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In this paper, a fault detection and isolation technique for series arc faults in dc microgrids with multiple power electronics loads is proposed using Unknown Input Observers (UIO). The dc microgrid is first modeled as a linear system using its corresponding graph information, including the oriented incidence matrix. The lines are assumed to be in Pi form (resistive, inductive, and capacitive) defining the dynamic states: line currents and node voltages. Sources and loads are considered inputs to the network and details are presented to include the case where these are not measured. DC series arc faults are then analyzed as disturbances affecting any line. An UIO framework is then presented to detect and identify the faulted line using the network model. Simulation and experimental results are then presented.

This article presents a self-balancing technique for voltage sharing of series-connected insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Each series IGBT is augmented with an auxiliary switch, which operates in complementary to the main one, and a capacitor in series. When gate signal delays, based on the capacitor voltage feedbacks, are applied to the series modules, the voltage sharing can be balanced. The delays are generated with local controllers without DSP/field-programmable gate array, regardless of the parasitic element distribution, thermal characteristics of the devices, or current amplitudes. Since there is no resistive element in the auxiliary branch, the balancing circuit is low loss. The circuit and the operation modes are provided in detail and illustrated with simulation models. Experimental results with ten series modules at different voltage levels are presented to demonstrate the principle of control, and the performance of the proposed technique.

Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is an essential stage in bone formation. Autophagy plays a pivotal role in the self-renewal potential and pluripotency of stem cells. This study aimed to explore the function of autophagy-related genes during osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs.The differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (ARGs) were obtained from the GEO and HADb databases. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed using R software. The PPI and hub gene mining networks were constructed using the STRING database and Cytoscape. Finally, the RT-qPCR was conducted to validate the expression level of ARGs in BMSCs.Thirty-seven differentially expressed ARGs were finally obtained, including 12 upregulated and 25 downregulated genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that most of these genes were enriched in apoptosis and autophagy. The PPI network revealed strong interactions between differentially expressed ARGs. The expression level of differentially expressed ARGs tested by RT-qPCR showed 6 upregulated ARGs, includingWe identified 37 ARGs during osteogenic differentiation using bioinformatics analysis. FOXO1, MAP1LC3C, CTSB, FOXO3, CALCOCO2, FKBP1A, MAPK8IP1, NRG1, VEGFA, and ITGA6 may regulate osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs by involving autophagy pathway. This study provides new insight into the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs and may be available in developing therapeutic strategies for maxillofacial bone defects.

This study presents experimental results on the influence of cellulose particles on the breakdown characteristics of transformer oil in a highly non-uniform field under lightning impulse voltage. The experimental results show that as the particle content increases, the breakdown voltage reduces with little change in the breakdown time lag. At the same cellulose particle content, the oil breakdown voltage under oscillating lightning impulse (OLI) is lower than that under standard lightning impulse (SLI) and the breakdown time lag under OLI is longer than that under SLI. The impulse wave oscillation has a large effect on the accumulation of particles around the high voltage electrode and cellulose particles affect the development of the streamer process. At mid to high particle content the accumulation of particles around the high voltage electrode causes a decrease in the conductivity of the surrounding oil. This work contributes to the understanding of the effect of cellulose particles in oil and breakdown and on oscillating waveforms and provides guidance for lightning impulse tests on oil-immersed power transformers in the field.

Series dc arc fault creates a fire hazard and negative impacts on the distribution bus if not detected and isolated quickly. However, the detection of a series arc fault is challenging due to the low fault current, lack of zero-crossing, and the erratic behavior of arc discharge based on different power electronic loads and controllers in modern power applications. This article presents a practical and versatile series dc arc fault detection method based on ensemble machine learning (EML) algorithms. A buck converter constant power load (CPL) and a boost converter CPL are designed and built to study the different arc fault behaviors and generate training data for the machine learning algorithms. A set of time domain features is extracted from the experimental data and analyzed using the feature importance attribute. An adaptive normalization function then processed the features to mitigate false positive classification caused by load changes. A two-step algorithm is proposed to recognize the arc fault in different load types. Various EML algorithms and the associated hyperparameters are benchmarked to select the most accurate hyperparameters for a detection algorithm for low-cost hardware implementation. Finally, the detection algorithm's effectiveness is verified with CPL testbed.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism of miR-139-5p on the biological characteristics of breast cancer cells by targeting Collagen type XI alpha 1 chain (COL11A1). Method: GEO2R was used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of breast cancer in GEO database. miRDB, miRanda and TargetScan databases were used to predict the miRNAs that regulate COL11A1. qRT-PCR was used to detect the expressions of COL11A1 and miR-139-5p in breast cancer cells, and western blot was used to detect the protein level of COL11A1. RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation assay was employed to test the targeted relationship between miR-139-5p and COL11A1, which was further verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. CCK-8 assay was performed to detect the cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was carried out to examine the cell apoptosis. Moreover, western blot was used for the detection of caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2 protein levels. Results: A total of five DEGs were screened from the GEO database, of which COL11A1 was the only highly expressed in breast cancer. According to the database analysis, we predicted that miR-139-5p was much likely to target the expression of COL11A1. MiR-139-5p was poorly expressed in breast cancer cells and targeted inhibited COL11A1. Silencing COL11A1 or overexpressing miR-139-5p both could inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis, while overexpressing the two factors simultaneously could reverse such effect. Conclusion: Overexpression of miR-139-5p inhibits the proliferation and promotes the apoptosis of breast cancer cells by inhibiting the expression of COL11A1.

