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Crop diseases are one of the important factors affecting crop yield and quality and are also an important research target in the field of agriculture. In order to quickly and accurately identify crop diseases, help farmers to control crop diseases in time, and reduce crop losses. Inspired by the application of convolutional neural networks in image identification, we propose a lightweight crop disease image identification model based on attentional feature fusion named DSGIResNet_AFF, which introduces self-built lightweight residual blocks, inverted residuals blocks, and attentional feature fusion modules on the basis of ResNet18. We apply the model to the identification of rice and corn diseases, and the results show the effectiveness of the model on the real dataset. Additionally, the model is compared with other convolutional neural networks (AlexNet, VGG16, ShuffleNetV2, MobileNetV2, MobileNetV3-Small and MobileNetV3-Large), and the experimental results show that the accuracy, sensitivity, F1-score, AUC of the proposed model DSGIResNet_AFF are 98.30%, 98.23%, 98.24%, 99.97%, respectively, which are better than other network models, while the complexity of the model is significantly reduced (compared with the basic model ResNet18, the number of parameters is reduced by 94.10%, and the floating point of operations(FLOPs) is reduced by 86.13%). The network model DSGIResNet_AFF can be applied to mobile devices and become a useful tool for identifying crop diseases.

Background: Respiratory tract infection (RTI) is associated with a higher risk of kidney failure in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), without effective precautions. Self-administered acupressure (SAA) has been shown to potentially prevent RTI, but still lack of clinical evidence in CKD. The present randomized controlled trial assessed the efficacy and safety of SAA in preventing RTI recurrence in patients with CKD., Methods: Participants with CKD who had been diagnosed with RTI on more than 2 occasions in the preceding 12 months were enrolled between November 6, 2017, and August, 6, 2018. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive daily SAA combined with usual care (intervention) or usual care alone (control) for 24 months. The primary outcome was time to first RTI. Secondary outcomes were RTI rate, kidney function, proteinuria and serum immune indicators, detected by the clinical laboratory in the hospital. The study would be discontinued if the participant met the criteria of stopping the study. Kaplan-Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression were used to compare the primary outcome between the two groups., Results: Among the 540 patients screened, 114 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=57) or the control group (n=57). The median follow-up duration was 24.4 months. Compared with controls, participants in the intervention group did not have a significantly lower risk of RTI according to Kaplan-Meier analysis, but did have a significantly lower risk of RTI according to competing risk analysis (HR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.42-1.00; P=0.05), when considering endpoint (dialysis or death) and loss to follow-up as competing risks, and had a significantly lower rate of RTI [1.65 vs. 2.19 episodes per patient-year, respectively; incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.75, 95% CI: 0.62-0.92; P=0.006]. Apart from lower study serum IgG levels in the intervention group at 24 months (mean difference 0.68 g/L; 95% CI: 0.07-1.29; P=0.029), all other secondary outcomes and overall adverse events were comparable between the 2 groups., Conclusions: SAA is a promising effective and safe therapy for preventing RTI in patients with CKD. However, the efficacy of SAA in children and adolescents still needs further study., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trials Registry identifier: ChiCTR-IOR-17012654., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://atm.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/atm-22-2376/coif). XL reports receiving funding from Program of the State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine (No. SZ2021ZZ43) without any payment. LZ reports receiving funding from Guangzhou Science and Technology Project (No. 2016201604030085) and funding from Program of the State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine (No. SZ2021ZZ16) without any payment. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2022 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the preventive effects of Ilex cornuta aqueous extract (ICAE) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced fatty liver of mice and its mechanisms., Materials and Methods: Twenty-six male KM (Kunming) mice were divided into 3 groups, including the control group ( n  = 9), fed with normal diet; HFD group ( n  = 9), fed with HFD; ICAE + HFD group ( n  = 8), fed with HFD and administered with ICAE (3 g·kg -1 ·d -1 ) at the same time for 10 weeks. Body weight, liver weight, intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat weight, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and blood glucose were determined to evaluate the preventive effects of ICAE on obesity. The average 24 h food consumption of the mice was monitored for 5 times in the 9th week of the experiment to investigate the effects of ICAE on food intake. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were assayed to observe the influences of HFD and ICAE on liver function. HE staining was adopted to observe the influence of ICAE on the morphology of adipose tissue and liver tissue. Hepatic TG and TC content assay and oil red O staining were used to evaluate the influences of ICAE on HFD-induced fatty liver, and the protein expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ (PPAR γ ) and adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP) in liver were examined by immunoblotting., Results: ICAE treatment significantly reduced the increase of body weight, intra-abdominal, and subcutaneous fat and liver weight induced by HFD ( P < 0.001), but has no influence on food intake; ICAE treatment attenuated the elevation of serum TG, TC, and glucose, as well as serum ALT and AST ( P < 0.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.001) and dramatically decreased the content of TG in liver ( P < 0.01), but has no influence on hepatic TC content. HE staining and oil red O staining showed that ICAE significantly reduced HFD-induced white adipocyte hypertrophy and significantly inhibited lipid accumulation in liver. Immunoblotting showed that the protein levels of PPAR γ and ADRP were significantly increased by HFD induction, which can be dramatically reduced by ICAE treatment ( P < 0.05, P < 0.0001)., Conclusion: ICAE has preventive effects on HFD-induced obesity and fatty liver in mice, exerted beneficial effects upon HFD-induced hepatic injury. The preventive effects of ICAE on fatty liver are concerned with the downregulation of PPAR γ and ADRP protein expression in liver., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Meifang Liu et al.)

