Multimodal Data-Driven Segmentation of Bone Metastasis Lesions in SPECT Bone Scans Using Deep Learning.

BACKGROUND: Patients with malignant tumors often develop bone metastases. SPECT bone scintigraphy is an effective tool for surveying bone metastases due to its high sensitivity, low-cost equipment, and radiopharmaceutical. However, the low spatial resolution of SPECT scans significantly hinders manual analysis by nuclear medicine physicians. Deep learning, a promising technique for automated image analysis, can extract hierarchal patterns from images without human intervention. OBJECTIVE: To enhance the performance of deep learning-based segmentation models, we integrate textual data from diagnostic reports with SPECT bone scans, aiming to develop an automated analysis method that outperforms purely unimodal data-driven segmentation models. METHODS: We propose a dual-path segmentation framework to extract features from bone scan images and diagnostic reports separately. In the first path, an encoder-decoder network is employed to learn hierarchical representations of features from SPECT bone scan images. In the second path, the Chinese version of the MacBERT model is utilized to develop a text encoder for extracting features from diagnostic reports. The extracted textual features are then fused with image features during the decoding stage in the first path, enhancing the overall segmentation performance. RESULTS: Experimental evaluation conducted on real-world clinical data demonstrated the superior performance of the proposed segmentation model. Our model achieved a 0.0209 increase in the DSC (Dice Similarity Coefficient) score compared to the well-known U-Net model. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed multimodal data-driven method effectively identifies and isolates metastasis lesions in SPECT bone scans, outperforming existing classical deep learning models. This study demonstrates the value of incorporating textual data in the deep learning-based segmentation of lowresolution SPECT bone scans.

Unveiling potential roles of earthworms in mitigating the presence of virulence factor genes in terrestrial ecosystems.

Earthworms can redistribute soil microbiota, and thus might affect the profile of virulence factor genes (VFGs) which are carried by pathogens in soils. Nevertheless, the knowledge of VFG profile in the earthworm guts and its interaction with earthworm gut microbiome is still lacking. Herein, we characterized earthworm gut and soil microbiome and VFG profiles in natural and agricultural ecosystems at a national scale using metagenomics. VFG profiles in the earthworm guts significantly differed from those in the surrounding soils, which was mainly driven by variations of bacterial communities. Furthermore, the total abundance of different types of VFGs in the earthworm guts was about 20-fold lower than that in the soils due to the dramatic decline (also by approximately 20-fold) of VFG-carrying bacterial pathogens in the earthworm guts. Additionally, five VFGs related to nutritional/metabolic factors and stress survival were identified as keystones merely in the microbe-VFG network in the earthworm guts, implying their pivotal roles in facilitating pathogen colonization in earthworm gut microhabitats. These findings suggest the potential roles of earthworms in reducing risks related to the presence of VFGs in soils, providing novel insights into earthworm-based bioremediation of VFG contamination in terrestrial ecosystems.

Dysregulation of arginine methylation in tumorigenesis.

Protein methylation, similar to DNA methylation, primarily involves post-translational modification (PTM) targeting residues of nitrogen-containing side-chains and other residues. Protein arginine methylation, occurred on arginine residue, is mainly mediated by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), which are ubiquitously present in a multitude of organisms and are intricately involved in the regulation of numerous biological processes. Specifically, PRMTs are pivotal in the process of gene transcription regulation, and protein function modulation. Abnormal arginine methylation, particularly in histones, can induce dysregulation of gene expression, thereby leading to the development of cancer. The recent advancements in modification mediated by PRMTs and cancer research have had a profound impact on our understanding of the abnormal modification involved in carcinogenesis and progression. This review will provide a defined overview of these recent progression, with the aim of augmenting our knowledge on the role of PRMTs in progression and their potential application in cancer therapy.

VFG-Chip: A high-throughput qPCR microarray for profiling virulence factor genes from the environment.

As zoonotic pathogens are threatening public health globally, the virulence factor genes (VFGs) they carry underlie latent risk in the environment. However, profiling VFGs in the environment is still in its infancy due to lack of efficient and reliable quantification tools. Here, we developed a novel high-throughput qPCR (HT-qPCR) chip, termed as VFG-Chip, to comprehensively quantify the abundances of targeted VFGs in the environment. A total of 96 VFGs from four bacterial pathogens including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica were targeted by 120 primer pairs, which were involved in encoding five types of virulence factors (VFs) like toxin, adherence, secretion system, immune evasion/invasion, and iron uptake. The specificity of VFG-Chip was both verified computationally and experimentally, with high identity of amplicon sequencing and melting curves analysis proving its robust capability. The VFG-Chip also displayed high sensitivity (by plasmid serial dilution test) and amplification efficiency averaging 97.7%. We successfully applied the VFG-Chip to profile the distribution of VFGs along a wastewater treatment system with 69 VFGs detected in total. Overall, the VFG-Chip provides a robust tool for comprehensively quantifying VFGs in the environment, and thus provides novel information in assessing the health risks of zoonotic pathogens in the environment.

Expired Cefalexin Loaded into Mesoporous Nanosilica for Self-Healing Epoxy Coating on 304 Stainless Steel.

A self-healing epoxy coating is creatively prepared by employing expired cefalexin loaded into mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs) for corrosion protection of 304 stainless steel (304SS). A series of physical characterizations, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, verified that the cefalexin successfully filled porous MSN. The corrosion resistance of the epoxy (EP) coating incorporated with the cefalexin@MSNs is investigated using a Tafel polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. It is found that the EP-Cefalexin@MSNs coating has a higher self-corrosion voltage and a lower self-corrosion current density than EP coating. Moreover, the charge transfer resistance (Rct) value of Cefalexin@MSNs coating is twice that of EP coating after immersion for 24 h, indicating that the cefalexin@MSNs significantly enhance the corrosion resistance of the coating under long-duration immersion. The improved corrosion resistance is attributed to the densified adsorption of the cefalexin inhibiting the cathode corrosion reaction, providing a self-healing long-duration corrosion protection for 304SS.

Comparative analysis of antibiotic resistance genes on a pig farm and its neighboring fish ponds in a lakeside district.

Antibiotics usage in animal production is considered a primary driver of the occurrence, supply and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. Pig farms and fish ponds are important breeding systems in food animal production. In this study, we compared and analyzed broad ARGs profiles, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and bacterial communities in a representative pig farm and neighboring fish ponds around Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China. The factors influencing the distribution of ARGs were also explored. The results showed widespread detection of ARGs (from 57 to 110) among 283 targeted ARGs in the collected water samples. The differences in the number and relative abundance of ARGs observed from the pig farm and neighboring fish ponds revealed that ARG contamination was more serious on the pig farm than in the fish ponds and that the water treatment plant on the pig farm was not very effective. Based on the variance partition analysis (VPA), MGEs, bacterial communities and water quality indicators (WIs) codrive the relative abundance of ARGs. Based on network analysis, we found that total phosphorus and Tp614 were the most important WIs and MGEs affecting ARG abundance, respectively. Our findings provide fundamental data on farms in lakeside districts and provide insights into establishing standards for the discharge of aquaculture wastewater.

Association between cyberbullying and depression in college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between cyberbullying and depression in college students, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention of cyberbullying.@*Methods@#A total of 3 914 college students from 6 universities in Shanxi Province were selected as research objects. The students’ cyberbullying behavior scale and depression self-rating scale were used to investigate the students.@*Results@#The overall reported rate of cyberbullying among college students was 17.4%. Boys who suffered from online verbal bullying and online fraud scored higher than girls. Students whose parents divorced scored higher than those whose parents did not divorce in all dimensions of cyber-bullying. There was a statistically significant difference in the overall scores of students with different degrees of education and time spent online( P <0.05). Depression was reported in 15.6% of participants. The depression scores of female students were higher than that of male students.College students whose parents were divorced had higher depression scores than those whose parents were not divorced.There were statistically significant differences in depression scores among college students with different fathers’ education levels and different time spent online every day( t / F =2.05, 6.64, 3.91 , 19.52, P <0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that online speech bullying, online fraud and identity concealment bullying were positively correlated with depression scores( r s =0.40, 0.36, 0.46, P <0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that three forms of cyberbullying were risk factors for the increase of depression in college students( β =0.89, 0.38, 0.38, P <0.01).@*Conclusion@#Cyber-bullying is one of the risk factors for increasing the severity of depression among college students.Strengthening the management of Internet use, promotion college students’ interpersonal conununication and active cooperating between society, school and family are great significance to reduce the occurrence of cyberbullying.

Correlation between experience of childhood abuse and implementing cyberbullying in college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between childhood abuse and cyberbullying among college students and to provide theoretical support for early intervention of cyberbullying among college students.@*Methods@#A total of 3 850 sophomores and juniors from 6 universities in Shanxi Province, randomly selected by stratified cluster sampling method, were investigated by using the Questionnaire on Cyberbullying and the Chinese Version of the Child Abuse Questionnaire.@*Results@#Male students reported higher rates of sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect than female students(χ2=5.22, 4.39, 7.53 P<0.05). The child abuse report rate of college students whose parents divorced was higher than that of those whose parents were not divorced(χ2=86.80, 134.06, 130.18, 175.64, 118.46，P<0.05). In addition to physical neglect, childhood abuse rate of only children was higher than that of non-only children, with statistically significant differences(χ2=9.44, 12.44, 21.18, 21.26, all P<0.05). The scores of all factors and total scores of cyberbullying implemented by male students were higher than those by female students(t=9.35, 5.59, 5.83, 7.57，P<0.05); the scores of all factors and total scores of cyberbullying implemented by only-child students were higher than those by non-only-child students(t=2.79, 3.74, 4.78, 4.40，P<0.05); the scores of all factors and total scores of cyberbullying implemented by students whose parents were divorced were higher than those by students whose parents were not divorced, with statistically significant differences(t=6.99,6.78, 8.04，11.33, P<0.05). Multiple linear regression model showed that there was a positive correlation between the childhood abuse of college students and the implementation of cyberbullying, and regression coefficient differences of all factors were statistically significant(β=0.10, 0.11, 0.05, 10.08,0.06, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Childhood abuse experiences increase the risk of college students practicing cyberbullying.

Relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicide ideation of college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicide ideation of college students,so as to provide basis for physical and mental health of college students.@*Methods@#Students from 6 universities in Shanxi Province(3 854 college students provided eligible questionniare for childhood abuse and 3 882 for suicidal ideation) were selected by multi-stage random cluster sampling from May to July 2018, the Chinese Version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Self-rating Idea of Suicide Scale were used in the survey.@*Results@#Of all subjects,42.4% had at least one kind of abuse experience in childhood and 3.9% had suicidal ideation in the past week. By chi square test,the detection rate of suicidal ideation of college students who suffered physical abuse,emotional abuse,sexual abuse,physical neglect,emotional neglect in childhood was higher than that of college students without maltreatment (χ2=13.78，12.97，17.10，56.56，66.58，P<0.01)；Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between each type of maltreatment in childhood and college students’ suicidal ideation(r=0.06，0.06，0.07，0.12，0.13，P<0.01)；Multivariate Logistic regression model found that after controlling other influencing factors,physical neglect and emotional neglect in childhood were independent risk factors for suicide ideation of college students (OR=2.18,2.07,P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Physical neglect and emotional neglect in childhood can increase the risk of college students’ suicidal ideation. Paying enough attention and care to them in early childhood may help to prevent their suicidal ideation in adulthood.

Nanoparticle tracking analysis monitors microvesicle and exosome secretion from immune cells.

Nanoparticle tracking analysis permits the determination of both the size distribution and relative concentration of microvesicles, including exosomes, in the supernatants of cultured cells and biological fluids. We have studied the release of microvesicles from the human lymphoblastoid T-cell lines Jurkat and CEM. Unstimulated, both cell lines release microvesicles in the size range 70-90 nm, which can be depleted from the supernatant by ultracentrifugation at 100 000 g, and by anti-CD45 magnetic beads, and which by immunoblotting also contain the exosome-associated proteins Alix and Tsg101. Incubation with known potentiators of exosome release, the ionophores monensin and A23187, resulted in a significant increase in microvesicle release that was both time and concentration dependent. Mass spectrometric analysis of proteins isolated from ultracentrifuged supernatants of A23187-treated cells revealed the presence of exosome-associated proteins including heat-shock protein 90, tubulin, elongation factor α1, actin and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Additionally, treatment of peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells with bacterial lipopolysaccharide displayed an increase in secreted microvesicles. Consequently, nanoparticle tracking analysis can be effectively applied to monitor microvesicle release from cells of the immune system.