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The accurate sedimentation of metal droplets is of great importance in metal droplet-based three-dimensional printing. Detailed investigations of the process of metal droplet collision in a liquid–liquid system are still lacking, relative to studies on the atmospheric environment. In this study, the dynamics of the sedimentation behavior of metal droplets in a liquid–liquid system are experimentally investigated using a high-speed imaging system. The experimental results showed that with an increased impact velocity, metal droplets successively appear after the collision as coalescence, coalescence accompanied by rebound, and rebound. There is a critical impact velocity between the rebound and coalescence, which is related to the surface tension and droplet size of the metal droplets. Analysis of the mechanism of coalescence showed that mechanical oscillations occur during coalescence, which leads to a variation in the inherent surface tension. The greater the impact velocity, the greater the variation. In addition, a semi-empirical prediction formula for the Weber number and maximum spreading factor in the coalescence of metal droplets is developed. This work provides an improved theoretical understanding and superior practical printing efficiency and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an algorithm that imposes macroscopic physical constraints with Lagrange multiplier approach in implementing the Maxwell boundary condition within the framework of the discrete velocity method. For the simulation of rarefied gas flows in the presence of solid walls with complex geometry, the distribution function in the reflection region of the wall surface needs to be constructed in the discrete velocity space, to fulfill the specular reflection in the Maxwell boundary condition. The construction process should not consist of interpolation only, but include certain macroscopic physical constraints at the wall surface, so as to correctly account for gas-surface interaction on a macroscopic level. We demonstrate that for the specular reflection, keeping the symmetry of the first three moments of the distribution function between the incident and reflected region is sufficient for maintaining the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy at the wall surface. Furthermore, to strictly satisfy macroscopic physical constraints, a Lagrange multiplier method is introduced into the construction of the distribution function to correct the pure interpolation solution. In addition, the construction process requires the inversion of a large and sparse matrix (of dimension N × N , where N is the number of points in the velocity space). To improve the computational efficiency, the matrix inversion is converted into that of a much smaller matrix, i.e. (D + 2) × (D + 2) in the d -dimensional physical space. A series of numerical experiments are conducted to examine the performance of the proposed algorithm under different flow conditions. We demonstrate that the results obtained by the proposed algorithm are more accurate than the pure interpolation solution, comparing with the benchmark data. Moreover, after the validation of our results with previous studies, we find that the method significantly enhances the conservation of total mass and energy, especially for flows in an enclosed domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with the emission regulations specified in GB17691-2018 ″Emission Limits and Measurement Methods for Heavy-Duty Vehicles (China VI)," this paper conducted actual on-road emission testing of a specific N 2 heavy-duty diesel vehicle using a vehicle-mounted portable emission measurement system (PEMS). Grey relational analysis and principal component analysis were employed to select input parameters and reduce the dimensionality of input parameters, thereby enhancing the quality of the input parameters. The main framework of the model utilized a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) neural network characterized by a small scale, high accuracy, and good generalization capability. Innovatively, a combination optimization algorithm incorporating Bayesian algorithm and k-fold cross-validation was used to optimize hyperparameters, improving the predictive accuracy of the model. The training process employed a learning rate adjustment strategy that combined cosine annealing and exponential decay, thereby improving the search performance during the neural network training process. The resulting BO-GRU network exhibited a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.2352 (mg s−1) and a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9569 on the test set, indicating good predictive accuracy with a relatively small number of network parameters. This research provides a potential approach for the online precise monitoring of NOx emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles. • GRA and PCA minimized noise in input models, boosting parameter quality and model predictivity. • Bayesian optimization with K-fold cross-validation for hyperparameter tuning enhanced accuracy and training speed. • Cosine annealing and exponential decay improved training parameter search, enabling optimal parameter identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel mycovirus with the proposed name "Magnaporthe oryzae botourmiavirus 9" (MoBV9) was found in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae isolate SH05. The virus has a positive single-stranded RNA genome of 2,812 nucleotides and contains a single open reading frame predicted to encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that is closely related to those of some unclassified viruses of the family Botourmiaviridae, including Plasmopara viticola lesion associated ourmia-like virus 44, Plasmopara viticola lesion