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Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of commercial vehicles is essential for facilitating strategic pavement design, freight planning, and policy making. Hence, transportation agencies have been increasingly interested in collecting truck body configuration data due to its strong association with industries and freight commodities, to better understand their distinct operational characteristics and impacts on infrastructure and the environment. The rapid advancement of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has facilitated the development of non-intrusive detection solutions that are able to accurately classify truck body types in detail. This paper proposes a new truck classification method using a LiDAR sensor oriented to provide a wide field-of-view of roadways. In order to enrich the sparse point cloud obtained from the sensor, point clouds originating from the same truck across consecutive frames were grouped and combined using a two-stage vehicle reconstruction framework to generate a dense three-dimensional (3D) point cloud representation of each truck. Subsequently, PointNet – a deep representation learning algorithm – was adopted to train the classification model from reconstructed point clouds. The model utilizes low-level features extracted from the 3D point clouds and detects key features associated with each truck class. Finally, model ensemble techniques were explored to reduce the generalization error by averaging the results of seven PointNet models and further enhancing the overall model performance. The optimal number of models in the ensemble was determined through a comprehensive sensitivity analysis with the consideration of the average correct classification rate (CCR), the variability of the prediction results, and the computation efficiency. The developed model is capable of distinguishing passenger vehicles and 29 different truck body configurations with an average CCR of 83 percent. The average correct classification rate of the developed method on the test dataset was 90 percent for trucks pulling a large trailer(s).

This work focuses on exploring the role of the additional hydrogen bond donor moiety-containing polymer poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) in the hydrogen bonds and properties of polybenzoxazines. Thorough studies showed that PAA could not only decrease the curing temperature of benzoxazine resin, but also give additional hydrogen bond donors that were beneficial to the hydrogen bonding interactions and performances of polybenzoxazine/PAA blends. As the hydrogen bonds varied, the glass transition temperature and tensile modulus of the polymer blends changed in accordance with the hydrogen bonds. The results revealed that the introduction of the hydrogen bond donor moiety-containing polymer was beneficial for hydrogen bonding interactions, which could improve the performances of polybenzoxazines. This novel insight is anticipated to be of help to researchers in the development of more polybenzoxazines and polybenzoxazine blends with enhanced properties. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry

This protocol can be used for total RNA purification from tissue samples. It includes an intermediate on-column DNase treatment, which results in higher RNA yield and purity. This method is mainly optimised to obtain hepacivirus RNA extracts for whole-genome sequencing, but it can also be used for any viral RNA purification from samples with lower viral loads.

Background Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis aims to reduce new hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections by 80% by 2030. However, countries lack systems to monitor incidence of HCV. We estimated the HCV incidence over time among people who inject drugs (PWID) at population level to provide proof of concept for incidence monitoring. Methods This study utilized data from the BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC-HTC). Incidence was defined as a positive anti-HCV, RNA, or genotype test following a negative anti-HCV test among PWID, assessed based on a previously validated algorithm using administrative data. Annual incidence rates for HCV primary infection from 2000 to 2015 were estimated using a log-binomial regression model and were stratified by birth cohorts ( 1974) to observe change in risk over time. Adjusted incidence rates (aIR) were calculated controlling for risk factors. Results Of the 42,568 participants identified, 4,066 HCV seroconversions occurred over 318,613 person-years (PY) of follow-up. The overall incidence rate was 1.28/100PY. Between 2000 and 2011, the annual aIR decreased steadily from 4.01 to 1.00/100PY. The aIR then rose to 1.49/100PY in 2015. Factors associated with elevated risk of infection include: younger birth cohort (1965–1974: RR:1.9, 95%CI: 1.02,3.6), history of illicit opioid use (RR:2.5, 95%CI: 2.3,2.7), stimulant misuse (RR:1.77, 95%CI: 1.7,1.9), HIV coinfection (RR:3.6, 95%CI: 3.1,4.1), HBV coinfection (RR:1.9, 95%CI: 1.6,2.2), material deprivation (RR:1.5, 95%CI: 1.4,1.7) and social deprivation (RR:1.6, 95%CI: 1.4,1.8). Conclusion A slight increase in HCV incidence rate since 2011 was mainly driven by the younger birth cohort and introduction of enhanced testing in 2010. People with HIV or HBV coinfection, opioid and stimulant misuse, social and material deprivation are at higher risk of HCV infection. HCV treatment and prevention programs need to address comorbidities and include harm reduction strategies like opioid substitution therapy and access to social services to achieve HCV elimination goals. Disclosure No significant relationships.

