Tomato brown rot disease detection using improved YOLOv5 with attention mechanism.

Brown rot disease poses a severe threat to tomato plants, resulting in reduced yields. Therefore, the accurate and efficient detection of tomato brown rot disease through deep learning technology holds immense importance for enhancing productivity. However, intelligent disease detection in complex scenarios remains a formidable challenge. Current object detection methods often fall short in practical applications and struggle to capture features from small objects. To overcome these limitations, we present an enhanced algorithm in this study, building upon YOLOv5s with an integrated attention mechanism for tomato brown rot detection. We introduce a hybrid attention module into the feature prediction structure of YOLOv5s to improve the model's ability to discern tomato brown rot objects in complex contexts. Additionally, we employ the CIOU loss function for precise border regression. Our experiments are conducted using a custom tomato disease dataset, and the results demonstrate the superiority of our enhanced algorithm over other models. It achieves an impressive average accuracy rate of 94.6% while maintaining a rapid detection speed of 112 frames per second. This innovation marks a significant step toward robust and efficient disease detection in tomato plants.

Mechanisms and Application of Gas-Based Anticancer Therapies.

Cancer is still one of the major factors threatening public health, with morbidity and mortality rates at the forefront of the world. Clinical drawbacks, such as high toxicity and side effects of drug therapy, and easy recurrence after surgery affect its therapeutic effect. Gas signaling molecules are essential in maintaining biological homeostasis and physiological functions as specific chemical substances for biological information transfer. In recent years, the physiological regulatory functions of gas molecules in the cancer process have been gradually revealed and have shown broad application prospects in tumor therapy. In this paper, standard gas therapies are classified and introduced. Taking H2, CO2, NO, CO, H2S, and SO2 gases as examples, the research progress and application of gas therapies in malignant tumors are mainly introduced in terms of biological characteristics, anticancer mechanisms, and treatment strategies. Finally, the problems and prospects for developing gases as anticancer drugs are outlined.

Targeting drug-tolerant cells: A promising strategy for overcoming acquired drug resistance in cancer cells.

Drug resistance remains the greatest challenge in improving outcomes for cancer patients who receive chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Surmounting evidence suggests that a subpopulation of cancer cells could escape intense selective drug treatment by entering a drug-tolerant state without genetic variations. These drug-tolerant cells (DTCs) are characterized with a slow proliferation rate and a reversible phenotype. They reside in the tumor region and may serve as a reservoir for resistant phenotypes. The survival of DTCs is regulated by epigenetic modifications, transcriptional regulation, mRNA translation remodeling, metabolic changes, antiapoptosis, interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and activation of signaling pathways. Thus, targeting the regulators of DTCs opens a new avenue for the treatment of therapy-resistant tumors. In this review, we first provide an overview of common characteristics of DTCs and the regulating networks in DTCs development. We also discuss the potential therapeutic opportunities to target DTCs. Last, we discuss the current challenges and prospects of the DTC-targeting approach to overcome acquired drug resistance. Reviewing the latest developments in DTC research could be essential in discovering of methods to eliminate DTCs, which may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for preventing drug resistance in the future.

The roles of parenting, resilience, and interpersonal relationships on adolescents' mental health and stress-related growth during COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The present longitudinal study investigated parenting style as a precursor for Chinese adolescents' stress-related growth and mental health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the mediating roles of intrapersonal resilience and interpersonal relationships (i.e., peer and parent-adolescent). METHODS: Chinese adolescents in a middle school (7th grade) and their parents in Beijing, China, were invited to complete a survey at two time points (T1: September 2020, T2: June 2021). A total of 206 adolescents (52.9% boys; Mage = 12.90 years, SDage = 0.33) and parents (17.5% fathers, 82.4% mothers; Mage = 43.50 years, SDage = 4.76 years) were included in this study. RESULTS: Results showed that Chinese parents' authoritarian, not authoritative parenting, predicted adolescents' mental health difficulties nine months later. In addition, parent-adolescent relationships, but not peer relationships nor resilience, mediated the relations between parenting style and stress-related growth. Adolescents' resilience predicted fewer mental health difficulties. CONCLUSION: It is important to target multiple ecologies (e.g., family) of adolescents for promoting positive adjustment.

Dynamic changes in three biomarkers predict early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B receiving antiviral therapy.

PURPOSE: Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remain at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma during antiviral therapy. We aimed to clarify the values of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), lectin-reactive fraction of AFP (AFP-L3), and des-γ-carboxyprothrombin (DCP) for early warning of HCC. METHODS: A total of 1348 CHB patients received antiviral therapy and follow-up every 26 weeks. Eighty-four patients with HCC were age-, sex-, and cirrhosis-matched with 168 controls. AFP, AFP-L3, and DCP were compared between the groups from 104 weeks before HCC diagnosis (- 104 w) to the time of diagnosis (0 w). RESULTS: Of the 84 HCC patients, 60 (71.4%) had early-stage HCC, AFP increased from - 26 w, and AFP-L3 and DCP increased from - 78 w. However, levels were unchanged in controls. ΔAFP, ΔAFP-L3, and ΔDCP showed similar abilities for predicting HCC (P > 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that AFP had better diagnostic performance for HCC than AFP-L3, DCP, or their combination. The cut-off values of AFP, AFP-L3, and DCP were 5.3 ng/mL, 1.05%, and 31.5 mAU/mL, respectively. Notably, lower AFP values were required to diagnose HCC in patients with detectable HBV DNA (4.1 ng/mL) or elevated alanine aminotransferase (5.2 ng/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in AFP, AFP-L3, and DCP can help to predict HCC in CHB patients receiving antiviral therapy. A lower AFP value is needed to diagnose HCC, especially in patients with detectable HBV DNA or elevated alanine aminotransferase.

Identification of novel serum autoantibody biomarkers for early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia detection.

Background: Early diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is critical for effective treatment and optimal prognosis; however, less study on serum biomarkers for the early ESCC detection has been reported. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate several serum autoantibody biomarkers in early ESCC. Methods: We initially screened candidate tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) associated with ESCC by serological proteome analysis (SERPA) combined with nanoliter-liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), and the TAAbs were further subjected to analysis by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a clinical cohort (386 participants, including 161 patients with ESCC, 49 patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia [HGIN] and 176 healthy controls [HC]). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Results: The serum levels of CETN2 and POFUT1 autoantibodies which were identified by SERPA were statistically different between ESCC or HGIN patients and HC in ELISA analysis with the area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.709 (95%CI: 0.654-0.764) and 0.741 (95%CI: 0.689-0.793), 0.717 (95%CI: 0.634-0.800) and 0.703 (95%CI: 0.627-0.779) for detection of ESCC and HGIN, respectively. Combining these two markers, the AUCs were 0.781 (95%CI: 0.733-0.829), 0.754 (95%CI: 0.694-0.814) and 0.756 (95%CI: 0.686-0.827) when distinguishing ESCC, early ESCC and HGIN from HC, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression of CETN2 and POFUT1 was found to be correlated with ESCC progression. Conclusions: Our data suggest that CETN2 and POFUT1 autoantibodies have potential diagnostic value for ESCC and HGIN, which may provide novel insights for early ESCC and precancerous lesions detection.

Identification and evaluation of novel serum autoantibody biomarkers for early diagnosis of gastric cancer and precancerous lesion.

PURPOSE: Early diagnosis is crucial for optimal prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). Hereby, we aimed to identify novel serum autoantibody-based biomarkers for precancerous lesion (PL) and early GC. METHODS: We performed serological proteome analysis (SERPA) combined with nanoliter-liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (Nano-LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) to screen for GC-associated autoantibodies. The identified autoantibodies were analyzed for potential detection value for PL and GC by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the biomarkers. RESULTS: We identified seven candidates, such as mRNA export factor (RAE1), Nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1), phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1), and ADP-ribosylation factor 4 (ARF4). Antibodies against all seven proteins were present at higher levels in sera from 242 patients (51 PL, 78 early GC, 113 advanced GC) compared with sera from 122 healthy individuals. RAE1-specific autoantibody discriminated best between patients at different GC stages, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.710, 0.745, and 0.804 for PL, early GC, and advanced GC, respectively. Two predictive models composed of gender, RAE1, PGK1, NPM1, and ARF4 autoantibodies (Model 2 for PL) and of age, gender, RAE1, PGK1, and NPM1 autoantibodies (Model 3 for early GC) had improved diagnostic efficiencies, with AUCs of 0.803 and 0.857, sensitivities of 66.7% and 75.6%, and specificities of 78.7% and 87.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The identified serum tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) may have good potential for early detection of GC and PL.

COVID-19 Stressful Life Events and Chinese Adolescents' Mental Health: Examining Resilience, Peer Relationship, and Parenting as Moderators.

The current study examines intrapersonal characteristics or factors (i.e., resilience), peer (i.e., quality of peer relationships), and family processes (i.e., parental involvement, critical comparison) as potential risk and protective factors for mental health of Chinese adolescents during COVID- 19 pandemic. A total of 504 seventh-grade students (52% boys) and their caregivers in Beijing, China completed an online survey in September 2020. Youth reported experiencing various COVID-19-related stressful life events (i.e., conflicts with parents, poor learning environment and efficiency, family financial pressure), and about 15% reported slightly elevated scores of mental health difficulties. Findings suggested personal resilience and quality of peer relationship predicted positive mental health (i.e., covitality or co-occurrence of positive psychological dispositions) and less mental health difficulties. Parent's critical comparison intensified the negative link between stressful life events and youth mental health. Implications for promoting youth mental health as schools reopen are discussed.

Need for cognitive closure and trust towards government predicting pandemic behavior and mental health: comparing United States and China.

Residents of the United States and China have responded very differently to the implementation of COVID-19 preventive measures. This study introduces the uncertainty reduction theory and the need for cognitive closure (NFC) framework into the context of a public health crisis and compares models across the United States and China. Specifically, we collected survey data to examine how NFC, trust in government, and attitudes toward preventive measures predicted pandemic compliance behaviors, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction among 745 college students (399 from China and 346 from the United States). Chinese participants trusted their government more, believed COVID preventive measures to be more beneficial, and reported more pandemic compliance and fewer depressive symptoms than U.S. PARTICIPANTS: Trust in government and attitudes towards preventive measures mediated the relationships between NFC and pandemic compliance behaviors among Chinese participants but not U.S. PARTICIPANTS: NFC predicted better mental health outcomes among participants in China compared to U.S. PARTICIPANTS: Trust in government mediated NFC and mental health outcomes among Chinese participants. Trust in government predicted better mental health (fewer depressive symptoms and more life satisfaction) in both the United States and China. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for promoting mental health and pandemic compliance behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

COVID-19 stressful life events and mental health: Personality and coping styles as moderators.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of COVID-19-specific stressful life events (SLE) in predicting depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction, and if personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism), and coping styles (problem-focused coping and avoidance coping) moderated these relations. PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected from 371 college students (Mage = 20.59; SDage = 2.58) from one large university of the Mid-Atlantic region in the U.S. METHODS: Participants completed an online survey measuring COVID-19 related stressful life events (adapted from a tool developed to measure stressful life events during the SARS pandemic; Costa et al., 2001; Main et al., 2011), personality (the Mini-Markers; Saucier, 1994), coping styles (by using a measure developed by Aldrige-Gerry et al., 2011), depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2011), anxiety (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006), and life satisfaction (Student's Life Satisfaction Scale, Huebner, 1996) between March 27th and April 27th, 2020. RESULTS: Path analysis results showed that extraversion and avoidance coping style moderated the effects of SLE on depression and anxiety symptoms; neuroticism and avoidance coping style moderated the relation between SLE and life satisfaction. The moderation results also differed by gender. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic had deleterious effects on college students' mental health, where extraversion emerged as a protective factor, while neuroticism and avoidance coping style were risk factors. These findings underscore the importance of paying special attention to college students' mental health needs and promoting appropriate coping strategies in the light of the current pandemic.

MED1 Downregulation Contributes to TGFß-Induced Metastasis by Inhibiting SMAD2 Ubiquitination Degradation in Cutaneous Melanoma.

Metastasis is the main reason for the high mortality of patients and indeed a difficult task in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma. Therefore, it is of great clinical value to explore the molecular mechanism of cutaneous metastatic melanoma and develop novel therapies. MED1, acting as a factor required for activator-dependent transcription, is reported to be involved in carcinogenesis and progression. In this study, we found that MED1 was highly expressed in patients with cutaneous melanoma. MED1 downregulation could induce cellular epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and promote migration, invasion, and metastasis of cutaneous melanoma in vivo and in vitro. Further analysis showed that in Med1 knockdown cells, the TGFß/SMAD2 signaling pathway mediated an increase in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition phenotype and migration. The opposite results were observed after treatment with TGFß inhibitors. To further explore the mechanism, we found that MED1 interacted with SMAD2, and MED1 downregulation could protect SMAD2 from degradation by inhibiting SMAD2 ubiquitination. Together, these results suggest that MED1 inhibited TGFß signaling pathway to reduce cell epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition phenotype and migration through SMAD2 ubiquitination in the metastasis of cutaneous melanoma. Our findings elucidated the role of MED1 in the metastasis of cutaneous melanoma and provided a target for the therapeutic strategies of cutaneous melanoma.

Parent work-life conflict and adolescent adjustment during COVID-19: Mental health and parenting as mediators.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented challenging time for parents and adolescents. The present study examines the role of parent work-life conflict on adolescent adjustment (i.e., academic engagement and mental health) and family processes (i.e., parental mental health and parenting) as potential mediators for this association. A total of 692 middle school students (53.2% boys; Mage = 13.54 years, SDage = 0.58) and their parents (29.6% fathers and 70.4% mothers; Mage = 44.75 years, SDage = 4.14 years) completed an online survey in May 2020 in Beijing, China. Results indicated that many parents (24.6%) experienced work-life conflicts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings also showed that parent work-life conflict was negatively associated with youth academic engagement and mental health indirectly through parental mental health difficulties and parenting behavior (parental control, autonomy granting, and parental involvement). In addition, parental mental health difficulties had direct and indirect effects on youth adjustment via parenting behaviors, such that parental involvement and autonomy granting predicted greater academic engagement and covitality (co-occurrence of positive traits and positive mental health), whereas the parental control predicted youth mental health difficulties. Our findings extend prior research by examining the pathways linking parental work-life conflict to youth adjustment during COVID-19. Findings are discussed in terms of how to better support families and promote better youth academic engagement and well-being during COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Culturally adapting youth mental health first aid training for Asian Americans.

Despite high rates of mental health challenges, Asian Americans are less likely to seek out and receive school-based mental health services (SBMHSs) than their non-Asian peers. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training is an 8-hr manualized public education program designed to educate adults on recognizing common mental health challenges among adolescents and intervening. However, no published research has evaluated YMHFA among Asian Americans. We culturally adapted YMHFA for Asian Americans (Asian American parents and youth workers) and used a pretest/posttest design to evaluate its effectiveness. Specifically, we (a) added one 2-hr session before the YMHFA to augment engagement with the curriculum and (b) contextualized the YMHFA curriculum content to ensure cultural sensitivity for Asian American participants. Thirty-one Asian immigrant parents (Mage = 45.55, SD = 3.6) and 24 Asian American youth workers (Mage = 23.17, SD = 3.67) participated in YMHFA. Participants' mental health literacy (MHL) and their confidence in using MHFA skills significantly increased after the training. Participants also participated in four focus groups after the training to share their experiences. Participants stated that they benefited from this training and suggested additional cultural adaptations to make the program more appropriate for Asian Americans. Culturally adapted YMHFA may be an effective way to promote MHL and engage Asian Americans in mental health services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The roles of resilience, peer relationship, teacher-student relationship on student mental health difficulties during COVID-19.

The present cross-sectional study aimed to (a) expand our understanding of the role of risk and resilience factors for adolescent adjustment during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and (b) examine personal resilience, peer and teacher-student relationships as protective factors against mental health difficulties. A total of 3,662 students from 4th to 11th grades in Urumchi, China completed a survey in June 2020. Urumchi is an ethnically diverse city, with nearly 40% of the population in this school district being ethnic minority students. The schools of Urumchi closed in February 2020 and reopened in April 2020. The results of latent moderated structural equation modeling suggested that peer victimization was associated with greater mental health difficulties in students. Personal resilience and teacher-student relationships were promotive factors for better mental health and also served as a buffer from the negative effect of peer victimization on mental health. The results also showed divergent patterns for elementary versus secondary school students as well as gender differences. Implications for how schools can support students during COVID-19 were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).