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Background Older patients have a less pronounced immune response to infection, which may also influence infection biomarkers. There is currently insufficient data regarding clinical effects of procalcitonin (PCT) to guide antibiotic treatment in older patients. Objective and design We performed an individual patient data meta-analysis to investigate the association of age on effects of PCT-guided antibiotic stewardship regarding antibiotic use and outcome. Subjects and methods We had access to 9,421 individual infection patients from 28 randomized controlled trials comparing PCT-guided antibiotic therapy (intervention group) or standard care. We stratified patients according to age in four groups (85 years [n = 505]). The primary endpoint was the duration of antibiotic treatment and the secondary endpoints were 30-day mortality and length of stay. Results Compared to control patients, mean duration of antibiotic therapy in PCT-guided patients was significantly reduced by 24, 22, 26 and 24% in the four age groups corresponding to adjusted differences in antibiotic days of −1.99 (95% confidence interval [CI] −2.36 to −1.62), −1.98 (95% CI −2.94 to −1.02), −2.20 (95% CI −3.15 to −1.25) and − 2.10 (95% CI −3.29 to −0.91) with no differences among age groups. There was no increase in the risk for mortality in any of the age groups. Effects were similar in subgroups by infection type, blood culture result and clinical setting (P interaction >0.05). Conclusions This large individual patient data meta-analysis confirms that, similar to younger patients, PCT-guided antibiotic treatment in older patients is associated with significantly reduced antibiotic exposures and no increase in mortality.

The aim of the study was to describe the electroclinical features of visual sensitivity in patients with familial cortical myoclonic tremor and epilepsy. We searched the EEG database using the terms "familial cortical myoclonic tremor and epilepsy" and "visual sensitivity" over a seven-year period from March 2013 to April 2020 in the Xijing hospital, Xi'an, China. The inclusion criteria were demonstrable electroclinical visual sensitivity in the form of eye-opening sensitivity, eye-closure sensitivity, eyes-closed sensitivity and photosensitivity. Clinical, EEG and imaging records of patients were screened, and subsequently, detailed analysis of their data was undertaken. We enrolled six patients with visual sensitivity, five of whom suffered with rare generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Neuroimaging was negative in all cases. All patients demonstrated photosensitivity; eye-opening sensitivity associated with cortical myoclonic in one patient, eyes-closed sensitivity associated with cortical myoclonic tremor status in three patients, and eye-closure sensitivity in two patients. At the last follow-up visit, cortical myoclonic tremor and epilepsy in all patients was well controlled with first-line treatment. Visual sensitivity is therefore likely to be an important reflex trait in some patients with familial cortical myoclonic tremor and epilepsy, and should be routinely evaluated in order to better define the electroclinical features in FCMTE syndrome. [Published with video sequences].

Several studies have been performed to assess the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, inconsistent results have been obtained. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to address this knowledge gap. We searched PubMed, Cochrane library, and EMBASE database for studies that evaluated the relationship between blood homocysteine (HCY) level and T2DM from inception to Jun 2019. The quality of all included studies was assessed by the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ). RevMan5.3 and Stata12.0 were used for data analyses. Twenty-five studies (including 1881 cases and 2868 controls) on blood HCY level in T2DM were pooled in our meta-analysis. The blood HCY level in the T2DM patients was significantly higher than in the healthy individuals (SMD = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.43–0.84, and p < 0.001, I2 = 89%, p < 0.001), ignores the effects of age, sex, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease conditions, and other comorbidity. Additionally, in T2DM patients with nephropathy or retinopathy, blood HCY level was also significantly higher than in those with only T2DM (SMD = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.76–1.58, p < 0.001; I2 = 90%, p < 0.001 and SMD = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.39–1.44, p

Based on the characteristics of modern weapon injury, a repetitive model of traumatic systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and an evaluation system were established. The models were treated with GFP-labeled tree shrew umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). Forty out of 50 tree shrews were used to make a unilateral femoral comminuted fracture. Lipopolysaccharide was injected intravenously to create a traumatic SIRS model. The other 10 shrews were used as normal controls. After the model was established for 10 days, 20 tree shrews were injected intravenously with GFP-labeled UCMSCs, and 18 tree shrews were not injected as the model control group. The distribution of GFP-labeled cells in vivo was measured at 2 and 10 days after injection. Twenty days after treatment, the model group, the normal control group, and the treatment group were taken to observe the pathological changes in each tissue, and blood samples were taken for the changes in liver, renal, and heart function. Distribution of GFP-positive cells was observed in all tissues at 2 and 10 days after injection. After treatment, the HE staining results of the treatment group were close to those of the normal group, and the model group had a certain degree of lesions. The results of liver, renal, and heart function tests in the treatment group were returned to normal, and the results in the model group were abnormally increased. UCMSCs have a certain effect on the treatment of traumatic SIRS and provide a new technical solution for modern weapon trauma treatment.

