Simplifying 3D building models, effectively reducing model complexity and improving mapping efficiency, is an important part of 3D GIS. In order to address the problem that the simplification basis ...considered by most 3D building model data compression algorithms is mainly based on geometric features and fails to retain the visual features of the model, this paper proposed a half-folding simplification algorithm for 3D building models that took the visual features into account. The algorithm incorporated regional boundary constraints in the pre-processing stage to focus on preserving the boundary features of the model, and incorporated visual constraints, such as the vertex importance, edge length, and texture, in the calculation of the edge folding cost to construct a new error metric model. The simplification order was changed by redefining the edge folding cost, and a trade-off between compression rate and retention rate was made by using half-edge folding to maximise the retention of the visual features of the building. The experimental results showed that the algorithm could effectively reduce the number of elements drawn by the system and achieve a high level of detail information retention in the visual feature region of the model with a good visual representation.
Chordin-like 1 (CHRDL1) is a secreted glycoprotein with repeated cysteine-rich domains, which can bind to BMPs family ligands. Although it has been reported to play important roles in several ...systems, the exact roles of CHRDL1 on human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) osteogenesis remain to be explored. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of CHRDL1 on the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs and the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that CHRDL1 was upregulated during hBMSCs osteogenesis, and rhBMP-4 administration could enhance CHRDL1 mRNA expression in a dose and time dependent manner. Knockdown of CHRDL1 did not affect hBMSCs proliferation, but inhibited the BMP-4-dependent osteogenic differentiation, showing decreased mRNA expression levels of osteogenic markers and reduced mineralization. On the contrary, overexpression of CHRDL1 enhanced BMP-4 induced osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Moreover,
experiments by transplanting CHRDL1 gene modified hBMSCs into nude mice defective femur models displayed higher new bone formation in CHRDL1 overexpression groups, but lower new bone formation in CHRDL1 knockdown groups, compared with control groups. In consistent with the bone formation rate, there were increased CHRDL1 protein expression in new bone formation regions of defective femur in CHRDL1 overexpression groups, while reduced CHRDL1 protein expression in CHRDL1 knockdown groups compared with control groups. These indicate that CHRDL1 can promote osteoblast differentiation
. Furthermore, the mechanisms study showed that CHRDL1 improved BMP-4 induced phosphorylation of SMAD1/5/9 during osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Besides, promotion of osteogenic differentiation and the activation of SMAD phosphorylation by CHRDL1 can be blocked by BMP receptor type I inhibitor LDN-193189. In conclusion, our results suggested that CHRDL1 can promote hBMSCs osteogenic differentiation through enhancing the activation of BMP-4-SMAD1/5/9 pathway.
(1) Background: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is an important complication of decompensated cirrhosis. Previous studies have demonstrated spontaneous brain activity alterations in cirrhotic ...patients with MHE. However, the reported results are inconsistent, which has limited our understanding of the potential neural mechanisms. Thus, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of resting-state functional imaging studies to identify the regional activity alterations consistently involved in MHE. (2) Methods: We searched six databases to include resting-state functional imaging studies and compared spontaneous brain activity patterns between MHE patients and healthy controls (HCs), and between cirrhotic patients without minimal hepatic encephalopathy (NMHE) and HCs. Then, a separate whole-brain voxel-wise meta-analysis between MHE or NMHE patients and HCs was conducted using seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images. We further conducted the conjunction analysis to assess the distinct regional activity alterations between MHE and NMHE patients as compared to HCs. (3) Results: Thirteen studies with twenty datasets were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with HCs, MHE patients showed decreased spontaneous brain activity in the left superior frontal gyrus, left median cingulate/paracingulate gyri, and right precuneus. Compared with NMHE patients, MHE patients indicated decreased spontaneous brain activity in the left superior frontal gyrus, left median cingulate/paracingulate gyri, and right precuneus. (4) Conclusions: MHE is associated with spontaneous brain activity alterations involving the left superior frontal gyrus and median cingulate/paracingulate gyri, which may implicate primarily in spatial working memory and emotional disorders. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the potential neural mechanisms, and guide further research.
Background
Hereditary hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (HSH) is a rare autosomal recessive disease due to biallelic TRPM6 mutations. Although the reports of HSH caused by TRPM6 mutations ...are not very rare, the age of onset in previously reported HSH cases were <1 year.
Methods
We collected and analyzed the clinical data of twin brothers with onset age over 1 year old and performed whole exome sequencing in the patients and their parents. Confirmed by Sanger sequencing, missense mutation was analyzed
in silico
. We also searched Pubmed, and extracted clinical data from case reports and case series with full text in English, reporting original data of patients with TRPM6 mutations.
Results
The twin patients had canonical HSH phenotype with compound novel TRPM6 mutations, p.T87K and c.705dupT, inherited from their father and mother, respectively. T87 is a highly conserved site and T87K is predicted to cause hydrogen bond disruption. We identified 26 articles published between May 28, 2002 to December 31, 2021 which reported a total of 88 patients with TRPM6 mutation. We found that the most common clinical phenotypes were hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia, and convulsions. However, the age of onset in HSH patients almost always occurred under 12 months old, the twin patients of our study were 18 and 26 months old at onset.
Conclusion
We identified two novel TRPM6 mutations in a Chinses family with HSH, and showed that the age of onset with c.704c-c.705(exon7)insT and c.260(exon4)C>A mutation in TRPM6 was much later than other mutations and would be much less serious.
BIM (building information modeling) plays a pivotal role in the construction industry. BIM technology tailored for pipelines offers in-depth semantic information and spatial data, bolstering the ...utility and implementation of digital twin-associated technologies in both architecture and urban planning. This paper introduces a rendering optimization algorithm rooted in the BSP Tree (Binary Space Partitioning Tree). The algorithm is used to address the challenges of slow loading and poor rendering quality of pipeline BIM models when displayed on the web, which stem from large amounts of model data and complex geometric configurations. Initially, the algorithm delves into the geometric distribution traits of the pipeline BIM model from multiple perspectives, pinpointing the spatial division dimension. Subsequently, it employs an adaptive step size technique for spatial segmentation, harmonizing it with real-world application contexts. Concurrently, any superfluous data that emerge are refined to uphold the structural wholeness of the BIM model. This algorithm is adept at systematically arranging and overseeing the BIM model data. Trial outcomes reveal that the AKDT (Adaptive K-Dimensional Tree) algorithm significantly trims the browser’s initial rendering duration while maintaining the model’s accuracy and semantic uniformity. Moreover, it excels in areas such as rendering frame rate, user interaction responsiveness, and data transmission duration. In essence, the algorithm stands out for its efficiency and precision in rendering pipeline BIM models on web platforms, achieving the desired optimization results.
In the present study, a total of 7793 samples from 5 different types of hosts were collected and tested, with a seroprevalence of 2.4% (184/7793). Although the seroprevalence of human and animal ...brucellosis is relatively low, numbers of human brucellosis cases reported have increased continuously from 2004 to 2018. A total of 118 Brucella strains containing 4 biotypes were obtained, including Brucella melitensis bv.1 (n = 8) and bv.3 (n = 106), Brucella abortus bv.3 (n = 3) and bv.7 (n = 1). Twenty-one shared MLVA-16 genotypes, each composed of 2 to 19 strains obtained from different hosts, suggest the occurrence of a brucellosis outbreak epidemic with multiple source points and laboratory infection events. Moreover, 30 shared MLVA-16 genotypes were observed among 59.6% (68/114) B. melitensis isolates from Zhejiang and strains from other 21 different provinces, especially northern provinces, China. The analysis highlighted the imported nature of the strains from all over the northern provinces with a dominant part from the developed areas of animal husbandry. These data revealed a potential transmission pattern of brucellosis in this region, due to introduced infected sheep leading to a brucellosis outbreak epidemic, and eventually causing multiple laboratory infection events. It is urgent to strengthen the inspection and quarantine of the introduced animals.
Background:
Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common pediatric extracranial solid neoplasm after leukemia. Intracranial metastases (IM) rarely occur in patients with NB. The present study aimed to ...review the clinical characteristics of NB patients from a single center presenting with IM.
Methods:
Two hundred children (aged 3–91 months) with NB admitted to the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University between January 2009 and December 2015 were enrolled, and their clinical characteristics were recorded. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of IM. Their clinical characteristics, including demographics, clinical features, and laboratory and imaging studies, were retrospectively analyzed.
Results:
IM occurred in 22 of 200 (11%) neuroblastoma patients, with a median age of 42.5 months (range, 3–91 months), with a male-to-female ratio of 1.4:1. Seven patients had IM at the initial diagnosis. Among the 15 children who did not have IM at initial presentation, the median interval from presentation to the diagnosis of IM was 17.3 months (range, 1–55 months). Compared with the control group, NB patients with IM tended to be asymptomatic at the time of NB diagnosis, which was made incidentally during routine physical examination (5 of 22, 22.7%,
p
< 0.05). In addition, this group had more primary intra-abdominal sites (18 of 22, 81.8%,
p
< 0.001) and worse prognosis (5 of 22, 22.7%,
p
< 0.05).
Conclusions:
NB patients with IM have insidious onset in the early stage and a lower survival rate, especially patients with primary intra-abdominal lesions. Regular neurological monitoring could improve the rate of early diagnosis and prognosis of NB children with IM. Familiarity with the characteristic findings of NB with IM is necessary to avoid misdiagnosis and initiate necessary interventions.
Despite significant progress in drug treatment, the prognosis of patients with advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains extremely poor. Many preclinical studies have reported the ...efficacy of stem cell (SC) therapy for PAH; however, this approach remains controversial. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the potential efficacy of SC therapy for PAH.
The Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to August 12, 2018. Preclinical studies that evaluated the use of SC therapy for PAH were included. The primary outcome was pulmonary haemodynamics, as assessed by measurement of the right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), and/or mean right ventricle pressure (mRVP). The secondary outcomes included the weight ratio of the right ventricle to the left ventricle plus septum (RV/LV+S), the right ventricle to body weight ratio (RV/BW), the percentage of pulmonary arteriole area index (WA), and/or the percentage of medial wall thickness of the pulmonary arteriole (WT). The quality of outcomes was evaluated using the SYstematic Review Centre for Laboratory animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) bias risk tool. The inverse-variance method with random-effects modelling was used to calculate pooled weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% CIs. Statistical analysis was performed with STATA 14.0.
Twenty-eight eligible articles (722 animals) were included. SC therapy reduced the pooled WMDs (95% CIs) of RVSP, mPAP, mRVP, RV/LV+S, RV/BW, WA, and WT for animals with PAH, with values of - 14.12 (- 14.63, - 13.61), - 11.86 (- 12.35, - 11.36), - 17.33 (- 18.10, - 16.56), - 0.10 (- 0.10, - 0.09), 0.23 (0.21, 0.24), - 13.66 (- 15.71, - 11.62), and - 7.96 (- 7.99, - 7.93), respectively.
SC therapy is effective for PAH in preclinical studies. These results may help to standardise preclinical animal studies and provide a theoretical basis for clinical trial design in the future.
PROSPERO ( http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO ).
Osteosarcoma (OS) accounts for a large proportion of the types of bone tumors that are newly diagnosed, and is a relatively common bone tumor. However, there are still no effective treatments for ...this affliction. One interesting avenue is related to the mitochondrial NDUFA4L2 protein, which is encoded by the nuclear gene and is known to be a critical mediator in the regulation of cell survival. Thus, in this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of NDUFA4L2 upon the metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of OS. We found that NDUFA4L2 protein expression was upregulated in hypoxic conditions. We also used 2-ME and DMOG, which are HIF-1α inhibitors and agonists, respectively, to assess the effects related to decreasing or increasing HIF-1α expression. 2-ME caused a significant decrease of NDUFA4L2 expression and DMOG had the opposite effect. It was obvious that down-regulation of NDUFA4L2 had a direct interaction with the apoptosis of OS cells. Western blotting, wound healing analyses, Transwell invasion assays, and colony formation assays all indicated and supported the conclusion that NDUFA4L2 promoted OS cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. During experiments, we incidentally discovered that autophagy and the ROS inhibitor could be used to facilitate the rescuing of tumor cells whose NDUFA4L2 was knocked down. Our findings will help to further elucidate the dynamics underlying the mechanism of OS cells and have provided a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of OS.
Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is an aging disease that results in a low quality of life and heavy socioeconomic burden. The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR
mt
) take part in ...various aging-related diseases. Our research intents to explore the role and underlying mechanism of UPR
mt
in IVDD. Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells were exposed to IL-1β and nicotinamide riboside (NR) served as UPR
mt
inducer to treat NP cells. Detection of ATP, NAD + and NADH were used to determine the function of mitochondria. MRI, Safranin O-fast green and Immunohistochemical examination were used to determine the degree of IVDD in vivo. In this study, we discovered that UPR
mt
was increased markedly in the NP cells of human IVDD tissues than in healthy controls. In vitro, UPR
mt
and mitophagy levels were promoted in NP cells treated with IL-1β. Upregulation of UPR
mt
by NR and Atf5 overexpression inhibited NP cell apoptosis and further improved mitophagy. Silencing of Pink1 reversed the protective effects of NR and inhibited mitophagy induced by the UPR
mt
. In vivo, NR might attenuate the degree of IDD by activating the UPR
mt
in rats. In summary, the UPR
mt
was involved in IVDD by regulating Pink1-induced mitophagy. Mitophagy induced by the UPR
mt
might be a latent treated target for IVDD.
Graphical Abstract
• UPR
mt
was upregulated in the NP cells of degenerative intervertebral disc.
• UPR
mt
regulated by Atf5 could activate mitophagy to protect NP cells from apoptosis.
• Nicotinamide riboside as UPR
mt
inducer reduced NP cells apoptosis, thereby delaying the process of IVDD.
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