Many breast cancer patients have both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD). Consequently, we hypothesized that NAFPD and NAFLD were associated ...with breast cancer, and aimed to build a novel risk-stratification scoring system based on it. In this study, a total of 961 patients with breast cancer and 1,006 non-cancer patients were recruited. The clinical characteristics were collected and analyzed using logistic analysis. Risk factors were assessed by a risk rating system. Univariate analysis showed that body mass index, triglyceride, total cholesterol, NAFLD, NAFPD, low-density lipoprotein, and uric acid (UA) were significantly related to breast cancer. Among them, NAFLD, NAFPD, and UA were independent risk factors related to breast cancer identified by multivariate analysis. The risk assessment model was established based on these factors and demonstrated that the odds ratio sharply increased with the rising scores. Compared with the low-risk group, the odds ratio in the intermediate- and high-risk groups were 1.662 (1.380–2.001) and 3.185 (2.145–4.728), respectively. In conclusion, the risk-stratification scoring system combining NAFLD, NAFPD, and UA can accurately predict the occurrence of breast cancer.
A sediment section retrieved from Luyang Lake, Shaanxi province, China was employed for grain-size, total organic carbon content (TOC) and carbonates (CaCO3) analyses. Based on the Optically ...Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) chronology, the evolution of Luyang Lake since the last 34,000 years was reconstructed. Then the historical anthropogenic information like populations and arable lands obtained from literature were incorporated into the environmental sequence to demonstrate the linkage of lake evolution with both climatic and anthropogenic forcings. It indicated that the appearance of loessial sediment during ca. 33.4–10.7 ka exhibited a much lower lake level associated with a cold and dry climate setting. The sediment became finer with increasing TOC after ca. 10.7 ka implied the enhanced monsoon rainfall and relatively higher lake level until ca. 4.6 ka. Much higher TOC and lowest CaCO3 at 7.2–4.6 ka suggested the Holocene Climate Optimum in the region. The rising CaCO3 and declining TOC at ca. 4.6–2.0 ka revealed the enhanced evaporation/precipitation rate and depressed paleoproductivity, suggesting a drier climate. TOC reached its highest after ca. 2 ka, coinciding with the increasing population and the expanding arable lands since the last 600 years, would suggest the anthropogenic impacts like land reclamation and farming rather than climate forcing. Briefly, the evolution of Luyang Lake was controlled by the monsoon climate through geological times and the intensified anthropogenic interferences since the last 2 ka, especially the last 600 years, would account for the transformation of freshwater lake to a saline lake and wetland environment.
Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection is the primary cause of gastric cancer (GC). The role of Disabled-2 (DAB2) in GC remains largely unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of DAB2 in ...H pylori-mediated gastric tumorigenesis.
We screened various datasets of GC to analyze DAB2 expression and cell signaling pathways. DAB2 expression was assessed in human GC tissue microarrays. H pylori infection in vivo and in vitro models were further explored. Immunostaining, immunofluorescence, chromatin immunoprecipitation, co-immunoprecipitation, Western blot, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and luciferase reporter assays were performed in the current study.
The bioinformatic analysis verified that DAB2 was 1 of the 8 genes contributed to tumorigenesis and associated with poor prognosis in GC. The median overall survival and disease-free survival rates in DAB2
group were significantly less than those in DAB2
group. These findings demonstrated that H pylori transcriptionally activated DAB2 expression via signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)-dependent pathway. By bioinformatics analysis and knockdown or overexpression of DAB2, we found that DAB2 upregulated Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) transcriptional activity. Mechanistically, DAB2 served as a scaffold protein for integrin beta 3 (ITGB3) and SRC proto-oncogene non-receptor tyrosine kinase (SRC), facilitated the phosphorylation of SRC, promoted the small GTPase ras homolog family member A (RHOA) activation and phosphorylation of YAP1, and ultimately enhanced the YAP1 transcriptional activity.
Altogether, these findings indicated that DAB2 is a key mediator in STAT3-regulated translation of YAP1 and plays crucial roles in H pylori-mediated GC development. DAB2 might serve as a novel therapeutic target for GC.
