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An effective way to reduce the energy consumption of a building is to optimize the control strategy for the HVAC system. Load prediction is suggested and used to match the supply and demand for air conditioning and achieve energy savings. However, the gap between load prediction models and real-time optimal control of HVAC systems still exists. Hence, this paper proposed an optimization method for dynamically determining the best setpoints of chillers and chilled water pumps under a specific load. The energy consumption model of each equipment in the centralized cooling station is established and validated using the operational data. Then an optimization problem is defined to find the optimal setpoints for each equipment under certain load, to realize the lowest energy consumption. To verify the validity of the proposed method, a period of real operational data in an office park is used. The proposed method is applied on one centralized cooling station in the office park and results in an 4% lower overall energy consumption than the existing intelligent control strategies in the park. This method provides feasible directions and reference for realizing overall optimal control of the whole HVAC system in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterococcus faecalis is one of the main pathogens that causes hospital-acquired infections because it is intrinsically resistant to some antibiotics and often is capable of biofilm formation, which plays a critical role in resisting the external environment. Therefore, attacking biofilms is a potential therapeutic strategy for infections caused by E. faecalis. Current research indicates that diacerein used in the treatment of osteoarthritis showed antimicrobial activity on strains of gram-positive cocci in vitro. In this study, we tested the MICs of diacerein using the broth microdilution method, and successive susceptibility testing verified that E. faecalis is unlikely to develop resistance to diacerein. In addition, we obtained a strain of E. faecalis HE01 with strong biofilm-forming ability from an eye hospital environment and demonstrated that diacerein affected the biofilm development of HE01 in a dose-dependent manner. Then, we explored the mechanism by which diacerein inhibits biofilm formation through qRT-PCR, extracellular protein assays, hydrophobicity assays and transcriptomic analysis. The results showed that biofilm formation was inhibited at the initial adhesion stage by inhibition of the expression of the esp gene, synthesis of bacterial surface proteins and reduction in cell hydrophobicity. In addition, transcriptome analysis showed that diacerein not only inhibited bacterial growth by affecting the oxidative phosphorylation process and substance transport but also inhibited biofilm formation by affecting secondary metabolism, biosynthesis, the ribosome pathway and luxS expression. Thus, our findings provide compelling evidence for the substantial therapeutic potential of diacerein against E. faecalis biofilms. Key Points: Diacerein hinders the growth of E. faecalis and does not easily induce drug resistance. Diacerein inhibits biofilm formation of E. faecalis at the initial adhesion stage. Diacerein reduces the expression of the esp and LuxS genes and affects protein synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: The organic optoelectronic synapse achieves unprecedented sound perception on volume, tone and timbre simultaneously. The quantitative relationship between the interfacial layers and synaptic performances is clarified. The neuromorphic systems for sound perception is under highly demanding for the future bioinspired electronics and humanoid robots. However, the sound perception based on volume, tone and timbre remains unknown. Herein, organic optoelectronic synapses (OOSs) are constructed for unprecedented sound recognition. The volume, tone and timbre of sound can be regulated appropriately by the input signal of voltages, frequencies and light intensities of OOSs, according to the amplitude, frequency, and waveform of the sound. The quantitative relation between recognition factor (ζ) and postsynaptic current (I = Ilight − Idark) is established to achieve sound perception. Interestingly, the bell sound for University of Chinese Academy of Sciences is recognized with an accuracy of 99.8%. The mechanism studies reveal that the impedance of the interfacial layers play a critical role in the synaptic performances. This contribution presents unprecedented artificial synapses for sound perception at hardware levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eimeria magna is a common pathogen in rabbits, which results in lethargy, weight loss, diarrhea, and even death in severe cases after infection. The current method for preventing rabbit coccidiosis is to add anticoccidial drugs to the diet. However, there are many concerns about drug resistance and drug residues. In our study, the rEmMIC2 and rEmMIC3 proteins were cloned and expressed to evaluate potential as recombinant subunit vaccine candidate antigens. The protective effects of rEmMIC2 and rEmMIC3 were evaluated by the relative weight gain ratio, oocyst decrease rate, anticoccidial index, feed conversion ratio, pathological alterations, clinical symptoms, specific IgG antibody, and cytokine levels in rabbits. The molecular weights of rEmMIC2 and rEmMIC3 were 18.69 kDa and 17.47 kDa, respectively. After the coccidia challenge, the control groups showed anorexia and soft poop, whereas the experimental group