Uniform poly-α-methylstyrene (PAMS) hollow core microcapsules (HCMs) are widely used as templates to fabricate glow discharge polymer (GDP) fuel capsules, which are fundamental devices for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) engineering. The sphericity and surface finish uniformity of PAMS HCMs are critical for achieving high-quality GDP fuel capsules. In this work, millimeter-scale PAMS HCMs were fabricated by a microencapsulation technique. The sphericity and surface finish uniformity were concurrently improved using di-t-butyl peroxide (DTBP). The mechanisms of these effects were also experimentally and theoretically investigated. The results show that DTBP distributes at the O-W2 interface of W1/O/W2 compound droplets, which resists the diffusion of molecules through the O-W2 interface bidirectionally. The resisted diffusion of H 2 O molecules into the O phase eliminates PAMS HCM surface defects. Additionally, the resistance of fluorobenzene (FB) molecules from diffusing from the O phase into the W2 phase can effectively extend the solidification of W1/O/W2 compound droplets and thus improve the spherical uniformity of the HCMs. Using these improved PAMS HCMs, GDP fuel capsules meeting the stringent requirements for ICF engineering are prepared, and the quality of which is beyond the National Ignition Facility standard., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2022 The Authors. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.)

Abstract: To assess the benefits and harms of Chinese medicinal herbs formulae for the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy in adult patients with primary nephrotic syndrome.Only randomized controlled trials were included. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database, PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Internet, Chinese Biomedicine Database, and VIP. All studies were analyzed using the criteria of the Cochrane Handbook and were assessed in terms of quality and the risk of bias. Review Manager ver. 5.3.5 software was used for the data analysis, and GRADE profiler software was employed to evaluate quality.Two studies were included (n = 126 Chinese participants). We found that compared with against conventional treatment, one Chinese medicinal herbs formula plus conventional treatment reduced 24-hours urinary total protein (mean differences -3.16 g/24 h, 95% confidence intervals -4.03 to -2.29), and two Chinese medicinal herbs formulae increased serum albumin levels (mean differences 3.18 g/L, 95% confidence intervals 1.12 to 5.52; I2 = 0%).Chinese medicinal herbs formulae may reduce 24-hours urinary total protein and increase serum levels of albumin. However, larger and multicenter studies with high methodological quality are still needed., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objective: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has become the major cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) associated with the progression of renal fibrosis. As gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely related to renal damage and fibrosis, we investigated the role of gut microbiota and microbiota-related serum metabolites in DKD progression in this study. Methods: Fecal and serum samples obtained from predialysis DKD patients from January 2017 to December 2019 were detected using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. Forty-one predialysis patients were divided into two groups according to their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): the DKD non-ESRD group (eGFR ≥ 15 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) (n = 22), and the DKD ESRD group (eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) (n = 19). The metabolic pathways related to differential serum metabolites were obtained by the KEGG pathway analysis. Differences between the two groups relative to gut microbiota profiles and serum metabolites were investigated, and associations between gut microbiota and metabolite concentrations were assessed. Correlations between clinical indicators and both microbiota-related metabolites and gut microbiota were calculated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient and visualized by heatmap. Results: Eleven different intestinal floras and 239 different serum metabolites were identified between the two groups. Of 239 serum metabolites, 192 related to the 11 different intestinal flora were mainly enriched in six metabolic pathways, among which, phenylalanine and tryptophan metabolic pathways were most associated with DKD progression. Four microbiota-related metabolites in the phenylalanine metabolic pathway [hippuric acid (HA), L-(-)-3-phenylactic acid, trans -3-hydroxy-cinnamate, and dihydro-3-coumaric acid] and indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) in the tryptophan metabolic pathway positively correlated with DKD progression, whereas L-tryptophan in the tryptophan metabolic pathway had a negative correlation. Intestinal flora g&#95;Abiotrophia and g&#95;norank&#95;f&#95;Peptococcaceae were positively correlated with the increase in renal function indicators and serum metabolite HA. G&#95;Lachnospiraceae&#95;NC2004&#95;Group was negatively correlated with the increase in renal function indicators and serum metabolites [L-(-)-3-phenyllactic acid and IAA]. Conclusions: This study highlights the interaction among gut microbiota, serum metabolites, and clinical indicators in predialysis DKD patients, and provides new insights into the role of gut microbiota and microbiota-related serum metabolites that were enriched in the phenylalanine and tryptophan metabolic pathways, which correlated with the progression of DKD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Zhang, Zhang, Zeng, Chen, Zhang, Liu, Sheng, Hu, Su, Zhang, Lu, Liu and Zhang.)

Background: To investigate the clinical safety and efficacy of foldable capsular vitreous body (FCVB) in the treatment of severe silicone oil-dependent eyes., Methods: Five patients (5 eyes) of severe silicone oil-dependent eyes underwent FCVB implantation from December 2019 to July 2020. The preoperative and postoperative visual acuity, intraocular pressure, corneal conditions, postoperative retinal reattachment, and FCVB status were observed. The patients were followed up for 12-15 months., Results: A total of 5 patients (5 eyes) with severe silicone oil-dependent eyes were included, including 3 males and 2 females, with an average age of 32±14 years. The longest silicone oil tamponade time was 8 years, and the shortest was 2 years, with an average of 5±3 years. All patients were safely and successfully implanted with FCVB without severe intraoperative or postoperative complications. Up to the last follow-up, there was no significant change between preoperative and postoperative visual acuity. Before surgery, 4 patients had normal intraocular pressure while 1 patient had ocular hypotension; after surgery, the latter was still at a low level, and the other patients had intraocular pressure in the normal range., Conclusions: The FCVB is a safe, feasible, and effective vitreous substitute to maintain ocular morphology and intraocular pressure without aggravating silicone oil emulsification, retinal displacement, or corneal degeneration during the implantation period of 12-15 months.

To address the limitations of conventional Pd catalysts in the polymerization of thiophene-containing conjugated polymers, an active catalyst system based on Pd (0) and a phosphine-based bulky ligand, L1, is explored systematically in Suzuki-Miyaura polymerizations using thiophene boronic acid pinacol ester as one of the monomers. This active catalyst is found very efficient in synthesizing a series of thiophene-containing linear and hyperbranched conjugated polymers. First, as a model example, coupling reactions between electron-rich/moderately hindered aryl or thienyl halides and thiophene boronic acid pinacol ester give excellent yields with lower catalyst loading and can be completed in a shorter reaction time relative to Pd(PPh 3 ) 4 . Notably, high molecular weight thiophene-containing polymers are successfully synthesized by Suzuki-Miyaura polycondensation of 2,5-thiophene bis(boronic acid) derivatives with different dibromo- and triple bromo-substituted aromatics in 5-15 min., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Liu, Liu, Zhang, Wan, Guo and Li.)