Jellyfish detection is a challenge in the field of underwater biological identification. Although early works have solved some of the problems of jellyfish detection, there are still shortcomings. ...Earlier jellyfish datasets were not as extensive, necessitating heavy reliance on data augmentation. Moreover, the detection capability is limited, especially in scenarios involving jellyfish gatherings and occlusions. To overcome these limitations, we establish a high-quality dataset with more jellyfish species and propose a more robust real-time detection algorithm. Our algorithm primarily consists of a multi-gradient flow backbone and a feature fusion module GFPN. Additionally, we have designed a receptive field expansion module SPPFCSPC_G. The entire network employs the FReLU activation function, while the bounding box regression utilizes the WIOU loss function. Our methods demonstrate accuracy and run-time performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art yolo series algorithms. Results show that our algorithm achieves the highest Precision, Recall and mAP50, exceeding the baseline yolov5 by 1.1%, 4.1%, and 4.5%, and outperforming the latest yolov8 by 0.9%, 1.3%, and 2.5%. Importantly, our method effectively addresses aggregation, occlusion, and deformation issues commonly encountered in jellyfish detection.
The fusion of infrared (IR) and visible (VIS) images aims to capture complementary information from diverse sensors, resulting in a fused image that enhances the overall human perception of the ...scene. However, existing fusion methods face challenges preserving diverse feature information, leading to cross-modal interference, feature degradation, and detail loss in the fused image. To solve the above problems, this paper proposes an image fusion method based on the infrared target mask and bimodal feature extraction strategy, termed IBFusion. Firstly, we define an infrared target mask, employing it to retain crucial information from the source images in the fused result. Additionally, we devise a mixed loss function, encompassing content loss, gradient loss, and structure loss, to ensure the coherence of the fused image with the IR and VIS images. Then, the mask is introduced into the mixed loss function to guide feature extraction and unsupervised network optimization. Secondly, we create a bimodal feature extraction strategy and construct a Dual-channel Multi-scale Feature Extraction Module (DMFEM) to extract thermal target information from the IR image and background texture information from the VIS image. This module retains the complementary information of the two source images. Finally, we use the Feature Fusion Module (FFM) to fuse the features effectively, generating the fusion result. Experiments on three public datasets demonstrate that the fusion results of our method have prominent infrared targets and clear texture details. Both subjective and objective assessments are better than the other twelve advanced algorithms, proving our method's effectiveness
Dysregulation of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression plays a pivotal role in the initiation and progression of gastric cancer (GC). However, the regulation of lncRNA SNHG15 in GC has not been well ...studied. Mechanisms for ferroptosis by SNHG15 have not been revealed. Here, we aimed to explore SNHG15‐mediated biological functions and underlying molecular mechanisms in GC. The novel SNHG15 was identified by analyzing RNA‐sequencing (RNA‐seq) data of GC tissues from our cohort and TCGA dataset, and further validated by qRT‐PCR in GC cells and tissues. Gain‐ and loss‐of‐function assays were performed to examine the role of SNHG15 on GC both in vitro and in vivo. SNHG15 was highly expressed in GC. The enhanced SNHG15 was positively correlated with malignant stage and poor prognosis in GC patients. Gain‐ and loss‐of‐function studies showed that SNHG15 was required to affect GC cell growth, migration and invasion both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, the oncogenic transcription factors E2F1 and MYC could bind to the SNHG15 promoter and enhance its expression. Meanwhile, SNHG15 increased E2F1 and MYC mRNA expression by sponging miR‐24‐3p. Notably, SNHG15 could also enhance the stability of SLC7A11 in the cytoplasm by competitively binding HNRNPA1. In addition, SNHG15 inhibited ferroptosis through an HNRNPA1‐dependent regulation of SLC7A11/GPX4 axis. Our results support a novel model in which E2F1‐ and MYC‐activated SNHG15 regulates ferroptosis via an HNRNPA1‐dependent modulation of the SLC7A11/GPX4 axis, which serves as the critical effectors in GC progression, and provides a new therapeutic direction in the treatment of GC.
SNHG15 can be transcriptionally activated by E2F1 and MYC. Subsequently, SNHG15 forms a molecular decoy for miR‐24‐3p, a miRNA targeting E2F1 and MYC for degradation, thereby contributing to increased expression of E2F1 and MYC. SNHG15 also enhances the stability of SLC7A11 in the cytoplasm by binding HNRNPA1, and inhibits ferroptosis through an HNRNPA1‐dependent regulation of the SLC7A11/GPX4 axis.
