Challenging pitfalls in frozen section pathology: a case of mandible ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma and the literature review.

BACKGROUND: Ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma (GCOC) is a rare malignancy characterized by the presence of ghost cells, preferably in the maxilla. Only slightly more than 50 case reports of GCOC have been documented to date. Due to the rarity of this tumor and its nonspecific clinical criteria, there is a heightened risk of misdiagnosis in clinical examination, imaging findings, and pathology interpretation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old male patient presented to the hospital due to experiencing pain in his lower front teeth while eating for the past 2 months. Upon examination, a red, hard, painless mass was found in his left lower jaw, measuring approximately 4.0 cm × 3.5 cm. Based on the malignant histological morphology of the tumor and the abundant red-stained keratinized material, the preoperative frozen section pathology misdiagnosed it as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The surgical resection specimen pathology via paraffin section revealed that the tumor was characterized by round-like epithelial islands within the fibrous interstitium, accompanied by a large number of ghost cells and some dysplastic dentin with infiltrative growth. The malignant components displayed marked heterogeneity and mitotic activity. Additionally, a calcified cystic tumor component of odontogenic origin was observed. Hemorrhage, necrosis, and calcifications were present, with a foreign body reaction around ghost cells. Immunoreactivity for ß-catenin showed strong nuclear positivity in tumor cells, while immunostaining was completely negative for p53. The Ki67 proliferation index was approximately 30-40%. The tumor cells exhibited diffuse CK5/6, p63, and p40 immunoreactivity, with varying immunopositivity for EMA. Furthermore, no BRAFV600E mutation was identified by ARMS-PCR. The final pathology confirmed that the tumor was a mandible GCOC. CONCLUSION: We have reported and summarized for the first time the specific manifestations of GCOC in frozen section pathology and possible pitfalls in misdiagnosis. We also reviewed and summarized the etiology, pathological features, molecular characteristics, differential diagnosis, imaging features, and current main treatment options for GCOC. Due to its rarity, the diagnosis and treatment of this disease still face certain challenges. A correct understanding of the pathological morphology of GCOC, distinguishing the ghost cells and the secondary stromal reaction around them, is crucial for reducing misdiagnosis rates.

Probing the Short-Distance Structure of the Quark-Gluon Plasma with Energy Correlators.

Energy-energy correlators (EECs) are promising observables to study the dynamics of jet evolution in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) through its imprint on angular scales in the energy flux of final-state particles. We carry out the first complete calculation of EECs using realistic simulations of high-energy heavy-ion collisions and dissect the different dynamics underlying the final distribution through analyses of jet propagation in a uniform medium. The EECs of γ-jets in heavy-ion collisions are found to be enhanced by the medium response from elastic scatterings instead of induced gluon radiation at large angles. In the meantime, EECs are suppressed at small angles due to energy loss and transverse momentum broadening of jet shower partons. These modifications are further shown to be sensitive to the angular scale of the in-medium interaction, as characterized by the Debye screening mass. Experimental verification and measurement of such modifications will shed light on this scale and the short-distance structure of the QGP in heavy-ion collisions.

Chinese expert consensus on imaging diagnosis of drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the major infectious diseases in the world with a high incidence rate. Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a key and difficult challenge in the prevention and treatment of TB. Early, rapid, and accurate diagnosis of DR-TB is essential for selecting appropriate and personalized treatment and is an important means of reducing disease transmission and mortality. In recent years, imaging diagnosis of DR-TB has developed rapidly, but there is a lack of consistent understanding. To this end, the Infectious Disease Imaging Group, Infectious Disease Branch, Chinese Research Hospital Association; Infectious Diseases Group of Chinese Medical Association of Radiology; Digital Health Committee of China Association for the Promotion of Science and Technology Industrialization, and other organizations, formed a group of TB experts across China. The conglomerate then considered the Chinese and international diagnosis and treatment status of DR-TB, China's clinical practice, and evidence-based medicine on the methodological requirements of guidelines and standards. After repeated discussion, the expert consensus of imaging diagnosis of DR-PB was proposed. This consensus includes clinical diagnosis and classification of DR-TB, selection of etiology and imaging examination [mainly X-ray and computed tomography (CT)], imaging manifestations, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis. This expert consensus is expected to improve the understanding of the imaging changes of DR-TB, as a starting point for timely detection of suspected DR-TB patients, and can effectively improve the efficiency of clinical diagnosis and achieve the purpose of early diagnosis and treatment of DR-TB.

