Associating Knee Osteoarthritis Progression with Temporal-Regional Graph Convolutional Network Analysis on MR Images.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence shows promise in assessing knee osteoarthritis (OA) progression on MR images, but faces challenges in accuracy and interpretability. PURPOSE: To introduce a temporal-regional graph convolutional network (TRGCN) on MR images to study the association between knee OA progression status and network outcome. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: 194 OA progressors (mean age, 62 ± 9 years) and 406 controls (mean age, 61 ± 9 years) from the OA Initiative were randomly divided into training (80%) and testing (20%) cohorts. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: Sagittal 2D IW-TSE-FS (IW) and 3D-DESS-WE (DESS) at 3T. ASSESSMENT: Anatomical subregions of cartilage, subchondral bone, meniscus, and the infrapatellar fat pad at baseline, 12-month, and 24-month were automatically segmented and served as inputs to form compartment-based graphs for a TRGCN model, which containing both regional and temporal information. The performance of models based on (i) clinical variables alone, (ii) radiologist score alone, (iii) combined features (containing i and ii), (iv) composite TRGCN (combining TRGCN, i and ii), (v) radiomics features, (vi) convolutional neural network based on Densenet-169 were compared. STATISTICAL TESTS: DeLong test was performed to compare the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of all models. Additionally, interpretability analysis was done to evaluate the contributions of individual regions. A P value <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The composite TRGCN outperformed all other models with AUCs of 0.841 (DESS) and 0.856 (IW) in the testing cohort (all P < 0.05). Interpretability analysis highlighted cartilage's importance over other structures (42%-45%), tibiofemoral joint's (TFJ) dominance over patellofemoral joint (PFJ) (58%-67% vs. 12%-37%), and importance scores changes in compartments over time (TFJ vs. PFJ: baseline: 44% vs. 43%, 12-month: 52% vs. 39%, 24-month: 31% vs. 48%). DATA CONCLUSION: The composite TRGCN, capturing temporal and regional information, demonstrated superior discriminative ability compared with other methods, providing interpretable insights for identifying knee OA progression. TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

Study on Water Splitting of the 214-Type Perovskite Oxides LnSrCoO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Sm, Eu, and Ga).

We present a study on the electrocatalysis of 214-type perovskite oxides LnSrCoO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Sm, Eu, and Ga) with semiconducting-like behavior synthesized using the sol-gel method. Among these five catalysts, PrSrCoO4 exhibits the optimal electrochemical performance in both the oxygen evolution reaction and the hydrogen evolution reaction, mainly due to its larger electrical conductivity, mass activity, and turnover frequency. Importantly, the weak dependency of LSV curves in a KOH solution with different pH values, revealing the adsorbate evolving mechanism in PrSrCoO4, and the density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that PrSrCoO4 has a smaller Gibbs free energy and a higher density of states near the Fermi level, which accelerates the electrochemical water splitting. The mutual substitution of different rare-earth elements will change the unit-cell parameters, regulate the electronic states of catalytic active site Co ions, and further affect their catalytic performance. Furthermore, the magnetic results indicate strong spin-orbit coupling in the electroactive sites of Co ions in SmSrCoO4 and EuSrCoO4, whereas the magnetic moments of Co ions in the other three catalysts mainly arise from the spin itself. Our experimental results expand the electrochemical applications of 214-type perovskite oxides and provide a good platform for a deeper understanding of their catalytic mechanisms.

Rodlike FeS/SnS@N-C Core-Shell Microparticles for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

FeS/SnS@N-C composites were successfully synthesized through the combination of nucleation self-assembly, N-doped carbon coating, and in situ vulcanization. The experimental results show that the discharge capacitance of FeS/SnS@N-C in the lithium storage process is 796.90 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles, and more importantly, the discharge capacitance can maintain 278.84 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 after 2000 cycles. FeS in FeS/SnS@N-C plays a key role in the electrochemical performance, which is due to the certain electronic density of states (DOS) near the Fermi level. In short, our research expands the application of transition metal sulfide composites in lithium-ion batteries.

