Thyroid-Associated Orbitopathy: Evaluating Microstructural Changes of Extraocular Muscles and Optic Nerves Using Readout-Segmented Echo-Planar Imaging-Based Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Huan-Huan Chen,Hao Hu,Wen Chen,Dai Cui,Xiao-Quan Xu,Fei-Yun Wu,Tao Yang 대한영상의학회 2020 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.21 No.3

Objective: We aimed to investigate the ability of readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (rs-EPI)-based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in assessing the microstructural change of extraocular muscles (EOMs) and optic nerves in patients with thyroidassociated orbitopathy (TAO) as well as in evaluating disease activity. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 35 TAO patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) who underwent pre-treatment rs-EPIbased DTI. Mean, axial, and radial diffusivity (MD, AD, and RD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the medial and lateral EOMs and optic nerve for each orbit were calculated and compared between TAO and HC groups and between active and inactive TAO groups. Factors such as age, sex, disease duration, mediation, and smoking history between groups were also compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of significant variables for disease activity. Results: Disease duration was significantly shorter in active TAOs than in inactive ones (p < 0.001). TAO patients showed significantly lower FA and higher MD, AD, and RD than HCs for both medial and lateral EOMs (p < 0.001), but not the AD value of lateral EOMs (p = 0.619). Active patients had significantly higher FA, MD, and AD than inactive patients for medial EOMs (p < 0.005), whereas only FA differed significantly in the lateral EOMs (p = 0.018). The MD, AD, and RD of optic nerves were significantly lower in TAO patients than HCs (p < 0.05), except for FA (p = 0.129). Multivariate analysis showed that the MD of medial EOMs and disease duration were significant predictors for disease activity. The combination of these two parameters showed optimal diagnostic efficiency for disease activity (area under the curve, 0.855; sensitivity, 68.4%; specificity, 96.9%). Conclusion: rs-EPI-based DTI is promising in assessing microstructural changes of EOMs and optic nerves and can help to indicate the disease activity of TAO, especially through the MD of medial EOMs.

Cotton GhKCH2, a Plant-specific Kinesin, is Low-affinitive and Nucleotide-independent as Binding to Microtubule

Xu, Tao,Sun, Xuewei,Jiang, Shiling,Ren, Dongtao,Liu, Guoqin Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol 2007 Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology Vol.40 No.5

Kinesin is an ATP-driven microtubule motor protein that plays important roles in control of microtubule dynamics, intracellular transport, cell division and signal transduction. The kinesin superfamily is composed of numerous members that are classified into 14 subfamilies. Animal kinesins have been well characterized. In contrast, plant kinesins have not yet to be characterized adequately. Here, a novel plant-specific kinesin gene, GhKCH2, has been cloned from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fibers and biochemically identified by prokaryotic expression, affinity purification, ATPase activity assay and microtubule-binding analysis. The putative motor domain of GhKCH2, $M_{396-734}$ corresponding to amino acids Q396-N734 was fused with 6$\times$His-tag, soluble-expressed in E. coli and affinity-purified in a large amount. The biochemical analysis demonstrated that the basal ATPase activity of $M_{396-734}$ is not activated by $Ca^{2+}$, but stimulated 30-fold max by microtubules. The enzymatic activation is microtubule-concentration-dependent, and the concentration of microtubules that corresponds to half-maximum activation was about 11 ${\mu}M$, much higher than that of other kinesins reported. The cosedimentation assay indicated that $M_{396-734}$ could bind to microtubules in vitro whenever the nucleotide AMP-PNP is present or absent. As a plant-specific microtubule-dependent kinesin with a lower microtubule-affinity and a nucleotide-independent microtubule-binding ability, cotton GhKCH2 might be involved in the function of microtubules during the deposition of cellulose microfibrils in fibers or the formation of cell wall.

The Arabidopsis homolog of human minor spliceosomal protein U11-48K plays a crucial role in U12 intron splicing and plant development

Xu, Tao,Kim, Bo Mi,Kwak, Kyung Jin,Jung, Hyun Ju,Kang, Hunseung Oxford University Press 2016 Journal of experimental botany Vol.67 No.11

<P>The minor U12 introns are removed from precursor mRNAs by the U12 intron-specific minor spliceosome. Among the seven ribonucleoproteins unique to the minor spliceosome, denoted as U11/U12-20K, U11/U12-25K, U11/U12-31K, U11/U12-65K, U11-35K, U11-48K, and U11-59K, the roles of only U11/U12-31K and U11/U12-65K have been demonstrated in U12 intron splicing and plant development. Here, the functional role of the Arabidopsis homolog of human U11-48K in U12 intron splicing and the development of <I>Arabidopsis thaliana</I> was examined using transgenic knockdown plants. The <I>u11-48k</I> mutants exhibited several defects in growth and development, such as severely arrested primary inflorescence stems, formation of serrated leaves, production of many rosette leaves after bolting, and delayed senescence. The splicing of most U12 introns analyzed was impaired in the <I>u11-48k</I> mutants. Comparative analysis of the splicing defects and phenotypes among the <I>u11/u12-31k</I>, <I>u11-48k</I>, and <I>u11/12-65k</I> mutants showed that the severity of abnormal development was closely correlated with the degree of impairment in U12 intron splicing. Taken together, these results provide compelling evidence that the Arabidopsis homolog of human U11-48K protein, as well as U11/U12-31K and U11/U12-65K proteins, is necessary for correct splicing of U12 introns and normal plant growth and development.</P>

Global Synchronous Pulse Width Modulation of Distributed Inverters

Tao Xu,Feng Gao,Ran Wei 전력전자학회 2015 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.2015 No.6

Traditionally, the parallel-connected multi-leg inverter could assume the interleaved PWM to attenuate the switching frequency harmonics by using a single controller to generate the corresponding interleaved switching sequences. However, the interleaved PWM cannot be employed in multiple distributed inverters installed at different locations with their own controllers because the multiple independent controllers cannot work synchronously and the operational conditions are variable among the distributed inverters. The summed current harmonics of multiple distributed inverters could vary at the point of common coupling (PCC) and worsen the power quality of consumers. This paper therefore proposes a global synchronous pulse width modulation (GSPWM) method for the distributed inverters to attenuate the high frequency current harmonics at PCC meanwhile improve the PCC voltage quality. The optimal interleaved switching angles among the distributed inverters are calculated by fully considering the line impedances, the modulation indexes, the switching frequencies, the number of distributed systems and etc. Then the low frequency synchronous operation will synchronize the pulse width modulation sequences in the wanted variation range. Experimental results are presented to prove the validity of this method.

An Efficient Distributed Data Management Method based key Columns Partition Preprocessing

Xu Tao,Zhang Wei,Li Baolu 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Database Theory and Appli Vol.8 No.3

With the development of mobile internet and social network, the scale of structured data have been increasing to PB level and above rapidly, while the query performance is greatly reduce. The efficiency of query optimization on large-scale datasets is currently a research focus in both academia and industry. In this paper, we present a distributed data management method, designed to improve query performance, called KCSQ. KCSQ analyses historical SQL commands, deduces statistics using frequency and the coupling degree of tables and table columns, and confirms the key column based on statistical evidence. When importing new tables into the HDFS, the data are divided into different blocks according to their key column. Any query on these columns can reduce the amount of data to be queried and the number of working nodes and thus effectively improves the throughput rate of the system.

Design and Implementation of Automobile Lights Control System Based on LIN Bus

Xu chunyan,Jiang Feng,Zhao Yunning,Xu Tao 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of u- and e- Service, Scienc Vol.8 No.5

In this paper, the problems of traditional wiring harness, Using electronic, computer and communication technology, control system of automobile lights was developed based on the LIN protocol, t according to the LIN protocol to develop and design of an intelligent master node and slave nodes,Completed the hardware selection and circuit design of a master node and slaves, and software analysis and program implementation, forming a part of the body electronic control system, the application works well.

Association Between TP53 Arg72Pro Polymorphism and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk: A Meta-analysis

Xu, Chang-Tao,Zheng, Fang,Dai, Xin,Du, Ji-Dong,Liu, Hao-Run,Zhao, Li,Li, Wei-Min Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Background: Previous studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk obtained controversial findings. This study aimed to quantify the strength of the association by meta-analysis. Methods: We searched PubMed and Wangfang databases for published studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk, using the pooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for assessment. Results: 10 studies with a total of 2,026 cases and 2,733 controls were finally included into this meta-analysis. Overall, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was not associated with HCC risk (all P values greaterth HCC risk in Caucasians in three genetic models (For Pro versus Arg, OR = 1.20, 95%CI 1.03-1.41; For ProPro versus ArgArg, OR = 1.74, 95%CI 1.23-2.47; For ProPro versus ArgPro/ArgArg, OR = 1.85, 95%CI 1.33-2.57). However, there was no significant association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk in East Asians (all P values greater than 0.10). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Meta-analyses of available data suggest an obvious association between the TP53 Arg72Pro and HCC risk in Caucasians. However, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may have a race-specific effect on HCC risk and further studies are needed to elucidate this possible effect.

Synthesis and characterization of monodisperse yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) micro-crystals with rhombic dodecahedron

Xu, Tao,Yuan, Rui,Xu, Peng-Cheng,Pan, Dong-Jie,Yang, Woochul,Guo, Hai-Bo,Shen, Yu-Fang,Hu, Jian-Feng,Zhang, Zhi-Jun,Zhao, Jing-Tai Elsevier 2018 Journal of alloys and compounds Vol.762 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Uniform, monodisperse yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) rhombic dodecahedron micro-crystals were synthesized using coprecipitation and hydrothermal methods. The Na<SUB>2</SUB>SO<SUB>4</SUB> as a surfactant was helpful in improving the dispersity of the crystallites and forming well-faceted, micro-sized dodecahedral YAG crystallites. The effect of the reaction time and the solvent has also been studied. The crystal growth mechanism called dissolution/crystallization was determined by analyzing the experimental and simulated results. And the specific well-developed crystal facets in the {110} family have been demonstrated by the theoretical calculation. A higher integrated emission intensity can be achieved for the YAG:Ce crystallites by improving the phase purity, morphology with better developed dodecahedrons, and dispersion. Furthermore, a rather high luminous efficacy (LE = 104.14 lm/W) for the white LED fabricated using the YAG:Ce<SUP>3+</SUP> phosphor prepared in this work was realized. The correlation between the crystal growth, morphology and luminescence properties of YAG crystallites has been established, which exhibits a great importance for the synthesis and application of mono-dispersed YAG crystallites.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Uniform and monodisperse YAG rhombic dodecahedron micro-crystals were synthesized. </LI> <LI> The growth mechanism of YAG rhombic dodecahedron was studied through experimental and computational simulation. </LI> <LI> The correlation between the crystal growth, morphology and luminescence of YAG crystallites was established. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

A Sliding Mode Control Scheme for Steering Flexibility and Stability in All-wheel-steering Multi-axle Vehicles

Tao Xu,Xuewu Ji,Xiangxin Liu,Zheng Li,Bo Feng,Fuwei Wu 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2023 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.21 No.6

Multi-axle vehicles that have important roles in transport systems require high load-carrying capacity, steering performance, and stability. Thanks to the multiple steering characteristics, the dynamic performance of multi-axle vehicles can be greatly improved, which also brings great challenges for the design of their steering controller. Therefore, this paper proposes a steering control scheme for an all-wheel-steering multi-axle vehicle with the goal of optimizing low-speed steering flexibility and high-speed vehicle stability. With the dynamic analyses, the vehicle’s steady-state gains at different speeds are reshaped, which provide the closed-loop steering control system with good tracking performance. Correspondingly, a steering controller based on the sliding mode control approach is designed to control the steering angle of each wheel at different axles. The super-twisting control algorithm is also combined with a model-based observer to deal with disturbance while eliminating chattering effects of the control system. Simulation results based on a co-simulation platform verify the efficiency and disturbance rejection of the proposed control approach.

Parallel computation for debonding process of externally FRP plated concrete

Tao Xu,Yongbin Zhang,Z.Z. Liang,Chun-an Tang,Jian Zhao 국제구조공학회 2011 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.38 No.6

In this paper, the three dimensional Parallel Realistic Failure Process Analysis (RFPA3D-Parallel) code based on micromechanical model is employed to investigate the bonding behavior in FRP sheet bonded to concrete in single shear test. In the model, the heterogeneity of brittle disordered material at a meso-scale was taken into consideration in order to realistically demonstrate the mechanical characteristics of FRP-to-concrete. Modified Mohr-coulomb strength criterion with tension cut-off, where a stressed element can damage in shear or in tension, was adopted and a stiffness degradation approach was used to simulate the initiation, propagation and growth of microcracks in the model. In addition, a Master-Slave parallel operation control technique was adopted to implement the parallel computation of a large numerical model. Parallel computational results of debonding of FRP-concrete visually reproduce the spatial and temporal debonding failure progression of microcracks in FRP sheet bonded to concrete, which agrees well with the existing testing results in laboratory. The numerical approach in this study provides a useful tool for enhancing our understanding of cracking and debonding failure process and mechanism of FRP-concrete and our ability to predict mechanical performance and reliability of these FRP sheet bonded to concrete structures.