DLA-Net: dual lesion attention network for classification of pneumoconiosis using chest X-ray images.

Accurate and early detection of pneumoconiosis using chest X-rays (CXR) is important for preventing the progression of this incurable disease. It is also a challenging task due to large variations in appearance, size and location of lesions in the lung regions as well as inter-class similarity and intra-class variance. Compared to traditional methods, Convolutional Neural Networks-based methods have shown improved results; however, these methods are still not applicable in clinical practice due to limited performance. In some cases, limited computing resources make it impractical to develop a model using whole CXR images. To address this problem, the lung fields are divided into six zones, each zone is classified separately and the zone classification results are then aggregated into an image classification score, based on state-of-the-art. In this study, we propose a dual lesion attention network (DLA-Net) for the classification of pneumoconiosis that can extract features from affected regions in a lung. This network consists of two main components: feature extraction and feature refinement. Feature extraction uses the pre-trained Xception model as the backbone to extract semantic information. To emphasise the lesion regions and improve the feature representation capability, the feature refinement component uses a DLA module that consists of two sub modules: channel attention (CA) and spatial attention (SA). The CA module focuses on the most important channels in the feature maps extracted by the backbone model, and the SA module highlights the spatial details of the affected regions. Thus, both attention modules combine to extract discriminative and rich contextual features to improve classification performance on pneumoconiosis. Experimental results show that the proposed DLA-Net outperforms state-of-the-art methods for pneumoconiosis classification.

[Analysis of disease burden of welder's pneumoconiosis in Jiangsu Province].

Objective: To investigate the current status of disease burden and its influencing factors among welder's pneumoconiosis patients, and provide scientific basis for taking targeted intervention measures. Methods: From June 2022 to June 2023, the patients with welder's pneumoconiosis in Jiangsu Province were selected from 1956 to 2020 as the research objects, and disability adjusted life years (DALY) were used as the comprehensive index to study the disease burden. The direct and indirect economic losses caused by the diseases were calculated, and the factors affecting the disease burden were discussed by multiple linear regression method. Results: A total of 974 cases of welder's pneumoconiosis were reported in Jiangsu Province, the cumulative loss of DALY was 6300.73 person-years, and the per capita loss was 6.47 person-years. Among them, the healthy life years lost due to disability (YLD) was 6156.50 person-years (97.71%) , and the healthy life years lost due to premature death (YLL) was 144.23 person-years (2.29%) . Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the main factors affecting DALY were disability grade, diagnostic age, pneumoconiosis grade and length of dust exposure (P<0.05) . The total economic loss caused by 974 welder's pneumoconiosis patients was 1831838160.18 yuan, and the per capita loss was 1880737.33 yuan. Among them, the direct economic loss was 970917563.75 yuan (53.00%) , and the indirect economic loss was 860920596.43 yuan (47.00%) . Conclusion: Welder's pneumoconiosis causes serious disease burden to patients, and at the same time causes huge economic losses to individuals and society, which seriously hinders the development of society. Taking effective control measures to prevent the incidence of welder's pneumoconiosis is the key to reduce the disease burden.

[The relationship between the comprehensive blood inflammation indexes and stage I pneumoconiosis and its combined lung infections].

