Search

To investigate the predictive value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features on the pathologic grade, microvascular invasion (MVI), and cytokeratin-19 (CK19) expression in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), and to evaluate their association with postoperative recurrence of HCC.This retrospective study included 147 patients with surgically confirmed HCCs who underwent gadoxetic-enhanced MRI. The lesions were evaluated quantitatively in terms of the relative enhancement ratio (RER), and qualitatively based on imaging features and clinical parameters. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the value of these parameters in predicting the pathologic grade, MVI, and CK19 in HCC. Predictive factors for postoperative recurrence were determined using a Cox proportional hazards model.Peritumoral enhancement (odds ratio [OR], 3.396; p = 0.025) was an independent predictor of high pathologic grades. Serum protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist (PIVKA) level40 mAU/mL (OR, 3.763; p = 0.018) and peritumoral hypointensity (OR, 4.343; p = 0.003) were independent predictors of MVI. Predictors of CK19 included serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level400 ng/mL (OR, 4.576; p = 0.005), rim enhancement (OR, 5.493; p = 0.024), and lower RER (OR, 0.013; p = 0.011). Peritumoral hypointensity (hazard ratio [HR], 1.957; p = 0.027) and poor pathologic grades (HR, 2.339; p = 0.043) were independent predictors of recurrence.We demonstrated the value of preoperative gadoxetic-enhanced MRI in predicting aggressive pathological features of HCC. Poor pathologic grades and peritumoral hypointensity may independently predict the recurrence of HCC.

Objectives: To assess the predictive value of preoperative gadoxetic acid (GA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and postoperative histopathological grading for early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without microvascular invasion (MVI) after curative hepatectomy. Methods: A total of 85 MVI-negative HCC cases were retrospectively analyzed. Cox analyses were used to identify the independent predictors of early recurrence (within a 24 months span). The clinical prediction Model-1 or Model-2 was established without or with postoperative pathological factor, respectively. Nomogram models were constructed and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the models’ predictive ability. Internal validation of the prediction models for early HCC recurrence was performed using a bootstrap re-sampling approach. Results: In the multivariate cox regression analysis, Edmondson-Steiner grade, peritumoral hypointensity on hepatobiliary phase (HBP), and relative intensity ratio (RIR) in HBP were identified as independent variables associated with early recurrence. The C-index of the nomogram models and internal validation were both between 0.7 and 0.8, showing good model fitting and calibration effects. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.781 for Model-1 based on the two preoperative MRI factors. When a third factor, the Edmondson-Steiner grade, was included (Model-2), the AUC increased to 0.834, and the sensitivity increased from 71.4 to 96.4%. Conclusions: Edmondson-Steiner grade, peritumoral hypointensity on HBP, and RIR on HBP can help predict early recurrence of MVI-negative HCC. In comparison with Model-1 (only imaging features), Model-2 (imaging features + histopathological grades) increases the sensitivity in predicting early recurrence of HCC without MVI. Advances in knowledge: Preoperative GA-enhanced MRI signs are of great value in predicting early postoperative recurrence of HCC without MVI, and a combined pathological model was established to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this technique.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy, and International Staging System (ISS) is used to predict the outcomes of MM patients. However, ISS stage is imperfect, and there might exist other factors correlated with prognosis of MM patients. Expression profiles and clinical information of 340 newly diagnosed MM patients from GEO database and 105 newly diagnosed MM patients from our hospital were analyzed, and LASSO regression was used to screen genes associated with both overall survival and progression-free survival of MM patients. Nomogram was constructed to predict outcomes of MM patients. Then, CCK8 and transwell assays were used to evaluate the proliferation and migration ability of MM cells; flow cytometry was performed to verify whether MM cells underwent necroptosis. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blot were performed to evaluate gene expressions. We found that KIAA1191 was associated with both overall survival and progression-free survival of MM patients. Furthermore, KIAA1191 high expression suppressed the proliferation and migration of MM cells; upregulated the expression of RIP1, RIP3, and CYLD, and restored the TNF-α/z-VAD-induced necroptosis. Besides, KIAA1191 overexpression had a synergistic effect with bortezomib on the proliferation capability of MM cells.

