Predicting chronological age of 14 or 18 in adolescents: integrating dental assessments with machine learning.

AIM: Age estimation plays a critical role in personal identification, especially when determining compliance with the age of consent for adolescents. The age of consent refers to the minimum age at which an individual is legally considered capable of providing informed consent for sexual activities. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adolescents meet the age of 14 or 18 by using dental development combined with machine learning. METHODS: This study combines dental assessment and machine learning techniques to predict whether adolescents have reached the consent age of 14 or 18. Factors such as the staging of the third molar, the third molar index, and the visibility of the periodontal ligament of the second molar are evaluated. RESULTS: Differences in performance metrics indicate that the posterior probabilities achieved by machine learning exceed 93% for the age of 14 and slightly lower for the age of 18. CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights for forensic identification for adolescents in personal identification, emphasizing the potential to improve the accuracy of age determination within this population by combining traditional methods with machine learning. It underscores the importance of protecting and respecting the dignity of all individuals involved.

Delivery of sPD1 gene by anti-CD133 antibody conjugated microbubbles combined with ultrasound for the treatment of cervical cancer in mice.

To explore new therapeutic options for cervical cancer, the inhibitory effect on cervical cancer of targeted CD133-loaded sPD1 gene microbubbles (MBs) combined with low-frequency ultrasound was studied and its mechanism was explored. We prepared microbubbles conjugated with anti-CD133 antibody to deliver the sPD1 gene and determined concentration, particle size, and potentials of MBs. In addition, we verified that CD133 targeted-MBs could specifically bind to U14 cervical cancer cells in vitro. A mouse model of subcutaneous xenograft cervical cancer was established and mice were divided into a control group, an non-targeted microbubble group, a CD133-MBs group, an sPD1-MBs group and a CD133/sPD1-MBs group. Compared with the control group, tumor growth was inhibited in each group, with the CD133/sPD1 group showing the strongest inhibitory effect after treatment. The tumor volume and weight inhibition rates in the CD133/sPD1-MBs group were 78.01% and 72.25% respectively, which were statistically different from the other groups (P < 0.05), and HE staining and TUNEL immunofluorescence showed necrosis and apoptosis in tumor tissue. Flow cytometry, lactate dehydrogenase, and indirect immunofluorescence experiments showed that T lymphocytes were activated and a large number of CD8-positive T cells infiltrated the tumor tissue after treatment, with the CD133/sPD1-MBs group showing the most prominent effects (P < 0.05). The combination of ultrasound with anti- CD133 antibody-conjugated microbubbles loaded with the sPD1 gene can inhibit the growth of cervical cancer, suggesting that the immunosuppressive microenvironment of the tumor is improved after treatment.

Pore-forming mechanisms and sodium-ion-storage performances in a porous Na3V2(PO4)3/C composite cathode.

Na3V2(PO4)3 (NVP) is regarded as one of the most promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, it suffers from a dense bulk structure and low intrinsic electronic conductivity, which lead to limited electrochemical performances. Herein, we propose a surfactant-assisted molding strategy to regulate the pore-forming process in NVP/C composite cathode materials. More precisely, the forming process of the pores in NVP could be easily controlled by utilizing the huge difference in critical micelle concentration of a surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) in water and ethanol. By reasonably modulating the ratio of water and ethanol in the solution, the as-synthesized NVP/C sample exhibited a three-dimensional interconnected structure with hierarchical micro/meso/macro-pores. Benefiting from these hierarchical porous structures in NVP/C, the structural stability, contact surface with the electrolyte, and electronic/ionic conductivity were improved simultaneously; whereby the optimized porous NVP/C sample exhibited an excellent high-rate performance (61.3 mA h g-1 at 10 C) and superior cycling stability (90.2% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10 C).

A population-based study to assess two convolutional neural networks for dental age estimation.

