The impact of pillow height on neck muscle activity: a pilot study.

Purpose: Muscle relaxation in the neck during sleep is crucial for achieving quality sleep, and varying pillow heights can significantly influence the myoelectric activity of the neck muscles. This study aims to investigate the effects of different pillow heights on neck muscle activity, with the goal of providing evidence-based recommendations for pillow selection.

Methods: A total of 15 asymptomatic participants in this study, aged 18 to 30, were assigned to three groups based on pillow height: height 1 (0.

Genetically predicted circulating linoleic acid levels and risk of osteoarthritis: a two-sample mendelian randomization study.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide insight into the effect of genetically predicted linoleic acid (LA) levels on osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: The LA dataset was obtained from the UK Biobank (UKBB) consortium and contained 114,999 samples. The OA discovery dataset was derived from MRC-IEU consortium and included 38,472 cases and 424,461 controls.

Characteristics of central cortex and upper-limb flexors synchrony oxygenation during grasping in people with stroke: a controlled trial study protocol.

Background: Upper limb motor impairment is a common consequence of stroke, and the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of rehabilitation therapy for improving upper limb function remain uncertain. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a reliable wearable neuroimaging technique, holds promise for investigating brain activity during functional tasks. This study aims to explore the synchronous oxygenation characteristics of the central cortex and upper-limb flexors during a grasping task and investigate the rehabilitation mechanisms of upper limb motor function in individuals with stroke.

Effect of electrical stress on time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) tolerate capability of HfO-ZrOferroelectric films with different thicknesses.

HfO-based ferroelectric materials as the most promising candidate for the ferroelectric memories, have been widely studied for more than a decade due to their excellent ferroelectric properties and CMOS compatibility. In order to realize its industrialization as soon as possible, researchers have been devoted to improving the reliability performance, such as wake up, imprint, limited endurance, et al. Among them, the breakdown characteristic is one of main failure mechanisms of HfO-based ferroelectric devices, which limits the write/read reliability of the devices.

Relationship between Fear-Avoidance Beliefs and Reaction Time Changes Prior to and following Exercise-Induced Muscle Fatigue in Chronic Low Back Pain.

Background: Reaction time is a reliable indicator of the velocity and efficiency of neuromuscular control and may be associated with fear-avoidance beliefs. However, the effect of exercise-induced muscle fatigue on reaction time in chronic low back pain (cLBP) and its relationship with fear-avoidance beliefs remains poorly understood.

Objectives: This study aimed to reveal the relationship between fear-avoidance beliefs and reaction time changes before and after exercise-induced muscle fatigue in cLBP.

HfO-ZrO Ferroelectric Capacitors with Superlattice Structure: Improving Fatigue Stability, Fatigue Recovery, and Switching Speed.

HfO-ZrO ferroelectric films have recently gained considerable attention from integrated circuit researchers due to their excellent ferroelectric properties over a wide doping range and low deposition temperature. In this work, different HfO-ZrO superlattice (SL) FE films with varying periodicity of HfO (5 cycles)-ZrO (5 cycles) (SL), HfO (10 cycles)-ZrO (10 cycles) (SL), and HfO (15 cycles)-ZrO (15 cycles) (SL) were studied systematically. The HfZrO (HZO) alloy was used as a comparison device.

Impact of multi-domain effect on the effective carrier mobility of ferroelectric field-effect transistor.

HfO-based ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) are a promising candidate for multilevel memory manipulation and brain-like computing due to the multi-domain properties of the HfOFE films based polycrystalline structure. Although there have been many reports on the working mechanism of the HfO-based FeFET and improving its reliability, the impact of multi-domain effect on the effective carrier mobility () has not been carried out yet. The effectivedetermines the level of readout current and affects the accuracy of the precision of peripheral circuit.

Effect of Cognitive Load on Anticipatory Postural Adjustment Latency and its Relationship with Pain-Related Dysfunction in Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive load on anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) latency in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NCLBP) and its relationship with pain-related functional changes.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 15, 2022 to January 25, 2023. Participants were divided into a healthy control group (n = 29) and an NCLBP group (n = 29).

Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Anticipatory Postural Adjustments in Healthy Adults.

During forward swinging of the arm, the central nervous system must anticipate the effect of upraising upon the body. Little is known about the cerebellar network that coordinates these anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). Stimulating different cerebellar regions with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and with different polarities modulated the APAs.

Performance improvement of a tunnel junction memristor with amorphous insulator film.

This study theoretically demonstrated the oxygen vacancy (V)-based modulation of a tunneling junction memristor (TJM) with a high and tunable tunneling electroresistance (TER) ratio. The tunneling barrier height and width are modulated by the V-related dipoles, and the ON and OFF-state of the device are achieved by the accumulation of V and negative charges near the semiconductor electrode, respectively. Furthemore, the TER ratio of TJMs can be tuned by varying the density of the ion dipoles (N), thicknesses of ferroelectric-like film (T) and SiO (T), doping concentration (N) of the semiconductor electrode, and the workfunction of the top electrode (TE).

Comparative efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation on different targets in Parkinson's disease: A Bayesian network meta-analysis.

Background/objective: The efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on Parkinson's disease (PD) varies across the stimulation targets. This study aims to estimate the effect of different TMS targets on motor symptoms in PD.

Methods: A Bayesian hierarchical model was built to assess the effects across different TMS targets, and the rank probabilities and the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) values were calculated to determine the ranks of each target.

