Poor prognosis of stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients determined by elevated expression over pre/minimally invasive status of COL11A1 and THBS2 in the focal adhesion pathway

Patients with adenocarcinomas in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive (MIA) lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are curable by surgery, whereas 20% stage I patients die within five years post-operative. We hypothesize that poor-prognosis stage I patients may exhibit key molecular characteristics deviating from AIS/MIA. Focal adhesion (FA) was identified as the only pathway significantly perturbed at both genomic and transcriptomic levels by comparing 98 AIS/MIA and 99 LUAD. Then, two FA genes (COL11A1 and THBS2) were found strongly upregulated from AIS/MIA to stage I while steadily expressed from normal to AIS/MIA. Furthermore, unsupervised clustering separated stage I patients into two molecularly and prognostically distinct subtypes (S1 and S2) based on COL11A1 and THBS2 expressions (FA2). Subtype S1 resembled AIS/MIA, whereas S2 exhibited more somatic alterations and activated cancer-associated fibroblast. The simple knowledge-driven model was validated with 12 external datasets, showing potential in identifying high-risk stage I patients for more intensive post-surgery treatment.

Description of five new species of the Madagascan flagship plant genus Ravenala (Strelitziaceae)

Madagascar’s emblematic traveller’s tree is a monospecific genus within Strelitziaceae, the family of the South African bird of paradise. Until now, this endemic genus consisted of a single species: Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn., which is grown everywhere in the tropics as an ornamental plant. The plant is immediately recognizable for its huge fan-forming banana-like leaves and is locally referred to in Magagascar by several vernacular names. “Variants” have been mentioned in the literature, but without any attempt to recognize formal taxa based on diagnostic features. In this paper, we formally describe five new species and fix the application of the name R. madagascariensis to the populations growing on the eastern coast of Madagascar, with the epitype growing in the marshy Fort-Dauphin area in the south. This paper has numerous implications for conservation biology and other domains of life sciences, due to the importance of this genus for the conservation of Madagascan ecosystems, the ornamental plant trade, as well as for its invasive status in several tropical areas.

An Annotated and Updated Checklist of the Hungarian Dendroflora

The checklist includes tree, shrub, dwarf shrub, woody liana and epiphyte species that occur or have occurred in Hungary except the settlements and other intensively utilised objects. 437 dendrotaxa were included and evaluated in this list. This means 281 species, 22 subspecies, 128 nothospecies and 6 nothosubspecies. Based on the indigenat, 260 native, 92 alien and 9 cryptogenic dendrotaxa live in Hungary, furthermore 54 cultivated dendrotaxa and 22 dendrotaxa with questionable occurrence. Analysing the invasive status of alien species, 19 invasive or being in the early stages of invasion, 12 naturalised and 61 casual dendrotaxa can be distinguished. According to residence time status, the number of archaeophytes is 16 and that of neophytes is 76. Of the 260 native dendrotaxa, 9 were extinct or presumably extinct. 44 dendrotaxa are considered to be proven endemic, and there are 8 subendemic. Of the 134 nothotaxa on the list, 14 are artificial and 120 are of natural origin.

Rapid Spread of the Invasive Brown Alga Rugulopteryx okamurae in a National Park in Provence (France, Mediterranean Sea)

The temperate Northwest Pacific brown alga Rugulopteryx okamurae (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) was first discovered in 2002 in the Mediterranean Sea in the Thau coastal lagoon (Occitania, France) and then again in 2015 along the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar, where it was assigned with invasive status. We report here on the first occurrence of the species in the Northwest Mediterranean Sea in Calanques National Park (Marseille, France) in 2018. By 2020, a large population had developed, extending over 9.5 km of coastline, including highly protected no-take zones. The seafood trade, with R. okamurae used as packing material for sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus shipments from Thau Lagoon, could be the vector of its introduction into the Marseille area. As observed in the Strait of Gibraltar, R. okamurae is spreading rapidly along the Marseille coasts, suggesting an invasive pathway. The subtidal reefs are densely carpeted with R. okamurae, which overgrows most native algal species. Fragments of the alga are continuously detached by wave actions and currents, sedimenting on the seabed and potentially clogging fishing nets, and thus, impacting artisanal fishing or washing up on the beaches, where they rot and raise concern among local populations.

Hedychium gardnerianum Sheph. ex Ker Gawl. from its discovery to its invasive status: a review

