Search

Infant meningitis remains a severe burden on global health, particularly for young infants. Traditional ultrasound imaging techniques are limited in spatial resolution to visualize white blood cells (WBCs) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is considered a well-established marker for meningitis detection. This work presents a novel platform that uses high-resolution ultrasound to detect the backscatter signals from microscopic CSF WBCs through the anterior fontanelle of neonates and young infants. The whole system was built around a custom probe that allows for a 20 MHz focused transducer to be mechanically controlled to map the area of interest in the CSF. Data processing can be performed internally in the device without the need to extract the images for further analysis. The in vitro feasibility of the proposed solution was evaluated in imaging 7 μ m particle suspensions at different concentrations relevant to meningitis diagnosis ranging from 7- to 646-particles (pp)/ μ L. The experimental tests were conducted from a simple setup using a sample container to a more realistic setup based on an anatomical phantom of the neonatal head. The results show high-quality images, where 7 μ m particles can be resolved for the different concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise segmentation of white blood cells (WBCs) within blood smear images is a significant challenge with implications for both medical research and image processing. Of particular importance is the often neglected task of accurately segmenting WBC nuclei, an aspect that currently lacks dedicated methodologies. This paper introduces a straightforward and efficient method designed to fill this critical gap, providing an effective solution for the efficient segmentation of WBC nuclei. In blood smear imagery, the distinctive coloration of WBCs contrasts with the hues of other blood components. The inherent obscurity of WBCs prompts their segmentation by isolating pixels with minimal intensities. To streamline this process, our proposed method employs the Laplacian pyramid technique to decorrelate pixels in blood smear images, thereby amplifying the contrast. Subsequently, the intensities of pixels constituting blood cells, encompassing WBCs and the background, are modeled using three Gaussian random variables. Capitalizing on this feature, we implement the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) clustering method to determine the optimal threshold value, facilitating a highly precise segmentation of WBC nuclei. The proposed method demonstrates the capability to process images containing a single WBC as well as effectively functioning with images containing multiple cells of this type. Evaluation of the method on the ALL-IDB, ALL-IDB2, CellaVision, and JTSC datasets yielded accuracy values of 0.9802, 0.9725, 0.9772, and 0.9730, respectively. Comparative analysis with state-of-the-art methods revealed a notably comparable performance, underscoring the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The method presented in this article is highly competitive for segmenting the nuclei of WBCs compared to state-of-the-art methods. The three main advantages of our method are its ability to process images containing one or more WBCs, the automatic calculation of threshold values for each processed image, eliminating the need for manual parameter adjustments. Lastly, the method is efficient, as its algorithmic complexity is approximately O (n m) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusion Numerous AI‐based systems are being developed to evaluate peripheral blood (PB) smears, but the feasibility of these systems on different smear preparation methods has not been fully understood. In this study, we assessed the impact of different smear preparation methods on the robustness of the deep learning system (DLS).We collected 193 PB samples from patients, preparing a pair of smears for each sample using two systems: (1) SP50 smears, prepared by the DLS recommended fully automated slide preparation with double fan drying and staining (May–Grunwald Giemsa, M–G) system using SP50 (Sysmex) and (2) SP1000i smears, prepared by automated smear preparation with single fan drying by SP1000i (Sysmex) and manually stained with M–G. Digital images of PB cells were captured using DI‐60 (Sysmex), and the DLS performed cell classification. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were used to evaluate the performance of the DLS.The specificity and NPV for all cell types were 97.4%–100% in both smear sets. The average sensitivity and PPV were 88.9% and 90.1% on SP50 smears, and 87.0% and 83.2% on SP1000i smears, respectively. The lower performance on SP1000i smears was attributed to the intra‐lineage misclassification of neutrophil precursors and inter‐lineage misclassification of lymphocytes.The DLS demonstrated consistent performance in specificity and NPV for smears prepared by a system different from the recommended method. Our results suggest that applying an automated smear preparation system optimized for the DLS system may be important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address the problem of detecting and segmenting leukocytes in images. These cells are an important part of the immune system and some of their attributes (such as the amount and aspect of the cells) are used to detect several diseases (e.g., leukemia). To accomplish this task, we used the deep learning architecture named U-Net, a commonly used segmentation network originally developed aiming at biomedical image segmentation. Since the background in leukocytes images is more constant than in other segmentation tasks, i.e., there is little variety of undesired objects, we opted to use a personalized version of the network and we evaluated the impact of using different combinations of convolutional blocks and filters to build the network model. We compared our network model with different approaches found in the literature using an image dataset containing images of leukocytes and other blood structures. Results demonstrated the superiority of our approach in terms of Jaccard index and, for this given problem, the number of blocks is more important than the total number of trainable parameters of the U-Net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning approaches have frequently been used in the classification and segmentation of human peripheral blood cells. The common feature of previous studies was that they used more than one dataset, but used them separately. No study has been found that combines more than two datasets to use together. In classification, five types of white blood cells were identified by using a mixture of four different datasets. In segmentation, four types of white blood cells were determined, and three different neural networks, including CNN (Convolutional Neural Network), UNet and SegNet, were applied. The classification results of the presented study were compared with those of related studies. The balanced accuracy was 98.03%, and the test accuracy of the train‐independent dataset was determined to be 97.27%. For segmentation, accuracy rates of 98.9% for train‐dependent dataset and 92.82% for train‐independent dataset for the proposed CNN were obtained in both nucleus and cytoplasm detection. In the presented study, the proposed method showed that it could detect white blood cells from a train‐independent dataset with high accuracy. Additionally, it is promising as a diagnostic tool that can be used in the clinical field, with successful results in classification and segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence indicates an association between blood pressure and inflammation, yet this relationship remains unclear in older adults, despite the elevated prevalence of hypertension. We investigated the association between blood pressure, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and white blood cell (WBC) count in a cohort of 3571 older adults aged 65 and above, and 587 middle-aged participants (55–59 years old). In women aged 65 and above, the relationship between inflammatory markers and blood pressure was consistent, with hs-CRP and WBC emerging as predictors of high blood pressure. For hs-CRP, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.5 (95% CI, 1.07 to 2.10, P = 0.02), and for WBC, the adjusted OR was 1.41 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.94, P = 0.04), comparing the highest to the lowest quartiles. In men, only the WBC count was significantly associated with an increased OR for high BP (adjusted OR 1.49, 95% CI, 1.09 to 2.02, P = 0.01) across quartiles. Across the entire study population, in a fully adjusted model, all inflammatory markers were modestly associated with blood pressure levels, while the effect of being over 65 years was the most significant predictor of high blood pressure (OR 1.84, 95% CI, 1.50 to 2.25, P < 0.001). The link between key inflammation markers and blood pressure in older adults varies by sex and biomarker type and may differ from the relationship observed in younger individuals. These relationships are likely to be affected by factors linked to age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relevance. The work describes the results of neuropeptide compounds Semax and Selank in modulating disorders of the cellular link of immunity under experimental burn exposure. The aim — to study the effect of Semax and Selank on the number of white blood cells and phagocytic activity of neutrophils of white rats under experimental burn exposure. Materials and Methods. Burn injury in male rats of 6–8 months of age was modeled by expoanimals; animals exposed to burns and not treated burn-exposed animals treated with Semax; animals exposed to burn and treated with Selank. Neuropeptide injections at 100 μg/kg/day were performed intraperitoneally daily for 14 days from thermal burn simulation. To study the immunity parameters, the number of white blood cells and the percentage of lymphocytes, rod and segmented neutrophils were calculated, and the phagocytic activity of neutrophils was assessed. Results and Discussion. It was established that under the conditions of experimental burn exposure, there is an increase in the parameters of the cellular link of immunity: phagocytic activity of neutrophils, phagocytic index, phagocytic number, leukocytic coefficient and number of leukocytes. The activation of granulocyte formation was evidenced by an increase in the rod-nucleating forms of leukocytes (shift of the leukocyte formula to the left). Intraperitoneal injections of the neuropeptide drugs Semax and Selank against the background of thermal skin injury contributed to the correction of the observed changes in white blood parameters and functional neutrophil activity. Conclusion. Thus, under the conditions of a skin burn wound with the use of neuropeptide compounds Semax and Selank, dysfunctional transformations of immunocompetent cells are restored, which confirms the complex effect of Semax and Selank on systemic disorders against the background of local stress, namely, the manifestation.

