Exploring heterogeneous cell population dynamics in different microenvironments by novel analytical strategy based on images.

Understanding the dynamic states and transitions of heterogeneous cell populations is crucial for addressing fundamental biological questions. High-content imaging provides rich datasets, but it remains increasingly difficult to integrate and annotate high-dimensional and time-resolved datasets to profile heterogeneous cell population dynamics in different microenvironments. Using hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) LX-2 as model, we proposed a novel analytical strategy for image-based integration and annotation to profile dynamics of heterogeneous cell populations in 2D/3D microenvironments.

Radiomic Features at Contrast-Enhanced CT Predict Virus-Driven Liver Fibrosis: A Multi-Institutional Study.

Introduction: Liver fibrosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among in patients with chronic hepatitis. Radiomics, particularly of the spleen, may improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment strategies. External validations are necessary to ensure reliability and generalizability.

Quantitative CT lumbar spine BMD cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis among older East Asian women should be lower than the value for Caucasians.

For Caucasian women, the QCT (quantitative CT) lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density (BMD) cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis is 80 mg/ml. At the age of approximate 78 years, US Caucasian women QCT LS BMD population mean is 80 mg/ml, while that of Chinese women and Japanese women is around 50 mg/ml. Correlation analyses show, for Chinese women and Japanese women, QCT LS BMD of 45 mg/ml corresponds to the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis.

Differences in pulmonary nodular consolidation and pulmonary cavity among drug-sensitive, rifampicin-resistant and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients: the Guangzhou computerized tomography study.

Background: Pulmonary nodular consolidation (PN) and pulmonary cavity (PC) may represent the two most promising imaging signs in differentiating multidrug-resistant (MDR)-pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) from drug-sensitive (DS)-PTB. However, there have been concerns that literature described radiological feature differences between DS-PTB and MDR-PTB were confounded by that MDR-PTB cases tend to have a longer history. This study seeks to further clarify this point.

'There is always good fortune in misfortune to encourage us in coping with difficulties'-The lived experiences of family caregivers of people with dementia during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: A phenomenological study.

Aim: To describe the lived experiences of family caregivers of individuals with dementia during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China.

Design: This study used a descriptive phenomenological research method.

Methods: Between May and September 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 family caregivers of people with dementia.

Data-Knowledge-Driven Modeling and Operational Adjustment for the Pharmaceutical Tablet Manufacturing Process via Wet Granulation.

In the context of Pharma 4.0, pharmaceutical quality control (PQC) is beset by issues such as uncertainties from ever-changing critical material attributes and strong coupling between variables in the multi-unit pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing process (PTMP), and how to timely adjust the operational variables to deal with such challenges has become a key problem in PQC. In this study, we propose a novel data-knowledge-driven modeling and operational adjustment framework for PTMP by integrating Bayesian network (BN) and case-based reasoning (CBR).

Clinical-radiomic analysis for non-invasive prediction of liver steatosis on non-contrast CT: A pilot study.

Our aim is to build and validate a clinical-radiomic model for non-invasive liver steatosis prediction based on non-contrast computed tomography (CT). We retrospectively reviewed 342 patients with suspected NAFLD diagnoses between January 2019 and July 2020 who underwent non-contrast CT and liver biopsy. Radiomics features from hepatic and splenic regions-of-interests (ROIs) were extracted based on abdominal non-contrast CT imaging.

Bifunctional Ni@NiO catalyst supported on loofah sponge-derived carbon for electrocatalytic air oxidation of biorefractory pollutant in a coupling system.

Oxygen (O) in the air is a green oxidant, and utilization of air for pollutant removal is highly desired. Herein, we report the preparation and utilization of a novel biomass-based three-dimensional (3D) Ni@NiO/carbon composite for the electro-activation of O under room condition. The carbon-coated Ni@NiO nanoparticles are fabricated on a hierarchical 3D porous loofah sponge-derived carbon (LSC) support as the bifunctional catalyst for the activation of O via both the electro-oxidation and electro-reduction reactions.

Sustained delivery of gemcitabine injectable mussel-inspired hydrogels for the local therapy of pancreatic cancer.

The issue of pervasively enhanced drug resistance of pancreatic cancer is fundamental to a better understanding of gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. Currently available treatment plans involving injectable therapeutics are mainly engineered to improve the performance and broaden their applications in the domain of biomedicine. Fixed-dose-rate infusion of free gemcitabine (Gem) has drawn appropriate attention for its potent anti-tumor efficacy against various solid tumors, whereas it remains a considerable challenge to extend its application and achieve better treatment.

Radiomics analysis of contrast-enhanced CT for staging liver fibrosis: an update for image biomarker.

Background: To establish and validate a radiomics-based model for staging liver fibrosis at contrast-enhanced CT images.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study developed two radiomics-based models (R-score: radiomics signature; R-fibrosis: integrate radiomic and serum variables) in a training cohort of 332 patients (median age, 59 years; interquartile range, 51-67 years; 256 men) with biopsy-proven liver fibrosis who underwent contrast-enhanced CT between January 2017 and December 2020. Radiomic features were extracted from non-contrast, arterial and portal phase CT images and selected using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression to differentiate stage F3-F4 from stage F0-F2.

Intelligent fault diagnosis of hydraulic piston pump based on deep learning and Bayesian optimization.

Hydraulic axial piston pump is broadly-used in aerospace, ocean engineering and construction machinery since it is the vital component of fluid power systems. In the light of the undiscoverability of its fault and the potential serious losses, it is valuable and challenging to complete the fault identification of a hydraulic pump accurately and effectively. Owing to the limitations of shallow machine learning methods in the intelligent fault diagnosis, more attention has been paid to deep learning methods.

