Microbiota in colorectal cancer related to liver metastasis.

The prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing annually and metastasis is the principal cause of death in patients with CRC, with the liver being the most frequently affected site. Many studies have shown a strong interplay between the gut flora, particularly Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum), Escherichia coli, and Bacteroides fragilis, and the development of gut tumors. Some strains can induce gut inflammation and produce toxins that directly harm gut epithelial cells, ultimately accelerating the onset and progression of CRC. However, little clinical evidence exists on the specific interplay between the gut microflora and colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM). Some research showed the existence of viable F. nucleatum in distant metastasis of CRC. Subsequently, gut microbiota products, such as lipopolysaccharides, sodium butyrate, and protein cathepsin K, were also found to affect the development of CRC. This article summarizes the mechanism and research status of the interplay between gut microflora and CRLM, discusses the importance of gut microflora in the treatment of CRLM, and proposes a new approach to understanding the mechanism of CRLM and potential treatments for the microbiome. It is anticipated that the gut microbiota will be a formidable therapeutic and prophylactic tool for treating and preventing CRLM.

Influences of piezoelectric positive-negative junction on the multi-field coupled waves propagation in the piezoelectric semiconductor.

The influences of the piezoelectric positive-negative junction (PN junction) between two semiconductors with different doping types on the multi-field coupled wave propagation are studied in the present work. The layered structures of semiconductors are often used in intelligent devices, and the PN junction plays an important role for performance improvement. Due to the migration and diffusion of carriers, the electric potential and concentration of the carrier are graded distribution in the PN junction. This inhomogeneity results in the reflection and transmission of coupled waves, which are the complex of multiple physical fields including the mechanical, electric, and carrier fields. The state transfer equation method is used to obtain the transfer matrix of the PN junction, and the reflection and transmission waves under the plane strain situation are evaluated numerically. The energy fluxes of the reflection and transmission waves are estimated and used to validate the numerical results by the check of energy conservation. It is found that PN junction effects hinder the wave propagation and drastically enhance the reflection ability of the interface, especially, on the coupled carrier waves, and thus are very important and cannot be ignored for the wave propagation problem. The influences of external applied stress and bias electric field are also discussed.

Attachment of Ferredoxin: NADP+ Oxidoreductase to Phycobilisomes Is Required for Photoheterotrophic Growth of the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002.

Two types of cyanobacterial phycobilisomes (PBS) are present: the hemidiscoidal PBS (CpcG-PBS) and the membrane-bound PBS (CpcL-PBS). Both types of PBS have ferredoxin:NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) attached to the termini of their rods through a CpcD domain. To date, the physiological significance of the attachment remains unknown. We constructed a mutant (dF338) which contains an FNR lacking the N-terminal CpcD domain in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. Isolated CpcG-PBS from dF338 did not contain FNR and the cell extracts of the mutant had a 35 kDa protein cross-reacting to anti-FNR antibodies. dF338 grows normally under photoautotrophic conditions, but little growth was observed under photoheterotrophic conditions. A cpcL (cpcG2) mutant grows extremely slowly under photoheterotrophic conditions while a cpcG (cpcG1) mutant, in which PBS rods could not attach to the cores of the CpcG-PBS, can grow photoheterotrophically, strongly suggesting that the attachment of FNR to CpcL-PBS is critical to photoheterotrophic growth. We show that electron transfer to the plastoquinone pool in dF338 and the cpcL mutant was impaired. We also provide evidence that trimeric photosystem I (PSI) and intact CpcL-PBS with a full-length FNR is critical to plastoquinone reduction. The presence of a NADPH-dehydrogenase (NDH)-CpcL-PBS-PSI trimer supercomplex and its roles are discussed.

Reflection and transmission of coupled elastic waves by a semiconduction interlayer with consideration of photothermal effects.

