telederm.org: Freely Available Online Consultations in Dermatology

Studies have shown that skin disorders can be reliably diagnosed by online consultations. These consultations are provided free of charge by a new nonprofit organization of skin doctors worldwid

ALDH1 Expression and Vasculogenic Mimicry Are Positively Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Breast Cancer

Background/Aims: This study aimed to explore the prognostic value of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) expression and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) in patients with breast cancer. Methods: ALDH1 expression and the presence of VM were examined by immunohistochemistry and CD31/PAS double staining, respectively, using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from 202 breast cancer patients. The mean follow-up period ranged from 15 to 115 months. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves. Prognostic values were assessed by multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model. Results: ALDH1 expression was strongly associated with VM (P = 0.005). ALDH1 expression was positively correlated with histological grade (P = 0.011). Both ALDH1 expression and VM were negatively related to the status of the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor and were statistically increased in triple-negative breast cancer. Patients with ALDH1 expression or VM displayed poorer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) than ALDH1-negative or VM-negative patients, with the worst OS and DFS observed in ALDH1/VM-double-positive patients. ALDH1-positive and VM-positive were independent survival risk factors for DFS and OS. Conclusion: ALDH1 expression and VM are correlated with the survival rate of patients with breast cancer. ALDH1 and VM, either alone or together, are prognostic factors in patients with breast cancer

Selective deletion of endothelial cell calpain in mice reduces diabetic cardiomyopathy by improving angiogenesis

Aims/hypothesis: The role of non-cardiomyocytes in diabetic cardiomyopathy has not been fully addressed. This study investigated whether endothelial cell calpain plays a role in myocardial endothelial injury and microvascular rarefaction in diabetes, thereby contributing to diabetic cardiomyopathy. Methods: Endothelial cell-specific Capns1-knockout (KO) mice were generated. Conditions mimicking prediabetes and type 1 and type 2 diabetes were induced in these KO mice and their wild-type littermates. Myocardial function and coronary flow reserve were assessed by echocardiography. Histological analyses were performed to determine capillary density, cardiomyocyte size and fibrosis in the heart. Isolated aortas were assayed for neovascularisation. Cultured cardiac microvascular endothelial cells were stimulated with high palmitate. Angiogenesis and apoptosis were analysed. Results: Endothelial cell-specific deletion of Capns1 disrupted calpain 1 and calpain 2 in endothelial cells, reduced cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy, and alleviated myocardial dysfunction in mouse models of diabetes without significantly affecting systemic metabolic variables. These protective effects of calpain disruption in endothelial cells were associated with an increase in myocardial capillary density (wild-type vs Capns1-KO 3646.14 ± 423.51 vs 4708.7 ± 417.93 capillary number/high-power field in prediabetes, 2999.36 ± 854.77 vs 4579.22 ± 672.56 capillary number/high-power field in type 2 diabetes and 2364.87 ± 249.57 vs 3014.63 ± 215.46 capillary number/high-power field in type 1 diabetes) and coronary flow reserve. Ex vivo analysis of neovascularisation revealed more endothelial cell sprouts from aortic rings of prediabetic and diabetic Capns1-KO mice compared with their wild-type littermates. In cultured cardiac microvascular endothelial cells, inhibition of calpain improved angiogenesis and prevented apoptosis under metabolic stress. Mechanistically, deletion of Capns1 elevated the protein levels of β-catenin in endothelial cells of Capns1-KO mice and constitutive activity of calpain 2 suppressed β-catenin protein expression in cultured endothelial cells. Upregulation of β-catenin promoted angiogenesis and inhibited apoptosis whereas knockdown of β-catenin offset the protective effects of calpain inhibition in endothelial cells under metabolic stress. Conclusions/interpretation: These results delineate a primary role of calpain in inducing cardiac endothelial cell injury and impairing neovascularisation via suppression of β-catenin, thereby promoting diabetic cardiomyopathy, and indicate that calpain is a promising therapeutic target to prevent diabetic cardiac complications

Forecasting Stock Market Volatility: A Combination Approach

We find that combining two important predictors, stock market implied volatility and oil volatility, can improve the predictability of stock return volatility. We also document that the stock market implied volatility provides far more significant predictability than the oil volatility and other nonoil macroeconomic and financial variables. The empirical results show the “kitchen sink” combination approach that using two predictors jointly performs better than not only the univariate regression models which use oil volatility or stock market implied volatility separately but also convex combination of the individual forecasts. This improvement of predictability is also remarkable when we consider the business cycle. Furthermore, the robust test based on different lag lengths and different macroinformation shows that our forecasting strategy is efficient

Satellite Observation of the Marine Light-Fishing and Its Dynamics in the South China Sea

The South China Sea (SCS) is one of the most important fishery resource bases in the world. Marine fisheries, as a crucial component of regional food security and national revenue, raise wide concern about marine ecology, social-economic and political consequences at regional, national and local scales. The large-scale dynamic detection and analysis of fishing activity in the SCS is still unclear because of the accessibility of in-site data, finite automatic identification system (AIS) usage, complex geopolitics and poor additional data coverage. Nighttime light imagery (NTL) derived from low light imaging sensors and the popularity of light fishing in the SCS offers a unique way to unveil fishing activities and its dynamics. In this study, we proposed a set of algorithms for automatic detection of nighttime fishing activity and provided the first large-scale dynamic analysis of nighttime fishing activity in the SCS using monthly Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) images between 2012 and 2019. The proposed method effectively minimized the spatio-temporal fluctuations in radiance values of background and their implications to ship detection by integrating high radiance gradient detection and local adaptive thresholding. Further, nighttime fishing activity trajectories were decomposed into trend and seasonal components by using Hilbert-Huang transformation (HHT) to accurately access general trends and the seasonality of nighttime fishing activity in the SCS. The typical subregions analysis, environmental driver analysis, correlation coefficient analysis and hot spot analysis were integrated to characterize the nighttime fishing activity. It appears that the nighttime fishing activity in the SCS exhibited spatio-temporal variability and heterogeneity and was shaped by policy and natural factors such as holidays, annual Chinese fishery moratoria in the Chinese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and seasonal tropical storm activity

Blind Source Separation Based on Double-Mutant Butterfly Optimization Algorithm

The conventional blind source separation independent component analysis method has the problem of low-separation performance. In addition, the basic butterfly optimization algorithm has the problem of insufficient search capability. In order to solve the above problems, an independent component analysis method based on the double-mutant butterfly optimization algorithm (DMBOA) is proposed in this paper. The proposed method employs the kurtosis of the signal as the objective function. By optimizing the objective function, blind source separation of the signals is realized. Based on the original butterfly optimization algorithm, DMBOA introduces dynamic transformation probability and population reconstruction mechanisms to coordinate global and local search, and when the optimization stagnates, the population is reconstructed to increase diversity and avoid falling into local optimization. The differential evolution operator is introduced to mutate at the global position update, and the sine cosine operator is introduced to mutate at the local position update, hence, enhancing the local search capability of the algorithm. To begin, 12 classical benchmark test problems were selected to evaluate the effectiveness of DMBOA. The results reveal that DMBOA outperformed the other benchmark algorithms. Following that, DMBOA was utilized for the blind source separation of mixed image and speech signals. The simulation results show that the DMBOA can realize the blind source separation of an observed signal successfully and achieve higher separation performance than the compared algorithms

Prickly Pear-Like Three-Dimensional Porous MoS2: Synthesis, Characterization and Advanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Herein, we hydrothermally synthesize a type of prickly pear-like three-dimensional (3D) porous MoS2 (ZT-MoS2), using a zinc oxide (ZnO) rod deposited on quartz glass substrates, as a template for an advanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst. Microscopic and spectroscopic tools comprehensively characterize the morphology of the ZT-MoS2 nanostructure, which exhibits adequate edge active sites and defects, as well as a high component of active octahedral MoS2 (1T-MoS2). Electrochemical characterizations reveal the good HER performance of the ZT-MoS2 that presents a good overpotential of 110 mV, and a Tafel slope of 63 mV·dec−1, superior to most of the previously reported MoS2-based HER catalysts. This work contributes to the design and fabrication of 3D MoS2 with enhanced HER performance, which holds great promise for fuel cells and energy conversion

Acquired Melanocytic Nevi Images documented with dermoscopy, pigmentation characteristics and MC1R genotypes in a Han Chinese population

Aquired melanocytic neviMelanocortin-1 receptorPigmentationDermoscop

The Structure, Function and Regulation of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor Type J and Its Role in Diseases

Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type J (PTPRJ), also known as DEP-1, HPTPη, or CD148, belongs to the R3 subfamily of receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs). It was first identified as an antioncogene due to its protein level being significantly downregulated in most epithelial tumors and cancer cell lines (e.g., colon, lung, thyroid, breast, and pancreas). PTPRJ regulates mouse optic nerve projection by inhibiting the phosphorylation of the erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma (Eph) receptor and abelson murine leukemia viral oncogene homolog 1 (c-Abl). PTPRJ is crucial for metabolism. Recent studies have demonstrated that PTPRJ dephosphorylates JAK2 at positions Y813 and Y868 to inhibit leptin signaling. Akt is more phosphorylated at the Ser473 and Thr308 sites in Ptprj−/− mice, suggesting that PTPRJ may be a novel negative regulator of insulin signaling. PTPRJ also plays an important role in balancing the pro- and anti-osteoclastogenic activity of the M-CSF receptor (M-CSFR), and in maintaining NFATc1 expression during the late stages of osteoclastogenesis to promote bone-resorbing osteoclast (OCL) maturation. Furthermore, multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) as substrates of PTPRJ are probably a potential therapeutic target for many types of diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and metabolic diseases, by inhibiting their phosphorylation activity. In light of the important roles that PTPRJ plays in many diseases, this review summarizes the structural features of the protein, its expression pattern, and the physiological and pathological functions of PTPRJ, to provide new ideas for treating PTPRJ as a potential therapeutic target for related metabolic diseases and cancer