Can lymphovascular invasion be predicted by contrast-enhanced CT imaging features in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma? A preliminary retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced CT (CECT)-derived imaging features in predicting lymphovascular invasion (LVI) status in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. METHODS: One hundred and ninety-seven patients with postoperative pathologically confirmed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated in our hospital between January 2017 and January 2019 were enrolled in our study, including fifty-nine patients with LVI and one hundred and thirty-eight patients without LVI. The CECT-derived imaging features of all patients were analyzed. The CECT-derived imaging features were divided into quantitative features and qualitative features. The quantitative features consisted of the CT attenuation value of the tumor (CTVTumor), the CT attenuation value of the normal esophageal wall (CTVNormal), the CT attenuation value ratio of the tumor-to-normal esophageal wall (TNR), the CT attenuation value difference between the tumor and normal esophageal wall (ΔTN), the maximum thickness of the tumor measured by CECT (Thickness), the maximum length of the tumor measured by CECT (Length), and the gross tumor volume measured by CECT (GTV). The qualitative features consisted of an enhancement pattern, tumor margin, enlarged blood supply or drainage vessels to the tumor (EVFDT), and tumor necrosis. For the clinicopathological characteristics and CECT-derived imaging feature analysis, the chi-squared test was used for categorical variables, the Mann-Whitney U test was used for continuous variables with a nonnormal distribution, and the independent sample t-test was used for the continuous variables with a normal distribution. The trend test was used for ordinal variables. The association between LVI status and CECT-derived imaging features was analyzed by univariable logistic analysis, followed by multivariable logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The CTVTumor, TNR, ΔTN, Thickness, Length, and GTV in the group with LVI were higher than those in the group without LVI (P < 0.05). A higher proportion of patients with heterogeneous enhancement pattern, irregular tumor margin, EVFDT, and tumor necrosis were present in the group with LVI (P < 0.05). As revealed by the univariable logistic analysis, the CECT-derived imaging features, including CTVTumor, TNR, ΔTN and enhancement pattern, Thickness, Length, GTV, tumor margin, EVFDT, and tumor necrosis were associated with LVI status (P < 0.05). Only the TNR (OR 8.655; 95% CI 2.125-37.776), Thickness (OR 6.531; 95% CI 2.410-20.608), and tumor margin (OR 4.384; 95% CI 2.004-9.717) were independent risk factors for LVI in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. The ROC curve analysis incorporating the above three CECT-derived imaging features showed that the area under the curve obtained by the multivariable logistic regression model was 0.820 (95% CI 0.754-0.885). CONCLUSION: The CECT-derived imaging features, including TNR, Thickness, tumor margin, and their combination, can be used as predictors of LVI status for patients with ESCC.

Highly Selective Production of Ethylene by the Electroreduction of Carbon Monoxide.

Conversion of carbon monoxide to high value-added ethylene with high selectivity by traditional syngas conversion process is challenging because of the limitation of Anderson-Schulz-Flory distribution. Herein we report a direct electrocatalytic process for highly selective ethylene production from CO reduction with water over Cu catalysts at room temperature and ambient pressure. An unprecedented 52.7 % Faradaic efficiency of ethylene formation is achieved through optimization of cathode structure to facilitate CO diffusion at the surface of the electrode and Cu catalysts to enhance the C-C bond coupling. The highly selective ethylene production is almost without other carbon-based byproducts (e.g. C1 -C4 hydrocarbons and CO2 ) and avoids the drawbacks of the traditional Fischer-Tropsch process that always delivers undesired products. This study provides a new and promising strategy for highly selective production of ethylene from the abundant industrial CO.

