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Background. Previously, we have reported that IL-33 functioned as a protective modulator in dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced chronic colitis by suppressing Th17 cell response in colon lamina propria and IL-33 induced both regulatory B cells (Bregs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) of mice with DSS-induced acute colitis. Moreover, we speculated that IL-33 would promote the Treg or Breg responses leading to the attenuation of DSS-induced chronic colitis. So, we investigated the role of IL-33 on Bregs and Tregs in the MLN of DSS-induced chronic colitis mice. Methods. IL-33 was administered by intraperitoneal injection to mice with DSS-induced chronic colitis. Clinical symptoms, colon length, and histological changes were determined. The production of cytokines was measured by ELISA. The T and B cell subsets were measured by flow cytometry. The expression of mRNA of transcription factors was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Results. We show that IL-33 treatment increases both Breg and Treg responses in the MLN of mice with DSS-induced chronic colitis. Moreover, IL-33 treatment also decreases Th17 cell response in the MLN of mice with DSS-induced chronic colitis. Conclusion. Our data provide clear evidence that IL-33 plays a protective role in DSS-induced chronic colitis, which is closely related to increasing Breg and Treg responses in the MLN of mice as well as suppressing Th17 cell responses.

The major drawback of the differential chaos shift keying (DCSK) system is that equal time and energy are spent on the reference and data signal. This paper presents the design and performance analysis of a short reference multifold rate DCSK (SRMR-DCSK) system to overcome the major drawback. The SRMR-DCSK system is proposed to enhance the data rate of the short reference differential chaos shift keying (SR-DCSK) system. By recycling each reference signal in SR-DCSK, the data slot carries N bits of data and by P times. As a result, compared with SR-DCSK, the proposed system has a higher data transmission rate and evaluates the energy efficiency with respect to the conventional DCSK system. To further improve the bit-error-rate (BER) performance over Rayleigh fading channels, the multiple-input single-output SRMR-DCSK (MISO-SRMR-DCSK) is also studied. The BER expression of the proposed system is derived based on Gaussian approximation (GA), and simulations in Rayleigh fading channels are performed. Simulation results show a perfect match with the analytical expression.

An open slot antenna with extended bandwidth for WLAN and UWB applications is proposed. The radiating structure is composed of a rectangular microstrip patch antenna exciting an L-shaped slot etched on the ground plane. The feed position is optimized to get better impedance match for the higher range of the UWB spectrum, while a step in the slot, realized in the ground plane, is employed to extend the lower limit of the bandwidth so as to cover the 2.4 GHz WLAN frequency band. Using these design solutions the antenna bandwidth is successfully extended to 140% so as to cover both the WLAN and the UWB spectrum.

Under the constraints of limited spaces and imbalanced traffic volumes (for both in and out directions) of container gates, reversible lane layouts become an economical and practical way to improve the service level of container terminal systems and make the maximum use of the current terminal resources. Together with a consideration of minimized total costs (both construction and operating) of terminal gate system, this paper first developed an optimization model to decide the number and scheduling rules of the reversible lanes at a terminal gate. A metaheuristic algorithm was built to solve the optimal model. Meanwhile, to reflect the randomness and dynamics property of the terminal gate system in practice, parameters that cannot be calculated from conventional analytic methods are obtained through a simulation model. Finally, a hub container terminal in the northeast of China was employed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and provide a theoretical foundation for the construction and management of terminal gate systems., 1. Introduction With the continuous increase of containers' throughput, terminal gates have become the bottleneck of restricting the development of container terminals. Container trucks frequently queue up and wait for [...]

Qingxin kaiqiao fang (QKF), a traditional Chinese medicine compound, has been applied to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) for many years and has exhibited remarkable effects. However, the underlying mechanism is still not explicit. The current study aims to investigate whether QKF exerts an antiapoptotic role through the p38 MAPK pathway in the course of AD. Network pharmacology analysis was applied to study the effective components, possible therapeutic targets, and AD-related pathway of QKF. Further, the AD cell model was established using amyloid-beta (Aβ)25-35 peptide and primary hippocampal neuronal cells extracted from newborn Sprague-Dawley rats. Microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) imaging was used to detect the morphology of hippocampal neurons. Western blot (WB) analysis was applied to detect the protein expression levels of p38 MAPK, p-p38 MAPK, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assays, respectively. SB203580 and U46619 were used to detect changes in cell morphology, cell viability, and apoptosis upon inhibiting or activating p38 MAPK. Our present work showed that QKF protects hippocampal neuronal morphology, enhances cell viability, and reduces the number of TUNEL-positive cells. In addition, our results showed that QKF increased the expression levels of antiapoptotic proteins and decreased the expression of proapoptotic proteins. QKF at 25 mg·mL−1 best inhibited neuronal apoptosis among the three doses of QKF by suppressing p38 MAPK activity. Collectively, QKF plays an antiapoptotic role via the p38 MAPK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this article, a folded circular waveguide dual‐mode filter without tuning screws is designed for the fifth‐generation (5G) mobile communication system. The folded filter is composed of two stacked circular cavities operated at 3.5 GHz. Each cavity has two resonant modes, which can generate and control two transmission zeroes at specific frequencies. Through a coupling iris, the two single‐cavity filters are connected together, and can control four poles, which helps to expand the 3dB fractional bandwidth to 11.4%. The measured insertion losses are around 0.5 dB in the passband (from 3.4–3.6 GHz). The experiment results show an excellent agreement with the simulation results. Such folded filters have the advantages of very low insertion loss, compact size, high frequency selectivity, and low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the constraints of limited spaces and imbalanced traffic volumes (for both in and out directions) of container gates, reversible lane layouts become an economical and practical way to improve the service level of container terminal systems and make the maximum use of the current terminal resources. Together with a consideration of minimized total costs (both construction and operating) of terminal gate system, this paper first developed an optimization model to decide the number and scheduling rules of the reversible lanes at a terminal gate. A metaheuristic algorithm was built to solve the optimal model. Meanwhile, to reflect the randomness and dynamics property of the terminal gate system in practice, parameters that cannot be calculated from conventional analytic methods are obtained through a simulation model. Finally, a hub container terminal in the northeast of China was employed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and provide a theoretical foundation for the construction and management of terminal gate systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) with a biodegradable polymer coating have demonstrated promising results but have not been compared to SES with a durable polymer in high-risk patients. We compared the efficacy of these 2 stent types in patients with acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods One thousand one hundred ninety-two STEMI patients were randomized to receive SES coated with biodegradable (n = 596) or durable polymer (n = 596). The study end-point was the composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), or target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 1-year follow-up. Secondary end-points included individual components of primary end-point and stent thrombosis. Results Compared with durable polymer SES, the noninferiority of SES with biodegradable polymer coating was established by an absolute risk difference of 0.9% in the primary end-point (12.4% vs. 13.3%, P = 0.67) and an upper limit of one-sided 95% confidence interval (CI) of 2.96% (P for noninferiority = 0.001). Rate of death, recurrent MI, and TLR were 7.9% and 8.6% (HR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.61-1.38, P = 0.67), 2.9% and 3.5% (HR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.42-1.54, P = 0.51), and 2.0% and 3.2% (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.30-1.30, P = 0.20) in the biodegradable polymer SES and durable polymer SES group at 1-year clinical follow-up, respectively. Despite similar rates of 30-day ARC definite/probable stent thrombosis, late stent thrombosis (stent thrombosis occurring beyond 30 days) was lower with biodegradable polymer SES (0.7% vs. 2.2%, P = 0.028). Conclusions In patients undergoing primary PCI for STEMI, the use of biodegradable polymer SES was associated with noninferior 1-year rates of MACE compared with durable polymer SES. (J Interven Cardiol 2014;27:131-141) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a disease caused by infection with the SFTS virus (SFTSV). SFTS has become a crucial public health concern because of the heavy burden, lack of vaccines, effective therapies, and high-fatality rate. Evidence suggests that SFTSV circulates between ticks and animals in nature and is transmitted to humans by tick bites. In particular, ticks have been implicated as vectors of SFTSV, where domestic or wild animals may play as the amplifying hosts. Many studies have identified antigens and antibodies against SFTSV in various animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, and rodents. Besides, person-to-person transmission through contact with blood or mucous of an infected person has also been reported. In this study, we reviewed the literature and summarized the vectors and hosts associated with SFTS and the possible risk factors.

The calculation of the core source term is affected by various factors, such as fuel consumption, enrichment, specific power, and operation mode. The activity of lanthanides, fission products, and the photon source strength were calculated using the ORIGEN program. The weights of each factor were calculated by multivariate analysis of variance. The results show that the radioactivity of actinides and fission products increased with the increase in fuel consumption. As enrichment increased, the radioactivity of fission products and actinides decreased. The radioactivity of fission products and actinides increased linearly with the change in specific power, with a correlation coefficient of 1. The changes in fuel consumption and enrichment have little effect on low-energy photons, but significantly affected high-energy photons. The change in specific power has little effect on the photon generation of different energy groups. The operation mode has little effect on the radioactivity of the nucleus and fission products. Multivariate analysis of variance shows that specific power is the most influential factor, followed by enrichment; the least influential factor is fuel consumption.

Objectives. High dependency on pesticides could cause selection pressure leading to the development of resistance. This study was conducted to assess the resistance of the house fly, Musca domestica, to five insecticides, namely, permethrin, deltamethrin, beta-cypermethrin, propoxur, and dichlorvos, in Zhejiang Province. Methods. Field strains of house flies were collected from the 12 administrative districts in Zhejiang Province in 2011, 2014, and 2017, respectively. Topical application method was adopted for the bioassays. The probit analysis was used to determine the median lethal doses with the 95% confidence interval, and then the resistance ratio (RR) was calculated. The insecticides resistance in different years and the correlations of the resistance between different insecticides were also analyzed. Results. The resistance of field strains house flies to insecticides in Zhejiang Province was relatively common, especially for permethrin, deltamethrin, and beta-cypermethrin. The reversion of the resistance to dichlorvos was found, and most of the field strains in Zhejiang Province became sensitive to dichlorvos in 2017. Propoxur was much easier to cause very high level of resistance; the Hangzhou strain had the highest RR value more than 1000 in 2014, and five field strains had the RR value more than 100 in 2017. Compared to 2011 and 2014, the resistance of the house flies to propoxur and deltamethrin increased significantly in 2017. The resistance of permethrin, deltamethrin, beta-cypermethrin, and propoxur was significantly correlated with each other, and the resistance of dichlorvos was significantly correlated with beta-cypermethrin. Conclusions. Our results suggested that resistance was existed in permethrin, deltamethrin, beta-cypermethrin, and propoxur in the house flies of Zhejiang Province, while the resistance reversion to dichlorvos was found.

Asphalt concrete is a typical rheological material, which is hard brittle at low temperature and reflects soft plastic facture at high temperature; the temperature has a great influence on the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete. In order to eliminate the environmental pollution caused by hot asphalt construction, cationic emulsified asphalt can be used. This paper transforms the temperature control system for static and dynamic triaxial test equipment, which has achieved static and dynamic properties of emulsified asphalt concrete under different temperatures, and researched the temperature sensitivity of emulsified asphalt concrete materials including static stress-strain relationship, static strength, dynamic modulus of elasticity, damping ratio, and so on. The results suggest that (1) temperature has a great influence on the triaxial stress-strain relationship curve of the asphalt concrete. The lower the temperature, the greater the initial tangent modulus of asphalt concrete and the higher the intensity; the more obvious the softening trend, the smaller the failure strain of the specimen and the more obvious the extent of shear dilatancy. When the temperature is below 15.4°C, the temperature sensitivity of the modulus and strength is stronger significantly. (2) With the temperature rising, the asphalt concrete gradually shifts from an elastic state to a viscoelastic state, the dynamic modulus gradually reduces, and the damping ratio increases. When the temperature is above 15.4°C, the temperature sensitivity is obviously stronger for the dynamic elastic modulus and damping ratio. (3) The static and dynamic properties of asphalt concrete are very sensitive to the temperature. The test temperature should be made clear for the static and dynamic tests of asphalt concrete. The specimen temperature and the test ambient temperature must be strictly controlled.

Palygorskite has remarkable rheological properties and was used to increase the stability and viscosity of aqueous suspensions. The effects of different physical and chemical processing methods on the apparent viscosity and plastic viscosity of the palygorskite suspensions such as pressing, ultrasound scattering, acidification, and chemical additives have been released. The pressing and ultrasound scattering indicated that the dispersed state of palygorskite could be increased effectively after treatment, and the apparent viscosity of treated-palygorskite samples increased almost 2-3 times compared to that of before. The viscosity of the acid-treated palygorskite suspension was not increased. The viscosity increased with the content of bentonite in the mixture of bentonite and palygorskite in fresh water. It seemed to be not worthy to add a certain amount of bentonite to palygorskite in order to enhance viscosity and vice versa. Chemical additives appeared to have good effects on the rheological behavior of palygorskite suspension. Magnesium oxide revealed great contribution to viscosity enhancement. The main mechanism was the electrostatic attractive interaction between magnesium oxide particles with positive charges and the palygorskite rods with negative charges. This interacted force has an impact on the structural inversion of palygorskite rods and even caused the reinforcing of flocculation.