CD5L (CD5 molecular-like) plays an important role in lipid metabolism and immune regulation. This study aimed to investigate the roles of CD5L on liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC).
We analyzed ...the CD5L mRNA expression and its potential prognostic value based on The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to investigate the CD5L levels in LIHC tissues. Serum CD5L levels in LIHC were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to investigate the effect of CD5L treatment on HepG2 and QSG-7701 cell proliferation. CD5L expression correlated genes were exhumed based on the LinkedOmics. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses for CD5L associated genes were performed. The correlation between CD5L and tumor immune infiltration was analyzed by using Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) 2.0.
CD5L mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased in LIHC tumor tissue compared with non-tumor control tissues. Moreover, serum CD5L levels were significantly lower in LIHC patients than that in healthy subjects. Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 and Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis showed that a high-CD5L expression was correlated with favorable overall survival in LIHC patients, except the LIHC patients with hepatitis virus. CCK-8 results showed that CD5L treatment significantly decreased HepG2 cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner, and CD5L treatment had no effect on the proliferation of non-tumor hepatocyte line QSG-7701. CD5L associated genes were enriched in the immune response biological process, and CD5L expression levels were positively correlated with the immune infiltrates of CD8 + T cell and M1 macrophage cells but negatively correlated with CD4 + T cells and M0 macrophage cell infiltration.
Exogenous CD5L inhibits cell proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma. CD5L may act as a role of prognostic marker.
The performance of a new kind of anti-agglomerant was evaluated on preventing hydrate plug in oil and gas pipelines using a flow loop device where hydrate slurries were formed from (diesel ...oil/condensate oil+water) dispersed system. The flow characteristics, shut down/restart behavior, and morphology of hydrate slurries were investigated experimentally at different water cut. The experimental results show that the adopted anti-agglomerant can disperse hydrate particles in fluid phase apparently. The formed hydrate slurries can safely flow and be easily restarted even though the initial water cut is upto 30.0 vol%. The rheology of hydrate slurries was analyzed based on the power-law fluid assumption and the rheology parameters and apparent viscosity were determined at different hydrate volume fraction. The analyzed results show that hydrate slurry exhibits shear-thinning behavior and belongs to pseudoplastic fluid. Its non-Newtonian behavior becomes more obvious with increasing hydrate volume fraction in fluid phase. The authors believe that the results presented in this paper are of key significance from flow assurance standpoint.
▸ A new kind of anti-agglomerant was adopted to prevent hydrate and wax plugging. ▸ The hydrate slurry is a dispersion system rather than an emulsion. ▸ The morphology of hydrate slurry can be kept at subcooling of 26 K. ▸ Hydrate slurry exhibits shear-thinning behavior and belongs to pseudoplastic fluid. ▸ Non-Newtonian behavior becomes obvious with increasing hydrate volume fraction.
We aimed to develop and validate a preoperative CT-based radiomics signature for differentiating lymphoma versus benign splenomegaly.
We retrospectively analyzed CT studies from 139 patients (age ...range 26-93 years, 43% female) between 2011 and 2019 with histopathological diagnosis of the spleen (19 lymphoma, 120 benign) and divided them into developing (
= 79) and testing (
= 60) datasets. The volumetric radiomic features were extracted from manual segmentation of the whole spleen on venous-phase CT imaging using PyRadiomics package. LASSO regression was applied for feature selection and development of the radiomic signature, which was interrogated with the complete blood cell count and differential count. All
values < 0.05 were considered to be significant.
Seven features were selected for constructing the radiomic signature after feature selection, including first-order statistics (10th percentile and Robust Mean Absolute Deviation), shape-based (Surface Area), and texture features (Correlation, MCC, Small Area Low Gray-level Emphasis and Low Gray-level Zone Emphasis). The radiomic signature achieved an excellent diagnostic accuracy of 97%, sensitivity of 89%, and specificity of 98%, distinguishing lymphoma versus benign splenomegaly in the testing dataset. The radiomic signature significantly correlated with the platelet and segmented neutrophil percentage.
CT-based radiomics signature can be useful in distinguishing lymphoma versus benign splenomegaly and can reflect the changes in underlying blood profiles.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is a common opportunistic human pathogen. With the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinical infection of
P. aeruginosa
, phage therapy has received renewed attention in ...treating
P. aeruginosa
infections. Moreover, a detailed understanding of the host receptor of lytic phage is crucial for selecting proper phages for therapy. Here, we describe the characterization of the
P. aeruginosa
bacteriophage L5 with a double-stranded DNA genome of 42,925 bp. The genomic characteristics indicate that L5 is a lytic bacteriophage belonging to the subfamily
Autographivirinae.
