Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is an effective tool used in determining disease stage and lesion malignancy; however, radiation exposure to patients and technicians during PET scans ...continues to draw concern. One way to minimize radiation exposure is to reduce the dose of radioactive tracer administered in order to obtain the scan. Yet, low-dose images are inherently noisy and have poor image quality making them difficult to read. This paper proposes the use of a deep learning model that takes specific image features into account in the loss function to denoise low-dose PET image slices and estimate their full-dose image quality equivalent. Testing on low-dose image slices indicates a significant improvement in image quality that is comparable to the ground truth full–dose image slices. Additionally, this approach can lower the cost of conducting a PET scan since less radioactive material is required per scan, which may promote the usage of PET scans for medical diagnosis.
The huge land areas in China provide highly diverse habitats for macrofungi. Of these macrofungi, many are directly related to people’s daily life and have been utilized by ancient Chinese for at ...least 6800 years. In this study, we evaluate the current known resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi. A total of 1662 taxa are summarized, and all species names and their authorities have been checked and corrected according to authentic mycological databases. Among the 1662 taxa, 1020, 692, and 480 are considered to be edible, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms, respectively. A few of edible macrofungi in China are commonly used for commercial production. All known medicinal functions are labeled for medicinal species. The most common medicinal functions possessed by Chinese macrofungi are antitumor or anticancer, followed by antioxidant and antimicrobial. A total of 277 Chinese macrofungi are edible simultaneously with certain medicinal functions and without known toxicity. These species could be treated as “Gold Mushrooms”. Contrarily, 193 edible and/or medicinal species are also recognized as poisonous mushrooms. To avoid poisoning caused by these species, ingestion either in a proper way or in small amounts is important. However, the mycotoxins metabolized by these poisonous species could be a huge wealth of natural products yet to be explored. How to utilize these Chinese macrofungal resources is a critical to benefit humans worldwide.
Almost all biotechnological processes originate from traditional food fermentations, i.e. the many indigenous processes that can be found already in the written history of thousands of years ago. We ...still consume many of these fermented foods and beverages on a daily basis today. The evolution of these traditional processes, in particular since the 19th century, stimulated and influenced the development of modern biotechnological processes. In return, the development of modern biotechnology and related advanced techniques will no doubt improve the process, the product quality and the safety of our favourite fermented foods and beverages. In this article, we describe the relationship between these traditional food fermentations and modern biotechnology. Using Koji and its derived product soy sauce as examples, we address the mutual influences that will provide us with a better future concerning the quality, safety and nutritional effect of many fermented food products.
Carbon materials, including graphite, hard carbon, soft carbon, graphene, and carbon nanotubes, are widely used as high‐performance negative electrodes for sodium‐ion and potassium‐ion batteries ...(SIBs and PIBs). Compared with other materials, carbon materials are abundant, low‐cost, and environmentally friendly, and have excellent electrochemical properties, which make them especially suitable for negative electrode materials of SIBs and PIBs. Compared with traditional carbon materials, modifications of the morphology and size of nanomaterials represent effective strategies to improve the quality of electrode materials. Different nanostructures make different contributions toward improving the electrochemical performance of electrode materials, so the synthesis of nanomaterials is promising for controlling the morphology and size of electrode materials. This paper reviews the progress made and challenges in the use of carbon materials as negative electrode materials for SIBs and PIBs in recent years. The differences in Na+ and K+ storage mechanisms among different types of carbon materials are emphasized.
Carbon materials represent one of the most promising candidates for negative electrode materials of sodium‐ion and potassium‐ion batteries (SIBs and PIBs). This review focuses on the research progress of carbon materials such as graphite, hard carbon, soft carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes, and other carbon nanomaterials as negative electrode materials for SIBs and PIBs.
