Acid modified attapulgite loaded with bacillomycin D for mold inhibition and mycotoxin removal.

Molds and mycotoxins pose severe threats to health. Bacillomycin D (BD) can effectively inhibit mold growth. Attapulgite (ATP) can provide a good carrier for antimicrobial agents. Natural ATP was acid-modified to obtain H-ATP. It was used to load BD to obtain a novel composite material (H-ATP-BD). The results showed H-ATP had better adsorption performance than ATP. BD was adsorbed up to 93.13 % by adding 30 mg H-ATP and stirring at 40 ℃ for 120 min. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), size and zeta potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed successful loading of BD onto H-ATP. The composite showed good inhibition of Aspergillus and adding 0.6 % H-ATP-BD composite was effective in removing 89.06 % of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) at 50 °C. Model fitting indicated that AFB1 removal was a spontaneous exothermic reaction. This research will lay the foundation for the development of efficient and green antimicrobial and toxin-reducing materials.

External validation of the modified CTP score based on ammonia to predict survival in patients with cirrhosis after TIPS placement.

This study aimed to perform the first external validation of the modified Child-Turcotte-Pugh score based on plasma ammonia (aCTP) and compare it with other risk scoring systems to predict survival in patients with cirrhosis after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement. We retrospectively reviewed 473 patients from three cohorts between January 2016 and June 2022 and compared the aCTP score with the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, albumin-bilirubin (ALBI), model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and sodium MELD (MELD-Na) in predicting transplant-free survival by the concordance index (C-index), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA) curve. The median follow-up time was 29 months, during which a total of 62 (20.74%) patients died or underwent liver transplantation. The survival curves for the three aCTP grades differed significantly. Patients with aCTP grade C had a shorter expected lifespan than patients with aCTP grades A and B (P < 0.0001). The aCTP score showed the best discriminative performance using the C-index compared with other scores at each time point during follow-up, it also showed better calibration in the calibration plot and the lowest Brier scores, and it also showed a higher net benefit than the other scores in the DCA curve. The aCTP score outperformed the other risk scores in predicting survival after TIPS placement in patients with cirrhosis and may be useful for risk stratification and survival prediction.

Point clouds segmentation of rapeseed siliques based on sparse-dense point clouds mapping.

In this study, we propose a high-throughput and low-cost automatic detection method based on deep learning to replace the inefficient manual counting of rapeseed siliques. First, a video is captured with a smartphone around the rapeseed plants in the silique stage. Feature point detection and matching based on SIFT operators are applied to the extracted video frames, and sparse point clouds are recovered using epipolar geometry and triangulation principles. The depth map is obtained by calculating the disparity of the matched images, and the dense point cloud is fused. The plant model of the whole rapeseed plant in the silique stage is reconstructed based on the structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithm, and the background is removed by using the passthrough filter. The downsampled 3D point cloud data is processed by the DGCNN network, and the point cloud is divided into two categories: sparse rapeseed canopy siliques and rapeseed stems. The sparse canopy siliques are then segmented from the original whole rapeseed siliques point cloud using the sparse-dense point cloud mapping method, which can effectively save running time and improve efficiency. Finally, Euclidean clustering segmentation is performed on the rapeseed canopy siliques, and the RANSAC algorithm is used to perform line segmentation on the connected siliques after clustering, obtaining the three-dimensional spatial position of each silique and counting the number of siliques. The proposed method was applied to identify 1457 siliques from 12 rapeseed plants, and the experimental results showed a recognition accuracy greater than 97.80%. The proposed method achieved good results in rapeseed silique recognition and provided a useful example for the application of deep learning networks in dense 3D point cloud segmentation.

Non-Destructive Measurement of the Pumpkin Rootstock Root Phenotype Using AZURE KINECT.