Objective. To improve the diagnostic capacity of serum biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC), we introduced three novel indicators, namely, the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5), stanniocalcin 2 (STC2), and chitinase 3 like 1 (CHI3L1) and assessed their performances in the detection of CRC. Methods. A total of 887 serum samples (153 health, 342 polyps, and 392 CRCs) were collected. Concentrations of CXCL5, STC2, and CHI3L1 were measured by the ELISA. CEA and CA199 were determined by electrochemiluminescence. Binary logistic regression was used to build the combination model. ROC analysis was used to evaluate the performance of biomarkers alone or in combination. Results. Model_2 that based on CXCL5, STC2, and CHI3L1 was the best approach in discriminating CRC from non-CRC controls (AUC, 0.943 (0.922–0.960); sensitivity, 0.848; specificity, 0.917; and accuracy, 0.887 in the training cohort and 0.959 (95% CI 0.927–0.980), 0.878, 0.917, and 0.900 in the testing cohort, respectively). In the detection of early CRC, Model_2 revealed AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.925 (0.897–0.947), 0.793, 0.917, and 0.886 in the training cohort and those of 0.926 (0.979–0.959), 0.786, 0.931, and 0.898 in the testing cohort. Furthermore, Model_2 exhibited an excellent diagnostic performance in CEA-negative cases (0.938 (0.913–0.957), 0.826, 0.917, and 0.888 in the training cohort and 0.961 (0.925–0.983), 0.887, 0.931, and 0.918 in the testing cohort). As used alone, STC2 achieved the capacities that is second only to that of Model_2 (0.866 (0.837–0.892), 0.859, 0.842, and 0.853 in the training cohort and 0.887 (0.842–0.923), 0.922, 0.799, and 0.853 in the testing cohort). STC2 alone also yielded acceptable results for early CRC detection (0.815 (0.776–0.849), 0.767, 0.849, and 0.829 in the training cohort and 0.870 (0.812–0.914), 0.952, 0.799, and 0.833 in the testing cohort). Moreover, STC2 maintained diagnostic accuracy for CRC patients with negative CEA (0.874 (0.842–0.901), 0.862, 0.849, and 0.853 in the training cohort and 0.898 (0.848–0.936), 0.930, 0.801, and 0.842 in the testing cohort). In comparison, the performances of the CEA and CA199 based Model_1 were far from satisfactory, especially in early cases (0.767 (0.726–0.805), 0.491, 0.863, and 0.771 in the training cohort and 0.817 (0.754–0.870), 0.476, 0.889, and 0.796 in the testing cohort). Conclusions. STC2 was a promising serum biomarker for CRC diagnosis either used alone or in combination with CXCL5 and CHI3L1.

Background Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological malignancy. Although proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulators have significantly improved patient outcomes, some patients respond poorly to treatment and almost all patients will relapse. Mechanisms of proteasome inhibitor resistance in multiple myeloma have not been fully elucidated. ZHX2 is a transcription regulator degraded via proteasome and presents both oncogenic or tumor suppressive effect in different cancers, however, it is still unknown that the role of ZHX2 in myeloma. In this study, we aim to demonstrate the effect and mechanism of ZHX2 on proteasome inhibitor resistance in MM. Methods GSE24080 gene expression profile datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analyzed to evaluate the relationship between ZHX2 expression level and survival in MM. Expression of ZHX2 in human MM cell lines at baseline and after bortezomib (BTZ) treatment was determined by Western blotting (WB). The proliferation and apoptosis rate of MM cells treated with BTZ after the knockdown of ZHX2 were analyzed by flow cytometry. Nuclear translocation of NF‐κB after the knockdown of ZHX2 was evaluated by WB and immunofluorescence, and the expression of NF‐κB target genes was measured by real‐time quantitative PCR. Co‐immunoprecipitation (Co‐IP) and WB were used to detect the interaction of ZHX2 with NF‐κB. Results We found that higher ZHX2 expression was correlated with poorer clinical outcomes of patients. In addition, ZHX2 expression was relatively higher in RPMI‐8226 and MM.1S cell lines and the level of ZHX2 protein was upregulated after BTZ treatment. Knockdown of ZHX2 significantly enhanced the sensitivity of MM cells to BTZ, inhibited nuclear translocation of NF‐κB, and reduced mRNA expression of NF‐κB target genes. It was also revealed that ZHX2 directly binds to NF‐κB. Conclusion Our study showed that ZHX2 can promote proteasome inhibitor resistance in MM cells by regulating the nuclear translocation of NF‐κB., In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the effect and mechanism of ZHX2 on proteasome inhibitor resistance in MM. We found that ZHX2 can regulate the nuclear translocation of NF‐κB and is related to myeloma cell resistance to proteasome inhibitor.

