SEA-NET: medical image segmentation network based on spiral squeeze-and-excitation and attention modules.

BACKGROUND: Medical image segmentation is an important processing step in most of medical image analysis. Thus, high accuracy and robustness are required for them. The current deep neural network based medical segmentation methods have good effect on image with balanced foreground and background, but it will loss the characteristics of small targets on image with imbalanced foreground and background after multiple convolutions. METHODS: In order to retain the features of small targets in the deep network, we proposed a new medical image segmentation model based on the U-Net with squeeze-and-excitation and attention modules which form a spiral closed path,callled as Spiral Squeeze-and-Excitation and Attention NET (SEA-NET) in this paper. The segmentation model used squeeze-and-extraction modules to adjust the channel information to enhance the useful information and used attention modules to adjust the spatial information of the feature map to highlight the target area for small target segmentation when up-sampling. The deep semantic information is integrated into the shallow feature map by the attention model. Therefore, the deep semantic information cannot be scattered by continuous up-sampling. We used cross entropy loss + Tversky loss function for fast convergence and well processing the imbalanced data sets. Our proposed SEA-NET was tested on the brain MRI dataset LPBA40 and peripheral blood smear images. CONCLUSIONS: On brain MRI data, the average value of the Dice coefficient we obtained reached 98.1[Formula: see text]. On the peripheral blood smear dataset, our proposed model has a good segmentation effect on adhesion cells. RESULTS: The experimental results proved that the proposed SEA-Net performed better than U-Net, U-Net++, etc. in medical image segmentation.

Gait asymmetry in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: evaluated through kinematic synergies and muscle synergies of lower limbs.

BACKGROUND: Gait is a complex, whole-body movement that requires the coordinated action of multiple joints and muscles of our musculoskeletal system. In the context of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness and joint contractures, previous studies have generally assumed symmetrical behavior of the lower limbs during gait. However, such a symmetric gait pattern of DMD was controversial. One aspect of this is criticized, because most of these studies have primarily focused on univariate variables, rather than on the coordination of multiple body segments and even less investigate gait symmetry under a motor synergy of view. METHODS: We investigated the gait pattern of 20 patients with DMD, compared to 18 typical developing children (TD) through 3D Gait Analysis. Kinematic and muscle synergies were extracted with principal component analysis (PCA) and non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF), respectively. The synergies extracted from the left and right sides were compared with each other to obtain a symmetry value. In addition, bilateral spatiotemporal variables of gait, such as stride length, percentage of stance and swing phase, step length, and percentage of double support phase, were used for calculating the symmetry index (SI) to evaluate gait symmetry as well. RESULTS: Compared with the TD group, the DMD group walked with decreased gait velocity (both p < 0.01), stride length (both p < 0.01), and step length (both p < 0.001). No significant difference was found between groups in SI of all spatiotemporal parameters extracted between the left and right lower limbs. In addition, the DMD group exhibited lower kinematic synergy symmetry values compared to the TD group (p < 0.001), while no such significant group difference was observed in symmetry values of muscle synergy. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that DMD influences, to some extent, the symmetry of synergistic movement of multiple segments of lower limbs, and thus kinematic synergy appears capable of discriminating gait asymmetry in children with DMD when conventional spatiotemporal parameters are unchanged.

Longitudinal change of circulating tumour cell count and its relation to prognosis in advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients.

