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Introduction Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for various diseases worldwide, including pancreatic exocrine diseases such as pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer (PC). Currently, few studies have examined the impact of smoking cessation on the likelihood of common pancreatic exocrine diseases. This study sought to determine whether smoking cessation would reduce pancreatitis and PC morbidity. Methods This cohort study used data from the UK Biobank (UKB) to examine the association between smoking status and the likelihood of pancreatitis and PC among 492855 participants. The subjects were divided into never smokers, ex-smokers, and current smokers. Using a multivariate-adjusted binary logistic regression model, we analyzed the relationship between different smoking conditions and the likelihood of pancreatitis and PC. Further, we studied the impact of smoking cessation on pancreatitis and PC compared with current smoking. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, current smokers had higher odds for acute pancreatitis (AP) (AOR=1.38; 95% CI: 1.18–1.61), chronic pancreatitis (CP) (AOR=3.29; 95% CI: 2.35–4.62) and PC (AOR=1.72; 95% CI: 1.42–2.09). People who quit smoking had comparable odds for the diseases as those who never smoked. Compared with current smokers, ex-smokers had reduced odds for AP (AOR=0.76; 95% CI: 0.64–0.89), CP (AOR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.21–0.46), and PC (AOR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.50–0.76). Subgroup analysis revealed reduced odds for these pancreatic diseases in males and females. Conclusions Smokers have an increased odds for pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Moreover, smoking cessation can significantly reduce the odds for acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

Abstract Novel therapeutic strategies that can effectively combine with immunotherapies are needed in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We demonstrate that combined PARP and WEE1 inhibition are synergistic in controlling tumour growth in BRCA1/2 wild-type TNBC preclinical models. The PARP inhibitor (PARPi) olaparib combined with the WEE1 inhibitor (WEE1i) adavosertib triggered increases in anti-tumour immune responses, including STING pathway activation. Combinations with a STING agonist resulted in further improved durable tumour regression and significant improvements in survival outcomes in murine tumour models of BRCA1/2 wild-type TNBC. In addition, we have identified baseline tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels as a potential predictive biomarker of response to PARPi, WEE1i and immunotherapies in BRCA1/2 wild-type TNBC.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health issue. We offer a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of HBV, which can be successfully controlled with vaccine and treatment. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes a significantly more severe and protracted disease compared to hepatitis A. While it initially presents as an acute disease, in approximately 5 to 10% of cases, it can develop into a chronic disease that causes permanent damage to the liver. The hepatitis B virus can remain active outside the body for at least seven days. If the virus penetrates an individual's body without immunization, it may still result in infection. Upon exposure to HBV, the symptoms often last for a duration ranging from 10 days to 6 months. In this study, we developed a new model for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) that includes asymptomatic carriers, vaccination, and treatment classes to gain a comprehensive knowledge of HBV dynamics. The basic reproduction number [Formula: see text] is calculated to identify future recurrence. The local and global stabilities of the proposed model are evaluated for values of [Formula: see text] that are both below and above 1. The Lyapunov function is employed to ensure the global stability of the HBV model. Further, the existence and uniqueness of the proposed model are demonstrated. To look at the solution of the proposed model graphically, we used a useful numerical strategy, such as the non-standard finite difference method, to obtain more thorough numerical findings for the parameters that have a significant impact on disease elimination. In addition, the study of treatment class in the population, we may assess the effectiveness of alternative medicines to treat infected populations can be determined. Numerical simulations and graphical representations are employed to illustrate the implications of our theoretical conclusions.

Abstract Most existing visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms rely heavily on the static world assumption. Combined with deep learning, semantic SLAM has become a popular solution for dynamic scenes. However, most semantic SLAM methods show poor real-time performance when dealing with dynamic scenes. To handle this problem, a real-time semantic SLAM method is proposed in this paper, combining knowledge distillation and dynamic probability propagation strategy. First, to improve the execution speed, a multi-level knowledge distillation method is adopted to obtain a lightweight segmentation model, which is more suitable for continuous frames to create an independent semantic segmentation thread. This segmentation thread only accepts keyframes as input so that the system can avoid time delay caused by processing each frame. Second, a static semantic keyframe selection strategy is proposed based on the segmentation results. In this way, those keyframes containing more static information will be selected to reduce the participation of dynamic objects. By combining segmentation results and data matching algorithm, our system can realize the update and propagation of dynamic probability, reducing the influence of dynamic points in the pose optimization process. Validation results based on the KITTI and TUM datasets show that our method can effectively deal with dynamic feature points and improve running speed simultaneously.

