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Background: Allergic diseases are a public health problem with the largest number of patients and the widest age distribution. Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common clinical allergic disease. Bilastine is effective in the treatment of CU, especially skin wind masses and erythema. The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of Bilastine in the treatment of CU symptoms and to provide an evidence-based reference for clinical rational drug use. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, Embase, EBSCO, and other databases were searched by computer to collect the trials on the effect of bilastine on patients with CU. The retrieval time limit was established until November 2021. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias in the included study. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan5.4 software. Results: A total of 7 studies were included, including 975 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that compared to the control group, bilastine significantly improved the skin quality of life index, Total Symptom Score (TSS), and weekly urticaria activity score. The skin quality of life index DLQI score (MD = −4.98, 95% CI: −8.09 to −1.86, p = 0.002), skin symptom score TSS (MD = −1.62, 95% CI −2.29 to −0.94, p < 0.00001), the number of hives in a week UAS-7 score (MD = −25.28, 95% CI −32.36 to −18.19, p < 0.00001), and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusions: Bilastine has a better therapeutic effect on CU and can also significantly improve the clinical symptoms and quality of life of CU.

Supplementary Figure S1. Anti-4-1BB and anti-PD-1 synergized to suppress B16F10 tumor growth. Supplementary Figure S2. The flow cytometric gating strategy to analyze immune cells. Supplementary Figure S3. Elevated expression of genes associated with anti-tumor immune response in MC38 colon carcinomas. Supplementary Figure S4. Accumulation of CD8+ T cell and memory phenotype differentiation in MC38 model. Supplementary Figure S5. Serum liver enzyme levels and hematology alterations in response to 4-1BB activation therapy in B16F10 tumor-bearing mice.

Immunotherapies targeting the programmed death 1 (PD-1) coinhibitory receptor have shown great promise for a subset of patients with cancer. However, robust and safe combination therapies are still needed to bring the benefit of cancer immunotherapy to broader patient populations. To search for an optimal strategy of combinatorial immunotherapy, we have compared the antitumor activity of the anti–4-1BB/anti–PD-1 combination with that of the anti–PD-1/anti–LAG-3 combination in the poorly immunogenic B16F10 melanoma model. Pronounced tumor inhibition occurred only in animals receiving anti–PD-1 and anti–4-1BB concomitantly, while combining anti–PD-1 with anti–LAG-3 led to a modest degree of tumor suppression. The activity of the anti–4-1BB/anti–PD-1 combination was dependent on IFNγ and CD8+ T cells. Both 4-1BB and PD-1 proteins were elevated on the surface of CD8+ T cells by anti–4-1BB/anti–PD-1 cotreatment. In the tumor microenvironment, an effective antitumor immune response was induced as indicated by the increased CD8+/Treg ratio and the enrichment of genes such as Cd3e, Cd8a, Ifng, and Eomes. In the spleen, the combination treatment shaped the immune system to an effector/memory phenotype and increased the overall activity of tumor-specific CD8+ CTLs, reflecting a long-lasting systemic antitumor response. Furthermore, combination treatment in C57BL/6 mice showed no additional safety signals, and only minimally increased severity of the known toxicity relative to 4-1BB agonist alone. Therefore, in the absence of any cancer vaccine, anti–4-1BB/anti–PD-1 combination therapy is sufficient to elicit a robust antitumor effector/memory T-cell response in an aggressive tumor model and is therefore a candidate for combination trials in patients. Cancer Immunol Res; 3(2); 149–60. ©2014 AACR.

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The purpose of this meta-analysis was to systematically evaluate the effects of whole-body vibration training (WBVT) on the recovery of lower limb function in people with stroke.The literature search was made in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Embase electronic databases. Only randomized controlled trials were included. Data extraction, quality assessment and meta-analysis were performed. The search was conducted on September 01, 2022. The data analysis software was RevMan 5.3.A total of 13 RCTs were included, including 687 patients. The results showed that compared with the control group, the overall difference in balance function was statistically significant [MD = 4.23, 95% CI 2.21 ∼ 6.26,Compared with the control group, using WBVT treatment has a more obvious effect on the recovery of lower limb function and muscle spasticity, and there is no obvious advantage in motor function recovery.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThis Systematic Review and meta-analysis of evidence suggest that whole-body vibration training is effective in the rehabilitation of lower limb function in patients with stroke.Whole body vibration training may be a better choice for improving balance and spasm in people with stroke.Currently it is not known which whole-body vibration training model with vibration intensity, stimulus type and duration is most effective and to design more targeted interventions.

