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Human activity recognition (HAR) problems have traditionally been solved by using engineered features obtained by heuristic methods. These methods ignore the time information of the streaming sensor data and cannot achieve sequential human activity recognition. With the use of traditional statistical learning methods, results could easily plunge into the local minimum other than the global optimal and also face the problem of low efficiency. Therefore, we propose a hybrid deep framework based on convolution operations, LSTM recurrent units, and ELM classifier; the advantages are as follows: (1) does not require expert knowledge in extracting features; (2) models temporal dynamics of features; and (3) is more suitable to classify the extracted features and shortens the runtime. All of these unique advantages make it superior to other HAR algorithms. We evaluate our framework on OPPORTUNITY dataset which has been used in OPPORTUNITY challenge. Results show that our proposed method outperforms deep nonrecurrent networks by 6%, outperforming the previous reported best result by 8%. When compared with neural network using BP algorithm, testing time reduced by 38%.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of small nucleolar RNA host gene 16 (SNHG16) for regulating the cell cycle and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) remain elusive. In this study, SNHG16 expression profiles of HCC tissues or cell lines were compared with those of normal tissues or hepatocyte cell line. The effect of SNHG16 knockdown in HCC cell lines was investigated by using in vitro loss-of-function experiments and in vivo nude mouse experiments. The potential molecular regulatory mechanism of SNHG16 in HCC progression was investigated by using mechanistic experiments and rescue assays. The results revealed that SNHG16 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and cell lines, which predicted poor prognosis of HCC patients. On one hand, the downregulation of SNHG16 induced G2/M cell cycle arrest, inducing cell apoptosis and suppression of cell proliferation. On the other hand, it inhibited cell metastasis and EMT progression demonstrated by in vitro loss-of-function cell experiments. Besides, knockdown of SNHG16 increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to cisplatin. For the detailed mechanism, SNHG16 was demonstrated to act as a let-7b-5p sponge in HCC. SNHG16 facilitated the G2/M cell cycle transition by directly acting on the let-7b-5p/CDC25B/CDK1 axis, and promoted cell metastasis and EMT progression by regulating the let-7b-5p/HMGA2 axis in HCC. In addition, the mechanism of SNHG16 for regulating HCC cell proliferation and metastasis was further confirmed in vivo by mouse experiments. Furthermore, these results can Shengguang Li and Fujun Peng contributed equally to this work.

Αlpha-lipoic acid is a naturally occurring antioxidant in human body and has been widely used as an antioxidant clinically. Accumulating evidences suggested that α-lipoic acid might have immunomodulatory effects on both adaptive and innate immune systems. This review focuses on the evidences and potential targets involved in the immunomodulatory effects of α-lipoic acid. It highlights the fact that α-lipoic acid may have beneficial effects in autoimmune diseases once the immunomodulatory effects can be confirmed by further investigation.

Background: Clinical remission is the treatment target in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to investigate clinical remission and related factors in a large cohort of patients with RA. Methods: This study composed of 342 patients with RA. Data were collected by face-to-face interview of 1049 patients with RA who visited the Department of Rheumatology of three teaching hospitals from September 2015 to May 2016. The patients with RA were clinically assessed by rheumatologists and a four-page questionnaire was completed on site. Subsequently, patients fulfilled remission criteria were further analyzed. The practicability of different definitions of remission of RA was rated by a panel of rheumatologists. Sustained intensive disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment was defined as a combination treatment with two or more DMARDs for at least 6 months. Results: In this cohort of 342 patients with RA, the proportions of patients achieving remission were 38.0%, 29.5%, 24.9%, 21.1%, 19.0%, 18.1%, and 17.0%, based on criteria of disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) using CRP (DAS28-CRP), DAS28 using ESR (DAS28-ESR), routine assessment of patient index data 3 (RAPID-3), Boolean, simplified disease activity index (SDAI), clinical disease activity index, and the newly described clinical deep remission (CliDR), respectively. Boolean and CliDR are the best in practicability scored by rheumatologists (7.5 and 8.0, respectively). Compared with the non-sustained intensive group, sustained intensive treatment with DMARDs yielded higher remission rates of 25.6%, 23.8%, and 21.3% in patients with RA based on Boolean ( χ 2 = 3.937, P = 0.047), SDAI ( χ 2 = 4.666, P = 0.031), and CliDR criteria ( χ 2 = 4.297, P = 0.038). The most commonly prescribed conventional synthesized DMARDs (csDMARDs) in patients with RA was leflunomide, followed by methotrexate, and hydroxychloroquine. Compared with the non-remission group, patients achieving remission had a longer median duration of DMARDs (45.0 [22.8–72.3] months, Z = −2.295, P = 0.022). Conclusions: The findings in this study indicated that clinical deep remission is achievable in patients with RA. Sustained intensive DMARD treatment is needed to achieve a better outcome in RA.

