Is switching intravesical chemotherapeutic agents beneficial in short-term recurrent high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors? A 5-year retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore if switching intravesical chemotherapeutic agents is beneficial in short-term recurrences of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) following the failure of preceding intravesical therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2010 to October 2015, 205 patients with NMIBC who experienced tumor recurrence within a year after receiving first-line intravesical chemotherapy (IVC) were classified into two groups. After a second complete transurethral resection (TUR) process, we immediately altered the intravesical instillation agent for 107 patients (group A). In contrast, the remaining 98 patients (group B) continued using their original intravesical instillation agent. After transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT), all patients received either an immediate instillation of epirubicin (EPI), gemcitabine (GEM), or hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT), followed by regular induction and maintenance instillations. Recurrence and progression rates were evaluated using the Chi-square test, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: In this study, there was no significant difference in either the 5-year tumor recurrence or progression rates between the two groups (p > 0.05) The Kaplan-Meier plot showed no difference in progression-free or recurrence-free survival between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Switching IVC agents does not improve RFS and PFS for patients with short-term recurrent high-risk NMIBC.

MicroRNA-367-3p directly targets RAB23 and inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells and increases cisplatin sensitivity.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the biological role of miR-367-3p upregulation in bladder cancer and verified the mutual relation between miR-367-3p and RAB23. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression levels of miR-367-3p were determined by RT-qPCR in bladder cancer cell lines and human bladder cancer tissues. The effects of miR-367-3p on proliferation, migration and invasion were evaluated by cell colony formation assays, wound healing assays and trans-well assays, respectively. The effects of miR-367-3p and RAB23 on cisplatin sensitivity of bladder cancer cells were assessed by CCK-8 assay. The expression of its target-RAB23 was determined by western blotting in T24, 5637. Plasmids used in dual-luciferase assays were constructed to confirm the action of miR-367-3p on downstream target-RAB23 in T24 cells. And also, the role of miR-367-3p in tumorigenesis was also confirmed in nude mouse models. RESULTS: The downregulation of miR-367-3p was observed in human bladder cancer tissues. MiR-367-3p downregulation positively correlated with tumor stage and tumor grade. MiR-367-3p overexpression in T24, 5637 cells suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells in vitro while decreasing IC50 values under T24 and 5637 cisplatin treatment conditions. RAB23 was shown to be upregulated in bladder cancer tissues and cell lines. MiR-367-3p directly bound to the 3' UTR of RAB23 in T24 cells. RAB23 was potentially accounted for the aforementioned functions of miR-367-3p. Tumor formation experiments in nude mouse models confirmed that overexpression of miR-367-3p could inhibit tumor growth and invasion in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: miR-367-3p acts as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer by downregulating RAB23 signaling. We conjecture that miR-367-3p-mediated downregulation of RAB23 expression may be a new therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer treatment.

Comprehensive analysis of predictive factors for upstaging in intraprostatic cancer after radical prostatectomy: Different patterns of spread exist in lesions at different locations.

BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of the clinical staging is crucial for determining the need for radical prostatectomy (RP) in prostate cancer (PCa). However, the current methods for PCa staging may yield incorrect results. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze independent predictors of postoperative upstaging of intraprostatic cancer. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from intraprostatic cancer patients who underwent radical surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. Intraprostatic cancer was defined as a lesion confined to the prostate, excluding cases where multiparameter magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) showed the lesion in contact with the prostatic capsule. We assessed independent predictors of extraprostatic extension (EPE) and analyzed their association with positive surgical margin (PSM) status. In addition, based on the distance of the lesion from the capsule on mpMRI, we divided the patients into non-transition zone and transition zone groups for further analysis. RESULTS: A total of 500 patients were included in our study. Logistic regression analysis revealed that biopsy Gleason grade group (GG) (odds ratio, OR: 1.370, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.093-1.718) and perineural invasion (PNI) (OR: 2.746, 95% CI: 1.420-5.309) were predictive factors for postoperative EPE. Both biopsy GG and PNI were associated with lateral (GG: OR: 1.270, 95% CI: 1.074-1.501; PNI: OR: 2.733, 95% CI: 1.521-4.911) and basal (GG: OR: 1.491, 95% CI: 1.194-1.862; PNI: OR: 3.730, 95% CI: 1.929-7.214) PSM but not with apex PSM (GG: OR: 1.176, 95% CI: 0.989-1.399; PNI: OR: 1.204, 95% CI: 0.609-2.381) after RP. Finally, PNI was an independent predictor of EPE in the transition zone (OR: 11.235, 95% CI: 2.779-45.428) but not in the non-transition zone (OR: 1.942, 95% CI: 0.920-4.098). CONCLUSION: PNI and higher GG may indicate upstaging of tumors in patients with intraprostatic carcinoma. These two factors are associated with PSM in locations other than the apex of the prostate. Importantly, cancer in the transition zone of the prostate is more likely to spread externally through nerve invasion than cancer in the non-transition zone.

Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting osteoporosis in prostate cancer patients: A cross-sectional study from China.

BACKGROUND: The specific risk factors contributing to the development of osteoporosis and the appropriate timing of treatment in Chinese prostate cancer (PCa) patients remain unclear. Our objective was to develop and validate a nomogram capable of predicting the occurrence of osteoporosis in PCa patients. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study with PCa patients attending the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, collecting data from June 2021 to February 2023. The patients were divided into training and validation sets in a 7:3 ratio. The LASSO regression was used to identify the most relevant predictive variables, and the multivariable logistic regression was used to construct the nomogram. The nomogram's performance was validated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, C-index, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) in both the training and validation sets. RESULTS: We collected data from a total of 596 patients and then constructed the nomogram using age, body mass index, hemoglobin, vitamin D3, testosterone, and androgen deprivation therapy duration. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.923 in the training set and 0.859 in the validation set. The nomogram showed good consistency in both sets. DCA demonstrated the clinical benefit of the nomogram across various prediction thresholds. Furthermore, a separate nomogram was constructed to predict bone loss in patients undergoing ADT, exhibiting equally favorable diagnostic performance and clinical benefit. CONCLUSION: This study constructed two reliable nomograms to predict osteoporosis and bone loss, integrating personal health information and PCa-specific treatment data. These nomograms offer an easy and individualized approach to predict the occurrence of osteoporosis and bone loss in PCa patients.

Clinical Analysis of Perioperative Outcomes on Neoadjuvant Hormone Therapy before Laparoscopic and Robot-Assisted Surgery for Localized High-Risk Prostate Cancer in a Chinese Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the perioperative outcomes of neoadjuvant hormone therapy (NHT) before laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery for localized high-risk prostate cancer in a Chinese cohort. METHODS: The clinical data of 385 patients with localized high-risk prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) in our hospital from January 2019 to June 2021 were analyzed retrospectively, including 168 patients with preoperative NHT and 217 patients with simple surgery. Clinical characteristics were compared in the above two groups, the laparoscopic RP (LRP) cohort (n = 234) and the robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) cohort (n = 151), respectively. RESULTS: In the overall cohort, compared with the control group, the NHT group had a shorter operative time, less blood loss, a lower positive surgical margin rate, and a higher proportion of Gleason score (GS) downgrading after the operation (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in hospitalization time, biochemical recurrence, urine leakage, urinary continence, or prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival (p > 0.05). In the LRP cohort, it was found that the NHT group also had shorter operative time, less blood loss, lower positive surgical margin rate, a higher proportion of GS downgrading after the operation, and faster recovery of urinary control than the control group (p < 0.05). There was no marked difference in hospitalization time, biochemical recurrence, urinary leakage, or PSA progression-free survival. However, in the RALP cohort, the NHT group had a significant difference in the GS downgrading after the operation compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In the overall cohort, multiple analyses showed that initial PSA level, GS at biopsy, clinical T stage, lymph node invasion, use of NHT, and surgical methods were significantly associated with positive surgical margin (p < 0.05) while NHT did not account for biochemical recurrence (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: NHT can lower the difficulty of surgery, reduce positive surgical margin rate, and help recovery in short-term urinary control in patients with high-risk prostate cancer after LRP. However, we do not have evidence on the benefit of NHT in high-risk PCa patients treated with RALP. For these patients, surgery can be performed as early as possible.

