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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of human serum albumin (hsa)_circular (circ)_0000711 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Circular ribonucleic acids (circRNAs) are proven in numerous studies to play crucial role in tumor biology, but their roles in HCC remain unknown to a great extent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The circRNA expression profile microarray was employed to screen differentially expressed circRNAs in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues from HCC patients, and Reverse Transcription-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was performed for further verification. Next, the target micro RNAs (miRNAs) and their messenger RNAs (mRNAs) of key circRNAs were predicted by bioinformatics software, and a circRNA-miRNA- mRNA regulatory network was constructed. Subsequently, KEGG and GO enrichment analyses were applied to predict the possible biological processes regulated by hsa_circ_0000711 and relevant signaling pathways. The miRNAs playing a key role in the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network were then selected as the objects, and their direct binding to hsa_ circ_0000711 was confirmed via luciferase reporter gene assay. Thereafter, hsa_circ_0000711 was overexpressed or knocked out, and the biological function of hsa_circ_0000711 was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, apoptosis detection, and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining assay in vitro. RESULTS: The results of expression profile screening revealed that there was a significant difference in the expression profile of circRNAs between tumor tissues and adjacent tissues in HCC patients. Based on the circRNA expression profile and RT-qPCR results, the expression level of hsa_circ_0000711 was overtly reduced in HCC tissues. In addition, miR-103a- 3p had the highest eigenvector centrality in the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network, suggesting that miR-103a-3p is a vital participant in the pathological mechanism of hsa_ circ_0000711. The KEGG enrichment analysis results pointed out that the target genes regulated by hsa_circ_0000711 were clearly enriched in the tumor-associated signaling pathways. Besides, the results of GO enrichment analysis demonstrated that the biological processes regulated by hsa_circ_0000711 were mainly related to cell cycle regulation, so cell proliferation might be affected. The results of luciferase reporter gene and RT-qPCR assays showed that hsa_circ_0000711 directly bound to has-miR-103a-3p to serve as a molecular sponge. The results of CCK-8 and EdU staining assays revealed that the proliferation of hepatoma cells in hsa_circ_0000711 overexpression group was evidently enhanced. In addition, it was further found via flow cytometry that the apoptosis rate of cells was significantly raised in hsa_circ_0000711 low-expression group and dramatically declined in hsa_circ_0000711 overexpression group. CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of hsa_ circ_0000711 promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of hepatoma cells via targeting has-miR-103a-3p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the tracking coordination of a linear switched reluctance machine (LSRM) network based on a global feedback control strategy with a full-state observation framework. The observer is allocated on the follower instead of the leader to form a leader--follower--observer network, by utilizing the leader as the global feedback tracking controller and the observer as the observation of the full states. The internal model compensator (IMC) is applied to the leader for the improvement of the network performance. The full-state information of the LSRM network is reconfigured by the output of the LSRM where the observer is located to provide necessary feedback information to the leader. Then, the controllability and observability of the leader--follower--observer network with the IMC are inspected, serving as a basis for the design of the global controller with the IMC and full-state observer. Experimentation verifies the effectiveness of the proposed network control scheme and the results demonstrate that both the absolute and the relative accuracy can be simultaneously improved, compared to the LSRM network with only the consensus algorithm and no global feedback mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fuzzy position controller is employed for the linear switched reluctance motor. Performance comparison between the fuzzy controller and a proportional-differential (PD) controller is carried out. Under the PD controller, the absolute steady-state error is 44.5 ~211.5 μm under normal condition and 1157–1212 μm under sustained time-variant disturbance circumstance, respectively. The absolute steady-state error of 3 μm and 9 μm can be achieved under the fuzzy controller in the normal and sustained disturbed circumstance. Experimental results demonstrate that the position tracking performance from the proposed algorithm is superior to the conventional PD control strategy, both in normal circumstance and disturbance environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a distributed, coordinated motion control network based on multiple direct-drive, linear switched reluctance machines (LSRMs). A hierarchical, two-level synchronization control strategy is proposed for the four LSRMs based motion control network. The high-level, reference signals agreement algorithm is first employed to correct the asynchronous behaviors of the position commands. Then, the low-level tracking synchronization method is applied for the collaborative position control of the four LSRMs. The proposed two-level, fault-tolerant control strategy eliminates the asynchrony of the reference signals and it also guarantees the coordinated tracking control performance of the four LSRMs. Experimental results demonstrate that effective coordinated tracking control can be ensured, based on the successful agreement of reference signals and an absolute tracking error falling within 2 mm can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A direct-drive generator based on linear switched reluctance principle is investigated for wave energy utilization. Integrated with the sensorless technique, the direct-drive generator has the characteristics of low cost and robustness, and the power generation control system is especially suitable for the operation under hostile working environments since restrictions of physical sensors are eliminated. Simulation analysis based on the finite element methods (FEM) and joint simulation are carried out for performance analysis of the power generation control system, including position estimation, open loop turn-on and turn-off position optimization and closed loop current regulation. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the position estimation scheme for the sensorless, linear switched reluctance generator based power generation control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) have potential in solving the icing of aircraft, high-voltage overhead transmission lines, and other power network devices exposed to the air. For this reason, we wish to establish the relationship between microstructure and the adhesion work by thermodynamic method, also for analysis of the relationship between the hydrophobicity and icephobicity (or anti-icing). Therefore, respectively considering Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel states, such relationship was theoretically established based on one/two-step surface model, enlightened by natural and artificial SHS. Among it, how to obtain the adhesion work of icing per unit ice-solid interface is the key to this study. Followed by it, hydrothermal experiment, chemical deposition, and etching methods were performed to verify our theoretical results. •How to model for the SHS based on the natural and artificial SHS;•Computation for adhesion work (w aw ) per unit area of a water droplet-SHS interface;•Computation for adhesion work (w ai ) per unit area of a frozen water droplet-SHS interface;•Computation for reduced adhesion work (w a2 ) after icing;•Hydrothermal experiment, chemical deposition and etching methods were used for validation of modeling.

Objective: To investigate the value of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) in the differential diagnosis and blood perfusion evaluation of benign and malignant hepatic lesions. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for 86 patients (96 lesions) with pathologically or clinically confirmed hepatic lesions or hepatic lesions diagnosed based on follow-up results, among whom 48 had malignant lesions (53 lesions) and 38 had benign lesions (43 lesions). The patients underwent conventional magnetic resonance (MR) plain scan, contrast-enhanced scan, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with different b values (b = 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1 000, and 1 200 s/mm 2 ) to determine the parameters of the double exponential model for intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM): fast diffusion coefficient Dfast, slow diffusion coefficient Dslow, and percentage of fast-diffusion constituent F value. The patients were divided into groups according to the blood supply to lesions on conventional MR plain scan and contrast-enhanced scan, and there were 47 lesions in abundant blood supply group and 49 in poor blood supply group. The data for analysis were Dfast, Dslow, and F values of benign/malignant lesion groups and abundant/poor blood supply groups. The independent samples t-test was used for statistical analysis; the independent samples non-parametric test Mann-Whitney U test was used for the comparison of F value; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the value of above parameters in the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions and blood supply evaluation. Results: Compared with the malignant lesion group, the benign lesion group had significantly higher Dslow, and F values ( P < 0.001 or P = 0.001) and a higher Dfast value ( P = 0.053). Compared with the poor blood supply group, the abundant blood supply group had significantly higher Dfast and F values ( P < 0.001 or P = 0.001) and a higher Dslow value ( P = 0.185). According to the ROC curve, the cut-off values of Dslow, Dfast, and F values in the diagnosis of benign/malignant hepatic lesions and evaluation of abundant/poor blood supply were 1.18×10 -3 mm 2 /s, 27.20×10 -3 mm 2 /s, 20.25%, 1.17×10 -3 mm 2 /s, 20.30×10 -3 mm 2 /s, and 17.80%, respectively, with sensitivities, specificities, accuracy, and areas under the ROC curve of 90.69%/92.45%/91.66%/0.938, 46.51%/73.58%/61.45%/0.589, 74.41%/50.94%/62.50%/0.653, 59.57%/57.14%/58.33%/0.559, 55.32%/63.26%/59.37%/0.618, and 93.61%/89.79%/90.62%/0.961, respectively. Conclusion: The parameter of the double exponential model for IVIM, Dslow value, has a certain value in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant hepatic lesions, and F value can show blood perfusion in benign and malignant hepatic lesions without the need for contrast-enhanced scan, which provides a reference for the qualitative diagnosis of liver tumor.