Radiomics signature for predicting postoperative disease-free survival of patients with gastric cancer: development and validation of a predictive nomogram

PURPOSERadiomics can be used to determine the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). The objective of this study was to predict the disease-free survival (DFS) after GC surgery based on computed tomography-enhanced images combined with clinical features.METHODSClinical, imaging, and pathological data of patients who underwent gastric adenocarcinoma resection from June 2015 to May 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was DFS. Radiomics features were selected using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator algorithm and converted into the Rad-score. A nomogram was constructed based on the Radscore and other clinical factors. The Rad-score and nomogram were validated in the training and validation groups.RESULTSTotally, 179 patients were randomly divided into the training (n=124) and validation (n=55) groups. In the training group, validation group, and overall population, the Rad-score could be divided into categories indicating low, moderate, and high risk of recurrence, metastasis, or death; all risk categories showed a significant difference between the training, validation, and overall population groups (all P < .001). Positive lymph nodes (hazard ratio (HR)=3.07, 95% CI: 1.52-6.23, P=.002), cancer antigen-125 (HR=3.24, 95% CI: 1.54-6.80, P=.002), and the Radscore (HR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.61-0.87, P < .001) were independently associated with DFS. These 3 variables were used to construct a nomogram. In the training group, the areas under the curve at 3 years were 0.758 and 0.776 for the Rad-score and the nomogram, respectively, while they were both 1.000 in the validation group. The net benefit rate was analyzed using a decision curve in the training and validation groups, and the nomogram was superior to the single Rad-score.CONCLUSIONRad-score is an independent factor for DFS after gastrectomy for GC. The nomogram established in this study could be an effective tool for the clinical prediction of DFS after gastrectomy

Hypoxia-Induced Mitogenic Factor (HIMF/FIZZ1/RELMα) Recruits Bone Marrow-Derived Cells to the Murine Pulmonary Vasculature

. and localized to the media layer of the vessels. This finding suggests that these cells are of mesenchymal origin and differentiate toward myofibroblast and vascular smooth muscle. Structural location in the media of small vessels suggests a functional role in the lung vasculature. To examine a potential mechanism for HIMF-dependent recruitment of mesenchymal stem cells to the pulmonary vasculature, we performed a cell migration assay using cultured human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSCs). The addition of recombinant HIMF induced migration of HMSCs in a phosphoinosotide-3-kinase-dependent manner.These results demonstrate HIMF-dependent recruitment of BMD mesenchymal-like cells to the remodeling pulmonary vasculature

QTL Detection for Kernel Size and Weight in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Using a High-Density SNP and SSR-Based Linkage Map

High-density genetic linkage maps are essential for precise mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study, a high-density genetic linkage map consisted of 6312 SNP and SSR markers was developed to identify QTL controlling kernel size and weight, based on a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross of Shixin828 and Kenong2007. Seventy-eight putative QTL for kernel length (KL), kernel width (KW), kernel diameter ratio (KDR), and thousand kernel weight (TKW) were detected over eight environments by inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM). Of these, six stable QTL were identified in more than four environments, including two for KL (qKL-2D and qKL-6B.2), one for KW (qKW-2D.1), one for KDR (qKDR-2D.1) and two for TKW (qTKW-5A and qTKW-5B.2). Unconditional and multivariable conditional QTL mapping for TKW with respect to TKW component (TKWC) revealed that kernel dimensions played an important role in regulating the kernel weight. Seven QTL-rich genetic regions including seventeen QTL were found on chromosomes 1A (2), 2D, 3A, 4B and 5B (2) exhibiting pleiotropic effects. In particular, clusters on chromosomes 2D and 5B possessing significant QTL for kernel-related traits were highlighted. Markers tightly linked to these QTL or clusters will eventually facilitate further studies for fine mapping, candidate gene discovery and marker-assisted selection (MAS) in wheat breeding

Joint analysis of three genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese populations

We conducted a joint (pooled) analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) 1-3 of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in ethnic Chinese (5,337 ESCC cases and 5,787 controls) with 9,654 ESCC cases and 10,058 controls for follow-up. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, study, and two eigenvectors, two new loci achieved genome-wide significance, marked by rs7447927 at 5q31.2 (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82-0.88; P=7.72x10−20) and rs1642764 at 17p13.1 (per-allele OR= 0.88, 95% CI 0.85-0.91; P=3.10x10−13). rs7447927 is a synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TMEM173 and rs1642764 is an intronic SNP in ATP1B2, near TP53. Furthermore, a locus in the HLA class II region at 6p21.32 (rs35597309) achieved genome-wide significance in the two populations at highest risk for ESSC (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.22-1.46; P=1.99x10−10). Our joint analysis identified new ESCC susceptibility loci overall as well as a new locus unique to the ESCC high risk Taihang Mountain region

Study on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Basalt Fiber Reactive Powder Concrete

In order to promote the wide application of reactive powder concrete (RPC) in practical engineering. In this paper, RPC was prepared using conventional and economical natural river sand instead of quartz sand and economical and environmentally friendly basalt fiber (BF) instead of steel fiber, and the macroscopic properties of basalt fiber reactive powder concrete (BFRPC) with different fiber content, such as flowability, failure mode, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were studied, and the strength calculation formula of BFRPC was established based on the mechanical property results. The microscopic morphology and structure of BFRPC were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Image Pro Plus (IPP) image processing software. The results show that BF has a small effect on the compressive strength of RPC, while it has a significant increase on the splitting tensile strength. When BF content is at 2 kg/m3, the 28-day compressive strength reaches 95.2 MPa and splitting tensile strength reaches 7.78 MPa. Compared with the RPC with BF of 0 kg/m3, the BFRPC shows an improvement in its 28-day compressive strength by 25.70% and an increase in its splitting tensile strength by 83.92%. According to the microscopic analysis, reasonable fiber content can optimize the internal microstructure of BFRPC, but excessive BF content will produce agglomeration and overlap, resulting in strength loss. Based on the gray correlation analysis method, it was concluded that the particle area ratio and pore fraction dimension were the most correlated with the mechanical properties of BFRPC. In addition, the feasibility and applicability of the BFRPC strength calculation formula were summarized. This research results of this paper provides a valuable reference for the further research and promotion of BFRPC

Soil microbes mediate the effects of resource variability on plant invasion

A fundamental question in ecology is which species will prevail over others amid changes in both environmental mean conditions and their variability. Although the widely accepted fluctuating resource hypothesis predicts that increases in mean resource availability and variability therein will promote nonnative plant invasion, it remains unclear to what extent these effects might be mediated by soil microbes. We grew eight invasive nonnative plant species as target plants in pot‐mesocosms planted with five different synthetic native communities as competitors, and assigned them to eight combinations of two nutrient‐fluctuation (constant vs. pulsed), two nutrient‐availability (low vs. high) and two soil‐microbe (living vs. sterilized) treatments. We found that when plants grew in sterilized soil, nutrient fluctuation promoted the dominance of nonnative plants under overall low nutrient availability, whereas the nutrient fluctuation had minimal effect under high nutrient availability. In contrast, when plants grew in living soil, nutrient fluctuation promoted the dominance of nonnative plants under high nutrient availability rather than under low nutrient availability. Analysis of the soil microbial community suggests that this might reflect that nutrient fluctuation strongly increased the relative abundance of the most dominant pathogenic fungal family or genus under high nutrient availability, while decreasing it under low nutrient availability. Our findings are the first to indicate that besides its direct effect, environmental variability could also indirectly affect plant invasion via changes in soil microbial communities.publishe

Periodontal Disease and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Meta-Analysis of 112,240 Participants

Objective. Epidemiological studies have shown a correlation between periodontal disease (PD) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the results have been inconsistent, and no relevant meta-analysis has been performed on this topic. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate whether the two diseases are related. Material and Methods. The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched up to April 20, 2020, for related articles. Two authors independently conducted literature screening and data extraction and then used the Stata 15.1 software to calculate the relative risk (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association between PD and AMD. Results. A total of 5 observational studies involving 112,240 participants and 5,005 AMD patients were included. The results of meta-analysis using the random-effects model showed that the incidence of AMD in PD patients was 1.35 times that of non-PD patients; the difference was statistically significant (RR=1.35, 95%CI=1.07–1.70, P=0.011). Sensitivity analysis showed that the results were stable. Conclusions. PD patients have a higher risk of AMD, but the causal relationship between PD and AMD has not been confirmed. Further research should be carried out to verify the exact relationship between the two

Effect of enzyme and mechanical stirring on the degradation of polyaspartic acid hydro-gel

As a biodegradable polymer, polyaspartic acid (PASP) hydro-gel has been applied in various fields. Although the degradation mechanism of PASP was well studied, to our knowledge, limited research has been done on the degradation of PASP hydro-gel, whose main chain was cross-linked. This work mainly focused on the effects of enzyme and mechanical stirring on the structure of the PASP hydro-gel during its degradation. The change of the molecular weight and swelling ratio indicates that the simple mechanical stirring caused a break at the crosslink point of the PASP hydro-gel׳s spatial reticular structure with IR and SEM characterization, but has no significant effect on the degradation of the main chain. Changing the PH value of the degradation system also has little effect on the degradation of the main chain. However, the additions of enzyme both resulted in the break at the crosslink point and the degradation of the main chain, the significant decreases of both the molecular weight and swelling ratio of the PASP hydro-gel were observed

Low-Temperature Adaptation of the Snow AlgaChlamydomonas nivalisIs Associated With the Photosynthetic System Regulatory Process

The algaChlamydomonas nivalisthrives in polar snow fields and on high-altitude mountain tops, and contributes significantly on primary production in the polar regions, however, the mechanisms underlying this adaptation to low temperatures are unknown. Here, we compared the growth, photosynthetic activity, membrane lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant activity ofC. nivaliswith those of the model algaC. reinhardtii, under grow temperature and low temperatures.C. nivalismaintained its photosynthetic activity in these conditions by reducing the light-harvesting ability of photosystem II and enhancing the cyclic electron transfer around photosystem I, both of which limited damage to the photosystem from excess light energy and resulted in ATP production, supporting cellular growth and other physiological processes. Furthermore, the increased cyclic electron transfer rate, carotenoid content, and antioxidant enzyme activities jointly regulated the reactive oxygen species levels inC. nivalis, enabling recovery from excess excitation energy and reduced photooxidative damage to the cell. Therefore, we propose a model in which adaptive mechanisms related to photosynthetic regulation promote the survival and even blooming ofC. nivalisunder polar environment, suggesting thatC. nivaliscan provide organic carbon sources as an important primary producer for other surrounding life in the polar regions for maintaining ecosystem