The wave propagation problem through an inhomogeneous semiconduction slab sandwiched between two thermoelastic half-spaces is studied in this paper. Due to the photothermal effects and photoacoustic effects, the multiple physical fields coupled waves are generated in the semiconduction interlayer. For the inhomogenous semiconduction slab of finite thickness, the multiple physical fields coupled waves cannot be expressed explicitly. Instead, the state vector is defined, and the state transfer equation is derived to obtain the transfer matrix of the inhomogeneous slab. The reflection and transmission coefficients as well as the dissipation energy are estimated. The influences of the photothermal effects and photoacoustic effects are discussed based on the numerical results. It is found that the photothermal effects and photoacoustic effects result in some different vibration modes and associated propagation modes. The gradient profiles of the inhomogeneous interlayer have complicated influences on the reflection and transmission behaviors and can be well-designed to adjust the propagation behavior.

A risk scoring system based on tumor microenvironment cells to predict prognosis and immune activity in triple-negative breast cancer.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) interacting with the malignant cells plays a vital role in cancer development. Herein, we aim to establish and verify a scoring system based on the characteristics of TME cells for prognosis prediction and personalized treatment guidance in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). 158 TNBC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were included as the training cohort, and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) (N = 297), as well as GSE58812 (N = 107), were included as the validation cohort. The enrichment scores of 64 immune and stromal cells were estimated by the xCell algorithm. In the training cohort, cells with prognostic significance were found out using univariate Cox regression analysis and further applied to the random survival forest (RSF) model. Based on the scores of M2 macrophages, CD8+ T cells, and CD4+ memory T cells, a risk scoring system was constructed, which divided TNBC patients into 4 phenotypes (M2low, M2highCD8+ThighCD4+Thigh, M2highCD8+ThighCD4+Tlow, and M2highCD8+Tlow). Furthermore, types 1 and 2 patients were merged into the low-risk group, while types 3 and 4 patients were in the high-risk group. The low-risk group had superior survival outcomes than the high-risk one, which was further confirmed in the validation cohort. Moreover, in the low-risk group, immune-related pathways were significantly enriched, and a higher level of antitumoral immune cells and immune checkpoint molecules, including PD-L1, PD-1, and CTLA-4, could be observed. Additionally, consistent results were achieved in the SYSUCC cohort when the scoring system was applied. In summary, this novel scoring system might predict the survival and immune activity of patients and might serve as a potential index for immunotherapy.

Structural insight into the mechanism of energy transfer in cyanobacterial phycobilisomes.

Phycobilisomes (PBS) are the major light-harvesting machineries for photosynthesis in cyanobacteria and red algae and they have a hierarchical structure of a core and peripheral rods, with both consisting of phycobiliproteins and linker proteins. Here we report the cryo-EM structures of PBS from two cyanobacterial species, Anabaena 7120 and Synechococcus 7002. Both PBS are hemidiscoidal in shape and share a common triangular core structure. While the Anabaena PBS has two additional hexamers in the core linked by the 4th linker domain of ApcE (LCM). The PBS structures predict that, compared with the PBS from red algae, the cyanobacterial PBS could have more direct routes for energy transfer to ApcD. Structure-based systematic mutagenesis analysis of the chromophore environment of ApcD and ApcF subunits reveals that aromatic residues are critical to excitation energy transfer (EET). The structures also suggest that the linker protein could actively participate in the process of EET in both rods and the cores. These results provide insights into the organization of chromophores and the mechanisms of EET within cyanobacterial PBS.

The dispersion and attenuation of the multi-physical fields coupled waves in a piezoelectric semiconductor.

