Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Paediatric Patients with X-linked Lymphoproliferative Syndrome.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors of haploid hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome. Seven children with X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome diagnosed by XIAP gene analysis were enrolled. The conditioning regimens were tolerated in all seven patients, and the median time of neutrophil engraftment was 10 days (8-13 days), and that of platelet engraftment was 21 days (14-24 days). STR-PCR analysis on the peripheral blood cells showed complete donor origins. Four cases developed Grade I acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD), one developed Grade III aGVHD (intestinal tract), and two cases had limited chronic GVHD. Four cases had cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation, and two cases had Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation. One case was diagnosed as pneumocystosis, and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) occurred in three cases. During the follow-up period (median time of 42 months), one patient died of TMA and six patients survived. Statistical analysis showed that the status of disease remission and the positive result of virus in blood before transplantation were independent prognostic factors. Haplo-HSCT might be a curative option for children with refractory X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome. Low-intensity conditioning regimens may reduce transplant-related mortality and improve overall survival.

Experimental and theoretical studies on the compatibility of DNTF and typical hydrocarbon polymer binders.

3,4-bis(3-nitrofurazan-4-yl) furoxan (DNTF) is one of the third-generation energetic compounds with excellent comprehensive properties, which can be added to polymer bonded explosive (PBX) to improve energy levels and regulate sensitivity, so the compatibility of DNTF with other components in PBX, especially the binder, is the first question. Herein, two typical hydrocarbon polymers commonly used in PBX, which are hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and polyisobutylene (PIB), were selected as the binder, and the compatibility of HTPB and PIB with DNTF was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the vacuum stability test (VST), and in situ infrared spectroscopy (in situ IR). The results of compatibility experiments were verified by using the binding energy and solubility parameter criteria in molecular dynamics (MD). Experimental and MD simulation results showed that DNTF could be compatible with PIB but incompatible with HTPB. The frontier molecular orbital theory in quantum chemistry (QC) was adopted to explore the frontier orbital electron distribution and energy levels of DNTF/HTPB and DNTF/PIB composite systems to better understand the microscopic compatibility mechanism. The compatibility results of the two composite systems were explained from the perspective of electron transfer. All these can deduce that a hydrocarbon polymer binder with a saturated carbon-hydrogen bond at the end of the molecular chain has good compatibility with DNTF, compared with a hydroxyl group, which has bad compatibility with DNTF.

Silver Copper Chalcogenide Thermoelectrics: Advance, Controversy, and Perspective.

Thermoelectric technology, which enables a direct and pollution-free conversion of heat into electricity, provides a promising path to address the current global energy crisis. Among the broad range of thermoelectric materials, silver copper chalcogenides (AgCuQ, Q = S, Se, Te) have garnered significant attention in thermoelectric community in light of inherently ultralow lattice thermal conductivity, controllable electronic transport properties, excellent thermoelectric performance across various temperature ranges, and a degree of ductility. This review epitomizes the recent progress in AgCuQ-based thermoelectric materials, from the optimization of thermoelectric performance to the rational design of devices, encompassing the fundamental understanding of crystal structures, electronic band structures, mechanical properties, and quasi-liquid behaviors. The correlation between chemical composition, mechanical properties, and thermoelectric performance in this material system is also highlighted. Finally, several key issues and prospects are proposed for further optimizing AgCuQ-based thermoelectric materials.

Infrared spectra and electronic structural changes of DNTF under high pressure: experimental and theoretical studies.

3,4-Bis(3-nitrofurazan-4-yl)furoxan (DNTF) is a novel energetic material with an excellent performance and has attracted considerable attention. Motivated by recent theories and experiments, we had carried out experimental and theoretical studies on the high-pressure responses of vibrational characteristics, in conjunction with structural and electronic characteristics. It is found that all observed infrared spectra peaks seem to shift towards higher frequencies. And the peaks attributed to N-Oc (coordinated oxygen atom) stretching vibrations become broader due to the decrease of lattice constants and the free region of DNTF crystals with the increase of pressure, where the a-direction is more sensitive to pressure. In addition, the non-covalent interaction between adjacent DNTF molecules in the same layer changes from the van der Waals interaction to the steric effect with the increase of pressure, and that between layers also changes from the van der Waals interaction to the π-π stacking interaction. More importantly, these results highlight that the increase of pressure may lead to the stability decrease and impact the sensitivity increase of DNTF. This study can deepen the understanding of the energetic material DNTF under high pressure and is of great significance for blasting and detonation applications of DNTF.

LSAM: L2-norm self-attention and latent space feature interaction for automatic 3D multi-modal head and neck tumor segmentation.

Objective.Head and neck (H&N) cancers are prevalent globally, and early and accurate detection is absolutely crucial for timely and effective treatment. However, the segmentation of H&N tumors is challenging due to the similar density of the tumors and surrounding tissues in CT images. While positron emission computed tomography (PET) images provide information about the metabolic activity of the tissue and can distinguish between lesion regions and normal tissue. But they are limited by their low spatial resolution. To fully leverage the complementary information from PET and CT images, we propose a novel and innovative multi-modal tumor segmentation method specifically designed for H&N tumor segmentation.Approach.The proposed novel and innovative multi-modal tumor segmentation network (LSAM) consists of two key learning modules, namely L2-Norm self-attention and latent space feature interaction, which exploit the high sensitivity of PET images and the anatomical information of CT images. These two advanced modules contribute to a powerful 3D segmentation network based on a U-shaped structure. The well-designed segmentation method can integrate complementary features from different modalities at multiple scales, thereby improving the feature interaction between modalities.Main results.We evaluated the proposed method on the public HECKTOR PET-CT dataset, and the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method convincingly outperforms existing H&N tumor segmentation methods in terms of key evaluation metrics, including DSC (0.8457), Jaccard (0.7756), RVD (0.0938), and HD95 (11.75).Significance.The innovative Self-Attention mechanism based on L2-Norm offers scalability and is effective in reducing the impact of outliers on the performance of the model. And the novel method for multi-scale feature interaction based on Latent Space utilizes the learning process in the encoder phase to achieve the best complementary effects among different modalities.

Review on Progress of Lamellar Orientation Control in Directionally Solidified TiAl Alloys.

TiAl alloys have excellent high-temperature performance and are potentially used in the aerospace industry. By controlling the lamellar orientation through directional solidification (DS) technology, the plasticity and strength of TiAl alloy at room temperature and high temperatures can be effectively improved. However, various difficulties lie in ensuring the lamellar orientation is parallel to the growth direction. This paper reviews two fundamental thoughts for lamellar orientation control: using seed crystals and controlling the solidification path. Multiple specific methods and their progress are introduced, including α seed crystal method, the self-seeding method, the double DS self-seeding method, the quasi-seeding method, the pure metal seeding method, and controlling solidification parameters. The advantages and disadvantages of different methods are analyzed. This paper also introduces novel ways of controlling the lamellar orientation and discusses future development.

Dynamic evaluation of the cervical spine by kinematic MRI in patients with cervical spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation.

BACKGROUND: The pattern of changes in the cervical spine and the spinal cord and their dynamic characteristics in patients with cervical spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamic changes in the cervical spine and spinal cord from C2/3 to C7/T1 in different positions by using kinematic magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cervical spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Yuebei People's Hospital. METHODS: Using median sagittal T2-weighted images for 16 patients with cervical spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation who underwent cervical kinematic MRI, the anterior space available for the cord, spinal cord diameter, posterior space available for the cord from C2/3 to C7/T1, and Muhle's grade were determined. The spinal canal diameter was calculated by adding the anterior space available for the cord, spinal cord diameter, and posterior space available for the cord. RESULTS: The anterior space available for the cord, posterior space available for the cord, and spinal canal diameters at C2/3 and C7/T1 were significantly higher than those from C3/4 to C6/7. Muhle's grades at C2/3 and C7/T1 were significantly lower than those at the other levels. Spinal canal diameter was lower in extension than in the neutral and flexion positions. In the operated segments, significantly lesser space was available for the cord (anterior space available for the cord + posterior space available for the cord), and the spinal cord diameter/spinal canal diameter ratio was higher than those in the C2/3, C7/T1, and non-operated segments. CONCLUSION: Kinematic MRI demonstrated dynamic pathoanatomical changes, such as canal stenosis in different positions, in patients with cervical spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation. The injured segment had a small canal diameter, high Muhle's grade, low space available for the cord, and high spinal cord diameter/spinal canal diameter ratio.

Synthesis, thermal behaviors, and energetic properties of asymmetrically substituted tetrazine-based energetic materials.

1,2,4,5-tetrazine ring is a common structure for the construction of energy-containing compounds, and its high nitrogen content and large conjugation effect give it the advantage of a good balance between energy and mechanical stability as a high-nitrogen energy-containing material. However, most of the reported works about tetrazine energetic materials (EMs) are symmetrically substituted tetrazines due to their easy accessibility. A small number of reports show that asymmetrically substituted tetrazines also have good properties, such as high density and generation of enthalpy and energy. Herein, two asymmetrically substituted tetrazines and their five energetic salts were prepared and fully characterized by IR spectroscopy, NMR spectra, elemental analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The structure of the two compounds was further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The thermal behaviors and thermodynamic parameters were determined and calculated. In addition, the energetic properties and impact sensitivities of all the compounds were obtained to assess their application potential. The results show that compounds 2-4 and 7-9 show higher detonation velocities than TNT, and the hydrazinium salt 9 possesses the best detonation properties (D = 8,232 m s-1 and p = 23.6 GPa). Except for 4 and 3, all the other compounds are insensitive, which may be applied as insensitive explosives. Noncovalent interaction analysis was further carried out, and the result shows that the strong and high proportion of hydrogen bonds may contribute to the low-impact sensitivity.

α-Subunit Tyrosine Phosphorylation Is Required for Activation of the Large Conductance Ca2+-Activated Potassium Channel in the Rabbit Sphincter of Oddi.

Large conductance Ca2+-activated potassium (BKCa) channels are regulated by intracellular free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) and channel protein phosphorylation. In hypercholesterolemia (HC), motility impairment of the sphincter of Oddi (SO) is associated with abnormal [Ca2+]i accumulation in smooth muscle cells of the rabbit SO (RSOSMCs), which is closely related to BKCa channel activity. However, the underlying mechanisms regulating channel activity remain unclear. In this study, an HC rabbit model was generated and used to investigate BKCa channel activity of RSOSMCs via SO muscle tone measurement in vitro and manometry in vivo, electrophysiological recording, intracellular calcium measurement, and Western blot analyses. BKCa channel activity was decreased, which correlated with [Ca2+]i overload and reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of the BKCa α-subunit in the HC group. The abnormal [Ca2+]i accumulation and decreased BKCa channel activity were partially restored by Na3VO4 pretreatment but worsened by genistein in RSOSMCs in the HC group. This study suggests that α-subunit tyrosine phosphorylation is required for [Ca2+]i to activate BKCa channels, and there is a negative feedback between the BKCa channel and the L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel that regulates [Ca2+]i. This study provides direct evidence that tyrosine phosphorylation of BKCa α-subunits is required for [Ca2+]i to activate BKCa channels in RSOSMCs, which may be the underlying physiological and pathologic mechanism regulating the activity of BKCa channels in SO cells.

Surface Condition Evolution and Fatigue Evaluation after Different Surface Processes for TiAl47Cr2Nb2 Alloy.

The TiAl47Cr2Nb2 alloy fatigue specimens were prepared by investment casting, and three kinds of surface processes were applied to fatigue specimens. These three processes were sand-blasting (SB), sand-blasting and shot-peening (SBSP) and sand-blasting and mechanical grinding (SBMG). The surface condition evolutions before and after thermal exposure at 700 °C for 24 h were investigated. The fatigue performances of specimens after thermal exposure were evaluated. The results show that the surface roughness Ra after SB, SBSP and SBMG processes were 3.14, 2.35 and 0.04 µm, respectively. After thermal exposure, they almost remained unchanged for all three processes. The SB process caused work hardening in the near-surface region and the work hardening reached saturation after the SB process. Due to the mechanical grinding (MG) process removing the uncertain thick hardening layer, the maximum hardness after SBMG process was noticeably lower than those after SB and SBSP processes. After thermal exposure, the maximum hardness after SB, SBSP and SBMG processes significantly recovered. The SBMG specimens had the highest fatigue limit of 350 MPa. This is attributed to the SBMG specimens having very smooth surfaces and some work hardening remaining near their surface layers.

Optimizing the radiomics-machine-learning model based on non-contrast enhanced CT for the simplified risk categorization of thymic epithelial tumors: A large cohort retrospective study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to establish and compare the radiomics machine learning (ML) models based on non-contrast enhanced computed tomography (NECT) and clinical features for predicting the simplified risk categorization of thymic epithelial tumors (TETs). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A total of 509 patients with pathologically confirmed TETs from January 2009 to May 2018 were retrospectively enrolled, consisting of 238 low-risk thymoma (LRT), 232 high-risk thymoma (HRT), and 39 thymic carcinoma (TC), and were divided into training (n = 433) and testing cohorts (n = 76) according to the admission time. Volumes of interest (VOIs) covering the whole tumor were manually segmented on preoperative NECT images. A total of 1218 radiomic features were extracted from the VOIs, and 4 clinical variables were collected from the hospital database. Fourteen ML models, along with varied feature selection strategies, were used to establish triple-classification models using the radiomic features (radiomic models), while clinical-radiomic models were built after combining with the clinical variables. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of radiologist assessment, the radiomic and clinical-radiomic models were evaluated on the testing cohort. RESULTS: The Support Vector Machine (SVM) clinical-radiomic model demonstrated the highest AUC of 0.841 (95% CI 0.820 to 0.861) on the cross-validation result and reached an AUC of 0.844 (95% CI 0.793 to 0.894) in the testing cohort. For the one-vs-rest question of LRT vs HRT + TC, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy reached 80.00%, 63.41%, and 71.05%, respectively. For HRT vs LRT + TC, they reached 60.53%, 78.95%, and 69.74%. For TC vs LRT + HRT they reached 33.33%, 98.63%, and 96.05%, respectively. Compared with the radiomic models, superior diagnostic efficacy was demonstrated for most clinical-radiomics models, and the AUC of the Bernoulli Naive Bayes model was significantly improved. Radiologist2's assessment achieved a higher AUC of 0.813 (95% CI: 0.756-0.8761) than other radiologists, which was slightly lower than the SVM clinical-radiomic model. Combined with other evaluation indicators, SVM, as the best ML model, demonstrated the potential of predicting the simplified risk categorization of TETs with superior predictive performance to that of radiologists' assessment. CONCLUSION: Most of the ML models are promising in predicting the simplified TETs risk categorization with superior efficacy to that of radiologists' assessment, especially the SVM models, demonstrated the integration of ML with NECT may be valuable in aiding the diagnosis and treatment planning.

Incidence of Cerebral Infarction in Northwest China From 2009 to 2018.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of epidemiological analysis of patients with cerebral infarction in northwest China. In the present investigation, we conducted a retrospective analysis to collect information on epidemiological characteristics of patients with cerebral infarction in five provinces of northwest China and the Shanxi Province of patients who were hospitalized in the Tangdu Hospital. This project should provide a scientific basis for active prevention and treatment of cerebral infarction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with epidemic characteristics of cerebral infarction that were admitted to the Tangdu Hospital of northwest China from January 2009 to December 2018. RESULTS: A total of 18,302 patients (aged 1-97 years) with confirmed cerebral infarction, including 12,201 males and 6,101 females, were retrospectively enrolled in this study. The most common lesion site was the cerebellum (51.5%). The incidence of cerebral infarction was slightly higher in workers and laborers, favoring male patients and those aged 40-70 years. The difference between men and women gradually increased after the age of 30. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, 18,302 hospitalized patients with cerebral infarction from different occupations were included. Those engaged in physical labor were more likely to have a cerebral infarction. The incidence of cerebral infarction in males was higher than in females. Cerebellar and cerebral area infarctions were the most common.

Assessment of Resistance to Cereal Cyst Nematode, Stripe Rust, and Powdery Mildew in Wheat-Thinopyrum intermedium Derivatives and Their Chromosome Composition.

Wide hybridization between wheat and wild relatives such as Thinopyrum intermedium is important for broadening genetic diversity and improving disease resistance in wheat. We developed 30 wheat-Th. intermedium derivatives. Here, we report assessments of their resistance to different pathogens including cereal cyst nematode (CCN; Heterodera spp.), Puccinia striiformis f. tritici Erikss. causing stripe rust, and Blumeria graminis f. tritici (DC.) Speer inciting powdery mildew. Under natural field infection, all the wheat-Th. intermedium lines were resistant to at least one of the pathogens, and four lines were resistant to multiple pathogens. Twenty-nine of 30 tested lines exhibited resistance to H. avenae, a dominant CCN species in wheat fields. Twenty-four lines were resistant to H. filipjevi, an emerging threat to wheat production. Tests of phenotypic responses in the naturally infected field nurseries identified six stripe rust-resistant lines and 13 powdery mildew-resistant lines. Mitotic observation demonstrated that these newly developed wheat-Th. intermedium derivatives included not only octoploid but also chromosome addition, substitution, and translocation lines. Chromosome compositions of the four lines resistant to multiple pathogens were analyzed by genomic in situ hybridization and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The octoploid lines Zhong 10-68 and Zhong 10-117 carried both intact Th. intermedium chromosomes and translocated chromosomes. Line Zhong 10-149 had 42 wheat chromosomes and two wheat ditelosomes plus a pair of T3BS·J translocated chromosomes. Line Zhong 10-160 carried 41 wheat chromosomes plus one pair of the J genome chromosomes of Th. intermedium. The multiple disease-resistant wheat-Th. intermedium derivatives, especially lines with chromosome counts close to that of common wheat, provide valuable materials for wheat resistance breeding programs.

Classification of Prostate Transitional Zone Cancer and Hyperplasia Using Deep Transfer Learning From Disease-Related Images.

Purpose The diagnosis of prostate transition zone cancer (PTZC) remains a clinical challenge due to their similarity to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) on MRI. The Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) showed high efficacy in diagnosing PTZC on medical imaging but was limited by the small data size. A transfer learning (TL) method was combined with deep learning to overcome this challenge. Materials and methods A retrospective investigation was conducted on 217 patients enrolled from our hospital database (208 patients) and The Cancer Imaging Archive (nine patients). Using T2-weighted images (T2WIs) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, DCNN models were trained and compared between different TL databases (ImageNet vs. disease-related images) and protocols (from scratch, fine-tuning, or transductive transferring). Results PTZC and BPH can be classified through traditional DCNN. The efficacy of TL from natural images was limited but improved by transferring knowledge from the disease-related images. Furthermore, transductive TL from disease-related images had comparable efficacy to the fine-tuning method. Limitations include retrospective design and a relatively small sample size. Conclusion Deep TL from disease-related images is a powerful tool for an automated PTZC diagnostic system. In developing regions where only conventional MR scans are available, the accurate diagnosis of PTZC can be achieved via transductive deep TL from disease-related images.

Differentiation of Pseudoprogression from True Progressionin Glioblastoma Patients after Standard Treatment: A Machine Learning Strategy Combinedwith Radiomics Features from T1-weighted Contrast-enhanced Imaging.

BACKGROUND: Based on conventional MRI images, it is difficult to differentiatepseudoprogression from true progressionin GBM patients after standard treatment, which isa critical issue associated with survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of machine learning using radiomics modelfrom T1-weighted contrast enhanced imaging(T1CE) in differentiating pseudoprogression from true progression after standard treatment for GBM. METHODS: Seventy-sevenGBM patients, including 51 with true progression and 26 with pseudoprogression,who underwent standard treatment and T1CE, were retrospectively enrolled.Clinical information, including sex, age, KPS score, resection extent, neurological deficit and mean radiation dose, were also recorded collected for each patient. The whole tumor enhancementwas manually drawn on the T1CE image, and a total of texture 9675 features were extracted and fed to a two-step feature selection scheme. A random forest (RF) classifier was trained to separate the patients by their outcomes.The diagnostic efficacies of the radiomics modeland radiologist assessment were further compared by using theaccuracy (ACC), sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: No clinical features showed statistically significant differences between true progression and pseudoprogression.The radiomic classifier demonstrated ACC, sensitivity, and specificity of 72.78%(95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.45,0.91), 78.36%(95%CI: 0.56,1.00) and 61.33%(95%CI: 0.20,0.82).The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of three radiologists' assessment were66.23%(95% CI: 0.55,0.76), 61.50%(95% CI: 0.43,0.78) and 68.62%(95% CI: 0.55,0.80); 55.84%(95% CI: 0.45,0.66),69.25%(95% CI: 0.50,0.84) and 49.13%(95% CI: 0.36,0.62); 55.84%(95% CI: 0.45,0.66), 69.23%(95% CI: 0.50,0.84) and 47.06%(95% CI: 0.34,0.61), respectively. CONCLUSION: T1CE-based radiomics showed better classification performance compared with radiologists' assessment.The radiomics modelwas promising in differentiating pseudoprogression from true progression.

Effects of sulfoxaflor on greenhouse vegetable soil N2O emissions and its microbial driving mechanism.

The wide application of pesticides ensures the safety of food production, but it also has a serious impact on soil ecosystem. Although sulfoxaflor as a pesticide has great potential for application due to its excellent insecticidal activity and low crossresistance, little is known about its soil environmental safety risks. In this study, the effects of sulfoxaflor on N2O emissions and microorganisms in greenhouse vegetable soils were studied by indoor simulation culture experiments. Dynamic changes of soil main inorganic N and N2O emission rate were tested, and the abundance and community of total bacteria and microorganisms related to N cycle were analyzed. The results indicated that soil microorganisms rapidly degraded sulfoxaflor, and the N2O emissions rate and ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) content significantly increased, while nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) content was significantly decreased. Sulfoxaflor significantly changed the abundance and community of total bacteria, nitrite reducing and nitrous oxide reducing bacteria, but had no significant effect on ammoxidation microorganisms. The N2O emission rate was positively correlated with gene abundance of denitrifying microorganisms. Under 65% soil maximum water holding capacity, sulfoxaflor may broke the dynamic balance of N2O production and consumption in the denitrification process, which caused a significant increase in N2O emission. Therefore, the application of sulfoxaflor had a certain effect on N cycling and utilization in greenhouse vegetable soil.

PVT1 induces NSCLC cell migration and invasion by regulating IL-6 via sponging miR-760.

Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 80% of lung cancers with a high metastatic potential. Elucidating the mechanism of NSCLC metastasis will provide new promising targets for NSCLC therapy and benefit its prognosis. Plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) has been proven to be overexpressed in NSCLC. Although the oncogenic role of PVT1 in NSCLC has been reported, its mechanism remains unclear. Here, we verified that the knockdown of PVT1 inhibited NSCLC cell migration and invasion, and that its inhibitory role on A549 cells and H1299 cells was antagonized by interleukin-6 (IL-6) treatment. The results revealed that PVT1 regulates IL-6 by sponging miR-760 and identified the binding site of miR-760 in the 3'-UTR of IL-6. In conclusion, a new mechanism was revealed, wherein PVT1 regulates NSCLC cell migration and invasion via miR-760/IL-6, suggesting PVT1/miR-760/IL-6 as promising prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for NSCLC metastasis.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Adult-Plant Resistance to Stripe Rust in Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a globally devastating disease of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), resulting in substantial economic losses. To identify effective resistance genes, a genome-wide association study was conducted on 120 common wheat lines from different wheat-growing regions of China using the wheat 90K iSelect SNP array. Seventeen loci were identified, explaining 9.5 to 21.8% of the phenotypic variation. Most of these genes were detected in the A (seven) and B (seven) genomes, with only three in the D genome. Among them, 11 loci were colocated with known resistance genes or quantitative trait loci reported previously, whereas the other six are likely new resistance loci. Annotation of flanking sequences of significantly associated SNPs indicated the presence of three important candidate genes, including E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, F-box repeat protein, and disease resistance RPP13-like protein. This study increased our knowledge in understanding the genetic architecture for stripe rust resistance and identified wheat varieties with multiple resistance alleles, which are useful for improvement of stripe rust resistance in breeding.

Perfusion, Diffusion, Or Brain Tumor Barrier Integrity: Which Represents The Glioma Features Best?

PURPOSE: This study aims to incorporate informative histogram indicator analyses and advanced multimodal MRI parameters to differentiate low-grade gliomas (LGGs) from high-grade gliomas (HGGs) and to explore the features associated with patients' survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 120 patients with pathologically confirmed LGGs or HGGs receiving conventional and advanced MRI such as three-dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D-ASL), intravoxel incoherent motion-diffusion weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) were included. The mean and histogram indicators from advanced MRI were calculated from the entire tumor. The efficacies of a single indicator or multiple parameters were tested in distinguishing HGGs from LGGs and predicting patients' survival. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multivariable stepwise logistic regression were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacies. Leave-one-out cross-validation was further used to validate the accuracy of the parameter sets in glioma grading. Log-rank test using the Kaplan-Meier curve was utilized to predict patients' survival. RESULTS: Overall, parameters from DCE-MRI performed better than those from 3D-ASL or IVIM-DWI in both glioma grading and survival prediction. The histogram metrics of Ve were demonstrated to have higher accuracies (the accuracies for Extended Tofts_Ve mean and Extended Tofts_Ve median were 68.33% and 71.67%, respectively, while those for the Incremental_Ve mean and Incremental_Ve 75th were 68.33% and 72.50%, respectively) in grading LGGs from HGGs. The combination of Tofts_Ve histogram metrics was the one with the highest accuracy (81.67%) and area under ROC curve (AUC = 0.840). On the other hand, Patlak_Ktrans 95th (AUC = 0.9265) and Extended Tofts_Ve 95th (AUC = 0.9154) performed better than their corresponding means (Patlak_Ktrans mean: AUC = 0.9118 and Extended Tofts_Ve mean: AUC = 0.9044) in predicting patients' overall survival (OS) at 18-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: DCE-MRI-derived histogram features from the entire tumor were promising metrics for glioma grading and OS prediction. Combining single modal histogram features improved glioma grading. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02622620.