Hedychium gardnerianum Sheph. ex Ker Gawl. is one of the 100 world's worst invasive alien species and the research target in areas as diverse as biological control, natural fibres uses, taxonomy or the biological activity of its compounds. This review aimed to clarify the taxonomic status and the native range of H. gardnerianum and bring accuracy to the history of its introduction and escape from cultivation through the analysis of the increasing number of accessible digitalized dry specimens and grey literature. The analysis of the available information allowed to conclude that: (a) Hedychium gardnerianum is a validly published name, the authority of the name is Sheph. ex Ker Gawl., the species holotype is the illustration published along with the species name, and the Natural History Museum BM000574691 specimen collected in 1815 is the first dried specimen of H. gardnerianum; (b) This species is native to the Central and Eastern Nepal, Bhutan, Northeast India and North Myanmar; (c) The species was cultivated at Cambridge Botanical Garden since 1818 and the first known herbarium specimen collected in Europe dates back to 1821; (d) Kathmandu (Nepal) and Khasi Hills (India) specimens are considered two varieties of the same species and the BM000574691 specimen is the lectotype of H. gardnerianum var. speciosum; (e) Specimens, references, and/or pictures support that H. gardnerianum escaped from cultivation at Galicia (Spain), Azores archipelago, Madeira, Tenerife, Cuba, Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, Ascension, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Réunion, Mauritius, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, and Vietnam; and (f) H. gardnerianum is a serious pest in Azores, Madeira, Jamaica, Réunion, New Zealand and Hawaii and continues to expand its distribution area in South and Central America, Australia and Southern Africa. This review presents linear raw information compiled with precision, allowing the world databases updating their data but also gives the most detailed information possible to each country/region identifying new regions of concern and updating the invasiveness status in each region.

Alien fish, amphibian and reptile species in Romania and their invasive status: a review with new data

The paper presents a review of literature data, supplemented with original observations, on the presence, establishment, distribution and invasive status of alien fish, amphibian and reptile species in Romania. Consistent criteria were followed in defining alien species records, establishment and invasive status. From the 48 alien fish species, 1 fish hybrid, 1 amphibian and 18 reptile species recorded, only 16 fishes and 3 reptiles can be regarded as established. Of these we consider the criteria for invasive status as being probably fulfilled by one fish species (Perccottus glenii), and less likely by six more fish species. The presence and the alien status of the one amphibian are debatable. No reptile species can be considered invasive at present.

Deep Learning on Enhanced CT Images Can Predict the Muscular Invasiveness of Bladder Cancer

BackgroundClinical treatment decision making of bladder cancer (BCa) relies on the absence or presence of muscle invasion and tumor staging. Deep learning (DL) is a novel technique in image analysis, but its potential for evaluating the muscular invasiveness of bladder cancer remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a DL model based on computed tomography (CT) images for prediction of muscle-invasive status of BCa.MethodsA total of 441 BCa patients were retrospectively enrolled from two centers and were divided into development (n=183), tuning (n=110), internal validation (n=73) and external validation (n=75) cohorts. The model was built based on nephrographic phase images of preoperative CT urography. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for discrimination between muscle-invasive BCa and non-muscle-invasive BCa was calculated. The performance of the model was evaluated and compared with that of the subjective assessment by two radiologists.ResultsThe DL model exhibited relatively good performance in all cohorts [AUC: 0.861 in the internal validation cohort, 0.791 in the external validation cohort] and outperformed the two radiologists. The model yielded a sensitivity of 0.733, a specificity of 0.810 in the internal validation cohort and a sensitivity of 0.710 and a specificity of 0.773 in the external validation cohort.ConclusionThe proposed DL model based on CT images exhibited relatively good prediction ability of muscle-invasive status of BCa preoperatively, which may improve individual treatment of BCa.

Combining Multiparametric MRI Radiomics Signature With the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) Score to Preoperatively Differentiate Muscle Invasion of Bladder Cancer

BackgroundThe treatment and prognosis for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) are different. We aimed to construct a nomogram based on the multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) radiomics signature and the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) score for the preoperative differentiation of MIBC from NMIBC.MethodThe retrospective study involved 185 pathologically confirmed bladder cancer (BCa) patients (training set: 129 patients, validation set: 56 patients) who received mpMRI before surgery between August 2014 to April 2020. A total of 2,436 radiomics features were quantitatively extracted from the largest lesion located on the axial T2WI and from dynamic contrast-enhancement images. The minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) algorithm was used for feature screening. The selected features were introduced to construct radiomics signatures using three classifiers, including least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), support vector machines (SVM) and random forest (RF) in the training set. The differentiation performances of the three classifiers were evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) and accuracy. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to develop a nomogram based on the optimal radiomics signature and clinical characteristics. The performance of the radiomics signatures and the nomogram was assessed and validated in the validation set.ResultsCompared to the RF and SVM classifiers, the LASSO classifier had the best capacity for muscle invasive status differentiation in both the training (accuracy: 90.7%, AUC: 0.934) and validation sets (accuracy: 87.5%, AUC: 0.906). Incorporating the radiomics signature and VI-RADS score, the nomogram demonstrated better discrimination and calibration both in the training set (accuracy: 93.0%, AUC: 0.970) and validation set (accuracy: 89.3%, AUC: 0.943). Decision curve analysis showed the clinical usefulness of the nomogram.ConclusionsThe mpMRI radiomics signature may be useful for the preoperative differentiation of muscle-invasive status in BCa. The proposed nomogram integrating the radiomics signature with the VI-RADS score may further increase the differentiation power and improve clinical decision making.

Cryptostegia grandiflora (rubber vine).

C. grandiflora is a highly invasive weed in semi-arid natural ecosystems, especially dry or monsoonal rainforest. It has the potential to spread much further, especially in Australia where it poses a threat to national parks. The historical evidence suggests that there is a significant lag period before the plant assumes an invasive status. Thus, those countries where the plant has been cultivated as an ornamental or as a crop, but where it has not yet become invasive, are at future risk of invasion.