Hydrological profile observation scheme based on optical fiber sensing for polar sea ice buoy monitoring.

The monitoring of hydrological elements in the polar region is the basis for the study of the dynamic environment under the ice. The traditional cross-season subglacial hydrological environment monitoring mainly relies on tether-type vertical profile measurement ice-based buoys, which have the advantages such as high reliability, high measurement accuracy, and real-time communication, while also has disadvantages of high-cost, large volume and weight, high power consumption, and complex layout. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a new type of ice-based profile buoy with low-cost, miniaturization, low power consumption, convenient deployment, and high reliability. In this paper, a novel optical fiber sensing scheme for ice-based buoy monitoring is proposed, which uses arrayed fiber grating to measure seawater temperature and depth profile and uses a dual-conduction mode resonance mechanism to measure seawater salinity. The temperature, depth, and salinity of seawater can be detected by an all-optical fiber technology in real-time. Preliminary experiments show that the temperature accuracy is ±0.1 °C in the range of -5∼35 °C, the salinity accuracy is ±0.03‰ in the range of 30‰âˆ¼40‰, and the vertical spatial resolution of depth can be adjusted in the range of 0∼1000 m, which can better meet the requirements of polar hydrological multi-layer profile observation. It can provide an innovative technology and equipment support for studying the spatiotemporal change process of the polar subglacial ocean.

Changes in Blood Pressure is Associated with Bone Loss in US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study from NHANES 2005-2018.

Hypertension and osteoporosis are common geriatric diseases, sharing similar risk factors. This study aims to investigate this association and explore relatively mixed variables. Our study included 12,787 eligible participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2018. Included participants had valid data on hypertension and osteoporosis, without tumors, liver diseases, gout or thyroid diseases. We explored the association between hypertension and osteoporosis by logistic regression and examined blood pressure and BMD/BMC by linear and non-linear regression. Moreover, we used machine learning models to predict the importance of various factors in the occurrence of osteoporosis and evaluated causality by mendelian randomization. Our study found that osteoporosis is significantly associated with hypertension [OR 2.072 (95% CI 2.067-2.077), p < 0.001]. After adjusting for co-variances, the association remained significant [OR 1.223 (95% CI 1.220-1.227), p < 0.001]. Our study showed that osteoporosis is positively associated with hypertension in the US population. A variety of factors influence this relationship. Specific regulatory mechanisms and confounding factors need to be further investigated.

Effect of Sympathetic Blockade on Spontaneous Discharge and the H-Reflex at Myofascial Trigger Points in Rats.

Purpose: Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are the main cause of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), and patients with MPS also have symptoms of sympathetic abnormalities. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between MTrPs and sympathetic nerves. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four seven-week-old male rats were randomly divided into four groups (six rats every group). Groups I and II were kept in normal condition (n=12), and groups III and IV underwent MTrPs modelling (n=12). After successful MTrPs modelling, differences in sympathetic outcomes between the MTrPs groups (III and IV) and non-MTrPs groups (I and II) were observed. Sympathetic blockade was then applied to groups III and I (n=12). Data were collected on peak inversion spontaneous potentials (PISPs) and the H-reflex-evoked electromyography during spontaneous discharge at the MTrPs before and after sympathetic blockade. Results: Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate were significantly higher in the MTrPs group than in the non-MTrPs group (P<0.05). Compared with group I, group III had the PISPs potential lower wave amplitude, shorter duration and amplitude-to-duration ratio, and lower H latency and latency difference H-M (P<0.05). Compared with group IV, group III had the PISPs potential lower wave amplitude, duration, amplitude-to-duration ratio, M-wave latency, H maximum wave amplitude, and maximal wave amplitude ratio H/M (P<0.05). The changes before and after sympathetic blockade in the MTrPs group were significant, and the amplitude, duration, and amplitude-to-duration ratio of the PISPs potentials were lower after the blockade (P<0.05). Conclusion: MTrPs and sympathetic nerves interact with each other forming a specific relationship. MTrPs sensitize sympathetic nerves, and sympathetic nerve abnormalities affect local muscle myoelectric hyperactivity, leading to MTrPs. This finding is instructive for the clinical management of sympathetic disorders.

