The value of a neural network based on multi-scale feature fusion to ultrasound images for the differentiation in thyroid follicular neoplasms.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to create a deep learning network that utilizes multiscale images for the classification of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) through preoperative US. METHODS: This retrospective study involved the collection of ultrasound images from 279 patients at two tertiary level hospitals. To address the issue of false positives caused by small nodules, we introduced a multi-rescale fusion network (MRF-Net). Four different deep learning models, namely MobileNet V3, ResNet50, DenseNet121 and MRF-Net, were studied based on the feature information extracted from ultrasound images. The performance of each model was evaluated using various metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, F1 value, receiver operating curve (ROC), area under the curve (AUC), decision curve analysis (DCA), and confusion matrix. RESULTS: Out of the total nodules examined, 193 were identified as FTA and 86 were confirmed as FTC. Among the deep learning models evaluated, MRF-Net exhibited the highest accuracy and area under the curve (AUC) with values of 85.3% and 84.8%, respectively. Additionally, MRF-Net demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity compared to other models. Notably, MRF-Net achieved an impressive F1 value of 83.08%. The curve of DCA revealed that MRF-Net consistently outperformed the other models, yielding higher net benefits across various decision thresholds. CONCLUSION: The utilization of MRF-Net enables more precise discrimination between benign and malignant thyroid follicular tumors utilizing preoperative US.

Adamantoyl chloride inhibited replication of the largemouth bass virus via enhanced immunity and inhibition of apoptosis.

The largemouth bass virus (LMBV) is a commonly encountered pathogen in aquaculture and presents significant challenges to development of the largemouth bass industry due to the lack of effective treatment methods. Here, the inhibitory potential and underlying mechanisms of adamantoyl chloride (AdCl) against LMBV were assessed both in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that AdCl (IC50 = 72.35 µM) significantly inhibited replication of LMBV in epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells. The results of the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide and cytopathic effect (CPE) assays confirmed that AdCl inhibited replication of LMBV in EPC cells and significantly reduced the CPE effect, respectively. As a potential mechanism, AdCl inhibited apoptosis as determined by fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. The results of flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis rate was decreased by 69 % in the AdCl-treated group as compared to the LMBV-infected group. Additionally, AdCl inhibited viral release. In vivo, the survival rate was 16.2 % higher in the AdCl-treated group as compared to the LMBV-infected group (26.9 % vs. 10.7 %, respectively). Additionally, the results of quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) showed that AdCl significantly reduced the viral load of the fish liver, spleen, and kidneys at 3, 6, and 9 days postinfection. In addition, RT-qPCR analysis found that AdCl upregulated expression of immune-related genes to suppress replication of LMBV. Collectively, these results confirmed the anti-LMBV activities of AdCl for use in the aquaculture industry.

Dietary supplementation of salidroside increases immune response and disease resistance of crucian carp (Carassius auratus) against Aeromonas hydrophila.

Some medicinal plants have been known as immunostimulants, and the medicinal plants extract has been used to control the outbreak of the disease in aquaculture for many years. In this study, a total of 270 crucian carp (30 ± 5 g) were randomly distributed in 9 aquaria (55 cm l × 40 cm w × 50 cm h) and divided into three feeding groups including 0 (Control), 50 mg kg-1 (Diet A) and 100 mg kg-1 (Diet B) of salidroside. The expression of immune-related genes (IL-1ß, TNFα, MYD88, CXCL-8, TGF-ß, and IL-11) in the kidney had a significant increase when the crucian carp fed with Diet B for 4 weeks (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the expression of IL-1ß, TNFα, and CXCL-8 in the spleen was significantly up-regulated when the fish fed with Diet B (P < 0.05). Higher serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity, catalase (CAT) activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and complement C3 content were found in the fish which fed with salidroside-supplemented diet. Our results also proved that fish fed with salidroside-supplemented diet for four weeks, especially at a concentration of 100 mg kg-1 diet, improved the protection of crucian carp against A. hydrophila. The amount of A. hydrophila in the kidney and spleen was significantly decreased in salidroside-supplemented diet groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the present results demonstrate that the addition of salidroside for four weeks can improve the immune response of crucian carp and increase the protection against the pathogen, especially at the concentration of 100 mg kg-1 diet. The protective effect of the salidroside to the crucian carp could be used as alternatives to antibiotics for controlling fish diseases in aquaculture.

