Aiding Diagnosis and Classifying of Early Stage Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head with Convolutional Neural Network Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Introduction: The Steinberg classification system is commonly used by orthopedic surgeons to stage the severity of patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), and it includes mild, moderate, and severe grading of each stage based on the area of the femoral head affected. However, clinicians mostly grade approximately by visual assessment or not at all. To accurately distinguish the mild, moderate, or severe grade of early stage ONFH, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the hip joint of patients to accurately grade and aid diagnosis of ONFH.

Construction of low-toxicity cadmium sulfide/nitrogen-doped muti-walled carbon nanotubes for peroxymonosulfate activation: The crucial role of electron transfer.

Cadmium sulfide is widely employed in environmental catalysis due to its excellent catalytic behaviors. However, the inherent toxicity and leaching risk of CdS-based catalyst presents significant challenges for practical applications. This study explored the incorporation of CdS nanowires on the nitrogen-doped multi-wall carbon tubes (N-MWCNTs) substrate to minimize the leaching rate and mitigate the bio-toxicity by regulating the electron transfer process.

PAK4 is Required for Meiotic Resumption, Spindle Assembly, and Cortical Migration in Mouse Oocytes During Meiotic Maturation.

Oocyte meiotic errors can cause infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects. Here the role and the underlying mechanism of p21 activated kinase 4 (PAK4) in mouse oocyte meiosis is evaluated. It is found that PAK4 expression and its phosphorylation are detected in high level at germinal vesicle (GV) stage, and gradually decreased after meiotic resumption in oocytes.

Iron accumulation in ovarian microenvironment damages the local redox balance and oocyte quality in aging mice.

Accumulating oxidative damage is a primary driver of ovarian reserve decline along with aging. However, the mechanism behind the imbalance in reactive oxygen species (ROS) is not yet fully understood. Here we investigated changes in iron metabolism and its relationship with ROS disorder in aging ovaries of mice.

PLD1 promotes spindle assembly and migration through regulating autophagy in mouse oocyte meiosis.

PLD1 has been implicated in cytoskeletal reorganization and vesicle trafficking in somatic cells; however, its function remains unclear in oocyte meiosis. Herein, we found PLD1 stably expresses in mouse oocytes meiosis, with direct interaction with spindle, RAB11A vesicles and macroautophagic/autophagic vacuoles. The genetic or chemical inhibition of PLD1 disturbed MTOC clustering, spindle assembly and its cortical migration, also decreased PtdIns(4,5)P, phosphorylated CFL1 (p-CFL1 [Ser3]) and ACTR2, and their local distribution on MTOC, spindle and vesicles.

Synergistic effects of adsorption and chemical reduction towards the effective Cr(VI) removal in the presence of the sulfur-doped biochar material.

In this study, the anaerobic sludge withdrawn from thickener in a sewage treatment plant served as the precursor for sludge-based biochar fabrication, which was further modified via sulfur (S) heteroatom doping (i.e., S-BC).

Chondroprotective effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes in osteoarthritis.

Chondrocyte ferroptosis constitutes a major cause of the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (BMSC-Exos) have a protective role against ferroptosis in various diseases. Hence, we aimed to determine whether BMSC-Exos alleviated chondrocyte ferroptosis and its effect on OA, and to dissect out the possible mechanisms.

Effective automatic detection of anterior cruciate ligament injury using convolutional neural network with two attention mechanism modules.

Background: To develop a fully automated CNN detection system based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for ACL injury, and to explore the feasibility of CNN for ACL injury detection on MRI images.

Methods: Including 313 patients aged 16 - 65 years old, the raw data are 368 pieces with injured ACL and 100 pieces with intact ACL. By adding flipping, rotation, scaling and other methods to expand the data, the final data set is 630 pieces including 355 pieces of injured ACL and 275 pieces of intact ACL.

Visual Cascaded-Progressive Convolutional Neural Network (C-PCNN) for Diagnosis of Meniscus Injury.

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop a novel automatic convolutional neural network (CNN) that aids in the diagnosis of meniscus injury, while enabling the visualization of lesion characteristics. This will improve the accuracy and reduce diagnosis times.

Methods: We presented a cascaded-progressive convolutional neural network (C-PCNN) method for diagnosing meniscus injuries using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Stable expression and multi-site location of Odf2 in mouse oocytes, sperm and early embryos.

In mammals, centriole is degenerated during early oogenesis, but it is still not known about the expression and function of centriolar structural components in oocyte meiosis. Here we found that Odf2 (outer dense fiber of sperm tails 2), a key centriolar appendage protein, was stably expressed in mouse oocytes during meiotic progression. Distinct from its single location at centrosomes in somatic mitosis, Odf2 was multiply located at microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs), chromosome centromeres and vesicles in oocyte meiosis.

