Inclusion-based boundary element method for design of building envelopes

The energy efficiency of a building envelope can be improved by embedding phase change materials (PCM) due to their high latent heat. However, heat transfer in the PCM-embedded composite can be quite complex due to temperature-dependent thermal properties of paraffin-based PCMs and material mismatch between PCMs and the Metrix, especially in transient heat conduction cases. This research presents an novel numerical method to simulate the transient heat conduction through a concrete wall panel containing PCM using the Green’s function. The pioneer work on simulation of PCM and heat equation applied finite element method (FEM), finite difference method (FDM). FDM discretize the time and space domain instead of taking derivatives, and it is usually applied to solve diffusion equations. However, the solutions of FDM are sensitive to time discretization and discontinuity issues. PCM capsules embedded in the domain of the building envelope serve as multiple inhomogeneities with heat source. To treat inhomogeneity problem, the PCM capsules need to be meshed to elements compatible to the matrix domain, which leads to large number of meshed elements. For inhomogeneity problem, Eshelby proposed equivalent inclusion method (EIM), filling inhomogeneities with the same material with the matrix and fictious heat source, eigen gradient of temperature. The inclusion-based boundary element method (IBEM) combines EIM with boundary element method, which only requires to mesh convex surface. Upon experimental validation, the iBEM model is used for energy efficient building design and energy savings prediction. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Current Development of the Applications of Polymers in Gene Delivery

Gene delivery is one of the most important and efficient therapy methods for treating diseases, especially genetic diseases that challenge conventional treatment methods. However, to be efficient, gene delivery has a few requirements for the polymers to be applicable, including the reduction of cytotoxicity, the improvement of transfection efficiency, and the elimination of off-target effects. In this study, the common polymers applied in gene delivery is discussed in depth, regarding such requirements, as well as some of the limitations and potential improvements in gene delivery

Detecting phone-related pedestrian distracted behaviours via a two-branch convolutional neural network

The distracted phone-use behaviours among pedestrians, like Texting, Game Playing and Phone Calls, have caused increasing fatalities and injuries. However, the research of phonerelated distracted behaviour by pedestrians has not been systemically studied. It is desired to improve both the driving and pedestrian safety by automatically discovering the phonerelated pedestrian distracted behaviours. Herein, a new computer vision-based method is proposed to detect the phone-related pedestrian distracted behaviours from a view of intelligent and autonomous driving. Specifically, the first end-to-end deep learning based Two-Branch Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is designed for this task. Taking one synchronised image pair by two front on-car GoPro cameras as the inputs, the proposed two-branch CNN will extract features for each camera, fuse the extracted features and perform a robust classification. This method can also be easily extended to video-based classification by confidence accumulation and voting. A new benchmark dataset of 448 synchronised video pairs of 53,760 images collected on a vehicle is proposed for this research. The experimental results show that using two synchronised cameras obtained better performance than using one single camera. Finally, the proposed method achieved an overall best classification accuracy of 84.3% on the new benchmark when compared to other methods

Relationship between Microstructure and Properties of Cu-Cr-Ag-(Ce) Alloy Using Microscopic Investigation

Microstructure, precipitation hardening response, and mechanical and physical properties of Cu-Cr-Ag alloy and Cu-Cr-Ag-Ce alloy have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope, optical microscope, electrical conductivity analysis, and tensile test. The influence of element Ce on the matrix refinement, impurity removal, and precipitation in the Cu-Cr-Ag alloys has been analyzed. The experimental results show that the strength and electrical conductivity of Ce containing alloys are greater than those of Ce-free alloys after each processing step. Improvement of strength and electrical conductivity of the Cu-Cr-Ag alloy by adding Ce element is attributed to removing oxygen and sulfur from as-cast alloy

Leptin deficiency in CD8+ T cells ameliorates non-segmental vitiligo by reducing interferon-γ and Granzyme B

BackgroundVitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease mainly mediated by CD8+ T cells, which affects about 0.1%-2% population of the world. Leptin plays a critical role in regulating the activation of CD8+ T cells. However, the effect of Leptin on vitiligo remains unclear.ObjectivesTo explore the effect of leptin on CD8+ T cells and its influence on vitiligo.MethodsRNA sequencing and Quantitative Real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) were used to explore the differentially expressed genes. Immunofluorescence staining was performed on skin lesions. Leptin in serum was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by flow cytometry after leptin stimulation for 72 hours. A vitiligo model was established by monobenzone on Leptin KO mice.Results557 differentially expressed genes were found, including 154 up-regulated and 403 down-regulated genes. Lipid metabolism pathways showed a close relationship to the pathogenesis of vitiligo, especially the PPAR signaling pathway. RT-qPCR (p = 0.013) and immunofluorescence staining (p = 0.0053) verified that LEPR expressed significantly higher in vitiligo. The serum leptin level of vitiligo patients was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (p = 0.0245). The interferon-γ subset of CD8+LEPR+ T cells from vitiligo patients was significantly higher (p = 0.0189). The protein level of interferon-γ was significantly increased after leptin stimulation in vitro (p = 0.0217). In mice, Leptin deficiency resulted in less severe hair depigmentation. Leptin deficiency also resulted in significantly lower expressed vitiligo-related genes, such as Cxcl9 (p = 0.0497), Gzmb (p < 0.001), Ifng (p = 0.0159), and Mx1 (p < 0.001) after modeling.ConclusionLeptin could promote the progression of vitiligo by enhancing the cytotoxic function of CD8+ T cells. Leptin may become a new target for vitiligo treatment

DNA methylation/hydroxymethylation in melanoma

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes and is considered to be the most aggressive cancer among all skin diseases. The pathogenesis of melanoma has not been well documented, which may restrict the research and development of biomarkers and therapies. To date, several genetic and epigenetic factors have been identified as contributing to the development and progression of melanoma. Besides the findings on genetic susceptibilities, the recent progress in epigenetic studies has revealed that loss of the DNA hydroxymethylation mark, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), along with high levels of DNA methylation at promoter regions of several tumor suppressor genes in melanoma, may serve as biomarkers for melanoma. Moreover, 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine, an epigenetic modifier causing DNA demethylation, and ten-eleven translocation family dioxygenase (TET), which catalyzes the generation of 5-hmC, demonstrate therapeutic potential in melanoma treatment. In this review, we will summarize the latest progress in research on DNA methylation/hydroxymethylation in melanoma, and we will discuss and provide insight for epigenetic biomarkers and therapies for melanoma. Particularly, we will discuss the role of DNA hydroxymethylation in melanoma infiltrating immune cells, which may also serve as a potential target for melanoma treatment