An odorant receptor mediates the avoidance of Plutella xylostella against parasitoid.

BACKGROUND: Ecosystems are brimming with myriad compounds, including some at very low concentrations that are indispensable for insect survival and reproduction. Screening strategies for identifying active compounds are typically based on bioassay-guided approaches. RESULTS: Here, we selected two candidate odorant receptors from a major pest of cruciferous plants-the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella-as targets to screen for active semiochemicals. One of these ORs, PxylOR16, exhibited a specific, sensitive response to heptanal, with both larvae and adult P. xylostella displaying heptanal avoidance behavior. Gene knockout studies based on CRISPR/Cas9 experimentally confirmed that PxylOR16 mediates this avoidance. Intriguingly, rather than being involved in P. xylostella-host plant interaction, we discovered that P. xylostella recognizes heptanal from the cuticular volatiles of the parasitoid wasp Cotesia vestalis, possibly to avoid parasitization. CONCLUSIONS: Our study thus showcases how the deorphanization of odorant receptors can drive discoveries about their complex functions in mediating insect survival. We also demonstrate that the use of odorant receptors as a screening platform could be efficient in identifying new behavioral regulators for application in pest management.

Effects of imidacloprid combined with validamycin on the population fitness and symbiotic of Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Using a high-efficiency insecticide in combination with fungicides that have different mechanisms of action is a conventional method in the current management of brown planthopper (BPH) resistance. In this study, we investigate the separate and combined effects of the low-toxicity fungicide validamycin and the non-cross-resistant insecticide imidacloprid on the fitness and symbiosis of BPH. These research results indicate that when the proportion of active ingredients in validamycin is combined with imidacloprid at a ratio of 1:30, the toxicity ratio and co-toxicity coefficient are 1.34 and 691.73, respectively, suggesting that the combination has a synergistic effect on the control of BPH. The number of yeast-like symbiotic (YLS) and dominant symbiotic (Noda) in the imidacloprid + validamycin groups were significantly lower than the other three treatment groups (validamycin, imidacloprid, and water). The results of the study on population fitness show that the lifespan of the BPH population in validamycin, imidacloprid, and imidacloprid + validamycin was shortened. Notably, the BPH populations in the imidacloprid + validamycin groups were significantly lower than other groups in terms of average generation cycle, intrinsic growth rate, net reproduction rate, finite rate of increase, and fitness. The Real-time quantitative PCR showed that validamycin and imidacloprid + validamycin can significantly inhibit the expression of the farnesyl diphosphate farnesyl transferase gene (EC2.5.1.21) and uricase gene (EC1.7.3.3), with imidacloprid + validamycin demonstrating the most pronounced inhibitory effect. Our research results can provide insights and approaches for delaying resistance and integrated management of BPH.

IncRNA TYMSOS Promotes Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis in Thyroid Carcinoma through Regulating MARCKSL1 and Activating the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) has been increasing in incidence greater than other cancers. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were reported to play crucial roles in THCA development. Our study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of lncRNA thymidylate synthetase opposite strand RNA (TYMSOS) in THCA. TYMSOS and myristoylated alanine rich protein kinase C substrate like 1 (MARCKSL1) were upregulated whereas miR-130a-5p was downregulated in THCA cells and tissues. The results of loss-of-function assays showed that TYMSOS knockdown inhibited cell metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in THCA. TYMSOS was primarily distributed in the cytoplasm of THCA cells, as shown by FISH assay. RNA pulldown and luciferase reporter assay further showed that TYMSOS binds with miR-130a-5p. Luciferase reporter assay also revealed that MARCKSL1 is targeted by miR-130a-5p. Rescue assay showed that the suppression of TYMSOS downregulation on THCA cell malignant behaviors was reversed by MARCKSL1 overexpression. Additionally, overexpressing MARCKSL1 offset the inhibition of TYMSOS downregu-lation on the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. TYMSOS knockdown inhibits the growth of THCA tumors, as in vivo assays showed. Collectively, TYMSOS facilitates THCA progression by sponging miR-130a-5p and upregulating MARCKSL1 to activate the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, providing new avenues for THCA treatment.

Optimal Value for Serum Anti-PLA2R Antibody in Primary Membranous Nephropathy: A Multicenter Observational Study.

