Two case reports and literature review for hepatic epithelioid angiomyolipoma: Pitfall of misdiagnosis

BACKGROUND Hepatic epithelioid angiomyolipoma(HEAML) is a rare liver disease and is easily misdiagnosed. Enhanced recognition of HEAML is beneficial to the differential diagnosis of rare liver diseases.CASE SUMMARY We presented two cases of HEAML in Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, and then collected and analyzed all reports about HEAML recorded in PubMed, MEDLINE, China Science Periodical Database, and VIP database from January 2000 to March 2018. A total of 409 cases of HEAML in 97 reports were collected, with a ratio of men to women of 1:4.84 and an age range from 12 years to 80 years(median 44 years). Among the patients with clinical symptoms mentioned, 61.93%(205/331) were asymptomatic, 34.74%(115/331) showed upper or right upper quadrant abdomen discomfort, while a few of them showed abdominal mass, gastrointestinal symptoms, low fever, or weight loss. The misdiagnosis rate of HEAML was as high as 40.34%(165/409) due to its nonspecific imaging findings. Most of the tumors were solitary and round in morphology, with clear boundaries. Ultrasound scan indicated low echo with internal nonuniformity and rich blood supply in most cases. Computer tomography/magnetic resonance imaging enhanced scan showed varied characteristics. The ratio of fast wash-in and fast wash-out, fast wash-in and slow wash-out, and delayed enhancement was roughly 4:5:1. A definite diagnosis of HEAML depended on the pathological findings of the epithelioid cells in lesions and the expression of human melanoma black 45, smooth muscle actin,melanoma antigen, and actin by immunohistochemical staining. HEAML had a relatively low malignant rate of 3.91%. However, surgical resection was the main treatment for HEAML, due to the difficulty diagnosing before operation.CONCLUSION HEAML is a rare and easily misdiagnosed disease, and it should be diagnosed carefully, taking into account clinical course, imaging, pathological,and immunohistochemical findings.

First-principles investigation on stability and electronic structure of Sc-dopedθ′/Al interface in Al−Cu alloys

The properties of Sc-dopedθ′(Al_(2)Cu)/Al interface in Al−Cu alloys were investigated by first-principles calculations.Sc-doped semi-coherent and coherentθ′(Al_(2)Cu)/Al interfaces(Sc doped in Al slab(S1 site),Sc doped inθ′slab(S2 site))were modeled based on calculated results and reported experiments.Through the analysis of interfacial bonding strength,it is revealed that the doping of Sc at S1 site can significantly decrease the interface energy and increase the work of adhesion.In particular,the doped coherent interface with Sc at S1 site which is occupied by interstitial Cu atoms has very good bonding strength.The electronic structure shows the strong Al—Cu bonds at the interfaces with Sc at S1 site,and the Al—Al bonds at the interfaces with Sc at S2 site are formed.The formation of strong Al—Cu and Al—Al bonds plays an important role in the enhancement of doped interface strength.

Influence analysis of symmetry on capsule in six-cylinder-port hohlraum

We have investigated the flux symmetry on the capsule in a six-cylinder-port hohlraum for improving the design of the hohlraum. The influence factors of drive symmetry on the capsule in the hohlraum are studied, including laser power,laser beams arrangement, hohlraum geometric parameters, plasma condition, capsule convergence, etc. The x-ray radiation flux distribution on the capsule is obtained based on the three-dimensional view factor model. In the six-cylinder-port hohlraum, the main drive asymmetry is the C40 mode asymmetry. When the C40 mode asymmetry approaches zero, the drive symmetry on the capsule is optimal. Our results demonstrate that in order to have a high flux symmetry on the capsule in the laser main-pulse stage, more negative initial C40 modes are needed, which can be realized by adjusting the hohlraum geometry parameters. The hohlraum with column length L_H = 4.81 mm has an optimal symmetry in the laser main-pulse stage.

Epidermal growth factor enhances chemosensitivityof colon cancer by inducing cancer stem cells toenter the cell cycle

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate whether colon cancer stem cells induced by epidermal growth factor(EGF) to enter the cell cycle enhanced the chemosensitivity of colon cancer.Methods In vitro,EGF was used to stimulate the entry of human colon cancer HCT116 cells into the cell cycle.Before and after treatment with EGF,CD133+ HCT116 cells were collected and flow cytometry was conducted to determine the apoptosis rate based on the 5-Fu and Ki-67 expression rates.The cell cycle distribution of the two groups was also determined.In vivo,a subcutaneous xenograft model of HCT116 human colon cancer cell lines in nude mice was established.The nude mice were divided into two groups and treated with EGF and 5-Fu,respectively.Differences in the growth of implanted tumors revealed the efficiency of cycle-induction combined chemotherapy.Results(1) After EGF stimulation,the S-G2/M proportion of CD133+ HCT116 cells and Ki67 expression were increased,indicating that more cancer stem cells entered the cell cycle and promoted proliferation;(2) After EGF stimulation,CD133+ HCT116 cells showed a higher apoptosis rate induced by 5-Fu.(3) Animal experiments showed that the group subjected to combined treatment with EGF and 5-Fu had smaller tumor sizes compared to the group treated with 5-Fu alone.Conclusion EGF enhanced tumor sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs,likely by promoting tumor stem cells to enter the cell cycle.

Current challenges and solutions of de novo assembly

Background:Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have fostered an unprecedented proliferation of highthroughput sequencing projects and a concomitant development of novel algorithms for the assembly of short reads.However,numerous technical or computational challenges in de novo assembly still remain,although many new ideas and solutions have been suggested to tackle the challenges in both experimental and computational settings.Results:In this review,we first briefly introduce some of the major challenges faced by NGS sequence assembly.Then,we analyze the characteristics of various sequencing platforms and their impact on assembly results.After that,we classify de novo assemblers according to their frameworks (overlap graph-based,de Bruijn graph-based and string graph-based),and introduce the characteristics of each assembly tool and their adaptation scene.Next,we introduce in detail the solutions to the main challenges of de novo assembly of next generation sequencing data,single-cell sequencing data and single molecule sequencing data.At last,we discuss the application of SMS long reads in solving problems encountered in NGS assembly.Conclusions:This review not only gives an overview of the latest methods and developments in assembly algorithms,but also provides guidelines to determine the optimal assembly algorithm for a given input sequencing data type.