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Objective. To study the mechanism of acupuncture on premature ovarian failure (POF) through the apoptosis pathway mediated by Bcl-2/Bax. Methods. POF rats were successfully obtained by cyclophosphamide. They were divided into five groups. After that, acupuncture was performed. The blank group and model group were not treated. The routine acupuncture group was acupuncture at Guanyuan, Sanyinjiao, Zhongji, and Guilai four points. The Neck-seven-acupuncture group was selected from Fengchi, Fengfu, Tianzhu, and Wangu four acupoints; the three-viscera simultaneous treatment group selected Guanyuan, Shenshu, Sanyinjiao, Taichong, and Baihui five points; and the data mining group selected Guanyuan and Sanyinjiao two points for 14 days of treatment. During the treatment, some rats were shed one after another due to the side effects of bone marrow suppression caused by mold-making. After treatment, serum estradiol (E2), follicle forming hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were detected by radioimmunoassay, Bcl-2 and Bax proteins were analyzed by Western blot method, and Bcl-2 and Bax RNA were analyzed by PCR method. Results. Bcl-2 increased and Bax decreased in rats with premature ovarian failure treated with acupuncture. It shows that acupuncture can affect the secretion of ovarian-related hormones and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, which is more significant in the conventional acupuncture point group. Conclusion. Acupuncture can inhibit the apoptosis of granulosa cells in ovarian tissue of rats with premature ovarian failure and improve ovarian function. The mechanism of its effect is to promote Bcl-2 gene expression and protein synthesis and inhibit Bax gene expression and protein synthesis. The conventional treatment group works best. This provides an experimental basis for the clinical use of acupuncture to intervene in the treatment of premature ovarian failure.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and shown serious social influence worldwide. Jilin Province, China, experienced the first wave of the outbreak from December 2020 to February 2021. Here, we analyzed the genomic characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Jilin province using a phylogeographic tree and found that clinical isolates belonged to the B.1 lineage, which was considered to be the ancestral lineage. Several dominant SARS-CoV-2 specific linear B cell epitopes that reacted with the convalescent sera were also analysed and identified using a peptide microarray composed of S, M, and E proteins. Moreover, the serum of convalescent patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 showed neutralizing activity against four widely spreading SARS-CoV-2 variants; however, significant differences were observed in neutralizing activities against different SARS-CoV-2 variants. These data provide important information on genomic characteristics, linear epitopes, and neutralizing activity of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Jilin Province, China, which may aid in understanding disease patterns and regional aspects of the pandemic.

Background: The monoamine neurotransmitter disorders are neurometabolic syndromes caused by disturbances in the synthesis, transport and metabolism of the biogenic amines (the catecholamines dopami...

OBJECTIVE: The apoptotic autophagy pathway in premature ovarian failure has received much attention in recent years. To explore the specific mechanism of the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of POF, the group will further investigate the role of genes related to the profiling system. METHODS: In this study, we first searched POF using the databases GEO, GAD, and DigSeE, and then explored the relevant gene functions by enrichment analysis. Also, the association with acupuncture intervention was verified by using the databases DAB and TTD. Next, protein interaction networks were mapped and analyzed using CytoScape 3.2.1 software, the databases STRING and DAVID, which were explored in depth by consensus clustering and regression analysis optimization. Finally, the prediction model was constructed and tested through bibliometrics, confirming that the study is reliable and in good agreement with the conclusions obtained by the current leading researchers. RESULTS: We collated apoptotic autophagy-related genes and found that the mechanism of action of acupuncture intervention in premature ovarian failure may be related to PI3K/Akt-mediated apoptosis and autophagic processes in granulosa cells. CONCLUSION: Analysis of the mechanism of action of acupuncture intervention in premature ovarian failure may be related to the cell proliferation and apoptosis pathway represented by PI3K/Akt, which alters the number of primordial follicles and affects ovarian reserve function through bioactive factor effects during follicular atresia.

HighlightsAnalyzing the fruit removal force and harvesting time of Sapindus fills a gap of Sapindus research.A dual excitation vibration method for harvesting Sapindus and the best harvesting parameters were obtained.The microstructure of the different fracturing locations was analyzed for the first time. Abstract.To address the issue of labor intensity in the harvest of Sapindus fruit, it is necessary to understand the harvesting properties of Sapindus mukorossi. In this study, a fruit removal force (FRF) test platform was used to analyze the relationship between the FRF and maturation time. An eccentric vibration harvesting test was conducted to obtain the frequency, acceleration, and other parameters of the Sapindus tree. According to the different falling locations of fruit, the fracturing locations were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results revealed that the optimal time (9 to 12 November) to harvest is in the middle of the harvest period. Additionally, the shear force from 1.0N to 5.2 N was less than the tensile force from 2.7 to 10.2 N. Therefore, back and forth swinging is the major fracturing form of the fruit. Moreover, dual excitation is preferable to single-point excitation, and the acceleration root mean square (RMS) of the dual excitation was two to three times the acceleration RMS of single point excitation. The harvesting efficiency of dual excitation was 92.3% at 20 Hz. Additionally, there existed four fracturing locations for harvested fruit, as the frequency increased. Furthermore, the fracturing in the ear and stem was the most important form of fracturing, and microscopic observations revealed that it had a thinner and tidier cell wall and cell cavity. Keywords: Sapindus, Fruit removal force, Vibration, Microstructure.

Editing operations such as cut, copy, paste, and correcting errors in typed text are often tedious and challenging to perform on smartphones. In this paper, we present VT, a voice and touch-based multi-modal text editing and correction method for smartphones. To edit text with VT, the user glides over a text fragment with a finger and dictates a command, such as "bold" to change the format of the fragment, or the user can tap inside a text area and speak a command such as "highlight this paragraph" to edit the text. For text correcting, the user taps approximately at the area of erroneous text fragment and dictates the new content for substitution or insertion. VT combines touch and voice inputs with language context such as language model and phrase similarity to infer a user's editing intention, which can handle ambiguities and noisy input signals. It is a great advantage over the existing error correction methods (e.g., iOS's Voice Control) which require precise cursor control or text selection. Our evaluation shows that VT significantly improves the efficiency of text editing and text correcting on smartphones over the touch-only method and the iOS's Voice Control method. Our user studies showed that VT reduced the text editing time by 30.80%, and text correcting time by 29.97% over the touch-only method. VT reduced the text editing time by 30.81%, and text correcting time by 47.96% over the iOS's Voice Control method.

Back-of-device interaction is a promising approach to interacting on smartphones. In this paper, we create a back-of-device command and text input technique called BackSwipe, which allows a user to hold a smartphone with one hand, and use the index finger of the same hand to draw a word-gesture anywhere at the back of the smartphone to enter commands and text. To support BackSwipe, we propose a back-of-device word-gesture decoding algorithm which infers the keyboard location from back-of-device gestures, and adjusts the keyboard size to suit the gesture scales; the inferred keyboard is then fed back into the system for decoding. Our user study shows BackSwipe is feasible and a promising input method, especially for command input in the one-hand holding posture: users can enter commands at an average accuracy of 92% with a speed of 5.32 seconds/command. The text entry performance varies across users. The average speed is 9.58 WPM with some users at 18.83 WPM; the average word error rate is 11.04% with some users at 2.85%. Overall, BackSwipe complements the extant smartphone interaction by leveraging the back of the device as a gestural input surface.

Current text correction processes on mobile touch devices are laborious: users either extensively use backspace, or navigate the cursor to the error position, make a correction, and navigate back, usually by employing multiple taps or drags over small targets. In this chapter, we present two techniques, Type, Then Correct and JustCorrect, that utilize the power of artificial intelligence to improve the text correction experience on mobile devices. All of the techniques skip error-deletion and cursor-positioning procedures, and instead allow the user to type the correction first, and then apply that correction to a previously committed error. We evaluated these techniques in and the results show that correction with the new techniques was faster than de facto cursor and backspace-based correction.

Correcting errors in entered text is a common task but usually difficult to perform on mobile devices due to tedious cursor navigation steps. In this paper, we present JustCorrect, an intelligent post hoc text correction technique for smartphones. To make a correction, the user simply types the correct text at the end of their current input, and JustCorrect will automatically detect the error and apply the correction in the form of an insertion or a substitution. In this way, manual navigation steps are bypassed, and the correction can be committed with a single tap. We solved two critical problems to support JustCorrect: (1) Correction Algorithm: we propose an algorithm that infers the user's correction intention from the last typed word. (2) Input Modalities: our study revealed that both tap and gesture were suitable input modalities for performing JustCorrect. Based on our findings, we integrated JustCorrect into a soft keyboard. Our user studies show that using JustCorrect reduces the text correction time by 12.8% over the stock Android keyboard and by 9.7% over the "Type, then Correct" text correction technique by Zhang et al. (2019). Overall, JustCorrect complements existing post hoc text correction techniques, making error correction more automatic and intelligent.

Ln (Yb3+Er3+)-doped NaGdF4 nanoparticles were prepared by a hydrothermal method. The structure and composition of the samples as prepared nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, TEM, and UV-visible absorption-spectrum analysis. Based on further analysis results that are rarely reported, the cyclohexane solution sample shows peak at 376, 520 and 653nm. The transmitted spectrum indicated that all samples present the pure hexagonal phase with nanorods microstructure. It was found that the Gd ions’ doping percentage from 73% to 93% is more beneficial to glow. The synthesis steps of the hydrothermal method are simple and the particles synthesized by this method showed uniform size, table structure and good dispersion. The lanthanide fluoride nanocrystals prepared in this experiment can be used as an excellent optical material. The samples were then irradiated by laser 980 nm at room temperature, and they emitted bright and unusually stable upconvert visible light. Experiments have shown that NaGdF4 (Yb3+Er3+) can present good up-conversion luminescence. Therefore, it provides us with more possibilities in application fields such as probes, scanning and display.

Expert interaction techniques like hotkeys are efficient, but poorly adopted because they are hard to learn. HotStrokes removes the need for learning arbitrary mappings of commands to hotkeys. A user enters a HotStroke by holding a modifier key, then gesture typing a command name on a laptop trackpad as if on an imaginary virtual keyboard. The gestures are recognized using an adaptation of the SHARK2 algorithm with a new spatial model and a refined method for dynamic suggestions. A controlled experiment shows HotStrokes effectively augments the existing "menu and hotkey" command activation paradigm. Results show the method is efficient by reducing command activation time by 43% compared to linear menus. The method is also easy to learn with a high adoption rate, replacing 91% of linear menu usage. Finally, combining linear menus, hotkeys, and HotStrokes leads to 24% faster command activation overall.

Gesture typing has been a widely adopted text entry method on touchscreen devices. We have conducted a study to understand whether older adults could gesture type, how they type, what are the strengths and weaknesses of gesture typing, and how to further improve it. By logging stroke-level interaction data and leveraging the existing modeling tools, we compared the gesture and tap typing behavior of older adults with young adults. Our major finding is promising and encouraging. Gesture typing outperformed the typical tap typing for older adults, and was very easy for them to learn. The gesture typing input speed was 15.28% higher than that of tap typing for 14 older adults who had none gesture typing experience in the past. One of the main reasons was that older adults adopted the word-level inputting strategy in gesture typing, while often used the letter-level correction strategy in tap typing. Compared with young adults, older adults exhibited little degradation in gesture accuracy. Our study also led to implications on how to further improve gesture typing for older adults.

The objective of this work was to extract gelatin from skin of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and to study its functional properties and application in ice-cream and beer. SDS-PAGE patterns showed that channel catfish gelatin (CCG) had more high molecular weight components (β and γ chains) than had calf bone gelatin (CBG). The viscosity of CCG was 42mPa.s at 10°C, which was three times more than that of CBG. Compared to CBG, CCG presented higher emulsion capacity and stability, as well as higher foaming stability. CCG conferred the ice-cream samples and beer with better mouth feel and clarification effect, respectively. The results indicated that CCG had great potential to be utilized in the food industry.

Virtual output queueing (VOQ) is an efficient architecture for high-speed switches and router, because it combines the low cost of input queuing with high performance of output queuing. When using VOQ, a scheduler is required to decide the switch sequence of cells. We propose a round-robin based parallel scheduling algorithm (T-RRM) for crossbar switches with input queues to reduce the average delay of cells. In T-RRM, marked port is defined. When a queue sends a cell and the number of queued cells in the queue is bigger than a predicted threshold, the corresponding input and output is marked as marked ports. A marked port will send another cell in next one time slot.