Observation and control of pseudospin switching in a finite-width topological photonic crystal.

Finite-size effect plays a significant role in topology photonics not to mention in reality all experimental setups are in finite-size. A photonic bandgap is opened in the topological edge state dispersion if a topological photonic crystal with finite width is considered, and the bandgap size relies on the finite-size effect. Pseudospin-preserving and pseudospin-flipping processes can be realized when a selectively switch of the pseudospin of edge states are customized by our designs. Our microwave experiments also successfully demonstrate pseudospin switch-on and -off behaviors in a finite-width photonic crystal. By combining photonic crystals with finite widths, a multi-tunneling proposal of topological photonic crystals can also be achieved. Our study of the finite-size effect will provide new approaches and thoughts to improve the development of topological photonic devices in the future.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of dasatinib versus imatinib in pediatric philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients in China.

BACKGROUND: Dasatinib and imatinib are the recommended tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for treating pediatric Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph + ALL), and the one which has been approved indication in China is imatinib. Recently, clinical demand for Ph + ALL treatment is becoming unmet gradually with the increasing resistance of imatinib. There are some studies reporting the better efficacy and comparative safety of dasatinib compared with imatinib, but no economic comparison has been published. This study aims to supplement economic evidence by comparing the cost-effectiveness between imatinib and dasatinib in treating pediatric patients with Ph+ ALL in China, and to help clinical rational drug use via multi-dimensional value assessment. METHODS: A decision tree model combined with a 10-year Markov model were established based on the disease progression. The parameters were collected from published literatures and our hospital's electronic medical records. From the health system perspective, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between the two treatment groups was calculated through cost-effectiveness analysis and then compared with the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold. The set WTP threshold in this study was 1 times per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of China, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Direct medical costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated and discounted at 5%. The sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the uncertainty and robustness of the results. RESULTS: The total costs were CNY 1,020,995.35 and CNY 1,035,788.50 in imatinib group and dasatinib group during the 10-year simulation, and the total QALYs were 2.59 and 4.84. Compared with the imatinib treatment group, the ICER was around CNY 6,575.78/ QALY, which was less than the set threshold CNY 70,892/ QALY. The sensitive analyses indicated the robustness of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The cost-effectiveness analysis shows the potential cost-effective advantages of adding dasatinib comparing with adding imatinib for pediatric Ph + ALL patients in China under the set WTP threshold, which indicates that those patients could achieve more QALYs by paying acceptable fee.

Current-Induced Spin Photocurrent in GaAs at Room Temperature.

Circularly polarized photocurrent, observed in p-doped bulk GaAs, varies nonlinearly with the applied bias voltage at room temperature. It has been explored that this phenomenon arises from the current-induced spin polarization in GaAs. In addition, we found that the current-induced spin polarization direction of p-doped bulk GaAs grown in the (001) direction lies in the sample plane and is perpendicular to the applied electric field, which is the same as that in GaAs quantum well. This research indicates that circularly polarized photocurrent is a new optical approach to investigate the current-induced spin polarization at room temperature.

N-linked glycosylation at site 158 of the HA protein of H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is important for viral biological properties and host immune responses.

Since 2014, clade 2.3.4.4 has become the dominant epidemic branch of the Asian lineage H5 subtype highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) in southern and eastern China, while the H5N6 subtype is the most prevalent. We have shown earlier that lack of glycosylation at position 158 of the hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein due to the T160A mutation is a key determinant of the dual receptor binding property of clade 2.3.4.4 H5NX subtypes. Our present study aims to explore other effects of this site among H5N6 viruses. Here we report that N-linked glycosylation at site 158 facilitated the assembly of virus-like particles and enhanced virus replication in A549, MDCK, and chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) cells. Consistently, the HA-glycosylated H5N6 virus induced higher levels of inflammatory factors and resulted in stronger pathogenicity in mice than the virus without glycosylation at site 158. However, H5N6 viruses without glycosylation at site 158 were more resistant to heat and bound host cells better than the HA-glycosylated viruses. H5N6 virus without glycosylation at this site triggered the host immune response mechanism to antagonize the viral infection, making viral pathogenicity milder and favoring virus spread. These findings highlight the importance of glycosylation at site 158 of HA for the pathogenicity of the H5N6 viruses.

Rapid differential detection of subtype H1 and H3 swine influenza viruses using a TaqMan-MGB-based duplex one-step real-time RT-PCR assay.