Abstract White blood cells (WBCs) are one of the most significant parts of the human immune system, and they play a crucial role in diagnosing the characteristics of pathologists and blood-related diseases. The characteristics of WBCs are well-defined based on the morphological behavior of their nuclei, and the number and types of WBCs can often determine the presence of diseases or illnesses. Generally, there are different types of WBCs, and the accurate classification of WBCs helps in proper diagnosis and treatment. Although various classification models were developed in the past, they face issues like less classification accuracy, high error rate, and large execution. Hence, a novel classification strategy named the African Buffalo-based Convolutional Neural Model (ABCNM) is proposed to classify the types of WBCs accurately. The proposed strategy commences with collecting WBC sample databases, which are preprocessed and trained into the system for classification. The preprocessing phase removes the noises and training flaws, which helps improve the dataset's quality and consistency. Further, feature extraction is performed to segment the WBCs, and African Buffalo fitness is updated in the classification layer for the correct classification of WBCs. The proposed framework is modeled in Python, and the experimental analysis depicts that it achieved 99.12% accuracy, 98.16% precision, 99% sensitivity, 99.04% specificity, and 99.02% f-measure. Furthermore, a comparative assessment with the existing techniques validated that the proposed strategy obtained better performances than the conventional models.

Abstract Fluorescence nanoscopy, also known as super-resolution microscopy, has transcended the conventional resolution barriers and enabled visualization of biological samples at nanometric resolutions. A series of super-resolution techniques have been developed and applied to investigate the molecular distribution, organization, and interactions in blood cells, as well as the underlying mechanisms of blood-cell-associated diseases. In this review, we provide an overview of various fluorescence nanoscopy technologies, outlining their current development stage and the challenges they are facing in terms of functionality and practicality. We specifically explore how these innovations have propelled forward the analysis of thrombocytes (platelets), erythrocytes (red blood cells) and leukocytes (white blood cells), shedding light on the nanoscale arrangement of subcellular components and molecular interactions. We spotlight novel biomarkers uncovered by fluorescence nanoscopy for disease diagnosis, such as thrombocytopathies, malignancies, and infectious diseases. Furthermore, we discuss the technological hurdles and chart out prospective avenues for future research directions. This review aims to underscore the significant contributions of fluorescence nanoscopy to the field of blood cell analysis and disease diagnosis, poised to revolutionize our approach to exploring, understanding, and managing disease at the molecular level. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Trial design Older adults experience chronic dysregulation of leukocytes and inflammatory cytokines, both at rest and in response to resistance training. Systemic hypoxia modulates leukocytes and cytokines, therefore this study characterized the effects of normobaric hypoxia on the leukocyte and cytokine responses of older adults to resistance training. Methods 20 adults aged 60–70 years performed eight weeks of moderate-intensity resistance training in either normoxia or normobaric hypoxia (14.4% O2), consisting of two lower body and two upper body exercises. Venous blood was drawn before and after the training intervention and flow cytometry was used to quantify resting neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils, in addition to the subsets of lymphocytes (T, B and natural killer (NK) cells). Inflammatory cytokines were also quantified; interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Acute changes in leukocytes and cytokines were also measured in the 24 h following the last training session. Results After the intervention there was a greater concentration of resting white blood cells (p = 0.03; 20.3% higher) T cells (p = 0.008; 25.4% higher), B cells (p = 0.004; 32.6% higher), NK cells (p = 0.012; 43.9% higher) and eosinophils (p = 0.025; 30.8% higher) in hypoxia compared to normoxia, though the cytokines were unchanged. No acute effect of hypoxia was detected in the 24 h following the last training session for any leukocyte population or inflammatory cytokine (p

Abstract Background This study aimed to assess and compare the concentrations of growth factors, white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets in injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) derived from people with healthy periodontal conditions and those with chronic periodontitis. Methods Venous blood samples were obtained from 30 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis (test group) and 30 participants with healthy periodontal conditions (control group). The i-PRF was then acquired from centrifuged blood. The growth factors (VEGF, IGF-1, TGF-β1, PDGF-BB and EGF) released from the i-PRF samples were compared between groups with ELISA testing. The amounts of WBCs and platelets were also compared. Results No significant differences in the concentrations of growth factors were found between the groups (the mean values for the control and test groups were, respectively: IGF: 38.82, 42.46; PDGF: 414.25, 466.28; VEGF: 375.69, 412.18; TGF-β1: 21.50, 26.21; EGF: 138.62, 154.82). The test group exhibited a significantly higher WBC count than the control group (8.80 vs. 6.60, respectively). However, the platelet count did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups (control group 242.0 vs. test group 262.50). No significant correlation was observed between WBC count and growth factor level in either group. Conclusions The growth factor levels in i-PRFs did not exhibit significant difference between the two groups. This suggests that the levels of these growth factors may be unaffected by the periodontal disease.

Introduction: Fluid cytology and the examination of malignant cells play an important role in the treatment of critical cases. The Department of Pathology (Cytopathology laboratory) receives samples for fluid cytology and examines malignant cells, reporting the White Blood Cell (WBC) count in the received fluid and the morphological findings of the cells examined on smears. Degeneration of cells in these body fluid samples, especially if the samples are not stored under proper conditions, is a common problem faced by many laboratories. Even overnight storage (12 hours) of these body fluids at temperatures of 4-8ºC (domestic refrigerators) may still cause some degree of degenerative changes. This becomes problematic in cytopathological reporting of body fluids, particularly when the samples are limited in amount or are from areas that cannot be re-aspirated {e.g., Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)}. While alcohol is a common fixative used for cell fixation in cytopathology, it is rarely used for fixing cells in fluid samples. Aim: To test the usage of absolute alcohol as a fixative in body fluid samples received in the cytopathology laboratory, which have been stored for 12 hours at two temperatures: room temperature and 4-8ºC. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pathology at Subharti Medical College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. The study was conducted over the periods of two months, from February 2022 to March 2022. A total of 100 body fluid samples (including CSF, ascitic fluid, pleural fluids, etc.) sent for routine workup to the cytopathology laboratory were included in the study. Each body fluid sample (1 mL) was taken in two test tubes, and four drops of 100% (absolute) alcohol were added to both test tubes. The mixture of body fluid and absolute alcohol was then gently shaken, and one set of test tubes was kept at room temperature while the other set was kept at 4-8ºC. The data was tabulated in an MS Excel worksheet, and basic statistical analysis was performed. Results: The age range of cases whose samples were analysed was from one-week-old neonates to 65-year-old adults. The total number of fluid samples was 100, including 42 CSF samples, 23 ascitic fluid samples, 18 pleural fluid samples, and 17 Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) fluid samples. Out of the 42 CSF samples, 15 showed preservation of morphology when the alcohol-body fluid mixture was kept at room temperature, while 22 cases showed preservation of the same mixture at 4-8ºC. Some samples showed no preservation (5 CSF), the reasons for which are discussed below. All the examined body fluids showed better preservation with alcohol at 4-8ºC. Conclusion: The addition of absolute alcohol as a fixative in fluids helps preserve the cytomorphological features of cells and provides better preservation for the diagnosis of fluid samples.

Xue Fang Li,1 Shi Rong Liu,2 Jin Jin Li,1 Ning Liu,2 Hui Min Li,3 An Ning Ge,4 Liang Liang Wang,5 Xie Min Dong,1 Hui Wang,1 Ju Liu,1 Lin Zhang,1 Hao Dong Zhang,1 Wei Gou1 1Department of Metabolic Liver Disease, Qingdao Sixth People’s Hospital, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Infectious Diseases department, People’s Hospital of Qu fu City, Qufu City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Infection Department, Jiaozhou Branch of Shanghai East Hospital Tongji University, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Infectious Diseases, People’s Hospital of Rizhao City, Rizhao City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China; 5Medical Intervention Department, Qingdao Sixth People’s Hospital, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Wei Gou, Department of Metabolic Liver Disease, Qingdao Sixth People’s Hospital, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-15666687727, Fax +86-532-81636699, Email gouwei@qdu.edu.cnObjective: To investigate the risk factors for the development of portal hypertension in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and analyze their prognosis.Methods: Patients with decompensated cirrhosis who were admitted to our hospital and Qu fu People’s Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 were included in this study. Among them, there were 45 male and 15 female patients, with a median age of 56 (range: 35– 77) years. A comparative analysis was performed between Group A (hepatic venous pressure gradient, HVPG < 16 mmHg) and Group B (HVPG ≥ 16 mmHg) patients, along with various clinical outcomes. Multivariate analysis was conducted to explore the risk factors influencing the occurrence of portal hypertension and adverse prognosis in patients with cirrhosis.Results: In Group A patients with portal hypertension, we observed lower levels of aspartate aminotransferase, laminin, serum hyaluronic acid, type III procollagen N-terminal peptide, total bile acids, and cholylglycine acid compared to Group B. On the other hand, levels of alanine aminotransferase, white blood cells, and serum albumin were higher in Group A than in Group B. These differences between the groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis of the aforementioned risk factors indicated that low white blood cell count, high cholylglycine acid levels, and high serum hyaluronic acid levels were identified as independent risk factors for the occurrence of difficult-to-control complications in decompensated portal hypertension among patients with liver cirrhosis (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Liver cirrhosis patients with portal hypertension and multiple risk factors like low white blood cell count and high liver transaminase levels should be cautious regarding the progression of portal hypertension when combined with splenomegaly, liver fibrosis, and bile stasis, as it often indicates a poor prognosis.Keywords: portal hypertension, white blood cells, glycine cholate, serum hyaluronic acid

Abstract The research focuses on the segmentation and classification of leukocytes, a crucial task in medical image analysis for diagnosing various diseases. The leukocyte dataset comprises four classes of images such as monocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils. Leukocyte segmentation is achieved through image processing techniques, including background subtraction, noise removal, and contouring. To get isolated leukocytes, background mask creation, Erythrocytes mask creation, and Leukocytes mask creation are performed on the blood cell images. Isolated leukocytes are then subjected to data augmentation including brightness and contrast adjustment, flipping, and random shearing, to improve the generalizability of the CNN model. A deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model is employed on augmented dataset for effective feature extraction and classification. The deep CNN model consists of four convolutional blocks having eleven convolutional layers, eight batch normalization layers, eight Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) layers, and four dropout layers to capture increasingly complex patterns. For this research, a publicly available dataset from Kaggle consisting of a total of 12,444 images of four types of leukocytes was used to conduct the experiments. Results showcase the robustness of the proposed framework, achieving impressive performance metrics with an accuracy of 97.98% and precision of 97.97%. These outcomes affirm the efficacy of the devised segmentation and classification approach in accurately identifying and categorizing leukocytes. The combination of advanced CNN architecture and meticulous pre-processing steps establishes a foundation for future developments in the field of medical image analysis.

Abstract Given the limitation of current routine approaches for pancreatic cancer screening and detection, the mortality rate of pancreatic cancer cases is still critical. The development of blood-based molecular biomarkers for pancreatic cancer screening and early detection which provide less-invasive, high-sensitivity, and cost-effective, is urgently needed. The goal of this study is to identify and validate the potential molecular biomarkers in white blood cells (WBCs) of pancreatic cancer patients. Gene expression profiles of pancreatic cancer patients from NCBI GEO database were analyzed by CU-DREAM. Then, mRNA expression levels of three candidate genes were determined by quantitative RT-PCR in WBCs of pancreatic cancer patients (N = 27) and healthy controls (N = 51). ROC analysis was performed to assess the performance of each candidate gene. A total of 29 upregulated genes were identified and three selected genes were performed gene expression analysis. Our results revealed high mRNA expression levels in WBCs of pancreatic cancer patients in all selected genes, including FKBP1A (p

Reptile white blood cell (WBC) morphological features are strikingly variable across species. In the Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), red tegu (Salvator rufescens), and Savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus), previous reports described a WBC type with a single distinct, clear, linear- to ovoid- to crescent-shaped inclusion of presumptive monocytic origin. The objective of this study was to further investigate the origin of this unique WBC type with crescent-shaped inclusions. Blood samples from two Argentine black and white tegus, tegu 1, a 4-year-old female, and tegu 2, a 2-year-old presumed male, were submitted for routine hematological evaluation. Additional blood films were prepared and stained with these cytochemical stains: alkaline phosphatase (ALP; naphthol AS-MX phosphate substrate), alpha-naphthyl butyrate esterase, alphachloroacetate esterase, myeloperoxidase, Periodic acid-Schiff, and Sudan black B. Blood films from tegu 1 were also stained with a second ALP stain (5-bromo- 4-chloro-3-indoxyl-phosphate and nitroblue tetrazolium substrate), Luna, luxol fast blue, and toluidine blue. The blood from tegu 1 was cytocentrifuged to isolate and fix the buffy coat in glutaraldehyde 2.5% aqueous solution for transmission electron microscopy. Six morphologically distinct WBC types were identified from tegu 1, including heterophils, basophils, monocytes, azurophils, lymphocytes, and the unique WBC type, which were identified as eosinophils with inclusions. WBC types in tegu 2 were similar; however, eosinophils lacked a discernable inclusion. Proper WBC identification will be useful in obtaining accurate hemogram data for this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescence nanoscopy, also known as super-resolution microscopy, has transcended the conventional resolution barriers and enabled visualization of biological samples at nanometric resolutions. A series of super-resolution techniques have been developed and applied to investigate the molecular distribution, organization, and interactions in blood cells, as well as the underlying mechanisms of blood-cell-associated diseases. In this review, we provide an overview of various fluorescence nanoscopy technologies, outlining their current development stage and the challenges they are facing in terms of functionality and practicality. We specifically explore how these innovations have propelled forward the analysis of thrombocytes (platelets), erythrocytes (red blood cells) and leukocytes (white blood cells), shedding light on the nanoscale arrangement of subcellular components and molecular interactions. We spotlight novel biomarkers uncovered by fluorescence nanoscopy for disease diagnosis, such as thrombocytopathies, malignancies, and infectious diseases. Furthermore, we discuss the technological hurdles and chart out prospective avenues for future research directions. This review aims to underscore the significant contributions of fluorescence nanoscopy to the field of blood cell analysis and disease diagnosis, poised to revolutionize our approach to exploring, understanding, and managing disease at the molecular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White blood cells (WBCs) are one of the most significant parts of the human immune system, and they play a crucial role in diagnosing the characteristics of pathologists and blood-related diseases. The characteristics of WBCs are well-defined based on the morphological behavior of their nuclei, and the number and types of WBCs can often determine the presence of diseases or illnesses. Generally, there are different types of WBCs, and the accurate classification of WBCs helps in