Purpose: The present retrospective study aimed to explore the relationship between pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in the population cohort of the UK Biobank (UKB) ( https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk ). Methods: From the 500 thousand population cohort of UKB, according to the age and gender of patients with pancreatic cancer 1:10, matching the control without pancreatic cancer, the binary Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, and subgroup analyses were used to identify potential effect modifiers. Results: A total of 1538 patients with pancreatic cancer were compared with 15 380 controls. In the fully adjusted model, patients with pancreatitis had a significantly increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with no pancreatitis. The risk of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer increased with the age of pancreatitis, and the risk of pancreatic cancer was highest in the 61 to 70 age group. In addition, in the first 3 years of acute pancreatitis, the risk of pancreatic cancer increased significantly with the increase in the duration of the disease (odds ratio [OR] 29.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.34-51.93), after 3 years, the trend of increase decreased. After more than 10 years, there was no significant correlation between the risk of acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. However, patients with chronic pancreatitis were significantly associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer only in the first 3 years (OR 28.14, 95% CI: 14.86-53.31). Conclusion: Pancreatitis may associate with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. The older the age of pancreatitis, the higher the risk of pancreatic cancer. The risk of pancreatic cancer increases significantly in the first 3 years of the course of pancreatitis. This may provide an alternative strategy for the early identification of individuals at high risk of pancreatic cancer.

Traditional optical motion capture (OMC) with retroreflective markers is commonly used to measure joint kinematics but was also reported with unavoidable soft tissue artifacts (STAs) when quantifying the motion of the spine. Additionally, the patterns of the STA on the lumbar spine remain unclear. This study aimed to 1) quantify the in vivo STAs of the human lower back in three-dimensional directions during weight-bearing forward–backward bending and 2) determine the effects of the STAs on the calculated flexion angles between the upper and lower lumbar spines and adjacent vertebrae by comparing the skin marker (SM)- and virtual bone marker (VM)-based measurements. Six healthy volunteers were imaged using a biplanar radiographic system, and thirteen skin markers were mounted on every volunteer’s lower back while performing weight-bearing forward–backward bending. The STAs in the anterior/posterior (AP), medial/lateral (ML), and proximal/distal (PD) directions were investigated. The flexion angles between the upper and lower lumbar segments and adjacent intervertebral segments (L2–L5) throughout the cycle were calculated. For all the participants, STAs continuously increased in the AP direction and exhibited a reciprocal trend in the PD direction. During flexion, the STA at the lower lumbar region (L4–L5: 13.5 ± 6.5 mm) was significantly higher than that at the upper lumbar (L1–L3: 4.0 ± 1.5 mm) in the PD direction (p < 0.01). During extension, the lower lumbar (L4–L5: 2.7 ± 0.7 mm) exhibited significantly less STAs than that exhibited by the upper lumbar region (L1–L3: 6.1 ± 3.3 mm) (p < 0.05). The STA at the spinous process was significantly lower than that on both sides in the AP direction (p < 0.05). The present results on STAs, based on dual fluoroscopic measurements in healthy adult subjects, presented an anatomical direction, marker location, and anatomic segment dependency, which might help describe and quantify STAs for the lumbar spine kinematics and thus help develop location- and direction-specific weighting factors for use in global optimization algorithms aimed at minimizing the effects of STAs on the calculation of lumbar joint kinematics in the future.

Abstract Background Metastatic breast cancer remains incurable. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) offers the ability to identify actionable genomic alterations in tumours which may then be matched with targeted therapies, but the implementation and utility of this approach is not well defined for patients with metastatic breast cancer. Methods We recruited patients with advanced breast cancer of any subtype for prospective targeted NGS of their most recent tumour samples, using a panel of 108 breast cancer-specific genes. Genes were classified as actionable or non-actionable using the European Society of Medical Oncology Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets (ESCAT) guidelines. Results Between February 2014 and May 2019, 322 patients were enrolled onto the study, with 72% (n = 234) of patients successfully sequenced (n = 357 samples). The majority (74%, n = 171) of sequenced patients were found to carry a potentially actionable alteration, the most common being a PIK3CA mutation. Forty-three percent (n = 74) of patients with actionable alterations were referred for a clinical trial or referred for confirmatory germline testing or had a change in therapy outside of clinical trials. We found alterations in AKT1, BRCA2, CHEK2, ESR1, FGFR1, KMT2C, NCOR1, PIK3CA and TSC2 to be significantly enriched in our metastatic population compared with primary breast cancers. Concordance between primary and metastatic samples for key driver genes (TP53, ERBB2 amplification) was > 75%. Additionally, we found that patients with a higher number of mutations had a significantly worse overall survival. Conclusion Genomic profiling of patients with metastatic breast cancer can have clinical implications and should be considered in all suitable patients.

Abstract Background Dental caries in primary teeth is a serious oral health concern among children. It can lead to detrimental impacts on a child’s growth, development, and quality of life. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to examine the prevalence of dental caries and its associations with nutritional status, sugar and second-hand smoke exposure among pre-schoolers. Methods A total of 26 pre-schools in Seremban, Malaysia were randomly selected using the probability proportional to size sampling. Dental examination was performed by a dentist to record the number of decayed teeth (dt). Weight and height of the pre-schoolers were measured. The mother-administered questionnaire was used to gather information pertaining to the sociodemographic characteristics and second-hand smoke exposure. Total sugar exposure was calculated from a 3-day food record. Results Among the 396 participating pre-schoolers, 63.4% of them had at least one untreated caries, with a mean ± SD dt score of 3.56 ± 4.57. Negative binomial regression analysis revealed that being a boy (adjusted mean ratio = 1.42, 95% CI = 0.005–0.698, p = 0.047), exposed to second-hand smoke (adjusted mean ratio = 1.67, 95% CI = 0.168–0.857, p = 0.004) and those who had more than 6 times of daily total sugar exposure (adjusted mean ratio = 1.93, 95% CI = 0.138–0.857, p = 0.013) were significantly associated with dental caries among pre-schoolers. Conclusion A high prevalence of dental caries was reported in this study. This study highlights the need to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke and practice healthy eating behaviours in reducing the risk of dental caries among pre-schoolers.

This study aimed to compare the in-vivo kinematics and articular contact status between medial-pivot total knee arthroplasty (MP-TKA) and posterior stabilized (PS) TKA during weight-bearing single-leg lunge. 16 MP-TKA and 12 PS-TKA patients performed bilateral single-leg lunges under dual fluoroscopy surveillance to determine the in-vivo six degrees-of-freedom knee kinematics. The closest point between the surface models of the femoral condyle and the polyethylene insert was used to determine the contact position and area. The nonparametric statistics analysis was performed to test the symmetry of the kinematics between MP-TKA and PS-TKA. PS-TKA demonstrated a significantly greater range of AP translation than MP-TKA during high flexion (p = 0.0002). Both groups showed a significantly greater range of lateral compartment posterior translation with medial pivot rotation. The contact points of PS-TKA were located significantly more posterior than MP-TKA in both medial (10°–100°) and lateral (5°–40°, 55°–100°) compartments (p < 0.0500). MP-TKA had a significantly larger contact area in the medial compartment than in the lateral compartment. In contrast, no significant differences were observed in PS-TKA. The present study revealed no significant differences in clinical outcomes between the MP and PS groups. The PS-TKA demonstrated significantly more posterior translations than MP-TKA at high flexion. The contact points are located more posteriorly in PS-TKA compared with MP-TKA. A larger contact area and medial pivot pattern during high flexion in MP-TKA indicated that MP-TKA provides enhanced medial pivot rotation.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by decreased synaptic transmission and cerebral atrophy with appearance of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Cognitive, functional, and behavioral alterations are commonly associated with the disease. Different pathophysiological pathways of AD have been proposed, some of which interact and influence one another. Current treatment for AD mainly involves the use of therapeutic agents to alleviate the symptoms in AD patients. The conventional single-target treatment approaches do not often cause the desired effect in the disease due to its multifactorial origin. Thus, multi-target strategies have since been undertaken, which aim to simultaneously target multiple targets involved in the development of AD. In this review, we provide an overview of the pathogenesis of AD and the current drug therapies for the disease. Additionally, rationales of the multi-target approaches and examples of multi-target drugs with pharmacological actions against AD are also discussed.

