Morphology of nonpolar （1120） a-plane GaN epilayers on r-plane （1102） sapphire substrate grown by low-pressure metal-organic vapour deposition was investigated after KOH solution etching. Many ...micron- and nano-meter columns on the a-plane GaN surface were observed by scanning electron microscopy. An etching mechanism model is proposed to interpret the origin of the peculiar etching morphology. The basal stacking fault in the a-plane GaN plays a very important role in the etching process.
Objectives
To develop and validate an ultrasound elastography radiomics nomogram for preoperative evaluation of the axillary lymph node (ALN) burden in early-stage breast cancer.
Methods
Data of 303 ...patients from hospital #1 (training cohort) and 130 cases from hospital #2 (external validation cohort) between Jun 2016 and May 2019 were enrolled. Radiomics features were extracted from shear-wave elastography (SWE) and corresponding B-mode ultrasound (BMUS) images. The minimum redundancy maximum relevance and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator algorithms were used to select ALN status–related features. Proportional odds ordinal logistic regression was performed using the radiomics signature together with clinical data, and an ordinal nomogram was subsequently developed. We evaluated its performance using C-index and calibration.
Results
SWE signature, US-reported LN status, and molecular subtype were independent risk factors associated with ALN status. The nomogram based on these variables showed good discrimination in the training (overall C-index: 0.842; 95%CI, 0.773–0.879) and the validation set (overall C-index: 0.822; 95%CI, 0.765–0.838). For discriminating between disease-free axilla (N0) and any axillary metastasis (N + (≥ 1)), it achieved a C-index of 0.845 (95%CI, 0.777–0.914) for the training cohort and 0.817 (95%CI, 0.769–0.865) for the validation cohort. The tool could also discriminate between low (N + (1–2)) and heavy metastatic ALN burden (N + (≥ 3)), with a C-index of 0.827 (95%CI, 0.742–0.913) in the training cohort and 0.810 (95%CI, 0.755–0.864) in the validation cohort.
Conclusion
The radiomics model shows favourable predictive ability for ALN staging in patients with early-stage breast cancer, which could provide incremental information for decision-making.
Key Points
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Radiomics analysis helps radiologists to evaluate the axillary lymph node status of breast cancer with accuracy.
•
This multicentre retrospective study showed that radiomics nomogram based on shear
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wave elastography provides incremental information for risk stratification.
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Treatment can be given with more precision based on the model.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, VSZLJ, ZAGLJ
The stress-associated protein （SAP） multigene family is conserved in both animals and plants. Its function in some an- imals and plants are known, but it is yet to be deciphered in wheat （Triticum ...aestivum L.）. We identified the wheat gene TaSAP17-D, a member of the SAP gene family with an AN1/AN1 conserved domain. Subcellular localization indicated that TaSAP17-D localized to the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane. Expression pattern analyses revealed that TaSAP17-D was highly expressed in seedlings and was involved in NaCI response, polyethylene glycol （PEG）, cold, and exogenous abscisic acid （ABA）. Constitutive expression of TaSAP17-D in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in enhanced tolerance to salt stress, confirmed by improved multiple physiological indices and significantly upregulated marker genes related to salt stress response. Our results suggest that TaSAP17-D is a candidate gene that can be used to protect crop plants from salt stress.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Signals from 800 G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to many SH3 domain-containing proteins (SH3-CPs) regulate important physiological functions. These GPCRs may share a common pathway by signaling ...to SH3-CPs via agonist-dependent arrestin recruitment rather than through direct interactions. In the present study,
F-NMR and cellular studies revealed that downstream of GPCR activation engagement of the receptor-phospho-tail with arrestin allosterically regulates the specific conformational states and functional outcomes of remote β-arrestin 1 proline regions (PRs). The observed NMR chemical shifts of arrestin PRs were consistent with the intrinsic efficacy and specificity of SH3 domain recruitment, which was controlled by defined propagation pathways. Moreover, in vitro reconstitution experiments and biophysical results showed that the receptor-arrestin complex promoted SRC kinase activity through an allosteric mechanism. Thus, allosteric regulation of the conformational states of β-arrestin 1 PRs by GPCRs and the allosteric activation of downstream effectors by arrestin are two important mechanisms underlying GPCR-to-SH3-CP signaling.
Walnut (
L.) is unique for its extensive biological activities and pharmaceutical properties. There are few studies on walnut oligopeptides (WOPs), which are small molecule peptides extracted from ...walnuts. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-fatigue effects of WOPs on ICR mice and explore the possible underlying mechanism. Mice were randomly divided into four experimental sets and each set of mice were then randomly divided into four groups. The vehicle group was administered distilled water, and the three WOP intervention groups were orally administered WOP solution at a dose of 110, 220, and 440 mg/kg of body weight, respectively. After 30 days of WOP intervention, the anti-fatigue activity of WOPs were evaluated using the weight-loaded swimming test and by measuring the change of biochemical parameters, glycogen storage and energy metabolism enzymes, anti-oxidative capacity and mitochondrial function. It was observed that WOPs could significantly prolong the swimming time, decrease the accumulation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and blood lactic acid (BLA), and increased the glycogen storage of liver and gastrocnemius muscle. WOPs also markedly inhibited fatigue induced oxidative stress by increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and decreasing the content malondialdehyde (MDA). Notably, WOPs improved the activity of pyruvate kinase (PK), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), Na+-K+-ATPase, and enhanced the mRNA expression of mitochondrial biogenesis factors and mitochondrial DNA content in skeletal muscles of mice. These results suggest that WOPs have beneficial anti-fatigue effects, which may be attributed to their positive effects on increasing glycogen storage, improving energy metabolism, inhibiting oxidative stress, enhancing mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle, and ameliorating the cell damage and the muscular injury.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Walnut oligopeptides (WOPs) intake is associated with the augment of the antioxidant defense system and immune system. The chief object of this study is to evaluate the radioprotective effect of ...walnut oligopeptides extracted from walnut seed protein against
Coγ-irradiation induced damage in mice. Female BALB/c mice were administered WOPs through drinking water for 14 days until a single dose of whole-body
Coγ-irradiation. The 30-day survival test was carried out in the first group (8 Gy), and the other two groups (3.5 Gy) were sacrificed at 3 days and 14 days post-irradiation. Blood and organ samples of mice in the three groups were collected, the histopathological analysis and immunohistochemistry were conducted. The number of peripheral blood leukocytes, bone marrow DNA content, inflammatory cytokines, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal permeability were measured. We found that the administration of WOPs augmented antioxidant defense system, accelerated hematopoietic recovery and showed the significant trend toward higher survival rate and less weight loss compared with non-administrated control mice. In addition, WOPs administration appeared to be important to limit IR-induced splenocyte apoptosis and inflammatory cascade as well as reduce intestine epithelial barrier dysfunction and promote epithelial integrity. These results suggest that pre and post-treatment of WOPs may help to ameliorate acute damage, which is induced by ionizing radiation in mice and accelerate its recovery.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes with high capacity have drawn much attention for mitigating cycling and safety crisis of their polycrystalline analogues. However, planar gliding and intragranular ...cracking tend to occur in single crystals with cycling, which undermine cathode integrity and therefore cause capacity degradation. Herein, we intensively investigate the origin and evolution of the gliding phenomenon in single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes. Discrete or continuous gliding forms are revealed with new surface exposure including the gliding plane (003) and reconstructed (−108) under surface energy drive. It is also demonstrated that the gliding process is the in-plane migration of transition metal ions, and reducing oxygen vacancies will increase the migration energy barrier by which gliding and microcracking can be restrained. The designed cathode with less oxygen deficiency exhibits outstanding cycling performance with an 80.8% capacity retention after 1000 cycles in pouch cells. Our findings provide an insight into the relationship between defect control and chemomechanical properties of single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The study investigated the protective effect of walnut oligopeptides (WOPs) against ethanol-induced gastric injury using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Rats were randomly divided into seven groups based ...on body weight (10/group), normal group, ethanol group, whey protein group (220 mg/kg body weight), omeprazole group (20 mg/kg body weight), and three WOPs groups (220, 440, 880 mg/kg body weight). After 30 days of treatment with WOPs, rats were given 5 ml/kg absolute ethanol by gavage to induce gastric mucosal injury. Gastric ulcer index (GUI) were determined and the following measured; gastric content pH, gastric mucin, endogenous pepsinogens (PG), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress indicators, and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins were measured to evaluate the gastroprotective effect of WOPs. The results showed that the administration with WOPs markedly mitigated the hemorrhagic gastric lesions caused by ethanol in rats, and decreased the GUI, the gastric content pH, PG1, PG2, and NO levels, enhanced mucin and PGE2. Also, WOPs repressed gastric inflammation through the reduction of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β and increase IL-10 levels, and revealed antioxidant properties with the enhancement of superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and catalase activity, while reduction of malondialdehyde. Moreover, WOPs treatment significantly down-regulated Bax, caspase-3 and nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) expression, while up-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and inhibitor kappa Bα (IκBα) protein. These results indicated that WOPs have protective effects against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats through anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, and anti-apoptosis mechanisms.
