Classification of Benign-Malignant Thyroid Nodules Based on Hyperspectral Technology.

In recent years, the incidence of thyroid cancer has rapidly increased. To address the issue of the inefficient diagnosis of thyroid cancer during surgery, we propose a rapid method for the diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules based on hyperspectral technology. Firstly, using our self-developed thyroid nodule hyperspectral acquisition system, data for a large number of diverse thyroid nodule samples were obtained, providing a foundation for subsequent diagnosis. Secondly, to better meet clinical practical needs, we address the current situation of medical hyperspectral image classification research being mainly focused on pixel-based region segmentation, by proposing a method for nodule classification as benign or malignant based on thyroid nodule hyperspectral data blocks. Using 3D CNN and VGG16 networks as a basis, we designed a neural network algorithm (V3Dnet) for classification based on three-dimensional hyperspectral data blocks. In the case of a dataset with a block size of 50 × 50 × 196, the classification accuracy for benign and malignant samples reaches 84.63%. We also investigated the impact of data block size on the classification performance and constructed a classification model that includes thyroid nodule sample acquisition, hyperspectral data preprocessing, and an algorithm for thyroid nodule classification as benign and malignant based on hyperspectral data blocks. The proposed model for thyroid nodule classification is expected to be applied in thyroid surgery, thereby improving surgical accuracy and providing strong support for scientific research in related fields.

Design of Optical System for Ultra-Large Range Line-Sweep Spectral Confocal Displacement Sensor.

The spectrum confocal displacement sensor is an innovative type of photoelectric sensor. The non-contact advantages of this method include the capacity to obtain highly accurate measurements without inflicting any harm as well as the ability to determine the object's surface contour recovery by reconstructing the measurement data. Consequently, it has been widely used in the field of three-dimensional topographic measuring. The spectral confocal displacement sensor consists of a light source, a dispersive objective, and an imaging spectrometer. The scanning mode can be categorized into point scanning and line scanning. Point scanning is inherently present when the scanning efficiency is low, resulting in a slower measurement speed. Further improvements are necessary in the research on the line-scanning type. It is crucial to expand the measurement range of existing studies to overcome the limitations encountered during the detection process. The objective of this study is to overcome the constraints of the existing line-swept spectral confocal displacement sensor's limited measuring range and lack of theoretical foundation for the entire system. This is accomplished by suggesting an appropriate approach for creating the optical design of the dispersive objective lens in the line-swept spectral confocal displacement sensor. Additionally, prism-grating beam splitting is employed to simulate and analyze the imaging spectrometer's back end. The combination of a prism and a grating eliminates the spectral line bending that occurs in the imaging spectrometer. The results indicate that a complete optical pathway for the line-scanning spectral confocal displacement sensor has been built, achieving an axial resolution of 0.8 µm, a scanning line length of 24 mm, and a dispersion range of 3.9 mm. This sensor significantly expands the range of measurements and fills a previously unaddressed gap in the field of analyzing the current stage of line-scanning spectral confocal displacement sensors. This is a groundbreaking achievement for both the sensor itself and the field it operates in. The line-scanning spectral confocal displacement sensor's design addresses a previously unmet need in systematic analysis by successfully obtaining a wide measuring range. This provides systematic theoretical backing for the advancement of the sensor, which has potential applications in the industrial detection of various ranges and complicated objects.

Differential effects of larval and adult nutrition on female survival, fecundity, and size of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

BACKGROUND: The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the principal vector of medically-important infectious viruses that cause severe illness such as dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika. The transmission potential of mosquitoes for these arboviruses is largely shaped by their life history traits, such as size, survival and fecundity. These life history traits, to some degree, depend on environmental conditions, such as larval and adult nutrition (e.g., nectar availability). Both these types of nutrition are known to affect the energetic reserves and life history traits of adults, but whether and how nutrition obtained during larval and adult stages have an interactive influence on mosquito life history traits remains largely unknown. RESULTS: Here, we experimentally manipulated mosquito diets to create two nutritional levels at larval and adult stages, that is, a high or low amount of larval food (HL or LL) during larval stage, and a good and poor adult food (GA or PA, represents normal or weak concentration of sucrose) during adult stage. We then compared the size, survival and fecundity of female mosquitoes reared from these nutritional regimes. We found that larval and adult nutrition affected size and survival, respectively, without interactions, while both larval and adult nutrition influenced fecundity. There was a positive relationship between fecundity and size. In addition, this positive relationship was not affected by nutrition. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight how larval and adult nutrition differentially influence female mosquito life history traits, suggesting that studies evaluating nutritional effects on vectorial capacity traits should account for environmental variation across life stages.

Avian phenotypic traits related to feeding preferences in two Culex mosquitoes.

