Search

Background and Aims: The ENCORE registry aimed at comparing the long-term safety of Crohn’s disease [CD] treatment with infliximab [Remicade®] and with conventional therapies in real-world clinical practice. Methods: The 5-year, prospective, observational ENCORE registry followed patients with CD in nine European countries, who received treatment with infliximab, conventional therapies, or switched to infliximab from conventional therapy. Adverse events [AEs] in pre-specified categories and serious AEs were recorded at least every 6 months of the 5-year observation period. Frequency of events was evaluated, and multivariable analyses using follow-up time [Cox proportion hazards model] and exposure time [Poisson regression] were used to identify risk factors for time to AEs in pre-specified categories. Results: Patients who received infliximab [ N = 1541], conventional therapies [ N = 1121], or switched to infliximab [ N = 298] were followed for medians of 60.4, 55.6, and 42.5 months, respectively. Infliximab median exposure was 18.7 and 19.3 months in the infliximab and switched-to-infliximab groups, respectively. In time-to-event Cox proportion hazards [PH] analyses adjusting for confounders, infliximab [vs conventional therapy] was associated with serious infections (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17, 2.31] and haematological conditions [HR = 2.91, CI: 1.51, 5.59], and not associated with lymphoproliferative disorders/malignancy [HR = 1.44, CI: 0.86, 2.42] or death [HR = 1.22, CI: 0.63, 2.36]. Prednisone use was associated with higher mortality [HR = 3.58, CI: 1.49, 8.61]. In exposure-adjusted Poisson regression analyses, infliximab was associated with lower mortality (risk ratio [[RR] 0.39, CI: 0.17, 0.88]). Conclusions: Data from 5-year safety follow-up of patients with CD in the ENCORE registry demonstrate that infliximab [Remicade®] exposure is associated with increased risk of serious infections and haematological conditions, whereas mortality may be decreased.

This paper assesses and compares multi-factor continuous time affine mortality models applied to age-cohort mortality curves that are well suited for theoretical and practical application in finance and insurance. Models based on Gaussian distributed mortality rates, as well as the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) process allowing for Gamma distributed mortality rates, are compared, also quantifying the probability of negative rates in the Gaussian models. In particular, we introduce the Gaussian Arbitrage-Free Nelson-Siegel (AFNS) mortality model incorporating level, slope and curvature factors. The models have appealing features including efficient estimation and computation. We estimate models using age-cohort data to capture cohort effects more effectively and in order to explain the variability in cohort mortality curves in the continuous time framework. The models allow for Poisson variation in the model estimation using the Kalman filter. The affine mortality models facilitate the derivation of closed-form survivor curves allowing for efficient valuation of mortality-linked claims. The models can also incorporate factor dependence allowing for age-dependence in the mortality curves. Importantly we show that the Gaussian independent factor AFNS model performs very well in explaining and forecasting cohort mortality.

Purpose. Barium sulfate and lead oxide are commonly used for angiographic studies, but there is no report on the comparison of two contrast agents in angiography of cervical spinal cord. This study was aimed to compare the microvascular architecture of cervical spinal cord in rats after angiography with the barium sulfate agent to the lead oxide agent. Methods. Twelve adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the barium sulfate group (n=6) and the lead oxide group (n=6). Each rat was perfused under the same protocol using either two contrast agents. The angiography was evaluated with the vascular number at different ranks. The cervical spinal cord samples were scanned using micro-CT with low resolution and high resolution. The microvascular parameters, including ratio of vascular volume to tissue volume (VV/TV), vascular number (V.N), diameter (V.Dm), separation (V.Sp), connectivity density (Conn.D), structure model index (SMI), percentage, and volume of vessels at different diameters were measured. Results. The perfusion was better in the barium sulfate group, with more blood vessel trees of rank II and III visible compared to the lead oxide group. Low-resolution micro-CT analysis showed no difference in microvascular parameters except SMI between the two groups. High-resolution micro-CT analysis results showed that V.N and Conn.D of barium sulfate group were 60% and 290% more than those of the lead oxide group; however, V.Sp was 41% less than the lead oxide group. The percentage of vessels with diameter of 10 μm and 20 μm, and the volume of vessels with diameter of less than 100 μm was higher in the barium sulfate group than in the lead oxide group. The SMI index in the barium sulfate group was higher than that in the lead oxide group at both low resolution and high resolution. Conclusions. Compared with lead oxide, barium sulfate is more suitable for perfusion of cervical spinal cord microvessels, and cheap and nontoxic with high resolution.

