Mutation Analysis of EGFR Gene in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Xinjiang

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) that links extracellular signals to the control of cell survival, growth, proliferation and differentiation. EGFR has been a therapeutic target for human malignancies, due to its frequent hyperactivation, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of EGFR mutation, and identify patients who are likely to benefit from EGFR mutation. In this study, we examined 766 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (675 tissue, 83 thoracic water precipitation and 8 plasma samples) tested in pathology department of First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from 2013 to 2017 by using ARMS-PCR method. The correlation between EGFR mutations and clinical pathological features was further explored. Subgroup analyses according to ethnicity, histological type, sample type, and tumour grade were done. Subgroup analyses showed the mutation rate of tumor tissue, thoracic water precipitation and plasm was 30.5%, 37.3%, 50.0% respectively. We found female (p < 0.0001), no smoking (p < 0.001), adenocarcinoma (p < 0.0001), and tissue specimens (Tobacco use) were associated with higher EGFR mutation rate. The most common mutations were exon 19 deletions (47.30%) and L858R point (42.32%) mutation. We have not found any differences between EGFR mutations and ethnic groups especially. In addition, we did not find differences in common mutations and rare sensitive mutations in the survival of targeted therapies.

Recent Advancements in Ultrasound Transducer:From Material Strategies to Biomedical Applications

Ultrasound is extensively studied for biomedical engineering applications.As the core part of the ultrasonic system,the ultrasound transducer plays a significant role.For the purpose of meeting the requirement of precision medicine,the main challenge for the development of ultrasound transducer is to further enhance its performance.In this article,an overview of recent developments in ultrasound transducer technologies that use a variety of material strategies and device designs based on both the piezoelectric and photoacoustic mechanisms is provided.Practical applications are also presented,including ultrasound imaging,ultrasound therapy,particle/cell manipulation,drug delivery,and nerve stimulation.Finally,perspectives and opportunities are also highlighted.

Enrichment of anammox biomass during mainstream wastewater treatment driven by achievement of partial denitrification through the addition of bio-carriers

Anammox is widely considered as the most cost-effective and sustainable process for nitrogen removal.However,how to achieve the enrichment of anammox biomass remains a challenge for its large-scale application,especially in mainstream wastewater treatment.In this study,the feasibility of enrichment of anammox biomass was explored through the realization of partial denitrification and the addition of bio-carriers.By using ordinary activated sludge,a sequencing batch reactor(SBR)followed by an up-fow anaerobic sludge bed(UASB)was operated at 25±2℃ for 214 days.The long-term operation was divided into five phases,in which SBR and UASB were started-up in Phases I and II,respectively.By eliminating oxygen and adjusting the infow ratios in Phases III-V,advanced nitrogen removal was achieved with the effuent total nitrogen being 4.7 mg/L and the nitrogen removal efficiency being 90.5%in Phase V.Both in-situ and ex-situ activity tests demonstrated the occurrence of partial denitrification and anammox.Moreover,16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that Candidatus Brocadia was enriched from below the detection limit to in biofilms(0.4%in SBR,2.2%in UASB)and the foc sludge(0.2%in SBR,1.3%in UASB),while Thauera was mainly detected in the foc sludge(8.1%in SBR,8.8%in UASB),which might play a key role in partial denitrification.Overall,this study provides a novel strategy to enrich anammox biomass driven by rapid achievement of partial denitrification through the addition of bio-carriers,which will improve large-scale application of anammox processes in mainstream wastewater treatment.

ARCosmetics:a real-time augmented reality cosmetics try-on system

A virtual cosmetics try-on system provides a realistic try-on experience for consumers and helps them efficiently choose suitable cosmetics.In this article,we propose a real-time augmented reality virtual cosmetics try-on system for smartphones(ARCosmetics),taking speed,accuracy,and stability into consideration at each step to ensure a better user experience.A novel and very fast face tracking method utilizes the face detection box and the average position of facial landmarks to estimate the faces in continuous frames.A dynamic weight Wing loss is introduced to assign a dynamic weight to every landmark by the estimated error during training.It balances the attention between small,medium,and large range error and thus increases the accuracy and robustness.We also designed a weighted average method to utilize the information of the adjacent frame for landmark refinement,guaranteeing the stability of the generated landmarks.Extensive experiments conducted on a large 106-point facial landmark dataset and the 300-VW dataset demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method compared to other state-of-the-art methods.We also conducted user satisfaction studies further to verify the efficiency and effectiveness of our ARCosmetics system.

Cold shock treatment alleviates chilling injury in peach fruit by regulating antioxidant capacity and membrane lipid metabolism

Objectives The work intended to reveal the effect of cold shock(CS)treatment on chiling injury(CI),antioxidant capacity.and membrane fatty acid of peach fruit.Materials and methods Peaches were soaked in ice water(10℃)for 10 min and stored at 5℃ for 28 d for determination,except CI,and then stored for 3 dat 20℃,only CI was measured.The electrolyte leakage(EL)was measured by conductivity meter.The activities of antioxidant enzymes(superoxide dismutase,ascorbate peroxidase,catalase,and peroxidase)and key enzymes of membrane lipid metabolism(phospho-lipase D,lipase,and lipoxygenase)as well as reactive oxygen species(ROS,O_(2)^(-)and H_(2)O_(2))were measured with a spectrophotometer.An ELISA kit and gas chromatography were used to determine membrane lipids and membrane fatty acids.The relative gene expression was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.Results The results showed that CS treatment effectively delayed CI,suppressed the increase of EL and malondialdehyde content.Meanwhile,CS-treated fruit exhibited lower level of ROS and higher activities of antioxidant enzymes.Furthermore,CS treatment inhibited the activities as well as the relative gene expression of key enzymes in membrane lipid metabolism.CS-treated fruits maintained higher membrane fatty acid unsaturation and lower phosphatidic acid content.Conclusions These results indicated that CS treatment effectively lleviated CI and maintained the integrity of cell membranes by inducing antioxidant-related enzyme activity and maintaining a higher ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids.