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A new structure of film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) based on phononic crystal (PnC) was proposed.The phononic crystal was used as the acoustic reflection layer at the bottom of the bulk acoustic wave resonator, which has the characteristics of high reflectivity and low transmittance of elastic wave in its band gap.The band gap characteristics of four kinds of phononic crystals with different structures were calculated by the finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics.The main conclusions are as follows.If the bulk acoustic resonator is working within the band gap of the phononic crystal, PnC can be used as the bottom acoustic reflection layer of the FBAR.With using PnC as the acoustic energy reflect structure, the impedance curve of FBAR is smooth, and the quality factor is closed to traditional FBAR with a value of 859 and effective mechanical coupling coefficient of 6.32%.

Abstract Primary cilia are antenna-like subcellular structures to act as signaling platforms to regulate many cellular processes and embryonic development. m1A RNA modification plays key roles in RNA metabolism and gene expression; however, the physiological function of m1A modification remains largely unknown. Here we find that the m1A demethylase ALKBH3 significantly inhibits ciliogenesis in mammalian cells by its demethylation activity. Mechanistically, ALKBH3 removes m1A sites on mRNA of Aurora A, a master suppressor of ciliogenesis. Depletion of ALKBH3 enhances Aurora A mRNA decay and inhibits its translation. Moreover, alkbh3 morphants exhibit ciliary defects, including curved body, pericardial edema, abnormal otoliths, and dilation in pronephric ducts in zebrafish embryos, which are significantly rescued by wild-type alkbh3, but not by its catalytically inactive mutant. The ciliary defects caused by ALKBH3 depletion in both vertebrate cells and embryos are also significantly reversed by ectopic expression of Aurora A mRNA. Together, our data indicate that ALKBH3-dependent m1A demethylation has a crucial role in the regulation of Aurora A mRNA, which is essential for ciliogenesis and cilia-associated developmental events in vertebrates.

It is known that a large amount of vibration mechanical energy will be generated during train operation. If the mechanical energy can be obtained from the track structure, it can greatly optimize the energy configuration of the metro. Currently, most sensors are limited to disk or cymbal structures and are not used in the track bed; different from existing structures, this paper designs a spherical energy harvester based on a rubber bearing floating slab track, wherein the size range of the spherical energy harvesting structure was approximately determined based on the geometric spatial relationships of the actual track bed internal structure. Compared to the traditional disk and cymbal energy harvesters, the mechanical and electrical properties of the spherical energy harvesting structure was studied by a numerical simulation method, and the optimal size of the spherical energy was determined by calculation. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Compared with the traditional disk harvester and cymbal harvester, the spherical harvester had better mechanical and electrical properties. (2) By calculating the output power of energy harvesters under load matching, we found that the output power of the spherical harvester was two orders of magnitude higher than that of the disk harvester and 53% higher than that of the cymbal harvester. (3) The optimum size of the spherical harvester was when the thickness of piezoelectric layer was 2 mm, the radius was 16 mm, the axial ratio of the spherical shell was 0.4, and the thickness of the spherical shell was 4 mm.

In this work, a longitudinally excited shear-wave resonator (YBAR) based on single-crystalline lithium tantalate (LiTaO3, LT) thin film is proposed. The YBAR has a 200 nm X-cut thin film and molybdenum electrode. A high effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (k2eff) of up to 19% for the suspension-type structure was obtained. Furthermore, a Bragg reflector (SiO2/Pt) with optimized layer thickness ratio was employed to improve the performance of the YBAR. Compared to the acoustic wave resonators with the conventional quarter-wave (λ/4) Bragg reflector, the proposed YBAR with an optimized Bragg reflector can reflect both the longitudinal and shear waves efficiently, and resonators with spurious-free response and high quality (Q) value were achieved. This work provides a potential solution to enabling high coupling micro-acoustic resonators with high Q factor in the 5G/6G communication system.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical associated with physiological functions such as blood pressure regulation, cardiovascular health, mitochondrial production, calcium transport, oxidative stress, and skeletal muscle repair. This study aimed to isolate Latilactobacillus curvatus strains with enhanced NO production from the traditional Korean fermented food, jangajji, and evaluate their probiotic properties for industrial purposes. When cells were co-cultured with various bacterial stimulants, NO production generally increased, and NO synthesis was observed in the range of 20–40 mg/mL. The selected strains of Lat. curvatus were resistant to acid and bile conditions and with variable effectiveness (1–14%) in adhering to Caco-2 cells. Most bacterial strains can inhibit the growth of various pathogens. In addition, they are capable of reducing cholesterol levels via assimilation of cholesterol at 10–50%. Among the selected NO synthases from Lat. curvatus strains, the strain JBCC38 showed the highest capacity to scavenge ABTS (30.1%) and DPPH radicals (39.4%). Moreover, these strains exhibited immunomodulatory properties. The production of TNF-α and IL-6 in the macrophages treated with various bacterial stimulants was induced in all the selected strains.

Background and objective The hybrid operating room has been widely applied in surgery, including neurology, general surgery, gynecology, and obstetrics. By reviewing application of the hybrid operating room in different categories of surgery, we aim to summarize both advantages and disadvantages of the hybrid operating room and discuss what to do for further improving the application of it. Methods We searched related literature in websites including Pubmed, MEDLINE, Web of science, using the keywords “hybrid operating room”, “surgery”, “technique”, “intervention”, and “radiology”. All the searched papers were screened and underwent quality evaluation. The eventually selected papers were carefully read, with related information extracted and summarized. Results After screening and assessment, a total of 29 literature was collected. Application of the hybrid operating room in general surgery, neurosurgery, thoracic surgery, urology, gynecologic and obstetrics surgery, and cardiovascular surgery was summarized. Both advantages and disadvantages of the hybrid operating room were discussed in order to improve application of the hybrid operating room in surgery. Conclusions Surgeries performed in the hybrid operating room take advantages over those conventional operating rooms mainly in terms of higher procedure accuracy, less operative time, and less risk of hemorrhage during the transportation between radiology departments and operating suites. Further efforts should be made to reduce radiation exposure from imaging systems equipped in the hybrid operating room and increase cost-effectiveness ratio of the hybrid operating room.