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are related to poor prognosis in hepatobiliary cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma and gallbladder carcinoma, but their value in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is obscure. This study aimed to investigate the change in CTCs during chemotherapy and its correlation with clinical features, treatment response and survival profile in advanced ICC patients. Fifty-one unresectable, advanced ICC patients who underwent chemotherapy were consecutively enrolled. Peripheral blood samples were collected at diagnosis and 2 months (M2) after chemotherapy initiation for CTC detection via the ISET method. The mean and median CTC counts at diagnosis were 7.4 ± 12.2 and 4.0 (range: 0.0-68.0), respectively, with 92.2% of patients having more than one CTC. A higher CTC count at diagnosis was correlated with elevated lymph node metastasis (p = 0.005), distant metastasis (p = 0.005) and TNM stage (p = 0.001) but no other characteristics. In addition, the CTC count at diagnosis was higher in nonobjective-response patients than in objective-response patients (p = 0.002), and a CTC count at diagnosis above 3 correlated with worse progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.007) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.036). At M2, the CTC count was greatly decreased (p < 0.001). CTC count at M2 also correlated with lower treatment response (p < 0.001), and CTC counts above 3 were associated with poor PFS (p = 0.003) and OS (p = 0.017). After multivariate Cox analyses, CTC counts at diagnosis above 3 and CTC count increase from diagnosis to M2 independently predicted PFS and OS (p < 0.05). Detection of CTCs before and during chemotherapy is useful for prognostication in advanced ICC patients.

Association of chromosome 2 open reading frame 71 in colorectal cancer susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious threat to human physical and mental health. Due to the novelty of the open reading frame (ORF), ORF has shown a wide range of new genetic associations in cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the C2orf71 SNPs and CRC susceptibility. METHODS: We recruited 1419 participants to perform an association analysis between C2orf71 SNPs and CRC risk through SNPStats online solftware. Genotyping was completed by the AgenaMassARRAY. In addition, we used false-positive report probability analysis to detect whether the positive findings were noteworthy observations. We also used Haploview 4.2 software and SNPStats online software to conduct the haplotype analysis and analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD). Finally, the interaction of SNP-SNP in CRC risk was evaluated by multi-factor dimensionality reduction (MDR). RESULTS: The overall analysis showed thatC2orf71-rs17744093, -rs10200693, and -rs13385188 were significantly associated with the CRC susceptibility. C2orf71-rs17744093 was associated with CRC risk under dominant model (OR = 1.25, p = 0.048). -rs10200693 was associated with CRC risk under allele (OR = 1.17, p = 0.041) and log-additive model (OR = 1.16, p = 0.045). -rs13385188 had significant association with CRC risk under multiple genetic models (allele: OR = 1.19, p = 0.023; log-additive: OR = 1.18, p = 0.026). Multiple stratified analyses showed that except for the three candidate SNPS mentioned above, -rs10166913 (age < 60 years and drinking) and -RS17007544 (< 60 years) were associated with increased CRC risk. CONCLUSION: C2orf71-rs17744093, -rs10200693, -rs10166913, -rs17007544, and -rs13385188 were associated with CRC susceptibility.

Age-related differences in gait symmetry obtained from kinematic synergies and muscle synergies of lower limbs during childhood.

The age-related changes of gait symmetry in healthy children concerning individual joint and muscle activation data have previously been widely studied. Extending beyond individual joints or muscles, identifying age-related changes in the coordination of multiple joints or muscles (i.e., muscle synergies and kinematic synergies) could capture more closely the underlying mechanisms responsible for gait symmetry development. To evaluate the effect of age on the symmetry of the coordination of multiple joints or muscles during childhood, we measured gait symmetry by kinematic and EMG data in 39 healthy children from 2 years old to 14 years old, divided into three equal age groups: preschool children (G1; 2.0-5.9 years), children (G2; 6.0-9.9 years), pubertal children (G3; 10.0-13.9 years). Participants walked barefoot at a self-selected walking speed during three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA). Kinematic synergies and muscle synergies were extracted with principal component analysis (PCA) and non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF), respectively. The synergies extracted from the left and right sides were compared with each other to obtain a symmetry value. Statistical analysis was performed to examine intergroup differences. The results showed that the effect of age was significant on the symmetry values extracted by kinematic synergies, while older children exhibited higher kinematic synergy symmetry values compared to the younger group. However, no significant age-related changes in symmetry values of muscle synergy were observed. It is suggested that kinematic synergy of lower joints can be asymmetric at the onset of independent walking and showed improving symmetry with increasing age, whereas the age-related effect on the symmetry of muscle synergies was not demonstrated. These data provide an age-related framework and normative dataset to distinguish age-related differences from pathology in children with neuromotor disorders.

hsa_circ_0067514 suppresses gastric cancer progression and glycolysis via miR-654-3p/LATS2 axis.

