Preoperative evaluation of the number of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is the basis of individual treatment of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). However, the routinely used preoperative ...determination method is not accurate enough.
We enrolled 730 LAGC patients from five centers in China and one center in Italy, and divided them into one primary cohort, three external validation cohorts, and one international validation cohort. A deep learning radiomic nomogram (DLRN) was built based on the images from multiphase computed tomography (CT) for preoperatively determining the number of LNM in LAGC. We comprehensively tested the DLRN and compared it with three state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, we investigated the value of the DLRN in survival analysis.
The DLRN showed good discrimination of the number of LNM on all cohorts overall C-indexes (95% confidence interval): 0.821 (0.785–0.858) in the primary cohort, 0.797 (0.771–0.823) in the external validation cohorts, and 0.822 (0.756–0.887) in the international validation cohort. The nomogram performed significantly better than the routinely used clinical N stages, tumor size, and clinical model (P < 0.05). Besides, DLRN was significantly associated with the overall survival of LAGC patients (n = 271).
A deep learning-based radiomic nomogram had good predictive value for LNM in LAGC. In staging-oriented treatment of gastric cancer, this preoperative nomogram could provide baseline information for individual treatment of LAGC.
•Evaluation of the lymph node metastasis (LNM) is the basis of individual treatment of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC).•Deep leaning radiomic nomogram (DLRN) based on CT images can preoperatively determine the number of LNM in LAGC.•DLRN is significantly superior to the routinely used clinical N stages, tumor size, and clinical model.•DLRN is significantly associated with the overall survival of LAGC.
This study evaluated the effects of Bacillus fermentation on soybean meal protein (SBMP) microstructure and major anti‐nutritional factors (ANFs) in soybean meal (SBM). The Bacillus siamensis isolate ...JL8 producing high yield of protease at 519·1 U g−1 was selected for the laboratory production of fermented soybean meal (FSBM). After 24 h fermentation, the FSBM showed better properties compared with those of SBM, the ANFs such as glycinin, β‐conglycinin and trypsin inhibitor significantly decreased by 86·0, 70·3 and 95·01%, while in vitro digestibility and absorbability increased by 8·7 and 18·9% respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of fermented soybean meal protein showed smaller aggregates and looser network than that of SBMP. Secondary structure examination of proteins revealed fermentation significantly decreased the content of β‐sheet structure by 43·2% and increased the random coil structure by 59·9%. It is demonstrated that Bacillus fermentation improved the nutritional quality of SBM through degrading ANFs and changing the microstructure of SBMP.
Significance and Impact of the Study
There is limited information about the structural property changes of soybean protein during fermentation. In this study, physicochemical analysis of soybean meal protein showed evidence that the increase in in vitro digestibility and absorbability of fermented soybean meal reflected the decrease in β‐conformation and destruction of original structure in soybean meal protein. The results directly gained the understanding of nutritional quality improvement of soybean meal by Bacillus fermentation, and supply the potential use of Bacillus siamensis for fermented soybean meal production.
Significance and Impact of the Study: There is limited information about the structural property changes of soybean protein during fermentation. In this study, physicochemical analysis of soybean meal protein showed evidence that the increase in in vitro digestibility and absorbability of fermented soybean meal reflected the decrease in β‐conformation and destruction of original structure in soybean meal protein. The results directly gained the understanding of nutritional quality improvement of soybean meal by Bacillus fermentation, and supply the potential use of Bacillus siamensis for fermented soybean meal production.
An efficient automated toolkit for predicting the mechanical properties of materials can accelerate new materials design and discovery; this process often involves screening large configurational ...space in high-throughput calculations. Herein, we present the ElasTool toolkit for these applications. In particular, we use the ElasTool to study diversity of 2D materials and heterostructures including their temperature-dependent mechanical properties, and developed a machine learning algorithm for exploring predicted properties.
Tuning the metal insulator transition (MIT) behavior of VO2 film through the interfacial strain is effective for practical applications. However, the mechanism for strain-modulated MIT is still under ...debate. Here we directly record the strain dynamics of ultrathin VO2 film on TiO2 substrate and reveal the intrinsic modulation process by means of synchrotron radiation and first-principles calculations. It is observed that the MIT process of the obtained VO2 films can be modulated continuously via the interfacial strain. The relationship between the phase transition temperature and the strain evolution is established from the initial film growth. From the interfacial strain dynamics and theoretical calculations, we claim that the electronic orbital occupancy is strongly affected by the interfacial strain, which changes also the electron–electron correlation and controls the phase transition temperature. These findings open the possibility of an active tuning of phase transition for the thin VO2 film through the interfacial lattice engineering.
A general therapeutic strategy to treat breast cancer is attractive as different subtypes of breast cancers often exhibit distinct response to existing cancer therapeutics. To this end, we prepare a ...catalyst couple of glucose oxidase (GOx) and gallic acid-ferrous (GA-Fe) nanocomplexes, a type of near-infrared (NIR) absorbing Fenton catalyst, to enable NIR-trigger in-situ gelation and enhanced chemodynamic/starvation therapy that appears to be effective for different types of breast cancer cells. In this system, GOx is mixed with GA-Fe in a solution of N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) and poly (ethylene glycol) double acrylate (PEGDA). Upon intratumoral injection and NIR laser exposure, such GA-Fe show rapid temperature increase, which would simultaneously increase the catalytic efficiencies of GA-Fe and GOx. The cascade production of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) from glucose is then initiated to enable polymerization of DMAA and PEGDA to form a hydrogel at the injection site within the tumor. The continuous production of cytotoxic •OH together with glucose depletion by the intratumorally fixed catalyst couple would further confer effective destruction of breast cancer tumors by such chemodynamic/starvation therapy. Our work presents a hydrogel-based therapeutic strategy for local treatment of solid tumors with high tumor destruction efficacy and low systemic toxicity.
Background
Postoperative complications have a great impact on the postoperative course and oncological outcomes following major cancer surgery. Among them, infective complications play an important ...role. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether postoperative infective complications influence long‐term survival after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods
Patients who underwent resection with curative intent for HCC between July 2003 and June 2016 were identified from a multicentre database (8 institutions) and analysed retrospectively. Independent risk factors for postoperative infective complications were identified. After excluding patients who died 90 days or less after surgery, overall survival (OS) and recurrence‐free survival (RFS) were compared between patients with and without postoperative infective complications within 30 days after resection.
Results
Among 2442 patients identified, 332 (13·6 per cent) had postoperative infective complications. Age over 60 years, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cirrhosis, intraoperative blood transfusion, duration of surgery exceeding 180 min and major hepatectomy were identified as independent risk factors for postoperative infective complications. Univariable analysis revealed that median OS and RFS were poorer among patients with postoperative infective complications than among patients without (54·3 versus 86·8 months, and 22·6 versus 43·2 months, respectively; both P < 0·001). After adjustment for other prognostic factors, multivariable Cox regression analyses identified postoperative infective complications as independently associated with decreased OS (hazard ratio (HR) 1·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·02 to 1·41; P = 0·027) and RFS (HR 1·19, 1·03 to 1·37; P = 0·021).
Conclusion
Postoperative infective complications decreased long‐term OS and RFS in patients treated with liver resection for HCC.
From a multi‐institutional database, 2442 patients who underwent resection with curative intent for hepatocellular carcinoma between 2003 and 2016 were analysed retrospectively. Among them, 332 patients (13·6 per cent) had postoperative infective complications within 30 days after surgery. Multivariable Cox regression revealed that postoperative infective complications decreased long‐term overall and recurrence‐free survival after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Complications decrease long‐term overall survival
The amyloid-β protein (Aβ) protein plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is believed that Aβ deposited in the brain originates from the brain tissue itself. ...However, Aβ is generated in both brain and peripheral tissues. Whether circulating Aβ contributes to brain AD-type pathologies remains largely unknown. In this study, using a model of parabiosis between APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic AD mice and their wild-type littermates, we observed that the human Aβ originated from transgenic AD model mice entered the circulation and accumulated in the brains of wild-type mice, and formed cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Aβ plaques after a 12-month period of parabiosis. AD-type pathologies related to the Aβ accumulation including tau hyperphosphorylation, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and microhemorrhage were found in the brains of the parabiotic wild-type mice. More importantly, hippocampal CA1 long-term potentiation was markedly impaired in parabiotic wild-type mice. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to reveal that blood-derived Aβ can enter the brain, form the Aβ-related pathologies and induce functional deficits of neurons. Our study provides novel insight into AD pathogenesis and provides evidence that supports the development of therapies for AD by targeting Aβ metabolism in both the brain and the periphery.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been studied extensively as monolayers, vertical or lateral heterostructures. To achieve functionalization, monolayers are often patterned using soft lithography ...and selectively decorated with molecules. Here we demonstrate the growth of a family of 2D materials that are intrinsically patterned. We demonstrate that a monolayer of PtSe
can be grown on a Pt substrate in the form of a triangular pattern of alternating 1T and 1H phases. Moreover, we show that, in a monolayer of CuSe grown on a Cu substrate, strain relaxation leads to periodic patterns of triangular nanopores with uniform size. Adsorption of different species at preferred pattern sites is also achieved, demonstrating that these materials can serve as templates for selective self-assembly of molecules or nanoclusters, as well as for the functionalization of the same substrate with two different species.
We report a successful observation of pressure-induced superconductivity in a topological compound Bi 2 Te 3 with T c of ∼3 K between 3 to 6 GPa. The combined high-pressure structure investigations ...with synchrotron radiation indicated that the superconductivity occurred at the ambient phase without crystal structure phase transition. The Hall effects measurements indicated the hole-type carrier in the pressure-induced superconducting Bi 2 Te 3 single crystal. Consequently, the first-principles calculations based on the structural data obtained by the Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns at high pressure showed that the electronic structure under pressure remained topologically nontrivial. The results suggested that topological superconductivity can be realized in Bi 2 Te 3 due to the proximity effect between superconducting bulk states and Dirac-type surface states. We also discuss the possibility that the bulk state could be a topological superconductor.
Land-surface albedo plays a critical role in the earth's radiant energy budget studies. Satellite remote sensing provides an effective approach to acquire regional and global albedo observations. ...Owing to cloud coverage, seasonal snow and sensor malfunctions, spatiotemporally continuous albedo datasets are often inaccessible. The Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) project aims at providing a suite of key land surface parameter datasets with high temporal resolution and high accuracy for a global change study. The GLASS preliminary albedo datasets are global daily land-surface albedo generated by an angular bin algorithm (Qu et al., 2013). Like other products, the GLASS preliminary albedo datasets are affected by large areas of missing data; beside, sharp fluctuations exist in the time series of the GLASS preliminary albedo due to data noise and algorithm uncertainties. Based on the Bayesian theory, a statistics-based temporal filter (STF) algorithm is proposed in this paper to fill data gaps, smooth albedo time series, and generate the GLASS final albedo product. The results of the STF algorithm are smooth and gapless albedo time series, with uncertainty estimations. The performance of the STF method was tested on one tile (H25V05) and three ground stations. Results show that the STF method has greatly improved the integrity and smoothness of the GLASS final albedo product. Seasonal trends in albedo are well depicted by the GLASS final albedo product. Compared with MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) product, the GLASS final albedo product has a higher temporal resolution and more competence in capturing the surface albedo variations. It is recommended that the quality flag should be always checked before using the GLASS final albedo product.
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