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The ability to determine asphyxia as a cause of death is important in forensic practice and helps us to judge whether a case is criminal. However, in some cases where the deceased has underlying heart disease, death by asphyxia cannot be determined by traditional autopsy and morphological observation under a microscope because there are no specific morphological features for either asphyxia or sudden cardiac death (SCD). Here, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to distinguish asphyxia from SCD. A total of 40 lung tissues (collected at 0 h and 24 h postmortem) from 20 rats (10 died from asphyxia and 10 died from SCD) and 16 human lung tissues from 16 real cases were used for spectral data acquisition. After data preprocessing, 2675 spectra from rat lung tissues and 1526 spectra from human lung tissues were obtained for subsequent analysis. First, we found that there were biochemical differences in the rat lung tissues between the two causes of death by principal component analysis and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), which were related to alterations in lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. In addition, a PLS-DA classification model can be built to distinguish asphyxia from SCD. Second, based on the spectral data obtained from lung tissues allowed to decompose for 24 h, we could still distinguish asphyxia from SCD even when decomposition occurred in animal models. Nine important spectral features that contributed to the discrimination in the animal experiment were selected and further analyzed. Third, 7 of the 9 differential spectral features were also found to be significantly different in human lung tissues from 16 real cases. A support vector machine model was finally built by using the seven variables to distinguish asphyxia from SCD in the human samples. Compared with the linear PLS-DA model, its accuracy was significantly improved to 0.798, and the correct rate of determining the cause of death was 100%. This study shows the application potential of FTIR spectroscopy for exploring the subtle biochemical differences resulting from different death processes and determining the cause of death even after decomposition.

Objective: To better understand the wetland restoration, the physicochemical properties and microbial community in different compartments (rhizosphere and bulk soil) of the status of living and death T. chinensis covered soil zones were studied in a restored coastal tidal flat located on the Zhoushan island.Results: There were differences between growth conditions in the levels of soil pH, salinity, SOM, and nutrient. The living status of T. chinensis exhibited higher capacity of decreasing saline-alkali soil than the death condition of plants, and the living condition of T. chinensis showed higher uptake of N, P, and K as compared with the death samples. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Chloroflexi were the predominant bacterial communities as revealed via high-throughput sequencing. This study contributed to our understanding of halophyte growth on coastal phytoremediation, and guide theoretically for management of T. chinensis population.

Our study intends to assess the effect of co-cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) and Neuropilin 1 on the migration of endometrial stromal cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in adenomyosis. qRT-PCR was utilized for measuring Neuropilin 1 level in adenomyosis tissues and cells. Endometrial stromal cells were treated with BMSC, si-Neuropilin 1, and pc-DNANeuropilin followed by analysis of cell proliferation and migration, as well as the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins. Neuropilin 1 expression was significantly upregulated in 77 adenomyosis patients. Neuropilin 1 expression showed a positive correlation with the diagnostic sensitivity of adenomyosis. BMSC+pc-DNA-Neuropilin 1 treatment significantly promoted cell viability, migration, and EMT which were reduced by BMSC+si-Neuropilin 1. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that co-culture of BMSCs and Neuropilin 1 increases cell viability, migration, and EMT in adenomyosis.

This paper takes soil-rock mixture as the research object, and focuses on the application of mechanical properties of soil-rock mixture improved by microbial mineralization under the influence of different factors. In this paper, the prepared bacterial liquid and cementation reagent are used to mix the bacterial liquid and cementation reagent in the soil-rock mixture under different proportions，using the unconfined compressive strength test to find the optimal ratio of soil-rock consolidation, the microbial mineralization and cementation ability and physical and mechanical properties of soil-rock mixture under the influence of rock block proportion and particle size were discussed. The results show that the soil-rock mixture is not a uniform carrier of the medium, and the force on the surface of the sample is not uniform, with the increase of stress load, the stress-strain curve shows a sawtooth upward trend, peak value, etc.; the microbial cemented soil-rock mixture with the particle size of 0.2-0.4cm and 0.4-0.6cm under the rock block proportion of 50%, the unconfined compressive strength of the microbial cemented soil-rock mixture with a rock particle size of 0.6-0.9 cm reaches the highest at 60% rock block proportion ; when the stone content is 20%-50%, the unconfined compressive strength decreases with the increase of particle size; when the stone content is 60%, the value of unconfined compressive strength first decreases and then increases with the increase of particle size; both SEM and XRD test results proved that Sporosarcina pasteurii could effectively induce the formation of calcium carbonate, and crystallizes at the pores of the particles to improve the mechanical properties of the soil.