With the wide application of wireless sensor networks in military and environmental monitoring, security issues have become increasingly prominent. Data exchanged over wireless sensor networks is vulnerable to malicious attacks due to the lack of physical defense equipment. Therefore, corresponding schemes of intrusion detection are urgently needed to defend against such attacks. Considering the serious class imbalance of the intrusion dataset, this paper proposes a method of using the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) to balance the dataset and then uses the random forest algorithm to train the classifier for intrusion detection. The simulations are conducted on a benchmark intrusion dataset, and the accuracy of the random forest algorithm has reached 92.39%, which is higher than other comparison algorithms. After oversampling the minority samples, the accuracy of the random forest combined with the SMOTE has increased to 92.57%. This shows that the proposed algorithm provides an effective solution to solve the problem of class imbalance and improves the performance of intrusion detection.

An error correcting code type recognition technique based on a deep learning approach is proposed in this paper. This problem could be addressed in the context of non-cooperative communications or adaptive coding and modulation. Inspired by text classification, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN) model improved by embedding and block mechanism to classify the linear block code, convolutional code, and turbo code with the only knowledge of the noisy information streams. It achieves higher recognition performance than the algorithms which are based on traditional deep learning and rank calculation. Further results show that the performance is greatly affected by block length and the dimension of the embedding layer. In a nutshell, the CNN with block mechanism and embedding is a promising feature extraction and classification technique, and it is suitable for the recognition of different kinds of communication signals.

Symbol rate and chromatic dispersion (CD) are very important for optical performance monitoring. The CD, however, hinders the symbol rate detection. In this paper, we proposed a joint estimation of symbol rate and chromatic dispersion. We show that, when the signal conjugates and multiplies with the delayed replica, the spectral line can be restored. The proposed method provides a fast and simple solution for joint estimation as traditional tentative CD scanning is time consuming. The simulation shows that the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) for CD was 39.5 ps/nm and the symbol rate was 2.4 MHz. For the squared-root-raised-cosine (SRRC) pulse shape with a roll-off factor of 0.1, the experimental results show that 25,000 input samples were needed for an error-free estimation. The RMSE is 105.6 ps/nm and 63.5 kHz for CD and symbol rate, respectively.

Biosensors are the core elements for obtaining significant physiological information from living organisms. To better sense life information, flexible biosensors and implantable sensors that are highly compatible with organisms are favored by researchers. Moreover, materials for preparing a new generation of flexible sensors have also received attention. Liquid metal is a liquid-state metallic material with a low melting point at or around room temperature. Owing to its high electrical conductivity, low toxicity, and superior fluidity, liquid metal is emerging as a highly desirable candidate in biosensors. This paper is dedicated to reviewing state-of-the-art applications in biosensors that are expounded from seven aspects, including pressure sensor, strain sensor, gas sensor, temperature sensor, electrical sensor, optical sensor, and multifunctional sensor, respectively. The fundamental scientific and technological challenges lying behind these recommendations are outlined. Finally, the perspective of liquid metal-based biosensors is present, which stimulates the upcoming design of biosensors.

Background Ventral defect caused by resection of the lesions involving the upper cervical spine commonly has been reconstructed with a fabricated mesh cage. Recently, a clival screw and plate fitted to the osseous anatomy of the craniovertebral junction was developed for this pathologic status. Objective To evaluate the stability a clivus plate system fixation (CPSF) for the craniovertebral junction and compare it with a conventional fashioned mesh cage fixation (FMCF). Methods Seven human fresh cadaveric specimens (occiput [Oc], atlas [C1], axis [C2], third cervical vertebra [C3], fourth cervical vertebra [C4]) were tested with intact and destabilization-reconstruction conditions. FMCF and CPSF were applied randomly to the clivus to the C3 segment combined with posterior occipitocervical fixation applied from the occiput to C4 segment, respectively. Specimens were subjected to a pure moment of 1.5 Nm in flexion, extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation, respectively. The range of motion (ROM) and neutral zone (NZ) from the occiput to C3 were calculated and compared between two anterior fixations. Results Motions were reduced significantly in all directions following FMCF and CPSF fixations when compared with the intact. The CPSF resulted in smaller ROM in lateral bending (0.3° vs. 0.6°, P = 0.015), axial rotation (0.6° vs. 1.2°, P = 0.023) and flexion (0.1° vs. 0.3°, P = 0.019), but similar ROM in extension (0.2° vs. 0.4°, P = 0.273) when compared with the FMCF. NZs with the CPSF were 0.1° in flexion-extension, 0.1° in lateral bending and 0.2° in axial rotation, respectively, and similar to NZs with the FMCF. Conclusions The clivus plate system fixation is biomechanically superior to the conventional fashioned mesh cage fixation in flexion, lateral bending and axial rotation, but equavalent in extension.