The dispersion and attenuation features of the multi-physical fields coupled waves propagating in an infinite piezoelectric semiconductor and the reflection problem at a boundary which is mechanically free, electrically insulation and the dielectrically open circuit are studied in this paper. Different from the classic dielectric piezoelectric medium, there are four kinds of coupled elastic waves, i.e. the quasi-longitudinal wave (QP), the quasi-traverse wave (QSV), the electric-acoustic wave (EA) and the electron or hole carriers wave (CP), in a piezoelectric semiconductor. The influences of the steady carrier density and biasing electric field upon the dispersion and attenuation features of these coupled elastic waves and the reflection amplitude ratios are studied numerically. The energy flux of each wave and the interaction energy fluxes among all waves are also calculated, and the energy flux balance is checked. It is found that the piezoelectric semiconductor behaves like the viscoelastic solid to carry a decaying wave. The steady carrier density and biasing electric field have significant influences on the dispersion and attenuation features and can be used to regulate the propagation of the coupled elastic waves.

Reflection and transmission of thermo-elastic waves without energy dissipation at the interface of two dipolar gradient elastic solids.

The reflection and transmission of thermal elastic waves at the interface between two different dipolar gradient elastic solids are studied based on the generalized thermo-elastic theory of Green and Naghdi [(1993). J. Elasticity 31, 189-208] (type II of no energy dissipation). First, some thermodynamic formulas are generalized to a dipolar gradient elastic solid and the function of free energy density is postulated. Second, equations of thermal motion and constitutive relations in a dipolar gradient elasticity are derived. Then the nontraditional interfacial conditions are used to determine the amplitude ratio of the reflection and transmission waves with respect to the incident wave. Some numerical results of the reflection and transmission coefficients in the form of an energy flux ratio are given for different microstructure parameters while thermal parameters are fixed. The numerical results are validated by the consideration of energy conservation. It is found that there are a total of five modes of dispersive waves, namely, coupled MT1 wave, coupled MT2 wave, coupled MT3 wave, SV wave, and one evanescent wave which reduces to the surface waves at an interface, namely, SS wave. The thermal parameters mainly affect the coupled MT2 wave while the microstructure parameters affect not only the coupled waves but also the SS surface waves.

Wave propagation through a flexoelectric piezoelectric slab sandwiched by two piezoelectric half-spaces.

Reflection and transmission of plane waves through a flexoelectric piezoelectric slab sandwiched by two piezoelectric half-spaces are studied in this paper. The secular equations in the flexoelectric piezoelectric material are first derived from the general governing equation. Different from the classical piezoelectric medium, there are five kinds of coupled elastic waves in the piezoelectric material with the microstructure effects taken into consideration. The state vectors are obtained by the summation of contributions from all possible partial waves. The state transfer equation of flexoelectric piezoelectric slab is derived from the motion equation by the reduction of order, and the transfer matrix of flexoelectric piezoelectric slab is obtained by solving the state transfer equation. By using the continuous conditions at the interface and the approach of partition matrix, we get the resultant algebraic equations in term of the transfer matrix from which the reflection and transmission coefficients can be calculated. The amplitude ratios and further the energy flux ratios of various waves are evaluated numerically. The numerical results are shown graphically and are validated by the energy conservation law. Based on these numerical results, the influences of two characteristic lengths of microstructure and the flexoelectric coefficients on the wave propagation are discussed.

Wave propagation through an inhomogeneous slab sandwiched by the piezoelectric and the piezomagnetic half spaces.

Wave propagation through a gradient slab sandwiched by the piezoelectric and the piezomagnetic half spaces are studied in this paper. First, the secular equations in the transverse isotropic piezoelectric/piezomagnetic half spaces are derived from the general dynamic equation. Then, the state vectors at piezoelectric and piezomagnetic half spaces are related to the amplitudes of various possible waves. The state transfer equation of the functionally graded slab is derived from the equations of motion by the reduction of order, and the transfer matrix of the functionally gradient slab is obtained by solving the state transfer equation with the spatial-varying coefficient. Finally, the continuous interface conditions are used to lead to the resultant algebraic equations. The algebraic equations are solved to obtain the amplitude ratios of various waves which are further used to obtain the energy reflection and transmission coefficients of various waves. The numerical results are shown graphically and are validated by the energy conservation law. Based on the numerical results on the fives of gradient profiles, the influences of the graded slab on the wave propagation are discussed. It is found that the reflection and transmission coefficients are obviously dependent upon the gradient profile. The various surface waves are more sensitive to the gradient profile than the bulk waves.

