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Three-dimensional (3D) human pose tracking has recently attracted increased attention in the computer vision field. Real-time pose tracking is highly useful in various domains such as video surveillance, somatosensory games, and human-computer interaction. However, vision-based pose tracking techniques usually raise privacy concerns, making human pose tracking without vision data usage an important problem. Thus, we propose using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as a pose tracking technique via a low-cost wearable sensing device. Although our prior work illustrated how deep learning could transfer RFID data into real-time human poses, generalization for different subjects remains challenging. This paper proposes a subject-adaptive technique to address this generalization problem. In the proposed system, termed Cycle-Pose, we leverage a cross-skeleton learning structure to improve the adaptability of the deep learning model to different human skeletons. Moreover, our novel cycle kinematic network is proposed for unpaired RFID and labeled pose data from different subjects. The Cycle-Pose system is implemented and evaluated by comparing its prototype with a traditional RFID pose tracking system. The experimental results demonstrate that Cycle-Pose can achieve lower estimation error and better subject generalization than the traditional system.

The thermal stress imbalance is a challenge for the reliability and in-service lifetime of modular multilevel converters, especially in traction drive applications. The finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) can offer an effective solution to this issue, but it is faced with two difficulties, that is the weight allocation of electrical and thermal variables with different natures in control objectives functions, and dynamic weighting factor adjustment during the switching of variable operations. Therefore, an electro-thermal performance-based FCS-MPC (ETP-FCS-MPC) for dynamic thermal balance control is proposed, which can not only achieve thermal stress balance in converters with more intuitive and time saving ways, but also offer dynamic compromise schemes between the electrical and thermal performance of converters in the speed switching process. First of all, dynamic electrical and thermal models of converters are presented. Then, the absolute error-based electrical control objective and the energy loss variance-based thermal control objective are designed. Moreover, a performance-based normalized control objective function and an outer loop control feedback-based dynamic weighting factor are proposed. Finally, HIL-based test is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, the test results show the merits of the proposed method.

Deep learning has great potential for accurate detection and classification of diseases with medical imaging data, but the performance is often limited by the number of training datasets and memory requirements. In addition, many deep learning models are considered a "black-box," thereby often limiting their adoption in clinical applications. To address this, we present a successive subspace learning model, termed VoxelHop, for accurate classification of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) using T2-weighted structural MRI data. Compared with popular convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures, VoxelHop has modular and transparent structures with fewer parameters without any backpropagation, so it is well-suited to small dataset size and 3D imaging data. Our VoxelHop has four key components, including (1) sequential expansion of near-to-far neighborhood for multi-channel 3D data; (2) subspace approximation for unsupervised dimension reduction; (3) label-assisted regression for supervised dimension reduction; and (4) concatenation of features and classification between controls and patients. Our experimental results demonstrate that our framework using a total of 20 controls and 26 patients achieves an accuracy of 93.48 % and an AUC score of 0.9394 in differentiating patients from controls, even with a relatively small number of datasets, showing its robustness and effectiveness. Our thorough evaluations also show its validity and superiority to the state-of-the-art 3D CNN classification approaches. Our framework can easily be generalized to other classification tasks using different imaging modalities.

The network structure exhibits a variety of changes over time. Fusing this structure and the development of communities in dynamic networks plays an important role in analyzing the evolution and development of the entire network. How to ensure the division of the community structure in social network big data, as well as ensure the continuity of the community between the current time and previous time period, are issues that need to be explored. This problem can be solved by fusing the three characteristics of temporal variability, stability, and continuity in dynamic social network communities, and by adopting the multi-objective optimization method to detect community structures in dynamic networks. The probability fusion method is added to the initial step of the algorithm to generate suitable network partitions and ensure fast convergence and high accuracy. Two neighboring fusion strategies are proposed that are suitable for communities: the neighbor diversity strategy and the neighbor crowd strategy. These two strategies make different changes to the candidate network partitions. A continuity metric for dynamic community evolution is formulated to compare the similarity of the dynamic network communities of two consecutive time steps. Experiments on synthetic datasets and actual datasets prove that the proposed method in this paper provides better performance than existing methods.

As the general mobile edge computing (MEC) scheme cannot adequately handle the emergency communication requirements in vehicular networks, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted vehicular edge computing networks (VECNs) are envisioned as the reliable and cost-efficient paradigm for the mobility and flexibility of UAVs. UAVs can perform as the temporary base stations to provide edge services for road vehicles with heavy traffic. However, it takes a long time and huge energy consumption for the UAV to fly from the stay charging station to the mission areas disorderly. In this paper, we design a pre-dispatch UAV-assisted VECNs system to cope with the demand of vehicles in multiple traffic jams. We propose an optimal UAV flight trajectory algorithm based on the traffic situation awareness. The cloud computing center (CCC) server predicts the real-time traffic conditions, and assigns UAVs to different mission areas periodically. Then, a flight trajectory optimization problem is formulated to minimize the cost of UAVs, while both the UAV flying and turning energy costs are mainly considered. In addition, we propose a deep reinforcement learning(DRL)-based energy efficiency autonomous deployment strategy, to obtain the optimal hovering position of UAV at each assigned mission area. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed method can obtain an optimal flight path and deployment of UAV with lower energy consumption.

Backgrounds Trigeminal neuralgia (TGN) is a common pain syndrome of nervous system, despite about 90% patients who were refectory to medications could free from pain after microvascular decompression (MVD), some patients did experience recurrence. Objectives The study aimed to analyze clinical characteristics of patients with recurrent TN, recurrence factors of TN, and prognosis after re-do MVD. Methods Clinical data and at least 12 months follow-up of patients with recurrent TN who underwent re-do MVD in our hospital from 2005 to 2020 were collected and analyzed. Results 14 patients with recurrent TN were enrolled eventually, adhesive arachnoid membranes were found in all patients. Teflon granuloma was found in 10 patients, new neurovascular compression (NVC) in 3 patients, and Teflon displacement in 1 patient. Pain disappeared in 12 patients and relieved in 2 patients, but 4 patients experienced facial numbness and 1 patient suffered from incision infection after re-do MVC. No serious surgery-related complications and pain recurrences were recorded. Conclusions Teflon granuloma was the most common cause of TN recurrence in current study, new NVC was also a common cause, patients with recurrent TN could get satisfactory results from re-do MVD.