Host choice by mosquitoes affects the transmission dynamics of vector-borne infectious diseases. Although asymmetries in mosquito attraction to vertebrate species have been reported, the relative importance of host characteristics in mosquito blood-feeding behavior is still poorly studied. Here, we investigate the relationship between avian phenotypic traits-in particular, morphometry, plumage coloration, and nesting and roosting behavior-and the blood-feeding patterns in two common Culex mosquito species on a North American avian community. Forage ratios of the mosquito species were unrelated to the phylogenetic relationships among bird species. Culex pipiens fed preferably on birds with lighter-colored plumage and longer tarsi; furthermore, solitary roosting avian species were both bitten by Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuans more often than expected. These associations may be explained by greater mosquito attraction towards larger birds with a greater color contrast against the background. Although communally roosting birds may release more cues and attract more mosquitoes, individuals may in fact receive fewer bites due to the encounter-dilution effect. Mosquito feeding behavior is a highly complex phenomenon, and our results may improve understanding of the non-random interaction between birds and mosquitoes in natural communities.

Effects of seasonality and developed land cover on Culex mosquito abundance and microbiome diversity.

The vectorial capacity of mosquitoes, which influences the dynamics of vector-borne disease transmission, is intricately linked to mosquito abundance and the composition and diversity of their associated microbiomes. However, the influence of environmental factors on mosquito populations and microbiome diversity remains underexplored. Here we examined the effects of seasonality and developed land cover on Culex mosquito abundance and bacterial diversity. Biweekly field sampling of female Culex mosquitoes was conducted using gravid and CDC light traps, spanning summer to autumn across varying developed land cover levels in two urban areas in Central Illinois. Mosquito abundance was assessed by the number of mosquitoes captured per trap night and compared across seasons and developed levels. The mean mosquito abundance for gravid and light traps was 12.96 ± 2.15 and 7.67 ± 1.44, respectively. Notably, higher levels of developed land cover exhibited higher Culex abundance than the low level for light traps, but no significant difference was found between summer and early autumn. In gravid traps, no significant differences were detected across seasons or developed levels. Microbial analysis of the mosquito microbiome revealed that Proteobacteria and Wolbachia, with a mean relative abundance of 80.77 and 52.66% respectively, were identified as the most dominant bacterial phylum and genus. Their relative abundance remained consistent across seasons and developed land cover levels, with negligible variations. Alpha diversity, as measured by observed species, Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson, showed slightly higher values in early-autumn compared to late-summer. A notable pattern of bacterial diversity, as indicated by all four diversity indexes, is evident across varying levels of land development. Significantly, high or intermediate developed levels consistently showed reduced alpha diversity when compared to the lower level. This underscores the pronounced impact of anthropogenic ecological disturbances in shaping mosquito microbiomes. Beta diversity analysis revealed no significant dissimilarities in bacterial community composition across seasons and developed levels, although some separation was noted among different levels of developed land cover. These findings highlight the significant role of environmental factors in shaping mosquito abundance and their associated microbiomes, with potential implications for the vectorial capacity in the transmission of vector-borne diseases.

Nutritional stress compromises mosquito fitness and antiviral immunity, while enhancing dengue virus infection susceptibility.

Diet-induced nutritional stress can influence pathogen transmission potential in mosquitoes by impacting life history traits, infection susceptibility, and immunity. To investigate these effects, we manipulate mosquito diets at larval and adult stages, creating two nutritional levels (low and normal), and expose adults to dengue virus (DENV). We observe that egg number is reduced by nutritional stress at both stages and viral exposure separately and jointly, while the likelihood of laying eggs is exclusively influenced by adult nutritional stress. Adult nutritional stress alone shortens survival, while any pairwise combination between both-stage stress and viral exposure have a synergistic effect. Additionally, adult nutritional stress increases susceptibility to DENV infection, while larval nutritional stress likely has a similar effect operating via smaller body size. Furthermore, adult nutritional stress negatively impacts viral titers in infected mosquitoes; however, some survive and show increased titers over time. The immune response to DENV infection is overall suppressed by larval and adult nutritional stress, with specific genes related to Toll, JAK-STAT, and Imd immune signaling pathways, and antimicrobial peptides being downregulated. Our findings underscore the importance of nutritional stress in shaping mosquito traits, infection outcomes, and immune responses, all of which impact the vectorial capacity for DENV transmission.

Larval diet and temperature alter mosquito immunity and development: using body size and developmental traits to track carry-over effects on longevity.

