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Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has become one of the enabling wireless technologies to facilitate the Internet of Things. Neighbor discovery is critical in BLE communications. BLE uses multiple (three) channels in neighbor discovery. It is challenging to achieve low-latency and low-energy-consumption BLE neighbor discovery due to the lack of analytical models for multichannel neighbor discovery. In this paper, we study BLE multichannel neighbor discovery for two advertising modes specified by BLE: periodic deterministic advertising (PDA) and pseudo-random delay advertising (RDA). We build two generic models, BLE 3-Circle model and BLE 1-Circle model, for characterizing BLE multichannel neighbor discovery. For PDA mode, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for BLE multichannel neighbor discovery, and provide a guideline for parameter setting. With the guideline, we derive the expected discovery latency in closed form, and demonstrate that the expected discovery latency is very close to a theoretical lower bound. For RDA mode, we build an analytical model based on Markov chain to accurately compute the expected discovery latency. Simulation and experimental results show accuracy of our analytical works. Interestingly, our parameter setting guideline works well for both PDA and RDA mode.

Summary Background Pompe disease is a rare disorder characterised by progressive loss of muscle and respiratory function due to acid α-glucosidase deficiency. Enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, alglucosidase alfa, is the first approved treatment for the disease, but some patients do not respond, and many do not show a sustained benefit. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of an investigational two-component therapy (cipaglucosidase alfa, a novel recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, plus miglustat, an enzyme stabiliser) for late-onset Pompe disease. Methods We did a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, phase 3 trial at 62 neuromuscular and metabolic medical centres in 24 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older with late-onset Pompe disease, and had either been receiving alglucosidase alfa for at least 2 years or were enzyme replacement therapy-naive. Participants were randomly assigned (2:1) using interactive response technology software, stratified by 6-min walk distance and previous enzyme replacement therapy status, to intravenous cipaglucosidase alfa (20 mg/kg) plus oral miglustat or to intravenous alglucosidase alfa (20 mg/kg) plus oral placebo once every 2 weeks for 52 weeks. Patients, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was change from baseline to week 52 in 6-min walk distance, assessed using a mixed-effect model for repeated measures analysis for comparison of superiority in the intention-to-treat population (all patients who received at least one dose of study drug). This study is now complete and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03729362 . Findings Between Dec 3, 2018, and Nov 26, 2019, 130 patients were screened for eligibility and 125 were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat (n=85) or alglucosidase alfa plus placebo (n=40). Two patients in the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group did not receive any dose due to absence of genotype confirmation of late-onset Pompe disease and were excluded from analysis. Six patients discontinued (one in the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group, five in the cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat group), and 117 completed the study. At week 52, mean change from baseline in 6-min walk distance was 20·8 m (SE 4·6) in the cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat group versus 7·2 m (6·6) in the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group using last observation carried forward (between-group difference 13·6 m [95% CI −2·8 to 29·9]). 118 (96%) of 123 patients experienced at least one treatment-emergent adverse event during the study; the incidence was similar between the cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat group (n=81 [95%]) and the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group (n=37 [97%]). The most frequently reported treatment-emergent adverse events were fall (25 [29%] patients in the cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat group vs 15 [39%] in the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group), headache (20 [24%] vs 9 [24%]), nasopharyngitis (19 [22%] vs 3 [8%]), myalgia (14 [16%] vs 5 [13%]), and arthralgia (13 [15%]) vs 5 [13%]). 12 serious adverse events occurred in eight patients in the cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat group; only one event (anaphylaxis) was deemed related to study drug. One serious adverse event (stroke) occurred in the alglucosidase alfa plus placebo group, which was deemed unrelated to study drug. There were no deaths. Interpretation Cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat did not achieve statistical superiority to alglucosidase alfa plus placebo for improving 6-min walk distance in our overall population of patients with late-onset Pompe disease. Further studies should investigate the longer-term safety and efficacy of cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat and whether this investigational two-component therapy might provide benefits, particularly in respiratory function and in patients who have been receiving enzyme replacement therapy for more than 2 years, as suggested by our secondary and subgroup analyses. Funding Amicus Therapeutics.

We aimed to examine the AI disclosure effect by proposing and examining a Pygmalion perspective on human versus AI feedback and learning. Individuals who are informed that feedback is from AI perceive fewer expectations than those who are informed that feedback is from human.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the serious central nervous system injuries and the incidence of SCI continues to increase. Previous studies have indicated that electroacupuncture (EA) is beneficial for promoting recovery after SCI. In the present study, we attempted to evaluate how EA can promote the neural repair in SCI model rats by observing changes in the Notch signaling pathway. Experimental rats were randomly divided into four groups. Each group had its own intervention period: 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days, and five randomized subgroups: blank control (B) group, blank electroacupuncture (BE) group, sham operation (S) group, model control (M) group and EA group. Animals in the EA group and the BE group were treated with EA at Dazhui (GV14) and Mingmen (GV4) acupoints for 20 min. After the intervention period, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score was used to evaluate the neurological function. We found that BBB score increased in EA-treated groups. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe pathological changes in the injured spinal cord and the results showed that EA therapy could promote the repair of injured spinal cord tissue. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot methods were used to detect the expression of proteins Delta1, Presenilin1, Hes1, and Hes5 in the injured spinal cord. The results showed that the expression levels of Delta1, Presenilin1, Hes1, and Hes5 increased significantly after SCI and decreased after EA treatment. Our study suggested that the possible mechanism by which EA could benefit the recovery after SCI in rats may include inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway and regulating the downstream proteins expression. In addition, our study can provide reference for selecting acupoints and treatment cycle in the treatment of SCI.脊髓损伤是一种严重的中枢系统损伤之一，它的发病率一直在升高。既往的研究报道了电针能促进脊髓损伤后的修复。在本研究中，我们试图通过观察Notch信号通路的变化，阐述电针(EA)促进脊髓损伤(SCI)模型大鼠恢复的机制。本实验将大鼠随机分为4组，每组的干预时间分别为1、7、14、28天，每组大鼠随机分为五个亚组，包括:空白对照组(B)、空白电针组(BE)、假手术组(S)、模型对照组(M)、电针组(EA) 。电针组和空白电针组在大椎(GV14)和命门(GV4)穴上进行EA治疗20分钟。每批干预结束后，采用(BBB)评分评估神经功能，我们发现EA组的BBB评分升高，采用苏木精-伊红(HE)染色技术观察各组大鼠受损脊髓局部病理改变，结果显示，EA疗法可促进脊髓损伤组织的修复。采用了免疫组织化学和Western blot方法检测各组大鼠受损脊髓局部Delta1、Presenilin1、Hes1、Hes5表达情况，结果显示，SCI模型Delta1，Presenilin1，Hes1和Hes5的蛋白表达显著升高，而在同一时间点经EA治疗后这些蛋白的表达降低。我们的研究表明EA促进SCI大鼠恢复的机制可能是通过抑制Notch信号通路并调节下游蛋白的表达。此外，本研究还可以为SCI临床治疗中的穴位选择和治疗周期提供参考。.

