Do visual and step height factors cause imbalance during bipedal and unipedal stances? A plantar pressure perspective

Objective: The plantar pressure analysis technique was used to explore the static balance ability and stability of healthy adult males under the influence of visual and step height factors during bipedal and unipedal stances.Methods: Thirty healthy adult males volunteered for the study. Experiments used the F-scan plantar pressure analysis insoles to carry out with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) at four different step heights. The plantar pressure data were recorded for 10 s and pre-processed to derive kinematic and dynamic parameters.Results: For unipedal stance, most of kinematic parameters of the subjects’ right and left feet were significantly greater when the eyes were closed compared to the EO condition and increased with step height. The differences in toe load between right and left feet, open and closed eyes were extremely statistically significant (p < 0.001). The differences in midfoot load between the EO and EC conditions were statistically significant (p = 0.024) and extremely statistically significant between the right and left feet (p < 0.001). The difference in rearfoot load between EO and EC conditions was extremely statistically significant (p < 0.001) and statistically significant (p = 0.002) between the right and left feet. For bipedal stance, most of kinematic parameters of the subjects’ EO and EC conditions were statistically significant between the right and left feet and increased with step height. The overall load’s difference between EO and EC states was statistically significant (p = 0.003) for both feet. The overall load’s difference between the right and left feet was extremely statistically significant (p < 0.001) in the EC state. The differences between the right and left feet of the forefoot and rearfoot load with EO and EC suggested that the right foot had a smaller forefoot load, but a larger rearfoot load than the left foot (p < 0.001). The differences between the forefoot and rearfoot load of the subjects’ both feet with EO and EC were extremely statistically significant (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Both visual input and step height factors, even the dominant foot, act on kinematic and dynamic parameters that affect the maintenance of static balance ability

CMRxRecon: An open cardiac MRI dataset for the competition of accelerated image reconstruction

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has emerged as a valuable diagnostic tool for cardiac diseases. However, a limitation of CMR is its slow imaging speed, which causes patient discomfort and introduces artifacts in the images. There has been growing interest in deep learning-based CMR imaging algorithms that can reconstruct high-quality images from highly under-sampled k-space data. However, the development of deep learning methods requires large training datasets, which have not been publicly available for CMR. To address this gap, we released a dataset that includes multi-contrast, multi-view, multi-slice and multi-coil CMR imaging data from 300 subjects. Imaging studies include cardiac cine and mapping sequences. Manual segmentations of the myocardium and chambers of all the subjects are also provided within the dataset. Scripts of state-of-the-art reconstruction algorithms were also provided as a point of reference. Our aim is to facilitate the advancement of state-of-the-art CMR image reconstruction by introducing standardized evaluation criteria and making the dataset freely accessible to the research community. Researchers can access the dataset at https://www.synapse.org/#!Synapse:syn51471091/wiki/.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Optimization of Supercritical Fluid CO₂ Extraction from Yellow Horn Seed and Its Anti-Fatigue and Antioxidant Activity

A supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SF-CO2) extraction method was used to obtain the optimum process for extracting yellow horn seed oil. The anti-fatigue and antioxidant properties of the extracted oil were investigated through animal experiments. The optimum process conditions for SF-CO2 extraction of the yellow horn oil were 40 MPa, 50 °C and 120 min, with an extraction yield of 31.61%. The high-dose group of yellow horn oil could significantly increase the weight-bearing swimming time, the hepatic glycogen (HG) content and decrease the lactic acid (LA) content and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) content (p p p < 0.05) in mice. Yellow horn oil has the effects of being an anti-fatigue and antioxidant substance, which provides a basis for its further utilization and development

Optimization and improvement of the synthesis method of agomelatine

In order to obtain high yield and purity, the synthesis method of agomelatine is studied. Agomelatine is synthesized with methyl-phenoxide and succinic anhydride by Friedel-crafts acylation, catalytic hydrogenation reduction, cyclization, Knoevenagel condensation, aromatization, NaBH4/NiCl2·6H2O reduction and acylation, and the reaction conditions and parameters are optimized and improved. The results show that the optimum conditions are as following: Catalytic hydrogenation reduction is applied instead of conventional Huang Minglong reduction or Clemenson reduction, with the amount of Pd/C is 20% in solvent anhydrous ethanol, under the pressure of 1 MPa, temperature of 35 ℃, and the yield is up to 86.8%. Knoevenagel condensation is optimized, with benzyl amine and formic acid as catalyst, n(7-methoxy-1-naphthalene ketone)∶n(cyanoacetic acid)∶n(benzyl amine)∶n(formic acid)=1∶1.8∶0.3∶0.3, and the transformation rate is 95.6%. In NaBH4/NiCl2·6H2O reduction step, Boc anhydride is specially added to protect the amino group and reduce by-product, and the yield of 72.5% is obtained. Under the optimized conditions, the total yield is 26%, and the purity is 99.79%. The structures of target compounds are confirmed by 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. The process route of catalytic hydrogenation reduction method is green and environmentally friendly, the reaction conditions are mild, and the post-treatment is simple, which provides a theoretical reference for improving the reaction yield and purity of the product of agomelatine

Relationships between progrosis, immune infiltration and expression of SMYD3 in pan-cancer

