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Purpose: Although breast density is considered a strong risk factor of breast cancer, its quantitative assessment is difficult. To investigate a quantitative method of measuring breast density using dual‐energy mammographic imaging with central digital breast tomosynthesis in physically uniform and nonuniform phantoms. Material and methods: The dual‐energy imaging unit used a tungsten anode and silver filter with 30 kVp for high‐energy images and 20 kVp for low‐energy images. Uniform glandular‐equivalent phantoms were used to calibrate a dual‐energy based decomposition algorithm. The first study used uniform breast phantoms which ranged in thicknesses from 20 to 70 mm, in 10‐mm increments, and which provided 30%, 50%, and 70% of breast density. The second study used uniform phantoms ranging from 10% to 90% of breast density. The third study used non‐uniform phantoms (at an average density of 50%) with a thickness which ranged from 20 to 90 mm, in 10‐mm increments. Results: The root mean square error of breast density measurements was 2.64–3.34% for the uniform, variable thickness phantoms, 4.17% for the uniform, variable density phantoms, and 4.49% for the nonuniform, variable thickness phantoms. Conclusion: The dual‐energy technique could be used to measure breast density with a margin of error of < 10% using digital breast tomosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis commonly coexist in the elderly. In patients undergoing prosthetic total knee arthroplasty (TKA), the bone quality around the knee joint may affect the safety of prosthetic implantation and consequently satisfaction with the surgical outcome. We recruited 50 postmenopausal women undergoing TKA for primary osteoarthritis; 43 completed the study protocol. The bone quality parameters of the operated knee, including bone mineral density assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and microarchitecture variables assessed using micro-computed tomography, were determined. Surgical outcomes were assessed according to immediate (<1 week) postoperative pain quantified using the visual analog scale and knee function quantified using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 2 and 6 months postoperatively. The influence of bone quality parameters on surgical outcomes was analyzed using simple and multiple regression analyses. Volumetric bone mineral density ( R2 = 0.187-0.234, p < 0.01), the structural model index ( R2 = 0.103-0.181, p < 0.05), and trabecular separation ( R2 = 0.289-0.424, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with postoperative pain and improvement according to the KOOS. In conclusion, local bone quality, including mineral content and microarchitecture, affects the surgical outcome of TKA. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:240-248, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eur J Clin Invest 2012; 42 (12): 1295-1301 Abstract Background The p38 and JNK MAPK proteins function as key mediators in cellular responses to extracellular stimuli. Deregulated p38 and JNK expressions have been associated with cancer development. This study aimed to investigate the association of p-p38 and p-JNK levels of the cancerous tissues with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Materials and methods One hundred and four liver cancer tissues of patients with HCC who underwent curative resection were prospectively collected. The levels of activated/p-p38 and p-JNK were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The associations of results with clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival were further statically analysed using chi-squared test, two-tailed Student's t-test and Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Results The p-p38 levels were significantly higher in the HCC patients with a larger tumour (≥ 3 cm) and satellite tumour, and significantly correlated with the p-JNK levels. High p-p38 and low p-JNK expressions were associated with a poor survival in the patients with HCC (odds ratio, 4·24 and 0·20; P = 0·03 and 0·03, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the HCC patients with high p-p38 expressions had a poor overall survival than those with low p-p38 expressions ( P = 0·04), and a coexistent and high p-JNK expression remarkably improved this trend. Conclusions Increasing p-p38 levels in HCC tissues were associated with tumour size and the formation of satellite tumours. High p-p38 expression could serve as a predictor for a poor survival for the patients with HCC. Simultaneous expression of p-JNK in HCC tissues might antagonize the promoting effect of p-p38 in human liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC) is one human cancer with obvious gender disparity. This study investigated the association of aberrant prolactin levels with HCC risk and the potential impacts on HCC of the prolactin receptor (PRLR)/Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) signaling. Methods: Serum prolactin of 63 HCC patients and 162 subjects without HCC was measured by radioimmunoassay. The expressions of PRLR and phosphorylated JAK2 (p-JAK2) in 82 retrospectively collected HCC specimens were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and further incorporated into the survival analysis. The immunoblotting and proliferation assays were used to analyze the effects of PRLR/JAK2 signaling on liver cancer cells with prolactin treatment. Results: Serum prolactin level was significantly higher in HCC patients than in controls. Hepatocellular carcinoma patients with high p-JAK2 expression had a significantly higher postoperative risk than those with low p-JAK2 expression. Moreover, results from the multivariate analysis indicated the prognostic role of p-JAK2 expression with respect to overall survival in HCC patients. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that high p-JAK2 expression was associated with poor survival in HCC patients with high PRLR expression. The immunoblotting assay showed that prolactin induced the expression of both p-JAK2 and cyclin D1 in Hep-G2 cells. Importantly, the proliferative effects induced by prolactin could be effectively attenuated by adding AG490, a JAK2 inhibitor. Conclusions: Increased circulating prolactin was found in HCC patients and high p-JAK2 expression could predict poor overall survival in those patients expressing high PRLR. In addition, prolactin contributed to the proliferation of liver cancer cells through PRLR/JAK2 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with a study which successfully synthesized and characterized a poly(ethylene succinate) copolyester containing 7 molecular percentage butylene succinate. Differential scanning calorimetry was employed to examine the melting behavior after isothermal crystallization. Meanwhile, the morphology of melt-crystallized samples was investigated using scanning electron microscopy and polarized light microscopy.

The article presents a study on the synthesis and characterization of poly(ethylene succinate) and its copolyesters containing minor amounts of butylene succinate (BS). The distribution of ethylene succinate and BS units was found to be random. It used a differential scanning calorimeter and a thermogravimetric analyzer to determine thermal properties, finding no significant difference among the polyesters' thermal stabilities. All the copolymers exhibited a single glass transition temperature.

In the crystal structure of the title mixed-ligand coordination polymer, [Nd(2)(C(12)H(6)N(2)O(4))(3)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](n), the Nd(III) ion is in an octa-hedral coordination environment formed by one water mol-ecule, one chelating 2,2'-bipyridine ligand, and five monodentate carboxyl-ate groups. The local coordination polyhedron around the Nd(III) ion is a bicapped trigonal prism. Two Nd(III) centers are bridged by four carboxyl-ate groups to form an Nd(2) dimeric unit; these are further connected by 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxyl-ate linkers, resulting in a layered coordination network.