Abnormal sleep features in adolescent MDD and its potential in diagnosis and prediction of early efficacy.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown that abnormal sleep architectures are the important indicator for diagnosing MDD and predicting the efficacy of antidepressants. However, few studies have focused specifically on adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between abnormal sleep features, including PSG parameters and scale evaluation, and the onset of adolescent MDD, as well as early SSRIs efficacy. METHODS: 102 adolescent MDD patients (age 12 to 19-year-old) and 41 similarly age-marched controls were recruited. Demographic data, the HAMD24 and the PSQI scale assessment scores were collected at baseline, latter two were also collected at follow-up. Part of the participants underwent a minimum 7-d medication-free period, and two consecutive night polysomnography. In the follow-up study, MDD patients were treated with standardized SSRIs. Treatment response was assessed every two weeks. RESULTS: MDD subjects' parental marital status, REM-sleep latency, N2, N2%, N3, REM-sleep duration, REM % showed significant differences at baseline. REM-sleep latency showed significant prediction of the onset of MDD. The HAMD24 and PSQI scale assessment scores decreased over time in the follow-up study. Specifically, the sleep disorder factor score of HAMD24, the scores of PSQI sleep latency, sleep disorder, sleep efficiency and total score showed significantly differences between responder and non-responder groups. PSQI baseline moderate group showed significant prediction of the early efficacy of SSRIs. CONCLUSION: Abnormal sleep PSG parameters and self-evaluation could be predictors for the adolescent MDD onset and early SSRIs efficacy.

All-MEMS Lidar Using Hybrid Optical Architecture with Digital Micromirror Devices and a 2D-MEMS Mirror.

In a lidar system, replacing moving components with solid-state devices is highly anticipated to make a reliable and compact lidar system, provided that a substantially large beam area with a large angular extent as well as high angular resolution is assured for the lidar transmitter and receiver. A new quasi-solid-state lidar optical architecture employs a transmitter with a two-dimensional MEMS mirror for fine beam steering at a fraction of the degree of the angular resolution and is combined with a digital micromirror device for wide FOV scanning over 37 degree while sustaining a large aperture area of 140 mm squared. In the receiver, a second digital micromirror device is synchronized to the transmitter DMD, which enables a large FOV receiver. An angular resolution of 0.57°(H) by 0.23° (V) was achieved with 0.588 fps for scanning 1344 points within the field of view.

Low Complexity Binarized 2D-CNN Classifier for Wearable Edge AI Devices.

Wearable Artificial Intelligence-of-Things (AIoT) devices exhibit the need to be resource and energy-efficient. In this paper, we introduced a quantized multilayer perceptron (qMLP) for converting ECG signals to binary image, which can be combined with binary convolutional neural network (bCNN) for classification. We deploy our model into a low-power and low-resource field programmable gate array (FPGA) fabric. The model requires 5.8× lesser multiply and accumulate (MAC) operations than known wearable CNN models. Our model also achieves a classification accuracy of 98.5%, sensitivity of 85.4%, specificity of 99.5%, precision of 93.3%, and F1-score of 89.2%, along with dynamic power dissipation of 34.9 µW.

Identification and Expression Profiles of Putative Soluble Chemoreception Proteins from Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) Antennal Transcriptome.

The cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), is a destructive stored product pest worldwide. Adult cigarette beetles are known to rely on host volatiles and pheromones to locate suitable habitats for oviposition and mating, respectively. However, little is known about the chemosensory mechanisms of these pests. Soluble chemoreception proteins are believed to initiate olfactory signal transduction in insects, which play important roles in host searching and mating behaviors. In this study, we sequenced the antennal transcriptome of L. serricorne and identified 14 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), 5 chemosensory proteins (CSPs), and 2 Niemann-Pick C2 proteins (NPC2). Quantitative realtime PCR (qPCR) results revealed that several genes (LserOBP2, 3, 6, and 14) were predominantly expressed in females, which might be involved in specific functions in this gender. The five LserOBPs (LserOBP1, 4, 8, 10, and 12) that were highly expressed in the male antennae might encode proteins involved in specific functions in males. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of the olfactory system in this stored product pest and will assist in the development of efficient and environmentally friendly strategies for controlling L. serricorne.

[Responses of stand growth, regeneration, and understory species diversity in Quercus mongolica secondary forest to stand density.] / è’™å¤æ Žæ¬¡ç”Ÿæž—çš„ç”Ÿé•¿æ›´æ–°ä¸Žæž—ä¸‹æ¤è¢«å¤šæ ·æ€§å¯¹æž—åˆ†å¯†åº¦çš„å“åº”.

Six Quercus mongolica plots with an area of 0.1 hm2 were thinned in 2018. A field survey was carried out in 2020 to examine the effects of different stand densities (high: 900 trees·hm-2; medium: 720 trees·hm-2; low: 600 trees·hm-2) on growth and regeneration of stands and understory species diversity of secondary Q. mongolica forests in Qingyuan, Liaoning Province. Due to the short interval after thinning, there was no significant difference in tree height and diameter at breast height under different densities. However, the crown symmetry index under low stand density was significantly higher than that of high stand density, indicating that crown growth was more sensitive to stand density than trunk growth. The abundance of seedlings was the highest in the medium density, and the basal diameter of the seedlings with the same height was significantly higher, and the seedling regeneration and growth at the medium density were much better than the other two densities. A total of 70 species were recorded, belonging to 41 families and 67 genera. Quercus mongolica, Lespedeza bicolor, Melampyrum roseum, and Potentilla freyniana were the dominant species of trees and herbs, respectively. Simpson index, Pielou index and Shannon index of shrub layer and herb layer were the highest at the medium density. It indicated that the stand density of 720 trees·hm-2 could help maintain the sustainable development of Q. mongolica secondary forest in the mountainous area of eastern Liaoning.

An Energy Efficient ECG Ventricular Ectopic Beat Classifier Using Binarized CNN for Edge AI Devices.

Wearable Artificial Intelligence-of-Things (AIoT) requires edge devices to be resource and energy-efficient. In this paper, we design and implement an efficient binary convolutional neural network (bCNN) algorithm utilizing function-merging and block-reuse techniques to classify between Ventricular and non-Ventricular Ectopic Beat images. We deploy our model into a low-resource low-power field programmable gate array (FPGA) fabric. Our model achieves a classification accuracy of 97.3%, sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 98.1%, precision of 86.7%, and F1-score of 88.9%, along with dynamic power dissipation of only 10.5-µW.

Hybrid-Flexible Bimodal Sensing Wearable Glove System for Complex Hand Gesture Recognition.

As 5G communication technology allows for speedier access to extended information and knowledge, a more sophisticated human-machine interface beyond touchscreens and keyboards is necessary to improve the communication bandwidth and overcome the interfacing barrier. However, the full extent of human interaction beyond operation dexterity, spatial awareness, sensory feedback, and collaborative capability to be replicated completely remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid-flexible wearable system, consisting of simple bimodal capacitive sensors and a customized low power interface circuit integrated with machine learning algorithms, to accurately recognize complex gestures. The 16 channel sensor array extracts spatial and temporal information of the finger movement (deformation) and hand location (proximity) simultaneously. Using machine learning, over 99 and 91% accuracy are achieved for user-independent static and dynamic gesture recognition, respectively. Our approach proves that an extremely simple bimodal sensing platform that identifies local interactions and perceives spatial context concurrently, is crucial in the field of sign communication, remote robotics, and smart manufacturing.

A New Small-Molecule Compound, Q308, Silences Latent HIV-1 Provirus by Suppressing Tat- and FACT-Mediated Transcription.

Eliminating the latent HIV reservoir remains a difficult problem for creating an HIV functional cure or achieving remission. The "block-and-lock" strategy aims to steadily suppress transcription of the viral reservoir and lock the HIV promoter in deep latency using latency-promoting agents (LPAs). However, to date, most of the investigated LPA candidates are not available for clinical trials, and some of them exhibit immune-related adverse reactions. The discovery and development of new, active, and safe LPA candidates for an HIV cure are necessary to eliminate residual HIV-1 viremia through the block-and-lock strategy. In this study, we demonstrated that a new small-molecule compound, Q308, silenced the HIV-1 provirus by inhibiting Tat-mediated gene transcription and selectively downregulating the expression levels of the facilitated chromatin transcription (FACT) complex. Strikingly, Q308 induced the preferential apoptosis in HIV-1 latently infected cells, indicating that Q308 may reduce the size of the viral reservoir and thus further prevent viral rebound. These findings highlight that Q308 is a novel and safe anti-HIV-1 inhibitor candidate for a functional cure.

Crystal structure of a photosynthetic LH1-RC in complex with its electron donor HiPIP.

Photosynthetic electron transfers occur through multiple components ranging from small soluble proteins to large integral membrane protein complexes. Co-crystallization of a bacterial photosynthetic electron transfer complex that employs weak hydrophobic interactions was achieved by using high-molar-ratio mixtures of a soluble donor protein (high-potential iron-sulfur protein, HiPIP) with a membrane-embedded acceptor protein (reaction center, RC) at acidic pH. The structure of the co-complex offers a snapshot of a transient bioenergetic event and revealed a molecular basis for thermodynamically unfavorable interprotein electron tunneling. HiPIP binds to the surface of the tetraheme cytochrome subunit in the light-harvesting (LH1) complex-associated RC in close proximity to the low-potential heme-1 group. The binding interface between the two proteins is primarily formed by uncharged residues and is characterized by hydrophobic features. This co-crystal structure provides a model for the detailed study of long-range trans-protein electron tunneling pathways in biological systems.

4-Sulfonyloxy/alkoxy benzoxazolone derivatives with high anti-inflammatory activities: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and mechanims of action via p38/ERK-NF-κB/iNOS pathway.

In an effort to discover new agents with high anti-inflammatory activity, 22 new 4-sulfonyloxy/alkoxy benzoxazolone derivatives were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and TNF-α expression in RAW 264.7 cells in vitro. Most of these compounds displayed greater inhibitory ability against NO production than the lead compound 4-o-methyl-benzenesulfonyl benzoxazolone, and the most active compound 2h exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity against NO, IL-1ß, and IL-6 production with IC50 values 17.67, 20.07, and 8.61 µΜ, respectively. The effects of 2h were comparable or stronger than those of the positive control celecoxib. Compound 2h also displayed higher activity in vivo than celecoxib in a mouse model of xylene-induced ear edema, based on their inhibitory rates of 42.69% and 30.87%, respectively. Further molecular analysis revealed that compound 2h significantly reduced the iNOS levels in cell supernatant and suppressed the protein expression of iNOS, p-p38, p-ERK, and nuclear NF-κB. The results indicated that the anti-inflammatory effect of 2h might be realized through the regulation of ERK- and p38-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-NF-κB/iNOS signaling, thereby reducing the excessive release of NO, IL-1ß, and IL-6. Our findings demonstrated that compound 2h, a new benzoxazolone derivative, could inhibit activation of the MAPK-NF-κB/iNOS pathway, supporting its potential as a novel anti-inflammatory agent.

The BET bromodomain inhibitor apabetalone induces apoptosis of latent HIV-1 reservoir cells following viral reactivation.

The persistence of latent HIV-1 reservoirs throughout combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is a major barrier on the path to achieving a cure for AIDS. It has been shown that bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) inhibitors could reactivate HIV-1 latency, but restrained from clinical application due to their toxicity and side effects. Thus, identifying a new type of BET inhibitor with high degrees of selectivity and safety is urgently needed. Apabetalone is a small-molecule selective BET inhibitor specific for second bromodomains, and has been evaluated in phase III clinical trials that enrolled patients with high-risk cardiovascular disorders, dyslipidemia, and low HDL cholesterol. In the current study, we examined the impact of apabetalone on HIV-1 latency. We showed that apabetalone (10-50 µmol/L) dose-dependently reactivated latent HIV-1 in 4 types of HIV-1 latency cells in vitro and in primary human CD4+ T cells ex vivo. In ACH2 cells, we further demonstrated that apabetalone activated latent HIV-1 through Tat-dependent P-TEFB pathway, i.e., dissociating bromodomain 4 (BDR4) from the HIV-1 promoter and recruiting Tat for stimulating HIV-1 elongation. Furthermore, we showed that apabetalone (10-30 µmol/L) caused dose-dependent cell cycle arrest at the G1/G0 phase in ACH2 cells, and thereby induced the preferential apoptosis of HIV-1 latent cells to promote the death of reactivated reservoir cells. Notably, cardiovascular diseases and low HDL cholesterol are known as the major side effects of cART, which should be prevented by apabetalone. In conclusion, apabetalone should be an ideal bifunctional latency-reversing agent for advancing HIV-1 eradication and reducing the side effects of BET inhibitors.

Anti-inflammatory effects of 4-o-methyl-benzenesulfonyl benzoxazolone (MBB) in vivo and in vitro as a novel NSAIDs lead compound.

BACKGROUND: Great attention has been paid to the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs to overcome the adverse reactions of traditional drugs. Recently, a new compound 4-o-methyl-benzenesulfonyl benzoxazolone (MBB) we have prepared attracted our attention for its promising anti-inflammatory activity and low toxicity. The present study aimed to further investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of MBB both in vivo and in vitro in order to determine its potential as a novel NSAIDs lead compound. METHODS: The anti-inflammatory effects in vivo were evaluated using acetic acid-induced mice writhing, xylene-induced mice ear edema and collagen-induced rat arthritis. NO, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß and iNOS productions by LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were determined to investigate the basis of anti-inflammatory effects. Finally, the COX inhibition effect was tested in vitro using COX inhibitor screening assay kit. RESULTS: MBB could significantly decrease the writhing and ear swelling in a dose-dependent manner, and it also had a moderate anti-arthritic potential associated with an attenuation of arthritis index score, arthritis swelling, and inhibition of TNF-α and IL-1ß. MBB could inhibit the activity of NO, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß and iNOS to perform its activity in vitro, but it had no effect against COX-1 and COX-2. The anti-inflammation effect may be mediated via the inhibition of iNOS to reduce the production of inflammatory mediators which should be further confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The compound MBB displayed anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effect, and it could be considered as a new NSAIDs lead compound for the further structure modification to develop novel anti-inflammatory drugs.

Heme Oxygenase-1, a Key Enzyme for the Cytoprotective Actions of Halophenols by Upregulating Nrf2 Expression via Activating Erk1/2 and PI3K/Akt in EA.hy926 Cells.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a key enzyme triggered by cellular stress, exhibiting cytoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory abilities. Previously, we prepared a series of novel active halophenols possessing strong antioxidant activities in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we demonstrated that these halophenols exhibited significant protective effects against H2O2-induced injury in EA.hy926 cells by inhibition of apoptosis and ROS and TNF-α production, as well as induction of the upregulation of HO-1, the magnitude of which correlated with their cytoprotective actions. Further experiments which aimed to determine the mechanistic basis of these actions indicated that the halophenols induced the activation of Nrf2, Erk1/2, and PI3K/Akt without obvious effects on the phosphorylation of p38, JNK, or the expression of PKC-δ. This was validated with the use of PD98059 and Wortmannin, specific inhibitors of Erk1/2 and PI3K, respectively. Overall, our study is the first to demonstrate that the cytoprotective actions of halophenols involve their antiapoptotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory abilities, which are mediated by the upregulation of Nrf2-dependent HO-1 expression and reductions in ROS and TNF-α generation via the activation of Erk1/2 and PI3K/Akt in EA.hy926 cells. HO-1 may thus be an important potential target for further research into the cytoprotective actions of halophenols.

Application of 3D digital orthopedic techniques in treatment of acetabular fracture / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the therapeutic effect of three-dimensional digital orthopedic techniques in treatment of acetabular fractures.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively analyzed 50 cases of acetabular fracture treated between March, 2007 and December, 2013. The lamellar CT scanning data were imported into Mimics software, and 3D anatomical models of the pelvic and proximal femur were reconstructed. Computer-assisted analysis was carried out to understand the condition of fractures and simulate fracture reduction. The pelvic models were manufactured by rapid prototyping technique for definite diagnosis and typing of acetabular fractures and subsequent surgical treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Three-dimensional reconstruction images and rapid prototyping pelvic models faithfully represented the findings in operations. Preoperative simulation of the operation shortened the time of operation and reduced the volume of bleeding in the operation. All the patients were followed up for 6 to 24 months. According to Matta imaging score, anatomical reduction was achieved in 41 cases and satisfactory reduction in 9 cases. According to the Harris functional criteria, 32 patients had excellent, 12 had good and 6 had acceptable outcomes with a rate of excellent and good outcomes of 88%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Three-dimensional digital orthopedic techniques allow accurate display of the acetabulum and the spatial relation of the anatomic structures to assist in fracture diagnosis, typing and treatment.</p>

Validation of source biasing method for its use in CSNS beamline shielding calculation.

The Chinese spallation neutron source (CSNS) is a high-performance pulsed neutron source, having 20 neutron beamlines for neutron scattering instruments. The shielding design of these beamlines is usually needed for Monte Carlo (MC) calculation, and the use of variance reduction methods is critical to carrying out an efficient, reliable MC shielding calculation. This paper discusses the source biasing method based on actual source term and geometry model of a CSNS neutron beamline. Dose distribution throughout the geometry model was calculated with the FLUKA MC code. Full analogue calculation and biased calculation were compared, and it was validated that the source biasing method can effectively promote the calculation efficiency.

[Effects of potassium humate on ginger root growth and its active oxygen metabolism].

A pool-culture experiment was conducted to study the effects of potassium humate on the growth and active oxygen metabolism of ginger root. The results showed that applying potassium humate increased the root fresh mass and root vigor significantly, and promoted the root growth especially in later period. Potassium humate application obviously increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), decreased the content of MDA, and delayed the senescence of ginger root. After applying potassium humate, the soluble protein content in root was increased by 49.18%, 25.89% and 13.26%, and the yield was increased by 61.29%, 48.13% and 9.92%, respectively, compared with the treatments CK, same application rate of humic acid, and same application rate of potassium monoxide.