Range-Wide Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Modeling Provide Insights into the Evolutionary History of the Mongolian Racerunner (Eremias argus) in Northeast Asia.

The Mongolian racerunner, Eremias argus, is a small lizard endemic to Northeast Asia that can serve as an excellent model for investigating how geography and past climate change have jointly influenced the evolution of biodiversity in this region. To elucidate the processes underlying its diversification and demography, we reconstructed the range-wide phylogeographic pattern and evolutionary trajectory, using phylogenetic, population genetic, landscape genetic, Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction and ecological niche modeling approaches. Phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA cyt b gene revealed eight lineages that were unbounded by geographic region. The genetic structure of E. argus was mainly determined by geographic distance. Divergence dating indicated that E. argus and E. brenchleyi diverged during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period. E. argus was estimated to have coalesced at~0.4351 Ma (Marine Isotope Stage 19). Bayesian phylogeographic diffusion analysis revealed out-of-Inner Mongolia and rapid colonization events from the end of the Last Interglacial to the Last Glacial Maximum, which is consistent with the expanded suitable range of the Last Glacial Maximum. Pre-Last Glacial Maximum growth of population is presented for most lineages of E. argus. The Glacial Maximum contraction model and the previous multiple glacial refugia hypotheses are rejected. This may be due to an increase in the amount of climatically favorable habitats in Northeast Asia. Furthermore, E. argus barbouri most likely represents an invalid taxon. The present study is the first to report a range-wide phylogeography of reptiles over such a large region in Northeast Asia. Our results make a significant contribution towards understanding the biogeography of the entire Northeast Asia.

Transformer with difference convolutional network for lightweight universal boundary detection.

Although deep-learning methods can achieve human-level performance in boundary detection, their improvements mostly rely on larger models and specific datasets, leading to significant computational power consumption. As a fundamental low-level vision task, a single model with fewer parameters to achieve cross-dataset boundary detection merits further investigation. In this study, a lightweight universal boundary detection method was developed based on convolution and a transformer. The network is called a "transformer with difference convolutional network" (TDCN), which implies the introduction of a difference convolutional network rather than a pure transformer. The TDCN structure consists of three parts: convolution, transformer, and head function. First, a convolution network fused with edge operators is used to extract multiscale difference features. These pixel difference features are then fed to the hierarchical transformer as tokens. Considering the intrinsic characteristics of the boundary detection task, a new boundary-aware self-attention structure was designed in the transformer to provide inductive bias. By incorporating the proposed attention loss function, it introduces the direction of the boundary as strongly supervised information to improve the detection ability of the model. Finally, several head functions with multiscale feature inputs were trained using a bidirectional additive strategy. In the experiments, the proposed method achieved competitive performance on multiple public datasets with fewer model parameters. A single model was obtained to realize universal prediction even for different datasets without retraining, demonstrating the effectiveness of the method. The code is available at https://github.com/neulmc/TDCN.

Transcriptomic profiling revealed immune-related signaling pathways in response to experimental infection of Leishmania donovani in two desert lizards from Northwest China.

Little is known about the immune response of lizards to Leishmania parasties. In this study, we conducted the first liver transcriptome analysis of two lizards (Phrynocephalus przewalskii and Eremias multiocellata) challenged with L. donovani, endemic to the steppe desert region of northwestern China. Our results revealed that multiple biological processes and immune-related signaling pathways are closely associated with the immune response to experimental L. donovani infection in the two lizards, and that both lizards show similar changes to mammals in terms of immunity to Leishmania. However, the interspecific divergence of the two lizards leads to different transcriptomic changes. In particular, in contrast to P. przewalskii, the challenged E. mutltiocellata was characterized by the induction of down-regulation of most DEGs. These findings will contribute to the scarce resources on lizard immunity and provide a reference for further research on immune mechanisms in reptiles.

Placental volume as a novel sign for identifying placenta accreta spectrum in pregnancies with complete placenta previa.

BACKGROUND: Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) carries an increased risk of maternal-fetal mortality and morbidity, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features for PAS have been used for preoperative identification. This study aims to investigate the role of placental volume evaluated by MRI in identifying PAS in pregnant women with complete placenta previa. METHODS: Totally 163 cases of complete placenta previa pregnant women with a history of cesarean section underwent MRI for suspected PAS were included. We categorized the patients into two groups according to the presence or absence of PAS, and the maternal-fetal perinatal outcomes and placental volume analyzed by 3D Slice software were compared. RESULTS: There were significantly more gravidity, parity, and number of previous cesarean delivery in the PAS group (P < 0.05). Significant differences were also found between the two groups with respect to the following baseline characteristics: gestational age at delivery, intraoperative blood loss, blood transfusion, and neonatal birth weight (P < 0.05). Of 163 women in the study, 7 (4.294%) required cesarean hysterectomy for high-grade PAS or pernicious bleeding during cesarean section, and PAS was confirmed with histologic confirmation in 6 (85.714%) cases. The placental volume in PAS group was greater than that in the non-PAS group (P < 0.05). With a threshold of more than 887 cm3, the sensitivity and specificity in identifying PAS were 85.531% and 83.907% respectively, with AUC 0.908 (95% CI: 0.853-0.948). CONCLUSIONS: Placental volume may be a promising indicator of PAS in complete placenta previa patients with a history of cesarean section.

Upregulation of PD-1/PD-L1 and downregulation of immune signaling pathways lead to more severe visceral leishmaniasis in undernutrition mice.

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is mainly prevalent in tropical and subtropical developing countries, where chronic undernutrition often co-exists. Undernutrition is reported to promote the progression of leishmaniasis, but its immune mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. METHODS: To simulate chronic undernutrition of patients in epidemic areas and explore the immune mechanism of undernutrition promoting leishmaniasis, BALB/c mouse models with different nutritional imbalances were established, including undernutrition 75%, undernutrition 65% and obesity mouse models. After infection with Leishmania donovani in these model mice, we focused on evaluating the progress of leishmaniasis in the spleen and liver, the expression of important immunosuppressive and immunoactivation molecules, and changes of spleen transcriptome. The immune signaling pathways enriched by differentially expressed genes and hub genes were analyzed. RESULTS: The results showed that among the mouse infection models, undernutrition 75% + infection group had the highest parasite load in the spleen and liver at the 8th week post-infection, possibly due to the continuous increase of PD-1, PD-L1 and TCR. Spleen RNA-seq results suggested that some immune signaling pathways were downregulated in undernutrition 75% + infection group, including neutrophil extracellular trap formation, IL-17 signaling pathway, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, etc. Among them, neutrophil extracellular trap formation pathway had the largest number of downregulated genes. This also explained why undernutrition 75% + infection group had the highest parasite load. Through PPI network analysis, hub genes such as Lcn2, Ltf, Mpo, Dnaja1, Hspa1a, Hspa1b and Hsph1 were screened out and might play important roles in the process of undernutrition promoting leishmaniasis. CONCLUSIONS: Undernutrition upregulated PD-1 and PD-L1 expression and downregulated immune signaling pathways in mice with visceral leishmaniasis. The signaling pathways and hub genes may serve as drug targets or intervention targets for the treatment of leishmaniasis patients with undernutrition.

LdCyPA attenuates MAPK pathway to assist Leishmania donovani immune escape in host cells.

BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Macrophages serve as the primary host cells for L. donovani, the immune response capability of these host cells is crucial for parasites' intracellular survival. L. donovani peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase Cyclophilin A (LdCypA) is a key protein for L. donovani intracellular proliferation, while the molecular mechanism conducive to intracellular survival of parasites remains elusive. METHODS: In this study, we generated a macrophage cell line overexpressing LdCyPA to investigate its role in controlling host immunity and promoting intracellular immune escape of L. donovani. RESULTS: It was discovered that the overexpression of the LdCyPA cell line regulated the host immune response following infection by downregulating the proportion of M1-type macrophages, promoting the secretion of the anti-inflammatory factor IL-4, and inhibiting the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors like IL-12, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and INOS. Transcriptome sequencing and mechanistic validation, meanwhile, demonstrated that cells overexpressing LdCyPA controlled the immune responses that followed infection by blocking the phosphorylation of P38 and JNK1/2 proteins in the MAPK signaling pathway and simultaneously increasing the phosphorylation of ERK proteins, which helped the L. donovani escape immune recognition. CONCLUSION: Our findings thus pave the way for the development of host-directed antiparasitic drugs by illuminating the pro-Leishmania survival mechanism of L. donovani cyclophilin A and exposing a novel immune escape strategy for L. donovani that targets host cellular immune regulation.

Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Modeling of the Alashan Pit Viper (Gloydius cognatus; Reptilia, Viperidae) in Northwest China and Adjacent Areas.

