Frequency Of Movements Research Articles

Randomized controlled trial of linaclotide in children aged 6-17 years with functional constipation.

Linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase-C agonist, was recently approved in the United States for treatment of children 6-17 years old with functional constipation (FC). This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of several linaclotide doses in children 6-17 years old with FC. In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study, 173 children with FC(based on Rome III criteria) were randomized to once-daily linaclotide (A: 9 or 18 μg, B: 18 or 36 μg, or C: 36 or 72 μg) or placebo in a 1:1:1:1 ratio for 6- to 11-year-olds (dosage determined by weight: 18 to <35or ≥35 kg) and linaclotide (18, 36, 72, or 145 μg) or placebo in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio for 12- to 17-year-olds. The primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline in weekly spontaneous bowel movement (SBM) frequency throughout the 4-week treatment period. Adverse events (AE), clinical laboratory values, and electrocardiograms were monitored. Efficacy and safety were assessed in 173 patients (52.0% aged 6-11 years; 48.0% aged 12-17 years); 162 (93.6%) completed the treatment period. A numerical improvement in mean SBMfrequency was observed with increasing linaclotide doses (1.90 in 6- to 11-year-olds [36 or 72 μg]and 2.86 in 12- to 17-year-olds [72 μg]). The most reported treatment-emergent AEwas diarrhea, with most cases being mild; none were severe. Linaclotide was well tolerated in this pediatric population, with a trend toward efficacy in the higher doses, warranting further evaluation.

A Mini Literature Review of Probiotics: Transforming Gastrointestinal Health Through Evidence-Based Insights.

As our understanding of the intricate interaction between gut bacteria and human health continues to expand, so too has interest in the ability of probiotics to manage gut microbiota and confer multiple health benefits to the host. The mini literature review focuses on the expanding potential of the use of probiotics in GI health, with a focus on probiotics' potential therapeutic advantages in a variety of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses. Probiotics play a significant role in managing diarrhea and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) by modulating gut microbial communities. Specific probiotic strains have been found to reduce the abundance of harmful bacteria, regulate inflammatory markers like interleukin 6, and improve GI symptoms such as abdominal discomfort and stool consistency. Additionally, probiotic blends have shown potential for preventing GI infections and alleviating GI pain in IBS-D patients. Studies have demonstrated that certain multi-strain probiotics, including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species, can significantly increase the frequency of bowel movements and reduce the proportion of individuals experiencing constipation. It has also been found that probiotic supplementation may reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and mortality, particularly in patients undergoing colorectal adenocarcinoma surgery. Additionally, probiotics have been associated with decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and improved clinical outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. Furthermore, probiotics have been associated with enhanced digestive tolerance, reduced GI inflammation, and prolonged clinical remission in certain UC patients. Studies have also shown that probiotics, administered either directly to infants or pregnant women during the perinatal stage, can alleviate symptoms such as inconsolable crying and irritation associated with infant colic, improve bowel movement frequency in cases of functional constipation, and enhance overall conditions in premature infants, including reducing regurgitation and improving feeding tolerance. The review addresses both encouraging results and challenges with probiotic therapy, while also arguing for more studies to elucidate underlying mechanisms and enhance therapeutic techniques. As we traverse the complex field of probiotic therapy in the treatment of GI illnesses, researchers, physicians, and other healthcare professionals can benefit from the informative information provided by this study.

Nonlinear slackness anatomy during vertical installation of heavy devices in deep water

The vertical lowering of subsea equipment is one of the most used installation methods. Consisting of the lowering of the equipment by using a cable connected to a crane located on a support vessel, this method is usually more straightforward than others. However, the vertical stiffness of the system depends on the cable's length, meaning that the natural frequency of vertical motions will vary along the lowering of the equipment. At some water depths, the natural frequency will be close to the typical wave frequency of the region, which will lead to a dynamic amplification of these motions, which can lead to the slackness of the cable, that is, there will be zero tension on the cable. The lack of stiffness due to the slackness means that the equipment's submerged weight will be responsible for bringing the equipment downwards, leading subsequently to higher tension peaks usually known as snap loads. The current recommendation by the classification societies is to avoid installing under environmental conditions when slackness occurs. However, based on the understanding of the nonlinear anatomy when the cable is slack, the present work shows that it would be possible to increase the operation window.

