Clinical usefulness of the baby vision test in young children and its correlation with the Snellen chart

AIM

To investigate the efficacy of a new visual acuity (VA) screening method, the baby vision test for young children.

METHODS

A total 105 eyes of 65 children aged 2-8y were included in the study. Acuity testing was conducted using a standardized recognition acuity chart (Snellen visual chart: at 3 m) and the baby vision model assessment. The baby vision device includes a screen, a near infrared camera and a computer. Children were seated at a measured distance of 33-40 cm from a display for testing. VA was estimated according to the highest resolution the children could follow. Decimal VA data were converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) for statistical analysis. The VA results for each child were recorded and analyzed for consistency.

RESULTS

The mean VA measured using the Snellen visual chart was 0.62±0.32, and that assessed using the baby vision test was 0.66±0.27. The 95% limit of agreement was -0.609 to 0.695, with 95.2% (100/105) plots within the 95% limits of agreement. VA values of the baby vision test were significantly correlated with those of the Snellen chart (R=0.274, P=0.005).

CONCLUSION

The baby vision test can be used as a relatively reliable method for estimating VA in young children. This new acuity assessment might be a valid predictor of optotype-measured acuity later in preverbal children.

Acid-Responsive Aggregation of Gold Nanoparticles for the Photothermal Treatment of Bacterial Infections

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is considered to be one of the promising methods to combat pathogenic bacteria. However, traditional PTT is prone to generate undesired temperature increase to surrounding normal tissues, which limits the application of PTT. Herein, an acid-responsive PTT system (Au nanoparticles system: AuNPs-S) was constructed based on the photothermal feature of spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and the low pH of the bacterial infected site. AuNPs-S is composed of two kinds of AuNPs: AuNPs modified with Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Cys (peptide A) were denoted as AuNPs-A; AuNPs modified with 2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (DA) grafted Lys-Gly-Gly-Lys-Gly-Gly-Lys-Cys (peptide B) were denoted as AuNPs-B/DA. AuNPs-B/DA with an acid-responsive moiety showed a charge-convertible feature. The negatively charged AuNPs-B/DA became positively charged AuNPs-B at low pH, aggregating with the negatively charged AuNPs-A via an electrostatic interaction, reaching the threshold to the interparticle plasmonic coupling effect among AuNPs, thereby killing bacteria precisely under the irradiation of near-infrared (NIR) light through the elevated temperature at the targeted area. This acid-responsive PTT strategy supplies an excellent mode for combating bacterial infections with no vital damage to normal tissues.

Tumor Niches: Perspectives for Targeted Therapies in Glioblastoma

Significance: Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and lethal primary brain tumor with a median survival rate of only 15 months and a 5-year survival rate of only 6.8%, remains largely incurable despite the intensive multimodal treatment of surgical resection and radiochemotherapy. Developing effective new therapies is an unmet need for patients with GBM. Recent Advances: Targeted therapies, such as antiangiogenesis therapy and immunotherapy, show great promise in treating GBM based upon increasing knowledge about brain tumor biology. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the plasticity, heterogeneity, and dynamics of tumor cells during GBM development and progression. Critical Issues: While antiangiogenesis therapy and immunotherapy have been highly effective in some types of cancer, the disappointing results from clinical trials represent continued challenges in applying these treatments to GBM. Molecular and cellular heterogeneity of GBM is developed temporally and spatially, which profoundly contributes to therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence. Future Directions: Deciphering mechanisms of tumor heterogeneity and mapping tumor niche trajectories and functions will provide a foundation for the development of more effective therapies for GBM patients. In this review, we discuss five different tumor niches and the intercellular and intracellular communications among these niches, including the perivascular, hypoxic, invasive, immunosuppressive, and glioma-stem cell niches. We also highlight the cellular and molecular biology of these niches and discuss potential strategies to target these tumor niches for GBM therapy. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 39, 904-922.

Development of a human glioblastoma model using humanized DRAG mice for immunotherapy

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor. The development of alternative humanized mouse models with fully functional human immune cells will potentially accelerate the progress of GBM immunotherapy. We successfully generated humanized DRAG (NOD.Rag1KO.IL2RγcKO) mouse model by transplantation of human DR4+ hematopoietic stem cells (hHSCs), and effectively grafted GBM patient-derived tumorsphere cells to form xenografted tumors intracranially. The engrafted tumors recapitulated the pathological features and the immune cell composition of human GBM. Administration of anti-human PD-1 antibodies in these tumor-bearing humanized DRAG mice decreased the major tumor-infiltrating immunosuppressive cell populations, including CD4+PD-1+ and CD8+PD-1+ T cells, CD11b+CD14+HLA-DR+ macrophages, CD11b+CD14+HLA-DR-CD15- and CD11b+CD14-CD15+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells, indicating the humanized DRAG mice as a useful model to test the efficacy of GBM immunotherapy. Taken together, these results suggest that the humanized DRAG mouse model is a reliable preclinical platform for studying brain cancer immunotherapy and beyond.

Multi-threshold image segmentation of 2D OTSU inland ships based on improved genetic algorithm

Waterway transportation is a crucial mode of transportation, but ensuring navigational safety in waterways requires effective guidance of ships by the Water Resources Bureau. However, supervisors may only be interested in the ship portion of a complex image and need to quickly obtain relevant ship information. Therefore, this paper proposes a two-dimensional OTSU inland ships multi-threshold image segmentation algorithm based on the improved genetic algorithm. The improved algorithm enhances search accuracy and efficiency, improving image thresholding accuracy and reducing algorithm time complexity. Experimental verification shows the algorithm has excellent evaluation indexes and can achieve real-time segmentation of complex images. This method can not only address the challenges of complex inland navigation environments and difficult acquisition of target data sets, but also be applied to optimization problems in other fields by combining various metaheuristic algorithms.

Broadband Waterborne Multiphase Pentamode Metastructure with Simultaneous Wavefront Manipulation and Energy Absorption Capabilities

Acoustic metastructures are artificial structures which can manipulate the wavefront in sub-wavelength dimensions, and previously proposed acoustic metastructures have been mostly realized with single materials. An acoustic metastructure with composite structure is proposed for underwater acoustic stealth considering both wavefront manipulation and sound absorption. The unit cells of the metastructure are composed of a metallic supporting lattice, interconnecting polymer materials and mass balancing columns. With the gradual modulations of equivalent physical properties along the horizontal direction of metastructure, the incident acoustic wave is reflected to other directions. Meanwhile, the polymer material inside the unit cells will dissipate the acoustic wave energy due to inherent damping properties. With the simultaneous modulations of reflected wave direction and scattering acoustic amplitude, significant improvement of the underwater stealth effect is achieved. Compared with single-phase metastructure, the Far-Field Sound Pressure Level (FFSPL) of multiphase metastructure decreases by 4.82 dB within the frequency range of 3 kHz~30 kHz. The linearized mean stress for multiphase metastructure is only 1/3 of that of single-phase metastructure due to it having much thicker struts and much more uniform stress distribution under the same hydrostatic pressure. The proposed composite structure possesses potential applications due to its acceptable thickness (80 mm) and low equivalent density (1100 kg/m³).

Evaluation of optic nerve head vessels density changes after phacoemulsification cataract surgery using optical coherence tomography angiography

AIM

To evaluate optic nerve head (ONH) vessel density (VD) changes after cataract surgery using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

METHODS

This was a prospective observational study. Thirty-four eyes with mild/moderate cataracts were included. ONH scans were obtained before and 3mo after cataract surgery using OCTA. Radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) density, all VD, large VD and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in total disc, inside disc, and different peripapillary sectors were assessed and analyzed. Image quality score (QS), fundus photography grading and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were also collected, and correlation analyses were performed between VD change and these parameters.

RESULTS

Compared with baseline, both RPC and all VD increased in inside disc area 3mo postoperatively (from 47.5%±5.3% to 50.2%±3.7%, and from 57.87%±4.30% to 60.47%±3.10%, all P<0.001), but no differences were observed in peripapillary area. However, large VD increased from 5.63%±0.77% to 6.47%±0.72% in peripapillary ONH region (P<0.001). RPC decreased in inferior and superior peripapillary ONH parts (P=0.019, <0.001 respectively). There were obvious negative correlations between RPC change and large VD change in inside disc, superior-hemi, and inferior-hemi (r=-0.419, -0.370, and -0.439, P=0.017, 0.044, and 0.015, respectively). No correlations were found between VD change and other parameters including QS change, fundus photography grading, postoperative BCVA, and postoperative peripapillary RNFLT.