In actual operation process of a ship, the engine-propeller-hull is an integrated system with internal coupling effects, and thus there is a close interaction between the diesel engine propulsion system operation conditions and the ship manoeuvring motions. The propulsion system can experience large power fluctuation during manoeuvring, with considerable torque increase with regard to the stabilized value in straight course. However, the diesel engine propulsion system behaviour and ship manoeuvrability are usually studied separately as they are considered to belong to different disciplines. Thus, it is difficult to reflect the actual operating characteristics of the propulsion system and ship manoeuvring motion under coupled conditions in actual operation. To investigate the interaction between the propulsion system behaviour and the manoeuvrability of a large containership, this paper proposed a multi-disciplinary ship mobility model capable of coupling the marine diesel engine model and the ship manoeuvring model. In the engine model, the mean value modelling approach was adopted to simulate the two-stroke marine diesel engine considering the fact that it can capture the performance of the engine sub-systems including scavenging receiver, exhaust gas receiver, turbocharger, etc. In the manoeuvring model, the MMG-based method was used to simulate the ship manoeuvring motion with three degrees-of-freedom. The engine model and manoeuvring model were coupled through the propeller model that transferring propeller speed and torque between the two models. The coupled model was validated against the engine shop test data and the sea trial results. By applying this coupled model, a series of simulations of turning circle manoeuvres under various scenarios were performed. The simulation results presented the dynamic response of engine internal sub-systems during turning circle manoeuvring, explained the effect of the torque limiter on engine performance and ship manoeuvring motion, and analyse the influence of different propulsion system control strategies on the ship turning circle manoeuvrability. Although the presented case study has been validated on a specific ship, most of the discussed models have a general application.

A ligand exchange induced single crystal to single crystal (SCSC) transformation from 3D Hofmann-type frameworks [Fe(ep)M(CN)4] (ep = ethylpyrazine; M = Pt, Pd) to 2D layer networks [Fe(mp)2M(CN)4] (mp = methoxypyrazine) was observed. Interestingly, the different pillar–ligands showed a significant influence on the structural assembly and spin-crossover properties.

Background. The standard surgical treatment for ACL tear is ACL reconstruction. There is a debate of a choice between autograft or hybrid graft for treating ACL reconstruction. The purpose of this paper is to compare both case scenarios. Methods. A lot of libraries were searched like PubMed, Cochrane, and EMBASE Library for clinical trials which were then compared and analyzed via meta-analysis. The systematic review and meta-analysis were performed as per PRISMA guidelines, and RevMan software was used to perform the meta-analysis. Results. We analyzed 6 studies where patients of both autograft and hybrid graft were studied. The study outcomes, graft failures, graft diameters, reoperations, and so on were compared via forest plot and funnel plot. No significant difference was noted in both cases. Conclusions. In this meta-analysis, the performance of both autograft and hybrid graft was similar. Though the diameters were larger in hybrid, other factors also had an influence like graft failures, reoperations, and age at reconstruction which must be further investigated in detail.

Background: Low back pain during pregnancy can affect the daily living activities of pregnant women to a certain extent, and even lead to fetal agitation and threatened abortion. Kinesio taping (KT) can improve tissue circulation and provide elastic supports, which is a reliable method to treat low back pain. At present, there is a lack of high-level clinical evidence for the treatment of low back pain during pregnancy with KT. Therefore, this study will systematically review and analyze currently available randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of KT in the treatment of low back pain during pregnancy.Methods and analysis: This protocol is guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols. We will search the following database sources of the Randomized controlled trials: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Science, and the Wanfang Database. From the establishment of the database to April 2021. Two independent investigators will conduct an electronic literature search, study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment to summarize and evaluate the efficacy of KT in the treatment of low back pain during pregnancy. and risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane bias risk tool. All data analysis will be conducted using Revman5.3 software.Result: This study will objectively and comprehensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of randomized controlled trials of KT for low back pain during pregnancy, and submit the results to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.Conclusion: This study will provide clinicians with the latest high-quality evidence for the use of KT in the treatment of low back pain during pregnancy.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021250373