Qi-Ge Qi,1,* Ya Tuo,2,* Li-Xue Liu,2,* Cong-Xiang Yu,2,* Ai-Ning Wu2 1Department of Clinical Laboratory and Pathology, The 969th Hospital of P.L.A., Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 010051, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 010050, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ai-Ning WuDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Inner Mongolia University, No. 1 Of Tongdao North Road, Hui District, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 010050, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 0471-6636630Email wuaining_vu@163.comObjective: The present study aimed to evaluate and analyze the results of karyotyping by amniocentesis and next generation sequencing (NGS)-based noninvasive prenatal DNA testing (NIPT) for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal disorders.Methods: A total of 2267 high-risk pregnant females with the indications for prenatal diagnosis who met the enrollment criteria between January 2015 and May 2019 at the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University were included and underwent NGS-based NIPT in the present study. Amniocentesis, chromosome karyotyping by cell culture, and follow-up of the pregnancy outcomes were also conducted in the NIPT-positive pregnant females to assess the consistency between NIPT and results of karyotyping by amniocentesis.Results: Among the 2267 cases, 29 cases were positive for NIPT, including 10 cases with a high risk of trisomy 21, 2 cases with a high risk of trisomy 18, 2 cases with a high risk of chromosome 13, and 20 cases with sex chromosome abnormalities. All the above NIPT-positive cases underwent amniocentesis, and 20 cases were eventually diagnosed. The sensitivity and specificity of NIPT for the diagnosis of trisomy 21, trisomy 13, and trisomy 18 were 100%, 99.96%, 100%, and 99.96%, 100%, 100%, respectively, and the positive predictive values were 91.67%, 66.67%, and 100%, respectively.Conclusion: NGS of the fetal free DNA from the peripheral blood of pregnant females was an important complement to the prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal disorders represented by fetal chromosome aneuploidy with high sensitivity and specificity. In combination with the traditional karyotyping by amniocentesis, it could improve the diagnostic efficacy for fetal chromosomal disorders.Keywords: next generation sequencing, karyotyping by amniocentesis, prenatal diagnosis, prenatal screening, fetal free DNA

This study investigated the correlation between sperm DNA integrity and routine semen evaluation parameters in male infertile patients, the influencing factors, and the impact of the DNA fragmentation index (DFI) on embryo quality and clinical outcomes in in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET).Sperm DFI and semen routine parameters of 6160 infertile men admitted between June 2017 and June 2018 were analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups according to their DFI: low-DFI (DFI15%), medium-DFI (15%DFI≤30%), and high-DFI (DFI30%). The correlations of DFI with patients' age, sperm concentration, sperm percentage of forward movement and sperm percentage of normal shape were analyzed. The clinical data of 5040 infertile couples who received IVF treatment between June 2016 and 2021 and had embryos transferred in a fresh cycle were reviewed. The fertilization rate, cleavage rate, blastocyst rate, and pregnancy rate in different DFI groups were compared.Semen evaluation parameters (concentration, spermatozoa with progressive motility, and the normal morphology rate), the high-quality embryo rate, blastocyst development rate, and pregnancy rate in the high-DFI group were significantly lower than those in the other two groups. The correlation analysis revealed that sperm DFI was negatively correlated with semen concentration, sperm motility, and normal sperm morphology and positively correlated with the man's age, BMI, and unhealthy habits (smoking and drinking). There was no significant difference in the number of mature eggs and normal fertilization rate among groups.A strong correlation exists between sperm DFI and semen evaluation parameters. Smoking, drinking, and other unhealthy habits lead to an increase in DFI, reducing the high-quality embryo rate and blastocyst development rate and affecting pregnancy outcomes.

