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Robot-assisted therapy is regarded as an effective and reliable method for the delivery of highly repetitive training that is needed to trigger neuroplasticity following a stroke. This study focuses on the pre-defined research gaps by combining adaptive assist-as-needed control and immersive virtual environment (VE) into a rehabilitation system, with special attention on the rehabilitation of fine hand motion skills. The virtual reality-based integrated rehabilitation system using Oculus Rift DK2 head mounted display, featuring rehabilitation gaming system with rendering immersive VE is proposed to strengthen activities of daily living and task-oriented kinematic features such as force, range of motion (ROM) and finger coordination. The effectiveness of the system is examined by conducting clinical trials on a group of 8 subacute stroke patients for a period of six weeks with 18 training sessions. The results are verified through clinical evaluation methods and key kinematic features such as active ROM and finger strength. By comparing the pre- and post-training results, the study demonstrates that the proposed method can enhance the efficiency of fine hand motion rehabilitation training by 35% on average in the patients who participated in the experimental work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new TiO2 nanoparticles/nanorods composite electrode was fabricated and applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The TiO2 nanorods were obtained by grinding the electrospun TiO2 nanofibers mechanically. The composite photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells was fabricated by using TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) and electrospun TiO2 nanorods. At the optimized condition, the power conversion efficiency (η) based on a triphenylamine dye (SD2) and a ruthenium dye (N719) are 8.28% and 8.80% under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW ⋅ cm-2), respectively. The results show that the electrospun TiO2 nanorods in the composite photoanode improve the physicochemical properties and enhance the photovoltaic performances of solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse wind effects on the thermo-flow performances of air-cooled condensers (ACCs) can be effectively restrained by wind-proof devices, such as air deflectors. Based on a 2 × 300 MW coal-fired power generation unit, two types (plane and arc) of air deflectors were installed beneath the peripheral fans to improve the ACC's cooling performance. With and without air deflectors, the air velocity, temperature, and pressure fields near the ACCs were simulated and analyzed in various windy conditions. The total air mass flow rate and unit back pressure were calculated and compared. The results show that, with the guidance of deflectors, reverse flows are obviously suppressed in the upwind condenser cells under windy conditions, which is conducive to an increased mass flow rate and heat dissipation and, subsequently, introduces a favorable thermo-flow performance of the cooling system. When the wind speed increases, the leading flow effect of the air deflectors improves, and improvements in the ACC's performance in the wind directions of 45° and −45° are more satisfactory. However, hot plume recirculation may impede performance when the wind direction is 0°. For all cases, air deflectors in an arc shape are recommended to restrain the disadvantageous wind effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate whether neck circumference (NC) can predict metabolic syndrome (MetS), coronary calcification and lesion, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). A total of 867 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) over 60 years old from the Second Hospital of Shandong University, who had undergone coronary computed tomography, were randomly selected for a retrospective analysis. The subjects were divided into male and female groups, NC quartile 1–4 groups (Q1-Q4 groups), non-multivessel coronary disease (non-MVCD) and multi-vessel coronary disease (MVCD) groups. After adjusting for potential confounders, NC was associated with risk factors promoting coronary artery disease (CAD) and coronary artery calcification score (CACS). The severity of CAD increased by 0.202 times and 0.372 times for each unit of NC in male and female groups, respectively. Compared with the lower CACS group, the risk of coronary calcification increased by 0.139 times, and MVCD increased 0.268 times, with each unit increase of NC. Except for all-cause death, there were significant differences between the Q1-Q4 groups in the prevalence of all primary endpoints, cardiogenic death, unexpected re-hospitalization of heart failure, ACS recurrence or unplanned revascularization, and non-fatal stroke (p log-rank <0.01). In view of the overall trend, with the increase of NC quartiles, the prevalence of MACEs gradually increased (all p < 0.01). NC is closely associated with MetS and its components, coronary calcification and lesion degree, and MACEs. NC could be used as surrogate of CACS to predict the coronary condition and prognosis of elderly patients with ACS. [Display omitted] • Neck circumference serves as a surrogate of metabolic syndrome and its components. • Neck circumference predicts the degree of coronary lesions. • Neck circumference predicts major adverse cardiovascular events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current work, a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film with thickness of 3.4 μm was prepared by RF-magnetron sputtering on a silicon substrate. By annealing at different temperatures (100–300 °C), the structure relaxations of PTFE film were systematically investigated via the variations of physical properties, i.e., atomic bonding, density and surface morphology. It was unfolded that inner atomic arrangement and surface morphology changed little whilst film density was greatly increased with increasing annealing temperature. Relying on nanoindentation technology, the mechanical properties including hardness, elastic modulus, creep resistance and friction coefficient were measured in the as-prepared and annealed PTFE films. By increasing annealing temperature, hardness and elastic modulus were enhanced at 100 °C and then gradually declined at higher temperatures. The room-temperature creep resistance was promoted in the annealed films and nearly independent on annealing temperature. During the scratch test, the residual depth of scratches increased and the elastic recovery ratio decreased by further increasing annealing temperature. • High-quality PTFE film with 3 μm thickness was prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. • Mechanical properties of film were greatly promoted compared to its bulk counterpart. • PTFE film density was effectively enhanced by annealing effect. • Atomic bonding and surface morphology were little changed during annealing. • PTFE film annealed at 100 °C owns the optimal mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkyl substituents appended to polymers play the determining role on self-assembly and film-forming properties, and on device performance. In this work, we highlight the effects of the linear and branched flexible chains appended to the acceptor moiety (A) in D-A type copolymers. Two thieno[3,4-c]-pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) based copolymers PT1 and PT2 with different alkyl chains, were designed and synthesized. By comparison their UV-vis absorptions, HOMO/LUMO energy levels, as well as the characters in polymer solar cells, the influences of alkyl chains were investigated. Both copolymers showed molecular weights of 21 kDa and similar optical properties with a medium band gap of 1.93 eV, while PT2 with the branched chain exhibited a lower HOMO than that of PT1 (−5.43 vs − 5.37 eV). In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, PT1 with a linear chain presented a short circuit current (Jsc) of 6.76 mA cm‒2, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.89 V and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.92%. To the contrary, PT2 showed a Jsc of 3.53 mA cm‒2, Voc of 0.99 V, delivering a relatively lower PCE of 2.05%. The result indicates that appending a linear alkyl chain to the TPD unit could sufficient enhance the Jsc value of the related polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High correlation coefficient between speckle patterns (CCSP) results in poor imaging quality in ghost imaging (GI), especially for long-distance imaging. In this paper, we derive the analytic formula of CCSP generated by RGG and verify its effectiveness through experiments. Aiming at the degradation of imaging quality caused by high average correlation coefficient, we propose a new subset division scheme based on ordered subset expectation maximization technique to improve the quality of ghost-image. The experimental and simulation results demonstrate that our scheme can get better imaging quality under the same average correlation coefficient when compared with the commonly used GI algorithms. Even when these algorithms fail to reconstruct the target due to high average correlation coefficient, our scheme still obtains good imaging results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous scene imaging is an important research goal in the field of autonomous driving, and the key is to ensure the imaging quality and efficiency. In this paper, we propose a method for information fusion in wide-field scanning ghost imaging using a local binary pattern (LBP) based on deep learning. The initial physical model formed by the LBP integrated into a deep neural network, which effectively enhances the expression of image texture details. Then the collected bucket signals are used as labels for adaptive image reconstruction, enabling the acquisition of images at each scanning position without the need for training on any dataset. Moreover, by employing weighted fusion to combine the image data from each scanning position, which effectively eliminates gaps that arise from direct stitching. Both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that our approach is capable of achieving high-quality detailed imaging with fewer measurements. Additionally, we analyze the impact of the projection beam step length, finding that our method yields significantly better imaging quality with larger steps compared to other methods using smaller steps. Our research also has the application prospect in medical detection, remote sensing and other fields.

