Effect of different acupuncture sequences of Huiyangjiuzhen acupoints on blood glucose and hemorheology in the anesthetized rabbits.

Background and objective: Hemorheology and blood glucose are commonly used to estimate the risks of thrombosis and stress hyperglycemia after anaesthesia. The sequence of acupoint stimulation might influence the therapeutic effects of acupuncture. In the current study, we aimed at investigating the effect of different acupuncture sequences of "Huiyangjiuzhen" acupoints on the blood glucose and hemorheology in anesthetized rabbits. Methods: Twenty-five rabbits were randomly divided into five groups, including the control group (CG), the positive-sequence group (PSG), the reverse-sequence group (RSG), the disorder-sequence group (DSG), and the random group (RG). Except for the CG and RG, the rabbits in other groups were acupunctured with different sequences of "Huiyangjiuzhen"acupoints when the rabbits were anesthetized. The acupoints in rabbits of the RG were chosen randomly. The levels of blood glucose and hemorheology indexes before and after anaesthesia was detected. Results: In the PSG, Hηb 200/s, Mηb 30/s, Hηr 200/s, ERI, hematocrit and plasma viscosity levels were decreased, and the blood glucose level was not changed. In the DSG, the levels of Mηb 30/s and hematocrit were decreased, and the blood glucose was increased. In the CG, RSG and RG, no hemorheology indexes were changed and the blood glucose was increased. Conclusion: "Huiyangjiuzhen" acupuncture could decrease the risks of post-operative thrombosis and stress hyperglycemia in anesthetized rabbits. This effectiveness depends on both acupuncture and acupuncture sequence at the "Huiyangjiuzhen" acupoints.

Identification of Soybean Mutant Lines Based on Dual-Branch CNN Model Fusion Framework Utilizing Images from Different Organs.

The accurate identification and classification of soybean mutant lines is essential for developing new plant varieties through mutation breeding. However, most existing studies have focused on the classification of soybean varieties. Distinguishing mutant lines solely by their seeds can be challenging due to their high genetic similarities. Therefore, in this paper, we designed a dual-branch convolutional neural network (CNN) composed of two identical single CNNs to fuse the image features of pods and seeds together to solve the soybean mutant line classification problem. Four single CNNs (AlexNet, GoogLeNet, ResNet18, and ResNet50) were used to extract features, and the output features were fused and input into the classifier for classification. The results demonstrate that dual-branch CNNs outperform single CNNs, with the dual-ResNet50 fusion framework achieving a 90.22 ± 0.19% classification rate. We also identified the most similar mutant lines and genetic relationships between certain soybean lines using a clustering tree and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding algorithm. Our study represents one of the primary efforts to combine various organs for the identification of soybean mutant lines. The findings of this investigation provide a new path to select potential lines for soybean mutation breeding and signify a meaningful advancement in the propagation of soybean mutant line recognition technology.

Measurement Properties of the Simplified Chinese Version of the Lumbar Spine Instability Questionnaire for Patients With Low Back Pain in Mainland China.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study. OBJECTIVE: To develop a simplified Chinese version of Lumbar Spine Instability Questionnaire (SC-LSIQ) and test its measurement properties. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The LSIQ has been translated into several languages. Different versions of LSIQ have proved good reliability and validity in evaluating patients with low back pain. However, there is no simplified Chinese version of LSIQ (SC-LSIQ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The SC-LSIQ has been translated into a simplified Chinese version according to a standard procedure. A total of 155 patients with low back pain completed the SC-LSIQ along with Oswestry Disability Index, Roland-Morris disability questionnaire, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and visual analogue scale (VAS). The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity of SC-LSIQ were then calculated to evaluate the measurement properties of SC-LSIQ. RESULTS: The results of SC-LSIQ demonstrated that there was no ceiling or floor effect detected. The Cronbach α coefficient of 0.911 determined a well internal consistency. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.98) presented an excellent reliability of SC-LSIQ. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) showed that the SC-LSIQ was excellent correlated to Oswestry Disability Index (r=0.809), Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (r=0.870), and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (r=0.945,). Furthermore, it moderately correlated to visual analogue scale (r=0.586). CONCLUSION: The SC-LSIQ features good internal consistency, reliability, and validity for evaluating Chinese patients with LBP. Results suggest that the SC-LSIQ can be appropriately applied to patients with LBP in routine clinical practice.