Over the past decade, M-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line W931A and a variety of restorer lines have been exploited for the release of hybrid seeds in soybean (Glycine max). However, the identities of restorer genes in the nuclei of soybean restorer lines are still unclear. In this study, we analysed the inheritance pattern of restorer locus Rf-m from restorer line WR016 and constructed a high-resolution map of this locus. Results showed that Rf-m in WR016 is a monogenic dominant gene located within a 162.4-kb region on chromosome 16, which is flanked on each side by new developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers GmSSR1602 and GmSSR1610 at a distance of 0.11 and 0.25 cM, respectively. Nineteen open reading frames (ORFs) were predicted in this region. Of these, seven genes arranged in tandem on chromosome 16 encode pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins, which is similar to other reported restorer loci in plants. These results lay a solid foundation for map-based cloning of the Rf-m gene and will be helpful for marker-assisted selection of elite CMS restorer lines.

Transfacet screws have been used as an alternative posterior fixation in the cervical spine. There is lack of spinal stability of the transfacet screws either as stand-along constructs or combined with anterior plate. This study was designed to evaluate spinal stability of transfacet screws following posterior ligamentous injury and combined with anterior plate, respectively, and compare transfacet screws to lateral mass screw-rod constructs. Flexibility tests were conducted on eight cadaveric specimens in an intact and injury, and instrumented with the transfacet screw fixation and lateral mass screw-rod construct at C5–C7 levels either after section of the posterior ligamentous complex or combined with an anterior plate and a mesh cage for C6 corpectomy reconstruction. A pure moment of ±2.0 Nm was applied to the specimen in flexion–extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation. Ranges of motion (ROM) were calculated for the C5–C7 segment. ROM with the transfacet screws was 22 % of intact in flexion–extension, 9 % in lateral bending and 11 % in axial rotation, while ROM with the lateral mass screw-rod construct was 9 % in flexion–extension, 8 % in lateral bending and 22 % in axial rotation. The only significant difference between two constructs was seen in flexion–extension (5.8 ± 4.2° vs. 2.4 ± 1.2°, P = 0.002). When combined with an anterior plate and mesh cage, the transfacet screw fixation reduced ROM to 3.0° in flexion–extension, 1.2° in lateral bending, and 1.1° in axial rotation, which was similar to the lateral mass screw-rod construct. This study identified the transfacet screw fixation, as stand-alone posterior fixation, was equivalent to the lateral mass screw-rod constructs in axial rotation and lateral bending except in flexion–extension. When combined with an anterior plate, the transfacet screw fixation was similar to the lateral mass screw-rod construct in motion constraint. The results suggested the transfacet screw fixation a biomechanically effective way as supplementation of anterior fixation.

Deep packet inspection in modern networking and security devices use ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) to match regular expressions. TCAM has its advantage in search speed but disadvantages in limited storage and high power consumption. The hierarchical encoding algorithm to save TCAM space is proposed and the codes divided into four layers. The proposal and the results are tested showing that the new algorithm has higher compression efficiency and the compression rate can reach 95–99%.

In optical communication systems, frame synchronization is essential for subsequent operations, such as error correction and payload extraction. Various methods, so far, have been proposed in the published literature, but the performance is unsatisfactory under high bit error rate (BER) conditions. We present, in this work, a novel data-aided frame synchronization technique for optical packet transmission systems, in which the transmitter sends a sequence of packets with a specific synchronization word periodically inserted, and the receiver blindly recognizes the synchronization word to attain frame synchronization. The proposed algorithm detects the synchronization word based on Hough transform (HT), a classic method for line detection in digital image processing. The core principle of the algorithm is to exploit the periodicity of the frame synchronization word, which appears as black-and-white spaced stripes on a binary image when the frames are all aligned. Simulations are conducted over a 56Gbps optical QPSK transmission system, and the results show that our algorithm is still effective in attaining frame synchronization at a BER of 0.3. A comparison is also made between our algorithm and existed autocorrelation (AC)-based algorithm. The results demonstrate that our algorithm has a better error resilience performance. When the BER is higher than 0.03, our algorithm outperforms an AC-based algorithm significantly.

