Search

Hybridizing evolutionary algorithms with a support vector regression (SVR) model to conduct the electric load forecasting has demonstrated the superiorities in forecasting accuracy improvements. The recently proposed bat algorithm (BA), compared with classical GA and PSO algorithm, has greater potential in forecasting accuracy improvements. However, the original BA still suffers from the embedded drawbacks, including trapping in local optima and premature convergence. Hence, to continue exploring possible improvements of the original BA and to receive more appropriate parameters of an SVR model, this paper applies quantum computing mechanism to empower each bat to possess quantum behavior, then, employs the chaotic mapping function to execute the global chaotic disturbance process, to enlarge bat's search space and to make the bat jump out from the local optima when population is over accumulation. This paper presents a novel load forecasting approach, namely SVRCQBA model, by hybridizing the SVR model with the quantum computing mechanism, chaotic mapping function, and BA, to receive higher forecasting accuracy. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed SVRCQBA model is superior to other alternative models in terms of forecasting accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the significance of transperineal two-dimensional ultrasound in the diagnosis and classification of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).Methods: A total of 87 preoperative SUI patients (group A) from the Department of Gynecology of Peking University People's Hospital were included into this study. These patients were further divided into two groups (groups A1 and A2) according to the severity of their disease. In addition, during the same period, 72 age-matched women without SUI were enrolled into this study and assigned as the control group (group B). Through transperineal two-dimensional ultrasound technique, detrusor wall thickness (DWT) was measured in the resting state, the bladder neck descent (BND) was measured under the maximal valsalva maneuver, the proximal urethral rotation angle (α angle) and posterior vesicourethral angle (β angle) were measured, and the formation of the funnel-shaped urethra was observed.Results: Under the resting state, differences in DWT between groups A and B, as well as between groups A1 and A2, were not statistically significant (P> 0.05). The BND, α and β angles were significantly larger in group A than in group B under the maximal Valsalva maneuver; and the differences were statistically significant (P< 0.05). The formation rate of the funnel-shaped urethra was significantly higher in group A (94%) than in group B (3%), and the difference was statistically significant; while the difference between groups A1 and A2 was not statistically significant (P> 0.05).Conclusion: Transperineal two-dimensional ultrasound can play an assistant role in the diagnosis of female SUI. However, its role in the assessment of the severity of SUI remains to be studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing nonprecious metal catalysts with high activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) can promote the development of energy conversion devices. Support-free porous Mn2O3 was synthesized by a facile aerosol-spray-assisted approach (ASAA) and subsequent thermal treatment, and exhibited ORR activity that is comparable to commercial Pt/C The catalyst also exhibits notably higher activity than other Mn-based oxides, such as Mn3O4 and MnO2. The rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) study indicates a typical 4-electron ORR pathway on Mn2O3. Furthermore, the porous Mn2O3 demonstrates considerable stability and a good methanol tolerance in alkaline media. In light of the low cost and high earth abundance of Mn, the highly active Mn2O3 is a promising candidate to be used as a cathode material in metal-air batteries and alkaline fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease characterized by fibroblastic foci and progressive scarring of the pulmonary parenchyma. IPF fibroblasts display increased proliferation and enhanced migration and invasion, analogous to cancer cells. This transformation-like phenotype of fibroblasts plays an important role in the development of pulmonary fibrosis, but the mechanism for this is not well understood.Methods: In this study, we compared gene expression profiles in fibrotic lung tissues from IPF patients and normal lung tissues from patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax using a cDNA microarray to examine the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of IPF. In a cDNA microarray, we found that USP13 was decreased in lung tissues from patients with IPF, which was further confirmed by results from immunohistochemistry and western blot assays. Then, we used RNA interference in MRC-5 cells to inhibit USP13 and evaluated its effects by western blot, real-time RT-PCR, bromodeoxyuridine incorporation, and transwell assays. We also used co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence staining to identify the correlation between USP13 and PTEN in IPF.Results: USP13 expression levels were markedly reduced in fibroblastic foci and primary IPF fibroblast lines. The depletion of USP13 resulted in the transformation of fibroblasts into an aggressive phenotype with enhanced proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities. Additionally, USP13 interacted with PTEN and mediated PTEN ubiquitination and degradation in lung fibroblasts.Conclusions: Down-regulation of USP13 mediates PTEN protein loss and fibroblast phenotypic change, and thereby plays a crucial role in IPF pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease characterized by fibroblastic foci and progressive scarring of the pulmonary parenchyma. IPF fibroblasts display increased proliferation and enhanced migration and invasion, analogous to cancer cells. This