CONCLUSION

RPC density and all VD in the inside disc ONH region increase 3mo after surgery in patients with mild to moderate cataract. No obvious VD changes are found in peripapillary area postoperatively.

Repeatability and reproducibility of anterior lens zonule length measurement using ArcScan Insight 100 very high-frequency ultrasound

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the intra-examiner repeatability and inter-examiner reproducibility in lens zonular length measurements using very high-frequency digital ultrasound (Insight 100).

METHODS

Two examiners performed ultrasound imaging independently in each subject. The length of temporal and nasal zonules were then measured with a built-in software. Coefficient of variations (CVs) of the three repeated measurements were used to determine intra-examiner variances. Inter-examiner reproducibility was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the Bland-Altman method.

RESULTS

40 eyes of 40 subjects (14male and 26female; mean age 23.9 ± 2.4 years) were included in the study. The CVs for intra-examiner measurement were 2.74% temporally and 4.32% nasally for Examiner 1, and were 1.96% temporally and 1.75% nasally for Examiner 2. For inter-examiner reproducibility, all ICCs were above 0.9. However, there were significant differences between the two examiners in temporal zonular length measurements (p = 0.001), and the differences mainly came from measuring the zonular length manually (p = 0.001) rather than recording images (p = 0.480). No significant differences were found between two measurements by the same examiner after one month (all p > 0.05, all ICCs＞0.8).

CONCLUSION

The Insight 100 device can be used to measure the length of anterior lens zonule with relatively good repeatability and reproducibility.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

www.clinicaltrials.gov identifier is NCT05657951.

Adult mice with noise-induced hearing loss exhibited temporal ordering memory deficits accompanied by microglia-associated neuroplastic changes in the medial prefrontal cortex

Acquired peripheral hearing loss in midlife is considered the primary modifiable risk factor for dementia, while the underlying pathological mechanism remains poorly understood. Excessive noise exposure is the most common cause of acquired peripheral hearing loss in modern society. This study was designed to investigate the impact of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) on cognition, with a focus on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a brain region that is involved in both auditory and cognitive processes and is highly affected in patients with cognitive impairment. Adult C57BL/6 J mice were randomly assigned to a control group and seven noise groups: 0HPN, 12HPN, 1DPN, 3DPN, 7DPN, 14DPN, and 28DPN, which were exposed to broadband noise at a 123 dB sound pressure level (SPL) for 2 h and sacrificed immediately (0 h), 12 h, or 1, 3, 7, 14, or 28 days post-noise exposure (HPN, DPN), respectively. Hearing assessment, behavioral tests, and neuromorphological studies in the mPFC were performed in control and 28DPN mice. All experimental animals were included in the time-course analysis of serum corticosterone (CORT) levels and mPFC microglial morphology. The results illustrated that noise exposure induced early-onset transient serum CORT elevation and permanent moderate-to-severe hearing loss in mice. 28DPN mice, in which permanent NIHL has been verified, exhibited impaired performance in temporal order object recognition tasks concomitant with reduced structural complexity of mPFC pyramidal neurons. The time-course immunohistochemical analysis in the mPFC revealed significantly higher morphological microglial activation at 14 and 28 DPN, preceded by a remarkably higher amount of microglial engulfed postsynaptic marker PSD95 at 7 DPN. Additionally, lipid accumulation in microglia was observed in 7DPN, 14DPN and 28DPN mice, suggesting a driving role of lipid handling deficits following excessive phagocytosis of synaptic elements in delayed and sustained microglial abnormalities. These findings provide fundamentally novel information concerning mPFC-related cognitive impairment in mice with NIHL and empirical evidence suggesting the involvement of microglial malfunction in the mPFC neurodegenerative consequences of NIHL.

[Effects of long working hours exposure on occupational stress and depression symptoms in couriers in Zhejiang Province]

Objective: To understand the current situation of long working hours exposure of couriers in Zhejiang Province, and to analyze the influence of long working hours exposure levels on their occupational stress and depression symptoms, and provide a basis for promoting the physical and mental health of couriers. Methods: From September to December 2021 , 1159 couriers from Zhejiang Express Transport Companies were selected as respondents by cluster sampling, and their basic information were collected. The occupational stress and depression symptoms of the couriers were assessed using the Core Occupational Stress Scale (COSS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The effects of long work hours (>48 h per week) on the occupational stress and depression symptoms of the couriers were analyzed. Results: The average age of 1159 courier in Zhejiang Province was (33.24±8.42) years, the average weekly working hours were (63.21±18.77) h, and 75.15% (871/1159) were long-term workers. The detection rates of occupational stress and depression symptoms in courier were 32.44% (376/1159) and 32.53% (377/1159), respectively. There were significant differences in the detection rates of occupational stress and depression symptoms among couriers with different ages, educational background, marital status, monthly average income, length of service, position or post, shift status, drinking status, and average weekly working hours (P <0.05). The adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that, after adjusting for the influence of confounding factors such as age, educational background, marital status, monthly average income, length of service, position or post, shift status and drinking status, compared with the weekly working hours ≤48 h, weekly working hours of 63-77 h, 78-92 h, ≥93 h were the risk factors for occupational stress (OR=1.547, 95%CI: 1.019-2.350; OR=1.886, 95%CI: 1.184-3.006; OR=2.338, 95%CI: 1.188-4.062) and depression symptoms (OR=1.897, 95%CI: 1.258-2.860; OR=2.041, 95%CI: 1.290-3.230; OR=4.978, 95%CI: 2.551-9.715) of couriers (P<0.05) . Conclusion: Long working hours could increase the risk of occupational stress and depression symptoms among couriers. It is necessary to arrange working hours reasonably to reduce the occurrence of occupational stress and depression symptoms of couriers.

Suppression of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 Attenuates Apoptosis and Inflammation, and Promotes Proliferation by Mediating miR-25-3p Expression in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Injury

Purpose

Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) OIP5-AS1 and miR-25-3p play important roles in myocardial injury, whereas their roles in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced myocardial injury remain unknown. The purpose of our study was to investigate the functional mechanisms of OIP5-AS1 and miR-25-3p in LPS-induced myocardial injury.

Methods

Rats and H9C2 cells were treated with LPS to establish the model of myocardial injury in vivo and in vitro, respectively. The expression levels of OIP5-AS1 and miR-25-3p were determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure the serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α. The relationship between OIP5-AS1 and miR-25-3p/NOX4 was determined by luciferase reporter assay and/or RNA immunoprecipitation assay. The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, and cell viability was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay. Western blot was performed to detect the protein levels of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase3, c-caspase3, NOX4, and p-NF-κB p65/NF-κB p65.

Results

OIP5-AS1 was up-regulated, and miR-25-3p was down-regulated in myocardial tissues of LPS-induced rats and LPS-treated H9C2 cells. Knockdown of OIP5-AS1 relieved the myocardial injury in LPS-induced rats. Knockdown of OIP5-AS1 also inhibited the inflammation and apoptosis of myocardial cells in vivo, which was subsequently confirmed by in vitro experiments. In addition, OIP5-AS1 targeted miR-25-3p. MiR-25-3p mimics reversed the effects of OIP5-AS1 overexpression on promoting cell apoptosis and inflammation and on inhibiting cell viability. Besides, miR-25-3p mimics blocked the NOX4/NF-κB signalling pathway in LPS-induced H9C2 cells.

Conclusion

Silencing of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 alleviated LPS-induced myocardial injury by regulating miR-25-3p.

Protocol to assess the antitumor efficacy of an immunotherapeutic peptide in syngeneic orthotopic glioma mouse models

Understanding the glioblastoma (GBM) immune microenvironment and development of clinical treatment drugs rely on suitable preclinical GBM models. Here, we present a protocol to establish syngeneic orthotopic glioma mouse models. We also describe the steps to intracranially deliver immunotherapeutic peptides and monitor the treatment response. Finally, we show how to assess the tumor immune microenvironment with treatment outcomes. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chen et al. (2021).1.

SenseFi: A library and benchmark on deep-learning-empowered WiFi human sensing

Over the recent years, WiFi sensing has been rapidly developed for privacy-preserving, ubiquitous human-sensing applications, enabled by signal processing and deep-learning methods. However, a comprehensive public benchmark for deep learning in WiFi sensing, similar to that available for visual recognition, does not yet exist. In this article, we review recent progress in topics ranging from WiFi hardware platforms to sensing algorithms and propose a new library with a comprehensive benchmark, SenseFi. On this basis, we evaluate various deep-learning models in terms of distinct sensing tasks, WiFi platforms, recognition accuracy, model size, computational complexity, and feature transferability. Extensive experiments are performed whose results provide valuable insights into model design, learning strategy, and training techniques for real-world applications. In summary, SenseFi is a comprehensive benchmark with an open-source library for deep learning in WiFi sensing research that offers researchers a convenient tool to validate learning-based WiFi-sensing methods on multiple datasets and platforms.

