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In the past decade, tumor treatment strategies have shifted from tumors to the immune system of tumor patients. NIR laser-induced photothermal therapy can not only generate heat or reactive oxygen species to kill tumors but also induce immunogenic cell death and activate the overall antitumor immune response. The ICD process is usually accompanied by autophagosome formation, which contains tumor-associated antigens. However, the fusion of autophagosome and lysosome impairs antigens, weakening the antitumor immune response. Thus, administration with autophagy terminal inhibitors could be a compensatory strategy. In this work, we prepared a thermally sensitive liposome drug delivery system containing the photothermal agent IR780 and autophagy inhibitor HCQ (IR780/HCQ-Lip). IR780/HCQ-Lip has a uniform particle size distribution and good photodynamic and photothermal properties. The inhibition of autophagy enhanced the phototherapy effect. Compared with the survival rate of 4T1 cells being treated with IR780-Lip phototherapy alone (36.87%), the survival rate of the IR780/HCQ-Lip group decreased to 3.71%. IR780/HCQ-Lip caused a massive accumulation of autophagosomes, promoted the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs), and enhanced the infiltration of intratumoral T cells. In addition, IR780/HCQ-Lip produced a systemic immune response and also showed good inhibition of distal tumor growth under laser action in distal tumor experiments. Thus, IR780/HCQ-Lip exhibited a promising combination therapy for the treatment of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of pig weight holds significant importance for producers as it plays a crucial role in managing pig growth, health, and marketing, thereby facilitating informed decisions regarding scientific feeding practices. On one hand, the conventional manual weighing approach is characterized by inefficiency and time consumption. On the other hand, it has the potential to induce heightened stress levels in pigs. This research introduces a hybrid 3D point cloud denoising approach for precise pig weight estimation. By integrating statistical filtering and DBSCAN clustering techniques, we mitigate weight estimation bias and overcome limitations in feature extraction. The convex hull technique refines the dataset to the pig's back, while voxel down-sampling enhances real-time efficiency. Our model integrates pig back parameters with a convolutional neural network (CNN) for accurate weight estimation. Experimental analysis indicates that the mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percent error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RMSE) of the weight estimation model proposed in this research are 12.45 kg, 5.36%, and 12.91 kg, respectively. In contrast to the currently available weight estimation methods based on 2D and 3D techniques, the suggested approach offers the advantages of simplified equipment configuration and reduced data processing complexity. These benefits are achieved without compromising the accuracy of weight estimation. Consequently, the proposed method presents an effective monitoring solution for precise pig feeding management, leading to reduced human resource losses and improved welfare in pig breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted hyperspectral imaging technology combined with machine learning to detect the disease severity of stem blight through the canopy of asparagus mother stem. Several regions of interest were selected from each hyperspectral image, and the reflection spectra of the regions of interest were extracted. There were 503 sets of hyperspectral data in the training set and 167 sets of hyperspectral data in the test set. The data were preprocessed using various methods and the dimension was reduced using PCA. K−nearest neighbours (KNN), decision tree (DT), BP neural network (BPNN), and extreme learning machine (ELM) were used to establish a classification model of asparagus stem blight. The optimal model depended on the preprocessing methods used. When modeling was based on the ELM method, the disease grade discrimination effect of the FD−MSC−ELM model was the best with an accuracy (ACC) of 1.000, a precision (PREC) of 1.000, a recall (REC) of 1.000, an F1-score (F1S) of 1.000, and a norm of the absolute error (NAE) of 0.000, respectively; when the modeling was based on the BPNN method, the discrimination effect of the FD−SNV−BPNN model was the best with an ACC of 0.976, a PREC of 0.975, a REC of 0.978, a F1S of 0.976, and a mean square error (MSE) of 0.072, respectively. The results showed that hyperspectral imaging of the asparagus mother stem canopy combined with machine learning methods could be used to grade and detect stem blight in asparagus mother stems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For CNN-based visual action recognition, the accuracy may be increased if local key action regions are focused on. The task of self-attention is to focus on key features and ignore irrelevant information. So, self-attention