BackgroundFramingham risk score (FRS) is an effective tool for evaluating the 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the sensitivity of FRS for anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity is unclear. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the correlation between risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, and obesity) in FRS and anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in breast cancer.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for studies published from inception to January 2022 which reported cardiotoxicity due to anthracycline. Cardiotoxicity defined as any cardiac events were used as the primary endpoint. A total of 33 studies involving 55,708 breast cancer patients treated with anthracyclines were included in this meta-analysis.ResultsAt least one risk factor was identified at baseline for the 55,708 breast cancer patients treated with anthracycline. Hypertension [I2 = 45%, Fixed, RR (95% CI) = 1.40 (1.22, 1.60), p < 0.00001], hyperlipidemia [I2 = 0%, Fixed, RR (95% CI): 1.35 (1.12, 1.62), p = 0.002], diabetes [I2 = 0%, Fixed, RR (95% CI): 1.29 (1.05, 1.57), p = 0.01], and obesity [I2 = 0%, Fixed, RR (95% CI): 1.32 (1.05, 1.67), p = 0.02] were associated with increased risks of cardiac events. In addition, smoking was also associated with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) during anthracycline chemotherapy [I2 = 0%, Fixed, OR (95% CI): 1.91 (1.24, 2.95), p = 0.003] in studies that recorded only the odds ratio (OR).ConclusionHypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, and obesity are associated with increased risks of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. Therefore, corresponding measures should be used to manage cardiovascular risk factors in breast cancer during and after anthracycline treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder and the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. The presence of large numbers of senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and cerebral atrophy is the characteristic feature of AD. Amyloid β peptide (Aβ), derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP), is the main component of senile plaques. AD has been extensively studied using methods involving cell lines, primary cultures of neural cells, and animal models; however, discrepancies have been observed between these methods. Dissociated cultures lose the brain’s tissue architecture, including neural circuits, glial cells, and extracellular matrix. Experiments with animal models are lengthy and require laborious monitoring of multiple parameters. Therefore, it is necessary to combine these experimental models to understand the pathology of AD. An experimental platform amenable to continuous observation and experimental manipulation is required to analyze long-term neuronal development, plasticity, and progressive neurodegenerative diseases. In the current study, we provide a practical method to slice and cultivate rodent hippocampus to investigate the cleavage of APP and secretion of Aβ in an ex vivo model. Furthermore, we provide basic information on Aβ secretion using slice cultures. Using our optimized method, dozens to hundreds of long-term stable slice cultures can be coordinated simultaneously. Our findings are valuable for analyses of AD mouse models and senile plaque formation culture models.

Abstract Background Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the deadliest cancers of the digestive tract. The prognosis of CCA is poor and the 5-year survival rate is low. Bioinformatic analysis showed that early mitotic inhibitor 2 (EMI2) was overexpressed in CCA but the underlying mechanism is not known. Methods The data on bile duct carcinoma from TCGA and GEO databases were used to detect the expression of EMI2. The transcription factors of EMI2 were predicted using JASPAR and PROMO databases. Among the predicted transcription factors, YY1 has been rarely reported in cholangiocarcinoma, and was verified using the luciferase reporter gene assay. RT-PCR was performed to predict the downstream pathway of EMI2, and PI3K/Akt was suspected to be associated with it. Subsequently, in vivo and in vitro experiments were conducted to verify the effects of silencing and overexpressing EMI2 and YY1 on the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of the bile duct cancer cells. Results EMI2 was highly expressed in CCA. Silencing EMI2 inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration of CCA cells, arrested cell cycle in the G1 phase, and promoted of apoptosis. The luciferase reporter gene assay showed that YY1 bound to the promoter region of EMI2, and after silencing YY1, the expression of EMI2 decreased and the progression of CCA was inhibited. Moreover, key proteins in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway decreased after silencing EMI2. Conclusion EMI2 may be one of the direct targets of YY1 and promotes the progression of CCA through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

ABSTRACT Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has emerged in the last 2 years. The accessory protein ORF7a has been proposed as an immunomodulating factor that can cause dramatic inflammatory responses, but it is unknown how ORF7a interacts with host cells. We show that ORF7a induces cell apoptosis by recruiting the prosurvival factor BclXL to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via the exposed C-terminal residues Lys117 and Lys119. Simultaneously, ORF7a activates ER stress via the PERK-elF2α-CHOP pathway and inhibits the expression of endogenous BclXL, resulting in enhanced cell apoptosis. Ubiquitination of ORF7a interrupts the interaction with BclXL in the ER and weakens the activation of ER stress, which to some extent rescues the cells. Our work demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a hires antiapoptosis protein and aggregates on the ER, resulting in ER stress and apoptosis initiation. On the other hand, ORF7a utilizes the ubiquitin system to impede and escape host elimination, providing a promising potential target for developing strategies for minimizing the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPORTANCE Viruses struggle to reproduce after infecting cells, and the host eliminates infected cells through apoptosis to prevent virus spread. Cells adopt a special ubiquitination code to protect against viral infection, while ORF7a manipulates and exploits the ubiquitin system to eliminate host cells' effect on apoptosis and redirect cellular pathways in favor of virus survival. Our results revealed that SARS-CoV-2-encoded accessory protein ORF7a recruits prosurvival factor BclXL to the ER and activates the cellular ER stress response resulting in the initiation of programmed death to remove virus-infected cells. Ubiquitination of ORF7a blocked the recruitment of BclXL and suppressed the ER stress response, which helps to counteract cell apoptosis and rescue cell fate. These findings help us understand the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 invasion and contribute to a theoretical foundation for the clinical prevention of COVID-19.

IntroductionThe current study investigated the impacts of autocratic and democratic leadership styles on the coach-athlete relationship, athletes’ motivations, and athlete satisfaction.MethodsSurvey data were collected from 298 student-athletes (male = 157; 52.7%, female = 141; 47.3%) from 20 different Chinese collegiate sports. The Structural Equation Model was used to test the hypothesized model.ResultsThe results indicated democratic leadership had a direct positive influence on the coach-athlete relationship, while autocratic leadership had no direct effect. Both leadership styles did not influence autonomous motivation. The coach-athlete relationship, meanwhile, had a full mediation effect between democratic leadership and athletes’ motivation and satisfaction. In addition, autonomous motivation had a partial mediation effect between the coach-athlete relationship and athlete satisfaction.DiscussionUltimately, the findings of the current study underscore the need for coaches and administrators to understand the impact of different leadership styles and highlight the importance of democratic leadership in improving athletes’ psychological outcomes.

