APOC1 predicts a worse prognosis for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and is associated with tumor immune infiltration during tumorigenesis

Background: Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA), a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract with insidious onset, is a serious threat to human health. Despite multiple treatment modalities for patients with ESCA, the overall prognosis remains poor. Apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) is involved in tumorigenesis as an inflammation-related molecule, and its role in esophageal cancer is still unknown.Methods: We downloaded documents and clinical data using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. We also conducted bioinformatics studies on the diagnostic value, prognostic value, and correlation between APOC1 and immune infiltrating cells in ESCA through STRING (https://cn.string-db.org/), the TISIDB (http://cis.hku.hk/TISIDB/) website, and various other analysis tools.Results: In patients with ESCA, APOC1 was significantly more highly expressed in tumor tissues than in normal tissues (p < 0.001). APOC1 could diagnose ESCA more accurately and determine the TNM stage and disease classification with high accuracy (area under the curve, AUC≥0.807). The results of the Kaplan–Meier curve analysis showed that APOC1 has prognostic value for esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) (p = 0.043). Univariate analysis showed that high APOC1 expression in ESCC was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (p = 0.043), and multivariate analysis shows that high APOC1 expression was an independent risk factor for the OS of patients with ESCC (p = 0.030). In addition, the GO (gene ontology)/KEGG (Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) analysis showed a concentration of gene enrichment in the regulation of T-cell activation, cornification, cytolysis, external side of the plasma membrane, MHC protein complex, MHC class II protein complex, serine-type peptidase activity, serine-type endopeptidase activity, Staphylococcus aureus infection, antigen processing and presentation, and graft-versus-host disease (all p < 0.001). GSEA (gene set enrichment analysis) showed that enrichment pathways such as immunoregulatory-interactions between a lymphoid and non-lymphoid cell (NES = 1.493, p. adj = 0.023, FDR = 0.017) and FCERI-mediated NF-KB activation (NES = 1.437, p. adj = 0.023, FDR = 0.017) were significantly enriched in APOC1-related phenotypes. In addition, APOC1 was significantly associated with tumor immune infiltrating cells and immune chemokines.Conclusion: APOC1 can be used as a prognostic biomarker for esophageal cancer. Furthermore, as a novel prognostic marker for patients with ESCC, it may have potential value for further investigation regarding the diagnosis and treatment of this group of patients

Volumes of hippocampal subfields suggest a continuum between schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder

ObjectiveThere is considerable debate as to whether the continuum of major psychiatric disorders exists and to what extent the boundaries extend. Converging evidence suggests that alterations in hippocampal volume are a common sign in psychiatric disorders; however, there is still no consensus on the nature and extent of hippocampal atrophy in schizophrenia (SZ), major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of this study was to verify the continuum of SZ – BD – MDD at the level of hippocampal subfield volume and to compare the volume differences in hippocampal subfields in the continuum.MethodsA total of 412 participants (204 SZ, 98 MDD, and 110 BD) underwent 3 T MRI scans, structured clinical interviews, and clinical scales. We segmented the hippocampal subfields with FreeSurfer 7.1.1 and compared subfields volumes across the three diagnostic groups by controlling for age, gender, education, and intracranial volumes.ResultsThe results showed a gradual increase in hippocampal subfield volumes from SZ to MDD to BD. Significant volume differences in the total hippocampus and 13 of 26 hippocampal subfields, including CA1, CA3, CA4, GC-ML-DG, molecular layer and the whole hippocampus, bilaterally, and parasubiculum in the right hemisphere, were observed among diagnostic groups. Medication treatment had the most effect on subfields of MDD compared to SZ and BD. Subfield volumes were negatively correlated with illness duration of MDD. Positive correlations were found between subfield volumes and drug dose in SZ and MDD. There was no significant difference in laterality between diagnostic groups.ConclusionThe pattern of hippocampal volume reduction in SZ, MDD and BD suggests that there may be a continuum of the three disorders at the hippocampal level. The hippocampus represents a phenotype that is distinct from traditional diagnostic strategies. Combined with illness duration and drug intervention, it may better reflect shared pathophysiology and mechanisms across psychiatric disorders

Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Cloud Condensation Nuclei Concentration on the Microphysical Processes in Typhoon Usagi

The Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3.2.1 with the Lin microphysics scheme was used herein to simulate super typhoon Usagi, which occurred in 2013. To investigate the effect of the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on the development of typhoon Usagi, a control simulation was performed with a CCN concentration of 100 cm−3, together with two sensitivity tests: C10 and C1000, having CCN concentrations of 10 cm−3 and 1000 cm−3, respectively. The path, intensity, precipitation, microphysical processes, and the release of latent heat resulting from the typhoon in all three simulations were analyzed to show that an increase in CCN concentration leads to decreases in intensity and precipitation, an increase of the cloudless area in the eye of the typhoon, a more disordered cloud system, and less latent heat released through microphysical processes, especially the automatic conversion of cloud water into rainwater. Overall, an increase in CCN concentration reduces the total latent heat released during the typhoon suggesting that typhoon modification by aerosol injection may be optimized using numerical simulations to ensure the strongest release of latent heat within the typhoon

Preparation of ZnAl2O4 and its effect on fatigue resistance of alumina castables

ABSTRACTRefractories subject to loading and unloading repeatedly because of physical effects and thermal stress attack in the service process, which is an important issue shortening the service life of the thermal equipment. Therefore, researches of predicting the service life of refractories under cyclic loading have the guiding significance. The present work investigated the synthesis of ZnAl2O4 and discussed its effects on the alumina castables. The results show that the optimized generation temperature of ZnAl2O4 phase is 1400°C and the hysteresis loop in the curves of cyclic loading reveals a general trend of first sparse and then dense. The cycle times of the specimen with 3 wt.% ZnAl2O4 is 50 times, and the time from starting to loop to fracture is about 4300 s. The fatigue resistance of the specimen with 3 wt.% ZnAl2O4 is superior to ZA-0 and ZA-1.5. The new method of cyclic loading was innovatively adopted in refractories, which provide data and theoretical support for the thermal shock evaluation methods

Table2_Influence of adverse effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on the prognosis of patients with early-stage esophageal cancer (cT1b-cT2N0M0) based on the SEER database.docx

ObjectiveTo analyze the prognostic impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) on early-stage (cT1b-cT2N0M0) esophageal cancer (ESCA) and construct a prognostic nomogram for these patients.MethodsWe extracted the clinical data about patients diagnosed with early-stage esophageal cancer from the 2004–2015 period of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We applied the independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with early-stage esophageal cancer obtained after screening by univariate and multifactorial COX regression analyses to establish the nomogram and performed model calibration using bootstrapping resamples. The optimal cut-off point for continuous variables is determined by applying X-tile software. After balancing the confounding factors by propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method, Kaplan-Meier(K-M) curve, and log-rank test were applied to evaluate the prognostic impact of NCRT on early-stage ESCA patients.ResultsAmong patients who met the inclusion criteria, patients in the NCRT plus esophagectomy (ES) group had a poorer prognosis for overall survival (OS) and esophageal cancer-specific survival (ECSS) than patients in the ES alone group (p ConclusionsPatients with early-stage ESCA (cT1b-cT2) did not benefit from NCRT, and we established a prognostic nomogram to provide clinical decision aid for the treatment of patients with early-stage ESCA.</p

Table1_Influence of adverse effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on the prognosis of patients with early-stage esophageal cancer (cT1b-cT2N0M0) based on the SEER database.docx

ObjectiveTo analyze the prognostic impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) on early-stage (cT1b-cT2N0M0) esophageal cancer (ESCA) and construct a prognostic nomogram for these patients.MethodsWe extracted the clinical data about patients diagnosed with early-stage esophageal cancer from the 2004–2015 period of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We applied the independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with early-stage esophageal cancer obtained after screening by univariate and multifactorial COX regression analyses to establish the nomogram and performed model calibration using bootstrapping resamples. The optimal cut-off point for continuous variables is determined by applying X-tile software. After balancing the confounding factors by propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method, Kaplan-Meier(K-M) curve, and log-rank test were applied to evaluate the prognostic impact of NCRT on early-stage ESCA patients.ResultsAmong patients who met the inclusion criteria, patients in the NCRT plus esophagectomy (ES) group had a poorer prognosis for overall survival (OS) and esophageal cancer-specific survival (ECSS) than patients in the ES alone group (p ConclusionsPatients with early-stage ESCA (cT1b-cT2) did not benefit from NCRT, and we established a prognostic nomogram to provide clinical decision aid for the treatment of patients with early-stage ESCA.</p

Direct Oil Recovery from Saturated Carbon Nanotube Sponges

Oil adsorption by porous materials is a major strategy for water purification and industrial spill cleanup; it is of great interest if the adsorbed oil can be safely recovered from those porous media. Here, direct oil recovery from fully saturated bulk carbon nanotube (CNT) sponges by displacing oil with water in controlled manner is shown. Surfactant-assisted electrocapillary imbibition is adopted to drive aqueous electrolyte into the sponge and extrude organic oil out continuously at low potentials (up to −1.2 V). More than 95 wt % of oil adsorbed within the sponge can be recovered, via a single electrocapillary process. Recovery of different oils with a wide range of viscosities is demonstrated, and the remaining CNT sponge can be reused with similar recovery capacity. A direct and efficient method is provided to recover oil from CNT sponges by water imbibition, which has many potential environmental and energy applications

Exploring the lncRNAs Related to Skeletal Muscle Fiber Types and Meat Quality Traits in Pigs

The alteration in skeletal muscle fiber is a critical factor affecting livestock meat quality traits and human metabolic diseases. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a diverse class of non-coding RNAs with a length of more than 200 nucleotides. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle fibers remain elusive. To understand the genetic basis of lncRNA-regulated skeletal muscle fiber development, we performed a transcriptome analysis to identify the key lncRNAs affecting skeletal muscle fiber and meat quality traits on a pig model. We generated the lncRNA expression profiles of fast-twitch Biceps femoris (Bf) and slow-twitch Soleus (Sol) muscles and identified the differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs using RNA-seq and performed bioinformatics analyses. This allowed us to identify 4581 lncRNA genes among six RNA libraries and 92 DE lncRNAs between Bf and Sol which are the key candidates for the conversion of skeletal muscle fiber types. Moreover, we detected the expression patterns of lncRNA MSTRG.42019 in different tissues and skeletal muscles of various development stages. In addition, we performed a correlation analyses between the expression of DE lncRNA MSTRG.42019 and meat quality traits. Notably, we found that DE lncRNA MSTRG.42019 was highly expressed in skeletal muscle and its expression was significantly higher in Sol than in Bf, with a positive correlation with the expression of Myosin heavy chain 7 (MYH7) (r = 0.6597, p = 0.0016) and a negative correlation with meat quality traits glycolytic potential (r = −0.5447, p = 0.0130), as well as drip loss (r = −0.5085, p = 0.0221). Moreover, we constructed the lncRNA MSTRG.42019–mRNAs regulatory network for a better understanding of a possible mechanism regulating skeletal muscle fiber formation. Our data provide the groundwork for studying the lncRNA regulatory mechanisms of skeletal muscle fiber conversion, and given the importance of skeletal muscle fiber types in muscle-related diseases, our data may provide insight into the treatment of muscular diseases in humans