Publications by authors named "MEI K"

Respiratory motion phantoms can be used for evaluation of CT imaging technologies such as motion artifact reduction algorithms and deformable image registration. However, current respiratory motion phantoms do not exhibit detailed lung tissue structures and thus do not provide a realistic testing environment. This paper presents PixelPrint, a method for 3D-printing deformable lung phantoms featuring highly realistic internal structures, suitable for a broad range of CT evaluations, optimizations, and research.

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Background: Lip behaviors can lead to maxillofacial developmental disorders such as anterior open bite, posterior crossbite, increased overjet, and a higher risk of developing a Class II malocclusion. However, lip-sucking, a behavior often underreported and overlooked, may adversely affect the periodontal health of permanent teeth in adolescents under extreme conditions if not promptly identified and managed.

Case Presentation: We report a unique case of an 11-year-old boy with a severe periodontal-endodontic lesion on tooth 32, caused by prolonged, high-frequency, and high-intensity lip sucking.

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As the global economy expands, waterway transportation has become increasingly crucial to the logistics sector. This growth presents both significant challenges and opportunities for enhancing the accuracy of ship detection and tracking through the application of artificial intelligence. This article introduces a multi-object tracking system designed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), utilizing the YOLOv7 and Deep SORT algorithms for detection and tracking, respectively.

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The Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) was first reported in China in 2010 and has since caused substantial economic losses in the poultry breeding industry. In the autumn of 2022, an outbreak of an infectious disease resembling DTMUV was reported in Guangdong Province, China, which caused significantly high mortality in goose embryos, and decreased egg production. This study identified one strain of the new subgenotype 3 of DTMUV, designated as DTMUV GDZQ2022, responsible for these effects.

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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have made significant advances in autonomous sensing, particularly in the field of precision agriculture. Effective path planning is critical for autonomous navigation in large orchards to ensure that UAVs are able to recognize the optimal route between the start and end points. When UAVs perform tasks such as crop protection, monitoring, and data collection in orchard environments, they must be able to adapt to dynamic conditions.

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In recent years, mangrove restoration has gained significant attention due to its carbon storage capacity, role as a pollution sink, and ecological and economic benefits. Moreover, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals' strategies include mangrove restoration. This review investigates the status of mangrove restoration research and the influence of restoration on trace metal accumulation, speciation, and associated risks in mangrove sediments.

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Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a promising treatment for myocardial infarction (MI), but their therapeutic efficacy is limited by inefficient accumulation at the target site. A minimally invasive MSC EV therapy that enhances EV accumulation at the disease site and extends EV retention could significantly improve post-infarct cardiac regeneration. Here, we show that EVs decorated with the next-generation of high-affinity (HiA) heterodimerizing leucine zippers, termed HiA Zippersomes, amplify targetable surface areas through in situ crosslinking and exhibited ~7-fold enhanced accumulation within the infarcted myocardium in mice after 3 days and continued to be retained up to Day 21, surpassing the performance of unmodified EVs.

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Since 2020, a novel goose-derived reovirus, characterized by goose hemorrhagic hepatitis, has emerged in the goose breeding industry of Guangdong province, China, leading to significant economic losses in the poultry sector. To study the genetic variation of novel goose reovirus (NGRV) in Guangdong province, this experiment utilized goose embryonic fibroblast cells for virus isolation. RT-PCR was conducted to identify, amplify, clone, and sequence the complete genome of the NGRV isolated from Zhaoqing.

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Aberrations in the Wnt signaling pathway, particularly mutations in genes like APC and β-catenin, are pivotal in initiating and driving the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), establishing this pathway as a crucial target for therapeutic intervention. Membrane trafficking plays a key role in regulating Wnt signaling by controlling the activation, modulation, and secretion of essential signaling molecules that contribute to CRC progression. This review explores the connection between membrane trafficking and Wnt signaling, with a specific focus on macropinocytosis-an endocytic process involved in nutrient uptake that also plays a role in Wnt signal regulation.

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Background: At present, there is no specific teaching method for doctor-patient communication for oncology residents. This study combined BOPPPS (bridge-in, learning objective, pretest, participatory learning, posttest, and summary) teaching model and SBAR (situation-background-assessment-recommendation) communication model to try a new teaching and assessment model of doctor-patient communication, aiming to explore and improve the teaching method of doctor-patient communication for oncology residents.

Methods: Ninety residents were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (n = 45) was trained with the BOPPPS teaching model combined with the SBAR communication model, the routine teaching method was adopted in the control group (n = 45).

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In the radiation chemistry of water, two hydrated electrons () can react to form H and OH. Experiments and simulations suggest that this reaction occurs through a mechanism involving colocalization of two 's into the same solvent cavity, forming a hydrated dielectron intermediate, with aqueous hydride (H) as a subintermediate. However, there has been no direct experimental observation of either or H.

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Abnormal amyloid β-protein (Aβ) fibrillation is a key event in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and photodynamic therapy (PDT) possesses great potential in modulating Aβ self-assembly. However, the poor blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration, low biocompatibility, and limited tissue penetration depth of existing photosensitizers limit the progress of photo-oxidation strategies. In this paper, novel indocyanine green-modified graphene quantum dot nano-assemblies (NBGQDs-ICGs) were synthesized based on a molecular assembly strategy of electrostatic interactions for PDT inhibition of Aβ self-assembly process and decomposition of preformed fibrils under near-infrared light.

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Methylpyridines are a class of highly toxic pyridine derivatives. In this study, a novel degrading bacterium was isolated for 3-methylpyridine (3-MP) degradation (Gordonia rubripertincta ZJJ, GenBank accession NO. OP430847.

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All in-vivo medical imaging is impacted by patient motion, especially respiratory motion, which has a significant influence on clinical workflows in diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy. Many technologies such as motion artifact reduction and tumor tracking algorithms have been developed to compensate for respiratory motion during imaging. To assess these technologies, respiratory motion phantoms (RMPs) are required as preclinical testing environments, for instance, in computed tomography (CT).

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Article Synopsis
  • Noncovalent interactions involving aromatic rings, like π-stacking and π-ion interactions, are crucial for processes such as molecular recognition and electronics, but studying them experimentally is challenging due to their weak nature.
  • The research focuses on interactions between different aromatic components and ions in a nonpolar solution, using electrical measurements and theoretical calculations, specifically looking at phenyl and pentafluorobenzyl groups with lithium and chloride ions.
  • Findings indicate that heterogeneous interactions (like π···π-hole and π···cation) have stronger binding energies and longer lifetimes compared to homogeneous π···π interactions, and the nature of the ions affects the binding characteristics, providing insights for better manipulation of molecular systems.
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Recent advancements in RNA therapeutics highlight the critical need for precision gene delivery systems that target specific organs and cells. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have emerged as key vectors in delivering mRNA and siRNA, offering protection against enzymatic degradation, enabling targeted delivery and cellular uptake, and facilitating RNA cargo release into the cytosol. This review discusses the development and optimization of organ- and cell-specific LNPs, focusing on their design, mechanisms of action, and therapeutic applications.

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Experiments show that the absorption spectrum of the hydrated electron () blue-shifts in electrolyte solutions compared with what is seen in pure water. This shift has been assigned to the 's competitive ion-pairing interactions with the salt cation relative to the salt anion based on the ions' positions on the Hofmeister series. Remarkably, little work has been done investigating the 's behavior when the salts have chaotropic cations, which should greatly change the ion-pairing interactions given that the is a champion chaotrope.

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Article Synopsis
  • Exo70 is a vital component of the exocyst complex that aids in cancer cell movement and the remodeling of the extracellular matrix, making it a potential drug target in cancer treatment.
  • Researchers found that Exo70 undergoes a specific modification called transamidation that enhances its interaction with other proteins necessary for cancer metastasis.
  • Cantharidin, an FDA-approved drug, can inhibit this modification, which could help slow down tumor cell migration and invasion, particularly in cancers with inactivated LKB1.
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Even though single hydrated electrons ('s) are stable in liquid water, two hydrated electrons can bimolecularly react with water to create H and hydroxide: + + 2HO → H + 2OH. The rate of this reaction has an unusual temperature and isotope dependence as well as no dependence on ionic strength, which suggests that cosolvation of two electrons as a single hydrated dielectron () might be an important intermediate in the mechanism of this reaction. Here, we present an ab initio density functional theory study of this reaction to better understand the potential properties, reactivity, and experimental accessibility of hydrated dielectrons.

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Two-dimension graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with high and low serum protein binding profiles (high/low hard-bound protein corona/HC) are used in this study as model materials and screening tools to investigate the underlying roles of the protein corona on nanomaterial toxicities . We proposed that the biocompatibility/nanotoxicity of GO is protein corona-dependent and host immunity-dependent. The hypothesis was tested by injecting HC GO nanosheets in immunocompetent ICR/CD1 and immunodeficient NOD- mice and performed histopathological and hematological evaluation studies on days 1 and 14 post-injection.

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Gas-phase potential energy surfaces (PESs) are often used to provide an intuitive understanding of molecular chemical reactivity. Most chemical reactions, however, take place in solution, and it is unclear whether gas-phase PESs accurately represent chemical processes in solvent environments. In this work we use quantum simulations to investigate the dissociation energetics of NaK in liquid tetrahydrofuran (THF) to understand the degree to which solvent interactions alter the gas-phase picture.

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The production of ϒ(2S) and ϒ(3S) mesons in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions is studied in their dimuon decay channel using the CMS detector at the LHC. The ϒ(3S) meson is observed for the first time in Pb-Pb collisions, with a significance above 5 standard deviations. The ratios of yields measured in Pb-Pb and pp collisions are reported for both the ϒ(2S) and ϒ(3S) mesons, as functions of transverse momentum and Pb-Pb collision centrality.

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Article Synopsis
  • Exosomes from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) boost cell growth and tissue healing by releasing their contents into recipient cells, playing a key role in early-stage treatment effects, though more research is needed on their early therapeutic benefits.
  • The study introduces a method to measure the ability of exosomes to improve the cytoskeleton and cell contractility through three-dimensional cell traction force, visualizing exosome effects in real time without damaging cells.
  • Findings indicate that endometrial stromal cells show increased traction force and altered cell shape in response to exosome therapy, linked to the regulation of the Rac1/RhoA signaling pathway, ultimately enhancing cell proliferation.
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A potential therapeutic approach for cancer treatment is target oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis simultaneously. The matrix protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV MP) can target the surface of mitochondria, causing morphological changes that may be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation inhibition. Previous research has shown that mitochondrial abnormalities can direct glucose metabolism toward glycolysis.

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