Draft genome assemblies of the ponerine ant Odontoponera transversa and the carpenter ant Camponotus friedae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

OBJECTIVES: Ants are ecologically dominant insects in most terrestrial ecosystems, with more than 14,000 extant species in about 340 genera recorded to date. However, genomic resources are still scarce for most species, especially for species endemic in East or Southeast Asia, limiting the study of phylogeny, speciation and adaptation of this evolutionarily successful animal lineage. Here, we assemble and annotate the genomes of Odontoponera transversa and Camponotus friedae, two ant species with a natural distribution in China, to facilitate future study of ant evolution. DATA DESCRIPTION: We obtained a total of 16 Gb and 51 Gb PacBio HiFi data for O. transversa and C. friedae, respectively, which were assembled into the draft genomes of 339 Mb for O. transversa and 233 Mb for C. friedae. Genome assessments by multiple metrics showed good completeness and high accuracy of the two assemblies. Gene annotations assisted by RNA-seq data yielded a comparable number of protein-coding genes in the two genomes (10,892 for O. transversa and 11,296 for C. friedae), while repeat annotations revealed a remarkable difference of repeat content between these two ant species (149.4 Mb for O. transversa versus 49.7 Mb for C. friedae). Besides, complete mitochondrial genomes for the two species were assembled and annotated.

A skin-specific α-Synuclein seeding amplification assay for diagnosing Parkinson's disease.

The seeding amplification assay (SAA) has recently emerged as a valuable tool for detecting α-synuclein (αSyn) aggregates in various clinically accessible biospecimens. Despite its efficiency and specificity, optimal tissue-specific conditions for distinguishing Parkinson's disease (PD) from non-PD outside the brain remain underexplored. This study systematically evaluated 150 reaction conditions to identify the one with the highest discriminatory potential between PD and non-synucleinopathy controls using skin samples, resulting in a modified SAA. The streamlined SAA achieved an overall sensitivity of 92.46% and specificity of 93.33% on biopsy skin samples from 332 PD patients and 285 controls within 24 h. Inter-laboratory reproducibility demonstrated a Cohen's kappa value of 0.87 (95% CI 0.69-1.00), indicating nearly perfect agreement. Additionally, αSyn seeds in the skin were stable at -80 °C but were vulnerable to short-term exposure to non-ultra-low temperatures and grinding. This study thoroughly investigated procedures for sample preprocessing, seed amplification, and storage, introducing a well-structured experimental framework for PD diagnosis using skin samples.

Comparison of early postoperative patient-reported outcomes after multiportal robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to compare early postoperative patient-reported outcomes between multiportal robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (M-RATS) and uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (U-VATS) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Symptom severity and functional status were measured using the Perioperative Symptom Assessment for Lung Surgery at pre-surgery, during postoperative hospitalisation, and within 4 weeks of discharge. A propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis of patients with NSCLC who were treated with M-RATS and U-VATS was performed. The symptom severity and daily functional status presented as proportion of moderate-to-severe scores on a 0-10-point scale, were compared using a generalised estimation equation model. RESULTS: We enrolled 762 patients with NSCLC from a prospective cohort (CN-PRO-Lung 3), including 151 and 611 who underwent M-RATS and U-VATS, respectively, before PSM analysis. After 1:1 PSM, two groups of 148 patients each were created. Pain severity (P = 0.019) and activity limitation (P = 0.001) during hospitalisation were higher in the M-RATS group. However, no significant differences existed post-discharge in pain (P = 0.383), cough (P = 0.677), shortness of breath (P = 0.526), disturbed sleep (P = 0.525), drowsiness (P = 0.304), fatigue (P = 0.153), distress (P = 0.893), walking difficulty (P = 0.242), or activity limitation (P = 0.513). M-RATS caused less intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.013), more stations of dissected lymph nodes (P = 0.001), more numbers of dissected lymph nodes (P = 0.001), and less tube drainage on the first postoperative day (P = 0.003) than U-VATS. CONCLUSION: M-RATS and U-VATS achieved comparable symptom burden and functional impairment after discharge. However, compared to U-VATS, M-RATS was associated with more severe pain and activity limitation in the short postoperative period. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2000033016.

SP1 regulates BMSC osteogenic differentiation through the miR-133a-3p/MAPK3 axis : SP1 regulates osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs.

