Local fluctuations of vibrational polaritons monitored by two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

We study the collective behavior of molecules placed in an infrared (IR) microcavity, incorporating the local fluctuations, i.e., dynamical disorder. The cooperative feature in vibrational polaritons is shown to be dynamically eroded, due to intermolecule coherence. To further resolve such process, we develop a two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D-IR) for molecules interacting with cavity modes. The cooperative feature in correspondence to the spectroscopic signal is specified. The results reveal the dark states by the cross peaks apart from the ones for polaritons, as a result of the breakdown of cooperativity between molecules. We further show that the breakdown of cooperativity profoundly connects to the localization of the vibrational excitations whereas the polariton modes are extended wave over several molecules. Besides, our work offers new physical insight for understanding the recent 2D-IR experiments where the interaction between dark modes and bright polaritons was evident.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Optimal Screening, Monitoring, and Prevention Strategies in Infectious Disease Management

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. January 2021. Major: Industrial Engineering. Advisors: Ying Cui, Eva Enns. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 193 pages.Mathematical models of infectious disease such as Markov models, dynamic compartmentalmodels have been increasingly utilized in medical decision making. Most studies primarily focus on assessing the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness of policies, interventions by balancing costs and direct health benets (often in qualify-adjusted life-years gained, or disability-adjusted life-years averted). There are challenges with this classical approach. First, it may overlook the future impact of the current decision. For example, in treating bacterial infections, antibiotic over-prescription is an increasingly urgent healthcare issue to be addressed. Second, previous works focus less on incorporating individual response and heterogeneity effect into an infectious disease control policy optimization setting. In Chapter 2, we address the antibiotic over-prescription in febrile illness management,by formulating the problem of minimizing the weighted average of antibiotic underuse and overuse to inform the optimal diagnostic test and antibiotic treatment options for given occurrence probabilities of several bacterial and viral infections. The model accounted for multiple infections simultaneously and incorporated test, treatment, and other direct and indirect costs, as well as the effect of delays in seeking care and test turnaround times. We used the Markov models to numerically estimate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), pre-penalty costs, and the likelihood of antibiotics overuse per patient for fifteen different strategies in Thailand settings (a typical viral and bacterial endemic setting). In Chapter 3, we formulate a Markov decision process to address patient adherenceheterogeneity by optimizing viral load monitoring strategies for HIV-infected patients. In Chapter 4, we provide a framework to optimize public health control policies inresponding to an infectious disease outbreak like the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a multinomial discrete choice model to characterize an individual activity level and integrate it into a repeated game-theoretical model with a SIR disease transmission dynamics. We derive a few insightful structural properties from these models and conduct numerical studies based on representative data for COVID-19 in Minnesota. We conclude with a discussion of the work and directions for future research inChapter 5.Zhang, Zhenhuan. (2021). Optimal Screening, Monitoring, and Prevention Strategies in Infectious Disease Management. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/220592

Coexistence of HER2 over-expression and p53 protein accumulation is a strong prognostic molecular marker in breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Many laboratories are currently evaluating the usefulness of determination of HER2, p53, and Ki67 proliferation indices using immunohistochemical techniques in cancer. Although the available studies suggest that these factors might indeed be helpful in making treatment decisions in cancer patients, their clinical usefulness is still controversial. METHODS: Expression of HER2, p53, and Ki67 was examined by immunohistochemistry in samples of breast tissue from 506 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma, obtained between 1981 and 1999 (median follow up period 82 months), and their significance for prognosis was analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 506 carcinoma tissue samples, 20.1%, 29.0%, and 53.6% were positive for HER2 over-expression, p53 protein accumulation, and Ki67 expression, respectively. Over-expression of HER2 significantly reduced disease free (P = 0.02) and overall survival (P = 0.005). Accumulation of p53 protein significantly decreased disease free (P = 0.01) and overall survival (P = 0.01). Patients with tumors that were positive for both HER2 and p53 relapsed and died within a significantly shorter period of time after surgery (P = 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). In multivariate analysis, patients with both HER2 and p53 positive tumors had considerably decreased overall survival (P = 0.04), as did patients with larger tumor size and positive lymph node status. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study indicate that the coexistence of HER2 over-expression and p53 protein accumulation is a strong prognostic molecular marker in breast cancer

Green physical activity for leisure connects perceived residential greenspace and mental well-being

Physical activity serves as a pivotal mediator in previous theoretical frameworks that link greenspace and human health. However, it remains unclear whether the domain of physical activity within and around greenspaces can alter the pathway. The present study recruited 668 participants online and examined a conceptual framework that explores the associations between residential greenspace and mental well-being, with a particular focus on the mediation effect of green physical activity (physical activity undertaken in and around greenspaces). Moreover, socio-demographic characteristics, including gender, age, household income, education status, marital status, and student status, were controlled for during the examination. The investigated green physical activities included leisure activities, transportation walking, and transportation cycling, and they were measured by a pre-established questionnaire. Meanwhile, mental well-being was measured by the WHO-5 well-being index, and residential greenspace was indicated by self-reported perceived greenspace and mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values within 500 meters (m) of residential radius. We found that both perceived greenspace (B = 1.852, p &lt; 0.001) and NDVI 500 m (B = 3.230, p = 0.038) were positively associated with mental well-being. However, only perceived greenspace, not NDVI 500 m, exhibited positive associations with the three green physical activity items. Furthermore, only green physical activity for leisure (B = 0.223, p &lt; 0.001), not for transportation (p &gt; 0.05), mediated the relationship between perceived greenspace and mental well-being. Our findings reinforce previous studies on “greenspace-health” frameworks and underline the importance of leisure physical activity in promoting mental well-being

