Artificial Intelligence to Detect Meibomian Gland Dysfunction From in-vivo Laser Confocal Microscopy

Background: In recent years, deep learning has been widely used in a variety of ophthalmic diseases. As a common ophthalmic disease, meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) has a unique phenotype in in-vivo laser confocal microscope imaging (VLCMI). The purpose of our study was to investigate a deep learning algorithm to differentiate and classify obstructive MGD (OMGD), atrophic MGD (AMGD) and normal groups.Methods: In this study, a multi-layer deep convolution neural network (CNN) was trained using VLCMI from OMGD, AMGD and healthy subjects as verified by medical experts. The automatic differential diagnosis of OMGD, AMGD and healthy people was tested by comparing its image-based identification of each group with the medical expert diagnosis. The CNN was trained and validated with 4,985 and 1,663 VLCMI images, respectively. By using established enhancement techniques, 1,663 untrained VLCMI images were tested.Results: In this study, we included 2,766 healthy control VLCMIs, 2,744 from OMGD and 2,801 from AMGD. Of the three models, differential diagnostic accuracy of the DenseNet169 CNN was highest at over 97%. The sensitivity and specificity of the DenseNet169 model for OMGD were 88.8 and 95.4%, respectively; and for AMGD 89.4 and 98.4%, respectively.Conclusion: This study described a deep learning algorithm to automatically check and classify VLCMI images of MGD. By optimizing the algorithm, the classifier model displayed excellent accuracy. With further development, this model may become an effective tool for the differential diagnosis of MGD.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Specific Localization of Mitochondrial-Targeted Antioxidant Peptide SS31 Probe

The aim of this study is to investigate the targeting efficiency of FITC-SS31 to mitochondria in both normal and H2O2-induced oxidative damaged 661W cells, characterizing the properties of FITC-SS31 in the biological assays. The purity and molecular weight of FITC-SS31 were identified using HPLC and MS. MTT and LDH assays were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity and cell permeability. The binding ability of FITC-SS31 to cells was demonstrated by flow cytometry. The colocalization of FITC-SS31 and MitoTracker both in normal and oxidative cells was analyzed by a laser confocal microscope. We detected the DEGs between SS31+H2O2 and H2O2-alone-treated cells by RNA seq. GO and KEGG analyses were performed to predict the functional gene of SS31. The molecular weight of FITC-SS31 was 1142.2 with the 97.76% purity. The flow cytometry results showed that the MFI (mean fluorescence intensity) of FITC-SS31 in normal cells in the 4 h probe treatment group was higher than that in the 2 h and the 0 h group. The MFI in the 2 h probe treatment group was much higher than that in the 4 h and 0 h groups in damaged cells. The positive rate of 10 μM FITC-SS31 was higher than that of 1 μM and 5 μM. Fluorescein imaging analysis confirmed that FITC-SS31 was overlapped with MitoTracker. Through the analysis, DEGs were highly expressed in “localization, organelle, antioxidant activity, binding” functions and enriched in “AMPK signaling pathway, MAPK targets/nuclear events mediated by MAP kinase pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.” It is speculated that SS31 exerts an antioxidant effect through one of these pathways. We hypothesized that SS31 could play a more efficient role in the pathological cells in the half-life period to avoid cell death due to oxidative damage. The functions of the DEGs in SS31+H2O2 and H2O2-alone samples are related to the localization and antioxidant activity of SS31. DEGs are mostly enriched in the AMPK signaling pathway, which needs further studies.

The influence of surface roughness and viscosity on micropitting damage

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of surface roughness and viscosity on micropitting and their influence sequence. Design/methodology/approach Specimens were made of carburized and quenched 18CrNiMo7-6, and different surface roughness was obtained by grinding and shot peening. Tests were carried out on a rolling-sliding tribometer, with different viscosity lubricants and a heavy load under a boundary lubrication condition. The laser confocal microscope was used to measure the aspects, surface roughness, profiles in the contacted region and micropitting damage percentage. A factorial experiment was designed, and the range analysis was applied to find the sequence of influence of surface roughness and viscosity. Findings The result shows that surface roughness has a more noticeable influence since the change of viscosity cannot generate sufficient wear loss to suppress micropitting. Originality/value The influence sequence of two factors on micropitting was investigated and the reason for the distribution was analyzed.