showed few anorexia symptoms. Significantly different from the control group, the relative weight gain ratios of the immunized rEmMIC2 and rEmMIC3 groups were 78.37% and 75.29%, respectively, and the oocyst reduction was 77.95% and 76.09%, respectively, and the anticoccidial index was 171.12 and 169.29, respectively. IgG antibody, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-17 levels were significantly increased in the experimental group. The results showed that rEmMIC2 and rEmMIC3 have potential as vaccine candidate antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polymerization of fused-ring acceptors (FRAs) to afford their corresponding polymeric acceptors for high-performance all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) has achieved remarkable progress in the past few years. However, due to the high degree of synthetic complexity for the monomer, the high-cost of these polymeric acceptors may limit their commercial applications. Thus, it is urgent to develop inexpensive and high-performance polymeric acceptors for all-PSCs. Herein, two novel polymeric acceptors (PBTzO and PBTzO-2F) have been designed and synthesized by copolymerization of noncovalently fused ring acceptors (NFRAs), which were employed in all-PSCs for the first time. Upon introducing the "noncovalently conformational locks (NoCLs)" in the backbone and selective fluorination of the end-group, photophysical and electrical properties, and solid-state packing properties of the NFRAs have been rationally tuned. As a result, the PBDB-T:PBTzO-2F based devices presented an excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.04%, much higher than that of PBTzO based ones due to the increased charge generation and extraction, improved hole transfer and carrier mobilities, and reduced energy loss. More importantly, PBTzO-2F exhibited a much lower synthetic complexity (SC) index and higher figure-of-merit (FOM) values than the highperformance fused-ring acceptor based polymer acceptors (FRA-PAs) due to the simpler structures and more effective synthesis. This contribution provided a novel idea to achieve low-cost and high-performance all-PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxocara canis is a common parasite of dogs and can cause zoonotic toxocariasis in humans. As a part of control programs for this agent, optimized hygiene including chemical disinfection is considered essential in the prevention and control of zoonotic toxocariasis in humans. However, commonly used disinfectants at present mostly fail to inhibit the embryogenesis and viability of T. canis eggs. To this effect, the present study was designed to evaluate the effect of a chlorocresol-based disinfectant product Neopredisan®135-1 (NP) on embryonic development of T. canis eggs in vitro and to investigate the infectivity of exposed eggs by assessing larval establishment in a mouse model. Under in vitro conditions, NP at a final concentration of 0.25, 0.50, 1, 2, or 4% all exhibited significant killing effect on T. canis embryogenesis compared with the control eggs (P < 0.05), regardless of contact times (30, 60, 90, or 120 min). Such killing activity increased in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with a maximum killing efficacy of 95.81% at 4% concentration and 120 min exposure time. Comparisons between low and high concentrations and between short and long contact times concluded that a protocol using the 1% concentration of NP with a 90-min contact could be the most suitable for practical application. Additionally, the lower larval recovery in mice inoculated with eggs treated by either 0.25 or 0.5% NP than that from their corresponding controls (P < 0.05) verified once again that NP had an adverse impact on the larval development of T. canis eggs even at a low concentration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the effect of the chlorocresol-based disinfectant NP on the embryonation and larval development of T. canis eggs, and the results presented here would contribute to environmental clearance and control of toxocariasis by providing an alternative disinfectant resource. However, it is highlighted that the clearance of the novel and existing sources of infection including larvated eggs in places treated with NP is not guaranteed and therefore continuous monitoring and additional disinfection are still required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leakage issue and low thermal conductivity largely restrict feasibility of fatty acid in real application of thermal energy storage (TES). In this paper, a novel form-stable phase change material (FSPCM) capric acid/diatomite (CA/DT) for TES was prepared using direct impregnation method by using CA as PCM and diatomite as supporting material. The fabricated composites were investigated in detail via the leakage test to determine the optimization proportion, and the real mechanism of preventing leakage by diatomite was analyzed. The characterization techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, intelligent paperless recorder technology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and scanning electron microscopy were applied to systematically investigate the thermal properties, microstructure and thermal compatibility of the prepared composites. The results showed that the maximum mass ratio of CA adsorbed into DT without leakage is as high as 50 mass%, which is mainly ascribed to the porous structure of DT. The selected FSPCM has a melting point of 34.9 °C and latent heat of 89.2 J g−1. What is more, the CA/DT FSPCM exhibits