In order to solve the problem of how to collaborate with foreign agents and ontologies, a restricted clustering integration approach is proposed. It differs from the traditional approaches in which web ontology langua...In order to solve the problem of how to collaborate with foreign agents and ontologies, a restricted clustering integration approach is proposed. It differs from the traditional approaches in which web ontology language (OWL) is extended by adding some new collaborative interfaces ( i. e., agent-link and ontology-link) to it instead of owl: import. Syntaxes of the interface for foreign ontologies and foreign agents, respectively, and a meta-method of clustering integrated collaboration are discussed. The approach focuses on taking advantage of OWL itself to solve the collaborative problems, and it is feasible to track the contexts of newadded knowledge concerning ontological collaboration.展开更多
Objective: To evaluate the performance of polymerasechain reaction (PCR) using self obtained low vaginalswabs (SOLVS) to detect Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG).Methods: One SOLVS and two cervical swabs werecollected from e...Objective: To evaluate the performance of polymerasechain reaction (PCR) using self obtained low vaginalswabs (SOLVS) to detect Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG).Methods: One SOLVS and two cervical swabs werecollected from each of 298 female STD clinic attendees.PCR and culture were performed on both samples todetect NG.Results: Thirty-three cases of gonorrhoeae werediagnosed. The sensitivity of cervical culture, cervi-cal swab PCR and SOLVS PCR were 75.8% (25/33),87.9% (29/33) and 97.0% (32/33), respectively. Thespecificities of the respective methods were 100%(265/265), 99.6% (264/265) and 99.6% (264/265).The positive predictive values (PPVs) of the respectivemethods were 100% (25/25), 96.7% (29/30) and97.0% (32/33). The negative predictive values (NPVs)of the respective methods were 97.1% (265/273),98.5% (264/268) and 99.6% (264/265).Conclusions: The performance of SOLVS PCR is atleast as good as that of conventional cervical PCR tech-niques for the detection of NG. SOLVS may take theplace of cervical swabs for screening of NG infectionin women by PCR.展开更多
The bulk polymerization of styrene catalyzed by Nd(P204)3/MgBu2/HMPA (hexamethyl phospho-ramide) was carried out in capped glass tubes. The effects of reaction conditions on polymerization conversion and molecular wei...The bulk polymerization of styrene catalyzed by Nd(P204)3/MgBu2/HMPA (hexamethyl phospho-ramide) was carried out in capped glass tubes. The effects of reaction conditions on polymerization conversion and molecular weight in the range of high conversion were investigated. The molecular weight of the resultant polymers is dramatically high and its distribution is relatively narrow. The polymerization process demonstrates the feature of living polymerization and auto-acceleration phenomenon. The auto-acceleration phenomenon is attributed to the non-instantaneous formation of the active species. The experimental data suggest that chain transfer to MgBu2 is one of the factors governing the molecular weight development. A mechanism of polymerization is presented with the chain transfer process incorporated.展开更多
AIM: To analyze the association between the emergence of tyrosine-methionine-asparatate-asparatate (YMDD) mutants (reverse transcription; rtM204I/V) and deterioration of liver function during long-term lamivudine...AIM: To analyze the association between the emergence of tyrosine-methionine-asparatate-asparatate (YMDD) mutants (reverse transcription; rtM204I/V) and deterioration of liver function during long-term lamivudine treatment of Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. METHODS: The data of 61 consecutive Japanese pa- tients with chronic hepatitis B who underwent continu- ous lamivudine treatment for more than 24 mo and had a virological response were analyzed. Analysis of YMDD mutants was done by real-time polymerase chain reaction with LightCycler probe hybridization assay for up to 90 mo (mean, 50.8 too; range, 24-90 too).RESULTS: A mixed mutant-type (YMDD + tyrosine-iso- leucine-asparatate-asparatate: YIDD or tyrosine-valineasparatate-asparatate: YVDD) or a mutant-type (YIDD or YVDD) were found in 57.4% of 61 patients at i year, 78.7% of 61 patients at 2 years, 79.6% of 49 patients at 3 years, 70.5% of 34 patients at 4 years, 68.4% of 19 patients at 5 years, 57.1% of 14 patients at 6 years, and 33.3% of 6 patients at 7 years. Of the 61 patients, 56 (92%) had mixed mutant- or a mutant-type. Only 5 (8%) had no mutants at each observation point. Vi- rological breakthrough was found in 26 (46.4%) of 56 patients with YMDD mutants, 20 of whom had a hepa- titis flare-up: the remaining 30 (53.6%) had neither a virological breakthrough nor a flare-up. All 20 patients who developed a hepatitis flare-up had a biochemical and virological response after adefovir was added to the lamivudine treatment. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that it is possible to continue lamivudine treatment, even after the emergence of YMDD mutants, up to the time that the patients develop a hepatitis flare-up.展开更多
