The significance of Notch ligand expression in the peripheral blood of children with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD)

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a virus-induced infectious disease that usually affects infants and children, has an increased incidence in China in recent years. This study attempted to investigate the role of the Notch signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of HFMD. METHODS: Eighty-two children diagnosed with HFMD were enrolled into this study. The HFMD group was further divided into the uncomplicated HFMD and HFMD with encephalitis groups. The control group included 40 children who underwent elective surgery for treatment of inguinal hernias. RESULTS: Children with HFMD displayed significantly reduced CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ cell subsets, but substantially enhanced CD3−CD19+ cell subset (p < 0.05 versus control subjects). The expression levels of Notch ligands Dll1 and Dll4 in the peripheral blood of the HFMD group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3−CD19+ cell subsets, but not in Notch ligand expression, between the uncomplicated HFMD and HFMD with encephalitis groups. Dll4 expression in HFMD subjects correlated negatively with the CD3+ and CD3+CD8+ cell subsets (p < 0.05), but positively with the CD3−CD19+ cell subset (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Dll4 expression in HFMD with encephalitis subjects correlated positively with total white blood cell (WBC) counts and total protein contents in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Notch ligand Dll4 exhibits a strong correlation with the CD3+, CD3+CD8+ and CD3−CD19+ cell subsets in children with HFMD, indicating that the Notch signaling may be involved in the development of HFMD by affecting the number and status of peripheral lymphocytes

Novel Wideband Metallic Patch Antennas with Low Profile

Two planar metallic patch (MP) antennas with low profiles are investigated and compared in this paper. The MP of each antenna consists of metallic patch cells and it is centrally fed by a rectangular slot. Two modes with close resonance frequencies are excited, providing a quite wide bandwidth. The antenna principle is explained clearly through a parametric study. Simulated and measured results show that the MP antennas with profile of 0.06λ0 can obtain a 10 dB impedance bandwidth of ~32% and an average gain of ~10 dBi

Effects of drought and rehydration on the growth and physiological characteristics of mustard seedlings

The mustard variety Felicia was used to analyze the response and compensation effects of growth and physiology under drought stress and rehydration conditions at the seedling stage. The seedlings were exposed to different levels of drought stress simulated by polyethylene glycol (PEG). The growth parameters, fresh weight, chlorophyll fluorescence, and antioxidant system were measured. The results showed that drought stress inhibited the growth of roots and shoots and reduced the performance of photosystem II (PS II). After rehydration, the root length and fresh weight of plants rapidly increased, and the performance index (PIABS) was found to be higher compared with the control, which suggested a compensative effect. The chlorophyll content was significantly reduced under moderate and severe drought stress. However, it increased under mild stress conditions. After rehydration, the chlorophyll content under moderate and severe stress did not return to the levels of control, and there was no significant difference between mild stress and the control. Under drought stress, the activities of antioxidant enzymes and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) increased significantly in the leaves. After rehydration, MDA and the activities of antioxidant enzyme were higher than those of the control group, particularly under moderate and severe stress. Therefore, these results suggest that mustard is strongly adapted to mild drought stress through the efficient activities of antioxidant enzymes activity and photosynthesis, as well as its rapid recovery after rehydration

Analytical solution for nonlinear vertical vibration model of mill roll system based on improved complexification averaging method

Rolling mill is the core equipment in modern iron and steel industry, and the reliability of its mill roll system (MRS) is the key to ensure the rolling process with high precision, high speed, continuity and stability. However, the MRS possesses some features such as high nonlinearity, time variability and strong coupling. The vertical vibration easily happens in its working process. Nevertheless, the mathematical model of MRS is difficult to be established and hard to be solved. In this paper, the nonlinear dynamics theory and modern signal processing method were introduced to solve this difficult problem. A two degree of freedom (DOF) nonlinear vertical vibration model of MRS was established. And the model was analytically solved by using complexification averaging (CA) method. The solution error of CA method was thoroughly analyzed. Moreover, the CA method was improved by combining the fast empirical mode decomposition (FEMD) method. Research results indicate that the improved CA method presents a significant advantage in improving the solution precision, and can be used to solve strong nonlinear vibration system (NVS) with two DOF

Study on tailings dam over-topping failure model test and break mechanism under the rainfall condition

Na temelju samo-konstruiranog uređaja za eksperimentiranje simulacijom prekida jalovinskog nasipa, eksperimentalna studija oštećenja nasipa provedena je u kišnim uvjetima. Zakonitost promjene linije infiltracije, proces razvoja tijela nasipa, mehanizam oštećenja nasipa i pomicanje nasipa nakon kolapsa dobiveni su pomoću uređaja za oborine, uređaja za mjerenje infiltracijske linije, uređaja za praćenje pomaka, kamere itd. Rezultati pokazuju sljedeće: u ranoj fazi kiše, promjena linije infiltracije u prednjem umjetnom jezeru i vanjskoj padini nasipa očito je zaostajala za razinom vode, a u sredini i kraju umjetnog jezera to nije uočeno. U kasnijoj fazi kiše, fenomen zaostajanja postupno nestaje, a promjena razine vode ima očiti učinak na promjenu linije infiltracije. U ranoj fazi oštećenja nasipa, curenje i preljev vode dogodili su se na vanjskoj padini nasipa, a došlo je do lokalnog kolapsa. U kasnijim fazama prekida jalovinskog nasipa voda protječe preko nasipa i nastavlja erodirati tijelo nasipa, što dovodi do zatajenja nasipa. Pod djelovanjem propusne sile pojavljuje se fenomen cjevovoda u nasipu. S kontinuiranom erozijom protoka vode, povećana je propusna sila, plutajuća jaka snaga uzgona i tlak vode pora, protu-otpor je oslabio i smanjena je stabilnost nasipa. Nakon oštećenja tijela nasipa, najveće je pomicanje zemlje u proboju, pored proboja, pomicanje zemlje uglavnom se događa kod potpore nasipa. Vanjska ekspanzija uglavnom se javlja u sredini nasipa i podnožju nasipa. Rezultati istraživanja pružaju neke smjernice i referentnu vrijednost za analizu modela i mehanizma prekida jalovinskog nasipa i sprječavanje katastrofe te kontrole pod kišnim uvjetima.Based on self-designed tailings dam simulation experiment device of tailings dam-break, experimental study of tailings dam failure was carried out under the condition of rainfall. The change rule of infiltration line, the developing process, the mechanism of dam failure and the displacement of the dam body after collapse were obtained and recorded by the rainfall devices, the infiltration line measuring devices, the displacement monitoring devices and the camera. The results are as follows: in the early stage of rainfall, the changes of the infiltration line in the front reservoir and the outside slope of the dam were obviously lagging behind the water level, but in the middle and tail of the reservoir it was not obvious. In the later stage of the rainfall, the lagging phenomenon gradually disappeared, and the change of water level had an obvious effect on the change of infiltration line. At the early stage of the dam failure, seepage and water overflow occurred on the outer slope of the tailings dam, causing local collapse to occur. In the late stages of dam break, the water flew over the dam crest and continued to erode the dam body, thus lead to the dam failure. Under the action of seepage force, the phenomenon of piping occurred in the dam. With the continuous erosion of water flow, the seepage force, floating severe, buoyancy force and pore water pressure were increased, the anti-resistance was weakened and the stability of dam was reduced. After the dam failed, the settlement displacement in the breach was the largest, in addition to the breach, the settlement displacement occurred mainly at the dam abutment. The external expansion occurred mainly in the middle dam and dam foot. The research results provide some valuable guidance and reference for the mechanism analysis of the tailings dam-break, the disaster prevention and controlling when subjected to rainfall