Value of long non-coding RNA HAS2-AS1 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of glioma / El valor de ARNncl HAS2-AS1 como marcador diagnóstico y pronóstico del glioma

Background: Glioma presents high incidence and poor prognosis, and therefore more effective treatments are needed. Studies have confirmed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) basically regulate various human diseases including glioma. It has been theorized that HAS2-AS1 serves as an lncRNA to exert an oncogenic role in varying cancers. This study aimed to assess the value of lncRNA HAS2-AS1 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for glioma. Methods: The miRNA expression data and clinical data of glioma were downloaded from the TCGA database for differential analysis and survival analysis. In addition, pathological specimens and specimens of adjacent normal tissue from 80 patients with glioma were used to observe the expression of HAS2-AS1. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic ability and prognostic value of HAS2-AS1 in glioma. Meanwhile, a Kaplan–Meier survival curve was plotted to evaluate the survival of glioma patients with different HAS2-AS1 expression levels. Results: HAS2-AS1 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues compared with normal tissue. The survival curves showed that overexpression of HAS2-AS1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Several clinicopathological factors of glioma patients, including tumor size and WHO grade, were significantly correlated with HAS2-AS1 expression in tissues. The ROC curve showed an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.863, indicating that HAS2-AS1 had good diagnostic value. The ROC curve for the predicted OS showed an AUC of 0.906, while the ROC curve for predicted PFS showed an AUC of 0.88. Both suggested that overexpression of HAS2-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis.Conclusions: Normal tissues could be clearly distinguished from glioma tissues based on HAS2-AS1 expression. Moreover, overexpression of HAS2-AS1 indicated poor prognosis in glioma patients.(AU)

Introducción: Los gliomas presentan una alta incidencia y un mal pronóstico, por lo que es necesario un tratamiento más efectivo. Algunos estudios han confirmado que los ARN no codificantes de cadena larga (ARNncl) regulan diferentes enfermedades, entre las que se incluyen los gliomas. Se ha postulado que HAS2-AS1 actúa como un ARNncl, con un efecto oncogénico en diferentes tipos de cáncer. Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar el valor del ARNncl HAS2-AS1 como marcador diagnóstico y pronóstico de glioma. Métodos: Descargamos los datos clínicos y de expresión de micro-ARN de la base de datos del Atlas del Genoma del Cáncer (TCGA) para realizar el análisis diferencial y de supervivencia. También analizamos la expresión de HAS2-AS1 en muestras patológicas y muestras de tejido adyacente normal de 80 pacientes con glioma. Para analizar la capacidad diagnóstica y el valor pronóstico de HAS2-AS1 en el glioma, recurrimos a la curva ROC. También utilizamos curvas de Kaplan-Meier para evaluar la supervivencia de los pacientes con glioma con diferentes niveles de expresión de HAS2-AS1. Resultados: La expresión de HAS2-AS1 era significativamente mayor en las muestras patológicas que en el tejido normal. Las curvas de supervivencia demostraron que la sobreexpresión de HAS2-AS1 estaba relacionada con una menor supervivencia general y supervivencia libre de progresión. Algunos factores clínico-patológicos de los pacientes con glioma, como el tamaño del tumor y su grado, según la clasificación de la OMS, mostraron una correlación significativa con la expresión de HAS2-AS1 en los tejidos afectados. La curva ROC mostró un área bajo la curva de 0,863, lo que indica que la expresión de HAS2-AS1 posee un importante valor diagnóstico. El área bajo la curva de la supervivencia general estimada fue de 0,906; para la supervivencia libre de progresión estimada, de 0,88. Ambos valores muestran que la sobreexpresión de HAS2-AS1 se asocia con un mal pronóstico...(AU)

Value of long non-coding RNA HAS2-AS1 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of glioma.