Review question / Objective: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy of lower extremity exoskeletons in improving gait function in patients with spinal cord injury, compared with placebo or other treatments. Condition being studied: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a severely disabling disease. In the process of SCI rehabilitation treatment, improving patients' walking ability, improving their self-care ability, and enhancing patients' self-esteem is an important aspect of their return to society, which can also reduce the cost of patients, so the rehabilitation of lower limbs is very important. The lower extremity exoskeleton robot is a bionic robot designed according to the principles of robotics, mechanism, bionics, control theory, communication technology, and information processing technology, which can be worn on the lower extremity of the human body and complete specific tasks under the user's control. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the lower extremity exoskeleton on the improvement of gait function in patients with spinal cord injury.

Background Overactive bladder (OAB) is a problem that increasingly affects adults and the elderly, especially women. It may affect quality of life, ability to participate and overall wellbeing. Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) is a form of neuromodulation involving the use of electrical impulses to address urinary symptoms. There are many randomized controlled trials that have shown that TTNS is effective at treating overactive bladder. In recent years, TTNS has gained increasing attention for this condition. But its effect in females remains controversial and evidence is lacking. Therefore, the main purpose of this study will be to systematically evaluate the effect of TTNS on females with OAB in Multiple sclerosis (MS) by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis, and also to provide a reference for the application of TTNS in OAB. Methods A systematic review of eligible articles will be conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search of the literature will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Wanfang Data, Weipu Electronics, and other databases. We will include randomized controlled trials about TTNS in females with OAB in MS. Two reviewers will screen titles, abstracts, and full texts independently. We will use a hierarchy of recommended assessment, development, and assessment methods to assess the overall certainty of the evidence and report findings accordingly. Endnote X9 will be used to select the studies and Review Manager V.5.4 (Cochrane Collaboration) will be used to conduct the meta-analysis. The mean difference or standard deviation with 95% confidence interval (CI) will be used in the computation of continuous variables to synthesize data. Results The results will provide evidence for judging whether TTNS is effective in females with OAB and MS. Conclusion This study will provide reliable evidence for the effect of TTNS in female patients with OAB and MS. Trial registration Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021256861.

Ship-source air pollutants, especially sulphur oxides (SOx), have a major impact on human health, the marine environment and the natural resources. Therefore, control of SOx emissions has become a main concern in the maritime industry. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set a global limit on sulphur content of 0.50% m/m (mass by mass) in marine fuels which has entered into effect on 1 January 2020.To comply with the sulphur limits, ship owners are facing the need to select suitable abatement solutions. The choice of a suitable solution is a compromise among many issues, but the economic performance offers the basis for which ones are attractive to ship owners. Currently, there are three technologically feasible SOx abatement solutions that could be used by ships, namely, liquified natural gas (LNG) as a fuel (Solution A), scrubbers (Solution B) and low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) (Solution C). To compare the economic performances of the mentioned three solutions for a newbuilding very large crude carrier (VLCC), this paper proposes a voyage expenses-based method (VEM). It was found that, within the initial target payback period of 6 years, Solution A and C are more expensive than Solution B, while Solution C is more competitive than Solution A. Five scenarios of target payback years were assumed to compare the trends of the three proposed solutions. The results show that Solution B maintains its comparative advantage. As the assumed target payback years becomes longer, the economy of Solution A gradually improves and the economics of Solution B and C gradually decline. A comparison between Solution A and C shows 6.5 years is a turning point. The advantage of Solution A is prominent after this payback period. In addition, the performance of a certain solution in terms of adaptability to the IMO greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations is also a factor that ship owner need to consider when making decisions. In conclusion, when the IMO air pollutant regulations and GHG regulations are considered simultaneously, the advantages of using LNG are obvious.

