Anti-inflammatory effect of Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion on rheumatoid arthritis rats

Background: Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion (ZBCS-moxi), a kind of traditional therapy of moxibustion, has been used in China since 340 B.C. However, its mechanism remains unclear. So, this study was attempted to reveal the anti-inflammatory effect of ZBCS-moxi on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats.Methods and Materials: Forty health SD female rats were randomly divided into 4 groups  (n=10/group): control group, model group, Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion group (ZBCS-moxi group) and Aconitum carmichaeli-cake-separated moxibustion group (ACCS-moxi group). RA model was induced by injecting 0.1 ml Freund’s complete adjuvant (FCA) into the right hind paw of rats. Eleven days after CFA injection, the rats in ZBCS-moxi group received Zanthoxylum bungeanum- cake-separated moxibustion on Shenshu (BL23), Zusanli (ST36) acupoints and the dorsum right hind paw respectively for 3 weeks. The ACCS-moxi group was used as a positive control, while the rats were treated with Aconitum carmichaeli-cake-separated moxibustion on the same acupoints and courses. After a 3-week treatment, we investigated anti-inflammatory effect by measuring the paw volume,  observing the pathologic morphology of synovial membranes and detecting the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum.Results: Compared to model group, the swollen paw volumes, the synovial hyperplasia and pannus formation of synovial membranes and the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum decreased obviously (P<0.01, P<0.05) in ZBCS-moxi group, as well as in ACCS-moxi group. However, the swollen paw volumes, the synovial hyperplasia and pannus formation of synovial membranes and the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum in ZBCS-moxi and ACCS-moxi group did not show significant differences (P>0.05)Conclusions: ZBCS-moxi displays anti-inflammatory effect on RA rats via suppressing the expression of cytokines and has similar effect to ACCS-moxi.Key words: Anti-inflammatory effect; Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion; Aconitum carmichaeli-cake-separated moxibustion; Rheumatoid Arthritis

Systemic DKK1 neutralization enhances human adipose-derived stem cell mediated bone repair

: Progenitor cells from adipose tissue are able to induce bone repair; however, inconsistent or unreliable efficacy has been reported across preclinical and clinical studies. Soluble inhibitory factors, such as the secreted Wnt signaling antagonists Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), are expressed to variable degrees in human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), and may represent a targetable "molecular brake" on ASC mediated bone repair. Here, anti-DKK1 neutralizing antibodies were observed to increase the osteogenic differentiation of human ASCs in vitro, accompanied by increased canonical Wnt signaling. Human ASCs were next engrafted into a femoral segmental bone defect in NOD-Scid mice, with animals subsequently treated with systemic anti-DKK1 or isotype control during the repair process. Human ASCs alone induced significant but modest bone repair. However, systemic anti-DKK1 induced an increase in human ASC engraftment and survival, an increase in vascular ingrowth, and ultimately improved bone repair outcomes. In summary, anti-DKK1 can be used as a method to augment cell-mediated bone regeneration, and could be particularly valuable in the contexts of impaired bone healing such as osteoporotic bone repair

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF ZANTHOXYLUM BUNGEANUM-CAKE-SEPARATED MOXIBUSTION ON RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS RATS

Background: Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion (ZBCS-moxi), a kind of traditional therapy of moxibustion, has been used in China since 340 B.C. However, its mechanism remains unclear. So, this study was attempted to reveal the anti-inflammatory effect of ZBCS-moxi on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats. Methods and Materials: Forty health SD female rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10/group): control group, model group, Zanthoxylum bungeanum-cake-separated moxibustion group (ZBCS-moxi group) and Aconitum carmichaeli-cake-separated moxibustion group (ACCS-moxi group). RA model was induced by injecting 0.1 ml Freund’s complete adjuvant (FCA) into the right hind paw of rats. Eleven days after CFA injection, the rats in ZBCS-moxi group received Zanthoxylum bungeanum- cake-separated moxibustion on Shenshu (BL23), Zusanli (ST36) acupoints and the dorsum right hind paw respectively for 3 weeks. The ACCS-moxi group was used as a positive control, while the rats were treated with Aconitum carmichaeli-cake-separated moxibustion on the same acupoints and courses. After a 3-week treatment, we investigated anti-inflammatory effect by measuring the paw volume, observing the pathologic morphology of synovial membranes and detecting the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum. Results: Compared to model group, the swollen paw volumes, the synovial hyperplasia and pannus formation of synovial membranes and the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum decreased obviously (

The Tianlai Cylinder Pathfinder array: System functions and basic performance analysis

The Tianlai Cylinder Pathfinder is a radio interferometer array designed to test techniques for 21 cm intensity mapping in the post-reionization Universe, with the ultimate aim of mapping the large scale structure and measuring cosmological parameters such as the dark energy equation of state. Each of its three parallel cylinder reflectors is oriented in the north-south direction, and the array has a large field of view. As the Earth rotates, the northern sky is observed by drift scanning. The array is located in Hongliuxia, a radio-quiet site in Xinjiang, and saw its first light in September 2016. In this first data analysis paper for the Tianlai cylinder array, we discuss the sub-system qualification tests, and present basic system performance obtained from preliminary analysis of the commissioning observations during 2016-2018. We show typical interferometric visibility data, from which we derive the actual beam profile in the east-west direction and the frequency band-pass response. We describe also the calibration process to determine the complex gains for the array elements, either using bright astronomical point sources, or an artificial on site calibrator source, and discuss the instrument response stability, crucial for transit interferometry. Based on this analysis, we find a system temperature of about 90 K, and we also estimate the sensitivity of the array

Modèles de rivières animées pour l'exploration interactive de paysages

Rivers are ubiquitous in nature, and are thus an important visual component in the simulation of natural scenes. Because rivers are dynamic in nature, it is necessary to animate their flow in these visual simulations. Realistic animation of rivers is a challenging problem because convincing simulations must incorporate multi-scale surface details and flow motion, and many of the phenomena involved have complex underlying physical causes. River animation is particularly difficult in emerging interactive applications such as Google Earth or video games that allow users to explore a very large scene and to dynamically decide whether to observe rivers at very small or large scales. Controlling the design of water simulations is another hard problem. The goal of this dissertation is to achieve real-time, scalable, and controllable river animation with a detailed and space-time continuous appearance. To achieve this realism, the river animation problem is broken down into macro-, meso-, and micro-scale subproblems ranging from coarse to fine. We propose appropriate models for each scale that capture relevant surface details and fluid motion. In the macro-scale, we propose a procedural method that can compute the velocities of rivers with curved banks, branchings and islands on-the-fly. In the meso-scale, we propose an improved phenomenological method for simulating the quasi-stationary waves that are made by obstacles. Moreover, we propose a method for constructing an adaptive and feature-aligned water surface. In the micro-scale, we propose the use of wave sprites, a sprite-based texture model, to represent advected details with stationary spectrum properties on flow surfaces. Armed with wave sprites and a dynamic adaptive sampling scheme, we can texture the surface of a very large or even unbounded river with scene-independent performance. In addition, we propose a spectrum-preserving texture advection method that has useful applications beyond river animation. We demonstrate that the combination of our models across three scales helps us incorporate visually convincing animated rivers into a very large terrain in real-time interactive applications.Les rivières sont fréquentes dans la nature, et sont donc importantes dans une simulation de scènes naturelles 3D. Afin de reproduire l'écoulement des rivières réelles, ces rivières virtuelles doivent être animées. Mais ceci est un problème difficile. Il faut prendre en compte des détails de surface et des mouvements à plusieurs échelles, et la plupart des phénomènes impliqués ont des causes physiques sous jacentes complexes. L'animation de rivières est particulièrement difficile dans le contexte d'applications interactives émergentes telles que Google Earth ou certains jeux vidéos, qui permettent à l'utilisateur d'explorer une scène très vaste et d'y observer des rivières de très près ou de très loin, à n'importe quel moment. Le contrôle utilisateur des simulations de fluide est un autre problème difficile. Le but de cette thèse est d'obtenir des rivières animées en temps-réel sur de très grand terrains, avec une animation contrôlable et un rendu détaillé et continu en temps et en espace. Pour atteindre ce but nous décomposons le problème en 3 sous-problèmes pour les grandes, moyennes et petites échelles. Nous proposons des modèles appropriés pour chaque échelle, qui représentent correctement les détails et les mouvements du fluide à l'échelle considérée. Pour les grandes échelles nous proposons une méthode procédurale pour calculer à la volée la vitesse d'écoulement de rivières de formes quelconques, avec des affluents et des îles. Pour les moyennes échelles nous proposons une méthode de simulation spécifique pour générer les vagues quasi stationnaires causées par les obstacles. Nous proposons également une méthode pour construire un maillage adaptatif aligné avec les lignes de crête de ces vagues. Pour les petites échelles, nous proposons une méthode à base de sprites texturés pour représenter les petits détails dont le spectre est stationnaire et qui sont advectés avec la rivière. Complétés par un échantillonnage adaptatif, cetteméthode nous permet de texturer de très grandes rivières, les performances étant indépendantes de la complexité de la scène. Nous proposons également une méthode lagrangienne pour l'advection de texture, qui peut s'appliquer à d'autres domaines que l'animation de rivières. Nous montrons que la combinaison de nos trois modèles nous permet d'ajouter des rivières animées visuellement convaincantes dans de très grand terrains, dans des applications temps-réel interactives

APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO STATIC VAR SOURCE CONTROL FOR IMPROVING POWER SYSTEM DAMPING

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Modèles de rivières animées pour l'exploration intéractive de paysages

Rivers are ubiquitous in nature, and thus are an important component of the visual simulation of nature scenes. In nature, rivers are dynamic, therefore animation of rivers is necessary in these visual simulation applications. However, animation of rivers is a challenging problem. It incorporates multi-scale surface details and flow motion, and many phenomena involved have complex underlying physical causes. River animation is particular difficult in emerging interactive applications like Google Earth or games, which allow users to explore a very large scene and observe rivers at a very small scale or a very large scale at any moment. Controlling the design of water simulations is another hard problem. The goal of this dissertation is to achieve real-time, scalable, and controllable river animation with a detailed and space-time continuous appearance. To achieve this goal, we break down the river animation problem into macro-, meso-, and micro-scale subproblems from coarse to fine. We propose appropriate models for each scale that capture relevant surface details and fluid motion. In the macro-scale, we propose a procedural method that can compute velocities of rivers with curved banks, branchings and islands on the fly. In themeso-scale, we propose an improved featured-based simulationmethod to generate the crests of the quasi-stationary waves that obstaclesmake. We also propose a method for constructing an adaptive and feature-aligned water surface according to the given wave crests. In the micro-scale, we propose the use of wave sprites, a sprite-based texture model, to represent advected details with stationary spectrum properties on flow surfaces. Armed with wave sprites and a dynamic adaptive sampling scheme, we can texture the surface of a very large or even unbounded river with scene-independent performance. In addition, we propose a Lagrangian texture advection method that has other applications beyond river animation. We demonstrate that combining our models in three scales helps us incorporate visually convincing animated rivers into a very large terrain in real-time interactive applications.Dans cette thèse, nous avons proposé un modèle multi-échelle pour l'animation de rivière. Nous avons présenté un nouveau modèle pour chaque échelle. A l'échelle macro, nous avons proposé une méthode procédurale permettant de générer une rivière réaliste à la volée. A l'échelle méso nous avons amélioré un modèle phénoménologique basé sur une représentation vectorielle des ondes de choc près des obstacles, et proposé une methode pour la reconstruction adaptative de la surface de l'eau. A l'échelle micro, nous avons présenté une méthode adaptative pour texturer des surfaces de grande étendue avec des performances indépendantes de la scène. Nous avons également propos é une méthode d'advection de texture. Ces deux modèles reposent sur notre schéma d'échantillonnage adaptatif. En combinant ces modèles, nous avons pu animer des rivières de taille mondiale en temps réel, tout en étant contr?olable. Les performances de notre système sont indépendantes de la scène. La vitesse procédurale et l'échantillonage en espace écran permettent à notre système de fonctionner sur des domaines illimités. Les utilisateurs peuvent observer la rivière de très près ou de très loin à tout moment. Des vagues très détaillées peuvent être affichées. Les différents parties des rivières sont continues dans l'espace et dans le temps, même lors de l'exploration ou de l'édition de la rivière par un utilisateur. Cela signifie que l'utilisateur peut éditer les lits des rivières ou ajouter des îles à la volée sans interrompre l'animation. La vitesse de la rivière change dès que l'utilisateur en édite les caractéristiques, et l'utilisateur peut auss modifier son apparence avec des textures.GRENOBLE1-BU Sciences (384212103) / SudocSudocFranceF