ permeability, ion selectivity, single cell performance, chemical stability and mechanical properties are evaluated in detail, compared to the pristine SPEEK membrane and Nafion 117 membrane. Self-discharge test proved that the composite membrane possessed the longest discharge time (61 h above 0.8 V). At 80 mA cm−2, a higher coulombic and energy efficiency for SPEEK/Graphene membrane was obtained, compared with Nafion 117 (96.4% vs 92.8% and 83.8% vs 79.5% respectively). Furthermore, the SPEEK/Graphene composite membrane exhibited high stability in 500 cycle's long time running.

A series of novel composite membranes, based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) with various graphene oxide (GO) loadings, were employed and investigated in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) for the first time. The scanning electron microscopy images of the composite membranes revealed the uniform dispersion of GO nanosheets in the polymer matrix due to the interaction between GO and SPEEK, as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra. The mechanical and thermal parameters of the composite membranes increased, while the VO2+ permeability decreased with increasing GO content. Random embedding of GO nanosheets in the membranes can serve as effective barriers to block the transport of vanadium ion, resulting in a significant decrease of vanadium ion permeability. The VRFB assembled with the composite membrane exhibited highly improved cell parameters and strikingly long cycling stability compared with commercial Nafion 117 membrane. With the protection of porous PTFE substrate, the pore-filling SPEEK/GO composite membrane based on VRFB ran for 1200 cycles with relatively low capacity decline.

Models of entire managed systems, known as operating models or management strategy evaluation (MSE) models, have been developed in recent years to more fully account for uncertainty in multiple steps of fishery manage- ment. Here we describe an operating model of sea lamprey management in the Great Lakes and use the model to compare alternative management strategies for sea lamprey control in Lake Michigan. Control of sea lampreys is mainly achieved through the application of chemical lampricides that target stream-dwelling larvae before they become parasites. The op- erating model simulated uncertainty due to process variation in larval population dynamics, the accuracy of population as- sessments used to direct selection of areas to be chemically treated, and the effectiveness of these treatments. We used the operating model to compare the performance of stream selection strategies that either rely on assessments to direct chemi- cal treatments or eliminate the assessment process altogether by relying on prior but uncertain knowledge of stream-level sea lamprey growth rates to specify a fixed schedule for chemical treatments. The fixed schedule strategy led to a modest improvement in expected suppression of parasitic sea lamprey abundance over the assessment-based strategy so long as assessment cost savings were allocated to chemical treatment when assessment was not used to select streams for treat- ment. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the assessment-based strategy to differing but plausible levels of assessment uncertainty. A moderate reduction in assessment uncertainty led to a large increase in suppression of parasitic sea lamprey abundance for the assessment-based selection strategy, emphasizing the importance of both accurately measuring and re- ducing assessment uncertainty.

We used decision analysis to assist the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) with sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control in the St. Marys River, which connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron and until recently has been a major source of sea lamprey infestation of Lake Huron. The process involved decision-makers, managers, and experts in an analysis of management options, objectives, and critical uncertainties affecting the expected perfor- mance of alternative choices. We developed quantitative assessments of uncertainty about sea lamprey demographics and about the implementation effectiveness of three pest control options: trapping adult lampreys, sterile male releases, and lampricide treatment. We used a stochastic simulation model to forecast future parasitic sea lamprey abundance in Lake Huron for 10 management options. Management options that included enhanced levels of trapping and sterile male releases exhibited the best performance for all measures. Our analysis substantially influenced the GLFC strategy for the St. Marys River, providing an example of how explicit consideration of uncertainty using decision analysis can influence fishery management decisions. Resume : Nous utilisons l'analyse decisionnelle pour aider la Commission des pecheries des Grands Lacs (GLFC) a controler la grande lamproie marine (Petromyzon marinus) dans la riviere St. Marys qui relie le lac Superieur au lac Huron et qui, jusqu'a recemment, etait une source majeure d'infestation des grandes lamproies marines au lac Huron. Le processus reunit les decideurs, les gestionnaires et les experts pour une analyse des options de gestion, des objectifs et des incertitudes critiques qui affectent la performance attendue des divers choix. Nous avons mis au point des eva- luations quantitatives de l'incertitude relative a la demographie de la grande lamproie marine, ainsi qu'a l'efficacite de la mise en oeuvre de trois choix de lutte contre ces ravageurs, soit le trappage des lamproies adultes, la liberation de mâles steriles et le traitement au lampricide. Nous utilisons un modele de simulation stochastique pour predire l'abondance future des grandes lamproies marines parasites au lac Huron en fonction de 10 options de gestion. De toutes les options de gestion, celles qui incluent une augmentation du trappage des adultes et de la liberation des mâles steriles connaissent les meilleures performances. Notre analyse a influence de facon importante la strategie de la GLFC dans la riviere St. Marys; c'est la un exemple qui montre comment la prise en consideration explicite de l'incertitude a l'aide d'une analyse decisionnelle peut influencer les choix de gestion des peches.