Partial discharge (PD) in gas insulated switchgear (GIS) has been studied extensively under AC voltage or transient voltage applied alone. However, the transient voltage in an actual system is superimposed on the AC operating voltage, which has rarely been studied. In this paper, the effect of AC and switching impulse superimposed voltage on PD characteristics was studied in SF6 gas. A test platform of generating superimposed voltage with controllable phase was used to study free particle and floating potential defect models. When the AC voltage was 90 and 110% of PD inception voltage (PDIV), the standard switching impulse with amplitude of about twice the PDIV was superimposed on different phases of the AC voltage. When the AC voltage is below the PDIV, results show that PDs of free particle defect model can be initiated when switching impulse is superimposed on 45 and 90° of AC. The PDs in the subsequent cycles of AC reignited into a self-sustaining discharge. For the floating potential defect, PDs have a marked difference duration, which is initiated by switching impulse in different phase. However, there is no change in PDs in each model when the AC voltage is above the PDIV.

Background The application of calcium phosphate (CaP)-based bone substitutes plays an important role in periodontal regeneration, implant dentistry and alveolar bone reconstruction. The incorporation of strontium (Sr) into CaP-based bone substitutes appears to improve their biological properties, but the reported in vivo bone repair performance is inconsistent among studies. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the in vivo performance of Sr-doped materials. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE (via OVIDSP), and reference lists to identify relevant animal studies. The search, study selection, and data extraction were performed independently by two investigators. Meta-analyses and sub-group analyses were conducted using Revman version 5.4.1. The heterogeneity between studies were assessed by I2. Publication bias was investigated through a funnel plot. Results Thirty-five studies were finally enrolled, of which 16 articles that reported on new bone formation (NBF) were included in the meta-analysis, covering 31 comparisons and 445 defects. The overall effect for NBF was 2.25 (95% CI 1.61–2.90, p 2 = 80%). Eight comparisons from 6 studies reported the outcomes of bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV), with an overall effect of 1.42 (95% CI 0.65–2.18, p = 0.0003, I2 = 75%). Fourteen comparisons reported on the material remaining (RM), with the overall effect being -2.26 (95% CI − 4.02 to − 0.50, p = 0.0009, I2 = 86%). Conclusions Our study revealed that Sr-doped calcium phosphate bone substitutes improved in vivo performance of bone repair. However, more studies are also recommended to further verify this conclusion.

In this letter, a test platform capable of generating superimposed voltage with controllable phase is presented. Surface partial discharge(PD) of epoxy insulation was measured and analyzed in SF6. The applied voltage is AC and switching impulse superimposed voltage. Results show that only PD of the negative cycles of the AC voltage is excited or accelerated after impulse. With AC voltage at 90% of partial discharge inception voltage(PDIV), AC PDIV is reduced after imposing the switching impulse. When AC voltage is kept at 110% of PDIV, AC PDs are obviously promoted after impulse.

Magnolia sinostellata Chiu & Chen is a rare and endangered species endemic to subtropical China. Here we assembled and annotated the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of M. sinostellata. The chloroplast genome of M. sinostellata is 160,076 bp in length and encodes 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and four ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis result reveals that M. sinostellata is most closely related to M. biondii.

Objective. This study aimed to construct a 5-year survival prediction model of coronary heart disease (CHD) induced chronic heart failure (CHF), which is supported by the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) factor, and to verify the model. Methods. Inpatients from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2017, in seven hospitals in Shandong Province were studied. The random number table was used to randomly divide the seven hospitals into two groups (training set and verification set). In the training set, the least absolute shrinkage selection operator regression was first used to screen the independent variables. Logistic regression was then applied to construct a survival prediction model. The following nomogram visualizes the prediction model results. Finally, C-indices, calibration curves, and decision curves were used to discriminate and calibrate the established model and evaluate its practicability in the clinic. Bootstrap resampling and the verification set were used for internal and external verification, respectively. Results. A total of 424 eligible patients were included in the model construction and verification. In this 5-year survival prediction model of patients with CHF induced by CHD, eight independent predictors were included. The series of C-indices for the training set, bootstrap resamples, and verification set was 0.885, 0.867, and 0.835, respectively, demonstrating the credibility of our model. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, and clinical decision curve analysis of the training and verification sets showed that this 5-year survival prediction model was good in discrimination, calibration, and clinical practicability. Conclusion. This work highlights eight independent factors affecting 5-year mortality in patients with CHF induced by CHD after discharge and further helps reallocate medical resources rationally by precisely identifying high-risk groups. The constructed prediction model not only plays a credible role in prediction but also demonstrates TCM intervention as a protective factor for the 5-year death of patients with CHF induced by CHD, thereby advancing the use of TCM in CHF.

A partial discharge (PD) detection method for SF6 insulated inverted current transformers (SIICTs) adopting an inner shield case as an ultra-high frequency (UHF) sensor is proposed in this paper. The inner shield case is a component of the SIICT. Its structure is similar to that of an antenna and can be used as a UHF sensor to measure the PD UHF signal. A 110 kV current transformer is used as an experimental object and the voltage standing-wave ratio of the inner shield case is calculated. The validity and sensitivity of this method are proved by experiments with ac voltage. This PD detection method solves the problem that the UHF sensor is difficult to mount inside current transformers and provides a novel method for PD detection of SIICTs.

