Myostatin (MSTN) is an important gene involved in the regulation of embryonic muscle cells and adult muscle development; it has a good application prospect in transgenic animal production by improving the yield of muscle. The purpose of this study is to construct MSTN gene knockout vector using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats ( CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 ( Cas9). The knockout efficiency was evaluated in sheep ear fibroblasts (SEFs) by cleavage activity of transcription of guide RNA ( gRNA), luciferase-single-strand annealing assay, T7 endonuclease I assay (T7E1), and TA clone sequence (10/38); and above all, detection showed that the cleavage activity of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated MSTN reached 29%. MSTN-Cas9/gRNA4 was transfected into sheep skeletal muscle satellite cell (sSMSC) to confirm the function of MSTN in myotomes formation induced by starvation in low-serum medium. The results showed that myotubes formation efficiency were 11.2 ± 1.3% and 19.5 ± 2.1% in the control group and knockout group, respectively. The average length of myotomes was 22 ± 5.3 and 47 ± 3.6 μm, displaying that MSTN knockout can promote sSMSC differentiation in number and length. The unlabeled MSTN-Cas9/gRNA4 was transfected into SEFs and monoclonal positive cells was obtained after 48 hours transfection. The MSTN-positive cells were used as donor cells to perform somatic cell nuclear transplantation to produce transgenic sheep. A total of 20 embryos were transplanted into surrogate mothers, four of them normally produce offspring. The genomic DNA of surviving lambs were used as a template, three positive individuals were identified by T7E1 digestion. All the results demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system has the potential to become an important and applicable gene engineering tool in animal breeding.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) and hybrid sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF)/LGFMS have a low potential for recurrence (10%) and metastasis (5%) but they are notorious for late occurring metastases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of LGFMS and review similar cases reported in the literature. We retrospectively evaluated 24 LGFMS operated at a single Institution. All cases were histologically revised. Mean age was 34 years (range, 8 to 74). Two cases presented areas of SEF (hybrid tumours). Three patients presented with metastasis at diagnosis. A strong cytoplasmic staining for MUC4 antibody was found in the majority of neoplastic cells. RT-PCR was feasible in 6 cases and it detected the presence of FUS-CREB3L2 fusion gene chimeric transcript. Mean follow-up was 44 months (range, 6 to 217). Two patients developed lung metastasis after 9 and 26 months respectively. Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma has a various histopathologic spectrum with few cases of LGFMS that share histopathologic resemblance with SEF, thereby reinforcing a possibility of a link within these two. It is of paramount importance an accurate and extensive sampling and examination of the whole specimen, in order to identify higher risk patients.

In applications of wireless sensor networks, there are many security issues. Attackers can create false reports and transmit the reports to the networks. These false reports can lead not only false alarms, but also the depletion of limited energy resources. In order to filter out such false reports during the forwarding process, Ye et al. proposed the statistical en-route filtering (SEF). Several research efforts to enhance the efficiency of SEF have been made. Especially, the path selection method proposed by Sun et al. can improve the detection power of SEF by considering the information on the filtering keys of and distances of upstream paths. However, such selection mechanism could lead to favored paths in heavy traffic, which would result in unbalanced energy consumption. In this paper, we propose a path renewal method to provide load balancing for sensor networks in terms of energy consumption. In our method, a node renews its upstream path to save energy resources if the remaining energy of and the communication traffic of the node exceed some threshold values. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of balanced energy consumption and filtering power by providing simulation results.

With the rapid development of high voltage direct current transmission, the possibility of health effects associated with static electric field (SEF) has caused wide public concern. To examine the effects of long-lasting, full-body exposure to SEF on cognition, Institute of Cancer Research mice were exposed to SEF for 35 d. The intensities of SEF in experimental group I (EG-I), experimental group II (EG-II) and control group (CG) were 2.30∼15.40 kV/m, 9.20∼21.85 kV/m and 0 kV/m, respectively. The performance in learning and memory of mice were tested by Morris water maze (MWM) on days 2∼6, 16∼20 and 30∼34 during the exposure period. The concentrations of hippocampal amino acid neurotransmitters were evaluated on days 7, 21 and 35. Results showed that the latency in the MWM test had no significant difference among the EG-I, EG-II and CG (P>> 0.05) during the exposure period. The percentage of time spent in the target quadrant was significantly decreased in the EG-II on day 34 during the exposure period (P < 0.05), whereas the percentage of time spent in the opposite quadrant increased markedly (P < 0.01). The glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations showed no significant differences among the EG-I, EG-II and CG (P>> 0.05) during the exposure period. These results indicated that long-lasting, full-body exposure to SEF with certain intensity would not cause significant influence on learning ability, but it might associate with memory impairment of receptors. Meanwhile, this effect of memory impairment was dose-dependent and not causally linked to the glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in the hippocampus.

Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a rare and distinct variant of low grade fibrosarcoma, found mainly in deep soft tissue of adult extremities. We report a case of Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma of soft tissue, which developed in a 69-year-old woman who presented a tumor involving the fourth finger of her right foot and which has not progressed much in size during the three months prior the surgical excision. Our patient is the hundredth case of Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma reported in literature since 1995, thus confirming the rarity of the tumor. Our experience showed that it is important to make an early diagnosis, in consideration of the clinical aggressiveness of this cancer. Another important aspect concerns the postoperative follow-up. The monitoring of PET-CT technique , although not standardized, could become part of proceedings of therapy and follow-up of tumor, thus allowing oncological radicality and avoid large amputations. To date, 24 months after diagnosis of SEF, our patient feels well, attends our outpatient clinic regularly and shows no evidence of relapse and/or metastasis.

The subject of this study is comparison of imidazolium based dynamic and covalent coatings of the quartz capillary wall on the example of catecholamines determination. A way of synthesis of covalent coatings was proposed. For the first time different type of on-line sample preconcentration techniques (field-amplified sample stacking (FASS), head-column field amplified sample stacking (HC FASS), electrostacking, sweeping) were performed for catecholamines determination in N-alkylsubstituted imidazolium coated capillary. It was found that long chain imidazolium ionic liquids (C12MImCl and C16MImCl) in background electrolyte content create a dynamic coating of the quartz capillary walls and generate anode electroosmotic flow. Same is true for covalent coatings based on N-alkylsubstituted imidazolium. Both coatings prevent sorption of catecholamines on the internal surface of the quartz capillary. As a result efficiency and peak symmetry are increased. The maximum stacking efficiency factor (SEF) values for dynamic coatings were in range of 70-85, and limits of detection (LODs) were about 0.05 µg/ml under sweeping condition (micelle forming agent - C16MImCl) when the electric conductivity of sample matrix was higher than electric conductivity of BGE. In case of covalent coating, the maximum SEF values were higher than 1000, and LODs were about 1-2 ng/ml under sweeping condition (micelle forming agent - sodium dodecyl sulphate) in combination with electrostacking.

BACKGROUND

Regional changes in diastolic and systolic properties after myocardial infarction contribute to adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling. Regional function is currently assessed using load-dependent measures such as slice ejection fraction (sEF), wall motion abnormalities, or strain imaging. However, load-independent measures of cardiac function may be useful in the study of the infarction-induced remodeling.

METHODS

In this study, we used a recently validated 2-dimensional (2D) real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to evaluate regional variations in load-independent slice-by-slice measures of systolic and diastolic function and compared the values to a load-dependent measure in 11 sheep at rest and during inotropic agent infusion.

RESULTS

Slice-derived ejection fraction (sEF) was greater in the apex relative to the midventricular and basal regions, and inotropic infusion increased sEF in the base more than in the apex and midventricle. Slice-derived ESPVR (sESPVR) in the apex was significantly lower than in the midventricle and the base, and inotropic infusion increased sESPVR in the apical slices more than in the midventricle. Similarly, slice-derived volume-axis intercept V0 (sV0) was higher in the base relative to the midventricle and apex. sEDPVR did not demonstrate significant regional variations, but inotropic infusion resulted in a small increase in the apex.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, acquisition of slice-derived load-independent measures demonstrated variations that contradict those observed with load-dependent sEF. The approach may provide advanced slice-based measures of function during the LV remodeling process and aid in the development of therapies.

Socioeconomic factors (SEF) can exert a great impact on food choices. However, limited data are available from the Spanish population. Our aim was to describe the influence of place of residence and habitat size on food group intakes. Data were obtained from the ANIBES study. A 3-day dietary record provided information on food and beverage consumption. Data analysis compared gender, age, Nielsen geographic areas, and habitat population size (urban, semi-urban, and rural). Place of residence did not appear to be a determinant for specific food group consumption during childhood and adolescence, as only higher intakes of non-alcoholic beverages were observed among children aged 9 to 12 years living in the East, when compared to those from the Northwest of Spain (p < 0.05). Food choices within adults (18 to 64 years) and seniors (65 to 75 years) were conditioned: sugar and sweets intake was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for adult men living in the Northwest than those from the South, and senior males from North Central areas had significantly higher consumption of eggs (p < 0.05) compared to the Northeast. Basic food group consumption was only affected during childhood and aging. Adults who inhabited rural areas consumed greater quantities of fats and oils than those from higher population densities (p < 0.01). Our results indicate that place of residence and habitat size have a limited influence on food choices, regardless of age and gender in the ANIBES study population. It is fundamental to acknowledge that other SEF variables are important and further studies are needed to monitor and assess these influences are warranted.

Background: With widespread deprivation in the education of minors affected by child welfare practices (CWP) in the last century, affected individuals often continued a life dominated by socio-economic disadvantage. According to life course theories, the impact of socio-economic disadvantage can accumulate across the life span, leading to worse health in later life. However, the scientific examination of health correlates of CWP in later life and the mediating role of socio-economic factors (SEF) has previously been neglected.

Objective: This study examined whether Swiss survivors of CWP, including former Verdingkinder, have poorer health in later life compared to controls, and whether this association is mediated by socio-economic factors: education, income, satisfaction with financial situation, socio-economic status.

Participants and setting: Two face-to-face interviews were conducted with N = 257 participants (risk group, RG, n = 132, M_AGE = 70.83 years, 58 % male; control group, CG, n = 125, M_AGE = 70.6 years, 49 % male).

Methods: A broad set of physical health outcomes, stress, well-being, and SEF were assessed with psychometric instruments.

Results: The RG reported more physical illnesses, vascular risk factors, health symptoms, stress, and lower well-being, compared to the CG. Mediation analyses revealed that SEF were relevant mediators for the significant health and stress disparities between groups.

Conclusions: Results suggest that SEF can play a crucial role in mitigating the negative effects and health impairments in individuals formerly affected by CWP. Public health services and policies that target these SEF could improve current welfare practices by providing opportunities to overcome early-life disadvantage and facilitating healthier life trajectories.

Keywords: Child welfare practice; Health; Later life; Socio-economic factors; Verdingkinder.

The translation of stacking techniques used in capillary electrophoresis (CE) to microchip CE (MCE) in order to improve concentration sensitivity is an important area of study. The success in stacking relies on the generation and control of the stacking boundaries which is a challenge in MCE because the manipulation of solutions is not as straightforward as in CE with a single channel. Here, a simple and rapid online sample concentration (stacking strategy) in a battery operated nonaqueous MCE device with a commercially available double T-junction glass chip is presented. A multistacking approach was developed in order to circumvent the issues for stacking in nonaqueous MCE. The cationic analytes from the two loading channels were injected under field-enhanced conditions and were focused by micelle-to-solvent stacking. This was achieved by the application of high electric fields along the two loading channels and a low electric field in the separation channel, with one ground electrode in the reservoir closest to the junction. At the junction, the stacked zones were restacked under field-enhanced conditions and then injected into the separation channels. The multistacking was verified under a fluorescence microscope using Rhodamine 6G as the analyte, revealing a sensitivity enhancement factor (SEF) of 110. The stacking approach was also implemented in the nonaqueous MCE with contactless conductivity detection of the anticancer drug tamoxifen as well as its metabolites. The multistacking and analysis time was 40 and 110 s, respectively, the limit of detections was from 10 to 35 ng/mL and the SEFs were 20 to 50. The method was able to quantify the target analytes from breast cancer patients.

This study was conducted to assess the effects of dietary energy in late pregnancy and hormone therapy at weaning on plasma metabolite profile, litter performance, reproductive parameters, and embryo viability in the second pregnancy. A total of 23 first-parity sows at 75 d of pregnancy were randomly allocated to 4 treatments. Treatments were factorial (2 × 2) combinations of 2 nutritional strategies [standard-energy feed (SEF) and high-energy feed (HEF)] and 2 hormone therapies [600 IU eCG and 2.5 mg swine LH 72 h later (HO) and no hormone (WH)]. Sows were weighed weekly from 75 d of pregnancy until 3 d before farrowing; 1 d after farrowing; 7, 14, and 21 d into lactation; and at weaning. Back fat (BF) was measured at 75 d of pregnancy, 3 d before farrowing, and at weaning. Average daily gain and ADFI were also calculated. Plasma metabolites were analyzed after 82, 89, 96, and 103 d of pregnancy, at farrowing, and after 7, 14, and 21 d of lactation. Embryo viability was assessed after 4.55 d of second pregnancy. During pregnancy, HEF-treated sows displayed greater BW (P < 0.05) compared with SEF-treated females, but no differences were observed during lactation. There were no differences in BW of the piglets caused by the treatments. High-energy-treated females showed superior BF (P>> 0.05) in all periods; however, significant differences were detected only at the prefarrowing measurement (P < 0.05). No differences in ADFI were observed during lactation. The SEF group showed positive ADG, whereas the HEF group showed negative ADG (0.216 vs. -0.266 kg/d for SEF and HEF, respectively; P < 0.05). High-energy-treated sows presented greater concentrations of total cholesterol after 89 and 103 d of pregnancy and greater concentrations of high-density lipid cholesterol (HDL) after 89 and 96 d. At farrowing and 14 and 21 d of lactation, NEFA concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in the HEF group. After hormone treatment, no differences were observed on weaning-to-estrus intervals and estrus duration. Greater mobilization of body reserves observed in the HEF group during lactation did not affect reproductive performance negatively, suggesting that metabolic status was adequate for the first lactational catabolism.

Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a rare and distinct variant of fibrosarcoma, composed of epithelioid tumor cells arranged in strands, nests, cords, or sheets embedded within a sclerotic collagenous matrix. We report a 39-year-old man with SEF of the liver, which infiltrated the inferior vena cava (IVC). The SEF of the liver was successfully resected, and the infiltrated IVC was also removed together with the liver tumor. Histopathological examination of the tumor showed typical histopathology of SEF. Immunohistochemically, the tumor was positive for vimentin. Recurrence was noted 7 mo after surgery. After chemotherapy, the recurrent tumor was resected surgically, and histopathological examination showed similar findings to those of the primary tumor. To our knowledge, this is the first report of SEF of the liver with tumor invasion of the IVC.

BACKGROUND

Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a very rare soft tissue sarcoma subtype. Clinically it is an aggressive tumour; however, to our knowledge there are no published reports regarding the efficacy of chemotherapy in SEF. Therefore, the aim of this study was to document the outcome of a series of patients with SEF treated at a single referral centre with reference to systemic therapy.

METHODS

A retrospective search of a prospectively maintained database was performed to identify all patients diagnosed with SEF between 1990 and 2017. The diagnosis was confirmed in each case by a dedicated soft tissue sarcoma pathologist. We analysed those with recurrent disease and the effect of systemic chemotherapy in the metastatic setting.

RESULTS

Thirteen patients were identified, median overall survival from diagnosis and metastasis were 47.3 (95% CI 25.0-131.9) and 16.3 (95% CI 5.3-20.6) months, respectively. In total, 12 (92.3%) patients developed metastatic disease of which 10 died of disease, 1 was lost to follow-up and 1 had recently commenced palliative treatment. Among the 10 patients with metastatic disease, 7 received palliative chemotherapy. Palliative chemotherapy resulted in partial response in 1 patient, stable disease in 3 patients and progressive disease in 3 patients. Median time to disease progression was 2.7 (95% CI 1.2-4.4) months. Two of 13 patients were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, receiving 6 cycles of liposomal doxorubicin and 1 cycle of doxorubicin, respectively, with a metastasis-free survival of 28.2 and 7.1 months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

SEF is an aggressive sarcoma subtype with a poor outcome and with limited responsiveness to conventional chemotherapy. Patients with this subtype should be considered for participation in clinical trials with novel agents. Further investigation into the biology of this rare disease is required to improve outcomes.

Background: Oculomotor movements have been shown to aid in the retrieval of episodic memories, serving as sensory cues that engage frontoparietal brain regions to reconstruct visuospatial details of a memory. Frontoparietal brain regions not only are involved in oculomotion, but also mediate, in part, the retrieval of autobiographical episodic memories and assist in emotion regulation. Objective: We sought to investigate how oculomotion influences retrieval of traumatic memories by examining patterns of frontoparietal brain activation during autobiographical memory retrieval in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in healthy controls. Method: Thirty-nine participants (controls, n = 19; PTSD, n = 20) recollected both neutral and traumatic/stressful autobiographical memories while cued simultaneously by horizontal and vertical oculomotor stimuli. The frontal (FEF) and supplementary (SEF) eye fields were used as seed regions for psychophysiological interaction analyses in SPM12. Results: As compared to controls, upon retrieval of a traumatic/stressful memory while also performing simultaneous horizontal eye movements, PTSD showed: i) increased SEF and FEF connectivity with the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ii) increased SEF connectivity with the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and iii) increased SEF connectivity with the right anterior insula. By contrast, as compared to PTSD, upon retrieval of a traumatic/stressful memory while also performing simultaneous horizontal eye movements, controls showed: i) increased FEF connectivity with the right posterior insula and ii) increased SEF connectivity with the precuneus. Conclusions: These findings provide a neurobiological account for how oculomotion may influence the frontoparietal cortical representation of traumatic memories. Implications for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing are discussed.

The performance of a new monitor for the depth of anesthesia (DOA), the Depth of Anesthesia Index (Ai) based on sample entropy (SampEn), 95% spectral edge frequency (95%SEF), and burst suppression ratio (BSR) was evaluated compared to Bispectral Index (BIS) during total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA). 144 patients in six medical centers were enrolled. General anesthesia was induced with stepwise-increased target-controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol until loss of consciousness (LOC). During surgery propofol was titrated according to BIS. Both Ai and BIS were recorded. Primary outcomes: the limits of agreement between Ai and BIS were -17.68 and 16.49, which were, respectively, -30.0% and 28.0% of the mean value of BIS. Secondary outcomes: prediction probability (Pk) of BIS and Ai was 0.943 and 0.935 (p=0.102) during LOC and 0.928 and 0.918 (p=0.037) during recovery of consciousness (ROC). And the values of BIS and Ai were 68.19 and 66.44 at 50%LOC, and 76.65 and 78.60 at 50%ROC. A decrease or an increase of Ai was significantly greater than that of BIS when consciousness changes (during LOC: -9.13±10.20 versus -5.83±9.63, p<0.001; during ROC: 10.88±11.51 versus 5.32±7.53, p<0.001). The conclusion is that Ai has similar characteristic of BIS as a DOA monitor and revealed the advantage of SampEn for indicating conscious level. This trial is registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with ChiCTR-IOR-16009471.

The frontal eye field (FEF) in prosimian primates was identified as a small cortical region, above and anterior to the anterior frontal sulcus, from which saccadic eye movements were evoked with electrical stimulation. Tracer injections revealed FEF connections with cortical and subcortical structures participating in higher order visual processing. Ipsilateral cortical connections were the densest with adjoining parts of the dorsal premotor and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Label in a region corresponding to supplementary eye field (SEF) of other primates, suggests the existence of SEF in galagos. Other connections were with ventral premotor cortex (PMV), the caudal half of posterior parietal cortex, cingulate cortex, visual areas within the superior temporal sulcus, and inferotemporal cortex. Callosal connections were mostly with the region of the FEF of another hemisphere, SEF, PFC, and PMV. Most subcortical connections were ipsilateral, but some were bilateral. Dense bilateral connections were to caudate nuclei. Densest reciprocal ipsilateral connections were with the paralamellar portion of mediodorsal nucleus, intralaminar nuclei and magnocellular portion of ventral anterior nucleus. Other FEF connections were with the claustrum, reticular nucleus, zona incerta, lateral posterior and medial pulvinar nuclei, nucleus limitans, pretectal area, nucleus of Darkschewitsch, mesencephalic and pontine reticular formation and pontine nuclei. Surprisingly, the superior colliculus (SC) contained only sparse anterograde label. Although most FEF connections in galagos are similar to those in monkeys, the FEF-SC connections appear to be much less. This suggests that a major contribution of the FEF to visuomotor functions of SC emerged with the evolution of anthropoid primates.

Introduction: Stage-environment fit theory (SEF) posits that students leave school when their environments do not meet their needs. Quality teacher-student relationships (QTSRs) are a critical element of students' environments. Moreover, QTSRs help students internalize positive intentions to graduate. QTSRs and intentions to graduate have both been identified as separate determinants of high school completion. These factors may also form a longitudinal socio-motivational process that supports graduation. However, few studies have examined such processes.

Methods: This investigation examined data from N = 4691 Australian secondary students (43% female) included in the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 cohort. Participants were in grade 10 at Time 1 (M_age = 15.74; SD = 0.28), with a total of four annual time points examined. Longitudinal probit regression was used to examine the extent to which grade 10 QTSRs predicted students' intentions to graduate (in grades 10 and 11), and QTSRs and intentions to graduate predicted high school completion. Multi-class analysis and indirect effects testing were also conducted.

Results: Grade 10 QTSRs are positively associated with grade 10 intentions to graduate and grade 11 intentions to graduate (beyond the effects of grade 10 intentions to graduate). QTSRs and intentions to graduate were also positively associated with increased chances of high school completion. QTSRs were found to play a stronger role for low-achieving students over time.

Conclusions: Overall, QTSRs and intentions to graduate appear to be significantly associated with intentions to graduate and high school completion, especially for low-achieving students. Intervention implications are signalled.

Keywords: High school completion; Intentions to graduate; Low-achieving students; Stage-environment fit; Teacher-student relationships.

Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma. It is characterized by a slow evolution, with local recurrences and late metastases that are mainly pulmonary and pleural in about 50% of cases. The treatment is based on the surgery which must be as wide as possible. The efficacy of adjuvant therapy in the control of SEF is not yet demonstrated. Chemotherapy is used in recurrences, some have also proposed radiotherapy. Long-term follow-up of patients with SEF is therefore essential.

Keywords: Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma; adjuvant treatment; metastases; recurrences; surgery.

Introduction: Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is an uncommon malignant fibroblastic neoplasm. The diagnosis is typically made on core needle biopsy or resection specimens. Cytomorphologic characterization of SEF has been limited to rare case reports in the literature. The goal of this study was to review a series of cases of SEF and to determine the feasibility of cytologic diagnosis of this rare tumor.

Material and methods: Eight SEF cases from 2009 to 2019 were identified in a retrospective review of 3 participating institutions. Cytomorphologic and corresponding histologic, immunophenotypic, molecular, and clinical data were examined and described.

Results: Patients were of median age 41 years old at diagnosis with a median follow-up of 35.5 months. These tumors, with a median greatest dimension of 13.4 cm, were located in the lower extremities, abdomen, retroperitoneum, head, groin, sacrum, and lung. The tumor cells ranged from small round, medium-sized ovoid/short spindle, to epithelioid/plasmacytoid cells. A sclerotic, fibrous to myxoid stroma was seen. Most samples revealed low-grade cytology. Two cases showed tumor necrosis. Only 3 cases with cell block/positive MUC4 immunostain were diagnostic. Corresponding molecular testing for EWSR1 gene rearrangement and/or EWSR1-CREB3L1 fusion were positive in 5 of 8 cases on biopsy or surgical samples. An additional case was positive for FUS-CREB3L2 fusion.

Conclusions: Diagnosis of SEF based solely upon cytologic features remains challenging. Epithelioid or plasmacytoid morphology mimics common malignancies. A supportive clinical history, MUC4 immunohistochemistry, and characteristic molecular result should be used to aid the diagnosis.

Keywords: Cytology; Diagnostic pitfall; EWSR1; MUC4; Prognosis; Sarcoma; Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma.

Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma. In the majority of cases, there is overexpression of MUC4, and most cases show EWSR1-CREB3L1 gene fusions. A subset of SEF displays composite histologic features of SEF and low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS). These "hybrid" tumors are more likely to harbor the FUS-CREB3L2 fusion, which is also seen in most LGFMS. We, here, characterize a series of 8 soft tissue neoplasms with morphologic features highly overlapping with LGFMS and SEF but lacking MUC4 expression and EWSR1/FUS-CREB3L gene fusions. Seven tumors showed fusions of the YAP1 and KMT2A genes, and 1 had a fusion of PRRX1 and KMT2D; all but 1 case displayed reciprocal gene fusions. At gene expression profiling, YAP1 and KMT2A/PRRX1 and KMT2D tumors were distinct from LGFMS/SEF. The patients were 4 female individuals and 4 male individuals aged 11 to 91 years. Tumors with known locations were in the lower extremity (5), trunk (2), and upper extremity (1); 3 originated in acral locations. Tumor size ranged from 2.5 to 13 cm. Proportions of SEF-like and LGFMS-like areas varied considerably among tumors. All tumors that showed infiltrative growth and mitotic figures per 10 HPFs ranged from 0 to 18. Tumor necrosis was present in 1 case. Follow-up was available for 5 patients (11 to 321 mo), 2 of whom developed local recurrences, and 1 died of metastatic disease. The clinical behavior of these soft tissue sarcomas remains to be further delineated in larger series with extended follow-up; however, our limited clinical data indicate that they are potentially aggressive.

Bifunctional nanostructured ensembles of quantum dot (QD)-decorated Ag@SiO₂ nanoparticles embedded with Raman reporters p-aminothiophenol (PATP) were intentionally prepared for simultaneous immunoassays of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF). The maximum SEF intensity was optimized with a silica shell spacer of about 9 nm. The SERS sensitivity was significantly improved due to the large Raman scattering cross-section of the coupling reaction product of PATP, generated on the Ag cores upon irradiation of laser during the SERS measurements. The antibody-immobilized QD-decorated Ag/PATP@SiO₂ nanocomposites were used for antigen immunoassays using SERS and SEF with high sensitivity. This progress demonstrates the crucial role of rational design/control of multifunctional nanostructures in biodetection and bioimaging.

An effective substrate for surface-enhanced fluorescence, which consists of cluster Ag/Au bimetallic nanostructures on a copper surface, was synthesized via a multi-stage galvanic replacement reaction of a Ag cluster in a chlorauric acid (HAuCl4) solution at room temperature. The fabricated silver/gold bimetallic cluster were found to yield large surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) enhancement factors for rhodamine 6G probe molecules deposited on the substrate, and also the fluorescence efficiency is critically dependent on the period of nanostructure growth. With the help of proper control reaction conditions, such as the reaction time, and concentration of reaction solutions, the maximum fluorescence enhanced effect was obtained. Therefore, the bimetallic nanostructure substrate also can be adapted to studies in SEF, which will expand the application of SEF.

In various fields, the internet of things (IoT) gains a lot of popularity due to its autonomous sensors operations with the least cost. In medical and healthcare applications, the IoT devices develop an ecosystem to sense the medical conditions of the patients' such as blood pressure, oxygen level, heartbeat, temperature, etc. and take appropriate actions on an emergency basis. Using it, the healthcare-related data of patients is transmitted towards the remote users and medical centers for post-analysis. Different solutions have been proposed using Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) to monitor the medical status of the patients based on low powered biosensor nodes, however, preventing increased energy consumption and communication costs are demanding and interesting problems. The issue of unbalanced energy consumption between biosensor nodes degrades the timely delivery of the patient's information to remote centers and gives a negative impact on the medical system. Moreover, the sensitive data of the patient is transmitting over the insecure Internet and prone to vulnerable security threats. Therefore, data privacy and integrity from malicious traffic are another challenging research issue for medical applications. This research article aims to a proposed secure and energy-efficient framework using Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) for e-healthcare (SEF-IoMT), which primary objective is to decrease the communication overhead and energy consumption between biosensors while transmitting the healthcare data on a convenient manner, and the other hand, it also secures the medical data of the patients against unauthentic and malicious nodes to improve the network privacy and integrity. The simulated results exhibit that the proposed framework improves the performance of medical systems for network throughput by 18%, packets loss rate by 44%, end-to-end delay by 26%, energy consumption by 29%, and link breaches by 48% than other states of the art solutions.

Keywords: Biosensors; Data security; Energy efficiency; Internet of Medical Things (IoMT); Medical systems.

The tongue plays important roles in a variety of critical human oral functions, including speech production, swallowing, mastication and respiration. These sophisticated tongue movements are in part finely regulated by cortical entrainment. Many studies have examined sensorimotor processing in the limbs using magnetoencephalography (MEG), which has high spatiotemporal resolution. Such studies have employed multiple methods of analysis, including somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs), movement-related cortical fields (MRCFs), event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) associated with somatosensory stimulation or movement and cortico-muscular coherence (CMC) during sustained movement. However, the cortical mechanisms underlying the sensorimotor functions of the tongue remain unclear, as contamination artifacts induced by stimulation and/or muscle activity within the orofacial region complicates MEG analysis in the oral region. Recently, several studies have obtained MEG recordings from the tongue region using improved stimulation methods and movement tasks. In the present review, we provide a detailed overview of tongue sensorimotor processing in humans, based on the findings of recent MEG studies. In addition, we review the clinical applications of MEG for sensory disturbances of the tongue caused by damage to the lingual nerve. Increased knowledge of the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying tongue sensorimotor processing may improve our understanding of the cortical entrainment of human oral functions.