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Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is produced mainly by activated CD4+ T cells and promotes the proliferation, survival and differentiation of immune cells. This study characterised a high affinity binding receptor of IL-21 (IL-21 Ra) from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella, Ci) and analyzed the expression of CiIL-21 and CiIL-21 Ra. It has been shown that they were modulated by PAMPs and during infection with bacterial and viral pathogens. Recombinant CiIL-21 protein produced in bacteria was active in inducing the expression of genes involved in Th responses. A monoclonal CiIL-21 antibody was generated against the rCiIL-21 and showed good reactive specificity with the rCiIL-21 proteins expressed in E. coli cells, and HEK293 T cells and the native protein from PHA-stimulated kidney leukocytes. In addition, the IL-21-producing cells detected by the CiIL-21 monoclonal antibody were found to be increased to in the kidney, spleen and hindgut after infection with Flavobacterium columnare. Our data indicate that IL-21 is involved in the regulation of immune response to bacterial and viral infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report a piezoelectric phononic crystal plate featuring broadband wave attenuation. In the piezoelectric phononic crystal system, the transmitted elastic wave is attenuated owing to destructive interference by taking advantages of phase difference. The proposed concept is applied to a piezoelectric phononic crystal plate synthesized by functional dual-lane units that yields phase difference. Whereas, the piezoelectric unit-cells are connected negative capacitance shunt circuits individually. Our analysis shows that the coupled phononic crystal has a strong broadband low-frequency wave attenuation capability. The bandwidth of 10 dB wave attenuation is broadened by 34 times in the vicinity of 5 kHz comparing to that of a local resonance metamaterial under the same mechanical configuration. Moreover, the frequency range of wave attenuation of the proposed system can be online adjusted through the modification of the external shunt circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatter and recast layer are main metallurgical defects in laser drilling (LD). Combining jet electrochemical process with laser can minimize such defects. The hybrid process is called electrolysis jet guided laser drilling (EJGLD). The presented experiment results show that the electrolyte jet can guide and transmit laser to the workpiece for drilling; and the electrochemical dissolution can effectively reduce spatter and recast layer. This paper introduces work on how to optimize this hybrid process, in particular, how to set a proper distance between the cathode and workpiece for best efficiency and accura [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the numerically controlled electrochemical contour evolution machining (NC-ECCEM) process the workpiece is machined by a simple, small and non-profiled tool-cathode controlled by a NC system to move along a contour trace to evolve into a desirable shape of surface. This machining technology synthesizes the advantages of both electrochemical machining (ECM) and numerical control (NC) techniques, as well as overcoming their own different disadvantages. The geometric model, the modelling method and its numerical solution, regarding the NC-ECCEM process using a rotary tool-cathode, are introduced in this paper. A series of results similar to the actual experimental results are obtained. The model deduced in this paper is useful for analyzing the NC-ECCEM process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, metamaterials for the applications in low-frequency vibration suppression and noise reduction have attracted numerous research interests. This paper proposes a metamaterial system with local resonators from adjunct unit cells coupled by negative stiffness springs. Frist, a lumped parameter model of the system is developed, and a stability criterion is derived. The band structure of the infinite lattice model is calculated. The result reveals the appearance of extra band gaps in the proposed metamaterial. A parametric study shows that the first extra band gap can be tuned to ultralow frequency by controlling the negative stiffness of the coupling springs. A transmittance analysis of the finite lattice model verifies the predictions obtained from the band structure analysis. Subsequently, the work is extended to a distributed parameter metamaterial beam model with the proposed configuration of coupled local resonators. The stability analysis shows that the infinitely long metamaterial beam becomes unstable as long as the stiffness of the coupling spring becomes negative. For the finitely long metamaterial beam, the stability could be achieved for negative coupling springs of given stiffnesses. The effects of the number of cells and the lattice constant on the system stability are investigated. The transmittance of the finitely long metamaterial beam is calculated. The result shows that due to the restriction on the tunability of negative stiffness for the proposed metamaterial beam, a quasistatic vibration suppression region can only be achieved when the number of cells is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal cancer-related gene 4 (ECRG4) is a candidate tumor suppressor gene, which is involved in cell apoptosis, migration, infection and inflammation responsiveness; however, its expression level and clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In the present study, the authors aim to evaluate the clinical significance and potential role of ECRG4 in HCC. Level of ECRG4 protein expression in HCC and peripheral tissues was investigated in tissue specimens obtained from 56 consecutive HCC patients by immunohistochemistry. Cell proliferation, cell migration and invasion regulations were examined by MTT curves, flow cytometry, Transwell assays and western blotting. ECRG4 expression was weak positive in normal liver cells but was downregulated in HCC cells in vivo or in vitro. A decreased expression of ECRG4 was associated with the age of the patients, metastasis and Ki-67 proliferation index. However, decreased ECRG4 expression was not associated with differentiation, tumor size, the presence of portal vein tumor thrombosis, satellite lesions, tumor relapse or mortality. Further investigations revealed that ectopic expression of ECRG4 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion and promoted cell apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells, which was mediated by the regulation of BAX and B cell lymphoma-2, in addition to the upregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that ECRG4 was downregulated in HCC and served important roles in promoting cell proliferation and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) is a relatively new entity in the spleen, which usually presents in the form of single nodule. Only 5 multifocal SANT cases have been reported in English literature. The present case is the first report of a 38-years-old male patient with SANT in the form of multiple nodules, who has been cured via laparoscope. In comparison to solitary SANT, multifocal SANT occurs more likely in males than females and association with malignant neoplasm has not been described yet. Multifocal SANT as well as solitary SANT show some relationships with IgG4-related sclerosing disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reclaimed water irrigation is one of the potential ways of solving the shortage of water resources, and the pollution risk on migration behavior of heavy metals in the soil which are irrigated by reclaimed water and the related soil surface is still short of research. Through the experimental study of different kinds of water irrigation methods on vegetable, it can be concluded that compared with sewage irrigation and tap water irrigation, reclaimed water irrigation does not pollute the soil, and it greatly saves the cost of water resources, and even provides a large number of growth elements for vegetables. The results show that after leaching by reclaimed water for 60 days, Cr, Cd, As, Hg, Pb, Ni, Zn and Cu from reclaimed water are enriched in soil to a certain degree, but with the leaching time extending, concentrations of the heavy metal remain stable. The variation of heavy metal content in soil irrigated by reclaimed water is small in vertical depth, basically showing a horizontal trend. According to Soil Environmental Quality Standards( GB15618 - 1995), soil irrigated by reclaimed water does not exceed the standard, better than soil quality standard of planting vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials with tunable and high strain sensitivities have a great potential to be used in next generation flexible electronic devices. Conventional methods, which focus on tailoring the material composition to obtain controllable sensitivities, face the issues of complicated fabrication process and instability, restricting their use in real applications. In this work, we propose the idea of tuning the sensitivities through precisely controlled micro-structures. Based on 3D printing technique, we successfully fabricate graphene/polydimethylsiloxane composites with long range ordered porous structures. The resultant composites present tunable and high gauge factors, along with excellent durability. The tunable sensitivity comes from different strain distributions on the composites under stretching, arising from the different micro-structures constructed. Taking full advantage of the composites in terms of sensitivity and durability, we demonstrate the application of the 3D printed porous sensors as wearable human motion detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]