Gastric cancer is the third most frequent cancer with high prevalence and mortality globally. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a key role in cancer regulation, including gastric cancer. Nevertheless, only a few circRNAs have been well elucidated in gastric cancer. Hence, we investigated the action of circ_0067514 on gastric cancer and clarified the underlying mechanism. Here, we found that circ_0067514 was decreased in gastric cancer patients and cancer cells. The circ_0067514 expression was correlated with gastric cancer overall survival, lymph node metastasis, tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage, and histological differentiation. Overexpression of circ_0067514 blocked proliferation, invasion, and glycolysis of gastric cancer cells. Besides, circ_0067514 regulated large tumor suppressor kinase 2 (LATS2) expression by absorbing microRNA (miR)-654-3p. Furthermore, circ_0067514 modulated gastric cancer aggressive behaviors and glycolysis via miR-654-3p/LATS2 axis. Moreover, circ_0067514 constrained tumor growth in vivo. Together, this study showed that circ_0067514 suppressed gastric cancer aggressive development and glycolysis via miR-654-3p/LATS2 axis, making circ_0067514 a valuable target for preventing gastric cancer progression.

Current knowledge of bermudagrass responses to abiotic stresses.

Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) is a common turfgrass found in parks, landscapes, sports fields, and golf courses. It is also grown as a forage crop for animal production in many countries. Consequently, bermudagrass has significant ecological, environmental, and economic importance. Like many other food crops, bermudagrass production also faces challenges from various abiotic and biotic stresses. In this review we will focus on abiotic stresses and their impacts on turfgrass quality and yield. Among the abiotic stresses, drought, salinity and cold stress are known to be the most damaging stresses that can directly affect the production of turfgrass worldwide. In this review, we also discuss the impacts of nutrient supply, cadmium, waterlogging, shade and wear stresses on bermudagrass growth and development. Detailed discussions on abiotic stress effects on bermudagrass morphology, physiology, and gene expressions should benefit our current understanding on molecular mechanisms controlling bermudagrass tolerance against various abiotic stresses. We believe that the rapid development of transcriptomics and proteomics, as well as bermudagrass stable transformation technologies will promote the production of new bermudagrass cultivars with desirable tolerance against abiotic stresses.

Sulfur encapsulated in a TiO2-anchored hollow carbon nanofiber hybrid nanostructure for lithium-sulfur batteries.

A hollow carbon nanofiber hybrid nanostructure anchored with titanium dioxide (HCNF@TiO2) was prepared as a matrix for effective trapping of sulfur and polysulfides as a cathode material for Li-S batteries. The synthesized composites were characterized and examined by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical methods such as galvanostatic charge/discharge, rate performance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. The obtained HCNF@TiO2-S composite showed a clear core-shell structure with TiO2 nanoparticles coating the surface of the HCNF and sulfur homogeneously distributed in the coating layer. The HCNF@TiO2-S composite exhibited much better electrochemical performance than the HCNF-S composite, which delivered an initial discharge capacity of 1040 mA h g(-1) and maintained 650 mAh g(-1) after 200 cycles at a 0.5 C rate. The improvements of electrochemical performances might be attributed to the unique hybrid nanostructure of HCNF@TiO2 and good dispersion of sulfur in the HCNF@TiO2-S composite.

[Research on non-rigid registration of multi-modal medical image based on Demons algorithm].

Non-rigid medical image registration is a popular subject in the research areas of the medical image and has an important clinical value. In this paper we put forward an improved algorithm of Demons, together with the conservation of gray model and local structure tensor conservation model, to construct a new energy function processing multi-modal registration problem. We then applied the L-BFGS algorithm to optimize the energy function and solve complex three-dimensional data optimization problem. And finally we used the multi-scale hierarchical refinement ideas to solve large deformation registration. The experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm for large de formation and multi-modal three-dimensional medical image registration had good effects.

