Prognostic impact of HER2-low expression in HER2-negative breast cancer under different hormone receptor status.

BACKGROUND: HER2-low expression in breast cancer has received increasing attention as a target for novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of HER2-low status on survival outcomes in patients with HER2-negative early breast cancer. METHODS: Medical records of patients with HER2-negative non-metastatic breast cancer who were treated at our institution from January 2008 and June 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcome measurements of our study were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), which were compared between the HER2-low and HER2-0 groups stratified by hormone receptor (HR) status. RESULTS: A total of 2605 HER2-negative cases were identified, of which 1418 (54.4%) had HER2-low and 1187 (45.6%) had HER2-0 disease. The proportion of HER2-low tumors was significantly higher in HR-positive tumors than in HR-negative tumors. No significant difference was observed in DFS and OS between the HER2-low and HER2-0 groups in univariate analyses, regardless of HR status. Multivariate analysis of the Cox proportional hazard regression model revealed that HER2-low was independently associated with improved OS in patients with HR-negative disease (HR 0.32, 95% CI 0.13-0.80, p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that the prognostic impact of low HER2 expression varies according to HR status, with slightly favorable outcomes among HER2-low tumors in patients with HR-negative disease.

Benign cervical intramedullary cyst without an epithelial lining：a case report.

This paper presents a female, benign intramedullary cyst case aged 66-year-old. During the operation, it was found that the cystic wall was very thin, and the cystic fluid was colorless and transparent. The lesion with the capsule was removed partially. Surprisingly, there was no epithelial lining on the capsule wall. It is very rare and different from the benign intramedullary cysts reported in the literature.

Cryptococcal granuloma of the the basal ganglia with fatal haemorrhage after stereotactic biopsy: case report.

This paper presents a male, immunocompetent case aged 62-year-old with cryptococcal granuloma in the basal ganglia. No cryptococcal infection occurred in other areas. The diagnosis was made by biopsy. Cryptococcal granuloma was tough and unsuitable for sterotactic biopsy. The patient died of postoperative bleeding and we suggest avoiding stereotactic biopsy of lesions suspected of being cryptococcal granulomas.

Intracranial inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor: a report of two cases.

We report two cases of Intracranial inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) with recurrent, cystic, and venous sinus occlusion. The cases show imaging progression from a small lesion (case 1) or absence of lesions (case 2). One of cases recurred 2 years after surgery and was treated with corticosteroids but the tumor was still growing and was resected again. We think the best treatment for IMT is surgical resection.

Smart Parking Locks Based on Extended UNET-GWO-SVM Algorithm.

Due to the rapid increase in private car ownership in China, most cities face the problem of insufficient parking spaces, leading to frequent occurrences of parking space conflicts. There is a wide variety of parking locks available on the market. However, most of them lack advanced intelligence and cannot cater to the growing diverse needs of people. The present study attempts to devise a smart parking lock to tackle this issue. Specifically, the smart parking lock uses a Raspberry Pi as the core controller, senses the vehicle with an ultrasonic ranging module, and collects the license plate image with a camera. In addition, algorithms for license plate recognition based on traditional image-processing methods typically require a high pixel resolution, but their recognition accuracy is often low. Therefore, we propose a new algorithm called UNET-GWO-SVM to achieve higher accuracy in embedded systems. Moreover, we developed a WeChat mini program to control the smart parking lock. Field tests were conducted on campus to evaluate the performance of the parking locks. The test results show that the corresponding effective unlocking rate is 99.0% when the recognition error is less than two license plate characters. The average time consumption is controlled at about 2 s. It can meet real-time requirements.

A simple and successful treatment for rupture and defect of the posterior third superior sagittal sinus caused by open depressed skull fracture: A case report.