In order to study the penetration performance of the tandem warhead composed of a front circular shaped charge and a rear penetration projectile, a grooved steel plate was processed to simulate the effect of circular shaped jets on metal plate, then the failure mechanism of the grooved steel plate impacted by rear projectile was investigated by ballistic experiment, meanwhile, the effect of projectile nose shape on the failure mechanism was also analyzed. The results show that the main failure mechanism of grooved steel plate is ductile tensile deformation or damage when the projectile impacted on the inner plate body and the depth of the pre-splitting groove is not big enough (usually more than 4mm), on the other hand, the circumferential sheared fracture of the bottom of the groove occurred when the depth of the pre-splitting groove is not less than 4mm. The oval projectile body has much greater erosion damage than rod-shaped projectile during the penetration process.

Development of specific serum biomarkers is essential to improve diagnosis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we show that serum and tissue levels of miR-519d are significantly decreased in NSCLC patients. The low expression of miR-519d is associated with lymph node metastases, clinical stage, and a poor prognosis in NSCLC patients. In addition, ROC analysis demonstrated that the serum miR-519d levels can distinguish NSCLC patients from healthy controls. MiR-519d inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion by lung cancer cells, indicating that it may function as a tumor suppressor in lung cancer. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that HER3 is a target gene of miR-519d in lung cancer cells, and show that by targeting HER3, miR-519d inhibits the PI3K/Akt pathway. These findings demonstrate that the miR-519d levels are decreased in serum and tumor tissues of NSCLC patients, and indicate that miR-519d regulates NSCLC progression by targeting HER3. MiR-519d could potentially serve as a novel serum biomarker for NSCLC.

Although the existing localization and mapping (SLAM) technology of indoor mobile robot has made great development, its intelligence and environmental perception ability still cannot meet the needs of service and inspection. Therefore, based on edge computing environment, a 3D semantic map construction of mobile robot based on improved ORB-SALM2 is proposed. Firstly, the improved yolov3 algorithm is used to detect indoor objects, and then the real-time semantic segmentation network model based on deep learning is used to segment indoor objects to achieve the classification of pixel points of objects on two-dimensional images, and BAFF feature fusion algorithm is introduced to improve the accuracy of semantic segmentation model. Then, through the SLAM system, we estimate the pose of the image in the result of semantic segmentation, and use the depth information to project it into the three-dimensional environment to build the three-dimensional semantic map. Finally, the experiment platform of mobile robot is built to verify the stability of ORB-D and thermal imaging sensor registration technology, the accuracy and real-time of building three-dimensional environment thermal field map, and the accuracy of robot positioning using thermal infrared and depth image.

BackgroundThe thymus gland is an important central immune organ in the human body and plays an indispensable role in the immune system. Aging thymic atrophy is critical factors leading to immune function decline and senile debilitation in aged people. Immune function decline is one of the important mechanisms of aging. Some research reports indicated that Stem cell therapy have the ability to promote tissue regeneration，but reverse thymus atrophy or promote atrophy thymus regenerate by stem cells need to be confirmed further. MethodsThe elderly macaque models were systematic screened and the thymus structure and function were evaluated by imaging and histopathology methods. The juvenile BMMSCs were injected into macaque models body by intravenous infusion. The effects of thymus tissue structure and expression of related factors were investigated by using imaging, histopathology,cell and molecule observation and measurement techniques. To explore the mechanism of juvenile BMMSC on thymus atrophy in aging rhesus macaques, the gene transcription profile of thymus tissue were sequencing and analyzed by bioinformatic methods. .ResultsThrough PET-CT observation, the thymus tissue density gradually increased after treatment, CT value gradually increased, SUVmax >1;The percentage of CD3+T cells in peripheral blood increased first and then decreased, CD3+CD4+T cells increased slowly, and CD3+CD8+T cells increased first, then decreased and then increased. By detecting Tregs in peripheral blood, the percentage of Tregs in peripheral blood showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing after treatment (P< 0.05).The levels of thymosin α and thymosin II in peripheral blood were analyzed by ELISA method. It was found that thymosin α was firstly increased and then decreased after BMSC infusion, and the levels of thymosin Ⅱ were firstly increased and then decreased.The area of thymus parenchyma increased, and the boundary between skin and medulla appeared. Some thymus tissues were regenerated and changed to normal structure.The cortical and medullary junction structure and dense thymus structure gradually appeared in the elderly treatment group.The degree of thymus tissue fibrosis was reduced, and the deposition of collagen fiber was reduced. Apoptosis cells decreased significantly in the elderly treatment group compared with the elderly group. BMMSCs inhibited the expression of genes related to aging and apoptosis.Conclusion Transplantation BMMSC derived from juvenile macaques can poromote thymus regeneration, reverse thymus atrophy by regulating gene transcription profiles in aged macaques.

Dan Peng, Zi-Liang Hou, Hong-Xia Zhang, Shuai Zhang, Shu-Ming Zhang, Rui-Yan Lin, Zhen-Chuan Xing, Yuan Yuan, Kai-Yuan Yang, Jin-Xiang Wang Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jin-Xiang WangDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University, Xinhuananlu No. 82, Tongzhou District, Beijing, 101100, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail jinxiangwang@ccmu.edu.cnBackground: Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a common disease which may be a serious condition and has high mortality. Recently, it has been shown that circRNAs play an important role in the development of various diseases, including thromboembolic disease. However, circRNAs expression profiling is not clear in PTE, this study aims to identify the circRNAs expressed in PTE and to elucidate their possible role in pathophysiology of PTE.Methods: A total of 5 patients with CTPA-confirmed PTE and 5 healthy controls were recruited for the present study. The circRNAs expression profile was analyzed by microarray.Results: In total, 256 differentially expressed circRNAs (up 142, down114) and 1162 mRNA (up 446, down 716) were summarized by analyzing the circRNAs microarray data. The top 3 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated circRNAs were validated by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Two differentially expressed circRNAs (hsa_circ_0000891, hsa_circ_0043506) were selected for further analysis. Finally, we construct a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network with a bioinformatic prediction tool. Pathway analysis shows that the enriched mRNAs targets take part in Protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Endocytosis, Spliceosome, HTLV-I infection and Ubiquitin mediated proteolysis.Conclusion: Our findings indicated that aberrantly expressed circRNAs (hsa_circ_0000891, hsa_circ_0043506) may be involved in the development of PTE.Keywords: circRNA, gene, pulmonary thromboembolism, circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network, functional enrichment

With the rapid development of the modern economy, transportation safety and security are becoming critical. The standards for the management of transportation systems are also becoming higher and higher. The modern real-time control technology is integrated into the real-time control of the intelligent traffic system. This paper establishes a smart transportation system that uses traffic pavement cameras to detect traffic flow in a specific period. The system used the background difference method based on the Gaussian model and the Camshift algorithm based on the Kalman filter. It is mainly divided into background modeling, foreground detection, vehicle tracking, and vehicle flow calculation. After background detection, remove the background parts and then use foreground detection to accurately extract different vehicle types of various models that need to be processed. Through tracking and scientific statistics of the detected targets, real-time traffic flow data is calculated. The traffic flow changes are intuitively fed back to the system users in a line chart. Thus significantly reduce the manual part’s workload, effectively improve the efficiency and effectiveness of traffic management.

In order to understand variation characteristics of the soil available phosphorus and total nitrogen (TN) content around the roots of typical desert plants Peganum harmala Linn. (PHL) and Asterothamnus centrali-asiaticus (AC), which are widely distributed in Jinchang mining area of Gansu Province, the soil samples around the roots of the two plants were collected, and the contents of available phosphorus and TN were analyzed. The results showed that the change trend of soil available phosphorus content was not the same in the range of 0-60 cm around the roots of PHL and AC. In most areas the change of available phosphorus content in the soil from around the root of PHL was U-shaped, and the content of phosphorus around the roots of AC increased firstly and then decreased, while the change trends of TN content around AC was decreased gradually.

The moving target detection and tracking of mobile robots have always been a difficulty and hot spot in the field of robot research. This paper focuses on the detection and tracking algorithm of the robot moving target based on the Laser Range Finder. Firstly, the algorithm uses a Laser Range Finder to obtain the relative distance and direction information between the robot and the moving object in real-time. Then, according to the current distance and azimuth information, the instantaneous movement speed and acceleration information of the robot and the moving target, and the physical parameters of the robot itself, the movement state of the movement target is calculated and predicted, and the control function is fitted. The control strategy enables the robot to track the moving target in real-time. Experiments were conducted on the AS-R robot platform. The experimental results show that the control algorithm can effectively track the moving target in real-time, and the algorithm has good robustness.

