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Background and Aims Prediction models for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma are not common, and no model targeting a clinical population has previously been developed and validated. We aimed to develop a prediction model for estimating the risk of high-grade esophageal lesions for application in clinical settings and to validate the performance of this model in an external population. Methods The model was developed based on the results of endoscopic evaluation of 5624 outpatients in one hospital in a high-risk region in northern China and was validated using 5765 outpatients who had undergone endoscopy in another hospital in a non-high-risk region in southern China. Predictors were selected with unconditional logistic regression analysis. The Akaike information criterion was used to determine the final structure of the model. Discrimination was estimated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Calibration was assessed using a calibration plot with an intercept and slope. Results The final prediction model contained 5 variables, including age, smoking, body mass index, dysphagia, and retrosternal pain. This model generated an AUC of 0.871 (95% confidence interval, 0.842-0.946) in the development set, with an AUC of 0.862 after bootstrapping. The 5-variable model was superior to a single age model. In the validation population, the AUC was 0.843 (95% confidence interval, 0.793-0.894). This model successfully stratified the clinical population into 3 risk groups and showed high ability for identifying concentrated groups of cases. Conclusions Our model for esophageal high-grade lesions has a high predictive value. It has the potential for application in clinical opportunistic screening to aid decision making for both health care professionals and individuals.

In squeeze casting, changes of the clearance between punch and chamber under thermal-mechanical loading impact the injection process of greatly, including the stability and precision of the forming process. This study aims to control the changes of the dynamic clearance to ensure the smooth operation of the injection mechanism. A temperature control method by cooling punch was proposed, and two cases of vertical injection processes, cooling and non-cooling, were simulated during ten forming cycles, besides the corresponding actual experiment was carried out. The results of simulation and experience indicated that the temperature control method which primarily affected the punch’s deformation is effective and feasible.

The objective of this study was to establish an optimal population-level follow-up strategy for identifying incident cancers using health insurance reimbursement data in rural China.We compared active follow-up and passive linkage with claims data for identification of incident cancer cases. Claims data were derived from the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS). Follow-up data from subject enrollment to December 31, 2016, regarding 33,948 subjects in a large-scale randomized controlled trial were used in this study.The overall sensitivity of passive linkage with NCMS claims data was significantly higher than that of active follow-up (95.6% vs. 54.9%, P 0.001). Of 12 cases missed by the NCMS data set, seven were treated on an outpatient basis and there were therefore no records in the NCMS system, and five were diagnosed at primary (township-level) health facilities and excluded from the quality control process. Of the 123 cases missed by active follow-up, 54 were reported as negative, 69 were reported as positive but had inaccurate information regarding the site of cancer, or exceeded the 6-month limitation from the date of diagnosis.Passive linkage with NCMS claims data is an efficient approach for identifying incident cancers in areas without cancer registries in rural China.

Jinfang Ma,1 Jinping Zheng,1 Nanshan Zhong,1 Chunxue Bai,2 Haoyan Wang,3 Juan Du,4 Fenglei Li,5 Yanwei Chen,6 Zhe Shi,7 Xin Li,8 Pingyan Chen9 1State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Liwan Hospital of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanshan People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First People’s Hospital, Huizhou, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of Respiratory Medicine, China Resource and Wisco General Hospital, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 9Department of Biostatistics, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China Purpose: Recurrence of acute exacerbations has a major impact on patients with COPD. Therefore, effective prevention and treatment of exacerbation is crucial in the management of COPD, especially for patients with moderate to severe disease. This study evaluated the effectiveness of YuPingFeng granule administration in preventing exacerbation and improving symptom score, as well as its long-term (1 year) safety profile, in patients with COPD. Patients and methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled study of 240 patients from eight centers in China. Participants were eligible if they had mild to severe COPD as defined by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, had a history of at least two COPD exacerbations or one hospitalization within the previous year, and had remained clinically stable for over 4weeks before the study. They were randomly assigned to receive 5g of YuPingFeng or placebo, three times per day, for 1year. The primary end point was the exacerbation rate over 1year, and the analysis was by intention to treat. Secondary end points included symptom score, which was assessed by COPD assessment test (CAT) score and safety profiles. This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn; registration number: ChiCTR-IPR-15007023). Results: The YuPingFeng group had a significantly lower exacerbation rate than the placebo group (1.15 vs 1.55; risk ratio=0.677 [95% CI 0.531–0.863]; P=0.002) and a significantly reduced risk of second exacerbation (95% CI 0.326–0.772; P=0.002). After treatment, the mean change in the CAT score in the YuPingFeng group (-4.41±7.01) differed significantly from that in the placebo group (-2.49±5.31; P=0.001). YuPingFeng was well tolerated. Conclusion: YuPingFeng granules can be considered as a treatment option for COPD; this treatment prevents acute exacerbations of COPD and has a good safety profile. Keywords: COPD, exacerbation, treatment, YuPingFeng

