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In this paper, we investigate the fast downlink beamforming for full-dimension multiple-input multiple-output systems under correlated Rician channels. Under the assumption that the base station (BS) has only statistical channel state information (CSI), we decouple each user’s beamforming vector and derive their optimal beamforming vector through the maximization of the average signal-to-leakage-plus-noise ratio (SLNR) lower bound. Then, to reduce the computation time, a model-driven deep learning (DL)-based beamforming algorithm is proposed, as well as a data-driven algoriothm for comparison. In the model-driven DL-based beamforming algorithm, the process of obtaining the beamforming vector is separated into two parallel neural networks which are constructed and trained independently. The proposed algorithms can achieve similar ergodic rate as the optimal beamforming algorithm with much less computation time, and the model-driven algorithm requires less computing resource than the data-driven algorithm.

Understanding thermal transport through nanoscale van der Waals interfaces is vital for addressing thermal management challenges in nanoelectronic devices. In this work, the interfacial thermal conductance (GCA) between copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) nanoribbons is reported to be on the order of 10^5 Wm-2K-1 at 300 K, which is over two orders of magnitude lower than the value predicted by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for a perfectly smooth interface between two parallelly aligned CuPc nanoribbons. Further MD simulations and contact mechanics analysis reveal that surface roughness can significantly reduce the adhesion energy and effective contact area between CuPc nanoribbons, and thus result in an ultralow GCA. In addition, the adhesion energy at the interface also depends on the stacking configuration of two CuPc nanoribbons, which may also contribute to the observed ultralow GCA., Main manuscript: 21 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary material: 13 pages, 5 figures and 1 table

Rutile nano-titanium dioxide (RNTD) characterized by loose particles with diameter in 20–50 nm has a very large surface area for adsorption of Tl, a typical trace metal that has severe toxicity. The increasing application of RNTD and widespread discharge of Tl-bearing effluents from various industrial activities would increase the risk of their co-exposure in aquatic environments. The adsorption behavior of Tl(I) (a prevalent form of Tl in nature) on RNTD was studied as a function of solution pH, temperature, and ion strength. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics for Tl(I) were also investigated. The adsorption of Tl(I) on RNTD started at very low pH values and increased abruptly, then maintained at high level with increasing pH >9. Uptake of Tl(I) was very fast on RNTD in the first 15 min then slowed down. The adsorption of Tl(I) on RNTD was an exothermic process; and the adsorption isotherm of Tl(I) followed the Langmuir model, with the maximum adsorption amount of 51.2 mg/g at room temperature. The kinetics of Tl adsorption can be described by a pseudo-second-order equation. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that -OH and -TiOO-H play an important role in the adsorption. All these results indicate that RNTD has a fast adsorption rate and excellent adsorption amount for Tl(I), which can thus alter the transport, bioavailability and fate of Tl(I) in aqueous environment.

Following the publication of the above article, the authors have realized that the way in which the western blotting results were presented in Fig. 6 was not optimal, and that original data should have been included in this figure in order that readers could have understood the content of this paper better. The authors regret that these errors were not picked up upon before the article went to print, and apologize to the readership for any confusion these errors may have caused. [the original article was published in Oncology Reports 41: 512-524, 2019; DOI: 10.3892/or.2018.6810].

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common malignant cancer in men worldwide. Numerous genetic variations have been associated with PCa, but their biological function remains unclear. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) inside 3' untranslated region (UTR) affect gene expression, with one essential mechanism being regulation by micro (mi)RNAs. Based on data from genome‑wide association study of the Consortium for Chinese Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics, rs1815009 and rs2684788 inside 3'UTR of insulin‑like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) presented significant genotype distribution between PCa and control samples. In the current study, targeting miRNAs were predicted using TargetScan and miRanda. The prediction was confirmed using a thermodynamic model for miRNA‑target interaction and luciferase reporter assays for miRNA binding inside IGF1R 3'UTR. Furthermore, data from public databases and miRNA overexpression further supported miRNAs function. The results suggested that miR‑133a and miR‑133b may bind near rs1815009, and miR‑455 near rs2684788, within IGF1R 3'UTR. Compared with normal tissues, miR‑133a, miR‑133b and miR‑455 exhibited significantly lower expression in PCa tissues in the public datasets analyzed. The results of the present study revealed an association between rs1815009, rs2684788 and PCa risk, which involves altered miRNA regulation and contributes to cancer susceptibility.

