Hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma of salivary gland: a clinicopathological study of 8 cases

Background and purpose: Hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma (HCCC) of salivary gland is a rare tumor with low-grade malignancy, which usually occurs in minor salivary glands. Due to its rarity, the tumor type is not well known to pathologists and misdiagnosis frequently occurred. The aim of this study was to investigate the histologic, immunophenotypic and molecular features of HCCC. Methods: Eight cases of salivary gland HCCC diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from January 2015 to October 2019 were collected. Clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was used to detect EWSR1 translocation in tumor tissue. Diagnostic criteria and differential diagnosis were summarized, with a review of the literature. Results: All patients were female, aged 26 to 68 years, and the tumor locations included the oral cavity, nasopharynx, parotid gland and other sites of head and neck. Microscopically, the tumors consisted mainly of clear cells and eosinophilic cells with variable proportions, arranged in nests, sheets and trabeculae. In 1 case, the tumor was composed almost entirely of eosinophilic cells; in 6 cases, obvious nuclear pseudo-inclusion bodies were seen; in 1 case, neoplastic cells were connected to the surface squamous epithelium; in 1 case, the glandular structure was seen in some areas of the tumor; in 3 cases, a sheath of lymphocyte was formed around the tumor nests; in 7 cases, there was a sclerosing or hyalinizing stromal reaction, showing desmoplastic changes; and 1 case featured stoma with myxoid changes. There was no definite keratinization or necrosis in all tumors, and mitotic figures were generally rare. Immunohistochemical staining showed that tumor cells of 8 cases were diffusely positive for AE1/AE3 protein, 7 cases expressed P63, and 7 cases focally expressed low molecular weight keratin CK7 or CAM5.2, however, S-100, calponin, PAX-8 and CD10 were all negative. All tumors showed low proliferative activity, with the Ki-67 proliferation index less than 5%. FISH test revealed EWSR1 translocation in all 8 cases. All patients demonstrated no recurrence or metastasis during the follow up ranging 4-50 months. Conclusions: HCCC of salivary gland is a low-grade malignancy occurring mainly in minor salivary glands, with characteristic histological and molecular features. This cancer type needs to be distinguished with many morphologic mimics of salivary gland. Most cases with salivary HCCC feature a good prognosis

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of AUX/LAX family genes in Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.) Under various abiotic stresses and grafting

Auxin is essential for regulating plant growth and development as well as the response of plants to abiotic stresses. AUX/LAX proteins are auxin influx transporters belonging to the amino acid permease family of proton-driven transporters, and are involved in the transport of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). However, how AUX/LAX genes respond to abiotic stresses in Chinese hickory is less studied. For the first time identification, structural characteristics as well as gene expression analysis of the AUX/LAX gene family in Chinese hickory were conducted by using techniques of gene cloning and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Eight CcAUX/LAXs were identified in Chinese hickory, all of which had the conserved structural characteristics of AUX/LAXs. CcAUX/LAXs were most closely related to their homologous proteins in Populus trichocarpa , which was in consistence with their common taxonomic character of woody trees. CcAUX/LAXs exhibited different expression profiles in different tissues, indicating their varying roles during growth and development. A number of light-, hormone-, and abiotic stress responsive cis-acting regulatory elements were detected on the promoters of CcAUX/LAX genes. CcAUX/LAX genes responded differently to drought and salt stress treatments to varying degrees. Furthermore, CcAUX/LAX genes exhibited complex expression changes during Chinese hickory grafting. These findings not only provide a valuable resource for further functional validation of CcAUX/LAXs, but also contribute to a better understanding of their potential regulatory functions during grafting and abiotic stress treatments in Chinese hickory

Automatic Control and Routing of Marine Vessels

Due to the intensive development of the global economy, many problems are constantly emerging connected to the safety of ships’ motion in the context of increasing marine traffic. These problems seem to be especially significant for the further development of marine transportation services, with the need to considerably increase their efficiency and reliability. One of the most commonly used approaches to ensuring safety and efficiency is the wide implementation of various automated systems for guidance and control, including such popular systems as marine autopilots, dynamic positioning systems, speed control systems, automatic routing installations, etc. This Special Issue focuses on various problems related to the analysis, design, modelling, and operation of the aforementioned systems. It covers such actual problems as tracking control, path following control, ship weather routing, course keeping control, control of autonomous underwater vehicles, ship collision avoidance. These problems are investigated using methods such as neural networks, sliding mode control, genetic algorithms, L2-gain approach, optimal damping concept, fuzzy logic and others. This Special Issue is intended to present and discuss significant contemporary problems in the areas of automatic control and the routing of marine vessels

Diverse applications of the Quantum Walk model in Quantum Information: a theoretical and experimental analysis in the optical framework

Quantum Walks have been a very important model in the last thirty years, after their first definition and rigorous description. The analysis of the many possible variations of their behavior has delivered a plethora of solutions and platforms for the many diverse fields of investigation. The applications of the Quantum Walk model spreads from the development of Quantum Algorithm, to the modeling and simulation of systems of the most diverse nature, such as solid state or biological systems. In general, it helped developing a well-established quantum (or coherent) propagation model, which is useful both inside and outside physics. In this thesis, we focus on the study of disordered Quantum Walks, in order to get better understanding of the inuence of Quantum Walk disordered dynamics to non-classical correlations and propagating quantum information. Afterwards, we generalize this dynamical approach to Quantum Information processing, developing a Quantum Receiver for Quantum State Discrimination featuring a time multiplexing structure and we investigate the potentiality of this Quantum Walk inspired framework in the field of Quantum State Discrimination, through the developing and realization of experimental protocols characterized by increasing complexity. We also report on some apparent deviations from this path, although still aimed at the transfer of our expertise, built in previous investigations, to the study of new models and more complex quantum systems

Molecular characterization of estrogen receptor beta variants : cancer cell proliferation and invasion

Estrogen plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Most of the known effects of estrogen signaling are mediated by estrogen receptors (ERs), ERα and ERβ. ERα is explored for breast cancer molecular classification and is a target of endocrine therapy. The discovery of the second ER (ERβ) including its variants led to a need for re-evaluation of the biology of estrogen. This thesis aims to characterize molecular aspects of ERβ variants and provide knowledge to elucidate roles of ERβ variants in tumorigenesis with focus on breast cancer. In PAPER I, we determined the frequency of a novel human ERβ isoform, human ERβ548 (hERβ548), which had been demonstrated to display different functional characteristics than wild-type ERβ, in several populations including African (n = 96), Caucasian (n = 100), and Asian (n = 128) subjects. We did not detect any alleles that correspond to hERβ548 in these samples or in additional samples of heterogeneous origin. This study concluded, for the first time, that hERβ548 is not a common variant in Africans, Caucasians, or Asians. In PAPER II, we identified five novel polymorphisms in the ERβ gene in an African population. Two of these variants, I3V and V320G were expected to change the amino acid sequence of the ERβ protein. Compared to the wild-type ERβ, the V320G variant showed significantly decreased maximal transcriptional activity in the ERE mediated reporter assay. A pull-down assay and surface plasmon resonance analysis revealed that the decreased transcriptional activity of the novel ERβ variant hERβV320G was associated with weaker interaction with a co-factor, TIF2. In PAPER III, we assayed the interaction of several known ligands with mouse ERβ1 (mERβ1) and mouse ERβins (mERβ2). A significant difference in ligand binding properties was observed. Our results suggest that ligand selectivity and co-activator recruitment of ERβ isoforms constitute additional levels of specificity that influence the transcriptional response in estrogen target cells in mouse. In PAPER IV, 202 clinical patient specimens, different non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and transgenic mouse models were used to investigate the role of the EGFR signaling pathway for tumorigenesis of NSCLC. We showed that activation of the EGFR pathway or hypoxia could promote cell invasion but not survival. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the HIF-1α/MET axis is involved in both EGFR and hypoxia induced signaling pathways, leading to cancer cell invasiveness. In PAPER V, a breast cancer cell line BT549 that endogenously expresses the hERβ variant hERβ2 in the absence of ERα and wild-type ERβ was used to study the effects of hERβ2 signaling on breast cancer cell behavior and associated molecular mechanisms. Our data indicate that hERβ2 promotes proliferation and invasion in this cell line. A total of 263 genes were identified as hERβ2-upregulated genes and 662 identified as hERβ2-downregulated genes. hERβ2-regulated genes were involved in cell morphology, DNA replication and repair, cell death and survival. Based on our data, we hypothesize that effects of hERβ2 on proliferation and invasion were mediated via repression of prolyl hydroxylase 3 (PHD3) gene expression and induction of protein levels of the hypoxia induced factor 1 (HIF-1α) and MET. In conclusion, the studies presented in this thesis contribute to the knowledge of the function of ERβ variants, and give additional insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer cell proliferation and invasion