Considering the diversity of tumors, it is of great significance to develop a simple, effective, and low-cost method to prepare personalized cancer vaccines.
In this study, a facile one-pot synthetic ...route was developed to prepare cancer vaccines using model antigen or autologous tumor antigens based on the coordination interaction between Fe
ions and endogenous fumarate ligands.
Herein, Fe-based metal organic framework can effectively encapsulate tumor antigens with high loading efficiency more than 80%, and act as both delivery system and adjuvants for tumor antigens. By adjusting the synthesis parameters, the obtained cancer vaccines are easily tailored from microscale rod-like morphology with lengths of about 0.8 μm (OVA-ML) to nanoscale morphology with sizes of about 50~80 nm (OVA-MS). When cocultured with antigen-presenting cells, nanoscale cancer vaccines more effectively enhance antigen uptake and Th1 cytokine secretion than microscale ones. Nanoscale cancer vaccines (OVA-MS, dLLC-MS) more effectively enhance lymph node targeting and cross-presentation of tumor antigens, mount antitumor immunity, and inhibit the growth of established tumor in tumor-bearing mice, compared with microscale cancer vaccines (OVA-ML, dLLC-ML) and free tumor antigens.
Our work paves the ways for a facile, rapid, and low-cost preparation approach for personalized cancer vaccines.
Thickening of the ligamentum flavum is the main factor in the development of lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). Although previous studies have reported factors related to ligamentum flavum ...thickening, its etiology has not been clarified. Furthermore, it is often difficult to set proper controls to investigate the pathologies of thickening due to differences in patient characteristics, such as age, sex, obesity, and comorbidities. This study aimed to elucidate the pathologies of ligamentum flavum thickening by comparing the dural and dorsal sides of the thickened ligamentum flavum in patients with LSCS. Ligamentum flavum samples were collected from 19 patients with LSCS. The samples were divided into the dural and dorsal sides. The dural side was used as a control to assess the pathologies occurring on the dorsal side. Elastic Masson staining was used to assess the elastic fibres. Gene expression levels were comprehensively assessed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and DNA microarray analyses. Gene ontology analysis was used to identify biological processes associated with differentially expressed genes. The elastic fibres were significantly decreased on the dorsal side of the thickened ligamentum flavum. Genes related to fibrosis, inflammation, tissue repair, remodeling, and chondrometaplasia, such as COL1A2, COL3A1, COL5A1, TGFB1, VEGFA, TNFA, MMP2, COL10A1, and ADAMTS4, were highly expressed on the dorsal side of the thickened ligamentum flavum. The biological processes occurring on the dorsal side of the thickened ligamentum flavum were extracellular matrix organization, cell adhesion, extracellular matrix disassembly, and proteolysis.These are considered important pathologies of ligamentum flavum thickening.
Decarboxylative aldol reaction of aliphatic carboxylic acids is a useful method for C-C bond formation because carboxylic acids are an easily available class of compounds. In this study, we found ...that the decarboxylative aldol reaction of tertiary β-ketocarboxylic acids and trifluoropyruvates proceeded smoothly to yield the corresponding aldol products in high yields and with high diastereoselectivity in the presence of a tertiary amine catalyst. In this reaction, we efficiently constructed a quaternary carbon center and an adjacent trifluoromethylated carbon center. This protocol was also extended to an enantioselective reaction with a chiral amine catalyst, and the desired product was obtained with up to 73% enantioselectivity.
Background and purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) analysis of one-point measurement and whole-tumor measurement, ...including radiomics for differentiating pleomorphic adenoma (PA) from carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA), and to evaluate the impact of inter-operator segmentation variability.
Materials and methods
One hundred and fifteen patients with PA and 22 with CXPA were included. Four radiologists with different experience independently placed one-point and whole-tumor ROIs and a radiomics-predictive model was constructed from the extracted imaging features. We calculated the area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve (AUC) for the diagnostic performance of imaging features and the radiomics-predictive model.
Results
AUCs of the imaging features from whole-tumor varied between readers (0.50–0.89). The most experienced radiologist (Reader 1) produced significantly high AUCs than less experienced radiologists (Reader 3 and 4;
P
= 0.01 and 0.009). AUCs were higher for the radiomics-predictive model (0.82–0.87) than for one-point (0.66–0.79) in all readers.
Conclusion
Some imaging features of whole-tumor and radiomics-predictive model had higher diagnostic performance than one-point. The diagnostic performance of imaging features from whole-tumor alone varied depending on operator experience. Operator experience appears less likely to affect diagnostic performance in the radiomics-predictive model.
Abstract To prepare acellular corneal scaffold, we used high-hydrostatic pressurization (HHP) to decellularize porcine cornea. The HHP method disrupts cells by hydrostatic pressurization, and then ...the disrupted cells' components are removed by washing with a cell culture medium. Porcine corneas were hydrostatically pressed at 980 MPa at 10 or 30 °C for 10 min to make them opaque. There was no change in the thickness of the corneas immediately after the pressurization, but they swelled during the washing process. The cornea swelling caused by HHP was suppressed when medium containing 3.5% w/v dextran was used. For H-E staining of the cornea decellularized with the HHP method, the complete removal of corneal cells was confirmed. Furthermore, when the corneas were immersed in glycerol for 1 hour, their optical properties were restored to those of native corneas. In an animal study, when acellular porcine corneas were implanted into rabbit cornea, no immune reaction occurred and the turbid corneas became clear. The decellularized corneas obtained through HHP could be useful as a corneal scaffold for tissue regeneration.
The decellularized cornea has received considerable attention for use as an artificial cornea. The decellularized cornea is free from cellular components and other immunogens, but maintains the ...integrity of the extracellular matrix. However, the ultrastructure of the decellularized cornea has yet to be demonstrated in detail. We investigated the influence of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on the decellularization of the corneal ultrastructure and its involvement in transparency, and assessed the in vivo behaviour of the decellularized cornea using two animal transplantation models, in relation to remodelling of collagen fibrils. Decellularized corneas were prepared by the HHP method. The decellularized corneas were executed by haematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining to demonstrate the complete removal of corneal cells. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the ultrastructure of the decellularized cornea prepared by the HHP method was better maintained than that of the decellularized cornea prepared by the detergent method. The decellularized cornea after interlamellar keratoplasty and microkeratome-assisted anterior lamellar keratoplasty using a rabbit model was stable and remained transparent without ultrastructural alterations. We conclude that the superior properties of the decellularized cornea prepared by the HHP method were attributed to the preservation of the corneal ultrastructure.
We report the case of a 2‐month‐old infant who was found moribund in her crib. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) was performed before autopsy. As the baby had a severe subdural hematoma, retinal ...hemorrhage, and encephalopathy on PMCT, abusive head trauma (AHT) was tentatively diagnosed. At autopsy, no scalp hemorrhages or skull fractures were found; however, the classic triad of AHT was present, mainly on the right side. Additionally, there was dark red discoloration around the heart, and the liver, spleen, and pancreas were enlarged. Peripheral blood was macroscopically cloudy with marked leukocytosis. After careful histological examination, B‐cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was diagnosed. All the macroscopic lesions could be attributed to ALL. The manner of death was natural. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of infantile ALL mimicking AHT on PMCT images. This case demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive systematic approach to considering differential diagnosis when PMCT shows multiple intracranial hemorrhages suggestive of AHT in an infant.
Electrospinning is a versatile method to fabricate nanofibers of a range of polymeric and composite materials suitable as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. In this study, we report the ...fabrication and characterization of polyaniline–carbon nanotube/poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) (PANI–CNT/PNIPAm-co-MAA) composite nanofibers and PNIPAm-co-MAA nanofibers suitable as a three-dimensional (3D) conducting smart tissue scaffold using electrospinning. The chemical structure of the resulting nanofibers was characterized with FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The surface morphology and average diameter of the nanofibers were observed by SEM. Cellular response of the nanofibers was studied with mice L929 fibroblasts. Cell viability was checked on 7th day of cell culture by double staining the cells with calcein-AM and PI dye. PANI–CNT/PNIPAm-co-MAA composite nanofibers were shown the highest cell growth and cell viability as compared to PNIPAm-co-MAA nanofibers. Cell viability in the composite nanofibers was obtained in order of 98% that indicates the composite nanofibers provide a better environment as a 3D scaffold for the cell proliferation and attachment suitable for tissue engineering applications.
Central precocious puberty (CPP) is puberty that occurs at an unusually early age with several negative psychological outcomes. There is a paucity of data on the morphological characteristics of the ...brain in CPP. This study aimed to determine the structural differences in the brain of patients with CPP.
We performed voxel- and surface-based morphometric analyses of 1.5 T T1-weighted brain images scanned from 15 girls with CPP and 13 age-matched non-CPP controls (NC). All patients with CPP were diagnosed by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were evaluated using Levene's test for equality of variances and a two-tailed unpaired t-test for equality of means. False discovery rate correction for multiple comparisons was applied using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure.
Morphometric analyses of the brain scans identified 33 candidate measurements. Subsequently, increased thickness of the right precuneus was identified in the patients with CPP using general linear models and visualizations of cortical thickness with a t-statistical map and a random field theory map.
The brain scans of the patients with CPP showed specific morphological differences to those of the control. The features of brain morphology in CPP identified in this study could contribute to further understanding the association between CPP and detrimental psychological outcomes.
Objective
The impact of clinical information on radiological diagnoses and subsequent clinical management has not been sufficiently investigated. This study aimed to compare diagnostic performance ...between radiological reports made with and without clinical information and to evaluate differences in the clinical management decisions based on each of these reports.
Methods
We retrospectively reviewed 410 patients who presented with acute abdominal pain and underwent unenhanced (
n
= 248) or enhanced CT (
n
= 162). Clinical information including age, sex, current and past history, physical findings, and laboratory tests were collected. Six radiologists independently interpreted CTs that were randomly assigned with or without clinical information, made radiological diagnoses, and scored the diagnostic confidence level. Four general and emergency physicians simulated clinical management (i.e., followed up in the outpatient clinic, hospitalized for conservative therapy, or referred to other departments for invasive therapy) based on reports made with or without the clinical information. Reference standards for the radiological diagnoses and clinical management were defined by an independent expert panel.
Results
The radiological diagnoses made with clinical information were more accurate than those made without clinical information (93.7% vs. 87.8%,
p
= 0.008). Median interpretation time for radiological reporting with clinical information was significantly shorter than that without clinical information (median 122.0 vs. 139.0 s,
p
< 0.001). Clinical simulation better matched the reference standard for clinical management when radiological diagnoses were made with reference to clinical information (97.3% vs. 87.8%,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
Access to adequate clinical information enables accurate radiological diagnoses and appropriate subsequent clinical management of patients with acute abdominal pain.
Key Points
•
Radiological interpretation improved diagnostic accuracy and confidence level when clinical information was provided.
•
Providing clinical information did not extend the interpretation time required by radiologists.
•
Radiological interpretation with clinical information led to correct clinical management by physicians.
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