Search

The repair mechanism for corneal epithelial cell injuries encompasses migration, proliferation, and differentiation of corneal epithelial cells, and extracellular matrix remodeling of the stromal structural integrity. Furthermore, it involves the consequential impact of corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs). In recent years, as our comprehension of the mediating mechanisms underlying corneal epithelial injury repair has advanced, it has become increasingly apparent that growth factors play a pivotal role in this intricate process. These growth factors actively contribute to the restoration of corneal epithelial injuries by orchestrating responses and facilitating specific interactions at targeted sites. This article systematically summarizes the role of growth factors in corneal epithelial cell injury repair by searching relevant literature in recent years, and explores the limitations of current literature search, providing a certain scientific basis for subsequent basic research and clinical applications.

The safety of airport runways is important to guarantee aircraft taking-off, landing, and taxiing, and the comparison of the mechanical response of pavement structures under dynamic and static loading by LS-DYNA has rarely been studied. The purpose of this work is to separate two analysis methods to investigate the mechanical response of rigid airport pavements. Firstly, a tire–road coupling model of an airfield was established to evaluate the suitability of dynamic and static analyses. Then, the effects of landing pitch angles, sinking speeds, and tire pressures on the effective stress, effective strain, and z-displacement of the runway were investigated for both dynamic and static analysis. Finally, the significance of influence factors was analyzed by regression analysis in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). The results indicated that the effective stress, effective strain, and z-displacement of the runway increased with a decrease in the landing pitch angle, which also increased with an increase in the sinking speed and tire pressure. It was demonstrated that the difference in pavement mechanical response between dynamic and static analyses progressively widened at high tire pressure and sinking speed. In other words, the static analysis method can be adopted to assess the dynamic mechanical behavior when the landing pitch angle is large and the tire pressure is small. Among the various factors of mechanical response, the effect of tire pressure was the most obvious, followed by sinking speed and landing pitch angle. The work proposes a new approach to understanding the mechanical behavior of runways under complicated and varied conditions, evaluates the applicability of the dynamic and static mechanical analysis methods, identifies key factors in the dynamic and static mechanical analysis of rigid runways, and provides technical support for improving and maintaining the impact resistance of pavement facilities.

IntroductionEelgrass is a typical marine angiosperm that exhibits strong adaptability to high-salt environments. Previous studies have shown that various growth and physiological indicators were significantly affected after the nitrate reductase (NR) pathway for nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in eelgrass was blocked.MethodsTo analyze the molecular mechanism of NO on the adaptability to high-salt environment in eelgrass, we treated eelgrass with artificial seawater (control group) and artificial seawater with 1 mM/L Na2WO4 (experimental group). Based on transcriptomics and metabolomics, we explored the molecular mechanism of NO affecting the salt tolerance of eelgrass.ResultsWe obtained 326, 368, and 859 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by transcriptome sequencing in eelgrass roots, stems, and leaves, respectively. Meanwhile, we obtained 63, 52, and 36 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) by metabolomics in roots, stems, and leaves, respectively. Finally, through the combined analysis of transcriptome and metabolome, we found that the NO regulatory mechanism of roots and leaves of eelgrass is similar to that of terrestrial plants, while the regulatory mechanism of stems has similar and unique features.DiscussionNO in eelgrass roots regulates osmotic balance and antioxidant defense by affecting genes in transmembrane transport and jasmonic acid-related pathways to improve the adaptability of eelgrass to high-salt environments. NO in eelgrass leaves regulates the downstream antioxidant defense system by affecting the signal transduction of plant hormones. NO in the stems of eelgrass regulates ion homeostasis by affecting genes related to ion homeostasis to enhance the adaptability of eelgrass to high-salt environments. Differently, after the NO synthesis was inhibited, the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, as well as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, was regulated by glucose metabolism as a complementary effect to cope with the high-salt environment in the stems of eelgrass. These are studies on the regulatory mechanism of NO in eelgrass, providing a theoretical basis for the study of the salt tolerance mechanism of marine plants and the improvement of terrestrial crop traits. The key genes discovered in this study can be applied to increase salt tolerance in terrestrial crops through cloning and molecular breeding methods in the future.

The geochemical characteristics of a 2.1 m BBW25 core, collected from the Beibu Gulf, have been investigated in terms of the major and trace elements, organic matter, and CaCO3 and AMS 14C dating by XRF, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and more. We have found through previous research that there are issues with unclear delineation of sedimentary evolution environments and inexact responses between chemical weathering intensity and major paleoclimate events in the Beibu Gulf. The AMS 14C dating results indicate that the sedimentary age at the bottom was 19.24 ky b.p. CaCO3, δ13C, C/N, and Sr/Ba indexes show a sedimentary environment change from terrestrial to marine environments and a “jump” of ~4000 years in continent–ocean changes. The evolution of the sedimentary environment of Beibu Gulf was divided into three environments and five sub-environments. The changes in chemical weathering intensity indicators recorded by the CIX and the Fe/Al ratio respond well to the East Asian monsoon cycle, the meltwater events, and the alternation of cold and warm events. This study explains the chemical weathering intensity and sedimentary environment in the BBW25 core by geochemical characteristics and further reveals the paleoenvironmental characteristics and possible driving mechanisms over the past ~20,000 years.

The precise and automatic segmentation of prostatemagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images is vital for assisting doctors in diagnosing prostate diseases. In recent years, many advanced methods have been applied to prostate segmentation, but due to the variability caused by prostate diseases, automatic segmentation of the prostate presents significant challenges. In this paper, we propose an attention-guided multi-scale feature fusion network (AGMSFNet) to segment prostateMRI images. We propose an attention mechanism for extracting multi-scale features, and introduce a 3D transformer module to enhance global feature representation by adding it during the transition phase from encoder to decoder. In the decoder stage, a feature fusion module is proposed to obtain global context information. We evaluate our model on MRI images of the prostate acquired from a local hospital. The relative volume difference (RVD) and dice similarity coefficient (DSC) between the results of automatic prostate segmentation and ground truth were 1.21% and 93.68%, respectively. To quantitatively evaluate prostate volume on MRI, which is of significant clinical significance, we propose a unique AGMSF-Net. The essential performance evaluation and validation experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of our method in automatic prostate segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Ischemic stroke (IS), a devastating cerebrovascular accident, presents with high mortality and morbidity. Following IS onset, a cascade of pathological changes, including excitotoxicity, inflammatory damage, and blood-brain barrier disruption, significantly impacts prognosis. However, current clinical practices struggle with early diagnosis and identifying these alterations. Metabolomics, a powerful tool in systems biology, offers a promising avenue for uncovering early diagnostic biomarkers for IS. By analyzing dynamic metabolic profiles, metabolomics can not only aid in identifying early IS biomarkers but also evaluate Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) efficacy and explore its mechanisms of action in IS treatment. Animal studies demonstrate that TCM interventions modulate specific metabolite levels, potentially reflecting their therapeutic effects. Identifying relevant metabolites in cerebral ischemia patients holds immense potential for early diagnosis and improved outcomes. This review focuses on recent metabolomic discoveries of potential early diagnostic biomarkers for IS. We explore variations in metabolites observed across different ages, genders, disease severity, and stages. Additionally, the review examines how specific TCM extracts influence IS development through metabolic changes, potentially revealing their mechanisms of action. Finally, we emphasize the importance of integrating metabolomics with other omics approaches for a comprehensive understanding of IS pathophysiology and TCM efficacy, paving the way for precision medicine in IS management.

MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7, a part of the membrane palmitoylated protein subfamily, is an essential adapter that promotes epithelial cell polarity and has increasing significance in multiple cancers, including esophageal cancer, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This paper aims to determine the effect of the MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 in various tumor types using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression database. A variety of software and web platforms, such as cBioPortal, GEPIA2, TIMER2, UALCAN, R, STRING, and DAVID, were used to obtain and analyze data. Notably, low expression of MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 was observed in most cancers. In addition, low expression of MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 predicted poor prognoses in cancer patients. Mutation was the most frequent genetic alteration type in MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7, with the phosphorylation sites identified as S412 and S490 in various cancers. Furthermore, expression of MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 was associated with cancer-related fibroblasts and CD8+ T cells. Gene enrichment analysis indicated that MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 influences cancer through the Rap1 signaling pathway. This paper elucidates the biological significance of MAGUK p55 subfamily member 7 in human pan-cancer prognosis and immune response.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium within the Enterobacteriaceae family that can cause multiple systemic infections, such as respiratory, blood, liver abscesses and urinary systems. Antibiotic resistance is a global health threat and K. pneumoniae warrants special attention due to its resistance to most modern day antibiotics. Biofilm formation is a critical obstruction that enhances the antibiotic resistance of K. pneumoniae. However, knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation and its relation with antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae is limited. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation and its correlation with antibiotic resistance is crucial for providing insight for the design of new drugs to control and treat biofilm-related infections. In this review, we summarize recent advances in genes contributing to the biofilm formation of K. pneumoniae, new progress on the relationship between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance, and new therapeutic strategies targeting biofilms. Finally, we discuss future research directions that target biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance of this priority pathogen.