The main spatial distribution features of shear rate in a stirred tank operated with five different radial and axial flow impellers were presented with particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments. Not only the average shear rate in the whole tank but also the local value in vicinity of impeller increases linearly with impeller speed. Furthermore, the shear coefficient (Ks,imp) at the impeller outlet is linearly related to the impeller flow number (Nq) and decreases with the increase of Nq in general at the constant power consumption per unit volume (Pv). During scale-up based on the constant Pv and geometric similarity, CFD results show that the volume-averaged shear rate (γavg) for RDT decreases faster than that of other impellers with the impeller tip velocity (Utip). The novel multi-blade combined (MBC) impeller with the increased height-to-diameter ratio of the stirred tank is able to more effectively improve the distribution uniformity of shear rate at the same Pv after scale-up. These studies provide a data basis for selecting the impeller types and improving the shear rate environment in large-scale stirred tank.

Background: Pancreatic trauma results in significant morbidity and mortality. However, few studies have investigated the postoperative prognostic factors in patients with pancreatic trauma. Material and methods: A retrospective study was conducted on consecutive patients with pancreatic trauma who underwent surgery in a national referral trauma center. Clinical data were retrieved from the electronic medical system. Univariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the perioperative clinical parameters that may predict the factors of mortality of the patients. Results: A total of 150 patients underwent laparotomy due to pancreatic trauma during the study period. 128(85.4%) patients survived and 22 (14.6%) patients died due to pancreatic injury (10 patients died of recurrent intra-abdominal active hemorrhage and 12 died of multiple organ failure). Univariate analysis showed that age, hemodynamic status, and injury severe score (ISS) as well as postoperative serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, albumin, creatinine and the volume of intraoperative blood transfusion remained strongly predictive of mortality (P

The huge amount of complex scene information recorded by light field imaging has the prospect of immersive media applications. Compression and reconstruction algorithms are crucial for the transmission, storage, and display of such massive data. Most of the existing quality evaluation indexes do not take an effective account of light field characteristics. To accurately evaluate the distortions caused by compression and reconstruction algorithms, it is necessary to construct an image evaluation index that reflects the angular-spatial characteristic of the light field. This work proposes a full reference light field image quality evaluation index, which attempts to extract less information from the focus stack to accurately evaluate the entire light field quality. The proposed framework includes three specific steps. Firstly, we construct a key refocused images extraction framework by the maximal spatial information contrast and the minimal angular information variation. Specifically, the gradient and phase congruency operators are used in the extraction framework. Secondly, a novel light field quality evaluation index is built based on the angular-spatial characteristic of the key refocused images. In detail, the features used in the key refocused images extraction framework and the chrominance feature are combined to construct the union feature. Then the similarity of the union feature is pooled by the relevant visual saliency map to get the predicted score. Finally, the overall quality of the light field is measured by applying the proposed index to the key refocused images. The high efficiency and precision of the proposed method are shown by extensive comparison experiments.

Background/Purpose Based on the fundamental of the S3-level clinical practice guideline (CPG) for treating stage I-III periodontitis developed by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP), this consensus report aimed to develop treatment recommendations for treating periodontitis in the Taiwanese population. Methods The report was constructed by experts from the Taiwan Academy of Periodontology. The following topics were reviewed: (a) the prevalence of periodontitis in Asia and current status of treatment in Taiwan; (b) specific anatomical considerations for treating periodontitis in Asians; (d) educational and preventive interventions and supragingival plaque control; (d) subgingival instrumentation and adjunctive treatment; (e) surgical periodontal therapy; and (f) maintenance and supportive periodontal care. Recommendations were made according to the evidences from the EFP CPG, the published literature and clinical studies in Asians, and the expert opinions. Results The treatment recommendations for the Taiwanese population were generally in parallel with the EFP CPG, and extra cautions during treatment and maintenance phases were advised due to the anatomical variations, such as shorter root trunk, higher prevalence of supernumerary distolingual root and lingual bony concavity in mandibular posteriors, and thinner anterior labial plate, of the Asian population. Conclusion The EFP CPG could be adopted for treating periodontitis and maintaining periodontal health of the Taiwanese population, and anatomical variations should be cautious when the treatment is delivered.

The required surface shape of the intra-cavity deformable mirror (DM) is not conjugate with the aberration in an unstable standing-wave resonator, which makes the adaptive correction inside the resonator complicated. In this letter, an unstable travelling-wave resonator structure with an intra-cavity adaptive optics (AO) system is proposed to solve this problem. More specifically, the Shark-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWFS) and a 980 nm probe beam are employed to measure the aberration of the Nd:YAG slab during lasing operation. A tip/tilt mirror (TTM) is used to correct the intra-cavity tilt, and a DM is employed to compensate for all the remaining intra-cavity aberration. By placing both the wavefront correctors (DM and TTM) and the Nd:YAG slab in the collimated part of the travelling-wave resonator, the required surface shape of the DM is well conjugate with the measured aberration. Experimental results show the proposed method can effectively improve the performance of solid-state slab lasers. After correction, the output power increased from 1312 W to 1587 W, and the corresponding optical-to-optical efficiency increased from 19.5% to 23.6%. Meanwhile, the beam quality $\beta $ was improved from 9.7 to 1.8.

Purpose A new type of visualized steerable sheath (Vizigo sheath; Biosense Webster Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) has been employed in clinical treatment. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of the Vizigo sheath to a fixed sheath (Swartz sheath; St. Jude Inc., St. Paul, MN, USA) for catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Methods We analyzed the procedural time, fluoroscopy time, contact force (CF), and initial pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) rate. After 6 months of follow-up, the success rate of ablation between the two groups was compared. Results Compared to the Swartz sheath, using the Vizigo sheath can significantly reduce the total procedural time and fluoroscopy time and increase the overall average CF, especially in the anterior left pulmonary vein (LPV), superior LPV, posterior right pulmonary vein (RPV), and superior RPV. The proportion of CF within a reasonable range in the Vizigo group was significantly higher than that in the Swartz group, especially in the anterior LPV, posterior RPV, and superior RPV. Besides, the left, right, and bilateral initial PVI rates in the Vizigo group were significantly higher. Conclusions The visualized steerable sheath for PAF catheter ablation not only reduced radiation exposure but also significantly improved CF and initial PVI rate, all of which indicated an increased rate of successful ablation.