Clinical practise in the ageing population is changing from organ-specific specialty care to holistic care. This is done through comprehensive geriatric assessment and multi-disciplinary team management. Hence, we adopted an approach consisting of multi-professional teachers teaching a Healthcare of Elderly Course (HEC), in a public university in Malaysia. We aimed to analyze the students' attitude, self-perceived competency and interest in geriatric medicine as a career before and after the course. We also investigated variables that might influence this interest among these students. All 96 students in the course were invited to participate in the survey. Sixty-eight (70.8%) completed both pre and post-course questionnaires. Although most students (93%) have a positive attitude (University of California at Los Angeles Geriatric Attitude Scale >3) toward older adults at baseline, it did not significantly increase post-course. We found that the mean scores for self-perceived competency increased from 3.62 (±0.76) to 3.81 (±0.56) post-course (p < 0.01). However, the students remained neutral with no significant change in the mean interest in pursuing a geriatric medicine career after the course. Students with higher self-perceived competency post-course were found to be more interested in geriatric medicine (β = 0.56, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the HEC in our centre could sustain a positive attitude and increase self-perceived competency in students. It is important to increase the preparedness of our graduates in managing older adults with frailty and multimorbidity. Future studies may involve inter-professional education of students from multiple disciplines undergoing the same course to nurture real-life collaborations in managing the ageing population.

Background The medial-pivot (MP) prosthesis was developed to produce more physiological postoperative knee kinematics and better patient satisfaction than traditional prostheses, but outcomes are inconsistent in different studies of Caucasian patients. This study aimed to investigate the postoperative patient satisfaction and in vivo knee kinematics of the MP and posterior-stabilized (PS) prosthesis during gait activity in Chinese patients.Methods A retrospective analysis of 12 patients was received for this study in each MP group and PS group. Patient-reported satisfaction level and Forgotten Joint Score (FJS) were evaluated with questionnaires. A dual fluoroscopic imaging system was used to investigate in vivo knee kinematics of MP and PS total knee arthroplasty (TKA) during treadmill walking at a speed of 0.4 m/s.Results Comparable promising patient satisfaction and overall FJS (MP 60.7 ± 15.35 vs. PS 51.3 ± 17.62, p = 0.174) were found between the MP and PS groups. Peak flexion appeared at around 70% of gait cycle with values of 52.4 ± 7.4° for MP and 50.1 ± 3.6° for PS groups (no difference). Both groups maintained a stable position at the stance phase and began to translated anteriorly at toe-off with an amount of 4.5 ± 2.3 mm in the MP and 6.6 ± 2.7 mm in the PS (p = 0.08) group until late swing. The range of this external rotation motion was 5.9 ± 4.8 and 6.2 ± 4.1° (p = 0.79) for the MP and PS, respectively.Conclusion A similar knee kinematics pattern characterized by a loss of early-stance knee flexion and femoral rollback during walking was observed in the MP and PS TKAs. Our study confirmed similar effectiveness of MP TKA compared to PS TKA in Chinese patients, while the change of knee kinematics of both implants during slow walking should be noted.

The non-toxic biologic material of expanded corn starch (ECS)-supported nitric acid (ECS-HNO3 and ECS-NH2-HNO3) has been prepared via simple procedures. Both the materials are used as heterogeneous catalysts for the selective aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) with an up to 98% yield in γ-butyrolactone (GBL, a bio-based green solvent) containing as little as 10% (v/v) acetic acid (AcOH) after less than 5 h under ambient pressure of dioxygen at 50 oC. The ECS-NH2-HNO3 proved to be more stable than ECS-HNO3 and was repeatedly used five times with almost no change in its catalytic performance.

To achieve the goal of “carbon peak, carbon neutralization”, the proportion of renewable energy access will continue to increase, which will bring a severe test to the balance adjustment ability of the new power system, and the demand for flexible adjustment and real-time balance of the power system will continue to increase. However, pumped storage power stations and grid-side energy storage facilities, which are flexible peak-shaving resources, have relatively high investment and operation costs. 5G base station energy storage to participate in demand response can share the cost of energy storage system construction by power companies and communication operators to achieve a win-win situation between the communication system and the power system. Based on the analysis of the feasibility and incremental cost of 5G communication base station energy storage participating in demand response projects, combined with the interest interaction mechanism of all parties in the project, this paper proposes a business model for 5G energy storage to participate in the grid collaboration and interaction to improve the profit model of various market players, thereby promoting the penetration rate of the project.