DSCA-PSPNet: Dynamic spatial-channel attention pyramid scene parsing network for sugarcane field segmentation in satellite imagery.

Sugarcane plays a vital role in many global economies, and its efficient cultivation is critical for sustainable development. A central challenge in sugarcane yield prediction and cultivation management is the precise segmentation of sugarcane fields from satellite imagery. This task is complicated by numerous factors, including varying environmental conditions, scale variability, and spectral similarities between crops and non-crop elements. To address these segmentation challenges, we introduce DSCA-PSPNet, a novel deep learning model with a unique architecture that combines a modified ResNet34 backbone, the Pyramid Scene Parsing Network (PSPNet), and newly proposed Dynamic Squeeze-and-Excitation Context (D-scSE) blocks. Our model effectively adapts to discern the importance of both spatial and channel-wise information, providing superior feature representation for sugarcane fields. We have also created a comprehensive high-resolution satellite imagery dataset from Guangxi's Fusui County, captured on December 17, 2017, which encompasses a broad spectrum of sugarcane field characteristics and environmental conditions. In comparative studies, DSCA-PSPNet outperforms other state-of-the-art models, achieving an Intersection over Union (IoU) of 87.58%, an accuracy of 92.34%, a precision of 93.80%, a recall of 93.21%, and an F1-Score of 92.38%. Application tests on an RTX 3090 GPU, with input image resolutions of 512 × 512, yielded a prediction time of 4.57ms, a parameter size of 22.57MB, GFLOPs of 11.41, and a memory size of 84.47MB. An ablation study emphasized the vital role of the D-scSE module in enhancing DSCA-PSPNet's performance. Our contributions in dataset generation and model development open new avenues for tackling the complexities of sugarcane field segmentation, thus contributing to advances in precision agriculture. The source code and dataset will be available on the GitHub repository https://github.com/JulioYuan/DSCA-PSPNet/tree/main.

Clinical Application of a Bird-Beak-Type Z-Shaped Asymmetrical Flap in the Reconstruction of the Inner Canthus.

Objective: To introduce a new surgical method for the repair of a large inner canthus combined with tissue loss at the inner canthal angle of the eye by using a bird-beak-type z-shaped asymmetrical flap and to summarize its clinical effect. Method: A total of 56 patients with a large inner canthus were randomly selected, and a bird-beak-type z-shaped asymmetrical flap was used on the nasal side of the lower eyelid to repair and reconstruct the inner canthal folds. The inner canthal point was located according to physiological aesthetics. The short and long arms of the z-shaped asymmetrical flap were separated, replaced, fixed, and shaped to reconstruct the skin folds of the inner canthus and restore its aesthetic morphology. Results: All incisions after surgery achieved primary healing, and all 56 cases were followed up for 6-20 months (average 8.6 months). The caruncula lacrimalis was moderately exposed, the inner canthal angles possessed a natural appearance, and the results of the surgery were satisfactory. Five patients developed scar hyperplasia within one month after surgery, and arnica gel was applied topically for 3-6 months until the scar faded or disappeared, but no obvious scars were seen in the surgical area of the remaining patients. In two patients, the internal canthi were asymmetrical, but this improved after adjustment. Conclusion: Repair of a large inner canthus and tissue loss at the inner canthal angle of the eye using a bird-beak-type z-shaped asymmetrical flap is a simple operation, resulting in minimal trauma. Postoperatively, the inner canthal angle possessed a natural appearance with no obvious scarring.

A synthetic toll-like receptor 7 agonist inhibits porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus replication in piglets.

Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists have been shown to exert therapeutic effects against several viruses. However, antiviral potential of TLR7 agonist in inhibiting porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection has not been assessed in vivo. In our previous study, a synthetic TLR7 agonist, SZU101, was confirmed to inhibit PRRSV infection of porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs). Here, antiviral effects of SZU101 were evaluated in PRRSV-challenged piglets based on assessments of rectal temperature, viremia, gross and microscopic lung lesions, PRRSV-specific antibodies, PRRSV-specific lymphocyte proliferation and serum IFN-ß level. Our results revealed that SZU101 treatment alleviated PRRSV-induced rectal temperature spikes, pulmonary pathologic changes, and serum viral load. Meanwhile, administration of SZU101 led to increased proliferation of PRRSV-specific lymphocytes and serum IFN-ß levels, but did not enhance PRRSV-specific antibody production. These results demonstrate that SZU101 has potential as a therapeutic treatment for PRRS.