BACKGROUND: Dental age (DA) estimation using two convolutional neural networks (CNNs), VGG16 and ResNet101, remains unexplored. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possibility of using artificial intelligence-based methods in an eastern Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 9586 orthopantomograms (OPGs) (4054 boys and 5532 girls) of the Chinese Han population aged from 6 to 20 years were collected. DAs were automatically calculated using the two CNN model strategies. Accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score of the models were used to evaluate VGG16 and ResNet101 for age estimation. An age threshold was also employed to evaluate the two CNN models. RESULTS: The VGG16 network outperformed the ResNet101 network in terms of prediction performance. However, the model effect of VGG16 was less favorable than that in other age ranges in the 15-17 age group. The VGG16 network model prediction results for the younger age groups were acceptable. In the 6-to 8-year-old group, the accuracy of the VGG16 model can reach up to 93.63%, which was higher than the 88.73% accuracy of the ResNet101 network. The age threshold also implies that VGG16 has a smaller age-difference error. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that VGG16 performed better when dealing with DA estimation via OPGs than the ResNet101 network on a wholescale. CNNs such as VGG16 hold great promise for future use in clinical practice and forensic sciences.

The dorsal hippocampal CA3 regulates spatial reference memory through the CtBP2/GluR2 pathway.

The dorsal hippocampus plays a pivotal role in spatial memory. However, the role of subregion-specific molecular pathways in spatial cognition remains unclear. We observed that the transcriptional coregulator C-terminal binding protein 2 (CtBP2) presented CA3-specific enrichment in expression. RNAi interference of CtBP2 in the dorsal CA3 (dCA3) neurons, but not the ventral CA3 (vCA3), specifically impaired spatial reference memory and reduced the expression of GluR2, the calcium permeability determinant subunit of AMPA receptors. Application of an antagonist for GluR2-absent calcium permeable AMPA receptors rescued spatial memory deficits in dCA3 CtBP2 knockdown animals. Transcriptomic analysis suggest that CtBP2 may regulate GluR2 protein level through post-translational mechanisms, especially by the endocytosis pathway which regulates AMPA receptor sorting. Consistently, CtBP2 deficiency altered the mRNA expression of multiple endocytosis-regulatory genes, and CtBP2 knockdown in primary hippocampal neurons enhanced GluR2-containing AMPA receptor endocytosis. Together, our results provide evidence that the dCA3 regulates spatial reference memory by the CtBP2/GluR2 pathway through the modulation of calcium permeable AMPA receptors.

Health Informatics on Adolescents Smoking Based on the Miryoku Engineering Analysis Framework.

Smoking among young people has aroused widespread concern in society. The number of young people who smoke has increased year by year, which has largely affected their health. Therefore, how to improve the prevention and control rate of tobacco harm, thereby reducing the smoking rate of young people has become an important issue. Based on the glamour engineering research method that can specifically solve the problem of attractiveness between users and products, the user preference of young people's smoking behavior is studied through the evaluation structure method and quantitative type I analysis, and the potential attractive factors are analyzed. Among them, there are 7 important attractive characteristics that affect the first attempt to smoke. These seven factors are divided into two aspects, namely, personal preference factors and environmental factors. The statistical data obtained through data analysis will be tested in the KMO field. The KMO values are 0.827 and 0.687, respectively, and the statistical results have obvious scores, so this study is effective. By quantifying one category, the partial correlation coefficients of different categories can be found, that is, specific solutions. This method provides a reference for ways and means to curb smoking behavior and also provides a case study for studying user perception. According to the research results, we seek ways to influence the smoking preferences of young people and then adopt some artificial methods to intervene in the generation of these factors, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing smoking among young people.

Rehabilitation Educational Design for Children with Autism Based on the Radial Basis Function Neural Network.