is useful for action recognition. However, current self-attention methods usually ignore correlations among local feature vectors at spatial positions in CNN feature maps. In this paper, we propose an effective interaction-aware self-attention model which can extract information about the interactions between feature vectors to learn attention maps. Since the different layers in a network capture feature maps at different scales, we introduce a spatial pyramid with the feature maps at different layers for attention modeling. The multi-scale information is utilized to obtain more accurate attention scores. These attention scores are used to weight the local feature vectors of the feature maps and then calculate attentional feature maps. Since the number of feature maps input to the spatial pyramid attention layer is unrestricted, we easily extend this attention layer to a spatio-temporal version. Our model can be embedded in any general CNN to form a video-level end-to-end attention network for action recognition. Several methods are investigated to combine the RGB and flow streams to obtain accurate predictions of human actions. Experimental results show that our method achieves state-of-the-art results on the datasets UCF101, HMDB51, Kinetics-400, and untrimmed Charades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring high-performance and cost-affordable electroactive materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and energy storage is of paramount importance to respond positively to the looming energy crisis. Here we report a nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon nanosheet decorated with nickel–copper alloy nanoparticles (NiCu@NHPC), which can be fabricated in large quantities using lactose and nitrate as precursors via a simple two-step carbonization strategy. No external template or pore-forming agent was used in the preparation process. The structural characterizations reveal that monodisperse NiCu alloy nanoparticles are tightly embedded into the porous carbon framework. Benefiting from its outstanding structure feature, the NiCu@NHPC hybrid exhibits exceptional electrochemical performance. Specifically, the NiCu@NHPC hybrid as supercapacitor electrode material displays a high specific capacity up to 1175 C g–1 at 1 A g–1 and a good rate performance. Meanwhile, the assembled asymmetric supercapacitor device NiCu@NHPC//NHPC delivers a desirable energy density of 61.33 Wh kg–1 at a power density of 960 W kg–1 and a long-term cycle life. More importantly, the NiCu@NHPC hybrid also manifests a superior electrocatalytic activity for HER with an overpotential of 80 mV at 10 mA cm–2, a lower Tafel slope (76 mV dec–1), and good durability in acidic media. This work provides a facile but effective strategy for designing bimetallic alloy@carbon hybrids for application as high-performance supercapacitor electrode material and HER electrocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple cation perovskite photodetectors with different feature bandgaps were stacked and sealed for multi-color fluorescence detection. Fluorescence consisting of different wavelength photons could be absorbed sequentially by the corresponding layers in the stacked photodetectors, thereby promising a high quantum efficiency and allowing better spatial resolution in principle. Experimentally, fluorescent quantum dots of central wavelengths of 650 nm, 690 nm, and 777 nm were detected simultaneously in a mixed solution. The LODs of the three kinds of CdTe QDs are 6.16, 7.25 and 8.11 nM, respectively, and the deviation is smaller than 20%. The results show that the stacked perovskite detector is promising for the application of multi-color fluorescence analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of exercise intervention on disability, pain, and kinesiophobia in a retired athlete with old patella fracture. Methods: A 34-year-old retired football player with old patella fracture conducted the exercise intervention for 12 weeks, 1 h each time, three times a week. the retired football player completed the Lysholm Knee Score (LKS), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) were measured at pre-intervention, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. Results: Based on the functional training perspective, the retired athlete was subjected to two stages of exercise intervention for a total of 12 weeks. The patient's LKS score increased from 76 to 95, and the pain level of various physical states was relieved. When walking, the VAS score was reduced from 3 to 1, and when running, the VAS score was reduced from 5 to 2. Jumping VAS score for actions was reduced from 6 to 3, and the VAS score for of daily life activities was reduced from 3 points to 2. The patient's TSK score from 50 to 37. Conclusion: A 12-week exercise intervention could improve knee joint function, relieve pain and relieve kinesiophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature exposure is known to promote physical and mental health. However, actual nature exposure may be difficult to achieve for