BACKGROUND: Estimating arbovirus transmission potential requires a mechanistic understanding of how environmental factors influence the expression of adult mosquito traits. While preimaginal exposure to environmental factors can have profound effects on adult traits, tracking and predicting these effects remains challenging. METHODS: Using Aedes albopictus and a structural equation modeling approach, we explored how larval nutrition and temperature jointly affect development rate and success, female body size, and whether these metrics capture carry-over effects on adult female longevity. Additionally, we investigated how larval diet and temperature affect the baseline expression of 10 immune genes. RESULTS: We found that larval development success was primarily determined by diet, while temperature and diet both affected development rate and female body size. Under a low larval diet, pupal wet weight and wing length both declined with increasing temperature. In contrast, responses of the two morphometric measures to rearing temperature diverged when females were provided higher larval nutrition, with pupal wet weight increasing and wing length decreasing at higher temperatures. Our analyses also revealed opposing relationships between adult female lifespan and the two morphometric measures, with wing length having a positive association with longevity and pupal weight a negative association. Larval diet indirectly affected adult longevity, and the time to pupation was negatively correlated with longevity. The expression of eight immune genes from the toll, JAK-STAT and Imd pathways was enhanced in mosquitoes with higher nutrition. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight deficiencies from using a single body size measure to capture carry-over effects on adult traits. Further studies of larval development rate under varying environmental conditions and its potential for tracking carry-over effects on vectorial capacity are warranted.

The Value of Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging in Detecting Delayed Brain Development of Premature Infants.

Objective: Preterm infants are at high risk of the adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Our aim is to explore the value of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in diagnosing brain developmental disorders in premature infants. Materials and Methods: A total of 52 subjects were included in this study, including 26 premature infants as the preterm group, and 26 full-term infants as the control group. Routine MRI and DKI examinations were performed. Mean kurtosis (MK), radial kurtosis (RK), fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD) values were measured in the brain regions including posterior limbs of the internal capsule (PLIC), anterior limb of internal capsule (ALIC), parietal white matter (PWM), frontal white matter (FWM), thalamus (TH), caudate nucleus (CN), and genu of the corpus callosum (GCC). The chi-squared test, t-test, Spearman's correlation analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve were used for data analyses. Results: In the premature infant group, the MK and RK values of PLIA, ALIC, and PWM were lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The FA values of PWM, FWM, and TH were also lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The area under curves of MK in PLIC and ALIC, MD in PWM, and FA in FWM were 0.813, 0.802, 0.842, and 0.867 (p < 0.05). In the thalamus and CN, the correlations between MK, RK values, and postmenstrual age (PMA) were higher than those between FA, MD values, and PMA. Conclusion: Diffusion kurtosis imaging can be used as an effective tool in detecting brain developmental disorders in premature infants.

Understanding host utilization by mosquitoes: determinants, challenges and future directions.

Mosquito host utilization is a key factor in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens given that it greatly influences host-vector contact rates. Blood-feeding patterns of mosquitoes are not random, as some mosquitoes feed on particular species and/or individuals more than expected by chance. Mosquitoes use a number of cues including visual, olfactory, acoustic, and thermal stimuli emitted by vertebrate hosts to locate and identify their blood meal sources. Thus, differences in the quality/intensity of the released cues may drive host selection by mosquitoes at both inter- and intra-specific levels. Such patterns of host selection by mosquitoes in space and time can be structured by factors related to mosquitoes (e.g. innate host preference, behavioural plasticity), to hosts (e.g. emission of host-seeking cues, host availability) or to both (e.g. pathogen infection). In this study, we review current evidence, from phenomena to mechanisms, of how these factors influence host utilization by mosquitoes. We also review the methodologies commonly used in this research field and identify the major challenges for future studies. To bridge the knowledge gaps, we propose improvements to strengthen traditional approaches and the use of a functional trait-based approach to infer mosquito host utilization in natural communities.

Experimental reduction of host Plasmodium infection load affects mosquito survival.

Plasmodium transmission success depends upon the trade-off between the use of host resources to favour parasite reproduction and the negative effects on host health, which can be mediated by infection intensity. Despite its potential influence on parasite dynamics, the effects of infection intensity on both, birds and vectors, and on Plasmodium transmission success are still poorly understood. Here, we experimentally reduced the Plasmodium load in naturally infected wild house sparrows with the antimalarial primaquine to assess the effects of intensity of infection in the vertebrate hosts on Plasmodium transmission to and by mosquitoes. We monitored the survival of Culex pipiens mosquitoes throughout the development of the parasite and the infection status of the mosquitoes by analysing the head-thorax and saliva at 13 days post-exposure to birds. The proportion of mosquitoes infected by Plasmodium and the presence of Plasmodium in saliva were not associated with the medication treatment of birds. However, the experimental treatment affected vector survival with mosquitoes fed on medicated birds showing a higher survival rate than those fed on control individuals. These results provide strong experimental evidence of the impact of parasite load of vertebrate hosts on the survival probability of malaria vectors.

Avian malaria infection intensity influences mosquito feeding patterns.

