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Lab-on-chip technologies are being developed for multiplexed single cell assays. Impedance offers a simple non-invasive method for counting, identifying and monitoring cellular function. A number of different microfluidic devices for single cell impedance have been developed. These have potential applications ranging from simple cell counting and label-free identification of different cell types or detecting changes in cell morphology after invasion by parasites. Devices have also been developed that trap single cells and continuously record impedance data. This technology has applications in basic research, diagnostics, or non-invasively probing cell function at the single-cell level. This review will describe the underlying principles of impedance analysis of particles. It then describes the state-of-the-art in the field of microfluidic impedance flow cytometry. Finally, future directions and challenges are discussed.

Despite the importance of glass forming ability as a major alloy characteristic, it is poorly understood and its quantification has been experimentally laborious and computationally challenging. Here, we uncover that the glass forming ability of an alloy is represented in its amorphous structure far away from equilibrium, which can be exposed by conventional X-ray diffraction. Specifically, we fabricated roughly 5,700 alloys from 12 alloy systems and characterized the full-width at half-maximum, Δ q , of the first diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern. A strong correlation between high glass forming ability and a large Δ q was found. This correlation indicates that a large dispersion of structural units comprising the amorphous structure is the universal indicator for high metallic glass formation. When paired with combinatorial synthesis, the correlation enhances throughput by up to 100 times compared to today’s state-of-the-art combinatorial methods and will facilitate the discovery of bulk metallic glasses. The glass forming ability of alloys is found to be strongly correlated with the full-width at half-maximum of the first diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern, which facilitates the discovery of bulk metallic glass compositions.

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology and the widespread use of sensing technology in education, human-computer interaction teaching has gradually developed in sports and education. Traditionally, teachers explain and demonstrate the fundamentals of movements first, then organize exercises, and students gradually consolidate technical movements through repetition. This process requires teachers to repeatedly explain, such that students can develop movement concepts, and to assist students in correcting their movements through practice. Eventually, students can master the dragon boat’s paddling movements. Teachers frequently struggle to observe all of their students’ movements and are therefore unable to correct them in a timely and effective manner. To address the aforementioned issues, this paper proposes a big data system for multidimensional stereo vision training in dragon boat paddling action. The stock price action recognition of dragon boat paddles and the movement of students’ dragon boat paddles are realized through the multidimensional fusion of attention mechanism and spatiotemporal graph convolution. Make judgments to more effectively guide and train students’ paddling movements.

Key Points An important feature of cerebral cortex development is the increase in the thickness and folding of surface areas in many species. Abnormal cortical development that affects growth and folding causes brain malformations such as microcephaly and lissencephaly. Cortical neural progenitors can be characterized into four subtypes according to their apical and basal positions in the ventricular zone and subventricular zone: apical radial glial cells, apical intermediate progenitors, basal radial glial cells and basal intermediate progenitors. Cell cycle progression, apoptosis, cilia and microRNAs control distinct aspects of cortical neural progenitor expansion and cortical size. Many microcephaly-associated genes are involved in centrosome function and in turn control symmetrical versus asymmetrical divisions of cortical neural progenitors and cortical size. Gyrencephaly — that is, anatomical folding of the neocortex to form gyri and sulci — seems to be a trait that arose in the ancestor of all mammals. Cortical neural progenitors at basal positions in the ventricular zone and subventricular zone play a substantial part in expanding cortical surface areas and folding. Many factors, such as afferent fibres and axonal interactions, ventricular surface expansion, pial invagination and meningeal signalling, contribute to development of gyri in the cortex. The size and the extent of gyrification of the cerebral cortex both influence brain function in mammals. In this Review, Sun and Hevner examine the mechanisms underlying cortical growth and folding, and discuss how dysfunction in these processes leads to cortical malformations. The size and extent of folding of the mammalian cerebral cortex are important factors that influence a species' cognitive abilities and sensorimotor skills. Studies in various animal models and in humans have provided insight into the mechanisms that regulate cortical growth and folding. Both protein-coding genes and microRNAs control cortical size, and recent progress in characterizing basal progenitor cells and the genes that regulate their proliferation has contributed to our understanding of cortical folding. Neurological disorders linked to disruptions in cortical growth and folding have been associated with novel neurogenetic mechanisms and aberrant signalling pathways, and these findings have changed concepts of brain evolution and may lead to new medical treatments for certain disorders.

This study examines the geographical spillover of the state-level average homeowners insurance cost for 48 US contiguous states. We estimate a panel spatial Durbin model with state and year fixed effect for data between 2001 and 2018. We found a significant positive spillover of average homeowners insurance cost as indicated by a large spatial autoregressive coefficient in the baseline model. We also found a positive relationship between underwriters’ loss portfolio similarity and the average homeowners insurance cost. We conduct several robustness tests and show that the baseline results are robust if against potential biases due to heterogenous state-level insurance regulation, an alternatively defined spatial weighting matrix, and the usage of average homeowners cost for the dominant policy form (the HO3 policy). We also adopt the generalized spatial two-step least squares to mitigate the bias due to endogenous explanatory variables and find that the results are consistent with these reported for the baseline model.

Photothermal sensing is crucial for the creation of smart wearable devices. However, the discovery of luminescent materials with suitable dual-wavelength emissions is a great challenge for the construction of stable wearable optical fibre temperature sensors. Benefiting from the Mn 2+ -Mn 2+ superexchange interactions, a dual-wavelength (530/650 nm)-emitting material Li 2 ZnSiO 4 :Mn 2+ is presented via simple increasing the Mn 2+ concentration, wherein the two emission bands have different temperature-dependent emission behaviours, but exhibit quite similar excitation spectra. Density functional theory calculations, coupled with extended X-ray absorption fine structure and electron-diffraction analyses reveal the origins of the two emission bands in this material. A wearable optical temperature sensor is fabricated by incorporating Li 2 ZnSiO 4 :Mn 2+ in stretchable elastomer-based optical fibres, which can provide thermal-sensitive emissions at dual- wavelengths for stable ratiometric temperature sensing with good precision and repeatability. More importantly, a wearable mask integrated with this stretchable fibre sensor is demonstrated for the detection of physiological thermal changes, showing great potential for use as a wearable health monitor. This study also provides a framework for creating transition-metal-activated luminescence materials. Dual-wavelength emission materials can provide fluorescence intensity ratio technology with self-calibration features; their fabrication however, remains a challenge. Here, authors design a dual-wavelength emitting material Li 2 ZnSiO 4 :Mn 2+ and present a wearable optical fibre temperature sensor, functioning in both contact and noncontact modes.

It has been observed that many phytochemicals, frequently present in foods or beverages, show potent chemopreventive or therapeutic properties that selectively affect cancer cells. Numerous studies have demonstrated the anticancer activity of xanthohumol (Xn), a prenylated flavonoid isolated from hops ( L.), with a concentration up to 0.96 mg/L in beer. This review aims to summarize the existing studies focusing on the anticancer activity of Xn and its effects on key signaling molecules. Furthermore, the limitations of current studies and challenges for the clinical use of Xn are discussed.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of long noncoding RNAs that are characterized by the presence of covalently linked ends and have been found in all life kingdoms. Exciting studies in regulatory roles of circRNAs are emerging. Here, we summarize classification, characteristics, biogenesis, and regulatory functions of circRNAs. CircRNAs are found to be preferentially expressed along neural genes and in neural tissues. We thus highlight the association of circRNA dysregulation with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Investigation of regulatory role of circRNAs will shed novel light in gene expression mechanisms during development and under disease conditions and may identify circRNAs as new biomarkers for aging and neurodegenerative disorders.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We performed a meta-analysis of relevant published clinical studies. An electronic search was conducted for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of MSC-based therapy in knee OA. The visual analogue scale (VAS), International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) form, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Lequesne algofunctional indices (Lequesne), Lysholm knee scale (Lysholm), Tegner activity scale (Tegner) and adverse events (AEs) were evaluated. Eleven eligible trials with 582 knee OA patients were included in the present meta-analysis. We demonstrated that MSC treatment could significantly decrease VAS and increase IKDC scoresafter a 24-month follow-up compared with controls (P<0.05). MSC therapy also showed significant decreases in WOMAC and Lequesne scores after the 12-month follow-up (P<0.01). Analysis of Lysholm (24-month) and Tegner (12- and 24-month) scores also demonstrated favorable results for MSC treatment (P<0.05). Overall, MSC transplantation treatment was shown to be safe and has great potential as an efficacious clinical therapy for patients with knee OA.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a transmembrane and non-selective cation channel protein, which can be activated by various physical and chemical stimuli. Recent studies have shown the strong pathogenetic associations of TRPV1 with neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), in particular Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) via regulating neuroinflammation. Therapeutic effects of TRPV1 agonists and antagonists on the treatment of AD and PD in animal models also are emerging. We here summarize the current understanding of TRPV1’s effects and its agonists and antagonists as a therapeutic means in neurodegenerative diseases, and highlight future treatment strategies using natural TRPV1 agonists. Developing new targets and applying natural products are becoming a promising direction in the treatment of chronic disorders, especially neurodegenerative diseases.