Intelligent Fault Diagnosis of Hydraulic Piston Pump Based on Wavelet Analysis and Improved AlexNet.

Hydraulic piston pump is the heart of hydraulic transmission system. On account of the limitations of traditional fault diagnosis in the dependence on expert experience knowledge and the extraction of fault features, it is of great meaning to explore the intelligent diagnosis methods of hydraulic piston pump. Motivated by deep learning theory, a novel intelligent fault diagnosis method for hydraulic piston pump is proposed via combining wavelet analysis with improved convolutional neural network (CNN).

Intranasal Delivery of Temozolomide-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Functionalized with Anti-EphA3 for Glioblastoma Targeting.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly lethal and aggressive tumor of the brain that carries a poor prognosis. Temozolomide (TMZ) has been widely used as a first-line treatment for GBM. However, poor brain targeting, side effects, and drug resistance limit its application for the treatment of GBM.

Intelligent Diagnosis towards Hydraulic Axial Piston Pump Using a Novel Integrated CNN Model.

As a critical part of a hydraulic transmission system, a hydraulic axial piston pump plays an indispensable role in many significant industrial fields. Owing to the practical undesirable working environment and hidden faults, it is challenging to precisely and effectively detect and diagnose the varying fault in the engineering. Deep learning-based technology presents special strengths in processing mechanical big data.

An Integrated Deep Learning Method towards Fault Diagnosis of Hydraulic Axial Piston Pump.

A hydraulic axial piston pump is the essential component of a hydraulic transmission system and plays a key role in modern industry. Considering varying working conditions and the implicity of frequent faults, it is difficult to accurately monitor the machinery faults in the actual operating process by using current fault diagnosis methods. Hence, it is urgent and significant to investigate effective and precise fault diagnosis approaches for pumps.

A novel dendrimer-based complex co-modified with cyclic RGD hexapeptide and penetratin for noninvasive targeting and penetration of the ocular posterior segment.

Noninvasive drug delivery is a promising treatment strategy for ocular posterior segment diseases. Many physiological and anatomical barriers of the eye considerably restrict effective diffusion of therapeutics to the target site. To overcome this problem, a novel cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) hexapeptide and penetratin (PEN) co-modified PEGylation polyamidoamine (PAMAM) was designed as a nanocarriers (NCs), and its penetrating and targeting abilities were evaluated.

Pore change during degradation of octreotide acetate-loaded PLGA microspheres: The effect of polymer blends.

The purpose of this study was to solve the plateau phase (the stage in which the drug in the microsphere undergoes a slow release or almost no release after initial release) problem by understanding the effect of polymer blends on the internal pore changes of the microspheres. This study used PLGA 5050 4H (F-1), PLGA 5050 1A: PLGA 5050 4H = 3:7 (F-2) and PLGA 7525 1A: PLGA 5050 4H = 3:7 (F-3) as a carrier, respectively. Microspheres (MS) were obtained by O/W emulsion solvent evaporation technique and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size, drug loading, fluorescence characteristics, and in vitro and in vivo release.

Brain-targeted intranasal delivery of dopamine with borneol and lactoferrin co-modified nanoparticles for treating Parkinson's disease.

Efficient delivery of brain-targeted drugs is highly important for successful therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD). This study was designed to formulate borneol and lactoferrin co-modified nanoparticles (Lf-BNPs) encapsulated dopamine as a novel drug delivery system to achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy and reduce side effects for PD. Dopamine Lf-BNPs were prepared using the double emulsion solvent evaporation method and evaluated for physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties.

A Study of Immunochromatographic Fecal Occult Blood Test Methods.

Background: The sensitivity of the commonly used immunochromatographic fecal occult blood test (iFOBT) is critical in the routine screening of digestive tract cancers.

Objective: To determine whether the performance of the iFOBT might be improved by optimizing detergents and buffers in stool solution.

Methods: We tested different buffers and detergents in stool solution.

Nicotine-enhanced stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells promote tumor formation and growth in nude mice.

Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor in the development and progression of malignant diseases. Nicotine, the major constituent in cigarette smoke, has also shown negative effects on stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely demonstrated to migrate into tumors and play key roles in cancer progression.

Effect of idebenone on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

In recent years, stem cell research has continued to benefit from its crossover with chemistry, particularly the investigation of small molecular drugs modulating specific targets to regulate stem cell fate. Idebenone (IDB) is a yellow crystalline powder that is used in the treatment of chronic cerebrovascular diseases. The objective of the present study was to examine whether IDB had an influence on bone marrow‑derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) extracted from the bone marrow of Sprague‑Dawley rats.

miR-145 inhibits proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells by directly or indirectly regulating TGF-β1 expression.

Studies have demonstrated low expression of miR-145 associated with cell proliferation and migration in a wide variety of tumors. Here, we studied the expression of miR-145 in relation to the occurrence and development of breast cancer. Total RNA from breast cancer tissue and corresponding adjacent normal tissue was extracted and used to detect miR-145 expression by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

SPSSM8: an accurate approach for predicting eight-state secondary structures of proteins.

Protein eight-state secondary structure prediction is challenging, but is necessary to determine protein structure and function. Here, we report the development of a novel approach, SPSSM8, to predict eight-state secondary structures of proteins accurately from sequences based on the structural position-specific scoring matrix (SPSSM). The SPSSM has been successfully utilized to predict three-state secondary structures.