Stable Loading and Delivery of Icaritin Using PEG–PCL Micelles for Ef-fective Treatment of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background:: Icaritin can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). However, low solubility limits its clinical usage. Objectives:: To improve the efficacy of icaritin treatment, a micelle system was designed for targeted delivery of drugs to OSCC cells. Methods:: In the present study, the micelles loaded with icaritin were self-assembled from the amphipathic polymer via film dispersion. Nanoparticles were characterized with the transmission electron microscope and dynamic light scattering. The cytotoxicity of icaritin nanoparticles was analyzed by CCK-8, and in vitro target-selective intracellular uptake behaviors were observed using a laser confocal microscope. Results:: The micelles were spherical with the mean diameter of 121.2 nm. In vitro studies revealed that icaritin was stablely and slowly released from micelles. Cytotoxicity analysis demonstrated that icartin-loaded micelles exhibited better therapeu-tic efficacy compared with free icaritin. Cellular uptake and intracellular release results revealed that micelles efficiently de-livered icaritin into OSCC cells. Conclusion:: These results suggest that encapsulated icaritin in polycaprolactone - polyethylene glycol (PCL-PEG) micelles may provide safe and effective drug delivery in OSCC treatments.

Heme Competition Triggers an Increase in the Pathogenic Potential of Porphyromonas gingivalis in Porphyromonas gingivalis-Candida albicans Mixed Biofilm

As one of the main pathogens of periodontitis, Porphyromonas gingivalis often forms mixed biofilms with other bacteria or fungi under the gingiva, such as Candida albicans. Heme is an important iron source for P. gingivalis and C. albicans that supports their growth in the host. From the perspective of heme competition, this study aims to clarify that the competition for heme enhances the pathogenic potential of P. gingivalis during the interaction between P. gingivalis and C. albicans. Porphyromonas gingivalis single-species biofilm and P. gingivalis-C. albicans dual-species biofilm were established in a low- and high-heme environment. The results showed that the vitality of P. gingivalis was increased in the dual-species biofilm under the condition of low heme, and the same trend was observed under a laser confocal microscope. Furthermore, the morphological changes in P. gingivalis were observed by electron microscope, and the resistance of P. gingivalis in dual-species biofilm was stronger against the killing effect of healthy human serum and antibiotics. The ability of P. gingivalis to agglutinate erythrocyte was also enhanced in dual-species biofilm. These changes disappeared when heme was sufficient, which confirmed that heme competition was the cause of thepathogenicy change in P. gingivalis. Gene level analysis showed that P. gingivalis was in a superior position in the competition relationship by increasing the expression of heme utilization-related genes, such as HmuY, HmuR, HusA, and Tlr. In addition, the expression of genes encoding gingipains (Kgp, RgpA/B) was also significantly increased. They not only participate in the process of utilizing heme, but also are important components of the virulence factors of P. gingivalis. In conclusion, our results indicated that the pathogenic potential of P. gingivalis was enhanced by C. albicans through heme competition, which ultimately promoted the occurrence and development of periodontitis and, therefore, C. albicans subgingival colonization should be considered as a factor in assessing the risk of periodontitis.

Effect of isothermal heat treatment on crystallinity, tensile strength and failure mode of CF/PPS laminate

The present work concentrates on the crystallinity, tensile strength and failure mode of CF/PPS laminate subjected to isothermal heat treatment of different temperatures and time periods. Results show that in the range of 100–210°C and 1–3 hours, with the increase of heat treatment temperature and time, both crystallinity and tensile strength of CF/PPS laminate increase firstly then decrease. Under the condition of 150°C-2 hours treatment, the CF/PPS has the optimal crystallinity level of 65.3% and the optimal tensile strength with a value of 718.2 MPa. Compared with the as-received specimen without heat treatment, the crystallinity and tensile strength have been increased by 46.4% and 15.3%, respectively. A laser confocal microscope has been used to observe and analyze the fracture morphologies of the specimens, results show that the failure modes of the specimens under conditions of 100°C and 150°C isothermal heat treatment are fiber extraction and fiber breakage, respectively, and both are AGM, while that of 210°C is debonding and delamination, which is DGM.