The rapid economic development and climate change have accelerated the changes in China’s food production and have a potential impact on food security. In this paper, the grain sown area from 2001 to 2019 was selected to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution and driving factors of China’s grain production through spatial autocorrelation analysis and geographically weighted regression. Our findings were as follows: (1) From the perspective of time characteristics, China’s grain production from 2001 to 2019 experienced four stages, rapid decline, rapid growth, steady growth, and slow decline, although with an overall upward trend. (2) From the perspective of spatial characteristics, the overall spatial pattern had a significant positive correlation. The high values were mainly concentrated in Shandong, Anhui, and Jilin and moved to the northeast China as time went on. (3) In terms of influencing factors, the positive impact of agricultural labor force on the grain production gradually decreased, showing a decreasing trend from southwest to northeast. The promotion of agricultural mechanization on the grain production increased year by year, with the spatial distribution characteristics of high in the northeast and low in the southwest. Besides, the coefficient of water resources endowment was negative, showing a spatial distribution pattern of high north and low south.

BackgroundThe association of periodontal disease with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases is well known, but not specifically with incident peripheral artery disease (PAD). Therefore, we studied the associations of periodontal disease with incident PAD in a population-based setting.MethodsAmong 9,793 participants (aged 53-75 years) without prevalent PAD, self-reported history of periodontal disease was ascertained. Of these, 5,872 participants underwent full-mouth examinations from which periodontal status was defined using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-American Academy of Periodontology (CDC-AAP) definition. We quantified the association of periodontal disease with incident PAD (defined by hospital admission diagnosis or procedures) using multivariable Cox regression models.ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 20.1 years, 360 participants (3.6%) developed PAD. In models accounting for potential confounders including diabetes and smoking pack-years, there was higher hazard of PAD in participants with self-reported tooth loss because of periodontal disease (hazard ratio:1.54 [95% CI:1.20-1.98]), history of periodontal disease treatment (1.37 [1.05-1.80]), and periodontal disease diagnosis (1.38 [1.09-1.74]), compared to their respective counterparts. The clinical measure of periodontal disease (n=5,872) was not significantly associated with incident PAD in the fully adjusted model (e.g., 1.53 [0.94-2.50] in CDC-AAP-defined severe periodontal disease versus no disease).ConclusionWe observed a modest association of self-reported periodontal disease, especially when resulting in tooth loss, with incident PAD in the general population. Nonetheless, a larger study with the clinical measure of periodontal disease is warranted.

Objectives: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is associated with increased risk of major depression in the general population, however, no previous study has evaluated its role among pregnant women. We aimed to investigate the potential impact of AR during pregnancy on the development of postpartum depression (PPD). Methods: This is a population-based case-control study. Data were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Medical records of a total of 199 470 deliveries during 2000 and 2010 were identified. Among which, 1416 women with PPD within 12 months after delivery were classified as the case group, while 198 054 women without PPD after delivery formed the control group. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations between AR during pregnancies and other study variables with PPD. Results: AR during pregnancy was found in 9.53% women who developed PPD and 5.44% in women without PPD. After adjusting for age at delivery, income level, various pregnancy and delivery-related conditions, asthma, atopic dermatitis and other medical comorbidities in the multivariate analysis, AR was significantly associated with increased odds of PPD (aOR: 1.498, 95% CI: 1.222-1.836). Conclusion: AR during pregnancy was independently and significantly associated with an approximately 50% increased risk of PPD among women giving birth. Closely monitoring of AR is warranted in the future in order to optimize mother and child outcomes after delivery.

A 12-GHz transformer feedback Class-F2,3 voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using noise circulating is proposed in this letter. Transformer feedback is utilized in the proposed VCO to achieve Class-F2,3 resonant impedance control at the VCO output and tail current transistor input. Also, the noise contribution of the tail current transistor is further reduced by partially circulating its noise into itself. The proposed VCO is fabricated in 40-nm CMOS process with 0.04-mm2 core area. Experimental results show that the frequency tuning range of the VCO is 11.74–12.63 GHz. The VCO achieves phase noise of −120.2 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency at 12 GHz with figure of merit (FoM) of 190.5 dBc/Hz and FoM $_{T}$ of 187.8 dBc/Hz, and consumes 13.23 mW from a 1.1-V supply.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the three-port approach and conventional five-port laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) with an ileal conduit. Methods Eighty-four patients, who were diagnosed with high-risk non-muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma and underwent LRC with an ileal conduit between January 2018 and April 2020, were retrospectively evaluated. Thirty and fifty-four patients respectively underwent the three-port approach and five-port LRC. Clinical characteristics, pathological data, perioperative outcomes, and follow-up data were analysed. Results There were no differences in perioperatively surgical outcome, including pathology type, prostate adenocarcinoma incidence, tumour staging, and postoperative creatinine levels between the two groups. The operative time (271.3 ± 24.03 vs. 279.57 ± 48.47 min, P = 0.299), estimated blood loss (65 vs. 90 mL, P = 0.352), time to passage of flatus (8 vs. 10 days, P = 0.084), and duration of hospitalisation post-surgery (11 vs. 12 days, P = 0.922) were no clear difference between both groups. Compared with the five-port group, the three-port LRC group was related to lower inpatient costs (12 453 vs. 14 134 $, P = 0.021). Our follow-up results indicated that the rate of postoperative complications, 90-day mortality, and the oncological outcome did not show meaningful differences between these two groups. Conclusions Three-port LRC with an ileal conduit is technically safe and feasible for the treatment of bladder cancer. On comparing the three-port LRC with the five-port LRC, our technique does not increase the rate of short-term and long-term complications and tumour recurrence, but the treatment costs of the former were reduced.

Background: Lipid metabolic reprogramming was considered as a new hallmark of malignant tumors. It has been reported to play a crucial biological role in cell proliferation, energy homeostasis and signal-transduction. However, the important value of lipid metabolism-related genes(LMRGs) in prognostic prediction and the tumor immune microenvironment has not been explored by large sample studies in colorectal cancer(CRC). Methods: In this study, the lipid metabolism status of 1086 CRC samples was analyzed using RNA expression profiles and clinical data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, of which the former was determined as training set and the latter as validation set. The risk signature was constructed by the univariate Cox regression and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator(LASSO) COX regression. The patients were stratified into high- and low-risk groups according to the median value of the risk score. Immune and mutation landscape between low- and high-risk CRC patients were also explored. Additionally, we established a nomogram integrating the risk signature and clinical factors to improve risk assessment of CRC patients. Results: A four LMRGs signature, including PROCA1, CCKBR, CPT2 and FDFT1, was constructed to predict the prognosis of CRC. The risk signature as an independent prognostic factor for CRC was associated with a variety of parameters. Survival analysis showed that patients with low risk score had a better prognosis. There were different immune landscapes between low and high-risk CRC patients, especially in monocytes, dendritic cells, M0 and M2-like macrophages. Patients in the low-risk group were more likely to have higher tumor mutation burden, stem cell characteristics and level of PD-L1 expression. In addition, it was found that genes that played crucial biological functions in tumorigenesis (including TP53, PI3K and MUC16) had significant differences in mutation frequency between two groups. Conclusion: A lipid metabolism-related risk signature for predicting the prognosis of CRC was identified in this study. Furthermore, this prognostic signature may be a potential biomarker for predicting the efficacy of chemotherapy and anti-PD-L1 therapy in CRC.