This meta-analysis was designed to systematically determine the effect of high-fidelity simulation teaching on nursing students' knowledge level, professional skill level and clinical ability.High-fidelity simulation is an increasingly popular pedagogical approach in nursing education. It provides students with opportunity to practice in a variety of simulations before entering clinical practice through a variety of real-life situational experiences and many institutions and educators have embraced this method for enhancing access to clinical skills. However, evidence for the effectiveness of the method in nursing teaching remains scarce.A meta-analysis and systematic review.The following Chinese and English databases were searched for relevant articles: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, Web of Science, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and Wangfang. The search encompassed the establishment of these databases up until November 2021. Two reviewers separately entered the data into Review Manager Software 5.3.A total of 15 studies were included in this study. High-fidelity simulation significantly increased nursing students' knowledge acquisition (SMD = 1. 37, 94％CI:0. 73-2. 00，P ＜0. 0001), enhanced nursing students'professional skills (SMD = 0. 90, 95％CI:0. 36-1. 44，P = 0. 0001). In terms of clinical practice ability outcomes, high-fidelity simulation significantly improved the levels of critical thinking ability (SMD = 0. 58, 95％CI:0. 09-1. 07，P ＜0. 00001), Clinical judgement ability (SMD = 1. 34, 95％CI:0. 38-2. 31，P＝0. 006) and communication skills (SMD = 2. 62, 95％CI:1. 84-3. 40，P ＜0. 001) of nursing students.We found that high-fidelity simulation have strong educational effects in nursing education, helping nursing students to increase knowledge acquisition, enhance professional skills and cultivate their clinical practice ability (critical thinking ability, communication skills and clinical judgement ability). These findings can provide guidance for nursing educators, indicating that the use of High-fidelity simulation teaching represents an effective solution for transitioning students from the learning environment to clinical practice.

10554 Background: Uptake of chemoprevention and prophylactic surgery among women at high risk for breast cancer is low, despite proven efficacy. We evaluated breast cancer risk factors as predictors of uptake of prevention treatment (PT) to better understand potential associations with these decisions. Methods: An IRB approved registry established in 2003 at the University of Vermont of high-risk women was used to evaluate the association between both modifiable (obesity, sedentary lifestyle and alcohol use) and non-modifiable (age, history of benign breast disease [BDD], genetic predisposition) risk factors and uptake of PT. Women were eligible for inclusion in this analysis if they had one of the following risk factors (BDD, strong family history, > 20% lifetime modeled risk or genetic predisposition) and completed questionnaires regarding diet and physical activity. Alcohol use was assessed using a health questionnaire and physical activity was assessed using a 7-Day Physical Activity Recall questionnaire. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR). Results: 504 women were included and had been followed for median of 13 years. Mean age was 44.5 years (range 19 – 75), 98% were Caucasian, and mean BMI was 26.9 (range 17-57). 78% had a family history of breast cancer, 60% had >20% lifetime modeled risk, 14% had a history of benign breast disease (BBD), and 9% of women had confirmed genetic risk in high or moderate risk genes. Women may have had more than one risk factor. 55% were physically active and 55%. 4.2% were sedentary and 12.3% consumed > 1 alcoholic beverage daily. 20.8% of the cohort participated in PT (8.1% took chemoprevention, 2.0% underwent prophylactic bilateral total mastectomy and 10.7% underwent risk reducing salpingo-oophorectomy). Among non-modifiable risk factors, age, genetic predisposition (ORadj 8.66, 95% CI 2.30–32.33, p < 0.0001), and history of benign breast disease (ORadj 4.09, 95% CI 1.89–8.86, p < 0.001) were associated with uptake of PT. Increasing age was associated with increasing uptake (ptrend was > 0.0001) and highest among women aged 60-69 years (ORadj8.19, 95% CI 2.87-23.37 relative to women aged < 40). Women with a strong family history were significantly less likely to take up PT (p = 0.04). BMI, physical activity status and alcohol use were not associated with uptake of PT. Conclusions: Like other studies, we found a low uptake of PT among women at high risk for developing breast cancer. We found that modifiable risk factors were not associated with uptake of PT, which might suggest that high-risk women with modifiable risk factors could be targeted for interventions designed to modify risk (i.e. chemoprevention, weight reduction, etc). Interestingly, women with a strong family history may be less likely to take up PT, and studies to further examine this relationship may identify opportunities for interventions to improve uptake.

