Altered Temporal Dynamics of the Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Comitant Exotropia Patients.

Purpose: Growing evidence reported that patients with comitant exotropia (CE) were accompanied by static cerebral neural activity changes. However, whether the dynamic time-varying of neural activity changes in patients with CE remains unknown. Methods: A total of 36 patients with CE (25 men and 11 women) and 36 well-matched healthy controls are enrolled in the study. The dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) combined with the sliding window method was used to assess the dynamic neural activity changes in patients with CE. Results: Compared with HCs, patients with CE had decreased dALFF values in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and right precuneus gyrus (PreCUN). Moreover, we found that the dALFF maps showed an accuracy of 48.61% and an area under the curve of.54 for distinguishing the patients with CE from HCs. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that patients with CE showed altered dynamic neural activity changes in the right SPL and right PreCUN, which might indicate the neuropathological mechanism of stereoscopic dysfunction in patients with CE.

Phase Optimization for Multipoint Haptic Feedback Based on Ultrasound Array.

Ultrasound-based haptic feedback is a potential technology for human-computer interaction (HCI) with the advantages of a low cost, low power consumption and a controlled force. In this paper, phase optimization for multipoint haptic feedback based on an ultrasound array was investigated, and the corresponding experimental verification is provided. A mathematical model of acoustic pressure was established for the ultrasound array, and then a phase-optimization model for an ultrasound transducer was constructed. We propose a pseudo-inverse (PINV) algorithm to accurately determine the phase contribution of each transducer in the ultrasound array. By controlling the phase difference of the ultrasound array, the multipoint focusing forces were formed, leading to various shapes such as geometries and letters, which can be visualized. Because the unconstrained PINV solution results in unequal amplitudes for each transducer, a weighted amplitude iterative optimization was deployed to further optimize the phase solution, by which the uniform amplitude distributions of each transducer were obtained. For the purpose of experimental verification, a platform of ultrasound haptic feedback consisting of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an electrical circuit and an ultrasound transducer array was prototyped. The haptic performances of a single point, multiple points and dynamic trajectory were verified by controlling the ultrasound force exerted on the liquid surface. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed phase-optimization model and theoretical results are effective and feasible, and the acoustic pressure distribution is consistent with the simulation results.

A persistent luminescence resonance energy transfer-based molecular beacon probe for the highly sensitive detection of microRNA in biological samples.

Herein, a time-resolved luminescence resonance energy transfer (TR-LRET) molecular beacon (MB) probe employing persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) as the energy donors was first constructed, and further designed for microRNA21 (miR21) sensing. This probe (named as PLNPs-MB) was facilely fabricated by covalent bioconjugation between poly-(acrylic acid) (PAA) modified near-infrared (NIR) emissive PLNPs i.e. ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ and functionalized MB oligonucleotide (5'-NH2 and 3'-BHQ3). Accordingly, PLNPs and BHQ3 were in close proximity to each other, leading to the occurrence of LRET and obvious persistent luminescence (PL) quenching. In the presence of miR21, loop of the PLNP-MB was hybridized, accompanying BHQ3 away from PLNPs and the restraint of LRET process. As a result, PL of the PLNPs was recovered, which built the foundation of miR21 quantification. The probe provided a linear response range from 0.1 to 10 nM for miR21 detection. Quantification limit of this probe was competitive and about 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than that of other reported MB probes for nucleic acid. Moreover, the proposed probe was successfully adopted for miR21 detection in biological fluids (human serum, cell extraction). This work also provided a sensitive detection nanoplatform for other targets through modifying diverse MBs onto the surface of PLNPs.

Low serum level of apolipoprotein A1 may predict the severity of COVID-19: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia has been observed in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to investigate blood lipid profiles in patients with COVID-19 and to explore their predictive values for COVID-19 severity. METHODS: A total of 142 consecutive patients with COVID-19 were included in this single-center retrospective study. Blood lipid profile characteristics were investigated in patients with COVID-19 in comparison with 77 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects, their predictive values for COVID-19 severity were analyzed by using multivariable logistic regression analysis, and their prediction efficiencies were evaluated by using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: There were 125 and 17 cases in the non-severe and severe groups, respectively. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) gradually decreased across the groups in the following order: healthy controls, non-severe group, and severe group. ApoA1 was identified as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.865, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.800-0.935, p < 0.001), along with interleukin-6 (IL-6) (adjusted OR: 1.097, 95% CI: 1.034-1.165, p = 0.002). ApoA1 exhibited the highest area under the ROC curve (AUC) among all single markers (AUC: 0.896, 95% CI: 0.834-0.941); moreover, the risk model established using ApoA1 and IL-6 enhanced prediction efficiency (AUC: 0.977, 95% CI: 0.932-0.995). CONCLUSION: Blood lipid profiles in patients with COVID-19 are quite abnormal compared with those in healthy subjects, especially in severe cases. Serum ApoA1 may represent a good indicator for predicting the severity of COVID-19.