BACKGROUND: Glioma presents high incidence and poor prognosis, and therefore more effective treatments are needed. Studies have confirmed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) basically regulate various human diseases including glioma. It has been theorized that HAS2-AS1 serves as an lncRNA to exert an oncogenic role in varying cancers. This study aimed to assess the value of lncRNA HAS2-AS1 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for glioma. METHODS: The miRNA expression data and clinical data of glioma were downloaded from the TCGA database for differential analysis and survival analysis. In addition, pathological specimens and specimens of adjacent normal tissue from 80 patients with glioma were used to observe the expression of HAS2-AS1. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic ability and prognostic value of HAS2-AS1 in glioma. Meanwhile, a Kaplan-Meier survival curve was plotted to evaluate the survival of glioma patients with different HAS2-AS1 expression levels. RESULTS: HAS2-AS1 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues compared with normal tissue. The survival curves showed that overexpression of HAS2-AS1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Several clinicopathological factors of glioma patients, including tumor size and WHO grade, were significantly correlated with HAS2-AS1 expression in tissues. The ROC curve showed an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.863, indicating that HAS2-AS1 had good diagnostic value. The ROC curve for the predicted OS showed an AUC of 0.906, while the ROC curve for predicted PFS showed an AUC of 0.88. Both suggested that overexpression of HAS2-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Normal tissues could be clearly distinguished from glioma tissues based on HAS2-AS1 expression. Moreover, overexpression of HAS2-AS1 indicated poor prognosis in glioma patients. Therefore, HAS2-AS1 could be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for glioma.

[A preliminary in vivo and in vitro study of endothelial cell pyroptosis in the periodontal inflammatory environment].

Objective: To observe whether endothelial cells undergo pyroptosis in the inflammatory periodontal environment by using a model in vivo and in vitro, providing an experimental basis for indepth understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of periodontitis. Methods: According to the classification of periodontal diseases of 2018, gingival tissues were collected from periodontally healthy subjects and patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ, grade C periodontitis, who presented Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Department of Periodontology, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University from April to May 2022. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression level and distribution of gasdermin D (GSDMD), a hallmark protein of cell pyroptosis, in gingival tissues. Periodontitis models were established in each group by ligating the maxillary second molar teeth of three mice for 2 weeks (ligation group). The alveolar bone resorption was determined by micro-CT (mice without ligation treatment were used as the control group), and the colocalization of GSDMD and CD31 were quantitatively analyzed by immunofluorescence staining in gingival tissues of healthy and inflammatory mice. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured in vitro and treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) combined with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at various concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mg/L, respectively, and the 0 mg/L group was set as the control group at the same time. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the morphology of HUVECs. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of gasdermin D-N terminal domains (GSDMD-N) protein and immunofluorescence cell staining was used to detect the expression and distribution of GSDMD. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to detect the proliferative ability of HUVECs, and propidium iodide (PI) staining was used to detect the integrity of cell membrane of HUVECs. Results: Immunohistochemistry showed that GSDMD in gingival tissues of periodontitis was mainly distributed around blood vessels and its expression level was higher than that in healthy tissues. Micro-CT showed that alveolar bone resorption around the maxillary second molar significantly increased in ligation group mice compared with control subjects (t=8.88, P<0.001). Immunofluorescence staining showed significant colocalization of GSDMD with CD31 in the gingival vascular endothelial cells in mice of ligation group. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that there were pores of different sizes, the typical morphology of pyroptosis, on HUVECs cell membranes in the inflammatory environment simulated by ATP combined with different concentrations of LPS, and 2.5 mg/L group showed the most dilated and fused pores on cell membranes, with the cells tended to lyse and die. Western blotting showed that the expression of GSDMD-N, the hallmark protein of cell pyroptosis, was significantly higher in 2.5 and 5.0 mg/L groups than that in the control group (F=3.86, P<0.01). Immunofluorescence cell staining showed that the average fluorescence intensity of GSDMD in 2.5 mg/L group elevated the most significantly in comparison with that in the control group (F=35.25, P<0.001). The CCK-8 proliferation assay showed that compared to the control group (1.00±0.02), 0.5 mg/L (0.52±0.07), 1.0 mg/L (0.57±0.10), 2.5 mg/L (0.58±0.04), 5.0 mg/L (0.55±0.04), 10.0 mg/L (0.61±0.03) groups inhibited cell proliferation (F=39.95, P<0.001). PI staining showed that the proportion of positive stained cells was highest [(56.07±3.22)%] in 2.5 mg/L group (F=88.24, P<0.001). Conclusions: Endothelial cells undergo significant pyroptosis in both in vivo and in vitro periodontal inflammatory environments, suggesting that endothelial cell pyroptosis may be an important pathogenic factor contributing to the pathogenesis of periodontitis.