proper diagnosis and treatment. Although various classification models were developed in the past, they face issues like less classification accuracy, high error rate, and large execution. Hence, a novel classification strategy named the African Buffalo-based Convolutional Neural Model (ABCNM) is proposed to classify the types of WBCs accurately. The proposed strategy commences with collecting WBC sample databases, which are preprocessed and trained into the system for classification. The preprocessing phase removes the noises and training flaws, which helps improve the dataset's quality and consistency. Further, feature extraction is performed to segment the WBCs, and African Buffalo fitness is updated in the classification layer for the correct classification of WBCs. The proposed framework is modeled in Python, and the experimental analysis depicts that it achieved 99.12% accuracy, 98.16% precision, 99% sensitivity, 99.04% specificity, and 99.02% f-measure. Furthermore, a comparative assessment with the existing techniques validated that the proposed strategy obtained better performances than the conventional models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) damages liver cells through abnormal immune responses. Mitochondrial metabolism is necessary for effector functions of white blood cells (WBCs). The aim was to investigate the altered counts and mitochondrial mass (MM) of WBCs by two novel indicators of mitochondrial mass, MM and percentage of low mitochondrial membrane potential, MMPlow%, due to chronic HBV infection. The counts of lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytes in the HBV infection group were in decline, especially for lymphocyte (p = 0.034) and monocyte counts (p = 0.003). The degraded MM (p = 0.003) and MMPlow% (p = 0.002) of lymphocytes and MM (p = 0.005) of monocytes suggested mitochondrial dysfunction of WBCs. HBV DNA within WBCs showed an extensive effect on mitochondria metabolic potential of lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytes indicated by MM; hepatitis B e antigen was associated with instant mitochondrial energy supply indicated by MMPlow% of neutrophils; hepatitis B surface antigen, antiviral therapy by nucleos(t)ide analogues and prolonged infection were also vital factors contributing to WBC alterations. Moreover, degraded neutrophils and monocytes could be used to monitor immune responses reflecting chronic liver fibrosis and inflammatory damage. In conclusion, MM combined with cell counts of WBCs could profoundly reflect WBC alterations for monitoring chronic HBV infection. Moreover, HBV DNA within WBCs may be a vital factor in injuring mitochondria metabolic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disturbances in habitual sleep have been associated with multiple age‐associated diseases. However, the biological mechanisms underpinning these associations remain largely unclear. We assessed the possible involvement of the circulating immune system by determining the associations between sleep traits and white blood cell counts using multivariable‐adjusted linear regression and Mendelian randomization. Methods: Cross‐sectional multivariable‐adjusted linear regression analyses were done using participants within the normal range of total white blood cell counts (>4.5 × 109 and <11.0 × 109/μL) from UK Biobank. For the sleep traits, we examined (short and long) sleep duration, chronotype, insomnia symptoms and daytime dozing. Two‐sample Mendelian randomization analyses were done using instruments for sleep traits derived from European‐ancestry participants from UK Biobank (over 410,000 participants) and using SNP‐outcome data derived from European‐ancestry participants from the Blood Cell Consortium (N = 563,946) to which no data from UK Biobank contributed. Results: Using data from 357,656 participants (mean [standard deviation] age: 56.5 [8.1] years, and 44.4% men), we did not find evidence that disturbances in any of the studied sleep traits were associated with differences in blood cell counts (total, lymphocytes, neutrophiles, eosinophiles and basophiles). Also, we did not find associations between disturbances in any of the studied sleep traits and white blood cell counts using Mendelian Randomization. Conclusion: Based on the results from two different methodologies, disturbances in habitual sleep are unlikely to cause changes in blood cell counts and thereby differences in blood cell counts are unlikely to be underlying the observed sleep‐disease associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protective impacts of physical activity against inflammatory and oxidative stress conditions have been demonstrated. In this study, the impacts of moderate-intensity exercise on oxidative stress-associated factors and proinflammatory cytokines levels as well as the count of white blood cells (WBC) were assessed in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered model of inflammation. Wistar rats were randomized into these groups (8 rats in each): (1) control; (2) LPS; (3) moderate exercise (EX); and (4) moderate exercise + LPS (EX+LPS). Exercise groups were trained for 8 weeks (30 min, 6 days/week) at 15 m/min speed. During the final week of the experiment, 1 mg/kg/day of intraperitoneal LPS was administered for 5 days. On day 56, from the rats' hearts, peripheral blood was taken for biochemical evaluation. LPS enhanced serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)- 1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), metabolites of nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as the counts of total WBC, monocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils, but decreased serum levels of thiol as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity versus the control rats. Moderate exercise reduced the levels of thiol, CAT, and SOD, but increased TNF-α level, and total WBC, neutrophils, eosinophils, and monocytes counts versus the control group. In the EX+LPS group, moderate exercise decreased cell counts and diminished MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, and CRP levels, while increasing thiol level, CAT, and SOD versus the LPS group. In our study, exercise preconditioning reduced inflammation induced by LPS by ameliorating inflammatory cytokine levels, WBC counts, and oxidative damage, while improving antioxidant defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence from animal models suggests a role for the organic ultraviolet filter benzophenone‐3′s (BP‐3) on white blood cells (WBCs). However, BP‐3′s effect on WBCs in humans is unknown. Materials and Methods: We used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2003 to 2016. We included participants >6 years with data on urinary BP‐3, urinary creatinine, and WBC count. Quintiles of urinary creatinine‐normalized BP‐3 (CnBP‐3) levels were used in linear regression models adjusting for age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, education level, family income to poverty threshold ratio, survey cycle, and season. Results: Of the 16 959 participants, 8564 (50.5%) were females, 6602 (38.9%) were White, and 3870 (22.8%) were Black. The mean (standard deviation) age was 37.6 (22.7) years, BMI was 26.8 (7.40) kg/m2, WBC count was 7.22 (2.53) × 109/L, neutrophil count was 4.15 (1.86) × 109/L, and lymphocyte count was 2.25 (1.33) × 109/L and median (interquartile range) of CnBP‐3 was 12.1 (44.9) µg/gm. The highest quintile of CnBP‐3 was associated with significantly lower WBC and neutrophil counts compared to the lowest quintile of CnBP‐3 (Δ quintiles = −137 × 106/L, 95% CI: −249 to −24, p = 0.02 and = −177 × 106/L, 95% CI: −323 to −30, p = 0.02, respectively). In contrast, we did not observe a difference in lymphocyte count between the lowest and highest quintiles of CnBP‐3 in unadjusted or adjusted analyses. Conclusion: We found an inverse relationship between BP‐3 levels and WBC and neutrophil counts, and not with lymphocyte count. Further research is needed to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart Rate (HR) is widely used for erobic exercise intensity prescriptions and/or studies of exercise training. It is often assumed that exercising at a given HR results in similar physiological response, regardless of exercise modality. This study aimed to gauge cellular immune mobilization to submaximal exercise at a given target HR on a cycle ergometer (CE) and treadmill (TM). Thirteen healthy male adults (23.2 ± 3.5 y.o) completed 4 laboratory visits. Participants performed two graded exercise tests to exhaustion on CE and TM and two 30‐min constant exercise challenges at 70% HR reserve on CE or TM in random order. Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was recorded every 5 min, and blood was drawn before and after exercise to measure leukocytes subpopulation levels, lactate, and IL‐6. HR was successfully "clamped" during the exercise in CE and TM (CE 156.7 ± 1.1; TM 159.3 ± 1.6 bpm). Cycling was perceived as more strenuous than running and was accompanied by a greater increase in lactate post‐exercise (p < 0.0001; 6.2 ± 0.3 vs. 2.9 ± 0.3 mmol/L). IL‐6 and leukocytes subpopulations were significantly elevated post‐exercise (p < 0.003) with no difference between exercise modalities (monocytes; CE 57.6% TM 61.2%, granulocytes; CE 41.37%, TM 50.1%, lymphocytes; CE 91.03%, TM 78.8%). The findings revealed that HR is not sufficient in and of itself to fully assess the metabolic stress associated with a given exercise modality. However, despite different metabolic and subjective stress, the IL‐6 and leukocyte counts relative changes were similar in the two modalities. Highlights: These findings provide valuable insights into the leukocytes and lactate responses to cycling and running at the same target heart rate. The study further elaborates on the shared patterns and distinctions in physiological and metabolic responses and their implications for designing targeted training programs.At the same target heart rate, running resulted in significantly lower lactate levels and subjective rate of perceived exertion (RPE) while yielding higher VO2 levels compared to cycling.Leukocytes and IL‐6 increases post‐exercise were not different between running and cycling, indicating that they did not reflect the distinct metabolic and subjective perceived loads associated with cycling and running.Since heart rate in and of itself is not sufficient to fully characterize the metabolic stress induced by a specific exercise modality, it is important to consider the modality of exercise when prescribing training programs for improving cardiovascular fitness or achieving target energy expenditure through heart rate monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) treated with anti-CD20 (cluster of differentiation) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as ocrelizumab (OCR) and ofatumumab (OFA) show a reduction mainly of B-lymphocytes, but also other lymphocyte subsets can be affected by these treatments. There is limited data on differences between lymphocyte subset counts of pwMS after treatment initiation with OCR or OFA. Objective: To compare lymphocyte subset counts after treatment initiation in pwMS treated with OCR and OFA. Methods: We analyzed 22 pwMS initiated on OFA and 56 sex-, age- and MS course matched pwMS initiated on OCR from 2 prospectively collected observational MS databases (Bern [n: OFA 14, OCR 44] and Vienna [n: OFA 8, OCR 12]) statistically comparing lymphocyte subset counts (Mann Whitney Test). Results: We found that pwMS treated with OCR showed a stronger reduction of CD20 B-lymphocytes (P =.001), and a trend towards lower counts of CD8+ T cells (P =.056) compared to pwMS treated with OFA, whereas reduction of total lymphocyte, CD4+ lymphocyte and NK cell count was equally distributed between both treatments. Conclusion: Different effects on lymphocyte subpopulations appear to be present in pwMS after treatment initiation with different anti-CD20 mAbs. Further studies are needed to determine potential effects on anti-CD20 treatment efficacy as well as treatment associated risks such as failed vaccinations and infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White blood cell classification plays a key role in the diagnosis of hematologic diseases. Models can perform classification either from images or based on morphological features. Image-based classification generally yields higher performance, but feature-based classification is more interpretable for clinicians. In this study, we employed a Multimodal neural network to classify white blood cells, utilizing a combination of images and morphological features. We compared this approach with image-only and feature-only training. While the highest performance was achieved with image-only training, the Multimodal model provided enhanced interpretability by the computation of SHAP values, and revealed crucial morphological features for biological characterization of the cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to assess and compare the concentrations of growth factors, white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets in injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) derived from people with healthy periodontal conditions and those with chronic periodontitis. Methods: Venous blood samples were obtained from 30 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis (test group) and 30 participants with healthy periodontal conditions (control group). The i-PRF was then acquired from centrifuged blood. The growth factors (VEGF, IGF-1, TGF-β1, PDGF-BB and EGF) released from the i-PRF samples were compared between groups with ELISA testing. The amounts of WBCs and platelets were also compared. Results: No significant differences in the concentrations of growth factors were found between the groups (the mean values for the control and test groups were, respectively: IGF: 38.82, 42.46; PDGF: 414.25, 466.28; VEGF: 375.69, 412.18; TGF-β1: 21.50, 26.21; EGF: 138.62, 154.82). The test group exhibited a significantly higher WBC count than the control group (8.80 vs. 6.60, respectively). However, the platelet count did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups (control group 242.0 vs. test group 262.50). No significant correlation was observed between WBC count and growth factor level in either group. Conclusions: The growth factor levels in i-PRFs did not exhibit significant difference between the two groups. This suggests that the levels of these growth factors may be unaffected by the periodontal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trial design: Older adults experience chronic dysregulation of leukocytes and inflammatory cytokines, both at rest and in response to resistance training. Systemic hypoxia modulates leukocytes and cytokines, therefore this study characterized the effects of normobaric hypoxia on the leukocyte and cytokine responses of older adults to resistance training. Methods: 20 adults aged 60–70 years performed eight weeks of moderate-intensity resistance training in either normoxia or normobaric hypoxia (14.4% O2), consisting of two lower body and two upper body exercises. Venous blood was drawn before and after the training intervention and flow cytometry was used to quantify resting neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils, in addition to the subsets of lymphocytes (T, B and natural killer (NK) cells). Inflammatory cytokines were also quantified; interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Acute changes in leukocytes and cytokines were also measured in the 24 h following the last training session. Results: After the intervention there was a greater concentration of resting white blood cells (p = 0.03; 20.3% higher) T cells (p = 0.008; 25.4% higher), B cells (p = 0.004; 32.6% higher), NK cells (p = 0.012; 43.9% higher) and eosinophils (p = 0.025; 30.8% higher) in hypoxia compared to normoxia, though the cytokines were unchanged. No acute effect of hypoxia was detected in the 24 h following the last training session for any leukocyte population or inflammatory cytokine (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Hypoxic training caused higher concentrations of resting lymphocytes and eosinophils, when compared to normoxic training. Hypoxia may have an additional beneficial effect on the immunological status of older adults. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR). Trial number: ACTRN12623001046695. Registered 27/9/2023. Retrospectively registered. All protocols adhere to the COSORT guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene co-expression network analysis enables identification of biologically meaningful clusters of co-regulated genes (modules) in an unsupervised manner. We present here the largest study conducted thus far of co-expression networks in white blood cells (WBC) based on RNA-seq data from 624 individuals. We identify 41 modules, 13 of them related to specific immune-related functions and cell types (e.g. neutrophils, B and T cells, NK cells, and plasmacytoid dendritic cells); we highlight biologically relevant lncRNAs for each annotated module of co-expressed genes. We further characterize with unprecedented resolution the modules in T cell sub-types, through the availability of 95 immune phenotypes obtained by flow cytometry in the same individuals. This study provides novel insights into the transcriptional architecture of human leukocytes, showing how network analysis can advance our understanding of coding and non-coding gene interactions in immune system cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research focuses on the segmentation and classification of leukocytes, a crucial task in medical image analysis for diagnosing various diseases. The leukocyte dataset comprises four classes of images such as monocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils. Leukocyte segmentation is achieved through image processing techniques, including background subtraction, noise removal, and contouring. To get isolated leukocytes, background mask creation, Erythrocytes mask creation, and Leukocytes mask creation are performed on the blood cell images. Isolated leukocytes are then subjected to data augmentation including brightness and contrast adjustment, flipping, and random shearing, to improve the generalizability of the CNN model. A deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model is employed on augmented dataset for effective feature extraction and classification. The deep CNN model consists of four convolutional blocks having eleven convolutional layers, eight batch normalization layers, eight Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) layers, and four dropout layers to capture increasingly complex patterns. For this research, a publicly available dataset from Kaggle consisting of a total of 12,444 images of four types of leukocytes was used to conduct the experiments. Results showcase the robustness of the proposed framework, achieving impressive performance metrics with an accuracy of 97.98% and precision of 97.97%. These outcomes affirm the efficacy of the devised segmentation and classification approach in accurately identifying and