transformation-like phenotype of fibroblasts plays an important role in the development of pulmonary fibrosis, but the mechanism for this is not well understood. Methods: In this study, we compared gene expression profiles in fibrotic lung tissues from IPF patients and normal lung tissues from patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax using a cDNA microarray to examine the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of IPF. In a cDNA microarray, we found that USP13 was decreased in lung tissues from patients with IPF, which was further confirmed by results from immunohistochemistry and western blot assays. Then, we used RNA interference in MRC-5 cells to inhibit USP13 and evaluated its effects by western blot, real-time RT-PCR, bromodeoxyuridine incorporation, and transwell assays. We also used co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence staining to identify the correlation between USP13 and PTEN in IPF. Results: USP13 expression levels were markedly reduced in fibroblastic foci and primary IPF fibroblast lines. The depletion of USP13 resulted in the transformation of fibroblasts into an aggressive phenotype with enhanced proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities. Additionally, USP13 interacted with PTEN and mediated PTEN ubiquitination and degradation in lung fibroblasts. Conclusions: Down-regulation of USP13 mediates PTEN protein loss and fibroblast phenotypic change, and thereby plays a crucial role in IPF pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Effective environmental data management is meaningful for human health. In the past, environmental data management involved developing a specific environmental data management system, but this method often lacks real-time data retrieving and sharing/interoperating capability. With the development of information technology, a Geospatial Service Web method is proposed that can be employed for environmental data management. The purpose of this study is to determine a method to realize environmental data management under the Geospatial Service Web framework. Methods A real-time GIS (Geographic Information System) data model and a Sensor Web service platform to realize environmental data management under the Geospatial Service Web framework are proposed in this study. The real-time GIS data model manages real-time data. The Sensor Web service platform is applied to support the realization of the real-time GIS data model based on the Sensor Web technologies. Results To support the realization of the proposed real-time GIS data model, a Sensor Web service platform is implemented. Real-time environmental data, such as meteorological data, air quality data, soil moisture data, soil temperature data, and landslide data, are managed in the Sensor Web service platform. In addition, two use cases of real-time air quality monitoring and real-time soil moisture monitoring based on the real-time GIS data model in the SensorWeb service platform are realized and demonstrated. The total time efficiency of the two experiments is 3.7 s and 9.2 s. Conclusions The experimental results show that the method integrating real-time GIS data model and Sensor Web Service Platform is an effective way to manage environmental data under the Geospatial Service Web framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides is one of the most important economic species of marine-cultured fish in China and Southeast Asia countries. However, very little information of the innate immune mechanisms against microbial pathogens is available in grouper, Epinephelus sp. Hepcidin, as an antimicrobial peptide (AMP), is a very important component in the innate immune system and widespread in fish. In this study, two novel types of hepcidin gene (designated EC-hepcidin1 and EC-hepcidin2) were cloned from E. coioides. They consist of open reading frames (ORFs) of 267bp and 263bp encoding the putative peptides of 88 and 87 amino acids, respectively. The homologous identity of deduced amino acid sequences between EC-hepcidin1 and EC-hepcidin2 is up to 79%, and predicted mature regions of both them have four cysteines residues. Genomic DNAs of both EC-hepcidin1 and EC-hepcidin2 consist of three exons and two introns. RT-PCR results showed that EC-hepcidin1 transcript was most abundant in liver and less in stomach. However, the transcript of EC-hepcidin2 was only detected in liver. The expressions of both EC-hepcidins were up-regulated by microbial and viral challenges, and iron overload, respectively, and EC-hepcidin1 was more responsive. The growth of Gram-negative bacterium of Vibrio vulnificus and Gram-positive bacterium of Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited by synthetic EC-hepcidins, and EC-hepcidin1 displayed stronger antimicrobial activity. The replication of Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) was inhibited in the EC-hepcidin1 and EC-hepcidin2 over-expressed stable transfected fish cell lines (GS/pcDNA-Hep1, GS/pcDNA-Hep2) indicative of the antiviral activity of EC-hepcidins. These data should offer important information on the antimicrobial and antiviral roles of EC-hepcidins, and will be help to the better understanding of molecular mechanisms of grouper innate immunity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Melanin has been found to interact with a number of molecules including metal ions, antibiotics and proteins. In this study, we showed how melanin from bacteria can interact with double-stranded DNA. Investigation using capillary electrophoresis, various spectroscopic techniques and circular dichroism found that melanin interacts with DNA by intercalating between the base pairs of DNA. And this was further supported by simulating different forms of melanin docking to oligonucleotides. Transmission electron microscopy of recombinant Escherichia coli producing melanin suggested the interaction in vivo. Furthermore, we showed how the