Burden of Child Anemia Attributable to Fine Particulate Matters Brought by Sand Dusts in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Addressing environmental factors has recently been recommended to curb the growing trend of anemia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) generated by dust storms were concentrated in place with a high prevalence of anemia. In a multicounty, multicenter study, we analyzed the association between anemia and life-course averaged exposure to dust PM2.5 among children aged <5 years based on 0.65 million records from 47 LMICs. In the fully adjusted mixed effects model, each 10 µg/m3 increase in life-course averaged exposure to dust PM2.5 was associated with a 9.3% increase in the odds of anemia. The estimated exposure-response association was nonlinear, with a greater effect of dust PM2.5 exposure seen at low concentrations. Applying this association, we found that, in 2017, among all children aged <5 years in the 125 LMICs, dust PM2.5 contributed to 37.98 million cases of anemia. Results indicated that dust PM2.5 contributed a heavier burden than all of the well-identified risk factors did, except for iron deficiency. Our study revealed that long-term exposure to dust PM2.5 can be a novel risk factor, pronouncedly contributed to the burden of child anemia in LMICs, affected by land degradations or arid climate.

Body Mass and Foot-dominance Disparities in the Foot Plantar Pressure Parameters of Older Women.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of foot dominance and body mass on foot plantar pressures in older women of regular, overweight, and obese weights. METHODS: 96 female adults were divided into regular-weight group (68.30 ± 4.19 yr), overweight group (69.88 ± 3.76 yr), and obesity group (68.47 ± 3.67 yr) based on their body mass index scores. Footscan® plantar pressure test system was used to assess the dynamic plantar pressures, and parameters were collected from risk analysis, foot axis analysis, single foot timing analysis, and pressure analysis. RESULTS: (1) The local risks of lateral forefoot and midfoot, the minimum and maximum subtalar joint angles, the flexibility of subtalar joint, foot flat phase, as well as the average pressures on toes, metatarsals,, midfoot, and lateral heel, with the peak pressures on toe 2-5, metatarsal 2, metatarsal 5, midfoot, and lateral heel had significant within-subject differences. (2) The phases of initial contact and foot flat, the average pressures on toe 2-5, metatarsals, midfoot, and heels, with the peak pressures on metatarsal 1-4, midfoot, and heels exhibited significant between-subjects differences. (3) There was an interaction effect of foot dominance and body mass index on the flexibility of subtalar joint. CONCLUSIONS: The non-dominant foot works better for stability, especially when touching on and off the ground. The dominant foot works better for propulsion but is more susceptible to pain, injury, and falls. For obese older women, the forefoot and midfoot are primarily responsible for maintaining stability, but the lateral midfoot and hindfoot are more prone to pain and discomfort.

Benzoate glycosides from Gentiana scabra Bge. and their lipid-lowering activity.

Seven undescribed benzoate glycosides (1-7) and five known ones (8-12) were isolated from the rhizomes of Gentiana scabra Bge. Their structures were characterized by comprehensive NMR and MS spectroscopic data analysis. The lipid-lowering effects of these compounds were evaluated by measuring the triglyceride (TG) contents and intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) in oleic acid (OA)-treated HepG2 cells. The results showed that compounds 1, 5, 7, and 11 significantly reduced the TG content at 20 µM, and the Bodipy staining displayed that OA enhanced the levels of LDs in the cell, while these compounds reversed the lipid accumulation caused by OA. These findings provide a basis for further development and utilization of G. scabra as a natural source of potential lipid-lowering agents.

METTL3 regulates thyroid cancer differentiation and chemosensitivity by modulating PAX8.

Background: Thyroid cancer (TC) is a common endocrine cancer with a favourable prognosis. However, poor patient prognosis due to TC dedifferentiation is becoming an urgent challenge. Recently, methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3)-mediated N6 -methyladenosine (m6A) modification has been demonstrated to play an important role in the occurrence and progression of various cancers and a tumour suppressor role in TC. However, the mechanism of METTL3 in TC remains unclear. Methods: The correlation between METTL3 and prognosis in TC patients was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Mettl3fl/flBrafV600ETPO-cre TC mouse models and RNA-seq were used to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism, which was further validated by in vitro experiments. The target gene of METTL3 was identified, and the complete m6A modification process was described. The phenomenon of low expression of METTL3 in TC was explained by identifying miRNAs that regulate METTL3. Results: We observed that METTL3 expression was negatively associated with tumour progression and poor prognosis in TC. Mechanistically, silencing METTL3 promoted the progression and dedifferentiation of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) both in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, overexpressing METTL3 promoted the sensitivity of PTC and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and iodine-131 (131I) administration. Overall, the METTL3/PAX8/YTHDC1 axis has been revealed to play a pivotal role in repressing tumour occurrence, and is antagonized by miR-493-5p.