The grounding devices guarantee the safe and stable operation of the power system and electrical apparatus. The accurate calculation of grounding parameters lays the theoretical basis for the design and maintenance of grounding devices. The existing calculation methods for grounding parameters in layered soils are mainly based on the complex image method with global sampling. On the one hand, the global sampling method cannot accurately approximate the integral kernel of Green’s function in complicated horizontally layered soils with many thick layers, which would cause large calculation errors or divergent results. On the other hand, the number of complex images is often twice the number of soil layers, which would cause the calculation amount blindly increases linearly with the number of soil layers. To solve the above disadvantages, this paper proposes a novel segmented sampling numerical calculation method (SSNCM) for grounding parameters in horizontally layered soils. The segmented sampling calculation method of Green’s function based on the extreme points of the integral kernel function of Green’s function in layered soils and the unequal potential calculation method for grounding devices in layered soils are studied to form the SSNCM. The cases study on 3 typical grounding devices are calculated by the SSNCM and the software CDEGS. The results show that the SSNCM has better calculation efficiency and adaptability for different layered soils, and can provide a theoretical foundation for grounding parameters analysis and grounding devices design.

Cholesterol gallstone disease (CGD) is a hepatobiliary disorder which results from a biochemical imbalance in the gallbladder bile. Here we show that loss of CAV1 sensitized mice to lithogenic diet-induced gallbladder cholesterol crystallization, which was associated with dysregulation of several hepatic transporters that efflux cholesterol, phospholipids, and bile salts. The combined effect of increased biliary cholesterol concentration and decreased biliary bile salt secretion in CAV1(-/-) mice led to an increased cholesterol saturation index and the formation of cholesterol crystals. At the signaling level, the ERK/AP-1 pathway seems to mediate the effects of CAV1 on biliary BA homeostasis and might be developed as a therapeutic target for CGD. We propose that CAV1 is an anti-lithogenic factor and that the CAV1(-/-) mice may offer a convenient CGD model to develop therapeutic interventions for this disease. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2118-2127, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In this work, we propose and design a highly dispersive coupled ring-core fiber (CRF) with two concentric high-index rings using Schott glass for orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. By properly selecting the fiber geometrical parameters, the OAM130,1 mode supported in the proposed CRF has a large negative chromatic dispersion (CD) of −20 271 ps/(nm km) at 1260.4 nm. We also show that the proposed CRF could be an excellent candidate for various CD-related applications of OAM modes in the optical fiber. The dispersion of the OAM3,1 mode can reach down to −75 273 ps/(nm km) at 1491 nm. Furthermore, the effect of the geometrical parameters on chromatic dispersion for different OAM modes is investigated. Adjusting the parameters of the inner ring or the outer ring could greatly influence the peak value of the dispersion, while moving the two high-index rings at the same time mainly changes the position of the crossing wavelength.

Under the conditions of large population in China, the original level of service couldn't meet the needs of subway station managers. From the interdisciplinary perspective of physiology, medical science, and engineering, this study conducted a series field experiment to investigate the influence of passenger flow density on the pedestrian physiology. By quantitatively analyzing density and fluctuating rate of heart rates, a significant finding is that pedestrians' physiological characteristics are influenced by the traffic density in corridor, and the FRHR is high associated with density, presenting a linear correlation. In the end of paper, the LOS is divided into six levels, caring on the refined classification for higher density, in line with China's national conditions. Research results could provide a theoretical foundation and application reference for subway transit designer and manager.

Grounding electrodes are used to ensure safe operation of electrical apparatus. The limited axial construction space for grounding electrodes is a significant constraining factor. Grounding performance will attenuate rapidly under the influence of the reduced length of horizontal or vertical grounding electrodes. However, if additional resistance-reducing measures are adopted, the operation and maintenance cost of grounding electrodes will considerably increase. To solve above problem, this study proposed a novel grounding model that uses a helical grounding electrode to improve grounding performance within limited axial construction space. Firstly, a calculation model of finite element methods (FEM) is built based on the concept of increasing the contact area between the grounding electrodes and the soil. Grounding performance parameters of helical grounding electrodes, grounding resistance, electrical potential rise (EPR) distribution and maximum touch voltage, are analyzed. At the same time, structural parameters and buried depth for the helical grounding electrodes are studied and the optimal design criteria for the parameters are given. Results show that the helical grounding electrode exhibits better grounding performance in a limited axial construction area.

To understand the curing processes of phenolphthalein–aniline-based benzoxazine (BP-a), the curing kinetics of bisphenol A-aniline-based benzoxazine and BP-a were investigated using non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at different heating rates. Kissinger, Ozawa, Friedman and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa methods were used to determine the kinetic parameters and built the kinetic models. According to the results, BP-a displays two dominant curing processes, namely the autocatalytic curing process at low-temperature curing (reaction (1)) with the average activation energy of 95.0–98.5 and nth-order curing process at elevated temperature curing (reaction (2)) with the average activation energy of 124.0–126.2 kJ mol−1. Moreover, the predicted curves from the kinetic models fit well with the non-isothermal DSC curve. Non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry is a promising method to help researchers explore the application of BP-a and other arylamine Mannich bridge structures containing polybenzoxazines.

With the widely application of distributed systems, to solve the Sessions information sharing between various servers is becoming increasingly important. Meanwhile, multiple clients also have to tackle the problem of Session information sharing. The traditional Session method conducts information sharing via information replication. But, to a high degree, it has become the bottleneck of browse speed of web pages. Fortunately, the distributed Session based on Beansdb proposed in this paper not only enables the information share effectively, but also solves the data persistence storage problem by making the utmost of the Beansdb's capability of persistent storage. Ultimately, the experiments verify that those websites applied with the distributed Session based on Beansdb accelerate the users' web page browse speed, presenting a better performance and a strong extensibility.

After spinal cord injury (SCI), the disruption of blood-spinal cord barrier by activation of the endothelin (ET) system is a critical event leading to leukocyte infiltration, inflammatory response and oxidative stress, contributing to neurological disability. In the present study, we showed that blockade of ET receptor A (ETAR) and/or ET receptor B (ETBR) prevented early inflammatory responses directly via the inhibition of neutrophil and monocyte diapedesis and inflammatory mediator production following traumatic SCI in mice. Long-term neurological improvement, based on a series of tests of locomotor performance, occurred only in the spinal cord‑injured mice following blockade of ETAR and ETBR. We also examined the post‑traumatic changes of the micro-environment within the injured spinal cord of mice following blockade of ET receptors. Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase in spinal cord‑injured mice treated with vehicle, whereas blockade of ETAR and ETBR reversed the oxidation state imbalance. In addition, hemeoxygenase-1, a protective protease involved in early SCI, was increased in spinal cord‑injured mice following the blockade of ETAR and ETBR, or only ETBR. Matrix metalloproteinase-9, a tissue-destructive protease involved in early damage, was decreased in the injured spinal cord of mice following blockade of ETAR, ETBR or a combination thereof. The findings of the present study therefore suggested an association between ETAR and ETBR in regulating early pathogenesis of SCI and determining the outcomes of long‑term neurological recovery.

