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Objectives: This study was to evaluate the application of automatic measurement based on convolutional neural network (CNN) technology in intracavitary ultrasound cine of anterior pelvic. Methods: A total of 500 patients who underwent pelvic floor ultrasound examination at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital from July 2021 to February 2022 were retrospectively retrieved by the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) system, and 300 cases were used as a training set. The training set was labeled by three experienced ultrasound physicians to train CNN models and develop an automatic measurement software. The remaining 200 cases were used as a test set. Automatic measurement software identified relevant anatomical structures frame by frame and determined the two frames with the greatest difference, calculated the bladder neck descent (BND), urethral rotation angle (URA), and retrovesical angle (RA). Meanwhile, two experienced ultrasound physicians evaluated the resting frame and the maximum Valsalva frame on the cines by manual visual evaluation, labeled the anatomical structures in the corresponding frame, such as the inferoposterior margin of pubic symphysis, the mid‐axis of pubic symphysis, bladder contour, and urethra in the front, and calculated BND, URA, and RA. Considering that the residual urine volume (RUV) in the bladder may affect the results, enrolled patients were grouped according to the RUV (10–50 mL, 50–100 mL, and >100 mL). The consistency of the results by automatic measurement and manual visual evaluation was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Bland–Altman graph. Results: Of the 200 cases in the test set, 120 cases were successfully identified by the CNN automatic software with a 60% recognition rate. In the case of successful identification, the ICC of manual visual evaluation measurement and automatic measurement was 0.936 (BND), 0.911 (URA), 0.756 (RA in rest), and 0.877 (RA at maximum Valsalva), respectively. In addition, the RUV had a negligible effect on the consistency. The Bland–Altman plot shows the proportion of samples outside the limit was below 5%. Conclusions: CNN‐based automatic measurement software exhibited high reliability in anterior pelvic measurement, which results in a significantly enhanced measurement efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In adaptation to oncogenic signals, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process combining tumor cell dedifferentiation with acquisition of stemness features. However, the mechanisms linking oncogene-induced signaling pathways with EMT and stemness remain largely elusive. Here, we uncover the inflammation-induced transcription factor NFATc1 as a central regulator of pancreatic cancer cell plasticity. In particular, we show that NFATc1 drives EMT reprogramming and maintains pancreatic cancer cells in a stem cell-like state through Sox2-dependent transcription of EMT and stemness factors. Intriguingly, NFATc1-Sox2 complex-mediated PDAC dedifferentiation and progression is opposed by antithetical p53-miR200c signaling, and inactivation of the tumor suppressor pathway is essential for tumor dedifferentiation and dissemination both in genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) and human PDAC. Based on these findings, we propose the existence of a hierarchical signaling network regulating PDAC cell plasticity and suggest that the molecular decision between epithelial cell preservation and conversion into a dedifferentiated cancer stem cell-like phenotype depends on opposing levels of p53 and NFATc1 signaling activities.

Aiming at the problem of difficult fault diagnosis work caused by the difficulty of data acquisition of the bearing in the traction part of a coal mining machine, a method of ADAMS simulation and HHT feature extraction of the bearing fault of a coal mining machine is proposed. First of all, take the traction section bearing as the research object, use the virtual prototype in the establishment of the healthy state of coal mining machine traction section model based on the establishment of the bearing inner ring fault, rolling body fault, outer ring fault of the coal mining machine traction section dynamics model, and then after the EMD decomposition, each IMF component of the Hilbert transform, to obtain the signal in the time-frequency plane of the time-frequency joint characteristics, to get the HHT marginal spectra and to different Under different working conditions, the bearing vibration signal features are mined by quantitative feature extraction. Finally, a variety of mainstream machine learning algorithms are introduced to classify the features, and the results show that the feature extraction method in this paper is universal and provides valuable theoretical support and technical guidance for the field application of coal mining machine-bearing fault diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effects of N fertilizer rates on seed yield and quality of winter rapeseed, field experiments were carried out in Wuxue County, Hubei Province during 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons. The experiments were set at five nitrogen application levels of 0, 90, 180, 270, and 360 kg N hm-2. Rapeseed yield, N concentration, and rapeseed quality indexes were measured at maturity stage. The results showed that N application significantly increased rapeseed yield and N content. Compared with the zero N application, the average yield increase after N application was 1548 kg N hm-2, and the average yield increase rate was up to 32.9%. Within the range of N application rate of 0--270 kg N hm-2, rapeseed yield increased significantly with the application of N fertilizer. If N application was continued, rapeseed yield did not change significantly or had a downward trend. N application mainly improved rapeseed yield by increasing the number of pods per plant. N application significantly increased protein content in rapeseed. When the N application rate was 270 kg N hm-2, the protein content was the highest. N application significantly reduced the seed oil content. For every 100 kg N hm-2 increase in nitrogen application, the seed oil content decreased by 1.6%. With the increase of N fertilizer application rate, glucosinolate, oleic acid, linolenic acid, erucic acid, and saturated fatty acids (palmitic acid and stearic acid) increased, while linoleic acid decreased in rapeseed. Rapeseed quality decreased as a whole. In conclusion, to pursue high-quality edible oil and take into account rapeseed yield, the application rate of N fertilizer was 180 kg N hm-2. The optimal application rate of N fertilizer was 270 kg N hm-2 when rapeseed yield and rapeseed cake were taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) remains a serious global threat. The metabolic analysis had been successfully applied in the efforts to uncover the pathological mechanisms and biomarkers of disease severity. Here we performed a quasi‐targeted metabolomic analysis on 56 COVID‐19 patients from Sierra Leone in western Africa, revealing the metabolomic profiles and the association with disease severity, which was confirmed by the targeted metabolomic analysis of 19 pairs of COVID‐19 patients. A meta‐analysis was performed on published metabolic data of COVID‐19 to verify our findings. Of the 596 identified metabolites, 58 showed significant differences between severe and nonsevere groups. The pathway enrichment of these differential metabolites revealed glutamine and glutamate metabolism as the most significant metabolic pathway (Impact = 0.5; −log10P = 1.959). Further targeted metabolic analysis revealed six metabolites with significant intergroup differences, with glutamine/glutamate ratio significantly associated with severe disease, negatively correlated with 10 clinical parameters and positively correlated with SPO2 (rs= 0.442, p = 0.005). Mini meta‐analysis indicated elevated glutamate was related to increased risk of COVID‐19 infection (pooled odd ratio [OR] = 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–3.50) and severe COVID‐19 (pooled OR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.14–4.56). In contrast, elevated glutamine related to decreased risk of infection and severe COVID‐19, the pooled OR were 0.30 (95% CI: 0.20–0.44), and 0.44 (95% CI: 0.19–0.98), respectively. Glutamine and glutamate metabolism are associated with COVID‐19 severity in multiple populations, which might confer potential therapeutic target of COVID‐19, especially for severe patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by novel bunyavirus (SFTSV), is a hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality rate of over 10%. We have previously shown that granulocytic myeloid‐derived suppressor cell (gMDSC) might affect arginine metabolism, which was associated with decreased platelet count and T lymphocyte dysfunction in this disease. The study was designed to investigate the expression of the gMDSCs subsets in SFTS patients, and to evaluate its association with disease severity. A prospective study was performed on 166 confirmed SFTSV infected patients. Sequential blood samples were collected during hospitalization and after recovery. SFTSV RNA was quantified by real‐time RT‐PCR. The