Driving mechanism of different nutrient conditions on microbial mediated nitrate reduction in magnetite-present river infiltration zone

Significant research is focused on the ability of riparian zones to reduce groundwater nitrate contamination. Owing to the extremely high redox activity of nitrate, naturally existing electron donors, such as organic matter and iron minerals, are crucial in facilitating nitrate reduction in the riparian zone. Here, we examined the coexistence of magnetite, an iron mineral, and nitrate, a frequently observed coexisting system in sediments, to investigate nitrate reduction features at various C/N ratios and evaluate the response of microbial communities to these settings. Additionally, we aimed to use this information as a foundation for examining the effect of nutritional conditions on the nitrate reduction process in magnetite-present environments. These results emphasise the significance of organic matter in enabling dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and enhancing the connection between nitrate reduction and iron in sedimentary environments. In the later phases of nitrate reduction, nitrogen fixation was the prevailing process in low-carbon environments, whereas high-carbon environments tended to facilitate the breakdown of organic nitrogen. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed a robust association between C/N ratios and alterations in microbial community composition, providing insights into notable modifications in essential functioning microorganisms. The nitrogen-fixing bacterium Ralstonia is more abundant in ecosystems with scarce organic matter. In contrast, in settings rich in organic matter, microorganisms, such as Acinetobacter and Clostridia, which may produce ammonia, play crucial roles. Moreover, the population of iron bacteria grows in such an environment. Hence, this study proposes that C/N ratios can influence Fe(II)/Fe(III) conversions and simultaneously affect the process of nitrate reduction by shaping the composition of specific microbial communities.

A Framework for Single-Panicle Litchi Flower Counting by Regression with Multitask Learning

The number of flowers is essential for evaluating the growth status of litchi trees and enables researchers to estimate flowering rates and conduct various phenotypic studies, particularly focusing on the information of individual panicles. However, manual counting remains the primary method for quantifying flowers, and there has been insufficient emphasis on the advancement of reliable deep learning methods for estimation and their integration into research. Furthermore, the current density map-based methods are susceptible to background interference. To tackle the challenges of accurately quantifying small and dense male litchi flowers, a framework counting the flowers in panicles is proposed. Firstly, an existing effective algorithm YOLACT++ is utilized to segment individual panicles from images. Secondly, a novel algorithm FlowerNet based on density map regression is proposed to accurately count flowers in each panicle. By employing a multitask learning approach, FlowerNet effectively captures both foreground and background information, thereby overcoming interference from non-target areas during pixel-level regression tasks. It achieves a mean absolute error of 47.71 and a root mean squared error of 61.78 on the flower dataset constructed. Additionally, a regression equation is established using a dataset of inflorescences to examine the application of the algorithm for flower counting. It captures the relationship between the predicted number of flowers by FlowerNet and the manually counted number, resulting in a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.81. The proposed algorithm shows promise for automated estimation of litchi flowering quantity and can serve as a valuable reference for litchi orchard management during flowering period.

Role of macrophage polarization in periodontitis promoting atherosclerosis

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory destructive disease occurring in periodontal supporting tissues. Atherosclerosis(AS) is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases. Periodontitis can promote the development and progression of AS. Macrophage polarization is closely related to the development and progression of the above two diseases, respectively. The purpose of this animal study was to evaluate the effect of periodontitis on aortic lesions in atherosclerotic mice and the role of macrophage polarization in this process. 45 ApoE-/-male mice were randomly divided into three groups: control (NC), atherosclerosis (AS), and atherosclerosis with periodontitis (AS + PD). Micro CT, serological testing and pathological testing(hematoxylin-eosin staining, oil red O staining and Masson staining) were used for Evaluate the modeling situation. Immunohistochemistry(IHC) and immunofluorescence(IF) were performed to evaluate macrophage content and macrophage polarization in plaques. Cytokines associated with macrophage polarization were analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(Elisa). The expression of macrophages in plaques was sequentially elevated in the NC, AS, and AS + PD groups(P < 0.001). The expression of M1 and M1-related cytokines showed the same trend(P < 0.05). The expression of M2 and M2-related cytokines showed the opposite trend(P < 0.05). The rate of M1/M2 showed that AS + PD > AS > NC. Our preliminary data support that experimental periodontitis can increase the content of macrophage in aortic plaques to exacerbate AS. Meanwhile, experimental periodontitis can increase M1 macrophages, and decrease M2 macrophages, increasing M1/M2 in the plaque.

Bacterial and host factors involved in zoonotic Streptococcal meningitis

Zoonotic streptococci cause several invasive diseases with high mortality rates, especially meningitis. Numerous studies elucidated the meningitis pathogenesis of zoonotic streptococci, some specific to certain bacterial species. In contrast, others are shared among different bacterial species, involving colonization and invasion of mucosal barriers, survival in the bloodstream, breaching the blood-brain and/or blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier to access the central nervous system, and triggering inflammation of the meninges. This review focuses on the recent advancements in comprehending the molecular and cellular events of five major zoonotic streptococci responsible for causing meningitis in humans or animals, including Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus, Streptococcus suis, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, and Streptococcus iniae. The underlying mechanism was summarized into four themes, including 1) bacterial survival in blood, 2) brain microvascular endothelial cell adhesion and invasion, 3) penetration of the blood-brain barrier, and 4) activation of the immune system and inflammatory reaction within the brain. This review may contribute to developing therapeutics to prevent or mitigate injury of streptococcal meningitis and improve risk stratification.

The application value of deep learning-based nomograms in benign-malignant discrimination of TI-RADS category 4 thyroid nodules

Thyroid nodules are a common occurrence, and although most are non-cancerous, some can be malignant. The American College of Radiology has developed the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) to standardize the interpretation and reporting of thyroid ultrasound results. Within TI-RADS, a category 4 designation signifies a thyroid nodule with an intermediate level of suspicion for malignancy. Accurate classification of these nodules is crucial for proper management, as it can potentially reduce unnecessary surgeries and improve patient outcomes. This study utilized deep learning techniques to effectively classify TI-RADS category 4 thyroid nodules as either benign or malignant. A total of 500 patients were included in the study and randomly divided into a training group (350 patients) and a test group (150 patients). The YOLOv3 model was constructed and evaluated using various metrics, achieving an 84% accuracy in the classification of TI-RADS category 4 thyroid nodules. Based on the predictions of the model, along with clinical and ultrasound data, a nomogram was developed. The performance of the nomogram was superior in both the training and testing groups. Furthermore, the calibration curve demonstrated good agreement between predicted probabilities and actual outcomes. Decision curve analysis further confirmed that the nomogram provided greater net benefits. Ultimately, the YOLOv3 model and nomogram successfully improved the accuracy of distinguishing between benign and malignant TI-RADS category 4 thyroid nodules, which is crucial for proper management and improved patient outcomes.

MicroRNA-150-5P regulates Th1/Th2 cytokines expression levels by targeting EGR2 in allergic rhinitis

BACKGROUND

MiR-150-5p is one of the miRNAs in the expression profile of miRNAs, and in many previous studies, it has been shown that miR-150-5p may play an important role in peripheral blood dendritic cells (DCs) of allergic rhinitis (AR) patients. We sought to investigate the role and mechanism of miR-150-5p in regulating DC function by modulating EGR2 and influencing T cell derivation to promote AR development.

METHODS

The expression of miR-150-5p and EGR2 in AR patients was examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), the expression of IL-4 cytokines in the supernatant of AR patients was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the expression of eosinophils in the supernatant of AR patients was measured by HE staining. The expression of EGR2 was detected by immunohistochemistry and fluorescent m-immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

MiR-150-5p expression was up-regulated and EGR2 expression was down-regulated in peripheral blood DCs from AR patients. miR-150-5p upregulated DCs, which promoted T-cell differentiation. miR-150-5p further regulated EGR2, which suppressed DCs and caused alteration of T-cell differentiation, in turn triggering the occurrence of AR.

CONCLUSION

MiR-150-5p and its target gene EGR2 are involved in the development of AR, and DCs foster T-cell differentiation in peripheral blood of AR patients.

