Adaptive Compaction Construction Simulation Based on Bayesian Field Theory.

The compaction construction process is a critical operation in civil engineering projects. By establishing a construction simulation model, the compaction duration can be predicted to assist construction management. Existing studies have achieved adaptive modelling of input parameters from a Bayesian inference perspective, but usually assume the model as parametric distribution. Few studies adopt the nonparametric distribution to achieve robust inference, but still need to manually set hyper-parameters. In addition, the condition of when the roller stops moving ignores the impact of randomness of roller movement. In this paper, a new adaptive compaction construction simulation method is presented. The Bayesian field theory is innovatively adopted for input parameter adaptive modelling. Next, whether rollers have offset enough distance is used to determine the moment of stopping. Simulation experiments of the compaction process of a high earth dam project are demonstrated. The results indicate that the Bayesian field theory performs well in terms of accuracy and efficiency. When the size of roller speed dataset is 787,490, the Bayesian field theory costs only 1.54 s. The mean absolute error of predicted compaction duration reduces significantly with improved judgment condition. The proposed method can contribute to project resource planning, particularly in a high-frequency construction monitoring environment.

Higher levels of CCL20 expression on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chinese patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

This study aimed at characterizing the levels of CCL20 mRNA transcripts in peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PMBC) of 56 Chinese patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 30 other intestinal diseases and 30 healthy controls by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. The levels of CCL20 mRNA transcripts in PBMC of patients with IBD were significantly higher than that of patients with non-IBD intestinal diseases and healthy controls (p < 0.01) and the CCL20 expression in active IBD patients was significantly higher than that in remission patients (p < 0.01). Importantly, the levels of CCL20 expression in PBMC were significantly correlated with the degrees of disease severity, the levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reaction protein, but not hemoglobin, in patients with IBD (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the levels of CCL20 expression in active IBD patients after treatment with salazosulphapyridine or prednisone were significantly reduced, as compared with before treatment (p < 0.01). Therefore, analysis of CCL20 expression in PBMC may be used as a surrogate measure for evaluation of IBD activity, disease progression and therapeutic efficacy in Chinese IBD patients.

Antimicrobial susceptibility changes of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae intra-abdominal infection isolate-derived pathogens from Chinese intra-abdominal infections from 2011 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: To explore the susceptibility trends of antimicrobials and resistance increase to antibiotics of Enterobacteriaceae isolated from patients in China with intra-abdominal infections (IAI) from 2011 to 2015. METHODS: MIC90 and MIC50 values of 12 commonly used antibiotics from Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from IAI samples were determined. RESULTS: A total of 8,477 Gram-negative bacterial pathogens were collected from 21 medical centers in China. The majority of IAI isolate-derived pathogens were E. coli (3,854, 45.5%) and K. pneumoniae (1,670, 19.7%) of which 1,990 (23.5%) were consecutively collected from community acquired (CA) and 6,186 (73.0%) from hospital acquired (HA) IAIs. The drugs with the highest efficacy against E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates derived from IAI samples were imipenem, ertapenem, amikacin and piperacillin-tazobactam. MIC90 values for piperacillin-tazobactam were 64 µg/mL in 2015 with fluctuations from 16-64 µg/mL through the years for E. coli, but were stable at ≥64 µg/mL from 2011 to 2015 for K. pneumoniae isolates. Susceptibilities to ertapenem, imipenem and amikacin were high for E. coli isolates throughout the study, but K. pneumoniae isolated from abscesses, colon and peritoneal fluid collected from medical and surgical ICUs showed an increasing trend of carbapenem resistance in 2015. CONCLUSION: In 2015 there was a trend of enhanced carbapenem resistance, particularly for K. pneumoniae isolated from IAI samples obtained from patients in ICUs.

[Improved expression of human rotavirus VP6 antigen in the recombinant adenoviruse by codon optimization].

OBJECTIVE: To increase the recombinant adenovirus vector mediated human rotavirus VP6 gene expression through coden optimization. METHODS: We have artificially synthesized VP6 gene of group A human rotavirus according to the human biased codon. The modified gene was transfected into 293 cells using adenovirus vector and the gene product, the respective protein was produced. The expression level of optimized gene and wild type gene was detected by Immunofluorescence (IF) and Western Blot. RESULT: A remarkable increase of the expression level of optimized VP6 gene in comparison with the wild-type control. CONCLUSION: The coden optimization indeed help increasing the recombinant adenovirus mediated human rotavirus gene expression, which indicated the potential application of such recombinant adenoviruses in the development of adenoviral-vectored rotavirus vaccines.

[The comparison of the three anti-dsDNA antibody detecting test].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the three Anti-dsDNA antibody detecting test (IIF, ELISA, Farr) with 200 serum samples to evaluate which one has higher sensitivity and specificity. METHODS: 200 serum samples including 120 serum samples of SLE, 20 serum samples of rheumatoid arthritis, 20 serum samples of MCTD, 20 serum samples of SS, 20 serum samples of PSS and 50 serum samples of healthy measured by IIF, Farr and ELISA. RESULTS: Detection the Anti-dsDNA antibody of the serum sample with the methods of IIF, ELISA and Farr. The positive percentage of Anti-dsDNA in SLE is 25%, 32% and 32%, while in RA is 0, 0 and 0; in PSS is 0, 0 and 5%; in SS is 0, 0 and 0; in healthy is 0, 0 and 0. CONCLUSION: Detection the Anti-dsDNA antibody with two method in the same time, especially with IIF and ELISA, will heighten the positive rate than with single method and will be helpful for the diagnosis of SLE.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of systemic lupus erythematosus patients and its relationship with atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) plays an important role in atherosclerosis. This study was to examine expression of MMP-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to explore its relationship with atherosclerosis in SLE. METHODS: Fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to examine the expression of MMP-1 mRNA in PBMCs in 80 SLE patients, including 39 prone to atherosclerosis (Group A) and 41 unprone to atherosclerosis (Group B). Meanwhile, 30 patients who were free of cardiovascular diseases and 30 healthy individuals were selected as disease and normal control group (Groups C and D). The changes of MMP-1 gene expression were analyzed by differences of cycle threshold (DeltaCt), with the following formula: DeltaCt = Ct(target) gene - Ct(reference) gene. RESULTS: The expression level of MMP-1 mRNA in Group A was significantly higher than that of group B (DeltaCt = 8.64 +/- 2.43 vs DeltaCt = 12.09 +/- 2.26, t = 6.588, P < 0.01). The expression level of MMP-1 mRNA of SLE patients was significantly higher than that of Group C (DeltaCt = 10.41 +/- 2.90 vs DeltaCt = 12.29 +/- 2.51, t = 3.135, P < 0.01) and Group D (DeltaCt = 10.41 +/- 2.90 vs DeltaCt = 12.48 +/- 1.69, t = 3.675, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to disease and control group, expression of MMP-1 mRNA in PBMCs of SLE patients was significantly elevated, and significant difference of MMP-1 mRNA expression was also found between SLE patients prone and unprone to atherosclerosis, indicating that expression of MMP-1 mRNA may be correlated with the pathogenesis and activity of atherosclerosis in SLE.