A neurodevelopmental epigenetic programme mediated by SMARCD3-DAB1-Reelin signalling is hijacked to promote medulloblastoma metastasis

How abnormal neurodevelopment relates to the tumour aggressiveness of medulloblastoma (MB), the most common type of embryonal tumour, remains elusive. Here we uncover a neurodevelopmental epigenomic programme that is hijacked to induce MB metastatic dissemination. Unsupervised analyses of integrated publicly available datasets with our newly generated data reveal that SMARCD3 (also known as BAF60C) regulates Disabled 1 (DAB1)-mediated Reelin signalling in Purkinje cell migration and MB metastasis by orchestrating cis-regulatory elements at the DAB1 locus. We further identify that a core set of transcription factors, enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) and nuclear factor I X (NFIX), coordinates with the cis-regulatory elements at the SMARCD3 locus to form a chromatin hub to control SMARCD3 expression in the developing cerebellum and in metastatic MB. Increased SMARCD3 expression activates Reelin-DAB1-mediated Src kinase signalling, which results in a MB response to Src inhibition. These data deepen our understanding of how neurodevelopmental programming influences disease progression and provide a potential therapeutic option for patients with MB.

Development of a human glioblastoma model using humanized DRAG mice for immunotherapy

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor with high mortality rates and a short median survival rate of about 15 months despite intensive multimodal treatment of maximal surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Although immunotherapies have been successful in the treatment of various cancers, disappointing results from clinical trials for GBM immunotherapy represent our incomplete understanding. The development of alternative humanized mouse models with fully functional human immune cells will potentially accelerate the progress of GBM immunotherapy. In this study, we developed a humanized DRAG (NOD.Rag1KO.IL2RγcKO) mouse model, in which the human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were well-engrafted and subsequently differentiated into a full lineage of immune cells. Using this humanized DRAG mouse model, GBM patient-derived tumorsphere lines were successfully engrafted to form xenografted tumors, which can recapitulate the pathological features and the immune cell composition of human GBM. Importantly, the administration of anti-human PD-1 antibodies in these DRAG mice bearing a GBM patient-derived tumorsphere line resulted in decreasing the major tumor-infiltrating immunosuppressive cell populations, including CD4 + PD-1 + and CD8 + PD-1 + T cells, CD11b + CD14 + HLA-DR + macrophages, CD11b + CD14 + HLA-DR - CD15 - and CD11b + CD14 - CD15 + myeloid-derived suppressor cells, indicating the humanized DRAG mouse model as a useful model to test the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in GBM immunotherapy. Together, these results suggest that humanized DRAG mouse models are a reliable preclinical platform for brain cancer immunotherapy and beyond.

Advancing Imbalanced Domain Adaptation: Cluster-Level Discrepancy Minimization With a Comprehensive Benchmark

Unsupervised domain adaptation methods have been proposed to tackle the problem of covariate shift by minimizing the distribution discrepancy between the feature embeddings of source domain and target domain. However, the standard evaluation protocols assume that the conditional label distributions of the two domains are invariant, which is usually not consistent with the real-world scenarios such as long-tailed distribution of visual categories. In this article, the imbalanced domain adaptation (IDA) is formulated for a more realistic scenario where both label shift and covariate shift occur between the two domains. Theoretically, when label shift exists, aligning the marginal distributions may result in negative transfer. Therefore, a novel cluster-level discrepancy minimization (CDM) is developed. CDM proposes cross-domain similarity learning to learn tight and discriminative clusters, which are utilized for both feature-level and distribution-level discrepancy minimization, palliating the negative effect of label shift during domain transfer. Theoretical justifications further demonstrate that CDM minimizes the target risk in a progressive manner. To corroborate the effectiveness of CDM, we propose two evaluation protocols according to the real-world situation and benchmark existing domain adaptation approaches. Extensive experiments demonstrate that negative transfer does occur due to label shift, while our approach achieves significant improvement on imbalanced datasets, including Office-31, Image-CLEF, and Office-Home.

Genotypic Effects of the TOMM40'523 Variant and APOE on Longitudinal Cognitive Change over 4 Years: The TOMMORROW Study

BACKGROUND

The 523 poly-T length polymorphism (rs10524523) in TOMM40 has been reported to influence longitudinal cognitive test performance within APOE ε3/3 carriers. The results from prior studies are inconsistent. It is also unclear whether specific APOE and TOMM40 genotypes contribute to heterogeneity in longitudinal cognitive performance during the preclinical stages of AD.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the effects of these genes on longitudinal cognitive change in early preclinical stages of AD, we used the clinical trial data from the recently concluded TOMMORROW study to examine the effects of APOE and TOMM40 genotypes on neuropsychological test performance.

DESIGN

A phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.

SETTING

Academic affiliated and private research clinics in Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.

PARTICIPANTS

Cognitively normal older adults aged 65 to 83.

INTERVENTION

Pioglitazone tablet.

MEASUREMENTS

Participants from the TOMMORROW trial were stratified based on APOE genotype (APOE ε3/3, APOE ε3/4, APOE ε4/4). APOE ε3/3 carriers were further stratified by TOMM40'523 genotype. The final analysis dataset consists of 1,330 APOE ε3/3 carriers and 7,001 visits. Linear mixed models were used to compare the rates of decline in cognition across APOE groups and the APOE ε3/3 carriers with different TOMM40'523 genotypes.

RESULTS

APOE ε3/4 and APOE ε4/4 genotypes compared with the APOE ε3/3 genotype were associated with worse performance on measures of global cognition, episodic memory, and expressive language. Further, over the four years of observation, the APOE ε3/3 carriers with the TOMM40'523-S/S genotype showed better global cognition and accelerated rates of cognitive decline on tests of global cognition, executive function, and attentional processing compared to APOE ε3/3 carriers with TOMM40'523-S/VL and VL/VL genotypes and compared to the APOE ε3/4 and APOE ε4/4 carriers.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that both APOE and TOMM40 genotypes may independently contribute to cognitive heterogeneity in the pre-MCI stages of AD. Controlling for this genetic variability will be important in clinical trials designed to slow the rate of cognitive decline and/or prevent symptom onset in preclinical AD.

Natural Coevolution of Tumor and Immunoenvironment in Glioblastoma

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type glioblastoma (GBM) has a dismal prognosis. A better understanding of tumor evolution holds the key to developing more effective treatment. Here we study GBM's natural evolutionary trajectory by using rare multifocal samples. We sequenced 61,062 single cells from eight multifocal IDH wild-type primary GBMs and defined a natural evolution signature (NES) of the tumor. We show that the NES significantly associates with the activation of transcription factors that regulate brain development, including MYBL2 and FOSL2. Hypoxia is involved in inducing NES transition potentially via activation of the HIF1A-FOSL2 axis. High-NES tumor cells could recruit and polarize bone marrow-derived macrophages through activation of the FOSL2-ANXA1-FPR1/3 axis. These polarized macrophages can efficiently suppress T-cell activity and accelerate NES transition in tumor cells. Moreover, the polarized macrophages could upregulate CCL2 to induce tumor cell migration.

SIGNIFICANCE

GBM progression could be induced by hypoxia via the HIF1A-FOSL2 axis. Tumor-derived ANXA1 is associated with recruitment and polarization of bone marrow-derived macrophages to suppress the immunoenvironment. The polarized macrophages promote tumor cell NES transition and migration. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2711.

Non-linear effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on industrial relocation: Do compliance costs work?

Reasonably designing environmental regulations for compliance-driven industrial relocation can avoid new pollution havens. The Cournot duopoly model simulates that the necessary condition for industrial relocation is differentiated market costs. Then, based on the province-industrial data of six Chinese pollution-intensive industries during 2005-2019, this study applies spatial Durbin model to explore the non-linear effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on industrial relocation. Results shown that command-and-control environmental regulation manifests a U-shaped curve with local industrial relocation, with inverted U-shaped spillover effect radiating a road distance of 650 km, and both internal and external costs play the mediating roles; Market incentive environmental regulation has inverted U-shaped curves with industrial relocation in local and neighboring regions, it creates dual costs and works well in both short and long terms, which is the most potential regulatory tool to avoid pollution relocation accompanying industrial relocation; Voluntary environmental regulation exhibits inverted U-shaped relationships with industrial relocation in direct and spillover effects, and works through increased external cost rather than internal cost. Its spatial spillover radiates the longest 1250 km due to rapid spread of public opinions, but this effect takes more than 3 years to be effective.

TMIC-49. CHITINASE-3-LIKE 1 PROTEIN COMPLEXES REGULATE PD-1 SIGNALING-MEDIATED IMMUNOSUPPRESSION IN GLIOBLASTOMA

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and lethal brain tumor with a median survival rate of only 15 months, remains largely incurable despite intensive multimodal treatment, including immunotherapeutic strategies being tested in clinical trials. GBM is highly immunosuppressive and resistant to immunotherapy because glioma cells escape from effective antitumor immunity through programing the tumor microenvironment (TME). Owing to the tremendous heterogeneity and plasticity of tumor cells and the surrounding TME, understanding the mechanisms of immune evasion by GBM remains elusive. We have recently discovered that the Chitinase-3-like-1 (CHI3L1)-Galectin-3 (Gal3) protein binding complex can selectively promote tumor-associated macrophage migration and infiltration with a protumor M2-like phenotype and T cell-mediated immunosuppression, which are governed by a transcriptional program of NF-κB/CEBPβ in the CHI3L1/Gal3-PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis. The immunoprecipitation coupled to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed that galectin 3–binding protein (Gal3BP) competes with Gal3 to bind with CHI3L1 for negative regulation of the CHI3L1-Gal3 mediated processes. Interestingly, a newly-developed Gal3BP mimetic peptide can disrupt CHI3L1-Gal3 interaction, resulting in decreasing migration of M2-like bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), increasing CD8+ T cell infiltration, reversing immunosuppression, and inhibiting tumor progression in vitro and in vivo. Analyzing PD-1 signaling activation, we found that the Gal3BP mimetic peptide significantly decreased PD-L1 expression in tumor cells. Correlation analysis showed that CHI31L and Gal3 (encoded by LGALS3 gene) are significantly associated with both PD-L1 and PD-L2 in GBM patient samples. Furthermore, overexpression of CHI3L1 increased expression levels of PD-L1 and PD-L2, and CHI3L1 deletion decreased their expression in GBM patient-derived neurosphere lines. The treatment with recombinant CHI3L1 protein significantly increased PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression in M2-like BMDMs (with high levels of endogenous Gal3). Collectively, these data suggest that CHI3L1 protein complexes control the GBM immunosuppressive microenvironment by PD-1/PD-L1/PD-L2 signaling, providing new immunotherapeutic strategies for this brain cancer.

EXTH-79. HIJACKING A NEURODEVELOPMENTAL EPIGENOMIC PROGRAM IN METASTATIC DISSEMINATION OF MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Normal brain development relies on precise genetic and epigenetic spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression. How dysregulation of neurodevelopment relates to medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, remains elusive. Here, we uncovered a novel neurodevelopmental epigenomic program that regulates Purkinje cell migration in developing cerebellum is hijacked to induce tumor metastatic dissemination in medulloblastoma. Integrating publicly available datasets with our in-house data, unsupervised analyses revealed that BAF60C/SMARCD3, a subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, promotes tumor cell migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Based on analyzing the single-cell RNAseq data of cerebellum developmental trajectory in mice and humans, aligning with the medulloblastoma patients’ datasets, we found that BAF60C/SMARCD3 regulated DAB1-mediated Reelin signaling is involved in Purkinje cell positioning during cerebellum development and medulloblastoma metastasis by orchestrating the cis-regulatory elements (CREs) at the DAB1 gene locus. Moreover, analysis of spatiotemporal gene expression and chromatin architecture in the human and mouse cerebellum demonstrated that transcription activity of the BAF60C/SMARCD3-DAB1 circuit is downregulated in a mature state of cerebellar development, however, is upregulated in metastatic medulloblastoma. We further identified that a core set of transcription factors, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and nuclear factor I X (NFIX), bi-directionally control BAF60C/SMARCD3 transcriptional regulation by coordinating with the CREs at the BAF60C/SMARCD3 gene locus to form a chromatin hub during developing cerebellar development and medulloblastoma metastatic dissemination. Highly expressed BAF60C/SMARCD3 activates the Reelin/DAB1 signaling pathway downstream Src kinase, which was validated in the pair-wised primary and metastatic tumors from medulloblastoma patients. Preclinical medulloblastoma mouse models revealed that inhibiting Src activity reduces tumor cell migration and metastatic dissemination at a lower and safe dose. Together, these data deepen our understanding of how the developmental program influences disease progression and provide an opportunity for the development of therapeutics for this devastating brain cancer in children.

Does environmental regulation enhance firm's position in dual value chain? An analysis based on environmental information disclosure

Climbing the dual value chain (DVC) of parallel development in global and domestic value chains is an important channel to get rid of bottom solidification. Based on the data of international input-output tables after embedding provinces and decomposing value-added flow during 2003-2012, this article provides measurement for downstream or upstream embedding and division position indexes of A-listed firms. Then, theoretical framework of environmental regulation affecting DVC embeddedness is constructed, and the Environmental Information Disclosure (EID) trial implemented in 2008 is regarded as a quasi-natural experiment. The results show that EID enhances corporate division position in DVC by weakening downstream embeddedness and increasing upstream embeddedness, domestic firms are gradually transforming from low-end manufacturers to high-end designers. The effect works with a year lag in downstream embeddedness and lags 2 years in others. Heterogeneity analysis confirms that enhancement of division position is more sensitive in resource-rich cities with high marketization or labor-intensive firms and manufacturing or service sectors. Besides, we find that environmental regulation such as EID induces technological innovation for process upgrade, product improvement for quality upgrade and allocation optimization for function upgrade to transform the role and degree of firms embedding DVC.

Sustainable Development Efficiency of Cultural Landscape Heritage in Urban Fringe Based on GIS-DEA-MI, a Case Study of Wuhan, China

Cultural landscape heritage refers to the rare and irreplaceable cultural landscapes recognized by UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee. It is recognized as a "common works of nature and human beings" of outstanding significance and universal value, and is a type of world heritage. Dueto construction, land isincreasingly limited in urban and rural areasin the process of urbanization, and cultural landscape heritage faces a huge threat, especially larger culturallandscapeheritagelocated at the edgesof cities. However, most of the existing studies have mainly focused on the material protection of heritage but have not paid enough attention to the non-material aspects of heritage sites, failing to reveal the inseparable nature of heritage and land. Therefore, this study takes sustainable development efficiency as its analysis tool, examines two pieces of cultural landscape heritage (the Panlongcheng site and the Tomb of the King of the Ming Dynasty) in the urban edge area of Wuhan, China as examples, innovates and establishes a multidimensional evaluation method based on the GIS-DEA-Ml model, and compares the dynamic changes of the spatial development efficiency and non-spatial development efficiency of the above two cultural landscape heritage cases. The results show that: both the spatial development efficiency and non-spatial development efficiency of Panlongcheng from 2010 to 2019 are significantly higher than that of the Tomb. This method makes up for the deficiency of traditional subjective qualitative analysis. It can be used to study the development efficiency of cultural landscape heritage more objectively and comprehensively, and promote the overall sustainable development of material and intangible cultural heritage. It can provide the basis for early decision-making and post-implementation evaluation for the preservation and utilization of cultural landscape heritage under the background of urban renewal.

Factor reallocation and cost pass-through under the carbon emission trading policy: Evidence from Chinese metal industrial chain

Piloted in 2013, the Carbon Emission Trading (CET) policy is the most practical tool for emission reduction in China, however, midstream firms increase capital investment to cope with compliance costs, resulting in more expensive intermediate commodities that may hurt export benefits of industrial chain terminal. Based on the A-shared listed firms of Chinese metal industrial chain during 2008-2018, this paper applies the difference-in-difference model to explore the effects of CET on chain reactions of corporate activities. After a set of robustness tests, the results show that midstream firms accelerate capital deepening in response to CET and become more capital-intensive, but gain losses of outputs both in revenue and in quantity, accompanying cost pass-through to downstream firms, which are all contributed by the external pressure imposed by stakeholders and internal incentive from senior managers. Then, affected by price fluctuation in markets of production factors and carbon-intensive commodities, CET increases the cleanliness standards of midstream firms and promote their export benefits immediately, and cost pass-through generates more expensive intermediate products and results in export contraction of downstream firms, but precision machine manufacturing has seen export growth, as their products are more sensitive to technological breakthroughs than material costs.

MEDB-88. BAF60C/SMARCD3-mediated novel neurodevelopmental epigenomic program promotes metastatic dissemination in medulloblastoma

Normal brain development relies on precise genetic and epigenetic spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression. How dysregulation of neurodevelopment relates to medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, remains elusive. Here, we uncovered a novel neurodevelopmental epigenomic program that regulates Purkinje cell migration in developing cerebellum is hijacked to induce tumor metastatic dissemination in medulloblastoma. Integrating publicly available datasets with our in-house data, unsupervised analyses revealed that BAF60C/SMARCD3, a subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, promotes tumor cell migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Based on analyzing the single-cell RNAseq data of cerebellum developmental trajectory in mice and humans, aligning with the medulloblastoma patients’ datasets, we found that BAF60C/SMARCD3 regulated DAB1-mediated Reelin signaling is involved in Purkinje cell positioning during cerebellum development and medulloblastoma metastasis by orchestrating the cis-regulatory elements (CREs) at the DAB1 gene locus. Analysis of spatiotemporal gene expression and chromatin architecture in the human and mouse cerebellum demonstrated that transcription activity of the BAF60C/SMARCD3-DAB1 circuit is downregulated in a mature state of cerebellar development, however, is upregulated in metastatic medulloblastoma. We further identified that a core set of transcription factors, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and nuclear factor I X (NFIX), bi-directionally control BAF60C/SMARCD3 transcriptional regulation by coordinating with the CREs at the BAF60C/SMARCD3 gene locus to form a chromatin hub during developing cerebellar development and medulloblastoma metastatic dissemination. Highly expressed BAF60C/SMARCD3 activates the Reelin/DAB1 signaling pathway downstream Src kinase, which was validated in the pair-wised primary and metastatic tumors from medulloblastoma patients. Preclinical medulloblastoma mouse models revealed that inhibiting Src activity reduces tumor cell migration and metastatic dissemination at a lower and safe dose. Together, these data deepen our understanding of how the developmental program influences disease progression and provide an opportunity for the development of therapeutics for this devastating brain cancer in children.

Alterations in 3D chromatin organization contribute to tumorigenesis of EGFR-amplified glioblastoma

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There is widespread chromatin disorganization in EGFR-amplified glioblastoma.

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Chromatin disorganization contribute to tumorigenesis in glioblastoma.

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Structural variations have a substantial impact on chromatin conformation.

Background

EGFR amplification and/or mutation are found in more than half of the cases with glioblastoma. Yet, the role of chromatin interactions and its regulation of gene expression in EGFR-amplified glioblastoma remains unclear.

Methods

In this study, we explored alterations in 3D chromatin organization of EGFR-amplified glioblastoma and its subsequent impact by performing a comparative analysis of Hi-C, RNA-seq, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on EGFR-amplified glioblastoma-derived A172 and normal astrocytes (HA1800 cell line).

Results

A172 cells showed an elevated chromatin relaxation, and unexpected entanglement of chromosome regions. A genome-wide landscape of switched compartments and differentially expressed genes between HA1800 and A172 cell lines demonstrated that compartment activation reshaped chromatin accessibility and activated tumorigenesis-related genes. Topological associating domain (TAD) analysis revealed that altered TAD domains in A172 also contribute to oncogene activation and tumor repressor deactivation. Interestingly, glioblastoma-derived A172 cells showed a different chromatin loop contact propensity. Genes in tumorigenesis-associated signaling pathways were significantly enriched at the anchor loci of altered chromatin loops. Oncogene activation and tumor repressor deactivation were associated with chromatin loop alteration. Structure variations (SVs) had a dramatic impact on the chromatin conformation of EGFR-amplified glioblastoma-derived tumor cells. Moreover, our results revealed that 7p11.2 duplication activated EGFR expression in EGFR-amplified glioblastoma via neo-TAD formation and novel enhancer-promoter interaction emergence between LINC01446 and EGFR.

Conclusions

The disordered 3D genomic map and multi-omics data of EGFR-amplified glioblastoma provide a resource for future interrogation of the relationship between chromatin interactions and transcriptome in tumorigenesis.

Inhibition effect of epigallocatechin gallate on the growth and biofilm formation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a common marine foodborne pathogen that causes gastroenteritis. With the long-term use of antibiotics, many bacteria become resistant strains, therefore, developing antibiotic-free antimicrobial strategies is urgent. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) as the abundant constituent of polyphenols in tea extract has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and non-toxicity. Here, we took advantage of EGCG to evaluate its inhibition effect on the growth of V. parahaemolyticus 17802 and the biofilm formation, and explore its antibacterial mechanism. It was found that EGCG showed antibacterial activity to V. parahaemolyticus 17802, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is 128 μg mL^-1 , crystal violet staining and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) evidenced EGCG hindered its biofilm formation. Moreover, the swimming motility and extracellular polysaccharides were also notably inhibited. The antibacterial mechanism was further confirmed by several assays, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), live/dead staining assay, together with membrane permeability assay, which all suggested that EGCG caused damage to cell membrane and made it lose integrity, eventually resulting in the death of V. parahaemolyticus 17802. The bactericidal activity of EGCG verified its potential as a promising candidate to combat foodborne pathogen.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Alleviates Inflammatory Lung Injury by Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) is a common reaction product during heat processing and the preparation of many types of foods and Traditional Chinese Medicine formulations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of 5-HMF on endotoxin-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and the underlying mechanisms. Our findings indicate that 5-HMF attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in mice by mitigating alveolar destruction, neutrophil infiltration and the release of inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, the activation of macrophages and human monocytes in response to LPS was remarkably suppressed by 5-HMF in vitro through inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway, NLRP3 inflammasome activation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The inhibitory effect of 5-HMF on NLRP3 inflammasome was reversed by overexpressing ATF4 or CHOP, indicating the involvement of ER stress in the negative regulation of 5-HMF on NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammation. Consistent with this, the ameliorative effect of 5-HMF on in vivo pulmonary dysfunction were reversed by the ER stress inducer tunicamycin. In conclusion, our findings elucidate the anti-inflammatory and protective efficacy of 5-HMF in LPS-induced acute lung injury, and also demonstrate the key mechanism of its action against NLRP3 inflammasome-related inflammatory disorders via the inhibition of ER stress.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Enhances the Antiviral Immune Response in Macrophages through the Modulation of RIG-I-Mediated Interferon Production and the JAK/STAT Signaling Pathway

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) exists in a wide range of sugar-rich foods and traditional Chinese medicines. The role of 5-HMF in antiviral innate immunity and its mechanism have not been reported previously. In this study, we reveal for the first time that 5-HMF upregulates the production of retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-mediated type I interferon (IFN) as a response to viral infection. IFN-β and IFN-stimulated chemokine gene expressions induced by the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) are upregulated in RAW264.7 cells and primary peritoneal macrophages after treatment with 5-HMF, a natural product that appears to inhibit the efficiency of viral replication. Meanwhile, 5-HMF-pretreated mice show enhanced innate antiviral immunity, increased serum levels of IFN-β, and reduced morbidity and viral loads upon infection with VSV. Thus, 5-HMF can be seen to have a positive effect on enhancing type I IFN production. Mechanistically, 5-HMF upregulates the expression of RIG-I in macrophages, resulting in an acceleration of the RIG-I signaling pathway activation. Additionally, STAT1 and STAT2 phosphorylations, along with the expression of IFN-stimulated chemokine genes induced by IFN-α/β, were also enhanced in macrophages cotreated with 5-HMF. In summary, these findings indicate that 5-HMF not only can induce type I IFN production but also can enhance IFN-JAK/STAT signaling, leading to a novel immunomodulatory mechanism against viral infection. In conclusion, our study reveals a previously unrecognized effect of 5-HMF in the antiviral innate immune response and suggests new potential of utilizing 5-HMF for controlling viral infection.

[The study of the impact by atractylenolide-1 on inflammatory cytokine, autophagy and apoptosis in alveolar macrophages of silicosis patients]

Objective: To explore the effect of atractylenolide-1 (ATL-Ⅰ) on alveolar macrophages in silicosis patients. Methods: In December 2019, 12 male silicosis patients treated in Beidaihe Sanatorium for Chinese Coal Miners from July to September 2019 were selected by random sampling. Their alveolar macrophages were collected and divided into control group, ATL-Ⅰ group (100 μmol/L) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) group (100 μmol/L) . The exprossion levels of inflammatory factor interleukin-1β (IL-1β) , interleukin-6 (IL-6) , tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of autophagy associated protein microtubule associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) , autophagy substrate protein p62, lysosome associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP2) , apoptosis associated protein Cleaved caspase-3, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and its phosphorylated form (p-NF-κB) were detected by Western blot. Results: Compared with the control group and DMSO group, the expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α in alveolar macrophages decreased significantly in the ATL-Ⅰ group (P<0.05) , and the expression levels of p-NF-κB, the ratio of LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ also decreased significantly in the ATL-Ⅰ group (P<0.05) . However, the expression levels of NF-κB, LAMP2, p62 and Cleaved caspase-3 in the ATL-Ⅰ group were not statistically different from those in the control group and DMSO group (P>0.05) . There was no statistically significant differences in the expression of the above indexes between the control group and DMSO group (P>0.05) . Conclusion: ATL-Ⅰ may reduce the release of inflammatory factors from alveolar macrophages and inhibit the activity of autophagy in silicosis patients, but it may not reduce the level of apoptosis.

Endoscopic sinus surgery improves Eustachian tube function in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis: a multicenter prospective study

BACKGROUND

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) often have Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) symptoms. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the effect of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) on improvement of Eustachian tube function in CRS patients with ETD from a Chinese population and determine factors associated with improvement.

METHODS

A prospective study was performed in CRS patients with ETD who underwent ESS from 3 tertiary medical centers in south China. The Eustachian tube Dysfunction Questionnaire 7 (ETDQ-7), Sinonasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22), tympanograms, endoscopic findings and Valsalva maneuver were recorded and analyzed preoperatively and postoperatively at 8-12 weeks.

RESULTS

A total of 70 CRS patients with ETD were included in this study. The ETDQ-7 score and the ability of positive Valsalva maneuver in CRS patients were significantly improved postoperatively at 8-12 weeks. The number of patients with type A tympanogram was increased postoperatively. Reduced Eustachian tube mucosal inflammation was also observed postoperatively. In addition, ESS appeared to reverse slight tympanic membrane atelectasis after 8-12 weeks. Moreover, improvement in tympanogram was presented in more than half of CRS patients with concomitant otitis media with effusion postoperatively at 8-12 weeks. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed failure of normalization of ETDQ-7 postoperatively was associated with concomitant allergic rhinitis and higher preoperative SNOT-22 score.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms Eustachian tube function is often improved after ESS in CRS patients with ETD. Concomitant allergic rhinitis and higher preoperative SNOT-22 score are associated with failure of normalization of ETD symptoms.

[Evaluation of kurtosis on hearing loss caused by non-steady state noise in general equipment manufacturing industry]

Objective: To study the effect of occupational exposure to non-steady state noise on hearing loss in the general equipment manufacturing industry, and to explore the feasibility of applying kurtosis index to evaluate hearing loss caused by non-steady state noise. Methods: A total of 233 workers exposed to non-steady state noise in 6 general equipment manufacturing enterprises were selected as the observation group, and 237 workers exposed to steady noise in 4 textile enterprises were selected as the control group between 2012 and 2018. Personal normalized continuous A-weighted sound pressure level equivalent to an 8 h-working-day (L(Aeq, 8 h)) was determined by a noise dosimeter. Cumulation noise exposure (CNE) was calculated from L(Aeq, 8 h) and related working age, and the CNE was adjusted by using noise kurtosis (CNE' after adjustment) . Meanwhile, questionnaires and hearing loss tests were performed for all subjects. The changes in the threshold of high-frequency hearing and the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss caused by noise in the two groups were compared before and after the adjustment of the kurtosis of CNE. The correlation between CNE and the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss before and after kurtosis adjustment was analyzed. Results: There was an difference between the 3000-8000 Hz hearing threshold of workers in different CNE groups (P<0.05) . logistic regression analysis showed that CNE was a risk factor of high-frequency hearing loss for workers in the observation group (OR=1.189, P<0.05) , and trend Chi-square test showed that the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss increased with CNE levels (χ(2)(trend)=34.415, P<0.05) .Before the kurtosis adjustment, in the CNE 95~<110 dB (A) ·year level group, the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss and the high-frequency hearing threshold in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05) . After kurtosis adjustment, there was no significant difference in the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss between the observation group and the control group in each level group (P>0.05) . The correlation between CNE after kurtosis adjustment and the incidence of high-frequency hearing loss was better than that before adjustment (after R(2) adjustment >before R(2) adjustment) . Conclusion: The effect of non-steady state noise on high-frequency hearing loss of workers in general equipment industry increases with the increase of CNE, and the effect of non-steady state noise on high-frequency hearing loss of workers is greater than that of steady noise. CNE' can be used to evaluate the hearing loss caused by non-steady state noise.

H3K27ac-induced FOXC2-AS1 accelerates tongue squamous cell carcinoma by upregulating E2F3

BACKGROUND

The important roles of lncRNAs have been reported in cancers, including tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Here, we investigated the functional role and molecular mechanisms of lncRNA FOXC2-AS1 in TSCC.

METHODS

The expression level of FOXC2-AS1 in TSCC was determined by RT-qPCR. Its biological role was evaluated through colony formation assay, flow cytometry, wound healing, transwell, and Western blot analyses. The interactions among gene were tested by mechanistic investigations.

RESULTS

FOXC2-AS1 expression was high in TSCC tissues and cells. Functional assays in vitro showed that silencing FOXC2-AS1 restrained cell proliferation, cell cycle, migration, invasion, and EMT. In the mechanism, it was verified that H3K27 acetylation (H3K27ac) triggered an increase in FOXC2-AS1 expression. Furthermore, FOXC2-AS1 was identified as a cytoplasmic lncRNA and served as a ceRNA to upregulate E2F3 expression via sponging miR-6868-5p.

CONCLUSION

H3K27ac-induced FOXC2-AS1 exhibits carcinogenic property in TSCC by the miR-6868-5p/E2F3 axis.

Psychological stress and its correlates in Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome

Funding Acknowledgements

None.

Background

Psychological stress is associated with high incidence of coronary heart disease and increases the risk of mortality and poor health status. Although a few studies have investigated psychological stress in this population, this problem is usually unrecognized and untreated in most Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome. There is insufficient information regarding the features of psychological stress and associated factors among this population.

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the level of psychological stress and to identify its correlates in Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Methods

Patients aged over 18 years and with acute coronary syndrome were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey in two tertiary public hospitals in China, from June to July 2019. A total of 332 patients completed measures of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, psychological stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), and illness perception (Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire). Independent sample t-tests, bivariate correlations, and multivariable linear regression were performed to analyze potential correlates, including age, gender, education level, employment status, income, episode of illness, revascularization procedure, comorbidities, body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, and illness perception.

Results

The average patient age was 62.2 years, 67.5% were male, and 54.2% had less than high school education. The mean score for psychological stress was 21.30 ± 3.99 and 66.9% of patients had high psychological stress (score ≥ 20). Multivariable regression analysis showed that being overweight/obesity versus normal weight (body mass index:  ≥ 24 kg/m2 versus &lt; 24 kg/m2) was associated with lower psychological stress (β =  -0.134, p = 0.007). Having a high level of fasting blood glucose (≥ 6.1 mmol/L) versus normal fasting blood glucose (&lt; 6.1 mmol/L) was associated with high psychological stress (β = 0.123, p = 0.017). Additionally, negative cognitive illness perception (β = 0.190, p = 0.01), negative emotional illness perception (β = 0.290, p &lt; 0.001), and poor illness understanding (β = 0.118, p = 0.032) were associated with high psychological stress.

Conclusions

Patients with acute coronary syndrome experience high psychological stress that is significantly correlated with body mass index, fasting blood glucose, and illness perception. Health professionals should recognize this issue and interventions looking to relive psychological stress may benefit from targeting these correlates.

POS0884 THE ENHANCED LIVER FIBROSIS (ELF) SCORE AS A BIOMARKER OF SKIN FIBROSIS IN SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS

Background:

Serum fibrotic markers for systemic sclerosis (SSc) remain limited. The Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) score, originally derived and validated in patients with chronic liver disease, is an algorithm combining 3 serum markers, known as procollagen type III amino terminal propeptide (PIIINP), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1), and hyaluronic acid (HA). The combined score was proved to be superior to the single components in reflecting the severity of liver fibrosis. However, the performance of ELF score and its components has not been fully validated in SSc.

Objectives:

To investigate PIIINP, TIMP-1, HA, and the combined algorithm ELF score as fibrotic markers for SSc skin involvement.

Methods:

Eighty SSc patients (44 dcSSc and 36 lcSSc), fulfilling the 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria with the absence of chronic liver diseases, were enrolled. Eighty age- and sex- matched healthy controls were also included. Serum PIIINP and HA levels were quantified by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Serum TIMP-1 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The ELF score was calculated using the formula ELF score= 2.494 + 0.846*ln(HA) + 0.735*ln(PIIINP) + 0.391*ln(TIMP-1). Results were correlated with clinical profiles including modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Results:

Compared with healthy controls, patients with SSc showed significantly elevated serum PIIINP (11.2±4.8 vs. 5.73±1.4μg/L, p<0.001), TIMP-I (123.7±78.6 vs. 67.8±26.5 ng/ml, p<0.001), and ELF score (10.5±0.9 vs. 9.7±0.4, P<0.001). Even higher levels of PIIINP, TIMP-1, and ELF score were observed in dcSSc patients, compared with lcSSc patients (p<0.001, p=0.024, p=0.003, respectively). No significant difference was found in the levels of serum HA between patients and controls. Strong correlations were observed between mRSS and ELF score (r=0.54, p<0.001), and between mRSS and PIIINP(r=0.62, p<0.001), whereas only weak correlations could be observed between mRSS and TIMP-1 (r=0.28, p=0.02), and between mRSS and HA (r=0.26, p=0.03). When stratified by ELF score, using cutoffs proposed for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, SSc patients with ELF<9.8 showed the lowest mRSS on average, while patients with ELF>11.3 showed the highest (p<0.001). When stratified by serum PIIINP levels, using the 25th and 75th percentiles, SSc patients with serum PIIIINP levels<7.8μg/L showed the lowest mRSS on average, while patients with PIIINP>14.0μg/L showed the highest (p<0.001). Neither the ELF score nor its components showed significant difference between patients with and without ILD.

Conclusion:

The ELF score could be used for reflecting the severity of overall skin involvement in SSc, and serum PIIINP also increased in parallel with the increase of mRSS. Longitudinal prospective studies exploring ELF score or serum PIIINP as fibrotic markers and outcome measures of SSc are warranted.

References:

[1]Lichtinghagen R, Pietsch D, Bantel H, et al. The Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) score: Normal values, influence factors and proposed cut-off values. Journal of Hepatology. 2013; 59: 236-42.

[2]Abignano G, Blagojevic J, Bissell LA, et al. European multicentre study validates enhanced liver fibrosis test as biomarker of fibrosis in systemic sclerosis. Rheumatology. 2019; 58: 254-59.

Figure 1.

Correlations of mRSS with ELF score (A) and serum PIIINP (B) and distribution of mRSS among different ELF (C) and PIIINP (D) ranges.

Acknowledgements:

The authors have no acknowledgements to declare.

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

POS0869 PREDICTIVE VALUE OF ANTI-INTERFERON-INDUCIBLE PROTEIN 16 ANTIBODIES FOR DIGITAL ULCERS OF SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS

Background:

Interferon-inducible protein 16 (IFI-16) is constitutively expressed in vascular endothelial cells and can inhibit the proliferation of human endothelial cells and the formation of capillary-like structures in vitro. Anti-IFI-16 antibodies were reported in 21%-29% of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and were associated with digital vascular events in a few retrospective studies.

Objectives:

To evaluate the presence and the clinical implication of anti-IFI-16 antibodies in Chinese SSc cohort, focusing on the associations with vasculopathy indexes, and to investigate the predictive value of anti-IFI-16 antibodies for the development of digital ulcers (DUs) in SSc prospectively.

Methods:

Patients with SSc presenting to our center between July 2018 and September 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Serum from 42 SSc patients and 42 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were analyzed for anti-IFI-16 antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and was considered positive if the optical density (OD) value was above the mean OD of controls plus two standard deviations. Tissue immunofluorescence was used to evaluate the expression of IFI16 in skin biopsy samples obtained from SSc patients and normal controls. At baseline, nailfold video-capillaroscopy was performed to assess nailfold capillary density of SSc patients. Power Doppler ultrasound was used to grade finger pulp blood flow (0-no observed flow; 1-decreased flow; 2-normal flow), and to measure ulnar and radial artery blood flow and resistive index (RI). All patients were followed up for 6 months to see whether they experienced new onset or recurrent DUs. The association of anti-IFI-16 antibodies with DUs was analyzed using logistic regression.

Results:

Of the 42 SSc patients, 8 (19.0%) were positive for anti-IFI-16 antibodies. Immunofluorescence of skin biopsy samples from SSc patients exhibited enhanced staining of IFI-16 in the dermis, and colocalization with endothelial marker CD31. SSc patients who were positive for anti-IFI-16 antibodies showed higher ulnar artery RI at baseline (0.95±0.09 vs. 0.86±0.09, p=0.015), while no significant differences were found for other vascular parameters, nor for clinical or demographic profiles. Within 6-month follow-up, 14 (33.3%) patients experienced new-onset or recurrent DUs. Univariate logistic regression revealed the presence of DUs at enrollment (p=0.009), anti-IFI-16 antibody (p=0.012), finger pulp blood flow (p=0.027), and ulnar artery RI (p=0.008) could be the predictors for the development of DUs. Multivariate analysis further identified DUs at enrollment (odds ratio [OR]: 10.85; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.61-73.18; p=0.014) and anti-IFI-16 antibody (OR: 15.00; 95% CI: 1.13-199.18; p=0.040) as independent risk factors. Among patients without DUs at enrollment, new-onset ulcers occurred in 80% (4/5) and 4.5% (1/22) of those with and without anti-IFI-16 antibody, respectively (p=0.001).

Conclusion:

Anti-IFI-16 antibody is associated with vasculopathy in SSc and could be used as a novel biomarker for indicating the development of DUs.

References:

[1]McMahan ZH, Shah AA, Vaidya D, et al. Anti-interferon-inducible protein 16 antibodies associate with digital gangrene in patients with Scleroderma. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68(5): 1262-71.

[2]McMahan ZH, Cottrell TR, Wigley FM, et al. Autoantigens targeted in scleroderma patients with vascular disease are enriched in endothelial lineage cells. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68(10): 2540–49.

Figure 1.

Multivariate logistic analysis for new or recurrent digital ulcers.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank Doctor Yi Cheng for performing Power Doppler ultrasound assessment.

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

High pressure homogenization inactivation of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in phosphate buffered saline, milk and apple juice

High pressure homogenization (HPH) offers new opportunities for food pasteurization/sterilization. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus suspended in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer, milk and apple juice at initial concentration of ~10⁶ log₁₀ CFU per ml were subjected to HPH treatments up to 200 MPa with inlet temperatures at 4-40°C. After HPH at 200 MPa with the inlet temperature at 40°C, the count of E. coli suspended in PBS, milk and apple juice reduced by 3·42, 3·67 and 3·19 log₁₀ CFU per ml respectively while the count of S. aureus decreased by 2·21, 1·02 and 2·33 log₁₀ CFU per ml respectively suggesting that S. aureus was more resistant. The inactivation data were well fitted by the polynomial equation. Milk could provide a protective effect for S. aureus against HPH. After HPH at 200 MPa with the inlet temperature at 20°C, the cell structure of E. coli was destroyed, while no obvious damages were found for S. aureus.

[Professor ZHANG Qing-ping's clinical experience of acupuncture for peripheral facial paralysis]

Professor ZHANG Qing-ping's clinical experience and characteristics of acupuncture for peripheral facial paralysis were introduced from three aspects: differentiation of meridians and tendons, treatment by stages, and examples of proven cases. In the treatment of peripheral facial paralysis, Professor ZHANG carefully examines the situation of pathogenic factors and health. In the acute stage, the treatment focuses on eliminating pathogenic factors and supporting the health; in the recovery stage, penetrating needling is recommended with strengthening the health and eliminating pathogenic factors as main purpose; in the sequelae stage, wheat-grain moxibustion is recommended with strengthening the health as main purpose. This treatment plan shows superior clinical efficacy.

MBRS-63. THE ROLE OF THE SWI/SNF COMPLEX SUBUNIT SMARCD3 IN MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children, with the Group 3 (G3) having the worst prognosis of the subgroups (WNT, SHH, and Group 4). We aimed to determine the underlying differences between G3 and the other subgroups, with an emphasis on genes that control the epigenome for developing effective treatments for patients with this disease. To this end, we found that G3 has elevated expression of the SWI/SNF subcomponent, SMARCD3 (P<0.001), which serves to guide the SWI/SNF complex to different genomic regions through interactions with various transcription factors. However, little is known about function of SMARCD3 in cancer, particularly in medulloblastoma. Clinically, elevated SMARCD3 mRNA resulted in a poorer prognosis in medulloblastoma patients (P<0.0001), which was further validated in 63 patient tumors by immunohistochemical staining for SMARCD3. Interestingly, tumors that had metastasized often had elevated expression of SMARCD3, in all subgroups of medulloblastomas (P<0.0001) and G3 only (P<0.01) based on analyzing multiple published databases. An orthotopic mouse model further supported that SMARCD3 is highly expressed in metastatic tumors compared to primary tumors. Importantly, CRISPR-CAS9-mediated SMARCD3 deletion decreased cell migration in medulloblastoma cell lines. Mechanistically, SMARCD3 deletion led to decreased H3K27me3, suggesting that SMARCD3 may cooperate with PRC2 in regulation of gene expression. Together, our results indicate that SMARCD3 plays a significant role in the development of metastatic dissemination in medulloblastoma, especially in the G3 subgroup. Thus, targeting the SMARCD3-containing SWI/SNF Complex may effectively prevent tumor dissemination and improve clinical outcomes in children with medulloblastoma.

Transformation of pollution control and green development: Evidence from China's chemical industry

The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APCP) is an important pollution control policy formulated by the Chinese government to promote green development. However, there are few studies of its impact. Based on a province-level panel dataset from 2007 to 2017, we use a three-hierarchy meta-frontier slack-based data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model and the global Malmquist (GM) index to estimate the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of China's chemical sub-industries. Next, we use the difference-in-differences (DID) method to explore the effect of the implementation of the APCP in 2013 on the GTFP of China's chemical industry. We find an increasing trend in the GTFP of China's chemical industry between 2007 and 2017. A decomposition of the change in GTFP shows that technical progress was the main driving factor and management inefficiency was the main inhibitory factor. The APCP had a significant positive effect on GTFP. Overall, in the post-implementation period, the increase in the GTFP of the treatment group was approximately 7.9% greater than in the control group. The APCP also significantly improved the technical efficiency change index. A dynamic effect analysis shows that the positive effect of the APCP on GTFP had an inverted U-shaped trend. A series of robustness tests, including counterfactual, re-grouping, and quasi-DID tests, suggest that our findings are reliable. In addition, changes in exports, capital deepening, and energy prices all significantly improved the GTFP of China's chemical industry.

TAMI-50. CHITINASE-3-LIKE-1 PROTEIN BINDING COMPLEXES REGULATE IMMUNE SUPPRESSION IN GLIOBLASTOMA

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and lethal brain tumor, remains incurable despite intensive multimodal treatment. While immunotherapies have been highly effective in some types of cancer, the disappointing results from clinical trials for GBM immunotherapy represent continued challenges. GBM is highly immunosuppressive and resistant to immunotherapy because of glioma cells escaping from immune surveillance by reprograming the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, understanding the mechanisms of immune evasion by GBM remains elusive. Here, we found that Chitinase-3-like-1 (CHI3L1) is highly expressed in GBM and associated with a poor clinical outcome. CHI3L1, also known as human homolog YKL-40, plays a role in tissue remodeling, inflammation and cancer. Interestingly, we found that genetic knockdown (KD) of Chi3l1 in syngeneic immunocompetent mouse GBM models resulted in increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, tumor size reduction, and improved animal survival. Surprisingly, the parallel loss-of-function experiment revealed that Chi3l1 KD did not repress tumor progression in the orthotopic immunodeficient mice with deficient T and B cells. These results suggest the predominant role of CHI3L1 in regulating the GBM immune TME, rather than in tumor cells per se. Mechanistically, we discovered that Galectin-3 (Gal-3) and Galectin-3 binding protein (Gal-3BP) interact competitively with the same binding motif on CHI3L1, leading to selective migration of protumor M2-like versus antitumor M1-like bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and resident microglia (MG). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that pro-inflammatory signature and T cell mediated immunity and cytotoxicity signaling are significantly enriched in tumor associated macrophages/microglia (TAMs) composed of BMDMs and MG, which were isolated from tumors with Chi3l1 KD versus wild type. In vitro validations suggest that CHI3L1-Gal-3, but not CHI3L1-Gal-3BP protein binding complex, activates PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling to control the TAM switch of immune suppression and immune stimulation. Together, these results shed light on molecular mechanism of GBM immune evasion and potential new immunotherapeutic strategies for GBM treatment.

Construction and Validation of a 13-Gene Signature for Prognosis Prediction in Medulloblastoma

Background: Recent studies have identified several molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma associated with distinct clinical outcomes; however, no robust gene signature has been established for prognosis prediction. Our objective was to construct a robust gene signature-based model to predict the prognosis of patients with medulloblastoma.

Methods: Expression data of medulloblastomas were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE85217, n = 763; GSE37418, n = 76). To identify genes associated with overall survival (OS), we performed univariate survival analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression. A risk score model was constructed based on selected genes and was validated using multiple datasets. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the risk groups were identified. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Ontology (GO), and protein–protein interaction (PPI) analyses were performed. Network modules and hub genes were identified using Cytoscape. Furthermore, tumor microenvironment (TME) was evaluated using ESTIMATE algorithm. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) were inferred using CIBERSORTx.

Results: A 13-gene model was constructed and validated. Patients classified as high-risk group had significantly worse OS than those as low-risk group (Training set: p < 0.0001; Validation set 1: p < 0.0001; Validation set 2: p = 0.00052). The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated a good performance in predicting 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS in all datasets. Multivariate analysis integrating clinical factors demonstrated that the risk score was an independent predictor for the OS (validation set 1: p = 0.001, validation set 2: p = 0.004). We then identified 265 DEGs between risk groups and PPI analysis predicted modules that were highly related to central nervous system and embryonic development. The risk score was significantly correlated with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression (p < 0.001), as well as immune score (p = 0.035), stromal score (p = 0.010), and tumor purity (p = 0.010) in Group 4 medulloblastomas. Correlations between the 13-gene signature and the TIICs in Sonic hedgehog and Group 4 medulloblastomas were revealed.

Conclusion: Our study constructed and validated a robust 13-gene signature model estimating the prognosis of medulloblastoma patients. We also revealed genes and pathways that may be related to the development and prognosis of medulloblastoma, which might provide candidate targets for future investigation.

Extremely Long Spin Lifetime of Light-Emitting States in Quasi-2D Perovskites through Orbit-Orbit Interaction

This paper reports an extremely long spin relaxation time of optically polarized light-emitting states at room temperature in quasi-2D perovskites [(PEA)₂(MA)₄Pb₅Br₁₆ with n = 5], when the long-range orbit-orbit interaction between excited states is developed through orbital polarization. Our studies found that the quasi-2D perovskite [(PEA)₂(MA)₄Pb₅Br₁₆ with n = 5] demonstrates a long-range orbit-orbit interaction between excited states to conserve the spins of optically polarized light-emitting states, identified by the positive change on photoluminescence intensity (+ΔPL) in steady state upon switching the photoexcitation from linear to circular polarization. Meanwhile, the PL circular polarization (σ⁺σ⁺ - σ⁺σ^-) can maintain in nanosecond under fixed photoexcitation (σ⁺). In contrast, the 2D/3D mixed perovskite (n > 5) shows a short-range orbit-orbit interaction between excited states through orbital magnetic dipoles, identified by the -ΔPL by switching from linear to circular photoexcitation. At the same time, the spin lifetime of light-emitting states becomes undetectable.

Involvement of nitrogen in storage root growth and related gene expression in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)

Nitrogen (N) could affect storage root growth and development of sweet potato. To manage external N concentration fluctuations, plants have developed a wide range of strategies, such as growth changes and gene expression. Five sweet potato cultivars were used to analyse the functions of N in regulating storage root growth. Growth responses and physiological indicators were measured to determine the physiological changes regulated by different N concentrations. Expression profiles of related genes were analysed via microarray hybridization data and qRT-PCR analysis to reveal the molecular mechanisms of storage root growth regulated by different N concentrations. The growth responses and physiological indicators of the five cultivars were changed by N concentration. The root fresh weight of two of the sweet potato cultivars, SS19 and GS87, was higher under low N concentrations compared with the other cultivars. SS19 and GS87 were found to be having greater tolerance to low N concentration. The expression of N metabolism and storage root growth related genes was regulated by N concentration in sweet potato. These results reveal that N significantly regulated storage root growth. SS19 and GS87 were more tolerant to low N concentration and produced greater storage root yield (at 30 days). Furthermore, several N response genes were involved in both N metabolism and storage root growth.