The efficacy study of trinity permeation synergism on anti-aging

Background:More and more consumers are paying attention to skin rejuvenation.However,there is a lack of a non-invasive and efficient solution.Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of a trinity permeation synergism(TPS),which consists of a firming essence,an atomizer and a photoelectric penetrator,for facial anti-aging efficacy.Material and methods:In this work,in vitro cell experiments and human efficacy study were used to evaluate the firming and anti-wrinkle effects.Cell experiments were used to verify the effect of the firming essence on the cell proliferation,migration,and anti-inflammation in keratinocytes(HaCaT),and on the gene expression levels of type I and type III collagen(Col-1 and Col-3)and type I matrix metalloproteinase(MMP-1)in human skin fibroblasts(HSF).After in vitro test,60 women aged 35–60 years were enrolled in the randomized test,of which 30 subjects were randomly selected to be the experimental group and treated with the TPS system,while the left 30 subjects were treated with the firming essence only considered as control.After 28 days,skin elasticity,skin redness value,and skin wrinkles were measured to evaluate the efficacy of the TPS system.Results:Cell experiments showed that the firming essence can significantly improve the proliferation and the migration of HaCaT cells.It also promoted the expression level of Col-1 and Col-3 gene,and inhibited the expression level of MMP-1 gene in HSF cells.After confirming the efficacy of firming essence,the efficacy benefit of the TPS was further studied.The 28-day tests show that combined use firming essence with atomizer and penetrator can significantly increase skin elasticity,reduce skin hemoglobin value and skin wrinkles on Day 28.Moreover,all the mentioned improvements are significantly better than that in the control group.Conclusion:Through efficient delivery in the whole process,TPS boosts the efficacy of active components in the firming essence.TPS offers an efficient,non-invasive,and convenient way for enhanced facial rejuvenation efficacy.

Thermal runaway propagation behavior of the Cell-to-Pack battery system

Structurally compact battery packs significantly improve the driving range of electric vehicles.Technologies like Cell-to-Pack increase energy density by 15%-20%.However,the safety implications of multiple tightly-packed battery cells still require in-depth research.This paper studies thermal runaway propagation behavior in a Cell-to-Pack system and assesses propagation speed relative to other systems.The investigation includes temperature response,extent of battery damage,pack structure deformation,chemical analysis of debris,and other considerations.Results suggest three typical patterns for the thermal runaway propagation process:ordered,disordered,and synchronous.The synchronous propagation pattern displayed the most severe damage,indicating energy release is the largest under the synchronous pattern.This study identifies battery deformation patterns,chemical characteristics of debris,and other observed factors that can both be applied to identify the cause of thermal runaway during accident investigations and help promote safer designs of large battery packs used in large-scale electric energy storage systems.

Quantitative assessment of the spatio-temporal correlations of seismic events induced by longwall coal mining

Rock failure process as a natural response to mining activities is associated with seismic events, which can pose a potential hazard to mine operators, equipment and infrastructures. Mining-induced seismicity has been found to be internally correlated in both time and space domains as a result of rock fracturing during progressive mining activities. Understanding the spatio-temporal(ST) correlation of mininginduced seismic events is an essential step to use seismic data for further analysis, such as rockburst prediction and caving assessment. However, there are no established methods to perform this critical task. Input parameters used for the prediction of seismic hazards, such as the time window of past data and effective prediction distance, are determined based on site-specific experience without statistical or physical reasons to support. Therefore, the accuracy of current seismic prediction methods is largely constrained, which can only be addressed by quantitively assessing the ST correlations of mininginduced seismicity. In this research, the ST correlation of seismic event energy collected from a study mine is quantitatively analysed using various statistical methods, including autocorrelation function(ACF), semivariogram and Moran’s I analysis. In addition, based on the integrated ST correlation assessment, seismic events are further classified into seven clusters, so as to assess the correlations within individual clusters. The correlation of seismic events is found to be quantitatively assessable, and their correlations may vary throughout the mineral extraction process.

Ultrasonographic and clinicopathologic features of benign Brenner tumors of the ovary

Objective The aim of this study was to summarize and analyze the ultrasonographic and clinicopathologic features of benign brenner tumors of the ovary.Methods Forty-six patients with brenner tumors of the ovary were included,and the imaging and pathologic features of the tumors were analyzed.Results Thirty-eight cases were unilateral,while eight cases were bilateral.The tumors were located only in the left ovary in 32 patients and in the right ovary in six patients.The median diameter of the tumors was 62 mm,and the diameter ranged from 15 to 270 mm.Vascular tumors were not observed.Most of the tumors(22/46)showed micro-perfusion,while 16 tumors showed no blood flow signal.Acoustic signal shadows after the cysts were observed in 26 tumors,accounting for 57%of all brenner tumors.Fourteen patients showed unilocular or multilocular tumors with no distinct characteristics on ultrasonography.Sixteen masses showed a multilocular solid structure,accompanied by calcification and a post-mass shadow;the solid structure showed mild-to-moderate vascularization on Doppler examination.Sixteen masses showed a pure solid structure,accompanied by calcification,resulting in an acoustic shadow behind the tumor;the solid structure showed mild-to-moderate vascularization on Doppler examination.Conclusion Some ultrasonographic features,including calcification with shadow,poor blood circulation of solid components,and mass localization,are helpful in the diagnosis of benign brenner tumors.

Waist circumference cutoff points for Chinese adults with metabolic syndrome defined by the International Diabetes Federation

Objective To investigate the appropriate waist circumference(WC)cutoff points for central obesity in the middle-aged and elderly Beijing residents by the metabolic syndrome definition of the International Diabetes Federation(IDF).Methods A total of 2,344 Beijing residents aged≥40 years were investigated.They answered questionnaires,received physical examinations,and underwent plasma glucose and lipid profile measurement.Those non-diabetic subjects underwent a 75g oral glucose tolerance test.All data were analyzed to calculate the appropriate WC cutoff points for central obesity reaching the diagonsis of MS.Results 1)Both in males and females,the triglyceride(TG),systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose(FPG)increased linearly with WC,and the high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)decreased linearly with WC(P<0.05).2)The prevalence of elevated TG,reduced HDL-C,elevated blood pressure,elevated FBG,or≥2 of these factors increased with WC(P<0.05).3)Based on the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis and Youden index,the WC values for central obesity and for detecting BMI≥25 kg/m^(2) were about 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women.4)The odds ratio for the presence of two or more metabolic risk factors increased abruptly in men with WC≥90 cm and in women with WC≥80 cm.Conclusions The appropriate WC cutoff point for central obesity was determined to be 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women in the middle-aged and elderly Beijing residents by the metabolic syndrome definition of IDF.

Evaluation of non-verbal cognitive function in infants with severe hearing impairment

BACKGROUND： The relationship between hearing impairment and verbal developmental deficits in infants has become a hotspot in research, focusing on improving hearing and promoting verbal development. However, language is only one element of cognition. There are other elements of non-verbal cognitive deficits in infants with hearing impairment. OBJECTIVE： This study was designed to compare the differences in gross motor, fine motor, adaptability, and behavioral development between infants with severe hearing impairment and ordinary children of the same age. DESIGN： Case-control observation. SETTING： Department of Otolaryngology-Head Surgery, Bethune International Peace Hospital. PARTICIPANTS： Fifty-two infants with hearing impairment, who received treatment in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head Surgery, Bethune International Peace Hospital from February to December 2007, were confirmed to suffer from severe （or extremely severe） sensorineural deafness by auditory brain-stem response （ABR） and were recruited for this study. The infants comprised 30 males and 22 females. Among them, 18 were aged 0-1 year, 18 were aged 1-2 years, and 16 were aged 2-3 years. An additional 60 individuals, aged 0-3 years, who received developmental monitoring simultaneously, and were confirmed to have normal hearing and verbal ability, were included as controls. Among the control subjects, there were 31 males and 29 females： 20 were 〈 1 year of age, 22 were between 1-2 years of age, and 18 were between 2-3 years of age. Informed consent for laboratory measurements was obtained from each infant＇s guardian, and the study was approved by the Hospital Ethics Committee. METHODS： Infant gross motor, fine motor, adaptability, and behavioral development were assessed in the hearing impairment and control infants. Comparison results were expressed as grading standards of development quotient. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Developmental quotient of all subjects was determined using ＂psychometric test battery for 0-6 year-old infants＂, revised by Capital Institute of Pediatrics. Developmental quotient of each factor ≥ 130 points and 〈 69 points was defined as excellent and mentally disabled, respectively. RESULTS： All determination results were included in the final analysis. There was no significant difference in each factor between hearing-impaired and control infants, who were 1-year-old （P 〉 0.05）. The behavioral developmental quotient was significantly less in hearing-impaired infants compared to control infants, who were between 1 and 2 years of age （P 〈 0.05）. The development quotients of fine motor and behavioral development were significantly less in hearing-impaired infants than in control infants, who were 2 3 years of age （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Compared to control infants, severe hearing-impaired infants have a lower behavioral developmental quotient after 1 year and a lower fine motor developmental quotient after 2 years of age.

