Effect of central corneal curvature on corneal material stiffness parameter acquired by dynamic corneal responses

The stress-strain index (SSI) is a measure of corneal material stiffness, which is obtained using the Corvis ST algorithm based on dynamic corneal response parameters. The reduced SSI corresponds to the longer axial length (AL). In a previous study, we found SSI increases as the corneal curvature flattens, whereas a flatter corneal curvature indicates a longer AL (emmetropia or myopia). Therefore, in this cross-sectional study, we aimed to address these contradictory findings. First, we characterized the features of SSI, curvature radius of the anterior corneal surface (CR), and AL and analyzed their correlation with advanced myopia. Next, we compared the relationship between AL and SSI after adjusting for the effect of CR. We found a significant positive correlation between SSI and CR, which contradicts the developmental law of axial myopia. Furthermore, after accounting for the effect of CR, we observed a stronger correlation between SSI and AL than that in the unadjusted model. In conclusion, CR is an independent influencing factor for SSI in addition to AL, which masked the decrease in SSI caused by prolonged AL in axial myopia.

Mollugin activates GLP-1R to improve cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetic mice

AIMS

The incidence of diabetic cognitive dysfunction is increasing year by year, and it has gradually become a research hot spot. Studies have shown that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists can improve cognitive dysfunction in diabetic patients. This study focuses on whether small molecule GLP-1R agonists from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can improve the diabetic cognitive dysfunction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The small molecules from TCM were screened by cell membrane chromatography (CMC) with GLP-1R-HEK293 cell membrane column. MTT assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence cytochemistry and other methods were used to determine the effects of mollugin on the apoptosis rate and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of high glucose (HG)/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced PC12 cells. Real-Time PCR was used to detect mRNA expression in mouse cerebral cortex. Water maze test was further used to confirm the effect of mollugin on cognitive dysfunction in T2DM mice.

KEY FINDINGS

Mollugin bound to GLP-1R, promoted Ca2+ influx, increased insulin secretion and cAMP content in β-TC-6 cells. Mollugin enhanced the cell viability, ameliorated apoptosis, reduced intracellular ROS levels in HG/H2O2-injured PC12 cells. Mollugin reduced the T2DM mice's escape latency, improved neuronal cell damage, decreased the expression of Pik3ca, Akt1 and Mapk1 mRNA in the cerebral cortex tissue.

SIGNIFICANCE

The results suggest that mollugin could improve cognitive dysfunction in T2DM mice through activating GLP-1R/cAMP/PKA signal pathway.

Positive association between alkaline phosphatase and arteriosclerosis: a cross-sectional study

AIMS

Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is known to be associated with cardiovascular events and cerebral arteriosclerosis. However, the link between ALP and early arteriosclerosis remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between ALP and early arteriosclerosis assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (Ba-PWV).

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 5011 participants who underwent health examinations, including ALP and Ba-PWV measurement, at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from 2012 to 2017. Regression analysis, smoothing function analysis in the generalized additive model (GAM), threshold effect analysis, and subgroup analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Multivariate regression analysis identified a significantly positive association between serum ALP and arteriosclerosis [odds ratio (OR) = 1.008, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.004-1.011, P  < 0.001]. Smoothing function analysis indicated a two-stage association between ALP and arteriosclerosis. Furthermore, threshold effect analysis determined an inflection point at 135 U/l, below which the relationship was linearly positive and above which the risk of arteriosclerosis did not increase prominently with increasing ALP (OR = 1.009, 95% CI: 1.005-1.013, P  < 0.001; OR = 0.976, 95% CI: 0.952-1.002, P  = 0.068). However, ALP was not associated with arteriosclerosis only in participants with diabetes (OR = 0.996, 95% CI: 0.979-1.014, P  = 0.690). A positive association between Ba-PWV and arteriosclerosis was observed for both the arteriosclerosis and nonarteriosclerosis groups ( β  = 9.10, 95% CI: 4.67-13.54, P  < 0.001; β  = 8.02, 95% CI: 5.67-10.37, P  < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

In this study, the serum ALP level was positively associated with early arteriosclerosis, with a saturation effect beyond ALP = 135 U/l. However, the positive association between ALP and arteriosclerosis was unclear in adults with diabetes.

Prevalence of smoking among nurses and its association with blood pressure: A cross-sectional study in 11 cities of China

AIM

Smoking is harmful to human health. However, the relationship between smoking and blood pressure (BP) has not been consistent. This study aimed to analyse nurses' smoking behaviours and their relationship with BP.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study recruited 128 009 nurses in 11 cities in China. They were surveyed with questionnaires including BP measurements. The main contents of the questionnaire included smoking status and other factors that might be associated with hypertension. Multiple linear regression analyses and binary logistic regression analyses were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

The results showed there was a significant difference in the smoking rate among nurses with different characteristics (P < 0.05). For both male and female nurses, smoking was associated with increased diastolic BP and mean arterial pressure, but only with increased systolic BP of male nurses. The prevalence of hypertension among male and female nurses was not related to smoking.

CONCLUSION

Despite a relatively low overall smoking rate, rates among some groups are high. Different cities, hospitals, and departments can combine local data and conditions to formulate targeted tobacco control measures to improve nurses' physical and mental health.

Integrin beta 3-overexpressing mesenchymal stromal cells display enhanced homing and can reduce atherosclerotic plaque

BACKGROUND

Umbilical cord (UC) mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation is a potential therapeutic intervention for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Integrin beta 3 (ITGB3) promotes cell migration in several cell types. However, whether ITGB-modified MSCs can migrate to plaque sites in vivo and play an anti-atherosclerotic role remains unclear.

AIM

To investigate whether ITGB3-overexpressing MSCs (MSCsITGB3) would exhibit improved homing efficacy in atherosclerosis.

METHODS

UC MSCs were isolated and expanded. Lentiviral vectors encoding ITGB3 or green fluorescent protein (GFP) as control were transfected into MSCs. Sixty male apolipoprotein E-/- mice were acquired from Beijing Vital River Lab Animal Technology Co., Ltd and fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 wk to induce the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. These HFD-fed mice were randomly separated into three clusters. GFP-labeled MSCs (MSCsGFP) or MSCsITGB3 were transplanted into the mice intravenously via the tail vein. Immunofluorescence staining, Oil red O staining, histological analyses, western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used for the analyses.

RESULTS

ITGB3 modified MSCs successfully differentiated into the "osteocyte" and "adipocyte" phenotypes and were characterized by positive expression (> 91.3%) of CD29, CD73, and CD105 and negative expression (< 1.35%) of CD34 and Human Leukocyte Antigen-DR. In a transwell assay, MSCsITGB3 showed significantly faster migration than MSCsGFP. ITGB3 overexpression had no effects on MSC viability, differentiation, and secretion. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that ITGB3 overexpression substantially enhanced the homing of MSCs to plaque sites. Oil red O staining and histological analyses further confirmed the therapeutic effects of MSCsITGB3, significantly reducing the plaque area. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that MSCITGB3 transplantation considerably decreased the inflammatory response in pathological tissues by improving the dynamic equilibrium of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

CONCLUSION

These results showed that ITGB3 overexpression enhanced the MSC homing ability, providing a potential approach for MSC delivery to plaque sites, thereby optimizing their therapeutic effects.

High-field THz source centered at 2.6 THz

We demonstrate a table-top high-field terahertz (THz) source based on optical rectification of a collimated near-infrared pulse in gallium phosphide (GaP) to produce peak fields above 300 kV/cm with a spectrum centered at 2.6 THz. The experimental configuration, based on tilted-pulse-front phase matching, is implemented with a phase grating etched directly onto the front surface of the GaP crystal. Although the THz generation efficiency starts showing a saturation onset as the near-infrared pulse energy reaches 0.57 mJ, we can expect our configuration to yield THz peak fields up to 866 kV/cm when a 5 mJ generation NIR pulse is used. This work paves the way towards broadband, high-field THz sources able to access a new class of THz coherent control and nonlinear phenomena driven at frequencies above 2 THz.

A novel prognostic model based on AFP, tumor burden score and Albumin-Bilirubin grade for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing radiofrequency ablation

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to develop prognostic scores, including the tumor burden score (TBS) and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade, for evaluating the outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after radiofrequency ablation (RFA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective study enrolled treatment-naïve HCC patients with BCLC 0-A who underwent RFA between January 2009 and December 2019. Regular follow-up was conducted after RFA to determine progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The patients were randomly allocated to the training or validation datasets in a 1:1 ratio. Preoperative prognostic scores were developed based on the results of multivariate analysis. The discriminatory ability of the scores was assessed using time-dependent AUC and compared with other models.

RESULTS

Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level and TBS were identified as independent prognostic factors for PFS, while serum AFP, TBS, and ALBI were identified as independent prognostic factors for OS in HCC patients after RFA. The time-dependent AUCs of the AFP-TBS score for the 1-, 3-, and 5-year PFS were 0.651, 0.667, and 0.620, respectively, in the training set, and 0.657, 0.687, and 0.704, respectively, in the validation set. For the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS, the time-dependent AUCs were 0.680, 0.712, and 0.666, respectively, in the training set, and 0.712, 0.706 and 0.726 in the validation set for the AFP-TBS-ALBI score (ATA). The C-indices and AIC demonstrated that the scores provided better clinical benefits compared to other models.

CONCLUSION

The ATA/AT score, derived from clinical and objective laboratory variables, can assist in individually predicting the prognosis of HCC patients undergoing curative RFA.

Quantification of myelination in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a comparative assessment with synthetic MRI and DTI

Evaluation of myelin content is crucial for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To estimate myelin content in ADHD based on synthetic MRI-based method and compare it with established diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method. Fifth-nine ADHD and fifty typically developing (TD) children were recruited. Global and regional myelin content (myelin volume fraction [MVF] and myelin volume [MYV]) were assessed using SyMRI and compared with DTI metrics (fractional anisotropy and mean/radial/axial diffusivity). The relationship between significant MRI parameters and clinical variables were assessed in ADHD. No between-group differences of whole-brain myelin content were found. Compared to TDs, ADHD showed higher mean MVF in bilateral internal capsule, external capsule, corona radiata, and corpus callosum, as well as in left tapetum, left superior fronto-occipital fascicular, and right cingulum (all PFDR-corrected < 0.05). Increased MYV were found in similar regions. Abnormalities of DTI metrics were mainly in bilateral corticospinal tract. Besides, MVF in right retro lenticular part of internal capsule was negatively correlated with cancellation test scores (r = - 0.41, P = 0.002), and MYV in right posterior limb of internal capsule (r = 0.377, P = 0.040) and left superior corona radiata (r = 0.375, P = 0.041) were positively correlated with cancellation test scores in ADHD. Increased myelin content underscored the important pathway of frontostriatal tract, posterior thalamic radiation, and corpus callosum underlying ADHD, which reinforced the insights into myelin quantification and its potential role in pathophysiological mechanism and disease diagnosis. Prospectively registered trials number: ChiCTR2100048109; date: 2021-07.

Novel 4-Arylindolines Containing a Pyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine Moiety as the Programmed Cell Death-1/Programmed Cell Death-Ligand 1 Interaction Inhibitors for Tumor Immunotherapy

A series of pyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine-containing 4-arylindolines were identified as potent inhibitors of the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) interaction by structural optimization of a 4-arylindoline precursor reported previously. Among them, compound N11 was the most promising inhibitor, showing an IC50 value of 6.3 nM against the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction at the biochemical level. In in vitro T-cell tumor co-culture models, N11 significantly promoted T-cell proliferation, activation, and infiltration into tumor spheres, demonstrating that it possessed excellent immunomodulatory activity. In addition, N11 exhibited favorable in vivo antitumor activity in an LLC/PD-L1 tumor-bearing mouse model. Flow cytometry analysis verified that the in vivo antitumor efficacy of N11 was dependent on the activation of the immune microenvironment. These findings suggest that N11 can serve as a new starting point for the future development of small-molecule antitumor immunomodulators targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis.

Repair of Congenitally Defective Type of Earlobe Clefts With Residual Lobular Tissue: A Convenient and Effective Surgical Technique

BACKGROUND

For patients with a congenitally defective type of earlobe cleft, repair techniques similar to those utilized for earlobe lacerations are not suitable due to the presence of certain tissue defects. However, traditional earlobe reconstruction techniques imply the need to form complex flaps with adjacent normal tissues, which may lead to many complications.

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we developed a technique to repair the earlobe with residual lobular tissue based on the characteristics of congenitally defective earlobe clefts.

METHODS

We designed a triangular random flap out of the remnant lobular tissue, rotated and embedded into the edge of the remnant earlobe to repair the earlobe.

RESULTS

In the past 3 years, this technique was applied to 15 patients with congenitally defective earlobe clefts. With this technique, the new earlobe achieved the desired aesthetic results, such as smooth edges and fullness of form, without complicated and unnecessary incisions. It also solved the aesthetic problem of residual lobular tissue on the face.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the characteristics of the congenitally defective type of earlobe cleft, we innovatively proposed the utilization of residual lobular tissues for earlobe repair, and the feasibility and multiple advantages of this technique have been demonstrated in practice.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4

Retinoic Acid Receptor Is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a clinical syndrome characterizing by cognitive impairments in the elderly after surgery. There is limited effective treatment available or clear pathological mechanisms known for this syndrome. In this study, a Connectivity Map (CMap) bioinformatics model of POCD was established by using differently expressed landmark genes in the serum samples of POCD and non-POCD patients from the only human transcriptome study. The predictability and reliability of this model were further supported by the positive CMap scores of known POCD inducers and the negative CMap scores of anti-POCD drug candidates. Most retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonists were negatively associated with POCD in this CMap model, suggesting that RAR might be a novel target for POCD. Most importantly, acitretin, a clinically used RAR agonist, significantly inhibited surgery-induced cognitive impairments and prevented the reduction in RARα and RARα-target genes in the hippocampal regions of aged mice. The study denotes a reliable CMap bioinformatics model of POCD for future use and establishes that RAR is a novel therapeutic target for treating this clinical syndrome.

Dual-path multi-scale context dense aggregation network for retinal vessel segmentation

There has been steady progress in the field of deep learning-based blood vessel segmentation. However, several challenging issues still continue to limit its progress, including inadequate sample sizes, the neglect of contextual information, and the loss of microvascular details. To address these limitations, we propose a dual-path deep learning framework for blood vessel segmentation. In our framework, the fundus images are divided into concentric patches with different scales to alleviate the overfitting problem. Then, a Multi-scale Context Dense Aggregation Network (MCDAU-Net) is proposed to accurately extract the blood vessel boundaries from these patches. In MCDAU-Net, a Cascaded Dilated Spatial Pyramid Pooling (CDSPP) module is designed and incorporated into intermediate layers of the model, enhancing the receptive field and producing feature maps enriched with contextual information. To improve segmentation performance for low-contrast vessels, we propose an InceptionConv (IConv) module, which can explore deeper semantic features and suppress the propagation of non-vessel information. Furthermore, we design a Multi-scale Adaptive Feature Aggregation (MAFA) module to fuse the multi-scale feature by assigning adaptive weight coefficients to different feature maps through skip connections. Finally, to explore the complementary contextual information and enhance the continuity of microvascular structures, a fusion module is designed to combine the segmentation results obtained from patches of different sizes, achieving fine microvascular segmentation performance. In order to assess the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted evaluations on three widely-used public datasets: DRIVE, CHASE-DB1, and STARE. Our findings reveal a remarkable advancement over the current state-of-the-art (SOTA) techniques, with the mean values of Se and F1 scores being an increase of 7.9% and 4.7%, respectively. The code is available at https://github.com/bai101315/MCDAU-Net.

The Temporal and Spatial Changes of Autophagy and PI3K Isoforms in Different Neural Cells After Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Injury

There are limited therapeutic options for patient with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Phosphoinositide 3-kinase family (PI3Ks) are the key molecules for regulating cell autophagy, which is a possible way of treating SCI. As we know, PI3K family are composed of eight isoforms, which are distributed into three classes. While the role of PI3Ks in regulating autophagy is controversial and the effects may be in a cell-specific manner. Different isoforms do not distribute in neural cells consistently and it is not clear how the PI3K isoforms regulate and interact with autophagy. Therefore, we explored the distributions and expression of different PI3K isoforms in two key neural cells (PC12 cells and astrocytes). The results showed that the expression of LC3II/I and p62, which are the markers of autophagy, changed in different patterns in PC12 cells and astrocytes after hypoxia/reoxygenation injury (H/R). Furthermore, the mRNA level of eight PI3K isoforms did not change in the same way, and even for the same isoform the mRNA activities are different between PC12 cells and astrocytes. What is more, the results of western blot of PI3K isoforms after H/R were inconsistent with the relevant mRNA. Based on this study, the therapeutic effects of regulating autophagy on SCI are not confirmed definitely, and its molecular mechanisms may be related with different temporal and spatial patterns of activation and distributions of PI3K isoforms.

