A unified approach to the pseudoscalar meson (, , and K) photoproductions off nucleons are presented.It begins with the low energy QCD Lagrangian, and the resonances in the s and u channels are treated in the framework of the quark model. The duality hypothesis is imposed to limit the number of the t-channel exchanges. The CGLN amplitudes for each reaction are evaluated, which include both proton and neutron targets. The important role of the S-wave resonances in the second resonance region is discussed, and is particularly important for the K, , and Ј photoproductions. ͓S0556-2813͑97͒01908-0͔ PACS number͑s͒: 13.75.Gx, 13.40.Hq, 13.60.Le, 12.39.Ba ␣ NN in the production or ␣ KN⌳ and ␣ KN⌺ for kaon productions.The paper is organized as follows. In Sec. II, the theoretical framework is established in meson photoproductions starting from the low energy QCD Lagrangian. The formalism in the chiral quark model is presented for the s-and u-channel resonances in Sec. III. We shall show how the CGLN amplitudes for the s-and u-channel resonances are derived in the quark model. Although our approach starts with the low energy QCD Lagrangian, it could also be ex-

Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical significance and immunosuppressive mechanisms of B7-H4 (B7x/B7S1), a B7 family member, in glioma. Experimental Design B7-H4 levels in glioma tissue/cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) were compared between different grades of glioma patients. Survival data were analyzed with Kaplan–Meier to determine prognostic value of B7-H4. Cytokines from CD133+ cells to stimulate the expression of B7-H4 on human Mφs were investigated by FACS, neutralizing antibodies and transwell chemotaxis assay. shRNA, reporter vector and ChIP were used to determine the binding of STAT3 to the B7-H4 promoter. The function of B7-H4+ Mφs in vitro was evaluated through phagocytosis, T cell proliferation/apoptosis and cytokine production as well as in xenografted model for in vivo analysis. Results We found that B7-H4 expression in tumors was associated with prognosis of human glioblastoma and correlated directly with malignant grades. Mechanistically, glioma initiating CD133+ cells and macrophages/microglia co-interaction activated expression of B7-H4 via IL-6 and IL-10 in both tumor cells and microenvironment supporting cells. IL-6-activated STAT3 bound to the promoter of B7-H4 gene and enhanced B7-H4 expression. Furthermore, CD133+ cells mediated immunosuppression through B7-H4 expression on macrophages/microglia by silencing of B7-H4 expression on these cells which led to increased microenvironment T cell function and tumor regression in the xenograft glioma mouse model. Conclusion We have identified B7-H4 activation on macrophages/microglia in the microenvironment of gliomas as an important immunosuppressive event blocking effective T-cell immune responses.

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Abstract-The increasing penetration of renewable energy in recent years has led to more uncertainties in power systems. These uncertainties have to be accommodated by flexible resources (i.e. upward and downward generation reserves). In this paper, a novel concept, Uncertainty Marginal Price (UMP), is proposed to price both the uncertainty and reserve. At the same time, the energy is priced at Locational Marginal Price (LMP). A novel market clearing mechanism is proposed to credit the generation and reserve and to charge the load and uncertainty within the Robust Unit Commitment (RUC) in the Day-ahead market. We derive the UMPs and LMPs in the robust optimization framework. UMP helps allocate the cost of generation reserves to uncertainty sources. We prove that the proposed market clearing mechanism leads to partial market equilibrium. We find that transmission reserves must be kept explicitly in addition to generation reserves for uncertainty accommodation. We prove that transmission reserves for ramping delivery may lead to Financial Transmission Right (FTR) underfunding in existing markets. The FTR underfunding can be covered by congestion fund collected from uncertainty payment in the proposed market clearing mechanism. Simulations on a six-bus system and the IEEE 118-bus system are performed to illustrate the new concepts and the market clearing mechanism.

Abstract-Two critical issues have arisen in transmission expansion planning with the rapid growth of wind power generation. First, severe power ramping events in daily operation due to the high variability of wind power generation pose great challenges to multi-year planning decision making. Second, the long construction periods of transmission lines may not be able to keep pace with the fast growing uncertainty due to the increasing integration of renewable energy generation. To address such issues, we propose a comprehensive robust planning model considering different resources, namely, transmission lines, generators, and FACTS devices. Various factors are taken into account, including flexibility requirement, construction period, and cost. We construct the hourly net load ramping uncertainty (HLRU) set to characterize the variation of hourly net load including wind power generation, and the annual net load duration curve uncertainty (LDCU) set for the uncertainty of normal annual net load duration curve. This results in a two-stage robust optimization model with two different types of uncertainty sets, which are decoupled into two different sets of subproblems to make the entire solution process tractable. Numerical simulations with real-world data show that the proposed model and solution method are effective to coordinate different flexible resources, rendering robust expansion planning strategies.

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Forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) is known as a specific marker for regulatory T cells which contribute to immunosuppression in tumor microenvironment. However, existing studies regarding clinical significance of Foxp3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in glioblastoma (GBM) remained discrepant. In this study, we aimed to explore whether this subtype of TILs correlated with prognosis in patients with GBM. Foxp3+ TILs as well as CD8+ ones were detected by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 62 patients. Staining for p53, MGMT and Ki-67 were also performed. The correlation of TIL subtypes with clinicopathologic features were analyzed. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan–Meier method and compared using log-rank test. Independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS were determined through univariate and multivariate analysis. Significant correlation was found between Foxp3 and CD8 expression (P = 0.003), but not between TIL subtypes and clinicopathologic characteristics. Patients with higher density of Foxp3+ TILs showed relatively shorter PFS (P < 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003) whereas patients with higher density of CD8+ TILs obtained no significant differences in survival. Survival analysis based on molecular classifications further clarified these predictive values. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that frequency of Foxp3+ TILs was probably associated with both PFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.003). In conclusion, the results suggest that Foxp3 positive infiltrates could provide an independent predictive factor in GBM.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11060-013-1314-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.