Single layer molybdenum disulfide (SLMoS2), a semiconductor possesses intrinsic bandgap and high electron mobility, has attracted great attention due to its unique electronic, optical, mechanical and thermal properties. Although thermal conductivity of SLMoS2 has been widely investigated recently, less studies focus on molybdenum disulfide nanotube (MoS2NT). Here, the comprehensive temperature, size and strain effect on thermal conductivity of MoS2NT are investigated. Thermal conductivity is obtained as 16 Wm−1 K−1 at room temperature, and it has a ∼T−1 dependence on temperature from 200 to 400 K and a ∼Lβ dependence on length from 10 to 320 nm. Interestingly, a chirality-dependent strain effect is identified in thermal conductivity of zigzag nanotube, in which the phonon group velocity can be significantly reduced by strain. This work not only provides feasible strategies to modulate the thermal conductivity of MoS2NT, but also offers useful insights into the fundamental mechanisms that govern the thermal conductivity, which can be used for the thermal management of low dimensional materials in optical, electronic and thermoelectrical devices.

microRNA-1471 (miR-1471) is a newly identified miRNA that is downregulated in breast cancer. However, its biological roles in human tumors are largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance and functions of miR-1471 in glioma. We found miR-1471 expression was significantly reduced in glioma tissues and cell lines. Forced expression of miR-1471 remarkedly suppressed glioma cell proliferation and invasion. Notably, metadherin (MTDH) was validated as a direct target of miR-1471 and the restoration of MTDH expression reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-1471 on glioma cell proliferation and invasion. Also, low miR-1471 expression was a predictor for worse 5-year overall survival of glioma patients. Overall, these results reveal the tumor suppressive role of miR-1471 in glioma, highlighting the potential to consider miR-1471/MTDH axis as a therapeutic target for the treatment of glioma in the near future.

Solid-state lithium-ion batteries (SSLIBs) become the new generation of devices for energy storage due to better performance and safety. Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) based material is an alternative promising candidate for solid electrolytes, while its thermal conductivity is crucial to heat dissipation inside batteries. In this work, we study the thermal conductivity of PEO by molecular dynamics simulation. Interestingly, by enhancing the structure order, thermal conductivity of crystalline PEO is obtained as high as 60 Wm−1 K−1 at room temperature, which is two orders higher than the value (0.37 Wm−1 K−1) of amorphous PEO. Moreover, thermal conductivity of crystalline PEO shows a significant stepped negative temperature dependence, which is attributed to the temperature-induced morphology change. Our study offers useful insights into the fundamental mechanisms that govern the thermal conductivity of PEO but not hinder the ionic transport, which can be used for the thermal management and further optimization of high-performance SSLIBs.

The van der Waals (vdW) interactions exist in reality universally and play an important role in physics. Here, we show the study on the mechanism of vdW interactions on phonon transport in atomic scale, which would boost developments in heat management and energy conversion. Commonly, the vdW interactions are regarded as a hindrance in phonon transport. Here, we propose that the vdW confinement will enhance phonon transport. Through molecular dynamics simulations, it shows that the vdW confinement makes more than two-fold enhancement on thermal conductivity of both polyethylene single chain and graphene nanoribbon. The quantitative analyses of morphology, local vdW potential energy and dynamical properties are carried out to reveal the underlying physical mechanism. It is found that the confined vdW potential barriers reduce the atomic thermal displacement magnitudes, thus lead to less phonon scattering and facilitate thermal transport. Our study offers a new strategy to modulate the heat transport.

