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Bo Kou,1,* Yang Yang,2,* Yin-E Bai,3 Yu-Han Shi,4 Rui-Xia Gao,5 Fang-Li Yang,1 Shao-Qiang Zhang,1 Wei Liu6 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of ENT, Yichuanxian Renmin Hospital, Yan’an 716200, Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Thyroid Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, People’s Republic of China; 5School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shao-Qiang Zhang; Wei Liu Email entsqzhang@163.com; 821957325@qq.comPurpose: Oridonin, a bioactive diterpenoid derived from Rabdosia rubescens, has been widely reported to exhibit anticancer activity in multiple types of cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of oridonin in human laryngeal carcinoma has not been clearly elucidated. This study investigated the function of oridonin in laryngeal carcinoma to provide a research basis for laryngeal carcinoma therapy.Methods: The proliferation of laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 and TU212 cells treated with oridonin was determined by MTT assay. The apoptotic induction effect of oridonin on Hep-2 and TU212 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry, Western blot analysis and caspase3 activity assay. In addition, the caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD-fmk, was synergistically treated with oridonin to detect the function of caspase cascade in oridonin-mediated apoptosis. Then, the expressions of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related proteins (GRP78, phosphorylated-PERK, phosphorylated-eIF2α and CHOP) were measured in Hep-2 and TU212 cells by Western blotting. The cells were treated with 4-PBA (an ER stress inhibitor) or knockdown of CHOP to explore the role of ER stress in oridonin-mediated apoptosis in laryngeal carcinoma. Subsequently, a nude mouse xenograft model was constructed to confirm the function of oridonin in laryngeal carcinoma in vivo.Results: Oridonin was found to significantly inhibit the proliferation of laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 and TU212 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Then, we confirmed that oridonin could induce apoptosis in human laryngeal carcinoma cells. The caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD-fmk, could partially reverse the pro-apoptotic effect of oridonin on human laryngeal carcinoma cells. Subsequently, Western blotting analysis demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related proteins (GRP78, phosphorylated-PERK, phosphorylated-eIF2α and CHOP) were up-regulated in Hep-2 and TU212 cells exposed to oridonin. In addition, 4-PBA (an ER stress inhibitor) or knockdown of CHOP could antagonize oridonin-induced apoptosis. Oridonin significantly decreased the tumorigenicity of Hep-2 cells in a nude mouse xenograft model.Conclusion: Oridonin-induced apoptosis of human laryngeal carcinoma through the activation of ER stress.Keywords: oridonin, laryngeal carcinoma, ER stress, apoptosis

This paper presents the results of a concurrent, nested, mixed methods exploratory study on the safety and effectiveness of the use of a 30 lb weighted blanket with a convenience sample of 32 adults. Safety is investigated measuring blood pressure, pulse rate, and pulse oximetry, and effectiveness by electrodermal activity (EDA), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory-10 and an exit survey. The results reveal that the use of the 30 lb weighted blanket, in the lying down position, is safe as evidenced by the vital sign metrics. Data obtained on effectiveness reveal 33% demonstrated lowering in EDA when using the weighted blanket, 63% reported lower anxiety after use, and 78% preferred the weighted blanket as a calming modality. The results of this study will be used to form the basis for subsequent research on the therapeutic influence of the weighted blanket with adults during an acute inpatient mental health admission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells have neuroprotective effects that limit damage to the retina and photoreceptors, and which may be mediated by extracellular vesicles (or exosomes) released by mesenchymal stem cells. To investigate the neuroprotective effect of extracellular vesicles derived from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on glaucoma, we established rat models of chronic ocular hypertension by injecting conjunctival fibroblasts into the anterior chamber to mimic optic nerve injury caused by glaucoma. One week after injury, extracellular vesicles derived from umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells were injected into the vitreous cavity. We found that extracellular vesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells substantially reduced retinal damage, increased the number of retinal ganglion cells, and inhibited the activation of caspase-3. These findings suggest that mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles can help alleviate optic nerve injury caused by chronic ocular hypertension, and this effect is achieved by inhibiting cell apoptosis., Competing Interests: None

