ClockViz: Designing Public Visualization for Coping with Collective Stress in Teamwork

The intervention solutions for coping with collective stress have been neglected in interaction design because of limited scalability of the physiological measuring methods. This paper focuses on exploring visual biofeedback design for collective stress in the context of teamwork. We design ClockViz, an augmented reality installation overlaid with static or dynamic projection to visualize three different extents of collective stress on a clock. Results of a 16-participant study show that ClockViz is useful to provide biofeedback data, change their internal status, and increase their mindfulness. Based on the results, we also discussed the potential solutions to collective stress sensing for designers to apply into their interactive design intervention

The variability of optical \feii emission in PG QSO 1700+518

It is found that \feii emission contributes significantly to the optical and ultraviolet spectra of most active galactic nuclei. The origin of the optical/UV \feii emission is still a question open to debate. The variability of \feii would give clues to this origin. Using 7.5 yr spectroscopic monitoring data of one Palomer-Green (PG) quasi-stellar object (QSO), PG 1700+518, with strong optical \feii emission, we obtain the light curves of the continuum \lv, \feii, the broad component of \hb, and the narrow component of \hb by the spectral decomposition. Through the interpolation cross-correlation method, we calculate the time lags for light curves of \feii, the total \hb, the broad component of \hb, and the narrow component of \hb with respect to the continuum light curve. We find that the \feii time lag in PG1700+518 is $209^{+100}_{-147}$ days, and the \hb time lag cannot be determined. Assuming that \feii and \hb emission regions follow the virial relation between the time lag and the FWHM for the \hb and \feii emission lines, we can derive that the \hb time lag is $148^{+72}_{-104}$ days. The \hb time lag calculated from the empirical luminosity--size relation is 222 days, which is consistent with our measured \feii time lag. Considering the optical \feii contribution, PG 1700+518 shares the same characteristic on the spectral slope variability as other 15 PG QSOs in our previous work, i.e., harder spectrum during brighter phase.Comment: 6 apges, ApJ, in pres

KRT23 promotes the proliferation of liver cancer by activating AKT signaling pathway

Objective To investigate the effect of high keratin 23 （KRT23） expression promoting cell proliferation on liver cancer. Methods The expression of KRT23 in liver cancer was analyzed by bioinformatics. After overexpression and inhibition of KRT23， the effect of KRT23 on the proliferation of liver cancer cells was analyzed by MTT and clone formation assay. The regulatory relationship between KRT23 and AKT signaling pathway was analyzed by software prediction， qPCRand Western blot. Results The expression level of KRT23 in liver cancer was significantly higher than that in normal control tissues. MTT and clone formation assay showed that overexpression of KRT23 promoted cell proliferation， while downregulation of KRT23 inhibited cell proliferation. GSEA analysis， qPCR and Western blot showed that KRT23 could activate the AKT signaling pathway and promote cell proliferation. Meanwhile， inhibition of AKT signaling pathway in overexpressing KRT23 cells significantly reduced cell proliferation. Conclusions KRT23 affects the proliferation of liver cancer cells by regulating the AKT signaling pathway. These results suggest that KRT23 exerts significant effects upon the malignant procession of liver cancer and may play an important role in the occurrence and development of liver cancer

Sex-differential effects of olanzapine vs. aripiprazole on glucose and lipid metabolism in first-episode schizophrenia

Objective: To compare sex difference in metabolic effect of olanzapine versus aripiprazole on schizophrenia. Methods: A twelve-week prospective open-label cohort study to compare four subgroups according to first-episode schizophrenia patients’ type of drug usage and sex: female aripiprazole (n = 11), male aripiprazole (n = 11), female olanzapine (n = 10), and male olanzapine (n = 11) for body mass index, fasting serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose. Results: Aripiprazole may be associated with weight gain in female patients with low-baseline weight. Aripiprazole may have an adverse effect of weight and favorable effects of circulating glucose and lipid on female over male schizophrenia patients. The aripiprazole–induced changes in glucose and lipid may be independent of body fat storage, especially for female schizophrenia patients. Olanzapine may have adverse effects of weight, glucose and lipid profiles on female over male schizophrenic patients. Discussion: Our findings fill the gap in knowledge and provide a sex-specific guidance to psychiatrist better tailoring treatment to individual sex-differential characteristics and a key clue to understand the sex-differential mechanism of antipsychotics-induced metabolic dysfunction

MFGE8 Regulates TGF-β-Induced Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Endometrial Epithelial Cells in vitro

This study investigated the role of milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor-factor 8 (MFGE8) in TGF-β-induced epithelial– mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial epithelial cells. These were in vitro studies using human endometrial epithelial cells and mouse blastocysts. We investigated the ability of TGF-β to induce EMT in endometrial epithelial cells (HEC-1A) by assessment of cytological phenotype (by light and atomic force microscopy), changes in expression of the markers of cell adhesion/differentiation E- and N-cadherin, and of the transcription factor Snail (by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting), and competence to support embryo attachment in a mouse blastocyst outgrowth assay. We also studied the effects of E-cadherin expression in cells transfected by retroviral shRNA vectors specifically silencing MFGE8. Results demonstrated that TGF-β induced EMT as demonstrated by phenotypic cell changes, by a switch of cadherin expression as well as by upregulation of the expression of the mesenchymal markers Snail and Vimentin. Upon MFGE8 knockdown, these processes were interfered with, suggesting that MFGE8 and TGF-β together may participate in regulation of EMT. This study demonstrated for the first time that endometrial MFGE8 modulates TGF-β-induced EMT in human endometrium cells

Using γ\gamma-ray observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies to test the possible common origin of the W-boson mass anomaly and the GeV γ\gamma-ray/antiproton excesses

A recent result from Fermilab suggests that the measured W-boson mass deviates from the prediction of the Standard Model (SM) with a significance of $>7\sigma$, and there may exist new physics beyond the SM. It is proposed that the inert two Higgs doublet model (i2HDM) can well explain the new W-boson mass. Meanwhile, the lightest neutral scalar $S$ in the i2HDM can be stable and play the role of dark matter with a preferred dark matter mass of $\sim 54-74$ GeV. It is also found that part of the parameter space of this model can explain both the Galactic center GeV gamma-ray excess detected by $Fermi$-LAT and the GeV antiproton excess detected by AMS-02 through a $SS\rightarrow WW^*$ annihilation. In this paper, we aim to test the possible common i2HDM origin of the three anomaly/excesses using the $Fermi$-LAT observations of Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We perform single and stacking analyses on 19 dSphs that have J-factor measurements. We find that our upper limits are below the favored parameters and seems to be able to exclude the possibility of a common origin of the three anomaly/excesses. However, because the J-factor measurements include relatively large uncertainties, which come from the measurements of stellar kinematics, whether this model could be reliably excluded needs to be further confirmed by future observations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, updated to match the accepted versio

Guest Editorial: Social and human aspects of cyber-physical systems

open6siIn the vision of Industry 4.0, the new industrial revolution is a revolution of cyber-physical systems, of which the Internet of Things forms a key foundation that has a great impact on the way people live, and the way businesses are organised. Cyber-physical systems are often considered feedback systems that integrate computation, networking, and physical processes, and more recently with ‘human-in-the-loop’ as one of the key research topics. The advances in social computing have connected human-inthe-loop in cyber-social systems such as Facebook and Twitter, while their social-physical activities are supported by the cyberphysical systems on or near their bodies and in their interconnected environments. Cyber-physical systems become an integral part of social-cyber-physical systems (SCPS) that weave into the sociotechnical fabric of human society. These hybrid systems, exhibiting both continuous (in physical and social spaces) and discrete (in cyberspaces) dynamic behaviour, give rise to not only new opportunities but also new challenges in designing products and services where human and technical aspects are massively intertwined. This Special Issue aims to present state-of-the-art research attempts and results on the topic of SCPS.openopenHu J.; Liang R.-H.; Shih C.-S.; Catala A.; Marcenaro L.; Osawa H.Hu, J.; Liang, R. -H.; Shih, C. -S.; CATALA MALLOFRE, Andreu; Marcenaro, L.; Osawa, H

Mediastinal Lymph Node Metastases in Thyroid Cancer: Characteristics, Predictive Factors, and Prognosis

Background. Mediastinal lymph node metastases (MLNM) have not been extensively studied. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics, predictive factors, and prognosis of MLNM in thyroid cancer. Methods. This is a retrospective study based on the thyroid cancer patients with MLNM at our institution from 2008 to 2015. Results. In total, 73 thyroid cancer patients with positive MLNM were included in this study. It contained sixty patients (82.2%) with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), twelve (16.4%) with medullary thyroid carcinoma, and one (1.4%) with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Forty-eight patients had the surgery as initial treatment. Fifty-three (72.6%) patients remained disease-free, and fifteen (20.5%) developed a regional recurrence. Distant metastases occurred in four (5.5%) patients and five (6.8%) patients died. Five-year overall survival rate and disease-free survival (DFS) rate of the PTC patients for initial treatment are 95.4% and 77.2%, respectively. Extrathyroidal extension and multiple lymph nodes involved were associated with DFS in PTC patients. Conclusions. Initial therapeutic control is very important for the thyroid cancer patients. Extrathyroidal extension and multiple mediastinal lymph nodes involved were the influence factors of prognosis in the thyroid cancer patients with MLNM