Surface/interface effects on the effective propagation constants of coherent waves in composites with random parallel nanofibers.

The effective propagation constants of elastic waves in an inhomogeneous medium with randomly distributed parallel cylindrical nanofibers are studied. First, the surface energy theory proposed by Huang and Wang (Handbook of Micromechanics and Nanomechanics, 2013) is used to derive the nontraditional boundary conditions on the surfaces of the nanoholes and the interfaces between the nanofibers and the host. Then, the scattering matrix of individual scatterer (cylindrical hole or nanofiber) is derived from the nontraditional boundary condition. The total wave field is obtained by considering the multiple scattering processes among the dispersive scatterers. The configuration average of the total wave field results in the coherent waves or the averaged waves. By using the corrected Linton-Martin formula, the effective propagation constants (effective speed and effective attenuation) of the coherent waves are estimated. The in-plane waves (P and SV waves) and the anti-plane waves (SH wave) are considered, respectively, and the numerical results are shown graphically. Apart from the effects of surface elasticity, the effects of inertia of surface/interface and the effects of residual surface tension (which are often ignored in the previous literature) are also considered. Moreover, the influences of the nonsymmetric parts of in-plane surface stress and the out-of-plane parts of the surface stress are both discussed first based on the numerical examples. These investigations show the underestimation and overestimation of effective propagation constants caused by various simplifications.

Dispersion relations of elastic waves in one-dimensional piezoelectric/piezomagnetic phononic crystal with functionally graded interlayers.

The effects of functionally graded interlayers on dispersion relations of elastic waves in a one-dimensional piezoelectric/piezomagnetic phononic crystal are studied in this paper. First, the state transfer equation of the functionally graded interlayer is derived from the motion equation by the reduction of order (from second order to first order). The transfer matrix of the functionally graded interlayer is obtained by solving the state transfer equation with the spatial-varying coefficient. Based on the transfer matrixes of the piezoelectric slab, the piezomagnetic slab and the functionally graded interlayers, the total transfer matrix of a single cell is obtained. Further, the Bloch theorem is used to obtain the resultant dispersion equations of in-plane and anti-plane Bloch waves. The dispersion equations are solved numerically and the numerical results are shown graphically. Five kinds of profiles of functionally graded interlayers between a piezoelectric slab and a piezomagnetic slab are considered. It is shown that the functionally graded interlayers have evident influences on the dispersion curves and the band gaps.

Dispersion relations of elastic waves in one-dimensional piezoelectric/piezomagnetic phononic crystal with initial stresses.

The dispersion relations of elastic waves in a one-dimensional phononic crystal formed by periodically repeating of a pre-stressed piezoelectric slab and a pre-stressed piezomagnetic slab are studied in this paper. The influences of initial stress on the dispersive relation are considered based on the incremental stress theory. First, the incremental stress theory of elastic solid is extended to the magneto-electro-elasto solid. The governing equations, constitutive equations, and boundary conditions of the incremental stresses in a magneto-electro-elasto solid are derived with consideration of the existence of initial stresses. Then, the transfer matrices of a pre-stressed piezoelectric slab and a pre-stressed piezomagnetic slab are formulated, respectively. The total transfer matrix of a single cell in the phononic crystal is obtained by the multiplication of two transfer matrixes related with two adjacent slabs. Furthermore, the Bloch theorem is used to obtain the dispersive equations of in-plane and anti-plane Bloch waves. The dispersive equations are solved numerically and the numerical results are shown graphically. The oblique propagation and the normal propagation situations are both considered. In the case of normal propagation of elastic waves, the analytical expressions of the dispersion equation are derived and compared with other literatures. The influences of initial stresses, including the normal initial stresses and shear initial stresses, on the dispersive relations are both discussed based on the numerical results.