Computational Design of Wiring Layout on Tight Suits with Minimal Motion Resistance

An increasing number of electronics are directly embedded on the clothing to monitor human status (e.g., skeletal motion) or provide haptic feedback. A specific challenge to prototype and fabricate such a clothing is to design the wiring layout, while minimizing the intervention to human motion. We address this challenge by formulating the topological optimization problem on the clothing surface as a deformation-weighted Steiner tree problem on a 3D clothing mesh. Our method proposed an energy function for minimizing strain energy in the wiring area under different motions, regularized by its total length. We built the physical prototype to verify the effectiveness of our method and conducted user study with participants of both design experts and smart cloth users. On three types of commercial products of smart clothing, the optimized layout design reduced wire strain energy by an average of 77% among 248 actions compared to baseline design, and 18% over the expert design.Comment: This work is accepted at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2023(Conference Track

TLR5 signaling enhances the proliferation of human allogeneic CD40-activated B cell induced CD4hiCD25+ regulatory T cells

Although diverse functions of different toll-like receptors (TLR) on human natural regulatory T cells have been demonstrated recently, the role of TLR-related signals on human induced regulatory T cells remain elusive. Previously our group developed an ex vivo high-efficient system in generating human alloantigen-specific CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells from naive CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells using allogeneic CD40-activated B cells as stimulators. In this study, we investigated the role of TLR5-related signals on the generation and function of these novel CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. It was found that induced CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells expressed an up-regulated level of TLR5 compared to their precursors. The blockade of TLR5 using anti-TLR5 antibodies during the co-culture decreased CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells proliferation by induction of S phase arrest. The S phase arrest was associated with reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation. However, TLR5 blockade did not decrease the CTLA-4, GITR and FOXP3 expressions, and the suppressive function of CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. In conclusion, we discovered a novel function of TLR5-related signaling in enhancing the proliferation of CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells by promoting S phase progress but not involved in the suppressive function of human CD40-activated B cell-induced CD4(hi)CD25(+) regulatory T cells, suggesting a novel role of TLR5-related signals in the generation of induced regulatory T cells.published_or_final_versio

The aminobisphosphonate pamidronate controls influenza pathogenesis by expanding a γδ T cell population in humanized mice

As shown in humanized mice, a population of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells can reduce the severity and mortality of disease caused by infection with human and avian influenza viruses

Dendritic and T Cell Response to Influenza is Normal in the Patients with X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia

Introduction Influenza virus is a potential cause of severe disease in the immunocompromised. X-linked agammaglobu-linemia (XLA) is a primary immunodeficiency characterized by the lack of immunoglobulin, B cells, and plasma cells, secondary to mutation in Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) gene

ICOS regulates the generation and function of human CD4+ Treg in a CTLA-4 dependent manner

Inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) is a member of CD28/Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Antigen-4 (CTLA-4) family and broadly expressed in activated CD4+ T cells and induced regulatory CD4+ T cells (CD4+ iTreg). ICOS-related signal pathway could be activated by the interaction between ICOS and its ligand (ICOSL). In our previous work, we established a cost-effective system to generate a novel human allo-antigen specific CD4hi Treg by co-culturing their naïve precursors with allogeneic CD40-activated B cells in vitro. Here we investigate the role of ICOS in the generation and function of CD4hi Treg by interrupting ICOS-ICOSL interaction with ICOS-Ig. It is found that blockade of ICOS-ICOSL interaction impairs the induction and expansion of CD4hi Treg induced by allogeneic CD40-activated B cells. More importantly, CD4hi Treg induced with the addition of ICOS-Ig exhibits decreased suppressive capacity on alloantigen-specific responses. Dysfunction of CD4hi Treg induced with ICOS-Ig is accompanied with its decreased exocytosis and surface CTLA-4 expression. Through inhibiting endocytosis with E64 and pepstatin A, surface CTLA-4 expression and suppressive functions of induced CD4hi Treg could be partly reversed. Conclusively, our results demonstrate the beneficial role of ICOS-ICOSL signal pathway in the generation and function of CD4hi Treg and uncover a novel relationship between ICOS and CTLA-4. © 2013 zheng et al.published_or_final_versio

Methods on Investigating Properties of Electrode/Electrolyte Interfaces in Lithium-Ion Batteries

The rechargeable lithium-ion battery has been extensively used in mobile communication and portable instruments due to its many advantages, such as high volumetric and gravimetric energy density and low self-discharge rate. In addition, it is the most promising candidate as the power source for ( hybrid) electric vehicles and stationary energy storage. The properties of electrode/electrolyte interfaces play an important role in the electrochemical performance of the electrode material and a battery, such as the capacities, irreversible charge "loss", rate capability and cyclability. In present paper, the methods to investigate the properties of electrode/electrolyte interfaces, for example, traditional electrochemical methods, microscopy methods, spectroscopic methods, electrochemical quartz crystal microgravimetry (EQCM) are summarized. The principles, advantages and disadvantages of these methods and their applications in investigating the properties of electrode/electrolyte interfaces, especially the progress in the combination of these methods to investigate the properties of electrode/electrolyte interfaces, are introduced in detail, and these methods will be considerable to study the new materials or the traditional materials for lithium-ion batteries in the future

Quorum-sensing system of Agrobacterium plasmids: Analysis and utility

International audienc

Interval Optimization-Based Unit Commitment for Deep Peak Regulation of Thermal Units

The deep peak regulation of thermal units is an important measure for coping with significant wind power penetration. In this paper, based on interval optimization, a novel multi-objective unit commitment method is proposed considering the deep peak regulation of thermal units. In the proposed method, a thermal power cost model was developed to accurately determine the economic performance of three different peak regulation scenarios, particularly of the deep peak regulation scenario. The midpoint and width of the cost interval are simultaneously considered in the optimization process. The non-dominated sorting GA-II (NSGA-II) algorithm was incorporated into the model for a coordinated control of the midpoint and width of the obtained cost interval for further optimization. Considering that significant wind penetration results in greater nodal variations, the affine arithmetic was employed to solve nodal uncertainties, so that all system variations can be addressed. The method proposed in this paper was validated by a modified IEEE-39 bus system. The results showed that it serves as a useful tool for power dispatchers to obtain robust and economic solutions at different wind power prediction accuracies