Quality control of postoperative radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer: A study of mediastinal shift

PURPOSE

This study aimed to assess the shifting patterns of the mediastinum, including the target volume and the isocenter point during the postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) process of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to observe the occurrence of radiation injury. Additionally, we investigated the significance of mid-term assessment during the implementation of the PORT process.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We established coordinate axes based on bone anatomy and measured the mediastinum's three-dimensional direction and the shift of the isocenter point's shift in the PORT process. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, and the Chi-square test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

In this study, the analysis of patients revealed that the shift of anterior and posterior mediastinum (X), left and right mediastinum (Y), upper and lower mediastinum (Z), anterior and posterior isocenter point (Xi), and the left and right isocenter points (Yi) in the PORT process were 0.04-0.53, 0.00-0.84, 0.00-1.27, 0.01-0.86, and 0.00-0.66cm, respectively. The shift distance of the mediastinum was Z>Y>X, and the shift distance of the isocenter point was Xi>Yi. According to the ROC curve, the cut-off values were 0.263, 0.352, 0.405, 0.238, and 0.258, respectively, which were more significant than the cut-off values in 25 cases (25%), 30 cases (30%), 30 cases (30%), 17 cases (17%), and 15 cases (15%). In addition, there was a significant difference in the shift of the mediastinum and the isocenter point (all P=0.00). Kruskal-Wallis test showed no statistically significant difference between mediastinal shift and resection site in X, Y, and Z directions (P=0.355, P=0.239, P=0.256), surgical method (P=0.241, P=0.110, P=0.064). There was no significant difference in the incidence of RE and RP in PORT patients (P>0.05). No III-IV RP occurred. However, the incidence of ≥ grade III RE in the modified plan cases after M-S was significantly lower than in the original PORT patients, 0% and 7%, respectively (P=0.000).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this study provides evidence that mediastinal shift is a potential complication during the PORT process for patients with N2 stage or R1-2 resection following radical resection of NSCLC. This shift affects about 20-30% of patients, manifesting as actual radiation damage to normal tissue and reducing the local control rate. Therefore, mid-term repositioning of the PORT and revision of the target volume and radiation therapy plan can aid in maintaining QA and QC during the treatment of NSCLC patients and may result in improved patient outcomes.

DR30318, a novel tri-specific T cell engager for Claudin 18.2 positive cancers immunotherapy

BACKGROUND

Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is a highly anticipated target for solid tumor therapy, especially in advanced gastric carcinoma and pancreatic carcinoma. The T cell engager targeting CLDN18.2 represents a compelling strategy for enhancing anti-cancer efficacy.

METHODS

Based on the in-house screened anti-CLDN18.2 VHH, we have developed a novel tri-specific T cell engager targeting CLDN18.2 for gastric and pancreatic cancer immunotherapy. This tri-specific antibody was designed with binding to CLDN18.2, human serum albumin (HSA) and CD3 on T cells.

RESULTS

The DR30318 demonstrated binding affinity to CLDN18.2, HSA and CD3, and exhibited T cell-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (TDCC) activity in vitro. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a half-life of 22.2-28.6 h in rodents and 41.8 h in cynomolgus monkeys, respectively. The administration of DR30318 resulted in a slight increase in the levels of IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) in cynomolgus monkeys. Furthermore, after incubation with human PBMCs and CLDN18.2 expressing cells, DR30318 induced TDCC activity and the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Notably, DR30318 demonstrated significant tumor suppression effects on gastric cancer xenograft models NUGC4/hCLDN18.2 and pancreatic cancer xenograft model BxPC3/hCLDN18.2 without affecting the body weight of mice.

ORF48 is required for optimal lytic replication of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) establishes persistent infection in the host by encoding a vast network of proteins that aid immune evasion. One of these targeted innate immunity pathways is the cGAS-STING pathway, which inhibits the reactivation of KSHV from latency. Previously, we identified multiple cGAS/STING inhibitors encoded by KSHV, suggesting that the counteractions of this pathway by viral proteins are critical for maintaining a successful KSHV life cycle. However, the detailed mechanisms of how these viral proteins block innate immunity and facilitate KSHV lytic replication remain largely unknown. In this study, we report that ORF48, a previously identified negative regulator of the cGAS/STING pathway, is required for optimal KSHV lytic replication. We used both siRNA and deletion-based systems to evaluate the importance of intact ORF48 in the KSHV lytic cycle. In both systems, loss of ORF48 resulted in defects in lytic gene transcription, lytic protein expression, viral genome replication and infectious virion production. ORF48 genome deletion caused more robust and global repression of the KSHV transcriptome, possibly due to the disruption of RTA promoter activity. Mechanistically, overexpressed ORF48 was found to interact with endogenous STING in HEK293 cells. Compared with the control cell line, HUVEC cells stably expressing ORF48 exhibited repressed STING-dependent innate immune signaling upon ISD or diABZI treatment. However, the loss of ORF48 in our iSLK-based lytic system failed to induce IFNβ production, suggesting a redundant role of ORF48 on STING signaling during the KSHV lytic phase. Thus, ORF48 is required for optimal KSHV lytic replication through additional mechanisms that need to be further explored.

A planar tracking strategy based on multiple-interpretable improved PPO algorithm with few-shot technique

Facing to a planar tracking problem, a multiple-interpretable improved Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm with few-shot technique is proposed, namely F-GBQ-PPO. Compared with the normal PPO, the main improvements of F-GBQ-PPO are to increase the interpretability, and reduce the consumption for real interaction samples. Considering to increase incomprehensibility of a tracking policy, three levels of interpretabilities has been studied, including the perceptual, logical and mathematical interpretabilities. Detailly speaking, it is realized through introducing a guided policy based on Apollonius circle, a hybrid exploration policy based on biological motions, and the update of external parameters based on quantum genetic algorithm. Besides, to deal with the potential lack of real interaction samples in real applications, a few-shot technique is contained in the algorithm, which mainly generate fake samples through a multi-dimension Gaussian process. By mixing fake samples with real ones in a certain proportion, the demand for real samples can be reduced.

CD97 inhibits osteoclast differentiation via Rap1a/ERK pathway under compression

Acceleration of tooth movement during orthodontic treatment is challenging, with osteoclast-mediated bone resorption on the compressive side being the rate-limiting step. Recent studies have demonstrated that mechanoreceptors on the surface of monocytes/macrophages, especially adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs), play important roles in force sensing. However, its role in the regulation of osteoclast differentiation remains unclear. Herein, through single-cell analysis, we revealed that CD97, a novel mechanosensitive aGPCR, was expressed in macrophages. Compression upregulated CD97 expression and inhibited osteoclast differentiation; while knockdown of CD97 partially rescued osteoclast differentiation. It suggests that CD97 may be an important mechanosensitive receptor during osteoclast differentiation. RNA sequencing analysis showed that the Rap1a/ERK signalling pathway mediates the effects of CD97 on osteoclast differentiation under compression. Consistently, we clarified that administration of the Rap1a inhibitor GGTI298 increased osteoclast activity, thereby accelerating tooth movement. In conclusion, our results indicate that CD97 suppresses osteoclast differentiation through the Rap1a/ERK signalling pathway under orthodontic compressive force.

A radiomics-based brain network in T1 images: construction, attributes, and applications

T1 image is a widely collected imaging sequence in various neuroimaging datasets, but it is rarely used to construct an individual-level brain network. In this study, a novel individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network was proposed from T1 images. In detail, it used voxel-based morphometry to obtain the preprocessed gray matter images, and radiomic features were then extracted on each region of interest in Brainnetome atlas, and an individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network was finally built using the correlational values of radiomic features between any pair of regions of interest. After that, the network characteristics of individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network were assessed, including graph theory attributes, test-retest reliability, and individual identification ability (fingerprinting). At last, two representative applications for individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network, namely mild cognitive impairment subtype discrimination and fluid intelligence prediction, were exemplified and compared with some other networks on large open-source datasets. The results revealed that the individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network displays remarkable network characteristics and exhibits advantageous performances in mild cognitive impairment subtype discrimination and fluid intelligence prediction. In summary, the individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network provides a distinctive, reliable, and informative individualized structural brain network, which can be combined with other networks such as resting-state functional connectivity for various phenotypic and clinical applications.

Laser Welding of Titanium/Steel Bimetallic Sheets with In Situ Formation of Fex(CoCrNiMn)Tiy High-Entropy Alloys in Weld Metal

Due to the notable disparities in the physical and chemical characteristics between titanium and steel, the direct fusion of titanium/steel bimetallic sheets results in a considerable formation of fragile intermetallic compounds, making it difficult to achieve excellent metallurgical welded joints. In this study, a multi-principal powder of CoCrNiMn was designed and utilized as a filler material in the welding of the TA1/Q345 bimetallic sheet. It was expected that the in situ formation of Fex(CoCrNiMn)Tiy high-entropy alloys would be achieved using the filler powders, combined with the Ti and Fe elements from the melting of the TA1 and Q345 so as to restrain the generation of Fe-Ti IMCs and obtain the promising welded joints of the TA1/Q345 bimetallic sheet. An interesting finding is that high-entropy alloys were successfully obtained in the weld metal. The Fe-Ti intermetallic compounds at the welding interface were significantly reduced. The tensile strength was ~293 MPa, accounting for 60% of the strength of the base metal. Dimples were observed at the fracture of the welded joint.

Structural analysis of global mineral governance system from the perspective of country

The uneven spatial distribution of mineral resources necessitates the construction of mature global mineral governance system to ensure rational allocation of mineral resources. To this end, it is essential to analyze the structure of the global mineral governance system to provide a theoretical basis for the construction. The governance actor is the crucial element in driving the governance process, and country serves as the most central actor. Therefore, clarifying the roles and statuses of different countries in the governance system will be helpful to analyze the structure of the governance system. In the context of advancing globalization, a complex cooperative relationship has been presented between countries based on international organizations. Thus, we establish a national cooperation network based on the principle of the co-existence of countries in international organizations, to quantify these relationships between countries and identify the role and status of different countries, as well as the country communities in the cooperation network, by combining the characteristics of the countries in the network with the actual performance in the organizations. The research findings are as follow: (1) The UK, Germany, France, Sweden, and Canada play pivotal roles in promoting international cooperation as well as leading governance in the governance system. (2) Emerging economies are more actively engaged in these organizations and can promote international cooperation, but lack the capacity to assume leadership roles in governance. (3) The U.S. and China have a stronger ability to lead than to cooperate in the governance system. (4) Most African and South American countries, as well as some European nations, are marginalized in the governance system. (5) Countries with the same needs and similar economic and political conditions belong to the same community: The European countries and the U.S., consumer with a high level of economic and political development but low mineral resource endowment are in the first community. Canada, Australia, and certain African and South American countries, producers with high mineral resource endowments are in the second community. Most African and South American countries with lower levels of economic and political development are in the third group.

