Generation and electric control of spin-valley-coupled circular photogalvanic current in WSe2.

The valley degree of freedom in layered transition-metal dichalcogenides provides an opportunity to extend the functionalities of spintronics and valleytronics devices. The achievement of spin-coupled valley polarization induced by the non-equilibrium charge-carrier imbalance between two degenerate and inequivalent valleys has been demonstrated theoretically and by optical experiments. However, the generation of a valley and spin current with the valley polarization in transition-metal dichalcogenides remains elusive.

Spin-liquid condensate of spinful bosons.

We introduce the concept of a bosonic spin liquid condensate (SLC), where spinful bosons in a lattice form a zero-temperature spin disordered charge condensate that preserves the spin rotation symmetry, but breaks the U(1) symmetry due to a spinless order parameter with charge one. It has an energy gap to all the spin excitations. We show that such SLC states can be realized in a system of spin S ≥ 2 bosons.

Prognostic value of hormone receptor status conversion following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a series of operable breast cancer patients.

Background: To investigate the prognostic value of hormone receptor (HR) status conversion after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with primary breast cancer.

Methods: 267 stage II-III breast cancer patients treated with NAC who had residual disease in the breast after NAC were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into four groups based on the HR status: Group A, patients with HR-positive both before and after NAC; Group B, patients with HR status positive-to-negative change; Group C, patients with HR status negative-to-positive change; Group D, patients with HR-negative both before and after NAC.

Adsorption of hexavalent chromium onto organic bentonite modified by the use of iron(III) chloride.

The adsorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was improved by using organic bentonite (OB) modified with iron(III) chloride. The adsorption mechanisms and characteristics of OB and organic bentonite modified by FeCl3 (FMOB) were studied by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It was found that hydroxyl-iron replaced some of the calcium and magnesium contained in the FMOB, but no significant change in its structure was shown even though the adsorption experiments proved that FMOB had a better Cr(VI) adsorption ability compared to OB.

Estimating the physicochemical properties of polyhalogenated aromatic and aliphatic compounds using UPPER: part 1. Boiling point and melting point.

The UPPER (Unified Physicochemical Property Estimation Relationships) model uses enthalpic and entropic parameters to estimate 20 biologically relevant properties of organic compounds. The model has been validated by Lian and Yalkowsky on a data set of 700 hydrocarbons. The aim of this work is to expand the UPPER model to estimate the boiling and melting points of polyhalogenated compounds.

Integrated analysis of mutation data from various sources identifies key genes and signaling pathways in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Recently, a number of studies have performed genome or exome sequencing of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and identified hundreds or even thousands of mutations in protein-coding genes. However, these studies have only focused on a limited number of candidate genes, and many important mutation resources remain to be explored.

Principal Findings: In this study, we integrated mutation data obtained from various sources and performed pathway and network analysis.

The pan-cancer analysis of gene expression patterns in the context of inflammation.

Although several studies have investigated the essential roles of inflammation in tumor progression, not many have systematically analyzed gene expression patterns across diverse cancers in the context of inflammation. In this study, in order to better understand the inflammatory scenario, we initially constructed the inflammatory timeline (IT) based on two gene expression profiles during inflammatory progression (inflammatory bowel disease and Helicobacter pylori infection). Then, we separately identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from 25 cancer-related microarray data.

Sorafenib-based therapy in HER2-negative advanced breast cancer: Results from a retrospective pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials.

A standard systemic therapy for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC) is yet to be identified. Sorafenib has been developed for the treatment of solid tumors, including breast cancer, as an oral multikinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antiproliferative activity. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients with HER2-negative ABC by performing a meta-analysis.

Unified physicochemical property estimation relationships (UPPER).

The knowledge of physicochemical properties of organic compounds becomes increasingly important in pharmaceutical sciences, chemical engineering, and other fields. In this study, we developed UPPER (Unified Physicochemical Property Estimation Relationships), a comprehensive model for the estimation of 20 physicochemical properties of organic compounds. UPPER is a system of thermodynamically sound relationships that relate the various phase-transition properties to one another, which includes transition heats, transition entropies, transition temperatures, molar volume, vapor pressure, solubilities and partition coefficients in different solvents, and so on.

Integrative analysis of transcriptional regulatory network and copy number variation in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) is used to study conditional regulatory relationships between transcriptional factors and genes. However few studies have tried to integrate genomic variation information such as copy number variation (CNV) with TRN to find causal disturbances in a network. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second most common hepatic carcinoma with high malignancy and poor prognosis.

Iron and lead ion adsorption by microbial flocculants in synthetic wastewater and their related carbonate formation.

Although microbial treatments of heavy metal ions in wastewater have been studied, the removal of these metals through incorporation into carbonate minerals has rarely been reported. To investigate the removal of Fe3+ and Pb2+, two representative metals in wastewater, through the precipitation of carbonate minerals by a microbial flocculant (MBF) produced by Bacillus mucilaginosus. MBF was added to synthetic wastewater containing different Fe3+ and Pb2+ concentrations, and the extent of flocculation was analyzed.

Application of microRNA and mRNA expression profiling on prognostic biomarker discovery for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most highly malignant and lethal cancers of the world. Its pathogenesis has been reported to be multi-factorial, and the molecular carcinogenesis of HCC can not be attributed to just a few individual genes. Based on the microRNA and mRNA expression profiling of normal liver tissues, pericancerous hepatocellular tissues and hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, we attempted to find prognosis related gene sets for HCC patients.

Long-term dietary sodium restriction increases adiponectin expression and ameliorates the proinflammatory adipokine profile in obesity.

Background/aim: Obesity is associated with changes in adiponectin and pro-inflammatory adipokines. Sodium intake can affect adipokine secretion suggesting a role in cardiovascular dysfunction. We tested if long-term dietary sodium restriction modifies the expression of adiponectin and ameliorates the pro-inflammatory profile of obese, diabetic mice.

Genome comparison of two Magnaporthe oryzae field isolates reveals genome variations and potential virulence effectors.

Background: Rice blast caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is an important disease in virtually every rice growing region of the world, which leads to significant annual decreases of grain quality and yield. To prevent disease, resistance genes in rice have been cloned and introduced into susceptible cultivars. However, introduced resistance can often be broken within few years of release, often due to mutation of cognate avirulence genes in fungal field populations.

Gender differences in college leisure time physical activity: application of the theory of planned behavior and integrated behavioral model.

Objective: National data consistently report that males participate in leisure time physical activity (LTPA) at higher rates than females. This study expanded previous research to examine gender differences in LTPA of college students using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by including 2 additional constructs, descriptive norm and self-efficacy, from the integrated behavioral model.

Participants: Participants were college students (N = 621) from a large public university in the southeastern United States.

A quantitative analysis of the impact on chromatin accessibility by histone modifications and binding of transcription factors in DNase I hypersensitive sites.

It is known that chromatin features such as histone modifications and the binding of transcription factors exert a significant impact on the "openness" of chromatin. In this study, we present a quantitative analysis of the genome-wide relationship between chromatin features and chromatin accessibility in DNase I hypersensitive sites. We found that these features show distinct preference to localize in open chromatin.

Genetic polymorphism of DNA methyltransferase 3B 149 C>T and risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis.

Numerous studies have investigated the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) associated with the polymorphism of DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) 149 C>T, but results have been inconsistent. We performed this meta-analysis to drive a more precise estimation of the association between this polymorphism and risk of CRC. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of the -149C>T polymorphism of DNMT3B and CRC risk.

Large-scale analysis of PDGFRA mutations in melanomas and evaluation of their sensitivity to tyrosine kinase inhibitors imatinib and crenolanib.

Purpose: Platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRA) is a target for tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-based targeted therapy. Dysregulation of PDGFRA has been reported in many cancers. However, PDGFRA mutations in melanomas have not been well studied.

Quantum anomalous Hall effect with higher plateaus.

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect in magnetic topological insulators is driven by the combination of spontaneous magnetic moments and spin-orbit coupling. Its recent experimental discovery raises the question if higher plateaus can also be realized. Here, we present a general theory for a QAH effect with higher Chern numbers and show by first-principles calculations that a thin film magnetic topological insulator of Cr-doped Bi2(Se,Te)3 is a candidate for the C=2 QAH insulator.

Site selectivity for protein tyrosine nitration: insights from features of structure and topological network.

Tyrosine nitration is a covalent post-translational modification, which regulates protein functions such as hindering tyrosine phosphorylation and affecting essential signal transductions in cells. Based on up-to-date proteomics data, tyrosine nitration appears to be a highly selective process since not all tyrosine residues in proteins or all proteins are nitrated in vivo. Quite a few investigations included the protein structural information from the RCSB PDB database, where near 100,000 high-quality three-dimensional structures are available.

Anomalous edge transport in the quantum anomalous Hall state.

We predict by first-principles calculations that thin films of a Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 magnetic topological insulator have gapless nonchiral edge states coexisting with the chiral edge state. Such gapless nonchiral states are not immune to backscattering, which would explain dissipative transport in the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state observed in this system experimentally. Here, we study the edge transport with both chiral and nonchiral states by the Landauer-Büttiker formalism and find that the longitudinal resistance is nonzero, whereas Hall resistance is quantized to h/e2.

Identification of active transcription factor and miRNA regulatory pathways in Alzheimer's disease.

Motivation: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that may be caused by perturbation of regulatory pathways rather than the dysfunction of a single gene. However, the pathology of AD has yet to be fully elucidated.

Results: In this study, we systematically analyzed AD-related mRNA and miRNA expression profiles as well as curated transcription factor (TF) and miRNA regulation to identify active TF and miRNA regulatory pathways in AD.

Pd(OAc)2-catalyzed C-H activation/C-O cyclization: mechanism, role of oxidant-probed by density functional theory.

A series of density functional theory determinations have been carried out to characterize Pd(OAc)2-catalyzed C-H activation and subsequent intramolecular C-O bond-coupling of phenyl-tert-butanol in perfluorobenzene (C6F6) solvent. Full, nontruncated models of the real chemical transformations were studied, with structures in agreement with recent X-ray determinations. Conformational analyses have provided thermodynamic validity of the geometric structures used.

Phase II randomized trial comparing high-dose IFN-α2b with temozolomide plus cisplatin as systemic adjuvant therapy for resected mucosal melanoma.

Purpose: Mucosal melanoma is rare and associated with extremely poor prognosis. However, standard adjuvant therapy for mucosal melanoma has not been established. We conducted a randomized phase II clinical trial in patients with resected mucosal melanoma to compare the efficacy and safety of high-dose IFN-α2b (HDI) and temozolomide-based chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy.

Comparative analysis of viral protein interaction networks in Hepatitis B virus and Hepatitis C virus infected HCC.

Previously, the different mechanisms of HBV infection and HCV infection were studied experimentally. Multiple studies also compared the differential network between HBV induced HCC and HCV induced HCC based on gene expression data. However network level comparison combining viral-human interaction network and dysfunctional protein interaction network for HBV and HCV-HCC has rarely been done before.