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Micro-expression is a spontaneous expression that occurs when a person tries to mask his or her inner emotion, and can neither be forged nor suppressed. It is a kind of short-duration, low-intensity, and usually local-motion facial expression. However, owing to these characteristics of micro-expression, it is difficult to obtain micro-expression data, which is the bottleneck of applying deep learning methods to micro-expression recognition. In addition, micro-expression is still a type of expression, and it can also be encoded by the facial action coding system. Therefore, there is a certain correlation between action unit recognition and micro-expression recognition. Addressing those, we propose a novel knowledge transfer technique distills and transfers knowledge from action unit for micro-expression recognition, where knowledge from a pre-trained deep teacher neural network is distilled and transferred to a shallow student neural network. Specifically, a teacher-student correlative framework is designed with a novel objective function. And features extracted from the teacher network is used as prior knowledge to guide the student part to efficiently learning from the target micro-expression dataset. Experiments are conducted on four available published micro-expression datasets (SMIC2, CASME, CASME II and SAMM). The experimental results show that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art systems

Type II fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed with femtosecond (fs) laser possess significant potential for high temperature sensing. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a method for fabricating a parallel-integrated ultra-short type II FBG (PI-US-FBG) by using an fs laser point-by-point technology. The PI-US-FBG, featuring by an ultra-short grating length of 80 m, consists of six identical FBGs parallel-inscribed into a fiber core at different radial positions in the same cross section. The fabricated PI-US-FBG exhibits a broadband Gaussian-shape spectrum with a low reflectivity of ~10%, an ultra-low out-of-band insertion loss of 0.01 dB, and a large full width at half maximum bandwidth of 9.4 nm. Moreover, this PI-US-FBG could be used as a high temperature sensor with a wide measurement range from 25 to 1000 C, and an excellent linearity was achieved with a dual-wavelength differential detection. The temperature sensitivity could be increased from 0.00316 to 0.00945 (dB/C) by enlarging the wavelength spacing of the tunable laser. In addition, two cascaded PI-US-FBGs were used to precisely measure the temperature field distribution in a CO2 laser spot with a very high spatial resolution of 100 m. Hence, the proposed PI-US-FBGs could be used for a large-scale fiber sensor network, especially in future distributed temperature measurement with a high spatial resolution.

A ‘locking-bolt’ demountable shear connector (LBDSC) is proposed to facilitate the deconstruction and reuse of steel-concrete composite structures, in line with achieving a more sustainable construction design paradigm. The LBDSC is comprised of a grout-filled steel tube and a geometrically compatible partially threaded bolt. The latter has a geometry that ‘locks’ the bolt in compatible holes predrilled on the steel flange and eliminates initial slip and construction tolerance issues. The structural behaviour of the LBDSC is evaluated through nine pushout tests using a horizontal test setup. The effects of the tube thickness, strength of concrete slab, and strength of infilled grout on the shear resistance, initial stiffness, and ductility of the LBDSC are assessed. The experimental results show that the LBDSC can achieve higher shear resistance and similar initial stiffness as compared to traditional welded studs. In addition, all tested LBDSCs exhibited slip capacities ranging from 14 to 32 mm and can be classified as ductile shear connectors according to Eurocode 4. A detailed finite element model was also created and found to be reliable to reproduce the experimental behaviour. Parametric studies were subsequently conducted using the validated model to study further parameters and generalise the experimental results. Due to the specific test setup, non-negligible uplift forces were generated in the connector and the potential implications are discussed.

In 2012, a lacquer figure was unearthed from the Han dynasty tomb (188 BC−87 BC) at Chengdu Laoguanshan. The lines intaglioed on the Laoguanshan lacquer figure were similar to the meridians. Objective To investigate the relationship between the lines on this Laoguanshan lacquer figure and the regular meridians so as to explore the development of meridian system in ancient China. Methods Based on collecting the photos of the Laoguanshan lacquer figure and the representative acupuncture classics, the double evidence method (combining the unearthed relics / literature and extant literature) was performed to investigate the relationship between the lines on this Laoguanshan lacquer figure and the regular meridians. Furthermore, the development of regular meridians theory was analyzed from the number, distribution, direction and branches. Results The routes of the 28 longitudinal white lines on the Laoguanshan lacquer figure are similar to the regular meridians in the ancient literature including Huangdi Neijīng (《黄帝内经》Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic). The number, distribution and branches of the meridians intaglioed on the Laoguanshan lacquer figure suggested the evolution of the regular-meridian system from the eleven-meridian system to the twelve-meridian system. Conclusions The meridian system of Laoguanshan lacquer figure was a link connecting the preceding and the following. The Laoguanshan lacquer figure played an important role in the development of the early meridian theory.

Spatial and temporal temperature variations in bridge structures due to changes in the surrounding climate cause bridge expansion which, if restrained, may induce secondary stresses in structures. Temperature effects have always been considered to be one of the most critical issues in the performance of traditional Prestressed Concrete (PC) bridges. In order to (1) develop an efficient temperature loading model for predicting bridge temperature-induced response; and (2) develop guidelines addressing the effects of temperature loading in reliability-based condition evaluation, numerical and analytical studies were conducted on a PC girder bridge in Oklahoma, USA. This paper focuses on the probabilistic modelling of temperature loading. Firstly, a heat transfer model was established using hourly input climate data to estimate the temperature distribution, and compared with monitoring counterparts for calibration. Secondly, the validated analytical model was employed to investigate the effects of thermal properties of concrete by a parametric analysis; Based on extreme environmental conditions from the 20-year climatic data and analytical results, probabilistic models of uniformly distributed temperature fields and temperature gradients were proposed, and the temperature loading value with a 75-year return period was determined and compared with recommended value in the AASHTO LRFD. The proposed temperature loading model can aid engineers in predicting the thermal behavior of PC bridges in Oklahoma, USA.

Spatial and temporal temperature variations in bridge structures due to changes in the surrounding climate produce movements which, if restrained, may induce stresses in the structure. Temperature effects have always been considered to be one of the critical issues that affect the performance of prestressed concrete (PC) bridges. In order to (1) develop an efficient temperature loading model for predicting bridge temperature-induced response; and (2) develop guidelines to incorporate the effects of temperature actions in reliability-based condition evaluation, numerical and analytical studies were conducted on a PC girder bridge in Oklahoma, USA. This paper focuses on the structural reliability analysis on the temperature loading action in accordance with AASHTO LRFD specification. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element method (FEM) model was established to estimate the movement and stress under temperature loading, and compared with monitoring counterparts. Then, the validated model was utilized for probabilistic analyses to assess the temperature load effects. Based on the probabilistic temperature loading model proposed in the first paper, loads and resistances statistics from published literature, reliability analyses of AASHTO LRFD limit states were performed by Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and Rackwitz-Fiessler procedure to determine the safety level in terms of reliability index.

Developing large capacity electrode with fast charging capability has always been our goal for high-energy Li-ion batteries. To design a superior electrode, large enough capacity, suitable voltage plateau and good ionic/electronic conductivity need to be taken into account at the same time. Herein, by fusing the semiconductor Ge into nonmetal P, a novel metallic GexP60-x solid solution with wide range tuneable region is proposed, which is proved a kind of Ge-P binary alloy instead of typical ionic/covalent compound. The synthesized GexP60-x is not a metal phophide, which is in contradictory to our conventional view. Attributed from its unique phosphorus-like layered structure, those GexP60-x alloys possess a high conductivity (∼2.4 × 106 S/m). More specially, the Ge-P interaction is not a strong covalent bond like metal phosphides and thereby, the conversion reaction process based on chemical bond breaking in metal phosphides would not take place in those GexP60-x alloys, being replaced by alloying-type mechanism only. Therefore, such GexP60-x alloys are the first ones which can simultaneously exhibit both large capacity (>1800 mAh/g), unexpected high reversibility (ICE>90%) and suitable voltage plateau (∼0.5 V), delivering 770 mAh/g within 15 min with low yet safe voltage for fast-charging battery. This discovery that nonmetallic and semiconductor elements can form conductive alloys based on solid solution chemistry injects fresh blood into high-performanced anode families and offers a new strategy for material design toward advanced fast charging electrodes for energy storage.

Exploring materials with multiple properties who can endow a simple device with integrated functionalities has attracted enormous attention in the microelectronic field. One reason is the imperious demand for processors with continuously higher performance and totally new architecture. Combining ferroelectric with semiconducting properties is a promising solution. Here, we show that logic, in-memory computing, and optoelectrical logic and non-volatile computing functionalities can be integrated into a single transistor with ferroelectric semiconducting α-In2Se3 as the channel. Two-input AND, OR, and non-volatile NOR and NAND logic operations with current on/off ratios reaching up to five orders, good endurance (1000 operation cycles), and fast operating speed (10 μs) are realized. In addition, optoelectrical OR logic and non-volatile implication (IMP) operations, as well as ternary-input optoelectrical logic and in-memory computing functions are achieved by introducing light as an additional input signal. Our work highlights the potential of integrating complex logic functions and new-type computing into a simple device based on emerging ferroelectric semiconductors.

PURPOSEWe report the results from a Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Consortium project to address the absence of well-validated quality control materials (QCMs) for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing. This absence is considered a cause of variance and inconsistencies in translating ctDNA results into clinical actions.METHODSIn this phase I study, QCMs with 14 clinically relevant mutations representing single nucleotide variants, insertions or deletions (indels), translocations, and copy number variants were sourced from three commercial manufacturers with variant allele frequencies (VAFs) of 5%, 2.5%, 1%, 0.1%, and 0%. Four laboratories tested samples in quadruplicate using two allele-specific droplet digital polymerase chain reaction and three (amplicon and hybrid capture) next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels.RESULTSThe two droplet digital polymerase chain reaction assays reported VAF values very close to the manufacturers’ claimed concentrations for all QCMs. NGS assays reported most single nucleotide variants and indels, but not translocations, close to the expected VAF values. Notably, two NGS assays reported lower VAF than expected for all translocations in all QCM mixtures, possibly related to technical challenges detecting these variants. The ability to call ERBB2 copy number amplifications varied across assays. All three QCMs provided valuable insight into assay precision. Each assay across all variant types demonstrated dropouts at 0.1%, suggesting that the QCM can serve for testing of an assay’s limit of detection with confidence claims for specific variants.CONCLUSIONThese results support the utility of the QCM in testing ctDNA assay analytical performance. However, unique designs and manufacturing methods for the QCM, and variations in a laboratory’s testing configuration, may require testing of multiple QCMs to find the best reagents for accurate result interpretation.

Objective To compare the therapeutic effect on menopausal hot flashes between acupuncture and Climen so as to provide a new approach to the treatment of this disease. Methods A total of 80 cases in line with inclusion criteria were randomized into a treatment group (treated with acupuncture) and a control group (oral administration with climen), 40 cases in each one. The treatment for 1 month was as 1 course and lasted consecutively for 2 courses. Before and after treatment, the contents of serum estrogen (estradiol, E2) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT) and the scores of the attack frequency and severity scale of hot flashes and sweating, domestic modified Kupperman scale and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scale were observed, and the clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated in the two groups separately. Results Before treatment, there was no difference in the content of E2 and 5-HT, the score of hot flashes and sweating, Kupperman score and TCM symptom score in the patients between two groups, indicating the comparability (all P > 0.05). Compared with the data before treatment, the contents of serum E2 (treatment group vs control group: 22.24 ± 11.02 vs 33.12 ± 1.01; 22.11 ± 10.19 vs 25.29 ± 2.23) and 5-HT (treatment group vs control group: 96.12 ± 8.21 vs 131.21 ± 30.21; 96.98 ± 7.99 vs 108.29 ± 22.08), the score of hot flashes and sweating (treatment group vs control group: 8.24 ± 1.02 vs 3.12 ± 1.01; 8.11 ± 1.19 vs 5.29 ± 2.23), Kupperman score (treatment group vs control group: 26.12 ± 2.21 vs 11.21 ± 0.21; 26.98 ± 1.99 vs 18.29 ± 2.08) and TCM symptom score (treatment group vs control group: 18.97 ± 3.87 vs 10.12 ± 0.16; 19.01 ± 2.29 vs 15.61 ± 2.89) were statistically different after treatment in the two groups (all P Conclusion Acupuncture effectively reduces Kupperman score and TCM symptom score in the patients and its therapeutic effect is better than climen. Regarding relieving hot flashes symptoms in menopausal patients of kidney yin deficiency and improving in attack frequency and severity of hot flashes and sweating, the effects of acupuncture are superior to Climen. Acupuncture obviously increases the contents of serum E2 and 5-HT.

