Printed texture guided color feature fusion for impressionism style rendering of oil paintings.

As a major branch of Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR), image stylization mainly uses computer algorithms to render a photo into an artistic painting. Recent work has shown that the ex-traction of style information such as stroke texture and color of the target style image is the key to image stylization. Given its stroke texture and color characteristics, a new stroke rendering method is proposed. By fully considering the tonal characteristics and the representative color of the original oil painting, it can fit the tone of the original oil painting image into a stylized image whilst keeping the artist's creative effect. The experiments have validated the efficacy of the proposed model in comparison to three state-of-the-arts. This method would be more suitable for the works of pointillism painters with a relatively uniform style, especially for natural scenes, otherwise, the results can be less satisfactory

MCCFNet: multi-channel color fusion network for cognitive classification of traditional Chinese paintings.

The computational modeling and analysis of traditional Chinese painting rely heavily on cognitive classification based on visual perception. This approach is crucial for understanding and identifying artworks created by different artists. However, the effective integration of visual perception into artificial intelligence (AI) models remains largely unexplored. Additionally, the classification research of Chinese painting faces certain challenges, such as insufficient investigation into the specific characteristics of painting images for author classification and recognition. To address these issues, we propose a novel framework called multi-channel color fusion network (MCCFNet), which aims to extract visual features from diverse color perspectives. By considering multiple color channels, MCCFNet enhances the ability of AI models to capture intricate details and nuances present in Chinese painting. To improve the performance of the DenseNet model, we introduce a regional weighted pooling (RWP) strategy specifically designed for the DenseNet169 architecture. This strategy enhances the extraction of highly discriminative features. In our experimental evaluation, we comprehensively compared the performance of our proposed MCCFNet model against six state-of-the-art models. The comparison was conducted on a dataset consisting of 2436 TCP samples, derived from the works of 10 renowned Chinese artists. The evaluation metrics employed for performance assessment were Top-1 Accuracy and the area under the curve (AUC). The experimental results have shown that our proposed MCCFNet model significantly outperform all other benchmarking methods with the highest classification accuracy of 98.68%. Meanwhile, the classification accuracy of any deep learning models on TCP can be much improved when adopting our proposed framework

Safety and efficacy of phage application in bacterial decolonisation:a systematic review

Colonisation by bacterial pathogens typically precedes invasive infection and seeds transmission. Thus, effective decolonisation strategies are urgently needed. The literature reports attempts to use phages for decolonisation. To assess the in-vivo efficacy and safety of phages for bacterial decolonisation, we performed a systematic review by identifying relevant studies to assess the in-vivo efficacy and safety of phages for bacterial decolonisation. We searched PubMed, Embase (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant articles published between Jan 1, 1990, and May 12, 2023, without language restrictions. We included studies that assessed the efficacy of phage for bacterial decolonisation in humans or vertebrate animal models. This systematic review is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42023457637. We identified 6694 articles, of which 56 (51 animal studies and five clinical reports) met the predetermined selection criteria and were included in the final analysis. The gastrointestinal tract (n=49, 88%) was the most studied bacterial colonisation site, and other sites were central venous catheters, lung, nose, skin, and urinary tract. Of the 56 included studies, the bacterial load at the colonisation site was reported to decrease significantly in 45 (80%) studies, but only five described eradication of the target bacteria. 15 studies reported the safety of phages for decolonisation. No obvious adverse events were reported in both the short-term and long-term observation period. Given the increasing life-threatening risks posed by bacteria that are difficult to treat, phages could be an alternative option for bacterial decolonisation, although further optimisation is required before their application to meet clinical needs.</p

