Search

Abstract Spider silk proteins (spidroins) are particularly attractive due to their excellent biocompatibility. Spider can produce up to seven different types of spidroins, each with unique properties and functions. Spider minor ampullate silk protein (MiSp) might be particularly interesting for biomedical applications, as the constituent silk is mechanically strong and does not super‐contract in water, attributed to its amino acid composition. In this study, we evaluate the potential of recombinant nanoparticles derived from Araneus ventricosus MiSp as a protein delivery carrier. The MiSp‐based nanoparticles were able to serve as an effective delivery system, achieving nearly 100% efficiency in loading the model protein lysozyme, and displayed a sustained release profile at physiological pH. These nanoparticles could significantly improve the delivery efficacy of the model proteins through different administration routes. Furthermore, nanoparticles loaded with model protein antigen lysozyme after subcutaneous or intramuscular administration could enhance antigen‐specific immune responses in mouse models, through a mechanism involving antigen‐depot effects at the injection site, long‐term antigen persistence, and efficient uptake by dendritic cells as well as internalization by lymph nodes. These findings highlight the transnational potential of MiSp‐based nanoparticle system for protein drug and vaccine delivery.

Abstract Responsive feeding serves as an important protective factor for infant growth and overall health development. This study based on self‐determination theory (SDT) aimed to assess the effects of a responsive breastfeeding (RBF) intervention programme on maternal breastfeeding and infant growth and development. A total of 110 mother–infant pairs were recruited and randomly divided into an intervention group (n = 55) and a control group (n = 55). The primary outcomes were breastfeeding motivation score, breastfeeding self‐efficacy (BSE) and exclusive breastfeeding rate; the secondary outcomes were infant physical development at 6 weeks and 3 months. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the intervention group had significantly higher Enjoyment scores compared to the control group at three time points: at discharge (MD: 5.28; 95% CI: 3.68 to 6.89; p

Abstract Solar‐driven photodegradation for water treatment faces challenges such as low energy conversion rates, high maintenance costs, and over‐sensitivity to the environment. In this study, we develop reusable concave microlens arrays (MLAs) for more efficient solar photodegradation by optimizing light distribution. Concave MLAs with the base radius of ∼5 μm are fabricated by imprinting convex MLAs to polydimethylsiloxane elastomers. Concave MLAs possess a non‐contact reactor configuration, preventing MLAs from detaching or being contaminated. By precisely controlling the solvent exchange, concave MLAs are fabricated with well‐defined curvature and adjustable volume on femtoliter scale. The focusing effects of MLAs are examined, and good agreement is presented between experiments and simulations. The photodegradation efficiency of organic pollutants in water is significantly enhanced by 5.1‐fold, attributed to higher intensity at focal points of concave MLAs. Furthermore, enhanced photodegradation by concave MLAs is demonstrated under low light irradiation, applicable to real river water and highly turbid water.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that brain white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are more common in patients receiving epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR‐TKI) and identify clinical risk factors associated with WMH. Experimental design This multiple‐center, prospective cohort study was conducted from March 2017 to July 2020. Two groups of patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received or did not receive EGFR‐TKI were included and followed up for more than 24 months. The progression of WMH was defined as an increase of ≥1 point on the Fazekas visual rating scale between the baseline and at the 2‐year follow‐up. A modified Poisson regression model was performed to evaluate risk factors on increased WMH load. Results Among 286 patients with NSCLC, 194 (68%) patients with NSCLC who received EGFR‐TKI and 92 (32%) patients with NSCLC without EGFR‐TKI treatment were analyzed. Modified Poisson regression analysis showed that EGFR‐TKI treatment was independently associated with the WMH progression (EGFR‐TKI: aRR 2.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.46–5.06, p = .002). Interleukin (IL)‐2, IL‐4, and IL‐10 were associated with increased WMH in the adjusted model (IL‐2: aRR 1.55 [95% CI 1.06–2.25], p = .023; IL‐4: aRR 1.66 [95% CI 1.13–2.43], p = .010; IL‐10: aRR 1.48 [95% CI 1.06–2.06], p = .020). Conclusion Patients with NSCLC who received EGFR‐TKI may be at higher risk of developing WMH or worsening of WMH burden. The impact of increased WMH lesions in these patients is to be further assessed. IL‐2, IL‐4, and IL‐10 may be used as potential biomarkers to monitor the risk of increased WMH burden

