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In this nonconfirmatory qualitative study, we pursued a range of hypotheses regarding how gaming operates in the lives and psychosocial wellbeing of those who actively play videogames during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Informed by an explorative survey (N = 793), interpretive phenomenological analysis was applied to interview data from actively gaming Chinese (n = 10) and Finnish (n = 10) participants. Our findings demonstrate how the general increase of pandemic-time gaming did not manifest in all player groups, but in some life contexts gaming activity rather decreased along with reformations in subjective meaning hierarchies and values. Ultimately, eight subordinate themes were refined into testable hypotheses. The study encourages policies that promote socially supportive gaming during pandemic-like situations to consider including personally meaningful solitary play in their recommendations and highlighting context-specificity over generalization. Finally, as almost all our data points echoing experiences of decreasing gaming activity came from China, we stress the importance of culturally diverse samples in the psychological study of global phenomena.

In this paper, we systematically analyzed the phase rotation caused by discrete eigenvalues fluctuation for polarization-division-multiplexed nonlinear frequency division multiplexing systems, and introduced an advanced k-means method to implement phase rotation equalization. As demonstrated in numerical Montel-Carlo simulation, compared with the original k-means algorithm, by using the advanced k-means method, the initial centroids and global optimal solution could be obtained quickly, which brings a certain bit error rate gain.

In this paper, we established a mathematical model for noise interference in discrete b-coefficients modulated nonlinear frequency division multiplexing (NFDM) system. Based on this model, through a reasonable design of input and output, we proposed a novel artificial neural network (ANN) model as equalizer to suppress noise. As shown in numerical simulation, the anti-noise ability of the discrete b-coefficients modulated NFDM system has been significantly improved by using the proposed ANN equalizer.

In this paper, we systematically discussed channel estimation method for nonlinear frequency division multiplexing system with discrete spectrum modulation. It is shown in the simulation results that the proposed method improved the system performance, whether in a single eigenvalue or multiple eigenvalues transmission.

We studied phase noise of discrete b-coefficients caused by eigenvalues perturbation for NFDM systems and provided an analytical solution to evaluate the impact of the perturbation on system performance for various transmission distances.

Nonlinear Fourier transform domain least square channel estimation is proposed for discrete spectrum modulated polarization-division multiplexed nonlinear frequency division multiplexing systems. A lower BER is obtained using the full-loaded training sequences.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In this study, we investigated Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography Time-of-Flight/Mass Spectrometry-based non-targeted metabolomic profiles of serum samples obtained from early-stage NSCLC patients and healthy controls (HC). Metabolic pathways and the biological relevance of potential biomarkers were extensively studied to gain insights into dysregulated metabolism in NSCLC. The identified biomarker candidates were further externally validated via a targeted metabolomics analysis. The global metabolomics profiles could clearly distinguish NSCLC patients from HC. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) levels were found to be dysregulated in glycerophospholipid (GPL) metabolism, which was the top altered pathway in early-stage NSCLC. Compared with those in HC, significant increases in the levels of saturated and monounsaturated PCs such as PC (15:0/18:1), PC (18:0/16:0) and PC (18:0/20:1) were observed in NSCLC. Additionally, relative to those in HC, the levels of 9 polyunsaturated PCs, namely, PC (17:2/2:0), PC (18:4/3:0), and PC (15:0/18:2), and so on were significantly decreased in NSCLC patients. A panel of 12 altered PCs had good diagnostic performance in differentiating early-stage NSCLC patients from HC, and these PCs may thus be used as serum biomarkers for the early diagnosis of NSCLC.

OBJECTIVES Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) functions to mediate angiogenesis, and its upregulation is responsible for tumour angiogenesis during cancer development. This study analysed AEG-1 expression in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for association with NSCLC clinicopathological features and tumour angiogenesis. METHODS The expression of AEG-1, vascular endothelial growth factor and intratumoural microvessel density (assessed using the expression of CD105) was detected by immunohistochemistry in 88 paired tumour tissue and adjacent normal tissue specimens obtained from NSCLC patients. The Kaplan-Meier curves were used for survival analysis through an online tool (http://kmplot.com/analysis/). RESULTS AEG-1 was overexpressed in 61.3% of NSCLC tissues vs 6.8% (6/88) of normal tissues (P

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, which ranks top in both incidence and mortality. To broaden our understanding of the lipid metabolic alterations in NSCLC and to identify potential biomarkers for early diagnosis, we performed nontargeted lipidomics analysis in serum from 66 early-stage NSCLC, 40 lung benign disease patients (LBD), and 40 healthy controls (HC) using Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS). The identified biomarker candidates of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) were further externally validated in a cohort including 30 early-stage NSCLC, 30 LBD, and 30 HC by a targeted lipidomic analysis. We observed a significantly altered lipid metabolic profile in early-stage NSCLC and identified panels of PCs and PEs to distinguish NSCLC patients and HC. The levels of PCs and PEs were found to be dysregulated in glycerophospholipid metabolism, which was the top altered pathway in early-stage NSCLC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that panels of PCs and PEs exhibited good performance in differentiating early-stage NSCLC and HC. The levels of PE(16:0/16:1), PE(16:0/18:3), PE(16:0/18:2), PE(18:0/16:0), PE(17:0/18:2), PE(18:0/17:1), PE(17:0/18:1), PE(20:5/16:0), PE(18:0/18:1), PE(18:1/20:4), PE(18:0/20:3), PC(15:0/18:1), PC(16:1/20:5), and PC(18:0/20:1) in early-stage NSCLC were significantly increased compared with HC (p

Background To delineate the metabolomic profiling and identify early diagnostic biomarkers in maternal plasma from the pregnant women who subsequently developed gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) using liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF MS). Methods Plasma samples were collected from GDM pregnant women (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 30) at the 20th gestational week in Huzhou Central Hospital and Huzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital. The principle component analysis (PCA), partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and orthogonal PLS (OPLS) were sequentially applied to discover the differential metabolites for GDM diagnosis. Further, we analyzed the identified biomarkers in the MetPA database in order to reveal the key relevant metabolism in GDM. Results Twenty-four out of 975 aligned metabolites were distinguished among GDM plasma and healthy controls. In particular, the level of linolenic acid and arachidonic acid was significantly elevated in GDM. Conclusions The linolenic acid and arachidonic acid could be selected as new potent biomarkers for GDM diagnosis and prognosis in early pregnancy; however, they still need to be confirmed from large samples in future.

