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High quantities of sporopollen fossil within geological formations areessential for the distinction and correlation of stratigraphic units. Asthe foundation of numerous geology-related tasks, the efficient classi-fication of sporopollen fossil directly relates to the subsequent works.Human-based methods are more time-consuming and dependent onexpertise for accuracy. Therefore, intelligent methods of identificationare needed. Although current automatic fossil identification is moreefficient compared to manual identification, this method is faced witha lack of versatility and applicability to the identification of multiplespecies within samples. To account for the complexity of the types ofsporopollen fossil and the presence of several distinct fossil particleswithin a sporopollen fossil image, this paper proposes a hierarchical intel-ligence localization and recognition model for sporopollen fossils basedon deep learning computer vision technology.This model initially used object detection technology to authenticate the position and main typeclassification of sporopollen fossil, and then a convoluted neural networkwas used to identify detailed characteristics in each type of fossil image,after which machine learning methods were applied to determine typeclassification and achieve hierarchical identification, which increases theaccuracy of recognition. In this paper, the obtained model was evalu-ated using 1,604 images of sporopollen fossil including 39 genera wherethe final accuracy of recognition averaged 95.42%, indicating the modelcan accurately localize and recognize particles of sporopollen fossil.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinological disorders affecting between 6 to 20% of reproductive aged women. However, the etiology of PCOS is still unclear. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a critical role in the growth and development of ovarian follicles. In our previous study, we showed that the expression level of EGFR was significantly higher in the cumulus granulosa cells from women with PCOS than that of normal women, suggesting that EGFR may play a potential role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. The present study further evaluated the association between EGFR and PCOS through both in clinical observation and animal experiments. We firstly validated the differential expression of EGFR in cumulus granulosa cells between PCOS patients and normal subjects by qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. Then we generated a mouse model (n=20) of PCOS by injecting dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). The PCOS mice were then injected with an E corpus GFR inhibitor (AG1478) (n=10), which significantly improved the sex hormone levels in the estrous cycle stage, and the serum levels of LH, FSH and testosterone were compared with the PCOS mice without EGFR inhibitor treatment (n=10). Decreasing the expression level of EGFR in the PCOS mice also improved the ovulatory function of their ovaries which was indicated by the multifarious follicle stage in these mice as compared with the PCOS mice without EGFR inhibitor treatment. Also, the number of corpopa lutea were higher in the control group and the EGFR inhibitor treated group than in the PCOS group. The sex hormone levels and reproductive function were not significantly different between the control mice and the PCOS mice treated with the EGFR inhibitor. Our results demonstrated that EGF/EGFR signaling affected the proliferation of cumulus granulosa cells, oocyte maturation and meiosis, and played a potential role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Therefore, the selective inhibition of EGFR may serve as a novel strategy for the clinical management of PCOS.

Among the methods of detecting food adulteration, the PCR amplification techniques of the endogenous reference gene are increasingly significant. In this article, the improved SDS-CTAB is chosen for the DNA extraction of Flammulina velutipes, the tre6P Phosphatase gene (Tps2) is selected an endogenous reference gene suitable to identify agricultural important fungus F. velutipes and by-products via PCR methods. The Tps2 gene was assayed in 2 varieties of F. velutipes and 9 non-F. velutipes species by both qualitative and quantitative PCR, no amplicon was captured in the non-F. velutipes species. By SYBR Green quantitative PCR, the melting curve showed that the target Tps2 sequence displayed high homogeneity in different F. velutipes varieties. In Taqman probe quantitative PCR analysis, the detection limit was as low as 3 pg/uL of DNA template. From what is said in the foregoing, we can conclude that the Tps2 gene is a reliable, convenient, and accurate endogenous reference gene for detecting F. velutipes component, even in the processed food products, such as sauce and biscuits.

Oral cancer (OC) is one of the most pernicious cancers with increasing incidence and mortality worldwide. Surgery is the primary approach for the treatment of early-stage OC, which reduces the quality of life of the patients. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover novel treatments for OC. Targeting ferroptosis to induce cell death through the modulation of lipid oxidation has been used as a new approach to treat many cancers. Glutathione (GSH) is a coenzyme factor of GSH peroxidase 4, and it carries potential applicability in treating OC. By using network pharmacology and molecular docking followed by systematic bioinformatic analysis, we aimed to study GSH-targeting ferroptosis to treat OC. We identified 14 core molecular targets, namely, EGFR, PTGS2, HIF1A, VEGFA, TFRC, SLC2A1, CAV1, CDKN2A, SLC3A2, IFNG, NOX4, DDIT4, CA9, and DUSP1, involved in ferroptosis that were targeted by GSH for OC treatment. Functional characterization of these molecular targets showed their importance in the control of cell apoptosis, cell proliferation, and immune responses through various kinase activities such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase activity (e.g., ERK1 and ERK2 cascades) and modulation of TOR signaling (e.g., the HIF-1 signaling pathway). Molecular docking further revealed the direct binding of GSH with EGFR, PTGS2, and HIF1A proteins. These findings provide a novel insight into the targets of GSH in ferroptosis as well as possible molecular mechanisms involved, suggesting the possible use of GSH as a combined therapy for treating OC.