Correlation between the features of β1 and β3 integrin expression and lymphangitic metastatic spread in nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma based on tumor morphological heterogeneity

Objective. To study β1 and β3 integrin expression in nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma and to find the associations with parameters of tumor morphological heterogeneity and lymphatic dissemination.Material and Methods. Study group comprised 107 patients with breast cancer. Histological type of tumor corresponded to invasive carcinoma of a nonspecific type (invasive ductal carcinoma) in 100% of cases. Patients did not receive any preoperative treatment. In each case, we performed morphological examination of samples of primary tumor and axillary lymph nodes obtained at the surgical stage of treatment (radical mastectomy or sectoral resection of mammary gland with axillary lymphadenectomy). The parameters of β1 and β3 integrin expression in primary tumor tissue were assessed by immunohistochemistry.Results. The study demonstrated that an increase in the degree of malignancy of breast carcinoma was associated with a decrease in the incidence of positive expression of β1 integrin as well as with an increase in the incidence of positive expression of β3 integrin. Metastases in lymph nodes were significantly less frequently detected in the presence of positive expression of β1 integrin in the alveolar and solid structures compared with the cases of absent expression of the marker in similar structures (48%; χ2 = 3.5; p = 0.05 and 48%; χ2 = 4.8; p = 0.02, respectively). Lymphogenic metastasis were detected significantly more often in cases with positive expression of β3 integrin in discrete groups of cells compared with the cases where the expression of study marker in the described structures was absent (47 and 23%, respectively; χ2 = 5.1; p = 0.02).Conclusion. The results of work showed the presence of relationships between the morphological heterogeneity of the tumor and the parameters of β1 and β3 integrin expression in the parenchymal structures of the neoplasm. The study showed the association of described parameters with the frequency of lymphatic dissemination in patients with breast cancer. Obtained data expand and support previously known evidence and suggest the possibility of assessing the markers as potential prognostic factors predicting the course of cancer.

The role of morphology on the spatial distribution of short-duration rainfall extremes in Italy

The dependence of rainfall on elevation has frequently been documented in the scientific literature and may be relevant in Italy, due to the high degree of geographical and morphological heterogeneity of the country. However, a detailed analysis of the spatial variability of short-duration rainfall extremes and their connection to the landforms does not exist. Using a new, comprehensive and position-corrected rainfall extreme dataset (I2-RED), we present a systematic study of the relationship between geomorphological forms and the average of rainfall extremes (index rainfall) across the whole of Italy. We first investigated the dependence of sub-daily rainfall depths on elevation and other landscape indices through univariate and multivariate linear regressions. After analyzing the results, we repeated the analysis on geomorphological subdivisions of Italy. The results of the national-scale regression analysis did not confirm the assumption of elevation being the sole driver of the variability of rainfall extremes. The longitude, latitude, distance from the coastline, morphological obstructions and mean annual rainfall resulted to be significantly related to the index rainfall, and to play different roles for different durations (1- to 24-hours). However, when comparing the results of the best multivariate regression models with univariate regressions for morphological subdivisions, we found that “local” rainfall-topography relationships within the geomorphological subdivisions outperformed the country-wide multiple regressions and offered a reasonable representation of the effect of morphology on rainfall extremes.

Aberrant modularity and lower resiliency of structural covariance network in first-episode antipsychotic-naive psychoses

Objective: Structural brain alterations are consistently observed in schizophrenia. However, divergent findings suggest that often-observed regions exist within a network of susceptible regions. We conducted structural covariance analysis of multiple morphometric features of 358 regions from 79 first-episode anti-psychotic-naive psychosis patients (FEAP) and 68 healthy controls to investigate network differences. Methods: Using graph theoretic methods, we investigated structural covariance network of Freesurfer-derived cortical gray matter volumes, thickness, curvature, and surface area using the Brain Connectivity Toolbox within MATLAB, compared network modularity using the Community Detection Toolbox within MATLAB, and examined the resilience of the network using simulated attacks. Results: FEAP showed decreased heterogeneity of cortical volumes compared to controls which was driven by decreased heterogeneity of cortical thickness but not surface area. Reduced morphological heterogeneity was associated with less differentiated community structure in FEAP compared to controls. FEAP patients, in general, showed less resilient networks that were more vulnerable to attacks on fewer nodes compared to healthy subjects. Conclusions: Our findings of decreased heterogeneity may be associated with FEAP-related pathology since the impact of illness chronicity and treatment are minimized. Contribution of cortical thickness but not surface area covariance network suggests that neurodevelopmental processes affecting the thickness rather than the surface area may be pathophysiologically more significant.

Morphological Features Extracted by AI Associated with Spatial Transcriptomics in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a common cancer type in men, yet some of its traits are still under-explored. One reason for this is high molecular and morphological heterogeneity. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to gain new insights into the connection between morphological changes and underlying molecular patterns. We used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the morphology of seven hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained prostatectomy slides from a patient with multi-focal prostate cancer. We also paired the slides with spatially resolved expression for thousands of genes obtained by a novel spatial transcriptomics (ST) technique. As both spaces are highly dimensional, we focused on dimensionality reduction before seeking associations between them. Consequently, we extracted morphological features from H&E images using an ensemble of pre-trained convolutional neural networks and proposed a workflow for dimensionality reduction. To summarize the ST data into genetic profiles, we used a previously proposed factor analysis. We found that the regions were automatically defined, outlined by unsupervised clustering, associated with independent manual annotations, in some cases, finding further relevant subdivisions. The morphological patterns were also correlated with molecular profiles and could predict the spatial variation of individual genes. This novel approach enables flexible unsupervised studies relating morphological and genetic heterogeneity using AI to be carried out.

Role of the Histological Variant for the Prognosis and Course of the Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

The focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is characterized by a morphological heterogeneity, most likely reflecting different pathogenetic mechanisms. The Colombian classification distinguishes five morphological types – non-specific (not otherwise specified or classical), perihilar, cellular, a tubular pole (tip) one and a collapsing one. Eighty-one (81) patients were studied. Their distribution according to the histological variant showed the highest frequency of the non-specific (classical) variant – 70.4%, followed by the perihilar variant – 27.20%, the cellular variant – 1.2% and the collapsing variant – 1.2%. No patients with tip lesions were identified. There were significant differences in the creatinine levels and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at the beginning and at the end of the follow-up between patients with the perihilar and the non-specific variants. Patients with the perihilar variant had a better treatment response with a high percentage of patients achieving complete remission – 59.1%. Patients with the non-specific variant had a high chance of treatment failure – 26.3% had no effect from treatment. The results of the study give grounds to assume that the histological variant affects the clinical picture, course and therapeutic response in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. It could be used as a prognostic marker of disease behavior and guide the clinician in treatment decisions.

Pollen plant analysis of different sunflower genotypes

Pollen analysis makes it possible to determine the reproductive potential of sunflower plants by the morphological characteristics of pollen grains with the aim of breeding to increase yields. The research was carried out in 2019–2020 at V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops, Krasnodar. The objects of the research were plants of cultivated sunflower Helianthus annuus L.: four hybrids – Factor, Typhoon, Oxy and NK Brio, confectionery variety Djinn, two parental lines of the hybrid Oxy – VK876 B and VK195, as well as a perennial wild growing hexaploid species H. tuberosus L. Pollen was stained with acetoorcein and viewed under a microscope Micros MS 20. The diameter of pollen grains in the hybrids Factor, NK Brio, Typhoon, Oxy, the line VK195 and the cultivar Djinn varied from 34 to 31 μm. The line VK876 B and H. tuberosus were characterized by the lowest values of this trait – 29 and 27 μm, respectively. For the line VK876 B and the hybrid Oxy, significant morphological heterogeneity of pollen was observed, which was expressed in a correspondingly high proportion of abnormal pollen grains – 34 and 26%. At the same time, there was a two-peak distribution of the values of the diameter of pollen grains. The morphological heterogeneity of the pollen grains of the hybrid Oxy is associated with the dominant inheritance of this trait from the maternal CMS-form VK876 A, since the paternal line VK195 has a normal characteristic of pollen grains. The pollen of the hybrid NK Brio showed a significantly higher (by 25%) seed setting in crossing with the CMS tester than that of the hybrid Oxy, which confirms the assumption that there is a relation between an increased proportion of abnormal pollen grains and reduced pollen fertility.

STRUCTURAL-PHOTOMETRIC IMAGES AS REFLECTION OF THE TIEN SHAN INTEGRAL TECTONIC SEGMENTATION

The article discusses (first) the possibility of the structural-photometric images application for the Tian Shan intracontinental orogen segmentation. With the help of the Photoshop Pro program, the geological map into a system of graphic images was transformed. This technique allowed to identify the integral structural and morphological heterogeneity of the Kyrgyz Tian Shan upper crust and to create a scheme of the region's morphostructural segmentation.