The role of mobile robots is becoming more and more important. In the meantime, It is the basis for the robot to build a map in an unknown environment autonomously. In this paper, by using ROS robot and 360 distance laser sensor LDS-01, the laser scanning information is acquired in real-time, Synchronous map construction in real-time through the fusion of robot self-positioning information and environmental information. Update existing maps in real-time during the build process, ultimately enabling map construction of the entire unknown environment. By testing in the simulator Gazebo and building an indoor environment map, the test results in the actual environment show that the method of this paper can construct the unknown environment map more accurately and in real-time.

According to previous studies of obesity, we found that the association between homocysteine concentrations and obesity was reported controversially. Thus, we carried out this meta-analysis to investigate this association. We searched PubMed, The Cochrane library, and EMBASE database for studies that evaluate the relationship between homocysteine concentrations and obesity from inception to March, 2019. The quality of all included studies was assessed by the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ). The RevMan5.3 software and Stata12.0 software were used for conducting all data analyses. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used as a measure of effect size to assess the relationship between homocysteine concentrations and obesity through a meta-analysis. The level of significance was set at P

Based on the characteristics of modern weapon injury, a repetitive model of traumatic systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and an evaluation system were established. The models were treated with GFP-labeled tree shrew umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). Forty out of 50 tree shrews were used to make a unilateral femoral comminuted fracture. LPS was injected intravenously to create a traumatic SIRS model. The other 10 shrews were used as normal controls. After the model was established for 10 days, 20 tree shrews were injected in the veins with GFP-labeled UCMSCs, and 18 tree shrews were not injected as the model control group. The distribution of GFP-labeled cells in vivo was measured at 2 and 10 days after injection. Twenty days after treatment, the model group, the normal control group, and the treatment group were taken to observe the pathological changes in each tissue, and blood samples were taken for the changes in liver function, renal function and heart function. Distribution of GFP-positive cells was observed in all tissues at 2 and 10 days after injection. After treatment, the HE staining results of the treatment group were close to those of the normal group, and the model group had a certain degree of lesions. The results of liver function, renal function and heart function tests in the treatment group were returned to normal, and the results in the model group were abnormally increased. UCMSCs have a certain effect on the treatment of traumatic SIRS and provide a new technical solution for modern weapon trauma treatment.

Experimental and molecular epidemiological studies indicate important roles for adipose tissue or high-fat diet (HFD) in tumor growth and metastasis. Gastric cancer (GC) possesses a metastatic predilection for the adipocyte-rich peritoneum. However, the precise molecular relevance of HFD in the peritoneal metastasis of GC remains unclear. Here, we showed that HFD causes obvious fat accumulation and promotes peritoneal dissemination of GC in vivo. Peritoneum-derived adipocytes induces robust lipid droplet (LD) accumulation and fatty acid oxidation in GC cells through transcriptional upregulation of DGAT2 in a C/EBPα-dependent manner and prevents anoikis during peritoneal dissemination. Treatment of GC cells with FAs or coculture with adipocytes induces intracellular formation of LDs and production of NADPH to overcome oxidative stress in vitro. Importantly, overexpression of DGAT2 was identified as an independent predictor of poor survival that promotes lung and peritoneal metastasis of GC, and genetic or pharmacological inhibition of DGAT2, via disruption of lipid droplet formation in a lipid-rich environment, enhances the sensitivity of GC to anoikis in vitro and inhibits peritoneal metastasis in vivo. Overall, our findings highlight the notion that DGAT2 may be a promising therapeutic target in GC with peritoneal implantation and provide some evidence for uncovering the link between obesity and tumor metastasis., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Overexpression of DGAT2 is associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer. • DGAT2 promotes adipocyte-induced lipid droplet formation and NADPH production. • DGAT2 promotes cell anoikis resistance by redox modification. • DGAT2 promotes HFD-induced peritoneal dissemination and lung metastasis in vivo.

Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) exert strong immunomodulatory effects and can repair organs. However, their roles in radiation injury remain unclear. We show that in tree shrews with acute radiation injury, injected UC-MSCs significantly improved survival rates, reduced lung inflammation and apoptosis, prevented pulmonary fibrotic processes, recovered hematopoiesis, and increased blood counts. A protein microarray analysis showed that serum levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-13 and the growth factors BMP-5, BMP-7, HGF, insulin, NT-4, VEGFR3, and SCF were significantly higher, while those of the inflammatory cytokines IL-2, TIMP-2, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1ra, and IL-8 and the fibrosis-related factors PDGF-BB, PDGF-AA, TGF-β1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-4 were significantly lower in UC-MSC-injected animals. A transcriptome analysis of PBMCs showed that the mRNA expression of C1q was upregulated, while that of HLA-DP was downregulated after UC-MSC injection. These results confirm the immunohistochemistry results. eGFP-labeled UC-MSCs were traced in vivo and found in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, thymus, small intestine and bone marrow. Our findings suggest that UC-MSC transplantation may be a novel therapeutic approach for treating acute radiation injury.

Islet transplantation is arguably one of the most promising strategies to treat patients suffering with diabetes mellitus. However, a combination of a lack of donors and chronic immune rejection limit clinical applications. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of cell therapy using islet-like cells differentiated from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) of tree shrews for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) labeled UC-MSCs were directly injected into type 2 diabetic tree shrews, where UC-MSC differentiated into functional islet-like cells and alleviated disease severity, as evidenced by improved biochemical features and reduced concentrations of inflammatory cytokines. We also demonstrated that in vitro culture of UC-MSCs for six days in a high-glucose environment (40 mmol/L or 60 mmol/L glucose) resulted in significant gene methylation. The potency of UC-MSCs differentiated into insulin-secreting cells was attributed to the activation of Notch signal pathways. This study provides evidence that cell therapy of islet-like cells differentiated from UC-MSCs is a feasible, simple and inexpensive approach in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) was found to be associated with vascular complications in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. Previous studies found that regular exercise could improve the function of EPCs in DM patients, but the underling mechanism was unclear. Irisin, a newly identified myokine, was induced by exercise and has been demonstrated to mediate some of the positive effects of exercise. In this study, we hypothesize that irisin may have direct effects on EPC function in DM mice. These data showed for the first time that irisin increased the number of EPCs in peripheral blood of DM mice and improved the function of EPCs derived from DM mice bone marrow. The mechanism for the effect of irisin is related to the PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway. Furthermore, irisin was demonstrated to improve endothelial repair in DM mice that received EPC transplants after carotid artery injury. The results of this study indicate a novel effect of irisin in regulating the number and function of EPCs via the PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway, suggesting a potential for the administration of exogenous irisin as a succedaneum to improve EPC function in diabetic patients who fail to achieve such improvements through regular exercise.

In this paper, we present a mobile robot self-positioning method based on a rotary encoder. Firstly, we analyze the wheel speed information about the robot by using the rotary encoder. Secondly, we use the micro-offset accumulation-based trace estimation algorithm to measure the distance and direction deviation information of the current robot relative to the start position. Finally, we apply the error correction method to reduce the excessive self-positioning deviation caused by accumulated errors to achieve the mobile robot self-positioning. The experiments show that the proposed self-positioning method can achieve high accuracy under the effect of the error correction method, and it has a certain degree of robustness.

In this paper, we present a monitoring and warning method for the lawn trampling behavior in the surveillance video. Through analyzing the surveillance video image in detail, a background model is established at first. Then the lawn area in the video is determined and the background difference method is used to detect and extract the motion target. Then, according to the positional relationship and the overlap area of the lawn area and the moving target, whether the pedestrian has trampled the lawn is judged. When lawn trampling behavior has happened, the monitoring information will be displayed on the screen of the monitoring video in time and a warning sound will be issued. Experiments show that the method can extract the moving target framework clearly and can detect the human lawn trampling behavior and alert them in time. The method also has good real-time performance.

Objective: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) had been successfully used in patients with severe hypercapnic acute respiratory failure (HARF). Being lack of a large number of randomized control trials to support NIV in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with severe HARF, the effect of NIV for patients with life-threatening HARF should be further confirmed. In order to confirm the effect of NIV on selected patients with HARF due to COPD, we conducted a comparative prospective observational study of NIV vs. IMV (invasive mechanical ventilation) + NIV in COPD patients with HARF. Methods: A total of 420 patients with acute respiratory failure secondary to COPD were prospective screened; 52 cases with PaCO2 ≥ 90 mmHg or PaCO2

We previously found that chicken egg white extract could promote cell survival and proliferation. In the present study, we further separated this extract into its components to identify those primarily responsible for promoting cell proliferation. Components of differing molecular weight were separated from chicken egg white extract by ultrafiltration and 293T cell cultures were supplemented with various concentrations. The effects on cell proliferation were subsequently determined by a CellTiter 96 Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay kit (Promega). We demonstrate that components from chicken egg white smaller than 3 kDa in size are able to function as active ingredients promoting cellular proliferation. This discovery may identify a new and convenient additive for cell culture media to promote cell growth and proliferation.

A corona discharge (CD) ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) made in our laboratory was used for the rapid determination of trace dichlorovos in tea drinks. The drift gas was dry N 2 , and the temperature of the drift tube was 180 °C. Spiked samples with different dichlorovos concentrations were analyzed by the CD-IMS combined with solid phase microextraction. Thermal desorption of the analyte was carried out by inserting the extracting rod directly into the heated drift tube, the detection process was completed within 15 min. This method could be used for the rapid detection of organophosphorus pesticide residues such as dichlorovos and malathion. The detection limit of dichlorovos in tea drinks based on 3 times the baseline noise was 6 μg kg −1 .

TEX86, calculated based on the distribution of isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), is used worldwide for paleotemperature reconstruction in marine and lacustrine environments. Recently, however, increasing evidence showed that TEX86 could be affected by multiple environmental variables. In this study, TEX86 was calculated for core and polar GDGTs obtained from water column and surface sediments in the lower Pearl River and its estuary. Together with previously published core GDGT data from the coastal and open South China Sea (SCS), a comparison was made between TEX86-derived and satellite-based surface water temperature, which showed a TEX86-temperature minimum that is considerably lower than winter satellite temperature in the transitional zone between the Pearl River estuary and the coastal SCS. TEX86 showed significantly positive correlation with GDGT-2 and GDGT-3 in this transitional zone, indicating that they are the primary compounds for the TEX86 bias toward cooler temperature. Lipid and molecular DNA data both indicate that the variation in archaeal community composition rather than water depth or seasonality is likely the crucial factor causing the deviation of TEX86 in the transitional area. Our study has implications for studies in ancient continental margins where unusually low TEX86 temperatures may be observed in the geological record. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The aim of the investigations was to improve the penetration performance and distribution homogeneity of MEFP. Using 3D coupled hydrocode of Ls-dyna, influence of the material and geometric shape of the charge cover on the configuration and velocity of explosively formed projectile (EFP) were analyzed. Also, the influence of bracket’ geometric shape and the arrangement patterns of the charge covers on the distribution characters of MEFP were also studied. On these bases, three different kind of integral multiple explosively formed warheads were proposed and the penetration performance and distribution characters of MEFP were verified by experiments. The results show that: When inner and outer vertex angle of the arc plane charge cover is 130° and 135°, the EFP changes to the long rod type with the length to diameter ratio about 16. The cabochon bracket is helpful for obtaining good EFP configuration and improving the scattering angle and distribution homogeneity of MEFP. The equidistant array pattern is superior to the circular array pattern to obtain the better distribution homogeneity of MEFP.

Among patients with primary lung cancer, 75-80% present with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there is a lack of studies into the potential preventive effects of curcumin against the activation of autophagy in NSCLC. Therefore, the present study primarily focused on the protective role of curcumin in NSCLC. It was demonstrated that curcumin decreased the viability of the human lung cancer cells lines, A549 and H1299, in a time-and dose-dependent manner (P

This paper discusses an optimal algorithm for distributing tyre force by an analytical multiplier penalty function method with which the maneuverability and stability of the four-wheel independent driving vehicles can be improved. Based on hierarchical method, the controller is divided into the upper level and lower level one. In the upper level controller, the yaw moment is calculated by sliding control to track the desired yaw rate. In the lower level controller, the analytical multiplier penalty method is utilized to distribute the yaw moment to tyre forces according with equality constraints of yaw and longitudinal acceleration. Simulation was conducted with Matlab/Simulink and Carsim. Simulation results show that the proposed method is effective.

Voice activation detection is a very important part in speech related domain. The classic voice activation detection normally depends on feature parameters in time or frequency domain, or parameters from statistical model. An improved voice activation detection method based on energy acceleration parameters and support vector machine is proposed in this paper. The energy acceleration parameters are the voice activation detection parameters in ETSI Advanced front-end feature extraction algorithm. The training period of support vector machine is based on energy acceleration parameters and manually appended class labels of each frame. In the detection period, the detection result is derived from energy acceleration parameters and Lagrange parameters calculated from training period. The experimental result shows that the false alarm rate of proposed method is greatly decreased. It has been observed that the voice activation detection proposed is better than the voice activation detection in ETSI Advanced front-end feature extraction algorithm.