Sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic array for high-throughput sorting of large-volume biological compartments

Droplet microfluidics has become a powerful tool in precision medicine, green biotechnology, and cell therapy for single-cell analysis and selection by virtue of its ability to effectively confine cells. However, there remains a fundamental trade-off between droplet volume and sorting throughput, limiting the advantages of droplet microfluidics to small droplets (<10 pl) that are incompatible with long-term maintenance and growth of most cells. We present a sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic array (SADA) sorter to overcome this problem. The SADA sorter uses an on-chip array of electrodes activated and deactivated in a sequence synchronized to the speed and position of a passing target droplet to deliver an accumulated dielectrophoretic force and gently pull it in the direction of sorting in a high-speed flow. We use it to demonstrate large-droplet sorting with ~20-fold higher throughputs than conventional techniques and apply it to long-term single-cell analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on their growth rate.

[Breast schistosomiasis japonica: a case report]

A case with breast schistosomiasis japonica was reported.

Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation from HAWC Observations of Gamma Rays above 100 TeV

Because of the high energies and long distances to the sources, astrophysical observations provide a unique opportunity to test possible signatures of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Superluminal LIV enables the decay of photons at high energy. The high altitude water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is among the most sensitive gamma-ray instruments currently operating above 10 TeV. HAWC finds evidence of 100 TeV photon emission from at least four astrophysical sources. These observations exclude, for the strongest of the limits set, the LIV energy scale to 2.2×10^{31}  eV, over 1800 times the Planck energy and an improvement of 1 to 2 orders of magnitude over previous limits.

[The performance of visual photoscreening for Chinese preschool children aged 4 to 5 years]

Objective: To assess the accuracy of photoscreening for detecting refractive amblyopia risk factors (ARFs) in Chinese preschool children aged 4 to 5 years. Methods: A cross-sectional study. Comprehensive ocular examinations were conducted for preschool children in Nanjing, China from September to December, 2016. Photoscreening (Plusoptix A12C) was applied for refractive screening without cycloplegia. Voluntary children and children suspected of eyes abnormalities received cycloplegic retinoscopy (CR). Results of photoscreening and CR were compared using Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Bland-Altman plot were used to assess the agreement between the photoscreener and CR. According to the updated preschool vision screening guidelines from American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) in 2013, CR was adopted for identifying children with ARFs, which was considered as a golden standard. Based on the golden standard, the accuracy of 5 sets of referral criteria (including sensitivity standard, Matta/Silbert standard, AAPOS2013 standard, Alaska Blind Child Discovery standard, specificity standard) for photoscreener were tested. Receiver operating characteristics curves were constructed applied to evaluate the quality of the photoscreener in refractive ARFs detection and to find probably the best cut-off points. Results: In total, 1 986 children [mean age, (4.57±0.29) years] received comprehensive examinations, including 1 084 boys and 902 girls. The test ability of photoscreening was 99.04% (1 967/1 986) in the preschool children, and 96.56%(1 827/1 892) of the children got a reliable result within three screening attempts. In 538 children who had data of CR, refractive error of one child exceeded the upper limit of the photoscreener value setting, which was directly categorized as hyperopia, so in the end, 537 children were included to analyze the comparison between the two tests. The measurement values of photoscreening were lower than those of CR in sphere, cylinder and spherical equivalent [(0.75 (0.50, 1.25) D vs. 1.25 (1.00, 1.75) D, Z=-10.36, P<0.01; -0.50 (-0.75, -0.25) D vs. -0.25 (-0.75, 0.00) D, Z=-11.10, P<0.01; 0.63 (0.38, 0.88) D vs. 1.00 (0.75, 1.50) D, Z=-13.33, P<0.01]. The 95% limit of agreement cover rates between the photoscreening and CR in sphere, cylinder and spherical equivalent was 96.28% (517/537), 95.34% (512/537) and 96.65% (519/537), respectively. Based on the golden standard, 47 (8.74%) children had refractive ARFs, and the range of sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, positive predictive values and negative predictive values for detecting refractive ARFs of the 5 common used referral criteria was from 63.83% to 97.87%, from 53.36% to 97.56%, from 0.51 to 0.80, from 16.73% to 74.51% and from 96.57% to 99.62%, respectively. Considering particular refractive ARFs on the basis of the receiver operating characteristic curves, the optimal cut-off point for astigmatism was set at 1.38 D. Conclusion: Photoscreening could be an applicable tool to detect refractive ARFs in preschool children. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2020, 56: 189-196).