Strictureplasty may lead to increased preference in the surgical management of Crohn's disease: a case-matched study.

BACKGROUND: Resection and strictureplasty are the two surgical modalities used in the management of Crohn's disease (CD). The objective of this study was to compare morbidity and clinical recurrence between patients who underwent strictureplasty and patients who underwent resection. METHODS: Patients with CD who underwent strictureplasty between January 2012 and December 2022 were enrolled. The patients were well matched with patients who underwent resection without strictureplasty. Patient- and disease-specific characteristics, postoperative morbidity, and clinical recurrence were also analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 118 patients who underwent a total of 192 strictureplasties were well matched to 118 patients who underwent resection. The strictureplasty group exhibited significantly less blood loss (30 ml versus 50 ml, p < 0.001) and stoma creation (2.5% versus 16.9%, p < 0.001). No significant difference was found regarding postoperative complications or length of postoperative stay. At the end of the follow-up, the overall rate of clinical recurrence was 39.4%, and no difference was observed between the two groups. Postoperative prophylactic use of biologics (odds ratio = 0.2, p < 0.001) was the only protective factor against recurrence. CONCLUSION: Strictureplasty does not increase the risk of complications or recurrence compared with resection. It represents a viable alternative to resection in selected patients, and as such, it should have a broader scope of indications and greater acceptance among surgeons.

Distinguishment between high-grade gliomas and solitary brain metastases in peritumoural oedema: quantitative analysis using synthetic MRI at 3 T.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in distinguishing high-grade gliomas (HGGs) from solitary brain metastases (SBMs) in peritumoural oedema. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five patients with HGGs and 25 patients with SBMs were recruited and scanned using synthetic MRI using a 3 T scanner. Two radiologists measured synthetic MRI-derived relaxation values independently (T1, T2, proton density [PD]) in the peritumoural oedema, which was used to generate quantitative metrics before (T1native, T2native, and PDnative) and after (T1post, T2post, and PDpost) contrast agent injection. Student's t-test or the Mann-Whitney U-test was performed to detect statistically significant differences in the aforementioned metrics in peritumoural oedema between HGGs and SBMs. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the efficacy of each metric in distinguishing the two groups, and the areas under the curves (AUCs) were compared pairwise by performing the Delong test. RESULTS: The mean T1native, T2native, and T1post values in the peritumoural oedema of HGGs were significantly lower compared with SBMs (all p<0.05). The T1post value had a higher AUC (0.843) in differentiating HGGs and SBMs than all other individual metrics (all p<0.05). The combined T1native, T2native, and T1post model had the best distinguishing performance with an AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.987, 94.3%, and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Synthetic MRI may be a potential supplement to the preoperative diagnosis of HGGs and SBMs in clinical practice, as the synthetic MRI-derived tri-parametric model in the peritumoural oedema showed significantly improved diagnostic performance in distinguishing HGGs from SBMs.

[The Origin and Academic Characteristics of Xujiang School].