The field impulse voltage withstand test plays one of the most important roles to ensure the safety of the gas insulated equipments. It is hard to carry out the standard impulse voltage test for the equipments because the generator is very large and difficult to transport. The oscillating impulse voltage waveform has high efficiency and has been recommended by the IEC 60060-3 as the field test waveform. SF6 gas is the insulation medium of gas insulated equipments. Its insulation characteristics under different types of impulse waveforms have great influence to the design, operation and test amplitude. This paper focuses on the breakdown characteristics of SF6 gas in a quasi-uniform field under oscillating impulse voltages (OIV). Four types of oscillating impulse lightning voltage waveforms with oscillating frequency of 100, 200, 300 and 400 kHz were adopted as the test waveforms. The standard lightning impulse (SLI) voltage was also adopted as the reference waveform. A calculation model is established to explain the results. The experiment and calculation results show that the breakdown waveforms in time domain drop quickly and then have a recovery with low amplitude to zero under OIV for the influence of circuit inductor. 50% probability breakdown voltages (BDVs0%) under OIV are higher than that under SLI. The minimum breakdown voltage and BDVs0% both increase with oscillating frequency. The voltage-time distributions show that breakdowns under OIV occur in the vicinity of each wave peak of the applied voltage. OIV have a longer time lag than SLI due to the oscillation of the waveforms.

The field impulse voltage test plays the most important role to ensure the safe of the power transformer. It is hard to carry out the standard impulse voltage test for the power equipment because the generator is very huge. The oscillating impulse voltage waveform has high efficiency and be recommended by IEC 60060-3 as the field test waveform. Transformer oil is the main insulation part of power transformer insulation system. The insulation characteristics of transformer oil under different type impulse waveform have great influence to the design, operation and test amplitude for the power transformer. This paper focuses on the breakdown characteristics of transformer oil in a uniform field under oscillating impulse voltage (OIV). Three type oscillating impulse voltage waveforms with oscillating frequency of 14, 117 and 373 kHz were adopted as the test waveforms. The standard lightning impulse (SLI) voltage was also adopted as the reference waveform. The experiment results show the breakdown waveforms have large oscillation under OIV but little oscillation under SLI for the influence of circuit inductor. The minimum breakdown voltage increase with the increase of oscillating frequency and the 117 kHz impulse waveform has the similar breakdown voltage with SLI waveform. The voltage-time distributions were obtained through lab test and the results shown that the OIV have the longer time lag than SLI for the influence of the oscillation of waveform. The experimental results were explained through streamer mechanism. The study provides the foundation for the field impulse test using oscillating impulse waveform.

HVDC transmission has been adopted widely for its large energy transport capacity, high stability and more economical in long-distance power transmission. Converter transformer is the key equipment in HVDC transmission system. The insulation of converter transformer valve side endures a composite voltage including AC, DC and pulsating component etc. Partial discharge (PD) occurring in a void surrounded by insulating material is believed to be one of the main causes of insulation breakdown and it is the main factor of electrical aging of materials. Therefore, it is important to recognize the prebreakdown phenomena and to evaluate the lifetime of insulating materials. Much research has been carried out to study the partial discharge characteristics under pure AC or DC voltage. Only a few investigations were focused on composite voltage. In order to obtain more understanding of PD characteristics under composite voltage, the PD detection and analysis of oil-pressboard insulation under pulsating DC voltage waveform are studied in this paper. The voltage waveform of converter transformer is analyzed through computer simulation. A 6-pulse DC voltage generator and PD detection system are set up. Influence of the DC component and pulsating component to the PD characteristics is studied in lab test. The experimental results show the DC component and pulsating component affect the PD inception voltage, but the pulsating component has more significant influence to PD characteristics than DC component. The study provides an experimental foundation for the converter transformer insulation breakdown mechanism analysis.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of carboplatin-based preoperative chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients (TNBC). Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, the Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, major clinical trial registries, and abstract collections from major international meetings were systematically searched for relevant randomized controlled trials. Endpoints included rates of pathologic complete response (pCR), overall response (ORR), breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and toxicity. Pooled relative risk (RR) was calculated for each endpoint using a fixed- or random-effect model depending on the heterogeneity among included studies. Results: A total of 5 randomized controlled trials involving 1007 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Carboplatin-based chemotherapy was associated with a pooled pCR rate of 53.3%, which was significantly higher than the rate associated with non-carboplatin therapy (37.8%, RR: 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23 to 1.62, p less than 0.00001). Compared with non-carboplatin therapy (48.1%), carboplatin-based chemotherapy increased BCS rate (59.7%, RR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.06 to 1.46, p =0.007). Carboplatin-based chemotherapy was associated with similar ORR as non-carboplatin therapy. Carboplatin-based chemotherapy was associated with higher incidence of grade 3 or 4 anemia, neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia than non-carboplatin therapy, while the 2 regimens were associated with similar incidence of fatigue, leucopenia, and nausea/vomiting. Conclusion: The available evidence suggests that carboplatin-based preoperative chemotherapy is associated with significantly better pCR and BCS rates than non-carboplatin-based therapy in TNBC patients. Saudi Med J 2017; Vol. 38 (1): 18-23 doi: 10.15537/smj.2017.1.14969 How to cite this article: Wang LY, Xie H, Zhou H, Yao WX, Zhao X, Wang Y. Efficacy of carboplatin-based preoperative chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Saudi Med J . 2017 Jan;38(1):18-23. doi: 10.15537/smj.2017.1.14969.