Study design An experimental animal study of osteoporosis (OP) and intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Objective The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of estrogen deficiency and supplement on cervical IDD induced by bilateral facetectomy in rats. Summary of background data The relationship between IDD and OP is still controversy with the wide prevalence in aged people. Methods Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly divided into ovariectomy (OVX) group, facet joints resection of C4-6 (FR), FR-OVX group, estrogen replacement therapy (ERT, based on the FR-OVX group) group, and sham group. Specimens of C4-6 segment were harvested at 12 and 24 weeks. The microstructures of C5 vertebrae, vertebral endplate lesions and calcification, and IDD of C5/6 disc were evaluated by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histology. The protein and gene levels of aggrecan, Col2α1, matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-3, and MMP-13 in the C5/6 and C4/5 discs were measured. Results Microstructures of C5 vertebral body were weakened significantly after ovariectomy, while restored effectively with estradiol supplementation. The facetectomy led to significant IDD, and the IDD was aggravated when combined with OVX. The IDD of the ERT group was alleviated effectively and similar to that of the FR group in intervertebral disc height, vertebral endplate lesions and calcification, and disc degeneration scores. In addition, the estrogen supplement maintained the extracellular matrix by decreasing MMP-3 and MMP-13, and increasing aggrecan and Col2α1 expression. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that estrogen deficiency exacerbated IDD induced by spinal instability, while estrogen supplementation alleviated the progression of disc degeneration related to osteoporosis. Level of evidence N/A.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which have been ubiquitously detected in the environmental media. However, national scale investigations on their occurrence and distribution in drinking water are still insufficient. In this study, we detected the 17 priority PFAAs in drinking water from 79 cities of 31 provincial-level administrative regions throughout China, and investigated their occurrence and distribution. Additionally, we also analyzed the influencing factors on their profiles, such as the existence of industrial sources, socioeconomic factors (population density and GDP), and assessed levels of risk associated with contaminated drinking water. On the national scale, the sum concentrations of the 17 PFAAs (∑17PFAAs) in drinking water was in a range of 4.49–174.93 ng/L with a mean value of 35.13 ng/L. Among the 17 individual PFAAs, perfluorobutanoic acids (PFBA) was the most abundant individual PFAAs with the median concentration of 17.87 ng/L, followed by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 0.74 ng/L), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA, 0.40 ng/L) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS, 0.25 ng/L). The geographic distribution characteristic of ∑17PFAAs in drinking water was in a descending order of Southwestern China (57.67 ng/L) > Eastern coastal China (32.85 ng/L) > Middle China (29.89 ng/L) > Northwestern China (28.49 ng/L) > Northeastern China (22.03 ng/L), and in general, the existence of the industrial sources could positively affect the contamination levels of PFAAs in drinking water. The pollution level of PFAAs in drinking water also varied among the three different city levels (medium-sized city > big city > town). In towns, the positive correlations were observed between the population density and the ∑17PFAAs (R2 = 0.45, p