With the concept of super-atom, first principles calculations propose a new type of super stable cage clusters AlnH3n that are much more energetic stable than the well established clusters, AlnHn+2. In the new cluste...With the concept of super-atom, first principles calculations propose a new type of super stable cage clusters AlnH3n that are much more energetic stable than the well established clusters, AlnHn+2. In the new clusters, the aluminum core-frame acts as a super-atom with n vertexes and 2n A1-A1 edges, which allow to adsorb n hydrogen atoms at the top-site and 2n at the bridge-site. Using Al12H36 as the basic unit, stable chain structures, (Al12H36)m, have been constructed following the same connection mechanism as for (A1H3)n linear polymeric structures. Apart from high hydrogen percentage per molecule, calculations have shown that these new clusters possess large heat of formation values and their combustion heat is about 4.8 times of the methane, making them a promising high energy density material.展开更多
We proposed a bilinearity constitutive curve model of fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) confined concrete which includes a parabola in the first stage and a straight line in the second stage. The FRP-confined concrete has...We proposed a bilinearity constitutive curve model of fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) confined concrete which includes a parabola in the first stage and a straight line in the second stage. The FRP-confined concrete has powerful confinement status and weak confinement status leading to different equations of parabola. We analyzed the impacts of factors such as confinement ratio and restrain stiffness on confined concrete compressive strength,ultimate strain and other control parameters through finite element analysis. The results show that the confinement ratio determines the confinement status,and the increase of the confinement ratio has a limited capacity to increase the compressive strength. The deformation of confined concrete is influenced by restrain stiffness. The stronger the restrain stiffness is,the less the lateral deformation is and the greater ultimate axial strain will be. The consideration of equivalent section coefficient kse is needed in the non-circular section confined concrete. We analyzed the results and proposed boundary values of strong and weak confinement styles,a peak/inflection point stress and strain model,and a compressive strength and ultimate strain model.展开更多
The present study was conducted to detect the Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria in domestic poultry birds. Blood smear method was used as the conventional method for the detection, whereas the polymerase chai...The present study was conducted to detect the Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria in domestic poultry birds. Blood smear method was used as the conventional method for the detection, whereas the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for further confirmation. A total of 50 blood samples were collected from poultry birds showing the malarial symptoms. The results of blood smear methods showed two samples (4%) were infected with genus Plasmodium, whereas the PCR analysis showed four (8%) positive samples. These results confirm that the PCR is more sensitive method for detecting the Plasmodium when compared with conventional methods, and the microscopy diagnosed 50% false negative results that were confirmed by PCR.展开更多
The surface plasmonic effect and scattering effect of gold nanorods(AuNRs) on the performance of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on the blend of polythiophene and fullerene are investigated.AuNRs enhanc...The surface plasmonic effect and scattering effect of gold nanorods(AuNRs) on the performance of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on the blend of polythiophene and fullerene are investigated.AuNRs enhance the excitation since the plasmonic effect increases the electric field,mainly in the area near the interface between the active layer and AuNRs.The results show that the incident photo-to-electron conversion efficiency(IPCE) obviously increases for the device with a layer of gold nanorods,resulting from the plasmonic effect of AuNRs in the range of 500-670 nm and the scattering effect in the range of 370-410 nm.The power conversion efficiency(PCE) is increased by 7.6% due to the near field effect of the localized surface plasmons(LSP) of AuNRs and the scattering effect.The short circuit current density is also increased by 9.1% owing to the introduction of AuNRs.However,AuNRs can cause a little deterioration in open circuit voltage.展开更多