Children with autism need appropriate educational toys to assist rehabilitation training, so as to inhibit the development of autism. Toys and related treatments for children with autism can alleviate some of the deficits of children with autism. By using toys as stimuli and various sensations obtained by children with autism or toys as a result of reinforcement, the improvement of certain capabilities expected by related therapies can be achieved through the process of stimulation and reinforcement. However, in the process of pediatrics toy development, it is difficult for toy designers to assess whether the purpose of stimulation and reinforcement can be achieved. There are many factors that affect the design of rehabilitation toys. The industry has not formed a unified design evaluation standard, and the effects of product rehabilitation training are uneven. A method based on the radial basis function (RBF) neural network was proposed in this research to study the rehabilitation design and evaluation of rehabilitation toys for children with autism. Firstly, according to the three demand indicators for the evaluation of rehabilitation training for children with autism, that is, "useful, educational, and entertaining," the analytic network process (ANP) method was chosen as the weighting method for determining each indicator in the overall evaluation. The RBF neural network rehabilitation model for children with autism was designed and evaluated. The maximum error of the model was less than 10%. The evaluation method was objective and reasonable, so as to provide a reference for the more accurate design evaluation, purchase, and development of rehabilitation toys for children with autism.

ErbB4 regulate extracellular dopamine through the p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

ErbB4 loss-of-function in catecholaminergic neurons induces catecholamine dyshomeostasis. Despite ErbB4's significant role in neuropathology, the signaling pathways that regulate these changes are still widely unknown. In this study, we attempt to identify the downstream pathway of ErbB4 that regulates catecholamine homeostasis. The SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell line was used as the in vitro model for catecholaminergic neurons. Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and pharmacological and genetic manipulations by agonist/antagonist or small interference RNA were used to investigate the relationship between ErbB4 and extracellular catecholamines. We confirmed that ErbB4 is abundantly expressed in undifferentiated and retinoic acid-differentiated catecholaminergic cells from the SH-SY5Y cell line. ErbB4 inhibition increase the ratio of phosphorylated p38 to total p38 in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. Consistent with previous in vivo observations in mice, ErbB4 deficiency led to increases in extracellular dopamine and norepinephrine levels. However, the resulting increase in extracellular dopamine, but not norepinephrine, could be suppressed by p38 inhibitor SB202190. Our results suggest that both extracellular dopamine and norepinephrine homeostasis could be regulated by ErbB4 in human catecholaminergic cells, and ErbB4 may regulate extracellular dopamine, but not norepinephrine, through the p38 MAPK signaling pathway, thus indicating different regulatory pathways of dopamine and norepinephrine by ErbB4 in catecholaminergic neurons.

Antibacterial Mechanism of Silkworm Seroins.

Seroin 1 and seroin 2 are abundant in silkworm cocoon silk and show strong antibacterial activities, and thus are thought to protect cocoon silk from damage by bacteria. In this study, we characterized the expression pattern of silkworm seroin 3, and found that seroin 3 is synthesized in the female ovary and secreted into egg to play its roles. After being infected, seroin 1, 2, and 3 were significantly up-regulated in the silkworm. We synthesized the full-length protein of seroin 1, 2, and 3 and their N/C-terminal domain (seroin-N/C), and compared the antimicrobial activities in vitro. All three seroins showed higher antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria. Seroin 2 showed better antibacterial effect than seroin 1 and 3, whereas seroin 1/2/3-N was better than seroin 1/2/3-C. We found that seroin 2-C has stronger peptidoglycan binding ability than seroin 2-N per the ELISA test. The binding sites of seroin 2 with bacteria were blocked by peptidoglycan, which resulted in the loss of the antibacterial activity of seroin 2. Collectively, these findings suggest that seroin 1 and 2 play antibacterial roles in cocoon silk, whereas seroin 3 functions in the eggs. The three silkworm seroins have the same antibacterial mechanism, that is, binding to bacterial peptidoglycan by the C-terminal domain and inhibiting bacterial growth by the N-terminal domain.

Ultrasound targeting of microbubble-bound anti PD-L1 mAb to enhance anti-tumor effect of cisplatin in cervical cancer xenografts treatment.

