Modeling of Performance Creative Evaluation Driven by Multimodal Affective Data

Performance creative evaluation can be achieved through affective data, and the use of affective featuresto evaluate performance creative is a new research trend. This paper proposes a “Performance Creative—Multimodal Affective (PC-MulAff)” model based on the multimodal affective features for performance creative evaluation. The multimedia data acquisition equipment is used to collect the physiological data of the audience, including the multimodal affective data such as the facial expression, heart rate and eye movement. Calculate affective features of multimodal data combined with director annotation, and defined “Performance Creative—Affective Acceptance (PC-Acc)” based on multimodal affective features to evaluate the quality of performance creative. This paper verifies the PC-MulAff model on different performance data sets. The experimental results show that the PC-MulAff model shows high evaluation quality in different performance forms. In the creative evaluation of dance performance, the accuracy of the model is 7.44% and 13.95% higher than that of the single textual and single video evaluation

The impact of income level on skeletal muscle health in rural Chinese older residents: a study of mediating effects based on dietary knowledge

China’s rural residents have basically solved the problem of subsistence, but due to aging, the prevalence of sarcopenia (abbreviated as sarcopenia) has been increasing year by year, especially the skeletal muscle health of the rural older residents has not been sufficiently paid attention to, so analyses of the impact of income level on the skeletal muscle health of the older people in rural areas of China are of great practical significance. Based on the annual data of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) in 2006, 2009, and 2011, we introduced the mediator variable of dietary knowledge and used the Probit model regression, mediation effect model, and instrumental variable regression to assess the skeletal muscle health status of the rural older people in China and explore the mechanism of the influence of the income level on the skeletal muscle health of the rural older residents in China. The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of income level on the skeletal muscle health status of older adults living in rural areas of China and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. By analyzing the findings of this study, our aim is to establish a correlation between the economic status and skeletal muscle health of older adults in rural communities, as well as elucidate the influence of income level and dietary knowledge on their skeletal muscle health. Through the attainment of these objectives, we hope to provide valuable insights and recommendations for enhancing skeletal muscle health among the rural older population in China. Based on our research findings, it can be inferred that there was a significant association between the financial status of rural older adults and their skeletal muscle health. Additionally, the prevalence of sarcopenia was lower among individuals with higher income levels, and there was a negative correlation between the prevalence of sarcopenia and the level of dietary knowledge among rural older individuals. The knowledge of dietary knowledge level of rural older people plays a mediating role in the income level and the prevalence of sarcopenia. Moreover, with the change in income level and the increase in age, the change in skeletal muscle health status showed obvious heterogeneity, in which the effect on the relatively younger (65–70 years old) samples was greater. Therefore, sustained income growth remains an effective way to improve the skeletal muscle health of older rural residents. At the same time, improving dietary knowledge and dietary quality among the older people is important in preventing a decline in muscle strength and physical function and in preventing the onset of sarcopenia

Serum retinol-binding protein 4 levels are elevated but do not contribute to insulin resistance in newly diagnosed Chinese hypertensive patients

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance (IR) is closely correlated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a novel adipokine that modulates the action of insulin in various diseases. This study addressed the relationship between RBP4 and IR in newly diagnosed essential hypertension. METHODS: Serum RBP4, anthropometric and metabolic parameters were determined in 267 newly diagnosed essential hypertensive patients not taking antihypertensive medications. The patients along with 64 control (NC) normotensive and lean subjects paired by age and sex were divided into two groups depending on body mass index (BMI), hypertension with obesity (HPO) and hypertension without obesity (HP). RESULTS: A striking difference was observed in RBP4 levels between the HP and NC groups. Significantly higher levels were noted in the HP group compared with the NC group; slightly, but not significantly, lower levels were observed in the HPO group compared with the HP group. After adjusting for BMI, WC and WHR, a modestly linear relationship was observed between RBP4 levels and SBP (r = 0.377; p = 0.00), DBP (r = 0.288; p = 0.00) and HOMA-β(r = 0.121; p = 0.028). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that SBP, WHR and drinking were independently related with serum RBP4 levels. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that RBP4 levels were increased in naive hypertensive patients; however, no differences were observed in obese or non-obese hypertensive subjects. Our data suggest for the first time that RBP4 levels are significantly increased but do not contribute to the development of IR in newly diagnosed hypertensive Chinese patients