A novel gas insulated switchgear (GIS) partial discharge (PD) sensor with integrated optical fiber and ultrahigh frequency (UHF) method is developed in this paper. The integrated sensor is formed by placing an optical fiber on the surface of the UHF sensor. The novel sensor can be mounted inside the GIS and measure the PD through optical and UHF signals at the same time. The validity and sensitivity of the sensor are proved by experiments on a physical 110 kV GIS. This PD detection sensor solves the problem that the optical fiber is difficult to be mounted inside GIS and provides a novel method for PD detection in GIS.

The insulation problem of converter transformers has become one of the core issues in HVDC system, which is receiving more and more attention. A converter transformer has complex structures and requires high insulation level. The voltage waveform which the converter transformer insulation withstands is different from AC transformers. In the valve side of the converter transformer, the insulation endures a mixed voltage of AC voltage, DC voltage, harmonics and the pulsating component etc. Partial discharge (PD) occurring in oil-pressboard insulation is the one of the main causes of insulation breakdown, and it is the main factor of electrical aging of materials. Even though PD characteristics under pure AC or DC voltage waveform have been studied by many researchers, little research has been done with the mixed voltage. In this paper, the AC + DC mixed voltage experiment system is set up to study the PD characteristics under mixed voltage waveforms. The study results indicate that the pressboard withstands most of the DC component and void withstands most of the AC component when applied mixed voltage. For PD inception voltage, it is decided by both the AC component and DC component. For PD development, AC component has more significant influence than DC component. However, the DC component is found to promote PD activity under AC half cycle with the same DC polarity and inhibit PD activity under AC half cycle with the opposite DC polarity. The results in this paper provide an experimental foundation for the converter transformer insulation breakdown mechanism and analysis.

Charging load modeling for electric vehicles (EVs) is a challenge due to its complexity. However, it serves as a foundation for related studies such as the impact assessment of EV charging behaviors on power system and power demand side management for EVs. The decisive factors affecting charging load profile include the power curve, the duration, and the start time of each charging process. This paper introduces the charging traffic flow (CTF) as a discrete sequence to describe charging start events, where CTF contains both spatial and temporal properties of a charging load. A set of equations are proposed to build a probabilistic load model, followed by simulation iteration steps using a flow chart. The parameter identification method based on ant colony (AC) algorithms is then studied in depth, and the pheromone update and the state transition probability are used to implement route finding and city selection, respectively. Finally, an actual case of battery swapping station is applied to verify the proposed model in both identification and simulation. The results show that the model has satisfactory accuracy and applicability.

This paper focuses on analysis and suppression of circulating harmonic currents in a modular multilevel converter (MMC) considering the impact of dead time in medium-voltage applications. A continuous equivalent model of the MMC containing two ideal transformer models is presented. Using this model, the impact of a harmonic voltage upon the dc side is analyzed and the production mechanism of circulating harmonic currents is elucidated. At the same time, the impact of dead time and insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) voltage drop (DTVD) is studied, which indicates that capacitor voltages, output harmonics, and circulating harmonic currents are influenced. Based on this analysis, an open-loop control strategy to suppressing circulating harmonic currents caused by the output current and DTVD is presented. Finally, all these conclusions are verified using a simulation platform with 14 modules per arm fed by a 14-kV dc voltage source and a downscaled experimental platform with four modules per arm fed by a 560-V dc voltage source.

Previous studies in other provinces of China (Beijing, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Taiwan) suggest that the distributions of lymphoma subtypes differ compared with Western populations. In order to evaluate the characteristics of malignant lymphoma in Sichuan, China, we analyzed case series data from incident lymphoma patients diagnosed in 2008 from three hospitals, including a total of 1629 cases and including only current residents of Sichuan. The median age of diagnosis for cases was 54 years, with a higher proportion of male cases compared with female cases. The most commonly diagnosed subtypes included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (40.4%), NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL; 11.8%), mixed cellularity Hodgkin lymphoma (7.0%), mantle cell lymphoma (4.8%), and marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (3.9%). Differences in demographic characteristics between Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases were apparent for median age at diagnosis (HL: 34 years; NHL: 57 years), and NHLs accounted for nearly all (99.3%) of the 931 cases of extranodal lymphoma. These findings indicate a higher proportion of NKTCL cases and a lower proportion of follicular lymphoma cases (2.3%) in these hospitals in Sichuan, relative to reports from some other provinces within China (e.g., Shanghai and Shanxi) and the USA. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Real-time (RT) simulation plays a fundamental role in the design and validation of hardware and software for power electronic converters and electric drives. In this paper, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based RT platform for simulation of power converters and electric machines is presented. Strategies for modeling power electronic devices are explained and compared. In addition, a Thevenin-based equivalent model of a switch is enhanced to model the on characteristics of these devices. This motivates the design of an electrothermal algorithm for FPGA implementation. With respect to electric machines, different methods for modeling of the saturation characteristics are evaluated for their use in RT simulation. A procedure to efficiently compute the saturation characteristics is proposed. Finally, a hardware-in-the-loop model of an electric vehicle drive is used to illustrate the machine saturation.