a distinctly enhanced thermal stability by TG analyses. The heat transfer efficiency of the CA/DT FSPCM is higher than that of pristine CA. Due to the high adsorption capacity, high latent heat, good thermal stability as well as low cost, the CA/DT FSPCM can be considered as potential materials for thermal energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The larval stages of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus (Cestoda: Taeniidae) are the causative agent of cystic echinococcosis, one of the most important parasitic zoonoses worldwide. E. granulosus has a complete pathway for the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), in which citrate synthase (CS) is the key enzyme. Here, we cloned and expressed CS from E. granulosus (Eg-CS) and report its molecular characterization. The localization of this protein during different developmental stages and mRNA expression patterns during H2O2 treatment were determined. We found that Eg-CS is a highly conserved protein, consisting of 466 amino acids. In western blotting assays, recombinant Eg-CS (rEg-CS) reacted with E. granulosus-positive sheep sera and anti-rEg-CS rabbit sera, indicating that Eg-CS has good antigenicity and immunoreactivity. Localization studies, performed using immunohistochemistry, showed that Eg-CS is ubiquitously expressed in the larva, germinal layer, and adult worm sections of E. granulosus. Eg-CS mRNA expression levels increased following H2O2 exposure. In conclusion, citrate synthase might be involved in the metabolic process in E. granulosus. An assessment of the serodiagnostic potential of rEg-CS based on indirect ELISA showed that, although sensitivity (93.55%) and specificity (80.49%) are high, cross-reactivity with other parasites precludes its use as a diagnostic antigen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis that can be caused by the larvae of Echinococcus granulosus; this disease occurs worldwide and is highly endemic in China. E. granulosus can produce energy by glycolysis as well as both aerobic and anaerobic respirations. Triosephosphate isomerase is a glycolytic enzyme present in a wide range of organisms and plays an important role in glycolysis. However, there has been little research on triosephosphate isomerase from E. granulosus (Eg-TIM). Here, we present a bioinformatic characterization and the experimentally determined tissue distribution characteristics of Eg-TIM. We also explored its potential value for diagnosing CE in sheep using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Native Eg-TIM was located in the neck and hooks of protoscoleces (PSCs), as well as the tegument and parenchyma tissue of adult worms. The entire germinal layer was also Eg-TIM positive. Western blots showed that recombinant Eg-TIM (rEg-TIM) reacts with positive serum from sheep and had good immunogenicity. Indirect ELISA exhibited low specificity (53.6%) and low sensitivity (87.5%) and cross-reacted with both Taenia multiceps and Taenia hydatigena. Our results suggest that TIM may take part in the growth and development of E. granulosus. Furthermore, we determined that rEg-TIM is not a suitable serodiagnostic antigen for CE in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coenurus cerebralis, the larval stage (metacestode or coenurus) of Taenia multiceps, parasitizes sheep, goats, and other ruminants and causes coenurosis. In this study, we isolated and characterized complementary DNAs that encode lactate dehydrogenase A (Tm-LDHA) and B (Tm-LDHB) from the transcriptome of T. multiceps and expressed recombinant Tm-LDHB (rTm-LDHB) in Escherichia coli. Bioinformatic analysis showed that both Tm-LDH genes (LDHA and LDHB) contain a 996-bp open reading frame and encode a protein of 331 amino acids. After determination of the immunogenicity of the recombinant Tm-LDHB, an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for preliminary evaluation of the serodiagnostic potential of rTm-LDHB in goats. However, the rTm-LDHB-based indirect ELISA developed here exhibited specificity of only 71.42% (10/14) and sensitivity of 1:3200 in detection of goats infected with T. multiceps in the field. This study is the first to describe LDHA and LDHB of T. multiceps; meanwhile, our results indicate that rTm-LDHB is not a specific antigen candidate for immunodiagnosis of T. multiceps infection in goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT)/expanded graphite (EG) composite phase change material (PCM) was firstly prepared by absorbing liquid SAT into a porous network of EG, in which SAT acted as the PCM. EG prepared at microwave irradiation power of 800 W for 30 s with maximum volumes has the largest sorption capacity for SAT. At the mass fraction of SAT <95 %, SAT uniformly disperse in the pores of EG without liquid leakage evidenced from scanning electron microscopy characterization. X-ray diffraction results further show that PCM is just a combination between SAT and EG without any chemical reaction. Differential scanning calorimeter measurements indicate that the melting temperature and latent heat of the composite PCM are 59.5 °C and 202 J g, respectively, close to those of pure SAT. The thermal conductivity of the composite PCM can be as high as 1.589 W m K.The form-stable SAT/EG composite with SAT mass fraction of 95 % has great potential in thermal energy storage due to its moderate melting point, significant latent heat storage capacity, form-stable property, direct usability without need for an extra storage container, and high thermal conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prohibitin (PHB) is a widely distributed protein that functions as a molecular chaperone, is involved in the regulation of cell cycle, and maintains mitochondrial structure and functions of the anti-apoptosis, senescence, and proliferation. The aim of this study was to characterize PHB in Echinococcus granulosus (EgPHB), a harmful cestode parasite of humans, many livestock species, and wild animals. We found that EgPHB is a conserved SPFH (stomatin, prohibitin, flotillin, and HflK/C) domain-containing protein, consisting of 289 amino acids, which shares 42.66-99.31 % identity with PHBs from other parasites and mammals. EgPHB was located mainly in the tegument issue of protoscoleces, in the inner body of adult worms, and was expressed widely in the germinal layer. This is the first report on prohibitin from E. granulosus, and EgPHB is considered to be a valuable protein to study more in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-35 (IL-35) has recently been implicated in tumor immunity. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical role of plasma IL-35 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Plasma collected from 106 patients with NSCLC cases and 78 healthy controls (HC) were subjected to IL-35 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and relationships between plasma IL-35 levels and clinical characteristics were evaluated. The correlation of IL-35 and overall survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic value of IL-35 was tested using univariate and multivariate analysis. Circulating IL-35 levels were significantly higher in the NSCLC group in comparison with the HC group (21.37 ± 11.55 pg/ml vs. 10.09 ± 5.32 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Correlation analysis by subgroup indicated that plasma IL-35 correlated positively with tumor TNM stage ( p < 0.001) and lymph node metastases ( p < 0.0001). Using a cutoff level of 20.26 pg/ml (median value), IL-35 showed an inverse correlation with overall survival. Univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that plasma IL-35 was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. Circulating IL-35 in NSCLC patients significantly increased. IL-35 is a promising potential biomarker in prognostication of clinical outcome of NSCLC patients and the regulation of IL-35 expression may provide a new target for the treatment of NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcoptes scabiei is the causal agent of the highly contagious disease sarcoptic mange (scabies) that affects animals and humans worldwide. An increasing number of cases of treatment failure is being reported because of drug resistance. The development of a specific vaccine would be a sustainable option for control of this disease. In this study, we cloned and expressed a S. scabiei gene encoding paramyosin (PAR) and investigated the immune response elicited by DNA encoding PAR in mice. The ability of the DNA vaccine to express antigen in COS-7 cells was confirmed by RT-PCR and IFA. The immune response induced by DNA vaccine was investigated by ELISA, splenocyte proliferation assay, and cytokine production assay. Compared to the pVAX1 control group, the PAR DNA vaccination group showed the higher levels of IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, IgE, IgM, stronger lymphocyte proliferation in mouse spleen, and larger production of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-γ in the supernatant of cultures from splenocytes. These results indicated that the PAR DNA vaccine induced a mixed Th1/Th2 response in mice. In conclusion, our results revealed that the S. scabiei PAR DNA vaccine induced both a humoral and cellular immune response, which would provide basic data for the further study to develop an effective vaccine against sarcoptic mange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential acaricidal properties of an Ailanthus altissima bark extract were assessed against two common species of animal ectoparasitic mites, Psoroptes cuniculi and Sarcoptes scabiei var. cuniculi, in vitro. A. altissima bark extract was obtained by ethanol thermal circumfluence and tested at four concentrations (1.0, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 g/ml) on mites collected from rabbits. Compared to the fenvalerate treatment group, the A. altissima bark exhibited significant acaricidal properties for both mite species treated. The extract of concentrations of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 g/ml killed all tested S. scabiei within 7 h, however, only 1.0 and 0.5 g/ml of extract killed all treated P. cuniculi. The median lethal time (LT 50) values at 1, 0.5 and 0.25 g/ml were 0.60, 0.78, 1.48 h for S. scabiei and 0.74, 1.29, 3.33 h for P. cuniculi. The median lethal concentration (LC 50) for P. cuniculi was approximately 1.6 times that for S. scabiei var. cuniculi at 4 h. The extract showed stronger toxicity against S. scabiei than against P. cuniculi. Mortality rates increased with increasing concentration of extract administered and with increasing time post-treatment, indicating that the acaricidal activity of A. altissima bark extract is both time-dependent and dose-dependent. This is the first report on acaricidal activity of A. altissima against P. cuniculi and S. scabiei var. cuniculi. It indicates that A. altissima contain potential acaricidal compounds. Our study is the first step to develop potentially novel compounds from A. altissima for the effective control of mites in livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]