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Desiccation tolerance (DT) has contributed greatly to the adaptation of land plants to severe water-deficient conditions. DT is mostly observed in reproductive parts in flowering plants such as seeds. The seed DT is lost at early post germination stage but is temporally re-inducible in 1 mm radicles during the so-called DT window following a PEG treatment before being permanently silenced in 5 mm radicles of germinating seeds. The molecular mechanisms that activate/reactivate/silence DT in developing and germinating seeds have not yet been elucidated. Here, we analyzed chromatin dynamics related to re-inducibility of DT before and after the DT window at early germination in Medicago truncatula radicles to determine if DT-associated genes were transcriptionally regulated at the chromatin levels. Comparative transcriptome analysis of these radicles identified 948 genes as DT re-induction-related genes, positively correlated with DT re-induction. ATAC-Seq analyses revealed that the chromatin state of genomic regions containing these genes was clearly modulated by PEG treatment and affected by growth stages with opened chromatin in 1 mm radicles with PEG (R1P); intermediate openness in 1 mm radicles without PEG (R1); and condensed chromatin in 5 mm radicles without PEG (R5). In contrast, we also showed that the 103 genes negatively correlated with the re-induction of DT did not show any transcriptional regulation at the chromatin level. Additionally, ChIP-Seq analyses for repressive marks H2AK119ub and H3K27me3 detected a prominent signal of H3K27me3 on the DT re-induction-related gene sequences at R5 but not in R1 and R1P. Moreover, no clear H2AK119ub marks was observed on the DT re-induction-related gene sequences at both developmental radicle stages, suggesting that silencing of DT process after germination will be mainly due to H3K27me3 marks by the action of the PRC2 complex, without involvement of PRC1 complex. The dynamic of chromatin changes associated with H3K27me3 were also confirmed on seed-specific genes encoding potential DT-related proteins such as LEAs, oleosins and transcriptional factors. However, several transcriptional factors did not show a clear link between their decrease of chromatin openness and H3K27me3 levels, suggesting that their accessibility may also be regulated by additional factors, such as other histone modifications. Finally, in order to make these comprehensive genome-wide analyses of transcript and chromatin dynamics useful to the scientific community working on early germination and DT, we generated a dedicated genome browser containing all these data and publicly available at https://iris.angers.inrae.fr/mtseedepiatlas/jbrowse/?data=Mtruncatula., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sano, Malabarba, Chen, Gaillard, Windels and Verdier.)

We report the development of a fully automatic large-volume 3D electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system (ELAVO 3D), consisting of a scanning electron microscope (ZEISS crossbeam XB 1540) with a dedicated sample holder, an adapted polishing automaton (Saphir X-change, QATM), a collaborative robotic arm (Universal Robots UR5), and several in-house built devices. The whole system is orchestrated by an in-house designed software, which is also able to track the process and report errors. Except for the case of error, the system runs without any user interference. For the measurement of removal thickness, the samples are featured with markers put on the perpendicular lateral surface, cut by plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) milling. The individual effects of both 1 μm diamond suspension and oxide polishing suspension polishing were studied in detail. Coherent twin grain boundaries (GBs) were used as an internal standard to check the removal rates measured by the side markers. The two methods for Z-spacing measurements disagreed by about 10%, and the inaccurate calibration of the PFIB system was found to be the most probable reason for this discrepancy. The angular accuracy of the system was determined to be ∼2.5°, which can be significantly improved with more accurate Z-spacing measurements. When reconstructed grain boundary meshes are sufficiently smoothed, an angular resolution of ±4° is achieved. In a 3D EBSD dataset of a size of 587 × 476 × 72 μm 3 , we focused on the investigation of coincidence site lattice ∑9 GBs. While bearing predominantly a pure tilt character, ∑9 GBs can be categorized into three groups based on correlative 3D morphologies and crystallography.

Hypoglycemia is not rare in anorexia nervosa (AN). Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is characterized by extensive akinesis of the apical region with hypercontraction of the basal segment of the ventricle in the absence of coronary artery disease. Its mechanism is not fully understood, but hypoglycemia is considered one of the physical factors. Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is a rare disease characterized by multiple gaseous cysts in the intestinal wall. PCI sometimes causes an absorption defect. The case of a 48-year-old woman with AN with PCI and TCM that developed after a postprandial hypoglycemic coma is reported. When the patient was admitted to our hospital, her abdominal X-ray showed a confluent image of grapes, and computed tomography showed gaseous cysts in the intestinal wall from the ascending colon to the transverse colon. PCI was then diagnosed. About 7 days after admission, she developed hypoglycemic coma. However, she recovered from the coma and on the next day she became suddenly hypotensive, with the electrocardiogram showing T-wave inversion. Echocardiography then showed akinesis around the apex and hypercontraction of the basal segments, and TCM was diagnosed. Severe AN with PCI may cause more severe hypoglycemia, resulting in TCM., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

Background: A wristband-type consumer physical activity tracker (PAT) is commonly used in rehabilitation to assess an individual's physical activity. However, under the free-living setting, the wristband-type PAT tends to overestimate step counts when compared with the research-standard criterion. Also, daily rhythm characteristics, such as sleep time, are difficult to monitor accurately based solely on self-reporting., Purpose: To identify the conditions measured as step counts by a wristband-type consumer PAT when using the upper limbs in daily living, and the measurement accuracy of the sleeping time estimated from the wristband-type PAT., Methods: Forty participants (20 females, mean age 32.65 ± 9.52 years) were enrolled in two experiments in this study. In Experiment 1, we measured the influence of upper limbs activity (movement speed and distance) on step counts of wristband-type and waist holder-type PAT in two upper limb tasks. In Experiment 2, we verified the measurement accuracy of two sleep times by wristband-type PAT using a self-reported survey for 3 days., Results: The results of Experiment 1 revealed that the step counts using wristband-type PAT were influenced by upper limbs activity depending on movement distance (F (1, 19) = 31.705, p < 0.001) but not speed (F (1, 19) = 2.669, p < 0.117). Whereas, there was no relationship between step counts and upper limb activity in waist holder-type PAT. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the sleep times of wristband-type and self-report had a strong correlation (coefficient value = 0.93, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: This PAT is useful for capturing changes in the amount of physical activity and the daily rhythm within the individual. It can be expected to be used for rehabilitation support centered on upper limb activity and daily rhythm., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Seed germination and subsequent seedling growth affect the final yield and quality of the crop. Seed germination is defined as a series of processes that begins with water uptake by a quiescent dry seed and ends with the elongation of embryonic axis. Rice is an important cereal crop species, and during seed germination, two tissues function in a different manner; the embryo grows into a seedling as the next generation and the endosperm is responsible for nutritional supply. Toward understanding the integrated roles of each tissue at the transcriptional, translational, and metabolic production levels during germination, an exhaustive "multi-omics" analysis was performed by combining transcriptomics, label-free shotgun proteomics, and metabolomics on rice germinating embryo and endosperm, independently. Time-course analyses of the transcriptome and metabolome in germinating seeds revealed a major turning point in the early phase of germination in both embryo and endosperm, suggesting that dramatic changes begin immediately after water imbibition in the rice germination program at least at the mRNA and metabolite levels. In endosperm, protein profiles mostly showed abundant decreases corresponding to 90% of the differentially accumulated proteins. An ontological classification revealed the shift from the maturation to the germination process where over-represented classes belonged to embryonic development and cellular amino acid biosynthetic processes. In the embryo, 19% of the detected proteins are differentially accumulated during germination. Stress response, carbohydrate, fatty acid metabolism, and transport are the main functional classes representing embryo proteome change. Moreover, proteins specific to the germinated state were detected by both transcriptomic and proteomic approaches and a major change in the network operating during rice germination was uncovered. In particular, concomitant changes of hormonal metabolism-related proteins (GID1L2 and CNX1) implicated in GAs and ABA metabolism, signaling proteins, and protein turnover events emphasized the importance of such biological networks in rice seeds. Using metabolomics, we highlighted the importance of an energetic supply in rice seeds during germination. In both embryo and endosperm, starch degradation, glycolysis, and subsequent pathways related to these cascades, such as the aspartate-family pathway, are activated during germination. A relevant number of accumulated proteins and metabolites, especially in embryos, testifies the pivotal role of energetic supply in the preparation of plant growth. This article summarizes the key genetic pathways in embryo and endosperm during rice seed germination at the transcriptional, translational, and metabolite levels and thereby, emphasizes the value of combined multi-omics approaches to uncover the specific feature of tissues during germination., Competing Interests: IL was employed by company MBCC Group. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sano, Lounifi, Cueff, Collet, Clément, Balzergue, Huguet, Valot, Galland and Rajjou.)

Astudy of the variation in the optical and electrical properties of laser-crystallized and -amorphized silicon films by plasma hydrogenation reveals that the films have an optical band gap at 1.7 electron volts and a hydrogenation concentration of 1.5 atomic weight percent. The defect density in these films can be reduced by the process of hydrogenation for 30 seconds at 250 degrees Celsius. The hydrogenation concentration is independent of the defect density in silicon films.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the detection accuracy of a 3-dimensional (3D) body scanner, VOXELAN, in surface-guided radiotherapy (SGRT) of each part of the human body using a whole-body human phantom. We used A Resusci Anne was used as the whole-body phantom. The detection accuracy of VOXELAN in a radiotherapy treatment room with a linear accelerator (LINAC) was evaluated for two reference images: reconstruction of the planning computed tomography (CT) image (CT reference) and scanning by VOXELAN before the treatment (scan reference). The accuracy of the translational and rotational directions was verified for four treatment sites (open face shell, breast, abdomen, and arm), using the magnitude of the 6D robotic couch movement as the true value. Our results showed that the detection accuracy improved as the displacement from the reference position decreased for all the sites. Using the scan reference, the average accuracy of the translational and rotational axes was within 1.44 mm and 0.41°, respectively, for all sites except the arms. Similarly, using the CT reference, the average accuracy was within 2.45 mm and 1.35°, respectively. Additionally, it was difficult for both reference images to recognize misalignment of the arms. In conclusion we discovered that VOXELAN achieved a high detection accuracy for the head with an open face shell, chest, and abdomen, indicating that the system is useful in a clinical setting. However, it is necessary to pay attention to location matching for areas with few features, such as surface irregularities and potential errors, when the reference image is created from CT., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.)

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association of preoperative intratumoral susceptibility signal (ITSS) grade with hemorrhage after stereotactic biopsy (STB)., Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed 66 patients who underwent STB in their institution. Preoperative factors including age, sex, platelet count, prothrombin time-international normalized ratio, activated thromboplastin time, antiplatelet agent use, history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, target location, anesthesia type, and ITSS data were recorded. ITSS was defined as a dot-like or fine linear low signal within a tumor on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) and was graded using a 3-point scale: grade 1, no ITSS within the lesion; grade 2, 1-10 ITSSs; and grade 3, ≥ 11 ITSSs. Postoperative final tumor pathology was also reviewed. The association between preoperative variables and the size of postoperative hemorrhage was examined., Results: Thirty-four patients were men and 32 were women. The mean age was 66.6 years. The most common tumor location was the frontal lobe (27.3%, n = 18). The diagnostic yield of STB was 93.9%. The most common pathology was lymphoma (36.4%, n = 24). The ITSS was grade 1 in 37 patients (56.1%), grade 2 in 14 patients (21.2%), and grade 3 in 15 patients (22.7%). Interobserver agreement for ITSS was almost perfect (weighted kappa = 0.87; 95% CI 0.77-0.98). Age was significantly associated with ITSS (p = 0.0075). Postoperative hemorrhage occurred in 17 patients (25.8%). Maximum hemorrhage diameter (mean ± SD) was 1.78 ± 1.35 mm in grade 1 lesions, 2.98 ± 2.2 mm in grade 2 lesions, and 9.51 ± 2.11 mm in grade 3 lesions (p = 0.01). Hemorrhage > 10 mm in diameter occurred in 10 patients (15.2%), being symptomatic in 3 of them. Four of 6 patients with grade 3 ITSS glioblastomas (66.7%) had postoperative hemorrhages > 10 mm in diameter. After adjusting for age, ITSS grade was the only factor significantly associated with hemorrhage > 10 mm (p = 0.029). Compared with patients with grade 1 ITSS, the odds of postoperative hemorrhage > 10 mm in diameter were 2.57 times higher in patients with grade 2 ITSS (95% CI 0.31-21.1) and 9.73 times higher in patients with grade 3 ITSS (95% CI 1.57-60.5)., Conclusions: ITSS grade on SWI is associated with size of postoperative hemorrhage after STB.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the reproducibility of deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) using a respiratory control device, Abches, in patients with left-sided breast cancer., Material and Methods: Abches comprises a main body, an indicator panel, and two fulcrums, one each on the chest and abdomen. Forty left side breast cancer patients treated with DIBH using abches were enrolled in this study. For all patients, CT images were taken three times to confirm the target position inside the body and to check the breath-hold reproducibility. Three anatomical points on the nipple, sternum, and heart were selected as measurement points on CT images. After measuring the coordinates, breath-hold reproducibility was defined as the mean of the absolute difference in the coordinates between the three CT images. The maximum differences were also investigated. In addition, the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was calculated to examine the displacement of the heart volume in detail. Moreover, digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) and linac graphs (LGs) were used to measure the positional accuracy of the chest and heart., Results: The reproducibility in all patients was within 0.75 mm for the nipple, 0.78 mm for the sternum, and 2.18 mm for the heart in each direction. Similarly, the maximum displacements for all patients were within 1.90 mm, 1.69 mm, and 4.75 mm, respectively, in each direction. For heart volume, the average DSC for all cases was 0.93 ± 0.01. The differences between the DRR and LG images were 1.70 ± 1.10 mm and 2.10 ± 1.60 mm, for the chest and heart, respectively., Conclusion: Our study showed that DIBH using Abches can be performed with good target reproducibility of less than 3 mm with proper breath-hold practice, whereas the heartbeat-derived reproducibility of the cardiac position is poor and needs to be monitored carefully during treatment simulation., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Background: Bile cytology is useful in diagnosing biliary tract lesions, albeit often challenging due to equivocal findings. To achieve better diagnoses for clinical decisions, we conducted cytomorphological and immunocytochemical studies of bile cytology cases., Materials and Methods: We re-evaluated 40 bile cytology cases with initial equivocal diagnoses, taken from the cytology records of Jichi Medical University Hospital, including 1778 bile cytology specimens. First, we assessed the cases by the diagnostic bile cytology criteria of the Japanese Society of Clinical Cytology. Second, we searched for useful immunocytochemical markers by extensive immunohistochemical analyses using tissue microarray for 10 antibodies: S100P, IMP3, GLUT1, p53, S100A4, Mapsin, MUC17, CD10, MDM2, and SMAD4. Microarrays were from 257 extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma cases. To elucidate the utility of immunocytochemistry, we applied selected markers to immunocytochemical evaluation of the equivocal cases after cell transfer., Results: The criteria indicated a sensitivity 60%, specificity 87%, and accuracy 70%. Irregularly overlapping (88%), arranged (96%), and shaped (76%) nuclei were more common in malignant cases, while enlarged nuclei were more frequent in benign cases (67% vs. 28%). We applied S100P and IMP3, which showed higher accuracy (88% and 77%) in tissue microarray, to immunocytochemistry. The sensitivity of S100P and IMP3 were 69% and 70%, respectively. The specificity of S100P and IMP3 were 50% and 100%, respectively., Conclusion: The criteria showed a certain effectiveness even in challenging cases, and some pitfalls associated with reactive changes of benign cells. Although comprehensive diagnosis including cytomorphology seems preferable, S100P and IMP3 are promising immunocytochemical markers., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: The importance of the role of NF-κB is recognized in situations such as malignant transformation and metastasis of cancer, and it has been suggested that inhibiting this role can be one of the cancer treatment strategies. Gold preparations such as auranofin are known to have an indirect NF-κB inhibitory effect., Objective: We synthesized a novel gold complex [tiopronin monovalent gold-5-mercapto- 1-methyl tetrazole, abbreviated as TPN-Au(I)-MM4], with different physical properties and chemical structure from auranofin, and evaluated its cytotoxic activity and radiation sensitizing effect on human THP1 cells., Methods: The number of viable cells was counted by the trypan blue dye exclusion method. The cell death evaluation was performed by FITC-Annexin V+ and PI staining. In investigating the radiation sensitizing effect of TPN-Au(I)-MM4, this compound [10 or 25 μM] was added into the culture medium 1 h before X-ray irradiation., Results: In the cells treated with 25 μM TPN-Au(I)-MM4 for 72 h, a decrease in the proliferation of THP1 cells was observed [The relative values of viable cells in the control group and the 25 μM treatment group were approximately 6.8 and 4.2, respectively]. In the combination of 25 μM of the compound treatment and X-ray irradiation, an increase of approximately 3.0-fold was observed in 2 Gy irradiation and approximately 1.4-fold in 4 Gy irradiation as in comparison to the case of irradiation alone., Conclusion: These results suggest that TPN-Au(I)-MM4 reduces the proliferation of THP1 cells through the induction of cell death, and the combined use of TPN-Au(I)-MM4 and X-ray irradiation shows effective cytotoxicity against THP1 cells., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the effects of different multi-leaf collimator (MLC) speed constraints in volumetric modulated radiotherapy (VMAT) on the robustness of treatment plans for central lung cancer patients. Method and Materials: Twenty patients with central lung tumor who underwent stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) with the VMAT technique at our hospital were included in this retrospective study. The reference plans were created with 3 different MLC speed constraints (Plan A: 0.1 cm/deg., Plan B: 0.3 cm/deg., and Plan C: 0.5 cm/deg.) with a 50-Gy/8Fr, planning target volume (PTV) D 95% prescription. In each of these plans, setup errors from 1 to 5 mm were intentionally added in the direction of the central organ at 1-mm intervals (300 plans [20 cases × 3 MLC speeds × 5 error plans] were created in total). Each plan was then calculated by the same beam conditions as each reference plan. The actual average MLC speed and dose difference between the reference plan and the error-added plan were then calculated and compared among the 3 MLC speeds. Results: In the reference plans, the actual average MLC speeds were 0.25 ± 0.04, 0.34 ± 0.07, and 0.39 ± 0.12 cm/deg. for Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, respectively ( P  < .05). For PTV and OARs, many dose indices tended to improve as the MLC speed increased, while no significant differences were observed among the 3 MLC speed constraints. However, in assessments of robustness, no significant differences in dose difference were observed among the 3 MLC speed constraints for most of the indices. Conclusions: When necessary, increasing the MLC speed constraint with a priority on improving the quality of the dose distribution is an acceptable approach for central lung cancer patients.

A semi-industrial-scale production route for fine-grained and cube-textured 3% Si-1% Mn steel sheet is introduced. A hot-rolled band about 3-mm thick is subjected to a conventional two-stage cold rolling with an intermediate annealing, resulting in a coil form of the sheet 250-mm wide, 0.35-mm thick, and about 100-m long. The coil is rewound with ceramic fiber paper being inserted alternately. This tight coil is decarburized under a vacuum to develop the {100} cube texture. The magnetization at 1000 A/m, B~o, exceeds 1.85 T for both rolling and transverse directions. The difference of the magnetic properties between the top and the bottom position of the coil is negligible, so that the process is proved to be capable of producing a substantial amount of doubly oriented electrical steel sheets. Index Terms--Cube texture, electrical steel sheet coil, silicon steel.

Hemolytic anemia is a rarely occurring manifestation of native valve infective endocarditis. We herein report an afebrile patient with hemolytic anemia caused by Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis. A 60-year-old Japanese man had a history of aortic root replacement and the gradual onset of general fatigue. He had hemolytic anemia. Blood cultures detected C. hominis. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed aortic valve vegetation and periannular abscess with perforation of the non-coronary cusp. Intravascular hemolysis recovered after antimicrobial therapy, surgical removal of the vegetation and abscess, and aortic valve replacement. Subacute endocarditis should be considered if patients develop hemolytic anemia with signs of chronic inflammation without a fever.

Objective: Anxious distress (ANXD), which is common in major depressive disorder (MDD), is associated with poor outcomes. We investigated clinical characteristics of MDD patients with the DSM-5 ANXD specifier and only mild residual symptoms without comorbid anxiety disorders in the continuation/maintenance phase., Methods: We recruited 110 outpatients with MDD without comorbid anxiety disorders. They were interviewed; the presence of the DSM-5 ANXD specifier was assessed. They completed the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (S-EPQ), the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A)., Results: The mean QIDS total score was 9.7 ± 5.5. The DSM-5 ANXD specifier was identified in 73 patients (66.4%). A univariate analysis indicated ANXD was significantly associated with younger age; unmarried status; living alone; higher QIDS total score; higher S-EPQ neuroticism score; and higher TEMPS-A cyclothymic, depressive and irritable scores. After covariate adjustment, a multivariable linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between the QIDS total score and ANXD (three different models)., Conclusion: The DSM-5 ANXD was also common among MDD patients without comorbid anxiety disorders in the continuation/maintenance phase; it was significantly associated with greater depression severity and might be related to temperament associated with bipolar disorder.Key pointsDSM-5 anxious distress is common among MDD patients without comorbid anxiety disorders in the continuation/maintenance phase and correlated with some of their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. • The presence of DSM-5 anxious distress was significantly associated with greater severity of depression and might be related to temperament associated with bipolar disorder.• The evaluation of the DSM-5 anxiety distress was revealed to have some significance not only in the acute phase but also in the continuation/maintenance phase of MDD.

Objectives: A diagnostic indicator for the differentiation of inverted papillomas (IPs) from inflammatory nasal polyps (NPs) has not been established. This study aimed to evaluate whether CT attenuation values relative to those of the brainstem (relative CT number) could be useful for differentiating IPs from NPs., Material and Methods: Consecutive patients who were pathologically diagnosed with IP or NP between 2005 and 2019 were retrospectively identified. Relative CT numbers were compared between the two patient groups. The factors with predictive power for differentiating IPs from NPs were identified by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses., Results: One hundred and twenty-two sinonasal masses were finally analysed (IP, 51 cases; NP, 71 cases). Relative CT numbers were significantly higher in IP than in NP (P < 0.001). Univariate logistic regression analysis showed relative CT number, bone erosion and bone thickening to have predictive value for differentiating IPs from NPs (relative CT number, P < 0.001; bone erosion, p = 0.04; bone thickening, P < 0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, relative CT number and bone thickening had predictive value for distinguishing IP from NP (relative CT number, p < 0.001; bone thickening, p = 0.02). The optimum cut off value calculation from the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve indicated that a relative CT number >1.3 was significantly associated with IP (sensitivity, 72.6%; specificity, 87.3%). Within cases not showing bone thickening, only the relative CT number was a predictive factor for differentiating IPs from NPs in the univariate analysis., Conclusions: High relative CT numbers could potentially indicate IP, and their measurement could provide a basis for differentiating IPs from NPs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interests All authors declare no financial support or relationship that may pose a conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

To study the specific mechanisms through which progesterone and selective progesterone receptor modulators impact the growth, synthesis, and accumulation of the extracellular matrix in uterine leiomyomas. Laboratory study. Academic Research Institutions. This study involved reproductive-age women diagnosed with infertility associated uterine leiomyomas who underwent myomectomy either after selective progesterone receptor modulator ulipristal acetate (UA) treatment or without any pharmacological pretreatment. Control samples included healthy myometrium tissue (n = 100). Specimens were obtained from the Department of Reproduction and Gynecological Endocrinology and Biobank, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland. Daily (5 mg/d) UA treated for 2 months (n = 100) and untreated (n = 150) patients with uterine leiomyomas or normal healthy myometrium (n = 100) tissue samples immediately after surgery were collected for transcriptional analysis and assessments. Progesterone-induced activation of the signaling pathways related to uterine leiomyomas extracellular matrix synthesis, deposition, and growth, as well as the expression profile of progesterone receptors in uterine leiomyomas, were assessed. The results indicated that progesterone activated the transforming growth factor-β and SMAD3 signaling pathways and promoted proliferation, growth, and extracellular matrix remodeling in uterine leiomyomas by up-regulating SMAD3, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor type 1 and II, Ras homolog A, vascular endothelial growth factor, or increasing the fibrosis-related gene collagen, type I, ɑ-1, and procollagen, type I, ɑ-1 production. In contrast, UA had inhibitory effects on these processes. The study also showed that both nuclear and membrane progesterone receptors play distinct roles in uterine leiomyoma pathobiology. We showed that both nuclear and membrane progesterone receptors were relevant in the treatment of uterine leiomyomas, especially when combined with selective progesterone receptor modulators. Novel therapeutic approaches combining selective progesterone receptor modulators with or without direct and indirect extracellular matrix targeting through selected specifically TGF-β and SMAD3 (SMAD3, TGF-β receptor types 1 and II, Ras homolog A, vascular endothelial growth factor, collagen, type I, ɑ-1) signaling pathways could therefore be a treatment option for uterine leiomyomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since carbon nanotubes and onions were discovered, many methods have been proposed for their production. For applications the main requirements are low capital cost, high purity of the produced material, simplicity of technique, and its potential for scale up. Recently a cathodic arc between two graphitic electrodes immersed in liquids has been demonstrated to be a simple method to produce carbon nanoparticles such as nanotubes and onions. In this paper high-resolution transmission electron microscopy is employed to examine the shape of the nanoparticles and the purity of the final material produced under various conditions. In this study we have used an arc discharge in two different liquids—liquid nitrogen and distilled water—and we have changed the grade of the carbon electrodes. The variety in structure, shape, and size of the produced particles is discussed in line with a model proposed to describe the physical process. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]