Test-retest reliability of corticokinematic coherence in young children with cerebral palsy: An observational longitudinal study

ObjectivesTo assess the test-retest reliability of the corticokinematic coherence (CKC), an electrophysiological marker of proprioception, in children with cerebral palsy (CP). MethodsElectroencephalography (EEG) signals from 15 children with unilateral or bilateral CP aged 23 to 53 months were recorded in two sessions 3 months apart using 128-channel EEG caps. During each session, children's fingers were moved at 2 Hz by an experimenter, in separate recordings for the more-affected (MA) and less-affected (LA) hands. The CKC was computed at the electrode and source levels, at movement frequency F0 (2 Hz) and its first harmonic F1 (4 Hz). A two-way mixed-effects model intraclass-correlation coefficient (ICC) was computed for the maximum CKC strength across electrodes at F0 and F1 obtained during the two sessions. ResultsICC of the CKC strength acquired from LA and MA hands pooled together were respectively 0.51 (95% CI: 0.30–0.68) at F0 and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93–0.98) at F1. The mean distances separating the CKC peaks in the source space at the two evaluation times were in the order of a centimeter. ConclusionCKC is a robust electrophysiologic marker to study the longitudinal changes in cortical processing of proprioceptive afferences in young children with CP.

The effect of rabeprazole on the secretory and motor function of the gastrointestinal tract

Parietal cell proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have become firmly established in clinician practice. When discussing the features of their action, as a rule, researchers focus on their antisecretory effect. In the available literature, we found only a single report on the effect of PPIs on the motor-evacuation function of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). We have found that the PPI rabeprazole not only has an antisecretory effect, but also normalizes the motor-evacuation function of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract. In this regard, it can be used in patients with gastric hypersecretion in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) with impaired motor-evacuation function. Aim. To study the effect of the antisecretory drug rabeprazole on the state of gastrointestinal motility in patients suffering from FGID of the gastrointestinal tract and overlap syndrome (overlap syndrome) with functional dyspepsia (FD) with gastric hypersecretion and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Material and methods. We examined 30 patients suffering from FGID of the gastrointestinal tract and cross syndrome - FD with gastric hypersecretion and IBS. To relieve clinical symptoms of FD, the drug rabeprazole 20 mg was prescribed once a day for 14 days. Before and after the start of treatment, patients were examined with VAS and SF-36 tests, intragastric pH-metry and peripheral electrogastroenterocolography (EGECG) were performed. Results. In all 30 patients with FGID of the gastrointestinal tract with FD and overlap syndrome with IBS, gastric hypersecretion was eliminated within 3 hours after taking 20 mg of rabeprazole. 2 weeks after the start of treatment, abdominal pain and heartburn were completely eliminated in 28 (93.3%) patients. In all (100%) patients with FGID of the gastrointestinal tract with gastric hypersecretion and overlap syndrome, after two weeks of treatment, sour belching disappeared, and nausea disappeared in 23 (77%) patients. Rabeprazole therapy in the examined individuals was accompanied by a marked improvement in the quality of life in all assessed SF-36 parameters. 2 weeks after starting rabeprazole, in patients with FGID of the gastrointestinal tract and overlap syndrome of FD and IBS, the frequency of bowel movements and stool quality were normalized, and according to the results of EGECG, the relative myoelectric activity (P(i)/PS) of the gastrointestinal tract and the rhythmicity coefficient (Kritm) were normalized. Conclusion. Rabeprazole quickly neutralizes gastric secretion and helps eliminate symptoms of FD. It also has a beneficial effect on the motor-evacuation function of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract, normalizing the frequency of bowel movements, stool quality and myoelectric activity of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract according to EGECG. Rabeprazole can be used in patients with FGID with FD with gastric hypersecretion and overlap syndrome with IBS.

Motion sensitive network for action recognition in control and decision-making of autonomous systems.

Spatial-temporal modeling is crucial for action recognition in videos within the field of artificial intelligence. However, robustly extracting motion information remains a primary challenge due to temporal deformations of appearances and variations in motion frequencies between different actions. In order to address these issues, we propose an innovative and effective method called the Motion Sensitive Network (MSN), incorporating the theories of artificial neural networks and key concepts of autonomous system control and decision-making. Specifically, we employ an approach known as Spatial-Temporal Pyramid Motion Extraction (STP-ME) module, adjusting convolution kernel sizes and time intervals synchronously to gather motion information at different temporal scales, aligning with the learning and prediction characteristics of artificial neural networks. Additionally, we introduce a new module called Variable Scale Motion Excitation (DS-ME), utilizing a differential model to capture motion information in resonance with the flexibility of autonomous system control. Particularly, we employ a multi-scale deformable convolutional network to alter the motion scale of the target object before computing temporal differences across consecutive frames, providing theoretical support for the flexibility of autonomous systems. Temporal modeling is a crucial step in understanding environmental changes and actions within autonomous systems, and MSN, by integrating the advantages of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in this task, provides an effective framework for the future utilization of artificial neural networks in autonomous systems. We evaluate our proposed method on three challenging action recognition datasets (Kinetics-400, Something-Something V1, and Something-Something V2). The results indicate an improvement in accuracy ranging from 1.1% to 2.2% on the test set. When compared with state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods, the proposed approach achieves a maximum performance of 89.90%. In ablation experiments, the performance gain of this module also shows an increase ranging from 2% to 5.3%. The introduced Motion Sensitive Network (MSN) demonstrates significant potential in various challenging scenarios, providing an initial exploration into integrating artificial neural networks into the domain of autonomous systems.

Hydrodynamic Responses of Heaving Motion on One Body and Two Body Point Absorber Devices with Different Wave Condition in Malaysia

Wave energy harvesters are still not as mature as other types of renewable energy harvesting devices, particularly when it comes to commercialization, mass production, and grid integration, even though ocean waves around the world are known to contain high and dense quantities of energy. However, recent studies and optimizations suggested that the point absorber wave energy harvester may be a viable option. This paper provides a comprehensive comparison hydrodynamic damping analysis of the heaving motion on one body and two body point absorber wave energy harvesters by using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software. A simulation run was proposed for the analysis performance of damping of the point absorber devices to low wave height (0.7m-2.5m) and period (0.9s-2.2s). There are two types of point absorbers: one-body point absorber and two body point absorber. Both point absorber body are examined by simulation in terms of its heaving dynamic motion frequency in calm, medium and strong wave condition. This analysis highlights the extensive research being done to bring point absorbers closer to technical maturity, paving the way for commercialization and mass production for low wave characteristics. The results showed two body point absorber Response Amplitude Operator (RAO) is improved to absorbed low wave height compared to one body by RAO efficiency 17% and device efficiency 25%. The two-body point absorber performed better in all wave condition.

Keypoint Fusion for RGB-D Based 3D Hand Pose Estimation

Previous 3D hand pose estimation methods primarily rely on a single modality, either RGB or depth, and the comprehensive utilization of the dual modalities has not been extensively explored. RGB and depth data provide complementary information and thus can be fused to enhance the robustness of 3D hand pose estimation. However, there exist two problems for applying existing fusion methods in 3D hand pose estimation: redundancy of dense feature fusion and ambiguity of visual features. First, pixel-wise feature interactions introduce high computational costs and ineffective calculations of invalid pixels. Second, visual features suffer from ambiguity due to color and texture similarities, as well as depth holes and noise caused by frequent hand movements, which interferes with modeling cross-modal correlations. In this paper, we propose Keypoint-Fusion for RGB-D based 3D hand pose estimation, which leverages the unique advantages of dual modalities to mutually eliminate the feature ambiguity, and performs cross-modal feature fusion in a more efficient way. Specifically, we focus cross-modal fusion on sparse yet informative spatial regions (i.e. keypoints). Meanwhile, by explicitly extracting relatively more reliable information as disambiguation evidence, depth modality provides 3D geometric information for RGB feature pixels, and RGB modality complements the precise edge information lost due to the depth noise. Keypoint-Fusion achieves state-of-the-art performance on two challenging hand datasets, significantly decreasing the error compared with previous single-modal methods.

Comparative analysis of psychophysiological indicators of martial arts and e-sports athletes using the factor method

The article investigates the factorial structure of psychophysiological indicators in esports athletes of different proficiency levels and combat athletes based on the results of testing. Psychophysiological testing encompassed the assessment of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, reaction time to a moving object, evaluation of the frequency of local movements (30-second tapping test), and was conducted using specialized programs for tablet computers. For combat athletes, the most significant indicators were identified as the frequency of local movements, choice reaction time, and simple reaction time. In elite esports athletes, the factors with the highest weight included the frequency of local movements, choice reaction time, the coefficient of short-term visual memory, reaction time to a moving object, and simple reaction time. Amateur esports athletes exhibited factors comprising the frequency of local movements, the coefficient of short-term visual memory, reaction time to a moving object, choice reaction time, and simple reaction time. The identified factorial structures and the relative weight of each psychophysiological indicator reflect the specific characteristics inherent in each sport and characterize the development of sensorimotor reactions. These results provide the basis for recommending the implemented battery of tests for monitoring the condition of esports athletes and differentiating athletes based on their proficiency levels. The obtained results allow recommending the utilized battery of tests for monitoring the condition of esports athletes and differentiating athletes based on their proficiency levels.

Relationship Between the Frequency of Bowel Movements and Fecal Bacteroides in Japanese Women.

The intestinal microbiota is involved in many diseases, such as constipation, obesity, and inflammatory bowel disease. To determine the associations between the gut microbiome and the frequency of bowel movements, we performed cross-sectional correlation analysis at the baseline and longitudinal correlation analysis after the intervention. Forty-three women were enrolled in this study. All participants ingested soymilk-okara powder (15g) daily for 12weeks. They recorded the ingested okara powder amounts and their frequency of bowel movements during the entire 12weeks of the intervention. The fecal microbiota percentages were measured at baseline and after 12weeks of intervention. Two women who did not completely record the frequency of bowel movements were excluded. In the cross-sectional correlation analysis at the baseline, there was a significant positive correlation between the relative abundance of the Bacteroides genus in the feces and the frequency of bowel movements per week (R = 0.429, p = 0.005) and a significant negative correlation between the relative abundance of Clostridium cluster XI in the feces and the frequency of bowel movements per week (R = -0.315, p = 0.045). Moreover, in the longitudinal correlation analysis, the difference in the relative abundance of Bacteroides genus in feces between the baseline and after the intervention significantly correlated with the changes in the frequency of bowel movements per week (R = 0.492, p = 0.001). Therefore, it was suggested that there was a relationship between the gut relative abundance of the Bacteroides genus and the frequency of bowel movements.

Wind turbine rotors in surge motion: new insights into unsteady aerodynamics of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) from experiments and simulations

Abstract. An accurate prediction of the unsteady loads acting on floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) under consideration of wave excitation is crucial for a resource-efficient turbine design. Despite a considerable number of simulation studies in this area, it is still not fully understood which unsteady aerodynamic phenomena have a notable influence on the loads acting on a wind turbine rotor in motion. In the present study, investigations are carried out to evaluate the most relevant unsteady aerodynamic phenomena for a wind turbine rotor in surge motion. As a result, inflow conditions are determined for which a significant influence of these phenomena on the rotor loads can be expected. The experimental and numerical investigations are conducted on a two-bladed wind turbine rotor subjected to a tower-top surge motion. A specialised wind tunnel test rig has been developed to measure the aerodynamic torque response of the rotor subjected to surge motions with moderate frequencies. The torque measurements are compared to two free-vortex-wake (FVW) methods, namely a panel method and a lifting-line method. Unsteady contributions that cannot be captured using quasi-steady modelling have not been detected in either the measurements or the simulations in the covered region of motions ranging from a rotor reduced frequency of 0.55 to 1.09 and with motion velocity amplitudes of up to 9 % of the wind speed. The surge motion frequencies were limited to a moderate range (5 to 10 Hz) due to vibrations occurring in the experiments. Therefore, a numerical study with an extended range of motion frequencies using the panel and the lifting-line method was performed. The results from both FVW methods reveal significant unsteady contributions of the surge motions to the torque and thrust response that have not been reported in the recent literature. Furthermore, the results show the presence of the returning wake effect, which is known from helicopter aerodynamics. Additional simulations of the UNAFLOW scale model and the IEA 15 MW rotor demonstrate that the occurrence of the returning wake effect is independent from the turbine but determined by the ratio of 3P and surge motion frequency. In the case of the IEA 15 MW rotor, a notable impact of the returning wake effect was found at surge motion frequencies in the range of typical wave periods. Finally, a comparison with OpenFAST simulations reveals notable differences in the modelling of the unsteady aerodynamic behaviour in comparison to the FVW methods.

Dissecting the mechanism of atlastin-mediated homotypic membrane fusion at the single-molecule level

Homotypic membrane fusion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is mediated by dynamin-like GTPase atlastin (ATL). This fundamental process relies on GTP-dependent domain rearrangements in the N-terminal region of ATL (ATLcyto), including the GTPase domain and three-helix bundle (3HB). However, its conformational dynamics during the GTPase cycle remain elusive. Here, we combine single-molecule FRET imaging and molecular dynamics simulations to address this conundrum. Different from the prevailing model, ATLcyto can form a loose crossover dimer upon GTP binding, which is tightened by GTP hydrolysis for membrane fusion. Furthermore, the α-helical motif between the 3HB and transmembrane domain, which is embedded in the surface of the lipid bilayer and self-associates in the crossover dimer, is required for ATL function. To recycle the proteins, Pi release, which disassembles the dimer, activates frequent relative movements between the GTPase domain and 3HB, and subsequent GDP dissociation alters the conformational preference of the ATLcyto monomer for entering the next reaction cycle. Finally, we found that two disease-causing mutations affect human ATL1 activity by destabilizing GTP binding-induced loose crossover dimer formation and the membrane-embedded helix, respectively. These results provide insights into ATL-mediated homotypic membrane fusion and the pathological mechanisms of related disease.

Promising clinical and immunological efficacy of Bacillus clausii spore probiotics for supportive treatment of persistent diarrhea in children

Persistent diarrhea is a severe gastroenteric disease with relatively high risk of pediatric mortality in developing countries. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of liquid-form Bacillus clausii spore probiotics (LiveSpo CLAUSY; 2 billion CFU/5 mL ampoule) at high dosages of 4–6 ampoules a day in supporting treatment of children with persistent diarrhea. Our findings showed that B. clausii spores significantly improved treatment outcomes, resulting in a 2-day shorter recovery period (p < 0.05) and a 1.5–1.6 folds greater efficacy in reducing diarrhea symptoms, such as high frequency of bowel movement of ≥ 3 stools a day, presence of fecal mucus, and diapered infant stool scale types 4-5B. LiveSpo CLAUSY supportive treatment achieved 3 days (p < 0.0001) faster recovery from diarrhea disease, with 1.6-fold improved treatment efficacy. At day 5 of treatment, a significant decrease in blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-17, and IL-23 by 3.24% (p = 0.0409), 29.76% (p = 0.0001), and 10.87% (p = 0.0036), respectively, was observed in the Clausy group. Simultaneously, there was a significant 37.97% decrease (p = 0.0326) in the excreted IgA in stool at day 5 in the Clausy group. Overall, the clinical study demonstrates the efficacy of B. clausii spores (LiveSpo CLAUSY) as an effective symptomatic treatment and immunomodulatory agent for persistent diarrhea in children.Trial registration: NCT05812820.

Features of the development of speed skills in football players

This article examines the issues of speed training, training speed in football players aimed at increasing running speed and "transferring" this speed to running with the ball. This process of "transferring" speed abilities is more effective when an athlete in normal running emphasizes the frequency of movements, but not the length of running steps, that is, he overcomes training segments with slightly shortened steps, which in their rhythmic structure are similar to steps in running with m' cell. Speed training falls, in fact, on the pubertal phase of the body development of young athletes, when puberty is accompanied by a rapid increase in muscle mass, glycogen reserves, and an increase in the level of secretion of adrenaline and gonadal hormones. At this time, optimal biological prerequisites are created for the development of anaerobic capabilities, maximal strength, power endurance, and speed-power qualities. The volume of loads should increase at the fastest pace in the development of strength endurance, which reaches its maximum values by the end of the stage. Gradually, exercises with maximum efforts, performed in overcoming, yielding and isokinetic modes, are included in the training.&#x0D; Speed abilities are very difficult to develop. The possibility of speed increase in locomotor cyclic acts is very limited. In the process of sports training, an increase in the speed of movements is achieved both by influencing the actual speed abilities, and in another way - through the development of strength and speed-strength abilities, speed endurance, improvement of the technique of movements, etc., i.e. improvement of those factors that significantly depend on the manifestation of certain qualities of speed. Numerous studies have shown that the aforementioned types of speed abilities are specific. Direct positive transfer of speed takes place only in movements that have similar semantic and programming aspects, as well as motor composition. The specific features of speed abilities are noted, so they require the use of appropriate training tools and methods for each of their varieties.

Feedback cooling of an insulating high-Q diamagnetically levitated plate

Levitated systems in vacuum have many potential applications ranging from new types of inertial and magnetic sensors through to fundamental issues in quantum science, the generation of massive Schrödinger cats, and the connections between gravity and quantum physics. In this work, we demonstrate the passive, diamagnetic levitation of a centimeter-sized massive oscillator, which is fabricated using a method that ensures that the material, though highly diamagnetic, is an electrical insulator. Electrical conductors moving in a magnetic field experience eddy damping—which can severely reduce their motional quality factor. By chemically coating a powder of microscopic graphite beads with silica and embedding the coated powder in high-vacuum compatible wax, we form a centimeter-sized thin square plate which magnetically levitates over a checkerboard magnet array. The insulating coating reduces eddy damping by almost an order of magnitude compared to uncoated graphite with the same particle size. These plates exhibit a different equilibrium orientation from pyrolytic graphite due to their isotropic magnetic susceptibility. We measure the motional quality factor to be Q∼1.58×105 for an approximately centimeter-sized composite resonator with a mean particle size of 12 μm. Furthermore, we apply delayed feedback to cool the vertical motion of frequency ∼19 Hz and achieve center-of-mass temperature decrease by three orders of magnitude.

The continuously evolving phenotype of succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency.

The objective of the study is to evaluate the evolving phenotype and genetic spectrum of patients with succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (SSADHD) in long-term follow-up. Longitudinal clinical and biochemical data of 22 pediatric and 9 adult individuals with SSADHD from the patient registry of the International Working Group on Neurotransmitter related Disorders (iNTD) were studied with in silico analyses, pathogenicity scores and molecular modeling of ALDH5A1 variants. Leading initial symptoms, with onset in infancy, were developmental delay and hypotonia. Year of birth and specific initial symptoms influenced the diagnostic delay. Clinical phenotype of 26 individuals (median 12 years, range 1.8-33.4 years) showed a diversifying course in follow-up: 77% behavioral problems, 76% coordination problems, 73% speech disorders, 58% epileptic seizures and 40% movement disorders. After ataxia, dystonia (19%), chorea (11%) and hypokinesia (15%) were the most frequent movement disorders. Involvement of the dentate nucleus in brain imaging was observed together with movement disorders or coordination problems. Short attention span (78.6%) and distractibility (71.4%) were the most frequently behavior traits mentioned by parents while impulsiveness, problems communicating wishes or needs and compulsive behavior were addressed as strongly interfering with family life. Treatment was mainly aimed to control epileptic seizures and psychiatric symptoms. Four new pathogenic variants were identified. In silico scoring system, protein activity and pathogenicity score revealed a high correlation. A genotype/phenotype correlation was not observed, even in siblings. This study presents the diversifying characteristics of disease phenotype during the disease course, highlighting movement disorders, widens the knowledge on the genotypic spectrum of SSADHD and emphasizes a reliable application of in silico approaches.

TbDd: A new trust-based, DRL-driven framework for blockchain sharding in IoT

Integrating sharded blockchain with IoT presents a solution for trust issues and optimized data flow. Sharding boosts blockchain scalability by dividing its nodes into parallel shards, yet it is vulnerable to the 1% attacks where dishonest nodes target a shard to corrupt the entire blockchain. Balancing security with scalability is pivotal for such systems. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) adeptly handles dynamic, complex systems and multi-dimensional optimization. This paper introduces a Trust-based and DRL-driven (TbDd) framework, crafted to counter collusion attack risks and dynamically adjust node allocation, enhancing throughput while maintaining network security. With a comprehensive trust evaluation mechanism, TbDd discerns node types and performs targeted resharding against potential threats. The TbDd framework maximizes the tolerance for dishonest nodes, optimizes node movement frequency, ensures even node distribution in shards, and balances sharding risks. Extensive evaluations validate TbDd’s superiority over conventional random-, community-, and trust-based sharding methods in shard risk equilibrium and reducing cross-shard transactions.

A computational model of motion sickness dynamics during passive self-motion in the dark.

