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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease, and subchondral osteosclerosis is an important pathological change that occurs in its late stages. Cardamonin (CD) is a natural flavonoid isolated from Alpinia katsumadai that has anti‐inflammatory activity. The objectives of this study were to investigate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanism of CD in regulating OA subchondral osteosclerosis at in vivo and in vitro settings. Eight‐week‐old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into four groups: sham operation, anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT)‐induced OA model, low‐dose and high‐dose CD treated ACLT‐OA model groups. Histological assessment and immunohistochemical examinations for chondrocyte metabolism‐related markers metalloproteinase‐13, ADAMTS‐4, Col II, and Sox‐9 were performed. Microcomputed tomography was used to assess the sclerosis indicators in subchondral bone. Further, MC3T3‐E1 (a mouse calvarial preosteoblast cell line) cells were treated with various concentrations of CD to reveal the influence and potential molecular pathways of CD in osteogenic differentiations. Animal studies suggested that CD alleviated the pathological changes in OA mice such as maintaining integrity and increasing the thickness of hyaline cartilage, decreasing the thickness of calcified cartilage, decreasing the Osteoarthritis Research Society International score, regulating articular cartilage metabolism, and inhibiting subchondral osteosclerosis. In vitro investigation indicated that CD inhibited alkaline phosphatase expression and production of calcium nodules during osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3‐E1 cells. In addition, CD inhibited the expression of osteogenic differentiation‐related indicators and Wnt/β‐catenin pathway‐related proteins. In conclusion, CD inhibits osteogenic differentiation by downregulating Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and alleviating subchondral osteosclerosis in a mouse model of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Perspective of N Points (PNP) problem in optical measurement and machine vision is to estimate the pose parameters of an object by a monocular image. For traditional coplanar P4P methods, the four points must have known coordinates or be a rectangle’s four vertices. In this paper, a new method of the P4P problem for parallelogram objects without shape parameters is proposed to solve the objects’ pose and shape parameters based on the parallelogram vertices’ relative coordinate constraints. The correctness and effectiveness of the method have been verified through experiments. In addition to being used to estimate a parallelogram object’s pose and shape, the new method extends the conclusions of the coplanar P4P problem when the four points are a parallelogram’s four vertices.

Current intraoperative pressure monitoring methods still face significant limitations in perception and feedback, struggling to strike a balance between precision and wearable flexibility. Inspired by biological skin, we propose a biomimetic tactile sensing system for pressure monitoring during extracorporeal circulation, comprising flexible pressure sensors and artificial synaptic transistors. Aimed at addressing the aforementioned issues, our system employs a pyramid-shaped elastic design for flexible pressure sensors, utilizing biocompatible materials polydimethylsiloxane and multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the strain-sensitive layer. This configuration boasts ultra-high sensitivity and resolution (115 kPa−1), accurately detecting subtle pressure changes, such as blood circulation wall pressures. With artificial synaptic transistors as the information processing core, our system successfully simulates crucial neural processing functions, including excitatory post-synaptic currents and double-pulse facilitation, while providing alerts for abnormal blood pressure signals. This system facilitates real-time data processing at the device edge, reducing power consumption, improving efficiency, and better addressing the demands of large-scale physiological pressure data processing. It presents a significant reference for future developments in biomedical electronics and bionics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Severe spinal cord injury results in the loss of neurons in the relatively intact spinal cord below the injury area and skeletal muscle atrophy in the paralyzed limbs. These pathological processes are significant obstacles for motor function reconstruction. Objective: We performed tail nerve electrical stimulation (TNES) to activate the motor neural circuits below the injury site of the spinal cord to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of the excitatory afferent neurons in promoting the reconstruction of locomotor function. Methods: Eight days after T10 spinal cord transection in rats, TNES was performed for 7 weeks. Behavioral scores were assessed weekly. Electrophysiological tests and double retrograde tracings were performed at week 8. Results: After 7 weeks of TNES treatment, there was restoration in innervation, the number of stem cells, and mitochondrial metabolism in the rats' hindlimb muscles. Double retrograde tracings of the tail nerve and sciatic nerve further confirmed the presence of synaptic connections between the tail nerve and central pattern generator (CPG) neurons in the lumbar spinal cord, as well as motor neurons innervating the hindlimb muscles. Conclusion: The mechanisms of TNES induced by the stimulation of primary afferent nerve fibers involves efficient activation of the motor neural circuits in the lumbosacral segment, alterations of synaptic plasticity, and the improvement of muscle and nerve regeneration, which provides the structural and functional foundation for the future use of cutting‐edge biological treatment strategies to restore voluntary movement of paralyzed hindlimbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of binaural beat music (BBM) on sleep quality, heart rate variability, and depression in older people with poor sleep quality in a long‐term care institution. Methods: A single‐blind randomized controlled trial design was employed, and 64 older participants with poor sleep quality were recruited from a long‐term care institution in Taiwan. Participants were randomized into the BBM group or control group and received 14 days of intervention. During the intervention period, participants in the experimental group listened to 20 min of Taiwanese Hokkien oldies embedded with BBM once in the morning and afternoon three times a week. Participants in the control group only listened to Taiwanese Hokkien oldies. Questionnaires and heart rate variability analysis were used to assess participants' sleep quality, heart rate variability, and depressive symptoms. Results: Significant improvements were observed in sleep quality, along with an increase in heart rate variability means of heart rate and normal sinus beats, and a decrease in low‐frequency normalized units and depression severity in the BBM group after the intervention. In the control group, effects on sleep quality were inconsistent, heart rate variability showed significant improvements in some autonomic nervous function regulation, and depression severity was significantly decreased. Furthermore, the BBM group showed a significant improvement in sleep quality and a significant reduction in sympathetic nervous activity compared with the control group. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that 14 days of BBM intervention, a non‐invasive intervention, could improve sleep quality and depression in older people with poor sleep quality in long‐term care institutions. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 297–304. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of the prevailing green development paradigm, numerous coal mines have embraced the adoption of gob-side entry retaining mining technology. The most commonly employed form of gob-side entry retaining involves building an artificial wall along the edge of the goaf behind the working face to maintain the roadway. The pivotal challenge in gob-side entry retaining lies in the roadside support. Currently, commonplace concrete serves as the predominant material for the roadside filling body. Nevertheless, traditional concrete exhibits drawbacks, including inadequate tensile strength and poor toughness, leading to wall cracks or even collapses in the retaining wall. Steel fiber, a frequently employed reinforcement and toughening agent in concrete, has found widespread application in the construction sector and other fields. However, its use as a roadside filling material in underground coal mines remains infrequent. Therefore, in this paper, the flow and mechanical properties of steel fiber concrete were tested and analyzed, and field industrial tests were conducted. Results of indoor experiments show that steel fibers reduce the slump of concrete. The addition of steel fibers shifted the pore compacting stage, linear elasticity stage, and destabilization stage forward and improved the post-peak bearing capacity. The addition of steel fibers makes the concrete compressive and tensile strength show a "first increase and then decrease" trend; both peaked at 1.5%, and the increase in tensile strength is more pronounced. Steel fibers enhance the strength of compressive strength of concrete at an early age, weaker at a late age, and tensile strength inversely. The addition of steel fiber can change the concrete matrix from tensile damage to shear damage, and the toughness index shows the trend of "first increase and then decrease", and reaches the peak value when the dosage is 1.5%. Industrial test results show that steel fiber concrete as a roadside filling body can reduce the surrounding rock surface displacement and bolt (cable) force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]