Photoacoustic imaging techniques with gold nanoparticles as contrast agents have received a great deal of attention. The photoacoustic response of gold nanoparticles strongly depends on the far-field optical properties, which essentially depend on the dielectric constant of the material. The dielectric constant of gold not only varies with wavelength but is also affected by temperature. However, the effect of the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant on gold nanoparticles' photoacoustic response has not been fully investigated. In this work, the Drude-Lorentz model and Mie theory are used to calculate the dielectric constant and absorption efficiency of gold nanospheres in aqueous solution, respectively. Then, the finite element method is used to simulate the heat transfer process of gold nanospheres and surrounding water. Finally, the one-dimensional velocity-stress equation is solved by the finite-difference time-domain method to obtain the photoacoustic response of gold nanospheres. The results show that under the irradiation of a high-fluence nanosecond pulse laser, ignoring the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant will lead to large errors in the photothermal response and the nonlinear photoacoustic signals (it can even exceed 20% and 30%). The relative error of the photothermal and photoacoustic response caused by ignoring the temperature-dependent dielectric constant is determined from both the temperature dependence of absorption efficiency and the maximum temperature increase of gold nanospheres. This work provides a new perspective for the photothermal and photoacoustic effects of gold nanospheres, which is meaningful for the development of high-resolution photoacoustic detectors and nano/microscale temperature measurement techniques.

Background: Acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) are utilized to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no bibliometric analysis has explored this issue. Thus, this study investigated the status, hotspots and trends of AM in the treatment of AD., Methods: CiteSpace and VOSviewer softwares were used to analyze the literature on the AM for AD in the Web of Science Core Collection database. We analyzed the data of countries/regions, institutions, journals, authors, keywords, and cited references., Results: After removing duplicates, 193 articles were retrieved. The number of publications on this topic has increased gradually. The most productive and collaborative country was China (143 documents), followed by South Korea (19). The top 3 active academic institutions were Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Capital Medicine University, and Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. The most productive journal was Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (13 documents), followed by the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (10), Medicine (10), and Neural Regeneration Research (10). The top 3 co-cited journals were Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (156 citations), Acupuncture Electro-therapeutics Research (152), and Acupuncture in Medicine (146). The research hotspots in this domain are dementia, memory, hippocampus, mouse models, and Parkinson's disease. Major frontiers are comparing the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and donepezil and electroacupuncture at different frequencies in this field., Conclusion: This bibliometric study identified relevant hotspots and trends in research on AM in the treatment of AD, which can provide researchers with key information in this domain and help further explore new research directions., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: Multimodality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used to detect vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). However, a bibliometric analysis of this issue remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the research hotspots and trends of multimodality MRI on VCI over the past 12 years based on the Web of Science core collection using CiteSpace Software (6.1R2)., Methods: Literature related to multimodality MRI for VCI from 2010 to 2021 was identified and analyzed from the Web of Science core collection database. We analyzed the countries, institutions, authors, cited journals, references, keyword bursts, and clusters using CiteSpace., Results: In total, 587 peer-reviewed documents were retrieved, and the annual number of publications showed an exponential growth trend over the past 12 years. The most productive country was the USA, with 182 articles, followed by China with 134 papers. The top 3 active academic institutions were Capital Medical University, Radboud UNIV Nijmegen, and UNIV Toronto. The most productive journal was the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (33 articles). The most co-cited journal was Neurology, with the highest citations (492) and the highest intermediary centrality (0.14). The top-ranked publishing author was De Leeuw FE (17 articles) with the highest intermediary centrality of 0.04. Ward Law JM was the most cited author (123 citations) and Salat Dh was the most centrally cited author (0.24). The research hotspots of multimodal MRI for VCI include Alzheimer disease, vascular cognitive impairment, white matter intensity, cerebrovascular disease, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, neurovascular coupling, acute ischemic stroke, depression, and cerebral ischemic stroke. The main frontiers in the keywords are fMRI, vascular coupling, and cerebral ischemic stroke, and current research trends include impact, decline, and classification., Conclusions: The findings from this bibliometric study provide research hotspots and trends for multimodality MRI for VCI over the past 12 years, which may help researchers identify hotspots and explore cutting-edge trends in this field., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: This study aimed to analyze and summarize the research hotspots and trends in neuroimaging biomarkers (NMBM) in Parkinson disease (PD) based on the Web of Science core collection database and provide new references for future studies., Methods: Literature regarding NMBM in PD from 1998 to 2022 was analyzed using the Web of Science core collection database. We utilized CiteSpace software (6.1R2) for bibliometric analyses of countries/institutions/authors, keywords, keyword bursts, references, and their clusters., Results: A total of 339 studies were identified with a continually increasing annual trend. The most productive country and collaboration was the United States. The top research hotspot is PD cognitive disorder. NMBM and artificial intelligence medical imaging have been applied in the clinical diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of PD. The trends in this field include research on T1 weighted structure magnetic resonance imaging in accordance with voxel-based morphometry, PD cognitive disorder, and neuroimaging features of Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer disease., Conclusion: The development of NMBM in PD will be effectively promoted by drawing on international research hotspots and cutting-edge technologies, emphasizing international collaboration and institutional cooperation at the national level, and strengthening interdisciplinary research., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Declaration of competing interest statement: The authors have declared that none of them have any conflict of interest in connection with this study., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objectives: To evaluate the ability of the ForenSeq TM DNA Signature Prep kit (ForenSeq kit) in analyzing the sequence information of STRs in Zhejiang She ethnic group and its forensic application efficacy., Methods: A total of 50 Zhejiang She ethnic group samples were sequenced with the ForenSeq kit on the MiSeq FGx platform. The data was analyzed using ForenSeq TM universal analysis software to obtain the motif structure and flank regions of the 58 STRs, then compared with PCR-CE typing results to test the consistency. At last, the allele frequency and population genetic parameters were calculated., Results: A total of 448 sequence polymorphic alleles were detected in 50 samples of Zhejiang She ethnic group. Compared with fragment length polymorphism detected by PCR-CE, 82 alleles were increased by MPS detection based on ForenSeq kit, and 7 SNPs variation were detected in the flanking regions of 6 loci. The 22 male individuals were genotyped, and total 19 haplotypes were detected in 24 Y chromosome STRs of these 22 males. The cumulative discrimination power of the 27 autosomal STRs was 1-8.87×10 -30 , the cumulative probability of exclusion of duo-testing was 0.999 999 962 640 657, the cumulative probability of exclusion of trios-testing was 0.999 999 999 999 633., Conclusions: Based on MPS typing technology, using the ForenSeq kit greatly improves the detection efficiency. In addition, the 58 STRs have good genetic polymorphisms in Zhejiang She ethnic group, which are suitable for individual identification and paternity identification in forensic application.

