The potential biomarkers in predicting pathologic response of breast cancer to three different chemotherapy regimens: a case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Preoperative chemotherapy (PCT) has become the standard of care in locally advanced breast cancer. The identification of patient-specific tumor characteristics that can improve the ability to predict response to therapy would help optimize treatment, improve treatment outcomes, and avoid unnecessary exposure to potential toxicities. This study is to determine whether selected biomarkers could predict pathologic response (PR) of breast tumors to three different PCT regimens, and to identify a subset of patients who would benefit from a given type of treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>118 patients with primary breast tumor were identified and three PCT regimens including DEC (docetaxel+epirubicin+cyclophosphamide), VFC (vinorelbine/vincristine+5-fluorouracil+cyclophosphamide) and EFC (epirubicin+5-fluorouracil+cyclophosphamide) were investigated. Expression of steroid receptors, HER2, P-gp, MRP, GST-pi and Topo-II was evaluated by immunohistochemical scoring on tumor tissues obtained before and after PCT. The PR of breast carcinoma was graded according to Sataloff's classification. Chi square test, logistic regression and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel assay were performed to determine the association between biomarkers and PR, as well as the effectiveness of each regimen on induction of PR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a clear-cut correlation between the expression of ER and decreased PR to PCT in all three different regimens (<it>p </it>< 0.05). HER2 expression is significantly associated with increased PR in DEC regimen (<it>p </it>< 0.05), but not predictive for PR in EFC and VFC groups. No significant correlation was found between biomarkers PgR, Topo-II, P-gp, MRP or GST-pi and PR to any tested PCT regimen. After adjusted by a stratification variable of ER or HER2, DEC regimen was more effective in inducing PR in comparison with VFC and EFC regimens.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ER is an independent predictive factor for PR to PCT regimens including DEC, VFC and EFC in primary breast tumors, while HER2 is only predictive for DEC regimen. Expression of PgR, Topo-II, P-gp, MRP and GST-pi are not predictive for PR to any PCT regimens investigated. Results obtained in this clinical study may be helpful for the selection of appropriate treatments for breast cancer patients.</p

Harm Related to Social Media Misinformation on Pelvic Organ Prolapse in YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest Posts

Social media can improve patient education but may pose risks due to misinformation. There is no consensus on categorizing types of misinformation and harm. This study aimed to categorize and quantify misinformation and resultant harm from posts on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram on pelvic organ prolapse (POP), a prevalent benign condition that impacts quality of life. We conducted a descriptive study of 300 posts presented in these platforms in 2019. Using Fisher exact test, we show a significant difference in the distribution of misinformation between social media platforms. Harmful posts were most frequently present on Pinterest, leading to harmful inaction and economic harm

Harm Related to Social Media Misinformation on Pelvic Organ Prolapse in YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest Posts

Social media can improve patient education but may pose risks due to misinformation. There is no consensus on categorizing types of misinformation and harm. This study aimed to categorize and quantify misinformation and resultant harm from posts on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram on pelvic organ prolapse (POP), a prevalent benign condition that impacts quality of life. We conducted a descriptive study of 300 posts presented in these platforms in 2019. Using Fisher exact test, we show a significant difference in the distribution of misinformation between social media platforms. Harmful posts were most frequently present on Pinterest, leading to harmful inaction and economic harm

Roles of TiO2 buffer layer for preparation of high performance VO2 thin films with Monoclinic polymorph

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films with pure Monoclinic phase could be transformed from B-phase by inserting TiO2 buffer layers on transparent amorphous glass substrates at the low temperature of 400 °C. This crystalline transformation might be ascribed to oxygen-deficient environment induced by the TiO2 buffer layer and the template effect of TiO2 layer for M-VO2 phase. The simplicity in phase regulation of the present method and the superior optical and electrical properties of the films may allow its wide applications in thermo-opto-electro sensing devices. Keywords: Vanadium dioxide, TiO2 buffer layers, Photoelectric propertie

Glass forming ability, thermal stability and elastic properties of Zr-Ti-Cu-Be-(Fe) bulk metallic glasses

A series of Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex (x = 0–10) bulk metallic glasses are cast using water-cooled copper mold casting technique. The glass forming ability (GFA) and thermal stability of Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex alloys were studied by means of X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex (x = 2, 3, 5 and 7, respectively) alloys could be cast into glassy cylindrical rods with a diameters up to 20 mm. However, higher Fe content (x = 10) deteriorates the GFA remarkably. The supercooled liquid region (ΔTx), γ parameter (defined as Tx/(Tg + Tl)) and the reduced glass transition temperature Trg (defined as Tg/Tl) are employed to evaluate the GFA in Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex (x = 0–10) alloys. The results showed that Trg was more effective in gauging the GFA of the Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex alloy systems than ΔTx and γ parameter. In addition, elastic constant (Poisson’s ratio) was also employed as a gauge to evaluate the glass forming ability in Zr35−xTi30Cu7.5Be27.5Fex alloys. Keywords: Zr-based alloys, Bulk metallic glasses, Glass forming ability, Thermal stability and elastic propertie

The study of high Curie temperature ferromagnetism properties in Mn-doped SiC thin film

Mn-doped 3C-SiC film has been prepared onto the Si (111) substrate by employing a molecular beam epitaxy method. The experimental analysis establishes that the prepared sample shows the ferromagnetic property with a relatively high Curie temperature (Tc) of 355 K, which is an exciting phenomenon on account of the scarceness in the SiC-based diluted magnetic semiconductor. The analysis derived from the X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy patterns indicates that Mn atoms should react with Si atoms and then form Mn4Si7 compounds. Combined with the theoretical simulation, it is speculated that a new alloy phase of Mn4Si7Cx maybe appear, which should be responsible for the exceptionally high Tc ferromagnetic behavior in the sample

Highly transparent conductive AZO/Zr50Cu50/AZO films in wide range of visible and near infrared wavelength grown by pulsed laser deposition

Novel AZO/Zr50Cu50/AZO tri-layer transparent conductive films with excellent transmittance in both visible and near infrared region were successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition on glass substrates. The electrical and optical properties were investigated at various Zr50Cu50 thicknesses. As the AZO thickness was fixed at 50 nm and Zr50Cu50 thickness was varied between 1 and 18 nm, it was found that AZO (50 nm)/Zr50Cu50/AZO (50 nm) tri-layer films exhibited good conductivity and high transmittance in both visible and near infrared wavelength. Additionally, both the electrical and optical properties of AZO (50 nm)/Zr50Cu50 (2 nm)/AZO (50 nm) tri-layer films were found to be sensitive to the growth temperature. In this work, the lowest sheet resistance (43 Ω/□) and relatively high transmittance (∼80%) in the range of 400–2000 nm were achieved while the growth temperature was 350 °C. Furthermore, the AZO (50 nm)/Zr50Cu50 (2 nm)/AZO (50 nm) thin film deposited at 350 °C exhibits the highest figure of merit of 1.42 × 10−3 Ω−1, indicating that the multilayer is promising for coated glasses and thin film solar cells. Keywords: Transparent conductive oxide, AZO, Zr50Cu50, Electrical and optical properties, Visible and near infrared transmittanc

Fabrication and Characterization of a Self-Powered n-Bi2Se3/p-Si Nanowire Bulk Heterojunction Broadband Photodetector

In the present study, vacuum evaporation method is used to deposit Bi2Se3 film onto Si nanowires (NWs) to form bulk heterojunction for the first time. Its photodetector is self-powered, its detection wavelength ranges from 390 nm to 1700 nm and its responsivity reaches its highest value of 84.3 mA/W at 390 nm. In comparison to other Bi2Se3/Si photodetectors previously reported, its infrared detection length is the second longest and its response speed is the third fastest. Before the fabrication of the photodetector, we optimized the growth parameter of the Bi2Se3 film and the best Bi2Se3 film with atomic steps could finally be achieved. The electrical property measurement conducted by the physical property measurement system (PPMS) showed that the grown Bi2Se3 film was n-type conductive and had unique topological insulator properties, such as a metallic state, weak anti-localization (WAL) and linear magnetic resistance (LMR). Subsequently, we fabricated Si NWs by the metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) method. The interspace between Si NWs and the height of Si NWs could be tuned by Ag deposition and chemical etching times, respectively. Finally, Si NWs fabricated with the Ag deposition time of 60 s and the etching time of 10 min was covered by the best Bi2Se3 film to be processed for the photodetector. The primary n-Bi2Se3/p-Si NWs photodetector that we fabricated can work in a self-powered mode and it has a broadband detection range and fast response speed, which indicates that it can serve as a promising silicon-based near- and mid-infrared photodetector