Browse Articles

Serum peptide biomarkers by MALDI-TOF MS coupled with machine learning for diagnosis and classification of hepato-pancreato-biliary cancers

A service-oriented microservice framework for differential privacy-based protection in industrial IoT smart applications

Reassessment of mechanical restitution in guinea pig cardiomyocytes through refined computational modelling

ALOX5 regulates vascular smooth muscle cells pyroptosis to affect abdominal aortic aneurysm formation

Abstract ALOX5 is a member of the lipoxygenase (LOX) family. It is ubiquitous in all tissues and cells of the human body and participates in cell metabolism, and is closely related to human inflammation and occurrence and development of various diseases. ALOX5 was reported to have a certain impact on occurrence and development of nervous system, respiratory system and cardiovascular system diseases. However, there are few reports on the effect of ALOX5 on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). This study aims to clarify the relevant influence of ALOX5 on AAA occurrence or development, and explore the mechanism through which ALOX5 plays a role in AAA formation. The AAA mouse model was constructed by subcutaneous implantation of a permeable micropump and injection of angiotensin II. After different treatment, the morphology of abdominal artery was observed and photographed. The mean diameter of abdominal aorta and tumor formation rate were recorded in each group. The thickness and shape of blood vessel wall were observed by HE staining. Masson staining was used to observe distal vascular wall precipitation and vascular wall fibrosis. In the cell experiment, the level of related indexes was detected after adding angiotensin II to MA-VSMCs. The levels of inflammatory factors, ROS level, MDA level, SOD activity and LDH release were detected by ELISA. Related proteins were detected by Western blotting. ALOX5 mRNA level was assessed by RT-qPCR. Integrity of MA-VSMCs cell membrane was detected by Hoechst 33342/PI double staining kit. Ang-II induced ApoE−/− mice to establish AAA model successfully. ALOX5 expression was increased in the ApoE−/− mouse AAA model. Addition of ALOX5 inhibitor reduced the occurrence and severity of AAA as well as inflammatory, oxidative stress and pyroptotic protein levels in ApoE−/− mice. Down-regulation of ALOX5 inhibited LDH release, oxidative stress, inflammation and pyroptosis of MA-VASMCs induced by Ang II. After ALOX5 inhibition, the NF-κB pathway was inhibited. ALOX5 overexpression promoted the release of LDH, PI-positive cells, pyroptosis related protein expression, oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokine release induced by Ang II in MA-VSMCs, while they were reversed by BAY11-7082 (BAY, NF-κB inhibitors). This study confirmed that ALOX5 involved in AAA development. Adding ALOX5 inhibitors to animal modeling could delay AAA development. Silencing or overexpressing ALOX5 in MA-VSMCs induced by Ang II correspondingly decreased or increased inflammatory cytokines and pyroptosis. The addition of NF-κB pathway inhibitor BAY inhibited the increase of inflammatory factors and pyroptosis caused by ALOX5 overexpression. These results indicated that ALOX5 promoted pyroptosis through NF-κB pathway, and then promoted AAA development.

Pharmacokinetic, biodistribution, safety and efficacy studies of borophenylalanine (BPA) in BNCT in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and tumor-bearing mouse model

Alcoholic vs. aqueous chlorhexidine for abdominal surgery skin preparation: a randomized controlled trial

Light discomfort thresholds under different lighting conditions in healthy subjects and dry eye patients

Unveiling social determinants of health impact on adverse pregnancy outcomes through natural language processing

Three-dimensional agitated saline contrast transesophageal echocardiography for the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale

Comprehensive multi-omics analysis reveals the core role of glycerophospholipid metabolism in the influence of short-chain fatty acids on the development of sepsis

Machine learning models for predicting morphological traits and optimizing genotype and planting date in roselle (Hibiscus Sabdariffa L.)