BackgroundPrevious animal studies have illustrated a modulatory effect of neonatal pain experience on subsequent pain-related behaviors. However, the relationship between chronic pain status in adulthood and future pain perception remains unclear.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn the current study, we investigated the effects of inflammatory pain experience on subsequent formalin-evoked pain behaviors and fear conditioning induced by noxious stimulation in adult rats. Our results demonstrated an increase of the second but not the first phase of formalin-induced pain behaviors in animals with a history of inflammatory pain that have recovered. Similarly, rats with persistent pain experience displayed facilitated acquisition and prolonged retention of pain-related conditioning. These effects of prior pain experience on subsequent behavior were prevented by repeated morphine administration at an early stage of inflammatory pain.Conclusions/SignificanceThese results suggest that chronic pain diseases, if not properly and promptly treated, may have a long-lasting impact on processing and perception of environmental threats. This may increase the susceptibility of patients to subsequent pain-related disorders, even when chronic pain develops in adulthood. These data highlight the importance of treatment of chronic pain at an early stage.

IMPORTANCEDigital health applications have been shown to be effective in the management of chronic diseases with simple treatment targets. The potential clinical value of digital health applications in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been well studied.OBJECTIVETo investigate whether assessing patient-reported outcomes using digital health applications could result in disease control for patients with RA.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis is a multicenter, open-label randomized clinical trial in 22 tertiary hospitals across China. Eligible participants were adult patients with RA. Participants were enrolled from November 1, 2018, to May 28, 2019, with a 12-month follow-up. The statisticians and rheumatologists who assessed disease activity were blinded. Investigators and participants were not blind to group assignment. Analysis was conducted from October 2020 to May 2022.INTERVENTIONSParticipants were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio (block size of 4) to a smart system of disease management group (SSDM) or a conventional care control group. Upon the completion of the 6-month parallel comparison, patients in the conventional care control group were instructed to use the SSDM application for an extension of 6 months.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary outcome was the rate of patients with disease activity score in 28 joints using the C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) of 3.2 or less at month 6.RESULTSOf 3374 participants screened, 2204 were randomized, and 2197 patients with RA (mean [SD] age, 50.5 [12.4] years; 1812 [82.5%] female) were enrolled. The study included 1099 participants in the SSDM group and 1098 participants in the control group. At month 6, the rate of patients with DAS28-CRP of 3.2 or less was 71.0% (780 of 1099 patients) in the SSDM group vs 64.5% (708 of 1098 patients) in the control group (difference between groups, 6.6%; 95% CI, 2.7% to 10.4%; P = .001). At month 12, the rate of patients with DAS28-CRP of 3.2 or less in the control group increased to a level (77.7%) that was comparable with that (78,2%) in the SSDM group (difference between groups, −0.2%; 95% CI, −3.9% to 3.4%; P = .90).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this randomized clinical trial of RA, the use of a digital health application with patient-reported outcomes was associated with an increase in disease control rate.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03715595