cytoplasmic localization of melanin may provide a novel function in inhibiting cellular metabolism using microcalorimetry. The implications of the interaction in prokaryotes and eukaryotes were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, which is transmitted primarily between fleas and mammals and is spread to humans through the bite of an infected flea or contact with afflicted animals. Hfq is proposed to be a global post-transcriptional regulator that acts by mediating interactions between many regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) and their mRNA targets. Sequence comparisons revealed that Y. pestis appears to produce a functional homologue of E. coli Hfq. Methodology and Principal Findings: Phenotype comparisons using in vitro assays demonstrated that Y. pestis Hfq was involved in resistance to H2O2, heat and polymyxin B and contributed to growth under nutrient-limiting conditions. The role of Hfq in Y. pestis virulence was also assessed using macrophage and mouse infection models, and the gene expression affected by Hfq was determined using microarray-based transcriptome and real time PCR analysis. The macrophage infection assay showed that the Y. pestis hfq deletion strain did not have any significant difference in its ability to associate with J774A.1macrophage cells. However, hfq deletion appeared to significantly impair the ability of Y. pestis to resist phagocytosis and survive within macrophages at the initial stage of infection. Furthermore, the hfq deletion strain was highly attenuated in mice after subcutaneous or intravenous injection. Transcriptome analysis supported the results concerning the attenuated phenotype of the hfq mutant and showed that the deletion of the hfq gene resulted in significant alterations in mRNA abundance of 243 genes in more than 13 functional classes, about 23% of which are known or hypothesized to be involved in stress resistance and virulence. Conclusions and Significance: Our results indicate that Hfq is a key regulator involved in Y. pestis stress resistance, intracellular survival and pathogenesis. It appears that Hfq acts by controlling the expression of many virulence- and stressassociated genes, probably in conjunction with small noncoding RNAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalase or catalase-peroxidase activity commonly exists in many pathogens and plays an important role in resisting the oxidative burst of phagocytes helping the pathogen persistently colonize in the host. Yersinia pestis is a facultative pathogen and the causative agent of plague. KatY has been identified as a thermosensing antigen with modest catalase activity in this pathogen. Here Y. pestis KatA and KatY were experimentally confirmed as a monofunctional catalase and bifunctional catalase-peroxidase, respectively. Their expression induced by H2O2 was proven to be mediated by the oxidative regulator, OxyR. Expression of KatA changed with growth phases and was crucial to its traditional physiological role in protecting Y. pestis cells against toxicity of exogenous H2O2. KatY was regulated by temperature and H2O2, two major elements of phagolysosomal microenvironments. Consistent with the above results, gene expression of katY increased significantly during intracellular growth of Y. pestis compared with that in vitro growth. However, a ΔkatY mutant was fully virulent to mice, suggesting that KatY is not required for Y. pestis virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism that restores pseudospin symmetry (PSS) is investigated under the relativistic Hartree-Fock (RHF) approach, by focusing on the in-medium balance between nuclear attractive and repulsive interactions. It is illustrated that the modelings of both the equilibrium of nuclear dynamics and the in-medium effects can be essentially changed by the ρ-tensor coupling that plays the role almost fully via the Fock terms, from which the model discrepancy on the PSS restoration is verified. Specifically, the largely different density-dependent behaviors of the isoscalar coupling strengths gσ and gω, deduced from the parametrization of the RHF Lagrangian PKA1, play an essential role in restoring the PSS of the high-l' pseudospin doublets around the Fermi levels. Qualitatively, guidance is provided for the modeling of both the equilibrium of nuclear dynamics and the in-medium effects via the PSS restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphor with extremely narrow emission line widths, high brightness, and wide color emission tunability in visible regions is required for display and lighting applications, yet none has been reported in the literature so far. In the present study, single-sized lead halide perovskite (APbX3; A = CH3NH3 and Cs; X = Cl, Br, and I) nanocrystalline (NC) phosphors were achieved for the first time in a one-pot reaction at room temperature (25 °C). The size-dependent samples, which included four families of CsPbBr3 NCs and exhibited sharp excitonic absorption peaks and pure band gap emission, were directly obtained by simply varying the concentration of ligands. The continuity of the optical spectrum can be successively tuned over the entire UV–visible spectral region (360–610 nm) by preparing CsPbCl3, CsPbI3, and CsPb(Y/Br)3 (Y = Cl and I) NCs with the use of CsPbBr3 NCs as templates by anion exchange while maintaining the size of NCs and high quantum yields of up to 80%. Notably, an emission line width of 10–24 nm, which is completely consistent with that of their single particles, indicates the formation of single-sized NCs. The versatility of the synthetic strategy was validated by extending it to the synthesis of single-sized CH3NH3PbX3 NCs by simply replacing the cesium precursor by the CH3NH3X precursor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "The Expression and Role of IL-25 and Its Receptor in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis," by Xuefeng Xu and colleagues is presented.