The aim of this study was to identify genes and functional pathways associated with damaged cartilage tissues of knee using microarray analysis. The gene expression profile GSE129147 including including 10 knee cartilage tissues from damaged side and 10 knee nonweight-bearing healthy cartilage was downloaded and bioinformatics analysis was made. A total of 182 differentially-expressed genes including 123 up-regulated and 59 down-regulated genes were identified from the GSE129147 dataset. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analysis confirmed that extracellular matrix organization, collagen catabolic process, antigen processing and presentation of peptide or polysaccharide antigen, and endocytic vesicle membrane were strongly associated with cartilage injury. Furthermore, 10 hub differentially-expressed genes with a higher connectivity degree in protein–protein interactions network were found such as POSTN, FBN1, LOX, insulin-like growth factor binding proteins3, C3AR1, MMP2, ITGAM, CDKN2A, COL1A1, COL5A1. These hub genes and pathways provide a new perspective for revealing the potential pathological mechanisms and therapy strategy of cartilage injury.

Background This study was aimed at exploring the clinical effect of a modified dorsal peroneal nerve block in foot operation under the ankle plane. Methods The study was observational study, thirty patients ( n =30) were observed with single-center and non-randomized. The patients were treated with an ankle nerve block (including the posterior tibial nerve, superficial peroneal nerve, saphenous nerve, and sural nerve block in the plane of the ankle) and a deep peroneal nerve block (7.5 mg/ml). The primary outcomes were intraoperative visual analogue scale score (0-10 points), numeric rating scale score (0-10 points), and Neuropen score (0-2 points). The secondary outcomes were postoperative pain visual analogue scale and numeric rating scale scores (0-10). Histograms and normal probability QQ plots were used to test the distribution of normality. Results We analyzed the data of 30 patients. It was found that after 20 min of ankle block and deep peroneal nerve block, 23 patients achieved a perfect block effect (visual analogue scale and Neuropen scores = 0), and the operation was performed smoothly. Six patients experienced slight pain (visual analogue scale score: ≤ 3, Neuropen score = 1). An intravenous sedative drip (dexmedetomidine 4 µg/ml, 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine hydrochloride injection 2 ml:0.2 g; Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd . , China) was used. The block failed in one patient, and the operation was performed under general anesthesia with a laryngeal mask in this patient. Conclusions The modified deep peroneal nerve block combined with an ankle nerve block can meet the anesthesia needs for foot surgery under the ankle plane. However, due to the limited number of patients evaluated, it is difficult to accurately predict the effect and a large degree of uncertainty exists regarding these findings. Trial registration This study had been registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx with No. ChiCTR2000037880 on Sep 3, 2020.It was a retrospectively registered.

The determination of cause of death is one of the most important tasks in forensic practice. However, asphyxia is a difficult cause of death to determine, especially when the deceased has an underlying disease that can lead to a sudden unexpected death, such as coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAHD, which is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death, SCD), because its determination is currently still based on an exclusion strategy. In this study, gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS)-based untargeted metabolomics was employed to obtain the pulmonary metabolic profiles of rats who died from asphyxia and SCD. First, fourteen metabolites were identified to investigate the mechanism of death from asphyxia, and we proposed some explanations that may account for these metabolic alterations, including the perturbation of amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and energy metabolism (TCA cycle). Second, we discovered eight potential biomarkers to differentiate between asphyxia and SCD as the cause of death. The excellent classification performances of the eight individual biomarkers and their combination in fresh lung tissue were observed. Third, we also explored the relative change in the concentration of the eight metabolites and their classification performance in decomposed tissue (at 24 h postmortem). Lactic acid, pantothenic acid, and the combination of the eight biomarkers can be recognized as perfect classifiers to discriminate asphyxia from SCD even when decomposition has occurred. Our results showed that GC-HRMS-based untargeted metabolomics can be used as a promising tool to explore the metabolic alterations of the death process and to determine the cause of death.

Background Guidelines recommend invasive mediastinal staging for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and a “central” tumor. However, there is no consensus definition for central location. As such, the decision to perform invasive staging largely remains on an empirical foundation. Research Question Should patients with peripheral T1 lung tumors undergo invasive mediastinal staging? Study Design and Methods All participants with a screen-detected cancer with a solid component between 8 and 30 mm were identified from the National Lung Screening Trial. After translation of CT data, cancer location was identified and the X, Y, Z coordinates were determined as well as distance from the main carina. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to evaluate for predictors associated with lymph node metastasis. Results Three hundred thirty-two participants were identified, of which 69 had lymph node involvement (20.8%). Of those with lymph node metastasis, 39.1% were N2. There was no difference in rate of lymph node metastasis based on tumor size (OR, 1.03; P = .248). There was also no statistical difference in rate of lymph node metastasis based on location, either by distance from the carina (OR, 0.99; P = .156) or tumor coordinates (X: P = .180; Y: P = .311; Z: P = .292). When adjusted for age, sex, histology, and smoking history, there was no change in the magnitude of the risk, and tests of significance were not altered. Interpretation Our data indicate a high rate of N2 metastasis among T1 tumors and no significant relationship between tumor diameter or location. This suggests that patients with small, peripheral lung cancers may benefit from invasive mediastinal staging.

The postmortem diagnosis of fatal heatstroke (hyperthermia) is a challenging task in forensic practice. Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was utilized to explore the biochemical difference of fatal heatstroke and to establish diagnosis models in this study. The complementary results of spectral absorbance comparison and principal component analysis demonstrated that the spectral differences between the hyperthermia and control groups mainly arose from the variations in the structure or composition of nucleic acids, proteins, amino acids, and carbohydrates in the vitreous humor. A genetic algorithm-guided partial least squares discriminant analysis model was established for the postmortem diagnosis of heatstroke, which achieved great specificity and sensitivity, both with scores of 100%. Furthermore, classification predictions of unknown vitreous humor samples collected from 11 rabbits were also performed by the model, resulting in 100% correct discrimination. This preliminary research demonstrates that Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics has the potential to be an effective aid for the postmortem diagnosis of fatal heatstroke.

To investigate correlation between abnormal replicative senescence of endometrial gland epithelial cells (EGECs) in shedding and non-shedding endometria and endometriosis cyst during menstruation. Musashi-1 expression, β-catenin expression, and EGECs ultrastructure in shedding and non-shedding endometrium when menstruation were observed through real-time PCR and transmission electron microscopy technologies. (1) Musashi-1 and β-catenin exhibited a high expression in shedding and non-shedding endometria in experimental group, showing a positive correlation between each other; and were significantly higher than that in control group. However; there was no correlation between these two in control group. (2) Transmission electron microscopy results: In experimental group, organelles in EGECs in shedding endometrium obtained were abundant on the first day of menstruation, nuclei were irregular, double nucleoli could be observed, and chromatin was rich. Furthermore, morphology of EGECs in non-shedding endometrium was irregular, organelles were abundant, basement membrane was irregular with abnormal curvature, and a large amount of collagenic fibers were found in intercellular spaces. On the fifth day of menstruation, the cilia and microvilli on secretory cells in endometrium increased and prolongated, and organelles became extremely rich. EGECs have potentials of division, proliferation, invasion and migration; and is associated with formation of endometriosis cysts.摘要 本研究目的是探究月经期间脱落和未脱落子宫内膜腺上皮细胞（endometrial gland epithelial cells, EGECs）的异常复制衰老与子宫内膜异位囊肿的相关性。通过实时PCR和透射电子显微镜技术观察月经期间脱落和未脱落子宫内膜中Musashi-1和β-catenin的表达以及EGECs的超微结构。（1）Musashi-1和β-catenin在实验组脱落和未脱落子宫内膜中存在高表达, 两者呈正相关, 并且显著高于对照组。然而, 在对照组中这两者之间无相关性。（2）透射电镜结果：实验组在月经第一天获得的脱落子宫内膜中EGECs所含的细胞器丰富, 细胞核不规则, 可见双核仁, 染色质丰富。此外, 在未脱落的子宫内膜中EGECs形态不规则, 细胞器丰富, 基底膜不规则, 曲率异常, 细胞间隙存在大量胶原纤维。在月经第5天, 子宫内膜分泌细胞上的纤毛和微绒毛增多并延长, 细胞器变得极为丰富。EGECs具有分裂、增殖、侵袭和迁移的潜力, 并且与子宫内膜异位囊肿的形成有关。.

Post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation is one of the most challenging tasks in forensic practice. Therefore, for PMI estimation, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spe...

Bacterial surface layers (S-layers) are cell envelope structures ubiquitously found in gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, including Lactobacillus. S-layers play a role in the determination and maintenance of cell shape as virulence factors, mediate cell adhesion, and regulate immature dendritic and T cells. In this study, we sought to understand the involvement of MAPK serine/threonine kinases in alterations in Endometrial epithelial cells (ESC) growth induced by Lactobacillus crispatus (L. crispatus) slpA, an S-layer protein. We applied various concentrations of L. crispatus to cultured ESCs and observed growth and changes in the phosphorylation status of ERK1/2, JNK, and p38. Similar experiments were conducted using L. crispatus lacking and overexpressing slpA. We found that ESC growth was altered by slpA primarily via ERK1/2. Our findings suggest that L. crispatus slpA promotes ESC growth mainly through an ERK1/2-dependent pathway.

The purpose of this study was to measure the craniofacial region of Chinese Han people in the linear and angular dimensions, and to analyse the effects on sex, age and body parameters (height and weight). All 250 individuals (86 males, 164 females) underwent a three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and the MRI data were imported into VG Studio MAX 2.2 software. Each linear and angular measurement in the craniofacial region was processed directly. Using SPSS 20.0 software, nine multiple regression equations were constructed, and all the adjusted R2 values were statistically significant (0.031–0.311). Multiple regression analysis showed that most craniofacial measurements of Chinese people were significantly correlated with height, weight or age. The multiple regression equations constructed will be helpful in anthropometric analysis and forensic inference.

Bimetallic nanoparticles are generally believed to have improved catalytic activity and stability due to geometric and electronic changes. In this work, biogenic-Pd (bio-Pd), biogenic-Pt (bio-Pt), and biogenic-PdPt (bio-PdPt) nanoparticles were synthesized by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in the absence or presence of quinone. Compared with direct microbial reduction process, the addition of anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) could promote the reduction efficiency of Pd(II) or/and Pt(IV) and result in decrease of particles size. All kinds of nanoparticles could catalyze 4-nitrophenol reduction by NaBH4 and their catalytic activities took the following order: bio-PdPt (AQDS) ∼ bio-PdPt > bio-Pd (AQDS) > bio-Pd > bio-Pt (AQDS) ∼ bio-Pt. Moreover, the bio-PdPt (AQDS) nanoparticles could be reused for 6 cycles. We believe that this simple and efficient biosynthesis approach for synthesizing bimetallic bio-PdPt nanocatalysts is important for preparing active and stable catalysts.

The user experience of human-robot interaction (HRI) has become more and more important, and the HRI evaluation of service robots has become an indispensable research topic. This paper proposes that besides the commonly used usability testing, emotional factors should be considered. The emotional response of users when using robot products should be measured. The paper also describes that, based on the results of usability testing and emotion measurement, the Kano model can be referred to analyze the requirements to determine the requirements which users concern most, which attract users, and which users think the product must have. Finally, we conduct a usability testing and requirements analysis of a test service robot Alpha 2 as an example.

Diatom examinations have been widely used to perform drowning diagnosis in forensic practice. However, current methods for recognizing diatoms, which use light or electron microscopy, are time-consuming and laborious and often result in false positive or negative decisions. In this study, we demonstrated an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to automatically identify diatoms in conjunction with a classical chemical digestion approach. By employing transfer learning and data augmentation methods, we trained convolutional neural network (CNN) models on thousands or tens of thousands of tiles from digital whole-slide images of diatom smears. The results showed that the trained model identified the regions containing diatoms in the tiles. In an independent test, where the slide samples were collected in forensic casework, the best CNN model demonstrated a performance competitive with those of 5 forensic pathologists with experience in diatom quantification. This pilot study paves the way for future intelligent diatom examinations; many efficient diatom extraction methods could be incorporated into our automated system.

Objective. To estimate the additive interaction of body mass index (BMI) and family history of hypertension (FHH) on hypertension and explore whether the interaction could be influenced by behavioural risk factors. Methods. The cross-sectional data on 5791 participants were from the China National Health Survey in Gansu province in 2016. We assessed the additive interaction by calculating the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), the attributable proportion due to interaction (AP), and the synergy index (SI). Results. ORs for hypertension were highest in Han (13.52, 95% CI: 9.45 to 19.34) and Yugur (13.85, 95% CI: 8.48 to 22.63) with the combination of obesity and FHH. The interaction of BMI and FHH was significant in Han people, with the RERI, AP, and SI and their 95% CIs being 2.48 (1.13 to 3.82), 0.33 (0.19 to 0.47), and 1.61 (1.26 to 2.07) for overweight and FHH and 6.32 (1.91 to 10.73), 0.47 (0.27 to 0.67), and 2.02 (1.33 to 3.07) for obesity and FHH, respectively. The interaction of BMI and FHH was not significant in Yugur people. Adjustment for behavioural risk factors had little influence on the interactions, and risks of hypertension remained increased. Conclusions. BMI and FHH were associated with hypertension, and the interaction of BMI and FHH on hypertension was significant in Han but not in Yugur people. Behavioural risk factors had little influence on the associations and interactions. The exacerbation of hypertension risks by overweight or obesity in hypertension families deserves attention in weight control and community care.

