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To investigate the expression profiles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the endometria of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to explore the role of aberrant circ_0115118 expression in endometrial dysfunction in patients with PCOS. CircRNA microarray hybridization and bioinformatic analyses were performed to determine the expression patterns of circRNAs in the endometria of patients with or without PCOS, the expression of target circRNA was evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Cell counting kit-8 and Transwell assays were used to detect cellular proliferative, invasive, and migratory capacities. The influence of the circRNA on decidualization was explored by real-time PCR. Animal models were established to investigate the regulatory effect of the circRNA on embryo implantation. Downstream microRNAs and genes were predicted using bioinformatic websites and verified by dual-luciferase reporter assays, real-time PCR, and western blotting. In the endometria of patients with PCOS, there were 113 differentially expressed circRNAs in the secretory phase and 1119 differentially expressed circRNAs in the proliferative phase. The expression of circ_0115118 was significantly higher in endometrial stromal cells during the proliferative phase in patients with PCOS, leading to inhibition of cellular mobilization and embryo implantation. In addition, circ_0115118 exerted effects by sponging miR-138-1-3p, subsequently increasing the expression of WD repeat and FYVE domain-containing protein 2 (WDFY2). Circ_0115118 expression is dysregulated in the endometria of patients with PCOS and adversely affects endometrial function. Our findings reveal that circ_0115118 may be a potential therapeutic target to improve pregnancy outcomes in women with PCOS.

Purpose To respond to customer needs and achieve customized manufacturing, the manufacturing industry, as represented by electronics assembly companies, has embarked on a path of business model transformation (customer to manufacturer [C2M]). The purpose of this paper is to examine the practical application of assembly line-Seru conversion in a Chinese electronics assembly company during the C2M transition. Design/methodology/approach To begin with, this paper proposed a production line improvement scheme suitable for the conversion of C2M manufacturing enterprise assembly line-Seru based on an analysis of the difficulties encountered in the existing production line of A company in China. Then, a mathematical model was presented for the minimum value of the makespan and the maximum workers’ expenditure between Serus. Finally, the SA-NSGA-II algorithm and the entropy-weight TOPSIS approach were used to determine the optimal scheme for Seru unit, batch, product type and worker distribution. Findings Seru production and multiskilled workers are more suited to the C2M business model. The most effective strategy for worker allocation can reduce the number of employees and makespan in Serus. Additionally, the performance of the SA-NSGA-II algorithm and the method of selecting the optimal solution from the Pareto solution by the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method is also demonstrated. Practical implications Through a detailed study of how to transform the production line, other companies can apply the methods outlined in this article to shorten the delivery time, make full use of the abilities of workers and assign workers to specific positions, thereby reducing the number of workers, workers’ expenditure and improving the balance rate of production lines. Originality/value Given the scarcity of studies on the production method of C2M-type firms in the prior literature, this paper examined the assembly line-Seru conversion problem with the goal of minimizing the makespan and worker expenditure. To address the NSGA-II algorithm’s insufficient convergence, the simulated annealing process is incorporated into the method, which improves the optimization performance.

CD8+ T cells are plentiful in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and have a important role in it's pathogenesis. Many subsets have been identified in CD8+ T cells, however, the relationship between CD8+ T subpopulations and disease activity of RA is poorly defined. Here we detected different CD8+ T cell subsets in peripheral blood and examined their relationships with clinical features and serological parameters in RA.CD8+ T cell phenotypes and percentages in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry in 39 patients with RA. The clinical characteristics and serological parameters of RA patients were collected and DAS28-ESR was measured as indicator of disease activity. Linear regression was performed to assess the correlation of CD8+ T cell subsets with RA clinical variables.Naive CD8+ T cells were significantly and negatively correlated with RA disease activity indicator DAS28-ESR(rOur results suggest that naive CD8+ T cells, CD8+ CD28- T cells, and CD8+ CD27- T cells are obviously correlated with inflammation and disease activity of RA. While activated CD8+ T cells and TCRγδ + CD8+ T cells may involve in lipidmetabolism and lung fibrosis of RA. These CD8+ T cell subsets may be new biomarkers and targets for RA disease evaluation, therapeutic target-selecting, curative effects and prognoses assessment.