Based on the determination of pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and electrical conductivity (EC) of the different sources of water in the inlet and outlet of Yintan wetland ecological park in Lanzhou of the Yellow River, the removal of ammonia nitrogen from wetland water were tested in laboratory by use of plant of Hydrilla verticillata in mud and Chlorophytum picking at the riverside under controlled, separately and mixed. The results showed water parameters such as pH, COD, and EC in wetland park appearing the increase of pH and decrease of COD and EC after sewage passing through the wetland park form Yellow River. The removal rate of ammonia nitrogen was 80.14% and 90.37% by Hydrilla verticillata and Chlorophytum planted separately and mixed 90.73%, respectively. These two kinds of plants can not only cooperate with the artificial wetland system to purify the polluted water, but also have certain landscape and good ecological benefits.

The crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy contributes to tumorigenesis and cancer therapy. The process by which BetA (betulinic acid), a naturally occurring triterpenoid, regulates apoptosis and autophagy as a cancer therapy is unclear. In this study, we show for the first time that protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) acts as a switch to regulate apoptosis and autophagic cell death mediated by BetA. Under normal conditions, caspase-3 is activated by the mitochondrial pathway upon BetA treatment. Activated caspase-3 cleaves the A subunit of PP2A (PP2A/A), resulting in the association of PP2A and Akt. This association inactivates Akt to initiate apoptosis. Overexpression of Bcl-2 attenuates the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, resulting in caspase-3 inactivation and the dissociation of PP2A and Akt. PP2A isolated from Akt binds with DAPK to induce autophagic cell death. Meanwhile, in vivo tumor experiments have demonstrated that BetA initiates different types of cell death in a myeloma xenograft model. Thus, PP2A can shift myeloma cells from apoptosis to autophagic cell death. These findings have important implications for the therapeutic application of BetA, particularly against apoptosis-resistant cancers.

DC arc fault introduces major safety concerns in a wide variety of components in dc networks. However, the randomness and instability of dc arc makes it difficult to be detected. In this paper, an experimental system was designed and tested at different load current, dc source voltage, and gap length to evaluate the impact of each parameter to the dc arc. Based on the experimental results, characteristics in the electrical behavior were studied and fault detection oriented analysis was conducted. A detection algorithm utilizing both time and time-frequency domain characteristics was proposed to differentiate between dc arc fault and normal condition. The detection algorithm was then realized on a digital signal processing board and tested to verify the effectiveness. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can detect arc fault in a timely manner and is free of nuisance trip from normal circuit operations such as load change condition.

Peroral supplementation with trivalent-chromium (Cr) or magnesium (Mg) has been shown to improve insulin resistance (IR). The objective of this study was to determine whether combined peroral supplementation with Cr and Mg improves IR more effectively than Cr or Mg alone.Subjects (n=120, age range 45-59 years old) and diagnosed with IR were randomly divided into four groups and monitored for a period of 3 months: group 1 (the placebo control group), group 2 (160 μg/d Cr), group 3 (200 mg/d Mg), and group 4 (160 μg/d Cr plus 200 mg/d Mg). Fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FIns), erythrocyte Cr and Mg content, and glucose-transporter-4 (GLUT4) and glycogen-synthase-kinase-3β (GSK3β) mRNA levels in activated T-lymphocytes were measured, and insulin resistant index (IRI) was calculated.Significant decreases between the baseline and study conclusion values of FBG (0.37 mmol/L, p0.01), FIns (2.91 μIU/mL, p0.01) and IRI (0.60, p0.01) were observed in group 4, but not groups 1-3. Similarly, compared with baseline, significant changes in GLUT4 (2.9-fold increase, p0.05) and GSK3β (2.2-fold decrease, p0.05) mRNA levels in activated T-lymphocyte were observed at the study's conclusion in group 4, but not in groups 1-3.Our results indicate that combining peroral supplementation with Cr and Mg improves IR more effectively than Cr or Mg alone, and this may be attributable to increased induction and repression, respectively, of GLUT4 and GSK3β expression.背景与目的：现有研究表明口服三价铬或镁可有效改善胰岛素抵抗。本研究旨在 确定铬和镁联合补充是否较单独补充铬或镁更能有效地改善胰岛素抵抗。方法与 研究设计：本研究纳入了120 名诊断为胰岛素抵抗的病人（45-59 岁），随机将 其分为4 组，每组30 人，分别口服安慰剂、铬（160 μg/d）、镁（200 mg/d）、 镁+铬（铬160 μg/d+镁200 mg/d），持续3 个月。测定空腹血糖和胰岛素浓度、 红细胞中铬和镁的含量，以及激活的T 淋巴细胞中葡萄糖转运载体4（GLUT4） 和糖原合成酶激酶3β（GSK3β）的mRNA 水平，并计算胰岛素抵抗指数。结 果：与干预前相比，铬和镁联合补充可以显著降低空腹血糖 （0.37 mmol/L， p0.01 ） 和胰岛素 （ 2.91 μIU/mL ， p0.01 ） 浓度， 以及胰岛素抵抗指数 （0.60，p0.01）；同时铬和镁联合补充显著上调了活化的T 细胞GLUT4 mRNA 水平（升高2.9 倍，p0.05），并显著下调了 GSK3β mRNA 水平 （降低 2.2 倍，p0.05）。对照组、铬或镁单独补充组与干预前相比改善效果不明显。 结论：铬和镁联合补充较单独补充铬或镁能更好地改善胰岛素抵抗，可能与铬和 镁联合补充使胰岛素信号传导通路中GLUT-4mRNA 上调和GSK3β mRNA 下调 有关。.

