Risk Factors for Lymph Node Metastasis in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study.

At present, the risk factors of cervical lymph node metastasis (LNM) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) are still controversial. This study was aimed to investigate the risk factors of various types of LNM in PTC with tumor diameter>1 cm. The clinical data of 2216 PTC patients were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors of LNM. In addition, the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was used to find the best cut-off value of CLNM for predicting LLNM. Finally, the independent risk factors of LLNM were used to construct the prediction of LLNM nomogram. Age≤55 years old, male, bilateral lobe tumors, ETE, 2-3 cm tumor diameters, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were independent risk factors for CLNM. The ROC curve showed that the best cut-off value was 2.5. Age, male, bilateral lobe tumors, tumor diameters≥2 cm and CLNM≥3 were significantly associated with LLNM , while CLNM=1 or 2 was a protective factor for LLNM. Only tumor diameters≥3 cm was significantly associated with skip LLNM. The nomogram model (C-index=0.745) can be used to predict LLNM in PTC patients and guide the clinical selection of appropriate treatment options. Patients with high risk factors should undergo prophylactic lymph node dissection. The nomogram we established has a good predictive ability for LLNM, and for high-risk groups, it is necessary to actively perform prophylactic lateral lymph node dissection.

Molecular beam epitaxy growth and scanning tunneling microscopy study of 2D layered materials on epitaxial graphene/silicon carbide.

Since the advent of atomically flat graphene, two-dimensional (2D) layered materials have gained extensive interest due to their unique properties. The 2D layered materials prepared on epitaxial graphene/silicon carbide (EG/SiC) surface by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have high quality, which can be directly applied without further transfer to other substrates. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) with high spatial resolution and high-energy resolution are often used to study the morphologies and electronic structures of 2D layered materials. In this review, recent progress in the preparation of various 2D layered materials that are either monoelemental or transition metal dichalcogenides on EG/SiC surface by MBE and their STM/STS investigations are introduced.

The Role of Regulated Programmed Cell Death in Osteoarthritis: From Pathogenesis to Therapy.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a worldwide chronic disease that can cause severe inflammation to damage the surrounding tissue and cartilage. There are many different factors that can lead to osteoarthritis, but abnormally progressed programmed cell death is one of the most important risk factors that can induce osteoarthritis. Prior studies have demonstrated that programmed cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy, and cuproptosis, has a great connection with osteoarthritis. In this paper, we review the role of different types of programmed cell death in the generation and development of OA and how the different signal pathways modulate the different cell death to regulate the development of OA. Additionally, this review provides new insights into the radical treatment of osteoarthritis rather than conservative treatment, such as anti-inflammation drugs or surgical operation.

Linear Mathematical Model for Seam Tracking with an Arc Sensor in P-GMAW Processes.

Arc sensors have been used in seam tracking and widely studied since the 80s and commercial arc sensing products for T and V shaped grooves have been developed. However, it is difficult to use these arc sensors in narrow gap welding because the arc stability and sensing accuracy are not satisfactory. Pulse gas melting arc welding (P-GMAW) has been successfully applied in narrow gap welding and all position welding processes, so it is worthwhile to research P-GMAW arc sensing technology. In this paper, we derived a linear mathematical P-GMAW model for arc sensing, and the assumptions for the model are verified through experiments and finite element methods. Finally, the linear characteristics of the mathematical model were investigated. In torch height changing experiments, uphill experiments, and groove angle changing experiments the P-GMAW arc signals all satisfied the linear rules. In addition, the faster the welding speed, the higher the arc signal sensitivities; the smaller the groove angle, the greater the arc sensitivities. The arc signal variation rate needs to be modified according to the welding power, groove angles, and weaving or rotate speed.

Etrolizumab as induction and maintenance therapy in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION: Etrolizumab is a gut-targeted, anti-ß7 integrin, monoclonal antibody. Recently, data from phase 2 and 3 trials presented different results in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study is to summarise the latest published trials to analysis the role of etrolizumab in treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis during induction and maintenance phases. METHODS: Eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs) will be retrieved from following databases: PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The last search time is May 2023. Two reviewers will independently identify RCTs according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome is clinical remission. The second outcomes are clinical response, endoscopic remission, endoscopic improvement, histological remission, any adverse event. The Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation tool will be established to estimate the evidence level of each outcome. All compute will be accomplished with Stata V.17.0 software. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals. No ethical approval requirements are required because the results presented in this study are conducted based on published data. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42023415369.

Immune and inflammatory mechanisms and therapeutic targets of gout: An update.

Gout is an autoimmune disease characterized by acute or chronic inflammation and damage to bone joints induced due to the precipitation of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals. In recent years, with the continuous development of animal models and ongoing clinical investigations, more immune cells and inflammatory factors have been found to play roles in gouty inflammation. The inflammatory network involved in gout has been discovered, providing a new perspective from which to develop targeted therapy for gouty inflammation. Studies have shown that neutrophil macrophages and T lymphocytes play important roles in the pathogenesis and resolution of gout, and some inflammatory cytokines, such as those in the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family, have been shown to play anti-inflammatory or proinflammatory roles in gouty inflammation, but the mechanisms underlying their roles are unclear. In this review, we explore the roles of inflammatory cytokines, inflammasomes and immune cells in the course of gout development and the research status of therapeutic drugs used for inflammation to provide insights into future targeted therapy for gouty inflammation and the direction of gout pathogenesis research.