Porcine circovirus type 2 and Glaesserella parasuis serotype 4 co-infection activates Snail1 to disrupt the intercellular junctions and facilitate bacteria translocation across the tracheal epithelium

Clinically, Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) often causes disease through coinfection with other bacterial pathogens, including Glaesserella parasuis (G. parasuis), which causes high morbidity and mortality. However, the mechanism of PCV2 and G. parasuis serotype 4 (GPS4) co-infection is still not fully understood. In this study, swine tracheal epithelial cells (STEC) were used as a barrier model, and our results showed that PCV2 infection increased the adhesion of GPS4 to STEC, while decreasing the levels of ZO-1, Occludin and increasing tracheal epithelial permeability, and ultimately facilitated GPS4 translocation. Snail1 is a transcriptional repressor, and has been known to induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during development or in cancer metastasis. Importantly, we found that Snail1, as a transcriptional repressor, was crucial in destroying the tracheal epithelial barrier induced by PCV2, GPS4, PCV2 and GPS4 coinfection. For the first time, we found that PCV2, GPS4, PCV2 and GPS4 coinfection cross-activates TGF-β and p38/MAPK signaling pathways to upregulate the expression of Snail1, down-regulate the levels of ZO-1 and Occludin, and thus disrupt the integrity of tracheal epithelial barrier then promoting GPS4 translocation. Finally, PCV2 and GPS4 co-infection also can activate TGF-β and p38/MAPK signaling pathways in vivo and upregulate Snail1, ultimately down-regulating the expression of ZO-1 and Occludin. Our study elucidates how PCV2 infection promotes GPS4 to breach the tracheal epithelial barrier and aggravate clinical manifestations.

Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of miRNA Using a Transmembrane Polypeptide-Based Genetic Reporter

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that play important regulatory roles in multiple biological processes. Many miRNAs exhibit unique expression patterns and are considered as theranostic biomarkers in a variety of human diseases. A reporter system that is capable of imaging miRNA in vivo is crucial for investigating miRNA biology. In the present study, an organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1B3 (OATP1B3)-based genetic switch system is designed and optimized to achieve near-infrared fluorescent imaging of miRNA by the uptake of indocyanine green (ICG) dye. The reporter system, named miR-ON-OB3, is shown to be efficient to regulate the expression of OATP1B3 in mammalian cells. Notably, the results indicate that the system is of high sensitivity for near-infrared fluorescence imaging of both exogenous and endogenous miRNA in mammalian cells. Moreover, the system is proved to be functional for real-time near-infrared fluorescence imaging of miRNA in living mice. This study establishes a novel genetic encoded reporter for near-infrared fluorescence imaging of miRNA, which may provide a potential tool for in vivo imaging of miRNA in clinical applications due to the clinical availability of ICG.

ASH2L, Core Subunit of H3K4 Methylation Complex, Regulates Amelogenesis

Histone methylation assumes a crucial role in the intricate process of enamel development. Our study has illuminated the substantial prevalence of H3K4me3 distribution, spanning from the cap stage to the late bell stage of dental germs. In order to delve into the role of H3K4me3 modification in amelogenesis and unravel the underlying mechanisms, we performed a conditional knockout of Ash2l, a core subunit essential for the establishment of H3K4me3 within the dental epithelium of mice. The absence of Ash2l resulted in reduced H3K4me3 modification, subsequently leading to abnormal morphology of dental germ at the late bell stage. Notably, knockout of Ash2l resulted in a loss of polarity in ameloblasts and odontoblasts. The proliferation and apoptosis of the inner enamel epithelium cells underwent dysregulation. Moreover, there was a notable reduction in the expression of matrix-related genes, Amelx and Dspp, accompanied with impaired enamel and dentin formation. Cut&Tag-seq (cleavage under targets and tagmentation sequencing) analysis substantiated a reduction of H3K4me3 modification on Shh, Trp63, Sp6, and others in the dental epithelium of Ash2l knockout mice. Validation through real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence consistently affirmed the observed downregulation of Shh and Sp6 in the dental epithelium following Ash2l knockout. Intriguingly, the expression of Trp63 isomers, DNp63 and TAp63, was perturbed in Ash2l defect dental epithelium. Furthermore, the downstream target of TAp63, P21, exhibited aberrant expression within the cervical loop of mandibular first molars and incisors. Collectively, our findings suggest that ASH2L orchestrates the regulation of crucial amelogenesis-associated genes, such as Shh, Trp63, and others, by modulating H3K4me3 modification. Loss of ASH2L and H3K4me3 can lead to aberrant differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis of the dental epithelium by affecting the expression of Shh, Trp63, and others genes, thereby contributing to the defects of amelogenesis.

AID-induced CXCL12 upregulation enhances castration-resistant prostate cancer cell metastasis by stabilizing β-catenin expression

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant diseases of urinary system and has poor prognosis after progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), and increased cytosine methylation heterogeneity is associated with the more aggressive phenotype of PCa cell line. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is a multifunctional enzyme and contributes to antibody diversification. However, the dysregulation of AID participates in the progression of multiple diseases and related with certain oncogenes through demethylation. Nevertheless, the role of AID in PCa remains elusive. We observed a significant upregulation of AID expression in PCa samples, which exhibited a negative correlation with E-cadherin expression. Furthermore, AID expression is remarkably higher in CRPC cells than that in HSPC cells, and AID induced the demethylation of CXCL12, which is required to stabilize the Wnt signaling pathway executor β-catenin and EMT procedure. Our study suggests that AID drives CRPC metastasis by demethylation and can be a potential therapeutic target for CRPC.

Multitrait meta-analyses identify potential candidate genes for growth-related traits in Holstein heifers

Understanding the underlying pleiotropic relationships among growth and body size traits is important for refining breeding strategies in dairy cattle for optimal body size and growth rate. Therefore, we performed single-trait GWAS for monthly-recorded body weight (BW), hip height, body length, and chest girth from birth to 12 mo of age in Holstein animals, followed by stepwise multiple regression of independent or lowly-linked markers from GWAS loci using conditional and joint association analyses (COJO). Subsequently, we conducted a multitrait meta-analysis to detect pleiotropic markers. Based on the single-trait GWAS, we identified 170 significant SNPs, in which 59 of them remained significant after the COJO analyses. The most significant SNP, located at BTA7:3,676,741, explained 2.93% of the total phenotypic variance for BW6 (BW at 6 mo of age). We identified 17 SNPs with potential pleiotropic effects based on the multitrait meta-analyses, which resulted in 3 additional SNPs in comparison to those detected based on the single-trait GWAS. The identified quantitative trait loci regions overlap with genes known to influence human growth-related traits. According to positional and functional analyses, we proposed HMGA2, HNF4G, MED13L, BHLHE40, FRZB, DMP1, TRIB3, and GATAD2A as important candidate genes influencing the studied traits. The combination of single-trait GWAS and meta-analyses of GWAS results improved the efficiency of detecting associated SNPs, and provided new insights into the genetic mechanisms of growth and development in Holstein cattle.

Prolonged administration of total glucosides of paeony improves intestinal immune imbalance and epithelial barrier damage in collagen-induced arthritis rats based on metabolomics-network pharmacology integrated analysis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation and joint damage with complex pathological mechanisms. In recent years, many studies have shown that the dysregulation of intestinal mucosal immunity and the damage of the epithelial barrier are closely related to the occurrence of RA. Total glucosides of paeony (TGP) have been used clinically for the treatment of RA in China for decades, while the pharmacological mechanism is still uncertain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effect and mechanism of TGP on intestinal immunity and epithelial barrier in RA model rats. The results showed that TGP alleviated immune hyperfunction by regulating the ratio of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ in different lymphocyte synthesis sites of the small intestine, including Peyer's patches (PPs), intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), and lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs). Specially, TGP first exhibited immunomodulatory effects on sites close to the intestinal lumen (IELs and LPLs), and then on PPs far away from the intestinal lumen as the administration time prolonged. Meanwhile, TGP restores the intestinal epithelial barrier by upregulating the ratio of villi height (V)/crypt depth (C) and expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin). Finally, the integrated analysis of metabolomics-network pharmacology was also used to explore the possible regulation mechanism of TGP on the intestinal tract. Metabolomics analysis revealed that TGP reversed the intestinal metabolic profile disturbance in CIA rats, and identified 32 biomarkers and 163 corresponding targets; network pharmacology analysis identified 111 potential targets for TGP to treat RA. By intersecting the results of the two, three key targets such as ADA, PNP and TYR were determined. Pharmacological verification experiments showed that the levels of ADA and PNP in the small intestine of CIA rats were significantly increased, while TGP significantly decreased their ADA and PNP levels. In conclusion, purine metabolism may play an important role in the process of TGP improving RA-induced intestinal immune imbalance and impaired epithelial barrier.

Research on Similarity Simulation Experiment of Mine Pressure Appearance in Surface Gully Working Face Based on BOTDA

In order to study the mountain deflection characteristics and the pressure law of the working face after the mining of a shallow coal seam under the valley terrain, a geometric size of 5.0 × 0.2 × 1.33 m is used in the physical similarity model. Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) technology is applied to a similar physical model experiment to monitor the internal strain of the overlying rock. In this paper, the strain law of the horizontal optical fiber at different stages of the instability of the mountain structure is analyzed. Combined with the measurement of the strain field on the surface of the model via digital image correlation (DIC) technology, the optical fiber strain characteristics of the precursor of mountain instability are given. The optical fiber characterization method of working face pressure is proposed, and the working face pressures at different mining stages in gully terrain are characterized. Finally, the relationship between the deflection instability of the mountain and the strong ground pressure on the working face is discussed. The sudden increase in the strain peak point of the horizontally distributed optical fiber strain curve can be used to distinguish the strong ground pressure. At the same time, this conclusion is verified by comparing the measured underground ground pressure values. The research results can promote the application of optical fiber sensing technology in the field of mine engineering.

[Plurihormonal PIT1-lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors: a clinicopathological study]

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of plurihormonal PIT1-lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. Methods: Forty-eight plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors were collected between January 2018 and April 2022 from the pathological database of Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University. The related clinical and imaging data were retrieved. H&E, immunohistochemical and special stains were performed. Results: Out of the 48 plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors included, 13 cases were mature PIT1-lineage tumors and 35 cases were immature PIT1-lineage tumors. There were some obvious clinicopathological differences between the two groups. Clinically, the mature plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumor mostly had endocrine symptoms due to increased hormone production, while a small number of immature PIT1-lineage tumors had endocrine symptoms accompanied by low-level increased serum pituitary hormone; patients with the immature PIT1-lineage tumors were younger than the mature PIT1-lineage tumors; the immature PIT1-lineage tumors were larger in size and more likely invasive in imaging. Histopathologically, the mature PIT1-lineage tumors were composed of large eosinophilic cells with high proportion of growth hormone expression, while the immature PIT1-lineage tumors consisted of chromophobe cells with a relatively higher expression of prolactin; the mature PIT1-lineage tumors had consistently diffuse cytoplasmic positive staining for keratin, while the immature PIT1-lineage tumors had various expression for keratin; the immature PIT1-lineage tumors showed more mitotic figures and higher Ki-67 proliferation index; in addition, 25.0% (12/48) of PIT1-positive plurihormonal tumors showed abnormal positive staining for gonadotropin hormones. There was no significant difference in the progression-free survival between the two groups (P=0.648) by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Conclusions: Plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumor belongs to a rare type of PIT1-lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors, most of which are of immature lineage. Clinically increased symptoms owing to pituitary hormone secretion, histopathologically increased number of eosinophilic tumor cells with high proportion of growth hormone expression, diffusely cytoplasmic keratin staining and low proliferative activity can help differentiate the mature plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors from the immature PIT1-lineage tumors. The immature PIT1-lineage tumors have more complicated clinicopathological characteristics.

Efficacy of Postoperative Radiotherapy for Patients with New N2 Descriptors of Subclassification in Completely Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Real-World Study

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Patients with N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were heterogeneous groups and required further stratification. The International Society for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) added new descriptors of three sub-stages for stage N2 NSCLC: N2 at a single station without N1 involvement (N2a1), N2 at a single station with N1 involvement (N2a2), and N2 at multiple stations (N2b). This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for patients with these N2 descriptors.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Patients with histologically confirmed NSCLC after complete resection and divided into PORT group and non-PORT group. The primary endpoint was DFS. The second endpoints were overall survival (OS) and locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS). Propensity-score matching (PSM) of baseline characteristics between the PORT and non-PORT groups was used for validation.

RESULTS

Totally 1832 patients were enrolled, including 308 N2a1 patients, 682 N2a2 patients, and 842 N2b patients. The median follow-up time was 50.1 months. The survival outcomes of the PORT and non-PORT groups before PSM were shown in Table 1. For patients with N2a1, PORT could not improve the DFS (median DFS of the PORT group and the non-PORT group: not reached vs. 46.8 months, P = 0.41), OS (P = 0.85), or LRFS (P = 0.32), which were consistent with the multivariate analysis and data after the PSM. For patients with N2a2, PORT significantly improved the DFS (median DFS 29.7 vs. 22.2 months, P = 0.02), OS (P = 0.03), and LRFS (P = 0.01). The multivariate analysis and data after the PSM confirmed the benefits in DFS and LRFS, but no benefit was observed in OS (multivariate analysis: HR 0.79, P = 0.18; median OS after PSM: 103.7 vs. 63.1 months, P = 0.34). For patients with N2b, PORT could not improve the DFS (median DFS 20.6 vs. 21.2 months, P = 0.39) but significantly improved the OS (P<0.001) and LRFS (P<0.001). However, the multivariate analysis showed that PORT significantly improved DFS (HR 0.81, P = 0.03), consistent with the data after the PSM (median DFS 20.6 and 17.6 months, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

PORT significantly improved the DFS and LRFS in patients with N2a2 and significantly improved the DFS, LRFS, and OS in patients with N2b. Patients with N2a1 could not benefit from PORT.

High Dose Hyperfractionated Thoracic Radiotherapy vs. Standard Dose for Limited Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Multicenter, Open-Label Randomized, Phase 3 Trial

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Limited stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) is associated with poor prognosis. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of high-dose, hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy of 54 Gy in 30 fractions compared with standard dose (45 Gy in 30 fractions) as a first-line treatment for LS-SCLC.

MATERIALS/METHODS

The study was an open-label, randomized, phase 3 trial, done at 16 public hospitals in China. Key inclusion criteria were patients aged 18-70 years, with previously histologically or cytologically confirmed LS-SCLC, previously untreated or received 1-2 courses of intravenous cisplatin (75 mg/m²of body-surface area, on day 1 or divided into two days of each cycle) or carboplatin (area under the curve of 5 mg/mL per min, day 1 of each cycle)and intravenous etoposide (100 mg/m²of body-surface area, on days 1-3 of each cycle), and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-1.Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) of 45 Gy in 30 fractions or the simultaneous integrated boost VMAT (SIB-VMAT) of 54 Gy in 30 fractions to the primary lung tumor and lymph node metastases starting 0-42 days after the first chemotherapy course. Both groups of patients received thoracic radiotherapy twice per day and 10 fractions per week. Prophylactic cranial radiation (PCI, 25 Gy in 10 fractions) was implemented to patients with responsive disease. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Safety was analyzed in the as-treated population.

RESULTS

Between June 30, 2017, and April 6, 2021, 224 eligible patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to 54 Gy (n = 108) or 45 Gy (n = 116). Median follow-up for the primary analysis was 45 months (IQR 41-48). Median overall survival was significantly improved in the 54 Gy group (62.4 months) compared with the 45 Gy group (43.1 months; p = 0.001). Median progression-free survival was significantly improved in the 54 Gy group (30.5 months) compared with the 45 Gy group (16.7 months; p = 0.044). The most common grade 3-4 adverse events were neutropenia (30 [28%] of 108 patients in the 54 Gy group vs 27 [23%] of 116 patients in the 45 Gy group), neutropenic infections (6 [6%] vs 2 [2%]), thrombocytopenia (13 [12%] vs 12 [10%]), anemia (6 [6%] vs 4 [3%]), and esophagitis (1 [1%] vs 3 [3%]). Treatment-related serious adverse events occurred in 9 [8%] patients in the 54 Gy group and 16 [14%] patients in the 45 Gy group. There were one treatment-related deaths in 54 Gy group (myocardial infarction).

CONCLUSION

Compared with standard thoracic radiotherapy dose of 45 Gy, the high dose of 54 Gy improved overall survival and progression-free survival without increasing toxicities in patients with LS-SCLC, supporting twice-daily hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy of 54 Gy with concurrent chemotherapy is an alternative treatment option for LS-SCLC. This study is complete and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03214003.

The Impact of a High Radiation Dose to the Immune Cells on Tumor Control and Survival in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Postoperative Radiotherapy

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Previous studies showed that the estimated dose of radiation to immune cells (EDRIC) was correlated with the overall survival (OS) of patients who received definitive thoracic radiotherapy. However, planning target volume (PTV) may be a confounding factor. The PTV is relatively uniform for patients undergoing postoperative radiotherapy (PORT). We further assessed the prognostic value of EDRIC on survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing PORT.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Patients with NSCLC who received PORT between 2004 and 2019 were analyzed. EDRIC was calculated as a function of the number of radiation fractions and mean doses to the lung, heart, and remaining body based on a model developed by Jin et al. The correlation between EDRIC and OS, PFS, local progression-free survival (LPFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were analyzed using univariable and multivariable Cox models. Kaplan-Meier method was used to show the survival difference between patients with high and low EDRIC.

RESULTS

A total of 345 patients were eligible. The mean EDRIC was 7.6 Gy. Multivariate analysis showed that EDRIC was associated with OS (HR 1.14, P = 0.002), PFS (HR 1.08, P = 0.016), LRFS (HR 1.111, P = 0.008), and DMFS (HR 1.10, P = 0.018). Patients were divided into low and high EDRIC groups according to median EDRIC. The 3-year OS was 82.7% and 72.2% (p = 0.03). The 3-year PFS was 40.3% and 17.8% (p < 0.01). The 3-year LRFS was 71.39% and 59.18% (p = 0.05). The 3-year DMFS was 74.4% and 63.4% (p = 0.06).

CONCLUSION

EDRIC was an independent prognostic factor for survival. Higher doses of radiation to the immune system were associated with tumor progression and death after the PORT of NSCLC. The organ at risk for the immune system should be considered during radiotherapy planning.

A Machine Learning Method to Predict Pathological Complete Response of Esophageal Cancer after Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy with Clinicohematological Markers and MR Radiomics: A Multi-Center Study

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Nearly 30% of patients with local advanced esophageal cancer achieved pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT), who may benefit from organ-preservation strategy under accurate prediction of pCR. We aimed to develop and validate machine learning models based on clinicohematological markers and MR radiomics to accurately predict pCR of esophageal cancer after nCRT.

MATERIALS/METHODS

In this multi-center study, eligible patients with esophageal cancer who received baseline MR scan (T2-weighted image) and nCRT plus surgery were enrolled between September 2014 and September 2022 at institution 1 (training set) and between December 2017 and August 2021 at institution 2 (testing set). Pre-nCRT and post-nCRT blood test results were collected to calculate hematological markers. Models were constructed by machine learning based on clinicohematological markers and MR radiomics to predict pCR. Area under the curve (AUC) and cut-off analysis were used to evaluate model performances.

RESULTS

Totally 154 patients (81 in the training set and 73 in the testing set) were enrolled. The combined model integrating pre-nCRT monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio and 6 radiomics features achieved AUC of 0.800 (95% CI 0.671-0.918) in the testing set, with sensitivity of 79.2% (95% CI 62.5%-95.8%), specificity of 83.7% (95% CI 73.5%-93.9%), positive predictive value of 76.0% (95% CI 62.5%-90.0%), and negative predictive value of 89.6% (95% CI 82.0%-95.8%).

CONCLUSION

A machine learning model based on clinicohematological markers and MR radiomics to predict pCR after nCRT for patients with esophageal cancer was developed and validated, providing a novel tool for personalized treatment. It is necessary to further validate in more large datasets.

Clinical Verification of a Nomogram Model for Prediction of Brain Metastases in Patients with pⅢA-N2 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Brain metastasis is one of the most common failure patterns of pⅢA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after complete resection. Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation (PCI) can improve intracranial control but not overall survival. Thus, it is particularly important to identify risk factors that are associated with brain metastasis and subsequently provide instructions for selecting patients who will optimally benefit from PCI. We have reported a nomogram model which was established based on the condition of histology, bronchial invasion, perineural invasion, and adjuvant chemotherapy, through which we can predict high risk brain metastases in patients with pⅢA-N2 NSCLC. The purpose of this study is to verify the accuracy of the nomogram model by using new cases information.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019, patients of pⅢA-N2 NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed, to verify the consistency between actual and predictive brain metastases. The verification group was divided into two groups according to the years when genetic testing has been widely used in clinic (group1:2015-2016, group2:2017-2019). ROC curves and calibration curves were chosen for validation.

RESULTS

A total of 770 patients were enrolled in our retrospective study (group1:294 patients, group2: 476patients). The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 97.2%, 76.5%, 63.2% in group1, and 95.8%, 84.5%, 76.9% in group2, respectively. The 1-, 3- and 5-year brain metastasis rates were 7.9%, 19.7%, 25.8%, and 5.4%, 14.5%, 26.3% in group2, respectively. The AUC were 0.74 (95% CI:0.72 - 0.76) in group1, and 0.71(95% CI:0.70 - 0.73) in group 2.The 1.3.5-year calibration curves of the two groups show that the prediction is in good agreement with the actual observation.

CONCLUSION

The nomogram model can predict brain metastases high risk patients with pⅢA-N2 NSCLC. Whether gene test or not, it can be used as a basis to screening out patients of high-risk brain metastases in future clinical trials for PCI.

Overall Survival Following Salvage Thoracic Radiotherapy for Locoregional Recurrence in Patients with Completely Resected PIIIA-N2 NSCLC

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Locoregional recurrence is a common failure pattern for patients with completely resected pIIIA-N2 NSCLC. The salvage thoracic radiotherapy is administered in some pIIIA-N2 NSCLC patients despite postoperative radiotherapy (PORT). Salvage thoracic radiotherapy could be well tolerated and might improve survival from several small sample retrospective studies, while the high-level clinical evidence is presently lacking. We conducted this retrospective case control study to demonstrate the efficacy of salvage thoracic radiotherapy for completely resected pIIIA-N2 NSCLC patients with locoregional recurrence.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Between January 2003 and June 2019, patients who had undergone lobectomy or pneumonectomy plus mediastinal lymph node dissection or systematic sampling in our single institution were retrospectively reviewed. Those with pⅢA-N2 NSCLC that did not receive PORT and suffered locoregional recurrence being the first treatment failure were enrolled. The log-rank test was used to analyze differences between the groups, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox proportional hazards regression models were performed to evaluate potential prognostic factors for survival. Statistically significant difference was set as p<0.05.

RESULTS

Of all the patients with pⅢA-N2 NSCLC reviewed, 105 suffered locoregional recurrence as the first treatment failure and didn't receive PORT. Among these patients, 51 (48.6%) received salvage thoracic radiotherapy and 54 (51.4%) did not. The median OS was 47.7 months of all patients. Survival analysis showed that the median OS in salvage thoracic radiotherapy group (69.0 months) was significantly longer than that in non-salvage thoracic radiotherapy group (37.7 months) (p = 0.029). For patients of EGFR wild type, salvage thoracic radiotherapy group had significantly longer median OS of 69.0 months compared with non-salvage thoracic radiotherapy group of 31.3 months (p = 0.004). When assessed by histological types, salvage thoracic radiotherapy significantly improved the survival of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma with median OS not reached compared with non-salvage thoracic radiotherapy group of 31.3 months (p<0.001), while in patients with non-squamous cell carcinoma, this survival benefit was not observed (p = 0.829).

CONCLUSION

Salvage thoracic radiotherapy is an effective treatment for completely resected pIIIA-N2 NSCLC patients that have not received PORT and suffered post-operative locoregional recurrence.

Modelling enzyme inhibition toxicity of ionic liquid from molecular structure via convolutional neural network model

Deep learning (DL) methods further promote the development of quantitative structure-activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) models by dealing with complex relationships between data. An acetylcholinesterase inhibitory toxicity model of ionic liquids (ILs) was established using a convolution neural network (CNN) combined with support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) and multilayer perceptron (MLP). A CNN model was proposed for feature self-learning and extraction of ILs. By comparing with the model results through feature engineering (FE), the model regression results based on the CNN model for feature extraction have been substantially improved. The results showed that all six models (FE-SVM, FE-RF, FE-MLP, CNN-SVM, CNN-RF, and CNN-MLP) had good prediction accuracy, but the results based on the CNN model were better. The hyperparameters of six models were optimized by grid search and the 10-fold cross validation. Compared with the existing models in the literature, the model performance has been further improved. The model could be used as an intelligent tool to guide the design or screening of low-toxicity ILs.

Multi-method joint monitoring study on strata behavior in shallow seam mining under bedrock gully

The Baijigou Coal Mine in Helan mountain mining area is alpine gully landform, and the double key stratums are cut by the gully. A two-dimensional physical similarity model under this condition was established in the laboratory. The strain field, deformation field and pressure field of the model are jointly and accurately monitored by BOTDA, DIC and pressure sensors. The rock behavior in shallow coal seam mining under bedrock gullies are studied. In the mining stage under the gully, the deformation of overburden is intense because overburden is thin, and the surface is easy to form a depression basin. In the mining stage far away from the gully, the deformed rock mass lacks horizontal support in the process of deflecting to the lower goaf, and the movement rock is in a multilateral block. The multilateral block rock periodically deflects and rotates, resulting in the periodic deformation and break of the inferior key stratum. At the mining stage of away from the gully, nine times of roof weighting occurred. And there are large and small periodic weighting phenomenon with the average roof pressure concentration coefficient is 1.37. The distance between the peak point of advance abutment pressure and the coal wall is 6-18 cm, and the influence distance decreases with the advancing of the working face. The inferior key stratum has a significant impact on the weighting process and the weighting strength. In the mining stage under the mountaintop, large downward inclined tension crack is prone to produce in the slope on the side of the stope line, and the roof weighting is the most severe. In the mining stage close to the gully, the overburden falls in layers from bottom to top, and the overburden at the slope toe is prone to slip. At the mining stage under the mountaintop and close to the gully, five times of roof weighting occurred. And the roof weighting concentration coefficient is 1.46 on average. The distance between the peak point of advance abutment pressure and the coal wall is always kept at 6-16 cm, and the influence distance is 33-41 cm. The study can provide a reference for mining design and ensures safe and efficient mining in this condition.