A large number of microbial genomes have already been identified from the human gut microbiome, but the understanding of the role of the low-abundance species at the individual level remains challenging, largely due to the relatively shallow sequencing depth used in most studies. To improve genome assembling performance, a HiSeq-PacBio hybrid, ultra-deep metagenomic sequencing approach was used to reconstruct metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAGs) from 12 fecal samples. Such approach combined third-generation sequencing with ultra-deep second-generation sequencing to improve the sequencing coverage of the low-abundance subpopulation in the gut microbiome. Our study generated a total of 44 megabase-scale scaffolds, achieving four single-scaffolds of complete (circularized, no gaps) MAGs (CMAGs) that were the first circular genomes of their species. Moreover, 475 high-quality MAGs were assembled across all samples. Among them, 234 MAGs were currently uncultured, including 24 MAGs that were not found in any public genome database. Additionally, 287 and 77 MAGs were classified as low-abundance (0.1–1%) and extra-low-abundance (

The active compensation device, between the distribution network’s neutral point and the ground, compensates for the single-phase short-circuit current. And the T-type three-level circuit is a possible scheme for compensation devices. This paper proposes the T-type average model based on the above topology, with a controlled voltage/current source, regardless of modulation or control methods. Compared with the two-level converter topology, the three-level converter topology improves the rated voltage stress, with few switching devices’ requirements. The modeling and simulation indicate that the T-type’s average model is identical to its switch model. And the T-type three-level converter can achieve the desired active compensation.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) can be used as passive wireless sensors in high temperature environments. For such applications, protective layers are crucial and important for the SAW sensors. In this paper, ultra-thin Al2O3 layers prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and RF magnetron sputtering were used to protect SAW devices with platinum (Pt) electrodes and their temperature stability was studied systematically. The devices were thermally treated up to 1150 °C in air, the real-time resistance of Pt resistive tracks with a sputtering Al2O3 protective layer showed much better and improved thermal stability than those without or with an ALD Al2O3 protective layer. Microstructure characterizations showed that the superior temperature stability is attributed to its mixture of amorphous and nano-crystalline nature of the Al2O3 layer deposited by sputtering and full recrystallization at high temperatures. SAW devices with a sputtering Al2O3 protective layer after 1150 °C treatment maintained almost unchanged properties, while those with an ALD Al2O3 protective layer failed to work. Investigation also indicated there exists an optimal thickness for the sputtering Al2O3 layer to achieve best performance and thermal-stability for the SAW devices. Besides, the deposition rate of Al2O3 layer by sputtering is 10 times faster than that by ALD. All the results demonstrate that the sputtering Al2O3 protective layer is more suitable for high temperature SAW device applications owing to its lower cost, higher deposition rate and temperature stability.

Among women aged 27–45 years, the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV; HPV6/11/16/18) vaccine was generally well tolerated, efficacious, and immunogenic in the placebo-controlled FUTURE III study (NCT00090220; n = 3253). The qHPV vaccine was also generally well tolerated and highly immunogenic in men aged 27–45 years who participated in the single-cohort mid-adult male (MAM) study (NCT01432574; n = 150). Here, we report results of a long-term follow up (LTFU) extension of FUTURE III with up to 10 years follow-up. To understand the relevance of the mid-adult women LTFU study in the context of mid-adult men vaccination, we report results from post-hoc, cross-study immunogenicity analyses conducted to compare immunogenicity (geometric mean titers; GMTs) at 1-month post-qHPV vaccine dose 3 in women and men aged 27–45 years versus women and men aged 16–26 years from prior efficacy studies. The qHPV vaccine demonstrated durable protection against the combined endpoint of HPV6/11/16/18-related high-grade cervical dysplasia and genital warts up to 10 years (median 8.9) post-dose 3 and sustained HPV6/11/16/18 antibody responses through approximately 10 years in women aged 27–45 years. Efficacy of qHPV vaccine in men aged 27–45 years was inferred based on the cross-study analysis of qHPV vaccine immunogenicity demonstrating non-inferior HPV6/11/16/18 antibody responses in men aged 27–45 years versus 16–26 years. In conclusion, durable effectiveness of the qHPV vaccine was demonstrated in women 27–45 years of age, and vaccine efficacy was inferred in men 27–45 years of age based on the serological results.

The application of artificial intelligence has realized the transformation of people's production and lifestyle, and also promoted the progress of physical education and comprehensive health quality. The application of artificial intelligence in the current physical education movement is increasing. By utilizing its advanced method of virtual simulation technology, the purpose of this paper is to realize the interventional research on the physical education movement and comprehensive health quality in the environment of artificial intelligence. This paper proposes to use the virtual simulation technology and Kinect algorithm in artificial intelligence to design the virtual sports simulation teaching mode. The functional module design part where the Kinect algorithm helps the teaching of virtual sports simulation experiments, which is helpful to analyze and solve the objective system imbalance and ecological imbalance in online physical education teaching. By using the principles and rules of the Mean Shift image segmentation algorithm for reference, the investigation and research on the comprehensive health quality of students are carried out, so as to realize the ecologicalization of the virtual sports school. In the investigation and research on the comprehensive quality of students, the results show that the overall quality of these students who has reached the level of qualified or unqualified is accounting for about 30% of the total number. It is worth noting that in terms of scientific and cultural quality, only 43.34% of all students have excellent grades. It can be seen that the important training goal of current school research is how to use reasonable and effective methods and strategies to improve students' scientific and cultural level, and improve students' other comprehensive scores at the same time.

To understand the biological roles of Pediococcus pentosaceus strains as probiotics isolated from the traditional Korean fermented food, Jangajji, Pediococcus pentosaceus was selected based on its high cinnamoyl esterase (CE) and antioxidant activities. The acid and bile stability, intestinal adhesion, antagonistic activity against human pathogens, cholesterol-lowering effects, and immune system stimulation without inflammatory effects were evaluated. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured in co-culture with various bacterial stimulants. Fermentation ability was measured by using a broccoli matrix and the sulforaphane levels were measured. Resistance to acidic and bilious conditions and 8% adherence to Caco-2 cells were observed. Cholesterol levels were lowered by 51% by assimilation. Moreover, these strains exhibited immunomodulatory properties with induction of macrophage TNF-α and IL-6 and had microstatic effects on various pathogens. Co-culture with various bacterial stimulants resulted in increased NO production. Fermentation activity was increased with the strains, and higher sulforaphane levels were observed. Therefore, in the future, the applicability of the selected strain to broccoli matrix-based fermented functional foods should be confirmed.

The combination of transportation electrification and clean energy in the shipping industry has been a hot topic, and related applications of hybrid all-electric ships (AESs) have emerged recently. However, it has been found that ship efficiency will be negatively impacted by improper component size and operation strategy. Therefore, the bilevel optimal sizing and operation method for the fuel cell/battery hybrid AES is proposed in this paper. This method optimizes the sizing of the AES while considering joint optimal energy management and voyage scheduling. The sizing problem is formulated at the upper level, and the joint scheduling problem is described at the lower level. Then, multiple cases are simulated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method on a passenger ferry, and the results show that a 5.3% fuel saving and 5.2% total cost reduction can be achieved. Correspondingly, the ship’s energy efficiency is improved. This approach also can be used in similar vessels to enhance their overall performance and sustainability.

Abstract Background Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common malignant bone tumor with poor prognosis. We previously reviewed that CD146 is correlated with multiple cancer progression, while its impact on OS is currently not systematically studied. Methods MG63 was transfected with lentivirus to express CD146 ectopically, and anti-CD146 neutralizing antibody ab75769 was used to inhibit 143B. Cyclic migration of MG63 and co-culture between MG63 and 143B were used to explore the role of OS malignancy in CD146 expression. The effect of OS cell medium (CM) on endothelium behaviors was assessed, and the expression changes of CD146 before and after co-culture of endothelium and OS were evaluated. Finally, the expression of CD146 in OS was detected under different culture conditions, including hyperoxia, low oxygen, high glucose and low glucose conditions. Results CD146 promoted the colony formation, migration, invasion and homotypic adhesion of OS cells, and reducing the concentration of soluble CD146 in the OS medium inhibited the proliferation, migration and lumen formation of the cultured endothelium. However, CD146 did not affect the adhesion between OS and endothelium, nor did co-culture of both sides affect the CD146 expression. Similarly, the proliferation, migration and CD146 expression of MG63 remained unchanged after many cycles of migration itself, as did its co-culture with 143B for expressing CD146. In addition, we also showed that high glucose promoted the expression of CD146 in OS, while hypoxia had the opposite effect. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that CD146 promotes OS progression by mediating pro-tumoral and angiogenic effects. Thus, CD146 could be a potential therapeutic target for OS, especially for OS patients with diabetes.

The “Great Protection, Great Governance” strategy requires efficient environmental protection in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), enhancement of transformation between the old and new momentums, and high-quality development (HQD) of the region. This research explores the impact of the new momentum for data and government investment in technology on the HQD level of 62 cities in the YRB. The data used in this paper are collected from 2008 to 2020. We construct the index system and apply the analytic hierarchy process and entropy value method to calculate the HQD level of 62 cities in the YRB. We also construct the spatial Durbin model to investigate the influence mechanism of the above factors on the HQD of cities in the YRB and their effects from the perspectives of the new momentum for data and government investment in science and technology. According to the research results, the level of high-quality urban development of the YRB exhibits a stable increase in time series and an overall spatial distribution pattern of “higher in the east-west and lower in the middle” and “higher in the south and lower in the north”. The new momentum for data and government investment in technology significantly contribute to the HQD of cities in the YRB, with significant spatial spillover effects. The new momentum for data and government investment in technology have a positive impact on the HQD of a city and the neighboring cities. Meanwhile, the level of human capital, government intervention, scientific and technological (S&T) innovation, and openness contribute significantly to high-quality urban development. The government and policymakers should focus on the prominent role of new momentum for data and government investment in technology and design long-term feasible strategies to improve the high-quality urban development in a new stage.

Objective: Robot-assisted neuro-rehabilitation therapy plays a central role in upper extremity recovery of stroke. However, the efficacy of robotic training on the upper extremity is not yet well defined, and little attention has been devoted to its potential effect on the lower extremity. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of robot-assisted training and therapist-mediated enhanced upper extremity therapy on the upper and lower extremities. Methods: A randomized clinical trial involving 172 stroke survivors was conducted in China. All participants received either robot-assisted training or enhanced upper extremity therapy for 3 weeks. Fugl-Meyer assessment upper extremity subscale (FMA-UE), Fugl-Meyer assessment lower extremity subscale (FMA-LE), and Modified Barthel Index were administered at baseline, mid-treatment (1 week after treatment start), and post-treatment. Results: Participants in the robot-assisted training group showed a significant improvement in the hemiplegia extremity, which was non-inferior to the enhanced upper extremity therapy group in FMA-UE (p < 0.05), while suggesting greater motor recovery of lower extremity in FMA-LE (p < 0.05) compared with the enhanced upper extremity therapy group. A marked increase in Modified Barthel Index was observed within groups; however, no significant difference was found between groups. Conclusion: Robot-assisted training is non-inferior but not better in reducing impairment of the upper extremity and appears to be superior in reducing impairment of the lower extremity compared with enhanced upper extremity therapy for stroke survivors. LAY ABSTRACT Although post-stroke robot-assisted training of the upper extremity has been widely studied, its efficacy is not yet well defined, and its effects on the lower extremity are unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of upper extremity robot-assisted training on the upper and lower extremities in stroke survivors. Robot-assisted training is non-inferior in improving the function of the upper extremity and superior in improving the function of the lower extremity compared with enhanced upper extremity therapy. Robot-assisted training can be used for functional recovery of the upper and lower extremities in stroke survivors.

BackgroundEpilepsy is a chronic brain disease that recurs during childhood, and more than half of adult epilepsy originates from childhood. Studies suggested that immunoglobulin G (IgG) glycosylation are closely related to neurological diseases. Here we analyzed the characteristics of the immunoglobulin glycosylation profile of children with epilepsy.MethodsPatients were recruited in Taian, Shandong Province from December 2019 to March 2020. Serum IgG glycome composition was analyzed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography approach.ResultsThe proportion of fucosylated glycans in total IgG glycans was 93.72% in the epilepsy patients, which was significantly lower than that in the control group (94.94%). A lower level of total monogalactosylated and digalactosylated glycans were observed in the epilepsy patients group (30.76 and 40.14%) than that in the controls (36.17 and 42.69%). There was no significant difference between the two groups in bisected GlcNAc glycans and sialylated glycans.ConclusionThe decrease of core fucosylation and galactosylation may promote the inflammatory reaction of the body and participate in the occurrence of epilepsy in children.

Due to the inherent viscoelasticity of constituent matrix and the possibility of long-term storage, space deployable structures made of composites are likely to exhibit relaxation in the stored strain energy, which may degrade their deployment performance. This paper presents a bottom-up finite element based multiscale computational strategy that bridges the experimentally measurable properties of constituent fibers and matrix to numerical predictions of viscoelastic behavior of composite laminates and general shell structures. A user-friendly RVE analysis plug-in tool is developed in Abaqus/CAE to rapidly estimate the effective orthotropic viscoelastic properties of unidirectional composites by taking as input the microstructure geometry as well as the known properties of fibers and matrix. Some benchmark problems were solved, and the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed plug-in tool were verified. Next, the strategy is shown to be applicable to model the viscoelastic behavior of macroscale composite laminates and deployable shell structures, by utilizing built-in functions in Abaqus to define the stacking sequence and accordingly update the material properties. In particular, the proposed multiscale strategy was employed to simulate the influence of modulus relaxation on the deployment dynamics of a composite tape-spring hinge, and good agreement was achieved as compared to reported experimental results.

