A retrospective study of ductoscopy combined with immediate methylene blue staining in nipple discharge diseases.

This study investigated the effect of fiberoptic ductoscopy (FDS) combined with methylene blue staining immediately after FDS procedure on pathological nipple discharge diseases. A retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 122 patients with nipple discharge, who underwent FDS and surgical treatment at the Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery of Tengzhou Central People's Hospital, was conducted. The demographic characteristics and surgical outcomes of all patients were assessed. According to the injection time of methylene blue, the patients were divided into the control and the observational groups. In the observational group, methylene blue was injected immediately after ductoscopy and then surgical treatment was performed 12-24 h later, while in the control group, methylene blue injection was just few minutes before surgery treatment. There was no significant difference in the demographic characteristics between the two groups such as age and disease course, in the observational group, the incision length 2.39 (0.48) cm, the volume of resected tissue 41.93 (40.57) cm3, the intraoperative blood loss 12.19 (2.10) ml and the operation duration 26.95 (4.51) min were significantly lower than those of the traditional group (P < 0.05). The average hospital stay 3.08 (0.62) days, breast shape satisfaction 4.78 (1.63) points and postoperative drainage tube placement [3 (5.08%) days] in the observational group were significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). FDS combined with immediate methylene blue staining, which has the advantages of accurate location of the diseased duct, small surgical incision, less tissue removal, and ease of finding the orifice of discharged mammary duct, and is worthy of widespread clinical application.

Cell viability and drug evaluation biosensing system based on disposable AuNPs/MWCNT nanocomposite modified screen-printed electrode for exocytosis dopamine detection.

Cell viability, as an important index to evaluate drug effects, usually was measured by tetrazolium colorimetric assay, playing a key role in drug development and drug screening. Tedious operating procedures, unsatisfactory sensitivity and abominable environments perplex researchers to acquire more detailed in vivo-relevant biological information. Herein, a simple and low-cost cell viability and drug evaluation biosensing system-based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles and Nafion modified screen-printed electrode (SPE) biosensor was constructed for detection of dopamine (DA) released from living cells to evaluate cytotoxicity of antineoplastic drugs such as cisplatin and resveratrol. The biosensing system was demonstrated to display exceptional selectivity, excellent flexibility and good stability toward DA measurement in complex bio-samples. Additionally, the satisfactory recoveries of DA in real samples revealed the reliability and accuracy of the biosensing system in practical application. The IC50 curves respectively obtained by the biosensing system and tetrazolium colorimetric assay provided similar IC50 value but distinctly different dose-effect relationship, which confirmed the enormous potential of the biosensor in cell viability and described drug efficacy profiles in cell function. In short, the cell viability and drug evaluation system using SPE biosensor paves a new way in drug screening and pharmaceutical application to measure bioactive molecule such as DA.

Evaluating health-related quality of life in gastric cancer patients in Suzhou, China.

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become an important part of the evaluation of clinical efficacy and prognosis in gastric cancer. This study aimed to assess the HRQOL of patients with gastric cancer using the a five-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and explore the factors influencing patients' perceived quality of life. For those significant factors, we can take appropriate measures to intervene to extend patient survival and improve the quality of life. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to 243 patients with gastric cancer in the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University from December 2018 to December 2020. HRQOL was measured by the Chinese version of the EQ-5D-5L. Nonparametric test analyses and a Tobit regression model were used to identify the independent variables associated with the EQ-5D-5L utility scores. RESULTS: In this research, the mean score was 0.810, and the median was 0.893. Approximately 25% of patients reported no problems at all in any of the five dimensions. Problems in pain and discomfort were the most frequently reported (64.2%). Nonparametric test analyses showed that patients who did not have health insurance, or who had a history of alcohol use, a family history of cancer, had received surgery only, or had an interval of less than 1 week between taking this survey and their last treatment, demonstrated lower EQ-5D-5L scores. The Tobit regression model confirmed that health insurance, family history, and treatment were significantly associated with EQ-5D-5L scores. CONCLUSIONS: The HRQOL of gastric cancer patients can be measured by EQ-5D-5L, and the results may provide a guide for choosing an appropriate individualized treatment plan.

2.55 W continuous-wave 378 nm laser by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-pumped Alexandrite laser.

A high-power continuous-wave (CW) ultraviolet (UV) laser at 378 nm from an intracavity frequency-doubled Alexandrite laser has been demonstrated with 638 nm fiber-coupled laser diodes as the pump source. A maximum output power of 2.55 W was obtained, which is the highest power for CW frequency-doubled Alexandrite lasers, to the best of our knowledge, corresponding to the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 7.9% from 638 nm pump laser to 378 nm UV laser. The beam quality factors M2 were measured to be 2.19 and 2.47 in x and y directions at UV output power of 1 W, respectively.