The hydrophilic biomaterial was constructed based on the soluble extracellular polysaccharides (s-EPS) secreted by Bacillus megaterium and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), namely ZIF-8@s-EPS, wrapped in s-EPS shell with ZIF-8 as the core. ZIF-8@s-EPS was used as a novel multifunctional biomaterial in water treatment for the first time. Unexpectedly, results showed ZIF-8@s-EPS with strong synergistic effect presented multifunctional performances including descaling, antifouling and antibacterial. Scale inhibition efficiency reached 98.63% for CaCO 3 and as high as 99.40% for CaSO 4 at concentration 20.00 mg/L. The synergy of s-EPS and ZIF-8 demonstrated effective antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inhibitory effect on biofilms, and result presented that ZIF-8@s-EPS could inhibit the growth of nearly 89.4% P. aeruginosa. Therefore, the obtained insights will shed light on the development of s-EPS modified biomaterials in water treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, we explored the synthesis of benzimidazole by the reaction of DMF and o-phenylenediamine. In the process of catalyst screening, we found that 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoic acid, benzoic acid, and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid could catalyze the reaction. Moreover, the calcium 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoate and CO2 could more effectively catalyze the reaction, the synergistic effect of CO2 and 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoic acid calcium salt can increase the yield of benzimidazole from 28% to 94%.

The water quality of a small watershed will directly affect the water quality safety of the entire watershed. The Lidu small watershed of the Fulin District in Chongqing was selected for this study. The characteristics of runoff and the microbial community in the receiving water body were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technology. The effects of the physical and chemical factors of the water body on the microbial diversity in the water body were also investigated. The results showed that the small watershed of Lidu was an important source of nitrite and dissolved organic carbon for the receiving water. There was no significant difference in the microbial richness and diversity of the water flowing through different pollution sources in the small watershed, and the microbial diversity index was negatively correlated with the total phosphorus ( r -0.79--0.84, P ≤ 0.01) and phosphate ( r -0.71--0.80, P ≤ 0.01) of the water. At the phylum level, Actinobacteria (37.33% ±14.69%) accounted for the largest proportion of runoff flowing through the agricultural area, followed by Proteobacteria (32.53% ±7.18%), Cyanobacteria (14.65% ±22.64%), Bacteroidetes (8.50% ±3.67%), and others. Proteobacteria (43.67% ±10.80%) accounted for the largest proportion of runoff flowing through the industrial area, followed by Bacteroidetes (25.33% ±11.97%), Actinobacteria (24.17% ±14.66%), Firmicutes (2.53% ±0.72%), and others. At the genus level, hgcI_clade (19.08% ±13.46%) accounted for the largest proportion of runoff flowing through the agricultural area, followed by CL 500-29 _marine_group (7.40% ±4.44%), Limnohabitans (7.05% ±3.14%), and others. Flavobacterium (20.40% ±12.37%) accounted for the largest proportion of runoff flowing through the industrial area, followed by hgcI_clade (15.30% ±11.11%), Acinetobacter (9.33% ±11.50%), and others. The Flavobacterium in the runoff water may be related to the input of industrial sources in the watershed. Nitrous nitrogen, total phosphorus, phosphate, pH, and Zn 2+ were the main environmental factors that affected the microbial community in the small watershed. They can explain the variance of microbial community 0.26, 0.21, 0.20, 0.15, and 0.14, respectively. DOC, nitrate nitrogen, and heavy metal ions such as Cu 2+ , Zn 2+ , Mn 2+ , and As 3+ were also related to the proportion of some microorganisms in the water.