Absent immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in a 3-month recurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case.

BACKGROUND: The viral persistence in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains to be investigated. METHODS: We investigated the viral loads, therapies, clinical features, and immune responses in a 70-year patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 for 3 months. FINDINGS: The patient exhibited the highest prevalence of abnormal indices of clinical features and immune responses at the first admission, including fever (38.3 â„ƒ), decreased lymphocytes (0.83 × 109/L) and serum potassium (3.1 mmol/L), as well as elevated serum creatinine (115 µmol/L), urea (8.6 mmol/L), and C-reactive protein (80 mg/L). By contrast, at the second and the third admission, these indices were all normal. Through three admissions, IL-2 increased from 0.14 pg/mL, 0.69 pg/mL, to 0.91 pg/mL, while IL-6 decreased from 11.78 pg/mL, 1.52 pg/mL, to 0.69 pg/mL, so did IL-10 from 5.13 pg/mL, 1.85 pg/mL, to 1.75 pg/mL. The steady declining trend was also found in TNF-α (1.49, 1.15, and 0.85 pg/mL) and IFN-γ (0.64, 0.42, and 0.27 pg/mL). The threshold cycle values of RT-PCR were 26.1, 30.5, and 23.5 for ORFlab gene, and 26.2, 30.6, and 22.7 for N gene, showing the patient had higher viral loads at the first and the third admission than during the middle term of the disease. The patient also showed substantially improved acute exudative lesions on the chest CT scanning images. CONCLUSIONS: The patient displayed declining immune responses in spite of the viral shedding for 3 months. We inferred the declining immune responses might result from the segregation of the virus from the immune system.

Emerging Roles of Long Noncoding RNA Regulator of Reprogramming in Cancer Treatment.

Despite numerous advances in cancer treatment, the global prevalence and cancer-related mortality remain high. Understanding tumor initiation and progression mechanisms are critical as it will lead to the development of interventions for improving the prognosis of cancer patients. The roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancer have attracted immense research interest. Growing evidence indicates that lncRNA regulator of reprogramming (linc-ROR), a well-studied RNA, regulates the progression of various cancers, such as lung cancer (LC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), breast cancer (BC), colorectal cancer (CRC), pancreatic cancer (PC), papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), or esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). linc-ROR promotes the proliferation, invasion, migration and chemoresistance of cancer cells. Herein, we reviewed current literature on the modulatory functions and mechanisms of linc-ROR in cancer development. We highlight new linc-ROR-related therapeutic strategies in cancer treatment.

[Vitamin D receptor gene Bsm I polymorphism and the susceptibility to prostate cancer in northern Chinese Han population].

OBJECTIVES: To investigate Bsm I single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of vitamin D receptor gene (VDRG) in low-risk Chinese Han population and its relationship to the susceptibility to prostate cancer (PCa), and to discuss the possible reason for the racial difference of PCa. METHODS: One hundred and three patients with PCa and 106 normal controls, mainly from Northern Chinese Han population, were enrolled in this study. Their blood samples were obtained, all of which were genotyped for Bsm I SNP by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography(DHPLC) methods using case-control study. RESULTS: The distribution of genotype and allele had no significant difference between PCa patients and normal controls (P > 0.05). The frequencies for the bb, Bb and BB genotypes in PCa patients and normal controls were 92.23%/94.34%, 7.77%/5.66%, and 0/0, respectively. The frequencies for B and b allele were 3.88%, 96.12% and 2.91%, 97.09%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate no significant relationship between the VDRG polymorphisms and PCa in Northern Chinese Han population. The distribution of VDRG Bsm I SNP varies in different ethnic populations, which may be one reason for the racial difference of PCa.