Single-cell transcriptomics provide insight into metastasis-related subsets of breast cancer.

Breast cancer metastasis is a complex, multi-step process, with high cellular heterogeneity between primary and metastatic breast cancer, and more complex interactions between metastatic cancer cells and other cells in the tumor microenvironment. High-resolution single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology can visualize the heterogeneity of malignant and non-malignant cells in the tumor microenvironment in real time, especially combined with spatial transcriptome analysis, which can directly compare changes between different stages of metastatic samples. Therefore, this study takes single-cell analysis as the first perspective to deeply explore special or rare cell subpopulations related to breast cancer metastasis, systematically summarizes their functions, molecular features, and corresponding treatment strategies, which will contribute to accurately identify, understand, and target tumor metastasis-related driving events, provide a research basis for the mechanistic study of breast cancer metastasis, and provide new clues for its personalized precision treatment.

Development and comparison of three 89Zr-labeled anti-CLDN18.2 antibodies to noninvasively evaluate CLDN18.2 expression in gastric cancer: a preclinical study.

BACKGROUND: Isoform 2 of claudin 18 (CLDN18.2) is overexpressed in gastric cancer and may be a promising imaging target. In this study, we constructed three anti-CLDN18.2 antibodies and compared them in preclinical experiments. METHODS: Screening from anti-CLDN18.2 nanobody library, we constructed three antibodies, anti-CLDN18.2 VHH (recombinant single-chain antibody fused with poly-histidine-tag), anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD (recombinant single-chain antibody fused fused with albumin binding domain), and anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc (recombinant single-chain antibody fused with IgG1-Fc) and radiolabeled with 89Zr. Affinity assay, in vitro stability, immunoactivity, blood pharmacokinetics, in vivo and ex vivo biodistribution study, specificity study, and immunohistochemical analysis were performed to assess these radiotracers. RESULTS: The EC50 were 12.21 nM, 2.48 nM, and 0.14 nM for anti-CLDN18.2 VHH, anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD, and anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc, respectively. 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH demonstrated the lowest tumor uptake in PET imaging. Both 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD and 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc demonstrated high tumor accumulation, with highest ID%/g of 25.78 ± 5.60 at 24 h post-injection with 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD and 49.43 ± 9.86 at 72 h post-injection with 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc. The specificity of 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc targeting CLDN18.2 was further confirmed by blocking study. The ex vivo biodistribution results were consistent with in vivo biodistribution data. For 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD, tumor uptake was 21.46 ± 1.78 ID%/g at 12 h and 13.73 ± 2.22 ID%/g at 108 h. For 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc, the tumor accumulation was 25.28 ± 3.83 ID%/g at 12 h and 40.13 ± 9.50 ID%/g at 108 h. Immunohistochemistry of the xenograft tissue revealed high and homogenous CLDN18.2 expression in CO-SNU620 tumor. CONCLUSION: Both anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD and anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-Fc can be efficiently and stably radiolabeled with 89Zr for noninvasive imaging and quantification of CLDN18.2 expression in gastric cancer, of which 89Zr-anti-CLDN18.2 VHH-ABD seems to be the optimal choice balancing tumor uptake and liver background. They can provide essential information to select patients who are likely to benefit from CLDN18.2-targeted treatment.

The Importance of SPECT/CT in Preoperative Localization of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in 2 Patients With Acral Melanoma in the Foot.

ABSTRACT: A 68-year-old woman with melanoma in the left heel underwent sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy and radioguided biopsy. The sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy with SPECT/CT detected 3 foci of increased activity in the popliteal fossa and inguinal region. When coregistered to CT, the sentinel node was localized in the inguinal region, and the popliteal foci were considered tracer retention in lymphatic vessel. In another patient with melanoma in the foot, sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy detected 3 foci of increased activity in the popliteal fossa and inguinal region, which were all identified to be nodal uptake in SPECT/CT. The sentinel node was finally localized in popliteal fossa in this patient.

Energy recovery potential in coupling of sanitation and agriculture: Techno-economic analysis on resource-oriented sanitation.

The coupling of sanitation system and agriculture production is essential to mitigate the environmental burden and offset unsustainable fertilizer utilization by employing resource-oriented sanitation. Yet, the economic feasibility and energy recovery potential from domestic waste have rarely been investigated. To assess four scenarios (whether with kitchen waste separation; whether with energy recovery) in the resource-oriented sanitation system, an integrated assessment framework based on energy analysis and techno-economic analysis is employed to investigate the comprehensive sanitation system including both wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal. The results show that energy recovery from human excreta and kitchen waste can offset the energy consumption of the sanitation system and the energy surplus can even be 1067.70 kJ·PE-1·day-1. The optimum covering range of the regional recovery center was quantified from the balance between scale effect and spatial distribution, and the serving inhabitants need to be more than 2800.

Paraganglioma From Vaginal Wall Revealed by 131I-MIBG Scan.

ABSTRACT: Vaginal paraganglioma is very rare. Most patients first presented irregular heavy menses and abnormal vaginal bleeding. The accurate diagnosis can only be made pathologically. Here we report a case of paraganglioma arising from vaginal wall in a 44-year-old woman who only presented catecholamine-related symptoms. The lesion had negative 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC (hydrazinonicotinyl-Tyr3-octreotide) activity but positive on 131I MIBG scan. Paraganglioma was highly suspected, which was confirmed by pathological and immunohistochemical findings after surgical resection of the lesion.

Performance of PET imaging for the localization of epileptogenic zone in patients with epilepsy: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the clinical use value of 11C-FMZ and 18F-FDG in PET for the localization of epileptogenic zone and to provide evidence for practitioners' clinical decision-making. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase in a time frame from inception to May 31, 2020. Studies utilizing FMZ or FDG-PET or FDG-PET/MRI used in patients with epilepsy, with EEG or surgical outcomes as the gold standard and corresponding outcomes such as concordance rates of PET or PET/MRI scan compared with reference standard, absolute numbers of participants with true-positive (TP), false-positive (FP), true-negative (TN), and false-negative (FN) results in FDG or FMZ PET. Pooled concordance rates, overall sensitivity, and specificity of 11C-FMZ-PET and 18F-FDG-PET were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 44 studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled concordance rates of FDG-PET, FMZ-PET, and FDG-PET/MRI coregistration compared with reference standard were 0.67 (95% CI: 0.60-0.73), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.57-0.93), and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.89-0.97), respectively. The concordance rate of 18F-FDG-PET in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was 0.79 (0.63; 0.92). The overall sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG-PET were 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58-0.73) and 0.71 (95% CI: 0.63-0.78), respectively. 11C-FMZ-PET displayed an overall sensitivity of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.49-0.73) and specificity of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.59-0.84). CONCLUSIONS: Both 11C-FMZ PET and 18F-FDG PET are the choice of modalities for the localization of epileptogenic zone, especially when coregistered with MRI. KEY POINTS: • 11C-FMZ-PET may be more helpful than 18F-FDG-PET in the localization of epilepsy foci. • Coregistration of FDG-PET and MRI is recommended in the localization of epileptogenic zone.

Comparative Study of Carbon Nanoparticles and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube for Light-Heat Conversion and Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of the Multifunctional PEG/Diatomite Composite Phase Change Material.

We report two novel 3-dimension hierarchical diatomite struts by filling the diatomite pores with a small amount of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNs) and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs). The emerging supporting scaffolds are then applied to a prepare polyethylene glycol (PEG)-infiltrated composite phase change material to seek an efficient but easy way to improve the thermal conductivity and synchronously accomplish the light-thermal conversion on the one hand. On the other hand, the mechanism of the microstructure-performance relationship of these composites has also been briefly presented and compared. In addition, the involved differences and synergistic effects between the diatomite and carbon filler have been quantified and visualized for the first time. Compared with CNPs, the SWCNs with the same content inside diatomite pores enable a much more packed architecture and faster thermal conductive route, light harvesting ability, form stability, and comparable energy storage density. Obviously, the superior comprehensive performance of PEG/DCNs can be attributed to the filler dimension discrepancy trend of 0D < 1D. Compared to PEG/Dt, the thermal conductivity of the PEG/diatomite/SWCNs (1.52 W/m K) increases by nearly 5.2-fold (∼424% increase) upon ∼3.2 wt % SWCN addition along with an unexpected rise in the energy storage density of ∼12.1%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the light-thermal conversion behavior of mineral-based composites, let alone using diatomite, which provides critical insights to design the high performance energy storage composites for domestic solar hot water supply systems.

Anaerobic treatment of source-separated domestic bio-wastes with an improved upflow solid reactor at a short HRT.

Anaerobic treatment is the core technology for resource and energy recovery from source-separated domestic bio-wastes. The higher efficiency of an improved upflow solid reactor (IUSR) designed in this study was demonstrated in the treatment of concentrated black water and kitchen waste. The highest methane production of 48L/person/day was achieved at the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 7days, while the other measures of performance at the HRT of 8.3days were better than at the HRT of 7 or 10days, achieving a methane production of 43L/person/day, removal of total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) of 89%, removal of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of 92%, and conversion of chemical oxygen demand (COD) to methane of 71%. It is not recommended to decrease HRT lower than 7days due to the instability of the initial period. The concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in the IUSR were less than 10mg/L, indicating that the anaerobic process was stable. Sludge bed development showed that sludge bed with high microbial activity was formed in the bottom and that the precipitation zone of effluents formed should preferably occupy 30% of the height of the IUSR. The effluents of the IUSR could be used for irrigation in agriculture in combination with a settling tank accompanied by disinfection to remove solids and pathogens.

Validation of Iodine-131-meta-iodobenzylguanidine cardiac scintigraphy in Parkinsonism: A preliminary study.

INTRODUCTION: 123I-MIBG is the most commonly used radiopharmaceutical to depict cardiac sympathetic innervation. The purpose of this study was to validate the feasibility of 131I-MIBG as an alternative myocardial sympathetic imaging probe in differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism. METHODS: We recruited 17 patients with PD, 21 patients with other parkinsonism (17 with MSA and 4 with PSP), and 6 normal controls. All participants underwent 131I-MIBG scintigraphy for both early and delayed imaging. The image quality was independently assessed by two experienced nuclear medicine specialists and graded into three categories: 1, good image quality; 2, suboptimal but sufficient for diagnosis; and 3, poor or nondiagnostic. Cardiac MIBG uptake was quantitatively measured using H/M ratio and washout rate. RESULTS: The image quality was good (Grade 1) in 74 and 73 of a total of 88 images by the two reviewers, respectively. No image was poor or nondiagnostic (Grade 3). Patients with PD had a significantly lower H/M ratio for both the early and the delayed images than did those with MSA or PSP and the controls (P < 0.001). For differentiating PD from other parkinsonism, the sensitivity and specificity were 95% and 94% for the early images and 100% and 94% for the delayed images, respectively. Patients with MSA or PSP has a significantly lower WR compared with those with PD. (WR = 0.15 ±â€¯0.23 and 0.48 ±â€¯0.17, respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: 131I-MIBG scintigraphy is a feasible method to depict cardiac sympathetic activity. The diagnostic performance is comparable to that of 123I-MIBG.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation with an anode as the electron acceptor.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation with an anode as the electron acceptor was realized in a dual-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Nitrate was the main product that accounted for approximately 95% of ammonium consumed, but nitrite was also detectable. Using 16S ribosomal RNA analysis, we found that the microbial community attached to the electrode was dominated by Nitrosomonas europaea (40.3%) and the genus Empedobacter (34.7%), but no anammox bacteria were detected. Nitrosomonas europaea was shown to be necessary with an inhibition assay using allylthiourea. Certain soluble metabolites were found to have an important effect on the current production. These results show that there are many ways to oxidize ammonium biologically.

[Rapid determination of internal resistance in an electricigenic microorganism reaction system].

Internal resistance (R(int)) is an important parameter for kinetic studies on an electricigenic microorganism reaction system (EMRS). The traditional polarization curve measurement method is too laborious and tedious, usually leads to remarkable disturbance on system running. An improved method was put forward in this study, by decreasing the adjustment range of the external resistance value (R(ext)). In the situation of 10 omega of R(ext) step length and 1 min of voltage stabilization time, the whole test can be finished in 10 min, and the differences of the system current before and after R(int) determination were less than 20 microA. Different stabilization time has little influence on the results. Though to shorten the R(ext) step length can lessen the disturbance on the system running,it simultaneously leads to a larger measurement errors because of the multimeter precision limitation. The method advanced may be used to monitor the real-time R(int) change of EMRS.

Performance of tetramethoxyphenyl porphyrin cobalt(II) (CoTMPP) based stainless steel cathode in the electricigenic permeable reactive barrier for groundwater organic contamination remediation.

An electricigenic permeable reactive barrier (EPRB) technology was brought forward for remediation of organic-contaminated groundwater, with a benefit that it overcame the limitations of electron acceptor addition in other groundwater remediation methods. To investigate performances of constructions and materials used in EPRB system, several kinds of reactors were designed and prepared in laboratory. Stainless steel wires, a kind of nontoxic, inexpensive and conductive material, were used as basic material of electrode. In order to improve cathodic oxygen reduction capability, a cathode based on tetramethoxyphenyl porphyrin cobalt (II) (CoTMPP) was prepared and studied in this paper. Results showed that a high catalytic activity for oxygen reduction was exhibited by the CoTMPP based cathode, with an electricity generation 3 times as high as that of the naked stainless steel cathode. Some evidence indicated that by loading on the surface of stainless steel wires and heat-treated under anaerobic conditions, epoxy resin, with its curing agents, might have got a catalytic capability for oxygen reduction.

[Detecting organophosphorus pesticide in water environment using an enzyme biosensor].

Based on a screen printed carbon electrode which contained a sensitive film prepared by crosslinking acetylcholine esterase (AChE) with glutaraldehyde on the surface of working electrode, an amperometric enzyme biosensor was taken on the determination of organophosphorus (OP) pesticide in water environment. Cyclic voltammetry was applied to assess the coherence of prepared screen printed electrodes. The results show that the variation is less than 10%. The sensor sensitivity was optimized with respect to content of enzyme, crosslinker and substrate. The best sensitivity is obtained using 0.2% of glutaraldehyde, 0.5 mg/mL of AChE and 10 mmol/L of acetylthiocholine chloride (ATChCl). Amperometric I-t curve was conducted to detect the decrease rate of the current after the addition of two kind of OPs (terbufos and parathion), respectively. The detection limit for two kind of OPs are found to be 1 ng/mL with the linear range 1 ng/mL - 10 000 ng/mL. Cyclic voltammetry was conducted to detect parathion on the sensors which immobilized AChE by physical adsorption. The results show that it can achieve a better sensitivity than amperometric I-t curve.