Background: Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury is caused by a blood reperfusion injury in the ischemic brain and usually occurs in the treatment stage of ischemic disease, which can aggravate brain tissue injury. Objective: Curcumin was reported to exert a good therapeutic effect on neural cells against ischemia- reperfusion injury, However, the mechanism is not clear. Methods: In this study, Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation (OGD) model of fetal rat cerebral cortical neurons and the Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO) model of rats were employed to mimic cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Results: We confirmed that curcumin has a promotive effect on neuronal proliferation and an inhibitory effect on neuronal pyroptosis. Furthermore, we found that curcumin could improve cerebral infarction. The results of western blotting showed that curcumin down-regulated the expression of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein-, leucine-rich repeats-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 1 (NLRP1), cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease 1 (caspase-1), gasdermin D (GSDMD), IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and iNOS proteins in OGD and MCAO models. NLRP1- dependent neuronal pyroptosis played an important role in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Conclusion: Curcumin could effectively inhibit NLRP1-dependent neuronal pyroptosis by suppressing the p38 MAPK pathway and therefore exerted neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia- reperfusion injury.

Objective Mutations in the colony‐stimulating factor 1 receptor gene (CSF1R) were identified as a cause of adult‐onset inherited leukoencephalopathy. The present study aims at investigating the frequency, clinical characteristics, and functional effects of CSF1R mutations in Taiwanese patients with adult‐onset leukoencephalopathy. Methods Mutational analysis of CSF1R was performed in 149 unrelated individuals with leukoencephalopathy by a targeted resequencing panel covering the entire coding regions of CSF1R. In vitro analysis of the CSF1‐induced autophosphorylation activities of mutant CSF1R proteins was conducted to assess the pathogenicity of the CSF1R mutations. Results Among the eight CSF1R variants identified in this study, five mutations led to a loss of CSF1‐induced autophosphorylation of CSF1R proteins. Four mutations (p.K586*, p.G589R, p.R777Q, and p.R782C) located within the tyrosine kinase domain of CSF1R, whereas the p.T79M mutation resided in the immunoglobulin‐like domain. The five patients carrying the CSF1R mutations developed cognitive decline at age 41, 43, 50, 79, and 86 years, respectively. Psychiatric symptoms and behavior changes were observed in four of the five patients. The executive function and processing speed were severely impaired at an early stage, and their cognitive function deteriorated rapidly within 3–4 years. Diffusion‐restricted lesions at the subcortical regions and bilateral corticospinal tracts were found in three patients. Interpretation CSF1R mutations account for 3.5% (5/149) of the adult‐onset leukoencephalopathy in Taiwan. CSF1R mutations outside the tyrosine kinase domain may also disturb the CSF1R function and lead to the clinical phenotype. Molecular functional validation is important to determine the pathogenicity of novel CSF1R variants.

Solubility has been widely regarded as a fundamental property of small molecule drugs and drug candidates, as it has a profound impact on the crystallization process. Solubility prediction, as an alternative to experiments which can reduce waste and improve crystallization process efficiency, has attracted increasing attention. However, there are still many urgent challenges thus far. Herein we used seven descriptors based on understanding dissolution behavior to establish two solubility prediction models by machine learning algorithms. The solubility data of 120 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in ethanol were considered in the prediction models, which were constructed by random decision forests and artificial neural network with optimized data structure and model accuracy. Furthermore, a comparison with traditional prediction methods including the modified solubility equation and the quantitative structure-property relationships model was carried out. The highest accuracy shown by the testing set proves that the ML models have the best solubility prediction ability. Multiple linear regression and stepwise regression were used to further investigate the critical factor in determining solubility value. The results revealed that the API properties and the solute-solvent interaction both provide a nonnegligible contribution to the solubility value.

Titanium nitride (TiN) is widely used in electrode materials in fast charging/discharging supercapacitors (SCs) due to its outstanding conductivity. However, the low capacitance of the TiN electrode limits its further application in the SCs. Therefore, the reasonable design of the TiN electrode with high electrochemical and mechanical properties is still a challenge. In this paper, the silicon nanowires/titanium nitride electrode (Si NWs/TiN) is prepared by depositing TiN onto the etched Si nanowires by direct current magnetron sputtering. The Si NWs are prepared by etching silicon in 4.8 M HF/0.02 M AgNO3 aqueous solution for different times (5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 60 min). The mechanism of the effect of etched silicon substrate morphology on the electrochemical performance of Si NWs/TiN electrode was studied. As the etching time increases, the differences of the TiN surface structure, lattice defects and surface chemical composition will change the capacitance performance and charge storage mechanism of the Si NWs/TiN electrode. The prepared Si30 NWs/TiN electrode exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance as high as 113.55 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 with 0.5 M H2SO4 solution as electrolyte. The specific capacitance of the Si30 NWs/TiN electrode is as high as 7.5 times that of the electrode without etching at 100 mV s−1. The Si30 NWs/TiN electrode has an excellent cyclic stability performance, which the electrode has a decay rate of 12.4% after 2000 cycles. This indicates that the electrode has reliable stability. The electrode of the supercapacitor prepared by this method can open up a new way to expand the specific surface area of other transition metal nitride.

A single-crystal islands (SCI) technique using low thermal budget pulse laser process is proposed and demonstrated to fabricate single-crystal silicon islands over amorphous dielectric for monolithic 3-D and back-end-of-line (BEOL) FinFET circuits. By laser recrystallizing mask-defined a-Si islands encapsulated with conformal silicon nitride film, designed single-crystal Si islands can be obtained. The single crystallinity of the island are verified with SECCO Etch, high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron backside scattering (EBSD). About 40 nm FinFETs were successfully fabricated in the SCI Si islands and shown to exhibit excellent electrical performance and low variability that are compatible with the FinFETs fabricated on commercial silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer.

Scene classification of high-spatial resolution imagery (HSRI) includes various potential applications in various fields. Recently, deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved competitive performance as a result of the powerful capability of feature extraction. In this paper, we propose a multi-level improved circle pooling (MICP) method with the pre-trained CNN-based model to enhance the discriminative power of CNN activations for scene classification. Specifically, an improved pooling strategy is presented to generate annular subregions without padding operations in traditional concentric circle pooling. Then, we extract the pooling features in these subregions under different levels and build a holistic representation by fusing these multi-level features. MICP is an effective and simple strategy enriching rotation insensitivity and multiscale spatial information. According to the experiments conducted on three challenging HRSI scene data sets, the proposed pooling method achieves similar or better classification accuracy compared to the other CNN-based scene classification methods. Moreover, a comprehensive discussion regarding the effect of data augmentation reveals that the proposed method can enhance the rotation insensitivity of CNNs for the HRSI scene classification.

Accurate identification of protein-nucleotide binding residues is crucial for the study of drug structure and protein functional annotation. The study of protein-nucleotide binding residues is a typical problem of sample imbalance. The minority class (binding residues) are far less than the majority class (non-binding residues). The traditional machine learning algorithm is not universal for this kind of research, the results will be seriously biased to majority class. To deal with the serious imbalance problem, we propose a new computational method to identify protein-nucleotide binding residues via Graph Regularized k-local Hyperplane Distance Nearest Neighbor (GHKNN). On the training set, we compare the performance of the basic classifier, the ensemble classifier and the single classifier. On the independent test sets, we compare the performance with other existing models. The experimental results prove that our proposed method has higher accuracy in the identification of protein-nucleotide binding residues and is more prominent than other existing models. The data and material are freely available at https://github.com/guofei-tju/GHKNN .

The COVID-19 has created significant impacts on the economy and individual life around the world. Various countries and cities have adopted corresponding control measures to reduce transport activities and maintain social distance to combat the spread of COVID-19. In the circumstances, residents only maintained essential travel to ensure a normal and fundamental life. In order to explore the impacts of the epidemic and control measures on individually essential travel, we have collected 513 questionnaires between February and March 2020 in China to investigate the various characteristics of essential travel. Using a multivariate logistic regression model, we examine the major factors that potentially impact the mode choices of essential travel. Results show that various socioeconomic, transport supply, health concern and travel purpose have significantly influenced travel mode choices of essential travel. The concept of essential travel will, in the era of port-pandemic, have profound implications on transportation policy making, especially on how to improve the fundamental welfare of the disadvantaged population.

In recent years, human pose tracking has become an important topic in computer vision (CV). To improve the privacy of human pose tracking, there is considerable interest in techniques without using a video camera. To this end, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, as a low-cost wearable sensor, provide an effective solution for 3-D human pose tracking. In this article, we propose RFID-Pose, a vision-aided realtime 3-D human pose estimation system, which is based on deep learning assisted by CV. The RFID phase data are calibrated to effectively mitigate the severe phase distortion, and high accuracy low rank tensor completion is employed to impute the missing RFID data. The system then estimates the spatial rotation angle of each human limb, and utilizes the rotation angles to reconstruct human pose in realtime with the forward kinematic technique. A prototype is developed with commodity RFID devices. High pose estimation accuracy and realtime operation of RFID-Pose are demonstrated in our experiments using Kinect 2.0 as a benchmark.

BACKGROUND Identifying novel colorectal cancer (CRC) prognostic biomarkers is crucial to helping clinicians make appropriate therapy decisions. Melatonin plays a major role in managing the circadian rhythm and exerts oncostatic effects on different kinds of tumours. AIM To explore the relationship between MTNR1B single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) combined with gene hypermethylation and CRC prognosis. METHODS A total of 94 CRC tumour tissues were investigated. Genotyping for the four MTNR1B SNPs (rs1387153, rs2166706, rs10830963, and rs1447352) was performed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The relationships between the MTNR1B SNPs and CRC 5-year overall survival (OS) was assessed by calculating hazard ratios with 95%CIs. RESULTS All SNPs (rs1387153, rs2166706, rs10830963, and rs1447352) were correlated with decreased 5-year OS. In stratified analysis, rs1387153, rs10830963, and rs1447352 risk genotype combined with CDKN2A and MGMT methylation status were associated with 5-year OS. A strong cumulative effect of the four polymorphisms on CRC prognosis was observed. Four haplotypes of MTNR1B SNPs were also associated with the 5-year OS. MTNR1B SNPs combined with CDKN2A and MGMT gene methylation status could be used to predict shorter CRC survival. CONCLUSION The novel genetic biomarkers combined with epigenetic biomarkers may be predictive tool for CRC prognosis and thus could be used to individualise treatment for patients with CRC.

The latent heat thermal energy storage unit (LHTESU) strengthened by metal foam can effectively store solar energy and realize the sustainable utilization of solar energy. In this paper, the metal foam with a two-dimensional (radial and circumferential direction) porosity gradient is proposed for the problem of slow melting rate and non-uniform melting in the horizontal shell-and-tube LHTESU. The non-uniform index and thermal energy storage rate are introduced to evaluate different metal foam structures. Under the same amount of metal foam, the influence of one-dimensional and two-dimensional graded structures is numerically studied. The results show that circumferential graded structure can alleviate the non-uniform melting problem. Compared with the uniform structure, the non-uniformity index decreases by 36.63% and the thermal energy storage rate is increased by 38.60%. In addition, the optimum circumferential porosity gradient also increases with the increase of Ra*. The strengthening effect of the circumferential and radial graded structures is also compared. It can be found that with the increase of porosity gradient, the strengthening effect of the circumferential graded structure increases gradually and that of radial graded structure first increases and then decreases. When the circumferential graded structure is combined with the radial graded structure, the two-dimensional porosity gradient structure can further improve the thermal performance of LHTESU. Compared with the uniform structure, the thermal energy storage rate can be increased by 47.40%.

The aim was to explore the application value of brain image segmentation algorithm based on diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in the structural remodeling of white matter (WM) in patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). 120 patients with leukoencephalopathy and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were selected as the research objects. Their heads were scanned by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DKI sequence. Besides, DKI based on the image segmentation algorithm was applied to process DKI images, DKE software was employed to obtain the values of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean kurtosis (MK), and the differences in FA and MK were compared between acute and chronic phases. The results showed that the proposed algorithm could realize the best values of Jaccard similarity (JS) and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) in WM, gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and the segmentation accuracy was better than other algorithms. FA values at the acute and chronic phases were compared in the area around lesions (0.421 ± 0.065 vs. 0.454 ± 0.052), the posterior limb of internal capsule on the affected side (0.498 ± 0.027 vs. 0.504 ± 0.046), and the pedunculus cerebri on the affected side (0.558 ± 0.038 vs. 0.568 ± 0.042), and the differences were statistically substantial ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, MK values at the acute and chronic phases were also compared in the area around lesions (1.362 ± 0.098 vs. 1.407 ± 0.077), the centrum semiovale on the affected side (1.305 ± 0.102 vs. 1.343 ± 0.076), the posterior limb of internal capsule on the affected side (1.338 ± 0.543 vs. 1.382 ± 0.076), and the pedunculus cerebri on the affected side (1.329 ± 0.089 vs. 1.398 ± 0.099), showing a statistical meaning ( P < 0.05 ). The results indicated that the changes of FA and MK were related to the structural remodeling of WM. The DKI image segmentation algorithm could be applied in the diagnosis of leukoencephalopathy in patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and DKI technology was of great significance for the research of structural remodeling of WM.

To examine the prospective association of BPH with subsequent risk of CVD, including heart disease and stroke. We used data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study of 5242 Chinese men aged 45 years or older. During a follow-up of 7 years, we identified 613 cases of non-fatal CVD, including 417 heart diseases and 254 strokes. Cox proportional hazards models yielded hazard ratios (HRs) relating BPH to CVD, heart disease, and stroke incidence. Overall, 8.1% of men reported a history of BPH diagnosed by physicians at baseline. As compared with men without a history of BPH, those reporting a history of BPH had an increased risk of developing CVD (multivariable-adjusted HR = 1.43 [1.12, 1.83], heart disease (1.35 [1.00, 1.83]), and stroke (1.50 [1.03, 2.19]). The subgroup analysis by age at baseline ( 0.10 for all outcomes). In Chinese men, BPH was associated with higher risks of CVD, heart disease and stroke, particularly among men aged

Objective Previous studies have shown that a number of cytokines participate in the regulation of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). To investigate the potential role of interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α) in AS pathogenesis, this study examined the serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in patients with AS and its clinical association with disease activity. Materials and Methods The serum concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-α from 80 patients with AS and 46 healthy control patients (HCs) were examined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The correlations between the serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), computed tomography (CT) imaging-based classification, and laboratory indicators were analyzed using the Spearman correlation test. Results Compared to HCs, patients with AS showed higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α. There was also a positive correlation between the serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels and the BASDAI, the progression of AS, and the CT imaging–based classification. The serum levels of IL-6 correlated closely with C-reactive protein and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. More important, patients with AS with hip joint involvement exhibited a significant elevation of serum levels of TNF-α, and higher IL-6 was detected in patients with the involvement of joints other than the hip and sacroiliac joints. Conclusion The serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α can function as important indicators for auxiliary diagnosis and disease activity evaluation of AS.

Aim Exosomes has been shown to be involved in the regulation of cancer progression. However, the role of exosome miR-134-5p in breast cancer (BC) progression is unclear. Methods Exosomes were extracted from BC cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) using differential centrifugation and were observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The protein levels of exosome markers, apoptosis markers, Rho GTPase activating protein 1 (ARHGAP1, an important oncogene in BC) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) markers were detected by western blot (WB) assay. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the expression levels of miR-134-5p and ARHGAP1. Cell cycle and apoptosis, colony number, viability, migration, and invasion were determined by flow cytometry, colony formation assay, MTT assay, and transwell assay, respectively. The interaction between miR-134-5p and ARHGAP1 was confirmed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Xenograft models were constructed to verify the role of exosome miR-134-5p in BC tumor growth in vivo. Results MiR-134-5p was lowly expressed in BC cells and in the exosomes of BC cells. Overexpressed exosome miR-134-5p suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of BC cells. ARHGAP1 was a target of miR-134-5p, and its silencing could inhibit BC progression. In addition, ARHGAP1 overexpression could reverse the negative regulation of miR-134-5p on BC progression. MiR-134-5p could target ARHGAP1 to inhibit the activity of PI3K/AKT pathway. Exosome miR-134-5p overexpression could suppress BC tumor growth via targeting ARHGAP1 in vivo. Conclusion Exosome miR-134-5p restrained BC progression through regulating ARHGAP1/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, suggesting that miR-134-5p might be a therapeutic target for BC.

This paper systematically analyzes the main link that imposes restrictions on the overall efficiency of the Microwave Wireless Power Transfer (MWPT) system–space transmission. Three typical transmission models of aperture transmission in the near-field area, radiation-focused transmission in the middle-field area, and Friis transmission in the far-field area of radiation were analyzed and calculated. Then, the applicable conditions and efficiency of three-models were compared. And the influence of antenna electrical parameters on the efficiency of the MWPT system was discussed. In the end, three typical space transmission models of aerial vehicles, satellites, and islands were studied. The influence of the medium on the transmission efficiency was emphatically analyzed. This paper aims to summarize the general laws of space transmission of microwave energy. Provide a theoretical reference for related scientific research and engineering practice.

To provide a scientific basis for the policies for the development of wind energy and towards the goal of carbon neutrality in China and local governments, changes in wind energy potential over China were investigated based on the bias-corrected ensemble mean (CENS) of high-resolution dynamical downscaling projections using the RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. Firstly, evaluation indicated that CENS could better reproduce the long-term mean and interannual variability of surface wind speed over China compared to the original simulation outputs, providing a reliable basis for future projections. Projection of the averaged wind power density of China showed a decreasing trend during 2020–2099 in all four seasons under all three scenarios, with the significant (p

Increasing evidence suggests that transmembrane protein 16A (TMEM16A) in nociceptive neurons is an important molecular component contributing to peripheral pain transduction. The present study aimed to evaluate the role and mechanism of TMEM16A in chronic nociceptive responses elicited by spared nerve injury (SNI). In this study, SNI was used to induce neuropathic pain. Drugs were administered intrathecally. The expression and cellular localization of TMEM16A, the ERK pathway, and NK-1 in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) were detected by western blot and immunofluorescence. Behavioral tests were used to evaluate the role of TMEM16A and p-ERK in SNI-induced persistent pain and hypersensitivity. The role of TMEM16A in the hyperexcitability of primary nociceptor neurons was assessed by electrophysiological recording. The results show that TMEM16A, p-ERK, and NK-1 are predominantly expressed in small neurons associated with nociceptive sensation. TMEM16A is colocalized with p-ERK/NK-1 in DRG. TMEM16A, the MEK/ERK pathway, and NK-1 are activated in DRG after SNI. ERK inhibitor or TMEM16A antagonist prevents SNI-induced allodynia. ERK and NK-1 are downstream of TMEM16A activation. Electrophysiological recording showed that CaCC current increases and intrathecal application of T16Ainh-A01, a selective TMEM16A inhibitor, reverses the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons harvested from rats after SNI. We conclude that TMEM16A activation in DRG leads to a positive interaction of the ERK pathway with activation of NK-1 production and is involved in the development of neuropathic pain after SNI. Also, the blockade of TMEM16A or inhibition of the downstream ERK pathway or NK-1 upregulation may prevent the development of neuropathic pain. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12035-021-02520-9.

