Using MsfNet to Predict the ISUP Grade of Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma in Digital Pathology Images

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma(ccRCC)represents the most frequent form of renal cell carcinoma(RCC),and accurate International Society of Urological Pathology(ISUP)grading is crucial for prognosis and treatment selection.This study presents a new deep network called Multi-scale Fusion Network(MsfNet),which aims to enhance the automatic ISUP grade of ccRCC with digital histopathology pathology images.The MsfNet overcomes the limitations of traditional ResNet50 by multi-scale information fusion and dynamic allocation of channel quantity.The model was trained and tested using 90 Hematoxylin and Eosin(H&E)stained whole slide images(WSIs),which were all cropped into 320×320-pixel patches at 40×magnification.MsfNet achieved a micro-averaged area under the curve(AUC)of 0.9807,a macro-averaged AUC of 0.9778 on the test dataset.The Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping(Grad-CAM)visually demonstrated MsfNet’s ability to distinguish and highlight abnormal areas more effectively than ResNet50.The t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding(t-SNE)plot indicates our model can efficiently extract critical features from images,reducing the impact of noise and redundant information.The results suggest that MsfNet offers an accurate ISUP grade of ccRCC in digital images,emphasizing the potential of AI-assisted histopathological systems in clinical practice.

Simultaneous regulation on coordination environment and interfacial chemistry via taurine for stabilized Zn metal anode

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries(AZIBs)are the potential options for the next-generation energy storage scenarios due to the cost effectiveness and intrinsic safety.Nevertheless,the industrial application of AZIBs is still impeded by a series of parasitic reactions and dendrites at zinc anodes.In this study,taurine(TAU)is used in electrolyte to simultaneously optimize the coordination condition of the ZnSO4electrolyte and interfacial chemistry at the anode.TAU can preferentially adsorb with the zinc metal and induce an in situ stable and protective interface on the anode,which would avoid the connection between H_(2)O and the zinc metal and promote the even deposition of Zn^(2+).The resulting Zn//Zn batteries achieve more than 3000 hours long cyclic lifespan under 1 mA cm^(-2)and an impressive cumulative capacity at 5 mA cm^(-2).Moreover,Zn//Cu batteries can realize a reversible plating/stripping process over 2,400cycles,with a desirable coulombic efficiency of 99.75%(1 mA cm^(-2)).Additionally,the additive endows Zn//NH_(4)V_(4)O_(10)batteries with more stable cyclic performance and ultrafast rate capability.These capabilities can promote the industrial application of AZIBs.

AMSS-PCR在肺癌突变基因检测中的价值研究

背景与目的肺癌驱动基因检测具有重要意义,目前检测方法多样,临床适用性有差异。本研究旨在比较基于扩增阻碍突变系统-聚合酶链反应(Amplification Refractory Mutation System-polymerase chain reaction,ARMS-PCR)技术的试剂盒与一代测序及ARMS-qPCR检测肺癌突变基因的敏感性和特异性,探究突变位点特异扩增法(Amplification Mutation Specific System, AMSS)-PCR技术在肺癌突变基因检测中的应用价值。方法对前期已行ARMS-PCR检测的肿瘤标本进行一代测序及试剂盒检测,比较各种方法的检测结果,并对检测结果进行统计学分析。结果本研究共收集了309例肺癌标本。试剂盒与一代测序符合率97.41%,ARMS-PCR的符合率97.73%。试剂盒与一代测序、试剂盒与实时定量聚合酶链反应(quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, qPCR)、qPCR与一代测序一致性检验的Kappa值分别为0.946、0.953、0.913。试剂盒以一代测序为参照的受试者工作特征曲线(receiver operatingcharacteristiccurve,ROC)曲线下面积为0.976,以qPCR为参照的ROC曲线下面积为0.975。结论 AMSSqPCR技术能够有效检测肺癌突变基因,具有较好的临床应用价值。

A next-generation marker genotyping platform(AmpSeq)in heterozygous crops:a case study for marker-assisted selection in grapevine

Marker-assisted selection(MAS)is often employed in crop breeding programs to accelerate and enhance cultivar development,via selection during the juvenile phase and parental selection prior to crossing.Next-generation sequencing and its derivative technologies have been used for genome-wide molecular marker discovery.To bridge the gap between marker development and MAS implementation,this study developed a novel practical strategy with a semi-automated pipeline that incorporates trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphism marker discovery,low-cost genotyping through amplicon sequencing(AmpSeq)and decision making.The results document the development of a MAS package derived from genotyping-by-sequencing using three traits(flower sex,disease resistance and acylated anthocyanins)in grapevine breeding.The vast majority of sequence reads(⩾99%)were from the targeted regions.Across 380 individuals and up to 31 amplicons sequenced in each lane of MiSeq data,most amplicons(83 to 87%)had<10%missing data,and read depth had a median of 220–244×.Several strengths of the AmpSeq platform that make this approach of broad interest in diverse crop species include accuracy,flexibility,speed,high-throughput,low-cost and easily automated analysis.

An iterative algorithm for solving a class of matrix equations

In this paper, an iterative algorithm is presented to solve the Sylvester and Lyapunov matrix equations. By this iterative algorithm, for any initial matrix X1, a solution X＊ can be obtained within finite iteration steps in the absence of roundoff errors. Some examples illustrate that this algorithm is very efficient and better than that of [ 1 ] and [2].

Effect of Thermal Conductivity of Tube-Wall on Blow-Off Limit of a Micro-Jet Methane Diffusion Flame

The operating range of the flow rate or flow velocity for the micro-jet flame is quite wide,which can be used as the heat source.In order to optimize the micro-jet tube combustor in terms of the solid material,the present paper numerically investigates the impact of thermal conductivity(λs)on the operating limit of micro-jet flame.Unexpectedly,the non-monotonic blow-off limits with the increase ofλs is found,and the corresponding generation mechanisms are analyzed in terms of the thermal coupling effect,flow field,and strain effect.At first,the lower preheating temperature of the fuel and larger heat loss amount to the environment lead to a larger blow-off limit at a largerλs.After that,the smaller local flow velocity in the vicinity of flame root and smaller strain effect slightly increase the blow-off limit with the continuously increasingλs.Therefore,it is deduced that the applied performance of micro-jet combustor with a smaller thermal conductivity is better in terms of the blow-off limit.

云南普洱季风常绿阔叶林不同种子扩散方式的优势种空间点格局分析

物种的空间分布格局和种群结构受生境过滤、扩散限制、种内和种间相互作用等多重过程的影响。研究物种的空间分布格局、物种关联及其与环境因子的关系,有利于揭示生物多样性维持机制,探索群落稳定演替的生态过程。季风常绿阔叶林作为我国热带-亚热带交错区典型的地带性植被类型,是研究交错区物种空间分布格局的重要平台。本研究基于普洱30ha季风常绿阔叶林动态监测样地的调查资料,采用点格局分析的方法,对3种不同种子扩散方式的优势种即短刺锥(Castanopsis echidnocarpa)、茶梨(Anneslea fragrans)、西南桦(Betula alnoides)的空间分布格局及其随尺度的变化进行研究,分析了生境过滤和扩散限制对物种空间分布格局的影响以及不同生活史阶段间的种内和种间关联。结果显示:短刺锥和茶梨在山脊和山坡分布居多,而在沟谷较少,西南桦则主要分布于山坡。3种优势种在完全随机模型下所有尺度上均表现为聚集分布,且聚集强度随空间尺度的增大而减小。排除生境异质性后,所有优势种只在小尺度上表现为聚集分布,大尺度上为随机分布或规则分布。扩散限制对短刺锥和茶梨的分布格局影响较小,而对西南桦的分布格局影响较为显著。在种内不同径级的空间关联上,短刺锥和茶梨种内不同生长阶段树木之间存在相关性,但西南桦则相关性不明显;在种间关联上,短刺锥和茶梨为正相关,和西南桦为负相关,茶梨和西南桦则正、负相关都存在。本研究表明,物种的空间分布格局是物种本身属性和环境条件的综合反映,其中生境过滤和扩散限制的关联效应是影响物种空间分布的主要原因。

β-Cyclodextrin-modified AuBi metallic aerogels enable efficient peroxidase mimicking for colorimetric sensing of urease-positive pathogenic bacteria

The detection of pathogenic bacteria with improved accessibility,reduced analysis time,and increased sensitivity is of great importance for diagnosing the infected disease.Nanozymes have attracted rising attention in the bioassay field.Designing a model nanozyme needs the combined merit of sensible nanostructures and a large specific surface area to guarantee exceptional enzyme-mimic activity.Herein,aβ-cyclodextrin modified AuBi aerogel is prepared by a one-pot reduction strategy.The introduction ofβ-cyclodextrin(featured with a hydrophobic cavity and hydrophilic surface)enhances the catalytic activity of AuBi aerogels by engendering host-guest complex and improving dispersity/stability.Based on the specific urea hydrolysis,which could produce NH_(3)to raise pH by urease,the pH up-regulation would inhibit the peroxidase-mimicking performances ofβ-cyclodextrin/AuBi aerogels.Therefore,the sensitive colorimetric detection platform for urease activity could be constructed.Moreover,the sensing platform can detect straightforwardly urease-positive Proteus mirabilis in urine circumstances with a wide detection range and a low limit of detection(LOD)of 4 colony-forming unit(CFU)·mL^(-1).The reproducibility,stability,and specificity of this approach are verified to be satisfactory.Also,as an inhibitor of urease activity,the fluoride ion could be detected by the constructed sensing platform sensitively and specifically.Overall,this work provides a blueprint for designing an ideal nanozyme and paves a new roadway for detecting pathogenic bacteria.

Slip-draft embedded control system by adaptively adjusting the battery position for electric tractor

A slip-draft embedded control system was designed and developed for an independent developed 2WD(two-wheel drive)electric tractor,to improve the traction efficiency,operation performance and ploughing depth stability of the electric tractor.In this system,the battery of electric tractor was innovatively equivalent to the original counterweight of the fuel tractor.And through dynamic analysis of electric tractor during ploughing,the mathematical model of adjusting the center of gravity about draft force and slip rate was established.Then the automatic adjustment of the center of gravity for electric tractor was realized through the adaptive adjustment of battery position.Finally,the system was carried on electric tractor for performance evaluation under different ploughing conditions,the traction efficiency,slip rate and front wheel load of electric tractor were measured and controlled synchronously to make it close to the set range.And the comparative experiments of ploughing operation were carried out under the two modes of adaptive adjustment of center of gravity and fixed center of gravity.The test results showed that,based on the developed control system,the center of gravity of electric tractor can be adjusted in real time according to the complex changes of working conditions.During ploughing operation with adjusting adaptively battery position,the average values of traction efficiency,slip rate,front wheel load and relative error of tillage depth of electric tractor were 64.5%,22.2%,2045.0 N and 2.0%respectively.Which were optimized by 15.0%,29.5%,19.6%and 80.0%respectively,compared with electric tractor with fixed battery position.The slip-draft embedded control system can not only realize the adaptive adjustment of the center of gravity position in the ploughing process of electric tractor,but also improve the traction efficiency and the stability of ploughing depth,which can provide reference for the actual production operation of electric tractor.

Isorhapontigenin protects against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity via increasing YAP1 expression

As an effective anticancer drug, the clinical limitation of doxorubicin(Dox) is the time-and dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. Yes-associated protein 1(YAP1) interacts with transcription factor TEA domain 1(TEAD1) and plays an important role in cell proliferation and survival. However, the role of YAP1 in Dox-induced cardiomyopathy has not been reported. In this study, the expression of YAP1 was reduced in clinical human failing hearts with dilated cardiomyopathy and Dox-induced in vivo and in vitro cardiotoxic model. Ectopic expression of Yap1 significantly blocked Dox-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis in TEAD1 dependent manner. Isorhapontigenin(Isor) is a new derivative of stilbene and responsible for a wide range of biological processes. Here, we found that Isor effectively relieved Doxinduced cardiomyocytes apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Administration with Isor(30 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally, 3 weeks) significantly protected against Dox-induced cardiotoxicity in mice. Interestingly, Isor increased Dox-caused repression in YAP1 and the expression of its target genes in vivo and in vitro. Knockout or inhibition of Yap1 blocked the protective effects of Isor on Dox-induced cardiotoxicity. In conclusion, YAP1 may be a novel target for Dox-induced cardiotoxicity and Isor might be a new compound to fight against Dox-induced cardiotoxicity by increasing YAP1 expression.

A Bipartite Network-based Method for Prediction of Long Non-coding RNA–protein Interactions

As one large class of non-coding RNAs （ncRNAs）, long ncRNAs （IneRNAs） have gained considerable attention in recent years. Mutations and dysfunction of lncRNAs have been implicated in human disorders. Many lncRNAs exert their effects through interactions with the corresponding RNA-binding proteins. Several computational approaches have been developed, but only few are able to perform the prediction of these interactions from a network-based point of view. Here, we introduce a computational method named lncRN^protein bipartite network inference （LPBNI）. LPBNI aims to identify potential lncRNA-interacting proteins, by making full use of the known IncRNA-protein interactions. Leave-one-out cross validation （LOOCV） test shows that LPBNI significantly outperforms other network-based methods, including random walk （RWR） and protein-based collaborative filtering （ProCF）. Furthermore, a case study was performed to demonstrate the performance of LPBNI using real data in predicting potential lncRNA-interacting proteins.

Biosensor-based assay of exosome biomarker for early diagnosis of cancer

Cancer imposes a severe threat to people’s health and lives,thus pressing a huge medical and economic burden on individuals and communities.Therefore,early diagnosis of cancer is indispensable in the timely prevention and effective treatment for patients.Exosome has recently become an attractive cancer biomarker in noninvasive early diagnosis because of the unique physiology and pathology functions,which reflects remarkable information regarding the cancer microenvironment,and plays an important role in the occurrence and evolution of cancer.Meanwhile,biosensors have gained great attention for the detection of exosomes due to their superior properties,such as convenient operation,real-time readout,high sensitivity,and remarkable specificity,suggesting promising biomedical applications in the early diagnosis of cancer.In this review,the latest advances of biosensors regarding the assay of exosomes were summarized,and the superiorities of exosomes as markers for the early diagnosis of cancer were evaluated.Moreover,the recent challenges and further opportunities of developing effective biosensors for the early diagnosis of cancer were discussed.

Current situation and forecast of environmental risks of a typical lead-zinc sulfide tailings impoundment based on its geochemical characteristics

The potential environmental implications of a Pb(Lead)-Zn(Zinc)sulfide tailing impoundment were found to be dependent on its geochemical characteristics.One typical lead-zinc sulfide tailing impoundment was studied.Ten boreholes were set with the grid method and 36 tailings were sampled and tested.According to the results of metal content analysis,the tailing samples contained considerably high contents of heavy metals,ranging from 6.99 to 89.0 mg/kg for Cd,75.3 to 602 mg/kg for Cu,0.53%to 2.63%for Pb and 0.30%to 2.54%for Zn.Most of the heavy metals in the sample matrix showed a uniform concentration distribution,except Cd.Cd,Pb,Zn,and Mn were associated with each other,and were considered to be the dominant contributors based on hierarchical cluster analysis.XRD,SEM and XPS were employed for evaluation of the tailing weathering characteristics,confirming that the tailings had undergone intensive weathering.The maximum potential acidity of the tailings reached 244 kg H2SO4/ton;furthermore,the bioavailability of heavy metals like Pb,Cd,Cr,Cu,and Zn was 37.8%,12.9%,12.2%,5.95%,and 5.46%respectively.These metals would be potentially released into drainage by the weathering process.Analysis of a gastrointestinal model showed that Pb,Cr,Ni and Cu contained in the tailings were high-risk metals.Thus,control of the heavy metals’migration and their environmental risks should be planned from the perspective of geochemistry.

Four-protein model for predicting prognostic risk of lung cancer

Patients with lung cancer at the same stage may have markedly different overall outcome and a lack of specific biomarker to predict lung cancer outcome.Heat-shock protein 90β(HSP90β)is overexpressed in various tumor cells.In this study,the ELISA results of HSP90βcombined with CEA,CA125,and CYFRA21-1 were used to construct a recursive partitioning decision tree model to establish a four-protein diagnostic model and predict the survival of patients with lung cancer.Survival analysis showed that the recursive partitioning decision tree could distinguish the prognosis between high-and low-risk groups.Results suggested that the joint detection of HSP90β,CEA,CA125,and CYFRA21-1 in the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer is plausible for early diagnosis and prognosis prediction of lung cancer.

Elevated expression of lung development-related protein HSP9O0 indicates poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer through affecting the cell cycle and apoptosis

Dear Editor,Oncogenesis was considered to be similar to the early embryonic development process in a variety of ways.1 Using normal development samples as research models will help us understand tumors and identify potential biomarkers.Heat-shock protein 90 beta(HSP90P,HSP90AB1)is one of the major isoforms of HSP90 and is involved in embryonic development,signal transduction,and cellular adaptability.

The effects of seed detectability and seed traits on hoarding preference of two rodent species

Seed traits play an important role in affecting seed preference and hoarding behaviors of small rodents.Despite greatly affected by seed traits,seed detectability of competitors represents pilfering risks and may also modify seed hoarding preference of animals.However,whether seed traits and seed detectability show consistent effects on seed hoarding preference of animals remain largely unknown.Here,we explored how seed traits and seed detectability correlate with seed hoarding preference of Leopoldamys edwardsi and Apodemus chevrieri in a subtropical forest.Despite the effects of seed coat thickness and caloric value on hoarding preference of L.edwardsi,we detected no significant effects of other seed traits on hording preference of the 2 rodent species.There was no correlation between larder-hoarding preference and inter-or intra-specific seed detectability of L.edwardsi;however,seed detectability of L.edwardsi was negatively correlated with its own scatter-hoarding preference.Although scatter-hoarding preference of A.chevrieri was not correlated with inter-and intra-specific seed detectability,larder-hoarding preference of A.chevrieri was positively correlated with intra-specific seed detectability.Our study may provide evidence that intra-specific seed detectability rather than seed traits and inter-specific pilfering risks play an important role in modifying seed hoarding preference of rodents.

Comprehensive Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Diverse Chinese Population

The SARS-CoV-2 variants have been emerging and have made great challenges to current vaccine and pandemic control strategies.It is urgent to understand the current immune status of various Chinese populations given that the preexisting immunity has been established by national vaccination or ex posure to past variants.Using sera from 85 individuals(including 21 convalescents of natural infection,15 cases which suffered a breakthrough infection after being fully vaccinated,and 49 healthy vaccinees),we showed signifcantly enhanced neutralizing activities against SRAS-CoV-2 variants in convalescent sera,especially those who had been fully vaccinated.The neut ralizing antibodies against Omicron were detectable in 75%of convalescents and 4.9%of healthy vaccinees(p=0.006),with a GMT of 289.5,180.9-463.3,and 42.6,31.3-59,respetively.However,the neutralizing activities were weaker in young convalescents(aged<18y),with a detectable rate of 50%and a GMT of 46.4 against Omicron.We also examined and found no pan.sarbecovirus neutralizing activities in vaccinated SARS-CoV-I survivors.A booster dose could further increase the breadth and magnitude of neutralization against WT and variants of concern(VOCs)to different degrees.In addition,we showed that COVID-19-inactivated vaccines can elicit Omicron-specific T-cell responses.The positive rates of ELISpot reactions were 26.7%(4/15)and 43.8%(7/16)in the full vaccination group and the booster vaccination group,respectively,although without statistically significant difference.The neutralizing antibody titers declined while T-cell responses remain consistent over 6 months.These findings will inform the optimization of public health vaccination and intervention strategies to protect diverse populations against SARS-CoV-2 variants.Advances.Breakthrough infection significantly boosted neutralizing activities against SARS-CoV-2 variants a compared to booster immunization with inaclivated vaccine.Vaccine-induced vir us-specific T-cell immunity,on the other hand,may compensate for the shortall.Furthermore,the public health system should target the most vulnerable group due to a poorer protective serological response in both infected and vaccinated adolescents.

Effects of cutter parameters on shearing stress for lettuce harvesting using a specially developed fixture

To investigate the optimal parameters combination of reciprocating cutter for harvesting hydroponic lettuce automatically,a shear fixture was designed for cutting lettuce stems on a universal materials tester.Effects of blade distance,sliding cutting angle,skew cutting angle,and shearing angle on shearing stress were investigated in this study.The orders of the significance of a single factor and double factors were analyzed using the response surface methodology(RSM).A scanning electron microscope was used to observe the microstructure of the lettuce stem to analyze the shearing characteristics at the microscopic level.The RSM results showed that the order of significance for single factors was(i)sliding cutting angle,(ii)shearing angle,(iii)skew cutting angle,and(iv)blade distance.The sliding cutting angle had a highly significant influence on the shearing stress.The order of significance for double factors was(i)blade distance and shearing angle,(ii)sliding cutting angle and skew cutting angle,and(iii)the sliding cutting angle and shearing angle.A quadratic model of the factors and shearing stress was built according to the response-surface results.The optimized combination of factors that gives the minimum shearing stress was observed that it reduced 69.9%of the maximum shearing stress value.This research can provide a reference for designing lettuce-cutting devices.

Radicle pruning by seed-eating animals helps oak seedlings absorb more soil nutrient

Although radicle pruning has well been observed in plant-animal interactions,research has not been conducted to determine how radicle pruning by seed-eating animals regulates nutrition mobilization of cotyledonary reserves and absorption of soil nutrients.We used stable nitrogen isotopes to test how acorns of early-germinating oak species(Quercus variabilis,Q.aliena,and Q.mogolica)trade off nutrients in the cotyledons and those in the soil in response to radicle pruning by seed-eating rodents.Radicle pruning by rodents resulted in root branching in the 3 early-germinating oak species.Moreover,radicle pruning increased shoot dry weight and substantially reduced the root-to-shoot ratio of oak species.Corresponding to the decreased dry weight of roots and root-to-shoot ratio,the dry weight of the remnant cotyledons was higher after radicle pruning in the 3 oak species.We provided first evidence that radicle pruning by seed-eating animals improved seedling performance of early-germinating oaks by increasing absorption of nutrients from soil.The results indicate that early-germinating oak seedlings trade off nutrition budget by altering nutrient absorption from soil and reserve mobilization from cotyledons in response to radicle pruning by seed-eating animals.Our study provided new insight into the nutrition allocation mechanism of young seedlings in response to radicle pruning by seed-eating animals,reflecting a mutualistic interaction between early-germinating oak and food-hoarding animals.

Olfaction alters spatial memory strategy of scatter-hoarding animals

Although it has been suggested that olfaction is closely interconnected with hippocampal systems,whether olfaction regulates spatial memory strategy remains never known.Furthermore,no study has examined how olfaction mediates spatial memory established on the external objects,for example,caches made by scatter-hoarding animals.Here,we experimentally induced nondestructive and reversible olfaction loss of a scatter-hoarding animal Leopoldamys edwardsi,to test whether and how olfaction regulates spatial memory to mediate cache recovery and pilferage.Our results showed that the normal L.edwardsi preferred to pilfer caches of others rather than to recover their own using accurate spatial memory(35.7%vs.18.6%).Anosmic L.edwardsi preferred to recover the caches they made prior to olfaction loss rather than to pilfer from others relied on spatial memory(54.2%vs.36.0%).However,L.edwardsi with anosmia showed no preference either to the caches they established after olfaction loss or caches made by others(25.8%vs.29.1%).These collectively indicate that olfaction loss has a potential to affect new memory formation but not previously established spatial memory on caches.Our study first showed that olfaction modified spatial memory strategy in cache recovery and pilferage behaviors of scatter-hoarding animals.We suggest that future studies pay more attention to the evolution of olfaction and its relationship with spatial memory strategy.