Spin Alignment of Vector Mesons in Heavy-Ion Collisions.

Polarized quarks and antiquarks in high-energy heavy-ion collisions can lead to the spin alignment of vector mesons formed by quark coalescence. Using the relativistic spin Boltzmann equation for vector mesons derived from Kadanoff-Baym equations with an effective quark-meson model for strong interaction and quark coalescence model for hadronizaton, we calculate the spin density matrix element ρ_{00} for ϕ mesons and show that anisotropies of local field correlations with respect to the spin quantization direction lead to ϕ meson's spin alignment. We propose that the local correlation or fluctuation of ϕ fields is the dominant mechanism for the observed ϕ meson's spin alignment and its strength can be extracted from experimental data as functions of collision energies. The calculated transverse momentum dependence of ρ_{00} agrees with STAR's data. We further predict the azimuthal angle dependence of ρ_{00} which can be tested in future experiments.

3D Structure of Jet-Induced Diffusion Wake in an Expanding Quark-Gluon Plasma.

The diffusion wake accompanying the jet-induced Mach cone provides a unique probe of the properties of quark-gluon plasma in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. It can be characterized by a depletion of soft hadrons in the opposite direction of the propagating jet. We explore the 3D structure of the diffusion wake induced by γ-triggered jets in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC energy within the coupled linear Boltzmann transport and hydro model. We identify a valley structure caused by the diffusion wake on top of a ridge from the initial multiple parton interaction (MPI) in jet-hadron correlation as a function of rapidity and azimuthal angle. This leads to a double-peak structure in the rapidity distribution of soft hadrons in the opposite direction of the jets as an unambiguous signal of the diffusion wake. Using a two-Gaussian fit, we extract the diffusion wake and MPI contributions to the double peak. The diffusion wake valley is found to deepen with the jet energy loss as characterized by the γ-jet asymmetry. Its sensitivity to the equation of state and shear viscosity is also studied.

Formation characteristics of long-term memory in Bactrocera dorsalis.

Studies on insects have contributed significantly to a better understanding of learning and memory, which is a necessary cognitive capability for all animals. Although the formation of memory has been studied in some model insects, more evidence is required to clarify the characteristics of memory formation, especially long-term memory (LTM), which is important for reliably storing information. Here, we explored this question by examining Bactrocera dorsalis, an agricultural pest with excellent learning abilities. Using the classical conditioning paradigm of the olfactory proboscis extension reflex (PER), we found that paired conditioning with multiple trials (>3) spaced with an intertrial interval (≥10 min) resulted in stable memory that lasted for at least 3 d. Furthermore, even a single conditioning trial was sufficient for the formation of a 2-d memory. With the injection of protein inhibitors, protein-synthesis-dependent memory was confirmed to start 4 h after training, and its dependence on translation and transcription differed. Moreover, the results revealed that the dependence of memory on protein translation exhibited a time-window effect (4-6 h). Our findings provide an integrated view of LTM in insects, suggesting common mechanisms in LTM formation that play a key role in the biological basis of memory.

Insecticidal and P450 mediate metabolism of fluralaner against red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), a worldwide invasive and polyphagous pest, and often nests in residential areas. Finding an alternative pesticide that is both effective on S. invicta and environmentally friendly is urgent and crucial. Fluralaner, a novel isoxazoline insecticide, has been proven to possess selective toxicity for insects versus mammals and has been safe for mammals and non-target organisms, suggesting its potential in pest management. However, little toxicity information is available for the controlment of S. invicta. In this article, we studied the toxicity of fluralaner against S. invicta systematically, and the roles of metabolism-related enzymes in the metabolism process of fluralaner. The toxicity results showed that the topical application and feeding application were all effective for S. invicta. Moreover, fluralaner can be transmitted among workers by contacting and feeding which leads to a toxic reaction among nestmates. By exploring the biochemistry change, we found cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) may be involved in the detoxification of fluralaner as well as carboxylesterase (CarE), but not glutathione S-transferase (GST). Synergism assays gave solid evidence in which piperonyl butoxide, an activity inhibitor of P450, increased the toxicity of fluralaner to S. invicta. Importantly, with the RNAi treatment, four of S.invicta P450 genes were significantly inhibited and showed more sensitivity to fluralaner at LC50 concentration. Our result indicated that fluralaner could be a potential alternative pesticide in S. invicta control. And CYP9AS16, CYP6AS161, CYP6SQ20, and CYP336A45 genes were closely associated with the metabolism process of fluralaner.

Semen Ziziphi Spinosae attenuates blood-brain barrier dysfunction induced by lipopolysaccharide by targeting the FAK-DOCK180-Rac1-WAVE2-Arp3 signaling pathway.

Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS) has been extensively used in the daily diet as a functional food for neuroprotective health-benefit in China for many years. However, the neuroprotective mechanism of SZS associated with blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity remains unexplored. The present study suggests SZS could protect against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BBB dysfunction. Proteomics indicate that 135 proteins in rat brain are significantly altered by SZS. These differentially expressed proteins are mainly clustered into cell-cell adhesion and adherens junctions, which are closely related with BBB integrity. SZS reversed LPS-induces BBB breakdown by activating the FAK-DOCK180-Rac1-WAVE2-Arp3 pathway. Molecular docking between signaling pathway proteins and identified SZS components in rat plasma reveals that 6"'-feruloylspinosin, spinosin, and swertisin strongly binds to signaling proteins at multiple amino acid sites. These novel findings suggest a health benefit of SZS in prevention of cerebral diseases and contributes to the further application of SZS as a functional food.

Image-enhanced single-pixel imaging using fractional calculus.

Recent years, image enhancement for single-pixel imaging has developed rapidly and provides an image-free way for extracting image information. However, the conventional image enhancement approaches for single-pixel imaging are still based on the discontinuously adjustable operations such as integer-order derivatives, which are frequently used in edge detection but sensitive to the image noise. Therefore, how to balance between two conflicting demands, i.e. edge detection and noise suppression, is a new challenge. To address this issue, we introduce arbitrary-order fractional operations into single-pixel imaging. In experiment, the proposed technique has the capacity to detect image edges with high quality. Compared with integer-order derivative method which amplifies noise significantly while extracting edges, it offers a nice tradeoff between image SNR and performance of edge enhancement. In addition, it also shows good performance of image smoothing and improvement of image quality, if fractional order is negative. The proposed technique provides the adjustable fractional order as a new degree of freedom for edge extraction and image de-noising and therefore makes up for the shortcomings of traditional method for image enhancement.

Octopaminergic neurons function in appetitive but not aversive olfactory learning and memory in Bactrocera dorsalis.

The biogenic amine octopamine (OA, invertebrate counterpart of noradrenaline) plays critical roles in the regulation of olfactory behavior. Historically, OA has been thought to mediate appetitive but not aversive learning in honeybees, fruit flies (Drosophila), and crickets. However, this viewpoint has recently been challenged because OA activity through a ß-adrenergic-like receptor drives both appetitive and aversive learning. Here, we explored the roles of OA neurons in olfactory learning and memory retrieval in Bactrocera dorsalis. We trained flies to associate an orange odor with a sucrose reward or to associate methyl eugenol, a male lure, with N,N-diethyl-3-methyl benzoyl amide (DEET) punishment. We then treated flies with OA receptor antagonists before appetitive or aversive conditioning and a memory retention test. Injection of OA receptor antagonist mianserin or epinastine into the abdomen of flies led to impaired of appetitive learning and memory retention with a sucrose reward, while aversive learning and memory retention with DEET punishment remained intact. Our results suggest that the OA signaling participates in appetitive but not aversive learning and memory retrieval in B. dorsalis through OA receptors.

From Hydrodynamics to Jet Quenching, Coalescence, and Hadron Cascade: A Coupled Approach to Solving the R_{AA}⊗v_{2} Puzzle.

Hydrodynamics and jet quenching are responsible for the elliptic flow v_{2} and suppression of large transverse momentum (p_{T}) hadrons, respectively, two of the most important phenomena leading to the discovery of a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. A consistent description of the hadron suppression factor R_{AA} and v_{2}, especially at intermediate p_{T}, however, remains a challenge. We solve this long-standing R_{AA}⊗v_{2} puzzle by including quark coalescence for hadronization and final state hadron cascade in the coupled linear Boltzmann transport-hydro model that combines concurrent jet transport and hydrodynamic evolution of the bulk medium. We illustrate that quark coalescence and hadron cascade, two keys to solving the puzzle, also lead to a splitting of v_{2} for pions, kaons, and protons in the intermediate p_{T} region. We demonstrate for the first time that experimental data on R_{AA}, v_{2}, and their hadron flavor dependence from low to intermediate and high p_{T} in high-energy heavy-ion collisions can be understood within this coupled framework.

Hypolipidemic properties of the extracts of Belamcanda chinensis leaves (BCLE) in KK-A y mice

Abstract The extract of Belamcanda chinensis leaves (BCLE) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of diabetes-related hyperlipidemia in Hainan province, South China. In this study, the lipid-decreasing effects of BCLE on obese diabetes were investigated on KK-Ay mice. The component F2 ameliorated lipid disorder, as indicated by decreased levels of body weight, liver index, levels of TC, TG and LDL-c in the serum and liver. The enhancement effect of F2 on liver SOD and the inhibitory effect of F2 on MDA demonstrated that F2 exhibited significant antioxidant activity on liver injury. F2 also prevented vacuolar degeneration and reduced pathological tissue injury in liver. In addition, the component F1 decreased the levels of TG, LDL-c and MDA in the liver. These findings suggest that F2 may have therapeutic potential in the prevention and therapy of hyperlipemia and liver disease associated with obesity-related diabetes.

Theoretical and experimental study of hybrid optical computing engine for arbitrary-order FRFT.

Fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) is the generalization of Fourier transform. It provides many significant advantages, such as fractional order as the new degree of freedom and high efficiency and great performance for non-stationary signal analysis/processing, that other operations including Fourier transform cannot. Here, we report a hybrid optical system for computation of arbitrary-order FRFT of temporal signals. In experiment, the fractional-domain information of input temporal signals could be directly acquired by detector. In addition, the optical computing results are in good agreement with numerical results. Then we apply the optical computing engine to demodulation of chirp spread spectrum signals. Using sub-Nyquist sampling, the proposed technology could greatly save the number of measurements in demodulation. The compression ratio could be as low as 0.4%, because of the high compression performance of chirp signals in FRFT domain. As a result, the proposed technology has unique advantages in analysis and information extraction for non-stationary signals, especially for chirp-like signals, and may become a powerful optical time-frequency analysis tool for temporal signals.

Search for the Elusive Jet-Induced Diffusion Wake in Z/γ-Jets with 2D Jet Tomography in High-Energy Heavy-Ion Collisions.

Diffusion wake is an unambiguous part of the jet-induced medium response in high-energy heavy-ion collisions that leads to a depletion of soft hadrons in the opposite direction of the jet propagation. New experimental data on Z-hadron correlation in Pb+Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider show, however, an enhancement of soft hadrons in the direction of both the Z and the jet. Using a coupled linear Boltzmann transport and hydro model, we demonstrate that medium modification of partons from the initial multiple parton interaction (MPI) gives rise to a soft hadron enhancement that is uniform in azimuthal angle while jet-induced medium response and soft gluon radiation dominate the enhancement in the jet direction. After subtraction of the contributions from MPI with a mixed-event procedure, the diffusion wake becomes visible in the near-side Z-hadron correlation. We further employ the longitudinal and transverse gradient jet tomography for the first time to localize the initial jet production positions in Z/γ-jet events in which the effect of the diffusion wake is apparent in Z/γ-hadron correlation even without the subtraction of the MPI contribution.

Jet quenching and medium response in high-energy heavy-ion collisions: a review.

Jet quenching has been used successfully as a hard probe to study properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in high-energy heavy-ion collisions at both the relativistic heavy-ion collider and the large hadron collider. We will review recent progresses in theoretical and phenomenological studies of jet quenching with jet transport models. Special emphasis is given to effects of jet-induced medium response on a wide variety of experimental observables and their implications on extracting transport properties of the QGP in heavy-ion collisions.

Gradient Tomography of Jet Quenching in Heavy-Ion Collisions.

Transverse momentum broadening and energy loss of a propagating parton are dictated by the space-time profile of the jet transport coefficient q[over ^] in a dense QCD medium. The spatial gradient of q[over ^] perpendicular to the propagation direction can lead to a drift and asymmetry in parton transverse momentum distribution. Such an asymmetry depends on both the spatial position along the transverse gradient and path length of a propagating parton as shown by numerical solutions of the Boltzmann transport in the simplified form of a drift-diffusion equation. In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, this asymmetry with respect to a plane defined by the beam and trigger particle (photon, hadron, or jet) with a given orientation relative to the event plane is shown to be closely related to the transverse position of the initial jet production in full event-by-event simulations within the linear Boltzmann transport model. Such a gradient tomography can be used to localize the initial jet production position for more detailed study of jet quenching and properties of the quark-gluon plasma along a given propagation path in heavy-ion collisions.

[Start-up and Optimization of Denitrifying Phosphorus Removal in ABR-MBR Coupling Process].

The feasibility of the denitrifying phosphorus removal process in the ABR-MBR system with no sludge reflux and high concentration of seeding activated sludge (25 g ·L-1, in MLSS) in the ABR was investigated. The characteristics of the microbial community in the denitrifying phosphorus removal compartment were also evaluated. The denitrifying phosphorus removal function was achieved by gradually increasing the reflux ratio (R) from 0% to 200%. During the stable operation, the average removal rates of COD, PO43--P, and TN in the system were 88.28%, 54.45%, and 61.93%, respectively. When the influent loading rate, NOx--N reflux ratio, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of ABR and MBR were 0.8 kg ·(m3 ·d)-1, 150%, and 9 h and 3.3 h, respectively, the average VFA concentration of 80.58 mg ·L-1, ρ(NO2--N)/ρ(NO3--N) reflux ratio of 1.68, and PO43--P and TN removal rates of 64.94% and 62.95% were obtained. The short-cut nitrification denitrifying phosphorus removal was achieved in the ABR-MBR system. Batch tests showed that denitrifying phosphorus removal bacteria (DPAOs) were the main functional bacteria in the ABR, with anaerobic phosphorus release and anoxic phosphorus uptake of 3.73 mg ·L-1 and 10.22 mg ·L-1, respectively. High throughput sequencing results showed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla in the phosphorus removal compartment, accounting for 23.49%-53.66% and 16.55%-21.78% of the total phyla, respectively. Thauera, Thiothrix, Pseudomonas, norank_ f_Rhodocyclaceae, and unclassification_ f_Rhodocyclaceae in Proteobacteria, and Sphingobacteriales in Bacteroidetes were the potential denitrifying phosphorus removal microorganisms.

Bayesian Extraction of Jet Energy Loss Distributions in Heavy-Ion Collisions.

Based on the factorization in perturbative QCD, a jet cross section in heavy-ion collisions can be expressed as a convolution of the jet cross section in p+p collisions and a jet energy loss distribution. Using this simple expression and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, we carry out Bayesian analyses of experimental data on jet spectra to extract energy loss distributions for both single inclusive and γ-triggered jets in Pb+Pb collisions with different centralities at two colliding energies at the Large Hadron Collider. The average jet energy loss has a dependence on the initial jet energy that is slightly stronger than a logarithmic form and decreases from central to peripheral collisions. The extracted jet energy loss distributions with a scaling behavior in x=Δp_{T}/⟨Δp_{T}⟩ have a large width. These are consistent with the linear Boltzmann transport model simulations, in which the observed jet quenching is caused on the average by only a few out-of-cone scatterings.

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely preterm infants in southern China: A multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess treatment outcomes and associated factors of extremely preterm infants (EPIs) in GuangXi, China. METHODS: This was a retrospective study consisting of 131 eligible cases with gestational age (GA) between 22 and 28 weeks, and infants were followed until 18-24 months. Data including clinical characteristics, perinatal factors and after-birth conditions were collected from the neonatal intensive care unit in 10 hospitals in Guangxi from January 1st 2010 until May 31st 2016. RESULTS: During that period, 307 EPIs were born in the hospitals. 137 infants died in hospital after their parents decided to withdraw clinical treatment, and 11 infants died despite full resuscitation was provided. Of the 159 surviving infants, 28 infants were lost to follow-up. In total, 131 infants who survived and were presented to follow-up at 18-24 months of age were enrolled into this study. Of the 131 infants evaluated at 18-24 months follow-up, 47 (35.9%) were diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disability (ND), and 84 (64%) demonstrated on tract motor and language skills. The incidence of chorioamnionitis, early onset sepsis (EOS), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) were all higher in the group of infants who were diagnosed with ND compared to those with normal motor language development (NML), the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) was longer in ND group, and the higher incidence of ND was seen in the smaller GA babies (p < 0.05). Adjusted the BPD severity, GA was a protective factor of neurodevelopmental outcome (combined OR = 0.338, 95% CI: 0.145-0.791). In EPIs with moderate BPD and severe BPD, chorioamnionitis was a risk factor of ND (OR = 10.313 and 5.778，respectively, 95% CI: 1.389-6.486 and 1.444-23.119, respectively). The Logistic regression analysis showed that GA (OR = 0.207, 95%CI = 0.047-0.917) was a protective factor for ND, and chorioamnionitis (OR = 6.010, 95%CI: 1.331-27.138), moderate-to-severe BPD (OR = 4.285, 95%CI: 1.495-12.287), the duration of MV (OR = 3.508, 95%CI: 2.077-5.926) were independent risk factors for ND in EPIs. CONCLUSIONS: Chorioamnionitis, moderate-to-severe BPD, and the duration of MV were associated with neurodevelopmental disability in EPIs. The smaller the GA, the higher incidence of neurodevelopmental disability.

Interaction of fipronil and the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta): Toxicity differences and detoxification responses.

Fipronil (FIP), a phenyl-pryazole pesticide, has been widely used for crop protection due to its broad insecticidal spectrum, especially for urban insect management. FIP also serves as the active ingredient of major baits used for the control of the red imported fire ant (RIFA; Solenopsis invicta). Although a vast majority of laboratory-based research has been performed using worker ants as a model, limited information is available regarding the toxicity of FIP in individuals from different castes and developmental stages. In this study, we investigated the interaction between FIP and this important pest, including FIP toxicity and transformation, RIFA enzyme activity and responses to FIP exposure. The topical and feeding toxicity of FIP in five adult castes, worker larvae and worker pupae were determined and compared. Topical toxicity assays showed that there were significant differences in FIP toxicity among adult workers (LD50 = 1.17 µg/g), larvae (LD50 = 1891.00 µg/g) and pupae (LD50 = 23981.00 µg/g). Although, no obvious differences in topical toxicity were observed among the adult castes, the differences in feeding toxicity were significant. For example, the LC50 value for the workers was 3.96-fold lower than that for soldiers at 24 h, and the LC50 value was slightly lower for male alates than for female alates at day 3 and day 4, respectively. The activities of detoxification enzymes in individuals of different castes and developmental stages were investigated with or without FIP treatment. Cytochrome P450 activity was approximately 24-fold higher in larvae than in workers, and adult workers exhibited 4-fold higher FIP-induced cytochrome P450 activity than individuals from other adult castes. In addition, in vitro experiments demonstrated that FIP was transformed into FIP-sulfone, and this process may be primarily mediated by RIFA P450(s).