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Introduction: Natural plants are valuable resources for exploring new bioactive compounds. Artemisia vulgaris L. is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb that has been historically used for treating multiple diseases. Active compounds isolated and extracted from A. vulgaris L. typically possess immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory properties. Artemvulactone E (AE) is a new sesquiterpene lactone isolated and extracted from A. vulgaris L. with unclear biological activities. Methods: The immunoregulatory effects of AE on macrophages were assessed by ELISA, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence, and western blot assay. The effect of AE on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -relates signaling pathways was examined by western blot assay. In zebrafish models, the larvae were yolk-microinjected with LPS to establish inflammation model and the effect of AE was evaluated by determining the survival rate, heart rate, yolk sac edema size, neutrophils and macrophages infiltration of zebrafish. The interaction between AE and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was examined by molecular docking and dynamic stimulation. Results: AE reduced the expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a and IL-6), inflammatory mediators iNOS and COX-2, as well as decreases the production of intracellular NO and ROS in LPS-stimulated macrophages. In addition, AE exerted its anti-inflammatory effect synergistically by inhibiting MAPK/JAK/STAT3-NF-B signaling pathways. Furthermore, AE enhanced the survival rate and attenuated inflammatory response in zebrafish embryos treated with LPS. Finally, the molecular dynamics results indicate that AE forms stable complexes with LPS receptor TLR4 through the Ser127 residue, thus completely impairing the subsequent activation of MAPK-NF-B signaling. Conclusion: AE exhibits notable anti-inflammatory activity and represents as a potential agent for treating inflammation-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided wire localization can be applied to assist to remove suspected breast lesions accurately. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical application value of this technique in Chinese women. Methods: A total of 126 patients (131 lesions) who had underwent such technique in our hospital from April 2017 to June 2023 were enrolled. 1.5T MRI system and a wire localization device were used. Image characteristics, clinical features and postoperative pathology were collected and analyzed. Results: All of 126 patients (131 lesions) were successfully localized by MRI and excised for biopsy. There were 39 malignant lesions (29.77%) and 92 benign lesions (70.23%). There was no significant correlation between the morphology of DCE-MRI and the ratio of malignant lesions (P=0.763), while there was a statistical correlation between the BPE, TIC curve and the malignancy rate (P<0.05). All the lesions were assessed according to BI-RADS category of MRI (C4A=77, C4B=40, C4C=12, C5=2). The malignancy rates were as follows: 16.88% for 4A lesions (13/77), 37.50% for 4B lesions (15/40), 75.00% for 4C lesions (9/12) and 100% for 5 lesions (2/2). There was a significant correlation between the BI-RADS category and the incidence of benign-to-malignant lesions (P<0.001). Conclusion: MRI-guided wire localization can assist to remove suspected breast lesions early, safely and accurately. This technique makes up for the deficiency of X-ray and ultrasound, improves the accuracy of diagnosis and resection therapy in intraductal carcinoma and early invasive carcinoma, and helps to improve the the prognosis of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural frequency and dynamic stiffness under transient loading are two key performances for structural design related to automotive, aviation and construction industries. This article aims to tackle the multi-objective topological optimization problem considering dynamic stiffness and natural frequency using modified version of bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO). The conventional BESO is provided with constant evolutionary volume ratio (EVR), whereas low EVR greatly retards the optimization process and high EVR improperly removes the efficient elements. To address the issue, the modified BESO with variable EVR is introduced. To compromise the natural frequency and the dynamic stiffness, a weighting scheme of sensitivity numbers is employed to form the Pareto solution space. Several numerical examples demonstrate that the optimal solutions obtained from the modified BESO method have good agreement with those from the classic BESO method. Most importantly, the dynamic removal strategy with the variable EVR sharply springs up the optimization process. Therefore, it is concluded that the modified BESO method with variable EVR can solve structural design problems using multi-objective optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) hold great promise in enhancing transportation operations and roadway capacity. However, there is still limited guidance in the field of highway capacity analysis to help agencies account for the potential benefits. This paper investigates the impact of CAVs on the capacity of two-way-stop-controlled (TWSC) intersections and quantifies capacity adjustments under different CAV scenarios. An isolated TWSC intersection is considered in this research to analyze the CAV impacts on various intersection movement capacities under different CAV market penetration rates (MPRs) and conflict flow rates (CFRs). To model CAVs, cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) is considered because it directly impacts the vehicle’s longitudinal car-following behavior and therefore the capacity. Additionally, enhanced gap-acceptance behavior based on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication is included because it can benefit minor road movements via advanced notifications. This paper collects data from customized, well-calibrated TWSC simulation models constructed in commercially available software. The results show that with the increase in MPRs, CAVs can substantially enhance the capacity of the stop or yield controlled movements, and the improvement is more significant under low CFR scenarios. CAVs can also reduce the followup headway and thus improve the potential capacity based on the existing HCM TWSC capacity estimation method. Finally, based on the data collected from the simulation, a capacity adjustment factor (CAF) table is proposed for HCM implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering is the property of INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the agricultural region of the Xiliao River Plain, drip irrigation under mulch has been widely implemented. It not only saves irrigation water, but also changes the structure of the underlying surface of agricultural land, which affects the local hydrological cycle to a certain extent, and makes the process of nitrogen transportation in soil with new characteristics. This study analyzed the distribution of NH4-N, NO3-N, and NO2-N in different soil depths during the whole growth period under three underlying surface conditions, including drip irrigation under mulch, border irrigation, and bare area through field in-situ observation experiment, and analyzed the influence of drip irrigation under mulch on nitrogen transport in deep soil layers. The results showed that under the soil properties of the experimental area, drip irrigation under mulch creates more water to enter the deep soil layers, which was beneficial to alleviate the downward trend of local groundwater level to a certain extent. The average content of NH4-N and NO3-N under drip irrigation under mulch was higher than that under border irrigation. The average content of NH4-N under drip irrigation under mulch was 1.24 mg.kg-1 in soil depths of 80-300 cm, and 0.97 mg.kg-1 under border irrigation. The average content of NO3-N under drip irrigation under mulch was 2.73 mg.kg-1 in soil depths of 80-300 cm, and 1.99 mg.kg-1 under border irrigation. The increment of NH4-N and NO3-N distribution in deep soil layers under drip irrigation under mulch was greater than that under border irrigation, and the increment of NO3-N content is significantly greater than that under border irrigation. Soil water content has a significant impact on the contents of NH4-N and NO3-N. It indicated that compared with traditional border irrigation, drip irrigation under mulch was beneficial to alleviate the downward trend of local groundwater, but it would increase the risk of nitrogen pollution in local groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) are expected to transform future transportation systems. Over time, these vehicles might enhance traffic efficiency and safety, especially at urban intersections. Therefore, it is essential to make adaptations to the traffic analysis models that are currently designed for human-driven vehicles only. This paper aims to assess the impact of CAVs on the entry capacity of roundabouts and develop an approach to adjust the capacity values calculated by the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) for planning level analysis. Both single- and double-lane roundabouts are studied under various CAV market penetration rates and conflict flow rates in this paper. A specific CAVapplication, cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC), is evaluated in this study because it enhances the car-following behavior at the roundabout entrance and has the best potential for improving the entry capacity. The simulation results indicate that the introduction of CAVs can substantially improve the entry capacity as the market penetration rate increases for both singleand double-lane roundabouts. The capacity improvement is more significant in the single-lane roundabout than in the double-lane roundabout. The capacities under different CAV market penetration rates and conflict flow rates are calculated and compared with the capacity results estimated from base models in the HCM to acquire the adjustment factors. Finally, a table of capacity adjustment factors is provided for the future implementation of HCM models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will potentially improve transportation system performance. Guidance on the capacity impact of CAVs at different market penetration rates (MPRs) will help agencies to incorporate the effects of CAVs when planning and designing roadways. Traditionally, practitioners have used the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) to assess capacity and evaluate the quality of service for various facilities and systems. Although several studies have provided insight into the capacity benefits of CAVs, there is a need for quantified CAVeffects that can be used to develop HCM guidance. In this study, the capacity benefits of CAVs at signalized intersections were estimated, and capacity adjustment factors (CAFs) were developed for the HCM. The researchers considered variations in CAV gap/headway settings, platoon lengths, turning movement types (through and left), and left-turn phasing modes (protected versus permitted). Microscopic traffic simulation was used to model CAVs. The results showed that performance indicators such as saturation headway gradually improved with increases in CAV MPR, resulting in up to 40% capacity increase at 100% MPR for the protected movements. For permitted left turns, up to 45% capacity increase could be achieved at 100% MPR. This increase in permitted left-turn capacity can be attributed to vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, which provides advanced information on available gaps in conflicting traffic and reduced follow-up headway time both for permitted left turns and the opposing through movement. Based on the capacity results, this study provides CAF tables for CAVs that can be easily integrated into the HCM and used for planning-level guidance by practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel time to a destination is a key piece of information that motorists desire. Traditionally, transportation agencies collect traffic state information with costly measurement sensors. In the last decade, private sector data, as an emerging data source, has been gradually adopted by many public agencies for performance measurement and travel time provision, mostly on freeways. Agencies have also used data from infrastructure sensors and floating cars to validate the quality of the private sector data on both freeways and arterials under different conditions. Although freeway data quality has been validated by many studies, nonfreeway travel time data have been considered unreliable, particularly when the segment is congested and high-density signals exist. In recent years, data vendors started to provide high-resolution travel time data, which are provided on much shorter segments than conventional traffic message channels (TMC). This study investigates the data quality of this new data source for providing travel times on nonfreeways. It evaluates the selected private sector data on nonfreeways by using floating car and Wi-Fi travel time data as the ground truth. The results show that the new private sector data on nonfreeways are generally acceptable for segments with low and moderate congestion. With higher congestion, the data quality is site-dependent. A neural network model is proposed to implicitly identify the error of a site and provide enhanced travel times. It is recommended that these new data should be validated for the deployment sites due to the site-dependent errors, and advanced data modeling techniques can be used to compensate for such errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovation and development of manufacturing supply chain alliance is an important way for enterprises to meet the increasing market demand and maintain the competitive advantage. From the perspective of embeddedness, the research model of relation embeddedness on innovation performance of manufacturing supply chain was constructed based on AMOS. Shared mental model was selected as intermediary variable to study the influence of relation embeddedness, shared mental model and innovation performance of manufacturing supply chain alliances. Expert fuzzy rule based system is utilized for measuring the performance of manufacturing supply chain alliances. The conclusion shows that relation embeddedness is significantly positive shared mental model and innovation performance. Shared mental model is positively affects alliance innovation performance and plays a part of intermediary role between relational embedding and alliance innovation performance. Practice implicates that enhance the level of relation embeddedness can promote the formation of shared mental model and improve the innovation performance of manufacturing supply chain alliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epidemic of novel coronavirus disease was first reported in China in late December 2019 and was brought under control after some 2 months in China. However, it has become a global pandemic, and the number of cases and deaths continues to increase outside of China. We describe the emergence of the pandemic, detail the first 100 days of China’s response as a phase 1 containment strategy followed by phase 2 containment, and briefly highlight areas of focus for the future. Specific, simple, and pragmatic strategies used in China for risk assessment, prioritization, and deployment of resources are described. Details of implementation, at different risk levels, of the traditional public health interventions are shared. Involvement of society in mounting a whole country response and challenges experienced with logistics and supply chains are described. Finally, the methods China is employing to cautiously restart social life and economic activity are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected-and-automated vehicles (CAV) hold the potential for substantial improvements to traffic safety, travel time reliability, driver comfort, roadway capacity, environmental impacts, and users' overall travel experience. Numerous modeling and simulation studies have been conducted to evaluate these impacts. However, model accuracy and simulation assumptions limit the validity of evaluation results. These factors have resulted in the wide range of differences in effectiveness among studies examining the same CAVapplications available in the literature. In this study, we propose a bundled CAVapplication that involves platoons of equipped vehicles governed by an integrated set of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC), cooperative merge, and speed harmonization applications. We implemented the bundled application in a fleet of five vehicles at the Saxton Transportation Operations Lab of the Federal Highway Administration. Experiments were conducted to collect and compare data on CAV and human-driven behavior. Based on the real experimental data, our results show that the performance of the CAV operations, including platooning and cooperative merging under varying Infrastructure-to-vehicle speed commands, demonstrate string stability. The results also present key behavioral parameters of the vehicles and strings. This will eventually help the research community, particularly the modelers, to come up with models with realistic performance to further understand the CAV impacts on traffic. The results can also serve as references for transportation agencies to make informed decisions on infrastructure and traffic management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With ongoing changes in the age distribution of drivers in the United States, it is important to obtain insights on how to make the roadways equally safe for drivers across different age groups. In light of this, the objective of this study is to examine various crash characteristics and make recommendations on how to potentially improve roadway safety for all age groups. Using the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) data, this study investigates the factors influencing motor-vehicle crash injury severity for young (aged 16-25), middle-aged (aged 26-64), and older drivers (above 64) in the state of California. A multinomial logit model was used to separately model crashes involving each age group and to evaluate the weight of different predictor variables on driver injury severity. The predictor variables were classified into four--driver, roadway, accident and environmental characteristics. Results suggest that there are close relationships between severity determinants for young and middle-aged drivers. However, older drivers tend to be most cautious among all age groups under all environmental and roadway conditions. Young drivers are more likely to explore their driving skills due to newness to driving. Middle-aged drivers are familiar with driving and tend to demonstrate less cautious behaviors, especially male drivers. Another insight obtained from this study is that older driver behavior is less dynamic compared to other age groups; their driving pattern is usually regular regardless of the surrounding conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaggregate choice models have been widely studied to quantify the influence of the characteristics of travelers as well as the attributes of alternatives and choices in their travel modes. However, due to their model specifications and primary assumptions on unobserved disturbances, their modeling capability is constrained. In this study, a Markov Logic Network (MLN)-based approach is developed to combine bounded rationality principles with travelers' behavior in travel mode choices. This approach is established based on logical domain knowledge and probabilistic models. MLN can extract logical domain knowledge and represent the impacts of significant attributes using independent logical formulas that are weighted correspondingly by their relative relationships. Travel-mode choice is determined based on travelers' personal preferences and logical domain knowledge. The numerical examples and parameter sensitivity analyses indicate this approach performs reasonably well. The research findings are helpful to better understand travel mode-choice model specifications and travel behavior interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive traffic-signal control (ATSC) is a traffic management strategy in which traffic-signal timings change, or adapt, based on observed traffic demand. Although ATSC can improve mobility, it also has the potential to reduce crashes because mainline stops should be reduced. This paper aims to evaluate the safety effectiveness of ATSC using the empirical Bayes method. This analysis examines 47 urban or suburban intersections where ATSC was deployed in Virginia using 235 site-years of before data and 66 site-years of after data. Installing ATSC was found to produce a crash modification factor (CMF) for total intersection crashes of 0.83 with a standard error of 0.05. This CMF was statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level. Fatal and injury crashes did not change by a statistically significant amount, indicating that the primary safety benefit of ATSC was reduction in property damage crashes. Analyses of ATSC safety effects by crash type, by traffic volume level, and by operational improvement magnitude were also performed. All crash types were found to be reduced, but safety benefits varied from corridor to corridor and by volume levels. It was concluded that ATSC installation can potentially reduce total crashes at highway intersections and that public agencies should consider ATSC’s safety and mobility benefits when justifying ATSC projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the in-service performance of the InSync adaptive signal control (ASC) system utilizing field data collected from the private sector travel time vendor INRIX. A total of six corridors in Virginia were tested, with extensive data collected over 6 months. The measurements of effectiveness (MOEs) adopted are mainline delay savings and travel time reliability measurements (95th percentile travel time and buffer index). All the before-and-after MOEs were compared using t-tests, and the Pearson correlation of the MOEs with respect to various quantitative site-specific factors was assessed to determine if effectiveness could be tied to specific site characteristics. The results indicate that the adaptive signal control system generally reduces delay by about 25% and improves travel time reliability by about 16%. The performance of ASC system is affected by site-specific factors, like annual average daily traffic, signal density, and access point density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disease surveillance systems can be extremely valuable tools and a critical step in system implementation is data collection. In order to obtain quality data efficiently and align the public health business process, Epidemiologic Dynamic Data Collection platform (EDDC) was developed and applied in China. We describe the design of EDDC and assess the platform from six dimensions (service, system, information, use, users and benefit) under the DeLone and McLean Information System Success Model. Objective indicators were extracted from each dimension with the aim of describing the system in detail. The characteristics of functions, performances, usages and benefits of EDDC were reflected under the analysis framework. The limitations and future directions of EDDC are offered for wide use in public health data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) exhibit functional abnormalities in the context of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The microRNAs (miRNAs) are identified as the key modulators in Tregs. This study was to explore whether the expression profiles of miRNAs of Tregs were different in HCC-activated Tregs and whether Foxp3 had special effects on them. Methods: We isolated HCC-activated Tregs from mice bearing HCC and compared the expression profiles of miRNAs between HCC-activated Tregs and control Tregs by microarray. RNA interference against Foxp3 was also performed through transfection of synthetic siRNAs to Tregs for analyzing the effect of Foxp3 on the expression of miRNAs. Tregs isolated from HCC patients (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 7) were used for validation of the differentially expressed miRNAs. Finally, bioinformatic analysis was applied to infer their possible roles. Results: We found nine specifically altered miRNAs in HCC-activated Tregs from the murine model. After transfection with siRNAs against Foxp3, control Tregs showed obvious reduction of Foxp3 and five miRNAs were significantly changed; HCC-activated Tregs exhibited a slight reduction of Foxp3 with three miRNAs significantly changed. Tregs from HCC patients and healthy controls finally confirmed the up-regulation of four miRNAs (hsa-miR-182-5p, hsa-miR-214-3p, hsa-miR-129-5p and hsa-miR-30b-5p). Following bioinformatic analysis suggested these altered miRNAs would target eight important signaling pathways that could affect the functions of Tregs. Conclusions: Our studies provided the first evidence that Tregs in HCC had the specifically altered expression of miRNAs, which was affected by Foxp3. These results are useful both in finding new biomarkers and in further exploring the functions of Tregs in HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) exhibit functional abnormalities in the context of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The microRNAs (miRNAs) are identified as the key modulators in Tregs. This study was to explore whether the expression profiles of miRNAs of Tregs were different in HCC-activated Tregs and whether Foxp3 had special effects on them. Methods: We isolated HCC-activated Tregs from mice bearing HCC and compared the expression profiles of miRNAs between HCC-activated Tregs and control Tregs by microarray. RNA interference against Foxp3 was also performed through transfection of synthetic siRNAs to Tregs for analyzing the effect of Foxp3 on the expression of miRNAs. Tregs isolated from HCC patients (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 7) were used for validation of the differentially expressed miRNAs. Finally, bioinformatic analysis was applied to infer their possible roles. Results: We found nine specifically altered miRNAs in HCC-activated Tregs from the murine model. After transfection with siRNAs against Foxp3, control Tregs showed obvious reduction of Foxp3 and five miRNAs were significantly changed; HCC-activated Tregs exhibited a slight reduction of Foxp3 with three miRNAs significantly changed. Tregs from HCC patients and healthy controls finally confirmed the up-regulation of four miRNAs (hsa-miR-182-5p, hsa-miR-214-3p, hsa-miR-129-5p and hsa-miR-30b-5p). Following bioinformatic analysis suggested these altered miRNAs would target eight important signaling pathways that could affect the functions of Tregs. Conclusions: Our studies provided the first evidence that Tregs in HCC had the specifically altered expression of miRNAs, which was affected by Foxp3. These results are useful both in finding new biomarkers and in further exploring the functions of Tregs in HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly frequent extreme weather disasters caused by global climate change have attracted more attention to adverse weather's effect on infrastructure systems. This paper aims to establish an integrated approach to assessing adverse weather's effect on urban rail transit facilities and to provide decision makers with a powerful tool to analyze potential risks and allocate limited sources for risk management. First, fault tree analysis is used to understand where the risks are, how the risks will occur, and what factors have the most significant effects by analyzing all possible basic events. All wind-, rain-, and snow-related adverse weather, along with human-related factors (construction leftover problems and design drawbacks), are found to potentially cause great risks. Adverse impact scenarios are summarized based on the fault tree analysis. Next, an analytic hierarchical process (AHP)-based fuzzy synthetic evaluation model is established to assess the risk level based on an evaluation index system. AHP is used to calculate the weights between the indices for each adverse weather factor. A fuzzy synthetic evaluation process is then carried out to identify the risk level of an evaluation target, an urban rail transit station, or line section. A case study on the Beijing URT Line 8 Olympic Center Station is conducted to illustrate the process of evaluation. The results show that the risk level is high and it becomes acceptable only after countermeasures are taken. Potential countermeasures regarding facility capacity, protection area management, and monitoring/inspection are then briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A total of 131 cases of avian-originated H7N9 infection have been confirmed in China mainland from February 2013 to May 2013. We calculated the overall burden of H7N9 cases in China as of 31 May 2013 to provide an example of comprehensive burden of disease in the 21st century from an acute animal-borne emerging infectious disease. Design: We present an accurate and operable method for estimating the burden of H7N9 cases in China. The main drivers of economic loss were identified. Costs were broken down into direct (outpatient and inpatient examination and treatment) and indirect costs (cost of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and losses in the poultry industry), which were estimated based on field surveys and China statistical year book. Setting: Models were applied to estimate the overall burden of H7N9 cases in China. Participants: 131 laboratory-confirmed H7N9 cases by 31 May 2013. Outcome measure: Burden of H7N9 cases including direct and indirect losses. Results: The total direct medical cost was ¥16 422 535 (US$2 627 606). The mean cost for each patient was ¥10 117 (US$1619) for mild patients, ¥139 323 (US$22 292) for severe cases without death and ¥205 976 (US$32 956) for severe cases with death. The total cost of DALYs was ¥17 356 561 (US $2 777 050). The poultry industry losses amounted to ¥7.75 billion (US$1.24 billion) in 10 affected provinces and ¥3.68 billion (USD$0.59 billion) in eight non-affected adjacent provinces. Conclusions: The huge poultry industry losses followed live poultry markets closing down and poultry slaughtering in some areas. Though the proportion of direct medical losses and DALYs losses in the estimate of H7N9 burden was small, the medical costs per case were extremely high (particularly for addressing the use of modern medical devices). A cost-effectiveness assessment for the intervention should be conducted in a future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine (SLC) is a key CC chemokine for chemotaxis of immune cells and has been an attractive candidate for anti-tumor treatments. However, among the immune cells recruited by SLC to tumors, the CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) compromise the anti-tumor effects. In this study, we proposed the combination therapy of intratumoral co-administration of SLC and anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). We hypothesized that the intratumoral injections of SLC and depletion of Tregs would have stronger inhibition effects for the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in mice. Methods C57BL/6 mice were inoculated subcutaneously with the murine HCC cell line, and mice with visible tumors were treated intratumorally with SLC, SLC plus anti-CD25 mAbs or the control antibodies. The percentages of Tregs, effector CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells were checked in the tumors, lymph nodes, spleen and liver at regular intervals. The levels of intratumoral IL-12, IFN-γ, IL-10 and TGF-β1 were evaluated. The final anti-tumor effects were measured by the tumor volume and weight as well as the intratumoral activity of MMP2 and MMP9. Bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells were used to explore the mechanisms of maturation induced by SLC in vitro. Results Our experiments showed the combination therapy significantly decreased the frequency of Tregs, and increased CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells at tumor sites. These alterations were accompanied by an increased level of IL-12 and IFN-γ, and decreased level of IL-10 and TGF-β1. Unexpectedly, we observed a significantly decreased percentage of Tregs, and increased CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells in the lymph nodes, spleen and liver after the combination therapy. The growth and invasiveness of HCC was also maximally inhibited in the combination therapy compared with the SLC alone. Furthermore, we confirmed SLC induced the maturation of DCs via NF-κB p65 and this maturation would benefit the combination therapy. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that intratumoral co-administration of SLC and anti-CD25 mAbs was an effective treatment for HCC, which was correlated with the altered tumor microenvironment and systemically optimized percentages of Tregs, CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells in peripheral immune organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tropical Medicine & International Health is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Varifocal lenses have been promptly developed but show many shortcomings in the area of artificial pupils, such as rigid frames, prestress and large structures. This paper presents an entirely soft varifocal lens to adapt to the increasingly ingenious soft robotic structures. Such a varifocal lens is mainly composed of a PDMS frame, a liquid dielectric and a pair of flexible electrodes. The stable focal length of the lens varies from 533.5 to 49.4 mm by applying DC voltages from 3 to 12 kV. Surprisingly, a novel ‘jump’ phenomenon is found in the varifocal lens at the moment of power-on. Then, the varifocal effects are studied under alternating voltages with a square wave, a triangle wave or a sine wave. The varifocal range remains basically stable after repeated cycles under alternating voltages. As the frequency increases, the range of the focal length change also gradually decreases and becomes more stable. As a result, the stable focal length of the lens is able to vary as wide as from 690.3 to 24.5 mm by applying square waveform voltages from 1 to 8 kV at a frequency of 10 Hz. The proposed lens is simple, thin and flexible, which is expected to develop the artificial eyes of soft robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally and theoretically investigate the Rydberg six-wave mixing (SWM) process in 85Rb atomic vapor. Through comparing the center frequency positions of resonant Rydberg SWM signals with different atomic densities, atomic levels induced by van der Waals interaction are observed. Meanwhile, such SWM process which is sensitive to blockade can be modulated by the self-dressing effect and/or external dressing effect. In addition, the Rydberg eight-wave mixing process can be obtained if the power of the external dressing field is low. Such blockaded multi-wave mixing process has potential applications in multi-channel quantum information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]