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Purpose The aim of this study was to establish individualized nomograms to predict survival outcomes in older female patients with stage IV breast cancer who did or did not undergo local surgery, and to determine which patients could benefit from surgery. Methods A total of 3,129 female patients with stage IV breast cancer aged ≥70 years between 2010 and 2015 were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier plot and log-rank test. Nomograms and risk stratification models were constructed. Results Patients who underwent surgery had better OS (HR = 0.751, 95% CI [0.668–0.843], P, Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • The effect of surgery in older patients with stage IV breast cancer (BC) is discussed. • The proportion of older patients with stage IV BC who underwent surgery declined. • A specific group of older patients with stage IV BC can benefit from surgery. • Nomograms can be used to predict the prognosis of older patients with stage IV BC.

Background Neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the breast is a very rare malignant tumor whose clinic pathological features and prognosis are not well defined. The aim of this study was to compare the clinic pathological features and clinical outcome between breast neuroendocrine carcinoma and breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and to know the independent prognostic risk factors of NEC.Method Patients with breast NEC and breast IDC were identified through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 2010 to 2015. Then we compared the clinic pathological features and outcome between the two cohorts. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance the effects of baseline clinic pathological differences. Potential prognostic factors of breast NEC were identified by the univariate and multivariate Cox analysis.Results In total, we identified 208 patients with breast NEC and 275,878 cases with breast IDC.Compared with IDC, NEC was significantly correlated with higher stage, larger tumor size, more distant transfers and no population of HER2 enriched subtype. There were significant differences on the choice of treatment therapy between NEC and IDC (p=0.000). More patients chose not to undergo surgery (35.1% vs. 9.0%), and fewer patients chose breast conserving surgery than IDC patients (32.2% vs. 51.1%). Compared with IDC patients, NEC patients were more likely to choose chemotherapy (p=0.039) and more conservative in radiotherapy (p=0.000). The 66-month overall survival (OS) rate in NEC and IDC was 44.5% and 80.2% before PSM and was 49.8% and 71.4% after PSM, respectively. The 66-month breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) rate in NEC and IDC was 56.3% and 88.8% before PSM and was 54.1% and 80.5% after PSM, respectively. Finally, we identified independent prognostic factors, age, stage, pathological type, distant metastasis, chemotherapy, and molecular typing. Conclusions Breast NEC has distinct clinic pathological features and a significantly worse clinical outcome than common IDC.

With the development of technology, the demand for better image resolution is growing. The common method to achieve higher resolution is to increase the aperture of the lens. However, for satellites, resources are limited and the cost of launching is high, which makes it difficult to implement optical systems with larger apertures. In this paper, methods are analyzed, where by applying the optical synthetic aperture imaging technique for a group of small satellites, similar resolution of a single large aperture system is achieved. Difficulties and suggestions are given and fully discussed.

With the increasing demand of users, the ground network cannot meet the user experiences. Considering the advantages of satellite network, an innovative network is presented, which integrate satellite networks, the Internet and mobile wireless networks into one network. In this paper, the architecture of future space-based network is proposed, which can be divided into physical structure and virtual structure. In addition, in order to form this network, a three-layer and two-domain technical architecture is discussed finally.

Laser communication has the characteristics of wide bandwidth, high data rate, and low power consumption, which is an important way to realize the information exchange of large amount. However, the transmission quality is deeply affected by atmospheric absorption, scattering, turbulence, and background light, which bring certain challenges to its reliability. This paper firstly summarizes the mathematical models of the main factors, and simulates the error rate of the incoherent optical link under the influence of beam wander, beam scintillation, and beam spreading. Finally, the paper further proposes a full-element BER analysis model including the influence of atmospheric turbulence, absorption and scattering, and background light.

AIM To explore the role of macrophages in chronic pancreatitis (CP) and the effect of Dachaihu decoction (DCHD) on pancreatic fibrosis in mice. METHODS KunMing mice were randomly divided into a control group, CP group, and DCHD group. In the CP and DCHD groups, mice were intraperitoneally injected with 20% L-arginine (3 g/kg twice 1 d/wk for 6 wk). Mice in the DCHD group were administered DCHD intragastrically at a dose of 14 g/kg/d 1 wk after CP induction. At 2 wk, 4 wk and 6 wk post-modeling, the morphology of the pancreas was observed using hematoxylin and eosin, and Masson staining. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) serum levels were assayed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Double immunofluorescence staining was performed to observe the co-expression of F4/80 and IL-6 in the pancreas. Inflammatory factors including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α) and IL-6 were determined using real time-polymerase chain reaction. Western blot analysis was used to detect fibronectin levels in the pancreas. RESULTS Compared with the control group, mice with 20% L-arginine-induced CP had obvious macrophage infiltration and a higher level of fibrosis. IL-6 serum concentrations were significantly increased. Double immunofluorescence staining showed that IL-6 and F4/80 were co-expressed in the pancreas. With the administration of DCHD, the infiltration of macrophages and degree of fibrosis in the pancreas were significantly attenuated; IL-6, MCP-1 and MIP-1α mRNA, and fibronectin levels were reduced. CONCLUSION The dominant role of macrophages in the development of CP was mainly related to IL-6 production. DCHD was effective in ameliorating pancreatic fibrosis by inhibiting macrophage infiltration and inflammatory factor secretion in the pancreas.

Quantum teleportation is central to the practical realization of quantum communication. Although the first proof-of-principle demonstration was reported in 1997 by the Innsbruck and Rome groups, long-distance teleportation has so far only been realized in fibre with lengths of hundreds of metres. An optical free-space link is highly desirable for extending the transfer distance, because of its low atmospheric absorption for certain ranges of wavelength. By following the Rome scheme, which allows a full Bell-state measurement, we report free-space implementation of quantum teleportation over 16km. An active feed-forward technique has been developed to enable real-time information transfer. An average fidelity of 89%, well beyond the classical limit of 2/3, is achieved. Our experiment has realized all of the non-local aspects of the original teleportation scheme and is equivalent to it up to a local unitary operation. Our result confirms the feasibility of space-based experiments, and is an important step towards quantum-communication applications on a global scale. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

AIM: To search for a new chronic pancreatitis model in mice suitable for investigating the pathophysiological processes leading to pancreatic fibrosis. METHODS: The mice were randomly divided into 2 groups (n = 50), control group and model group. The mice in model group were given ethanol (10%) in drinking water after injection of dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC) (8 mg/kg BW) in tail vein. The mice in control group were injected with only solvent into tail vein (60% ethanol, 20% glycerine and 20% normal saline) and drank common water. At days 1, 7, 14, 28, and 56 after application of DBTC or solvent, 10 mice in one group were killed at each time point respectively. Blood was obtained by inferior vena cava puncture. The activity of amylase, concentration of bilirubin and hyaluronic acid in serum were assayed. The pancreas was taken to observe the pancreatic morphology by HE staining, and to characterize the pancreatic fibrosis by Masson staining. The expression of F4/80, CD3 and fibronectin (FN) were assayed by immuno-histochemistry or Immunofluorescence technique. Collagen type I (COL1A1) in pancreas were detected by Western blot. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) mRNA in the pancreas was assessed by real time PCR. RESULTS: DBTC induced an acute edematous pancreatitis within 1 d. The dilated acini, scattered acinar cell necrosis, and inflammatory cells were found at day 7. Extensive infiltration with inflammatory cells following deposition of connective tissue was observed at day 14. At day 28, level of pancreatic fibrosis was aggravated. The pancreatic tissue was replaced by an extended interstitial fibrosis at the end of 2 mo. There was significant difference in the level of amylase, bilirubin and hyaluronic acid in serum between control group and model group (P < 0.05). The level of COL1A1 and FN in pancreas increased. The expression of MMP-1 mRNA in pancreas decreased, but TIMP-1 mRNA increased at model group. CONCLUSION: DBTC joint Ethanol drinking can induce chronic pancreatitis in accordance with the pathophysiological modification of human. DBTC joint Ethanol-induced pancreatitis in mice is an effective and handy experimental method. The model is suitable to study the mechanism of pancreatic fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis.

Objective: We applied carbon nanoparticle suspensions to the papillary thyroid carcinoma cases with no clinical regional lymph node metastasis (cN0) to show the lymph flow from primary tumors, and evaluated its value in the lymph node biopsy of cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma and protection of parathyroid. Patients and methods: One hundred and fourteen patients with cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received carbon nanoparticles injection around the primary tumor, while the control group received no injection. Both groups subsequently received standard lateral thyroid gland resection, isthmus resection, subtotal thyroidectomy, or clearance of lymph nodes (LNs) of the central compartment. Results: A total of 342 LNs of the central compartment were dissected in the experimental group (6.00 ± 0.98 per patient) with 81 LNs confirmed to be positive (0.95 ± 0.77 per patient), whereas 261 LNs of the same area were dissected in the control group (4.58 ± 0.60 per patient) with 27 confirmed to be positive (0.47 ± 0.50 per patient). There is a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the average number of LNs dissected per patient (6.00 ± 0.98 vs. 4.58 ± 0.60, p