In addition, the phage receptors for L5 were also identified as type IV pili, because the mutation of
pilZ
, which is involved in pili synthesis, resists phage infection, while the complementation of
pilZ
restored its phage sensitivity. This research reveals that L5 is a potential phage therapy candidate for the treatment of
P. aeruginosa
infection.
Background
Acute complicated pyelonephritis (ACP) is an upper urinary tract infection associated with coexisting urinary tract abnormalities or medical conditions that could predispose to serious ...outcomes or treatment failures. Although CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are frequently used in patients with ACP, the clinical value of
18
F–fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has not been systematically investigated. This single-center retrospective study was designed to evaluate the potential usefulness of FDG PET/CT in patients with ACP.
Methods
Thirty-one adult patients with ACP who underwent FDG PET/CT were examined. FDG PET/CT imaging characteristics, including tracer uptake patterns, kidney volumes, and extrarenal imaging findings, were reviewed in combination with clinical data and conventional imaging results.
Results
Of the 31 patients, 19 (61%) showed focal FDG uptake. The remaining 12 study participants showed a diffuse FDG uptake pattern. After volumetric approximation, the affected kidneys were found to be significantly enlarged. Patients who showed a focal uptake pattern had a higher frequency of abscess formation requiring drainage. ACP patients showing diffuse tracer uptake patterns had a more benign clinical course. Seven patients had suspected extrarenal coinfections, and FDG PET/CT successfully confirmed the clinical suspicion in five cases. FDG PET/CT was as sensitive as CT in identifying the six patients (19%) who developed abscesses. Notably, FDG PET/CT findings caused a modification to the initial antibiotic regimen in nine patients (29%).
Conclusions
FDG PET/CT may be clinically useful in the assessment of patients with ACP who have a progressive disease course.
For heterogeneous supported catalysts, commonly, the adsorption of reactant molecules on the catalyst surface can significantly govern their activity and selectivity. In this paper, it was shown that ...surface oxygen-decorated bimetallic NiCu nanoparticles derived from ternary Ni–Cu–Al layered double hydroxide precursors exhibited better catalytic activity trends for the hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived carbonyl compounds compared with monometallic Ni or Cu ones. Specifically, bimetallic NiCu nanocatalyst achieved a maximum cyclopentanone yield of ∼89.5% in the aqueous phase hydrogenation of furfural. Based on a series of structural characterizations, catalytic experimental results, and density functional theory calculations, it was emphatically demonstrated that different catalytic behaviors might stem from the difference in the adsorption modes of the carbonyl group on the surfaces of monometallic Ni and bimetallic NiCu nanoparticles. It was deduced that due to the decoration of abundant surface oxygen species on bimetallic NiCu nanoparticles, the remaining exposed metal surface became η1(O)-type adsorption sites for the carbonyl group, different from the dominant η2(C, O) adsorption mode on monometallic Ni nanoparticles with less surface oxygen species. Most importantly, the present bimetallic NiCu nanoparticles as catalysts displayed superior catalytic performance in the hydrogenolysis of other carbonyl compounds (e.g., 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, benzaldehyde, and vanillin) to monometallic ones. Such surface oxygen decoration strategy endows bimetallic NiCu nanoparticles a great application potential in the catalytic conversions of biomass-derived carbonyl compounds.
Biometric identification has verified its effectiveness in personal identity verification because of the uniqueness and noninvasion. In this research, we tend to apply the detection of biometric ...information to a remote sensing system for the purpose of security area monitoring. Our system is established by collecting signals from the coming individuals via the remote measurement in the specific condition where both kinds of data are detected to determine the identity. Specifically, the measuring of gait signals and facial images is integrated to provide a way of improving the detection accuracy and the robustness. In addition, the fuzzy association rule (FAR) is employed for data analysis in line with the outcomes of different methods. As such, the signals are integrated and transmitted for further processing and remote identification. Experiments are conducted to demonstrate the capability of the proposed system. With the training data increases, a high detection accuracy of 95.2% is obtained, which makes it a promising basis for the realization of remote identity verification.
•The dissociation of methane+ethane double hydrate samples was examined using in situ Raman spectroscopy.•Hydrate structures were found to transfer from sI to sII over a methane composition of ...50 mol–68 mol%.•The occurrence time of structure transition is reduced with the increasing methane concentration.•The mechanism of the structural transition occurring in gas hydrate decomposition was proposed.
The structural transition of methane-ethane gas hydrates is generally observed during the forming process; however, it has seldom been reported during the dissociation process. Study on the dissociation behavior of methane-ethane hydrate below ice point has important implications on gas storage and transportation. It was also be helpful for the natural gas hydrate production by depressurization in permafrost zones. The dissociation of a series of methane-ethane hydrate samples at atmospheric pressure and temperatures below ice point (272.15–269.15 K) was performed, and the influence of gas composition and temperature on the structural transition was examined using in situ Raman spectroscopy. The hydrate structures were found to transition from structure I to structure II over a methane composition range of 50–68 mol%. The hydrates remained as sI or sII type compounds, and no structural transition occurred during the dissociation when the methane content in methane-ethane gas mixture was decreased to a certain amount (<50 mol%) or increased to a higher value (≥70 mol%). Further investigation showed that the occurrence time of structural transition reduced with an increase in the methane concentration under the same decomposition temperature. Furthermore, hydrate dissociation was retarded upon decreasing the temperature in this temperature range (272.15–269.15 K). The mechanism of the structural transition occurring in gas hydrate decomposition was proposed.
Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) accounts for approximately 18% of all epithelial ovarian malignancies in Taiwan and portends a poor prognosis. Here, we sought to investigate whether ...immunohistochemistry with an anti-pan-cytokeratin antibody cocktail (AE1/AE3) can be used as an adjunct to hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining for improving the detection of isolated tumor cells (ITCs) and micrometastasis to pelvic lymph nodes (LNs). We also assessed whether these lesions may predict disease recurrence.
Pelvic lymphadenectomy specimens were obtained from 197 patients with stage 1 OCCC who had undergone surgery between 2000 and 2018 from Linkou and Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Immunohistochemical staining with AE1/AE3 was applied to a total of 1186 slides. Clusters of metastatic tumor cells, detected immunohistochemically, were classified as ITCs (clusters with diameters of ≤0.2 mm) or micrometastases (tumor cell clusters of >0.2 but ≤2.0 mm). We also assessed the diameter of metastases in patients with positive lymph nodes (stage IIIA1, n = 3, 7 positive nodes).
Clusters with a positive AE1/AE3 staining were identified in five (2.53%) of the 197 patients (ITCs, n = 3; micrometastasis, n = 2). Four patients had no evidence of disease recurrence but a patient recurred at follow-up. Metastatic foci of patients with stage IIIA1 disease were all >2.0 mm in size.
Immunohistochemical staining with AE1/AE3 can identify micrometastasis or ITCs in LNs missed on routine H&E staining. The role of micrometastasis in predicting recurrent OCCC and implementing on treatment strategies requires further investigation.
Aim. The association of pressure load with elasticity in vascular system has not been studied fully. We proposed a hypothesis whether gender could modify the association of blood pressure variability ...(BPV) and arterial stiffness assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) in prehypertensive patients. Methods. 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24h-ABPM) and CF-PWV were measured in 723 participants with prehypertension. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses of these clinical and biological parameters were performed in total population, male and female. Results. A total of 723 participants (mean age 59.76 ± 12.37years, male 329 and female 394) were enrolled into the study. Compared with female, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), uric acid (UA), and homocysteine (HCY) were significantly higher (all p < 0.05). Arterial stiffness (CF-PWV, male versus female, 10.89 ± 2.50 versus 10.33 ± 2.13 m/s, p=0.004) and BPVs (male versus female, 24 h SBPV 13.2 ± 5.11 versus 13.03 ± 5.20; 24 h DBPV 10.34 ± 3.87 versus 9.64 ± 3.59; N SBPV 11.90 ± 6.60 versus 10.94 ± 4.79; N DBPV 9.64 ± 5.87 versus 8.20 ± 4.48, all p<0.05) were higher in male. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that 24 h BPV were linearly and positively related to CF-PWV in total population (24h SBPV, B=0.033; 24 h DBPV, B=0.035, both P<0.05) and female (24h SBPV, B=0.041; 24h DBPV, B=0.067, both P<0.05) independent of traditional risk factors and medications. Conclusion. BPV was independently associated with arterial stiffness in total population and the relation was modified by gender. 24 h BPVs in prehypertensive patients were useful to identify the early arterial stiffness. Clinical Trials Registration. This trial was registered with Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT02569268.
PDF