Reprogrammed glucose metabolism is essential for tumor initiation and development, especially for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Most cancer cells rely on aerobic glycolysis, a phenomenon termed "the Warburg effect", to support uncontrolled proliferation and evade apoptosis. However, the direct regulators of the Warburg effect remain areas of active investigation. In this study, we found that the highly conserved transcription factor, TWIST1, is a crucial regulator of aerobic glycolysis in PDAC. Genetic silencing of TWIST1 significantly inhibited the glycolytic phenotypes of PDAC cells as revealed by reduced glucose uptake, lactate production, and extracellular acidification rate, which can be restored by re-expression of siRNA-resistant TWIST1. Moreover, tamoxifen-inducible expression of TWIST1 promoted the Warburg metabolism of PDAC cells. Mechanistically, by luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiment, we showed that TWIST1 can directly increase the expression of several glycolytic genes, including SLC2A1, HK2, ENO1, and PKM2. Of note, the transcriptional regulation by TWIST1 was not dependent on HIF1α or c-Myc. In The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus accession GSE15471, we confirmed that TWIST1 was closely associated with the glycolysis pathway. Collectively, our findings indicate that TWIST1 is likely to act as important regulator of the Warburg effect in PDAC., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A practical Fe-catalyzed decarbonylative cascade reaction of N-aryl cinnamamides with aliphatic aldehydes to provide C3 alkylated 3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-ones is developed. Aliphatic aldehydes were oxidatively decarbonylated into 1°, 2° and 3° alkyl radicals conveniently, allowing for the subsequent cascade construction of C(sp3)-C(sp3) and C(sp3)-C(sp2) bonds via radical addition and HAS-type cyclization. The importance of the amide linkage and the selectivity of the 6-endo-trig over 5-exo-trig cyclization pathway were elucidated by experimental results and DFT calculations.

Newly emerging two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide HfS2 has received considerable attention recently due to its ultrahigh photoresponsivity, well-balanced carrier mobility and an appropriate band gap which offer potential in electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, HfS2 flakes up to 200 layers with varying color contrasts are fabricated and transferred on a SiO2/Si substrate. The Raman intensities of HfS2 flakes and Raman intensities of molecules adsorbed on HfS2 flakes are quantitatively studied both theoretically and experimentally by considering an optical interference effect. The effects of the main experimental factors: thickness of SiO2 and excitation wavelength on Raman intensities are also theoretically investigated. Due to the low absorption of HfS2, many strong high-order interference-induced enhancement peaks are observed which are different from high absorption materials like graphene and MoS2, in which only 2-4 interference-induced enhancement peaks exist. Due to the environmental instability of single layer HfS2 under ambient conditions, multi-layer HfS2 is a better choice than single layer HfS2 as a Raman scattering substrate which has a stronger Raman enhancement and a better environmental stability. The discovery here will expand the application of HfS2 flakes in molecular detection.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and validity of a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based system to measure gait speed in a clinical setting as a first step to using unobtrusive gait speed assessment in routine clinical care., Design: Feasibility study comparing gait speed assessed using an RFID-based system with gait speed assessed using handheld stopwatch, the criterion standard., Setting: Outpatient geriatrics clinic at a Connecticut-based academic medical center., Participants: Clinic attendees who could walk independently with or without an assistive device (N=50) and healthcare providers (N=9)., Measurements: Gait speed was measured in twice using 2 methods each time before participants entered an examination room. Participants walked at their usual pace while gait speed was recorded simultaneously using the RFID-based system and a handheld stopwatch operated by a trained study investigator. After 2 trials, participants completed a brief survey regarding their experience. At the end of the study period, clinic healthcare providers completed a separate survey., Results: Test-retest reliability of the RFID-based system was high (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.953). The mean difference ± standard deviation in gait speed between the RFID-based system and the stopwatch was -0.003±0.035 m/s (p=.53) and did not differ significantly according to age, sex, or use of an assistive walking aid. Acceptability of the device was high, and 8 of 9 providers indicated that measuring gait speed using the RFID-based system should be a part of routine clinical care., Conclusion: RFID technology may offer a practical means of overcoming barriers to routine measurement of gait speed in real-world outpatient clinical settings., (© 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.)