RNA quality control (RQC) nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) is involved in viral restriction in both plants and animals. However, it is not known whether two other RQC pathways, nonstop decay (NSD) and no-go decay (NGD), are capable of restricting viruses in plants. Here, we show that the evolutionarily conserved Pelota-Hbs1 complex negatively regulates infection of plant viruses in the family Potyviridae (termed potyvirids), the largest group of plant RNA viruses that accounts for more than half of the viral crop damage worldwide. Pelota enables the recognition of the functional G

This paper is a study of the dynamic path planning problem of the pull-type multiple Automated Guided Vehicle (multi-AGV) complex system. First, based on research status at home and abroad, the conflict types, common planning algorithms, and task scheduling methods of different AGV complex systems are compared and analyzed. After comparing the different algorithms, the Dijkstra algorithm was selected as the path planning algorithm. Secondly, a mathematical model is set up for the shortest path of the total driving path, and a general algorithm for multi-AGV collision-free path planning based on a time window is proposed. After a thorough study of the shortcomings of traditional single-car planning and conflict resolution algorithms, a time window improvement algorithm for the planning path and the solution of the path conflict covariance is established. Experiments on VC++ software showed that the improved algorithm reduces the time of path planning and improves the punctual delivery rate of tasks. Finally, the algorithm is applied to material distribution in the OSIS workshop of a C enterprise company. It can be determined that the method is feasible in the actual production and has a certain application value by the improvement of the data before and after the comparison.

ErMiao San (EMS) is composed of the Cortex Phellodendri chinensis and Atractylodes lancea, and it has the function of eliminating heat and excreting dampness in terms of traditional Chinese medicine to damp heat syndrome. Previous reports indicate that EMS possesses anti-inflammatory activity; however, its action on angiogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been clarified. The present study aims to determine the antiangiogenic activity of EMS in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice and in various angiogenesis models. Our data showed that EMS (5 g/kg) markedly reduced the immature blood vessels in synovial membrane tissues of inflamed joints from CIA mice. It also inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced microvessel sprout formation ex vivo. Meanwhile, EMS suppressed VEGF-induced migration, invasion, adhesion, and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Moreover, EMS significantly reduced the expression of angiogenic activators including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in synovium of CIA mice. More interestingly, EMS blocked the autophosphorylation of VEGF-induced JAK1, STAT1, and STAT6 in CIA mice and VEGF-induced HUVECs. These findings suggest for the first time that EMS possesses the antiangiogenic effect in RA in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro by interrupting the targeting of JAK/STAT activation.

Maintenance is indispensable for ensuring that multi-component systems successfully complete the next mission. Maintenance activities require an enormous amount of energy consumption in engineering...

Nucleation and growth of droplets onto seed particles and subsequent solidification is an emerging technique for fabrication of complex colloids with controlled particle morphology and chemical makeup. The technique is often implemented at or near equilibrium, where the final composite particle structure is determined by the equilibrium contact angles of the droplets on the seed particles. Here, we apply the technique out of equilibrium, utilizing the rich and intriguing morphologies emerged as a droplet is triggered to dewet on a rod along the free energy minimization pathway. Specifically, 3-trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate (TPM) droplets were nucleated and grown onto silica rods. Upon dewetting, the droplets undergo a series of morphology changes, starting from engulfing the rods, contracting to the center, moving sideways to finally being fully separated from the rods. Composite patchy particles of controlled configurations were achieved by stimulating a fast photopolymerization of the TPM droplets at desired stages of the morphology evolution. Through seed surface functionalization, the patches can be decorated by either the hydroxyl or the amine group, which are used to create fluorescently-patterned patchy particles. Combining with surface evolver simulations, we demonstrate that nonequilibrium solidification of droplets on rods can be used to synthesize two-patch particles with a larger range of control over the patch size than its equilibrium counterpart.