Effects of Curcumin on Epidermal Growth Factor in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Background/Aims: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a common refractory eye disease that causes blindness and occurs after retinal detachment or retinal reattachment. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to play an important role in the migration and proliferation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which promote PVR. Curcumin inhibits RPE cell proliferation, but it is not known whether it participates in the formation of PVR. Curcumin regulates the biological functions of EGF, which plays important roles in the development of PVR. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of curcumin on the regulation of EGF in PVR. Methods: Rabbit RPE cells were cultured, and EGF expression was detected by immunocytochemistry. MTT assay was conducted to determine cell proliferation induced by different concentrations of EGF. Immunocytochemical staining was used to detect EGF expression after treatment with curcumin at varying concentrations. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the concentrations of EGF mRNA and protein after treatment with curcumin. After RPE cells and curcumin were injected into experimental rabbit eyes, the cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and vitreous opacity were observed and recorded simultaneously by indirect ophthalmoscopy, fundus color photography, and B-ultrasonography. The vitreous body was extracted, and the EGF content in the vitreous humor was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: At each time point (24, 48, and 72 h), cell proliferation gradually increased with increasing EGF concentrations (0, 3, 6, and 9 ng/mL) in a dose-dependent manner. Cell proliferation between EGF concentrations of 9 and 12 ng/mL were no different, which suggested that 9 ng/mL EGF was the best concentration to use to stimulate RPE cell proliferation in vitro. Under all EGF concentrations (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 ng/mL), RPE cell proliferation increased with time (from 24 to 72 h), suggesting a time–effect relationship. Curcumin downregulated EGF expression in RPE cells, which also indicated time–effect and dose–effect relationships. The best curcumin concentration for the inhibition of EGF expression was 15 µg/mL. RT-PCR and western blot analyses indicated that the EGF mRNA and expression of the protein in RPE cells treated with curcumin significantly decreased with time. Ocular examinations revealed that the vitreous opacity was lower and the proliferative membrane was thinner in the curcumin group compared with the control group. The PVR grade and the incidence of retinal detachment were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. ELISA results showed that the EGF content in vitreous humor was higher in the control group than in the curcumin group. The curcumin and control groups were significantly different at each time point. Conclusion: Curcumin inhibited RPE cell proliferation by downregulating EGF and thus effectively inhibited the initiation and development of PVR

Development and Characterization of Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers (SSRs) for an Endemic Plant, Pseudolarix amabilis (Nelson) Rehd. (Pinaceae)

Pseudolarix (Pinaceae) is a vulnerable (sensu IUCN) monotypic genus restricted to southeastern China. To better understand levels of genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow among populations of P. amabilis, we developed five compound SSR markers and ten novel polymorphic expressed sequence tags (EST) derived microsatellites. The results showed that all 15 loci were polymorphic with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to seven. The expected and observed heterozygosities varied from 0.169 to 0.752, and 0.000 to 1.000, respectively. The inbreeding coefficient ranged from −0.833 to 1.000. These markers will contribute to research on genetic diversity and population genetic structure of P. amabilis, which in turn will contribute to the species conservation

Targeting USP1-dependent KDM4A protein stability as a potential prostate cancer therapy

The histone demethylase lysine-specific demethylase 4A (KDM4A) is reported to be overexpressed and plays a vital in multiple cancers through controlling gene expression by epigenetic regulation of H3K9 or H3K36 methylation marks. However, the biological role and mechanism of KDM4A in prostate cancer (PC) remain unclear. Herein, we reported KDM4A expression was upregulation in phosphatase and tensin homolog knockout mouse prostate tissue. Depletion of KDM4A in PC cells inhibited their proliferation and survival in vivo and vitro. Further studies reveal that USP1 is a deubiquitinase that regulates KDM4A K48-linked deubiquitin and stability. Interestingly, we found c-Myc was a key downstream effector of the USP1-KDM4A/androgen receptor axis in driving PC cell proliferation. Notably, upregulation of KDM4A expression with high USP1 expression was observed in most prostate tumors and inhibition of USP1 promotes PC cells response to therapeutic agent enzalutamide. Our studies propose USP1 could be an anticancer therapeutic target in PC

Distribution, characterization, and induction of CD8+ regulatory T cells and IL-17-producing CD8+ T cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>CD8⁺effector cells often have an antitumor function in patients with cancer. However, CD8⁺Foxp3⁺regulatory T cells (Tcregs) and interleukin (IL)-17-producing CD8⁺T cells (Tc17 cells) also derive from the CD8⁺T cell lineage. Their role in the antitumor response remains largely unknown. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the distribution, characterization, and generation of CD8⁺Tcregs and Tc17 cells in NPC patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Peripheral blood and tumor biopsy tissues from 21 newly diagnosed patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were collected, along with peripheral blood from 21 healthy donors. The biological characteristics of Tcregs and Tc17 cells from blood and tumor tissues were examined by intracellular staining, tetramer staining and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. The suppressive function of Tcregs was investigated using a proliferation assay that involved co-culture of sorted CD8⁺CD25⁺T cells with naïve CD4⁺T cells <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed an increased prevalence of Tcregs and Tc17 cells among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and different distribution among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in NPC patients. Cytokine profiles showed that the Tcregs expressed a high level of IL-10 and low level of transforming growth factor β, whereas Tc17 cells expressed a high level of tumor necrosis factor α. Interestingly, both subsets expressed a high level of interferon γ in TILs, and the Tcregs suppressed naïve CD4⁺T cell proliferation by a cell contact-dependent mechanism <it>in vitro</it>. Moreover, we demonstrated the existence of Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein (LMP) 1 and LMP2 antigen-specific Tcregs in NPC.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data provide new insights into the composition and function of CD8⁺T-cell subsets in NPC, which may have an important influence on NPC immunotherapy.</p