To evaluate the seasonal distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and explore the reason for their patterns in different seasons and different systems, two wastewater treatment systems were selected and analyzed using high-throughput qPCR. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) was used to discover the differential ARGs (biomarkers) and estimate the biomarkers' effect size. We found that the total absolute abundances of ARGs in inflows and excess sludge samples had no obvious seasonal fluctuations, while those in winter outflow samples decreased in comparison with the inflow samples. Eleven differentially abundant ARGs (biomarker genes, BmGs) (aadA5-02, aac-6-II, cmlA1-01, cmlA1-02, blaOXA10-02, aadA-02, tetX, aadA1, ereA, qacEΔ1-01, and blaTEM) in summer samples and 10 BmGs (tet-32, tetA-02, aacC2, vanC-03, aac-6-I1, tetE, ermB, mefA, tnpA - 07, and sul2) in winter samples were validated. According to 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the relative abundance of bacteria at the phylum level exhibited significant seasonal changes in outflow water (OW), and biomarker bacteria (BmB) were discovered at the family (or genus) level. Synechococcus and vadinCA02 are BmB in summer, and Trichococcus, Lactococcus, Pelosinus, Janthinobacterium, Nitrosomonadaceae and Sterolibacterium are BmB in winter. In addition, BmB have good correlations with BmGs in the same season, which indicates that bacterial community changes drive different distributions of ARGs during seasonal changes and that LEfSe is an acute and effective method for finding significantly different ARGs and bacteria between two or more classes. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the seasonal changes of BmGs and BmB at two wastewater treatment systems., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Domestic wastewater treatment plants as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have received much attention, but the effect of dyes on the propagation of ARGs has rarely been investigated. In this study, we investigated the differences in distributions of ARGs and microbial communities using high-throughput qPCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, respectively, between mixed (dyeing and domestic) wastewater and domestic sewage. The relative abundance of ARGs in inflows of mixed wastewater (IW2 and IW3) was higher than that of domestic wastewater (IW1). The relative abundance of mobile genetic elements in the inflow of textile dyeing wastewater (IDW3) was 3- to 13-fold higher than that in other samples. Moreover, in IDW3, some distinct high abundance ARGs, particularly operons encoding efflux pumps (such as acrR-01, acrB-01 and acrF), were significantly correlated with Streptococcus of the Firmicutes. To explore why the abundance of ARGs was relatively high in mixed wastewater, six representative types of organic compounds in textile dyeing wastewater were used to test the effect on plasmid-based conjugative transfer from E. coli HB101 to E. coli NK5449. These six compounds all facilitated the transfer of resistance-carrying RP4 plasmid, and the highest transfer frequency (approximately 10 -5 -10 -3 ) was over 4- to 200-fold higher than that in the control group (approximately 10 -6 -10 -5 ). These results illustrated that the six common residual compounds, particularly low-dose substances in IDW3, could facilitate the dissemination of ARGs in aquatic environments. More importantly, this study revealed for the first time that dyeing contaminants influenced horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARGs., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the effect of vitamin D deficiency on susceptibility to spinal tuberculosis and its pathological development., Methods: A case-control design was used in this study. A total of 163 treatment-naïve patients with spinal tuberculosis admitted to this institute for an operation from June 2013 to May 2016 were included in the case group, and 170 subjects who received a health examination in the same hospital were included in the control group. Control group patients were frequency-matched with the case group by age, gender, and season. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were detected using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Pathological classification of patients in the case group was conducted according to intraoperative findings, and definite diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis was confirmed after operation., Results: The serum level of vitamin D [23.99 (20.55, 29.54) nmol/L] in the case group was lower than that in the control group [42.94 (35.68, 51.04) nmol/L], and the difference was statistically significant (Z = -9.048, P < 0.05). Out of the 163 patients with spinal tuberculosis who underwent pathological classification, 107 cases of caseous necrosis and 56 cases of hyperplasia were identified. Based on the vitamin D levels of the patients in the case group, these patients were further divided into a low-level group (<25 nmol/L) and a high-level group (≥25 nmol/L). The proportion of patients with caseous necrosis in the low-level group (79.17%) was higher than that in the high-level group (46.27%), with a statistically significant difference (χ 2  = 18.937, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with susceptibility to spinal tuberculosis and its pathological classification, and vitamin D deficiency affects the occurrence and development of spinal tuberculosis., (Copyright © 2017 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aralia chinensis var. dasyphylloides is widely distributed in China and used as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of digestive and immune system diseases. The present study aimed to search for novel oleanolic-type triterpenoids in low-polarity fractions. Six new triterpene derivatives ( 1 - 6 ), together with two known compounds were isolated from the barks of A. chinensis var. dasyphylloides . Their structures were elucidated by 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. They were identified as 3-oxo-oleana-11,13(18)-dien-28,30-dioic acid ( 1 ), 30-hydroxy-3-oxo-oleana-11,13(18)-dien-28-oic acid ( 2 ), 3β-hydroxy-oleana-11,13(18)-dien-28-oic acid-28- O -β-d-glucopyranoside ( 3 ), 3β,30-dihydroxy-oleana-11,13(18)-dien-28-oic acid-28- O -β-d-glucopyranoside ( 4 ), 3β-hydroxy-oleana-11,13(18)-dien-28-oic acid-3- O- β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-d-glucopyranoside ( 5 ), 3β,29-dihydroxy-oleana-9(11),12-dien-28-oic acid-28- O -β-d-glucopyranoside ( 6 ), namely, araliachinolic acids I and II and araliachinosides I-IV. The cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds was tested against HepG2, A549, SGC7901, and MCF7 cell lines, but no apparent activity was observed at a concentration of 50 μM.

Milling vibration is one of the most serious factors affecting machining quality and precision. In this paper a novel hybrid error criterion-based frequency-domain LMS active control method is constructed and used for vibration suppression of milling processes by piezoelectric actuators and sensors, in which only one Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used and no Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) is involved. The correction formulas are derived by a steepest descent procedure and the control parameters are analyzed and optimized. Then, a novel hybrid error criterion is constructed to improve the adaptability, reliability and anti-interference ability of the constructed control algorithm. Finally, based on piezoelectric actuators and acceleration sensors, a simulation of a spindle and a milling process experiment are presented to verify the proposed method. Besides, a protection program is added in the control flow to enhance the reliability of the control method in applications. The simulation and experiment results indicate that the proposed method is an effective and reliable way for on-line vibration suppression, and the machining quality can be obviously improved.

Molecularly imprinted polymers for dimethoate recognition were synthesized by the precipitation polymerization technique using methyl methacrylate (MMA) as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker. The morphology, adsorption and recognition properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), static adsorption test, and competitive adsorption test. To obtain the best selectivity and binding performance, the synthesis and adsorption conditions of MIPs were optimized through single factor experiments. Under the optimized conditions, the resultant polymers exhibited uniform size, satisfactory binding capacity and significant selectivity. Furthermore, the imprinted polymers were successfully applied as a specific solid-phase extractants combined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for determination of dimethoate residues in the cucumber samples. The average recoveries of three spiked samples ranged from 78.5% to 87.9% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 4.4% and the limit of detection (LOD) obtained for dimethoate as low as 2.3 μg/mL.

On-line measurement of respiration plays an important role in monitoring human physical activities. Such measurement commonly employs sensing belts secured around the rib cage and abdomen of the test object. Affected by the movement of body tissues, respiratory signals typically have a low signal-to-noise ratio. Removing tissue artifacts therefore is critical to ensuring effective respiration analysis. This paper presents a signal decomposition technique for tissue artifact removal from respiratory signals, based on the empirical mode decomposition (EMD). An algorithm based on the mutual information and power criteria was devised to automatically select appropriate intrinsic mode functions for tissue artifact removal and respiratory signal reconstruction. Performance of the EMD-algorithm was evaluated through simulations and real-life experiments (N = 105). Comparison with low-pass filtering that has been conventionally applied confirmed the effectiveness of the technique in tissue artifacts removal.

Two-dimensional materials, e.g. graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS(2)), have attracted great interest in recent years. Identification of the thickness of two-dimensional materials will improve our understanding of their thickness-dependent properties, and also help with scientific research and applications. In this paper, we propose to use optical imaging as a simple, quantitative and universal way to identify the thickness of two-dimensional materials, i.e. mechanically exfoliated graphene, nitrogen-doped chemical vapor deposition grown graphene, graphene oxide and mechanically exfoliated MoS(2). The contrast value can easily be obtained by reading the red (R), green (G) and blue (B) values at each pixel of the optical images of the sample and substrate, and this value increases linearly with sample thickness, in agreement with our calculation based on the Fresnel equation. This method is fast, easily performed and no expensive equipment is needed, which will be an important factor for large-scale sample production. The identification of the thickness of two-dimensional materials will greatly help in fundamental research and future applications.