In modern days, biodegradable polymeric matrix used as the kingpin of local drug delivery system is in the center of attention. This work is concentrated on the formulation of mathematical model elucidating degradatio...In modern days, biodegradable polymeric matrix used as the kingpin of local drug delivery system is in the center of attention. This work is concentrated on the formulation of mathematical model elucidating degradation of drug-loaded polymeric matrix followed by drug release to the adjacent biological tissues. Polymeric degradation is penciled with mass conservation equations. Drug release phenomenon is modeled by considering solubilization dynamics of drug particles, diffusion of the solubilized drug through polymeric matrix along with reversible dissociation/recrystallization process. In the tissue phase, reversible dissociation/association along with internalization processes of drug are taken into account. For this, a two-phase spatio-temporal model is postu- lated, which has ensued to a system of partial differential equations. They are solved analytically with appropriate choice of initial, interface and boundary conditions. In order to reflect the potency of the advocated model, the simulated results are analogized with corresponding experimental data and found laudable agreement so as to validate the applicability of the model considered. This model seems to foster the delicacy of the mantle enacted by important drug kinetic parameters such as diffusion coefficients, mass transfer coefficients, particle binding and internalization parameters, which is illustrated through local sensitivity analysis.展开更多
A set of universal equations on the reduced stress relaxation modulus with K-W-W stretched exponential function has been derived from the dynamics of α and β structural relaxation processes. In the present work, the...A set of universal equations on the reduced stress relaxation modulus with K-W-W stretched exponential function has been derived from the dynamics of α and β structural relaxation processes. In the present work, the K-W-W decay function is used to define the three types of relaxations (single α, single β relaxation and α-β co-relaxation), then their average times of relaxation are theoretically calculated from the reduced shear stress relaxation modulus and the relaxation time spectrum function H(τ). When the average time of co-relaxation, the reference temperatures (ficitive Tf and glass transition Tg) and the isostructural parameter achieved from the conditions of isostructural glass state are introduced into the reduced shear stress relaxation modulus (GT) under the equilibrium state, a set of correlations between isochoric fragility index (mvα, mvβ and mvαβ) and the coupling strength (α and β) under the reference temperatures are derived from the exact definition of isochoric fragility. So the theory of dynamic fragility for glass substances at isochoric state is developed. The theory can predict the following main features of structural relaxations and behavior of isochoric fragility: the temperature dependence of peak relaxation frequency exhibits a bifurcation with a pair of single α and single β relaxations; the temperature dependence of Stickel equation on 1/T exhibits two crossovers with VFTH(1) and VFTH(2) at the temperatures of Tf and Tg regime; there are two linear correlations between isochoric fragility index (mvα and mvβ) and the coupling strength. Fine agreements between the theoretical calculation and experimental results are obtained.展开更多
文摘In order to solve the problem of how to collaborate with foreign agents and ontologies, a restricted clustering integration approach is proposed. It differs from the traditional approaches in which web ontology language (OWL) is extended by adding some new collaborative interfaces ( i. e., agent-link and ontology-link) to it instead of owl: import. Syntaxes of the interface for foreign ontologies and foreign agents, respectively, and a meta-method of clustering integrated collaboration are discussed. The approach focuses on taking advantage of OWL itself to solve the collaborative problems, and it is feasible to track the contexts of newadded knowledge concerning ontological collaboration.
文摘Objective: To evaluate the performance of polymerasechain reaction (PCR) using self obtained low vaginalswabs (SOLVS) to detect Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG).Methods: One SOLVS and two cervical swabs werecollected from each of 298 female STD clinic attendees.PCR and culture were performed on both samples todetect NG.Results: Thirty-three cases of gonorrhoeae werediagnosed. The sensitivity of cervical culture, cervi-cal swab PCR and SOLVS PCR were 75.8% (25/33),87.9% (29/33) and 97.0% (32/33), respectively. Thespecificities of the respective methods were 100%(265/265), 99.6% (264/265) and 99.6% (264/265).The positive predictive values (PPVs) of the respectivemethods were 100% (25/25), 96.7% (29/30) and97.0% (32/33). The negative predictive values (NPVs)of the respective methods were 97.1% (265/273),98.5% (264/268) and 99.6% (264/265).Conclusions: The performance of SOLVS PCR is atleast as good as that of conventional cervical PCR tech-niques for the detection of NG. SOLVS may take theplace of cervical swabs for screening of NG infectionin women by PCR.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 29734130).
文摘The bulk polymerization of styrene catalyzed by Nd(P204)3/MgBu2/HMPA (hexamethyl phospho-ramide) was carried out in capped glass tubes. The effects of reaction conditions on polymerization conversion and molecular weight in the range of high conversion were investigated. The molecular weight of the resultant polymers is dramatically high and its distribution is relatively narrow. The polymerization process demonstrates the feature of living polymerization and auto-acceleration phenomenon. The auto-acceleration phenomenon is attributed to the non-instantaneous formation of the active species. The experimental data suggest that chain transfer to MgBu2 is one of the factors governing the molecular weight development. A mechanism of polymerization is presented with the chain transfer process incorporated.
文摘AIM: To analyze the association between the emergence of tyrosine-methionine-asparatate-asparatate (YMDD) mutants (reverse transcription; rtM204I/V) and deterioration of liver function during long-term lamivudine treatment of Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. METHODS: The data of 61 consecutive Japanese pa- tients with chronic hepatitis B who underwent continu- ous lamivudine treatment for more than 24 mo and had a virological response were analyzed. Analysis of YMDD mutants was done by real-time polymerase chain reaction with LightCycler probe hybridization assay for up to 90 mo (mean, 50.8 too; range, 24-90 too).RESULTS: A mixed mutant-type (YMDD + tyrosine-iso- leucine-asparatate-asparatate: YIDD or tyrosine-valineasparatate-asparatate: YVDD) or a mutant-type (YIDD or YVDD) were found in 57.4% of 61 patients at i year, 78.7% of 61 patients at 2 years, 79.6% of 49 patients at 3 years, 70.5% of 34 patients at 4 years, 68.4% of 19 patients at 5 years, 57.1% of 14 patients at 6 years, and 33.3% of 6 patients at 7 years. Of the 61 patients, 56 (92%) had mixed mutant- or a mutant-type. Only 5 (8%) had no mutants at each observation point. Vi- rological breakthrough was found in 26 (46.4%) of 56 patients with YMDD mutants, 20 of whom had a hepa- titis flare-up: the remaining 30 (53.6%) had neither a virological breakthrough nor a flare-up. All 20 patients who developed a hepatitis flare-up had a biochemical and virological response after adefovir was added to the lamivudine treatment. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that it is possible to continue lamivudine treatment, even after the emergence of YMDD mutants, up to the time that the patients develop a hepatitis flare-up.
基金This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council, Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.10534010 and No.20925311), the Funda-mental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.201103255), and the China Scholarship Council.
文摘With the concept of super-atom, first principles calculations propose a new type of super stable cage clusters AlnH3n that are much more energetic stable than the well established clusters, AlnHn+2. In the new clusters, the aluminum core-frame acts as a super-atom with n vertexes and 2n A1-A1 edges, which allow to adsorb n hydrogen atoms at the top-site and 2n at the bridge-site. Using Al12H36 as the basic unit, stable chain structures, (Al12H36)m, have been constructed following the same connection mechanism as for (A1H3)n linear polymeric structures. Apart from high hydrogen percentage per molecule, calculations have shown that these new clusters possess large heat of formation values and their combustion heat is about 4.8 times of the methane, making them a promising high energy density material.
基金Funded by the Science and Technology Plan Project (No. 62065) of Guangzhou.
文摘We proposed a bilinearity constitutive curve model of fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) confined concrete which includes a parabola in the first stage and a straight line in the second stage. The FRP-confined concrete has powerful confinement status and weak confinement status leading to different equations of parabola. We analyzed the impacts of factors such as confinement ratio and restrain stiffness on confined concrete compressive strength,ultimate strain and other control parameters through finite element analysis. The results show that the confinement ratio determines the confinement status,and the increase of the confinement ratio has a limited capacity to increase the compressive strength. The deformation of confined concrete is influenced by restrain stiffness. The stronger the restrain stiffness is,the less the lateral deformation is and the greater ultimate axial strain will be. The consideration of equivalent section coefficient kse is needed in the non-circular section confined concrete. We analyzed the results and proposed boundary values of strong and weak confinement styles,a peak/inflection point stress and strain model,and a compressive strength and ultimate strain model.