The joint impacts of historical geological events and Quaternary climatic oscillations in Northwest China on species evolution have been examined extensively in plant under a phylogeographic perspective. However, animal phylogeographic analyses in this region are still limited. The Alashan pit viper, Gloydius cognatus, occurs primarily in arid Northwest China and adjacent areas. Based on variation at two mtDNA genes (ND4 and Cytb) in 27 individuals representing 24 populations, the spatial genetic structure and demographic history of G. cognatus were examined across its geographic range. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two well-supported allopatric clades (each with two distinct subclades/lineages), distributed across the southern (Qaidam Basin, Lanzhou Basin, and Zoige Basin [S1]; Loess Plateau [S2]) and northern (Ily Basin [N1]; Junggar Basin and Mongolian Plateau [N2]) regions. AMOVA analysis demonstrated that over 76% of the observed genetic variation was related to these lineage splits, indicating substantial genetic differentiation among the four lineages. A strong pattern of isolation-by-distance across the sampling populations suggested that geographic distance principally shaped the genetic structure. The four lineages diverged by 0.9-2.2% for the concatenated data, which were estimated to have coalesced ~1.17 million years ago (Mya), suggesting that the expansions of the Badain Jaran, Tengger, and Mu Us deserts during the Xixiabangma glaciation likely interrupted gene flow and triggered the observed divergence in the southern and northern regions. Subsequently, the early Pleistocene integration of the Yellow River and associated deserts expansion promoted the differentiation of S1 and S2 lineages (~0.9 Mya). Both mitochondrial evidence and ecological niche modeling (ENM) reject the signature of demographic and range contractions during the LGM for G. cognatus. In addition, ENM predicts that the suitable habitat of G. cognatus will contract in the future. As such, the conservation and management of ESUs should be a priority. Our findings provide the first insights on the lineage diversification and population dynamics of the Alashan pit viper in relation to geological history and Pleistocene climatic oscillations in arid Northwest China.

Prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA in operable non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and reconstructed individual patient-data based meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This reconstructed individual patient data (IPD)-based meta-analysis is aimed to summarize the current findings and comprehensively investigate the predictive value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane and Embase were searched to include potentially eligible studies. The primary outcomes included progression-free survival (DFS) by ctDNA status at baseline, postoperative, and longitudinal timepoints. The IPD-based survival data was retracted and used in reconstructed IPD-based meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis was implemented based on the baseline characteristics. RESULTS: Totally, 28 studies were involved, including 15 full-length articles (1686 patients) for IPD-based synthesis and 20 studies for conventional meta-analysis. The IPD-based meta-analysis discovered that patients with positive ctDNA status at the baseline (hazard ratio, HR = 3.73, 95% confidential interval, CI: 2.95-4.72), postoperative (3.96, 2.19-7.16), or longitudinal timepoints (12.33, 8.72-17.43) showed significantly higher risk of recurrence. Patients with persistent ctDNA-negative status had the lowest recurrence rate, and the negative conversion of ctDNA from baseline to postoperative timepoints was correlated with elevated DFS. Subgroup analyses suggested that stage II-III patients with ctDNA-positive status may achieve preferable therapeutic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Plasm ctDNA monitoring shows excellent clinical significance at the tested timepoints. Perioperative conversion of ctDNA status may indicate the therapeutic effect of radical surgery. Postoperative adjuvant therapy may be determined according to the ctDNA status. TRAIL REGISTRATION: CRD42022304445.

Shade Increased Seed Yield and Quality of Incarvillea sinensis var. przewalskii.

Incarvillea sinensis var. przewalskii has attracted great attention because of the anticancer value of its alkaloids and the potential use of the species for ecological restoration. However, the scarcity of high-quality seeds has significantly hindered the cultivation and efficient utilization of this species. Understanding how seeds respond to maternal environmental conditions is crucial for developing high-yield and top-notch seed accessions, but the available knowledge in this area is limited. Here, we determined the effect of shading treatments on seed development, seed quality, and yield. Compared to the control, shade significantly increased the seed germination rate and 1000-seed weight by 29.2% and 25.6%, respectively. Regardless of light conditions, the seed germination rate and 1000-seed weight decreased by 7.13% and 37.5%, respectively, as the fruit positioned from base to apical. The seed yield per plant was 27.9% higher under shade than under the control treatment. The structural equation model showed that shade promoted seed yield through increasing flowers per reproductive branch and seed numbers per capsule. These findings suggest that adjusting shading conditions and optimizing inflorescence development can lead to high-yield and high-quality seeds. Additionally, prioritizing the number of flowers per reproductive branch and seeds per capsule in breeding programs can further enhance the seed yield of I. sinensis var. przewalskii.