It is extremely dangerous to treat the posterior third of the superior sagittal sinus (PTSSS) surgically, since it is usually not completely ligated. In this report, the authors described the case of a 27-year-old man with a ruptured and defective PTSSS caused by an open depressed skull fracture, which was treated by ligation of the PTSSS and the patient achieved a positive recovery. The patient's occiput was hit by a height-limiting rod and was in a mild coma. A CT scan showed an open depressed skull fracture overlying the PTSSS and a diffuse brain swelling. He underwent emergency surgery. When the skull fragments were removed, a 4 cm segment of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and the adjacent dura mater were removed together with bone fragments. Haemorrhage occurred and blood pressure dropped. We completed the operation by ligating the severed ends of the fractured sagittal sinus. One month after the operation, apart from visual field defects, he recovered well. In our opinion, in primary hospitals, when patients with severely injured PTSSS cannot sustain a long-time and complicated operation, e.g., the bypass using venous graft, and face life-threatening conditions, ligation of the PTSSS is another option, which may unexpectedly achieve good results.

A novel heterozygous mutation of CHD7 gene in a Chinese patient with Kallmann syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Variants of chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7 (CHD7) gene are commonly associated with Kallmann syndrome (KS) and account for 5-6% of idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) cases. Here we report a novel mutation of CHD7 gene in a patient with KS, which may contribute to the better understanding of KS. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old male patient with KS and a chief complaint of delayed puberty for 13 years (Tanner B Stage< 4) was admitted to the Department of Endocrinology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China) in September 2019. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) showed low bone density in both lumbar spine (L1 ~ L5 mean Z-score - 3.0) and femoral neck (Z-score - 2.7). Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pituitary and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed no abnormal findings. Ophthalmological evaluation showed that his both eyes showed exotropia, and no sight loss was noted. Heterozygous c.1619G > T mutation of TCD7 gene (p.G4856V) was detected, whereas none of his family members had this mutation. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) were injected for three times/week to treat idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH). After several months of therapy, the patient's health condition improved. His testicles became larger, and his secondary sexual characteristics improved after treatment. CONCLUSION: Exploration of the novel splice-site mutation of CHD7 may further our current understanding of KS.

Traumatic pseudoaneurysms of external carotid artery branch: Case series and treatment considerations.

PURPOSE: To explore the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic external carotid branch pseudoaneurysms. METHODS: Eleven cases of traumatic external carotid artery branch pseudoaneurysms were admitted in our hospital. Digital subtraction angiography was performed in all patients. It revealed that the pseudoaneurysms originated from the internal maxillary artery in 5 cases, superficial temporal artery in 5 cases and occipital artery in 1 case. Five cases of internal maxillary artery pseudoaneurysms and 2 cases of superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysms were treated by embolization; the other 3 cases were surgically resected. RESULTS: Complete cessation of nasal bleeding was achieved in all the 5 pseudoaneurysms of internal maxillary artery after the endovascular therapies. Scalp bleeding stopped and scalp defect healed up in 2 patients with superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysms treated by interventional therapy. All patients were followed up for 0.5-2.0 years without recurrence of nosebleed and scalp lump. CONCLUSION: For patients with repeated severe epistaxis after craniocerebral injury, digital subtraction angiography should be performed as soon as possible to confirm traumatic pseudoaneurysm. Endovascular therapy is an effective method for traumatic internal maxillary artery pseudoaneurysms. For patients with scalp injuries and pulsatile lumps, further examinations including digital subtraction angiography should be performed to confirm the diagnosis. Surgical treatment or endovascular therapy for scalp traumatic pseudoaneurysm is effective.

Photoexcitation-induced local phonon spectra and local hot excitons in polymer solar cells.

In this article, based on nonadiabatic molecular dynamics with electronic transitions, the elaborate ultrafast process of hot excitons in conjugated polymer solar cells is revealed. When an external optical beam/pulse with the intensity of 30 µJ/cm-2 is utilized to excite a conjugated polymer, just within only 50 fs, the electronic transition not only redistributes the electron population in the original molecular orbital, but also starts to localize the electron cloud of excited states and to distort the alternating bonds in the polymer chain. Up to 300 fs, the lattice distortion has been stabilized. During the formation of hot excitons, the prominent self-trapping effect of conjugated polymer triggers the occurrence of local infrared active phonon modes, with five peaks in the phonon spectrum as the hot excitons relax. The characteristic phonon spectrum and infrared modes hence form the fingerprint of the hot excitons of a conjugated polymer, which are readily distinguished from other excitation states in the polymer.

LncRNA NORAD/miR-202-5p regulates the drug resistance of A549/DDP to cisplatin by targeting P-gp.

In this study, we established the DDP-resistant NSCLC cell line A549/DDP to detect the effect of NORAD on cisplatin resistance of A549/DDP cells. NORAD was highly expressed in A549/DDP cells compared with A549 cells. The MTT data showed that knockdown of NORAD enhanced the inhibition rate of cisplatin on the A549/DDP cells and decreased IC50 value. The colony formation and MTT assay suggested that cisplatin inhibited cell proliferation, and knockdown of NORAD enhanced the inhibitory effect of cisplatin on A549/DDP cells. Besides, we found that NORAD silence reduced the P-gp expression but not BCRP, LRP and MRP. Moreover, NORAD could directly bind to miR-202-5p, and ABCB1 was a target of miR-202-5p. The MTT assay found that miR-202-5p inhibitor reversed the effects of NORAD silence on cisplatin resistance of A549/DDP cells. Then, the Western blot data showed that knockdown of NORAD reduced P-gp expression, and miR-202-5p inhibitor enhanced P-gp expression. ABCB1 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of NORAD knockdown on A549/DDP cells. Moreover, NORAD could directly bind to miR-202-5p, and ABCB1 was a target of miR-202-5p. Inhibition of miR-202-5p and overexpression of ABCB1 eliminated the effects of NORAD silence on cisplatin resistance of A549/DDP cells. Overexpression of miR-202-5p suppressed P-gp expression in A549/DDP cells. Collectively, our data showed that NORAD could enhance the DDP resistance of A549/DDP cells and potentially increased P-gp expression by sponging the miR-202-5p.

Endoscopic transsphenoidal approach to a sphenoid sinus inverted papilloma combined with pituitary adenoma: a case report.

Sphenoid sinus inverted papilloma (IP) is a very infrequent tumor, and the combination of sphenoidal IP with pituitary tumor is extremely rare. In this report, the authors describe the case of a 63-year-old male with oculomotor nerve palsy in the left eye due to sellar region tumor. After endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery, the postoperative pathological examination confirmed the co-occurrence of an sphenoidal IP and pituitary adenoma. To our knowledge, the present case is the second reported case of an IP with a pituitary adenoma.

Charge Accumulation of Amplified Spontaneous Emission in a Conjugated Polymer Chain and Its Dynamical Phonon Spectra.

In this article, the detailed photoexcitation dynamics which combines nonadiabatic molecular dynamics with electronic transitions shows the occurrence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in conjugated polymers, accompanied by spontaneous electric polarization. The elaborate molecular dynamic process of ultrafast photoexcitation can be described as follows: Continuous external optical pumping (laser of 70 µJ/cm2) not only triggers the appearance of an instantaneous four-level electronic structure but causes population inversion for ASE as well. At the same time, the phonon spectrum of the conjugated polymer changes, and five local infrared lattice vibrational modes form at the two ends, which break the original symmetry in the system and leads to charge accumulation at the ends of the polymer chain without an external electric field. This novel phenomenon gives a brand-new avenue to explain how the lattice vibrations play a role in the evolution of the stimulated emission, which leads to an ultrafast effect in solid conjugated polymers.

The first complete genome sequence of narcissus latent virus from Narcissus.

The complete sequence of a narcissus virus isolated from the Netherlands (Narv-NL) was determined to be 8172 nucleotides in length with an open reading frame encoding for 2624 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Narv-NL is clustered with high confidence among representative members from the genus Macluravirus, including artichoke latent virus (ArLV) and Chinese yam necrotic mosaic virus (CYNMV). Sequence analyses indicated Narv-NL shares 67%-69% nucleotide and 51%-68% amino acid sequence identity with ArLV and CYNMV either in the complete ORF or the coat protein (CP) gene, whereas it had 81%-99 % nucleotide and 80%-99 % amino acid sequence identity with the corresponding CP sequences of narcissus latent virus (NLV) isolates, suggesting that Narv-NL is a member of NLV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the complete sequence of a NLV isolate.

