The potential role of breast MRI in evaluation of triple-negative breast cancer and fibroadenoma of less than 3 cm.

Background: The majority of small-sized (<3 cm) triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibit smooth margins upon palpation and are often oval or rounded masses. Distinguishing these masses preoperatively from fibroadenomas (FAs) would be very meaningful for clinical practice. The aim of our study was to evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance of TNBC and differentiate it from FAs. Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, we included 37 patients with TNBCs and 36 patients with FAs who underwent breast MRI. We employed the χ2 test and t-test to compare the differences in morphological features, dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parameters, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values between the two groups. Additionally, we constructed non-parametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves using ADC values, with pathological results serving as the gold standard. Results: A total of 37 TNBC lesions and 39 FA lesions were included in the final analysis. TNBCs exhibited more frequent irregular shape, irregular margins, peritumoral edema, fast enhancement in the initial phase, rim enhancement, and time-signal intensity curve (TIC) type III compared to FAs (all P<0.05). Conversely, low-signal segregation in T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and TIC type I were commonly found in FAs. The mean ADC value of TNBCs was significantly lower than that of FAs [(1.104±0.13)×10-3 vs. (1.613±0.16)×10-3 mm2/s, P<0.05]. The cutoff ADC for differentiating TNBCs from FAs was 1.239×10-3 mm2/s, yielding an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.997, a sensitivity of 94.6%, and a specificity of 100%. Conclusions: The morphological presentation of MRI, internal enhancement features of the mass, TIC curves, and ADC values provide valuable differential diagnostic information for TNBC and FA masses with a maximum diameter of less than 3 cm.

Early-Stage Moderate Alcohol Feeding Dysregulates Insulin-Related Metabolic Hormone Expression in the Brain: Potential Links to Neurodegeneration Including Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the most prevalent causes of dementia, is mainly sporadic in occurrence but driven by aging and other cofactors. Studies suggest that excessive alcohol consumption may increase AD risk. Objective: Our study examined the degree to which short-term moderate ethanol exposure leads to molecular pathological changes of AD-type neurodegeneration. Methods: Long Evans male and female rats were fed for 2 weeks with isocaloric liquid diets containing 24% or 0% caloric ethanol (n = 8/group). The frontal lobes were used to measure immunoreactivity to AD biomarkers, insulin-related endocrine metabolic molecules, and proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines by duplex or multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Results: Ethanol significantly increased frontal lobe levels of phospho-tau, but reduced Aß, ghrelin, glucagon, leptin, PAI, IL-2, and IFN-γ. Conclusions: Short-term effects of chronic ethanol feeding produced neuroendocrine molecular pathologic changes reflective of metabolic dysregulation, together with abnormalities that likely contribute to impairments in neuroplasticity. The findings suggest that chronic alcohol consumption rapidly establishes a platform for impairments in energy metabolism that occur in both the early stages of AD and alcohol-related brain degeneration.

A Flexible Multifunctional Cyanoethyl-Modified Bacterial Cellulose Nanofiber Framework for High-Energy and High-Power Density Aqueous Li-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (ARLIBs) are extensively researched due to their inherent safety, typical affordability, and potential high energy density. However, fabricating ARLIBs with both high energy density and power performance remains challenging. Herein, based on cyanoethyl-modified bacterial cellulose nanofibers (CBCNs), a multifunctional fast ion transport framework is developed to construct the flexible free-standing ARLIBs with high areal loading and excellent rate performance. Benefiting from the unique merits of CBCNs, such as ultra-high aspect ratio, excellent toughness, superior adhesion, good lithiophilicity and ideal stability, the flexible free-standing and highly robust electrodes are fabricated and exhibit a long-term stable cycling of 1200 cycles with a high specific capacity of 117 mAh∙g-1 at 15 C. Remarkably, the corresponding full cell with the free-standing high mass loading (45.5 mg∙cm-2) electrodes under the condition of ultra-low addition of battery binder demonstrates a cycle lifespan of over 1000 cycles with a specific capacity of 120 mAh∙g-1 and a capacity decay as low as 0.03% per cycle, which is far superior to those of almost all previous reports. This work provides a strategy for constructing ARLIBs with high energy density and power performance by introducing a unique fast ion transport nanofiber framework.

