20-hydroxyecdysone suppresses bladder cancer progression via inhibiting USP21: A mechanism associated with deubiquitination and degradation of p65.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies of the urinary tract and a prevalent cancer worldwide, still requiring efficient therapeutic agents and approaches. 20-Hydroxyecdysone (20-HE), a steroid hormone, can be found in insects and few plants and mediate numerous biological events to control the progression of varying diseases; however, its impacts on bladder cancer remain unclear. In the study, we found that 20-HE treatments effectively inhibited the viability and proliferation of bladder cancer cells and induced apoptosis by activating Caspase-3. The migratory and invasive potential of bladder cancer cells was markedly repressed by 20-HE in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effects of 20-HE on bladder cancer were confirmed in an established xenograft mouse model, as indicated by the markedly reduced tumor growth rates and limited lung and lymph node metastasis. High-throughput RNA sequencing was performed to explore dysregulated genes in bladder cancer cells after 20-HE treatment. We identified ubiquitin-specific protease 21 (USP21) as a key deubiquitinating enzyme for bladder cancer progression and a positive correlation between USP21 and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/p65 in patients. Furthermore, 20-HE treatments markedly reduced USP21 expression, NF-κB/p65 mRNA, stability and phosphorylated NF-κB/p65 expression levels in bladder cancer cells, which were validated in animal tumor tissues. Mechanistic studies showed that USP21 directly interacted with and stabilized p65 by deubiquitinating its K48-linked polyubiquitination in bladder cancer cells, which could be abolished by 20-HE treatment, contributing to p65 degradation. Finally, we found that USP21 overexpression could not only facilitate the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells, but also significantly eliminated the suppressive effects of 20-HE on bladder cancer. Notably, 20-HE could still perform its anti-tumor role in bladder cancer when USP21 was knocked down with decreased NF-κB/p65 expression and activation, revealing that USP21 suppression might not be the only way for 20-HE during bladder cancer treatment. Collectively, all our results clearly demonstrated that 20-HE may function as a promising therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer treatment mainly through reducing USP21/p65 signaling expression.

Arrhythmia Classification Algorithm Based on a Two-Dimensional Image and Modified EfficientNet.

The classification and identification of arrhythmias using electrocardiogram (ECG) signals are of great practical significance in the early prevention and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we propose an arrhythmia classification algorithm based on two-dimensional (2D) images and modified EfficientNet. First, we developed a method for converting original one-dimensional (1D) ECG signals into 2D image signals. In contrast with the existing classification method that uses only the time-domain features of a 1D ECG signal, the classification of 2D images can consider the spatiotemporal characteristics of the signal. Then, to better assign feature weights, we introduced an attention feature fusion module (AFF) into the EfficientNet network to replace the addition operation in the mobile inverted bottleneck convolution (MBConv) structure of the network. We selected EfficientNet for modification because, compared with most convolutional neural networks (CNNs), EfficientNet does not require manual adjustment of parameters, which improves the accuracy and speed of the network. Finally, we combined the 2D images and the improved EfficientNet network and tested its performance as an arrhythmia classification method. Our experimental results show that the network training of the proposed method requires less equipment and training time, and this method can effectively distinguish eight types of heartbeats in the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, with a classification accuracy of 99.54%. Thus, the model has a good classification effect.

A 3D molecular cantilever based on interfacial self-assembly and the cobra-like actuation of long-chain imidazolium ionic liquids.

Cantilever structures usually function as a key building block in the construction of supramolecular systems. In this work, based on the controllable interfacial self-assembly of monolayer long-chain imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) on multi-walled carbon nanotubes, we design a 3D molecular cantilever with advantages including facile assembly, multi-mechanism actuation and high scalability. Molecular dynamics simulations predict that the lifting of the cation alkyl chain as a cantilever possesses a cobra-like actuation mechanism, including structure-induced and environmental response effects, which is further verified via experimental observations. On one hand, regulating the internal alkyl chain units results in the regular variation of the cantilever tilt angle with respect to the surface; on the other hand, applying external electric fields with various strengths/directions can also drive the cantilever to rise or fall. As expected, the interfacial self-assembly structure of the molecular cantilever directionally induces a change in the phase transition behaviour, delivering significantly enhanced thermal stability for immobilized ILs compared with the bulk state.

High-speed and dense three-dimensional surface acquisition using defocused binary patterns for spatially isolated objects.

The three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement using defocused Ronchi grating is advantageous for the high contrast of fringe. This paper presents a method for measuring spatially isolated objects using defocused binary patterns. Two Ronchi grating with horizontal position difference of one-third of a period and an encoded pattern are adopted. The phase distribution of fringe pattern is obtained by Fourier analysis method. The measurement depth and range is enlarged because the third harmonic component and background illumination is eliminated with proposed method. The fringe order is identified by the encoded pattern. Three gray levels are used and the pattern is converted to binary image with error diffusion algorithm. The tolerance of encoded pattern is large. It is suited for defocused optical system. We also present a measurement system with a modified DLP projector and a high-speed camera. The 3-D surface acquisition speed of 60 frames per second (fps), with resolution of 640 × 480 points and that of 120 fps, with resolution of 320 × 240 points are archived. If the control logic of DMD was modified and a camera with higher speed was employed, the measurement speed would reach thousands fps. This makes it possible to analyze dynamic objects.