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Objective: This study aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of color doppler flow imaging (CDFI) technology and the Slow Flow HD imaging technique in identifying fetal pulmonary veins (PVs) in the first trimester (11–13 + 6 weeks), and further explore the factors affecting fetal pulmonary vein identification in early pregnancy. Methods: Echocardiography and scanning of PVs were performed in 240 normal singleton fetuses in early pregnancy by using CDFI and slow flow HD techniques, to compare the ability of two methods to identify the PVs. Slow Flow HD technology was used to further investigate the difference of PVs identification at different gestational ages [group I (11–11 + 6 weeks), group II (12–12 + 6 weeks), group III (13–13 + 6 weeks)] and with different maternal body mass indices (BMI) (≥ 25 and < 25). In 31 cases of 240 fetuses, transvaginal ultrasonography was added due to maternal habitus or significant retroversion of the uterus, and the difference in PVs identification between transabdominal and transvaginal examination was analyzed. Results: Successful PVs identification rates via CDFI and Slow Flow HD were 32.0% and 88.3%, respectively (p < 0.05). The identification rate of at least one and two pulmonary veins in Slow Flow HD was 88.3% and 76.2%, and all four pulmonary veins in 11.6% (p < 0.05). The identification rate of group I, II and III were 76.4%, 88.9% and 96.0%, respectively. The identification rate was 45.1% in the transabdominal ultrasound group and 83.8% in the transvaginal ultrasound group. The identification rate was 62.5% in the BMI ≥ 25 group and 94.7% in the BMI < 25 group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Slow Flow HD can detect PVs in early pregnancy more often than using CDFI. Slow Flow HD is a feasible and effective imaging technique for evaluating PVs in early pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lncRNA HOTAIR is frequently overexpressed in breast cancer tissues and plays an important role in the development of breast cancer. Here, we investigated the effect of the lncRNA HOTAIR on the biological behaviour of breast cancer cells and its molecular mechanism. Methods: We investigated the level of HOTAIR in breast cancer and its clinical pathological characteristics by bioinformatic methods. Then, we evaluated the effects of HOTAIR and miRNA-1 expression on the biological behaviour of breast cancer cells by qPCR, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, clonogenic assays, Transwell assay and flow cytometry for cell proliferation, invasion migration and apoptosis, and cell cycle analysis. Finally, the target genes of the lncRNA HOTAIR/miR-1/GOLPH3 regulatory axis were validated by luciferase reports. Results: The expression of HOTAIR in breast cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in normal breast tissues (P < 0.05). Silencing of HOTAIR suppressed cell proliferation, invasion and migration, promoted apoptosis and induced G1 phase block in breast cancer (P < 0.0001). We also verified that miR-1 is a target of HOTAIR and that GOLPH3 is a target of miR-1 by luciferase reporter assays (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The expression of HOTAIR was significantly elevated in breast cancer tissues. Reducing the expression of HOTAIR inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of breast cancer cells and promoted apoptosis, and the mechanism was mainly the effect of the lncRNA HOTAIR/miR-1/GOLPH3 regulatory axis on the biological behaviour of breast cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cyanobacteria-dominated crusts are solid basis for the maintenance and improvement of soils in dryland ecosystem. The present study is to investigate the seasonal variations of cyanobacteria-dominated crust characteristics in a dryland ecosystem, including crusts thickness, chlorophyll a, proteins, polysaccharides, and carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents and to clarify the effects of crust characteristics together with soil properties on soil enzymes beneath crusts. Methods: Cyanobacteria-dominated crusts and soils beneath crusts were sampled in spring (March 14), summer (June 15), autumn (September 14), and winter (December 15) of 2020 in the southeast edge of Tengger Desert in northern China. Results: Chlorophyll a, proteins, polysaccharides, and crusts C and N showed higher values in spring and autumn, while thickness, crusts P, C: N, C: P, and N: P have no significant changes throughout all seasons. Soil enzyme activities beneath crusts declined with increasing depth, whereas enzyme behavior differed among seasons. Redundancy analysis indicated that crust proteins and soil water content were the important factors accounting for differences in soil enzymes in 0–5 cm soil layer, while the determining factors for soil enzymes in 5–10 cm soil layer were proteins, soil organic carbon, soil available phosphorus, and thickness. Conclusion: The seasonal variations in cyanobacteria-dominated crusts mainly come from changing proteins, polysaccharides, C, and N contents. The stable C: N, C: P, and N: P ratios did not change significantly over the seasons, thus keeping a stable state of crusts in the current dryland ecosystem. Moreover, proteins, soil organic carbon, and soil moisture make great contributions to the seasonal variations of soil enzymes. Overall, our findings demonstrate the depth-related response of soil enzymes to cyanobacteria-dominated crusts in seasons and highlight the ecological function of cyanobacteria-dominated crust characteristics in seasonal fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are different characteristics of BC in developing countries and developed countries. We intended to study the factors which influence the survival and prognosis of BC between southern China and the United States. (a) To study the two groups BC patients in southern China from 2001 to 2016 and SEER database from 1975 to 2016. (b) To register, collect and analyze the clinicopathological features and treatment information. Our study found that there are significant differences in tumor size, positive lymph node status and KI-67 between southern China and SEER cohort (P < 0.000). The positive lymph node status may be one of the causes of difference of morbidity and mortality of BC patients in China. Furthermore, the differences in treatment methods may also account for the differences between China and seer databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Capsular contracture, mainly caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) biofilm formation, is a complex problem for breast cancer patients who undergo surgical prosthetic breast reconstruction. Estradiol has been reported to be involved in the formation of bacterial biofilms. Thus, the underlying mechanism of estradiol in capsular contracture needs to be investigated. Methods: Biofilm-related gene expressions were measured by qRT-PCR after sterilizing the silicone with bacterial suspension and E2 treatment in vitro. Rat models were established with bilateral ovariectomy operations and estradiol subcutaneous injections. The effects of estradiol on capsular contracture were detected by monitoring serum estradiol levels, bacterial infection rate in organs, biofilm formation and capsular contracture in vivo; inflammatory factors in vivo were examined as well. Biofilm on the silicone implants was observed under a scanning electron microscope. Results: Both positive regulatory genes and negative regulatory genes were increased by the high concentration of estradiol, suggesting that estradiol can promote the formation of biofilm by not only positive but also negative regulations. High estradiol levels increased bacterial infection rate in organs, biofilm formation and capsular contracture. Further, high estradiol caused a large number of inflammatory cells to infiltrate and caused serious inflammatory reactions that aggravate the immune imbalances of the host. Conclusion: High estradiol levels contribute to increasing capsular contracture caused by S. epidermidis biofilm formation. No Level Assigned: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each submission to which Evidence-Based Medicine rankings are applicable. This excludes Review Articles, Book Reviews, and manuscripts that concern Basic Science, Animal Studies, Cadaver Studies, and Experimental Studies. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-risk of tumor initiation in patients with Turner syndrome (TS) characterized by X chromosome monosomy in women has been well established and aneuploidy, defined as an abnormal number of chromosomes, is a common feature in human cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of X chromosome aneuploidy promoting tumorigenesis remain obscure. We propose that chromosome-wide gene dosage imbalance (CDI) may serve as an important mechanism. Here, we assess the relative expression ratios of X chromosome and autosomes (expression ratios of X:AA) between tumor samples and adjacent normal samples across 16 tumor types using expression datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Our results show that the expression ratios of X:AA in tumor samples are frequently rebalanced to a lower level compared to those in adjacent normal samples, which is termed chromosome-wide gene dosage rebalance (CDR) thereafter. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of differentially expression genes from X chromosome reveals that downregulation of multicellularity-related genes and upregulation of unicellularity-related genes in tumors form a distinctive feature and enrichment analysis shows that downregulated genes are enriched in tumor suppressor genes, which indicate that CDR benefits tumor progression. Further experimental results prove that disturbance of X chromosome expression by knocking down of XIST in breast cancer cells, which functions in initiation phase of X chromosome inactivation (XCI), inhibits tumor progression. Our results demonstrate that the prevalent CDRs across tumor types serve as an important mechanism in promoting tumor progression, which partially explains the high risk of tumor in patients with TS and also provides a new cancer therapy from the CDR perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To define the role of the NOTCH signaling pathway in the development of chemoresistance and the associated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), we investigated the effect of Notch3 on adriamycin (ADM)-resistant human breast cancer cells (MCF-7/ADM cells). We found that Notch3 was downregulated and involved in the chemoresistance of MCF-7/ADM cells, while forced expression of Notch3 reversed the chemoresistance. Furthermore, fos-related antigen 1 (Fra1) was negatively regulated by Notch3 and was highly expressed in MCF-7/ADM cells. Increased Fra1 activated the EMT process. Finally, Notch3 expression was confirmed in clinically chemoresistant samples of breast cancers from patients receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Low expression of Notch3 was an unfavorable predictor of distant relapse-free survival in ER positive breast cancers. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the Notch3-Fra1 signaling pathway mediates chemoresistance via the EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We aimed to screen possible biomarkers associated with the molecular mechanism of breast cancer using microRNA (miRNA) microarray.Methods: The miRNAs expression profile GSE45666 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database, which included 101 genechips from breast tumor samples and 15 from adjacent breast normal tissue samples. Limma package in R language was used to screen and identify differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) which were classified as up-regulated and down-regulated groups. Then, target genes regulated by the two groups of DE-miRNA were predicted, followed by the functional and pathway enrichment analysis using the DAVID system.Results: Totally, 130 DE-miRNAs were screened out, including 59 up-regulated DE-miRNAs and 71 down-regulated DE-miRNAs. The functional enrichment indicated that target genes of up- and down-regulated DE-miRNA may be most highly associated with positive regulation of gene expression and regulation of cellular metabolic process, respectively. Target genes regulated by the up- and down-regulated DE-miRNAs were mainly enriched in 13 and 14 pathways, respectively, and both were most significant in subcategories in cancer. In addition, we identified three important miRNAs (miR-142-3p, miR-483-5p and miR-483-3p) pivotal for the initiation and progression of this malignant tumor.Conclusions: MiR-142-3p, miR-483-5p and miR-483-3p are potential key factors for further understanding the molecular mechanism of breast cancer by affecting the normal physiological function of cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viili has been traditionally regarded as healthy food; viili exopolysaccharides (VEPS) function as antioxidants, but the molecular and cellular mechanisms, especially its immune functions, remain largely unclear. To assess VEPS's immunological roles, VEPS were separated by Sevage's method and purified by anion exchange chromatography. Cell proliferation, phagocytosis, releases of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and iNOS protein by Western blotting, and morphology by scanning electron microscopy in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)/VEPS-stimulated and non-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages were analyzed. VEPS increased cell proliferation at 50-200 μg/mL. The uptake of neutral red for the indication of phagocytosis and releases of NO, IL-6, and IL-1β were enhanced after exposure to LPS and VEPS. Gene expressions of iNOS, IL-6, and IL-1β and protein expressions of iNOS were increased with VEPS. The RAW264.7 cell treated with VEPS became flattened, a strong indication of the activation of macrophages. We concluded that VEPS promoted the activation of macrophages in which NO, IL-6, and IL-1β were involved; the release of NO and other cytokines may eventually activate lymphocytes, increasing nonspecific (innate) and specific immunity in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the source of serum exosomal HOTAIR, to uncover the diagnostic and prognostic values of serum exosomal HOTAIR, and to discern the expression of serum exosomal HOTAIR between neoadjuvant chemotherapy and response to tamoxifen therapy. Samples were collected from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Tumor Hospital of Yunnan. Exosomes were isolated from serum, cell culture medium and tumor tissues. We used transmission electron microscopy and western immunoblotting assay to characterize exosomes, and real-time PCR (qPCR) to assess HOTAIR expression. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and tamoxifen therapy were carried out according to established guidelines. Breast cancer patients expressed higher serum exosomal HOTAIR than did healthy individuals (P < 0.001). Serum exosomal HOTAIR levels 3 months after surgery were markedly decreased compared with levels before surgery (P < 0.001), and the expression level of exosomal HOTAIR in cell culture medium increased with time in both breast cancer cell lines (72 h > 48 h > 24 h, 48 h vs 24 h [P < 0.05]; 72 h vs 24 h [P < 0.01]). Expression of serum exosomal HOTAIR in nude mice was notably greater than in the mock control group (P < 0.001). The results of the ROC analysis revealed an AUC for serum exosomal HOTAIR of 0.9178 with a 95% CI of 0.8407–1.017 (P < 0.01). The AUC for the CA15-3 cell line was 0.7378 (95% CI, 0.5585–0.9170; P = 0.03). High expression of exosomal HOTAIR led to a worse disease-free survival (P = 0.0481) and overall survival (P = 0.0463). In the high-expression chemotherapy group, six patients achieved a partial response (PR) and eight demonstrated stable disease (SD) and nine patients achieved PR and two SD in the low-expression group (P = 0.048). In the low-expression tamoxifen group, one patient had a recurrence of breast cancer and another 10 patients exhibited no recurrence, while six showed recurrence, and seven had none in the high-expression group (P = 0.035). We isolated exosomes successfully, and demonstrated that serum exosomal HOTAIR originated from primary breast cancer tissue. We conclude that serum exosomal HOTAIR exhibits the potential to be a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. High expression of serum exosomal HOTAIR was also correlated with poor neoadjuvant chemotherapy and response to tamoxifen therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce hemiellipsoid- and inverted hemiellipsoid-modified semiconductor nanowire (NW) optical structures, and present a systematic investigation on light management of the corresponding arrays based on GaAs. It is found that the modification makes well utilization of light scattering and antireflection, thus leading to excellent light confinement with limited effective thickness. For example, 90% and 95% of the incident photons with the energy larger than the bandgap energy can be trapped by the inverted hemiellipsoid-modified NW arrays with the effective thicknesses of only ~ 180 and 270 nm, respectively. Moreover, excellent light confinement can be achieved in a broad range of the modification height. Compared to the corresponding array without top modification, spatial distribution of the photo-generated carriers is expanded, facilitating carrier collection especially for the planar pn junction configuration. Further investigation indicates that these composite nanostructures possess excellent omnidirectional light confinement, which is expected for advanced solar absorbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is highly sensitive to photoperiod. To improve the adaptability and productivity of soybean, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating flowering time. To identify new flowering time QTLs, we evaluated a BC3F5 population consisting of 120 chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) over 2 years under field conditions. CSSLs were derived from a cross between the cultivated soybean cultivar Jackson and the wild soybean accession JWS156-1, followed by continuous backcrossing using Jackson as the recurrent parent. Four QTLs (qFT07.1, qFT12.1, qFT12.2, and qFT19.1) were detected on three chromosomes. Of these, qFT12.1 showed the highest effect, accounting for 36.37-38.27% of the total phenotypic variation over 2 years. This QTL was further confirmed in the F7 recombinant inbred line population (n = 94) derived from the same cross (Jackson × JWS156-1). Analysis of the qFT12.1 BC3F5 residual heterozygous line RHL509 validated the allele effect of qFT12.1 and revealed that the recessive allele of qFT12.1 resulted in delayed flowering. Evaluating the qFT12.1 near-isogenic lines (NILs) under different growth conditions showed that NILs with the wild soybean genotype always showed later flowering than those with the cultivated soybean genotype. qFT12.1 was delimited to a 2703-kb interval between the markers BARCSOYSSR_12_0220 and BARCSOYSSR_12_0368 on chromosome 12. qFT12.1 may be a new flowering time gene locus in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]