A high-spatial-resolution strain sensor in OFDR was experimentally demonstrated by use of combining distance compensation (DC) and image wavelet denoising (IWD) method. Compared with using one method alone, the measured distribution strain could be varied from 200 to 2000 μϵ at a spatial resolution of 2.56 mm. Moreover, four times enhancement of the accuracy for the strain senor was achieved without hardware modification. This method is a significant step toward a high performance OFDR system, especially for evaluating the rapid change of object's structural condition.

A method, i.e., vector projections, using two outer cores of multicore fiber without calibration and OFDR was proposed to realize three-dimensional (3D) shape sensing. A complement for apparent curvature vector method using three outer cores of multicore fiber was also proposed to determine the viable fiber cores arrangement for shape sensing. Compared with apparent curvature vector method, the vector projections method based on two outer cores of multicore fiber decreased the number of fiber cores, which eliminating the requirement for fiber cores arrangement. Based on these methods, a reconstructed shape with a higher accuracy was obtained based on integrating all fiber shape from all cores combinations. The maximum root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) of end position for the vector projections and apparent curvature vector method were 13.1 and 12.4 mm, while a higher accuracy, i.e., maximum RMSEs of 11.9 and 12.1 mm, was obtained based on the integrated fiber shapes.

Dimensional optimization is important for planetary rovers to reach good performance, such as high mobility, stability, and low energy consumption. The paper presents a dimensional optimization for a planetary rover with rocker-bogie suspension. During the optimization process, the influence of dimensions on the actuation requirements is studied based on kinetostatics and terramechanics. The objective function is built considering the average driving torque requirements in the most common type of windblown terrain in Mars called megaripples. The optimal dimension design is reached through the genetic algorithm, and the influences of dimensional parameters on rover performances are studied by drawing performance atlases. This work realizes the consideration of energy consumption in the design phase of a planetary rover. Finally, the results guide the design of a rover prototype and are validated by a series of experiments.

Neuromorphic machine vision has attracted extensive attention on wide fields. However, both current and emerging strategies still suffer from power/time inefficiency, and/or low compatibility, complex device structure. Here we demonstrate a driving-voltage-free optoelectronic synaptic device using non-volatile reconfigurable photovoltaic effect based on MoTe2/α-In2Se3 ferroelectric p-n junctions. This function comes from the non-volatile reconfigurable built-in potential in the p-n junction that is related to the ferroelectric polarization in α-In2Se3. Reconfigurable rectification behavior and photovoltaic effect are demonstrated firstly. Notably, the figure-of-merits for photovoltaic effect like photoelectrical conversion efficiency non-volatilely increases more than one order. Based on this, retina synapse-like vision functions are mimicked. Optoelectronic short-term and long-term plasticity, as well as basic neuromorphic learning and memory rule are achieved without applying driving voltage. Our work highlights the potential of ferroelectric p-n junctions for enhanced solar cell and low-power optoelectronic synaptic device for neuromorphic machine vision.

Cardiac fibroma is a rare disease, and surgical resection generally remains the treatment of choice for these tumors in children. However, open surgery for some patients has to be rejected due to high risk. Here, we report a case of somewhat successful radiofrequency ablation of a huge left ventricular fibroma in a 3-year-old asymptomatic child. At the 3-month follow-up, the child was clinically well. Our case highlights that radiofrequency ablation may be used as an alternative treatment for the cardiac tumors, which are unsuitable for cardiac operation.

Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of human death worldwide. Genetic factors play an important role in the occurrence of CHD. Our study is designed to investigate the influence of CYP7B1 polymorphisms on CHD risk. Methods In this case–control study, 508 CHD patients and 510 healthy individuals were recruited to determine the correlation between CYP7B1 polymorphisms (rs7836768, rs6472155, and rs2980003) and CHD risk. The associations were evaluated by computing odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) with logistic regression analysis. The association between SNP-SNP interaction and CHD susceptibility was carried out by multifactor dimensionality reduction analyses. Results Our study found that rs6472155 is significantly associated with an increased risk of CHD in age > 60 years (OR 2.20, 95% CI = 1.07–4.49, p = 0.031), women (OR 3.17, 95% CI = 1.19–8.44, p = 0.021), and non-smokers (3.43, 95% CI = 1.16–10.09, p = 0.025). Rs2980003 polymorphism has a lower risk of CHD in drinkers (OR 0.47, 95% CI = 0.24–0.91, p = 0.025). Further analyses based on false-positive report probability validated these significant results. Besides, it was found that rs6472155 polymorphism was associated with uric acid level (p = 0.034). Conclusion Our study indicated that CYP7B1 polymorphisms are related to the risk of CHD, which provides a new perspective for prevent of CHD.

Live streaming has grown rapidly in recent years, attracting increasingly more participation. As the number of online anchors is large, it is difficult for viewers to find the anchors they are interested in. Therefore, a personalized recommendation system is important for live streaming platforms. On live streaming platforms, the viewer's and anchor's preferences are dynamically changing over time. How to capture the user's preference change is extensively studied in the literature, but how to model the viewer's and anchor's preference changes and how to learn their representations based on their preference matching are less studied. Taking these issues into consideration, in this paper, we propose a deep sequential model for live streaming recommendation. We develop a component named the multi-head related-unit in the model to capture the preference matching between anchor and viewer and extract related features for their representations. To evaluate the performance of our proposed model, we conduct experiments on real datasets, and the results show that our proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art recommendation models.

Recently, human activity recognition (HAR) has become an active research area in wearable computing scenario. On the other hand, residual nets have continued to push the state-of-the-art of computer vision and natural language processing. However, residual nets have rarely been considered in the HAR field. As residual nets grow deeper, memory footprint limit its wide use for a variety of HAR tasks. In this paper, we present a novel block-wise training residual nets that use local loss functions for HAR applications. Instead of global backprop, the local cross-entropy loss together with a supervised local similarity matching loss is utilized to train each residual block independently, in which gradient need not to be propagated down the network. As a result, the gradient and activations do not have to be kept in memory any more, which alleviates the memory requirements and is more beneficial for wearable HAR computing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of block-wise training residual nets on OPPORTUNITY, WISDM, UNIMIB SHAR and PAMAP2 datasets, which establishes obvious better classification accuracy compared to equally-sized residual nets, even though memory requirement is much smaller.

Depression is a serious neuropsychiatric disorder, which is characterized by sustaining mood disorders. Loganin, a major iridoid glycoside from Corni fructus, has a variety of pharmacological activities, including neuroprotective effect and hypnotic effect. However, little is known about the effects of loganin on stress-induced depression. To investigate the effects of loganin on behavioral despair of mice, and whether serotonin (5-HT) and/or noradrenaline (NE) are involved in this process. We tested the effectiveness of loganin using tail suspension test (TST). The possible mechanism was explored using reserpine-induced ptosis and hypothermia, and 5-HTP-induced head-twitch response in mice. The changes of 5-HT and NE in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and striatum were measured through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Then, we identified the effects of depleting 5-HT and NE by PCPA (p-chlorophenylalanine) and DSP-4 (N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine hydrochloride) pretreatment, respectively. Loganin (12.5/50 mg/kg) induced antidepressant-like effects in mice submitted to TST. Loganin (12.5/50 mg/kg) ameliorated the reserpine-induced hypothermia and ptosis, as well as increased 5-HTP-induced head-twitch responses in mice. Loganin (50 mg/kg) significantly increased the levels of 5-HT in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. Furthermore, only PCPA treatment could eliminate loganin-induced antidepressant-like effects in TST. Loganin exerts antidepressant-like effect in the TST depending on 5-HT levels in the central nervous system, which provide a potential agent for depression therapy.

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed by using femtosecond laser point-by-point (PbP) technology typically have high birefringence due to the elliptical cross-sectional pattern of refractive index modulations (RIMs) created in the fiber core. Additionally, a highly reflective type II PbP FBG, which has a large coupling coefficient, also exhibits large insertion loss due to the limited RIM area induced by a single femtosecond laser pulse. Here we demonstrate a slit beam shaping method for femtosecond laser PbP inscription of high-quality FBGs, featuring by high reflectivity, low insertion loss, and low birefringence. The slit beam shaping method could reduce the ellipticity in the cross-sectional pattern of RIMs without reducing the cross-sectional area, leading to low birefringence and low insertion loss. The experimental results agree well with numerical calculations. Hence, a high-quality type II PbP FBG, which has high reflectivity of 99.12% (i.e., Bragg resonance attenuation of 20.52 dB), low insertion loss of 0.30 dB, and low birefringence of 1.86 × 10−6, was successfully created by use of a slit width of 0.8 mm. Moreover, an enlarged cross-sectional area was created by use of a slit width of 0.2 mm, resulting in a high ratio of 172.46 of the coupling strength coefficient to the scattering loss coefficient in the fabricated PbP FBG, which exhibits very high reflectivity of 99.99% (i.e., a strong Bragg resonance attenuation of 46.65 dB) and low insertion loss of 0.27 dB. Such high-quality FBGs will be promising in many applications, such as optical fiber communications, sensors, and lasers.

Background Annexin A1 might be neuroprotective and serum annexin A1 concentrations were markedly declined after severe traumatic brain injury. We determine dthe ability of serum annexin A1 to assess severity and predict prognosis after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods We included 157 aSAH patients and 157 healthy subjects. Serum annexin A1 measurements were measured. A poor outcome was designated as Glasgow outcome scale score of 1–3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to identify predictors of a poor 6-month outcome. Results Serum annexin A1 concentrations were significantly lower in patients than in controls. Annexin A1 concentrations were strongly correlated with the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons scale (WFNS) score, Hunt-Hess score, Glasgow coma scale score and modified Fisher score. A total of 59 patients (37.6%) experienced a poor outcome. Serum annexin A1, WFNS score and modified Fisher score emerged as the 3 independent predictors for a poor outcome after aSAH. Under ROC curve analysis, serum annexin A1 had a fair accuracy to predict a poor outcome, AUC of serum annexin A1 concentration was equivalent to those of WFNS score and modified Fisher score and AUC of combination of the 3 factors significantly exceeded that of each one alone. Conclusions Annexin A1 may be involved in the occurrence and progression of secondary brain injury after aSAH. Detection of serum annexin A1 may have certain ability for assessment of severity and prediction of long-term prognosis following aSAH.

A field campaign was conducted to study the PM2.5 and atmospheric gases and aerosol's components to evaluate the efficacy of radical measures implemented by the Chinese government to improve air quality during the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou China. The lower level of PM2.5 (32.48 ± 11.03 µg/m3) observed during the control period compared to pre-control and post-control periods showed that PM2.5 was alleviated by control policies. Based on the mass concentrations of particulate components, the emissions of PM2.5 from local sources including fossil fuel, coal combustion, industry and construction were effectively reduced, but non-exhaust emission was not reduced as effectively as expected. The accumulation of SNA (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+) was observed during the control period, due to the favourable synoptic weather conditions for photochemical reactions and heterogeneous hydrolysis. Because of transboundary transport during the control period, air masses from remote areas contributed significantly to local PM2.5. Although, secondary organic carbon (OCsec) exhibited more sensitivity than primary organic carbon (OCpri) to control measures, and the increased nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) implied the regional transport of aged secondary aerosols to the study area. Overall, the results from various approaches revealed that local pollution sources were kept under control, indicating that the implementation of mitigation measures were helpful in improving the air quality of Hangzhou during G20 summit. To reduce ambient levels of PM2.5 further in Hangzhou, regional control policies may have to be taken so as to reduce the impact of long-range transport of air masses from inland China.