Abstract The profile of antibodies against antigenic epitopes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) during neutralizing antibody (NAb) decay has not been clarified. Using a SARS‐CoV‐2 proteome microarray that contained viral antigenic peptides, we analyzed the characteristics of the humoral response in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19) in a longitudinal study. A total of 89 patients were recruited, and 226 plasma samples were serially collected in 2020. In the antigenic peptide microarray, the level of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against peptides within the S2 subunit (S‐82) and a conserved gene region in variants of interest, open reading frame protein 10 (ORF10‐3), were closely associated with the presence of SARS‐CoV‐2 NAbs. In an independent evaluation cohort of 232 plasma samples collected from 116 COVID‐19 cases in 2020, S82‐IgG titers were higher in NAbs‐positive samples (p = 0.002) than in NAbs‐negative samples using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. We further collected 66 plasma samples from another cohort infected by Omicron BA.1 virus in 2022. Compared with the samples with lower S82‐IgG titers, NAb titers were significantly higher in the samples with higher S82‐IgG titers (p = 0.04). Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the decay‐associated signatures of SARS‐CoV‐2 NAbs.

Abstract Background The anti‐ageing gold standard, retinol, has been widely recognized for its anti‐wrinkle benefits in the Chinese population. Studies have shown that Asians are more sensitive to retinol compared to their Caucasian counterparts, and it is generally recommended to use retinol once a day in the evening. However, there are few reports on the most appropriate concentration and frequency of retinol use in the general Chinese population. Objectives In this study, supramolecular retinol was prepared using cyclodextrin encapsulation technology, and the most appropriate concentration for the general Chinese population was investigated. Then, a cosmetic essence was developed by combining the classic supramolecular retinol, which promotes collagen regeneration, with acetyl hexapeptide‐1, a popular ingredient known for reducing expression lines. The safety and efficacy of this cosmetic essence were studied through clinical tests. Methods First, a patch test was conducted on 32 healthy Chinese subjects to compare the tolerance of supramolecular retinol to non‐encapsulated retinol and to select the optimal concentration of retinol. Then, an 8‐week clinical study was conducted using a twice‐daily cosmetic essence containing 0.1% supramolecular retinol and 0.02% acetyl hexapeptide‐1 to treat mild photoaging in 32 middle‐aged Chinese women. Dermatological evaluations and instrument measurements were taken at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Efficacy was assessed using facial skin wrinkles, textures, elasticity, firmness, pores, gloss and stratum corneum hydration. Tolerability was assessed throughout the study. Results Our patch test results showed that supramolecular retinol was better tolerated than non‐encapsulated retinol, and our findings suggest that 0.1% was the approximate optimal retinol concentration for the general Chinese population. The cosmetic essence studied was effective in improving the appearance of photoaged skin in the Chinese population in all aspects studied and was well tolerated. Conclusions 0.1% retinol is suitable for twice daily use in the general Chinese population. Data and records on efficacy dimensions of skin textures, elasticity, firmness, pores, gloss and stratum corneum hydration for retinol in the Chinese population are supplemented with our study. Cosmeceutical approaches targeting both static and dynamic wrinkles are of value for treating the photoaged Chinese population.

