Abdominal synthetic CT generation for MR-only radiotherapy using structure-conserving loss and transformer-based cycle-GAN.

Purpose: Recent deep-learning based synthetic computed tomography (sCT) generation using magnetic resonance (MR) images have shown promising results. However, generating sCT for the abdominal region poses challenges due to the patient motion, including respiration and peristalsis. To address these challenges, this study investigated an unsupervised learning approach using a transformer-based cycle-GAN with structure-preserving loss for abdominal cancer patients.

Continuous cell type diversification throughout the embryonic and postnatal mouse visual cortex development.

The mammalian cortex is composed of a highly diverse set of cell types and develops through a series of temporally regulated events that build out the cell type and circuit foundation for cortical function. The mechanisms underlying the development of different cell types remain elusive. Single-cell transcriptomics provides the capacity to systematically study cell types across the entire temporal range of cortical development.

Glucagon-like peptides agonists promote maturation of intestinal organoids derived from neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis.

Purpose: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) majorly affects premature infants, causing not only necrosis and inflammation but also feeding intolerance and gastrointestinal dysmotility, hinting at gut hormone secretion impairment. Particularly critical is the gestation period before 26 weeks where intestinal hormonal activity is partially developed, rendering preterm neonates highly susceptible to NEC. Emerging evidence suggests a role of gut hormones, especially glucagon-like peptides (GLP) in ileum development.

Enhanced Fe═O Generation via Peroxymonosulfate Activation by an Edge-Site Engineered Single-Atom Iron Catalyst.

As an oxidant, the ferryl-oxo complex (Fe═O) offers excellent reactivity and selectivity for degrading recalcitrant organic contaminants. However, enhancing Fe═O generation on heterogeneous surfaces remains challenging because the underlying formation mechanism is poorly understood. This study introduces edge defects onto a single-atom Fe catalyst (FeNC-edge) to promote Fe═O generation via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate attenuates IgE/Ag-stimulated mast cell activation and anaphylactic responses via activating SHP-1 pathway.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a widely distributed and persistent organic pollutant, is known to cause immune dysfunction. In a previous study, we reported that PFOS modestly increases mast cell activation. However, its effects on FcεRI (a high-affinity IgE receptor)-mediated mast cell activation, a pivotal process in inflammatory allergic reactions and innate immunity, have not been clearly demonstrated.