MEK inhibition in breast cancer is associated with increased tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), however, MAPK activity is required for T cells function. Here the authors show that TILs activity following MEK inhibition can be enhanced by agonist immunotherapy resulting in synergic therapeutic effects.

Abstract In this paper, we consider a free boundary problem describing the invasion of a generalist predator into a prey population. We analytically derive the conditions guaranteeing the existence and uniqueness of the classical solution by means of the Schauder fixed point theorem, and further study the long-time behaviours of these two species. Finally, we numerically investigate the dynamical behaviour during the early invasion stage. Numerical results show that generalist predators are more likely to succeed in alien invasion by reducing the threshold size of the spatial domain of initial invasion, below which invasion fails.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002204.].

BackgroundUnderstanding the cancer genome is seen as a key step in improving outcomes for cancer patients. Genomic assays are emerging as a possible avenue to personalised medicine in breast cancer. However, evolution of the cancer genome during the natural history of breast cancer is largely unknown, as is the profile of disease at death. We sought to study in detail these aspects of advanced breast cancers that have resulted in lethal disease.Methods and findingsThree patients with oestrogen-receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer and one patient with triple negative breast cancer underwent rapid autopsy as part of an institutional prospective community-based rapid autopsy program (CASCADE). Cases represented a range of management problems in breast cancer, including late relapse after early stage disease, de novo metastatic disease, discordant disease response, and disease refractory to treatment. Between 5 and 12 metastatic sites were collected at autopsy together with available primary tumours and longitudinal metastatic biopsies taken during life. Samples underwent paired tumour-normal whole exome sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. Subclonal architectures were inferred by jointly analysing all samples from each patient. Mutations were validated using high depth amplicon sequencing. Between cases, there were significant differences in mutational burden, driver mutations, mutational processes, and copy number variation. Within each case, we found dramatic heterogeneity in subclonal structure from primary to metastatic disease and between metastatic sites, such that no single lesion captured the breadth of disease. Metastatic cross-seeding was found in each case, and treatment drove subclonal diversification. Subclones displayed parallel evolution of treatment resistance in some cases and apparent augmentation of key oncogenic drivers as an alternative resistance mechanism. We also observed the role of mutational processes in subclonal evolution. Limitations of this study include the potential for bias introduced by joint analysis of formalin-fixed archival specimens with fresh specimens and the difficulties in resolving subclones with whole exome sequencing. Other alterations that could define subclones such as structural variants or epigenetic modifications were not assessed.ConclusionsThis study highlights various mechanisms that shape the genome of metastatic breast cancer and the value of studying advanced disease in detail. Treatment drives significant genomic heterogeneity in breast cancers which has implications for disease monitoring and treatment selection in the personalised medicine paradigm.

The effect of different fruit bags on the content of chlorophyll and carotenoids in the fruit peel of Chinhuang mango during normal storage and after-ripening process was studied. The results showed that the content of chlorophyll and carotenoid in the bag was significantly lower than that of the control fruit. The skin color of the white paper bag fruit and the no bagged bag fruit was green during the green ripening process, while the outer yellow inner black paper bag fruit showed a yellow green halo. When ripe, the control fruit is yellowish green and orange red. The white paper bag fruit is greenish orange yellow, and the outside yellow inside black composite paper bag fruit is golden yellow.

Acupuncture is increasingly used to manage high blood pressure (BP) as a complementary therapy. However, the mechanisms underlying its hypotensive effects remain unclear. Our previous studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) at the ST36-37 acupoints, overlying the deep peroneal nerve, attenuates pressor responses through adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR) in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (rVLM). However, it is uncertain whether rVLM A2AR contributes to EAs BP-lowering effect in sustained hypertension. We hypothesized that a course of EA treatment lowers BP, in part, through the activation of adenosine A2AR in the rVLM in hypertensive rats. To mimic essential hypertension in the clinic, we performed EA in conscious Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats (DSHRs). EA (0.1-0.4 mA, 2 Hz) was applied at ST36-37 for 30 min twice weekly for four weeks, while sham-EA was conducted in a similar manner but without electrical input. In hypertensive rats, BP was reduced by EA (n = 14) but neither by sham-EA (n = 14) nor in the absence of needling (n = 8). Following four weeks of eight treatments and then under anesthesia, EAs modulatory effect on elevated BP was reversed by unilateral rVLM microinjection of SCH 58261 (1 mM in 50 nl; an A2AR antagonist; n = 7; P