Swine influenza is an economically important respiratory disease in swine, but it also constantly poses a threat to human health. Therefore, developing rapid, sensitive, and efficient detection methods for swine influenza virus (SIV) is important. By aligning the haemagglutinin (HA) gene sequences of SIVs circulating in China over a 10-year period, an H1 primer-probe set targeting both Eurasian avian-like H1N1 (EA H1N1) and pandemic 2009 H1N1 ((H1N1)pdm09) lineages plus a H3 primer-probe set targeting the prevalent human-like H3N2 (HL H3N2) subtype were designed. Subsequently, a TaqMan-MGB-based duplex one-step real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) assay was established and evaluated. The duplex RT-qPCR has a detection limit of 5 copies/µL of HA plasmid for EA H1N1, (H1N1)pdm09, and HL H3N2 subtype SIVs, and its overall detection sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 91.67% matches that of traditional virus isolation through chicken embryo inoculation using experimentally infected mouse lung samples. The method showed high repeatability both within run and between runs, and there was no cross-reactivity against several other porcine viruses that are commonly circulating in China. Furthermore, the duplex RT-qPCR method revealed a higher prevalence of subtype H1 than subtype H3 in 166 nasal swabs from pigs collected from one slaughterhouse between October and December 2019. This assay could be very helpful in the rapid differential detection and routine surveillance of EA H1N1, (H1N1)pdm09, and HL H3N2 SIVs in China.

Sheng Mai San protects H9C2 cells against hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis.

BACKGROUND: Sheng Mai San (SMS) has been proven to exhibit cardio-protective effects. This study aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms of SMS on hyperglycaemia (HG)-induced apoptosis in H9C2 cells. METHODS: HG-induced H9C2 cells were established as the experimental model, and then treated with SMS at 25, 50, and 100 µg/mL. H9C2 cell viability and apoptosis were quantified using MTT and Annexin V-FITC assays, respectively. Furthermore, Bcl-2/Bax signalling pathway protein expression and Fas and FasL gene expression levels were quantified using western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: SMS treatments at 25, 50, 100 µg/mL significantly improved H9C2 cell viability and inhibited H9C2 cell apoptosis (p < 0.05). Compared to the HG group, SMS treatment at 25, 50, and 100 µg/mL significantly downregulated p53 and Bax expression and upregulated Bcl-2 expression (p < 0.05). Moreover, SMS treatment at 100 µg/mL significantly downregulated Fas and FasL expression level (p < 0.05) when compared to the HG group. CONCLUSION: SMS protects H9C2 cells from HG-induced apoptosis probably by downregulating p53 expression and upregulating the Bcl-2/Bax ratio. It may also be associated with the inhibition of the Fas/FasL signalling pathway.

Hydrodynamic Analysis-Based Modeling and Experimental Verification of a New Water-Jet Thruster for an Amphibious Spherical Robot.

Thrusters are the bottom actuators of the amphibious spherical robot, and play an important role in the motion control of these robots. To realize accurate motion control, a thrust model for a new water-jet thruster based on hydrodynamic analyses is proposed in this paper. First, the hydrodynamic characteristics of the new thruster were numerically analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) commercial software CFX. The moving reference frame (MRF) technique was utilized to simulate propeller rotation. In particular, the hydrodynamics of the thruster were studied not only in the axial flow but also in oblique flow. Then, the basic framework of the thrust model was built according to hydromechanics theory. Parameters in the basic framework were identified through the results of the hydrodynamic simulation. Finally, a series of relevant experiments were conducted to verify the accuracy of the thrust model. These proved that the thrust model-based simulation results agreed well with the experimental results. The maximum error between the experimental results and simulation results was only 7%, which indicates that the thrust model is precise enough to be utilized in the motion control of amphibious spherical robots.

Compensatory force measurement and multimodal force feedback for remote-controlled vascular interventional robot.

Minimally invasive vascular interventional surgery is widely used and remote-controlled vascular interventional surgery robots (RVIRs) are being developed to reduce the occupational risk of the intervening physician in minimally invasive vascular interventional surgeries. Skilled surgeon performs surgeries mainly depending on the detection of collisions. Inaccurate force feedback will be difficult for surgeons to perform surgeries or even results in medical accidents. In addition, the surgeon cannot quickly and easily distinguish whether the proximal force exceeds the safety threshold of blood vessels or not, and thus it results in damage to the blood vessels. In this paper, we present a novel method comprising compensatory force measurement and multimodal force feedback (MFF). Calibration experiments and performance evaluation experiments were carried out. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method can measure the proximal force of catheter/guidewire accurately and assist surgeons to distinguish the change of proximal force more easily. This novel method is suitable for use in actual surgical operations.