Prediction model of cervical lymph node metastasis based on clinicopathological characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma: a dual-center retrospective study.

Background: The overall prevalence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients is expanding along with an ongoing increase in thyroid cancer incidence. Patients with PTC who have lymph node metastases have a poor prognosis and a high death rate. There is an urgent need for indicators that can predict lymph node metastasis (LNM) before surgery as current imaging techniques, such as ultrasonography, do not have sufficient sensitivity to detect LNM. To predict independent risk factors for Central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) or Lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM), we therefore developed two nomograms based on CLNM and LLNM, separately. Methods: In two centers, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University and Yichun People's Hospital, we retrospectively analyzed clinicopathological characteristics of PTC patients. We utilized multivariate analysis to screen for variables that might be suspiciously related to CLNM or LLNM. Furthermore, we developed nomograms to graphically depict the independent risk valuables connected to lymph node metastasis in PTC patients. Result: Ultimately, 6068 PTC patients in all were included in the research. Six factors, including age<45, male, mETE, TSH>1.418, tumor size>4cm, and location (multicentric and lobe), were observed to be related to CLNM. Age<45, male, mETE (minimal extrathyroidal extension), multifocality, TSH≥2.910, CLNM positive, and tumor size>4cm were regarded as related risk factors for LLNM. The two nomograms developed subsequently proved to have good predictive power with 0.706 and 0.818 and demonstrated good clinical guidance functionality with clinical decision curves and impact curves. Conclusion: Based on the successful establishment of this dual-institution-based visual nomogram model, we found that some clinical features are highly correlated with cervical lymph node metastasis, including CLNM and LLNM, which will better help clinicians make individualized clinical decisions for more effectively rationalizing managing PTC patients.

Will land circulation sway "grain orientation"? The impact of rural land circulation on farmers' agricultural planting structures.

This study calculates the effect of different types of land circulation on farmers' decision-making regarding agricultural planting structure, using field survey data involving 1,120 households in Hubei province, China, and PSM (propensity score matching) and GPSM (general propensity score matching) methods. Results from PSM showed that land circulation could significantly increase farmers' decisions to plant food crops, which confirms the positive effect of rural land circulation on the "grain orientation" of crop planting structure. Results from GPSM further indicate that the total land circulation, the paddy land circulation, and the dry land circulation all have significantly positive effects on planting structure adjustment towards "grain orientation." Additionally, planting structure adjustment towards "grain orientation" increases as the scale of land circulation increases, and the former shows a higher rate of increase than the latter, which confirms that rural land circulation facilitates an adjustment in structure towards planting food crops.

CpG island methylator phenotype associated with tumor recurrence in tumor-node-metastasis stage I hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), characterized by simultaneous methylation of multiple tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), has been reported to be associated with biological malignancy in many cancers. Whether CIMP is potentially predictive of clinical outcome in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. METHODS: We investigated the methylation status of ten TSGs and CIMP in 115 samples of HCC and 48 samples of corresponding nonneoplastic liver tissues using a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The methylation frequencies of the ten genes examined in HCC were 40.0% for p14 ( ARF ), 60.9% for p15 ( INK4b ), 70.4% for p16 ( INK4a ), 34.8% for p73, 70.4% for GSTP1, 64.3% for MGMT, 13.0% for hMLH1, 59.1% for RARbeta, 82.6% for SOCS-1, and 80.9% for OPCML. CIMP+ (with six or more methylated genes) was detected in 68 (59.1%) of 115 HCCs and none of 48 nonneoplastic liver tissues. On stratified univariate analysis, patients with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage I HCC with CIMP+ had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) (P = 0.002) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (P = 0.042) than those with CIMP-. Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed CIMP+ as an independent prognostic factor for both OS [hazard ratio (HR), 12.266; P = 0.015] and RFS (HR, 2.275; P = 0.032) in TNM stage I patients. CONCLUSIONS: CIMP+ may specifically define a subgroup of patients with unfavorable outcome in TNM stage I HCC. Examination of CIMP status may be useful for stratifying prognosis of patients with early-stage HCC and identifying patients who are at higher risk for recurrence.

Physical analysis of the process of cavitation in xylem sap.