Microbial metabolism affects the antibiotic resistome in the intestine of laying hens.

Intestinal microbial metabolism has an important impact on the health of laying hens, and microbes are also important hosts for ARGs. However, the relationship between intestinal microbes and antibiotic resistance in laying hens is unclear. In this study, a slaughtering experiment, an in vitro fermentation experiment and a single-bacteria culture experiment were carried out, and metagenomic and metabolomic analyses were used to investigate the relationships between microbial metabolism and the antibiotic resistome in the cecum of laying hens. The results showed that there were different types of ARGs in the intestines of laying hens, and the risk scores of the ARGs tended to decrease with growth stage. A total of 1142 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were obtained, and Escherichia coli was found to be the dominant ARG host, carrying 62 ARGs. Metabolomics revealed that indole and its derivatives, such as indole-3-lactic acid, were negatively correlated with a variety of ARGs. Moreover, in vitro fermentation experiment and single-bacteria culture experiment demonstrated that indole-3-lactic acid reduced the abundance and risk of multiple ARGs in the intestine and inhibited the growth of the ARG host Escherichia coli. In the context of high concern about intestinal microbial metabolism and antibiotic resistance, this is the first study to focus on the relationship between intestinal microbial metabolism and antibiotic resistance in laying hens. These findings have important implications for healthy farming and antibiotic resistance control.

Liver-targeting chimeras as a potential modality for the treatment of liver diseases.

Liver diseases pose significant challenges to global public health. In the realm of drug discovery and development, overcoming 'on-target off-tissue' effects remains a substantial barrier for various diseases. In this study, we have pioneered a Liver-Targeting Chimera (LIVTAC) approach using a proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) molecule coupled to the liver-specific asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) through an innovative linker attachment strategy for the precise induction of target protein degradation within the liver. As a proof-of-concept study, we designed XZ1606, a mammalian bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET)-targeting LIVTAC agent, which not only demonstrated enduring tumor suppression (over 2 months) in combination with sorafenib but also an improved safety profile, notably ameliorating the incidence of thrombocytopenia, a common and severe on-target dose-limiting toxic effect associated with conventional BET inhibitors. These encouraging results highlight the potential of LIVTAC as a versatile platform for addressing a broad spectrum of liver diseases.

Temporal multilayer structures in discrete physical systems towards arbitrary-dimensional non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm interferences.

Temporal modulation recently draws great attentions in wave manipulations, with which one can introduce the concept of temporal multilayer structure, a temporal counterpart of spatially multilayer configurations. This kind of multilayer structure holds temporal interfaces in the time domain, which provides additional flexibility in temporal operations. Here we take this opportunity and propose to simulate a non-Abelian gauge field with a temporal multilayer structure in the discrete physical system. Two basic temporal operations, i.e., the folding/unfolding operation and the phase shift operation are used to design such a temporal multilayer structure, which hence can support noncommutative operations to realize the non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm interference in the time domain. A two-/three-dimensional non-Abelian gauge field can be built, which may be further extended to higher dimensions. Our work therefore provides a unique platform enabling generalization of non-Abelian physics to arbitrary dimensions and offers a method for wave manipulations with temporal band engineering.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pancreas (Review).

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pancreas (SCP) is a rare and aggressive subtype of undifferentiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, with a generally poor prognosis and only sporadic cases reported worldwide. Histologically, the most notable feature of SCP is the presence of abundant of mesenchymatoid spindle tumor cells in the tumor, which lack glandular differentiation. Immunohistochemically, SCP is characterized by the expression of both mesenchymal and epithelial markers. With only a few reported cases, there is limited knowledge about its molecular and clinicopathological characteristics. Therefore, the present study performed a literature search to identify all relevant published studies. The present review provides an overview of the histogenesis, diagnosis, genetic features, prognosis and treatment of SCP, specifically focusing on the molecular alterations. Furthermore, a single-center experience is reported, which adds to the limited evidence available in the literature.

Massive expansion of the pig gut virome based on global metagenomic mining.

The pig gut virome plays a vital role in the gut microbial ecosystem of pigs. However, a comprehensive understanding of their diversity and a reference database for the virome are currently lacking. To address this gap, we established a Pig Virome Database (PVD) that comprised of 5,566,804 viral contig sequences from 4650 publicly available gut metagenomic samples using a pipeline designated "metav". By clustering sequences, we identified 48,299 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs) genomes of at least medium quality, of which 92.83% of which were not found in existing major databases. The majority of vOTUs were identified as Caudoviricetes (72.21%). The PVD database contained a total of 2,362,631 protein-coding genes across the above medium-quality vOTUs genomes that can be used to explore the functional potential of the pig gut virome. These findings highlight the extensive diversity of viruses in the pig gut and provide a pivotal reference dataset for forthcoming research concerning the pig gut virome.

Pore Chemistry and Architecture Control in Anionic Functional Ultramicroporous Materials for Record Dense Packing of Xenon.

Adsorptive separation of Xe and Kr is an industrially promising but challenging process because of their identical shape and similar physicochemical properties. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy through rationally designing the linkers of anionic functional ultramicroporous materials (FUMs) to finely regulate the pore chemistry and architecture, which creates unique stepped channels incorporating dense polar nanotraps to generate a larger effective pore space and enables dense packing of Xe. A new hydrolytically stable FUM (ZUL-530) was prepared, which for the first time achieves a Xe packing density exceeding the liquid Xe density at atmospheric conditions in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (based on experimental data), resulting in both excellent Xe uptake (2.55 mmol g-1 at 0.2 bar) and high IAST selectivity (20.5). GCMC and DFT-D calculations reveal the essential role of the stepped traps in the dense packing of Xe. Breakthrough experiments demonstrate remarkable productivities of both high-purity Kr (6.70 mmol g-1) and Xe (1.78 mmol g-1) for the Xe/Kr (20:80) mixture. In a model nuclear industry exhaust gas, ZUL-530 exhibits a top-class Xe dynamic capacity (28.8 mmol kg-1) for trace Xe, which proves it is one of the best candidates for Xe/Kr separation.

BiVO4 Film Coupling with CoAl2O4 Nanoparticles for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Utilizing Broad Solar Spectrum through p-n Heterojunction, Photothermal, and Cocatalytic Synergism.

Water oxidation is an endothermic and kinetics-sluggish reaction; the research of photoanodes with photothermal and cocatalytic properties is of great significance. Herein, BiVO4/CoAl2O4 film photoanodes were studied for solar water splitting through coupling spinel p-type CoAl2O4 nanoparticles on n-type BiVO4 films. Compared to the BiVO4 photoanode, better performance was observed on the BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanode during water oxidation. A photocurrent of 3.47 mA/cm2 was produced on the BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanode at 1.23 V vs RHE, which is two-fold to the BiVO4 photoanode (1.70 mA/cm2). Additionally, the BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanodes showed an acceptable stability for water oxidation. The BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanode being of higher water oxidation performance could be attributed to the presence of p-n heterojunction, cocatalytic, and photothermal effects. In specific, under the excitation of λ < 520 nm light, the holes produced in/on BiVO4 can be transferred to CoAl2O4 owing to the p-n heterojunctions of BiVO4/CoAl2O4. Meanwhile, the temperature on the BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanode rises quickly up to ∼53 °C under AM 1.5 G irradiation due to the photothermal property of CoAl2O4 through capturing the 520 < λ < 720 nm light. The temperature rising on the BiVO4/CoAl2O4 photoanode improves the cocatalytic activity of CoAl2O4 and modifies the wettability of BiVO4/CoAl2O4 for effective water oxidation.