Real-time monitoring of human physical activity (PA) is important for assessing the intensity of activity and exposure to environmental pollutions. A wireless wearable multisenor integrated measurement system (WIMS) has been designed for real-time measurement of the energy expenditure and breathing volume of human subjects under free-living conditions. To address challenges posted by the limited battery life and data synchronization requirement among multiple sensors in the system, the ZigBee communication platform has been explored for energy-efficient design. Two algorithms have been developed (multiData packaging and slot-data-synchronization) and coded into a microcontroller (MCU)-based sensor circuitry for real-time control of wireless data communication. Experiments have shown that the design enables continued operation of the wearable system for up to 68 h, with the maximum error for data synchronization among the various sensor nodes (SNs) being less than 24 ms. Experiment under free-living conditions have shown that the WIMS is able to correctly recognize the activity intensity level 86% of the time. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the energy-efficient wireless design for human PA monitoring.

Accurate and reliable methods for assessing human physical activity (PA) energy expenditure (PAEE) are informative and essential for understanding individual behaviors and quantifying the effect of PA on disease, for PA surveillance, and for examining determinants of PA in different populations. This article reviews recent advances in the estimation of PAEE in three interrelated areas: 1) types of sensors worn by human subjects, 2) features extracted from the measured sensor signals, and 3) modeling techniques to estimate the PAEE using these features. The review illustrates three directions in the PAEE studies and provides recommendations for future research, with the aim to produce valid, reliable, and accurate assessment of PAEE from wearable sensors.

This paper presents a sensor fusion method for assessing physical activity (PA) of human subjects, based on support vector machines (SVMs). Specifically, acceleration and ventilation measured by a wearable multisensor device on 50 test subjects performing 13 types of activities of varying intensities are analyzed, from which activity type and energy expenditure are derived. The results show that the method correctly recognized the 13 activity types 88.1% of the time, which is 12.3% higher than using a hip accelerometer alone. Also, the method predicted energy expenditure with a root mean square error of 0.42 METs, 22.2% lower than using a hip accelerometer alone. Furthermore, the fusion method was effective in reducing the subject-to-subject variability (standard deviation of recognition accuracies across subjects) in activity recognition, especially when data from the ventilation sensor were added to the fusion model. These results demonstrate that the multisensor fusion technique presented is more effective in identifying activity type and energy expenditure than the traditional accelerometer-alone-based methods.

This paper presents a new classification method for physical activity assessment, based on sparse representation. This method bypasses the need for feature extraction and selection that is typically involved for activity classification, and classifies activities using raw sensor signals directly. Higher discriminative power than that from the conventional k-nearest neighbor algorithm has been demonstrated through experiments performed on 105 subjects.

This paper presents a parametric study on the efficiency of ultrasound focusing in an attenuative medium, using phased arrays. Specifically, an analytical model of ultrasound wave focusing in a homogeneous, isotropic and attenuative fluid with point sources is presented. Calculations based on the model have shown that in an attenuative medium, an optimum frequency exists for the best focusing performance for a particular size of aperture and focal distance. The effect of different f numbers on the focusing performance in the attenuative medium is further investigated. The information obtained from the analytical model provides insights into the design and installation of a phased transducer array for energy efficient wave focusing., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Advancing the field of physical activity (PA) monitoring requires the development of innovative multi-sensor measurement systems that are feasible in the free-living environment. The use of novel analytical techniques to combine and process these multiple sensor signals is equally important. This paper describes a novel multi-sensor 'integrated PA measurement system' (IMS), the lab-based methodology used to calibrate the IMS, techniques used to predict multiple variables from the sensor signals, and proposes design changes to improve the feasibility of deploying the IMS in the free-living environment. The IMS consists of hip and wrist acceleration sensors, two piezoelectric respiration sensors on the torso, and an ultraviolet radiation sensor to obtain contextual information (indoors versus outdoors) of PA. During lab-based calibration of the IMS, data were collected on participants performing a PA routine consisting of seven different ambulatory and free-living activities while wearing a portable metabolic unit (criterion measure) and the IMS. Data analyses on the first 50 adult participants are presented. These analyses were used to determine if the IMS can be used to predict the variables of interest. Finally, physical modifications for the IMS that could enhance the feasibility of free-living use are proposed and refinement of the prediction techniques is discussed.