AIMS: Anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb)-conjugated ultrasound (US) lipid-shelled microbubbles (PD-L1-MBs) were successfully synthesized to investigate whether that PD-L1-MBs could enhance anti-tumor effect in combination therapy with cisplatin (CDDP) under ultrasound mediation. MAIN METHODS: Based on affinity between biotin and streptavidin, we prepared microbubbles conjugated with anti-PD-L1 mAb by membrane hydration and mechanical oscillation. A subcutaneous tumor model was established to test the anti-tumor effect and immunological activity of this combination therapy. Bax and Bcl-2 expression were detected by RT-qPCR and Immunohistochemistry. Cells undergoing apoptosis in tissue section were determined by TUNEL. Proliferation of splenocytes was analyzed by Flow cytometry. A cytotoxic T lymphocyte assay was performed by CTL. Expression of PD-L1 and CD8 in tissue section was examined by immunologfluorescence. Expression of IFN-γ, TNF-α, CD86 and CD80 was also detected by RT-qPCR. KEY FINDINGS: We observed that the growth of the subcutaneous tumor was significantly slower in combined group than that in the group treated with either drug or microbubbles. Moreover, higher antitumor activity was observed in the combined group than that in cisplatin alone, which could be reflected by the number of apoptotic cells in tumor tissues and over expression of bax in the combined group. This combination treatment also exhibited a better immunological activity, increasing the infiltration of CD8+ T cells and the expression of several revelant cytokines. SIGNIFICANCE: The ultrasound lipid-shelled PD-L1-MBs may enhance anti-tumor effects of cisplatin by blocking the PD-L1 site and improving immune function.

Proteomic Identification of Immune-Related Silkworm Proteins Involved in the Response to Bacterial Infection.

Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) is an important economic insect and a classic Lepidopteran model system. Although immune-related genes have been identified at a genome-wide scale in the silkworm, proteins involved in immune defense of the silkworm have not been comprehensively characterized. In this study, two types of bacteria were injected into the silkworm larvae, Gram-negative Escherichia coli (Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae), or Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (Bacillales: Staphylococcaceae). After injection, proteomic analyses of hemolymph were performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In total, 514 proteins were identified in the uninduced control group, 540 were identified in the E. coli-induced group, and 537 were identified in the S. aureus-induced group. Based on Uniprot annotations, 32 immunological recognition proteins, 28 immunological signaling proteins, and 21 immunological effector proteins were identified. We found that 127 proteins showed significant upregulation, including 10 immunological recognition proteins, 4 immunological signaling proteins, 11 immunological effector proteins, and 102 other proteins. Using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in the fat body, we verified that immunological recognition proteins, signaling proteins, and effector proteins also showed significant increases at the transcriptional level after infection with E. coli and S. aureus. Five newly identified proteins showed upregulation at both protein and transcription levels after infection, including 30K protein, yellow-d protein, chemosensory protein, and two uncharacterized proteins. This study identified many new immune-related proteins, deepening our understanding of the immune defense system in B. mori. The data have been deposited to the iProX with identifier IPX0001337000.

Genome-wide identification, phylogeny, and expression analysis of the SWEET gene family in tomato.

The SWEET (Sugars Will Eventually Be Exported Transporters) gene family encodes membrane-embedded sugar transporters containing seven transmembrane helices harboring two MtN3 and saliva domain. SWEETs play important roles in diverse biological processes, including plant growth, development, and response to environmental stimuli. Here, we conducted an exhaustive search of the tomato genome, leading to the identification of 29 SWEET genes. We analyzed the structures, conserved domains, and phylogenetic relationships of these protein-coding genes in detail. We also analyzed the transcript levels of SWEET genes in various tissues, organs, and developmental stages to obtain information about their functions. Furthermore, we investigated the expression patterns of the SWEET genes in response to exogenous sugar and adverse environmental stress (high and low temperatures). Some family members exhibited tissue-specific expression, whereas others were more ubiquitously expressed. Numerous stress-responsive candidate genes were obtained. The results of this study provide insights into the characteristics of the SWEET genes in tomato and may serve as a basis for further functional studies of such genes.

Vortex-phase filtering technique for extracting spatial information from unresolved sources.

A white light vortex coronagraph was used to experimentally achieve sub-resolution detection. The angular location of the centroid γ, and the angular extent of circular pinhole sources Θ, were measured to within errors of δγ=±0.015λ/D and δΘ=±0.026λ/D. This technique has two advantages over conventional imaging: simple power measurements are made and shorter exposure times may be required to achieve a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio.