Publications by authors named "W-R Liu"

Purpose: Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to learn and predict the maxillomandibular relationship, particularly when the number of occluding teeth pairs is insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of training a new two-stage coarse-to-fine teeth alignment pipeline AI system in predicting maxillomandibular relationships based on the occlusal morphology of antagonistic teeth.

Methods: Maxillary and mandibular stone casts were collected and scanned at the maximal intercuspal position (MIP).

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Identifying and differentiating human activities is crucial for effectively preventing the threats posed by environmental pollution to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Machine learning (ML) is a powerful analytical tool for tracking human impacts on river ecosystems based on high-through datasets. This study employed an ML framework and 16S rRNA sequencing data to reveal microbial dynamics and trace human activities across China.

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CD8 T cells exhibit remarkable phenotypic diversity in inflammation and cancer. However, a comprehensive understanding of their clonal landscape and dynamics remains elusive. Here we introduce scAtlasVAE, a deep-learning-based model for the integration of large-scale single-cell RNA sequencing data and cross-atlas comparisons.

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Purpose: To gauge the efficacy and safety of performing a one-stage endoscopic orbital decompression procedure combined with the intraoperative relaxed medial rectus muscle (MR) positioning technique as a means of treating esotropia associated with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO).

Design: Prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University.

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Micro-stereolithography (μSL) is an advanced additive manufacturing technique that enables the fabrication of highly precise microstructures with fine feature resolution. One of the primary challenges in μSL is achieving and maintaining precise focus throughout the fabrication process. For the successful application of μSL, it is essential to maintain the sample surface within a focal depth of several microns.

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  • Dual immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) using CTLA4 and PD-(L)1 inhibitors shows improved anti-tumor effectiveness and immune toxicity compared to PD-(L)1 inhibitors alone in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
  • Patients with mutations in STK11 and/or KEAP1 genes benefit more from the combination treatment compared to those receiving only PD-(L)1 inhibitors, as shown in the POSEIDON trial.
  • The loss of KEAP1 serves as a strong predictor for the success of dual ICB, as it leads to a more favorable outcome by changing the tumor's immune environment to better engage CD4 and CD8 T cells for anti-tumor activity. *
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  • - The study investigates the use of graphite (Gr) as a self-lubricating reinforcement in hybrid composite samples, focusing on minimizing wear rates in sliding pairs and improving surface quality.
  • - Samples were created using stir casting with BC and Gr reinforcements, and various analysis techniques confirmed the uniform distribution of the reinforcements and low porosity in the composites.
  • - Results showed that the wear rate of aluminum composites improved with Gr addition, achieving a minimum wear rate of 0.149 mm/m, and the Taguchi-ANOVA analysis indicated significant effects of pin type, load, and sliding speed on wear and friction coefficients.
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Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has witnessed remarkable success in a wide range of control tasks. To overcome RL's notorious sample inefficiency, prior studies have explored data augmentation techniques leveraging collected transition data. However, these methods face challenges in synthesizing transitions adhering to the authentic environment dynamics, especially when the transition is high-dimensional and includes many redundant/irrelevant features to the task.

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Key Points: We generated a transgenic mouse model expressing the human IgA1 heavy chain, which has a hinge region with rich -linked glycosylation. After inflammatory stimulation, the mouse model showed elevated galactose-deficient IgA1 levels in the serum. Coupled with complement H factor mutant, the mice model exhibited glomerular lesions, associated with hematuria and albuminuria like IgA nephropathy.

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  • The study investigated the impact of carotid artery stenting on the retina and choroid in patients with unilateral carotid artery stenosis using advanced imaging (SS-OCTA).
  • Measurements were taken before, 4 days, and 3 months post-stenting, focusing on various retinal and choroidal structures.
  • Results indicated that shortly after stenting, there were significant improvements in certain vascular densities in the affected eyes, although a notable decrease in ganglion cell thickness was observed after three months.
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  • The study explores using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) to identify ischemic stroke and its subtypes, leveraging retinal microvascular changes as biomarkers.
  • Researchers developed a deep learning model using data from over 1700 eyes to distinguish between stroke patients and healthy individuals, achieving high accuracy rates.
  • The findings indicate that specific retinal parameters, such as increased tortuosity and reduced circularity of the superficial vascular plexus, are associated with ischemic strokes, highlighting the potential for AI in improving stroke diagnosis and decision-making.
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Introduction: Early neoplastic progression of Barrett's esophagus (BE) is often treated with endoscopic therapy. Although effective, some patients are refractory to therapy or recur after apparent eradication of the BE. The goal of this study was to determine whether genomic alterations within the treated BE may be associated with persistent or recurrent disease.

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  • The outbreak of mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus, presents a significant challenge to global health.
  • Researchers studied antibody levels in individuals vaccinated before the immunization program ended and discovered two monoclonal antibodies (hMB621 and hMB668) that target the B6 protein of the virus.
  • These antibodies showed strong binding and neutralization capabilities against related viruses, and animal tests indicated they provide effective protection against the vaccinia virus, highlighting their potential in treating mpox and other orthopoxvirus infections.
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In the nucleus, biological processes are driven by proteins that diffuse through and bind to a meshwork of nucleic acid polymers. To better understand this interplay, we present an imaging platform to simultaneously visualize single protein dynamics together with the local chromatin environment in live cells. Together with super-resolution imaging, new fluorescent probes, and biophysical modeling, we demonstrate that nucleosomes display differential diffusion and packing arrangements as chromatin density increases whereas the viscoelastic properties and accessibility of the interchromatin space remain constant.

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Introduction: Activation of complement through the alternative pathway (AP) has a key role in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We previously showed, by intraperitoneal injection of Lactobacillus casei cell wall extract (LCWE), C57BL/6 mice develop mild kidney damage in association with glomerular IgA deposition. To further address complement activity in causing glomerular histological alterations as suggested in the pathogenesis of IgAN, here we used mice with factor H mutation (FH) to render AP overactivation in conjunction with LCWE injection to stimulate intestinal production of IgA.

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  • Clinical clearance of a child's cervical spine after trauma is difficult due to unreliable neurologic exams; LSMRI may help by providing a quicker, anesthesia-free alternative to standard MRI for detecting ligamentous injuries.
  • A study conducted over five years across 10 centers evaluated 2,663 children and found that LSMRI had a sensitivity and negative predictive value of over 99% for detecting cervical spine injuries and 100% for unstable injuries.
  • The findings support the use of limited-sequence MRI to effectively rule out significant injuries, suggesting that trauma centers implement LSMRI protocols to reduce the need for anesthesia and MRI times.
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PD-1 is a co-inhibitory receptor expressed by CD8 T cells which limits their cytotoxicity. PD-L1 expression on cancer cells contributes to immune evasion by cancers, thus, understanding the mechanisms that regulate PD-L1 protein levels in cancers is important. Here we identify tumor-cell-expressed otubain-2 (OTUB2) as a negative regulator of antitumor immunity, acting through the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in various human cancers.

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Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests that retinal microvasculature may reflect global cerebral atrophy. However, little is known about the relation of retinal microvasculature with specific brain regions and brain networks. Therefore, we aimed to unravel the association of retinal microvasculature with gray matter changes and structural covariance network using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis.

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Background: Daratumumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD38, has been approved for use with standard myeloma regimens. An evaluation of subcutaneous daratumumab combined with bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (VRd) for the treatment of transplantation-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma is needed.

Methods: In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned 709 transplantation-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma to receive either subcutaneous daratumumab combined with VRd induction and consolidation therapy and with lenalidomide maintenance therapy (D-VRd group) or VRd induction and consolidation therapy and lenalidomide maintenance therapy alone (VRd group).

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  • Blood Pressure (BP) is essential for cardiovascular health, and the study identifies clinically relevant ECG and PPG features to improve BP estimation using the CatBoost and AdaBoost algorithms.
  • The research achieved high correlation coefficients (0.90 for SBP and 0.83 for DBP) and low mean absolute error values (3.81 mmHg for SBP and 2.22 mmHg for DBP), surpassing medical standards for accuracy.
  • Key features identified include ln(HR × mNPV), HR, BMI index, ageing index, and PPG-K point, indicating a balance between the number of features used and the accuracy of BP estimation.
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As key mediators of cellular communication, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been actively explored for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, effective methods to functionalize EVs and modulate the interaction between EVs and recipient cells are still lacking. Here we report a facile and universal metabolic tagging technology that can install unique chemical tags (e.

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Data augmentation is widely applied to medical image analysis tasks in limited datasets with imbalanced classes and insufficient annotations. However, traditional augmentation techniques cannot supply extra information, making the performance of diagnosis unsatisfactory. GAN-based generative methods have thus been proposed to obtain additional useful information to realize more effective data augmentation; but existing generative data augmentation techniques mainly encounter two problems: (i) Current generative data augmentation lacks of the capability in using cross-domain differential information to extend limited datasets.

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Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina Eriksson (Pt), is one of the most severe foliar diseases of wheat. Breeding for leaf rust resistance is a practical and sustainable method to control this devastating disease. Here, we report the identification of Lr47, a broadly effective leaf rust resistance gene introgressed into wheat from Aegilops speltoides.

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Purpose: We explored the retinal microvascular changes in carotid artery stenosis (CAS) and their relationship with carotid plaque morphology.

Methods: All participants were diagnosed with carotid artery stenosis by a neurologist. Participants underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) imaging.

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Grassland restoration measures control soil degradation and improve soil quality (SQ) worldwide, but there is little knowledge about the effectiveness of restoration measures affecting SQ in arid areas, and the restoration rate of degraded grasslands to natural restoration grasslands and reseeded grasslands remains unclear. To establish a soil quality index (SQI) to evaluate the effects of different grassland restoration measures on SQ, continuous grazing grassland (CG) (as a reference), grazing exclusion grassland (EX), and reseeding grassland (RS) were selected and sampled in the arid desert steppe. Two soil indicator selection methods were conducted (total data set (TDS) and minimum data set (MDS)), followed by three SQ indices (additive soil quality index (SQI), weighted additive soil quality index (SQI), and Nemoro soil quality index (SQI)).

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