Objective: To analyze the comprehensive blood inflammation index of the patients with stage I pneumoconiosis complicated with pulmonary infection, and to explore its value in predicting the patients' disease. Methods: In September 2023, 83 patients with stage I pneumoconiosis who were treated in Tianjin Occupational Diseases Precaution and Therapeutic Hospital from November 2021 to August 2023 were selected and divided into non-infected group (56 cases) and infected group (27 cases) according to whether they were combined with lung infection. Workers with a history of dust exposure but diagnosed without pneumoconiosis during the same period were selected as the control group (65 cases) . By referring to medical records and collecting clinical data such as gender, age, occupational history, past medical history, hematology testing, the differences in the comprehensive blood inflammation indexes among the three groups were compared, ROC curve was drawn, and the relationship between comprehensive blood inflammation indexes and stage I pneumoconiosis and its combined lung infection was analyzed. Results: There were significtant differences in the number of neutrophils (N) , the number of lymphocytes (L) , the number of monocytes (M) , C-reactive protein (CRP) , the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) , the monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) , the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) , the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) , the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) , the aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI) , the derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) , the neutrophil to lymphocyte and platelet ratio (NLPR) , and the C-reactive protein to lymphocyte ratio (CLR) (P<0.05) . Compared with the control group, MLR, SIRI and AISI in the non-infected group were significantly increased (P<0.05) . NLR, MLR, PLR, SII, SIRI, AISI, dNLR, NLPR, CLR were significantly increased (P<0.05) . Compared with the non-infected group, NLR, PLR, SII, SIRI, AISI, dNLR, NLPR and CLR were significantly increased in the infected group (P<0.05) . ROC analysis showed that NLR, MLR, PLR, SII, SIRI and AISI had a certain predictive capability for stage I pneumoconiosis (P<0.05) , among which MLR had the highest efficacy, with an AUC of 0.791 (95% CI: 0.710-0.873) , the cut-off value was 0.18, the sensitivity was 71.4%, and the specificity was 78.5%. NLR, MLR, PLR, SII, SIRI, AISI, dNLR, NLPR and CLR all had a certain predictive capability forstage I pneumoconiosis combined lung infection (P<0.05) , among which CLR had the highest efficacy, with an AUC of 0.904 (95%CI: 0.824~0.985) , the cut-off value was 5.33, sensitivity was 77.8%, specificity was 98.2%. Conclusion: The comprehensive blood inflammation index may be an auxiliary predictor of stage I pneumoconiosis and its combined lung infections.

[Study on evaluation method of circular small shadow profusion in chest CT reconstruction images of pneumoconiosis].

Objective: To select chest CT image patterns for the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis and establish a method for determining the profusion of circular small shadows in chest CT. Methods: In April 2021, 66 cases of occupational pneumoconiosis patients with digital radiography (DR) chest radiographs and chest CT imaging data with circular small shadow as the main manifestations were selected as the study objects. 1.5 mm and 5 mm chest CT axial images, 1 mm and 5 mm chest CT coronal multi-plane recombination (MPR) images, and 5 mm chest CT coronal maximum intensity projection (MIP) images were used to observe the different characteristics of pneumoconiosis patients, and were compared and analyzed with DR chest radiographs to establish the experimental chest CT standards. The consistency of the profusion results between the experimental chest CT standards and GBZ 70-2015 Diagnosis of Occupational Pneumoconiosis was verified. Results: All the 66 objects were male, including 33 cases of stage Ⅰ pneumoconiosis, 17 cases of stage Ⅱ pneumoconiosis and 16 cases of stage Ⅲ pneumoconiosis. By observing five chest CT images of 66 objects, we found that chest CT images of different modes could clearly display and identify abnormal images such as small circular shadow, large shadow, small shadow aggregation, honeycomb glass shadow, flake glass shadow, uniform low-profusion glass shadow, mesh glass shadow, cable shadow, linear shadow, subpleural spinous shadow, subpleural nodules, various kinds of emphysema and lung texture distortion and fracture. Small shadow aggregation was usually accompanied by the appearance of large shadow. The vascular shadows in 5 mm CT images had good ductility, and small nodules were easy to distinguish. The coronal MIP image of 5 mm chest CT used edge enhancement technology, which was prone to small shadow fusion and fibrotic shadow fusion. The coronal MPR image of 5 mm chest CT was highly consistent with the DR chest radiographs in terms of the integrity of film reading. GBZ 70-2015 standard was used to compare the profusion of DR chest radiographs and 5 mm chest CT coronal MPR images of 66 objects, and the consistency test Kappa=0.64. GBZ 70-2015 standard and experimental chest CT standard were used to compare the profusion results of DR chest radiographs and 5 mm chest CT coronal MPR images of 66 objects, respectively, and the consistency test Kappa=0.80, with high consistency. Conclusion: 5 mm coronal MPR image is suitable for chest CT imaging in the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis. Following the selection path and method of GBZ 70-2015 profusion criterion, the established experimental chest CT standard in determining the profusion of small circular shadows in 5 mm coronal MPR images of chest CT with pneumoconiosis has a high consistency with GBZ 70-2015 standard.