Global pesticide usage reaching 2.7 million metric tons annually, brings a grave threat to non-target organisms, especially aquatic organisms, resulting in serious concerns. Predicting aquatic toxicity of pesticides towards Daphnia magna is significant. In this work, random forest (RF) algorithm, together with ten Dragon molecular descriptors, was successfully utilized to develop a quantitative structure-activity/toxicity relationship (QSAR/QSTR) model for the toxicity pEC 50 of 745 pesticides towards Daphnia magna. The optimal QSTR model (RF Model I) based on the RF parameters of ntree = 50, mtry = 3 and nodesize = 5, yielded R 2  = 0.877, MAE = 0.570, rms = 0.739 (training set of 596 pEC 50 ), R 2  = 0.807, MAE = 0.732, rms = 0.902 (test set of 149 pEC 50 ), and R 2  = 0.863, MAE = 0.602, rms = 0.774 (total set of 745 pEC 50 ), which are accurate and satisfactory. The optimal RF model is comparable to other published QSTR models for Daphnia magna, although the optimal RF model possessed a small descriptor subset and dealt with a large dataset of pesticide toxicity pEC 50 . Thus, the investigation in this work provides a reliable, applicable QSTR model for predicting the toxicity pEC 50 of pesticides towards Daphnia magna., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The disturbance of the scattering medium, such as hazy, can affect the propagation of vortex beams and induce cross-talk within the orbital angular momentum (OAM) spectrum in optical communications based on vortex beams. This paper first validates the integrated scattering phase screen model through experimental beam phase measurements using a simple interferometer. Then, the influence of macroscopic physical parameters of the scattering medium on the OAM spectrum is investigated based on the hazy scattering phase model. It is demonstrated that the larger particle radius, concentration, and thickness will result in a greater cross-talk of the OAM spectrum. Moreover, the behavior of multiplexed vortex beams influenced by the hazy environment is also studied. The results may be a powerful tool to estimate the effect of the scattering medium on beam quality in optical communication based on vortex beams.

