Research on Efficacy Evaluation of Large-Scale Networked Intelligent Perception System

Under the smart engineering system (SES), there is a huge demand for evaluating the efficacy of a large-scale networked intelligent perception system (IPS). Considering the large-scale, distributed, and networked system characteristics and perception task demands, this paper proposes a conceptual system for IPS efficacy evaluation and, on this basis, designs the architecture of the efficacy evaluation system. A networked IPS model is constructed based on domain ontology, an index system is quickly established for efficacy evaluation, the evaluation methods are assembled automatically, and adaptive real-time organization strategies are generated for networked perception based on efficacy estimate. After exploring these key technologies, a prototype system is created for the service-oriented integrated efficacy evaluation platform and used to verify and integrate research results. The research provides support for the efficacy evaluation theories and methods of large-scale networked IPS.

The Safety and Efficacy Evaluation of PRRS Attenuated Vaccine BG895 Strain in Experimental Pigs

From the PRRSV virulent strain BG8 isolated from a PRRSV-infected pig, using serial passage method in MARC-145 cell line, we have successfully obtained an attenuated strain in 95th passage, named as BG895, with high potential to be a vaccine candidate. In this study, we present the results of the safety and efficacy evaluation of BG895 against PRRSV in experimental pigs. Trial results of vaccine formula using strain BG895 have very high safety when inoculating 5 doses/animal and 10 doses/animal. Evaluation of immune response by ELISA method showed that, from 14 days post inoculation, anti-PRRSV antibodies were detected in the serum of all inoculated pigs in vaccine batches with the lowest S/P index of 1.50 ± 0.4 and the highest S/P was 2.36 ± 0.1 from 28 days post inoculation. The IPMA method showed that the antibody titer of the vaccine reached ≥ 1/160 in 100% of pigs from 21 days post inoculation andreached ≥ 1/640 in 100% of pigs from 28 days post inoculation, indicating that the vaccine was effective at protecting 100% of pigs from 28 days post inoculation. The protective effect of the vaccine was evaluated by the virulent challenge from 28 days post inoculation with 1 dose/animal compared with the control group. The results showed that compared with all pigs in the control group with typical clinical manifestations of Blue-ear disease, all inoculated pigs had normal body temperature and weight gain, besides, the S/P index increased from 1.65 ± 0.1 to the highest 2.99 ± 0.2; the average antibody titer was >1/2560, and virus wasnot detected in nasal fluid by real-time RT-PCR from 7 days post challenge. These experimental results confirmed the safety and efficacy of the attenuated PRRS vaccine based on BG895strain.

The Importance of Routine Quality Control For Reproducible Pulmonary Measurements By in Vivo Micro-CT

Micro-Computed Tomography (CT) imaging provides densitometric and functional assessment of lung diseases in animal models, playing a key role either in understanding disease progression or in drug discovery studies.The generation of reliable and reproducible experimental data is strictly dependent on a system’s stability. Quality Controls (QC) are essential to monitor micro-CT performance but, although QC procedures are standardized and routinely employed in clinical practice, detailed guidelines for preclinical imaging are lacking. In this work, we propose a routine QC protocol for in vivo micro-CT, based on three commercial phantoms. To investigate the impact of a detected scanner drift on image post-processing, a retrospective analysis using twenty-two healthy mice was performed and lung density histograms used to compare the Area Under Curve (AUC), the skewness and the kurtosis before and after the drift. As expected, statistically significant differences were found for all the selected parameters [AUC: 532 ± 31 vs. 420 ± 38 (p < 0.001); skewness: 2.3 ± 0.1 vs. 2.5 ± 0.1 (p < 0.001) and kurtosis: 4.2 ± 0.3 vs. 5.1 ± 0.5 (p < 0.001)], confirming the importance of the designed QC procedure to obtain a reliable longitudinal quantification of disease progression and drug efficacy evaluation.

Biological Efficacy Evaluation of a Non-Cross-Linked Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Filler for Biomedical Application in Inflammatory Scalp Conditions

(1) Background: The dysbiosis of some cutaneous commensal microorganisms is the trigger factor for the activation of the inflammatory cascade by keratinocytes in many skin disorders. Mesotherapy is an innovative technique for many scalp disorders, with the function of restoring the physiology of the skin. (2) Methods: the antimicrobial, antibiofilm and anti-inflammatory activity of the non-cross-linked HA formulation (Hydro Deluxe, Matex Lab S.p.a., Brindisi, Italy) was investigated against the most common microorganisms of the scalp (Staphyloccoccus epidermis, Staphyloccoccus aureus, Cutibacterium acnes and Malassezia furfur). Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated on an internal 3D model of Reconstructed Human Epidermis (RHE) inserts infected with the strains as pro-inflammatory stimulus. (3) Results and Conclusions: the data collected showed a good antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against all selected strains. The HA-based formulation did not show cytotoxicity on RHE, either alone or in presence of the infectious stimulus. The analysis of the expression of Interleukin (IL)-8 levels showed an excellent ability to reduce this pro-inflammatory marker. Overall, the efficacy assessment of the formulation supported its potential effectiveness in mesotherapy for the treatment of scalp disorders.