Dynamic Multiple Object Segmentation with Spatio-Temporal Filtering

This article primarily focuses on the localization and extraction of multiple moving objects in images taken from a moving camera platform, such as image sequences captured by drones. The positions of moving objects in the images are influenced by both the camera's motion and the movement of the objects themselves, while the background position in the images is related to the camera's motion. The main objective of this article was to extract all moving objects from the background in an image. We first constructed a motion feature space containing motion distance and direction, to map the trajectories of feature points. Subsequently, we employed a clustering algorithm based on trajectory distinctiveness to differentiate between moving objects and the background, as well as feature points corresponding to different moving objects. The pixels between the feature points were then designated as source points. Within local regions, complete moving objects were segmented by identifying these pixels. We validated the algorithm on some sequences in the Video Verification of Identity (VIVID) program database and compared it with relevant algorithms. The experimental results demonstrated that, in the test sequences when the feature point trajectories exceed 10 frames, there was a significant difference in the feature space between the feature points on the moving objects and those on the background. Correctly classified frames with feature points accounted for 67% of the total frames.The positions of the moving objects in the images were accurately localized, with an average IOU value of 0.76 and an average contour accuracy of 0.57. This indicated that our algorithm effectively localized and segmented the moving objects in images captured by moving cameras.

Maritime Infrared Small Target Detection Based on the Appearance Stable Isotropy Measure in Heavy Sea Clutter Environments

Infrared small target detection plays a crucial role in maritime security. However, detecting small targets within heavy sea clutter environments remains challenging. Existing methods often fail to deliver satisfactory performance in the presence of substantial clutter interference. This paper analyzes the spatial-temporal appearance characteristics of small targets and sea clutter. Based on this analysis, we propose a novel detection method based on the appearance stable isotropy measure (ASIM). First, the original images are processed using the Top-Hat transformation to obtain the salient regions. Next, a preliminary threshold operation is employed to extract the candidate targets from these salient regions, forming a candidate target array image. Third, to distinguish between small targets and sea clutter, we introduce two characteristics: the gradient histogram equalization measure (GHEM) and the local optical flow consistency measure (LOFCM). GHEM evaluates the isotropy of the candidate targets by examining their gradient histogram equalization, while LOFCM assesses their appearance stability based on local optical flow consistency. To effectively combine the complementary information provided by GHEM and LOFCM, we propose ASIM as a fusion characteristic, which can effectively enhance the real target. Finally, a threshold operation is applied to determine the final targets. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method exhibits superior comprehensive performance compared to baseline methods.

5-HT induces regulatory B cells in fighting against inflammation-driven ulcerative colitis

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) is a neuroendocrine peptide endowed with immunomodulatory functions. Regulatory B cells (Bregs) play an important role in maintaining intestinal immune homeostasis. We analyzed the differences of 5-HT and Bregs between peripheral blood of ulcerative colitis (UC) and healthy controls (HC). Besides, 5-HT-treated B cells were adoptively transferred into colitis mice to elucidate the role of 5-HT in regulating Bregs. The level of serum 5-HT and IL-10 in UC patients was lower and both were negatively correlated with disease activity. 5-HT7 receptor (5-HT7R) was higher expressed on Bregs in UC. 5-HT promoted IL-10 production in Bregs through the activation of STAT3. And adoptive transfer of 5-HT-treated B cells alleviated intestinal inflammation via inducing IL-10-producing B cells in mice. Our results suggest that 5-HT/5-HT7R signaling pathway facilitate functional Bregs in constraining inflammation in UC, which may be a new potential prospect in the treatment of UC.

Left ventricular strain and myocardial work in short-term peritoneal dialysis patients

BACKGROUND

Initiation of dialysis encompasses new cardiovascular challenges on patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study used two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) to investigate the change of left ventricular (LV) myocardial function undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) within 1-3 months.

METHODS

A total of 56 patients with ESRD and 27 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective study. Mean duration of PD was 44.41 ± 16.44 days. We evaluated LV myocardial function of patients with ESRD in baseline and within 1-3 months after PD by 2D-STE with global longitudinal strains (GLS) and myocardial work (MW). Based on the level of serum phosphate before PD, patients were divided into two groups: the group with normal serum phosphate or hyperphosphatemia.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy controls, patients with ESRD had impaired GLS (p < .001) and increased global work index (GWI) (p = .034), global constructive work (GCW) (p < .001), global wasted work (GWW) (p < .001), and lower global work efficiency (GWE) (p = .002). After PD therapy, GWI (p = .001), GCW (p < .001), and GWW (p = .023) decreased and closed to healthy subjects (p > .05) and no significant improvement was observed in GLS (p = .387). GLS of basal segments worsened in the hyperphosphatemia group (p = .005) and GWW reduced remarkably in the group with normal serum phosphate after PD treatment (p = .008). The change of left ventricular internal diameter in diastole (LVIDd) was the only parameter influenced GWI in post-dialysis patients (β = 0.324, p = .013).

CONCLUSIONS

Short-term PD treatment improved LV MW in ESRD patients. They benefited more when receiving treatment before the increase of serum phosphorus.

[Aloin inhibits gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration by suppressing the STAT3/HMGB1 signaling pathway]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of aloin on the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells.

METHODS

Human gastric cancer MGC-803 cells treated with 100, 200 and 300 μg/mL aloin were examined for changes in cell viability, proliferation and migration abilities using CCK-8, EdU and Transwell assays. HMGB1 mRNA level in the cells was detected with RT-qPCR, and the protein expressions of HMGB1, cyclin B1, cyclin E1, E-cadherin, MMP-2, MMP-9 and p-STAT3 were determined using Western blotting. JASPAR database was used to predict the binding of STAT3 to HMGB1 promoter. In a BALB/c-Nu mouse model bearing subcutaneous MGC-803 cell xenograft, the effect of intraperitoneal injection of aloin (50 mg/kg) on tumor growth was observed. The protein expressions of HMGB1, cyclin B1, cyclin E1, E-cadherin, MMP-2, MMP-9 and p-STAT3 in the tumor tissue was examined using Western blotting, and tumor metastasis in the liver and lung tissues was detected using HE staining.

RESULTS

Treatment with aloin concentration-dependently inhibited the viability of MGC-803 cells (P < 0.05), significantly reduced the number of EdU-positive cells (P < 0.01), and attenuated the migration ability of the cells (P < 0.01). Aloin treatment dose-dependently down-regulated HMGB1 mRNA expression (P < 0.01), lowered the protein expressions of HMGB1, cyclin B1, cyclin E1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and p-STAT3, and up-regulated E-cadherin expression in MGC-803 cells. Prediction based on JASPAR database suggested that STAT3 could bind to the promoter region of HMGB1. In the tumor-bearing mice, aloin treatment significantly reduced the tumor size and weight (P < 0.01), lowered the protein expressions of cyclin B1, cyclin E1, MMP-2, MMP-9, HMGB1 and p-STAT3 and increased the expression of E-cadherin in the tumor tissue (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Aloin attenuates the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting the STAT3/HMGB1 signaling pathway.

Non-invasive left ventricular myocardial work identifies subclinical myocardial involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE

Global myocardial work (MW) is a novel indicator that accounts for deformation and afterload, which may provide additional value for assessment of myocardial function. Non-invasive echocardiographic estimated left ventricular (LV) MW incorporates longitudinal strain curves and blood pressure data. This study sought to assess MW in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with normal LV ejection fraction (LVEF) by two-dimensional speckle-tracking imaging (2D-STI) to reflect subclinical myocardial damage.

METHODS

98 SLE patients and 98 gender and age-matched healthy subjects were included. The patients with SLE were divided into mild activity (SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) ≤ 4; n = 45), moderate activity (5 ≤ SLEDAI≤9; n = 23), and high activity (SLEDAI≥10; n = 30) subgroups. Standard transthoracic echocardiography was applied to evaluate the systolic myocardial function of the global LV. The parameters of non-invasive MW including global wasted work (GWW) and global work efficiency (GWE) were calculated from echocardiographic LV pressure-strain loops (PSL) and blood pressure at rest.

RESULTS

The SLE group had a significantly higher GWW (75.7 ± 39.1 mmHg% vs 37.9 ± 18.0 mmHg%, P < 0.001) and decreased GWE ratio (95.5 ± 2.0% vs 97.4 ± 1.0%, P < 0.001) compared with the controls. Among the subgroups with elevating level of disease activity, SLE patients with preserved LVEF had a significantly higher GWW (61.6 ± 29.9 mmHg% to 96.2 ± 42.2 mmHg%, P for trend = 0.001) and markedly decreased GWE (96.4 ± 1.5% to 94.4 ± 2.0%, P for trend = 0.001). In two separate multiple linear regression analyses, SLEDAI were independently associated with GWW (β = 0.271, P = 0.005) and GWE (β = -0.354, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

GWW and GWE are promising novel tools for the early detection of subclinical LV dysfunction. GWW and GWE could distinguish distinct patterns in different grades of SLEDAI.

Hybrid spatial-spectral generative adversarial network for hyperspectral image classification

In recent years, generative adversarial networks (GNAs), consisting of two competing 2D convolutional neural networks (CNNs) that are used as a generator and a discriminator, have shown their promising capabilities in hyperspectral image (HSI) classification tasks. Essentially, the performance of HSI classification lies in the feature extraction ability of both spectral and spatial information. The 3D CNN has excellent advantages in simultaneously mining the above two types of features but has rarely been used due to its high computational complexity. This paper proposes a hybrid spatial-spectral generative adversarial network (HSSGAN) for effective HSI classification. The hybrid CNN structure is developed for the construction of the generator and the discriminator. For the discriminator, the 3D CNN is utilized to extract the multi-band spatial-spectral feature, and then we use the 2D CNN to further represent the spatial information. To reduce the accuracy loss caused by information redundancy, a channel and spatial attention mechanism (CSAM) is specially designed. To be specific, a channel attention mechanism is exploited to enhance the discriminative spectral features. Furthermore, the spatial self-attention mechanism is developed to learn the long-term spatial similarity, which can effectively suppress invalid spatial features. Both quantitative and qualitative experiments implemented on four widely used hyperspectral datasets show that the proposed HSSGAN has a satisfactory classification effect compared to conventional methods, especially with few training samples.

Regulation of DNA-PK activity promotes the progression of TNBC via enhancing the immunosuppressive function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells

BACKGROUND

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is engaged in DNA damage repair and is significantly expressed in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Inhibiting DNA-PK to reduce DNA damage repair provides a possibility of tumor treatment. NU7441, a DNA-PK inhibitor, can regulate the function and differentiation of CD4⁺ T cells and effectively enhance immunogenicity of monocyte-derived dendritic cells. However, the effect of NU7441 on the tumor progression activity of immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in TNBC remains unclear.

RESULTS

In this study, we found that NU7441 alone significantly increased tumor growth in 4 T1 (a mouse TNBC cell line) tumor-bearing mice. Bioinformatics analysis showed that DNA-PK and functional markers of MDSCs (iNOS, Arg1, and IDO) tended to coexist in breast cancer patients. The mutations of these genes were significantly correlated with lower survival in breast cancer patients. Moreover, NU7441 significantly decreased the percentage of MDSCs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), spleen and tumor, but enhanced the immunosuppressive function of splenic MDSCs. Furthermore, NU7441 increased MDSCs' DNA-PK and pDNA-PK protein levels in PBMCs and in the spleen and increased DNA-PK mRNA expression and expression of MDSCs functional markers in splenic MDSCs from tumor-bearing mice. NU7441 combined with gemcitabine reduced tumor volume, which may be because gemcitabine eliminated the remaining MDSCs with enhanced immunosuppressive ability.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight that the regulation of DNA-PK activity by NU7441 promotes TNBC progression via enhancing the immunosuppressive function of MDSCs. Moreover, NU7441 combined with gemcitabine offers an efficient therapeutic approach for TNBC and merits deeper investigation.

[Epigenetic regulation mechanism: roles in enamel formation and developmental defects of enamel]

Enamel formation is a series of complex physiological processes, which are regulated by critical genes spatially and temporally. These processes involve multiple developmental stages covering ages and are prone to suffer signal interference or gene mutations, ultimately leading to developmental defects of enamel (DDE). Epigenetic modifications have important regulatory roles in gene expression during enarnel development. New technologies including high-throughput sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), and DNA methylation chip are emerging in recent years, making it possible to establish genome-wide epigenetic modification profiles during developmental processes. The regulatory role of epigenetic modification with spatio-temporal pattern, such as DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA, has significantly expanded our understanding of the regulatory network of enamel formation, providing a new theoretical basis of clinical management and intervention strategy for DDE. The present review briefly describes the enamel formation process of human beings' teeth as well as rodent incisors and summarizes the dynamic characteristics of epigenetic modification during enamel formation. The functions of epigenetic modification in enamel formation and DDE are also emphatically discussed.

Active non-uniform illumination-based underwater polarization imaging method for objects with complex polarization properties

Active polarization imaging is one of the most effective underwater optical imaging methods that can eliminate the degradation of image contrast and clarity caused by macro-molecule scattering. However, the non-uniformity of active illumination and the diversity of object polarization properties may decrease the quality of underwater imaging. This paper proposes a non-uniform illumination-based active polarization imaging method for underwater objects with complex optical properties. Firstly, illumination homogenization in the frequency domain is proposed to extract and homogenize the natural incident light from the total receiving light. Then, the weight values of the polarized and non-polarized images are computed according to each pixel's degree of linear polarization (DoLP) in the original underwater image. By this means, the two images can be fused to overcome the problem of reflected light loss generated by the complex polarization properties of underwater objects. Finally, the fusion image is normalized as the final result of the proposed underwater polarization imaging method. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results show that the presented method can effectively eliminate the uneven brightness of the whole image and obtain the underwater fusion image with significantly improved contrast and clarity. In addition, the ablation experiment of different operation combinations shows that each component of the proposed method has noticeable enhancement effects on underwater polarization imaging. Our codes are available in Code 1.

Unsupervised end-to-end infrared and visible image fusion network using learnable fusion strategy

Infrared and visible image fusion aims to reconstruct fused images with comprehensive visual information by merging the complementary features of source images captured by different imaging sensors. This technology has been widely used in civil and military fields, such as urban security monitoring, remote sensing measurement, and battlefield reconnaissance. However, the existing methods still suffer from the preset fusion strategies that cannot be adjustable to different fusion demands and the loss of information during the feature propagation process, thereby leading to the poor generalization ability and limited fusion performance. Therefore, we propose an unsupervised end-to-end network with learnable fusion strategy for infrared and visible image fusion in this paper. The presented network mainly consists of three parts, including the feature extraction module, the fusion strategy module, and the image reconstruction module. First, in order to preserve more information during the process of feature propagation, dense connections and residual connections are applied to the feature extraction module and the image reconstruction module, respectively. Second, a new convolutional neural network is designed to adaptively learn the fusion strategy, which is able to enhance the generalization ability of our algorithm. Third, due to the lack of ground truth in fusion tasks, a loss function that consists of saliency loss and detail loss is exploited to guide the training direction and balance the retention of different types of information. Finally, the experimental results verify that the proposed algorithm delivers competitive performance when compared with several state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of both subjective and objective evaluations. Our codes are available at https://github.com/MinjieWan/Unsupervised-end-to-end-infrared-and-visible-image-fusion-network-using-learnable-fusion-strategy.

An improved U-net based retinal vessel image segmentation method

Diabetic retinopathy is not just the most common complication of diabetes but also the leading cause of adult blindness. Currently, doctors determine the cause of diabetic retinopathy primarily by diagnosing fundus images. Large-scale manual screening is difficult to achieve for retinal health screen. In this paper, we proposed an improved U-net network for segmenting retinal vessels. Firstly, due to the lack of retinal data, pre-processing of the raw data is required. The data processed by grayscale transformation, normalization, CLAHE, gamma transformation. Data augmentation can prevent overfitting in the training process. Secondly, the basic network structure model U-net is built, and the Bi-FPN network is fused based on U-net. Datasets from a public challenge are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, which is able to detect vessel SP of 0.8604, SE of 0.9767, ACC of 0.9651, and AUC of 0.9787.

Postsystolic shortening and early systolic lengthening for early detection of myocardial involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND

Cardiac involvement predicts a poor prognosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) are used to identify subclinical myocardial involvement in various diseases. This study objected to evaluate postsystolic shortening (PSS) and early systolic lengthening (ESL) by 2D-STE for early detection of myocardial involvement in patients with SLE.

METHODS

A total of 121 patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in SLE and 30 healthy controls underwent standard 2D-STE in our study. According to SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), we divided SLE patients into two groups: the group of inactive disease (SLEDAI ≤ 4) and active disease (SLEDAI ≥ 5). The maximum of postsystolic strain index (PSI_max ) and early systolic strain index (ESI_max ) were acquired from 17 segments of left ventricular (LV). We also compared the PSI_max and ESI_max of basal, medial, and apical segments between SLE patients and controls.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy controls and the group of SLEDAI ≤ 4, the group of SLEDAI ≥ 5 had higher PSI_max and ESI_max value of global LV and basal segments. The absolute value of global longitudinal strain (GLS) had no difference between the group of active disease and inactive disease. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that PSS was independently associated with SLEDAI and diabetes mellitus.

CONCLUSIONS

Detection of PSS and ESL enable to identify LV systolic impairment in SLE patients at an early stage.

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Patients With Acute Pancreatitis With Increased Inhibitory Function

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is pancreatic or systemic inflammation without or with motion organ dysfunction. Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is the main cause of death for patients with AP. A pro-/anti-inflammatory imbalance is considered the key regulation of disease severity. However, the real mechanism of SAP remains unclear. This study aimed to identify the frequency and specific roll of myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) in AP. We evaluated MDSC frequency and disease severity by analyzing MDSCs in the peripheral blood of healthy controls (HCs) and patients with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and SAP by flow cytometry. We also compared the frequency and inhibitory ability of MDSCs from HCs and SAP, and finally detected the reason for the difference in inhibitory ability. AP was marked by expansion of MDSCs as well as its subsets, granulocytic MDSCs (G-MDSCs) and monocytic MDSCs (M-MDSCs). The proportion of MDSC in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with AP was increased and positively correlated with AP severity. The frequency of MDSC was decreased after treatment compared with pre-treatment. CD3+ T cells were remarkably inhibited by MDSC derived from the patients with SAP. In the expression of arginase-1 (Arg-1) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), the MDSCs from patients with SAP increased. These findings demonstrated that MDSCs expanded in the peripheral blood in patients with AP, especially in those with SAP. Moreover, the inhibitory ability of MDSCs was increased in the patients with SAP compared with that in the HCs. The enhanced suppressive function was possibly caused by an overexpression of Arg-1 and ROS.

