Accuracy of smartwatches in predicting distance running performance

ObjectiveThis study examined the accuracy of smartwatches in predicting running performance.MethodsA total of 154 amateur runners (123 males and 31 females) were recruited. After wearing the HUAWEI WATCH GT Runner for a minimum of six weeks, the runners' actual completion times for 5 km, 10 km, and half marathon distances were measured, resulting in 288 test instances. The predicted completion times for the same distances displayed on the watch on the test day were recorded simultaneously.ResultsThe actual and predicted performances for the 5, 10, and 21.1 km distances were highly correlated, with r ≥ 0.95 (p < 0.001) and r2 ≥ 0.9 for all three distances, an error rate between the measured and predicted values of less than 3%, and intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.9. The bias ± 95% limits of agreement were −20.4 ± 44.2 s for 5 km, 4.1 ± 299.1 s for 10 km, and 143.8 ± 400.4 s for the half marathon.ConclusionsThis study confirmed that the smartwatch exhibits high precision in predicting 5 km, 10 km, and half marathon performances, with an accuracy exceeding 97%. The performance prediction features of smartwatches can effectively guide amateur runners in setting reasonable competition goals and preparing for races

The Arabidopsis RING‐Type E3 Ligase TEAR4 Controls Seed Germination by Targeting RGA for Degradation

Abstract Light and DELLA proteins are central factors controlling seed germination which is critical for seed plant survival and agricultural production. However, the mechanisms underlying DELLA degradation under different light conditions during seed germination remain to be clarified. Here, it is reported that TIE1‐ASSOCIATED RING‐TYPE E3 LIGASE4 (TEAR4) and other TEARs redundantly promote DELLA degradation to positively regulate seed germination in Arabidopsis. The tear1/2/3/4/5/6 sextuple mutant displayed delayed seed germination under the white or PhyB‐dependent light condition, and nearly no seed germination under the PhyA‐dependent light condition. The DELLA protein REPRESSOR OF ga1‐3 (RGA) accumulated in tear1/2/3/4/5/6, and disruption of RGA and GA‐INSENSITIVE (GAI) in tear1/2/3/4/5/6 rescued defective seed germination. Far‐red (FR) light rapidly induced TEARs, and TEAR4 is shown to act as an E3 ligase. It is showed that both GA‐dependent and TEAR‐mediated DELLA degradation pathways are indispensable for PhyA‐dependent germination. It is found that TEAR homologs PpTEAR1 and PpTEAR2 from the moss Physcomitrium patens interacted with Arabidopsis DELLAs to promote their degradation, and overexpression of PpTEAR1 or PpTEAR2 completely rescued defective PhyA‐dependent seed germination in phya‐211. This findings demonstrate that TEARs act as critical players in fine‐tuning seed germination, and TEAR‐mediated DELLA degradation might be an ancient pathway conserved in plant kingdom

Terror en la casa de la bruja. Espacialidad en Carcoma y Temporada de huracanes

Las novelas Carcoma (2021) de Layla Martínez y Temporada de huracanes (2017) de Fernanda Melchor comparten una serie de rasgos que generan interés en vistas a un estudio comparativo: entre ellos, el motivo de la casa encantada o embrujada, personajes que se corresponden con el estereotipo de la bruja y habitan casas encantadas. Las dos obras han sido elegidas a partir de un corpus afín a lo que queda definido como Relectura Feminista de la Caza de Brujas (RFCB) que recupera la figura de la bruja como referente simbólico de la lucha feminista. Considera la casa encantada como elemento arraigado y tipificado dentro de géneros ficcionales como el fantástico, el gótico o el terror. Se estudia cómo ese locus dialoga con la tradición, en el marco de la RFCB para abrir nuevos interrogantes en torno al hogar como espacio de encierro para las mujeres

Optimum water depth for suppressing late watergrass growth with minimizing rice growth inhibition under different temperature conditions

Deep-water management (DWM) is a promising approach for effectively suppressing some paddy weeds with reduced use of herbicides. Because DWM for weed control is employed at the initial stage of rice growth, the growth inhibition in rice seedlings occurs by hypoxia. It is worth examining the optimum water control for minimizing rice growth inhibition with effective weed suppression. Here, we evaluated the seedling growth of rice and late watergrass under different water depths (WDs; 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm, and 20 cm) and growth temperature (18°C/15°C, 25°C/22°C, and 32°C/25°C of day/night temperature) in the controlled-environment chamber. As growth temperature increased, the WD required for complete suppression of late watergrass increased. A 15 cm or more of WDs completely suppressed the growth of late watergrass under moderate to higher temperature settings, but it significantly decreased the rice growth mainly due to the reduction of tiller number. The follow-up experiment revealed that a stepwise control of WD (10 cm for 3 days and 20 cm for 13 days) could completely suppress the growth of late watergrass without any decrease in rice growth under 32°C/25°C condition. Our findings will contribute to better weed control by DWM in paddy rice cultivation, although further study is needed for application

Periodically poled aluminum scandium nitride bulk acoustic wave resonators and filters for communications in the 6G era

