Elongated Physiological Structure Segmentation via Spatial and Scale Uncertainty-aware Network

Robust and accurate segmentation for elongated physiological structures is challenging, especially in the ambiguous region, such as the corneal endothelium microscope image with uneven illumination or the fundus image with disease interference. In this paper, we present a spatial and scale uncertainty-aware network (SSU-Net) that fully uses both spatial and scale uncertainty to highlight ambiguous regions and integrate hierarchical structure contexts. First, we estimate epistemic and aleatoric spatial uncertainty maps using Monte Carlo dropout to approximate Bayesian networks. Based on these spatial uncertainty maps, we propose the gated soft uncertainty-aware (GSUA) module to guide the model to focus on ambiguous regions. Second, we extract the uncertainty under different scales and propose the multi-scale uncertainty-aware (MSUA) fusion module to integrate structure contexts from hierarchical predictions, strengthening the final prediction. Finally, we visualize the uncertainty map of final prediction, providing interpretability for segmentation results. Experiment results show that the SSU-Net performs best on cornea endothelial cell and retinal vessel segmentation tasks. Moreover, compared with counterpart uncertainty-based methods, SSU-Net is more accurate and robust

Growth differentiation factor-15/adiponectin ratio as a potential biomarker for metabolic syndrome in Han Chinese

AimsGrowth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and adiponectin are adipokines that regulate metabolism. This study aimed to evaluate the roles of GDF-15, adiponectin, and GDF-15/adiponectin ratio (G/A ratio) as biomarkers for detecting metabolic syndrome (MS).Materials and methodsThis cross-sectional study included 676 participants aged 20–70 years in Jurong, China. The participants were divided into four groups based on sex and age (<40 and ≥40 years). MS was defined according to the modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the performance of GDF-15, adiponectin, and the G/A ratio in predicting MS.ResultsThe prevalence of MS was 22.0% (149/676). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the G/A ratio and adiponectin levels, but not GDF-15 levels, were correlated with MS [odds ratio; 95% CI 1.010 (1.006–1.013) and 0.798 (0.735–0.865), respectively] after adjusting for confounding factors. The G/A ratio displayed a significant relationship with MS in each subgroup and with each MS component in both men and women; however, adiponectin concentrations were significantly associated with MS and all its components only in men (all P <0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of the G/A ratio and the adiponectin level for MS was 0.758 and 0.748, respectively. The highest AUC was 0.757 for the adiponectin level in men and 0.724 for the G/A ratio in women.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the G/A ratio and adiponectin are potential biomarkers for detecting MS in women and men, respectively

MicroRNA-989 controls Aedes albopictus pupal-adult transition process by influencing cuticle chitin metabolism in pupae

Abstract Background Aedes albopictus is a vector of numerous devastating arboviruses and places heavy burdens on global public health. Chitin is one of the important components of cuticles and targeting chitin metabolism is a promising strategy for preventing mosquito dispersal and mosquito-borne diseases. Increasing evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in various physiological processes of insects. Methods A previous analysis suggested that the microRNA miR-989 is potentially involved in chitin metabolism in Ae. albopictus pupae. In the present study, we found that the expression level of miR-989 was significantly overexpressed after injection of agomir. A dual-luciferase assay was used to determine the direct target of miR-989. Survival rate, eclosion rate and malformation rate were statistically analyzed to evaluate the potential effect of miR-989. Hematoxylin–eosin staining and chitin staining were used to evaluate the microstructural changes in the cuticles of Ae. albopictus pupae. Results Overexpression of miR-989 resulted in a significantly reduced survival rate and eclosion rate of pupae and an elevated malformation rate of adults. The results suggested that miR-989 acted as a regulator of chitin metabolism in Ae. albopictus pupae by affecting the transcript levels of the Ae. albopictus genes encoding chitin synthase 1 (AaCHS1) and chitinase 10 (AaCht10). The altered expression levels of the two chitin metabolism-related enzymes (CHS1 and Cht10, respectively) caused the structural changes in cuticles and further affected the pupal-adult transition process of Ae. albopictus. XM_029863591.1 was proven to be the target gene of miR-989 and displayed similar effects on pupae as miR-989. Conclusions The microRNA miR-989 was found to be essential for chitin metabolism in old and new cuticles of Ae. albopictus pupae. The results of the current study suggested that miR-989 could be used as a potential target to control Ae. albopictus. Graphical Abstrac

Impacts of Technology Training Provided by Agricultural Cooperatives on Farmers’ Adoption of Biopesticides in China

As pesticide abuse becomes increasingly serious worldwide, it is necessary to pay attention to the biopesticide adoption behavior of agricultural producers. It is worth verifying whether agricultural cooperatives, as training organizations sharing the same social network with farmers, can promote the adoption of biopesticides through their technology diffusion function. Therefore, based on survey data of 837 citrus producers in Sichuan Province, China, the IV-probit regression model and a mediation effects model were used to empirically test the impact of technical training on farmers’ adoption of biopesticides in addition to its mechanism, considering the farmers’ perception of technology as the mediation variable. The results show that (a) participation in technical training can significantly enhance the probability of the adoption of biopesticides; (b) farmers’ perceptions of biopesticides’ economic and health benefits play a partial mediating role in the relationship; and (c) technical training has more significant effects on biopesticides adoption behavior for a household with higher-educated household heads, lower household total income, and smaller household size, relative to their counterparts. This study provides evidence for establishing relevant policy to encourage the full adoption of the technical training function of agricultural cooperatives and popularize the use of biopesticides

Impacts of Technology Training Provided by Agricultural Cooperatives on Farmers’ Adoption of Biopesticides in China

As pesticide abuse becomes increasingly serious worldwide, it is necessary to pay attention to the biopesticide adoption behavior of agricultural producers. It is worth verifying whether agricultural cooperatives, as training organizations sharing the same social network with farmers, can promote the adoption of biopesticides through their technology diffusion function. Therefore, based on survey data of 837 citrus producers in Sichuan Province, China, the IV-probit regression model and a mediation effects model were used to empirically test the impact of technical training on farmers’ adoption of biopesticides in addition to its mechanism, considering the farmers’ perception of technology as the mediation variable. The results show that (a) participation in technical training can significantly enhance the probability of the adoption of biopesticides; (b) farmers’ perceptions of biopesticides’ economic and health benefits play a partial mediating role in the relationship; and (c) technical training has more significant effects on biopesticides adoption behavior for a household with higher-educated household heads, lower household total income, and smaller household size, relative to their counterparts. This study provides evidence for establishing relevant policy to encourage the full adoption of the technical training function of agricultural cooperatives and popularize the use of biopesticides

Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of a Novel Recombinant BCG Strain Overexpressing Antigens Ag85A and Ag85B

Recombinant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (rBCG) strain is the promising vaccine candidate for tuberculosis (TB) prevention, which aims at providing more enduring and enhanced protection than the parental BCG vaccine. In this study, three rBCG strains overexpressing immunodominant antigens Ag85B (rBCG::85B), Ag85A (rBCG::85A), or both (rBCG::AB) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were constructed, respectively. rBCG strains showed higher level of overexpression of Ag85A and/or Ag85B proteins than BCG containing empty vector pMV261(rBCG::261), which had low levels of endogenous expression of both proteins as expected. rBCG::AB strain could provide the strongest short-term and long-term protection in the lung against intravenous infection with virulent M. tuberculosis than rBCG::261 control and other two rBCG strains overexpressing single antigen. The stronger and longer-lasting protection provided by rBCG::AB than rBCG::261 was correlated with systemic in vitro antigen-specific IFN-γ responses. Therefore, our results indicate that rBCG::AB could be a very promising TB vaccine candidate and should be further evaluated for the preclinical test

An Improved Whole-Blood Gamma Interferon Assay Based on the CFP21-MPT64 Fusion Protein▿

Differentiation of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) from a healthy, unexposed population plays a vital role in the strategy of controlling and eliminating tuberculosis (TB). Both CFP21 and MPT64, antigens encoded by the RD2 region which are restricted in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, are TB-specific diagnostic candidate antigens. In this study, we designed a fusion protein by linking both CFP21 and MPT64 with a 15-amino-acid peptide, (G4S1)3, and overexpressed the fusion protein in Escherichia coli. A new whole-blood gamma interferon assay based on the recombinant fusion protein, CFP21-MPT64 (rCM-WBIA), was developed and compared with the tuberculin skin test (TST) for screening of LTBI in household contacts of patients with sputum-positive TB. rCM-WBIA had a slightly higher sensitivity (66.7%; 24/36 contacts) than that of the TST (61.1%; 22/36 contacts) for household contacts. We found that rCM-WBIA had a very high sensitivity (90.9%) and specificity (71.4%) for LTBI detection compared with TST. The overall agreement between rCM-WBIA and TST was 83.3% (k = 0.64); rCM-WBIA positivity was associated with a larger TST induration. These results suggest that rCM-WBIA, based on the recombinant fusion protein CFP21-MPT64, is a promising alternative diagnostic tool for detection of LTBI

Quality of Life and Its Correlates in Alcohol Use Disorder Patients With and Without Depression in China

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious issue worldwide and frequently co-occurs with depression. However, the quality of life (QOL) of AUD patients with and without depression is not well studied in the Chinese Han population. The aim of this study was to investigate QOL and its correlates in AUD patients with and without depression in China. Methods: Five hundred and fifteen psychiatric patients diagnosed with AUD were recruited. All these patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depression, the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to evaluate QOL and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to measure the severity of drinking. Results: Compared with AUD patients without depression, those with depression had a lower QOL in all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P &lt; 0.001), but were more willing to have alcohol-related treatment (P &lt; 0.05). Negative correlations were noted between (i) the BDI total score and all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P &lt; 0.001); and (ii) between the AUDIT total score and six domains of the SF-36 (all P &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: Depression impairs QOL in patients with AUD in China. Early intervention in comorbid depression to improve QOL is needed.</p