We study a wireless powered network, including a power beacon (PB), an energy-harvesting (EH)-based source, and multiple users. To improve the spectrum efficiency of the network as well as for practical implementation consideration, two users are paired to perform nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) transmission. Specifically, the NOMA-based transmission protocol consists of two phases, where the source harvests energy from the PB in the first phase, and then sends a superimposed signal to the paired users in the second phase. We derive exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of the average throughput for each paired user. Then, the joint optimization problem for the time and power allocation is investigated to achieve the optimal fair performance of the paired users. To provide a benchmark, optimal resource allocation strategy for an orthogonal multiple access (OMA)-based transmission protocol is also studied. Simulation results confirm the validity of our analytical derivations and show that the considered network with NOMA transmissions is superior to that with OMA transmissions, especially when the transmit power of the PB is low and the paired users have significant differences in channel gain.

This project is aimed to understand employees' differential reactions to developmental feedback provided by either human supervisor or an AI system.

Existing studies have demonstrated that weather significantly affects public transit and active travel, but few studies quantify the impact of weather on ride-hailing ridership. Compared with other travel modes, the supply of ride-hailing can be flexibly adjusted following weather changes, thereby reducing the difficulty for users to hailing cars and improving vehicle utilization. This study quantifies the impact of weather on ride-hailing ridership in Haikou, China. Our main results include: (1) An increase of 1 mm in precipitation raises ride-hailing ridership by 0.39 % , and an increase of 1 m/s in wind speed reduces ridership by 1.04 % ; (2) Wind speed and rainfall have stronger impacts on weekends than on weekdays. The increase of 1 mm in precipitation raises the ridership by 0.21 % and 0.59 % on weekdays and weekends, respectively; (3) The impact of weather on ride-hailing ridership is significant in the daytime while insignificant in the nighttime; (4) The effect of wind strengthens with travel distance, while the impacts of rainfall and air pollution diminish with travel distance; and (5) Trips starting from urban areas are more vulnerable to weather than those from suburban areas.

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is an efficient approach that can improve spectrum utilization and support massive connectivity for next-generation wireless networks. However, over a wireless channel, the superimposed NOMA signals are highly susceptible to eavesdropping, potentially leading to severe leakage of confidential information. In this article, we unleash the potential of network interference and exploit it constructively to enhance physical-layer security in NOMA networks. Particularly, three different types of network interference, including artificial noise, specifically-designed jamming signals, and inter-user interference, are well engineered to intentionally reduce information leakage while mitigating the effect on signal reception quality of legitimate users, thereby significantly enhancing the transmission security of NOMA. Furthermore, we propose interference engineering strategies for more advanced full-duplex NOMA, intelligent reflecting surface NOMA, cognitive radio NOMA, and multi-cell NOMA networks, and discuss several open research problems and challenges, which could inspire innovative interference engineering designs for secure NOMA communications., Accepted by IEEE Network as an open call article

PurposeDue to its fast growth, cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is becoming a popular internationalization model, especially in those destination markets with impressive e-commerce development like China. However, CBEC also brings new logistics challenges and uncertainty. This paper aims to understand how companies cope with logistics uncertainty in this field and whether the different types of uncertainty influence the risk management strategies adopted to face them.Design/methodology/approachA survey targeting online exporters to China and third-party forwarding logistics service providers (3PFLs) is conducted. A structural equation model (SEM) analysis is performed to test the possible relationship between the adopted risk management strategies and the types of uncertainty. The type, industry and size of the company, as well as the distance between the company's home country and China, are used as control variables in the study. Survey results are enriched via interviews with some of the respondents.FindingsThe risk management strategies adopted are dependent on the type of logistics uncertainty that the companies face and, to a minor extent, on the industry the company operates in. Conversely, no significant influence is exerted by other types of control factors, i.e. home country, company size or company type.Originality/valueThe paper investigates logistics uncertainty and risk management approaches in the novel context of CBEC. A systematic review of relevant sources of uncertainty is offered to help both scholars and practitioners understand the current complexities of CBEC. From a theoretical perspective, the paper models the investigated concepts in light of the contingency approach. From a practical perspective, results can be of interest since the list of proposed items can support risk identification and evaluation while the interviews with managers can provide insights on risk management practices.

Background Strength recovery of injured knee is an important parameter for patients who want to return to sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Comparison of muscle strength between anatomical and non-anatomical ACLR has not been reported. Purpose To evaluate the difference between anatomical and non-anatomical single-bundle ACLR in hamstring and quadriceps strength and clinical outcomes. Methods Patients received unilateral primary single-bundle hamstring ACLR between January 2017 to January 2018 were recruited in this study. Patients were divided into anatomical reconstruction group (AR group) and non-anatomical reconstruction group (NAR group) according to femoral tunnel aperture position. The hamstring and quadriceps isokinetic strength including peak extension torque, peak flexion torque and H/Q ratio were measured at an angular velocity of 180°/s and 60°/s using an isokinetic dynamometer. The isometric extension and flexion torques were also measured. Hamstring and quadriceps strength were measured preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Knee stability including Lachman test, pivot-shift test, and KT-1000 measurement and subjective knee function including International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Lysholm scores were evaluated during the follow-up. Results Seventy-two patients with an average follow-up of 30.4 months (range, 24–35 months) were included in this study. Thirty-three were in AR group and 39 in NAR group. The peak knee flexion torque was significant higher in AR group at 180°/s and 60°/s (P P Conclusions Compared with non-anatomical ACLR, anatomical ACLR showed a better recovery of hamstring and quadriceps strength at 6 months postoperatively. However, the discrepancy on hamstring and quadriceps strength between the two groups vanished at 1 year postoperatively.

