CircPMS1 promotes proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells,pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells,and pericytes under hypoxia

Background:Circular RNAs(circRNAs)have been recognized as significant regulators of pulmonary hypertension(PH);however,the differential expression and function of circRNAs in different vascular cells under hypoxia remain unknown.Here,we identified co-differentially expressed circRNAs and determined their putative roles in the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells(PASMCs),pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells(PMECs),and pericytes(PCs)under hypoxia.Methods:Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed to analyze the differential expression of circRNAs in three different vascular cell types.Bioinformatic analysis was used to predict their putative biological function.Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,Cell Counting Kit-8,and EdU Cell Proliferation assays were carried out to determine the role of circular postmeiotic segregation 1(circPMS1)as well as its potential sponge mechanism in PASMCs,PMECs,and PCs.Results:PASMCs,PMECs,and PCs exhibited 16,99,and 31 differentially expressed circRNAs under hypoxia,respectively.CircPMS1 was upregulated in PASMCs,PMECs,and PCs under hypoxia and enhanced the proliferation of vascular cells.CircPMS1may upregulate DEP domain containing 1(DEPDC1)and RNA polymerase II subunit D expression by targeting microRNA-432-5p(miR-432-5p)in PASMCs,upregulate MAX interactor 1(MXI1)expression by targeting miR-433-3p in PMECs,and upregulate zinc finger AN1-type containing 5(ZFAND5)expression by targeting miR-3613-5p in PCs.Conclusions:Our results suggest that circPMS1 promotes cell proliferation through the miR-432-5p/DEPDC1 or miR-432-5p/POL2D axis in PASMCs,through the miR-433-3p/MXI1 axis in PMECs,and through the miR-3613-5p/ZFAND5 axis in PCs,which provides putative targets for the early diagnosis and treatment of PH.

Neural stem cell-derived exosomes regulate cell proliferation,migration,and cell death of brain microvascular endothelial cells via the miR-9/Hes1 axis under hypoxia

Background:Our previous study found that mouse embryonic neural stem cell(NSC)-derived exosomes(EXOs)regulated NSC differentiation via the miR-9/Hes1 axis.However,the effects of EXOs on brain microvascular endothelial cell(BMEC)dysfunction via the miR-9/Hes1 axis remain unknown.Therefore,the current study aimed to determine the effects of EXOs on BMEC proliferation,migration,and death via the miR-9/Hes1 axis.Methods:Immunofluorescence,quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,cell counting kit-8 assay,wound healing assay,calcein-acetoxymethyl/propidium iodide staining,and hematoxylin and eosin staining were used to determine the role and mechanism of EXOs on BMECs.Results:EXOs promoted BMEC proliferation and migration and reduced cell death under hypoxic conditions.The overexpression of miR-9 promoted BMEC prolifera-tion and migration and reduced cell death under hypoxic conditions.Moreover,miR-9 downregulation inhibited BMEC proliferation and migration and also promoted cell death.Hes1 silencing ameliorated the effect of amtagomiR-9 on BMEC proliferation and migration and cell death.Hyperemic structures were observed in the regions of the hippocampus and cortex in hypoxia-induced mice.Meanwhile,EXO treatment improved cerebrovascular alterations.Conclusion:NSC-derived EXOs can promote BMEC proliferation and migra-tion and reduce cell death via the miR-9/Hes1 axis under hypoxic conditions.Therefore,EXO therapeutic strategies could be considered for hypoxia-induced vascular injury.

基于深度学习方法的肝癌伴胆道癌栓患者的术前诊断

由于伴胆道癌栓(BDTT)的肝细胞癌(HCC)患者的手术预后与普通肝癌患者相比有显著的差异,因此胆管癌栓的术前诊断在临床上十分重要。虽然扩张的胆管(DBDs)可以作为诊断胆道癌栓的生物标志物,但医生在报告影像学扫描结果时很容易将其忽视,导致临床上对胆道癌栓存在较高的漏诊率。本文的目的是开发一种基于医学影像的自动化诊断胆道癌栓的人工智能(AI)框架。本文提出的AI框架包括两个阶段。首先,采用目标检测神经网络Faster R-CNN来识别扩张胆管;然后,如果被识别出存在扩张胆管的图像的比例超过某个阈值,则诊断肝癌患者体内存在胆道癌栓。基于从32名肝癌患者(16名伴胆道癌栓患者和16名普通肝癌患者,1∶1匹配)收集到的2354张CT图像,所提出的AI诊断框架在扩张胆管识别层面上实现了0.92的平均真阳率,在伴胆道癌栓患者诊断层面上实现了0.81的真阳率。本文所提方法在伴胆道癌栓患者诊断层面上的AUC值为0.94(95%CI:0.87,1.00),相比之下,基于术前临床变量进行诊断的随机森林取得的AUC值为0.71(95%CI:0.51,0.90)。在实际数据集上取得的高精度结果表明,本文提出的基于CT图像的AI框架在诊断和定位胆道癌栓方面是成功的。

Role of miR-21-5p/FilGAP axis in estradiol alleviating the progression of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension

Background:Aberrant expression of microRNAs(miRNAs)has been associated with the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension(PH).It is,however,not clear whether miRNAs are involved in estrogen rescue of PH.Methods:Fresh plasma samples were prepared from 12 idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension(IPAH)patients and 12 healthy controls undergoing right heart cath-eterization in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital.From each sample,5μg of total RNA was tagged and hybridized on microRNA microarray chips.Monocrotaline-induced PH(MCT-PH)male rats were treated with 17β-estradiol(E_(2))or vehicle.Subgroups were cotreated with estrogen receptor(ER)antagonist or with antagonist of miRNA.Results:Many circulating miRNAs,including miR-21-5p and miR-574-5p,were mark-edly expressed in patients and of interest in predicting mean pulmonary arterial pres-sure elevation in patients.The expression of miR-21-5p in the lungs was significantly upregulated in MCT-PH rats compared with the controls.However,miR-574-5p showed no difference in the lungs of MCT-PH rats and controls.miR-21-5p was se-lected for further analysis in rats as E_(2) strongly regulated it.E_(2) decreased miR-21-5p expression in the lungs of MCT-PH rats by ERβ.E_(2) reversed miR-21-5p target gene FilGAP downregulation in the lungs of MCT-PH rats.The abnormal expression of RhoA,ROCK2,Rac1 and c-Jun in the lungs of MCT-PH rats was inhibited by E_(2) and miR-21-5p antagonist.Conclusions:miR-21-5p level was remarkably associated with PH severity in patients.Moreover,the miR-21-5p/FilGAP signaling pathway modulated the protective effect of E_(2) on MCT-PH through ERβ.

Acoustic Emission Recognition Based on a Two-Streams Convolutional Neural Network

The Convolutional Neural Network(CNN)is a widely used deep neural network.Compared with the shallow neural network,the CNN network has better performance and faster computing in some image recognition tasks.It can effectively avoid the problem that network training falls into local extremes.At present,CNN has been applied in many different fields,including fault diagnosis,and it has improved the level and efficiency of fault diagnosis.In this paper,a two-streams convolutional neural network(TCNN)model is proposed.Based on the short-time Fourier transform(STFT)spectral and Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient(MFCC)input characteristics of two-streams acoustic emission(AE)signals,an AE signal processing and classification system is constructed and compared with the traditional recognition methods of AE signals and traditional CNN networks.The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.Compared with single-stream convolutional neural network and a simple Long Short-Term Memory(LSTM)network,the performance of TCNN which combines spatial and temporal features is greatly improved,and the accuracy rate can reach 100%on the current database,which is 12%higher than that of single-stream neural network.

Biology and function of pericytes in the vascular microcirculation

Pericytes are the main cellular components of tiny arteries and capillaries.Studies have found that pericytes can undergo morphological contraction or relaxation under stimulation by cytokines,thus affecting the contraction and relaxation of microvessels and playing an essential role in regulating vascular microcirculation.Moreover,due to the characteristics of stem cells,pericytes can differentiate into a variety of inflammatory cell phenotypes,which then affect the immune function.Additionally,pericytes can also participate in angiogenesis and wound healing by interacting with endothelial cells in vascular microcirculation disorders.Here we review the origin,biological phenotype and function of pericytes,and discuss the potential mechanisms of pericytes in vascular microcirculation disorders,especially in pulmonary hypertension,so as to provide a sound basis and direction for the prevention and treatment of vascular microcirculation diseases.

Shallow water bathymetry based on a back propagation neural network and ensemble learning using multispectral satellite imagery

The back propagation(BP)neural network method is widely used in bathymetry based on multispectral satellite imagery.However,the classical BP neural network method faces a potential problem because it easily falls into a local minimum,leading to model training failure.This study confirmed that the local minimum problem of the BP neural network method exists in the bathymetry field and cannot be ignored.Furthermore,to solve the local minimum problem of the BP neural network method,a bathymetry method based on a BP neural network and ensemble learning(BPEL)is proposed.First,the remote sensing imagery and training sample were used as input datasets,and the BP method was used as the base learner to produce multiple water depth inversion results.Then,a new ensemble strategy,namely the minimum outlying degree method,was proposed and used to integrate the water depth inversion results.Finally,an ensemble bathymetric map was acquired.Anda Reef,northeastern Jiuzhang Atoll,and Pingtan coastal zone were selected as test cases to validate the proposed method.Compared with the BP neural network method,the root-mean-square error and the average relative error of the BPEL method can reduce by 0.65–2.84 m and 16%–46%in the three test cases at most.The results showed that the proposed BPEL method could solve the local minimum problem of the BP neural network method and obtain highly robust and accurate bathymetric maps.

Thermodynamic Assessment of the Pt-Sb System

The Pt-Sb system was critically assessed by means of CALPHAD technique. Based on the experimental data in the literature, the excess Gibbs energies of the solution phases (liquid, rhombohedral, fcc) were modeled with the Redlich-Kister equation. The five intermetallic compounds, Pt7Sb, Pt3Sb, Pt3Sb2, PtSb, and PtSb2 were treated as stochiometric compounds and expressed as the formula (Pt)m(Sb)n. The intermetallic compound, Pt5Sb with a homogenerity ranges 0.155 -?0.189 Sb, were treated as the formula (Pt,Sb)m(Pt,Sb)n. A set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters of the Pt-Sb system was obtained.

Alteration of the health effects of bioaerosols by chemical modification in the atmosphere:A review

Bioaerosols are a subset of important airborne particulates that present a substantial human health hazard due to their allergenicity and infectivity.Chemical reactions in atmospheric processes can significantly influence the health hazard presented by bioaerosols;however,few studies have summarized such alterations to bioaerosols and the mechanisms involved.In this paper,we systematically review the chemical modifications of bioaerosols and the impact on their health effects,mainly focusing on the exacerbation of allergic diseases such as asthma,rhinitis,and bronchitis.Oxidation,nitration,and oligomerization induced by hydroxyl radicals,ozone,and nitrogen dioxide are the major chemical modifications affecting bioaerosols,all of which can aggravate allergenicity mainly through immunoglobulin E pathways.Such processes can even interact with climate change including the greenhouse effect,suggesting the importance of bioaerosols in the future implementation of carbon neutralization strategies.In summary,the chemical modification of bioaerosols and the subsequent impact on health hazards indicate that the combined management of both chemical and biological components is required to mitigate the health hazards of particulate air pollution.

Phase evolution,hydrogen storage thermodynamics,and kinetics of ternary Mg_(98)Ho_(1.5)Fe_(0.5) alloy

Rare earth elements and transition metals have been found to improve the hydrogen storage characteristics of magnesium-based alloys.This study investigated the Mg-Ho-Fe(MHF) ternary alloy prepared using the vacuum induction melting technique.X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),pressure-composition-temperature(PCT),and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) were used to analyze the alloy's phase transitions,microstructure,thermodynamics,and kinetic properties.The results reveal that the Mg_(98)Ho_(1.5)Fe_(0.5) alloy forms a solid solution with Ho and Fe in the magnesium matrix.Upon hydrogen absorption,the activated alloy transforms into a mixture of Mg/MgH_(2) phases and nanoscale HoH_(2) phases.Notably,only the MgH_(2) phase decomposes during hydrogen desorption,while the HoH_(2) phase remains unchanged,exhibiting a positive catalytic effect.The alloy demonstrates excellent hydrogen absorption kinetics,achieving a capacity of 5.56 wt% H_(2) within 10 min at 360℃,owing to the combined catalytic effects of Ho and Fe.The activation energy for hydrogen desorption is found to be 135.87 kJ/mol,which is lower than that of the activation energies of pure MgH_(2) and MgFe alloys,indicating an enhancement in desorption kinetics.Moreover,the enthalpy and entropy changes for hydrogen absorption and desorption are determined to be-70.51 kJ/mol H_(2),-125.62 J/(K·mol) H_(2),72.83 kJ/mol H_(2),and 128.95 J/(K·mol) H_(2),respectively.Furthermore,it is worth noting that the thermodynamic properties of the alloy are improved due to the catalytic effect of Ho and Fe.

