Early diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis: Imaging techniques and their combined application.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a clinical, surgical emergency characterized by an insidious onset, rapid progression, and a high mortality rate. The disease's mortality rate has remained high for many years, mainly because of its atypical clinical presentation, which prevents many cases from being diagnosed early and accurately, resulting in patients who may die from uncontrollable septic shock and multi-organ failure. But unfortunately, no diagnostic indicator can provide a certain early diagnosis of NF, and clinical judgement of NF is still based on the results of various ancillary tests combined with the patient's medical history, clinical manifestations, and the physician's experience. This review provides a brief overview of the epidemiological features of NF and then discusses the most important laboratory indicators and scoring systems currently employed to diagnose NF. Finally, the latest progress of several imaging techniques in the early diagnosis of NF and their combined application with other diagnostic indices are highlighted. We point out promising research directions based on an objective evaluation of the advantages and shortcomings of different methods, which provide a basis for further improving the early diagnosis of NF.

Renal denervation ameliorates cardiac metabolic remodeling in diabetic cardiomyopathy rats by suppressing renal SGLT2 expression.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of renal denervation (RDN) on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and explore the related mechanisms. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed high-fat chow and injected with low-dose streptozotocin to establish a DCM model. Six rats served as controls. The surviving rats were divided into three groups: control group, DCM group and DCM + RDN group. RDN surgery was performed in the fifth week. At the end of the experiment, all rats were subjected to 18F-FDG PET/CT and metabolic cage studies. Cardiac function and structure were evaluated by echocardiography and histology. Myocardial substrate metabolism and mitochondrial function were assessed by multiple methods. In the 13th week, the DCM rats exhibited cardiac hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis accompanied by diastolic dysfunction. RDN ameliorated DCM-induced cardiac dysfunction (E/A ratio: RDN 1.07 ± 0.18 vs. DCM 0.93 ± 0.12, P < 0.05; E/E' ratio: RDN 10.74 ± 2.48 vs. DCM 13.25 ± 1.99, P < 0.05) and pathological remodeling (collagen volume fraction: RDN 5.05 ± 2.05% vs. DCM 10.62 ± 2.68%, P < 0.05). Abnormal myocardial metabolism in DCM rats was characterized by suppressed glucose metabolism and elevated lipid metabolism. RDN increased myocardial glucose uptake and oxidation while reducing the absorption and utilization of fatty acids. Meanwhile, DCM decreased mitochondrial ATP content, depolarized the membrane potential and inhibited the activity of respiratory chain complexes, but RDN attenuated this mitochondrial damage (ATP: RDN 30.98 ± 7.33 µmol/gprot vs. DCM 22.89 ± 5.90 µmol/gprot, P < 0.05; complexes I, III and IV activity: RDN vs. DCM, P < 0.05). Furthermore, both SGLT2 inhibitor and the combination treatment produced similar effects as RDN alone. Thus, RDN prevented DCM-induced cardiac dysfunction and pathological remodeling, which is related to the improvement of metabolic disorders and mitochondrial dysfunction.

7,8-Dihydroxyflavone protects retinal ganglion cells against chronic intermittent hypoxia-induced oxidative stress damage via activation of the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway.

PURPOSE: Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) plays a key role in the complications of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is strongly associated with retinal and optic nerve diseases. Additionally, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) signaling pathway plays an important protective role in neuronal injury. In the present study, we investigated the role of 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) in regulating CIH-induced injury in mice retinas and rat primary retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). METHODS: C57BL/6 mice and in vitro primary RGCs were exposed to CIH or normoxia and treated with or without 7,8-DHF. The mice eyeballs or cultured cells were then taken for histochemistry, immunofluorescence or biochemistry, and the protein expression of the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway analysis. RESULTS: Our results showed that CIH induced oxidative stress (OS) in in vivo and in vitro models and inhibited the conversion of BDNF precursor (pro-BDNF) to a mature form of BDNF, which increased neuronal cell apoptosis. 7,8-DHF reduced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by CIH and effectively activated TrkB signals and downstream protein kinase B (Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) survival signaling pathways, which upregulated the expression of mature BDNF. ANA-12 (a TrkB specific inhibitor) blocked the protective effect of 7,8-DHF. CONCLUSION: In short, the activation of the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway alleviated CIH-induced oxidative stress damage of the optic nerve and retinal ganglion cells. 7,8-DHF may serve as a promising agent for OSA related neuropathy.