BACKGROUND: The progression of osteoporosis (OP) can dramatically increase the risk of fractures, which seriously disturb the life of elderly individuals. Specific protein 1 (SP1) is involved in OP progression. However, the mechanism by which SP1 regulates OP progression remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the mechanism underlying the function of SP1 in OP. METHODS: SAMP6 mice were used to establish an in vivo model of age-dependent OP, and BALB/c mice were used as controls. BMSCs were extracted from two subtypes of mice. Hematoxylin and eosin staining were performed to mark the intramedullary trabecular bone structure to evaluate histological changes. ChIP assay was used to assess the targeted regulation between SP1 and miR-133a-3p. The binding sites between MAPK3 and miR-133a-3p were verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The mRNA levels of miR-133a-3p and MAPK3 were detected using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The protein expression of SP1, MAPK3, Colla1, OCN, and Runx2 was examined using Western blotting. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) kit and Alizarin Red S staining were used to investigate ALP activity and mineralized nodules, respectively. RESULTS: The levels of SP1 and miR-133a-3p were upregulated, whereas the expression of MAPK3 was downregulated in BMSCs from SAMP6 mice, and miR-133a-3p inhibitor accelerated osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs. SP1 directly targeted miR-133a-3p, and MAPK3 was the downstream mRNA of miR-133a-3p. Mechanically, SP1 accelerated osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs via transcriptional mediation of the miR-133a-3p/MAPK3 axis. CONCLUSION: SP1 regulates osteogenic differentiation by mediating the miR-133a-3p/MAPK3 axis, which would shed new light on strategies for treating senile OP.

The cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) inhibitor bergamottin enhances host tolerance to multidrug-resistant Vibrio vulnificus infection.

PURPOSE: Vibrio vulnificus (V. Vulnificus) infection is characterized by rapid onset, aggressive progression, and challenging treatment. Bacterial resistance poses a significant challenge for clinical anti-infection treatment and is thus the subject of research. Enhancing host infection tolerance represents a novel infection prevention strategy to improve patient survival. Our team initially identified cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) as an important target owing to its negative modulation of the body's infection tolerance. This study explored the superior effects of the CYP1A1 inhibitor bergamottin compared to antibiotic combination therapy on the survival of mice infected with multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus and the protection of their vital organs. METHODS: An increasing concentration gradient method was used to induce multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus development. We established a lethal infection model in C57BL/6J male mice and evaluated the effect of bergamottin on mouse survival. A mild infection model was established in C57BL/6J male mice, and the serum levels of creatinine, urea nitrogen, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the effect of bergamottin on liver and kidney function. The morphological changes induced in the presence of bergamottin in mouse organs were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver and kidney tissues. The bacterial growth curve and organ load determination were used to evaluate whether bergamottin has a direct antibacterial effect on multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus. Quantification of inflammatory factors in serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the expression levels of inflammatory factors in liver and kidney tissues by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed to evaluate the effect of bergamottin on inflammatory factor levels. Western blot analysis of IκBα, phosphorylated IκBα, p65, and phosphorylated p65 protein expression in liver and kidney tissues and in human hepatocellular carcinomas-2 and human kidney-2 cell lines was used to evaluate the effect of bergamottin on the nuclear factor kappa-B signaling pathway. One-way ANOVA and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In mice infected with multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus, bergamottin prolonged survival (p = 0.014), reduced the serum creatinine (p = 0.002), urea nitrogen (p = 0.030), aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.029), and alanine aminotransferase (p = 0.003) levels, and protected the cellular morphology of liver and kidney tissues. Bergamottin inhibited interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression in serum (IL-1ß: p = 0.010, IL-6: p = 0.029, TNF-α: p = 0.025) and inhibited the protein expression of the inflammatory factors IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α in liver (IL-1ß: p = 0.010, IL-6: p = 0.011, TNF-α: p = 0.037) and kidney (IL-1ß: p = 0.016, IL-6: p = 0.011, TNF-α: p = 0.008) tissues. Bergamottin did not affect the proliferation of multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus or the bacterial load in the mouse peritoneal lavage fluid (p = 0.225), liver (p = 0.186), or kidney (p = 0.637). CONCLUSION: Bergamottin enhances the tolerance of mice to multidrug-resistant V. Vulnificus infection. This study can serve as a reference and guide the development of novel clinical treatment strategies for V. Vulnificus.

ΔNp63-restricted viral mimicry response impedes cancer cell viability and remodels tumor microenvironment in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Tumor protein p63 isoform ΔNp63 plays roles in the squamous epithelium and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), including esophageal SCC (ESCC). By integrating data from cell lines and our latest patient-derived organoid cultures, derived xenograft models, and clinical sample transcriptomic analyses, we identified a novel and robust oncogenic role of ΔNp63 in ESCC. We showed that ΔNp63 maintains the repression of cancer cell endogenous retrotransposon expression and cellular double-stranded RNA sensing. These subsequently lead to a restricted cancer cell viral mimicry response and suppressed induction of tumor-suppressive type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling through the regulations of Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1, Interferon regulatory factor 1, and cGAS-STING pathway. The cancer cell ΔNp63/IFN-I signaling axis affects both the cancer cell and tumor-infiltrating immune cell (TIIC) compartments. In cancer cells, depletion of ΔNp63 resulted in reduced cell viability. ΔNp63 expression is negatively associated with the anticancer responses to viral mimicry booster treatments targeting cancer cells. In the tumor microenvironment, cancer cell TP63 expression negatively correlates with multiple TIIC signatures in ESCC clinical samples. ΔNp63 depletion leads to increased cancer cell antigen presentation molecule expression and enhanced recruitment and reprogramming of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells. Similar IFN-I signaling and TIIC signature association with ΔNp63 were also observed in lung SCC. These results support the potential application of ΔNp63 as a therapeutic target and a biomarker to guide candidate anticancer treatments exploring viral mimicry responses.

Combining genome-wide association study and linkage mapping in the genetic dissection of amylose content in maize (Zea mays L.).

KEY MESSAGE: Integrated linkage and association analysis revealed genetic basis across multiple environments. The genes Zm00001d003102 and Zm00001d015905 were further verified to influence amylose content using gene-based association study. Maize kernel amylose is an important source of human food and industrial raw material. However, the genetic basis underlying maize amylose content is still obscure. Herein, we used an intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 doubled haploid population composed of 222 lines and a germplasm set including 305 inbred lines to uncover the genetic control for amylose content under four environments. Linkage mapping detected 16 unique QTL, among which four were individually repeatedly identified across multiple environments. Genome-wide association study revealed 17 significant (P = 2.24E-06) single-nucleotide polymorphisms, of which two (SYN19568 and PZE-105090500) were located in the intervals of the mapped QTL (qAC2 and qAC5-3), respectively. According to the two population co-localized loci, 20 genes were confirmed as the candidate genes for amylose content. Gene-based association analysis indicated that the variants in Zm00001d003102 (Beta-16-galactosyltransferase GALT29A) and Zm00001d015905 (Sugar transporter 4a) affected amylose content across multi-environment. Tissue expression analysis showed that the two genes were specifically highly expressed in the ear and stem, respectively, suggesting that they might participate in sugar transport from source to sink organs. Our study provides valuable genetic information for breeding maize varieties with high amylose.

Shortness of breath on the day of discharge: an early alert for post-discharge complications in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

PURPOSE: Symptom assessment based on patient-reported outcome (PRO) can correlate with disease severity, making it a potential tool for threshold alerts of postoperative complications. This study aimed to determine whether shortness of breath (SOB) scores on the day of discharge could predict the development of post-discharge complications in patients who underwent lung cancer surgery. METHODS: Patients were from a study of a dynamic perioperative rehabilitation cohort of lung cancer patients focusing on patient-reported outcomes. Patients were assessed using the Perioperative Symptom Assessment Scale for Lung surgery (PSA-Lung). Logistic regression model was used to examine the potential association between SOB on the day of discharge and complications within 3 months after discharge. The post-discharge complications were taken as the anchor variable to determine the optimal cutpoint for SOB on the day of discharge. RESULTS: Complications within 3 months post-discharge occurred in 71 (10.84%) of 655 patients. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being female (OR 1.764, 95% CI 1.006-3.092, P < 0.05) and having two chest tubes (OR 2.026, 95% CI 1.107-3.710, P < 0.05) were significantly associated with post-discharge complications. Additionally, the SOB score on the day of discharge (OR 1.125, 95% CI 1.012-1.250, P < 0.05) was a significant predictor. The optimal SOB cutpoint was 5 (on a scale of 0-10). Patients with an SOB score ≥ 5 at discharge experienced a lower quality of life 1 month later compared to those with SOB score<5 at discharge (73 [50-86] vs. 81 [65-91], P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SOB on the day of discharge may serve as an early warning sign for the timely detection of 3 month post-discharge complications.

[Research progress of chemerin in polycystic ovary syndrome].

As a multifunctional adipokine, chemerin plays a crucial role in various pathophysiological processes through endocrine and paracrine manner. It can bind to three known receptors (ChemR23, GPR1 and CCRL2) and participate in energy metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, and inflammation, especially in metabolic diseases. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine diseases, which seriously affects the normal life of women of childbearing age. Patients with PCOS have significantly increased serum levels of chemerin and high expression of chemerin in their ovaries. More and more studies have shown that chemerin is involved in the occurrence and development of PCOS by affecting obesity, insulin resistance, hyperandrogenism, oxidative stress and inflammatory response. This article mainly reviews the production, subtypes, function and receptors of chemerin protein, summarizes and discusses the research status of chemerin protein in PCOS from the perspectives of metabolism, reproduction and inflammation, and provides theoretical basis and reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of PCOS.

Effects of super-enhancers in cancer metastasis: mechanisms and therapeutic targets.

Metastasis remains the principal cause of cancer-related lethality despite advancements in cancer treatment. Dysfunctional epigenetic alterations are crucial in the metastatic cascade. Among these, super-enhancers (SEs), emerging as new epigenetic regulators, consist of large clusters of regulatory elements that drive the high-level expression of genes essential for the oncogenic process, upon which cancer cells develop a profound dependency. These SE-driven oncogenes play an important role in regulating various facets of metastasis, including the promotion of tumor proliferation in primary and distal metastatic organs, facilitating cellular migration and invasion into the vasculature, triggering epithelial-mesenchymal transition, enhancing cancer stem cell-like properties, circumventing immune detection, and adapting to the heterogeneity of metastatic niches. This heavy reliance on SE-mediated transcription delineates a vulnerable target for therapeutic intervention in cancer cells. In this article, we review current insights into the characteristics, identification methodologies, formation, and activation mechanisms of SEs. We also elaborate the oncogenic roles and regulatory functions of SEs in the context of cancer metastasis. Ultimately, we discuss the potential of SEs as novel therapeutic targets and their implications in clinical oncology, offering insights into future directions for innovative cancer treatment strategies.

Structural and Biophysical Dynamics of Fungal Plasma Membrane Proteins and Implications for Echinocandin Action in Candida glabrata.

Fungal plasma membrane proteins represent key therapeutic targets for antifungal agents, yet their structure and spatial distribution in the native context remain poorly characterized. Herein, we employ an integrative multimodal approach to elucidate the structural and functional organization of plasma membrane protein complexes in Candida glabrata , focusing on prominent and essential membrane proteins, the polysaccharide synthase ß-(1,3)-glucan synthase (GS) and the proton pump Pma1. Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and live cell imaging reveal that GS and Pma1 are heterogeneously distributed into distinct plasma membrane microdomains. Treatment with caspofungin, an echinocandin antifungal that targets GS, alters the plasma membrane and disrupts the native distribution of GS and Pma1. Based on these findings, we propose a model for echinocandin action that considers how drug interactions with the plasma membrane environment lead to inhibition of GS. Our work underscores the importance of interrogating the structural and dynamic characteristics of fungal plasma membrane proteins in situ to understand function and facilitate precisely targeted development of novel antifungal therapies.

Bioinspired radiative cooling coating with high emittance and robust self-cleaning for sustainably efficient heat dissipation.

To overcome the overheating phenomena of electronic devices and energy components, developing advanced energy-free cooling coatings with promising radiative property seem an effective and energy-saving way. However, the further application of these coatings is greatly limited by their sustainability because of their fragile and easy contamination. Herein, it is reported that a bioinspired radiative cooling coating (BRCC) displayed sustainably efficient heat dissipation by the combination of high emittance and robust self-cleaning property. With the hierarchical porous structure constructed by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), modified SiO2 and fluorosilicone (FSi) resin, the involvement of the BRCC improves the cooling performance by increasing ≈25% total heat transfer coefficient. During the abrasion and soiling tests, the BRCC-coated Al alloy heat sink always displays stable radiative cooling performance. Moreover, the simulation and experimental results both revealed that reducing surface coverage of BRCC (≈80.9%) can still keep highly cooling efficiency, leading to a cost-effective avenue. Therefore, this study may guide the design and fabrication of advanced radiative cooling coating.

[Transition metal accumulation and cellular senescence].

Aging refers to a progressive decline in biological functions, leading to age-related diseases and mortality. The transition metals, including iron, copper, and manganese, play important roles in human physiological and pathological processes. Substantial research has demonstrated that senescent cells accumulate higher levels of transition metals, which in turn accelerates the process of cellular senescence and related diseases through mechanisms such as production of excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), induction of oxidative stress, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the causes of transition metal accumulation in senescent cells, as well as the mechanisms by which it further promotes cellular senescence and related diseases. The aim is to provide insights into anti-aging and treatment of aging-related diseases caused by transition metal accumulation.

Fabrication of Large-Area Nanostructures Using Cross-Nanoimprint Strategy.

Nanostructures with sufficiently large areas are necessary for the development of practical devices. Current efforts to fabricate large-area nanostructures using step-and-repeat nanoimprint lithography, however, result in either wide seams or low efficiency due to ultraviolet light leakage and the overflow of imprint resin. In this study, we propose an efficient method for large-area nanostructure fabrication using step-and-repeat nanoimprint lithography with a composite mold. The composite mold consists of a quartz support layer, a soft polydimethylsiloxane buffer layer, and multiple intermediate polymer stamps arranged in a cross pattern. The distance between the adjacent stamp pattern areas is equal to the width of the pattern area. This design combines the high imprinting precision of hard molds with the uniform large-area imprinting offered by soft molds. In this experiment, we utilized a composite mold consisting of three sub-molds combined with a cross-nanoimprint strategy to create large-area nanostructures measuring 5 mm × 30 mm on a silicon substrate, with the minimum linewidth of the structure being 100 nm. Compared with traditional step-and-flash nanoimprint lithography, the present method enhances manufacturing efficiency and generates large-area patterns with seam errors only at the micron level. This research could help advance micro-nano optics, flexible electronics, optical communication, and biomedicine studies.

Prebiotic saccharides polymerization improves the encapsulation efficiency, stability, bioaccessibility and gut microbiota modulation of urolithin A liposomes.

This work was to investigate the effect of four prebiotic saccharides gum arabic (GA), fructooligosaccharide (FOS), konjac glucomannan (KGM), and inulin (INU) incorporation on the encapsulation efficiency (EE), physicochemical stability, and in vitro digestion of urolithin A-loaded liposomes (UroA-LPs). The regulation of liposomes on gut microbiota was also investigated by in vitro colonic fermentation. Results indicated that liposomes coated with GA showed the best EE, bioaccessibility, storage and thermal stability, the bioaccessibility was 1.67 times of that of UroA-LPs. The UroA-LPs coated with FOS showed the best freeze-thaw stability and transformation. Meanwhile, saccharides addition remarkably improved the relative abundance of Bacteroidota, reduced the abundances of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The UroA-LPs coated with FOS, INU, and GA exhibited the highest beneficial bacteria abundance of Parabacteroides, Monoglobus, and Phascolarctobacterium, respectively. FOS could also decrease the abundance of harmful bacteria Collinsella and Enterococcus, and increase the levels of acetic acid, butyric acid and iso-butyric acid. Consequently, prebiotic saccharides can improve the EE, physicochemical stability, gut microbiota regulation of UroA-LPs, and promote the bioaccessibility of UroA, but the efficiency varied based on saccharides types, which can lay a foundation for the application of UroA in foods industry and for the enhancement of its bio-activities.

A full solid-state conceptual magnetocaloric refrigerator based on hybrid regeneration.

The environmental friendliness and high efficiency of magnetocaloric refrigeration make it a promising substitute for vapor compression refrigeration. However, the common use of heat transfer fluid in conventional passive magnetic regenerators (PMRs) and active magnetic regenerators (AMRs) makes only partial materials contribute to the regeneration process, which produces large regeneration loss and greatly limits the regeneration efficiency and refrigeration performance at high frequency. Herein, we propose a new conceptual hybrid magnetic regenerator (HMR) composed of multiple solid-state high thermal conductivity materials (HTCMs) and magnetocaloric materials (MCMs), in which both HTCM and MCM elements participate in the regeneration process. This novel working mode could greatly reduce regeneration losses caused by dead volume, pressure losses, and temperature nonuniformity in heat transfer substances to markedly improve regeneration efficiency at high working frequencies. Using the experimentally obtained adiabatic temperature change and magnetic work and with the help of finite element simulation, a maximum temperature of 26 K, a dramatically large cooling power of 8.3 kW/kg, and a maximum ideal exergy efficiency of 54.2% are achieved at the working frequency of 10 Hz for an ideal prototype device of a rotary HMR magnetocaloric refrigerator, which shows potential for achieving an integrative, advanced performance against current AMR/PMR systems.

