Lead differentially modifies cytokine production in vitro and in vivo

An imbalance between helper T cell type 1 (Th1) and helper T cell type 2 (Th2) activation can result in immunodysregulations leading to impaired cell-mediated immunity with an increased incidence of infectious disease or cancer and/or aberrant humoral immunity that may culminate with an autoimmune disease. Mercury, a heavy-metal toxicant, is known to induce renal autoimmunity characterized by a predominant Th2 response. Lead, another metal toxicant, causes enhanced B cell activities and impairs host resistance to several bacterial and viral infections. In addition, Pb was reported to enhance Th2 proliferation and inhibit Th1 proliferation. The differential effects of Pb on Th subset activation have been further investigated. In vitro IL-4 production by a Th2 clone was significantly increased by the addition of PbCl2, whereas IFN gamma production by a Th1 clone was decreased by the addition of PbCl2. When BALB/c mice were subcutaneously exposed to PbCl2, ex vivo Il-4 production by anti-CD3-stimulated splenic T cells was enhanced, but IFN gamma production was inhibited. Additionally, the plasma IL-4 and IgE levels of Pb-exposed mice were increased, and the plasma IFN gamma levels were significantly lowered in the absence of any additional exogenous antigen. In vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo treatment with HgCl2 produced similar findings. This study is the first report of the preferential activation of a Th2 response by Pb in vivo and suggests that PB, like Hg, may induce autoimmune responses by upsetting the balance between Th1- and Th2-like cells, which could enhance production of antibodies to self antigens.     

An enhanced zone 3 algorithm of a distance relay using transient components and state diagram

Zone 3 of a distance relay is used to provide the remote backup protection in case of the failure of the primary protection. However, the risk of maloperation under stressed conditions such as heavy loading, voltage, and transient instability is quite high. Zone 3 is used in combination with the derivatives of the voltage and current, etc. to prevent maloperation. At times, the impedance characteristics that restrict the tripping area of relay are used to avoid maloperation due to load encroachment. This work presents a novel zone 3 scheme based on combining the steady-state components (i.e., 60 Hz) and the transient components (TCs) using a state diagram that visualizes the sequence of studies that emanate from the sequence of events. The simulation results show that the novel zone 3 distance relay elements using the proposed method operate correctly for the various events.     

Effects of potential and heat treatment on phase transition of alumina dielectric layer

The characteristics and growth behaviors of alumina dielectric layer formed by anodic oxidation were investigated. The aluminum oxide layer anodized at 400 V was predominantly amorphous alumina, but at the applied potentials more than 500 V, amorphous and crystalline γ-alumina were existed in anodic oxide layer and the ratio of γ-alumina increased with the increasing applied potential. During the heat treatment at 600^°C or higher temperature, amorphous alumina layer was transformed into the crystalline γ-alumina. The phase transition of anodic amorphous alumina into crystalline depends on anodic applied potentials and heat-treatment temperatures.     

Optimal design of hybrid laminated composite plates with dynamic and static constraints

Optimization procedures are presented that consider the static and dynamic characteristic constraints for laminated composite plates and hybrid laminated composite plates subject to a concentrated load on the center of the plate. The design variables adopted are ply angle or ply thickness. Considered constraints are deflection, natural frequency and specific damping capacity. Using a recursive linear programming method, nonlinear optimization problems are solved, and by introducing the design scaling factor, the number of iterations is reduced significantly. Relating interactive optimization procedures with the finite element method analysis, various hybrid composite plates with arbitrary boundary conditions can be designed optimally. In the optimization procedure, verification of analysis and design of the laminated composite plates are compared with a previous paper. Various design results are presented on laminated composite plates and hybrid laminated composite plates.     

Energy Transfer and Population Inversion in Heavy Metal Oxide Glasses Doped with Tm3+ and Tb3+

Emission properties and energy transfer of PbO–Bi₂O₃–Ga₂O₃–GeO₂ glasses codoped with Tm³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions were investigated. The 1.48-μm emission due to the Tm³⁺:³H₄→³F₄ transition can be used to amplify the S-band (1460–1530-nm) signal light. With Tb³⁺ addition, the lifetime and emission intensity of the Tm³⁺:³F₄ level decreased sharply via the Tm³⁺:³F₄→Tb³⁺:⁷F_0,1,2 energy transfer. Population densities of the ³F₄ and ³H₄ levels in Tm³⁺ calculated from rate equations clearly verified that population inversion in Tm³⁺ ions became possible with as little as 0.1 mol% of Tb³⁺ addition.     

