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Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a user-focused evaluation method, centered around understanding how dwellers occupy and use built environments. Collecting big data on user behavior has become essential for POE. In this paper, the limitations of current POE protocol data adoption and analysis methods are analyzed, and a quantitative research method based on machine vision (MV) to quantify users' spatio-temporal behavior for POE is developed, which can acquire high-resolution data more efficiently and accurately than the common methods in this field. In particular, the method of calculating user activity using frame difference algorithms fills the gap of quantifying user activity in POE research. The outdoor space of a kindergarten and the indoor space of a university library are selected to validate the method. After analyzing 4.5 million frames of data accumulated over 50 consecutive hours in the outdoor space, and 8.82 million frames of data accumulated over 98 consecutive hours in the indoor space, our method successfully analyzed usage of indoor and outdoor spaces and generated multiple quantitative indices of POE from high-resolution spatiotemporal behavior variables. The robustness, convenience, and practicability of this method in practical applications are verified. This method is simple to use, can adapt to a variety of built environments, and has a low cost. It has potential competitiveness for large-scale application. Quantitative POE research methods enhance the flow of information from space usage to spatial design and provide a data-driven basis for improving spatial sustainability, planning, design, and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green buildings have many advantages that traditional buildings do not possess, but there are still problems such as insufficient promotion and application. One of the important reasons is the lack of pertinent evaluation of green buildings. The current assessment of the economic benefits of green building design is still at a qualitative stage, and there is a lack of quantitative assessment methods and models. Based on this, this study establishes a green building design evaluation index system including cost and economic benefits. In the cost estimation, a nonlinear evaluation model based on data mining is designed to ensure a better estimation accuracy and credibility. In the evaluation of economic benefits, an incremental benefit evaluation model based on fuzzy mathematics is designed to evaluate its comprehensive economic benefits in a quantitative way. The results of data simulation show that the least squares support vector machine has achieved a good balance between the estimation time and accuracy. The comprehensive evaluation model proposed in this paper has strong operability and good evaluation effect, which is of great significance to promote the development of green building design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims. Magnetically guided capsule endoscopy (MGCE) offers a noninvasive method of evaluating both the gastric cavity and small intestine; however, few studies have evaluated MGCE in pediatric patients. We investigated the diagnostic efficacy of MGCE in pediatric patients with abdominal pain. Patients and Methods. We enrolled 48 patients with abdominal pain aged 6–18 years. All patients underwent MGCE to evaluate the gastric cavity and small intestine. Results. The cleanliness of the gastric cardia, fundus, body, angle, antrum, and pylorus was assessed satisfactorily in 100%, 85.4%, 89.6%, 100%, 97.9%, and 100% of patients, respectively. The subjective percentage visualization of the gastric cardia, fundus, body, angle, antrum, and pylorus was 84.8%, 83.8%, 88.5%, 87.7%, 95.2%, and 99.6%, respectively. Eighteen (37.5%) patients had 19 gastrointestinal tract lesions: one esophageal, three in the gastric cavity, and 15 in the small intestine. No adverse events occurred during follow-up. Conclusions. MGCE is safe, convenient, and tolerable for evaluating the gastric cavity and small intestine in pediatric patients. MGCE can effectively diagnose pediatric patients with abdominal pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TIP30 is a putative tumor suppressor that can promote apoptosis and inhibit angiogenesis. However, the role of TIP30 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) biology has not been investigated. Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the expression of TIP30 in 70 ESCC. Hypermethylation of TIP30 was evaluated by the methylation specific PCR (MSP) method in ESCC (tumor and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues). Lost expression of TIP30 was observed in 50 of 70 (71.4%) ESCC. 61.4% (43 of 70) of primary tumors analyzed displayed TIP30 hypermethylation, indicating that this aberrant characteristic is common in ESCC. Moreover, a statistically significant inverse association was found between TIP30 methylation status and expression of the TIP30 protein in tumor tissues ( p = 0.001). We also found that microRNA-10b (miR-10b) targets a homologous DNA region in the 3′untranslated region of the TIP30 gene and represses its expression at the transcriptional level. Reporter assay with 3′UTR of TIP30 cloned downstream of the luciferase gene showed reduced luciferase activity in the presence of miR-10b, providing strong evidence that miR-10b is a direct regulator of TIP30. These results suggest that TIP30 expression is regulated by promoter methylation and miR-10b in ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Based on genetically engineered mouse, we analyzed the biological features of PanIN. [•] PanIN showed tumorigenic ability, but did not undergo a malignant transformation. [•] We first found the differential expression of PPP2R2A between PanIN and PDAC. [•] PPP2R2A expression is significantly higher in PanIN tissues than PDAC tissues. [•] The expression of PPP2R2A appears to be correlated with clinical survival. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper evaluated the use of Three-dimensional (3D) Computer Visual Materials (CVM) to support user participation in the early design stages for a private house. A qualitative approach was identified in two stages. Firstly, a semistructured interview with a sample of architectural firms was conducted, and secondly, data was collected from conversational dialogues between an architect and a list of clients. The results revealed that various stages of the design process have different responses with respect to the use of Visual Material (VM) and its impact on user participation. In addition, there appeared to be a direct relationship between the Level of Details (LoDs) and specific design stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Study the contribution of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to progression of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Methods: We explored lncRNAs profilings in PanIN cell line (SH-PAN) isolated from Pdx-1-Cre; LSL-Kras mice and PDAC cell line (DT-PCa) isolated from Pdx-1-Cre; LSL- Kras ; LSL- Tp53 mice by lncRNAs microarray, and detected expression of lncRNAs and genes in PDAC by Real-time PCR, Western blot, ChIP and immunohistochemistry. Results: Eight lncRNAs and five protein-coding genes, associated with Wnt pathway, were identified with more than five-fold changes between DT-PCa cells and SH-PAN cells. Of them, lincRNA1611 and Ppp3ca were validated significantly high expression in DT-PCa cells and in 22 of 26 fresh resected human PDAC tissues, compared to SH-PAN cells and normal pancreatic tissues, respectively. Moreover, Tp53 mutation status displayed a positive correlation with lincRNA1611 or Ppp3ca level. Immunohistochemical staining for Ppp3ca was weak or lack in 91 of 107 normal pancreatic tissues, 24 of 29 PanIN-I and 13 of 16 PanIN-II tissues, however, was strong in 10 of 27 PanIN-III and 62 of 107 PDAC tissues post operation. Conclusions: LincRNA1611 and Ppp3ca were high expression in PDAC and may serve as new potential targets for intervention of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the indications, clinical utility, feasibility and safety of double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in the diagnosis and management of small intestinal diseases in pediatric patients. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of pediatric patients younger than 18 years referred to Shanghai Rui Jin Hospital from May 2003 to June 2008 for investigation of suspected small bowel disorders. Demographic, clinical, procedural and outcome data were collected for analysis. Results: A total of 35 DBE were carried out in 30 children with a mean age of 13 years. Indications for DBE were obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding ( n = 22), chronic abdominal pain ( n = 4), chronic diarrhea ( n = 3), and incomplete small bowel obstruction ( n = 1). DBE evidenced pathological findings in 29 patients (96.7%). DBE altered management in 90% of patients with positive findings. Follow up was obtained on all patients with a mean (range) of 40 months (14-75 months). The procedure was successful in all patients and there were no serious complications related to sedation. Conclusion: DBE is feasible and safe and has a high diagnostic yield and therapeutic impact on the diagnosis and management of small bowel disorders in selected pediatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High levels of SOX4 expression have been found in a variety of human cancers, such as lung, brain and breast cancers. However, the expression of SOX4 in gastric tissues remains unknown. The SOX4 expression was detected using immunohistochemical staining and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and our results showed that SOX4 was up-regulated in gastric cancer compared to benign gastric tissues. To further elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying up-regulation of SOX4 in gastric cancers, we analyzed the expression of microRNA-129-2 (miR-129-2) gene, the epigenetic repression of which leads to overexpression of SOX4 in endometrial cancer. We found that up-regulation of SOX4 was inversely associated with the epigenetic silencing of miR-129-2 in gastric cancer, and restoration of miR-129-2 down-regulated SOX4 expression. We also found that inactivation of SOX4 by siRNA and restoration of miR-129-2 induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]