ASP-Det: Toward Appearance-Similar Light-Trap Agricultural Pest Detection and Recognition

Automatic pest detection and recognition using computer vision techniques are a hot topic in modern intelligent agriculture but suffer from a serious challenge: difficulty distinguishing the targets of similar pests in 2D images. The appearance-similarity problem could be summarized into two aspects: texture similarity and scale similarity. In this paper, we re-consider the pest similarity problem and state a new task for the specific agricultural pest detection, namely Appearance Similarity Pest Detection (ASPD) task. Specifically, we propose two novel metrics to define the texture-similarity and scale-similarity problems quantitatively, namely Multi-Texton Histogram (MTH) and Object Relative Size (ORS). Following the new definition of ASPD, we build a task-specific dataset named PestNet-AS that is collected and re-annotated from PestNet dataset and also present a corresponding method ASP-Det. In detail, our ASP-Det is designed to solve the texture-similarity by proposing a Pairwise Self-Attention (PSA) mechanism and Non-Local Modules to construct a domain adaptive balanced feature module that could provide high-quality feature descriptors for accurate pest classification. We also present a Skip-Calibrated Convolution (SCC) module that can balance the scale variation among the pest objects and re-calibrate the feature maps into the sizing equivalent of pests. Finally, ASP-Det integrates the PSA-Non Local and SCC modules into a one-stage anchor-free detection framework with a center-ness localization mechanism. Experiments on PestNet-AS show that our ASP-Det could serve as a strong baseline for the ASPD task.

P-524 Bi-allelic CFAP61 variants cause male infertility in humans and mice with severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia

Study question

Are mutations in cilia and flagella-associated protein 61 (CFAP61) associated with human male infertility?

Summary answer

Bi-allelic variants ([NM_015585.4: c.1654C>T (p.R552C) and c.2911G>A (p.D971N), c.144-2A>G and c.1666G>A (p.G556R)] in CFAP61 were identified as contributory genetics factor in severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT).

What is known already

Cfap61 knockout mice were infertile due to multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF). However, so far there is no direct evidence that mutations of CFAP61 cause OAT and male infertility.

Study design, size, duration

Variant screening was performed by whole-exome sequencing (WES) from 325 infertile patients with OAT and 392 fertile individuals. A knockout mouse model was generate to confirm the candidate disease-causing gene, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was used to evaluate the efficiency of clinical treatment.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

A total 325 OAT-affected patients and 392 men with normal fertility were recruited from China. WES was performed, followed by Sanger sequencing validation. In silico bioinformatics predictions and in vitro functional analyses were performed to evaluate the impacts of candidate disease-causing variants. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence assays were performed to evaluate the sperm morphology. Two OAT-affected men with CFAP61 variants were treated by ICSI, and pregnancy outcomes were followed.

Main results and the role of chance

We identified bi-allelic CFAP61 variants [NM_015585.4: c.1654C>T (p.R552C) and c.2911G>A (p.D971N), c.144-2A>G and c.1666G>A (p.G556R)] in two (0.62%) of the 325 OAT-affected men. In silico bioinformatics analysis predicted that all four variants were deleterious, and in vitro functional analysis confirmed the deleterious effects of the mutants. Notably, H&E staining and electron microscopy analyses of the spermatozoa revealed multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella, the absence of central pair microtubules, and mitochondrial sheath malformation in sperm flagella from man with CFAP61 variants. Further immunofluorescence assays revealed markedly reduced CFAP61 staining in the sperm flagella. In addition, Cfap61-deficient mice showed the OAT phenotype, suggesting that loss of function of CFAP61 was the cause of OAT. Two individuals accepted ICSI therapy using their own ejaculated sperm, and one of them succeeded in fathering a healthy baby.

Limitations, reasons for caution

Limitations include the lack of in vivo data from the one of patients, and the exact molecular mechanism should be further investigated.

Wider implications of the findings

Our findings indicate that CFAP61 is essential for spermatogenesis and that bi-allelic CFAP61 variants lead to OAT and male infertility in humans and mice. In addition, our results show that ICSI treatment can be recommended for CFAP61-related OAT.

Trial registration number

not applicable

[Study of the effect of liraglutide on the correlation between NLRP3 inflammasome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease]

Objective: To observe the effect of liraglutide on the correlation between nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) infl ammasome and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: Thirty-nine NAFLD cases (group N) and thirty-nine healthy subjects (group C) were selected from the physical examination center, and their general data were collected to determine the serum levels of NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18. The differences and correlations were analyzed between the two sets of indicators. Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into normal (NC, n=10) and high-fat diet group (HF, n=20). The normal group were fed with normal diet and high-fat diet group were fed with high-fat diet. After 12 weeks of feeding, HF group was randomly divided into HF group (n=10) and liraglutide group (100L, n=10), and were given 0.5 ml/kg sterile isotonic saline and 100 g/kg liraglutide subcutaneously twice a day, respectively. Four weeks later, serum biochemical indicators, liver NLRP3 infl ammasome protein expression, and infl ammatory cytokine conditions were detected in each group. Statistical analysis was performed using t test, oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) or χ² test. Results: There were no statistically signifi cant differences between N and C group in terms of age, gender, diastolic blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, mean platelet volume, erythrocyte distribution width, serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Ch), total cholesterol, and total bileacid. Compared with group C, group N had elevated systolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose, blood creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), NLRP3, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18, TG, blood uric acid, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and white blood cell counts, while HDL-Ch and total bilirubin were depleted than group C, and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05). NLRP3 was positively correlated with systolic blood pressure, BMI, fasting blood glucose, serum creatinine, IL-1β, IL-18, triglycerides, serum uric acid, GGT, ALT, AST, but negatively correlated with total bilirubin and HDL-Ch, and the difference was statistically signifi cant. Compared with NC group, HF group had significantly increased body mass, liver mass, serum biochemical indicators (triglycerides, AST, ALT), liver NLRP3 inflammasome protein expression, and inflammatory cytokines. After treatment with liraglutide, 100L group indicators were signifi cantly decreased when compared to HF group. Conclusion: Compared with healthy subjects, the infl ammation-related indicators, body mass, blood lipids and liver function-related indicators are signifi cantly changed in patients with NAFLD, which is also consistent with the results of rat model study. Liraglutide treatment had improved NAFLD to certain extent in NAFLD rats, so NLRP3 regulation may be one of the mechanisms to improve liver inflammation and steatosis.

Automatic Crop Pest Detection Oriented Multiscale Feature Fusion Approach

Specialized pest control for agriculture is a high-priority agricultural issue. There are multiple categories of tiny pests, which pose significant challenges to monitoring. Previous work mainly relied on manual monitoring of pests, which was labor-intensive and time-consuming. Recently, deep-learning-based pest detection methods have achieved remarkable improvements and can be used for automatic pest monitoring. However, there are two main obstacles in the task of pest detection. (1) Small pests often go undetected because much information is lost during the network training process. (2) The highly similar physical appearances of some categories of pests make it difficult to distinguish the specific categories for networks. To alleviate the above problems, we proposed the multi-category pest detection network (MCPD-net), which includes a multiscale feature pyramid network (MFPN) and a novel adaptive feature region proposal network (AFRPN). MFPN can fuse the pest information in multiscale features, which significantly improves detection accuracy. AFRPN solves the problem of anchor and feature misalignment during RPN iterating, especially for small pest objects. In extensive experiments on the multi-category pests dataset 2021 (MPD2021), the proposed method achieved 67.3% mean average precision (mAP) and 89.3% average recall (AR), outperforming other deep learning-based models.

Global Context-Aware-Based Deformable Residual Network Module for Precise Pest Recognition and Detection

An accurate and robust pest detection and recognition scheme is an important step to enable the high quality and yield of agricultural products according to integrated pest management (IPM). Due to pose-variant, serious overlap, dense distribution, and interclass similarity of agricultural pests, the precise detection of multi-classes pest faces great challenges. In this study, an end-to-end pest detection algorithm has been proposed on the basis of deep convolutional neural networks. The detection method adopts a deformable residual network to extract pest features and a global context-aware module for obtaining region-of-interests of agricultural pests. The detection results of the proposed method are compared with the detection results of other state-of-the-art methods, for example, RetinaNet, YOLO, SSD, FPN, and Cascade RCNN modules. The experimental results show that our method can achieve an average accuracy of 77.8% on 21 categories of agricultural pests. The proposed detection algorithm can achieve 20.9 frames per second, which can satisfy real-time pest detection.

AB0598 ASSOCIATION OF PROLONGED DISEASE DURATION AND TG/HDL-C RATIO IN ACCELERATING ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH TAKAYASU’S ARTERITIS

Background

Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is an autoimmune vasculitis that frequently occur in young women.Multiple previous studies have demonstrated that accelerated atherosclerotic changes were commonly found in TA patients[1-4].More specifically, data indicated that as much as 27% of all TA patients developed carotid artery plaque, while which was only 2% in the age- and sex-matched healthy individuals[1]. In addition, up to 20% of TA patients developed stroke and/or transient ischemic attack(TIA), which both have been known to be associated with atherosclerotic lesions[1-3]. Inflammation of the vascular wall may promotes atherosclerosis (As) in TA,which accelerates the development of As.Higher triglyceride (TG)/HDL-C ratio was found to be associated with presence of endothelial dysfunction and As[5].

Objectives

This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis in TA.

Methods

This retrospective study enrolled a total of 101 TA patients. All patients were divided into two groups according to the absence or presence of atherosclerosis(43 vs 58). Baseline demographic features and clinical characteristics were compared between two groups. A logistic model was applied to determine the risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis.

Results

Our data suggested that the disease duration of patients in the atherosclerosis group was significantly longer than that of patients in the non-atherosclerosis group [96(18.00,180.00) vs 48.00(12.00,111.00) months] (p=0.015). In addition, the average age of patients with atherosclerosis was significantly older compared to patients without atherosclerosis [44.00（38.00，48.00）vs 28.50（24.00，37.00）years] (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of developing atherosclerosis increased by 9.2% per 1 year increase in thedisease duration(p=0.005, OR 1.092,95%CI:1.027-1.162).Patients with TG/HDL-C ratio more than 0.8875 were associated with a 5.861fold increase of risk developing atherosclerosis(p<0.001, 95%CI:2.299-14.939).

Conclusion

Our study indicated that prolonged disease duration and elevated TG/HDL-C ratio are associated with the development of atherosclerosis in TA patients.

References

[1]Seyahi E, Ugurlu S, Cumali R, Balci H, Seyahi N, Yurdakul S, et al. Atherosclerosis in Takayasu arteritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2006;65(9):1202-7.

[2]Numano F, Okawara M, Inomata H, Kobayashi Y. Takayasu’s arteritis. Lancet. 2000;356(9234):1023-5.

[3]Park KC, Kim JH, Yoon SS, Heo SH. Takayasu’s disease presenting with atherothrombotic ischaemic stroke. Neurol Sci. 2008;29(5):363-6.

[4]Seyahi E, Ucgul A, Cebi Olgun D, Ugurlu S, Akman C, Tutar O, et al. Aortic and coronary calcifications in Takayasu arteritis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2013;43(1):96-104.

[5]Keles N, Aksu F, Aciksari G, et al. Is triglyceride/HDL ratio a reliable screening test for assessment of atherosclerotic risk in patients with chronic inflammatory disease?:[J]. Northern Clinics of Istanbul, 2016, 3(1):39-45.

Figure 1.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

AB0600 ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS AND PROGNOSIS IN PATIENTS OF TAKAYASU’S ARTERITIS WITH CORONARY ARTERY LESIONS

Background

Takayasu’s arteritis（TA）can involve coronary artery lesions. The pathogenesis is complex and lacks the best treatment strategy.The coronary artery lesions were typical seen in the ostia of the left and right coronary arteries which were major risk factors for sudden death and ischemia heart failure[1-2].Coronary artery lesions is an important predictor of poor prognosis in TA patients.The incidences of coronary artery lesions were more common in type V TA patients [3-4].The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its related characteristics (including dyslipidemia, diabetes and hyperinsulinemia) in TA patients are higher compared with healthy people[5].Thus，under the action of vascular inflammation and traditional risk factors, coronary artery stenosis or even occlusion occurs earlier, which can lead to MACE events.

Objectives

The aim of our study is to investigate the risk factors and prognosis of coronary artery lesions in TA patients.

Methods

This retrospective study enrolled a total of 120 TA patients.All patients were divided into two groups according to the absence or presence of coronary artery lesions in TA patients (61 vs 59). A logistic model was applied to determine the risk factors associated with the incidence of coronary artery lesions in TA patients.According to the before and after imaging comparison of TA with coronary artery lesions, the influencing factors of improving TA with coronary artery lesions were analyzed.

Results

The incidence of coronary artery lesions in TA patients increased by 1.618 times for each additional year (p=0.034, OR1.618,95%CI: 1.036-2.529). History of hyperlipidemia indicated 10.124 fold higher risk of coronary artery lesions in TA patients(p=0.003, OR10.124,95%CI: 2.159-47.483).In the follow-up of TA with coronary artery lesions, 27 patients had coronary CTA results before and after comparison. It was found that 11 patients had remission of coronary artery lesions and 16 patients had no remission of coronary artery lesions. The age in the group with improved coronary imaging was significantly younger than that in the group without improved coronary imaging[（39.00±9.81 vs (47.44±10.06) years,p=0.041)].TNF-α and interleukin-6 were significantly higher in the group with improved coronary imaging than in the group without improved coronary imaging[（26.40(10.08，165.90) vs 7.80(6.73，21.70)pg/dl,p=0.047;12.50(5.83，19.30) vs3.71(2.80，4.40)pg/dl,p<0.001].Numano type V (75.00% vs 27.27%, p = 0.022) and vascular calcification (56.25% vs 9.09%, p= 0.018) were significantly higher than those in the group without improved coronary imaging, while numano type IIb in the group with improved coronary imaging was significantly higher than that in the group without improved coronary imaging(45.45% vs 6.25%，p=0.027).

Conclusion

Hyperlipidemia and age are the risk factors of coronary artery lesions in Takayasu arteritis.Numano type V and vascular calcification are not conducive to the improvement of TA with coronary artery lesions.All patients with TA of numano type IIb should be screened for coronary artery. Early control of inflammation is more conducive to the imaging improvement of arteritis coronary lesions.

References

[1]Matsubara, O, Kuwata, T, Nemoto, T, et al., Coronary artery lesions in Takayasu arteritis: pathological considerations, Heart and vessels. Supplement, 1992;7:26-31.

[2]Wang H, Liu Z, Shen Z, et al. Impact of coronary involvement on long-term outcomes in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2020;38:1118-26.

[3]LiJ,et al.. (2017) Clinical characteristics of heart involvement in Chinese patients with Takayasu arteritis. J Rheumatol 44:1867–1874.

[4]Li T, Du J, Gao N, et al. Numano type V Takayasu arteritis patients are more prone to have coronary artery involvement. Clin Rheumatol 2020;39:3439-47.

[5]Soto ME, et al..(2011) Coronary CT angiogra- phy in Takayasu arteritis. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 4(9):958–966

Figure 1.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

TD-Det: A Tiny Size Dense Aphid Detection Network under In-Field Environment

It is well recognized that aphid infestation severely reduces crop yield and further leads to significant economic loss. Therefore, accurately and efficiently detecting aphids is of vital importance in pest management. However, most existing detection methods suffer from unsatisfactory performance without fully considering the aphid characteristics, including tiny size, dense distribution, and multi-viewpoint data quality. In addition, existing clustered tiny-sized pest detection methods improve performance at the cost of time and do not meet the real-time requirements. To address the aforementioned issues, we propose a robust aphid detection method with two customized core designs: a Transformer feature pyramid network (T-FPN) and a multi-resolution training method (MTM). To be specific, the T-FPN is employed to improve the feature extraction capability by a feature-wise Transformer module (FTM) and a channel-wise feature recalibration module (CFRM), while the MTM aims at purifying the performance and lifting the efficiency simultaneously with a coarse-to-fine training pattern. To fully demonstrate the validity of our methods, abundant experiments are conducted on a densely clustered tiny pest dataset. Our method can achieve an average recall of 46.1% and an average precision of 74.2%, which outperforms other state-of-the-art methods, including ATSS, Cascade R-CNN, FCOS, FoveaBox, and CRA-Net. The efficiency comparison shows that our method can achieve the fastest training speed and obtain 0.045 s per image testing time, meeting the real-time detection. In general, our TD-Det can accurately and efficiently detect in-field aphids and lays a solid foundation for automated aphid detection and ranking.

WSRD-Net: A Convolutional Neural Network-Based Arbitrary-Oriented Wheat Stripe Rust Detection Method

Wheat stripe rusts are responsible for the major reduction in production and economic losses in the wheat industry. Thus, accurate detection of wheat stripe rust is critical to improving wheat quality and the agricultural economy. At present, the results of existing wheat stripe rust detection methods based on convolutional neural network (CNN) are not satisfactory due to the arbitrary orientation of wheat stripe rust, with a large aspect ratio. To address these problems, a WSRD-Net method based on CNN for detecting wheat stripe rust is developed in this study. The model is a refined single-stage rotation detector based on the RetinaNet, by adding the feature refinement module (FRM) into the rotation RetinaNet network to solve the problem of feature misalignment of wheat stripe rust with a large aspect ratio. Furthermore, we have built an oriented annotation dataset of in-field wheat stripe rust images, called the wheat stripe rust dataset 2021 (WSRD2021). The performance of WSRD-Net is compared to that of the state-of-the-art oriented object detection models, and results show that WSRD-Net can obtain 60.8% AP and 73.8% Recall on the wheat stripe rust dataset, higher than the other four oriented object detection models. Furthermore, through the comparison with horizontal object detection models, it is found that WSRD-Net outperforms horizontal object detection models on localization for corresponding disease areas.

First live birth in China after cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplantation to prevent premature ovarian insufficiency

OBJECTIVE

This article reports the first live birth after cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplantation to prevent premature ovarian insufficiency in China.

METHODS

A patient with myelodysplastic syndrome received ovarian tissue cryopreservation before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and six ovarian cortex strips were thawed and transplanted into her peritoneal pocket 2 years later.

RESULTS

Pregnancy occurred spontaneously 27 months after grafting, and a healthy girl was born at 38 weeks gestation. Until now, the child has developed normally without any major diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

We report the first live birth resulting from ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation in China.

[Safety and efficacy of intra-arterial tirofiban infusion in patients with acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism undergoing endovascular reperfusion therapy]

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intra-arterial tirofiban infusion during endovascular reperfusion therapy in patients with acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism. Methods: Clinical data of 72 patients with acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism caused by large artery occlusion were retrospectively analyzed in Department of Neurology, Strategic Support Force Medical Center from August 2015 to August 2020.Among those, 52 patients were treated with intra-arterial tirofiban, the other 20 patients were treated with control medication. The baseline characteristics, modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score of responsible vessels, modified Rankin scale (mRS) score 90 days after operation, incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and mortality were evaluated and compared in two groups. Results: The proportion of effective recanalization of the offending vessels (mTICI≥2b) in tirofiban group was higher than that in control group (92.3% vs. 75.0%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.104). At 90 days after operation, the rate of patients with good prognosis (mRS≤2) in tirofiban group (61.5%) was significantly higher than that in control group (35.0%) (P<0.05). The incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and mortality were comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Intra-arterial tirofiban infusion in patients with acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism is effective and feasible, which improves the prognosis without increasing the risk of intracranial bleeding complications.

[Effects and mechanism of hydrogen peroxide pretreatment with low molarity on oxidative stress induced apoptosis of mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells]

Objective: To investigate the effects and mechanism of hydrogen peroxide (HP) pretreatment with low molarity on oxidative stress induced apoptosis of mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Methods: The experimental research methods were used. BMSCs were isolated and cultured from two 2-week-old male BALB/c mice by the whole bone marrow culture method. The 3rd-7th passages of cells in logarithmic growth phase were used for the experiments after identification. According to the random number table (the same grouping method below), the cells were divided into 0 μmol/L HP group (without HP, the same below), 25 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, 100 μmol/L HP group, 150 μmol/L HP group, 200 μmol/L HP group, 250 μmol/L HP group, and 300 μmol/L HP group in which cells were treated by the corresponding final molarity of HP, respectively. The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry (n=4) after 24 hours of culture. The cells were divided into 0 μmol/L HP group, 25 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, and 100 μmol/L HP group in which cells were treated by the corresponding final molarity of HP, respeclively. After 24 hours of culture, the protein expressions of B-lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-related X protein (Bax) were detected by Western blotting, and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was calculated (n=3). The cells were divided into 0 μmol/L HP group, 25 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, 100 μmol/L HP group, 200 μmol/L HP group, and 300 μmol/L HP group in which cells were treated by the corresponding final molarity of HP, respectively. After 24 hours of culture, the protein expressions of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) and phosphorylated GSK-3β (p-GSK-3β) were detected by Western blotting (n=3). The cells were divided into 0 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, and 300 μmol/L HP group in which cells were treated by the corresponding final molarity of HP, respeclively, and HP pretreatment group with 50 μmol/L HP being added in advance for 12 h and then 300 μmol/L HP being added. After 24 hours of culture, the morphology and growth of cells were observed by inverted fluorescence microscopy (non-fluorescent condition) and immunofluorescence method, the apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, the protein expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, cysteine aspartic acid specific protease-3 (caspase-3), caspase-9, cleavage caspase-3, cleavage caspase-9, GSK-3β, and p-GSK-3β were detected by Western blotting, and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was calculated, with all the number of samples being 3. Data were statistically analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni test. Results: After 24 hours of culture, compared with that in 0 μmol/L HP group, the apoptosis rate of cells did not change significantly in 25 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, or 100 μmol/L HP group (P>0.05) but increased significantly in 150 μmol/L HP group, 200 μmol/L HP group, 250 μmol/L HP group, and 300 μmol/L HP group (P<0.01). After 24 hours of culture, compared with that in 0 μmol/L HP group, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio of cells increased significantly in 25 μmol/L HP group and 50 μmol/L HP group (P<0.05 or P<0.01) but decreased significantly in 100 µmol/L HP group (P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, compared with those in 0 μmol/L HP group, the protein expression of GSK-3β in cells showed no significant change in 25 μmol/L HP group and 50 μmol/L HP group (P>0.05), the protein expressions of p-GSK-3β in cells significantly increased in 25 μmol/L HP group and 50 μmol/L HP group (P<0.01), the protein expressions of GSK-3β and p-GSK-3β in cells in 100 μmol/L HP group showed no significant change (P>0.05), the protein expressions of GSK-3β in cells in 200 μmol/L HP group and 300 μmol/L HP group were significantly increased (P<0.05). but the protein expression of p-GSK-3β in cells in 200 μmol/L HP group and 300 μmol/L HP group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, the morphology and growth of cells in 0 μmol/L HP group and 50 μmol/L HP group were similar and normal; in contrast, the cells in 300 µmol/L HP group became smaller and round, with the cell protrusions being shorter or disappeared, the nucleus being cavitated, and the cell abscission being increased significantly; the morphology of most cells in HP pretreatment group was normal, with the shedding of cells being less than that in 300 µmol/L HP group, and the morphology of nucleus being normal. After 24 hours of culture, the protein expression of caspase-9 was similar among the four groups (P>0.05). Compared with that in 0 μmol/L HP group, the apoptosis rate and the protein expressions of cleavage caspase-9, caspase-3, and cleavage caspase-3 of cells in 50 μmol/L HP group showed no significant changes (P>0.05), the Bcl-2/Bax ratio of cells in 50 μmol/L HP group increased significantly (P<0.05), the apoptosis rate and the protein expressions of cleavage caspase-9, caspase-3, and cleavage caspase-3 of cells in 300 μmol/L HP group were significantly increased (P<0.01), while the Bcl-2/Bax ratio of cells in 300 μmol/L HP group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared with those in 300 μmol/L HP group, the apoptosis rate and the protein expressions of cleavage caspase-9, caspase-3, and cleavage caspase-3 of cells were significantly decreased in HP pretreatment group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the Bcl-2/Bax ratio of cells was significantly increased in HP pretreatment group (P<0.01). After 24 hours of culture, the protein expressions of GSK-3β and p-GSK-3β of cells in 0 μmol/L HP group, 50 μmol/L HP group, 300 μmol/L HP group, and HP pretreatment group were 1.09±0.14, 0.62±0.17, 1.35±0.21, 0.74±0.34, 0.68±0.03, 0.85±0.08, 0.38±0.10, and 0.54±0.09, respectively. Compared with those in 0 μmol/L HP group, the protein expression of p-GSK-3β of cells was significantly increased in 50 μmol/L HP group (P<0.05) but significantly decreased in 300 μmol/L HP group (P<0.01), while the protein expression of GSK-3β of cells was significantly increased in 300 μmol/L HP group (P<0.05). Compared with those in 300 μmol/L HP group, the protein expression of GSK-3β of cells was significantly decreased in HP pretreatment group (P<0.01), while the protein expression of p-GSK-3β of cells was significantly increased in HP pretreatment group (P<0.01). Conclusions: The molarity of 50 μmol/L may be the optimal molarity of HP to pretreat mouse BMSCs, and 50 μmol/L HP pretreatment can antagonize mitochondrial pathway of oxidative stress induced apoptosis by inhibiting the activity of GSK-3β.

[A study about the epidemiological characteristics of rabies of the cases of medical treatment from a certain hospital in Beijing from 2011 to 2020]

From 2011 to 2020, there were 111 213 cases of rabies exposed people recruited from the rabies immunization clinic of a hospital in Beijing. The monthly distribution of patients in each year was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The distribution of patients showed remarkable seasonality, with the exposure peak from May to October. The ratio of male to female was 1∶1.3. The majority of patients were aged 20-29 years old (39.1%) and in-service personnel (56.5%). Level-Ⅱ wounds (84.2%) were more common than level-Ⅲ wounds (14.9%). The number of visits to level-Ⅲwounds increased rapidly since 2017. The most common injured body part was hand (60.7%). Dogs were the most common animal for injuries (60.6%), followed by cats (32.3%), of which most were host animals (75.5%). The vaccination rate from 2016 to 2020 [49.8% (24 276/48 703)] was significantly higher than that from 2011 to 2015[18.6% (6 559/35 272)](χ²=8597.18, P<0.001).

An automatic system for pest recognition and forecasting

BACKGROUND

Pests cause significant damage to agricultural crops and reduce crop yields. Use of manual methods of pest forecasting for integrated pest management is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Here, we present an automatic system for monitoring pests in large fields, with the aim of replacing manual forecasting. The system comprises an automatic detection and counting system and a human-computer data statistical fitting system. Image data sets of the target pests from large fields are first input into the system. The number of pests in the image is then counted both manually and using the automatic system. Finally, a mapping relationship between counts obtained using the automated system and by agricultural experts is established using the statistical fitting system.

RESULTS

Trends in the pest-count curves produced using the manual and automated counting methods were very similar. To sample the number of pests for manual statistics, plants were shaken to transfer the pests from the plant to a plate. Hence, pests hiding within plant crevices were also sampled and included in the count, whereas the automatic method counted only the pests visible in the images. Therefore, the computer index threshold was much lower than the manual index threshold. However, the proposed system correctly reflected trends in pest numbers obtained using computer vision.

CONCLUSION

The experimental results demonstrate that our automatic pest-monitoring system can generate pest grades and can replace manual forecasting methods in large fields. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Study on the application value of BACs-on-Beads technology combined with chromosome karyotype analysis in prenatal diagnosis

BACKGROUND

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) marker-microsphere identification/separation technique [BACs-on-Beads (BoBs)] not only has a high detection rate for major chromosomal changes, but also for the other 9 microdeletion syndromes. In this study, the application value of BoBs combined with karyotype detection in prenatal diagnosis was evaluated.

METHODS

The amniotic fluid samples of 132 pregnant women with prenatal diagnosis indications in Harbin Red Cross Central Hospital from June 2018 to June 2019 were collected and subjected to the detection of BoBs and routine karyotyping.

RESULTS

Among the 132 pregnant women's amniotic fluid samples, 30 cases were abnormal in BoBs detection, with a detection rate of 22.73%, and 29 cases were abnormal in chromosome karyotype analysis, with a detection rate of 21.97%. Among them, 1 case of DiGeorge Type I microdeletion syndrome BoBs was successfully detected. The karyotype analysis failed to detect the same syndrome; the total coincidence rate of two methods was 99.24%, the positive coincidence rate was 100.00%, and the negative coincidence rate was 99.03%; the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the chromosome karyotype analysis was 96.67%, 100%, and 99.03%, respectively; the accuracy, specificity, and PPV/NPV of BoBs detection were 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

When BoBs technology is combined with chromosome karyotype analysis, it can increase the detection rate of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, which could provide a basis for clinical prevention and follow-up diagnosis and treatment.

Gadolinium deposition in the brain is related to various contrast agents: a matched case-control study

AIM

To assess the relationship between gadolinium deposition in the brain and various gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) and to explore confounding variables.

METHODS

The study group included 87 patients with multiple enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of which 48 patients were in the linear GBCA group (33 patients in gadopentetate dimeglumine group and 15 patients in gadobenate dimeglumine group) and 39 patients in the macrocyclic GBCA group (22 patients in gadobutrol group and 17 patients in gadoterate meglumine group). The control group included 87 normal participants who were matched regarding age, sex, MRI machine and imaging sequences to the study cohort. T1 signal intensity (SI) ratios of the dentate nucleus to the pons (DN/pons) and of the globus pallidus to the frontal white matter (GP/FWM) in both groups were calculated and compared. The relationships between SI ratios and confounding variables were analysed.

RESULTS

Significant differences were detected between two linear GBCA groups and control groups in T1 SI ratios of the DN/pons and GP/FWM (all p<0.001). There were no differences for two the macrocyclic GBCA groups compared with matching control groups (all p>0.05). T1 SI ratios of the linear GBCA group were significantly higher than those of the macrocyclic GBCA group (p<0.001). In the linear GBCA group, the T1 SI ratios of the DN/pons correlated moderately positively with the number of GBCA administrations (r=0.643, p<0.001), and MRI machine and sequence used.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased T1 SI could be observed after repeated administrations of linear GBCA. T1 SI of the DN correlated with the number of linear GBCA administrations, and detection might be affected by MRI machine and sequence.

Rice OsClo5, a caleosin protein, negatively regulates cold tolerance through the jasmonate signalling pathway

Caleosin is a lipid droplet-binding protein involved in maintenance of the lipid droplet structure and in signal transduction. However, the role of caleosin proteins in stress resistance is limited. Here, we report data for a rice caleosin protein gene, OsClo5, involved in cold stress tolerance via influence and regulation of the JA signalling pathway. Overexpression lines and RNAi lines of OsClo5 were subjected to cold stress and recovery to measure electrolyte leakage and survival rate. Changes were also detected in the genome-wide transcriptome of OsClo5 overexpressed plants. OsClo5 is located mainly in lipid droplets and expressed in all tissues tested. Its expression was upregulated by various stress conditions when subjected to cold treatment. Overexpression of OsClo5 decreased cold tolerance, and RNAi lines of OsClo5 had higher survival than WT seedlings. OsClo5 inhibited one jasmonate biosynthetic gene and several jasmonate ZIM domain (JAZ) genes, which were upregulated in response to cold stress. OsClo5 is a constitutively expressed caleosin protein that regulates plant cold resistance through inhibition of jasmonate signalling and JA synthesis.

[Diagnosis and treatment of 21-hydroxylase deficiency with testicular adrenal rest tumors:a report of three cases and literature review]

Objective: To provide insight into the diagnosis for clinicians, the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment history of 3 patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) and testicular adrenal rest tumors (TART) were analyzed. Methods: The clinical, laboratory and imaging data of 3 male patients with 21-OHD and TART, confirmed with CYP21 gene sequencing, from May 2010 to May 2021 in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. The treatment strategy and clinical outcome were followed up. Results: All the 3 patients were first diagnosed with bilateral adrenal mass at the age of 27-42 years old. They were 145-162 cm tall. The levels of progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) of the 3 patients were relatively high, and that of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) of the 3 patients were low. Testosterone level of 1 patient was significantly elevated, and that of the other 2 patients was below the lower limit of normal range. Testicular ultrasound showed heterogeneous hyperechoic masses in both testes. CT of the adrenal glands showed bilateral adrenal enlargement with mass. All 3 patients were treated with dexamethasone. After 4-96 months of follow-up, 17-hydroxyprogesterone level was kept above the median normal level. One of the patients got married and had a baby after treatment. The sizes of adrenal hyperplasia and testicular masses reduced to various degrees with the change of the testicular masses being proportional to that of adrenal hyperplasia. Conclusions: Patients with 21-OHD are prone to have TART, leading to the impaired testicular function. Early glucocorticold therapy is beneficial to the reduction of TART and restoration of testicular function.

LncRNA DCST1-AS1 regulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis in gastric cancer by targeting miR-605-3p

The article "LncRNA DCST1-AS1 regulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis in gastric cancer by targeting miR-605-3p", by Y.-Z. Su, M.-F. Cui, J. Du, B. Song, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (3): 1158-1167-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202002_20167-PMID: 32096164, has been retracted by the authors since some experiment reagent in this article might be questionable (that may influence the accuracy of the final results). The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/20167.

Magnonic Unidirectional Spin Hall Magnetoresistance in a Heavy-Metal-Ferromagnetic-Insulator Bilayer

We report the observation of the unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR), which depends on the current or magnetization direction, in heavy-metal-ferromagnetic-insulator bilayer, Pt-Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} (YIG). This USMR is apparently not caused by the mechanisms established in metallic bilayer, in which the ferromagnetic layer is required to be electrically conductive. From the magnetic field, current, temperature, and YIG thickness dependent measurements, the USMR is attributed to the asymmetric magnon creation and annihilation induced by the spin-orbit torque. This asymmetry and the resultant USMR are further revealed by the micromagnetic simulations combined with the spin-orbit torque and the spin drift-diffusion model. Our finding exhibits a nonlinear manipulation of magnons with the charge current.

[Hesitancy of parents towards vaccines in national immunization program in three regions in China: a cross-sectional study]

Objective: To investigate the incidence and determinants of vaccine hesitancy towards national immunization program in China and understand the current status of parents' hesitancy to different vaccines used in national immunization program. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Beijing, Sichuan and Gansu. The methods of proportional probability sampling and convenience sampling were used to select the eligible study subjects for questionnaire surveys. Results: A total of 3 592 parents were enrolled in the study, in whom 38.22% fully accepted all the vaccines, 59.35% agreed to let their children to receive all the vaccines but showed slight concern, and 2.42% had hesitancy to the vaccines. The vaccine with the most hesitancy was polio vaccine (0.89%), followed by diphtheria pertussis tetanus vaccine (0.70%) and hepatitis A vaccine (0.64%). The dominant reason for vaccine hesitancy was the risk-benefit perception of vaccination (31.03%), followed by the low awareness of the parents (21.84%) and the inconvenience caused by distance and time (21.84%). Conclusions: The incidence of vaccine hesitancy towards national immunization program was low in parents in China, but over 50% of the parents showed concern to the vaccines. It is essential to improve the service quality of national immunization program and strengthen the health education about the vaccination to reduce the incidence of vaccine hesitancy in parents.

First pregnancy in China after ovarian tissue transplantation to prevent premature ovarian insufficiency

OBJECTIVE

This article reports the first case of pregnancy after frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation to prevent iatrogenic premature ovarian insufficiency in China.

METHODS

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation was performed in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) before multi-agent chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Two years later, she showed complete remission from MDS, and six frozen-thawed ovarian tissue strips were transplanted into the peritoneal pocket.

RESULTS

The patient's ovarian activity was restored 3 months after transplantation, and pregnancy occurred spontaneously 27 months after grafting. Until now, the pregnancy has progressed for 30 weeks, and the repeated ultrasound showed normal fetal development.

CONCLUSION

This is the first pregnancy resulting from ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation in China.

[Genotype and genetic characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus circulating in Quanzhou, 2018-2019]

Objective: To study the prevalence and genetic characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) in Quanzhou city, from 2018 to 2019. Methods: A total of 141 throat swabs were collected from children patients of lower respiratory tract infection in Quanzhou children Hospital, Fujian Province from November 2018 to May 2019. RT-PCR was used to amplify the 3 'end of G gene HRSV. Sequencer 5.0 and MEGA5.05 softwares were used for sequence editing, phylogenetic tree construction and genotyping analysis. Results: Twenty-five samples were positive for HRSV. Seventeen samples succeeded to obtain the target gene, including 13 of HRSVA and 4 of HRSVB. Two genotypes were identified: ON1 genotype (13 samples, HRSVA) and BA9 genotype (4 samples, HRSVB). Five strains of ON1 genotype sequences were clustered with the ON1 sequences prevalent in Beijing, Changchun and Zhejiang from 2012 to 2015 (cluster1); one strain (FJ19-02) was clustered with the sequences of ON1 genotype circulating in many regions of China from 2012 to 2015 (cluster2); Seven strains were clustered independently (cluster FJ). FJ18-02, FJ19-14 and FJ19-15 of HRSVB were clustered with the BA9 genotype sequences prevalent in Changchun, Jilin Province in 2015, while FJ19-13 was closely related to the BA9 genotype sequences prevalent in Guangzhou and Zhejiang Province in 2013. Both the ON1 and BA9 genotypes showed variations of nucleotide and amino acid in 72 and 60 insertion segments. Amino acid mutation (H266L) only occurred among the sequence of cluster-FJ, and the mutations of H261Q and Q265L only appeared in strain FJ19-13. Conclusion: BA9 and ON1 genotypes were prevalent in Quanzhou city, from 2018 to 2019. Cluster-FJ was a newly discovered independent transmission chain, which may continue to circulate in local Quanzhou area.