Differences in corticospinal drive and co-activations of antagonist muscles during forward leaning and backward returning tasks between children and young adults.

BACKGROUND: Postural control imposes higher demands on the central neural system (CNS), and age-related declines or incomplete CNS development often result in challenges performing tasks like forward postural leaning. Studies on older adults suggest increased variability in center of pressure (COP), greater muscle co-activations, and reduced corticospinal control during forward leaning tasks. However, the understanding of these features in children remains unclear. Specifically, it is uncertain whether forward leaning poses greater challenges for young children compared to adults, given the ongoing maturation of CNS during development. Understanding the distinct neuromuscular patterns observed during postural leaning could help optimize therapeutic strategies aimed at improving postural control in pediatric populations. METHODS: 12 typically developing children (5.91 ±â€¯1.37 years) and 12 healthy young adults (23.16 ±â€¯1.52 years) participated in a dynamic leaning forward task aimed at matching a COP target in the anterior-posterior direction as steadily as possible. Participants traced a triangular trajectory involving forward leaning (FW phase) to 60 % of their maximum lean distance and backward returning (BW phase) to the neutral standing position. Surface electromyography (sEMG) from muscles including gastrocnemius medialis (GM), soleus (SOL), and tibialis anterior (TA) were collected during both phases. COP variability was assessed using the standard deviation (SD) of COP displacements. Muscle co-activation indexes (CI) for ankle plantar and dorsal flexors (SOL/TA, GM/TA) were derived from sEMG activities. Intermuscular coherence in the beta band (15-30 Hz) was also analyzed to evaluate corticospinal drive. RESULTS: Children exhibited a significantly greater SD of COP compared to young adults (p < 0.01) during the BW phase. They also demonstrated higher CI (p < 0.05) and reduced coherence of SOL/TA (p < 0.05) compared to young adults during this phase. No significant group differences were observed during the FW phase. Within the children's group, COP variability was significantly higher in the BW phase compared to the FW phase (p < 0.01). Moreover, children displayed greater CI (p < 0.01) and reduced coherence of SOL/TA (p < 0.01) during the BW phase compared to the FW phase. Conversely, no significant phase effects were observed in the adult group. Furthermore, sEMG measures were significantly correlated with COP variability (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this small study suggest that age-related differences in CNS development influence the modulation of corticospinal drive to ankle muscles (e.g., SOL/TA) during childhood, particularly supporting the existence of a separate pathway underlying the control of forward lean and backward returning.

Stratification and prognostic evaluation of breast cancer subtypes defined by obesity-associated genes.