categorizing leukocytes. The combination of advanced CNN architecture and meticulous pre-processing steps establishes a foundation for future developments in the field of medical image analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical diagnosis is the process of identifying the presence of a specific disease. Medical images play an important and major role in helping the doctor and specialist in the process of diagnosing the patient's condition. As a result of the technological development taking place in the fields of artificial intelligence, which processes data quickly and efficiently by responding to various conditions and situations, providing a great deal of flexibility and accuracy, it is widely used in helping to diagnose diseases. Fuzzy logic was used to find the number of cells in medical images, where the increase or decrease in the number of cells beyond the normal limit indicates the presence of a specific disorder or disease. This paper aims to use fuzzy logic and the Image J system to determine the appropriate mechanism and method for counting cells according to their size in the medical image, where a set of basic steps are implemented on the image by using the Image J system. This includes converting to mask, outlining, filling holes, watershedding, setting measurements, and analyzing particles. After that, using fuzzy logic to determine the best appropriate methods for counting cells in medical images based on size, enter a single random value for size, and cells smaller than that value are ignored. The area and perimeter of cells are accounted for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive type of cancer and has a poor prognosis. Patients with PDAC are at high risk of developing thromboembolic events, which is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality following cancer progression. Plasma-derived coagulation is the most studied process in cancer-associated thrombosis. Other blood components, such as platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells, have been gaining less attention. This narrative review addresses the literature on the role of cellular components in the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with PDAC. Blood cells seem to play an important role in the development of VTE. Altered blood cell counts, i.e., leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, and anemia, have been found to associate with VTE risk. Tumor-related activation of leukocytes leads to the release of tissue factor-expressing microvesicles and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, initiating coagulation and forming a scaffold for thrombi. Tissue factor-expressing microvesicles are also thought to be released by PDAC cells. PDAC cells have been shown to stimulate platelet activation and aggregation, proposedly via the secretion of podoplanin and mucins. Hypofibrinolysis, partially explained by increased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity, is observed in PDAC. In short, PDAC-associated hypercoagulability is a complex and multifactorial process. A better understanding of cellular contributions to hypercoagulability might lead to the improvement of diagnostic tests to identify PDAC patients at highest risk of VTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anemia is a decrease in the amount of hemoglobin, or red blood cells, in the blood. Slow-onset symptoms, such as dyspnea, exhaustion, weakness, or impaired exercise capacity, are frequently nonspecific. Red blood cells' capacity to carry oxygen is limited by anemia. This suggests that the body's tissues and organs take less oxygen from the blood. Objective: To determine the effect of anemia on oral cavity in addition hematological assessments and compare them with healthy controls. Patients and Methods: Among 80 people, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Twenty healthy control participants (9 male and 11 female) and sixty patients with anemia (22 male and 38 female) made up the study samples. Study was directed in September 2023 in Alkhalis hospital- Diyala. Results: Level of hemoglobin in the control group showed a statistically highly significant increase with mean ± SE (14.12 ±0.35) as compared with patients' group. The white blood cell counts showed an increase in the control group with mean ± SE (9.92 ±0.54) as compared with patients' group, with a statistically highly significant correlation. Out of 60 patients, 2 (3.33%) were complaining from angular cheilitis, 6 (10%) were complaining from burning mouth syndrome, 5 (8.33%) were complaining from recurrent aphthous stomatitis, and 13 (21.67%) were complaining from atrophic glossitis, with a statistically highly significant relationship. Conclusion: Differences in white blood cell counts in patients with anemia and healthy control. Many oral manifestations associated with anemia such as atrophic glossitis, burning mouth syndrome, angular cheilitis, and recurrent aphthous stomatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the relationship between cellular apoptosis and proliferation rates in COVID patients remains underexplored in existing literature, various viruses are known to impact these fundamental process to modulate response to infection. This paper aims to assess apoptosis and proliferation rates in individuals recently infected with Coronavirus, both before and after vaccination, comparing them with healthy controls. Peripheral blood cells from newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients revealed a significant increase in proliferation and apoptosis levels in fresh lymphocytes and granulocytes compared to healthy donors. Notably, as none of the patients were under corticosteroid therapy or cytotoxic drugs, the study underscores the critical role of white blood (WBC) apoptosis in viral pathogenesis, potentially contributing significantly to COVID-19′s pathogenicity. Elevated levels of soluble Fas ligand (FaSL) and the pro-inflatmmatory cytokine IL-38 were identified in COVID-19 patients, indicating potential immune dysregulation. Furthermore, individual who received the vaccine or recovered from COVID-19 exhibited higher survivin rates, suggesting a protective role for survivin in migitating lung damage. These findings suggest the prospect of developing a strategy to prevent WBC apoptosis, offering potential benefits in averting lymphopenia associated with severe COVID-19 ouctomes.

An elevated temperature in the environment increases the core body temperature which stimulates thermoregulatory mechanisms. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of elevated temperature on number and shape of leukocytes using descriptive statistics and geometric morphometrics. The study included 32 Wistar rats divided into two groups according to exposed temperature (41°C and 44°C) and more two subgroups in groups associated with death (antemortem and postmortem). Peripheral blood smears were performed before exposure to temperature and after exposure to temperature. The number of leukocytes was determined. Images of peripheral blood smears were taken, on which eight landmarks on the outside of leukocytes were marked in tpsDig program. In the MorphoJ program, we analyzed shape of leukocytes. The results showed significant differences in the number of neutrophils and lymphocytes in subgroup antemortem and in subgroup postmortem exposed to a temperature of 41°C. In group exposed to a temperature of 44°C, a significant difference was found in the number of all leukocytes, except monocytes in the antemortem subgroup, and except basophils and eosinophils in the postmortem subgroup. The results of geometric morphometrics shape analysis showed significant differences in the shape of lymphocytes between subgroups antemortem and postmortem.Exposure to elevated temperature resulted with number and shape changes of leukocytes.

White blood cells (WBCs) are a vital component of the immune system. The efficient and precise classification of WBCs is crucial for medical professionals to diagnose diseases accurately. This study presents an enhanced convolutional neural network (CNN) for detecting blood cells with the help of various image pre-processing techniques. Various image pre-processing techniques, such as padding, thresholding, erosion, dilation, and masking, are utilized to minimize noise and improve feature enhancement. Additionally, performance is further enhanced by experimenting with various architectural structures and hyperparameters to optimize the proposed model. A comparative evaluation is conducted to compare the performance of the proposed model with three transfer learning models, including Inception V3, MobileNetV2, and DenseNet201.The results indicate that the proposed model outperforms existing models, achieving a testing accuracy of 99.12%, precision of 99%, and F1-score of 99%. In addition, We utilized SHAP (Shapley Additive explanations) and LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) techniques in our study to improve the interpretability of the proposed model, providing valuable insights into how the model makes decisions. Furthermore, the proposed model has been further explained using the Grad-CAM and Grad-CAM++ techniques, which is a class-discriminative localization approach, to improve trust and transparency. Grad-CAM++ performed slightly better than Grad-CAM in identifying the predicted area's location. Finally, the most efficient model has been integrated into an end-to-end (E2E) system, accessible through both web and Android platforms for medical professionals to classify blood cell.