ZWINT promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells by regulating the p53/p21 signaling pathway

Cervical cancer leads to 300,000 deaths annually and the mechanism of cervical carcinogenesis remains unclear. Zeste White 10-interacting kinetochore protein (ZWINT) is uniquely elevated in malignancies, promoting proliferation, migration, and colony formation of cancer cells. To investigate the role of ZWINT in proliferation, migration, invasion of cervical cancer, and evaluate the potential ability of ZWINT as a therapeutic target. First, ZWINT expression in cervical cancer was analyzed using the bioinformatic methods and assessed in several cervical cancer cell lines. The cell viability and colony formation assays were used to evaluate cell proliferation. Then, transwell assay was performed to investigate cell migration and invasion. Moreover, western blot was used to measure the expression level of ZWINT, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), N-cadherin, E-cadherin, p53 and p21 in CaSki and HeLa cells with ZWINT overexpression or knockdown. The bioinformatic analysis and western blot assay revealed the expression of ZWINT was significantly increased in cervical cancer. The cell viability and colony formation analysis illustrated that cell proliferation could be promoted by ZWINT overexpression and suppressed by ZWINT knockdown. Moreover, ZWINT promoted migration and invasion of CaSki and HeLa cells, through regulating the expression of MMP-9, N-cadherin, and E-cadherin. Furthermore, ZWINT attenuated the expression of p53 and p21 in cervical cancer cells. In summary, ZWINT functions in promoting cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells by suppressing p53/p21 signaling pathway, which indicated ZWINT is a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer treatment.

Improved Thermal and Chemical Stability of Oxynitride Phosphor from Facile Chemical Synthesis for Vehicle Cornering Lights

Orange Eu2+ -doped phosphors are essential for light-emitting diodes for cornering lights to prevent fatal road accidents at night, but such phosphors require features of high thermal, chemical stability and facile synthesis. This study reports a series of yellow-orange-red emitting SrAl2 Si3 ON6 :Eu2+ oxynitride phosphors, derived from the SrAlSi4 N7 nitride iso-structure by replacing Si4+ -N3- with Al3+ -O2- . The introduction of a certain amount of oxygen enabled the facile synthesis under atmospheric pressure using the air-stable raw materials SrCO3 , Eu2 O3 , AlN and Si3 N4 . SrAl2 Si3 ON6 has a smaller band gap and lower structure rigidity than SrAlSi4 N7 (5.19 eV vs 5.50 eV, Debye temperature 719 K vs 760 K), but exhibits higher thermal stability with 100 % of room temperature intensity remaining at 150 °C compared to 85 % for SrAlSi4 N7 . Electron paramagnetic resonance, thermoluminescence and density functional theory revealed that the oxygen vacancy electron traps compensated the thermal loss. Additionally, no decrease in emission intensity was found after either being heated at 500 °C for 2 hours or being immersed in water for 20 days, implying both of the thermal and chemical stability of SrAl2 Si3 ON6 :Eu2+ phosphors. The strategy of oxynitride-introduction from nitride promotes the development of low-cost thermally and chemically stable luminescent materials.

The dual M protein systems have diverse biological characteristics, but both contribute to M18-type Group A Streptococcus pathogenicity

M protein is a key surface virulence factor in Group A Streptococcus (GAS), Group C Streptococcus (GCS), and other streptococcal species. GAS encodes M protein using the emm gene, while GCS employs the szm (or sem) gene. In M18-type GAS, dual M protein systems exist, comprising both GAS and GCS M proteins (encoded separately by emm18 and spa18). The spa18 gene in M18-type GAS shares a conserved region highly similar to GCS's szm gene. Our study reveals that spa18 exhibits higher transcription levels than emm18 in M18-type GAS strains. The dual M protein systems defective mutant (Δemm18Δspa18) displays a smooth surface, whereas wild-type and single M protein gene mutants remain rough. M18 and SPA18 proteins possess distinct characteristics, showing varied binding properties and cytotoxicity effects on macrophages (THP-1) and keratinocytes (HaCaT). Both emm18 and spa18 genes contribute to the skin pathogenicity of M18-type GAS. Transcriptome analysis suggests the potential involvement of the mga gene in spa18 transcription regulation, while SpyM18_2047 appears to be specific to spa18 regulation. In summary, this research offers a crucial understanding of the biological characteristics of dual M protein systems in M18-type GAS, highlighting their contributions to virulence and transcriptional regulation.

Preparation of Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rubber and Biofuel Ethanol Simultaneously by the Yeast Fermentation Process

Taraxacum kok-saghyz(TKS) rubber is considered the most ideal alternative source of natural rubber (NR). Extracting rubber from TKS with high quality, low cost, and low pollution is the basis of commercial development. The TKS roots were subjected to morphological observation and detailed compositional analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images confirm that rubber filaments are physically entangled with plant tissues due to differences in molecular polarity. Compared with the traditional solvent TKS rubber extraction process, a new rubber extraction process developed in this study, namely, the microbial extraction (″ME″) process, is less harmful to the environment and lower in cost. The ″ME″ process is divided into three steps: dilute acid pretreatment process, enzyme degradation process, and fermentation process. After each step is completed, the purity of TKS rubber will gradually increase from 84.8% to 93.8 to 95.5%. The TKS rubber finally obtained fully meets the requirements of the traditional rubber industry, especially the tire industry. Besides, the yield of biofuel ethanol, a by-product of cellulose fermentation, reaches 2.05 g/100 g of TKS roots (dry weight), which can effectively reduce the production cost of TKS rubber. In the rubber extraction process, microorganisms have little effect on the quality of TKS rubber. The results show that the molecular weight and chemical structure of TKS rubber is very close to NR, so the ″ME″ process can be used as a new method for large-scale extraction of TKS rubber.

Direct learning-based deep spiking neural networks: a review

The spiking neural network (SNN), as a promising brain-inspired computational model with binary spike information transmission mechanism, rich spatially-temporal dynamics, and event-driven characteristics, has received extensive attention. However, its intricately discontinuous spike mechanism brings difficulty to the optimization of the deep SNN. Since the surrogate gradient method can greatly mitigate the optimization difficulty and shows great potential in directly training deep SNNs, a variety of direct learning-based deep SNN works have been proposed and achieved satisfying progress in recent years. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of these direct learning-based deep SNN works, mainly categorized into accuracy improvement methods, efficiency improvement methods, and temporal dynamics utilization methods. In addition, we also divide these categorizations into finer granularities further to better organize and introduce them. Finally, the challenges and trends that may be faced in future research are prospected.

Membrane vesicle delivery of a streptococcal M protein disrupts the blood-brain barrier by inducing autophagic endothelial cell death

M family proteins are critical virulence determinants of Streptococci. Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (SEZ) are Group C streptococci that cause meningitis in animals and humans. SzM, the M protein of SEZ, has been linked to SEZ brain invasion. Here, we demonstrate that SzM is important in SEZ disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). SEZ release SzM-bound membrane vesicles (MVs), and endocytosis of these vesicles by human brain endothelial microvascular cells (hBMECs) results in SzM-dependent cytotoxicity. Furthermore, administration of SzM-bound MVs disrupted the murine BBB. A CRISPR screen revealed that SzM cytotoxicity in hBMECs depends on PTEN-related activation of autophagic cell death. Pharmacologic inhibition of PTEN activity prevented SEZ disruption of the murine BBB and delayed mortality. Our data show that MV delivery of SzM to host cells plays a key role in SEZ pathogenicity and suggests that MV delivery of streptococcal M family proteins is likely a common streptococcal virulence mechanism.

Lupeol-loaded chitosan-Ag+ nanoparticle/sericin hydrogel accelerates wound healing and effectively inhibits bacterial infection

Lupeol, a pentacyclic triterpene, has demonstrated significant wound healing properties; however, its low water solubility has limited its clinical applicability. To overcome this limitation, we utilized Ag⁺-modified chitosan (CS-Ag) nanoparticles to deliver lupeol, resulting in the formation of CS-Ag-L-NPs. These nanoparticles were then encapsulated within a temperature-sensitive, self-assembled sericin hydrogel. Various analytical methods, including SEM, FTIR, XRD, HPLC, TGA assay, hemolysis and antibacterial activity tests, were employed to characterize the nanoparticles. Additionally, an infectious wound model was used to evaluate the therapeutic and antibacterial efficacy of the CS-Ag-L-NPs modified sericin hydrogel. Our results showed that the encapsulation efficiency of lupeol in CS-Ag-L-NPs reached 62.1 %, with good antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and a low hemolysis ratio (<5 %). The CS-Ag-L-NPs sericin gel exhibited multiple beneficial effects, including inhibiting bacterial proliferation in wound beds, promoting wound healing via accelerated re-epithelialization, reducing inflammation, and enhancing collagen fiber deposition. We conclude that the CS-Ag-L-NPs loaded sericin hydrogel has tremendous potential for development as a multifunctional therapeutic platform capable of accelerating wound healing and effectively suppressing bacterial infections in clinical settings.

Involvement of Kir4.1 in pain insensitivity of the BTBR mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. Abnormal pain sensation is a common clinical symptom of ASD that seriously affects the quality of life of patients with ASD and their families. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear. It is believed to be related to the excitability of neurons and the expression of ion channels. Herein, we confirmed that baseline pain and Complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced chronic inflammatory pain were impaired in the BTBR T+ Itpr3tf/J (BTBR) mouse model of ASD. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG), which are closely related to pain in ASD model mice, revealed that high expression of KCNJ10 (encoding Kir4.1) might be an important factor in ASD pain sensation abnormalities. The levels of Kir4.1 were further verified by western blotting, RT-qPCR, and immunofluorescence. By inhibiting Kir4.1, the pain insensitivity of BTBR mice improved, confirming that a high expression level of Kir4.1 was highly correlated with decreased pain sensitivity in ASD. Meanwhile, we found that the anxiety behaviours and the social novelty recognition were changed after CFA induced inflammatory pain. And after inhibiting Kir4.1, the stereotyped behaviours and social novelty recognition of BTBR mice were also improved. Further, we found that the expression levels of glutamate transporters, excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAT1), and excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) were increased in the DRG of BTBR mice but decreased after inhibiting Kir4.1. This suggests that Kir4.1 may play a key role in the improvement of pain insensitivity in ASD by regulating glutamate transporters. In conclusion, our findings revealed the possible mechanism and role of Kir4.1 in the pain insensitivity in ASD, using bioinformatics analyses and animal experiments, and provided a theoretical basis for clinically targeted intervention in ASD.

Expert consensus of management of adverse drug reactions with anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements occur in ∼3%-6% of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Small molecular drugs that effectively inhibit ALK gene have revolutionized the therapeutic paradigm for patients with ALK rearrangements, resulting in significant improvements in objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival compared with classical platinum-based chemotherapy. Several ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK-TKIs), including crizotinib, alectinib, ceritinib, brigatinib, ensartinib, and lorlatinib, have been recommended as standard first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC patients with ALK rearrangements. Patients with ALK rearrangements typically exhibit long-term durable responses to ALK-TKIs; therefore, the management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) with ALK-TKIs is crucial in clinical practice to maximize clinical benefits, prevent an adverse impact on quality of life, and improve patient compliance. In general, ALK-TKIs are well tolerated. There are, however, a number of serious toxicities that may necessitate dose modification or even discontinuation of treatment and the management of ADRs with ALK-TKIs has grown in importance. The therapeutic use of this class of medications still carries some risk because there are currently no pertinent guidelines or consensus recommendations for managing ADRs caused by ALK-TKIs in China. In order to improve the clinical management of ADRs with ALK-TKIs, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Professional Committee led the discussion and summary of the incidence, diagnosis and grading standards, and prevention and treatment of ADRs caused by ALK-TKIs.

CsbD, a Novel Group B Streptococcal Stress Response Factor That Contributes to Bacterial Resistance against Environmental Bile Salts

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) can cause many serious infections and result in severe symptoms depending on the infected organs. To survive and initiate infection from the gastrointestinal tract, GBS must resist physiochemical factors, such as bile salts, a potent antibacterial compound in the intestine. We found that GBS isolated from diverse sources all possess the capability to defend bile salts and permit survival. By constructing the GBS A909 transposon mutant library (A909_Tn), we identified several candidate genes that might participate in the bile salt resistance of GBS. The rodA and csbD genes were validated as relevant to bile salt resistance. The rodA gene was anticipated to be related to peptidoglycan synthesis and influence the bile salt resistance of GBS by cell wall construction. Notably, we found that the csbD gene worked as a bile salt resistance response factor and influenced several ABC transporter genes, specifically at the later growth period of GBS under bile salt stress. We further detected the marked intracellular bile salt accumulation in ΔcsbD by hydrophilic interaction chromatography-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HILIC-LC/MS). Collectively, we showed a novel GBS stress response factor, csbD, contributes to bacterial survival in bile salts by sensing bile salt stress and subsequently induces transcription of transporter genes to excrete bile salts. IMPORTANCE GBS, a conditional pathogenetic colonizer of the human intestinal flora, can cause severe infectious diseases in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, it is critical to understand the factors that contribute to the resistance to bile salts, which are abundant in the intestine but harmful to bacteria. We identified rodA and csbD genes involved in bile salt resistance using a transposon insertion site sequencing (TIS-seq) based screen. The rodA gene products might be involved in peptidoglycan synthesis as important contributors to stress resistance including bile salts. However, the csbD gene conferred bile salt resistance by promoting transporter genes transcription at the later growth period of GBS in response to bile salts. These findings developed a better understanding of the stress response factor csbD on the bile salt resistance of GBS.

A link between STK signalling and capsular polysaccharide synthesis in Streptococcus suis

Synthesis of capsular polysaccharide (CPS), an important virulence factor of pathogenic bacteria, is modulated by the CpsBCD phosphoregulatory system in Streptococcus. Serine/threonine kinases (STKs, e.g. Stk1) can also regulate CPS synthesis, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we identify a protein (CcpS) that is phosphorylated by Stk1 and modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB in Streptococcus suis, thus linking Stk1 to CPS synthesis. The crystal structure of CcpS shows an intrinsically disordered region at its N-terminus, including two threonine residues that are phosphorylated by Stk1. The activity of phosphatase CpsB is inhibited when bound to non-phosphorylated CcpS. Thus, CcpS modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB thereby altering CpsD phosphorylation, which in turn modulates the expression of the Wzx-Wzy pathway and thus CPS production.

Deep Learning for Operating Performance Assessment of Industrial Processes with Layer Attention-Based Stacked Performance-Relevant Denoising Auto-Encoders

The operating performance of a process may degenerate due to process interferences and operation errors, which cancel the benefits of technology design and economic production. Traditional operating performance assessment methods are either lack of real-time due to the post-analysis or difficult to distinguish performance grades for process data with weak differences and strong noise interferences based on shallow learning structures. In this paper, a new layer attention-based stacked performance-relevant denoising auto-encoder (LA-SPDAE) is proposed for the operating performance assessment of industrial processes. It overcomes the defect that the original SDAE ignores task-relevant information in training and only uses the feature of the last hidden layer to complete special tasks. In this study, the original SDAE is improved by optimizing the cross-entropy loss of the performance grade labels in the layer-wise pretraining, which is named stacked performance-relevant denoising auto-encoder (SPDAE), and the performance-relevant features can be extracted under supervision. Moreover, for making good use of performance-relevant features of each layer, they are fused by adaptive weights based on the layer attention mechanism. In the case study of cyanide leaching, the assessment accuracy of the proposed LA-SPDAE model is up to 99.85% under the corrupted proportion of 20%, and the advantage is still maintained as the proportion increases to 80%, which demonstrates the superiority of LA-SPDAE compared with conventional deep neural networks and shallow learning structures.

A dual-regulation inducible switch system for microRNA detection and cell type-specific gene activation

Rationale: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in multiple biological processes, many of which exhibit distinct cell type-specific expression patterns. A miRNA-inducible expression system can be adapted as a signal-on reporter for detecting miRNA activity or as a cell type-specific gene activation tool. However, due to the inhibitory properties of miRNAs on gene expression, few miRNA-inducible expression systems are available, and the available systems are only transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulatory system with obvious leaky expression. Methods: To address this limitation, a miRNA-inducible expression system that can tightly control target gene expression is desirable. Here, by taking advantage of an enhanced LacI repression system and the translational repressor L7Ae, a miRNA-inducible dual transcriptional-translational switch system was designed called the miR-ON-D system. Luciferase activity assay, western blotting, CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry analysis were performed to characterize and validate this system. Results: The results demonstrated that leakage expression was strongly suppressed in the miR-ON-D system. It was also validated that the miR-ON-D system could be used to detect exogenous and endogenous miRNAs in mammalian cells. Moreover, it was shown that the miR-ON-D system could be triggered by cell type-specific miRNAs to regulate the expression of biologically relevant proteins (e.g., p21 and Bax) to achieve cell type-specific reprogramming. Conclusion: This study established a tight miRNA-inducible expression switch system for miRNA detection and cell type-specific gene activation.

[High-fat intake alleviates lung injury induced by Paragonimus proliferus infection in rats through up-regulating CYP 4A1 expression in lung tissues]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the improvements of high-fat intake on lung injury induced by Paragonimus proliferus infection in rats, and to preliminarily explore the mechanisms underlying the role of cytochrome P450 4A1 (CYP 4A1) in the improve ments.

METHODS

SD rats were randomly assigned into three groups, including the normal control group (n = 10), the infection and normal diet group (n = 12) and the infection and high-fat diet group (n = 12). Rats in the normal control group were fed with normal diet and without any other treatments, and animals in the infection and normal diet group were subcutaneously injected with 8 excysted metacercariae of P. proliferus via the abdominal wall, followed by feeding with normal diet, while rats in the infection and high-fat diet group were subcutaneously injected with 8 excysted metacercariae of P. proliferus via the abdominal wall, followed by feeding with high-fat diet. All rats were sacrificed 28 weeks post-infection, and serum samples and lung specimens were collected. Following hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining of rat lung specimens, the rat lung injury was observed under an optical microscope, and alveolitis was evaluated using semi-quantitative scoring. Serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the cytochrome P450 4A1 (CYP 4A1) expression was quantified in rat lung specimens at transcriptional and translational levels using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting assays.

RESULTS

Alveolar wall thickening, edema and inflammatory cell infiltration were alleviated 28 weeks post-infection with P. proliferus in rats in the infection and high-fat diet group relative to the infection and normal diet group, and no alveolar consolidation was seen in the infection and high-fat diet group. The semi-quantitative score of alveolitis was significantly higher in the infection and normal diet group [(2.200 ± 0.289) points] than in the normal control group [(0.300 ± 0.083) points] and the infection and high-fat diet group [(1.300 ± 0.475) points] (both P values < 0.05), and higher serum IL-1β [(151.586 ± 20.492)] pg/mL and TNF-α levels [(180.207 ± 23.379) pg/mL] were detected in the infection and normal diet group than in the normal control group [IL-1β: (103.226 ± 3.366) pg/mL; TNF-α: (144.807 ± 1.348) pg/mL] and the infection and high-fat diet group [IL-1β: (110.131 ± 12.946) pg/mL; TNF-α: (131.764 ± 27.831) pg/mL] (all P values < 0.05). In addition, lower CYP 4A1 mRNA (3.00 ± 0.81) and protein expression (0.40 ± 0.02) was quantified in lung specimens in the infection and normal diet group than in the normal control group [(5.03 ± 2.05) and (0.84 ± 0.14)] and the infection and high-fat diet group [(11.19 ± 3.51) and (0.68 ± 0.18)] (all P values < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

High-fat intake may alleviate lung injuries caused by P. proliferus infection in rats through up-regulating CYP 4A1 expression in lung tissues at both translational and transcriptional levels.

Study on the effect of periodontitis on renal tissue in atherosclerotic mice

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Periodontitis is immune inflammatory disease, atherosclerosis (AS) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are two common systemic diseases. Periodontitis promotes AS and CKD, and CKD interacts with AS. The objective of this animal study was to evaluate the changes of kidney when periodontitis and atherosclerosis exist separately and the degenerative effects of periodontitis on the kidney in atherosclerotic mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 40 male Apoe-/- mice were randomly divided into four groups: control (NC), periodontitis (PD), AS and AS with PD (AS + PD). AS was induced by high-fat diet feeding, and PD was induced by injection of Porphyromonas gingivalis-Lipopolysaccharide (P.g-LPS) (endotoxin suspension) into the buccal side of mouse maxillary molars. The right maxilla of mice was scanned with micro-CT to evaluate alveolar bone loss; aortic tissue was stained with HE and Oil-Red O to evaluate arterial plaque formation; serum was collected to detect the changes of blood lipids and serum renal function parameters (blood urea nitrogen [BUN], serum creatinine [Scr]); renal histopathological changes were evaluated by HE staining (glomerular and tubular damage scores), PAS staining (glomerular Mesangial matrix index) and Masson staining (percentage of renal fibrosis area); qRT-PCR and ELISA were used to evaluate the expression of renal inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, Interleukin-1β, neutrophil surface marker Ly6G).

RESULTS

The amount of alveolar bone loss: PD group was significantly higher than NC group (p < .05); AS + PD group was higher than PD group, the difference was not statistically significant. Atherosclerotic plaque formation and serum lipid changes: AS group were significantly worse than NC group (p < .05), and AS + PD group were worse than AS group. The results of the corresponding qualitative and quantitative analyses of kidney tissue in experimental animals gradually deteriorated in the NC group, PD group, AS group and AS + PD group and worsened sequentially. Renal function parameters: the content of BUN in AS group was higher than that in PD group, the difference was not statistically significant; Scr in AS group was significantly higher than that in PD group (p < .05); the contents of BUN and Scr in AS + PD group were higher than those in AS group, the difference was not statistically significant. Glomerular and tubular damage scores: AS group were higher than PD group, the difference was not statistically significant; AS + PD group were significantly higher than AS group (p < .001). The ratio of glomerular mesangial matrix to glomerular area and the percentage of renal fibrosis area: AS group were significantly higher than PD group (p < .001), and AS + PD group were significantly higher than AS group (p < .001). Expression of inflammatory cytokines: AS group was higher than PD group, the difference was not statistically significant; AS + PD group was significantly higher than AS group (p < .05).

CONCLUSION

Both PD and AS can aggravate the inflammatory stress of kidney tissue and cause the damage of kidney tissue, and the inflammatory increase and damage effect of AS is stronger; PD can promote kidney damage of atherosclerotic mice by aggravating the renal inflammation in atherosclerotic mice; renal function parameters were not completely synchronized with the changes of renal inflammation and histopathology in each group of mice; PD can promote AS, periodontal inflammation in mice with AS is more severe, and the special changes of blood lipids in mice with AS are closely related to the above results.

UNMAS: Multiagent Reinforcement Learning for Unshaped Cooperative Scenarios

Multiagent reinforcement learning methods, such as VDN, QMIX, and QTRAN, that adopt centralized training with decentralized execution (CTDE) framework have shown promising results in cooperation and competition. However, in some multiagent scenarios, the number of agents and the size of the action set actually vary over time. We call these unshaped scenarios, and the methods mentioned above fail in performing satisfyingly. In this article, we propose a new method, called Unshaped Networks for Multiagent Systems (UNMAS), which adapts to the number and size changes in multiagent systems. We propose the self-weighting mixing network to factorize the joint action-value. Its adaption to the change in agent number is attributed to the nonlinear mapping from each-agent Q value to the joint action-value with individual weights. Besides, in order to address the change in an action set, each agent constructs an individual action-value network that is composed of two streams to evaluate the constant environment-oriented subset and the varying unit-oriented subset. We evaluate UNMAS on various StarCraft II micromanagement scenarios and compare the results with several state-of-the-art MARL algorithms. The superiority of UNMAS is demonstrated by its highest winning rates especially on the most difficult scenario 3s5z_vs_3s6z. The agents learn to perform effectively cooperative behaviors, while other MARL algorithms fail. Animated demonstrations and source code are provided in https://sites.google.com/view/unmas.

[DTX2 overexpression promotes migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells through the Notch2/Akt axis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of changes in DTX2 expression level on migration and invasion of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and explore the mechanism.

METHODS

Two CRC cell lines SW620 and LoVo were transfected with a specific shRNA targeting DTX2 (DTX2-shRNA) or a DTX2-overexpressing plasmid (pcDNA-DTX2), and the transfection efficiency was evaluated with RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Scratch and Transwell assays were used to assess the changes in migration and invasion ability of the transfected cells, and the cellular expression levels of Notch2, NICD, AKT, p-Akt and MMP-2/9 proteins were detected with Western blotting. The CRC cells were co-transfected with pcDNA-DTX2 and Notch2 siRNA to assess the effect of Notch2 knockdown on DTX2 overexpression-induced enhancement of cell migration and invasion.

RESULTS

The expression levels of DTX2 at both the mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased in CRC cells transfected with DTX2- shRNA (P < 0.01) and increased in cells transfected with pcDNA-DTX2 (P < 0.01). Scratch and Transwell assays showed that the migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells were significantly lowered following DTX2 knockdown (P < 0.01) and were enhanced in cells with DTX2 overexpression (P < 0.01). The expression levels of Notch2, NICD, p-Akt and MMP-2 proteins decreased significantly in CRC cells with DTX2 knockdown (P < 0.05) and increased obviously in DTX2-overexpressing cells (P < 0.05). In both of the two CRC cell lines, transfection with Notch2 siRNA obviously reversed the effect of DTX2 overexpression in promoting cell migration and invasion (P < 0.01) and expressions of the related proteins.

CONCLUSION

DTX2 overexpression promotes migration and invasion of CRC cells through the Notch2/Akt axis, suggesting the potential of DTX2 as a new biological indicator of CRC.

Temporal variation of mineralization rates and its influence on carbon storage over the last 50 years in Bohai Bay, China

Recorded information on marine sediments is affected by mineralization. In this study, we collected sediment samples from Bohai Bay, where human interference is typically high. Overall, the CO₂ fluxes in the columnar sediments decreased with increasing depth. The change in constants revealed a "C-curve" in which the mineralization rate first decreased significantly (i.e., from the 2020s to the 1980s) and subsequently increased slowly (i.e., from the 1980s to 1965). This may be explained by the fact that sediments from the 1980s-2020s were markedly influenced by the sedimentation rate, whereas sediments from the 1960s-1980s were predominantly influenced by microbial action. The loss of organic carbon due to mineralization accounted for approximately 15-20 % of the initial total organic carbon; therefore, when performing an inversion of the historical environment change using information derived from organic carbon in marine sediments, the influence of mineralization on this information should be fully considered.