Prevalence and risk factors for obstructive pulmonary dysfunction caused by silica dust exposure: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary dysfunction in workers exposed to silica dust and analyze its risk factors, so as to provide reference for the formulation of diagnostic criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by occupational dust. METHODS: Data collection and structured questionnaire were used to collect the data of 2064 workers exposed to silica dust who underwent health examination in Hunan Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Hospital and Yuanling Second People's Hospital from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction was analyzed and the risk factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (FEV1/FVC < 70%) was 2.3% in 2064 silica dust exposed workers. The prevalence of restrictive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (FVC/Pre < 80%) was 8.1%. The prevalence of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in the high level exposure group was higher than that in the low level exposure group, 8.2 vs0.9% (P < 0.05). The rate of obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in female group was higher than that in male group (5.3% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.00). Workers with obstructive pulmonary dysfunction were older and worked longer than workers without obstructive pulmonary dysfunction, but there was no statistical difference. Multivariate regression analysis showed that high exposure level was a risk factor for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction in silica dust exposed workers (P < 0.05). Females were the risk factors for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Silica dust exposure can cause obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction and lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. High level of exposure is a risk factor for obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction. Women exposed to dust are more prone to obstructive pulmonary ventilation dysfunction than men. Early diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by silica dust and timely intervention measures are very important to delay the decline of lung function and protect the health of workers.

Deep Learning-Based Microscopic Cell Detection using Inverse Distance Transform and Auxiliary Counting.

Microscopic cell detection is a challenging task due to significant inter-cell occlusions in dense clusters and diverse cell morphologies. This paper introduces a novel framework designed to enhance automated cell detection. The proposed approach integrates a deep learning model that produces an inverse distance transform-based detection map from the given image, accompanied by a secondary network designed to regress a cell density map from the same input. The inverse distance transform-based map effectively highlights each cell instance in the densely populated areas, while the density map accurately estimates the total cell count in the image. Then, a custom counting-aided cell center extraction strategy leverages the cell count obtained by integrating over the density map to refine the detection process, significantly reducing false responses and thereby boosting overall accuracy. The proposed framework demonstrated superior performance with F-scores of 96.93%, 91.21%, and 92.00% on the VGG, MBM, and ADI datasets, respectively, surpassing existing state-of-the-art methods. It also achieved the lowest distance error, further validating the effectiveness of the proposed approach. These results demonstrate significant potential for automated cell analysis in biomedical applications.

Enzyme-independent role of EZH2 in regulating cell cycle progression via the SKP2-KIP/CIP pathway.

While EZH2 enzymatic activity is well-known, emerging evidence suggests that EZH2 can exert functions in a methyltransferase-independent manner. In this study, we have uncovered a novel mechanism by which EZH2 positively regulates the expression of SKP2, a critical protein involved in cell cycle progression. We demonstrate that depletion of EZH2 significantly reduces SKP2 protein levels in several cell types, while treatment with EPZ-6438, an EZH2 enzymatic inhibitor, has no effect on SKP2 protein levels. Consistently, EZH2 depletion leads to cell cycle arrest, accompanied by elevated expression of CIP/KIP family proteins, including p21, p27, and p57, whereas EPZ-6438 treatment does not modulate their levels. We also provide evidence that EZH2 knockdown, but not enzymatic inhibition, suppresses SKP2 mRNA expression, underscoring the transcriptional regulation of SKP2 by EZH2 in a methyltransferase-independent manner. Supporting this, analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas database reveals a close association between EZH2 and SKP2 expression in human malignancies. Moreover, EZH2 depletion but not enzymatic inhibition positively regulates the expression of major epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulators, such as ZEB1 and SNAIL1, in transformed cells. Our findings shed light on a novel mechanism by which EZH2 exerts regulatory effects on cell proliferation and differentiation through its methyltransferase-independent function, specifically by modulating SKP2 expression.