The TOX subfamily: all-round players in the immune system

The thymocyte selection-related HMG box protein (TOX) subfamily comprises evolutionarily conserved DNA-binding proteins, and is expressed in certain immune cell subsets and plays key roles in the development of CD4+ T cells, innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, and in CD8+ T-cell exhaustion. Although its roles in CD4+ T and natural killer (NK) cells have been extensively studied, recent findings have demonstrated previously unknown roles for TOX in the development of ILCs, Tfh cells, as well as CD8+ T-cell exhaustion; however, the molecular mechanism underlying TOX regulation of these immune cells remains to be elucidated. In this review, we discuss recent studies on the influence of TOX on the development of various immune cells and CD8+ T-cell exhaustion and the roles of specific TOX family members in the immune system. Moreover, this review suggests candidate regulatory targets for cell therapy and immunotherapies.

Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Chronic Carotid Artery Occlusion on High-Resolution MR Vessel Wall Imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Chronic carotid artery occlusion remains a poorly understood risk factor for subsequent stroke, and potential revascularization is dependent on understanding the anatomy and nature of the occlusion. Luminal imaging cannot assess the nature of an occlusion, so the internal structure of the occlusion must be inferred. The present study examines the signal characteristics of symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid occlusion that may point to management differentiation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We prospectively recruited patients who were diagnosed with chronic carotid artery occlusion defined as longer than 4 weeks and confirmed by DSA. All patients underwent high-resolution MR vessel wall imaging examinations after enrollment. Baseline characteristics, vessel wall imaging features, and DSA features were collected and evaluated. The vessel wall imaging features included segment involvement, signal intensity, contrast enhancement, and vessel wall thickness. The symptomatic and asymptomatic chronic carotid artery occlusions were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 44 patients with 48 lesions were included in this study from February 2020 to December 2020. Of the 48 lesions, 35 (72.9%) were symptomatic and 13 (27.1%) were asymptomatic. There was no difference in baseline and DSA features. On vessel wall imaging, C1 and C2 were the most commonly involved segments (91.7% and 68.8%, respectively). Compared with symptomatic lesions, asymptomatic lesions were more often isointense (69.2%) in the distal segment (P = .03). Both groups had diffuse wall thickening (80% and 100%).

CONCLUSIONS

Signal characteristics between those with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery occlusions differ in a statistically significant fashion, indicating a different structure of the occlusion.

Long non-coding RNA profiles in plasma exosomes of patients with gastric high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia

Long non-coding (lnc) RNAs in circulating exosomes are a new class of promising cancer biomarkers; however, their expression in exosomes derived from gastric high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (GHGIN) has not been reported. In the present study, differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs were analyzed in the peripheral blood collected from 5 patients with GHGIN and 5 healthy donors using high-throughput sequencing. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis was performed on 6 randomly selected DE lncRNAs to validate the reliability of the sequencing results. The potential roles of the DE lncRNAs in GHGIN were investigated using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. A total of 25,145 lncRNAs were identified in all the samples and 83 DE lncRNAs were further screened, including 76 upregulated and 7 downregulated DE lncRNAs. GO and KEGG analyses predicted that the DE lncRNAs played notable roles in ‘protein/macromolecule glycosylation’, ‘regulation of protein ubiquitination’, ‘renin-angiotensin system’ and ‘MAPK signaling pathways’. A lncRNA-micro (mi)RNA-mRNA interaction network was constructed and used to perform association analyses. It was found that 83 lncRNAs were abnormally expressed in GHGIN, with some potential functions associated with gastric cancer. Furthermore, the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction network indicated that 7 DE lncRNAs may play a notable role in the occurrence and development of GHGIN. The results of the present study showed the expression profiles of lncRNAs in human GHGIN, elucidated some of the molecular changes associated with GHGIN and improved the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying GHGIN and gastric cancer.

Bandwidth extension method based on the field-shunting effect in a high-gain photoelectric receiver circuit

In the high-gain photoelectric receiver circuit, the method based on the field-shunting effect is applied to improve the bandwidth of the transimpedance amplifier. This method is implemented by adding a ground trace under the gain resistor, which reduces the parasitic capacitance of the gain resistor and thus increases the bandwidth. To obtain the specific impact of this method on bandwidth, a series of simulations are carried out, including electromagnetic simulations of a three-dimensional structure of circuit gain part and simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) simulations of the high-gain voltage-current feedback transimpedance amplifier. Finally, the optimal simulation result shows that selecting a 1206 size chip fixed resistor and setting the ground trace width to 1.1 mm can greatly reduce the influence of resistor parasitic effects on the circuit, thereby achieving the best performance of bandwidth extension. Further, the comparative experiment also verifies the effectiveness of the method for bandwidth enhancement.

MDA5 attenuate autophagy in chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with IBDV

1. The role of melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5) in infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV)-induced autophagy was studied in chicken embryos.2. Chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) were used as the research model and small interfering RNA (siRNA), western blot, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and transmission electron microscopy were used to detect autophagy, IBDV replication, CEF damage, and activation of both MDA5 and its signalling pathway.3. The results showed that CEF infected with IBDV activated the intracellular MDA5 signalling pathway and caused autophagy via inactivation of the AKT/mTOR pathway. While autophagy promotes IBDV proliferation, MDA5 weakens IBDV-induced CEF autophagy thus inhibiting IBDV replication and protecting CEF cells.4. The results indicated that chMDA5 can be activated by IBDV and attenuate CEF autophagy caused by IBDV infection, thereby inhibiting IBDV replication. This study provided a foundation for further exploring the relationship between viruses, autophagy and the pathogenic mechanism of the MDA5 pathway involved in IBDV.

Role of Exosomal Non-coding RNAs in Gastric Cancer: Biological Functions and Potential Clinical Applications

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common fatal cancers worldwide. The communication between GC and other cells in the GC microenvironment directly affects GC progression. Recently, exosomes have been revealed as new players in intercellular communication. They play an important role in human health and diseases, including cancer, owing to their ability to carry various bioactive molecules, including non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). NcRNAs, including micro RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular RNAs, play a significant role in various pathophysiological processes, especially cancer. Increasing evidence has shown that exosomal ncRNAs are involved in the regulation of tumor proliferation, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, immune regulation, and treatment resistance in GC. In addition, exosomal ncRNAs have promising potential as diagnostic and prognostic markers for GC. Considering the biocompatibility of exosomes, they can also be used as biological carriers for targeted therapy. This review summarizes the current research progress on exosomal ncRNAs in gastric cancer, focusing on their biological role in GC and their potential as new biomarkers for GC and therapeutics. Our review provides insight into the mechanisms involved in GC progression, which may provide a new point cut for the discovery of new diagnostic markers and therapeutic strategies.