Face recognition using a single sample per person is a challenging problem in computer vision. In this scenario, due to the lack of training samples, it is difficult to distinguish between inter-class variations caused by identity and intra-class variations caused by external factors such as illumination, pose, etc. To address this problem, we propose a scheme to improve the recognition rate by both generating additional samples to enrich the intra-variation and eliminating external factors to extract invariant features. Firstly, a 3D face modeling module is proposed to recover the intrinsic properties of the input image, i.e., 3D face shape and albedo. To obtain the complete albedo, we come up with an end-to-end network to estimate the full albedo UV map from incomplete textures. The obtained albedo UV map not only eliminates the influence of the illumination, pose, and expression, but also retains the identity information. With the help of the recovered intrinsic properties, we then generate images under various illuminations, expressions, and poses. Finally, the albedo and the generated images are used to assist single sample per person face recognition. The experimental results on Face Recognition Technology (FERET), Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW), Celebrities in Frontal-Profile (CFP) and other face databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

BACKGROUND In recent years, with the development of medical technology and the increase of inter-disciplinary cooperation technology, new methods in the field of artificial intelligence medicine emerge in an endless stream. Brain-computer interface (BCI), as a frontier technology of multidisciplinary integration, has been widely used in various fields. Studies have shown that BCI-assisted training can improve upper limb function in stroke patients, but its effect is still controversial and lacks evidence-based evidence, which requires further exploration and confirmation. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to systematically evaluate the efficacy of different BCI-assisted training on upper limb function recovery in stroke patients, to provide a reference for the application of BCI-assisted technology in stroke rehabilitation. METHODS We will search PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang Data, Weipu Electronics, and other databases (from the establishment to February 2021) for full text in Chinese and English. Randomized controlled trials were collected to examine the effect of BCI-assisted training on upper limb functional recovery in stroke patients. We will consider inclusion, select high-quality articles for data extraction and analysis, and summarize the intervention effect of BCI-assisted training on the upper limb function of stroke patients. Two reviewers will screen titles, abstracts, and full texts independently according to inclusion criteria; Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed in the included studies. We will use a hierarchy of recommended assessment, development, and assessment methods to assess the overall certainty of the evidence and report findings accordingly. Endnote X8 will be applied in selecting the study, Review Manager 5.3 will be applied in analyzing and synthesizing. RESULTS The results will provide evidence for judging whether BCI is effective and safe in improving upper limb function in patients with stroke. CONCLUSION Our study will provide reliable evidence for the effect of BCI technology on the improvement of upper limb function in stroke patients. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD42021250378.

Facial albedo images are believed to be invariant to external factors of pose, illumination and expression that can greatly affect the appearance of face images and thus face recognition accuracy as well. Unlike most existing face recognition methods that address the impact of one or two of these external factors, we propose an end-to-end network, which consists of De-Light Network (DL-Net) and Normalization Network (N-Net), to generate normalized albedo images with neutral expression and frontal pose for input face images. DL-Net aims to eliminate the effects of illumination and reconstruct a posed albedo image that has the same pose and expression as the input image. N-Net attempts to generate a pose and expression normalized albedo image and extract identity features under the supervision of the normalized albedo images. Our experiments on the Multi-PIE database show that the extracted identity features can effectively assist conventional face recognition methods to improve face recognition accuracy under varying poses, illuminations and expressions.

Despite the wide usage of mugshot images in forensic applications, they are underutilized in existing automated face recognition systems. In this paper, we propose a novel mugshot-based arbitrary view face recognition method. Our approach reconstructs full 3D faces via cascaded regression in shape space with efficient seamless texture recovery. Unlike existing methods, it makes full use of the frontal and profile views available in mugshot images, and thus generates accurate and realistic 3D faces. Multi-view face images are synthesized from the reconstructed 3D faces to enlarge the gallery so that arbitrary view faces can be better recognized. Evaluation experiments were conducted on BFM and Multi-PIE databases by using state-of-the-art deep learning (DL) based face matchers. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method and show that DL-based face matchers can benefit from mugshot images and the reconstructed 3D faces, especially for recognizing large off-angle faces.

Nearly dispersed CuSe and Cu 2− x Se crystals were successfully prepared using copper and selenium–triethylene glycol (TEG) solution thermal decomposition using triethylenetetramine (TETA) as the reducing agent and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the capping agent at 230 °C for 1 h. The crystalline structure, electronic and copper selenide particles optical characterization were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), UV–visible absorbance spectra. The TETA addition effects on crystal phase development and morphology were investigated. The obtained copper selenides are CuSe and Cu 2− x Se single phase for the samples added with TETA of 0.7 and 2.2 ml, respectively. The measured energy gaps for CuSe and Cu 2− x Se are 2.0 eV and 2.17 eV, respectively. These synthesized compounds provide promising candidates for solar cell applications.