Chinese college students' ability to recognize facial expressions based on their meaning-in-life profiles: An eye-tracking study.

OBJECTIVE: People can be categorized into one of four meaning-in-life profiles: High Presence High Search (HPHS), High Presence Low Search (HPLS), Low Presence High Search (LPHS), and Low Presence Low Search (LPLS).The main goal of this study is to provide a theoretical explanation for why Chinese people with different meaning-in-life profiles have different mental health levels than Western people, based on their emotional-cognitive-processing ability. METHOD: We adopted eye-movement analysis and recognition-judgment experimental paradigm concerning absolute-recognition judgment and relative-recognition judgment in our study. Moreover, we applied a multifactor and multilevel mixed-experimental design. We selected 118 participants for the experiments from the 788 Chinese college students who responded. RESULTS: Our results showed that HPHS individuals preferred positive-emotion pictures, LPLS individuals preferred negative-emotion pictures, HPLS individuals preferred positive- and neutral-emotion pictures, and LPHS individuals preferred neutral-emotion pictures. Moreover, HPHS individuals were better at accurately processing facial expression from pictures, while LPLS individuals lacked such ability. The fine-processing ability of HPLS and LPHS individuals was lower than that of HPHS yet higher than that of LPLS individuals. Moreover, the features of HPLS individuals were closer to HPHS, while those of LPHS individuals were closer to LPLS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the hypothesis that meaning-in-life profiles have different immediate processing abilities and preferences regarding facial expression recognition and different emotional-cognitive-processing ability.

Personalized Human Activity Recognition Based on Integrated Wearable Sensor and Transfer Learning.

Human activity recognition (HAR) based on the wearable device has attracted more attention from researchers with sensor technology development in recent years. However, personalized HAR requires high accuracy of recognition, while maintaining the model's generalization capability is a major challenge in this field. This paper designed a compact wireless wearable sensor node, which combines an air pressure sensor and inertial measurement unit (IMU) to provide multi-modal information for HAR model training. To solve personalized recognition of user activities, we propose a new transfer learning algorithm, which is a joint probability domain adaptive method with improved pseudo-labels (IPL-JPDA). This method adds the improved pseudo-label strategy to the JPDA algorithm to avoid cumulative errors due to inaccurate initial pseudo-labels. In order to verify our equipment and method, we use the newly designed sensor node to collect seven daily activities of 7 subjects. Nine different HAR models are trained by traditional machine learning and transfer learning methods. The experimental results show that the multi-modal data improve the accuracy of the HAR system. The IPL-JPDA algorithm proposed in this paper has the best performance among five HAR models, and the average recognition accuracy of different subjects is 93.2%.

Gating and regulation of the calcium release-activated calcium channel: Recent progress from experiments and molecular modeling.

Calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels are highly calcium ion (Ca2+)-selective channels in the plasma membrane. The transient drop of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ level activates its calcium sensor stromal interaction molecule (STIM) and then triggers the gating of the CRAC channel pore unit Orai. This process involves a variety of activities of the immune system. Therefore, understanding how the activation and regulation of the CRAC channel can be accomplished is essential. Here we briefly summarize the recent progress on Orai gating and its regulation by 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborate (2-APB) obtained from structural biology studies, biochemical and electrophysiological measurements, as well as molecular modeling. Indeed, integration between experiments and computations has further deepened our understanding of the channel gating and regulation.

Knockdown of TMPRSS3 inhibits cell proliferation, migration/invasion and induces apoptosis of glioma cells.