Purpose: Visual outcomes after cataract surgery in diabetic patients with retinal or visual pathway disease are difficult to predict as the fundus may be obscured, and assessment of visual potential is challenging. This study assessed the value of visual electrophysiology as a prognostic indicator of visual recovery in diabetic patients with cataract, prior to cataract surgery., Methods: Forty-one diabetic patients (aged 52-80; 74 eyes) and 13 age-matched non-diabetic control patients (21 eyes) were examined prior to cataract surgery. Pre-surgical examinations included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slit-lamp bio-microscopy, ISCEV-standard full-field electroretinography (ffERG), and flash visual evoked potential (flash VEP) testing. Electrophysiological assessments included quantification of the DA and LA ERG, oscillatory potentials (OPs; OP1, OP2, OP3, OP4) and flash VEP P1, P2, and P3 components. Post-operative BCVA was measured in all cases and the diabetic patients grouped according to the severity of visual acuity loss: mild (logMAR ≤ 0.1), moderate (0.1 < logMAR < 0.5), or severe (logMAR ≥ 0.5). A fourth group included those without diabetes. The pre-surgical electrophysiological data was compared between the four groups by analysis of variance., Results: The severity of post-surgical visual acuity loss in the diabetic patients was classified as mild (N=22 eyes), moderate (N=31 eyes), or severe (N=21 eyes). In the group without diabetes, post-surgical visual impairment was classified as mild (N=21 eyes). The pre-operative DA 10.0 ERG a-wave amplitudes, DA 3.0 ERG OP2 amplitudes, and the LA 3.0 a- and b-wave amplitudes showed best significant differences among the four groups. The flash VEP did not show significant difference between groups., Conclusion: Electrophysiological assessment of diabetic patients with cataract can provide a useful measure of retinal function. Full-field ERG components, including the DA 10.0 ERG a-wave, DA 3.0 ERG OP2 component, and the LA 3.0 a- and b-wave amplitudes, are of prognostic value in predicting post-surgical visual acuity, and may inform the surgical management of cataract patients with diabetes., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Three boron-pyridyl-isoindoline-1-one based dyes (B1, B2, and B3) with varied side groups were facilely synthesized. Detailed analyses were carried out concerning the crystal conformation, structure dependent photophysical properties and mechanochromic fluorescence (MCF). The MCF behaviours and solid-state emission were demonstrated to be correlated to the different side groups. Upon grinding, the emission of B1 exhibited little changes, whereas reversible MCF with a distinct colour change was observed for B2 and B3. B3 possessing sterically hindered triphenyl amine (TPA) groups showed the most prominent MCF effect. For instance, mechanical grinding resulted in a red-shift of fluorescence from 600 nm to 650 nm. The electronic and steric effects of the donating substituents were found to play important roles in modulating the intramolecular charge-transfer effect and intermolecular interactions. These sensitively and readily tunable mechano-responsive behaviors of the boron-pyridyl-isoindoline-1-one based dyes make them potential candidates for smart fluorescent materials.

We report a mild, hydroxyl functionalized and thermal stable benzotriazole-based aerogel (HO-PBTA), which is inspired by phenolic resin chemistry. Taking advantage of the synergistic adsorption interactions between hydroxy-benzotriazole and CO 2 , and the phobic effect between benzotriazole and nitrogen (N 2 ), the CO 2 uptake capacity of the HO-PBTA reaches an encouraging level (6.41 mmol g -1 at 1.0 bar and 273 K) with high selectivity (CO 2 /N 2 = 76 at 273 K)., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Two aryl-substituted tetraphenylfurans (TPF-1 and TPF-2) and the corresponding ring-opened (Z)-1,4-enedione derivatives (TPBD-1 and TPBD-2) have been successfully synthesized. Although all the molecules adopt propeller-like configurations, experimental results revealed that the tetraphenylfurans (TPFs) were aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) fluorophores whereas the 1,4-enediones (TPBDs) were aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active. Additionally, the TPFs and TPBDs exhibited contrasting "turn-on" mechanochromic behavior, with an unusual blueshift of mechanochromic fluorescence for the TPFs and a remarkable redshifted mechanochromism for the TPBDs. Both of these solid-state optical properties were proven to be highly dependent on the mode of molecular packing and substituent effects. In particular, in addition to the tunability of the fluorescent properties through aggregation and mechanical force, ground TPF-1 was found to be efficiently sensitive to light. On the basis of these findings we constructed a smart film with ground TPF-1 and demonstrated its utility in data encryption and decryption well controlled by UV light. Therefore, this work not only provides an insight into the mechanism of AIE as well as mechanochromic effects, but also paves the way towards the development of multifunctional stimuli-responsive materials and devices., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Objective: To assess the clinical value of single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for treatment of pulmonary diseases., Methods: From October, 2009 to December, 2013, 105 patients with pulmonary diseases were scheduled for single-pore VATS for pulmonary lobectomy (19 patients), wedge resection of the lung (34 patients), and bullae resection and pleurodesis for spontaneous pneumothorax or pulmonary bleb (52 patients)., Results: Of the 105 patients, 101 patients underwent single-port VATS; the procedure was converted to open thoracotomy in 1 patient and to conventional three-port VATS in 2 patients. The operative time was 50.6∓36.8 min (20-200 min) with intraoperative blood loss of 70∓56.9 ml (10-300 ml), thoracic drainage time of 4.2∓3.2 days (2-14 days), and postoperative hospital stay of 5.4∓3.8 days (3-16 days). Postoperative complications of the procedures included prolonged air leakage (6 cases) and atelectasis (2 cases). All the other patients recovered smoothly without serious complications., Conclusion: Single-port VATS is a safe and efficient procedure that allows rapid postoperative recovery and is a method of choice for selected patients with pulmonary diseases.