Pathogen-induced host phenotypic changes are widespread phenomena that can dramatically influence host-vector interactions. Enhanced vector attraction to infected hosts has been reported in a variety of host-pathogen systems, and has given rise to the parasite manipulation hypothesis whereby pathogens may adaptively modify host phenotypes to increase transmission from host to host. However, host phenotypic changes do not always favour the transmission of pathogens, as random host choice, reduced host attractiveness and even host avoidance after infection have also been reported. Thus, the effects of hosts' parasitic infections on vector feeding behaviour and on the likelihood of parasite transmission remain unclear. Here, we experimentally tested how host infection status and infection intensity with avian Plasmodium affect mosquito feeding patterns in house sparrows (Passer domesticus). In separate experiments, mosquitoes were allowed to bite pairs containing (i) one infected and one uninfected bird and (ii) two infected birds, one of which treated with the antimalarial drug, primaquine. We found that mosquitoes fed randomly when exposed to both infected and uninfected birds. However, when mosquitoes were exposed only to infected individuals, they preferred to bite the non-treated birds. These results suggest that the malarial parasite load rather than the infection itself plays a key role in mosquito attraction. Our findings partially support the parasite manipulation hypothesis, which probably operates via a reduction in defensive behaviour, and highlights the importance of considering parasite load in studies on host-vector-pathogen interactions.

Does bird metabolic rate influence mosquito feeding preference?

BACKGROUND: Host selection by mosquitoes plays a central role in the transmission of vector-borne infectious diseases. Although interspecific variation in mosquito attraction has often been reported, the mechanisms underlying intraspecific differences in hosts' attractiveness to mosquitoes are still poorly known. Metabolic rate is related to several physiological parameters used as location cues by mosquitoes, and so potentially affect host-vector contact rates. Therefore, individual hosts with higher metabolic rates should be more attractive to host-seeking mosquitoes. Here, we experimentally investigated the role of bird metabolic rate in the feeding preferences of Culex pipiens (Linnaeus), a widespread mosquito vector of many pathogens affecting human and wildlife health. RESULTS: Passer domesticus (Linnaeus) pairs containing one bird treated with 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) and the other injected with phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) (i.e. control) were simultaneously exposed overnight to mosquitoes. The treatment did not affect the proportion of mosquitoes biting on each individual. However, mosquito feeding preference was negatively associated with bird resting metabolic rate but positively with bird body mass. These two variables explained up to 62.76% of the variations in mosquito feeding preference. CONCLUSIONS: The relationships between mosquito feeding preferences and individual host characteristics could be explained by enhanced anti-mosquito behaviour associated with higher metabolic rates. The potential role of cues emitted by hosts is also discussed. Thus, individuals with high metabolism may actively avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, despite releasing more attractant cues. Since metabolic rates can be related to individual differences in personality and life history traits, differences in mosquitoes' feeding preferences may be related to intraspecific differences in exposure to vector-borne pathogens.

Do mosquitoes transmit the avian malaria-like parasite Haemoproteus? An experimental test of vector competence using mosquito saliva.

BACKGROUND: The life-cycle of many vector-borne pathogens includes an asexual replication phase in the vertebrate host and sexual reproduction in the insect vector. However, as only a small array of parasites can successfully develop infective phases inside an insect, few insect species are competent vectors for these pathogens. Molecular approaches have identified the potential insect vectors of blood parasites under natural conditions. However, the effectiveness of this methodology for verifying mosquito competence in the transmission of avian malaria parasites and related haemosporidians is still under debate. This is mainly because positive amplifications of parasite DNA in mosquitoes can be obtained not only from sporozoites, the infective phase of the malaria parasites that migrate to salivary glands, but also from different non-infective parasite forms in the body of the vector. Here, we assessed the vectorial capacity of the common mosquito Culex pipiens in the transmission of two parasite genera. METHODS: A total of 1,560 mosquitoes were allowed to feed on five house sparrows Passer domesticus naturally infected by Haemoproteus or co-infected by Haemoproteus/Plasmodium. A saliva sample of the mosquitoes that survived after 13 days post-exposure was taken to determine the presence of parasite DNA by PCR. RESULTS: Overall, 31.2% mosquito's head-thorax and 5.8% saliva samples analysed showed positive amplifications for avian malaria parasites. In contrast to Haemoproteus DNA, which was not found in either the body parts or the saliva, Plasmodium DNA was detected in both the head-thorax and the saliva of mosquitoes. Parasites isolated from mosquitoes feeding on the same bird corresponded to the same Plasmodium lineage. CONCLUSIONS: Our experiment provides good evidence for the competence of Cx. pipiens in the transmission of Plasmodium but not of Haemoproteus. Molecular analyses of saliva are an effective method for testing the vector competence of mosquitoes and other insects in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens.