RESUMEN

Kitaev chains in quantum dot-superconductor arrays are a promising platform for the realization of topological superconductivity. As recently demonstrated, even a two-site chain can host Majorana zero modes known as "poor man's Majorana". Harnessing the potential of these states for quantum information processing, however, requires increasing their robustness to external perturbations. Here, we form a two-site Kitaev chain using Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in proximitized quantum dots. By deterministically tuning the hybridization between the quantum dots and the superconductor, we observe poor man's Majorana states with a gap larger than 70 µeV. The sensitivity to charge fluctuations is also greatly reduced compared to Kitaev chains made with non-proximitized dots. The systematic control and improved energy scales of poor man's Majorana states realized with Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states will benefit the realization of longer Kitaev chains, parity qubits, and the demonstration of non-Abelian physics.

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Traditionally used phenylethylamine iodide (PEAI) and its derivatives, such as ortho-fluorine o-F-PEAI, in interfacial modification, are beneficial for perovskite solar cell (PSC) efficiency but vulnerable to heat stability above 85 °C due to ion migration. To address this issue, we propose a composite interface modification layer incorporating the discotic liquid crystal 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexa(pentoxy)triphenylene (HAT5) into o-F-PEAI. The triphenyl core in HAT5 promotes π-π stacking self-assembly and enhances its interaction with o-F-PEAI, forming an oriented columnar phase that improves hole extraction along the one-dimensional direction. HAT5 repairs structural defects in the interfacial layer and retains the layered structure to inhibit ion migration after annealing. Ultimately, our approach increases the efficiency of solar cells from 23.36% to 25.02%. The thermal stability of the devices retains 80.1% of their initial efficiency after aging at 85 °C for 1008 hours without encapsulation. Moreover, the optimized PSCs maintained their initial efficiency of 82.4% after aging under one sunlight exposure for 1008 hours. This study provides a novel strategy using composite materials for interface modification to enhance the thermal and light stability of semiconductor devices.

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Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a common invasive feature of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with poor clinical outcomes. Through microarray profiling and bioinformatic analyses, we identified the circ-0044539-miR-29a-3p-VEGFA axis as a potential key factor in the progression of HCC LNM. In HCC cells and nude mice, circ-0044539 downregulation or miR-29a-3p upregulation was associated with small tumor size, PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway inactivation, and downregulation of the key LNM factors (HIF-1α and CXCR4). Furthermore, circ-0044539 was also responsible for exosomal miR-29a-3p secretion. Exosomal miR-29a-3p was then observed to migrate to the LNs and downregulate High-mobility group box transcription factor 1 (Hbp1) in Polymorphonuclear Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs), inducing the formation of a microenvironment suitable for tumor colonization. Overall, circ-0044539 promotes HCC cell LNM abilities and induces an immune-suppressive environment in LNs through exosomes, highlighting its potential as a target for HCC LNM and HCC immunotherapy.

Asunto(s)

Carcinoma Hepatocelular , Exosomas , Neoplasias Hepáticas , Metástasis Linfática , Ratones Desnudos , MicroARNs , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/patología , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/genética , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/metabolismo , Neoplasias Hepáticas/genética , Neoplasias Hepáticas/patología , Neoplasias Hepáticas/metabolismo , Humanos , MicroARNs/metabolismo , MicroARNs/genética , Animales , Exosomas/metabolismo , Ratones , Línea Celular Tumoral , ARN Circular/genética , ARN Circular/metabolismo , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Masculino , Microambiente Tumoral , Transducción de Señal , Proteínas del Grupo de Alta Movilidad , Proteínas Represoras

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Objective. Auto-segmentation in mouse micro-CT enhances the efficiency and consistency of preclinical experiments but often struggles with low-native-contrast and morphologically complex organs, such as the spleen, resulting in poor segmentation performance. While CT contrast agents can improve organ conspicuity, their use complicates experimental protocols and reduces feasibility. We developed a 3D Cycle Generative Adversarial Network (CycleGAN) incorporating anatomy-constrained U-Net models to leverage contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) insights to improve unenhanced native CT (NACT) segmentation.Approach.We employed a standard CycleGAN with an anatomical loss function to synthesize virtual CECT images from unpaired NACT scans at two different resolutions. Prior to training, two U-Nets were trained to automatically segment six major organs in NACT and CECT datasets, respectively. These pretrained 3D U-Nets were integrated during the CycleGAN training, segmenting synthetic images, and comparing them against ground truth annotations. The compound loss within the CycleGAN maintained anatomical fidelity. Full image processing was achieved for low-resolution datasets, while high-resolution datasets employed a patch-based method due to GPU memory constraints. Automated segmentation was applied to original NACT and synthetic CECT scans to evaluate CycleGAN performance using the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and the 95th percentile Hausdorff Distance (HD95p).Main results.High-resolution scans showed improved auto-segmentation, with an average DSC increase from 0.728 to 0.773 and a reduced HD95p from 1.19 mm to 0.94 mm. Low-resolution scans benefited more from synthetic contrast, showing a DSC increase from 0.586 to 0.682 and an HD95preduction from 3.46 mm to 1.24 mm.Significance.Implementing CycleGAN to synthesize CECT scans substantially improved the visibility of the mouse spleen, leading to more precise auto-segmentation. This approach shows the potential in preclinical imaging studies where contrast agent use is impractical.

Asunto(s)

Medios de Contraste , Imagenología Tridimensional , Bazo , Microtomografía por Rayos X , Animales , Ratones , Bazo/diagnóstico por imagen , Microtomografía por Rayos X/métodos , Imagenología Tridimensional/métodos , Algoritmos , Procesamiento de Imagen Asistido por Computador/métodos , Redes Neurales de la Computación

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effective respiratory motion management reduces healthy tissue toxicity and ensures sufficient dose delivery to lung cancer cells in pulmonary stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) with high fractional doses. An articulated robotic arm paired with an X-ray imaging system is designed for real-time motion-tracking (RTMT) dose delivery. However, small tumors (<15 mm) or tumors at challenging locations may not be visible in the X-ray images, disqualifying patients with such tumors from RTMT dose delivery unless fiducials are implanted via an invasive procedure. To track these practically invisible lung tumors in SBRT, we hereby develop a deep learning-enabled template-free tracking framework, SAFE Track. METHODS: SAFE Track is a fully supervised framework that trains a generalizable prior for template-free target localization. Two sub-stages are incorporated in SAFE Track, including the initial pretraining on two large-scale medical image datasets (DeepLesion and Node21) followed by fine-tuning on our in-house dataset. A two-stage detector, Faster R-CNN, with a backbone of ResNet50, was selected as our detection network. 94 patients (415 fractions; 40,348 total frames) with low tumor visibility who thus had implanted fiducials were included. The cohort is categorized by the longest dimension of the tumor (<10 mm, 10-15 mm and > 15 mm). The patients were split into training (n = 66) and testing (n = 28) sets. We simulated fiducial-free tumors by removing the fiducials from the X-ray images. We classified the patients into two groups - fiducial implanted inside tumors and implanted outside tumors. To ensure the rigor of our experiment design, we only conducted fiducial removal simulation in training patients and utilized patients with fiducial implanted outside of the tumors for testing. Commercial Xsight Lung Tracking (XLT) and a Deep Match were included for comparison. RESULTS: SAFE Track achieves promising outcomes to as accurate as 1.23±1.32 mm 3D distance in testing patients with tumor size > 15 mm where Deep Match is at 4.75±1.67 mm and XLT is at 12.23±4.58 mm 3D distance. Even for the most challenging tumor size (<10 mm), SAFE Track maintains its robustness at 1.82 plus or minus 1.67 mm 3D distance, where Deep Match is at 5.32 plus or minus 2.32 mm, and XLT is at 24.83±12.95 mm 3D distance. Moreover, SAFE Track can detect some considerably challenging cases where the tumor is almost invisible or overlapped with dense anatomies. CONCLUSION: SAFE Track is a robust, clinically compatible, fiducial-free, and template-free tracking framework that is applicable to patients with small tumors or tumors obscured by overlapped anatomies in SBRT.

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Accumulating epidemiological evidence underscores the association between pervasive environmental factors and an increased risk of metabolic diseases. Environmental chemicals, recognized disruptors of endocrine and metabolic processes, may contribute to the global prevalence of metabolic disorders, including obesity. Acetyl tributyl citrate (ATHC), categorized as a citric acid ester plasticizer, serves as a substitute for di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in various everyday products. Despite its widespread use and the increasing risk of exposure in humans and animals due to its high leakage rates, information regarding the safety of exposure to environmentally relevant doses of ATHC remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the potential impact of ATHC exposure on metabolic homeostasis. Both in vivo and in vitro exposure models were used to characterize the effects induced by ATHC exposure. C57BL/6 J male mice were subjected to a diet containing ATHC for 12 weeks, and metabolism-related parameters were monitored and analyzed throughout and after the exposure period. Results indicated that sub-chronic dietary exposure to ATHC induced an increase in body fat percentage, elevated serum lipid levels, and increased lipid content in the liver tissue of mice. Furthermore, the effect of ATHC exposure on murine hepatocytes were examined and results indicated that ATHC significantly augmented lipid levels in AML12 hepatocytes, disrupting energy homeostasis and altering the expression of genes associated with fatty acid synthesis, uptake, oxidation, and secretion pathways. Conclusively, both in vivo and in vitro results suggest that exposure to low levels of ATHC may be linked to an elevated risk of obesity and fatty liver in mice. The potential implications of ATHC on human health warrant comprehensive evaluation in future studies.