Elevated sympathetic activity and chronic inflammation are known contributory factors observed in hypertension. We have observed that sympathoinhibitory electroacupuncture (SI-EA) at acupoints ST36-37 alleviates sympathetic activity and hypertension. Additionally, EA at acupoints SP6-7 exerts anti-inflammatory (AI-EA) effects. However, it is not known whether simultaneous stimulation of this combination of acupoints attenuates or enhances individual effects. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test the hypothesis that combining SI-EA and AI-EA (cEA) leads to greater reduction of hypertension by decreasing sympathetic activity and inflammation in hypertensive rats than either set of acupoints alone. Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive (DSSH) rats were treated with four EA regimens including cEA, SI-EA, AI-EA, and sham-EA twice weekly for five weeks. A group of normotensive (NTN) rats served as control. Systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured non-invasively by tail-cuff. Plasma norepinephrine (NE), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations were determined with ELISA at the completion of treatments. DSSH rats on high salt diet progressively developed moderate hypertension within five weeks. DSSH rats treated with sham-EA showed continuous increase in SBP and DBP and elevations in plasma NE, hs-CRP, and IL-6 levels relative to NTN control. Both SI-EA and cEA decreased SBP and DBP, and had corresponding changes in biomarkers (NE, hs-CRP, and IL-6) compared with sham-EA. AI-EA prevented SBP and DBP elevation and decreased IL-6 and hs-CRP relative to sham-EA. Importantly in DSSH rats that received repetitive cEA treatment, SI-EA interacted positively with AI-EA leading to greater reduction of SBP, DBP, NE, hs-CRP, and IL-6 than SI-EA or AI-EA alone. These data suggest that by targeting both elevated sympathetic activity and chronic inflammation, cEA regimen results in a greater reduction of BP effects in treating hypertension compared to using individual SI-EA or AI-EA alone.

This paper presents the analysis and design of a smart battery management system for Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based portable electronic devices. It is a novel concept of incorporating the functionality of a smart battery management system into the FPGA used by portable electronic devices, which provides the following advantages. (1) It lowers cost since the conventional commercial independent battery management circuit can be eliminated; (2) It offers more flexibility because FPGA based battery management algorithms can be specifically designed for different battery chemistries of different devices and can provide the flexibility of algorithms and functionalities updating as well. Smart battery management system concepts include four aspects: (1) smart charging; (2) battery balancing; (3) smart discharging; and (4) safety operating. One novel charging algorithm, which combines the merits of multistage charging and pulse charging, is proposed to charge a Li-ion battery pack smartly. A Proportional Integral (PI) control method is introduced to achieve the current control of charging circuit with considerable close loop stability. Simulation results from the PSIM 9.0.4 software package and experimental results from the prototype built in the lab are demonstrated to verify the effectiveness of smart charging. The realizations of battery balancing, smart discharging, and safety operating are also briefly described by taking advantage of the proposed FPGA based smart battery management system topology, which verify the feasibility of the proposed FPGA based smart battery management system for portable electronic devices.

We construct an operator R whose restriction onto weighted pluriharmonic Bergman Space bμ2(Bn) is an isometric isomorphism between bμ2(Bn) and l2#. Furthermore, using the operator R we prove that each Toeplitz operator Ta with radial symbols is unitary to the multication operator γa,μI. Meanwhile, the Wick function of a Toeplitz operator with radial symbol gives complete information about the operator, providing its spectral decomposition.

This paper is concerned with a reaction-diffusion equation which describes the dynamics of single bacillus population with free boundary. The local existence and uniqueness of the solution are first obtained by using the contraction mapping theorem. Then we exhibit an energy condition, involving the initial data, under which the solution blows up in finite time. Finally we examine the long time behavior of global solutions; the global fast solution and slow solution are given. Our results show that blowup occurs if the death rate is small and the initial value is large enough. If the initial value is small the solution is global and fast, which decays at an exponential rate while there is a global slow solution provided that the death rate is small and the initial value is suitably large.