the population of people with physical disabilities or chronic conditions. Therefore, many attempts have been made to duplicate nature exposure via media devices, and virtual reality (VR) is deemed as a promising technology due to its advantage in creating a sense of immersion. Generally, current studies suggest that being exposed to virtual nature may contribute to psychological and physiological relaxation. Besides, some pieces of evidence indicate that virtual nature may improve attentional resources, cognitive performance, and pain experience. Although VR is deemed as an advanced media, insufficient evidence was found concerning the advantages of VR over traditional two-dimensional media when it comes to simulated nature exposure. On the other hand, computer-generated (CG) scenarios were found to be more beneficial than 360° videos, and mini-games may be useful in creating an interactive VR format for simulated nature exposure. Further research is needed because of the limited relevant studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of fear of movement (kinesiophobia) in persistent pain ranges from 50 to 70%, and it may hinder the subsequent rehabilitation interventions. Therefore, the evaluation of fear of movement/(re)injury plays a crucial role in making clinical treatment decisions conducive to the promotion of rehabilitation and prognosis. In the decision-making process of pain treatment, the assessment of fear of movement/(re)injury is mainly completed by scale/questionnaire. Scale/questionnaire is the most widely used instrument for measuring fear of movement/(re)injury in the decision-making process of pain treatment. At present, the most commonly used scale/questionnaire are the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), the Kinesiophobia Causes Scale (KCS), the Athlete Fear-Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ), and the Fear-Avoidance Components Scale (FACS). In order to provide necessary tools and references for related research and rehabilitation treatment, this descriptive review is designed as an introduction to the background and content, score system, available language versions, variants of the original questionnaire, and psychometric properties of these scales/questionnaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the problem of unsupervised discovery of action classes in video data. Different from all existing methods thus far proposed for this task, we present a space-time link analysis approach which consistently matches or exceeds the performance of traditional unsupervised action categorization methods in various datasets. Our method is inspired by the recent success of link analysis techniques in the image domain. By applying these techniques in the space-time domain, we are able to naturally take into account the spatiotemporal relationships between the video features, while leveraging the power of graph matching for action classification. We present a comprehensive set of experiments demonstrating that our approach is capable of handling cluttered backgrounds, activities with subtle movements, and video data from moving cameras. State-of-the-art results are reported on standard datasets. We also demonstrate our method in a compelling surveillance application with the goal of avoiding fraud in retail stores.

Objectives: To illustrate the effectiveness of the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) as a guide to exercise intervention on chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP). Methods: A 23-year-old male volleyball athlete with CNLBP was evaluated using the SFMA to assess the degree of physical dysfunctions. And then two-stage exercise protocol was designed based on the results of SFMA. The athlete conducted the exercise intervention for 8 weeks, 1 h each time, three times a week. Transverse abdominal muscles and multifidus muscle thickness, the degree of low back pain, and the degree of physical dysfunctions were measured at pre-intervention, midintervention, and post-intervention. Results: Based on the results of SFMA, the exercise protocol in the first 4-week session was designed mainly to develop the mobility of ankle, hip, and chest and the stability of lumbar, hip, and knee, in order to improve core strength and gluteal muscle strength. The second 4-week session was an advanced stage with the increase of exercise load on the basis of flexibility and stability; its main purpose was to loosen the hamstring muscles and continue strengthening the core stability and finally help the participant to establish the correct movement pattern and solve the problems of dysfunctions. After 8-week exercise intervention, all movement patterns became functional/non-painful except the deep squat pattern; the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale score decreased from 11 to 2; visual analog scale score decreased from 4 to 2; the thicknesses of the transverse abdominis muscles (right side: 0.2 vs. 0.31 cm, left side: 0.22 vs. 0.33 cm) and multifidus muscles (right side: 2.09 vs. 2.26 cm, left side: 2.15 vs. 2.29 