Evidence is required to evaluate the effectiveness of population-level endoscopic screening for esophageal cancer (EC). In this study, 5,632 permanent residents aged 25-65 years from 6 villages in Hua County, Henan Province, China, were defined as the screening cohort and were offered intensive endoscopic screening. Residents of all 914 remaining villages in Hua County were included as the control cohort, and age-sex standardization was used to calculate the expected numbers of EC and upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract cancer cases and deaths in the screening cohort. The effectiveness of screening was assessed by comparing observed numbers of cases and deaths with expected numbers after 9-year follow-up of these screened subjects (2007-2016). In the screening cohort, 23 upper GI cancers (including 16 ECs) and 10 upper GI cancer deaths (including 5 EC deaths) were identified, and 47% (standardized incidence ratio = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33, 0.87) and 66% (standardized mortality ratio = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.81) reductions in cumulative EC incidence and mortality were found. For upper GI cancers, incidence and mortality were lowered by 43% (standardized incidence ratio = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.38, 0.86) and 53% (standardized mortality ratio = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.88), respectively. This study showed that upper GI tract endoscopy is an effective population-level screening test for EC in high-risk regions.

Objective There have been few population-based studies evaluating health related quality of life (HRQOL) in rural populations in China, and this study aimed to assess the current status of and risk factors for HRQOL in a general rural population in high risk region of esophageal cancer in China. Methods From November 2015 to September 2016, 12,085 permanent residents aged 45-69 years from 257 villages in the Endoscopic Screening for Esophageal Cancer in China (ESECC) trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01688908) randomly selected from Hua County, Henan Province, China were interviewed. The EQ-5D-3L, a generic measure of HRQOL, and a questionnaire were used to assess their HRQOL and potential risk factors. Results Among all the participants, 30.62% of the participants reported problems in at least one EQ-5D dimension. Pain/discomfort (25.52%) was the most frequently reported problem followed by anxiety/depression (7.97%), mobility (5.82%), usual activities (2.61%) and self-care (1%). These rural residents had a mean EQ-5D index score of 0.948, and lower EQ-5D index scores were associated with older age, female gender, lower levels of household annual per capita income, living alone, using shallow wells as main source of drinking water, exposure to family members smoking, testiness, unhealthy dietary habits, overweight or obesity, upper gastrointestinal cancer related symptoms and chronic diseases. Conclusions Rural residents in China have a relatively low quality of life. Health promotion programs in this population should focus on the elderly, especially elderly women and the elderly living alone. Improving basic living circumstances and primary medical care services should be priorities. Results of this study will also serve as the basis for the cost-utility evaluation in our ESECC screening trial.

BackgroundPatients with mild or moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rarely receive medications, because they have few symptoms. We hypothesized that long-term use of tiotropium would improve lung function and ameliorate the decline in lung function in patients with mild or moderate COPD. MethodsIn a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that was conducted in China, we randomly assigned 841 patients with COPD of Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage 1 (mild) or 2 (moderate) severity to receive a once-daily inhaled dose (18 μg) of tiotropium (419 patients) or matching placebo (422) for 2 years. The primary end point was the between-group difference in the change from baseline to 24 months in the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) before bronchodilator use. Secondary end points included the between-group difference in the change from baseline to 24 months in the FEV1 after bronchodilator use and the between-group difference in...

