Global research hotspots, development trends and prospect discoveries of phase separation in cancer: a decade-long informatics investigation.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a complex and subtle phenomenon whose formation and regulation take essential roles in cancer initiation, growth, progression, invasion, and metastasis. This domain holds a wealth of underutilized unstructured data that needs further excavation for potentially valuable information. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the global scientific knowledge in the field over the last decade by using informatics methods (such as hierarchical clustering, regression statistics, hotspot burst, and Walktrap algorithm analysis). Over the past decade, this area enjoyed a favorable development trend (Annual Growth Rate: 34.98%) and global collaboration (International Co-authorship: 27.31%). Through unsupervised hierarchical clustering based on machine learning, the global research hotspots were divided into five dominant research clusters: Cluster 1 (Effects and Mechanisms of Phase Separation in Drug Delivery), Cluster 2 (Phase Separation in Gene Expression Regulation), Cluster 3 (Phase Separation in RNA-Protein Interaction), Cluster 4 (Reference Value of Phase Separation in Neurodegenerative Diseases for Cancer Research), and Cluster 5 (Roles and Mechanisms of Phase Separation). And further time-series analysis revealed that Cluster 5 is the emerging research cluster. In addition, results from the regression curve and hotspot burst analysis point in unison to super-enhancer (a=0.5515, R2=0.6586, p=0.0044) and stress granule (a=0.8000, R2=0.6000, p=0.0085) as the most potential star molecule in this field. More interestingly, the Random-Walk-Strategy-based Walktrap algorithm further revealed that "phase separation, cancer, transcription, super-enhancer, epigenetics"(Relevance Percentage[RP]=100%, Development Percentage[DP]=29.2%), "stress granule, immunotherapy, tumor microenvironment, RNA binding protein"(RP=79.2%, DP=33.3%) and "nanoparticle, apoptosis"(RP=70.8%, DP=25.0%) are closely associated with this field, but are still under-developed and worthy of further exploration. In conclusion, this study profiled the global scientific landscape, discovered a crucial emerging research cluster, identified several pivotal research molecules, and predicted several crucial but still under-developed directions that deserve further research, providing an important reference value for subsequent basic and clinical research of phase separation in cancer.

Comparative investigation of neoadjuvant immunotherapy versus adjuvant immunotherapy in perioperative patients with cancer: a global-scale, cross-sectional, large-sample informatics study.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant and adjuvant immunotherapies for cancer have evolved through a series of remarkable and critical research advances; however, addressing their similarities and differences is imperative in clinical practice. Therefore, this study aimed to examine their similarities and differences from the perspective of informatics analysis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study retrospectively analyzed extensive relevant studies published between 2014 and 2023 using stringent search criteria, excluding non-peer-reviewed and non-English documents. The main outcome variables are publication volume, citation volume, connection strength, occurrence frequency, relevance percentage, and development percentage. Furthermore, an integrated comparative analysis was conducted using unsupervised hierarchical clustering, spatiotemporal analysis, regression statistics, and Walktrap algorithm analysis. RESULTS: This analysis included 1,373 relevant studies. Advancements in neoadjuvant and adjuvant immunotherapies have been promising over the last decade, with an annual growth rate of 25.18% vs. 6.52% and global collaboration (International Co-authorships) of 19.93% vs. 19.84%. Respectively, five dominant research clusters were identified through unsupervised hierarchical clustering based on machine learning, among which Cluster 4 (Balance of neoadjuvant immunotherapy efficacy and safety) and Cluster 2 (Adjuvant immunotherapy clinical trials) (Average Publication Year [APY]: 2021.70±0.70 vs. 2017.54±4.59) are emerging research populations. Burst and regression curve analyses uncovered domain pivotal research signatures, including microsatellite instability (R2=0.7500, P=0.0025) and biomarkers (R2=0.6505, P=0.0086) in neoadjuvant scenarios, and the tumor microenvironment (R2=0.5571, P=0.0209) in adjuvant scenarios. The Walktrap algorithm further revealed that "neoadjuvant immunotherapy, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immune checkpoint inhibitors, melanoma" and "adjuvant immunotherapy, melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, dendritic cells" (Relevance Percentage: 100% vs. 100%, Development Percentage: 37.5% vs. 17.1%) are extremely relevant to this field but remain underdeveloped, highlighting the need for further investigation. CONCLUSION: This study identified pivotal research signatures and provided substantial predictions for neoadjuvant and adjuvant cancer immunotherapies. In addition, comprehensive quantitative comparisons revealed a notable shift in focus within this field, with neoadjuvant immunotherapy taking precedence over adjuvant immunotherapy after 2020; such a qualitative finding facilitate proper decision-making for subsequent research and mitigate the wastage of healthcare resources.

Comprehensive scientometrics and visualization study profiles lymphoma metabolism and identifies its significant research signatures.

Background: There is a wealth of poorly utilized unstructured data on lymphoma metabolism, and scientometrics and visualization study could serve as a robust tool to address this issue. Hence, it was implemented. Methods: After strict quality control, numerous data regarding the lymphoma metabolism were mined, quantified, cleaned, fused, and visualized from documents (n = 2925) limited from 2013 to 2022 using R packages, VOSviewer, and GraphPad Prism. Results: The linear fitting analysis generated functions predicting the annual publication number (y = 31.685x - 63628, R² = 0.93614, Prediction in 2027: 598) and citation number (y = 1363.7x - 2746019, R² = 0.94956, Prediction in 2027: 18201). In the last decade, the most academically performing author, journal, country, and affiliation were Meignan Michel (n = 35), European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (n = 1653), USA (n = 3114), and University of Pennsylvania (n = 86), respectively. The hierarchical clustering based on unsupervised learning further divided research signatures into five clusters, including the basic study cluster (Cluster 1, Total Link Strength [TLS] = 1670, Total Occurrence [TO] = 832) and clinical study cluster (Cluster 3, TLS = 3496, TO = 1328). The timeline distribution indicated that radiomics and artificial intelligence (Cluster 4, Average Publication Year = 2019.39 ± 0.21) is a relatively new research cluster, and more endeavors deserve. Research signature burst and linear regression analysis further confirmed the findings above and revealed additional important results, such as tumor microenvironment (a = 0.6848, R² = 0.5194, p = 0.019) and immunotherapy (a = 1.036, R² = 0.6687, p = 0.004). More interestingly, by performing a "Walktrap" algorithm, the community map indicated that the "apoptosis, metabolism, chemotherapy" (Centrality = 12, Density = 6), "lymphoma, pet/ct, prognosis" (Centrality = 11, Density = 1), and "genotoxicity, mutagenicity" (Centrality = 9, Density = 4) are crucial but still under-explored, illustrating the potentiality of these research signatures in the field of the lymphoma metabolism. Conclusion: This study comprehensively mines valuable information and offers significant predictions about lymphoma metabolism for its clinical and experimental practice.

A genome-wide analysis of the GRAS gene family in upland cotton and a functional study of the role of the GhGRAS55 gene in regulating early maturity in cotton.

The members of the GRAS gene family play important roles in regulating plant growth and development, but their functions in regulating early plant maturity traits are still unknown. In this study, we used a series of bioinformatics tools to identify GRAS gene family members and investigate the function of the gene family (GhGRAS55) using a genome-wide database of upland cotton samples. A total of 58 members of the GRAS gene family were identified and screened, which were distributed on 21 chromosomes within the whole cotton genome. The results of the phylogenetic analysis showed that the genes of upland cotton, island cotton, African cotton, Raymond cotton, and Arabidopsis were distributed in subfamilies I-VIII, although subfamily II did not contain any upland cotton or Arabidopsis GRAS family members. The structures and other characteristics of the genes in this family were clarified using bioinformatics technology. The transcriptomic sequencing results for early and late maturing cotton species showed that the expression of most GRAS family genes, such as GhGRAS10, GhGRAS5511, and GhGRAS55, was lower in early maturing species than late maturing species. We also found that cotton plants with GhGRAS55 genes that were silenced by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technology showed early bud emergence phenotypes, so it could be speculated that the GhGRAS55 gene has the function of regulating early maturity in cotton.

Perioperative safety assessment of patients undergoing unilateral or bilateral hip replacements.

Introduction: Due to the aging of the world population and the increase of obesity rate, it is expected that the number of joint replacement surgery will continue to increase in the next few years. This study evaluated the safety differences between unilateral and bilateral hip replacement surgeries. Methods: The data for patients who underwent hip arthroplasty in 2021 and 2022 were examined. The data set included 68 patients who were grouped according to the type of hip replacement needed, sex, age, and body mass index. Total blood loss and operative time were the safety-related indicators used to compare the groups. Results: Regardless of whether the unilateral replacement group was compared with the overall bilateral replacement group or separately with the staged and simultaneous bilateral replacement groups, simultaneous bilateral replacement surgeries were equally safe as the other types of hip replacements. The total blood loss and operative time for the simultaneous bilateral replacement group were not significantly different from those in the unilateral and staged bilateral replacement groups. For overweight patients, the operative time for simultaneous bilateral replacements was significantly shorter than that for unilateral replacements. Conclusions: These findings suggest that for patients requiring bilateral hip replacements, the blood loss risk for patients undergoing simultaneous bilateral hip replacements was similar to that for patients undergoing either unilateral or staged bilateral hip replacements. Thus, simultaneous bilateral total hip replacement (THR) are safe and should be considered for candidate patients.

[Efficacy observation of dysphagia after acute stroke treated with acupuncture and functional electric stimulation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the impacts on the recovery of swallowing function in patients of dysphagia after acute stroke treated with acupuncture and functional electric stimulation. METHODS: Seventy-four patients were randomized into an acupuncture plus electric stimulation group (38 cases) and an electric stimulation group (36 cases). The functional electric stimulator was used in the two groups. The electric pads were placed on the hyoid bone, the upper part of thyroid cartilage, the masseter muscle and the mandibular joint. The treatment lasted for 30 mm each time. In the acupuncture plus electric stimulation group, acupuncture was supplemented at motor area of Jiao's scalp acupuncture, lower 2/5 of sensory area, Baihui (CV 20), Lianquan (CV 23), Jinjin (EX-HN 12) and Yuye (EX-HN 13), 30 mm each time. The treatment was given once a day, 6 treatments for one session and there was 1 day at interval between the sessions, 4 sessions were required totally in the two groups. The dysphagia scale was adopted for efficacy evaluation before treatment and after 4 sessions of treatment in the two groups. The removal rate of nasal feeding tube was observed after treatment. RESULTS: The dysphagia score was increased apparently after treatment compared with that before treatment in the two groups (both P < 0.05). After treatment, in the acupuncture plus electric stimulation group, the dysphagia score was increased much more apparently than that in the electric stimulation group (8.01 +/- 1.25 vs 6.73 +/- 1.36, P < 0.05). The remarkably effective rate was 84.2% (32/38) in the acupuncture plus electric stimulation group, better than 58.3% (21/36) in the electric stimulation group (P < 0.05). The removal rate of nasal feeding tube was 89.5% (34/38) in the acupuncture plus electric stimulation group, which was higher than 50. 0% (18/36) in the electric stimulation group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with electric stimulation achieves the much better efficacy on dysphagia after acute stroke and promotes the early removal of nasal feeding tube. The efficacy is better than that of the simple electric stimulation therapy.

A local GABAergic system is functionally expressed in human fallopian tube.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system and exerts its actions via ionotropic (GABAA and GABAC) and metabotropic (GABAB) receptors. The GABAB receptor is a dimer composed of R1 and R2 components. In addition to their location on neurons, GABA and functional GABAB receptors also have been detected in some peripheral tissues. In the present study, we combined immunohistochemistry, immunoblot and tension recording to determine if the human fallopian tube express glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65/67), two isoforms for synthesis of GABA and functional GABAB receptors. Immunoblots showed that the human fallopian tube tissue contained GABABR1 protein which was localized in the epithelial cells and smooth muscle cells by immunohistochemistry. In addition, epithelial cells also expressed GAD65/67. Tension recording found that both GABA and baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist increased the spontaneous activity of human fallopian tube. The expressions of GABABR and GAD65/67 were significantly upregulated in the ectopic pregnancy group than in the intrauterine pregnancy group. We conclude that the human fallopian tube is capable of synthesizing GABA and expresses functionally active GABAB receptors. An upregulation of GABA synthesis and corresponding GABAB receptors may involve in ectopic pregnancy.