Oral Heterojunction Coupling Interventional Optical Fiber Mediates Synergistic Therapy for Orthotopic Rectal Cancer.

Catalytic therapy has shown great potential for clinical application. However, conventional catalytic therapies rely on reactive oxygen species (ROS) as "therapeutic drugs," which have limitations in effectively inhibiting tumor recurrence and metastasis. Here, a biomimetic heterojunction catalyst is developed that can actively target orthotopic rectal cancer after oral administration. The heterojunction catalyst is composed of quatrefoil star-shaped BiVO4 (BVO) and ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) nanosheets through an in situ direct growth technique. Poly-norepinephrine and macrophage membrane coatings afford the biomimetic heterojunction catalyst (BVO/ZIS@M), which has high rectal cancer targeting and retention abilities. The coupled optical fiber intervention technology activates the multicenter coordination of five catalytic reactions of heterojunction catalysts, including two reduction reactions (O2→·O2 - and CO2→CO) and three oxidation reactions (H2O→·OH, GSH→GSSG, and LA→PA). These catalytic reactions not only induce immunogenic death in tumor cells through the efficient generation of ROS/CO and the consumption of GSH but also specifically lead to the use of lactic acid (LA) as an electron donor to improve catalytic activity and disrupt the LA-mediated immunosuppressive microenvironment, mediating synergistic catalysis and immunotherapy for orthotopic rectal cancer. Therefore, this optical fiber intervention triggered the combination of heterojunction catalytic therapy and immunotherapy, which exhibits prominent antitumor effects.

Diaphragmatic dysfunction is associated with postoperative pulmonary complications in the aged patients underwent radical resection of esophageal cancer: a prospective observational study.

Background: Diaphragmatic dysfunction escalates the susceptibility to postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs). Currently, no study reports the occurrence of diaphragmatic dysfunction correlated with PPCs following radical resection of esophageal cancer in aged patients. We aimed to diagnose diaphragmatic dysfunction via ultrasonography and analyze diaphragmatic dysfunction's relation with PPCs after radical resection of esophageal cancer surgery in aged patients. Methods: This prospective observational study comprised 86 aged patients undergoing radical resection of esophageal cancer. Patient characteristics data and intraoperative details were collected. Ultrasonography was performed before (preoperative) and after (first, third, and fifth day postoperatively) surgery. Outcome measures included PPCs within seven days postoperative, occurrence of diaphragmatic dysfunction, and short-term prognosis. Results: After excluding 14 patients, we finally analyzed clinical data from 72 patients. The prevalence of PPCs was higher in the patients with diaphragmatic dysfunction than those without (19 of 23, 83% vs. 21 of 49, 43%, P=0.004). Postoperative diaphragmatic dysfunction was positively correlated with PPCs in patients who underwent elective radical esophageal cancer surgery (r=0.37, P=0.001). Persistent diaphragmatic dysfunction, furthermore, was positively correlated with the development of multiple PPCs (r=0.43, P<0.001). The logistic regression analysis revealed that age, total open procedure, and postoperative diaphragmatic dysfunction were identified as significant risk factors for PPCs, while total open procedure was an independent risk factor for diaphragmatic dysfunction. Conclusions: Postoperative diaphragmatic dysfunction positively correlates with developing PPCs. Continuous monitoring of postoperative diaphragmatic function can screen high-risk patients with PPCs, which has specific clinical significance. Age, total open procedure, and diaphragmatic dysfunction are identified as risk factors for developing PPCs, while total open procedure specifically increases the risk for postoperative diaphragmatic dysfunction.

Enhancing CO2 dissolution and inorganic carbon conversion by metal-organic frameworks improves microalgal growth and carbon fixation efficiency.

Carbon supplementation strategies still have certain practical application constraints. Zn/Fe-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) nanoparticles that which are not toxic to Scenedesmus obliquus were successfully introduced into microalgal solutions to overcome low CO2 solubility. The maximum specific surface area of MOFs reached 342.94 m2·g-1 at a Zn/Fe molar ratio of 10/1. Under the optimal MOFs concentrations of 2.5 mg·L-1, the conversion of inorganic carbon increased by 2.6-fold. When S. obliquuswas cultured in a MOFs-modified medium with 1.50 % CO2 at 25 °C, the CO2 mass transfer coefficient and mixing time reached 9.01 × 10-3 min-1 and 55 s, respectively. The maximum chlorophyll-a content, biomass productivity, and CO2 fixation efficiency reached 32.57 mg·L-1, 0.240 g·L-1·d-1 and 21.6 %, respectively. Enriching CO2 for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase carboxylation by MOFs may be the key to improving the photosynthetic efficiency of microalgae. This strategy could serve as a reference for improving the microalgal CO2 fixation efficiency.

Differential effects of moderate chronic ethanol consumption on neurobehavior, white matter glial protein expression, and mTOR pathway signaling with adolescent brain maturation.

Background: Adolescent brains are highly vulnerable to heavy alcohol exposure. Increased understanding of how alcohol adversely impacts brain maturation may improve treatment outcomes.Objectives: This study characterizes short-term versus long-term effects of ethanol feeding on behavior, frontal lobe glial proteins, and mTOR signaling.Methods: Adolescent rats (8/group) were fed liquid diets containing 26% or 0% ethanol for 2 or 9 weeks, then subjected to novel object recognition (NOR) and open field (OF) tests. Frontal lobes were used for molecular assays.Results: Significant ethanol effects on OF performance occurred in the 2-week model (p < .0001). Further shifts in OF and NOR performance were unrelated to ethanol exposure in the 9-week models (p < .05 to p < .0001). Ethanol inhibited MAG1 (p < .01) and MBP (p < .0001) after 2 but not 9 weeks. However, both control and ethanol 9-week models had significantly reduced MAG1 (p < .001-0.0001), MBP (p < .0001), PDGFRA (p < .05-0.01), and PLP (p < .001-0.0001) relative to the 2-week models. GFAP was the only glial protein significantly inhibited by ethanol in both 2- (p < .01) and 9-week (p < .05) models. Concerning the mTOR pathway, ethanol reduced IRS-1 (p < .05) and globally inhibited mTOR (p < .01 or p < .001) in the 9- but not the 2-week model.Conclusions: Short-term versus long-term ethanol exposures differentially alter neurobehavioral function, glial protein expression, and signaling through IRS-1 and mTOR, which have known roles in myelination during adolescence. These findings suggest that strategies to prevent chronic alcohol-related brain pathology should consider the increased maturation-related vulnerability of adolescent brains.

The salvage lenvatinib-based regimen provides survival benefit in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer.

Salvage treatment for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has yet to be identified. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a salvage lenvatinib-based regimen for refractory mCRC. In total, 371 patients were categorized into lenvatinib-based and non-lenvatinib-based groups. In the lenvatinib-based group, patients who received lenvatinib at a dosage of 10 mg/day were categorized into lenvatinib/chemotherapy and lenvatinib/immunotherapy subgroups. We reported overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) using the Kaplan-Meier method. OS1 was used to measure the time from disease progression after TAS-102 and regorafenib treatment to death, while OS2 was used to measure the time from TAS-102 or regorafenib treatment to death. Propensity score matching analysis was employed to compare the characteristics between the lenvatinib-based and non-lenvatinib-based groups. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) information was analyzed using R software. The lenvatinib-based group exhibited longer OS than did the non-lenvatinib-based group (OS1, 11.4 vs. 3.7 months; OS2, 27.2 vs. 8.2 months). The disease control rate (DCR) and objective response rate (ORR) of the lenvatinib-based regimens were 69.4% and 6.1%, respectively. Lenvatinib/chemotherapy and lenvatinib/immunotherapy had similar PFS, OS, DCR, and ORR. The adverse effects were manageable. After propensity score matching, the lenvatinib-based group continued to exhibit significantly longer OS1 and OS2 than did the non-lenvatinib-based group. NGS analysis revealed that GNAS and KRAS alterations were associated with a worse treatment response and prolonged survival, respectively. In conclusion, a moderate-dose salvage lenvatinib-based regimen demonstrated promising clinical activity and tolerability in treating refractory mCRC.

Neural Progenitor Cell-Mediated Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Photothermal Therapy of Glioma.

Glioma is the most common primary malignant tumor in the brain. The diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficiency of glioma are facing great challenges due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the high infiltration of glioma. There is an urgent need to explore the combination of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to achieve a more accurate diagnosis, as well as guidance before and after surgery. In this work, we induced human induction of pluripotent stem cell into neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and synthesized nanoprobes labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP, abbreviated as MFe3O4-labeled EGFP-NPCs) for photothermal therapy. Nanoprobes carried by NPCs can effectively penetrate the BBB and target glioma for the purpose of magnetic resonance imaging and guiding surgery. More importantly, MFe3O4-labeled EGFP-NPCs can effectively induce local photothermal therapy, conduct preoperative tumor therapy, and inhibit the recurrence of postoperative glioma. This work shows that MFe3O4-labeled EGFP-NPCs is a promising nanoplatform for glioma diagnosis, accurate imaging-guided surgery, and effective photothermal therapy.

Porous crystalline conjugated macrocyclic materials and their energy storage applications.

Porous crystalline conjugated macrocyclic materials (CMMs) possess high porosity, tunable structure/function and efficient charge transport ability owing to their planar macrocyclic conjugated π-electron system, which make them promising candidates for applications in energy storage. In this review, we thoroughly summarize the timely development of porous crystalline CMMs in energy storage related fields. Specifically, we summarize and discuss their structures and properties. In addition, their energy storage applications, such as lithium ion batteries, lithium sulfur batteries, sodium ion batteries, potassium ion batteries, Li-CO2 batteries, Li-O2 batteries, Zn-air batteries, supercapacitors and triboelectric nanogenerators, are also discussed. Finally, we present the existing challenges and future prospects. We hope this review will inspire the development of advanced energy storage materials based on porous crystalline CMMs.

Short-term outcomes of short- and long-course chemoradiotherapy before total mesorectal excision for locally advanced rectal tumors: A single-center study in Taiwan utilizing propensity score matching.

BACKGROUND: Locally advanced rectal tumors are typically treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Short-course chemoradiotherapy (SCRT, 2500 cGy in five fractions) is a convenient alternative to concurrent chemoradiotherapy with long-course radiotherapy (CCRT, 4500 cGy in 25 fractions) without sacrificing efficacy. We aimed to compare the short-term outcomes of SCRT and CCRT in patients with mid- and low- rectal tumors who underwent total mesorectal excision using real-world data. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent radical resection after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy from 2011 to 2022. We analyzed the clinicopathological findings and prognostic factors for disease-free and overall survival in the SCRT and CCRT groups and compared the outcomes using propensity score matching. RESULTS: Among the 66 patients in the two groups, no disparities were noted in the demographic features, pathological remission, or downstaging rates. Nonetheless, the SCRT group exhibited superior 3-year disease-free survival (81.8% vs 62.1%, p = 0.011), whereas the overall survival did not differ significantly between the two groups. The initial carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels and neoadjuvant SCRT were associated with the recurrence rates [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.13-4.10; HR = 0.19-0.74], but the harvested lymph node count was not (HR = 0.51-1.97). CONCLUSION: Among patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, SCRT combined with four cycles of FOLFOX was shown to enhance short-term disease-free survival. Factors impacting recurrence include the initial CEA level and SCRT, but not the harvested lymph node count.