Prediction for pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of triple-negative invasive breast carcinomas: the performance comparison between quantitative and qualitative sonographic feature analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Sonographic features are associated with pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To predict the biological property of TNBC, the performance using quantitative high-throughput sonographic feature analysis was compared with that using qualitative feature assessment. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed ultrasound images, clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical (IHC) data of 252 female TNBC patients. All patients were subgrouped according to the histological grade, Ki67 expression level, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) score. Qualitative sonographic feature assessment included shape, margin, posterior acoustic pattern, and calcification referring to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). Quantitative sonographic features were acquired based on the computer-aided radiomics analysis. Breast cancer masses were manually segmented from the surrounding breast tissues. For each ultrasound image, 1688 radiomics features of 7 feature classes were extracted. The principal component analysis (PCA), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and support vector machine (SVM) were used to determine the high-throughput radiomics features that were highly correlated to biological properties. The performance using both quantitative and qualitative sonographic features to predict biological properties of TNBC was represented by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: In the qualitative assessment, regular tumor shape, no angular or spiculated margin, posterior acoustic enhancement, and no calcification were used as the independent sonographic features for TNBC. Using the combination of these four features to predict the histological grade, Ki67, HER2, axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM), and lymphovascular invasion (LVI), the AUC was 0.673, 0.680, 0.651, 0.587, and 0.566, respectively. The number of high-throughput features that closely correlated with biological properties was 34 for histological grade (AUC 0.942), 27 for Ki67 (AUC 0.732), 25 for HER2 (AUC 0.730), 34 for ALNM (AUC 0.804), and 34 for LVI (AUC 0.795). CONCLUSION: High-throughput quantitative sonographic features are superior to traditional qualitative ultrasound features in predicting the biological behavior of TNBC. KEY POINTS: • Sonographic appearances of TNBCs showed a great variety in accordance with its biological and clinical characteristics. • Both qualitative and quantitative sonographic features of TNBCs are associated with tumor biological characteristics. • The quantitative high-throughput feature analysis is superior to two-dimensional sonographic feature assessment in predicting tumor biological property.

Algicidal bacterium CZBC1 inhibits the growth of Oscillatoria chlorina, Oscillatoria tenuis, and Oscillatoria planctonica.

Frequent harmful cyanobacteria blooms limit the sustainable development of aquaculture. Algicidal bacteria can efficiently control harmful algae without secondary pollution. The algicidal bacteria CZBC1 can lyse Oscillatoria spp. and other harmful cyanobacteria, but its effector mechanism and algicidal threshold are unknown. In this study, we examined the algicidal effect of CZBC1 on O. chlorina, O. tenuis, and O. planctonica by microscopic enumeration and scanning electron microscopy observation. Then, we examined the alginolytic effects of CZBC1 (concentrations 103-106 colony forming units (cfu)/mL) on these three species (concentrations 103-106 cells/mL) to determine the effective concentrations of CZBC1 for Oscillatoria spp. alginolysis. Results showed that CZBC1 can directly lyse O. chlorina and O. tenuis but indirectly lyse O. planctonica. When the initial concentration of CZBC1 was 106 cfu/mL, alginolytic effects were high for all three species at all concentrations, and the alginolytic rate could reach 100% in 3-9 days. When the initial concentration of CZBC1 was lower (103 cfu/mL), its inhibitory effects were delayed by 2-5 days, but the cell counts were significantly decreased compared with the control, evidencing significant alginolysis. In addition, the higher the concentration of the algicidal bacteria suspension, the more significant the alginolytic effects. Our results indicate that CZBC1 has different alginolytic mechanisms for O. chlorina, O. tenuis, and O. planctonica, and that different initial concentrations of CZBC1 have different alginolytic effects on these algal species.

Design, Synthesis and Antibacterial Evaluation of 3-Substituted Ocotillol-Type Derivatives.

Antibiotic resistance has become a serious global problem that threatens public health. In our previous work, we found that ocotillol-type triterpenoid saponin showed good antibacterial activity. Based on preliminary structure-activity relationship, novel serious C-3 substituted ocotillol-type derivatives 7⁻26 were designed and synthesized. The in vitro antibacterial activity was tested on five bacterial strains (B. subtilis 168, S. aureus RN4220, E. coli DH5α, A. baum ATCC19606 and MRSA USA300) and compared with the tests on contrast. Among these derivatives, C-3 position free hydroxyl substituted compounds 7⁻14, showed good antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, compound 22 exhibited excellent antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values of 2 µg/mL against MRSA USA300 and 4 µg/mL against B. subtilis. The structure-activity relationships of all current ocotillol-type derivatives our team synthesised were summarized. In addition, the prediction of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties and the study of pharmacophores were also conducted. These results can provide a guide to further design and synthesis works.

[Niche characteristics of common microalgae communities in prawn-aquaculture pond in terms of water temperature, salinity, nitrogen, and phosphorus resources].

A 4-factorial (water temperature, salinity, nitrogen, and phosphorus) experiment was designed to study the niche characteristics of four common microalgae communities in prawn-aquaculture pond. The results showed that the niche breadth was the greatest for Cryptomonas erosa in temperature and salinity resources (0.980 and 0.988, respectively) and for Niztzschia closterium in nitrogen and phosphorus resources (0.990), but the smallest for Chlorella pyrenoidosa in all test resources, with an average value of 0.926. As for niche overlap, it was the smallest for C. erosa and C. pyrenoidosa in temperature and salinity resources (0.809 and 0.702, respectively) and for C. erosa and N. closterium in nitrogen and phosphorus resources (0.829), but the greatest for C. pyrenoidosa and Nannichloropsis oculata in temperature, salinity, and nitrogen and phosphorus resources, with the values being 0.986, 0.974 and 0.989, respectively. All of these suggested that in prawn-aquaculture pond, C. erosa could be bred with any other three of the microalgae communities, while N. oculata and C. pyrenoidosa should not be bred together for their obvious competition