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Purpose. We have demonstrated that peroxiredoxin 2 (Prx2) released from lytic erythrocytes and damaged neurons into the subarachnoid space could activate microglia and then result in neuronal apoptosis. In this study, we tested the possibility of using Prx2 as an objective indicator for severity of the subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and the clinical status of the patient. Materials and Methods. SAH patients were prospectively enrolled and followed up for 3 months. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood samples were collected 0-3 and 5-7 days after SAH onset. The levels of Prx2 in the CSF and the blood were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We used Spearman’s rank coefficient to assess the correlation between Prx2 and the clinical scores. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used for Prx2 levels to predict the outcome of SAH by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Unpaired Student’s t -test was used to analyze the differences in continuous variables across cohorts. Results. Prx2 levels in the CSF increased after onset while those in the blood decreased. Existing data showed that Prx2 levels within 3 days in the CSF after SAH were positively correlated with the Hunt-Hess score ( R = 0.761 , P < 0.001 ). Patients with CVS had higher levels of Prx2 in their CSF within 5-7 days after onset. Prx2 levels in the CSF within 5-7 days can be used as a predictor of prognosis. The ratio of Prx2 in the CSF and the blood within 3 days of onset was positively correlated with the Hunt-Hess score and negatively correlated with Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS; R = ‐ 0.605 , P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. We found that the levels of Prx2 in the CSF and the ratio of Prx2 in the CSF and the blood within 3 days of onset can be used as a biomarker to detect the severity of the disease and the clinical status of the patient.

Background. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is known to cause a more robust systemic inflammatory response than general trauma without CNS injury, inducing severe secondary organ damage, especially the lung and liver. Related studies are principally focused on the mechanisms underlying repair and regeneration in the injured spinal cord tissue. However, the specific mechanism of secondary injury after acute SCI is widely overlooked, compared with general trauma. Methods. Two datasets of GSE151371 and GSE45376 related to the blood samples and spinal cord after acute SCI were selected to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). In GSE151371, functional enrichment analysis on specific DEGs of blood samples was performed. And the top 15 specific hub genes were identified from intersectional genes between the specific upregulated DEGs of blood samples in GSE151371 and the upregulated DEGs of the spinal cord in GSE45376. The specific functional enrichment analysis and the drug candidates of the hub genes and the miRNAs-targeted hub genes were also analyzed and predicted. Results. DEGs were identified, and a total of 64 specific genes were the intersection of upregulated genes of the spinal cord in GSE45376 and upregulated genes of human blood samples in GSE151371. The top 15 hub genes including HP, LCN2, DLGAP5, CEP55, HMMR, CDKN3, PRTN3, SKA3, MPO, LTF, CDC25C, MMP9, NEIL3, NUSAP1, and CD163 were calculated from the 64 specific genes. Functional enrichment analysis of the top 15 hub genes revealed inflammation-related pathways. The predicted miRNAs-targeted hub genes and drug candidates of hub genes were also performed to put forward reasonable treatment strategies. Conclusion. The specific hub genes of acute SCI as compared with trauma without CNS injury were identified. The functional enrichment analysis of hub genes showed a specific immune response. Several predicted drugs of hub genes were also obtained. The hub genes and the predicted miRNAs may be potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets and require further validation.

Purpose. Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that reduces patient trauma, infection probability, and rehabilitation time. This paper reviews the progress made in the control-actuation robotic systems for gastrointestinal NOTES development. Material and Methods. A survey on both existing and state-of-the-art control-actuation robotic systems for gastrointestinal NOTES was conducted in December 2021. Results. Nine control-actuation robotic systems for gastrointestinal NOTES were identified. The structures and specifications of these robotic systems were reported. The technical parameters were also discussed. Special attention was directed to systems using a control-actuation structure and tendon-driven mechanism. The control-actuation robotic systems typically deploy a control-actuation structure and tendon-driven mechanism. Control-actuation robotic systems for gastrointestinal NOTES show great ability to improve operational accuracy and flexibility and flatten the learning curve of procedures. These characteristics suggest that the use of control-actuation robotic systems is worth exploring in future development.

