The Establishment of a precise intelligent evaluation system for sports events: Diving.

The introduction of action quality assessment technology in sports events to achieve precise intelligent evaluation can greatly enhance the objectivity and effectiveness of competition results. Taking diving as the specific application background, this study proposes a novel Multi-granularity Extraction Approach for Temporal-spatial features in judge scoring prediction (MEAT) under the conditions of action quality assessment. On the one hand, it uses dual-modal inflated 3D ConvNet to extract the temporal and spatial features of each modal diving video at the video granularity parallelly and to merge them to form a global feature. On the other hand, the human body pose is modeled, and the simulated athlete's three-dimensional splash state is taken as local characteristics at the object granularity. Finally, the global and local features are concatenated into the fully connected layer, and heuristic method inspired by competition rules using labeled distribution learning are employed to output the probability distribution of the average score of all referees. The maximum probability score is selected and multiplied by the difficulty coefficient to obtain the final diving score. Through comprehensive experiments, comparing the Spearman's rank correlation (SRC) evaluation results of existing methods on the UNIV-Dive dataset, this framework reflects the greater accuracy advantage and further lays the foundation for the actual implementation of the technology.

Analysis on Effects of Joint Spacing on the Performance of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements Based on Long-Term Pavement Performance Database.

With the day-night temperature and moisture levels changing every day, expansion and shrinkage of concrete slabs is always occurring; therefore, joints provide extra room for concrete slab deformation. The joint spacing in jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) is continuously affecting long-term pavement behaviors. In this study, data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program were analyzed, and the behaviors of JPCP with different joint spacings were compared to discover the joint spacing effects. Since LTPP has an enormous database, three representative sections located in different states were selected for analysis, where the variable factors such as temperature, moisture, and average annual daily truck traffic (AADTT) were almost the same between the three sections. Three different joint spacings, including 15 ft (4.5 m), 20 ft (6 m), and 25 ft (7.5 m), were compared based on the collected LTPP data. The involved long-term pavement performances, such as average transverse cracking (count), average JPCP faulting, international roughness index (IRI), and falling weight deflectometer (FWD) deflections were compared between JPCP with different joint spacings. Based on the comparative analysis, the JPCP constructed with a 15 ft joint spacing demonstrated the best long-term performance. It showed no transverse cracking, the lowest average JPCP faulting, the best IRI value, and the smallest FWD deflection during the entire in-service period. With proper joint spacing, the cost of road maintenance throughout the life cycle could be significantly reduced due to there being less distress. Therefore, it is recommended to optimize the joint spacing to about 15 ft in JPCP in future applications.

Free vibration and sound transmission properties of beetle elytron plate: structural parametric analysis.

Honeycomb plate (HP), which is a high-strength and lightweight structure, has good vibration characteristics, while beetle elytron plate (BEP) has better mechanical properties. To promote the engineering application of BEPs, the vibration and sound transmission characteristics of aluminium BEPs were investigated in this paper with HP as the comparison object. This paper investigated the effects of the number of trabeculae, the ratio of length and width, skin thickness, core height and core thickness on the first 4 frequencies using finite element method. The results show that (1) the vibration characteristic of BEP is optimal when the number of trabeculae is 6, and its 3rd and 4th modes show mixed mode, i.e., torsion-bending or bending-torsion mode. (2) The frequencies of BEPs are generally lower than those of HPs. Compared with HPs, the ratio of length and width and core thickness have a smaller influence on the mode shapes of BEPs, and the core height has a smaller influence on BEPs' frequencies. When the skin thickness is small, increasing the thickness can effectively change the natural frequencies of BEPs and HPs. (3) Considering the common frequencies of four applications (aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles, high-speed trains and automobiles) of sandwich plates, the effects of the abovementioned parameters including the ratio of length and width, skin thickness, core height and core thickness are analysed. (4) Combined with the theoretical calculation formula, the effect of the above structural parameters on the sound transmission characteristic is explored using the index of sound transmission loss, and targeted recommendations are given. This paper progresses the application in engineering.

Utilization of silt, sludge, and industrial waste residues in building materials: A review.

To promote the effective utilization of sludge and slag produced in nature and from human activities, this paper summarizes the research progress in the field of building materials on the basis of expounding their classification and characteristics. (1) Sludge and slag include silt, sludge and industrial waste residues. These three materials are mainly composed of SiO2, which can be used to produce building materials after treatment and can also be used as admixtures, including roadbed admixtures. (2) Silt and sludge are widely used in building wall materials and roadbed materials, etc. Industrial waste residues can be used in the production and processing of green concrete and glass-ceramics. (3) In addition to continuing to use existing utilization methods, key treatment technologies and new treatment devices can be further developed according to the characteristics of sludge and slag. Moreover, observations and mechanistic analysis of the microscopic structure of industrial waste residues and research on strong and weak utilization methods based on the performance of building materials can be carried out, and more efficient and energy-saving excitation or activation technologies will be developed. These efforts will eventually lead to the development of functional building materials with excellent performance and environmentally friendly characteristics to achieve the differentiated utilization of silt, sludge, and industrial waste residues and realize the efficient transformation of resources. This paper provides useful insights for the application of sludge and slag in the field of building materials.

KCNIP3 silence promotes proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of papillary thyroid carcinoma through activating Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

PURPOSE: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the common endocrine malignancy. Kv channel interacting protein 3 (KCNIP3) has been investigated in a variety of diseases, but its role and underlying mechanism in PTC are not fully delineated. Based on this, this study mainly explored the possible mechanism of KCNIP3 in PTC. METHODS: KCNIP3 expression in PTC tissues was analyzed by ENCORI and validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). KCNIP3 overexpression (oe-KCNIP3) or KCNIP3 silence (si-KCNIP3) was transfected into IHH4 and FTC-133 cells, respectively. Then cell biological behaviors were detected by cell function assays. The expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)- and Wnt/ß-catenin pathway-related proteins were quantified by qRT-PCR and western blot. Lastly, IHH4 cells were treated with LiCl and the above assays were performed again. RESULTS: The expression of KCNIP3 was decreased in PTC. After transfection, oe-KCNIP3 inhibited the PTC cell viability, cloning, migration and invasion but promoted apoptosis, and meanwhile, oe-KCNIP3 reduced the EMT and Wnt pathway activation. In contrast, si-KCNIP3 had the opposite effect. Moreover, LiCl, a Wnt signaling pathway activator, could reverse the above effects of oe-KCNIP3. CONCLUSION: KCNIP3 might play an anticarcinogenic role in PTC via inhibiting the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

TROP2 modulates the progression in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Background: Tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TROP2) is over expressed in various kinds of human cancers and plays important roles in the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. However, the expression and molecular mechanism of TROP2 in thyroid papillary carcinoma (PTC) are unclear. Methods: The expressions of TROP2 in PTC and control tissue were detected by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. The proliferation and invasion of PTC cell lines were examined by cell cloning and transwell assays. RNA sequencing analysis and public data analysis were assessed to investigate the potential mechanisms of TROP2 in PTC. Gene correlation analysis was conducted to explore the association between TROP2 and the related gene ISG15 in patients with PTC. Results: The expression of TROP2 was significantly higher in PTC than control. The high expression of TROP2 protein was associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor size and capsular infiltration (P<0.05). SiRNA-mediated TROP2 gene expression silencing can significantly inhibit proliferation and migration of PTC cells. ISG15 decreased in TROP2 siRNA PTC cells and increased in PTC patients significantly. There was a significant correlation between the expression of TROP2 and ISG15 in PTC patients. TROP2 interacted directly with ATP6V1A, CEBPA and SOX5 and then further interacted with the immune genes. TROP2 expression and tumor-infiltrating immune cells were also correlated in thyroid cancer microenvironment. Conclusions: TROP2 promotes the development of PTC. TROP2 expression was correlated with ISG15 and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in thyroid cancer.

AAIT: A novel prognostic model for HIV-negative patients with cryptococcal meningoencephalitis New Scoring Model for Non-HIV Patients with CM.