Cuproptosis-Associated lncRNA Establishes New Prognostic Profile and Predicts Immunotherapy Response in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for 80% of all kidney cancers and has a poor prognosis. Recent studies have shown that copper-dependent, regulated cell death differs from previously known death mechanisms (apoptosis, ferroptosis, and necroptosis) and is dependent on mitochondrial respiration (Tsvetkov et al., Science, 2022, 375 (6586), 1254-1261). Studies also suggested that targeting cuproptosis may be a novel therapeutic strategy for cancer therapy. In ccRCC, both cuproptosis and lncRNA were critical, but the mechanisms were not fully understood. The aim of our study was to construct a prognostic profile based on cuproptosis-associated lncRNAs to predict the prognosis of ccRCC and to study the immune profile of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods: We downloaded the transcriptional profile and clinical information of ccRCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Co-expression network analysis, Cox regression method, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method were used to identify cuproptosis-associated lncRNAs and to construct a risk prognostic model. In addition, the predictive performance of the model was validated and recognized by an integrated approach. We then also constructed a nomogram to predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients. Differences in biological function were investigated by GO, KEGG, and immunoassay. Immunotherapy response was measured using tumor mutational burden (TMB) and tumor immune dysfunction and rejection (TIDE) scores. Results: We constructed a panel of 10 cuproptosis-associated lncRNAs (HHLA3, H1-10-AS1, PICSAR, LINC02027, SNHG15, SNHG8, LINC00471, EIF1B-AS1, LINC02154, and MINCR) to construct a prognostic prediction model. The Kaplan-Meier and ROC curves showed that the feature had acceptable predictive validity in the TCGA training, test, and complete groups. The cuproptosis-associated lncRNA model had higher diagnostic efficiency compared to other clinical features. The analysis of Immune cell infiltration and ssGSEA further confirmed that predictive features were significantly associated with the immune status of ccRCC patients. Notably, the superimposed effect of patients in the high-risk group and high TMB resulted in shorter survival. In addition, the higher TIDE scores in the high-risk group suggested a poorer outcome for immune checkpoint blockade response in these patients. Conclusion: The ten cuproptosis-related risk profiles for lncRNA may help assess the prognosis and molecular profile of ccRCC patients and improve treatment options, which can be further applied in the clinic.

Multi-omics analysis of expression and prognostic value of NSUN members in prostate cancer.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common tumor in men worldwide, seriously threatening the health of older men, and 5-methylcytosine (m5C) RNA modification has been shown to have a significant impact on the development and progression of various tumors. However, as the most critical methyltransferase for m5c RNA modification, the role of the NSUN members (NSUN1-7) in prostate cancer is unclear. Methods: We obtained sequencing data of genes and related clinical data of prostate cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and analyzed the correlation between NSUN members' expression and prognosis. we found that NSUN2 was closely implicated in the prognosis of prostate cancer, then verified the expression of NSUN2 in clinical samples, and obtained the correlation between NSUN2 and immune cell infiltration through CIBERSORT algorithm and ESTIMATE method. The relationship between NSUN2 copy number variation and immune cell infiltration was further analyzed in the TIMER database and identified signaling pathways associated with NSUN2 expression by GO, KEGG, and GSEA analysis. Finally, we verified the expression of NSUN2 in prostate cancer cell lines and confirmed the role of NSUN2 on the biological behavior of prostate cancer cells by proliferation and migration-related assays. Results: NOP2 and NSUN2 were upregulated in prostate tumor tissues. NSUN2 expression is closely associated with tumor prognosis. NSUN2 high expression implies poor clinical features, and the NSUN family is significantly associated with tumor stromal score and immune score. Besides, NSUN2 is associated with a variety of immune infiltrating cells (B cells memory, T cells CD4 memory resting, T cells CD4 memory activated, NK cells resting, and so on). High NSUN2 expression lowers the sensitivity of many chemotherapy drugs, such as docetaxel, doxorubicin, fluorouracil, cisplatin, and etoposide. In prostate cancer, the most common type of mutation in NSUN2 is amplification, and NSUN2 copy number variation is closely associated with NSUN2 expression and immune cell infiltration. GSEA analysis showed that the related genes were mainly enriched in ubiquitin-mediated protein hydrolysis, cell cycle, RNA degradation, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, p53 signaling pathway, and NSUN2 potentiated the proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cells. Conclusions: NSUN2 is highly expressed in prostate cancer, which contributes to the progression of prostate cancer, and is closely implicated in immune cell infiltration and chemotherapy drugs. NSUN2 is expected to be a prospective marker and a new treatment target for prostate cancer.

