TEACHING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERPRETATION OF CHARMING XIANGXI STAGE COSTUME SYMBOLS IN ZHANGJIAJIE, HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA

For centuries, performers in Hunan Province, China, have adorned themselves in the Charming Xiangxi stage costume. The symbols on the costume might stand for things in nature, cultural beliefs, or important events in history. The interpretation of these symbols requires a deep understanding of Chinese culture and history. The objective of this study was to study and present the importance of teaching knowledge and understanding of the interpretation of Charming Xiangxi stage costume symbols in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. Using the methods of literature review and field investigation. The results of this study show that the "Maous Dance" of Tujia nationality, a traditional national dance in Tujia folk activities, is a symbol of spiritual externalization and national identity. It finds its universality and particularity, and its ontological characteristics are compatible with the commonness of the two arts but also have their own uniqueness. Through the "Maous Dance" performance in Charming Xiangxi, we can see that human beings still shine the light of humanity behind the dance sacrifice activities, and the production, living, reproduction, praying for good luck, and eliminating disasters represent the cultural phenomenon of longing for survival and pursuing survival.

Intelligent medication manager: developing and implementing a mobile application based on WeChat

Background: Time and space constraints have often hindered the provision of optimal pharmaceutical care, limiting medication therapy management. Social media tools have gained significant popularity in the field of pharmaceutical care. This study aimed to develop a WeChat-based intelligent medication manager platform that facilitates online pharmaceutical care and encourages self-management.Methods: We developed a WeChat-based Internet pharmacy service platform called Xiang Medicine Guidance (XMG). Through the analysis of surveys and user access data, we evaluated the demand and utilization of the XMG platform and assessed patients’ satisfaction with its services. Patients’ adherence before and after the XMG platform intervention was also investigated.Results: The XMG platform was launched in November 2022, offering medication guidance, reminders, and consultation services through the WeChat mini-program. By the end of April 2023, the platform had attracted 141.2 thousand users, accumulating 571.0 thousand visits. Moreover, 1,183 clients sought online medication consultations during this period. Six months after the launch of XMG, an impressive 91.02% of users expressed their satisfaction with the platform. The medication reminders and consultations provided by XMG significantly contributed to medication adherence, with 56.02% of users categorized as having good adherence, better than the previous 47.26%.Conclusion: Through its services and features, XMG empowers patients to better manage their medications, seek professional advice, and adhere to their prescribed treatment plans. XMG has the potential to positively impact public health on a broader scale

Zinc regeneration in rechargeable zinc-air fuel cells:a review

Zinc-air fuel cells (ZAFCs) present a promising energy source with a competing potential with the lithium-ion battery and even with proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for applications in next generation electrified transport and energy storage. The regeneration of zinc is essential for developing the next-generation, i.e., electrochemically rechargeable ZAFCs. This review aims to provide a comprehensive view on both theoretical and industrial platforms already built hitherto, with focus on electrode materials, electrode and electrolyte additives, solution chemistry, zinc deposition reaction mechanisms and kinetics, and electrochemical zinc regeneration systems. The related technological challenges and their possible solutions are described and discussed. A summary of important R&D patents published within the recent 10 years is also presented

Cost-effectiveness analysis of dostarlimab plus carboplatin-paclitaxel as first-line treatment for advanced endometrial cancer

BackgroundA recent phase III clinical trial (NCT03981796) evaluated the efficacy and safety of dostarlimab combined with carboplatin-paclitaxel (DOS-CP) compared to placebo combined with carboplatin-paclitaxel (PLB-CP) as a first-line treatment for advanced endometrial cancer (EC). The NCT03981796 trial demonstrated that DOS-CP significantly improved progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with advanced EC while maintaining an acceptable safety profile. However, DOS-CP is expensive and its cost-effectiveness has not been evaluated. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of DOS-CP compared to PLB-CP as a first-line treatment for advanced EC from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system.MethodsA Markov model with three health states was developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of DOS-CP as a first-line treatment for advanced EC. Clinical efficacy data were derived from the NCT03981796 trial, and drug costs were determined based on national tender prices. Other costs and utility values were obtained from published literature. The outcomes assessed included total costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). The robustness of the model was assessed through one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis.ResultsIn comparison to PLB-CP, the ICER of DOS-CP was $98,276.61/QALY for the overall population,$53,063.61/QALY for the dMMR subgroup, and $124,088.56/QALY for the pMMR subgroup. All of these ICER values were higher than the willingness-to-pay threshold of$38,201 per QALY. The most important variable that affected the results of the model was the discount rate, the cost of dostarlimab, and the utility value for progressive disease.ConclusionFrom the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system, DOS-CP is unlikely to be a cost-effective first-line treatment option for advanced EC

Regression-based surface water fraction mapping using a synthetic spectral library for monitoring small water bodies

