Dual-Energy CT Deep Learning Radiomics to Predict Macrotrabecular-Massive Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background It is unknown whether the additional information provided by multiparametric dual-energy CT (DECT) could improve the noninvasive diagnosis of the aggressive macrotrabecular-massive (MTM) subtype of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic performance of dual-phase contrast-enhanced multiparametric DECT for predicting MTM HCC. Materials and Methods Patients with histopathologic examination-confirmed HCC who underwent contrast-enhanced DECT between June 2019 and June 2022 were retrospectively recruited from three independent centers (center 1, training and internal test data set; centers 2 and 3, external test data set). Radiologic features were visually analyzed and combined with clinical information to establish a clinical-radiologic model. Deep learning (DL) radiomics models were based on DL features and handcrafted features extracted from virtual monoenergetic images and material composition images on dual phase using binary least absolute shrinkage and selection operators. A DL radiomics nomogram was developed using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Model performance was evaluated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and the log-rank test was used to analyze recurrence-free survival. Results A total of 262 patients were included (mean age, 54 years ± 12 [SD]; 225 men [86%]; training data set, n = 146 [56%]; internal test data set, n = 35 [13%]; external test data set, n = 81 [31%]). The DL radiomics nomogram better predicted MTM than the clinical-radiologic model (AUC = 0.91 vs 0.77, respectively, for the training set [P < .001], 0.87 vs 0.72 for the internal test data set [P = .04], and 0.89 vs 0.79 for the external test data set [P = .02]), with similar sensitivity (80% vs 87%, respectively; P = .63) and higher specificity (90% vs 63%; P < .001) in the external test data set. The predicted positive MTM groups based on the DL radiomics nomogram had shorter recurrence-free survival than predicted negative MTM groups in all three data sets (training data set, P = .04; internal test data set, P = .01; and external test data set, P = .03). Conclusion A DL radiomics nomogram derived from multiparametric DECT accurately predicted the MTM subtype in patients with HCC. © RSNA, 2023 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Chu and Fishman in this issue.

Measurement of the J/ψ Polarization with Respect to the Event Plane in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

We study the polarization of inclusive J/ψ produced in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV at the LHC in the dimuon channel, via the measurement of the angular distribution of its decay products. We perform the study in the rapidity region 2.5 Collapse

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First Measurement of Antideuteron Number Fluctuations at Energies Available at the Large Hadron Collider

The first measurement of event-by-event antideuteron number fluctuations in high energy heavy-ion collisions is presented. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity (|η|<0.8) as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV using the ALICE detector. A significant negative correlation between the produced antiprotons and antideuterons is observed in all collision centralities. The results are compared with a state-of-the-art coalescence calculation. While it describes the ratio of higher order cumulants of the antideuteron multiplicity distribution, it fails to describe quantitatively the magnitude of the correlation between antiproton and antideuteron production. On the other hand, thermal-statistical model calculations describe all the measured observables within uncertainties only for correlation volumes that are different with respect to those describing proton yields and a similar measurement of net-proton number fluctuations.

Enhanced Deuteron Coalescence Probability in Jets

The transverse-momentum (p_{T}) spectra and coalescence parameters B_{2} of (anti)deuterons are measured in p-p collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV for the first time in and out of jets. In this measurement, the direction of the leading particle with the highest p_{T} in the event (p_{T}^{lead}>5  GeV/c) is used as an approximation for the jet axis. The event is consequently divided into three azimuthal regions, and the jet signal is obtained as the difference between the toward region, that contains jet fragmentation products in addition to the underlying event (UE), and the transverse region, which is dominated by the UE. The coalescence parameter in the jet is found to be approximately a factor of 10 larger than that in the underlying event. This experimental observation is consistent with the coalescence picture and can be attributed to the smaller average phase-space distance between nucleons in the jet cone as compared with the underlying event. The results presented in this Letter are compared to predictions from a simple nucleon coalescence model, where the phase-space distributions of nucleons are generated using pythia8 with the Monash 2013 tuning, and to predictions from a deuteron production model based on ordinary nuclear reactions with parametrized energy-dependent cross sections tuned on data. The latter model is implemented in pythia8.3. Both models reproduce the observed large difference between in-jet and out-of-jet coalescence parameters, although the almost flat trend of the B_{2}^{Jet} is not reproduced by the models, which instead give a decreasing trend.

[Analysis of therapeutic mechanism of Liushen Wan against colitis-associated colorectal cancer based on network pharmacology and validation in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the therapeutic mechanism of Liushen Wan (LSW) against colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) by network pharmacology.

METHODS

TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM, CNKI, PubMed, Genecards, OMIM, and TTD databases were used to obtain the related targets of LSW and CAC. The common targets of LSW and CAC were obtained using Venny online website. The PPI network was constructed using Cytoscape 3.8.2 to screen the core targets of LSW in the treatment of CAC. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were conducted using DAVID database. The therapeutic effect of LSW on CAC was evaluated in a C57BL/6J mouse model of AOM/DSS-induced CAC by observing the changes in body weight, disease activity index, colon length, and size and number of the tumor. HE staining and RT-qPCR were used to analyze the effect of LSW on inflammatory mediators. Immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining were used to evaluate the effect of LSW on the proliferation and apoptosis of AOM/DSS-treated colon tumor cells. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to detect the effects of LSW on the expression of TLR4 proteins in CAC mice.

RESULTS

Network pharmacology analysis identified 69 common targets of LSW and CAC, and 33 hub targets were screened in the PPI network. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis suggested that the effect of LSW on CAC was mediated by the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. In the mouse model of AOM/DSS-induced CAC, LSW significantly inhibited colitis-associated tumorigenesis, reduced tumor number and tumor load (P < 0.05), obviously improved histopathological changes in the colon, downregulated the mRNA levels of proinflammatory cytokines, and inhibited the proliferation (P < 0.01) and promoted apoptosis of colon tumor cells (P < 0.001). LSW also significantly decreased TLR4 protein expression in the colon tissue (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

LSW can inhibit CAC in mice possibly by regulating the expression of TLR4 to reduce intestinal inflammation, inhibit colon tumor cell proliferation and promote their apoptosis.

Electrospinning of Biodegradable, Monolithic Membrane with Distinct Bimodal Micron-Sized Fibers and Nanofibers for High Efficiency PMs Removal

Atmospheric particulate matter (PMs) pollution has raised increasing public concerns, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19. The preparation of high-performance membranes for air filtration is of great significance. Herein, the biosynthetic polymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) was adopted to create a hierarchical structure and biodegradable nonwoven membrane for PMs filtration through a facile directly electrospinning method. The as-prepared membranes with hierarchical structure contain abundant nanowires (5-100 nm) and microfibers (2-5 μm) with different diameter (1000-5000 nm). We have achieved realization of formation mechanisms of such bimodal micro- and nanofibers, which stem from the branching of microfiber at early stage of electrospinning. The PHBV membranes exhibit a very high PM_0.3 removal efficiency of 99.999% and PM_2.5 removal efficiency of 100% with 0.077% standard atmospheric pressure in the air flow speed of 5.3 cm/s. More importantly, the PHBV membranes can be completely disintegrated within 1 week under composted conditions, indicating the great biodegradability of PHBV membranes. Our work provides insights for the development of biodegradable, high performance air filters for pollutants, molds, bacteria, and viruses.

Aerosol generation with the use of positive pressure ventilation via supraglottic airway devices: an observational study

The amount of aerosol generation associated with the use of positive pressure ventilation via a supraglottic airway device has not been quantified. We conducted a two-group, two-centre, prospective cohort study in which we recruited 21 low-risk adult patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anaesthesia with second-generation supraglottic airway devices. An optical particle sizer and an isokinetic sampling probe were used to record particle concentrations per second at different size distributions (0.3-10 μm) during use as well as baseline levels during two common activities (conversation and coughing). There was a median (IQR [range]) peak increase of 2.8 (1.5-4.5 [1-28.1]) and 4.1 (2.0-7.1 [1-18.2]) times background concentrations during SAD insertion and removal. Most of the particles generated during supraglottic airway insertion (85.0%) and removal (85.3%) were < 3 μm diameter. Median (IQR [range]) aerosol concentration generated by insertion (1.1 (0.6-5.1 [0.2-22.3]) particles.cm^-3 ) and removal (2.1 (0.5-3.0 [0.1-18.9]) particles.cm^-3 ) of SADs were significantly lower than those produced during continuous talking (44.5 (28.3-70.5 [2.0-134.5]) particles.cm^-3 ) and coughing (141.0 (98.3-202.8 [4.0-296.5]) particles.cm^-3 ) (p < 0.001). The aerosol levels produced were similar with the two devices. The proportion of easily inhaled and small particles (<1 μm) produced during insertion (57.5%) and removal (57.5%) was much lower than during talking (99.1%) and coughing (99.6%). These results suggest that the use of supraglottic airway devices in low-risk patients, even with positive pressure ventilation, generates fewer aerosols than speaking and coughing in awake patients.

Adaptive sliding mode fault-tolerant attitude control for flexible satellites based on T-S fuzzy disturbance modeling

This paper investigates the fault tolerance problem of flexible satellites subject to actuator faults and multiple disturbances. An adaptive sliding mode fault tolerant control (ASMFTC) approach based on Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy disturbance observer (TSFDO) is presented for attitude control system (ACS) under loss of actuator effectiveness, environmental disturbance torque and elastic modal generated by flexible appendages. Compared with the traditional disturbance observer based control (DOBC) methods, the T-S fuzzy technology is applied to estimate the unknown nonlinear elastic modal. Then, the energy bounded disturbance is eliminated by designing an adaptive sliding mode controller. The proposed ASMFTC design can guarantee the sliding surface to approach zero. Finally, the effectiveness of the control method proposed in this paper is further verified by comparative simulation.

[Clinical effects of free anterolateral thigh perforator flap pedicled with descending genicular artery in repairing wounds after lower leg limb-sparing surgery]

Objective: To explore the clinical effects of free anterolateral thigh perforator flap pedicled with descending genicular artery in repairing wounds after lower leg limb-sparing surgery. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted. From January 2019 to June 2021, 12 patients with wounds after lower leg limb-sparing surgery who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to Suzhou Ruihua Orthopedic Hospital, including 6 males and 6 females, aged 17 to 74 years, with original wound area ranging from 17 cm×9 cm to 40 cm×15 cm. Five patients had infection in wounds. The wounds were all repaired by free anterolateral thigh perforator flap from contralateral thigh, with area of 18 cm×10 cm to 37 cm×9 cm. The artery of flap was anastomosed with the descending genicular artery, and the wounds in donor areas were sutured directly. Seven patients were transplanted with split-thickness skin grafts from the contralateral thigh to cover the remaining wounds that can not be covered by flap and the wounds in donor areas were covered with gauze. During the operation, the types of perforating branch carried by flap and the types of arteries and veins in recipient areas were recorded. The survival and occurrence of vascular crisis of flap, the survival of skin graft, the wound healing in donor and recipient areas, and the length of hospital stay after flap transplant surgery were recorded. During follow-up, the color and texture of flap, reinfection in lower leg, and fracture healing were recorded. At the last follow-up, the limb salvage function of patients was evaluated according to the functional evaluation criteria of Chen Zhongwei's amputated limb replantation. Results: The types of perforating branches carried by flaps were as follows: 6 cases of only carrying the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, 3 cases of only carrying the oblique branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, and 3 cases of carrying the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery and oblique branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery after internal pressurization anastomosis. The types of arteries in the recipient area of flap were as follows: one case of main trunk of the descending genicular artery, 8 cases of the saphenous branch of the descending genicular artery, and 3 cases of the articular branch of the descending genicular artery. The types of veins in the recipient area of flap were as follows: 8 cases of one accompanying vein of the descending genicular artery and one branch of the great saphenous vein, and 4 cases of two branches of the great saphenous vein. All the flaps survived without vascular crisis, and all the skin grafts also survived. The wounds in the donor and recipient areas were all healed. The length of hospital stay of patient after flap transplant surgery ranged from 13 to 79 days. During the follow-up of 6 to 23 months, the color and texture of flap were both good, with no infection in lower leg wound. Internal or external fixation were removed after fracture healing in 5 patients, and bone graft internal fixation was performed in 7 patients whose fractures were not healed after surgery and all the incisions healed without infection. At the last follow-up, the limb salvage effect of patients was evaluated as followings: excellent in 7 patients, good in 4 patients, and fair in one patient. Conclusions: Free anterolateral thigh flap pedicled with descending genicular artery can effectively repair the wounds after lower leg limb-sparing surgery and control infection with short length of hospital stay, while not increasing the risk of secondary injury of distal limb vessels. Thus, it can obtain satisfactory limb salvage effect which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Efficacy and confounding factors of CT attenuation value differences in distinguishing acute and old vertebral compression fractures: a retrospective study

PURPOSE

To evaluate the influence of various factors on CT attenuation values (HUs) of acute and old fracture vertebra, and to determine the efficacy of HU differences (△HUs) in the differentiation of the two type of fractures.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 113 acute and 71 old fracture vertebrae confirmed by MRI were included. Four HUs measured at the mid-sagittal, upper 1/3 axial, mid-axial, and lower 1/3 axial planes of each vertebra were obtained. The △HUs between fracture vertebra and its control counterpart was calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used and the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the efficacy of HUs and △HUs. To evaluate the effect of height reduction, region, age and gender on HUs and △HUs, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis and t-test were used.

RESULTS

The HUs and △HUs at the upper 1/3 axial plane achieved the highest AUCs of 0.801 and 0.839, respectively. The HUs decreased gradually from Thoracic to Lumbar in control group of acute fracture. While no significant differences were found in the HUs among the 3 localizations in both fracture groups (all P > 0.05). The HUs were negatively correlated with age in all groups. The HUs of male were significantly higher than female patients in all groups (all P < 0.05). While △HU was not significantly different between males and females (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The vertebral HUs at the upper 1/3 axial plane are more likely to identify acute fractures. △HUs were beneficial in eliminating interfering factors.

Dual RNA-Sequencing and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Unveil Specific Insights on the Pathogenicity of Trichophyton mentagrophytes Complex

Trichophyton mentagrophytes is increasingly considered to be a public health hazard because it causes the most severe manifestations of dermatophytosis. In this study, we performed a series of studies to determine the pathogenicity of the T. mentagrophytes complex. We show that the T. mentagrophytes complex interacts with keratinocytes through pattern-recognition receptors‒MAPK/noncanonical NF-κB pathways and that the hyphal form of T. mentagrophytes is responsible for the increased inflammatory responses in keratinocytes. Moreover, SN-38 is likely a toxin of T. mentagrophytes that induces apoptosis in keratinocytes both in vivo and in vitro. Our results explain the severe pathogenicity and destructiveness of T. mentagrophytes observed in the clinic and pave the way for designing novel toxin-directed therapies to improve patient outcomes.

Surgical treatment of tethered cord syndrome showed promising outcome in young children with short duration

OBJECTIVE

Aside from the severity, surgical interventions for the treatment of neurological dysfunctions remain controversial. This study aimed to find factors predicting the benefits of tethered cord syndrome (TCS) surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

80 children with TCS were included and followed up for pre- and post-operative factors along with neurophysiological analysis. Outcomes were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Surgical treatment not only improved preoperative signs and symptoms in 79% of TCS patients but it showed to be an efficient procedure for the occurrence of future neurological defects. Univariate analysis also revealed that surgical intervention in TCS children (age <1 year) can modulate filar lipoma location and cutaneous abnormalities three months after surgery. Neurophysiological assessment revealed only 5.0% of surgical complications in TCS patients. Two patients had cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and two cases of CNS infection were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical intervention is highly recommended for the prevention of neurological deficits in children with TCS. Electrophysiological monitoring revealed rare complications following the surgery.

Interpretable patent recommendation with knowledge graph and deep learning

Patent transfer is a common practice for companies to obtain competitive advantages. However, they encounter the difficulty of selecting suitable patents because the number of patents is increasingly large. Many patent recommendation methods have been proposed to ease the difficulty, but they ignore patent quality and cannot explain why certain patents are recommended. Patent quality and recommendation explanations affect companies' decision-making in the patent transfer context. Failing to consider them in the recommendation process leads to less effective recommendation results. To fill these gaps, this paper proposes an interpretable patent recommendation method based on knowledge graph and deep learning. The proposed method organizes heterogeneous patent information as a knowledge graph. Then it extracts connectivity and quality features from the knowledge graph for pairs of patents and companies. The former features indicate the relevance of the pairs while the latter features reflect the quality of the patents. Based on the features, we design an interpretable recommendation model by combining a deep neural network with a relevance propagation technique. We conduct experiments with real-world data to evaluate the proposed method. Recommendation lists with varying lengths show that the average precision, recall, and mean average precision of the proposed method are 0.596, 0.636, and 0.584, which improve corresponding performance of best baselines by 7.28%, 18.35%, and 8.60%, respectively. Besides, our method interprets recommendation results by identifying important features leading to the results.

Effects of traditional Chinese medicine combined with modern rehabilitation therapies on motor function in children with cerebral palsy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has considerable experience in the treatment of cerebral palsy (CP), but little evidence shows the effect of a combination of TCM and modern rehabilitation therapies on CP. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effect of integrated TCM and modern rehabilitation therapies on motor development in children with CP.

Methods

We systematically searched five databases up to June 2022, including PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science. Gross motor function measure (GMFM) and Peabody Development Motor Scales-II were the primary outcomes to evaluate motor development. Secondary outcomes included the joint range of motion, the Modified Ashworth scale (MAS), the Berg balance scale, and Activities of Daily living (ADL). Weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to determine intergroup differences.

Results

A total of 2,211 participants from 22 trials were enrolled in this study. Among these, one study was at a low risk of bias and seven studies showed a high risk of bias. Significant improvements were found in GMFM-66 (WMD 9.33; 95% CI 0.14-18.52, P < 0.05, I ² = 92.1%), GMFM-88 (WMD 8.24; 95% CI 3.25-13.24, P < 0.01, I ² = 0.0%), Berg balance scale (WMD 4.42; 95% CI 1.21-7.63, P < 0.01, I ² = 96.7%), and ADL (WMD 3.78; 95% CI 2.12-5.43, P < 0.01, I ² = 58.8%). No adverse events were reported during the TCM intervention in the included studies. The quality of evidence was high to low.

Conclusion

Integrated TCM and modern rehabilitation therapies may be an effective and safe intervention protocol to improve gross motor function, muscle tone, and the functional independence of children with CP. However, our results should be interpreted carefully because of the heterogeneity between the included studies.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022345470.

Analysis of immunotherapeutic response-related signatures in esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma

Background

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common and lethal malignant diseases. Immunotherapy has been widely studied and has exhibited potential in ESCC treatment. However, there are only a portion of ESCC patients have benefited from immunotherapy. We herein identified immunotherapeutic response-related signatures (IRRS) and evaluated their performance in ESCC prognosis and immunotherapeutic responsiveness.

Methods

We constructed an IRRS using the gene expression data of 274 ESCC patients based on y -30significantly differentially expressed genes, which were compared responders and non-responders from various patient cohorts treated with immunotherapy. Survival analysis was performed in both the GSE53625 and TCGA-ESCC cohorts. We also explored the differences in the tumor microenvironment between the high-IRRS and low-IRRS score groups using single-cell data as a reference. Three immunotherapy cohorts were used to verify the value of the IRRS in predicting immunotherapy response.

Results

Twelve immunotherapy-related genes were selected to construct a signature score and were validated as independent prognostic predictors for patients with ESCC. Patients with high IRRS scores exhibited an immunosuppressive phenotype. Therefore, patients with low IRRS scores may benefit from immunotherapy.

Conclusions

IRRS score is a biomarker for immunotherapy response and prognosis of ESCC.

Use of dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography in the diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

PURPOSE

To explore the optimal energy level of dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography (DLCT) images of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs) and investigate the value in their detection.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 134 pNEN patients with 136 lesions; they underwent contrast-enhanced DLCT scanning with histopathological confirmation of pNENs. Virtual monoenergetic images (VMI) of 40-100 keV, iodine concentration map (IC map), Z-effective atomic number map (Zeff map), and conventional images were analysed. The optimal energy level was obtained by comparing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). The lesion detection rates of DLCT and conventional images were compared. Subjective image analysis was performed by two readers who assessed the image quality and lesion conspicuity on a 5-point scale.

RESULTS

The SNR of VMIs from 40 to 80 keV (arterial phase, P < 0.001; venous phase, P < 0.05) and CNR from 40 to 60 keV (arterial and venous phases, each P < 0.05) were higher than that of conventional images; VMI_40keV showed the highest SNR and CNR. There was a good inter-reader agreement between the two reviewers (Kappa values > 0.61); the scores of Zeff and IC maps were higher than those of conventional images and VMI_40keV (P < 0.05). The detection performance of DLCT images was better than conventional images.

CONCLUSIONS

The VMI_40keV demonstrated the best CNR and SNR of pNENs compared to other VMIs. Zeff and IC maps improve objective image quality and reader preference compared to conventional images. These findings could possess important clinical implications in formulating treatment strategies.

β-catenin-IRP2-primed iron availability to mitochondrial metabolism is druggable for active β-catenin-mediated cancer

BACKGROUND

Although β-catenin signaling cascade is frequently altered in human cancers, targeting this pathway has not been approved for cancer treatment.

METHODS

High-throughput screening of an FDA-approved drug library was conducted to identify therapeutics that selectively inhibited the cells with activated β-catenin. Efficacy of iron chelator and mitochondrial inhibitor was evaluated for suppression of cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Cellular chelatable iron levels were measured to gain insight into the potential vulnerability of β-catenin-activated cells to iron deprivation. Extracellular flux analysis of mitochondrial function was conducted to evaluate the downstream events of iron deprivation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation, real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblotting were performed to identify β-catenin targets. Depletion of iron-regulatory protein 2 (IRP2), a key regulator of cellular iron homeostasis, was carried out to elucidate its significance in β-catenin-activated cells. Online databases were analyzed for correlation between β-catenin activity and IRP2-TfR1 axis in human cancers.

RESULTS

Iron chelators were identified as selective inhibitors against β-catenin-activated cells. Deferoxamine mesylate, an iron chelator, preferentially repressed β-catenin-activated cell proliferation and tumor formation in mice. Mechanically, β-catenin stimulated the transcription of IRP2 to increase labile iron level. Depletion of IRP2-sequered iron impaired β-catenin-invigorated mitochondrial function. Moreover, mitochondrial inhibitor S-Gboxin selectively reduced β-catenin-associated cell viability and tumor formation.

CONCLUSIONS

β-catenin/IRP2/iron stimulation of mitochondrial energetics is targetable vulnerability of β-catenin-potentiated cancer.

The effect of visual attention process and thinking styles on environmental aesthetic preference: An eye-tracking study

People often form different aesthetic preferences for natural and built environments, which affects their behavioral intention; however, it remains unknown whether this difference in aesthetic preference is due to differences in thinking styles. However, whether tourists' aesthetic preferences differ when using different visual attention processes has not been studied further. This study used eye-tracking and self-reporting to investigate these questions. The results show that natural environment images are more favored visually because they can evoke in tourists larger pupil diameters and longer scan paths, but we found no significant difference in fixation duration and fixation counts. We also found that the scanning path of tourists who predominantly rely on intuitive thinking is modulated by the bottom-up attention process, while the scanning path of tourists who prefer rational thinking is modulated by the top-down attention process. In the bottom-up process, tourists who prefer rational thinking exhibit more positive aesthetic preferences and emotional arousal. In summary, the present study verified that aesthetic preference is more likely to be influenced by both thinking style and visual attention processing. The results of the present work provide preliminary evidence that the aesthetic preference of the environment is not only related to visual attention but also affected by the individual visual attention process and thinking style.

Human and mouse TLR2 results in different activation of p38 and JNK signal pathway in HaCaT infected by Trichophyton rubrum and Microsporum canis

Introduction

It has long been recognized that inflammation to dermatophyte infection is different among various hosts, but the mechanism underlying is still not well understood. Toll-like receptor (TLR2), mediates the innate immune response against dermatophyte infection and is very important to trigger the inflammatory response to dermatophytes. Considering the different amino acid sequences and structures of TLR2, we speculated that TLR2 from different hosts will activate the downstream signal pathways to varying degrees, resulting in different inflammatory responses to dermatophytes.

Methods

In this study, we constructed the mice-human fusion TLR2 expressed HaCaT (mhTLR2-HaCaT) by replacing the extracellular ligand recognition region of human TLR2 with that of the mouse. Then hTLR2-HaCaT cells and mhTLR2-HaCaT cells were infected with T. rubrum and M. canis for 24 h followed by immunoblotting to asses associated proteins of p38 and JNK signal pathway.

Results

Compared with that of human TLR2 expressed HaCaT (hTLR2-HaCaT), levels of phosphorylated p38 protein were increased in mhTLR2-HaCaT cells stimulated by T. rubrum for 24 h, and levels of phosphorylatedJNK and c-Jun protein were increased in mhTLR2-HaCaT cells whenstimulated with M. canis for 24 h.

Discussion

Compared with hTLR2-HaCaT cells, p38 and JNK signal pathwayswere activated in mhTLR2-HaCaT after being infected by Trichophyton rubrumand Microsporum canis, respectively. Since p38 and JNK are the mainpathways that transduce the signal for host recognition of dermatophytes andmediate the downstream inflammatory response, it suggested that theinterspecific difference of TLR2 ectodomain may be one of the reasons for thedifferent inflammatory manifestations between humans and mice infected bythese two dermatophytes. Quite especially, the mouse-derived TLR2extracellular recognition region is more effective in recognizing T. rubrum andM. canis to activate the downstream signal pathways, resulting in a tenserinflammatory response against these two dermatophytes.

The Joint Effect of Body Mass Index and Serum Lipid Levels on Incident Dementia among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore the joint effect of body mass index (BMI) and serum lipids levels on incident dementia.

METHODS

We prospectively followed up with 1,627 dementia-free community residents aged ≥60 for 5.7 years on average. At baseline, weight, and height were measured, and total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were detected in serum. Demographic characteristics were collected through questionnaires. Dementia was based on consensus diagnosis of neurologists and neuropsychologists using DSM-IV criteria. Additive Cox proportional model was used to assess the exposure-response relationship between BMI and serum lipid levels and dementia risk. Interactions and further classifications of BMI and serum lipid levels were further presented by bivariate surface models and decision-tree models.

RESULTS

The joint effects of TC with BMI, TG with BMI, and LDL-C with BMI on the risk of incident dementia shared a similar pattern, different from their independent exposure-response curves. The joint effect of HDL-C with BMI showed an S-surface but without statistical significance. Participants with TC<5.4 mmol/L and BMI<21 kg/m2 (Hazard Ratio(HR) 1.93, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.05-3.53), TC<5.4 mmol/L and BMI≥21 kg/m2 (HR 1.73, 95% CI 1.09-2.72), and TC≥5.4 mmol/L and BMI<21 kg/m2 (HR 4.02, 95% CI 2.10-7.71) were identified to have the increased risk of incident dementia compared to those with TC≥5.4 mmol/L and BMI≥21 kg/m2. Participants with TG<1.7 mmol/L and BMI<21 kg/m2 had an increased risk of incident dementia compared to those with TG≥1.7 mmol/L and BMI≥21 kg/m2 (HR 1.98, 95%CI 1.17-3.3). Participants with LDL-C≥3.3 mmol/L and BMI<21 kg/m2 were identified to have an increased risk of incident dementia compared to those with LDL-C≥3.3 mmol/L and BMI≥21 kg/m2 (HR 3.33, 95%CI 1.64-6.78).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that low BMI combined with low or high levels of serum lipids may increase the risk of dementia among older adults. This finding suggests the potential impacts of these two metabolic indexes on the risk of dementia.

Adrenal heterogeneity in the arterial phase of contrast-enhanced CT predicts prognosis in septic shock: comparison with hollow adrenal gland sign

PURPOSE

To evaluate the prognostic value of adrenal heterogeneity in the arterial phase in patients with septic shock, comparatively to the hollow adrenal gland sign (HAGS).

METHODS

Totally 84 consecutive patients with septic shock (group S) were assessed retrospectively, and abdominal dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT was performed after the diagnosis of septic shock within one week. The patients were divided into two groups according to clinical outcome, including the survivor (group A, 41 cases) and death (group B, 43 cases) groups. Fifty negative cases were matched as the control (group C). The incidence of the HAGS in patients with septic shock (group S) was statistically analyzed. The average values of left adrenal density (Den-A and Den-V) and their standard deviations (SD_Den-A and SD_Den-V) in dual phases were measured. The above parameters were compared between groups A and B as well as with group C. The parameters were assessed for their predictive values of mortality in septic shock, comparatively to the HAGS.

RESULTS

Compared with group C, group S presented significantly higher Den-A (P = 0.003) and SD_Den-A (P < 0.001). There were significantly higher SD_Den-A (P < 0.001) in group B compared with group A. The incidence of the HAGS was about 27.4% (23/84) in group S. The sensitivity and specificity in predicting poor prognosis in patients with septic shock were 78% and 85% with SD_Den-A, at a cut-off value of 28.64, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity were 41% and 88% for the HAGS, respectively. The area under ROC curve (AUC) was significantly greater for SD_Den-A compared with the HAGS (0.820 vs. 0.670, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Adrenal heterogeneity in the arterial phase can predict prognosis in patients with septic shock; the larger the SD_Den-A, the poorer the prognosis. The predictive efficiency of adrenal heterogeneity in the arterial phase is better than the HAGS.

Centrifugal multimaterial 3D printing of multifunctional heterogeneous objects

There are growing demands for multimaterial three-dimensional (3D) printing to manufacture 3D object where voxels with different properties and functions are precisely arranged. Digital light processing (DLP) is a high-resolution fast-speed 3D printing technology suitable for various materials. However, multimaterial 3D printing is challenging for DLP as the current multimaterial switching methods require direct contact onto the printed part to remove residual resin. Here we report a DLP-based centrifugal multimaterial (CM) 3D printing method to generate large-volume heterogeneous 3D objects where composition, property and function are programmable at voxel scale. Centrifugal force enables non-contact, high-efficiency multimaterial switching, so that the CM 3D printer can print heterogenous 3D structures in large area (up to 180 mm × 130 mm) made of materials ranging from hydrogels to functional polymers, and even ceramics. Our CM 3D printing method exhibits excellent capability of fabricating digital materials, soft robots, and ceramic devices.