A review of high-intensity focused ultrasound as a novel and non-invasive interventional radiology technique

High-intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU) is a non-invasive interventional radiology technology, which has been generally accepted in clinical practice for the treatment of benign and malignant tumors. HIFU can cause targeted tissue coagulative necrosis and protein denaturation by thermal or non-thermal effects, guided by diagnostic ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging, without destruction of the normal adjacent tissue, under sedation or general anesthesia. HIFU has become an important alternative to standard treatments of solid tumors, including surgery, radiation, and medications. The aim of this review is to describe the development, principle, devices, and clinical applications of HIFU.

Debonding Failure in FRP Reinforced SHCC Beams Induced from MultipleFlexural-Shear Cracks under Three-Point Bending Test

Strain hardening cement-based composites(SHCC)beam externally bonded with glass fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP)plate was examined under three-point flexural test.The effects of the type of substrate used(plain cement mortar vs.SHCC),the use or not of a FRP plate to strengthen the SHCC beam,and the thickness of the FRP plate on the flexural performances were studied.Results show that the ultimate load of SHCC beams strengthened with FRP plate has improved greatly in comparison with plain SHCC beams.The deformation capacity of beams makes little change with an increase in the thickness of FRP plates.The formation of multiple flexural-shear cracks(MFSC)is the unique feature of SHCC beams bonded with FRP plates under three-point bending.The debonding of the FRP plate is initiated from MFSC.The initiated debonding area(IDA)is formed by the joint points of the flexural-shear cracks with the FRP plate.Then the debonding strain is represented using the average strain of FRP plate within IDA,which decreases with an increase of FRP plate thickness.The experimental values of the debonding strain of SHCC beam reinforced with FRP plate are close to those predicted by the JSCE’s equation.

Transcriptome analysis reveals genes expression pattern of seed response to heat stress in Brassica napus L.

Seeds might deteriorate,and lose the ability to germinate when stored under high temperature and high humidity.Brassica napus is one of the most important oil crops in China.However,B.napus seeds were generally stored through summer season with high ambient temperature,which lead to seed viability loss.In order to understand the mechanism of seed response to heat stress and improve seed heat tolerance,B.napus seeds were treated with high temperature(40℃)and ultra-high temperature(60℃)for 4 h.The germination of heatstressed seeds were obviously slower,the germination index and vigor index decreased with temperature increase from 40 to 60℃,and the 40℃ pretreatment could improve the seed tolerance to 60℃ heat stress.Transcriptomics results showed that 442 differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were identified in seeds after heat stress.Gene ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that some of the genes were involved in posttranslational modification,protein turnover,chaperones and carbohydrate transport,metabolic pathways and secondary metabolites biosynthesis pathway.Among these DEGs,sHSP and transcription factors genes were involved in heat stress tolerance.Thirty-two overlapping genes under different high temperature stress(40℃ and 60℃)were enriched in biological processes of response to oxidative stress and abiotic stimulus.The expression trends of 12 genes randomly selected from the RNA-seq data were almost consistent with the results of qRT-PCR.Our results revealed several potential candidate genes and pathways related to heat responsive by high temperature,which is beneficial for further improving the heat tolerance in B.napus seeds.

Effects of bone marrow cells transplantation for acute myocardial infarction on cardiac function,infarct size,and clinical events:a metaanalysis

To the Editor:Acute myocardial infarction(AMI)poses a substantial threat to human health.^([1])At present,AMI is mainly treated by reperfusion,drugs,and surgery,^([2])which only temporarily delay cell death and deterioration.Sian Harding at el^([3])suggested that myocardial transfer of specific bone marrow cells(BMCs)and progenitor cell populations may enhance recovery of systolic and diastolic function after AMI.Although a few previous meta-analysis studies of BMCs transplantation for AMI have been published,the quality of these studies was varied due to marked heterogeneity^([4,5])or because they focused on a single outcome(e.g.,cardiac function)[5]and very few evaluated the clinical evens.^([6])In addition,the effects of BMCs transplantation over different lengths of follow-up periods were unclear.In an attempt to reach more reliable conclusions,we performed an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials(RCTs)and conducted subgroup analyses according to follow-up periods.

Identification of Key Genes for the Ultrahigh Yield of Rice Using Dynamic Cross-tissue Network Analysis

Significantly increasing crop yield is a major and worldwide challenge for food supply and security.It is well-known that rice cultivated at Taoyuan in Yunnan of China can produce the highest yield worldwide.Yet,the gene regulatory mechanism underpinning this ultrahigh yield has been a mystery.Here,we systematically collected the transcriptome data for seven key tissues at different developmental stages using rice cultivated both at Taoyuan as the case group and at another regular rice planting place Jinghong as the control group.We identified the top 24 candidate high-yield genes with their network modules from these well-designed datasets by developing a novel computational systems biology method,i.e.,dynamic cross-tissue(DCT)network analysis.We used one of the candidate genes,Os SPL4,whose function was previously unknown,for gene editing experimental validation of the high yield,and confirmed that Os SPL4 significantly affects panicle branching and increases the rice yield.This study,which included extensive field phenotyping,cross-tissue systems biology analyses,and functional validation,uncovered the key genes and gene regulatory networks underpinning the ultrahigh yield of rice.The DCT method could be applied to other plant or animal systems if different phenotypes under various environments with the common genome sequences of the examined sample.DCT can be downloaded from https://github.com/ztpub/DCT.