Summary: The human oral cavity is a hotspot of numerous, mostly unexplored, viruses that are important for maintaining oral health and microbiome homeostasis. Here, we analyzed 2,792 publicly available oral metagenomes and proposed the Oral Virus Database (OVD) comprising 48,425 nonredundant viral genomes (≥5 kbp). The OVD catalog substantially expanded the known phylogenetic diversity and host specificity of oral viruses, allowing for enhanced delineation of some underrepresented groups such as the predicted Saccharibacteria phages and jumbo viruses. Comparisons of the viral diversity and abundance of different oral cavity habitats suggested strong niche specialization of viromes within individuals. The virome variations in relation to host geography and properties were further uncovered, especially the age-dependent viral compositional signatures in saliva. Overall, the viral genome catalog describes the architecture and variability of the human oral virome, while offering new resources and insights for current and future studies.

Hydrotreating of vacuum residue by ebullated-bed shows tremendous significance due to more stringent environmental regulations and growing demand for lighter fuels. However, enhancing the catalyst stability still remains as a challenging task. Herein, two Ni–Mo/Al2O3 catalysts with distinct morphologies (i.e., spherical and cylindrical) were first designed, and the morphology effect on deactivation was systematically elucidated employing multi-characterizations, such as HRTEM with EDX mapping, electron microprobe analysis, FT-IR, TGA and Raman. It is found that spherical catalyst exhibits superior hydrotreating stability over 1600 h. The carbonaceous deposits on spherical catalyst with less graphite structure are lighter, and the coke weight is also smaller. In addition, the metal deposits uniformly distribute in the spherical catalyst, which is better than the concentrated distribution near the pore mouth for the cylindrical catalyst. Furthermore, the intrinsic reason for the differences was analyzed by the bed expansion experiment. Higher bed expansion rate together with the better mass transfer ability leads to the enhanced performance. This work sheds new light on the design of more efficient industrial hydrotreating catalyst based on morphology effect.

The pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) has become a serious public health problem. Accurate diagnosis of regional pelvic floor muscle (PFM) malfunctions is vitally important for the prevention and treatment of PFD. However, there is a lack of reliable diagnostic devices to evaluate and diagnose regional PFM abnormality. In this work, we developed a multifunctional evaluation technology (MET) based on a novel airbag-type stretchable electrode array probe (ASEA) for the diagnosis of malfunctions of regional PFM. The inflatable ASEA has specifically distributed 32 electrodes along the muscles, and is able to adapt to different human bodies for tight contact with the muscles. These allow synchronous collection of high-quality multi-channel surface electromyography (MC-sEMG) signals, and then are used to diagnose regional PFM malfunctions and evaluate inter-regional correlation. Clinical trial was conducted on 15 postpartum stress urinary incontinence (PSUI) patients and 15 matched asymptomatic women. Results showed that SUI patients responded slowly to the command and have symptoms of muscle strength degeneration. The results were consistent with the relevant clinical manifestations, and proved the reliability of MET for multifunctional PFM evaluation. Furthermore, the MET can diagnose malfunctions of regional PFM, which is inaccessible with existing technology. The results also showed that the dysfunction of PSUI patients is mainly located in iliococcygeus, pubococcygeus, and urethral sphincter regions, and there is a weak correlation between these specific regions and nearby regions. In conclusion, MET provides a point-of-care diagnostic method for abnormal function of regional PFM, which has a potential for the targeted point-to-point electrical stimulation treatment and PFD pathology research.

Vaccines are urgently needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. To gradually increase the vaccination rate among residents, temporary vaccination clinic for COVID-19 plays an important role. It should be located in an area with convenient transportation and concentrated population. Functional zones including waiting and inquiry, registration and notification, injection, observation and emergency room should be established. All vaccine recipients’ information should be uploaded to the national immunization information system. Medical staff at the temporary vaccination clinic should be professionally trained. A cautious disinfection and wiping are essential for the temporary vaccination clinic.

In this paper, the effects of wind flow on real-time structural health monitoring (SHM) with Lamb wave-based technique is studied with the dedicated experimental platform. Firstly, the environmental signal coming from the wind-induced vibration is observed at experimental conditions with different wind speeds by using a couple (two) of piezoelectric transducers. In order to optimize the received signal for real-time monitoring, the shunt resistor, working as the filter for the signal processing, is introduced to suppress the low-frequency noise from the wind-induced vibration. Both experimental and modeling work have been conducted to cross verify the results. Moreover, the specimen with the shunt resistor has been tested at different wind speeds condition with proper results. Furthermore, in order to verify the feasibility for practical real-time SHM, the test with only one piece of piezoelectric transducer operated as sensor and actuator simultaneously has also been conducted, and the environmental signal could be filtered as expected. The work studies the effects of wind flow on real-time SHM with Lamb wave-based technique and the signal processing method is proposed to eliminate the resultant effects, which could be applied into the real-time aircraft health monitoring.

BackgroundTrimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is expected to be a prognostic biomarker among patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, investigations on the association between TMAO and CKD prognosis are conflicting. In the present article, we aimed to assess the relationship of circulating TMAO with the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among CKD patients by a meta-analysis.MethodsData were collected from PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science for systematically searching related literature (last update: February 2022). The multivariable-adjusted hazard risks (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled using random effects models.ResultsEleven prospective cohort studies covering 7,899 CKD patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. When comparing individuals in the top and bottom baseline TMAO levels thirds, the multivariate adjusted pooled HR was 1.29 (95% CI 1.11–1.51, P = 0.001) for all-cause mortality, and 1.45 (95% CI 1.01–2.09, P = 0.043) for cardiovascular death. For continuous variables, per 1 unit increase of circulating TMAO levels was associated with a 3% higher all-cause mortality (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00–1.06, P = 0.032), but not significantly associated with cardiovascular death (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.92–1.27, P = 0.346). Stratified analyses revealed that the positive relationship between TMAO and all-cause mortality remained significant after adjusting for diabetes, blood pressure, blood lipid, renal function, or inflammatory parameters.ConclusionHigher circulating TMAO was associated with an increased mortality risk among patients with CKD, and this relationship may be dependent on TMAO dose and independent of renal function, inflammation, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.Systematic Review Registration[https://www.INPLASY.COM], identifier [INPLASY2021100049].

BackgroundGrowing evidence supports the modulatory role of human gut microbiome on neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) efficacy. However, the relationships among the gut microbiome, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and NAC response for breast cancer (BC) patients remain unclear. We thus proposed this preliminary study to investigate the relationship between gut microbiome and BC patients’ responses to NAC treatment as well as underlying mechanisms.MethodsPrior to receiving NAC, the fecal metagenome collected from 23 patients with invasive BC was analyzed. Patients were subsequently assigned to the NAC non-effectual group and the NAC effectual group based on their response to NAC. The peripheral T lymphocyte subset counts were examined by flow cytometry methods. CellMinor analysis was employed to explore the relationship between CD4 mRNA expression and the reaction of tumor cells to NAC drugs.ResultsThe gut microbiomes of the NAC non-effectual group showed characteristics of low diversity with low abundances, distinct metagenomic composition with decreased butyrate-producing and indolepropionic acid-producing bacteria, and increased potential pathobionts compared with the NAC effectual group. The combination of Coprococcus, Dorea, and uncultured Ruminococcus sp. serves as signature bacteria for distinguishing NAC non-effectual group patients from the NAC effectual group. The absolute numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ TIL infiltration in tumors in the NAC non-effectual group were significantly lower than those in the effectual group. Similar findings were reported for the CD4+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood (p’s < 0.05). NAC effectual-related signature bacteria were proportional to these patients’ CD4+ T lymphocyte counts in peripheral blood and tumors (p’s < 0.05). CellMinor analysis showed that the CD4 mRNA expression level dramatically climbed with increased sensitivity of tumor cells to NAC drugs such as cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carboplatin (p’s < 0.05).ConclusionsThe composition of the gut microbial community differs between BC patients for whom NAC is effective to those that are treatment resistant. The modulation of the gut microbiota on host CD4+ T lymphocytes may be one critical mechanism underlying chemosensitivity and NAC pathologic response. Taken together, gut microbiota may serve as a potential biomarker for NAC response, which sheds light on novel intervention targets in the treatment of NAC non-effectual BC patients.

Correlation between platelet indices and chronic inflammatory arthritis (CIA) remains a moot point today. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate whether platelet (PLT) count, mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science up to August 2019. Pooled standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect model. As a result, 34 studies were included, encompassing 17 on RA, 12 on AS, 3 on PsA and 2 on both RA and AS. In these studies, PLT count was significantly higher in RA (SMD = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.36–0.73, P < .001), AS (SMD = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.36–0.70, P < .001) and PsA patients (SMD = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.82–1.77, P < .001) than that in healthy subjects, while MPV and PDW presented nonsignificant differences in these intergroup comparisons (P > .05), and similar results were observed in subgroup analyses. The meta-regression analysis demonstrated that there were strong positive correlations between erythrocyte sedimentation rate and PLT count, and weak correlation trend between the disease activity score and PLT count in both RA and AS subjects without statistically significant difference. The sensitivity analysis indicated that these results were not unduly influenced by any single study. In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that PLT count was elevated in CIA patients and could be suitable for evaluating the disease activity, whereas MPV and PDW were independent of CIA.

Objective:To analyze the correlation in the changes of cerebral gray matter volume and the ability of memory learning, and the deposition of β-amyloid protein (Aβ) in related brain regions of Alzheimer's disease (AD) double-transgenic APP/PS1 model mice, which is expected to provide reliable behavioral and imaging basis for probing the pathological features of AD animal models.Methods:A total of two groups mice were included in this study, including the wild type (WT) group and the APP/PS1 group, with 36 mice in each group. The C57-BL/6 mice were selected in the WT group, and APP/PS1 double transgenic mice were selected in the APP/PS1 group. The two groups were composed of mice of different ages of 2,6, and 12 months respectively, with 12 mice of each month in each group. The Morris water maze test (including location navigation test and spatial exploration test) was used to detect the spatial memory learning ability and spatial memory extraction ability of the two groups of mice, and the magnetic resonance T2-weighted imaging (MRI T2WI) scan was used to detect the changes of gray matter volume in the bilateral entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of mice. The brain paraffin sections of two groups of mice of different months were separated and prepared, and the Aβ deposition in bilateral entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of the two groups was detected by Thioflavine-s fluorescence staining, and the correlation between the changes of gray matter volume and memory learning ability and Aβ deposition in the corresponding brain area of the two groups was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Results:①The results of Morris water maze test: compared with the WT group, there was no significant difference in the behavioral results of the 2-month-old mice in the APP/PS1 group, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05); the escape latency of mice of the APP/PS1 group at the 6 and 12 month-old increased significantly, the number of crossing platforms of the APP/PS1 group at the 6 and 12 month-old decreased significantly, and the difference was statistically significant (PP>0.05); the volume of the entorhinal cortex of the APP/PS1 group at 6-month-old decreased significantly, and the volume of the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of the APP/PS1 group at 12-month-old mice decreased significantly, the difference was statistically significant (Pr=-0.729, Pr=-0.643, Pr=0.705, Pr=0.719, Pr=-0.865, Pr=-0.885, P

Size-controllable tin oxide (SnO2) quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution were prepared by using stannous chloride and thiourea as source materials and the hydrothermal treatment was employed for size control during the self-assembly of SnO2 QDs. The size effects on structural and optical properties of QDs were discussed. The prepared QDs were confirmed to be of rutile structure with (2 0 2), (2 1 1) and (3 3 0) facets observed. The crystal lattice constants changed their dimensions during grain growth and secondary grain boundaries appeared if grain size was over 7 nm. The composition and valence states were found independent with grain size. A negative correlation was observed between size and band gap, which exhibited much greater values than the calculation results from the theory of effective mass approximation and illustrated a strong quantum confinement in the present SnO2 QDs. The size effect of photoluminescence property illustrated a fluorescence inhibition, which could be ascribed to the additional energy levels provided by the lattice distortions at secondary grain boundaries. The depletion region in QDs was extended by these defects, which strengthened the quantum confinement effect.

To solve the unacceptable issue caused by the inconsistency of lane‐changing behaviour between autonomous vehicles and actual drivers. A lane‐changing behaviour decision‐making model based on the Gauss mixture hidden Markov model (GM‐HMM) is proposed according to the characteristic of a driver's lane changing behaviour. The proposed model is tested and verified based on the database of Next‐Generation Simulation (NGSIM). The results show that the GM‐HMM is 95.4% similar to the real driver's behaviour. To further verify the proposed model, the proposed algorithm is compared with some machine learning techniques from literature in different test scenarios. The comparison and analysis indicate that the GM‐HMM method can more accurately simulate the real driver's lane‐change behaviour, thus improving the trust of the passengers and other vehicles around autonomous vehicles.

Abstract Background Fetuin-A and adiponectin present significant associations, supported by recent evidence, with metabolic syndrome (MS) featuring hyperglycemia, central obesity and insulin resistance as the main components, but their biological functions are opposite. The aim of this study was to verify whether fetuin-A/adiponectin ratio (F/A ratio) is a more sensitive indicator for evaluation of MS than either fetuin-A or adiponectin. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 465 elderly subjects were selected from the physical examination database. Serum levels of fetuin-A and adiponectin were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, linear regression and logistic regression analysis were adopted to estimate the correlations of fetuin-A, adiponectin and F/A ratio with MS and its components, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive values of the aforesaid indices. Results Compared with fetuin-A or adiponectin, F/A ratio was significantly associated with all the components of MS, and this correlation was significant even after adjusting potential confounding factors (P

A wideband dual-polarized antenna is proposed for 4G and 5G communication applications. The antenna element consists of a pair of opened-loop dipoles for dual-polarization and its three inherent resonant modes are shifted closer to form a wide bandwidth. With additional U-shaped slots etched around the feed point, the input impedance of the antenna element is matched to 50 Ohm. The fabricated antenna element operates from 1.8 to 4.0 GHz, having 75.9% (VSWR ≤ 2) impedance bandwidth and high port-to-port isolation (>25 dB). It also achieves a 67±1° beamwidth in H-plane and 68.7 ± 3.3° in V-plane with 8.5 ± 1 dBi gain across the supported bands. By using six antenna elements and designing RF phase shifting module (RFPSM) based on vector modulators, a six-element dual-polarized array with electrically downtilt is also fabricated and measured, realizing a peak gain of 16.8 dBi, a similar beamwidth in H-plane as single antenna element and an electrically downtilt in V-plane from 0° to 12° which is preferred in communication applications. This antenna array could be used for future 5G communication and other applications.

Shape representation for 3D models is an important topic in computer vision, multimedia analysis, and computer graphics. Recent multiview-based methods demonstrate promising performance for 3D model recognition and retrieval. However, most of the multiview-based methods focus on the visual information from the taken views and ignore correlation information among these views, which means the similarity and differentiation of multiple views have lost in their methods. In order to address this issue, we propose a novel two-stream network architecture for 3D model recognition and retrieval. The proposed network includes two sub-networks: a multi-view convolutional neural network (MVCNN) that extracts the view information from the taken views, and an Visual Saliency model that defines the weight of views based on the similarity and differentiation information of multiple views. Special, the weight of views defined by the Visual Saliency model can effectively be used to guide the visual information fusion in MVCNN model. This design can make the MVCNN model save visual information and the correlation information of these views in the learning step. Finally, we employ early-fusion method to fuse the feature vectors from MVCNN model and Visual Saliency model respectively, to generate the shape descriptor for 3D model recognition and retrieval. The experimental result on two public datasets, ModelNet40 and ShapeNetCore55, demonstrates the correlation information of multiple views is crucial for view-based 3D model recognition methods and the proposed method can achieve the state-of-the-art performance on both 3D object classification and retrieval.

With the development of the Internet of Things technology and the continuous improvement of manufacturing processes, smart devices continue to evolve. In the existing research on human motion posture detection, there are relatively few portable wearable devices. Therefore, research on human motion posture detection based on smart wearable devices will be an important direction for future development. In this paper, a smart phone with a built-in triaxial acceleration sensor is used as a data acquisition facility to simulate the wearable device's experiment on the daily movement of the human body. The three-dimensional acceleration data during the motion is collected, and the related methods are proposed to detect the human body motion posture, and further analyze the transition between various postures, and detect the special fall posture. Starting from the two aspects of time domain and frequency domain, the analysis algorithm of human motion attitude detection is expounded. Using the time domain algorithm to detect the current motion posture of the human body, the current motion posture of the human body can be quickly detected. However, if we simply use time-domain-based detection methods, it is easy to cause errors in attitude detection. In order to improve this detection error, we combine the frequency domain analysis method, use the acceleration modulus algorithm and perform FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) to analyze the frequency domain characteristics of the signal to distinguish the human body's motion posture and improve the basic daily posture detection of the human body. The results show that the proposed method can eliminate large noise interference and reduce the missed rate and false positive rate of human attitude detection.

Renewable energy based wireless power transfer is challenging. Here the authors show a resonant-coupled triboelectric nanogenerator as a wireless power source and have further utilized this system to explore two fully self-powered wireless chipless sensors.

Nutritional iron deficiency is a common health problem. In this study, the fecal metagenomes, serum cytokine profiles, and iron status of four mouse groups (n = 8 per group), i.e., CT (control diet), LI (low-iron diet), CTL (control diet with Lacticaseibacillus casei Zhang, LCZ), and LIL (LI with LCZ) were compared after dietary intervention. Significant differences were observed in the fecal microbiota diversity and structure between groups at week 8, with diminished microbial diversity in the LI group. LCZ supplementation could regulate the microbiota diversity. The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-18 significantly increased in mice received low-iron diet compared with those in the probiotic group (low-iron diet), suggesting LCZ possibly exerted anti-inflammatory effect on the low-iron diet mice. Additionally, LCZ supplementation decreased the serum total iron binding capacity (TIBC) level in mice (P

Rapid development of the automobile industry has brought the disposal problem of waste rubber tires. Mixing waste rubber tires into concrete can not only solve environmental problems but also improve the mechanical properties of concrete. Rubber aging is one of the main factors to affect the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete. Therefore, an FEM model of rubberized concrete in mesoscale is established in this paper. The influence of rubber aging on the uniaxial compression damage of rubberized concrete is u;studied. The results show that (1) the elastic modulus and compressive strength of rubberized concrete are negatively correlated with the aging level and content of rubber and positively correlated with the particle size of rubber. (2) After uniaxial compression of concrete enters the softening section, the crack resistance of concrete is positively correlated with the aging level and content of rubber and negatively correlated with the particle size of rubber. (3) Compared with the elastic modulus, the compressive strength of rubberized concrete is more sensitive to the change of parameters of rubber, that is, the change range of the compressive strength of rubberized concrete is always greater than the change range of its elastic modulus, when the aging level, content, and particle size of rubber change.

P(VDF-TrFE) is a promising material for flexible acoustic devices owing to its good piezoelectric performance and excellent stretchability. However, the high density of internal pores and large surface roughness of the conventional P(VDF-TrFE) results in a high propagation attenuation for acoustic waves, which limits its use in flexible acoustic devices. In this paper, a novel method based on two-step annealing is proposed to effectively remove the pores inside the P(VDF-TrFE) film and reduce its surface roughness. The obtained P(VDF-TrFE) film possesses excellent characteristics, including a high breakdown strength of >300 kV/mm, a high-purity β-phase content of more than 80%, and high piezoelectric coefficients (d33) of 42 pm/V. Based on the low-porosity β-phase P(VDF-TrFE) film, we fabricated flexible film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs) which exhibit high sharp resonance peaks. The pressure sensor was made by sandwiching the FBARs with two PDMS microneedle patches. Heartbeat and respiration rate monitoring were achieved using the pressure sensor. This work demonstrates the feasibility of high-performance flexible piezoelectric acoustic resonators based on low-porosity P(VDF-TrFE) films, which could see wider applications in the wearable sensors for both physical and chemical sensing.