[Expression of MiR101 and EZH2 in Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Its Clinical Significance].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of miR-101 and EZH2 in patients with mantle cell lymphoma(MCL) and to analyze its correlation with clinical prognosis of MCL patients. METHODS: RQ-PCR and S-P immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expressions of miR-101 and EZH2 in tissue of MCL patients. CCK-8 was used to assay the effect of miR-100 minics on the proliferation of Jeko-1 and Mino cells; the flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI double staining was used to assay the apoptosis; Western blot was used to assay the effect of miR-101 minics on the expression of EZH2 protein in Jeko-1 and Mino cells. RESULTS: Compared with control group, miR-101 lowly expressed, and EZH2 protein highly expressed in MCL group, with very statistically significant difference(P<0.01).There was negative correlation between miR-101 and EZH2 expression(r=-0.638，P<0.05). The expression of miR-101 and EZH2 significantly correlated with B symptoms, International Prognostic Index(IPI) and Ann Arbor stage, respectively. Survival analysis showed that the overall survival(OS) rate of patients with low expression of miR-101 were significantly lower than that of patients with high miR-101 expression (P=0.0014), the OS rate of patients with EZH2 high expression were significantly lower than that of patients with EZH2 low expression (P=0.0093). The miR-100 minics could inhibit the proliferation of Jeko-1 and Mino cells, and increase the apoptotic rate. The expression of EZH2 protein was markedly suppressed by the miR-100 minics. CONCLUSION: The expression of miR-101 and EZH2 is different in MCL patients with different clinical stage and prognosis. The miR-101 can inhibit the cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis of mantle cell lymphoma by targeting EZH2.

Room-temperature electrochemical water-gas shift reaction for high purity hydrogen production.

Traditional water-gas shift reaction provides one primary route for industrial production of clean-energy hydrogen. However, this process operates at high temperatures and pressures, and requires additional separation of H2 from products containing CO2, CH4 and residual CO. Herein, we report a room-temperature electrochemical water-gas shift process for direct production of high purity hydrogen (over 99.99%) with a faradaic efficiency of approximately 100%. Through rational design of anode structure to facilitate CO diffusion and PtCu catalyst to optimize CO adsorption, the anodic onset potential is lowered to almost 0 volts versus the reversible hydrogen electrode at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The optimized PtCu catalyst achieves a current density of 70.0 mA cm-2 at 0.6 volts which is over 12 times that of commercial Pt/C (40 wt.%) catalyst, and remains stable for even more than 475 h. This study opens a new and promising route of producing high purity hydrogen.

The performance and membrane fouling rate of a pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor for treating antibiotic solvent wastewater under different cross flow velocity.

The performance of a pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for treating antibiotic solvent wastewater under different cross flow velocities (CFV) was investigated. Effects of mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS), colloid total organic carbon (TOC) and CFV on membrane fouling rate (RMF) were also explored in this paper. Throughout 341 days of experiment, the average total removal rate of N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) was 98.5% which hardly affected by the variation of CFV, and the compliance rate of DMF was 92% according to the Chinese standard (<25 mg/L). However, the relevant high total removal rate of M-cresol (MC) was achieved as 97.5%, the content of effluent failed to meet the national level emission standard (<0.1 mg/L). The biogas yield and the methane content of the biogas increased gradually with the increase of CFV, and the average methane content were over 70%. There were four kinds of methanogens in AnMBR, Methanosaeta spp was the largest methanogenic community, with an area of 45-70% of the archae. There was a linear relationship between colloid TOC and RMF at different MLSS concentrations. Then a universal mathematical model for the changes of RMF with influence factors was established. The result showed that model well fitted the laboratory data. It is suggested that the model proposed could reflect and manage the membrane fouling of AnMBR treating antibiotic solvent wastewater.

ALK and ROS1 rearrangements, coexistence and treatment in epidermal growth factor receptor-wild type lung adenocarcinoma: a multicenter study of 732 cases.

BACKGROUND: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) rearrangements represent two most frequent fusion targets in lung adenocarcinoma. Our study was intended to explore the clinicopathological characteristics, coexistence and treatment of ALK/ROS1-rearranged patients of lung adenocarcinoma without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. METHODS: Patients with wild-type EGFR mutation were screened for ALK/ROS1 at four domestic hospitals. ALK/ROS1 rearrangements were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Progression-free survival (PFS) curve was plotted with the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Among 732 eligible cases, ALK and ROS1 rearrangements were detected in 89 (12.2%) and 32 (4.4%) patients respectively. One patient harbored coexisting ALK/ROS1 fusion. Both ALK and ROS1-positive phenotypes were predominantly detected in younger non-smokers. More ALK/ROS1-rearranged patients were correlated with the expressions of TTF1, napsin A and solid predominant adenocarcinoma subtype. Thirty-three ALK and six ROS1 rearrangement patients received crizotinib treatment at an advanced stage. The median PFS was 9.5 months for ALK-positive patients and it was not attained in ROS1-rearranged counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of ALK and ROS1 rearrangements is elevated in EGFR-wild-type patients and the phenomenon of coexisting ALK/ROS1 has remained extremely rare. The rearrangements of ALK/ROS1 are correlated with age, smoking status, expressions of TTF1 & napsin A and solid predominant adenocarcinoma subtype.

MET Gene Amplification and Overexpression in Chinese Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients Without EGFR Mutations.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and clinical pathologic characteristics of MET amplification and overexpression in Chinese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unknown. In this multicenter study, we sought to reveal the frequency and clinical pathologic characteristics of MET amplification and to explore the predictive value of MET amplification and overexpression status in relation to survival in Chinese NSCLC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: MET amplification was detected by fluorescence in-situ hybridization in 791 patients with EGFR wild-type samples. MET protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In total, 8 of 791 NSCLC patients with EGFR wild type patients were identified as harboring MET amplification. Among these 8 patients, 1 had adenosquamous carcinoma histology and 7 adenocarcinoma. There was no statistically significant difference among age, sex, smoking status, and histologic type between patients with and without MET amplification. MET amplification was more frequent in advanced-stage disease and in the solid predominant subtype of adenocarcinoma. MET protein expression was performed in 395 patients, and 138 were positive. Patients positive for MET protein expression had worse overall survival (OS) compared to those without MET protein expression (45.0 vs. 65.8 months; P = .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that MET expression was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS (R = 1.497, P = .017), while MET amplification had weak relevance for OS (hazard ratio = 1.974, P = .251). CONCLUSION: MET amplification was rare in Chinese NSCLC patients without EGFR mutation, with a prevalence of about 1%. MET expression but not amplification could be an independent prognostic factor for shorter OS among these EGFR wild-type NSCLC patients.

Carbon induced selective regulation of cobalt-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts by ethylene treatment.

Various carbonaceous species were controllably deposited on Co/Al2O3 catalysts using ethylene as carbon source during the activation process for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). Atomic, polymeric and graphitic carbon were distinguished by Raman spectroscopy, thermoanalysis and temperature programmed hydrogenation. Significant changes occurred in both the catalytic activity and selectivity toward hydrocarbon products after ethylene treatment. The activity decreased along with an increase in CH4 selectivity, at the expense of a remarkable decrease of heavy hydrocarbon production, resulting in enhanced selectivity for the gasoline fraction. In situ XPS experiments show the possible electron transfer from cobalt to carbon and the blockage of metallic cobalt sites, which is responsible for the deactivation of the catalyst. DFT calculations reveal that the activation barrier (Ea) of methane formation decreases by 0.61 eV on the carbon-absorbed Co(111) surface, whereas the Ea of the CH + CH coupling reaction changes unnoticeably. Hydrogenation of CHx to methane becomes the preferable route among the elementary reactions on the Co(111) surface, leading to dramatic changes in the product distribution. Detailed coke-induced deactivation mechanisms of Co-based catalysts during FTS are discussed.

Patients with ROS1 rearrangement-positive non-small-cell lung cancer benefit from pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.

ROS1 gene-rearrangement in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients has recently been identified as a driver gene and benefited from crizotinib treatment. However, no data are available for ROS1-positive NSCLC about chemotherapeutic options and prognostic data. We investigated pemetrexed-based treatment efficacy in ROS1 translocation NSCLC patients and determined the expression of thymidylate synthetase (TS) to provide a rationale for the efficacy results. We determined the ROS1 status of 1750 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Patients' clinical and therapeutic profiles were assessed. In positive cases, thymidylate synthetase (TS) mRNA level was performed by RT-PCR. For comparison, we evaluated the TS mRNA status and pemetrexed-based treatment efficacy from 170 NSCLC patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation (n = 46), EGFR mutation (n = 50), KRAS mutation (n = 32), and wild-type of EGFR/ALK/ROS1/KRAS (n = 42). Thirty-four ROS1 translocation patients were identified at two institutions. Among the 34 patients, 12 with advanced stage or recurrence were treated with pemetrexed-based first-line chemotherapy. The median progression-free survivals of pemetrexed-based first-line chemotherapy in ROS1 translocation, ALK translocation, EGFR mutation, KRAS mutation, and EGFR/ALK/ROS1/KRAS wild-type patients were 6.8, 6.7, 5.2, 4.2, and 4.5 months, respectively (P = 0.003). The TS mRNA level was lower in patients with ROS1-positive than ROS1-negative patients (264 ± 469 × 10-4 vs. 469 ± 615 × 10-4 , P = 0.03), but similar with ALK-positive patients (264 ± 469 × 10-4 vs. 317 ± 524 × 10-4 , P = 0.64). Patients diagnosed with ROS1 translocation lung adenocarcinoma may benefit from pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. TS mRNA level enables the selection of therapeutic options for ROS1 translocation patients.