Supercontinuum (SC) source is a new kind of artificial light source, having the characteristics of both laser and traditional incoherent light source, i.e., high brightness, good direction, and super broadband spectrum. The rapid development of SC source stimulates our concern on its ocular damage potency. However, the damage effects of SC source have never been explored. The retinal damage threshold of chinchilla grey rabbit induced by a Vis-infrared SC source was determined for the first time. Additionally, a theoretical method was also developed for analyzing the hazard risks of SC source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the structural and optical properties of semi-fluorinated bilayer graphene using density functional theory. When the interlayer distance is 1.62 Å, the two graphene layers in AA stacking can form strong chemical bonds. Under an in-plane stress of 6.8 GPa, this semi-fluorinated bilayer graphene becomes the energy minimum. Our calculations indicate that the semi-fluorinated bilayer graphene with the AA stacking sequence and rectangular fluorinated configuration is a nonmagnetic semiconductor (direct gap of 3.46 eV). The electronic behavior at the vicinity of the Fermi level is mainly contributed by the p electrons of carbon atoms forming C=C double bonds. We compare the optical properties of the semi-fluorinated bilayer graphene with those of bilayer graphene stacked in the AA sequence and find that the semi-fluorinated bilayer graphene is anisotropic for the polarization vector on the basal plane of graphene and a red shift occurs in the [010] polarization, which makes the peak at the low-frequency region located within visible light. This investigation is useful to design polarization-dependence optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This meta-analysis aims to determine the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the qualitative diagnosis of metastatic sentinel lymph node (SLN) for patients with breast cancer.Materials and Methods: We screened PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CISCOM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, CBM, and CNKI databases. All analyses were calculated using the STATA software, version 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA). We calculated the summary statistics for sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR + /LR-), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve. Thirteen articles that met all inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis.Results: A total of 876 breast cancer patients were assessed, including 372 patients with metastatic SLN and 504 patients without metastatic SLN. All SLN were histologically confirmed after conducting CEUS. The pooled Sen was 0.80 (95%CI = 0.76-0.84); the pooled Spe was 0.94 (95% CI = 0.91-0.96). The pooled LR + was 6.28 (95%CI = 3.61-10.92); the pooled negative LR - was 0.218 (95% CI = 0.10-0.31). The pooled DOR of CEUS in qualitative diagnosis of SLN metastasis was 49.10 (95% CI = 27.89-86.45). The area under the SROC curve was 0.937 (standard error [SE] =0.0128).Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that CEUS may have high a diagnostic accuracy in testing for metastatic SLN in breast cancer. Thus, CEUS may be a good tool for differential diagnosis between metastatic and non-metastatic SLN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a member of the TNF superfamily, TRAIL could induce human tumor cell apoptosis through its cognate death receptors DR4 or DR5, which can induce formation of the death inducing signaling complex (DISC) and activation of the membrane proximal caspases (caspase-8 or caspase-10) and mitochondrial pathway. Some monoclonal antibodies against DR4 or DR5 have been reported to have anti-tumor activity. Results: In this study, we reported a novel mouse anti-human DR5 monoclonal antibody, named as LaDR5, which could compete with TRAIL to bind DR5 and induce the apoptosis of Jurkat cells in the absence of second crosslinking in vitro. Using computer-guided molecular modeling method, the 3-D structure of LaDR5 Fv fragment was constructed. According to the crystal structure of DR5, the 3-D complex structure of DR5 and LaDR5 was modeled using molecular docking method. Based on distance geometry method and intermolecular hydrogen bonding analysis, the key functional domain in DR5 was predicted and the DR5 mutants were designed. And then, three mutants of DR5 was expressed in prokaryotic system and purified by affinity chromatograph to determine the epitope of DR5 identified by LaDR5, which was consistent with the theoretical results of computer-aided analysis. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated the specific epitope located in DR5 that plays a crucial role in antibody binding and even antineoplastic bioactivity. Meanwhile, revealed structural features of DR5 may be important to design or screen novel drugs agonist DR5 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results presented in this article show that direct plasmid transfer from Escherichia coli carrying shuttle plasmid to Bacillus subtilis occurred when close contact between the two species was established by mixing E. coli and B. subtilis onto selective agar plates. The data demonstrate that the production of resistant colonies by plasmid transformation through cell contact was DNase I sensitive and dependent on transformable B. subtilis strains. Furthermore, another observation indicated that the E. coli strain is able to affect the transformation capability of B. subtilis. It is assumed that the donor strain is a momentous factor for taking up plasmid DNA. This conclusion is significant in the assessment of both the possibility of intercellular DNA transfer in natural habitats of micro-organisms and the risk of the application of genetically engineered micro-organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]