For the selective maintenance planning (SMP), the decision makers are required to select components to be maintained as well as how to repair within a finite break between missions considering limited time, cost, and other resources. However, a few studies analyze the impact of team maintenance capability on SMP. In this paper, novel SMP models considering team maintenance capability and imperfect maintenance are introduced, which is ignored in current studies. In addition, a two-phase method integrating fuzzy Choquet integral based on λ-fuzzy measure and dynamic multi-objective artificial bee colony (DMABC) is proposed to optimize the SMP models. Fuzzy Choquet integral is used to deal with interaction among criterions and the DMABC is applied to obtain non-dominated solutions with different maintenance capability. Finally, the performance comparison experiment is made between the DMABC and NSGA-II, and the validity of the proposed algorithm has been demonstrated by the results.

An analysis based on the Jones matrix theoretical analysis is presented in this paper, which is based on the distributed optical fiber location system to study the polarization effect. A new improved distributed optical fiber structured is designed by using a Faraday rotation mirror ,the system is insensitive to the change of the polarization in the sensing part of the optical fiber, remove the linear birefringence and the orientation birefringence, the practicability of the system is increased.

The braking stability of semi-trailer train is directly related to the safety of driving. The braking time sequence of vehicle in braking process directly determines the braking stability of the vehicle. To overcome the limitations of the existing technology, this paper proposes a novel non-contact vehicle braking time sequence measurement method. The proposed method is based on binocular stereo vision that has high precision, high efficiency and low cost. First, the binocular stereo vision measurement principle is introduced, the camera is calibrated by three-dimensional target and the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is used to optimize the calibration parameters. Then, a series of image processing techniques are used to extract the wheel marker and perform three-dimensional coordinate reconstruction. Finally, the universality and the applicability of the proposed method are verified by conducting repetitive experiments and accuracy experiments for the same vehicle and different types of vehicles according to the designed experimental process and the established evaluation index. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can achieve fast detection, with high accuracy and good repeatability. Moreover, the method can be extended to various types of vehicles.

SUMMARY The Potyviridae family is a major group of plant viruses that includes ca. 200 species, most of which have narrow host ranges. The potyvirid P1 leader proteinase self-cleaves from the remainder of viral polyprotein and shows large sequence variability linked to host adaptation. P1 proteins can be classified as Type A or Type B based, among other things, on their dependency or not on a host factor to develop their protease activity. In this work, we studied Type A proteases from the Potyviridae family characterizing their host factor requirements. Our in vitro cleavage analyses of potyvirid P1 proteases show that the N-terminal domain is relevant for host factor interaction and suggest that the C-terminal domain is also involved. In absence of plant factors, the N-terminal end of Plum pox virus P1 antagonizes protease self-processing. We performed extended deletion mutagenesis analysis to define the N-terminal antagonistic domain of P1. In viral infections, removal of the P1 protease antagonistic domain led to a gain-of-function phenotype, deeply increasing local infection in a non-permissive host. Altogether, our results shed new insights into adaptation and evolution of potyvirids. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE) is suggested to be a consequence of inflammation. Previously conducted investigations on nod-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) have shed light to its crucial role in PE. Furthermore, microRNA-520c-3p (miR-520c-3p) is observed to be implicated in inflammation. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the role of miR-520c-3p in inflammatory cascade of PE by targeting NLRP3. Microarray analyses were performed to screen differentially expressed genes associated with PE, and the potential relationship between miR-520c-3p and NLRP3 was analyzed. PE and normal placenta tissues were collected to determine the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-18, IL-33, IL-1β, IL-10, and TNF-α), miR-520c-3p and NLRP3. Hypoxic HTR8/SVneo cells were transfected with oe-NLRP3, si-NLRP3 or miR-520c-3p mimic to elucidate the functional role of NLRP3 or miR-520c-3p in the inflammatory cascade in PE, followed by the evaluation of levels of inflammatory cytokines and NLRP3 inflammasomes (NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1). Additionally, the HTR8/SVneo cell migration and invasion were evaluated. An upregulation of NLRP3, IL-18, IL-1β and TNF-α, and downregulation of miR-520c-3p, IL-33 and IL-10 were observed in PE placenta tissues. NLRP3 was found to be a target gene of miR-520c-3p. HTR8/SVneo cells after hypoxia transfected with si-NLRP3 or miR-520c-3p mimic exhibited decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines and NLRP3 inflammasomes, in addition to increased IL-10 and IL-33 levels. Moreover, enhanced migration and invasion abilities were observed in cells transfected with si-NLRP3. Collectively, miR-520c-3p could potentially inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation and inflammatory cascade in PE by downregulating NLRP3, highlighting the potential of miR-520c-3p as a therapeutic target for PE treatment.