Previous studies have revealed several targets of miR-10b, such as syndecan-1, HOXD10, TBX5, and E-cadherin. In this study, we aimed to assess whether Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a target gene of miR-10b in gastric cancer (GC). Targeting of KLF4 by miR-10b was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assays. The expression levels of miR-10b and KLF4 mRNA in 5 different gastric cancer cell lines and 65 pairs of gastric cancer tissues were detected by Real-time PCR. In addition, KLF4 protein in gastric cancer cell lines and 30 GC tissues was measured by western blotting and immunochemistry, respectively. KLF4 is a direct target gene of miR-10b in GC, and its expression is reduced by miR-10b at both mRNA and protein levels. In addition, the expression level of miR-10b was tendentiously upregulated in GC tissues while the expression levels of KLF4 mRNA and protein were decreased in gastric cancer tissues compared with normal adjacent tissue. There was a dramatically inverse correlation between the expression levels of miR-10b and KLF4 mRNA in GC (r = -0.339, P = 0.006). These findings indicate that miR-10b was upregulated in GC and may have a key role in GC pathogenesis and development through the downregulation of its target gene KLF4.

Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death, for which no validated tumor biomarker is sufficiently accurate to be useful for diagnosis. Additionally, the metabolic alterations associated with the disease are unclear. In this study, we investigated the construction, interaction, and pathways of potential lung cancer biomarkers using metabolomics pathway analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database and the Human Metabolome Database to identify the top altered pathways for analysis and visualization. We constructed a diagnostic model using potential serum biomarkers from patients with lung cancer. We assessed their specificity and sensitivity according to the area under the curve of the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, which could be used to distinguish patients with lung cancer from normal subjects. The pathway analysis indicated that sphingolipid metabolism was the top altered pathway in lung cancer. ROC curve analysis indicated that glycerophospho-N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (GpAEA) and sphingosine were potential sensitive and specific biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Compared with the traditional lung cancer diagnostic biomarkers carcinoembryonic antigen and cytokeratin 19 fragment, GpAEA and sphingosine were as good or more appropriate for detecting lung cancer. We report our identification of potential metabolic diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of lung cancer and clarify the metabolic alterations in lung cancer.

Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of death from cancer. Serum markers that enable diagnosis of the disease in the early stage have not been found. Serum samples were collected from 30 healthy volunteers and from 30 lung cancer patients preoperatively and postoperatively. Samples were subjected to metabolomic analysis using liquid chromatography/hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Differences in metabolomic profiles among the three groups were characterized by multivariate statistical techniques such as principal components analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). An independent t test was used to determine whether levels of biomarker candidates identified using PLS-DA modeling were significantly different among groups at the univariate analysis level (p

Guizhi decoction (GZD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine formula, clinically used for the treatment of influenza, common cold, and other pyretic conditions. A sensitive, specific, and validated liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) method was developed to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties of cinnamic acid, hippuric acid, paeoniflorin, and glycyrrhetic acid in rat. After single dose oral administration of 7.9 g extract/kg body weight GZD in rats, plasma concentrations of cinnamic acid, hippuric acid, paeoniflorin, and glycyrrhetic acid were measured by LC–MS/MS. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated from the plasma concentration–time data. The values of AUC0−t, half-life (t 1/2), and C max were 7.2 ± 2.3 μg h/mL, 1.2 ± 0.3 h, and 9.2 ± 5.2 μg/mL for cinnamic acid, 53 ± 31 μg h/mL, 2.8 ± 2.0 h, and 17 ± 3 μg/mL for hippuric acid, 1.1 ± 0.5 μg h/mL, 1.9 ± 1.1 h, and 0.6 ± 0.3 μg/mL for paeoniflorin, and 11 ± 6 μg h/mL, 6.6 ± 2.5 h, and 0.9 ± 0.6 μg/mL for glycyrrhetic acid, respectively. The results would offer useful information for effective components of GZD in vivo.

The pharmacokinetics of cinnamic acid (CA) after oral administration of Decoction of Ramulus Cinnamomi (RC) 7.4 g/kg [containing CA 7.62 x 10(-5) mol/kg and cinnamaldehyde (CNMA) 1.77 x 10(-5) mol/kg], was compared with that after oral administration of pure CA 7.62 x 10(-5) mol/kg in rats. Plasma concentrations of CA and hippuric acid (HA) were determined by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated from the plasma concentration-time data. CA was quickly absorbed and then metabolized mainly into HA. The AUC(0-t) and AUC(0-infinity)) of CA were higher in RC group than those in pure CA group and the bioavailability of CA from RC was higher than that from pure CA. After ig administration of 3.79 x 10(-4) mol/kg, CNMA was at least partially metabolized into CA in stomach and small intestine and almost completely metabolized into CA in liver before it is absorbed into blood in rats. The results showed that plasma CA in RC group might partly come from transformation of CNMA in RC.