Low-coherence, high-power, high-directional electrically driven dumbbell-shaped cavity semiconductor laser at 635 nm.

An electrically driven dumbbell-shaped cavity semiconductor laser laterally confined by isolation and metal layers at 635 nm has been proposed. In the simulation, we systematically analyzed the Q-factors, mode intensity distributions, and directionality of the dumbbell-shaped cavity. A measured speckle contrast as low as 3.7%, emission divergence of 7.7°, and maximum output power of about 2.36 W were obtained in the experiment. Such a semiconductor laser with low coherence, high power, and high directivity may provide great potential application value in laser display and imaging.

Parallel testing of vehicle intelligence via virtual-real interaction.

A self-driven closed-loop parallel testing system implements more challenging tests to accelerate evaluation and development of autonomous vehicles.

Dielectric properties of Y and Nb co-doped TiO2 ceramics.

In this work, the (Y0.5Nb0.5)xTi1-xO2 (x = 0.001, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.1) ceramics (as called YNTO) were fabricated by synthesized through a standard solid-state reaction. As revealed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra, the YNTOs exhibit tetragonal rutile structure. Meanwhile, the grain size of YNTO ceramics increased and then decreased with the increase of x value, and the largest value reached when x = 0.02. All the YNTO samples display colossal permittivity (~102-105) over a wide temperature and frequency range. Moreover, the optimal ceramic, (Y0.5Nb0.5)0.02Ti0.98O2, exhibits high performance over a broad temperature range from 20 °C to 180 °C; specifically, at 1 kHz, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss are 6.55 × 104 and 0.22 at room temperature, and they are 1.03 × 105 and 0.11 at 180 °C, respectively.

Efficient Lane Boundary Detection with Spatial-Temporal Knowledge Filtering.

Lane boundary detection technology has progressed rapidly over the past few decades. However, many challenges that often lead to lane detection unavailability remain to be solved. In this paper, we propose a spatial-temporal knowledge filtering model to detect lane boundaries in videos. To address the challenges of structure variation, large noise and complex illumination, this model incorporates prior spatial-temporal knowledge with lane appearance features to jointly identify lane boundaries. The model first extracts line segments in video frames. Two novel filters-the Crossing Point Filter (CPF) and the Structure Triangle Filter (STF)-are proposed to filter out the noisy line segments. The two filters introduce spatial structure constraints and temporal location constraints into lane detection, which represent the spatial-temporal knowledge about lanes. A straight line or curve model determined by a state machine is used to fit the line segments to finally output the lane boundaries. We collected a challenging realistic traffic scene dataset. The experimental results on this dataset and other standard dataset demonstrate the strength of our method. The proposed method has been successfully applied to our autonomous experimental vehicle.

Myogenic differentiation and reparative activity of stromal cells derived from pericardial adipose in comparison to subcutaneous origin.

INTRODUCTION: Adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) are abundant and easy to obtain, but the diversity of differentiation potential from different locations may vary with the developmental origin of their mesenchymal compartment. We therefore aim to compare the myogenic differentiation and reparative activity of ADSCs derived from the pericardial tissue to ADSCs of subcutaneous origin. METHODS: Pericardial and inguinal adipose tissues from Wistar rats were surgically obtained, and the stromal fraction was isolated after enzymatic digestion. The phenotypic epitopes of the resultant two types of ADSCs were analyzed with flow cytometry, and the expression of transcriptional factors was analyzed with immunostaining. Furthermore, their potential toward adipogenic, osteogenic, and myogenic differentiation also was compared. Finally, the reparative activity and the resultant functional benefits were examined by allograft transplantation into an infarcted model in rats. RESULTS: ADSCs from two adipose sources showed identical morphology and growth curve at the initial stage, but inguinal ADSCs (ingADSCs) sustained significantly vigorous growth after 25 days of cultivation. Although both ADSCs shared similar immunophenotypes, the pericardial ADSCs (periADSC) intrinsically exhibited partial expression of transcription factors for cardiogenesis (such as GATA-4, Isl-1, Nkx 2.5, and MEF-2c) and more-efficient myogenic differentiation, but less competent for adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation. After in vivo transplantation, periADSCs exhibited significantly vigorous reparative activity evidenced by thickening of ventricular wall and pronounced vasculogenesis and myogenesis, although the majority of prelabeled cells disappeared 28 days after transplantation. The structural repair also translated into functional benefits of hearts after infarction. CONCLUSIONS: Although two sources of ADSCs are phenotypically identical, pericADSCs constituted intrinsic properties toward myogenesis and vasculogenesis, and thus provided more potent reparative effects after transplantation; therefore, they represent an attractive candidate cell donor for cardiac therapy.

The clinical study of the optimalization of surgical treatment and the traditional Chinese medicine intervention on palmar hyperhidrosis.