Robust weak antilocalization due to spin-orbital entanglement in Dirac material Sr3SnO

The presence of both inversion (P) and time-reversal (T) symmetries in solids leads to a double degeneracy of the electronic bands (Kramers degeneracy). By lifting the degeneracy, spin textures manifest themselves in momentum space, as in topological insulators or in strong Rashba materials. The existence of spin textures with Kramers degeneracy, however, is difficult to observe directly. Here, we use quantum interference measurements to provide evidence for the existence of hidden entanglement between spin and momentum in the antiperovskite-type Dirac material Sr3SnO. We find robust weak antilocalization (WAL) independent of the position of EF. The observed WAL is fitted using a single interference channel at low doping, which implies that the different Dirac valleys are mixed by disorder. Notably, this mixing does not suppress WAL, suggesting contrasting interference physics compared to graphene. We identify scattering among axially spin-momentum locked states as a key process that leads to a spin-orbital entanglement.

Multiple Galactic Sources with Emission Above 56 TeV Detected by HAWC

We present the first catalog of gamma-ray sources emitting above 56 and 100 TeV with data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, a wide field-of-view observatory capable of detecting gamma rays up to a few hundred TeV. Nine sources are observed above 56 TeV, all of which are likely galactic in origin. Three sources continue emitting past 100 TeV, making this the highest-energy gamma-ray source catalog to date. We report the integral flux of each of these objects. We also report spectra for three highest-energy sources and discuss the possibility that they are PeVatrons.

Seven Novel and Three Known Mutations in FOXL2 in 10 Chinese Families with Blepharophimosis Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Blepharophimosis syndrome (BPES) is characterized by eyelid malformation with occasional premature ovarian failure. Mutations in FOXL2 underlie a fraction of BPES cases.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the genetic basis of BPES in 26 Chinese families that included 78 patients.

METHODS

We performed ophthalmological examinations on each family member. We used Sanger sequencing to screen FOXL2 exons and their flanking sequences. We also performed bioinformatics studies, structural modeling and pathogenicity evaluations on all identified variations. Literature was reviewed and genotype-phenotype correlation analysis was performed.

RESULTS

The patients had typical manifestations of BPES. Ten mutations were identified in ten of the twenty-six families. Among these, seven were novel mutations. These included the six truncating mutations, p.Glu69*, p.Gly256Glyfs*14, p.Ala14Serfs*135, p.Pro333Profs*200, p.Pro290Leufs*70, and p.Pro157Profs*91, and one missense mutation, p.Tyr59Cys. The mutations were scattered within the gene, and no mutational hotspots were found. Genotype-phenotype correlation analysis showed that frameshift or nonsense mutations were correlated with type I BPES, while in-frame or missense mutations were associated with type II BPES.

CONCLUSION

We report the largest BPES cohort in China thus far as well as seven novel mutations in FOXL2. The identification of novel mutations has not only expanded the mutational spectrum of the gene (which is valuable for mutation detection-based screening) but also suggests that most mutations within the Chinese population may not have been characterized yet.