Xujiang School of acupuncture and moxibustion has a long history with distinctive academic characteristics and regional influence. Xujiang School, originated from Xi Hong in Song Dynasty, is the oldest acupuncture and moxibustion school recorded in Chinese history. Later, it was passed down from family to family for more than ten generations. The tenth generation Xi Xinqing passed it on to Chen Honggang and gradually evolved into a school of acupuncture and moxibustion with regional characteristics and a certain national influence. In terms of academic characteristics, doctors in Xujiang School kept innovating based on the Classics.Its acupuncture and moxibustion academic ideas including reinforcement and reduction , point selection and searching for the primary cause of disease in treatment have had an important impact on contemporary acupuncture in clinic.

Connexin 43 gap junction affects survival and drug resistance of multiple myeloma side population cells.

Drug resistance remains a major challenge for multiple myeloma (MM) treatment, and side population (SP) cells may play a key role in this resistance. The function of connexin 43 (Cx43)-mediated gap junction intercellular communication (GJ-IC) in MM cells is poorly understood. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) from different sources were isolated and cultured. SP cells of MM cell line RPMI 8266 were separated by flow cytometry. Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to detect Cx43 mRNA and protein expression in BMSCs, RPMI 8266 and SP cells from different sources. The effects of BMSCs from different sources on SP cell cycle, in vitro colony formation ability, stem cell-related gene expression and drug resistance, and the addition of 18α glycyrrhetinic acid (18αGA) as a pathway inhibitor were observed. Here, we demonstrate that MM cells expressed Cx43 and contained a high percentage of SP cells. We observed an increase in the survival and proliferative capacity of SP cells compared with RPMI 8226 cells, but treatment with 18αGA decreased SP cell survival and proliferation (all P<0.05). MM cells were sensitive to dexamethasone- and bortezomib-induced apoptosis; however, this sensitivity was significantly decreased when MM cells were co-cultured with BMSCs, and 18αGA partly recovered this cytotoxicity (all P<0.05). Collectively, our data suggest that GJ-IC between BMSCs and MM cells is one of the important regulatory mechanisms underlying MM cells survival, proliferation, and drug sensitivity.

Anisotropic magnetoresistance and electronic features of the candidate topological compound praseodymium monobismuthide.

PrBi, a sister member of the rare-earth monopnictide family, is an excellent candidate for studying extreme magnetoresistance and nontrivial topological electronic states. In this study, we perform angular magnetoresistance measurements as well as bulk and surface band structure calculations on this compound. PrBi's magnetoresistance is revealed to be significantly angle-dependent and shows a fourfold symmetry as always observed in the nonmagnetic isostructural counterparts, including LaSb, LaBi, and LuBi. Its angular magnetoresistance can be reproduced well using the semiclassical two-band model. The deduced parameters suggest that PrBi hosts an elongated electron pocket with a mobility anisotropy of ∼3.13 and is slightly uncompensated in its carrier concentration. Our bulk and surface band structure calculations confirm the anisotropic electronic features. Moreover, we reveal that a nodal-line-shaped surface state appears at the X̄ point, and is associated with the quadratic dispersion along the -X̄ direction, and the linear type-I Dirac dispersion along the X̄-M̄ direction. Owing to the type-I Dirac dispersion feature, PrBi could serve as a promising material platform for studying many unexpected physical properties, such as the highly anisotropic transport and valley polarization of electrons.

[Application of synthetic MRI in predicting isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 genotypes in gliomas].