[Research progress on pneumoconiosis markers based on multi-omics analysis].

The etiology of pneumoconiosis is relatively clear, but the pathogenic mechanism is not fully understood, and there is no effective cure for pneumoconiosis. Clarifying the pathogenesis of pneumoconiosis and exploring relevant markers can help screen high-risk groups of dust exposure, and relevant markers can also be used as targets to intervene in the process of pulmonary fibrosis. The in-depth development of genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics has provided a new way to discover more potential markers of pneumoconiosis. In the future, the combination of multi-omics and multi-stage interactive analysis can systematically and comprehensively identify key genes (proteins) , metabolites and metabolic pathways in the occurrence and development of pneumoconiosis, build a core regulatory network, and then screen out sensitive markers related to early diagnosis and treatment of pneumoconiosis. This article summarizes the research progress of pneumoconiosis markers from the perspective of multi-omics, hoping to provide more basic data for the early prevention and diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, pathogenesis research, and therapeutic intervention.

[A survey on the application of convolutional neural networks in the diagnosis of occupational pneumoconiosis].

Pneumoconiosis ranks first among the newly-emerged occupational diseases reported annually in China, and imaging diagnosis is still one of the main clinical diagnostic methods. However, manual reading of films requires high level of doctors, and it is difficult to discriminate the staged diagnosis of pneumoconiosis imaging, and due to the influence of uneven distribution of medical resources and other factors, it is easy to lead to misdiagnosis and omission of diagnosis in primary healthcare institutions. Computer-aided diagnosis system can realize rapid screening of pneumoconiosis in order to assist clinicians in identification and diagnosis, and improve diagnostic efficacy. As an important branch of deep learning, convolutional neural network (CNN) is good at dealing with various visual tasks such as image segmentation, image classification, target detection and so on because of its characteristics of local association and weight sharing, and has been widely used in the field of computer-aided diagnosis of pneumoconiosis in recent years. This paper was categorized into three parts according to the main applications of CNNs (VGG, U-Net, ResNet, DenseNet, CheXNet, Inception-V3, and ShuffleNet) in the imaging diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, including CNNs in pneumoconiosis screening diagnosis, CNNs in staging diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, and CNNs in segmentation of pneumoconiosis foci to conduct a literature review. It aims to summarize the methods, advantages and disadvantages, and optimization ideas of CNN applied to the images of pneumoconiosis, and to provide a reference for the research direction of further development of computer-aided diagnosis of pneumoconiosis.

Trends in work-related respiratory diseases attributed to nickel, chromium and cobalt in the UK: descriptive findings from The Health and Occupation Research (THOR) network 1996-2019.

BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to metals can be associated with respiratory diseases which can adversely affect the individual's health, finances and employment. Despite this, little is known about the incidence of these respiratory conditions over prolonged periods of time. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the trends in the incidence of work-related respiratory diseases attributed to nickel, chromium and cobalt in the UK. METHODS: Cases of occupational respiratory diseases caused by nickel, chromium or cobalt reported to Surveillance of Work-related and Occupational Respiratory Disease (SWORD), the UK-based surveillance scheme between 1996 and 2019 (inclusive), were extracted and grouped into six 4-year time periods. Cases were characterised by causative metal exposure, occupational and industrial sector. Incidence rates diseases (adjusted for physician participation and response rate) were calculated using ONS employment data. RESULTS: Of cases reported to SWORD during the study period, 1% (173 actual cases) of respiratory problems were attributed to nickel, chromium or cobalt. Diagnoses of asthma compromised the largest proportion of diagnoses (74.4%), followed by lung cancer (8.9%) and pneumoconiosis (6.7%). Cases had a mean age of 47 years (SD 13); 93% were men. The annual incidence fell from 1.6 per million employed in the first 4-year period, to 0.2 in the most recent period. CONCLUSIONS: Over 24 years, a decline in the incidence of metal-related occupational respiratory diseases was observed in the UK. This could be attributed to improvements in working conditions which resulted in reduced metal exposure but could also be due to closure of industries that might have generated case returns.

Time-/dose- series transcriptome data analysis and traditional Chinese medicine treatment of pneumoconiosis.

Pneumoconiosis' pathogenesis is still unclear and specific drugs for its treatment are lacking. Analysis of series transcriptome data often uses a single comparison method, and there are few reports on using such data to predict the treatment of pneumoconiosis with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here, we proposed a new method for analyzing series transcriptomic data, series difference analysis (SDA), and applied it to pneumoconiosis. By comparison with 5 gene sets including existing pneumoconiosis-related genes and gene set functional enrichment analysis, we demonstrated that the new method was not inferior to two existing traditional analysis methods. Furthermore, based on the TCM-drug target interaction network, we predicted the TCM corresponding to the common pneumoconiosis-related genes obtained by multiple methods, and combined them with the high-frequency TCM for its treatment obtained through literature mining to form a new TCM formula for it. After feeding it to pneumoconiosis modeling mice for two months, compared with the untreated group, the coat color, mental state and tissue sections of the mice in the treated group were markedly improved, indicating that the new TCM formula has a certain efficacy. Our study provides new insights into method development for series transcriptomic data analysis and treatment of pneumoconiosis.

No causal association between pneumoconiosis and three inflammatory immune diseases: a Mendelian randomization study.

Objectives: To investigate the causal relationships between pneumoconiosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and gout. Methods: The random-effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) approach was utilized to explore the causal effects of the instrumental variables (IVs). Sensitivity analyses using the MR-Egger and weighted median (WM) methods were did to investigate horizontal pleiotropy. A leave-one-out analysis was used to avoid the bias resulting from single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Results: There was no causal association between pneumoconiosis and SLE, RA or gout in the European population [OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.94-1.10, p = 0.74; OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.999-1.000, p = 0.50; OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 1.000-1.001, p = 0.55]. Causal relationships were also not found in pneumoconiosis due to asbestos and other mineral fibers and SLE, RA and gout [OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.96-1.07, p = 0.66; OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 1.00-1.00, p = 0.68; OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 1.00-1.00, p = 0.20]. Conclusion: Our study suggests that pneumoconiosis may have no causal relationship with the three inflammatory immune diseases.

[Global trends in the incidence and prevalence of pneumoconiosis in 204 countries/territories from 1990 to 2019].

Objective: To analyze the changing trend of incidence and prevalence of pneumoconiosis globally, and provide scientific basis for the formulation of health policy. Methods: In June 2022, through the Global Health Data exchange (GHDx) query tool (http: //ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool) , the pneumoconiosis incidence and prevalence data was downloaded and organized. Estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) and age-standardized rate (ASR) were used to estimate the trends of pneumoconiosis from 1990 to 2019. EAPC was estimated by linear regression model based on ASR. Results: The overall ASR of the incidence and prevalence of pneumoconiosis decreased from 1990 to 2019, and their EAPCs were-0.85% (95%CI: -1.11%--0.60%) and -0.78% (95%CI: -1.08%--0.49%) . Over the past 30 years, the incidence and prevalence of pneumoconiosis in all SDI areas showed decreasing trends, especially in high SDI areas, their EAPCs were -1.46% (95%CI: -1.76%--1.15%) and -1.99% (95%CI: -2.44%--1.53%) . 110 countries/areas showed increasing trends in age standardized incidence rate (ASIR) , with Iran and Georgia showing the most pronounced upward trend, their EAPCs were 5.32% (95%CI: 4.43%-6.22%) and 4.39% (95%CI: 3.81%-4.97%) . 125 countries/areas showed anincreasing trends in prevalence ASR, with Iran had the fastest rise in prevalence (EAPC=6.40%, 95%CI: 5.33%-7.49%) . Conclusion: Although decreasing trends in the burden of pneumoconiosis are observed globally from 1990 to 2019, but the burden of pneumoconiosis in low-and middle-income countries or regions are still heavy. We need more effective strategies to prevent and reduce the burden of pneumoconiosis.

Burden of silica-attributed pneumoconiosis and tracheal, bronchus & lung cancer for global and countries in the national program for the elimination of silicosis, 1990-2019: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: In industries worldwide, crystalline silica is pervasive and poses risks of pneumoconiosis and respiratory malignancies, with the latter being a knowledge gap in disease burden research that this study aims to address. By integrating both diseases, we also seek to provide an in-depth depiction of the silica-attributed disease burden. METHODS: Data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 were extracted to analyze the disease burden due to silica exposure. The trends of age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized DALY rate (ASDR) from 1990 to 2019, as well as the age-specific number and rate of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 1990 and 2019, were presented using GraphPad Prism software. The average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) on ASMR and ASDR were calculated using joinpoint regression models. RESULTS: The global trends of disease burden due to silica exposure from 1990 to 2019 showed a significant decrease, with AAPCs on ASMR and ASDR of -1.22 (-1.38, -1.06) and - 1.18 (-1.30, -1.05), respectively. Vietnam was an exception with an unprecedented climb in ASMR and ASDR in general over the years. The age-specific deaths and DALYs mainly peaked in the age group 60-64. In comparison to 1990, the number of deaths and DALYs became higher after 45 years old in 2019, while their rates stayed consistently lower in 2019. Males experienced an elevated age-specific burden than females. China's general age-standardized burden of pneumoconiosis and tracheal, bronchus & lung (TBL) cancer ranked at the forefront, along with the highest burden of pneumoconiosis in Chilean males and South African females, as well as the prominent burden of TBL cancer in Turkish males, Thai females, and overall Vietnamese. The age-specific burden of TBL cancer surpassed that of pneumoconiosis, and a delay was presented in the pneumoconiosis pinnacle burden compared to the TBL cancer. Besides, the burden of pneumoconiosis indicated a sluggish growth trend with advancing age. CONCLUSION: Our research highlights the cruciality of continuous enhancements in occupational health legislation for countries seriously suffering from industrial silica pollution and the necessity of prioritizing preventive measures for male workers and elderly retirees.

Risk of depression in patients with pneumoconiosis: A population-based retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pneumoconiosis is an important occupational disease; the association between pneumoconiosis and depression was largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pneumoconiosis and the risk of subsequent depression. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using Taiwan's National Health Insurance database. The study included 16,795 patients diagnosed with pneumoconiosis between 2008 and 2018 and a comparison cohort of 67,180 individuals without pneumoconiosis, propensity score matched in a 1:4 ratio based on age, sex, monthly income, residential urbanization level, and date of pneumoconiosis diagnosis. The development of depression was monitored until the end of 2019. RESULTS: The incidence of depression was 1.68 times higher in the pneumoconiosis cohort than that in the comparison cohort, with an incidence rate of 10.07 versus 5.99 per 1000 person-years (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.84, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.70-1.99). The risk of depression increased with an increased mean annual number of emergency department visits for pneumoconiosis, with aHRs of 1.34 (95 % CI = 1.13-1.59) and 2.31 (95 % CI = 1.94-2.76) for 1 ≤ n < 2, and n ≥ 2 compared to n < 1, respectively. LIMITATION: The database lacked detailed socioeconomic history, family history, and clinical variables. CONCLUSION: This study found that patients with pneumoconiosis have a significantly higher risk of depression than those without pneumoconiosis. Furthermore, the risk of depression increases with the frequency of emergency department visits for pneumoconiosis. Healthcare professionals should pay close attention to the mental health of patients with pneumoconiosis.

Research on factors affecting the spread of dust pollution in conveyor belt workshop and research on wet dust reduction technology.

