Image Collage on Arbitrary Shape via Shape-Aware Slicing and Optimization.

Image collage is a very useful tool for visualizing an image collection. Most of the existing methods and commercial applications for generating image collages are designed on simple shapes, such as rectangular and circular layouts. This greatly limits the use of image collages in some artistic and creative settings. Although there are some methods that can generate irregularly-shaped image collages, they often suffer from severe image overlapping and excessive blank space. This prevents such methods from being effective information communication tools. In this paper, we present a shape slicing algorithm and an optimization scheme that can create image collages of arbitrary shapes in an informative and visually pleasing manner given an input shape and an image collection. To overcome the challenge of irregular shapes, we propose a novel algorithm, called Shape-Aware Slicing, which partitions the input shape into cells based on medial axis and binary slicing tree. Shape-Aware Slicing, which is designed specifically for irregular shapes, takes human perception and shape structure into account to generate visually pleasing partitions. Then, the layout is optimized by analyzing input images with the goal of maximizing the total salient regions of the images. To evaluate our method, we conduct extensive experiments and compare our results against previous work. The evaluations show that our proposed algorithm can efficiently arrange image collections on irregular shapes and create visually superior results than prior work and existing commercial tools.

Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles inhibit ferroptosis and promote distant metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by upregulating ITGB3.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignancy with high metastatic and invasive nature. Distant metastasis contributes substantially to treatment failure and mortality in NPC. Platelets are versatile blood cells and the number of platelets is positively associated with the distant metastasis of tumor cells. However, the role and underlying mechanism of platelets responsible for the metastasis of NPC cells remain unclear. Here we found that the distant metastasis of NPC patients was positively correlated with the expression levels of integrin ß3 (ITGB3) in platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) from NPC patients (P-EVs). We further revealed that EVs transfer occurred from platelets to NPC cells, mediating cell-cell communication and inducing the metastasis of NPC cells by upregulating ITGB3 expression. Mechanistically, P-EVs-upregulated ITGB3 increased SLC7A11 expression by enhancing protein stability and activating the MAPK/ERK/ATF4/Nrf2 axis, which suppressed ferroptosis, thereby facilitating the metastasis of NPC cells. NPC xenografts in mouse models further confirmed that P-EVs inhibited the ferroptosis of circulating NPC cells and promoted the distant metastasis of NPC cells. Thus, these findings elucidate a novel role of platelet-derived EVs in NPC metastasis, which not only improves our understanding of platelet-mediated tumor distant metastasis, but also has important implications in diagnosis and treatment of NPC.

SARS-CoV-2 spike promotes inflammation and apoptosis through autophagy by ROS-suppressed PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection-induced inflammatory responses are largely responsible for the death of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. However, the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 triggers inflammatory responses remains unclear. Here, we aimed to explore the regulatory role of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in infected cells and attempted to elucidate the molecular mechanism of SARS-CoV-2-induced inflammation. METHODS: SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirions (SCV-2-S) were generated using the spike-expressing virus packaging system. Western blot, mCherry-GFP-LC3 labeling, immunofluorescence, and RNA-seq were performed to examine the regulatory mechanism of SCV-2-S in autophagic response. The effects of SCV-2-S on apoptosis were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), Western blot, and flow cytometry analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to examine the mechanism of SCV-2-S in inflammatory responses. RESULTS: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-mediated SCV-2-S infection induced autophagy and apoptosis in human bronchial epithelial and microvascular endothelial cells. Mechanistically, SCV-2-S inhibited the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway by upregulating intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, thus promoting the autophagic response. Ultimately, SCV-2-S-induced autophagy triggered inflammatory responses and apoptosis in infected cells. These findings not only improve our understanding of the mechanism underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced pathogenic inflammation but also have important implications for developing anti-inflammatory therapies, such as ROS and autophagy inhibitors, for COVID-19 patients.

Peer influences on alcohol expectancies in early adolescence: a study of concurrent and prospective predictors in Taiwan.

The effects of peers on three domains of alcohol expectancies through early adolescence were prospectively examined over 2 years. Information on pubertal development, parental drinking, peer characteristics, network structure, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol consumption was assessed in a three-wave longitudinal study of 779 6th graders (~12 years of age) randomly selected from northern Taiwan. Complex survey regression analyses, stratified by drinking experience in 6th grade, were performed to identify predictors of two positive (i.e., enhanced social behaviors and relaxation/tension reduction) and one negative alcohol expectancies (i.e., cognitive/behavioral deterioration) in 7th grade. The results showed that the effects of peer influence on adolescents' alcohol expectancies varied by prior drinking experiences and by expectancy domains. For the alcohol naive, recent exposure to peer drinking was significantly associated with positive and negative alcohol expectancies in grade 7, and this association was moderated by advanced pubertal development (ESBlate puberty: ßwt=0.55; ESBearly puberty: ßwt=-0.40; PRTRlate puberty: ßwt=0.01; PRTRearly puberty: ßwt=1.22; CBD late puberty: ßwt=-0.84; CBDearly puberty: ßwt=0.56). For the alcohol experienced, neither peer drinking nor pubertal development showed any significant links with alcohol expectancies. Occupying a bridge position was slightly linked with negative expectancy (ßwt=0.25). Concurrent drinking serves as a strong predictor for the endorsed alcohol expectancy in both groups, particularly for the domain of enhanced social behaviors. If these effects are confirmed, knowledge of the effect of interplay between peer factors and pubertal development on alcohol expectancies in early adolescence can provide effective targets in prevention programs.

Socioeconomic and clinical characteristics associated with repeat suicide attempts among young people.

PURPOSE: Repeat suicidal behaviors in young people are a critical public health concern. The study investigates individual socioeconomic and episode-dependent clinical factors predicting repeat suicide attempts among youth by gender. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort study, we identified a total of 4,094 male and 3,219 female youths who had the index suicide episode at the ages of 15-24 years from the 1996-2007 National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The recurrence of suicide attempt was assessed within 1 year after the index suicide. Information pertaining to suicide management and postsuicide treatment was obtained from healthcare records. Repeated event survival analyses were used to estimate episode-dependent risk of suicide attempt. RESULTS: The occurrence of repeat suicide attempts was more common in males, yet the phenomenon of risk aggravation appears more prominent in females. The estimate for peak hazard of the second repeat attempt was 2-fold higher than that of the first repeat event in males, and approximately 6-fold in females. Socioeconomic (e.g., labor market participation: adjusted Hazard Ratio [aHR] = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.01-1.28) and index suicide management characteristics (e.g., receiving treatment at clinic, aHR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.19-1.99) were found to play important roles for repeat suicide attempts in males. For females, postsuicide treatment of mental disorders appears more influential. CONCLUSIONS: The relationships between socioeconomic and clinical factors with repeat suicide attempts in young people vary by gender. School/workplace-based post suicide attempt consultation and clinical management for youth may be planned and delivered on a gender-appropriate basis.

Contraceptive use and method among immigrant women in France: relationship with socioeconomic status.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relationship between socioeconomic status and the use and method of contraception among immigrant, second-generation immigrant, and non-immigrant women in France. METHODS: We analysed data from the 2008-2009 survey 'Trajectories and origins: Survey on the diversity of populations in France'. A total of 7070 women aged 18 to 45 years were identified, and information concerning contraceptive use and choice was obtained by self-report. Polytomous logistic regression models were used to assess association estimates. RESULTS: Recent contraceptive use among immigrant and second-generation immigrant women was significantly lower than that of non-immigrant women. Lower educational attainment and unemployment were associated with an estimated 31˜59% reduction in odds of contraceptive use for immigrant and second-generation immigrant women; however, this was not the case for non-immigrant women. Among the latter, lower educational attainment appeared to be associated with increased use of oral contraceptives. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the need to advance our understanding of potential barriers to contraceptives created by socioeconomic forces across different societal/cultural contexts.

Multilevel influences of school and family on alcohol-purchasing behaviors in school-aged children.

BACKGROUND: Little has been known about children's illegal alcohol purchasing behaviors and associated contextual factors influencing commercial accessibility to alcohol. The aims are to determine multilevel effects of school- and family-characteristics on children's alcohol purchase and to probe possible drinking experience-related heterogeneity in such links. METHODS: A representative sample of 2630 4th- and 6th-graders in an urban region of Taiwan in 2007 was drawn via multistage probability sampling. Information about family background and individual drinking experiences was collected via paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaires; school neighborhood characteristics were assessed via commercial datasets of geographic information system. RESULTS: Roughly one in nine 10-12-year-old children ever purchased alcoholic beverages by 6th grade. Children who did not participate in after-school programs or had observed parental drinking had 2-3-fold increased risk to buy alcoholic beverages alone. Living with one or none of parents was associated with alcohol purchase in children who never drank alcohol (Odds Ratio [OR]=3.51; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=2.14, 5.76). School contextual characteristics have salient effects on minors' alcohol accessibility from commercial sources (e.g., the density of nearby educational institutions, OR=0.33-0.53), and certain school neighborhood effects were notably different by children's drinking experience (e.g., the density of public transportation). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests the significant effects of family socioeconomics, family drinking, and school neighboring environment on children's independent alcohol purchase, which may operate differentially by one's drinking experience. Our findings may provide implications that family and school neighborhood contexts should be considered in the devising and delivery of underage drinking prevention programs.