A multistep deep learning framework for the automated detection and segmentation of astrocytes in fluorescent images of brain tissue

While astrocytes have been traditionally described as passive supportive cells, studies during the last decade have shown they are active players in many aspects of CNS physiology and function both in normal and disease states. However, the precise mechanisms regulating astrocytes function and interactions within the CNS are still poorly understood. This knowledge gap is due in large part to the limitations of current image analysis tools that cannot process astrocyte images efficiently and to the lack of methods capable of quantifying their complex morphological characteristics. To provide an unbiased and accurate framework for the quantitative analysis of fluorescent images of astrocytes, we introduce a new automated image processing pipeline whose main novelties include an innovative module for cell detection based on multiscale directional filters and a segmentation routine that leverages deep learning and sparse representations to reduce the need of training data and improve performance. Extensive numerical tests show that our method performs very competitively with respect to state-of-the-art methods also in challenging images where astrocytes are clustered together. Our code is released open source and freely available to the scientific community.National Science Foundation (NSF

HIV-associated synaptic degeneration

Abstract Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection induces neuronal injuries, with almost 50% of infected individuals developing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Although highly activate antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly reduced the incidence of severe dementia, the overall prevalence of HAND remains high. Synaptic degeneration is emerging as one of the most relevant neuropathologies associate with HAND. Previous studies have reported critical roles of viral proteins and inflammatory responses in this pathogenesis. Infected cells, including macrophages, microglia and astrocytes, may release viral proteins and other neurotoxins to stimulate neurons and cause excessive calcium influx, overproduction of free radicals and disruption of neurotransmitter hemostasis. The dysregulation of neural circuits likely leads to synaptic damage and loss. Identification of the specific mechanism of the synaptic degeneration may facilitate the development of effective therapeutic approaches to treat HAND

Effects of Overexpression and Inhibited Expression of Thymosin, an Actin‐interacting Protein from Bombyx Mori, on BmNPV Proliferation and Replication

Previous study showed that exogenously applied recombinant thymosin from Bombyx mori (BmTHY) reduces B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) proliferation in silkworm. Which stands to reason that BmTHY in B. mori is crucial for the defense against BmNPV. However, little is known about the effect of endogenously overexpressed or repressed BmTHY on B. mori resistance to virus infection. To study this issue, we constructed an overexpression and inhibited expression systems of BmTHY in BmN cells. The viral titer and the analysis from the quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that overexpression of BmTHY decreased the copies of BmNPV gene gp41, which goes over to inhibit the proliferation of BmNPV in BmN cells, while the inhibited expression of BmTHY significantly enhanced viral proliferation in infected BmN cells. These results indicated that endogenous BmTHY can inhibit BmNPV proliferation and replication in infected BmN cells. Furthermore, Co‐IP showed that BmTHY could bind to actin in BmN cells. Also, the overexpression or inhibited expression of BmTHY shifted the ratio of F/G‐actin in infected BmN cells. Lastly, the BmTHY, an actin‐interacting protein, might be one of the key host factors against BmNPV, which inhibits viral proliferation and replication in BmN cells

Thermal Decomposition Mechanism and Kinetics Study of Plastic Waste Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride

Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), as a new type of engineering plastic waste, has been used widely due to its good heat resistance, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, while it has become an important part of solid waste. The pyrolysis behaviors of CPVC waste were analyzed based on thermogravimetric experiments to explore its reaction mechanism. Compared with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pyrolysis, CPVC pyrolysis mechanism was divided into two stages and speculated to be dominated by the dehydrochlorination and cyclization/aromatization processes. A common model-free method, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method, was applied to estimate the activation energy values at different conversion rates. Meanwhile, a typical model-fitting method, Coats-Redfern method, was used to predict the possible reaction model by the comparison of activation energy obtained from model-free method, thereby the first order reaction-order model and fourth order reaction-order model were established corresponding to these two stages. Eventually, based on the initial kinetic parameter values computed by model-free method and reaction model established by model-fitting method, kinetic parameters were optimized by Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm and further applied to predict the CPVC pyrolysis behaviors during the whole temperature range

Synergistic Effects of Aluminum Diethylphosphinate and Melamine on Improving the Flame Retardancy of Phenolic Resin

A series of novel flame retardants (aluminum diethylphosphinate and melamine) were used to improve the fire performance of phenolic resin. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to characterize the modification results. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to study the thermal decomposition of phenolic resin system, and the flame retardancy of phenolic resin system was tested by vertical combustion test (UL-94) and limiting oxygen index (LOI). The combustion properties of modified phenolic resin were further tested with a cone calorimeter(CCT). Finally, the structure of carbon residue layer was measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that with the introduction of 10 wt % aluminum diethylphosphinate in phenolic resin, the LOI reaches 33.1%, residual carbon content increase to 55%. The heat release rate (HRR) decreased to 245.6 kW/m2, and the total heat release (THR) decreased to 58.6 MJ/m2. By adding 10 wt % aluminum diethylphosphinate and 3 wt % melamine, the flame retardancy of the modified resin can pass UL-94 V-0 flame retardant grade, LOI reaches 34.6%, residual carbon content increase to 59.5%. The HRR decreases to 196.2 kW/m2 at 196 s, relatively pure phenolic resin decreased by 35.5%, and THR decreased to 51 MJ/m2. Compared with pure phenolic resin, the heat release rate and total heat release of modified phenolic resin decreased significantly. This suggests that aluminum diethylphosphinate and melamine play a nitrogen-phosphorus synergistic effect in the phenolic resin, which improves the thermal stability and flame retardancy of the phenolic resin

Achyranthes bidentata Polypeptides Reduces Oxidative Stress and Exerts Protective Effects against Myocardial Ischemic/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Achyranthes bidentata, a Chinese medicinal herb, is reported to be neuroprotective. However, its role in cardioprotection remains largely unknown. Our present study aimed to investigate the effects of Achyranthes bidentata polypeptides (ABPP) preconditioning on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury and to test the possible mechanisms. Rats were treated with ABPP (10 mg/kg/d, i.p.) or saline once daily for one week. Afterward, all the animals were subjected to 30 min of myocardial ischemia followed by 4 h of reperfusion. ABPP preconditioning for one week significantly improved cardiac function following MI/R. Meanwhile, ABPP reduced infarct size, plasma creatine kinase (CK)/lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and myocardial apoptosis at the end of reperfusion in rat hearts. Moreover, ABPP preconditioning significantly inhibited superoxide generation, gp91phox expression, malonaldialdehyde formation and enhanced superoxide dismutase activity in I/R hearts. Furthermore, ABPP treatment inhibited PTEN expression and increased Akt phosphorylation in I/R rat heart. PI3K inhibitor wortmannin blocked Akt activation, and abolished ABPP-stimulated anti-oxidant effect and cardioprotection. Our study demonstrated for the first time that ABPP reduces oxidative stress and exerts cardioprotection against MI/R injury in rats. Inhibition of PTEN and activation of Akt may contribute to the anti-oxidant capacity and cardioprotection of ABPP

Concentration, optical characteristics, and emission factors of brown carbon emitted by on-road vehicles

Atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) is a light-absorbing component that affects radiative forcing; however, this effect requires further clarification, particularly with respect to BrC emission sources, chromophores, and optical properties. In the present study, the concentrations, optical properties, and emission factors of organic carbon (OC), water-soluble OC (WSOC), and humic-like substances (HULIS) in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted from vehicles in three road tunnels ( the Wucun, Xianyue, and Wenxing tunnels in Xiamen, China) were investigated. The mass concentrations and light absorption of OC, WSOC, and HULLS were higher at the exits of each tunnel than at entrances, demonstrating that vehicle emissions were a BrC source. At each tunnel's exit, the average light absorption contributed by HULIS-BrC to water-soluble BrC (WS-BrC) and total BrC at 365 nm was higher than the corresponding carbon mass concentration contributed by HULIS (HULIS-C) to WSOC and OC, indicating that the chromophores of HULIS emitted from vehicles had a disproportionately high effect on the light absorption characteristics of BrC. The emission factors (ER) of HUUS-C and WSOC mass concentrations were highest at the Xianyue tunnel; however, the EFs of HULIS-BrC and WS-BrC light absorption were highest at the Wenxing tunnel, indicating that the chromophore composition of BrC was different among the tunnels and that the mass concentration EFs did not correspond directly to the light absorption EFs. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Concentrations, optical properties and sources of humic-like substances (HULIS) in fine particulate matter in Xi'an, Northwest China

Humic-like substances ( HULLS) are ubiquitous in the atmospheric environment, which affects both human health and climate. We present here the mass concentration and optical characteristics of HULIS isolated from aerosol samples collected in Xi'an, China. Both mass concentration and absorption coefficient (Abs (385)) of HULIS show clear seasonal differences, with the highest average in winter (3.91 mu gC m(-3) and 4.78 M m(-1), respectively) and the lowest in summer (0.65 mu gC m(-3) and 0.55 M m(-1), respectively). The sources of HULIS _C and light absorption of HUUS were analyzed by positive matrix factorization (PMF) and four major sources were resolved, including secondary formation, biomass burning, coal burning, and vehicle emission. Our results show that secondary formation (i.e., gas-to-particle conversion from e.g., photochemical oxidation) was the major contributor to both HULIS _C (50%) and light absorption (55%) of HULIS in summer, biomass burning and coal burning were major sources of HULIS_C (similar to 70%) and light absorption (similar to 80%) of HULIS in winter. It is worth noting that biomass burning and coal burning had higher contribution to HUUS light absorption (47% in spring, 37% in summer, 73% in fall, and 77% in winter) than their corresponding contribution to HUUS_C concentration (41% in spring, 37% in summer, 54% in fall, and 69% in winter). However, vehicle emission had lower contribution to HUUS light absorption (26% in spring, 8% in summer, 18% in fall, and 11% in winter) than to HUUS_C concentration (24% in spring, 13% in summer, 28% in fall, and 18% in winter). These results suggest that HULIS from biomass burning and coal burning have higher light absorption ability than from vehide emission. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The Role and Mechanism of Hyperoside against Depression-like Behavior in Mice via the NLRP1 Inflammasome

Background and Objectives: Hypericum perforatum (HP) is widely used for depressive therapy. Nevertheless, the antidepressant effect and potential mechanism of hyperoside (Hyp), the main active component of HP, have not been determined. Materials and Methods: We performed ultra-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole-time-of-flight–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) technology to analyze the components in HP. Using data mining and network pharmacology methods, combined with Cytoscape v3.7.1 and other software, the active components, drug-disease targets, and key pathways of HP in the treatment of depression were evaluated. Finally, the antidepressant effects of Hyp and the mechanism involved were verified in chronic-stress-induced mice. Results: We identified 12 compounds from HP. Hyp, isoquercetin, and quercetin are the main active components of HP. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP), the Analysis Platform, DrugBank, and other databases were analyzed using data mining, and the results show that the active components of HP and depression are linked to targets such as TNF-, IL-2, TLR4, and so on. A potential signaling pathway that was most relevant to the antidepressant effects of Hyp is the C-type lectin receptor signaling pathway. Furthermore, the antidepressant effects of Hyp were examined, and it is verified for the first time that Hyp significantly alleviated depressive-like behaviors in chronic-stress-induced mice, which may be mediated by inhibiting the NLRP1 inflammasome through the CXCL1/CXCR2/BDNF signaling pathway. Conclusion: Hyp is one of the main active components of HP, and Hyp has antidepressant effects through the NLRP1 inflammasome, which may be connected with the CXCL1/CXCR2/BDNF signaling pathway