Novel Design and Adaptive Fuzzy Control of a Lower-Limb Elderly Rehabilitation

Design and control of a lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation of the elderly are the main challenge for health care in the past decades. In order to satisfy the requirements of the elderly or disabled users, this paper presents a novel design and adaptive fuzzy control of lower-limb empowered rehabilitation, namely MOVING UP. Different from other rehabilitation devices, this article considers active rehabilitation training devices. Firstly, a novel product design method based on user experience is proposed for the lower-limb elderly exoskeleton rehabilitation. At the same time, in order to achieve a stable operation control for the assistant rehabilitation system, an adaptive fuzzy control scheme is discussed. Finally, the feasibility of the design and control method is validated with a detailed simulation study and the human-interaction test. With the booming demand in the global market for the assistive lower-limb exoskeleton, the methodology developed in this paper will bring more research and manufacturing interests

Quantitative determination, by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, of aromatase mRNA in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast

BACKGROUND: Estrogen is a mitogenic factor that is implicated in the genesis and progression of breast cancer via its binding to estrogen receptor (ER)-α. Synthesis of estrogen in situ is believed to be catalyzed mainly by aromatase. Previous studies comparing the relative contributions from tumor cells and stromal cells to local estrogen synthesis, as assessed by immunohistochemical analysis, were quite controversial and no consistent relationship was found between the presence of aromatase and any clinicopathologic factor. In addition, previous studies into aromatase gene expression and clinicopathologic factors are limited. METHODS: We assessed the level of expression of aromatase mRNA, using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, in 162 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Associations between aromatase expression and different clinicopathologic factors were sought. RESULTS: It was found that aromatase mRNA was expressed at significantly higher levels in patients older than 50 years, in those without axillary lymph node involvement, in those with tumor size less than 2 cm, and in ER-α positive tumors. However, no relationship was found between aromatase mRNA expression and any other clinicopathologic factor, including histologic grade and progesterone receptor status. Patients with high levels of expression of aromatase mRNA tended to have a better prognosis than did those patients with low expression. CONCLUSION: These findings imply that ER-α and aromatase may be coexpressed in endocrine responsive patients. They may also indicate that aromatase expression could be a marker of endocrine responsiveness, and it may have prognostic implications for breast cancer progression

Applying contrastive pre-training for depression and anxiety risk prediction in type 2 diabetes patients based on heterogeneous electronic health records: a primary healthcare case study

Objective: Due to heterogeneity and limited medical data in primary healthcare services (PHS), assessing the psychological risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in PHS is difficult. Using unsupervised contrastive pre-training, we proposed a deep learning framework named depression and anxiety prediction (DAP) to predict depression and anxiety in T2DM patients. // Materials and Methods: The DAP model consists of two sub-models. Firstly, the pre-trained model of DAP used unlabeled discharge records of 85 085 T2DM patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University for unsupervised contrastive learning on heterogeneous electronic health records (EHRs). Secondly, the fine-tuned model of DAP used case–control cohorts (17 491 patients) selected from 149 596 T2DM patients’ EHRs in the Nanjing Health Information Platform (NHIP). The DAP model was validated in 1028 patients from PHS in NHIP. Evaluation included receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC-AUC) and precision-recall area under the curve (PR-AUC), and decision curve analysis (DCA). // Results: The pre-training step allowed the DAP model to converge at a faster rate. The fine-tuned DAP model significantly outperformed the baseline models (logistic regression, extreme gradient boosting, and random forest) with ROC-AUC of 0.91±0.028 and PR-AUC of 0.80±0.067 in 10-fold internal validation, and with ROC-AUC of 0.75 ± 0.045 and PR-AUC of 0.47 ± 0.081 in external validation. The DCA indicate the clinical potential of the DAP model. // Conclusion: The DAP model effectively predicted post-discharge depression and anxiety in T2DM patients from PHS, reducing data fragmentation and limitations. This study highlights the DAP model’s potential for early detection and intervention in depression and anxiety, improving outcomes for diabetes patients

What is hindering Chinese women from participating in combat sports?

With the awakening of female consciousness, women's participation in sports has gradually gained autonomy and agency. However, Chinese women still face numerous restrictions in combat sports, hindering the development of this industry. Based on years of practice and research experience in the field, we summarize some general and specific issues, such as stigmatization and the constraints of traditional Chinese thinking. These issues need attention and consideration in the pursuit of gender equality in sports in the future