Enhancing the Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells by Bidirectional Modification of the Perovskite and Electron Transport Layer.

In perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the numerous defects present on the surface of the SnO electron transport layer (ETL) and the bottom of the perovskite film limit their power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability. In view of this, a bidirectional modification strategy is designed using formamidine acetate (FAAc) to passivate the defects on the SnO ETL surface and bottom of the perovskite simultaneously. FA cations act on the harmful hydroxyl groups on the SnO ETL surface, whereas Ac anions act on the iodine vacancy defect at the bottom of the perovskite.

Ste20-like kinase activity promotes meiotic resumption and spindle microtubule stability in mouse oocytes.

Ste20-like kinase (SLK) is involved in cell proliferation and migration in somatic cells. This study aims to explore SLK expression and function in mouse oocyte meiosis. Western blot, immunofluorescence, Co-immunoprecipitation, drug treatment, cRNA construct and in vitro transcription, microinjection of morpholino oilgo (MO) and cRNA were performed in oocytes.

Adverse effects of 2-Methoxyestradiol on mouse oocytes during reproductive aging.

2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME2) is a metabolite of 17β-estradiol and is currently in clinical trials as an antitumor agent. Here we found 2-ME2 level remains stable in the local environment of ovaries but declines in serum in aging mice, and exogenous 2-ME2 impacts the meiotic maturation of mouse oocytes in dose-dependent manner. In vitro 2-ME2 application arrested oocytes at metaphase I (MI), with abnormal spindle structure and chromosome alignment.

Defect management by a cesium fluoride-modified electron transport layer promotes perovskite solar cells.

SnO is a candidate material for electron transport layers (ETLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, a large number of defects at the SnO/perovskite interface lead to notable non-radiative interfacial recombination. Moreover, the energy level arrangement between SnO/perovskite does not match well.

Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells via CsPF Passivation of Perovskite Film Defects.

Polycrystalline perovskite films have many fatal defects; defect passivation can improve the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, the defects in perovskite films are passivated by introducing the pseudohalide salt CsPF into the films. Because the ionic radii of Cs and PF are close to those of FA and I, respectively, they can be uniformly doped into perovskite films to passivate the bulk, surface, and grain boundary defects.

Electron Transport Assisted by Transparent Conductive Oxide Elements in Perovskite Solar Cells.

Fluorine and indium elements in F-doped SnO (FTO) and Sn-doped In O (ITO), respectively, significantly contribute toward enhancing the electrical conductivity of these transparent conductive oxides. In this study, fluorine was combined with indium to modify the SnO electron transport layer (ETL) through InF . Consequently, the modified perovskite solar cells (PSCs) showe the favorable alignment of energy levels, improved absorption and utilization of light, enhanced interfacial charge extraction, and suppressed interfacial charge recombination.

Precursor Engineering of the Electron Transport Layer for Application in High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells.

The electron transport layer (ETL) is a key component of regular perovskite solar cells to promote the overall charge extraction efficiency and tune the crystallinity of the perovskite layer for better device performance. The authors present a novel protocol of ETL engineering by incorporating a composition of the perovskite precursor, methylammonium chloride (MACl), or formamidine chloride (FACl), into SnO layers, which are then converted into the crystal nuclei of perovskites by reaction with PbI . The SnO -embedded nuclei remarkably improve the morphology and crystallinity of the optically active perovskite layers.

Implication of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) application on phytoremediation: plants grown in co-contaminated soil.

Abscisic acid (ABA) may play an important role in alleviating negative effects of heavy metal stress on growth performance of plants. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate differential effects of exogenous ABA with different concentrations (0, 20, 40, and 60 μmol/L) on heavy metal accumulation and physiological response of Cd/Zn hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii Hance and non-hyperaccumulator Hylotelephium spectabile (Boreau) H. Ohba grown in co-contaminated soil.

Enhanced crystallization of solution-processed perovskite using urea as an additive for large-grain MAPbIperovskite solar cells.

Perovskite crystal quality plays an important role in perovskite solar cells, given that multiple grain boundaries and trap states in the perovskite films hamper further enhancement of solar cell efficiency. Using the solution method to prepare perovskite films with large grains and high coverage requires further improvements. Herein, we introduce Lewis base urea as an additive into the precursor of perovskite to control the crystallization dynamics, allowing for large-grain crystal growth.

Preparation of bilayer-core osmotic pump tablet by coating the indented core tablet.

In this paper, a bilayer-core osmotic pump tablet (OPT) which does not require laser drilling to form the drug delivery orifice is described. The bilayer-core consisted of two layers: (a) push layer and (b) drug layer, and was made with a modified upper tablet punch, which produced an indentation at the center of the drug layer surface. The indented tablets were coated by using a conventional pan-coating process.