Purpose Heart-lung transplantation (HLTx) is a life-saving treatment option for patients with advanced cardiopulmonary failure. However, posterior mediastinal bleeding and phrenic nerve damage are still intraoperative challenges for the traditional surgical method. This study reports an innovative non-in situ HLTx performed in our center, preventing posterior mediastinal bleeding and phrenic nerve damage effectively. Description Between September 2015 and September 2020, 12 patients without previous heart surgery underwent a traditional HLTx and were deemed a control group, and 3 patients underwent an innovative non-in situ HLTx. The operative time, cold ischemic time, intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative transfusion, and the intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay were assessed between traditional HLTx and non-in situ HLTx. Evaluation The innovative non-in situ HLTx was successfully performed in the 3 patients. We found that the intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay, total surgical time, cold ischemic time, intraoperative bleeding, and intraoperative transfusion were decreased in the 3 patients compared with the traditional surgical method. Conclusion Non-in situ HLTx may decrease posterior mediastinal bleeding and phrenic nerve damage effectively.

Under tooth profile wear condition, with running time increasing, the tooth chord length of the gear tooth is thinner and the tooth profile is not involute profile any more, which results in the changes in amplitude and fluctuation of time-varying meshing stiffness. In this work, in order to reveal the influence of tooth profile wear on time-varying meshing stiffness, an analytical model for calculating the time-varying meshing stiffness under tooth wear condition is built and incorporated with a “translational-rotational” dynamic model of compound planetary gear set. Poincare section, the phase trajectory and bifurcation diagram are employed for analysis of periodic and chaotic motion. The results indicate that, tooth wear accumulation result in the reduction in the amplitude of meshing stiffness at the meshing region of double-pair teeth, but makes no difference in meshing stiffness for the meshing region of single-pair teeth. In order to avoid the system being in Chaos motions, under large tooth wear condition, the input speed should be avoided away from 3700 r/min-6725 r/min, so as to keep the system in a stable periodic motion state.

As an important foodborne pathogen, Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis is recognized as one of the most common causes of human salmonellosis globally. Outbreak detection for this highly homog...

Aims This follow‐up study aimed to examine the 8‐year efficacy and safety of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in southern China. Methods The follow‐up data of 10 patients with PD undergoing STN‐DBS were analyzed. Motor symptoms were assessed before and 1, 3, 5, and 8 years after the surgery with stimulation‐on in both off‐medication (off‐med) and on‐medication (on‐med) status using the Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale Part III. The quality of life was assessed using the 39‐item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire. The sleep, cognition, and emotion were evaluated using a series of nonmotor scales. Levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) and stimulation parameters were recorded at each follow‐up. Results The motor symptoms were improved by 50.9%, 37.7%, 36.7%, and 37.3% in 1, 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively, in the off‐med / stimulation‐on status compared with the baseline. The quality of life improved by 39.7% and 56.1% in 1 and 3 years, respectively, but declined to the preoperative level thereafter. The sleep, cognition, and emotion were mostly unchanged. LEDD reduced from 708.1 ± 172.5 mg to 330 ± 207.8 mg in 8 years. The stimulation parameters, including amplitude, pulse width, and frequency, were 2.77 ± 0.49 V, 71.3 ± 12.8 μs, and 121.5 ± 21 Hz, respectively, in 8 years. Conclusion Long‐term therapeutic efficacy of STN‐DBS could be achieved even with relatively low stimulation intensity and medication dosage for PD patients in southern China. Motor improvement and medication reduction were maintained through the 8‐year follow‐up, but improvement in quality of life lasted for only 3 years. No definite changes was found in nonmotor symptoms after STN‐DBS., Long‐term therapeutic efficacy of STN DBS could be achieved even with relatively low stimulation intensity and medication dosage for PD patients in southern China.

The purpose of grain storage management is to dynamically analyze the quality change of the reserved grains, adopt scientific and effective management methods to delay the speed of the quality deterioration, and reduce the loss rate during storage. At present, the supervision of the grain quality in the reserve mainly depends on the periodic measurements of the quality of the grains and the milled products. The data obtained by the above approach is accurate and reliable, but the workload is too large while the frequency is high. The obtained conclusions are also limited to the studied area and not applicable to be extended into other scenarios. Therefore, there is an urgent need of a general method that can quickly predict the quality of grains given different species, regions and storage periods based on historical data. In this study, we introduced Back-Propagation (BP) neural network algorithm and support vector machine algorithm into the quality prediction of the reserved grains. We used quality index, temperature and humidity data to build both an intertemporal prediction model and a synchronous prediction model. The results show that the BP neural network based on the storage characters from the first three periods can accurately predict the key storage characters intertemporally. The support vector machine can provide precise predictions of the key storage characters synchronously. The average predictive error for each of wheat, rice and corn is less than 15%, while the one for soybean is about 20%, all of which can meet the practical demands. In conclusion, the machine learning algorithms are helpful to improve the management effectiveness of grain storage.

BACKGROUND Due to a high prevalence and morbidity rate, heart failure (HF) constitutes an immense economic burden on the global health care system. An increase in left atrial pressure (LAP) precedes the occurrence of any HF symptoms. In this study, we applied a novel non-invasive method of ballistocardiography (BCG) to extract early diastolic ventricular vibration waves [the BCG-B3 index, which corresponds to the third heart sound (S3) at the end of the rapid filling phase of diastole]. This study evaluated the predictive value of the BCG-B3 index for LAP in HF patients. METHODS A total of 83 HF patients and 20 patients with underlying diseases were prospectively enrolled, and their cross-sectional BCG and echocardiography (ECHO) data were collected. BCG obtains a signal through a high-precision fiber-optic sensor placed on the patient's back. LAP or pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) was estimated by the ratio of mitral inflow peak early diastolic velocity to the early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (E/e') or the Nagueh equation (LAP = 1.24 × E/e' + 1.9). To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the BCG-B3 index, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated. The best cutoff value for the BCG-B3 index was determined by the maximum Youden index. RESULTS The correlation coefficient between the BCG-B3 index and E/e' ratio was 0.51 (P

Summary Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have attracted considerable interest as a disruptive technology to transform future transportation systems. Their unique operating profiles and requirements present grand challenges to batteries. This work identifies the primary battery requirements for eVTOL in terms of specific energy and power, fast charging, cycle life, and safety, revealing that eVTOL batteries have more stringent requirements than electric vehicle batteries in all aspects. Notably, we find that fast charging is essential for downsizing aircraft and batteries for low cost while achieving high vehicle utilization rates to maximize revenues. We experimentally demonstrate two energy-dense Li-ion battery designs that can recharge adequate energy for 80 km eVTOL trips in 5–10 min and sustain over 2,000 fast-charge cycles, laying a foundation for eVTOL batteries.

