An empirical study on the collaborative usability of age-appropriate smart home interface design.

Introduction: The smart home has become a popular product, but with the development of the aging population, the differentiated characteristics of the elderly smart home products in terms of demand and use are becoming more and more significant. The existing smart products are complicated to operate and cumbersome to interact with, which increases the cognitive load of the elderly group and hinders the daily use and user experience feeling of the elderly. The purpose of this paper is to study the interface data information and interface visual design starting from hardware and software, interface interaction, to explore the better interface data information and interface visual design, and to output, a new prototype of the operating interface of smart home system for the elderly, so that the smart products can be better used by the elderly. Methods: Thirty-two participants aged 55-75 were invited to conduct the test, and subjective evaluation was conducted at the end of the test. Through the tests, the operability of the prototype structure for smart furniture systems for the elderly was demonstrated. Results: In terms of functionality a new task based on a combination of icons and text is proposed. In the control of devices, the switching status of devices, etc., needs to be clearly distinguished visually, eye-protective bright colors are used, paired with low saturation to highlight the focus, and high bright colors with gray to distinguish the device status. In terms of the density of the content, an appropriate proportion of images and text were used to make the information less dense. ln the arrangement of web content, information content relevant to users was placed first as much as possible. Discussion: Based on this, a secondary optimal design was carried out to improve the interactive design of the smart home for the elderly and output it as a prototype interactive interface. Thus, the operability, rationality, and aesthetic comfort of the prototype design of smart home interaction in an age-friendly scenario are improved, allowing the elderly to have a better experience when using the smart home.

Impact of swiping direction on the interaction performance of elderly-oriented smart home interface: EEG and eye-tracking evidence.

Introduction: Smart home technology is increasingly popular, yet not all seniors are receptive and comfortable with it. This situation recognizes that the usability of smart home interfaces is particularly important. Most studies on interface swiping direction demonstrate the advantages of horizontal over vertical swiping, but the findings lack age-based as well as gender-specific judgments. Methods: In this paper, we use cognitive neural techniques of EEG and eye-tracking, combined with a subjective preference questionnaire, to analyze the preference of older persons for the swiping direction of smart home interfaces in a multimodal manner. Results: The EEG data showed that swiping direction had a significant effect on potential values (p = 0.001). Also, the mean power in the δ and the θ band was enhanced during vertical swiping. Gender had no significant effect on potential values (p = 0.085), but the cognitive task was more EEG stimulating for females. The eye-tracking metrics data showed a significant effect of swiping direction on fixation duration (p = 0.047) and a non-significant effect on pupil diameter (p = 0.576). These results were consistent with the results of the subjective preference questionnaire, both demonstrating a preference for vertical swiping among participants. Discussion: This paper uses three research tools simultaneously, combining objective perceptions as well as subjective preferences, to make the findings more comprehensive and reliable. Gender differences were also taken into account and differentiated in the data processing. The findings of this paper are different from most previous studies and better reflect the preference of elderly people for swiping directions, which can provide a reference for the future elderly-friendly smart home interface design.

The effect of long non-coding RNAs in joint destruction of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease accompanied with joint destruction. Serious joint destruction will eventually lead to disability and the decline of life quality in RA patients. At present, the therapeutic effect of drugs to alleviate joint destruction in RA is limited. Recently, accumulating evidences have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of joint diseases. Therefore, this paper reviews the expression change and the action mechanism of lncRNAs in joint destruction of RA in recent years. A more comprehensive understanding of the role of lncRNAs in joint destruction will help the treatment of RA.

Analysis of Hepatic Lipid Metabolism and Immune Function During the Development of Collagen-Induced Arthritis.

The liver is essential for metabolic and immune functions and has been linked to systemic inflammatory diseases. However, the role of the liver is still elusive during the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although there have been indeed some reports. We used label-free quantitative proteomics and experimental verification in this study to reveal the hepatic lipid metabolism and immune function during collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) development. The proteomics results revealed that the role of the liver differs in different phases of CIA rats. In terms of specific performance, hepatic lipid metabolism, which is primarily concerned with cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and phospholipid, was significantly influenced in the CIA induction phase, whereas the immune function, which includes binding of granulocytes, adhesion of immune cells, etc., was affected considerably at the peak phase of CIA rats compared to normal rats. Finally, the hepatic dynamic changes in CIA rats were further confirmed using targeted metabolomics and ELISA. We found that most fatty acids of the liver in the CIA induction phase were significantly decreased, and proteins related to complement activation and migration or adhesion of immune cells including C3, MMP-8, CTSZ, and S100A9 were significantly increased in the liver of CIA rats in the peak phase. Our findings indicated that the lipid metabolism and immune function of the liver were influenced in CIA rats. Thus, the conditions of the liver during RA development should be considered in therapeutic and nutritional interventions.

An Empirical Study on the Influence of Smart Home Interface Design on the Interaction Performance of the Elderly.