Preferential flow pathways connect upstream and downstream channels in abandoned mines or seasonally pumping areas. The inactive supply well facilitates contaminant migration between aquifers leading to water quality challenges; it is important to note that the impacts of regional groundwater flow on contaminant migration through pumping wells have not been well elucidated in literature. In the study, we developed a numerical model describing contaminant migration through an inactive supply well that is pumped seasonally influenced by the regional groundwater flow field. The model was developed using the finite-element COMSOL Multiphysics software to estimate the potential threats to water quality. Major findings showed that a larger regional groundwater velocity results in lower concentration of contaminant. In addition, during pumping, a smaller recovery ratio inside the wellbore facilitates the deterioration of water quality in the deep aquifer. Furthermore increasing pumping frequency can effectively prevent contamination and improve the water quality in the deep aquifer. Similarly, higher pumping rate leads to a larger capture zone, which can significantly improve the water quality in the deep aquifer. The general conclusion is that the regional groundwater flow has a negative impact on the quality of groundwater extracted by seasonally pumping well.

In order to improve the compression technology of multimedia image data, a compression method of multimedia image data based on wavelet analysis was proposed. By combining Fourier transform and wavelet packet multithreshold denoising method, the image data was denoised and compressed through the transform of wavelet analysis and multithreshold processing, so as to realize the compression of image data with high quality. The experimental results showed that it was effective to analyze signal singularity, singularity position, and singularity degree by using wavelet analysis. And the signal mutation position near t = 0 could be seen clearly from the wavelet coefficient diagram, while the Fourier transform diagram did not provide any information about when the frequency mutation occurred. It was concluded that the method of multimedia image data compression based on wavelet analysis could promote the development of multimedia image data compression technology effectively.

Objective. This study focused on mood regulations and their association with sociodemographic status, exercise pattern, and physical conditions of adults and older adults in China who did not undergo interventions. Method. Data were based on the 2016 to 2018 Guangdong National Physique Monitoring data, in which 5242 participants aged 20-69 years were recruited. Multiple statistical analysis methods, such as descriptive and logistic regression analyses, were used to study each exercise motivation and its association with influencing factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, exercise measurements, and physical conditions. An exercise index for mental health was also used to investigate the number and types of people who were more likely to meet the index. Results. We observed that 44.9% (2355/5242) of participants did not engage in physical exercise in this study. Only older participants (40 to 69 years old) and those with an average level of education (high school/technical secondary school) showed a significant association with exercising for mood regulation. Few people met the index that is good for mental health (16.64% [872/5242] met index 1, and 2.84% (149/5242) met index 2), and higher education showed a significant association with a reduction in the mental health burden and the prevention of depression. Conclusion. This study found that motivating people to be more active and educating them on the potential mental health benefits of exercise could help them to exercise more.

In order to better understand the particle breakage mechanics and characterization methods of calcareous sand, the particle breakage characteristics of calcareous sand in one-dimensional compression tests, isotropic compression tests, triaxial shear tests, and ring shear tests are reviewed and analyzed. The results show that the mechanism of shear crushing is essentially different from compression crushing. Compared with one-dimensional compression, it is easier to break calcareous sand under triaxial shear. In the shearing process, the particle breakage of calcareous sand will not continue indefinitely. The gradation tends to be stable and controlled by confining pressure and shear strain. The characteristic particle size measurement method for particle breakage is simple and has limitations. The description method using the particle size distribution curve is more comprehensive, but it is impossible to compare the crushing degree of particle with different particle sizes, and a suitable measurement method needs to be proposed.

Zileuton has been demonstrated to be an anti-inflammatory agent due to its well-known ability to inhibit 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). However, the effects of zileuton on cardiac remodeling are unclear. In this study, the effects of zileuton on pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling were investigated and the possible mechanisms were examined. Aortic banding was performed on mice to induce a cardiac remodeling model, and the mice were then treated with zileuton 1 week after surgery. We also stimulated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with phenylephrine (PE) and then treated them with zileuton. Our data indicated that zileuton protected mice from pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and oxidative stress. Zileuton also attenuated PE-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, we found that zileuton activated PPARα, but not PPARγ or PPARθ, thus inducing Keap and NRF2 activation. This was confirmed with the PPARα inhibitor GW7647 and NRF2 siRNA, which abolished the protective effects of zileuton on cardiomyocytes. Moreover, PPARα knockdown abolished the anticardiac remodeling effects of zileuton in vivo. Taken together, our data indicate that zileuton protects against pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling by activating PPARα/NRF2 signaling.

