Myopic-Net: Deep Learning-Based Direct Identification of Myopia Onset and Progression.

Purpose: Identifying and monitoring the onset and progression of myopia (myopia onset and progression [MOP]) based on the changes in anatomical structures in fundus retinal images has significant clinical application prospects. For this purpose, we tested the performance of deep neural networks.

Methods: We established a deep neural network, called Myopic-Net, to detect anatomical changes owing to the MOP from a pair of retinal images collected during different fundoscopies.

Trajectory Planning for Patch Clamp in a Highly Constrained Cerebrovascular Environment.

The patch-clamp technique is the gold standard for electrophysiologists' research into the cellular and molecular biological mechanisms underlying mental activities at the animal level. During the procedure, micropipette trajectory planning plays a significant role in the in vivo patch clamp. However, the high constraint between the cerebral environment and the micropipette's movement, as well as the absence of comprehensive 3D spatial information, make planning its trajectory incredibly challenging.

Summary of best evidence for safe management of vasopressors through peripheral intravenous catheters.

Background: Vasopressors are critical for maintaining hemodynamic stability in critically ill patients, traditionally administered via central venous catheters (CVCs). However, CVCs carry risks of complications and insertion delays. Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) offer a rapid alternative but pose risks of extravasation and phlebitis.

Mast cell degranulation mediates analgesic effects of acupuncture at different stimulation durations in arthritic rats.

Background: To understand the effect and mechanism of different acupuncture durations on analgesic effects.

Methods: An adjuvant-induced arthritis rat model evaluated the therapeutic effects of acupuncture at the Zusanli acupoint (ST36). A robotic arm provided stable lifting-thrusting stimulation for different durations (2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 min).

A Single-Chain Variable Fragment Antibody Alleviates Inflammation and Apoptosis of Neurons by Inhibiting Tau Aggregation.

Tau pathology is one of the main pathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Intracellular Tau may be released to the extracellular space upon neuron degeneration, where it has the potential to be toxic to other neurons. The propagation of Tau pathology, mediated by extracellular Tau aggregates, may underlie the pathogenesis of AD.

The Effect of X rays on the Expression of Mismatch Repair Genes and Proteins in Lynch Syndrome Associated Human Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines.

This study investigated whether therapeutic X-ray doses can affect the expression of mismatch repair (MMR) genes and proteins using Lynch syndrome-associated human colorectal cancer cell lines. MMR-deficient cell lines (HCT116, SW48, LoVo) and an MMR-proficient control cell line (HT29) were exposed to X rays [a 2 Gy dose or 2 Gy daily for five consecutive days (10 Gy)]. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the radiation-induced changes in the expression of RNAs and proteins, respectively.

Application of oyster shell powder for five consecutive years effectively controlled soil acidification and reduced cadmium accumulation in rice grains.

Oyster shell powder enhances soil quality by mitigating acidification and improving fertility, boosting crop yields. However, its efficacy in immobilizing cadmium (Cd) in paddy soils remains uncertain. We performed a field experiment from 2014 to 2018 and assessed four treatments of oyster shell powder: 0 kg/ha (L0), 750 kg/ha (L750), 1,500 kg/ha (L1500), and 2,250 kg/ha (L2250).

Ionizing Radiation May Induce Tumors Partly Through the Alteration or Regulation of Mismatch Repair Genes.

Ionizing radiation is mutagenic and carcinogenic, and it is reported to induce primary and secondary tumors with intestinal tumors being one of the most commonly observed. However, the pathological and molecular mechanism(s) underlying the radiation-associated tumorigenesis remain unclear. A link between radiation and somatic tumorigenesis partly through genetic, epigenetic alteration and/or regulation of mismatch repair (MMR) genes has been hypothesized for the first time within this review.

A novel perspective on the regulation of cardiac cell beating: cardiac cell under mechanical stimulation acts as "cell activation button" to activate adjacent cardiac cell.

The regulation of cardiac cell beating is of great significance for understanding cardiac coordination mechanisms and the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Inspired by this natural "cell regulates cell" mode in which sinoatrial node cells regulate atrial myocytes, this study presented a novel method to replicate this behavior in vitro through mechanical stimulation. Primary cardiac cells from Sprague-Dawley rats were isolated, cultured in 2D substrates, and applied to precise mechanical stimulation by developing a micro-manipulation platform.

RENEB interlaboratory comparison for biological dosimetry based on dicentric chromosome analysis and cobalt-60 exposures higher than 2.5 Gy.

In previous RENEB interlaboratory comparisons based on the manual scoring of dicentric chromosomes, a tendency for systematic overestimation for doses > 2.5 Gy was found. However, these exercises included only very few doses in the high dose range, and they were heterogeneous in terms of radiation quality and evaluation mode, and comparable only to a limited extent.

Synergistic effects of GmLFYa and GmLFYb on Compound Leaf Development in Soybean.

Legume leaves exhibit diverse compound forms, with various regulatory mechanisms underlying the development. The transcription factor-encoding KNOXI genes are required to promote leaflet initiation in most compound-leafed angiosperms. In non-IRLC (inverted repeat-lacking clade) legumes, KNOXI are expressed in compound leaf primordia but not in others (IRLC).

Online detection and evaluation of early fatigue cracks using sideband peak intensity technique with frequency-mismatched excitation pulse-echo method.

This work presents a nonlinear ultrasonic (NLU) technique called sideband peak intensity (SPI) combining an improved pulse-echo (PE) experimental method for online detection and evaluation of fatigue cracks at their early stages. Advantages of the proposed technique are that it enjoys the high sensitivity and ease of application of NLU SPI technique and easy implementation of the PE experimental method. The PE experimental method is improved by adopting frequency-mismatched excitations to enhance the sensitivity and robustness of the SPI technique.

Effects of acupuncture needle modification on acupuncture analgesia.

Objective: The analgesic effect of acupuncture has been widely accepted. Nevertheless, the mechanism behind its analgesic effect remains elusive, thus impeding the progress of research geared toward enhancing the analgesic effect of acupuncture. This paper investigated the role of acupuncture needle surface textures on acupuncture's analgesic effect by creating four experimental acupuncture needles with different patterns of surface augmentation.

Modeling and Evaluation of Penetration Process Based on 3D Mechanical Simulation.

In biological micromanipulation, cell penetration is a typical procedure that precedes cell injection or oocyte enucleation. During this procedure, cells usually undergo significant deformation, which leads to cell damage. In this paper, we focus on modeling and evaluating the cell penetration process to reduce cell deformation and stress, thereby reducing cell damage.

Optical tweezer-assisted cell pairing and fusion for somatic cell nuclear transfer within an open microchannel.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), referred to as somatic cell cloning, is a pivotal biotechnological technique utilized across various applications. Although robotic SCNT is currently available, the subsequent oocyte electrical activation/reconstructed embryo electrofusion is still manually completed by skilled operators, presenting challenges in efficient manipulation due to the uncontrollable positioning of the reconstructed embryo. This study introduces a robotic SCNT-electrofusion system to enable high-precision batch SCNT cloning.

The effects of 17β-trenbolone and bisphenol A on sexual behavior and social dominance via the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in male mice.

17β-Trenbolone (17-TB) is well documented as an environmental endocrine disruptor in aquatic biological studies, but its effects on mammals remain poorly understood. Furthermore, 17-TB acts as a hormone with properties similar to testosterone, and the consequences of juvenile exposure on adult social behavior remain uncertain. Bisphenol A (BPA) acts as an estrogen-like hormone, compared to 17-TB.

Vitamin D3 mediates autophagy to alleviate inflammatory responses in bovine endometrial epithelial cells and organoids via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

As a natural anti-inflammatory agent, it remains unclear whether the anti-inflammatory effects of VD3 (1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3) are related to autophagy. This study investigates the impact of VD3 on inflammatory injury, autophagy, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in bovine endometrial epithelial cells (BEECs) and bovine endometrial organoids (BEOs). BEECs and BEOs were treated with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 24 hours, followed by treatment with LPS+VD3 (50 ng/ml) for 6 hours.

Robotic Fast Dual-Arm Patch Clamp System for Mechanosensitive Excitability Research of Neurons.

Objective: A robotic fast dual-arm patch clamp system with controllable mechanical stimulation is proposed in this paper for mechanosensitive excitability research of neurons in brain slice.

Methods: First, a kinematic model of a dual-arm patch clamp system combined with Monte Carlo method is developed to calculate the workspaces of recording micropipette and stimulation micropipette, and optimize the length of end effector for reducing collision incidences during operation. Then, a quantitative stimulation method to cells using one micropipette is developed based on pressing depth control.

Retinal image registration method for myopia development.

Objective: The development of myopia is usually accompanied by changes in retinal vessels, optic disc, optic cup, fovea, and other retinal structures as well as the length of the ocular axis. And the accurate registration of retinal images is very important for the extraction and analysis of retinal structural changes. However, the registration of retinal images with myopia development faces a series of challenges, due to the unique curved surface of the retina, as well as the changes in fundus curvature caused by ocular axis elongation.

The deleterious effects and potential therapeutic strategy of fluorene-9-bisphenol on circadian activity and liver diseases in zebrafish and mice.

Increasing evidence indicates that disturbance of the clock genes, which leads to systemic endocrine perturbation, plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of metabolic and liver diseases. Fluorene-9-bisphenol (BHPF) is utilized in the manufacturing of plastic materials but its biological effects on liver homeostasis remain unknown. The impacts and involved mechanisms of BHPF on the liver diseases, metabolism, and circadian clock were comprehensively studied by zebrafish and mouse models.

Zebrafishtracker3D: A 3D skeleton tracking algorithm for multiple zebrafish based on particle matching.

Zebrafish are considered as model organisms in biological and medical research because of their high degree of homology with human genes. Automatic behavioral analysis of multiple zebrafish based on visual tracking is expected to improve research efficiency. However, vision-based multi-object tracking algorithms often suffer from data loss owing to mutual occlusion.

TD Swin-UNet: Texture-Driven Swin-UNet with Enhanced Boundary-Wise Perception for Retinal Vessel Segmentation.

Retinal vessel segmentation plays a crucial role in medical image analysis, aiding ophthalmologists in disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment guidance. However, due to the complex boundary structure and rich texture features in retinal blood vessel images, existing methods have challenges in the accurate segmentation of blood vessel boundaries. In this study, we propose the texture-driven Swin-UNet with enhanced boundary-wise perception.

Deficiency of P2RY11 causes narcolepsy and attenuates the recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages in the inflammatory response in zebrafish.

Purinergic receptor P2Y11, a G protein-coupled receptor that is stimulated by extracellular ATP, has been demonstrated to be related to the chemotaxis of granulocytes, apoptosis of neutrophils, and secretion of cytokines in vitro. P2Y11 mutations were associated with narcolepsy. However, little is known about the roles of P2RY11 in the occurrence of narcolepsy and inflammatory response in vivo.

Fluorene-9-bisphenol acts on the gut-brain axis by regulating oxytocin signaling to disturb social behaviors in zebrafish.

Previous studies have identified the exposure to ubiquitous environmental endocrine disruptors may be a risk factor of neurological disorders. However, the effects of fluorene-9-bisphenol (BHPF) in environmental exposure concentrations associated with these disorders are poorly understood. In this study, classic light-dark and social behavior tests were performed on zebrafish larvae and adults exposed BHPF exposure to evaluate social behavioral disorders and the microbiota-gut-brain axis was assessed to reveal the potential mechanisms underlying the behavioral abnormalities observed.