[Clinicopathological study of BCOR rearrangement in high grade endometrial stromal sarcoma]

Objective: To investigate clinicopathological, cytogenetic features and differential diagnoses of high grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HGESS) with BCOR gene rearrangement. Methods: Five cases of HGESS with BCOR rearrangement were collected from consultant files (2016-2018) at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Interphase FISH was performed using a dual color break-apart probe. The clinical data, histologic features and immunohistochemical findings were reviewed. Results: All 5 cases occurred in adult women with a median age of 48 (range, 45-55) years. Abdominal pain and abnormal vaginal bleeding were the most common symptoms. Microscopically, the tumors showed mainly tongue-like and/or intersecting myometrial invasion. Stromal myxoid matrix and/or collagen plaques were prominent in all the cases. Most tumors consisted of uniform, haphazard fascicles of short spindle cells with mild to moderate nuclear atypia. Mitotic figures and necrosis were easily identified. Significant nuclear pleomorphism was not seen. Most tumors were rich in thick-walled small vessels. Prominent perivascular tumor cell whorling seen in conventional low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma was not seen. All tumors expressed CD10 with only focal or absent desmin, SMA and/or h-caldesmon staining. ER or PR expression was seen in 4 tumors and 1 tumor showed both marker expression. Diffuse cyclin D1 was present in 2 tumors. BCOR immunoreactivity was present with strong staining in 3 cases and moderate staining in 1 case respectively. Ki-67 index ranged from 10% to 30%. Fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed chromosomal aberration of BCOR gene in all tumors, that were previously diagnosed as myxoid leiomyosarcoma (2 cases), spindle cell uterine sarcoma (2 cases) and low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (1 case). Limited follow-up information revealed that 3/5 patients developed tumor recurrence, metastasis or death within one year. Conclusion: BCOR rearranged HGESS has distinct morphological features and aggressive clinical behavior. In the presence of significant overlapping morphologic features between BCOR rearranged HGESS and other myxoid uterine mesenchymal tumors, especially myxoid leiomyosarcoma, molecular analysis is essential for accurate diagnoses.

Decreased Expression of TIM-3 on Th17 Cells Associated with Ophthalmopathy in Patients with Graves' Disease

Purpose:

Thyroid-associated Ophthalmopathy (TAO) is one of the most common orbital immunological diseases in adults. CD4+ helper T (Th) cells play important roles in the pathogenesis of TAO. But the mechanisms regulating CD4+ T cell activity is unclear. This study examines T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain 3 (TIM-3) expression in helper T cell type 1 (Th1), Th17, and regulatory T cells in sufferers of TAO.

Methods:

Participants were divided into 3 groups: patients with TAO, patients with Graves’ disease but without orbitopathy (GD), and healthy control patients (HC). Peripheral blood samples were collected for each patient in the designated group. Flow cytometry methods assessed the frequency of Th1 (CD4+IFN-γ+), Th17 (CD4+IL-17+), regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25hiCD127lo), and TIM-3 protein expression. Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) measured the magnitude of TIM-3 expression and the percentage of TIM-3+ cells for each patient.

Results:

Compared to the GD group, TAO patients possessed higher frequencies of Th1 and Th17 cells in peripheral blood samples. The percentage of TIM-3+ Th1 and Th17 cells was significantly lower in the TAO patients than the GD group. Across all patients sampled, TIM-3+ cell percentage negatively correlated with Th1 cell frequency. Th1 and Th17 cells exhibited significantly decreased expression of TIM-3 in TAO patients compared to healthy controls. Regulatory T cells showed little TIM-3 expression and we observed no significant differences in frequency between groups.

Conclusion:

These results suggest a role for TIM-3 in the regulation of Th1 and Th17 cells and the pathogenesis of Graves’ ophthalmopathy.

Conserving evolutionary history does not result in greater diversity over geological time scales

Alternative prioritization strategies have been proposed to safeguard biodiversity over macroevolutionary time scales. The first prioritizes the most distantly related species—maximizing phylogenetic diversity (PD)—in the hopes of capturing at least some lineages that will successfully diversify into the future. The second prioritizes lineages that are currently speciating, in the hopes that successful lineages will continue to generate species into the future. These contrasting schemes also map onto contrasting predictions about the role of slow diversifiers in the production of biodiversity over palaeontological time scales. We consider the performance of the two schemes across 10 dated species-level palaeo-phylogenetic trees ranging from Foraminifera to dinosaurs. We find that prioritizing PD for conservation generally led to fewer subsequent lineages, while prioritizing diversifiers led to modestly more subsequent diversity, compared with random sets of lineages. Importantly for conservation, the tree shape when decisions are made cannot predict which scheme will be most successful. These patterns are inconsistent with the notion that long-lived lineages are the source of new species. While there may be sound reasons for prioritizing PD for conservation, long-term species production might not be one of them.

Abstract GS2-02: Efficacy and utilization trends of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage I, II, and III breast cancer in the elderly population: A National Cancer Database (NCDB) analysis

Background: The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in early stage breast cancer is well established with survival benefit seen in long term follow up studies, but only a small minority of patients in these studies were &gt;65 years old. Dose and schedule can be tailored according to the special requirements of an elderly patient, as stated by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). However the magnitude of the benefit and trends in utilization of adjuvant chemotherapy has not been well studied in this population.

Methods: Female patients above 65 years age with stage I to III breast cancer were identified from the NCDB database from 2004-2015. Factors predicting utility of chemotherapy were assessed with multivariate analysis. Kaplan Meier curves were constructed for calculation of overall survival (OS) with hazard ratio (HR) estimated from cox model. Log rank test and pearson chi square was used for comparison between groups. Groups were compared for OS benefit at 5 and 10 years.

Results: Of a total of 2,445,730 patients analyzed, 160,676 met our inclusion criteria. Of them, 21,743 were &gt;80 years old. Factors predicting use of adjuvant chemotherapy were shown in table 1. OS benefit was seen in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy regardless of their age, ER, PR, HER-2 status or stage. Patients with TNBC had an HR of 0.547. More benefit was seen in the higher stages. HR for stages I, II, and III were 0.801, 0.608, and 0.666 respectively.

Table 1-Factors predicting utilization of adjuvant chemotherapy  No chemotherapyWith chemotherapyp-valueHistology   &lt;0.0001 All others9980 (16.8)12502 (13.9)  Ductal, infiltrating43453 (73)69631 (77.2)  Lobular6107 (10.3)8073 (8.9) Grade   &lt;0.0001 Well differentiated15268 (25.6)8182 (9.1)  Moderately differentiated28813 (48.4)36028 (39.9)  Poorly differentiated15459 (26.0)45996 (51.0) Age   &lt;0.0001 &gt;8015766 (26.5)4501 (5.0)  65-8043774 (73.5)85705 (95.0) Race   &lt;0.0001 Black5150 (8.6)9882 (11.0)  White52420 (88.0)76956 (85.3)  Others1970 (3.3)3368 (3.7) CDCC   &lt;0.0001 043902 (73.7)70256 (77.9)  111883 (20.0)16219 (18.0)  22840 (4.8)3053 (3.4)  &gt;3915 (1.5)678 (0.8) Radiation Therapy   &lt;0.0001 With Radiation28978 (48.8)57507 (64.1)  Without Radiation30395 (51.2)32184 (35.9) Type of Surgery   &lt;0.0001 Local/partial mastectomy35823 (60.2)43026 (47.7)  Mastectomy1234 (2.1)1005 (1.1)  None22467 (37.7)46112 (51.2) Stage   &lt;0.0001 133574 (56.4)27829 (30.9)  220544 (34.5)41087 (45.5)  35422 (9.1)21290 (23.6) ER/PR Status   &lt;0.0001 +/+42842 (73.1)46000 (52.0)  +/-7049 (12.0)13033 (14.7)  -/+451 (0.8)1315 (1.5)  -/-8279 (14.1)28155 (31.8) 

Conclusions: Adjuvant chemotherapy is considered standard of care for patients with early stage breast cancer. Elderly patients are more likely to get adjuvant chemotherapy based on histology, age&lt;80, grade, stage, and hormone receptor status. In this study, we also learn that the OS benefit with adjuvant chemotherapy is significant in all subgroups analyzed for the elderly population.