associated ourmia-like virus 47, and Cladosporium uredinicola ourmiavirus 1. Genome sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis supported the notion that MoBV9 is a new member of the family Botourmiaviridae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using social media for health purposes has attracted much attention over the past decade. Given the challenges of population ageing and changes in national health profile and disease patterns following the epidemiologic transition, researchers and policy-makers should pay attention to the potential of social media in chronic disease surveillance, management and support. This commentary overviews the evidence base for this inquiry and outlines the key challenges to research laying ahead. The authors provide concrete suggestions and recommendations for developing a research agenda to guide future investigation and action on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a three-dimensional diffuse-interface immersed-boundary (3D DIIB) method for the simulations of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) with dynamic wetting, complex geometry and contact angle hysteresis. In particular, the movement of rigid solid objects is allowed to have six degrees of freedom. In the method, the complex solid boundaries are represented by a set of Lagrangian patches that cover the whole surface of the solid objects, while the flows are solved on a staggered Cartesian grid. The couplings between the object movement and surrounding fluid flows are performed using an immersed boundary method. A simple model of contact angle hysteresis is used to ensure pinned contact lines if local contact angle is within the window of contact angle hysteresis. To relieve the stress singularity at moving contact lines, a characteristic moving contact line model [1] is adopted at 3D curved solid surfaces, after the geometrical information of interface is constructed in the vicinity of the contact line. For 3D simulations of FSI with dynamic wetting, it is crucial but difficult to estimate capillary force, of which the process consists of locating the moving contact line on complex solid surfaces, discretizing it into line segment, and determining the local tangent to the interface at the contact lines. Special consideration is given to the modeling of the capillary force and associated torque, in order to have accurate approximations. The performance of the 3D DIIB method is systematically examined through a series of numerical experiments, of which the results are either verified against theoretical predictions or compared with experimental data. Finally, we simulate the collision process of raindrops with 3D mosquito body, to show the potential of the 3D DIIB method in practical applications. • A method for fully 3D simulation of fluid-structure interaction with dynamic wetting. • The method allows for complex geometry and contact angle hysteresis. • Motion with six degrees of freedom motion has been considered. • Results are verified against theoretical predictions and experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D sharp interface method for compressible flows with topology change of interface. • Cell-splitting configurations decrease from 288 configurations to 12 basic ones. • Conservation laws are well maintained, even at interfaces with topology changes. • Numerical results are validated against various experimental ones. A three-dimensional (3D) conservative sharp interface (CSI) method, which combines 3D cut-cell methods and finite volume methods in the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian framework, is proposed to simulate compressible inviscid two-phase flows. The 3D cut-cell method allows to reconstruct interfaces on a Cartesian mesh and update unstructured interface cells in the vicinity of the interface, making the reconstructed interface always coinciding with the cell faces of the interface cells. The complexity in generating 3D interface cells is significantly reduced by exploiting the symmetry and rotational symmetry of fluid positions in a cut cell. Compared to our previous two-dimensional work (Lin et al. (2017) [17]), the occurrence of large interface cells is also avoided by using the new strategy of cell assembly. With the help of the 3D cut-cell method, a second-order finite volume method in the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian framework can be used nearly in the whole domain, except for the interface cells with under-resolved interfaces or topology changes, at which a first-order finite volume method is used instead. The convergence of the 3D CSI method is examined by studying the Rayleigh collapse of a gas bubble in water, and second-order accuracy has been obtained for the interface evolution. Simulation of shock-induced bubble collapse demonstrates that the axisymmetricity of the interface is well preserved in the 3D computation. Moreover, the 3D CSI methods are also given experimental validation, including the interaction of a shock with 3D curved gas-gas interface and droplet deformation after shock impact. In all cases, a good agreement has been achieved with the experimental data, with respect to the interface evolution and flow features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dicarbonyls glyoxal (Gly) and methylglyoxal (Mgly) are key tracers for the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere, but their atmospheric chemistry in remote forest environments is not well understood. A study was carried out during Jul. 31–Nov. 5 of 2016 at the summit of Mt. Tianjing (1690 m.a.s.l.), a remote mountaintop site in southern China, to measure the levels of Gly and Mgly and explore their sources and fate. During the study period, the average mixing ratios of Gly and Mgly were 509 ± 31 pptv and 340 ± 32 pptv, respectively, with