Topical delivery of drugs in the treatment of high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy and effect of localized delivery of drugs in the treatment of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) based on a meta-analysis. STUDY DESIGN: Databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang were searched from their inception till August 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the efficacy of drugs and surgery in the treatment of HSIL were collected. A meta-analysis was performed using the software of Review Manager (version 5.4.1). RESULTS: Eight RCTs involving 523 patients were included in the meta-analysis. For HSIL, the rate of cervical lesions histological regression was 69.85 % in the surgery group and 59.88 % in the drug group, there was no significant difference between the two groups [OR = 0.45, 95 % CI (0.07, 3.03), P = 0.41]. The histological regression rate of cervical lesions in the placebo group was 37.76 %, and the difference between the drug group and the placebo group was statistically significant [OR = 4.94, 95 % CI (2.65, 9.20), P < 0.00001]. CONCLUSION: A total of four drugs were involved in the eight RCTS included in this study, which were imiquimod, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cidofovir and interferon. The results showed that although drug administration was effective in the histological regression of HSIL, the efficacy was less than about 10% of surgical treatment. Considering the recurrence of the disease after surgery and the problems of abortion, premature delivery and premature rupture of membranes after cervical conization in reproductive women, drug therapy can be used as a supplement to surgery or conservative treatment to promote the histological regression of cervical lesions in patients with HSIL.

The key role of muscle spindles in the pathogenesis of myofascial trigger points according to ramp-and-hold stretch and drug intervention in a rat model.

This study investigated whether abnormal peak inversion spontaneous potentials (PISPs) recorded at resting myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) stem from the discharge of muscle spindles. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups. Five groups underwent MTrP modeling intervention, whereas one group did not receive intervention and was duly designated as the blank control. After model construction, five rat models were randomly subjected to ramp-and-hold stretch tests, succinylcholine injection, eperisone hydrochloride injection, saline injection, and blank drug intervention. By contrast, the rats in the blank control group were subjected to ramp-and-hold stretch tests as a control. Frequencies and amplitudes of PISPs were recorded pre- and post-interventions and compared with those of the blank group. Stretch tests showed that the depolarization time and amplitude of PISPs ranged from 0.4 ms to 0.9 ms and from 80 uV to 140 µV, respectively. However, no PISPs were observed in the control rats. The frequency of PISPs in the ramp and hold phases and the first second after the hold phase was higher than that before stretching (p < 0.01). Succinylcholine and eperisone exerted excitatory and inhibitory effects on PISPs, respectively. In the group injected with 0.9% saline, no considerable differences of the PISPs were observed during the entire observation period. In conclusion, PISPs recorded at resting MTrPs are closely related to muscle spindles. The formation of MTrPs may be an important factor that regulate dysfunctional muscle spindles.

Tailoring local chemical fluctuation of high-entropy structures in thermoelectric materials.

In high-entropy materials, local chemical fluctuation from multiple elements inhabiting the same crystallographic site plays a crucial role in their unique properties. Using atomic-resolution chemical mapping, we identified the respective contributions of different element characteristics on the local chemical fluctuation of high-entropy structures in thermoelectric materials. Electronegativity and mass had a comparable influence on the fluctuations of constituent elements, while the radius made a slight contribution. The local chemical fluctuation was further tailored by selecting specific elements to induce large lattice distortion and strong strain fluctuation to lower lattice thermal conductivity independent of increased entropy. The chemical bond fluctuation induced by the electronegativity difference had a noticeable contribution to the composition-dependent lattice thermal conductivity in addition to the known fluctuations of mass and strain field. Our findings provide a fundamental principle for tuning local chemical fluctuation and lattice thermal conductivity in high-entropy thermoelectric materials.

Inductive Meta-path Learning for Schema-complex Heterogeneous Information Networks.