cm) were both increased. Conclusion: In this case, the SFMA helped to recognize problems related to mobility and stability on the hip joint, thoracic spine, and even areas far away from the lumbar spine in an athlete with CNLBP that were not seen with more conventional examination procedures. The improvements of physical function, the increase in deep core muscles thickness, and the released pain after exercise intervention all verified the effectiveness of SFMA to qualitatively analyze movement patterns at examination and to direct subsequent exercise intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For fixed bed grain drying techniques, the biggest problem is the lack of drying uniformity. Deep-bed drying can be achieved in fixed bed after solving the problem of the drying uniformity, thereby reflecting the compact structure, simple operation and low running cost of the deep-bed drying equipment. A new fixed deep-bed drying method that features swing temperature and alternating airflow (STAA), coupled heating and tempering processes in time and space, and vibration induced grain circulation was investigated. The optimal tempering time is 0.67 times of the corresponding positive flow tempering time plus counter flow tempering time. The key to the vibration parameters is to make the wheat particles enter the global circulation roll mode under the joint excitation of airflow and vibration. The addition of vibration increased the average uniformity of positive and counter flow drying by 8.02%, and the average moisture content decreased by 1.28%. The introduction of vibration further enhances the drying uniformity and provides a new solution for continuing to increase the layer thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long-term stable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) all polarization-maintaining (PM) compound-ring cavity fiber laser is reported. The results show that the PM fiber's strong ability to resist the environment disturbance allows finely designing the length of each secondary cavity in real time according to the main cavity under the laboratory environment, and then the effective longitudinal mode spacing can be sufficiently increased by accurately using the Vernier effect, so that the mode-hopping can be effectively suppressed. Furthermore, the temperature compensation is used for asynchronously fine-adjusting each cavity length to follow the Vernier effect requirement more strictly. The mode-hopping-free SLM operation time of the packaged laser reaches 11 h. As far as we know, this is the longest SLM free running time of ring cavity fiber laser to date. The optical signal to noise ratio of the laser reaches 77 dB and the linewidth is less than 850 Hz with up to 50 mW maximum output power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcumol has been proved to possess antitumor effects in vivo and in vitro in several cancers. Previously, we have found that curcumol induced apoptosis in CNE-2 cells, but its underlying mechanism has not yet been studied well. Recently, our team clarified that curcumol inhibited colorectal cancer cells' growth partially through insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) pathway. Given the key importance of IGF-1R pathway in tumorigenesis, we want to explore whether curcumol effects on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells relates to IGF-1R and its downstream pathway inactivation. In this study, we found that curcumol inhibited IGF-1R and p-Akt expression in a dose- and time-dependent way. In addition, it also regulated their downstream GSK-3β's activity in CNE-2 cells, which further triggering alterations in the expression of cycle- and apoptosis-related molecules, and then leading to G0/G1-phase arrest and apoptosis. Moreover, curcumol's effect on CNE-2 cells was partly eliminated by IGF-1R's agonist IGF-1. In conclusion, our findings indicated that the inhibitory effect of curcumol on proliferation of NPC cells is related to the inhibition of IGF-1R and its downstream PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a fiber pigtailed electro-optic modulator as the active Q-switch, mode-hopping-free single-longitudinal-mode pulses are generated by a ring cavity fiber laser based on the injection seeding technique. The experimental results show that the single-longitudinal-mode oscillating properties of the laser may be determined by the power and the center frequency of the injection seed rather than the Q-switch waveform and modulation frequency. With the injected seed power of 200 μW, single-longitudinal-mode Q-switched pulses with the repetition rate and the pulse width from 1 to 100 kHz, and 50 to 400 ns are achieved with the laser. The output pulse linewidth can be narrowed effectively by reducing the coupling ratio of the output coupler of the laser. A stable single-longitudinal-mode pulse stream with a linewidth of 1.5 MHz is obtained with our laser, which may be the narrowest linewidth for a Q-switched fiber laser so far to our best knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]