To solve the problem of envelope threshold for Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS), this approach builds a pilot reaction model which contains two models. Pilot reaction model is built through combining the pilot delay time model and the after-alert-operation model. Warning envelope which meets the criterion is acquired through simulations using the pilot reaction model. In the discussion part, three pilot reaction elements, joystick operation speed, pilot delay and throttle operation speed, are chosen for influence analysis on TAWS warning envelope. The root-mean-square error between practical flying data and this paper’s warning envelope is 0.9545 m/s which is smaller than the three-degree-of-freedom model’s 1.2335 m/s. The influence analysis results show that the faster operation speed and shorter pilot delay time will make the envelope move to the right and decrease the envelope’s slope. And the faster operation speed and shorter pilot delay time will enhance flight safety. But overload and pressure from the faster operation speed and less delay will reduce pilot and airplane safety Altitude factor is introduced to the pilot delay time model and pilot operation factors are introduced to the after-alert-operation model based on six-degree-of-freedom model. The setting of envelope needs a trade-off. Reaction elements analysis can provide a theoretical basis for TAWS warning envelope design.

Despite the progress that has been made during the past several decades in forensic pathology, post-mortem diagnosis of hyperthermia remains difficult. The current study aimed to investigate the spectral changes in rat liver under hyperthermic conditions compared with the control groups of fatal asphyxiation, brainstem injury, and massive haemorrhage, using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. Forty Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: hyperthermia; asphyxiation; brainstem injury; and massive haemorrhage. The absorbance of ten major absorption bands (1238, 1307, 1396, 1454, 1540, 2850, 2919, 2958, 3070 and 3290 cm−1) was significant higher in the hyperthermia group compared with the groups of asphyxiation, brainstem injury and massive haemorrhage. The band absorbance ratios of A2958/A2850 and A1650/A1540 were significantly lower, whereas the A1454/A1238, A1396/A1238 and A1307/A1238 ratios were significantly higher in the hyperthermia group compared with the other thr...

Many studies have proven the usefulness of biofluid-based infrared spectroscopy in the clinical domain for diagnosis and monitoring the progression of diseases. Here we present a state-of-the-art study in the forensic field that employed Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy for postmortem diagnosis of sudden cardiac death (SCD) by in situ biochemical investigation of alveolar edema fluid in lung tissue sections. The results of amide-related spectral absorbance analysis demonstrated that the pulmonary edema fluid of the SCD group was richer in protein components than that of the neurologic catastrophe (NC) and lethal multiple injuries (LMI) groups. The complementary results of unsupervised principle component analysis (PCA) and genetic algorithm-guided partial least-squares discriminant analysis (GA-PLS-DA) further indicated different global spectral band patterns of pulmonary edema fluids between these three groups. Ultimately, a random forest (RF) classification model for postmortem diagnosis of SCD was built and achieved good sensitivity and specificity scores of 97.3% and 95.5%, respectively. Classification predictions of unknown pulmonary edema fluid collected from 16 cases were also performed by the model, resulting in 100% correct discrimination. This pilot study demonstrates that FTIR microspectroscopy in combination with chemometrics has the potential to be an effective aid for postmortem diagnosis of SCD.

The purpose of the paper is to probe into autonomous learning awareness and behavior amongst ethnic preparatory undergraduates and postgraduates, as well as the factors that may exert influence on learner autonomy. A questionnaire survey is conducted in experimental classes and 822 valid papers are recovered. The statistics collected are processed by SPSS for Windows 13.0. The results show that the longer the education experience is, the higher the level of autonomous learning awareness and behavior is. Compared with urban and county students, rural students and pastoral students show higher level of learner autonomy. Autonomous learning ability of ethnic preparatory students is in positive correlation with their academic achievement.