Self-assembled albumin nanoparticles induce pyroptosis for photodynamic/photothermal/immuno synergistic therapies in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by a high degree of malignancy, early metastasis, limited treatment, and poor prognosis. Immunotherapy, as a new and most promising treatment for cancer, has limited efficacy in TNBC because of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Inducing pyroptosis and activating the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase/interferon gene stimulator (cGAS/STING) signaling pathway to upregulate innate immunity have become an emerging strategy for enhancing tumor immunotherapy. In this study, albumin nanospheres were constructed with photosensitizer-IR780 encapsulated in the core and cGAS–STING agonists/H2S producer-ZnS loaded on the shell (named IR780-ZnS@HSA). In vitro, IR780-ZnS@HSA produced photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects. In addition, it stimulated immunogenic cell death (ICD) and activated pyroptosis in tumor cells via the caspase-3–GSDME signaling pathway. IR780-ZnS@HSA also activated the cGAS–STING signaling pathway. The two pathways synergistically boost immune response. In vivo, IR780-ZnS@HSA + laser significantly inhibited tumor growth in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice and triggered an immune response, improving the efficacy of the anti-APD-L1 antibody (aPD-L1). In conclusion, IR780-ZnS@HSA, as a novel inducer of pyroptosis, can significantly inhibit tumor growth and improve the efficacy of aPD-L1

Impact of Urbanization on Ecosystem Services Balance in the Han River Ecological Economic Belt, China: A Multi-Scale Perspective

Urbanization intensification seriously interferes with the supply capacity and demand level of ecosystem services (ESs); therefore, it affects the balance state of ESs. Coordination of urbanization development and ecosystem protection in the ecological economic belt is vital for ecological protection and high-quality development of the ecological economic belt. However, previous studies lacked multi-scale analysis of the impact of urbanization elements on the ESs balance index (ESBI) in the ecological economic belt. In this study, a geographically weighted regression model was employed to measure the spatial non-stationary patterns associated with the impact of urbanization elements on the ESBI at 5 km and 10 km in the Han River Ecological Economic Belt (HREEB) in China based on land use data. The main findings were shown as follows. The supply capacity and demand level of ESs in the HREEB increased from 2000 to 2020 simultaneously, while the ESBI showed a decreasing trend. In mountainous areas, the ESBIs were evidently higher than those in the plain areas. During the study period, the urbanization level in the HREEB improved evidently, and the urbanization levels of the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River were relatively high. Significant spatial dependence between urbanization elements and the ESBI was identified. Urbanization had significant positive and negative impacts on ESBI, and there were significant differences among different scales. The findings of this study can act as a decision-making reference for ecological protection and high-quality development of the HREEB and can also provide a perspective for exploring the impact of urbanization on the ESBI of the ecological economic belt in other similar regions

Identifying the spatial differentiation factors of traditional villages in China

Abstract China's agricultural civilization had left numerous traditional villages (TVs) containing rich historical information and cultural landscape. Exploration the spatial agglomeration characteristics of TVs and their influencing factors is essential for the sustainable development, utilization, and protection of TVs in China. However, previous studies lacked a comprehensive analysis of the spatial distribution of TVs and their driving factors, especially at the national scale. To fill this gap, this study analyzed the spatial agglomeration characteristics and influencing factors of five batches of TVs in China during 2012–2019. The results show that TVs in China were mainly located east of the Hu Line, that is, in the southern and eastern regions of China. The spatial distribution of TVs had significant clustering characteristics, and the gravity center was mainly distributed in central China, and the compactness of the spatial distribution of TVs increased from the first to the fifth batches. The TVs were mainly located at low elevations, northern slope aspect, warm and humid areas. Ferralisol and cultivated vegetation were the main soil and vegetation types in most TVs. TVs tended to be more numerous in the vicinity of low economic development levels, low population density, and rivers. In addition, TVs had a significant correlation with intangible cultural heritage. The results of this study could provide scientific guidance for heritage protection and sustainable development of TVs

Mapping and QTL Analysis of Early-Maturity Traits in Tetraploid Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Early maturity is one of the most important agronomical traits in potato breeding. To identify the DNA segment that codes for early maturity, a tetraploid potato segregation population of “Zhongshu 19” × “Zhongshu 3” was genetically analyzed, using a combination of high throughput simplified genome sequencing (2b-RAD) and bulked segregant analysis (BSA). The DNA segment related to the early-maturity trait was identified at the 3.7~4.2 Mb locus on the short arm of chromosome 5. Eight molecular markers were developed, of which five were closely linked to the early-maturity trait loci. Additionally, 42 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were constructed based on the reference sequence of Solanum tuberosum group Phureja DM1-3 516 R44 (DM). Using the TetraploidMap software, the linkage map of chromosome 5 was constructed with 50 markers. The total map length was 172 centiMorgan (cM), with an average genetic distance of 3.44 cM. Correlating molecular and phenotypic data of the segregating population, the mapped Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) on the short arm of chromosome 5 contributed to 33.55% of the early-maturity phenotype. The early-maturity QTL was located at 84 cM, flanked by the SSR5-85-1 and SCAR5-8 markers. The QTL was fine-mapped to 471 kb. Using DNA sequence annotation, 34 genes were identified in this region, 12 of them with unknown function. Among the other 22 annotated genes, E3 ubiquitin ligase gene PUB14 could be related to maturity and regulation of tuber formation. The constructed QTL map is a useful basic tool for the cloning of early-maturity related genes in tetraploid potatoes

An Efficient Augmented Lagrangian Method for Statistical X-Ray CT Image Reconstruction

<div><p>Statistical iterative reconstruction (SIR) for X-ray computed tomography (CT) under the penalized weighted least-squares criteria can yield significant gains over conventional analytical reconstruction from the noisy measurement. However, due to the nonlinear expression of the objective function, most exiting algorithms related to the SIR unavoidably suffer from heavy computation load and slow convergence rate, especially when an edge-preserving or sparsity-based penalty or regularization is incorporated. In this work, to address abovementioned issues of the general algorithms related to the SIR, we propose an adaptive nonmonotone alternating direction algorithm in the framework of augmented Lagrangian multiplier method, which is termed as “ALM-ANAD”. The algorithm effectively combines an alternating direction technique with an adaptive nonmonotone line search to minimize the augmented Lagrangian function at each iteration. To evaluate the present ALM-ANAD algorithm, both qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted by using digital and physical phantoms. Experimental results show that the present ALM-ANAD algorithm can achieve noticeable gains over the classical nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm and state-of-the-art split Bregman algorithm in terms of noise reduction, contrast-to-noise ratio, convergence rate, and universal quality index metrics.</p></div

SNRs and MSEs of the images reconstructed by four different algorithms.

<p>SNRs and MSEs of the images reconstructed by four different algorithms.</p

Vertical profiles (296^th column) of the images reconstructed from different algorithms.

<p>(A) is the result from the FBP algorithm with ramp filter; (B) is the result from the NCG algorithm; (C) is the result from the SB-NCG algorithm; and (D) is the result from ALM-ANAD algorithm. The ‘dashed line’ in each sub-figure denotes the profile from the true phantom.</p

UQI measures of images reconstructed by four different methods.

<p>UQI measures of images reconstructed by four different methods.</p