Choroidal vascular changes in early-stage myopic maculopathy from deep learning choroidal analysis: a hospital-based SS-OCT study.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to illustrate the changes in the choroidal vasculature in individuals with diffuse chorioretinal atrophy (DCA, early-stage myopic maculopathy) and investigate the association between them. METHODS: This study included 1418 highly myopic eyes from 720 participants aged 18 - 60 years from the Wenzhou High Myopia Cohort Study. These participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic assessments. Myopic maculopathy classification followed the Meta-PM system, with pathological myopia defined as myopic maculopathy of DCA or severer. Eyes with myopic maculopathy categorized as no macular lesions (C0), tessellated fundus (C1), and DCA (C2) were enrolled in the analysis. Choroidal images were obtained from swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), and the images were processed with a deep learning-based automatic segmentation algorithm and the Niblack auto-local threshold algorithm. RESULTS: DCA was detected in 247 eyes (17.4%). In comparison to eyes with C0, those with C2 exhibited significant reductions in choroidal thickness (ChT), luminal area (LA), and stromal area (SA) across all evaluated regions (all P < 0.001). An increase in choroidal vascular index (CVI) was observed in all regions, except for the nasal perifoveal (N2) and inferior perifoveal (I2) regions (all P < 0.01). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed a negative association between the presence of DCA and increases in choroidal LA and SA (odds ratio ≤ 0.099, P < 0.001). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that the mean deviation of the visual field test was positively associated with LA and SA at the vertical meridian (B = 1.512, P < 0.001 for LA; B = 1.956, P < 0.001 for SA). Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic curve analyses showed the optimal ChT to diagnose pathological myopia was 82.4 µm in the N2 region, the LA was 0.076 mm2 and the SA was 0.049 mm2, with area under the curves of 0.916, 0.908, and 0.895, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that both the presence of DCA and visual function impairment were associated with reductions in choroidal perfusion and stromal components. Moreover, we established threshold values for choroidal parameters in diagnosing pathological myopia, offering valuable references for clinical diagnosis and management.

T cell senescence: a new perspective on immunotherapy in lung cancer.

T cell senescence is an indication of T cell dysfunction. The ability of senescent T cells to respond to cognate antigens is reduced and they are in the late stage of differentiation and proliferation; therefore, they cannot recognize and eliminate tumor cells in a timely and effective manner, leading to the formation of the suppressive tumor microenvironment. Establishing methods to reverse T cell senescence is particularly important for immunotherapy. Aging exacerbates profound changes in the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to chronic, infectious, and autoimmune diseases. Patients with malignant lung tumors have impaired immune function with a high risk of recurrence, metastasis, and mortality. Immunotherapy based on PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4, and other immune checkpoints is promising for treating lung malignancies. However, T cell senescence can lead to low efficacy or unsuccessful treatment results in some immunotherapies. Efficiently blocking and reversing T cell senescence is a key goal of the enhancement of tumor immunotherapy. This study discusses the characteristics, mechanism, and expression of T cell senescence in malignant lung tumors and the treatment strategies.

Potential of natural flavonoids to target breast cancer angiogenesis (review).

Angiogenesis is the process by which new blood vessels form and is required for tumour growth and metastasis. It helps in supplying oxygen and nutrients to tumour cells and plays a crucial role in the local progression and distant metastasis of, and development of treatment resistance in, breast cancer. Tumour angiogenesis is currently regarded as a critical therapeutic target; however, anti-angiogenic therapy for breast cancer fails to produce satisfactory results, owing to issues such as inconsistent efficacy and significant adverse reactions. As a result, new anti-angiogenic drugs are urgently needed. Flavonoids, a class of natural compounds found in many foods, are inexpensive, widely available, and exhibit a broad range of biological activities, low toxicity, and favourable safety profiles. Several studies find that various flavonoids inhibit angiogenesis in breast cancer, indicating great therapeutic potential. In this review, we summarize the role of angiogenesis in breast cancer and the potential of natural flavonoids as anti-angiogenic agents for breast cancer treatment. We discuss the value and significance of nanotechnology for improving flavonoid absorption and utilization and anti-angiogenic effects, as well as the challenges of using natural flavonoids as drugs.

Multiple herbicide resistance in a Cyperus difformis population in rice field from China.

Herbicide resistance is rapidly emerging in Cyperus difformis in rice fields across China. The response of a C. difformis population GX-35 was tested against five acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides, auxin herbicide MCPA and photosynthesis II (PSII)-inhibitor bentazone. Population GX-35 evolved multiple resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides (penoxsulam, bispyribac­sodium, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, halosulfuron-methly and imazapic) and auxin herbicide MCPA, with resistance levels of 140-, 1253-, 578-, 18-, 13-, and 21-fold, respectively, compared to the susceptible population. In this population, ALS gene expression was similar to that of the susceptible population. However, an Asp376Glu mutation in ALS gene was observed, leading to reduced inhibition of in-vitro ALS activities by five ALS-inhibiting herbicides. Furthermore, CYP71D8, CYP77A3, CYP78A5 and three ABC transporter genes (cluster-14412.23067, cluster-14412.25321, and cluster-14412.24716) over-expressed in absence of penoxsulam. On the other hand, an UGT73C1 and an ABC transporter (cluster-14412.25038) were induced by penoxsulam. Additionally, both over-expression and induction were observed for CYP74, CYP71A1, UGT88A1 and an ABC transporter (cluster-14412.21723). The GX-35 population has indeed evolved multiple herbicide resistance in China. Therefore, a diverse range of weed control tactics should be implemented in rice field.

Evaluating the efficiency of primary health care institutions in China: an improved three-stage data envelopment analysis approach.

BACKGROUND: Primary health care (PHC) institutions are key to realizing the main functions of the health care system. Since the new health care reform in 2009, the Chinese government has invested heavily in PHC institutions and launched favorable initiatives to improve the efficiency of such institutions. This study is designed to gauge the efficiency of PHC institutions by using 2012-2020 panel data covering 31 provinces in China. METHODS: This study applied an improved three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the efficiency of PHC institutions in China. Unlike the traditional three-stage DEA model, the input-oriented global super-efficiency slack-based measurement (SBM) DEA model is used to calculate the efficiency in the first and third stages of the improved three-stage DEA model, which not only allows the effects of environmental factors and random noise to be taken into account but also deal with the problem of slack, super-efficiency and the comparability of interperiod efficiency values throughout the efficiency measurement. RESULTS: The results show that the efficiency of PHC institutions has been overestimated due to the impact of external environmental factors and random noise. From 2012 to 2020, the efficiency of PHC institutions displayed a downward trend. Moreover, there are significant differences in the efficiency of PHC institutions between regions, with the lowest efficiency being found in the northeast region. The efficiency of PHC institutions is significantly affected by residents' annual average income, per capita GDP, population density, the percentage of the population aged 0-14, the percentage of the population aged 65 and older, the number of people with a college education and above per 100,000 residents, and the proportion of the urban population. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial investment in PHC institutions has not led to the expected efficiency gains. Therefore, more effective measures should be taken to improve the efficiency of PHC institutions in China based on local conditions. This study provides a new analytical approach to calculating the efficiency of PHC institutions, and this approach can be applied to efficiency evaluation either in other fields or in other countries.

High aquaporin expression correlates with increased translocation of quinclorac from shoots to roots in resistant Echinochloa crus-galli var. zelayensis.

BACKGROUND: Echinochloa crus-galli var. zelayensis is a troublesome weed in rice fields and can be controlled by using quinclorac. However, over-reliance on quinclorac has resulted in resistant (R) barnyardgrass, which differs significantly in its ability to transport quinclorac compared to susceptible (S) barnyardgrass. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms for this different translocation between R and S barnyardgrass. RESULTS: Larger amount of quinclorac was transferred from shoots to roots in R compared to S barnyardgrass. After 1 day of quinclorac [300 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha-1 ] foliar treatment, its content in shoots of R was 81.92% of that in S barnyardgrass; correspondingly, in roots of R was 1.17 fold of that in S barnyardgrass. RNA-sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed the expression levels of PIPs belonging to aquaporins (AQPs) in R were higher than in S barnyardgrass, with or without quinclorac treatment. With co-application of quinclorac and AQPs inhibitors [mercury(II) chloride (HgCl2 )] treatment, even though the expression levels of PIPs and the transport rates of quinclorac were both suppressed in R and S barnyardgrass, this process was less pronounced in R than in S barnyardgrass. CONCLUSION: This report provides clear evidence that higher PIPs expression results in rapid quinclorac translocation from shoots to roots and reduces the quinclorac accumulation in the shoot meristems in R barnyardgrass, thus reducing the control efficacy of quinclorac. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Halosulfuron methyl did not have a significant effect on diversity and community of sugarcane rhizosphere microflora.

Halosulfuron methyl (HM) is a new, highly active sulfonylurea herbicide that has been widely used for weed control in agricultural production. However, its potential ecological risks remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the impact of different concentrations of HM on bacterial communities in sugarcane rhizospheric soil by using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The half-life of HM for 130 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg, and 1300 mg/kg spraying concentrations were 6.64, 9.19, and 9.87 d, respectively. HM application did not alter the alpha or beta diversity of the soil bacterial community, whereas some microbial populations and the main microbial functional groups were significantly altered by HM exposure. The phylum Cyanobacteria and genus unclassified Chloroflexi group KD4-96 were found to be positively correlated with HM concentration in soils, indicating that they are highly involved in the biodegradation of HM in soils. Relationship analysis between soil properties and microbial communities showed that total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentration were two key factors that significantly influenced microbial community structure. To our best knowledge, this is the first microbial ecotoxicological assessment of HM in agricultural soil.