Scanning-fluorescence Reader Based on Embedded System

To measure the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum, a portable, scanning-fluorescence reader based on time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays was developed. The scanning-fluorescence reader integrates with the AD7707 converter, which performs at a high accuracy. The photosensitive diode acts as the photoelectric conversion device, an optical module based on optical fibers, which is able to concentrate the excitation light from an LED into a line-shape beam, was designed to sendand receive the optical signal. The device subsequently addresses waveform data using a gradient, smoothing, and binarization method. When the device measures the CRP fluorescence test strip, the results exhibited a good linearity (0.99998) and the CVs (coefficient of variation) were below 5%, which indicate high accuracy. At the same time the system is low cost and small size

An effective heuristic for project scheduling with resource availability cost

[EN] The resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) is widely studied in the literature and has a host of applications in practice. As a variant of the RCPSP, the resource availability cost problem (RACP), which has the aim of minimizing the availability costs of renewable resources in order to complete a project subject to a given deadline, is considered in this paper. We divide the RACP into two sub-problems: the sequencing problem and the resource decision problem, and propose a multi-start iterative search heuristic (MSIS) to solve it. For the sequencing problem, an iterative search framework is constructed to effectively search the activity sequences. A two stage resource adjustment procedure and a backward peak elimination procedure is developed for solving the resource decision problem. MSIS is compared with three existing algorithms on both PSPLib and RanGen data sets involving 1380 instances. A complete calibration of the different parameters and operators of MSIS by means of a design of experiments approach is given. Experimental and statistical results show that MSIS outperforms the other three algorithms in both effectiveness and efficiency by a significant margin. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61572127, 61272377), the Key Research & Development program in Jiangsu Province (No. BE2015728) and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Wireless Communications Technology. Rubén Ruiz is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under the project SCHEYARD - Optimization of Scheduling Problems in Container Yards with reference DPI2015-65895-R co-financed with FEDER funds.Zhu, X.; Ruiz García, R.; Li, S.; Li, X. (2017). An effective heuristic for project scheduling with resource availability cost. European Journal of Operational Research. 257(3):746-762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2016.08.049S746762257

On the high-energy behavior of massive QCD amplitudes

In this note, we propose a factorization formula for gauge-theory scattering amplitudes up to two loops in the high-energy boosted limit. Our formula extends existing results in the literature by incorporating the contributions from massive loops. We derive the new ingredients in our formula using the method of regions with analytic regulators for the rapidity divergences. We verify our results with various form factors and the scattering amplitudes for top-quark pair production. Our results can be used to obtain approximate expressions for complicated two-loop massive amplitudes from simpler massless ones, and can be used to resum the mass logarithms to all orders in the coupling constant.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Phytoplankton abundance and size-fractionated structure in three contrasting periods in the Pear River Estuary

Phytoplankton abundance, composition and size-fractionated chlorophyll a (micro-, nano- and pico-chl. a) in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), South China were assessed in three surveys (Aug. 2010, Jan. 2011 and Aug. 2011) to identify key environmental indicators that shape their distribution patterns. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) showed that the PRE formed three regional clusters that were characterized by a transition from dominant freshwater species to estuarine diatoms in normal summer flow conditions (Aug. 2010). With a reduced river flow in winter (Jan. 2011), the inner estuary was categorized as one group marked by the predominance of the nanoflagellate, Plagioselmis prolonga. This small-sized cryptophyte was first recorded in the PRE and was likely to outcompete other phytoplankton species in turbid or well-mixed waters. During the extreme drought of summer of 2011 (Aug. 2011), the estuarine plume was limited and regional division by MDS was similar to winter patterns, as some marine species were observed in the upper estuary. We considered that the higher phytoplankton density in the summer of 2011 was presumably a combined effect of longer residence time and higher phosphate concentration. With respect to the size-fractionated phytoplankton composition, our results showed that almost half of the chl. a in the estuary was contained in microplankton particles, while the proportion of pico-chl. a increased from the upstream of the PRE towards the estuary boundary (Wanshan Islands). Furthermore, phytoplankton abundance, three size classes of chl. a and environmental factors were explored by principal component regression (PCR) analysis. In three surveys, pico-chl. a was negatively correlated with the first principal component (PCL, positively loaded with salinity and inversely with inorganic nutrients), which indicated a negative influence of the riverine and coastal waters on picophytoplankton and the specific oligotrophic niche of picophytoplankton. Similarly, PC1 was also considered as the key environmental variable basis controlling micro-chl. a in summer of 2010, while in the summer of 2011, zooplankton and copepods were positively associated with phytoplankton abundance, suggesting a resource effect of phytoplankton on zooplankton development

Baicalein and U0126 suppress bladder cancer proliferation via MAPK signaling pathway

Purpose: To investigate baicalein and 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthio] butadiene (U0126)effects on human bladder cell line T24 proliferation and related mechanisms.Methods: Twenty micromoles of baicalein or 10 μM U0126 were incubated with T24 cells. Cell viability was tested by CCK8 assay. Cell cycle was evaluated by flow cytometry while cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin V/PI and TUNEL assay. MAPK signaling pathway was evaluated by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot.Results: Baicalein and U0126 suppressed bladder cancer cell T24 proliferation by blocking cell cycle in G0~G1 phase. TUNEL and Annexin V/PI detection showed both baicalein and U0126 induced T24 cell apoptosis. Baicalein and U0126 significantly down-regulated MAPK signaling pathway related molecule activity in both mRNA and protein levels (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Baicalein and U0126 restrain bladder cancer cell proliferation and promote cell apoptosis by affecting MAPK signaling pathway. Thus, they have  potentials for use in the treatment of bladder cancer.Keywords: Bladder cancer, Baicalein, 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthio] butadiene, MAPK signal pathway, Apoptosi

A Review of Nontraditional Biomanipulation

The aim of this review is to identify problems, find general patterns, and extract recommendations for successful management using nontraditional biomanipulation to improve water quality. There are many obstacles that prevent traditional biomanipulation from achieving expectations: expending largely to remove planktivorous fish, reduction of external and internal phosphorus, and macrophyte re-establishment. Grazing pressure from large zooplankton is decoupled in hypereutrophic waters where cyanobacterial blooms flourish. The original idea of biomanipulation (increased zooplankton grazing rate as a tool for controlling nuisance algae) is not the only means of controlling nuisance algae via biotic manipulations. Stocking phytoplanktivorous fish may be considered to be a nontraditional method; however, it can be an effective management tool to control nuisance algal blooms in tropical lakes that are highly productive and unmanageable to reduce nutrient concentrations to low levels

Efficiency of electrochemical chloride removal from concrete at different environmental temperatures

Electrochemical chloride removal (ECR) is an effective and curative method to treat existed reinforced concrete structures about to suffer or already suffering from chloride attack, however, its application is still limited due to its side effect and efficiency, including the velocity and maximum capacity of chloride removal. This paper presents a temperature related numerical transport model to study the effect of temperature on efficiency of electrochemical chloride removal from concrete. Based on Fick’s law and Nernst-Planck equation with Gauss’ Law, temperature effect, chloride binding, multi-species coupling, electrochemical reactions were taken into account in this model. Temperature effect was considered on diffusion coefficient, chloride binding, ions migration capacity as well as electrolyte concentration. The model was validated by the comparison between the calculated results and experimental data. The results indicate that temperature dose have a considerable influence on electrochemical chloride removal and controlling temperature during treatment is a practical method to improve the electrochemical chloride removal when applied current density is not amplified