[Role of interleukin-6 in human umbilical vein endothelial cell to mesenchymal cell transformation]

Objective: To observe the effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the phenotype and function of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and explore the role of IL-6 in the process of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). Methods: The experimental research method was used. Fresh umbilical cord discarded after normal maternal delivery was collected. On the second day of the primary cell isolation and cultivation, the cell morphology was observed under inverted phase contrast microscope. HUVECs of the 4th passage were identified by immunofluorescence method, and 2 batches of HUVECs ofthe 3rd to 5th passages were used for the subsequent experiments. The first batch of cells were divided into 6 groups according to the random number table (the same below): blank control group, 5 ng/mL IL-6 group, 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, 50 ng/mL IL-6 group, and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group. The second batch of cells were divided into 4 groups: blank control group, 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, 25 ng/mL IL-6 group,and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group; the cells in blank control group was cultured with complete culture medium only, while the cells in the other groups were added with IL-6 of the corresponding final mass concentrations.Cells from the 1st batch were cultured for 72 hours after grouping, the morphology of HUVECS in the 6 groups was observed under inverted phase contrast microscope. At 72 h after grouping culture, the positive expressions of coagulation factor Ⅷ and α vascular smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in HUVECs in the 6 groups were detected by immunofluorescence method, and the ratio of the number of double positive cells to the number of coagulation factor Ⅷ positive cells (the ratio of double positive cells for short) was calculated, with 6 samples per group; mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin and α-SMA of HUVECs in 6 groups were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, with 3 samples per group.Cells from the 2nd batch were cultured 72 hours after grouping, the protein expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin, α-SMA, and type Ⅰ collagen in the 4 groups were detected by Western blotting, with 3 samples per group. Data were statistically analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni correction. Results: On the 2nd day after isolation and cultivation, the primary cells were in short spindle shape or polygon, cells of the 4th passage were identified as HUVECs by immunofluorescence method. At 72 hours of culture after grouping, the cells from the 1st batch in the 6 groups changed to long spindle shape morphologically along with the increase of IL-6 concentration, the intercellular connections decreased or disappeared with the gap between cells becoming larger. At 72 h after grouping culture, compared with that inblank control group, the ratio of double positive cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, 50 ng/mL IL-6 group, and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.01); compared with that in 5 ng/mL IL-6 group, the ratio of double positive cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, 50 ng/mL IL-6 group, and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.01); compared with that in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, the ratio of double positive cells in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.01); the ratio of double positive cells in 100 ng/mL IL-6 group was significantly increased compared with those in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group (P<0.01). At 72 h after grouping culture, compared with that in blank control group, the mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, 50 ng/mL IL-6 group, and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly decreased (P<0.01 or P<0.05); compared with that in 5 ng/mL IL-6 group, the mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly decreased (P<0.01); compared with that in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, the mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly decreased (P<0.01); compared with that in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, the mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly decreased (P<0.01). At 72 h after grouping culture, compared with that in blank control group, the mRNA expression levels of α-SMA of cells in 5 ng/mL IL-6 group, 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, 50 ng/mL IL-6, group, and 100 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Cells from the 2nd batch were cultured for 72 hours after grouping. Compared with 1.391±0.026 in blank control group, the protein expressions of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group (1.185±0.063), in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group (0.717±0.078), and in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group (0.239±0.064) were significantly decreased (P<0.05); compared with that in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, the protein expressions of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly decreased (P<0.01); compared with that in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, the protein expression of vascular endothelial cadherin of cells in 50 ng/mL IL-6 group was significantly decreased (P<0.01). At 72 h after grouping culture, compared with that in blank control group, the protein expression levels of α-SMA of cells in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, 25 ng/mL IL-6 group, and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.01); compared with that in 10 ng/mL IL-6 group, the protein expression levels of α-SMA of cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.01). At 72 h after grouping culture, compared with that in blank control group, the protein expressions of type Ⅰ collagen of cells in 25 ng/mL IL-6 group and 50 ng/mL IL-6 group were significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusions: After IL-6 treatment, the phenotype and function of HUVECS showed the characteristics of mesenchymal cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The inflammatory factor can promote the process of EndMT, and become one of the important factors regulating the mechanism of tissue fibrosis.

Cigarette Smoke Exposure Inhibits Osteoclast Apoptosis via the mtROS Pathway

It is widely known that smoking is a risk factor for bone loss and plays a key role in osteopenia. Despite this well-known association, the mechanisms by which smoking affects bone have not been definitively established. Since smoking increases bone loss and potentially affects bone resorption in response to mechanical force, we investigated the impact of cigarette smoke on osteoclast numbers and underlying mechanisms in a mouse model of orthodontic tooth movement (OTM). The experimental group was exposed to once-daily cigarette smoke while the control group was not, and tooth movement distance and osteoclast numbers were assessed. In addition, the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on osteoclast precursor proliferation and osteoclast apoptosis was assessed in vitro. We found that cigarette smoke exposure enhanced bone remodeling stimulated by mechanical force and increased osteoclast numbers in vivo. Also, CSE increased the number of osteoclasts by inhibiting osteoclast apoptosis via the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species/cytochrome C/caspase 3 pathway in vitro. Moreover, exposure of mice to cigarette smoke affected bone marrow cells, leading to increased formation of osteoclasts in vitro. This study identifies a previously unknown mechanism of how smoking has a detrimental impact on bone.

Analysis of recently duplicated TYRP1 genes and their effect on the formation of black patches in Oujiang-color common carp (Cyprinus carpio var. color)

Tyrp1 gene, as a member of the tyrosinase family, has undergone a recent duplication event during fourth-round whole genome duplication in common carp. In this research, three Tyrp1 genes were identified in Oujiang-color common carp (Cyprinus carpio var. color). The similar expression patterns and close phylogenetic relationship indicated that Tyrp1c is homologous to Tyrp1b and possibly originated from the ancient Tyrp1b. The rates of synonymous and non-synonymous substitution (K_a /K_s ) in Tyrp1 across teleost phylogeny indicated that Tyrp1a is more likely to be in the process of purifying selection. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to disrupt the Tyrp1 genes in zebrafish and the WB (black patches on white skin) strain of Oujiang-color common carp. The Tyrp1 loss of function variants in zebrafish and WB carp showed severe melanin deficiency in the skin. Meanwhile, inactivation of a single Tyrp1 gene did not obstruct melanin synthesis, which proved that the functional redundancy of Tyrp1 genes existed in both zebrafish and Oujiang-color common carp. Among the mosaic individuals with Tyrp1 genes in disrupted-color common carp, various mutations in Tyrp1b gene induced gray or brown phenotypes, suggesting that it may be bifunctional in Oujiang-color common carp. In addition, the phenotype of WB variants was different from that of WW (whole white skin), suggesting that Tyrp1 genes were not the key factor that caused the difference between WB and WW.

Inversion Recovery Ultrashort TE MR Imaging of Myelin is Significantly Correlated with Disability in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

MR imaging has been widely used for the noninvasive evaluation of MS. Although clinical MR imaging sequences are highly effective in showing focal macroscopic tissue abnormalities in the brains of patients with MS, they are not specific to myelin and correlate poorly with disability. We investigated direct imaging of myelin using a 2D adiabatic inversion recovery ultrashort TE sequence to determine its value in assessing disability in MS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The 2D inversion recovery ultrashort TE sequence was evaluated in 14 healthy volunteers and 31 patients with MS. MPRAGE and T2-FLAIR images were acquired for comparison. Advanced Normalization Tools were used to correlate inversion recovery ultrashort TE, MPRAGE, and T2-FLAIR images with disability assessed by the Expanded Disability Status Scale.

RESULTS

Weak correlations were observed between normal-appearing white matter volume (R = -0.03, P = .88), lesion load (R = 0.22, P = .24), and age (R = 0.14, P = .44), and disability. The MPRAGE signal in normal-appearing white matter showed a weak correlation with age (R = -0.10, P = .49) and disability (R = -0.19, P = .31). The T2-FLAIR signal in normal-appearing white matter showed a weak correlation with age (R = 0.01, P = .93) and disability (R = 0.13, P = .49). The inversion recovery ultrashort TE signal was significantly negatively correlated with age (R = -0.38, P = .009) and disability (R = -0.44; P = .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Direct imaging of myelin correlates with disability in patients with MS better than indirect imaging of long-T2 water in WM using conventional clinical sequences.

A high resolution and high detection efficiency depth-encoding detector for brain positron emission tomography based on a 0.75 mm pitch scintillator array

The quantitative accuracy and precision of brain positron emission tomography (PET) studies can be considerably improved using dedicated brain PET scanners with a uniform high resolution and a high sensitivity across the brain volume. One approach to building such a system is to construct the PET scanner using depth-of-interaction (DOI) encoding detectors with finely segmented and thick crystal arrays. In this paper, the performance of a DOI PET detector based on two 16 × 16 arrays of 2 × 2 mm2 SiPMs coupled to both ends of a 44 × 44 array of 0.69 × 0.69 × 30 mm3 polished LYSO crystals was evaluated at different temperatures (-9°C, 0°C, 10°C, and 20°C) for brain PET applications. The pitch size of the LYSO array is 0.75 mm. The flood histograms show that all the crystal elements in the LYSO array can be resolved except some edge crystals, due to the limited light sharing. The average energy resolution, average DOI resolution, and average timing resolution across crystal elements are 21.1 ± 3.0%, 3.47 ± 0.17 mm, and 1.38 ± 0.09 ns, respectively, which were obtained at a bias voltage of 56.5 V and a temperature of 0°C.

High-impact exercise stimulated localised adaptation of microarchitecture across distal tibia in postmenopausal women

We provided evidence that a 6-month regular hopping exercise intervention can increase trabecular number and possibly trabecular volume fraction of the distal tibia. Our novel localised analysis demonstrated region-specific changes, predominantly in the anterior region, in postmenopausal women.

INTRODUCTION

The localisation of bone remodelling and microarchitectural adaptation to exercise loading has not been demonstrated previously in vivo in humans. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of using 3D image registration and high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) to investigate the effect of high-impact exercise on human trabecular bone variables and remodelling rate across the distal tibia.

METHODS

Ten postmenopausal women were recruited for 6-month unilateral hopping exercises, with HR-pQCT scans taken of both exercise leg (EL) and control leg (CL) for each participant before and after the intervention. A 3D image registration was used to ensure measurements were taken at the same region. Short-term reproducibility tests were conducted prior to the assessment using identical setup. The results were assessed comparing CL and EL, and interaction (time × leg) using a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA).

RESULTS

Across the whole tibia, we observed significant increases in trabecular number (Tb.N) (+ 4.4%) and trabecular bone formation rate (tBFR) (3.3%), and a non-significant increase in trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) (+ 1%) in the EL. Regional resorption was higher in the CL than the EL, with this difference being statistically significant at the lateral tibia. In the EL, tBFR was significantly higher in the anterior region than the medial but a trabecular bone resorption rate (tBRR) showed no significant regional variation. Conversely in the CL, both tBFR and tBRR were significantly higher in the anterior and lateral than the medial region.

CONCLUSION

We demonstrated that it was possible to detect exercise-related bone adaptation with 3D registration of HR-pQCT scan data. Regular hopping exercise increased Tb.N and possibly BV/TV across the whole distal tibia. A novel finding of the study was that tBFR and tBRR responses to loading were localised: changes were achieved by formation rate exceeding resorption rate in the exercise leg, both globally and at the anterior region where turnover was greatest.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

clinicaltrials.gov : NCT03225703.

Effect of glucocorticoid therapy on the prognosis of patients with severe and critical COVID-19: a single-center retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has elevated mortality in severe and critical patients globally. This study examined the effect of glucocorticoids (GCS) on the time of virus clearance and absorption of lung lesions in severe and critical COVID-19 patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Severe and critical COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital from January 7 to February 10, 2020 were analyzed. The generalized linear model was utilized to assess the effects of GCS therapy on the times of nucleic acid test turning negative and improved pulmonary imaging, respectively.

RESULTS

Of 66 patients, 51 (77.3%) and 15 (22.7%) were severe and critical cases, respectively, and aged 62 ± 11 years. A total of 58 patients (87.9%) tested negative, and 56 (84.8%) showed improved lung imaging. Age, thrombocytopenia, CD8 + T cell count, course of GCS therapy, and total dose were correlated with the time of nucleic acid test turning negative (p < 0.05), and sex was correlated with the time of initial pulmonary imaging improvement (p < 0.05). The time of nucleic acid test turning negative in individuals with GCS therapy course ≤ 10 days was shorter than that of the GCS therapy course > 10 days group (p=0.001). No statistical difference was found in the dose, course of GCS, and initial time of improved lung imaging.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing the dose of GCS and prolonging the course of treatment do not shorten the time of nucleic acid test turning negative or improved absorption of pulmonary lesions. Thus, the rational use of GCS is particularly important.

LncRNA DCST1-AS1 regulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis in gastric cancer by targeting miR-605-3p

OBJECTIVE

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers in the world, with a high incidence and a poor prognosis. A large number of lncRNAs have been demonstrated to play multiple important roles in cancer development and progression. LncRNA is usually used as ceRNA and forms a regulatory network with miRNA in gastric cancer. However, the function and regulatory network of lncRNA in gastric cancer have not been fully elucidated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The qRT-PCR assay was used to detect DCST1-AS1 and miR-605-3p expression. Western blot was applied to measure the protein expression of CDK4, cyclin D1, MMP-2, MMP-9, cleaved caspase 3, Bcl-2, Bax and β-actin. MTT assay and flow cytometry were performed to assess cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Transwell migration and invasion assay were used to determine cell migration capacity and invasion ability. Luciferase reporter assay was applied to determine the relationship of DCST-AS1 and miR-605-3p in GC.

RESULTS

In this study, we found that DCST1-AS1 was highly expressed while miR-605-3p was low expressed in GC tissues and cells. Moreover, DCST1-AS1 expression negatively regulated miR-605-3p expression in GC. Functionally test demonstrated that knockdown of DCST1 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion as well as promoted cell apoptosis in GC cells. Interestingly, miR-605-3p has been verified to be a target miRNA of DCST1-AS1 with luciferase reporter assay. More than that, the reverse experiment determined that the inhibition of miR-605-3p could alleviate the suppressive effects of low DCST1-AS1 expression on cell growth in GC.

CONCLUSIONS

We proved the regulatory network of lncRNA DCST1-AS1 for the first time, and also explored and found that lncRNA DCST1-AS1 regulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis by regulation of miR-605-3p, providing a new therapeutic target for gastric cancer treatment.

[Clinical characteristics and prognosis of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia: a clinical data report from a single center]

Objective: To summarize the clinical characteristics and prognosis of 51 patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) and evaluate the efficacy and adverse reactions of ibrutinib in the treatment of WM. Methods: We carried out a single-center retrospective study, including 51 patients with WM of our single center from November 2008 to October 2019. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 65 years with a male-to-female ratio of 2.64∶1. There were 9 (18%) , 21 (41%) , and 21 (41%) ISSWM stage low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients identified, respectively. A total of 27 (73%) patients harbored MYD88(L265P) mutation. The median follow-up time was 38.6 (0.3-120.0) months, the median progression free survival was 46.4 months, and the median overall survival was not reached. The overall remission and major remission rates of patients who received ibrutinib were 87% and 80%, respectively. The median time to achieve at least partial remission of patients treated with ibrutinib was 8 weeks, which was earlier than those treated with other drugs (P<0.05) . Conclusion: WM is often seen in elderly men. MYD88(L265P) had a high frequency in WM. The findings of our study validate the efficacy of ibrutinib monotherapy. Even in patients with advanced age and at high risk of ISSWM, the overall remission rate and major remission rate are high. Ibrutinib is a safe and effective therapy because of its rapid onset and rare serious adverse reactions.

Regulation of circadian behavioural output via clock-responsive miR-276b

Growing evidence indicates that microRNAs play numerous important roles. However, the roles of some microRNAs involved in regulation of circadian rhythm and sleep are still not well understood. In this study, we show that the miR-276b is essential for maintaining both sleep and circadian rhythm by targeting tim, npfr1 and DopR1 genes, with miR-276b deleted mutant flies sleeping more, and vice versa in miR-276b overexpressing flies. Through analysing its promoter, we found that mir-276b is responsive to CLOCK and regulates circadian rhythm through the negative feedback loop of the CLK/CYC-TIM/PER. Furthermore, miR-276b is broadly expressed in the clock neurons and the central complexes such as the mushroom body and the fan-shape body of Drosophila brain, in which up-regulation of miR-276b in tim, npfr1 and DopR1 expressing tissues significantly causes sleep decreases. This study clarifies that the mir-276b is very important for participating in regulation of circadian rhythm and sleep.

[Whole genomic copy number variation score: an indicator of potential diagnostic and prognostic value for lung adenocarcinoma]

Objective: To verify the value of whole genomic copy number variation (WGCNV) detection and scoring system in the diagnosis and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: Seventy-six lung adenocarcinoma specimens including ninety-one tumor samples and twenty adjacent non-tumor lung tissue samples were collected using Laser capture microdissection (LCM). Whole genomic amplification (WGA) was used to enrich DNA and construct a sequencing library for next generation sequencing (NGS). Changes of larger than 5Mb CNV in this study were analyzed and scored. The nuclear grading and score of tumor cells in the surgery and pleural effusion cytology of lung adenocarcinoma specimens were evaluated separately. For each case, we evaluated (1) nuclear size, (2) mitotic counts, (3) nuclear atypia, (4) atypical mitoses. The data of disease-free survive (DFS) and overall survive (OS) were collected for assessing the prognostic value of WGCNV score. Meanwhile, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) were used to define a cut-off value and evaluate the diagnostic significance in lung adenocarcinoma. Results: The WGCNV scores of twenty adjacent non-tumor lung tissue samples were treated as normal control and all of WGCNV scores of tumor samples range from 0 to 9.95, the median score was 2.7. The WGCNV scores were divided into three groups: low score group <1.74, medium score grade 1.74~4.23, high score grade >4.23. The WGCNV score was positively associated with the nuclear grade scoring (r=0.780 90, P<0.001). The result for evaluation of prognostic value of the WGCNV scores showed that comparing with low WGCNV score group, Hazard Ratio (HR) of medium score group was 4.11 (95%CI=0.72~23.57) and high score group was 2.07 (95%CI=0.30~14.12). These results suggested that the risks of the medium and high WGCNV score group elevated. According to the analysis results of ROC curve, when the cut off value was 0.01, the sensitivity and specificity for lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis were 97.8% and 95.0% respectively, the positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 99.0% and 90.1%, respectively, the AUC was 0.981. In the differentiation of adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) group and invasive adenocarcinoma group, when the cut off value was 1.8, the sensitivity and specificity between the two groups were 78.1% and 94.4%, and the PPV and NPV were 98.0% and 52.0%, respectively, the AUC was 0.896. Conclusion: This study verifies that WGCNV scoring system has a potential diagnostic and prognostic value in lung adenocarcinoma.

[Clinical aspects of pregnancy-related lymphocytic hypophysitis]

Objective: To analyze clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of pregnancy-related lymphocytic hypophysitis (LyH). Methods: The clinical data of 16 cases diagnosed as pregnancy-related LyH at Chinese PLA General Hospital between October 2010 and November 2019 were reviewed. Results: Sixteen patients were included (aged 20-40 years). All patients' symptoms occurred from the last 2 months of pregnancy to 12 months postpartum, with 6 cases in the third trimester and 10 cases during postpartum, and all the patients were diagnosed after delivery. Six patients had lymphocytic adenohypophysitis (LAH), 4 patients had lymphocytic infundibuloneurohypophysitis (LINH), 4 patients had lymphocytic panhypophysitis (LPH), and 2 had lymphocytic hypothalamitis. Eight patients presented with symptoms of intracranial space-occupying lesions, 14 patients had symptoms of anteriorpituitary hormone deficiencies, 9 patients had central diabetes insipidus (CDI), and 2 had hyperprolactinemia. Pituitary MRI showed that the pituitary presented with diffuse enlargement, pituitary stalk thickening, disappearing of high-intensity signals in posterior pituitary and space-occupying lesions in the infundibulum of hypothalamus. Nine patients were treated with immunosuppressive agent, 3 patients alleviated the space-occupying effects after surgery, and 4 patients recovered spontaneously. Fourteen patients were followed up with a period of 3-98 months. Four patients had a relapse, 2 patients had a complete remission, and 12 patients needed long-term hormone replacement therapy. Conclusions: Clinical manifestations of pregnancy-related LyH are diverse. LyH should be suspected in pregnant or postpartum women with a sellar mass to avoid missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Immunosuppressant therapy is effective. Overall, LyH patients have a favorable prognosis.

[Incidence of eating problems and related factors in children aged 1-6 years]

Objective: To analyze the incidence of eating problems and risk factors in children aged 1-6 years, and provide evidence for formulating relevant prevention and control strategies. Methods: From June to December 2019, two community health service centers and two kindergartens were randomly selected in Shunyi district of Beijing by using stratified random cluster sampling method. Self-designed questionnaires were used to collect data on individual information, family information, and the incidence of eating problems and related factors. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify related factors. Results: A total of 2 391 valid questionnaires were returned, the analysis result indicated that 1 432 children had at least one eating behavior problem, the incidence rate was 59.9%. The most common eating problem was inattention while eating (48.8%), followed by irregular eating position (14.0%), picky eaters (13.0%), excessive eating time (11.2%), excessive snacks intake (9.0%), and soup with rice (4.6%). The mother's education level, family income level, main caregivers and family members' attitudes toward child's eating were related factors for eating behavior problems in children. Mothers with high education level (OR=0.528, 95%CI: 0.431-0.647) and family with high income level (OR=0.656, 95%CI: 0.473- 0.909) were the protective factors for child's poor eating behaviors. Grandparent caring (OR=1.366, 95%CI: 1.151-1.622), coaxing or forcing child to eat (OR=1.581, 95%CI: 1.284-1.947) were the risk factors for child's poor eating behavior. Conclusion: The incidence of eating problems was high in children aged 1-6 years. It is necessary to strengthen the intervention in families with low-income and low-education levels and children raised by grandparents to reduce the incidence of poor eating behaviors in children.

[Current status of depression among workers in a petrochemical enterprise in Liaoning Province, China and related influencing factors]

Objective: To investigate the influencing factors for depression among workers in a petrochemical enterprise and the association of occupational stress and occupational environment with depression, and to provide a scientific basis for the improvement of mental health and the prevention and treatment of depression among workers in petrochemical enterprises. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in March 2018, and cluster sampling was used to select 1888 workers from a petrochemical enterprise in Liaoning Province, China for a questionnaire survey. A total of 1888 questionnaires were collected, among which there were 1521 usable questionnaires, with an effective recovery rate of 80.56%. The general status of the workers in this petrochemical enterprise was investigated, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) , Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) , and Perceived Work Environment (PWE) were used to evaluate depression, occupational stress, and occupational environment. Constituent ratio was used to describe the distribution of different demographic features, work conditions, and lifestyles among the workers in this petrochemical enterprise. One-way analysis of variance and the t-test were used to compare the scores of depressive tendency between the workers with different features. Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation of occupational stress and occupational environment with depression. Multivariate hierarchical regression analysis was used to investigate the influencing factors for depression. Results: The score of depression tendency was 18.94±9.21 in the workers in this petrochemical enterprise, and the incidence rate of depression symptoms was 59.8% (909/1521) . The workers who were aged <35 years, lived alone or in widowhood, or had an income of ≤4000 yuan tended to have a high score of depression tendency. And ordinary workers, oil-refining workers, workers with night shift and non-fixed shift, and workers with a lack of physical exercise and low sleep quality tended to have a high score of depression tendency (P<0.05) . The dimensions of extrinsic and intrinsic efforts of occupational stress and severity of occupational environment were positively correlated with depression (r=0.254, 0.242, 0.274, P<0.01) . And the dimension of reward was negatively correlated with depression (r=-0.348, P<0.01) . The multivariate hierarchical regression analysis showed that occupational stress and occupational environment had a marked predictive effects on depression, with an explained variance of 18.4% and 12.1%, respectively. Conclusion: There is a high level of depression tendency among workers in petrochemical enterprises, and demographic features, work conditions, lifestyle, occupational stressors, and occupational environment factors are influencing factors for depression.