Hao Dong,1,* Yan-Qiang Qin,2,* Ying-Chun Sun,2,* Hai-Jiang Yao,2 Xian-Kuan Cheng,2 Yan Yu,1 Shou-Si Lu1 1Beijing Bo’ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, China Rehabilitation Science Institute, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Treatment Center of TCM, Beijing Bo’ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, China Rehabilitation Science Institute, School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yan-Qiang Qin; Ying-Chun SunTreatment Center of TCM, Beijing Bo’ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, China Rehabilitation Science Institute, No. 10 Jiaomen North Road, Beijing, 100068, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 18612251241Email yanqiangqin@126.com; syccrrc@sina.comBackground: Electroacupuncture (EA) is a form of physical therapy that has been widely used in clinical practice in China. Post-stroke depression (PSD) is the most common neuropsychiatric complication after stroke. EA has been shown to have beneficial effects on PSD patients. However, the potential mechanism underlying the protective effects of EA on PSD remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) signaling pathway participates in the therapeutic effects of EA in a rat PSD model.Methods: Experimental PSD was induced by combining middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with chronic unpredictable mild stimulation (CUMS) in adult male rats. Bodyweight gain, neurological score, sucrose preference, and open field test were determined at 0, 7, 14, and 35 days after completing MCAO. The protein expressions of tPA, precursor BDNF (proBDNF), mature BDNF (mBDNF), and TrkB were measured by immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis. The tPA inhibitor plasminogen inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) was used to explore whether tPA plays a crucial role in the protective effects of EA on PSD.Results: Compared with the sham rats, the PSD rats showed decreased bodyweight, deteriorated neurological score, and significant depressive-like behaviors. EA remarkably reversed bodyweight loss, neurological deficit, and depressive-like behaviors in PSD rats. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blot analysis showed that PSD-induced decreased expression of tPA, mBDNF, and TrkB were prevented by EA. Furthermore, we found that the effects of EA against PSD-induced depressive-like behaviors were abolished by PAI-1, the specific inhibitor of tPA.Conclusion: Our results suggest that the improvement in depressive-like behaviors induced by EA is likely achieved via activation of the tPA/BDNF/TrkB pathway.Keywords: electroacupuncture, poststroke depression, depressive-like behaviors, tPA/BDNF/TrkB, chronic unpredictable mild stimulation

Background Brucellosis is an infectious-allergic zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella. Early diagnosis is the key to preventing, treating, and controlling brucellosis. Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPA) is a new immunoassay for relatively rapid and accurate detection of antibodies or antigens based on antigen–antibody interaction. However, there is no report on FPA-based detection of human brucellosis in China. Therefore, this study is to evaluate the value of FPA for the diagnosis of human brucellosis in China. Methods We recruited 320 suspected brucellosis cases who had the clinical symptoms and epidemiological risk factors between January and December, 2019. According to China Guideline for Human Brucellosis Diagnosis, the Rose Bengal test (RBT) was used for the screening test, and the serum agglutination test (SAT) was used as the confirmatory test. Brucellosis was confirmed only if the results of both tests were positive. Additionally, FPA and enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) were compared with SAT, and their sensitivity, specificity, coincidence rate and consistency coefficient (Kappa value) as diagnostic tests were analyzed individually and in combination. The optimal cut-off value of FPA was also determined using the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. Results The optimum cut-off value of FPA was determined to be 88.5 millipolarization (mP) units, with a sensitivity of 94.5% and specificity of 100.0%. Additionally, the coincidence rate with the SAT test was 96.6%, and the Kappa value (0.9) showed excellent consistency. The sensitivity and specificity of FPA and ELISA combined were higher at 98.0% and 100.0% respectively. Conclusions When the cut-off value of FPA test is set at 88.5 mP, it has high value for the diagnosis of brucellosis. Additionally, when FPA and ELISA are combined, the sensitivity of diagnosis is significantly improved. Thus, FPA may have potential in the future as a diagnostic method for human brucellosis in China. Graphic abstract

Double crush syndrome (DCS) of the ulnar nerve, including cubital tunnel syndrome with ulnar tunnel syndrome (UTS), is uncommon. This study compares the postoperative outcomes of patients with isolated ulnar tunnel syndrome versus those with double crush syndrome of the elbow and ulnar tunnel.This study enrolled 22 patients: 12 underwent cubital tunnel surgery and ulnar tunnel surgery (double crush group); and 10 underwent only ulnar tunnel decompression (isolated UTS group). Postoperative effect evaluation of patients in both groups after at least 2.6 years (mean, 5.1 years and 5.7 years, respectively). Statistical analysis compared postoperative function, physical examination, and patient-reported satisfaction between groups.In terms of postoperative grip strength, there was no difference between the postoperative states of the two groups (0.88 ± 0.04 versus 0.87 ± 0.05), while there was statistical difference in terms of the increment of the grip strength (At a minimum of 2.6 years after the nerve decompression, the patients of isolated UTS group are likely to have superior grip strength increment than patients with a history of double crush surgery, and there is no big difference in the final recovery situation. The sensation and satisfaction of isolated UTS group after nerve release were better compared with patients following double crush surgery.

Background Evidence concerning the long-term impact of Covid-19 in pregnancy on mother’s psychological disorder and infant’s developmental delay is unknown. Methods This study is a longitudinal single-arm cohort study conducted in China between May 1 and July 31, 2020. Seventy-two pregnant patients with Covid-19 participated in follow-up surveys until 3 months after giving birth (57 cases) or having abortion (15 cases). We collected data from medical records regarding Covid-19, delivery or abortion, testing results of maternal and neonatal specimens, and questionnaires of quarantine, mother–baby separation, feeding, and measuring of mothers’ mental disorders and infants’ neurobehavioral disorders. Results All cases infected in the first trimester and 1/3 of cases infected in the second trimester had an abortion to terminate the pregnancy. 22.2% of pregnant patients were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression at 3 months after delivery or induced abortion. Among 57 live births, only one neonate was positive of nucleic acid testing for throat swab, but negative in repeated tests subsequently. The median duration of mother–baby separation was 35 days (interquartile range 16 to 52 days). After the termination of maternal quarantine, 49.1% of mothers chose to prolong the mother–baby separation (median 8 days; IQR 5 to 23 days). The breastfeeding rate was 8.8% at 1 week after birth, 19.3% at the age of 1 month, and 36.8% at the age of 3 months, respectively. The proportion of “monitoring” and “risk” in the social–emotional developmental domain at the age of 3 months was 22.7% and 63.6%, respectively. After the adjustment of preterm, neonatal sex, admitted to NICU, and the mother’s Covid-19 condition, the negative associations were significantly identified (p Conclusions There is no definite evidence on vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In addition to control infection risk, researchers and healthcare providers should pay more attention to maternal mental health and infant’s feeding, closeness with parents, and early development.