Small water bodies (SWBs), such as ponds and on-farm reservoirs, are a key part of the hydrological system and play important roles in diverse domains from agriculture to conservation. The monitoring of SWBs has been greatly facilitated by medium-spatial-resolution satellite images, but the monitoring accuracy is considerably affected by the mixed-pixel problem. Although various spectral unmixing methods have been applied to map sub-pixel surface water fractions for large water bodies, such as lakes and reservoirs, it is challenging to map SWBs that are small in size relative to the image pixel and have dissimilar spectral properties. In this study, a novel regression-based surface water fraction mapping method (RSWFM) using a random forest and a synthetic spectral library is proposed for mapping 10 m spatial resolution surface water fractions from Sentinel-2 imagery. The RSWFM inputs a few endmembers of water, vegetation, impervious surfaces, and soil to simulate a spectral library, and considers spectral variations in endmembers for different SWBs. Additionally, RSWFM applies noise-based data augmentation on pure endmembers to overcome the limitation often arising from the use of a small set of pure spectra in training the regression model. RSWFM was assessed in ten study sites and compared with the fully constrained least squares (FCLS) linear spectral mixture analysis, multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA), and the nonlinear random forest (RF) regression without data-augmentation. The results showed that RSWFM decreases the water fraction mapping errors by ~ 30%, ~15%, and ~ 11% in root mean square error compared with the linear FCLS, MESMA unmixings, and the nonlinear RF regression without data-augmentation respectively. RSWFM has an accuracy of approximately 0.85 in R2 in estimating the area of SWBs smaller than 1 ha

Comparing the outcome between multicentric/multifocal breast cancer and unifocal breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis compares the outcome between MMBC and unifocal breast cancer (UFBC), in order to provide a theoretical basis for the design of an appropriate clinical therapeutic strategy of MMBC patients.MethodsPubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of science, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM and VIP database were searched from inception to July 2021, and observational studies reporting the outcome of patients with MMBC and UFBC were included. We extracted or calculated the mortality rates of MMBC and UFBC patients; and obtained the hazard ratios; odds ratios; relative risks; and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals from the eligible studies. All the meta-analyses were conducted by using the Stata 15.0 software.Results31 eligible studies comprising a total of 15,703 individuals were included. The meta-analysis revealed that MMBC did not have a significant association with poor overall survival (HR=1.04, 95% CI=0.96-1.12), disease-free survival (HR= 1.07, 95% CI= 0.84-1.36), breast cancer-specific survival (HR=1.42, 95% CI= 0.89-2.27), recurrence-free survival (HR= 0.878, 95% CI= 0.652-1.182), local recurrence-free survival (HR= 0.90, 95% CI= 0.57-1.42), and contralateral breast cancer risk (RR= 0.908, 95% CI= 0.667-1.234). However, MMBC appeared to have a correlation with a slightly higher risk of death (OR=1.31, 95% CI=1.18-1.45).ConclusionPatients with MMBC appeared to have a higher risk of death, however, it may not be independently associated with poorer outcomes. Considering the inter-study heterogeneity and other limitations, our results need to be validated by further multicenter prospective studies with a large sample size in the future

DC-SIGN as an attachment factor mediates Japanese encephalitis virus infection of human dendritic cells via interaction with a single high-mannose residue of viral E glycoprotein

AbstractThe skin-resident dendritic cells (DCs) are thought to be the first defender to encounter incoming viruses and likely play a role in Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) early infection. In the current study, following the demonstration of JEV productive infection in DCs, we revealed that the interaction between JEV envelope glycoprotein (E glycoprotein) and DC-SIGN was important for such infection as evidenced by antibody neutralization and siRNA knockdown experiments. Moreover, the high-mannose N-linked glycan at N154 of E glycoprotein was shown to be crucial for JEV binding to DC-SIGN and subsequent internalization, while mutation of DC-SIGN internalization motif did not affect JEV uptake and internalization. These data together suggest that DC-SIGN functions as an attachment factor rather than an entry receptor for JEV. Our findings highlight the potential significance of DC-SIGN in JEV early infection, providing a basis for further understanding how JEV exploits DC-SIGN to gain access to dendritic cells

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection-Induced Expression of CXCR3 Ligands Promotes CD4(+) T Cell Migration and Is Regulated by the Viral Immediate-Early Protein ICP4

HSV-2 infection-induced CXCR3 ligands are important for the recruitment of virus-specific CD8+ T cells, but their impact on CD4+ T cell trafficking remains to be further determined. Given that recruitment of CD4+ T cells to infection areas may be one of the mechanisms that account for HSV-2 infection-mediated enhancement of HIV-1 sexual transmission, here we investigated the functionality of HSV-2 infection-induced CXCR3 ligands CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 in vivo and in vitro, and determined the viral components responsive for such induction and the underlying mechanisms. We first found that the expression of CXCR3 ligands CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 was increased in mice following vaginal challenge with HSV-2, while CXCL9 played a predominant role in the recruitment of CD4+ T cells to the vaginal foci of infected mice. HSV-2 infection also induced the production of CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 in human cervical epithelial cells. Of note, although HSV-2 induced the expression of all the three CXCR3 ligands, the induced CXCL9 appeared to play a predominant role in promoting CD4+ T cell migration, reflecting that the concentrations of CXCL10 and CXCL11 required for CD4+ T cell migration are higher than that of CXCL9. We further revealed that, ICP4, an immediate-early protein of HSV-2, is crucial in promoting CXCR3 ligand expression through the activation of p38 MAPK pathway. Mechanistically, ICP4 binds to corresponding promoters of CXCR3 ligands via interacting with the TATA binding protein (TBP), resulting in the transcriptional activation of the corresponding promoters. Taken together, our study highlights HSV-2 ICP4 as a vital viral protein in promoting CXCR3 ligand expression and CXCL9 as the key induced chemokine in mediating CD4+ T cell migration. Findings in this study have shed light on HSV-2 induced leukocyte recruitment which may be important for understanding HSV-2 infection-enhanced HIV-1 sexual transmission and the development of intervention strategies