Classification of N=2 supersymmetric CFT_{4}s: Indefinite Series

Using geometric engineering method of 4D $\mathcal{N}=2$ quiver gauge theories and results on the classification of Kac-Moody (KM) algebras, we show on explicit examples that there exist three sectors of $\mathcal{N}=2$ infrared CFT$_{4}$s. Since the geometric engineering of these CFT$_{4}$s involve type II strings on K3 fibered CY3 singularities, we conjecture the existence of three kinds of singular complex surfaces containing, in addition to the two standard classes, a third indefinite set. To illustrate this hypothesis, we give explicit examples of K3 surfaces with H$_{3}^{4}$ and E$_{10}$ hyperbolic singularities. We also derive a hierarchy of indefinite complex algebraic geometries based on affine $A_{r}$ and T$$ algebras going beyond the hyperbolic subset. Such hierarchical surfaces have a remarkable signature that is manifested by the presence of poles.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Tumor and serum DNA methylation in women receiving preoperative chemotherapy with or without vorinostat in TBCRC008

BACKGROUND: Methylated gene markers have shown promise in predicting breast cancer outcomes and treatment response. We evaluated whether baseline and changes in tissue and serum methylation levels would predict pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with HER2-negative early breast cancer undergoing preoperative chemotherapy. METHODS: The TBCRC008 trial investigated pCR following 12 weeks of preoperative carboplatin and albumin-bound paclitaxel + vorinostat/placebo (n = 62). We measured methylation of a 10-gene panel by quantitative multiplex methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and expressed results as cumulative methylation index (CMI). We evaluated association between CMI level [baseline, day 15 (D15), and change] and pCR using univariate and multivariable logistic regression models controlling for treatment and hormone receptor (HR) status, and performed exploratory subgroup analyses. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, one log unit increase in tissue CMI levels at D15 was associated with 40% lower chance of obtaining pCR (odds ratio, OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.97; p = 0.037). Subgroup analyses suggested a significant association between tissue D15 CMI levels and pCR in vorinostat-treated [OR 0.44 (0.20, 0.93), p = 0.03], but not placebo-treated patients. CONCLUSION: In this study investigating the predictive roles of tissue and serum CMI levels in patients with early breast cancer for the first time, we demonstrate that high D15 tissue CMI levels may predict poor response. Larger studies and improved analytical procedures to detect methylated gene markers in early stage breast cancer are needed. TBCRC008 is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00616967)

Can the Tumor Deposits Be Counted as Metastatic Lymph Nodes in the UICC TNM Staging System for Colorectal Cancer?

OBJECTIVE: The 7th edition of AJCC staging manual implicitly states that only T1 and T2 lesions that lack regional lymph node metastasis but have tumor deposit(s) will be classified in addition as N1c, though it is not consistent in that pN1c is also an option for pT3/T4a tumors in the staging table. Nevertheless, in this TNM classification, how to classify tumor deposits (TDs) in colorectal cancer patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and TDs simultaneously is still not clear. The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of counting TDs as metastatic lymph nodes in TNM classification and to identify its prognostic value for colorectal cancer patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this retrospective study, 513 cases of colorectal cancer with LNM were reviewed. We proposed a novel pN (npN) category in which TDs were counted as metastatic lymph nodes in the TNM classification. Cancer-specific survival according to the npN or pN category was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify significant prognostic factors. Harrell's C statistic was used to test the predictive capacity of the prognostic models. The results revealed that the TD was a significant prognostic factor in colorectal cancer. Univariate and multivariate analyses uniformly indicated that the npN category was significantly correlated with prognosis. The results of Harrell's C statistical analysis demonstrated that the npN category exhibited a superior predictive capacity compared to the pN category of the 7th edition TNM classification. Moreover, we also found no significant prognostic differences in patients with or without TD in the same npN categories. CONCLUSIONS: The counting of TDs as metastatic lymph nodes in the TNM classification system is potentially superior to the classification in the 7th edition of the TNM staging system to assess prognosis and survival for colorectal cancer patients

Carbon Nanotubes Enhance Cytotoxicity Mediated by Human Lymphocytes In Vitro

With the expansion of the potential applications of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in biomedical fields, the toxicity and biocompatibility of CNT have become issues of growing concern. Since the immune system often mediates tissue damage during pathogenesis, it is important to explore whether CNT can trigger cytotoxicity through affecting the immune functions. In the current study, we evaluated the influence of CNT on the cytotoxicity mediated by human lymphocytes in vitro. The results showed that while CNT at low concentrations (0.001 to 0.1 µg/ml) did not cause obvious cell death or apoptosis directly, it enhanced lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity against multiple human cell lines. In addition, CNT increased the secretion of IFN-γ and TNF-α by the lymphocytes. CNT also upregulated the NF-κB expression in lymphocytes, and the blockage of the NF-κB pathway reduced the lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity triggered by CNT. These results suggest that CNT at lower concentrations may prospectively initiate an indirect cytotoxicity through affecting the function of lymphocytes

The Overseeing Mother: Revisiting the Frontal-Pose Lady in the Wu Family Shrines in Second Century China

Located in present-day Jiaxiang in Shandong province, the Wu family shrines built during the second century in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) were among the best-known works in Chinese art history. Although for centuries scholars have exhaustively studied the pictorial programs, the frontal-pose female image situated on the second floor of the central pavilion carved at the rear wall of the shrines has remained a question. Beginning with the woman’s eyes, this article demonstrates that the image is more than a generic portrait (“hard motif ”), but rather represents “feminine overseeing from above” (“soft motif ”). This synthetic motif combines three different earlier motifs – the frontal-pose hostess enjoying entertainment, the elevated spectator, and the Queen Mother of the West. By creatively fusing the three motifs into one unity, the Jiaxiang artists lent to the frontal-pose lady a unique power: she not only dominated the center of the composition, but also, like a divine being, commanded a unified view of the surroundings on the lofty building, hence echoing the political reality of the empress mother’s “overseeing the court” in the second century during Eastern Han dynasty

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Relationship between Disease Resistance and Rice Oxalate Oxidases in Transgenic Rice

<div><p>Differential expression of rice oxalate oxidase genes (<i>OsOxO1-4</i>) in rice leaves (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) in response to biotic stress was assayed using RT-PCR. <i>OsOxO4</i> was induced transiently at 12 h in plants inoculated with the pathogens of bacterial blight and that of the wounding control. Inoculation with the rice blast pathogen induced <i>OsOxO2</i> expression compared to the mock spray control. Overexpressing <i>OsOxO1</i> or <i>OsOxO4</i> in rice resulted in elevated transcript levels of the respective transgene as well as <i>OsOxO3</i> in leaves compared to that in untransformed wild type (WT). In a line of RNA-i transgenic rice plants (i-12), expression of all four <i>OsOxO</i> genes except that of <i>OsOxO2</i> was severely inhibited. Oxalate oxidase (OxO, EC 1.2.3.4) activity in plants overexpressing <i>OsOxO1</i> or <i>OsOxO4</i> was substantially higher than that in WT and the RNA-i lines. It was found that transgenic rice plants with substantially higher OxO activity were not more resistant to rice blast and bacterial blight than WT. In contrast, some RNA-i lines with less OxO activity seemed to be more resistant to rice blast while some overexpressing lines were more susceptible to rice blast than WT. Therefore, OxO might not be a disease resistance factor in rice.</p> </div

Levels of <i>OsOxO1-4</i> transcripts and OxO activity of transgenic rice lines.

<p>Levels of <i>OsOxO1-4</i> transcripts (A, C) and OxO activity (B, D) in leaf tissues at the three-leaf stage of transgenic rice lines overexpressing <i>OsOxO1</i> (O1-7, O1-18 and O1-27), <i>OsOxO4</i> (O4-9, O4-29 and O4-54) and wild type (WT). Levels of <i>OsOxO1-4</i> transcripts (E) in palea and lemma from <i>OsOxOs-</i>RNAi transgenic lines (i-1, i-5 and i-12) and wild type (WT) at 20 d after anthesis. OxO activity (F) in palea and lemma from <i>OsOxOs-</i>RNAi transgenic lines (i-5 and i-12), wild type (WT) and overexpressing transgenic lines (O1-7, O1-18, O4-29 and O4-54) at 15 d after anthesis.</p

Scale of rice blast in leaves of transgenic lines and wild-type rice plants.

<p>Transgenic lines O1-7, O1-18, O4-29, O4-54, i-5 and i-12 and wild type (WT) at the three-leaf stage were inoculated with <i>M</i>. <i>oryzae</i> GDO8-T13. Leaf blast symptom was examined at 7 d after inoculation.</p