Shear Resistance of Cold-Formed Steel Framing Wall with X-Strap Bracing

This research is concentrated on the study of structural strength and behavior of cold-formed steel frame with strap bracing subjected to horizontal loads. The wall specimens with and without calcium silicate board sheathing were tested to compare the differences of shear resistance. Based on the test data, the ultimate strength, stiffness, ductility ratio, and failure behavior were studied for each specimen, and the wall’s movements were also discussed in this paper. The cold-formed steel framing wall without bracing from previous study was introduced for the comparison purpose. As expected, the ultimate strength was increased for the cold-formed steel wall sheathed with calcium silicate board after installing strap bracing. However, the initial stiffness and ductility ratio of cladded wall specimens with bracing did not show much difference as compared to cladded wall specimens without bracing. It was found that the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel wall frame installed with both sheathing and strap bracing is not the sum of ultimate strengths of cold-formed steel wall frame with sheathing and cold-formed steel wall frame with strap bracing only. A better performance of energy absorption beyond the portion of ultimate strength was found for the wall specimen with both sheathing and bracing. It was also observed that the failure type and location are different for the cladded wall specimens with and without bracing

The use and clinical outcomes of rotablation in challenging cases in the drug-eluting stent era

Background: Rotational atherectomy (RA) has been advocated in the bare metal stent (BMS) era but is underused now due to technique demands and nonsuperior outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the procedural and clinical outcomes of patients with very complex, severely calcified coronary lesions treated by RA and drug-eluting stents (DESs) in our current percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) practice in a region where RA use has been limited by lack of insurance reimbursement. Methods: From March 2004 to November 2010, all consecutive patients who required RA treatment for severely calcified de novo lesions of native coronary arteries followed by DES implantation were queried from the cath lab database and recruited. Their clinical and angiographic characteristics at the index PCI were analyzed and completed by a thorough review of the medical charts. Results: A total of 67 consecutive patients with 71 very complex, heavily calcified coronary lesions treated with RA plus DES were recruited. Of these patients, 64% presented with acute coronary syndrome, 9.0% with cardiogenic shock, 43.3% with chronic renal failure, and 50.7% with diabetes. Multiple-vessel diseases were found in 92.5% of our patients, and the average coronary artery calcification (CAC) score was 3.6±1.4. Of the coronary lesions, 26.7% were either balloon-uncrossable or balloon-undilatable. The angiographic success rate was 100% with one non-Q myocardial infarction. Five patients (7.5%) died in hospital, all initially presenting with extensive myocardial infarction and/or cardiogenic shock. The out-of-hospital major adverse cardiac event was 17.9% at the mean follow-up of 23.2 months (range: 5–86), primarily due to high target-lesion revascularization and target-vessel revascularization rates of 10.4% and 10.4%, respectively. Only one (1.5%) probable subacute stent thrombosis was observed in the follow-up. Conclusion: RA with DES implantation in very complex, heavily calcified coronary lesions can achieve very low complication and low out-of-hospital major adverse cardiac event rates even in high-risk patients despite use limited by lack of insurance reimbursement. The study results convince us to sustain and even broaden the use of this novel, but underused, device in the DES era

Effect of intravenous immunoglobulin for neonates with severe enteroviral infections with emphasis on the timing of administration

Background: The benefits of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy for severe neonatal enterovirus infections are still controversial. Object: To evaluate whether timing of IVIG administration might affect clinical outcomes of neonates with severe enteroviral infections. Study designs: We retrospectively analyzed 67 neonates with culture-confirmed severe enteroviral infection, defined as hepatitis with coagulopathy and thrombocytopenia. Clinical features, outcomes and the usage of IVIG therapy were collected and analyzed. IVIG administered within 3 days of illness onset was classified as early IVIG therapy. Results: Of the 67 cases, 38 (57%) were male, 27 (40%) were premature, 57 (85%) had disease onset within 7 days of life and all but 2 cases were caused by coxsackievirus B group. Ten infants (15%) had clinically evident myocarditis. 41 infants (61%) received IVIG therapy and 29 were early IVIG therapy. Fifteen infants (22%) eventually died, without IVIG therapy for 7 infants. The deceased had a significantly higher peak serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level than the survivors (3539 vs. 866. IU/L, p\u3c. 0.01). The timing of IVIG therapy was highly correlated with the timing of peak AST level in patients with early IVIG therapy. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a higher nadir hemoglobin level (adjusted odds ratio 2.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.4-5.4), no concurrent myocarditis (42.6 [3.4-5289]) and early IVIG therapy (14.7 [1.3-163]) were independently associated with a favorable prognosis. Conclusions: In defined severe neonatal enterovirus infections, serum AST level correlated with the disease severity. Early IVIG therapy, if needed, may be beneficial for survival

Overexpression of Delta can rescue the defected wing margin in deprived <i>dBCAS2</i> fly.

<p>The coexpression of <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i> and <i>Dl</i> fly was generated under the control of <i>C96-GAL4</i>. (A) Control adult wing (<i>C96>+</i>). (B) Overexpression of <i>Delta</i> (<i>C96>Dl</i>). Arrow: sparse bristles; arrowhead: shortened wing vein. (C) The deformation of wing margin in (<i>C96>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>). Arrowhead: sparse bristles; arrow: notched margin. (D) Overexpression of <i>Delta</i> with <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i> (<i>C96 >dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>, <i>Dl</i>). Scale bar, 0.5 mm.</p

BCAS2 Regulates Delta-Notch Signaling Activity through <i>Delta</i> Pre-mRNA Splicing in <i>Drosophila</i> Wing Development

<div><p>Previously, we showed that BCAS2 is essential for <i>Drosophila</i> viability and functions in pre-mRNA splicing. In this study, we provide strong evidence that BCAS2 regulates the activity of Delta-Notch signaling via <i>Delta</i> pre-mRNA splicing. Depletion of <i>dBCAS2</i> reduces <i>Delta</i> mRNA expression and leads to accumulation of <i>Delta</i> pre-mRNA, resulting in diminished transcriptions of Delta-Notch signaling target genes, such as <i>cut</i> and <i>E(spl)m8</i>. Furthermore, ectopic expression of human <i>BCAS2</i> (<i>hBCAS2</i>) and <i>Drosophila BCAS2</i> (<i>dBCAS2</i>) in a <i>dBCAS2</i>-deprived fly can rescue <i>dBCAS2</i> depletion-induced wing damage to the normal phenotypes. These rescued phenotypes are correlated with the restoration of <i>Delta</i> pre-mRNA splicing, which affects Delta-Notch signaling activity. Additionally, overexpression of <i>Delta</i> can rescue the wing deformation by deprivation of <i>dBCAS2</i>; and the depletion of <i>dBCAS2</i> can restore the aberrant eye associated with <i>Delta</i>-overexpressing retinas; providing supporting evidence for the regulation of Delta-Notch signaling by dBCAS2. Taken together, dBCAS2 participates in <i>Delta</i> pre-mRNA splicing that affects the regulation of Delta-Notch signaling in <i>Drosophila</i> wing development.</p></div

BCAS2 does not regulate the transcription initiation of <i>Delta</i> but is involved in <i>Delta</i> pre-mRNA splicing.

<p>(A) Control of <i>Dl-lacZ</i> (red) in the <i>en</i>><i>GFP</i> wing disc stained with anti-β-gal antibody. (B) <i>en</i>><i>GFP</i>, <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>. In the <i>dBCAS2</i>-depleted posterior compartment, marked by GFP, the expression of <i>Dl-lacZ</i> (red) gives a signal of similar strength as the normal anterior compartment. The expression of GFP and β-galactosidase were merged and displayed in the right panel. Images were taken by confocal microscopy, scale bar, 50 μm. (C). RNA expression of β-galactosidase. RNAs were extracted from wing discs of third instar larvae and subjected to RT-PCR to confirm the RNA expression of β-galactosidase driven by <i>Dl</i> promoter in <i>Act>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i> (lane 2) compared with the control (lane 1). The internal control, <i>rp49</i>. (D) Schematic diagram of primer design for detecting the intron-containing precursor mRNA (upper) and mRNA of <i>Delta</i> (lower). Primers, exons and introns are denoted with arrowheads, boxes and lines, respectively. (E) Coexpression of <i>dBCAS2</i> and <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i> in larvae can rescue the phenotypes of mRNA decrease and pre-mRNA accumulation caused by <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>. The pre-mRNA and mRNA of <i>Delta</i> were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR and described in the Materials and Methods. Each genotype was under the control of <i>Act5c-GAL4</i> driver. White bar: <i>Act5c>+;</i> black bar: <i>Act5c>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>; gray bar: <i>Act5c>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>, <i>dBCAS2</i>. Data are shown as means and SD relative to the controls from three independent experiments. The P-values was measured by the Student’s t-test. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01.</p

BCAS2 is involved in the regulation of Delta-Notch signaling.

<p>(A, B) Depletion of <i>dBCAS2</i>, driven by the wing margin <i>C96-GAL4</i> driver, generates a phenotype similar to reduction of Delta-Notch signaling activity. (A) Control wing (<i>C96</i>>+). (B) <i>dBCAS2</i>-depleted wing (<i>C96</i>><i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>). Arrow, loss of margin bristles; arrow head, wing notching. Scale bar, 0.5 mm. (C to M) Depletion of dBCAS2 decreases the activity of Delta-Notch signaling that can be restored by dBCAS2. The late third instar larval wing discs were driven under the control of <i>engrailed-GAL4</i> and immunostained with the indicated antibodies. (C, F, I, L) Control (<i>en</i>><i>GFP</i>); (D, G, J, M) <i>dBCAS2</i>-depletion (<i>en</i>><i>GFP</i>, <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>); (E, H, K) Coexpression of <i>dBCAS2</i> with <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i> (<i>en</i>><i>GFP</i>, <i>dBCAS2</i>^<i>dsRNA</i>, <i>dBCAS2</i>). (C, D, E) Anti-Delta antibody. The normal pattern of Delta (red) can be seen in the cells of presumptive veins and on either side of the D/V boundary; (F, G, H) Anti-NICD antibody. The Notch expression can be observed in the presumptive intervein territories; (I, J, K) Anti-Cut antibody. The Cut expression is located in the stripe of D/V boundary; and (L, M) E(spl)m8-lacZ. <i>LacZ</i> reporter of <i>E(splm8)</i>, a Delta-Notch signaling target gene is expressed along the D/V boundary. Left of the panel: red stain with the indicated antigen expression in the anterior and posterior compartments. Right of the panel: the merged images reveal the simultaneous expression of the protein of interest (red) and GFP fluorescence (green) in the posterior. Images were taken by confocal microscopy, scale bar, 50 μm.</p

Dissolvable and Recyclable Random Lasers

An integrated random laser based on green materials with dissolubility and recyclability is created and demonstrated. The dissolvable and recyclable random laser (DRRL) can be dissolved in water, accompanying the decay of emission intensity and the increment in lasing threshold. Furthermore, the DRRL can be reused after the process of deionized treatment, exhibiting excellent reproducibility with several recycling processes