Endothelial dysfunction is acknowledged as a marker for subclinical target organ damage (STOD) in hypertension, though its therapeutic potential has not yet been clarified. This study assessed whether early endothelial function improvement (EEFI) reduced STOD in patients with essential hypertension (EH). We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 456 EH patients initially free from STOD. Endothelial function was assessed using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), with values ≤ 7.1% indicating dysfunction. Patients were initially categorized by endothelial status (dysfunction: n = 180, normal: n = 276), and further divided into improved or unimproved groups based on changes within three months post-enrollment. During a median follow-up of 25 months, 177 patients developed STOD. The incidence of STOD was significantly higher in patients with initial dysfunction compared to those with normal function. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the improved group had a lower cumulative incidence of STOD compared to the unimproved group (p < 0.05). Multivariable Cox regression confirmed EEFI as an independent protective factor against STOD in EH patients (p < 0.05), regardless of their baseline endothelial status, especially in those under 65 years old, non-smokers, and with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels ≤ 3.4 mmol/L. In conclusion, EEFI significantly reduces STOD incidence in EH patients, particularly in specific subgroups, emphasizing the need for early intervention in endothelial function to prevent STOD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The influence of SGLT-1 on perivascular preadipocytes (PVPACs) and vascular remodeling is not well understood. This study aimed to elucidate the role and mechanism of SGLT-1-mediated PVPACs bioactivity. PVPACs were cultured in vitro and applied ex vivo to the carotid arteries of mice using a lentivirus-based thermosensitive in situ gel (TISG). The groups were treated with Lv-SGLT1 (lentiviral vector, overexpression), Lv-siSGLT1 (RNA interference, knockdown), or specific signaling pathway inhibitors. Assays were conducted to assess changes in cell proliferation, apoptosis, glucose uptake, adipogenic differentiation, and vascular remodeling in the PVPACs. Protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting, immunocytochemistry, and/or immunohistochemistry. The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay and Hoechst 33342 staining indicated that SGLT-1 overexpression significantly promoted PVPACs proliferation and inhibited apoptosis in vitro. Conversely, SGLT-1 knockdown exerted the opposite effect. Oil Red O staining revealed that SGLT-1 overexpression facilitated adipogenic differentiation, while its inhibition mitigated these effects. 3 H-labeled glucose uptake experiments demonstrated that SGLT-1 overexpression enhanced glucose uptake by PVPACs, whereas RNA interference-mediated SGLT-1 inhibition had no significant effect on glucose uptake. Moreover, RT-qPCR, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence analyses revealed that SGLT-1 overexpression upregulated FABP4 and VEGF-A levels and activated the Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway, whereas SGLT-1 knockdown produced the opposite effects. In vivo studies corroborated these findings and indicated that SGLT-1 overexpression facilitated carotid artery remodeling. Our study demonstrates that SGLT-1 activation of the Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway promotes PVPACs proliferation, adipogenesis, glucose uptake, glucolipid metabolism, and vascular remodeling. NEW & NOTEWORTHY SGLT-1 is expressed in PVPACs and can affect preadipocyte glucolipid metabolism and vascular remodeling. SGLT-1 promotes the biofunctions of PVPACs mediated by Akt/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway. Compared with caudal vein or intraperitoneal injection, the external application of lentivirus-based thermal gel around the carotid artery is an innovative attempt at vascular remodeling model, it may effectively avoid the transfection of lentiviral vector into the whole body of mice and the adverse effect on experimental results.