We investigate a wireless powered sensor network, in which multiple sensors generate data and send their data to a base station (BS) periodically. Each sensor first harvests energy from the BS via wireless power transfer and then uses its available energy to transmit to the BS its data. We target minimal average age of information, by optimizing the energy harvesting time and the bandwidth allocation during the sensors’ transmissions. The research problem is hard to solve, as some notations in the problem do not have a closed-form expression. To optimally solve the problem, we first show that there is a one-to-one mapping from the energy harvesting time to the bandwidth allocation. We also develop a method to obtain the bandwidth allocation vector corresponding to each value of the energy harvesting time. Then we get the optimal energy harvesting time by investigating and comparing different sub-regions of energy harvesting time. Numerical results show optimality of our solution and its performance gain over a benchmark scheme based on the traditional threshold-based method.

This paper studies a two-user cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access network with a novel cooperation scheme, where the source communicates with the near user directly or through the help of $K$ relays, while the communication to the far user relies on the help of the near user or the $K$ relays. For cases with decode-and-forward (DF) relays and amplify-and-forward (AF) relays, we propose two different two-phase transmission protocols. In each protocol, the near user sends a two-bit feedback (in DF-relay case) or a one-bit feedback (in AF-relay case) to inform relays of its detection results in the first phase. Then based on the limited feedback and the available channel state information at each relay, a relay selection strategy with adaptive selection criteria is proposed for each transmission protocol to minimize the system outage probability (SOP). Tight-approximated as well as asymptotic closed-form expressions of the SOP for both transmission protocols are derived. Asymptotic results illustrate that our proposed adaptive relay selection strategies have the full diversity order of $K+1$ . Furthermore, we analytically prove that when DF relays are used, SOP is smaller than that when AF relays are used.

To support wireless Internet of things (IoT) devices, this paper presents a new solution which combines wireless power transfer and mobile edge computing. Specifically, we consider one mobile device, which first harvests energy from radio frequency signals sent by a base station and then offloads all or part of its data to be processed to the base station. The process of energy harvesting and offloading span over multiple fading blocks. The target is to maximize the average amount of processed data in unit time. To achieve this target, we optimize the stopping rule for energy harvesting (i.e., when to stop energy harvesting and start offloading) and the number of fading blocks for data offloading. To solve the formulated problem optimally, we decompose it into two levels. In the lower level, the stopping rule for energy harvesting is optimized given a fixed number of fading blocks for offloading. The associated lower-level problem is solved optimally based on a series of special properties of the problem. In the upper level, the number of fading blocks for offloading is optimized. Efficiency of our work with fully offloading mode and partially offloading mode is shown by using simulation.

O2O (Online to Offline) services enable customers to place orders online and receive products/services offline. In addition to traditional in-house drivers, the emergence of crowd-sourced drivers p...

Silk fiber (SF) is a well-known natural material broadly applied for the common textile industry and modern medical field cases. This work introduces a simple process for silkworm self-spun produci...

To further improve spectral efficiency, this paper considers a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-assisted overlay cognitive radio network consisting of a pair of primary users and a pair of secondary users. In this network, communication between the pair of primary users is achieved with the help of the secondary transmitter (ST). In return, ST can communicate with the secondary receiver by sending a superimposed signal consisting of its own message and the received primary message. We intend to minimize the outage probability of the secondary system under quality-of-service constraints of the primary system by jointly optimizing the power allocation (PA) factor at ST and the decoding order (DO) at the receivers. When full channel state information (CSI) is available at ST, the optimal PA and DO are derived in closed form under the constraint that the target rate of the primary system should be guaranteed. When only statistical CSI is available at ST, the optimal PA and DO are derived in closed form or by using a bisection method, under the constraints that the outage probability of the primary system is not more than a predetermined threshold and is not larger than that of the secondary system. For the proposed strategies, outage probability expressions of the primary and secondary systems are derived in closed form or semi-closed form. Numerical results are shown to verify our analysis and demonstrate the superiority of the proposed strategies in different CSI-availability scenarios.

To study the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections on pain reduction in patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ OA).The authors performed a comprehensive search of the MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science databases to retrieve RCTs published up to July 2018. Pain outcomes (visual analog scale scores) were extracted to assess the effect of PRP injections on TMJ OA. All data analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.3.Six studies were included. According to the results of these trials, intra-articular injections of PRP were more effective than placebo for pain reduction (6 months postinjection: mean difference [MD] -2.82, 95% CI -3.39 to -2.25, P.00001; 12 months postinjection: MD -3.29; 95% CI -4.07 to -2.52, P.00001). Additionally, the comparison between PRP and hyaluronic acid injections showed a statistically significant difference in pain reduction in support of PRP (MD -0.81; 95% CI -1.22 to -0.40; P = .0001) at 12 months postinjection. All trials revealed a moderate risk of bias.Based on current evidence, PRP injections may reduce pain more effectively than placebo injections in TMJ OA at 6 months (level of evidence: moderate) and 12 months (level of evidence: moderate) postinjection. This significant difference in pain reduction could also be seen when PRP was compared to hyaluronic acid at 12 months postinjection (level of evidence: low). It can be cautiously interpreted that PRP has a beneficial effect on the relief of TMJ OA pain. Large-scale, low-bias RCTs are needed to test whether PRP injection should be a routine treatment for patients with TMJ OA.

The feasibility of laser-assisted treatments of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) remains poorly understood, so we have therefore systematically evaluated their effectiveness. We made a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Pubmed, and Embase to find randomised controlled trials, case-control studies, and prospective cohort studies that assessed them. We assessed the eligible studies in duplicate, and if possible conducted a meta-analysis. Ten studies with a low to high risk of bias met the inclusion criteria. We found that a comparison of pain scores before and after using visible and infrared GaAs laser in the low-level laser treatment based on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (mean difference 4.28; 95% CI 3.62 to 4.93; p

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the serious complications in diabetes. Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) from black rice was reported to have hypoglycemic effects and an anti-osteoporosis effect in diabetic rats. Whether it has preventive effects on DN has not been reported. In this study, we established a rat model of DN, and C3G at two doses (10 and 20 mg kg-1 day-1) were administered to see its anti-DN effect. A total of 8 weeks of C3G supplementation decreased blood glucose and serum insulin, improved the renal function, and relieved renal glomerular sclerosis and interstitial fibrosis of DN rats. Also, the kidneys of DN rats had improved the oxidative defense system. Pro-inflammatory mediators were markedly reduced in serum and kidneys of the C3G-treated groups. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), phosphor-Smad2, and phosphor-Smad3 protein expression levels were significantly decreased in the kidney of the C3G-treated group, whereas the Smad7 expression level was upregulated by C3G. Our results indicate that C3G can ameliorate DN via antioxidative stress and anti-inflammation and regulate the TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway. Our results suggest that C3G from black rice might be used as a renal-protective nutrient in DN.

We investigate a secrecy-enhancing design for cooperative downlink and uplink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) transmissions with an untrusted relay. A source uses the NOMA principle to have downlink and uplink transmissions with a near user and a far user, and the communications between the source and the far user are aided by an untrusted relay. To minimize information leakage at the untrusted relay and achieve secure NOMA communications, adaptive downlink and uplink cooperative jamming schemes are proposed, where the far user in downlink and the near user in uplink adaptively emit a jamming signal to the untrusted relay to impair its eavesdropping capability. Both downlink and uplink jamming power are optimized to fully exploit the benefits of the proposed schemes for security enhancement. Then, for each scheme, we quantify the secrecy performance by deriving the ergodic secrecy sum rate lower bound and its scaling law. Finally, computer simulation is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive downlink and uplink cooperative jamming schemes and verify the accuracy of the derived analytical results.

This letter investigates a multiple-relay decode-and-forward (DF) network with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). The relays use the power splitting (PS) technique to receive radio frequency (RF) energy and information simultaneously from the source. To characterize nonlinearity of energy harvesters at the relays, two existing models are adopted, which are the logistic function model and the constant-linear-constant (CLC) model. We target end-to-end throughput maximization by optimizing the power and bandwidth assignment for every source-relay-destination link and the PS ratio at every relay node. The formulated problems are demonstrated to be nonconvex. Through a series of analysis and transformations, we find global optimal solutions for the formulated problems. Numerical results verify the effectiveness of our proposed methods.

What is already known about this topic? Brucellosis is one of the world’s most overlooked zoonotic diseases, and humans can easily acquire brucellosis from animals and their products. Reemerging brucellosis outbreaks are probably attributable to sociocultural factors and compounded by the lack of adequate control measures in sheep and goat rearing systems. What is added by this report? This is the first identified outbreak caused by Brucella melitensis bv.3 in Jingyang County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. A total of 13 seropositve cases (7 acute patients and 6 asymptomatic persons) were identified from March to May, 2020, and the investigation indicated that sheep-to-canine-to-human was the likely transmission route. What are the implications for public health practice? Effective control of sheep brucellosis will significantly reduce the risk of human brucellosis. Priority should be given to building cooperation between all stakeholders, maintaining epidemiological surveillance to detect human brucellosis at medical centers, and making case reporting mandatory for both veterinary and public health services.

Sample concentration is extremely important in microfluidic detection systems, especially for the detection of trace substance. Among various sample concentration techniques used in microfluidic devices, direct electrokinetic trapping is more convenient and easier to realize. In this paper, a T-shaped microchannel configuration was developed to achieve electrokinetic concentration. Numerical simulation analysis on two-dimensional (2D) configuration model were performed. The microfluidic configuration for DNA enrichment was firstly optimized by analyzing various field distributions. Then, the influence of selected dimension and electrical parameters on enrichment rate was analyzed, including size of the transition chamber and enrichment chamber, distance between the inlet branches, length of the inlet vertical branches, size of the electrode and the electric field intensity. With optimized parameters, our model is able to achieve an optimal enrichment rate of 234.2 at an applied voltage of 20 V within a period of 1200s. Our method provides a valuable guidance for the design of an easy-controlled microfluidic system of precise enrichment capability.

We investigate the optimal transmission policy for an energy-harvesting wireless sensor node. The node must decide whether an arrived packet should be transmitted or dropped, based on the packet’s priority, wireless channel gain, and the energy status of the node. The problem is formulated under the Markov decision process (MDP) framework. For such a problem, the conventional method to get the optimal policy is by using a state value function, which is three-dimensional in the considered problem, leading to high complexity. Fortunately, to reduce complexity, we derive an equivalent solution for the optimal policy via a one-dimensional after-state value function. We show that the after-state value function is differentiable and nondecreasing. We also discover a threshold structure of the optimal policy that is derived by the after-state value function. Furthermore, to approximate the after-state value function, we propose a learning algorithm to train a three-layer monotone neural network. The trained network thus finds a near-optimal selective transmission policy of the node. Finally, through simulation, we demonstrate the learning efficiency of the algorithm and the performance of the learned policy.

As foreseen by Keyes in the late 1960s, the self-heating effect has emerged as an important concern for device performance, output power density, run-time variability, and reliability of modern field-effect transistors. The self-heating effect is aggravated as the device footprint scales down for higher level of integration (low-power devices) or as the devices are operated in ultrahigh voltage regimes (high-power devices). In this article, we focus on the implications of self-heating on hot carrier degradation (HCD) of modern transistors by integrating within a coherent theoretical framework a broad range of experimental data scattered in the literature. We explain why system integration exacerbates transistor self-heating, while high-frequency digital operation ameliorates it, suggesting an opportunity for co-optimization. We conclude this article by discussing the various material–device–system design strategies to reduce HCD and suggesting open problems for further research.

Both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have been used to non-invasively localize the human motor functional area. These locations can be clinically used as stimulation target of TMS treatment. However, it has been reported that the finger tapping fMRI activation and TMS hotspot were not well-overlapped. The aim of the current study was to measure the distance between the finger tapping fMRI activation and the TMS hotspot, and more importantly, to compare the network difference by using resting-state fMRI. Thirty healthy participants underwent resting-state fMRI, task fMRI, and then TMS hotspot localization. We found significant difference of locations between finger tapping fMRI activation and TMS hotspot. Specifically, the finger tapping fMRI activation was more lateral than the TMS hotspot in the premotor area. The fMRI activation peak and TMS hotspot were taken as seeds for resting-state functional connectivity analyses. Compared with TMS hotspot, finger tapping fMRI activation peak showed more intensive functional connectivity with, e.g., the bilateral premotor, insula, putamen, and right globus pallidus. The findings more intensive networks of finger tapping activation than TMS hotspot suggest that TMS treatment targeting on the fMRI activation area might result in more remote effects and would be more helpful for TMS treatment on movement disorders.