The ultra-low thermal conductivity (~0.3 Wm-1K-1) of amorphous epoxy resins significantly limits their applications in electronics. Conventional top-down methods e.g. electrospinning usually result in aligned structure for linear polymers thus satisfactory enhancement on thermal conductivity, but they are deficient for epoxy resin polymerized by monomers and curing agent due to completely different cross-linked network structure. Here, we proposed a bottom-up strategy, namely parallel-linking method, to increase the intrinsic thermal conductivity of bulk epoxy resin. Through equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we reported on a high thermal conductivity value of parallel-linked epoxy resin (PLER) as 0.80 Wm-1K-1, more than twofold higher than that of amorphous structure. Furthermore, by applying uniaxial tensile strains along the intra-chain direction, a further enhancement in thermal conductivity was obtained, reaching 6.45 Wm-1K-1. Interestingly, we also observed that the inter-chain thermal conductivities decrease with increasing strain. The single chain of epoxy resin was also investigated and, surprisingly, its thermal conductivity was boosted by 30 times through tensile strain, as high as 33.8 Wm-1K-1. Our study may provide a new insight on the design and fabrication of epoxy resins with high thermal conductivity.

In this study, the linear high molecular weight polydimethylsiloxanes(PDMS) were synthesized by ultrasonic-assisted bulk ring-opening polymerization method, with D4 as the raw material, hexamethyldisilane(HMDS) as the capping agent and concentrated sulfuric acid as the catalyst. The mechanism of ring-opening polymerization assisted by ultrasound is discussed in detail, through the ultrasonic time, ultrasonic intensity and reaction temperature and other factors. The results showed that D4 ring-opening polymerization and PDMS depolymerization was a pair of reversible equilibrium reaction. Due to the influence of steric hindrance and viscosity, the ultrasonic action appears as the driving effect of D4 ring opening at the initial reaction, and the chain exchange or depolymerization of PDMS at the end of the reaction. Therefore, ultrasonic irradiation is believed to facilitate the rapid synthesis of high molecular weight PDMS at high monomer concentrations.

Low-dimensional electronic and glassy phononic transport are two important ingredients of highly-efficient thermoelectric material, from which two branches of the thermoelectric research emerge. One focuses on controlling electronic transport in the low dimension, while the other on multiscale phonon engineering in the bulk. Recent work has benefited much from combining these two approaches, e.g., phonon engineering in low-dimensional materials. Here, we propose to employ the low-dimensional electronic structure in bulk phonon-glass crystal as an alternative way to increase the thermoelectric efficiency. Through first-principles electronic structure calculation and classical molecular dynamics simulation, we show that the $\pi$-$\pi$ stacking Bis-Dithienothiophene molecular crystal is a natural candidate for such an approach. This is determined by the nature of its chemical bonding. Without any optimization of the material parameter, we obtain a maximum room-temperature figure of merit, $ZT$, of $1.48$ at optimal doping, thus validating our idea., Comment: Nano Lett.2015

We study two basic problems involved in the study of the standard intertwining operators attached to representations induced from irreducible unitary supercuspidal representations on maximal parabolic subgroups of p-adic classical groups. We give a formula to transfer the integrals over the unipotent radical to orbital integrals under the adjoint action of the Levi subgroup, and conclude that the residue of such standard intertwining operators at s = 0 ${s=0}$ is determined by compact orbital integrals.

Let 𝔤 be a (finite-dimensional) complex simple Lie algebra of rank l. An invertible linear map ϕ on 𝔤 is said to preserve solvability in both directions if ϕ, as well as ϕ−1, sends every solvable subalgebra to some solvable one. In this article, it is shown that an invertible linear map ϕ on 𝔤 preserves solvability in both directions if and only if it can be decomposed into the product of an inner automorphism, a graph automorphism, a scalar multiplication map and a diagonal automorphism.

Objective: Osteocalcin can regulate energy metabolism and increase testosterone production. Although previous studies have shown the positive association between osteocalcin and testosterone, the effect of metabolic factors in the association is unclear. Design and Setting: Osteocalcin, testosterone, and metabolic factors were accessed in 2400 men aged 20 to 69 years, who participated in the population-based Fangchenggang Area Male Health and Examination Survey in Guangxi province of China from September 2009 to December 2009. Main Outcome Measures: Metabolic syndrome was defined based on the updated report of National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Serum total osteocalcin, total testosterone (TT), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured, whereas free testosterone (FT) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) were calculated based on Vermeulen's formula. The multivariable linear regression analysis was used. Results: Osteocalcin was positively associated with TT, FT, and BT in the unadjusted model (all P < .001). After adjusting for age, the positive association between osteocalcin and TT remained statistically significant (β = .17, 95% confidence interval = 0.14–0.20) and was not attenuated in each MetS subgroup including hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, elevated blood pressure, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, while in the group of central obesity (waist circumstance ≥90 cm), the association appeared significantly stronger (β = 0.21, 95% confidence interval = 0.12–0.30). After further adjusting for SHBG, osteocalcin was positively associated with TT, FT, and BT in men with central obesity or men with any two MetS components (all P < .05). Conclusions: Serum total osteocalcin is positively associated with testosterone, which is probably modified by SHBG and central obesity.

Let 𝔏 be the Schr dinger–Virasoro Lie algebra over the complex field ℂ. In this article, we prove that each biderivation of 𝔏 is inner. As an application of biderivations, we show that every linear commuting map ψ on 𝔏 has the form ψ(x) = λx + f(x)M 0, where λ ∈ ℂ, M 0 is a basis of the one-dimensional center of 𝔏, and f is a linear function from 𝔏 to ℂ.

We study the norm correspondence associated to standard intertwining operators on p - adic classical groups, parametrize each orbit, show that the fibres on each section of the norm map have the same cardinality, determine the centralizer and twisted centralizer on each regular orbit.

Objective: Upper urinary calculi (UUC) is considered to be a comprehensive disease associated with many risk factors, but the role of physical activity (PA) is undefined. Here, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate this relationship in Asian populations. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with UUC were the subjects of study and those who participated in a health examination in local medical center were included as controls. Information was collected through the same standard questionnaire. A metabolic equivalent score (METs) was measured for each kind of activity. OR of UUC in categories of PA were determined by logistic regression. Results: A total of 1,782 controls and 1,517 cases were enrolled. People who took higher PA (5-9.9, 10-19.9, 20-29.9 and >30 METs/wk) weekly were associated with lower risks of UUC than those took lower PA (Conclusions: In our cross-sectional study, PA was associated with UUC.

A new way was proposed to enhance the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) of silicon carbide (SiC) composite through the overlapped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and intertube atoms. By nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations, the dependence of ITC on both the number of intertube atoms and the temperature was studied. It is indicated that the ITC can be significantly enhanced by adding intertube atoms and finally becomes saturated with the increase of the number of intertube atoms. And the mechanism is discussed by analyzing the probability distributions of atomic forces and vibrational density of states (VDOS). This work may provide some guidance on enhancing the ITC of CNT-based composites.

Z-contrast imaging, electron diffraction, atom-probe tomography (APT) and density functional theory calculations were used to study the crystal structure of the Mo