Background: To investigate the correlation between lg (circSCMH1/miR-874) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and carotid plaque stability., Methods: 701 patients were divided into stable coronary artery disease (SCAD), ACS, and control groups. Furthermore, 225 patients who underwent carotid ultrasound were selected from the above 701 patients and were divided into low-risk plaque, medium-to-high risk plaque, and control (without carotid plaques) groups. We collected their baseline characteristics and measured the contents of exosomal circSCMH1 and miR-874 in peripheral blood. Then lg(circSCMH1/miR-874) was calculated and statistical analysis was performed., Results: The lg (circSCMH1/miR-874) values of ACS, SCAD, and the control group decreased successively ( P  < 0.05). Compared with the low-risk plaque and control groups, the lg (circSCMH1/miR-874) value of medium-high risk plaque group decreased ( P  < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that with the decrease of lg (circSCMH1/miR-874), the risk of ACS, AMI, and medium-high risk plaques increased. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that lg (circSCMH1/miR-874) has a higher diagnostic value for ACS, AMI and medium-high risk plaques than previously used predictive ratios., Conclusion: Lg (circSCMH1/miR-874) is closely associated with coronary and carotid plaque stability., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Wang, Liu, Tian, Xing, Huang, Fu, Xu and Liu.)

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC)-derived exosomal miR-146a-5p on microglial polarization and the potential underlying mechanisms in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-exposed microglial cells., Methods: Exosomes were isolated from BMSCs, and their characteristics were examined. The effects of BMSC-derived exosomes on microglial polarization were investigated in OGD-exposed BV-2 cells. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified and their biological function was explored using enrichment analyses. The regulatory role of miR-146a-5p in microglial polarization was studied via flow cytometry. Finally, the downstream target gene Traf6 was validated, and the role of the miR-146a-5p/Traf6 axis in modulating microglial polarization was investigated in OGD-exposed BV-2 cells., Results: BMSC-derived exosomes were successfully isolated and characterized. A total of 10 upregulated and 33 downregulated miRNAs were identified. Exosomal treatment resulted in significant changes in microglial polarization markers. miR-146a-5p was found to be significantly downregulated in OGD-exposed microglial cells treated with exosomes. Manipulation of miR-146a-5p expression modulated microglial polarization. Moreover, the miR-146a-5p/Traf6 axis regulated microglial polarization., Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that BMSC-derived exosomal via miR-146a-5p modulates microglial polarization by targeting Traf6, providing a potential thermal target for the treatment of neurological diseases involving microglial activation., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2023 Huang et al.)