Companion robots for older adults: Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis approach

Intelligent Service Robotics - This study aims to analyze the concept of companion robots for older adults from the perspective of nursing. This study employed a concept analysis. The literature...     

Computer-aided measurement plan for an impeller on a coordinate measurement machine with a rotating and tilting probe

This paper presents a computer-aided measurement plan (CAMP) for an impeller on a coordinate measurement machine (CMM) with a rotating/tilting probe. The blade surfaces of a machined impeller were measured exactly to secure the machining tolerance and surface finish of the impeller. CMM with a rotating and tilting probe is commonly used for this measurement. However, it is not easy to evaluate all the points on the impeller surfaces due to the time-consuming nature of the CMM measurement. In addition, many points cannot be easily accessed by the CMM probe due to the interference between the probe and the impeller blades. Furthermore, the inherent complexity of the existing teaching operation of a probe using a joystick suggests the necessity of developing a new method for the measurement planning of an impeller. Thus, this paper proposes a CAMP for effectively gauging the inspection points based on the ruled line information of the impeller blade surfaces. The proposed plan partitions the surfaces into several measurement regions based on the ruled lines of a blade surface and the approach vectors of the probe. Finally, a case example for an impeller is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.     

Proteomic analysis of sera of asymptomatic,early‐stage patients with Wilson's disease

Wilson's disease (WD) is characterized by excessive accumulation of intracellular copper in liver and extrahepatic tissues, leading to significant oxidative stress and tissue damage. To date, several diagnostic biomarkers for WD such as serum ceruloplasmin, serum or urine copper levels and copper content in liver have been identified. However, these biomarkers may not be convincing for the diagnosis in some WD patients. To identify additional novel diagnostic biomarkers, we compared the serum protein profiles of asymptomatic childhood WD patients (n=20), without neurologic manifestation or liver cirrhosis, with normal controls (n=13). Fourteen spots, five up‐regulated and nine down‐regulated (>2‐fold), were differentially expressed in WD patients in comparison to normal control on 2‐DE. Among them, three spots were down‐regulated in both male and female WD. MS/MS analysis revealed that the three spots were complement component C3, complement factor B and alpha‐2 macroglobulin. By comparative proteome analysis, complement component C3, complement factor B and alpha‐2 macroglobulin, which are related to oxidative stress and inflammation, turned out to be good candidates for novel diagnostic biomarkers for early stages of WD.     

Room-Temperature-Processable Highly Reliable Resistive Switching Memory with Reconfigurability for Neuromorphic Computing and Ultrasonic Tissue Classification

Reversible metal-filamentary mechanism has been widely investigated to design an analog resistive switching memory (RSM) for neuromorphic hardware-implementation. However, uncontrollable filament-formation, inducing its reliability issues, has been a fundamental challenge. Here, an analog RSM with 3D ion transport channels that can provide unprecedentedly high reliability and robustness is demonstrated. This architecture is realized by a laser-assisted photo-thermochemical process, compatible with the back-end-of-line process and even applicable to a flexible format. These superior characteristics also lead to the proposal of a practical adaptive learning rule for hardware neural networks that can significantly simplify the voltage pulse application methodology even with high computing accuracy. A neural network, which can perform the biological tissue classification task using the ultrasound signals, is designed, and the simulation results confirm that this practical adaptive learning rule is efficient enough to classify these weak and complicated signals with high accuracy (97%). Furthermore, the proposed RSM can work as a diffusive-memristor at the opposite voltage polarity, exhibiting extremely stable threshold switching characteristics. In this mode, several crucial operations in biological nervous systems, such as Ca²⁺ dynamics and nonlinear integrate-and-fire functions of neurons, are successfully emulated. This reconfigurability is also exceedingly beneficial for decreasing the complexity of systems—requiring both drift- and diffusive-memristors.     

Meta-analysis of linkage data under worst-case conditions: a demonstration using the human OB region

To date, few methods have been developed explicitly for meta-analysis of linkage analyses. Moreover, the methods that have been developed or suggested generally depend on certain ideal situations and have not been widely applied. In this article, we apply standard statistical theory and meta-analytic techniques in novel ways to five published papers discussing the evidence of linkage of body mass index (BMI) to the region of the human genome containing the OB gene. These methods are "inference based," meaning that they allow one to make statements about the statistical significance of the entire body of evidence. As currently developed, they do not allow specific statements to be made about the amount of variance explained by any putative locus or allow precise confidence intervals to be placed around the putative location of a linked locus. By applying these techniques to the literature on linkage in the human OB gene region, we are able to show that the evidence for linkage somewhere in the region is extremely strong (P = 1.5 x 10[-5]).