Recent studies have confirmed that cavitation in xylem is caused by air bubbles. We analyzed expansion of a preexistent bubble adhering to a crack in a conduit wall and a bubble formed by the passage of air through a pore of a pit membrane, a process known as air seeding. We consider that there are two equilibrium states for a very small air bubble in the xylem: one is temporarily stable with a bubble radius r1 at point s1 on the curve P(r) relating pressure within the bubble (P) with bubble radius (r); the other is unstable with a bubble radius r2 at point s2 on Pr (where r1 < r2). In each equilibrium state, the bubble collapse pressure (2sigma/r, where sigma is surface tension of water) is balanced by the pressure difference across its surface. In the case of a bubble from a crack in a conduit wall, which is initially at point s1, expansion will occur steadily as water potential decreases. The bubble will burst only if the xylem pressure drops below a threshold value. A formula giving the threshold pressure for bubble bursting is proposed. In the case of an air seed entering a xylem conduit through a pore in a pit membrane, its initial radius may be r2 (i.e., the radius of the pore by which the air seed entered the vessel) at point s2 on Pr. Because the bubble is in an unstable equilibrium when entering the conduit, it can either expand or contract to point s1. As water vaporizes into the air bubble at s2, P rises until it exceeds the gas pressure that keeps the bubble in equilibrium, at which point the bubble will burst and induce a cavitation event in accordance with the air-seeding hypothesis. However, other possible perturbations could make the air-seeded bubble contract to s1, in which case the bubble will burst at a threshold pressure proposed for a bubble expanding from a crack in a conduit wall. For this reason some cavitation events may take place at a xylem threshold pressure (Pl'*) other than that determined by the formula, Plp'* = -2sigma/rp, proposed by Sperry and Tyree (1988), which is applicable only to air-seeded bubbles at s2. The more general formula we propose for calculating the threshold pressure for bubble breaking is consistent with the results of published experiments.

Thermodynymic analysis of the mechanism of deep supercooling of tissue water in winter-hardy plants.

The temperature at which ice grows through narrow, hydrophilic capillary is known to be depressed. Further, the nucleation temperature near a hydrophilic surface varies with the size, geometry and the properties of a particle. In this paper we show how these two effects are additive for the water that freezes on the wall of a capillary without the presence of pre-existing ice. The combined effect is a substantial lowering of nucleation temperature that could, if this analysis is correct, have important cryobiological consequences.

[Expression and methylation of adenomatous polyposis coli gene in endometrioid adenocarcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Endometrial carcinoma is a common malignant tumor of female reproductive system, with an increasing incidence in China. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, a tumor suppressor gene, is expressed in many tissues, and has a certain relationship with ovarian cancer. This study was to observe the expression and DNA methylation of APC gene in endometrioid adenocarcinoma, and explore its correlations to the occurrence and development of this disease. METHODS: The methylation, mRNA and protein expression of APC gene were detected by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry in 30 specimens of normal proliferative endometrium, 30 specimens of atypical hyperplastic endometrium and 60 specimens of endometrioid adenocarcinoma. RESULTS: The methylation rate of APC gene was significantly higher, the positive rates of APC mRNA and protein were significantly lower in endometrioid adenocarcinoma than in atypical hyperplastic endometrium and normal proliferative endometrium (65.0% vs. 33.3% and 23.3%, 33.3% vs. 63.3% and 73.3%, 30.0% vs. 50.0% and 66.7%,P<0.05). There was no significant difference between atypical hyperplastic endometrium and normal endometrium (P>0.05). APC methylation was positively correlated to APC mRNA expression. CONCLUSION: The expression and DNA methylation of APC gene are certainly related with the occurrence and development of endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

[Correlations of CpG island methylator phenotype and OPCML gene methylation to carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) is cancer-specific and involves in the promoter hypermethylation of multiple genes. It is correlated to the genesis or prognosis of various tumors, but it has rarely been reported in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OPCML (opioid-binding protein/cell adhesion molecule-like) gene has been studied mainly in epithelial ovarian cancer, and is thought to be a candidate tumor suppressor gene in epithelial ovarian cancer. This study was to explore the correlations of CIMP and OPCML gene expression to the carcinogenesis of HCC. METHODS: The methylation status of OPCML, p15, SOCS-1, GST-p, RAR-b, p16, p73, p14, MGMT, hMLH1 in 50 specimens of HCC and pericancer tissues was detected using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). RESULTS: The hypermethylation rates of genes were higher in HCC than in pericancer tissues [OPCML (70.0% vs. 64.6%), p15 (58.0% vs. 50.0%), SOCS-1 (78.0% vs. 50.0%), GST-p (56.0% vs. 27.1%), RAR-b (30.0% vs. 6.3%), p16 (26.0% vs. 14.6%), p73 (16.0% vs. 0%), p14 (36.0 vs. 27.1%), MGMT (16.0% vs. 10.4%), and hMLH1 (18.0% vs. 4.2%)]. The methylation rates of SOCS-1, GST-p, RAR-b, p16 and p73 were significantly higher in HCC than in adjacent non-neoplastic tissues (P<0.05). The recurrence occurred earlier in CIMP-positive group (> or =3 methylated genes) than in CIMP-negative group (<3 methylated genes)(P<0.05). The 1-year disease-freely survival rate was significantly lower in CIMP-positive group than in CIMP-negative group (18.2% vs. 75.0%, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CIMP exists in HCC, and may be a prognostic factor of HCC. Promoter methylation of OPCML gene may play an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis.