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Versatile cataract fundus image restoration model utilizing unpaired cataract and high-quality images
Abstract Cataract is one of the most common blinding eye diseases and can be treated by surgery. However, because cataract patients may also suffer from other blinding eye diseases, ophthalmologists must diagnose them before surgery. The cloudy lens of cataract patients forms a hazy degeneration in the fundus images, making it challenging to observe the patient’s fundus vessels, which brings difficulties to the diagnosis process. To address this issue, this paper establishes a new cataract image restoration method named Catintell. It contains a cataract image synthesizing model, Catintell-Syn, and a restoration model, Catintell-Res. Catintell-Syn uses GAN architecture with fully unsupervised data to generate paired cataract-like images with realistic style and texture rather than the conventional Gaussian degradation algorithm. Meanwhile, Catintell-Res is an image restoration network that can improve the quality of real cataract fundus images using the knowledge learned from synthetic cataract images. Extensive experiments show that Catintell-Res outperforms other cataract image restoration methods in PSNR with 39.03 and SSIM with 0.9476. Furthermore, the universal restoration ability that Catintell-Res gained from unpaired cataract images can process cataract images from various datasets. We hope the models can help ophthalmologists identify other blinding eye diseases of cataract patients and inspire more medical image restoration methods in the future.
Unravelling the complexity of gene regulation through multiplexed protein mapping
Microvillus inclusion disease-causing MYO5B point mutations exert differential effects on motor function
Cost-effectiveness analysis of toripalimab combined with nab-paclitaxel as a first-line treatment for advanced TNBC in the US
Introduction Initial immunotherapy outcomes with toripalimab suggest a potential paradigm shift in the treatment of advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), promising extended survival for patients. However, its cost-effectiveness in the treatment of TNBC within the US health care context remains to be determined. Methods A 5-year Markov model was developed using data from the TORCHLIGHT study to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of toripalimab plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line therapy for metastatic or recurrent TNBC in the US. The model incorporated efficacy and safety data, literature-derived costs and utilities, and calculated ICERs. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the impact of variable uncertainties on the outcomes. Results Toripalimab combined with nab-P chemotherapy for TNBC patients resulted in an additional 2.68 life years (LYs) and 1.72 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), with an ICER of $593,750 per QALY. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the cost and survival utility of toripalimab significantly influence patient outcomes. At a $100,000/QALY WTP threshold, combination therapy was not cost-effective compared with nab-P alone. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that, from a US health care system perspective, toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy does not demonstrate a significant cost-effective advantage over nab-P chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with TNBC at a WTP threshold of $100,000/QALY and has a limited impact on US health care policy and clinical practice.
Clinical outcomes of the neuroendoscopic far lateral supracerebellar infratentorial approach for resection of deep brain lesions
Expanding the genetic code for site-specific lysine lactylation
Cryo-EM structures define the electron bifurcating flavobicluster and ferredoxin binding site in an archaeal Nfn-Bfu transhydrogenase
Characteristics of non-drinking and drinking adults in Taiwan and their implications in alcohol epidemiological studies
Background Confounding is a major threat to causal inferences regarding alcohol and health. One proposed causal inference approach was to compare the associations obtained from cohorts in different countries, where we know the confounding structures are different. To explore the confounding structure related to alcohol and health in Taiwan, we compared differences in the characteristics of drinkers and non-drinkers, using data from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (2013-2016). Methods The cross-sectional survey data were collected nationwide and were representative of residents in Taiwan, which included 2,846 men and 2,833 women ages 19 years and older. We used information regarding alcohol drinking and covariates of sociodemographic and health behavior variables. We performed sex-stratified multinomial logistic regression to assess the associations between each independent variable and alcohol drinking (non-drinkers, occasional drinkers, and moderate drinkers). Results Among men, 31% were non-drinkers, 7% former drinkers, 43% occasional drinkers, 13% moderate drinkers, and 5% heavy drinkers. Among women, 62% were non-drinkers, 1% former drinkers, 32% occasional drinkers, 4% moderate drinkers, and 1% heavy drinkers. In both men and women, occasional drinkers had higher educational levels and fewer family financial problems, but had more smoking and betel nut chewing behaviors than non-drinkers, after we adjusted for age. Moderate drinkers had even more smoking and betel nut chewing behaviors. Male moderate drinkers also reported more comorbidities than non-drinkers. Conclusions We observed that occasional drinkers had a better socioeconomic position than non-drinkers; moderate drinkers seemed to have a worse risk profile than non-drinkers. These confounding patterns were different from that in Western countries and may thereby help us make causal inferences regarding alcohol and health.
