Metastable β-Bi 2 O 3 exhibits high catalytic performance due to its suitable band gap, greater dielectric permittivity and conductivity. However, the difficultly in preparing β-Bi 2 O 3 and β-Bi 2 O 3 based materials is still a...
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a new nomenclature proposed in 2023. We aimed to compare the diagnostic efficacy of noninvasive tests (NITs) for advanced fibrosis under different nomenclatures in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). A total of 844 patients diagnosed with CHB and concurrent steatotic liver disease (SLD) by liver biopsy were retrospectively enrolled and divided into four groups. The performances of fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio index (GPRI), aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) were compared among the four groups. The four NITs showed similar diagnostic efficacy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), MASLD, and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in patients with CHB with advanced fibrosis. LSM showed the most stable accuracy for NAFLD (AUC = 0.842), MASLD (AUC = 0.846), and MAFLD (AUC = 0.863) compared with other NITs (p < 0.05). Among the four NITs, APRI (AUC = 0.841) and GPRI (AUC = 0.844) performed best in patients with CHB & MetALD (p < 0.05). The cutoff value for GPRI in patients with CHB & MetALD was higher than that in the other three groups, while further comparisons of NITs at different fibrosis stages showed that the median GPRI of CHB & MetALD (1.113) at F3-4 was higher than that in the CHB & MASLD group (0.508) (p < 0.05). Current NITs perform adequately in patients with CHB and SLD; however, alterations in cutoff values for CHB & MetALD need to be noted.
To evaluate the effect of air pollution on the tear film stability by analyzing the correlation between Air Quality Index (AQI) and Lipid Layer thickness (LLT) in Xuzhou. As a prospective descriptive observational study, 284 patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), 157 patients with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), and 264 healthy volunteers were included. The tear film lipid layer thickness of the three groups of subjects was measured weekly and compared with the air quality index to analyze the correlation between the two indicators. Logistic regression analysis and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the effect of AQI on the thickness of the tear film lipid layer. The change of LLT with air pollution at different AQI levels was also analyzed. There are obvious seasonal differences in the changes of air pollution index in Xuzhou. Significant differences could be observed in the thickness of the lipid layer of the tear film among the three groups. LLT in the MGD group and SS group decreased with the aggravation of air pollution, while remained unchanged in the control group. There was strong evidence of correlation between LLT of the MGD group (F = 353.494, p < 0.01, adjusted R2 = 0.695) and the SS group (F = 502.404, p < 0.01, adjusted R2 = 0.764) with AQI, while there was minor correlation between LLT with AQI in control group (F = 8.525, p < 0.01, adjusted R2 = 0.046). Air pollution can cause a decrease in the thickness of the tear film lipid layer, thereby affecting tear film stability, leading to the occurrence of dry eye.
Few-shot remote sensing scene classification (FSRSSC) aims to identify unseen scene classes from limited labeled samples, facing the challenge of accurately modeling data distribution and preserving image details in complex backgrounds with high intraclass variance and interclass similarity. To address this challenge, we propose a novel Diffusion Prototype Rectified Network (DiffPR-Net), which is comprised of three core modules: diffusion augmentation (DA), dual attention fusion module (DAFM) and prototype rectified module (PRM). The DA is constructed to generate high-quality remote sensing images with the objective of augmenting the training dataset. Besides, the DAFM facilitates the model to focus discriminative regions by transmitting highly fused image detail features from higher to lower layers. What's more, the PRM addresses prototype deviation by adaptively assigning temporary labels to unlabeled data based on prediction confidence, thereby correcting the initial prototypes. Experiments indicate that our proposed method is highly promising, achieving competitive or state-of-the-art classification performance while addressing the scarcity of remotely sensed data and enhancing focus on discriminative regions.
The aim of this study was to develop a rat model of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) by forcing eye-open at birth (FEOB).A total of 200 Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats were randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group, which received eyelid open surgery on postnatal day 1 (P1). Observation time points were defined as P1, P5, P10, P15, and P30. Slit-lamp microscope and corneal confocal microscope were used to observe the clinical features of the model. The eyeballs were collected for hematoxylin and eosin staining and periodic acid-Schiff staining. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, CD68/polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and cytokeratin 10/12/13 immunostaining were performed, while the ultrastructure of the cornea was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), western blot, and immunohistochemical staining of activin A receptor-like kinase-1/5 were used to analyze the possible pathogenesis.FEOB could successfully induce the typical manifestations of LSCD, including corneal neovascularization, severe inflammation, and corneal opacity. In the FEOB group, goblet cells could be detected in the corneal epithelium by periodic acid-Schiff staining. The expression of cytokeratins was also different between the 2 groups. Furthermore, proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunohistochemical staining revealed the weak proliferation and differentiation ability of limbal epithelial stem cells in the FEOB group. Real-time PCRs, western blot, and immunohistochemical staining of activin A receptor-like kinase-1/activin A receptor-like kinase-5 in the FEOB group showed different expression patterns than those of the control group.FEOB in rats induces ocular surface changes resembling LSCD in humans, representing a novel model of LSCD.