Metformin (Met), an anti-diabetes drug, has also shown therapeutic effects for ovariectomy-induced (OVX) osteoporosis. However, similar effects against bone loss induced by a ketogenic diet (KD) have not been tested. This study was aimed to evaluate the microarchitectures and biomechanics of KD-induced osteoporosis with and without administration of Met, and compare the effect of Met on bone loss induced by KD with OVX. Forty female C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into Sham, OVX, OVX + Met (100 mg/kg/day), KD (3:1 ratio of fat to carbohydrate and protein), and KD + Met (100 mg/kg/day) groups. After 12 weeks, the bone mass and biomechanics were measured in distal cancellous bone and in mid-shaft cortical bone of the femur. The activities of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), together with immunohistochemistry staining of osteocalcin (OCN) and TRAP, were evaluated. Both OVX and KD induced significant bone loss and compromised biomechanical properties in the cancellous bone, but no effect was found in cortical bone. The administration of Met increased the cancellous bone volume fraction (BV/TV) from 3.78 to 5.23% following the OVX and from 4.04 to 6.33% following the KD, it also enhanced the compressive stiffness from 47 to 160 N/mm following the OVX and from 35 to 340 N/mm with the KD. Met effectively increased serum ALP in the KD group while decreased serum TRAP in the OVX group, but up-regulated expression of OCN and down-regulated expression of TRAP in both OVX and KD groups. The present study demonstrated that Met effectively attenuated the cancellous bone loss induced by KD and maintained the biomechanical properties of long bones, providing evidence for Met as a treatment of by KD-induced osteoporosis in teenage skeleton.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin‐18‐137G/C, ‐607G/T polymorphisms play multiple roles in various cancers. However, studies focused on its involvement in breast cancer remain controversial, and no study has taken the interaction between interleukin‐18 (IL‐18) gene polymorphism and body mass index (BMI), menopause into consideration. The study investigated the association between IL‐18‐137, ‐607 polymorphisms and risk of breast cancer and a possible interaction between the 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and BMI, menopause in Chinese Han woman. METHODS: A total of 488 participants, including 178 patients with breast cancer, 150 patients with benign breast disease and 160 healthy controls were recruited for this study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐direct sequencing technology was used to identify the genotypes. RESULTS: 137 G/C genotype can decrease the risk of breast cancer (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.31‐0.93; P = .025). In benign group, subjects with G/C genotype of IL‐18‐137G/C polymorphism had a 1.89‐fold increased risk of developing breast cancer (95% CI = 1.05‐3.41; P = .032). Among postmenopausal subjects, people with G/T genotype of IL‐18‐607 polymorphism had a 7.97‐fold increased risk of lymph node metastasis compared with those with T/T homozygotes (95% CI = 1.95‐32.65; P = .0045). Among Overweight and obese patients with breast cancer (BMI ≥ 24), people with G/T genotype of IL‐18‐607 polymorphism had a 5.45‐fold increased risk of lymph node metastasis compared with those with T/T homozygotes (95% CI = 1.74‐17.06; P = .034). CONCLUSIONS: IL‐18‐137 G/C genotype may be a protective factor for healthy group, but a risk factor for benign group. IL‐18‐607 G/T genotype have an interaction with menopausal and BMI. The synergetic effect can further increase the risk of lymph node metastasis for breast cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To study correlation among number(n), diameter (D), and blood reflux time(t) and the left common iliac vein stenosis degree of the expansion of perforating veins, so as to guide the clinical formulation and adjust the treatment plan. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 45 PVs patients with left common iliac vein in different degrees of compression in our hospital from 2010 to 2012 was performed. Left common iliac vein was divided into 50%‐69%, 70%‐99%, 30%‐49% and occlusion of the stenosis to avoid the error of the left iliac vein stenosis. Pearson's correlation analysis among the number, diameter, and blood reflux time of perforating veins and left common iliac vein was performed. RESULTS: Pearson's correlation analysis among the number, diameter, and blood back flow time of perforating veins, and the degree of stenosis was performed, and these results showed that correlation coefficients among the number, diameter, and blood return the PVs between flow time and the degree of stenosis were rp‐n = 0.784, rp‐d = 0.893, rp‐t = 0.845 (P

Optical performance monitoring is one of the key technologies to realize optical network performance assurance and network management, which can be applied in any node in the net link and also in the terminal receiver. This paper presents a method to achieve optical performance monitoring of terminal receiver in optical fiber communication system: the electric signal experienced photoelectric conversion is converted into digital signal by high-speed sampling and then processed by DSP. The monitoring data are transmitted by MDIO interface and displayed through upper computer. The method can monitor optical power, wavelength, chromatic dispersion, polarization-mode dispersion and other parameters and realize a multi-parameter and indicator lumped monitoring. The experimental results indicate that this method has good performance in real-time with low cost and good prospects.

Background The biomechanical stability of unilateral pedicle screw (UPS) combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw (TLFS), especially long-term stability, still needs to be compared to traditional UPS or bilateral pedicle screws (BPSs) in details. Methods Twenty-four porcine spines (L2–L5) were tested for flexibility with pure moments of 5 Nm under intact status and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion status using UPS + TLFS, UPS or BPS at L3–L4. After short-term (3 cycles) and long-term cyclic loading (18,000 cycles), the range of motion was obtained and analyzed for single-level constructs in flexion/extension, lateral bending and axial rotation modes. In addition, the relative displacement of contralateral articular processes was recorded in a real time fashion. Findings The range of motion was significantly reduced in all instrumented constructs. In all movement directions, UPS + TLFS achieved similar range of motion to BPS after short and long-term loading, which were significantly lower than that in UPS. A significantly larger displacement of contralateral articular process was recorded in UPS than UPS + TLFS and BPS during extension/flexion, lateral bending and axial rotation, suggesting its compromised stability. Interpretation The hybrid construct of UPS + TLFS showed instant and long-term equivalent biomechanical ability to that of traditional BPS, making it an alternative option to BPS that could be less invasive while maintains a stable and effective instrumentation.