Predicting the time course of motion sickness symptoms enables the evaluation of provocative stimuli and the development of countermeasures for reducing symptom severity. In pursuit of this goal, we present an Observer-driven model of motion sickness for passive motions in the dark. Constructed in two stages, this model predicts motion sickness symptoms by bridging sensory conflict (i.e., differences between actual and expected sensory signals) arising from the Observer model of spatial orientation perception (stage 1) to Oman's model of motion sickness symptom dynamics (stage 2; presented in 1982 and 1990) through a proposed "Normalized Innovation Squared" statistic. The model outputs the expected temporal development of human motion sickness symptom magnitudes (mapped to the Misery Scale) at a population level, due to arbitrary, 6-degree-of-freedom, self-motion stimuli. We trained model parameters using individual subject responses collected during fore-aft translations and off-vertical axis of rotation motions. Improving on prior efforts, we only used datasets with experimental conditions congruent with the perceptual stage (i.e., adequately provided passive motions without visual cues) to inform the model. We assessed model performance by predicting an unseen validation dataset, producing a Q2 value of 0.91. Demonstrating this model's broad applicability, we formulate predictions for a host of stimuli, including translations, earth-vertical rotations, and altered gravity, and we provide our implementation for other users. Finally, to guide future research efforts, we suggest how to rigorously advance this model (e.g., incorporating visual cues, active motion, responses to motion of different frequency, etc.).

A multifactorial study of mass movement in the hilly and gully Loess Plateau based on intensive field surveys and remote sensing techniques

Mass movements, driven by various non-linearly correlated factors, exhibit high randomness, posing vast difficulties for field observations and subsequent investigations into the underlying mechanisms. In this study 157 mass movement incidents (including collapses, slump and spalling) and their primary influencing factors were surveyed in a small catchment of the hilly and gully Loess Plateau, China, through intensive field investigations and remote sensing techniques. The spatial pattern of mass movement and its relation with the influencing factors were assessed, while the relative impact of different factors was studied using the canonical correlation analysis. Results showed that 1) Mass movements predominantly occurred on gully slopes steeper than 70°. Collapses were the main type of mass movement, accounting for 87.9 % of the number of samples. 2) With regard to the impact of individual factors, rainstorms (rainfall intensity >50 mm day−1) significantly enhanced the occurrence frequency, erosion area and erosion volume of mass movement. The occurrence frequency and erosion area / volume were highest at a soil dry bulk density of 1.34 g cm−3 and 1.54 g cm−3, respectively. Mass movement occurred most frequently on unvegetated or unrooted gully slopes, where the resisting effect of vegetation on mass movement was absent. Gully slopes with smooth rather than rugged profiles were also found to be typical areas of mass movement. The occurrence frequency of mass movement decreased with the elevated topographic wetness index (TWI) and distance to slope top and increased with the distance to channels. 3) For the relative impact of different factors, rainfall and shear strength were key factors facilitating and resisting the onset of mass movement, respectively, while topography exerted the greatest influence on the erosion area and volume. This study revealed the relative influence of different factors on occurrence and scale of mass movement, providing a useful reference for modelling and control of the problem.

Efficacy and safety of naldemedine for opioid-induced constipation in older patients with cancer: a retrospective study.

Opioids are pain relievers that are often associated with opioid-induced constipation (OIC) that worsens with age. We performed a multicenter, retrospective analysis on the efficacy and safety of naldemedine, an opioid receptor antagonist, in treating OIC in patients with cancer (age >75 years). The electronic medical records of cancer patients who received naldemedine at 10 Japanese institutions between 7 June 2017 and August 31, 2019, were retrieved. Patients aged ≥75 years who were treated with naldemedine for the first time and hospitalized for at least 7 days before and after initiating naldemedine therapy were included in this analysis. Sixty patients were observed for at least 7 days before and after starting naldemedine. The response rate was 68.3%, and the frequency of bowel movements increased significantly after naldemedine administration in the overall population ( P < 0.0001) and among those who defecated <3 times/week before naldemedine administration ( P < 0.0001). Diarrhea was the most frequent adverse event in all grades, observed in 45% of patients, of which 92.6% were Grade 1 or 2. Grade 4 or higher adverse events, including death, were not observed. Naldemedine exhibits significant efficacy and safety in OIC treatment in older patients with cancer.