Postural Control of Patients with Low Back Pain Under Dual-Task Conditions.

Low back pain is a major global public health problem, but the current intervention effect is not ideal. A large body of previous literature suggests that patients with chronic low back pain may have abnormal postural control, which is more evident in the dual task situation. In recent years, research on postural control in patients with low back pain under dual-task conditions has gradually become a hot topic.

Ultrasonography Comparison of Diaphragm Morphological Structure and Function in Young and Middle-Aged Subjects with and without Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case-Control Study.

Background: It is reported that impaired postural control in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NCLBP) was associated with "core" trunk muscle incoordination. However, as the diaphragm is an important component of the "core" deep trunk muscle group, we still know little about the potential relationship between diaphragm dysfunction and NCLBP.

Objectives: This case-control study is intended to investigate the changes of diaphragm morphological structure and function in young and middle-aged subjects with and without NCLBP by ultrasound evaluation and its possible validity in predicating the occurrence of NCLBP.

Site-Specific Albumin-Selective Ligation to Human Serum Albumin under Physiological Conditions.

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in human blood plasma. It plays a critical role in the native transportation of numerous drugs, metabolites, nutrients, and small molecules. HSA has been successfully used clinically as a noncovalent carrier for insulin (e.

Nanoradiosensitizer with good tissue penetration and enhances oral cancer radiotherapeutic effect.

Low dose non-toxic disulfide cross-linked micelle (DCM) encapsulated paclitaxel (PTX) was found to be highly efficacious as a radiosensitizer against oral cancer preclinical model. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy was locally administered for three consecutive days 24 h after intravascular injection of DCM-[PTX] at 5 mg/kg PTX. DCM-[PTX] NPs combined with conventional radiotherapy (2 Gy) resulted in a 1.

Programmable Bispecific Nano-immunoengager That Captures T Cells and Reprograms Tumor Microenvironment.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has revolutionized clinical oncology. However, the efficacy of ICB therapy is limited by the ineffective infiltration of T effector (T) cells to tumors and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we report a programmable tumor cells/T cells bispecific nano-immunoengager (NIE) that can circumvent these limitations to improve ICB therapy.

Discovery and Characterization of a Potent Antifungal Peptide through One-Bead, One-Compound Combinatorial Library Screening.

This work describes the discovery of a bead-bound membrane-active peptide (MAP), LBF127, that selectively binds fungal giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) over mammalian GUVs. LBF127 was re-synthesized in solution form and demonstrated to have antifungal activity with limited hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. Through systematic structure-activity relationship studies, including N- and C-terminal truncation, alanine-walk, and d-amino acid substitution, an optimized peptide, K-oLBF127, with higher potency, less hemolytic activity, and cytotoxicity emerged.

Magnetic resonance imaging of tumor-associated-macrophages (TAMs) with a nanoparticle contrast agent.

In the tumor micro-environment, tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) represent a predominant component of the total tumor mass, and TAMs play a complex and diverse role in cancer pathogenesis with potential for either tumor suppressive, or tumor promoting biology. Thus, understanding macrophage localization and function are essential for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Typically, tissue biopsy is used to evaluate the density and polarization of TAMs, but provides a limited "snapshot" in time of a dynamic and potentially heterogeneous tumor immune microenvironment.

Fatty acid oxidation fuels glioblastoma radioresistance with CD47-mediated immune evasion.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains the top challenge to radiotherapy with only 25% one-year survival after diagnosis. Here, we reveal that co-enhancement of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) enzymes (CPT1A, CPT2 and ACAD9) and immune checkpoint CD47 is dominant in recurrent GBM patients with poor prognosis. A glycolysis-to-FAO metabolic rewiring is associated with CD47 anti-phagocytosis in radioresistant GBM cells and regrown GBM after radiation in syngeneic mice.

The Effect of M-Health-Based Core Stability Exercise Combined with Self-Compassion Training for Patients with Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Introduction: Nonspecific chronic low back pain (NCLBP) is a leading contributor to disease burden worldwide, and the management of NCLBP has always been a problem. This study is designed to explore the feasibility and efficacy of m-health-based core stability exercise (CSE) combined with self-compassion training (SCT) and compare it with m-health-based CSE alone for the management of NCLBP.

Methods: This study is a pilot, patient-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Synaptic Behaviors in Ferroelectric-Like Field-Effect Transistors with Ultrathin Amorphous HfO Film.

We demonstrate a non-volatile field-effect transistor (NVFET) with a 3-nm amorphous HfO dielectric that can simulate the synaptic functions under the difference and repetition of gate voltage (V) pulses. Under 100 ns write/erase (W/E) pulse, a memory window greater than 0.56 V and cycling endurance above 10 are obtained.

Transformable amyloid-beta mimetic peptide amphiphiles for lysosomal disruption in non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the largest contributor to cancer mortality in the United States. Traditional chemotherapies are toxic and prone to the development of drug-resistance. Recently, several drug candidates were shown to induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) in aggressive cancers.

Rapid discovery of self-assembling peptides with one-bead one-compound peptide library.

Self-assembling peptides have shown tremendous potential in the fields of material sciences, nanoscience, and medicine. Because of the vast combinatorial space of even short peptides, identification of self-assembling sequences remains a challenge. Herein, we develop an experimental method to rapidly screen a huge array of peptide sequences for self-assembling property, using the one-bead one-compound (OBOC) combinatorial library method.