INTRODUCTION: Anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody (PLA2R-Ab) is highly specific for primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Here, we compare the diagnostic value of different circulating PLA2R-Ab cutoff titers in multicenter cohorts, with particular focus on determining the optimal cutoff value for Chinese patients. METHODS: In total, 288 patients with PMN and 301 with other nephropathies were recruited retrospectively from five hospitals in China between September 2011 and October 2018. PLA2R-Ab in serum obtained at renal biopsy was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of PLA2R-Ab in diagnosing PMN were assessed. Diagnostic efficiency was evaluated by internal validation. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and Youden index for PMN diagnosis were 71%, 90%, 88%, 75%, and 0.61 at the cutoff of 3.8 RU/mL; 74%, 86%, 84%, 76%, and 0.60 at 2.7 RU/mL; 68%, 92%, 90%, 73%, and 0.60 at 5.2 RU/mL; 64%, 95%, 93%, 72%, and 0.59 at 9.0 RU/mL; 57%, 96%, 94%, 68%, and 0.54 at 14.0 RU/mL; 51%, 97%, 95%, 66%, and 0.49 at 20.0 RU/mL; 47%, 98%, 96%, 64%, and 0.45 at 40.0 RU/mL, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.83. CONCLUSION: By comprehensively considering specificity and sensitivity, we show that 3.8 RU/mL is the optimal cutoff of PLA2R-Ab in Chinese PMN patients, with a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 90%. The cutoff values were 5.2 RU/mL and 9.0 RU/mL when the diagnostic specificity was increased to 92% and 95%, respectively.

Isolation, Identification, and Analysis of Potential Functions of Culturable Bacteria Associated with an Invasive Gall Wasp, Leptocybe invasa.

Symbioses between invasive insects and bacteria are one of the key drivers of insect invasion success. Gall-inducing insects stimulate host plants to produce galls, which affects the normal growth of plants. Leptocybe invasa Fisher et La Salle, an invasive gall-inducing wasp, mainly damages Eucalyptus plantations in Southern China, but little is known about its associated bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the diversity of bacterial communities at different developmental stages of L. invasa and to identify possible ecological functions of the associated bacteria. Bacteria associated with L. invasa were isolated using culture-dependent methods and their taxonomic statuses were determined by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 88 species belonging to four phyla, 27 families, and 44 genera were identified by phylogenetic analysis. The four phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, mainly from the genera Pantoea, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Curtobacterium, Sphingobium, Klebsiella, and Rhizobium. Among them, 72 species were isolated in the insect gall stage and 46 species were isolated from the adult stage. The most abundant bacterial species were γ-Proteobacteria. We found significant differences in total bacterial counts and community compositions at different developmental stages, and identified possible ecological roles of L. invasa-associated bacteria. This study is the first to systematically investigate the associated bacteria of L. invasa using culture-dependent methods, and provides a reference for other gall-inducing insects and associated bacteria.

Detection of Microcystin-LR in the Cells and Natural Lake Water Samples by A Unique Fluorescence-Based Method.

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is widely distributed in natural lakes and could strongly inhibit protein phosphatase activity; it is also a potent liver tumor promoter. Over the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to enhance the detection of MC-LR in water samples. However, the traditional method is complex and costly, and achieving the fast, sensitive, and accurate determination of MC-LR in the cells and natural lakes by using fluorescence signal changes is fairly difficult. Our work explores novel fluorescent probes that are capable of concurrently analyzing and detecting MC-LR in the cells and water. In this study, we introduce, for the first time, 5-AF and 6-AF as small-molecule fluorescent probes suitable for MC-LR detection in the cells and water samples based on fluorescence signal changes. We titrated 5-AF and 6-AF with MC-LR in pure water, scanned the fluorescence of the sample, and then obtained the equation the fluorescence intensity versus MC-LR concentration curve. MC-LR in lake water samples was crudely purified, and then 5-AF was added to measure its fluorescence peak. The fluorescence intensity of 5-AF is significantly enhanced with increasing MC-LR concentration. This enhancement trend is stable and could be mathematically modeled. We also comprehensively analyzed the mechanism and recognition principle of the probe response to MC-LR in natural lake water. Moreover, we believe that 5-AF may be capable of detecting exogenous MC-LR in cells. The results of this study reveal that these unique fluorescent probes may be applied to construct near-infrared fluorescent probes that could detect MC-LR levels in vivo.

Optimization of the Laminate Structure of a Composite Cylinder Based on the Combination of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA).

This study optimized the laminate structure of a composite cylinder under the constraint of minimum layup thickness. Based on the progressive damage theory, a finite element model of the cylinder was established, and the NOL ring tensile test was used to verify the accuracy of the damage theory. The winding angle, the number of layers, and the helical/hoop ratio (the stacking sequence) were selected as the optimization factors, and the burst pressure value was used to evaluate the quality of the laminate structure. Then the orthogonal experiments were designed by RSM. Combined with FEA, the function model of the burst pressure of the gas cylinder and each optimization factor was established to obtain the optimal layering scheme, satisfying the minimum burst pressure. In addition, finite element analysis was used to verify the optimal scheme, demonstrating that the error of the burst pressure predicted by the quadratic model established by the response surface design was not more than 5%. This study provides a faster and more efficient optimization method for the optimization design of composite gas cylinder layers.

Association of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin with parameters of CKD-MBD in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

INTRODUCTION: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is not only a biomarker of kidney injury but also a bone-derived factor involved in metabolism. We aimed to explore relationships between plasma NGAL and chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) parameters in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, a cross sectional observational study, including 105 MHD patients, was conducted to explore relationships between plasma NGAL levels and CKD-MBD parameters. Second, impact of parathyroidectomy and auto-transplantation (PTX + AT) on plasma NGAL was investigated in 12 MHD patients with severe secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). RESULTS: According to Spearman correlation analysis, plasma NGAL levels were positively correlated with female (r = 0.243, P = 0.012), vintage (r = 0.290, P = 0.003), Klotho (r = 0.234, P = 0.016), calcium(Ca) (r = 0.332, P = 0.001), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (r = 0.401, P < 0.001) and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) (r = 0.256, P = 0.008); while inversely correlated with albumin(Alb) (r = - 0.201, P = 0.039). After adjusting for age, sex, vintage, Alb and all parameters of CKD-MBD(Ca, P, lg(ALP), lg(iPTH), Klotho and fibroblast growth factor 23(FGF23)), lg(NGAL) were positively correlated with Ca (r = 0.481, P < 0.001), P (r = 0.336, P = 0.037), lg(ALP) (r = 0.646, P < 0.001) in Partial correlation analysis; further multiple linear regression analysis showed same positive associations between lg(NGAL) and Ca (ß = 0.330, P = 0.002), P (ß = 0.218, P = 0.037), lg(ALP) (ß = 0.671, P < 0.001). During the 4-7 days after PTX + AT, plasma NGAL decreased from 715.84 (578.73, 988.14) to 688.42 (660.00, 760.26) ng/mL (P = 0.071), Klotho increased from 496.45 (341.73, 848.30) to 1138.25 (593.87, 2009.27) pg/mL (P = 0.099). CONCLUSION: Plasma NGAL levels were positively associated with ALP in MHD patients; and downtrends were shown after PTX + AT in patients with severe SHPT. These findings suggest that NGAL is a participant in CKD-MBD under MHD condition.

Bee Venom Melittin Disintegrates the Respiration of Mitochondria in Healthy Cells and Lymphoblasts, and Induces the Formation of Non-Bilayer Structures in Model Inner Mitochondrial Membranes.

In this paper, we examined the effects of melittin, a bee venom membrane-active peptide, on mitochondrial respiration and cell viability of healthy human lymphocytes (HHL) and Jurkat cells, as well as on lymphoblasts from acute human T cell leukemia. The viability of melittin-treated cells was related to changes in O2 consumption and in the respiratory control index (RCI) of mitochondria isolated from melittin-pretreated cells as well as of mitochondria first isolated from cells and then directly treated with melittin. It was shown that melittin is three times more cytotoxic to Jurkat cells than to HHL, but O2 consumption and RCI values of mitochondria from both cell types were equally affected by melittin when melittin was directly added to mitochondria. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of melittin's cytotoxicity to healthy and cancer cells, the effects of melittin on lipid-packing and on the dynamics in model plasma membranes of healthy and cancer cells, as well as of the inner mitochondrial membrane, were studied by EPR spin probes. The affinity of melittin binding to phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidic acid and cardiolipin, and binding sites of phospholipids on the surface of melittin were studied by 31P-NMR, native PAGE and AutoDock modeling. It is suggested that the melittin-induced decline of mitochondrial bioenergetics contributes primarily to cell death; the higher cytotoxicity of melittin to cancer cells is attributed to its increased permeability through the plasma membrane.

Effect of Glomerular Mannose-Binding Lectin Deposition on the Prognosis of Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE: Co-deposition of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and IgG4 anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) autoantibodies under subepithelial cells has been observed in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (iMN), but the relationships of MBL deposition to iMN severity and progression remain unclear. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with iMN who underwent renal puncture were enrolled and followed up for a median of 17 months (interquartile range [IQR], 9-25 months). Serum anti-PLA2R and anti-thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A antibodies and MBL were detected by ELISA. Glomerular MBL and anti-PLA2R antibodies were detected by immunofluorescence. Proteinuria remission, including complete remission (CR), was defined as a clinical event. Clinicopathological characteristics and kidney outcomes were compared between patients with and without MBL deposition. RESULTS: In 67 prevalent patients with biopsy-proven iMN, serum anti-PLA2R antibodies and anti-THSD7A antibodies were present in 37 (55.3%) and 1 (1.4%) patient with iMN. The positivity of glomerular MBL deposition and tissue anti-PLA2R antibody was 53 (79.1%) and 49 (73.1%), respectively. No significant difference was found between the MBL-positive and negative groups in the albumin level (26.5 ± 6.6 and 28.6 ± 6.1 g/L), eGFR (104.8 ± 17.4 and 114.6 ± 16.1 mL/min/1.73 m2), 24-h proteinuria (5.35 and 4.25 g/day), or serum MBL level corrected by serum Cr 4.92 (IQR, 0.86, 8.90) and 2.28 (IQR, 0.4, 5.62). In a Cox proportional hazards regression model adjusted for sex, age, systolic blood pressure, eGFR, immunosuppressive agent use, 24-h proteinuria, and anti-PLA2R antibody concentration, glomerular MBL deposition was independently associated with ICR of proteinuria (HR, 6.31; 95% CI, 1.1-36.1; p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: The MBL pathway of complement activation is commonly initiated in patients with iMN, and patients with MBL deposition reach ICR faster than patients without MBL deposition.

The micro-foundations of global business incubation: Stakeholder engagement and strategic entrepreneurial partnerships.

This paper explores the micro-foundations of global business incubation by examining how stakeholders influence the development of technology business incubation platforms and entrepreneurial activities in the context of strategic entrepreneurial partnerships. By drawing from stakeholder theory, we propose a conceptual framework that articulates how stakeholder engagement-including local governments, universities, and business support organizations-varies over time by engaging with entrepreneurs in the form of collaborative partnerships. This paper investigates two technology business incubators in China and the UK through a comparative lens and offers empirical evidence to support its theoretical argumentation. From a temporal perspective, we found that different types of stakeholders play different roles in deploying three distinctive mechanisms-namely, initiating, orchestrating and partaking-during the developmental trajectory involved in the launch and development of entrepreneurial ventures. Importantly, from a micro-foundational perspective, we highlight the agency-orientated activities championed by entrepreneurial organizations situated in global strategic partnership contexts.

Lipopolysaccharide Mediates the Destruction of Intercellular Tight Junction among Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells via RhoT1/SMAD-4/JAM-3 Pathway.

Background: The morbidity of sepsis induced acute kidney injury remains unacceptable high and the mechanisms of that disease remains unclear. For urine backleak and intercellular tight junction among tubular epithelial cells (TECs) destruction often occur during sepsis induced acute kidney injury, we examined whether lipopolysaccharide could damage intercellular tight junction among TECs and associated mechanisms in our present study. Methods: HK-2 cells were cultured, transfected with different SiRNAs and stimulated with LPS and PYR-41. Transepithelial Permeability Assay and Transepithelial Electrical Resistance Assay were used to evaluate intercellular tight junction destruction and Western Blot and Immunofluorescence were used to evaluate proteins expression. Results: Transepithelial Permeability increased significantly (P<0.05) and Transepithelial Electrical Resistance reduced remarkably (P<0.05) of the monolayer TECs stimulated with LPS. The expression of JAM-3 and RhoT1 decreased significantly (P<0.05) in TECs stimulated with LPS, while the level of SMAD-4 increased significantly (P<0.05). Downregulation of the expression of SMAD-4 with RNA interference could increase the expression of JAM-3 in LPS treated TECs. Moreover, upregulation of RhoT1 level by decreased the degradation of RhoT1 could decrease the expression of SMAD-4 and increase the JAM-3 level in TECs treated with LPS, while downregulation of RhoT1 level with RNA interference had the opposite effects. Conclusion: LPS mediates intercellular tight junction destruction among TECs and RhoT1/SMAD-4/JAM-3 is a pivotal pathway to mediate the phenomenon.

Comparison of different compressed sensing algorithms for low SNR 19 F MRI applications-Imaging of transplanted pancreatic islets and cells labeled with perfluorocarbons.

Transplantation of pancreatic islets is a possible treatment option for patients suffering from Type I diabetes. In vivo imaging of transplanted islets is important for assessment of the transplantation site and islet distribution. Thanks to its high specificity, the absence of intrinsic background signal in tissue and its potential for quantification, 19 F MRI is a promising technique for monitoring the fate of transplanted islets in vivo. In order to overcome the inherent low sensitivity of 19 F MRI, leading to long acquisition times with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), compressed sensing (CS) techniques are a valuable option. We have validated and compared different CS algorithms for acceleration of 19 F MRI acquisition in a low SNR regime using pancreatic islets labeled with perfluorocarbons both in vitro and in vivo. Using offline simulation on both in vitro and in vivo low SNR fully sampled 19 F MRI datasets of labeled islets, we have shown that CS is effective in reducing the image acquisition time by a factor of three to four without seriously affecting SNR, regardless of the particular algorithms used in this study, with the exception of CoSaMP. Using CS, signals can be detected that might have been missed by conventional 19 F MRI. Among different algorithms (SPARSEMRI, OMMP, IRWL1, Two-level and CoSAMP), the two-level l1 method has shown the best performance if computational time is taken into account. We have demonstrated in this study that different existing CS algorithms can be used effectively for low SNR 19 F MRI. An up to fourfold gain in SNR/scan time could be used either to reduce the scan time, which is beneficial for clinical and translational applications, or to increase the number of averages, to potentially detect otherwise undetected signal when compared with conventional 19 F MRI acquisitions. Potential applications in the field of cell therapy have been demonstrated.

The spectrum of biopsy-proven secondary glomerular diseases: A cross-sectional study in China
.

AIMS: The distribution of the spectrum of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been found to vary with time. Limited information is available regarding the changing spectrum of secondary glomerular diseases (SGDs). To further investigate changes in the spectrum of SGDs, we performed a cross-sectional study. METHODS: From June 2010 to May 2015, 5,935 patients from 37 hospitals in Shandong Province were involved in this study. The study was divided into five periods according to 1-year intervals. The patients were divided into four age groups. RESULTS: Of the 5,935 patients with qualified specimens, 1,038 (17.5%) were diagnosed with a SGD. Lupus nephritis (LN) (27.6%) was the most frequently identified SGD, followed by Henoch-Schönlein purpura glomerulonephritis (HSPN) (21.7%) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) (21.6%). The prevalence rate of DN demonstrated an increasing trend, and this condition became the leading cause of renal biopsy in period 3 (29.3%). The proportion of patients with hepatitis B virus-associated nephritis (HBVAN) decreased from 14.7% in period 2 to 5.1% in period 5 (p < 0.001). The proportion of patients with amyloidosis nephropathy (AN) increased from 2.2% in period 1 to 7.0% in period 5 (p = 0.088). The prevalence rate of DN was 0.6% in pediatric patients and 40.7% in elderly patients (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, SGD was the second leading cause of renal biopsy. The distribution of the spectrum of SGD varied with time and age. Given the possibility of a detection bias, larger prospective cohort studies are needed in the future.
.

Increasing prevalence of membranous nephropathy in patients with primary glomerular diseases: A cross-sectional study in China.

AIM: Primary glomerular disease (PGD) remains the most common renal disease in China. A limited number of single centre studies show that the frequency of membranous nephropathy (MN) has increased; however, IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is still the most common PGD. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no multi-centre study in China that has explored the changes in PGD spectrum. To further investigate the changes in renal histopathological spectrum, we performed the cross-sectional study. METHOD: From June 2010 to May 2015, 5935 patients from 37 hospitals in Shandong Province were involved in this retrospective study. The study was divided into five periods according to 1-year intervals. The patients were divided into four age groups (≤18 years, 19-44 years, 45-59 years and ≥60 years). RESULT: Among the 5935 qualified specimens, 4855 (81.8%) were diagnosed with PGD. MN (43.3%) became the most common PGD instead of IgA (34.1%) (P < 0.001). The frequency of MN was increased from 30.7% in period 1 to 53.5% in period 5 (P < 0.001). The prevalence of MN tended to increase in every age section. IgA was the main cause of PGD in periods 1 and 2; however, its proportion decreased significantly from 41.8% in period 2 to 25.2% in period 5 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Primary glomerular disease remains the most common renal disease in our study. For the first time, this cross-sectional study suggests that MN, in place of IgAN, has grown to be the first leading pathological type of PGD.

The effect of connective tissue growth factor on renal fibrosis and podocyte injury in hypertensive rats.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of podocalyxin (PCX) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in spontaneously hypertensive rats. METHODS: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were divided into groups referred to as SHR 12W, SHR 24W, WKY 12W and WKY 24W. Systolic blood pressure and 24-hour total uric protein were measured every two weeks in the respective groups. CTGF, PCX, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen-III were evaluated via immunohistochemical staining. In addition, CTGF, PCX, and α-SMA gene expression levels were determined by analyzing mRNA levels. RESULTS: More kidney lesions occurred alongside foot processes effacement in SHR 24W rats than in SHR 12W rats. In SHR 12W rats, blood pressure and 24-hour total uric protein level were elevated and continued to increase thereafter. In the SHR 12W and SHR 24W groups, the expression of CTGF, α-SMA and collagen-III was significantly increased. Immunohistochemical staining showed that PCX expression was significantly reduced in the SHR group and CTGF expression was increased. A significant decrease in PCX mRNA and an increase in CTGF mRNA were observed in SHR 24W rats relative to SHR 12W rats. CONCLUSION: Both the overexpression of CTGF and the loss of podocalyxin reflect renal damage in spontaneously hypertensive rats. CTGF and PCX may be involved in the mechanisms of podocyte injury and apoptosis induced by hypertension.

A Comprehensive Review of Image Line Segment Detection and Description: Taxonomies, Comparisons, and Challenges.

An image line segment is a fundamental low-level visual feature that delineates straight, slender, and uninterrupted portionsof objects and scenarios within images. Detection and description of line segments lay the basis for numerous vision tasks. Althoughmany studies have aimed to detect and describe line segments, a comprehensive review is lacking, obstructing their progress. This studyfills the gap by comprehensively reviewing related studies on detecting and describing two-dimensional image line segments to provideresearchers with an overall picture and deep understanding. Based on their mechanisms, two taxonomies for line segment detectionand description are presented to introduce, analyze, and summarize these studies, facilitating researchers to learn about them quicklyand extensively. The key issues, core ideas, advantages and disadvantages of existing methods, and their potential applications for eachcategory are analyzed and summarized, including previously unknown findings. The challenges in existing methods and correspondinginsights for potentially solving them are also provided to inspire researchers. In addition, some state-of-the-art line segment detectionand description algorithms are evaluated without bias, and the evaluation code will be publicly available. The theoretical analysis, coupledwith the experimental results, can guide researchers in selecting the best method for their intended vision applications. Finally, this studyprovides insights for potentially interesting future research directions to attract more attention from researchers to this field.

Tensor Completion for Alzheimer's Disease Prediction From Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

OBJECTIVE: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disorder with insidious onset. Accurate prediction of the disease progression has received increasing attention. Cognitive scores that reflect patients' cognitive status have become important criteria for predicting AD. Most existing methods consider the relationship between neuroimages and cognitive scores to improve prediction results. However, the inherent structure information in interrelated cognitive scores is rarely considered. METHOD: In this article, we propose a relation-aware tensor completion multitask learning method (RATC-MTL), in which the cognitive scores are represented as a third-order tensor to preserve the global structure information in clinical scores. We combine both tensor completion and linear regression into a unified framework, which allows us to capture both inter and intra modes correlations in cognitive tensor with a low-rank constraint, as well as incorporate the relationship between biological features and cognitive status by imposing a regression model on multiple cognitive scores. RESULT: Compared to the single-task and state-of-the-art multi-task algorithms, our proposed method obtains the best results for predicting cognitive scores in terms of four commonly used metrics. Furthermore, the overall performance of our method in classifying AD progress is also the best. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in fully exploring the global structure information in cognitive scores. SIGNIFICANCE: This study introduces a novel concept of leveraging tensor completion to assist in disease diagnoses, potentially offering a solution to the issue of data scarcity encountered in prolonged monitoring scenarios.

Odorant binding protein 18 increases the pathogen resistance of the imported willow leaf beetle, Plagiodera versicolora.

Background: Insect odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are a class of small molecular weight soluble proteins. In the past few years, OBPs had been found to work as carriers of ligands and play a crucial role in olfaction and various other physiological processes, like immunity. A subset of insect OBPs had been found to be expressed differently and play a function in immunity of fungal infection. However, there are few studies on the role of OBPs in immunity of bacterial infection. Methods: To identify the immune-related OBPs of Plagiodera versicolora after infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we determined the mortality of P. versicolora to P. aeruginosa and selected the time point of 50% mortality of larvae to collect samples for RNA-seq. RNAi technology was used to investigate the function of immune-related OBPs after P. aeruginosa infection. Results: RNA-seq data shows that PverOBP18 gene significantly up-regulated by 1.8-fold and further RT-qPCR affirmed its expression. Developmental expression profile showed that the expression of PverOBP18 was highest in the pupae, followed by the female adults, and lower in the 1st-3rd larvae and male adults with lowest in eggs. Tissue expression profiling showed that PverOBP18 was dominantly expressed in the epidermis. RNAi knockdown of PverOBP18 significantly reduced the expression of bacterial recognition receptor gene PGRP and antibacterial peptide gene Attacin and reduced the resistance of P. versicolora to P. aeruginosa infection. Conclusion: Our results indicated that PverOBP18 gene increased the pathogen resistance of P. versicolora by cooperating with the immune genes and provided valuable insights into using OBPs as targets to design novel strategies for management of P. versicolora.

CS2DIPs: Unsupervised HSI Super-Resolution Using Coupled Spatial and Spectral DIPs.

In recent years, fusing high spatial resolution multispectral images (HR-MSIs) and low spatial resolution hyperspectral images (LR-HSIs) has become a widely used approach for hyperspectral image super-resolution (HSI-SR). Various unsupervised HSI-SR methods based on deep image prior (DIP) have gained wide popularity thanks to no pre-training requirement. However, DIP-based methods often demonstrate mediocre performance in extracting latent information from the data. To resolve this performance deficiency, we propose a coupled spatial and spectral deep image priors (CS2DIPs) method for the fusion of an HR-MSI and an LR-HSI into an HR-HSI. Specifically, we integrate the nonnegative matrix-vector tensor factorization (NMVTF) into the DIP framework to jointly learn the abundance tensor and spectral feature matrix. The two coupled DIPs are designed to capture essential spatial and spectral features in parallel from the observed HR-MSI and LR-HSI, respectively, which are then used to guide the generation of the abundance tensor and spectral signature matrix for the fusion of the HSI-SR by mode-3 tensor product, meanwhile taking some inherent physical constraints into account. Free from any training data, the proposed CS2DIPs can effectively capture rich spatial and spectral information. As a result, it exhibits much superior performance and convergence speed over most existing DIP-based methods. Extensive experiments are provided to demonstrate its state-of-the-art overall performance including comparison with benchmark peer methods.