The evaluation and use of endogenous soybean genes is an effective strategy to minimize the yield losses caused by insects. Allene oxide cyclase (AOC) catalyzes the most important step in the biosynthesis of jasmonate (JA), which plays a crucial role in plant defense against insects. In this study, the role of GmAOC3 in plant insect resistance was evaluated. Real-time PCR results indicate that GmAOC3 was uniquely and rapidly activated and attained peak expression in leaves after attack by the common cutworm (CCW). In insect bioassays, transgenic lines overexpressing GmAOC3 were significantly less damaged than wild-type plants, and the relative growth rate of CCW fed with leaves from transgenic lines was significantly lower than that of CCW fed with leaves from wild-type plants. Electron microscopy revealed that the density of leaf trichomes in transgenic lines overexpressing GmAOC3 was greater than that in wild-type tobacco. Several physiological and morphological indicators, including JA, phenolic content and the relative expression levels of the putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT) and proteinase inhibitor (PI) genes, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity and volatile substances, increased in the transgenic plants overexpressing GmAOC3. Our findings indicate that GmAOC3 plays an important role in soybean resistance to CCW and can be used as a resource for plant breeding.

Two novel schemes are proposed to teleport an unknown two-level quantum state probabilistically when the sender and the receiver only have partial information about the quantum channel, respectively. This is distinct from the fact that either the sender or the receiver has entire information about the quantum channel in previous schemes for probabilistic teleportation. Theoretical analysis proves that these schemes are straightforward, efficient and cost-saving. The concrete realization procedures of our schemes are presented in detail, and the result shows that our proposals could extend the application range of probabilistic teleportation.

A fabricated mesh cage and/or posterior occipitocervical instrumentation alone has been used for reconstruction of ventral defect of the upper cervical spine. However, using a trimmed mesh cage it was hard to achieve optimal clival screw purchase and it migrated or broke. A specific instrumentation at the craniovertebral junction (CVJ) should incorporate the morphology of the CVJ and biomechanical validation. The purpose of the present study was to develop an innovative clivus plate integrated with the clinical anatomy of CVJ and to evaluate the stability of the clivus plate fixation (CPF), stand-alone or combined with a posterior occipitocervical fixation (POCF). Dimensions relevant to the clivus plate were measured on 40 adult dry bones and CT images of 30 patients. The CPF was composed of the clivus plate and a titanium mesh cage. The clivus plate was anchored to the clivus, atlas and C3 body and connected to the mesh cage. Six fresh cadaveric head–neck specimens (Oc–C4) were used in this study (46 ± 15 years old, 2 F/4 M). A continuous pure moment of ±1.5 Nm was applied to the specimen in flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation. The status of intact, CPF alone, and CPF plus POCF was tested on each specimen. The CPF was implanted to the specimen following resection of the C1 anterior arch, C2 vertebral body, C2–C3 disc and atlantoaxial ligaments. The POCF was applied with screws anchoring at the occiput, C1, C3 and C4. The range of motion (ROM) and neutral zone (NZ) from the occiput to C3 were calculated. The clivus plate was developed based on measurements of 40 adult dry bones and CT images of 30 patients. The plates were successfully applied to all specimens. No obvious loosening or mismatch was observed. The mean clival length and widest and narrowest diameter of the clivus were 26, 33 and 19 mm, respectively. The clivus screw length was 8 mm for the caudal holes and 10 mm for the cephalad hole. The CPF reduced ROMs to 3.9° in flexion, 2.8° in extension, 4.2° in lateral bending and 6.8° in axial rotation. The combined CPF and POCF constrained motion within 0.6° in all directions and more than the CPF (P

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure syndrome characterized by pancytopenia and hypocellular bone marrow. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) is the drug of choice for immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in patients with SAA ineligible for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of porcine antilymphocyte globulin (p-ALG) plus CsA in the treatment of acquired SAA. Clinical information of 69 SAA patients treated with p-ALG plus CsA was collected and retrospectively analyzed for early mortality, response rate, survival rate, side effects, and other complications. The median age at diagnosis was 27 years (range 14 to 52). The overall response rate was 76.8 % with a 90-day median response time (range 30 ~ 360 days). Overall response rates at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months were 63.8, 73.9, 76.8, 75.4, and 75.4 %, respectively. The median follow-up time for surviving patients was 24 months (range 4 ~ 44 months) and the 2-year overall survival (OS) rate was 88.4 %. The disease-free survival (DFS) rate at 2 years was 85.5 %. Older age (≥45 years), very (v)SAA subgroup, and lower baseline absolute lymphocyte count (1 × 10(9)/L) were independent unfavorable predictors of overall survival (p 0.05). Less than one third of patients had serum sickness or allergic reaction during ALG therapy, but symptoms could easily be relieved by steroid treatment; 27.54 % had mild hepatic impairment. Taken together, p-ALG showed similar efficacy and safety profiles to rabbit or horse ATG in IST of acquired SAA. It can be a suitable alternative preparation for rabbit ATG with the great advantage of lower medical expenses.

The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate (βOHB), is reported to be neuroprotective after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The present study aims to investigate effects of βOHB on suppression of oxidative stress and inhibition of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) in in vivo and in vitro models. Rats were fed with ketogenic diet (KD) or standard diet (SD) for 3 weeks. A C5 hemi-contusion injury was applied to these animals on the 14th day of experiment, and spinal cord samples were harvested on the 1st, 3rd and 7th days after SCI, respectively. The blood ketone levels were significantly higher in the KD groups. KD reduced oxidative stress markers and reactive oxygen species (ROS) products, downregulated the expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX)2 and NOX4, and upregulated the expression of forkhead box group O (FOXO)3a, mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and catalase after SCI. The in vitro study, performed on PC12 cells, indicated that βOHB inhibited H

The data imbalance problem has become a challenge in many real-life classification applications. Although numerous synthetic over-sampling techniques have been put forward to alleviate this problem, most of them do not consider the distribution of the minority examples and may generate noisy synthetic minority examples which overlap the majority examples. In this regard, an improved synthetic over-sampling algorithm, named Clustering Based Random Over-Sampling Examples (CBROSE) algorithm, for balancing the binary class data sets is presented in this paper. CBROSE generates synthetic minority examples by combining Kmeans clustering algorithm with the basic mechanism of existing synthetic over-sampling methods. The synthetic minority examples created by CBROSE always be located in an elliptical area centered at the observed minority example. The experimental results based on 5-folder cross validation show the effective-ness of CBROSE on some real-life data sets in terms of AUC.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ketogenic metabolism, induced by different diet interventions, on histone acetylation and its potential antioxidant capacity to injured spinal cord tissue in rats. 72 male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, fed with ketogenic diet (KD), every other day fasting (EODF), every other day ketogenic diet (EODKD) and standard diet (SD) respectively for 2 weeks. β-Hydroxybutyrate (βOHB) concentration was measured both in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). C5 spinal cord tissue was harvested before, at 3 h and 24 h after injury for analysis of HDAC activity, histone acetylation and oxidative makers. All three dietary interventions resulted in a significant increase of βOHB level in both serum and CSF, and inhibited HDAC activity by 31–43% in spinal cord. Moreover, the expressions of acetylated histone AcH3K9 and AcH3K14 were significantly increased. Anti-oxidative stress genes Foxo3a and Mt2 and related proteins, such as mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (SOD), FOXO3a, catalase were increased in dietary intervention groups. After SCI, high ketogenic metabolism demonstrated significant reduction of the expression of lipid peroxidation factors malondialdehyde (MDA), and this might contribute to the reported neuroprotection of the spinal cord from oxidative damage possibly mediated by increasing SOD. The result of this study suggested that by inhibiting HDAC activity and modifying related gene transcription, ketogenic metabolism, induced by KD, EODF or EODKD, might reduce oxidative damage in the spinal cord tissue after acute injury.

In secure communication systems, a very important problem is how to prevent wiretapping. Lots of researches on cryptography give good solutions on secure communications. But if a wire tapper can detect the existence of the transmitted information and get enough eavesdropped frames, cryptanalysis techniques can help to blindly recover the frame structures, error-control coding parameters and passwords. In this paper we propose a novel secure transmission scheme on the link level for optical fiber communication systems. Based on the blind frame synchronization technique, we propose to drop the traditionally strict frame structures in fiber communications and conceal the error-correcting-encoded blocks among random data, so that wire tappers cannot get enough coded packets to analyze and recover the transmitted information. Therefore, the proposed method is very suitable for secure communications and military communications.

