A micromechanical study on the effects of precipitation on the mechanical properties of CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloys with various annealing temperatures.

The CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloys remain an active field over a decade owing to its excellent mechanical properties. However, the application of CoCrFeMnNi is limited because of the relatively low tensile strength. Here we proposed a micromechanical model which adopted from the theory of dislocation density to investigate the strengthening mechanisms of precipitation of chromium-rich non-equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi alloy. The microstructures of CoCrFeMnNi were obtained directly from SEM-BSE images with different annealing temperatures. The proposed framework is validated by comparing simulations with experiments of uniaxial tensile tests on the CoCrFeMnNi alloys under different annealing temperatures. The stress-strain curves indicate that the precipitate has greater influence on post-yield hardening than the initial yielding strength. In addition, we identified that the particle distribution, controlled by the average size of the particle and the volume fraction of precipitation, can significantly enhance the strengthening effect. The numerical results indicate that HEAs with a precipitate distribution closer to a normal distribution and with smaller average size will tend to have higher strength and ductility.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting neurologic outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolytics.

BACKGROUND: Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is currently the most standard treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). However, rtPA treatment may further enhance the immune response poststroke. This study is to investigate the clinical utility of white blood-based inflammatory biomarkers in predicting neurologic outcomes among AIS patients receiving rtPA. METHODS: A retrospective observational cohort study of 100 patients with AIS treated with intravenous rtPA was conducted in an urban tertiary hospital in Taiwan. Favorable neurological outcome defined as modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 0 to 2 in poststroke follow-up was the primary outcome measure. Baseline and post-rtPA neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were investigated for potential predictors. RESULTS: These patients had a mean age of 71.3 ± 13.7 years and the average of initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale was 12.7 ± 6.5. Using multiple regression analysis, PLR was not an independent factor; however, both baseline and post-rtPA NLR were independent factors predicting favorable neurological outcome at 3, 6, 12 months after a stroke. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for baseline and post-rtPA NLR were 0.645 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.537-0.753) and 0.769 (95% CI, 0.676-0.862) (Z score = 2.086) in 3-month, 0.645 (95% CI, 0.537-0.752) and 0.791 (95% CI, 0.701-0.880) (Z score = 2.471) in 6-month, and 0.646 (95% CI, 0.538-0.754) and 0.813 (95% CI, 0.728-0.898) (Z score = 2.857) in 12-month poststroke follow-up. CONCLUSION: For AIS patients treated with rtPA, both lower baseline and post-rtPA NLR levels were independently associated with a favorable neurologic outcome in serial mid- and long-term follow-up. Post-rtPA NLR was superior to baseline NLR in discriminative performance for neurologic prognosis.

Proposal of Zooshikellaceae fam. nov. to accommodate the genera Zooshikella and Spartinivicinus and reclassification of Zooshikella marina as a later heterotypic synonym of Zooshikella ganghwensis based on whole genome sequence analysis.

The genus Spartinivicinus, affiliated to the class Gammaproteobacteria, is an important marine member that produces prodiginines. Currently, its taxonomic assignment to family level is not well presented. Phylogeny of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that Spartinivicinus forms a monophyletic clade with Zooshikella, which is neighboured by Aestuariirhabdus of the family Aestuariirhabdaceae and another monophyletic clade of the family Endozoicomonadaceae. The 16S rRNA gene of Spartinivicinus ruber S2-4-1HT had sequence similarities to those of Aestuariirhabdus litorea GTF13T, Zooshikella members and Endozoicomonas members of 93.4%, 93.2-93.4  and <92.5 %, respectively. Phylogenomic analysis based on 120 bacterial conserved single-copy genes highly supported placing Spartinivicinus as a sister member of Zooshikella, neighboured by Aestuariirhabdaceae and Endozoicomonadaceae members, indicating that Spartinivicinus and Zooshikella could be considered to belong to the same family. Thus, Zooshikellaceae fam. nov. is proposed to accommodate the two genera. Colonies of Spartinivicinus and Zooshikella are red-pigmented, which is different from Aestuariirhabdus (pale-yellow pigmented). The major respiratory quinone of S. ruber was ubiquinone (Q-9), similar to Zooshikella, but distinct from Aestuariirhabdus (Q-9 and Q-8). The predominant fatty acids and polar lipids of Spartinivicinus also showed a similar patterns to Zooshikella, but they were different from Aestuariirhabdus. Lastly, Spartinivicinus possessed a genome size of 6.68 Mbp and DNA G+C content of 40.1mol%, similar to Zooshikella, but much larger than Aestuariirhabdus. In addition, the 16S rRNA genes of Z. ganghwensis JC2044T and Z. marina JC333T possess sequence similarity of 99.79 %. Whole genome comparisons indicated that they shared 79.8 % digital DNA-DNA hybridization, 97.78 % average nucleotide identity and 97.31 % average amino acid identity values. Activities of catalase and oxidase for the two strains were positive. Hydrolysis of skimmed milk and Tweens (40, 60 and 80) was positive. Interestingly, the two strains produced different kinds of prodiginines. We propose that Z. marina is a later heterotypic synonym of Zooshikella ganghwensis.

Identification of the key pathways and genes involved in HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastasis.

BACKGROUND: The risk of brain metastasis (BM) in HER2-positive (+) breast cancer (BC) patients is significantly higher than that in HER2-negative (-) BC patients. The high incidence and mortality rate makes it urgent to elucidate the key pathways and genes involved and identify patients who are more at risk of developing BM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To identify the target genes in HER2+BC patients with BM, we analyzed the microarray datasets (GSE43837) derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The GEO2R tool was used to extract the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in HER2+ primary BC and BC with BM. Bioinformatics methods including Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed with the screened DEGs. The protein-protein interactions of the DEGs were analyzed using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database and visualized using Cytoscape software. Finally, GSEA analysis was performed to identify the hub genes and the important pathways. RESULTS: A total of 751 upregulated and 285 downregulated DEGs were identified. The GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses indicated that the DEGs were all enriched in the protein binding molecular function. The top five hub nodes were screened out, included PHLPP1, UBC, ACACB, TGFB1, and ACTB. The GSEA results demonstrated that the five hub genes are mainly enriched in the ribosomal pathway. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the five hub genes (PHLPP1, UBC, ACACB, TGFB1, and ACTB) are associated with HER2+BC with BM. The GSEA analysis revealed that the ribosomal pathway seems to play a very important role in the pathogenesis of HER2+BC with BM.