Heterogeneous Information Networks (HINs) are information networks with multiple types of nodes and edges. The concept of meta-path, i.e., a sequence of entity types and relation types connecting two entities, is proposed to provide the meta-level explainable semantics for various HIN tasks. Traditionally, meta-paths are primarily used for schema-simple HINs, e.g., bibliographic networks with only a few entity types, where meta-paths are often enumerated with domain knowledge. However, the adoption of meta-paths for schema-complex HINs, such as knowledge bases (KBs) with hundreds of entity and relation types, has been limited due to the computational complexity associated with meta-path enumeration. Additionally, effectively assessing meta-paths requires enumerating relevant path instances, which adds further complexity to the meta-path learning process. To address these challenges, we propose SchemaWalk, an inductive meta-path learning framework for schema-complex HINs. We represent meta-paths with schema-level representations to support the learning of the scores of meta-paths for varying relations, mitigating the need of exhaustive path instance enumeration for each relation. Further, we design a reinforcement-learning based path-finding agent, which directly navigates the network schema (i.e., schema graph) to learn policies for establishing meta-paths with high coverage and confidence for multiple relations. Extensive experiments on real data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed paradigm.

Metformin-induced changes of the gut microbiota in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: results from a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The influence of the microbiota on hypoglycemic agents is becoming more apparent. The effects of metformin, a primary anti-diabetes drug, on gut microbiota are still not fully understood. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study aims to investigate the longitudinal effects of metformin on the gut microbiota of 25 treatment-naïve diabetes patients, each receiving a daily dose of 1500 mg. Microbiota compositions were analyzed at baseline, and at 1, 3, and 6 months of medication using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. RESULTS: Prior to the 3-month period of metformin treatment, significant improvements were noted in body mass index (BMI) and glycemic-related parameters, such as fasting blood glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), alongside homeostasis model assessment indices of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). At the 3-month mark of medication, a significant reduction in the α-diversity of the gut microbiota was noted, while ß-diversity exhibited no marked variances throughout the treatment duration. The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio. markedly decreased. Metformin treatment consistently increased Escherichia-Shigella and decreased Romboutsia, while Pseudomonas decreased at 3 months. Fuzzy c-means clustering identified three longitudinal trajectory clusters for microbial fluctuations: (i) genera temporarily changing, (ii) genera continuing to decrease (Bacteroides), and (iii) genera continuing to increase(Lachnospiraceae ND3007 group, [Eubacterium] xylanophilum group, Romboutsia, Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcaceae UCG-014). The correlation matrix revealed associations between specific fecal taxa and metformin-related clinical parameters HbA1c, FPG, Uric Acid (UA), high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), triglyceride (TG) (P < 0.05). Metacyc database showed that metformin significantly altered 17 functional pathways. Amino acid metabolism pathways such as isoleucine biosynthesis predominated in the post-treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: Metformin's role in glucose metabolism regulation may primarily involve specific alterations in certain gut microbial species rather than an overall increase in microbial species diversity. This may suggest gut microbiota targets in future studies on metabolic abnormalities caused by metformin.

An organism-wide atlas of hormonal signaling based on the mouse lemur single-cell transcriptome.

Hormones mediate long-range cell communication and play vital roles in physiology, metabolism, and health. Traditionally, endocrinologists have focused on one hormone or organ system at a time. Yet, hormone signaling by its very nature connects cells of different organs and involves crosstalk of different hormones. Here, we leverage the organism-wide single cell transcriptional atlas of a non-human primate, the mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), to systematically map source and target cells for 84 classes of hormones. This work uncovers previously-uncharacterized sites of hormone regulation, and shows that the hormonal signaling network is densely connected, decentralized, and rich in feedback loops. Evolutionary comparisons of hormonal genes and their expression patterns show that mouse lemur better models human hormonal signaling than mouse, at both the genomic and transcriptomic levels, and reveal primate-specific rewiring of hormone-producing/target cells. This work complements the scale and resolution of classical endocrine studies and sheds light on primate hormone regulation.