JARID1B deletion induced apoptosis in Jeko-1 and HL-60 cell lines.

AIMS: To investigate the involvement of JARID1B histone methyltransferase in the epigenetic change of euchromatic promoter in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and acute leukemia. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the protein of JARID1B and tri-methylated histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4), histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9), and cyclin D1 and Ki67 in 30 cases of MCL by immunohistochemistry. JARID1B was depleted by small interfering RNA (siRNA), and cell apoptosis and cell proliferation were detected by flow cytometry and MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide], histone tri-methylated H3K4 and histone acetylated H3, H4, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, procaspase-3, C-myc were studied by Western blot. RESULTS: We demonstrated that JARID1B was upregulated and histone tri-methylated H3K4 was downregulated in MCL compared to proliferative lymphadenitis, P < 0.05. The expression of histone methylated H3K9 was similar in both. Histone methylation of H3K4 was positively correlated with Ki67 in MCL (Kappa = 0.757, P < 0.05). This study showed that depletion of JARID1B cleavage apoptotic proteins of Bcl-2, procaspase-3, C-myc and resulted in loss cell viability and inducing apoptosis in Jeko-1 and HL-60 cell lines. JARID1B siRNA improved tri-methyl H3K4 and histone acetylated H3 and inhibited cyclin D1, but did not affect histone acetylated H4. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed hyper JARID1B expression and hypo histone H3K4 tri-methylation in MCL. We identify depletion JARID1B as a demethylase which is capable of removing three methyl groups from H3K4 and up-regulating histone acetylation of H3 in both cell lines. Interestingly, depletion of JARID1B inhibits Cyclin D1, which is one of the genes contributes to MCL pathogenesis. JARID1B might be one of therapeutic targets in acute leukemia and MCL.

Biomimetic ion nanochannels as a highly selective sequential sensor for zinc ions followed by phosphate anions.

A novel biomimetic ion-responsive multi-nanochannel system is constructed by covalently immobilizing a metal-chelating ligand, 2,2'-dipicolylamine (DPA), in polyporous nanochannels prepared in a polymeric membrane. The DPA-modified multi-nanochannels show specific recognition of zinc ions over other common metal ions, and the zinc-ion-chelated nanochannels can be used as secondary sensors for HPO4(2-) anions. The immobilized DPA molecules act as specific-receptor binding sites for zinc ions, which leads to the highly selective zinc-ion response through monitoring of ionic current signatures. The chelated zinc ions can be used as secondary recognition elements for the capture of HPO4(2-) anions, thereby fabricating a sensing nanodevice for HPO4(2-) anions. The success of the DPA immobilization and ion-responsive events is confirmed by measurement of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle (CA), and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the systems. The proposed nanochannel sensing devices display remarkable specificity, high sensitivity, and wide dynamic range. In addition, control experiments performed in complex matrices suggest that this sensing system has great potential applications in chemical sensing, biotechnology, and many other fields.

Semi-parametric hybrid empirical likelihood inference for two-sample comparison with censored data.

Two-sample comparison problems are often encountered in practical projects and have widely been studied in literature. Owing to practical demands, the research for this topic under special settings such as a semiparametric framework have also attracted great attentions. Zhou and Liang (Biometrika 92:271-282, 2005) proposed an empirical likelihood-based semi-parametric inference for the comparison of treatment effects in a two-sample problem with censored data. However, their approach is actually a pseudo-empirical likelihood and the method may not be fully efficient. In this study, we develop a new empirical likelihood-based inference under more general framework by using the hazard formulation of censored data for two sample semi-parametric hybrid models. We demonstrate that our empirical likelihood statistic converges to a standard chi-squared distribution under the null hypothesis. We further illustrate the use of the proposed test by testing the ROC curve with censored data, among others. Numerical performance of the proposed method is also examined.