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Edible insects, characterized by their eco-friendly nature and high nutrient value, are promising protein sources. Therefore, we aimed to assess the suitability of insects as source ingredients for surimi, a widely-used, intermediate food material. Mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor L.) and two-spotted cricket ( Gryllus bimaculatus L.) surimi were prepared, and their physicochemical and rheological properties were examined. Myofibrillar protein-rich fractions were obtained using the washing and pH shift methods. For the pH shift method, the myofibrillar proteins were extracted at acid (pH 2) or alkaline (pH 11) conditions, and surimi gel was prepared by heating myofibrillar protein-rich fractions. The pH shift method resulted in a higher surimi yield from edible insects than the washing method, whereas the washing method resulted in a higher surimi yield from tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) and chicken breast ( Gallus gallus domesticus ). After acid treatment, lipid oxidation increased in all samples; however, edible insect surimi exhibited lower oxidation levels than tilapia and chicken breast surimi. Insect proteins, except for acid-treated mealworm proteins, successfully formed gel structures upon heating, resulting in softer gels than those obtained from tilapia and chicken breast. Consequently, the pH shift method resulted in elevated insect surimi yield, and the alkaline treatment was more appropriate for producing fine-quality edible insect surimi. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of edible insects as surimi ingredients, particularly for soft-gel food production. These findings emphasize the innovative application of edible insects in the food industry, suggesting the possibility of expanding their use as alternative protein food ingredients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Oxygen evolution reaction is a pivotal anodic reaction for electrolysis, however, it remains the obstacle from its sluggish reaction kinetics originating from multiple electron transfer pathways at electrochemical interfaces. Especially, it remains a challenge to achieve stable operation at elevated current densities as electrodes suffer oxidative environment in corrosive conditions. Herein, we report that the conducting polymer polypyrrole electrodeposited Pr 0.7 Sr 0.3 CoO 3 perovskite oxides for durable oxygen evolution electrodes. We found that the conducting polymer electrodeposited oxides exhibited a highly durable electrochemical oxygen evolution performance maintaining >99 % of initial activities during the accelerated durability test. Meanwhile, bare metal oxides presented significant performance drops (<6 % of initial activities) over the consecutive 20,000 accelerated durability test. High-resolution transmission electron microscope images identified the maintenance of high crystallinity of the heterostructure, suggesting that the electrodeposited pPy clusters can effectively delocalize highly polarized electrodes preventing material corrosion. The overall water electrolysis experiments further demonstrated that the heterostructure showed excellent stability at the high current density of 100 mA cm -2 over 700 hours. This marks the first report of the delocalized polarization benefiting from conducting polymers for durable oxygen evolution for perovskite oxides, suggesting great potential for scalable water electrolysis., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Graphitic carbon exhibits distinctive characteristics that can be modulated by varying the number of carbon layers. Here, we developed a method to control the growth of graphitic carbon layers through pyrolysis of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs). The key is to pyrolyze hollow-structured ZIF-8 containing Co ions to simultaneously obtain an amorphous carbon source for graphitic carbons and Co metal nanoparticles for catalyzing graphitization of amorphous carbons. Owing to sparsely distributed Co ions within ZIF-8, Co nanoparticles are formed, which leads to localized graphitization. The graphitic carbon obtained contained two to five layers, unlike carbonized ZIF-67. The few-layered graphitic carbon was subjected to KOH activation and employed as a support for atomic-sized Co(OH) 2 owing to the short routes for Co nanoparticle egress and OH - ion movement. Our strategy does not involve any highly corrosive process for catalyst leaching and can even be used to produce atomic-sized Co(OH) 2 with few-layered graphitic carbons., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The growing interest in healthy diets has driven the demand for food ingredients with enhanced health benefits. In this study, we aimed to explore a method to enhance the bioactivity of kale using a home vertical farming appliance. Specifically, we investigated the effects of treating kale with a green tea water extract (GTE; 0.1-0.5 g/L in nutrient solution) for two weeks before harvest during five weeks of kale cultivation. GTE treatment did not negatively affect the key quality attributes, such as yield, semblance, or sensory properties. However, it led to the accumulation of bioactive compounds, epicatechin (EC) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which are typically absent in kale. In the control group, no catechins were detected, whereas in the GTE-treated group, the concentration of EC and EGCG were as high as 252.11 and 173.26 μg/g, respectively. These findings indicate the successful incorporation of catechins, known for their unique health-promoting properties, into kale. Additionally, GTE treatment enhanced the biosynthesis of glucosinolates, which are key secondary metabolites of kale. The total glucosinolate content increased from 9.56 μmol/g in the control group to 16.81 μmol/g in the GTE-treated group (treated with 0.5 g/L GTE). These findings showed that GTE treatment not only enriched kale with catechins, the primary bioactive compounds in green tea but also increased the levels of glucosinolates. This study, conducted using a home vertical farming appliance, suggests that bioactivity-enhanced kale can be grown domestically, providing consumers with a nutrient-fortified food source., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The development of molecular imaging probes to identify key cellular changes within lung metastases may lead to noninvasive detection of metastatic lesions in the lung. In this study, we constructed a macrophage-targeted clickable albumin nanoplatform (CAN) decorated with mannose as the targeting ligand using a click reaction to maintain the intrinsic properties of albumin in vivo . We also modified the number of mannose molecules on the CAN and found that mannosylated serum albumin (MSA) harboring six molecules of mannose displayed favorable pharmacokinetics that allowed high-contrast imaging of the lung, rendering it suitable for in vivo visualization of lung metastases. Due to the optimized control of functionalization and surface modification, MSA enhanced blood circulation time and active/passive targeting abilities and was specifically incorporated by mannose receptor (CD206)-expressing macrophages in the metastatic lung. Moreover, extensive in vivo imaging studies using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT and positron emission tomography (PET) revealed that blood circulation of time-optimized MSA can be used to discern metastatic lesions, with a strong correlation between its signal and metastatic burden in the lung.