Asunto(s)

Adipogénesis , Hepatocitos , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Plastificantes , Animales , Ratones , Plastificantes/toxicidad , Hepatocitos/efectos de los fármacos , Masculino , Adipogénesis/efectos de los fármacos , Citratos

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BACKGROUND: Obesity and the forkhead box O1(FOXO1) affect the survival of breast cancer patients, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the role of FOXO1 in obesity-associated-breast cancer. METHODS: We screened 383 breast disease patients from the first affiliated hospital with Nanjing Medical University in 2020. We performed wound healing, transwell, matrigel assays to assess the metastatic ability of cancer cells. We adopted mRNAs sequencing to select the differentially expressed transcripts in breast cancer. We applied immunohistochemistry, western blot, tissue microarrays to assess the level of FOXO1 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathways. We conducted bioinformatic analysis to investigate interactions between FOXO1 and miR-135b. We used fluorescence in situ hybridization, RT-qPCR to confirm the characteristics of circCNIH4. We conducted luciferase reporter assay, rescue experiments to investigate interactions between circCNIH4 and miR-135b. RESULTS: Obesity was positively correlated with the incidence and progression of breast cancer. Adipocytes enhanced the migration of breast cancer and attenuated the effects of FOXO1. MiR-135b was a binding gene of FOXO1 and was regulated by circCNIH4. CircCNIH4 exhibited antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Adipocytes might accelerate the progression of breast cancer by modulating FOXO1/miR-135b/ circCNIH4 /EMT axis and regulating copper homeostasis.

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Ischemic stroke is the most important cause of disability and death worldwide, but current treatments remain limited. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) including the herb pair of Zhiqiao-Danggui (ZD) offers a multifaceted treatment approach through promoting blood circulation, yet its specific anti-ischemic mechanism remains unclear. This study used the photochemically induced thrombosis (PIT) mouse model and the oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) cell model to explore the therapeutic effect of ZD on ischemic stroke. Mice were treated with high and low doses of ZD extract or positive control. Behavior was assessed using the grid test. The brain tissue was then subjected to infarct volume assessment, histopathology, oxidative stress marker detection, LC/MS metabolomic analysis and qRT-PCR validation. The therapeutic effect of ZD-medicated serum on OGD/R model was tested on cells. Experimental results show that ZD can improve motor function, reduce infarct size, neuronal damage and apoptosis as well as alleviate oxidative stress in mice. ZD-medicated serum promotes endothelial cell proliferation, improves cell survival against OGD/R-induced injury, reduces oxidative damage and protects mitochondrial function. Metabolomics reveals ZD regulation of metabolites in energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, TCA cycle, and angiogenesis signaling pathways. qRT-PCR results also showed that ZD could attenuate abnormal conduction of angiogenic signals and enhance vessel stability. This study confirmed the neuroprotective and vasoprotective effects of ZD, highlighted its potential in treating ischemic stroke, and provided a scientific basis for the traditional use of ZD.

Asunto(s)

Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos , Accidente Cerebrovascular Isquémico , Metabolómica , Fármacos Neuroprotectores , Estrés Oxidativo , Animales , Fármacos Neuroprotectores/farmacología , Fármacos Neuroprotectores/uso terapéutico , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos/farmacología , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos/uso terapéutico , Ratones , Masculino , Accidente Cerebrovascular Isquémico/tratamiento farmacológico , Accidente Cerebrovascular Isquémico/metabolismo , Estrés Oxidativo/efectos de los fármacos , Espectrometría de Masas en Tándem , Cromatografía Liquida , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Cromatografía Líquida con Espectrometría de Masas

RESUMEN

Over the past few decades, significant improvements in maize yield have been largely attributed to increased plant density of upright hybrid varieties rather than increased yield per plant. However, dense planting triggers shade avoidance responses (SARs) that optimize light absorption but impair plant vigor and performance, limiting yield improvement through increasing plant density. In this study, we demonstrated that high-density-induced leaf angle narrowing and stem/stalk elongation are largely dependent on phytochrome B (phyB1/B2), the primary photoreceptor responsible for perceiving red (R) and far-red (FR) light in maize. We found that maize phyB physically interacts with the LIGULELESS1 (LG1), a classical key regulator of leaf angle, to coordinately regulate plant architecture and density tolerance. The abundance of LG1 is significantly increased by phyB under high R:FR light (low density) but rapidly decreases under low R:FR light (high density), correlating with variations in leaf angle and plant height under various densities. In addition, we identified the homeobox transcription factor HB53 as a target co-repressed by both phyB and LG1 but rapidly induced by canopy shade. Genetic and cellular analyses showed that HB53 regulates plant architecture by controlling the elongation and division of ligular adaxial and abaxial cells. Taken together, these findings uncover the phyB-LG1-HB53 regulatory module as a key molecular mechanism governing plant architecture and density tolerance, providing potential genetic targets for breeding maize hybrid varieties suitable for high-density planting.

Asunto(s)

Fitocromo B , Proteínas de Plantas , Zea mays , Zea mays/crecimiento & desarrollo , Zea mays/genética , Zea mays/metabolismo , Zea mays/efectos de la radiación , Fitocromo B/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Hojas de la Planta/metabolismo , Hojas de la Planta/crecimiento & desarrollo , Hojas de la Planta/efectos de la radiación , Luz

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Genetic variants in genes encoding subunits of the γ-aminobutyric acid-A receptor (GABAAR) have been found to cause neurodevelopmental disorders and epileptic encephalopathy. In a patient with epilepsy and developmental delay, a de novo heterozygous missense mutation c.671 T > C (p.F224S) was discovered in the GABRB2 gene, which encodes the ß2 subunit of GABAAR. Based on previous studies on GABRB2 variants, this new GABRB2 variant (F224S) would be pathogenic. To confirm and investigate the effects of this GABRB2 mutation on GABAAR channel function, we conducted transient expression experiments using GABAAR subunits in HEK293T cells. The GABAARs containing mutant ß2 (F224S) subunit showed poor trafficking to the cell membrane, while the expression and distribution of the normal α1 and γ2 subunits were unaffected. Furthermore, the peak current amplitude of the GABAAR containing the ß2 (F224S) subunit was significantly smaller compared to the wild type GABAAR. We propose that GABRB2 variant F224S is pathogenic and GABAARs containing this ß2 mutant reduce response to GABA under physiological conditions, which could potentially disrupt the excitation/inhibition balance in the brain, leading to epilepsy.

Asunto(s)

Discapacidades del Desarrollo , Epilepsia , Mutación Missense , Receptores de GABA-A , Humanos , Receptores de GABA-A/genética , Discapacidades del Desarrollo/genética , Discapacidades del Desarrollo/fisiopatología , Células HEK293 , Epilepsia/genética , Epilepsia/fisiopatología , Masculino , Femenino

RESUMEN

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of a trans-umbilical single-site plus one robot-assisted surgery and a trans-umbilical single-site laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of choledochal cysts. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 49 children diagnosed with choledochal cysts who were admitted to our hospital between June 2020 and December 2023. Among these patients, 24 underwent a trans-umbilical single-site plus one Da Vinci robot-assisted surgery (the robot group) and 25 underwent a trans-umbilical single-site laparoscopic-assisted surgery (the laparoscopic group). We compared differences in intraoperative and postoperative outcomes between the two groups. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups of patients in terms of gender, age, weight, clinical symptoms, maximum cyst diameter, type, postoperative complications, and facial expression, leg movement, activity, crying, and comfortability (FLACC) scoring (p > 0.05). Compared with the patients in the laparoscopic group, those in the robot group had less intraoperative bleeding [10 (8-12) vs. 15 (11.5-18) ml, p < 0.001] and required less postoperative drainage tube indwelling time [5 (4-6) vs. 7 (5.5-8) day, p < 0.001], less postoperative fasting time [4 (3-4) vs. 6 (5-7) days, p < 0.001], and less postoperative hospitalization time [6 (6-7) vs. 8 (6-10) days, p < 0.001], but they required more operative time [385.5 (317.0-413.3) vs. 346.0 (287.0-376.5) min, p = 0.050] and consumed more hospitalization expenses (79,323 ± 3,124 vs. 31,121 ± 2,918 yuan, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed a shorter hospitalization time, quicker postoperative recovery, and less tissue damage but a higher cost and a longer operation time in patients who chose robotic surgery rather than laparoscopic surgery. With the continuous expansion of the scale of installed robot-assisted surgical systems and the gradual accumulation of the technical experience of surgeons, robot-assisted surgery may slowly surpass, and shows a trend to replace, laparoscopy because of its advantages.

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a familiar disease, and owns high morbidity and mortality, which critically damages the health of patients. Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 8 (USP8) is a pivotal protein to join in the regulation of some diseases. In a previous report, it was determined that USP8 expression is down-regulated in LPS-treated BEAS-2B cells, and USP8 restrains inflammatory response and accelerates cell viability. However, the regulatory roles of USP8 on ferroptosis in COPD are rarely reported, and the associated molecular mechanisms keep vague. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the regulatory functions of USP8 in COPD progression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The lung functions were measured through the Buxco Fine Pointe Series Whole Body Plethysmography (WBP). The Fe level was tested through the Fe assay kit. The protein expressions were assessed through western blot. The levels of tumor necrosis -factor-α, interleukin 6, and interleukin 8 were evaluated through enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay. Cell viability was tested through CCK-8 assay. RESULTS: In this work, it was discovered that overexpression of USP8 improved lung function in COPD mice. In addition, overexpression of USP8 repressed ferroptosis by regulating glutathione peroxidase 4 and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family 4 expressions in COPD mice. Overexpression of USP8 suppressed inflammation in COPD mice. Furthermore, overexpression of USP8 suppressed ferroptosis in COPD cell model. At last, it was verified that overexpression of USP8 accelerated ubiquitin aldehyde-binding protein 1 (OTUB1)/solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) pathway. CONCLUSION: This study manifested that overexpression of USP8 restrained inflammation and ferroptosis in COPD by regulating the OTUB1/SLC7A11 signaling pathway. This discovery hinted that USP8 could be a potential target for COPD treatment.

Asunto(s)

Sistema de Transporte de Aminoácidos y+ , Ferroptosis , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica , Transducción de Señal , Ubiquitina Tiolesterasa , Ferroptosis/fisiología , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica/metabolismo , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica/genética , Animales , Humanos , Ratones , Transducción de Señal/inmunología , Sistema de Transporte de Aminoácidos y+/metabolismo , Sistema de Transporte de Aminoácidos y+/genética , Ubiquitina Tiolesterasa/metabolismo , Ubiquitina Tiolesterasa/genética , Masculino , Inflamación/metabolismo , Inflamación/inmunología , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Complejos de Clasificación Endosomal Requeridos para el Transporte/metabolismo , Complejos de Clasificación Endosomal Requeridos para el Transporte/genética , Línea Celular , Proteasas Ubiquitina-Específicas/metabolismo , Proteasas Ubiquitina-Específicas/genética , Endopeptidasas

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Utilizing the framework of environmental health risk assessment and healing, the article reviews the effectiveness and potential of green space systems in mitigating the impact of high temperatures, promoting mental health, and improving the risk characteristics of high-temperature heat waves. We utilized CiteSpace software to conduct a time-zone analysis of the relationship between heatwaves, green spaces, and health using clustered data from 2001 to 2023. This study evaluates the role of green space systems in mitigating high temperatures and enhancing mental health within the environmental health risk assessment framework. Using CiteSpace software, we analyzed literature from 2001 to 2023, focusing on the interactions among heatwaves, green spaces, and health. Our results indicate that most existing research concentrates on hazard identification, with insufficient exploration of the dose-response relationships between green spaces and temperature reduction. Quantitative studies on green space design and spatial optimization are scarce, and guidance on effective configurations remains limited. Additionally, the health impacts of heatwaves vary by region, with a noticeable imbalance in research focus; Asia and Africa, in particular, are underrepresented in studies addressing heatwave effects. We conclude that effective mitigation strategies require: (1) a comprehensive environmental health risk assessment framework that integrates advanced methods like big data analysis and geospatial simulations to improve green space planning and design; (2) further theoretical exploration into the mechanisms by which green spaces regulate temperature and mental health, including detailed analysis of spatiotemporal patterns and the functional optimization of green space structures; and (3) the development of robust parameterized design guidance based on specific therapeutic dosages (green space stimulus) to optimize configurations and enhance the effectiveness of green spaces in mitigating adverse mental health impacts from deteriorating thermal environments. Future research should prioritize underrepresented regions, focusing on exposure levels, dose-response relationships, and high-temperature warning systems while fostering multidisciplinary collaboration to develop effective urban planning and climate adaptation strategies.

Asunto(s)

Salud Mental , Medición de Riesgo , Humanos , Calor , Salud Ambiental/métodos , Ciudades

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Purpose.4D MRI with high spatiotemporal resolution is desired for image-guided liver radiotherapy. Acquiring densely sampling k-space data is time-consuming. Accelerated acquisition with sparse samples is desirable but often causes degraded image quality or long reconstruction time. We propose the Reconstruct Paired Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (Re-Con-GAN) to shorten the 4D MRI reconstruction time while maintaining the reconstruction quality.Methods.Patients who underwent free-breathing liver 4D MRI were included in the study. Fully- and retrospectively under-sampled data at 3, 6 and 10 times (3×, 6× and 10×) were first reconstructed using the nuFFT algorithm. Re-Con-GAN then trained input and output in pairs. Three types of networks, ResNet9, UNet and reconstruction swin transformer (RST), were explored as generators. PatchGAN was selected as the discriminator. Re-Con-GAN processed the data (3D +t) as temporal slices (2D +t). A total of 48 patients with 12 332 temporal slices were split into training (37 patients with 10 721 slices) and test (11 patients with 1611 slices). Compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction with spatiotemporal sparsity constraint was used as a benchmark. Reconstructed image quality was further evaluated with a liver gross tumor volume (GTV) localization task using Mask-RCNN trained from a separate 3D static liver MRI dataset (70 patients; 103 GTV contours).Results.Re-Con-GAN consistently achieved comparable/better PSNR, SSIM, and RMSE scores compared to CS/UNet models. The inference time of Re-Con-GAN, UNet and CS are 0.15, 0.16, and 120 s. The GTV detection task showed that Re-Con-GAN and CS, compared to UNet, better improved the dice score (3× Re-Con-GAN 80.98%; 3× CS 80.74%; 3× UNet 79.88%) of unprocessed under-sampled images (3× 69.61%).Conclusion.A generative network with adversarial training is proposed with promising and efficient reconstruction results demonstrated on an in-house dataset. The rapid and qualitative reconstruction of 4D liver MR has the potential to facilitate online adaptive MR-guided radiotherapy for liver cancer.

Asunto(s)

Hígado , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Humanos , Hígado/diagnóstico por imagen , Neoplasias Hepáticas/diagnóstico por imagen , Neoplasias Hepáticas/radioterapia , Procesamiento de Imagen Asistido por Computador/métodos , Redes Neurales de la Computación , Imagenología Tridimensional/métodos

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Image-guided mouse irradiation is essential to understand interventions involving radiation prior to human studies. Our objective is to employ Swin UNEt Transformers (Swin UNETR) to segment native micro-CT and contrast-enhanced micro-CT scans and benchmark the results against 3D no-new-Net (nnU-Net). Swin UNETR reformulates mouse organ segmentation as a sequence-to-sequence prediction task, using a hierarchical Swin Transformer encoder to extract features at 5 resolution levels, and connects to a Fully Convolutional Neural Network (FCNN)-based decoder via skip connections. The models were trained and evaluated on open datasets, with data separation based on individual mice. Further evaluation on an external mouse dataset acquired on a different micro-CT with lower kVp and higher imaging noise was also employed to assess model robustness and generalizability. Results indicate that Swin UNETR consistently outperforms nnU-Net and AIMOS in terms of average dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff distance (HD95p), except in two mice of intestine contouring. This superior performance is especially evident in the external dataset, confirming the model's robustness to variations in imaging conditions, including noise and quality, thereby positioning Swin UNETR as a highly generalizable and efficient tool for automated contouring in pre-clinical workflows.

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BACKGROUND: Sustained expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) LINC01106 in tumors is crucial for the malignant phenotype of tumor cells. Nevertheless, the mechanisms and clinical effects of LINC01106 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are limited. This study shows the effect of vir-like m6A methyltransferase-associated (KIAA1429)-mediated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification on steady LINC01106 expression on LUAD progression. METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine LINC01106 and KIAA1429 levels in LUAD tissues. Transwell, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were used to analyze the functional roles of LINC01106. A xenograft was constructed to verify the function of silencing LINC01106 in tumor growth. The regulatory role of LINC01106 was investigated using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP), qRT-PCR, and the actinomycin D assay. Western blotting was used to identify key proteins in the JAK/STAT3 (JAK2, STAT3) pathway. RESULTS: LINC01106 and KIAA1429 were highly expressed in LUAD, and LINC01106 was interconnected with high tumor grade, stage, and poor prognosis. Data revealed that LINC01106 inhibition reduced LUAD cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and restrained LUAD cell tumorigenicity. In addition, LINC01106 silencing reduced phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 levels. KIAA1429-mediated LINC01106 enhances its m6A modification and expression in LUAD cells. Moreover, KIAA1429 promotion eliminated the malignant phenotypic suppression induced by low expression in LUAD cells. CONCLUSION: This study showed that KIAA1429 enhanced LINC01106 m6A modification to promote LUAD development. These results may lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of KIAA1429-m6A-LINC01106 in LUAD and offer a valuable therapeutic target for LUAD.

Asunto(s)

Adenocarcinoma del Pulmón , Proliferación Celular , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Neoplasias Pulmonares , ARN Largo no Codificante , Factor de Transcripción STAT3 , Transducción de Señal , Humanos , ARN Largo no Codificante/genética , ARN Largo no Codificante/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción STAT3/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción STAT3/genética , Adenocarcinoma del Pulmón/genética , Adenocarcinoma del Pulmón/metabolismo , Adenocarcinoma del Pulmón/patología , Animales , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Ratones , Proliferación Celular/genética , Línea Celular Tumoral , Adenosina/análogos & derivados , Adenosina/metabolismo , Metiltransferasas/metabolismo , Metiltransferasas/genética , Ratones Desnudos , Janus Quinasa 2/metabolismo , Janus Quinasa 2/genética , Movimiento Celular/genética , Femenino , Quinasas Janus/metabolismo , Masculino , Proteínas de Unión al ARN

RESUMEN

Current guidelines encourage large studies in a diverse population to establish normal reference ranges for three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography for different ethnic groups. This study was designed to establish the normal values of 3D-left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) volume and function in a nationwide, population-based cohort of healthy Han Chinese adults. A total of 1117 healthy volunteers aged 18-89 years were enrolled from 28 collaborating laboratories in China. Two sets of 3D echocardiographic instruments were used, and full-volume echocardiographic images were recorded and transmitted to a core laboratory for image analysis with a vendor-independent off-line workstation. Finally, 866 volunteers (mean age of 48.4 years, 402 men) were qualified for final analysis. Most parameters exhibited substantial differences between different sex and age groups, even after indexation by body surface area. The normal ranges of 3D-LV and 3D-LA volume and function differed from those recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging guidelines, presented by the World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography (WASE) study, and from the 2D values in the EMINCA study. The normal reference values of 3D echocardiography-derived LV and LA volume and function were established for the first time in healthy Han Chinese adults. Normal ranges of 3D-LV and 3D-LA echocardiographic measurements stratified with sex, age, and race should be recommended for clinical applications.

Asunto(s)

Ecocardiografía Tridimensional , Atrios Cardíacos , Ventrículos Cardíacos , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Masculino , Adulto , Ecocardiografía Tridimensional/métodos , Femenino , Anciano , Ventrículos Cardíacos/diagnóstico por imagen , Ventrículos Cardíacos/anatomía & histología , Atrios Cardíacos/diagnóstico por imagen , Atrios Cardíacos/anatomía & histología , China , Valores de Referencia , Adulto Joven , Adolescente , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Pueblo Asiatico , Función Ventricular Izquierda , Función del Atrio Izquierdo , Pueblos del Este de Asia

RESUMEN

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of a single-port-plus-one robotic laparoscopic-modified Lich-Gregoir direct nipple approach and traditional laparoscopic Cohen in treating pediatric primary obstructive megaureter. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical data of 24 children with primary obstructive megaureter from January 2021 to November 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Among them, 12 children (8 boys and 4 girls, the average age were 17.17 ± 6.31 months) treated with the laparoscopic Cohen method were defined as group C. The remaining 12 children (7 boys and 5 girls, the average age was 17.33 ± 6.99 months) underwent single-port-plus-one robotic laparoscopic-modified Lich-Gregoir direct nipple ureteral extravesical reimplantation were defined as group L. The parameters of pre-operation, intraoperative and postoperative were compared. RESULTS: There were no differences in the patient characteristics and average follow-up time between the two groups (P > 0.05).The obstruction resolution rate was 100% in both groups. The total operation time in group L is slightly longer than that in group C(P < 0.001),but the intraperitoneal operation time of the two groups was comparable(P > 0.05). The postoperative parameters included blood loss, gross haematuria time, indwelling catheterization time and hospitalization time in group L is shorter than group C(P < 0.05). One year post-operation, decreasing in ureteral diameter and APRPD, and increasing in DRF were remarkably observed in both two groups(P < 0.05). Ureteral diameter, APRPD, and DRF were not significantly different both in pre-operation and post-operation between Group L and Group C(P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Single-port-plus-one robot-assisted laparoscopic-modified Lich-Gregoir direct nipple approach and traditional laparoscopic Cohen are both dependable techniques for ureteral reimplantation in the treatment of pediatric primary obstructive megaureter. Since Lich-Gregoir can preserve the physiological direction of the ureter and direct nipple reimplantation enhances the effect of anti-refluxing, this technique is favorable for being promoted and applied in robot surgery.