The effective treatment of central nervous system diseases is a major challenge due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). P-aminophenyl-α-d-mannopyranoside (MAN), a kind of mannose analog, was conjugated onto the surface of liposomes (MAN-LIP) to enhance the brain delivery. In this study, we investigated the brain distribution of MAN-LIP based on our previous studies and tried to explore the relationship between the distribution of MAN-LIP and glucose transporters (GLUTs) on the cells. In vivo optical imaging was used to assess the distribution of liposomes in mice brain. The mice administered with MAN-LIP had significantly higher brain fluorescence intensity and MAN-LIP relatively concentrated in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex. Fluorescent microscope and Western blot were used to evaluate the results of lentiviral vector-mediated hSLC2A1 and hSLC2A3 gene transfection into C6, PC12 and vessels of endothelial cell line, bEND.3. The results from live cell station and flow cytometry showed that the cellular uptake of MAN-LIP was significantly improved by GLUT1 and GLUT3 overexpression cells. The transport experiments also demonstrated that the transendothelial ability of MAN-LIP was much stronger when crossing LV-GLUT1/bEND.3 cell monolayers or LV-GLUT3/ bEND.3 cell monolayers, of which GLUT1 and GLUT3 were overexpressed. The combined data indicated that the transcytosis by GLUT1 and GLUT3 was a pathway of MAN-LIP into brain, and the special brain distribution of MAN-LIP was closely related to the non-homogeneous distribution of GLUT1 and GLUT3 in the brain., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

MicroRNA-1 (miR-1) has been found in cardiac and skeletal tissues. It is overexpressed in ischemic cardiac tissues. Down-regulation of miR-1 could relieve arrhythmogenesis by the anti-miR-1 antisense oligonucleotides (AMO-1). To increase the therapeutic efficiency and inhibit off-target effects of AMO-1, here we explored anti-cardiac troponin I (cTnI) antibody modified liposomes loading with AMO-1 (cT-A-LIP) to deliver the oligonucleotides to ischemic myocardium tissues. Liposomal cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay. The targeting abilities to foci were evaluated by in vivo imaging. The uptake and bio-distribution in vitro were observed by live cell station and flow cytometry, respectively. The anti-arrhythmic effects of cT-A-LIP in vivo were evaluated by electrocardiograms (ECG), immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and patch-clamp recording. Immunohistochemistry showed that cTnI expression had a peak at the third day after myocardial infarction (MI). After cT-LIP administration via tail vein, accumulation of fluorescent trackers in the ischemic foci was significantly increased more than that of LIP. In addition, after cT-A-LIP administration, the ischemic arrhythmias were recovered and ST segment in ECG was elevated nearly back to normal. Compared with MI group, miR-1 expression was significantly down-regulated while Kir2.1 and CX43 protein expression were increased. Patch-clamp recordings showed that cT-A-LIP as well as AMO-1 incubation increased K(+) current density in guinea pigs ventricular cardiomyocytes acting on repolarized membrane potential. In conclusion, the cT-A-LIP not only delivered AMO-1 to ischemic myocardium in MI rats, but validated AMO-1 on relieving ischemic arrhythmia by silencing of miR-1 in ischemic myocardium and restoring the depolarized resting membrane potential (RMP) in MI rats., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Iridoid glycosides, 2',3',6'-tri-O-acetyl-4'-O-trans-p-(O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl)coumaroyl-7-ketologanin (1), 2'-O-caffeoylloganic acid (2), 2'-O-p-hydroxybenzoylloganic acid (3), 2'-O-trans-p-coumaroylloganic acid (4), and 2'-O-cis-p-coumaroylloganic acid (5), were isolated from whole plants of Gentiana loureirii along with six known iridoids, 7-ketologanin (6), loganin (7), loganic acid (8), sweroside, boonein, and isoboonein, and three other known compounds. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic means and chemical correlations. The isolated iridoids were evaluated for antibacterial and antioxidant activities, but were either inactive or very weakly active.