Background Urological cancers occur worldwide. Many factors, among which the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism, are said to be associated with the cancer risk. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the association between urological cancer susceptibility and COMT Val158Met in different genetic models. Methods This study was based on material obtained from the PubMed, HuGENet and Embase databases. Four models including dominant (AA + AG vs. GG), recessive (AA vs. AG + GG), codominant (AA vs. AG, AA vs. GG) and per-allele analysis (A vs. G) were applied. Odds ratios (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to evaluate the power of the associations. Results Fourteen eligible studies comprising 3,285 cases and 3,594 controls were included. Although we could not detect a positive function of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism in urological cancers, the polymorphism might be significantly associated with bladder cancer risk (dominant model [AA + AG vs. GG]: OR = 0.736, 95% CI = 0.586-0.925, I2 = 0.00%; recessive model [AA vs. AG + GG]: OR = 0.822, 95%CI = 0.653-1.035, I2 = 6.30%; codominant model [AA vs. AG]: OR = 0.908, 95% CI = 0.710-1.161, I2 = 0.00%; codominant model [AA vs. GG]: OR = 0.693, 95% CI = 0.524-0.917, I2 = 30.20%; allele analysis [A vs. G]: OR = 0.826, 95%CI = 0.717-0.951, I2 = 30.20%). The same significant associations were not found for kidney cancer and prostate cancer risk in different ethnicities. There also seemed to be no distinct effect of the polymorphism on benign prostatic hyperplasia. Conclusions We suggest that bladder cancer but not prostate cancer and kidney cancer could be significantly associated with the Val158Met polymorphism. Interaction of COMT genetic and related environmental factors for urological cancers should not be ignored in future.

Let M n (R) be the algebra of all n × n matrices over a unital commutative ring R with 6 invertible, and let X be an R-module. It is shown that if a symmetric bilinear map {·, ·}: M n (R) × M n (R) → X satisfies the condition that {u, u} = 0 whenever u 2 = 0, then there exists a linear map f: [sl n (R)]2 → X such that {x, y} = f(x ○ y), ∀ x, y ∈ sl n (R), where sl n (R) denotes the subset of M n (R) of all matrices of trace zero.

An invertible linear map φ on a Lie algebra L is called a triple automorphism of it if φ([x, [y, z]]) = [φ(x), [φ(y), φ(z)]] for ∀ x, y, z ∈ L. Let g be a finite-dimensional simple Lie algebra of rank l defined over an algebraically closed field F of characteristic zero, p an arbitrary parabolic subalgebra of g. It is shown in this paper that an invertible linear map φ on p is a triple automorphism if and only if either φ itself is an automorphism of p or it is the composition of an automorphism of p and an extremal map of order 2.

Let 𝔤 be a simple Lie algebra of rank l over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, 𝔭 an arbitrary parabolic subalgebra of 𝔤. A bilinear map ϕ: 𝔭 × 𝔭 → 𝔭 is called a biderivation of 𝔭 if it is a derivation with respect to both components, meaning that for all x, y, z ∈ 𝔭. It is shown in this article that a bilinear map ϕ: 𝔭 × 𝔭 → 𝔭 is a biderivation if and only if it is a sum of an inner and an extremal biderivation.

A linear map ϕ on a Lie algebra L is called a Lie triple derivation if ϕ([x, [y, z]]) = [ϕ(x), [y, z]] + [x, [ϕ(y), z]] + [x, [ y, ϕ(z)]] for all x, y, z ∈ L. Let be a finite-dimensional simple Lie algebra of rank l over an algebraically closed field F of characteristic zero, and an arbitrary parabolic subalgebra of . It is shown in this note that a linear map ϕ on is a Lie triple derivation if and only if it is an inner derivation, which generalizes the main result of Tolpygo [A.K. Tolpygo, On chomology of parabolic Lie algebras, Math. Notes 12 (1973), pp. 585–587] saying that every derivation of is inner derivation.

Heart rate is one of the major indications of human cardiovascular response to exercises. This study investigates human heart rate response dynamics to moderate exercise. A healthy male subject has been asked to walk on a motorised treadmill under a predefined exercise protocol. ECG, body movements, and oxygen saturation (SpO2) have been reliably monitored and recorded by using non-invasive portable sensors. To reduce heart rate variation caused by the influence of various internal or external factors, the designed step response protocol has been repeated three times. Experimental results show that both steady state gain and time constant of heart rate response are not invariant when walking speed is faster than 3 miles/hour, and time constant of offset exercise is noticeably longer than that of onset exercise.

Suppose that P = MN is amaximal parabolic subgroup of a quasisplit, connected, reductive classical group G defined over a non-Archimedean field and A is the standard intertwining operator attached to a tempered representation of G induced from M . In this paper we determine all the cases in which Lie(N ) is prehomogeneous under Ad(m) when N is non-abelian, and give necessary and sufficient conditions for A to have a pole at 0.

A new scaffold material composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) and thermal sensitive hydrogel (HG), and evaluated its biocompatibility were investigated. We cultured bladder smooth muscle cells with this compound material, and then observed with phase contrast microscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to assess the cell growth and morphology. The cell adhesion and proliferation were detected with MTT assay and cell count. Results show the ECM/HG compounds appeared as a net-like and red-stained construction with enough meshes and without any cellular fragments. 6 h after implantation, cells were observed adhere on the compounds and extend spurious along the fibers 12 h later. Under SEM even some ECM was observed to be secreted. MTT assay shows there was obvious statistic difference among 3 groups (P

One of the most significant challenges in bio-inspired robotics is how to realize and take advantage of multimodal locomotion, which may help robots perform a variety of tasks adaptively in different environments. In order to address the challenge properly, it is important to notice that locomotion dynamics are the result of interactions between a particular internal control structure, the mechanical dynamics and the environment. From this perspective, this paper presents an approach to enable a robot to take advantage of its multiple locomotion modes by coupling the mechanical dynamics of the robot with an internal control structure known as an attractor selection model. The robot used is a curved-beam hopping robot; this robot, despite its simple actuation method, possesses rich and complex mechanical dynamics that are dependent on its interactions with the environment. Through dynamical coupling, we will show how this robot performs goal-directed locomotion by gracefully shifting between different locomotion modes regulated by sensory input, the robot's mechanical dynamics and an internally generated perturbation. The efficacy of the approach is validated and discussed based on the simulation and on real-world experiments.

The equality of the centralizer and twisted centralizer is proved based on a case-by-case analysis when the unipotent radical of a maximal parabolic subgroup is abelian. Then this result is used to determine the poles of intertwining operators.

Locomotion has been one of the frequently used case studies in hands on curricula in robotics education. Students are usually instructed to construct their own wheeled or legged robots from modular robot kits. In the development process of a robot students tend to emphasize on the programming part and consequently neglect the design of the robot's body. However the morphology of a robot (i.e. its body shape and material properties) plays an important role especially in dynamic tasks such as locomotion. In this paper we introduce a case study of a tutorial on soft robotics where students were encouraged to focus solely on the morphology of a robot to achieve stable and fast locomotion. The students should experience the influence material properties exert on the performance of a robot and consequently extract design principles. This tutorial was held in the context of the 2012 Summer School on Soft Robotics at ETH Zurich which was one of the world's first courses specialized in the emerging field. We describe the tutorial set up the used hardware and software the students assessment criteria as well as the results. Based on the high creativity and diversity of the robots built by the students we conclude that the concept of this tutorial has great potentials for both education and research. © 2013 IEEE.

BACKGROUND: While many investigators have studied symptomatic prostatitis, little research has been done with regard to asymptomatic (NIH-IV) prostatitis. PURPOSE: To describe the prevalence of and risk factors for NIH-IV prostatitis among a large male population. METHODS: The study population was comprised of 1,868 men at the second phase recruitment of a population-based cohort in China. Asymptomatic and symptomatic men were defined by the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis (CP) Symptom Index. Meanwhile, EPS specimens and their leukocyte count were collected. Lifestyle and demographic characteristics were obtained through a questionnaire. RESULTS: Prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis was 21.1% among 1,868 asymptomatic men aged 19-78 years and increased with age. After adjusteing for potential confounding variables (age, smoking habits, alcohol drinking habits, education, physical activity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes), age remained a significant factor for NIH-IV prostatitis (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.06-1.71; P = 0.01) and the risk of NIH-IV prostatitis was significantly higher in smokers≧15 pack/years than non-smokers (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.01-1.75; P = 0.03). In addition, compared with non-drinkers, the OR of NIH-IV prostatitis in drinkers ≧1 drinks/week was 1.35 (95% CI = 1.03, 1.77, p = 0.02) after adjusting for the other variables above. In addition, having less than a college education may be a risk factor for NIH-IV prostatitis, although a statistically significant difference did not exist in our data (OR = 1.22; 95% CI = 0.97-1.52; P = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that NIH-IV prostatitis is prevalent in China. Age, smoking, drinking and lower education levels were associated with an increased risk of NIH-IV prostatitis. The prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis should be taken into account when estimating the total prevalence of CP in future studies.