Background & Aims Chromoendoscopy with Lugol dye is used to screen for early-stage esophageal squamous dysplasia (ESD) and esophageal cancer. However, the sensitivity with which Lugol chromoendoscopy detects ESD or esophageal cancer has not been fully assessed in large populations in China. Methods From 2012 to 2016, a total of 15,264 residents in rural Hua County, Henan Province, which is a high-incidence area of esophageal cancer in China, were screened by Lugol chromoendoscopy. Biopsies were collected from endoscopically visualized lesions, identified before and after Lugol chromoendoscopy, and analyzed histologically. Biopsies were also collected from standard sites in the esophagus (28 and 33 cm distal to the incisors) if no abnormalities were found. We calculated the sensitivity with which Lugol chromoendoscopy detects esophageal dysplasia and carcinoma, using findings from biopsy analysis as the reference standard. Results A total 586 participants were found by biopsy analysis to have ESD or more severe lesions. After endoscopy images were reviewed twice, Lugol chromoendoscopy sensitivity values for the detection of mild, moderate, and severe dysplasia, and esophageal cancer, were 45.9%, 55.3%, 87.0%, and 97.7%, respectively. ESDs were most frequently missed by Lugol chromoendoscopy in younger patients and men with moderate levels of dysplasia. Conclusion In a screening analysis of a general population in China, we found Lugol chromoendoscopy to identify individuals with ESD with lower levels of sensitivity (46%–87%) than previously believed, although it identified patients with esophageal cancer with almost 98% sensitivity. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the clinical significance of esophageal lesions that are not detected by endoscopy.

An automatic control scheme of spring energy storage by hydraulic control of spring compression is presented and implemented in this paper to improve the automation level, control accuracy and production efficiency of the existing HVC machine with mechanical energy storage type. The hydraulic system, servo system, and PLC codes are developed. The PID control optimization is applied for the control error accuracy of the machine. The transfer function is derived, and the genetic algorithm is used to optimize the PID parameters. The control scheme is implemented in the updated machine. The experimental results of iron powder HVC are in agreement with the predicted and calculated values. The reliability and validity of the automatic control scheme is verified. The research facilitates the industrial application of this kind of equipment.

A Bayesian framework-based approach is proposed for the quantitative validation and calibration of the kriging metamodel established by simulation and experimental training samples of the injection mechanism in squeeze casting. The temperature data uncertainty and non-normal distribution are considered in the approach. The normality of the sample data is tested by the Anderson&ndash, Darling method. The test results show that the original difference data require transformation for Bayesian testing due to the non-normal distribution. The Box&ndash, Cox method is employed for the non-normal transformation. The hypothesis test results of the calibrated kriging model are more reliable after data transformation. The reliability of the kriging metamodel is quantitatively assessed by the calculated Bayes factor and confidence. The Bayesian factor and the confidence level results indicate that the kriging model demonstrates improved accuracy and is acceptable after data transformation. The influence of the threshold &epsilon, on both the non-normally and normally distributed data in the model is quantitatively evaluated. The threshold &epsilon, has a greater influence and higher sensitivity when applied to the normal data results, based on the rapid increase within a small range of the Bayes factors and confidence levels.

We studied the functions of natural killer (NK) cells and the role of the NK cell inhibitory receptor (NKG2A) during hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients and mice.We analyzed levels of NKG2A on peripheral blood NK cells from 42 patients with active chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 31 patients with inactive CHB, and 35 healthy volunteers (controls). Five patients with CHB treated with antiviral therapy were also included to evaluate changes in NK cells after HBV titers decreased. We examined the effects of blocking antibodies against NKG2A or its ligand Qa-1 (equivalent to HLA-E in humans) in immunocompetent mice that express HBV from a plasmid and are positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen (a mouse model of HBV infection).A higher percentage of NK cells from patients with active CHB were positive for NKG2A (38.47%) than from patients with inactive CHB (19.33%; P.01) or controls (27.96%; P.05). The percentage of NKG2A(+) cells correlated with serum viral load (r = 0.5457; P.001). The percentage of NKG2A(+) cells decreased along with HBV load in patients that received antiviral therapy (P.05). Blocking NKG2A interaction with HLA-E in peripheral NK cells from patients with active CHB increased their cytotoxicity in vitro. NK cells of HBV carrier mice also had higher percentages of NK cells that expressed NKG2A compared with control mice; NKG2A was likely to be up-regulated by production of interleukin-10 by hepatic regulatory CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells. Blocking Qa-1 in these mice promoted viral clearance in an NK cell-dependent manner.Infection with HBV increases levels of the inhibitory receptor NKG2A on NK cells in mice and humans, and reduces their ability to clear HBV. Reagents designed to block the interaction between NKG2A and HLA-E might be developed to treat CHB infection.