The product investigated herein is the dried rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. [Asteraceae] (Baizhu), which is also known as Dongbaizhu, Wuzhu, Yuzhu, Zhezhu, and Zhongzhu, among others. It invigorates the spleen, replenishes qi, and removes dampness, diuresis, and hidroschesis, and impacts fetal safety. It is often used for the treatment of diseases such as spleen function deficiency, abdominal distension, diarrhea, sputum, vertigo, edema, fever, and sweating and also aids cessation of minimal vaginal bleeding during pregnancy. In this study, research pertaining to the ethnopharmacology, application, phytochemistry, analytical methods, quality control, processing, pharmacology, toxicology, and pharmacokinetics of Baizhu has been reviewed. Relevant information and data reported for Baizhu were collected from CNKI, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, scientific databases, Chinese Medicinal Material Encyclopedia, Chinese herbal medicine classics, Chinese medicine dictionary, doctoral and master’s theses, and so on. Baizhu demonstrates diuretic, antidiuretic, anti-inflammatory effects and antitumor function and aids regulation of gastrointestinal function, hypoglycemic effect, analgesic action, protection on the liver ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in rats, inhibition of aromatase, treatment of bone disease, strengthening myocardial contraction ability, detoxification and cholagogic effect, fall hematic fat action, such as the treatment of acute renal injury, and so on. It also can be an anticoagulant, improve the nervous system disease, affect the immune system, and regulate uterine smooth muscle, antioxidation, antiaging, and antibacterial effect. Sesquiterpenoids, triterpenoids, polyacetylenes, phenylpropanoids, coumarins, flavonoids, flavonoid glycosides, steroids, benzoquinones, polysaccharides, and other compounds were isolated from Baizhu. Among them, sesquiterpenoids, polysaccharides, and polyacetylenes are the main components of Baizhu. Baizhu exhibits a wide range of pharmacological effects and constitutes a considerable proportion of the composition of many proprietary crude drugs. It mainly affects the endocrine, nervous, and urinary systems. The presented information suggests that we should focus on the development of new drugs related to Baizhu, including specific components, to achieve a greater therapeutic potential that can be considered to further explore the information related to Baizhu.

OBJECTIVETo formally compare the clinical course of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnant women with their nonpregnant counterparts.METHODSClinical data of pregnant women with confirmed COVID-19 in the designated hospitals of mainland China were retrieved up to April 12, 2020 through an epidemic reporting system maintained at the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic China. Each pregnant patient was randomly matched to a nonpregnant woman with confirmed COVID-19 in the same hospital as control, then their clinical courses were formally compared.RESULTS138 pregnant women had been identified as confirmed COVID-19 cases. Among them, 17 severe cases and 1 maternal death were recorded, which was less than their nonpregnant peers (23 severe cases and 3 death). 57.2% had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the third trimester, including 13 severe cases and 1 maternal death. 7.3% of pregnant patients had diarrhea and 3.6% had nausea or vomiting, compared with related proportion as 15.2% (OR: 0.38, 95%CI: 0.15, 0.96) and 10.1% (OR: 0.25, 95%CI: 0.07, 0.89) in nonpregnant patients. Pregnant patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in early pregnancy presented similar laboratory tests with their nonpregnant peers, however, with pregnancy progresses, increased inflammation, coagulation and hepatic injury markers happened more and more frequently (pCONCLUSIONSBeing pregnant did not represent a risk for severe condition when compared with their nonpregnant peers. Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in early pregnancy were even at lower risk of severe illness than those infected in late pregnancy.What are the novel findings of this work?Compared with non-pregnant COVID-19 patients, pregnant patients tend to present less symptom, had unique laboratory findings, and tend to at lower risk of COVID-19–related death. Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the early pregnancy tend to be in the less severe condition of illness than those infected in late pregnancy.What are the clinical implications of this work?Vital comparisons of the clinical course upon COVID-19 between pregnant and nonpregnant women in childbearing age are, unfortunately, lacking. Through formally comparisons between the two groups, the present study provides more reliable evidence towards the management of pregnant women with COVID-19.

BackgroundWhen performing femoral reconstruction in patients with Crowe type IV developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), anatomical deformity presents many technical challenges to orthopedic surgeons. The false acetabulum is suggested to influence load transmission and femoral development. The aim of this study was to describe the morphological features of dysplastic femurs in Crowe type IV DDH and further evaluate the potential effect of the false acetabulum on morphological features and medullary canal of Crowe type IV femurs.MethodsWe analyzed preoperative computed tomography scans from 45 patients with 51 hips (25 hips without false acetabulum in the IVa group and 26 hips with false acetabulum in the IVb group) who were diagnosed with Crowe type IV DDH and 30 normal hips in our hospital between January 2009 and January 2019. Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed using Mimics software, and the coronal femoral plane was determined to evaluate the following parameters: dislocation height, dislocation ratio, height of the femoral head (FH), height of the greater trochanter (GT), GT–FH height discrepancy, height of the isthmus, neck-shaft angle, femoral offset and anteversion of the femoral neck. The mediolateral (ML) width, anterolateral (AP) width and diameter of medullary canal of the proximal femur were measured on the axial sections. Further, canal flare index (CFI), metaphyseal-CFI and diaphyseal-CFI were also calculated.ResultsCompared with the normal femurs, the Crowe type IV DDH femurs had a higher femoral head, larger GT–FH height discrepancy, larger femoral neck anteversion, higher isthmus position and smaller femoral offset. Dislocation height and dislocation rate were significantly larger in the IVa DDH group (65.34 ± 9.83 mm vs. 52.24 ± 11.42 mm). Further, the IVb femurs had a significantly lower isthmus position, larger neck-shaft angle and smaller femoral neck anteversion than IVa femurs. The ML, AP canal widths and the diameter of medullary canal in both DDH groups were significantly smaller than the normal group. Dimensional parameters of IVa femurs were also narrower than IVb femurs in most sections, but with no difference at the level of isthmus. According to the CFIs, the variation of proximal medullary canal in IVb femurs was mainly located in the diaphyseal region, while that in IVa femurs was located in the whole proximal femur.ConclusionsHigh dislocated femurs are associated with more anteverted femoral neck, smaller femoral offset and narrower medullary canal. Without stimulation of the false acetabulum, IVa DDH femurs were associated with higher dislocation and notably narrower medullary canal, whose variation of medullary canal was located in the whole proximal femur.

Background: Torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) contributes to internal rotation of tibia. However, there is no indicator in MRI to reflect the rotation of knee joint. So the purpose of this study is to introduce two new measurements in MRI, femur-tibia angle (FTA) and patella-tibia angle (PTA), which reflect the rotation of knee joint and assess their role in diagnosing ACL tears.Methods: Present study retrospectively reviewed the cases of primary arthroscopic knee surgery from January 2018 to December 2019 from the Arthroscopy Database at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital. Firstly, comparisons of different measurements were conducted between the ACL tears group and isolated meniscus injury group. Then, the measurements were tested in diagnosing complete or partial ACL tears. Diagnostic performance of different measurements was assessed by area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and cutoff values were determined by Youden index. Results: FTA and PTA in ACL tears group had 4.79 and 7.36 degrees more than that of control group (p = 0.022 and < 0.001, respectively). Besides, ACL angle and distance of anterior tibial subluxation (D) also showed significant differences (p

Background Brucellosis, as a serious zoonotic infectious disease, has been recognized as a re-emerging disease in the developing countries worldwide. In china, the incidence of brucellosis is increasing each year, seriously threatening the health of humans as well as animal populations. Despite a quite number of diagnostic methods currently being used for brucellosis, innovative technologies are still needed for its rapid and accurate diagnosis, especially in area where traditional diagnostic is unavailable. Methodology/Principal findings In this study, a total of 22 B cell linear epitopes were predicted from five Brucella outer membrane proteins (OMPs) using an immunoinformatic approach. These epitopes were then chemically synthesized, and with the method of indirect ELISA (iELISA), each of them displayed a certain degree of capability in identifying human brucellosis positive sera. Subsequently, a fusion protein consisting of the 22 predicted epitopes was prokaryotically expressed and used as diagnostic antigen in a newly established brucellosis testing method, nano-ZnO modified paper-based ELISA (nano-p-ELISA). According to the verifying test using a collection of sera collected from brucellosis and non-brucellosis patients, the sensitivity and specificity of multiepitope based nano-p-ELISA were 92.38% and 98.35% respectively. The positive predictive value was 98.26% and the negative predictive value was 91.67%. The multiepitope based fusion protein also displayed significantly higher specificity than Brucella lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigen. Conclusions B cell epitopes are important candidates for serologically testing brucellosis. Multiepitope fusion protein based nano-p-ELISA displayed significantly sensitivity and specificity compared to Brucella LPS antigen. The strategy applied in this study will be helpful to develop rapid and accurate diagnostic method for brucellosis in human as well as animal populations., Author summary Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonosis in the world and has caused tremendous economic losses in agriculture and animal husbandry in many countries. Developing rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic methods is very important for early detection and treatment of brucellosis patients. In this study, a novel diagnostic technique, nano-ZnO modified paper ELISA, was established. The antigen used in this technique was a fusion protein containing multiple B cell epitopes, which were predicted from Brucella major outer membrane proteins such as Bp26, Omp31, Omp16, Omp2b and Omp25. Comparing to traditional LPS antigen, this multiepitope based antigen displayed considerably higher sensitivity and higher specificity in laboratory. With the strategy described in this paper, more efficient epitopes and protein antigen can be identified in the future. Currently, LPS antigen is only prepared from live Brucella, while protein antigen can be produced in large quantities in prokaryotic expression system. In addition to nano-p-ELISA, this protein antigen can also be used for development other methods such as fluorescent polarization assay (FPA) and immunochromatographic assay (ICA) to meet the varied demand for brucellosis testing.

Background: There is little direct or indirect evidence of the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during pregnancy on early childhood development.Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study in China from May 1 to October 31, 2020, that enrolled 135 mother-infant dyads: 57 dyads in the infection cohort and 78 in the non-infection cohort. Among all infants, 14.0% were preterm birth in the infection cohort and 6.4% in the non-infection cohort. Participants were followed by telephone interviews to collect demographic characteristics, medical records of coronavirus disease 2019, breastfeeding data, and early childhood development was assessed by the Age and Stage Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and Age and Stage Questionnaire Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE-2) Chinese versions at 3 months after childbirth. We used multivariable Poisson regression models to estimate the relative risk (RR) of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Multivariable linear regression models and a mediation model were used to test the direct and indirect associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the ASQ-3 score. This study was approved by the Peking University Third Hospital Medical Science Research Ethics Committee (No. IRB00006761-M2020127).Results: In the infection cohort, 13.6% of the children showed social–emotional developmental delay, and 13.5% showed overall developmental delay. The corresponding rates in the non-infection cohort were 23.4 and 8.1%. Compared with the non-infection cohort, SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy did not increase the risk of social-emotional (RR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.51–1.49) or overall (RR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.60–1.73) developmental delay. The mediation model showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection indirectly affected the ASQ-3 score by increasing the length of mother–infant separation.Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 during late pregnancy did not increase the risk of developmental delay of the offspring 3 months after delivery. However, SARS-CoV-2 may have indirect effects on early childhood development by increasing mother-infant separation.

In this paper, a solid-state powder amplifier with a coverage frequency range of 6∼18GHz is designed. Aiming at the amplifier's high power synthesis design, an odd-equip planar circuit synthesis method is proposed. That is, the power output of 12 GaN ways exceeding 10W is realized by using two-to-one micro-stripe circuit and six to one micro-stripe to achieve continuous wave power output above 70W, of which six odd circuits use multi-stage gradient non-isolated resistance design. The experimental results show that the highest synthesis efficiency is 85% and the maximum output power is over 120W, which meets the design requirements. The design of the power amplifier plays a key role in increasing the effective radiation power of the electromagnetic transmitting system based on multi-beam system.

JAK/STAT plays an important role in cytokine signal transduction and it is potentially involved in the proinflammatory response during the early phase of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). However, whether JAK2 activity is upregulated and whether JAK2 inhibition plays a role in the maintenance of pancreatic homeostasis during SAP is incompletely understood. Here we show that JAK2/STAT3 activity is highly elevated in SAP and blockade of JAK2 by AG-490 protects against SAP-induced pancreatic inflammation and injury. Gene expression and ELISA studies showed that JAK2 inhibition altered the cytokine profiles in both the circulation and pancreases. Further analysis revealed that JAK2 inhibition restored the level of cytokines critical for macrophage polarization towards M2 macrophage. Our findings suggest that pharmacological targeting at JAK2/STAT signalling may be an effective choice of therapeutic interventions against SAP., Highlights • JAK2/STAT3 pathway is activated in rat model of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). • Inhibition of JAK2 protects against SAP-induced damage and inflammation of pancreas. • JAK2 inhibition modulates cytokine profile in rats. • JAK2 inhibition restored the level of cytokines critical for M2 macrophage polarization.