Based on the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG)-Z0011, a useful nomogram has been constructed to identify patients who do not require intraoperative frozen sections to evaluate sentinel lymph nodes in the previous study. This study investigated the developed nomogram by ultrasonography (US) and positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) as a modality. In the training set, 89/1030 (8.6%) patients had three or more positive nodes. Larger tumor size, higher grade ultrasonographic ALN classification, and findings suspicious of positive ALN on PET/CT were associated in multivariate analysis. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the nomogram were 0.856 [95% CI 0.815-0.897] in the training set. The AUC in the validation set was 0.866 [95% CI 0.799-0.934]. Application of the nomogram to 1067 patients who met the inclusion criteria of ACOSOG-Z0011 showed that 90 (8.4%) patients had scores above the cut-off and a false-negative result was 37 (3.8%) patients. And the specificity was 93.8%, and the negative predictive value was 96.4%. The upgraded nomogram improved the predictive accuracy, using only US and PET/CT. This nomogram is useful for identifying patients who do not require intraoperative analysis of sentinel lymph nodes and considering candidates for identifying neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The patients consisted of clinical T1-2 and node-negative invasive breast cancer. The training and validation set consisted of 1030 and 781 patients, respectively. A nomogram was constructed by analyzing factors related to three or more axillary lymph node metastases. The patients who matched the ACOSOG-Z0011 criteria were selected and applied to the new nomogram., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Supercapacitors are promising energy storage devices with high charging/discharging speeds and power densities. To improve their poor stability, we fabricated electrodes by integrating perovskite materials (La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Mn 0.5 Co 0.5 O 3-δ , LSMCO) possessing redox reaction ability with graphene nanoplatelets exhibiting good electronic properties. One of the resultant composites (L25G70) demonstrated high capacitance and excellent capacitance retention (95% after 5000 cycles). These results are superior to other electrodes (L50G45 and L75G20) containing a larger ratio of LSMCO, even L75G20 did not exhibit supercapacitor behavior after 3000 cycles. GN can induce structural distortion in LSMCO, thereby the high amount of adsorbed oxygen per lattice oxygen can explain the best electrochemical performance of L25G70, while structural collapse rationalized the failure of L75G20. The findings of this study demonstrated that the use of LSMCO can improve the cycling stability of supercapacitors., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Many stroke survivors live with disabilities in the community. This study aimed to investigate the causes and trends of disabilities among community-dwelling stroke survivors. A total of 1547 community-dwelling stroke survivors ≥ 19 years were identified using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) database from 2007 to 2018. We analyzed the causes and trends of disabilities in strokes survivors using complex-samples procedures. During 2007-2018, 38.0% of stroke survivors were found to have disabilities. Stroke itself was the most common cause of disabilities (21.3%). Musculoskeletal (back or neck problems, 7.0%; arthritis, 5.7%; and leg pain excluding arthritis, 2.3%), sensory (visual problems, 3.6%; and auditory problems, 1.4%), and medical problems (diabetes 2.6%; hypertension, 2.3%; heart disease, 1.5%) accounted for the rest of the other causes of disabilities. Upon analyzing the trends, we found that both the proportion of stroke survivors with disabilities and that of stroke survivors with stroke-related disabilities decreased from KNHANES IV (2007-2009) to V (2010-2012). After 2010-2012, the proportion of both groups stayed constant. The burden of disabilities in non-hospitalized stroke survivors has decreased but still remains high. Attention is warranted because many other problems than a stroke can cause disabilities in community-dwelling stroke survivors., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The corresponding author of this manuscript is an editor of Brain & NeuroRehabilitation. The corresponding author did not engage in any part of the review and decision-making process for this manuscript. The other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022. Korean Society for Neurorehabilitation.)

The spatial tumor shape is determined by the complex interactions between tumor cells and their microenvironment. Here, we investigated the role of a newly identified breast cancer-related gene, calsequestrin 2 (CASQ2), in tumor-microenvironment interactions during tumor growth and metastasis. We analyzed gene expression and three-dimensional tumor shape data from the breast cancer dataset of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and identified CASQ2 as a potential regulator of tumor-microenvironment interaction. In TCGA breast cancer cases containing information of three-dimensional tumor shapes, CASQ2 mRNA showed the highest correlation with the spatial tumor shapes. Furthermore, we investigated the expression pattern of CASQ2 in human breast cancer tissues. CASQ2 was not detected in breast cancer cell lines in vitro but was induced in the xenograft tumors and human breast cancer tissues. To evaluate the role of CASQ2, we established CASQ2-overexpressing breast cancer cell lines for in vitro and in vivo experiments. CASQ2 overexpression in breast cancer cells resulted in a more aggressive phenotype and altered epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in vitro. CASQ2 overexpression induced cancer-associated fibroblast characteristics along with increased hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) expression in stromal fibroblasts. CASQ2 overexpression accelerated tumorigenesis, induced collagen structure remodeling, and increased distant metastasis in vivo. CASQ2 conferred more metaplastic features to triple-negative breast cancer cells. Our data suggest that CASQ2 is a key regulator of breast cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis by modulating diverse aspects of tumor-microenvironment interactions., (© 2021 The Authors. Molecular Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is one of most serious fungal diseases on Chinese fir ( Cunninghamia lanceolata ). Eight fungal endophytes were isolated from a young heathy branch of Chinese fir and screened against the pathogen in vitro. One isolate, designated as SMEL1 and subsequently identified as Epicoccum dendrobii based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses, suppressed mycelial growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on dual-culture plates. Additionally, E. dendrobii metabolites significantly decreased the biomass of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides . E. dendrobii was able to enter the internal tissues of the host plant via stomatal cells. Metabolites of E. dendrobii significantly inhibited conidial germination and appressorium formation, which at least partly explained why the endophyte significantly inhibited lesion development caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on various host plants. We further confirmed that some components with antifungal activity could be extracted from E. dendrobii using ethyl acetate as an organic solvent. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. dendrobii as a potential biocontrol agent against a fungal phytopathogen.