This study analyzed the clinical and imaging data of 81 glioma patients who underwent brain synthetic MRI and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) examination in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from August 2020 to September 2021 to explore the value of synthetic MRI relaxation quantitative value in predicting the genotype of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) in gliomas. There were 44 males and 37 females, those patients with an aged 50.0 (36.5, 59.0) years. The tumor pre-T1, pre-T2, pre-PD, post-T1 and ADC values were obtained by outlining the region of interest (ROI). Univariate analysis was used to compare the differences of parameter values between groups, and the receiver operating characteristic was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of each parameter value in predicting glioma IDH1 genotype. The results showed that the pre-T1 and pre-PD values [M (Q1, Q3)] of IDH1m glioma were lower than those of IDH1w glioma [1 462.75 (1 306.41, 1 567.75) ms vs 1 532.83 (1 434.67, 1 617.67) ms, 84.18 (82.28, 86.41) pu vs 85.85 (84.65, 86.90) pu] (all P<0.05). The post-T1 and ADC values of IDH1m glioma were higher than those of IDH1w glioma [1 054.50 (631.92, 1 262.63) ms vs 669.67 (535.17, 823.33) ms, 1.20 (0.86, 1.35) ×10-3 mm2/s vs 0.80 (0.76, 0.93) ×10-3 mm2/s] (all P<0.05). The AUC of the combined model (pre-T1+pre-PD+post-T1+ADC+Age) is 0.828 (95%CI:0.729-0.903). Synthetic MRI relaxation quantitative values are helpful to distinguish IDH1 genotypes in glioma. The diagnostic efficacy of the multi-parameter combined model based on pre-T1, pre-PD, post-T1, ADC, and age is better than that of the single parameter, and it can be used as an effective strategy to improve the differential diagnosis ability of gliomas molecular markers.

[Single-cell RNA sequencing deciphers transcriptional profiles of hepatocytes in mouse with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cell composition and the transcriptional characteristics in microenvironments of hepatic tissues in mice at late stage of Echinococcus multilocularis infection at a single-cell level. METHODS: Peri-lesion and paired distal hepatic specimens were collected from two BALB/c mice (6 to 8 weeks old) infected with E. multilocularis for single-cell RNA sequencing. The Seurat package in the R software was employed for quality control of data, multi-sample integration and correction of batch effects, and uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) algorithm was used for cell clustering. Cell types were annotated using classical marker genes. Differentially expressed genes were screened in each cell type through differential gene expression analysis, and the biological roles of cells were predicted using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. RESULTS: A total of 43 710 cells from peri-lesion and distal hepatic tissues of E. multilocularis-infected mice were analyzed, and were classified into 11 cell types, including neutrophils, T cells, macrophages, granulocyte-monocyte progenitor cells, B cells, plasma cells, basophils, hepatic stellate cells, endothelial cells, hepatocytes, and platelets. T cells were the largest population of immune cells in the microenvironment of hepatic tissues, including five CD4+ T cell subsets, two CD8+ T cell subsets and phosphoantigen-reactive γδT cells. The proportions of CD4+ helper T cells and cytotoxic CD4+ T cells decreased and the proportion of T helper 2 (Th2) cells increased in peri-lesion tissues relative to distal hepatic tissues. In addition, the differentially expressed genes in Th2 cells were associated with negative regulation of the immune system, and the highly expressed genes in cytotoxic CD4+ T cells correlated with activation of the immune system. CONCLUSIONS: Single-cell RNA sequencing deciphers the cell composition and distribution in microenvironments of hepatic tissues from mice infected with E. multilocularis, and the increased proportion of Th2 cells in peri-lesion hepatic tissues may be associated with formation of immunosuppressive microenvironments.

[Effects of caspase recruitment domain protein 9 gene knockout on airway inflammation in C57BL/6 mice with steroid resistant asthma].

Objective: To investigate the role of caspase recruitment domain protein 9 (CARD9) in airway injury and inflammation of steroid resistant asthma in C57BL/6 mice. Methods: C57BL/6 mice were divided into A group (control group), B group (model group) and C group (dexamethasone treatment group), with 6 mouse in each group using random number table. The mouse asthma model was established in B and C group by subcutaneous injection of ovalbumin (OVA)/complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) in the abdomen and OVA aerosol challenge, the pathological change and cell count in broncho alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected in order to confirm the model as steroid resistant asthma, and the lung tissue inflammatory infiltration was scored. Western blot was used to detect the changes of CARD9 protein between the group A and B; then wild-type and CARD9 knockout mice were divided into D group (wild-type control group), E group (wild-type model group), F group (CARD9 knockout control group) and G group (CARD9 knockout model group), the following indicators were observed and compared after establishing steroid resistant asthma model separately: HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of lung tissue, ELISA was used to detect the protein levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-5 (IL-5) and interleukin-17(IL-17) in BALF, and RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA levels of CXC motif chemokine ligand-10 (CXCL-10) and IL-17 in lung. Results: The inflammatory score (3.33±0.82 vs 0.67±0.52) and BALF total cell count [(10.13±4.83) ×105/ml vs (3.76±0.84) ×105/ml] in B group were higher than those in the A group with statistical significance (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between group C and group B in inflammatory infiltration score (2.83±0.75 vs 3.33±0.82) and BALF total cell count [(9.80±3.19) ×105/ml vs (10.13±4.83) ×105/ml] (P>0.05). Moreover the protein level of CARD9 was increased in the B group than A group (0.245±0.090 vs 0.047±0.014, P=0.004). Compared to E group and F group, more obviously inflammatory cells, neutrophils, eosinophils infiltration and tissue injury were observed in G group (P<0.05), so did the expression of IL-4 (P<0.05), IL-5 and IL-17. Meanwhile the mRNA expression levels of IL-17 and CXCL-10 also increased in lung tissue (P<0.05) of G group. Conclusion: CARD9 gene deletion may aggravate the steroid resistant of asthma by increasing neutrophil chemokines, such as IL-17 and CXCL-10, therefore increasing infiltration of neutrophils in C57BL/6 mice asthma model.

[Clinical efficacy and safety of endobronchial one-way valves for the treatment of bronchopleural fistula].

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of interventional endobronchial one-way valves (EBV) for the treatment of peripheral bronchopleural fistula (BPF). Methods: A total of 33 patients with peripheral BPF who underwent EBV implantation in Endoscopy Center of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from August 2017 to December 2021 were selected as the research objects. All the patients were diagnosed with peripheral BPF before the implantation surgery. The detailed medical records of the patients were collected, and the etiology, lesion location, treatment method and operation process, treatment efficacy and postoperative complications were analyzed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of EBV implantation. Results: Of the 33 patients in our study, 26 were male and 7 were female. The median age was 54.7 (28-86) years. There were 18 cases of BPF after thoracic surgery (54.5%), 6 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated with spontaneous pneumothorax (18.2%), and 12 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection with spontaneous pneumothorax (36.4%). A total of 63 valves were inserted in the 33 cases, and a maximum of valves and at least one were inserted in a single case. The lesions were located in the right lower lobe in 16 cases (48.5%) and the left upper lobe in 12 cases (36.4%). Of the 33 patients undergoing EBV placement, 22 (66.7%) were successful, with chest drainage tube indwelling duration of (88.5±36.6) days and (29.6±11.4) days, respectively, before and after EBV treatment. The time from EBV placement to successful withdrawal of EBV was (102.2±31.3) days. During a postoperative follow-up of 6 months after EBV treatment, the main complications were 29 cases with attachment of secretions to the EBV (90.6%) and 13 cases (40.6%) with mild granulation proliferation. In addition, there were five patients with moderate to severe granulation proliferation (15.6%), one with valve displacement or shedding (3.1%), and one with bleeding (3.1%). Conclusions: In this study, the success rate of EBV placement and occlusion was 66.7%. Transbronchoscopic EBV placement in the treatment of peripheral BPF is a effective treatment with relatively minor complications.

Functional network properties derived from wide-field calcium imaging differ with wakefulness and across cell type.