Gas insulated switchgears (GIS) have been widely used due to their high reliability, low maintenance and compact size. The field experiment is an important step to ensure the safety of GIS. The AC withstand voltage test and its corresponding partial discharge (PD) measurement are inadequate for the detection of all the hidden flaws in GIS. Such inadequacy can be compensated by additional impulse withstand voltage test and its PD detection measurement. This paper reports on experiments to study surface discharge over SF6/epoxy under impulse voltage. The TJ (triple-junction) model was used to study the characteristic of partial discharge (PD). The PD signals under four types of impulse voltages were detected by electrical methods. The 50% probability PD inception voltage (PDIV50), time lags and maximum discharge magnitude were analyzed as a function of gas pressure. The PD characteristics under AC voltage were investigated for comparison. The results indicate that the PD signals under impulse voltage can be detected using electrical method, the number of discharges under oscillating impulse voltage was significantly larger, which was due to the influence of source oscillation. The oscillating lightning impulse has the lowest impulse ratio and it is recommended as the best test waveform choice for the field impulse withstand test with PD detection.

// Hu Ma 1, * , Wen-Xiu Yao 2, * , Lang Huang 1, * , Su-Han Jin 3 , Da-Hai Liu 1 , Yuan Liu 4 , Xu Tian 5 , Jin-Hui Tian 6 , Jian-Guo Zhou 1 1 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563000, China 2 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Medical School, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute & Cancer, The Second People’s Hospital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610000, China 3 Affiliated Stemmatological Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563000, China 4 Department of Pharmacology and Key Laboratory of Basic Pharmacology of Ministry of Education, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563000, China 5 Chongqing Cancer Hospital and Institute, Chongqing, 40030, China 6 Evidence-Based Medicine Center of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Jian-Guo Zhou, email: jianguo.zhou@yahoo.com Keywords: NSCLC, D5F3, ALK, diagnostic accuracy, meta-analysis Received: June 06, 2016 Accepted: August 13, 2016 Published: September 01, 2016 ABSTRACT We conducted a pooled analysis comparing the efficacy of an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay using the D5F3 antibody with that of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for detecting ALK gene rearrangement in NSCLC patients. A total of 32 studies involving 5805 samples were included in this review. Pooled sensitivity for D5F3 IHC was 0.97 (95%CI: 0.93-0.98), specificity was 0.99 (95%CI: 0.98-1.00), PLR was 119.20 (95%CI: 57.79-245.89), NLR was 0.03 (95%CI: 0.02-0.07), DOR was 3526.66 (95%CI: 1344.71-9249.03), and AUROC was 1.00 (95%CI: 0.99-1.00). Meta-regression revealed that specimen type was a source of heterogeneity for specificity, and specimen type and FISH signal distance were sources of heterogeneity in the joint model. Subgroup analysis revealed that sensitivity and specificity were higher when the FISH signal distance standard was ≥ 2 than when it was ≥ 1. Sensitivity was higher for tumor specimens than for cell specimens; specificity was higher for cell specimens than for tumor specimens. In conclusion, the D5F3 IHC assay was nearly as effective as FISH for detection of ALK gene rearrangement in NSCLC patients.

One of the major problems in the liquid insulation is the particle contamination, which can seriously degrade the withstand voltage of the insulation. The movement of conducting particles under operation voltage can generate incipient discharges that can lead to the complete failure of the insulation system during operation. The partial-discharge characteristics of the free spherical conducting particle in the quasiuniform electric field were studied in this paper in order to better explain the partial-discharge (PD) measurement signals for particle movement and implications for insulation diagnostics in power transformers. The phase-resolved partial-discharge (PRPD) pattern was measured and the PD inception voltage, PD charges, and PD frequency were studied under different applied voltages. The influence of oil aging degree to particle PD characteristics was also studied in this paper. It is observed that the PD pattern is different in a different particle motion stage and the number of particles has a significant influence on PD frequency and a slight influence on PD pattern. The particle is inactive in severely aged transformer oil. The PD charges and PD frequency (pulses number per half ac cycle) reduce with the aging degree of the oil sample.

It is well known that impulse voltages strongly affect the reliability of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) under actual operational conditions. The alternating-current (ac) withstand voltage test and its corresponding partial discharge (PD) measurement are inadequate for the detection of all the hidden flaws in GIS. Such inadequacy can be compensated by additional impulse withstand voltage test and its PD detection measurement. However, the bulkiness and inefficiency of aperiodic impulse voltage generator make it unsuitable for on-site application. Therefore, in practical tests, oscillating impulse voltage (OIV) is generally adopted instead of aperiodic impulse voltage. In this paper, we measure the PD inception voltage (PDIV) and the breakdown characteristics of a needle-plate gap in SF6 gas under four types of impulse voltages by electrical and optical methods. The 50% probability PDIV is analyzed as a function of gas pressure. The physical mechanisms of the PD under the four impulse voltages are discussed. The PD characteristics under ac voltage are investigated for comparison. Experimental results reveal that the PD development process under the two aperiodic impulse voltages was mainly dominated by the precursor mechanism which consists of streamer and leader stages, while the PD propagation under the two OIVs was affected by the displacement current produced by oscillation. The difference of the PD characteristics under the aperiodic impulse voltage and OIV, and ac voltage are also presented.

The choice of the materials used as the dielectric media in large transformers continues to be a combination of pressboard and mineral oil. However, a number of failures in the field have been attributed to the surface discharge or creeping discharge over the oil/pressboard interface. This paper reports on an experiment to study surface discharge over oil/pressboard. The TJ (triple-junction) model was used to study the characteristic of partial discharge (PD) from inception to flashover. The max PD charge, pattern, frequency and current pulse were measured during the flashover process. Four oil/pressboard specimens with different aging degrees were used and their influence on the flashover process over oil/paper interface was studied in this experiment. The results indicate that the max PD charge and PD frequency increase with the increase of applied voltage. The oil aging has great influence while the pressboard aging has little influence on PD characteristic over oil/pressboard. The PD pattern and current pulse shape show great difference for various applied voltages. The results therefore suggest that the PD detection on the oil/pressboard can be used effectively to implement the early monitor of surface discharge thereby to avoid the formation of surface flashover.

// Chu-Ying Huang 1, 3, * , Li Wang 1, 4, * , Cheng-Jun Feng 1, * , Ping Yu 2, * , Xiao-Hong Cai 2 , Wen-Xiu Yao 2 , Yong Xu 1 , Xiao-Ke Liu 1 , Wen-Jiang Zhu 1 , Yan Wang 1, 5 , Jin Zhou 2 , You Lu 1 , Yong-Sheng Wang 1 1 Department of Thoracic Oncology, Cancer Center, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy/Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 2 Department of Oncology, The Second People's Hospital of Sichuan, Chengdu, China 3 Department of Medical Oncology, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Central Hospital, Hubei Province, China 4 Department of Dermatology, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Central Hospital, Hubei Province, China 5 Department of Oncology, The First People's Hospital of Longquanyi District, Chengdu, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yong-Sheng Wang, email: wangys@scu.edu.cn , wangys75@gmail.com Keywords: bisphosphonates, EGFR-TKIs, NSCLC, EGFR mutations, bone metastases Received: April 30, 2015 Accepted: September 05, 2015 Published: November 27, 2015 ABSTRACT Background: Bisphosphonates have exhibited anti-tumor activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to evaluate whether the combination of bisphosphonates with tyrosine kinase inhibitors of EGFR (EGFR-TKIs) could obtain a synergistic effect on advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations. Methods: Between January 2008 and October 2013, 114 advanced EGFR mutations NSCLC patients who received EGFR-TKIs as first-line therapy were recruited from two cancer centers. Patients were separated into EGFR-TKIs alone or EGFR-TKIs plus bisphosphonates (combination) group. Median progression free survival (mPFS), median overall survival (mOS) distributions and survival curves were analyzed. Results: Among the 114 patients, 62 had bone metastases (19 patients treated with EGFR-TKIs, 43 patients treated with EGFR-TKIs + bisphosphonates). Median PFS and OS were significantly improved in combination group compared with EGFR-TKIs group (mPFS: 15.0 vs 7.3 months, P = 0.0017; mOS: 25.2 vs 10.4 months, P = 0.0015) in patients with bone metastases. Among the 71 patients (19 patients with bone metastases) treated with EGFR-TKIs alone, patients with bone metastases had poor survival prognosis (mPFS:7.3 vs 12.1 months, P = 0.0434; mOS:10.4 vs 22.0 months, P = 0.0036). The survival of patients with bone metastases who received EGFR-TKIs plus bisphosphonates therapy was non-inferior to patients without bone metastases treated with EGFR-TKIs alone (mPFS: 15.0 vs 12.1 months, p = 0.1871; mOS: 25.2 vs 22.0 months, p = 0.9798). Conclusions: Concomitant use of bisphosphonates and EGFR-TKIs improves therapeutic efficacy and brings survival benefits to NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation and bone metastases.

Husband, as an important member of the family, greatly impacts the treatment decision. In this study, we sought to evaluate the attitudes toward breast conserving surgery (BCS) in Chinese breast cancer patients' husbands and explore the influencing factors.A self-structured questionnaire was distributed to the husbands of 1600 wives with breast cancer, eliciting information on their general information, the level of understanding of BCS, attitudes toward BCS and affecting reasons.In all, 1468 (91.8%) husbands completed the questionnaire. Collation of the responses showed that only 3.0% had a good understanding of BCS and 81.5% did not favor BCS. Patients' husbands perception were associated with their age, religion, occupation, educational background, method of payment of medical expenses, understanding the disease condition and doctor's recommendations (p0.05). The top reason was "fear of incomplete resection, which could easily lead to recurrence and metastasis".This study indicates that Chinese husbands have skepticism and lack comprehensive and correct understanding for BCS. Meanwhile, their desire of obtaining knowledge was not strong. The results suggest a need for fundamental changes in husbands' education to ensure that they are able to obtain enough information so that they can help their wives make educated decisions.