Polymorphisms in XRCC5,XRCC6,XRCC7 genes are involved inDNA double-strand breaks(DSBs) repair associated with the risk ofacute myeloid leukemia(AML) in Chinese population

Objective：To investigate the association between the X-ray repair cross complementing（XRCC） group 5, XRCC6 and XRCC7 polymorphisms and risk of acute myeloid leukemia（AML）. Methods：This hospital-based case-control study included 120 AML patients and 210 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. Three polymorphisms of XRCC5, XRCC6 and XRCC7 were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction（PCR） or polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism（PCR-RFLP） method. Results： We found that there was a significant decrease in risk of AML associated with the XRCC6 -61 CG/GG genotype（adjusted odd ratio （OR） = 0.55; 95% confident interval（CI） = 0.34-0.89） compared with the -61CC genotype. For the novel tandem repeat polymorphism （VNTR） in the XRCC5 promoter, we found when the XRCC5 six genotypes were dichotomized（i.e., 2R/2R, 2R/1R versus 2R/0R, 1R/1R, 1R/0R and 0R/0R）, the latter group was associated with increased risk of AML（adjusted OR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.00-2.79） compared to 2R/ 2R＋2R/1R genotype. However, the XRCC7 6721G〉T polymorphism had no effect on risk of AML. Conclusion：The XRCC6 -61C 〉 G and XRCC5 2R/1R/0R polymorphisms, but not XRCC7 6721G 〉 T polymorphism, could play an important role in the development of AML. Larger scale studies with more detailed data on environment exposure are needed to verify these findings.

Re-Exploring Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Primary Melanoma Patients: Insights from Network-Based Analysis of Microarray Data

Objective To identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for primary melanoma using network-based microarray data analysis.Methods Eligible microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database were used to identify differentially expressed genes(DEGs).The protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,Gene Ontology(GO),and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analyses were performed to identify hub genes and pathways that might affect the survival of melanoma patients.Immunohistochemistry results obtained from the Human Protein Atlas(HPA)database confirmed the protein expression levels of hub genes.The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database was used to further verify the gene expression levels and conduct survival analysis.Results Three microarray datasets(GSE3189,GSE15605,and GSE46517)containing 122 melanoma and 30 normal skin tissue samples were included.A total of 262 common differentially expressed genes(cDEGs)were identified based on three statistical approaches(Fisher’s method,the random effects model(REM),and vote counting)with strict criteria.Of these,two upregulated genes,centromere protein F(CENPF)and pituitary tumortransforming gene 1(PTTG1),were selected as hub genes.HPA and TCGA database analyses confirmed that CENPF and PTTG1 were overexpressed in melanoma.Survival analysis showed that high expression levels of CENPF were significantly correlated with decreased overall survival(OS)(P=0.028).Conclusion The expression level of CENPF was significantly upregulated in melanoma and correlated with decreased OS.Thus,CENPF may represent a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma patients.

Hydrogel and Machine Learning for Soft Robots’ Sensing and Signal Processing: A Review

The soft robotics field is on the rise. The highly adaptive robots provide the opportunity to bridge the gap between machines and people. However, their elastomeric nature poses significant challenges to the perception, control, and signal processing. Hydrogels and machine learning provide promising solutions to the problems above. This review aims to summarize this recent trend by first assessing the current hydrogel-based sensing and actuation methods applied to soft robots. We outlined the mechanisms of perception in response to various external stimuli. Next, recent achievements of machine learning for soft robots’ sensing data processing and optimization are evaluated. Here we list the strategies for implementing machine learning models from the perspective of applications. Last, we discuss the challenges and future opportunities in perception data processing and soft robots’ high level tasks.

人-地系统模式耦合中数据时空匹配方法的新探索

人-地系统模式双向耦合的运行,存在着人-地数据时空尺度不相匹配的障碍.为使二者相匹配,在空间尺度上,提出通过经济模型将行政单元统计数据转变为网格数据的运行路径,并设计了“面积权重折算法”的数据转换方法,使经济系统的行政单元数据与地球系统模式的网格数据相匹配;在时间尺度上,将选取的不同时间尺度的经济统计数据整合到年际范围,使其与地球系统模式的时间步长尺度相一致.运用该方法分别对中国大陆和世界各国的人口、GDP、CO2排放等进行网格化处理,结果表明其特征与实际分布相一致.新方法结果可信度高,为人-地系统模式的双向耦合提供了可靠的变量运转的基础.

Protective effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived conditioned medium on ovarian damage

Chemotherapeutic agents are extensively used to treat malignancies.However,chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage and reduced fertility are severe side effects.Recently,stem cell transplantation has been reported to be an effective strategy for premature ovarian insufficiency(POI)treatment,but safety can still be an issue in stem cell-based therapy.Here,we show the protective effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived conditioned medium(hUCMSC-CM)on a cisplatin(Cs)-induced ovarian injury model.hUCMSC-CM can relieve Cs-induced depletion of follicles and preserve fertility.In addition,hUCMSC-CM can decrease apoptosis of oocytes and granulosa cells induced by Cs.RNA sequencing analysis reveals the differentially expressed genes of ovaries after Cs and hUCMSC-CM treatments,including genes involved in cell apoptosis.Furthermore,we show that the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor(G-CSF)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)pathway plays an important role in protecting granulosa cells from Cs-induced apoptosis.Together,we confirm the protective effects of hUCMSC-CM on ovarian reserve and fertility in mice treated with Cs,highlighting the remarkable therapeutic effects of hUCMSC-CM.

Titanium dioxide as an adsorbent to enhance the detection ability of near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

A method for quantitative determination of fish sperm deoxyribonucleic acid(fsDNA)was developed by using titanium dioxide(TiO2)as an adsorbent and near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(NIRDRS).The selective enrichment of fsDNA was proved by comparing the adsorption efficiency of bovine serum albumin,tyrosine and tryptophan,and the low adsorption background of TiO2 was illustrated by comparing the spectra of four commonly-used inorganic adsorbents(alkaline aluminium oxide,neutral aluminium oxide,nano-hydroxyapatite and silica).The spectral feature of fsDNA can be clearly observed in the spectrum of the sample.Partial least squares(PLS)model was built for quantitative determination of fsDNA using 28 solutions,and 13 solutions with interferences were used for validation of the model.The results showed that the correlation coefficient(R)between the predicted and the reference concentration is 0.9727 and the recoveries of the validation samples are in the range of 98.2%-100.7%.

Determination of triglycerides in human serum by near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy using silver mirror as a substrate

Near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(NIRDRS) has gained wide attention due to its convenience for rapid quantitative analysis of complex samples. A method for rapid analysis of triglycerides in human serum using NIRDRS with silver mirror as the substrate is developed. Due to the even and high reflectance of the silver mirror, the spectral response is enhanced and the background interference is reduced.Furthermore, both linear and nonlinear modeling strategies were investigated adopting the partial least squares(PLS) and least squares support vector regression(LS-SVR), continuous wavelet transform(CWT)was used for spectral preprocessing, and variable selection was tried using Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination(MC-UVE), randomization test(RT) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling(CARS) for optimization the models. The results show that the determination coefficient(R) between the predicted and reference concentration is 0.9624 and the root mean squared error of prediction(RMSEP) is 0.21. The maximum deviation of the prediction results is as low as 0.473 mmol/L. The proposed method may provide an alternative method for routine analysis of serum triglycerides in clinical applications.

Review of MEMS differential scanning calorimetry for biomolecular study

Differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） is one of the few techniques that allow direct determination of enthalpy values for binding reactions and conformational transitions in biomolecules. It provides the thermody- namics information of the biomolecules which consists of Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy in a straightfor- ward manner that enables deep understanding of the structure function relationship in biomolecules such as the folding/unfolding of protein and DNA, and ligand bindings. This review provides an up to date overview of the applications of DSC in biomolecular study such as the bovine serum albumin denaturation study, the relationship between the melting point of lysozyme and the scanning rate. We also introduce the recent advances of the development of micro-electro-mechanic-system （MEMS） based DSCs.

An assessment of precipitation and surface air temperature over China by regional climate models

An analysis of a 20-year summer time simulation of present-day climate （1989-2008） over China using four regional climate models coupled with different land surface models is carried out. The climatic means, interannual variability, linear trends, and extremes are examined, with focus on precipitation and near surface air temperature. The models are able to reproduce the basic features of the observed summer mean precipitation and temperature over China and the regional detail due to topographic forcing. Overall, the model performance is better for temperature than that of precipitation. The models reasonably grasp the major anomalies and standard deviations over China and the five subregions studied. The models generally reproduce the spatial pattern of high interannual variability over wet regions, and low varia- bility over the dry regions. The models also capture well the variable temperature gradient increase to the north by latitude. Both the observed and simulated linear trend of precipitation shows a drying tendency over the Yangtze River Basin and wetting over South China. The models capture well the relatively small temperature trends in large areas of China. The models reasonably simulate the characteristics of extreme precipitation indices of heavy rain days and heavy precipitation fraction. Most of the models also performed well in capturing both the sign and magnitude of the daily maximum and minimum tempera- tures over China.