[Safety and efficacies of ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy of uterine fibroids with lauromacrogol].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacies of ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy of uterine fibroids with lauromacrogol. METHODS: A total of 102 consecutive premenopausal women with 113 uterine fibroids were enrolled. The treatment of lauromacrogol was performed under the guidance of ultrasound. Both conventional and color Doppler ultrasound were performed before treatment and at Month 1, 3, 6 and 12 after treatment. The changes of tumor volume reductions and vascular flow were analyzed and compared. And the alteration of symptoms was evaluated by the symptom severity score (SSS) questionnaire. And adverse events were also assessed during and after treatment. RESULTS: At Month 1, 3, 6 and 12 after treatment, the mean volume of fibroids decreased by 40%, 47%, 58% and 70% respectively. And the differences had statistical significance before and after treatment (P < 0.05). The clinical symptoms alleviated greatly or even disappeared. And the differences in SSS before and after treatment were also statistically significant (P = 0.000). There was no onset of severe adverse events. CONCLUSION: Both safe and efficacious, ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy of uterine fibroids with lauromacrogolis offers an alternative option for patients with fertility requirements.

A nanobody-mediated drug system against largemouth bass virus delivered by bacterial nanocellulose in Micropterus salmoides.

Diseases caused by pathogens severely hampered the development of aquaculture, especially largemouth bass virus (LMBV) has caused massive mortality and severe economic losses to the culture of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Considering the environmental hazards and human health, effective and environmentally friendly therapy strategy against LMBV is of vital importance and in pressing need. In the present study, a novel nanobody (NbE4) specific for LMBV was selected from a phage display nanobody library. Immunofluorescence and indirect ELISA showed that NbE4 could recognize LMBV virions and had strong binding capacity, but RT-qPCR evidenced that NBE4 did not render the virus uninfectious. Besides, antiviral drug ribavirin was used to construct a targeted drug system delivered by bacterial nanocellulose (BNC). RT-qPCR revealed that NbE4 could significantly enhance the antiviral activity of ribavirin in vitro and in vivo. The targeted drug delivery system (BNC-Ribavirin-NbE4, BRN) reduced the inflammatory response caused by LMBV infection and improved survival rate (BRN-L, 33.3 %; BRN-M, 46.7 %; BRN-H, 56.7 %)compared with control group (13.3 %), ribavirin group (RBV, 26.7 %) and BNC-ribavirin (BNC-R, 40.0 %), respectively. This research provided an effective antiviral strategy that improved the drug therapeutic effect and thus reduced the dosage.

Rossby wave second harmonic generation observed in the middle atmosphere.

Second harmonic generation is the lowest-order wave-wave nonlinear interaction occurring in, e.g., optical, radio, and magnetohydrodynamic systems. As a prototype behavior of waves, second harmonic generation is used broadly, e.g., for doubling Laser frequency. Second harmonic generation of Rossby waves has long been believed to be a mechanism of high-frequency Rossby wave generation via cascade from low-frequency waves. Here, we report the observation of a Rossby wave second harmonic generation event in the atmosphere. We diagnose signatures of two transient waves at periods of 16 and 8 days in the terrestrial middle atmosphere, using meteor-radar wind observations over the European and Asian sectors during winter 2018-2019. Their temporal evolution, frequency and wavenumber relations, and phase couplings revealed by bicoherence and biphase analyses demonstrate that the 16-day signature is an atmospheric manifestation of a Rossby wave normal mode, and its second harmonic generation gives rise to the 8-day signature. Our finding confirms the theoretically-anticipated Rossby wave nonlinearity.

Contrasting changes in long-term wet mercury deposition and socioeconomic development in the largest city of Tibet.

Information about the long-term trends of wet mercury (Hg) deposition is important for assessing the impact of atmospheric pollution on environmental health. As the most populated and capital city of Tibet, Lhasa is isolated far away from the heavily-polluted urban clusters in China. In this study, a 10-year observation was conducted in Lhasa to establish the long-term trend of wet Hg deposition and investigate the possible causes of this variation trend. Our study showed no significant increase in wet Hg deposition while Lhasa has achieved rapid population and economic growth during the study period. The contrasting changes in long-term wet Hg deposition and socioeconomic development (e.g., GDP growth) could be greatly attributed to the efforts in preventing and controlling air pollution at regional and local levels. This trend in Lhasa differs greatly from those observed by a rapid increase of Hg trend in the remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Our findings indicate that the remote cryospheric areas over the Tibetan Plateau are prone to be affected by transboundary Hg pollution, and more attention should be paid to its environmental and health effects for future study.

Suppressing Residual Lead Iodide and Defects in Sequential-Deposited Perovskite Solar Cell via Bidentate Potassium Dichloroacetate Ligand.

In sequential-deposited polycrystalline perovskite solar cells, the unreacted lead iodide due to incomplete conversion of lead iodide to perovskite phase, can contribute to ionic defects, such as residual lead ions (Pb2+ ). At present, passivation of interfacial and grain boundary defects has become an effective strategy to suppress charge recombination. Here, we introduced potassium acetate (KAc) and potassium dichloroacetate (KAcCl2 ) as additives in the sequential deposition of polycrystalline perovskite thin films and found that acetate ions (Ac- ) can effectively reduce the residual lead iodide. Compared with acetate (Ac), dichloroacetate (AcCl2 ) can form Pb-Cl and Pb-O bonding as "dual anchoring" bonds with residual Pb2+ , resulting in strong binding force and effective passivation of residual Pb2+ defects. Furthermore, K+ can enlarge grain size and restrain ion migration at the grain boundaries. Consequently, perovskite solar cells with KAcCl2 additive show power conversion efficiencies (PCE) from 19.67 % to 22.12 %, with the open-circuit voltage increasing from 1.06 V to 1.14 V. The unencapsulated device can maintain 82 % of the initial PCE under a humidity of 30±5 % for 1200 h. This work provides a new approach for the regulation of ionic defects and grain boundaries at the same time to develop high-performance planar perovskite solar cells.

Enantioselective Construction of Axially Chiral Azepine-Containing P,N-Ligands from l-Alanine.

A family of axially chiral azepine-containing seven-membered cyclic P,N-ligands (named Indole-azepinap) have been prepared by using l-alanine as an original chirality source. The direct chromatographic separation of two diastereomeric phosphine oxides on silica gel enabled these ligands to be easy available, allowing further structural and electronic modifications. Preliminary application of these Indole-azepinaps has been demonstrated in a Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation with high yields and moderate enantioselectivities.

Lead-free bright blue light-emitting cesium halide nanocrystals by zinc doping.

Cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted extensive attention for photoelectric device application due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the toxicity of lead has hindered their commercialization. Consequently, lead free cesium metal halide NCs have been developed, but these materials suffer from low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and poor stability. Here, a new class of lead-free non-perovskite blue-emitting cesium bromine (CsBr) and cesium iodine (CsI) halide NCs are realized by zinc doping. High PLQYs of 79.05% and 78.95% are achieved by CsBr:Zn and CsI:Zn NCs, respectively, attributed to the improved local structural order and reduced strain between the lattices of the NCs after storing under ambient conditions for 20 to 30 days. Moreover, zinc doped cesium halide NCs show excellent air stability for at least 50 days. Our results for zinc doped cesium halide NCs have shown a new avenue to fabricate lead-free halide NCs for blue lighting and display applications.

Q2DW-Tide and -Ionosphere Interactions as Observed From ICON and Ground-Based Radars.

A quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) event during January-February, 2020, is investigated in terms of its propagation from 96 to 250 km as a function of latitude (10°S to 30°N), its nonlinear interactions with migrating tides to produce 16 and 9.6-h secondary waves (SWs), and the plasma drift and density perturbations that it produces in the topside F-region (590-607 km) between magnetic latitudes 18°S and 18°N. This is accomplished through analysis of coincident Ionospheric Connections Explorer (ICON) measurements of neutral winds, plasma drifts and ion densities, and wind measurements from four low-latitude (±15°) specular meteor radars (SMRs). The Q2DW westward-propagating components that existed during this period consist of zonal wavenumbers s = 2 and s = 3, that is, Q2DW+2 and Q2DW+3 (e.g., He, Chau et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/93jd00380). SWs in the ICON measurements are inferred from Q2DW+2 and Q2DW+3 characteristics derived from traditional longitude-UT fits that potentially contain aliasing contributions from SWs ("apparent" Q2DWs), from fits to space-based zonal wavenumbers that each reflect the aggregate signature of either Q2DW+2 or Q2DW+3 and its SWs combined ("effective" Q2DWs), and based on information contained in published numerical simulations. The total Q2DW ionospheric responses consists of F-region field-aligned and meridional drifts of order ±25 ms-1 and ±5-7 ms-1, respectively, and total ion density perturbations of order (±10%-25%). It is shown that the SWs can sometimes make substantial contributions to the Q2DW winds, drifts, and plasma densities.

ENSO modulates wildfire activity in China.

China is a key region for understanding fire activity and the drivers of its variability under strict fire suppression policies. Here, we present a detailed fire occurrence dataset for China, the Wildfire Atlas of China (WFAC; 2005-2018), based on continuous monitoring from multiple satellites and calibrated against field observations. We find that wildfires across China mostly occur in the winter season from January to April and those fire occurrences generally show a decreasing trend after reaching a peak in 2007. Most wildfires (84%) occur in subtropical China, with two distinct clusters in its southwestern and southeastern parts. In southeastern China, wildfires are mainly promoted by low precipitation and high diurnal temperature ranges, the combination of which dries out plant tissue and fuel. In southwestern China, wildfires are mainly promoted by warm conditions that enhance evaporation from litter and dormant plant tissues. We further find a fire occurrence dipole between southwestern and southeastern China that is modulated by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Validation of ICON-MIGHTI Thermospheric Wind Observations: 2. Green-Line Comparisons to Specular Meteor Radars.

We compare coincident thermospheric neutral wind observations made by the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) on the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft, and four ground-based specular meteor radars (SMRs). Using the green-line MIGHTI channel, we analyze 1158 coincidences between Dec 2019 and May 2020 in the altitude range from 94 to 104 km where the observations overlap. We find that the two datasets are strongly correlated (r = 0.82) with a small mean difference (4.5 m/s). Although this agreement is good, an analysis of known error sources (e.g., shot noise, calibration errors, and analysis assumptions) can only account for about a quarter of the disagreement variance. The unexplained variance is 27.8% of the total signal variance and could be caused by unknown errors. However, based on an analysis of the spatial and caused by temporal variability of the wind on scales ≲70 min. The observed magnitudes agree well during temporal averaging of the two measurement modalities, we suggest that some of the disagreement is likely the night, but during the day, MIGHTI observes 16%-25% faster winds than the SMRs. This remains unresolved but is similar in certain ways to previous SMR-satellite comparisons.

Biocompatibility assessment of Fe3O4 nanoparticles using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism.

Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an experimental model, the potential toxicological effects of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) were investigated following exposure to 0-600 mg/L for 24 h. Results revealed that cell proliferation was significantly inhibited by Fe3O4-NPs with an IC50 value of 326.66 mg/L. Mortality showed a concentration-dependent increase, and the highest concentration in this study (600 mg/L) resulted in 22.30% mortality. In addition, Effects on proliferation and mortality were accounted for Fe3O4-NPs rather than iron ion released from Fe3O4-NPs. Scanning and transmission electron microscope observation showed that Fe3O4-NPs extensively attached on the cell surfaces, causing cells to deform and shrink. Moreover, Fe3O4-NPs could be internalized in S. cerevisiae cells via endocytosis and then be distributed in cytoplasm and vesicles. The data of uptake kinetics demonstrated that the maximal accumulation (4.898 mg/g) was reached at 15 h. Besides, percentage of late apoptosis/necrosis was observably increased (p < 0.01) at 600 mg/L (15.80%), and the expression levels of apoptosis-related genes (SOD, Yca1 and Nuc1) were dramatically increased following exposure to Fe3O4-NPs for 24 h. As expected, mitochondrial transmembrane potential was significantly decreased (p < 0.01) at 50-600 mg/L, and biomarkers of oxidative stress (ROS, CAT and SOD) were also markedly changed following exposure. Altogether, the combined results so far indicated Fe3O4-NPs could induce S. cerevisiae cell apoptosis that mediated by mitochondrial impairment and oxidative stress.