TLR-2 agonist Pam3CSK4 has no therapeutic effect on visceral leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice and may enhance the pathogenesis of the disease.

Most of the existing Leishmania-related research about TLR-2 agonists was focusing on their role as adjuvants in the vaccine, few studied its therapeutic effect. This paper aims to explore the therapeutic effect of TLR-2 agonist Pam3CSK4 on Leishmania-infected mice and the underlying immune molecular mechanisms. In L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice, one group was treated with Pam3CSK4 after infection and the other group was not treated. Normal uninfected mice treated with Pam3CSK4 or untreated were used as controls. Parasite load, hepatic pathology and serum antibodies were detected to assess the severity of the infection. The expression of immune-related genes, spleen lymphocyte subsets and liver RNA-seq were employed to reveal possible molecular mechanisms. The results showed that the liver and spleen parasite load of infected mice in Pam3CSK4 treated and untreated groups had no statistical difference, indicating Pam3CSK4 might have no therapeutic effect on visceral leishmaniasis. Infected mice treated with Pam3CSK4 possessed more hepatic inflammation focus, lower IgG and IgG2a antibody titers, and a lower proportion of spleen CD3+CD4+ T cells. Transcriptome analysis revealed that Th1/Th2 differentiation, NK cells, Th17 cell, complement system and calcium signaling pathways were down-regulated post-treatment of Pam3CSK4. In this study, TLR-2 agonist Pam3CSK4 showed no therapeutic effect on visceral leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice and might enhance the pathogenesis of the disease possibly due to the down-regulation of several immune-related pathways, which can improve our understanding of the role of TLR-2 in both treatment and vaccine development.

Mixed Rare-Earth Chalcogenide Borate Eu9-xRExMgS2B20O41 (RE = Sm, Gd) Featuring a 3D {[B20O41]22-}∞ Framework Connected by [B6O9(O0.5)6]6- and [B7O13(O0.5)3]8- Clusters.

Rare-earth (RE) chalcogenide borates are very rarely discovered in view of the difficulties in synthesis though they have demonstrated attractive physical performances. Here, the first mixed RE chalcogenide borates Eu5.4Sm3.6MgS2B20O41 (1) and Eu3Gd6MgS2B20O41 (2) are synthesized by combining RE, sulfur, and borate ions into one structure. They crystallize in the centrosymmetric hexagonal space group P63/m, and their 3D honeycomb-like {[B20O41]22-}∞ open frameworks are built by [B6O9(O0.5)6]6- and [B7O13(O0.5)3]8- polyanionic clusters and consolidated by Mg2+ ions; both of which are formed by BO4 tetrahedra and BO3 planar triangles. The coordination modes of RE ions are rare REO6S2 bicapped trigonal prisms and REO8S irregular polyhedra, and their band gaps are determined to be 2.25 and 2.22 eV, respectively. They exhibit antiferromagnetic interactions and distinct photocurrent responses. The corresponding theoretical calculations are also performed. The study of 1 and 2 perhaps stimulates interest in exploring new functional RE chalcogenide borates.

Hydrotime Model Parameters Estimate Seed Vigor and Predict Seedling Emergence Performance of Astragalus sinicus under Various Environmental Conditions.

Seed vigor is an important aspect of seed quality. High-vigor seeds show rapid and uniform germination and emerge well, especially under adverse environmental conditions. Here, we determined hydrotime model parameters by incubating seeds at different water potentials (0.0, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, and -0.8 MPa) in the laboratory, for 12 seed lots of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus) (CMV), a globally important legume used as forage, green manure, and a rotation crop. Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the seedling emergence performance of 12 CMV seed lots under control, water stress, salinity stress, deep sowing, and cold stress conditions. Meanwhile, the field emergence performance was evaluated on two sowing dates in June and October 2022. Correlation and regression analyses were implemented to explore the relationships between hydrotime model parameters and seedling emergence performance under various environmental conditions. The seed germination percentage did not differ significantly between seed lots when seeds were incubated at 0.0 MPa, whereas it did differ significantly between seed lots at water potentials of -0.2, -0.4, and -0.6 MPa. The emergence percentage, seedling dry weight, and simplified vigor index also differed significantly between the 12 seed lots under various environmental conditions. Ψb(50) showed a significant correlation with germination and emergence performance under various environmental conditions; however, little correlation was observed between θH or σφb and germination and emergence. These results indicate that Ψb(50) can be used to estimate seed vigor and predict seedling emergence performance under diverse environmental conditions for CMV and similar forage legumes. This study will enable seed researchers, plant breeders, and government program directors to target higher seed vigor more effectively for forage legumes.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Radiomics Nomogram to Predict Intraoperative Hemorrhage of Placenta Previa.

OBJECTIVE: Placenta previa (PP) is associated with intraoperative and postpartum hemorrhage, increased maternal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to develop a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based nomogram to preoperative prediction of intraoperative hemorrhage (IPH) for PP. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 125 PP pregnant women were divided into a training set (n = 80) and a validation set (n = 45). An MRI-based model was built for the classification of patients into IPH and non-IPH groups in a training set and a validation set. Multivariate nomograms were built according to radiomics features. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the model. Predictive accuracy of nomogram were assessed by calibration plots and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, placenta position, placenta thickness, cervical blood sinus, and placental signals in the cervix were significantly independent predictors for IPH (all ps < 0.05). The MRI-based nomogram showed favorable discrimination between IPH and non-IPH groups. The calibration curve showed good agreement between the estimated and the actual probability of IPH. Decision curve analysis also showed a high clinical benefit across a wide range of probability thresholds. Area under the ROC curve was 0.918 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.857-0.979) in the training set and 0.866 (95% CI: 0.748-0.985) in the validation set by the combination of four MRI features. CONCLUSION: The MRI-based nomograms might be a useful tool for the preoperative prediction of IPH outcomes for PP. Our study enables obstetricians to perform adequate preoperative evaluation to reduce blood loss and cesarean hysterectomy. KEY POINTS: · MRI is an important method for preoperative assessment of the risk of placenta previa.. · MRI-based nomogram can assess the risk of intraoperative bleeding of placenta previa.. · MRI is helpful for more comprehensive evaluation of placenta previa and adequate preoperative preparation..

TLR9 agonist CpG ODN 2395 promotes the immune response against Leishmania donovani in obesity and undernutrition mice.

As important immunomodulators, CpG ODNs have broad application prospects in the treatment and prevention of leishmaniasis. In order to explore the immunomodulatory effect of CpG ODNs on mice infected with Leishmania parasites in different nutritional status, TLR9 agonist CpG ODN 2395 or TLR9 antagonist CpG ODN 2088 was injected into normal, obesity and undernutrition BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania donovani, respectively. Subsequently, spleen and liver parasite loads, spleen and liver immune gene expression, spleen T cell subsets proportion and PD-1 expression, serum lipids, serum cytokines, and anti-Leishmania antibodies were measured to assess the immune response of mice with different nutritional status. The results displayed that at the 8th week after infection, the spleen parasite load of obesity and undernutrition mice was significantly higher than that of normal mice, but the liver parasite load showed no statistical difference among the three groups. The treatment of CpG ODN 2395 or CpG ODN 2088 significantly reduced the spleen parasite load of obesity and undernutrition infected mice, but did not reduce that of normal infected mice. In obesity infected mice, CpG ODN 2395 promoted the up-regulation of TCR, ICOS and TLR4 in spleen, promoted the secretion of IFN-γ and anti-Leishmania total IgG and IgG1 antibodies, and increased the content of serum HDL-C. In undernutrition infected mice, CpG ODN 2395 promoted the up-regulation of spleen CD28 and TLR9, increased the proportion of spleen CD3+ T cells, and decreased the content of serum IL-10. Our results demonstrated that CpG ODN 2395 enhanced the immune response and clearance of Leishmania parasites in obesity and undernutrition mice, which might be used as a therapeutic agent for obesity and undernutrition leishmaniasis patients in the future.

Geography and past climate changes have shaped the evolution of a widespread lizard in arid Central Asia.

The complex orogenic history and structure of Central Asia, coupled with Pleistocene glacial cycles have generated its stepwise aridification. Such events would have significantly influenced the evolution of many mid-latitude species in arid Central Asia (ACA). In this study, we employed two mitochondrial genes (CO1 and ND2) and genome-wide SNPs, coupled with ecological niche modeling, to investigate the lineage diversification and historical demography within a widespread lizard Phrynocephalus helioscopus, and their associations with geography and past climate change. We obtained the mtDNA dataset for 300 individuals from 96 localities within the known range of the lizard, among which 51 individuals from 27 localities were selected for generating the SNP dataset via the genotyping-by-sequencing approach. Phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated mtDNA dataset revealed eight geographically correlated lineages that diverged by 4.21-10.41% for the CO1 gene, which were estimated to have coalesced ∼4.47 million years ago. However, we observed mito-nuclear discordance pattern regarding the population of Clade V (P. helioscopus sergeevi) from Tajikistan. Ancestral area estimations suggested that P. helioscopus originated from the Fergana Valley and then dispersed into the adjacent areas in ACA along with a history of multiple allopatric divergence processes, suggesting that Fergana may have been the cradle of diversification of P. helioscopus. The intensification of aridification across Central Asia during the Late Pliocene may have facilitated the rapid radiation of this arid-adapted lizard throughout this vast territory. Subsequently, the geological events (e.g., uplift of the Hissar-Alay, transgressions of the Caspian Sea) and geographic barriers (e.g., Amu Darya River, Zeravshan River) during the Pleistocene triggered the progressive diversification of P. helioscopus. Interestingly, Clade VIII (P. helioscopus varius) experienced rapid population growth coupled with range expansion while Clade IV (P. helioscopus cameranoi) underwent drastic population expansion associated with range contraction during the Last Glacial Maximum. In Clade IV, but not in Clade VIII, environmental turnover contributes more to mitochondrial genetic distinctiveness than geographic distance. Overall, the SNP dataset demonstrates that geographic distance plays a greater role than environmental distance. Both the mtDNA dataset and the SNP dataset suggest local-scale genetic differentiation in Clade IV and Clade VIII, revealing potential geographic barriers in the Ili River Valley and the Junggar Basin, respectively. Twenty-seven outlier SNPs associated with environmental factors (precipitation and temperature) were identified, which supports the signature of local adaptation to the arid desert environment. Finally, our finding suggests taxonomic implications, such as support for full species status for P. saidalievi (Clade II) and P. meridionalis (Clade I). Future analyses based on further evidence and increased taxon and geographic sampling should be carried out to corroborate our findings.

Semisupervised Boundary Detection for Aluminum Grains Combined With Transfer Learning and Region Growing.

In the manufacturing process of aluminum alloy, the size, distribution, and shape of microscopic grains indicate the mechanical characteristics and product quality. However, for metallographic images that can reveal microstructures, the cost of expert labeling at pixel level is high. To solve the problem, we propose a semisupervised learning strategy for grain boundary detection with a few labeled images and abundant unlabeled samples. To expand the helpful information, transfer learning and rule-based region growing are considered. Specifically, a deep network used for extracting multiscale features is designed. With constant training, through a few labeled metallographic images and abundant transferred natural images, pseudo annotations are generated gradually for unlabeled metallographic images iteratively by feature similarity and boundary region growing. The increased unlabeled samples with their pseudo annotations would be involved in the following training process in semisupervised self-training mode to improve the generalization ability of model, together with the domain adaptation block. In experiments, the proposed two methods named semiricher convolutional features-generative adversarial networks (SemiRCF-GAN) and semiricher convolutional features-maximum mean discrepancy (SemiRCF-MMD) can effectively detect grain boundaries with only one labeled metallographic image, and achieve F1 scores of 0.73 and 0.72, respectively, which surpass typical methods.

Effect of temperature and water potential on the germination of seeds from three different populations of Bidens pilosa as a potential Cd hyperaccumulator.

BACKGROUND: Bidens pilosa L., an annual herb, has recently been shown to be a potential Cd-hyperaccumulating plant. The germination characteristics of B. pilosa have been documented, while the difference among populations remains unclear. Understanding variability in seed germination among populations is crucial for determining which populations to use for soil remediation programs. RESULTS: Present study was conducted to compare the requirements of temperature and water potential for germination of B. pilosa cypselae (the central type, hereafter seeds) from three populations using the thermal time, hydrotime, and hydrothermal time models. Seeds of three populations were incubated at seven constant temperatures (8, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 °C) and at each of four water potentials (0, -0.3, -0.6, and -0.9 MPa). The results showed that germination percentage and rate of B. pilosa seeds were significantly by population, temperature, water potential and their interaction except for the interaction of population and water potential. Seeds from Danzhou population displayed a higher base temperature (Tb) for germination than those from Guilin and Baoshan population, however the ceiling temperature (Tc) had no consistent level among the populations but varied according to the water potential. In addition, the median base water potential [ψb(50)] for germination of seeds from Danzhou population was higher than that for seeds from Baoshan and Guilin population at low temperatures (< 25 °C), which was opposite at high temperatures (≥ 25 °C). CONCLUSION: Seed germination requirements of B. pilosa on temperature and water differed significantly among populations. Differences in seed germination among populations may be complicated, which could not be simply explained by the temperature and rainfall conditions where the seeds were produced as previously reported. The results suggested that programme management should consider variation in seed germination traits when select which population could be applied to what kind of target remediation sites.

Sequentially sustained release of anticarcinogens for postsurgical chemoimmunotherapy.

Postsurgical treatment is of great importance to combat tumor recurrence and metastasis. Anti-CD47 antibodies (aCD47) can block the CD47-signal regulatory protein-alpha (CD47-SIRPα) pathway to restore immunity. Here, an in-situ gel implantation was engineered by crosslinking chitosan (CS) and pullulan (Pul) for postsurgical treatment. A highly selected chemotherapeutic, cyclopamine (Cyc), encapsulated in liposomes (Cyc-Lip) was co-loaded with aCD47 in gels for chemoimmunotherapy. Importantly, a sequential drug release kinetics can be achieved. Nanotherapeutics were confirmed to be released prior to aCD47 in a burst-release manner, which was benefit for immediately killing residual tumor cells followed by releasing tumor antigens. Meanwhile, aCD47 was released in a sustained-release manner to restore macrophage functions and exert anti-tumor immune responses. Afterwards, the efficacy of in-situ chemoimmunotherapy was confirmed on 4T1 mouse breast cancer models, which could not only efficiently augment anti-tumor effect to inhibit tumor recurrence but also establish a long-term immune memory to combat tumor metastasis.

Hyaluronic acid-guided assembly of ceria nanozymes as plaque-targeting ROS scavengers for anti-atherosclerotic therapy.

Oxidative stress is a distinguishing feature in atherosclerosis disease. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can increase the oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and oxidative damage to macrophages in the plaque. Although antioxidant agents such as N-acetylcysteine are used to treat atherosclerosis, but provide a poor clinical benefit to the majority of patients with atherosclerosis. Here we have designed hyaluronic acid-guided assemblies of ceria nanozymes (HA-CeO2 NPs) as novel plaque-targeting ROS scavengers. The introduction of hyaluronic acid not only provide the stability and biocompatibility, but also surprisingly enhance SOD-mimic activities of ceria nanozymes compared to bare CeO2 precipitates, dextran or poly-aspartic acid coated ceria nanozymes. Interestingly, we find HA-CeO2 NPs not only actively target plaque-associated macrophages in atherosclerosis to remove superfluous ROS and protect macrophages from ROS-caused damages, but also effectively inhibit endocytosis of ox-LDL by activated macrophages. We believe HA-CeO2 nanozymes can serve as a simple and promising platform for anti-atherosclerotic therapy.

Base water potential but not hydrotime predicts seedling emergence of Medicago sativa under water stress conditions.

We determined the hydrotime model parameters of 10 alfalfa seed lots by incubating seeds at various water potentials in the laboratory. Meanwhile, seedling emergence under drought and salinity conditions in a greenhouse pot experiment, and seedling establishment in the field were determined. Correlation analysis was utilized to detect the relationship between hydrotime model parameters and seedling emergence under water stress conditions. The germination percentage did not differ significantly among seed lots when seeds were incubated at -0.1 MPa, while it differed significantly among seed lots at water potentials of -0.3 and -0.6 MPa. Compared to control conditions, drought and salinity decreased seedling emergence to different extents, depending on seed lots. Seedling emergence in the field differed significantly among seed lots and ranged from 30% to 80%. Ψ b(50) showed a significant correlation with seedling emergence under various conditions and with seedling establishment in the field, while no correlation was observed between θ H, σ φb and seedling emergence and establishment. These results suggest that Ψ b(50) can be used to rank the vigor of alfalfa seed lots and thus predict seedling emergence and establishment under water stress conditions.