Previous studies in other provinces of China (Beijing, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Taiwan) suggest that the distributions of lymphoma subtypes differ compared with Western populations. In order to evaluate the characteristics of malignant lymphoma in Sichuan, China, we analyzed case series data from incident lymphoma patients diagnosed in 2008 from three hospitals, including a total of 1629 cases and including only current residents of Sichuan. The median age of diagnosis for cases was 54 years, with a higher proportion of male cases compared with female cases. The most commonly diagnosed subtypes included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (40.4%), NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL; 11.8%), mixed cellularity Hodgkin lymphoma (7.0%), mantle cell lymphoma (4.8%), and marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (3.9%). Differences in demographic characteristics between Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases were apparent for median age at diagnosis (HL: 34 years; NHL: 57 years), and NHLs accounted for nearly all (99.3%) of the 931 cases of extranodal lymphoma. These findings indicate a higher proportion of NKTCL cases and a lower proportion of follicular lymphoma cases (2.3%) in these hospitals in Sichuan, relative to reports from some other provinces within China (e.g., Shanghai and Shanxi) and the USA. Copyright © 2015 John WileySons, Ltd.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SCoV) spike (S) protein is the major surface antigen of the virus and is responsible for receptor binding and the generation of neutralizing antibody. To investigate SCoV S protein, full-length and individual domains of S protein were expressed on the surface of insect cells and were characterized for cleavability and reactivity with serum samples obtained from patients during the convalescent phase of SARS. S protein could be cleaved by exogenous trypsin but not by coexpressed furin, suggesting that the protein is not normally processed during infection. Reactivity was evident by both flow cytometry and Western blot assays, but the pattern of reactivity varied according to assay and sequence of the antigen. The antibody response to SCoV S protein involves antibodies to both linear and conformational epitopes, with linear epitopes associated with the carboxyl domain and conformational epitopes associated with the amino terminal domain. Recombinant SCoV S protein appears to be a suitable antigen for the development of an efficient and sensitive diagnostic test for SARS, but our data suggest that assay format and choice of S antigen are important considerations.

Background and Objectives: the effects of oral enteral nutrition (EN) in lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were controversial, so we made a systematic review to analyze the clinical efficacy of EN in lung cancer patients after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Methods and Study Design: Pertinent studies were identified by searching in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Database, China Biomedical Literature database (CBM) and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP). Energy intake, protein intake, weight and other data were extracted. Results: Finally, 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this systematic review. Patients in 3 studies received chemotherapy, in 1 with radiotherapy and in 1 with chemo-radiotherapy. The combined results showed that EN significantly increased energy and protein intake in lung cancer during chemotherapy, while there was no significant effect on other results after patients had received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Conclusions: Limited evidence is available to judge whether EN can improve clinical effect of lung cancer with or without chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, as clinical heterogeneity and other potential variation existed in this review. Further studies are needed.

Gefitinib is widely used in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in whom chemotherapy had failed. Previous trials reported inconsistent findings regarding the efficacy of gefitinib on overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). This study was to evaluate the effects of chemotherapy plus gefitinib versus chemotherapy alone on survival of patients with NSCLC.We systematically searched Medline, EmBase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, reference lists of articles, and proceedings of major meetings for relevant literature. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing chemotherapy with and without gefitinib in the treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC were included in our analysis. The primary endpoints were OS and PFS.Of 182 relevant studies, 12 were included in the final analysis, which consisted of 6844 patients with NSCLC. Overall, we noted that gefitinib therapy had an 8% improvement in the OS as compared to the gefitinib-free therapy, but this difference was not statistically significant (HR, 0.92; 95% CI: 0.85-1.00; P=0.051). Furthermore, gefitinib therapy had significantly longer PFS compared to gefitinib-free therapy (HR, 0.72; 95% CI 0.60-0.87, P=0.001). Patients receiving gefitinib therapy also had a more frequent objective response rate (ORR) than the control arm (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.67-3.78, P0.001). Rashes, diarrhea, dry skin, pruritus, paronychia, and abnormal hepatic function were more frequent in the gefitinib therapy group.Treatment with gefitinib had a clear effect on PFS and ORR, and it might contribute considerably to the OS. Furthermore, there was some evidence of benefit for gefitinib therapy among patients with adenocarcinoma.

To analyze the clinicopathologic characteristics of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm(GEP-NET) and explore the prognostic factors for patients with GEP-NET.Retrospectively reviews were conducted for the charts of 68 patients diagnosed pathologically with GEP-NET and treated at Sichuan Cancer Hospital during January 2001 to June 2012. The information of prognostic factors was retrieved and analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival rates and plot patient survival curves of patients at different levels of predictive factors. The association between clinicopathologic characteristic and prognosis in GEP-NET patients was assessed with Log-rank test. Meanwhile Cox proportional hazard model was used to select independent risk factors of patient survival.Stomach (20/68,29.41%) and cardia (16/68,23.53%) were mostly involved. Frequent tumor sites for males were stomach and cardia (34/52,65.38%) while the most common site was intestinal canal for female (12/16) . Ages of disease onset were different significantly among patient groups of different sites (P = 0.023). The average age of intestinal NET was the highest while gastric NET had the lowest. During a median follow-up duration of 49 (3-120)months, there were 37 deaths (54.41%), including 30 from postoperative relapses. Postoperative survival time ranged from 4-115 months. The mean survival periods were (46 ± 7) months respectively. The 1, 3, and 5-year survival rates were 65.1%, 41.5% and 28.7% respectively. Univariate analyses showed that the risk factors of survival time were patient age over 60 years, tumor size2 cm, T2-4 stage of tumor, vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, positive surgical margin and pathological grades of neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) and mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma (MANEC). Multivariate analysis indicated independent risk factors were tumor size2 cm and pathological grades of NEC and MANEC.GEP-NET may occur at multiple sites of digestive system and lack specific clinical manifestations. Tumor size, distant metastasis and pathological grades were independent prognostic factors for GEP-NET patients.