Prognostic Molecular Biomarkers in Breast Cancer Lesions with Non-Mass Enhancement on MR.

Clustered ring enhancement (CRE) is a new lexicon for non-mass enhancement (NME) of breast MR in the 5th BIRADS, indicating a high suspicion of malignancy. We wonder if the presence of CRE correlates with expression of prognostic molecular biomarkers of breast cancer. A total of 58 breast lesions, which MRI reported with NME, were collected between July 2013 and December 2018. The patterns of enhancement including CRE were reviewed and the pathological results with expression of molecular biomarkers were collected. The association between MRI NME, pathological, and IHC stain findings were investigated under univariate analysis. A total of 58 breast lesions were pathologically proven to have breast cancer, comprising 31 lesions with CRE and 27 lesions without CRE on breast MRI. The expression of the estrogen receptor (ER) (p = 0.017) and the progesterone receptor (PR) (p = 0.017) was significantly lower in lesions with CRE as compared with those without CRE. The expression of Ki-67 (≥25%) was significantly higher in lesions with CRE (p = 0.046). The lesions with CRE had a lower expression ratio of ER (50.71 ± 45.39% vs. 74.26 ± 33.59%, p = 0.028). Our study indicated that lesions with CRE may possess different features from those without CRE in molecular expression, bearing a more aggressive behavior.

Pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction in patients with left to right shunt coronary artery fistula: evaluation with cardiac CT.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether patients with left to right shunt coronary artery fistula (LRSCAF) are predisposed to developing pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction compared with healthy individuals. The value of cardiac CT findings in determining the necessity of intervention for these patients was investigated. We retrospectively studied 19 patients with LRSCAF and 19 healthy patients. Several parameters were observed on cardiac CT by two radiologists, including pulmonary trunk diameter (PA diameter), right ventricular diameter (RVD), left ventricular diameter (LVD), RVD/LVD ratio, septal bowing and CT score of right ventricular dysfunction (CSRVD). Data from both groups were compared. The inter- and intra-observer variabilities and correlations were examined. The disease group was further divided into intervention (n = 9) and non-intervention (n = 10) groups, and their data were compared. All cardiac CT findings showed significant intra- and inter-observer correlation without significant variability. Mann-Whitney U tests and χ(2) analysis showed that PA diameter, RVD/LVD ratio acquired from two observers, and CSRVD were higher in the disease group than in the control group (all P values < 0.05 for χ(2) and almost all P values < 0.05 for Mann-Whitney U). The RVD/LVD ratio and CSRVD were higher in the intervention group than in the non-intervention group (all P values < 0.05). Receiver operating curve analysis identified RVD/LVD = 1.036 and CSRVD = 3.5 as the best cut-off values to determine the necessity of further intervention. Patients with LRSCAF are more predisposed to pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction compared with the normal population. RVD/LVD > 1.0 and CSRVD ≥ 4.0 may determine the necessity of intervention for patients with LRSCAF.

Interfacial electron transfer from CdSe/ZnS quantum dots to TiO2 nanoparticles: size dependence at the single-molecule level.

Electron transfer (ET) kinetics of CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) on bare coverslips and a TiO(2) nanoparticle-coated thin film has been investigated at the single-molecule level. The QDs prepared have three different diameters of 3.6, 4.6, and 6.4 nm. The trajectories of fluorescence intensity are acquired with respect to the arrival time. The on-time events and subsequent fluorescence lifetimes are shorter with decreasing size. Given the lifetime measurements for QDs on glass and TiO(2), the rate constant of ET from QDs to TiO(2) may be determined to be 1.3×10(7), 6.0×10(6), and 4.7×10(6) s(-1) for the increasing sizes of the QDs. The plot of on-time probability density versus arrival time is characterized by power-law statistics in the short time region and a bending tail in the long time region. Marcus's ET model is employed to satisfactorily fit the bending tail behavior and to further calculate the ET rate constants. The theoretical counterparts for the different sizes are 1.4×10(7), 6.4×10(6), and 1.9×10(6) s(-1), showing good agreement with the experimental results.