Cross-sectional Area-corrected Compression Modulus of Food Gel

The linearity of the stress-strain relationship for food gel is limited to a very narrow range of the strain (usually less than 0.1 as a Cauchy measure). The reason is thought due to the change in cross-sectional area of the gel upon deformation. In this report, the cross-sectional area was approximately corrected of the compressed gel on the assumption that the gel expanded uniformly without changing its volume upon compression. In cases when the initial Young’s modulus was calculated from the thus-corrected area for some food gels, the linearity was increased for a wider range of strain.     

Microfibrils, elastic anchoring components of the extracellular matrix, are associated with fibronectin in the zonule of Zinn and aorta

Microfibrils are striated tubules that play a role in the formation of elastin fibers by providing a scaffold upon which newly synthesized elastin is deposited. Ultrastructural and staining studies also demonstrate microfibrils that terminate where elastin is sparse or absent in basal laminae, plasma membranes, and the collagenous matrix. The most striking accumulation of microfibrils is found in the zonule of Zinn, the transparent and elastic suspensory ligament of the lens, which contains no elastin. Application of immunocytochemical staining with a peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) procedure demonstrates that fibronectin is associated with the microfibrils of the zonule and aorta. Aggregates of microfibrils are identical to oxytalan ('acid enduring') fibers that have been described in peridontal membranes and other sites subject to mechanical stress and they can be found in sites as disparate as the rabbit zonule, rat hepatic stroma and human cardiac papillary muscle, indicating that microfibrils are a widely distributed connective tissue element with a function that extends beyond elastogenesis; their association with fibronectin and localization suggests that they serve as an elastic anchoring component of the extracellular matrix.     

Elastic priors to dynamically borrow information from historical data in clinical trials

Use of historical data and real-world evidence holds great potential to improve the efficiency of clinical trials. One major challenge is to effectively borrow information from historical data while maintaining a reasonable type I error and minimal bias. We propose the elastic prior approach to address this challenge. Unlike existing approaches, this approach proactively controls the behavior of information borrowing and type I errors by incorporating a well-known concept of clinically significant difference through an elastic function, defined as a monotonic function of a congruence measure between historical data and trial data. The elastic function is constructed to satisfy a set of prespecified criteria such that the resulting prior will strongly borrow information when historical and trial data are congruent, but refrain from information borrowing when historical and trial data are incongruent. The elastic prior approach has a desirable property of being information borrowing consistent, that is, asymptotically controls type I error at the nominal value, no matter that historical data are congruent or not to the trial data. Our simulation study that evaluates the finite sample characteristic confirms that, compared to existing methods, the elastic prior has better type I error control and yields competitive or higher power. The proposed approach is applicable to binary, continuous, and survival endpoints.     

乳腺良恶肿瘤患者超声弹性成像定量参数与临床分期、病理分子分型的相关性分析

摘要 目的：探讨乳腺良恶肿瘤患者超声弹性成像定量参数与临床分期、病理分子分型的相关性。方法：选择2020年1月至2022年12月来我院诊治的乳腺肿块患者85例,均行超声弹性成像检查,分析85例乳腺肿块患者的病理检查结果,对比良恶性肿瘤患者的弹性成像参数,对弹性应变率、直径变化率、面积比及三者联合绘制ROC曲线,分析不同乳腺肿瘤患者临床分期的弹性成像参数,分析乳腺肿瘤患者病理分子分型的弹性成像参数。结果：85例乳腺肿块患者中,良性肿块35例,恶性肿块50例。恶性组的弹性应变率、肿块直径、直径变化率、肿块面积、面积比明显较良性组低（P<0.05）。面积比ROC曲线AUC为0.580,以1.73为临界值,乳腺恶性肿瘤的诊断灵敏度为73.5 %,特异度为38.5 %;直径变化率ROC曲线AUC为0.630,以0.28为临界值,诊断灵敏度为75.5 %,特异度为47.5 %;弹性应变率ROC曲线AUC为0.790,以15.2 cm²为临界值,诊断灵敏度为64.5 %,特异度为83.5 %,以三者联合绘制ROC曲线,AUC为0.920,诊断灵敏度为82.5 %,特异度为92.5 %。乳腺恶性肿瘤患者TNM分期Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ期者的弹性应变率、肿块直径、直径变化率、肿块面积、面积比对比有统计学意义（P<0.05）;其中Ⅳ期者的弹性应变率、肿块直径、直径变化率、肿块面积、面积比明显较Ⅲ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ期者高,Ⅲ期者明显较Ⅱ、Ⅰ期者高,Ⅱ期者明显较Ⅰ期高。乳腺恶性肿瘤患者Luminal A型者、Liminal B型者、Her2过表达型者、基底样型者的弹性应变率、肿块直径、直径变化率、肿块面积、面积比对比有统计学意义（P<0.05）;其中Liminal B型者的弹性应变率、肿块直径、直径变化率、肿块面积、面积比明显较Luminal A型者、Her2过表达型者、基底样型者高,Her2过表达型者明显较Luminal A型者、基底样型者高（P均<0.05）,Luminal A型者与基底样型者对比无统计学意义（P>0.05）。结论：超声弹性成像可用于乳腺良恶肿瘤的诊断,超声弹性成像定量参数可用于恶性乳腺肿瘤临床分期、Liminal B型、Her2过表达型的判断。     

Structure characterization of the central repetitive domain of high molecular weight gluten proteins. II. Characterization in solution and in the dry state.

The structure of the central repetitive domain of high molecular weight HMW) wheat gluten proteins was characterized in solution and in the dry state using HMW proteins Bx6 and Bx7 and a subcloned, bacterially expressed part of the repetitive domain of HMW Dx5. Model studies of the HMW consensus peptides PGQGQQ and GYYPTSPQQ formed the basis for the data analysis (van Dijk AA et al., 1997, Protein Sci 6:637-648). In solution, the repetitive domain contained a continuous nonoverlapping series of both type I and type II II beta-turns at positions predicted from the model studies; type II beta-turns occurred at QPGQ and QQGY sequences and type I beta-turns at YPTS and SPQQ. The subcloned part of the HMW Dx5 repetitive domain sometimes migrated as two bands on SDS-PAGE; we present evidence that this may be caused by a single amino acid insertion that disturbs the regular structure of beta-turns. The type I beta-turns are lost when the protein is dried on a solid surface, probably by conversion to type II beta-turns. The homogeneous type II beta-turn distribution is compatible with the formation of a beta-spiral structure, which provides the protein with elastic properties. The beta-turns and thus the beta-spiral are stabilized by hydrogen bonds within and between turns. Reformation of this hydrogen bonding network after, e.g., mechanical disruption may be important for the elastic properties of gluten proteins.     

Seasonal changes of osmotic pressure, symplasmic water content and tissue elasticity in the blades of dune grasses growing in situ along the coast of Oregon

Abstract Midday water potentials of blades of the dune grasses Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link and Elymus mollis Trin. ex Spreng. growing in situ declined over the summer growing period, indicating a trend of increasing water stress. An analysis of the water relations characteristics of these blades using pressure-volume techniques demonstrated that both species increased bulk osmotic pressure at full hydration () and, therefore, bulk turgor as an acclimation response. In A. arenaria, however, the increase of osmotic pressure (+ 0.35 MPa) was entirely the result of decreasing symplasmic water content. The increase of osmotic pressure (+ 0.54 MPa) observed in E. mollis blades was due to solute accumulation (72% of Δ) and to a lesser degree, decreased symplasmic water content (28% of Δ). Osmotic adjustment in E. mollis blades was accompanied by a significant decrease in tissue elasticity (_max went from 12 to 19 MPa). The elastic properties of A. arenaria blades remained constant over the same period and had a maximum modulus (10 MPa) that was always less than that of E. mollis, As estimated from Höfler plots, these seasonal adjustments of osmotic pressure and differences in tissue elasticity enabled plants in situ to maintain turgor pressure in the range of 0.5–0.6 MPa at the lowest water potentials of mid-August. Laboratorygrown plants exhibited the species-specific differences in osmotic pressure, turgor pressure, and tissue elasticity observed in field plants. Although certain alterations of leaf structure were expected to coincide with the observed changes and species-specific differences in symplasmic water content and tissue elasticity, these could not be detected by measurements of specific leaf weight or the ratio of dry matter to saturated water content.     

Stochastic multi-scale prediction on the apparent elastic moduli of trabecular bone considering uncertainties of biological apatite (BAp) crystallite orientation and image-based modelling

An assessment of the mechanical properties of trabecular bone is important in determining the fracture risk of human bones. Many uncertainty factors contribute to the dispersion of the estimated mechanical properties of trabecular bone. This study was undertaken in order to propose a computational scheme that will be able to predict the effective apparent elastic moduli of trabecular bone considering the uncertainties that are primarily caused by image-based modelling and trabecular stiffness orientation. The effect of image-based modelling which focused on the connectivity was also investigated. A stochastic multi-scale method using a first-order perturbation-based and asymptotic homogenisation theory was applied to formulate the stochastically apparent elastic properties of trabecular bone. The effective apparent elastic modulus was predicted with the introduction of a coefficient factor to represent the variation of bone characteristics due to inter-individual differences. The mean value of the predicted effective apparent Young's modulus in principal axis was found at approximately 460 MPa for respective 15.24% of bone volume fraction, and this is in good agreement with other experimental results. The proposed method may provide a reference for the reliable evaluation of the prediction of the apparent elastic properties of trabecular bone.