Abstract White‐coat hypertension (WCH) is associated with increased cardiovascular risks. To investigate the relationship between WCH and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the authors recruited 706 participants who underwent anthropometric measurements, blood laboratory analysis, 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), and echocardiography. The authors defined WCH as elevated office BP but normal ABPM over 24h, daytime, and nighttime periods. The authors compared the proportion of LVH between the true normotension (NT) and the WCH population, and further assessed the associations between BP indexes and LVH in the two groups, respectively. The proportion of LVH was significantly higher in the WCH group than in NT participants (19.70% vs. 13.12%, P = .036). In the NT group, 24h SBP, 24h PP, daytime SBP, daytime PP and SD of nighttime SBP were associated with LVH after adjustment for demographic and blood biochemical data (all P

Background Frailty and cognitive impairment are common in the elderly, with various shared risk factors like hypertension. Frailty is a marker for future cognitive function. Moreover, whether intensive blood pressure interacted with frailty and cognitive impairment is unknown. Methods and Results We performed a post hoc analysis of data from SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial). The relationship between frailty and a composite of probable dementia (PD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was analyzed. Also, we evaluated the interaction of intensive blood pressure lowering in the relationship between frailty and cognitive impairment. A total of 8537 patients were included in our study, and 35.1% were women. The mean age of these participants was 67.9±9.3 years. According to the baseline frailty index, 1670, 4637, and 2230 patients were in fit, less fit, and frail statuses, respectively. During a mean follow‐up of 4.61 years, 871 cases of PD or MCI occurred. Compared with those in fit status, those with less fit (hazard ratio [HR], 2.14 [95% CI, 1.65–2.77]) and frailty (HR, 4.28 [95% CI, 3.26–5.61]) status had a higher incidence of a composite of PD and MCI. Blood pressure control strategy interacted with the correlation between frailty and cognitive impairment. Intensive blood pressure control (HR, 2.4 [95% CI, 2.0–2.8]) accelerated the relationship between frailty and incidence of PD and MCI compared with the standard treatment group (HR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.5–2.1]; P for interaction=0.009). Conclusions This study found that the baseline frailty status was a possible marker for the incidence of a composite of PD and MCI. Intensive blood pressure control may strengthen this correlation. Registration URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/; Unique identifier: NCT01206062.

Abstract To evaluate whether admission systolic blood pressure (SBP) is associated with the choice of initial antiplatelet therapy for minor stroke. Eligible patients retrospectively gathered from 2010 to 2018. Finally, 1312 of 1494 patients were divided into three groups: aspirin monotherapy (AM, n = 538, 41.0%), dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and load‐clopidogrel (clopidogrel loading dose of 300 mg on the first day, DAPT‐ALC, n = 474, 35.6%), and dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and unload‐clopidogrel (clopidogrel 75 mg daily with no loading dose, DAPT‐AUC, n = 300, 22.9%). The mean ± SD age of final patients was 62.0 ± 12.7 years old; 903 (70.9%) participants were male. Patients in the DAPT‐ALC group were more likely to be younger, to arrive earlier, and to have a lower proportion of intracerebral hemorrhage than those in the AM group. DAPT‐AUC group patients were more like to have a history of acute myocardial infarction and less likely to have a history of ICH than the AM group (4.7% vs. 1.7% and .3% vs. 2.6%, p

Abstract Objective Subsequent vascular events are common after acute ischemic stroke during hospitalization. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of combination therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin among mild‐to‐moderate ischemic stroke patients treated within 72 h on the basis of a high‐intensity dose of statins. Methods In a retrospective and multicenter cohort study, acute (within 72 h of onset) mild‐to‐moderate stroke patients were divided into aspirin and clopidogrel‐aspirin groups on the basis of a high‐intensity dose of statin therapy. The primary outcome was compound vascular events during hospitalization. Cox's proportional hazards model was used to assess differences, with the study center as a random effect. Results Among the 506 patients meeting the eligibility criteria, all subjects received a high‐intensity dose of statins, including 20 mg rosuvastatin or 40 mg atorvastatin while in the hospital. In an unadjusted analysis, compound vascular events occurred in 7.2% of patients in the clopidogrel‐aspirin group compared with 13.7% of those in the aspirin group (p = 0.022). In a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, clopidogrel‐aspirin was associated with a lower risk of compound vascular events (hazard ratio [95% CI], 0.47 [0.25–0.87]; p = 0.017) and ischemic vascular events (p = 0.008). Moderate and severe hemorrhage occurred in four patients (1.07%) in the clopidogrel‐aspirin group and three patients (2.30%) in the aspirin group (p = 0.626). Interpretation In this study based on high‐intensity statin therapy, clopidogrel‐aspirin reduced the risk of compound vascular events and did not increase the risk of hemorrhage during patients' hospitalization after mild‐to‐moderate ischemic stroke within 72 h.

Abstract Multipores engineering composed of micro/mesopores is an effective strategy to improve potassium storage performance via providing enormous adsorption sites and shortened ions diffusion distance. However, a detailed exploration of the role played by macropores in potassium storage is still lacking and has been barely reported until now. Herein, a superstructure carbon hexahedron (DGN‐900) is synthesized using poly tannic acid (PTA) as precursor. Due to the spatially confined two‐step local contraction of PTA along different directions and dimensions during pyrolysis, defective nanosheets with macropores are formed, while realizing a balance between defects content and graphitization degree by regulating temperature. The presence of macropores is conducive to accelerating electrolyte ions rapid infiltration within electrode, and its pore volume can accommodate electrode structure fluctuation upon cycling, while the most suitable ratio of defects to graphitic provides rich ions adsorption sites and sufficient electrons transfer channels, simultaneously. These advantages enable a prominent electrochemical performance in DGN‐900 electrode, including high rate (202.9 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1) and long cycling stability over 2000 cycles. This unique fabrication strategy, that is, defects engineering coupled with macropores structure, makes fast and durable potassium storage possible.

Power load forecasting (PLF) has a positive impact on the stability of power systems and can reduce the cost of power generation enterprises. To improve the forecasting accuracy, more information besides load data is necessary. In recent years, a novel privacy-preserving paradigm vertical federated learning (FL) has been applied to PLF to improve forecasting accuracy while keeping different organizations’ data locally. However, two problems are still not well solved in vertical FL. The first problem is a lack of a full data-processing procedure, and the second is a lack of enhanced privacy protection for data processing. To address it, according to the procedure in a practical scenario, we propose a vertical FL XGBoost-based PLF, where multiparty secure computation is used to enhance the privacy protection of FL. Concretely, we design a full data-processing PLF, including data cleaning, private set intersection, feature selection, federated XGBoost training, and inference. Furthermore, we further use RSA encryption in the private set intersection and Paillier homomorphic encryption in the training and inference phases. To validate the proposed method, we conducted experiments to compare centralized learning and vertical FL on several real-world datasets. The proposed method can also be directly applied to other practical vertical FL tasks.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is an effective method that can be applied in pipeline leakage detection. However, when the distribution of the underground medium is complex, it becomes difficult to accurately identify the abnormal leakage area directly from the GPR data profile. In this paper, based on the characteristics of high water content in the abnormal leakage area and according to the relationship between the reflected wave coefficient and the dielectric constant, the electric field component imaging technology of GPR data is proposed. Next, the electromagnetic wave responses of geological models with different dielectric parameters are simulated by finite difference time domain (FDTD). It can be seen from the forward modeling results that the greater the difference is in the dielectric constants of the media on both sides of the interface, the stronger the reflected wave energy will be. Finally, the electric field component imaging technology of GPR data is applied to pipeline leakage detection in an industrial area. The test results show that the abnormal area of pipeline leakage appears as a high-amplitude area in the electric field component map.