Adaptive Vague Preference Policy Learning for Multi-round Conversational Recommendation

Conversational recommendation systems (CRS) effectively address information asymmetry by dynamically eliciting user preferences through multi-turn interactions. Existing CRS widely assumes that users have clear preferences. Under this assumption, the agent will completely trust the user feedback and treat the accepted or rejected signals as strong indicators to filter items and reduce the candidate space, which may lead to the problem of over-filtering. However, in reality, users' preferences are often vague and volatile, with uncertainty about their desires and changing decisions during interactions. To address this issue, we introduce a novel scenario called Vague Preference Multi-round Conversational Recommendation (VPMCR), which considers users' vague and volatile preferences in CRS.VPMCR employs a soft estimation mechanism to assign a non-zero confidence score for all candidate items to be displayed, naturally avoiding the over-filtering problem. In the VPMCR setting, we introduce an solution called Adaptive Vague Preference Policy Learning (AVPPL), which consists of two main components: Uncertainty-aware Soft Estimation (USE) and Uncertainty-aware Policy Learning (UPL). USE estimates the uncertainty of users' vague feedback and captures their dynamic preferences using a choice-based preferences extraction module and a time-aware decaying strategy. UPL leverages the preference distribution estimated by USE to guide the conversation and adapt to changes in users' preferences to make recommendations or ask for attributes. Our extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in the VPMCR scenario, highlighting its potential for practical applications and improving the overall performance and applicability of CRS in real-world settings, particularly for users with vague or dynamic preferences

PEDF relieves kidney injury in type 2 diabetic nephropathy mice by reducing macrophage infiltration

Background: Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a multifunctional protein with anti-angiogenic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. PEDF is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, but its exact role in diabetic kidney remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate whether PEDF can alleviate renal damage in type 2 diabetic nephropathy mice by inhibiting macrophage infiltration. Methods: The db/db mice were randomly divided into diabetes PEDF intervention group (DM-P78-PEDF), diabetes empty carrier intervention group (DM-Vehicle) and diabetes mellitus group (DM). Subsequently, they were injected subcutaneously P78-PEDF (0.3μg/g/d) and PBS for 6 weeks. The kidney weight to body weight ratio was observed of the rats. Automatic biochemical analyzer to determine fasting blood glucose (GLU), blood urea nitrogen (UREA), serum creatinine (CREA), hemoglobin (HGB) content. Histological and ultrastructural pathologic changes in the kidneys were examined through H&E and PAS staining. Kidney tissues levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) were determined by ELISA. Expression of the macrophages infiltration and typing as well as that of PEDF, NF-κB, TLR4 was evaluated in the kidneys. Results: PEDF was located in glomeruli and the expression of PEDF protein and mRNA in kidney of diabetic mice was declined significantly. Compared with diabetic mice treated with vehicle, continuous infusion of P78-PEDF could reduce blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine (CREA), renal macrophage recruitment, inflammatory cytokines, histological changes and restore the expression of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway related factors in diabetic mice. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of P78-PEDF peptide as a potential treatment in the occurrence and development of diabetic renal injur

The estimated glomerular filtration rate was U-shaped associated with abdominal aortic calcification in US adults: findings from NHANES 2013–2014

ObjectivesThe high incidence of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is well-documented in individuals with severe renal function decline. However, there is limited research on the historical relationship between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the risk of AAC occurrence in the general population undergoing routine medical examinations. The main objective of this study was to investigate the historical relationship between eGFR and AAC in the general population of the United States.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013–2014 database. Weighted multivariate linear regression models were used to estimate the associations of eGFR with AAC score. Smooth curve fitting and two-piecewise linear regression were employed to explore the potential non-linear relationship.ResultsA total of 2,978 participant (48.22% were male) aged 40–80 years were included in this study. The fully-adjusted model demonstrated a negative correlation between eGFR and AAC score (β = −0.015, 95% CI: −0.023 to −0.006). However, when applying the smooth curve fitting method, a U-shaped relationship was identified, and the inflection point was calculated at 76.43 ml/min/1.73 m2 using the two-piecewise linear regression model.ConclusionsThere was a U-shaped association between eGFR and AAC score in general US adults, with an inflection point at about 76.43 ml/min/1.73 m2

Astragaloside IV attenuates renal tubule injury in DKD rats via suppression of CD36-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation

Background:In recent years, diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has emerged as a prominent factor contributing to end-stage renal disease. Tubulointerstitial inflammation and lipid accumulation have been identified as key factors in the development of DKD. Earlier research indicated that Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, controls lipid accumulation, and provides protection to the kidneys. Nevertheless, the mechanisms responsible for its protective effects against DKD have not yet been completely elucidated.Purpose:The primary objective of this research was to examine the protective properties of AS-IV against DKD and investigate the underlying mechanism, which involves CD36, reactive oxygen species (ROS), NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β).Methods:The DKD rat model was created by administering streptozotocin along with a high-fat diet. Subsequently, the DKD rats and palmitic acid (PA)-induced HK-2 cells were treated with AS-IV. Atorvastatin was used as the positive control. To assess the therapeutic effects of AS-IV on DKD, various tests including blood sugar levels, the lipid profile, renal function, and histopathological examinations were conducted. The levels of CD36, ROS, NLRP3, Caspase-1, and IL-1β were detected using western blot analysis, PCR, and flow cytometry. Furthermore, adenovirus-mediated CD36 overexpression was applied to explore the underlying mechanisms through in vitro experiments.Results:In vivo experiments demonstrated that AS-IV significantly reduced hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, urinary albumin excretion, and serum creatinine levels in DKD rats. Additionally, it improved renal structural abnormalities and suppressed the expression of CD36, NLRP3, IL-1β, TNF-α, and MCP-1. In vitro experiments showed that AS-IV decreased CD36 expression, lipid accumulation, and lipid ROS production while inhibiting NLRP3 activation and IL-1β secretion in PA-induced HK-2 cells.Conclusion:AS-IV alleviated renal tubule interstitial inflammation and tubule epithelial cell apoptosis in DKD rats by inhibiting CD36-mediated lipid accumulation and NLRP3 inflammasome activation

RCEA-360VR: Real-time, continuous emotion annotation in 360◦ VR videos for collecting precise viewport-dependent ground truth labels

Precise emotion ground truth labels for 360◦ virtual reality (VR) video watching are essential for fne-grained predictions under varying viewing behavior. However, current annotation techniques either rely on post-stimulus discrete self-reports, or real-time, con- tinuous emotion annotations (RCEA) but only for desktop/mobile settings. We present RCEA for 360◦ VR videos (RCEA-360VR), where we evaluate in a controlled study (N=32) the usability of two peripheral visualization techniques: HaloLight and DotSize. We furthermore develop a method that considers head movements when fusing labels. Using physiological, behavioral, and subjective measures, we show that (1) both techniques do not increase users’ workload, sickness, nor break presence (2) our continuous valence and arousal annotations are consistent with discrete within-VR and original stimuli ratings (3) users exhibit high similarity in viewing behavior, where fused ratings perfectly align with intended labels. Our work contributes usable and efective techniques for collecting fne-grained viewport-dependent emotion labels in 360◦ VR

Trends in the Levels of Serum Lipids and Lipoproteins and the Prevalence of Dyslipidemia in Adults with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes in the Southwest Chinese Han Population during 2003–2012

Objective. To determine the trends of serum lipid levels and dyslipidemia in adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus during 2003–2012 in Southwest China. Methods. Serum lipid measurements of 994 adults were obtained from 5 independent, cross-sectional studies (2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2010, and 2011-2012). The main outcome measures were mean serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride levels; body mass index; hemoglobin A1C level; and the percentages of patients with dyslipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Results. The mean total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased from 4.92 ± 1.15 to 5.30 ± 1.17 mmol/L (P = 0.039) and 2.72 ± 0.83 to 3.11 ± 1.09 mmol/L (P = 0.004), respectively, and the mean HDL cholesterol level declined from 1.22 ± 0.30 to 1.06 ± 0.24 mmol/L (P < 0.001). The percentages of patients with dyslipidemia increased gradually. The incidence of coronary heart and cerebrovascular diseases increased from 8.2% to 19.1% and 6.6% to 15.3%, respectively (P < 0.05). Conclusion. Unfavorable upward trends were observed in serum lipid levels and the prevalence of dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease in adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Southwest China during 2003–2012