Predicting Prognosis and Distinguishing Cold and Hot Tumors in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma Based on Necroptosis-Associated lncRNAs.

Background: In reference to previous studies, necroptosis played an important role in cancer development. Our team decided to explore the potential prognostic values of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) associated with necroptosis in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) and their relationship with the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the immunotherapeutic response for accurate dose. Methods: To obtain the required data, bladder urothelial carcinoma transcriptome data were searched from Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). We used co-expression analysis, differential expression analysis, and univariate Cox regression to screen out prognostic lncRNAs associated with necroptosis in BLCA. Then the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) was conducted to construct the necroptosis-associated lncRNAs model. Based on this model, we also performed the Kaplan-Meier analysis and time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC) to estimate the prognostic power of risk score. Multivariate and univariate Cox regression analysis were performed to build up a nomogram. Calibration curves, and time-dependent ROC were also conducted to evaluate nomogram. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a difference between high- and low-risk groups. In addition, we explored immune analysis, gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA), and evaluation of the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) in constructed model. Finally, the entire samples were divided into three clusters based on model of necroptosis-associated lncRNAs to further compare immunotherapy in cold and hot tumors. Results: A model was built up based on necroptosis-associated lncRNAs. The model revealed good consistence between calibration plots and prognostic prediction. The area of 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.707, 0.679, and 0.675. Risk groups could be helpful for systemic therapy due to the markedly diverse IC50 between risk groups. To our delight, clusters could effectively identify cold and hot tumors, which would be beneficial to accurate mediation. Clusters 2 and 3 were considered the hot tumor, which was more sensitive to immunotherapeutic drugs. Conclusions: The outcomes of our study suggested that necroptosis-associated lncRNAs could effectively predict patients with BLCA prognosis, which may be helpful for distinguishing the cold and hot tumors and improving individual treatment of BLCA.

Removal of phosphorus in wastewater by sinusoidal alternating current coagulation: performance and mechanism.

The effects of initial total phosphorus (TP) concentration, current density, conductivity and initial pH value on the removal rate of TP and energy consumption, as well as the behaviour and mechanism of phosphorus removal, were investigated by sinusoidal alternating current coagulation (SACC). The flocs produced by SACC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy FTIR and X-ray photo electron spectroscopy. The thermodynamic and kinetic behaviours of phosphorus removal by iron sol adsorption were also studied in detail. In a self-made SACC reactor equipped with five sets of parallel iron electrodes spacing 10 mm, the removal rate of TP reached 90.9% for a pH 7.0 wastewater with 5 mg dm-3 TP (κ = 800 µS cm-1) after being treated for 60 min by applying 2.12 mA cm-2 sinusoidal alternating current. Compared with direct current coagulation (DCC), SACC exhibits a higher removal efficiency of phosphorus due to the stronger adsorption of the produced flocs. It was found that the adsorption in the SACC process follows pseudo-second-order kinetic with the involvement of the intra-particle model. The adsorption of iron sol to phosphorus was an endothermic and spontaneous process, and its adsorption behaviour can be characterized with Langmuir and Redlich-Peterson isothermal adsorption models. SACC may be employed for the treatment of more complex wastewater combined with biological and/or electrochemical techniques.

Preparation of Carbon-Covered Phosphorus-Modified Alumina with Large Pore Size and Adsorption of Rhodamine B.

In this study, phosphorus-modified alumina with large pore size was synthesized through a coprecipitation method. The carbon-covered, phosphorus-modified alumina with large pores was prepared by impregnating with glucose and carbonizing to further improve the adsorption of organic dyes. The morphology and structure of these composites were characterized by various analysis methods, and Rhodamine B (RhB) adsorption was also examined in aqueous media. The results showed that the specific surface area and pore size of the phosphorus-modified alumina sample AP7 (prepared with a P/Al molar ratio of 0.07) reached 496.2 m2·g-1 and 21.9 nm, while the specific surface area and pore size of the carbon-covered phosphorus-modified alumina sample CAP7-27 (prepared by using AP7 as a carrier for glucose at a glucose/Al molar ratio of 0.27) reached 435.3 m2·g-1 and 21.2 nm. The adsorption experiment of RhB revealed that CAP7-27 had not only an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 198 mg·g-1, but also an adsorption rate of 162.5 mg·g-1 in 5 min. These superior adsorption effects can be attributed to the similar pore structures of CAP7-27 with those of alumina and the specific properties with those of carbon materials. Finally, the kinetic properties of these composites were also studied, which were found to be consistent with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model for isothermal adsorption analysis. This study indicates that the prepared nanomaterials are expected to be promising candidates for efficient adsorption of toxic dyes.

TACC3 promotes prostate cancer cell proliferation and restrains primary cilium formation.

Although primary cilia abnormalities have been frequently observed in multiple cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa), the molecular mechanisms underlying primary ciliogenesis repression in PCa cells remain unclear. Transforming acidic coiled-coil protein-3 (TACC3), whose deregulation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several types of cancer, is a key centrosomal protein that plays a crucial role in centrosome/microtubule dynamics, potentially impacting primary cilium generation. Here, we showed that TACC3 was markedly upregulated in PCa and that knockdown of TACC3 restrained tumorigenesis and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we found that TACC3 interacts with filamin A, and elevated levels of TACC3 disrupted the interaction between filamin A and meckelin, thereby restraining primary cilium formation in PCa cells.

Using an anaerobic digestion tank as the anodic chamber of an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell to improve energy production from food waste.

Anaerobic digestion is sensitive to a wide variety of inhibitory substances that are the primary cause of anaerobic digester failure. Herein, an anaerobic digestion (AD) tank, which also functioned as the anodic chamber of an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell (AMFC), was established to treat food waste (FW) under an inhibition-relieved condition. About 2.9 L of CH4 was yielded by the AD-AMFC system, which was more than double the CH4 produced by the AD system, and 34% higher than that from the AD-MFC system. The result suggests that the bioelectrochemical system and algae successfully improved the AD performance and energy production. The AD-AMFC system had the highest volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration in the initial 20 days, but it maintained the lowest VFA concentration in the following days. Those results indicate that the AMFC shortened the acclimatisation phase of the AD process and then alleviated the adverse impact of VFAs by consuming VFAs as a substrate for electricity generation. Alkalinity generated by algal growth and cathode reactions buffered the H+ that migrated from the anolyte, which facilitated the pH recovery of the AD process. Ammonia inhibition of the AD was also relieved by the AMFC through reduction of the ammonia concentration to less than 500 mg/L in the anolyte. Additionally, the COD removal rate was improved to 89%, since the AMFC facilitated the decomposition of large molecules. The present study developed a practical structure for an AD tank and also explained the reason as to why the AMFC improved the AD performance.

Gene mutation detection of urinary sediment cells for NMIBC early diagnose and prediction of NMIBC relapse after surgery.

Early diagnose of bladder cancer could lead to good prognosis and high 5-year-survival rate. Among bladder cancer, about 75% patients with were nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Patients were painful and easily get infected during bladder cancer diagnosis, which mainly depends on invasive cystoscopy and low-sensitivity urine exfoliation cytology. Meanwhile, relapse after surgery was also becoming the major problem for patients. Exploring noninvasive, high-sensitivity, and painless method is very important and meaningful for NMIBC treatment.Firstly, we found potential related gene mutation sites for NMIBC by searching COSMIC database and related study. Urinary sediment cells of patients both in normal group (patients with benign) and NMIMC group were collected before and after operation for potential gene mutation site detecting. Meanwhile, the urinary sediment cells of relapse patients and good prognosis people in NMIBC group after surgery were also collected for further Gene mutation detection and NMIBC relapse after surgery prediction.Fourteen genes (152 mutation sites) were selected between 95 NMIBC patients and 67 control patients, which were FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, and others. Compared with control group, mutation ratio of above 14 genes was higher in NMIBC group. NMIBC diagnose model was established by 5 times cross-validation and had a good effects, which included the all mutation site in FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, ARID1A, STAG2, and KTM2D. On the contrary, the relapse rate was 30.5% among 95 patients for about 1.5-year follow-up time. Compared with control group, smoking rate and tumor grade were higher in relapse group. Meanwhile, mutation rate of FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, ERBB3, and TSC1 in relapse group were higher than that in normal group. According to the mutation sites of FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, and ERBB3 and the combination of urinary sediment cells genetic mutation and relapse status, a predicted model for NMIBC relapse was also established, which had 90% accuracy.The diagnosed NMIBC model (based on FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, ARID1A, STAG2, and KTM2D gene mutation) and predicted relapse model (based on FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, and ERBB3 gene mutation) possess high accuracy and would be applied in early diagnose and early predicting relapse of patients.

Quantized Sampled-Data Control for T-S Fuzzy System Using Discontinuous LKF Approach.

In this study, the stability for a class of sampled-data Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems with state quantization was investigated. Using the discontinuous Lyapunov-Krasoskii functional (LKF) approach and the free-matrix-based integral inequality bounds processing technique, a stability condition with less conservativeness has been obtained, and the controller of the sampled-data T-S fuzzy system with the quantized state has been designed. Furthermore, based on the results, the sampled-data T-S fuzzy system without the state quantization was also discussed, and the required controller constructed. The results of two simulation examples show that both the maximum sampling intervals, with and without the quantized state for T-S fuzzy systems, are actually superior to the existing results.

Distinguishing Different Emotions Evoked by Music via Electroencephalographic Signals.

Music can evoke a variety of emotions, which may be manifested by distinct signals on the electroencephalogram (EEG). Many previous studies have examined the associations between specific aspects of music, including the subjective emotions aroused, and EEG signal features. However, no study has comprehensively examined music-related EEG features and selected those with the strongest potential for discriminating emotions. So, this paper conducted a series of experiments to identify the most influential EEG features induced by music evoking different emotions (calm, joy, sad, and angry). We extracted 27-dimensional features from each of 12 electrode positions then used correlation-based feature selection method to identify the feature set most strongly related to the original features but with lowest redundancy. Several classifiers, including Support Vector Machine (SVM), C4.5, LDA, and BPNN, were then used to test the recognition accuracy of the original and selected feature sets. Finally, results are analyzed in detail and the relationships between selected feature set and human emotions are shown clearly. Through the classification results of 10 random examinations, it could be concluded that the selected feature sets of Pz are more effective than other features when using as the key feature set to classify human emotion statues.

Microalgae nourished by mariculture wastewater aids aquaculture self-reliance with desirable biochemical composition.

Increased awareness of freshwater consumption for microalgal cultivation and excessive investment for aquaculture feeds has driven studies towards building a recycling system. Thereby, mariculture wastewaters (MW) modified with monosodium glutamate residue (MSGR) or NaNO3 & K2HPO4 were used to culture microalgae, and then whether generated microalgae could meet nutritional standards for aquatic animals was evaluated. The results showed that MW + MSGR was the optimum medium for microalgae as aquaculture feeds: microalgae could accumulate plentiful high-quality protein with essential amino acid indices exceeding 0.90; and 13.49% of the fatty acids in microalgae were highly unsaturated, attributed to the organic carbon and some dehydrogenase present in MSGR. Furthermore, microalgae could provide desirable carotenoids, which have been proposed as an important defensive line to scavenge the excess oxidants under salinity stress. Additionally, elemental composition satisfied standard limits for safe consumption. In combination, aquaculture achieved self-reliance by virtue of microalgae with desirable biochemical composition.

Biofilm development dynamics and pollutant removal performance of ceramsite made from drinking-water treatment sludge.

Alum-sludge ceramsite and denitrifying bacteria (XP-1, XP-2, CL-1, CL-3) were used as substrate and constructed biofilm for enhancing the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The results showed that, due to the large specific surface area, the maximum growth rate was 0.49 mg/(g·day) on the sludge ceramsite, and the mass of biofilm attached onto sludge ceramsite was 5.98 times higher than that when using commercial ceramsite as substrate. Better removal performance could be achieved with the combination of sludge ceramsite and bacteria, viz. 98.6%, 91.0%, and 85.8% reduction in total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD), respectively. Pseudo-first-order kinetics, pseudo-second-order kinetics, Monod kinetics, and multiple Monod kinetics combined with continuous-flow-stirred tank reactor (CFSTR) behavior were used to investigate the dynamics of the pollutant removal processes. The decrease in band brightness for bacteria attached onto sludge ceramsite was 11.5%, while it was more than 35.7% on commercial ceramsite during wastewater treatment according to results from denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Sludge ceramsite played an important role in maintaining quantities and activities of denitrifying bacteria, and application of sludge ceramsite substrate and denitrifying bacteria was a reliable method to enhance the removals of phosphorus, nitrogen, and COD from domestic wastewater. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Alum-sludge ceramsite was a good substrate for phosphorus adsorption and denitrifying bacterial growth. There was 5.98 times more biofilm on sludge ceramsite than on commercial ceramsite The biofilm of denitrifying bacteria on sludge ceramsite was more stable. High removals of TP (98.6%), TN (90.1%) and COD (85.81%) were achieved.

Salinity-induced cellular cross-talk in carbon partitioning reveals starch-to-lipid biosynthesis switching in low-starch freshwater algae.

Salinity stress has been verified to be a successful approach to enhance lipid production in high-starch marine algae, and salinity-induced carbon flow switching has been proposed as an algal response specific to brackish water. With the aim of testing this assumption, Chlorella sorokiniana SDEC-18, a low-starch freshwater alga, was grown in BG11 medium with NaCl addition at various concentrations (0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 g/L). The results showed that salinity stress promoted carbon redistribution and starch conversion to lipid. The most desirable lipid productivity of 19.66 mg/L·d occurred in the medium with 20 g/L NaCl, about 2.16 times as high as that in the BG11 medium control. Moreover, microalgae with salinity stress were able to produce biodiesel with a more suitable cloud point, due to a decrease in the saturated fatty acid content. This therefore confirms that low-starch freshwater microalgae can also carry out salinity-induced carbon flow switching.

Rare adrenal gland incidentaloma: an unusual Ewing's sarcoma family of tumor presentation and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Members of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumor (ESFT) are malignant neoplasms and rarely observed in the adrenal gland. CASE PRESENTATION: We report an extremely exceptional case of ESFT rising from the adrenal gland in a 57-year-old Chinese man. The patient was hospitalized with abdominal swelling for 2 months. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a nearly-circular mass measuring about 8.1 × 10.6 cm in the right adrenal region. The patient underwent right adrenal resection. Histopathologic examination found the tumor was composed of small round blue cells forming typical Homer-Wright rosettes in focal area. The immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the case to be ESFT, which was positive for membranous CD99 and nuclear FLI-1. The patient was scheduled for four courses of large doses of chemotherapy and died for cancer metastasis one year later after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathological evidence of Homer-Wright rosettes and immunohistochemical markers positivity, such as CD99 and FLI-1, are valuable factors for ESFT diagnosis, although cytogenetic analysis is considered as the gold standard. Complete surgery is the treatment of choice for ESFT and adjuvant radiotherapy and combination chemotherapy can significantly improve the survival rate of postoperative patients.