22.9 W CW single-frequency laser at 671 nm by frequency doubling of Nd:YVO4 laser.

A stable, 22.9 W, 671 nm single-frequency laser using a type II noncritically phase-matched external-cavity frequency doubling is demonstrated. The output power of the fundamental laser is 32.1 W; the corresponding conversion efficiency of frequency doubling from 1342 to 671 nm is calculated to be 71.3%. The M2 factors are measured to be 1.10 and 1.08 in the x and y directions, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, 22.9 W is the highest power obtained for a 671 nm single-frequency laser.

30 W single-frequency continuous-wave master oscillator power amplifier laser at 1342 nm.

We present a power-scalable high-power single-frequency continuous-wave 1342 nm master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system that consists of a polarized single-frequency 1342 nm LD seed laser, a Raman fiber preamplifier, and a three-stage ${\rm Nd}:{{\rm YVO}_4}$Nd:YVO4 power amplifier. The single-frequency output power of 30 W at 1342 nm is achieved with the beam quality factors ${{\rm M}^{2\:}} = {1}.{26}$M2=1.26, and the power stability for 1 h is better than ${\pm }\;{0}.{5}\% $±0.5%.

High-energy single-frequency 167 nm deep-ultraviolet laser.

We report a high-energy single-frequency deep-ultraviolet (DUV) solid-state laser at 167.079 nm by the eighth-harmonic generation of a diode-pumped Nd:LGGG laser. A maximum DUV laser output energy of 1.5 µJ at a 5 Hz repetition rate with a 200 µs pulse duration is achieved. The central wavelength of the DUV laser is located at 167.079 nm and can be finely tuned from 167.075 to 167.083 nm. The linewidth is estimated to be 0.025 pm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Letter reporting a high-energy single-frequency solid-state DUV laser below 170 nm. The successful demonstration of the high-energy single-frequency DUV laser source with the unique wavelength is useful for direct detection of a Al+27 ion via resonance fluorescence in a multi-ion optical clock.

Mulberry anthocyanins improves thyroid cancer progression mainly by inducing apoptosis and autophagy cell death.

Dietary anthocyanin compounds have multiple biological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atherosclerotic characteristics. The present study evaluated the anti-tumor capacity of mulberry anthocyanins (MA) in thyroid cancer cells. Our data showed that MA suppressed SW1736 and HTh-7 cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, flow cytometry results indicated that MA significantly increased SW1736 and HTh-7 cell apoptosis. We additionally observed that SW1736 and HTh-7 cell autophagy was markedly enhanced after MA treatment. Importantly, anthocyanin-induced cell death was largely abolished by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or chloroquine diphosphate salt (CQ) treatment, suggesting that MA-induced SW1736 and HTh-7 cell death was partially dependent on autophagy. In addition, activation of protein kinase B (Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and ribosomal protein S6 (S6) were significantly suppressed by anthocyanin exposure. In summary, MA may serve as an adjunctive therapy for thyroid cancer patients through induction of apoptosis and autophagy-dependent cell death.

Picosecond mid-infrared optical parametric amplifier based on LiInSe2 with tenability extending from 3.6 to 4.8 µm.

A picosecond (ps) mid-infrared (MIR) optical parametric amplifier (OPA) with LiInSe2 crystal was demonstrated for the first time. The MIR OPA was pumped by a 30 ps 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser and injected by a barium boron oxide (BBO)-based widely tunable near-infrared seed. A maximum idler pulse energy of 433 µJ at 4 µm has been obtained under a pump energy of 17 mJ, and the corresponding pulse duration was estimated to be ~13 ps. To our knowledge, this is the highest single pulse energy generated by LiInSe2 crystal. Furthermore, an idler spectrum tuning from 3.6 to 4.8 µm was investigated at fixed pump energy of 15 mJ.

Clinical significance of stem cell marker CD133 expression in colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: CD133, a glycoprotein, is expressed in different types of human stem cells and tumor cells. Detection of altered CD133 expression in colorectal cancer tissues could be useful as a marker for the prediction of colorectal tumorigenesis, progression, and prognosis. METHODS: A total of 19 fresh and 145 paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from colorectal cancer patients were obtained for detection of CD133 expression using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells from 19 patients was assessed in nude mice. Association of CD133 expression was then analyzed for clinical significance. RESULTS: The percentage of CD133-positive (CD133⁺) tumor cell population ranged between 0.84% and16.75% (mean ratio =7.15%) of tumor cells in the 19 freshly isolated tissue samples. CD133 expression in tumor cells was associated with tumor lymph node metastasis (9.81% vs. 3.22%; p=0.013) and poor tumor differentiation (8.32% vs. 5.07%; p=0.043). In the 145 paraffin-embedded samples, CD133⁺ colorectal cancer was also associated with local recurrence of tumorigenesis (p=0.035) and distant metastasis (p=0.017), while patients with over 5% CD133+ tumor cells exhibited a decreased survival rate (p=0.001). Multivariate COX analysis showed that the depth of tumor invasion, histology, stagWaes, lymph node metastasis, and CD133 expression were all independent prognosis factors for colorectal cancer (p=0.032, 0.011, 0.001, 0.002, and 0.030, respectively). Furthermore, as few as 5,000 CD133⁺ colorectal cancer HCT116 cells were sufficient to form tumor xenografts, whereas 1x105 CD133⁻ tumor cells failed to develop tumor xenografts in nude mice. CONCLUSIONS: CD133 expression is a useful biomarker for prediction of colorectal cancer progression and survival of patients.

Low-timing-jitter high-power mode-locked 1063 nm Nd:GdVO4 master oscillator power amplifier.

A low-timing-jitter high-power semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked picosecond (ps) 1063 nm Nd:GdVO4 master oscillator power amplifier is presented. Using a single-pass Nd:GdVO4 amplifier, an amplified laser with 21.5 W output power and 8.3 ps pulsewidth was achieved at 250 MHz repetition rate. Employing a servo control, an average RMS timing jitter of ∼222 fs was realized. This laser can be used as a drive laser for photocathode injectors in free-electron lasers.

167.75-nm vacuum-ultraviolet ps laser by eighth-harmonic generation of a 1342-nm Nd:YVO4 amplifier in KBBF.

We demonstrate a ps 167.75-nm vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) laser by cascaded second-harmonic generation (SHG). The VUV laser is produced by eighth-harmonic generation (EHG) of a mode-locked ps 1342-nm Nd:YVO4 amplifier through three stages cascaded SHG with two LiB3O5 crystals and one KBe2BO3F2 crystal, successively. The 167.75-nm laser provides up to 65-µW output power, and the corresponding photon flux and photon flux density are 5.5×10(13) s(-1) and 1.6×10(18) s(-1)·cm(-2), respectively.

TIPE2 Inhibits Lung Cancer Growth Attributing to Promotion of Apoptosis by Regulating Some Apoptotic Molecules Expression.

Recent studies found that TIPE2 was involved in cancer development. However, little is known about TIPE2 in lung cancer. Our study aims to clarify the role of TIPE2 in lung carcinogenesis. We examined the expression of TIPE2 in lung squamous cancer (LSC), small cell lung cancer and lung adenocarcinoma (AdC) tissues and found that TIPE2 expression was lost in small cell lung cancer, compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. Overexpression of TIPE2 significantly inhibited the growth of lung cancer cell H446 in vitro and even suppressed tumor formation in vivo. Flow cytometry analysis found TIPE2 overexpression promoted apoptosis of H446. In TIPE2 over-expression cells, caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bax were significantly up-regulated while Bcl-2 was down-regulated. Moreover, coincident results were shown by immunohistochemistry in tumors from nude mice. TIPE2 inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt, while promoting the phosphorylation of P38, but had no effect on IκBα and ERK pathway. Taken together, TIPE2 promoted lung cancer cell apoptosis through affecting apoptosis-related molecules caspase-3, caspase-9, Bcl-2 and Bax, possibly via regulating P38 and Akt pathways, indicating that TIPE2 might be a novel marker for lung cancer diagnosis and therapy.

7.6 W 1342 nm passively mode-locked picosecond composite Nd:YVO4/YVO4 laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

A high average power 1342 nm passively CW mode-locked picoseconds (ps) composite Nd:YVO4 laser was demonstrated with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The oscillator cavity was carefully designed to optimize the laser beam radii in the crystal and on the SESAM. The combination of composite bonded laser crystal, direct pumping, and dual end-pumped configuration was adopted to reduce the thermal effect and produce high output power with high beam quality. A maximum average output power of 7.63 W was obtained with a repetition rate of 77 MHz and a pulse duration of 24.2 ps under an absorbed pump power of 38.6 W, corresponding to an optical-optical efficiency of 19.7% and a slope efficiency of 25.9%, respectively. The beam quality factor M(2) was measured to be 1.49.

Sub-pm linewidth nanosecond Nd:GYSGG laser at 1336.6 nm.

We demonstrate a sub-pm linewidth acousto-optic (AO) Q-switched nanosecond Nd:GYSGG ring laser at 1336.6 nm side-pumped by 808-nm quasi-continuous wave (QCW) diode lasers for the first time. With incident pulse energy of 4.23 J at 10 Hz, a maximum output macropulse energy of 36.7 mJ at 1336.6 nm with linewidth of less than 0.85 pm and a micropulse width of 300 ns was obtained at a repetition rate of 80 Hz, corresponding to an average micropulse peak power of 15.3 kW. The M² factors were measured to be 1.42 and 1.10 in x and y directions, respectively. It can be tuned from 1336.576 to 1336.652 nm with a tuning resolution of 1 pm. The 1336.632 nm can be converted to deep ultraviolet (DUV) laser at 167.079 nm through its eighth harmonics, which is very useful for the ²7Al⁺ optical frequency standard.

Copper catalyzed decarboxylative alkynylation of quaternary α-cyano acetate salts.

Cu-catalyzed decarboxylative alkynylation of quaternary α-cyano acetate salts with alkynyl bromides and alkynyl chlorides is described. This new reaction can be used for preparing functionalized butynenitrile derivatives.