The propagation dynamics of Gaussian beams and finite energy Airy beams with spectral quadratic phase modulation (QPM) modeled by the fractional Schrödinger equation (FSE) are numerically investigated. Compared with beam propagation in the standard Schrödinger equation, the focusing property of beams under FSE is influenced by the QPM coefficient and the Lévy index. For symmetric Gaussian beams, the focusing position increases and the focusing intensity decreases for the larger QPM coefficient or smaller Lévy index. For asymmetric Airy beams, multiple focusing positions occur, and the tendency of focusing intensity is opposite to that of Gaussian beams. Our results show the promising application of the FSE system for optical manipulation and optical splitting by controlling the QPM.

Obesity poses significant health risks and can negatively impact an individual's quality of life. The human obesity phenotype results from the differentiation of pre-adipocytes into adipocytes, which leads to hypertrophy and hyperplasia in adipose tissue. The molecular mechanisms by which long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) modulate adipocyte differentiation, a process implicated in obesity development, remain poorly characterized. A lncRNA which suppressed the hepatic gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis (lncSHGL) was newly identified. Our research aims to elucidate the functional role and mechanistic underpinnings of suppressor of lncSHGL in adipocyte differentiation. We observed that lncSHGL expression progressively diminished during 3T3-L1 differentiation and was downregulated in the liver and perirenal adipose tissue of ob/ob mice. lncSHGL acts as a molecular sponge for miR-149, with Mospd3 identified as a target of miR-149.Overexpression of lncSHGL and inhibition of miR-149 led to suppressed 3T3-L1 proliferation, decreased lipid droplet accumulation, and attenuated promoter activity of PPARγ2 and C/EBPα. These changes consequently resulted in reduced expression of Cyclin D1, LPL, PPARγ2, AP2, and C/EBPα, as well as inhibited the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. In contrast, lncSHGL suppression yielded opposing outcomes. Moreover, the effects of lncSHGL overexpression and miR-149 inhibition on reduced expression of Cyclin D1, LPL, PPARγ2, AP2, and C/EBPα were reversible upon miR-149 overexpression and Mospd3 suppression. These findings were further validated in vivo . We also discovered a significant increase in methylation levels during 3T3-L1 differentiation, with lncSHGL highly expressed in the presence of a methylation inhibitor. In conclusion. lncSHGL methylation facilitates adipocyte differentiation by modulating the miR-149/Mospd3 axis. Targeting lncSHGL expression may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for obesity-associated adipogenesis, particularly in the context of fatty liver disease.

The imaging environment is unstable for trembling disturbance, which is detrimental to object reconstruction. In this Letter, we experimentally investigated ghost imaging (GI) under a temporal trembling disturbance. The fast-focusing method based on imaging with small sampling measurements is proposed, and the theoretical model and algorithm are validated. It is demonstrated that the proposed method is effective to obtain a better-resolution image of the object under the strong trembling disturbance including a laboratory and a real trembling environment. The results provide a promising approach to deal with image degradation caused by an unstable environment and can find potential applications for ghost imaging in remote sensing.

In a free space optical communication (FSOC) system, atmospheric turbulence will increase the bit error ratio (BER) and impair FSOC link reliability. Since computational temporal ghost imaging (CTGI) has anti-interference, we present an FSOC system over atmospheric turbulence based on CTGI. The simulation results show that the BER performance of CTGI is better than on-off keying under different atmospheric turbulence regimes. To improve the performance of the CTGI scheme, the influence of the number of transmission samples and code length is analyzed. It is shown that BER performance improves with the increment of the number of samples, while code length has no impact. This scheme provides an idea for reliable communication over atmospheric turbulence and an important reference for improving wireless optical communication in an extreme environment.

Atmospheric turbulence reduces the detection accuracy of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes, which affects the performance of OAM optical communication. In this paper, we propose a method based on interferometry and a residual network (ResNet) to detect the OAM modes of ring Airy Gaussian vortex beams (RAGVBs) disturbed by atmospheric turbulence. The RAGVBs first interfere with spherical waves to obtain the sign features of the OAM modes, and then ResNet is employed to recognize OAM modes from the interferograms. The results demonstrate that the detection accuracy is higher than that of the OAM spectrum method under different turbulence strengths. The detection accuracy can even reach over 99% under strong fluctuations. Our research provides a reference for improving the performance of OAM optical communication through atmospheric turbulence.

Research towards practical applications of ghost imaging lidar system especially in longer sensing distance has been urgent in recent years. In this paper we develop a ghost imaging lidar system to boost an extension of remote imaging, where the transmission distance of the collimated pseudo-thermal beam can be improved hugely over long range and just shifting the adjustable lens assembly generates wide field of view suiting for short-range imaging. Based on the proposed lidar system, the changing tendency of illuminating field of view, energy density, and reconstructed images is analyzed and verified experimentally. Some considerations on the improvement of this lidar system are also discussed.

Background: Multivessel coronary disease (MVCD) is the common type of coronary artery disease in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Coronary artery calcification (CAC) has been confirmed the strong predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Several studies have validated that triglyceride glucose (TyG) index can reflect the degree of coronary calcification or predict MACEs. However, no evidence to date has elucidated and compared the predictive intensity of TyG index or/and coronary artery calcification score (CACS) on multi-vascular disease and MACEs in ACS patients., Methods: A total of 935 patients, diagnosed with ACS and experienced coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) from August 2015 to March 2022 in the Second Hospital of Shandong University, were selected for retrospective analysis. The subjects were divided into TyG index quartile 1-4 groups (Q1-Q4 groups), non-multivessel coronary disease (non-MVCD) and multivessel coronary disease (MVCD) groups, respectively. The general data, past medical or medication history, laboratory indicators, cardiac color Doppler ultrasound, CACS, and TyG indexes were respectively compared among these groups. The ROC curve preliminarily calculated and analyzed the diagnostic value of TyG index, CACS, and the combination of the two indicators for MVCD. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis discriminated the independent hazard factors for forecasting MVCD., Results: Compared with the lower TyG index and non-MVCD groups, the higher TyG index and MVCD groups had higher values of age, smoking history, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), fasting blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin, and CACS, but lower values of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) (all P < 0.01). Coronary artery calcification is more common in the left anterior descending artery. Compared with non-MVCD, each unit increase in TyG index was associated with a 1.213-fold increased risk of MVCD. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders indicated that TyG index is an independent risk factor for MVCD. With the increase of TyG index, the incidence of MACEs, apart from all-cause death, cardiac death, unexpected re-hospitalization of heart failure, recurrent ACS or unplanned revascularization, and non-fatal stroke in coronary artery increased (P log-rank < 0.001)., Conclusion: TyG index could completely substitute for CACS as a reliable, practical, and independent indicator for predicting the severity and prognosis of MVCD in patients with ACS., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Recently, instrumental nanoindentation has been widely applied to detect time-dependent plastic deformation or creep behavior in numerous materials, particularly thin films and heterogeneous materials. However, deformation mechanism at nanoindentation holding stage has not been well revealed hitherto. In the current work, nanoindentation holding tests with high loads were performed on a brittle LiTaO 3 single crystal. The surface morphologies of residual impressions with various holding times were investigated. It was indicated that generation of secondary cracks and propagation of both main and secondary cracks were the dominating mechanism for time-dependent plastic deformation at the initial holding stage, and the density and length of cracks were invariable at the steady-state holding stage, which suggested a nonlocalized plastic deformation beneath the indenter. It could be concluded that time-dependent plastic deformation of brittle ceramic under nanoindentation is composed of instant cracking as the continuation of loading sequence and homogeneous creep flow by high shear-compression stress at room temperature.

Relying on nanoindentation technology, the room-temperature creep behavior of a LiTaO 3 single crystal in the typical orientation (01 1 ¯ 2), i.e., Y-42° plane was investigated. Three kinds of spherical tips with the radii of 0.76, 2.95 and 9.8 μm were respectively applied to detect nanoindentation length scale effect on creep deformation at both elastic and plastic regions. Superficially, both creep displacement and rate were nearly linearly increased with increasing holding depth and independent of tip size, which could be ascribed to the simultaneously enlarged holding strain and deformation volume beneath the indenter. At a similar holding strain, creep deformation, i.e., creep strain and strain rate were more pronounced under smaller spherical tips. Strain rate sensitivities of creep flows under different spherical tips and holding strains were also estimated. The potential room-temperature creep mechanism of LiTaO 3 under high shear compression stress was discussed.

Purpose: Obesity is often caused by the excess adipogenesis and regulated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). We performed this study to investigate the influence of Meg3 expression on adipogenesis and also the Meg3/miR-217/Dkk3 axis-mediated molecular mechanism in adipogenesis and angiogenesis., Methods: 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes were incubated with chemerin and transfected with Meg3-overexpressing (OE-Meg3) and Dkk3-overexpressing (OE-Dkk3) plasmids, siRNAs, and miR-217 mimics, inhibitor and scrambled sequences for 48 h or 72 h. The changes in cell proliferation, adipogenesis and angiogenesis ability in 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes was detected by using the corresponding assay. The expressions of related proteins were detected via western blot., Results: Chemerin decreased miR-217 expression and increased Meg3 expression, meanwhile promoted the proliferation, adipogenesis and angiogenesis in 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes. Besides, OE-Meg3 exerted the synergistic effect on 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes when co-treated with chemerin. The target interactions between Meg3 and miR-217 as well as between miR-217 and Dkk3 were validated using dual-luciferase reporter system. SiMeg3 antagonized chemerin-induced changes, while the addition of miR-217 inhibitor attenuated siMeg3-induced changes in 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes. The proliferation, adipogenesis and angiogenesis in 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes were suppressed by miR-217 mimics, while promoted by the OE-Dkk3 Chemerin promoted the expression of fatty acid binding protein 4 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) proteins, and decreased the expression of cyclin D1, c-Myc, and β-catenin proteins. Meanwhile, these effects were further enhanced by OE-Meg3 or OE-Dkk3. However, the transfection of siMeg3, or miR-217 mimics, or siDkk3 reversed the previous changes., Conclusions: Meg3/miR-217/Dkk3 induced adipogenesis and angiogenesis in 3 T3-L1 preadipocytes via activating VEGF signaling pathway and inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Relying on nanoindentation technology, we investigated the elastic-to-plastic transition via first pop-in event and estimated the corresponding shear stress for incipient plasticity, i.e., yielding in the three typical orientations, i.e., X-112°, Y-36°, and Y-42° planes. The occurrence of incipient plasticity exhibited a stochastic distribution in a wide range for the three orientations. Accordingly, the obtained values of yield stress were uniform and scattered in the range from about 4 to 7 GPa for LiTaO 3 single crystal. The orientation effect on yield stress at the nano-scale was revealed to be insignificant in LiTaO 3 single crystal. The yield stresses were 5.44 ± 0.41, 5.74 ± 0.59, and 5.34 ± 0.525 GPa for the X-112°, Y-36°, and Y-42° planes, respectively. The activation volumes of dislocation nucleation were computed based on the cumulative distribution of yield stress, which were 12 Å 3 , 8 Å 3 , and 9 Å 3 for the X-112°, Y-36°, and Y-42° planes. The results indicated that point-like defects could be the source of plastic initiation on the surface of LiTaO 3 single crystal.

The crystal orientation effect on mechanical heterogeneity of LiTaO 3 single crystals is well known, whilst the time-dependent plastic behavior, i.e., creep is still short of understanding. Relying on nanoindentation technology, we systematically studied room-temperature creep flows at various holding depths (100 nm to 1100 nm) in three typical orientations namely the X-112°, Y-36° and Y-42° planes. Creep resistance was much stronger in the X-112° plane than the others. In the meanwhile, creep features were similar in the Y-36° and Y-42° planes. The orientation effect on creep deformation was consistent with that on hardness. The nanoindentation length scale played an important role in creep deformation that creep strains were gradually decreased with the holding depth in all the planes. Based on strain rate sensitivity and yield stress, the activation volumes of dislocation nucleation were computed at various nanoindentation depths. The activation volumes ranged from 5 Å 3 to 23 Å 3 for the Y-36° and Y-42° planes, indicating that a point-like defect could be the source of plastic initiation. In the X-112° plane, the activation volume was between 6 Å 3 and 83 Å 3 . Cooperative migration of several atoms could also be the mechanism of dislocation activation at deep nanoindentation.

Robot-assisted therapy is regarded as an effective and reliable method for the delivery of highly repetitive training that is needed to trigger neuroplasticity following a stroke. However, the lack of fully adaptive assist-as-needed control of the robotic devices and an inadequate immersive virtual environment that can promote active participation during training are obstacles hindering the achievement of better training results with fewer training sessions required. This study thus focuses on these research gaps by combining these 2 key components into a rehabilitation system, with special attention on the rehabilitation of fine hand motion skills. The effectiveness of the proposed system is tested by conducting clinical trials on a chronic stroke patient and verified through clinical evaluation methods by measuring the key kinematic features such as active range of motion (ROM), finger strength, and velocity. By comparing the pretraining and post-training results, the study demonstrates that the proposed method can further enhance the effectiveness of fine hand motion rehabilitation training by improving finger ROM, strength, and coordination., (Copyright © 2018 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, a novel (Nb,V) codoped TiO 2 (NVTO) nanoparticle was synthesized, and a novel electrochemical DNA biosensor based on NVTO was first developed for detection of breast cancer susceptible gene detection. The proposed DNA biosensors were fabricated by immobilization of the probe DNA on a nanoporous CHIT-NVTO thin film deposited on an ITO-coated glass plate. The prepared NVTO composite film was characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR. The results indicated that the synergistic effect of CHIT-NVTO nanocomposite can increase the electroactive surface area and the loading amounts of ssDNA. These can amplify the electrochemical signal resulting in increasing the sensitivity of the proposed biosensor. The proposed biosensor exhibited high sensitivity, wide linear range of 1.0×10 -15 M~1.0×10 -6 M (r=0.9973) and a low detection limit of 1.09×10 -16 M (S/N=3). The NVTO based biosensor opens a different perspective for susceptible gene detection and early diagnosis of breast cancer., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Robot-assisted therapy is regarded as an effective and reliable method for the delivery of highly repetitive rehabilitation training in restoring motor skills after a stroke. This study focuses on the rehabilitation of fine hand motion skills due to their vital role in performing delicate activities of daily living (ADL) tasks. The proposed rehabilitation system combines an adaptive assist-as-needed (AAN) control algorithm and a Virtual Reality (VR) based rehabilitation gaming system (RGS). The developed system is described and its effectiveness is validated through clinical trials on a group of eight subacute stroke patients for a period of six weeks. The impact of the training is verified through standard clinical evaluation methods and measuring key kinematic parameters. A comparison of the pre- and post-training results indicates that the method proposed in this study can improve fine hand motion rehabilitation training effectiveness.