A Novel Prognostic Biomarker of Luminal Breast Cancer: High CD39 Expression Is Related to Poor Survival

BackgroundCD39 is one of the functional surface markers for T regulatory cells, the prognostic role and immune-related effects of CD39 in luminal breast cancer (BC) patients has not been evaluated yet. The aim of the current study was to explore the association between CD39 expression and clinic pathological characteristics and the prognosis in luminal BC patients.MethodsClinical information and RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) expression data were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Patients were divided into a high or low CD39 expression group by the optimal cutoff value (4.18) identified from the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The relationships between CD39 expression and clinic pathological features were evaluated by the corresponding statistical tests. Survival analyses were applied to evaluate the overall survival between the high and low CD39 expression groups in luminal BC. Furthermore, Gene Expression Omnibus datasets were used for external data validation. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was also performed, and CIBERSORT was used to analyze the immune cell populations.ResultsAnalysis of 439 cases of tumor data showed that CD39 was overexpressed in luminal BC. The multivariable analysis suggested that CD39 expression was an independent prognostic factor for luminal BC patients. GSEA suggested that CD39 might play an important role in luminal BC progression through immune regulation. Analysis of immune cell patterns revealed high CD39 expression correlated to a higher proportion of CD8+ T cells and M2 macrophages.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that CD39 expression correlates with the prognosis of luminal BC through TCGA database mining. Further studies are warranted further to elucidate this potential novel therapeutic strategy for BC

Tissue tropisms opt for transmissible reassortants during avian and swine influenza A virus co-infection in swine

Genetic reassortment between influenza A viruses (IAVs) facilitate emergence of pandemic strains, and swine are proposed as a “mixing vessel” for generating reassortants of avian and mammalian IAVs that could be of risk to mammals, including humans. However, how a transmissible reassortant emerges in swine are not well understood. Genomic analyses of 571 isolates recovered from nasal wash samples and respiratory tract tissues of a group of co-housed pigs (influenza-seronegative, avian H1N1 IAV–infected, and swine H3N2 IAV– infected pigs) identified 30 distinct genotypes of reassortants. Viruses recovered from lower respiratory tract tissues had the largest genomic diversity, and those recovered from turbinates and nasal wash fluids had the least. Reassortants from lower respiratory tracts had the largest variations in growth kinetics in respiratory tract epithelial cells, and the cold temperature in swine nasal cells seemed to select the type of reassortant viruses shed by the pigs. One reassortant in nasal wash samples was consistently identified in upper, middle, and lower respiratory tract tissues, and it was confirmed to be transmitted efficiently between pigs. Study findings suggest that, during mixed infections of avian and swine IAVs, genetic reassortments are likely to occur in the lower respiratory track, and tissue tropism is an important factor selecting for a transmissible reassortant

Short-Term Trend Forecast of Different Traffic Pollutants in Minnesota Based on Spot Velocity Conversion

Because traffic pollution is a global problem, the prediction of traffic emissions and the analysis of their influencing factors is the key to adopting management and control measures to reduce traffic emissions. Hence, the evaluation of the actual level of traffic emissions has gained more interest. The Computer Program to calculate Emissions from Road Transport model (COPERT) is being downloaded by 100 users per month and is being used in a large number of applications. This paper uses this model to calculate short-term vehicle emissions. The difference from the traditional research was that the input velocity parameter was not the empirical value, but through reasonable conversion of the spot velocity at one point, obtained by the roadside detector, which provided new ideas for predicting traffic emissions by the COPERT model. The hybrid Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model was used to predict spot mean velocity, after converted it to the predicted interval velocity averaged for some period, input the conversion results and other parameters into the COPERT IV model to forecast short-term vehicle emissions. Six common emissions (CO, NOX, CO2, SO2, PM10, NMVOC) of four types of vehicles (PC, LDV, HDV, BUS) were discussed. As a result, PM10 emission estimates increased sharply during late peak hours (from 15:30 p.m.–18:00 p.m.), HDV contributed most of NOX and SO2, accounting for 39% and 45% respectively. Based on this prediction method, the average traffic emissions on the freeway reached a minimum when interval mean velocity reduced to 40 km/h–60 km/h. This paper establishes a bridge between the emissions and velocity of traffic flow and provides new ideas for forecasting traffic emissions. It is further inferred that the implementation of dynamic velocity guidance and vehicle differential management has a controlling effect that improves on road traffic pollution emissions

The Applications of Nanopore Sequencing Technology in Pathogenic Microorganism Detection

Infectious diseases are major threats to human health and lead to a serious public health burden. The emergence of new pathogens and the mutation of known pathogens challenge our ability to diagnose and control infectious diseases. Nanopore sequencing technology exhibited versatile applications in pathogenic microorganism detection due to its flexible data throughput. This review article introduced the applications of nanopore sequencing in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases management, including the monitoring of emerging infectious diseases outbreak, identification of pathogen drug resistance, and disease-related microbial communities characterization

Measurement of Ecological Land Use/Cover Change and Its Varying Spatiotemporal Driving Forces by Statistical and Survival Analysis: A Case Study of Yingkou City, China

Detecting the spatial-temporal dynamics mechanisms and driving forces of ecological land change will offer a scientific basis for the sustainable utilization and ecological protection of regions undergoing rapid urbanization. This study examined the variations in ecological land from 2000 to 2015 in Yingkou by spatial statistical analysis with four land use/cover maps (2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015) interpreted by Landsat Thematic Mapper images and Google Earth maps. This study also measured the varying spatiotemporal drivers of typical ecological land use/cover types by survival analysis. The results indicated that ecological land was the main land use/cover type, and that the area decreased over time with a large transformation into agriculture and urban lands with significant temporal dynamics. The driving mechanisms became more complicated over time, and different time-dependent covariates significantly impacted the ecological land, forest land, and wetland losses. However, the distance from the city and different ways were the most important influencing spatiotemporal variables of the loss of ecological land, forest land, and wetlands over time. This study demonstrated the combined influence of a series of factors on ecological land loss. The spatial determinants and their impacts varied over time, especially the accessibility factors

Bioinspired Thermal Conductive Cellulose Nanofibers/Boron Nitride Coating Enabled by Co-Exfoliation and Interfacial Engineering

Thermal conductive coating materials with combination of mechanical robustness, good adhesion and electrical insulation are in high demand in the electronics industry. However, very few progresses have been achieved in constructing a highly thermal conductive composites coating that can conformably coat on desired subjects for efficient thermal dissipation, due to their lack of materials design and structure control. Herein, we report a bioinspired thermal conductive coating material from cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), boron nitride (BN), and polydopamine (PDA) by mimicking the layered structure of nacre. Owing to the strong interfacial strength, mechanical robustness, and high thermal conductivity of CNFs, they do not only enhance the exfoliation and dispersion of BN nanoplates, but also bridge BN nanoplates to achieve superior thermal and mechanical performance. The resulting composites coating exhibits a high thermal conductivity of 13.8 W/(m·K) that surpasses most of the reported thermal conductive composites coating owing to the formation of an efficient thermal conductive pathway in the layered structure. Additionally, the coating material has good interface adhesion to conformably wrap around various substrates by scalable spray coating, combined with good mechanical robustness, sustainability, electrical insulation, low-cost, and easy processability, which makes our materials attractive for electronic packaging applications

Discrepant expression of cytokines in inflammation- and age-related cataract patients.

PURPOSE: Inflammatory cataracts secondary to Behcet's disease (BD) or Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) are thought to result from a pathological dysregulation of cytokines that is different from that of age-related (AR) cataracts. However, little is known about the function of cytokines in the development of inflammatory cataracts. The purpose of this study was to identify possible differences in cytokine expression in inflammation- and age-related cataract patients. METHODS: Analysis techniques involving the concomitant use of a cocktail of antibody-coated non-magnetic beads were used to determine the cytokine expression profiles of BD, VKH and AR cataract patients. Furthermore, anterior chamber aqueous flares and inflammatory cells were quantitatively measured with a laser flare cell meter (LFCM). RESULTS: The expressions of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were analyzed in aqueous humor (AqH), phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated and non-PHA-stimulated cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the three types of cataract patients. IL-6 and IFN-γ were identified above the detection limits, but, among the BD and VKH cataract patients, only the levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in both the AqH and PBMC non-PHA cultures compared with the levels observed in the AR cataract patients. In contrast, IFN-γ was significantly elevated in the AqH of the BD cataract patients compared with the VKH and AR cataract patients. In the PHA-stimulated PBMC cultures, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-17A were significantly increased, and the IL-6 level was significantly higher in the VKH patients than in the BD and AR cataract patients. The correlation analyses of the cytokines and inflammation indexes of the AqH obtained with the LFCM revealed that only IL-6 was significantly correlated with the inflammation index. CONCLUSION: Distinct expression profiles of cytokines and the correlations of these profiles with in vivo inflammatory indexes for inflammatory and AR cataract patients were identified

IVT-SAPAS: Low-Input and Rapid Method for Sequencing Alternative Polyadenylation Sites.

Gene transcribing with alternative polyadenylation (APA) sites leads to mRNA isoforms, which may encode different proteins or harbor different 3'UTRs. APA plays an important role in regulating gene expression network among various physiological processes, such as development, immune responses and cancer. Several methods of library construction for APA study have been developed to apply high-throughput sequencing. However, the requirement of high-input RNA and time-consuming nature of the current methods limited the studies of APA for the samples difficult to obtain. Here, we describe a new method based on our SAPAS in combining in vitro transcription (IVT) and magnetic beads purification. The new IVT-SAPAS provides a rapid and high-parallel procedure for APA library construction with low-input sample, which may be a new robust approach for studying APA

Delignification Kinetics of Corn Stover with Aqueous Ammonia Soaking Pretreatment

Soaking aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatment of corn stover was carried out at three temperatures (30, 50, and 70 ºC) and three concentrations of ammonia solution (5, 15, and 25 wt.%). The delignification kinetic model, based on three first-order reactions, was applied to describe the kinetic behavior of lignin removal from corn stover during SAA pretreatment. The first, second, and third terms were based on the initial, bulk, and residual phases of delignification, respectively. The results showed that the model fitted well with the data obtained from the experiments. The activation energies for the delignification reactions were estimated as 61.05 and 59.46 kJ/mol in the bulk and residual phases, respectively. Delignification selectivity increased with increasing reaction temperature