To improve 'bench-to-bedside' translation, it is integral that knowledge flows bidirectionally-from animal models to humans, and vice versa. This requires common analytical frameworks, as well as open software and data sharing practices. We share a new pipeline (and test dataset) for the preprocessing of wide-field optical fluorescence imaging data-an emerging mode applicable in animal models-as well as results from a functional connectivity and graph theory analysis inspired by recent work in the human neuroimaging field. The approach is demonstrated using a dataset comprised of two test-cases: (1) data from animals imaged during awake and anesthetized conditions with excitatory neurons labeled, and (2) data from awake animals with different genetically encoded fluorescent labels that target either excitatory neurons or inhibitory interneuron subtypes. Both seed-based connectivity and graph theory measures (global efficiency, transitivity, modularity, and characteristic path-length) are shown to be useful in quantifying differences between wakefulness states and cell populations. Wakefulness state and cell type show widespread effects on canonical network connectivity with variable frequency band dependence. Differences between excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons are observed, with somatostatin expressing inhibitory interneurons emerging as notably dissimilar from parvalbumin and vasoactive polypeptide expressing cells. In sum, we demonstrate that our pipeline can be used to examine brain state and cell-type differences in mesoscale imaging data, aiding translational neuroscience efforts. In line with open science practices, we freely release the pipeline and data to encourage other efforts in the community.

Test of a multi-gigawatt, 800 ns high power microwave driver based on Marx generator and metal-oxide varistors.

High power microwave (HPM) sources usually require a well-defined rectangular pulse waveform, which is especially true for the case of long pulse (>100 ns), stable, and high efficiency operation. Most long pulse HPM drivers are realized with pulse forming networks. This paper presents a long pulse driver composed of a conventional Marx generator and metal-oxide varistors (MOVs), utilizing the MOV's nonlinear V-I characteristic. This method is easy to implement, and it has an additional benefit that the voltage can be stabilized even if the load's impedance changes slightly. A low inductance zig-zag folding structure of the MOV is designed to decrease its size and self-inductance. An LC filter is used to reduce the energy loss in the MOV. In the experiment, a 400 kV, 800 ns long pulse is achieved at a foil-less electron diode, and longer than 300 ns HPM generation is obtained.

Prognostic factors for 495 nonoperative esophageal squamous cancer patients receiving IMRT plus chemotherapy: A retrospective analysis.

PURPOSE: Chemoradiotherapy is regarded as a standard scheme for inoperable and unresectable esophageal cancers. Our aims were to explore the prognostic factors relevant to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) following intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plus chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Totally 495 ESCC patients undergoing IMRT combined with chemotherapy in our hospital between 2011 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Potential clinical prognosis-related factors were assessed by uni- and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the ESCC patients were 2.25 and 1.24years, respectively. Uni- and multivariate analyses demonstrated the relevant independent prognostic factors of OS and PFS were gender, T stage, N stage, clinical stage, and tumor location (P<0.05), but not chemotherapy or radiotherapy dose. We further compared the 5-year OS rates among different T stages, N stages, clinical stages, genders, and tumor locations. The survival rate at the higher clinical stage was significantly lower (P<0.001). The 5-year OS in the upper thorax of the tumor was 46.0% and exceeded other tumor locations (P<0.05). The 5-year OS was 56.1% among females and 33.3% among males (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: For ESCC patients receiving IMRT combined with chemotherapy, their long-term curative effects are influenced by T stages, N stages, clinical stages, genders, and tumor locations. ESCC patients who are females, or have upper thoracic tumor, or are at early clinical stage own better prognosis.

Experimental Demonstration of Efficient Harmonic Generation via Surface Plasma Compression with Lasers.

The efficiency of high-order harmonic generation from a relativistic laser interacting with solid targets depends greatly on surface plasma distribution. The usual method of enhancing efficiency involves tuning the plasma scale length carefully by improving the laser contrast. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that efficient harmonics can be achieved directly by compressing large-scale surface plasma via the radiation pressure of a circularly polarized normally incident prepulse. The harmonic generation efficiency obtained by this method is comparable to that obtained with optimized plasma scale length by high-contrast lasers. Our scheme does not rely on high-contrast lasers and is robust and easy to implement. Thus, it may pave a way for the development of intense extreme ultraviolet sources and future applications with high repetition rates.

RNA sequencing and iTRAQ proteomic data from an experiment examining the influence of conceptus presence and preovulatory estradiol on endometrial gene transcripts and proteins around maternal recognition of pregnancy in beef cattle.