Assessing green innovation, energy transition and natural resources abundance for sustainable footprint in Paris club

Bridging gaps in risk factor control and adherence to recommended lifestyle among Non-Elderly hypertensive patients

Combining bedside index of severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP) and Charlson comorbidity index improves early risk stratification in biliary acute pancreatitis

Human-alignment influences the utility of AI-assisted decision making

Abstract Whenever an AI model is used to predict a relevant (binary) outcome in AI-assisted decision making, it is widely agreed that, together with each prediction, the model should provide an AI confidence value. However, it has been unclear why decision makers have often difficulties to develop a good sense on when to trust a prediction using AI confidence values. Very recently, Corvelo Benz and Gomez Rodriguez have argued that, for rational decision makers, the utility of AI-assisted decision making is inherently bounded by the degree of alignment between the AI confidence values and the decision maker’s confidence on their own predictions. In this work, we empirically investigate to what extent the degree of alignment actually influences the utility of AI-assisted decision making. To this end, we design and run a large-scale human subject study ( $$n = 703$$ ) where participants solve a simple decision making task—an online card game—assisted by an AI model with a steerable degree of alignment. Our results show a positive association between the degree of alignment and the utility of AI-assisted decision making. In addition, our results also show that post-processing the AI confidence values to achieve multicalibration with respect to the participants’ confidence on their own predictions increases both the degree of alignment and the utility of AI-assisted decision making.

Matrix stiffness drives alterations in aldehyde metabolism, inducing DNA damage and transformation

Summary Microenvironmental stiffness regulates fundamental aspects of cell behaviour, including proliferation, differentiation and metabolism, many of which are implicated in cancer initiation and progression. In the mammary gland, extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, associated with high mammographic density, is linked to increased breast cancer incidence. However, a mechanistic link between increased ECM stiffness and the genomic damage required for transforming mutations remains unclear. Here we show that ECM stiffness induces changes in mammary epithelial cell (MEC) metabolism which drive DNA damage. Using a mechanically tunable 3D-culture model, we demonstrate that transcriptional changes in response to increased ECM stiffness impair the ability of MECs to remove reactive aldehydes. Downregulation of multiple aldehyde dehydrogenase isoforms in MECs within a stiffer 3D ECM leads to higher levels of reactive aldehydes, resulting in genomic damage and transformation. Together, these results provide a mechanistic link between increased ECM stiffness and the genomic damage required for breast cancer initiation.

Multi-omics analysis of bariatric surgery’s impact on type 2 diabetes and prediabetes

Enhanced stability and efficiency in perovskite solar cells via mixed-metal chalcohalide-alloyed formamidinium lead iodide

Probiotic potential of ginseng derived Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strains with hypocholesterolemic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities

2D ferroelectric narrow-bandgap semiconductor Wurtzite’ type α-In2Se3 and its silicon-compatible growth

Abstract 2D van der Waals ferroelectrics, particularly α-In2Se3, have emerged as an attractive building block for next-generation information storage technologies due to their moderate band gap and robust ferroelectricity stabilized by dipole locking. α-In2Se3 can adopt either the distorted zincblende or wurtzite structures; however, the wurtzite phase has yet to be experimentally validated, and its large-scale synthesis poses significant challenges. Here, we report an in-situ transport growth of centimeter-scale wurtzite type α-In2Se3 films directly on SiO2 substrates using a process combining pulsed laser deposition and chemical vapor deposition. We demonstrate that it is a narrow bandgap ferroelectric semiconductor, featuring a Curie temperature exceeding 620 K, a tunable bandgap (0.8–1.6 eV) modulated by charged domain walls, and a large optical absorption coefficient of 1.3 × 106/cm. Moreover, light absorption promotes the dynamic conductance range, linearity, and symmetry of the synapse devices, leading to a high recognition accuracy of 92.3% in a supervised pattern classification task for neuromorphic computing. Our findings demonstrate a ferroelectric polymorphism of In2Se3, highlighting its potential in ferroelectric synapses for neuromorphic computing.