A Swin Transformer-based model for mosquito species identification.

Mosquito transmit numbers of parasites and pathogens resulting in fatal diseases. Species identification is a prerequisite for effective mosquito control. Existing morphological and molecular classification methods have evitable disadvantages. Here we introduced Deep learning techniques for mosquito species identification. A balanced, high-definition mosquito dataset with 9900 original images covering 17 species was constructed. After three rounds of screening and adjustment-testing (first round among 3 convolutional neural networks and 3 Transformer models, second round among 3 Swin Transformer variants, and third round between 2 images sizes), we proposed the first Swin Transformer-based mosquito species identification model (Swin MSI) with 99.04% accuracy and 99.16% F1-score. By visualizing the identification process, the morphological keys used in Swin MSI were similar but not the same as those used by humans. Swin MSI realized 100% subspecies-level identification in Culex pipiens Complex and 96.26% accuracy for novel species categorization. It presents a promising approach for mosquito identification and mosquito borne diseases control.

[Dectection of Erythrocyte Life and Analysis of Its Effect on the Anemia in Patients with Hemophagocytic Syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To detect the erythrocyte life by breath carbon monoxide assay and to analyze the effect of erythrocyte life on the anemia in patients with hemophagocytic syndrome. METHODS: The breath carbon monoxide test and erythrocyte life assay were performed for 20 cases of hemophagocytic syndrome, at the same time the detection of 20 healthy persons was used as control. The difference of anemia-related indexes was compared between hemophagocytic syndrome patients and healthy persons. RESULTS: The average erythrocyte life of patients with hemophagocytic syndrome was 45.3 days, which was 65% shorter than that of healthy persons. Hemoglobin levels positively correlated with erythrocyte life, while sCD25, breath carbon monoxide concentration and hemophagocytosis negatively correlated with erythrocyte life. Bilirubin level and reticulocyte count showed no correlation with erythrocyte life. Serum level of IL-1ß, IL-2, sCD25, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, GM-CSF, TNF-α and IFN-γ in patients with newly diagnosed hemophagocytic syndrome were significantly higher than those of healthy persons (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: Breath carbon monoxide assay is a rapid and efficient method to assess erythrocyte life. Increased erythrocyte destruction may be an important pathogenic factor for anemia in hemophagocytic syndrome.

Wall shear stress in portal vein of cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension.

AIM: To investigate wall shear stress (WSS) magnitude and distribution in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension using computational fluid dynamics. METHODS: Idealized portal vein (PV) system models were reconstructed with different angles of the PV-splenic vein (SV) and superior mesenteric vein (SMV)-SV. Patient-specific models were created according to enhanced computed tomography images. WSS was simulated by using a finite-element analyzer, regarding the blood as a Newtonian fluid and the vessel as a rigid wall. Analysis was carried out to compare the WSS in the portal hypertension group with that in healthy controls. RESULTS: For the idealized models, WSS in the portal hypertension group (0-10 dyn/cm2) was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls (10-20 dyn/cm2), and low WSS area (0-1 dyn/cm2) only occurred in the left wall of the PV in the portal hypertension group. Different angles of PV-SV and SMV-SV had different effects on the magnitude and distribution of WSS, and low WSS area often occurred in smaller PV-SV angle and larger SMV-SV angle. In the patient-specific models, WSS in the cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension (10.13 ± 1.34 dyn/cm2) was also significantly lower than that in the healthy controls (P < 0.05). Low WSS area often occurred in the junction area of SV and SMV into the PV, in the area of the division of PV into left and right PV, and in the outer wall of the curving SV in the control group. In the cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension, the low WSS area extended to wider levels and the magnitude of WSS reached lower levels, thereby being more prone to disturbed flow occurrence. CONCLUSION: Cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension show dramatic hemodynamic changes with lower WSS and greater potential for disturbed flow, representing a possible causative factor of PV thrombosis.

Role of hippocampus mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 mRNA expression and DNA methylation in the depression of the rats with chronic unpredicted stress.

Stressful life events especially the chronic unpredictable stress are the obvious precipitating factors of depression. The biological information transduction in cells plays an important role in the molecular biology mechanism of depression. Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) regulates the cell physiological activity and involves in the adjustment of neural plasticity, function, and survival. This experiment tried to explore the possible effects of MKP-1 in hippocampus on depression of rats by determining the expression of MKP-1 mRNA and DNA methylation in MKP-1 gene promoter. The animal model was established by chronic unpredictable stress, and evaluated by open-field test and weight changes. All the rats were divided into the sham stimulation, the physiological saline, and the fluoxetine (1.25, 2.50, and 5.00 mg/kg) groups randomly. The expression of MKP-1 mRNA in the hippocampus was measured by RT-PCR and the methylation of MKP-1 promoter DNA was detected by COBRA. The chronic unpredicted stress (1) increased the animal movement scores in open-field test, and fluoxetine could prevent this increasement; (2) increased the body weight, and fluoxetine could not prevent this increasement; and (3) increased MKP-1 mRNA expression in the hippocampus, and fluoxetine could prevent it. However, fluoxetine did not influence the DNA methylation of MKP-1 gene promoter in the hippocampus during the chronic unpredicted stress. MKP-1 in the hippocampus might be involved in the etiology of depression, and DNA methylation of MKP-1 gene promoter in the hippocampus did not related with the depression.

[The correlation between brain natriuretic peptide and invasive hemodynamic parameters and their value in prognosis of patients with noncardiac shock].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the correlation between the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the hemodynamic parameters collected through Swan-Ganz flowing balloon catheter procedure in patients with noncardiac shock, in order to evaluate the potential for BNP to be used as prognostic indicator. METHODS: The plasma BNP and invasive hemodynamic parameters data [central venous pressure (CVP), pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), and cardiac output (CO)] were collected from 21 noncardiac shock patients received Swan-Ganz catheterization throughout a continuous surveillance for 3 days. The BNP, CVP, PAP, PCWP, CO in survivors (n = 8) and non-survivors (n = 13) were compared and the correlation between the value of BNP and the invasive hemodynamic parameters were analyzed using multiple regression. RESULTS: The mean value of BNP (ng/L) was significantly higher in non-survivors (708.06 ± 242.58 vs. 317.05 ± 140.21, P < 0.05). In day 1, no significant difference was found in any hemodynamic parameters between non-survivors and survivors. But in day 3, the non-survivors were found to have significantly higher CVP (mm Hg, 1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa: 13.64 ± 4.00 vs. 9.92 ± 1.26, P < 0.05) and lower CO (L/min: 4.61 ± 2.06 vs. 6.95 ± 1.28, P < 0.05). The differences in PAP (mm Hg: 20.84 ± 8.48 vs. 16.82 ± 4.97) and PCWP (mm Hg: 13.60 ± 5.71 vs. 12.72 ± 4.98) remained insignificant (both P > 0.05) between the two groups. The correlation between BNP and the invasive hemodynamic parameters was modest there was no correlation between BNP and CVP, PAP, PCWP, CO (r = 0.157, 0.306, 0.229, -0.269, P = 0.16, 0.25, 0.09, 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with shock, both plasma BNP and invasive hemodynamic examination showed certain prognostic value. But in noncardiac shock cases, the increased BNP did not correlate with heart function, therefore it could not replace the Swan-Ganz catheter data to guide the treatment in these patients.