A compact rat-race ring coupler with modified T type capacitor loading is presented in this paper. Two variable parameters are added to the conventional T type capacitor loading structure, and adjusting these two parameters can control the position and width of harmonic suppression stop-band. The new coupler effective reduces the occupied area to 14.1% of the conventional one. The design is validated both by simulation and measurement.

Applying artificial intelligence technology to enterprise management can enable the development of strong technical support for enterprises. This article discusses the role of artificial intelligen...

STUDY QUESTION Is it possible to establish a new in-vitro activation (IVA) protocol for infertility treatment? SUMMARY ANSWER A new IVA procedure is an efficient and easily performed approach for infertility treatment of patients with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY IVA of primordial follicles with or without stimulators has been developed to treat patients with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) successfully. However, the efficiency of the procedure is still very low. There is a requirement to optimize the protocol with increased efficiency for clinical application. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Newborn mouse ovaries were used to establish a new 1-h IVA protocol with the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) stimulator phosphatidic acid (PA, 200 µM) and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) stimulator 740Y-P (250 µg/ml); a prospective observational cohort study in POI patients was performed on 15 POI patients and 3 poor ovarian response (POR) patients in three different centers of reproductive medicine in China. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS One-third of ovarian cortex was removed and processed into bigger strips (1 × 1 cm2, 1–2 mm thickness). Strips were then sutured back after treatment. The new approach only requires one laparoscopic surgery. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Follicular activation and development increased in cultured mouse and human ovarian tissues after 1 h of stimulator treatment. Compared with tiny ovarian cortex pieces (1 × 1 mm2), large ovarian strips (1 × 1 cm2) showed the lowest apoptotic signals after incubation. We applied the orthotropic transplantation procedure with large strips in the clinic, and 9 of 15 POI patients showed at least one-wave follicular growth during the monitoring period. One patient was reported with one healthy delivery after natural conception and another patient with a healthy singleton delivery after IVF. All the contacted patients (n = 13) responded with no side effects on their health 2–4 years after IVA procedure. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Further clinical trials with a large number of well-defined patients are required to compare different IVA protocols. A long-term follow-up system should be set up to monitor patient’s health in the future cohort study. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS By using stimulators, the findings in the study provide a more efficient IVA protocol for the treatment of patients with DOR. It requires only one laparoscopic surgery and thus minimizes patients’ discomfort and costs. This strategy could be useful for patients diagnosed with POI and desire pregnancy as soon as possible after the operation. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1003703 and 2018YFC1004203); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871221); Co-construction of Provincial Department (201601006). The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ChiCTR2000030872.

Based on its excellent visible light absorption and photoelectric response capabilities, SbSI has attracted significant research attention for a wide range of applications. Despite the fact that interesting physical properties can be induced from the sophisticated band structures of SbSI, that is, either with direct or indirect band gaps, its nonlinear optical (NLO) properties are not yet fully explored. In the present work, the NLO response of SbSI nanorods is investigated by the combination of open-aperture (OA) Z-scan, pump–probe, and spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM). It is found that the synthesized SbSI nanorods possess a relatively large nonlinear absorption coefficient and a small saturable optical intensity at a wavelength of 400 nm, compared to those of other materials. More importantly, the OA Z-scan experiments suggest that the direct band gap of SbSI plays a dominant role on the NLO effects, which is further verified by the SSPM experiments. The present work suggests that the SbSI nanorods may have great potentials for optical switches and saturable absorbers.

The current hydrogen generation technologies, especially biomass gasification using fluidized bed reactors (FBRs), were rigorously reviewed. There are involute operational parameters in a fluidized bed gasifier that determine the anticipated outcomes for hydrogen production purposes. However, limited reviews are present that link these parametric conditions with the corresponding performances based on experimental data collection. Using the constructed artificial neural networks (ANNs) as the supervised machine learning algorithm for data training, the operational parameters from 52 literature reports were utilized to perform both the qualitative and quantitative assessments of the performance, such as the hydrogen yield (HY), hydrogen content (HC) and carbon conversion efficiency (CCE). Seven types of operational parameters, including the steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR), equivalent ratio (ER), temperature, particle size of the feedstock, residence time, lower heating value (LHV) and carbon content (CC), were closely investigated. Six binary parameters have been identified to be statistically significant to the performance parameters (hydrogen yield (HY)), hydrogen content (HC) and carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimal operational conditions derived from the machine leaning were recommended according to the needs of the outcomes. This review may provide helpful insights for researchers to comprehensively consider the operational conditions in order to achieve high hydrogen production using fluidized bed reactors during biomass gasification.