A principal goal of cancer nanomedicine is to deliver therapeutics effectively to cancer cells within solid tumors. However, there are a series of biological barriers that impede nanomedicine from ...reaching target cells. Here, we report a stimuli-responsive clustered nanoparticle to systematically overcome these multiple barriers by sequentially responding to the endogenous attributes of the tumor microenvironment. The smart polymeric clustered nanoparticle (iCluster) has an initial size of ∼100 nm, which is favorable for long blood circulation and high propensity of extravasation through tumor vascular fenestrations. Once iCluster accumulates at tumor sites, the intrinsic tumor extracellular acidity would trigger the discharge of platinum prodrug-conjugated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (diameter ∼5 nm). Such a structural alteration greatly facilitates tumor penetration and cell internalization of the therapeutics. The internalized dendrimer prodrugs are further reduced intracellularly to release cisplatin to kill cancer cells. The superior in vivo antitumor activities of iCluster are validated in varying intractable tumor models including poorly permeable pancreatic cancer, drug-resistant cancer, and metastatic cancer, demonstrating its versatility and broad applicability.
Salt stress can significantly affect plant growth and agricultural productivity. Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are believed to play essential roles in plant growth, development, and responses to ...abiotic stresses. Here, we identify a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase, salt tolerance receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase 1 (STRK1), from rice (Oryza sativa) that positively regulates salt and oxidative stress tolerance. Our results show that STRK1 anchors and interacts with CatC at the plasma membrane via palmitoylation. CatC is phosphorylated mainly at Tyr-210 and is activated by STRK1. The phosphorylation mimic form CatCY210D exhibits higher catalase activity both in vitro and in planta, and salt stress enhances STRK1-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation on CatC. Compared with wild-type plants, STRK1-overexpressing plants exhibited higher catalase activity and lower accumulation of H2O2 as well as higher tolerance to salt and oxidative stress. Our findings demonstrate that STRK1 improves salt and oxidative tolerance by phosphorylating and activating CatC and thereby regulating H2O2 homeostasis. Moreover, overexpression of STRK1 in rice not only improved growth at the seedling stage but also markedly limited the grain yield loss under salt stress conditions. Together, these results offer an opportunity to improve rice grain yield under salt stress.
Although surface PEGylation of siRNA vectors is effective for preventing protein adsorption and thereby helps these vectors to evade the reticuloendothelial system (RES) in vivo, it also suppresses ...the cellular uptake of these vectors by target cells. This dilemma could be overcome by employing stimuli-responsive shell-detachable nanovectors to achieve enhanced cellular internalization while maintaining prolonged blood circulation. Among the possible stimuli, dysregulated pH in tumor (pHe) is the most universal and practical. However, the design of pHe-sensitive system is problematic because of the subtle differences between the pHe and pH in other tissues. Here, a simple acid-sensitive bridged copolymer is developed and used for tumor-targeted systemic delivery of siRNA. After forming the micelleplex delivery system, the corresponding nanoparticles (Dm-NP) might undergo several modifications as follows: (i) a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) corona, which is stable in the circulatory system and protects nanovectors from RES clearance; (ii) a pHe responsive linkage breakage, which induces PEG detachment at tumor sites and thereby facilitates cell targeting; and (iii) a cell-penetration peptide, which is exposed upon the removal of PEG and further enhances cellular uptake. Thus, Dm-NP achieved both prolonged circulation and effective accumulation in tumor cells and resulted in the safe and enhanced inhibition of non-small cell lung cancer growth.
Long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) lnc‐ISG20 has been found aberrantly up‐regulated in the glomerular in the patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN). We aimed to elucidate the function and regulatory ...mechanism of lncRNA lnc‐ISG20 on DN‐induced renal fibrosis. Expression patterns of lnc‐ISG20 in kidney tissues of DN patients were determined by RT‐qPCR. Mouse models of DN were constructed, while MCs were cultured under normal glucose (NG)/high glucose (HG) conditions. The expression patterns of fibrosis marker proteins collagen IV, fibronectin and TGF‐β1 were measured with Western blot assay. In addition, the relationship among lnc‐ISG20, miR‐486‐5p, NFAT5 and AKT were analysed using dual‐luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation. The effect of lnc‐ISG20 and miR‐486/NFAT5/p‐AKT axis on DN‐associated renal fibrosis was also verified by means of rescue experiments. The expression levels of lnc‐ISG20 were increased in DN patients, DN mouse kidney tissues and HG‐treated MCs. Lnc‐ISG20 silencing alleviated HG‐induced fibrosis in MCs and delayed renal fibrosis in DN mice. Mechanistically, miR‐486‐5p was found to be a downstream miRNA of lnc‐ISG20, while miR‐486‐5p inhibited the expression of NFAT5 by binding to its 3'UTR. NFAT5 overexpression aggravated HG‐induced fibrosis by stimulating AKT phosphorylation. However, NFAT5 silencing reversed the promotion of in vitro and in vivo fibrosis caused by lnc‐ISG20 overexpression. Our collective findings indicate that lnc‐ISG20 promotes the renal fibrosis process in DN by activating AKT through the miR‐486‐5p/NFAT5 axis. High‐expression levels of lnc‐ISG20 may be a useful indicator for DN.
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains one of the severe complications associated with diabetes mellitus. It is worthwhile to uncover the underlying mechanisms of clinical benefits of human urine‐derived ...stem cells (hUSCs) in the treatment of DN. At present, the clinical benefits associated with hUSCs in the treatment of DN remains unclear. Hence, our study aims to investigate protective effect of hUSC exosome along with microRNA‐16‐5p (miR‐16‐5p) on podocytes in DN via vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA). Initially, miR‐16‐5p was predicated to target VEGFA based on data retrieved from several bioinformatics databases. Notably, dual‐luciferase report gene assay provided further verification confirming the prediction. Moreover, our results demonstrated that high glucose (HG) stimulation could inhibit miR‐16‐5p and promote VEGFA in human podocytes (HPDCs). miR‐16‐5p in hUSCs was transferred through the exosome pathway to HG‐treated HPDCs. The viability and apoptosis rate of podocytes after HG treatment together with expression of the related factors were subsequently determined. The results indicated that miR‐16‐5p secreted by hUSCs could improve podocyte injury induced by HG. In addition, VEGA silencing could also ameliorate HG‐induced podocyte injury. Finally, hUSC exosomes containing overexpressed miR‐16‐5p were injected into diabetic rats via tail vein, followed by qualification of miR‐16‐5p and observation on the changes of podocytes, which revealed that overexpressed miR‐16‐5p in hUSCs conferred protective effects on HPDCs in diabetic rats. Taken together, the present study revealed that overexpressed miR‐16‐5p in hUSC exosomes could protect HPDCs induced by HG and suppress VEGFA expression and podocytic apoptosis, providing fresh insights for novel treatment of DN.
As the largest container and resource of metals, sediment has a special role in the fate of metals. Factors influencing bioavailability of heavy metals in sediment have never been comprehensively ...considered and the sediment properties still fail to understand and even controversial. In this review, the mechanisms of sediment properties such as acid-volatile sulfides (AVS), organic matter, texture (clay, silt or sand) and geology, organism behaviors as well as those influencing the bioavailability of metals were analyzed. Under anoxic condition, AVS mainly reduce the solubility and toxicity of metals, while organic matters, Fe–Mn oxides, clay or silt can stabilize heavy metals in elevated oxidative–reductive potential (ORP). Other factors including the variation of pH, redox potential, aging as well as nutrition and the behavior of benthic organism in sediment also largely alter metals mobility and distribution. These factors are often inter-related, and various toxicity assessment methods used to evaluate the bioavailability of trace metals have been also discussed. Additionally, we expect that some novel synthetic materials like polysulfides, nano-materials, provide the substantial amendments for metals pollution in sediment.
•The influencing mechanisms of sediment geochemical properties on heavy metals bioavailability were analyzed.•AVS stabilize heavy metals in anoxic state but OM and Fe-Mn oxides immobilize metals under aerobic condition.•Considering the sediment geochemical properties is needed when establish the model of bioavailability.
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