Screening value of lung ultrasound and pleural shear wave elastography in connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the diagnostic value of lung ultrasound (LUS) and pleural shear wave elastography (SWE) for connective tissue disease-interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD). METHODS: We selected 104 patients diagnosed with connective tissue disease (CTD) at our hospital. All patients underwent LUS, SWE, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). With HRCT as the imaging gold standard for diagnosis, patients were categorized into CTD-ILD and CTD-non-ILD groups. We employed paired chi-square tests to compare the diagnostic differences between HRCT and LUS for ILD. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of pleural SWE for ILD. Correlation analysis was performed between pleural elasticity values and lung ultrasound scores. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of LUS for diagnosing CTD-ILD were 93.3%, 86.2%, 6.761, and 0.078, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the results between HRCT and LUS (P = 1.000), with a kappa value of 0.720 (P < 0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in the pleural elasticity in the bilateral lower back region between the case and control groups (P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for pleural SWE in diagnosing CTD-ILD was 0.685. In CTD-ILD patients, there was no significant correlation between pleural elasticity values and LUS scores (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The LUS can serve as an important imaging method for screening for CTD-ILD and assessing the severity of the disease. However, pleural SWE has been shown to demonstrate lower diagnostic efficacy for CTD-ILD, and its ability to assess disease severity is limited.

Clinical significance and prognostic value of small nucleolar RNA SNORA38 in breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women worldwide, and breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are believed to be the source of tumorigenesis. New findings suggest that small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) play a significant role in tumor development. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to demonstrate expression and survival of SNORA38 signature. In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemical (IHC) were conducted to analyze the correlation between SNORA38 and stemness biomarker in 77 BC samples. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to investigate the mechanisms related to SNORA38 expression in BC. Real-time qPCR was employed to evaluate the expression of SNORA38 in breast cancer cell lines. Results: In the public database and patients' biopsies, SNORA38 was significantly up-regulated in breast cancer. Furthermore, the expression of SNORA38 was significantly correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage, among which tumor size was an independent factor for SNORA38 expression. Higher SNORA38 expression was associated with shorter overall survival (OS). Meanwhile, SNORA38 was positively associated with the stem cell marker OCT-4, which suggested that SNORA38 might be related to breast cancer stemness. Conclusions: SNORA38 is an important carcinogenic snoRNA in breast cancer and might be a prognostic biomarker for breast cancer.

Assembly of complex 3D structures and electronics on curved surfaces.

Electronic devices with engineered three-dimensional (3D) architectures are indispensable for frictional-force sensing, wide-field optical imaging, and flow velocity measurement. Recent advances in mechanically guided assembly established deterministic routes to 3D structures in high-performance materials, through controlled rolling/folding/buckling deformations. The resulting 3D structures are, however, mostly formed on planar substrates and cannot be transferred directly onto another curved substrate. Here, we introduce an ordered assembly strategy to allow transformation of 2D thin films into sophisticated 3D structures on diverse curved surfaces. The strategy leverages predefined mechanical loadings that deform curved elastomer substrates into flat/cylindrical configurations, followed by an additional uniaxial/biaxial prestretch to drive buckling-guided assembly. Release of predefined loadings results in an ordered assembly that can be accurately captured by mechanics modeling, as illustrated by dozens of complex 3D structures assembled on curved substrates. Demonstrated applications include tunable dipole antennas, flow sensors inside a tube, and integrated electronic systems capable of conformal integration with the heart.

Highly-integrated, miniaturized, stretchable electronic systems based on stacked multilayer network materials.

Elastic stretchability and function density represent two key figures of merits for stretchable inorganic electronics. Various design strategies have been reported to provide both high levels of stretchability and function density, but the function densities are mostly below 80%. While the stacked device layout can overcome this limitation, the soft elastomers used in previous studies could highly restrict the deformation of stretchable interconnects. Here, we introduce stacked multilayer network materials as a general platform to incorporate individual components and stretchable interconnects, without posing any essential constraint to their deformations. Quantitative analyses show a substantial enhancement (e.g., by ~7.5 times) of elastic stretchability of serpentine interconnects as compared to that based on stacked soft elastomers. The proposed strategy allows demonstration of a miniaturized electronic system (11 mm by 10 mm), with a moderate elastic stretchability (~20%) and an unprecedented areal coverage (~110%), which can serve as compass display, somatosensory mouse, and physiological-signal monitor.

Intestinal submucous fibrovascular hamartoma: A case report.

Intestinal submucosal fibrovascular hamartoma is considered as a rare intestinal lesion. We present the case of a 63-year-old female with abdominal symptoms, bleeding, and increased serum tumor markers. The abdominal ultrasound revealed that the left abdominal intestinal wall and mesentery were thickened with enlarged multiple lymph nodes, suggesting intestinal obstruction. Other imaging findings confirmed the ultrasound findings. Histopathology of the removed lesion provided the diagnosis of intestinal submucosal fibrovascular hamartoma with hemorrhage, inflammation, and amyloidosis. Intestinal submucosal fibrovascular hamartoma is a hemorrhagic lesion with macroscopic tumor due to the abnormal mixing of the organ's normal components, which still remains a challenge for clinicians and pathologists. We consider routine abdominal ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (SICUS) to be safe and effective in the diagnosis of intestinal neoplastic lesions.

Electro-mechanically controlled assembly of reconfigurable 3D mesostructures and electronic devices based on dielectric elastomer platforms.

The manufacture of 3D mesostructures is receiving rapidly increasing attention, because of the fundamental significance and practical applications across wide-ranging areas. The recently developed approach of buckling-guided assembly allows deterministic formation of complex 3D mesostructures in a broad set of functional materials, with feature sizes spanning nanoscale to centimeter-scale. Previous studies mostly exploited mechanically controlled assembly platforms using elastomer substrates, which limits the capabilities to achieve on-demand local assembly, and to reshape assembled mesostructures into distinct 3D configurations. This work introduces a set of design concepts and assembly strategies to utilize dielectric elastomer actuators as powerful platforms for the electro-mechanically controlled 3D assembly. Capabilities of sequential, local loading with desired strain distributions allow access to precisely tailored 3D mesostructures that can be reshaped into distinct geometries, as demonstrated by experimental and theoretical studies of ∼30 examples. A reconfigurable inductive-capacitive radio-frequency circuit consisting of morphable 3D capacitors serves as an application example.

Oncotype DX for Comprehensive Treatment in Male Breast Cancer: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Male breast cancer (MBC) is uncommon in clinical practice. Using the 21-gene assay to facilitate decision-making on comprehensive treatment of MBC is rarely reported. This study reports the case of a 53-year-old man with left breast cancer. Modified radical mastectomy was performed. Endocrine treatment was chosen for the patient according to the result of the 21-gene assay, a recommended genomic test of breast cancer. The patient remained in good health without evidence of recurrence at 18-month follow-up. This case provides a reference mode for the comprehensive management of early-stage, estrogen receptor-expressing and lymph node-negative MBC patients.