Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPSP) Induces Structural and Functional Variation in the Fungal Community of Sediments in the Jialing River, China.

Nonpoint source pollution (NPSP) from human production and life activities causes severe destruction in river basin environments. In this study, three types of sediment samples (A, NPSP tributary samples; B, non-NPSP mainstream samples; C, NPSP mainstream samples) were collected at the estuary of the NPSP tributaries of the Jialing River. High-throughput sequencing of the fungal-specific internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene region was used to identify fungal taxa. The impact of NPSP on the aquatic environment of the Jialing River was revealed by analysing the community structure, community diversity, and functions of sediment fungi. The results showed that the dominant phylum of sediment fungi was Rozellomycota, followed by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota (relative abundance > 5%). NPSP caused a significant increase in the relative abundances of Exosporium, Phialosimplex, Candida, Inocybe, Tausonia, and Slooffia, and caused a significant decrease in the relative abundances of Cercospora, Cladosporium, Dokmaia, Setophaeosphaeria, Paraphoma, Neosetophoma, Periconia, Plectosphaerella, Claviceps, Botrytis, and Papiliotrema. These fungal communities therefore have a certain indicator role. In addition, NPSP caused significant changes in the physicochemical properties of Jialing River sediments, such as pH and available nitrogen (AN), which significantly increased the species richness of fungi and caused significant changes in the fungal community ß-diversity (P < 0.05). pH, total phosphorus (TP), and AN were the main environmental factors affecting fungal communities in sediments of Jialing River. The functions of sediment fungi mainly involved three types of nutrient metabolism (symbiotrophic, pathotrophic, and saprotrophic) and 75 metabolic circulation pathways. NPSP significantly improved the pentose phosphate pathway, pentose phosphate pathway, and fatty acid beta-oxidation V metabolic circulation pathway functions (P < 0.05) and inhibited the chitin degradation to ethanol, super pathway of heme biosynthesis from glycine, and adenine and adenosine salvage III metabolic circulation pathway functions (P < 0.05). Hence, NPSP causes changes in the community structure and functions of sediment fungi in Jialing River and has adversely affected for the stability of the Jialing River Basin ecosystem.

Identification and validation of shared genes and key pathways in endometriosis and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer by weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning algorithms.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies reported that patients with endometriosis had an increased risk of developing endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer (EAOC). The present study aimed to identify shared genes and key pathways that commonly interacted between EAOC and endometriosis. METHODS: The expression matrix of ovarian cancer and endometriosis were collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct co-expression gene network. Machine learning algorithms were applied to identify characteristic genes. CIBERSORT deconvolution algorithm was used to explore the difference in tumor immune microenvironment. Furthermore, diagnostic nomogram was constructed and evaluated for supporting clinical practicality. RESULTS: We identified 262 shared genes between EAOC and endometriosis via WGCNA analysis. They were mainly enriched in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. After protein-protein interaction network and machine learning algorithms, we recognized two characteristic genes (EDNRA, OCLN) and established a nomogram that presented an outstanding predictive performance. The hub genes demonstrated remarkable associations with immunological functions. Survival analysis indicated that dysregulated expressions of EDNRA and OCLN were closely correlated with prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. gene set enrichment analyses revealed that the two characteristic genes were mainly enriched in the cancer- and immune-related pathways. CONCLUSION: Our findings pave the way for further investigation of potential candidate genes and will aid in improving the diagnosis and treatment of EAOC in endometriosis patients. More research is required to determine the exact mechanisms by which these two hub genes affecting the development and progression of EAOC from endometriosis.

Assessing the environmental risk and mobility of cobalt in sediment near nonferrous metal mines with risk assessment indexes and the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique.

The Jialing River is the tributary of the Yangtze River with the largest drainage area. In recent years, the Jialing River has suffered a series of environmental problems, such as discharge of industrial effluent and sand mining activities, which have severely threatened the aquatic ecosystem of the river. In the present study, we employed risk assessment indexes, sequential extraction and the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique to assess environmental risks and study the remobilization of cobalt (Co) in sediments. The potential ecological risk index and risk assessment code results demonstrated that Co may pose a low environmental and ecological risk to the local aquatic environment. However, BCR sequential extraction showed that the sum of the F1, F2 and F3 fractions of Co still accounted for over 50% of the Co in the study areas, indicating that sediments may be a source of Co release. The DGT results showed an increasing trend for DGT-labile Co in deep sediments (-8 cm to -12 cm), and the calculated flux values ranged from 0.08 to 15.54 ng cm2·day-1, indicating that Co tends to transfer across the sediment-water interface at all sampling sites. Correlation analysis showed that F1-Co, F2-Co and F3-Co are the fractions readily captured by DGT and can be used for predicting Co remobilization in sediment. Sand mining activities contribute substantially to the release of Co from the F1 and F3 fractions as a result of strong stirring of sediments and introduction of oxygen into the sediments. The reductive dissolution of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) hydroxides or oxides causes the release of Co and Fe/Mn in the sediment, which leads to Co release from the reducible fraction. The above work suggests that sand mining in the Jialing River should be reasonably regulated to prohibit illegal sand mining activities.

The impact of river sand mining on remobilization of lead and cadmium in sediments - A case study of the Jialing River.

Due to the fast pace of urbanization worldwide, industrial sand mining activities have imposed great pressure on the environment, and consequently, these activities have led to serious environmental problems in aquatic ecosystems. However, the current understanding of the effect of sand mining on heavy metal remobilization in river sediments remains incomplete. The present study employed sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and the sequential extraction (SE) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) techniques to comprehensively investigate the effect of sand mining on the remobilization process of heavy metals in the aquatic system of the Jialing River. The SQGs results indicated that stations (S1 to S4) with sand mining disturbance exhibited Pb and Cd accumulation in surface sediments. Both Ctotal-Pb (61.78-122.04 mg·kg-1) and Ctotal-Cd (0.85-3.96 mg·kg-1) were higher than CSQGI (60 mg·kg-1 for Pb and 0.5 mg·kg-1 for Cd) and TEC (35.8 mg·kg-1 for Pb and 0.99 mg·kg-1 for Cd) limitation in most of sand mining stations. Pb and Cd were mainly bounded in the acid-soluble/exchangeable fraction (F1) and oxidizable fraction (F3) of the surface sediments. At the four stations with sand mining disturbance, about 5-10 folds of DGT-labile Pb and Cd were released in deep sediments (-9 to -12 cm), and Pb and Cd exhibited a transport trend from the sediments into the overlying water, while the above phenomenon was not observed at the two stations without sand mining activities. Correlation analysis revealed that DGT-labile Pb and Cd were suitably correlated with the F1 and F3 fractions, indicating that the acid-soluble/exchangeable and oxidizable fractions were the main sources leading to Pb and Cd remobilization in the sediments. A potential mechanism explanation may be that (1) intense sediment stirring could result in remobilization of the weakly bound fraction, which is related to the contribution of the F1 fraction, and (2) Cd/Pb experienced a corelease process with sulfur due to O2 introduction (elevation of the dissolved oxygen level) attributed to sediment evacuation, which is related to the contribution of the F3 fraction. The above results suggested that sand mining in the Jialing River should be paid high attention to prevent heavy metal pollution in aquatic ecosystem.

Consistent Extended Kalman Filter-Based Cooperative Localization of Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

In order to solve the problem of inconsistent state estimation when multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are co-located, this paper proposes a method of multi-AUV co-location based on the consistent extended Kalman filter (EKF). Firstly, the dynamic model of cooperative positioning system follower AUV under two leaders alternately transmitting navigation information is established. Secondly, the observability of the standard linearization estimator based on the lead-follower multi-AUV cooperative positioning system is analyzed by comparing the subspace of the observable matrix of state estimation with that of an ideal observable matrix, it can be concluded that the estimation of state by standard EKF is inconsistent. Finally, aiming at the problem of inconsistent state estimation, a consistent EKF multi-AUV cooperative localization algorithm is designed. The algorithm corrects the linearized measurement values in the Jacobian matrix for cooperative positioning, ensuring that the linearized estimator can obtain accurate measurement values. The positioning results of the follower AUV under dead reckoning, standard EKF, and consistent EKF algorithms are simulated, analyzed, and compared with the real trajectory of the following AUV. The simulation results show that the follower AUV with a consistent EKF algorithm can keep synchronization with the leader AUV more stably.

A Vision Aided Initial Alignment Method of Strapdown Inertial Navigation Systems in Polar Regions.

The failure of the traditional initial alignment algorithm for the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) in high latitude is a significant challenge due to the rapid convergence of polar longitude. This paper presents a novel vision aided initial alignment method for the SINS of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) in polar regions. In this paper, we redesign the initial alignment model by combining inertial navigation mechanization equations in a transverse coordinate system (TCS) and visual measurement information obtained from a camera fixed on the vehicle. The observability of the proposed method is analyzed under different swing models, while the extended Kalman filter is chosen as an information fusion algorithm. Simulation results show that: the proposed method can improve the accuracy of the initial alignment for SINS in polar regions, and the deviation angle has a similar estimation accuracy in the case of uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial swing modes, which is consistent with the results of the observable analysis.

Does sand mining affect the remobilization of copper and zinc in sediments? - A case study of the Jialing River (China).

It is generally accepted that the sand mining industry causes severe destruction in river basin environments. In this study, six sediment cores were collected, and sequential extraction was applied in conjunction with the diffusive gradients in the thin films (DGT) technique to explore the effect of sand mining on the remobilization of Cu and Zn in the sediments. The results showed that Cu and Zn were mainly bound in the residual fraction in the sediments. CDGT-Cu/Zn in the sediments presented obvious increasing trends at the bottom (-9 to -12 cm) at the four sites that experienced sand mining and a decreasing trend at the sites with no sand mining disturbance. Cu and Zn also tended to be transported from the sediments to the overlying water at the four sand mining sites. A correlation analysis found that F1 and F3 correlated well with CDGT-Cu/Zn, indicating that the water/exchangeable fraction and oxidized fraction were the main fractions that led to increases in DGT-labile Cu and Zn in the sediments. Further analysis found that the introduction of oxygen (O2) was the main reason for the simultaneous release of sulfur (S), Cu and Zn in the sediments, as indicated by the "dark area" of AgI gel appearing at the same position as the "hot spot area" of Chelex gel. Two main sand mining effects on the release of Cu and Zn were hypothesized: (1) intense sand disturbance leads to the transfer of the water/exchangeable fraction (F1) to the DGT-labile fraction and (2) O2 introduction promotes the reaction of stable sulfide (F3), thus transferring it to the DGT-labile fraction. The above results indicated that the sand mining industry should be paid much attention in the Jialing River, as it can obviously cause labile Cu and Zn release into the water.

Polygala tenuifolia polysaccharide PTP induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells via a mitochondrial pathway.

One purified polysaccharide protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) was isolated from the roots of Polygala tenuifolia. The aim of the present study is to investigate the antitumor effect of PTP on human ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 cells and explore the molecular mechanism of the action involved. The results of MTT assay and apoptosis detection assay showed that PTP inhibited cellular proliferation of OVCAR-3 cells and induced apoptotic cellular death via arresting cell circle at the G0/G1 phase. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis identified that bcl-2 gradually decreased at both transcription and protein levels after PTP treatment for 48 h in OVCAR-3 cells, while those of bax, cytochrome c, caspase-3, and caspase-9 increased. In addition, the low expression of NF-κB in PTP-treated OVCAR-3 cells would trigger the extrinsic pathway of programmed cell death signaling in tumor cells. These results together suggest that PTP may induce apoptosis of OVCAR-3 cells through a mitochondrial pathway.

Polygala tenuifolia polysaccharide (PTP) inhibits cell proliferation by repressing Bmi-1 expression and downregulating telomerase activity.

In our previous study, we isolated a homogeneous polysaccharide (PTP) with antitumor activity from the roots of Polygala tenuifolia. In view of the close correlation between Bmi-1 expression and progression of ovarian cancer, we intend to elucidate the mechanism of its activity by determining the Bmi-1 expression and the telomerase activity in human ovarian carcinoma OVCAR-3 cells following treatment with PTP at three concentrations of 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/mL for 48 h. MTT and colony-forming assays revealed that PTP had a significant inhibitory effect on the cell growth and colony formation of OVCAR-3 cells. Furthermore, Western blot and real-time PCR analysis showed that PTP inhibited Bmi-1 both in protein and transcript levels. Besides, the telomerase activity in OVCAR-3 cells was also downregulated after PTP treatment for 48 h. Taken together, the inhibitory effect of PTP on the cell growth was at least in part mediated via the downregulation of Bmi-1 expression and the telomerase activity in OVCAR-3 cells, and PTP might be a new candidate for chemotherapeutic agent against human ovarian cancer.

Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Schizothorax kozlovi (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae, Schizothorax) and Insights into the Phylogenetic Relationships of Schizothorax.

Schizothorax kozlovi is an endemic and vulnerable fish species found in the upper Yangtze River in China. Over the past few years, the population resources of S. kozlovi have been nearly completely depleted owing to multiple contributing threats. While the complete mitochondrial genomes serve as important molecular markers for phylogenetic and genetic studies, the mitochondrial genome of S. kozlovi has still received little attention. In this study, we analyzed the characterization of the mitochondrial genome of S. kozlovi and investigated the phylogenetic relationships of Schizothorax. The complete mitochondrial genome of S. kozlovi was 16,585 bp in length, which contained thirty-seven genes (thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), twenty-two transfer RNA genes (tRNAs)) and two non-coding regions for the origin of light strand (OL) and the control region (CR). There were nine overlapping regions and seventeen intergenic spacers regions in the mitochondrial genome. The genome also showed a bias towards A + T content (55.01%) and had a positive AT-skew (0.08) and a negative GC-skew (-0.20). All the PCGs employed the ATG or GTG as the start codon and TAA, TAG, or single T as the stop codon. Additionally, all of the tRNAs displayed a typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except trnS1 which lacked the D arm. The phylogenetic analysis, based on the maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods, revealed that the topologies of the phylogenetic tree divided the Schizothorax into four clades and did not support the classification of Schizothorax based on morphology. The phylogenetic status of S. kozlovi was closely related to that of S. chongi. The present study provides valuable genomic information for S. kozlovi and new insights in phylogenetic relationships of Schizothorax. These data could also offer fundamental references and guidelines for the management and conservation of S. kozlovi and other species of Schizothorax.

Pan-cancer analyses reveal genomics and clinical outcome association of the fatty acid oxidation regulators in cancer.

Background: Fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is considered to play a vital part in tumor metabolic reprogramming. But the comprehensive description of FAO dysregulation in tumors has not been unknown. Methods: We obtained FAO genes, RNA-seq data and clinical information from the Msigdb, TCGA and GTEx databases. We assessed their prognosis value using univariate cox analysis, survival analysis and Kaplan-Meier curve. We determined the function of FAO genes using gene set variation analysis. The correlation analysis was calculated by corrplot R package. Immunotherapy response was assessed through TIDE scores. The protein expression levels of FAO genes were validated using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: The FAO scores were highest in COAD but lowest in PCPG. FAO scores were significantly associated with the prognosis of some cancers in OS, DSS, DFI and PFI. Besides, gene set variation analysis identified that FAO scores were related to immune-related pathways, and immune infiltration analysis showed FAO scores were positively related to cancer-associated fibroblasts and various immune-related genes. TIDE scores were significantly decreased in ACC, CHOL, ESCA, GBM, LAML, SARC, SKCM and THCA compared with normal samples, while it was significantly increased in BLCA, LUAD, LUSC, PCPG, PRAD and STAD. Besides, most FAO genes were downregulated in pan-cancer compared with normal samples. Moreover, we found copy number variation (CNV) of FAO genes played a positive role in their mRNA expression, while methylation was negative. We determined FAO genes were closely related to some drugs in pan-cancer. Conclusions: FAO score is a novel and promising factor for predicting outcomes.

Extending the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): The GRADE-TCM.

AIM: To extend and form the "Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation in Traditional Chinese Medicine" (GRADE-TCM). METHODS: Methodologies were systematically reviewed and analyzed concerning evidence-based TCM guidelines worldwide. A survey questionnaire was developed based on the literature review and open-end expert interviews. Then, we performed expert consensus, discussion meeting, opinion collection, external examination, and the GRADE-TCM was formed eventually. RESULTS: 265 Chinese and English TCM guidelines were included and analyzed. Five experts completed the open-end interviews. Ten methodological entries were summarized, screened and selected. One round of consensus was conducted, including a total of 22 experts and 220 valid questionnaire entries, concerning 1) selection of the GRADE, 2) GRADE-TCM upgrading criteria, 3) GRADE-TCM evaluation standard, 4) principles of consensus and recommendation, and 5) presentation of the GRADE-TCM and recommendation. Finally, consensus was reached on the above 10 entries, and the results were of high importance (with voting percentages ranging from 50 % to 81.82 % for "very important" rating) and strong reliability (with the Cr ranging from 0.93 to 0.99). Expert discussion meeting (with 40 experts), opinion collection (in two online platforms) and external examination (with 14 third-party experts) were conducted, and the GRADE-TCM was established eventually. CONCLUSION: GRADE-TCM provides a new extended evidence-based evaluation standard for TCM guidelines. In GRADE-TCM, international evidence-based norms, characteristics of TCM intervention, and inheritance of TCM culture were combined organically and followed. This is helpful for localization of the GRADE in TCM and internationalization of TCM guidelines.

Elevated expression of hyaluronic acid binding protein 1 (HABP1)/P32/C1QBP is a novel indicator for lymph node and peritoneal metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

The present study aims to clarify whether hyaluronan binding protein 1 (HABP1/p32/C1QBP) is an indicator of peritoneal and lymph node metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), which to the authors' knowledge is not previously reported by others. Western blot analysis demonstrated that HABP1 was highly overexpressed in most metastatic lesions. Of 89 patients whose primary tumors showed high HABP1 expression on immunohistochemical staining, 85 (95.5%) presented peritoneal metastases and 43 (48.3%) had lymph node metastases. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that HABP1 overexpression correlated with peritoneal dissemination and lymph node metastasis in EOC. The specificity and positive predictive value of HABP1 staining were shown to be better for peritoneal metastasis, while the negative and sensitivity predictive value of HABP1 staining were better for lymph node metastasis. The odds ratio of high versus low staining for peritoneal spread was 9.236 (95% confidence interval (CI), 2.705, 19.316), and that for lymph node metastasis was 8.614 (95% CI, 2.507, 21.039). Furthermore, HABP1 protein may potentially be used alone or in combination with other markers as a predictive marker of EOC patients with lymph node metastasis and/or peritoneal dissemination.

Identifying Immune Cell Infiltration and Hub Genes Related to M2 Macrophages in Endometriosis by Bioinformatics Analysis.

Endometriosis (EM) is a chronic, estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease. Presently, the pathophysiology of EM is still unclear, and numerous studies have established that the immune system plays a major role in the pathophysiology of EM. Six microarray datasets were downloaded from the GEO public database. A total of 151 endometrial samples (72 ectopic endometria and 79 controls) were included in this study. CIBERSORT and ssGSEA were applied to calculate the immune infiltration of EM and control samples. Moreover, we validated four different correlation analyses to explore immune microenvironment of EM and finally identified M2 macrophage-related hub genes and further conducted the specific immunologic signaling pathway analysis by GSEA. The logistic regression model was investigated by ROC and further validated by two external datasets. From the results of the two immune infiltration assays, we concluded that M2 macrophages, regulatory T cells (Tregs), M1 macrophages, activated B cells, T follicular helper cells, activated dendritic cells, and resting NK cells have a significant difference between control and EM tissues. Through multidimensional correlation analysis, we found that macrophages play an important central role in cell-to-cell interactions, especially M2 macrophages. Four immune-related hub genes, namely FN1, CCL2, ESR1, and OCLN, are closely related to M2 macrophages and play a crucial role in the occurrence and immune microenvironment of endometriosis. The combined AUC of ROC prediction model in test and validation sets were 0.9815 and 0.8206, respectively. We conclude that M2 macrophages play a central role in the immune-infiltrating microenvironment of EM.

[Bacterial Community Diversity in Channel Sediments of Different Disturbance Sections of the Jialing River].

In order to explore the impact of different anthropogenic disturbances on the ecological environment of natural rivers, the bacterial community in the channel sediments of the Jialing River was taken as the research object, and the high-throughput sequencing technique was used to analyze the community composition and functional changes of bacteria in the channel sediments of rivers with engineering disturbance, tributary disturbance, sand mining disturbance, reclamation disturbance, and undisturbed section. The results showed that there were significant differences in the physical and chemical properties of channel sediments and bacterial community diversity in different disturbance sections of the Jialing River (P<0.05). The undisturbed section had the highest bacterial community diversity, whereas the sand mining disturbance and undisturbed section had the highest bacterial community uniformity, and tributary disturbance and reclamation disturbance both resulted in a decrease in bacterial community diversity and uniformity. The effect of engineering disturbance on bacterial community composition was significantly different from that of the other four disturbance sections. The dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota, and Chloroflexi, and the dominant bacterial classes were γ-Proteobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, and Vicinamibacteria. Sand mining disturbance led to the increase in Actinobacteria, and engineering disturbance promoted the increase in Acidobacteria. Moisture content, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were the main environmental factors affecting the changes in sediment microbial communities. The bacterial communities mainly involved four categories of primary metabolic functions, including metabolism, genetic information processing, environmental information processing, and cellular processes, and 18 categories of secondary metabolic functions, such as global and overview maps, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, cofactor and vitamin metabolism, and energy metabolism. Human interference led to significant changes in energy metabolism, cofactor and vitamin metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, replication and repair, and translation (P<0.05). In conclusion, anthropogenic disturbance led to the mutation of bacterial community diversity and function, which destroyed the stability of the microbial community structure in Jialing River sediments.

TRIM28 recruits E2F1 to regulate CBX8-mediated cell proliferation and tumor metastasis of ovarian cancer.

Chromobox protein homolog 8 (CBX8) is a transcriptional suppressor participated in various cancers. However, the function and mechanism of CBX8 in the progression of ovarian cancer (OC) are unclear. In this study, we found that CBX8 was upregulated in OC tissues originating from GEPIA and TNM databases, OC patients' samples from hospital, and OC cell lines. Furthermore, CBX8 knockdown by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) technology markedly inhibited proliferation and invasion, induced migration, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistically, CBX8 activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway to take effect. In addition, TRIM28 and E2F1 were enriched in OC tissues from the TNM database and OC patients' samples similar to the results of CBX8. Correlation analysis indicated positive correlations among TRIM28, E2F1, and CBX8. E2F1 was proved to bind to the promoter regions of CBX8 and TRIM28, while TRIM28 recruited E2F1 to increase the expression of CBX8 to further increase cell viability, proliferation, and invasion, and decrease migration, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression. Finally, CBX8 or TRIM28 knockdown repressed tumor growth and metastasis of OC in vivo. Therefore, our study showed that the promoting effect of CBX8 on tumor growth and metastasis of OC was participated in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling, TRIM28 and E2F1. Our findings suggested that CBX8 could serve as a potential marker and therapeutic target for OC patients.

Is there different prognosis between cervical endometrioid adenocarcinoma and ordinary cervical adenocarcinoma in a propensity score matching study based on the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database?

Background: There has been lack of guidance for stratify treatment between cervical endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EC) and ordinary cervical adenocarcinoma (AC), therefore understanding the difference of prognosis between EC and AC is important for individualized therapy for these patients. Methods: In this study, we compare the survival outcomes between cervical EC and AC patients from the SEER database. we analyzed 2,554 patients for overall survival (OS) and 2,527 patients for disease-specific survival (DSS), Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted to analyze the survival outcomes of the AC and EC patients, a 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to match patients and balance various factors, OS and DSS were analyzed among the subgroups before and after 1:1 PSM. Results: In the unmatched cohort, in the multivariate analysis, no statistically significant difference was found in terms of OS (P=0.24) and DSS (P=0.20) between the EC and AC patients, The 3- and 5-year OS rates were 77.89% and 72.65% for the AC patients, and 83.38% and 75.64% for the EC patients respectively. The 3- and 5-year DSS rates were 84.93% and 79.69% for the EC patients, 83.97% and 76.78% for the AC patients, respectively. In the PSM cohort, 280 AC patients and 280 EC patients were included in the analysis of OS. 273 AC patients and 275 EC patients were included in the analysis of DSS, the Kaplan-Meier analysis and the multivariate analysis also produced similar results for the unmatched groups. Conclusions: There were no statistically significant differences in OS and DSS between the cervical EC and AC patients.

Model construction and validation of airflow velocity attenuation through pear tree canopies.

To investigate the airflow velocity attenuation inside pear tree canopies and the factors that influence its effect on air-assisted spraying, the relationship between the resistance of the canopies to airflow and airflow velocity inside the canopies was determined. At the same time, the theoretical model of airflow velocity attenuation in the canopy was constructed, in which the velocity attenuation factor k and the incoming velocity were the model input values, and the airflow velocity in the canopy was the model output value. Then, experimental verification of the theoretical model was completed. The determination test of airflow velocity inside canopies with three leaf area densities revealed that the error range between the established theoretical model and the experimental airflow velocity inside the pear tree canopy was 0.11-1.25 m/s, and the mean size of the model accuracy was 83.4% under various working conditions. The results revealed that the region from a depth of 0 m to 0.3 m inside the canopy was the rapid attenuation area of the airflow and that from 0.3 m to 0.9 m was the low attenuation area. Furthermore, they revealed that high-speed airflow could strongly disturb the outer branches and leaves, greatly changing the windward area of the canopy blades and thus affecting the accuracy of the model. By introducing a dynamic parameter of the canopy leaf windward area for model correction, the R2 of the model was above 0.9. Finally, validation of the model was performed in an air-assisted spraying operation in an orchard. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the regulation of airflow parameters of air-assisted spraying of pear trees.

A novel CDKN1A-JAZF1 gene fusion in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma arising from endometriosis in abdominal wall cesarean section scar: A case report and literature review.

OBJECTIVE: We report a low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) with a novel CDKN1A-JAZF1 fusion gene arising from abdominal wall endometrioma. CASE REPORT: A 40-year-old woman presented with a 5.5-cm abdominal wall mass juxtaposed to the postoperative scar of two cesarean sections. Histologically, the tumor exhibited obvious tongue-like protrusions into the surrounding tissue, showed spindle cells with multinodular growth pattern that occasionally rotate around small arteries. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for CD10, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), negatively stained for smooth muscle actin (SMA), CD117, CyclinD1. In addition, a previously undescribed gene fusion between CDNK1A 5' end of exon 1(NM_000389.5) and JAZF1 3' end of exon 5 (NM_175,061,3) was reported in this case. CONCLUSION: This report of ESS suggesting that rapidly growing abdominal wall masses without menstruation-related should be promptly evaluated and treated aggressively. In addition, we have expanded the molecular landscape of low-grade ESS.

Identification of Tumor Microenvironment and DNA Methylation-Related Prognostic Signature for Predicting Clinical Outcomes and Therapeutic Responses in Cervical Cancer.

Background: Tumor microenvironment (TME) has been reported to have a strong association with tumor progression and therapeutic outcome, and epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation can affect TMB and play an indispensable role in tumorigenesis. However, the potential mechanisms of TME and DNA methylation remain unclear in cervical cancer (CC). Methods: The immune and stromal scores of TME were generated by the ESTIMATE algorithm for CC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The TME and DNA methylation-related genes were identified by the integrative analysis of DNA promoter methylation and gene expression. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression was performed 1,000 times to further identify a nine-gene TME and DNA methylation-related prognostic signature. The signature was further validated in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. Then, the identified signature was integrated with the Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage to establish a composite prognostic nomogram. Results: CC patients with high immunity levels have better survival than those with low immunity levels. Both in the training and validation datasets, the risk score of the signature was an independent prognosis factor. The composite nomogram showed higher accuracy of prognosis and greater net benefits than the FIGO stage and the signature. The high-risk group had a significantly higher fraction of genome altered than the low-risk group. Eleven genes were significantly different in mutation frequencies between the high- and low-risk groups. Interestingly, patients with mutant TTN had better overall survival (OS) than those with wild type. Patients in the low-risk group had significantly higher tumor mutational burden (TMB) than those in the high-risk group. Taken together, the results of TMB, immunophenoscore (IPS), and tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score suggested that patients in the low-risk group may have greater immunotherapy benefits. Finally, four drugs (panobinostat, lenvatinib, everolimus, and temsirolimus) were found to have potential therapeutic implications for patients with a high-risk score. Conclusions: Our findings highlight that the TME and DNA methylation-related prognostic signature can accurately predict the prognosis of CC and may be important for stratified management of patients and precision targeted therapy.