Purpose To clarify the role of different cytokines and selenite in the defective necroptotic pathway of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Patients and methods We randomly collected the peripheral blood samples of 11 untreated CLL patients and 10 healthy volunteers, and then separated B lymphocytes from peripheral blood. Then, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western Blot were performed to detect the expression of different cytokines, including CXC-motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL-1). Finally, we used flow cytometry to analyze the percentage of surviving cells to figure out whether CLL cells or normal B lymphocytes underwent necroptosis. Results 1) The high expression of CXCL-1 was seen in CLL cells compared with normal B lymphocytes (p = 0.0001, adjusted p =0.0012); 2) The downregulation of CXCL-1 was shown in normal B lymphocytes after induction by TNF-α and z-VAD; 3) CLL cells could restore necroptosis induced by TNF-α and z-VAD after knockdown of CXCL-1; 4) The transcriptional and translational expression of LEF-1 were downregulated after the knockdown of CXCL-1 in CLL cells; 5. 3.2μM selenite could help CLL cells restore necroptosis (p = 0.0102) and inhibit the transcriptional and translational expression of CXCL-1. Conclusion CXCL-1 played an important role in the defective necroptosis of CLL cells and regulated the expression of LEF-1. Selenite could inhibit the expression of CXCL-1 and help CLL cells restore necroptosis together with TNF-α and z-VAD. Selenite might be the potential medication of CLL in the future.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using the hepatocyte enhancement fraction (HEF) based on gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for assessing the liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Sixty patients with Child–Pugh grade A (CP-A), 18 with Child–Pugh grade B (CP-B), 2 with Child–Pugh grade C (CP-C), and 20 with normal liver function (NLF) were enrolled. Gadolinium ethoxybenzyldiethy-lenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI was conducted. T1 mapping imaging was performed before and 20 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. The pre- and post-contrast T1 values of the liver (T1pre and T1post), increase in the T1 relaxation rate (ΔR1), rate of decrease in the T1 relaxation time (ΔT1), HEF, and uptake coefficient (K) parameters in the NLF, CP-A, and CP-B + CP-C groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance. The effectiveness of each parameter in differentiating the NLF + CP-A group from the CP-B + CP-C group was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The HEF, K, ΔT1, and ΔR1 values decreased, while the T1post and T1pre values increased, with the increase in liver function damage. Significant differences in T1post, ΔT1, ΔR1, and HEF were found between different groups, except for the CP-A and NLF groups. However, no significant difference was observed in the T1pre among the three groups. HEF exhibited the largest area under the ROC curve. The HEF is an effective method for evaluating liver function in patients with hepatitis B.

Immunodeficiencies are widely becoming known as important features of multiple myeloma (MM) and may promote the proliferation of malignant cells as well as confer resistance to therapy. Few studies focus on the immunomodulatory effects of the complement system on MM. This study aims to explore the role of C1q in MM patients. Plasma C1q was found to be significantly reduced in MM patients, and the amount of C1q deposited around the CD138+ cells in bone marrow (BM) biopsy sections was observed to be much higher, especially in the subgroup with 1q21 amplification (Amp1q21). CD138+ cells expressed higher levels of C1q receptors (C1qRs) than CD138− cells. Patients with Amp1q21 expressed higher levels of globular C1qR (gC1qR), whereas patients without Amp21 expressed higher levels of collagen tail C1qR (cC1qR). Additionally, gC1qR was noted to suppress the MM-inhibiting role of C1q in H929, U266, and MM1S. gC1qR interacts with insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 3 (IGF2BP3), which also suppressed the function of C1q and regulated CDC28 protein kinase regulatory subunit 1B (CKS1B) mRNA. In summary, gC1qR suppressed the MM-inhibiting role of C1q and regulated CKS1B mRNA in promoting tumor proliferation via IGF2BP3 in 1q21-amplified MM. Our findings provide novel evidence on how MM cells evade the immune system and promote survival as well as suggest possible novel targets for future therapies of MM.