Aim： To gain insight into the histopathological responses and molecular targets in the inhibition of growth of human gastric cancer treated with celecoxib （a cyclooxygenase COX-2 inhibitor） combined ...with octreotide. Methods： Seventy five patients with gastric cancer undergoing curative gastrectomy or extended resection were randomly divided into 3 groups. The apoptosis of tumor cells was measured by terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick endlabeling （TUNEL） assay. Gastric cancer microvessel density （MVD） and the expression of COX-2 were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. The expression of somatostatin receptor （SSTR）-2 was detected with the biomolecular interaction analysis system. The transcription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugactivated gene （NAG）- 1 was measured by RT-PCR. Results： Compared with the control and celecoxib groups, more necrosis in the combination group was observed. The apoptotic rate in the combination group （7.06%±0.67%） was significantly higher than that in the control group （6.23%± 1.29%, P〈0.05）. The MVD decreased considerably in the combination group. The upregulation of NAG- 1 was displayed both in the celecoxib and combination groups. The positive rate of SSTR-2 in gastric cancers treated with celecoxib （48%） was significantly higher than that of control group （12%） after surgery （P〈0.05）. Conclusion： Celecoxib combined with octreotide significantly promoted necrosis in gastric adenocarcinoma through the induction of apoptosis and the reduction of MVD. NAG- 1 and SSTR-2 might be the molecular targets for celecoxib or octreotide.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Objectives
To evaluate the prediction performance of deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) based on ultrasound (US) images for the assessment of breast cancer molecular subtypes.
Methods
A dataset ...of 4828 US images from 1275 patients with primary breast cancer were used as the training samples. DCNN models were constructed primarily to predict the four St. Gallen molecular subtypes and secondarily to identify luminal disease from non-luminal disease based on the ground truth from immunohistochemical of whole tumor surgical specimen. US images from two other institutions were retained as independent test sets to validate the system. The models’ performance was analyzed using per-class accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC).
Results
The model achieved good performance in identifying the four breast cancer molecular subtypes in the two test sets, with accuracy ranging from 80.07% (95% CI, 76.49–83.23%) to 97.02% (95% CI, 95.22–98.16%) and 87.94% (95% CI, 85.08–90.31%) to 98.83% (95% CI, 97.60–99.43) for the two test cohorts for each sub-category, respectively. In terms of 4-class weighted average MCC, the model achieved 0.59 for test cohort A and 0.79 for test cohort B. Specifically, the DCNN also yielded good diagnostic performance in discriminating luminal disease from non-luminal disease, with a PPV of 93.29% (95% CI, 90.63–95.23%) and 88.21% (95% CI, 85.12–90.73%) for the two test cohorts, respectively.
Conclusion
Using pretreatment US images of the breast cancer, deep learning model enables the assessment of molecular subtypes with high diagnostic accuracy.
Trial registration
Clinical trial number: ChiCTR1900027676
Key Points
• Deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) helps clinicians assess tumor features with accuracy.
• Multicenter retrospective study shows that DCNN derived from pretreatment ultrasound imagine improves the prediction of breast cancer molecular subtypes.
• Management of patients becomes more precise based on the DCNN model.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, VSZLJ, ZAGLJ
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