This study proposes a method for a vehicle controller to learn human driving behaviours through iterative interactions. In particular, the vehicle controller and the human driver jointly control a vehicle along a path only known to the human driver. Through repeated cooperative driving, the vehicle controller estimates the hidden desired path of the driver by minimising the control input. Eventually, semi‐autonomous driving is realised since the vehicle controller is able to automatically track the target path and release the human driver from the driving task. The iterative learning of the human target path on the basis of the proposed algorithm is in the spatial domain, and is effective in the presence of uncertain human driving speeds. The validity of the proposed method is proved by rigorous analysis and demonstrated by numerical simulations.

Abstract Background Our previous study shows that Adipose tissue‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) are a promising strategy for cell‐based therapy against pulmonary infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Methods cDNA microarray assay was performed to explore the transcriptome of ASCs primed by P. aeruginosa. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was constructed to select the receptor candidates for P. aeruginosa recognition and granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) production in ASCs. The soluble protein chimeras containing the extracellular domain of human CD69 fused to the Fc region of human immunoglobulin IgG1 were used as a probe to validate the recognition of P. aeruginosa. The association between CD69 and extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) was explored via co‐immunoprecipitation, siRNA, and inhibitor. The murine models of P. aeruginosa pneumonia treated with WT‐ASCs, GM‐CSF−/−‐ASCs Cd69−/−‐ASCs or Erk1−/−‐ASCs were used to determine the role of GM‐CSF, CD69, and ERK1 in ASCs against P. aeruginosa infection. Results We showed that C‐type lectin receptor CD69 mediated the protective effects of ASCs partly through GM‐CSF. CD69 could specifically recognize P. aeruginosa and regulate GM‐CSF secretion of ASCs. CD69 regulated the production of GM‐CSF via ERK1 in ASCs after P. aeruginosa infection. Moreover, the Administration of ASCs with deficiency of CD69 or ERK1 completely blocked its protective effects in a murine model of P. aeruginosa pneumonia. Conclusions CD69 recognizes P. aeruginosa and further facilitates ERK1 activation, which plays a crucial role in ASCs‐based therapy against P. aeruginosa pneumonia. CD69 may be a novel target molecule to improve ASCs‐based therapy against P. aeruginosa infection.

We design optimization on the overall blade structure of a vortex pump conducted by using the orthogonal test method to clarify the matching relationship of impeller and casing structures and then improve the hydraulic performance of the vortex pump. Based on two different impeller structures of forward-deflecting (denoted as R1 − F2) and backward-deflecting (denoted as F1 − R2), key parameters describing the impeller structure are calculated through optimization for the objective function of hydraulic efficiency by means of orthogonal tests and computational fluid dynamic simulations. Optimization computations show that the forward-deflecting blade impeller is superior to the backward-deflecting one. Model test of the optimized vortex pump is carried out calculating the error from the comparison of pump efficiencies calculated by model test and numerical simulation is calculated to be less than 6%. The experimental verification shows that the flow simulation has some errors. The weight of structure parameters such as the blade installation angle (α), the blade deflecting angle (β), the position of blade deflecting point (L), the radius (r) of smoothing arc at the deflecting point, the wedge type (W) of blade, to the lift head, the flow rate, and the efficiency of the pump is investigated, through multiparameter optimizations. Visualization observation of flows in the model pump consisted of a back-placed impeller and a front vaneless chamber is further performed. The characteristic of vortex formation predicted by flow simulation agrees with the result of visualization observation. The above results demonstrate that the optimum impeller type of vortex pump is forward-deflecting blade impeller. The optimum combination of the key structure parameters is that the deflection angle of the blade inlet (α) equals 30°, the position of blade deflecting point lM = 2/3 L, the chamfering radius (r) at the deflecting point r = 3 mm, and the best wedge type is axial deflecting blade.