A modified ejector model for entrainment ratios calculation is proposed based on the sokolov’s ejector model and experiment data obtained by Huang et al. This model has a good performance in predicting the maximum entrainment ratios of ejectors at design conditions. The computer program base on the model returns maximum entrainment ratios for R141b and R134a at different generation and condensation temperatures. Based on the analysis of the calculation results, it is found that the entrainment ratio increases with the increasing of generation temperature for R141b when the generation temperature is below 100°C, whereas, it reaches maximum at about 85°C for R134a.

Background: Occupational noise exposure in the workplace is a significant health problem and hypertension is a widespread chronic disease. This study aimed to investigate whether occupational noise exposure is associated with hypertension in a Chinese population. Methods: A total of 286 hypertensive workers and 630 normotensive workers were enrolled and analyzed in a case-control study. Results: We revealed that workers exposed to noise can increase the risk of hypertension (adjusted OR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.11–2.08). This effect was more pronounced in ever smoking group (adjusted OR 2.54, 95% CI: 1.16–5.53). When noise exposure combined with never drinking status, it can reduce the risk of hypertension (adjusted OR 1.48, less than 1.52). Conclusions: Our results provide a clue that occupational noise exposure may increase the risk of hypertension in a Chinese population.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) pathogenesis is widely accepted as numerous immune response inducing prolonged inflammation, cirrhosis and lastly hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). However, the potential theory of HBV tolerance and the immune-mediated HCC development has not been clearly defined currently. We found here that hepatic CD8+T cells of HBsAg-transgenic mice (HBs-tg) express remarkably high levels of co-inhibitory receptor T cell Ig and ITIM domain (TIGIT) with age. Co-inhibitory pathway blockade in HBs-tg mice initiated regional chronic inflammation sequentially inside the liver which reflected by gradually rising ALT level and hepatic fibrosis. TIGIT blockade gave rise to the emerging of HBsAg-specific CTLs and rescued CD8+T cells function by increased proliferation and interferon-γ(IFN-γ) and CD107a production in liver. Besides, HBsAg vaccination to TIGIT-blockade mice triggered the development of HCC. Breeding HBs-tg TIGIT−/−mice showed spontaneous chronic inflammation in life and got HCC toward HBsAg vaccination. CD8+T depletion during TIGIT blockade alleviates liver inflammation in HBs-tg mice. While depleting CD8+T cells start from the vaccination stage till harvest in TIGIT-blockade mice abolishes HCC formation. Conclusion High co-inhibitory receptor expression on CD8+T cell may be a contributing factor for HBV tolerance. Our studies reveal a new molecular pathway which causes chronic hepatic diseases.

The neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) gene encodes the GTPase-activating protein (GAP) neurofibromin, which negatively regulates Ras activity. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two neurofibromin homologs, Ira1 and Ira2. To understand how these proteins are regulated, we utilized an unbiased proteomics approach to identify Ira2 and neurofibromin binding partners. We demonstrate that the Gpb1/Krh2 protein binds and negatively regulates Ira2 by promoting its ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. We extended our findings to show that in mammalian cells, the ETEA/UBXD8 protein directly interacts with and negatively regulates neurofibromin. ETEA contains both UBA and UBX domains. Overexpression of ETEA downregulates neurofibromin in human cells. Purified ETEA, but not a mutant of ETEA that lacks the UBX domain, ubiquitinates the neurofibromin GAP-related domain in vitro. Silencing of ETEA expression increases neurofibromin levels and downregulates Ras activity. These findings provide evidence for conserved ubiquitination pathways regulating the RasGAP proteins Ira2 (in yeast) and neurofibromin (in humans).

The emissivity property of low infrared emissivity coatings was studied during the thermal ageing. The influence of roughness, surface structure and electrical conductivity on infrared emissivity was systematically investigated. The results of experimental investigation indicate that the infrared emissivity changes with roughness, surface structure and conductivity during thermal ageing. This effect was explained by thermal oxidation of Al particles and polysiloxane degradation in the composite coatings and confirmed by SEM and XRD. Due to the degradation of polysiloxane and oxidation of Al particles, roughness increases, surface structure forms cracks and gaps, and conductivity reduces obviously with different temperature, which leads to significantly increasing emissivity.

This paper addresses the criterion of delay-dependent stability for nonlinear systems with time-delays which can be represented by Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy model with time-delays. Based on Leibniz-Newton formula, the effect of states and the delay states to the stability is considered to construct a Lyapunov functional and to form some special equations, which facilitate proposing a new delay-dependent stability criterion with less conservatism compared with the existing methods, which breaked through the limit to the varying ratio of time-delay. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed stability criterion.

Ligand recognition by the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) is central to effective immunity. Unlike αβ T cells, γδ T cells do not recognize pMHC antigens or use coreceptors CD4/8. Instead they recognize invariant membrane-tethered ligands, which are upregulated at sites of inflammation and infection. The substantial structural similarities between αβ and γδ TCRs prompted us to investigate whether they share triggering mechanisms. However, recent studies show that binding-induced γδ TCR conformational changes are not induced by physiological ligands, leaving open the possibility that other mechanisms are involved. We investigated the stress-inducible murine surface protein T22, that is recognized by the G8 γδ TCR - since detailed biophysical and structural information is available for this system. Here we tested whether ‘size-based’ kinase-phosphatase segregation (also known as the kinetic-segregation model) mediates G8 TCR signal initiation. Elongation of the T22 ectodomain leads to failure of TCR phosphorylation and IL-2 release. Electron microscopy showed that elongated T22/G8 leads to increased intermembrane spacing at the immunological synapse. Conversely, truncation of the large CD45 ectodomain attenuated triggering, pointing to a critical dependence on ‘close contact’ for phosphatase exclusion. To establish the physiological relevance of our findings, we confirmed that T22 elongation abrogates triggering in primary G8 γδ T cells, and using a second γδ TCR (KN6). We are currently completing investigations on the role of kinetic-segregation in hapten-specific and human γδ TCR triggering. Taken together, our findings establish that γδ TCR triggering occurs primarily through the kinetic-segregation mechanism.

The microbiota control regional immunity using mechanisms such as inducing IL-17A-producing γδ T (γδT-17) cells in various tissues. However, little is known regarding hepatic γδT cells that are constantly stimulated by gut commensal microbes. Here we show hepatic γδT cells are liver-resident cells and predominant producers of IL-17A. The microbiota sustain hepatic γδT-17 cell homeostasis, including activation, survival and proliferation. The global commensal quantity affects the number of liver-resident γδT-17 cells; indeed, E. coli alone can generate γδT-17 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Liver-resident γδT-17 cell homeostasis depends on hepatocyte-expressed CD1d, that present lipid antigen, but not Toll-like receptors or IL-1/IL-23 receptor signalling. Supplementing mice in vivo or loading hepatocytes in vitro with exogenous commensal lipid antigens augments the hepatic γδT-17 cell number. Moreover, the microbiota accelerate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through hepatic γδT-17 cells. Thus, our work describes a unique liver-resident γδT-17 cell subset maintained by gut commensal microbes through CD1d/lipid antigens., γδ T cells are major producers of IL-17A in response to microbial infection. Here the authors show that a high load of commensal microbes can maintain homeostasis of IL-17A+ γδ T cells in the liver via CD1d antigen presentation, with implications for liver diseases.

This paper discusses the feasibility of using hydrogenated amorphous silicon photodetectors in optical interconnections. Our analysis of the transient carrier transport in amorphous silicon pointed out that individual detectors could operate in the 100 MHz–1 GHz range. The parallelism afforded by fabricating large arrays of receivers can provide communication bandwidth in excess of electronic interconnects.

A special electrodeposition process of palladium was studied by cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). A kind of palladium(IV) complex was attached to the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrode surface by electro-oxidation of palladium(II) complex first, and was then reduced to palladium particles. The surface complexes and particles of palladium were both characterized by in situ STM and XPS. The Pd particles are in the nanometer range of size and exhibit electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of hydrazine and hydroxylamine.

The volumetric behavior of a chloride complex of palladium was studied at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The Pd-IV complex existing on the GCE surface was found, which was proposed to form an octahedral surface complex through coordination to the oxygen atom of an oxygen functional group on the pretreated GCE surface. The ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple was used as a probe to examine the activity of the GCE. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy provided the evidence of the surface complex existing on the GCE. Highly dispersed Pd particles can be obtained when the surface complexes were reduced electrochemically to Pd atoms. The Pd particles obtained in this way were in nanometer scale and exhibit high catalytic activity towards the oxidation of hydrazine. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Molecular crystallization typically singles out a specific conformation, or a set of conformations that are identical over large parts and may show some flexibility, from a mixture of equilibrating conformations in solution. To critically evaluate the selectivity of this process, human lactate dehydrogenase isozyme 1 (LDH-1) microcrystals were separately dissolved and subsequently assayed inside capillaries with electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) at both the ensemble and the single-molecule level. While fragments from the same crystal exhibited identical enzyme activities, different crystals, even when grown from the same drop of mother liquor, showed markedly different activities. Activities of individual molecules from a crystal were found to be essentially identical, whereas molecules obtained directly from solution showed a 4-fold variation in activity. Furthermore, after storage at 37 °C, the distribution of single-molecule LDH activities from solutions of individual crystals broadened and approached that of LDH obtained from the original solution. X-ray crystallography also showed distinct conformations for single microcrystals and confirms that crystallization properly selects even small conformational variants of proteins and that the slow equilibration to multiple stable conformations in solution is responsible for the observed single-molecule heterogeneity.

Because of its unique blood supply, the liver maintains a special local immune tolerogenic microenvironment. Moreover, the liver can impart this immune tolerogenic effect on other organs, thus inducing systemic immune tolerance. The network of hepatic regulatory cells is an important mechanism underlying liver tolerance. Many types of liver-resident antigen-presenting cells (APCs) have immune regulatory function, and more importantly, they can also induce the differentiation of circulating immune cells into regulatory cells to further extend systemic tolerance. Thus, the liver can be seen as a type of ‘school', where liver APCs function as ‘teachers' and circulating immune cells function as ‘students.'

The decay of eddy currents in magnetic electron lenses poses a fundamental limit to their speed of operation. The effect of eddy currents on the focusing properties of an electron lens is considered and it is shown that response of the lens field to excitation can be well approximated as a linear system. Using Fourier transform techniques, the transfer function of the lens is derived from a measurement of the peak axial field in response to step-like excitation from which the necessary excitation to achieve a specific transient response can be calculated. For practical implementation, the design of analogue pre-emphasis filters to improve the transient response of magnetic lenses is presented. The procedure involves approximating the step response of the lens field by exponential functions to derive the transfer function of the filter.

A conducting platinum cluster compound K1.64Pt(C2O4)(2) was electrochemically synthesized on a glassy carbon electrode through the electrooxidation of K2Pt(C2O4)(2) in an aqueous medium using single potential step and cyclic voltammetry methods. The precursor K2Pt(C2O4)(2) was prepared by a ligand exchange reaction between C2O42- and PtCl42-. During single potential step experiments, the electrolytic current corresponding to the oxidation of K2Pt(C2O4)(2) increased dramatically after a sharp decrease at the beginning (due to the formation of conducting K1.64Pt(C2O4)(2) on the surface of the working electrode). Two kinds of mechanism account for the current transients at the different applied potentials. Cyclic voltammetry was conducted with K1.64Pt(C2O4)(2) on the surface of the working electrode and a steady-state diffusion current was observed. Since the material grew in a fibrous manner, each conducting fiber which was in contact with the electrode could serve as an ultramicroelectrode. The behavior of the working electrode was thus changed from a plain to an ultramicroelectrode array.

Summary In this paper, two-level decentralized optimization power dispatch control strategies are proposed in an islanded microgrid without communication network to ensure frequency security and economic benefit. First, the secondary-level decentralized optimization control strategy is designed only by using local measurement regarding frequency deviation. It is able to implement the optimal power dispatch for all dispatchable distributed generation units in a coordinated way in order to completely restore the system frequency with minimum operation cost. Then, the first-level decentralized droop compensation control strategy is designed to implement real-time optimal power sharing among all energy storage units in order to quickly compensate large supply–demand imbalance and ensure frequency security. Moreover, the proposed control strategies are proved to be able to meet the requirements of the “plug and play” operation in the absence of communication network. Simulation results verify the validity of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The electro-oxidation of PtCl2−4 was studied on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode. A Pt(IV) complex was formed on the electrode surface through coordination to the oxygen atom of an oxide functional group on the electrode, which results in its deactivation. The ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple was used as a probe to examine the activity of the GC electrode. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to characterize the platinum on the electrode surface, and showed that the oxidation state of the Pt element changes depending on the electrochemical treatment of GC electrode. The platinum complex on the surface of the GC electrode can be transformed to Pt0 by cycling the electrode between −0.25 and +1.65 V/SCE in 0.1 M H2SO4 solution. The above procedure can be used to disperse platinum ultramicroparticles on the surface of a GC electrode.

A palladium particle-modified carbon fiber microdisk array electrode was designed and employed in capillary electrophoresis for the simultaneous detection of hydrazine, methylhydrazine, and isoniazid. The Pd-modified microdisk electrode had high catalytic ability for hydrazines and exhibited good reproducibility and stability. The response for hydrazine was linear over 3 orders of magnitude with a correlation coefficient of 0.993. The detection limits for hydrazine, methylhydrazine, and isoniazid were 1.2, 2.1, and 6.2 pg, respectively.

Both male and female rats were exposed to SO2 while their controls were exposed to filtered air. Levels of interlukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor- β1 (TGF- β1) in rat lung and serum were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after chronic exposure to SO2. A statistically significant increase in the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α was observed in the lung tissues of both male and female rats. No effects on tested cytokines were observed in rat serum, except for a significant increase in TNF-α level in male rats. There is no significant change in TGF- β1 level in rat lung and serum.

The purpose of this research was to develop a sensible cooling load calculation method for cooled ceiling (CC) systems. It was presented that cooling load of CC systems are different from those of the all-air (AA) systems by analyzing heat transfer mechanisms of CC panels and AA systems. A cooling load calculation method for CC systems was developed based on the room-heat-balance analysis model. The propose method can be used to estimate cooling loads of CC systems and those of ventilation systems which combined with the CC systems simultaneity. According to the calculation for a model room in Taiyuan, the peak load and average load of CC systems are higher than those of AA systems when the same design temperature of indoor air is adopted. It is revealed that an accurate cooling load calculation method should be used to estimate design cooling loads.

We study the stability of a class of time-delay systems with nonlinear perturbations. A new delay-dependent stability condition which can deal with arbitrarily time-varying delays is formulated by constituting a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, the result has less conservatism than those presented before. Numerical examples are presented to indicate significant improvements over some existing results.

A highly efficient method is developed for automated high-throughput screening of nanoliter-scale protein crystallization. The system integrates liquid dispensing, crystallization and detection. The automated liquid dispensing system handles nanoliters of protein and various combinations of precipitants in parallel to access diverse regions of the phase diagram. A new detection scheme, native fluorescence, with complementary visible-light detection is employed for monitoring the progress of crystallization. This detection mode can distinguish protein crystals from inorganic crystals in a nondestructive manner. A gas-permeable membrane covering the microwells simplifies evaporation rate control and probes extended conditions in the phase diagram. The system was successfully demonstrated for the screening of lysozyme crystallization under 81 different conditions.

To investigate the influence of nasal continual positive airway pressure (nCPAP) on the erectile function of erectile dysfunction (ED) patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS).Twenty-seven patients with ED and OSAS were randomly divided into treatment (n = 15) and control (n = 12) groups, the former treated by nCPAP from 22:00 to 6:00 per night for 1 month. And the apnea-hypopnea index(AHI), the lowest oxygen saturation (SaO2) and IIEF were compared before and after treatment.AHI, the lowest SaO2, erectile function and IIEF showed no significant difference before treatment in the two groups, but displayed a significant improvement after treatment in the treated group compared with the control (P0.05), in which no significant changes were observed before and after treatment (P0.05).nCPAP therapy can improve the erectile function of ED patients with OSAS.