Feature deformation network with multi-range feature enhancement for agricultural machinery operation mode identification

Utilizing the spatiotemporal features contained in extensive trajectory data for identifying operation modes of agricultural machinery is an important basis task for subsequent agricultural machinery trajectory research.In the present study,to effectively identify agricultural machinery operation mode,a feature deformation network with multi-range feature enhancement was proposed.First,a multi-range feature enhancement module was developed to fully explore the feature distribution of agricultural machinery trajectory data.Second,to further enrich the representation of trajectories,a feature deformation module was proposed that can map trajectory points to high-dimensional space to form feature maps.Then,EfficientNet-B0 was used to extract features of different scales and depths from the feature map,select features highly relevant to the results,and finally accurately predict the mode of each trajectory point.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method,experiments were conducted to compare the results with those of other methods on a dataset of real agricultural trajectories.On the corn and wheat harvester trajectory datasets,the model achieved accuracies of 96.88%and 96.68%,as well as F1 scores of 93.54%and 94.19%,exhibiting improvements of 8.35%and 9.08%in accuracy and 20.99%and 20.04%in F1 score compared with the current state-of-the-art method.

Obesity paradox in pulmonary hypertension secondary to chronic lung diseases

To the Editor:Obesity,which has currently become an important public health problem,has been considered a positive prognostic factor for patients with multiple chronic disorders,including pulmonary arterial hypertension,a phenomenon known as the“obesity paradox”.[1]However,whether this phenomenon exists in pulmonary hypertension(PH)secondary to chronic lung disease(CLD-PH)remains unknown.This study aimed to elucidate the association between body mass index(BMI)and mortality in CLD-PH patients.

Rapid Determination of Hemicellulose Content in Corn Stalks by Near-infrared Spectroscopy Based on Dung Beetle Optimizer

Corn stalks are a kind of common organic fertilizer and feed material in agriculture in China,as well as an important source of modern biomass energy and new materials.Hemicellulose is an important component in corn stalks,and it is very important to determine its content in corn stalks.In this paper,the feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy(NIRS)combined with chemometrics for rapid detection of hemicellulose content in corn stalks was studied.In order to improve the accuracy of NIRS detection,a new intelligent optimization algorithm,dung beetle optimizer(DBO),was applied to select characteristic wavelengths of NIRS.Its modeling performance was compared with that based on characteristic wavelength selection using genetic algorithm(GA)and binary particle swarm optimization(BPSO),and it was found that the characteristic wavelength selection performance of DBO was excellent,and the regression accuracy of hemicellulose quantitative detection model established by its preferred characteristic wavelengths was better than the above two intelligent optimization algorithms.

A novel colloidal gold immunochromatography assay strip for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis japonica in domestic animals

Background:Schistosomiasis remains a major public health concern in China and an epidemiological survey has revealed that schistosome-infected bovines and goats are the main transmission sources for the disease.Therefore,development of a sensitive technique for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in domestic animals is necessary.Method:A novel colloidal gold immunochromatography assay(GICA)strip was developed for detecting Schistosoma japonicum in domestic animals.The colloidal gold was conjugated with recombinant streptococcal protein G(rSPG).As the test and control lines,the schistosome soluble egg antigen and rSPG,respectively,were blotted on nitrocellulose membrane.Results:The lowest detectable serum dilution was 1∶640 for schistosome-infected buffaloes.The cross-reaction rate of GICA was 14.29%with Paramphistomum sp.in buffaloes,16.67%with Haemonchus sp.in goats,and 33.33%with Orientobilharzia sp.in goats.These results were slightly lower and similar to those obtained through ELISA.Moreover,the strips for detecting S.japonicum in mice,rabbits,buffaloes,and goats showed high sensitivity(100.00%,100.00%,100.00%,and 100.00%,respectively)and specificity(100.00%,100.00%,94.23%,and 88.64%,respectively).And the sensitivity or specificity of the GICA strips did not present any significant differences after storage for 12 months at room temperature.When compared with ELISA,the GICA strips exhibited similar sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in mice,rabbits,buffaloes,and goats.Besides,only 5μl of serum are required for the test and the detection can be completed within 5 min.Conclusion:This study is the first to develop a GICA strip using gold-rSPG conjugate for the diagnosing of schistosomiasis in domestic animals,and preliminary results showed that the developed strip may be suitable for large-scale screening of schistosomiasis in endemic areas.