Medication adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among elderly people living with HIV (PLWH) is of serious concern. Our study aimed to understand the medication adherence of elderly PLWH under ART based on the health belief model (HBM). A baseline survey with a total of 529 elderly PLWH was conducted in Sichuan. Logistic and linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, and path analysis based on prior evidence were used. Only self-efficacy showed direct associations with medication adherence in the last four days (ORm = 1.37, 95%CI: 1.11, 1.70) and the last month (ORm = 1.39, 95%CI: 1.18, 1.63) in the multivariate analysis. Self-efficacy mediated the relations between perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action and medication adherence. Inner relations existed within the HBM. In addition to the direct effects, perceived benefits (β = 0.149, p = 0.031; β = 0.093, p = 0.005), perceived barriers (β = -0.070, p = 0.008; β = -0.062, p = 0.012), and cues to action (β = 0.184, p = 0.013; β = 0.135, p = 0.014) showed indirect effects on medication adherence in the last four days and the last month, respectively. HBM may be effective in predicting medication adherence of elderly PLWH, and self-efficacy may be a crucial predictor and mediator. Efforts should be focused on how to enhance elderly PLWH's self-efficacy without neglect of other medication beliefs.

Glycosylation is important for biological functions of proteins and greatly affected by diseases. Exploring the glycosylation profile of the protein-specific glycosylation and/or the site-specific glycosylation may help understand disease etiology, differentiate diseases and ultimately develop therapeutics. Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) are sometimes difficult to differentiate due to the similarity in their clinical symptoms. The disease-related glycosylation profiles of MS and NMOSD have not yet been well studied. Here, we analyzed site-specific glycan profiles of serum proteins of these patients by using a recently developed mass spectrometry technique. A total of 286 glycopeptides from 49 serum glycoproteins were quantified and compared between healthy controls (n = 6), remitting MS (n = 45) and remitting NMOSD (n = 23) patients. Significant differences in the levels of site-specific N-glycans on inflammation-associated components [IgM, IgG1, IgG2, complement components 8b (CO8B) and attractin], central nerve system-damage-related serum proteins [apolipoprotein D (APOD), alpha-1-antitrypsin, plasma kallikrein and ADAMTS-like protein 3] were observed among three study groups. We furthered demonstrated that site-specific N-glycans on APOD on site 98, CO8B on sites 243 and 553 are potential markers to differentiate MS from NMOSD with an area under receiver operating curve value > 0.75. All these observations indicate that remitting MS or NMOSD patients possess a unique disease-associated glyco-signature in their serum proteins. We conclude that monitoring one’s serum protein glycan profile using this high-throughput analysis may provide an additional diagnostic criterion for differentiating diseases, monitoring disease status and estimating response-to-treatment effect.

BACKGROUND Slow transit constipation (STC) has traditionally been considered as a functional disorder. However, evidence is accumulating that suggests that most of the motility alterations in STC might be of a neuropathic etiology. If the patient does not meet the diagnosis of pelvic outlet obstruction and poorly response to conservative treatment, surgical intervention with subtotal colectomy may be effective. The most unwanted complication of the procedure is anastomotic leakage, however, preservation of the superior rectal artery (SRA) may reduce its incidence. AIM To evaluate the preservation of the SRA in laparoscopically assisted subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis in STC patients. METHODS This was a single-center retrospective observational study. STC was diagnosed after a series of examinations which included a colonic transit test, anal manometry, a balloon expulsion test, and a barium enema. Eligible patients underwent laparoscopically assisted total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis and were examined between January 2016 and January 2018. The operation time, blood loss, time to first flatus, length of hospital days, and incidence of minor or major complications were recorded. RESULTS A total of 32 patients (mean age, 42.6 years) who had received laparoscopic assisted subtotal colectomy with ileorectal artery anastomosis and preservation of the SRA. All patients were diagnosed with STC after a series of examinations. The mean operative time was 151 min and the mean blood loss was 119 mL. The mean day of first time to flatus was 3.0 d, and the mean hospital stay was 10.6 d. There were no any patients conversions to laparotomy. Post-operative minor complications including 1 wound infection and 1 case of ileus. There was no surgical mortality. No anastomosis leakage was noted in any of the patients. CONCLUSION Laparoscopically assisted subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis and preservation of the SRA can significantly improve bowel function with careful patient selection. Sparing the SRA may protect against anastomosis leakage.

Background Fluid overload (FO) after resuscitation is frequent and contributes to adverse outcomes among postinjury open abdomen (OA) patients. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a promising tool for monitoring fluid status and FO. Therefore, we sought to investigate the efficacy of BIA-directed fluid resuscitation among OA patients. Methods A pragmatic, prospective, randomized, observer-blind, single-center trial was performed for all trauma patients requiring OA between January 2013 and December 2017 to a national referral center. A total of 140 postinjury OA patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either a BIA-directed fluid resuscitation (BIA) protocol that included fluid administration with monitoring of hemodynamic parameters and different degrees of interventions to achieve a negative fluid balance targeting the hydration level (HL) measured by BIA or a traditional fluid resuscitation (TRD) in which clinicians determined the fluid resuscitation regimen according to traditional parameters during 30 days of ICU management. The primary outcome was the 30-day primary fascial closure (PFC) rate. The secondary outcomes included the time to PFC, postoperative 7-day cumulative fluid balance (CFB) and adverse events within 30 days after OA. The Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test were utilized for PFC after OA. A generalized linear regression model for the time to PFC and CFB was built. Results A total of 134 patients completed the trial (BIA, n = 66; TRD, n = 68). The BIA patients were significantly more likely to achieve PFC than the TRD patients (83.33% vs. 55.88%, P < 0.001). In the BIA group, the time to PFC occurred earlier than that of the TRD group by an average of 3.66 days (P < 0.001). Additionally, the BIA group showed a lower postoperative 7-day CFB by an average of 6632.80 ml (P < 0.001) and fewer complications. Conclusion Among postinjury OA patients in the ICU, the use of BIA-guided fluid resuscitation resulted in a higher PFC rate and fewer severe complications than the traditional fluid resuscitation strategy.