the Gly/Mgly ratios averaging 1.8 ± 0.2. Both the dicarbonyl concentrations and the Gly/Mgly ratios were significantly higher than those observed in other background sites. Production yield calculations and meteorological data analysis indicate that high levels of Gly and Mgly observed at the study site were largely a combined result of rapid in-situ formation and regional transport by prevailing winds. On average, in-situ formation from precursors is estimated to account for 67% of the observed Mgly and about 9% of the observed Gly. There were significant changes in Gly and Mgly mixing ratios among different time periods when air masses from different source regions dominated, indicating contribution of regional transport to the observed dicarbonyl mixing ratios at the study site. Biogenic emissions in eastern China and anthropogenic emissions in the Pearl River Delta region were the two main sources responsible for the dicarbonyls observed at the site during most of the sampling period, but large-scale biomass burning in central China was also important in the late autumn, as supported by a backward trajectory analysis of fire spot data and the identification of biomass burning tracers. This study provides insights into the background atmospheric chemistry and the impact of biogenic and anthropogenic sources on the dicarbonyls speciation. Unlabelled Image • Extremely high levels of Gly, Mgly and Gly/Mgly were observed at a remote mountaintop site in southern China; • Strong atmospheric oxidation capacity in this region can explain about 67% of the measured MGly but only 9% for Gly; • Regional transport heavily influenced the Gly concentration and the Gly/MGly ratio at the national background station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the bounce behavior of droplets impacting a moving superhydrophobic groove surface (SGS) and focused on the effect of the normal and tangential Weber numbers (W e n and W e s , respectively). The experimental results indicate that the rebound behavior of the droplets varied greatly with the substrate velocity at the same W e n . Furthermore, with an increase in the superhydrophobic substrate velocity, the maximum spreading diameter increased, whereas the dimensionless contact time first increased, then decreased, and finally stabilized. Additionally, scaling laws for predicting the maximum spreading diameter and velocity recovery coefficients were proposed and verified using our experimental data. • The droplet rebounds more easily on a moving superhydrophobic groove surface. • A model to predict the maximum spreading diameter in the not reached Wenzel state. • The ɛ n of a droplet bouncing off a moving surface is less than the static one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the evolution characteristics of turbulent jet diffusion flame (flame trajectory-line length, flame height in vertical jet direction) with increasing cross flows in a sub-pressure (64 kPa) atmosphere. The combined effect of cross flow and a special sub-pressure atmosphere condition is revealed, where no data is available in the literatures. Experiments are carried out with a wind tunnel built specially in Lhasa city (altitude: 3650 m; pressure: 64 kPa) and in Hefei city (altitude: 50 m; pressure: 100 kPa), using nozzles with diameter of 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm and propane as fuel. It is found that, as cross flow air speed increases from zero, the flame trajectory-line length firstly decreases and then becomes almost stable (for relative small nozzle, 3 mm in this study) or increases (for relative large nozzle, 4 mm and 5 mm in this study) beyond a transitional critical cross flow air speed in normal pressure, however decreases monotonically until being blown-out in the sub-pressure atmosphere. The flame height in jet direction decreases monotonically with cross air flow speed and then reaches a steady value in both pressures. For the transitional state of flame trajectory-line length with increasing cross air flow speed, the corresponding critical cross flow air speed is found to be proportional to the fuel jet velocity, meanwhile independent of nozzle diameter. Correlation models are proposed for the flame height in jet direction and the flame trajectory-line length for both ambient pressures, which are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the temperature gradient within plasma-sprayed yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on the thermal cyclic lifetime of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) was investigated via gradient thermal cycling test and theoretical model. YSZ surface was heated to the peak temperature in 70 s, then kept for a dwell time of 50 s at the peak temperature and cooled down to 100 °C in 120 s. YSZ surface temperatures were set to be 1150 °C, 1200 °C and 1250 °C, corresponding to temperature differences of 150 °C, 200 °C and 250 °C across 250 µm thick YSZ coating, respectively. A theoretical model is introduced to describe the correlation between thermal cyclic lifetime and temperature gradient. Experimental results show that the temperature gradient has a remarkable impact on the thermal cyclic lifetime of TBCs, which decreases with increasing temperature gradient. The theoretical model reveals that thermal cyclic lifetime of TBCs decreases with the increase of the temperature gradient following a power function, which reasonably agrees with the experimental results. Moreover, it was found that the temperature gradient has little effect on the cracking mode of the TBCs because the stress distribution characteristics in TBCs subjected to thermal cycling with different temperature gradients remain unchanged based on the numerical simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A conservative sharp interface method is developed to simulate displacements of and collisions among particle clouds. • A hard sphere model is proposed to handle multi-body collisions among a number of particles. • Simulations are performed for the interaction between shocks and 2D/3D particles. • Results are verified against experimental data and benchmark solutions. In this paper we present a second-order accurate conservative sharp interface method capable of simulating displacements and collisions of many particles in compressible inviscid flows. We implement a cut cell algorithm to resolve moving particles of arbitrary shape on a Cartesian mesh, thereby generating unstructured body-fitted meshes near the particle surfaces and structured meshes away from the particles. A second-order finite volume method in the arbitrary Lagrange-Eulerian framework is used for the discretization of the Euler equations, so that exact conservation of mass, momentum and energy is enforced for the flow computations, even in the presence of moving particles. The boundary condition at the particle surfaces is enforced by solving a local Riemann problem, which is constructed in the direction normal to the solid surface. The movement of a particle is affected by the forces exerted by the surrounding fluid and its collisions with other particles. A hard sphere model is proposed to deal with the particle collisions; in particular, it is capable of handling multi-body collisions occurring in no-dilute particle clouds, regardless of the number of particles involved. Furthermore, the model ensures the conservation of momentum and energy during the collision process. The method is validated by comparing against benchmark solutions or experimental data available in the literature, for test cases such as supersonic flows past a stationary cylinder and lift-off of rigid cylinders after shock impact. Good agreement has been achieved qualitatively and quantitatively. The method is also used to investigate the complicated flow phenomena, e.g. transport of particle clouds in supersonic flows through a confined channel and the interaction between shocks and three-dimensional particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing demand for safe and high-energy-density batteries urges the exploration of ultrathin, lightweight solid electrolytes with high ionic conductivity. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) with high flexibility, reduced interfacial resistance and excellent processability have been attracting significant attentions. However, reducing the thickness of SPEs to be comparable with that of commercial separators increases the risk of short-circuiting. Herein, an ultrathin (≈7 μm), flexible and mechanical robust SPE was constructed from a rationally designed multi-functional polymer network, i.e. , poly[2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate- r -(2-ethylhexyl acrylate)- r -methyl methacrylate- r -1,4-bis(acryloyloxy)butane] (PTEM) and porous polyethylene (PE). The resultant PTEM@PE electrolyte possesses a high tensile strength of 128.0 MPa with extensibility up to 34.8%, which could effectively prevent short-circuiting and minimize the interfacial resistance of cells. The obtained all-solid-state Li|PTEM@PE|LiFePO 4 cell exhibited stable cycling performance over 1500 cycles at 0.5 C with a capacity retention of 74.4%. With high-voltage NCM811 as the cathode, the cell fabricated with PTEM@PE showed a remarkable capacity retention of 84.2% over 500 cycles. Even with the high-mass loading (≈3 mA h cm -2 ) NCM811 cathode, the cell could be operated at ambient temperature, demonstrating superior ion-migration kinetics. The current design provides a promising strategy to develop ultrathin and multifunctional solid electrolytes for safe, long-cycling and high-energy-density all-solid-state batteries.

The fundamental pathophysiological mechanism in the progression of chronic heart failure following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is ventricular remodeling, in which innate and adaptive immunity both play critical roles. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have been demonstrated to function in a range of pathological conditions, such as infections, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and tumors. However, it is unclear how MDSCs contribute to cardiac remodeling following AMI. This study aimed to identify the function and underlying mechanism of MDSCs in controlling cardiac remodeling following AMI. Following AMI in mice, MDSCs frequencies changed dynamically, considerably increased on day 7 in blood, spleens, lymph nodes and hearts, and decreased afterwards. Consistently, mice with AMI displayed enhanced cardiac function on day 14 post-AMI, reduced infract size and higher survival rates on day 28 post-AMI following the adoptive transfer of MDSCs. Furthermore, MDSCs inhibited the inflammatory response by decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-17, Cxcl-1, and Cxcl-2) expression, up-regulating anti-inflammatory cytokine (TGF-β1, IL-10, IL-4, and IL-13) expression, reducing CD3 + T cell infiltration in the infarcted heart and enhancing M2 macrophage polarization. Mechanistically, MDSCs improved the release of anti-inflammatory factors (TGF-β1 and IL-10) and decreased the injury of LPS-induced cardiomyocytes in vitro in a manner dependent on cell-cell contact. Importantly, blockade of IL-10 partially abolished the cardioprotective role of MDSCs. This study found that MDSCs contributed to the restoration of cardiac function and alleviation of adverse cardiac remodeling after AMI possibly by inhibiting inflammation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A novel negative-sense single-stranded RNA mycovirus, designated as "Magnaporthe oryzae mymonavirus 1" (MoMNV1), was identified in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae isolate NJ39. MoMNV1 has a single genomic RNA segment consisting of 10,515 nucleotides, which contains six open reading frames. The largest open reading frame contains 5837 bases and encodes an RNA replicase. The six open reading frames have no overlap and are arranged linearly on the genome, but the spacing of the genes is small, with a maximum of 315 bases and a minimum of 80 bases. Genome comparison and phylogenetic analysis indicated that MoMNV1 is a new member of the genus Penicillimonavirus of the family Mymonaviridae., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: Conversational agents (CAs) with emerging artificial intelligence present new opportunities to assist in health interventions but are difficult to evaluate, deterring their applications in the real world. We aimed to synthesize existing evidence and knowledge and outline an evaluation framework for CA interventions., Materials and Methods: We conducted a systematic scoping review to investigate designs and outcome measures used in the studies that evaluated CAs for health interventions. We then nested the results into an overarching digital health framework proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO)., Results: The review included 81 studies evaluating CAs in experimental (n = 59), observational (n = 15) trials, and other research designs (n = 7). Most studies (n = 72, 89%) were published in the past 5 years. The proposed CA-evaluation framework includes 4 evaluation stages: (1) feasibility/usability, (2) efficacy, (3) effectiveness, and (4) implementation, aligning with WHO's stepwise evaluation strategy. Across these stages, this article presents the essential evidence of different study designs (n = 8), sample sizes, and main evaluation categories (n = 7) with subcategories (n = 40). The main evaluation categories included (1) functionality, (2) safety and information quality, (3) user experience, (4) clinical and health outcomes, (5) costs and cost benefits, (6) usage, adherence, and uptake, and (7) user characteristics for implementation research. Furthermore, the framework highlighted the essential evaluation areas (potential primary outcomes) and gaps across the evaluation stages., Discussion and Conclusion: This review presents a new framework with practical design details to support the evaluation of CA interventions in healthcare research., Protocol Registration: The Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/9hq2v) on March 22, 2021., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: IgG4-related disease with multiorgan involvement predicts higher disease activity, thus, it is necessary to identify whether IgG4-related disease involves multiple organs at the early stage. To further clarify the clinical characteristics and risk factors for IgG4-related disease with multiorgan involvement, we conducted an observational study., Methods: We retrospectively analysed the clinical data of 160 patients who were primarily diagnosed with IgG4-related disease at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2015 to January 2021. According to the number of involved organs, patients were divided into two groups: multiorgan involvement and nonmultiorgan involvement. Patients were divided into a multiorgan group and a nonmultiorgan group according to multiple organ involvement., Results: There were 82 cases identified with multiorgan involvement and 78 cases diagnosed with no multiorgan involvement in this series. Most cases were elderly and male (p > 0.05). The most frequently affected organs in IgG4-RD were the lymph nodes (50.6 %), pancreas (38.7 %) and salivary glands (35.6 %). Multivariate analysis showed that eosinophilia, IgG4>2*ULN, lymph node involvement, salivary gland involvement and lung involvement were independent risk factors for multiorgan involvement (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: The main issues in clinical practice are how to accurately diagnose the disease and screen the more vulnerable organs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Methyl protodioscin (MPD) is the main component of total diosgenin, which was reported to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels potentially. This study aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of MPD against lipid disorder in hyperlipidemic gerbils induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). Hyperlipidemia was induced in gerbils by feeding them with HFD for six weeks, and a daily oral dose of MPD solution (25 and 50 mg/kg/day) was administered. This study investigated blood lipid levels and hepatic lipid accumulation in hyperlipidemic gerbils. The potential mechanism of MPD was explored by detecting the expression level of genes, including SREBPs, ACC, FASN, HMGCR, PCSK9, and LDL-R. The results showed that MPD treatment decreased the body weight, the relative weight of the liver, blood lipid, and hepatic lipid levels of gerbils fed with HFD. The administration of MPD alleviates liver steatosis and injury in gerbils fed with an HFD. MPD treatment reduced the expression of HMGCR, increased the expression of LDL-R, and decreased the expression of PCSK9 for cholesterol reduction. Additionally, MPD treatment reduced the expression of hepatic ACC and FASN for triglycerides reduction. The underlying mechanisms for these effects are attributed to MPD-induced inhibition of protein expression of LXR, SREBP1, and SREBP2. This study demonstrates that MPD protects gerbils against lipid disorders and liver injury by suppressing hepatic SREBPs expression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted without commercial or financial relationships construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Droplets directionally bouncing off moving superhydrophobic solid surfaces are universal in nature and are crucial in many biological, sustainable, environmental, and engineering applications. However, their underlying physics and regulation strategies remain relatively unknown. This paper demonstrates that the maximum directional acceleration of a post-impact droplet mainly occurs in the spreading stage and that the orientational velocity of the droplet mainly originates in the early impingement process. Furthermore, it clarifies the underlying physics based on momentum transfer process imposed by the boundary layer of impacts and proposes a strategy for regulating the directional droplet velocity using a comprehensive formula. Finally, it shows that directional bouncing reduces the flight momentum of a small flying device by 10%-22%, and the experimental values agree closely with the predicted values. This study reveals the droplet bounce orientation mechanism imposed by moving substrates, provides manipulation methods, and makes positive and meaningful discussions of practical applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

There is increasing evidence that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of gastric cancer (GC), however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified lncRNA BC002811 as a critical regulator of GC development and progression. BC002811 was upregulated in GC tissues and cell lines, and that high expression of BC002811 was indicative of a reduction in overall survival of GC patients. Our research reveals that BC002811 promoted GC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and inhibition of apoptosis in vitro , as well as accelerated tumor growth and metastasis in vivo . We also found that BC002811 upregulated MMP2 and MMP9 and promoted GC cell metastasis partially through downregulating PTEN expression. BC002811 may act as a molecular decoy for the transcription factor SOX2, thereby inhibiting the transcription of PTEN by blocking SOX2 binding to the PTEN promoter. Our study advances the understanding of the role of BC002811 in the pathogenesis of GC and provides new molecular targets for therapeutic intervention against GC metastasis., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of dihydromyricetin (DMY) on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell proliferation, apoptosis and to reveal the underlying mechanism in vitro experiments., Methods: The CNE-2 cell line was treated with different concentrations of DMY and the effects of DMY on cell viability and proliferation were evaluated using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and plate colony formation assay. Cellular apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry following Annexin V fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidine iodide staining. Nuclei morphology was observed under a fluorescence microscope following Hoechst 333258 staining. The expression of phosphorylated inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (p-IKKβ), phosphorylated inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit alpha (p-IKKα), inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B alpha (IκB-α), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)/p65 was examined by Western blot analysis and the nuclear translocation of NF-κB/p65 was observed using a confocal laser scanning microscopy., Results: DMY inhibited the proliferative capability and colony formation of NPC CNE-2 cells. Meanwhile, DMY induced apoptosis of CNE-2 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner via upregulating B-cell lymphoma-2 associated X, but downregulating B-cell lymphoma-2 and pro-caspase-3. Importantly, we found that DMY suppressed tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-mediated NF-κB activation via inhibiting p-IKKβ, p-IKKα and blocking NF-κB subunit p65., Conclusion: Our experiments demonstrated that DMY had significant antiproliferative and apoptosisinducing effects on CNE-2 cells. Additionally, DMY promoted inactivation of p-IKKβ, p-IKKα, and blocked the nuclear translocation of NF-κB subunit p65. These results suggest that DMY may be an important therapeutic approach for NPC.

Background: Many patients with diabetes require insulin therapy to achieve optimal glycemic control. Initiation and titration of insulin often require an insulin dose adjustment (IDA) program, involving frequent exchange of blood glucose levels (BGLs) and insulin prescription advice between the patient and healthcare team. This process is time consuming with logistical barriers., Objective: To develop an innovative mobile health (m-Health) mobile-based IDA program (mIDA) and evaluate the user adherence and experience through a proof-of-concept trial., Methods: In the program, an m-Health system was designed to be integrated within a clinical IDA service, comprising a Bluetooth-enabled glucose meter, smartphone application, and clinician portal. Insulin-requiring patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus and stable BGL were recruited to use the m-Health system to record and exchange BGL entries, insulin dosages, and clinical messages for 2 weeks. The user experience was evaluated by a Likert scale questionnaire., Results: Nine participants, aged 58 ± 14 years (mean ± SD), completed the trial with average daily records of 3.1 BGL entries and 1.2 insulin dosage entries. The participants recognized the potential value of the clinical messages. They felt confident about managing their diabetes and were positive regarding ease of use and family support of the system, but disagreed that there were no technical issues. Finally, they were satisfied with the program and would continue to use it if possible., Conclusions: The m-Health system for IDA showed promising levels of adherence, usability, perception of usefulness, and satisfaction. Further research is required to assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of using this system in outpatient settings.

Background: An ongoing challenge for smart homes research for aging-in-place is how to make sense of the large amounts of data from in-home sensors to facilitate real-time monitoring and develop reliable alerts., Objective: The objective of our study was to explore the usefulness of a routine-based approach for making sense of smart home data for the elderly., Methods: Maximum variation sampling was used to select three cases for an in-depth mixed methods exploration of the daily routines of three elderly participants in a smart home trial using 180 days of power use and motion sensor data and longitudinal interview data., Results: Sensor data accurately matched self-reported routines. By comparing daily movement data with personal routines, it was possible to identify changes in routine that signaled illness, recovery from bereavement, and gradual deterioration of sleep quality and daily movement. Interview and sensor data also identified changes in routine with variations in temperature and daylight hours., Conclusions: The findings demonstrated that a routine-based approach makes interpreting sensor data easy, intuitive, and transparent. They highlighted the importance of understanding and accounting for individual differences in preferences for routinization and the influence of the cyclical nature of daily routines, social or cultural rhythms, and seasonal changes in temperature and daylight hours when interpreting information based on sensor data. This research has demonstrated the usefulness of a routine-based approach for making sense of smart home data, which has furthered the understanding of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to make real-time monitoring and effective alerts a reality., (©Yasmin van Kasteren, Dana Bradford, Qing Zhang, Mohan Karunanithi, Hang Ding. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 13.06.2017.)

Objective: To summarize the clinical experience of vascular repair and reconstruction for treating superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) caused by thoracic tumor., Methods: Between October 2008 and June 2016, 26 patients with thoracic tumor and SVCS were admitted. There were 18 males and 8 females, aged from 27 to 70 years (mean, 45.9 years). Tumor was typed as B1-B3 thymoma in 13 cases, thymic carcinoma in 6 cases, large B-cell lymphoma in 3 cases, T lymphocytic lymphoma in 1 case, malignant teratoma in 1 case, right lung squamous cell carcinoma in 1 case, and carcinoid in 1 case. The tumor diameter ranged from 8 to 15 cm with an average of 10 cm. The patients had different degrees of neck, face, and upper extremity edema, jugular vein distention, and chest wall collateral venous filling. The superior vena cava pressure was 2.45-5.39 kPa. After excision of tumor and invading superior vena cava, 7 patients underwent superior vena cava reconstruction and 19 patients underwent artificial vascular replacement., Results: There was no perioperative death, and the symptoms of superior vena cava obstruction were eliminated. Postoperative pulmonary infection, respiratory muscle weakness, and right chylothorax occurred in 4 cases, 1 case, and 1 case respectively. Twenty-four patients were followed up 2-92 months (mean, 37 months), and 2 patients failed to be followed up. At 1, 3, and 5 years, the survival rate was 83.3% (20/24), 41.7% (10/24), and 25% (6/24), respectively. In 6 patients with 5-year survival, there were 1 case of type B1 thymoma, 3 cases of type B3 thymoma, and 2 cases of large B-cell lymphoma., Conclusion: For preoperative evaluation of SVCS caused by resectable thoracic tumors, vascular repair and recons-truction technique can be used to quickly and effectively relieve the clinical symptoms and improve the quality of life.

Over 380 million adults worldwide are currently living with diabetes and the number has been projected to reach 590 million by 2035. Uncontrolled diabetes often lead to complications, disability, and early death. In the management of diabetes, dietary intervention to control carbohydrate intake is essential to help manage daily blood glucose level within a recommended range. The intervention traditionally relies on a self-report to estimate carbohydrate intake through a paper based diary. The traditional approach is known to be inaccurate, inconvenient, and resource intensive. Additionally, patients often require a long term of learning or training to achieve a certain level of accuracy and reliability. To address these issues, we propose a design of a smartphone application that automatically estimates carbohydrate intake from food images. The application uses imaging processing techniques to classify food type, estimate food volume, and accordingly calculate the amount of carbohydrates. To examine the proof of concept, a small fruit database was created to train a classification algorithm implemented in the application. Consequently, a set of fruit photos (n=6) from a real smartphone were applied to evaluate the accuracy of the carbohydrate estimation. This study demonstrates the potential to use smartphones to improve dietary intervention, although further studies are needed to improve the accuracy, and extend the capability of the smartphone application to analyse broader food contents.

People with Parkinson's disease are known to have difficulties in language and communication. This paper proposes the use of an artificial conversational agent, commonly known as a chat-bot that runs on a smart-phone device and performs two-way conversation with the user. In this paper, initial work on a Parkinson's disease themed chat-bot that interacts with the user relative to their symptoms is presented. Potential dialogues are provided to illustrate the various roles chat-bots can play in the management of Parkinson's disease. The chat-bot can be used for measuring voice and communication outcomes during the daily life of the user, and for gaining information about challenges encountered. Moreover, it is anticipated that it may also have an educational and support role. The chat-bot is now ready for usability testing with a clinical population.

The nature of the stereochemically active lone pair has long been a matter for debate. Here, by application of our recently developed orbital selective external potential (OSEP) method, we have studied the microscopic mechanism of stereochemically active lone pairs in various compounds. The OSEP method allows us to shift the energy level of a specific atomic orbital, therefore is helpful to identify unambiguously the role of this orbital in the chemical and physical properties of the system we are interested in. Our numerical results, with compelling proofs, demonstrate that the on-site mixing of the cation valence s orbital with the nominally empty p orbitals of the same subshell is crucial to the formation of a lone pair, whereas the anion p orbital has only a small effect. Our detailed investigation of Sn and Pb monochalcogenides shows that structures of these systems have significant effects on lone pairs. In return, the formation of lone pairs, which can be controlled by our OSEP method, could result in structural instabilities of Sn and Pb monochalcogenides.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in Australia, and places large burdens on the healthcare system. To assist patients with CVDs in recovering from cardiac events and mediating cardiac risk factors, a home based cardiac rehabilitation program, known as the Care Assessment Platform (CAP), was developed. In the CAP program, patients are required to manually enter health information into their mobile phones on a daily basis. The manual operation is often subject to human errors and is inconvenient for some elderly patients. To improve this, an automated wireless solution has been desired. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the feasibility of implementing the newly released Bluetooth 4.0 (BT4.0) for the CAP program, and practically evaluate BT4.0 communications between a developed mobile application and some emulated healthcare devices. The study demonstrated that BT4.0 addresses usability, interoperability and security for healthcare applications, reduces the power consumption in wireless communication, and improves the flexibility of interface for software development. This evaluation study provides an essential mobile BT4.0 framework to incorporate a large range of healthcare devices for clinical assessment and intervention in the CAP program, and hence it is useful for similar development and research work of other mobile healthcare solutions.

The spherical mesoporous particles with two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal mesopores in diameter up to 11.6 nm was fabricated in acetic acid/sodium buffer solution (pH = 3.5) by using tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) as silica source, Pluronic P123 as template and 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene (TIPB) as swelling agent. Then the mesoporous particles were employed as carriers for the immobilization of lignin peroxidase (LiP). The effect of immobilization time, the amount of added enzyme on the immobilized enzyme amount and activities were investigated. The characteristic and stability of immobilized LiP were also studied. The results showed that, as the mass ratio of enzyme (E) and mesoporous material (MS) was 76.8 mg/g,immobilizing time was 12 h, the largest immobilized enzyme amount (8.87 mg/g) and highest apparent activity (41.45 U/mg) of immobilization LiP were achieved. Comparing with free LiP, the optimum pH and temperature of the immobilized LiP were almost the same, while whose pH stability and thermal stability were significantly improved. No obvious activity loss was observed for the immobilized LiP after 7 weeks storage at 4 degrees C. After 6 times of usage, almost 30% of the initial activity could still remain.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading chronic diseases affecting developed countries. Traditional approach to secondary prevention of CVD through hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is hampered by the lack of uptake and adherence.

Cardiac rehabilitation programs are traditionally carried out in hospitals and health centers under the direct personal supervision of mentoring clinicians. Patient barriers, such as time constraints and distance from treatment centers, have lead to poor uptake of programs among eligible patients. To overcome these barriers, home-based care models have been proposed as a viable alternative to hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation programs. We have developed a measurement system and software tools on a mobile phone platform enabling patients to participate in a home-based cardiac rehabilitation exercise program. A mobile application, TuneWalk, gives guidance to the patients during home exercises using heart rate and physical activity analysis and also stores long-term information about their progress during the weeks of the rehabilitation program. The measured data are also sent to a server for remote exercise performance analysis and consultation by the patient's personal mentor.

Objective: To study the effect and its possible mechanism of genistein on the cell cycle of human highly metastatic ovarian carcinoma HO-8910PM cells., Methods: Trypan blue stain assay was used to examine the effect of genistein on proliferation of HO-8910PM cells after 24 hours treatment. The cell cycle was assessed by flowcytometry (FCM). The expression level of NF-kappaB (p65) and the level of VEGF were assessed by Western blot analysis., Results: Genistein could inhibit the proliferation of HO-8910PM cell and block the cell cycle at G1 phase. The expession level of NF-kappaB (P65) protein decreased obviously in HO-8910PM cells treated with 25 approximately 100 micromol/L genistein for 24 hours, and the effect appeared in the experssion of VEGF., Conclusion: The effect on cell cycle of genistein is involved in the decreasing expression of NF kappaB (p65) and the level of VEGF.