Vessels characteristics in familial exudative vitreoretinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity based on deep convolutional neural networks.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the quantitative retinal vascular morphological characteristics of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) in the newborn by the application of a deep learning network with artificial intelligence.

Methods: Standard 130-degree fundus photographs centered on the optic disc were taken in the newborns. The deep learning network provided segmentation of the retinal vessels and the optic disc (OD).

Accelerated Perioperative Rehabilitation for Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Radical Mastectomy: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To summarize and analyze available evidence on perioperative accelerated rehabilitation programs for patients diagnosed with breast cancer that have had a radical mastectomy.

Design: This article is a systematic review of literature based on evidence-based methodology.

Methods: The '6S' evidence resource pyramid model was used to systematically search a range of databases.

Instability mediated self-templating of drop crystals.

The breakup of liquid threads into droplets is prevalent in engineering and natural settings. While drop formation in these systems has a long-standing history, existing studies typically consider axisymmetric systems. Conversely, the physics at play when multiple threads are involved and the interaction of a thread with a symmetry breaking boundary remain unexplored.

Pediococcus pentosaceus, a future additive or probiotic candidate.

Background: Pediococcus pentosaceus, a promising strain of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), is gradually attracting attention, leading to a rapid increase in experimental research. Due to increased demand for practical applications of microbes, the functional and harmless P. pentosaceus might be a worthwhile LAB strain for both the food industry and biological applications.

Printing on liquid elastomers.

In recent years the research community has paid significant attention to geometrically engineered materials. These materials derive their unique properties from their structure rather than their chemistry alone. Despite their success in the laboratory, the assembly of such soft functional materials remains an outstanding challenge.

An unbounded approach to microfluidics using the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of viscous threads directly drawn in a bath.

We study the droplet-forming instability of a thin jet extruded from a nozzle moving horizontally below the surface of an isoviscous immiscible fluid bath. While this interfacial instability is a classic problem in fluid mechanics, it has never been studied in the context of the deposition of a thread into a reservoir, an open-sky version of microfluidics. As the nozzle translates through the reservoir, drops may form at the nozzle (dripping) or further downstream (jetting).

Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy versus Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy in Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Cervical Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Comparison of Survival Outcomes and Toxicities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the survival and toxicities in cervical esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (CESCC) treated by concurrent chemoradiothrapy with either three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques.

Materials And Methods: A total of 112 consecutive CESCC patients were retrospectively reviewed. 3D-CRT and IMRT groups had been analyzed by propensity score matching method, with sex, age, Karnofsky performance status, induction chemotherapy, and tumor stage well matched.

Differential expression profiles of long noncoding RNAs in synchronous multiple and solitary primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas: A microarray analysis.

As a unique subtype of esophageal cancer, synchronous multiple primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) mostly occur in Asian patients with alcohol and/or tobacco abuse, or with a family history of cancer. Multiple ESCCs are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Growing evidence has addressed that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the carcinogenesis of various malignancies.

Impact of Reduced ATGL-Mediated Adipocyte Lipolysis on Obesity-Associated Insulin Resistance and Inflammation in Male Mice.

Emerging evidence suggests that impaired regulation of adipocyte lipolysis contributes to the proinflammatory immune cell infiltration of metabolic tissues in obesity, a process that is proposed to contribute to the development and exacerbation of insulin resistance. To test this hypothesis in vivo, we generated mice with adipocyte-specific deletion of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), the rate-limiting enzyme catalyzing triacylglycerol hydrolysis. In contrast to previous models, adiponectin-driven Cre expression was used for targeted ATGL deletion.

Adipose triglyceride lipase deletion from adipocytes, but not skeletal myocytes, impairs acute exercise performance in mice.

Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is the rate-limiting enzyme mediating triacylglycerol hydrolysis in virtually all cells, including adipocytes and skeletal myocytes, and hence, plays a critical role in mobilizing fatty acids. Global ATGL deficiency promotes skeletal myopathy and exercise intolerance in mice and humans, and yet the tissue-specific contributions to these phenotypes remain unknown. The goal of this study was to determine the relative contribution of ATGL-mediated triacylglycerol hydrolysis in adipocytes vs.

In utero delivery of oligodeoxynucleotides for gene correction.

Gene correction is attractive for single gene mutation disorders, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The mdx mouse model of DMD is dystrophin deficient due to a premature chain-terminating point mutation in exon 23 of the dystrophin gene. Gene editing of genomic DNA using single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ssODNs) offers the potential to change the DNA sequence to alter mRNA and protein expression in defined ways.

Skeletal muscle triacylglycerol hydrolysis does not influence metabolic complications of obesity.

Intramyocellular triacylglycerol (IMTG) accumulation is highly associated with insulin resistance and metabolic complications of obesity (lipotoxicity), whereas comparable IMTG accumulation in endurance-trained athletes is associated with insulin sensitivity (the athlete's paradox). Despite these findings, it remains unclear whether changes in IMTG accumulation and metabolism per se influence muscle-specific and systemic metabolic homeostasis and insulin responsiveness. By mediating the rate-limiting step in triacylglycerol hydrolysis, adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) has been proposed to influence the storage/production of deleterious as well as essential lipid metabolites.

Regulation of insulin and leptin signaling by muscle suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3).

Skeletal muscle resistance to the key metabolic hormones, leptin and insulin, is an early defect in obesity. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is a major negative regulator of both leptin and insulin signaling, thereby implicating SOCS3 in the pathogenesis of obesity and associated metabolic abnormalities. Here, we demonstrate that SOCS3 mRNA expression is increased in murine skeletal muscle in the setting of diet-induced and genetic obesity, inflammation, and hyperlipidemia.

Pnpla3/Adiponutrin deficiency in mice does not contribute to fatty liver disease or metabolic syndrome.

PNPLA3 (adiponutrin, calcium-independent phospholipase A(2) epsilon [iPLA(2)ε]) is an adipose-enriched, nutritionally regulated protein that belongs to the patatin-like phospholipase domain containing (PNPLA) family of lipid metabolizing proteins. Genetic variations in the human PNPLA3 gene (i.e.

Adipose triglyceride lipase deficiency causes tissue-specific changes in insulin signaling.

Triacylglycerol accumulation in insulin target tissues is associated with insulin resistance. Paradoxically, mice with global targeted deletion of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), the rate-limiting enzyme in triacylglycerol hydrolysis, display improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity despite triacylglycerol accumulation in multiple tissues. To determine the molecular mechanisms for this phenotype, ATGL-deficient (ATGL(-/-)) and wild-type mice were injected with saline or insulin (10 units/kg, intraperitoneally), and then phosphorylation and activities of key insulin-signaling proteins were determined in insulin target tissues (liver, adipose tissue, and muscle).

Design, synthesis, and antifungal activities of novel 1H-triazole derivatives based on the structure of the active site of fungal lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase (CYP51).

A series of fluconazole (1) analogues, compounds 3a-k, were prepared as potential antifungal agents. They were designed by computational docking experiments to the active site of the cytochrome P450 14alpha-sterol demethylase (CYP51), whose crystal structure is known. Preliminary biological tests showed that most of the target compounds exhibit significant activities against the eight most-common pathogenic fungi.