Arthroscopic treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion with two headless compression screws and distal radius bone graft.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion remains a challenging problem for hand surgeons. Minimally invasive treatment has become the preferred method of treatment. PURPOSE: This study introduces the arthroscopic technique with two headless compression screws (HCS) fixation and distal radius bone grafting for the treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion, aiming to evaluate its clinical and radiological outcomes. METHODS: It was a retrospective study. From January 2019 to February 2021, a total of 23 patients were included in the current study. Among them, 13 patients with unstable scaphoid fracture underwent arthroscopic treatment with two HCS; 10 patients with scaphoid nonunion underwent arthroscopic treatment with two HCS and a distal radius bone graft. The range of motion of the wrist, visual analog scale (VAS), grip strength, the Modified Mayo Wrist Score (MMWS), the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score, and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score were collected at preoperatively and the final follow-up. A computed tomography scan of the wrist was performed on each patient to analyze for union and postoperative osteoarthritis during the follow-up period. RESULTS: Significant improvement was only observed in wrist extension. Clinical outcomes including grip strength, VAS pain score, MMWS, PRWE score, and DASH score were significantly improved at the final follow-up. In the subgroup analysis, both patients stabilized with either two HCS or a distal radius bone graft and two HCS have improved clinical outcomes after surgery, respectively. All patients achieved union. No screw fixation failure occurred, and no other postoperative complication was observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The arthroscopic technique with two-HCS fixation and distal radius bone grafting is a reliable and effective technique for the treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion, providing satisfactory union rates and clinical outcomes.

Prediction model for knee osteoarthritis using magnetic resonance-based radiomic features from the infrapatellar fat pad: data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Background: The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) plays an important role in the incidence of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Magnetic resonance (MR) signal heterogeneity of the IPFP is related to pathologic changes. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the IPFP radiomic features have predictive value for incident radiographic knee OA (iROA) 1 year prior to iROA diagnosis. Methods: Data used in this work were obtained from the osteoarthritis initiative (OAI). In this study, iROA was defined as a knee with a baseline Kellgren-Lawrence grade (KLG) of 0 or 1 that further progressed to KLG ≥2 during the follow-up visit. Intermediate-weighted turbo spin-echo knee MR images at the time of iROA diagnosis and 1 year prior were obtained. Five clinical characteristics-age, sex, body mass index, knee injury history, and knee surgery history-were obtained. A total of 604 knees were selected and matched (302 cases and 302 controls). A U-Net segmentation model was independently trained to automatically segment the IPFP. The prediction models were established in the training set (60%). Three main models were generated using (I) clinical characteristics; (II) radiomic features; (III) combined (clinical plus radiomic) features. Model performance was evaluated in an independent testing set (remaining 40%) using the area under the curve (AUC). Two secondary models were also generated using Hoffa-synovitis scores and clinical characteristics. Results: The comparison between the automated and manual segmentations of the IPFP achieved a Dice coefficient of 0.900 (95% CI: 0.891-0.908), which was comparable to that of experienced radiologists. The radiomic features model and the combined model yielded superior AUCs of 0.700 (95% CI: 0.630-0.763) and 0.702 (95% CI: 0.635-0.763), respectively. The DeLong test found no statistically significant difference between the receiver operating curves of the radiomic and combined models (P=0.831); however, both models outperformed the clinical model (P=0.014 and 0.004, respectively). Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that radiomic features of the IPFP are predictive of iROA 1 year prior to the diagnosis, suggesting that IPFP radiomic features can serve as an early quantitative prediction biomarker of iROA.

DeepKOA: a deep-learning model for predicting progression in knee osteoarthritis using multimodal magnetic resonance images from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Background: No investigations have thoroughly explored the feasibility of combining magnetic resonance (MR) images and deep-learning methods for predicting the progression of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). We thus aimed to develop a potential deep-learning model for predicting OA progression based on MR images for the clinical setting. Methods: A longitudinal case-control study was performed using data from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), composed of progressive cases [182 osteoarthritis (OA) knees with both radiographic and pain progression for 24-48 months] and matched controls (182 OA knees not meeting the case definition). DeepKOA was developed through 3-dimensional (3D) DenseNet169 to predict KOA progression over 24-48 months based on sagittal intermediate-weighted turbo-spin echo sequences with fat-suppression (SAG-IW-TSE-FS), sagittal 3D dual-echo steady-state water excitation (SAG-3D-DESS-WE) and its axial and coronal multiplanar reformation, and their combined MR images with patient-level labels at baseline, 12, and 24 months to eventually determine the probability of progression. The classification performance of the DeepKOA was evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation. An X-ray-based model and traditional models that used clinical variables via multilayer perceptron were built. Combined models were also constructed, which integrated clinical variables with DeepKOA. The area under the curve (AUC) was used as the evaluation metric. Results: The performance of SAG-IW-TSE-FS in predicting OA progression was similar or higher to that of other single and combined sequences. The DeepKOA based on SAG-IW-TSE-FS achieved an AUC of 0.664 (95% CI: 0.585-0.743) at baseline, 0.739 (95% CI: 0.703-0.775) at 12 months, and 0.775 (95% CI: 0.686-0.865) at 24 months. The X-ray-based model achieved an AUC ranging from 0.573 to 0.613 at 3 time points. However, adding clinical variables to DeepKOA did not improve performance (P>0.05). Initial visualizations from gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) indicated that the frequency with which the patellofemoral joint was highlighted increased as time progressed, which contrasted the trend observed in the tibiofemoral joint. The meniscus, the infrapatellar fat pad, and muscles posterior to the knee were highlighted to varying degrees. Conclusions: This study initially demonstrated the feasibility of DeepKOA in the prediction of KOA progression and identified the potential responsible structures which may enlighten the future development of more clinically practical methods.

