Search

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of bank regulation and supervision on bank development, efficiency, and fragility over the period of 1999-2011. Design/methodology/approach The [...]

Multiobjective short-term hydrothermal scheduling problems solved by the linear weighted sum method (LWSM) have multiple solutions with different weight coefficients. To compare the solutions of the formulated multiobjective hydrothermal model, we use the Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes (CCR) model of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate all solutions. A set of preference weight vectors is regarded as a decision-making unit (DMU), and the CCR model is employed with the minimal objective values as the inputs of DMU and the maximal objective values as outputs. Multiple reasonable solutions are obtained through the DEA efficiency of DMUs. Results of simulations imply that the method is feasible to get reasonable solutions in solving multiobjective hydrothermal scheduling problem with LWSM. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the modulatory effects of human amniotic epithelial cells (H-AECs), human amniotic mesenchymal cell (HA-MSCs), umbilical mesenchymal cells (UC-MSCs) on the inflammatory status of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells., Methods: RAW264.7 cells stimulated with LPS were co-cultured with H-AECs, HA-MSCs, or UC-MSCs or cultured in conditioned media of the 3 stem cells to assess the changes of the inflammatory status of RAW264.7 cells. The migration ability, nitric oxide concentration, and expressions of the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS-2) of M1 macrophages, and Arg-1, CD206, and CD36 of M2 macrophages, were detected in the co-cultures., Results: Compared with the control macrophages, RAW264.7 cells cultured in the conditioned media of H-AECs, HA-MSCs, and UC-MSCs all showed significantly lowered migration abilities (P<0.05). Co-culture with H-AECs, but not the other two stem cells, resulted in a significant reduction of NO production (P<0.05) and significant down-regulation of IL-1β, TNFα, NOS-2, and INFβ expressions in RAW264.7 cells; co-culture with HA-MSCs and UC-MSCs only caused a down-regulation of INFβ mRNA expression. In all the 3 RAW264.7 and stem cell co-cultures, the expressions of the inflammation related genes including Arg-1, CD206, and CD36 were up-regulated significantly., Conclusion: H-AECs, HA-MSCs, and UC-MSCs can all prevent RAW264.7 cells from differentiating into M2 macrophages, but their effects and mechanisms are different from one another.