Objective The study focuses on the prognostic value of SMYD3 in pan cancer, and analyze the influence of SMYD3 on tumor tissue immune infiltration. Methods The gene expression and protein density data were collected from TCGA, GTEx and HPA databases. Kaplan-Meier(KM) algorithm was used to evaluate the impact of SMYD3 on the prognosis of patients with different kinds of tumor. The ESTIMATE algorithm and Timer database were applied to investigate the relationship between SMYD3 and immune microenvironment. And the results were verified in B16 cell line by knockout SMYD3. Results Higher expression of SMYD3 was observed in tumor tissue than normal tissue in both mRNA and protein level. And SMYD3 was thought to be associated with worse outcomes of patients(PPSmyd3 in B16 cell line increased the expression of antigen present genes(PConclusions Smyd3 is an important gene related to the prognosis of patients and the antigen presentation function of tumor cells. Smyd3 can inhibit the infiltration of immune cell by down-regulation of antigen-present genes, which induces the immune escape

H3N2 canine influenza virus and Enterococcus faecalis coinfection in dogs in China

Abstract Background In May 2017, 17 dogs in a German Shepherd breeding kennel in northern China developed respiratory clinical signs. The owner treated the dogs with an intravenous injection of Shuang-Huang-lian, a traditional Chinese medicine, and azithromycin. The respiratory signs improved 3 days post-treatment, however, cysts were observed in the necks of eight dogs, and three of them died in the following 2 days. Case presentation Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect canine influenza virus (CIV). All of the dogs in this kennel were positive and the remaining 14 dogs had seroconverted. Two of the dogs were taken to the China Agricultural University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for further examination. Two strains of influenza virus (A/canine/Beijing/0512–133/2017 and A/canine/Beijing/0512–137/2017) isolated from the nasal swabs of these dogs were sequenced and identified as avian-origin H3N2 CIV. For the two dogs admitted to the hospital, hematology showed mild inflammation and radiograph results indicated pneumonia. Cyst fluid was plated for bacterial culture and bacterial 16 s rRNA gene PCR was performed, followed by Sanger sequencing. The results indicated an Enterococcus faecalis infection. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed and dogs were treated with enrofloxacin. All 14 remaining dogs recovered within 16 days. Conclusions Coinfection of H3N2 CIV and Enterococcus faecalis was detected in dogs, which has not been reported previously. Our results highlight that CIV infection might promote the secondary infection of opportunistic bacteria and cause more severe and complicated clinical outcomes

Analysis of Zinc and Stromal Immunity in Disuse Osteoporosis: Mendelian Randomization and Transcriptomic Analysis

Objective Disuse osteoporosis is known to be primarily caused by a lack of exercise. However, the causal relationships between zinc and immunity and disuse osteoporosis remain unknown. This study investigated these relationships and their potential mechanisms. Methods This study was an integrative study combining genome‐wide association studies and transcriptomics. Two‐sample Mendelian randomization analysis (MR) was used to analyze the causal relationships between exposures (zinc, immunity, physical activity) and the outcome (osteoporosis) with the aid of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs). Four models, MR‐Egger, inverse variance weighted, weighted median and MR‐Pleiotrophy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MRPRESSO), were used to calculate odds ratio values. Sensitivity and heterogeneity analyses were also performed using MRPRESSO and MR‐Egger methods. The mRNA transcriptomic analysis was subsequently conducted. Zinc metabolism scores were acquired through single‐sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis algorithms. Stromal scores were obtained using the R Package “estimate” algorithms. Important Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology pathways were also derived through gene set variation analysis. Cytoscape software helped construct the transcription factor (TF)–mRNA–microRNA (miRNA) network. Virtual screening and molecular docking were performed. Polymerase chain reaction validation was also carried out in vivo. Results Causal relationships were demonstrated between zinc and exercise (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.30–2.95, p = 0.001), exercise and immunity (95% CI = 0.36–0.80, p = 0.002), exercise and osteoporosis (95% CI = 0.97–0.99, p = 0.0007), and immunity disorder and osteoporosis (95% CI = 1.30–2.03, p = 0.00002). One hundred and seventy‐nine mRNAs in important modules were screened. Combining the differential expressional genes (DEGs) and the Boruta selection, six DEGs were screened (AHNAK, CSF2, ADAMTS12, SRA1, RUNX2, and SLC39A14). TF HOXC10 and miRNA hsa‐miR‐204 were predicted. Then, the TF–mRNA–miRNA network was successfully constructed. RUNX2 and SLC39A14 were identified as hub mRNAs in the TF–mRNA–miRNA network. Eventually, the novel small drug C6O4NH5 was designed according to the pharmacophore structure of SLC39A14. The docking energy for the novel drug was −5.83 kcal/mol. SLC39A14 and RUNX2 were downregulated (of statistical significance p‐value < 0.05) in our animal experiment. Conclusion This study revealed that zinc had a protective causal relationship with disuse osteoporosis by promoting exercise and immunity. SLC39A14 and RUNX2 mRNA participated in this zinc‐related mechanism

Canine Influenza Virus A(H3N2) Clade with Antigenic Variation, China, 2016–2017

During 2012–2017, we collected throat swabs from dogs in China to characterize canine influenza virus (CIV) A(H3N2) isolates. A new antigenically and genetically distinct CIV H3N2 clade possessing mutations associated with mammalian adaptation emerged in 2016 and replaced previously circulating strains. This clade probably poses a risk for zoonotic infection