Taking the VII oil group of N21 reservoir in Gasikule Oilfield as an example, the sedimentary time unit was divided into the barrier layer, interbed, and sand bed by analyzing the sedimentary system and sand body development model in this paper. The single sand body was analyzed for the sand bed time unit. The residual muddy intercalation period division theory was proposed for the first time to divide the sedimentary periods of the sedimentary time unit of the sand bed. Finally, a new “sandwich” layer point coincidence modeling technology was proposed to characterize the sedimentary time units of a barrier layer accurately and interbed and finely describe the sedimentary time unit of the multiperiod sand bed.

Control and path planning are two essential and challenging issues in quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In this paper, an approach for moving around the nearest obstacle is integrated into an artificial potential field (APF) to avoid the trap of local minimum of APF. The advantage of this approach is that it can help the UAV successfully escape from the local minimum without collision with any obstacles. Moreover, the UAV may encounter the problem of unreachable target when there are too many obstacles near its target. To address the problem, a parallel search algorithm is proposed, which requires UAV to simultaneously detect obstacles between current point and target point when it moves around the nearest obstacle to approach the target. Then, to achieve tracking of the planned path, the desired attitude states are calculated. Considering the external disturbance acting on the quadrotor, a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) is developed to guarantee observation error to exponentially converge to zero. Furthermore, a backstepping controller synthesized with the NDO is designed to eliminate tracking errors of attitude. Finally, comparative simulations are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed path planning algorithm and controller.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered a new response involving public health surveillance. The popularity of personal wearable devices creates a new opportunity for tracking and precaution of spread of such infectious diseases. In this study, we propose a framework, which is based on the heart rate and sleep data collected from wearable devices, to predict the epidemic trend of COVID-19 in different countries and cities. In addition to a physiological anomaly detection algorithm defined based on data from wearable devices, an online neural network prediction modelling methodology combining both detected physiological anomaly rate and historical COVID-19 infection rate is explored. Four models are trained separately according to geographical segmentation, i.e., North China, Central China, South China, and South-Central Europe. The anonymised sensor data from approximately 1.3 million wearable device users are used for model verification. Our experiment's results indicate that the prediction models can be utilized to alert to an outbreak of COVID-19 in advance, which suggests there is potential for a health surveillance system utilising wearable device data.

The weight losses of cement-based material samples were often used to characterize the content of their hydration products and explain the strength changes of cement-based materials. However, the quantitative relationship has not been studied between the weight loss of hydration products and strength of cement-based materials. This paper studied the relationship between the strengths of cemented tailings backfills (CTBs) and the weight losses of its hydration products. The CTB samples have been done, especially on different binders, cement-tailing ratios, mass concentrations, and different curing ages. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) experiments were used to test the mechanical strength of samples; X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were used to test the crystalline phases of hydration products by samples; thermal analyses (thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric (TG/DTG)) experiments were used to test the weight losses of hydration products. By means of regression analysis, the relationship model was established between the UCS of CTB and the weight losses of hydration products at different concentrations. The results show that there is a strong linear correlation between the UCS and the weight loss of the hydration product calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) for the CTB made of glue powder, while the UCS is related to the weight losses of C-S-H and Ca(OH)2 for the CTB made of ordinary Portland cement. The results acquired by this paper provide a scientific basis for studying hydration products by thermal analyses and explaining the strength changes of cement-based materials.

Cerebral palsy (CP) has long been investigated to be associated with a range of motor and cognitive dysfunction. As the two most common CP subtypes, spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) and dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) may share common and distinct elements in their pathophysiology. However, the common and distinct dysfunctional characteristics between SCP and DCP on the brain network level are less known. This study aims to detect the alteration of brain functional connectivity in children with SCP and DCP based on resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Resting-state networks (RSNs) were established based on the independent component analysis (ICA), and the functional network connectivity (FNC) was performed on the fMRI data from 16 DCP, 18 bilateral SCP, and 18 healthy children. Compared with healthy controls, altered functional connectivity within the cerebellum network, sensorimotor network (SMN), left frontoparietal network (LFPN), and salience network (SN) were found in DCP and SCP groups. Furthermore, the disconnections of the FNC consistently focused on the visual pathway; covariance of the default mode network (DMN) with other networks was observed both in DCP and SCP groups, while the DCP group had a distinct connectivity abnormality in motor pathway and self-referential processing-related connections. Correlations between the functional disconnection and the motor-related clinical measurement in children with CP were also found. These findings indicate functional connectivity impairment and altered integration widely exist in children with CP, suggesting that the abnormal functional connectivity is a pathophysiological mechanism of motor and cognitive dysfunction of CP.