The concept of the smart home has been widely recognized and accepted, but the differentiated characteristics of elderly smart products in terms of demand and use are becoming more and more prominent. The lack of an efficient navigation design of the smart product interface increases the cognitive burden of elderly users, and how to better meet the needs of the elderly with smart products gradually becomes the focus of attention. This study was conducted for the elderly group, using the scenario-based design method to analyze the needs of elderly users, combining the research results of scenario theory with the smart home interaction design research method, focusing on how to make the style of interface navigation, sliding layout and button size more suitable for the cognitive behavior of elderly users. The purpose of this research is to realize an age-friendly smart home interaction design in terms of functional design and interface design. The experiment is divided into two stages: in stage 1, two different layouts and operation methods are commonly used for the age-friendly smart home interface: up and down sliding and left and right sliding; in stage 2, the functional buttons are square, where 4 styles are selected, and the side lengths are set to 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, 18 mm and 22 mm. The sliding and retrieval test and retrieval and click test results show that for different sliding layout methods, the interactive performance and subjective evaluation of the interface with the up-and-down sliding layout are better. Among all functional button styles, the interaction performance and subjective evaluation of the simple button style with lines are the best. Among the function keys with a size of 10-22 mm, the interaction performance is better from 12 mm to 18 mm. The conclusion of the better interface data information obtained from this experiment improves the rationality of the age-friendly smart home interface and makes the smart home interface better for the age-friendly scenario.

Transcriptomics-based analysis of the mechanism by which Wang-Bi capsule alleviates joint destruction in rats with collagen-induced arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease accompanied with joint destruction that often leads to disability. Wang-Bi capsule (WB), a traditional Chinese medicine-based herbs formula, has exhibited inhibition effect on joint destruction of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) animal model in our previous study. But its molecular mechanisms are still obscure. METHODS: CIA rats were treated intragastrical with WB for eight weeks, and the effect of joints protection were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, safranin O fast green staining, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining and micro­CT scanning analysis. The transcriptomic of tarsal joints were used to investigate how WB alleviated joint destruction. RESULTS: The histological examination of ankle joints showed WB alleviated both cartilage damage and bone destruction of CIA rats. This protective effect on joints were further evidenced by micro-CT analysis. The transcriptomic analysis showed that WB prominently changed 12 KEGG signaling pathways ("calcium signaling pathway", "cAMP signaling pathway", "cell adhesion molecules", "chemokine signaling pathway", "complement and coagulation cascades", "MAPK signaling pathway", "NF-kappa B signaling pathway", "osteoclast differentiation", "PI3K-Akt signaling pathway", "focal adhesion", "Gap junction" and "Rap1 signaling pathway") associated with bone or cartilage. Several genes (including Il6, Tnfsf11, Ffar2, Plg, Tnfrsf11b, Fgf4, Fpr1, Siglec1, Vegfd, Cldn1, Cxcl13, Chad, Arrb2, Fgf9, Egfr) regulating bone resorption, bone formation and cartilage development were identified by further analysis. Meanwhile, these differentially expressed genes were validated by real-time quantitative PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the protective effect of WB treatment on joint were confirmed in CIA rats, and its basic molecular mechanisms may be associated with regulating some genes (including Il6, Tnfsf11, Ffar2 and Plg etc.) involved in bone resorption, bone formation and cartilage development.

Roles of MicroRNAs in Bone Destruction of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

As an important pathological result of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), bone destruction will lead to joint injury and dysfunction. The imbalance of bone metabolism caused by increased osteoclast activities and decreased osteoblast activities is the main cause of bone destruction in RA. MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) play an important role in regulating bone metabolic network. Recent studies have shown that miRNAs play indispensable roles in the occurrence and development of bone-related diseases including RA. In this paper, the role of miRNAs in regulating bone destruction of RA in recent years, especially the differentiation and activities of osteoclast and osteoblast, is reviewed. Our results will not only help provide ideas for further studies on miRNAs' roles in regulating bone destruction, but give candidate targets for miRNAs-based drugs research in bone destruction therapy of RA as well.

Potential Advantages of Bioactive Compounds Extracted From Traditional Chinese Medicine to Inhibit Bone Destructions in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Bone destruction is an important pathological feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which finally leads to the serious decline of life quality in RA patients. Bone metabolism imbalance is the principal factor of bone destruction in RA, which is manifested by excessive osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and inadequate osteoblast-mediated bone formation. Although current drugs alleviate the process of bone destruction to a certain extent, there are still many deficiencies. Recent studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could effectively suppress bone destruction of RA. Some bioactive compounds from TCM have shown good effect on inhibiting osteoclast differentiation and promoting osteoblast proliferation. This article reviews the research progress of bioactive compounds exacted from TCM in inhibiting bone destruction of RA, so as to provide references for further clinical and scientific research.