Emerging evidence supports that the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy is associated with the host’s gut microbiota, as prior antibiotic intake often leads to poor outcome and low responsiveness toward ICB treatment. Therefore, we hypothesized that the efficacy of ICB therapy like anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) treatment required an intact host gut microbiota, and it was established that probiotics could enhance the recovery of gut microbiota disruption by external stimuli. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the probiotics, Lactobacillus rhamnosus Probio-M9, on recovering antibiotic-disrupted gut microbiota and its impact on the outcome of ICB therapy in tumor-bearing mice. We first disrupted the mouse microbiota by antibiotics and then remediated the gut microbiota by probiotics or naturally. Tumor transplantation was then performed, followed by anti-PD-1-based antitumor therapy. Changes in the fecal metagenomes and the tumor suppression effect were monitored during different stages of the experiment. Our results showed that Probio-M9 synergized with ICB therapy, significantly improving tumor inhibition compared with groups not receiving the probiotic treatment (P < 0.05 at most time points). The synergistic effect was accompanied by effective restoration of antibiotic-disrupted fecal microbiome that was characterized by a drastically reduced Shannon diversity value and shifted composition of dominating taxa. Moreover, probiotic administration significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (e.g., Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, Parabacteroides distasonis, and some Bacteroides species; 0.0001 < P < 0.05). The gut microbiome changes were accompanied by mild reshaping of the functional metagenomes characterized by enrichment in sugar degradation and vitamin and amino acid synthesis pathways. Collectively, this study supported that probiotic administration could enhance the efficacy and responsiveness of anti-PD-1-based immunotherapy, and Probio-M9 could be a potential candidate of microbe-based synergistic tumor therapeutics. The preclinical data obtained here would support the design of future human clinical trials for further consolidating the current findings and for safety assessment of probiotic adjunctive treatment in ICB therapy.

Researchers increasingly report the therapeutic effect of exosomes derived from rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (Exos-rBMMSC) on liver disease, while the optimal dose of Exos-rBMMSC in liver cirrhotic treatment has not been reported. In this study, we aimed to explore the efficacy and dose of Exos-rBMMSC in a hepatic cirrhosis rat model. The therapeutic effects of a low dose, medium dose and high dose of Exos-rBMMSC were assessed by liver function tests and histopathology. After four-weeks of Exos-rBMMSC therapy, pyroptosis-related expression levels in the medium dose and the high dose Exos-rBMMSC groups were significantly decreased compared to those in the liver cirrhosis group (p < 0.05). The hepatic function assay and histopathology results showed significant improvement in the medium dose and the high dose Exos-rBMMSCs groups. The localization of PKH67-labeled Exos-rBMMSC was verified microscopically, and these particles were coexpressed with the PCNA, NLRP3, GSDMD and Caspase-1. Our results demonstrated that Exos-rBMMSC accelerated hepatocyte proliferation and relieved liver fibrosis by restraining hepatocyte pyroptosis. More importantly, we confirmed that the high dose of Exos-rBMMSC may be the optimal dose for liver cirrhosis, which is conducive to the application of Exos-rBMMSC as a promising cell-free strategy.

ABSTRACT Asthma is a multifactorial disorder, and microbial dysbiosis enhances lung inflammation and asthma-related symptoms. Probiotics have shown anti-inflammatory effects and could regulate the gut-lung axis. Thus, a 3-month randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled human trial was performed to investigate the adjunctive efficacy of probiotics in managing asthma. Fifty-five asthmatic patients were randomly assigned to a probiotic group (n = 29; received Bifidobacterium lactis Probio-M8 powder and Symbicort Turbuhaler) and a placebo group (n = 26; received placebo and Symbicort Turbuhaler), and all 55 subjects provided details of their clinical history and demographic data. However, only 31 patients donated a complete set of fecal and blood samples at all three time points for further analysis. Compared with those of the placebo group, co-administering Probio-M8 with Symbicort Turbuhaler significantly decreased the fractional exhaled nitric oxide level at day 30 (P = 0.049) and improved the asthma control test score at the end of the intervention (P = 0.023). More importantly, the level of alveolar nitric oxide concentration decreased significantly among the probiotic receivers at day 30 (P = 0.038), and the symptom relief effect was even more obvious at day 90 (P = 0.001). Probiotic co-administration increased the resilience of the gut microbiome, which was reflected by only minor fluctuations in the gut microbiome diversity (P > 0.05, probiotic receivers; P

To meet the stringent requirements of 5G communication, we proposed a high-performance bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter based on single crystal AlN piezoelectric films on a SiC substrate. The fabrication of the BAW filter is compatible with the GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) process, enabling the implementation of the integration of the BAW device and high-performance monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). The single crystal AlN piezoelectric film with 650-nm thickness was epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). After wafer bonding and substrate removal, the single crystal AlN film with electrode layers was transferred to another SiC wafer to form an air gap type BAW. Testing results showed that the fabricated resonators have a maximum Q-factor up to 837 at 3.3 GHz resonant frequency and electromechanical coupling coefficient up to 7.2%. Ladder-type filters were developed to verify the capabilities of the BAW and process, which has a center frequency of 3.38 GHz with 160 MHz 3 dB bandwidth. The filter achieved a minimum 1.5 dB insertion loss and more than 31 dB out-of-band rejection. The high performance of the filters is attributed to the high crystallinity and low defects of epitaxial single crystal AlN films.

Abstract Stretchable electronics‐based surface electromyography (sEMG) evaluation devices are expected to play a big role in clinical diagnosis. However, the stability and quality of the signals collected by existing stretchable electronics are too poor, especially when muscle movement is involved, making them inappropriate for high standard clinical diagnosis. Here, a physiology‐based design method for stretchable electronics and a novel airbag‐type stretchable electrode array (ASEA) device for assessment of the complex female pelvic floor muscle (PFM) is proposed. Clinical trials show that the ASEA device is able to provide stable contact interface and multi‐channel accurate data acquisition. The stability and quality of the sEMG signal are much better than those obtained by the existing stretchable electronics‐based PFM electrode devices. Furthermore, a muscle‐unit evaluation method (MUEM) to assess the PFM complex state is proposed, especially its cross‐interaction between muscles. Clinical trials show that MUEM can accurately and comprehensively assess PFM state and the correlations between main muscles, which unveils the mechanisms of some special muscle states that are not possible using traditional methods. This proof of concept research holds the promise for the development of new diagnostic strategies for muscle pathological research, and has the potential for clinical application and general implication.