Andrographolide (Andr) is a major component isolated from the plant Andrographis paniculata. Inflammation, apoptosis, and impaired angiogenesis are implicated in the pathogenesis of high glucose (HG)-induced injury of vascular endotheliocytes. Our study is aimed at evaluating the effect of Andr on HG-induced HUVEC injury and the underlying mechanism. HUVECs were exposed to HG levels (33 mM) and treated with Andr (0, 12.5, 25, and 50 μM). Western blot analysis, real-time PCR, immunofluorescence staining, the scratch test, and the tube formation assay were performed to assess the effects of Andr. We discovered that Andr inhibited the inflammatory response (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα), decreased the apoptosis ratio and cell migration, and promoted tube formation in response to HG stimulation. Andr ameliorated the levels of phosphorylated PI3K (p-PI3K), phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT), and phosphorylated eNOS (p-eNOS). The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein, a vital factor in angiogenesis, was improved by Andr treatment under HG stimulation. LY294002 is a blocker of PI3K, MK-2206 2HCI (MK-2206) is a highly selective AKT inhibitor, and L-NAME is a suppressor of eNOS, all of which significantly reduce Andr-mediated protective effects in vitro. Hence, Andr may be involved in regulating HG-induced injury by activating PI3K/AKT-eNOS signalling in HUVECs.

In this paper, possible coupling configurations of a four-plate capacitive power transfer system are studied by varying the combinations of its input and output ports. A voltage source is applied between two of the four plates, and a load is connected to the other two to form different circuit topologies. A mathematical model based on a 4 × 4 mutual capacitance matrix is established for equidistantly placed four identical metal plates. Based on the proposed model, four separate circuit topologies are identified and analysed in detail and described in a general form. The electric field distributions of the coupling configurations are simulated by ANSYS Maxwell. The theoretical modeling and analysis are then verified by a practical system, in which four aluminum plates of 300 mm × 300 mm are used and placed with a gap of 10 mm between adjacent plates. The experimental results show that the measured output voltage and power under the four coupling configurations are in good agreement with the theoretical results. It has found that the voltage gain is the highest when the two inner plates are connected to the source, and this coupling configuration also has the lowest leakage electric field.

More mobile devices such as mobile phones and robots are wirelessly charged for convenience, simplicity, and safety, and it would be desirable to achieve three-dimensional (3D) wireless charging with high spatial freedom and long range. This paper proposes a 3D wireless charging cube with three orthogonal coils and supporting magnetic cores to enhance the magnetic flux outside the cube. The proposed system is simulated by Ansoft Maxwell and implemented by a downsized prototype. Both simulation and experimental results show that the magnetic cores can strengthen the magnitude of B-field outside the cube. The final prototype demonstrates that the power transfer distance outside the cube for getting the same induced electromotive force in the receiver coil is extended approximately by 50 mm using magnetic cores with a permeability of 2800. It is found that the magnitude of B-field outside the cube can be increased by increasing the width and the permeability of the magnetic cores. The measured results show that when the permeability of the magnetic cores is fixed, the induced electromotive force in the receiver coil at a point 300 mm away from the center of the cube is increased by about 2V when the width of the magnetic cores is increased from 50 to 100 mm. The increase in the induced electromotive force at an extended point implies a greater potential of wireless power transfer capability to the power pickup.

Multiaccess edge computation (MEC) is a hotspot in 5G network. The problem of task offloading is one of the core problems in MEC. In this paper, a novel computation offloading model which partitions tasks into subtasksis proposed. This model takes communication and computing resources, energy consumption of intelligent mobile devices, and weight of tasks into account. We then transform the model into a multiobjective optimization problem based on Pareto that balances the task weight and time efficiency of the offloaded tasks. In addition, an algorithm based on hybrid immune and bat scheduling algorithm (HIBSA) is further designed to tackle the proposed multiobjective optimization problem. The experimental results show that HIBSA can meet the requirements of both the task execution deadline and the weight of the offloaded tasks.

In this work, we propose a channel allocation and power control algorithm for energy harvesting (EH) device-to-device (D2D) communication based on nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA). The algorithm considers users’ quality of service (QoS) and energy causality constraint to maximize the total capacity of D2D groups. The optimal offline allocation of channel and power is realized firstly. Then, the offline optimization results are taken as the training dataset to train the neural network to obtain the optimal model of the transmission power. The online power allocation optimization algorithm is further proposed. Simulation results show that the offline algorithm can improve the total capacity of D2D groups, and the performance of the online algorithm is close to the offline algorithm.

Energy harvesting (EH) combined with cooperative relying plays a promising role in future wireless communication systems. We consider a wireless multiple EH relay system. All relays are assumed to be EH nodes with simultaneous wireless and information transfer (SWIPT) capabilities, which means the relays are wirelessly powered by harvesting energy from the received signal. Each EH node separates the input RF signal into two parts which are, respectively, for EH and information transmission using the power splitting (PS) protocol. In this paper, a closed-form outage probability expression is derived for the cooperative relaying system based on the characteristic function of the system’s probability density function (PDF) with only one relay. With the approximation of the outage probability expression, three optimization problems are built to minimize the outage probability under different constraints. We use the Lagrange method and Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) condition to solve the optimization problems to jointly optimize the relay’s PS factors and the transmit power. Numerical results show that our derived expression of the outage probability is accuracy and gives insights into the effect of various system parameters on the performance of protocols. Meanwhile, compared with the no optimal condition, our proposed optimization algorithms can all offer superior performance under different system constraints.

The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) obtained from a standard complete blood count (CBC) is a convenient and inexpensive biochemical parameter representing the variability in size of circulating erythrocytes. Over the past few decades, RDW with mean corpuscular volume (MCV) has been used to identify quite a few hematological system diseases including iron-deficiency anemia and bone marrow dysfunction. In recent years, many clinical studies have proved that the alterations of RDW levels may be associated with the incidence and prognosis in many cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs). Therefore, early detection and intervention in time of these vascular diseases is critical for delaying their progression. RDW as a new predictive marker and an independent risk factor plays a significant role in assessing the severity and progression of CVDs. However, the mechanisms of the association between RDW and the prognosis of CVDs remain unclear. In this review, we will provide an overview of the representative literatures concerning hypothetical and potential epidemiological associations between RDW and CVDs and discuss the underlying mechanisms.

We focus on the performance analysis of the buffer-aided relaying system which allows data and energy packets to arrive independently and depart interactively. First, we profile the cooperative relaying system model as a data arrival and energy arrival coupling queuing model. Considering the influence of channel condition on the data departure rate, a new relay transmit protocol which permits exhausting more energy packet to send one data packet in the bad channel environment is proposed. Second, the joint data packet and energy packet handling problem is ascribed to a Coupled Processor Queuing Model which could achieve its steady state transition probability by Quasi-Birth and Death method. Third, the expressions of throughput, delay, and packet drop rate for both data queue and energy queue are also derived. Simulations are demonstrated to verify the analytical results under different data arrival rate, energy arrival rate, and relaying strategy.

Time delay arising in a genetic regulatory network may cause the instability. This paper is concerned with the stability analysis of genetic regulatory networks with interval time-varying delays. Firstly, a relaxed double integral inequality, named as Wirtinger-type double integral inequality (WTDII), is established to estimate the double integral term appearing in the derivative of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional with a triple integral term. And it is proved theoretically that the proposed WTDII is tighter than the widely used Jensen-based double inequality and the recently developed Wiringter-based double inequality. Then, by applying the WTDII to the stability analysis of a delayed genetic regulatory network, together with the usage of useful information of regulatory functions, several delay-range- and delay-rate-dependent (or delay-rate-independent) criteria are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, an example is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and also to show the advantages of the established stability criteria through the comparison with some literature.