文摘The present study was conducted to detect the Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria in domestic poultry birds. Blood smear method was used as the conventional method for the detection, whereas the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for further confirmation. A total of 50 blood samples were collected from poultry birds showing the malarial symptoms. The results of blood smear methods showed two samples (4%) were infected with genus Plasmodium, whereas the PCR analysis showed four (8%) positive samples. These results confirm that the PCR is more sensitive method for detecting the Plasmodium when compared with conventional methods, and the microscopy diagnosed 50% false negative results that were confirmed by PCR.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61275175,61036007,61125505 and 60978061)Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No.NCET-08-0717)+1 种基金National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant No. 61125505)the 111 Project of China(Grant No. B08002)
文摘The surface plasmonic effect and scattering effect of gold nanorods(AuNRs) on the performance of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on the blend of polythiophene and fullerene are investigated.AuNRs enhance the excitation since the plasmonic effect increases the electric field,mainly in the area near the interface between the active layer and AuNRs.The results show that the incident photo-to-electron conversion efficiency(IPCE) obviously increases for the device with a layer of gold nanorods,resulting from the plasmonic effect of AuNRs in the range of 500-670 nm and the scattering effect in the range of 370-410 nm.The power conversion efficiency(PCE) is increased by 7.6% due to the near field effect of the localized surface plasmons(LSP) of AuNRs and the scattering effect.The short circuit current density is also increased by 9.1% owing to the introduction of AuNRs.However,AuNRs can cause a little deterioration in open circuit voltage.
文摘In modern days, biodegradable polymeric matrix used as the kingpin of local drug delivery system is in the center of attention. This work is concentrated on the formulation of mathematical model elucidating degradation of drug-loaded polymeric matrix followed by drug release to the adjacent biological tissues. Polymeric degradation is penciled with mass conservation equations. Drug release phenomenon is modeled by considering solubilization dynamics of drug particles, diffusion of the solubilized drug through polymeric matrix along with reversible dissociation/recrystallization process. In the tissue phase, reversible dissociation/association along with internalization processes of drug are taken into account. For this, a two-phase spatio-temporal model is postu- lated, which has ensued to a system of partial differential equations. They are solved analytically with appropriate choice of initial, interface and boundary conditions. In order to reflect the potency of the advocated model, the simulated results are analogized with corresponding experimental data and found laudable agreement so as to validate the applicability of the model considered. This model seems to foster the delicacy of the mantle enacted by important drug kinetic parameters such as diffusion coefficients, mass transfer coefficients, particle binding and internalization parameters, which is illustrated through local sensitivity analysis.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50973007)
文摘A set of universal equations on the reduced stress relaxation modulus with K-W-W stretched exponential function has been derived from the dynamics of α and β structural relaxation processes. In the present work, the K-W-W decay function is used to define the three types of relaxations (single α, single β relaxation and α-β co-relaxation), then their average times of relaxation are theoretically calculated from the reduced shear stress relaxation modulus and the relaxation time spectrum function H(τ). When the average time of co-relaxation, the reference temperatures (ficitive Tf and glass transition Tg) and the isostructural parameter achieved from the conditions of isostructural glass state are introduced into the reduced shear stress relaxation modulus (GT) under the equilibrium state, a set of correlations between isochoric fragility index (mvα, mvβ and mvαβ) and the coupling strength (α and β) under the reference temperatures are derived from the exact definition of isochoric fragility. So the theory of dynamic fragility for glass substances at isochoric state is developed. The theory can predict the following main features of structural relaxations and behavior of isochoric fragility: the temperature dependence of peak relaxation frequency exhibits a bifurcation with a pair of single α and single β relaxations; the temperature dependence of Stickel equation on 1/T exhibits two crossovers with VFTH(1) and VFTH(2) at the temperatures of Tf and Tg regime; there are two linear correlations between isochoric fragility index (mvα and mvβ) and the coupling strength. Fine agreements between the theoretical calculation and experimental results are obtained.