Genetic and biological characterization of three poultry-origin H5N6 avian influenza viruses with all internal genes from genotype S H9N2 viruses.

During surveillance for avian influenza viruses, three H5N6 viruses were isolated in chickens obtained from live bird markets in eastern China, between January 2015 and April 2016. Sequence analysis revealed a high genomic homology between these poultry isolates and recent human H5N6 variants whose internal genes were derived from genotype S H9N2 avian influenza viruses. Glycan binding assays revealed that all avian H5N6 viruses were capable of binding to both human-type SAα-2,6Gal receptors and avian-type SAα-2,3Gal receptors. Their biological characteristics were further studied in BALB/c mice, specific-pathogen-free chickens, and mallard ducks. All three isolates had low pathogenicity in mice but were highly pathogenic to chickens, as evidenced by 100% mortality 36-120 hours post infection at a low dose of 103.0EID50 and through effective contact transmission. Moreover, all three poultry H5N6 isolates caused asymptomatic infections in ducks, which may serve as a reservoir host for their maintenance and dissemination; these migrating waterfowl could cause a potential global pandemic. Our study suggests that continuous epidemiological surveillance in poultry should be implemented for the early prevention of future influenza outbreaks.

Visual Detection and Tracking System for a Spherical Amphibious Robot.

With the goal of supporting close-range observation tasks of a spherical amphibious robot, such as ecological observations and intelligent surveillance, a moving target detection and tracking system was designed and implemented in this study. Given the restrictions presented by the amphibious environment and the small-sized spherical amphibious robot, an industrial camera and vision algorithms using adaptive appearance models were adopted to construct the proposed system. To handle the problem of light scattering and absorption in the underwater environment, the multi-scale retinex with color restoration algorithm was used for image enhancement. Given the environmental disturbances in practical amphibious scenarios, the Gaussian mixture model was used to detect moving targets entering the field of view of the robot. A fast compressive tracker with a Kalman prediction mechanism was used to track the specified target. Considering the limited load space and the unique mechanical structure of the robot, the proposed vision system was fabricated with a low power system-on-chip using an asymmetric and heterogeneous computing architecture. Experimental results confirmed the validity and high efficiency of the proposed system. The design presented in this paper is able to meet future demands of spherical amphibious robots in biological monitoring and multi-robot cooperation.

Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) rs662 Polymorphism and Its Association with Serum Lipid Levels and Longevity in the Bama Zhuang Population.

BACKGROUND The present study was performed to identify the association of PON1 rs662 polymorphism with serum lipid levels and human longevity in the Bama Zhuang population. MATERIAL AND METHODS PON1 genotypes were determined by Taqman SNP Genotyping Assays in 110 long-lived inhabitants (longevity group, aged 90-110 years), 110 healthy inhabitants in Bama County (control 1 group, aged 43-82 years) and 110 healthy inhabitants in Nandan County (control 2 group, aged 28-82 years) without family history of longevity. RESULTS BMI (body mass index) and TG (serum total triglyceride) level were lower in the longevity group than in the two control groups, while the contents of serum LDL-c (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and HDL-c (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and the levels of SBP (systolic blood pressure) and DBP (diastolic blood pressure) in the longevity group were higher than in the two control groups (p<0.01). Significant differences in the frequencies of three genotypes (GG, AG, and AA) were observed between the longevity group and control 2 group (χ²=15.190, p=0.001). The minor allele frequency (MAF) of rs662 was significantly higher in the longevity group than in the two control groups. The levels of HDL-c in the longevity group were different among the three genotypes (p<0.05). The levels of TG for GG and GG+AG genotypes were significantly different, while the levels of TC (total cholesterol) and HDL-c for AG and GG+AG genotypes were significantly different among the three groups (p<0.05). Serum lipid parameters were correlated with several environmental factors, including age, gender, DBP, SBP, and BMI. The association of PON1 rs662 polymorphism and serum lipid levels was different among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS PON1 polymorphism might be one of the genetic factors of longevity in the Bama Zhuang population. The PON1 rs662 SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) was associated with serum HDL-c levels in the longevity group.