Asunto(s)

Laparoscopía , Reimplantación , Procedimientos Quirúrgicos Robotizados , Uréter , Obstrucción Ureteral , Humanos , Femenino , Masculino , Procedimientos Quirúrgicos Robotizados/métodos , Laparoscopía/métodos , Obstrucción Ureteral/cirugía , Uréter/cirugía , Reimplantación/métodos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Preescolar , Lactante , Niño , Tempo Operativo , Resultado del Tratamiento

RESUMEN

Agar, as a seaweed polysaccharide mainly extracted from Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis, has been commercially applied in multiple fields. To investigate factors indicating the agar accumulation in G. lemaneiformis, the agar content, soluble polysaccharides content, and expression level of 11 genes involved in the agar biosynthesis were analysed under 4 treatments, namely salinity, temperature, and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. The salinity exerted the greatest impact on the agar content. Both high (40‱) and low (10‱, 20‱) salinity promoted agar accumulation in G. lemaneiformis by 4.06%, 2.59%, and 3.00%, respectively. The content of agar as a colloidal polysaccharide was more stable than the soluble polysaccharide content under the treatments. No significant correlation was noted between the two polysaccharides, and between the change in the agar content and the relative growth rate of the algae. The expression of all 11 genes was affected by the 4 treatments. Furthermore, in the cultivar 981 with high agar content (21.30 ± 0.95%) compared to that (16.23 ± 1.59%) of the wild diploid, the transcriptional level of 9 genes related to agar biosynthesis was upregulated. Comprehensive analysis of the correlation between agar accumulation and transcriptional level of genes related to agar biosynthesis in different cultivation conditions and different species of G. lemaneiformis, the change in the relative expression level of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase II (gpiII), mannose-6-phosphate isomerase (mpi), mannose-1-phosphate guanylyltransferase (mpg), and galactosyltransferase II (gatII) genes was highly correlated with the relative agar accumulation. This study lays a basis for selecting high-yield agar strains, as well as for targeted breeding, by using gene editing tools in the future.

Asunto(s)

Agar , Rhodophyta , Rhodophyta/genética , Rhodophyta/metabolismo , Rhodophyta/crecimiento & desarrollo , Salinidad , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Polisacáridos/metabolismo , Polisacáridos/biosíntesis , Temperatura , Nitrógeno/metabolismo

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Improving health care in cities with a diverse, international population is crucial for ensuring health equity, particularly for foreigners facing challenges due to cultural and language barriers. This situation is especially relevant in China, a major destination for expatriates and travelers, where optimizing health care services and incorporating international standards in the public sector are vital. Achieving this involves understanding the operational details, cultural and linguistic nuances, and advancing medical digitalization. A strategic approach focusing on cultural competence and awareness of health care systems is essential for effectively navigating health care for foreigners and expatriates in China. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform an in-depth analysis of the subjective and objective experiences of local and international patients in public hospitals in China to provide a basis for enhancing the medical experience of all patients. METHODS: A structured questionnaire was provided to patients at an international outpatient service of a top-tier university hospital in China. Qualitative analysis of the survey responses was performed to methodically categorize and analyze medical treatment, focusing on patient demand and satisfaction across four main category elements ("high demand, high satisfaction"; "high demand, low satisfaction"; "low demand, high satisfaction"; and "low demand, low satisfaction"), enabling a detailed cross-sectional analysis to identify areas for improvement. RESULTS: Elements falling under "high demand, high satisfaction" for both Chinese and international patients were primarily in the realms of medical quality and treatment processes. In contrast, elements identified as "high demand, low satisfaction" were significantly different between the two patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of systematic, objective research in advancing the quality of international health care services within China's leading academic medical centers. Key to this improvement is rigorous quality control involving both patients and providers. This study highlights the necessity of certifying such centers and emphasizes the role of digital platforms in disseminating information about medical services. This strategy is expected to cater to diverse patient needs, enhancing the overall patient experience. Furthermore, by developing comprehensive diagnosis and treatment services and highlighting the superior quality and costs associated with international health care, these efforts aim to foster a sense of belonging among international patients and increase the attractiveness of China's medical services for this demographic.