Ear reconstruction stage I: Minor modifications in sculpting the auricle support using the 7th and 8th costal cartilages

BACKGROUND

The verisimilitude of the reconstructed auricle and its long-term stability largely depends on the framework sculpting. This study described three kinds of minor modifications based on Firmin's way of sculpting the auricle framework and reported the clinical outcomes achieved with them.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of congenital microtia patients undergoing detail-improved auricular reconstruction from June 2016 to June 2020. The three kinds of minor modifications included: (1) fabricating the base frame using the 7th costal cartilage, (2) fabricating the helix and the antihelix complex using the 8th costal cartilage, and (3) fabricating the helix using the combination of the 8th and 9th costal cartilage.

RESULTS

Ninety-eight patients (aged 9-27 years, 62.2% male) were included. Ninety-five patients (97.0%) adopted minor modifications 1, 2, and 3 patients (3.0%) adopted minor modifications 1, 2, and 3. All patients achieved an excellent auricle appearance and a well-laid foundation for subsequent operations. During the follow-up period, 89 patients (90.8%) were satisfied with the reconstructed auricles, 6 (6.1%) complained of hypertrophic scars in the retroauricular sulcus or pigmentation in the skin graft area, and 3 (3.1%) developed surgery-related complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Three minor modifications of the auricle framework sculpting can make more satisfactory use of cartilage and adjust with the flexibility of the reconstructed auricle in different situations, making it similar to the contralateral auricle, thus, improving patients' satisfaction.

Analysis of the incidence of falls and related factors in elderly patients based on comprehensive geriatric assessment

Objective

To investigate the incidence of falls in elderly aged 65 years and above among outpatients and inpatients, and to analyze its related factors and identify prevention strategies.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 451 patients aged 65 years and above who received comprehensive geriatric assessment in outpatients and inpatients from the Department of Geriatrics in the Second Xiangya Hospital from March 2021 to March 2022. According to whether there had been at least one fall in the past year, the patients were divided into a fall group and a non-fall group. Data were collected from the We-Chat applet of comprehensive geriatric assessment. A t test and chi-square test were performed to compare the difference between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was then conducted to identify factors associated with falls.

Results

(1) The incidence of falls among the outpatient and inpatient was 28.8%. (2) The rate of light, moderate, and heavy dependence on daily living ability and decreased mobile balance ability were higher in the fall group than those in the non-fall group. The average calf circumference in the fall group was significantly lower than that in the non-fall group. (3) The prevalence of diabetes and eye diseases in the fall group was significantly higher than that in the non-fall group. (4) The percentage of insomnia and suspicious insomnia cases in the fall group was higher than that in the non-fall group. The mean scores for dysphagia, frailty, and incontinence were higher and the mean malnutrition score was lower in the fall group than in the non-fall group. (5) Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that frailty, insomnia, and malnutrition were independent influencing factors of fall (OR = 1.955, 1.652, 10.719, P = 0.044, 0.041, 0.025, respectively).

Conclusions

The incidence of falls among outpatients and inpatients aged 65 years and above is high. Frailty, insomnia, and malnutrition are the main factors influencing falls in these patients.

Difficult tracheostomy decannulation related to nasogastric tube syndrome: A case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Nasogastric tube syndrome (NGTS) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. Patients receiving both tracheostomy and indwelling nasogastric tube (NGT) are not uncommon, however difficult tracheostomy decannulation due to NGTS has not been reported.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 65-year-old woman was hospitalized with cervical spine stenosis and cervical spinal cord injury after a fall. The surgeon planned neck surgery, but unanticipated tracheotomy had to perform due to emergency airway during anesthesia induction. She then suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome and underwent a series of treatments including indwelling NGT. About 2 weeks later, tracheostomy decannulation was planned. Following tracheostomy-tube-occlusion test, however, she experienced severe inspiratory difficulty. Severe supraglottic swelling was found, and the opening of glottis was completely covered by swollen tissue. Three weeks post-tracheostomy, the airway patency test failed again, and NGT was removed. Finally, the tracheostomy tube was successfully removed at 5 weeks after tracheotomy.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

This patient developed difficult tracheostomy decannulation due to upper airway obstruction, and NGTS was considered as the main cause. Although vocal cord paralysis and post-cricoid ulcer did not occur in this case, we suggest that severe periglottic swelling may also be a symptom of NGTS. In this patient, upper airway edema gradually relieved after NGT removal, and the artificial airway was also removed 2 weeks later. Therefore, removal of NGT is the primary measure to deal with NGTS.

CONCLUSIONS

Attention should be paid to the effect of NGTS on decannulation in patients receiving long-term tracheotomy and NGT insertion.

A new formula based on new parameters for predicting postoperative vault after posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation: a retrospective study

Background

To investigate the parameters influencing vault after posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation, thereby establishing a formula to predict the vault after operation.

Methods

In this retrospective study, 61 patients (122 eyes) who underwent implantable collamer lens (ICL) implantation were enrolled consecutively from the Qingdao Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, China, between August 2020 and October 2021. Comprehensive optometry, axial length, curvature, anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), white-to-white distance (WTW), corneal thickness, sulcus-to-sulcus distance (STS), the distance between the sulcus-to-sulcus plane and the anterior crystalline lens surface (STSL), ciliary-to-ciliary distance (CTC) and the distance between the ciliary-to-ciliary plane and the anterior crystalline lens surface (CTCL) were recorded preoperatively. The vault was measured by ultrasound biomicroscopy at 1 month after operation. The correlation among vault, preoperative parameters and ICL size was analyzed. The accuracy and reliability of the prediction formula were verified by analyzing the postoperative correlation coefficient of actual and predicted vaults of the contralateral eye and through the Bland-Altman consistency test.

Results

Parameters significantly influencing the vault at 1 month after operation are ACD (r=0.260, P=0.004), LT (r=-0.338, P<0.001), WTW (r=0.240, P=0.03), STSL (r=-0.394, P<0.001), CTC (r=-0.199, P=0.03), CTCL (r=-0.328, P<0.001), ICL size (r=0.224, P=0.01) and ICL power (r=-0.231, P=0.01). The regression formula was as follows: vault (mm) = -2.179 - 0.227 * CTC (vertical) - 0.783 * CTCL (mean) + 0.472 * ICL size (fitting R=0.853, R2=0.727, adjusted R2=0.705). The predicted vault was 0.50±0.18 mm, and the actual vault was 0.56±0.24 mm. The Bland-Altman scatter plot showed a satisfactory agreement between actual and predicted vaults (-0.06 mm, 95% limits of agreement: -0.45 to 0.32 mm).

Conclusions

ACD, LT, WTW, STSL, CTC, CTCL, ICL size and ICL power were the factors affecting vault after ICL implantation. The prediction formula with the new parameter CTCL was accurate and reliable.

An artificial intelligence-based pipeline for automated detection and localisation of epileptic sources from magnetoencephalography

Objective.Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a powerful non-invasive diagnostic modality for presurgical epilepsy evaluation. However, the clinical utility of MEG mapping for localising epileptic foci is limited by its low efficiency, high labour requirements, and considerable interoperator variability. To address these obstacles, we proposed a novel artificial intelligence-based automated magnetic source imaging (AMSI) pipeline for automated detection and localisation of epileptic sources from MEG data.Approach.To expedite the analysis of clinical MEG data from patients with epilepsy and reduce human bias, we developed an autolabelling method, a deep-learning model based on convolutional neural networks and a hierarchical clustering method based on a perceptual hash algorithm, to enable the coregistration of MEG and magnetic resonance imaging, the detection and clustering of epileptic activity, and the localisation of epileptic sources in a highly automated manner. We tested the capability of the AMSI pipeline by assessing MEG data from 48 epilepsy patients.Main results.The AMSI pipeline was able to rapidly detect interictal epileptiform discharges with 93.31% ± 3.87% precision based on a 35-patient dataset (with sevenfold patientwise cross-validation) and robustly rendered accurate localisation of epileptic activity with a lobar concordance of 87.18% against interictal and ictal stereo-electroencephalography findings in a 13-patient dataset. We also showed that the AMSI pipeline accomplishes the necessary processes and delivers objective results within a much shorter time frame (∼12 min) than traditional manual processes (∼4 h).Significance.The AMSI pipeline promises to facilitate increased utilisation of MEG data in the clinical analysis of patients with epilepsy.

Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Bearings in Primary Mine Fans under Sample Imbalance Conditions

Rolling bearings are crucial parts of primary mine fans. In order to guarantee the safety of coal mine production, primary mine fans commonly work during regular operation and are immediately shut down for repair in case of failure. This causes the sample imbalance phenomenon in fault diagnosis (FD), i.e., there are many more normal state samples than faulty ones, seriously affecting the precision of FD. Therefore, the current study presents an FD approach for the rolling bearings of primary mine fans under sample imbalance conditions via symmetrized dot pattern (SDP) images, denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPMs), the image generation method, and a convolutional neural network (CNN). First, the 1D bearing vibration signal was transformed into an SDP image with significant characteristics, and the DDPM was employed to create a generated image with similar feature distributions to the real fault image of the minority class. Then, the generated images were supplemented into the imbalanced dataset for data augmentation to balance the minority class samples with the majority ones. Finally, a CNN was utilized as a fault diagnosis model to identify and detect the rolling bearings' operating conditions. In order to assess the efficiency of the presented method, experiments were performed using the regular rolling bearing dataset and primary mine fan rolling bearing data under actual operating situations. The experimental results indicate that the presented method can more efficiently fit the real image samples' feature distribution and generate image samples with higher similarity than other commonly used methods. Moreover, the diagnostic precision of the FD model can be effectively enhanced by gradually expanding and enhancing the unbalanced dataset.

Emodin-Based Nanoarchitectonics with Giant Two-Photon Absorption for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

Two-photon-excited photodynamic therapy (TPE-PDT) has significant advantages over conventional photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, obtaining easily accessible TPE photosensitizers (PSs) with high efficiency remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that emodin (Emo), a natural anthraquinone (NA) derivative, is a promising TPE PS with a large two-photon absorption cross-section (TPAC: 380.9 GM) and high singlet oxygen (1 O2 ) quantum yield (31.9 %). When co-assembled with human serum albumin (HSA), the formed Emo/HSA nanoparticles (E/H NPs) possess a giant TPAC (4.02×107  GM) and desirable 1 O2 generation capability, thus showing outstanding TPE-PDT properties against cancer cells. In vivo experiments reveal that E/H NPs exhibit improved retention time in tumors and can ablate tumors at an ultra-low dosage (0.2 mg/kg) under an 800 nm femtosecond pulsed laser irradiation. This work is beneficial for the use of natural extracts NAs for high-efficiency TPE-PDT.

Bioorthogonal Engineered Virus-Like Nanoparticles for Efficient Gene Therapy

Gene therapy offers potentially transformative strategies for major human diseases. However, one of the key challenges in gene therapy is developing an effective strategy that could deliver genes into the specific tissue. Here, we report a novel virus-like nanoparticle, the bioorthgonal engineered virus-like recombinant biosome (reBiosome), for efficient gene therapies of cancer and inflammatory diseases. The mutant virus-like biosome (mBiosome) is first prepared by site-specific codon mutation for displaying 4-azido-L-phenylalanine on vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein of eBiosome at a rational site, and the reBiosome is then prepared by clicking weak acid-responsive hydrophilic polymer onto the mBiosome via bioorthogonal chemistry. The results show that the reBiosome exhibits reduced virus-like immunogenicity, prolonged blood circulation time and enhanced gene delivery efficiency to weakly acidic foci (like tumor and arthritic tissue). Furthermore, reBiosome demonstrates robust therapeutic efficacy in breast cancer and arthritis by delivering gene editing and silencing systems, respectively. In conclusion, this study develops a universal, safe and efficient platform for gene therapies for cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Deficiency of the Polycomb Protein RYBP and TET Methylcytosine Oxidases Promotes Extensive CpG Island Hypermethylation and Malignant Transformation