Abstract Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) filters find applications in radio frequency (RF) communication systems for Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. In the beyond-5G (potential 6G) era, high-frequency bands (>8 GHz) are expected to require resonators with high-quality factor (Q) and electromechanical coupling ( $${k}_{t}^{2}$$ k t 2 ) to form filters with low insertion loss and high selectivity. However, both the Q and $${k}_{t}^{2}$$ k t 2 of resonator devices formed in traditional uniform polarization piezoelectric films of aluminum nitride (AlN) and aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) decrease when scaled beyond 8 GHz. In this work, we utilized 4-layer AlScN periodically poled piezoelectric films (P3F) to construct high-frequency (~17–18 GHz) resonators and filters. The resonator performance is studied over a range of device geometries, with the best resonator achieving a $${k}_{t}^{2}$$ k t 2 of 11.8% and a $${Q}_{{\rm {p}}}$$ Q p of 236.6 at the parallel resonance frequency ( $${f}_{{\rm {p}}}$$ f p ) of 17.9 GHz. These resulting figures-of-merit are ( $${{{\rm {FoM}}}}_{1}={{k}_{t}^{2}Q}_{{\rm {p}}}$$ FoM 1 = k t 2 Q p and $${{{\rm {FoM}}}}_{2}={f}_{{\rm {p}}}{{{\rm {FoM}}}}_{1}{\times }{10}^{-9}$$ FoM 2 = f p FoM 1 × 10 − 9 ) 27.9 and 500, respectively. These and the $${k}_{t}^{2}$$ k t 2 are significantly higher than previously reported AlN/AlScN-based resonators operating at similar frequencies. Fabricated 3-element and 6-element filters formed from these resonators demonstrated low insertion losses (IL) of 1.86 and 3.25 dB, and −3 dB bandwidths (BW) of 680 MHz (fractional BW of 3.9%) and 590 MHz (fractional BW of 3.3%) at a ~17.4 GHz center frequency. The 3-element and 6-element filters achieved excellent linearity with in-band input third-order intercept point (IIP3) values of +36 and +40 dBm, respectively, which are significantly higher than previously reported acoustic filters operating at similar frequencies

Interplay of aurora kinase a functional residues and Epstein-barr Nuclear Antigen 1 in Epstein-barr virus associated Gastric cancer using AGS cells

Abstract Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), an oncogenic gamma-herpesvirus, belongs to group 1 carcinogen and is implicated in various cancers, including gastric cancer. Aurora Kinase A is a major mitotic protein kinase that regulates mitotic progression; overexpression and hyperactivation of AURKA commonly promote genomic instability in many tumours. However, the relationship of functional residues of AURKA and EBV in gastric cancer progression remains unknown. We reveal that AURKA overexpression and EBV infection induce aneuploidy in gastric epithelial cells. The AURKA (S89) N-terminal residue is critical for the centrosome maturation process in EBV-infected gastric epithelial cells. The kinase domain residues T287 and T288 of AURKA are essential for centrosome maturation and bipolar spindle formation in EBV-infected gastric cancer cells. We also show that AURKA 287/288 dm reduces the transcript expression of cell cycle markers involved in mitotic entry in EBV infection. This mutant also enhanced the protein expression of p53 and Rb, which was reduced in EBV infection and decreased the Survivin expression. Further, EBNA1, the latent gene of EBV, stabilises the AURKA in its wild-type form and S89A mutant but unable to stabilise in T287/288A double mutant. These mutants also induce mitotic catastrophe by regulating the apoptosis and autophagy pathway in EBV infection. AURKA287/288 dm also promotes autophagosome formation even in EBV infection. Thus, this study demonstrates that the AURKA kinase domain is essential for its functioning and progression of the oncogenesis of EBV-infected gastric epithelial cells

Study protocol: multi-centre, randomised controlled clinical trial exploring stromal targeting in locally advanced pancreatic cancer; STARPAC2

Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer (PDAC: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the commonest form), a lethal disease, is best treated with surgical excision but is feasible in less than a fifth of patients. Around a third of patients presentlocally advanced, inoperable, non-metastatic (laPDAC), whose stadrd of care is palliative chemotherapy; a small minority are down-sized sufficiently to enable surgical excision. We propose a phase II clinical trial to test whether a combination of standard chemotherapy (gemcitabine & nab-Paclitaxel: GEM-NABP) and repurposing All Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA) to target the stroma may extend progression-free survival and enable successful surgical resection for patients with laPDAC, since data from phase IB clinical trial demonstrate safety of GEM-NABP-ATRA combination to patients with advanced PDAC with potential therapeutic benefit. Methods Patients with laPDAC will receive at least six cycles of GEM-NABP with 1:1 randomisation to receive this with or without ATRA to assess response, until progression or intolerance. Those with stable/responding disease may undergo surgical resection. Primary endpoint is progression free survival (PFS) defined as the time from the date of randomisation to the date of first documented tumour progression (response evaluation criteria in solid tumours [RECIST] v1.1) or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Secondary endpoints include objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), safety and tolerability, surgical resection rate, R0 surgical resection rate and patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) as measured by questionnaire EQ-5D-5L. Exploratory endpoints include a decrease or increase in CA19-9 and serum Vitamin A over time correlated with ORR, PFS, and OS. Discussion STARPAC2 aims to assess the role of stromal targeting in laPDAC. Trial registration EudraCT: 2019–004231-23; NCT04241276; ISRCTN11503604

Hepatitis E virus infection among blood donors in Zhengzhou

[Objective] To analyze the infection status of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among blood donors in Zhengzhou, so as to provide data support for formulating local blood screening strategies. [Methods] Random samples from blood donors from January to December 2022 were tested for HEV RNA using PCR technology. Reactive samples were sequenced for gene analysis, and the donors were followed up. [Results] Among 21 311 samples, 3(0.14‰) were reactive for HEV RNA, all of whom were male. Genetic sequencing results revealed that one strong positive sample was genotype 4, while sequencing failed for the other two due to low viral load. A follow-up of 25 strong positive donors showed that ALT significantly increased on day 7 after donation, anti-HEV IgM and anti-HEV IgG turned positive. On day 21, ALT returned to normal, and on day 35, HEV RNA turned negative. Notably, anti-HEV IgM and anti-HEV IgG persisted until day 482. [Conclusion] There is HEV infection among blood donors in Zhengzhou, and it is necessary to expand the screening scope to comprehensively explore the prevalence and genotype distribution of HEV among blood donors

Delineation of reduced CTV2 on the basis of the characteristics and distribution of cervical lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract Introduction The core objective of this study was to precisely locate metastatic lymph nodes, identify potential areas in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients that may not require radiotherapy, and propose a hypothesis for reduced target volume radiotherapy on the basis of these findings. Ultimately, we reassessed the differences in dosimetry of organs at risk (OARs) between reduced target volume (reduced CTV2) radiotherapy and standard radiotherapy. Methods and materials A total of 209 patients participated in the study. We used image registration techniques to map patients’ neck metastatic lymph nodes onto a template CT of healthy individuals. Using MIM software, we integrated all patients’ lymph node images onto the template CT images and conducted an in-depth analysis of their distribution characteristics and metastatic patterns. Subsequently, we randomly selected the localization images of 30 patients and used paired t test methods to compare the differences in the dosimetry of target volumes and OARs between reduced target volume radiotherapy and standard radiotherapy. Results A total of 2314 metastatic lymph nodes were identified and mapped. There were no metastatic lymph nodes observed at level VIIb or within the lateral border of the common carotid artery. The percentages of metastatic lymph nodes at levels Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, III, IVa, IVb, Va, Vb, Vc, VIa, VIb, VIIa, VIIb and VIII accounted for 0%, 1.5%, 22.8%, 41.1%, 15.9%, 3.0%, 0%, 4.4%, 1.0%, 0.3%, 0%, 0%, 9.7%, 0% and 0.3%, respectively, of the 2314 metastatic lymph nodes. Further analysis of the dosimetric outcomes revealed a significantly lower mean dose to the oral cavity, laryngeal cavity, esophagus, trachea, pharyngeal constrictor muscles, parotid gland, submandibular gland and thyroid gland with the implementation of reduced-target radiotherapy than with standard radiotherapy. Conclusion IMRT sparing level I, IVb, VI, and VIIb lymph nodes and the area within the lateral border of the common carotid artery for stage II-IVa NPC patients is feasible. This method can significantly reduce the dose to peripheral organs at risk

Framework for types of metainferences in mixed methods research

Abstract Background The generation of metainferences is a core and significant feature of mixed methods research. In recent years, there has been some discussion in the literature about criteria for appraising the quality of metainferences, the processes for generating them, and the critical role that assessing the “fit” of quantitative and qualitative data and results plays in this generative process. However, little is known about the types of insights that emerge from generating metainferences. To address this gap, this paper conceptualize and present the types and forms of metainferences that can be generated in MMR studies for guiding future research projects. Methods A critical review of literature sources was conducted, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and research reports. We performed a non-systematic literature search in the Scopus, Web of Science, Ovid, and Google Scholar databases using general phrases such as “inferences in research”, “metainferences in mixed methods”, “inferences in mixed methods research”, and “inference types”. Additional searches included key methodological journals, such as the Journal of Mixed Methods Research, International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, Methodological Innovations, and the Sage Research Methods database, to locate books, chapters, and peer-reviewed articles that discussed inferences and metainferences. Results We propose two broad types of metainferences and five sub-types. The broad metainferences are global and specific, and the subtypes include relational, predictive, causal, comparative, and elaborative metainferences. Furthermore, we provide examples of each type of metainference from published mixed methods empirical studies. Conclusions This paper contributes to the field of mixed methods research by expanding the knowledge about metainferences and offering a practical framework of types of metainferences for mixed methods researchers and educators. The proposed framework offers an approach to identifying and recognizing types of metainferences in mixed methods research and serves as an opportunity for future discussion on the nature, insights, and characteristic features of metainferences within this methodology. By proposing a foundation for metainferences, our framework advances this critical area of mixed methods research