Aims: To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ (PPAR γ) and additional gene-gene interactions on asthma risk. Methods: A total of 882 subjects (602 males, 280 females), with a mean age of 61.3±14.8 years old, including 430 asthma patients and 452 normal subjects were selected in this study, including the genotyping of polymorphisms. Logistic regression was performed to investigate association between SNP and asthma. Generalized MDR (GMDR) was used to analysis the interaction among four SNP. Results: Asthma risk was significantly lower in carriers of Ala allele of the rs1805192 polymorphism than those with Pro/Pro (Pro/Ala+ Ala/Ala versus Pro/Pro, adjusted OR (95% CI)=0.70 (0.51-0.94). In addition, we also found a significant association between rs10865710 and asthma, asthma risk was significantly lower in carriers of G allele of the rs10865710 polymorphism than those with CC (CG+ GG versus CC, adjusted OR (95% CI)=0.68 (0.55-0.95). There was a significant three-locus model (P=0.0107) involving rs1805192, rs10865710 and rs709158, indicating a potential gene-gene interaction among rs1805192, rs10865710 and rs709158. Overall, the three-locus models had a cross-validation consistency of 10 of 10, and had the testing accuracy of 60.72% after covariates adjustment. Conclusions: Our results support an important association of rs1805192 and rs10865710 with asthma, and additional interaction among rs1805192, rs10865710 and rs709158.

A method of quality evaluation by a single standard to determine multi-components (SSDMC), fingerprint and high-performance thin layer-chromatography (HPTLC) was developed for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and validated with dry Houttuyniae Herba (HH). In quantitative analysis, an SSDMC method involving nine components has been established with the desirable linearity (r(2) ≥ 0.9998), precision (RSD < 2.7%), accuracy (97.4 - 103.1%) and ruggedness. Compared with the results obtained using the external standard method (ESM), this alternative SSDMC method was found to have no statistically significant differences. In fingerprint analysis, nine of fourteen peaks were identified. Simultaneously, 15 HH samples from different origins were classified by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Additionally, the HPTLC method with three flavonoid markers was firstly established. The combination of SSDMC with the fingerprint and HPTLC method has been verified in the quality control of HH both quantitatively and qualitatively, and will provide a new quality evaluation pattern for TCMs.

Acid-base blend membrane prepared from sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was detailedly evaluated for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) application. SPEEK/PAN blend membrane exhibited dense and homogeneous cross-section morphology as scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy images show. The acid-base interaction of ionic cross-linking and hydrogen bonding between SPEEK and PAN could effectively reduce water uptake, swelling ratio, and vanadium ion permeability, and improve the performance and stability of blend membrane. Because of the good balance of proton conductivity and vanadium ion permeability, blend membrane with 20 wt % PAN (S/PAN-20%) showed higher Coulombic efficiency (96.2% vs 91.1%) and energy efficiency (83.5% vs 78.4%) than Nafion 117 membrane at current density of 80 mA cm(-2) when they were used in VRFB single cell. Besides, S/PAN-20% membrane kept a stable performance during 150 cycles at current density of 80 mA cm(-2) in the cycle life test. Hence the SPEEK/PAN acid-base blend membrane could be used as promising candidate for VRFB application.