Almost half of known plant viral species rely on proteolytic cleavages as key co-and post-translational modifications throughout their infection cycle. Most of these viruses encode their own endopeptidases, proteases with high substrate specificity that internally cleave large polyprotein precursors for the release of functional subunits. Processing of the polyprotein, however, is not an all-or-nothing process in which endopeptidases act as simple peptide cutters. On the contrary, spatial-temporal modulation of these polyprotein cleavage events is crucial for a successful viral infection. In this way, the processing of the polyprotein coordinates viral replication, assembly and movement, and has significant impact on pathogen fitness and virulence. In this mini-review, we give an overview of plant viral proteases emphasizing their importance during viral infections and the varied functionalities that result from their proteolytic activities., HS was supported by the China Scholarship Council; FP was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from Academia Sinica. This work was funded by Grant No. BIO2016-80572-R and the FEDER program.

Braking performance plays a vital role for the safety in vehicle operation, so the measurement of braking performance is very important. In this article, an automatic measurement method for braking performance measurement using binocular stereo vision is proposed in order to obtain the vehicle’s braking trajectory and other performance characteristics in real time. First, this article describes the principles of stereo vision in the context of measuring vehicle braking performance. Then, it focuses on image processing algorithm for stereo vision and the three-dimensional reconstruction algorithm. Finally, the reliability of the measurement system is verified through multiple sets of real vehicle experiments on different car models. The results show that the proposed vehicle braking performance measurement system can perform automated and non-contact measurements. The detection system presented in this article has good detection accuracy and repeatability, and its detection time is short, so it can meet the needs of vehicle online testing.

A vehicle's centre of gravity (CG) is an important property that affects the vehicle's handing stability, ride comfort and safety. For example, a high CG may lead to a serious traffic accident due to the adverse effects it may have on roll and handling stability. In this paper, we develop a dynamic detection method to obtain vehicle's height that uses a simulation model based on a dynamic analysis during braking. Simulations show that the dynamic detection method is feasible. Experiments with three different vehicles are performed to verify the proposed method. The previously established prediction detection and lifting detection (LD) methods are used for comparison. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has higher accuracy and efficiency than the LD method. Thus, the proposed method is useful for the vehicle detection.

[EN] The P1a protein of the ipomovirus Cucumber vein yellowing virus is one of the self-cleavage serine proteases present in Potyviridae family members. P1a is located at the N-terminal end of the viral polyprotein, and is closely related to potyviral P1 protease. For its proteolytic activity, P1a requires a still unknown host factor; this might be linked to involvement in host specificity. Here we built a series of constructs and chimeric viruses to help elucidate the role of P1a cleavage in host range definition. We demonstrate that host-dependent separation of P1a from the remainder of the polyprotein is essential for suppressing RNA silencing defenses and for efficient viral infection. Intergenus replacement of leader proteases could broaden host range definition, as shown by the local infection capacity of viral chimeras. These findings support the role of viral proteases as important determinants in host adaptation., H.S. is supported by the China Scholarship Council; F.P. and C.R. were financed by La Caixa PhD fellowships, and C.C. by a scholarship from the Spanish government (MAEC-AECID). This work was funded by Grants BIO2013-49053-R and Plant-KBBE PCIN-2013-056 from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad.

An IgG1 SNP enhances autoimmunity One common feature of autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the presence of high titers of self-reactive antibodies. These result in immune complexes, inflammation, and tissue pathology. Consequently, the checkpoints that normally keep immunoglobulin G (IgG)–positive autoreactive B cells in check are of intense interest. Chen et al. report the presence of a common IgG1 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in East Asian populations (hIgG1-G396R). This SNP was enriched in SLE patients and associated with increased disease severity. Humans with this SNP, as well as knockin mice, showed enhanced plasma cell accumulation and antibody production. This SNP enhanced IgG1 immunoglobulin tail tyrosine motif phosphorylation, triggering longer adaptor protein Grb2 dwell times in immunological synapses and hyper–Grb2–Bruton's tyrosine kinase signaling after antigen binding. Science , this issue p. 700

The Potyviridae family is a major group of plant viruses that includes c. 200 species, most of which have narrow host ranges. The potyvirid P1 leader proteinase self‐cleaves from the remainder of the viral polyprotein and shows large sequence variability linked to host adaptation. P1 proteins can be classified as Type A or Type B on the basis, amongst other things, of their dependence or not on a host factor to develop their protease activity. In this work, we studied Type A proteases from the Potyviridae family, characterizing their host factor requirements. Our in vitro cleavage analyses of potyvirid P1 proteases showed that the N‐terminal domain is relevant for host factor interaction and suggested that the C‐terminal domain is also involved. In the absence of plant factors, the N‐terminal end of Plum pox virus P1 antagonizes protease self‐processing. We performed extended deletion mutagenesis analysis to define the N‐terminal antagonistic domain of P1. In viral infections, removal of the P1 protease antagonistic domain led to a gain‐of‐function phenotype, strongly increasing local infection in a non‐permissive host. Altogether, our results shed new insights into the adaptation and evolution of potyvirids.

In a recent paper by Fattahi et al. (Int J Adv Manuf Technol 65:787–802, 2013), a mathematical model is presented for a two-stage assembly scheduling problem containing a hybrid flow shop and an assembly stage. Some constraints in the model are not valid. This note shows that some new constraints are proposed for the mathematical model. An example is proposed to present and prove this new model by executing mathematical software.

Strain BC79, isolated from primeval forest soil in Qinling, Mountains, China, was identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus based on morphological, biochemical, physiological and chemotaxonomic analyses as well as phylogenetic 16S rDNA sequencing data. This strain was able to suppress mycelial growth and conidial germination of numerous plant pathogenic fungi in dual cultures on solid media. For exploring potential biocontrol activity, we assessed fermentation conditions for studying B. meth1ylotrophicus BC79. The active substance of BC79, phenaminomethylacetic acid, was extracted by TLC and HPLC, and identified as the strongest inhibitory substance described in B. methylotrophicus . Experiments in a greenhouse showed that application of BC79 culture filtrates 24 h before inoculation of Magnaporthe oryzae , the causal agent of rice blast, had 89.87% biocontrol efficiency. B. methylotrophicus BC79 colonized rice plant tissues and at 10 days after filtrate application, its population in leaves (1.65 × 10 8 CFU/g) was much larger than in stems (6.78 × 10 7 CFU/g) or roots (3.56 × 10 7 CFU/g). Field trials indicated that BC79 culture filtrate (4000 g/667 m 2 ) showed the highest efficiency for M. oryzae , with 84.8% biocontrol effect, followed by of 15% phenaminomethylacetic acid extract (75.5%) and 20% tricyclazole (76.1%). Seedling and post-transplant stages were the best periods to apply BC79 for control of rice blast. The B. methylotrophicus BC79 strain hence has enormous potential as an agricultural agent for biocontrol of rice blast.

The purpose of this work was to screen strains having tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) deteriorating activity, isolated from the inner and superficial of tobacco plants. Then strain AS97 was isolated and identified for further application.Strain AS97, with the highest conversion ability against both nitrate and nitrite, was screened by enrichment and selective medium. The strain was identified by morphological, physio-biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The concentration of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridy)-1-butanone (NNK), N-nitrosonicotine (NNN), N-nitrosoanatabine (NAT) and N-nitrosoanabasine (NAB) were determined by LC-MS/MS. The fermentation broth of strain AS97 was spraied on the leaves of tobacco to define inoculum concentration and fermentation condition.AS97 was identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens (Genbank accession number: JF 449445). Under the optimal growth conditions with inoculum concentration of 5%, at 30 degrees C for 10 d, AS97 had high biological activity against NNK and NNN with a degradation rate of 59.08% and 38.79%, respectively. The correlation analysis displayed a pronounced correlation (p0.01) among the concentration of nitrate, nitrite and TSNA. Furthermore, the results also exhibited that nitrate and nitrite were antecedent substance of TSNA.These results indicated that Pseudomonas fluorescens AS97 could be a promising microorganism in the practice of non-harmful cigarette production.

At present, the elimination of headlamp detection error is to straighten the test-waiting vehicle, namely the straightening device makes the vehicle body axis to be right with headlight detector at the distance required. However, the headlamp illumination direction should be the vehicle's driving direction and the perpendicular direction of rear axle is the vehicle's driving direction, so the detection benchmark to headlamp should be the vehicle's driving direction. This paper proposes a new method of error correction of headlamp detection based on bias angle identification of axle placed. Firstly, this paper establishes a tire model, and carries out research on modeling and simulating bias angle of tire, then make error analysis of bias angle identification. Simulation analysis shows that when changes some influence factors, for example tire size, shape, and convex volume, the device is still of high accuracy, so the method is feasible. This paper also establishes the experimental system of detecting axle bias angle, furthermore makes a test and error analysis pointing to the system. The result verifies the simulation conclusions.

The wheelbase difference will produce a great influence on automobile performance, and will bring up the huge economic losses and driving risks if it exceeds a certain limit, so it is significant reality important to detect vehicle wheelbase difference. The paper puts forward new detecting method of automobile wheelbase difference based on piezoelectric tire print, and builds up the mathematical model of detecting and error compensation on the base of relative measurement theory. After designing the detecting device with the dual trapezoidal bottom slot, carried out experimental analysis pointing to detecting accuracy of wheel horizontal position, the result indicates that this device can make precise measurement and achieve error compensation under the curve driving condition. Finally, through carrying out practical detecting, data statistical analysis proves that the detecting system has the good characteristic of repeatability and stability, and can realize accurate detecting. The detecting device of wheelbase difference has the feature of high accuracy and low cost, therefore the device is with good application value.

This paper makes simulation and analysis of tire profile identification of the wheel model, the key technology of the tire identification is to determine the effective boundary of tire profile by the means of gradient judgment, to calculate axle deflective angle according to common tangent line between two effective smooth curves in tire profile, then to apply iterative contour matching method to get more accurate value. Finally, as to several scanning heights of laser range finder and deflective angles of placed axle, respectively conducts a comparative analysis of detection error. The experimental result shows that the tire profile identification method is correct and effectively, the device can accurately and fast detect the deflective angle of car axle relative to the headlamp detection baseline, and simultaneously compensate the headlamp detection error, so it is with great value of promotion and application.