Predictive and prognostic value of aurora kinase A combined with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Background: Aurora kinase A (AURKA) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are both known to play an essential role in tumorigenesis. However, the expression and prognostic value of the AURKA and TILs in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) have not yet been investigated. Patients and methods: Surgical specimens and clinical data of 137 patients diagnosed with MTC were collected. AURKA expression and TILs infiltration were quantified by immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Subsequently, the prognostic value of AURKA expression and TIL infiltration in MTC was evaluated. Results: AURKA was highly expressed in patients with multifocal tumor, cervical lymph node metastasis, and an advanced TNM stage, indicating a high probability of recurrence. AURKA further exhibited a positive correlation with TILs (R = 0.44, P < 0.001). High expression of AURKA combined with a low numbers of TILs (AURKAhigh/TILslow) was identified as an independent prognostic factor for biochemical recurrence (odds ratio: 4.57, 95% confidence interval: 1.54-14.66, P < 0.01) and recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio: 3.64, 95% confidence interval: 1.52-8.71, P < 0.001). The combination of AURKA and TILs apparently improves the prognostic value for biochemical recurrence (area under the curve: 0.751) and structural recurrence (area under the curve: 0.836) of MTC. Notably, AURKAhigh/TILslow demonstrated a high value for prediction of distant or unresectable locoregional recurrence, with an overall accuracy of 86.9%. Conclusion: AURKAhigh is associated with the MTC malignancy. The combination of AURKAhigh/TILslow was identified as novel independent prognostic marker in MTC, predicting incurable disease recurrence with high accuracy.

High-Resolution Spatiotemporal Modeling for PM2.5 Major Components in the Pearl River Delta and Its Implications for Epidemiological Studies.

Distinguishing the effects of different fine particulate matter components (PMCs) is crucial for mitigating their effects on human health. However, the sparse distribution of locations where PM is collected for component analysis makes it challenging to investigate the relevant health effects. This study aimed to investigate the agreement between data-fusion-enhanced exposure assessment and site monitoring data in estimating the effects of PMCs on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We first improved the spatial resolution and accuracy of exposure assessment for five major PMCs (EC, OM, NO3-, NH4+, and SO42-) in the Pearl River Delta region by a data fusion model that combined inputs from multiple sources using a random forest model (10-fold cross-validation R2: 0.52 to 0.61; root mean square error: 0.55 to 2.26 µg/m3). Next, we compared the associations between exposures to PMCs during pregnancy and GDM in a hospital-based cohort of 1148 pregnant women in Heshan, China, using both site monitoring data and data-fusion model estimates. The comparative analysis showed that the data-fusion-based exposure generated stronger estimates of identifying statistical disparities. This study suggests that data-fusion-enhanced estimates can improve exposure assessment and potentially mitigate the misclassification of population exposure arising from the utilization of site monitoring data.