The purpose of arranging the grounding electrode is to discharge large currents, such as fault current and ensure the transmission line operate safely. In the grounding system of Chinese transmission network, the common grounding electrodes are horizontal installation and vertical installation. But two installation methods usually have the disadvantages, which are long distance installation and large depth burying, and they are restricted susceptible to uncertain factors such as pipelines, roads and geology, which leads the grounding resistance increasing and affect the normal operation of transmission lines. In order to solve the problem, this paper presents a new grounding model for complex soil environments and analysis from grounding resistance, surface potential and current distribution. The results show that the helix grounding electrode has good resistance reduction performance in complex soil environment, which effectively improves the surface potential distribution and the distribution of the spill current.

The efficacy of pulsed ultraviolet light (PUV) and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on the IgE binding to the almond extracts was studied using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) probed with human plasma containing IgE antibodies to almond allergens and a polyclonal antibody against almond major protein. Crude almond protein extracts were treated with PUV (3 pulses/s, 10 cm from lamp) for 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 min. In comparison, boiling treatments were also carried out. The HHP treatments were conducted at 600 MPa for 5, 15, and 30 min at three temperatures of 4 °C, 21 °C, and 70 °C. Western blots and indirect ELISA demonstrated a reduction in the levels of allergens and IgE binding in PUV-treated extracts at 7 min, which was found to be the optimal time for PUV exposure. Boiling was not as effective as PUV in reducing the overall IgE-binding of the almond extracts. Unlike PUV, HHP did not affect the allergen levels and IgE binding under the conditions tested.

Increasing evidence indicates that diabetes-mediated renal interstitial fibrosis through extracellular matrix (ECM) protein accumulation is an important event in the development of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the current study, it was observed that high levels of glucose (HG) time‑ and dose-dependently increased the production of the ECM protein, fibronectin (FN), in primary rat mesangial cells. Inhibition of the Rho pathway blocked HG‑induced FN upregulation. HG‑induced RhoA activation was prevented by inhibiting caveolae with filipin III or caveolin‑1 siRNA and rescued by exogenous caveolin‑1. HG also increased caveolin-1/Src association and activated Src kinase, whereas the inhibition of Src blocked RhoA activation and FN upregulation. Src-mediated phosphorylation of caveolin‑1 on Y14 has also been implicated in signaling responses. Overexpression of the nonphosphorylatable caveolin‑1 Y14A mutant prevented the HG‑induced RhoA activation and FN upregulation. In conclusion, HG‑induced FN upregulation requires caveolae and caveolin‑1 to interact with RhoA and Src kinases. Interference with Src/caveolin-1/RhoA signaling may provide novel mechanistic targets for the treatment of DKD.

Cholesterol gallstone disease (CGD) is a hepatobiliary disorder which results from a biochemical imbalance in the gallbladder bile. Here we show that loss of CAV1 sensitized mice to lithogenic diet-induced gallbladder cholesterol crystallization, which was associated with dysregulation of several hepatic transporters that efflux cholesterol, phospholipids, and bile salts. The combined effect of increased biliary cholesterol concentration and decreased biliary bile salt secretion in CAV1(-/-) mice led to an increased cholesterol saturation index and the formation of cholesterol crystals. At the signaling level, the ERK/AP-1 pathway seems to mediate the effects of CAV1 on biliary BA homeostasis and might be developed as a therapeutic target for CGD. We propose that CAV1 is an anti-lithogenic factor and that the CAV1(-/-) mice may offer a convenient CGD model to develop therapeutic interventions for this disease. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2118-2127, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Germinal center lymphoma is a heterogeneous human lymphoma entity. Here we report that constitutive activity of SHP2 (PTPN11) and its downstream kinase ERK is essential for the viability of germinal center lymphoma cells and disease progression. Mechanistically, SHP2/ERK inhibition impedes c-Myc transcriptional activity, which results in the repression of proliferative phenotype signatures of germinal center lymphoma. Furthermore, SHP2/ERK signaling is required to maintain the CD19/c-Myc loop, which preferentially promotes survival of a distinct subtype of germinal center lymphoma cells carrying the MYC/IGH translocation. These findings demonstrate a critical function for SHP2/ERK signaling upstream of c-Myc in germinal center lymphoma cells and provide a rationale for targeting SHP2 in the therapy of germinal center lymphoma.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Inez’s red-backed vole Caryomys inez was sequenced and analyzed as the first species in genus Caryomys. The complete mitochondrial genome of C. inez is 16,354 bp in length and shows a typical vertebrate pattern with 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs and 2 non-coding regions. To gain a clear phylogenetic position of C. inez, a ML phylogenetic tree was constructed based on 12 PCGs on H-strand from 23 rodent species except for ND6 gene which is on L-strand. As a result, C. inez is clustered with genera Eothenomys and Myodes, showing their close phylogenetic relationships. The present study may facilitate further investigation of the taxonomic studies and phylogenetic analyses of the genus Caryomys.