Objective The goal of present study was to examine the influence of demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and metabolic factors on pressure-induced pain threshold. Design and Setting The study population comprised 2,517 healthy men at second-phase recruitment of a population-based cohort in China. The pressure pain threshold (PPT) at two locations, triceps and inguinal lines, was obtained using a digital pressure algometer. Education and occupation, as well as lifestyle factors, were self-reported in a face-to-face interview. Blood lipid and fasting glucose were measured as a routine healthy check-up program. Results A lower PPT was found among men with younger age, higher level of education, and non-manual occupation. In addition, men with central obesity and moderate leisure time physical exercise were more sensitive to muscle mechanical stimuli. PPT was significantly correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β for triceps = 0.064, and β for inguinal lines = 0.052) in a multivariate linear regression model, after controlling for multiple variables. Elevated PPT was also found among subjects with hyperglycemia (both P for triceps and inguinal lines

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a global disease causing large numbers of deaths every year. Recent studies have indicated the RTK/ERK pathway might be a key pathway in the development of PCa. However, the exact association and evolution-based mechanism remain unclear. This study was conducted by combining genotypic and phenotypic data from the Chinese Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics (ChinaPCa) with related databases such as the HapMap Project and Genevar. In this analysis, expression of quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) analysis, natural selection and gene-based pathway analysis were involved. The pathway analysis confirmed the positive relationship between PCa risk and several key genes. In addition, combined with the natural selection, it seems that 4 genes (EGFR, ERBB2, PTK2, and RAF1) with five SNPs (rs11238349, rs17172438, rs984654, rs11773818, and rs17172432) especially rs17172432, might be pivotal factors in the development of PCa. The results indicate that the RTK/ERK pathway under natural selection is a key link in PCa risk. The joint effect of the genes and loci with positive selection might be one reason for the development of PCa. Dealing with all the factors simultaneously might give insight into prevention and aid in predicting the success of potential therapies for PCa.

The use of free vibration in elastic structure can lead to energy efficient robot locomotion, since it significantly reduces the energy expenditure if properly designed and controlled. However, it is not well understood how to harness the dynamics of free vibration for the robot locomotion, because of the complex dynamics originated in discrete events and energy dissipation during locomotion. From this perspective, the goal of this paper is to propose a design strategy of hopping robot based on elastic curved beams and actuated rotating masses, and identify the minimalistic model that can characterize the basic principle of robot locomotion. Since the robot mainly exhibits vertical hopping, three one-dimensional models are examined that contain different configurations of simple spring-damper-mass components. The real-world and simulation experiments show that one of the models best characterizes the robot hopping, through analyzing the basic kinematics and negative works in actuation. Based on this model, the self-stability of hopping motion under disturbances is investigated and design and control parameters are analyzed for the energy efficient hopping. Additionally, further analyses show that this robot can achieve the energy efficient hopping with the variation in payload, and the source of energy dissipation of the robot hopping is investigated.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the study of gait patterns in both animals and robots, because it allows us to systematically investigate the underlying mechanisms of energetics, dexterity, and autonomy of adaptive systems. In particular, for morphological computation research, the control of dynamic legged robots and their gait transitions provides additional insights into the guiding principles from a synthetic viewpoint for the emergence of sensible self-organizing behaviors in more-degrees-of-freedom systems. This article presents a novel approach to the study of gait patterns, which makes use of the intrinsic mechanical dynamics of robotic systems. Each of the robots consists of a U-shaped elastic beam and exploits free vibration to generate different locomotion patterns. We developed a simplified physics model of these robots, and through experiments in simulation and real-world robotic platforms, we show three distinctive mechanisms for generating different gait patterns in these robots. Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) European Commission (PP00P2123387) Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Centre of Competence in Research Robotics

In quadruped animals, spinal movements contribute to locomotion in terms of controlling body posture, providing the foundation to generate leg movement, and integrating limb and trunk actions. Inspired by this biological findings, we develop two quadruped models featuring different numbers of spinal joints to demonstrate the spine-driven locomotion behaviors. To gain a deep understanding of how the locomotion is achieved by axial driven propulsion and how the spinal morphology affects locomotion, we exclusively employ actuated spinal joint(s) to the model with a minimalistic control strategy. We choose three individuals from these two models and analyze their behaviors in terms of gait properties, i.e., angle of attack, ground clearance, and movement of the center of mass. The results show that employing the spinal morphology with two joints can greatly enhance the stability and speed of locomotion. Among several advantageous properties of the two spinal joint model we identify the following. First, it allows the robot to adjust the movement of the center of mass to stabilize itself. Second, by providing more freedom to bend the spine, the robot can pull the rear legs forward, thus increasing the stride length. Finally, locomotion with this model exhibits two flight phases and greater flight proportion during each stride, similar to what it is observed from running cheetahs, which make significant difference in the speed and the gait.

The biological hypothesis of spinal engine states that locomotion is mainly achieved by the spine, while the legs may serve as assistance. Inspired by this hypothesis, a compliant, multiple degree-of-freedom, biologically-inspired spine has been embedded into a quadruped robot, named Kitty, which has no actuation on the legs. In this paper, we demonstrate how versatile behaviors (bounding, trotting, and turning) can be generated exclusively by the spine's movements through dynamical interaction between the controller, the body, and the environment, known as embodiment. Moreover, we introduce information theoretic approach to quantitatively study the spine internal dynamics and its effect on the bounding gait based on three spinal morphologies. These three morphologies differ in the position of virtual spinal joint where the spine is easier to get bent. The experimental results reveal that locomotion can be enhanced by using the spine featuring a rear virtual spinal joint, which offers more freedom for the rear legs to move forward. In addition, the information theoretic analysis shows that, according to the morphological differences of the spine, the information structure changes. The relationship between the observed behavior of the robot and the corresponding information structure is discussed in detail.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a worldwide disease that affects a large number of males. Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is used, the specificity is limited. This study analyzes the sensitivity and specificity of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) methylation for PCa detection in body fluids and tissues. Combining search results from PubMed and Embase, 19 studies were included, 5 involving body fluids and 14 involving prostate tissue, with 2344 subjects. In body fluid subgroups, the pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.53 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28-0.78) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.86-0.95), respectively. From tissue studies, the results presented as 0.84 (95% CI: 0.70-0.92) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.77-0.97). To confirm the results, we conducted a further analysis by removing studies which introduced high heterogeneity due to the type of cases and controls. The same degree of sensitivity and specificity was presented in two subgroups (urine: sensitivity 0.46, 95% CI: 0.39-0.53; specificity 0.87, 95% CI: 0.64-0.96; tissue: sensitivity 0.87, 95% CI: 0.72-0.94; specificity 0.89, 95% CI: 0.68-0.97). In addition, analysis of the interaction between APC methylation and PCa showed strong association in the whole data set (odds ratio (OR)=24.91, 95% CI: 12.86-48.24, I(2)=72.5%). Pooling the same two main subgroups (tissue/fluid) gave a pooled OR of 33.54 (95% CI: 14.88-75.59; I(2)=70.7%) and 8.20 (95% CI: 2.84-23.74, I(2)=64.2%), respectively. From this study, the results suggest that APC promoter methylation may be the potential testing for PCa diagnosis and provide a new viewpoint in the treatment of PCa.