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer was the most common type of cancer among women worldwide, significantly impacting their quality of life and survival rates. And obesity has been widely accepted as an important risk factor for breast cancer. However, the specific mechanisms by which obesity affects breast cancer were still unclear. Therefore, studying the impact mechanisms of obesity as a risk factor for breast cancer was of utmost importance. METHODS: This study was based on TCGA breast cancer RNA transcriptomic data and the GeneCard obesity gene set. Through single and multiple factor Cox analysis and LASSO coefficient screening, seven hub genes were identified. The independent mechanisms of these seven hub genes were evaluated from various aspects, including survival data, genetic mutation data, single-cell sequencing data, and immune cell data. Additionally, the risk prognosis model and the neural network diagnostic model were established to further investigate these seven hub genes. In order to achieve precision treatment for breast cancer (BRCA), based on the RNA transcriptomic data of the seven genes, 1226 BRCA patients were divided into two subtypes: BRCA subtype 1 and BRCA subtype 2. By studying and comparing the immune microenvironment, investigating the mechanisms of differential gene expression, and exploring the mechanisms of subnetworks, we aim to explore the clinical differences in the presentation of BRCA subtypes and achieve precision treatment for BRCA. Finally, qRT-PCR experiments were conducted to validate the conclusions of the bioinformatics analysis. RESULTS: The 7 hub genes showed good diagnostic independence and can serve as excellent biomarkers for molecular diagnosis. However, they do not perform well as independent prognostic molecular markers for BRCA patients. When predicting the survival of BRCA patients, their AUC values at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years are mostly below 0.5. Nevertheless, through the establishment of the risk prognosis model considering the combined effect of the seven hub genes, it was found that the survival prediction of BRCA patients can be significantly improved. The risk prognosis model, compared to the independent use of the seven hub genes as prognostic markers, achieved higher timeROC AUC values at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, with values of 0.651, 0.669, and 0.641 respectively. Additionally, the neural network diagnostic model constructed from the 7 genes performs well in diagnosing BRCA, with an AUC value of 0.94, accurately identifying BRCA patients. The two subtypes identified by the seven hub genes exhibited significant differences in survival period, with subtype 1 having a poor prognosis. The differential mechanisms between the two subtypes mainly originate from regulatory differences in the immune microenvironment. Finally, the results of this study's bioinformatics analysis were validated through qRT-PCR experiments. CONCLUSION: 7 hub genes serve as excellent independent biomarkers for molecular diagnosis, and the neural network diagnostic model can accurately distinguish BRCA patients. In addition, based on the expression levels of these seven genes in BRCA patients, two subtypes can be reliably identified: BRCA subtype 1 and BRCA subtype 2, and these two subtypes showed significant differences in BRCA patient survival prognosis, proportion of immune cells, and expression levels of immune cells. Among them, patients with subtype 1 of BRCA had a poor prognosis.

Mechanistic Investigation of Calcium Channel Regulation-Associated Genes in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Signatures for Diagnosis.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe cardiopulmonary disorder with complex causes. Calcium channel blockers have long been used in its treatment. Our study aimed to validate experimental results showing increased calcium ion concentration in PAH patients. We investigated the impact of genes related to calcium channel regulation on PAH development and developed an accurate diagnostic model. Clinical trial data from serum of 18 healthy individuals and 18 patients with PAH were retrospectively analyzed. Concentrations of calcium and potassium ions were determined and compared. Datasets were retrieved, selecting genes associated with calcium ion release. R packages processed the datasets, filtering 174 common genes, and conducting Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses. Six hub genes were identified, and nomogram and logistic regression prediction models were constructed. Random forest filtered cross genes, and a diagnostic model was developed and validated using an artificial neural network. The 174 intersection genes related to calcium ions showed significant correlations with biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. Six key genes were obtained by constructing a protein-protein interaction network. A diagnostic model with high accuracy (> 90%) and diagnostic capability (AUC = 0.98) was established using a neural network algorithm. This study validated the experimental results, identified key genes associated with calcium ions, and developed a highly accurate diagnostic model using a neural network algorithm. These findings provide insights into the role of calcium release genes in PAH and demonstrate the potential of the diagnostic model for clinical application. However, due to limitations in sample size and a lack of prognosis data, the regulatory mechanisms of calcium ions in PAH patients and their impact on the clinical prognosis of PAH patients still need further exploration in the future.

lncRNA signature mediates mitochondrial permeability transition-driven necrosis in regulating the tumor immune microenvironment of cervical cancer.

Mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis (MPTDN) was a regulated variant of cell death triggered by specific stimuli. It played a crucial role in the development of organisms and the pathogenesis of diseases, and may provide new strategies for treating various diseases. However, there was limited research on the mechanisms of MPTDN in cervical cancer (CESC) at present. In this study, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) was performed on differentially expressed genes in CESC. The module MEyellow, which showed the highest correlation with the phenotype, was selected for in-depth analysis. It was found that the genes in the MEyellow module may be associated with the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Through COX univariate regression and LASSO regression analysis, 6 key genes were identified. These genes were further investigated from multiple perspectives, including their independent diagnostic value, prognostic value, specific regulatory mechanisms in the tumor immune microenvironment, drug sensitivity analysis, and somatic mutation analysis. This study provided a comprehensive exploration of the mechanisms of action of these 6 key genes in CESC patients. And qRT-PCR validation was also conducted. Through COX univariate regression and LASSO coefficient screening of the MEyellow module, 6 key genes were identified: CHRM3-AS2, AC096734.1, BISPR, LINC02446, LINC00944, and DGUOK-AS1. Evaluation of the independent diagnostic value of these 6 key genes revealed that they can serve as independent diagnostic biomarkers. Through correlation analysis among these 6 genes, a potential regulatory mechanism among them was identified. Therefore, a risk prognostic model was established based on the collective action of these 6 genes, and the model showed good performance in predicting the survival period of CESC patients. By studying the relationship between these 6 key genes and the tumor microenvironment of CESC patients from multiple angles, it was found that these 6 genes are key regulatory factors in the tumor immune microenvironment of CESC patients. Additionally, 16 drugs that are associated with these 6 key genes were identified, and 8 small molecule drugs were predicted based on the lncRNA-mRNA network. The 6 key genes can serve as independent biomarkers for diagnosis, and the Risk score of these genes when acting together can be used as an indicator for predicting the clinical survival period of CESC patients. Additionally, these 6 key genes were closely related to the tumor immune microenvironment of CESC patients and were the important regulatory factors in the tumor immune microenvironment of CESC patients.

Efficacy and safety of trifluridine/tipiracil plus bevacizumab versus trifluridine/tipiracil monotherapy for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Several studies demonstrated trifluridine/tipiracil (TAS-102) plus bevacizumab (BEV) had better efficacy than the monotherapy of TAS-102 in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, it remains unclear whether Chinese population can benefit from this combination or not. Hence, we conducted this retrospective cohort study to compare the efficacy and safety between TAS-102 plus BEV with TAS-102 monotherapy in refractory mCRC. Methods: This retrospective cohort study enrolled patients (any age) with refractory mCRC from Hunan Cancer Hospital. The main inclusion criteria were histopathologically and/or radiographically confirmed refractory mCRC, World Health Organization (WHO) performance status of 0 to 2, adequate organ function, and initial treatment of TAS-102 with or without BEV between November 2020 and October 2022. Previous therapy with fruquintinib or regorafenib was allowed but not mandatory. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were collected appropriately. Every 2 or 3 treatment cycles, the patients were assessed by computed tomography (CT) scans and clinical assessments until disease progression or loss to follow-up. The National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 5.0 (NCI-CTCAE 5.0) were presented as n (%). The primary endpoint was investigator-evaluated overall survival (OS). As this is a retrospective cohort study, sample size calculation was not performed. Eligible patients would be enrolled as many as possible. Results: A total of 90 patients were enrolled, including 58 patients who received TAS-102 plus BEV and another 32 patients who received TAS-102 monotherapy. The known baseline characteristics were comparable (P<0.05). With a median follow-up of 4.60 months (range, 0.20-22.80), the median OS (mOS) time in the TAS-102 plus BEV group was longer than that in the TAS-102 monotherapy group (10.83 vs. 7.43 months), but the difference was not significant (P=0.79). The median progression-free survival (mPFS) time was comparable between the two groups (4.67 vs. 4.30 months, P=0.96). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that undergoing therapy after TAS-102 either with or without BEV was an independent risk factor for OS [hazard ratio (HR) =0.25; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09-0.71, P<0.01], and previous treatment with cetuximab was an independent protective factor for PFS (HR =0.17; 95% CI: 0.03-0.91, P=0.04). Of the 70 patients who were evaluated, those receiving TAS-102 plus BEV showed trend of a higher objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) than those who received TAS-102 monotherapy (P=0.16 and P=0.29, respectively). Adverse events (AEs) were similar between the two groups, except that the incidence of platelet count decrease (grade ≥3) was significantly higher in the TAS-102 plus BEV group. Conclusions: There was a trend in favor of the combination of BEV plus TAS-102 regarding OS and DCR, without reaching statistical significance, and it means that there was no clear advantage of one over the other in terms of efficacy. Further prospective studies are still necessary to draw a definite conclusion.

Mushroom Poisoning Outbreaks - China, 2023.

What is already known about this topic?: Mushroom poisoning poses a significant food safety concern in China, with a total of 196 species identified in poisoning incidents by the end of 2022. What is added by this report?: In 2023, the China CDC conducted an investigation into 505 cases of mushroom poisoning spanning 24 provincial-level administrative divisions. This investigation resulted in 1,303 patients and 16 deaths, yielding a case fatality rate of 1.23%. A total of 97 mushrooms were identified as the cause of 6 distinct clinical disease types, with 12 species newly documented as poisonous mushrooms in China. What are the implications for public health practice?: Close collaboration among CDC staff, physicians, and mycologists remains crucial for the control and prevention of mushroom poisoning in the future.

Brain extraction from cerebral MRI volume using a hybrid level set based active contour neighborhood model.

BACKGROUND: The extraction of brain tissue from cerebral MRI volume is an important pre-procedure for neuroimage analyses. The authors have developed an accurate and robust brain extraction method using a hybrid level set based active contour neighborhood model. METHODS: The method uses a nonlinear speed function in the hybrid level set model to eliminate boundary leakage. When using the new hybrid level set model an active contour neighborhood model is applied iteratively in the neighborhood of brain boundary. A slice by slice contour initial method is proposed to obtain the neighborhood of the brain boundary. The method was applied to the internet brain MRI data provided by the Internet Brain Segmentation Repository (IBSR). RESULTS: In testing, a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 0.95±0.02 and a mean Hausdorff distance of 12.4±4.5 were obtained when performing our method across the IBSR data set (18 × 1.5 mm scans). The results obtained using our method were very similar to those produced using manual segmentation and achieved the smallest mean Hausdorff distance on the IBSR data. CONCLUSIONS: An automatic method of brain extraction from cerebral MRI volume was achieved and produced competitively accurate results.

Motor control differs for increasing and decreasing force production during ankle Isometric exercises in children.

BACKGROUND: Performance of the central nervous system (CNS) in increased and decreasing muscle force around the ankle joint is essential for upright tasks of daily living. Previous studies have shown altered CNS control when they decrease force compared with when they increase force in young and older adults. But whether such alteration exists during childhood with incomplete maturation of CNS systems remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the disparities in intramuscular EMG-EMG coherence, which serve as indicators of corticospinal drive to muscles during ankle isometric increasing and decreasing force generation in children. METHODS: We measured intramuscular EMG-EMG coherence activity of the tibialis anterior (TA) and the associated ability to perform isometric efforts at the ankle in 12 typically developing children (mean ± SD age = 5.91±1.37 years) and 12 healthy young adults (mean ± SD age = 23.16±1.52 years). The participants maintained isometric contractions at 20% of their maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) during ankle dorsiflexion to match a triangle trajectory for 7 s, including ramping up in 3.5 s (increasing force phase) and then linearly ramping down to rest in 3.5 s (decreasing force phase). The variability of force control was characterized by the coefficient of variance (CoV) of force output. Intramuscular EMG-EMG coherence from TA in two frequency bands, the beta band (15-30 Hz) and gamma band (30-45) that could reflect the corticospinal drive, were calculated for the comparison. A repeated measures ANOVA with the within-subjects factor of force generation phase (increasing force vs. decreasing force)x between-subjects factor of the group (children and young adults) was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Regarding the within-subjects difference, our results exhibited significantly higher CoV of force (p < 0.01) and lower EMG-EMG coherence of TA when they decrease force compared with when they increase force in both children and young adult groups. Regarding the between-subjects difference, the CoV of force was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in children compared to young adults, while the EMG-EMG coherence in children showed a significantly lower (p < 0.01) coherence compared with young adults. Furthermore, the EMG-EMG coherence measures were negatively correlated with the CoV of force. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the age-related development would increase the corticospinal drive to TA muscle to deal with ankle isometric dorsiflexion during childhood, which could be also modulated with the force production phases, including increasing and decreasing force.

Elucidating common pathogenic transcriptional networks in infective endocarditis and sepsis: integrated insights from biomarker discovery and single-cell RNA sequencing.

Background: Infective Endocarditis (IE) and Sepsis are two closely related infectious diseases, yet their shared pathogenic mechanisms at the transcriptional level remain unclear. This research gap poses a barrier to the development of refined therapeutic strategies and drug innovation. Methods: This study employed a collaborative approach using both microarray data and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data to identify biomarkers for IE and Sepsis. It also offered an in-depth analysis of the roles and regulatory patterns of immune cells in these diseases. Results: We successfully identified four key biomarkers correlated with IE and Sepsis, namely CD177, IRAK3, RNASE2, and S100A12. Further investigation revealed the central role of Th1 cells, B cells, T cells, and IL-10, among other immune cells and cytokines, in the pathogenesis of these conditions. Notably, the small molecule drug Matrine exhibited potential therapeutic effects by targeting IL-10. Additionally, we discovered two Sepsis subgroups with distinct inflammatory responses and therapeutic strategies, where CD177 demonstrated significant classification value. The reliability of CD177 as a biomarker was further validated through qRT-PCR experiments. Conclusion: This research not only paves the way for early diagnosis and treatment of IE and Sepsis but also underscores the importance of identifying shared pathogenic mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets at the transcriptional level. Despite limitations in data volume and experimental validation, these preliminary findings add new perspectives to our understanding of these complex diseases.

Mushroom Poisoning Outbreaks - China, 2022.

What is already known about this topic?: Mushroom poisoning is one of the most serious food safety issues in China. By the end of 2021, over 520 poisonous mushrooms had been discovered in China. The Southwest region of China was the most severely affected. Mushroom poisonings mainly concentrated in the summer and autumn months. What is added by this report?: In 2022, China CDC conducted an investigation of 482 incidents of mushroom poisoning across 21 provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs). This resulted in 1,332 patients and 28 deaths, with a total case fatality rate of 2.1%. A total of 98 mushrooms were identified, causing 7 different clinical types of diseases. Three provisional new species (Collybia humida nom. prov., Spodocybe venenata nom. prov., and Omphalotus yunnanensis nom. prov.) were newly recorded as poisonous mushrooms in China, in addition to 10 other species. What are the implications for public health practice?: In view of the extensive impact and harm of poisonous mushrooms on public health, it is necessary to promote prevention and improve the ability of professionals to identify, diagnose, and treat mushroom poisoning.

Comprehensive analysis of TCR repertoire of COVID-19 patients in different infected stage.

BACKGROUND: The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), transmitted person-to-person by the severe acute respiratory syndrome of coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), poses a threat to global public health. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we performed the comprehensive analysis of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire may contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of COVID-19. METHODS: A comprehensive immunological analysis was performed to explore the features of the TCR repertoire and identified TCR sequences correlated with SARS-CoV-2 viral antigens. RESULTS: we analyzed the COVID-19 patients' TCR repertoires in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) which obtained before (baseline), during (acute), and after rehabilitation (convalescent) by ImmunoSEQ-technology, and found that repertoire features of TCRß-chain (TCRß) complementary-determining region 3 (CDR3) in COVID-19 patients were remarkable difference, including decreased TCR diversity, abnormal CDR3 length, difference of TRBV/J gene usage and higher TCR sequence overlap. Besides, we identified some COVID-19 disease-associated TCRß clones, and the abundance of them changed with the progression of the disease. Importantly, these disease-associated TCRß clones could be used to distinguish COVID-19 patients from healthy controls with high accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a clear understanding of the TCR repertoire of COVID-19 patients, which lays the foundation for better diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients.