Resting state functional connectome in breast cancer patients with fear of cancer recurrence.

This study aimed to investigate network-level brain functional changes in breast cancer patients and their relationship with fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). Resting-state functional MRI was collected from 43 patients with breast cancer and 40 healthy controls (HCs). Graph theory analyses, whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectivity strength (FCS) analyses and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed to identify connection alterations in breast cancer patients. Correlations between brain functional connections (i.e. FCS and FC) and FCR level were assessed to further reveal the neural mechanisms of FCR in breast cancer patients. Graph theory analyses indicated a decreased clustering coefficient in breast cancer patients compared to HCs (P = 0.04). Patients with breast cancer exhibited significantly higher FCS in both higher-order function networks (frontoparietal, default mode, and dorsal attention systems) and primary somatomotor networks. Among the hyperconnected regions in breast cancer, the left inferior frontal operculum demonstrated a significant positive correlation with FCR. Our findings suggest that breast cancer patients exhibit less segregation of brain function, and the left inferior frontal operculum is a key region associated with FCR. This study offers insights into the neural mechanisms of FCR in breast cancer patients at the level of brain connectome.

Extranodal Extension at Pretreatment MRI and the Prognostic Value for Patients with Rectal Cancer.

Background Detection of extranodal extension (ENE) at pathology is a poor prognostic indicator for rectal cancer, but whether ENE can be identified at pretreatment MRI is, to the knowledge of the authors, unknown. Purpose To evaluate the performance of pretreatment MRI in detecting ENE using a matched pathologic reference standard and to assess its prognostic value in patients with rectal cancer. Materials and Methods This single-center study included a prospective development data set consisting of participants with rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent pretreatment MRI and radical surgery (December 2021 to January 2023). MRI characteristics were identified by their association with ENE-positive nodes (χ2 test and multivariable logistic regression) and the performance of these MRI features was assessed (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]). Interobserver agreement was assessed by Cohen κ coefficient. The prognostic value of ENE detected with MRI for predicting 3-year disease-free survival was assessed by Cox regression analysis in a retrospective independent validation cohort of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (December 2019 to July 2020). Results The development data set included 147 participants (mean age, 62 years ± 11 [SD]; 87 male participants). The retrospective cohort included 110 patients (mean age, 60 years ± 9; 79 male participants). Presence of vessel interruption and fusion (both P < .001), heterogeneous internal structure, and the broken-ring and tail signs (odds ratio range, 4.10-23.20; P value range, <.001 to .002) were predictors of ENE at MRI, and together achieved an AUC of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.88, 0.93) in detecting ENE. Interobserver agreement was moderate for the presence of vessel interruption and fusion (κ = 0.46 for both) and substantial for others (κ = 0.61-0.67). The presence of ENE at pretreatment MRI was independently associated with worse 3-year disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 3.00; P = .02). Conclusion ENE can be detected at pretreatment MRI, and its presence was associated with worse prognosis for patients with rectal cancer. © RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Eberhardt in this issue.

Enhanced muscle activity during interrupted sitting improves glycemic control in overweight and obese men.

The efficacy of interrupting prolonged sitting may be influenced by muscle activity patterns. This study examined the effects of interrupting prolonged sitting time with different muscle activity patterns on continuously monitored postprandial glycemic response. Eighteen overweight and obese men (21.0 ± 1.2 years; 28.8 ± 2.2 kg/m2) participated in this randomized four-arm crossover study, including uninterrupted sitting for 8.5 h (SIT) and interruptions in sitting with matched energy expenditure and duration but varying muscle activity: 30-min walking at 4 km/h (ONE), sitting with 3-min walking at 4 km/h (WALK) or squatting (SQUAT) every 45 min for 10 times. Net incremental area under the curve (netiAUC) for glucose was compared between conditions. Quadriceps, hamstring, and gluteal muscles electromyogram (EMG) patterns including averaged muscle EMG amplitude (aEMG) and EMG activity duration were used to predict the effects on glucose netiAUC. Compared with SIT (10.2 mmol/L/h [95%CI 6.3 to 11.7]), glucose netiAUC was lower during sitting interrupted with any countermeasure (ONE 9.2 mmol/L/h [8.0 to 10.4], WALK 7.9 mmol/L/h [6.4 to 9.3], and SQUAT 7.9 mmol/L/h [6.4 to 9.3], all p < 0.05). Furthermore, WALK and SQUAT resulted in a lower glucose netiAUC compared with ONE (both p < 0.05). Only increased aEMG in quadriceps (-0.383 mmol/L/h [-0.581 to -0.184], p < 0.001) and gluteal muscles (-0.322 mmol/L/h [-0.593 to -0.051], p = 0.022) was associated with a reduction in postprandial glycemic response. Collectively, short, frequent walking or squatting breaks effectively enhance glycemic control in overweight and obese men compared to a single bout of walking within prolonged sitting. These superior benefits seem to be associated with increased muscle activity intensity in the targeted muscle groups during frequent transitions from sitting to activity.

[Research Progress in Pathogenesis of Hypertension in Acute Intermittent Porphyria].

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) has complicated clinical manifestations and is often accompanied by hypertension.AIP may cause hypertension through adrenergic effect,heme deficiency,inflammation,inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone,toxicity of delta-aminolevulinic acid(ALA,aporphyrin precursor),and elevated serum glucose level.The prevention and treatment strategies for AIP accompanied with hypertension mainly include the controlling of porphyria attacks,application of antihypertensive drugs,lifestyle intervention,and management of latent AIP patients.

Contrast-enhanced MRI for T Restaging of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy.

Background Accurate restaging of rectal cancer is crucial in the selection of candidates for local excision after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy (NCRT). The conventional approach of combined T2-weighted imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) at MRI has been found to have limitations in restaging. Purpose To determine the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced MRI in distinguishing between pathologic stage ypT0-1 and ypT2-4 rectal cancer after NCRT compared with T2-weighted imaging and DWI by using surgical pathologic specimens as the reference standard. Materials and Methods This retrospective study evaluated MRI scans in all consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent total mesorectal excision after NCRT in Peking University Cancer Hospital (Beijing, China) from January 2014 to October 2018. All MRI features obtained before and after NCRT were evaluated by two experienced radiologists, independently and blinded to personal, clinical, and histopathologic information. The post-NCRT yT stage was assigned based on high b value (b = 1000 sec/mm2) DWI with T2-weighted imaging (protocol 1) in the first round and on contrast-enhanced MRI scans (protocol 2) in a second round. The diagnostic accuracies for the differentiation of pathologic stage ypT0-1 from ypT2-4 tumors with the two protocols were compared. Multivariable regression analysis was used to explore the independent predictors of pathologic stage ypT0-1 tumors. Results A total of 328 patients (mean age, 57 years ± 10 [SD]; 227 men; 69%) were enrolled. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the contrast-enhanced MRI protocol in predicting pathologic stage ypT0-1 tumors was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.85), which was better than that of the T2-weighted DWI protocol (0.66; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.71; P < .001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that yT stage after NCRT on contrast-enhanced MRI scans was the only independent predictor of pathologic stage ypT0-1 tumors (P < .001). Conclusion Contrast-enhanced MRI provides accurate differentiation of ypT0-1 from ypT2-4 tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Zins and Santiago in this issue.

Development and comparison of qPCR and qLAMP for rapid detection of the decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1).

Decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) is a new virus discovered in recent years that infects farmed shrimp. DIV1 is highly infectious and causes substantial economic loss to the aquaculture industry of China. To prevent and control the spread and outbreak of DIV1 in a timely manner, it is necessary to establish an efficient method for DIV1 diagnosis. In this study, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and quantitative real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (qLAMP) detection methods were established based on the specific sequence of the viral ATPase gene. The results indicated that the minimum detection limits of qPCR and qLAMP were 1.9 × 101 copies/µL and 1.9 × 102 copies/µL, respectively; the designed primer had good specificity for DIV1 and did not react with 13 other viruses, including white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP), acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV), etc. A total of 43 clinical samples suspected of DIV1 infection were diagnosed by qPCR and qLAMP. Our qPCR demonstrated results consistent with a qPCR assay published previously, and the diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) and diagnostic specificity (DSp) of qLAMP were 85.71% and 100%, respectively. This result indicates that qPCR and qLAMP have good accuracy in the detection of DIVI in clinical samples. As established in this study, qPCR and qLAMP combined with a comprehensive comparative analysis can provide effective new solutions for the detection of DIV1.

Polarization Toffoli gate assisted by multiple degrees of freedom.

A Toffoli gate plays a critical role in many quantum algorithms due to its function as a building block, which is a fundamental element for feasible large-scale quantum computation. With the help of polarization, spatial, and temporal degrees of freedom (DOFs), a construction scheme of a nearly deterministic polarization Toffoli gate is proposed, where only two two-photon gates are required. The simple construction circuit together with available techniques and optical elements facilitate the realization of the scheme presented here. This construction scheme can be utilized as a reference for multiqubit quantum gates with multiple DOFs.

Single logical qubit information encoding scheme with the minimal optical decoherence-free subsystem.