Purpose This study aimed to assess the use of hepatocyte fraction in gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for quantitatively evaluating the liver function in comparison with T1 relaxation‐based indices. Methods This retrospective study included 79 patients with chronic liver disease, who were divided into 2 groups based on the results of the indocyanine green retention test (ICG). All patients underwent a gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI of the liver. Pre- and post-contrast Look-Locker sequences were used 20 min after gadoxetic acid administration to acquire T1 mapping. Two readers independently identified and measured the MRI parameters [five T1 relaxation‐based indices (T1pre, T1post, rrT1, R1post/R1pre and ΔR1) and two hepatocyte fraction indices (HeF and KHep)]. An Independent-samples t test was used to compare each parameter for the two groups. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correction in each parameter and 15-minute ICG retention rate (ICG-R15). Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to differentiate the diagnostic performance of each parameter in ICG-R15 ≤ 20 % and ICG-R15 > 20 % groups. Results T1pre and T1post were significantly lower in the ICG-R15 ≤ 20 % group than in the ICG-R15 > 20 % group (P 20 % group (P Conclusion Hepatocyte fraction based on gadoxetic acid-enhanced T1-mapping MRI is an efficient diagnostic tool for the quantitative evaluation of liver function.

The protein-coding gene adenosine monophosphate deaminase (AMPD) 2 plays a critical role in energy metabolism by converting adenosine-5-monophosphate (AMP) to iosine inosine-5-monophosphate (IMP). Obesity affects metabolic abnormalities in tumor cells and has been associated with high expression levels of AMPD2 and colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we performed immunohistochemical analysis of AMPD2 expression in 158 patients with CRC. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine AMPD2 mRNA expression levels, which were validated by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to evaluate the correlation between the expression of AMPD2 and clinicopathological parameters of CRC. Overall survival (OS) rates of the CRC patients were calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and a Cox proportional regression model was performed for univariate and multivariate analysis. A logistic regression model was used to plot the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and to evaluate the predictive effect of multivariate studies on prognosis outcomes of CRC. We found a significant increase in AMPD2 expression in tumor tissue (91.8%, 146/158) compared to adjacent normal tissue (52.5%, 83/158, P < 0.01). The positive rate of AMPD2 expression was 72.7% (39/54) in overweight individuals versus 51.9% (54/104) in individuals with a normal weight (P = 0.014). AMPD2 mRNA levels as determined by qRT-PCR elevated levels of AMPD2 transcripts were higher in CRC samples compared to adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.05). In both the TCGA colon adenocarcinoma and rectal adenocarcinoma dataset, the number of CRC patients with increased levels of AMPD2 in tumor tissues was significantly higher compared to patients with adjacent normal tissue (P < 0.001). High expression of AMPD2 was associated with TNM stage, higher histological grade, obesity, and lower OS rates in patients with CRC. Obesity and high expression of AMPD2 in patients are with poor prognosis. Moreover, multivariate analysis indicated that AMPD2 levels and TNM stage were significant independent prognostic factors in CRC patients. The logistic regression predictive effect of the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.821 (P < 0.001). In conclusion, high levels of AMPD2 and obesity are associated with poor prognosis in patients with CRC.

Over the past few decades, matrix factorization has attracted considerable attention for image representation. It is desired for a matrix factorization technique to find the basis that is able to capture highly discriminant information as well as to preserve the intrinsic manifold structure. Besides, the basis has to generate a sparse representation for a given image. In this paper, we propose a matrix factorization method called Sparse concept Discriminant Matrix Factorization (SDMF) by combining a novel fisher-like criterion with the sparse coding. The criterion is discriminant enough across different feature spaces, and meanwhile maintains locally neighboring structures. The proposed method is general for both cases with and without class labels, hence yielding supervised and un-supervised SDMFs. Experimental results show that SDMF provides better representation with higher performance on two tasks (image recognition and clustering) compared with the existing matrix factorization methods.

One of the key issues of face recognition is to extract the features of face images. In this paper, we propose a novel method, named two-dimensional discriminant neighborhood preserving embedding (2DDNPE), for image feature extraction and face recognition. 2DDNPE benefits from four techniques, i.e., neighborhood preserving embedding (NPE), locality preserving projection (LPP), image based projection and Fisher criterion. Firstly, NPE and LPP are two popular manifold learning techniques which can optimally preserve the local geometry structures of the original samples from different angles. Secondly, image based projection enables us to directly extract the optimal projection vectors from twodimensional image matrices rather than vectors, which avoids the small sample size problem as well as reserves useful structural information embedded in the original images. Finally, the Fisher criterion applied in 2DDNPE can boost face recognition rates by minimizing the within-class distance, while maximizing the between-class distance. To evaluate the performance of 2DDNPE, several experiments are conducted on the ORL and Yale face datasets. The results corroborate that 2DDNPE outperforms the existing 1D feature extraction methods, such as NPE, LPP, LDA and PCA across all experiments with respect to recognition rate and training time. 2DDNPE also delivers consistently promising results compared with other competing 2D methods such as 2DNPP, 2DLPP, 2DLDA and 2DPCA.

Kernel Locality Preserving Projection (KLPP) algorithm can effectively preserve the neighborhood structure of the database using the kernel trick. We have known that supervised KLPP (SKLPP) can preserve within-class geometric structures by using label information. However, the conventional SKLPP algorithm endures the kernel selection which has significant impact on the performances of SKLPP. In order to overcome this limitation, a method named supervised kernel optimized LPP (SKOLPP) is proposed in this paper, which can maximize the class separability in kernel learning. The proposed method maps the data from the original space to a higher dimensional kernel space using a data-dependent kernel. The adaptive parameters of the data-dependent kernel are automatically calculated through optimizing an objective function. Consequently, the nonlinear features extracted by SKOLPP have larger discriminative ability compared with SKLPP and are more adaptive to the input data. Experimental results on ORL, Yale, AR, and Palmprint databases showed the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The fast reaction rate between hydrochloric acid and carbonates causes the most acid consumption near the wells, and the acid cannot penetrate the deeper places of the carbonate reservoir; this limits the application of acidizing modifications for the reservoir. In this study, we chose acrylamide, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), allyl alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (APEG), and N-dimethyl-N-vinyl nonadecan-1-aminium chloride (DMAAC-18) to synthesize a quadripolymer (MCJS) that could reduce the reaction rate mentioned previously. The molecular structure of MCJS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of MCJS was determined by gel permeation chromatography. Carbonate rock was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The retarding properties of the acid mixed with MCJS (MCJS acid) were investigated, and the resulting reaction rate between the acid and carbonate decreased obviously, even at a low viscosity. Scanning electron microscopy and core flood experiments showed that the MCJS could be adsorbed on the carbonate rock surface and form a hydrated film that delayed the reaction. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41471.

A CO2-switchable polymer surfactant was synthesized with 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and butyl methacrylate. The conductivity, ζ potential, and particle size change illustrated the switchability of the surfactant, and this change could be repeated. Its surface tension decreased sharply when the sample was bubbled with CO2; this indicated the enhancement of the surface activity. In the heavy-oil emulsion with a surfactant concentration of 8 g/L, the viscosity almost reached the highest stability. When CO2 overflowed the emulsion, it became unstable when the temperature beyond 40°C. The emulsion had a nice resistance to inorganic salt, which was maintained stably even when the concentration of NaCl was as high as 90,000 ppm. The emulsion could later be broken by the removal of CO2. Its hydration rate was over 22 times faster than that in the presence of CO2. The amount of residual oil in water was only about 53.84 ppm; this showed a good demulsification ability. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41307.

A series of copolymers PDAMs were synthesized with varying monomer ratio of acrylamide (AM) and N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The resulting copolymer solution shows an interesting property of viscosity-response which is CO2-triggered and N2-enabled. Tertiary amine groups of PDAMs experience a reversible transition between hydrophobic and hydrophilic state upon CO2 addition and its removal, which induced different rheological behavior. A combination of zeta-potential, laser particle-size analysis, and electrical conductivity analysis indicated that, when the monomer mole ratio of DMAEMA and AM is less than or equal to 3 : 7, the hydrophobic association structure between the copolymer molecules was destroyed by the leading of CO2 and caused a viscosity decrease in its solution. On the contrary, when the monomer mole ratio of DMAEMA and AM is more than 3 : 7, a more extended conformation due to the protonated tertiary amine groups is formed and the enhanced repulsive interactions among the copolymer molecule results in a rise of its solution viscosity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40872.

To assess the diagnostic value of hepatobiliary phase imaging with GD-EOB-DTPA for hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) in cirrhosis.A total of 43 cirrhotic patients with 45 HCC lesions underwent the examinations of T2WI, DWI, T1WI in-phase and opposed-phase and dynamic contrast enhancement and hepatobiliary phase. Two separate analyses of imaging set with and without hepatobiliary phase images were performed. The confidence scores for HCC diagnosis, consistency, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and sensitivity and positive predictive values of two observers were compared.After adding hepatobiliary phase, there was a significant increase of confidence scores in diagnosing HCC by both observers (P0.05) and the consistency of two observers also increased. The area under the ROC curve improved by both observers, but no significant differences were detected (P0.05). The sensitivity increased significantly (P0.05) and no significant differences were observed for the positive predictive values by both observers (P0.05).Hepatobiliary phase imaging may improve the diagnostic confidence and sensitivity of GD-EOB-DTPA for HCC in cirrhosis.