To explore the efficacy of microecopharmaceutics combined with early enteral nutrition support to the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). A total of 26 patients diagnosed with SAP in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Microecopharmaceutics, the living microbial food supplements that are beneficial to the host by improving the balance of intestinal microorganisms, were combined with early enteral nutrition group, and used as the treatment group; and delayed enteral nutrition was used as the control group. Two weeks after both treatments, variables of C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin (Alb), total serum protein (TP), urinary amylase recovery time, hemodiastase recovery time, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APCHE) score, and hospitalisation time in both groups were compared. Alb and TP of the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p

Increasing space debris has seriously threatened the safety of spacecraft of various countries. The polar regions are the most densely distributed regions of Low-Earth orbit (LEO) space debris, and are ideal sites for observing LEO space debris. Through the real observation data and detection capabilities simulation, the advantages of China's Kunlun Station in Antarctica in observing LEO space debris are analyzed. Firstly, the real observation data of Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR) are analyzed and compared with the space objects cataloging database (mean www.space-track.org ), which confirms the high performance and superiority of Kunlun Station in LEO space debris observation. Secondly, the space debris observation performance of CSTAR is simulated and compared with its historical observation data in the same period, to confirm the reliability of the simulation model. Finally, based on the real observation data and simulation results, some hypothesis simulations and prospects for future space debris observation facilities at Kunlun Station are made. The simulation results can provide support for future observations at Kunlun Station in Antarctica.

Objectives: Menopausal women suffer from various menopausal symptoms due to estrogen deficiency caused by the decline of ovarian function. Estrogen plays a key role in regulating body metabolism in...

Diabetic osteoporosis (DOP) is a complication of diabetes, with the characteristics of bone mineral density (BMD) reduction and bone structure destruction. Zinc was reported has a benefit effect on postmenopausal osteoporosise, it was also has hypoglycemic effect, whether zinc was beneficial on diabetes-induced osteoporosis has not been reported. So in the present study, we established a diabetic rat model by streptozotocin injection (60 mg/kg), and administered zinc sulfate by oral gavage to investigate the protective effects of zinc on DOP and the underline possible mechanism. Thirty six Sprague Dawley rats were divided into T1DM group (diabetic rats), control group (vehicle treatment), and T1DM-Zinc group (diabetic rats administered zinc sulfate 0.25 mg/kg by oral gavage). The bone histomorphological parameters, serum bone metabolism markers (including ALP, OPG, RUNX 2, and RANKL), BMD, and bone marrow adipocyte numbers were detected after eight weeks of zinc sulfate treatment. The results showed zinc sulfate administration (0.25 mg/kg/d) decreased blood glucose, increased the BMD, decreased serum ALP, and RANKL, increased serum OPG and RUNX 2 levels, as well as OPG/RANKL ratio of T1DM rats. Meanwhile, the bone histomorphological parameters, bone marrow adipocytes numbers were returned to be normal. The RUNX 2, and OPG mRNA expression levels in bone tissues of T1DM-Zinc group rats were increased after zinc sulfate treatment compared with the diabetic rats (P

Power allocation is investigated for a wireless transceiver pair, in which the transmitter is powered by energy harvesting and some knowledge of the energy arrival process is known. We propose to perform power allocation in two levels. In the upper level, average transmit power is allocated for stages (a stage contains a number of fading blocks). In the lower level, power allocation over fading blocks is performed within each stage, given average transmit power level allocated in the upper level for the stage. Optimal solution to the lower level that aims at ergodic capacity maximization is obtained in semi-closed-form. The upper level aims at maximization of the system throughput over the stages. As the upper-level problem is nonconvex, by using an approximation, we transform the problem into a monotonic optimization problem, which can be solved by existing numerical algorithms. Simulation demonstrates that, compared to an exhaustive search method, our proposed method has significantly less running time, at the cost of a not-significant throughput loss.

Diabetic osteoporosis (DOP) is a systemic endocrine-metabolic osteopathy which has the characteristics of bone mineral density (BMD) reduction and bone microstructural destruction. Although anthocyanin-rich extract from black rice (AEBR) was reported to have a beneficial effect on diabetic rats, no studies have been performed on whether black rice anthocyanins are beneficial for diabetic osteoporosis. Therefore, in this study, a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model was established to investigate the protective effect of AEBR on diabetes-induced osteoporosis and its possible mechanism. AEBR at three doses (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g kg-1 d-1) were administered by oral gavage to diabetic rats for 8 weeks. The blood glucose, BMD, bone histomorphometry parameters, serum bone turnover biomarkers, bone marrow adipocyte numbers, as well as osteoprotegerin (OPG), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX 2), and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κ B ligand (RANKL) protein expression in bone and serum were detected. The results indicated that AEBR dose-dependently decreased the blood glucose, increased the BMD, and decreased the serum bone turnover markers. The bone microstructure and osteoclast numbers in bone tissues returned to normal in the high AEBR dosage group; at the same time, the AEBR dose-dependently suppressed bone marrow adipogenesis. The RUNX 2 as well as the OPG/RANKL ratio in diabetic rats' bone tissues increased significantly in the AEBR treatment group. Our results indicate that AEBR administration can ameliorate bone loss caused by diabetes; this is mainly attributed to its inhibition of bone turnover, suppression of bone marrow adipogenesis, and up-regulation of RUNX 2 and the OPG/RANKL expression ratio.

We use the network flow based tracking model to process videos recorded by taxicabs to collect information, such as the locations and types, of traffic signs. One of the key questions in this type of tracking models is the feature selection problem, which determines the features and their associated weights to construct the costs on the edges of the underlying network. However, in existing studies, the features and their weights are set mostly by intuition and there are no studies that systematically investigate this problem. We investigate the feature selection problem by considering a wide range of features related to traffic sign candidates, including its position, size, frame index, color histogram, speed up robust feature (SURF) descriptors, and template matching similarities. We propose to use the multinomial logit model to identify features that have significant influence on the edge costs and to estimate their corresponding weights. We test the performance of our selected features using real videos recorded by taxicabs in the city of Beijing. We find that the position and frame index of the traffic sign candidates are the top two features that influence the tracking results. We also find that image similarity measures are helpful features, but their contribution is not as large as the previous two features.

In this correspondence paper, we investigate the problem of user scheduling in a cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system consisting of a base station, a weak user, and $K$ intermediate users. During each transmission, an intermediate user is scheduled to receive its own message and forward the message destined for the weak user. For this type of cooperative NOMA system, a novel scheduling scheme is proposed to achieve full diversity and scheduling fairness simultaneously. With the consideration that all channels experience independent but non-identically distributed Rayleigh fading, outage probabilities of the weak user and the scheduled intermediate user are derived in closed-form expressions. It is theoretically shown that the proposed scheme provides full diversity for both the weak user and the scheduled intermediate user. Furthermore, theoretical results also demonstrate that the proposed scheme schedules each intermediate user with the same probability 1/ $K$ , demonstrating that scheduling fairness is also guaranteed.