Transmembrane protease serine 3 (TMPRSS3) is a member of type II transmembrane serine proteases (TTSP) family, which play important roles in the development and progression of various cancers. However, the role of TMPRSS3 in glioma remains unclear. In the present study, we evaluated the expression patterns of TMPRSS3 in clinical tumor samples and glioma cell lines. The results showed that TMPRSS3 was highly expressed in both human glioma tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of TMPRSS3 in glioma cells by transfection with small interfering RNA targeting TMPRSS3 (si-TMPRSS3) significantly suppressed cell proliferation and migration/invasion. Moreover, knockdown of TMPRSS3 markedly elevated the apoptotic rate of glioma cells. Si-TMPRSS3 transfection also resulted in a remarkable increase in bax expression and a notable decrease in bcl-2 expression in glioma cells. Furthermore, TMPRSS3 knockdown markedly suppressed the expressions of Notch1 and Hes1. The results indicated that knockdown of TMPRSS3 exhibited antiglioma effect, which is associated with the inactivation of the Notch signaling pathway. These findings suggested that TMPRSS3 might be used as a therapeutic target for glioma treatment.

P2X4R silence suppresses glioma cell growth through BDNF/TrkB/ATF4 signaling pathway.

Purinergic receptor P2X 4 (P2X4R), a member of purinergic channels family and a subtype of ionotropic adenosine triphosphate receptors, plays a critical role in tumorigenesis. Evidence suggested that P2X4R is expressed in rat C6 glioma model, however, its role and the underlying mechanism of action are still unclear in human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In the current study, our aim is to examine the function and the molecular basis of P2X4R in GBM. We first observed that GBM cells, U251, T98, U87, U373, and A172 were all high expressed P2X4R, when compared with the normal human astrocytes (NHA) cells. To gain the function of P2X4R, P2X4R silence cells were constructed by transfection with P2X4R small interfering RNA (siRNA). We found that P2X4R deletion impeded T98 and U87 cell viability and proliferation, and further studies indicated that cell apoptosis and caspase-3 activity was increased in T98 and U87 cell transfected with P2X4R siRNA. Subsequently, we confirmed that P2X4R silence suppressed brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Trk receptor tyrosine kinases (TrkB), and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) expression in T98 and U87 cells. And P2X4R siRNA-induced ATF4-expression inhibition dependent on BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway. The impact of P2X4R silence on T98 and U87 cell growth and apoptosis was reversed by ATF4 overexpression. In summary, this study provides the first evidence that P2X4R plays important roles in GBM cell growth and apoptosis.

Long noncoding RNA growth arrest-specific 5 facilitates glioma cell sensitivity to cisplatin by suppressing excessive autophagy in an mTOR-dependent manner.

Malignant glioma is a severe type of brain tumor with a grim prognosis. The occurrence of resistance compromises the efficacy of chemotherapy for glioma. Long noncoding RNA growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5) has recently become an attractive target for cancer therapy by regulating cell growth, invasion, and migration. Nevertheless, its role in glioma chemoresistance remains elusive. In the current study, the expression of GAS5 was decreased in glioma cell lines, and lower levels of GAS5 were observed in U138 and LN18 glioma cells that had low sensitivity to cisplatin. Functional assay confirmed that knockdown of GAS5 enhanced cell resistance to cisplatin in U87 cells, which had a relatively high expression of GAS5. Conversely, elevation of GAS5 increased cell sensitivity to cisplatin in U138 cells that had a relatively low expression of GAS5. Mechanistically, cisplatin exposure evoked excessive autophagy concomitant with an increase in autophagy-related LC3II expression and a decrease in autophagy substrate p62 expression, which was reversely muted after GAS5 overexpression. In addition, GAS5 restored cisplatin-inhibited mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation. Preconditioning with mTOR antagonist rapamycin engendered not only mTOR inhibition but also abrogated GAS5-mediated depression in cisplatin-evoked autophagy. Notably, blocking the mTOR pathway also attenuated GAS5-increased sensitivity to cisplatin in U138 cells. Cumulatively, these findings indicate that GAS5 may blunt the resistance of glioma cells to cisplatin by suppressing excessive autophagy through the activation of mTOR signaling, implying a promising therapeutic strategy against chemoresistance in glioma.