Design of infinite impulse response maximally flat stable digital filter with low group delay
In vitro reconstitution reveals substrate selectivity of protein S-acyltransferases
Examining the bacterial diversity including extracellular vesicles in air and soil: implications for human health
As the significance of human health continues to rise, the microbiome has shifted its focus from microbial composition to the functional roles it plays. In parallel, interest in ultrafine particles associated with clinically important impact has been increasing. Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs), involved in systemic microbiome activity, are nano-sized spherical vesicles (20 - 100 nm in diameter) containing DNA, RNA, proteins, and lipids. They are known to be absorbed into the body potentially through air and soil, circulate in the blood, and directly impact diseases by affecting organs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the biodiversity of bacteria and BEVs and predicted functional pathways. We sampled air and soil samples in Seoul, Korea and analyzed metagenomics based on 16S rRNA sequencing. At the phylum levels, Firmicutes in BEVs from soil and air were significantly higher than in bacteria, and Acidobacteria in both bacteria and BEVs from soil were significantly higher than from air (p < 0.05). The most dominant genera were Pseudomonas in bacteria from air and soil; and Escherichia–Shigella in BEVs from air and soil. In addition, Two-component system (ko02020) and ATP-binding cassette transporters (ko02010) were dominant functional pathways in both air and soil. The most functional pathways and orthologous groups were significantly different between air and soil (p < 0.05). In conclusion, human health can be affected differently depending on type of environment. Future study is necessary to have a better understanding of human health effects from environmental microbiota.
Incidence and predictors of type 2 diabetes mellitus during 17 years of follow-up in the Golestan Cohort Study
O-GlcNAcylation modification of MyoD regulates skeletal muscle fiber differentiation by antagonizing the UPF1 pathway
Transcriptomic profile induced by calcitriol in CaSki human cervical cancer cell line
The vitamin D endocrine system, primarily mediated by its main metabolite calcitriol and the vitamin D receptor (VDR), plays a critical role in numerous human physiological processes, ranging from calcium metabolism to the prevention of various tumors, including cervical cancer. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the genomic regulatory effects of calcitriol in a cervical cancer model. We examined the transcriptional changes induced by calcitriol in CaSki cells, a cervical cell line harboring multiple copies of HPV16, the primary causal agent of cervical cancer. Our microarray findings, revealed that calcitriol regulated over 1000 protein-coding genes, exhibiting a predominantly repressive effect on the CaSki cell transcriptome by suppressing twice as many genes as it induced. Calcitriol decreased EPHA2 and RARA expression while inducing KLK6 and CYP4F3 expression in CaSki cells, as validated by qPCR and Western blot. Functional analysis demonstrated that calcitriol effectively inhibited key processes involved in cancer progression, including cell proliferation and migration. This was further supported by the significant downregulation of MMP7 and MMP13 mRNA levels. Our microarray results also showed that, in addition to its effects on protein-coding genes, calcitriol significantly regulates non-coding RNAs, altering the expression of approximately 400 non-coding RNAs, including 111 microRNA precursors and 29 mature microRNAs, of which 17 were upregulated and 12 downregulated. Notably, among these calcitriol-regulated microRNAs are some involved in cervical cancer biology, such as miR-6129, miR-382, miR-655, miR-211, miR-590, miR-130a, miR-301a, and miR-1252. Collectively, these findings suggest that calcitriol exhibits a significant antitumor effect in this advanced cervical cancer model by blocking critical processes for tumor progression, underscoring the importance of maintaining adequate vitamin D nutritional status.
Multiple domain resilience components and frailty, postoperative complications, and one year quality of life deterioration after pancreatectomy in older patients
Structure-function studies of a nucleoplasmin isoform from Plasmodium falciparum
Construction of cDNA library of Dalbergia odorifera induced by low temperature stress and screening of low temperature tolerant genes
To systematically analyze the gene function of Dalbergia odorifera, the seedlings of D. odorifera were treated with low-temperature stress for 6 h. Total RNA was extracted from a mixture of seedling roots, stems, and leaves, and a low-temperature-induced D. odorifera yeast cDNA expression library was constructed. The library volume was 1.032 × 108 CFU, and the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) identification of the library bacterial fluid showed that the amplification was around 1000 bp, with a single randomly distributed band, indicating that the library had been recombinantly inserted into the pYES2 vector. The GO (Gene Ontology) analysis showed that the library genes were mainly involved in metabolic and stress signaling pathways. The KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway enrichment analysis showed that the genes were primarily related to energy and metabolic pathways. Twenty-one genes were screened or obtained at -20°C for low-temperature tolerance. In addition, the organ expression profiles of the candidate genes were analyzed based on RNA-seq data, and the expression profiles of the candidate genes under low-temperature stress were also examined. The construction of the yeast library provides genetic resources for the analysis of the mechanism of low-temperature tolerance of D. odorifera, which is important for comprehending and utilizing the genetic resources of D. odorifera.