Berberine directly targets AKR1B10 protein to modulate lipid and glucose metabolism disorders in NAFLD.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Berberine (BBR) is the main active component from Coptidis rhizome, a well-known Chinese herbal medicine used for metabolic diseases, especially diabetes for thousands of years. BBR has been reported to cure various metabolic disorders, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the direct proteomic targets and underlying molecular mechanism of BBR against NAFLD remain less understood. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the direct target and corresponding molecular mechanism of BBR on NAFLD is the aim of the current study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: High-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and oleic acid (OA) stimulated HepG2 cells were utilized to verify the beneficial impacts of BBR on glycolipid metabolism profiles. The click chemistry in proteomics, DARTS, CETSA, SPR and fluorescence co-localization analysis were conducted to identify the targets of BBR for NAFLD. RNA-seq and shRNA/siRNA were used to investigate the downstream pathways of the target. RESULTS: BBR improved hepatic steatosis, ameliorated insulin resistance, and reduced TG levels in the NAFLD models. Importantly, Aldo-keto reductase 1B10 (AKR1B10) was first proved as the target of BBR for NAFLD. The gene expression of AKR1B10 increased significantly in the NAFLD patients' liver tissue. We further demonstrated that HFD and OA increased AKR1B10 expression in the C57BL/6 mice's liver and HepG2 cells, respectively, whereas BBR decreased the expression and activities of AKR1B10. Moreover, the knockdown of AKR1B10 by applying shRNA/siRNA profoundly impacted the beneficial effects on the pathogenesis of NAFLD by BBR. Meanwhile, the changes in various proteins (ACC1, CPT-1, GLUT2, etc.) are responsible for hepatic lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, glucose uptake, etc. by BBR were reversed by the knockdown of AKR1B10. Additionally, RNA-seq was used to identify the downstream pathway of AKR1B10 by examining the gene expression of liver tissues from HFD-fed mice. Our findings revealed that BBR markedly increased the protein levels of PPARα while downregulating the expression of PPARγ. However, various proteins of PPAR signaling pathways remained unaffected post the knockdown of AKR1B10. CONCLUSIONS: BBR alleviated NAFLD via mediating PPAR signaling pathways through targeting AKR1B10. This study proved that AKR1B10 is a novel target of BBR for NAFLD treatment and helps to find new targets for the treatment of NAFLD by using active natural compounds isolated from traditional herbal medicines as the probe.

Targeting TRPs in autophagy regulation and human diseases.

Transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) are widely recognized as a group of ion channels involved in various sensory perceptions, such as temperature, taste, pressure, and vision. While macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is primarily regulated by core machinery, the ion exchange mediated by TRPs between intracellular and extracellular compartments, as well as within organelles and the cytoplasm, plays a crucial role in autophagy regulation as an important signaling transduction mechanism. Moreover, certain TRPs can directly interact with autophagy regulatory proteins to participate in autophagy regulation. In this article, we provide an in-depth review of the current understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of autophagy, with a specific focus on TRPs. Furthermore, we highlight the potential prospects for drug development targeting TRPs in autophagy for the treatment of human diseases.

Associations of incident female breast cancer with long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its constituents: Findings from a prospective cohort study in Beijing, China.

This study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and its constituents (black carbon (BC), ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3-), organic matter (OM), inorganic sulfate (SO42-)) and incident female breast cancer in Beijing, China. Data from a prospective cohort comprising 85,504 women enrolled in the National Urban Cancer Screening Program in Beijing (2013-2019) and the Tracking Air Pollution in China dataset are used. Monthly exposures were aggregated to calculate 5-year average concentrations to indicate long-term exposure. Cox models and mixture exposure models (weighted quantile sum, quantile-based g-computation, and explanatory machine learning model) were employed to analyze the associations. Findings indicated increased levels of PM2.5 and its constituents were associated with higher breast cancer risk, with hazard ratios per 1-µg/m3 increase of 1.02 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.03), 1.39 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.65), 1.28 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.46), 1.15 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.24), 1.05 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.08), and 1.15 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.23) for PM2.5, BC, NH4+, NO3-, OM, and SO42-, respectively. Exposure-response curves demonstrated a monotonic risk increase without an evident threshold. Mixture exposure models highlighted BC and SO42- as key factors, underscoring the importance of reducing emissions of these pollutants.

Deciphering the Transcription Factor Landscape in Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Progression: A Novel Approach to Understand NE Transdifferentiation.

Background and Objective: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of cancer mortality in men, with neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) representing a particularly resistant subtype. The role of transcription factors (TFs) in the progression from prostatic adenocarcinoma (PRAD) to NEPC is poorly understood. This study aims to identify and analyze lineage-specific TF profiles in PRAD and NEPC and illustrate their dynamic shifts during NE transdifferentiation. Methods: A novel algorithmic approach was developed to evaluate the weighted expression of TFs within patient samples, enabling a nuanced understanding of TF landscapes in PCa progression and TF dynamic shifts during NE transdifferentiation. Results: unveiled TF profiles for PRAD and NEPC, identifying 126 shared TFs, 46 adenocarcinoma-TFs, and 56 NEPC-TFs. Enrichment analysis across multiple clinical cohorts confirmed the lineage specificity and clinical relevance of these lineage-TFs signatures. Functional analysis revealed that lineage-TFs are implicated in pathways critical to cell development, differentiation, and lineage determination. Novel lineage-TF candidates were identified, offering potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, our longitudinal study on NE transdifferentiation highlighted dynamic TF expression shifts and delineated a three-phase hypothesis for the process comprised of de-differentiation, dormancy, and re-differentiation. and proposing novel insights into the mechanisms of PCa progression. Conclusion: The lineage-specific TF profiles in PRAD and NEPC reveal a dynamic shift in the TF landscape during PCa progression, highlighting three distinct phases of NE transdifferentiation.