In recent years, closed circulating water systems in heat exchangers have been developing continuously. During the high-temperature heat exchange process in summer, the external spray system can ...easily cause scaling and corrosion of the heat exchanger. In order to study the factors affecting the scaling and corrosion of the heat exchanger under different pH and spray conditions of the spray working solution, the experimental methods such as immersion experiments and interval titration methods were designed to simulate the actual working environment. Moreover, the scaling mechanism of the heat exchanger was further clarified through characterization methods such as sample microsurface morphology, mass changes, and electrochemical performance tests. Results showed that under the short-cycle heating titration experiment, the simulated solution with pH=5 was prone to react in a dynamic environment and was prone to scaling in the flat tube. Under the immersion experiment and the long-cycle heating titration experi
Sensors are of increasing interest since they can be applied to daily life in different areas from various industrial sectors. As a natural nanomaterial, nanocellulose plays a vital role in the ...development of novel sensors, particularly in the context of constructing multidimensional architectures. This review summarizes the utilization of nanocellulose including cellulose nanofibers, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial cellulose for sensor design, mainly focusing on the influence of nanocellulose on the sensing performance of these sensors. Special attention is paid to nanocellulose in different forms (1D, 2D, and 3D) to highlight the impact of nanocellulose constructed structures. The aim is to provide a critical review on the most recent progress (especially after 2017) related to nanocellulose‐containing sensors, since there are significantly increasing research activities in this area. Moreover, the outlook for the development of nanocellulose‐containing sensors is also provided at the end of this work.
This work provides in‐depth analyses on the work of using various forms of nanocellulose, such as cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), and bacterial cellulose (BC) for the productions of various sensor/sensing products, with particular emphasis on different dimensional structures. The authors highlight the features of 1D, 2D, and 3D nanocellulosic materials and also share their views on promising potential research topics related to nanocellulose‐containing sensors/sensing products.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in which the brain undergoes alterations for decades before symptoms become obvious. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) have ...self-complain of persistent decline in cognitive function especially in memory but perform normally on standard neuropsychological tests. SCD with the presence of AD pathology is the transitional stage 2 of Alzheimer's continuum, earlier than the prodromal stage, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which seems to be the best target to research AD. In this study, we aimed to detect the transformational patterns of the intrinsic brain activity as the disease burden got heavy.
In this study, we enrolled 44 SCD, 55 amnestic MCI (aMCI), 47 AD dementia (d-AD) patients and 57 normal controls (NC) in total. A machine learning classification was utilized to detect identification accuracies between groups by using ALFF, fALFF, and fusing ALFF with fALFF features. Then, we measured the amplitude of the low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) levels in three frequency bands (classic: 0.01-0.1 Hz; slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz; and slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz) and compared alterations in patients with NC.
In the machine learning verification, the identification accuracy of SCD, aMCI, d-AD from NC was higher when fused ALFF and fALFF features (76.44, 81.94, and 91.83%, respectively) than only using ALFF or fALFF features. Several brain regions showed significant differences in ALFF/fALFF within these bands among four groups: brain regions presented decreasing trend of values, including the Cingulum_Mid_R (aal), bilateral inferior cerebellum lobe, bilateral precuneus, and the Cingulum_Ant_R (aal); increasing trend of values were detected in the Hippocampus_L (aal), Frontal_Mid_Orb_R (aal), Frontal_Sup_R (aal) and Paracentral_Lobule_R (aal) as disease progressed. The normalized ALFF/fALFF values of these features were significantly correlated with the neuropsychological test scores.
This study revealed gradual disturbances in intrinsic brain activity as the disease progressed: the normal objective performance in SCD may be dependent on compensation; as disease advanced, the cognitive function gradually impaired and decompensated in aMCI, severer in d-AD. Our results indicated that the ALFF and fALFF may help detect the underlying pathological mechanism in AD continuum.
ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02353884 and NCT02225964.
In this article, a novel composite (Mg(OH)2 supported nanoscale zerovalent iron (denoted as nZVI@Mg(OH)2) was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and ...transmission electron microscopy method. The morphology analysis revealed that Mg(OH)2 appeared as self-supported flower-like spheres, and nano Fe0 particles were uniformly immobilized on the surface of their “flower petals”, thus aggregation of Fe0 particles was minimized. Then the Pb(II) removal performance was tested by batch experiments. The composite presented exceptional removal capacity (1986.6 mg/g) compared with Mg(OH)2 and nanoscale zerovalent iron due to the synergistic effect. Mechanisms were also explored by a comparative study of the phase, morphology, and surface valence state of composite before and after reaction, indicating that at least three paths are involved in the synergistic removal process: (1) Pb(II) adsorption by Mg(OH)2 (companied with ion exchange reaction); (2) Pb(II) reduction to Pb0 by nanoscale zerovalent iron; and (3) Pb(II) precipitation as Pb(OH)2. The hydroxies provided by Mg(OH)2 can dramatically promote the role of nanoscale zerovalent iron as reducer, thus greatly enhancing the whole Pb(II) sequestration process. The excellent performance shown in our research potentially provides an alternative technique for Pb(II) pollution treatment.