Brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in dorsal root ganglion neurons in response to reanastomosis of the distal stoma after nerve grafting

Studies have shown that retreatment of the distal stoma after nerve grafting can stimulate nerve regeneration. The present study attempted to verify the effects of reanastomosis of the distal stoma, after nerve grafting, on nerve regeneration by assessing brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in 2-month-old rats. Results showed that brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in L2-4 dorsal root ganglia began to increase 3 days after autologous nerve grafting post sciatic nerve injury, peaked at 14 days, decreased at 28 days, and reached similar levels to the sham-surgery group at 56 days. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in L2-4 dorsal root ganglia began to increase 3 days after reanastomosis of the distal stoma, 59 days after autologous nerve grafting post sciatic nerve injury, significantly increased at 63 days, peaked at 70 days, and gradually decreased thereafter, but remained higher compared with the sham-surgery group up to 112 days. The results of this study indicate that reanastomosis of the distal stoma after orthotopic nerve grafting stimulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in L2.4 dorsal root ganglia.

Multi-Scale Image Segmentation Model for Fine-Grained Recognition of Zanthoxylum Rust

Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim,generally called prickly ash,is widely grown in China.Zanthoxylum rust is the main disease affecting the growth and quality of Zanthoxylum.Traditional method for recognizing the degree of infection of Zanthoxylum rust mainly rely on manual experience.Due to the complex colors and shapes of rust areas,the accuracy of manual recognition is low and difficult to be quantified.In recent years,the application of artificial intelligence technology in the agricultural field has gradually increased.In this paper,based on the DeepLabV2 model,we proposed a Zanthoxylum rust image segmentation model based on the FASPP module and enhanced features of rust areas.This paper constructed a fine-grained Zanthoxylum rust image dataset.In this dataset,the Zanthoxylum rust image was segmented and labeled according to leaves,spore piles,and brown lesions.The experimental results showed that the Zanthoxylum rust image segmentation method proposed in this paper was effective.The segmentation accuracy rates of leaves,spore piles and brown lesions reached 99.66%,85.16%and 82.47%respectively.MPA reached 91.80%,and MIoU reached 84.99%.At the same time,the proposed image segmentation model also had good efficiency,which can process 22 images per minute.This article provides an intelligent method for efficiently and accurately recognizing the degree of infection of Zanthoxylum rust.

Single-cell omics in tracing cellular heterogeneity of drug-induced liver injury:Technological landscape and prospective application

Drug-induced liver injury(DILI)remains a serious problem in clinics for both diagnoses and treatment decisions.It is a result of accumulated drugs in human bodies metabolized into toxic constituents generating reactive metabolites,and then arise initial consequences of oxidative stress,organelle stress responses,and lethal consequences(liver necrosis or apoptosis).However,the idiosyncratic nature of DILI complexes its mechanistic studies and still little is known of its potential etiopathogenesis for certain.Single-cell omics technology and approaches serve as powerful tools for investigating cellular heterogeneity and relationships from measurements of up to millions of individual cells at an unprecedented resolution,which are achieved by advances in genome,epigenome,transcriptome,proteome,and metabolism technologies.As liver contains heterogeneous cell types of distinct spatial,molecular,and functional properties,they interact with each other to precede cell type-specific omics reprogramming and play an irreplaceable role in liver cells with heterogeneous properties upon encountering toxic insults.Single-cell omics,especially single-cell transcriptomics and single-cell proteomics,have been utilized for exploring the mechanisms of DILI and prediction for risk factors.In this review,we discuss the recent development and future perspectives of single-cell omics-based technologies for DILI-related research.

An infusible biologically active adhesive for chemotherapy-related heart failure in elderly rats

Chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity with subsequent heart failure(HF)is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer survivors worldwide.Chemotherapy-induced HF is exceptionally challenging as it generally manifests in patients who are typically not eligible for left ventricular device implantation or heart transplantation.To explore alternative treatment strategies for cancer survivors suffering from chemotherapy-induced HF,we developed a minimally invasive infusible cardiac stromal cell secretomes adhesive(MISA)that could be delivered locally through an endoscope-guided intrapericardial injection.To mimic the typical clinical presentation of chemotherapy-induced HF in elder patients,we established an aged rat model in which restrictive cardiomyopathy with sequential HF was induced via consecutive doxorubicin injections.In vitro,we prove that MISA not only enhanced cardiomyocytes proliferation potency and viability,but also inhibited their apoptosis.In vivo,we prove that MISA improved the ventricular contractility indexes and led to beneficial effects on histological and structural features of restrictive cardiomyopathy via promoting cardiomyocyte proliferation,angiogenesis,and mitochondrial respiration.Additionally,we also evaluated the safety and feasibility of MISA intrapericardial delivery in a healthy porcine model with an intact immune system.In general,our data indicates that MISA has a strong potential for translation into large animal models and ultimately clinical applications for chemotherapy-induced HF prior to the final option of heart transplantation.

China's current forest age structure will lead to weakened carbon sinks in the near future

Forests are chiefly responsible for the terrestrial carbon sink that greatly re duces the buildup of CO_(2)concentrations in the atmosphere and alleviates climate change.Current predictions of terrestrial carbon sinks in the future have so far ignored the variation of forest carbon uptake with forest age.Here,we predict the role of China's current forest age in future carbon sink capacity by generating a high-resolution(30 m)forest age map in 2019 over China's landmass using satellite and forest inventory data and deriving forest growth curves using measurements of forest biomass and age in 3,121 plots.As China's forests currently have large proportions of young and middle-age stands,we project that China's forests will maintain high growth rates for about 15 years.However,as the forests grow older,their net primary productivity will decline by 5.0%±1.4%in 2050,8.4%±1.6%in 2060,and 16.6%±2.8%in 2100,indicating weakened carbon sinks in the near future.The weakening of forest carbon sinks can be potentially mitigated by optimizing forest age structure through selective logging and implementing new or improved afforestation.This finding is important not only for the global carbon cycle and climate projections but also for developing forest management strategies to enhance land sinks by alleviating the age effect.

Biomaterials based cardiac patches for the treatment of myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction(MI)is one of the common cardiovascular diseases that occurs with a blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries to lead to the damage of the myocardium,resulting in a lifethreatening condition.To repair the damaged myocardium in MI,researchers are looking forwards to new ways to postpone the progression of myocardial injury.Cardiac patches,the scaffolds layered on the heart surface,can provide mechanical support for the infarction site and improve cardiac function by delivering various bioactive factors or cells,showing considerable curative effect in the treatment of MI.Biomaterials with certain biocompatibility and mechanical properties have received widespread attention for the application in cardiac patches.In this review,we focus on the recent progress on these biomaterialsbased cardiac patches,which could be categorized into two types according to the sources of materials including(ⅰ)natural materials and(ⅱ)synthetic materials.The major advantages and current challenges of each type are discussed and a brief perspective on the future research directions is presented.