At this stage, there are many dust-hazardous industries, and occupational pneumoconiosis has a high incidence for a long time. To solve the dust pollution problem in coal processing plant workshops, the dust particle field and liquid droplet particle field were numerically simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and the influences of the induced airflow and corridor wind speed on the internal airflow field of the workshop were investigated to derive the dust pollution mechanism in the coal plant workshop under the change in the wind flow field. In this study, it was shown that the wind flow rate in the coal processing plant workshop is mainly affected by the corridor wind speed, and the higher the corridor wind speed is, the higher the wind flow rate. The induced airflow mainly affected the direction of the wind flow field in the workshop. According to the conclusions obtained from the simulations, a spray dust reduction system was designed for the coal processing plant workshop and applied in the Huangyuchuan coal processing plant. On-site measurement revealed that the dust reduction effect inside the coal processing plant workshop is obvious, and the overall dust reduction efficiency in the workshop reaches more than 94%, which meets the requirements of environmentally sustainable development and clean production.

Predicting coal workers' pneumoconiosis trends: Leveraging historical data with the GARCH model in a Chinese Miner Cohort.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) is one of the most common and severe occupational diseases worldwide. The main risk factor of CWP is exposure to respirable mine dust. Prediction theory was widely applied in the prediction of the epidemic. Here, it was used to identify the characteristics of CWP today and the incidence trends of CWP in the future. Eight thousand nine hundred twenty-eight coal workers from a state-owned coal mine were included during the observation period from 1963 to 2014. In observations, the dust concentration gradually decreased over time, and the incidence of tunnels and mine, transportation, and assistance workers showed an overall downward trend. We choose a better prediction model by comparing the prediction effect of the Auto Regression Integrate Moving Average model and Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity model. Compared with the Auto Regression Integrate Moving Average model, the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity model has a better prediction effect. Furthermore, the status quo and future trend of coal miners' CWP are still at a high level.

[Bibliometric and visual analysis of pneumoconiosis based on Cite Space].

Objective: Through the bibliometrics analysis and visual analysis of Chinese and English literature related to pneumoconiosis through CiteSpace, to understand the research situation, research trend and hotspots of pneumoconiosis, so as to provide reference for further research. Methods: In August 2022, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) data baseand Web of Science core collection database were used as data sources for literature retrieval. Cite Space.5.8.R3c software was used to analyze the cooperation between authors and institutions, keyword co-occurrence analysis, keyword clustering analysis and keyword emergence analysis. Results: A total of 4726 Chinese literature and 2490 English literature related to pneumoconiosis were included; The annual publication volume of Chinese literature shows a fluctuating downward trend, while the annual publication volume of English literature shows a fluctuating upward trend. The Institute of Labor Health and Occupational Disease of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medical Sciences and the Institute of Occupational Health and Poisoning Control of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have the highest publication volume (55 articles) in the institutional cooperation network; The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the United States has the highest publication volume (153 articles) in the institutional collaboration network. The results of keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and prominence analysis show that Chinese literature focuses more on clinical research on pneumoconiosis, while English literature focuses more on experimental research related to the pathogenesis of pneumoconiosis. Conclusion: In the related field of pneumoconiosis research, the experimental research and clinical research on the pathogenesis are the main research hotspots.

[Analysis of Risk Factors of Chronic Pulmonary Heart Disease in Patients With Pneumoconiosis]. / å°˜è‚ºç— æ‚£è€ å‘ç”Ÿæ ¢æ€§è‚ºå¿ƒç— çš„å±é™©å› ç´ åˆ†æž.

Objective: To explore the risk factors for developing chronic pulmonary heart disease in patients with pneumoconiosis. Methods: The medical records of pneumoconiosis patients admitted to an occupational disease hospital in Sichuan Province between January 2012 and November 2021 were collected. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) method, or product-limit method, was used to plot the incidence curves of pulmonary heart disease in the pneumoconiosis patients. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors associated with chronic pulmonary heart disease in patients with pneumoconiosis. Results: A total of 885 pneumoconiosis patients were included in this study. The follow-up time was 12 to 115 months and the median follow-up time was 43 months. A total of 138 patients developed chronic pulmonary heart disease and the incidence density of pulmonary heart disease was 38.50/1000 person-years. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of pneumoconiosis inpatients developing chronic pulmonary heart disease included the following, being 50 and older (hazard ratio [HR]=1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-2.74), stage Ⅲ pneumoconiosis (HR=2.43, 95% CI: 1.48-4.01), resting heart rate≥100 beats/min (HR=2.62, 95% CI: 1.63-4.21), the complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (HR=4.52, 95% CI: 2.12-9.63), underweight (HR=2.40, 95% CI: 1.48-3.87), overweight and obesity (HR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.86), and triacylglycerol (TG) (HR=0.69, 95% CI: 0.49-0.99). Conclusion: Old age, stage Ⅲ pneumoconiosis, high resting heart rate, low BMI, and the complication of COPD are risk factors for chronic pulmonary heart disease in pneumoconiosis patients, while overweight and obesity and TG are protective factors. Early identification of the risk factors and the adoption of the corresponding prevention measures are the key to preventing chronic pulmonary heart disease in patients with pneumoconiosis.

Machine Learning Demonstrates Dominance of Physical Characteristics over Particle Composition in Coal Dust Toxicity.

Mine dust has been linked to the development of pneumoconiotic diseases such as silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Currently, it is understood that the physicochemical and mineralogical characteristics drive the toxic nature of dust particles; however, it remains unclear which parameter(s) account for the differential toxicity of coal dust. This study aims to address this issue by demonstrating the use of the partial least squares regression (PLSR) machine learning approach to compare the influence of D50 sub 10 µm coal particle characteristics against markers of cellular damage. The resulting analysis of 72 particle characteristics against cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation reflects the power of PLSR as a tool to elucidate complex particle-cell relationships. By comparing the relative influence of each characteristic within the model, the results reflect that physical characteristics such as shape and particle roughness may have a greater impact on cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation than composition-based parameters. These results present the first multivariate assessment of a broad-spectrum data set of coal dust characteristics using latent structures to assess the relative influence of particle characteristics on cellular damage.

Identification of high-risk population of pneumoconiosis using deep learning segmentation of lung 3D images and radiomics texture analysis.

OBJECTION: The aim of this study is to develop an early-warning model for identifying high-risk populations of pneumoconiosis by combining lung 3D images and radiomics lung texture features. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted, including 600 dust-exposed workers and 300 confirmed pneumoconiosis patients. Chest computed tomography (CT) images were divided into a training set and a test set in a 2:1 ratio. Whole-lung segmentation was performed using deep learning models for feature extraction of radiomics. Two feature selection algorithms and five classification models were used. The optimal model was selected using a 10-fold cross-validation strategy, and the calibration curve and decision curve were evaluated. To verify the applicability of the model, the diagnostic efficiency and accuracy between the model and human interpretation were compared. Additionally, the risk probabilities for different risk groups defined by the model were compared at different time intervals. RESULTS: Four radiomics features were ultimately used to construct the predictive model. The logistic regression model was the most stable in both the training set and testing set, with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.964 (95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.950-0.976) and 0.947 (95 %CI, 0.925-0.964). In the training and testing sets, the Brier scores were 0.092 and 0.14, respectively, with threshold probability ranges of 2 %-99 % and 2 %-85 %. These results indicate that the model exhibits good calibration and clinical benefit. The comparison between the model and human interpretation showed that the model was not inferior in terms of diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, the high-risk population identified by the model was diagnosed as pneumoconiosis two years later. CONCLUSION: This study provides a meticulous and quantifiable method for detecting and assessing the risk of pneumoconiosis, building upon accurate diagnosis. Employing risk scoring and probability estimation, not only enhances the efficiency of diagnostic physicians but also provides a valuable reference for controlling the occurrence of pneumoconiosis.

Vitamin D3 reverses immune tolerance and enhances the cytotoxicity of effector T cells in coal pneumoconiosis.

Coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) is a common occupational disease that coal miners are highly susceptible due to long-term exposure to coal dust particles (CDP). CWP can induce the accumulation of immune cells surrounding the bronchioles and alveoli in the lungs, resulting in pulmonary fibrosis and compromised immune function. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq), our previous studies disclose that CDP exposure triggers heterogeneity of transcriptional profiles in mouse pneumoconiosis, while Vitamin D3 (VitD3) supplementation reduces CDP-induced cytotoxicity; however, the mechanism by which how VitD3 regulates immune status in coal pneumoconiosis remains unclear. In this study, we elucidated the heterogeneity of pulmonary lymphocytes in mice exposed to CDP and demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of VitD3 using scRNA-Seq dataset. The validation of key lymphocyte markers and their functional molecules was performed using immunofluorescence. The results demonstrated that VitD3 increased the number of naive T cells by modulating CD4 + T cell differentiation and decreased the number of Treg cells in CDP-exposed mice, thereby enhancing the cytotoxic activity of CD8 + effector T cells. These effects markedly alleviated lung fibrosis and symptoms. Taken together, the mechanism by which VitD3 regulates the functions of lymphocytes in CWP provides a new perspective for further research on the prevention and treatment of CWP.

Whole transcriptome sequencing identifies key lncRNAs,circRNAs, and mRNAs for exploring the pathogenesis and therapeutic target of mouse pneumoconiosis.

BACKGROUND: Pneumoconiosis is a kind of lung dysfunction caused by the inhalation of mineral dust. However, the potential molecular mechanism of pneumoconiosis have not been fully elucidated. METHODS: In this study, the silica-treated pneumoconiosis mice model was constructed and the transcriptome sequencing data including lncRNA, circRNA, and mRNA were obtained. Firstly, differentially expressed lncRNA, circRNA, and mRNA (DElncRNA, DEcircRNA, DEGs) between control and pneumoconiosis/silicosis samples were screened, the target miRNAs (co-pre-miRNAs) were obtained by intersecting the miRNAs predicted by DElncRNA and DEcircRNA, respectively, and the target mRNAs (co-mRNA) were obtained by intersecting the mRNAs predicted by target miRNA and DEGs. Then, the lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks were constructed by Cytoscape. Next, the key mRNAs were obtained by protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, and the key lncRNAs/circRNAs were selected by correlation analysis. Moreover, the expression of the key lncRNAs, circRNAs and mRNAs on chromosome were studied by the "circlize" package. Furthermore, the TFs-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed and the function of DEGs were explored by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). To demonstrate the feasibility and value of the constructed ceRNA networks, we validated key genes and mmu-miR-682 pathway. Finally, We used the Drug-Gene Interaction database to predict potential drugs that could interfere with key genes,which may help to find promising treatment. RESULTS: There were 427 DElncRNAs, 107 DEcircRNAs and 1,597 DEGs between silicosis and control groups. Totals of 77 co-pre-miRNAs and 96 co-mRNA were screened, and the lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks were constructed with 27 lncRNA/25 circRNAs, 74 miRNAs and 96 mRNAs. Then, 6 key mRNAs including Igf1, Klf4, Ptgs2, Epas1, Gnao1, and Il1a were obtained by PPI, and all of these key mRNAs and 10 key lncRNAs and 8 circRNAs were significantly different between the pneumoconiosis and normal groups, in which 10 lncRNAs and 9 circRNA that have not been previously studied in pneumoconiosis/silicosis can be used as new potential therapeutic targets. Moreover, the TFs-miRNA-mRNA network were constructed with 11 TFs, 1 key miRNA (mmu-miR-682) and 3 key mRNAs (Igf1, Epas1, Ptgs2). And the validation of key genes revealing by RNA-seq through experimental approaches shows the the predictive power of this study. Finally, IPA results indicated that 41 pathways were activated and 2 pathways were suppressed in pneumoconiosis/silicosis groups, and Pathogen Induced Cytokine Storm Signaling Pathway was the most significant pathway affected by pneumoconiosis/silicosis. In addition, 93 drugs were screened out by Drug-Gene Interaction database. Among them, Hydroxychloroquine was a kind of drug which associated with Il1a and Ptgs2, may be a promising treatment. CONCLUSION: This study constructed the lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA and TFs-miRNA-mRNA networks, which could deepen the potential molecular regulatory mechanism of pneumoconiosis/silicosis.