Citation Format: Sinha S, Panebianco L, Wu X, Wang D, Huang D, Sivapiragasam A. Efficacy and utilization trends of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage I, II, and III breast cancer in the elderly population: A National Cancer Database (NCDB) analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr GS2-02.

Abstract P4-06-27: LncRNA NKILA promotes tumour immune evasion by sensitizing tumour-specific t cells to activation-induced cell death

Activation induced cell death (AICD) of T lymphocytes is critical to maintain T-cell homeostasis, which is adopted by malignant tumors to convey immune evasion by eliminating tumor-reactive cytotoxic T cells. In this study, we demonstrated excessive apoptosis of tumor antigen-specific CTLs in breast and lung cancers. However, the mechanism involved in AICD of tumor-specific T cells remains obscure. Here, we demonstrated that NF-κB activity in tumor-specific T cells is high at the early phase of CTL activation induced by breast tumor antigens, but is suppressed at the later phase. This results in massive apoptosis of tumor-specific CTLs challenged by tumor cells. Interestingly, NKILA, an NFκB interacting lncRNA, sensitizes CTLs to AICD by inhibiting NF-κB activities after their activation, leading to tumor immune evasion. In vivo, administering CTLs with NKILA silencing into immunocompromised mice with breast cancer patient derived xenografts (PDXs) effectively inhibits PDX growth by increasing CTL infiltration. Clinically, NKILA was overexpressed in the tumor specific CTLs of breast and lung cancers, which was associated with less CTL infiltration in the tumors and shorter patient survival. Our findings present the first evidence that AICD in tumor-specific CTLs is crucial to cancer immune evasion, and targeting NKILA in CTLs emerges as a novel anti-tumor immunotherapy.

Citation Format: Song E, Su S, Huang D. LncRNA NKILA promotes tumour immune evasion by sensitizing tumour-specific t cells to activation-induced cell death [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-06-27.

Tea consumption and bone health in Chinese adults: a population-based study

Tea is a worldwide drink with controversial effect on bone health. The sex-specific associations are unrevealed among general population. This study showed that prolonged moderate tea consumption benefited bone health in women, while no additional benefit with stronger tea. However, tea consumption was not associated with bone health in men.

INTRODUCTION

Tea consumption has been shown a potentially beneficial effect on bone health in postmenopausal women. However, little is known about such association in men, and whether stronger tea instead harms bone health due to elevated urinary excretion of calcium associated with caffeine in the tea. The aim of this study was to examine the association between various metrics of tea consumption and bone health.

METHODS

The present study included 20,643 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), who have finished both baseline survey (2004-2008) and a re-survey (2013-2014). They were aged 38-86 years at re-survey. Tea consumption was self-reported at both baseline and re-survey. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured using calcaneal quantitative ultrasound once at re-survey.

RESULTS

Compared with non-consumers, prolonged weekly tea consumers in women was associated with higher calcaneus BMD measures, with β (95% CI) of 0.98 (0.22, 1.74) for BUA, 4.68 (1.74, 7.61) for SOS, and 1.95 (0.81, 3.10) for SI. Among prolonged weekly tea consumers, no linear increase in BMD measures with the amount of tea leaves added was observed. The SOS and SI were higher in consumers with tea leaves 3.0-5.9 g/day than in those with < 3.0 g/day, but were reduced to non-significant for those with ≥ 6.0 g/day. Tea consumption was not associated with calcaneus BMD measures in men.

CONCLUSION

Prolonged moderate tea consumption benefited bone health in women but not in men. For stronger tea consumption with more tea leaves added, neither benefit nor harm to bone health was observed.