Shenmai injection as an adjuvant treatment for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Shenmai injection (SM), as a traditional Chinese medicine injection, is widely used for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure in mainland China. It is essential to systematically assess the efficacy and safety of SM as an adjuvant treatment for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure. METHODS: Eight English and Chinese electronic databases were searched, from inception to December 2014, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of SM for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of eligible studies. Meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.2. RESULTS: Twenty-seven RCTs with 2045 participants were identified. The methodological quality of the included studies was generally low. Only one trial reported data on death. None of the included trials reported quality of life. The meta-analysis indicated that compared to conventional treatment, the combination of SM and conventional treatment was more effective in terms of the New York Heart Association classification (RR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.20-1.32; P < 0.00001), Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (MD, 11.33; 95% CI, 8.59-14.07; p < 0.00001), partial pressure of oxygen (MD, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.64-1.36; P < 0.00001) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (MD, 0.83; 95 % CI, 0.58-1.08; p < 0.00001). In addition, two trials reported that SM plus conventional treatment was superior to the conventional treatment alone to reduce B-type natriuretic peptide. No serious adverse drug events or reactions were reported. CONCLUSIONS: SM plus conventional treatment appeared to be effective and relatively safe for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure. However, due to the generally low methodological quality and small sample size, this review didn't find evidence to support routine use of SM as an adjuvant treatment for chronic cor pulmonale heart failure.

A Kinect-based real-time compressive tracking prototype system for amphibious spherical robots.

A visual tracking system is essential as a basis for visual servoing, autonomous navigation, path planning, robot-human interaction and other robotic functions. To execute various tasks in diverse and ever-changing environments, a mobile robot requires high levels of robustness, precision, environmental adaptability and real-time performance of the visual tracking system. In keeping with the application characteristics of our amphibious spherical robot, which was proposed for flexible and economical underwater exploration in 2012, an improved RGB-D visual tracking algorithm is proposed and implemented. Given the limited power source and computational capabilities of mobile robots, compressive tracking (CT), which is the effective and efficient algorithm that was proposed in 2012, was selected as the basis of the proposed algorithm to process colour images. A Kalman filter with a second-order motion model was implemented to predict the state of the target and select candidate patches or samples for the CT tracker. In addition, a variance ratio features shift (VR-V) tracker with a Kalman estimation mechanism was used to process depth images. Using a feedback strategy, the depth tracking results were used to assist the CT tracker in updating classifier parameters at an adaptive rate. In this way, most of the deficiencies of CT, including drift and poor robustness to occlusion and high-speed target motion, were partly solved. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, a Microsoft Kinect sensor, which combines colour and infrared depth cameras, was adopted for use in a prototype of the robotic tracking system. The experimental results with various image sequences demonstrated the effectiveness, robustness and real-time performance of the tracking system.

Isolation, characterization, and nuclease activity of biologically relevant chromium(V) complexes with monosaccharides and model diols. Likely intermediates in chromium-induced cancers.

The stabilization of Cr(V) by biological 1,2-diolato ligands, including carbohydrates, glycoproteins, and sialic acid derivatives, is likely to play a crucial role in the genotoxicity of Cr(VI) and has also been implicated in the antidiabetic effect of Cr(III). Previously, such complexes have been observed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in living cells or animals, treated with carcinogenic Cr(VI), as well as in numerous model systems, but attempts to isolate them have been elusive. Recently, the first crystal structure of a Cr(V) complex with cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol (1, a close structural analogue of carbohydrates) has been reported. In this work, Cr(V) complexes of the general formula [Cr(V)OL2](-) [where LH2 = 1, cis-1,2-cyclopentanediol (2), D-glucose (3), D-mannose (4), D-galactose (5), and D-ribose (6)] have been isolated from light-catalyzed reactions of Cr(VI) (anhydrous Na2Cr2O7) with slight molar excesses of the corresponding ligands in N,N-dimethylformamide. The complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS), and EPR spectroscopy. Studies by electronic absorption spectroscopy have shown that the solids isolated from reactions of Cr(VI) with 3-6 contained mixtures of Cr(V) complexes (40-65 mol %) and Cr(III) species (probably complexes with oxidized ligands), while those from reactions with 1 and 2 were practically pure Cr(V). The first isolation of solids containing significant proportions of chromium(V) monosaccharide complexes led to the definitive assignment of their general formula ([Cr(V)OL2](-), based on ESMS), in agreement with the earlier EPR spectroscopic data. The first direct comparison of the decomposition rates of Cr(V) complexes with 1-6, made possible by isolation of the solids, have shown that the complexes with five-membered-ring ligands (2 and 6) are more stable at pH ∼ 7 compared with their six-membered-ring counterparts (1 and 3-5). This finding emphasizes the likely biological roles of chromium(V) pentose complexes, e.g., those with sugar residues of RNA, ATP, or NAD(P)H. Finally, the first direct evidence for the ability of these Cr(V) complexes to cause oxidative DNA damage in the absence of added reductants or oxidants has been obtained. These data support significant roles for chromium(V) 1,2-diolato complexes in the diverse biological activities of Cr(VI) and Cr(III).

Dynamic human exposure to airborne bacteria-associated antibiotic resistomes revealed by longitudinal personal monitoring data.

Airborne antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) can critically impact human health. We performed resistome profiling of 283 personal airborne exposure samples from 15 participants spanning 890 days and 66 locations. We found a greater diversity and abundance of airborne bacteria community and antibiotic resistomes in spring than in winter, and temperature contributed largely to the difference. A total of 1123 bacterial genera were detected, with 16 genera dominating. Of which, 7/16 were annotated as major antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) hosts. The participants were exposed to a highly dynamic collection of ARGs, including 322 subtypes conferring resistance to 18 antibiotic classes dominated by multidrug, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin, ß-lactam, and fosfomycin. Unlike the overall community-level bacteria exposure, an extremely high abundance of specific ARG subtypes, including lunA and qacG, were found in some samples. Staphylococcus was the predominant genus in the bacterial community, serving as a primary bacterial host for the ARGs. The annotation of ARG-carrying contigs indicated that humans and companion animals were major reservoirs for ARG-carrying Staphylococcus. This study contextualized airborne antibiotic resistomes in the precision medicine framework through longitudinal personal monitoring, which can have broad implications for human health.

Safety and immunogenicity of a pichia pastoris-expressed bivalent human papillomavirus (types 16 and 18) L1 virus-like particle vaccine in healthy Chinese women aged 9-45 years: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of high and low doses of a novel pichia pastoris-expressed bivalent (types 16 and 18) human papillomavirus (HPV) virus-like particle vaccine. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 trial, we enrolled 160 healthy females aged 9-45 years in Guangxi, China who were randomized (1:1:2) to receive either low (0.5 mL) or high (1.0 mL) dosages of bivalent HPV vaccine, or placebo (aluminum adjuvant) in a 0, 2, 6 months schedule. Adverse events and other significant conditions that occurred within 30 days after each vaccination were recorded throughout the trial. Sera were collected at days 0, 60, 180 and 210 to measure anti-HPV 16/18 neutralizing antibodies. RESULTS: A total of 160 participants received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine and 152 completed the three dose vaccination series. Reporting rates of adverse events in placebo, low dose (0.5 mL) and high dose (1.0 mL) groups were 47.5 %, 55.0 % and 55.0 %, respectively. No serious adverse events occurred during this trial. 100 % of the participants who received three doses of the HPV vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies against HPV 16/18 vaccine. For HPV 16 and HPV 18, the geometric mean titers (GMTs) were similar between the low dose group (GMTHPV 16 = 10816 [95 % CI: 7824-14953]), GMTHPV 18 = 3966 [95 % CI: 2693-5841]) and high dose group (GMT HPV 16 = 14482 [95 % CI: 10848-19333], GMT HPV 18 = 3428 [95 % CI: 2533-4639]). CONCLUSION: The pichia pastoris-expressed bivalent HPV vaccine was safe and immunogenic in Chinese females aged 9-45 years. The low dosage (0.5 mL) was selected for further immunogenicity and efficacy study.

Safety and immunogenicity of a bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine in Chinese females.

As global supply is still inadequate to address the worldwide requirements for HPV vaccines, we assessed the safety and immunogenicity of a new bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial, healthy 9-45-year-old Chinese females in three age cohorts (600 aged 9-17 years; 240 aged 18-26 years; 360 aged 27-45 years) were randomized 1:1 to receive three doses (0,2,6 months) of HPV16/18 vaccine or placebo. We measured neutralizing antibodies against HPV 16 and 18 at 7 months and monitored safety to 12 months in all age cohorts; 9-17-year-old girls were monitored for safety and immunogenicity to 48 months. In vaccinees, 99.8% seroconverted for HPV 16 and 18 types at 7 months; respective GMTs of 5827 (95% CI: 5249, 6468) and 4223 (3785, 4713) were significantly (p < .001) higher than controls for all comparisons. GMTs in the 9-17-year-olds, which were significantly higher than in older women at 7 months, gradually declined to 48 months but remained higher than placebo with seropositivity rates maintained at 98.5% and 97.6% against HPV 16 and 18, respectively. Adverse events occurred at similar rates after vaccine and placebo (69.8% vs. 72.5%, p = .308), including solicited local reactions and systemic adverse events which were mainly mild-to-moderate. The bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine was well tolerated and induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies in all age groups which persisted at high levels to 48 months in the 9-17-year-old age group which would be the target for HPV vaccination campaigns.

Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 with developmental dysplasia of the hip: a case-control study.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), previously known as congenital hip dislocation, is a frequently disabling condition characterized by premature arthritis in later life. Genetic influence on DDH has been long known, but is still poorly understood. Previously, we have performed a genome-wide linkage scan with Affymetrix 10K genechip for a four-generation Chinese family, which included 19 healthy members and five patients with DDH. Parametric and nonparametric multipoint linkage analyses were carried out with Genespring GT v.2.0 software, and the logarithm of odds (LOD) score and nonparametric linkage (NPL) score were calculated. For parametric linkage analysis, an assuming autosomal recessive trait was used with full penetrance, and Affymetrix "Asian" allele frequencies. The NPL score of 2.698 (P=0.0156) and LOD score of 2.119 (θ=0) were obtained on chromosome 1q25.2a for one marker (rs726252). The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs726252 locates in the region of fifth intron of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPPA2). Although neither LOD nor NPL scores of rs726252 has exceeded 3.0, several researches have demonstrated that PAPPA2 have important consequences for the development of the fetus and normal postnatal growth. To further evaluate this possible association, in the present study, we examined the genetic association of rs726252 in PAPPA2 gene with sporadic DDH in Han Chinese population using case-control study, including 310 patients with sporadic DDH and 487 control subjects, and found a significant association between PAPPA2 and DDH.

Implementation of human-machine synchronization control for active rehabilitation using an inertia sensor.

According to neuro-rehabilitation practice, active training is effective for mild stroke patients, which means these patients are able to recovery effective when they perform the training to overcome certain resistance by themselves. Therefore, for rehabilitation devices without backdrivability, implementation of human-machine synchronization is important and a precondition to perform active training. In this paper, a method to implement this precondition is proposed and applied in a user's performance of elbow flexions and extensions when he wore an upper limb exoskeleton rehabilitation device (ULERD), which is portable, wearable and non-backdrivable. In this method, an inertia sensor is adapted to detect the motion of the user's forearm. In order to get a smooth value of the velocity of the user's forearm, an adaptive weighted average filtering is applied. On the other hand, to obtain accurate tracking performance, a double close-loop control is proposed to realize real-time and stable tracking. Experiments have been conducted to prove that these methods are effective and feasible for active rehabilitation.

A novel soft biomimetic microrobot with two motion attitudes.

 A variety of microrobots have commonly been used in the fields of biomedical engineering and underwater operations during the last few years. Thanks to their compact structure, low driving power, and simple control systems, microrobots can complete a variety of underwater tasks, even in limited spaces. To accomplish our objectives, we previously designed several bio-inspired underwater microrobots with compact structure, flexibility, and multi-functionality, using ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators. To implement high-position precision for IPMC legs, in the present research, we proposed an electromechanical model of an IPMC actuator and analysed the deformation and actuating force of an equivalent IPMC cantilever beam, which could be used to design biomimetic legs, fingers, or fins for an underwater microrobot. We then evaluated the tip displacement of an IPMC actuator experimentally. The experimental deflections fit the theoretical values very well when the driving frequency was larger than 1 Hz. To realise the necessary multi-functionality for adapting to complex underwater environments, we introduced a walking biomimetic microrobot with two kinds of motion attitudes: a lying state and a standing state. The microrobot uses eleven IPMC actuators to move and two shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators to change its motion attitude. In the lying state, the microrobot implements stick-insect-inspired walking/rotating motion, fish-like swimming motion, horizontal grasping motion, and floating motion. In the standing state, it implements inchworm-inspired crawling motion in two horizontal directions and grasping motion in the vertical direction. We constructed a prototype of this biomimetic microrobot and evaluated its walking, rotating, and floating speeds experimentally. The experimental results indicated that the robot could attain a maximum walking speed of 3.6 mm/s, a maximum rotational speed of 9°/s, and a maximum floating speed of 7.14 mm/s. Obstacle-avoidance and swimming experiments were also carried out to demonstrate its multi-functionality.