Inhibition of HSC proliferation and hepatic fibrogenesis with Erythrocyte membrane coated Doxorubicin/Black phosphorus nanosheets.

Rapid proliferation underlies the abnormal expansion of activated hepatic stellate cells (aHSCs) and thereby contributes to the development and progression of liver fibrosis, so inhibition of HSC proliferation serves as a good antifibrotic strategy. As a potent topoisomerase II inhibitor, doxorubicin (DOX), an antineoplastic drug, exhibits a significant antifibrotic activity in vitro via retarding the growth of aHSCs and reversing their myofibroblastic phenotype, but its severe hepatotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and renal toxicity limit its wide clinical application. Therefore, enhancing the specificity and efficacy of DOX in targeting aHSCs to improve its therapeutic index and minimize its adverse effects has become a key point for the success of DOX in antifibrotic treatment.

Corrigendum: Comparison of indocyanine green angiography and swept-source wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography in posterior uveitis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.

Urban airborne PM induces pulmonary fibrosis through triggering glycolysis and subsequent modification of histone lactylation in macrophages.

Airborne fine particulate matter (PM) can cause pulmonary inflammation and even fibrosis, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of PM exposure have not been fully appreciated. In the present study, we explored the dynamics of glycolysis and modification of histone lactylation in macrophages induced by PM-exposure in both in vivo and in vitro models. Male C57BL/6 J mice were anesthetized and administrated with PM by intratracheal instillation once every other day for 4 weeks.

Desirable Strong and Tough Adhesive Inspired by Dragonfly Wings and Plant Cell Walls.

The production of wood-based panels has a significant demand for mechanically strong and flexible biomass adhesives, serving as alternatives to nonrenewable and toxic formaldehyde-based adhesives. Nonetheless, plywood usually exhibits brittle fracture due to the inherent trade-off between rigidity and toughness, and it is susceptible to damage and deformation defects in production applications. Herein, inspired by the microstructure of dragonfly wings and the cross-linking structure of plant cell walls, a soybean meal (SM) adhesive with great strength and toughness was developed.

Polystyrene microplastic-induced oxidative stress triggers intestinal barrier dysfunction via the NF-κB/NLRP3/IL-1β/MCLK pathway.

Emerging evidence has demonstrated the association between microplastics (MPs) with a diameter of <5 mm and the risk of intestinal diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms contributing to MP-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction have not been fully appreciated. In this study, C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs, 0.

A tough bio-adhesive inspired by pearl layer and arthropod cuticle structure with desirable water resistance, flame-retardancy, and antibacterial property.

Petroleum-derived formaldehyde resin adhesives are serious hazards to human health and depend on limited resources. Abundant, cheap and renewable biomass materials are expected to replace them. However, the contradictory mechanisms of high mechanical strength and fracture toughness affect the use of bioadhesives.

Study on the Performance and Solidification Mechanism of Multi-Source Solid-Waste-Based Soft Soil Solidification Materials.

In this paper, ground granulated blast furnace slag, steel slag, red mud, waste ceramic powder, and desulfurization gypsum were used as raw materials to develop a kind of multi-source solid-waste-based soft soil solidification material. Three ratios and the strength activity index were used to determine the fractions of different solid wastes. The mineralogical and microstructural characterization was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TG&DSC) tests.

Natural organic-inorganic hybrid structure enabled green biomass adhesive with desirable strength, toughness and mildew resistance.

Plant based proteins are green, sustainable, and renewable materials that show the potential to replace traditional formaldehyde resin. High performance plywood adhesives exhibit high water resistance, strength, toughness, and desirable mildew resistance. Adding petrochemical-based crosslinkers is not economically viable or environmentally benign; this chemical crosslinking strategy makes the imparted high strength and toughness less attractive.

Assessment of choriocapillaris and choroidal vascular changes in posterior uveitis using swept-source wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography.

Purpose: To evaluate choriocapillaris (CC) and choroidal vascular changes in patients with posterior uveitis using swept-source (SS) wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Method: Consecutive patients with posterior uveitis were evaluated using 3×3 mm and 12×12 mm OCTA scan patterns and montage images of 5×12×12 mm or 2×15×9 mm, covering approximately 70°-90° of the retina. The images were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed and compared with healthy controls.

A Self-Supervised Learning Based Framework for Eyelid Malignant Melanoma Diagnosis in Whole Slide Images.

Eyelid malignant melanoma (MM) is a rare disease with high mortality. Accurate diagnosis of such disease is important but challenging. In clinical practice, the diagnosis of MM is currently performed manually by pathologists, which is subjective and biased.

Bioinspired phenol-amine chemistry for developing bioadhesives based on biomineralized cellulose nanocrystals.

Inspired by the phenol-amine chemistry and biomineralization of insect cuticles, we developed a green and facile strategy for preparing a bio-adhesive with excellent adhesion properties, mildew resistance, and antibacterial activity. This biomimetic strategy incorporates functional catechol-modified ε-polylysine and vanillin via grafting and Schiff base reactions. The biomineralized cellulose nanocrystals were prepared using a cellulose nanocrystal bio-template by regulating the in-situ biomineralization of inorganic nanoparticles, thereby building an optimized organic-inorganic mineralization framework in the polymer.

Automated quantification of cartilage quality for hip treatment decision support.

Purpose: Preservation surgery can halt the progress of joint degradation, preserving the life of the hip; however, outcome depends on the existing cartilage quality. Biochemical analysis of the hip cartilage utilizing MRI sequences such as delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC), in addition to morphological analysis, can be used to detect early signs of cartilage degradation. However, a complete, accurate 3D analysis of the cartilage regions and layers is currently not possible due to a lack of diagnostic tools.

Vanadium(IV)-Chlorodipicolinate Protects against Hepatic Steatosis by Ameliorating Lipid Peroxidation, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, and Inflammation.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly prevalent and represents a growing challenge in terms of prevention and treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate the protective effects and the underlying mechanisms of vanadium(IV)-chlorodipicolinate ([VO(dipic-Cl)(HO), VOdipic-Cl]) in a mouse model of NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). VOdipic-Cl (10 mg/kg/day body weight) treatment for 4 weeks significantly controlled body weight gain, and effectively reduced the increase in serum and hepatic triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels, mitigated pathological injury, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and inhibited endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and inflammatory response in the livers of C57BL/6 obese mice.

Comparison of Indocyanine Green Angiography and Swept-Source Wide-Field Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Posterior Uveitis.

Purpose: To compare indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and swept-source wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) for the assessment of patients with posterior uveitis.

Method: SS-OCTA montage images of 5 x 12 x 12 mm or 2 x 15 x 9 mm, covering ~70-90 degree of the retina of consecutive patients with posterior uveitis were acquired. The choriocapillaries and choroidal slabs were compared to findings on ICGA.

Three-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Bone Models of the Hip Joint Using Deep Learning: Dynamic Simulation of Hip Impingement for Diagnosis of Intra- and Extra-articular Hip Impingement.

Background: Dynamic 3-dimensional (3D) simulation of hip impingement enables better understanding of complex hip deformities in young adult patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Deep learning algorithms may improve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation.

Purpose: (1) To evaluate the accuracy of 3D models created using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for fully automatic MRI bone segmentation of the hip joint, (2) to correlate hip range of motion (ROM) between manual and automatic segmentation, and (3) to compare location of hip impingement in 3D models created using automatic bone segmentation in patients with FAI.

AGMB-Transformer: Anatomy-Guided Multi-Branch Transformer Network for Automated Evaluation of Root Canal Therapy.

Accurate evaluation of the treatment result on X-ray images is a significant and challenging step in root canal therapy since the incorrect interpretation of the therapy results will hamper timely follow-up which is crucial to the patients' treatment outcome. Nowadays, the evaluation is performed in a manual manner, which is time-consuming, subjective, and error-prone. In this article, we aim to automate this process by leveraging the advances in computer vision and artificial intelligence, to provide an objective and accurate method for root canal therapy result assessment.

Posterior Extra-articular Ischiofemoral Impingement Can Be Caused by the Lesser and Greater Trochanter in Patients With Increased Femoral Version: Dynamic 3D CT-Based Hip Impingement Simulation of a Modified FABER Test.

Background: Posterior extra-articular hip impingement has been described for valgus hips with increased femoral version (FV). These patients can present clinically with lack of external rotation (ER) and extension and with a positive posterior impingement test. But we do not know the effect of the combination of deformities, and the impingement location in early flexion is unknown.

MRI-based 3D models of the hip joint enables radiation-free computer-assisted planning of periacetabular osteotomy for treatment of hip dysplasia using deep learning for automatic segmentation.

Introduction: Both Hip Dysplasia(DDH) and Femoro-acetabular-Impingement(FAI) are complex three-dimensional hip pathologies causing hip pain and osteoarthritis in young patients. 3D-MRI-based models were used for radiation-free computer-assisted surgical planning. Automatic segmentation of MRI-based 3D-models are preferred because manual segmentation is time-consuming.

Surface modification of black phosphorus-based nanomaterials in biomedical applications: Strategies and recent advances.

Black phosphorus-based nanomaterials (BPNMs), an emerging member of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, possess excellent physicochemical properties and hold great potential for application in advanced nanomedicines. However, the bare BPNMs easily decrease their biomedical activities due to their degradability and in vivo interactions with biological macromolecules such as plasma proteins, largely restricting their biomedical application. A variety of surface modifications, via chemical, physical or biological approaches, have been developed for BPNMs to avoid these limitations and achieve stable, long-lasting and safe therapeutic effects, thus enlighten the development of the multifunctional BPNMs for more practical application in the field of biomedicine.

Evaluation of algorithms for Multi-Modality Whole Heart Segmentation: An open-access grand challenge.

Knowledge of whole heart anatomy is a prerequisite for many clinical applications. Whole heart segmentation (WHS), which delineates substructures of the heart, can be very valuable for modeling and analysis of the anatomy and functions of the heart. However, automating this segmentation can be challenging due to the large variation of the heart shape, and different image qualities of the clinical data.

Holistic decomposition convolution for effective semantic segmentation of medical volume images.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have achieved state-of-the-art performance in many different 2D medical image analysis tasks. In clinical practice, however, a large part of the medical imaging data available is in 3D, e.g, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, computed tomography (CT) data and data generated by many other modalities.

Novel adversarial semantic structure deep learning for MRI-guided attenuation correction in brain PET/MRI.

Objective: Quantitative PET/MR imaging is challenged by the accuracy of synthetic CT (sCT) generation from MR images. Deep learning-based algorithms have recently gained momentum for a number of medical image analysis applications. In this work, a novel sCT generation algorithm based on deep learning adversarial semantic structure (DL-AdvSS) is proposed for MRI-guided attenuation correction in brain PET/MRI.

Automatic MRI-based Three-dimensional Models of Hip Cartilage Provide Improved Morphologic and Biochemical Analysis.

Background: The time-consuming and user-dependent postprocessing of biochemical cartilage MRI has limited the use of delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC). An automated analysis of biochemical three-dimensional (3-D) images could deliver a more time-efficient and objective evaluation of cartilage composition, and provide comprehensive information about cartilage thickness, surface area, and volume compared with manual two-dimensional (2-D) analysis.

Questions/purposes: (1) How does the 3-D analysis of cartilage thickness and dGEMRIC index using both a manual and a new automated method compare with the manual 2-D analysis (gold standard)? (2) How does the manual 3-D analysis of regional patterns of dGEMRIC index, cartilage thickness, surface area and volume compare with a new automatic method? (3) What is the interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility of software-assisted manual 3-D and automated 3-D analysis of dGEMRIC indices, thickness, surface, and volume for two readers on two time points?

Methods: In this IRB-approved, retrospective, diagnostic study, we identified the first 25 symptomatic hips (23 patients) who underwent a contrast-enhanced MRI at 3T including a 3-D dGEMRIC sequence for intraarticular pathology assessment due to structural hip deformities.