Novel Immune Subsets and Related Cytokines: Emerging Players in the Progression of Liver Fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is a pathological process caused by persistent chronic injury of the liver. Kupffer cells, natural killer (NK) cells, NKT cells, and dendritic cells (DCs), which are in close contact with T and B cells, serve to bridge innate and adaptive immunity in the liver. Meanwhile, an imbalanced inflammatory response constitutes a challenge in liver disease. The dichotomous roles of novel immune cells, including T helper 17 (Th17), regulatory T cells (Tregs), mucosa-associated invariant T cells (MAIT), and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in liver fibrosis have gradually been revealed. These cells not only induce damage during liver fibrosis but also promote tissue repair. Hence, immune cells have unique, and often opposing, roles during the various stages of fibrosis. Due to this heterogeneity, the treatment, or reversal of fibrosis through the target of immune cells have attracted much attention. Moreover, activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) constitutes the core of fibrosis. This activation is regulated by various immune mediators, including Th17, Th22, and Th9, MAIT, ILCs, and γδ T cells, as well as their related cytokines. Thus, liver fibrosis results from the complex interaction of these immune mediators, thereby complicating the ability to elucidate the mechanisms of action elicited by each cell type. Future developments in biotechnology will certainly aid in this feat to inform the design of novel therapeutic targets. Therefore, the aim of this review was to summarize the role of specific immune cells in liver fibrosis, as well as biomarkers and treatment methods related to these cells.

Bisphenol A Exposure Disrupts Enamel Formation via EZH2-Mediated H3K27me3

Enamel formation is a serial and complex biological process, during which related genes are expressed progressively in a spatiotemporal manner. This process is vulnerable to environmental cues, resulting in developmental defects of enamel (DDE). However, how environmental factors are biologically integrated during enamel formation is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the mechanism of DDE elicited by a model endocrine-disrupting chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), in mouse incisors. We show that BPA exposure leads to DDE in mouse incisors, as well as excessive proliferation in dental epithelial stem/progenitor cells. Western blotting, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, and immunofluorescence staining revealed that this effect was accompanied by upregulation of a repressive mark, H3K27me3, in the labial cervical loop of mouse incisors. Perturbation of H3K27me3 methyltransferase EZH2 repressed the level of H3K27me3 and partially attenuated the excessive proliferation in dental epithelial stem/progenitor cells and DDE induced by BPA exposure. Overall, our results demonstrate the essential role of repressive histone modification H3K27me3 in DDE elicited by exposure to an endocrine-disrupting chemical.

Accuracy of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (GPR), red cell distribution width (RDW), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and the fibrosis-4 index (FIB4) compared with liver biopsy in patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI)

ABSTRACT

This study objected to evaluate the accuracy of the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (GPR), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), red cell distribution width (RDW), and fibrosis-4 index (FIB4) index, compared with liver biopsy (LB), in predicting the severity of inflammation in drug-induced liver injury (DILI) patients.We evaluated patients with DILI who were followed at the First Hospital of Jilin University and underwent LB. Accuracy of each method was analyzed using ROC analysis. Classifications of liver inflammation included G0-4.One hundred fifty six DILI patients were included with LB and complete medical records. 62.8% (98), 39.1% (61), and 16.7% (26) were classified as ≥G2, ≥G3, or G4, respectively. The AUROCs, by degree of inflammation, were: ≥G2: GPR: 0.654, RDW: 0.635, APRI: 0.728, and FIB4: 0.739; ≥G3: GPR: 0.623, RDW: 0.703, APRI: 0.777, and FIB4: 0.781; and G4: GPR: 0.556, RDW: 0.647, APRI: 0.729, and FIB4: 0.714. To predict ≥G2 inflammation, there were no differences between the AUROCs for GPR, RDW, APRI, and FIB4. To predict ≥G3 inflammation, the AUROCs for FIB4 and APRI were higher than that for GPR (0.781 vs 0.623, P < .01; 0.777 vs 0.623, P < .05). As for G4 inflammation, the AUROCs for FIB4 and APRI were also higher than GPR (0.714 vs 0.556, P < .05, 0.729 vs 0.556, P < .05).When the level of inflammation was higher than G2 in patients with DILI, it could be predicted using APRI and FIB4 as non-invasive markers for this condition.

Prediction of Targets of Curculigoside A in Osteoporosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification

Purpose

Network pharmacology is considered to be the next-generation drug development model that uses bioinformatics to predict and identify multiple drug targets and interactions in diseases. Here, network pharmacology was used to investigate the mechanism by which Curculigoside A (CA) acts in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoporosis.

Methods

First, TCMSP and SwissADME were applied to predict the druggability of CA. Then, potential targets were identified from overlapping data in SwissTarget and TargetNet, and targets were analyzed using Genemania and DAVID6.8 to obtain information about the GO and KEGG pathways. Ultimately, the drug-target-pathway network was identified after using Cytoscape 3.0 for visualization. Besides, qPCR was used to validate the predicted five major genes targets (EGFR, MAP2K1, MMP2, FGFR1, and MCL1).

Results

The results of TCMSP and SwissADME demonstrated that CA exhibits good druggability; 26 potential protein targets were classified by SwissTarget and TargetNet. The results of Genemania and DAVID6.8 indicated that CA probably caused anti-osteoporosis and anti-RA effects by regulating some biological pathways, especially nitrogen metabolism, estrogen signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Besides, the result of Cytoscape 3.0 showed that the 26 targets participate in osteoporosis and RA-related pathways, metabolism, and other physiological processes. In vitro induced inflammation cell model experiments, the qPCR results showed that CA pretreatment significantly decreased the expression of EGFR, MAP2K1, MMP2, FGFR1, and MCL1 genes.

Conclusion

These results suggested that network pharmacology may provide possible mechanism of how CA exerts therapeutic effects in osteoporosis and RA.

Pulsed light time-of-flight measurement based on a differential hysteresis timing discrimination method

In the pulsed light time-of-flight (ToF) measurement, the timing point generated in the receiver channel is very important to the measurement accuracy. Therefore, a differential hysteresis timing discrimination method is proposed to generate timing points of the receiver channel. This method is based on utilizing the unbalanced characteristics of the fully differential operational amplifier circuit as well as introducing extra hysteresis levels to achieve the stable generation of timing points. With this method, fewer circuit components are consumed and the dynamic range of the receiver channel is not limited by its linear range. The experiments demonstrate that a receiver channel applying the proposed discrimination reaches better single shot accuracy compared to that using leading-edge timing discrimination. This method is also suitable for the timing walk error compensation by means of pulse width. Finally, these results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in pulsed light ToF measurement.

Serotonin: A Potent Immune Cell Modulator in Autoimmune Diseases

Serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a signaling mediator that regulates emotion, behavior, and cognition. Previous studies have focused more on the roles of 5-HT in the central nervous system (CNS). However, 5-HT also shares a strong relationship with the pathological cases of tumor, inflammation, and pathogen infection. 5-HT participates in tumor cell migration, metastatic dissemination, and angiogenesis. In addition, 5-HT affects immune regulation via different 5-HT receptors (5-HTRs) expressed immune cells, including both innate and adaptive immune system. Recently, drugs targeting at 5-HT signaling were tested to be beneficial in mouse models and clinical trials of multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Thus, it is reasonable to assume that 5-HT participates in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, the underlying mechanism by 5-HT modulates the development of autoimmune diseases has not been fully understood. Based on our previous studies and pertinent literature, we provide circumstantial evidence for an essential role of 5-HT, especially the regulation of 5-HT on immune cells in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, which may provide a new point cut for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonellaisolates from goose farms in Northeast China

BACKGROUND

Salmonella is one of the most important enteric pathogenic bacteria that threatened poultry health.

AIMS

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolates in goose farms.

METHODS

A total of 244 cloacal swabs were collected from goose farms to detect Salmonella in Northeast China. Antimicrobial susceptibility, and resistance gene distribution of Salmonella isolates were investigated.

RESULTS

Twenty-one Salmonella isolates were identified. Overall prevalence of Salmonella in the present study was 8.6%. Among the Salmonella isolates, the highest resistance frequencies belonged to amoxicillin (AMX) (85.7%), tetracycline (TET) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) (81%), followed by chloramphenicol (CHL) (76.2%), florfenicol (FLO) (71.4%), kanamycin (KAN) (47.6%), and gentamycin (GEN) (38.1%). Meanwhile, only 4.8% of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (CIP) and cefotaxime (CTX). None of the isolates was resistant to cefoperazone (CFP) and colistin B (CLB). Twenty isolates (95%) were simultaneously resistant to at least two antimicrobials. Ten resistance genes were detected among which the bla _TEM-1, cmlA, aac(6')-Ib-cr, sul1, sul2, sul3, and mcr-1.1 were the most prevalent, and presented in all 21 isolates followed by tetB (20/21), qnrB (19/21), and floR (15/21).

CONCLUSION

Results indicated that Salmonella isolates from goose farms in Northeast China exhibited multi-drug resistance (MDR), harboring multiple antimicrobial resistance genes. Our results will be useful to design prevention and therapeutic strategies against Salmonella infection in goose farms.

Calculating the model of a nondiagonal rotation invariant angle for a complicated scatterer

In the research on scattering polarimetry, a scattering mechanism is described by an internal degree of freedom called rotation invariant parameter α. Traditionally, α is calculated by the diagonal scattering matrix of the single scatterer. However, when the research object is a scatterer with complicated surface and microstructure, the traditional calculation of parameter α is biased, since the corresponding scattering matrix is a nondiagonal matrix. To address this problem, this paper proposes a scientific model based on Cameron decomposition to raise the accuracy of parameter α in the complicated scatterer. The rotation invariant parameter with higher accuracy is renamed as a nondiagonal rotation invariant angle. In the verified experiments, the experimental values of each nondiagonal rotation invariant angle are compared with the referenced values calculated by optical constant and incident angle. The results demonstrate that fewer residuals are achieved than by the traditional method. Based on the presented calculating model, the scattering mechanism difference interval between two different materials is proposed as a judging area to distinguish the differences between scattering mechanisms in application.

A randomized controlled trial protocol assessing the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of methotrexate vs. ciclosporin in the treatment of severe atopic eczema in children: the TREatment of severe Atopic eczema Trial (TREAT)

BACKGROUND

Oral systemic immunomodulatory medication is regularly used off-licence in children with severe atopic eczema. However, there is no firm evidence regarding the effectiveness, safety, cost-effectiveness and impact on quality of life from an adequately powered randomized controlled trial (RCT) using systemic medication in children.

OBJECTIVES

To assess whether there is a difference in the speed of onset, effectiveness, side-effect profile and reduction in flares post-treatment between ciclosporin (CyA) and methotrexate (MTX), and also the cost-effectiveness of the drugs. Treatment impact on quality of life will also be examined in addition to whether FLG genotype influences treatment response. In addition, the trial studies the immune-metabolic effects of CyA and MTX.

METHODS

Multicentre, parallel group, assessor-blind, pragmatic RCT of 36 weeks' duration with a 24-week follow-up period. In total, 102 children aged 2-16 years with moderate-to-severe atopic eczema, unresponsive to topical treatment will be randomized (1 : 1) to receive MTX (0·4 mg kg^-1 per week) or CyA (4 mg kg^-1 per day).

RESULTS

The trial has two primary outcomes: change from baseline to 12 weeks in Objective Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (o-SCORAD) and time to first significant flare following treatment cessation.

CONCLUSIONS

This trial addresses important therapeutic questions, highlighted in systematic reviews and treatment guidelines for atopic eczema. The trial design is pragmatic to reflect current clinical practice.