A multigene phylogentic analysis of Potato virus Y and its application in strain identification.

The objective of this study is to develop a rapid and accurate multigene phylogenetic analysis to identify Potato virus Y (PVY) strains. The phylogenetic relationships of strains within the PVY species were evaluated with isolate-strain association using five datasets of concatenated sequences from the P1, HC-pro, VPg and CP genes to determine the best dataset for PVY strain identification. Results from phylogenetic analyses and Bayesian tip-association significance (BaTS) tests indicated that the major PVY strains could be distinguished using the P1, VPg and CP concatenated sequences datasets but not the remaining concatenated sequence datasets. Phylogenetic trees reconstructed from the concatenated sequences of P1, VPg and CP genes revealed that the ML and NJ trees had broadly similar topologies and that both were better than the maximum clade credibility tree (MCC). Additionally, the full genome of HLJ26, one isolate randomly selected for the multigene phylogenetic analysis, was clustered with high confidence among members of the PVYNTN-NW (SYR-Ⅱ) strain, which includes isolates of SYR-Ⅱ-2-8, SYR-Ⅱ-Be1 and SYR-Ⅱ-DrH. This suggests that it was a PVYNTN-NW (SYR-Ⅱ) isolate. Recombination analysis of this isolate identified four putative recombination joints in the P1, HC-pro/P3, VPg and the 5'-terminus of CP. This pattern is similar to that observed in the genomic structure of PVYNTN-NW (SYR-I), supporting the classification of this isolate as the PVYNTN-NW strain (SYR-Ⅱ). Simultaneously, two expected fragments of approximately 1 000 and 400 bp in size were also amplified from the isolate by a multiplex RT-PCR, consistent with the expected band pattern of the PVYNTN-NW (SYR-Ⅱ) strain. This further supports the utility of the multigene phylogenetic method in identifying PVY strains. We propose that the major PVY strains could be distinguished accurately using multigene phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated sequences from the P1, VPg and CP genes.

Multi-access fiber-optic radio frequency transfer with passive phase noise compensation.

In this Letter, we propose and demonstrate a multi-access fiber-optic radio frequency dissemination with passive phase noise cancelation. A forward phase-conjugated signal is generated at the local site by frequency mixing between the standard signal and the round-trip probe signal. A stable frequency signal is achieved by frequency mixing the tapped forward phase-conjugated signal and the backward probe signal at an arbitrary point along the fiber link. Different wavelengths for forward and backward directions are employed to efficiently suppress the effect of backscattering. At the same time, the increase of bidirectional asymmetry with the increase of user ends is avoided by employing the same wavelengths for all user ends. A multi-access frequency transfer over a 45 km fiber link based on the proposed scheme is demonstrated. The radio frequency signals with relative frequency stabilities of 10-17/20,000 s level are reproduced at two points of 5 and 40 km far from the local site along the fiber link, respectively.

Geographically driven adaptation of chilli veinal mottle virus revealed by genetic diversity analysis of the coat protein gene.

Chilli veinal mottle virus (ChiVMV) is an important plant pathogen with a wide host range. The genetic structure of ChiVMV was investigated by analyzing the coat protein (CP) genes of 87 ChiVMV isolates from seven Asian regions. Pairwise F ST values between ChiVMV populations ranged from 0.108 to 0.681, indicating a significant spatial structure for this pathogen. In phylogeny-trait association analysis, the viral isolates from the same region tended to group together, showing a distinct geographic feature. These results suggest that geographic driven adaptation may be an important determinant of the genetic diversity of ChiVMV.

Genetic diversity and molecular evolution of arabis mosaic virus based on the CP gene sequence.

Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) is a virus with a wide host range. In this study, the genetic diversity of ArMV and the molecular mechanisms underlying its evolution were investigated using the coat protein (CP) sequence. Of the 33 ArMV isolates studied, three were found to be recombinants. The other 30 recombination-free ArMV isolates could be separated into two major lineages with a significant F ST value (0.384) and tended to cluster according to their geographical origin. Different evolutionary constraints were detected for the two linages, pointing to a role of natural selection in the differentiation of ArMV.

[Comparative analysis of population genetic structure of Potato virus Y from different hosts].

Nucleotide sequences of P3 and pipo genes of Potato virus Y (PVY) from potato and tobacco were compared to investigate the effect of hosts on the population genetic structure. Meanwhile, mutation, natural selection and gene flow were evaluated to determine evolutionary forces responsible for the population genetic dynamics. The fixation indices of population differentiation (FST) of PVY from tobacco and potato were 0.116 and 0.120, respectively with significant difference, suggesting a moderate genetic differentiation between the two populations. Genetic variation analysis showed that nucleotide identities in P3 and pipo genes among the viral isolates from tobacco were respectively in the range of 85.2%-100% and 76.5%-100% while that from potato were respectively in the range of 95.7%-100% and 93.0%-100%, indicating higher genetic variation in PVY from tobacco than that from potato. Moreover, purifying selection was detected on the majority of polymorphic sites within P3 gene, suggesting that most of mutations in the gene were harmful and consequently being eliminated by natural selection. Conversely, positive selection was detected on two polymorphic sites, suggesting that these two mutations were beneficial to PVY. Neither purifying nor positive selection was detected in pipo gene, indicating neutral evolution of the gene. The values of gene flow (Nm) between PVY populations from tobacco and potato in P3 and pipo genes were 1.91 and 1.83, respectively, suggesting strong gene flow also contributes significantly to the population genetic dynamics of PVY population. In summary, this study indicates there was a significant genetic variation in PVY hosted by tobacco and potato, and mutation, natural selection and gene flow all contribute to the genetic diversity and population dynamic of the virus.

Velocity gap mode of capillary electrophoresis developed for high-resolution chiral separations.

A new CE method based on velocity gap (VG) theory has been developed for high-resolution chiral separations. In VG, two consecutive electric fields are adopted to drive analytes passing through two capillaries, which are linked together through a joint. The joint is immersed inside another buffer vial which has conductivity communication with the buffer inside the capillary. By adjusting the field strengths onto the two capillaries, it is possible to observe different velocities of an analyte when it passes through those two capillaries and there would be a net velocity change (NVC) for the same analyte. Different analytes may have different NVC which may be specifically meaningful for enantioseparations because enantiomers are usually hard to resolve. By taking advantage of this NVC, it is possible to enhance the resolution of a chiral separation if a proper voltage program is applied. The feasibility of using NVC to enhance chiral separation was demonstrated in the separations of three pairs of enantiomers: terbutaline, chlorpheniramine, and promethazine. All separations started with partial separation in a conventional CE and were significantly improved under the same experimental conditions. The results indicated that VG has the potential to be used to improve the resolving power of CE in chiral separations.

Lin28 promotes Her2 expression and Lin28/Her2 predicts poorer survival in gastric cancer.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the interactions between Lin28 and Her2 in gastric cancer. Lin28 and Her2 expression were evaluated in surgically resected samples of 298 gastric cancer patients using immunohistochemical staining. The correlations between Lin28/Her2 expression and clinical variables were retrospectively analyzed. The mRNA level of LIN28 and HER2 was detected by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Among all gastric cancer patients, 33.9% (101/298) were determined as Her2-positive, and 43.0% (128/298) were defined as Lin28-positive. Lin28 was significantly associated with Her2, advanced tumor stage, lesion size, and Ki67 level (p<0.05 for each). Kaplan-Meier analysis illustrated that both Lin28 and Her2 are poor prognostic factors in gastric cancer; Lin28(+)/Her2(+) patients have the poorest survival (median survival = 17 months, p<0.01). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that Lin28 is a significant prognostic factor (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-2.62). Further stratification analysis indicated that Lin28 may be a prognostic factor in chemotherapy. In vitro data on MKN-28 and MKN-45 cells showed that Lin28 can upregulate Her2 expression at translational level. Both Lin28 and Her2 are poor prognostic factors in gastric cancer. Lin28 may regulate Her2 post-transcriptionally in gastric cancer cells, which indicates it might be a potential target in the treatment of gastric cancer.