Prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 infection in systemic lupus erythematosus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For decades, scientists have tried to understand the environmental factors involved in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in which viral infections was included. Previous studies have identified Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to incite SLE. Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), another member of the gammaherpesvirus family, shares a lot in common with EBV. The characteristics of HHV-8 make it a well-suited candidate to trigger SLE.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, serum samples from patients (n = 108) with diagnosed SLE and matched controls (n = 122) were collected, and the prevalence of HHV-8 was compared by a virus-specific nested PCR and a whole virus enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA). There was significant difference in the prevalence of HHV-8 DNA between SLE patients and healthy controls (11 of 107 vs 1 of 122, <it>p </it>= 0.001); significant difference was also found in the detection of HHV-8 antibodies (19 of 107 vs 2 of 122, <it>p </it>< 0.001).</p> <p>We also detected the antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen (EBV-VCA) and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1). Both patients and controls showed high seroprevalence with no significant difference (106 of 107 vs 119 of 122, <it>p </it>= 0.625).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our finding indicated that there might be an association between HHV-8 and the development of SLE.</p

An Intelligent Fleet Condition-Based Maintenance Decision Making Method Based on Multi-Agent

According to the demand for condition-based maintenance online decision making among a mission oriented fleet, an intelligent maintenance decision making method based on Multi-agent and heuristic rules is proposed. The process of condition-based maintenance within an aircraft fleet (each containing one or more Line Replaceable Modules) based on multiple maintenance thresholds is analyzed. Then the process is abstracted into a Multi-Agent Model, a 2-layer model structure containing host negotiation and independent negotiation is established, and the heuristic rules applied to global and local maintenance decision making is proposed. Based on Contract Net Protocol and the heuristic rules, the maintenance decision making algorithm is put forward. Finally, a fleet consisting of 10 aircrafts on a 3-wave continuous mission is illustrated to verify this method. Simulation results indicate that this method can improve the availability of the fleet, meet mission demands, rationalize the utilization of support resources and provide support for online maintenance decision making among a mission oriented fleet