This paper proposes a WiFi offloading algorithm based on Q-learning and MADM (multiattribute decision making) in heterogeneous networks for a mobile user scenario where cellular networks and WiFi networks coexist. The Markov model is used to describe the changes of the network environment. Four attributes including user throughput, terminal power consumption, user cost, and communication delay are considered to define the user satisfaction function reflecting QoS (Quality of Service), and Q-learning is used to optimize it. Through AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) in MADM, the intrinsic connection between each attribute and the reward function is obtained. The user uses Q-learning to make offloading decisions based on current network conditions and their own offloading history, ultimately maximizing their satisfaction. The simulation results show that the user satisfaction of the proposed algorithm is better than the traditional WiFi offloading algorithm.

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptorγ(PPARγ) has been closely involved in the process of cardiovascular diseases. This study was to investigate whether pioglitazone (PIO), a PPARγagonist, could protect against pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Mice were orally given PIO (2.5 mg/kg) from 1 week after aortic banding and continuing for 7 weeks. The morphological examination and biochemical analysis were used to evaluate the effects of PIO. Neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes were also used to verify the protection of PIO against hypertrophy in vitro. The results in our study demonstrated that PIO remarkably inhibited hypertrophic response induced by aortic banding in vivo. Besides, PIO also suppressed cardiac fibrosis in vivo. PIO treatment also inhibited the activation of protein kinase B (AKT)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β(GSK3β) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the heart. In addition, PIO alleviated angiotensin II-induced hypertrophic response in vitro. In conclusion, PIO could inhibit cardiac hypertrophy via attenuation of AKT/GSK3βand MAPK pathways.

Our previous study found that geniposide, an agonist of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), protected against cardiac hypertrophy via the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase α (AMPKα). However, the effects of geniposide on obesity-related cardiac injury remain unknown. Here, we examine whether geniposide attenuates obesity-related cardiac dysfunction. Adult mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 24 weeks to induce obesity, with the last 3 weeks including a 21-day treatment with geniposide. Morphological changes, cardiac function, and remodeling were assessed. HFD-induced metabolic syndrome, featured as obesity, hyperglycemia, and cardiac hypertrophy, was prevented by geniposide treatment. Geniposide preserved cardiac function in the obese mice. Furthermore, geniposide attenuated myocardial inflammation and myocyte apoptosis induced by HFD. Geniposide activated AMPKα and sirtuin (Sirt1) in vivo and in vitro. Ampkα deficiency reversed the inhibitory effects of geniposide on cell loss. Sirt1 deficiency abolished the inhibitory effects of geniposide on inflammation in the cardiomyocytes. Geniposide completely lost its protective effects on Ampkα knockout mice after Sirt1 deficiency achieved by a nanoparticle transfection reagent. The activation of Sirt1 by geniposide was abolished by Glp-1r deficiency in vitro. Geniposide reverses molecular pathology and cardiac dysfunction via both AMPKα- and Sirt1-dependent mechanisms. Geniposide is a potential therapeutic drug for cardiovascular complications induced by obesity.