Hypermethylation of CpG islands (CGI) is a common feature of cancer cells and predominantly affects Polycomb-associated genomic regions. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms leading to DNA hypermethylation in human cancer could help identify chemoprevention strategies. Here, we evaluated the role of Polycomb complexes and 5-methylcytosine (5mC) oxidases in protecting CGIs from DNA methylation and observed that four genes coding for components of Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) are downregulated in tumors. Inactivation of RYBP, a key activator of variant PRC1 complexes, in combination with all three 5mC oxidases (TET proteins) in nontumorigenic bronchial epithelial cells led to widespread hypermethylation of Polycomb-marked CGIs affecting almost 4,000 target genes, which closely resembled the DNA hypermethylation landscape observed in human squamous cell lung tumors. The RYBP- and TET-deficient cells showed methylation-associated aberrant regulation of cancer-relevant pathways, including defects in the Hippo tumor suppressor network. Notably, the quadruple knockout cells acquired a transformed phenotype, including anchorage-independent growth and formation of squamous cell carcinomas in mice. This work provides a mechanism promoting hypermethylation of CGIs and shows that such hypermethylation can lead to cell transformation. The breakdown of a two-pronged protection mechanism can be a route towards genome-wide hypermethylation of CGIs in tumors.

SIGNIFICANCE

Dysfunction of the Polycomb component RYBP in combination with loss of 5-methylcytosine oxidases promotes widespread hypermethylation of CpG islands in bronchial cells and induces tumorigenesis, resembling changes seen in human lung tumors.

Discrepancy of synaptic and microtubular protein phosphorylation in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 and MAPT×P301S transgenic mice at the early stage of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, and is caused by multiple pathological factors, such as the overproduction of β-amyloid (Aβ) and the hyperphosphorylation of tau. However, there is limited knowledge of the mechanisms underlying AD pathogenesis and no effective biomarker for the early diagnosis of this disorder. Thus in this study, a quantitative phosphoproteomics analysis was performed to evaluate global protein phosphorylation in the hippocampus of Aβ overexpressing APP/PS1 transgenic mice and tau overexpressing MAPT×P301S transgenic mice, two in vivo AD model systems. These animals, up to ten weeks old, do not exhibit cognitive dysfunctions and are widely used to simulate early-stage AD patients. The number of differentially phosphorylated proteins (DPPs) was greater for APP/PS1 transgenic mice than for MAPT×P301S transgenic mice. The function of the DPPs in APP/PS1 transgenic mice was mainly related to synapses, while the function of the DPPs in MAPT×P301S transgenic mice was mainly related to microtubules. In addition, an AD core network was established including seven phosphoproteins differentially expressed in both animal models, and the function of this core network was related to synapses and oxidative stress. The results of this study suggest that Aβ and tau induce different protein phosphorylation profiles in the early stage of AD, leading to the dysfunctions in synapses and microtubule, respectively. And the detection of same DPPs in these animal models might be used for early AD diagnosis.

Hepatic depletion of nucleolar protein mDEF causes excessive mitochondrial copper accumulation associated with p53 and NRF1 activation

Copper is an essential component in the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex IV (cytochrome c oxidases). However, whether any nucleolar factor(s) is(are) involved in regulating the mitochondrial copper homeostasis remains unclear. The nucleolar localized Def-Capn3 protein degradation pathway cleaves target proteins, including p53, in both zebrafish and human nucleoli. Here, we report that hepatic depletion of mDEF in mice causes an excessive copper accumulation in the mitochondria. We find that mDEF-depleted hepatocytes show an exclusion of CAPN3 from the nucleoli and accumulate p53 and NRF1 proteins in the nucleoli. Furthermore, we find that NRF1 is a CAPN3 substrate. Elevated p53 and NRF1 enhances the expression of Sco2 and Cox genes, respectively, to allow more copper acquirement in the mDef^loxp/loxp, Alb:Cre mitochondria. Our findings reveal that the mDEF-CAPN3 pathway serves as a novel mechanism for regulating the mitochondrial copper homeostasis through targeting its substrates p53 and NRF1.