Periplocin, as one of the components of cardiac glycosides in Cortex Periplocae, exhibited cardiotonic effects. Orally ingesting periplocin in high doses or over prolonged periods would cause serious adverse reactions, especially cardiotoxicity, which limits the applications of periplocin in clinical therapy. It has been reported that panax notoginseng saponins could be used in compatibility with periplocin, to reduce the cardiotoxicity of periplocin. To clarify the mechanisms of periplocin-induced cardiotoxicity and compatibility-pairing in reducing cardiotoxicity, the GC-MS method was used to detect and analyze the metabolic profiles of rat plasma and urine samples after oral administration of periplocin, panax notoginseng saponins, and the different compatibility ratios of periplocin and panax notoginseng saponins. The multivariate statistical analysis method was used to screen and identify the biomarkers. A total of 49 potential biomarkers (28 in plasma and 21 in urine) associated with periplocin-induced cardiotoxicity were identified. Seven pathways were found through metabolomic pathway analysis. Moreover, the levels of 42 biomarkers (22 in plasma and 20 in urine) were close to normal after compatibility-pairing. By analyzing the relative metabolic pathways, panax notoginseng saponins could effectively reduce cardiotoxicity of periplocin through affecting the tricarboxylic acid cycle, energy metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Objective Physical exercise has obvious effects on bone loss, pain relief, and improvement of bone metabolism indexes in patients with osteoporosis, but currently lacks sufficient evidence. The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to synthesize and present the best available evidence on the effectiveness and safety of exercises in the treatment of primary osteoporosis. Methods Publications pertaining to the effectiveness of exercise on bone mineral density (BMD), visual analog scores (VAS), and biochemical markers of bone metabolism in primary osteoporosis (POP) from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, VIP, CNKI, and Wanfang Database were retrieved from their inception to April 2020. Results A total of 20 studies with 1824 participants were included. The results of the meta‐analysis revealed that exercise therapy for lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD is statistically different from conventional therapy (lumbar spine BMD: SMD = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.46, 1.10, P, The results of this meta‐analysis show that different types of exercise therapies significantly improved lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD, and relieve the pain of patients in the current low‐quality evidence. Additional high‐quality evidence is required to confirm the effect of exercise therapy on the biochemical markers of bone metabolism in POP patients. Therefore, more multicenters, larger samples, long‐term, single‐blind RCTs are needed to evaluate the effects of exercise therapy on BMD, VAS and biochemical markers of bone metabolism in POP patients.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a syndrome in which acute liver failure with extrahepatic organ failure occurs on chronic liver disease. Recently, liver transplantation is the only effective treatment for ACLF. There is still room for discussion on the optimal surgery timing for ACLF, perioperative infection prevention and control, and maintenance of nutrition and organ function. The Transplantation Immunology Committee of Branch of Organ Transplantation Physician of Chinese Medical Doctor Association and Enhanced Recovery of Liver Transplantation Group of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Committee of Chinese Research Hospital Association invited relevant experts to discuss about the perioperative management of ACLF liver transplantation in areas including surgery timing, organ protection, nutritional support, infection prevention and control, rehabilitation exercises, regulation of the internal environment, etc. An expert consensus was developed as reference for clinicians.

To investigate the presence of a placebo dose–response effect in four randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose hot flash clinical trials conducted at Mayo Clinic. Hot flash score, frequency, and hot flash-related distress for each placebo dose level were summarized at each time point by mean and standard deviation and changes from baseline were plotted to visualize a possible placebo dose–effect response. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was conducted for each endpoint in the highest and lowest dosage arms across the four trials. Longitudinal plots of mean hot flash scores, frequencies, and hot flash-related distress scores in patients taking placebo in each study showed a decline in hot flash scores over time without any clinically meaningful differences between the lowest and highest dosage arms in each study. The meta-analysis for each endpoint in the highest and lowest dosage arms across the four trials revealed no clinically important differences either. While the current study cannot rule out the existence of a placebo dose–response effect in multi-dose placebo-controlled trials in patients with hot flashes or other conditions, it suggests, along with the available data in the placebo literature, that, at least in well-conducted multi-dose clinical trials in which the placebo was used as control, such an effect, if it exists at all, should be very small. Therefore, pooling data from different placebo subgroups is unlikely to compromise the validity of comparisons between the combined placebo arms and each treatment arm.

Passive cooling materials that spontaneously cool an object are promising choices for mitigating the global energy crisis. However, these cooling effects are usually weakened or lost when dust contaminates the surface structure, greatly restricting their applications. In this work, a robust hierarchical porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film with coral-like micro/nanostructures is generated by a facile and efficient femtosecond laser ablation technique. Owing to its unique micro/nanostructures, the as-prepared surface exhibits an outstanding self-cleaning function for various liquids with ultralow adhesion. This self-cleaning characteristic enhances the durability of its passive cooling effect. It is demonstrated that the titanium (Ti) sheet covered with laser-ablated PTFE film can realize a maximum temperature decrease of 4 and 10 °C compared to the Ti sheet covered with pristine PTFE film and uncovered, respectively. This study reveals that femtosecond laser micromachining is a facile and feasible avenue to produce robust self-cleaning passive cooling devices.

BACKGROUND Bezoars are conglomerates of indigestible foreign material that can be found in the gastrointestinal tract. Gastric ulcer, gastrointestinal perforation, and intestinal obstruction are the main complications. Acute pancreatitis secondary to bezoar is rare. Here, we present a rare case of a migratory gastric bezoar complicated by acute pancreatitis and small bowel obstruction after dissolution therapy. CASE SUMMARY A-65-year-old woman underwent gastroscopy because of epigastric pain, which revealed a huge bezoar and a gastric ulcer 10 d prior. The patient was discharged with a prescription of drinking 1 L Coca-Cola daily for 6 d, without repeat gastroscopy. However, she suddenly developed epigastric pain, nausea and vomiting for 3 d. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed mild inflammation of the pancreas. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography showed no abnormalities in the pancreatic duct or common bile duct. The nasogastric tube still showed drainage of more than 1.6 L of dark fluid each day after symptomatic treatment. Abdominal CT re-examination suggested intestinal obstruction. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a huge yellowish hard mass in the jejunal lumen, and we used the basket and net to fragment the bezoar. She was discharged with a good outcome. CONCLUSION Endoscopic therapy is the first choice for gastric bezoars. When mechanical disintegration cannot be achieved, timing of repeat endoscopy is important during Coca-Cola dissolution therapy.

Interleukin (IL)‐36α, a newly recognized IL‐1 family member, has been previously reported to play a pivotal role in autoimmunity diseases and acute inflammatory reactions. Recently, several studies have indicated that IL‐36α has potential anticancer effects against certain types of cancer. However, the expression pattern and functional role of IL‐36α in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been elucidated. Here, we report that the mRNA and protein levels of IL‐36α are significantly reduced in NSCLC tissues. Low levels of intratumoral IL‐36α are correlated with higher tumor status, advanced TNM stage, increased vascular invasion and shorter overall survival (OS). Intratumoral IL‐36α expression is an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio = 3.081; P = 0.012) in patients with NSCLC. Overexpression of IL‐36α in lung cancer cells did not disturb cell proliferation, apoptosis or cell‐cycle distribution in vitro, but markedly inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, IL‐36α reduced the expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor A through inhibiting hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α expression. Finally, decreased IL‐36α expression was associated with high microvessel density and vascular endothelial growth factor A in patients with NSCLC. Together, our findings suggest that IL‐36α expression is a valuable marker indicating poor prognosis in patients with NSCLC., Interleukin (IL)‐36α is an IL‐1 family member with pivotal roles in autoimmunity diseases. Here, we report that IL‐36α is a potent antitumor cytokine in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). IL‐36α suppresses tumor growth by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis via suppression of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α/vascular endothelial growth factor A signaling. IL‐36α expression is an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with NSCLC. IL‐36α expression might be a valuable marker indicating poor prognosis in patients with NSCLC.

Rapid global population growth has caused an increasing need for products containing protein. Meat products are the most common high-protein food source, but impact the environment, cause animal welfare issues, and raise public health concerns. Consumer health and food safety are paramount to the food industry. Both the scientists and food industry are actively seeking plant proteins to substitute for animal-sourced proteins. Plant proteins have a well-balanced amino acid composition, and exhibit great potential for replacing meat via the development of healthy, high-protein, low-saturated fat, cholesterol-free, and nutritionally similar meat-like products. Generally, meat analogue formulations are specially designed and processing conditions are optimized to obtain the texture and bite of real animal meat. This article focuses on plant-based meat analogues, and covers aspects regarding processing, products, quality, and nutritional and structural modifications. Product safety consciousness and consumer acceptance are also discussed. Challenges and perspectives for future research concerning nonmeat products are presented.

Exposure to air pollutants has been associated with respiratory viral infections. Epidemiological studies have shown that air pollution exposure is related to increased cases of SARS‐COV‐2 infection and COVID‐19‐associated mortality. In addition, the changes of meteorological parameters have also been implicated in the occurrence and development of COVID‐19. However, the molecular mechanisms by which pollutant exposure and changes of meteorological parameters affects COVID‐19 remains unknown. This review summarizes the biology of COVID‐19 and the route of viral transmission, and elaborates on the relationship between air pollution and climate indicators and COVID‐19. Finally, we envisaged the potential roles of air pollution and meteorological parameters in COVID‐19.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is the most widely used optical fiber sensor due to its compact size, high sensitivity, and easiness for multiplexing. Conventional FBGs fabricated by using an ultraviolet (UV) laser phase-mask method require the sensitization of the optical fiber and could not be used at high temperatures. Recently, the fabrication of FBGs by using a femtosecond laser has attracted extensive interests due to its excellent flexibility in creating FBGs array or special FBGs with complex spectra. The femtosecond laser could also be used for inscribing various FBGs on almost all fiber types, even fibers without any photosensitivity. Such femtosecond-laser-induced FBGs exhibit excellent thermal stability, which is suitable for sensing in harsh environment. In this review, we present the historical developments and recent advances in the fabrication technologies and sensing applications of femtosecond-laser-inscribed FBGs. Firstly, the mechanism of femtosecond-laser-induced material modification is introduced. And then, three different fabrication technologies, i.e., femtosecond laser phase mask technology, femtosecond laser holographic interferometry, and femtosecond laser direct writing technology, are discussed. Finally, the advances in high-temperature sensing applications and vector bending sensing applications of various femtosecond-laser-inscribed FBGs are summarized. Such femtosecond-laser-inscribed FBGs are promising in many industrial areas, such as aerospace vehicles, nuclear plants, oil and gas explorations, and advanced robotics in harsh environments.

Although self-expandable mental stents (SEMS) placement is the standard care for relieving obstructive jaundice caused by unresectable malignant biliary stricture, how to maintain stent potency remains an intractable problem. This study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of endobiliary radiofrequency ablation (RFA) through percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) pathway in treating such patients. Consecutive patients who were performed endobiliary RFA as well as SEMS placement because of unresectable malignant obstructive jaundice in single institution in recent 8 years were retrospectively reviewed. As comparison, patients who underwent only percutaneous SEMS placement for unresectable malignant biliary stricture during the contemporary period were reviewed. Stent patency, complications, complications, and overall survival (OS) were investigated and analyzed. One hundred and fifty patients who underwent endobiliary RFA and 127 patients who underwent only stent placement were included in this study. In the study group of endobiliary RFA, 87 patients (58.0%) underwent ablation for 1 time, 49 (32.7%) for 2 times, and 14 (9.3%) for 3 times. Complications related to RFA as well as SEMS placement happened in 113 patients (75.3%), without severe complications that needed emergent surgery or interventional therapy. The median duration of stent patency after ablation was 11.2 month, and the median survival time was 12.3 month. As comparison, difference was found in the number of interventional procedures and stents placed, duration of initial stent patency, and the incidence of moderate bleeding and pain. In the study group, only the type of tumor that caused biliary obstruction (intrahepatic carcinoma vs. extrahepatic carcinoma) was a poor independent factor (P = 0.035) for recurrent biliary obstruction. Repeated interventional therapy and adoption of subsequent therapy were only independent factors for OS. Endobiliary RFA and SEMS placement is technically safe and feasible for unresectable malignant obstructive jaundice to improve the quality of life and prolong survival.

A 41-month-old boy was presented to our hospital because of an intracranial mass suspected of cerebrovascular malformation. He was admitted and received cerebral angiography. The angiography result confirmed the intracranial mass was the dilated vein of Galen resulting from a pial arteriovenous fistula, which quite resembling the vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation. Considering one-time embolization of the fistula may greatly change the distribution of intracranial blood flow, we decided to perform staged embolization. In the first stage, we partially embolized the fistula, resulting in a sharp decrease in blood flow to the lesion. The second intervention was performed one month later, and completely embolized the fistula. The boy recoverd well and returned to normal childhood without any neurological deficits. Follow-up MR images obtained at 10 months after the last procedure showing total obliteration of the pAVF, gradually shrinking of the varix, and remodeling of the vein of Galen.

The prestressed concrete girder with corrugated steel webs is one of the most promising steel–concrete hybrid structures applied to highway and railway bridges, owing to its excellent mechanical properties and efficient material utilisation. Composite bridges with corrugated steel webs (CBCSWs) have undergone rapid development in China since 2005, resulting in remarkable technical progress in many aspects. A state-of-the-art review of CBCSWs in China is presented. Based on data collected for over 90 CBCSWs built in China during the years 2005–2018, characteristics relating to bridge span, structural type and construction methods are comprehensively analysed. Some mechanical issues regarding the design and construction of typical CBCSWs are elaborated to understand fully their structural performance and promote their development. Furthermore, a few representative CBCSWs are expounded in relation to their innovative structural design and construction techniques; their respective characteristics are highlighted. Finally, several conclusions are drawn and future research directions are predicted: the CBCSW is a competitive bridge solution when 80–200 m main spans are required; advanced materials, innovative structure types and advanced construction methods making good use of corrugated steel web are the source of its development. The experiences in this study can serve as a useful base for constructing more excellent and impressive CBCSWs.

Background and purpose Currently, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (ACRT) is a preferred regimen for post-surgery gastric cancer (GC). However, the survival outcome of 5-FU-based ACRT varies greatly among different GC patients. Thus, it is necessary to classify which patients may benefit from 5-FU-based ACRT. Materials and methods We collected 577 GC and 84 adjacent normal samples for training and 675 GC samples for validation. Based on the within-sample relative expression orderings (REOs) of gene expression levels, reversal gene pairs were selected, and the pairs correlating with overall survival (OS) of GC patients receiving 5-FU-based ACRT were identified as candidates. Finally, an optimized set of candidate gene pairs was selected as a classification signature in training data and validated in validation data. Results A signature consisting of 34 gene pairs was identified in training data and validated in three independent datasets. The classified low-risk group had better OS than the classified high-risk group. We also analyzed the recurrent free survival or disease free survival (RFS/DFS) of the validation datasets, and the similar results were shown. Furthermore, although the signature was identified based on the OS of GC patients receiving ACRT, it was not a prognostic signature for patients treated with surgery alone, but may be a potential signature for 5-FU-based chemotherapy alone. Conclusions The signature can accurately classify GC patients who may benefit from 5-FU-based ACRT, which could aid clinicians in tailoring more effective GC treatments.

The massive increase in classroom video data enables the possibility of utilizing artificial intelligence technology to automatically recognize, detect and caption students’ behaviors. This is beneficial for related research, e.g., pedagogy and educational psychology. However, the lack of a dataset specifically designed for students’ classroom behaviors may block these potential studies. This paper presents a comprehensive dataset that can be employed for recognizing, detecting, and captioning students’ behaviors in a classroom. We collected videos of 128 classes in different disciplines and in 11 classrooms. Specifically, the constructed dataset consists of a detection part, recognition part, and captioning part. The detection part includes a temporal detection data module with 4542 samples and an action detection data module with 3343 samples, whereas the recognition part contains 4276 samples and the captioning part contains 4296 samples. Moreover, the students’ behaviors are spontaneous in real classes, rendering the dataset representative and realistic. We analyze the special characteristics of the classroom scene and the technical difficulties for each module (task), which are verified by experiments. Due to the particularity of classrooms, our datasets proposes increasing the requirements of existing methods. Moreover, we provide a baseline for each task module in the dataset and make a comparison with the current mainstream datasets. The results show that our dataset is viable and reliable. Additionally, we present a thorough performance analysis of each baseline model to provide a comprehensive comparison for models using our presented dataset. The dataset and code are available to download online: https://github.com/BNU-Wu/Student-Class-Behavior-Dataset/tree/master .

Understanding human facial expressions is one of the key steps towards achieving human–computer interaction. Owing to the anatomic mechanism that governs facial muscular interactions, there exist powerful dependencies between expressions and action units (AUs) that are useful for exploiting such rules of knowledge to guide the model learning process. However, they have not yet been represented directly and integrated into a network. In this study, we propose a novel method for facial expressions and AUs recognition based on their dependencies on graph convolutional network. First, we train the conditional generative adversarial network to filter out identity information and extract expression information through a de-expression learning procedure. Thereafter, we apply graph convolutional network to represent dependency laying among AU nodes and embed the nodes by dividing the expression component into multi patches, corresponding to the AU-related regions. Finally, we use prior knowledge matrices to represent the dependencies between expressions and AUs and subsequently integrate them into a loss function to constrain the model. The results of our experiments indicate that such representation is effective for improving the recognition rate. They also reveal that our work achieves better performance than several popular approaches.

The current strategy to achieve high luminosity for high energy physics experiments is to store huge currents distributed in many bunches in circular machines such as BEPCII, so the longitudinal coupled bunch instabilities of the beam are inevitable. Therefore, a longitudinal feedback system is needed to suppress longitudinal oscillation. Otherwise, the beam energy spread will increase; the luminosity and the beam lifetime will decrease under a certain beam current. For filter design of the feedback system, the time domain least square fitting (TDLSF) method is compared to the selective wave filter method; digital signal processing electronics based on commercial board have been developed and tested on BEPCII. The final result shows that the self-developed longitudinal feedback system can suppress the longitudinal beam oscillation at 750 mA beam current and meet the requirements of BEPCII; the restrain depth to the sidebands reaches to 40.8 dB.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been extensively investigated for decades for tumor treatment because of its non-invasiveness, spatiotemporal selectivity, lower side-effects, and immune activation ability. It can be a promising treatment modality in several medical fields, including oncology, immunology, urology, dermatology, ophthalmology, cardiology, pneumology, and dentistry. Nevertheless, the clinical application of PDT is largely restricted by the drawbacks of traditional photosensitizers, limited tissue penetrability of light, inefficient induction of tumor cell death, tumor resistance to the therapy, and the severe pain induced by the therapy. Recently, various photosensitizer formulations and therapy strategies have been developed to overcome these barriers. Significantly, the introduction of nanomaterials in PDT, as carriers or photosensitizers, may overcome the drawbacks of traditional photosensitizers. Based on this, nanocomposites excited by various light sources are applied in the PDT of deep-seated tumors. Modulation of cell death pathways with co-delivered reagents promotes PDT induced tumor cell death. Relief of tumor resistance to PDT with combined therapy strategies further promotes tumor inhibition. Also, the optimization of photosensitizer formulations and therapy procedures reduces pain in PDT. Here, a systematic summary of recent advances in the fabrication of photosensitizers and the design of therapy strategies to overcome barriers in PDT is presented. Several aspects important for the clinical application of PDT in cancer treatment are also discussed.