Rosiglitazone (RG) is a well-known activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) and used to treat hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes; however, its clinical application has been confounded by adverse side effects. Here, we assessed the roles of chlorogenic acid (CGA), a phenolic secondary metabolite found in many fruits and vegetables, on the differentiation and lipolysis of mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The results showed that CGA promoted differentiation in vitro according to oil red O staining and quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. As a potential molecular mechanism, CGA downregulated mRNA levels of the adipocyte differentiation-inhibitor gene Pref1 and upregulated those of major adipogenic transcriptional factors (Cebpb and Srebp1). Additionally, CGA upregulated the expression of the differentiation-related transcriptional factor PPARγ2 at both the mRNA and protein levels. However, following CGA intervention, the accumulation of intracellular triacylglycerides following preadipocyte differentiation was significantly lower than that in the RG group. Consistent with this, our data indicated that CGA treatment significantly upregulated the expression of lipogenic pathway-related genes Plin and Srebp1 during the differentiation stage, although the influence of CGA was weaker than that of RG. Notably, CGA upregulated the expression of the lipolysis-related gene Hsl, whereas it did not increase the expression of the lipid synthesis-related gene Dgat1. These results demonstrated that CGA might function as a potential PPARγ agonist similar to RG; however, the impact of CGA on lipolysis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes differed from that of RG.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disorder of the myocardium in diabetic patients, which is one of the critical complications of diabetes giving rise to an increased mortality. However, the underlying mechanisms of DCM remain incompletely understood presently. This study was designed to screen the potential molecules and pathways implicated with DCM. GSE26887 involving 5 control individuals and 7 DCM patients was selected from the GEO database to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). DAVID was applied to perform gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was also constructed to visualize the interactions among these DEGs. To further validate significant genes and pathways, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot were performed. A total of 236 DEGs were captured, including 134 upregulated and 102 downregulated genes. GO, KEGG, and the PPI network disclosed that inflammation, immune disorders, metabolic disturbance, and mitochondrial dysfunction were significantly enriched in the development of DCM. Notably, IL6 was an upregulated hub gene with the highest connectivity degree, suggesting that it may interact with a great many molecules and pathways. Meanwhile, SOCS3 was also one of the top 15 hub genes in the PPI network. Herein, we detected the protein level of STAT3 and SOCS3 in a mouse model with DCM. Western blot results showed that the protein level of SOCS3 was significantly lower while phosphorylated-STAT3 (P-STAT3) was activated in mice with DCM. In vitro results also uncovered the similar alterations of SOCS3 and P-STAT3 in cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts induced by high glucose (HG). However, overexpression of SOCS3 could significantly reverse HG-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and collagen synthesis of cardiac fibroblasts. Taken together, our analysis unveiled potential biomarkers and molecular mechanisms in DCM, which could be helpful to the diagnosis and treatment of DCM.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is associated with a greater risk of mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. Currently, no specific treatment has been suggested for DCM treatment. This study demonstrated that myricetin (M) attenuated DCM-associated cardiac injury in mice subjected to streptozotocin (SZT) and in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCM) challenged with high glucose.In vivoinvestigation demonstrated 6 months of M treatment (200 mg/kg/d) significantly alleviated cardiac hypertrophy, apoptosis, and interstitial fibrosis. Mechanically, M treatment significantly increased the activity of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, strengthening antioxidative stress capacity evidenced by reversed activities of GPx and SOD, and decreased MDA production. M treatment also inhibited IκBα/NF-κB pathway, resulting in reduced secretion of inflammation cytokines including IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6. Besides, the TGFβ/Smad3 signaling was also blunted in DCM mice treated with M. These beneficial effects of M treatment protected cardiomyocytes from apoptosis as shown by decreased TUNEL-positive nucleus, c-caspase 3, and Bax. Similar effects of M treatment could be reproduced in NRCM treated with high glucose. Furthermore, through silencing Nrf2 in NRCM, we found that the regulation of IκBα/NFκB by M was independent on its function on Nrf2. Thus, we concluded that M possesses potential protective effects on DCM through inhibiting IκBα/NFκB and enhancing Nrf2/HO-1.

We propose a new collaborative neighbor representation algorithm for face recognition based on a revised regularized reconstruction error (RRRE), called the two-phase collaborative neighbor representation algorithm (TCNR). Specifically, the RRRE is the division of l2-norm of reconstruction error of each class into a linear combination of l2-norm of reconstruction coefficients of each class, which can be used to increase the discrimination information for classification. The algorithm is as follows: in the first phase, the test sample is represented as a linear combination of all the training samples by incorporating the neighbor information into the objective function. In the second phase, we use thekclasses to represent the test sample and calculate the collaborative neighbor representation coefficients. TCNR not only can preserve locality and similarity information of sparse coding but also can eliminate the side effect on the classification decision of the class that is far from the test sample. Moreover, the rationale and alternative scheme of TCNR are given. The experimental results show that TCNR algorithm achieves better performance than seven previous algorithms.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ(PPARγ) is a ligand-activated transcription factor belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily, which plays a central role in regulating lipid and glucose metabolism. However, accumulating evidence demonstrates that PPARγagonists have potential to reduce inflammation, influence the balance of immune cells, suppress oxidative stress, and improve endothelial function, which are all involved in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardiac fibrosis. Thus, in this review we discuss the role of PPARγin various cardiovascular conditions associated with cardiac fibrosis, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, myocardial infarction, heart failure, ischemia/reperfusion injury, atrial fibrillation, and several other cardiovascular disease (CVD) conditions, and summarize the developmental status of PPARγagonists for the clinical management of CVD.