A SupraGel for efficient production of cell spheroids

Cell spheroids are markedly more representative of the native tissue and the in vivo environment than traditional two-dimensional(2D)cultured cells,thus offering tremendous potential in cell biology research,tissue engineering,and drug screening.Therefore,it is crucial to develop materials and methods for efficient production of cell spheroids.However,currently developed materials,including natural and synthetic hydrogels,present drawbacks,such as undefined ingredients and imperfect biocompatibility,which hinder their widespread application.In this study,we have rationally designed biotinylated peptides that can self-assemble into supramolecular hydrogels(termed SupraGel)for 3D cell culture.The introduction of one D-amino acid in the peptide may decrease cell-matrix interactions,thus facilitating spontaneous cell spheroid formation.Two cancer cell lines,MCF-7 and 4T1,and intestinal stem cells(ISCs)can efficiently divide into cell spheroids when cultured in SupraGel.The reversible shear-thinning and recovery behavior of SupraGel is highly suitable for live-cell embedding and cell spheroid harvesting.The mechanical properties of SupraGel can be easily tuned by adjusting the peptide concentration,thus enabling its suitability for the 3D culture of diverse cell spheroids.We envision the significant potential of our SupraGel for applications in cell therapy,regenerative medicine,and drug screening.

Clinical characteristics of pulmonary hypertension in bronchiectasis

Pulmonary hypertension （PH）, as a complication of bronchiectasis, is associated with increased mortality. However, hemodynamic characteristics and the efficacy of pulmonary arterial hypertension （PAH） therapies in patients with bronchiectasis and PH remain unknown. Patients with bilateral bronchiectasis and concurrent PH were included in the study. Patient characteristics at baseline and during follow-up, as well as survival, were analyzed. This observational study was conducted in 36 patients with a mean age of 51.5 years （range, 17-74 years）. The 6 min walking distance was 300.8 ± 93.3 m. The mean pulmonary arterial pressure （PAP） was 41.5 ± 11.7 mmHg, cardiac output was 5.2 ± 1.4 L/min, and pulmonary vascular resistance was 561.5 ± 281.5 dyn.s.cm-5. The mean PAP was 〉 35 mmHg in 75% of the cases. Mean PAP was inversely correlated with arterial oxygen saturation values （r = -0.45, P = 0.02）. In 24 patients who received oral PAH therapy, systolic PAP was reduced from 82.4 ±27.0 mmHg to 65.5 ± 20.9 mmHg （P = 0.025） on echocardiography after a median of 6 months of follow-up. The overall probability of survival was 97.1% at 1 year, 83.4% at 3 years, and 64.5% at 5 years. Given the results, we conclude that PH with severe hemodynamic impairment can occur in patients with bilateral bronchiectasis, and PAH therapy might improve hemodynamics in such patients. Prospective clinical trials focusing on this patient population are warranted.

Magnetic nanotechnologies for early cancer diagnostics with liquid biopsies:a review

Liquid biopsy has become an emerging technology in the detection of cancer related biomarkers as well as the continuous monitoring of cancer treatment.There has been extensive research on the applications of magnetic nanotechnologies in liquid biopsies from the separation of target analytes to the detection of cancer biomarkers.Magnetic separation plays an important role in increasing both the efficiency and sensitivity of the liquid biopsy process.The detection of cancer biomarkers through magnetic nanosensors also possesses many advantages such as low background noise,high sensitivity,short assay time,and the ability to detect multiple biomarkers at the same time.This review focuses on the recent advances of magnetic nanotechnologies in liquid biopsies for cancer detection and its future potential in comparison with other technologies.

Reduction in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Beijing following China’s clean air actions

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)in the Chinese population was among the highest globally and associated with various adverse effects.This study examines the impact of China’s twophase clean air initiatives,namely the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan(APPCAP)in2013–2017 and the Blue-Sky Defense War(BSDW)in 2018–2020,on PAH levels and human exposures in Beijing.To evaluate the effects of APPCAP,we measured 16 PAHs in 287 PM_(2.5)samples collected in Beijing and 9 PAH metabolites in 358 urine samples obtained from 54 individuals who traveled from Los Angeles to Beijing between 2014 and 2018.The concentration of PM_(2.5)-bound benzo[a]pyrene equivalents(BaPeq)decreased by 88.5%in 2014–2018 due to reduced traffic,coal,and biomass emissions.PAH metabolite concentrations in travelers’urine decreased by 52.3%in Beijing,correlated with changes in PM_(2.5)and NO2levels.In contrast,no significant changes were observed in Los Angeles.To evaluate BSDW’s effects,we collected 123 additional PM_(2.5)samples for PAH measurements in 2019–2021.We observed sustained reductions in BaPeq concentrations attributable to reductions in coal and biomass emissions during the BSDW phase,but those from traffic sources remained unchanged.After accounting for meteorological factors,China’s two-phase clean air initiatives jointly reduced Beijing’s PM_(2.5)-bound BaPeq concentrations by 96.6%from 2014 to 2021.These findings provide compelling evidence for the effectiveness of China’s clean air actions in mitigating population exposure to PAHs in Beijing.