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Three aluminium alloy conductive wires, Al–0·16Sc (wt-%), Al–0·16Zr (wt-%) and Al–0·12Sc–0·04Zr (wt-%) were designed and produced by continuous rheo-extrusion process. The influences of composition and pouring temperature during cast process on the microstructure, mechanical and conductive properties of the wires were studied. Results show that compared with the other two alloys, both mechanical and conductive properties of Al–0·12Sc–0·04Zr alloy after aging treatment was significantly higher: the ultimate tensile strength is 160 MPa and the conductive rate is 66·99% IACS. The optimised pouring temperature during the cast process was 690°C, and the most favourable mechanical and conductive properties were achieved at this temperature owing to the alloy’s smallest grain size.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a multifactorial disorder, and genetic factors act as important contributors to its onset and progression. Inflammation is a key event that is closely associated with the pathophysiology of IS. The association of genetic polymorphisms of inflammatory cytokines with IS remains poorly understood. We investigated the relationship between the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) for IL-4, which is an important biomarker of inflammation, and the risk of IS. To assess the nature of the VNTR polymorphism in IL-4 and identify any links with IS, we recruited 200 subjects from a unique population that has 60% European and 40% East Asian ancestry. The subjects comprised 100 IS patients diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging within 24 h of symptom onset and 100 age-, gender- and ethnicity-matched normal healthy controls. VNTR was identified using high-performance capillary electrophoresis with specially designed tailed primers. The IL-4 VNTR polymorphism was significantly associated with IS after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors (OR = 0.571, 95%CI = 0.330-0.949, P < 0.05). Our data indicate that IL-4 VNTR polymorphism may affect susceptibility to IS in the Chinese Uyghur population. Moreover, total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, waist-to-hip ratio, hypertension, history of heart diseases, and negative events may increase the risk of IS, with a trend for HDL to be a protective factor for IS in the Uyghur population.

As the process of urbanization accelerated, resulting in a large number of abandoned fly ash and construction waste, which have occupied the farmland and polluted the environment. In this paper, a large number of construction waste and abandoned fly ash are mixed into the filling material in goaf, the best formula of the filling material which containing a large amount of abandoned fly ash and construction waste is obtained, and the performance of the filling material is analyzed. The experimental results show that the cost of filling material is very low while the performance is very good, which have a good prospect in goaf.

Solution oscillations, often caused by identical solutions to the homogeneous subproblems, constitute a severe and inherent disadvantage in applying Lagrangian relaxation based methods to resource scheduling problems with discrete decision variables. In this paper, the solution oscillations caused by homogeneous subproblems in the Lagrangian relaxation framework are identified and analyzed. Based on this analysis, the key idea to alleviate the homogeneous oscillations is to differentiate the homogeneous subproblems. A new algorithm is developed to solve the problem under the Lagrangian relaxation framework. The basic idea is to introduce a second-order penalty term in the Lagrangian. Since the dual cost function is no longer decomposable, a surrogate subgradient is used to update the multiplier at the high level. The homogeneous subproblems are not solved simultaneously, and the oscillations can be avoided or at least alleviated. Convergence proofs and properties of the new dual cost function are presented in the paper. Numerical testing for a short-term generation scheduling problem with two groups of identical units demonstrates that solution oscillations are greatly reduced and thus the generation schedule is significantly improved.

Objective: Computer Aided Drug Designing is fast becoming an important tool in Drug discovery, and in the field of anesthetic drug development we are the first to use in silico approaches to look for novel anesthetic compounds. Design: The approach of molecular modeling, Virtual screening, Drug-likeness, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) was employed for this study. Result: Our approach of virtual screening Drug-likeness, adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity analysis of around 50 000 compounds from Inter Bio Screen (IBS) Database have given us top 5 Lead compounds against ASN289 of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA A ) receptor, a common target of known anesthetic compounds. Out of the top 5 Lead compounds one (Lead 5) was selected for further MDS analysis based on its Binding free energy and number of physical interactions with GABA A . Conclusion: The MDS analysis of Lead 5 reveals the complex to be stable and thus suitable for further in vitro and in vivo analysis.

To study the effects of the monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody NP30 active immunization on egg granuloma formation and hepatic fibrosis in Schistosoma japonicum infection.ICR mice were actively immunized with NP30 100 micrograms x 3 i.p. every 10 days while the mice in control group were injected with SP2/0 ascites i.p. simultaneously. After cercariae challenging, the mice were killed at the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th and 24th week, respectively. Mouse livers were removed and stained histochemically with VG and subjected to immunohistochemical assay of collagen type I, III and fibronectin(FN). The volume of egg granulomas and the content of collagen type I, III and FN were determined quantitatively by NYD-1000 Image Analysis System.The volume of egg granulomas in NP30 immunized group was much smaller than that of control group from the 12th week after cercariae challenge. The cellular components of egg granulomas in NP30 immunized group were significantly different from those of the control group, exhibiting two types of atypical egg granulomas were found. VG stain revealed that the average optical density of collagen in hepatic granulomas of experimental group was lower than that of control group. Immunohistochemical assay revealed that the contents of collagen type I, III and fibronectin in egg granulomas of experimental group were lower than those of control group.NP30 vaccination may induce both cellular and humoral protective immunity to modulate egg granulomas and suppress liver fibrosis of schistosomiasis japonica.

To screen the mimic antigen epitopes of the triose phosphate isomerase of Schistosoma japonicum Chinese strain (SjC-TPI) and investigate their immunogenicity.The random phage peptide library (PH.D.-12) was screened with the purified antibody(IgG) against SjC-TPI to get the positive phage which contained the mimic antigen epitopes of SjC-TPI, and the immuno-characterization of the mimic antigen epitopes were investigated.Two mimic antigen epitopes (M1, M2) of SjC-TPI were obtained. The immuno-sera of mice (Kunming strain) against the positive phages could recognize both the SjC-TPI and the protein of the positive phages. The DNA sequencing data showed no homology between the sequences of the deduced amino acid of the two mimic antigen peptides and the amino acid of SjC-TPI.The two mimic antigen epitopes of SjC-TPI obtained are imitative epitopes of the configuration antigen of SjC-TPI.

To construct single chain antibody specific to membrane protein of Schistosoma japonicum by genetic engineering technique.The VH (heavy-chain variable region) and VL(light-chain variable region) genes were amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of NP11-4 cell line, and sequenced by Sanger's method. The ScFv was constructed in pTHA90 vector using VH and VL genes, then expressed by IPTG.The VH and VL genes were obtained through PCR. The DNA sequences showed that VH and VL were new variable region genes of antibody. They were registered by GenBank. A ScFv gene with (Gly4Ser) 3 intralinker in the pTHA90 vector was successfully constructed. The ScFv was expressed as thioredoxin-fused proteins about 36.2 kDa.A specific ScFv against the membrane protein of Schistosoma japonicum was constructed and expressed.

To amplify and sequence the light chain of anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody NP30 of Schistosoma japonicum.By comparing the conserved regions at each end of the nucleotide sequences of murine germ-line genes encoding FR1 and FR4 regions of immunoglobulin light chain variable regions, we designed a set of primers for amplification of VL gene. The hybridoma cells secreting anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody NP30 of Schistosoma japonicum were cultured and their genome DNAs were extracted and used as templates for PCR. The PCR product was then cloned into pUC19 vector. The recombinants were sequenced by Sanger's method. The VL gene was compared with GenBank and published mouse VL genes.The full-length of VL gene was 318 bp. The VL gene was a member of mouse Ig kappa light chain subgroup IV and generated from rearrangement of germ line V and J kappa 4 genes. The VL gene sequence has been registered by GenBank(accession No. AF206720).The obtained VL gene was a potentially functional gene of anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody NP30 of Schistosoma japonicum.

Satellite remote sensing is the latest method of measuring atmospheric CO2, which covers a wide range and makes periodic observation. But due to lack of ground-based observation sites, global satellite observed CO2 column is not evaluated efficiently. This paper assess the applicability of using GEOS-Chem model to forward simulate atmospheric CO2 for verifying Greenhouse Gas Observation SATellite (GOSAT) observed CO2 column. It is shown that GEOS-Chem performs well in modelling atmospheric CO2 and there are generally no significant differences between ground-based observation and model results. According to the comparsion, the spatial and temporal distribution of XCO2 agrees well between GOSAT and GEOS-Chem. GOSAT XCO2 is turned out to be 2.6 ppm lower than the model results. The mean difference observed between GOSAT and GEOS-Chem varies from −1.8 to −3.1 ppm seasonally, with the standard deviation ranging from 1.4 to 2.1 ppm. And in general, the difference is larger in summer than that in winter, in land area than in sea area. It might have been caused by the different land-sea distribution and eco-system's changing with seasons.

Diagnosis is an essential prerequisite for the control programs of schistosomiasis. Chinese scientists have been making efforts for decades towards the development of immunological approach in an attempt to offer alternatives of or supplements to parasitological diagnosis. The authors outline briefly the main advances in the research of immunodiagnosis for schistosomiasis japonica in China in two catalogues: antibody detection and antigen detection. A number of immunodiagnostic assays based on antibody detection, which have been used widely in the control programs in China, are appraised in terms of sensitivity and specificity, and the achievements in the development of immunodiagnostic assays based on antigen detection are introduced. Readers will find some information concerning the efforts so far made by Chinese scientists in the improvement of immunodiagnosis by use of molecular approach, including search for biochemically and/or immunochemically isolated and/or purified antigens, recombinant antigens and anti-idiotypic reagents of diagnostic interest to construct defined antigen-antibody systems for diagnosis, and development of monoclonal antibody-based assays for antibody or antigen detections.

In this study the ability of the monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody NP30 was tested as a substitute of diagnostic antigen in detecting antibody of Schistosoma japonicum from human sera by use of ELISA. The results showed that the seropositive rate was 98% with NP30 in the group of acute infection, which was comparable to 94% with gut associated antigens (GAA) and 98% with the soluble egg antigens (SEA); 87% with NP30 in the group of chronic infection which was comparable to 86% with GAA but lower than that of 98% with SEA. The false positive rate was about 3% for all three diagnostic antigens. The results also showed that the geometric mean titer (GMT) of antibody to NP30 was higher than that to GAA but lower than that to SEA in the acute infection group and the GMT of antibody to NP30 was lower than both those to GAA and to SEA in the chronic infection group, suggesting that the antibody to NP30 appeared earlier and decayed more quickly during the process of infection. The authors suggested that NP30 could be used for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis japonica.

Chinese and Philippine patients exhibited detectable titers of serum antibodies to Schistosoma japonicum worm and egg antigens. Western blot (immunoblot) data revealed differing antigenic profiles. Antigen inhibition studies showed low and high levels of cross-reactivity with anti-worm and anti-egg antibodies, respectively, derived from both Chinese and Philippine patients. Thus, anti-egg antibodies and egg antigens are more conserved than anti-worm antibodies and worm antigens.

A series of human monoclonal antibodies were generated using splenocytes from a Chinese patient with chronic schistosomiasis who had undergone splenectomy as part of a portacaval decompression operation. Splenocytes were transformed in bulk culture by Epstein Barr virus and transformants fused with the HMMA 2.11 TG/O cell line. Twenty individual IgG antiworm and egg antibody-producing hybridomas were generated and screened for antigen reactivity by Western blot and for suppression of antigen-induced blastogenesis of murine splenocytes from Schistosoma japonicum-infected animals. Only one IgG clone significantly suppressed (56% P less than 0.05) soluble egg antigen (SEA)-induced blastogenesis. This human monoclonal antibody bound a 50 kD carbohydrate antigen on Western blot analysis, binding both the adult worm and egg antigens of this parasite. The non-regulatory monoclonal antibodies bound this same molecule present in adult worms but not the corresponding molecule in a preparation of soluble eggs. Thus, specific immunoregulatory epitopes can be identified by human monoclonal antibodies generated from patients with chronic disease.

A hybridoma cell line secreting an IgM monoclonal antibody designated NP30 was obtained from a fusion of SP2/o and spleen cells of a BALB/c mouse chronically infected with schistosoma japonicum for one and a half year and identified by screening with immunized rabbit sera against gut-associated antigen (GAA) and soluble egg antigen (SEA) of S. japonicum, indicating that the NP30 was an anti-anti-antigen or anti-antibody. NP30 was further determined to be an anti-idiotypic antibody (anti-id) which was serologically and functionally identical to GAA, so that it could be portrayed as the internal image of GAA, which might have the potential to be used as an antigenic reagent in immunodiagnostic assays of schistosomiasis japonica.