MM-SFENet: multi-scale multi-task localization and classification of bladder cancer in MRI with spatial feature encoder network.

Objective. Bladder cancer is a common malignant urinary carcinoma, with muscle-invasive and non-muscle-invasive as its two major subtypes. This paper aims to achieve automated bladder cancer invasiveness localization and classification based on MRI.Approach. Different from previous efforts that segment bladder wall and tumor, we propose a novel end-to-end multi-scale multi-task spatial feature encoder network (MM-SFENet) for locating and classifying bladder cancer, according to the classification criteria of the spatial relationship between the tumor and bladder wall. First, we built a backbone with residual blocks to distinguish bladder wall and tumor; then, a spatial feature encoder is designed to encode the multi-level features of the backbone to learn the criteria.Main Results. We substitute Smooth-L1 Loss with IoU Loss for multi-task learning, to improve the accuracy of the classification task. By learning two datasets collected from bladder cancer patients at the hospital, the mAP, IoU, Acc, Sen and Spec are used as the evaluation metrics. The experimental result could reach 93.34%, 83.16%, 85.65%, 81.51%, 89.23% on test set1 and 80.21%, 75.43%, 79.52%, 71.87%, 77.86% on test set2.Significance. The experimental result demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed MM-SFENet on the localization and classification of bladder cancer. It may provide an effective supplementary diagnosis method for bladder cancer staging.

Novel glucosamine-loaded thermosensitive hydrogels based on poloxamers for osteoarthritis therapy by intra-articular injection.

Glucosamine (GlcN) is a common drug used to treat osteoarthritis (OA). To prolong the action time of glucosamine on OA and improve its therapeutic effect, this research explored the potential application of GlcN-loaded thermosensitive hydrogels based on poloxamer 407 and poloxamer 188 for OA therapy by intra-articular injection. The thermosensitive hydrogels were prepared by cold method, and the effects of P407, P188, and GlcN on sol-gel transition temperature (Tsol-gel) were compared. After screening was performed, the optimized formulation showed good temperature sensitivity, and Tsol-gel was approximately 35 °C. In vitro release tests showed that GlcN was slowly released from the thermosensitive hydrogels. After the gels were intra-articularly administered to treat OA in rabbits, the degree of swelling and inflammatory factors were significantly decreased in the hydrogel group compared with those in the OA model group (P < 0.05). Histological results showed that the GlcN-administered group had a good repair effect on damaged cartilage. At the same dose, the effect of the thermosensitive hydrogels was better than that of the aqueous solution. Therefore, GlcN-loaded thermosensitive hydrogels based on poloxamers are promising sustainable delivery systems for OA therapy by intra-articular injection.

Isobologram Analysis: A Comprehensive Review of Methodology and Current Research.

Drug combination is a common method for clinical disease treatment. Whether the combination of drugs is reasonable often affects the result of the disease treatment. Many methods have been used to evaluate interaction between drugs to date. Isobologram analysis has been mathematically proven and widely used to evaluate drug interactions. In this paper, the principle of isobologram analysis and its application in drug interaction evaluation are summarized. The applications of the similar cotoxicity coefficient and fractional inhibitory concentration index in the evaluation of drug interaction are also reviewed. This work is expected to evaluate the effect of formulations scientifically and provide scientific judgment standards for the development of formulations and clinical drug compatibility.

Preparation of cefquinome sulfate cationic proliposome and evaluation of its efficacy on Staphylococcus aureus biofilm.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has the propensity to form biofilms, which eventually cause antibiotic resistance and treatment failure. Cefquinome sulfate (CS) is an animal-specific antibacterial agent for S. aureus infection. In this work, CS cationic proliposomes (CSCPs) were prepared by solid-dispersion method combined with effervescent hydration to eradicate bacterial biofilm and improve the antibacterial effect of the drug. CSCPs were readily dispersed in water, thereby forming CS cationic liposomes (CSCLs) as a white, uniform suspension. The CSCLs had an encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 63.21%, a drug loading of 4.04%, an average particle size of 201.5 nm, and a positive zeta-potential of 65.29 mV. In vitro release studies showed that CSCLs had good sustained-release behavior. The CS and CSCL minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of S. aureus type culture strain were 1 and 0.48 g/mL, respectively. The eradication effect of CS on bacterial biofilm (BBF) was relatively weak during culture in drug-containing medium for 8 h-24 h. However, the CSCL eradication effect on BBF increased gradually, and the clearance rate of CSCLs on BBF was about twice that of CS. The clearance rate reached 81.30% with 2.5 × MIC in 24 h. All these results indicated that CSCLs can significantly improve the eradication effect of cefquinome on biofilm to inhibit bacterial growth.

[Study on experiment of absorption spectroscopy detection of pesticide residues of carbendazim in orange juice].

Absorption spectra were studied for the carbendazim, in the mixed solution of orange juice and carbendazim using spectrophotometer. The most intensive characteristic peak (285 nm) was found in the spectrum of carbendazim standard solution. Compared with the carbendazim drug solution, the peak position of absorption spectrum has the blue shift (285-280 nm) when carbendazim (0.28 mg x mL(-1))was added in the orange juice. So that we can conclude that interaction happened between the orange juice and carbendazim. Through the method of least squares fitting, the prediction models between the absorbance of orange juice and carbendazim content was obtained with a good linear relationship. The linear function model was: I = 2.41 + 9.26x, the correlation coefficient was 0.996, and the recovery was: 81%-102%. According to the regression model, we can obtain the amount of carbendazim pesticide residues in orange juice. It was verified that the method of using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra was feasible to detect the carbendazim residues in orange juice. The result proved that it is possible to detect pesticide residues of carbendazim in orange juice, and it can meet the needs of rapid analysis. This study provides a new way for the detection of pesticide residues.