Port Hinterland Estimation and Optimization for Intermodal Freight Transportation Networks

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Microstructure And Residual Stress In Functionally Graded 316L Stainless Steel/Inconel 625 Alloys Fabricated By Direct Energy Deposition

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) provide a unique solution to combine distinct properties within a single component to enhance its overall performance. Understanding the microstructure and residual stress distribution is particularly important as the material dissimilarity in FGMs can result in high residual stress that affects the mechanical integrity of structural components. This work aims to study the microstructure and residual stress of additively manufactured FGMs and the effects of isothermal annealing. In this study, 316L stainless steel/Inconel 625 FGMs were built by direct energy deposition and characterized by optical and electron microscopy as well as synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction. Our study reveals that thermal annealing at 500°C for 3 h has minimal effects on the microstructure and chemistry of the graded materials, but effectively relieves the residual stress and leads to a uniform distribution of residual stress

A novel reporter gene assay for Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (rHuEPO) pharmaceutical products

AbstractAccurate determination of in vitro biological activity of therapeutic erythropoietin is essential in quality control of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) pharmaceutical products. However, most of currently-used methods leave much to be desired so that a simpler, quicker and more accurate method is urgently needed. The bioassay described here utilizes a sub clone of UT-7/epo cell line stably transfected with luciferase gene under the control of sis inducible element and interferon γ-activated sequence element promoter. Active erythropoietin could induce the expression of luciferase by signaling through the erythropoietin receptor and the dose-response curve showed good linearity, yielding a coefficient of determination of 0.99 or higher. The optimized assay was simpler with the operation completed within 24h and more sensitive with EC50 being 0.077IU/mL. The accuracy estimates ranged from 81.7% to 102.4%, and both intra-assay and inter-assay precision was below 15.0%. The robustness of the assay was demonstrated by no effect of passage levels of the cells on the performance of the assay (p values: 0.772 for sample 1 and 0.943 for sample 2). Besides, Bland–Altman analysis showed a high consistency of the new assay with in vivo reticulocyte assay in results. These results suggested that the new reporter gene assay can be a viable supplement to the traditional reticulocyte assay and employed in potency determination of rHuEPO pharmaceutical products

Prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis through traditional Chinese medicine: role of the gut microbiota

Recently, despite the increasing availability of treatments for Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the incidence of RA and associated disability-adjusted life years have been on the rise globally in the late decades. At present, accumulating evidence has been advanced that RA is related to the gut microbiota, therefore, the therapeutic approaches for RA by regulating the gut microbiota are anticipated to become a new means of treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can regulate immunity, reduce inflammation and improve quality of life in various ways. Moreover, it can treat diseases by affecting the gut microbiota, which is a good way to treat RA. In this review, we mainly explore the relationship between TCM and gut microbiota regarding the perspective of treating RA. Moreover, we comprehensively summarize the roles of gut microbiota in the onset, development, progression, and prognosis of RA. Additionally, we elucidate the mechanism of TCM prevention and treatment of RA by the role of microbiota. Finally, we provide an evidence-based rationale for further investigation of microbiota-targeted intervention by TCM

Metabolic Disturbance and Th17/Treg Imbalance Are Associated With Progression of Gingivitis

ObjectiveThis study sought to explore the role of metabolic disturbance in immunoregulation of gingivitis targeting T helper 17 cells (Th17)/regulatory T cell (Treg).Materials and MethodsA total of 20 gingivitis patients and 19 healthy volunteers were recruited. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to evaluate expression patterns of Forkhead box protein P3 (Foxp3), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), retinoid-related orphan receptor-gammat (RORγt) and interleukin 17A (IL-17A) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of subjects across the two groups. Moreover, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was used to detect levels of TGF-β, IL-4, IL-6,TL-10 and L-17A secreted in the plasma as well as the SIgA secreted in saliva. Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentage of CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+Treg cells and the percentage of CD4+IL-17A+ Th17 cells in whole blood of subjects in both groups. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to analyze the plasma metabolites in the gingivitis patient group. Statistical analysis was applied to determine whether the plasma metabolites and related metabolic pathways significantly differed between gingivitis patients and healthy controls. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was employed to identify the potential relation between the metabolites and the Th17 and Treg related pathway.ResultsThe percentages of CD4+IL17A+Th17 cells and IL-17 significantly increased in the peripheral blood in the gingivitis group. Moreover, the upregulation of IL-17A mRNA and RORγt mRNA were also found in the gingivitis group. However, the percentage of CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+Treg cells and Foxp3 mRNA in the whole blood did not significantly change. However, TGF-β mRNA as well as TGF-β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 in the periperial blood and SIgA in the saliva were higher in the gingivitis group. Notably, that the ratio of Th17/Treg cells was significantly increased during peripheral circulation. Furthermore, we identified 18 different metabolites which were differentially expressed in plasma between the gingivitis and healthy control groups. Notably, the levels of cholesterol, glycerol 1-octadecanoate, d-glucose, uric acid, cyclohexaneacetic acid, 3-pyridine, tryptophan, and undecane 2,4-dimethyl were significantly up-regulated. whereas the levels of lactic acid, glycine, linoleic acid, monopalmitic acid, glycerol, palmitic acid, pyruvate, 1-(3-methylbutyl)-2,3,4,6-tetramethylbenzene, 1 5-anhydro d-altrol, and boric acid were down-regulated in the gingivitis group, relative to healthy controls. IPA showed that these metabolites are connected to IL17 signaling, TGF-B signaling, and IL10 signaling, which are related closely to Th17 and Treg pathway.ConclusionOverall, these results showed that disturbance to glycolysis as well as amino and fatty acid metabolism are associated with Th17/Treg balance in gingivitis. Impaired immunometabolism may influence some periodontally involved systemic diseases, hence it is a promising strategy in targeted development of treatment therapies

The concept, structure and mechanism of industrial digital twin systems

Digital twin was originally and firstly researched in manufacturing, and is now widely and maturely used for application in industries. Recent theoretical studies and technical applications mainly focus on the definition of the digital twin, the integration of design and manufacture based on digital twin, and the fault diagnosis and operation maintenance of products on the basis of the digital twin. There are very few studies on the characteristics, system composition, logical architecture, and system operation mode of digital twin systems applied on industrial products. To fill the gap above, this paper proposes the concept of industrial Digital Twin System (iDTS) and summarizes the typical characteristics of iDTS, based on the comparison of different types of digital twin systems, including people-centered thinking, "human-machine-environment" mutual fusion, high fidelity of the system and complexity of twin model. iDTS integrates these characteristics with the functional structure composed of physical layer, perception layer, twin layer, application layer, and control layer. In addition, the maturity model of iDTS is developed to describe the maturity stage of iDTS, along with the life cycle progress of products or systems. Lastly, this paper analyzes four iDTS operation modes and verifies the feasibility of the proposed iDTS with typical cases for specific industrial application scenarios

Authors\u27 biographies

his work was financially co-supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 41190073, 41176041, 91128211), the National Basic Research Program of China (grant 42014CB440901), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities to SYSU and the GIGCAS 135 Project (grant Y234031001).The Kenting Mélange on the Hengchun Peninsula, Taiwan, formed through tectonic shearing of subduction complex lithologies, probably within the plate boundary subduction channel between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, with further deformation and exhumation in the Pliocene-Pleistocene during arc-continent collision. Field relations reveal a structural gradation from normal stratified turbidite sequence (Mutan Formation) through broken formation to highly sheared Kenting Mélange containing allochthonous polygenic blocks. This gradation is consistent with an increase of average vitrinite reflection values from ~ 0.72% in the Mutan Formation through ~ 0.93% in the broken formation to ~ 0.99% in the mélange, suggesting temperatures of at least 140 °C during formation of the Kenting Mélange. Zircons from gabbro in the Kenting Mélange are dated as 25.46 ± 0.18 Ma, which together with geochemical data constrains the source to South China Sea oceanic lithosphere. In combination with the field relationships, vitrinite reflectance values, microfossil stratigraphy and offshore geophysical data from S and SE Taiwan, we propose that the Kenting Mélange initially formed at the subduction plate boundary from offscraped trench deposits. Minor Plio-Pleistocene microfossils (< 5%) occur within the mélange in proximity to slope basin of equivalent age and were likely sheared into the mélange during out-of-sequence thrusting associated with active arc-continent collision, which in the Hengchun Peninsula commenced after 6.5 Ma.PostprintPeer reviewe

3D-printed integrative probeheads for magnetic resonance

射频探头前端作为核磁共振设备的核心部件之一，极大程度的决定着系统实验性能的优劣。探头前端通常由射频线圈、射频电路及样品检测管道等部分组成。现有的射频线圈制作技术主要是通过手工或机械手段按照所需的线圈形状进行绕制。但是，当线圈结构较为复杂、不规则，或体积尺寸较小时，常规绕制方法便难以满足结构设计和制造的精度需求，因此造成线圈性能的劣化，增大检测区域的射频场不均匀性，对核磁共振检测产生负面影响。本研究中，利用3D打印熔融沉积制造或光敏树脂选择性固化技术精确加工出一体化磁共振探头前端，使用常温液态金属填充线圈模型管路形成射频线圈，搭建出稳定的一体化磁共振射频探头。利用高精度3D打印和液态金属灌注技术制备出包含有射频线圈和定制化样品管道结构在内的一体化磁共振射频探头前端，克服了传统磁共振三维微型线圈成型困难、与样品腔匹配程度差等问题，提高了探头的信噪比，为定制化的磁共振检测提供了新思路。 该工作由厦门大学电子科学与技术学院陈忠教授、游学秋副研究员和孙惠军高级工程师共同指导完成，博士研究生谢君尧为论文第一作者。厦门大学电子科学与技术学院黄玉清高级工程师、王忻昌副教授、倪祖荣助理教授、硕士研究生张德超，化学化工学院杨朝勇教授、博士研究生李星锐，萨本栋微米纳米科学技术研究院陈宏教授为合作作者。【Abstract】Magnetic resonance (MR) technology has been widely employed in scientific research, clinical diagnosis and geological survey. However, the fabrication of MR radio frequency probeheads still face difficulties in integration, customization and miniaturization. Here, we utilized 3D printing and liquid metal filling techniques to fabricate integrative radio frequency probeheads for MR experiments. The 3D-printed probehead with micrometer precision generally consists of liquid metal coils, customized sample chambers and radio frequency circuit interfaces. We screened different 3D printing materials and optimized the liquid metals by incorporating metal microparticles. The 3D-printed probeheads are capable of performing both routine and nonconventional MR experiments, including in situ electrochemical analysis, in situ reaction monitoring with continues-flow paramagnetic particles and ions separation, and small-sample MR imaging. Due to the flexibility and accuracy of 3D printing techniques, we can accurately obtain complicated coil geometries at the micrometer scale, shortening the fabrication timescale and extending the application scenarios.The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants U1632274, 11761141010, U1805261, 11475142, 22073078, and 61801411), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M622075).研究工作得到国家自然科学基金、中国博士后科学基金等项目支持

Revenue management with customer choice and sellers competition

We build a variety of customer booking choice models for a major airline that operates in a very competitive origin-destination market. Some of the models are aimed at incorporating unobserved heterogeneous customer preferences for different departure times. The estimation results show that including these factors into choice models dramatically affects price sensitivity estimates, and therefore matters. We present a stochastic trust region algorithm for estimating ML-type models that involve high-dimensional integrals. The algorithm embeds two sampling processes: (i) a data sampling process and (ii) a Monte Carlo sampling process, and the algorithm dynamically controls sample sizes based on the magnitude of the errors incurred due to the two sampling processes. The first-order convergence is proved based on generalized uniform law of large numbers theories for both the average log-likelihood function and its gradient. The efficiency of the algorithm is tested with real data and compared with existing algorithms. We also study how a specific behavioral phenomenon, called the decoy effect, affects the decisions of sellers in product assortment competition in a duopoly. We propose a discrete choice model to capture decoy effects, and we provide a complete characterization of the Nash equilibria and their dependence on choice model parameters. For the cases in which there are multiple equilibria, we consider dynamical systems models of the sellers responding to their competitors using Cournot adjustment or fictitious play to study the evolution of the assortment competition and the stability of the equilibria. We provide a simple geometric characterization of the dynamics of fictitious play for 2×2 games that is more complete than previous characterizations.Ph.D