A novel method for peanut variety identification and classification by Improved VGG16.

Crop variety identification is an essential link in seed detection, phenotype collection and scientific breeding. This paper takes peanut as an example to explore a new method for crop variety identification. Peanut is a crucial oil crop and cash crop. The yield and quality of different peanut varieties are different, so it is necessary to identify and classify different peanut varieties. The traditional image processing method of peanut variety identification needs to extract many features, which has defects such as intense subjectivity and insufficient generalization ability. Based on the deep learning technology, this paper improved the deep convolutional neural network VGG16 and applied the improved VGG16 to the identification and classification task of 12 varieties of peanuts. Firstly, the peanut pod images of 12 varieties obtained by the scanner were preprocessed with gray-scale, binarization, and ROI extraction to form a peanut pod data set with a total of 3365 images of 12 varieties. A series of improvements have been made to VGG16. Remove the F6 and F7 fully connected layers of VGG16. Add Conv6 and Global Average Pooling Layer. The three convolutional layers of conv5 have changed into Depth Concatenation and add the Batch Normalization(BN) layers to the model. Besides, fine-tuning is carried out based on the improved VGG16. We adjusted the location of the BN layers. Adjust the number of filters for Conv6. Finally, the improved VGG16 model's training test results were compared with the other classic models, AlexNet, VGG16, GoogLeNet, ResNet18, ResNet50, SqueezeNet, DenseNet201 and MobileNetv2 verify its superiority. The average accuracy of the improved VGG16 model on the peanut pods test set was 96.7%, which was 8.9% higher than that of VGG16, and 1.6-12.3% higher than that of other classical models. Besides, supplementary experiments were carried out to prove the robustness and generality of the improved VGG16. The improved VGG16 was applied to the identification and classification of seven corn grain varieties with the same method and an average accuracy of 90.1% was achieved. The experimental results show that the improved VGG16 proposed in this paper can identify and classify peanut pods of different varieties, proving the feasibility of a convolutional neural network in variety identification and classification. The model proposed in this experiment has a positive significance for exploring other Crop variety identification and classification.

Synergized regulation of NK cell education by NKG2A and specific Ly49 family members.

Mice lacking MHC class-I (MHC-I) display severe defects in natural killer (NK) cell functional maturation, a process designated as "education". Whether self-MHC-I specific Ly49 family receptors and NKG2A, which are closely linked within the NK gene complex (NKC) locus, are essential for NK cell education is still unclear. Here we show, using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene deletion, that mice lacking all members of the Ly49 family exhibit a moderate defect in NK cell activity, while mice lacking only two inhibitory Ly49 members, Ly49C and Ly49I, have comparable phenotypes. Furthermore, the deficiency of NKG2A, which recognizes non-classical MHC-Ib molecules, mildly impairs NK cell function. Notably, the combined deletion of NKG2A and the Ly49 family severely compromises the ability of NK cells to mediate "missing-self" and "induced-self" recognition. Therefore, our data provide genetic evidence supporting that NKG2A and the inhibitory members of Ly49 family receptors synergize to regulate NK cell education.

Stage-specific requirement of kinase PDK1 for NK cells development and activation.

Phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) is an important enzyme for immune cell development by connecting PI3K to downstream mTOR signaling. It is needed to investigate how PDK1 spatiotemporally orchestrates NK cells development and whether this kinase is required for NK cells effector function. In this study, we used three genetic models to delete pdk1 at respective developmental stages, including hematopoietic stem cells (Vav1-Cre used), NK cell progenitor (NKp, CD122-Cre used) and terminal NK cells (Ncr1-Cre used). We found that CD122-Cre mediated deletion of pdk1 caused a severe loss of NK cells to an extent comparable to that of deletion by Vav1-Cre, and further revealed that PDK1 was necessary for NK cells master transcription factor E4BP4 expression at the NKp stage. Moreover, Ncr1-Cre-mediated inactivation of pdk1 delayed NK cells terminal differentiation. These PDK1-deficient NK cells secreted decreased amounts of the cytokine IFN-γ, likely due to impaired downstream mTOR activation. They also exhibited reduced degranulation in response to tumor cells. Mechanistically, PDK1 was critical for the formation of NK-target conjugates and lytic synapses. Therefore, we clarify the stage-specific roles of the metabolic regulator PDK1 in NK cells biology.

Acupoint Specificity on Colorectal Hypersensitivity Alleviated by Acupuncture and the Correlation with the Brain-Gut Axis.

This project was focused on the study of the effect of the different acupoints on visceral hypersensitivity and the correlation with the brain-gut axis. By using a mouse model of zymosan-induced colorectal hypersensitivity, and observing the response of hypersensitivity model to colorectal distension stimulation in acupuncture at different acupoints, we selected the specific acupoints. With immunohistochemical staining method, we observed c-fos expression, distribution and changes after acupuncture on sensory pathway, including colorectum, spinal dorsal horn and different regions of brain center in the model with colorectal distension stimulation, and evaluated the acupuncture effect on brain-gut axis. The results revealed that the effectiveness of acupuncture for alleviating visceral hypersensitivity was different at individual acupoint, meaning Tianshu (ST25), Zusanli (ST36) and Shangjuxu (ST37) > Quchi (LI11) and Dachangshu (BL25) > Ciliao (BL32). C-fos expression was concentrated in anterior cingulate cortex, hypothalamus, spinal dorsal horn and colorectum in model of zymosan-induced colorectal hypersensitivity and it was down-regulated after acupuncture. The results demonstrates that the acupoint specificity presents in acupuncture for relieving visceral hypersensitivity and the effects are more predominated at the acupoints on stomach meridian innervated by the same or adjacent spinal ganglion segments. The model of zymosan-induced colorectal hypersensitivity can be the animal model simulating brain-gut interaction.

Acupoint specificity on acupuncture regulation of hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal cortex axis function.

BACKGROUND: The hypothalamus is an essential part of the brain that responds to a variety of signaling including stressful stimulations and acupuncture signals. It is also the key element of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis(HPAA). The effect of acupuncture is transmitted into the brain from the distance sensory receptor around the acupoints via peripheral nerves and body fluid. In vivo recording the activities of stress reaction neurons (SRNs, CRH-like neurons) in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in response to the stimulations from different acupoints could therefore objectively reflect the acupuncture afferent effect. METHODS: In this study, the electrophysiological method was adopted to record synchronously the activities of 43 CRH-like neurons after acupuncture stimulations at 33 acupoints located at the different regions. The acupoints that specifically activate certain CRH-like neurons (specificity acupoints) were selected. Furthermore, we investigated in a rat model of unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) whether these specificity acupoints regulate HPAA function. The endpoints of measurement include corticosterone (CORT) level in peripheral blood, the expressions of corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) protein in PVN and the animal behavioral performance. RESULTS: Our results reveal that Shenshu (BL23), Ganshu (BL18), Qimen (LR14), Jingmen (GB25), Riyue (GB24), Zangmen (LR13), Dazui (DU14) and auricular concha region (ACR) are the specificity acupoints; and Gallbladder, Liver and Du Channels were the specificity Channels. The acupoints on Gallbladder Channel and the acupoints innervated by the same spinal cord segments as the adrenal gland demonstrated dramatic effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a new platform to further explore acupoints specificity in the regulation of HPAA activities.

Acupuncture Alleviates Colorectal Hypersensitivity and Correlates with the Regulatory Mechanism of TrpV1 and p-ERK.

Here we used a mouse model of zymosan-induced colorectal hypersensitivity, a similar model of IBS in our previous work, to evaluate the effectiveness of the different number of times of acupuncture and elucidate its potential mechanism of EA treatment. Colorectal distension (CRD) tests show that intracolonic zymosan injection does, while saline injection does not, induce a typical colorectal hypersensitivity. EA treatment at classical acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Shangjuxu (ST37) in both hind limbs for 15 min slightly attenuated and significantly blunted the hypersensitive responses after first and fifth acupunctures, respectively, to colorectal distention in zymosan treatment mice, but not in saline treatment mice. Western blot results indicated that ion channel and TrpV1 expression in colorectum as well as ERK1/2 MAPK pathway activation in peripheral and central nerve system might be involved in this process. Hence, we conclude that EA is a potential therapeutic tool in the treatment and alleviation of chronic abdominal pain, and the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia is accumulative with increased number of times of acupuncture when compared to that of a single time of acupuncture.