Quantification of In Vivo Epidermal Keratinocyte Architecture Associated with the Signs of Skin Aging and the Skin Benefit Evaluation by Application of Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate (Pitera)-Containing Skin Care Product

Background: Aged skin exhibits visual alterations such as wrinkles, rough texture, pore dilation, and dull skin tone, as well as physiological aging, namely, decreased hydration and increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Recent advances in coherence tomography have also revealed that skin aging affects in vivo epidermal keratinocyte architecture. However, the interconnectivity between spatial architectural aging and visual/physiological aging parameters remains largely unknown. Purpose: To elucidate whether the tomographic keratinocyte architectural aging is correlated with visual and physiological skin aging parameters and to quantitatively evaluate the improvements of the architectural, visual, and physiological aging parameters by the daily treatment of the skin care formula containing Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate (GFF, 8X PiteraTM). Method: We measured the in vivo keratinocyte cellular architecture with two-photon stereoscopic tomography obtaining by-layer epidermal section images in 78 Asian females of various ages. Visual aging parameters were analyzed using a portable image capture system. Hydration and TEWL were also assessed. The anti-aging effects of GFF-containing skin moisturizer (SK-II LXP CreamTM) were also examined in two studies after twice-daily application for 2 (N = 35) and 4 (N = 32) weeks. Results: As for the keratinocyte cellular architecture, skin aging was significantly associated with decreased cell density and increased cell uniformity. These architectural aging parameters were significantly correlated with visual and physiological aging parameters, namely, rough texture, wrinkles, pore dilation, dull skin tone, dehydration, and increased TEWL. The strong interconnectivity allowed us to develop formulae to estimate the keratinocyte architecture from visual aging parameters. Moreover, twice-daily application of SK-II significantly improved the keratinocyte architecture associated with multiple skin aging visual and physiological parameters. Conclusion: Skin aging is a process involving mutual interconnections among epidermal keratinocyte cellular architecture, visual, and physiological parameters. The GFF-containing moisturizer SK-II effectively improves spatial architecture of keratinocytes in epidermis and these evaluated skin aging parameters in a new trajectory over the course of treatment. .

RIS-Assisted Cell-Free MIMO: A Survey

Cell-free(CF)multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO)is a promising technique to enable the vision of ubiquitous wireless connectivity for next-generation network communications.Compared to traditional co-located massive MIMO,CF MIMO allows geographically distributed access points(APs)to serve all users on the same time-frequency resource with spatial multiplexing techniques,resulting in better performance in terms of both spectral efficiency and coverage enhancement.However,the performance gain is achieved at the expense of deploying more APs with high cost and power consumption.To address this issue,the recently proposed reconfigurable intelligent surface(RIS)technique stands out with its unique advantages of low cost,low energy consumption and programmability.In this paper,we provide an overview of RIS-assisted CF MIMO and its interaction with advanced optimization designs and novel applications.Particularly,recent studies on typical performance metrics such as energy efficiency(EE)and spectral efficiency(SE)are surveyed.Besides,the application of RIS-assisted CF MIMO techniques in various future communication systems is also envisioned.Additionally,we briefly discuss the technical challenges and open problems for this area to inspire research direction and fully exploit its potential in meeting the demands of future wireless communication systems.

Joint Flexible Duplexing and Power Allocation with Deep Reinforcement Learning in Cell-Free Massive MIMO System

Network-assisted full duplex(NAFD)cellfree(CF)massive MIMO has drawn increasing attention in 6G evolvement.In this paper,we build an NAFD CF system in which the users and access points(APs)can flexibly select their duplex modes to increase the link spectral efficiency.Then we formulate a joint flexible duplexing and power allocation problem to balance the user fairness and system spectral efficiency.We further transform the problem into a probability optimization to accommodate the shortterm communications.In contrast with the instant performance optimization,the probability optimization belongs to a sequential decision making problem,and thus we reformulate it as a Markov Decision Process(MDP).We utilizes deep reinforcement learning(DRL)algorithm to search the solution from a large state-action space,and propose an asynchronous advantage actor-critic(A3C)-based scheme to reduce the chance of converging to the suboptimal policy.Simulation results demonstrate that the A3C-based scheme is superior to the baseline schemes in term of the complexity,accumulated log spectral efficiency,and stability.