We present a scheme for encoding single logical qubit information, which is immune to collective decoherence acting on Hilbert space spanned by the corresponding states. The scheme needs a spatial entanglement gate and a polarization entanglement gate, which are realized with the assistance of weak cross-Kerr nonlinear interaction between photons and coherent states via Kerr media. Under the condition of sufficient large phase shifts, single logical qubit information can be encoded into this minimal optical decoherence-free subsystem with near-unity fidelity. Together with the mature techniques of measurement and classical feed forward, simple linear optical elements are applied to complete the encoding task, which offers the feasibility of this scheme for protecting quantum information against decoherence.

A one-pot approach to pyridyl isothiocyanates from amines.

A one-pot preparation of pyridyl isothiocyanates (ITCs) from their corresponding amines has been developed. This method involves aqueous iron(III) chloride-mediated desulfurization of a dithiocarbamate salt that is generated in situ by treatment of an amine with carbon disulfide in the present of DABCO or sodium hydride. The choice of base is of decisive importance for the formation of the dithiocarbamate salts. This one-pot process works well for a wide range of pyridyl ITCs. Utilizing this protocol, some highly electron-deficient pyridyl and aryl ITCs are obtained in moderate to good yields.

Methylation characteristics and developmental potential of Guangxi Bama minipig (Sus scrofa domestica) cloned embryos from donor cells treated with trichostatin A and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine.

Summary Reprogramming of DNA methylation in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos is incomplete, and aberrant DNA methylation patterns are related to the inefficiency of SCNT. To facilitate nuclear reprogramming, this study investigated the effect of treating Guangxi Bama minipig donor cells with trichostatin A (TSA), 5-aza-2'-deoxycytine (5-aza-dC), or combination of TSA and 5-aza-dC prior to nuclear transfer. Analyses showed that there were no major changes in cell-cycle status among all groups. We monitored the transcription of DNMT1, DNMT3a, HDAC1 and IGF2 genes in donor cells. Transcription levels of HDAC1 were decreased significantly after treatment with a combination of TSA and 5-aza-dC, along with a significantly increased level of IGF2 (P < 0.05). Although treatment of donor cells with either TSA or 5-aza-dC alone resulted in non-significant effects in blastocyst formation rate and DNA methylation levels, a combination of TSA and 5-aza-dC significantly improved the development rates of minipig SCNT embryos to blastocyst (25.6% vs. 16.0%, P < 0.05). This change was accompanied by decreased levels of DNA methylation in somatic cells and blastocyst (P < 0.05). Thus in combination with TSA, lower concentrations of 5-aza-dC may produce a potent demethylating activity, and lead to the significantly enhanced blastocyst development percentage of Bama minipig SCNT embryos.

Rhodium-Catalyzed 1,4-Aryl Rearrangement of Sulfur Ylide for the Synthesis of 2-Pyridyl Thioethers.

We report a novel rhodium-catalyzed rearrangement involving N-substituted 2-thiopyridones and diazoesters. This reaction proceeds through the rhodium-catalyzed formation of sulfur ylides, followed by a direct C-N bond cleavage to achieve N-to-C 1,4-pyridyl migration. The protocol can be used to construct various thiopyridines possessing tetrasubstituted carbon stereocenters in moderate to excellent yields, which expands the transformation pattern of sulfur ylide intermediates in rearrangement reactions.

Human creativity escapes in the struggle against threat: Evidence from neural mechanisms.

The damaging effect of threat on creativity has been confirmed by many studies. However, the neural mechanism underlying this effect has not been clarified. We designed an experiment to explore changes in brain activation when creativity is threatened. Specifically, participants performed the Chinese Remote Associates Test (RAT) under three conditions. The control condition was accompanied by no sound, the neutral condition was accompanied by unpredictable neutral sounds, and the threat condition was manipulated through unpredictable aversive sounds. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy measurements to collect cognitive neurological data. The results showed that the threat condition reduced the accuracy and response time of the RAT and led to individual negative emotions. Participants' prefrontal cortex and supramarginal gyrus activation decreased under threat. These results provide a reference for clarifying the negative impact of threat on creativity and highlight its cognitive neural mechanisms.

The Griffiths Development Scales-Chinese (GDS-C): A reliable and valid neurodevelopmental assessment tool in children with ASD aged 3-8 years old in Tianjin, China.

BACKGROUND: The reliability and validity of the Griffiths Development Scales-Chinese (GDS-C) for autistic children in China are unknown. Thus, it is urgent to verify the instrument's reliability and validity in this population. The aim of the study was to explore whether the GDS-C is reliable and valid for assessing neurodevelopment in autistic children. METHOD: This study included 296 autistic children and 141 typically developing children from 3 to 8 years of age in China. The reliability of the scale was estimated based on its internal consistency, test-retest reliability and interrater reliability. The validity of the scale was calculated based on the construct validity, discriminate validity and criterion validity. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to calculate the general quotients (GQs) corresponding to the diagnostic classification within the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores. RESULTS: This study shows sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.957; test-retest reliability = 0.945 for the whole scale and 0.830-0.919 for the subscales; interrater reliability = 0.925 for the whole scale and 0.796-0.919 for the subscales). The results also provide good support for the validity of the GDS-C. In the discriminant analysis, 85.5% of the children in the autistic sample were correctly classified. The cutoff value for distinguishing autistic children from normal children within the CARS scale corresponds to a GQ of 84.83, and that for distinguishing severely autistic children from mild or moderately autistic children corresponds to a GQ of 66.60. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the GDS-C may be a valid and reliable tool for assessing the neurodevelopment of autistic children.

What grabs his attention but not hers? Estrogen correlates with neurophysiological measures of vocal change detection.

Prior research revealed sex differences in the processing of unattended changes in speaker prosody. The present study aimed at investigating the role of estrogen in mediating these effects. To this end, the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while participants watched a silent movie with subtitles and passively listened to a syllable sequence that contained occasional changes in speaker prosody. In one block, these changes were neutral, whereas in another block they were emotional. Estrogen values were obtained for each participant and correlated with the mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitude elicited in the EEG. As predicted, female listeners had higher estrogen values than male listeners and showed reduced MMN amplitudes to neutral as compared to emotional change in speaker prosody. Moreover, in both, male and female listeners, MMN amplitudes were negatively correlated with estrogen when the change in speaker prosody was neutral, but not when it was emotional. This suggests that estrogen is associated with reduced distractibility by neutral, but not emotional, events. Emotional events are spared from this reduction in distractibility and more likely to penetrate voluntary attention directed elsewhere. Taken together, the present findings provide evidence for a role of estrogen in human cognition and emotion.

Effect of the meiotic inhibitor cilostamide on resumption of meiosis and cytoskeletal distribution in buffalo oocytes.

Improving the quality of in vitro maturated buffalo oocytes is essential for embryo production. We report here the effects on microtubules and microfilaments in oocytes and embryo development that result from treating buffalo oocytes with the phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) inhibitor cilostamide. Addition of 20µM or 50µM cilostamide for 24h during in vitro maturation showed no differences in the percentage of oocytes arrested at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage. When 20µM cilostamide was added to the pre-maturation culture for 6h, 12h or 24h and continued for another 24h without cilostamide, oocytes resumed meiosis, but with significantly lower (P<0.01) maturation rates in the 24h group than that in the other two groups. During oocyte maturation in vitro, no microtubules were detected before GV breakdown (GVBD). After GVBD, microtubules combined with condensed chromatin to form the meiotic metaphase spindle. Microfilaments covered a thick area around the cellular cortex and overlying chromosomes. Cilostamide had no effects on microtubules and microfilaments in metaphase II oocytes, and there were no significant differences in the rates of cleavage, blastocyst formation and number of blastocyst cells between oocytes treated pre-maturation with inhibitor for 6h and those of the control group (P>0.05). In summary, cilostamide reversibly arrested the resumption of meiosis without any adverse impact on the dynamic changes in microtubules and microfilaments in buffalo oocytes and their in vitro developmental capacity.

Flow cytometric and near-infrared Raman spectroscopic investigation of quality in stained, sorted, and frozen-thawed buffalo sperm.

Flow cytometry and Laser Tweezers Raman spectroscopy have been used to investigate Nili-Ravi buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm from different samples (fresh, stained, sorted and frozen-thawed) of the flow-sorting process to optimize sperm sex sorting procedures. During the sorting and freezing-thawing processes, the two detection methods both indicated there were differences in mitochondrial activity and membrane integrity. Moreover, a dispersive-type NIR (Near Infrared Reflection) use of the Raman system resulted in the ability to detect a variety of sperm components, including relative DNA, lipid, carbohydrates and protein contents. The use of the Raman system allowed for PCA (principal components analysis) and DFA (discriminant function analysis) of fresh, stained, sorted and frozen-thawed sperm. The methodology, therefore, allows for distinguishing sperm from different samples (fresh, stained, sorted and frozen-thawed), and demonstrated the great discriminative power of ANN (artificial neural network) classification models for the differentiating sperm from different phases of the flow-sorting process. In conclusion, the damage induced by sperm sorting and freezing-thawing procedures can be quantified, and in the present research it is demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy is a valuable technology for assessing sperm quality.