Purpose: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has become a standard axillary staging surgery for early breast cancer, and the proportion of patients requiring axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is decreasing. We aimed to evaluate the association between the number of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) retrieved and the risk of lymphedema of the ipsilateral arm., Methods: Prospectively collected medical records of 910 patients were reviewed. Lymphedema was defined as a difference in circumference > 2 cm compared to the contralateral arm and/or having clinical records of lymphedema treatment in the rehabilitation clinic., Results: Together with an objective and subjective assessment of lymphedema, 36 patients (6.1%) had lymphedema in the SLNB group and 85 patients (27.0%) had lymphedema in the ALND group ( p < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis of the whole cohort, risk factors significantly associated risk with the development of lymphedema were body mass index, mastectomy (vs. breast-conserving surgery), ALND, and radiation therapy. In logistic regression models in the SLNB group only, there was no correlation between the number of retrieved SLNs and the incidence of lymphedema. In addition, in the Pearson correlation analysis, no correlation was observed between the number of retrieved SLNs and the difference in circumference between the ipsilateral and contralateral upper extremities (correlation coefficients = 0.067, p =0.111)., Conclusion: The risk of lymphedema in breast cancer surgery and adjuvant treatments is multifactorial. The number of retrieved lymph nodes during sentinel biopsy was not associated with the incidence of lymphedema., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2021 Korean Breast Cancer Society.)

The preparation of high-density tailings is a prerequisite for cemented paste backfill technology, and the flocculated fine tailings of sealed water leads to challenges in the slurry thickening of tailings. Shearing conditions can compact the micro floc structure to improve the underflow concentration. The nm-μm scales of pore characteristics and connectivity are essential for the dewatering process. The computed tomography (CT) results show that the underflow concentration increases from 62.3 wt% to 68.6 wt% after undergoing rake shearing at 2 rpm, and the porosity decreases from 42.7% to 35.54%. The shearing conditions reduces the spheres and sticks by 43.14% and 43.3%, respectively, from the pore network model (PNM). The seepage flow states were affected by the changes in the pore structure. The maximum surface velocity and the maximum internal pressure decrease after undergoing shearing. Shearing conditions can break the micro floc structures, and the fine particles can fill in the micron-scale pores by gravity and shearing conditions, resulting in the forced drainage of water into the pores. Shearing conditions can break the thickening floc network structures; natural fine particles can fill the micron-scale pores by gravity and shearing conditions. The upward seepage of sealed water along the μm-scale pore channel causes a higher bed concentration. However, the sealed water in the nm-scale pores cannot flow upward due to water cohesion and particle adhesion resistance.

Understanding the controls on composition changes and porosity evolution in the critical zone of shale remains a major challenge. The aim of the present study is to develop a model of the changes in mineral compositions, chemical compositions and nanopore formation in shale during the initial weathering stage. To understand these processes, we selected a Silurian shale profile rich in pyrite and organic matter located in South China. Based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) and bulk elemental data, the variations in mineralogical and chemical compositions with depth were studied. To characterize the full pore size spectrum and to gain insight into the nature of secondary pores and their relationship with weathering, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements and petrographic observations were combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. The results show that Al and K are enriched slightly, while Ca and Na are depleted in the upper part of the weathering profile. Si, Mn and Ti are relatively stable from the bottom to the top of the profile. Quartz, feldspar, mica, illite and chlorite are the main minerals in the parent rock, and they are relatively stable along the profile. The rock density gradually decreases from 2.6 g/cm³ to 2.1 g/cm³ from the bottom to the top, and the color of the shales changes from black to grayish yellow, but no secondary minerals are detected. The chemical weathering of black shale is dominated by the oxidation of pyrite and organic matter, giving rise to color variation and nanopore formation. The increase in interparticle pores at the nanometer-micron scale is initiated by the dissolution of easily weathered components such as organic matter and pyrite. The removal of clay minerals and tiny particles by groundwater seepage may be the main cause of porosity enhancement during the initial weathering stage. This study suggests that nanoporosity may play an important role in the process of fluid-rock interaction within black shale during the initial weathering stage.

Background: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are the preferred endocrine treatment for postmenopausal hormonal receptor-positive breast cancer. However, there is controversy on the long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular safety of AIs over that of tamoxifen., Methods: We analyzed the National Health Information Database (NHID) of 281,255 women over a 20-year-old diagnosed with breast cancer between 2009 and 2016. Cardiovascular events (CVEs) were defined as the development of the following, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, defined by using insurance claim records. The model was constructed by Cox proportional hazard regression and this model was used to analyze the effects of AI and tamoxifen on CVE., Results: We included 47,569 women for the final analysis. Patients were classified into 'No hormonal treatment (n = 18,807), 'Switch (n = 2097)', 'Tamoxifen (n = 7081)' and 'AI (n = 19,584)'. There were 2147 CVEs in 2032 patients (4.1%). Univariate analysis showed that women with tamoxifen had significantly lower risk for CVEs compared to no-treatment (hazard ratio (HR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74-0.97) while AI showed no such effect (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.84-1.02). After adjusting for other risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, family history), the use of tamoxifen was associated with significant protective effect against ACS (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.47-0.84)., Conclusions: Our results, based on the NHID, supports the protective effect of tamoxifen against CVE in Korean breast cancer patients aged 55 and older that is not seen with AIs. Our results can guide the selection of adjuvant hormonal treatment agents for Korean breast cancer patients based on their risk of developing CVE., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors indicated no potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

We investigated the relationship between the prognostic importance of anatomic tumour burden and subtypes of breast cancer using data from the Korean Breast Cancer Registry Database. In HR+/HER2+ and HR-/HER2-tumours, an increase in T stage profoundly increased the hazard of death, while the presence of lymph node metastasis was more important in HR+/HER2+ and HR-/HER2+ tumours among 131,178 patients with stage I-III breast cancer. The patterns of increasing mortality risk and tumour growth (per centimetre) and metastatic nodes (per node) were examined in 67,038 patients with a tumour diameter ≤ 7 cm and < 8 metastatic nodes. HR+/HER2- and HR-/HER2- tumours showed a persistent increase in mortality risk with an increase in tumour diameter, while the effect was modest in HER2+ tumours. Conversely, an increased number of metastatic nodes was accompanied by a persistently increased risk in HR-/HER2+ tumours, while the effect was minimal for HR-/HER2- tumours with > 3 or 4 nodes. The interactions between the prognostic significance of anatomic tumour burden and subtypes were significant. The prognostic relevance of the anatomic tumour burden was non-linear and highly dependent on the subtypes of breast cancer.

Purpose: Accurate prediction of pathologic complete response (pCR) in breast cancer using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US)-guided biopsy may aid in selecting patients who forego surgery for breast cancer. We evaluated the accuracy of US-guided biopsy aided by MRI in predicting pCR in the breast after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC)., Methods: After completion of NAC, 40 patients with near pCR (either tumor size ≤ 0.5 cm or lesion-to-background signal enhancement ratio (L-to-B SER) ≤ 1.6 on MRI) and no diffused residual microcalcifications were prospectively enrolled at a single institution. US-guided multiple core needle biopsy (CNB) or vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB) of the tumor bed, followed by standard surgical excision, was performed. Matched biopsy and surgical specimens were compared to assess pCR. The negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, and false-negative rate (FNR) were analyzed., Results: pCR was confirmed in 27 (67.5%) surgical specimens. Preoperative biopsy had an NPV, accuracy, and FNR of 87.1%, 90.0%, and 30.8%, respectively. NPV for hormone receptor-negative and hormone receptor-positive tumors were 83.3% and 100%, respectively. Obtaining at least 5 biopsy cores based on tumor size ≤ 0.5 cm and an L-to-B SER of ≤ 1.6 on MRI (27 patients) resulted in 100% NPV and accuracy. No differences in accuracy were noted between CNB and VAB (90% vs. 90%)., Conclusions: Investigation using stringent MRI criteria and ultrasound-guided biopsy could accurately predict patients with pCR after NAC. A larger prospective clinical trial evaluating the clinical safety of breast surgery omission after NAC in selected patients will be conducted based on these findings.

As current therapies benefit only a minority of cancer patients, additional therapeutic targets are needed. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) have attracted attention for improving therapeutic responses, yet regulatory strategies remain elusive. Here, we show that the protein kinase A catalytic subunit (PKA-C) acts as a molecular switch, inducing a pro-tumoral immunosuppressive macrophage phenotype within tumors. In human and murine breast cancer, overactivated PKA in TAMs creates a detrimental microenvironment for cancer progression by inducing vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and macrophage-derived arginase 1 (ARG1) expression. Macrophages with genetic deletion of PKA-C are prone to be pro-inflammatory, suggesting a possible immunotherapeutic target. Delivery of liposomal PKA inhibitor facilitates tumor regression and abrogates pro-tumoral TAM functions in mice. The therapeutic effect of targeting PKA is pronounced when combined with αCTLA-4 antibody, increasing cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8) + GranzymeB + T cells by about 60-fold. Our findings demonstrate critical roles of TAM PKA-C in tumor progression and suggest that targeting PKA-C efficiently augments cancer treatment responses., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Paclitaxel is a cytotoxic chemotherapy commonly used in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC); however, the resistance to paclitaxel is a cause of poor response in the patients. The aim of this study was to examine the role of protein phosphatase 1H (PPM1H) in paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer patients., Methods: To investigate the function of PPM1H in paclitaxel treatment, we conducted in vitro assays and molecular experiments using a stable cell line (MDA-MB-231) in which PPM1H is overexpressed. We also performed molecular analyses on patient tissue samples. Molecular expression related to PPM1H in breast cancer patients was analyzed using TCGA data., Results: We investigated whether PPM1H was associated with paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer. PPM1H expression was upregulated in breast cancer cells treated with paclitaxel. We also observed that overexpression of PPM1H in breast cancer cells resulted in increased sensitivity to paclitaxel in vitro . Additionally, paclitaxel treatment induced dephosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p27 (p27), which was more evident in PPM1H-overexpressing cells. To understand how upregulation of PPM1H increases paclitaxel sensitivity, we determined the levels of p27, phospho-p27, and CDK2, since CDK2 exerts antagonistic effects against PPM1H on p27 phosphorylation. The patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors that did not respond to paclitaxel showed increased levels of CDK2 and phospho-p27 and decreased levels of total p27 compared to the other breast tumor tissues. The use of dinaciclib, a selective CDK inhibitor, significantly inhibited tumor growth in the PDX model., Conclusion: CDK2 kinase activity was significantly upregulated in basal breast cancer tumors and was negatively correlated with p27 protein levels in the TCGA breast cancer dataset, suggesting that targeting CDK2 may be an effective treatment strategy for TNBC patients., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2020 Korean Breast Cancer Society.)

Purpose: To investigate the prognostic influence of Korean public medical insurance system on breast cancer patients., Methods: Data of 1,068 patients with primary invasive breast cancer were analyzed. Korean public medical insurance status was classified into 2 groups: National Health Insurance and Medical Aid. Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox proportional hazards model were used for survival analysis., Results: The Medical Aid group showed worse prognoses compared to the National Health Insurance group both in overall survival (P = 0.001) and recurrence-free survival (P = 0.006). The Medical Aid group showed higher proportion of patients with tumor size > 2 cm (P = 0.022), more advanced stage (P = 0.039), age > 50 years (P = 0.003), and low education level (P = 0.003). The Medical Aid group showed higher proportion of patients who received mastectomy (P < 0.001) and those who received no radiation therapy (P = 0.013). The Medical Aid group showed a higher rate of distant recurrence (P = 0.014) and worse prognosis for the triple negative subtype (P = 0.006). Medical insurance status was a significant independent prognostic factor in both univariate analysis and multivariate analysis., Conclusion: The Medical Aid group had worse prognosis compared to the National Health Insurance group. Medical insurance status was a strong independent prognostic factor in breast cancer. Unfavorable clinicopathologic features could explain the worse prognosis for the Medical Aid group. Careful consideration should be given to medical insurance status as one of important prognostic factors for breast cancer patients., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

In this study, we devised a method to bond thermoelectric elements directly to copper electrodes by plating indium with a relatively low melting point. A coating of indium, ~30 μm in thickness, was fabricated by electroplating the surface of a Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric element with a nickel diffusion barrier layer. They were then subjected to direct thermocompression bonding at 453 K on a hotplate for 10 min at a pressure of 1.1 kPa. Scanning electron microscopy images confirmed that a uniform bond was formed at the copper electrode/thermoelectric element interface, and the melted/solidified indium layer was defect free. Thus, the proposed novel method of fabricating a thermoelectric module by electroplating indium on the surface of the thermoelectric element and directly bonding with the copper electrode can be used to obtain a uniformly bonded interface even at a relatively low temperature without the use of solder pastes.

In this study, electrolytic etching, anodic oxidation, and copper electroplating were applied to aluminum to produce a plate on which a copper circuit for a thermoelectric module was formed. An oxide film insulating layer was formed on the aluminum through anodic oxidation, and platinum was coated by sputtering to produce conductivity. Finally, copper electroplating was performed directly on the substrate. In this structure, the copper plating layer on the insulating layer served as a conductive layer in the circuit. The adhesion of the copper plating layer was improved by electrolytic etching. As a result, the thermoelectric module fabricated in this study showed excellent adhesion and good insulation characteristics. It is expected that our findings can contribute to the manufacture of plates applicable to thermoelectric modules with high dissipation performance.

In perovskites, exsolution of transition metals has been proposed as a smart catalyst design for energy applications. Although there exist transition metals with superior catalytic activity, they are limited by their ability to exsolve under a reducing environment. When a doping element is present in the perovskite, it is often observed that the surface segregation of the doping element is changed by oxygen vacancies. However, the mechanism of co-segregation of doping element with oxygen vacancies is still an open question. Here we report trends in the exsolution of transition metal (Mn, Co, Ni and Fe) on the PrBaMn 2 O 5+δ layered perovskite oxide related to the co-segregation energy. Transmission electron microscopic observations show that easily reducible cations (Mn, Co and Ni) are exsolved from the perovskite depending on the transition metal-perovskite reducibility. In addition, using density functional calculations we reveal that co-segregation of B-site dopant and oxygen vacancies plays a central role in the exsolution.

An activated carbon nanofiber (CNF) is prepared with incorporated Fe-N-doped graphene nanoplatelets (Fe@NGnPs), via a novel and simple synthesis approach. The activated CNF-Fe@NGnP catalysts exhibit substantially improved activity for the oxygen reduction reaction compared to those of commercial carbon blacks and Pt/carbon catalysts.

The effects of metal choice on the electrochemical performance of oxygen-shuttle metal-air batteries with Ca-stabilized ZrO2 (CSZ) as the electrolyte and various metals as the anodes were studied at 1073 K. The equilibrium oxygen partial pressure (P O 2) in the anode chamber was governed by the metal used in the anode chamber. A lower-P O 2 environment in the anode decreased the polarization resistance of the anode. The oxidation of oxide ions to oxygen in the anode is drastically enhanced by the n-type conduction generated in the CSZ electrolyte when it is exposed to a reducing atmosphere. A high discharge potential and high capacity can be achieved in an oxygen-shuttle battery with a Li or Mg anode because of the fast anode reaction compared to that of cells with a Zn, Fe, or Sn anode. However, only the mildly reducing metals (Zn, Si, Fe, and Sn) can potentially be used in rechargeable metal-air batteries because the transport number of the CSZ electrolyte must be unity during charge and discharge. Oxygen shuttle rechargeable batteries with Fe, and Sn electrodes are demonstrated., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Aiming to discuss the change characteristic of macromolecular structures of high rank coal in different rheological conditions, the high rank undeformed coal from southern Qinshui basin and the coal after variable temperature and variable pressure rheology experiments were investigated and analyzed in detail through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and laser Raman spectra analysis. The result shows that the texture and composition of different types of rheological coals under different temperature and pressure exhibit significant differences. Experiments of variable temperature and pressure of high rank coal (temperature: 300-400 °C, confining pressure: 50-100 MPa, strain: less than 10% and strain rate: 10(-4)-10(-7) · s(-1) will distort their macromolecular structures and recombine the chemistry structures. When the temperature is 300 °C or 350 °C, the high rank coal generates brittle or brittle-ductile rheology easily, mechanical energy transforms to heat energy, some branches and functional groups with weaker bond energy break and fall off, which split as dissociative micromolecule, with stress degradation as principal role, and stress polycondensation occurs with aromatic, texture increasing. When the temperature is up to 400 °C, ductile rheology of the high rank coal occurs with the secondary defects increasing, mechanical energy transforms to strain energy which helps the early shedding small molecules be embedded or adsorbed in the defect or on the surface of macromolecular preferentially and change the aliphatic and aromatic structures. It is affected by stress degradation and polycondensation progress, and the latter is dominated. The confining pressure and water injection of coal do not have much effect on the macromolecular structure obviously.

Hydrocarbon generation and structural evolution would be occurred in the process of from coal-forming material (i. e. peat sample) transforming to the coal. While Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) have a special advantages in analyzing molecular structure of samples. For understanding the characteristics of hydrocarbon generation and structural evolution of coal-forming material during the process of pyrolysis and microbial degradation, based on the physical simulation experiments of closed pyrolysis and anaerobic microbial degradation, the generation potential of thermogenic gas and biogenic gas were studied in this paper, and characteristics of molecular structure evolution and its mechanism was analyzed by FTIR technology. Results show that cumulative gas yields of hydrocarbon gases (mainly for methane) increased with experiment temperature. The gas yield of non-hydrocarbon gas (mainly for CO2) exhibited two peaks at 250 and 375 degrees C. The degradation ability of anaerobe on coal samples weakened with the maturity increasing and there was no gas generation on the pyrolysis samples with maturity from 1.6% to 1.8%. After pyrolysis, the content of hydroxyl in peat sample decreased first and then increased with the pyrolysis temperature increasing. The content of aldehyde carbonyl, methylene and phosphate reduced. The content of aromatic esters decreased with nonlinear. The bone of S-O in stretching vibration appeared after 350 degrees C and its content increased with temperature. This shows that the sulfocompound restrains the activity of methanogenic bacteria. After degradation by anaerobe, the relative content of hydroxyl, aldehyde carbonyl, aromatic esters, methylene and phosphate in peat sample dropped significantly. It is shown that the intermolecular force between these groups weakened.

Background: The relationship between fat distribution and lymph node metastasis has not been well studied. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of visceral obesity on lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer., Materials and Methods: Metastatic lymph node ratio (MLR) was defined as the number of involved nodes by tumor divided by the total number of resected lymph nodes. Visceral (VFA) and subcutaneous fat areas (SFA) were determined by measuring abdominal fat volume distribution via CT scan, and visceral obesity was defined as a VFA to total fat area ratio (V/T) >0.29., Results: With lymph node metastasis as a dependent variable, the following factors were significant in multivariate analysis among 495 patients: pathologic T stage (P < 0.001), lympho-vascular invasion (P < 0.001), and V/T (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.455, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.263-0.786, P = 0.005). Similarly, when MLR was the dependent variable in multivariate analysis, MLR was significantly associated with lympho-vascular invasion (HR = 2.222, 95 % CI = 1.149-4.296, P = 0.018), and V/T (HR = 0.247, 95 % CI = 0.133-0.458, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Visceral obesity defined by higher visceral to total fat area ratio was significantly associated with decreased MLR.

Different layered perovskite-related oxides are known to exhibit important electronic, magnetic and electrochemical properties. Owing to their excellent mixed-ionic and electronic conductivity and fast oxygen kinetics, cation layered double perovskite oxides such as PrBaCo2O5 in particular have exhibited excellent properties as solid oxide fuel cell oxygen electrodes. Here, we show for the first time that related layered materials can be used as high-performance fuel electrodes. Good redox stability with tolerance to coking and sulphur contamination from hydrocarbon fuels is demonstrated for the layered perovskite anode PrBaMn2O5+δ (PBMO). The PBMO anode is fabricated by in situ annealing of Pr0.5Ba0.5MnO3-δ in fuel conditions and actual fuel cell operation is demonstrated. At 800 °C, layered PBMO shows high electrical conductivity of 8.16 S cm(-1) in 5% H2 and demonstrates peak power densities of 1.7 and 1.3 W cm(-2) at 850 °C using humidified hydrogen and propane fuels, respectively.

Renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower or geothermal energy have attracted significant attention in recent years. Renewable energy sources have to match supply with demand, therefore it is essential that energy storage devices (e.g., secondary batteries) are developed. However, secondary batteries are accompanied with critical problems such as high cost for the limited energy storage capacity and loss of charge over time. Energy storage in the form of chemical species, such as H2 or CO2, have no constraints on energy storage capacity and will also be essential. When plentiful renewable energy exists, for example, it could be used to convert H2O into hydrogen via water electrolysis. Also, renewable energy resources could be used to reduce CO2 into CO and recycle CO2 and H2O into sustainable hydrocarbon fuels in solid oxide electrolysis (SOE).

In today's era of aging society, people want to handle personal health care by themselves in everyday life. In particular, the evolution of medical and IT convergence technology and mobile smart devices has made it possible for people to gather information on their health status anytime and anywhere easily using biometric information acquisition devices. Healthcare information systems can contribute to the improvement of the nation's healthcare quality and the reduction of related cost. However, there are no perfect security models or mechanisms for healthcare service applications, and privacy information can therefore be leaked. In this paper, we examine security requirements related to privacy protection in u-healthcare service and propose an extended RBAC based security model. We propose and design u-healthcare service integration platform (u-HCSIP) applying RBAC security model. The proposed u-HCSIP performs four main functions: storing and exchanging personal health records (PHR), recommending meals and exercise, buying/selling private health information or experience, and managing personal health data using smart devices.

A class of double-perovskite compounds display fast oxygen ion diffusion and high catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction while maintaining excellent compatibility with the electrolyte. The astoundingly extended stability of NdBa(1-x)Ca(x)Co2O(5+δ) (NBCaCO) under both air and CO2-containing atmosphere is reported along with excellent electrochemical performance by only Ca doping into the A site of NdBaCo2O(5+δ) (NBCO). The enhanced stability can be ascribed to both the increased electron affinity of mobile oxygen species with Ca, determined through density functional theory calculations and the increased redox stability from the coulometric titration., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

In order to evaluate the groundwater quality of Tongzhou area in Beijing Plain and to discuss the characteristics of its distribution by the view of hydrochemistry, a total of 151 groundwater samples, collected within study area in the dry period of 2008 according to the geological and hydrogeololgical condition of Tongzhou area, were classified as shallow, middle and deep groundwater, respectively. Based on the data, the groundwater quality was evaluated by the method of F value. The mean and variance of main chemical constituents of groundwater samples were presented. Almost all the quaternary groundwater of Chaobai river pluvial fan belonged to the alkaline water type. The evaluation results based on the analysis results showed that from shallow to deep, the quality of groundwater in Beijing became better. The total areas of groundwater belonging to class IV and V area were 884 km2, 599 km2 and 94 km2 respectively for shallow, middle and deep groundwater. The evaluation results showed that the main exceeding chemical constituents were TDS, hardness, NH4(+), F(-) and total Fe. Most exceeding samples belonged to middle and deep aquifers. The main types of shallow groundwater were HCO2-Ca x Mg- and HCO3 x Cl-Ca x Na x Mg, while the chemical types of mid-deep groundwater were mostly HCO3-Na x Ca- and HCO3 x SO4(2-) -Na x Ca type due to the increased Na(+), SO4(2-) and Cl(-) concentration. Study results showed that the quality of shallow groundwater became worse mainly due to human activities. The deterioration of groundwater quality in mid-deep aquifers was due to both human activities and natural occurrence of poor-quality water.

A new concept of an "oxygen shuttle" type battery for Mg-air solid oxide batteries using a Ca-stabilized ZrO2 electrolyte was proposed and studied. The observed open circuit potential and discharge capacity were 1.81 V and 1154 mA h gMg(-1) (52% of the theoretical capacity), respectively.

Glucose is a carbon source that is capable of modulating the level of cyclic AMP (cAMP)-regulated genes. In the present study, we found that the stability of ompA mRNA was reduced in Escherichia coli when glucose (40 mM) was present in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. This effect was associated with a low level of cAMP induced by the glucose. The results were confirmed with an adenylyl cyclase mutant with low levels of cAMP that are not modulated by glucose. Northern blot and Western blot analyses revealed that the host factor I (Hfq) (both mRNA and protein) levels were downregulated in the presence of cAMP. Furthermore, we showed that a complex of cAMP receptor protein (CRP) and cAMP binds to a specific P3(hfq) promoter region of hfq and regulates hfq expression. The regulation of the hfq gene was confirmed in vivo using an hfq-deficient mutant transformed with an exogenous hfq gene containing the promoter. These results demonstrated that expression of hfq was repressed by the CRP-cAMP complex. The presence of glucose resulted in increased Hfq protein levels, which decreased ompA mRNA stability. An additional experiment showed that cAMP also increased the stability of fur mRNA. Taken together, these results suggested that the repression of Hfq by cAMP may contribute to the stability of other mRNA in E. coli.

The pathogenicity of the pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus together with the bacteria isolated from black pine (Pinus thunbergii) bark inoculated to axenic black pine seedlings, significantly exceeded that of the axenic PWNs alone, demonstrating that the bacteria play an important role in pine wilt disease. Inoculation of seedlings with bacteria-free culture filtrates of the seven isolates from the dead seedlings from the above experiment showed that all isolate filtrates killed the seedlings within 8 days. Identification of the bacteria using 16S rDNA sequencing showed that the isolates belonged to strains By253Ydz-fq, S209, 210-50 and 210-50 in Bacillus and the DN1.1 strain of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, respectively. Completing Koch's postulates using the seven bacterial isolates to inoculate pine seedlings showed that all the seedlings that received aseptic PWNs mixed with the seven bacterial isolates died within 18 days post inoculation, while those inoculated with 'wild' PWNs died 16 days post inoculation. No disease symptoms developed on seedlings that received sterile water or aseptic PWNs. The horizontal transfer of the pathogenic bacteria may explain differences in bacterial species carried by PWN in different geographic areas.

The structural and compositive evolution of tectonically deformed coals (TDCs) and their influencing factors were investigated and analyzed in detail through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and laser Raman spectra analysis. The TDC samples (0.7% < Ro,max <3.1%) were collected from Huaibei coalfield with different deformation mechanisms and intensity. The FTIR of TDCs shows that the metamorphism and the deformation affect the degradation and polycondensation process of macromolecular structure to different degree. The Raman spectra analysis indicates that secondary structure defects can be produced mainly by structural deformation, also the metamorphism influences the secondary structure defects and aromatic structure. Through comprehensive analysis, it was discussed that the ductile deformation could change to strain energy through the increase and accumulation of dislocation in molecular structure units of TDC, and it could make an obvious influence on degradation and polycondensation. While the brittle deformation could change to frictional heat energy and promote the metamorphism and degradation of TDC structure, but has less effect on polycondensation. Furthermore, degradation is the main reason for affecting the structural evolution of coal in lower metamorphic stage, and polycondensation is the most important controlling factor in higher metamorphic stage. Under metamorphism and deformation, the small molecules which break and fall off from the macromolecular tructure of TDC are preferentially replenished and embedded into the secondary structure defects or the residual aromatic rings were formed into aromatic structure by polycondensation. This process improved the stability of coal structure. It is easier for ductile deformation of coal to induce the secondary structure defects than brittle deformation.

There is a continuing threat that the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus will cause future influenza pandemics. In this study, we screened a library of compounds that are biologically active and structurally diverse for inhibitory activity against influenza neuraminidase (NA). We found that aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) is a potent inhibitor of NA activity of both group-1 and group-2 influenza viruses with IC(50)s (effective concentration to inhibit NA activity by 50%) values at low micromolar concentrations. ATA was equally potent in inhibiting the NA activity derived from wild-type NA and its H274Y mutant which renders NA resistance to inhibition by oseltamivir. Although ATA is structurally distinct from sialic acid, molecular modeling experiments suggested that ATA binds to NA at the enzyme's substrate binding site. These results indicate that ATA may be a good starting material for the design of a novel class of NA inhibitors for the treatment influenza viruses.

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) carry out a variety of biological functions and affect protein synthesis and protein activities in prokaryotes. Recently, numerous sRNAs and their targets were identified in Escherichia coli and in other bacteria. It is crucial to have a comprehensive resource concerning the annotation of small non-coding RNAs in microbial genomes. This work presents an integrated database, namely sRNAMap, to collect the sRNA genes, the transcriptional regulators of sRNAs and the sRNA target genes by integrating a variety of biological databases and by surveying literature. In this resource, we collected 397 sRNAs, 62 regulators/sRNAs and 60 sRNAs/targets in 70 microbial genomes. Additionally, more valuable information of the sRNAs, such as the secondary structure of sRNAs, the expressed conditions of sRNAs, the expression profiles of sRNAs, the transcriptional start sites of sRNAs and the cross-links to other biological databases, are provided for further investigation. Besides, various textual and graphical interfaces were designed and implemented to facilitate the data access in sRNAMap. sRNAMap is available at http://sRNAMap.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/.

Analgesics such as morphine cause many side effects including addiction, but kappa-opioid receptor agonist can produce antinociception without morphine-like side effects. With the aim of developing new and potent analgesics with lower abuse potential, we studied the antinociceptive and physical dependent properties of a derivate of ICI-199441, an analogue of (-)U50,488H, named (2-(3,4-dichloro)-phenyl)-N-methyl-N-[(1S)-1-(2-isopropyl)-2-(1-(3-pyrrolinyl))ethyl] acetamides (LPK-26). LPK-26 showed a high affinity to kappa-opioid receptor with the Ki value of 0.64 nM and the low affinities to micro-opioid receptor and delta-opioid receptor with the Ki values of 1170 nM and >10,000 nM, respectively. It stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding to G-proteins with an EC50 value of 0.0094 nM. In vivo, LPK-26 was more potent than (-)U50,488H and morphine in analgesia, with the ED50 values of 0.049 mg/kg and 0.0084 mg/kg in hot plat and acetic acid writhing tests, respectively. Moreover, LPK-26 failed to induce physical dependence, but it could suppress naloxone-precipitated jumping in mice when given simultaneously with morphine. Taken together, our results show that LPK-26 is a novel selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist with highly potent antinociception effects and low physical dependence potential. It may be valuable for the development of analgesic and drug that can be used to reduce morphine-induced physical dependence.

This paper reports the novel results of activated carbon nanofibers (ACNF) used to improve the toluene adsorption capacity. The ACNF was prepared by stabilization, carbonization and activation after electrospinning the polymer solution of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in N, N-dimethylformamide. The average diameter of the ACNF was approximately 300 nm, ranging from 200 to 500 nm. The toluene adsorption capacity of ACNF10 activated at 1000 degrees C increased to 65 g-toluene/100 g-ACNF. This was attributed to the high specific surface area (1403 m(2)/g), large micropore volume (0.505 cm(3)/g), and narrow average pore diameter (6.0 A). The oxygen to carbon ratio (O/C ratio) in ACNF10 was 1.8%. This O/C ratio appears to induce a higher toluene adsorption capacity, which originates from a non-polar interaction between the ACNF surface and toluene. In conclusion, the electrospun ACNF prepared in this study promotes the adsorption of toluene through the high specific surface area, large pore volume, narrow pore diameter and low O/C ratio.

Morphine is recommended as a first-line opioid analgesic in the pain management of cancer patients. Accumulating evidence shows that morphine has anti-apoptotic activity, but its impact on the therapeutic applications of antineoplastic drugs is not well known. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that morphine might antagonize the pro-apoptotic activity of DOX (doxorubicin), a commonly used antitumour drug for the treatment of neuroblastoma, in cultured SH-SY5Y cells. In the present study we demonstrated that morphine suppressed DOX-induced inhibition of cell proliferation and programmed cell death in a concentration-dependent, and naloxone as well as pertussis toxin-irreversible, manner. Further studies showed that morphine inhibited ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation, and prevented DOX-mediated caspase-3 activation, cytochrome c release and changes of Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression. The antioxidant NAC (N-acetylcysteine) also showed the same effects as morphine on DOX-induced ROS generation, caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c release and changes in Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein) and Bcl-2 protein expression. Additionally, morphine was found to suppress DOX-induced NF-kappaB (nuclear factor kappaB) transcriptional activation via a reduction of IkappaBalpha (inhibitor of nuclear factor kappaB) degradation. These present findings support the hypothesis that morphine can inhibit DOX-induced neuroblastoma cell apoptosis by the inhibition of ROS generation and mitochondrial cytochrome c release, as well as by blockade of NF-kappaB transcriptional activation, and suggests that morphine might have an impact on the antitumour efficiency of DOX.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was applied to the study of the stress effect of compositions of macromolecular structure in tectonically deformed coals. The results showed that in different kinds of tectonically deformed coals, the absorption band of aromatic structure, aliphatic structure and oxygen functional groups nearly consistent in the peak wave number, but the intensity of the peak is different which is justly influenced by different deformation degree and deformation mechanism of tectonically deformed coals under tectonic stress. In the metamorphic and deformed environments of the low, middle and high coal rank, for tectonically deformed coals, with the increasing stress, hydrogen-enriched degree and oxygen-enriched degree decrease, while the degree of ring condensation increases. But there are differences in the change of compositions contents of macromolecular structure. This might indicate that the FTIR could be used in the stress effect of compositions of macromolecular structure in tectonically deformed coals.