Cell-free DNA in the management of prostate cancer:Current status and future prospective

Objective:With the escalating prevalence of prostate cancer(PCa)in China,there is an urgent demand for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.Extensive investigations have been conducted on the clinical implementation of circulating free DNA(cfDNA)in PCa.This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the present state of cfDNA as a biomarker for PCa and to examine its merits and obstacles for future clinical utilization.Methods:Relevant peer-reviewed manuscripts on cfDNA as a PCa marker were evaluated by PubMed search(2010-2022)to evaluate the roles of cfDNA in PCa diagnosis,prognosis,and prediction,respectively.Results:cfDNA is primarily released from cells undergoing necrosis and apoptosis,allowing for non-invasive insight into the genomic,transcriptomic,and epigenomic alterations within various PCa disease states.Next-generation sequencing,among other detection methods,enables the assessment of cfDNA abundance,mutation status,fragment characteristics,and epigenetic modifications.Multidimensional analysis based on cfDNA can facilitate early detection of PCa,risk stratification,and treatment monitoring.However,standardization of cfDNA detection methods is still required to expedite its clinical application.Conclusion:cfDNA provides a non-invasive,rapid,and repeatable means of acquiring multidimensional information from PCa patients,which can aid in guiding clinical decisions and enhancing patient management.Overcoming the application barriers of cfDNA necessitates increased data sharing and international collaboration.

Caching modeling and energy analyzing of cell-free wireless heterogeneous networks with beta Ginibre point process

Cell-free Wireless Heterogeneous Networks(HetNets)have emerged as a technological alternative for conventional cellular networks.In this paper,we study the spatially correlative caching strategy,the energy analysis,and the impact of parameter β on the total energy cost of the cell-free wireless HetNets with Access Points distributed by Beta Ginibre Point Process(β-GPP).We derive the approximate expression of Successful Delivery Probability(SDP)based on the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio coverage model.From both analytical and simulation results,it is shown that the proposed caching model based on β-GPP placement,which jointly takes into account path loss,fading,and interference,can closely simulate the caching performance of the cell-free HetNets in terms of SDP.By guaranteeing the outage probability constraints,the analytical expression of the uplink energy cost is also derived.Another conclusion is that with AP locations modeled by β-GPP,the power consumption is not sensitive to β,but is sensitive to the dimension of the kernel function;hence β is less restrictive,and only the truncation of the Ginibre kernel has to be appropriately modified.These findings are new compared with the existing literature where the nodes are commonly assumed to be of Poisson Point Process,Matern Hard-Core Process,or Poisson Cluster Process deployment in cell-free systems.

Filtration performance and modeling of granular bed for dust removal from coal pyrolytic vapors

Dust removal from pyrolytic vapors at high temperatures is an obstacle to the industrialization of the coal pyrolysis process.In this work,a granular bed with expanded perlites as filtration media was designed and integrated into a 10 t·d^(–1)coal pyrolysis facility.The testing results showed that around 97.56%dust collection efficiency was achieved.As a result,dust content in tar was significantly lowered.The pressure drop of the granular bed maintained in the range of 356 Pa to 489 Pa.The dust size in the effluent after filtration exhibited a bimodal distribution,which was attributed to the heterogeneity of the dust components.The effects of filtration bed on pyrolytic product yields were also discussed.A modified filtration model based on the macroscopic phenomenological theory was proposed to describe the performance of the granular bed.The computation results were well agreed with the experimental data.

Study on the Effect and Mechanism of Green Plum Citron Double Strain Fermentation Filtrate on Skin Barrier

To study the effect of Green plum citron double strain fermentation filtrate(DSF)on the proliferation rate of HaCaT keratinocytes by CCK8 assay.The effect of DSF on the mRNA transcription levels of filagolin(FLG),loricrin(LOR),and occludin 1(CLD1)in HaCaT cells in sodium dodecyl sulfate(SLS)model was investigated by qPCR.The effect of DSF on the content of TNF-αin the supernatant of HaCaT cells in the model was investigated by Elisa.The results showed that DSF had no toxicity to HaCaT cells,but it could increase the mRNA transcription levels of FLG,LOR and CLD1 in HaCaT cells in the model,and reduce the content of TNF-αin the supernatant of HaCaT cells in the model.DSF had a certain effect on skin care of strengthening skin barrier.

Revolutionizing Non-Invasive Biomarker Discoveries: The Power of Methylation Screening Analysis in Cell-Free DNA Liquid Biopsy

Epigenetic changes of DNA, including methylation, have long been recognized as key indicators of various diseases, including aging, cancer, and neurological disorders. Biomarker discoveries based on distinct methylation patterns for both hypermethylation and hypomethylation lead the way in discovery of novel diagnosis and treatment targets. Many different approaches are present to detect the level of methylation in whole genome (whole genome bisulfite sequencing, microarray) as well as at specific loci (methylation specific PCR). Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) found in body fluids like blood provides information about DNA methylation and serves as a less invasive approach for genetic screening. Cell-free DNA and methylation screening technologies, when combined, have the potential to transform the way we approach genetic screening and personalized therapy. These technologies can help enhance disease diagnostic accuracy and inform the development of targeted therapeutics by providing a non-invasive way for acquiring genomic information and identifying disease-associated methylation patterns. We highlight the clinical benefits of using cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) liquid biopsy analysis and available methylation screening technologies that have been crucial in identifying biomarkers for disease from patients using a non-invasive way. Powering such biomarker discoveries are various methods of cf-DNA methylation analysis such as Bisulfite Sequencing and most recently, Methylation-Specific Restriction Enzyme (MSRE-seq) Analysis, paving the way for novel epigenetic biomarker discoveries for more robust diagnosis such as early disease detection, prognosis, monitoring of disease progression and treatment response as well as discovery of novel drug targets.

Deep bed filtration model for cake filtration and erosion

Many phenomena in nature and technology are associated with the filtration of suspensions and colloids in porous media. Two main types of particle deposition,namely, cake filtration at the inlet and deep bed filtration throughout the entire porous medium, are studied by different models. A unified approach for the transport and deposition of particles based on the deep bed filtration model is proposed. A variable suspension flow rate, proportional to the number of free pores at the inlet of the porous medium, is considered. To model cake filtration, this flow rate is introduced into the mass balance equation of deep bed filtration. For the cake filtration without deposit erosion,the suspension flow rate decreases to zero, and the suspension does not penetrate deep into the porous medium. In the case of the cake filtration with erosion, the suspension flow rate is nonzero, and the deposit is distributed throughout the entire porous medium. An exact solution is obtained for a constant filtration function. The method of characteristics is used to construct the asymptotics of the concentration front of suspended and retained particles for a filtration function in a general form. Explicit formulae are obtained for a linear filtration function. The properties of these solutions are studied in detail.

Expanded Follicle-Sulcus-Crack Complex Is an Early Warning Sign of Facial Skin Aging: Improvement by Application of Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate-Containing Skin Product

Background: Wrinkles, pigmented spots, and roughness are representative parameters reflecting facial skin aging. Sulci cutis connecting to follicular orifices frequently form perifollicular cracks, which join together adjacent sulci. This follicle-sulcus-crack complex (FSCC) is exacerbated by dehydration. Purpose: Although dehydration is associated with facial skin aging, FSCC’s implications in facial skin aging remain unresolved. Method: We measured facial skin parameters in 1999 and 2010 in 108 Japanese women, and in 2006 and 2016 in 182 Chinese women. We addressed whether expansion of FSCC is associated with other skin aging parameters. We also examined whether skin moisturizer can reverse the expanded FSCC. Results: In both clinical studies, FSCC severity as well as wrinkles, spots, and roughness significantly deteriorated with age. Notably, FSCC significantly increased as early as in subjects in their 20s, whereas wrinkles, spots, and roughness became conspicuous in those in their 40s or older. Moreover, subjects with more severe FSCC in the initial measurement exhibited significantly worse wrinkles, spots, and roughness in the second measurement a decade later. Dehydration was significantly correlated with expanded FSCC. Furthermore, FSCC expansion was reversed after appropriate moisturization by daily application of Galactomyces ferment filtrate (GFF)-containing skincare product (SK-II Skin Power Cream) for 4 weeks in 37 women. Conclusion: The expanded FSCC is likely to be an early indicator of facial skin aging. Appropriate moisturization may reduce FSCC formation and decelerate facial skin aging.

A high Li-ion diffusion kinetics in multidimensional and compact-structured electrodes via vacuum filtration casting

Manufacturing process,diffusion co-efficient and areal capacity are the three main criteria for regulating thick electrodes for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).However,simultaneously regulating these criteria for LIBs is desirable but remains a significant challenge.In this work,niobium pentoxide(Nb_(2)O_(5))anode and lithium iron phosphate(LiFePO_(4))cathode materials were chosen as the model materials and demonstrate that these three parameters can be simultaneously modulated by incorporation of micro-carbon fibers(MCF)and carbon nanotubes(CNT)with both Nb_(2)O_(5) and LFP via vacuum filtration approach.Both as-prepared MNC-20 anode and MLC-20 cathode achieves high reversible areal capacity of≈5.4 m A h cm^(-2)@0.1 C and outstanding Li-ion diffusion coefficients of≈10~(-8)cm~2 s~(-1)in the half-cell configuration.The assembled MNC-20‖MLC-20 full cell LIB delivers maximum energy and power densities of244.04 W h kg^(-1)and 108.86 W kg^(-1),respectively.The excellent electrochemical properties of the asprepared thick electrodes can be attributed to the highly conductive,mechanical compactness and multidimensional mutual effects of the MCF,CNT and active materials that facilitates rapid Li-ion diffusion kinetics.Furthermore,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS),symmetric cells analysis,and insitu Raman techniques clearly validates the enhanced Li-ion diffusion kinetics in the present architecture.

Machine learning-based comparison of factors influencing estimated glomerular filtration rate in Chinese women with or without nonalcoholic fatty liver

BACKGROUND The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver(NAFLD)has increased recently.Subjects with NAFLD are known to have higher chance for renal function impairment.Many past studies used traditional multiple linear regression(MLR)to identify risk factors for decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR).However,medical research is increasingly relying on emerging machine learning(Mach-L)methods.The present study enrolled healthy women to identify factors affecting eGFR in subjects with and without NAFLD(NAFLD+,NAFLD-)and to rank their importance.AIM To uses three different Mach-L methods to identify key impact factors for eGFR in healthy women with and without NAFLD.METHODS A total of 65535 healthy female study participants were enrolled from the Taiwan MJ cohort,accounting for 32 independent variables including demographic,biochemistry and lifestyle parameters(independent variables),while eGFR was used as the dependent variable.Aside from MLR,three Mach-L methods were applied,including stochastic gradient boosting,eXtreme gradient boosting and elastic net.Errors of estimation were used to define method accuracy,where smaller degree of error indicated better model performance.RESULTS Income,albumin,eGFR,High density lipoprotein-Cholesterol,phosphorus,forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),and sleep time were all lower in the NAFLD+group,while other factors were all significantly higher except for smoking area.Mach-L had lower estimation errors,thus outperforming MLR.In Model 1,age,uric acid(UA),FEV1,plasma calcium level(Ca),plasma albumin level(Alb)and T-bilirubin were the most important factors in the NAFLD+group,as opposed to age,UA,FEV1,Alb,lactic dehydrogenase(LDH)and Ca for the NAFLD-group.Given the importance percentage was much higher than the 2nd important factor,we built Model 2 by removing age.CONCLUSION The eGFR were lower in the NAFLD+group compared to the NAFLD-group,with age being was the most important impact factor in both groups of healthy Chinese women,followed by LDH,UA,FEV1 and Alb.However,for the NAFLD-group,TSH and SBP were the 5th and 6th most important factors,as opposed to Ca and BF in the NAFLD+group.

Cell-Free大规模MIMO系统中基于传输时延的缓存策略研究

为了满足未来移动互联网中用户的超低时延和超高可靠需求,将无线缓存技术与无小区大规模多输入多输出系统相结合,设计了基于AP间协作缓存及区域流行度评估的缓存模型。推导出涉及AP分簇、协作缓存以及区域流行度的传输时延表达式,并将内容放置问题表述为最小化总内容传输时延问题。通过对优化问题的NP-hard和拟阵约束下次模单调性的证明,提出了基于贪婪算法的缓存部署优化策略。仿真结果表明,所提策略可有效降低系统内容传输时延和提升缓存命中率。

Induced Resistance by the Toxin Filtrate of Bipolaris maydis Race T Cultivation

Resistance to maize southern leaf spot disease was induced by the low-concentration filtrate of Bipolaris maydis race T cultivation in an experiment. The nuclear neterogeny corn C103 was used as the test material. The lesion area on the leaves was significant difference by connalysis. The lesion areas on pretreated leaves were （0.3±0.05）- （0.9±0.5） mm^2, but those on the control were （23.1±8.7） mm^2. At the same time, the changes in peroxidase, phenylalanine, ammonialyase, and malondialdehvde activities were determined. During 0-96 h of inspection, phenylalanine and ammonialyase （PAL） activities increased by 64.2%, peroxidase （POD） activities increased by 41.2%, but the malondialdenvde （MDA） content decreased by 29.7% compared with the control. It seems that the low-concentration filtrate of Bipolaris maydis race T cultivation itself can be used as an elicitor to enhance the induced resistance.

Liquid biopsy in patients with pancreatic cancer: Circulating tumor cells and cell-free nucleic acids

Despite recent advances in surgical techniques and perioperative management, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer(PCa) remains extremely poor. To provide optimal treatment for each patient with Pca, superior biomarkers are urgently needed in all phases of management from early detection to staging, treatment monitoring, and prognosis. In the blood of patients with cancer, circulating tumor cells(CTCs) and cell-free nucleic acids(cf NAs), such as DNA, m RNA, and noncoding RNA have been recognized. In the recent years, their presence in the blood has encouraged researchers to investigate their potential use as novel blood biomarkers, and numerous studies have demonstrated their potential clinical utility as a biomarker for certain types of cancer. This concept, called "liquid biopsy" has been focused on as a less invasive, alternative approach to cancer tissue biopsy for obtaining genetic and epigenetic aberrations that contribute to oncogenesis and cancer progression. In this article, we review the available literature on CTCs and cfN As in patients with cancer, particularly focusing on PCa, and discuss future perspectives in this field.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes: Toward cell-free therapeutic strategies in regenerative medicine

Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)are multipotent stem cells with marked potential for regenerative medicine because of their strong immunosuppressive and regenerative abilities.The therapeutic effects of MSCs are based in part on their secretion of biologically active factors in extracellular vesicles known as exosomes.Exosomes have a diameter of 30-100 nm and mediate intercellular communication and material exchange.MSC-derived exosomes(MSC-Exos)have potential for cell-free therapy for diseases of,for instance,the kidney,liver,heart,nervous system,and musculoskeletal system.Hence,MSC-Exos are an alternative to MSCbased therapy for regenerative medicine.We review MSC-Exos and their therapeutic potential for a variety of diseases and injuries.

Wireless Powered IoE for 6G: Massive Access Meets Scalable Cell-Free Massive MIMO

A key challenge to the scalable deployment of the energy self-sustainability(ESS)Internet of Everything(IoE)for sixth-generation(6G)networks is juggling massive connectivity and high spectral efficiency(SE).Cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output(CF mMIMO)is considered as a promising solution,where many wireless access points perform coherent signal processing to jointly serve the users.However,massive connectivity and high SE are difficult to obtain at the same time because of the limited pilot resource.To solve this problem,we propose a new framework for ESS IoE networks where the user activity detection(UAD)and channel estimation are decoupled.A UAD detector based on deep convolutional neural networks,an initial access scheme,and a scalable power control policy are proposed to enable the practical scalable CF mMIMO implementation.We derive novel and exact closed-form expressions of harvested energy and SE with maximum ratio(MR)processing.Using local partial minimum mean-square error and MR combining,simulation results prove that the proposed framework can serve more users,improve the SE performance,and achieve better user fairness for the considered ESS IoE networks.

The sensitivity of the array resistivity log to mud filtrate invasion and its primary five-parameter inversion for improved oil water recognition

In order to improve reservoir fluid recognition, the sensitivity of array resistivity response to the difference of the invasion properties in both oil-bearing layers and water layers is analyzed. Then the primary inversion is carried out based on the array resistivity log. The mud invasion process is numerically simulated based on the oil-water flow equation and water convection diffusion equation. The results show that the radial resistivity of a fresh mud-invaded oil-bearing layer presents complex distribution characteristics, such as nonlinear increase, increasing to decreasing and low resistivity annulus, and the resistive invasion profile of a water layer is monotonic. Under specific conditions, array resistivity log can reflect these changes and the array induction log is more sensitive. Nevertheless, due to the effect of factors like large invasion depth, reservoir physical and oil-bearing properties, the measured apparent resistivity may differ greatly from the actual mud filtrate invasion profile in an oil-bearing layer. We proposed a five-parameter formation model to simulate the complex resistivity distribution of fresh mud-invaded formation. Then, based on the principle of non-linear least squares, the measured array resistivity log is used for inversion with the Marquardt method. It is demonstrated that the inverted resistivity is typically non-monotonic in oil-bearing layers and is monotonic in water layers. Processing of some field data shows that this is helpful in achieving efficient reservoir fluid recognition.

Quick recovery and characterization of cell-free DNA in seminal plasma of normozoospermia and azoospermia： implications for non-invasive genetic utilities

We established a quick and reliable method for recovering cell-free seminal DNA （cfsDNA）, by using the binding-washing-elution procedure on the DNA purification column. Low variations （below 15%） among the triplicate values of cfsDNA quantity verified the reproducibility of our cfsDNA recovery method. Similar cfsDNA yield and size distribution between seminal plasma acquired by filtration and centrifugation confirmed the presence of cfsDNA. To investigate the general characterization of cfsDNA, the quantitation and size distribution of cfsDNA from normozoospermic and azoospermic semen were analyzed by real-time PCR and electrophoresis, respectively. CfsDNA concentration in semen with normozoospermia （n = 11） was 1.34 ± 0.65 μg ·mL^-1, whereas a higher cfsDNA concentration was observed in azoospermia （2.56 ± 1.43 μg ·mL^-1, n = 9）. The continuous distribution of DNA fragments ranging from -1 kb to 15 kb and a spectrum of multiples of 180-bp fragments were observed in each normozoospermic and azoospermic sample. Distinct characteristic DNA ladder fragmentations in some azoospermic samples implicated that cfsDNA originate partly from apoptotic cells. CfsDNAs of 36 selected azoospermic patients with known information of Y chromosome microdeletion were subjected to the same microdeletion analysis by multiplex PCR and PCR amplification of sY114 （1 450 bp）. All multiplex PCR reactions with cfsDNA amplified successfully and provided the same result as leukocyte DNA. PCR amplification of sY114 gave a 1 450-bp amplicon as expected. Our data suggested the potential use of cfsDNA in search of biomarker or diagnostic procedures.

Beamforming Optimization for RIS-Aided SWIPT in Cell-Free MIMO Networks

Reconfigurable intelligent surface(RIS)is a promising technology that utilizes massive low-cost elements to reflect incident signals to desired direction.In this paper,we consider a RIS-aided cell free multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO)network that composed of multiple access points(APs),multiple RISs,multiple information receivers(IRs),and multiple energy receivers(ERs).Under the maximum transmit power constraints of the APs and the minimum total energy harvesting power constraints of the ERs,we aim to maximize the weighted sum-rate(WSR)by jointly optimizing the beamforming matrices and the passive RIS reflection matrices.However,the formulated problem is nonconvex and very challenging to solve.Therefore,we propose an alternating optimization algorithm to obtain a suboptimal solution.Explicitly,the proposed algorithm decomposes the original optimization problem into three subproblems that can be efficiently solved.To overcome the nonconvexity of the subproblems,a successive convex approximation(SCA)based algorithm is proposed to tackle the energy harvesting constraints.Moreover,an alternating direction method of multipliers(ADMM)based algorithm is proposed to optimize the constant modulus constrained RIS reflecting elements.Finally,simulations are conducted to demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed algorithms.