Truncated TEAD-binding protein of TAZ inhibits glioma survival through the induction of apoptosis and repression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ), a Hippo pathway downstream effector, promotes tumor progression by serving as a transcriptional coactivator with TEAD. Here, we introduced a new construct which can express the TEAD-binding domain of TAZ protein (TAZBD), and determined its antitumor effect in malignant glioma both in vitro and in vivo. We first observed that TAZ was upregulated in glioma tissues and related to malignant clinicopathologic characteristic, indicating the crucial role of TAZ during glioma progression. In U87 and U251 cells, TAZBD expression increased the proportion of apoptotic cells, and suppressed the colony formation and tumorigenicity. Further, TAZBD also decreased cell metastasis through the repression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The mechanistic study showed that TAZBD suppression of glioma cells was predominantly through blocking the TAZ-TEAD complex formation by competing with endogenous TAZ. Thus, the gene therapy of malignant glioma through blocking TAZ-TEAD complex by TAZBD may provide a new way for the targeted therapy of glioma.

Effects of Angiotensin Receptor Neprilysin Inhibitors on Inducibility of Ventricular Arrhythmias in Rats with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

The aims of the present study were to investigate the effects of angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNi) on the susceptibility of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in rats with myocardial infarction (MI) and to explore the related mechanisms.A total of 32 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: a control group, MI group, and MI+ARNi group. MI was generated by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. ARNi was given at 68 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks after MI surgery. At 4 weeks after MI, electrical programmed stimulation (EPS) was performed in all groups for the evaluation of VAs, and echocardiography was used to evaluate cardiac function. Indicators of sympathetic neural remodeling and cardiac remodeling were detected to further explore the related mechanisms.Four weeks after MI, rats in the ARNi group exhibited low susceptibility of VAs in comparison with that in the MI group, which was coincident with the attenuation of sympathetic nerve remodeling, amelioration of cardiac fibrosis, and regulation of Cx43 expression.ARNi is effective in reducing VAs in rats with ischemic cardiomyopathy, which is associated with attenuating sympathetic nerve remodeling and myocardial fibrosis.

Study on the Simultaneously Quantitative Detection for ß-Lactoglobulin and Lactoferrin of Cow Milk by Using Protein Chip Technique.

OBJECTIVE: To research a protein chip method which can simultaneously quantitative detect ß-Lactoglobulin (ß-L) and Lactoferrin (Lf) at one time. METHODS: Protein chip printer was used to print both anti-ß-L antibodies and anti-Lf antibodies on each block of protein chip. And then an improved sandwich detection method was applied while the other two detecting antibodies for the two antigens were added in the block after they were mixed. The detection conditions of the quantitative detection for simultaneous measurement of ß-L and Lf with protein chip were optimized and evaluated. Based on these detected conditions, two standard curves of the two proteins were simultaneously established on one protein chip. Finally, the new detection method was evaluated by using the analysis of precision and accuracy. RESULTS: By comparison experiment, mouse monoclonal antibodies of the two antigens were chosen as the printing probe. The concentrations of ß-L and Lf probes were 0.5 mg/mL and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively, while the titers of detection antibodies both of ß-L and Lf were 1:2,000. Intra- and inter-assay variability was between 4.88% and 38.33% for all tests. The regression coefficients of protein chip comparing with ELISA for ß-L and Lf were better than 0.734, and both of the two regression coefficients were statistically significant (r = 0.734, t = 2.644, P = 0.038; and r = 0.774, t = 2.998, P = 0.024). CONCLUSION: A protein chip method of simultaneously quantitative detection for ß-L and Lf has been established and this method is worthy in further application.

[Value of Procalcitonin, High Sensitivity C-reactive Protein and Pancreatic Stone Protein in Predicting Prognosis of Children with Sepsis].

OBJECTIVES: To determine the value of procalcitonin (PCT), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and pancreatic stone protein(PSP) in predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis. METHODS: A total of 106 hospitalized children [(4.4±1.6) year-old] with sepsis were enrolled in this study. The expressions of PTC, hs-CRP and PSP in the serum samples of the children were detected on the first day of admission to hospital. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to test the correlations between pediatric critical illness score (PCIS) and PTC, hs-CRP and PSP. Logistic regression models were established to determine factors predicting death of children. The value of PTC, hs-CRP and PSP in predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis was determined using ROC curves. RESULTS: About 32% children (34 cases) died. Higher expressions of PTC, hs-CRP and PSP were found in those who died (P<0.001). Serum PTC, hs-CRP and PSP were negatively correlated with PCIS (P<0.001). The multivariate logistic regression showed that PTC, hs-CRP and PSP were independent predictors of death in patients with sepsis (P<0.001). PTC, hs-CRP and PSP had an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.86[ (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78-0.92], 0.70 (95%CI, 0.61-0.79) and 0.69 (95%CI, 0.60-0.78) , respectively.The AUC value increased (P<0.001) to 0.92 (95%CI, 0.85-0.96) when the three indicators were combined (0.481×PCT+0.392×hs-CRP +0.314*PSP), with a value of less than 122.3 indicating good prognosis in 28 d. CONCLUSIONS: Serum PTC, hs-CRP and PSP can predict prognosis of children with sepsis.

In Vivo Evaluation of Chemical Composition of Eight Types of Urinary Calculi Using Spiral Computerized Tomography in a Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to evaluate the chemical composition of eight types of urinary calculi using spiral computerized tomography (CT) in vivo. METHODS: From October 2011 to February 2013, upper urinary tract calculi were obtained from 122 patients in the department of urinary surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. All patients were scanned with a 64-detector row helical CT scanner using 6.50 mm collimation before ureterorenoscopy. Data from the preoperative spiral CT scans and postoperative chemical composition of urinary calculi were collected. RESULTS: The chemical composition analysis indicates that there were five types of pure calculi and three types of mixed calculi, including 39 calcium oxalate calculi, 12 calcium phosphate calculi, 10 calcium carbonate calculi, 8 magnesium ammonium phosphate calculi, 6 carbonated apatite, 21 uric acid/ammonium urate calculi, 10 uric acid/calcium oxalate calculi, and 16 calcium oxalate/calcium phosphate calculi. There were significant differences in the mean CT values among the five types of pure calculi (P < 0.001). Furthermore, we also observed significant differences in the mean CT values among three types of mixed calculi (P < 0.001). Significant differences in the mean CT values were also found among eight types of urinary calculi (P < 0.001). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean CT values of magnesium ammonium phosphate calculi and uric acid/calcium oxalate calculi (P = 0.262). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that spiral CT could be a promising tool for determining the chemical composition of upper urinary tract calculi.

Effect of NaFeEDTA-Fortified Soy Sauce on Anemia Prevalence in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetate (NaFeEDTA)-fortified soy sauce on anemia prevalence in the Chinese population. METHODS: A systematic review was performed to identify potential studies by searching the electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane Library, WHO Library, HighWire, CNKI, and other sources. The selection criteria included randomized controlled trials that compared the efficacy of NaFeEDTA-fortified soy sauce with that of non-fortified soy sauce. Anemia rates and hemoglobin levels were the outcomes of interest. Inclusion decisions, quality assessment, and data extraction were performed by two reviewers independently. A total of 16 studies met the inclusion criteria for anemia rate analysis, of which 12 studies met the inclusion criteria for hemoglobin analysis. All included studies assessed the effect of NaFeEDTA-fortified soy sauce on anemia rates and hemoglobin concentrations. RESULTS: After the intervention, the hemoglobin concentration increased and anemia rates decreased significantly as compared with the non-fortified soy sauce groups. For anemia rates, data from 16 studies could be pooled, and the pooled estimate odds ratio was 0.25 (95% CI 0.19-0.35). For hemoglobin concentrations, data from 12 studies could be pooled, and the pooled weighted mean difference was 8.81 g/L (95% CI 5.96-11.67). CONCLUSION: NaFeEDTA-fortified soy sauce has a positive effect on anemia control and prevention in the at-risk population.

Designing Advanced Amorphous/Nanocrystalline Alloys by Controlling the Energy State.

Amorphous alloys, also known as metallic glasses, exhibit many advanced mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. Owing to the nonequilibrium nature, their energy states can vary over a wide range. However, the energy relaxation kinetics are very complex and composed of various types that are coupled with each other. This makes it challenging to control the energy state precisely and to study the energy-properties relationship. This brief review introduces the recent progresses on studying the enthalpy relaxation kinetics during isothermal annealing, for example, the observation of two-step relaxation phenomenon, the detection of relaxation unit (relaxun), the key role of large activation entropy in triggering memory effect, the influence of glass energy state on nanocrystallization. Based on the above knowledge, a new strategy is proposed to design a series of amorphous alloys and their composites consisting of nanocrystals and glass matrix with superior functional properties by precisely controlling the nonequilibrium energy states. As the typical examples, Fe-based amorphous alloys with both advanced soft magnetism and good plasticity, Gd-based amorphous/nanocrystalline composites with large magnetocaloric effect, and Fe-based amorphous alloys with high catalytic performance are specifically described.

Microscopic Mechanism of Proton Transfer in Pure Water under Ambient Conditions.

Water molecules and the associated proton transfer (PT) are prevalent in chemical and biological systems and have been a hot research topic. Spectroscopic characterization and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations have previously revealed insights into acidic and basic liquids. Presumably, the situation in the acidic/basic solution is not necessarily the same as in pure water; in addition, the autoionization constant for water is only 10-14 under ambient conditions, making the study of PT in pure water challenging. To overcome this issue, we modeled periodic water box systems containing 1000 molecules for tens of nanoseconds based on a neural network potential (NNP) with quantum mechanical accuracy. The NNP was generated by training a dataset containing the energies and atomic forces of 17 075 configurations of periodic water box systems, and these data points were calculated at the MP2 level that considers electron correlation effects. We found that the size of the system and the duration of the simulation have a significant impact on the convergence of the results. With these factors considered, our simulations showed that hydronium (H3O+) and hydroxide (OH-) ions in water have distinct hydration structures, thermodynamic and kinetic properties, e.g., the longer-lasting and more stable hydrated structure of OH- ions than that of H3O+, as well as a significantly higher free energy barrier for the OH--associated PT than that of H3O+, leading the two to exhibit completely different PT behaviors. Given these characteristics, we further found that PT via OH- ions tends not to occur multiple times or between many molecules. In contrast, PT via H3O+ can synergistically occur among multiple molecules and prefers to adopt a cyclic pattern among three water molecules, while it occurs mostly in a chain pattern when more water molecules are involved. Therefore, our studies provide a detailed and solid microscopic explanation for the PT process in pure water.

Eye movement verification and evaluation of initial sandplay picture system for internet addiction symptoms in Chinese adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Sandplay therapy is a psychotherapeutic technique, based on the psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious. Nearly a century after it was developed, sandplay can now be applied for the initial diagnosis tools for sand players. The goal of the current research is to demonstrate the role of sandplay in identifying internet-addicted adolescents in China. The study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity for sandplay as a diagnosis and evaluation tool for internet addiction symptoms, and to verify the consistency that exists between results based on sandplay pictures and those based on the Pathological Internet Usage Scale for Adolescents (APIUS). METHODS: The research was conducted with a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design - two types of participants (addicts and non-addicts) and two types of sandplay pictures (pictures for addicts and pictures for non-addicts). An absolute recognition-judgment paradigm was used along with eye movement evaluations to evaluate the existing initial sandplay picture system for internet addiction symptoms (22 sandplay pictures, 11 related to addicts and 11 related to non-addicts, respectively). Sixty Chinese adolescents were selected as the participants (30 as addicts and 30 as non-addicts) according to the APIUS. RESULTS: (1) The initial sandplay pictures for internet addicts are clearly preferred by Chinese internet-addicted adolescents, which are more familiar and easier to process; (2) Such pictures have a higher level of emotional arousal and cognitive resonance for the addicts; (3) Track and heat maps indicate that young internet addicts mainly fixate on the initial sandplay pictures for internet addicts. CONCLUSION: This initial sandplay picture system can be used to screen and identify young Chinese internet addicts based on symptoms, and the evaluation results are consistent with those based on the APIUS.

A Flexible Wearable Supernumerary Robotic Limb for Chronic Stroke Patients.

In this study, we present a flexible wearable supernumerary robotic limb that helps chronic stroke patients with finger rehabilitation and grasping movements. The design of this innovative limb draws inspiration from bending pneumatic muscles and the unique characteristics of an elephant's trunk tip. It places a strong emphasis on crucial factors such as lightweight construction, safety, compliance, waterproofing, and achieving a high output-to-weight/pressure ratio. The proposed structure enables the robotic limb to perform both envelope and fingertip grasping. Human-robot interaction is facilitated through a flexible bending sensor, detecting the wearer's finger movements and connecting them to motion control via a threshold segmentation method. Additionally, the system is portable for versatile daily use. To validate the effectiveness of this innovation, real-world experiments involving six chronic stroke patients and three healthy volunteers were conducted. The feedback received through questionnaires indicates that the designed mechanism holds immense promise in assisting chronic stroke patients with their daily grasping activities, potentially improving their quality of life and rehabilitation outcomes.

A Predictive Model to Evaluate Pathologic Complete Response in Rectal Adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (nCRT) before surgery was a standard treatment strategy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the predictive factors and pathological complete response (pCR) in rectal cancer patients, especially in ultra-low ones. Method: A total of 402 patients were involved in this retrospective study. The logistic regression analyses were used to compare the different subgroups in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the independent predictive factors of pCR by using a logistic regression model. Results: A total of 402 patients received preoperative CRT. In all patients, multivariate analysis revealed that circumferential tumor extent rate (CER) (≤ 2/3cycle vs >2/3 cycle, P < .001, OR = 4.834, 95% CI: 2.309-10.121), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (both ≤ 5 vs pre > 5 and post ≤ 5 vs both > 5, P = .033, OR = 1.537, 95% CI: 1.035-2.281), and interval time between the end of CRT and surgery (P = .031, OR = 2.412, 95% CI: 1.086-5.358) were predictive factors for pCR. The area under the curve (AUC) of the predictive model was 0.709 (95% CI: 0.649-0.769), which was significantly higher than the CER (0.646, 95% CI: 0.584-0.709), interval time (0.563, 95% CI: 0.495-0.631) and CEA level (0.586, 95% CI: 0.518-0.655). In ultra-low rectal patients, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that CER (≤ 2/3 cycle vs > 2/3 cycle, P = .003, OR = 7.203, 95% CI: 1.934-26.823) and mismatch repair (MMR) status (pMMR vs dMMR, P = .016, OR = 0.173, 95% CI: 0.041-0.720) were predictive factors for pCR. The AUC of the predictive model was 0.653 (95% CI: 0.474-0.832). Conclusion: New predictive models were varied by the histologic types and MMR statuses to evaluate the trend of tumor response to nCRT in all RC cases and ultra-low RC patients, which may be used to individualize stratify for selected LARC patients.