Oral microbiota dysbiosis alters chronic restraint stress-induced depression-like behaviors by modulating host metabolism.

Studies have shown that the microbiota-gut-brain axis is highly correlated with the pathogenesis of depression in humans. However, whether independent oral microbiome that do not depend on gut microbes could affect the progression of depression in human beings remains unclear, neither does the presence and underlying mechanisms of the microbiota-oral-brain axis in the development of the condition. Hence this study that encompasses clinical and animal experiments aims at investigating the correlation between oral microbiota and the onset of depression via mediating the microbiota-oral-brain axis. We compared the oral microbial compositions and metabolomes of 87 patients with depressive symptoms versus 70 healthy controls. We found that the oral microbial and metabolic signatures were significantly different between the two groups. Significantly, germ-free (GF) mice transplanted with saliva from mice exposing to chronic restraint stress (CRS) displayed depression-like behavior and oral microbial dysbiosis. This was characterized by a significant differential abundance of bacterial species, including the enrichment of Pseudomonas, Pasteurellaceae, and Muribacter, as well as the depletion of Streptococcus. Metabolomic analysis showed the alternation of metabolites in the plasma of CRS-exposed GF mice, especially Eicosapentaenoic Acid. Furthermore, oral and gut barrier dysfunction caused by CRS-induced oral microbiota dysbiosis may be associated with increased blood-brain barrier permeability. Pseudomonas aeruginosa supplementation exacerbated depression-like behavior, while Eicosapentaenoic Acid treatment conferred protection against depression-like states in mice. These results suggest that oral microbiome and metabolic function dysbiosis may be relevant to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of depression. The proposed microbiota-oral-brain axis provides a new way and targets for us to study the pathogenesis of depression.

Multiple exposure pathways and health risk assessment of PAHs in Lanzhou city, a semi-arid region in northwest China.

In the sparse studies for multiple pathway exposure, attention has predominantly been directed towards developed regions, thereby overlooking the exposure level and health outcome for the inhabitants of the semi-arid regions in northwest China. However, cities within these regions grapple with myriad challenges, encompassing insufficient sanitation infrastructure and outdated heating. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution in PM2.5, water, diet, and dust during different periods in Lanzhou, and estimated corresponding carcinogenic health risk through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption. Our observations revealed the concentrations of PAHs in PM2.5, food, soil, and water are 200.11 ng m-3, 8.67 mg kg-1, 3.91 mg kg-1, and 14.5 ng L-1, respectively, indicating that the Lanzhou area was seriously polluted. Lifetime incremental cancer risk (ILCR) showed a heightened cancer risk to men compared to women, to the younger than the elderly, and during heating period as opposed to non-heating period. Notably, the inhalation was the primary route of PAHs exposure and the risk of exposure by inhalation cannot be ignored. The total environmental exposure assessment of PAHs can achieve accurate prevention and control of PAHs environmental exposure according to local conditions and targets.

Right superior frontal gyrus: A potential neuroimaging biomarker for predicting short-term efficacy in schizophrenia.

Antipsychotic drug treatment for schizophrenia (SZ) can alter brain structure and function, but it is unclear if specific regional changes are associated with treatment outcome. Therefore, we examined the effects of antipsychotic drug treatment on regional grey matter (GM) density, white matter (WM) density, and functional connectivity (FC) as well as associations between regional changes and treatment efficacy. SZ patients (n = 163) and health controls (HCs) (n = 131) were examined by structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) at baseline, and a subset of SZ patients (n = 77) were re-examined after 8 weeks of second-generation antipsychotic treatment to assess changes in regional GM and WM density. In addition, 88 SZ patients and 81 HCs were examined by resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) at baseline and the patients were re-examined post-treatment to examine FC changes. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) were applied to measure psychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairments in SZ. SZ patients were then stratified into response and non-response groups according to PANSS score change (≥50 % decrease or <50 % decrease, respectively). The GM density of the right cingulate gyrus, WM density of the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) plus 5 other WM tracts were reduced in the response group compared to the non-response group. The FC values between the right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyrus and left thalamus were reduced in the entire SZ group (n = 88) after treatment, while FC between the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and right medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed) was increased in the response group. There were no significant changes in regional FC among the non-response group after treatment and no correlations with symptom or cognition test scores. These findings suggest that the right SFG is a critical target of antipsychotic drugs and that WM density and FC alterations within this region could be used as potential indicators in predicting the treatment outcome of antipsychotics of SZ.

Influence of motor capacity of the lower extremity and mobility performance on foot plantar pressures in community-dwelling older women.

Objectives: To investigate the associations of motor capacity of the lower extremity and mobility performance in daily physical activities with peak foot plantar pressures during walking among older women. Methods: Using the data collected among 58 community-dwelling older women (68.66 ± 3.85 years), Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to analyze the associations of motor capacity of the lower extremity (the 30-s chair stand test, the timed one-leg stance with eyes closed, and the Fugl-Meyer assessment of lower extremity), mobility performance in daily physical activities (the average minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day and the metabolic equivalents), and foot plantar pressures (peak force and peak pressure) with the age and body fat percentage as covariates. Results: (1) The motor capacity of the lower extremity has higher explanatory power for peak foot plantar pressures compared with the mobility performance in daily physical activities. (2) Higher body fat percentage was positively associated with peak force and pressure, while a lower score on the Fugl-Meyer assessment of lower extremity was negatively associated with both of them. (3) The metabolic equivalents were positively associated with the peak force, while the 30-s chair stand test was negatively associated with it. Conclusions: Mobility performance in daily physical activities can be significant predictors for peak foot plantar pressures among older women. The significant predictor variables include the Fugl-Meyer assessment of lower extremity, the 30-s chair stand test, and metabolic equivalents.

Construction and efficacy testing of DNA vaccines containing HLA-A*02:01-restricted SARS-CoV-2 T-cell epitopes predicted by immunoinformatics.

Vaccines play essential roles in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The development and assessment of COVID-19 vaccines have generally focused on the induction and boosting of neutralizing antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. Due to rapid and continuous variation in the S protein, such vaccines need to be regularly updated to match newly emerged dominant variants. T-cell vaccines that target MHC I- or II-restricted epitopes in both structural and non-structural viral proteins have the potential to induce broadly cross-protective and long-lasting responses. In this work, the entire proteome encoded by SARS-CoV-2 (Wuhan-hu-1) is subjected to immunoinformatics-based prediction of HLA-A*02:01-restricted epitopes. The immunogenicity of the predicted epitopes is evaluated using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from convalescent Wuhan-hu-1-infected patients. Furthermore, predicted epitopes that are conserved across major SARS-CoV-2 lineages and variants are used to construct DNA vaccines expressing multi-epitope polypeptides. Most importantly, two DNA vaccine constructs induce epitope-specific CD8 + T-cell responses in a mouse model of HLA-A*02:01 restriction and protect immunized mice from challenge with Wuhan-hu-1 virus after hACE2 transduction. These data provide candidate T-cell epitopes useful for the development of T-cell vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and demonstrate a strategy for quick T-cell vaccine candidate development applicable to other emerging pathogens.

Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells mediate microglia activation and improve anxiety-like behavior in MIA-induced offspring of schizophrenic rats.

Current treatments for schizophrenia (SCZ) remain largely ineffective in one-third of patients. Recent studies using stem cell therapy show a close relationship between stem cell immunomodulatory function and neuroinflammation in SCZ. To better investigate the efficacy of stem cell therapy for SCZ, human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSC) with powerful immunomodulatory effects were administered to rats via the tail vein (once a week for 5 consecutive weeks starting from the weaning period) using a maternal immune activation (MIA) rodent model. Open field, PPI, Western blotting, Q-PCR, and immunofluorescence were used to assess the biological effects of repeated tail vein injections of hUC-MSC in offspring rats following the MIA model of SCZ. The results indicated that offspring of MIA rats exhibited schizophrenia-like (SCZ-like) anxiety behavior, with observed microglial activation triggering neuroinflammation. Furthermore, levels of IBA1, HMGB1, and PSD95 were significantly up-regulated, while SYP was significantly down-regulated. It is suggested that hUCB-MSCs may act through HMGB1, Iba1, PSD95, and related pathway molecules to alleviate neuroinflammation and repair synaptic damage by regulating the activity state of microglia. Consequently, this could improve the abnormal behavior observed in MIA offspring rats.

In situ one step growth of amorphous tin oxide electron transport layer for high-performance perovskite solar cells.

Tin oxide used in electron transport layer (ETL) exhibits key role in transmitting electrons and blocking holes in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) device. However, crystal tin oxide nanoparticles (NPs) become necessary to form SnO2 film by method of spin-coating, resulting in possible surface defect and cracks among SnO2 NPs, corresponding to unsatisfied performance PSCs. Herein, an amorphous tin oxide thin film is creatively in situ grew onto Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) substrate as ETL. The designed solar cell device with structure of FTO/SnO2/MAPbI3/Sprio-OMeTAD/Ag owns a champion photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 17.64%, 76.20% of filling coefficient (FF), and 1.09 V of open-circuit voltage (Voc), in comparing with 16.43%, 64.35% and 1.05 V for control group (crystal tin oxide as ETL), respectively. Besides, the champion device keeps 83.33% of initial PCE under nitrogen (N2) condition for one month, in comparison with 76.09% for control group. This work provides a viable strategy for facile preparing amorphous tin oxide film based ETL in perovskite solar cells.

Cross-patch feature interactive net with edge refinement for retinal vessel segmentation.

Retinal vessel segmentation based on deep learning is an important auxiliary method for assisting clinical doctors in diagnosing retinal diseases. However, existing methods often produce mis-segmentation when dealing with low contrast images and thin blood vessels, which affects the continuity and integrity of the vessel skeleton. In addition, existing deep learning methods tend to lose a lot of detailed information during training, which affects the accuracy of segmentation. To address these issues, we propose a novel dual-decoder based Cross-patch Feature Interactive Net with Edge Refinement (CFI-Net) for end-to-end retinal vessel segmentation. In the encoder part, a joint refinement down-sampling method (JRDM) is proposed to compress feature information in the process of reducing image size, so as to reduce the loss of thin vessels and vessel edge information during the encoding process. In the decoder part, we adopt a dual-path model based on edge detection, and propose a Cross-patch Interactive Attention Mechanism (CIAM) in the main path to enhancing multi-scale spatial channel features and transferring cross-spatial information. Consequently, it improve the network's ability to segment complete and continuous vessel skeletons, reducing vessel segmentation fractures. Finally, the Adaptive Spatial Context Guide Method (ASCGM) is proposed to fuse the prediction results of the two decoder paths, which enhances segmentation details while removing part of the background noise. We evaluated our model on two retinal image datasets and one coronary angiography dataset, achieving outstanding performance in segmentation comprehensive assessment metrics such as AUC and CAL. The experimental results showed that the proposed CFI-Net has superior segmentation performance compared with other existing methods, especially for thin vessels and vessel edges. The code is available at https://github.com/kita0420/CFI-Net.

Enhancing cancer therapy: The role of drug delivery systems in STAT3 inhibitor efficacy and safety.

The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a member of the STAT family, resides in the nucleus to regulate genes essential for vital cellular functions, including survival, proliferation, self-renewal, angiogenesis, and immune response. However, continuous STAT3 activation in tumor cells promotes their initiation, progression, and metastasis, rendering STAT3 pathway inhibitors a promising avenue for cancer therapy. Nonetheless, these inhibitors frequently encounter challenges such as cytotoxicity and suboptimal biocompatibility in clinical trials. A viable strategy to mitigate these issues involves delivering STAT3 inhibitors via drug delivery systems (DDSs). This review delineates the regulatory mechanisms of the STAT3 signaling pathway and its association with cancer. It offers a comprehensive overview of the current application of DDSs for anti-STAT3 inhibitors and investigates the role of DDSs in cancer treatment. The conclusion posits that DDSs for anti-STAT3 inhibitors exhibit enhanced efficacy and reduced adverse effects in tumor therapy compared to anti-STAT3 inhibitors alone. This paper aims to provide an outline of the ongoing research and future prospects of DDSs for STAT3 inhibitors. Additionally, it presents our insights on the merits and future outlook of DDSs in cancer treatment.