Synergistic effect of bioanode and biocathode on nitrobenzene removal: Microbial community structure and functions.

This study aimed to reveal the synergistic effect of bioanode and biocathode on nitrobenzene (NB) removal with different microbial community structures and functions. Single-chamber bioelectrochemical reactors were constructed and operated with different initial concentrations of NB and glucose as the substrate. With the synergistic effect of biocathode and bioanode, NB was completely removed within 8 h at a kinetic rate constant of 0.8256 h-1, and high conversion rate from NB to AN (92%) was achieved within 18 h. The kinetic rate constant of NB removal was linearly correlated with the maximum current density and total coulombs (R2 > 0.95). Increase of glucose and NB concentrations had significantly positive and negative effects, respectively, on the NB removal kinetics (R2 > 0.97 and R2 > 0.93, respectively). Geobacter sp. and Enterococcus sp. dominated in the bioanode and biocathode, respectively. The presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the bioanode was beneficial for Geobacter species to produce electricity and to alleviate the NB inhibition. As one of the dominant species at the biocathode, Methanobacterium formicicum has the ability of nitroaromatics degradation according to KEGG analysis, which played a crucial role for NB reduction. Fermentative bacteria converted glucose into volatile fatty acids or H2, to provide energy sources to other species (e.g., Geobacter sulfurreducens and Methanobacterium formicicum). The information from this study is useful to optimize the bioelectrocatalytic system for nitroaromatic compound removal.

Hexagonal perovskite Sr6(Co0.8Fe0.2)5O15 as an efficient electrocatalyst towards the oxygen evolution reaction.

The high overpotential required for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)-due to the transfer of four protons and four electrons-has greatly hindered the commercial viability of water electrolysis. People have been committed to the development of alternative precious metal-free OER electrocatalysts, especially electrocatalysts for alkaline media. In this study, we report the application of Sr6(Co0.8Fe0.2)5O15 (SCF-H) perovskite oxide with a hexagonal phase structure in the field of OER electrocatalysis. Synthesized by a simple and universal sol-gel method, the SCF-H perovskite oxide shows prominent OER activity with an overpotential of 318 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of only 54 mV dec-1, which is significantly better than the cubic phase structure SrCo0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (SCF-C), benchmark noble-metal oxide RuO2 and Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF). Compared with cubic SCF-C, the hexagonal SCF-H perovskite oxide has abundant surface oxygen species (O22-/O-), a faster charge transfer rate, and a higher electrochemical surface area. In addition, the DFT calculation results show that the center of the O p-band of SCF-H is closer to the Fermi level than that of SCF-C, which leads to the better OER activity of SCF-H. This work finds that the new hexagonal structure perovskite may become a promising OER electrocatalyst.

Electrochemical performance of CoSe2 with mixed phases decorated with N-doped rGO in potassium-ion batteries.

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have received much attention as next-generation energy storage systems because of their abundance, low cost, and slightly lower standard redox potential than lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, they still face great challenges in the design of the best electrode materials for applications. Herein, we have successfully synthesized nano-sized CoSe2 encapsulated by N-doped reduced graphene oxide (denoted as CoSe2@N-rGO) by a direct one-step hydrothermal method, including both orthorhombic and cubic CoSe2 phases. The CoSe2@N-rGO anodes exhibit a high reversible capacity of 599.3 mA h g-1 at 0.05 A g-1 in the initial cycle, and in particular, they also exhibit a cycling stability of 421 mA h g-1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g-1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that CoSe2 with N-doped carbon can greatly accelerate electron transfer and enhance the rate performance. In addition, the intrinsic causes of the higher electrochemical performance of orthorhombic CoSe2 than that of cubic CoSe2 are also discussed.

MicroRNAs: Multifaceted Regulators of Colorectal Cancer Metastasis and Clinical Applications.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third-commonest malignant cancer, and its metastasis is the major reason for cancer-related death. The process of metastasis is highly coordinated and involves a complex cascade of multiple steps. In recent years, miRNAs, as highly conserved, endogenous, noncoding, single-stranded RNA, has been confirmed to be involved in the development of various cancers. Considering that miRNA is also involved in a series of biological behaviors, regulating CRC occurrence and development, we review and summarize the role of miRNAs and related signaling pathways in several CRC-metastasis stages, including invasion and migration, mobility, metabolism, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor-microenvironment communication, angiogenesis, anoikis, premetastatic-niche formation, and cancer stemness. In addition, we review the application of miRNAs as diagnostic CRC markers and in clinical treatment resistance. This review can contribute to understanding of the mechanism of miRNAs in CRC progression and provide a theoretical basis for clinical CRC treatment.

Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Natural Killer Cells Combined with Bevacizumab for Colorectal Cancer Treatment.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the cancers with the highest incidence globally, and it currently ranks as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Novel strategies for the treatment of advanced CRC are urgently needed, and adoptive transfer of allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells represents an attractive option. In this study, we successfully expanded NK cells from umbilical cord blood (UCB) with membrane-bound interleukin (IL)-21, termed eUCB-NK cells. eUCB-NK cells efficiently lysed CRC cell lines in vitro and secreted significantly higher levels of interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, and chemokine ligand 3 compared with IL-2-stimulated NK cells. Adoptive transfer of these NK cells significantly inhibited the growth of HT29 xenografts, whereas LoVo tumors were not effectively controlled with eUCB-NK cells. Higher numbers of NK cells inside HT29 tumors, not seen in LoVo tumors, might contribute to the differences in response to eUCB-NK cells. Bevacizumab increased extravasation of adoptively transferred NK cells into LoVo tumors and improved the therapeutic activity of eUCB-NK cells. These results justify clinical translation of UCB-derived NK cell-based therapeutics, used alone or in combination with bevacizumab, as a novel treatment option for patients with CRC.

Enhanced sulfate reduction accompanied with electrically-conductive pili production in graphene oxide modified biocathodes.

This study aimed to investigate the graphene oxide (GO) conversion by the sulfate-reducing biocathode and its modified effects on performance of the microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Biocathodes were acclimated with autotrophic sulfate-reducing cultures using medium containing 500 mg L-1 sulfate. Sulfate reductive rate in the MEC was 230 and 135 g m-3 d-1, respectively, with and without 30 mg L-1 GO addition. Raman measurements showed that GO was efficiently reduced to graphene by the biocathode within 24 h. Higher electrochemical activity and smaller charge transfer resistance were detected on biofilm with GO affected. With high electrical conductivity of 307 ±â€¯36 µS cm-1, pili substance were observed on GO affected biofilm. As dominated by Desulfovibrio sp., the biocathode could use GO as the sole electron acceptor and maintained high activity. The results from this study should provide useful information for applications of nanomaterials in the biocathode MEC.

Efficient reduction of nitrobenzene by sulfate-reducer enriched biocathode in microbial electrolysis cell.

This study aimed to enhance treatment of wastewater containing nitrobenzene (NB) and sulfate using biocathode enriched with sulfate-reducing bacteria in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Artificial wastewater with 50 mg L-1 NB and 200 mg L-1 sulfate was used as the catholyte. With 0.8 V applied voltage, removal efficiencies of NB and sulfate reached 98% and 34%, respectively, within 36 h. Aniline and sulfide were the main reductive products in the catholyte with concentrations increased to 0.32 and 0.51 mM, which accounted for 97% and 78% of the removed NB and sulfate, respectively. Sulfate-reducer Desulfovibrio sp. and Wolinella sp. played the dominant role in the biocathode for the reductions of sulfate and NB. Analyses of scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the formation of elemental S on the biocathode surface. The relative abundance of sulfur-oxidizing bacterium Thioclava sp. reached 24% on the biocathode. The results indicated that the oxidation process from S2- to S0 occurred on the biocathode, which provided electrons to biofilm for NB reduction. The MEC with sulfate-reducer enriched biocathode can be used as an alternative to treat complex wastewater containing NB and sulfate.

