Search

Abstract Background Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a common respiratory pathogen affecting the longevity of the elderly and the health of children. However, the human vaccine against MP has not been successfully developed till now due to the poor immunogenicity and side effects of MP inactivated or attenuated vaccine. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a MP genetic engineering vaccine with influenza virus strain as vector. Methods In this study, the major antigen genes P1a of MP adhesion factor P1(3862‐4554 bases) and P30a of P30(49‐822 bases) were inserted into the nonstructural protein (NS) gene of Influenza A virus strain A/Puerto Rio/8/34(H1N1), PR8 for short, to construct the recombinant vectors NS‐P1a or NS‐P30a. The recombinant pHW2000 plasmids containing NS‐P1a or NS‐P30a were cotransfected with the rest 7 fragments of PR8 into HEK293T cells. After inoculating chicken embryos, the recombinant influenza viruses rFLU‐P1a and rFLU‐P30a were rescued. RT‐PCR and sequencing were used to identify the recombinant viruses. The hemagglutination titers of rFLU‐P1a and rFLU‐P30a were determined after five successive generations in chicken embryos so as to indicate the genetic stability of the recombinant viruses. The morphology of recombinant influenza viruses was observed under electron microscopy. Results P1a or P30a was designed to be inserted into the modified NS gene sequence separately and synthesized successfully. RT‐PCR identification of the recombinant viruses rFLU‐P1a and rFLU‐P30a showed that P1a (693 bp), P30a (774 bp), NS‐P1a (1992bp) and NS‐P30a (2073 bp) bands were found, and the sequencing results were correct. After five successive generations, each virus generation has a certain hemagglutination titer (from 1:32 to 1:64), and the band of P1a or P30a can be seen in the corresponding positions. The virus particles under the electron microscope appeared as spheres or long strips connected by several particles, revealing a complete viral membrane structure composed of virus lipid bilayer, hemagglutinin, neuraminidase, and matrix proteins. Conclusion The recombinant viruses rFLU‐P1a and rFLU‐P30a which carried the advantaged immune regions of the P1 and P30 genes in MP were successfully constructed and identified. And the genetic stability of rFLU‐P1a or rFLU‐P30a was relatively high. The typical and complete morphology of influenza virus was observed under the electron microscope. Our research provided a foundation for the further development of MP vaccines for human.

A mixed Laguerre-Legendre spectral collocation schemes is constructed for initial-boundary value problem of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck nonhomogeneous equations and the linear Fokker-Planck homogeneous equation by using the Laguerre interpolation functions in velocity, and the Legendre interpolation functions in time, which is a bivariate Lagrange interpolation approximation function based on Legendre and Laguerre Gauss quadrature notes. The original problem is changed into a matrix equation and solved by Newton iteration. Numerical experiments show that the algorithm has high accuracy and efficiency.

Mechanical force is crucial in the whole process of embryonic development. However, the role of trophoblast mechanics during embryo implantation has rarely been studied. In this study, we constructed a model to explore the effect of stiffness changes in mouse trophoblast stem cells (mTSCs) on implantation: microcarrier was prepared by sodium alginate using a droplet microfluidics system, and mTSCs were attached to the microcarrier surface with laminin modifications, called T(micro). Compared with the spheroid, formed by the self-assembly of mTSCs (T(sph)), we could regulate the stiffness of the microcarrier, making the Young's modulus of mTSCs (367.70 ± 79.81 Pa) similar to that of the blastocyst trophoblast ectoderm (432.49 ± 151.90 Pa). Moreover, T(micro) contributes to improve the adhesion rate, expansion area and invasion depth of mTSCs. Further, T(micro) was highly expressed in tissue migration-related genes due to the activation of the Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK) pathway at relatively similar modulus of trophoblast. Overall, our study explores the embryo implantation process with a new perspective, and provides theoretical support for understanding the effect of mechanics on embryo implantation.

At present, new elements such as distributed new energy and electric vehicles have emerged in the distribution network, which changes the composition of loads, enriches the connotation of loads, and poses severe challenges to load forecasting. In fact, loads are aggregated in a bottom-up manner in multiple voltage levels of the distribution network, but such hierarchical characteristics are rarely considered in current load forecasting researches. Therefore, a multi-level load collaborative forecasting method based on the distributed optimization algorithm is proposed aimed at ensuring the bottom-up aggregation consistency of loads and jointly improving the performance of load forecasting at all levels. First, the distributed optimization concept based on the alternating direction method of multipliers is adopted to construct a multi-level load collaborative forecasting framework which adapts to the hierarchical characteristics of distribution network and has less data interaction. Then, a specific forecasting method based on the long short term-memory neural network and federated learning is proposed. By aggregating the bottom load forecasting results step by step, the bottom-up integrated load forecasting of distribution network can be realized. The results of calculation examples show that the proposed method has a high accuracy and a great application prospect.

Head movement is frequently associated with human motion navigation, and an indispensable aspect of how humans interact with the surrounding environment. In spite of that, the incorporation of head motion and navigation is more often used in the VR (Virtual Reality) environment than the physical environment. This study aims to develop a robot car capable of simple teleoperation, incorporated with telepresence and head movement control for an on-robot real-time head motion mimicking mechanism and directional control, in attempt to provide users the experience of an avatar-like third person’s point of view amid the physical environment. The design consists of three processes running in parallel; Motion JPEG (MJPEG) live streaming to html-Site via local server, Bluetooth communication, and the corresponding movements for the head motion mimicking mechanism and motors which acts in accordance to head motion as captured by the Attitude Sensor and apparent command issued by the user. The design serves its purpose of demonstration with the usage of basic components and is not aimed to provide nor research with regards to user experience.

The nano/micro LiFePO4/C composite was prepared by a wet milling-spray drying-carbothermal reduction process. The structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron scanning microscope(SEM), electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry,AC impedance testing with galvanostatic charge-discharge method to investigate the influence under different spray drying conditions. The results show that the morpholoyy and electrochemical performance are significantly influenced by slurry concentration, inlet temperature and feed rate, while are mildly influenced by nozzle diameter. The morphology of the obtained sample is transformed from bowl-like mesoporous structure to spheres with the decrease of the slurry concentration. With a slurry concentration of 200g/L, an inlet temperature of 200℃, a feed rate of 1.3L/h and a spray nozzle diameter of 0.5mm, the obtained sample has the best electrochemical properties. Under that condition, the discharge capacities at 0.5C and 10C under room-temperature are 160mAh·g-1 and 123mAh·g-1, respectively, and no obvious capacity fading is observed after 100 cycles.

The groundwater samples of Pulau Bidong, Terengganu, Malaysia were collected from five sampling stations from June to October 2016. Physical parameters such as temperature, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, and DO saturation were measured in-situ by using handheld device. Meanwhile, total suspended solid (TSS), total dissolved solid (TDS), nitrate (NO3−), nitrite (NO2−), ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate (PO43−) were analysed and detected using UV–Vis Spectrophotometer. The inorganic nutrients (NO3−, NO2−, NH4+ and PO43−) were ranged from 0.000 to 4.310 mg/L, 0.000 to 0.190 mg/L, 0.000 to 0.807 mg/L and 0.003 to 0.028 mg/L, respectively. The monthly trends of specific conductivity, DO, salinity, DO saturation, NO3−, NO2− and NH4+ demonstrated significant variation in June (the lowest rainfall) compared to other months. Correlation matrix revealed that temperature was associated with the specific conductivity, and NH4+ strongly correlated with DO, NO3− and NO2−. Nevertheless, there is a strong negative correlation between physicochemical parameters and monthly rainfall distribution. Notably, future studies are required for long-term monitoring to ensure the good quality of groundwater from Pulau Bidong. The spatial and temporal variability of the present data has been reported by Tan et al. [1].

Disposal of dredged sediments has recently been linked to environmental and health issues, rather than bringing any economic value to the country. Furthermore, the overexploitation of clay for brick production is destructive to the environment. Hence, it is essential to develop a decisive method to minimize the land and water pollution resulting from improper disposal as well as lessening the consumption of natural resources in the brick production. The key objective of this study is to identify environmental impacts of compressed bricks using Cameron Highlands reservoir sediment to replace clay in the compressed brick. The life cycle assessment is conducted in a cradle-to-gate manner. This study also presents the avoided process of recycled sediments in the life cycle assessment. The damage categories are quantified in terms of human health, ecosystem and resource availability by using ReCiPe Endpoint indicators. According to the results of the life cycle assessment, the compressed sediment brick is favourable from an environmental perspective. In comparison to compressed clay brick, the compressed sediment brick offers promising options for the long-term because it contributes high environmental performance among all the impact and damage categories assessed in this study.

En travaillant sur un corpus d’expressions tirées de la version bilingue (françaischinois) du manuel 《中国文化欣赏读本》, nous voulons, à travers l’analyse des stratégies et des procédés de traductions adoptés pour résoudre les problèmes que posent les différences linguistiques et culturelles, mettre en lumière la spécificité de la traduction des réalités culturelles, et révéler l’intérêt d’une approche bilingue de la culture sur le plan didactique pour la formation à la traduction. Cette formation peut ainsi devenir un apprentissage dynamique de la recherche, libre et cohérente mais jamais close, des correspondances entre les langues

Cyclone separators are considered one of the most common and widely used method of separating solid particles from fluids. The focus of this paper was to design a separator that could effectively improve the air quality of an industrial working environment by considering factors such as the nature of the particles and the restrictions on the device such as size and operating condition. To do so, a sample of the dust sample was studied to determine the characteristics of the aluminum dust. An initial separator model which satisfied the separation condition was developed, and a second model was developed with the goal of optimizing and reducing the overall size of the separator. All models developed were subjected to CFD simulations to analyze the flow patterns, separation rate at various particle diameters as well as comparing against the theoretical predicted values. The simulation results showed how the change in various parameters improved the separation efficiency. The total height of the model was approximately 20% smaller than the initial proposed design to fit into the manufacturer’s workbench while the separation efficiencies improved by an average of 5% to 10% across various particle sizes. The results obtained indicated that the efficiency of the particle collection is dependent on the area of the barrel inlet of the separator and the depth of the vortex finder.

The receptor tyrosine kinase ROR2 mediates noncanonical WNT5A signaling to orchestrate tissue morphogenetic processes, and dysfunction of the pathway causes Robinow syndrome, brachydactyly B, and metastatic diseases. The domain(s) and mechanisms required for ROR2 function, however, remain unclear. We solved the crystal structure of the extracellular cysteine-rich (CRD) and Kringle (Kr) domains of ROR2 and found that, unlike other CRDs, the ROR2 CRD lacks the signature hydrophobic pocket that binds lipids/lipid-modified proteins, such as WNTs, suggesting a novel mechanism of ligand reception. Functionally, we showed that the ROR2 CRD, but not other domains, is required and minimally sufficient to promote WNT5A signaling, and Robinow mutations in the CRD and the adjacent Kr impair ROR2 secretion and function. Moreover, using function-activating and -perturbing antibodies against the Frizzled (FZ) family of WNT receptors, we demonstrate the involvement of FZ in WNT5A-ROR signaling. Thus, ROR2 acts via its CRD to potentiate the function of a receptor super-complex that includes FZ to transduce WNT5A signals.

To prepare ethosomes containing tea tree oil by hot homogenization method and to evaluate its physical characters and in-vitro release pattern. the preformulation studies were carried out by standard procedure. The morphology of globule was studied by optical microscopy. The globule size and zeta potential was determined by Zetasizer, respectively and in-vitro study was done by diffusion method and the drug content was analyzed by HPTLC method. The release kinetics was also studied by fitting into few mathematical models. All the formulations were showed spherical and unilamellar shape with globule size of 931 to 975 nm, the zeta potential in the range of – 40 to -52 mV and entrapment efficiency was 57 to 65 %. Finally the invitro release studies showed the drug release from the ethosomal vesicles was burst release at initial time followed by sustained release over throughout the study. From the above consideration of evaluation studies, the tea tree oil loaded ethosomal formulation F5 shows best globule size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency. The sustained action was confirmed by invitro release studies. All the formulations are followed zero order drug release and diffusion type of mechanism of drug releases with Fickian model. Ethosome loaded tea tree oil could be the best choice for topical application.

Optical microscopy, electron microscopy and physic-chemical phase analysis, in combination with thermodynamic calculations, were used to study precipitates and their precipitation regularity in Ti-microalloyed high-strength steel produced by CSP process. It is found that lots of spherical TiC and Ti(C,N) nanoparticles with a few of irregular shaped Ti4C2S2 above 100 nm in size exist in the steel with a yield strength of 700 MPa. TiN is completely precipitated from the steel before tandem rolling, but TiC mainly precipitates during coiling and cooling. The mass fractions of MC phases in the steel without Mo and the steel containing Mo are 0.049% and 0.043%, respectively. Owing to the addition of molybdenum, the amount of Ti precipitates in the steel containing Mo decreases while the precipitate size becomes smaller. The precipitation strengthening effects of the steel without Mo and the steel containing Mo are 126 MPa and 128 MPa, respectively.

To enable the space manipulator to complete the original task efficiently after any single joint fails, a fault-tolerant path planning method for the manipulator with single joint failure is proposed based on dexterity space in this paper. On the base of solving the degraded workspace, the dexterity space of the manipulator with single joint failure is established by constructing the dexterity index, and then the traditional A* algorithm is improved to complete fault-tolerant path planning in the dexterity space. The correctness and validity of fault-tolerant path planning based on improved A* algorithm are verified by simulating experiments with 7R manipulator.