RNA sequencing reads and isobaric tags for a relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ)-Based Proteomic Data were used to determine the impact of conceptus presence and preovulatory estradiol concentration on function of the d16 uterus in beef cattle. Conceptuses and endometrial biopsies were collected from the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum. Total cellular RNA was extracted from endometrium for RNA sequencing across two lanes of a NovaSeq S2, 2 × 50-bp run. Two independent uterine luminal fluid pools (ULF) were made for each group: highE2/conceptus, highE2/noconceptus, lowE2/conceptus, and lowE2/noconceptus. Peptides were labeled with iTRAQ reagents and analyzed using 2-dimensional liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Transcript abundances were determined using DESeq2 (FDR <0.05, FC>2). Scaffold Q+ was used to quantitate peptide and protein identifications in ULF. Datasets include uterine transcript and protein abundances among highE2/conceptus vs highE2/noconceptus and lowE2/conceptus vs lowE2/noconceptus groups. This information can be useful for further investigating the role of specific transcripts and proteins in the maintenance of early pregnancy in beef cattle. This dataset is related to the article 'Influence of conceptus presence and preovulatory estradiol exposure on uterine gene transcripts and proteins around maternal recognition of pregnancy in beef cattle' by E.J. Northrop-Albrecht, J.J.J. Rich, R.A. Cushman, R. Yao, X. Ge, G.A. Perry. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.

[Effect of porous zirconia ceramics on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of porous surface morphology of zirconia on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. METHODS: According to different manufacturing and pore-forming methods, the zirconia specimens were divided into 4 groups, including milled sintering group (M-Ctrl), milled porous group (M-Porous), 3D printed sintering group (3D-Ctrl) and 3D printed porous group (3D-Porous). The surface micromorphology, surface roughness, contact angle and surface elements of specimens in each group were detected by scanning electron microscope (SEM), 3D laser microscope, contact angle measuring device and energy-dispersion X-ray analysis, respectively. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured on 4 groups of zirconia discs. The cell morphology of MC3T3-E1 cells on zirconia discs was eva-luated on 1 and 7 days by SEM. The cell proliferation was detected on 1, 3 and 5 days by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8). After osteogenic induction for 14 days, the relative mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), type Ⅰ collagen (Colla1), Runt-related transcription factor-2 (Runx2) and osteocalcin (OCN) in MC3T3-E1 cells were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The pore size [(419.72±6.99) µm] and pore depth [(560.38±8.55) µm] of 3D-Porous group were significantly larger than the pore size [(300.55±155.65) µm] and pore depth [(69.97±31.38) µm] of M-Porous group (P < 0.05). The surface of 3D-Porous group appeared with more regular round pores than that of M-Porous group. The contact angles of all the groups were less than 90°. The contact angles of 3D-Ctrl (73.83°±5.34°) and M-Porous group (72.7°±2.72°) were the largest, with no significant difference between them (P>0.05). Cells adhered inside the pores in M-Porous and 3D-Porous groups, and the proliferation activities of them were significantly higher than those of M-Ctrl and 3D-Ctrl groups after 3 and 5 days' culture (P < 0.05). After 14 days' incubation, ALP, Colla1, Runx2 and OCN mRNA expression in 3D-Porous groups were significantly lower than those of M-Ctrl and 3D-Ctrl groups (P < 0.05). Colla1, Runx2 and OCN mRNA expressions in M-Porous group were higher than those of 3D-Porous group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The porous surface morphology of zirconia can promote the proliferation and adhesion but inhibit the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells.

[A case of communicating oncocytic carcinoma of the naso-orbit].

A patient with a left eyelid mass for more than 1 year was admitted. One year ago, the patient underwent left sinus mass resection in another hospital, and the postoperative histopathology showed oncocytic carcinoma. Imaging examination in our hospital revealed lesions in the left eyelid and inner canthus, involving the canalis nasolacrimalis and orbit. The orbital mass was removed under general anesthesia. The histopathological diagnosis was oncocytic carcinoma.