Establishing prognostic models for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma based on immune cells.

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a malignant liver tumor that is challenging to treat and manage and current prognostic models for the disease are inefficient or ineffective. Tumor-associated immune cells are critical for tumor development and progression. The main goal of this study was to establish models based on tumor-associated immune cells for predicting the overall survival of patients undergoing surgery for ICC.

The tumor immune microenvironment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after gemcitabine plus cisplatin treatment.

Gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) chemotherapy is the standard of care for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the mechanisms underpinning its clinical activity are unclear. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing and T cell and B cell receptor sequencing of matched, treatment-naive and post-GP chemotherapy NPC samples (n = 15 pairs), we show that GP chemotherapy activated an innate-like B cell (ILB)-dominant antitumor immune response.

A Novel Sensor for Undrained Shear Strength Measurement in Very Soft to Soft Marine Sediments Based on Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry Technology.

Due to the short supply of conventional fill materials, such as sand, land reclamation using dredged marine deposits has recently been proposed, in which marine deposits with high water content are blow-filled into reclaiming areas. The strength development of the filled marine soils is of great importance during the sedimentation and consolidation to guide the filling process and construction of reclamation. In this study, a novel sensor based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) technology with a simple design was developed for undrained shear strength measurement.

Chord: an ensemble machine learning algorithm to identify doublets in single-cell RNA sequencing data.

High-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a popular method, but it is accompanied by doublet rate problems that disturb the downstream analysis. Several computational approaches have been developed to detect doublets. However, most of these methods may yield satisfactory performance in some datasets but lack stability in others; thus, it is difficult to regard a single method as the gold standard which can be applied to all types of scenarios.

Identification and Validation of QTLs for Macronutrient Contents in Brown and Milled Rice Using Two Backcross Populations between and .

Mineral malnutrition as a prevalent public health issue can be alleviated by increasing the intake of dietary minerals from major staple crops, such as rice. Identification of the gene responsible for mineral contents in rice would help breed cultivars enriched with minerals through marker-assisted selection. Two segregating populations of backcross inbred lines (BIL) were employed to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for macronutrient contents in brown and milled rice, BCF, and BCF derived from an interspecific cross of Xieqingzao B () and Dongxiang wild rice (.

Fluorescence imaging and Raman spectroscopy applied for the accurate diagnosis of breast cancer with deep learning algorithms.

Deep learning is usually combined with a single detection technique in the field of disease diagnosis. This study focused on simultaneously combining deep learning with multiple detection technologies, fluorescence imaging and Raman spectroscopy, for breast cancer diagnosis. A number of fluorescence images and Raman spectra were collected from breast tissue sections of 14 patients.

Evaluating the environmental impact of contaminated sediment column stabilized by deep cement mixing.

Deep cement mixing (DCM) method is a widely used geotechnical technique for increasing ground stabilization before construction works. However, the environmental influence of stabilized ground on the surrounding area remains a concern. A physical model experiment of DCM-treated sediment column was conducted to investigate both geotechnical and environmental effects on the surrounding sediment.

Single-cell transcriptomics reveals regulators underlying immune cell diversity and immune subtypes associated with prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an aggressive malignancy with extremely skewed ethnic and geographic distributions. Increasing evidence indicates that targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME) represents a promising therapeutic approach in NPC, highlighting an urgent need to deepen the understanding of the complex NPC TME. Here, we generated single-cell transcriptome profiles for 7581 malignant cells and 40,285 immune cells from fifteen primary NPC tumors and one normal sample.

CT and MRI findings in relapsing primary malignant melanoma of the lacrimal sac: a case report and brief literature review.

Background: Primary lacrimal sac melanoma is an extremely rare condition with fewer than 50 cases reported so far. Clinically, its symptoms resemble those of dacryocystitis, leading to frequent misdiagnosis. During diagnosis, imaging examination is often performed to differentiate tumors from inflammation.

The prevalence rates of major chronic diseases in retired and in-service Chinese military officers (2000-2016): a meta-analysis.

Background: Chronic diseases cause a tremendous burden to the military medical system. However, the prevalence rates of major chronic diseases among military officers remain unclear in China.

Methods: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP), PubMed and Web of Science were searched for studies (from 2000 to 2016) concerning 6 major chronic diseases: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in Chinese military officers following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Prediction and prophylaxis of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence and postoperative recurrence in chronic hepatitis B virus-infected subjects.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and highly fatal malignancies worldwide. Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of HCC. High HBV replication rate and related non-resolving inflammation are the major risk factors of HCC occurrence and postoperative recurrence.

[Study on the Anisotropy of Collagenours Fibers in Articular with Infrared Imaging].

Formalin solution has been widely used to solidify the organization of articular cartilage and prevent tissue decomposition in long-time measurement. However, it was rarely investigated that the structural anisotropy changes of collagen fiber (fixation) of articular cartilage when it was immersed in formalin. In this paper, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging with polarization technique was used to investigate the anisotropic structure change of collagen fiber of articular cartilage fixed in formalin through the absorbance change of Amide I and Amide II with immersing time and polarization direction.

Discrimination of healthy and osteoarthritic articular cartilage by Fourier transform infrared imaging and Fisher's discriminant analysis.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging (FTIRI) technique can be used to obtain the quantitative information of content and spatial distribution of principal components in cartilage by combining with chemometrics methods. In this study, FTIRI combining with principal component analysis (PCA) and Fisher's discriminant analysis (FDA) was applied to identify the healthy and osteoarthritic (OA) articular cartilage samples. Ten 10-μm thick sections of canine cartilages were imaged at 6.

Systemic genome screening identifies the outcome associated focal loss of long noncoding RNA PRAL in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Unlabelled: Systemic analyses using large-scale genomic profiles have successfully identified cancer-driving somatic copy number variations (SCNVs) loci. However, functions of vast focal SCNVs in "protein-coding gene desert" regions are largely unknown. The integrative analysis of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression profiles with SCNVs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) led us to identify the recurrent deletion of lncRNA-PRAL (p53 regulation-associated lncRNA) on chromosome 17p13.

Discrimination of healthy and osteoarthritic articular cartilages by Fourier transform infrared imaging and partial least squares-discriminant analysis.

Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIRI) combined with chemometrics algorithm has strong potential to obtain complex chemical information from biology tissues. FTIRI and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to differentiate healthy and osteoarthritic (OA) cartilages for the first time. A PLS model was built on the calibration matrix of spectra that was randomly selected from the FTIRI spectral datasets of healthy and lesioned cartilage.

Huachansu injection inhibits metastasis of pancreatic cancer in mice model of human tumor xenograft.

Background: Huachansu injection (HCS) is a water-soluble preparation made from Bufo gargarizans's skin, which has been widely used in clinics for tumor therapy in China. Though the anti-cancer activity of HCS has been verified through studies in vitro and in vivo, there is little research about its potential anti-metastasis effect. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effects of HCS on both the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and on the progression of liver metastasis in vivo in this study.

[Applications and progress of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic microimaging in bone disease research].

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) and microimaging technique have been integrated together to evolve into Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging (FTIRI) system. This system can provide not only the morphological information of the sample by visible image and FTIR image, but also the abundant information on the spectral, component and structure of specimen by FTIRS, especially of the heterogeneous solid mixture. The richer and more visualized information obtained by FTIRI greatly raised the research efficiency and usability of the spectral technique in biomedicine, pharmacology, forensic medicine, material science and chemistry, etc.

[Apoptosis of A549 cells induced by cloned Noxa gene].

Objective: To clone the Noxa gene and to observe the apoptosis of A549 cells transfected with the recombinant plasmid of pcDNA-Noxa.

Methods: The Noxa gene was obtained by PCR, and was cloned into pcDNA3. 1(-).

Spectroscopic studies on bilirubin aggregate at liquid/liquid interface.

Bilirubin (BR) aggregating at liquid/liquid interface was firstly detected by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging/spectroscopy combining with ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) absorption spectra. In the UV/Vis absorption spectra of BR aggregate, a new shoulder appeared at 474 nm, and BR absorption maximum underwent red shift from 450 nm to a longer wavelength at 497 nm, which indicates that BR aggregate was formed at the interface. Meanwhile, the BR molecule structure changed or conformation torsion, that is, the increase in orbit overlap or dihedral angle and the enhancement of exciton coupling.

[Association of genetic polymorphisms of key molecules in JAK/STAT signaling pathway with susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To elucidate the association of genetic polymorphisms of key molecules in JAK/STAT signaling pathway with susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: A total of 367 HCC patients and 367 healthy controls were recruited in this sex- and age-matched case-control study. Genetic polymorphisms of IL-6 (rs1800796, -572C > G), STAT3 (rs744166, +26312T > C; rs3816769, +42240T > C; rs6503695, +40980T > C), EGFR (rs11543848, +142530A > G), and mTOR (rs7211818, +170278A > G; rs9674559, +196983A > G; rs11653499, +65678G > A) were genotyped using a mass spectrometry method.

Factors predicting occurrence and prognosis of hepatitis-B-virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Primary liver cancer is an important cause of cancer death, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 70%-85% of total liver cancer worldwide. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection contributes to > 75% of HCC cases. High serum viral load is the most reliable indicator of viral replication in predicting development of HCC.

Depth-dependent Anisotropy of Proteoglycan in Articular Cartilage by Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging.

Fourier transform infrared microscopic imaging (FTIRI) was used to quantitatively examine the anisotropies of proteoglycan (PG) and collagen in articular cartilage. Dried 6 μm thick sections of canine humeral cartilage were imaged at 6.25 μm pixel-size in FTIRI with an infrared analyzer set at 26 different angles between 0° and 180° polarization.

Qingyihuaji formula inhibits progress of liver metastases from advanced pancreatic cancer xenograft by targeting to decrease expression of Cyr61 and VEGF.

Objective: To observe the effects of Qingyihuaji formula (QYHJ) on the progression of liver metastases from human pancreatic cancer and to detect the expression changes of some biological factors associated with angiogenesis and metastasis during the development of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Nude mice were inoculated intrasplenically with human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990 and then randomly assigned into 4 groups: a control group and groups QYHJ-A, QYHJ-B, and QYHJ-C. Following this, the mice were treated with or without QYHJ formula for 4 weeks and were sacrificed at the end of the sixth week.

Association of novel mutations and haplotypes in the preS region of hepatitis B virus with hepatocellular carcinoma.

The association of viral mutations and haplotypic carriages with mutations in the preS region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes B and C with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is of great significance for the prediction of this malignancy, but it remains obscure. We analyzed the preS sequences of HBV genotypes B and C from 1172 HBV-infected subjects including 231 patients with HCC. As compared with the HBV-infected subjects without HCC, C2875T, G2946C, A3054C, C3060A, T3066C, C3116T, A3120C, G3191A, A1C, C7A, C10A, A31C, C76T, G105C, and G147C in both genotypes were significantly associated with increased risks of HCC.

HBV genotype C is independently associated with cirrhosis in community-based population.

Aim: To determine the association of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes with probable cirrhosis and fatty liver in community-based populations.

Methods: A multi-stage cluster probability sampling method was applied to recruit 10 167 subjects aged between 6 and 72 years from our epidemiological bases in Eastern China. After excluding the subjects co-infected with hepatitis C or hepatitis D viruses, the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive subjects were examined for HBV genotype, serum viral load, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status, and ultrasonographic changes.