Interpretation of liver stiffness measurement-based approach for the monitoring of hepatitis B patients with antiviral therapy: A 2-year prospective study

Liver biopsy is not routinely performed in treated chronic hepatitis B. Liver stiffness measurement has been validated for noninvasive liver fibrosis assessment in pretreatment chronic hepatitis B but has not been assessed for fibrosis monitoring during antiviral therapy. Liver stiffness was systemically monitored by Fibroscan^® every 6 months in a cohort of patients with hepatitis B receiving antiviral therapy and compared with liver biopsies at baseline and week 104. A total of 534 hepatitis B e antigen-positive treatment-naive patients receiving telbivudine-based therapy with qualified liver stiffness measurement at baseline and week 104 were analyzed, 164 of which had adequate paired liver biopsies. Liver stiffness decreased rapidly (-2.2 kPa/24 weeks) in parallel with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) from 8.6 (2.6-49.5) kPa at baseline to 6.1 (2.2-37.4) kPa at week 24. Interestingly, liver stiffness decreased slowly (-0.3 kPa/24 weeks) but continually from week 24 to week 104 (6.1 vs 5.3 kPa, P < .001) while ALT levels remained stable within the normal range. More importantly, liver stiffness declined significantly irrespective of baseline ALT levels and liver necroinflammation grades. From baseline to week 104, the proportion of patients with no or mild fibrosis (Ishak, 0-2) increased from 74.4% (122/164) to 93.9% (154/164). Multivariate analysis revealed that percentage decline of 52-week liver stiffness from baseline was independently associated with 104-week liver fibrosis regression (odds ratio, 3.742; P = .016). Early decline of 52-week liver stiffness from baseline may reflect the remission of both liver inflammation and fibrosis and was predictive of 104-week fibrosis regression in treated patients with chronic hepatitis B.

The incidence of military training-related injuries in Chinese new recruits: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Training-related injuries are the main reason for disability, long-term rehabilitation, functional impairment and premature discharge from military service. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of injuries in the training of Chinese new recruits via a systematic review of the literature.

METHOD

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the combined incidence of military training-related injuries in Chinese new recruits. The electronic databases of full-text journals were searched, and the Loney criteria were used to assess the quality of eligible articles. Summary estimates were obtained using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses and publication bias tests were performed.

RESULTS

Fifty-five eligible articles representing 109 611 Chinese new recruits met the inclusion criteria, of which 21 253 recruits were clinically diagnosed with military training-related injuries. The combined incidence of military training-related injuries in Chinese new recruits was found to be 21.04%.

CONCLUSIONS

An increased incidence of training injuries was found in more recent years, underscoring the need for further research on the risk factors associated with their causation.

Bivalent Histone Codes on WNT5A during Odontogenic Differentiation

Lineage-committed differentiation is an essential biological program during odontogenesis, which is tightly regulated by lineage-specific genes. Some of these genes are modified by colocalization of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 marks at promoter regions in progenitors. These modifications, named "bivalent domains," maintain genes in a poised state and then resolve for later activation or repression during differentiation. Wnt5a has been reported to promote odontogenic differentiation in dental mesenchyme. However, relatively little is known about the epigenetic modulations on Wnt5a activation during tooth development. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal patterns of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 marks in developing mouse molars. Associated H3K4me3 methylases (mixed-lineage leukemia [MLL] complex) and H3K27me3 demethylases (JMJD3 and UTX) were dynamically expressed between early and late bell stage of human tooth germs and in cultured human dental papilla cells (hDPCs) during odontogenic induction. Poised WNT5A gene was marked by bivalent domains containing repressive marks (H3K27me3) and active marks (H3K4me3) on promoters. The bivalent domains tended to resolve during inducted differentiation, with removal of the H3K27me3 mark in a JMJD3-dependent manner. When JMJD3 was knocked down in cultured hDPCs, odontogenic differentiation was suppressed. The depletion of JMJD3 epigenetically repressed WNT5A activation by increased H3K27me3 marks. In addition, JMJD3 could physically interact with ASH2L, a component of the MLL complex, to form a coactivator complex, cooperatively modulating H3K4me3 marks on WNT5A promoters. Overall, our study reveals that transcription activities of WNT5A were epigenetically regulated by the negotiated balance between H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 marks and tightly mediated by JMJD3 and MLL coactivator complex, ultimately modulating odontogenic commitment during dental mesenchymal cell differentiation.

Energy transfer channels and turbulence cascade in Vlasov-Maxwell turbulence

Analysis of the Vlasov-Maxwell equations from the perspective of turbulence cascade clarifies the role of electromagnetic work, and reveals the importance of the pressure-strain relation in generating internal energy. Particle-in-cell simulation demonstrates the relative importance of the several energy exchange terms, indicating that the traceless pressure-strain interaction "Pi-D" is of particular importance for both electrons and protons. The Pi-D interaction and the second tensor invariants of the strain are highly localized in similar spatial regions, indicating that energy transfer occurs preferentially in coherent structures. The collisionless turbulence cascade may be fruitfully explored by study of these energy transfer channels, in addition to examining transfer across spatial scales.

Characterization of Extensive Microstructural Variations Associated with Punctate White Matter Lesions in Preterm Neonates

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Punctate white matter lesions are common in preterm neonates. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of the neonates are related to the degree of extension. This study aimed to characterize the extent of microstructural variations for different punctate white matter lesion grades.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Preterm neonates with punctate white matter lesions were divided into 3 grades (from mild to severe: grades I-III). DTI-derived fractional anisotropy, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity between patients with punctate white matter lesions and controls were compared with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics and tract-quantification methods.

RESULTS

Thirty-three preterm neonates with punctate white matter lesions and 33 matched controls were enrolled. There were 15, 9, and 9 patients, respectively, in grades I, II, and III. Punctate white matter lesions were mainly located in white matter adjacent to the lateral ventricles, especially regions lateral to the trigone, posterior horns, and centrum semiovale and/or corona radiata. Extensive microstructural changes were observed in neonates with grade III punctate white matter lesions, while no significant changes in DTI metrics were found for grades I and II. A pattern of increased axial diffusivity, increased radial diffusivity, and reduced/unchanged fractional anisotropy was found in regions adjacent to punctate white matter lesion sites seen on T1WI and T2WI. Unchanged axial diffusivity, increased radial diffusivity, and reduced/unchanged fractional anisotropy were observed in regions distant from punctate white matter lesion sites.

CONCLUSIONS

White matter microstructural variations were different across punctate white matter lesion grades. Extensive change patterns varied according to the distance to the lesion sites in neonates with severe punctate white matter lesions. These findings may help in determining the outcomes of punctate white matter lesions and selecting treatment strategies.

Robust infrared small target detection via non-negativity constraint-based sparse representation

Infrared (IR) small target detection is one of the vital techniques in many military applications, including IR remote sensing, early warning, and IR precise guidance. Over-complete dictionary based sparse representation is an effective image representation method that can capture geometrical features of IR small targets by the redundancy of the dictionary. In this paper, we concentrate on solving the problem of robust infrared small target detection under various scenes via sparse representation theory. First, a frequency saliency detection based preprocessing is developed to extract suspected regions that may possibly contain the target so that the subsequent computing load is reduced. Second, a target over-complete dictionary is constructed by a varietal two-dimensional Gaussian model with an extent feature constraint and a background term. Third, a sparse representation model with a non-negativity constraint is proposed for the suspected regions to calculate the corresponding coefficient vectors. Fourth, the detection problem is skillfully converted to an l₁-regularized optimization through an accelerated proximal gradient (APG) method. Finally, based on the distinct sparsity difference, an evaluation index called sparse rate (SR) is presented to extract the real target by an adaptive segmentation directly. Large numbers of experiments demonstrate both the effectiveness and robustness of this method.

Stokes-vector-based polarimetric imaging system for adaptive target/background contrast enhancement

A novel method to optimize the polarization state of a polarimetric imaging system is proposed to solve the problem of target/background contrast enhancement in an outdoor environment adaptively. First, the last three elements of the Stokes vector are selected to be the observed object's polarization features, the discriminant projection of which is regarded as the detecting function of our imaging system. Then, the polarization state of the system, which can be seen as a physical classifier, is calculated by training samples with a support vector machine method. Finally, images processed by the system with the designed optimal polarization state become discriminative output directly. By this means, the target/background contrast is enhanced greatly, which results in a more accurate and convenient target discrimination. Experimental results demonstrate that the effectiveness and discriminative ability of the optimal polarization state are credible and stable.

E-selectin expression induced by Porphyromonas gingivalis in human endothelial cells via nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors and Toll-like receptors

Porphyromonas gingivalis, an important periodontal pathogen, has been proved to actively invade cells, induce endothelial cell activation, and promote development of atherosclerosis. Innate immune surveillance, which includes the activity of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs) and Toll-like receptors (TLRs), are essential for the control of microbial infections; however, the roles of receptor families in P. gingivalis infections remain unclear. Here, we examined the roles of NLRs and TLRs in endothelial cell activation caused by P. gingivalis. Live P. gingivalis and whole cell sonicates were used to stimulate endothelial cells, and both showed upregulation of E-selectin as well as NOD1, NOD2, and TLR2. In addition, silencing of these genes in endothelial cells infected with P. gingivalis led to a reduction in E-selectin expression. Porphyromonas gingivalis also induced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity in endothelial cells, whereas small interfering RNA targeting NOD1 significantly reduced these signals. Moreover, inhibition of either NOD2 or TLR2 inhibited NF-κB significantly, but had only a weak inhibitory effect on P38 MAPK signaling. Direct inhibition of NF-κB and P38 MAPK significantly attenuated E-selectin expression induced by P. gingivalis in endothelial cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that NOD1, NOD2, and TLR2 play important, non-redundant roles in endothelial cell activation following P. gingivalis infection.

Anisotropy in solar wind plasma turbulence

A review of spectral anisotropy and variance anisotropy for solar wind fluctuations is given, with the discussion covering inertial range and dissipation range scales. For the inertial range, theory, simulations and observations are more or less in accord, in that fluctuation energy is found to be primarily in modes with quasi-perpendicular wavevectors (relative to a suitably defined mean magnetic field), and also that most of the fluctuation energy is in the vector components transverse to the mean field. Energy transfer in the parallel direction and the energy levels in the parallel components are both relatively weak. In the dissipation range, observations indicate that variance anisotropy tends to decrease towards isotropic levels as the electron gyroradius is approached; spectral anisotropy results are mixed. Evidence for and against wave interpretations and turbulence interpretations of these features will be discussed. We also present new simulation results concerning evolution of variance anisotropy for different classes of initial conditions, each with typical background solar wind parameters.

Intermittent Dissipation and Heating in 3D Kinetic Plasma Turbulence

High resolution, fully kinetic, three dimensional (3D) simulation of collisionless plasma turbulence shows the development of turbulence characterized by sheetlike current density structures spanning a range of scales. The nonlinear evolution is initialized with a long wavelength isotropic spectrum of fluctuations having polarizations transverse to an imposed mean magnetic field. We present evidence that these current sheet structures are sites for heating and dissipation, and that stronger currents signify higher dissipation rates. The analyses focus on quantities such as J·E, electron, and proton temperatures, and conditional averages of these quantities based on local electric current density. Evidently, kinetic scale plasma, like magnetohydrodynamics, becomes intermittent due to current sheet formation, leading to the expectation that heating and dissipation in astrophysical and space plasmas may be highly nonuniform. Comparison with previous results from 2D kinetic simulations, as well as high frequency solar wind observational data, are discussed.

Crosstalk between miR-34a and Notch Signaling Promotes Differentiation in Apical Papilla Stem Cells (SCAPs)

Stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAPs) are important for the formation and regeneration of root dentin. Here, we examined the expression of Notch signaling components in SCAPs and investigated crosstalk between microRNA miR-34aand Notch signaling during cell differentiation. We found that human SCAPs express NOTCH2, NOTCH3, JAG2, DLL3, and HES1, and we tested the relationship between Notch signaling and both cell differentiation and miR-34a expression. NOTCH activation in SCAPs inhibited cell differentiation and up-regulated the expression of miR-34a, whereas miR-34a inhibited Notch signaling in SCAPs by directly targeting the 3'UTR of NOTCH2 and HES1 mRNA and suppressing the expression of NOTCH2, N2ICD, and HES1. DSPP, RUNX2, OSX, and OCN expression was consequently up-regulated. Thus, Notch signaling in human SCAPs plays a vital role in maintenance of these cells. miR-34a interacts with Notch signaling and promotes both odontogenic and osteogenic differentiation of SCAPs.

Von Kármán energy decay and heating of protons and electrons in a kinetic turbulent plasma

Decay in time of undriven weakly collisional kinetic plasma turbulence in systems large compared to the ion kinetic scales is investigated using fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations initiated with transverse flow and magnetic disturbances, constant density, and a strong guide field. The observed energy decay is consistent with the von Kármán hypothesis of similarity decay, in a formulation adapted to magnetohydrodyamics. Kinetic dissipation occurs at small scales, but the overall rate is apparently controlled by large scale dynamics. At small turbulence amplitudes the electrons are preferentially heated. At larger amplitudes proton heating is the dominant effect. In the solar wind and corona the protons are typically hotter, suggesting that these natural systems are in the large amplitude turbulence regime.