Rootstock grafting is an important method to improve the yield and quality of seedlings. Pumpkin is the rootstock of watermelon, melon, and cucumber, and the root phenotype of rootstock is an important reference for breeding. At present, the root phenotype is mainly measured by scanners, with which it is difficult to achieve non-destructive and in situ measurements. In this work, we propose a method for non-destructive measurement of the root phenotype on the surface layer of the root ball of pumpkin rootstock plug seedlings and an accurate estimation of the surface area, length, and volume of total root using an AZURE KINECT sensor. Firstly, the KINECT is used to capture four-view color and depth images of the root surface, and then multi-view images are spliced to obtain a complete image of the root surface. After preprocessing of the images, we extract the roots from the root ball. For root phenotype measurements, the surface areas of the surface roots and root ball are calculated, followed by calculating root encapsulation. Next, the non-overlapping roots in the surface root image are extracted, and the ratio of the surface area to the skeleton length is used as the average diameter of total root. Based on the high correlation between the surface area of surface root and the surface area of total root, a linear fitting model is established to estimate the surface area, length, and volume of total root. The experiment ultimately showed that the measurement error for the average diameter of total root is less than 30 µm, and consistency with the scanner is higher than 93.3%. The accuracy of the surface area of total root estimation was found to be more than 88.1%, and the accuracy of the root length of total root estimation was observed to be greater than 87.2%. The method proposed in this paper offers similar accuracy to a scanner, which meets the needs of non-destructive root phenotype research. This method is expected to replace root scanners for high-throughput phenotypic measurements and provides a new avenue for root phenotype measurements of pumpkin rootstocks. This technology will provide key basic data for evaluating the root growth of pumpkin rootstocks.

Subcellular Localization of miRNAs and Implications in Cellular Homeostasis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are thought to act as post-transcriptional regulators in the cytoplasm by either dampening translation or stimulating degradation of target mRNAs. With the increasing resolution and scope of RNA mapping, recent studies have revealed novel insights into the subcellular localization of miRNAs. Based on miRNA subcellular localization, unconventional functions and mechanisms at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels have been identified. This minireview provides an overview of the subcellular localization of miRNAs and the mechanisms by which they regulate transcription and cellular homeostasis in mammals, with a particular focus on the roles of phase-separated biomolecular condensates.

Comparing the diagnostic value of serum oligosaccharide chain (G-test) and alpha-fetoprotein for hepatitis B virus-related liver cancer.

OBJECTIVES: The study compared the diagnostic efficiency of serum oligosaccharide chain (G-test) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Serum samples from 100 patients (divided into five groups of 20 each, namely the hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, health, and interference groups) who were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from October 2019 to January 2020 were collected, and the levels of G-test and AFP were determined. The sensitivity and specificity of the two indicators were compared, and the receiver operating characteristic curve of the subjects was drawn to evaluate the diagnostic values of G-test and AFP for HCC. RESULTS: The diagnostic ability of G-test (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.88 ± 0.05) was better than that of AFP (AUC: 0.76 ± 0.05). When G-test and AFP were combined for detection, the AUC was larger than that of either indicator. The G-test was superior to AFP in the differential diagnosis of early HCC and cirrhosis. A combination of the two indicators (AUC: 0.769 ± 0.05) significantly improved the diagnostic rate for early HCC, indicating that G-test and AFP complemented each other. CONCLUSION: G-test was better than AFP for screening HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis. The combination of the two further improved the diagnostic rate of hepatitis B-related liver cancer. The G-test improves the screening rate of early HCC in patients with cirrhosis. Therefore, these markers are of great clinical significance and can improve the sensitivity of HCC detection and reduce missed diagnosis rates.

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes co-delivering sorafenib and epidermal growth factor receptor siRNA enhanced tumor-suppressing effect on liver cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) co-delivering sorafenib (Sor) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) siRNA (MWNT/Sor/siRNA) on tumor growth in liver cancer (LC). RESULTS: MWNT/Sor/siRNA was proved to possess increased Sor release, high siRNA stability, and enhanced cellular uptake. In addition, MWNT treatment has few effects on cell proliferation and apoptosis in HepG2 cells; however, MWNT/Sor/siRNA treatment significantly inhibited clone number and induced cell apoptosis, which shows a more favorable antitumor effect than MWNT/Sor and free Sor and free siRNA in HepG2 cells. Moreover MWNT/Sor/siRNA treatment has the most significant antitumor effect in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: MWNT/Sor/siRNA exhibited a superior antitumor effect in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: The MWNT/Sor and MWNT/Sor/siRNA were prepared, and then the morphologies of MWNT/Sor/siRNA were analyzed. In vitro Sor release assay, siRNA stability and cellular uptake of MWNT/Sor/siRNA were performed as well. Next, the effects of MWNT, free Sor, free siRNA, MWNT/Sor and MWNT/Sor/siRNA were evaluated by colony-forming assay, and cell apoptosis assay in HepG2 cells. Meanwhile, the level of EGFR and proteins associated with apoptosis was tested. Furthermore, the anti-tumor effects of MWNT/Sor/siRNA on LC xenograft mice were also unraveled.