This paper presents a sensor fusion method for assessing physical activity (PA) of human subjects, based on the support vector machines (SVMs). Specifically, acceleration and ventilation measured by a wearable multi-sensor device on 50 test subjects performing 13 types of activities of varying intensities are analyzed, from which the activity types and related energy expenditures are derived. The result shows that the method correctly recognized the 13 activity types 84.7% of the time, which is 26% higher than using a hip accelerometer alone. Also, the method predicted the associated energy expenditure with a root mean square error of 0.43 METs, 43% lower than using a hip accelerometer alone. Furthermore, the fusion method was effective in reducing the subject-to-subject variability (standard deviation of recognition accuracies across subjects) in activity recognition, especially when data from the ventilation sensor was added to the fusion model. These results demonstrate that the multi-sensor fusion technique presented is more effective in assessing activities of varying intensities than the traditional accelerometer-alone based methods.

Physical activity (PA) is important for assessing human exposure to the environment. This paper presents a ZigBee-based Wireless wearable multi-sensor Integrated Measurement System (WIMS) for in-situ PA measurement. Two accelerometers, a piezoelectric displacement sensor, and an ultraviolet (UV) sensor have been used for the physical activity assessment. Detailed analysis was performed for the hardware design and embedded program control, enabling efficient data sampling and transmission, compact design, and extended battery life to meet requirements for PA assessment under free-living conditions. Preliminary testing of the WIMS has demonstrated the functionality of the design, while performance comparison of the WIMS with a wired version on an electromagnetic shaker has demonstrated the signal validity.

Tubular carbon cones (TCCs) with a herring-bone-like graphitic structure are synthesized on gold wire via the bias-assisted hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method. The electrical transport properties of an individual TCC are studied in the temperature range from 300 to 500 K by using a double probe scanning electron microscopy (DPSEM) in situ electrical measurement system. The high-resistance I-V characteristics of W-TCC-Au back-to-back double junctions show that electrons tunnel through the W-TCC junction, while thermoionic transport through the Au-TCC junction contributes to low-resistance properties. Temperature dependence of the electrical characteristics indicates that inter-graphitic-plane electrical transport in TCC is metallic.

Estimation of ventilation volume from dimensional changes of the rib cage and abdomen is of interest to researchers interested in quantifying internal exposure to environmental pollutants in the atmosphere. In this paper, we present different statistical regression models for estimating ventilation volume during free-living activities. The movements of the rib cage and abdomen were measured by piezoelectric sensor belts. Multiple linear regression as the calibration method was applied. Five regression models with different combinations out of thirteen features were developed and the performance of these models was compared through experimental study of 11 subjects. The effect of training approaches - model trained for each subject and for all subjects, and the effect of time intervals for computing features were also investigated. The results indicate that Model 2, combining respiratory features and breathing frequency, with a longer time intervals will lead to a higher accuracy.

This paper presents a new method for nonlinear trend estimation of non-stationary signals, by which the trend can be self-adaptively decomposed through calculating the midpoint-based local means. In this method, the so-called midpoints are proposed to construct the local mean of a signal instead of two envelopes in the classical empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm, thus resulting in the midpoint-based empirical decomposition. Furthermore, a negentropy-based statistical method is presented to justify decomposition of the trend. Simulation results indicate that the new algorithm improves the performance of signal decomposition and trend estimation in comparison with the classical EMD algorithm. The proposed method also shows the value in self-adaptively estimating the nonlinear respiratory component from non-invasively measured ventilation signals.

Estimation of respiration commonly employs piezoelectric sensors secured to rib cage and abdominal belts. However, these respiratory signals are often contaminated by tissue artifact. This paper presents a signal decomposition technique for tissue artifact removal in respiratory signals, based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD). After introducing the theoretical foundation, this method is performed on three synthetic signals, and performance of tissue artifact removal using EMD is compared with low-pass filter and independent component analysis (ICA) techniques. A simulation study and experimental results show that EMD can effectively remove tissue artifact in respiratory signals.

This paper describes a new mechanical wireless data transmission technique using ultrasonic waves as the information carrier for on-line injection mold cavity pressure measurement. Ultrasonic transmitters with specific frequency characteristics were designed, modeled, simulated, and prototyped for pressure data retrieval from an enclosed machine environment, as well as for sensor identification in a sensor matrix configuration. The effects of the front layer and bonding layer of the transmitter on the overall sensor frequency characteristics were investigated, using an equivalent circuit model. The optimal layer thickness was determined for the design of transmitters with specific dominant resonant frequency and narrow bandwidth. Experimental results were in good agreement with the analysis, thus confirming the design approach.