White blood cells (WBCs) are cells of the immune system that protect the body from infectious diseases and invading bacteria and viruses. An accurate assessment of their quantity is considered of utmost importance in its initial stage for evaluating a probable disease. Because of the aberrant number of WBV, both abnormal increase and decline indicate infective disease seriousness. Several methods were devised for WBC segmentation; issues like over segmentation problems, poor contrast, and improper detection of seed points affect the performance. Therefore, this work aims to develop an automatic deep clustering based segmentation with cell size determination for accurate diagnosis as well as treatment planning. The steps followed for processing the image segmentation based on the deep clustering model are Image Pre-processing, Deep Clustering based Segmentation, Cell size Determination and Classification. Initially, pre-processing images is necessary to enhance the quality of the raw input images. Next, in WBCs (White Blood Cells), accurate segmentation remains a critical task due to variations in cell types, changes in staining techniques, colour, and shape. Here, an automated Deep U-Net with clustering based segmentation (Deep U_ClusterNet) is presented to achieve semantic multi-label segmentation using U-network along with deep clustering based on Spatial Reliable FCM (Fuzzy C-Means) Clustering model. The proposed Deep U_ClusterNet achieved better performance in terms of Accuracy, Recall, Specificity, Precision, and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and acquired the maximal values of 0.982, 0.998, 0.983, 0.957, and 0.951, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating leukocytes provides insight in the overall health of animals by characterizing pathologies related to infection, inflammation, and stress. In reptile species, many leukocyte quantification methods are used to evaluate white blood cell (WBC) parameters; however, agreement and analytical variability (repeatability) between the various methods have yet to be reported and critically assessed in many species, including the prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). The objectives of this study were to 1) test agreement between hematology parameters determined by phloxine-based stain (Eosinophilic leukopet, EO), Natt–Herrick's (NH), and estimate (EST) methods using fresh whole blood and lithium-heparinized blood; 2) determine the agreement between estimates from a veterinary student and from a board-certified clinical pathologist; and 3) determine the analytical variability of EO, NH, and EST methods. Venipuncture was performed in 27 adult snakes, and agreement was then assessed using Bland–Altman plots and Passing–Bablock regression between all methods. There was a variable degree of proportional and constant error between many of the quantification methods, but descriptive statistics for all methods fell within biologically relevant values. There was good agreement in the EST method between the clinical pathologist and the veterinary student, but the student had a significantly higher mean WBC count in fresh whole blood. The lowest analytical variability was observed with the NH method (15.4%), whereas the highest was observed with the EST method (58.6% for the clinical pathologist, 59.4% for the veterinary student). These results identify the intrinsic variability in reptile hematological methods currently used and emphasize the need to develop a singular diagnostic standard for leukocyte quantification in reptile species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An elevated temperature in the environment increases the core body temperature which stimulates thermoregulatory mechanisms. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of elevated temperature on number and shape of leukocytes using descriptive statistics and geometric morphometrics. The study included 32 Wistar rats divided into two groups according to exposed temperature (41°C and 44°C) and more two subgroups in groups associated with death (antemortem and postmortem). Peripheral blood smears were performed before exposure to temperature and after exposure to temperature. The number of leukocytes was determined. Images of peripheral blood smears were taken, on which eight landmarks on the outside of leukocytes were marked in tpsDig program. In the MorphoJ program, we analyzed shape of leukocytes. The results showed significant differences in the number of neutrophils and lymphocytes in subgroup antemortem and in subgroup postmortem exposed to a temperature of 41°C. In group exposed to a temperature of 44°C, a significant difference was found in the number of all leukocytes, except monocytes in the antemortem subgroup, and except basophils and eosinophils in the postmortem subgroup. The results of geometric morphometrics shape analysis showed significant differences in the shape of lymphocytes between subgroups antemortem and postmortem. Exposure to elevated temperature resulted with number and shape changes of leukocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) There is growing concern surrounding the adverse effects of prolonged sitting on health, yet its impact on post-exercise recovery remains relatively unexplored. This study aimed to better understand the potential influence of habitual prolonged sitting on recovery time and the unfavorable impact prolonged sitting may have on time to recovery, as assessed by muscle damage and inflammatory markers and an isokinetic dynamometer. (2) Nine college-age men (mean age ± SD = 22.1 ± 3.1 years, body mass = 80.9 ± 15.7 kg, height = 171 ± 9.0 cm, Body Mass Index (BMI) = 27.6 ± 4.9 kg·m2) participated in an exhaustive exercise protocol. Creatine Kinase (CK), Myoglobin (Mb), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), White Blood Cell Count (WBC), Peak Torque (PT), and muscle soreness were measured at baseline and 0, 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Dietary and exercise logs were maintained during the 5-day testing procedure. (3) No significant differences were observed in muscle damage markers (CK [p = 0.068] and Mb [p = 0.128]), inflammatory markers (CRP [p = 0.814] and WBC [p = 0.140]), or PT [p = 0.255]) at any time point. However, a significant positive correlation was found between daily sitting time and the percent increase in CK concentration from 0 h to 72 h (r = 0.738, p = 0.023). Strong correlations were also noted between prolonged sitting and percent change in Mb concentration at 48 h (r = 0.71, p = 0.033) and 72 h (r = 0.889, p = 0.001). There was a significant two-way interaction for time × velocity (p = 0.043) for PT with a simple main effect for time at 60°· s − 1 (p = 0.038). No significant associations were detected between daily carbohydrate or protein intake and recovery markers (p > 0.05). (4) The findings suggest minimizing daily sitting time may expedite and potentially aid muscle recovery after an intense exercise bout, although further research is warranted to validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the key symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the impairment of short-term memory. Hippocampal neurogenesis is essential for short-term memory and is known to decrease in patients with AD. Impaired short-term memory and impaired neurogenesis are observed in aged mice alongside changes in RNA expression of gap junction and metabolism-related genes in circulating leukocytes. Moreover, after penetrating the blood-brain barrier via the SDF1/CXCR4 axis, circulating leukocytes directly interact with hippocampal neuronal stem cells via gap junctions. Objective: Evaluation of RNA expression profiles in circulating leukocytes in patients with AD. Methods: Patients with AD (MMSE≧23, n = 10) and age-matched controls (MMSE≧28, n = 10) were enrolled into this study. RNA expression profiles of gap junction and metabolism-related genes in circulating leukocytes were compared between the groups (jRCT: 1050210166). Results: The ratios of gap junction and metabolism-related genes were significantly different between patients with AD and age-matched controls. However, due to large inter-individual variations, there were no statistically significant differences in the level of single RNA expression between these groups. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a potential connection between the presence of circulating leukocytes and the process of hippocampal neurogenesis in individuals with AD. Analyzing RNA in circulating leukocytes holds promise as a means to offer novel insights into the pathology of AD, distinct from conventional markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the relationship between muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and the increase in circulating leukocytes during muscle pain. The study used intramuscular infusions of hypertonic saline as a model for muscle pain and found that individuals who experienced an increase in MSNA during pain also had an increase in leukocyte count. This increase occurred within the first 5 minutes of the infusion and was parallel to the increase in MSNA. The researchers suggest that the increase in circulating leukocytes is mediated by an increase in sympathetic outflow to the spleen. [Extracted from the article]

Lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) associate with stroke risk factors and form a thrombus through different mechanisms. We investigated the total WBCs, WBC subtypes and NETs composition in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) clots to identify possible etiological differences that could help us further understand the process of thrombosis that leads to AIS. AIS clots from 100 cases each of atherothrombotic (AT), cardioembolic (CE) and cryptogenic stroke etiology were collected per-pass as part of the CÚRAM RESTORE registry of AIS clots. Martius Scarlet Blue stain was used to identify the main histological components of the clots. Immunohistochemical staining was used to identify neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages, and NETs patterns. The cellular and histological components were quantified using Orbit Image Analysis software. AT clots were larger, with more red blood cells and fewer WBCs than CE clots. AT clots had more lymphocytes and cryptogenic clots had fewer macrophages than other etiologies. Most significantly, CE clots showed higher expression of neutrophils and extracellular web-like NETs compared to AT and cryptogenic clots. There was also a significantly higher distribution of web-like NETs around the periphery of the CE clots while a mixed distribution was observed in AT clots. The difference in neutrophil and NETs expression in clots from different etiologies may provide insight into the mechanism of clot formation. • More neutrophils in cardioembolic clots • More neutrophil extracellular traps in cardioembolic clots • Neutrophil extracellular traps appearance: filopodia and web like patterns [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many brain disorders, a subset of patients jointly exhibit alterations in cortical brain structure and elevated levels of circulating immune markers. This may be driven in part by shared genetic architecture. Therefore, we investigated the phenotypic and genetic associations linking global cortical surface area and thickness with blood immune markers (i.e., white blood cell counts and plasma C-reactive protein levels). Linear regression was used to assess phenotypic associations in 30,823 UK Biobank participants. Genome-wide and local genetic correlations were assessed using linkage disequilibrium score regression and local analysis of covariance annotation. The number of shared trait-influencing genetic variants was estimated using MiXeR. Shared genetic architecture was assessed using a conjunctional false discovery rate framework, and mapped genes were included in gene-set enrichment analyses. Cortical structure and blood immune markers exhibited predominantly inverse phenotypic associations. There were modest genome-wide genetic correlations, the strongest of which were for C-reactive protein levels (r g_surface_area = −0.13, false discovery rate–corrected p = 4.17 × 10−3; r g_thickness = −0.13, false discovery rate–corrected p = 4.00 × 10−2). Meanwhile, local genetic correlations showed a mosaic of positive and negative associations. White blood cells shared on average 46.24% and 38.64% of trait-influencing genetic variants with surface area and thickness, respectively. Additionally, surface area shared 55 unique loci with the blood immune markers while thickness shared 15. Overall, monocyte count exhibited the largest genetic overlap with cortical brain structure. A series of gene enrichment analyses implicated neuronal-, astrocytic-, and schizophrenia-associated genes. The findings indicate shared genetic underpinnings for cortical brain structure and blood immune markers, with implications for neurodevelopment and understanding the etiology of brain-related disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the concept of a gut–heart microbiome axis, new works are emerging to support the efficacy of probiotic strains to increase myocardial resistance to ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) in polymorbidity. The question remains open whether the presence of live probiotic bacteria is a prerequisite for the implementation of their cardioprotective effect. This work was aimed to determine the manifestation of the cardioprotective effect of live and pasteurized Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (BB-12) probiotic strains in rats with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Myocardial resistance to IRI was assessed using an in vivo model of left coronary artery (LCA) occlusion–reperfusion. Experiments were performed on male Wistar rats with an improved conventional status with visceral obesity, chemically induced colitis, and antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis, which co-provided SIRS formation against the background of oral administration of live or inactivated probiotic bacteria. Infarct size in the group with a SIRS model (SIRS group) was significantly larger than in the control group [43% (39; 44) vs. 31% (28; 35)] (p < 0.05). In the SIRS group administered with inactivated probiotic bacteria, infarct size did not differ from that in the SIRS group and was significantly higher than in the control [45% (37; 48)] (p < 0.05). At the same time, infarct size in the group administered with live probiotics did not differ from that in the control group [32% (28; 37)]. Conclusions: (1) live and inactivated probiotic strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis exert different effects on rats with SIRS, (2) cardioprotective effect is only provided by live lacto- and bifidobacteria in animals with SIRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral point-of-care technology is reagentless with minimal sampling (<10 μL) and can be performed in real-time. White blood cells are non-dominant in blood and in spectral information, suffering significant interferences from dominant constituents such as red blood cells, hemoglobin and billirubin. White blood cells of a bigger size can account for 0.5% to 22.5% of blood spectra information. Knowledge expansion was performed using data augmentation through the hybridization of 94 real-world blood samples into 300 synthetic data samples. Synthetic data samples are representative of real-world data, expanding the detailed spectral information through sample hybridization, allowing us to unscramble the spectral white blood cell information from spectra, with correlations of 0.7975 to 0.8397 and a mean absolute error of 32.25% to 34.13%; furthermore, we achieved a diagnostic efficiency between 83% and 100% inside the reference interval (5.5 to 19.5 × 10 9 cell/L), and 85.11% for cases with extreme high white blood cell counts. At the covariance mode level, white blood cells are quantified using orthogonal information on red blood cells, maximizing sensitivity and specificity towards white blood cells, and avoiding the use of non-specific natural correlations present in the dataset; thus, the specifity of white blood cells spectral information is increased. The presented research is a step towards high-specificity, reagentless, miniaturized spectral point-of-care hematology technology for Veterinary Medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regular exercise can modulate the immune system functioning through changes in the number and function of leukocytes as well as in red blood cells and other typical blood markers. High intensity exercise promotes increases in cytotoxic activity, phagocytic capacity, chemotaxis and cell apoptosis. The aim of the study was to compare the chronic effects of a 24-week training program using CrossFit® methodology on hematological variables of men vs. women. Twenty-nine CrossFit® athletes (35.3 ± 10.4 years, 175.0 ± 9.2 cm, 79.5 ± 16.4 kg) participated in the study. The blood count, the lipid profile and glucose markers were measured every two months during the study period. The erythrocyte count and hemoglobin concentrations increased in months 4 and 6 in men and women, respectively. Hematocrit levels increased in men in months 2, 4 and 6, while in women only in month 6. Red cell distribution width increased in men in month 6 when compared to the value in month 2. Segmented neutrophils increased in men in month 6 and eosinophil levels increased in women in month 6. Differences between the two sexes were observed in monocytes levels at baseline, as well as in months 2, 4 and 6. Cross-Fit® training increased red cell count indicators in both sexes, which may be related to increased erythropoiesis. Some white blood cell counts were altered and these differed between sexes. The number of lymphocytes remained stable throughout the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to shed light on the importance of blood standards in determining abnormality score values in studying the disease for patients with breast cancer (BC) and comparing them with healthy people. The study included (50) women with breast cancer at different stages of the disease, with an average age ranging from (35 - 75) years. The study also included (25) healthy women used as a control group. Samples for this study were collected for the period (from the first of January to the end of June of 2023). They were collected from patients attending the National Educational Center for Oncology in Najaf Governorate and who were diagnosed clinically and laboratory. The study found that the mean of MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW-SD, and RDW-CV in the patient group were higher than those in the healthy group, while the mean of RBC, HB and PCV in the patient group were lower than those in the healthy group. This study demonstrated the importance of blood standards as useful markers and methods that help in distinguishing between individuals afflicted with breast cancer and individuals in a state of good health. people. Patients with BC may have significant changes in various blood parameters. Blood parameters must be tested regularly for early diagnosis of the disease and the necessary follow-up is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence indicates an association between altered immune system functioning, inflammatory response activation, and major depression (MD). This study examined the association between major depression in young people and the monocyte-to-lymphocyte (MLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Inflammation markers were estimated from DNA methylation data using an established cell-mixture deconvolution algorithm and examined in a well-characterized, antidepressant free epidemiological sample of young twins (N = 170). No statistically significant differences were observed between young persons with and without Lifetime MD for the MLR and NLR. A post-hoc analysis of time since last major depressive episode (MDE) indicated that more recent MDEs were associated with higher MLR and NLR levels compared to temporally distant MDEs. A second post-hoc analysis using the full sample determined that past year MDEs were associated with elevated MLR and NLR scores compared to persons unaffected by lifetime MD and person experiencing their last MDE over one year ago. Finally, T cell immunity was most consistently associated with recent MDEs, suggesting that levels of this adaptive immune cell were diminished. Young people experiencing a recent MDE demonstrated increased levels of inflammation with T cells exhibiting the most persistent associations with depression outcomes. Etiological and treatment implications of results are discussed.