Evidence has shown that osteoporosis or intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) led to cartilage endplate lesions (CEL), but their combined effects on the lesion remain unknown. This study developed an innovative rat model combined ovariectomy (OVX) and cervical muscle section (CMS), and aimed to evaluate the combined effects of osteoporosis and IDD on cartilage endplate lesions of cervical spine. Fifty-two Sprague–Dawley female rats were assigned randomly into four groups as follows: the sham group (n = 10) underwent sham surgery; the OVX group (n = 14) was subjected to bilateral ovariectomy; the CMS group (n = 14) had posterior paraspinal muscles cut from C2 to C7; the CMS–OVX group (n = 14) underwent the OVX and CMS surgeries consecutively. Samples of C6–C7 segments were harvested at 12, 18 and 24 weeks post-surgery. Micro-CT analysis was performed to evaluate the CEL, intervertebral disc height (IDH) and structural indices. Histological analysis with Safranine O/fast green stain and histological score were used to observe the characteristics of the degenerative discs. Ovariectomy surgery resulted in significant changes of most structural indices of the C6 body, such as decrease of percent bone volume and number of bone trabecula at 12 weeks, and greater changes at 18 and 24 weeks. The CEL following CMS surgery was seen on the ventral, while the CEL in the OVX and sham groups on the peripheral. The CEL was greatest in the CMS–OVX group and significantly greater than that in the CMS and OVX groups at 12 and 18 weeks (P

Hexagonal boron nitride and cubic boron nitride were modified by polydopamine to improve dispersion in epoxy resin (EP). The average coefficient of friction (COF) of EP-HBN@PDA coating decreased under dry and seawater condition compared to EP indicating BN possessed self-lubricating effect. COF decreased with CBN content raising in seawater, because seawater removed debris including BN particles and CBN with high hardness improved rigidity of coatings. Wear rates of EP-CBN@PDA coating decreased by 68.88% and 97.95% compared to EP-HBN@PDA, and binary-filled coating performed excellently under seawater, it revealed CBN was more effective than HBN in improving load carrying capacity of coatings.

With the recent increase in IP traffic owing to fiber communication, previous schemes have become inadequate for link-layer processing of IP over SONET/SDH(POS). In this study, a proposal based on [Formula: see text] processors to provide mapping or demapping of IP datagrams from or into SONET/SDH is presented, and the value of [Formula: see text] is decided based on the link layer rate of POS. Further, the mathematic model of proposed architecture are presented in detail. Then the realization procedures are implemented in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Both theoretical analysis and experimental test prove that the proposed scheme is efficient, portable, cost-efficient and has a lower hardware resources consumption.

There are many algorithms that can be used to fuse sensor data. The complementary filtering algorithm has low computational complexity and good real-time performance characteristics. It is very suitable for attitude estimation of small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs) equipped with low-cost inertial measurement units (IMUs). However, its low attitude estimation accuracy severely limits its applications. Though, many methods have been proposed by researchers to improve attitude estimation accuracy of complementary filtering algorithms, there are few studies that aim to improve it from the data processing aspect. In this paper, a real-time first-order differential data processing algorithm is proposed for gyroscope data, and an adaptive adjustment strategy is designed for the parameters in the algorithm. Besides, the differential-nonlinear complementary filtering (D-NCF) algorithm is proposed by combine the first-order differential data processing algorithm with the basic nonlinear complementary filtering (NCF) algorithm. The experimental results show that the first-order differential data processing algorithm can effectively correct the gyroscope data, and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of attitude estimation of the D-NCF algorithm is smaller than when the NCF algorithm is used. The RMSE of the roll angle decreases from 1.1653 to 0.5093, that of the pitch angle decreases from 2.9638 to 1.5542, and that of the yaw angle decreases from 0.9398 to 0.6827. In general, the attitude estimation accuracy of D-NCF algorithm is higher than that of the NCF algorithm.

The blind recognition of the frame parameter plays a crucial role in frame synchronization in the background of a non-cooperation communication system. This paper proposes an algorithm based on self-correlation on the foundation of existed cumulative filtering algorithm. To overcome high BER, the peak-to-average ratio (PAR) is calculated to improve the algorithm. The simulation results proved that the performance of the algorithm has been improved.