gMDSCs and NK cells were determined by flow cytometry analysis, which were associated with disease severity. Elevation of the activated gMDSC was observed in SFTS patients at the acute phase, with a significantly higher level of gMDSC attained in 79 severe and 29 fatal SFTS patients than in the mild patients. The NK cells were depleted at the early infection and not restored to normal level until 4 months after the disease. The expansion of gMDSC was accompanied by the elevated expressions of CD3‐ζ of NK and Arginase‐1, in contrast with the decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) in gMDSC. The levels of NK, CD3‐ζ of NK, viral load, and platelet count were significantly associated with the level of gMDSC. Expansion of gMDSC was demonstrated in SFTS, which was associated with severe disease and suppressed antiviral NK cell via other mechanisms than Arginase‐1 or ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is a novel regulator of insulin-independent glucose transport in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and has glucose and triglyceride lowering effects in rodent models of diabetes. In this study, we found that FGF-21 can significantly attenuate ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) induced damage in H9c2 cells (rat heart). However, it is unclear which signal transduction pathway is involved in the cardioprotective effect of FGF-21. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the potential mechanism induced by FGF-21. The results showed that FGF-21 treatment prevented the oxidative stress and apoptosis associated with I/R damage by reducing the levels of superoxide anions, inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3β by activating Akt phosphorylation, and recovering the levels of ATP synthase pyruvate kinase isozymes M1 and protein kinase C, thereby improving energy supply. In summary, we conclude that FGF-21 protects H9c2 cells against I/R injury mainly through the Akt-GSK-3β-caspase-3 dependent pathway, preventing oxidative stress, and recovery of the energy supply. Key words: FGF-21, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, H9c2, proteomics, Akt, ROS, apoptosis, signaling pathway. Le facteur de croissance des fibroblastes (FGF)-21 est nouveau regulateur du transport de glucose independant de l'insuline dans les adipocytes 3T3-L1 qui diminue le glucose et les triglycerides dans des modeles de diabete chez le rongeur. Dans cette etude, nous avons trouve que le FGF-21 pouvait attenuer significativement le dommage induit par l'ischemiereperfusion (I/R) chez les cellules H9c2. Cependant, la voie de transduction impliquee dans l'effet cardioprotecteur du FGF-21 n'est pas clairement definie. Ainsi, cette etude a ete concue pour examiner le mecanisme d'action potentiel du FGF-21. Les resultats ont montre que le traitement au FGF-21 prevenait le stress oxydant et l'apoptose associes au dommage d'I/R en reduisant les anions superoxydes, inhibait la glycogene synthase kinase (GSK)-3β en activant la phosphorylation d'Akt, et restaurait l'ATP synthase, les isozymes M1 de la pyruvate kinase et la proteine kinase C afin d'ameliorer l'apport en energie. En resume, nous concluons que le FGF-21 protege les cellules H9c2 du dommage d'I/R principalement par l'intermediaire de la voie dependante d'Akt-GSK-3β-caspase-3, du stress anti-oxydant et de la restauration de l'apport energetique. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: FGF-21, ischemie-reperfusion myocardique, H92c, proteomique, Akt, ERO, apoptose, voie de signalisation., Introduction It has been reported that ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is commonly associated with oxidative stress, and that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the major mediators contributing to acute myocardial injury [...]

Open in new tab Download slide OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term outcomes of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (NACI) followed by oesophagectomy for locally advanced oesophageal squamous carcinoma. METHODS Patients receiving NACI or chemoradiotherapy between September 2019 and September 2021 were identified. The primary outcomes were tumour response and survival. Secondary outcomes were toxic effects and postoperative complications. The propensity score matching for enrolled patients was performed. RESULTS Data of 149 patients with clinical stage II–IV oesophageal squamous cancer, including 55 receiving NACI and 94 receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACR), were analysed after propensity score matching. With regard to tumour response score, 24 (43.6%) and 59 (62.8%) patients were scored 0/1 in the NACI and NACR groups, respectively (P  =   0.023). Of note, 17 (30.9%) patients in the NACI group achieved pathological complete response (CR) (ypT0N0), while 48 (51.1%) patients in NACR group achieved pathological CR (P  = 0.026). NACR was associated with the higher risk of postoperative pneumonia (P  =   0.034) and less lymph nodes and stations dissected (P  ≤   0.001). The 1-year cumulative overall survival rate was 94.5% and 86.2% in the NACI and NACR groups, respectively (P  = 0.170). CONCLUSIONS We found that NACI compared with NACR was associated with lower pneumonia rate and was safe and feasible for locally advanced oesophageal squamous cancer. However, the tumour regression score and the pathological CR rate of patients treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy were lower than those of patients treated with NACR. The short-term follow-up results were comparable between 2 treatment modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]