To analyze the efficacy of different surgical methods in treating palmar hyperhidrosis and the compensatory hyperhidrosis after surgery and to observe the efficacy of "Energy-boosting and Yin-nourishing anti-perspirant formula" on postsurgical hyperhidrosis patients. Two-hundred patients were randomly assigned to groups A (Chinese and Western medicine, T4 transection plus "Energy-boosting and Yin-nourishing anti-perspirant formula") and B (Western medicine, T4 transection). The surgical efficiency, recurrence rate, compensatory hyperhidrosis, and the long-term life quality were compared. Another 100 cases (group C, T2 transection) were analyzed as a control group. After surgery, the palmar hyperhidrosis and armpit sweating were relieved in all the three group patients and in 34 % of patients combined with plantar hyperhidrosis, the symptoms were relieved. Transient palmar hyperhidrosis was found in three cases at day 2 to day 5 postoperatively. One case of Horner's syndrome and one case recurrence were found in group C patients. The compensatory sweating of various degrees occurred in all the three groups. There were 25, 24, and 43 cases in groups A, B, and C, respectively. There is a significant difference between groups C, A, and B. The compensatory sweating in 13 cases of group A and four cases of group B had different degrees of improvement in the follow-up 6 months after surgery. There is a significant difference. Thoracoscopic bilateral T4 sympathetic chain and the Kuntz resection are the optimized surgical treatments for the palmar hyperhidrosis. "Energy-boosting and Yin-nourishing anti-perspirant formula" is effective in treating the postoperative compensatory sweating.

Prevalence of coccidian infection in suckling piglets in China.

To determine the prevalence of coccidian infection in suckling piglets in China, fecal samples from 779 litters of suckling piglets were collected on 80 different farms in 17 provinces from September 2009 to December 2010. These samples were examined through saturated saline flotation technique. The prevalences of coccidian infection ranged from 0 to 32.5% among different provinces and the average was 16.7% (130/779). The highest prevalence of 19.9% (69/346) was found in 8-14 day-old litters of suckling piglets. Seven coccidian species were detected in the positive litters of suckling piglets, including Isospora suis (63.9%), Eimeria debliecki (46.9%), Eimeria polita (19.2%), Eimeria suis (20.8%), Eimeria perminuta (13.9%), Eimeria scabra (4.6%), and Eimeria yanglingensis (1.5%). 55.4% of the positive litters of suckling piglet infected more than one coccidian species. The results of this investigation will provide the relevant basic data for control strategies against porcine coccidiosis on pig farms in China.

[Protective role of pericardial tissue on injured myocardium in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To define the protective role of pericardial tissue and identify the subcellular population with potential contribution to cardiac protection after injury in a rat model. METHODS: Myocardial infarction (MI) was created by the ligation of left anterior descending artery (LAD) in rats while the pericardial sac was either completely removed (-PC, n = 10) or surgically closed after ligation (+PC, n = 8). The follow-up functional and structure benefits were analyzed by echocardiography and 2,3,5- triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium, chloride(TTC) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) staining. The contributions of cardiac stem cells (sca-1, c-kit and KDR) were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The integrity of pericardial sac showed significant benefits of cardiac contractile function (ejection fraction and short axis fractional shortening) in comparison to the controls (52 ± 12 vs 37 ± 12 and 36 ± 14 vs 25 ± 13, both P < 0.05). The observed functional amelioration after MI was obvious based on structural repair examined by TTC staining and BrdU incorporation, showing significantly more de novo cardiomyocytes in +PC rats. Interestingly, we have immunohistologically identified a sub-population of KDR+(flk-1+) cells in pericardial tissue which clone genetically distributed and mildly expressed cardiac specific proteins (cTnT). It suggested that the KDR+ cells might act as cardiac progenitors and therefore play an important role in cardiac repair. Meanwhile, rare SCA-1 and c-kit positive cells were detected in pericardial tissue. CONCLUSION: The intact pericardial tissue exerts protective effects after MI. It may be related with a specific cell population of KDR+ cells from pericardial tissue.

[The choice of thoracoscopic sympathectomy in the treatment of palmar hyperhidrosis among different procedures].

OBJECTIVE: Retrospective analyze the long-term efficacy and compensatory sweating of thoracoscopic sympathectomy in the treatment of palmar hyperhidrosis by different operative methods in order to search after a better operative method. METHODS: Retrospective study of 643 cases (498 cases available) palmar hyperhidrosis who accepted video-assisted thoracoscopic bilateral sympathectomy during from 1995 to Aug 2008. The patients were divided into four groups by different operative methods. (1) Group A(n = 82): Thoracoscopic T2-4 sympathectomy was performed. (2) Group B (n = 135): Thoracoscopic T2 sympathectomy was performed. (3) Group C (n = 41): Thoracoscopic T2 sympathetic nerve clipped. (4) Group D (n = 240): Thoracoscopic T3-4 level sympathectomy plus bypass fiber (Kuntz fiber) resection on same level was performed. RESULTS: All procedures were successfully performed under thoracoscope without severe morbidity and mortality. The curative rate of palmar hyperhidrosis was 100.00%. The incidence of compensatory sweating were 54.9% (group A), 48.1% (group B), 48.8% (group C) and 28.8% (group D) respectively with significantly decrease in group D contrast to other three groups. The incidence of high-grade compensatory sweating which have important influences on daily life were 9.8% (group A), 10.4% (group B), 9.8% (group C) and 2.9% (group D) respectively with significantly decrease in group D. Other pairings have nonsignificance. The relapse rate were 1.2% (group A), 2.2% (group B), 7.3% (group C) and 0.8% (group D). Only when group D contrasted to group C has significantly decrease in the relapse rate (χ(2) = 8.423, P = 0.004). Other pairings have nonsignificance. CONCLUSION: The procedure of T3-4 sympathectomy plus bypass fiber resection is reasonable operative method to cure hyperhidrosis with the better curative effect and lowest incidence of compensatory hyperhidrosis.

Identification of peptide mimetics of xenoreactive alpha-Gal antigenic epitope by phage display.

The prevention of hyperacute rejection (HAR) triggered by interaction between the human natural antibody and xenoreactive antigenic epitope (Gal-alpha1, 3Gal) present on pig cells is the key to success in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. The phage display technology offers an effective strategy for screening peptides which can interact with the anti-Gal antibody to block alpha-Gal antigen binding site. Two peptide libraries, linear 7 peptide library and C7C library, were panned on the anti-B monoclonal antibody which has the characteristic of binding to the alpha-Gal antigenic epitope. After four rounds of panning, 22 positive phage clones were selected. Highly homologous sequence PT and STL existed among these selected peptides. Stachyose competitive ELISAs revealed that these peptides specifically bound to alpha-Gal antigen binding site. Eight peptide mimics of alpha-Gal antigenic epitope could inhibit the agglutination of pig red blood cells mediated by human sera in a dose-dependent manner. These results demonstrated that the selected peptides can mimic the conformational structure of alpha-Gal antigenic epitope and have the therapeutic potential in xenotransplantation.

[Follow-up of twelve cases of heart transplantation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of heart transplantation. METHODS: Twelve patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation, one of which underwent combined heart and kidney transplantation (HKT), from June 1997 to June 2002 were followed up to observe the complications, work ability, life quality and psychic status. RESULTS: One of the 12 patients died of acute rejection and one died of acute renal failure during perioperative period. Ten cases (83.3%) survived the operation. Then one of the 10 patients died of acute rejection due to stopping Cellcept 7 months after operation; and the other 9 patients had lived well for 1 to 9 years, of which one recipient undergoing HKT survived for nearly 3 years. One year after operation the 9 patients showed class I heart function (NYHA), and all resumed their original work. One patient suffered from schizophrenia 1 week after operation. After the operation every year all cases were to receive coronary angiography with the results showing thinner coronary artery and less lateral branches, and myocardium, emission computed tomography (ECT) scanning that revealed local ischemia in anterior or posterior myocardium in 2 cases 4 and 5 years after respectively, however, no symptom of coronary artery disease was seen in all patients. Two cases, including the one receiving HKT, had symptoms of diabetes mellitus. Two patients thoracotomy during the perioperative period because of cardiac tamponade or too much blood drainage. All cases suffered from right heart failure, mouth ulcer and hypertension due to taking CsA and they had to take antihypertension drug to control their blood pressure. No malignant tumor had been found. CONCLUSION: Heart transplantation is an effective treatment for end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy. But many complications may follow. Some of them may endanger patients' life, and others may affect the quality of life. To trace the patients closely and deal with various complications in time will improve the effect of cardiac transplantation.

A peptide mimetic of Gal-alpha 1,3-Gal is able to block human natural antibodies.

The carbohydrate of Gal-alpha1,3-Gal is thought to be the major antigenic epitope present on pig vascular endothelium. The peptides that mimic the binding of antigenic epitope (Gal-alpha1,3-Gal) to lectin BS-I-B4 were identified from screening a filamentous phage-displayed random library. A phage bearing the peptide NCVSPYWCEPLAPSARA has been identified to bind the lectin strongly. Melibiose was able to inhibit the binding of the human natural anti-alpha Gal antibody to the peptide competitively. Our experiments show that the peptide mimetic of Gal-alpha1,3-Gal is able to inhibit the agglutination of pig RBCs by human natural antibody or lectin BS-I-B4. The peptide inhibitor of human natural antibodies may prove useful in pig-to-human xenotransplantation.