As an imitation of the biological nervous systems, neural networks (NNs), which have been characterized as powerful learning tools, are employed in a wide range of applications, such as control of complex nonlinear systems, optimization, system identification, and patterns recognition. This article aims to bring a brief review of the state-of-the-art NNs for the complex nonlinear systems by summarizing recent progress of NNs in both theory and practical applications. Specifically, this survey also reviews a number of NN based robot control algorithms, including NN based manipulator control, NN based human-robot interaction, and NN based cognitive control.

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovipneumoniae) is characterized as an etiological agent of primary atypical pneumonia that specifically infects sheep and goat. In an attempt to better understand the pathogen-host interaction between the invading M. ovipneumoniae and airway epithelial cells, we investigated the host inflammatory responses against capsular polysaccharide (designated as CPS) of M. ovipneumoniae using sheep bronchial epithelial cells cultured in an air-liquid interface (ALI) model. Results showed that CPS derived from M. ovipneumoniae could activate toll-like receptor- (TLR-) mediated inflammatory responses, along with an elevated expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) as well as various inflammatory-associated mediators, representatively including proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL1β, TNFα, and IL8, and anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL10 and TGFβ of TLR signaling cascade. Mechanistically, the CPS-induced inflammation was TLR initiated and was mediated by activations of both MyD88-dependent and MyD88-independent signaling pathways. Of importance, a blockage of CPS with specific antibody led a significant reduction of M. ovipneumoniae-induced inflammatory responses in sheep bronchial epithelial cells. These results suggested that CPS is a key virulent component of M. ovipneumoniae, which may play a crucial role in the inflammatory response induced by M. ovipneumoniae infections.

Finger-based personal identification has become an active research topic in recent years because of its high user acceptance and convenience. How to reliably and effectively fuse the multimodal finger features together, however, has still been a challenging problem in practice. In this paper, viewing the finger trait as the combination of a fingerprint, finger vein, and finger-knuckle-print, a new multimodal finger feature recognition scheme is proposed based on granular computing. First, the ridge texture features of FP, FV, and FKP are extracted using Gabor Ordinal Measures (GOM). Second, combining the three-modal GOM feature maps in a color-based manner, we then constitute the original feature object set of a finger. To represent finger features effectively, they are granulated at three levels of feature granules (FGs) in a bottom-up manner based on spatial circular granulation. In order to test the performance of the multilevel FGs, a top-down matching method is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves higher accuracy recognition rate in finger feature recognition.

We study boundary value problems for the following nonlinear fractional Sturm-Liouville functional differential equations involving the Caputo fractional derivative: CDβ(p(t)CDαu(t)) + f(t,u(t-τ),u(t+θ))=0, t∈(0,1), CDαu(0)= CDαu(1)=( CDαu(0))=0, au(t)-bu′(t)=η(t), t∈[-τ,0], cu(t)+du′(t)=ξ(t), t∈[1,1+θ], where CDα, CDβ denote the Caputo fractional derivatives, f is a nonnegative continuous functional defined on C([-τ,1+θ],ℝ), 10, and η∈C([-τ,0],[0,∞)), ξ∈C([1,1+θ],[0,∞)). By means of the Guo-Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem and the fixed point index theorem, some positive solutions are obtained, respectively. As an application, an example is presented to illustrate our main results.