Our aim is to elucidate the effects of osteoproteogerin (OPG) on cartilage destruction in rats as a model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). To establish the CIA model, Sprague Dawley rats were injected with bovine type II collagen solution subcutaneously via the tails. Adenovirus-mediated OPG (Ad-OPG) was then injected intra-articularly either at the beginning of CIA (early OPG treatment) or one week after CIA establishment (late OPG treatment); vehicle or Ad-green fluorescent protein were injected as controls. The rats were killed 4 weeks after treatment. Ankle-joint sections were obtained for histology. Serum samples were collected for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Safranin O staining showed that proteoglycan loss was inhibited in the early and late Ad-OPG groups. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining revealed that both early and late Ad-OPG treatments significantly prevented chondrocyte apoptosis in CIA rats. Furthermore, disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motif−5 expression decreased remarkably in the early and late OPG treatment groups. However, the cartilage destruction score, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein level and caspase-3 expression were only decreased in the early Ad-OPG treatment group. Additionally, ankle-joint swelling and the interleukin-1β expression level in CIA rats were not notably altered by Ad-OPG treatment. Taken together, our results suggest that early Ad-OPG treatment has potent protective effects against cartilage destruction during rheumatoid arthritis progression, mainly by reducing proteoglycan loss and chondrocyte apoptosis.

Following spinal cord trauma, mitochondrial dysfunction associated with increased oxidative stress is a critical event leading to leukocyte inflammatory responses, neuronal cell death and demyelination, contributing to permanent locomotor and neurological disability. The present study demonstrated that the mitochondrial enhancer N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may restore redox balance via enhancement of mitochondrial respiratory activity following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). In addition, NAC ameliorates oxidative stress-induced neuronal loss, demyelination, leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory mediator expression and improves long-term locomotor function. Furthermore, neuronal survival and neurological recovery are significantly correlated with increased mitochondrial bioenergetics in SCI following treatment with NAC. Therefore, NAC may represent a potential therapeutic agent for preserving mitochondrial dynamics and integrity following traumatic SCI.

In order to select proper revetment plant to apply in the rock slope protection, we used Cynodon dactylon as control to investigate the effect of cold stress on two wild revetment plants (Pogonatherum paniceum and Eriophorum comosum) in current study. With the dropping of temperature (0°C, -5°C, -10°C, -15°C, -20°C), the content of soluble sugar, soluble protein, and free proline in these three plants rose first, and then decreased. Meanwhile, the chlorophyll content declined, but the electrolyte osmotic rate increased. Under the five different temperatures, the content of soluble sugar and soluble protein were highest (P < 0.05) in E. comosum, the lowest (P < 0.05) in C. dactylon, and P. paniceum in the middle. The free proline contents in E. comosum was similar to P. paniceum at -15°C, and -20°C, but both of them were significant greater than that in C. dactylon (P < 0.05). Additionally, C. dactylon had the highest electrolyte osmotic rate, and E. comosum was the lowest. Meanwhile, the semilethal low temperature was the lowest (-13.6°C) in E. comosum as compared to C. dactlylon (-6.86°C) and P. paniceum (-9.37°C). Both the contents of Chlorophyll a and Chlorophyll b were highest in P. paniceum, lowest in C. dactylon, and those in E. comosum were medium. These suggested that E. comosum may have the strongest cold resistance capacity, and that in C. dactylon was the weakest. The results showed that E. comosum was the best option to the rock slope protection due to their strongest anti-cold ability among these three grasses.

Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative autoimmune disease characterized by diffuse oligodendrocyte injury, axonal loss and multifocal demyelination of myelin sheaths in the central nervous system. TRO19622 is a small cholesterol-like compound, which displays remarkable neuroprotective and neuroregenerative properties in neural cell culture and rodent models of nerve trauma. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the pharmacological action of TRO19622 on the demyelination/remyelination processes by using a rat model of cuprizone-induced demyelination.Using Female Sprague-Dawley rats models of demyelination, we morphologically and functionally assessed the effect of TRO19622 on myelination in vivo.In this study, we first provided in vivo proof that cuprizone intoxication contributed to spatial learning and memory ability injury and that TRO19622 restored neurological function. The structure of myelin injury and repair in cuprizone intoxication rats was then measured by T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. These magnetic resonance imaging-based results and trends were confirmed by histological, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy analyses.The results clearly showed that TRO19622 promoted myelin formation with consequent functional improvement.

The essence of grass growth is a complex system that is driven by light energy. The accumulation of 90% of the dry matter comes from the production of photosynthesis. In this study, we investigated the effect of decomposing leaf litter of Eucalyptus grandis on the growth and photosynthetic characteristics of Lolium perenne by pot experiment. Four treatments with different amounts of leaf litter were designed, including A1 (30 g/pot), A2 (60 g/pot), A3 (90 g/pot) and control (0 g/pot; CK), and the blank experiment groups with distilled fallen leaves were set as the above. The growth indices (including shoot biomass, root biomass and leaf area) were measured, and the photosynthetic characteristics were tested during 9:00-11:00 am on a sunny day. The test results showed that increasing amounts of E grandis leaf litter significantly inhibited the accumulation of shoot and root biomass, growth of leaf area, synthesis of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and cartenoids), photosynthetic rate and gas exchange parameters (Gs, Ci and Tr) of L. perenne seedlings (P A1 > A2 > A3 (P < 0.05). The blank experimental showed that soil chemical and physical properties have not been changed by leaf litter decomposition. This demonstrated that the allelochemicals from E. grandis leaf litter decomposition can negatively affect the photosynthetic capacity and decrease the accumulation of biomass, and eventually inhibit the growth of L. perenne.

Background Malignant change is a rare complication of alimentary tract duplications. Methods Articles concerning malignancies arising from alimentary tract duplications published from 1955 to 2012 on PubMed were extensively reviewed. These cases were reclassified and analyzed according to sites of clinical manifestations, diagnostic examinations, methods of management, pathological findings, clinical staging and prognosis. Results There were 64 citations in the literature that provided adequate descriptions of 67 cases of malignancies arising from alimentary tract duplications near the oesophagus ( n = 6), stomach ( n = 10), small intestine ( n = 19), appendix ( n = 1) and large intestine ( n = 31). Among the cases described above, 57 underwent surgical treatment. In 43 patients with known prognosis, 7 died of tumour progression. In another 5 cases, the tumours recurred and metastasized recurred and metastasised after surgery at an average of 11.4 months. Conclusions For relieving symptoms and preventing malignant change, all duplications should be considered for surgery. Unfortunately, prognosis is generally poor once malignancy has occurred in the duplications.