[Sulfate Reduction and Microbial Community of Autotrophic Biocathode in Response to Externally Applied Voltage].

The removal efficiencies of environmental pollutants in a microbial electrolysis system (MES) with a biocathode are highly affected by the externally applied voltage. Although the cathode biofilm plays a key role in the pollution removal, its response to the applied voltage is still unknown. A two-chambered MES with a biocathode was constructed to study the impact of the different applied voltages (0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 V) on the sulfate reduction, extracellular polymer formation, and cathodic bacterial community. The results show that the current output and coulomb and COD removals of the MES are positively correlated with the applied voltage ranging from 0.4 to 0.8 V. The sulfate reduction rate first increases and then decreases with increasing voltage in the MES. The maximum sulfate reductive rate[78.9 g·(m3·d)-1] and maximum S2- production (31.9 mg·L-1±2.2 mg·L-1) were achieved at 0.7 V. The highest electron recovery efficiencies of the MES are 41.8%; hydrogen production may be a pathway leading to electron loss. The polysaccharide and protein contents of the cathode biofilm increase with increasing voltage. The cathode biomass at 0.8 V is 70% higher than that at 0.4 V. The high throughput sequencing results show that Proteobacteria and Dsulfovibrio are dominant in the cathodic microbial community at the phylum and genus levels, respectively. The relative abundance of Desulfovibrio shows little variation with the increasing voltage, indicating that Desulfovibrio is of advantage for using the cathode as electron donor for the respiratory metabolism. With the increasing voltage, the distribution of Desulfovibrio at species level indicates that the changes of Desulfovibriox magneticus RS-1 and s_unclassified_g_Desulfovibrio are contrary.

Effects of a single transient transfection of Ten-eleven translocation 1 catalytic domain on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), including Ten-eleven translocation 1 (TET1), are hypermethylated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). TET1 catalytic domain (TET1-CD) induces genome-wide DNA demethylation to activate TSGs, but so far, anticancer effects of TET1-CD are unclear. Here we showed that after HCC cells were transiently transfected with TET1-CD, the methylation levels of TSGs, namely APC, p16, RASSF1A, SOCS1 and TET1, were distinctly reduced, and their mRNA levels were significantly increased and HCC cells proliferation, migration and invasion were suppressed, but the methylation and mRNA levels of oncogenes, namely C-myc, Bmi1, EMS1, Kpna2 and c-fos, were not significantly change. Strikingly, HCC subcutaneous xenografts in nude mice remained to be significantly repressed even 54 days after transient transfection of TET1-CD. So, transient transfection of TET1-CD may be a great advance in HCC treatment due to its activation of multiple TSGs and persistent anticancer effects.

The expression profile and clinical significance of circRNA0003906 in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a major health problem worldwide and the detailed mechanisms of CRC still need further understanding. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a special class of endogenous RNAs, have emerged recently as a new potential player in governing fundamental biological process and cancer progression. In this study, we chose circRNA0003906 as a targeted circRNA to evaluate its expression pattern and clinical value in CRC patients. circRNA0003906 expression level in 6 CRC cell lines and 122 paired CRC tissues was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Then, the potential correlation between circRNA0003906 expression level and clinicopathological factors of CRC patients was analyzed. Additionally, a receiver operating characteristic curve was built to evaluate the diagnostic value of circRNA0003906. Our results showed that circRNA0003906 expression level was dramatically downregulated in both CRC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the downregulation of circRNA0003906 level significantly correlated with lymphatic metastasis and poor differentiation. In addition, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of circRNA0003906 for CRC was 0.818 (P<0.001). Taking consideration of all of these results, circRNA0003906 may be potentially involved in the colorectal cancerogenesis and serve as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Stomach desmoid tumor: a case report and review of the literature.

Desmoid tumors, also known as aggressive fibromatoses, are clinically rare soft-tissue tumors that arise from such connective tissues as the musculoaponeurotic structures. The majority of the reported intra-abdominal desmoid tumors occur in the small intestinal mesentery and peritoneum, whereas stomach desmoid tumors are extremely rare. The present study reports a case of stomach desmoid tumor and reviews the related available literature. The diagnosis of the stomach desmoid tumors can be made with routine pathological and immunohistochemical examinations. Compared with desmoid tumors at other sites, the currently preferred treatment of the stomach desmoid tumors with negative margins is radical resection of tumors. All the follow-ups of patients with the stomach desmoid tumors show no obvious recurrence, suggesting that the prognosis of the stomach desmoid tumors is good.