No abstract

ABSTRACT. Although the role of CD14 in mediating signals from Toll-like receptors to recognize Mycobacterium tuberculosis is known, how polymorphisms in this gene affect the susceptibility to develop tuberculosis are still not clear. We examined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms at positions -1145 and -159 in the promoter region of the CD14 gene are associated with tuberculosis in a Chinese Han population in a case-control study of 432 Chinese patients with tuberculosis and 404 ethnically matched healthy controls. Genotyping was performed to identify polymorphisms of the CD14 gene by PCR-DNA sequencing. Both the frequency of allele T in the C(-159)T polymorphism (odds ratio (OR) = 1.4; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.148-1.708) and allele G in the G(-1145)A polymorphism (OR = 1.512; 95%CI = 1.236-1.849) were significantly more frequent in cases than in controls. The frequencies of genotypes CC and CT in the C(-159)T polymorphism, as well as the frequencies of genotypes AA and AG, were lower in cases than in controls. Based on our results, we conclude that G(-1145)A and C(-159)T polymorphisms of CD14 are associated with decreased risk for the development of tuberculosis in the Chinese Han population.

In the non-contact detection of thread profile boundary correction, it remains challenging to ensure that the thread axis intersects the CCD camera axis perpendicularly. Here, we addressed this issue using modified algorithms. We established the Cartesian coordinate system according to the spatial geometric relationship of the thread. We used the center of the bottom of the thread as the origin, and the image of the extreme position image was replaced by the image of the approximate extreme position. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between the boundary of the theoretical thread image and the theoretical profile. We calculated the coordinate transformation of the point on the theoretical tooth profile and the coordinate function of the point on the boundary of the theoretical image. At the same time, the extreme value of the function was obtained, and the boundary equation of the theoretical thread image was deduced. The difference equation between the two functions was used to correct the boundary point of the actual thread image, and the fitting results were used to detect the key parameters of the external thread of the cylinder. Further experiment proves that the above algorithm effectively improves the detection accuracy of thread quality, and the detection error of main geometric parameters is reduced by more than 50 %.

The soft bulletproof layers as key protective component of a bulletproof vest against pistol bullets, are subject to multiple bullets in both the ballistic resistance test and the real combat. To analyze the influence of multiple impacts on the ballistic performance, the ballistic tests are conducted on the soft bulletproof layers. The ballistic performance of multiple ballistic impacts is compared in the same test condition, and the influence of mechanical properties of materials, boundary effects, angular effects and structural changes caused by impact are studied. It is concluded that the ballistic protection performance of the multiply structure of soft bulletproof layers not only depends on the ballistic protection and energy absorption performance of the single-layer fabrics, but also is closely related to the ballistic protection synergy between the soft bulletproof layers; from the perspective of fibers and single-layer fabrics, the ballistic protection and energy absorption are determined by main factors such as elastic modulus, tensile strength, strength of materials and breaking strain, which also have the coupling effects; for the structural design of multiple soft bulletproof layers against lead cored bullets, it is necessary to comprehensively study the influence of mechanical properties of the projectile and target materials, boundary effects, angular effects and structures & forms on the ballistic protection performance.