A fairness-aware resource allocation scheme in a cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) network is proposed based on jointly optimizing the subcarrier pairing, power allocation, and channel-user assignment. Compared with traditional OFDM relaying networks, the source is permitted to retransfer the same data transmitted by it in the first time slot, further improving the system capacity performance. The problem which maximizes the energy efficiency (EE) of the system with total power constraint and minimal spectral efficiency constraint is formulated into a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem which has an intractable complexity in general. The optimization model is simplified into a typical fractional programming problem which is testified to be quasiconcave. Thus we can adopt Dinkelbach method to deal with MINLP problem proposed to achieve the optimal solution. The simulation results show that the joint resource allocation method proposed can achieve an optimal EE performance under the minimum system service rate requirement with a good global convergence.

Objective. To expand upon the role of iguratimod (T-614) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we investigated whether the Th1, Th17, follicular helper T cells (Tfh), and regulatory T cells (Treg) imbalance could be reversed by iguratimod and the clinical implications of this reversal.Methods. In this trial, 74 patients were randomized into iguratimod-treated (group A) and control (broup B) group for a 24-week treatment period. In the subsequent 28 weeks, both groups were given iguratimod. Frequencies of Th1, Th17, Tfh, and Treg were quantified using flow cytometry, and serum cytokines were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. mRNA expression of cytokines and transcriptional factor were quantified by RT-PCR. The composite Disease Activity Score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein were assessed at each visit.Result. The clinical scores demonstrated effective suppression of disease after treatment with iguratimod. In addition, iguratimod downregulated Th1, Th17-type response and upregulated Treg. Furthermore, the levels of Th1, Th17, and Tfh associated inflammatory cytokines and transcription factors were reduced after treatment with iguratimod, while the levels of Treg associated cytokines and transcription factors were increased.

A fatigue damage assessment for concrete was carried out according to Eurocode 2. Three frequency-domain methods, the level crossing counting (LCC) method, the range counting (RC) method, and a new proposed method, were used for the damage assessment. The applicability of these frequency-domain methods was evaluated by comparison with the rainflow counting method in the time domain. A preliminary numerical study was carried out to verify the applicability of the frequency-domain methods for stress processes with different bandwidths; thus, the applicability of the LCC method and the new method was preliminarily confirmed. The fatigue strength of concrete had a minor effect on the fatigue damage assessment. The applicability of the LCC and the new methods deteriorated for relatively low coefficients of variance of the stress process because the ultimate number of constant amplitude cycles was sensitive to the range of the cycles. The validity of the joint probability functions of the two methods was proven using a numerical simulation. The integration intervals of the two frequency-domain methods were varied to estimate the lower and upper bounds on the fatigue damage, which can serve as references to evaluate the accuracy of the time-domain method results.

The present study explored the feasibility of using hexagonal-phase NaYF4:Ce,Tb,Gd nanocrystals as bimodal probes for fluorescence and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Using a facile and user-friendly strategy, the NaYF4:Ce,Tb,Gd nanocrystals were synthesized with good water dispensability, high quantum yield (26%), and decent MRT1relaxivity (r1=2.87 mM−1 s−1). The NaYF4:Ce,Tb,Gd NCs conjugated by folic acid presented great efficiency in fluorescence imaging of C6 glioma cellsin vitro. Meanwhile, inin vivoMR experiments on rats, the NaYF4:Ce,Tb,Gd NCs also significantly increasedT1signal in the liver, spleen, and kidney even with a low probe dose. The proposed NaYF4:Ce,Tb,Gd nanoprobes hold promise for simultaneous bimodal fluorescence and MR bioimaging.