Comparing the outcome between multicentric/multifocal breast cancer and unifocal breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis compares the outcome between MMBC and unifocal breast cancer (UFBC), in order to provide a theoretical basis for the design of an appropriate clinical therapeutic strategy of MMBC patients.MethodsPubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of science, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM and VIP database were searched from inception to July 2021, and observational studies reporting the outcome of patients with MMBC and UFBC were included. We extracted or calculated the mortality rates of MMBC and UFBC patients; and obtained the hazard ratios; odds ratios; relative risks; and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals from the eligible studies. All the meta-analyses were conducted by using the Stata 15.0 software.Results31 eligible studies comprising a total of 15,703 individuals were included. The meta-analysis revealed that MMBC did not have a significant association with poor overall survival (HR=1.04, 95% CI=0.96-1.12), disease-free survival (HR= 1.07, 95% CI= 0.84-1.36), breast cancer-specific survival (HR=1.42, 95% CI= 0.89-2.27), recurrence-free survival (HR= 0.878, 95% CI= 0.652-1.182), local recurrence-free survival (HR= 0.90, 95% CI= 0.57-1.42), and contralateral breast cancer risk (RR= 0.908, 95% CI= 0.667-1.234). However, MMBC appeared to have a correlation with a slightly higher risk of death (OR=1.31, 95% CI=1.18-1.45).ConclusionPatients with MMBC appeared to have a higher risk of death, however, it may not be independently associated with poorer outcomes. Considering the inter-study heterogeneity and other limitations, our results need to be validated by further multicenter prospective studies with a large sample size in the future

Differentially expressed serum proteins associated with calcium regulation and hypocalcemia in dairy cows

Objective Hypocalcemia is an important metabolic disease of dairy cows during the transition period, although the effect of hypocalcemia on biological function in dairy cows remains unknown. Methods In this study, proteomic, mass spectrum, bioinformatics and western blotting were employed to identify differentially expressed proteins related to serum Ca concentration. Serum samples from dairy cows were collected at three time points: 3rd days before calving (day −3), the day of calving (day 0), and 3rd days after calving (day +3). According to the Ca concentration on day 0, a total of 27 dairy cows were assigned to one of three groups (clinical, subclinical, and healthy). Samples collected on day −3 were used for discovery of differentially expressed proteins, which were separated and identified via proteomic analysis and mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to determine the function of the identified proteins (gene ontology and pathway analysis). The differentially expressed proteins were verified by western blot analysis. Results There were 57 differential spots separated and eight different proteins were identified. Vitamin D-binding protein precursor (group-specific component, GC), alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M) protein, and apolipoprotein A-IV were related to hypocalcemia by bioinformatics analysis. Due to its specific expression (up-regulated in clinical hypocalcemia and down-regulated in subclinical hypocalcemia), A2M was selected for validation. The results were consistent with those of proteomic analysis. Conclusion A2M was as an early detection index for distinguishing clinical and subclinical hypocalcemia. The possible pathogenesis of clinical hypocalcemia caused by GC and apolipoprotein A-IV was speculated. The down-regulated expression of GC was a probable cause of the decrease in calcium concentration

Nanoporous films for epitaxial growth of single crystal semiconductor materials : final LDRD report.

This senior council Tier 1 LDRD was focused on exploring the use of porous growth masks as a method for defect reduction during heteroepitaxial crystal growth. Initially our goal was to investigate porous silica as a growth mask, however, we expanded the scope of the research to include several other porous growth masks on various size scales, including mesoporous carbon, photolithographically patterned SU-8 and carbonized SU-8 structures. Use of photolithographically defined growth templates represents a new direction, unique in the extensive literature of patterned epitaxial growth, and presents the possibility of providing a single step growth mask. Additional research included investigation of pore viability via electrochemical deposition into high aspect ratio photoresist. This project was a small footprint research effort which, nonetheless, produced significant progress towards both the stated goal as well as unanticipated research directions

Rapid prototyping of patterned functional nanostructures

Living systems exhibit form and function on multiple length scales, and the prospect of imparting life-like qualities to man-made materials has inspired many recent efforts to devise hierarchical materials assembly strategies. For example, Yang et al. grew surfactant-templated mesoporous silica on hydrophobic patterns prepared by micro-contact printing {micro}CP{sup 3}. Trau et al. formed oriented mesoporous silica patterns, using a micro-molding in capillaries MIMIC technique, and Yang et al. combined MIMIC, polystyrene sphere templating, and surfactant-templating to create oxides with three levels of structural order. Overall, great progress has been made to date in controlling structure on scales ranging from several nanometers to several micrometers. However, materials prepared have been limited to oxides with no specific functionality, whereas for many of the envisioned applications of hierarchical materials in micro-systems, sensors, waveguides, photonics, and electronics, it is necessary to define both form and function on several length scales. In addition, the patterning strategies employed thus far require hours or even days for completion. Such slow processes are inherently difficult to implement in commercial environments. The authors have combined evaporation-induced (silica/surfactant) self-assembly EISA with rapid prototyping techniques like pen lithography, ink-jet printing, and dip-coating on micro-contact printed substrates to form hierarchically organized structures in seconds. In addition, by co-condensation of tetrafunctional silanes (Si(OR){sub 4}) with tri-functional organosilanes ((RO){sub 3}SiR{prime}){sup 12--14} or by inclusion of organic additives, the authors have selectively derivatized the silica framework with functional R{prime} ligands or molecules. The resulting materials exhibit form and function on multiple length scales: on the molecular scale, functional organic moieties are positioned on pore surfaces, on the mesoscale, monosized pores are organized into 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional networks, providing size-selective accessibility from the gas or liquid phase, and on the macroscale, 2-dimensional arrays and fluidic or photonic systems may be defined

Bioagent detection using miniaturized NMR and nanoparticle amplification : final LDRD report.

This LDRD program was directed towards the development of a portable micro-nuclear magnetic resonance ({micro}-NMR) spectrometer for the detection of bioagents via induced amplification of solvent relaxation based on superparamagnetic nanoparticles. The first component of this research was the fabrication and testing of two different micro-coil ({micro}-coil) platforms: namely a planar spiral NMR {micro}-coil and a cylindrical solenoid NMR {micro}-coil. These fabrication techniques are described along with the testing of the NMR performance for the individual coils. The NMR relaxivity for a series of water soluble FeMn oxide nanoparticles was also determined to explore the influence of the nanoparticle size on the observed NMR relaxation properties. In addition, The use of commercially produced superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for amplification via NMR based relaxation mechanisms was also demonstrated, with the lower detection limit in number of SPIONs per nanoliter (nL) being determined

Cell-directed assembly on an integrated nanoelectronic/nanophotonic device for probing cellular responses on the nanoscale.

Our discovery that the introduction of living cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) alters dramatically the evaporation driven self-assembly of lipid-silica nanostructures suggested the formation of novel bio/nano interfaces useful for cellular interrogation at the nanoscale. This one year ''out of the box'' LDRD focused on the localization of metallic and semi-conducting nanocrystals at the fluid, lipid-rich interface between S. cerevisiae and the surrounding phospholipid-templated silica nanostructure with the primary goal of creating Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)-active nanostructures and platforms for cellular integration into electrode arrays. Such structures are of interest for probing cellular responses to the onset of disease, understanding of cell-cell communication, and the development of cell-based bio-sensors. As SERS is known to be sensitive to the size and shape of metallic (principally gold and silver) nanocrystals, various sizes and shapes of nanocrystals were synthesized, functionalized and localized at the cellular surface by our ''cell-directed assembly'' approach. Laser scanning confocal microscopy, SEM, and in situ grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) experiments were performed to study metallic nanocrystal localization. Preliminary Raman spectroscopy studies were conducted to test for SERS activity. Interferometric lithography was used to construct high aspect ratio cylindrical holes on patterned gold substrates and electro-deposition experiments were performed in a preliminary attempt to create electrode arrays. A new printing procedure was also developed for cellular integration into nanostructured platforms that avoids solvent exposure and may mitigate osmotic stress. Using a different approach, substrates comprised of self-assembled nanoparticles in a phospholipid templated silica film were also developed. When printed on top of these substrates, the cells integrate themselves into the mesoporous silica film and direct organization of the nanoparticles to the cell surface for integration into the cell

Surfactant-Assisted Cooperative Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles into Active Nanostructures

Nanoparticles (NPs) of controlled size, shape, and composition are important building blocks for the next generation of devices. There are numerous recent examples of organizing uniformly sized NPs into ordered arrays or superstructures in processes such as solvent evaporation, heterogeneous solution assembly, Langmuir-Blodgett receptor-ligand interactions, and layer-by-layer assembly. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of surfactant-assisted cooperative self-assembly method using amphiphilic surfactants and NPs to synthesize new classes of highly ordered active nanostructures. Driven by cooperative interparticle interactions, surfactant-assisted NP nucleation and growth results in optically and electrically active nanomaterials with hierarchical structure and function. How the approach works with nanoscale materials of different dimensions into active nanostructures is discussed in details. Some applications of these self-assembled nanostructures in the areas of nanoelectronics, photocatalysis, and biomedicine are highlighted. Finally, we conclude with the current research progress and perspectives on the challenges and some future directions. : Nanoparticles; Supramolecular Chemistry; Materials Science Subject Areas: Nanoparticles, Supramolecular Chemistry, Materials Scienc