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a common opportunistic infection in HIV-negative patients, with mortality rates as high as those in the HIV-negative population. This requires accurate initial clinical decision-making, warranting the development of a prognostic score. Two groups of patients were investigated separately to develop a novel prognostic model (AAIT) for HIV-negative patients with CM. A retrospective analysis of 201 HIV-negative patients with CM was conducted to develop the CM prognostic score. In addition, the CM cohort (n = 21) was recruited longitudinally to verify the new prognostic score. Meanwhile, the association between the prognostic score and 1-year mortality of CM was expounded. AAIT (age, albumin, combined bacterial infection, and total triiodothyronine) is a novel prognostic score based on age, albumin level, combined bacterial infection, and total triiodothyronine (TT3) level, which were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors (0.68 [-0.70 to 1.55] vs - 1.72 [-3.75 to -0.73], P < .00). Regarding the AAIT-predicted 1-year mortality, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) value was 0.857, whereas it was 0.965 for the validation cohort. In the induction period, different treatment options did not seem to significantly improve the 1-year survival rate. AAIT is a straightforward and clear prognostic score that can add value to predict the outcomes in HIV-negative patients with CM. In addition, controlling infection and increasing the albumin and TT3 levels may help improve clinical outcomes in HIV-negative patients with CM. LAY ABSTRACT: AAIT (age, albumin, combined bacterial infection, and total triiodothyronine) is a straightforward and clear prognostic score that can add value to predict the outcomes HIV-negative patients with CM.

DLL4 restores damaged liver by enhancing hBMSC differentiation into cholangiocytes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Biliary injury is one of the main pathological mechanisms of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4)-mediated Notch activation contributes to reversing biliary injury; however, the specific role of DLL4 in biliary restoration is still unclear. This study aimed to determine whether human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) can differentiate into biliary epithelial cells (cholangiocytes) in vitro and in vivo and to clarify the role of DLL4 in restoring damaged liver by enhancing cholangiocyte differentiation. METHODS: hBMSCs were transplanted into immunodeficient mice (FRGS) with FHF induced by the hamster-anti-mouse CD95 antibody JO2. The appearance of human cholangiocytes was evaluated in the generated hBMSC-FRGS mice by q-PCR expression, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. The potency of DLL4 in inducing cholangiocyte differentiation from hBMSCs was assessed by observing the cell morphology and measuring the expression of cholangiocyte-specific genes and proteins. RESULTS: Human KRT19- and KRT7-double-positive cholangiocyte-like cells appeared in hBMSC-FRGS mice at 12 weeks after transplantation. After these cells were separated and collected by fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS), there were high levels of expression of eight typical human cholangiocyte-specific genes and proteins (e.g., KRT19 and KRT7). Furthermore, hBMSC-derived cholangiocytes induced by DLL4 had a better shape with higher nucleus/cytoplasm ratios and showed a specific increase in the expression of cholangiocyte-specific genes and proteins (e.g., KRT19, KRT7, SOX9 and CFTR). CONCLUSIONS: Cholangiocytes can be efficiently differentiated from hBMSCs in vivo and in vitro. DLL4 restores damaged liver by enhancing cholangiocyte differentiation from hBMSCs and has the potential to be used in future clinical therapeutic applications.

Markers of immune activation: novel biomarkers to predict the early-warning indicator of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is an indolent tumor that is exploding with increasing thyroid nodules (TN). Environmental carcinogens, lifestyle changes increased the incidence of thyroid carcinoma. With the development of B-ultrasound imaging, more and more thyroid cancer has been found. There has been a debate about whether thyroid cancer is overtreated. METHODS: The expression of T cell subsets and plasma cytokines in 191 patients, including 79 patients with PTC (PTC group), 58 patients with thyroid nodules (TN group) and 54 healthy individuals (HP group) were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: High levels of natural killer cells (NK) were detected in PTC and TN groups than in HP group. High activities of CD8+HLA-DR+ and CD8+CD38+ showed a gradual upward trend from HP group to PTC group. The rise in the levels of TNF-α in PTC patients' was evident when compared with HP group. CD8+CD38+ showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis. CD8+CD38+ co-expression was higher in Nx stage than N0 stage, while the proportion of IL-10 was dramatically decreased in the Nx stage. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that CD8+CD38+ might act as a biomarker of PTC lymph node metastasis. The combination of CD8+HLA-DR+, CD8+CD38+ and TNF-α can be used as useful biomarkers for the early-warning indicator of PTC.